I have been about a month in Paris, [he writes to William in the letter of September 22d, already quoted in part,] and begin to feel a little more at home. Mr. Gallatin* has been extremely attentive to me. I have dined with him repeatedly. Either Paris or myself has changed very much since I was here before. It is by no means so gay as formerly; that is to say, the populace have a more grave and triste appearance. see but little of the sprightliness and gaiety of manner for which the French are proverbial. However, as I have been here but a little time I will not begin to give opinions; and as I wish my letter to go safe, I will not interlard it with any speculations on national character or concerns. You Meanwhile, the Sketch Book was making a fame for him in England. The Edinburgh Review, in an article written by Jeffrey, contained a handsome tribute to his talents, and perhaps not the least flattering circumstance connected with its publication in the eyes of Mr. Irving, was a rumor which ascribed its parentage to Sir Walter Scott. This fact was brought to his knowledge in a most gratifying manner in a letter from Mr. Richard Rush, our minister at the court of St James, transmitting one from the accomplished Lady Lyttleton, the daughter of Earl Spencer, whose high character and attainments caused her afterwards to be chosen to superintend the early education of the children of Queen Victoria. As it forms a curious and interesting anecdote, I give the * Albert Gallatin, the American Minister. correspondence; a portion of it being from copies retained by Mr. Irving. [From the Hon. Richard Rush to Wash. Irving.] MY DEAR SIR: LONDON, Oct. 20, 1820. I value the enclosed letter very highly, and would not trust it out of my own hands but to pass it to yours, and almost tremble at risking it to Paris. Pray, therefore, do not fail to return it, and I must say the sooner the better, as I shall wait impatiently for your answer before returning a final one to my fair correspondent. She is Lady Lyttleton, the daughter of Earl Spencer, and is among the most accomplished and lovely women of England; worthy, as I think, of another monody from Hayley, should fate ever snatch her from her almost equally estimable husband. If you do not write to me soon all that you have to say upon her letter, I shall certainly give her to understand, and perhaps under my official seal, that you are the author of Waverley, Rob Roy, and some two or three more of the Shakspearean novels; for as Sir Walter Scott is to have the credit of the Sketch Book, I can see no good reason why a portion of his laurels should not be transferred to you by way of indemnification. DEAR SIR: * * * * * [From Lady Lyttleton to Mr. Rush.] I hope your Excellency will not think that I am presuming too far upon your goodness in taking the liberty of making an inquiry which relates to a subject of some interest, I think to yourself as well as to me. A report has lately prevailed in the literary world, I do not know exactly upon what grounds, that the Sketch Book, which you first procured us the very great pleasure of reading, was written, not as it professes to be, by a countryman of yours, but by Sir Walter Scott, whose very numerous disguises and whose well-known fondness for literary masquerading seem to have gained him the advantage of being suspected as the author of every distinguished work that is published. It appears to me that the merits of the Sketch Book are so very unlike those of Scott, and that the style and nature of the work are so new and peculiar, that it puts me out of all patience to hear the surmise, and I could not rest till I had applied to your Excellency for some proof of its falsehood. I am told that nobody has yet actually seen a copy of the book printed in America; that Sir Walter Scott, a great friend, as he calls himself, of the pretended author, inadvertently asserted one day that Mr. Washington Irving had resided in London all the time he was in England; he could not, therefore, it was inferred, have written the admirably just descriptions of English rural life; and upon my appearing obstinately incredulous, I was assured that if Sir Walter Scott did not write the whole, he at least revised the language, and had all the merit of the style. Let me entreat your Excellency to send me a triumphant proof that all this is groundless, and that the very prettiest and most amiable book we have read for a long time has not the defect of being a trick readers. upon * * * [From Washington Irving to Mr. Rush.] MY DEAR SIR: PARIS, Oct. 28, 1820. 4 Rue Mont Thabor. I feel very much obliged by your letter of the 20th, and am highly flattered by the letter of Lady Lyttleton, which you were so good as to enclose, and which I herewith return. It is indeed delightful to receive applause from such a quarter. As her ladyship seems desirous of full and explicit information as to the authorship of the Sketch Book, you may assure her that it was entirely written by myself; that the revisions and corrections were my own, and that I have had no literary assistance either in the beginning or the finishing of it. I speak fully to this point, not from any anxiety of authorship, but because the doubts which her ladyship has heard on the subject seem to have arisen from the old notion that it is impossible for an American to write decent English. If I have indeed been fortunate enough to do any thing, however trifling, to stagger this prejudice, I am too good a patriot to give up even the little ground I have gained. As to the article on Rural Life in England, which appears to have pleased her ladyship, it may give it some additional interest in her eyes to know that though the result of general impressions received in various excursions about the country, yet it was sketched in the vicinity of Hagley just after I had been rambling about its grounds, and whilst its beautiful scenery, with that of the neighborhood, were fresh in my recollection. * I cannot help smiling at the idea that any thing I have written should be deemed worthy of being attributed to Sir Walter Scott, and that I should be called upon to vindicate my weak pen from the honor of such a parentage. He could tenant half a hundred scribblers like myself on the mere skirts of his literary reputation. He never saw my writings until in print; but though he has not assisted me with his pen, yet the interest which he took in my success; the praises which he *The seat of Lord Lyttleton, where the old customs were kept up, as related by Geoffrey Crayon in his Christmas Eve and Christmas Dinner bestowed on some of the first American numbers forwarded to him; the encouragement he gave to me to go on and do more, and the countenance he gave to the first volume when republished in England have, perhaps, been more effectually serviceable than if he had revised and corrected my work page by page. He has always been to me a frank, generous, warmhearted friend, and it is one of my greatest gratifications to be able to call him such. Indeed, it is the delight of his noble and liberal nature to do good and to dispense happiness; those who only know him through his writings know not a tithe of his excellence.* Present my sincere remembrances to Mrs. Rush, and believe me, dear sir, With very great respect, Yours faithfully, WASHINGTON IRVING. The information contained in this letter, or perhaps the letter itself, was communicated by Mr. Rush to Lady Lyttleton, and was succeeded by a message from Lord and Lady Spencer, her parents, expressing an earnest desire to become acquainted with the author of the Sketch Book, and inviting him to spend the approaching Christmas at their place. The invitation was conveyed through Mr. Rush, in a note from Mr. Lyttleton. The following is Mr. Irving's reply, which I give from a copy preserved among his papers. MY DEAR SIR: [To the Hon. Richard Rush.] PARIS, Dec. 6, 1820. I feel very much indebted to you for your letter of the 27th, and hardly know how to express myself as to the very *From a draft of Mr. Irving's reply. |