reputation; he made many valuable friends; he frequented the theatre, he
indulged his passion for the opera; he learned how to dine, and to
appreciate the delights of a brilliant salon; he was picking up
languages; he was observing nature and men, and especially women. That
he profited by his loitering experience is plain enough afterward, but
thus far there is little to prophesy that Irving would be anything more
in life than a charming _flâneur_.




CHAPTER IV.

SOCIETY AND "SALMAGUNDI."


On Irving's return to America in February, 1806, with reëstablished
health, life did not at first take on a more serious purpose. He was
admitted to the bar, but he still halted.[1] Society more than ever
attracted him and devoured his time. He willingly accepted the office of
"champion at the tea-parties;" he was one of a knot of young fellows of
literary tastes and convivial habits, who delighted to be known as "The
Nine Worthies," or "Lads of Kilkenny." In his letters of this period I
detect a kind of callowness and affectation which is not discernible in
his foreign letters and journal.

[Footnote 1: Irving once illustrated his legal acquirements at
this time by the relation of the following anecdote to his
nephew: Josiah Ogden Hoffman and Martin Wilkins, an effective
and witty advocate, had been appointed to examine students for