This first sojourn abroad was not immediately fruitful in a literary way,
and need not further detain us. It was the irresolute pilgrimage of a
man who had not yet received his vocation. Everywhere he was received in
the best society, and the charm of his manner and his ingenuous nature
made him everywhere a favorite. He carried that indefinable passport
which society recognizes and which needs no 'visee.' He saw the people
who were famous, the women whose recognition is a social reputation; he
made many valuable friends; he frequented the theater, 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 'flaneur.'




IV

SOCIETY AND "SALMAGUNDI"

On Irving's return to America in February, 1806, with reestablished
health, life did not at first take on a more serious purpose. He was
admitted to the bar, but he still halted.--[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 admission.
One student acquitted himself very lamely, and at the supper which it was
the custom for the candidates to give to the examiners, when they passed