would make the present reader regret his tardy advent into this world,
did not the "Admonitory Epistles," addressed to the same sex, remind him
that the manners of seventy years ago left much to be desired. In
respect of the habit of swearing, "Simeon" advises "Myra" that if ladies
were to confine themselves to a single round oath, it would be quite
sufficient; and he objects, when he is at the public table, to the
conduct of his neighbor who carelessly took up "Simeon's" fork and used
it as a toothpick. All this, no doubt, passed for wit in the beginning of
the century. Punning, broad satire, exaggerated compliment, verse which
has love for its theme and the "sweet bird of Venus" for its object, an
affectation of gallantry and of ennui, with anecdotes of distinguished
visitors, out of which the screaming fun has quite evaporated, make up
the staple of these faded mementos of an ancient watering-place. Yet how
much superior is our comedy of to-day? The beauty and the charms of the
women of two generations ago exist only in tradition; perhaps we should
give to the wit of that time equal admiration if none of it had been
preserved.

Irving, notwithstanding the success of "Salmagundi," did not immediately
devote himself to literature, nor seem to regard his achievements in it
as anything more than aids to social distinction. He was then, as
always, greatly influenced by his surroundings. These were unfavorable
to literary pursuits. Politics was the attractive field for preferment
and distinction; and it is more than probable that, even after the
success of the Knickerbocker history, he would have drifted through life;
half lawyer and half placeman, if the associations and stimulus of an old
civilization, in his second European residence, had not fired his
ambition. Like most young lawyers with little law and less clients,
he began to dabble in local politics. The experiment was not much to his
taste, and the association and work demanded, at that time, of a ward