should launch away into the married state, and leave me alone to tread
this desolate and sterile shore." And, in view of a possible life of
scant fortune, he exclaims: "Thank Heaven, I was brought up in simple and
inexpensive habits, and I have satisfied myself that, if need be, I can
resume them without repining or inconvenience. Though I am willing,
therefore, that Fortune should shower her blessings upon me, and think I
can enjoy them as well as most men, yet I shall not make myself unhappy
if she chooses to be scanty, and shall take the position allotted me with
a cheerful and contented mind."

When Irving passed the winter of 1823 in the charming society of the
Fosters at Dresden, the success of the "Sketch-Book" and "Bracebridge
Hall" had given him assurance of his ability to live comfortably by the
use of his pen.

To resume. The preliminary announcement of the History was a humorous
and skillful piece of advertising. Notices appeared in the newspapers of
the disappearance from his lodging of "a small, elderly gentleman,
dressed in an old black coat and cocked hat, by the name of
Knickerbocker." Paragraphs from week to week, purporting to be the
result of inquiry, elicited the facts that such an old gentleman had been
seen traveling north in the Albany stage; that his name was Diedrich
Knickerbocker; that he went away owing his landlord; and that he left
behind a very curious kind of a written book, which would be sold to pay
his bills if he did not return. So skillfully was this managed that one
of the city officials was on the point of offering a reward for the
discovery of the missing Diedrich. This little man in knee breeches and
cocked hat was the germ of the whole "Knickerbocker legend," a fantastic
creation, which in a manner took the place of history, and stamped upon
the commercial metropolis of the New World the indelible Knickerbocker