Bracebridge Hall

ᓬBracebridge Hall

Project Gutenberg's Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists, by Washington Irving This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists
Author: Washington Irving
Release Date: September 23, 2004 [EBook #13515]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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BRACEBRIDGE HALL
OR
THE HUMORISTS
BY
WASHINGTON IRVING
"Under this cloud I walk, gentlemen; pardon my rude assault. I am a traveller, who, having surveyed most of the terrestrial angles of this globe, am hither arrived, to peruse this little spot."
--CHRISTMAS ORDINARY.

CONTENTS.
VOLUME ONE.
THE HALL
THE BUSY MAN
FAMILY SERVANTS
THE WIDOW
THE LOVERS
FAMILY RELIQUES
AN OLD SOLDIER
THE WIDOW'S RETINUE
READY-MONEY JACK
BACHELORS
WIVES
STORY-TELLING
STOUT GENTLEMAN
FOREST TREES
LITERARY ANTIQUARY
THE FARM-HOUSE
HORSEMANSHIP
LOVE SYMPTOMS
FALCONRY
HAWKING
SAINT MARK'S EVE
GENTILITY
FORTUNE-TELLING
LOVE-CHARMS
THE LIBRARY
STUDENT OF SALAMANCA
VOLUME TWO.
ENGLISH COUNTRY GENTLEMEN
BACHELOR'S CONFESSIONS
ENGLISH GRAVITY
GYPSIES
MAY-DAY CUSTOMS
VILLAGE WORTHIES
THE SCHOOLMASTER
THE SCHOOL
VILLAGE POLITICIAN
THE ROOKERY
MAY-DAY
THE MANUSCRIPT
ANNETTE DELARBRE
TRAVELLING
THE CULPRIT
FAMILY MISFORTUNES
LOVER'S TROUBLES
THE HISTORIAN
THE HAUNTED HOUSE
DOLPH HEYLIGER
THE STORM-SHIP
THE WEDDING
THE AUTHOR'S FAREWELL

BRACEBRIDGE HALL;
OR,
THE HUMOURISTS.
A MEDLEY.
BY GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT.
Under this cloud I walk, Gentlemen; pardon my rude assault. I am a traveller who, having surveyed most of the terrestrial angles of this globe, am hither arrived, to peruse this little spot.
--CHRISTMAS ORDINARY.
THE AUTHOR.
WORTHY READER!
On again taking pen in hand, I would fain make a few observations at the outset, by way of bespeaking a right understanding. The volumes which I have already published have met with a reception far beyond my most sanguine expectations. I would willingly attribute this to their intrinsic merits; but, in spite of the vanity of authorship, I cannot but be sensible that their success has, in a great measure, been owing to a less flattering cause. It has been a matter of marvel, to my European readers, that a man from the wilds of America should express himself in tolerable English. I was looked upon as something new and strange in literature; a kind of demi-savage, with a feather in his hand, instead of on his head; and there was a curiosity to hear what such a being had to say about civilized society.
This novelty is now at an end, and of course the feeling of indulgence which it produced. I must now expect to bear the scrutiny of sterner criticism, and to be measured by the same standard with contemporary writers; and the very favor which has been shown to my previous writings, will cause these to be treated with the greater rigour; as there is nothing for which the world is apt to punish a man more severely, than for having been over-praised. On this head, therefore, I wish to forestall the censoriousness of the reader; and I entreat he will not think the worse of me for the many injudicious things that may have been said in my commendation.
I am aware that I often travel over beaten ground, and treat of subjects that have already been discussed by abler pens. Indeed, various authors have been mentioned as my models, to whom I should feel flattered if I thought I bore the slightest resemblance; but in truth I write after no model that I am conscious of, and I write with no idea of imitation or competition. In venturing occasionally on topics that have already been almost exhausted by English authors, I do it, not with the presumption of challenging a comparison, but with the hope that some new interest may be given to such topics, when discussed by the pen of a stranger.
If, therefore, I should sometimes be found dwelling with fondness on subjects that are trite and commonplace with the reader, I beg that the circumstances under which I write may be kept in recollection. Having been born and brought up in a new country, yet educated from infancy in the literature of an old one, my mind was early filled with historical and poetical associations, connected with places, and manners, and customs of Europe; but which could rarely be applied to those of my own country. To a mind thus peculiarly prepared, the most ordinary objects and scenes, on arriving in Europe, are full of strange matter and interesting novelty. England is as classic ground to an American as Italy is to an Englishman; and old London teems with as much historical association as mighty Rome.
Indeed, it is difficult to describe the whimsical medley of ideas that throng upon his mind, on landing among English scenes. He, for the first time, sees a world about which he has been reading and thinking in every stage of his existence. The recollected ideas of infancy, youth, and manhood; of the nursery, the school, and the study, come swarming at once upon him; and his attention