Wolferts Roost and Miscellanies

Roost and Miscellanies, by
Washington Irving

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Title: Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies
Author: Washington Irving

Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8571] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on July 24, 2003]
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WOLFERT'S ROOST AND MISCELLANIES ***

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WOLFERT'S ROOST
AND
MISCELLANIES
BY
WASHINGTON IRVING

CONTENTS.
CHRONICLE OF WOLFERT'S ROOST
SLEEPY HOLLOW
BIRDS OF SPRING
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE ALHAMBRA

ABENCERRAGE
ENCHANTED ISLAND
ADELANTADO OF THE SEVEN CITIES
NATIONAL NOMENCLATURE
DESULTORY THOUGHTS ON CRITICISM
SPANISH ROMANCE
LEGEND OF DON MUIO SANCHO DE HINOJOSA
COMMUNIPAW
CONSPIRACY OF THE COCKED HATS
LEGEND OF COMMUNIPAW
BERMUDAS, THE
PELATO AND THE MERCHANT'S DAUGHTER
KNIGHT OF MALTA
LEGEND OF THE ENGULPHED CONVENT

COUNT VAN HORN WOLFERT'S ROOST
AND
MISCELLANIES.
A CHRONICLE OF WOLFERT'S ROOST.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER.

Sir: I have observed that as a man advances in life, he is subject to a
kind of plethora of the mind, doubtless occasioned by the vast
accumulation of wisdom and experience upon the brain. Hence he is
apt to become narrative and admonitory, that is to say, fond of telling
long stories, and of doling out advice, to the small profit and great
annoyance of his friends. As I have a great horror of becoming the
oracle, or, more technically speaking, the "bore," of the domestic circle,
and would much rather bestow my wisdom and tediousness upon the
world at large, I have always sought to ease off this surcharge of the
intellect by means of my pen, and hence have inflicted divers gossiping
volumes upon the patience of the public. I am tired, however, of
writing volumes; they do not afford exactly the relief I require; there is
too much preparation, arrangement, and parade, in this set form of
coming before the public. I am growing too indolent and unambitious
for any thing that requires labor or display. I have thought, therefore, of
securing to myself a snug corner in some periodical work where I
might, as it were, loll at my ease in my elbow-chair, and chat sociably
with the public, as with an old friend, on any chance subject that might
pop into my brain.
In looking around, for this purpose, upon the various excellent
periodicals with which our country abounds, my eye was struck by the
title of your work--"THE KNICKERBOCKER." My heart leaped at the
sight. DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER, Sir, was one of my earliest
and most valued friends, and the recollection of him is associated with
some of the pleasantest scenes of my youthful days. To explain this,
and to show how I came into possession of sundry of his posthumous
works, which I have from time to time given to the world, permit me to
relate a few particulars of our early intercourse. I give them with the
more confidence, as I know the interest you take in that departed
worthy, whose name and effigy are stamped upon your title-page, and
as they will be found important to the better understanding and
relishing divers communications I may have to make to you.
My first acquaintance with that great and good man, for such I may
venture to call him, now that the lapse of some thirty years has
shrouded his name with venerable antiquity, and the popular voice has

elevated him to the rank of the classic historians of yore, my first
acquaintance with him was formed on the banks of the Hudson, not far
from the wizard region of Sleepy Hollow. He had come there in the
course of his researches among the Dutch neighborhoods for materials
for his immortal history. For this purpose, he was ransacking the
archives of one of the