Salmagundi; or, The whim-whams and opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, esq. [pseud.] and others. By William Irving, James Kirke Paulding and Washington Irving. Printed from the original ed., with a preface and notes by Evert A. Duyckinck.

158 SALMAGUNDI.
"that he had rather see one of the weird sisters flourish
through his key-hole on a broomstick, than one of the servant
maids enter the door with a besom."
My friend Launcelot is ardent and sincere in his attachments,
which are confined to a chosen few, in whose society he loves to
give free scope to his whimsical imagination; he, however, mingles freely with the world, though more as a spectator than an
actor; and without an anxiety, or hardly a care to please, is
generally received with welcome and listened to with complacency. When he extends his hand it is in a free, open, liberal
style; and when you shake it, you feel his honest heart throb in
its pulsations. Though rather fond of gay exhibitions, he does
not appear so frequently at balls and assemblies since the introduction of the drum, trumpet, and tamborine; all of which he
abhors on account of the rude attack they make on his organs
of hearing: in short, such is his antipathy to noise, that though
exceedingly patriotic, yet he retreats every fourth of July to
Cockloft Hall, in order to get out of the way of the hubbub and
confusion which make so considerable a part of the pleasure of
that splendid anniversary.
I intend this article as a mere sketch of Langstaff's multifarious character; his innumerable whim-whams will be exhibited
by himself, in the course of this work, in all their strange varieties; and the machinery of his mind, more intricate than the
most subtile piece of clock-work, be fully explained. And trust
me, gentlefolk, his are the whim-whams of a courteous gentleman
full of most excellent qualities; honorable in his disposition,
independent in his sentiments, and of unbounded good nature, as
may be seen through all his works.