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.

NO. I.-SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 1807.
S everybody knows, or ought to know, what a SALMAGUND
is, we shall spare ourselves the trouble of an explanation; besides, we despise trouble as we do everything low and
mean, and hold the man who would incur it unnecessarily as an
object worthy our highest pity and contempt. Neither will we
puzzle our heads to give an account of ourselves, for two
reasons; first, because it is nobody's business; secondly, because
if it were, we do not hold ourselves bound to attend to anybody's business but our own; and even that we take the liberty
of neglecting when it suits our inclination. To these we might
add a third, that very few men can give a tolerable account of
themselves, let them try ever so hard; but this reason, we can
didly avow, would not hold good with ourselves.
There are, however, two or three pieces of information which
we bestow gratis on the public, chiefly because it suits our own
pleasure and convenience that they should be known, and partly
because we do not wish that there should be any ill will between
us at the commencement of our acquaintance.
Our intention is simply to instruct the young, reform the old,