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.

'296 SALMAGUNDI.
away a thought on one of them. Full often Lave I contributed
to their amusement, and have not I a right, for once, to consult
my own? Who is there that does not fondly turn, at times, to
linger round those scenes which were once the haunt of his boyhood, ere his heart grew heavy and his head waxed grey; and
to dwell with fond affection on the friends who have twined
themselves round his heart-mingled in all his enjoyments-contributed to all his felicities?. If there be any, who cannot relish
these enjoyments, let them despair; for they have been so soiled
in their intercourse with the world, as to be incapable of tasting
some of the purest pleasures that survive the happy period of
youth.
To such as have not yet lost the rural feeling, I address this
simple family picture; and in the honest sincerity of a warm
heart, I invite them to turn aside from bustle, care, and toil, to
tarry with me for a season, in the hospitable mansion of the
Cocklofts.
[I WAs really apprehensive, on reading the following effusion of
Will Wizard, that he still retained that pestilent hankering after
puns of which we lately convicted him. He, however, declares
that he is fully authorized by the example of the most popular
critics and wits of the present age, whose manner and matter he
has closely, and he flatters himself successfully, copied in the
subsequent essay.]