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.

382 SALMAGUNDI.
DEAR ANTHONY:
Going down Broadway this morning in a great hurry, I ran
full against an object which at first put me to a prodigious nonplus. Observing it to be dressed in a man's hat, a cloth overcoat, and spatterdashes, I framed my apology accordingly, exclaiming, "My dear sir, I ask ten thousand pardons-I assure you,
sir, it was entirely accidental-pray excuse me, sir," etc. At
every one of these excuses, the thing answered me with a downright laugh; at which I was not a little surprised, until, on resorting to my pocket-glass, I discovered that it was no other than
my old acquaintance, Clarinda Trollop. I never was more chagrined in my life; for, being an old bachelor, I like to appear as
young as possible, and am always boasting of the goodness of
my eyes. I beg of you, Mr. Evergreen, if you have any feeling
for your contemporaries, to discourage this hermaphrodite mode
of dress; for really, if the fashion take, we poor bachelors will
be utterly at a loss to distinguish a woman from a man. Pray
let me know your opinion, sir, whether a lady who wears a man's
hat and spatterdashes before marriage, may not be apt to usurp
some other article of his dress afterward.
Your humble servant,
RODERIC WORRY.
DEAR MR. EVERGREEN:
The other night, at Richard the Third, I sat behind three
gentlemen who talked very loud on the subject of Richard's
wooing Lady Ann directly in the face of his crimes against that
lady. One of them declared such an unnatural scene would be
hooted at in China. Pray, sir, was that Mr. Wizard?
SELINA BADGER.
P.S. The gentleman I allude to had a pocket-glass, and wore