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.

38 SALMAGUNDI.
the Naiades and Dryades, the shell of the Tritons, and the
sweet warblings of the Mermaids of ancient days I Where now
shall we seek the Amphion, who built walls with a turn of his
hurdy-gurdy, the Orpheus who made stones to whistle about his
ears, and trees hop in a country dance, by the mere quavering
of his fiddle-stick I Ah I had I the power of the former, how
soon would I build up the new City Hall,* and save the cash
and credit of the Corporation; and how much sooner would I
build myself a snug house in Broadway —nor would it be the
first time a house has been obtained there for a song. In my
opinion, the Scotch bagpipe is the only instrument that rivals
the ancient lyre, and I am surprised it should be almost the
only one entirely excluded from our concerts.
Talking of concerts reminds me of that given a few nights
since by Mr. WILSON, at which I had the misfortune of being
present. It was attended by a numerous company, and gave
great satisfaction, if I may be allowed to judge from the frequent
gapings of the audience; though I will not risk my credit as a
connoisseur by saying whether they proceeded from wonder or a
violent inclination to doze. I was delighted to find in the mazes
of the crowd my particular friend'Sbidlikens, who had put on
his cognoscenti phiz-he being, according to his own account, a
profound adept ill the science of music. He can tell a crotchet
at first sight; and, like a true Englishman, is delighted with the
plum-pudding rotundity of a semibref; and, in short, boasts of
having incontinently climbed up Paff's musical tree, t which hang'>
every day upon the poplar, from the fundamental concord to the
* This edifice, the corner-stone of which was laid by Mayor Edward
Livingston in 1803, was not finished till 1812.
t An emblematical device, suspended from a poplar in front of the
shop of Paff, a music-seller in Broadway.-Paris Ed.