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.

304 SALMAGUNDI.
the orchard I intrepidly robbed in the halcyon days of boyhood.
The fields are still green, the river still rolls unaltered and
undiminished, and the orchard is still flourishing and fruitful;it is I only am changed. The thoughtless flow of mad-cap
spirits that nothing could depress-the elasticity of nerve that
enabled me to bound over the field, to stem the stream and
climb the tree-the'sunshine of the breast' that beamed an
illusive charm over every object, and created a paradise around
me! —where are they?-the thievish lapse of years has stolen
them away, and left in return nothing but grey hairs, and a
repining spirit." My friend Launcelot concluded his harangue
with a sigh, and as I saw he was still under the influence of a
whole legion of the blues, and just on the point of sinking into
one of his whimsical and unreasonable fits of melancholy abstraction, I proposed a walk. He consented, and slipping his left arm
in mine, and waving in the other a gold-headed thorn cane,
bequeathed him by his uncle John, we slowly rambled along the
margin of the river.
Langstaff, though possessing great vivacity of temper, is most
woefully subject to these " thick coming fancies;" and I do not
know a man whose animal spirits do insult him with more jiltings, and coquetries, and slippery tricks. In these moods he is
often visited by a whim-wham which be indulges in common
with the Cocklofts. It is that of looking back with regret, conjuring up the phantoms of good old times, and decking them
out in imaginary finery, with the spoils of his fancy; like a good
lady widow, regretting the loss of the "poor dear man;" for
whom, while living, she cared not a rush. I have seen him and
Pindar, and old Cockloft, amuse themselves over a bottle with
their youthful days, until by the time they had become what is
termed merry, they were the most miserable beings in existence.