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.

AN EMBLEM OF BENEVOLENCE. 359
The strange conjectures concerning him rushed on my grandfather's mind; " he is an idolater I" thought he, " and is worshipping the sun I" He listened a moment and blushed at his
own uncharitable suspicion; he was only engaged in the pious
devotions of a Christian. His simple orison being finished, the
little man in black withdrew his eyes from the east, and taking
my grandfather's hand in one of his, and making a motion with
the other toward the sun: "I love to contemplate it," said he,
"'tis an emblem of the universal benevolence of a true Christian;-and it is the most glorious work of him, who is philanthropy itself I" My grandfather blushed still deeper at his
ungenerous surmises; he had pitied the stranger at first, but
now he revered him. He turned once more to regard him, but
his countenance had undergone a change; the holy enthusiasm
that had lighted up each feature, had given place to an expression of mysterious import; a gleam of grandeur seemed to
steal across his Gothic visage, and he appeared full of some
mighty secret which he hesitated to impart. He raised the tattered nightcap that had sunk almost over his eyes, and waving
his withered hand with a slow and feeble expression of dignity,
"In me," said he, with laconic solemnity,-" in me you behold
the last descendant of the renowned Linkum Fidelius!" My
grandfather gazed at him with reverence; for though he had
never heard of the illustrious personage, thus pompously
announced, yet there was a certain black-letter dignity in the
name that peculiarly struck his fancy and commanded his respect.
"You have been kind to me," continued the little man in
black, after a momentary pause, "and richly will I requite your
kindness by making you heir to my treasures I In yonder large
deal box are the volumes of my illustrious ancestor, of which I