CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Life and Letters of Washington Irving. Edited by Pierre M. Irving. Vol. III. (Bentley).—This volume of Washington Irving's biography carries us over a period of nearly fifteen years, commencing from his return to his native land in 1832. It was during his residence in Europe, which had extended over several years, that he had esta- blished his reputation as an author ; and his return to America was greeted with an outburst of that demonstrative welcome of which the Yankees are so lavish on every available occasion. He remained in America till 1842, when he repaired to Madrid, having been appointed United States Ambassador at the Spanish Court. After holding this office for four years he sent in his resignation and returned home, and did not again leave America during the thirteen remaining years of his life. This portion of Irving's career was not a very fruitful one from a literary point of view. He appears to have completed nothing but the " Tour in the Prairies," "Astoria," and a few short sketches, and to have commenced his "Life of Washington." It should, however, be mentioned that he devoted some time to the collection of materials for and the commencement of a " History of the Conquest of Mexico," a task which he abandoned on fin 'thug that Mr. Prescott was engaged on the same subject ; and that during a considerable portion of his resi- dence at Madrid he was incapacitated from writing by a troublesome and persistent malady. This volume is, like its predecessors, in great measure occupied by Irving's correspondence, the editor having left the letters to tell their own story with the smallest possible amount of ex- traneous aid. Some of the letters which Mr. P. M. Irving has admitted into his book are, perhaps, somewhat deficient in general interest, but they are all genial and pleasant, and we can quite understand that in this case the task of selection may have been attended with unusual difficulty. There is a very characteristic letter from Charles Dickens, the first that he ever wrote to Irving, which will probably strike the reader, when he takes into consideration the respective ages of the cor- respondents, as being rather too affable to be quite pleasant, Irving, however, does not appear to have seen it in that light. There is also a kind of appendix, consisting of a communication from Mrs. Dawson, which arrived too late for insertion in its proper place, giving an account of Irving's intercourse with her family daring his residence in Dresden in 1822. From this it appears that Irving suffered for a time from a fruitless attachment to one of this lady's sisters. Some of the details furnished by Mrs. Dawson are rather interesting, but wo are sorry that we cannot say much in praise either of her good taste or of her literary atyle. We congratulate Mr. P. M. Irving on having brought his work thus far towards a successful completion.
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