The New-York Historical Society ing, little dreaming that a future biographer was before him, laid his hand on the child's head and "gave him his blessing." Irving's school advantages were very limited: he attended those of the city, his teachers being men of only moderate attainments with one exception — Jonathan Fisk — under whose direction Irving acquired a little knowledge of Latin. He seemed also to be noted for his truthfulness, though that was not of the "Cherry Tree" quality, because he often deceived his father by stealthily taking lessons in dancing and by paying frequent visits to that forbidden ground, the theatre, with which he was enchanted. This wasn't serious, however, and it didn't follow that young Irving, though gaining little knowledge from teachers, was not acquiring mental material for future authorship, because he was. His mind was exceedingly sensitive to happenings about him and while school books failed to command much of his attention, he had a great imagination which we see in those bewitching tales of the Hudson. He applied himself to study after a fashion though — enough to pass his examination and gain admittance to the bar in 1806. Before that — when he was twenty — he began writing for the New York Morning Chronicle, of which his brother was editor, using the pseudonym of Jonathan Oldstyle. At twenty- one he sailed for Europe, remaining there two years, and after his return, published (in 1807) his Salmagundi. It was in 1809 that A History of New York from the Beginning of the World tothe End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker, a humorous, whimsical and genially satirical sketch, appeared; and that was the beginning of his literary success: it brought him reputation and money — also a resolve to quit the law business and write for a living. Advertising, like the country, was in its infancy then, but the way the "History" was announced and placed on the market could be emulated with success and profit by present-day organizations. Here was the program: — A paragraph appeared in