Morris: Irving' s Fiction in France 19 



ment has been repeated again and again. Out of thirteen writers who 

 have endeavored to ascertain Irving's Kterary origins, eight have men- 

 tioned the influence' of Goldsmith and seven that of Addison. He 

 ''copies" them, he ''imitates" them, he "continues" them, he "re- 

 sembles" them, he has "taken them for his model", he "proceeds from 

 them", he is of their "school", he is their "disciple", etc., etc. Then 

 come Mackenzie, Sterne, Steele, and Swift, the first of whom is men- 

 tioned in four articles, the second in three, and the remaining two in 

 two articles. According to M. Chasles, Robertson was one of his 

 masters (p. 309); according to M. Rosenzweig, he was one of the 

 "worthy successors" of Johnson (p. x). M. Milne thinks that "he 

 recalls Bacon, Milton, and their contemporaries" (p. vii), M. Buch- 

 ner calls him "the Dickens of America", and M. Haussaire sees in his 

 love of nature the influence of the English poets (p. 11). "E. D." 

 is reminded, by the History of New York, of Rabelais, and'M. 

 Fontaney finds in the Alhamhra something of the delicate humor of 

 Lesage, also a little of the caustic joviality of Cervantes (p. 548). 



On the other hand, we have some testimony tending to show that 

 he did possess originality. Note for example the following taken from 

 an article in the Globe: "One may say that since Sterne there has 

 appeared nothing more piquant and more original. "^^ The following 

 is found in the Etudes of M. Chasles (p. 50): "With Irving appears 

 the first gleam of real originality of which American literature can 

 boast." M. Haussaire asserts that Irving succeeded in rejuvenating 

 a "genre that was already old" (p. 15), and M. Milne declares that he 

 created a genre, the sketch (p. vii). He rejuvenated a genre, says M. 

 Haussaire, "by the exactitude of his observation — a thoroly modern 

 quality — by the delicacy and finish of his detail, by the boldness of 

 his stroke, by the polished grace of his form" (p. 15). "It is in his way 

 of saying things," he adds, "that his originality consists." Finally 

 M. Fievet affirms that Irving "succeeded in giving a new form to 

 well-worn themes, thanks to a remarkable gift of revery", and main- 

 tains that it is in this gift that his real originality consists (p. xiv). 



His Masterpieces and His Place in Literature. Among 

 Irving's imaginative works, the best beyond all question, if we accept 

 the verdict of a majority of those who have expressed an opinion on 

 this point, is the Sketch-book. Note the following: "It is a charming 

 book";^^ "It is a model of its kind";^*^ "Some parts of it will remain, 



53 Buchner (A), Revue des Cours liiteraires, May 23, 1868, p. 407. 



54 "E. D.", in Globe, 1827, p. 523. 



55 Rosenzweig, p. viii. 

 5fi Milne, p. vii. 



