The Crayon Papers by Irving, Washington, 1783-1859

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The Crayon Papers The Seminoles Letter From Granada A Contented Man * * * * *

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The Great Mississippi Bubble "a Time Of Unexampled Prosperity"

* * * * * Don Juan A Spectral Research

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* * * * * Broek Of The Dutch Paradise

* * * * * Sketches In Paris In 1825 From The Traveling Note-book Of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

My French Neighbor

* * * * * The Englishman At Paris

* * * * * English And French Character

* * * * * The Tuileries And Windsor Castle

The Field Of Waterloo

* * * * * * * * * * Paris At The Restoration

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American Researches In Italy Life Of Tasso: Recovery Of A Lost Portrait Of Dante

G. C. The Taking Of The Veil * * * * *

* * * * * * * * * * The Charming Letorieres

Noted Down From His Conversations

The Seminoles

Origin Of The White, The Red, And The Black Men A Seminole Tradition

The Conspiracy Of Neamathla An Authentic Sketch

Letter From Granada Granada, 1828.

* * * * * Abderahman Founder Of The Dynasty Of The Ommiades Of Spain G.c. * * * * *

The Widow's Ordeal Or A Judicial Trial By Combat

The Creole Village A Sketch From A Steamboat

A Contented Man

I felt a wonderful self-complacency at being on such excellent terms with a man whom I considered on a parallel with the sages of antiquity, and looked down with a sentiment of pity on the feebler intellects of my sisters, who could comprehend nothing of metaphysics. It is true, when I attempted to study them by myself, I was apt to get in a fog; but when Glencoe came to my aid, everything was soon as clear to me as day. My ear drank in the beauty of his words; my imagination was dazzled with the splendor of his illustrations. It caught up the sparkling sands of poetry that glittered through his speculations, and mistook them for the golden ore of wisdom. Struck with the facility with which I seemed to imbibe and relish the most abstract doctrines, I conceived a still higher opinion of my mental powers, and was convinced that I also was a philosopher.

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I was now verging toward man's estate, and though my education had been extremely irregular--following the caprices of my humor, which I mistook for the impulses of my genius--yet I was regarded with wonder and delight by my mother and sisters, who considered me almost as wise and infallible as I considered myself. This high opinion of me was strengthened by a declamatory habit, which made me an oracle and orator at the domestic board. The time was now at hand, however, that was to put my philosophy to the test.

We had passed through a long winter, and the spring at length opened upon us with unusual sweetness. The soft serenity of the weather; the beauty of the surrounding country; the joyous notes of the birds; the balmy breath of flower and blossom, all combined to fill my bosom with indistinct sensations, and nameless wishes. Amid the soft seductions of the season, I lapsed into a state of utter indolence, both of body and mind.