The Crayon Papers

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Washington Irving. The Crayon Papers

MOUNTJOY OR SOME PASSAGES OUT OF THE LIFE OF A CASTLE-BUILDER

THE GREAT MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE "A TIME OF UNEXAMPLED PROSPERITY"

DON JUAN. A SPECTRAL RESEARCH

BROEK. OF THE DUTCH PARADISE

SKETCHES IN PARIS IN 1825. FROM THE TRAVELING NOTE-BOOK OF GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT

ENGLISH AND FRENCH CHARACTER

THE TUILERIES AND WINDSOR CASTLE

THE FIELD OF WATERLOO

PARIS AT THE RESTORATION

AMERICAN RESEARCHES IN ITALY. LIFE OF TASSO: RECOVERY OF A LOST PORTRAIT OF DANTE

THE TAKING OF THE VEIL

THE CHARMING LETORIÈRES

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

THE WIDOW'S ORDEAL. OR A JUDICIAL TRIAL BY COMBAT

THE CREOLE VILLAGE. A SKETCH FROM A STEAMBOAT

A CONTENTED MAN

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In the course of a voyage from England, I once fell in with a convoy of merchant ships bound for the West Indies. The weather was uncommonly bland; and the ships vied with each other in spreading sail to catch a light, favoring breeze, until their hulls were almost hidden beneath a cloud of canvas. The breeze went down with the sun, and his last yellow rays shone upon a thousand sails, idly flapping against the masts.

I exulted in the beauty of the scene, and augured a prosperous voyage; but the veteran master of the ship shook his head, and pronounced this halcyon calm a "weather-breeder." And so it proved. A storm burst forth in the night; the sea roared and raged; and when the day broke, I beheld the late gallant convoy scattered in every direction; some dismasted, others scudding under bare poles, and many firing signals of distress.

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The events of 1715 brought Law back again to Paris. Louis XIV. was dead. Louis XV. was a mere child, and during his minority the Duke of Orleans held the reins of government as Regent. Law had at length found his man.

The Duke of Orleans has been differently represented by different contemporaries. He appears to have had excellent natural qualities, perverted by a bad education. He was of the middle size, easy and graceful, with an agreeable countenance, and open, affable demeanor. His mind was quick and sagacious, rather than profound; and his quickness of intellect, and excellence of memory, supplied the lack of studious application. His wit was prompt and pungent; he expressed himself with vivacity and precision; his imagination was vivid, his temperament sanguine and joyous; his courage daring. His mother, the Duchess of Orleans, expressed his character in a jeu d'esprit. "The fairies," said she, "were invited to be present at his birth, and each one conferring a talent on my son, he possesses them all. Unfortunately, we had forgotten to invite an old fairy, who, arriving after all the others, exclaimed, 'He shall have all the talents, excepting that to make a good use of them.'"

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