Значение слова IRVING в Литературной энциклопедии

IRVING

1) EDWARD (1792-1834).-Theologian and orator, _b._ at Annan, Dumfriesshire, and _ed._ at Edin. Univ., for some years thereafter was engaged in teaching at Kirkcaldy. Ordained to the ministry of the Church of Scotland he became, in 1819, assistant to Dr. Chalmers in Glasgow, after which he went to the Scotch Church in Hatton Gardens, London, where he had an almost unprecedented popularity, his admirers including De Quincey, Coleridge, Canning, Scott, and others. The effect of his spoken oratory is not preserved in his writings, and was no doubt in a considerable degree due to his striking appearance and fine voice. He is described as "a tall, athletic man, with dark, sallow complexion and commanding features; long, glossy black hair, and an obvious squint." Soon after removing to a new church in Regent Square he began to develop his views relative to the near approach of the Second Advent; and his _Homilies on the Sacraments_ involved him in a charge of heretical views on the person of Christ, which resulted in his ejection from his church, and ultimately in his deposition from the ministry. Thereafter his views as to the revival, as in the early Church, of the gifts of healing and of tongues, to which, however, he made no personal claim, underwent rapid development, and resulted in the founding of a new communion, the Catholic Apostolic Church, the adherents of which are commonly known as "Irvingites." Whether right or mistaken in his views there can be no doubt of the personal sincerity and nobility of the man. His _pub._ writings include _For the Oracles of God_, _For Judgment to Come_, and _The Last Days_, and contain many passages of majestic eloquence. 2) IRVING WASHINGTON (1783-1859).-Essayist and historian, _b._ in New York, _s._ of William I. who had emigrated from Scotland. He was in his youth delicate, and his education was somewhat desultory, but his _f._ had a fine library, of which he had the run, and he was an omnivorous reader. In 1799 he entered a law office, but a threatening of consumption led to his going, in 1804, on a European tour in search of health. On his return in 1806 he was admitted to the Bar. He did not, however, prosecute law, but joined his brothers in business as a sleeping partner, while he devoted himself to literature. In 1807 he conducted _Salmagundi_, an amusing miscellany, and in 1809 appeared _A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker_, a burlesque upon the old Dutch settlers, which has become a classic in America. He made in 1815 a second visit to Europe, from which he did not return for 17 years. In England he was welcomed by Thomas Campbell, the poet, who introduced him to Scott, whom he visited at Abbotsford in 1817. The following year the firm with which he was connected failed, and he had to look to literature for a livelihood. He produced _The Sketch-Book_ (1819), which was, through the influence of Scott, accepted by Murray, and had a great success on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1822 he went to Paris, where he began _Bracebridge Hall_, followed in 1824 by _Tales of a Traveller_. In 1826 Everett, the American minister at Madrid, invited him to come and assist him by making translations relative to Columbus, which opened up to him a new field hitherto little cultivated. The result was a series of fascinating historical and romantic works, beginning with _History of the Life and Voyages of Columbus_ (1828), and including _The Conquest of Granada_ (1829), _Voyages of the Companions of Columbus_ (1831), _The Alhambra_ (1832), _Legends of the Conquest of Spain_ (1835), and _Mahomet and his Successors_ (1849). Meanwhile he had returned to England in 1829, and to America in 1832. In 1842 he was appointed Minister to Spain, and in 1846 he finally returned to America. In the same year he _pub._ a _Life of Goldsmith_, and his great work, the _Life of Washington_, came out 1855-59, _Wolfert's Roost_, a collection of tales and essays, appeared in 1855. I. was never _m._: in his youth he had been engaged to a girl who _d._, and whose memory he faithfully cherished. His last years were spent at Sunnyside, an old Dutch house near his "sleepy hollow," and there he _d._ suddenly on Nov. 28, 1859. Though not, perhaps, a writer of commanding power or originality, I., especially in his earlier works, imparted by his style and treatment a singular charm to every subject he touched, and holds a high place among American men of letters, among whom he is the first who has produced what has, on its own merits, living interest in literature. He was a man of high character and amiable disposition.

Литературная энциклопедия. 2012