The hearty grasp of the Minstrel at the gateway of
Abbotsford was in reality a warm handshake to a wider brotherhood
beyond the sea.
* * *
In purple tints woven together
The Hudson shakes hands with the Tweed,
Commingling with Abbotsford's heather
The clover of Sunnyside's mead.
_Wallace Bruce._
* * *
=Washington Irving.=--While he was building "Sunnyside," a letter came
from Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, appointing him minister
to Spain. It was unexpected and unsolicited, and Webster remarked that
day to a friend: "Washington Irving to-day will be the most surprised
man in America." Irving had already shown diplomatic ability in London
in promoting the settlement of the "North Western Boundary," and his
appointment was received with universal favor. Then as now Sunnyside
was already a Mecca for travelers, and, among many well-known to fame,
was a young man, afterwards Napoleon the Third. Referring to his
visit, Irving wrote in 1853: "Napoleon and Eugenie, Emperor and
Empress! The one I have had as a guest at my cottage, the other I have
held as a pet child upon my knee in Granada.
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