The historic times. [volume] (Lawrence, Kansas) 1891-1891, 1891-08-15
1.-THE SCENTED GARDEN"
LADY Burton's Destruction of o Manuscripts
eft nv Her Husband.

Left BY Her Husband.
The late Sir Richard Burton, trans
1ator of s'The Arabian Nights" was one
of the most profound oriental scholars
OF his time. Some years Immediately
preceding his death were spentin trans
lating from the Arabic another book,
"A Scented Garden, which he had al
most completed. He left hardly any
property; but this work he felt would
provide amply for his wife, and in that
expectation he died. The manuscript
upon which he had lavished so much
care and labor and which he had ex-
pected would be a monument to his
genius, never reached the printers
hands. 1t was burned by his wife, who
tells thu story in a letter to London
paper:
when I locked myself up in his
rooms and sorted and examined the
manuscript read this one No prom
Use had been exacted from me, because
the end had been so unforeseen, and
remained for three days in state OF
perfect torture as to what / ought to do
about it. During that time l received
an offer from man OF six thousand
guineas for it
81 sat down on the floor before the
fire at dark to consult my own heart.
nv own head How l wanted brotherl
NV heart told me that sin is the only
rolling stone that gathers moss; that
what gentleman, a scholar, man OF
the world may write when living he
would see very differently to what the
poor soul would see standing naked be-
fore its God, with its good or evil deeds
alone to answer for, and their con-
SEQUENCES visible to it for the first mo-
ment, rolling on to the end of time.
''What would he care for the applause
of one thousand five hundred men now
for the whole worlds praise-and God
offended? My heart said: You can
have six thousand guineas; your hus-
band worked for you, kept you in
| happy home, with honor and respect
for thirty years How are you going to
reward him? That your wretched body
| NAV be fed and clothed and warmed for
few miserable months or years viii
you let that soul which is part of your
soul be left out in cold and darkness
till the end of time, till all those sins
/ which may have been committed on &C
count of reading those writing have
been expiated, or passed away perhaps
forever. Why, it would be just paral-
lei with the original thirty pieces of
| silverI
81 fetched the manuscript and laid 1t
on the ground before me. Two large
volumes worth Still my thoughts
were, Was it sacrilege?' 1t was his
magnum opus-his last work, that he
was so proud of, that was to have been
finished on the awful morrow-that
never came. VIII he rise up in his
grave and curse me or bless me? And
then / said: Not only not for six thou
sand guineas, but not for six million
guineas will l risk it, Sorrowfully
reverently, and in fear and trembling
burnt sheet after sheet until the whole
of the volume was consumed. 1t is my
belief that by this act if my husbands
soul were weighted down, the cords
were cut and it was left free to soar Il
it's native heaven"
When the literary world of Londor
knew what Lady Burton had done in
dignation ran high. Here was worl
upon which one of the ablest men of hi
time had spent years destroyed in al
Observation-Disclosures utterly. Rober
Buchanan voiced the prevailing opinion
in his reply to Lady Burton's letter
Lady Burton" said Mr.. Buchanan
feared that the work, if published
would cause incalculable mischief an'
corruption; her nature revolted agains
it, and in acting as she did she felt her
self savior of society. The destruc
ton of the manuscript was van
dalism, pure and simple, whethe
perpetrated by Torquemadi
or a John Knox, by fanatic or
gentle enthusiast, by a pure, high
souled woman or the public hangmar
Excess of love in such a matter is a
perilous as excess of hate. / put asid
t here all questions of the nature of tn
i book; doubtless it was horrible enoug
l from the ordinary point of view. 81
Richard Burton, it is well known, wa
= man absolutely Indifferent intellect
ually speaking, to ordinary standards c
morality. He was a scholar and
pagan, humanist and a scientist, an
I chiefly in his fearless and moral DARN
I consisted his claim to rank as one {
: the most original men of his genera