New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-12

all the folklore that my great grandsire nedru
{, the Indian wipwams in those old days
Such stories heard in childhood are surrey SUM
Gent of themselves to account for the Io'e
which Leland in later life developed for Indian
folklore. as shown in some very calefui fecoroS
of Investigation which he has published AS
he says Of Borrow one may also say oi hi''''
that his instructive love Of Nature accounts lor
many Of his strongest individual traits WIN
men, Indians or Gypses. are quick 10 ho-e '"ose
peculiarities which make man one OF 'he'"-
selves 1t is thus that he alludes 10 'his IN
stinct in him:
To become intimate did in time during n
years in Brighton off and on, WIN an ',ic
gypsies who rOamed the south Of England 10 DC
beloved of the old fortune-teers and the emil
dren and mothers as | was ana 10 De hiuch III
tents involves a great deal Of strangely pc
turesoue rural life, nght-scenes by nrenght' IN
forests and by river banks. and marvellously
odd "reminiscences Of other days. AFTER a niue
while / found that the Romany element was
spread strangely and mysterously rounu apout
among the rural population in many ways 1
went one day with Francis II. Groome 20 COD
ham Fair AS / was about to enter tavern;
there stood near by three men whose faces anu
general appearance had nothing Of the gypsy,
but as | passed, one said to the other so that
/ could hear: ;,
"Dikk adovo rye Sc o Romany rye. yuv. tacho'
Q4ook at that gentleman; he Is gypsy gentle
man. sure. 49,,
NATURALLY turned my head hearing this, when
he burst out laughing. and said: go
Il told YOU I'd make him look round
Once was startled at hearing well-dressed:
I may say a gentlemanli looking man. seated
in gig with a fine horse. stopping ny 'he
road say as / passed with my wife
"Dikk adovo gorgio adoi" Qook at that gentle
or no-gypsy).
Not being accustomed to hearing myself called
a gorgio / glanced up angrily at him. wren ne,
perceiving that understood him and was Oh the
mysterious brotherhood smiled and touch"i ms
hat to me One touch OF nature makes the
whole world grin.
Now. these more or less occult relations to
Indians are not the matter OF Leand's mystifi-
cation; but they lead directly TO II. He is as
thoroughly at home in the midst of superstition
as ever Borrow or Burton could be. and he Is
so because he is frankly superstitious himself
lie is as eager to touch things for luck as ever
Borrow was and he has all OF Burton's Oriental
confidence in his own moods. Reflex action OF
the BRAIN" he exclaims, land secondary automa-
tism 1t must be so-Hacckel. thou reasoncst
well. But when the Old Injun' and my High
Dutch ancestor upon me. / reason not
at all ami then / see visions ana cream
dreams and it always comes true without the
least sclf-decepton or dcluson." He tells
stories not only Of his trust In himself but of the
confidence inspired in others. Recruiting
dangerous adventure in the rapids Of West
Virginia mountain river. when simple faith in
his predictions saved the crew of dugout. he
adds, speaking of the leader Of the mountain
GERS: From that hour l was Kchee-bo-o-in or
Grand Pow-wow to Sam Fox and his friends.
He believed in me. even as ] believe In myself
when such mad spells come over me-" And this
is the man who declares himself too much OF
an Agnostic even to NEEDLE with the unknow-
able Is ii any wonder that he can wiring mean
tatons from the scc-etive memories Of Etrusco-
Roman witches?
Mr. Leland. in his recollectons OF his early
youth. gives some amusing Illustrations Of the
conviction of bankers and merchants in the
New-York, Philadelphia and Boston of sixty
years ago that even a wealthy and successful
editor. literary man or artist was really an in
ferior compared to themselves.
But at that time the position of the literary
man or scholar with the exception Of a very
few brilliant nagnates Who had made money"
was in the United States not al enviable one.
Serious interest in arts and letters was not
understood. generally sympathized with.
il now IL in "QuakerdeSphia." There was
gentleman in Philadelphia who was a scholar.
and who. having lived long abroad, had accumu-
lated a very curious BACK letter and rariora
library. For n long tinIc observed that this
librarv was never mentioned In polite circles
withou: significant smiles One day heard alady
J
what kind Of books he has and how he OBJ
tained them So / inquired very naturally
if he had come by item dishonesty To which
the reply half whispered in my ear lest it
should be overheard was They say his books
are all old things which he did not buy at
any fTst-class stores. but picked up a old stalls
and in secondhand shops at less than their
value; in fact, they did not cost him much
OF his most famous collection of poems. those
Of which Hans Brctmann is the hero Mr..
did not discover how good his work until
somebody else told him. He writes that the
type of Bretmann as a soldier was a cavalry
man in the company of Captain William Cotton.
named Yos, The ballads were published as
occasion served. and it printer. also
man Of letters. who suggested that they be
gathered into volume. As the poems
already well known, the edition had n ready aHl
wide SALE and the publication in England sub
sequenuy led to a long controversy. But ,ir.
Leland only refers incidentally to his literary
works. In his youth II was often said to
him that he could never be successful because
he had not in him the making Of business
man that he devotes great deal Of space to
showing just how successful he a ncws-
paper man. But the fact is. there are hundreds
Of us who could have done almost or quite
well In this respect. There Is only man on
earth who could have created Hans Breitmann
or could have opened the way TO the curious
lore which Mr.. Leland has discovered. The
world no longer cares whether he is practical
or not. Nevertheless Mr.. Leland's narrative Of
his work under Colonel Forney has an interes.
Of its own. lie had taste Of war, too as an
emergency volunteer In the Gettysburg cam
paign. Frankly would give all these things
in exchange for thorough study from within
Of one Of the most individual men Of the pres
ent century.