New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-03

Miss Louise Imogen Quincy has written a
little book on Robert Emmett In II she prints
some new material discovered among the
Hardwicke manuscripts in the British Museum
Always welcome documents relating
to George Borrow. MIR. Clement Shorter mas
the famous man in the shape Of a letter written
by MIR. Edwin. who was once Editor OF Inc
Quarterly Review and knew Borrow we'll AG-
dressing a correspondent in Norwich In 1875,
Edwin wrote follows:
II used occasionally to meet Borrow at the
house of Mr. Murray, his publisher, and he once
stayed with me here for two or three days about
1885. He always seemed to me quite at ease
among refined people. and L should not nave
to his resentment at finding himself out or keep
Ing with his society. A spirit of self-assertlon
was ingrained in him. and it was supported oy
| a combatiye temperament AS he was proud or
his bodily prOwess and rather given to parade
il, he took the same view of an argument as
of battle with fists and thought that rnaIlIl-
ness required him to be determined and I'M
hinching But this, in my experience OF him,
was not his ordinary manner, which was calm
and companiOnable. without rudeness OF any
kind, unless difference occurred to provoke
his pugnacity. / have witnessed instances of his
care to avoid wounding feelings needlessly. He
never kept back his opinions. which on some
points shallow and even absurd, and when
his antagonist was as persistently positive as
himself he was apt to be OVer-VeheInent IN con-
tradiction- / have heard Mr.. Murray say that
once in dispute with Dr. Whewel at a dinner
the language on both sides grew so fiery that
Mrs. WheweIl tainted.
HE told me that his composition cost him
vast amount OF labor. that his first drafts were
diffuse and crude and that he wrote his produc-
lions several times before he had condensed and
polished them to his mind There is nothing
chocer in the English language than some OF his
narratives, descriptions and sketches of char
acter but in his best books he did not always
prune sufficiently. and in his last work. Wild
Wales he seemed 10 me have lost the faculty
altogether. Mt Murray long refused 70 publish
II unless it was curtailed. and Borrow. with his
usual self-will and self-contidence, refused to
retrenCh the trtvialities. Either he got his own
way in the end or he revised his manuscript 10
little purpose.
Probably most Of what there was to tell Of
Borrow has been related by himself 1t is a dis
advantage in I.avengrO' and ROmany Rye that
cannot with certainty separate fact from ne
tion for he avowed in talk that. like Goethe, he
had assumed the right in the interests of the
autobiographiCaI narrative to embellish it in
places, but the main outline and larger part or
the details are the genuine record of what he
had seen and done, and can testify that some
OF his minor persOnages who were known to me
in my bOyhood described with perfect accu-
racy-
A stepson of Mr. A W. Pinero. the dramatist.
is about to make his debut in authorship. He
has written a book Corea having spent q
year in the country. and made there and 1T
home an exhaustive study OF his subject
Mr.. Kipling is always thought Of as young
man who bounded almost Immediately into
fame He certainly did not have to wait long
for appreciation of his great gifts; but if he was
loved India Mr. E. Kay Robinson. old
friend OF kiplng's. writing about the latter in
n recent number OF ~. c., has this to say on
the subject:
What was surprising at Lahore that
scarcely any seemed to have the
opinion OF KiplinG's genius Men laughed
the club when 1 said that the day would
come when they would be proud OF having
known Rudyard Kipling. 1 made q bet with
one the subject. but whether I
lost will never be decided kipling Ger
tainIy world famous before the time limit OF
the bet was reached. but the other man was
then dead. He had belonged to the official ariS-
tocraCy of India, whose tendency to regard
kpling as clever yOungster. with easy
knack Of juggling rhyme. but no sense of the
proprieties; and as for genius! Even among
the young of both seXeS-and perhaps the women
or all Rges-to whom kipling's verses were q
constant delight. the opinion that he a
gen us scarcely existed: and at the club. when
1 affirmed that he would be the writer OF the
century. would usually be met with the retort
that l was cracked about kipling.'"
Readers of Wilkie Collins. that master of ao-
sorbinG narrative. will be glad to hear that a
new edition OF The Woman in White" Is being
printed 1t will contain a photogravure por-
trait, biographical note and sixteen illustra-
tons This Is the kind OF reprint that We
seldom have occasion to notice. Publishers find
1T 80 profitable to bring out editions OF
Goldsmith or Sterns OF Lamb that they forget
the modern classic.