The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-03

NtHHA.Ef W. WV ht"NfNG INV 80 -
maisrual sraadmotheg hs Was deposndsd
from ths iamU,a gc1toh msFsuasf Mo-
Ray hurton'a passuts Were tAsut Col
~ n Burton, Wh0, 80 ere told, 49, = tAH'
haHdsome maa, with aalsoW attn, daft hair
and coal black syes. and Martha HschWith
flaksr. the accomplished but plain feasufef
daughter n Hlchaed and sarah HaheS ~
tafham Hotss, EistFee, H~ertfoFdahifs
Hchaff Bskev va IN opulent couniTy
aen,lemsn and fbs moat important pers
sonaea In hla parish A shfewd man NJ
btNlneus ton, M tIef No. every fafthtna
~ his daughters fortune (Sss, 00o,
fhefein. ~ ths event proved, NJ shoWed
fofethoueht, for huft0n'a father had
hut n chlld's notion ~ the uee ~ money
The Hurtona resided ~ ToYduay. and
hers thelr son. Richard ffaaoia. vas
horn on March 10, is7i On heafina that
the hair ~ the newborn child was Q hsfcs
and nery red, old NJ. Haher vowed 10 aeavs
him the whole ~ hia fortune, In coneldeses
tlon ~ which exemplary resolve the Birtoua
presently vent IN reside Al Bafbam HOIss
with the baby's grandparents. AL u turned
out, Richards hair gradually changed from
a flaming and obtruaive rcd n jet black,
hut the violsnt temper Of which the former
color Ia supposed 10 be Indicative marked
him 10 tho end Of his life. Mr.. Baker. a.
ws have seen. had intended 10 leave the
whole Of his property. about half 9 million
pounds sterling, 10 his grandson. and an old
will made In 1919 was 10 be cancelled, But
Richard Burton mother had q half brother
-Riohard Baker. Jr.-to whom she wac
e~GtravaRAntly attached, and In order that
this brother should not lose o fortune abe
did everything In her power 10 prevent her
father from carrying out his purpose.
though her own son would gain by u. AZ
II happened. Mr.. Baker fell dead Of heart
disease at the door Of the law offioe where
he was about to make a new will. SO the
property vas divided among tho children.
Burton's mother merely taking her share.
But for this extraordinary incident the
future explorer might have led the life OF an
undistinguished country gentleman.
Richard Burton was first taught by an
Irishman named Clough. who kept a school
at Tours where his parents wers then
sojourning), and afterward he was grounded
in Latin and Greek at the academy Of a
Mr.. John Gilchrist in the same city. The
child was father Of the man in this sense,
that Richard during his boyhood was. to
use his own expression, a perfect devilet.'
Already a stoio in times OF suffering, he
took infinite pains TO conceal his feelings.
All n day he was in frightful agony with
the toothache but nobody knew anything
about II until next morning, when his cheek
was swollen to the size Of an egg. He tried,
too, to smother every affectiopate instinct,
but when under strong emotion was not
always successful. Once. throwing stones,
he cut his SISTERS forehead. Forgetting
all his stoical resolutions, he few to her,
flung his arms around her. kissed her again
and again and then burst into q fit OF cry
ing. As a roy Richard was fond Of pets
and often spents hours trying to revive
misfortune. 1t lie an interesting coincidence
that, when q man OF 90, on the very last
day Of his life, he tried to resuscitate a
half drowned robin. In 1879, the Burtons
returned to England and took a house
In Richmond, whore their two sons were
sent to a preparatory school. Being now
6, Richards character had begun to develop,
and out OF school hours he employed him
self fighting with the other boys; at n
time he had thirty-two affairs Of honor to
settle. Measles having broken out In school,
the pupils were dispersed, and Col. Burton,
tired Of Richmond, made again for the Con-
tinent. The two boys hurrahed when they
left what they called 'wretched little Eng
land but subsequently Richard held that
his having been educated abroad wal an
incalculable loss to him. He said the more
English a boy 10. even to the cut OF his
hair, the better is his chance in life. After
spending a year at Blois, the Burtons pushed
on to Italy. where, with the exoeption'o of a
short intermediate s~ojourn at Pau, they
remained until 1910, when they returned to,
England, in order that the two boys might
have a university education. ~Singularly
enough, the father regarded Richard at this
time as being most sdaPtcd for holy
orders. His department was perfect, the
ladies' admired him and his worst enemies
had not yet accused him OF teing 1un-
orthodox in his views though, as 1t hap
pened, he had never heard of the Thirty
nine Article.
OF course, he was not suitably prepared
for a career at an English university,
though he could speak 1uently French,
Italian and modern Greek. After a title
coaching, however, he entered Trinity
College, Oxford, in October, 1910. Here
his reception was not pleasant. He had
grown a splendid mustache abroad and
declined to be shaved until formal orders
we're issued by the college authorities.
An undergraduate who laughed at him he
challenged to fight a duel; and when he was
reminded that Oxford men" liked to visit
freshmen's rooms and play practical Jokes.
he stirred his fire heated his poker red hot
and waited impatiently for callers. His
first month was spent not in studying but
in rowing, fencing. shooting the college
rocks and breaking the rules generally.
1t was in a fencing saloon that he met
Alfred Bates Richard, who became his
lifelong friend, and was himself to be a
voluminous author. Another friend Of
Burton at Oxford was Tom Hughes,
author OF tom Browns School Days
the man who, in Burton's phrase, taught
boys not to be ashamed OF being called
good" The only preacher Burton would
isten to was Newman, then Vicar Of St.
Mary's; OF Pusey's long winded harangues
he could not bear eve to think. Although
unable to bend himself to the drudgery
Of Oxford, Burton was already forming
vast ambitions. He longed to excel as a
linguist and particularly. in Oriental Ian