The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-22

other people than to any other cause
Eth! Compare the monuments OF the
preacher and his fraternai charge!
Norwich was George Borrow's boy
town. and even in school days there
IAN odd. Wild boy" the call Of the road
came to him insistently. and his truani
days were spent tramping over the
countryside and mixing with the motley
crowds at horse fairs. As a lawyers
clerk his mind was full Of gypsles and
prizefghters. and Welsh and Danish
etymologies. lese majesty to King Lex.
Capt. Borrow died In the February Of
1924. and In April George went to Lon.
don to put his literary aspirations L.
the test, armed with introductions from
William Taylor. q Norwich friend, and
manuscripts Of his own translation,
from Danish and Welsh poetry. The
principal Introduction was to Sit
Richard Phillips. who was N turn
farmer. school teacher, politician AND
publisher; he got out handy reference
books. "A Million Of Facts" "A Chro.
nology Of Public Events Within the Last
Fifty Years, from 1771 to 1921" and "A
Morning Walk from London to Kew
Phillips had Just taken UP q new mag
azine. and welcomed Borrow a. Q hack
to help run Il: besides. he had written
Twelve Essays on the Phenomena OF
Nature" an erudite study At for Ger
man consumption, and wanted q trans
| lator.
| Taylor. himself a German scholar
OF credit and renown, had vouched
for Borrow's linguistic attainments
Phillips put his new employee at work
upon his Celebrated Trials" at which
Borrow found him Hard driving task
master. and turned the essays over TO
him for translation. This was a fall
ure. Borrow could read many tongues,
but was not enough Of a grammarian
to compose In them. The publisher s
German friends assured him Of the de-
ficiencies Of the translation: the job
was given to an echt Deutscher, and
the book was published at Stuttgart in
| 1926. At this time Borrow was very
deep In the doleful dumps; q diRp-
pointed writer. tempted. It is said. to
| suicide.
In 1926 he published his first book,
an unsigned translation Of klinger's
"Faustus." There IL record Of . letter
to Simpkin and Marshall. the publish
ers: "As your bill will become payable
In few days I am willing to take
thirty copies Of 'Faustus,' instead OF
the money. The book has been burnt
in both the libraries here. and, az Il
has been talked about I may perhaps
be able to dispose Of some In the course
Of year or 3d." The Literary Ga
zette gave the book warmth Of well
come: This is another work to which
no respectable publisher ought to have
allowed his name to be put. The polti-
cal illusions and metaphysics, which
may have made 1t popular among a low
class In Germany. do not sufficiently
season its lewd scenes and coarse de-
scriptions for British palates. We have
occasionally publications for the fire.
side; these are only fit for the fire."
The Romantic Ballads" Danish, Of
1926. was Borrow's first signed book
II sold well in Norwich, but found no
appreciation elsewhere. Mr.. Shorter
parallels parts OF Borrow's and Mat
thew Arnold's renditions OF 1.-THE De-
ceived Norman" Borrow made II:
NOW. Agnes. Agnes, list to me,
Thy babes are longing so after thee."
Il cannot come yet, here must stay
until the priest shall have said his say"
And when the priest had said his say.
She thought with her mother at home she'd
stay.
"oh. Agnes Agnes. list to me.
Thy babes are sorrowlng after thee"
Let them sorrow and sorrow their oil,
But back to them never return I will"
At the hands OF poet this becomes
(Arnold):
We climbed on the graves. on the stones
worn with rains.
And we gazed up the aisies through the
small loaded psnes
She safe by the pillar. we saw her clear:
Margaret. hist! Come quick. we are here!
The sea grows stormy. the littls ones
moan"
But an. she gave me never a look.
For her eyes were sealed on the holy book.
Loud prays the priest. shut stands the door
Come away. children, call no more.
Come away. come down. call more.
There is something to be said in
Borrow's favor even here; but how far
was he in 1926 from the Borrow Of i'm
mortality. Which only goes TO show
how foolish II is for a man with
"Lavengro' in him to be discouraged
and threaten" suicide because his "Ro-
mantle Ballads are stillborn.
Follow then eight years of vaga-
bondage" years that offer almost no
material for the biographer though
they made "Lavengro" rich; the "veiled
period" of Borrow's life. They were
probably spent in much larger measure
than is commonly thought in hard
drud8ing linguistic study: and at last
he found a Jealous friend who was
prepared 10 go forward with him In
this work of giving to the English pub
lie translations from the literatures OF
the northern nations" This friend
was DR.. afterward Sir John Bowrng
Mr. Shorter prints in full fourteen let
tiers from Borrow to Bowring that have
hitherto been published only In part
They show George Henry in full appre-
citation OF the part of patron" to which
he had assigned his friend.
One OF these letters illumnates the
activities of those yelled" years:
MY Dean sin: l have looked over Mr.
Grundtv!gs manuscript. 1t Is a very long
AFFAIR. and the language Is Norman Saxon
Forty pounds would not be an extravaxant
price for transcript, and so they told
him at the museum. However as | am
doing nothing particular at present, and
AS might learn something from transcrib.
Ing It, l would do 1t for f?o. He will call
on you tomorrow morning and then n
you please you may recommend me- The
character closely resembles the ancient
Irish. so think you can answer for my
competency. Yours most truly,