Part 1 (2/2)

Of the friends of Sir Richard Burton who have been interviewed I must enerous assistance, this work I must frankly admit, could not have been written

He, and he alone, held the keys to whole chambers of ive me the material required

Indeed, in his first letter of reply to ust 1904) he declined positively either to enter the lists against Burton, hom, he said, he had been on terms of intimate friendshi+p, or to discuss the matter at all ”As for what,” he said, ”it pleases the public to think (save the mark!) of the relativeceased to care a straw” But this led ly I assured Mr Payne that the public had been unjust to hireat task of co the two translations, and because the true history of the case had never been laid before them I assured him that I yielded to nobody in admiration of Sir Richard Burton--that is, on account of what he (Sir Richard) did do, not on account of what he did not do; and I gave it as my opinion that Mr Payne owed it both to the public and to himself to lay bare the whole story After several letters and interviews I at last induced hiive way; and I think the public will thank me for my persistency

My revelations, which for story, will no doubt coine the like a bombshell into some circles; but they are founded, not only upon conversations with Mr Payne, but upon Burton's own letters to Mr Payne, all of which have been in my hands, and careful study of the two translations The public, however, cannot possibly be more surprised than I e, I could scarcely believe my own eyes; and only one conclusion was possible Burton, indeed, has taken from Payne at least three-quarters of the entire work He has transferred many hundreds of sentences and clauses bodily Soe with only a word or two altered [7] In short, aift which he did not possess [8]--that of being a great translator If the public are sorry, we are deeply sorry, too, but we cannot help it Burton's exalted position, however, as ethnologist and anthropologist, is unassailable He was the greatest linguist and traveller that England ever produced And four thrones are surely enough for any aveplaced all the docuain--”Wherever there is any doubt, give Burton the benefit of it,” and I have done so

In dealing with the fight [9] over The Arabian Nights I have endeavoured to write in such a way as to give offence to nobody, and for that reason have made a liberal use of asterisks I a this because no one is better aware than myself of the services that some of Burton's most bitter opponents--those ten or twelve men whom he contemptuously tere In short, I regard the battle as fought and won I a history NoLane in the sa to Mr Payne his own, I have had no desire to detract from Burton Indeed, it is impossible to take froreat reat lory Burton is the ist, Mr Payne the brilliant poet and prose writer Mr Payne did not go to Mecca or Tanganyika, Burton did not translate The Arabian Nights, [10] or write The Riil and Vision

He did, however, produce the annotations of The Arabian Nights, and a reh and distinct work they for spent with Mr Watts-Dunton at The Pines, Putney The conversation ran chiefly on the Gipsies, [11]

upon whom Mr Watts-Dunton is one of our best authorities, and the various translations of The Arabian Nights Both he and Mr A C

Swinburne have testified to Burton's personal charm and his marvellous powers ”He was a much valued and loved friend,” wrote Mr Swinburne to htful recollections”

Mr Swinburne has kindly allowed nificent poem on ”The Death of Richard Burton” Dr Grenfell Baker, who Sir Richard's last three years; and he has since very kindly helped reat object of this book is to tell the story of Burton's life, to delineate as vividly as possible his renetic personality, and to defend hi it my difficulties have been two First, Burton hirapher, and we retfully that we have occasionally found hi history in order to suit his own ends [13] He would have put his life to the touch rather than ht any man would suffer thereby; but he see strictly to the truth if nobody was likely to be injured Secondly, Lady Burton, with haughty indifference to the opinions of everyone else, always exhibited occurrences in the light in which she herself desired to see them

This fact and the extreme haste hich her book ritten are sufficient to account for s She relied entirely upon her own iisters and all such docuins with the misstatement that Burton was born at Elstree, she makes scarcely any reference to his ly [14] Her relance at that poe of The Arabian Nights is at variance with Burton's own letters and conversations I am assured by several who knew Burton intimately that the untrustworthiness of the latter part of Lady Burton's ”Life” of her husband is owing mainly to her over-anxiety to shi+eld him from his enemies But I think she mistook the situation I do not believe Burton had any enemies to speak of at the time of his death

If Lady Burton's treatment of her husband's unfinished works cannot be defended, on the other hand I shall show that the loss as regards The Scented Garden was chiefly a pecuniary one, and therefore almost entirely her own The publication of The Scented Garden would not--it could not--have added to Burton's fame However, the matter will be fully discussed in its proper place

It has generally been supposed that two other difficulties rapher of Burton--the first being Burton's choice of subjects, and the second the friction between Lady Burton and the Stisteds But as regards the first, surely we are justified in assu that Burton's studies were pursued purely for historical and scientific purposes He himself insisted in season and out of season that his outlook was solely that of the student, and hly convinced me that, however much we may deprecate soh in his pursuit of thee as it may seem to some ears, was a cold one [15]; and at the ti of his studies he was an oldto night, year in year out, entleling, golden, minted quid,” as R L Stevenson would have said, in his pocket In his hunger for the faot to feed his body, and had to be constantly reminded of its needs by his medical attendant and others And then he would wolf down his food, in order to get back quickly to his absorbing work The study had become a monomania with him

I do not think there is a more pathetic story in the history of literature than that which I have to tell of the last feeeks of Burton's life You are to see the oldtwenty-five hours a day, as it were--in order to get completed a work by which he supposed he was to live for ever In the same room sits the ho dearly loves him, and whoone She burns, page by page, the work at which he had toiled so long and so patiently And here comes the pathos of it--she was, in the circuards Lady Burton and the Stisteds, it was natural, perhaps, that between a staunch Protestant fa Catholic like Lady Burton there should have been friction; but both Lady Burton and Miss Stisted are dead EachLady Burton's lifetime, an honest attempt to think well of the other; each wrote to the other many sweet, sincere, and womanly letters; but success did not follow Death, however, is a very loving ently hushes her little ones to sleep; and, as they drop off, the red spot on the cheek gradually fades away, and even the tears on the pillow soon dry

Although Miss Stisted's book has been a help to me I cannot endorse her opinion that Burton's recall from Damascus was the result of Lady Burton's indiscretions Her books give so reminiscences of Sir Richard's childhood and early manhood, [16] but practically it finishes with the Damascus episode Her innocent reical sides of Ashbee, Arbuthnot, and Burton's other old friends shake with uncontrollable laughter Unfortunately, she was as careless as Lady Burton Thus on page 48 she relates a story about Burton's attempt to carry off a nun; but readers of Burton's book on Goa will find that it had no connection with Burton whatever It was a story soes Burton will be seen on his travels, a, quarrelling, exploring, joking, flying like a squib froh with the world instead of a mere continent for theatre Even late in life, when his infirer circuits, he careered about Europe in a Walpurgic style that inal works I have given brief summaries; but as a writer he shi+nes only in isolated passages We go to him not for style but for facts Many of his books throelcoht on historical portions of the Bible [17]

Of those of his works which are erotic in the true sense of the word I have given a sufficient account, and one hich I am convinced even the most captious will not find fault [18] When necessity has obliged me to touch upon the subject to which Sir Richard devoted his last lustrum, I have been as brief as possible, and have written in a way that only scholars could understand In short I have kept steadily in view the fact that this work is one which will lie on drawing-room tables and be within the reach of everyone I have nowhere mentioned the subject by name, but I do not see how I could possible have avoided all allusion to it I have dwelt on Burton's bravery, his tenderness, his probity, his --but the picture would not have been a true one had I entirely over-passed the monomania of his last days Hamlet must be shown, if not at his maddest, at any rate ards Burton's letters, I have ruthlessly struck out every sentence that ive offence [19] While I have not hesitated to expose Sir Richard's faults, I have endeavoured to avoid laying too et an idea of theit fro in this book to hurt the feelings of any living person or indeed of any body of persons I have certainly triedpain, and if the reader will kindly bear inoffence as to avoid giving offence, we shall ae Out of consideration for Catholics I have suppressed a nues; and if I have allowed Sir Richard in one or two instances to e at their church, I trust they will notice that I have perland and Exeter Hall Finally, ird at the poet Cowper

Wherever possible, that is to say, when I could do it without auity I have also out of courtesy used the term Catholic instead of Roman Catholic; and in order to meet what I believe to be the wishes of Lady Burton's executors, I have omitted all mention of certain events that occurred after Sir Richard's death

The various works of Mr W H Wilkins have been of great help totribute to the excellent opening passages [20] of the Preface of his edition of Lady Burton's Life of her husband

The illustrations in this book are of exceptional interest They include the Burton fainals of which are in the possession of Mr Mostyn Pryce and Mrs Agg During the lifetime of Sir Richard and Lady Burton they were the property of Lady and Miss Stisted; but, owing to her difference with these ladies, Lady Burton was not able to use them in the life of her husband; and Miss Stisted's own scheme did not include illustrations So they are now reproduced for the first time The most noticeable are the quaint picture of Burton, his brother and sister as children, and the oil painting of Burton and Lady Stisted reat interest, too, is the series of photographs taken at Trieste by Dr Grenfell Baker; while the portraits of Burton's friends, Mr F F Arbuthnot, Mr John Payne, Major St

George Burton, Dr Baker, Mr W F Kirby, Mr A G Ellis, Professor J

F Blumhardt, and others, will no doubt be appreciated by the public

The writing of this book has been a thorough pleasure to me, not only on account of the infinite charm of the subject, but also because everyone whom I have approached has treated me with studied kindness The representatives of Sir Richard Burton, of Lady Burton (through Mr W

H Wilkins) and of Miss Stisted have not only helped and perenerously given me a free hand I aes will prove that their confidence in ment has not been misplaced

To everyone who has assisted me I tender et their abundant kindness

Finally, in writing this work every possible care has been taken to ensure accuracy [22]; but that absolute perfection has been attained is improbable It is hoped, however,--to borrow the quaint expression of the Persian poet Jami--”that the noble disposition of the readers will induce them to pass over defects” [23]