BORROWS CHARACTERS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume 1, Issue 14, 21 February 1914, Page 1

BORROWS CHARACTERS.

A PENCHANT FOR BOHEMIANS. Dr Knapp, in his ponderous two volumes-on Borrow,! has identified many of Sorrow's characters, and more recently, Mr Herbert Jenkins, whose "Life of Borrow" (Murray) published about a year ago, I strongly commend to my readers, has tried his hand at the same amusing game. : Mr Shorter gives us a full-length portrait of the wicked"Publisher," who was based upon. Smjßichard Phillips, who published- Mayor's -"Spelling. 1 " B^ok,'' over which "Liber" can well'remember spends ing many tearful T.hours when a child, and other oriel' famous school bboks. It was Phillips who- gave young

George some poorly-paid hack-work—Compiling ''The Celebrated Trials," for instance, and treated the brilliant young linguist from the provinces with such meanness that, he writes, in *' Lavengro,'' 11 What a life, what a dog's life! I would frequently exclaim after escaping, from the presence of the Publisher." Personally, I prefer the country although, fdr- example, in the famous meeting,"kith the mysterious old woman who was found ireading : " Moll Slanders" on London Bridge, there is. a fine; smack of Defoe himself, indeed the Defoe influence is. to rjiy mind quite a feature of the whole book i; i : My .own favourite .character in will always,,be that philosophic vagabond, the quaintspoken . gypay; Petulengro, the great and only Jasper. Who that -read "Lavengro" can forget that famous passagei (iiithe twenty-fifth chapter) where Jasper' philosophises on death—and life:— . < "Life,is sweet, brother." "Do ! you-think ..so?"' "Think so! There's night and day, brothei-, both sweet things; sun, moon, and stars, brother, all.,sweet ■ hings; there's likewise the wind on the heath. Life is very'sW^et 1 , brother; who would wish to die?'? ' " in hi s -"Life of Borrow,'? tells us -• much abjout jasper j /who- was* one of the gypsies- whdm schoolboy had met &t: a country, fair. Even as a .£s>?' lad'r Borrow .had, Bohemian inclinations. One of his schoolfellows—he was under the famous Dr "£alpy, 'of Latfß'' grammar fame at the Free Grammar School, -him as an " odd, wild boy,always -wantiitg Robinson Crusoe Par""— one occasion Borrow, and other boys ."determined' to run and play pirates/" Two of the lads were recaptured, but Borrow got away to Yarmouth, and "lived"on the C&ister Dejnes for a few days." "