d Opie, who "lived to paint," was
often seen at Earlham, Keswick, and in the city streets. Such names as
these, and of Elizabeth Fry, Sir James Smith (who founded the Linnaean
Society), and Mrs. Opie would fall upon the ear of the young lawyer's
clerk whenever he mixed in polite society. The old city was then
enjoying a reputation that was worthy of its best traditions; and it
still prides itself on the memory of those golden days.

A bookish youth could not fail to be influenced by such associations, and
it may well be that Borrow's thoughts were first drawn into a literary
groove by a knowledge of what certain of these Norwich celebrities were
doing. The delight he had found in the pages of his book of Danish
ballads, inspired him to turn his pen from the copying of deeds to the
writing of verses. His "Romantic Ballads from the Danish," printed by
Simon Wilkins of Norwich, and consisting of translations from his prized
volume, appeared in 1826. Dr. Jessop surmises that these translations
must have brought him in a very respectable sum, but Mr. Augustus
Birrell, in his own inimitable way, expresses his doubt on the point. "I
hope it was so," he writes, "but, as Dr. Johnson once said about the
immortality of the soul, I should like more evidence of it."

Borrow's translations and linguistic pursuits, however, were not allowed
to occupy all his spare hours in those early days. Norwich and its
neighbourhood had too much to show him, and to move him to reflection and
enthusiasm, to allow this to be the case. By degrees, he came to love
the old city, as he never got to love any other place in after-life.
Writing many years later, the memories of it flooded in upon his brain
until he saw its castle and cathedral, its homes and hospitality, in such
a rosy light as never glowed upon the scenes through which he journeyed
in after years. "Who can wonder," he asks, "that the children of that
fine old city are proud of her, and offer up prayers for her prosperity?
I, myself, who was not born within her walls, offer up prayers for her
prosperity, that want may never visit her cottages, vice her palaces, and
that the abomination of idolatry may never pollute her temples."

The grey old castle and stately cathedral were a never-failing source of
interest, worship and delight to him, as they have been to many who
cannot claim East Anglia for their homeland. Often he would lie upon the
grass in the sunlight and watch the roo