g and signed by himself, in which he declared that he had lived
and would die a Catholic, adhering to all the rites and usages of the
Church." [615] Curiously enough, while bringing forward all the evidence
she could adduce to prove that Burton was a Christian, Lady Burton
makes no reference in her book to this paper. Perhaps it was because Sir
Richard continued to gibe at the practices of her church just as much
after his "conversion" as before. However, it gratified her to know
that if he was not a good Catholic, he was, at any rate, the next best
thing--a Catholic. An intimate friend of Burton to whom I mentioned this
circumstance observed to me, "I am sure, that Burton never in any way
accepted the idea of a personal God; but, rather than be perpetually
importuned and worried, he may have pretended to give in to Lady Burton,
as one does to a troublesome child."

Lady Burton tells us that during the last few years of his life he used
to lock the outer doors of his house twice a day and then engage in
private prayer; on the other hand, friends of Burton who knew him and
were with him almost to the last have received this statement with
skepticism.

Lady Burton's happiness was further increased by the present of a very
beautiful oil painting representing the Virgin Mary, done by Miss Emily
Baker, Dr. Baker's sister. It was generally known by the Burtons, from
the colour of its drapery, as "the Blue Madonna." [616]

167. Visit of Arbuthnot, Last Letter to Mr. Payne, May 1890.

On May 11th Mr. Arbuthnot paid a second visit to Trieste, and the
pleasure that the vent gave to Sir Richard is reflected in a letter to
Mr. Payne written the same month. "At last!" he says, "Arbuthnot has
brought the volume [Payne's Alaeddin] and the MS. [Zotenberg's MS. of
Zayn al-Asnam which Burton had lent to Mr. Payne]." He then goes on to
say that he has kicked up "an awful shindy with the Athenaeum Club,"
about something, just as if he had not been kicking up awful shindies
with all sorts of people ever since his schoolboy days at Tours. "I
am delighted," he goes on, "with the volume [Payne's Alaeddin] and
especially with the ascription, [617] so grateful in its friendly tone.
I have read every word with the utmost pleasure. We might agree to
differ about Cazotte. [618] I think you are applying to 1750 the
moralities of 1890. Arbuthnot's visit has quite set me up, like a whiff
of London in the Pontine marshes of Trieste. He goes to-day,