The letter in The Morning Post had no sooner appeared than a cry
arose against her from one end of the country to the other. The Press
castigated her, private persons expressed their indignation by post.
Burton's family in particular bitterly resented what they considered a
"foolish, mad act, insulting alike to the dead and the living."

Lady Burton then wrote a second letter, which she sent to The Echo. She
said that if Burton had lived "he would have been perfectly justified in
carrying out his work. He would have been surrounded by friends to whom
he could have explained any objections or controversies, and would have
done everything to guard against the incalculable harm of his purchasers
lending it to their women friends and to their boyish acquaintances,
which I could not guarantee.... My husband did no wrong, he had a high
purpose [675] and he thought no evil of printing it, and could one have
secured the one per cent. of individuals to whom it would have been
merely a study, it would probably have done no harm." Later she made
some further defence in the New Review.

The opinions of Burton's friends and intimate acquaintances on the
matter were as follows: Mr. Payne and Mr. Watts-Dunton [676] thought
that Lady Burton did quite rightly, considering the circumstances, in
destroying the work. Mr. W.F. Kirby thought that, though from her own
point of view she was justified in so doing, she would have done better
to present it to the College of Surgeons, where it would have been quite
harmless and might have been consulted by bona-fide students.

Mr. Arbuthnot considered that in fulfilment of Burton's promise it
should have been given to him. He would, of course, have published it
as a volume of the Kama Shastra Society, taking the usual precautions to
prevent it from falling into unsuitable hands.

Chapter XL. July 1891-December 1893, O Tomb, O Tomb!

Bibliography:

84. Life of Sir Richard Burton, 2 vols. 1893. 85. Translation of
Catullus. 1894. 86. The Library Edition of The Arabian Nights, 12 vols.
1894.

180. A Letter to Miss Stisted.

In July 1891 there appeared in Temple Bar an article by Miss Stisted,
entitled "Reminiscences of Sir Richard Burton," and upon reading it,
Lady Burton, who headed her letter "5 or 67 Baker Street, Portman
Square," wrote as follows:

"Dearest Georgy, [677] I read last night your clever and well-written
article on my darling, and send you a little notice