individual,
apparently somewhat under thirty, of middle stature, a thin and
weaselly figure, a sallow complexion, a certain obliquity of
vision, and a large pair of spectacles. This person, who had
lately come from abroad, and had published a volume of
translations, had attracted some slight notice in the literary
world, and was looked upon as a kind of lion in a small
provincial capital. After dinner he argued a great deal, spoke
vehemently against the Church, and uttered the most desperate
Radicalism that was perhaps ever heard, saying, he hoped that
in a short time there would not be a king or queen in Europe,
and inveighing bitterly against the English aristocracy, and
against the Duke of Wellington in particular, whom he said, if
he himself was ever president of an English republic--an event
which he seemed to think by no means improbable--he would hang
for certain infamous acts of profligacy and bloodshed which he
had perpetrated in Spain. Being informed that the writer was
something of a philologist, to which character the individual
in question laid great pretensions, he came and sat down by
him, and talked about languages and literature. The writer, who
was only a boy, was a little frightened at first.[86]

The quarrels of authors are frequently amusing but rarely edifying, and
this hatred of Bowring that possessed the soul of poor Borrow in his
later years is of the same texture as the rest. We shall never know the
facts, but the position is comprehensible enough. Let us turn to the
extant correspondence[87] which, as far as we know, opened when Borrow
paid what was probably his third visit to London in 1829:

To Dr. John Bowring

17 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, BLOOMSBURY. [_Dec. 6, 1829._]

MY DEAR SIR,--Lest I should intrude upon you when you are busy,
I write to inquire when you will be unoccupied. I wish to shew
you my translation of _The Death of Balder_, Ewald's most
celebrated production,[88] which, if you approve of, you will
perhaps render me some assistance in bringing forth, for I
don't know many publishers. I think this will be a proper time
to introduce it to the British public, as your account of
Danish literature will doubtless cause a sensation. My friend
Mr. R. Taylor has my _Kaempe Viser_, which he has read and
approves of; but