On July 19th 1885, the Burtons lunched with Lord Houghton—­“our common Houghton,” as Mr. Swinburne used to call him; and found his lordship unwell, peevish, and fault-finding.  He had all the trials of the successful man who possesses everything that wealth can purchase or the mind conceive.

“Good-bye, my dear old friend,” cried Burton, when parting, “Would that I could share your troubles with you!"[FN#438]

But poor Lord Houghton was too far gone to appreciate the jest.  Indeed, he was on the brink of the grave.  A few days later he left for Vichy, where he died on August 11th.  His remains were brought to Fryston, and Burton and Arbuthnot were present at his funeral.

In October, while he was the guest of Lord Salisbury at Hatfield, Burton solicited the consulate of Morocco, and as his application was supported by fifty men of prominence he felt almost certain of obtaining it.

Apparently, it was during this visit to England, too, that Burton committed the frightful sin of contradicting Mr. Gladstone.  At some great house after dinner, Mr. Gladstone, who was the guest of the evening, took it upon himself, while every one listened in respectful silence, to enlarge on Oriental matters.

After he had finished, Burton, who had been fidgeting considerably, turned to him and said, “I can assure you, Mr. Gladstone, that everything you have said is absolutely and entirely opposite to fact.”

The rest of the company were aghast, could scarcely, indeed, believe their ears; and one of them, as soon as he had recovered from the shock, was seen scribbling like mad on a menu card.  Presently Burton felt the card tucked into his hand under the table.  On glancing at it he read “Please do not contradict Mr. Gladstone.  Nobody ever does.”

133.  A Brief Glance through the Nights.

By this time Burton had finished the first volume of his translation of The Arabian Nights, which left the press 12th September 1885.  The book was handsomely bound in black and gold, the colours of the Abbaside caliphs; and contained a circular “earnestly requesting that the work might not be exposed for sale in public places or permitted to fall into the hands of any save curious students of Moslem manners.”  The last volume was issued in July 1886.  Let us turn over the pages of this remarkable work, surrender ourselves for a few moments to its charms, and then endeavour to compare it calmly and impartially with the great translation by Mr. Payne.

What a glorious panorama unfolds itself before us!  Who does not know the introduction—­about the king who, because his wife was unfaithful, vowed to take a new wife every evening and slay her in the morning!  And all about the vizier’s daughter, the beautiful Shahrazad, who, with a magnificent scheme in her head, voluntarily came forward and offered to take the frightful risk.