“abysmal deeps of personality,” he speaks and moves partly behind the mask of some fictitious character, such as the man who touched for the evil chance, and such as the hypochondriac who taught himself Chinese to ward off despair, but could not tell the time of day by looking at the clock. This is not the place for me to enter more fully into this matter, but I am looking forward to a fitting occasion of showing whether or not “Lavengro” and “The Romany Rye” form a spiritual autobiography; and if they do, whether that autobiography does or does not surpass every other for absolute truth of spiritual representation. Meantime, let it be remembered by those who object to Borrow’s method that, as I have just hinted, at the basis of his character was a deep sense of wonder. Let it be remembered that he was led to study the first of the many languages he taught himself—Irish—because there was, as he said, “something mysterious and uncommon in its use.” Let it be remembered that it was this instinct of wonder, not the impulse of the mere _poseur_, that impelled him to make certain exaggerated statements about the characters themselves who are introduced into his books. III. ISOPEL BERNERS. For instance, the tall girl, Isopel Berners—the most vigorous sketch he has given us—is perfect as she is adorable. Among heroines she stands quite alone; there is none other that is in the least like her. Yet she is in many of her qualities typical of a class. Among the very bravest of all human beings in the British Islands are, or were, the nomadic girls of the high road and the dingle. Their bravery is not only an inherited quality: it is in every way fostered by their mode of life. No tenderness from the men with whom they travel, either as wives or as mistresses, do they get—none of the chivalry which girls in most other grades of life experience—and none do they expect. In all disputes between themselves and the men, their associates, they know that the final argument is the knock-down blow. With the Romany girl, too, this is the case, to be sure; but then, while the Romany girl, as a rule, owing to tribal customs, receives the blow in patience, the English girl is apt to return it, and with vigour. This condition of things gives the English road-girl a frank independence of bearing which distinguishes her from girls of all other classes. There is something of the charm of the savage about her, even to her odd passion for tattoo. No doubt Isopel is an idealisation of the class; but the class, with all its drawbacks, has a certain winsomeness for men of Borrow’s temperament.