friend taking the prose and I the metrical part; and we
corresponded upon the subject for years. But whilst I was in the
Brazil, Steinhaeuser died suddenly of apoplexy at Berne in
Switzerland and, after the fashion of Anglo India, his valuable
MSS. left at Aden were dispersed, and very little of his labours
came into my hands.

Thus I was left alone to my work, which progressed fitfully amid
a host of obstructions. At length, in the spring of 1879, the
tedious process of copying began and the book commenced to take
finished form. But, during the winter of 1881-82, I saw in the
literary journals a notice of a new version by Mr. John Payne,
well known to scholars for his prowess in English verse,
especially for his translation of "The Poems of Master Francis
Villon, of Paris." Being then engaged on an expedition to the
Gold Coast (for gold), which seemed likely to cover some months,
I wrote to the "Athenaeum" (Nov. 13, 1881) and to Mr. Payne, who
was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same work, and
freely offered him precedence and possession of the field till no
longer wanted. He accepted my offer as frankly, and his priority
entailed another delay lasting till the spring of 1885. These
details will partly account for the lateness of my appearing, but
there is yet another cause. Professional ambition suggested that
literary labours, unpopular with the vulgar and the half
educated, are not likely to help a man up the ladder of
promotion. But common sense presently suggested to me that,
professionally speaking, I was not a success, and, at the same
time, that I had no cause to be ashamed of my failure. In our
day, when we live under a despotism of the lower "middle class"
Philister who can pardon anything but superiority, the prizes of