To George Borrow, Esq.
Town Clerk's Office, Oxford, 19th August 1857.
Sir,—We have, attached to our Corporation, an ancient jocular court composed of 13 of the poor old freemen who attend the elections and have a king who sits attired in scarlet with a crown and sentences interlopers (non-freeman) to be cold-burned, i.e. a bucket or so of water introduced to the offender's sleeve by means of the city pump; but this infliction is of course generally commuted by a small pecuniary compensation.
They call themselves 'Slaveonians' or 'Sclavonians.' The only notice we have of them in the city records is by the name of 'Slovens Hall.' Reading Romany Rye I notice your account of the Sclaves and venture to trouble you with this, and to enquire whether you think that the Sclaves might be connected through the Saxons with the ancient municipal institutions of this country. You are no doubt aware that Oxford is one of the most ancient Saxon towns, being a royal bailiwick and fortified before the Conquest,—Yours truly.
George P. Hester.
In spite of contemporary criticism, The Romany Rye is a great book, or rather it contains the concluding chapters of a great book. Sequels are usually proclaimed to be inferior to their predecessors. But The Romany Rye is not a sequel. It is part of Lavengro, and is therefore Borrow's most imperishable monument.