George Borrow / A Sermon Preached in Norwich Cathedral on July 6, 1913

A cathedral sermon reflects on the literary career, religious commitments, and moral ideal embodied by the writer George Borrow. The preacher explains why the cathedral and city commemorated him, noting his devotion to the Bible Society and his achievement as a man of letters. Attention focuses on Borrow's friendships with itinerant people and his love of the open country, which led him to valorize freedom, self-respect, bodily vigor, and a delight in nature alongside moral qualities such as truthfulness, justice, tenderness, and perseverance. Using biblical contrasts between the wanderer and the settled man, the sermon argues that Borrow synthesized elements from both types into a deliberate ethical vision.