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+Project Gutenberg's George Borrow and His Circle, by Clement King Shorter
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: George Borrow and His Circle
+       Wherein May Be Found Many Hitherto Unpublished Letters Of
+       Borrow And His Friends
+
+Author: Clement King Shorter
+
+Release Date: November 12, 2006 [EBook #19767]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE BORROW AND HIS CIRCLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net. (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive/Million
+Book Project).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: George Henry Borrow
+
+From a painting by Henry Wyndham Phillips]
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE BORROW
+
+AND HIS CIRCLE
+
+WHEREIN MAY BE FOUND MANY HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF BORROW AND HIS
+FRIENDS
+
+BY
+
+CLEMENT KING SHORTER
+
+
+BOSTON AND NEW YORK
+HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
+1913
+
+
+TO
+
+AUGUSTINE BIRRELL
+
+A FRIEND OF LONG YEARS AND A TRUE
+
+LOVER OF GEORGE BORROW
+
+C. K. S.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes: Minor typos have been corrected. A letter with a
+macron over it has been designated with a [=], for example [=a] is an a
+with a macron over it. There is Persian and Russian writing in this
+book, which have been marked as [Persian] or as [Russian]. V^{m}
+signifies that the m is a superscript.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+I have to express my indebtedness first of all to the executors of
+Henrietta MacOubrey, George Borrow's stepdaughter, who kindly placed
+Borrow's letters and manuscripts at my disposal. To the survivor of
+these executors, a lady who resides in an English provincial town, I
+would particularly wish to render fullest acknowledgment did she not
+desire to escape all publicity and forbid me to give her name in print.
+I am indebted to Sir William Robertson Nicoll without whose kindly and
+active intervention I should never have taken active steps to obtain the
+material to which this biography owes its principal value. I am under
+great obligations to Mr. Herbert Jenkins, the publisher, in that,
+although the author of a successful biography of Borrow, he has, with
+rare kindliness, brought me into communication with Mr. Wilfrid J.
+Bowring, the grandson of Sir John Bowring. To Mr. Wilfrid Bowring I am
+indebted in that he has handed to me the whole of Borrow's letters to
+his grandfather. I have to thank Mr. James Hooper of Norwich for the
+untiring zeal with which he has unearthed for me a valuable series of
+notes including certain interesting letters concerning Borrow. Mr.
+Hooper has generously placed his collection, with which he at one time
+contemplated writing a biography of Borrow, in my hands. I thank Dr.
+Aldis Wright for reading my chapter on Edward FitzGerald; also Mr. W.H.
+Peet, Mr. Aleck Abrahams, and Mr. Joseph Shaylor for assistance in the
+little known field of Sir Richard Phillips's life. I have further to
+thank my friends, Edward Clodd and Thomas J. Wise, for reading my
+proof-sheets. To Theodore Watts-Dunton, an untiring friend of thirty
+years, I have also to acknowledge abundant obligations.
+
+C. K. S.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+PREFACE,                                                   v
+
+INTRODUCTION,                                             xv
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+CAPTAIN BORROW OF THE WEST NORFOLK MILITIA,                1
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BORROW'S MOTHER,                                          12
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+JOHN THOMAS BORROW,                                       18
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A WANDERING CHILDHOOD,                                    36
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+GEORGE BORROW'S NORWICH--THE GURNEYS,                     54
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+GEORGE BORROW'S NORWICH--THE TAYLORS,                     63
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+GEORGE BORROW'S NORWICH--THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL,              70
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+GEORGE BORROW'S NORWICH--THE LAWYER'S OFFICE,             79
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS,                                     87
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+'FAUSTUS' AND 'ROMANTIC BALLADS,'                        101
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+'CELEBRATED TRIALS' AND JOHN THURTELL,                   112
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BORROW AND THE FANCY,                                    126
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+EIGHT YEARS OF VAGABONDAGE,                              133
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+SIR JOHN BOWRING,                                        138
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+BORROW AND THE BIBLE SOCIETY,                            153
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+ST. PETERSBURG AND JOHN P. HASFELD,                      162
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE MANCHU BIBLE--'TARGUM'--'THE TALISMAN,'              169
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THREE VISITS TO SPAIN,                                   179
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BORROW'S SPANISH CIRCLE,                                 201
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+MARY BORROW,                                             215
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+'THE CHILDREN OF THE OPEN AIR,'                          226
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+'THE BIBLE IN SPAIN,'                                    237
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+RICHARD FORD,                                            248
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+IN EASTERN EUROPE,                                       260
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+'LAVENGRO,'                                              275
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+A VISIT TO CORNISH KINSMEN,                              289
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+IN THE ISLE OF MAN,                                      296
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+OULTON BROAD AND YARMOUTH,                               304
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND,                                 320
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+'THE ROMANY RYE,'                                        341
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+EDWARD FITZGERALD,                                       350
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+'WILD WALES,'                                            364
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+LIFE IN LONDON,                                          379
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+FRIENDS OF LATER YEARS,                                  389
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+BORROW'S UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS,                           401
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+HENRIETTA CLARKE,                                        413
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+THE AFTERMATH,                                           434
+
+INDEX,                                                   438
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+FULL-PAGE PLATES
+
+GEORGE BORROW,                           _Frontispiece_
+
+_A photogravure portrait from the painting by Henry Wyndham
+Phillips._
+
+                                                        PAGE
+
+THE BORROW HOUSE, NORWICH,                                16
+
+ROBERT HAWKES, MAYOR OF NORWICH IN 1824,                  24
+
+_From the painting by Benjamin Haydon in St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich._
+
+GEORGE BORROW,                                            32
+
+_From a portrait by his brother, John Thomas Borrow, in the
+National Portrait Gallery, London._
+
+THE ERPINGHAM GATE AND THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, NORWICH        72
+
+WILLIAM SIMPSON,                                          80
+
+_From a portrait by Thomas Phillips, R.A., in the Black Friars
+Hall, Norwich._
+
+
+FRIENDS OF BORROW'S EARLY YEARS--
+
+SIR JOHN BOWRING IN 1826,                                 96
+
+JOHN P. HASFELD IN 1835,                                  96
+
+WILLIAM TAYLOR,                                           96
+
+SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS,                                     96
+
+THE FAMILY OF JASPER PETULENGRO,                         128
+
+WHERE BORROW LIVED IN MADRID,                            192
+
+THE CALLE DEL PRINCIPE, MADRID,                          192
+
+A HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED PORTRAIT OF GEORGE BORROW,        304
+
+_Taken in the garden of Mrs. Simms Reeve of Norwich in 1848._
+
+OULTON COTTAGE FROM THE BROAD,                           352
+
+THE SUMMER-HOUSE, OULTON, AS IT IS TO-DAY,               352
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
+
+GEORGE BORROW'S BIRTHPLACE AT DUMPLING GREEN,             35
+
+_From a Drawing by Fortunino Matania._
+
+TITLE-PAGES OF 'TARGUM' AND 'THE TALISMAN,'              178
+
+PORTION OF A LETTER FROM GEORGE BORROW TO THE REV.
+SAMUEL BRANDRAM,                                         187
+
+_Written From Madrid, 13th May 1838._
+
+FACSIMILE OF AN ACCOUNT OF GEORGE BORROW'S EXPENSES IN
+SPAIN MADE OUT BY THE BIBLE SOCIETY,                     190
+
+A LETTER FROM SIR GEORGE VILLIERS, AFTERWARDS EARL OF
+CLARENDON, BRITISH MINISTER TO SPAIN, TO GEORGE
+BORROW,                                                  211
+
+MRS. BORROW'S COPY OF HER MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE,          222
+
+AN APPLICATION FOR A BOOK IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, WITH
+BORROW'S SIGNATURE,                                      230
+
+A SHEKEL,                                                244
+
+TITLE-PAGE OF BASQUE TRANSLATION BY OTEIZA OF THE GOSPEL
+OF ST. LUKE,                                             247
+
+TITLE-PAGE OF FIRST EDITION OF ROMANY TRANSLATION OF THE
+GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE,                                      247
+
+TWO PAGES FROM BORROW'S CORRECTED PROOF SHEETS OF
+ROMANY TRANSLATION OF THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE,            247
+
+INSCRIPTIONS IN BORROW'S HANDWRITING ON HIS WIFE'S COPIES
+OF 'THE BIBLE IN SPAIN' AND 'LAVENGRO,'                  275
+
+THE ORIGINAL TITLE-PAGE OF 'LAVENGRO,'                   280
+
+_From the Manuscript in the possession of the Author of 'George
+Borrow and his Circle.'_
+
+FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST PAGE OF 'LAVENGRO,'               282
+
+_From the Manuscript in the possession of the Author of 'George
+Borrow and his Circle.'_
+
+RUNIC STONE FROM THE ISLE OF MAN,                        302
+
+FACSIMILE OF A COMMUNICATION FROM CHARLES DARWIN TO
+GEORGE BORROW,                                           318
+
+FACSIMILE OF A PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT OF 'THE ROMANY
+RYE,'                                                    346
+
+_From the Borrow Papers in the possession of the Author of
+'George Borrow and his Circle._'
+
+'WILD WALES' IN ITS BEGINNINGS,                          365
+
+_Two pages from one of George Borrow's Pocket-books with pencilled
+notes made on his journey through Wales._
+
+FACSIMILE OF THE TITLE-PAGE OF 'WILD WALES,'             368
+
+_From the original Manuscript in the possession of the Author of
+'George Borrow and his Circle.'_
+
+FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST PAGE OF 'WILD WALES,'             370
+
+_From the original Manuscript in the possession of the Author of
+'George Borrow and his Circle.'_
+
+FACSIMILE OF A POEM FROM 'TARGUM,'                       403
+
+_A Translation from the French by George Borrow._
+
+BORROW AS A PROFESSOR OF LANGUAGES--AN ADVERTISEMENT,    409
+
+A PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT OF BORROW'S 'SONGS OF SCANDINAVIA'--AN
+UNPUBLISHED WORK,                                        411
+
+A LETTER FROM BORROW TO HIS WIFE WRITTEN FROM ROME IN
+HIS CONTINENTAL JOURNEY OF 1844,                         418
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+It is now exactly seventeen years ago since I published a volume not
+dissimilar in form to this under the title of _Charlotte Bronte and her
+Circle_. The title had then an element of novelty, Dante Gabriel
+Rossetti's _Dante and his Circle_, at the time the only book of this
+particular character, having quite another aim. There are now some
+twenty or more biographies based upon a similar plan.[1] The method has
+its convenience where there are earlier lives of a given writer, as one
+can in this way differentiate the book from previous efforts by making
+one's hero stand out among his friends. Some such apology, I feel, is
+necessary, because, in these days of the multiplication of books, every
+book, at least other than a work of imagination, requires ample apology.
+In _Charlotte Bronte and her Circle_ I was able to claim that, even
+though following in the footsteps of Mrs. Gaskell, I had added some four
+hundred new letters by Charlotte Bronte to the world's knowledge of that
+interesting woman, and still more considerably enlarged our knowledge of
+her sister Emily. This achievement has been generously acknowledged, and
+I am most proud of the testimony of the most accomplished of living
+biographers, Sir George Otto Trevelyan, who once rendered me the
+following quite spontaneous tribute:
+
+     We have lately read _aloud_ for the second time your Bronte
+     book; let alone private readings. It is unique in plan and
+     excellence, and I am greatly obliged to you for it. Apart from
+     the pleasure of the book, the form of it has always interested
+     me as a professional biographer. It certainly is novel; and in
+     this case I am pretty sure that it is right.
+
+With such a testimony before me I cannot hesitate to present my second
+biography in similar form. In the case of George Borrow, however, I am
+not in a position to supplement one transcendent biography, as in the
+case of Charlotte Bronte and Mrs. Gaskell. I have before me no less than
+four biographies of Borrow, every one of them of distinctive merit.
+These are:
+
+     _Life, Writings, and Correspondence of George Borrow._ Derived
+     from Official and other Authentic Sources. By William I. Knapp,
+     Ph.D., LL.D. 2 vols. John Murray, 1899.
+
+     _George Borrow: The Man and his Work._ By R. A. J. Walling.
+     Cassell, 1908.
+
+     _The Life of George Borrow._ Compiled from Unpublished Official
+     Documents. His Works, Correspondence, etc. By Herbert Jenkins.
+     John Murray, 1912.
+
+     _George Borrow: The Man and his Books._ By Edward Thomas.
+     Chapman and Hall, 1912.
+
+All of these books have contributed something of value and importance to
+the subject. Dr. Knapp's work it is easiest to praise because he is
+dead.[2] His biography of Borrow was the effort of a lifetime. A scholar
+with great linguistic qualifications for writing the biography of an
+author whose knowledge of languages was one of his titles to fame, Dr.
+Knapp spared neither time nor money to achieve his purpose. Starting
+with an article in _The Chautauquan Magazine_ in 1887, which was
+reprinted in pamphlet form, Dr. Knapp came to England--to Norwich--and
+there settled down to write a _Life_ of Borrow, which promised at one
+time to develop into several volumes. As well it might, for Dr. Knapp
+reached Norfolk at a happy moment for his purpose. Mrs. MacOubrey,
+Borrow's stepdaughter, was in the humour to sell her father's
+manuscripts and books. They were offered to the city of Norwich; there
+was some talk of Mr. Jeremiah Coleman, M.P., whose influence and wealth
+were overpowering in Norwich at the time, buying them. Finally, a very
+considerable portion of the collection came into the hands of Mr.
+Webber, a bookseller of Ipswich, who later became associated with the
+firm of Jarrold of Norwich. From Webber Dr. Knapp purchased the larger
+portion, and, as his bibliography indicates (_Life_, vol. ii. pp.
+355-88), he became possessed of sundry notebooks which furnish a record
+of certain of Borrow's holiday tours, about a hundred letters from and
+to Borrow, and a considerable number of other documents. The result, as
+I have indicated, was a book that abounded in new facts and is rich in
+new material. It was not, however, a book for popular reading. You must
+love the subject before you turn to this book with any zest. It is a
+book for your true Borrovian, who is thankful for any information about
+the word-master, not for the casual reader, who might indeed be
+alienated from the subject by this copious memoir. The result was
+somewhat discouraging. There were not enough of true Borrovians in those
+years, and the book was not received too generously. The two volumes
+have gone out of print and have not reached a second edition. Time
+however, will do them justice. As it is, your good Borrow lover has
+always appreciated their merits. Take Lionel Johnson for example, a good
+critic and a master of style. After saying that these 'lengthy and rich
+volumes are a monument of love's labour, but not of literary art or
+biographical skill,' he adds: 'Of his over eight hundred pages there is
+not one for which I am not grateful' and every new biographer of Borrow
+is bound to re-echo that sentiment. Dr. Knapp did the spade work and
+other biographers have but entered into his inheritance. Dr. Knapp's
+fine collection of Borrow books and manuscripts was handed over by his
+widow to the American nation--to the Hispanic Society of New York. Dr.
+Knapp's biography was followed nine years later by a small volume by Mr.
+R. A. J. Walling, whose little book adds considerably to our knowledge
+of Borrow's Cornish relatives, and is in every way a valuable monograph
+on the author of _Lavengro_. Mr. Herbert Jenkins's book is more
+ambitious. Within four hundred closely printed pages he has compressed
+every incident in Borrow's career, and we would not quarrel with him nor
+his publisher for calling his life a 'definitive biography' if one did
+not know that there is not and cannot be anything 'definitive' about a
+biography except in the case of a Master. Boswell, Lockhart, Mrs.
+Gaskell are authors who had the advantage of knowing personally the
+subjects of their biographies. Any biographer who has not met his hero
+face to face and is dependent solely on documents is crippled in his
+undertaking. Moreover, such a biographer is always liable to be in a
+manner superseded or at least supplemented by the appearance of still
+more documents. However, Mr. Jenkins's excellent biography has the
+advantage of many new documents from Mr. John Murray's archives and from
+the Record Office Manuscripts. His work was the first to make use of the
+letters of George Borrow to the Bible Society, which the Rev. T. H.
+Darlow has published as a book under that title, a book to which I owe
+him an acknowledgment for such use of it as I have made, as also for
+permission to reproduce the title-page of Borrow's Basque version of St.
+Luke's gospel. There only remains for me to say a word in praise of Mr.
+Edward Thomas's fine critical study of Borrow which was published under
+the title of _George Borrow: The Man and his Books_. Mr. Thomas makes no
+claim to the possession of new documents. This brings me to such excuse
+as I can make for perpetrating a fifth biography. When Mrs. MacOubrey,
+Borrow's stepdaughter, the 'Hen.' of _Wild Wales_ and the affectionate
+companion of his later years, sold her father's books and
+manuscripts--and she always to her dying day declared that she had no
+intention of parting with the manuscripts, which were, she said, taken
+away under a misapprehension--she did not, of course, part with any of
+his more private documents. All the more intimate letters of Borrow were
+retained. At her death these passed to her executors, from whom I have
+purchased all legal rights in the publication of Borrow's hitherto
+unpublished manuscripts and letters. I trust that even to those who may
+disapprove of the discursive method with which--solely for my own
+pleasure--I have written this book, will at least find a certain
+biographical value in the many new letters by and to George Borrow that
+are to be found in its pages. The book has taken me ten years to write,
+and has been a labour of love.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] As for example, _Garrick and his Circle_; _Johnson and his Circle_;
+_Reynolds and his Circle_; and even _The Empress Eugenie and her
+Circle_.
+
+[2] William Ireland Knapp died in Paris in June 1908, aged seventy-four.
+He was an American, and had held for many years the Chair of Modern
+Languages at Vassar College. After eleven years in Spain he returned to
+occupy the Chair of Modern Languages at Yale, and later held a
+Professorship at Chicago. After his _Life of Borrow_ was published he
+resided in Paris until his death.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+CAPTAIN BORROW OF THE WEST NORFOLK MILITIA
+
+
+George Henry Borrow was born at Dumpling Green near East Dereham,
+Norfolk, on the 5th of July 1803. It pleased him to state on many an
+occasion that he was born at East Dereham.
+
+     On an evening of July, in the year 18--, at East D----, a
+     beautiful little town in a certain district of East Anglia, I
+     first saw the light,
+
+he writes in the opening lines of _Lavengro_, using almost the identical
+phraseology that we find in the opening lines of Goethe's _Wahrheit und
+Dichtung_. Here is a later memory of Dereham from _Lavengro_:
+
+     What it is at present I know not, for thirty years and more
+     have elapsed since I last trod its streets. It will scarcely
+     have improved, for how could it be better than it was? I love
+     to think on thee, pretty, quiet D----, thou pattern of an
+     English country town, with thy clean but narrow streets
+     branching out from thy modest market-place, with their
+     old-fashioned houses, with here and there a roof of venerable
+     thatch, with thy one half-aristocratic mansion, where resided
+     the Lady Bountiful--she, the generous and kind, who loved to
+     visit the sick, leaning on her golden-headed cane, while the
+     sleek old footman walked at a respectful distance behind.
+     Pretty, quiet D----, with thy venerable church, in which
+     moulder the mortal remains of England's sweetest and most pious
+     bard.
+
+Then follows an exquisite eulogy of the poet Cowper, which readers of
+_Lavengro_ know full well. Three years before Borrow was born William
+Cowper died in this very town, leaving behind him so rich a legacy of
+poetry and of prose, and moreover so fragrant a memory of a life in
+which humour and pathos played an equal part. It was no small thing for
+a youth who aspired to any kind of renown to be born in the
+neighbourhood of the last resting-place of the author of _The Task_.
+
+Yet Borrow was not actually born in East Dereham, but a mile and a half
+away, at the little hamlet of Dumpling Green, in what was then a
+glorious wilderness of common and furze bush, but is now a quiet
+landscape of fields and hedges. You will find the home in which the
+author of _Lavengro_ first saw the light without much difficulty. It is
+a fair-sized farm-house, with a long low frontage separated from the
+road by a considerable strip of garden. It suggests a prosperous yeoman
+class, and I have known farm-houses in East Anglia not one whit larger
+dignified by the name of 'hall.' Nearly opposite is a pond. The trim
+hedges are a delight to us to-day, but you must cast your mind back to a
+century ago when they were entirely absent. The house belonged to George
+Borrow's maternal grandfather, Samuel Perfrement, who farmed the
+adjacent land at this time. Samuel and Mary Perfrement had eight
+children, the third of whom, Ann, was born in 1772.
+
+In February 1793 Ann Perfrement, aged twenty-one, married Thomas Borrow,
+aged thirty-five, in the Parish Church of East Dereham, and of the two
+children that were born to them George Henry Borrow was the younger.
+Thomas Borrow was the son of one John Borrow of St. Cleer in Cornwall,
+who died before this child was born, and is described by his
+grandson[3] as the scion 'of an ancient but reduced Cornish family,
+tracing descent from the de Burghs, and entitled to carry their arms.'
+This claim, of which I am thoroughly sceptical, is endorsed by Dr.
+Knapp,[4] who, however, could find no trace of the family earlier than
+1678, the old parish registers having been destroyed. When Thomas Borrow
+was born the family were in any case nothing more than small farmers,
+and Thomas Borrow and his brothers were working on the land in the
+intervals of attending the parish school. At the age of eighteen Thomas
+was apprenticed to a maltster at Liskeard, and about this time he joined
+the local Militia. Tradition has it that his career as a maltster was
+cut short by his knocking his master down in a scrimmage. The victor
+fled from the scene of his prowess, and enlisted as a private soldier in
+the Coldstream Guards. This was in 1783, and in 1792 he was transferred
+to the West Norfolk Militia; hence his appearance at East Dereham,
+where, now a serjeant, his occupations for many a year were recruiting
+and drilling.[5] It is recorded that at a theatrical performance at East
+Dereham he first saw, presumably on the stage of the county-hall, his
+future wife--Ann Perfrement. She was, it seems, engaged in a minor part
+in a travelling company, not, we may assume, altogether with the
+sanction of her father, who, in spite of his inheritance of French
+blood, doubtless shared the then very strong English prejudice against
+the stage. However, Ann was one of eight children, and had, as we shall
+find in after years, no inconsiderable strength of character, and so may
+well at twenty years of age have decided upon a career for herself. In
+any case we need not press too hard the Cornish and French origin of
+George Borrow to explain his wandering tendencies, nor need we wonder at
+the suggestion of Nathaniel Hawthorne, that he was 'supposed to be of
+gypsy descent by the mother's side.' You have only to think of the
+father, whose work carried him from time to time to every corner of
+England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of the mother with her reminiscence
+of life in a travelling theatrical company, to explain in no small
+measure the glorious vagabondage of George Borrow.
+
+Behold then Thomas Borrow and Ann Perfrement as man and wife, he being
+thirty-five years of age, she twenty-one. A roving, restless life was in
+front of the pair for many a day, the West Norfolk Militia being
+stationed in some eight or nine separate towns within the interval of
+ten years between Thomas Borrow's marriage and his second son's birth.
+The first child, John Thomas Borrow, was born on the 15th April 1801.[6]
+The second son, George Henry Borrow, the subject of this memoir, was
+born in his grandfather's house at Dumpling Green, East Dereham, his
+mother having found a natural refuge with her father while her husband
+was busily recruiting in Norfolk. The two children passed with their
+parents from place to place, and in 1809 we find them once again in
+East Dereham. From his son's two books, _Lavengro_ and _Wild Wales_, we
+can trace the father's later wanderings until his final retirement to
+Norwich on a pension. In 1810 the family were at Norman Cross in
+Huntingdonshire, when Captain Borrow had to assist in guarding the
+French prisoners of war; for it was the stirring epoch of the Napoleonic
+conflict, and within the temporary prison 'six thousand French and other
+foreigners, followers of the Grand Corsican, were now immured.'
+
+     What a strange appearance had those mighty casernes, with their
+     blank blind walls, without windows or grating, and their
+     slanting roofs, out of which, through orifices where the tiles
+     had been removed, would be protruded dozens of grim heads,
+     feasting their prison-sick eyes on the wide expanse of country
+     unfolded from that airy height. Ah! there was much misery in
+     those casernes; and from those roofs, doubtless, many a wistful
+     look was turned in the direction of lovely France. Much had the
+     poor inmates to endure, and much to complain of, to the
+     disgrace of England be it said--of England, in general so kind
+     and bountiful. Rations of carrion meat, and bread from which I
+     have seen the very hounds occasionally turn away, were unworthy
+     entertainment even for the most ruffian enemy, when helpless
+     and a captive; and such, alas! was the fare in those casernes.
+
+But here we have only to do with Thomas Borrow, of whom we get many a
+quaint glimpse in _Lavengro_, our first and our last being concerned
+with him in the one quality that his son seems to have inherited, as the
+associate of a prize-fighter--Big Ben Brain. Borrow records in his
+opening chapter that Ben Brain and his father met in Hyde Park probably
+in 1790, and that after an hour's conflict 'the champions shook hands
+and retired, each having experienced quite enough of the other's
+prowess.' Borrow further relates that four months afterwards Brain 'died
+in the arms of my father, who read to him the Bible in his last
+moments.' Dr. Knapp finds Borrow in one of his many inaccuracies or
+rather 'imaginings' here, as Brain did not die until 1794. More than
+once in his after years the old soldier seems to have had a shy pride in
+that early conflict, although the piety which seems to have come to him
+with the responsibilities of wife and children led him to count any
+recalling of the episode as a 'temptation.' When Borrow was about
+thirteen years of age, he overheard his father and mother discussing
+their two boys, the elder being the father's favourite and George the
+mother's:
+
+     'I will hear nothing against my first-born,' said my father,
+     'even in the way of insinuation: he is my joy and pride; the
+     very image of myself in my youthful days, long before I fought
+     Big Ben, though perhaps not quite so tall or strong built. As
+     for the other, God bless the child! I love him, I'm sure; but I
+     must be blind not to see the difference between him and his
+     brother. Why, he has neither my hair nor my eyes; and then his
+     countenance! why, 'tis absolutely swarthy, God forgive me! I
+     had almost said like that of a gypsy, but I have nothing to say
+     against that; the boy is not to be blamed for the colour of his
+     face, nor for his hair and eyes; but, then, his ways and
+     manners!--I confess I do not like them, and that they give me
+     no little uneasiness.'[7]
+
+Borrow throughout his narrative refers to his father as 'a man of
+excellent common sense,' and he quotes the opinion of William Taylor,
+who had rather a bad reputation as a 'freethinker' with all the
+church-going citizens of Norwich, with no little pride. Borrow is of
+course the 'young man' of the dialogue. He was then eighteen years of
+age:
+
+     'Not so, not so,' said the young man eagerly; 'before I knew
+     you I knew nothing, and am still very ignorant; but of late my
+     father's health has been very much broken, and he requires
+     attention; his spirits also have become low, which, to tell you
+     the truth, he attributes to my misconduct. He says that I have
+     imbibed all kinds of strange notions and doctrines, which will,
+     in all probability, prove my ruin, both here and hereafter;
+     which--which----'
+
+     'Ah! I understand,' said the elder, with another calm whiff. 'I
+     have always had a kind of respect for your father, for there is
+     something remarkable in his appearance, something heroic, and I
+     would fain have cultivated his acquaintance; the feeling,
+     however, has not been reciprocated. I met him the other day, up
+     the road, with his cane and dog, and saluted him; he did not
+     return my salutation.'
+
+     'He has certain opinions of his own,' said the youth, 'which
+     are widely different from those which he has heard that you
+     profess.'
+
+     'I respect a man for entertaining an opinion of his own,' said
+     the elderly individual. 'I hold certain opinions; but I should
+     not respect an individual the more for adopting them. All I
+     wish for is tolerance, which I myself endeavour to practise. I
+     have always loved the truth, and sought it; if I have not found
+     it, the greater my misfortune.'[8]
+
+When Borrow is twenty years of age we have another glimpse of father and
+son, the father in his last illness, the son eager as usual to draw out
+his parent upon the one subject that appeals to his adventurous spirit,
+'I should like to know something about Big Ben,' he says:
+
+     'You are a strange lad,' said my father; 'and though of late I
+     have begun to entertain a more favourable opinion than
+     heretofore, there is still much about you that I do not
+     understand. Why do you bring up that name? Don't you know that
+     it is one of my temptations? You wish to know something about
+     him? Well, I will oblige you this once, and then farewell to
+     such vanities--something about him. I will tell you--his--skin
+     when he flung off his clothes--and he had a particular knack in
+     doing so--his skin, when he bared his mighty chest and back
+     for combat; and when he fought he stood, so--if I remember
+     right--his skin, I say, was brown and dusky as that of a toad.
+     Oh me! I wish my elder son was here!'
+
+Concerning the career of Borrow's father there seem to be no documents
+other than one contained in _Lavengro_, yet no _Life of Borrow_ can
+possibly he complete that does not draw boldly upon the son's priceless
+tributes. And so we come now to the last scene in the career of the
+elder Borrow--his death-bed--which is also the last page of the first
+volume of _Lavengro_. George Borrow's brother has arrived from abroad.
+The little house in Willow Lane, Norwich, contained the mother and her
+two sons sorrowfully awaiting the end, which came on 28th February 1824.
+
+     At the dead hour of night--it might be about two--I was
+     awakened from sleep by a cry which sounded from the room
+     immediately below that in which I slept. I knew the cry--it was
+     the cry of my mother; and I also knew its import, yet I made no
+     effort to rise, for I was for the moment paralysed. Again the
+     cry sounded, yet still I lay motionless--the stupidity of
+     horror was upon me. A third time, and it was then that, by a
+     violent effort, bursting the spell which appeared to bind me, I
+     sprang from the bed and rushed downstairs. My mother was
+     running wildly about the room; she had awoke and found my
+     father senseless in the bed by her side. I essayed to raise
+     him, and after a few efforts supported him in the bed in a
+     sitting posture. My brother now rushed in, and, snatching up a
+     light that was burning, he held it to my father's face. 'The
+     surgeon! the surgeon!' he cried; then, dropping the light, he
+     ran out of the room, followed by my mother; I remained alone,
+     supporting the senseless form of my father; the light had been
+     extinguished by the fall, and an almost total darkness reigned
+     in the room. The form pressed heavily against my bosom; at last
+     methought it moved. Yes, I was right; there was a heaving of
+     the breast, and then a gasping. Were those words which I heard?
+     Yes, they were words, low and indistinct at first, and then
+     audible. The mind of the dying man was reverting to former
+     scenes. I heard him mention names which I had often heard him
+     mention before. It was an awful moment; I felt stupefied, but I
+     still contrived to support my dying father. There was a pause;
+     again my father spoke: I heard him speak of Minden, and of
+     Meredith, the old Minden Serjeant, and then he uttered another
+     name, which at one period of his life was much on his lips, the
+     name of ----; but this is a solemn moment! There was a deep
+     gasp: I shook, and thought all was over; but I was mistaken--my
+     father moved, and revived for a moment; he supported himself in
+     bed without my assistance. I make no doubt that for a moment he
+     was perfectly sensible, and it was then that, clasping his
+     hands, he uttered another name clearly, distinctly--it was the
+     name of Christ. With that name upon his lips the brave old
+     soldier sank back upon my bosom, and, with his hands still
+     clasped, yielded up his soul.
+
+Did Borrow's father ever really fight Big Ben Brain or Bryan in Hyde
+Park, or is it all a fantasy of the artist's imagining? We shall never
+know. Borrow called his _Lavengro_ 'An Autobiography' at one stage of
+its inception, although he wished to repudiate the autobiographical
+nature of his story at another. Dr. Knapp in his anxiety to prove that
+Borrow wrote his own memoirs in _Lavengro_ and _Romany Rye_ tells us
+that he had no creative faculty--an absurd proposition. But I think we
+may accept the contest between Ben Brain and Thomas Borrow, and what a
+revelation of heredity that impressive death-bed scene may be counted.
+Borrow on one occasion in later life declared that his favourite hooks
+were the Bible and the Newgate Calendar. We know that he specialised on
+the Bible and Prize-Fighting in no ordinary fashion--and here we see his
+father on his death-bed struggling between the religious sentiments of
+his maturity and the one great worldly escapade of his early manhood.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] In the year 1870 Borrow was asked for material for a biography by
+the editor of _Men of the Time_, a publication which many years later
+was incorporated in the present _Who's Who_. He drew up two drafts in
+his own handwriting, which are so interesting, and yet vary so much in
+certain particulars, that we are tempted to print both here, or at least
+that part of the second draft that differs from the first. The
+concluding passages of both drafts are alike. The biography as it stands
+in the 1871 edition of _Men of the Time_ appears to have been compiled
+from the earlier of these drafts. It must have been another copy of
+Draft No. 1 that was forwarded to the editor:
+
+DRAFT I.--George Henry Borrow, born at East Dereham in the county of
+Norfolk in the early part of the present century. His father was a
+military officer, with whom he travelled about most parts of the United
+Kingdom. He was at some of the best schools in England, and also for
+about two years at the High School at Edinburgh. In 1818 he was articled
+to an eminent solicitor at Norwich, with whom he continued five years.
+He did not, however, devote himself much to his profession, his mind
+being much engrossed by philology, for which at a very early period he
+had shown a decided inclination, having when in Ireland acquired the
+Irish language. At the age of twenty he knew little of the law, but was
+well versed in languages, being not only a good classical scholar but
+acquainted with French, Italian, Spanish, all the Celtic and Gothic
+dialects, and also with the peculiar language of the English Romany
+Chals or Gypsies. This speech, which, though broken and scanty, exhibits
+evident signs of high antiquity, he had picked up amongst the wandering
+tribes with whom he had formed acquaintance on a wild heath near
+Norwich, where they were in the habit of encamping. At the expiration of
+his clerkship, which occurred shortly after the death of his father, he
+betook himself to London, and endeavoured to get a livelihood by
+literature. For some time he was a hack author. His health failing he
+left London, and for a considerable time lived a life of roving
+adventure. In the year 1833 he entered the service of he British and
+Foreign Bible Society, and being sent to Russia edited at Saint
+Petersburg the New Testament in the Manchu or Chinese Tartar. Whilst at
+Saint Petersburg he published a book called _Targum_, consisting of
+metrical translations from thirty languages. He was subsequently for
+some years agent of the Bible Society in Spain, where he was twice
+imprisoned for endeavouring to circulate the Gospel. In Spain he mingled
+much with the Calore or Zincali, called by the Spaniards Gitanos or
+Gypsies, whose language he found to be much the same as that of the
+English Romany. At Madrid he edited the New Testament in Spanish, and
+translated the Gospel of Saint Luke into the language of the Zincali.
+Leaving the service of the Bible Society he returned to England in 1839,
+and shortly afterwards married a Suffolk lady. In 1841 he published _The
+Zincali_, or an account of the Gypsies of Spain, with a vocabulary of
+their language, which he proved to be closely connected with the
+Sanskrit. This work obtained almost immediately a European celebrity,
+and was the cause of many learned works being published on the continent
+on the subject of the Gypsies. In 1842 he gave to the world _The Bible
+in Spain_, or an account of an attempt to circulate the Gospel in the
+peninsula, a work which received a warm and eloquent eulogium from Sir
+Robert Peel in the House of Commons. In 1844 he was wandering amongst
+the Gypsies of Hungary, Walachia, and Turkey, gathering up the words of
+their respective dialects of the Romany, and making a collection of
+their songs. In 1851 he published _Lavengro_, in which he gives an
+account of his early life, and in 1857 _The Romany Rye_, a sequel to the
+same. His latest publication is _Wild Wales_. He has written many other
+works, some of which are not yet published. He has an estate in Suffolk,
+but spends the greater part of his time in wandering on foot through
+various countries.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DRAFT II.--George Henry Borrow was born at East Dereham in the county of
+Norfolk on the 5th July 1803. His father, Thomas Borrow, who died
+captain and adjutant of the West Norfolk Militia, was of an ancient but
+reduced Cornish family, tracing descent from the de Burghs, and entitled
+to carry their arms. His mother, Ann Perfrement, was a native of
+Norfolk, and descended from a family of French Protestants banished from
+France on the revocation of the edict of Nantes. He was the youngest of
+two sons. His brother, John Thomas, who was endowed with various and
+very remarkable talents, died at an early age in Mexico. Both the
+brothers had the advantage of being at some of the first schools in
+Britain. The last at which they were placed was the Grammar School at
+Norwich, to which town their father came to reside at the termination of
+the French war. In the year 1818 George Borrow was articled to an
+eminent solicitor in Norwich, with whom he continued five years. He did
+not devote himself much to his profession, his mind being engrossed by
+another and very different subject--namely philology, for which at a
+very early period he had shown a decided inclination, having when in
+Ireland with his father acquired the Irish language. At the expiration
+of his clerkship he knew little of the law, but was well versed in
+languages, being not only a good Greek and Latin scholar, but acquainted
+with French, Italian, and Spanish, all the Celtic and Gothic dialects,
+and likewise with the peculiar language of the English Romany Chals or
+Gypsies. This speech or jargon, amounting to about eleven hundred and
+twenty-seven words, he had picked up amongst the wandering tribes with
+whom he had formed acquaintance on Mousehold, a wild heath near Norwich,
+where they were in the habit of encamping. By the time his clerkship was
+expired his father was dead, and he had little to depend upon but the
+exercise of his abilities such as they were. In 1823 he betook himself
+to London, and endeavoured to obtain a livelihood by literature. For
+some time he was a hack author, doing common work for booksellers. For
+one in particular he prepared an edition of the Newgate Calendar, from
+the careful study of which he has often been heard to say that he first
+learned to write genuine English. His health failed, he left London, and
+for a considerable time he lived a life of roving adventure.
+
+[4] Knapp's _Life of Borrow_, vol. i. p. 6.
+
+[5] The writer recalls at his own school at Downham Market in Norfolk an
+old Crimean Veteran--Serjeant Canham--drilling the boys each week, thus
+supplementing his income precisely in the same manner as did Serjeant
+Borrow.
+
+[6] The date has always hitherto been wrongly given. I find it in one of
+Ann Borrow's notebooks, but although every vicar of every parish in
+Chelmsford and Colchester has searched the registers for me, with
+agreeable courtesy, I cannot discover a record of John's birthplace, and
+am compelled to the belief that Dr. Knapp was wrong in suggesting one or
+other of these towns.
+
+[7] _Lavengro_, ch. xiv.
+
+[8] _Lavengro_, ch. xxiii.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BORROW'S MOTHER
+
+
+Throughout his whole life George Borrow adored his mother, who seems to
+have developed into a woman of great strength of character far remote
+from the pretty play-actor who won the heart of a young soldier at East
+Dereham in the last years of the eighteenth century. We would gladly
+know something of the early years of Ann Perfrement. Her father was a
+farmer, whose farm at Dumpling Green we have already described. He did
+not, however, 'farm his own little estate' as Borrow declared. The
+grandfather--a French Protestant--came, if we are to believe Borrow,
+from Caen in Normandy after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but
+there is no documentary evidence to support the contention. However, the
+story of the Huguenot immigration into England is clearly bound up with
+Norwich and the adjacent district. And so we may well take the name of
+'Perfrement' as conclusive evidence of a French origin, and reject as
+utterly untenable the not unnatural suggestion of Nathaniel Hawthorne,
+that Borrow's mother was 'of gypsy descent.'[9] She was one of the eight
+children of Samuel and Mary Perfrement, all of whom seem to have
+devoted their lives to East Anglia.[10] We owe to Dr. Knapp's edition of
+_Lavengro_ one exquisite glimpse of Ann's girlhood that is not in any
+other issue of the book. Ann's elder sister, curious to know if she was
+ever to be married, falls in with the current superstition that she must
+wash her linen and 'watch' it drying before the fire between eleven and
+twelve at night. Ann Perfrement was ten years old at the time. The two
+girls walked over to East Dereham, purchased the necessary garment,
+washed it in the pool near the house that may still be seen, and watched
+and watched. Suddenly when the clock struck twelve they heard, or
+thought they heard, a footstep on the path, the wind howled, and the
+elder sister sprang to the door, locked and bolted it, and then fell in
+convulsions on the floor. The superstition, which Borrow seems to have
+told his mother had a Danish origin, is common enough in Ireland and in
+Celtic lands. It could scarcely have been thus rehearsed by two Norfolk
+children had they not had the blood of a more imaginative race in their
+veins. In addition to this we find more than one effective glimpse of
+Borrow's mother in _Lavengro_. We have already noted the episode in
+which she takes the side of her younger boy against her husband, with
+whom John was the favourite. We meet her again in the following
+dialogue, with its pathetic allusions to Dante and to the complaint--a
+kind of nervous exhaustion which he called 'the horrors'--that was to
+trouble Borrow all his days:
+
+     'What ails you, my child?' said a mother to her son, as he lay
+     on a couch under the influence of the dreadful one; 'what ails
+     you? you seem afraid!'
+
+     _Boy._ And so I am; a dreadful fear is upon me.
+
+     _Mother._ But of what? there is no one can harm you; of what
+     are you apprehensive?
+
+     _Boy._ Of nothing that I can express. I know not what I am
+     afraid of, but afraid I am.
+
+     _Mother._ Perhaps you see sights and visions. I knew a lady
+     once who was continually thinking that she saw an armed man
+     threaten her, but it was only an imagination, a phantom of the
+     brain.
+
+     _Boy._ No armed man threatens me; and 'tis not a thing like
+     that would cause me any fear. Did an armed man threaten me I
+     would get up and fight him; weak as I am, I would wish for
+     nothing better, for then, perhaps, I should lose this fear;
+     mine is a dread of I know not what, and there the horror lies.
+
+     _Mother._ Your forehead is cool, and your speech collected. Do
+     you know where you are?
+
+     _Boy._ I know where I am, and I see things just as they are;
+     you are beside me, and upon the table there is a book which was
+     written by a Florentine; all this I see, and that there is no
+     ground for being afraid. I am, moreover, quite cool, and feel
+     no pain--but, but----
+
+     And then there was a burst of 'gemiti, sospiri ed alti guai.'
+     Alas, alas, poor child of clay! as the sparks fly upward, so
+     wast thou born to sorrow--Onward![11]
+
+Our next glimpse of Mrs. Borrow is when after his father's death George
+had shouldered his knapsack and made his way to London to seek his
+fortune by literature. His elder brother had remained at home,
+determined upon being a painter, but joined George in London, leaving
+the widowed mother momentarily alone in Norwich.
+
+     'And how are things going on at home?' said I to my brother,
+     after we had kissed and embraced. 'How is my mother, and how is
+     the dog?'
+
+     'My mother, thank God, is tolerably well,' said my brother,
+     'but very much given to fits of crying. As for the dog, he is
+     not so well; but we will talk more of these matters anon,' said
+     my brother, again glancing at the breakfast things. 'I am very
+     hungry, as you may suppose, after having travelled all night.'
+
+     Thereupon I exerted myself to the best of my ability to perform
+     the duties of hospitality, and I made my brother welcome--I may
+     say more than welcome; and when the rage of my brother's hunger
+     was somewhat abated, we recommenced talking about the matters
+     of our little family, and my brother told me much about my
+     mother; he spoke of her fits of crying, but said that of late
+     the said fits of crying had much diminished, and she appeared
+     to be taking comfort; and, if I am not much mistaken, my
+     brother told me that my mother had of late the prayer-book
+     frequently in her hand, and yet oftener the Bible.[12]
+
+Ann Borrow lived in Willow Lane, Norwich, for thirty-three years. That
+Borrow was a devoted husband these pages will show. He was also a
+devoted son. When he had made a prosperous marriage he tried hard to
+persuade his mother to live with him at Oulton, but all in vain. She had
+the wisdom to see that such an arrangement is rarely conducive to a
+son's domestic happiness. She continued to live in the little cottage
+made sacred by many associations until almost the end of her days. Here
+she had lived in earlier years with her husband and her two ambitious
+boys, and in Norwich, doubtless, she had made her own friendships,
+although of these no record remains. The cottage still stands in its
+modest court, but is at the moment untenanted. There is a letter extant
+from Cecilia Lucy Brightwell, who wrote _The Life of Mrs. Opie_, to Mary
+Borrow at Oulton, when Mrs. Borrow the elder had gone to live there,
+which records the fact that in 1851, two years after Mrs. Borrow had
+left the cottage in Willow Lane, it had already changed its appearance.
+Mrs. Brightwell writes:
+
+     Give my kind love to dear mother. Tell her I went past her
+     house to-day and looked up the court. It is quite changed: all
+     the trees and the ivy taken away.
+
+The house was the property of Thomas King, a carpenter. You enter from
+Willow Lane through a covered passage into what was then known as King's
+Court. Here the little house faces you, and you meet it with a
+peculiarly agreeable sensation, recalling more than one incident in
+_Lavengro_ that transpired there. In 1897 the then mayor made the one
+attempt of his city of a whole half century to honour Borrow by calling
+this court Borrow's Court--thereby conferring a ridiculously small
+distinction upon Borrow,[13] and removing a landmark connected with one
+of its own worthy citizens. For Thomas King, the carpenter, was in
+direct descent in the maternal line from the family of Parker, which
+gave to Norwich one of its most distinguished sons in the famous
+Archbishop of Queen Elizabeth's day. He extended his business as
+carpenter sufficiently to die a prosperous builder. Of his two sons one,
+also named Thomas, became physician to Prince Talleyrand, and married a
+sister of John Stuart Mill.[14] All this by the way, but there is little
+more to record of Borrow's mother apart from the letters addressed to
+her by her son, which occur in their due place in these records. Yet one
+little memorandum among my papers which bears Mrs. Borrow's signature
+may well find place here:
+
+     In the year 1797 I was at Canterbury. One night at about one
+     o'clock Sir Robert Laurie and Captain Treve came to our
+     lodgings and tapped at our bedroom door, and told my husband to
+     get up, and get the men under arms without beat of drum as soon
+     as possible, for that there was a mutiny at the Nore. My
+     husband did so, and in less than two hours they had marched out
+     of town towards Sheerness without making any noise. They had to
+     break open the store-house in order to get provender, because
+     the Quartermaster, Serjeant Rowe, was out of the way. The
+     Dragoon Guards at that time at Canterbury were in a state of
+     mutiny.
+
+     ANN BORROW.
+
+
+[Illustration: THE BORROW HOUSE, NORWICH
+
+The house is situated in Borrow's Court, formerly King's Court, Willow
+Lane, St. Giles's, Norwich, and here Borrow lived at intervals from 1816
+to his marriage in 1839. His mother lived here for thirty-three years
+until 1849; his father died here, and is buried in the neighbouring
+churchyard of St. Giles's.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[9] 24th May 1856. Dining at Mr. Rathbone's one evening last week (21st
+May), it was mentioned that Borrow, author of _The Bible in Spain_, is
+supposed to be of gypsy descent by the mother's side. Hereupon Mr.
+Martineau mentioned that he had been a schoolfellow of Borrow, and
+though he had never heard of his gypsy blood, he thought it probable,
+from Borrow's traits of character. He said that Borrow had once run away
+from school, and carried with him a party of other boys, meaning to lead
+a wandering life (_The English Notebooks of Nathaniel Hawthorne_, vol.
+ii. 1858).
+
+[10] Samuel and Maria Perfrement were married in 1766, the latter to
+John Burcham. Two of her brothers survived Ann Borrow, Samuel Perfrement
+dying in 1864 and Philip in 1867.
+
+[11] _Lavengro_, ch. xviii.
+
+[12] _Lavengro_, ch. xxxvii.
+
+[13] In May 1913 the Lord Mayor of Norwich (Mr. A. M. Samuel) purchased
+the Borrow house in Willow Lane for L375, and gave it to the city for
+the purpose of a Borrow Museum.
+
+[14] This Thomas King was a cousin of my mother; his father built the
+Borrow House in Norwich in 1812. The only allusion to him I have ever
+seen in print is contained in a letter on _Lavengro_ contributed by
+Thomas Burcham to _The Britannia_ newspaper of June 26, 1851:--'With
+your criticism on _Lavengro_ I cordially agree, and if you were
+disappointed in the long promised work, what must I have been? A
+schoolfellow of Borrow, who, in the autobiography, expected to find much
+interesting matter, not only relating to himself, but also to
+schoolfellows and friends--the associates of his youth, who, in
+after-life, gained no slight notoriety--amongst them may be named Sir
+James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak; poor Stoddard, who was murdered at
+Bokhara, and who, as a boy, displayed that noble bearing and high
+sensitiveness of honour which partly induced that fatal result; and
+Thomas King, one of Borrow's early friends, who, the son of a carpenter
+at Norwich, the landlord of Lavengro's father, after working in his
+father's shop till nearly sixteen, went to Paris, entered himself as a
+student at one of the hospitals, and through his energy and intellect
+became internal surgeon of L'Hotel Dieu and private physician to Prince
+Talleyrand.' Thomas Borrow Burcham was Magistrate of Southwark Police
+Court from 1856 till his death in 1869. He was the son of Maria
+Perfrement, Borrow's aunt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+JOHN THOMAS BORROW
+
+
+John Thomas Borrow was born two years before his younger brother, that
+is, on the 15th April 1801. His father, then Serjeant Borrow, was
+wandering from town to town, and it is not known where his elder son
+first saw the light. John Borrow's nature was cast in a somewhat
+different mould from that of his brother. He was his father's pride.
+Serjeant Borrow could not understand George with his extraordinary taste
+for the society of queer people--the wild Irish and the ragged Romanies.
+John had far more of the normal in his being. Borrow gives us in
+_Lavengro_ our earliest glimpse of his brother:
+
+     He was a beautiful child; one of those occasionally seen in
+     England, and in England alone; a rosy, angelic face, blue eyes,
+     and light chestnut hair; it was not exactly an Anglo-Saxon
+     countenance, in which, by the by, there is generally a cast of
+     loutishness and stupidity; it partook, to a certain extent, of
+     the Celtic character, particularly in the fire and vivacity
+     which illumined it; his face was the mirror of his mind;
+     perhaps no disposition more amiable was ever found amongst the
+     children of Adam, united, however, with no inconsiderable
+     portion of high and dauntless spirit. So great was his beauty
+     in infancy, that people, especially those of the poorer
+     classes, would follow the nurse who carried him about in order
+     to look at and bless his lovely face. At the age of three
+     months an attempt was made to snatch him from his mother's arms
+     in the streets of London, at the moment she was about to enter
+     a coach; indeed, his appearance seemed to operate so powerfully
+     upon every person who beheld him, that my parents were under
+     continual apprehension of losing him; his beauty, however, was
+     perhaps surpassed by the quickness of his parts. He mastered
+     his letters in a few hours, and in a day or two could decipher
+     the names of people on the doors of houses and over the
+     shop-windows.
+
+John received his early education at the Norwich Grammar School, while
+the younger brother was kept under the paternal wing. Father and mother,
+with their younger boy George, were always on the move, passing from
+county to county and from country to country, as Serjeant Borrow, soon
+to be Captain, attended to his duties of drilling and recruiting, now in
+England, now in Scotland, now in Ireland. We are given a fascinating
+glimpse of John Borrow in _Lavengro_ by way of a conversation between
+Mr. and Mrs. Borrow over the education of their children. It was agreed
+that while the family were in Edinburgh the boys should be sent to the
+High School, and so at the historic school that Sir Walter Scott had
+attended a generation before the two boys were placed, John being
+removed from the Norwich Grammar School for the purpose. Among his many
+prejudices of after years Borrow's dislike of Scott was perhaps the most
+regrettable, otherwise he would have gloried in the fact that their
+childhood had had one remarkable point in common. Each boy took part in
+the feuds between the Old Town and the New Town. Exactly as Scott
+records his prowess at 'the manning of the Cowgate Port,' and the
+combats maintained with great vigour, 'with stones, and sticks, and
+fisticuffs,' as set forth in the first volume of Lockhart, so we have
+not dissimilar feats set down in _Lavengro_. Side by side also with the
+story of 'Green-Breeks,' which stands out in Scott's narrative of his
+school combats, we have the more lurid account by Borrow of David
+Haggart. Literary biography is made more interesting by such episodes of
+likeness and of contrast.
+
+We next find John Borrow in Ireland with his father, mother, and
+brother. George is still a child, but he is precocious enough to be
+learning the language, and thus laying the foundation of his interest in
+little-known tongues. John is now an ensign in his father's regiment.
+'Ah! he was a sweet being, that boy soldier, a plant of early promise,
+bidding fair to become in after time all that is great, good, and
+admirable.' Ensign John tells his little brother how pleased he is to
+find himself, although not yet sixteen years old, 'a person in authority
+with many Englishmen under me. Oh! these last six weeks have passed like
+hours in heaven.' That was in 1816, and we do not meet John again until
+five years later, when we hear of him rushing into the water to save a
+drowning man, while twenty others were bathing who might have rendered
+assistance. Borrow records once again his father's satisfaction:
+
+     'My boy, my own boy, you are the very image of myself, the day
+     I took off my coat in the park to fight Big Ben,' said my
+     father, on meeting his son, wet and dripping, immediately after
+     his bold feat. And who cannot excuse the honest pride of the
+     old man--the stout old man?
+
+In the interval the war had ended, and Napoleon had departed for St.
+Helena. Peace had led to the pensioning of militia officers, or reducing
+to half-pay of the juniors. The elder Borrow had settled in Norwich.
+George was set to study at the Grammar School there, while his brother
+worked in Old Crome's studio, for here was a moment when Norwich had its
+interesting Renaissance, and John Borrow was bent on being an artist. He
+had worked with Crome once before--during the brief interval that
+Napoleon was at Elba--but now he set to in real earnest, and we have
+evidence of a score of pictures by him that were catalogued In the
+exhibitions of the Norwich Society of Artists between the years 1817 and
+1824. They include one portrait of the artist's father, and two of his
+brother George.[15] Old Crome died in 1821, and then John went to London
+to study under Haydon. Borrow declares that his brother had real taste
+for painting, and that 'if circumstances had not eventually diverted his
+mind from the pursuit, he would have attained excellence, and left
+behind him some enduring monument of his powers,' 'He lacked, however,'
+he tells us, 'one thing, the want of which is but too often fatal to the
+sons of genius, and without which genius is little more than a splendid
+toy in the hands of the possessor--perseverance, dogged perseverance.'
+It is when he is thus commenting on his brother's characteristics that
+Borrow gives his own fine if narrow eulogy of Old Crome. John Borrow
+seems to have continued his studies in London under Haydon for a year,
+and then to have gone to Paris to copy pictures at the Louvre. He
+mentions a particular copy that he made of a celebrated picture by one
+of the Italian masters, for which a Hungarian nobleman paid him well.
+His three years' absence was brought to an abrupt termination by news of
+his father's illness. He returned to Norwich in time to stand by that
+father's bedside when he died. The elder Borrow died, as we have seen,
+in February 1824. The little home in King's Court was kept on for the
+mother, and as John was making money by his pictures it was understood
+that he should stay with her. On the 1st April, however, George started
+for London, carrying the manuscript of _Romantic Ballads from the
+Danish_ to Sir Richard Phillips, the publisher. On the 29th of the same
+month he was joined by his brother John. John had come to London at his
+own expense, but in the interests of the Norwich Town Council. The
+council wanted a portrait of one of its mayors for St. Andrew's
+Hall--that Valhalla of Norwich municipal worthies which still strikes
+the stranger as well-nigh unique in the city life of England. The
+municipality would fain have encouraged a fellow-citizen, and John
+Borrow had been invited to paint the portrait. 'Why,' it was asked,
+'should the money go into a stranger's pocket and be spent in London?'
+John, however, felt diffident of his ability and declined, and this in
+spite of the fact that the L100 offered for the portrait must have been
+very tempting. 'What a pity it was,' he said, 'that Crome was dead.'
+'Crome,' said the orator of the deputation that had called on John
+Borrow,
+
+     'Crome; yes, he was a clever man, a very clever man, in his
+     way; he was good at painting landscapes and farm-houses, but he
+     would not do in the present instance, were he alive. He had no
+     conception of the heroic, sir. We want some person capable of
+     representing our mayor standing under the Norman arch of the
+     cathedral.'[16]
+
+At the mention of the heroic John bethought himself of Haydon, and
+suggested his name; hence his visit to London, and his proposed
+interview with Haydon. The two brothers went together to call upon the
+'painter of the heroic' at his studio in Connaught Terrace, Hyde Park.
+There was some difficulty about their admission, and it turned out
+afterwards that Haydon thought they might be duns, as he was very hard
+up at the time. His eyes glistened at the mention of the L100. 'I am not
+very fond of painting portraits,' he said, 'but a mayor is a mayor, and
+there is something grand in that idea of the Norman arch.' And thus
+Mayor Hawkes came to be painted by Benjamin Haydon, and his portrait may
+be found, not without diligent search, among the many municipal worthies
+that figure on the walls of that most picturesque old Hall in Norwich.
+Here is Borrow's description of the painting:
+
+     The original mayor was a mighty, portly man, with a bull's
+     head, black hair, body like that of a dray horse, and legs and
+     thighs corresponding; a man six foot high at the least. To his
+     bull's head, black hair, and body the painter had done justice;
+     there was one point, however, in which the portrait did not
+     correspond with the original--the legs were disproportionably
+     short, the painter having substituted his own legs for those of
+     the mayor.
+
+John Borrow described Robert Hawkes to his brother as a person of many
+qualifications:
+
+     --big and portly, with a voice like Boanerges; a religious man,
+     the possessor of an immense pew; loyal, so much so that I once
+     heard him say that he would at any time go three miles to hear
+     any one sing 'God save the King'; moreover, a giver of
+     excellent dinners. Such is our present mayor, who, owing to
+     his loyalty, his religion, and a little, perhaps, to his
+     dinners, is a mighty favourite.
+
+Haydon, who makes no mention of the Borrows in his _Correspondence_ or
+_Autobiography_, although there is one letter of George Borrow's to him
+in the latter work, had been in jail for debt three years prior to the
+visit of the Borrows. He was then at work on his greatest success in
+'the heroic'--_The Raising of Lazarus_, a canvas nineteen feet long by
+fifteen high. The debt was one to house decorators, for the artist had
+ever large ideas. The bailiff, he tells us,[17] was so agitated at the
+sight of the painting of Lazarus in the studio that he cried out, 'Oh,
+my God! Sir, I won't arrest you. Give me your word to meet me at twelve
+at the attorney's, and I'll take it.' In 1821 Haydon married, and a
+little later we find him again 'without a single shilling in the
+world--with a large picture before me not half done.' In April 1822 he
+is arrested at the instance of his colourman, 'with whom I had dealt for
+fifteen years,' and in November of the same year he is arrested again at
+the instance of 'a miserable apothecary.' In April 1823 we find him in
+the King's Bench Prison, from which he was released in July. _The
+Raising of Lazarus_ meanwhile had gone to pay his upholsterer L300, and
+his _Christ's Entry into Jerusalem_ had been sold for L240, although it
+had brought him L3000 in receipts at exhibitions. Clearly heroic
+pictures did not pay, and Haydon here took up 'the torment of
+portrait-painting' as he called it.
+
+[Illustration: ROBERT HAWKES, MAYOR OF NORWICH IN 1824
+
+From the painting by Benjamin Haydon in St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich. This
+portrait has its association with Borrow in that his brother John was
+sent to London to request Haydon to paint it, and Borrow describes the
+picture in _Lavengro_.]
+
+     'Can you wonder,' he wrote in July 1825, 'that I nauseate
+     portraits, except portraits of clever people. I feel quite
+     convinced that every portrait-painter, if there be purgatory,
+     will leap at once to heaven, without this previous
+     purification.'
+
+Perhaps it was Mayor Hawkes who helped to inspire this feeling.[18] Yet
+the hundred pounds that John Borrow was able to procure must have been a
+godsend, for shortly before this we find him writing in his diary of the
+desperation that caused him to sell his books. 'Books that had cost me
+L20 I got only L3 for. But it was better than starvation.' Indeed it was
+in April of this year that the very baker was 'insolent,' and so in May
+1824, as we learn from Tom Taylor's _Life_, he produced 'a full-length
+portrait of Mr. Hawkes, a late Mayor of Norwich, painted for St.
+Andrew's Hall in that city.' But I must leave Haydon's troubled career,
+which closes so far as the two brothers are concerned with a letter from
+George to Haydon written the following year from 26 Bryanston Street,
+Portman Square:
+
+     DEAR SIR,--I should feel extremely obliged if you would allow
+     me to sit to you as soon as possible. I am going to the south
+     of France in little better than a fortnight, and I would sooner
+     lose a thousand pounds than not have the honour of appearing in
+     the picture.--Yours sincerely,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.[19]
+
+As Borrow was at the time in a most impoverished condition, it is not
+easy to believe that he would have wished to be taken at his word. He
+certainly had not a thousand pounds to lose. But he did undoubtedly, as
+we shall see, take that journey on foot through the south of France,
+after the manner of an earlier vagabond of literature--Oliver Goldsmith.
+Haydon was to be far too much taken up with his own troubles during the
+coming months to think any more about the Borrows when he had once
+completed the portrait of the mayor, which he had done by July of this
+year. Borrow's letter to him is, however, an obvious outcome of a remark
+dropped by the painter on the occasion of his one visit to his studio
+when the following conversation took place:
+
+     'I'll stick to the heroic,' said the painter; 'I now and then
+     dabble in the comic, but what I do gives me no pleasure, the
+     comic is so low; there is nothing like the heroic. I am engaged
+     here on a heroic picture,' said he, pointing to the canvas;
+     'the subject is "Pharaoh dismissing Moses from Egypt," after
+     the last plague--the death of the first-born,--it is not far
+     advanced--that finished figure is Moses': they both looked at
+     the canvas, and I, standing behind, took a modest peep. The
+     picture, as the painter said, was not far advanced, the Pharaoh
+     was merely in outline; my eye was, of course, attracted by the
+     finished figure, or rather what the painter had called the
+     finished figure; but, as I gazed upon it, it appeared to me
+     that there was something defective--something unsatisfactory in
+     the figure. I concluded, however, that the painter,
+     notwithstanding what he had said, had omitted to give it the
+     finishing touch. 'I intend this to be my best picture,' said
+     the painter; 'what I want now is a face for Pharaoh; I have
+     long been meditating on a face for Pharaoh.' Here, chancing to
+     cast his eye upon my countenance, of whom he had scarcely taken
+     any manner of notice, he remained with his mouth open for some
+     time, 'Who is this?' said he at last. 'Oh, this is my brother,
+     I forgot to introduce him----.'
+
+We wish that the acquaintance had extended further, but this was not to
+be. Borrow was soon to commence the wanderings which were to give him
+much unsatisfactory fame, and the pair never met again. Let us, however,
+return to John Borrow, who accompanied Haydon to Norwich, leaving his
+brother for some time longer to the tender mercies of Sir Richard
+Phillips. John, we judge, seems to have had plenty of shrewdness, and
+was not without a sense of his own limitations. A chance came to him of
+commercial success in a distant land, and he seized that chance. A
+Norwich friend, Allday Kerrison, had gone out to Mexico, and writing
+from Zacatecas in 1825 asked John to join him. John accepted. His salary
+in the service of the Real del Monte Company was to be L300 per annum.
+He sailed for Mexico in 1826, having obtained from his Colonel, Lord
+Orford, leave of absence for a year, it being understood that renewals
+of that leave of absence might be granted. He was entitled to half-pay
+as a Lieutenant of the West Norfolk Militia, and this he settled upon
+his mother during his absence. His career in Mexico was a failure. There
+are many of his letters to his mother and brother extant which tell of
+the difficulties of his situation. He was in three Mexican companies in
+succession, and was about to be sent to Columbia to take charge of a
+mine when he was stricken with a fever, and died at Guanajuato on 22nd
+November 1838. He had far exceeded any leave that his Colonel could in
+fairness grant, and before his death his name had been taken off the
+army rolls. The question of his pay produced a long correspondence,
+which can be found in the archives of the Rolls Office. I have the
+original drafts of these letters in Borrow's handwriting. The first
+letter by Borrow is dated 8th September 1831; it is better to give the
+correspondence in its order.[20] The letters speak for themselves, and
+require no comment.
+
+
+I
+
+To the Rt. Hon. The Secretary at War
+
+                WILLOW LANE, NORWICH, _September 8, 1831._
+
+     SIR,--I take the liberty of troubling you with these lines for
+     the purpose of enquiring whether there is any objection to the
+     issuing of the disembodied allowance of my brother Lieut. John
+     Borrow of the Welsh Norfolk Militia, who is at present abroad.
+     I do this by the advice of the Army Pay Office, a power of
+     Attorney having been granted to me by Lieut. Borrow to receive
+     the said allowance for him. I beg leave to add that my brother
+     was present at the last training of his regiment, that he went
+     abroad with the leave of his Commanding Officer, which leave of
+     absence has never been recalled, that he has sent home the
+     necessary affidavits, and that there is no clause in the Pay
+     and Clothing Act to authorize the stoppage of his allowance. I
+     have the honor to remain, Sir, your most obedient, humble
+     servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+II
+
+To the Right Hon. The Secretary at War
+
+                WILLOW LANE, NORWICH, _17th Septr. 1831._
+
+     SIR,--I have to acknowledge the receipt of No. 33,063, dated
+     16th inst., from the War Office, in which I am informed that
+     the Office does not feel authorized to give instructions for
+     the issue of the arrears of disembodied allowance claimed by my
+     brother Lieut. Borrow of the West Norfolk, until he attend the
+     next training of his regiment, and I now beg leave to ask the
+     following question, and to request that I may receive an
+     answer with all convenient speed. What farther right to his
+     _present_ arrears of disembodied allowance will Lieut. Borrow's
+     appearance at the _next training_ of his regiment confer upon
+     him, and provided there is no authority at present for ordering
+     the payment of those arrears, by what authority will the War
+     Office issue instructions for the payment of the same, after
+     his arrival in this country and attendance at the training?
+     Sir, provided Lieut. Borrow is not entitled to his arrears of
+     disembodied allowance at the present moment, he will be
+     entitled to them at no future period, and I was to the last
+     degree surprised at the receipt of an answer which tends to
+     involve the office in an inextricable dilemma, for it is in
+     fact a full acknowledgment of the justice of Lieutenant
+     Borrow's claims, and a refusal to satisfy them until a certain
+     time, which instantly brings on the question, 'By what
+     authority does the War Office seek to detain the disembodied
+     allowance of an officer, to which he is entitled by Act of
+     Parliament, a moment after it has become due and is legally
+     demanded?' If it be objected that it is not legally demanded, I
+     reply that the affidavits filled up in the required form are in
+     the possession of the Pay Office, and also a power of Attorney
+     in the Spanish language, together with a Notarial translation,
+     which power of Attorney has been declared by the Solicitor of
+     the Treasury to be legal and sufficient. To that part of the
+     Official letter relating to my brother's appearance at the next
+     training I have to reply, that I believe he is at present lying
+     sick in the Mountains above Vera Cruz, the pest-house of the
+     New World, and that the last time I heard from him I was
+     informed that it would be certain death for him to descend into
+     the level country, even were he capable of the exertion, for
+     the fever was then raging there. Full six months have elapsed
+     since he prepared to return to his native country, having
+     received information that there was a probability that his
+     regiment would be embodied, (but) the hand of God overtook him
+     on his route. He is the son, Sir, of an Officer who served his
+     King abroad and at home for upwards of half a century; he had
+     intended his disembodied allowance for the use of his widowed
+     and infirm mother, but it must now be transmitted to him for
+     his own support until he can arrive in England. But, Sir, I do
+     not wish to excite compassion in his behalf, all I request is
+     that he may have justice done him, and if it be, I shall be
+     informed in the next letter, that the necessary order has been
+     given to the Pay Office for the issue of his arrears. I have
+     the honor to remain, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+III
+
+To the Right Hon. The Secretary at War
+
+                NORWICH, _Novr. 24, 1831._
+
+     SIR,--Not having been favoured with an answer to the letter
+     which I last addressed to you concerning the arrears of
+     disembodied allowance due to Lieut. John Borrow of the West
+     Norfolk Militia, I again take the liberty of submitting this
+     matter to your consideration. More than six months have elapsed
+     since by virtue of a power of attorney granted to me by Lieut.
+     Borrow, I made demand at the army Pay Office for a portion of
+     those arrears, being the amount of two affidavits which were
+     produced, but owing to the much unnecessary demur which ensued,
+     chiefly with respect to the power of Attorney, since declared
+     to be valid, that demand has not hitherto been satisfied. I
+     therefore am compelled to beg that an order may be issued to
+     the Pay Office for the payment to me of the sums specified in
+     the said affidavits, that the amount may be remitted to Lieut.
+     Borrow, he being at present in great need thereof. If it be
+     answered that Lieut. Borrow was absent at the last training of
+     his regiment, and that he is not entitled to any arrears of
+     pay, I must beg leave to observe that the demand was legally
+     made many months previous to the said training, and cannot now
+     be set aside by his non-appearance, which arose from
+     unavoidable necessity; he having for the last year been lying
+     sick in one of the provinces of New Spain. And now, Sir, I will
+     make bold to inquire whether Lieut. Borrow, the son of an
+     Officer, who served his country abroad and at home, for upwards
+     of fifty years, is to lose his commission for being incapable,
+     from a natural visitation, of attending at the training; if it
+     be replied in the affirmative, I have only to add that his case
+     will be a cruelly hard one. But I hope and trust, Sir, that
+     taking all these circumstances into consideration you will not
+     _yet_ cause his name to be stricken off the list, and that you
+     will permit him to retain his commission in the event of his
+     arriving in England with all the speed which his health of body
+     will permit, and that to enable him so to do his arrears[21]
+     you will forthwith give an order for the payment of his
+     arrears. I have the honor to be, Sir, your very humble servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+IV
+
+To the Rt. Hon. The Secretary at War
+
+                NORWICH, _Decr. 13, 1831._
+
+     SIR,--I have just received a letter from my brother Lieutenant
+     J. Borrow, from which it appears he has had leave of absence
+     from his Colonel, the Earl of Orford, up to the present year.
+     He says 'in a letter dated Wolterton, 21st June 1828, Lord
+     Orford writes: "should you want a further leave I will not
+     object to it." 20th May 1829 says: "I am much obliged to you
+     for a letter of the 18th March, and shall be glad to allow you
+     leave of absence for a twelvemonth." I enclose his last letter
+     from Brussels, August 6, 1829. At the end it gives very evident
+     proof that my remaining in Mexico _was not only by his
+     Lordship's permission, but even by his advice_. Sir, if you
+     should require it I will transmit this last letter of the Earl
+     of Orford's, which my brother has sent to me, but beg leave to
+     observe that no blame can be attached to his Lordship in this
+     case, he having from a multiplicity of important business
+     doubtless forgotten these minor matters. I hope now, Sir, that
+     you will have no further objection to issue an order for the
+     payment of that portion of my brother's arrears specified in
+     the two affidavits in the possession of the Paymaster General.
+     By the unnecessary obstacles which have been flung in my
+     brother's way in obtaining his arrears he has been subjected to
+     great inconvenience and distress. An early answer on this point
+     will much oblige, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+V
+
+To the Rt. Hon. The Secretary at War
+
+                WILLOW LANE, NORWICH, _May 24, 1833._
+
+     SIR,--I take the liberty of addressing you for the purpose of
+     requesting that an order be given to the Paymaster General for
+     the issue of the arrears of pay of my brother Lieutenant John
+     Borrow of the West Norfolk Militia, whose agent I am by virtue
+     of certain powers of Attorney, and also for the continuance of
+     the payment of his disembodied allowance. Lieutenant Borrow was
+     not present at the last training of his Regiment, being in
+     Mexico at the time, and knowing nothing of the matter. I beg
+     leave to observe that no official nor other letter was
+     dispatched to him by the adjutant to give him notice of the
+     event, nor was I, his agent, informed of it, he therefore
+     cannot have forfeited his arrears and disembodied allowance. He
+     was moreover for twelve months previous to the training, and
+     still is, so much indisposed from the effects of an attack of
+     the yellow fever, that his return would be attended with great
+     danger, which can be proved by the certificate of a Medical
+     Gentleman practising in Norwich, who was consulted from Mexico.
+     Lieutenants Harper and Williams, of the same Regiment, have
+     recovered their pay and arrears, although absent at the last
+     training, therefore it is clear and manifest that no objection
+     can be made to Lieut. Borrow's claim, who went abroad with his
+     Commanding Officer's permission, which those Gentlemen did not.
+     In conclusion I have to add that I have stated nothing which I
+     cannot substantiate, and that I court the most minute scrutiny
+     into the matter. I have the honor to be, Sir, your most
+     obedient and most humble servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+[Illustration: GEORGE BORROW
+
+From a portrait by his brother John Thomas Borrow taken in early youth
+when his hair was black. This portrait is now in the National Portrait
+Gallery, London.]
+
+The last of these letters is in another handwriting than that of Borrow,
+who by this time had started for St. Petersburg for the Bible Society.
+The officials were adamant. To one letter the War Office replied that
+they could not consider any claims until Lieutenant Borrow of the West
+Norfolk Militia should have arrived in England to attend the training of
+his regiment. These five letters are, as we have said, in the Rolls
+Office, although the indefatigable Professor Knapp seems to have dropped
+across only two of them there. Their chief interest is in that they are
+the earliest in order of date of the hitherto known letters of Borrow.
+There is one further letter on the subject written somewhat later by old
+Mrs. Borrow. She also appeals to the War Office for her son's
+allowance.[22] It would seem clear that the arrears were never paid.
+
+
+To the Rt. Hon. The Earl of Orford
+
+                WILLOW LANE, NORWICH, _26 May 1834._
+
+     MY LORD,--I a few days since received the distressing
+     intelligence of the death of my dear son John, a lieutenant in
+     your Lordship's West Norfolk Regiment of Militia, after the
+     sufferings of a protracted and painful illness; the melancholy
+     event took place on the 22nd November last at Guanajuato in
+     Mexico. Having on the former irreparable loss of my dear
+     husband experienced your Lordship's kindness, I am induced to
+     trespass on your goodness in a like case of heavy affliction,
+     by requesting that you will be pleased to make the necessary
+     application to the Secretary at War to authorise me to receive
+     the arrears of pay due to my late son, viz.: ten months to the
+     period of the training, and from that time to the day of his
+     decease, for which I am informed it is requisite to have your
+     Lordship's certificate of leave of absence from the said
+     training. The amount is a matter of great importance to me in
+     my very limited circumstances, having been at considerable
+     expense in fitting him out, which, though at the time it
+     occasioned me much pecuniary inconvenience, I thought it my
+     duty to exert all my means to accomplish, my present distress
+     of mind is the greater having to struggle with my feelings
+     without the consolation and advice of my son George, who is at
+     this time at St. Petersburg. Your Lordship will, I trust,
+     pardon the liberty I am taking, and the trouble I am giving,
+     and allow for the feelings of an afflicted mother. I have the
+     honor to be your Lordship's most obedient servant,
+
+                ANN BORROW.
+
+I have said that there are letters of John Borrow's extant. Fragments of
+these will be found in Dr. Knapp's book. These show a keen intelligence,
+great practicality, and common sense. George--in 1829--had asked his
+brother as to joining him in Mexico. 'If the country is soon settled I
+shall say "yes,"' John answers. With equal wisdom he says to his
+brother, 'Do not enter the army; it is a bad spec.' In this same year,
+1829, John writes to ask whether his mother and brother are 'still
+living in that windy house of old King's; it gives me the rheumatism to
+think of it.' In 1830 he writes to his mother that he wishes his brother
+were making money. 'Neither he nor I have any luck, he works hard and
+remains poor.' In February of 1831 John writes to George suggesting that
+he should endeavour to procure a commission in the regiment, and in July
+of the same year to try the law again:
+
+     I am convinced that your want of success in life is more owing
+     to your being unlike other people than to any other cause.
+
+John, as we have seen, died in Mexico of fever. George was at St.
+Petersburg working for the Bible Society when his mother writes from
+Norwich to tell him the news. John had died on 22nd November 1833. 'You
+are now my only hope,' she writes, '... do not grieve, my dear George.
+I trust we shall all meet in heaven. Put a crape on your hat for some
+time.' Had George Borrow's brother lived it might have meant very much
+in his life. There might have been nephews and nieces to soften the
+asperity of his later years. Who can say? Meanwhile, _Lavengro_ contains
+no happier pages than those concerned with this dearly loved brother.
+
+[Illustration: GEORGE BORROW'S BIRTHPLACE AT DUMPLING GREEN
+
+_From a drawing by Fortunino Matania_]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[15] I am not able to trace more than three of John Borrow's pictures:
+firstly, a portrait of George Borrow, reproduced in this book, which was
+long in the possession of Mr. William Jarrold, the well-known publisher
+of Norwich, and is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London,
+having been purchased by the Director in 1912; secondly, the portrait of
+Borrow's father in the possession of a lady at Leamington; and thirdly,
+_The Judgment of Solomon_, which for a long time hung as an overmantel
+in the Borrow Home in Willow Lane, Norwich. Dr. Knapp also saw in
+Norwich 'A Portrait of a Gentleman,' by John Borrow. A second portrait
+of George Borrow by his brother was taken by the latter to Mexico, and
+has not since been heard of.
+
+[16] _Lavengro_, ch. xxv.
+
+[17] _Life of B. R. Haydon_, by Tom Taylor, 1853, vol. ii. p. 21.
+
+[18] Or perhaps the experience contained in a letter to Miss Mitford in
+1824 (_Benjamin Robert Haydon: Correspondence and Table Talk_, 2 vols.,
+1876):
+
+'I have had a horrid week with a mother and eight daughters! Mamma
+_remembering_ herself a beauty; Sally and Betsey, etc., see her a
+matron. They say, "Oh! this is more suitable to mamma's age," and "that
+fits mamma's time of life!" But mamma does not agree. Betsey, and Sally,
+and Eliza, and Patty want "mamma"! Mamma wants herself as she looked
+when she was Betsey's age, and papa fell in love with her. So I am
+distracted to death. I have a great mind to paint her with a long beard
+like Salvator, and say, "That's _my_ idea of a fit accompaniment."'
+
+[19] _Benjamin Robert Haydon: Correspondence and Table Talk_, with a
+Memoir by his son Frederic Wordsworth Haydon, vol. i. pp. 360-61.
+
+[20] From what are called the 'War Office Weeded Papers, Old Series, No.
+33,063/17,' and succeeding numbers.
+
+[21] ('his arrears' are ruled out.) Note by War Office.
+
+[22] This letter is from the original among the Borrow Papers in my
+possession.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A WANDERING CHILDHOOD
+
+
+We do not need to inquire too deeply as to Borrow's possible gypsy
+origin in order to account for his vagabond propensities. The lives of
+his parents before his birth, and the story of his own boyhood,
+sufficiently account for the dominant tendency in Borrow. His father and
+mother were married in 1793. Almost every year they changed their
+domicile. In 1801 a son was born to them--they still continued to change
+their domicile. Captain Borrow followed his regiment from place to
+place, and his family accompanied him on these journeys. Dover,
+Colchester, Sandgate, Canterbury, Chelmsford--these are some of the
+towns where the Borrows sojourned. It was the merest accident--the Peace
+of Amiens, to be explicit--that led them back to East Dereham in 1803,
+so that the second son was born in his grandfather's house. George was
+only a month old when he was carried off to Colchester; in 1804 he was
+in the barracks of Kent, in 1805 of Sussex, in 1806 at Hastings, in 1807
+at Canterbury, and so on. The indefatigable Dr. Knapp has recorded every
+detail for all who love the minute, the meticulous, in biography. The
+whole of the first thirteen years of Borrow's life is filled up in this
+way, until in 1816 he and his parents found a home of some permanence in
+Norwich. In 1809-10 they were at East Dereham, in 1810-11 at Norman
+Cross, in 1812 wandering from Harwich to Sheffield, and in 1813
+wandering from Sheffield to Edinburgh; in 1814 they were in Norwich, and
+in 1815-16 in Ireland. In this last year they returned to Norwich, the
+father to retire on full pay, and to live in Willow Lane until his
+death. How could a boy, whose first twelve years of life had been made
+up of such continual wandering, have been other than a restless,
+nomad-loving man, envious of the free life of the gypsies, for whom
+alone in later life he seemed to have kindliness? Those twelve years are
+to most boys merely the making of a moral foundation for good or ill; to
+Borrow they were everything, and at least four personalities captured
+his imagination during that short span, as we see if we follow his
+juvenile wanderings more in detail to Dereham, Norman Cross, Edinburgh,
+and Clonmel, and the personalities are Lady Fenn, Ambrose Smith, David
+Haggart, and Murtagh. Let us deal with each in turn:
+
+A. EAST DEREHAM AND LADY FENN.--In our opening chapter we referred to
+the lines in _Lavengro_, where Borrow recalls his early impressions of
+his native town, or at least the town in the neighbourhood of the hamlet
+in which he was born. Borrow, we may be sure, would have repudiated
+'Dumpling Green' if he could. The name had a humorous suggestion. To
+this day they call boys from Norfolk 'Norfolk Dumplings' in the
+neighbouring shires. But East Dereham was something to be proud of. In
+it had died the writer who, through the greater part of Borrow's life,
+remained the favourite poet of that half of England which professed the
+Evangelical creed in which Borrow was brought up. Cowper was buried here
+by the side of Mary Unwin, and every Sunday little George would see his
+tomb just as Henry Kingsley was wont to see the tombs in Chelsea Old
+Church. The fervour of devotion to Cowper's memory that obtained in
+those early days must have been a stimulus to the boy, who from the
+first had ambitions far beyond anything that he was to achieve. Here was
+his first lesson. The second came from Lady Fenn--a more vivid
+impression for the child. Twenty years before Borrow was born Cowper had
+sung her merits in his verse. She and her golden-headed cane are
+commemorated in _Lavengro_. Dame Eleanor Fenn had made a reputation in
+her time. As 'Mrs. Teachwell' and 'Mrs. Lovechild' she had published
+books for the young of a most improving character, _The Child's
+Grammar_, _The Mother's Grammar_, _A Short History of Insects_, and
+_Cobwebs to Catch Flies_ being of the number. The forty-fourth edition
+of _The Child's Grammar_ by Mrs. Lovechild appeared in 1851, and the
+twenty-second edition of _The Mother's Grammar_ in 1849. But it is her
+husband that her name most recalls to us. Sir John Fenn gave us the
+delightful Paston Letters--of which Horace Walpole said that 'they make
+all other letters not worth reading.' Walpole described 'Mr. Fenn of
+East Dereham in Norfolk' as 'a smatterer in antiquity, but a very good
+sort of man.' Fenn, who held the original documents of the Letters, sent
+his first two volumes, when published, to Buckingham Palace, and the
+King acknowledged the gifts by knighting the editor, who, however, died
+in 1794, before George Borrow was born. His widow survived until 1813,
+and Borrow was in his seventh or eighth year when he caught these
+notable glimpses of his 'Lady Bountiful,' who lived in 'the
+half-aristocratic mansion' of the town. But we know next to nothing of
+Borrow in East Dereham, from which indeed he departed in his eighth
+year. There are, however, interesting references to his memories of the
+place in _Lavengro_. The first is where he recalls to his author friend,
+who had offered him comet wine of 1811, his recollection of gazing at
+the comet from the market-place of 'pretty D----' in 1811.[23] The
+second reference is when he goes to church with the gypsies and dreams
+of an incident in his childhood:
+
+     It appeared as if I had fallen asleep in the pew of the old
+     church of pretty Dereham. I had occasionally done so when a
+     child, and had suddenly woke up. Yes, surely, I had been asleep
+     and had woke up; but no! if I had been asleep I had been waking
+     in my sleep, struggling, striving, learning and unlearning in
+     my sleep. Years had rolled away whilst I had been asleep--ripe
+     fruit had fallen, green fruit had come on whilst I had been
+     asleep--how circumstances had altered, and above all myself
+     whilst I had been asleep. No, I had not been asleep in the old
+     church! I was in a pew, it is true, but not the pew of black
+     leather in which I sometimes fell asleep in days of yore, but
+     in a strange pew; and then my companions, they were no longer
+     those of days of yore. I was no longer with my respectable
+     father and mother, and my dear brother, but with the gypsy cral
+     and his wife, and the gigantic Tawno, the Antinous of the dusky
+     people. And what was I myself? No longer an innocent child but
+     a moody man, bearing in my face, as I knew well, the marks of
+     my strivings and strugglings; of what I had learnt and
+     unlearnt.
+
+But Borrow, as I have said, left Dereham in his eighth year, and the
+author of a _History of East Dereham_ thus accounts for several
+inaccuracies in his memory, both as to persons and things.
+
+B. NORMAN CROSS AND AMBROSE SMITH.--In _Lavengro_ Borrow recalls
+childish memories of Canterbury and of Hythe, at which latter place he
+saw the church vault filled with ancient skulls as we may see it there
+to-day. And after that the book which impressed itself most vividly upon
+his memory was _Robinson Crusoe_. How much he came to revere Defoe the
+pages of _Lavengro_ most eloquently reveal to us. 'Hail to thee, spirit
+of Defoe! What does not my own poor self owe to thee?' In 1810-11 his
+father was in the barracks at Norman Cross in Huntingdonshire. Here the
+Government had bought a large tract of land, and built upon it a huge
+wooden prison, and overlooking this a substantial barrack also of wood,
+the only brick building on the land being the house of the Commandant.
+The great building was destined for the soldiers taken prisoners in the
+French wars. The place was constructed to hold 5000 prisoners, and 500
+men were employed by the War Office in 1808 upon its construction. The
+first batch of prisoners were the victims of the battle of Vimeiro in
+that year. Borrow's description of the hardships of the prisoners has
+been called in question by a later writer, Arthur Brown,[24] who denies
+the story of bad food and 'straw-plait hunts,' and charges Borrow with
+recklessness of statement. 'What could have been the matter with the man
+to write such stuff as this?' asks Brown in reference to Borrow's story
+of bad meat and bad bread: which was not treating a great author with
+quite sufficient reverence. Borrow was but recalling memories of
+childhood, a period when one swallow does make a summer. He had
+doubtless seen examples of what he described, although it may not have
+been the normal condition of things. Brown's own description of the
+Norman Cross prison was interwoven with a love romance, in which a
+French officer fell in love with a girl of the neighbouring village of
+Yaxley, and after Waterloo returned to England and married her. When he
+wrote his story a very old man was still living at Yaxley, who
+remembered, as a boy, having often seen the prisoners on the road, some
+very well dressed, some in tatters, a few in uniform. The milestone is
+still pointed out which marked the limit beyond which the
+officer-prisoners might not walk. The buildings were destroyed in 1814,
+when all the prisoners were sent home, and the house of the Commandant,
+now a private residence, alone remains to recall this episode in our
+history. But Borrow's most vivid memory of Norman Cross was connected
+with the viper given to him by an old man, who had rendered it harmless
+by removing the fangs. It was the possession of this tame viper that
+enabled the child of eight--this was Borrow's age at the time--to
+impress the gypsies that he met soon afterwards, and particularly the
+boy Ambrose Smith, whom Borrow introduced to the world in _Lavengro_ as
+Jasper Petulengro. Borrow's frequent meetings with Petulengro[25] are no
+doubt many of them mythical. He was an imaginative writer, and Dr.
+Knapp's worst banality is to suggest that he 'invented nothing.' But
+Petulengro was a very real person, who lived the usual roving gypsy
+life. There is no reason to assume otherwise than that Borrow did
+actually meet him at Norman Cross when he was eight years old, and
+Ambrose a year younger, and not thirteen as Borrow states. In the
+original manuscript of _Lavengro_ in my possession, as in the copy of it
+in Mrs. Borrow's handwriting that came into the possession of Dr. Knapp,
+'Ambrose' is given instead of 'Jasper,' and the name was altered as an
+afterthought. It is of course possible that Borrow did not actually meet
+Jasper until his arrival in Norwich, for in the first half of the
+nineteenth century various gypsy families were in the habit of
+assembling their carts and staking their tents on the heights above
+Norwich, known as Mousehold Heath, that glorious tract of country that
+has been rendered memorable in history by the tragic life of Kett the
+tanner, and has been immortalised in painting by Turner and Crome. Here
+were assembled the Smiths and Hernes and Boswells, names familiar to
+every student of gypsy lore. Jasper Petulengro, as Borrow calls him, or
+Ambrose Smith, to give him his real name, was the son of F[=a]den Smith,
+and his name of Ambrose was derived from his uncle, Ambrose Smith, who
+was transported for stealing harness. Ambrose was twice married, and it
+was his second wife, Sanspirella Herne, who comes into the Borrow story.
+He had families by both his wives. Ambrose had an extraordinary varied
+career. It will be remembered by readers of the _Zincali_ that when he
+visited Borrow at Oulton in 1842 he complained that 'There is no living
+for the poor people, brother, the chokengres (police) pursue us from
+place to place, and the gorgios are become either so poor or miserly
+that they grudge our cattle a bite of grass by the wayside, and
+ourselves a yard of ground to light a fire upon.' After a time Ambrose
+left the eastern counties and crossed to Ireland. In 1868 he went to
+Scotland, and there seems to have revived his fortunes. In 1878 he and
+his family were encamped at Knockenhair Park, about a mile from Dunbar.
+Here Queen Victoria, who was staying at Broxmouth Park near by with the
+Dowager Duchess of Roxburghe, became interested in the gypsies, and paid
+them a visit.[26] This was in the summer of 1878. Ambrose was then a
+very old man. He died in the following October. His wife, Sanspi or
+Sanspirella, received a message of sympathy from the Queen. Very shortly
+after Ambrose's death, however, most of the family went off to America,
+where doubtless they are now scattered, many of them, it may be, leading
+successful lives, utterly oblivious of the association of one of their
+ancestors with Borrow and his great book. Ambrose Smith was buried in
+Dunbar cemetery, the Christian service being read over his grave, and
+his friends erected a stone to him which bears the following
+inscription, the hymn not being very accurately rendered:
+
+            In Memory of
+    AMBROSE SMITH, who died 22nd
+    October 1878, aged 74 years.
+                Also
+           THOMAS, his son,
+    who died 28th May 1879, aged 48 years.
+
+    'Nearer my Father's House,
+    Where the many mansions be;
+    Nearer the Great White Throne,
+    Nearer the Jasper Sea.
+
+    'Nearer the bound of life
+    Where we lay our burdens down;
+    Nearer leaving the Cross,
+    Nearer gaining the Crown.
+
+    'Feel thee near me when my feet
+    Are slipping over the brink;
+    For it may be I'm nearer home,
+    Nearer now than I think.'[27]
+
+In December 1912 a London newspaper contained an account of a gypsy
+meeting at which Jasper Petulengro was present. Not only was this
+obviously impossible, but no relative of Ambrose Smith is apparently
+alive in England who could by any chance have justified the imposition.
+
+I have said that it is probable that Borrow did not meet Jasper or
+Ambrose until later days in Norwich. I assume this as possible because
+Borrow misstates the age of his boy friend in _Lavengro_. Ambrose was
+actually a year younger than Borrow, whereas when George was eight years
+of age he represents Ambrose as 'a lad of some twelve or thirteen
+years,' and he keeps up this illusion on more than one later occasion.
+However, we may take it as almost certain that Borrow received his first
+impression of the gypsies in these early days at Norman Cross.
+
+C. EDINBURGH AND DAVID HAGGART.--Three years separated the sojourn of
+the Borrow family at Norman Cross from their sojourn in Edinburgh--three
+years of continuous wandering. The West Norfolk Militia were watching
+the French prisoners at Norman Cross for fifteen months. After that we
+have glimpses of them at Colchester, at East Dereham again, at Harwich,
+at Leicester, at Huddersfield, concerning which place Borrow
+incidentally in _Wild Wales_ writes of having been at school, in
+Sheffield, in Berwick-on-Tweed, and finally the family are in Edinburgh,
+where they arrive on 6th April 1813. We have already referred to
+Borrow's presence at the High School of Edinburgh, the school sanctified
+by association with Walter Scott and so many of his illustrious
+fellow-countrymen. He and his brother were at the High School for a
+single session, that is, for the winter session of 1813-14, although
+with the licence of a maker of fiction he claimed, in _Lavengro_, to
+have been there for two years. But it is not in this brief period of
+schooling of a boy of ten that we find the strongest influence that
+Edinburgh gave to Borrow. Rather may we seek it in the acquaintanceship
+with the once too notorious David Haggart. Seven years later than this
+all the peoples of the three kingdoms were discussing David Haggart, the
+Scots Jack Sheppard, the clever young prison-breaker, who was hanged at
+Edinburgh in 1821 for killing his jailer in Dumfries prison. How much
+David Haggart filled the imagination of every one who could read in the
+early years of last century is demonstrated by a reference to the
+Library Catalogue of the British Museum, where we find pamphlet after
+pamphlet, broadsheet after broadsheet, treating of the adventures,
+trial, and execution of this youthful jailbird. Even George Combe, the
+phrenologist, most famous in his day, sat in judgment upon the young man
+while he was in prison, and published a pamphlet which made a great
+impression upon prison reformers. Combe submitted his observations to
+Haggart in jail, and told the prisoner indeed that he had a greater
+development of the organs of benevolence and justice than he had
+anticipated. There cannot be a doubt but that Combe started in a
+measure, through his treatment of this case, the theory that many of our
+methods of punishment led to the making of habitual criminals.[28] But
+by far the most valuable publication with regard to Haggart is one that
+Borrow must have read in his youth. This was a life of Haggart written
+by himself,[29] a little book that had a wide circulation, and
+containing a preface by George Robertson, Writer to the Signet, dated
+Edinburgh, 20th July 1821. Mr. Robertson tells us that a portion of the
+story was written by Haggart, and the remainder taken down from his
+dictation. The profits of this book, Haggart arranged, were to go in
+part to the school of the jail in which he was confined, and part to be
+devoted to the welfare of his younger brothers and sister. From this
+little biography we learn that Haggart was born in Golden Acre, near
+Canon-Mills, in the county of Edinburgh in 1801, his father, John
+Haggart, being a gamekeeper, and in later years a dog-trainer. The boy
+was at school under Mr. Robin Gibson at Canon-Mills for two years. He
+left school at ten years of age, and from that time until his execution
+seems to have had a continuous career of thieving. He tells us that
+before he was eleven years old he had stolen a bantam cock from a woman
+belonging to the New Town of Edinburgh. He went with another boy to
+Currie, six miles from Edinburgh, and there stole a pony, but this was
+afterwards returned. When but twelve years of age he attended Leith
+races, and it was here that he enlisted in the Norfolk Militia, then
+stationed in Edinburgh Castle. This may very well have brought him into
+contact with Borrow in the way described in _Lavengro_. He was only,
+however, in the regiment for a year, for when it was sent back to
+England the Colonel in command of it obtained young Haggart's discharge.
+These dates coincide with Borrow's presence in Edinburgh. Haggart's
+history for the next five or six years was in truth merely that of a
+wandering pickpocket, sometimes in Scotland, sometimes in England, and
+finally he became a notorious burglar. Incidentally he refers to a girl
+with whom he was in love. Her name was Mary Hill She belonged to
+Ecclefechan, which Haggart more than once visited. He must therefore
+have known Carlyle, who had not then left his native village. In 1820 we
+find him in Edinburgh, carrying on the same sort of depredations both
+there and at Leith--now he steals a silk plaid, now a greatcoat, and now
+a silver teapot. These thefts, of course, landed him in jail, out of
+which he breaks rather dramatically, fleeing with a companion to Kelso.
+He had, indeed, more than one experience of jail. Finally, we find him
+in the prison of Dumfries destined to stand his trial for 'one act of
+house-breaking, eleven cases of theft, and one of prison-breaking.'
+While in prison at Dumfries he planned another escape, and in the
+attempt to hit a jailer named Morrin on the head with a stone he
+unexpectedly killed him. His escape from Dumfries jail after this
+murder, and his later wanderings, are the most dramatic part of his
+book. He fled through Carlisle to Newcastle, and then thought that he
+would be safer if he returned to Scotland, where he found the rewards
+that were offered for his arrest faced him wherever he went. He turned
+up again in Edinburgh, where he seems to have gone about freely,
+although reading everywhere the notices that a reward of seventy guineas
+was offered for his apprehension. Then he fled to Ireland, where he
+thought that his safety was assured. At Dromore he was arrested and
+brought before the magistrate, but he spoke with an Irish brogue, and
+declared that his name was John McColgan, and that he came from Armagh.
+He escaped from Dromore jail by jumping through a window, and actually
+went so far as to pay three pound ten shillings for his passage to
+America, but he was afraid of the sea, and changed his mind, and lost
+his passage money at the last moment. After this he made a tour right
+through Ireland, in spite of the fact that the Dublin _Hue and Cry_ had
+a description of his person which he read more than once. His assurance
+was such that in Tullamore he made a pig-driver apologise before the
+magistrate for charging him with theft, although he had been living on
+nothing else all the time he was in Ireland. Finally, he was captured,
+being recognised by a policeman from Edinburgh. He was brought from
+Ireland to Dumfries, landed in Calton jail, Edinburgh, and was tried and
+executed. In addition to composing this biography Haggart wrote while in
+Edinburgh jail a rather long set of verses, of which I give the
+following two as specimens (the original autograph is in Lord Cockburn's
+copy in the British Museum):
+
+    Able and willing, you all will find
+    Though bound in chains, still free in mind,
+    For with these things I'll ne'er be grieved
+    Although of freedom I'm bereaved.
+
+    Now for the crime that I'm condemn'd,
+    The same I never did intend,
+    Only my liberty to take,
+    As I thought my life did lie at stake.
+
+
+D. IRELAND AND MURTAGH.--We may pass over the brief sojourn in Norwich
+that was Borrow's lot in 1814, when the West Norfolk Militia left
+Scotland. When Napoleon escaped from Elba the West Norfolk Regiment was
+despatched to Ireland, and Captain Borrow again took his family with
+him. We find the boy with his family at Clonmel from May to December of
+1815. Here Borrow's elder brother, now a boy of fifteen, was promoted
+from Ensign to Lieutenant, gaining in a year, as Dr. Knapp reminds us, a
+position that it had taken his father twelve years to attain. In
+January 1816 the Borrows moved to Templemore, returning to England in
+May of that year. Borrow, we see, was less than a year in Ireland, and
+he was only thirteen years of age when he left the country. But it seems
+to have been the greatest influence that guided his career. Three of the
+most fascinating chapters in _Lavengro_ were one outcome of that brief
+sojourn, a thirst for the acquirement of languages was another, and
+perhaps a taste for romancing a third. Borrow never came to have the
+least sympathy with the Irish race, or its national aspirations. As the
+son of a half-educated soldier he did not come in contact with any but
+the vagabond element of Ireland, exactly as his father had done before
+him.[30] Captain Borrow was asked on one occasion what language is being
+spoken:
+
+     'Irish,' said my father with a loud voice, 'and a bad language
+     it is.... There's one part of London where all the Irish
+     live--at least the worst of them--and there they hatch their
+     villainies to speak this tongue.'
+
+And Borrow followed his father's prejudices throughout his life,
+although in the one happy year in which he wrote _The Bible in Spain_ he
+was able to do justice to the country that had inspired so much of his
+work:
+
+     Honour to Ireland and her 'hundred thousand welcomes'! Her
+     fields have long been the greenest in the world; her daughters
+     the fairest; her sons the bravest and most eloquent. May they
+     never cease to be so.[31]
+
+In later years Orangemen were to him the only attractive element in the
+life of Ireland, and we may be sure that he was not displeased when his
+stepdaughter married one of them. Yet the creator of literature works
+more wisely than he knows, and Borrow's books have won the wise and
+benign appreciation of many an Irish and Roman Catholic reader, whose
+nationality and religion Borrow would have anathematised. Irishmen may
+forgive Borrow much, because he was one of the first of modern English
+writers to take their language seriously.[32] It is true that he had but
+the most superficial knowledge of it. He admits--in _Wild Wales_--that
+he only knew it 'by ear.' The abundant Irish literature that has been so
+diligently studied during the last quarter of a century was a closed
+book to Borrow, whose few translations from the Irish have but little
+value. Yet the very appreciation of Irish as a language to be seriously
+studied in days before Dr. Sigerson, Dr. Douglas Hyde, and Dr. Kuno
+Meyer had waxed enthusiastic and practical kindles our gratitude. Then
+what a character is Murtagh. We are sure there was a Murtagh, although,
+unlike Borrow's other boyish and vagabond friend Haggart, we know
+nothing about him but what Borrow has to tell. Yet what a picture is
+this where Murtagh wants a pack of cards:
+
+     'I say, Murtagh!'
+
+     'Yes, Shorsha dear!'
+
+     'I have a pack of cards.'
+
+     'You don't say so, Shorsha ma vourneen?--you don't say that you
+     have cards fifty-two?'
+
+     'I do, though; and they are quite new--never been once used.'
+
+     'And you'll be lending them to me, I warrant?'
+
+     'Don't think it!--But I'll sell them to you, joy, if you like.'
+
+     'Hanam mon Dioul! am I not after telling you that I have no
+     money at all?'
+
+     'But you have as good as money, to me, at least; and I'll take
+     it in exchange.'
+
+     'What's that, Shorsha dear?'
+
+     'Irish!'
+
+     'Irish?'
+
+     'Yes, you speak Irish; I heard you talking it the other day to
+     the cripple. You shall teach me Irish.'
+
+     'And is it a language-master you'd be making of me?'
+
+     'To be sure!--what better can you do?--it would help you to
+     pass your time at school. You can't learn Greek, so you must
+     teach Irish!'
+
+     Before Christmas, Murtagh was playing at cards with his brother
+     Denis, and I could speak a considerable quantity of broken
+     Irish.[33]
+
+With what distrust as we learn again and again in _Lavengro_ did Captain
+Borrow follow his son's inclination towards languages, and especially
+the Irish language, in his early years, although seeing that he was well
+grounded in Latin. Little did the worthy Captain dream that this, and
+this alone, was to carry down his name through the ages:
+
+     Ah, that Irish! How frequently do circumstances, at first sight
+     the most trivial and unimportant, exercise a mighty and
+     permanent influence on our habits and pursuits!--how frequently
+     is a stream turned aside from its natural course by some little
+     rock or knoll, causing it to make an abrupt turn! On a wild
+     road in Ireland I had heard Irish spoken for the first time;
+     and I was seized with a desire to learn Irish, the acquisition
+     of which, in my case, became the stepping-stone to other
+     languages. I had previously learnt Latin, or rather Lilly; but
+     neither Latin nor Lilly made me a philologist.
+
+Borrow was never a philologist, but this first inclination was to lead
+him to Spanish, to Welsh, and above all to Romany, and to make of him
+the most beloved traveller and the strangest vagabond in all English
+literature.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[23] This episode, rescued from the manuscript that came into Dr.
+Knapp's possession, is only to be found in his _Life of Borrow_. He does
+not include it in his edition of _Lavengro_. That Borrow revisited East
+Dereham in later manhood we learn from Mr. S. H. Baldrey. See p. 420.
+
+[24] _The French Prisoners of Norman Cross: A Tale_, by the Rev. Arthur
+Brown, Rector of Catfield, Norfolk. London: Hodder Brothers, 18 New
+Bridge Street, E.C., 1895. Mr. Brown remarks that there were sixteen
+casernes, whereas Borrow says in _Lavengro_ that there were five or six.
+'They looked,' he says, 'from outside exactly like a vast congeries of
+large, high carpenter's shops, with roofs of glaring red tiles, and
+surrounded by wooden palisades, very lofty and of prodigious strength.'
+
+[25] The _Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society_ teaches me that the name
+should be spelt Petulengro.
+
+[26] See _In Gipsy Tents_ by Francis Hindes Groome, p. 17. The late
+Queen herself writes (_More Leaves from the Journal of a Life in the
+Highlands_, Smith, Elder and Co., 1884, p. 370), under the date Monday,
+August 26th: 'At half-past three started with Beatrice, Leopold, and the
+Duchess in the landau and four, the Duke, Lady Ely, General Ponsonby,
+and Mr. Yorke going in the second carriage, and Lord Haddington riding
+the whole way. We drove through the west part of Dunbar, which was very
+full, and where we were literally pelted with small nosegays, till the
+carriage was full of them; then for some distance past the village of
+Belhaven, Knockindale Hill (Knockenhair Park), where were stationed in
+their best attire the queen of the gypsies, an oldish woman with a
+yellow handkerchief on her head, and a youngish, very dark, and truly
+gypsy-like woman in velvet and a red shawl, and another woman. The queen
+is a thorough gypsy, with a scarlet cloak and a yellow handkerchief
+around her head. Men in red hunting-coats, all very dark, and all
+standing on a platform here, bowed and waved their handkerchiefs. George
+Smith told Mr. Myers that "the queen" was Sanspirella, that the
+"gypsy-like woman in velvet and a red shawl" was Bidi, and the other
+woman Delaia. The men were Ambrose, Tommy, and Alfred.'
+
+[27] I am indebted to an admirable article by Thomas William Thompson in
+the _Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society_, New Series, vol. iii, No, 3,
+January 1910, for information concerning the later life of Jasper
+Petulengro.
+
+[28] _Phrenological Observations on the Cerebral Development of David
+Haggart, who was lately executed at Edinburgh for murder, and whose life
+has since been published._ By George Combe, Esq. Edinburgh: W. and C.
+Tait, 1821.
+
+[29] _The Life of David Haggart, alias John Wilson, alias John Morison,
+alias Barney McCone, alias John McColgan, alias Daniel O'Brien, alias
+The Switcher_, written by himself while under sentence of death.
+Edinburgh: Printed for W. and C. Tait by James Ballantyne and Co., 1821.
+
+In the British Museum Library there is a copy with an autograph note by
+Lord Cockburn on the fly-leaf, which runs as follows:
+
+'This youngster was my client when he was tried and convicted. He was a
+great villain. His life is almost all lies, and its chief curiosity
+consists in the strange spirit of lying, the indulgence of which formed
+his chief pleasure to the very last. The manuscript poem and picture of
+himself (bound up at the end of the _Life_) were truly composed and
+written by him. Being an enormous miscreant the phrenologists got hold
+of him, and made the notorious facts of his character into evidence of
+the truth of their system. He affected some decent poetry just before he
+was hanged, and therefore the Saints took up his memory and wrote
+monodies on him. His piety and the composition of the lies in this book
+broke out at the same time. H. C.'
+
+[30] Although Captain Borrow was never as ignorant as one or two of
+Borrow's biographers, who call the Irish language 'Erse.'
+
+[31] _The Bible in Spain_, ch. xx.
+
+[32] Dr. Johnson was the first as Borrow was the second to earn this
+distinction. Johnson, as reported by Boswell, says:
+
+'_I have long wished that the Irish literature were cultivated. Ireland
+is known by tradition to have been once the seat of piety and learning,
+and surely it would be very acceptable to all those who are curious on
+the origin of nations or the affinities of languages to be further
+informed of the evolution of a people so ancient and once so
+illustrious. I hope that you will continue to cultivate this kind of
+learning which has too long been neglected, and which, if it be suffered
+to remain in oblivion for another century, may perhaps never be
+retrieved._'
+
+[33] _Lavengro._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+GEORGE BORROW'S NORWICH--THE GURNEYS
+
+
+Norwich may claim to be one of the most fascinating cities in the
+kingdom. To-day it is known to the wide world by its canaries and its
+mustard, although its most important industry is the boot trade, in
+which it employs some eight thousand persons. To the visitor it has many
+attractions. The lovely cathedral with its fine Norman arches, the
+Erpingham Gate so splendidly Gothic, the noble Castle Keep so imposingly
+placed with the cattle-market below--these are all as Borrow saw them
+nearly a century ago. So also is the church of St. Peter Mancroft, where
+Sir Thomas Browne lies buried. And to the picturesque Mousehold Heath
+you may still climb and recall one of the first struggles for liberty
+and progress that past ages have seen, the Norfolk rising under Robert
+Kett which has only not been glorified in song and in picture, because--
+
+    Treason doth never prosper--what's the reason?
+    Why if it prosper none dare call it treason.
+
+And Kett's so-called rebellion was destined to failure, and its leader
+to cruel martyrdom. Mousehold Heath has been made the subject of
+paintings by Turner and Crome, and of fine word pictures by George
+Borrow. When Borrow and his parents lighted upon Norwich in 1814 and
+1816 the city had inspiring literary associations. Before the invention
+of railways it seemed not uncommon for a fine intellectual life to
+emanate from this or that cathedral city. Such an intellectual life was
+associated with Lichfield when the Darwins and the Edgeworths gathered
+at the Bishop's Palace around Dr. Seward and his accomplished daughters.
+Norwich has more than once been such a centre. The first occasion was in
+the period of which we write, when the Taylors and the Gurneys
+flourished in a region of ideas; the second was during the years from
+1837 to 1849, when Edward Stanley held the bishopric. This later period
+does not come into our story, as by that time Borrow had all but left
+Norwich. But of the earlier period, the period of Borrow's more or less
+fitful residence in Norwich--1814 to 1833--we are tempted to write at
+some length. There were three separate literary and social forces in
+Norwich in the first decades of the nineteenth century--the Gurneys of
+Earlham, the Taylor-Austin group, and William Taylor, who was in no way
+related to Mrs. John Taylor and her daughter, Sarah Austin. The Gurneys
+were truly a remarkable family, destined to leave their impress upon
+Norwich and upon a wider world. At the time of his marriage in 1773 to
+Catherine Bell, John Gurney, wool-stapler of Norwich, took his young
+wife, whose face has been preserved in a canvas by Gainsborough, to live
+in the old Court House in Magdalen Street, which had been the home of
+two generations of the Gurney family. In 1786 John Gurney went with his
+continually growing family to live at Earlham Hall, some two or three
+miles out of Norwich on the Earlham Road. Here that family of eleven
+children--one boy had died in infancy--grew up. Not one but has an
+interesting history, which is recorded by Mr. Augustus Hare and other
+writers.[34] Elizabeth, the fourth daughter, married Joseph Fry, and as
+Elizabeth Fry attained to a world-wide fame as a prison reformer. Hannah
+married Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton of Slave Trade Abolition; Richenda, the
+Rev. Francis Cunningham, who sent George Borrow upon his career; while
+Louisa married Samuel Hoare of Hampstead. Of her Joseph John Gurney said
+at her death in 1836 that she was 'superior in point of talent to any
+other of my father's eleven children.' It is with the eleventh child,
+however, that we have mainly to do, for this son, Joseph John Gurney,
+alone appears in Borrow's pages. The picture of these eleven Quaker
+children growing up to their various destinies under the roof of Earlham
+Hall is an attractive one. Men and women of all creeds accepted the
+catholic Quaker's hospitality. Mrs. Opie and a long list of worthies of
+the past come before us, and when Mr. Gurney, in 1802, took his six
+unmarried daughters to the Lakes Old Crome accompanied them as
+drawing-master. There is, however, one picture in the story of
+unforgettable charm, the episode of the courtship of Elizabeth Gurney by
+Joseph Fry, and this I must quote from Mr. Augustus Hare's pleasant
+book:
+
+     Mr. Fry had no intention of exposing himself to the possibility
+     of a refusal. He bought a very handsome gold watch and chain,
+     and laid it down upon a white seat--the white seat which still
+     exists--in the garden at Earlham. 'If Betsy takes up that
+     watch,' he said, 'it is a sign that she accepts me: if she does
+     not take it up by a particular hour, it will show that I must
+     leave Earlham.'
+
+     The six sisters concealed themselves in six laurel-bushes in
+     different parts of the grounds to watch. One can imagine their
+     intense curiosity and anxiety. At last the tall, graceful
+     Betsy, her flaxen hair now hidden under a Quaker cap, shyly
+     emerged upon the gravel walk. She seemed scarcely conscious of
+     her surroundings, as if, 'on the wings of prayer, she was being
+     wafted into the unseen.' But she reached the garden seat, and
+     there, in the sunshine, lay the glittering new watch. The sight
+     of it recalled her to earth. She could not, could not, take it,
+     and fled swiftly back to the house. But the six sisters
+     remained in their laurel-bushes. They felt sure she would
+     revoke, and they did not watch in vain. An hour elapsed, in
+     which her father urged her, and in which conscience seemed to
+     drag her forwards. Once again did the anxious sisters see Betsy
+     emerge from the house, with more faltering steps this time, but
+     still inwardly praying, and slowly, tremblingly, they saw her
+     take up the watch, and the deed was done. She never afterwards
+     regretted it, though it was a bitter pang to her when she
+     collected her eighty-six children in the garden at Earlham and
+     bade them farewell, and though she wrote in her journal as a
+     bride, 'I cried heartily on leaving Norwich; the very stones in
+     the street were dear to me.'
+
+In 1803--the year of Borrow's birth--John Gurney became a partner in the
+great London Bank of Overend and Gurney, and his son, Joseph John, in
+that same year went up to Oxford. In 1809 Joseph returned to take his
+place in the bank, and to preside over the family of unmarried sisters
+at Earlham, father and mother being dead, and many members of the family
+distributed. Incidentally, we are told by Mr. Hare that the Gurneys of
+Earlham at this time drove out with four black horses, and that when
+Bishop Bathurst, Stanley's predecessor, required horses for State
+occasions to drive him to the cathedral, he borrowed these, and the more
+modest episcopal horses took the Quaker family to their meeting-house.
+It does not come within the scope of this book, discursive as I choose
+to make it, to trace the fortunes of these eleven remarkable Gurney
+children, or even of Borrow's momentary acquaintance, Joseph John
+Gurney. His residence at Earlham, and his life of philanthropy, are a
+romance in a way, although one wonders whether if the name of Gurney had
+not been associated with so much of virtue and goodness the crash that
+came long after Joseph John Gurney's death would have been quite so full
+of affliction for a vast multitude. Joseph John Gurney died in 1847, in
+his fifty-ninth year; his sister, Mrs. Fry, had died two years earlier.
+The younger brother and twelfth child--Joseph John being the
+eleventh--Daniel Gurney, the last of the twelve children, lived till
+1880, aged eighty-nine. He had outlived by many years the catastrophe to
+the great banking firm with which the name of Gurney is associated. This
+great firm of Overend and Gurney, of which yet another brother, Samuel,
+was the moving spirit, was organised nine years after his death--in
+1865--into a joint-stock company, which failed to the amount of eleven
+millions in 1866. At the time of the failure, which affected all
+England, much as did the Liberator smash a generation later, the only
+Gurney in the directorate was Daniel Gurney, to whom his sister, Lady
+Buxton, allowed a pension of L2000 a year. This is a long story to tell
+by way of introduction to one episode in _Lavengro_. Dr. Knapp places
+this episode in the year 1817, when Borrow was but fourteen years of age
+and Gurney was twenty-nine. I need not apologise at this point for a
+very lengthy quotation from a familiar book:
+
+     At some distance from the city, behind a range of hilly ground
+     which rises towards the south-west, is a small river, the
+     waters of which, after many meanderings, eventually enter the
+     principal river of the district, and assist to swell the tide
+     which it rolls down to the ocean. It is a sweet rivulet, and
+     pleasant it is to trace its course from its spring-head, high
+     up in the remote regions of Eastern Anglia, till it arrives in
+     the valley behind yon rising ground; and pleasant is that
+     valley, truly a good spot, but most lovely where yonder bridge
+     crosses the little stream. Beneath its arch the waters rush
+     garrulously into a blue pool, and are there stilled for a time,
+     for the pool is deep, and they appear to have sunk to sleep.
+     Farther on, however, you hear their voice again, where they
+     ripple gaily over yon gravelly shallow. On the left the hill
+     slopes gently down to the margin of the stream. On the right is
+     a green level, a smiling meadow, grass of the richest decks the
+     side of the slope; mighty trees also adorn it, giant elms, the
+     nearest of which, when the sun is nigh its meridian, fling a
+     broad shadow upon the face of the pool; through yon vista you
+     catch a glimpse of the ancient brick of an old English hall. It
+     has a stately look, that old building, indistinctly seen, as it
+     is, among those umbrageous trees; you might almost suppose it
+     an earl's home; and such it was, or rather upon its site stood
+     an earl's home, in days of old, for there some old Kemp, some
+     Sigurd, or Thorkild, roaming in quest of a hearthstead, settled
+     down in the grey old time, when Thor and Freya were yet gods,
+     and Odin was a portentous name. Yon old hall is still called
+     the Earl's Home, though the hearth of Sigurd is now no more,
+     and the bones of the old Kemp, and of Sigrith his dame, have
+     been mouldering for a thousand years in some neighbouring
+     knoll; perhaps yonder, where those tall Norwegian pines shoot
+     up so boldly into the air. It is said that the old earl's
+     galley was once moored where is now that blue pool, for the
+     waters of that valley were not always sweet; yon valley was
+     once an arm of the sea, a salt lagoon, to which the war-barks
+     of 'Sigurd, in search of a home,' found their way.
+
+     I was in the habit of spending many an hour on the banks of
+     that rivulet with my rod in my hand, and, when tired with
+     angling, would stretch myself on the grass, and gaze upon the
+     waters as they glided past, and not unfrequently, divesting
+     myself of my dress, I would plunge into the deep pool which I
+     have already mentioned, for I had long since learned to swim.
+     And it came to pass, that on one hot summer's day, after
+     bathing in the pool, I passed along the meadow till I came to a
+     shallow part, and, wading over to the opposite side, I adjusted
+     my dress, and commenced fishing in another pool, beside which
+     was a small clump of hazels.
+
+     And there I sat upon the bank, at the bottom of the hill which
+     slopes down from 'the Earl's Home'; my float was on the waters,
+     and my back was towards the old hall. I drew up many fish,
+     small and great, which I took from off the hook mechanically,
+     and flung upon the bank, for I was almost unconscious of what I
+     was about, for my mind was not with my fish. I was thinking of
+     my earlier years--of the Scottish crags and the heaths of
+     Ireland--and sometimes my mind would dwell on my studies--on
+     the sonorous stanzas of Dante, rising and falling like the
+     waves of the sea--or would strive to remember a couplet or two
+     of poor Monsieur Boileau.
+
+     'Canst thou answer to thy conscience for pulling all those fish
+     out of the water and leaving them to gasp in the sun?' said a
+     voice, clear and sonorous as a bell.
+
+     I started, and looked round. Close behind me stood the tall
+     figure of a man, dressed in raiment of quaint and singular
+     fashion, but of goodly materials. He was in the prime and
+     vigour of manhood; his features handsome and noble, but full of
+     calmness and benevolence; at least I thought so, though they
+     were somewhat shaded by a hat of finest beaver, with broad
+     drooping eaves.
+
+     'Surely that is a very cruel diversion in which thou indulgest,
+     my young friend?' he continued.
+
+     'I am sorry for it, if it be, sir,' said I, rising; 'but I do
+     not think it cruel to fish.'
+
+     'What are thy reasons for thinking so?'
+
+     'Fishing is mentioned frequently in Scripture. Simon Peter was
+     a fisherman.'
+
+     'True; and Andrew his brother. But thou forgettest; they did
+     not follow fishing as a diversion, as I fear thou doest.--Thou
+     readest the Scriptures?'
+
+     'Sometimes.'
+
+     'Sometimes?--not daily?--that is to be regretted. What
+     profession dost thou make?--I mean to what religious
+     denomination dost thou belong, my young friend?'
+
+     'Church.'
+
+     'It is a very good profession--there is much of Scripture
+     contained in its liturgy. Dost thou read aught beside the
+     Scriptures?'
+
+     'Sometimes.'
+
+     'What dost thou read besides?'
+
+     'Greek, and Dante.'
+
+     'Indeed! then thou hast the advantage over myself; I can only
+     read the former. Well, I am rejoiced to find that thou hast
+     other pursuits beside thy fishing. Dost thou know Hebrew?'
+
+     'No.'
+
+     'Thou shouldest study it. Why dost thou not undertake the
+     study?'
+
+     'I have no books.'
+
+     'I will lend thee books, if thou wish to undertake the study. I
+     live yonder at the hall, as perhaps thou knowest. I have a
+     library there, in which are many curious books, both in Greek
+     and Hebrew, which I will show to thee, whenever thou mayest
+     find it convenient to come and see me. Farewell! I am glad to
+     find that thou hast pursuits more satisfactory than thy cruel
+     fishing.'
+
+     And the man of peace departed, and left me on the bank of the
+     stream. Whether from the effect of his words or from want of
+     inclination to the sport, I know not, but from that day I
+     became less and less a practitioner of that 'cruel fishing.' I
+     rarely flung line and angle into the water, but I not
+     unfrequently wandered by the banks of the pleasant rivulet. It
+     seems singular to me, on reflection, that I never availed
+     myself of his kind invitation. I say singular, for the
+     extraordinary, under whatever form, had long had no slight
+     interest for me: and I had discernment enough to perceive that
+     yon was no common man. Yet I went not near him, certainly not
+     from bashfulness, or timidity, feelings to which I had long
+     been an entire stranger. Am I to regret this? perhaps, for I
+     might have learned both wisdom and righteousness from those
+     calm, quiet lips, and my after-course might have been widely
+     different. As it was, I fell in with other queer companions,
+     from whom I received widely different impressions than those I
+     might have derived from him. When many years had rolled on,
+     long after I had attained manhood, and had seen and suffered
+     much, and when our first interview had long been effaced from
+     the mind of the man of peace, I visited him in his venerable
+     hall, and partook of the hospitality of his hearth. And there
+     I saw his gentle partner and his fair children, and on the
+     morrow he showed me the books of which he had spoken years
+     before by the side of the stream. In the low quiet chamber,
+     whose one window, shaded by a gigantic elm, looks down the
+     slope towards the pleasant stream, he took from the shelf his
+     learned books, Zohar and Mishna, Toldoth Jesu and Abarbenel.
+
+     'I am fond of these studies,' said he, 'which, perhaps, is not
+     to be wondered at, seeing that our people have been compared to
+     the Jews. In one respect I confess we are similar to them: we
+     are fond of getting money. I do not like this last author, this
+     Abarbenel, the worse for having been a money-changer. I am a
+     banker myself, as thou knowest.'
+
+     And would there were many like him, amidst the money-changers
+     of princes! The hall of many an earl lacks the bounty, the
+     palace of many a prelate the piety and learning, which adorn
+     the quiet Quaker's home!
+
+It is doubtful if Borrow met Joseph John Gurney more than on the one
+further occasion to which he refers above. At the commencement of his
+engagement with the Bible Society he writes to its secretary, Mr. Jowett
+(March 18, 1833), to say that he must procure from Mr. Cunningham 'a
+letter of introduction from him to John Gurney,' and this second and
+last interview must have taken place at Earlham before his departure for
+Russia.
+
+But if Borrow was to come very little under the influence of Joseph John
+Gurney, his destiny was to be considerably moulded by the action of
+Gurney's brother-in-law, Cunningham, who first put him in touch with the
+Bible Society. Joseph John Gurney and his sisters were the very life of
+the Bible Society in those years.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[34] See _The Gurneys of Earlham_ by Augustus J. C. Hare, 2 vols., 1895;
+_Memoirs of Joseph Gurney; with Selections from his Journal and
+Correspondence_, edited by Joseph Bevan Braithwaite, 2 vols., 1834.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+GEORGE BORROW'S NORWICH--THE TAYLORS
+
+
+With the famous 'Taylors of Norwich' Borrow seems to have had no
+acquaintance, although he went to school with a connection of that
+family, James Martineau. These socially important Taylors were in no way
+related to William Taylor of that city, who knew German literature, and
+scandalised the more virtuous citizens by that, and perhaps more by his
+fondness for wine and also for good English beer--a drink over which his
+friend Borrow was to become lyrical. When people speak of the Norwich
+Taylors they refer to the family of Dr. John Taylor, who in 1783 was
+elected to the charge of the Presbyterian congregation in Norwich. His
+eldest son, Richard, married Margaret, the daughter of a mayor of
+Norwich of the name of Meadows; and Sarah, another daughter of that same
+worshipful mayor, married David Martineau, grandson of Gaston Martineau,
+who fled from France at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of
+Nantes.[35] Harriet and James Martineau were grandchildren of this
+David. The second son of Richard and Margaret Taylor was John, who
+married Susannah Cook. Susannah is the clever Mrs. John Taylor of this
+story, and her daughter of even greater ability was Sarah Austin, the
+wife of the famous jurist. Their daughter married Sir Alexander
+Duff-Gordon. She was the author of _Letters from Egypt_, a book to which
+George Meredith wrote an 'Introduction,' so much did he love the writer.
+Lady Duff-Gordon's daughter, Janet Ross, wrote the biography of her
+mother, her grandmother, and Mrs. John Taylor, in _Three Generations of
+Englishwomen_. A niece, Lena Duff-Gordon (Mrs. Waterfield), has written
+pleasant books of travel, and so, for five generations, this family has
+produced clever women-folk. But here we are only concerned with Mrs.
+John Taylor, called by her friends the 'Madame Roland of Norwich.' Lucy
+Aikin describes how she 'darned her boy's grey worsted stockings while
+holding her own with Southey, Brougham, or Mackintosh.' One of her
+daughters married Henry Reeve, and, as I have said, another married John
+Austin. Borrow was twenty years of age and living in Norwich when Mrs.
+Taylor died. It is to be regretted that in the early impressionable
+years his position as a lawyer's clerk did not allow of his coming into
+a circle in which he might have gained certain qualities of _savoir
+faire_ and _joie de vivre_, which he was all his days to lack. Of the
+Taylor family the Duke of Sussex said that they reversed the ordinary
+saying that it takes nine tailors to make a man. The witticism has been
+attributed to Sydney Smith, but Mrs. Ross gives evidence that it was the
+Duke's--the youngest son of George III. In his _Life of Sir James
+Mackintosh_ Basil Montagu, referring to Mrs. John Taylor, says:
+
+     Norwich was always a haven of rest to us, from the literary
+     society with which that city abounded. Dr. Sayers we used to
+     visit, and the high-minded and intelligent William Taylor; but
+     our chief delight was in the society of Mrs. John Taylor, a
+     most intelligent and excellent woman, mild and unassuming,
+     quiet and meek, sitting amidst her large family, occupied with
+     her needle and domestic occupations, but always assisting, by
+     her great knowledge, the advancement of kind and dignified
+     sentiment and conduct.
+
+We note here the reference to 'the high-minded and intelligent William
+Taylor,' because William Taylor, whose influence upon Borrow's destiny
+was so pronounced, has been revealed to many by the slanders of Harriet
+Martineau, that extraordinary compound of meanness and generosity, of
+poverty-stricken intelligence and rich endowment. In her
+_Autobiography_, published in 1877, thirty-four years after Robberds's
+_Memoir of William Taylor_, she dwells upon the drinking propensities of
+William Taylor, who was a schoolfellow of her father's. She admits,
+indeed, that Taylor was an ideal son, whose 'exemplary filial duty was a
+fine spectacle to the whole city,' and she continues:
+
+     His virtues as a son were before our eyes when we witnessed his
+     endurance of his father's brutality of temper and manners, and
+     his watchfulness in ministering to the old man's comfort in his
+     infirmities. When we saw, on a Sunday morning, William Taylor
+     guiding his blind mother to chapel ... we could forgive
+     anything that had shocked or disgusted us at the dinner-table.
+
+Well, Harriet Martineau is not much to be trusted as to Taylor's virtues
+or his vices, for her early recollections are frequently far from the
+mark. Thus she refers under the date 1833 to the fact that:
+
+     The great days of the Gurneys were not come yet. The remarkable
+     family from which issued Mrs. Fry and Joseph John Gurney were
+     then a set of dashing young people, dressed in gay riding
+     habits and scarlet boots, and riding about the country to balls
+     and gaieties of all sorts.
+
+As a matter of fact, in this year, 1833, Mrs. Fry was the mother of
+fifteen children, and had nine grandchildren, and Joseph John Gurney had
+been twice a widower. Both brother and sister were zealous
+philanthropists at this date. And so we may take with some measure of
+qualification Harriet Martineau's many strictures upon Taylor's drinking
+habits, which were, no doubt, those of his century and epoch; although
+perhaps beyond the acceptable standard of Norwich, where the Gurneys
+were strong teetotallers, and the Bishop once invited Father Mathew,
+then in the glory of his temperance crusade, to discourse in his
+diocese. Indeed, Robberds, his biographer, tells us explicitly that
+these charges of intemperance were 'grossly and unjustly exaggerated.'
+William Taylor's life is pleasantly interlinked with Scott and Southey.
+Lucy Aikin records that she heard Sir Walter Scott declare to Mrs.
+Barbauld that Taylor had laid the foundations of his literary
+career--had started him upon the path of glory through romantic verse to
+romantic prose, from _The Lay of the Last Minstrel_ to _Waverley_. It
+was the reading of Taylor's translation of Buerger's _Lenore_ that did
+all this. 'This, madam,' said Scott, 'was what made me a poet. I had
+several times attempted the more regular kinds of poetry without
+success, but here was something that I thought I could do.' Southey
+assuredly loved Taylor, and each threw at the feet of the other the
+abundant literary learning that both possessed. This we find in a
+correspondence which, reading more than a century after it was written,
+still has its charm.[36] The son of a wealthy manufacturer of Norwich,
+Taylor was born in that city in 1765. He was in early years a pupil of
+Mrs. Barbauld. At fourteen he was placed in his father's counting-house,
+and soon afterwards was sent abroad, in the company of one of the
+partners, to acquire languages. He learnt German thoroughly at a time
+when few Englishmen had acquaintance with its literature. To Goethe's
+genius he never did justice, having been offended by that great man's
+failure to acknowledge a book that Taylor sent to him, exactly as
+Carlyle and Borrow alike were afterwards offended by similar
+delinquencies on the part of Walter Scott. When he settled again in
+Norwich he commenced to write for the magazines, among others for Sir
+Richard Phillips's _Monthly Magazine_, and to correspond with Southey.
+At the time Southey was a poor man, thinking of abandoning literature
+for the law, and hopeful of practising in Calcutta. The Norwich
+Liberals, however, aspired to a newspaper to be called _The Iris_.
+Taylor asked Southey to come to Norwich and to become its editor.
+Southey declined and Taylor took up the task. The _Norwich Iris_ lasted
+for two years. Southey never threw over his friendship for Taylor,
+although their views ultimately came to be far apart. Writing to Taylor
+in 1803 he says:
+
+     Your theology does nothing but mischief; it serves only to thin
+     the miserable ranks of Unitarianism. The regular troops of
+     infidelity do little harm; and their trumpeters, such as
+     Voltaire and Paine, not much more. But it is such pioneers as
+     Middleton, and you and your German friends, that work
+     underground and sap the very citadel. That _Monthly Magazine_
+     is read by all the Dissenters--I call it the Dissenters'
+     Obituary--and here are you eternally mining, mining, under the
+     shallow faith of their half-learned, half-witted, half-paid,
+     half-starved pastors.
+
+But the correspondence went on apace, indeed it occupies the larger part
+of Robberds's two substantial volumes. It is in the very last letter
+from Taylor to Southey that we find an oft-quoted reference to Borrow.
+The letter is dated 12th March 1821:
+
+     A Norwich young man is construing with me Schiller's _Wilhelm
+     Tell_ with the view of translating it for the Press. His name
+     is George Henry Borrow, and he has learnt German with
+     extraordinary rapidity; indeed, he has the gift of tongues,
+     and, though not yet eighteen, understands twelve
+     languages--English, Welsh, Erse, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German,
+     Danish, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese; he would like
+     to get into the Office for Foreign Affairs, but does not know
+     how.
+
+Although this was the last letter to Southey that is published in the
+memoir, Taylor visited Southey at Keswick in 1826. Taylor's three
+volumes of the _Historic Survey of German Poetry_ appeared in 1828,
+1829, and 1830. Sir Walter Scott, in the last year of his life, wrote
+from Abbotsford on 23rd April 1832 to Taylor to protest against an
+allusion to 'William Scott of Edinburgh' being the author of a
+translation of _Goetz von Berlichingen_. Scott explained that he (Walter
+Scott) was that author, and also made allusion to the fact that he had
+borrowed with acknowledgment two lines from Taylor's _Lenore_ for his
+own--
+
+    Tramp, tramp along the land,
+    Splash, splash across the sea.
+
+adding that his recollection of the obligation was infinitely stronger
+than of the mistake. It would seem, however, that the name 'William' was
+actually on the title-page of the London edition of 1799 of _Goetz von
+Berlichingen_. When Southey heard of the death of Taylor in 1836 he
+wrote:
+
+     I was not aware of my old friend's illness, or I should
+     certainly have written to him, to express that unabated regard
+     which I have felt for him eight-and-thirty years, and that hope
+     which I shall ever feel, that we may meet in the higher state
+     of existence. I have known very few who equalled him in
+     talents--none who had a kinder heart; and there never lived a
+     more dutiful son, or a sincerer friend.
+
+Taylor's many books are now all forgotten. His translation of Buerger's
+_Lenore_ one now only recalls by its effect upon Scott; his translation
+of Lessing's _Nathan the Wise_ has been superseded. His voluminous
+_Historic Survey of German Poetry_ only lives through Carlyle's severe
+review in the _Edinburgh Review_[37] against the many strictures in
+which Taylor's biographer attempts to defend him. Taylor had none of
+Carlyle's inspiration. Not a line of his work survives in print in our
+day, but it was no small thing to have been the friend and correspondent
+of Southey, whose figure in literary history looms larger now than it
+did when Emerson asked contemptuously, 'Who's Southey?'; and to have
+been the wise mentor of George Borrow is in itself to be no small thing
+in the record of letters. There is a considerable correspondence between
+Taylor and Sir Richard Phillips in Robberds's _Memoir_, and Phillips
+seemed always anxious to secure articles from Taylor for the _Monthly_,
+and even books for his publishing-house. Hence the introduction from
+Taylor that Borrow carried to London might have been most effective if
+Phillips had had any use for poor and impracticable would-be authors.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[35] _Three Generations of Englishwomen_, by Janet Ross, vol. i, p. 3.
+
+[36] _A Memoir of the Life and Writings of William Taylor of Norwich:
+Containing his Correspondence of many years with the late Robert
+Southey, Esquire, and Original Letters from Sir Walter Scott and other
+Eminent Literary Men_. Compiled and edited by J. W. Robberds of Norwich,
+2 vols. London: John Murray, 1843.
+
+[37] Reprinted in Carlyle's _Miscellanies_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+GEORGE BORROW'S NORWICH--THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL
+
+
+When George Borrow first entered Norwich after the long journey from
+Edinburgh, Joseph John Gurney, born 1788, was twenty-six years of age,
+and William Taylor, born 1765, was forty-nine. Borrow was eleven years
+of age. Captain Borrow took temporary lodgings at the Crown and Angel
+Inn in St. Stephen's Street, George was sent to the Grammar School, and
+his elder brother started to learn drawing and painting with John Crome
+('Old Crome') of many a fine landscape. But the wanderings of the family
+were not yet over. Napoleon escaped from Elba, and the West Norfolk
+Militia were again put on the march. This time it was Ireland to which
+they were destined, and we have already shadowed forth, with the help of
+_Lavengro_, that momentous episode. The victory of Waterloo gave Europe
+peace, and in 1816 the Borrow family returned to Norwich, there to pass
+many quiet years. In 1819 Captain Borrow was pensioned--eight shillings
+a day. From 1816 till his father's death in 1824 Borrow lived in Norwich
+with his family. Their home was in King's Court, Willow Lane, a modest
+one-storey house in a _cul de sac_, which we have already described. In
+King's Court, Willow Lane, Borrow lived at intervals until his marriage
+in 1840, and his mother continued to live in the house until, in 1849,
+she agreed to join her son and daughter-in-law at Oulton. Yet the house
+comes little into the story of Borrow's life, as do the early houses of
+many great men of letters, nor do subsequent houses come into his story;
+the house at Oulton and the house at Hereford Square are equally barren
+of association; the broad highway and the windy heath were Borrow's
+natural home. He was never a 'civilised' being; he never shone in
+drawing-rooms. Let us, however, return to Borrow's schooldays, of which
+the records are all too scanty, and not in the least invigorating. The
+Norwich Grammar School has an interesting tradition. We pass to the
+cathedral through the beautiful Erpingham Gate built about 1420 by Sir
+Thomas Erpingham, and we find the school on the left. It was originally
+a chapel, and the porch is at least five hundred years old. The
+schoolroom is sufficiently old-world-looking for us to imagine the
+schoolboys of past generations sitting at the various desks. The school
+was founded in 1547, but the registers have been lost, and so we know
+little of its famous pupils of earlier days. Lord Nelson and Rajah
+Brooke are the two names of men of action that stand out most honourably
+in modern times among the scholars[38]. In literature Borrow had but one
+schoolfellow, who afterwards came to distinction--James Martineau.
+Borrow's headmaster was the Reverend Edward Valpy, who held the office
+from 1810 to 1829, and to whom is credited the destruction of the
+school archives. Borrow's two years of the Grammar School were not
+happy ones. Borrow, as we have shown, was not of the stuff of which
+happy schoolboys are made. He had been a wanderer--Scotland, Ireland,
+and many parts of England had assisted in a fragmentary education; he
+was now thirteen years of age, and already a vagabond at heart. But let
+us hear Dr. Augustus Jessopp, who was headmaster of the same Grammar
+School from 1859 to 1879. Writing of a meeting of old Norvicensians to
+greet the Rajah, Sir James Brooke, in 1858, when there was a great
+'whip' of the 'old boys,' Dr. Jessopp tells us that Borrow, then living
+at Yarmouth, did not put in an appearance among his schoolfellows:
+
+     My belief is that he never was popular among them, that he
+     never attained a high place in the school, and he was a 'free
+     boy.' In those days there were a certain number of day boys at
+     Norwich school, who were nominated by members of the
+     Corporation, and who paid no tuition fees; they had to submit
+     to a certain amount of snubbing at the hands of the boarders,
+     who for the most part were the sons of the county gentry. Of
+     course, such a proud boy as George Borrow would resent this,
+     and it seems to have rankled with him all through his life....
+     To talk of Borrow as a 'scholar' is absurd. 'A picker-up of
+     learning's crumbs' he was, but he was absolutely without any of
+     the training or the instincts of a scholar. He had had little
+     education till he came to Norwich, and was at the Grammar
+     School little more than two years. It is pretty certain that he
+     knew no Greek when he entered there, and he never seems to have
+     acquired more than the elements of that language.[39]
+
+[Illustration: THE ERPINGHAM GATE AND THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, NORWICH
+
+We pass through the Erpingham Gate direct to the Cathedral, the Grammar
+School being on our left. Here it is on our right. Facing the school is
+a statue of Lord Nelson, who was at school here about 1768-70. Borrow
+was at school here 1816-18.]
+
+Yet the only real influence that Borrow carried away from the Grammar
+School was concerned with foreign languages. He did take to the French
+master and exiled priest, Thomas d'Eterville, a native of Caen, who had
+emigrated to Norwich in 1793. D'Eterville taught French, Italian, and
+apparently, to Borrow, a little Spanish; and Borrow, with his wonderful
+memory, must have been his favourite pupil. In his edition of _Lavengro_
+Dr. Knapp publishes a brief dialogue between master and pupil, which
+gives us an amusing glimpse of the worthy d'Eterville, whom the boys
+called 'poor old Detterville.' In the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters
+of _Lavengro_ he is pleasantly described by his pupil, who adds, with
+characteristic 'bluff,' that d'Eterville said 'on our arrival at the
+conclusion of Dante's _Hell_, "vous serez un jour un grand philologue,
+mon cher."'
+
+Borrow's biographers have dwelt at length upon one episode of his
+schooldays--the flogging he received from Valpy for playing truant with
+three other boys. One, by name John Dalrymple, faltered on the way, the
+two faithful followers of George in his escapade being two brothers
+named Theodosius and Francis Purland, whose father kept a chemist's shop
+in Norwich. The three boys wandered away as far as Acle, eleven miles
+from Norwich, whence they were ignomimously brought back and birched.
+John Dalrymple's brother Arthur, son of a distinguished Norwich surgeon,
+who became Clerk of the Peace at Norwich in 1854, and died in 1868, has
+left a memorandum concerning Borrow, from which I take the following
+extract[40]:
+
+     'I was at school with Borrow at the Free School, Norwich, under
+     the Rev. E. Valpy. He was an odd, wild boy, and always wanting
+     to turn Robinson Crusoe or Buccaneer. My brother John was about
+     Borrow's age, and on one occasion Borrow, John, and another,
+     whose name I forget, determined to run away and turn pirates.
+     John carried an old horse pistol and some potatoes as his
+     contribution to the general stock, but his zeal was soon
+     exhausted, he turned back at Thorpe Lunatic Asylum; but Borrow
+     went off to Yarmouth, and lived on the Caister Denes for a few
+     days. I don't remember hearing of any exploits. He had a
+     wonderful facility for learning languages, which, however, he
+     never appears to have turned to account.
+
+James Martineau, afterwards a popular preacher and a distinguished
+theologian of the Unitarian creed, here comes into the story. He was a
+contemporary with Borrow at the Norwich Grammar School as already
+stated, but the two boys had little in common. There was nothing of the
+vagabond about James Martineau, and concerning Borrow--if on no other
+subject--he would probably have agreed with his sister Harriet, whose
+views we shall quote in a later chapter. In Martineau's _Memoirs_,
+voluminous and dull, there is only one reference to Borrow;[41] but a
+correspondent once ventured to approach the eminent divine concerning
+the rumour as to Martineau's part in the birching of the author of _The
+Bible in Spain_, and received the following letter:
+
+                35 GORDON SQUARE, LONDON, W.C., _December 6, 1895._
+
+     DEAR SIR,--Two or three years ago Mr. Egmont Hake (author, I
+     think, of a life of Gordon) sought an interview with me, as
+     reputed to be Borrow's sole surviving schoolfellow, in order to
+     gather information or test traditions about his schooldays.
+     This was with a view to a memoir which he was compiling, he
+     said, out of the literary remains which had been committed to
+     him by his executors. I communicated to him such recollections
+     as I could clearly depend upon and leave at his disposal for
+     publication or for suppression as he might think fit. Under
+     these circumstances I feel that they are rightfully his, and
+     that I am restrained from placing them at disposal elsewhere
+     unless and until he renounces his claim upon them. But though I
+     cannot repeat them at length for public use, I am not precluded
+     from correcting inaccuracies in stories already in circulation,
+     and may therefore say that Mr. Arthur Dalrymple's version of
+     the Yarmouth escapade is wrong in making his brother John a
+     partner in the transaction. John had quite too much sense for
+     that; the only victims of Borrow's romance were two or three
+     silly boys--mere lackeys of Borrow's commanding will--who
+     helped him to make up a kit for the common knapsack by
+     pilferings out of their fathers' shops.
+
+     The Norwich gentleman who fell in with the boys lying in the
+     hedgerow near the half-way inn knew one of them, and wormed out
+     of him the drift of their enterprise, and engaging a postchaise
+     packed them all into it, and in his gig saw them safe home.
+
+     It is true that I had to _hoist_ (not 'horse') Borrow for his
+     flogging, but not that there was anything exceptional or
+     capable of leaving permanent scars in the infliction. Mr. Valpy
+     was not given to excess of that kind.
+
+     I have never read _Lavengro_, and cannot give any opinion about
+     the correct spelling of the 'Exul sacerdos' name.
+
+     Borrow's romance and William Taylor's love of paradox would
+     doubtless often run together, like a pair of well-matched
+     steeds, and carry them away in the same direction. But there
+     was a strong--almost wild--_religious_ sentiment in Borrow, of
+     which only faint traces appear in W. T. In Borrow it had always
+     a tendency to pass from a sympathetic to an antipathetic form.
+     He used to gather about him three or four favourite
+     schoolfellows, after they had learned their class lesson and
+     before the class was called up, and with a sheet of paper and
+     book on his knee, invent and tell a story, making rapid little
+     pictures of each _dramatis persona_ that came upon the stage.
+     The plot was woven and spread out with much ingenuity, and the
+     characters were various and well discriminated. But two of
+     them were sure to turn up in every tale, the Devil and the
+     Pope, and the working of the drama invariably had the same
+     issue--the utter ruin and disgrace of these two potentates. I
+     had often thought that there was a presage here of the mission
+     which produced _The Bible in Spain_.--I am, dear sir, very
+     truly yours,
+
+                JAMES MARTINEAU.[42]
+
+Yet it is amusing to trace the story through various phases. Dr.
+Martineau's letter was the outcome of his attention being called to a
+statement made in a letter written by a lady in Hampstead to a friend in
+Norwich, which runs as follows:
+
+                _11th Nov. 1893._
+
+     Dr. Martineau, to amuse some boys at a school treat, told us
+     about George Borrow, his schoolfellow: he was always reading
+     adventures of smugglers and pirates, etc., and at last, to
+     carry out his ideas, got a set of his schoolfellows to promise
+     to join him in an expedition to Yarmouth, where he had heard of
+     a ship that he thought would take them. The boys saved all the
+     food they could from their meals, and what money they had, and
+     one morning started very early to walk to Yarmouth. They got
+     half-way--to Blofield, I think--when they were so tired they
+     had to rest by the roadside, and eat their lunch. While they
+     were resting, a gentleman, whose son was at the Free School,
+     passed in his gig. He thought it was very odd so many boys,
+     some of whom he had seen, should be waiting about, so he drove
+     back and asked them if they would come to dine with him at the
+     inn. Of course they were only too glad, poor boys: but as soon
+     as he had got them all in he sent his servant with a letter to
+     Mr. Valpy, who sent a coach and brought them all back. You know
+     what a cruel man that Dr. V. was. He made Dr. Martineau take
+     poor Borrow on his back, 'horse him,' I think he called it, and
+     flogged him so that Dr. M. said he would carry the marks for
+     the rest of his life, and he had to keep his bed for a
+     fortnight. The other boys got off with lighter punishment, but
+     Borrow was the ring-leader. Those were the 'good old times'! I
+     have heard Dr. M. say that not for another life would he go
+     through the misery he suffered as 'town boy' at that school.
+
+Miss Frances Power Cobbe, who lived next door to Borrow in Hereford
+Square, Brompton, in the 'sixties, as we shall see later, has a word to
+say on the point:
+
+     Dr. Martineau once told me that he and Borrow had been
+     schoolfellows at Norwich some sixty years before. Borrow had
+     persuaded several of his other companions to rob their fathers'
+     tills, and then the party set forth to join some smugglers on
+     the coast. By degrees the truants all fell out of line and were
+     picked up, tired and hungry, along the road, and brought back
+     to Norwich School, where condign chastisement awaited them.
+     George Borrow, it seems, received his large share _horsed_ on
+     James Martineau's back! The early connection between the two
+     old men, as I knew them, was irresistibly comic to my mind.
+     Somehow when I asked Mr. Borrow once to come and meet some
+     friends at our house he accepted our invitation as usual, but,
+     on finding that Dr. Martineau was to be of the party, hastily
+     withdrew his acceptance on a transparent excuse; nor did he
+     ever after attend our little assemblies without first
+     ascertaining that Dr. Martineau was not to be present.[43]
+
+James Martineau died in 1900, but the last of Borrow's schoolfellows to
+die was, I think, Mr. William Edmund Image, a Justice of the Peace and
+Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk. He resided at Herringswell House, near
+Mildenhall, where he died in 1903, aged 96 years.
+
+Mr. Valpy of the Norwich Grammar School is scarcely to be blamed that he
+was not able to make separate rules for a quite abnormal boy. Yet, if
+he could have known, Borrow was better employed playing truant and
+living up to his life-work as a glorified vagabond than in studying in
+the ordinary school routine. George Borrow belonged to a type of
+boy--there are many such--who learn much more out of school than in its
+bounds; and the boy Borrow, picking up brother vagabonds in Tombland
+Fair, and already beginning, in his own peculiar way, his language
+craze, was laying the foundations that made _Lavengro_ possible.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[38] In earlier times we have the names of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of
+Canterbury; Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice; John Caius, the founder of
+Caius College, Cambridge; and Samuel Clarke, divine and metaphysician;
+and, indeed, a very considerable list of England's worthies.
+
+[39] 'Lights on Borrow,' by the Rev. Augustus Jessopp, D. D., Hon. Canon
+of Norwich Cathedral, in _The Daily Chronicle_, 30th April 1900.
+
+[40] The whole memorandum on a sheet of notepaper, signed A. D., is in
+the possession of Mrs. James Stuart of Carrow Abbey, Norwich, who has
+kindly lent it to me.
+
+[41] This is a contemptuous reference in Martineau's own words to
+'George Borrow, the writer and actor of romance,' in the allusion to
+Martineau's schoolfellows under Edward Valpy. Martineau was at the
+Norwich Grammar School for four years--from 1815 to 1819. See _Life and
+Letters_, by James Drummond and C. B. Upton, vol. i. pp. 16, 17.
+
+[42] Reprint from an article by W. A. Dutt on 'George Borrow and James
+Martineau' in _The Sphere_ for 30th August 1902. The letter was written
+to Mr. James Hooper, of Norwich.
+
+[43] _Life of Frances Power Cobbe as told by Herself_, ch. xvii.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+GEORGE BORROW'S NORWICH--THE LAWYER'S OFFICE
+
+
+Doubts were very frequently expressed in Borrow's lifetime as to his
+having really been articled to a solicitor, but the indefatigable Dr.
+Knapp set that point at rest by reference to the Record Office. Borrow
+was articled to Simpson and Rackham of Tuck's Court, St. Giles's,
+Norwich, 'for the term of five years'--from March 1819 to March
+1824--and these five years were spent in and about Norwich, and were
+full of adventure of a kind with which the law had nothing to do. If
+Borrow had had the makings of a lawyer he could not have entered the
+profession under happier auspices. The firm was an old established one
+even in his day. It had been established in Tuck's Court as Simpson and
+Rackham, then it became Rackham and Morse, Rackham, Cooke and Rackham,
+and Rackham and Cooke; finally, Tom Rackham, a famous Norwich man in his
+day, moved to another office, and the firm of lawyers who occupy the
+original offices in our day is called Leathes Prior and Sons. Borrow has
+told us frankly what a poor lawyer's clerk he made--he was always
+thinking of things remote from that profession, of gypsies, of
+prize-fighters, and of word-makers. Yet he loved the head of the firm,
+William Simpson, who must have been a kind and tolerant guide to the
+curious youth. Simpson was for a time Town Clerk of Norwich, and his
+portrait hangs in the Blackfriars Hall. Borrow went to live with Mr.
+Simpson in the Upper Close near the Grammar School. Archdeacon Groome
+recalled having seen Borrow 'reserved and solitary' haunting the
+precincts of the playground; another schoolboy, William Drake,
+remembered him as 'tall, spare, dark-complexioned.'[44] Here is Borrow's
+account of his master and of his work:
+
+     A more respectable-looking individual was never seen; he really
+     looked what he was, a gentleman of the law--there was nothing
+     of the pettifogger about him: somewhat under the middle size,
+     and somewhat rotund in person, he was always dressed in a full
+     suit of black, never worn long enough to become threadbare. His
+     face was rubicund, and not without keenness; but the most
+     remarkable thing about him was the crown of his head, which was
+     bald, and shone like polished ivory, nothing more white,
+     smooth, and lustrous. Some people have said that he wore false
+     calves, probably because his black silk stockings never
+     exhibited a wrinkle; they might just as well have said that he
+     waddled, because his boots creaked; for these last, which were
+     always without a speck, and polished as his crown, though of a
+     different hue, did creak, as he walked rather slowly. I cannot
+     say that I ever saw him walk fast.
+
+     He had a handsome practice, and might have died a very rich
+     man, much richer than he did, had he not been in the habit of
+     giving rather expensive dinners to certain great people, who
+     gave him nothing in return, except their company; I could never
+     discover his reasons for doing so, as he always appeared to me
+     a remarkably quiet man, by nature averse to noise and bustle;
+     but in all dispositions there are anomalies. I have already
+     said that he lived in a handsome house, and I may as well here
+     add that he had a very handsome wife, who both dressed and
+     talked exceedingly well.
+
+     So I sat behind the deal desk, engaged in copying documents of
+     various kinds; and in the apartment in which I sat, and in the
+     adjoining ones, there were others, some of whom likewise copied
+     documents, while some were engaged in the yet more difficult
+     task of drawing them up; and some of these, sons of nobody,
+     were paid for the work they did, whilst others, like myself,
+     sons of somebody, paid for being permitted to work, which, as
+     our principal observed, was but reasonable, forasmuch as we not
+     unfrequently utterly spoiled the greater part of the work
+     intrusted to our hands.[45]
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM SIMPSON
+
+From a portrait by Thomas Phillips, R.A.
+
+Mr. Simpson was Chamberlain of the city of Norwich and Treasurer of the
+county of Norfolk. He was Town-Clerk of Norwich in 1826, and has an
+interest in connection with George Borrow in that Borrow was articled to
+him as a lawyer's clerk and describes him in _Wild Wales_ as 'the
+greatest solicitor in East Anglia--indeed I may say the prince of all
+English solicitors.'
+
+The portrait hangs in the Black Friars Hall, Norwich.]
+
+And he goes on to tell us that he studied the Welsh language and later
+the Danish; his master said that his inattention would assuredly make
+him a bankrupt, and his father sighed over his eccentric and
+impracticable son. The passion for languages had indeed caught hold of
+Borrow. Among my Borrow papers I find a memorandum in the handwriting of
+his stepdaughter in which she says:
+
+     I have often heard his mother say, that when a mere child of
+     eight or nine years, all his pocket-money was spent in
+     purchasing foreign Dictionaries and Grammars; he formed an
+     acquaintance with an old woman who kept a bookstall in the
+     market-place of Norwich, whose son went voyages to Holland with
+     cattle, and brought home Dutch books, which were eagerly bought
+     by little George. One day the old woman was crying, and told
+     him that her son was in prison. 'For doing what?' asked the
+     child. 'For taking a silk handkerchief out of a gentleman's
+     pocket.' 'Then,' said the boy, 'your son stole the pocket
+     handkerchief?' 'No dear, no, my son did not steal,--he only
+     glyfaked.'
+
+We have no difficulty in recognising here the heroine of the Moll
+Flanders episode in _Lavengro_. But it was not from casual meetings with
+Welsh grooms and Danes and Dutchmen that Borrow acquired even such
+command of various languages as was undoubtedly his. We have it on the
+authority of an old fellow-pupil at the Grammar School, Burcham,
+afterwards a London police-magistrate, that William Taylor gave him
+lessons in German,[46] but he acquired most of his varied knowledge in
+these impressionable years in the Corporation Library of Norwich. Dr.
+Knapp found, in his most laudable examination of some of the books,
+Borrow's neat pencil notes, the making of which was not laudable on the
+part of his hero. One book here marked was on ancient Danish literature,
+the author of which, Olaus Wormius, gave him the hint for calling
+himself Olaus Borrow for a time--a signature that we find in some of
+Borrow's published translations. Borrow at this time had aspirations of
+a literary kind, and Thomas Campbell accepted a translation of
+Schiller's _Diver_, which was signed 'O. B.' There were also
+translations from the German, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish, in the
+_Monthly Magazine_. Clearly Borrow was becoming a formidable linguist,
+if not a very exact master of words. Still he remained a vagabond, and
+loved to wander over Mousehold Heath, to the gypsy encampment, and to
+make friends with the Romany folk; he loved also to haunt the horse
+fairs for which Norwich was so celebrated; and he was not averse from
+the companionship of wilder spirits who loved pugilism, if we may trust
+_Lavengro_, and if we may assume, as we justly may, that he many times
+cast youthful, sympathetic eyes on John Thurtell in these years, the
+to-be murderer of Weare, then actually living with his father in a house
+on the Ipswich Road, Thurtell, the father, being in no mean position in
+the city--an alderman, and a sheriff in 1815. Yes, there was plenty to
+do and to see in Norwich, and Borrow's memories of it were nearly always
+kindly:
+
+     A fine old city, truly, is that, view it from whatever side you
+     will; but it shows best from the east, where ground, bold and
+     elevated, overlooks the fair and fertile valley in which it
+     stands. Gazing from those heights, the eye beholds a scene
+     which cannot fail to awaken, even in the least sensitive bosom,
+     feelings of pleasure and admiration. At the foot of the heights
+     flows a narrow and deep river, with an antique bridge
+     communicating with a long and narrow suburb, flanked on either
+     side by rich meadows of the brightest green, beyond which
+     spreads the city; the fine old city, perhaps the most curious
+     specimen at present extant of the genuine old English town.
+     Yes, there it spreads from north to south, with its venerable
+     houses, its numerous gardens, its thrice twelve churches, its
+     mighty mound, which, if tradition speaks true, was raised by
+     human hands to serve as the grave-heap of an old heathen king,
+     who sits deep within it, with his sword in his hand, and his
+     gold and silver treasures about him. There is a grey old castle
+     upon the top of that mighty mound; and yonder, rising three
+     hundred feet above the soil, from among those noble forest
+     trees, behold that old Norman master-work, that cloud-encircled
+     cathedral spire, around which a garrulous army of rooks and
+     choughs continually wheel their flight. Now, who can wonder
+     that the children of that fine old city are proud of her, and
+     offer up prayers for her prosperity? I myself, who was not born
+     within her walls, offer up prayers for her prosperity, that
+     want may never visit her cottages, vice her palaces, and that
+     the abomination of idolatry may never pollute her temples.
+
+But at the very centre of Borrow's Norwich life was William Taylor,
+concerning whom we have already written much. It was a Jew named Mousha,
+a quack it appears, who pretended to know German and Hebrew, and had but
+a smattering of either language, who first introduced Borrow to Taylor,
+and there is a fine dialogue between the two in _Lavengro_, of which
+this is the closing fragment:
+
+     'Are you happy?' said the young man.
+
+     'Why, no! And, between ourselves, it is that which induces me
+     to doubt sometimes the truth of my opinions. My life, upon the
+     whole, I consider a failure; on which account, I would not
+     counsel you, or anyone, to follow my example too closely. It
+     is getting late, and you had better be going, especially as
+     your father, you say, is anxious about you. But, as we may
+     never meet again, I think there are three things which I may
+     safely venture to press upon you. The first is, that the
+     decencies and gentlenesses should never be lost sight of, as
+     the practice of the decencies and gentlenesses is at all times
+     compatible with independence of thought and action. The second
+     thing which I would wish to impress upon you is, that there is
+     always some eye upon us; and that it is impossible to keep
+     anything we do from the world, as it will assuredly be divulged
+     by somebody as soon as it is his interest to do so. The third
+     thing which I would wish to press upon you----'
+
+     'Yes,' said the youth, eagerly bending forward.
+
+     'Is'--and here the elderly individual laid down his pipe upon
+     the table--'that it will be as well to go on improving yourself
+     in German!'
+
+Taylor it was who, when Borrow determined to try his fortunes in London
+with those bundles of unsaleable manuscripts, gave him introductions to
+Sir Richard Phillips and to Thomas Campbell. It was in the agnostic
+spirit that he had learned from Taylor that he wrote during this period
+to his one friend in London, Roger Kerrison. Kerrison was grandson of
+Sir Roger Kerrison, Mayor of Norwich in 1778, as his son Thomas was
+after him in 1806. Roger was articled, as was Borrow, to the firm of
+Simpson and Rackham, while his brother Allday was in a drapery store in
+Norwich, but with mind bent on commercial life in Mexico. George was
+teaching him Spanish in these years as a preparation for his great
+adventure. Roger had gone to London to continue his professional
+experience. He finally became a Norwich solicitor and died in 1882.
+Allday went to Zacatecas, Mexico, and acquired riches. John Borrow
+followed him there and met with an early death, as we have seen. Borrow
+and Roger Kerrison were great friends at this time; but when _Lavengro_
+was written they had ceased to be this, and Roger is described merely as
+an 'acquaintance' who had found lodgings for him on his first visit to
+London. As a matter of fact that trip to London was made easy for Borrow
+by the opportunity given to him of sharing lodgings with Roger Kerrison
+at Milman Street, Bedford Row, where Borrow put in an appearance on 1st
+April 1824, some two months after the following letter was written:
+
+
+To Mr. Roger Kerrison, 18 Milman Street, Bedford Row.
+
+                NORWICH, _Jany. 20, 1824._
+
+     DEAREST ROGER,--I did not imagine when we separated in the
+     street, on the day of your departure from Norwich, that we
+     should not have met again: I had intended to have come and seen
+     you off, but happening to dine at W. Barron's I got into
+     discourse, and the hour slipt past me unawares.
+
+     I have been again for the last fortnight laid up with that
+     detestable complaint which destroys my strength, impairs my
+     understanding, and will in all probability send me to the
+     grave, for I am now much worse than when you saw me last. But
+     _nil desperandum est_, if ever my health mends, and possibly it
+     may by the time my clerkship is expired, I intend to live in
+     London, write plays, poetry, etc., abuse religion and get
+     myself prosecuted, for I would not for an ocean of gold remain
+     any longer than I am forced in this dull and gloomy town.
+
+     I have no news to regale you with, for there is none abroad,
+     but I live in the expectation of shortly hearing from you, and
+     being informed of your plans and projects; fear not to be
+     prolix, for the slightest particular cannot fail of being
+     interesting to one who loves you far better than parent or
+     relation, or even than the God whom bigots would teach him to
+     adore, and who subscribes himself, Yours unalterably,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.[47]
+
+Borrow might improve his German--not sufficiently as we shall see in our
+next chapter--but he would certainly never make a lawyer. Long years
+afterwards, when, as an old man, he was frequently in Norwich, he not
+seldom called at that office in Tuck's Court, where five strange years
+of his life had been spent. A clerk in Rackham's office in these later
+years recalls him waiting for the principal as he in his youth had
+watched others waiting.[48]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[44] _Norvicensian_, 1888, p. 177.
+
+[45] _Lavengro_, ch. xix.
+
+[46] The _Britannia_ newspaper, 26th June 1851.
+
+[47] This letter is in the possession of Mr. J. C. Gould, Trap Hill
+House, Loughton, Essex.
+
+[48] Mr. C. F. Martelli of Staple Inn, London, who has so generously
+placed this information at my disposal. Mr. Martelli writes:
+
+'Old memories brought him to our office for professional advice, and
+there I saw something of him, and a very striking personality he was,
+and a rather difficult client to do business with. One peculiarity I
+remember was that he believed himself to be plagued by autograph
+hunters, and was reluctant to trust our firm with his signature in any
+shape or form, and that we in consequence had some trouble in inducing
+him to sign his will. I have seen him sitting over my fire in my room at
+that office for hours, half asleep, and crooning out Romany songs while
+waiting for my chief.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS
+
+     _'That's a strange man!' said I to myself, after I had left the
+     house, 'he is evidently very clever; but I cannot say that I
+     like him much with his Oxford Reviews and Dairyman's
+     Daughters.'_--LAVENGRO.
+
+
+Borrow lost his father on the 28th February 1824. He reached London on
+the 2nd April of the same year, and this was the beginning of his many
+wanderings. He was armed with introductions from William Taylor, and
+with some translations in manuscript from Danish and Welsh poetry. The
+principal introduction was to Sir Richard Phillips, a person of some
+importance in his day, who has so far received but inadequate treatment
+in our own.[49] Phillips was active in the cause of reform at a certain
+period in his life, and would seem to have had many sterling qualities
+before he was spoiled by success. He was born in the neighbourhood of
+Leicester, and his father was 'in the farming line,' and wanted him to
+work on the farm, but he determined to seek his fortune in London. After
+a short absence, during which he clearly proved to himself that he was
+not at present qualified to capture London, young Phillips returned to
+the farm. Borrow refers to his patron's vegetarianism, and on this point
+we have an amusing story from his own pen! He had been, when previously
+on the farm, in the habit of attending to a favourite heifer:
+
+     During his sojournment in London this animal had been killed;
+     and on the very day of his return to his father's house, he
+     partook of part of his favourite at dinner, without his being
+     made acquainted with the circumstance of its having been
+     slaughtered during his absence. On learning this, however, he
+     experienced a sudden indisposition; and declared that so great
+     an effect had the idea of his having eaten part of his
+     slaughtered favourite upon him, that he would never again taste
+     animal food; a vow to which he has hitherto firmly adhered.[50]
+
+Farming not being congenial, Phillips hired a small room in Leicester,
+and opened a school for instruction in the three R's, a large blue flag
+on a pole being his 'sign' or signal to the inhabitants of Leicester,
+who seem to have sent their children in considerable numbers to the
+young schoolmaster. But little money was to be made out of schooling,
+and a year later Phillips was, by the kindness of friends, started in a
+small hosiery shop in Leicester. Throwing himself into politics on the
+side of reform, Phillips now started the _Leicester Herald_, to which
+Dr. Priestley became a contributor. The first number was issued gratis
+in May 1792. His _Memoir_ informs us that it was an article in this
+newspaper that secured for its proprietor and editor eighteen months
+imprisonment in Leicester gaol, but he was really charged with selling
+Paine's _Rights of Man_. The worthy knight had probably grown ashamed of
+_The Rights of Man_ in the intervening years, and hence the reticence of
+the memoir. Phillips's gaoler was the once famous Daniel Lambert, the
+notorious 'fat man' of his day. In gaol Phillips was visited by Lord
+Moira and the Duke of Norfolk. It was this Lord Moira who said in the
+House of Lords in 1797 that 'he had seen in Ireland the most absurd, as
+well as the most disgusting tyranny that any nation ever groaned under.'
+Moira became Governor-General of Bengal and Commander-in-Chief of the
+Army in India. The Duke of Norfolk, a stanch Whig, distinguished himself
+in 1798 by a famous toast at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, Arundel
+Street, Strand:--'Our sovereign's health--the majesty of the people!'
+which greatly offended George III., who removed Norfolk from his
+lord-lieutenancy. Phillips seems to have had a very lax imprisonment, as
+he conducted the _Herald_ from gaol, contributing in particular a weekly
+letter. Soon after his release he disposed of the _Herald_, or permitted
+it to die. It was revived a few years later as an organ of Toryism. He
+had started in gaol another journal, _The Museum_, and he combined this
+with his hosiery business for some time longer, when an opportune fire
+relieved him of an apparently uncongenial burden, and with the insurance
+money in his pocket he set out for London once more. Here he started as
+a hosier in St. Paul's Churchyard, lodging meantime in the house of a
+milliner, where he fell in love with one of the apprentices, Miss
+Griffiths, 'a native of Wales.' His affections were won, we are naively
+informed in the _Memoir_, by the young woman's talent in the preparation
+of a vegetable pie. This is our first glimpse of Lady Phillips--'a
+quiet, respectable woman,' whom Borrow was to meet at dinner long years
+afterwards. Inspired, it would seem, by the kindly exhortation of Dr.
+Priestley, he now transformed his hosiery business in St. Paul's
+Churchyard into a 'literary repository,' and started a singularly
+successful career as a publisher. There he produced his long-lived
+periodical, _The Monthly Magazine_, which attained to so considerable a
+fame. Dr. Aikin, a friend of Priestley's, was its editor, but with him
+Phillips had a quarrel--the first of his many literary quarrels--and
+they separated. This Dr. Aikin was the father of the better-known Lucy
+Aikin, and was a Nonconformist who suffered for his opinions in these
+closing years of the eighteenth century, even as Priestley did. He was
+the author of many works, including the once famous _Evenings at Home_,
+written in conjunction with his sister, Mrs. Barbauld;[51] and after his
+quarrel with Phillips he founded a new publication issued by the house
+of Longman, and entitled _The Athenaeum_. Hereupon he and Phillips
+quarrelled again, because Dr. Aikin described himself in advertisements
+of _The Athenaeum_ as 'J. Aikin, M.D., late editor of _The Monthly
+Magazine_.' Aikin's contributors to _The Monthly_ included Capell Lofft,
+of whom we know too little, and Dr. Wolcot, of whom we know too much.
+Meanwhile Phillips's publishing business grew apace, and he removed to
+larger premises in Bridge Street, Blackfriars, an address which we find
+upon many famous publications of his period. A catalogue of his books
+lies before me dated 'January 1805.' It includes many works still upon
+our shelves. Almon's _Memoirs and Correspondence of John Wilkes_, Samuel
+Richardson's _Life and Correspondence_, for example, several of the
+works of Maria Edgeworth, including her _Moral Tales_, many of the works
+of William Godwin, including _Caleb Williams_, and the earlier books of
+that still interesting woman and once popular novelist, Lady Morgan,
+whose _Poems_ as Sydney Owenson bears Phillips's name on its title-page,
+as does also her first successful novel _The Wild Irish Girl_, and other
+of her stories. My own interest in Phillips commenced when I met him in
+the pages of Lady Morgan's _Memoirs_.[52] Thomas Moore, Lady Morgan
+tells us,
+
+     had come back to Dublin from London, where he had been 'the
+     guest of princes, the friend of peers, the translator of
+     Anacreon!' From royal palaces and noble manors, he had returned
+     to his family seat--a grocer's shop at the corner of Little
+     Longford Street, Angier Street.
+
+Here, in a little room over the shop, Sydney heard him sing two of his
+songs, and was inspired thereby to write her first novels, _St. Clair_
+and _The Novice of St. Dominick_. The first was published in Dublin;
+over the second she corresponded with Phillips, and his letters to her
+commence with one dated from Bridge Street, 6th April 1805, in which he
+wishes her to send the manuscript of _The Novice_ to him as one 'often
+(undeservedly) complimented as the most liberal of my trade!' She
+determined, fresh from a governess situation, to bring the manuscript
+herself. Phillips was charmed with his new author, and really seems to
+have treated her very liberally. He insisted, however, on having _The
+Novice_ cut down from six volumes to four, and she was wont to say that
+nothing but regard for her feelings prevented him from reducing it to
+three.[53] _The Novice of St. Dominick_ was a favourite book with the
+younger Pitt, who read it over again in his last illness. Then
+followed--in 1806--Sydney Owenson's new novel, _The Wild Irish Girl_,
+and it led to an amusing correspondence with its author on the part of
+Phillips on the one side, and Johnson, who, it will be remembered, was
+Cowper's publisher, on the other. Phillips was indignant that, having
+first brought Sydney into fame, she should dare to ask more money on
+that account. As is the case with every novelist to-day who scores one
+success, Miss Owenson had formed a good idea of her value, and there is
+a letter to Johnson in which she admitted that Phillips's offer was a
+generous one. Johnson had offered her L300 for the copyright of _The
+Wild Irish Girl_. Phillips had offered only L200 down and L50 each for
+the second and third editions. When Phillips heard that Johnson had
+outbidden him, he described the offer as 'monstrous,' and that it was
+'inspired by a spirit of revenge.' He would not, he declared, increase
+his offer, but a little later he writes from Bridge Street to Sydney
+Owenson as his 'dear, bewitching, and deluding Syren,' and promises the
+L300. A few months later he gave her a hundred pounds for a slight
+volume of poems, which certainly never paid for its publication,
+although Scott and Moore and many another were making much money out of
+poetry in those days. In any case Phillips did not accept Miss Owenson's
+next story with alacrity, in spite of the undoubted success of _The Wild
+Irish Girl_. She no doubt asked too much for _Ida of Athens_. Phillips
+probably thought, after reading the first volume in type, that it was
+very inferior work, as indeed it was. Athens was described without the
+author ever having seen the city. After much wrangling, in which the
+lady said that her 'prince of publishers,' as she had once called him,
+had 'treated her barbarously,' the novel went into the hands of the
+Longmans, who published it, not without some remonstrance as to certain
+of its sentiments. The successful Lady Morgan afterwards described _Ida_
+as a bad book, so perhaps here, as usually, Phillips was not far wrong
+in his judgment. A similar quarrel seems to have taken place over the
+next novel, _The Missionary_. Here Phillips again received the
+manuscript, discussed terms with its author, and returned it. The firm
+of Stockdale and Miller were his successful rivals. Later and more
+prosperous novels, _O'Donnel_ in particular, were issued by Henry
+Colburn, and Phillips now disappears from Lady Morgan's life. I have
+told the story of Phillips's relation with Lady Morgan at length because
+at no other point do we come into so near a contact with him. In Fell's
+_Memoir_ Phillips is described--in 1808--as 'certainly now the first
+publisher in London,' but while he may have been this in the volume of
+his trade--and school-books made an important part of it--he was not in
+mere 'names.' Most of his successful writers--Sydney Owenson, Thomas
+Skinner Surr, Dr. Gregory, and the rest--have now fallen into oblivion.
+The school-books that he issued have lasted even to our own day, notably
+Dr. Mavor's _Spelling Book_. Dr. Mavor was a Scotsman from Aberdeen, who
+came to London and became Phillips's chief hack. There are no less than
+twenty of Mavor's school-books in the catalogue before me. They include
+Mavor's _History of England_, Mavor's _Universal History_, and Mavor's
+_History of Greece_. In the _Memoir_ of 1808 it is claimed that 'Mavor'
+is but a pseudonym for Phillips, and the claim is also made, quite
+wrongfully, by John Timbs, who, before he became acting editor of the
+_Illustrated London News_ under Herbert Ingram, and an indefatigable
+author, was Phillips's private secretary.[54] It seems clear, however,
+that in the case of Blair's _Catechism_ and Goldsmith's _Geography_, and
+many another book for schools, Phillips was 'Blair' and 'Goldsmith' and
+many another imaginary person, for the books in question numbered about
+two hundred in all. For these books there must have been quite an army
+of literary hacks employed during the twenty years prior to the
+appearance of George Borrow in that great army. On 9th November 1807,
+the Lord Mayor's procession through London included Richard Phillips
+among its sheriffs, and he was knighted by George III. in the following
+year. During his period of office he effected many reforms in the City
+prisons. John Timbs, in his _Walks and Talks about London_, tells us
+that Phillips's colleague in the shrievalty was one Smith, who
+afterwards became Lord Mayor:
+
+     The _personnel_ of the two sheriffs presented a sharp contrast.
+     Smith loved aldermanic cheer, but was pale and cadaverous in
+     complexion; whilst Phillips, who never ate animal food, was
+     rosy and healthful in appearance. One day, when the sheriffs
+     were in full state, the procession was stopped by an
+     obstruction in the street traffic; when droll were the mistakes
+     of the mob: to Smith they cried, 'Here's Old Water-gruel!' to
+     Phillips, 'Here's Roast Beef! something like an Englishman!'
+
+Two volumes before me show Phillips as the precursor of many of the
+publishers of one-volume books of reference so plentiful in our day. _A
+Million of Facts_ is one of them, and _A Chronology of Public Events
+Within the Last Fifty Years from 1771 to 1821_ is another, while one of
+the earliest and most refreshing guides to London and its neighbourhood
+is afforded us in _A Morning Walk from London to Kew_, which first
+appeared in _The Monthly Magazine_, but was reprinted in 1817 with the
+name 'Sir Richard Phillips' as author on the title-page. Phillips was
+now no longer a publisher. Here we have some pleasant glimpses of a
+bygone era, many trite reflections, but not enough topography to make
+the book one of permanent interest. It would not, in fact, be worth
+reprinting.[55]
+
+This, then, was the man to whom George Borrow presented himself in 1824.
+Phillips was fifty-seven years of age. He had made a moderate fortune
+and lost it, and was now enjoying another perhaps less satisfying; it
+included the profits of _The Monthly Review_, repurchased after his
+bankruptcy, and some rights in many of the school-books. But the great
+publishing establishment in Bridge Street had long been broken up.
+Borrow would have found Taylor's introduction to Phillips quite useless
+had the worthy knight not at the moment been keen on a new magazine and
+seen the importance of a fresh 'hack' to help to run it. Moreover, had
+he not written a great book which only the Germans could appreciate,
+_Twelve Essays on the Phenomena of Nature_? Here, he thought, was the
+very man to produce this book in a German dress. Taylor was a thorough
+German scholar, and he had vouched for the excellent German of his pupil
+and friend. Hence a certain cordiality which did not win Borrow's
+regard, but was probably greater than many a young man would receive
+to-day from a publisher-prince upon whom he might call laden only with a
+bundle of translations from the Danish and the Welsh. Here--in
+_Lavengro_--is the interview between publisher and poet, with the
+editor's factotum Bartlett, whom Borrow calls Taggart, as witness:
+
+     'Well, sir, what is your pleasure?' said the big man, in a
+     rough tone, as I stood there, looking at him wistfully--as well
+     I might--for upon that man, at the time of which I am speaking,
+     my principal, I may say my only hopes, rested.
+
+     'Sir,' said I, 'my name is So-and-so, and I am the bearer of a
+     letter to you from Mr. So-and-so, an old friend and
+     correspondent of yours.'
+
+     The countenance of the big man instantly lost the suspicious
+     and lowering expression which it had hitherto exhibited; he
+     strode forward and, seizing me by the hand, gave me a violent
+     squeeze.
+
+     'My dear sir,' said he, 'I am rejoiced to see you in London. I
+     have been long anxious for the pleasure--we are old friends,
+     though we have never before met. Taggart,' said he to the man
+     who sat at the desk, 'this is our excellent correspondent, the
+     friend and pupil of our excellent correspondent.'
+
+[Illustration: SIR JOHN BOWRING in 1826
+
+From a portrait by John King now in the National Portrait Gallery.]
+
+[Illustration: JOHN P. HASFELD IN 1835
+
+From a portrait by an Unknown Artist formerly belonging to George
+Borrow]
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM TAYLOR
+
+From a portrait by J. Thomson, printed in the year 1821, and engraved in
+Robberds's _Life of Taylor_.]
+
+[Illustration: SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS
+
+From a portrait by James Saxon, painted in 1828, now in the National
+Portrait Gallery.]
+
+[Illustration: FRIENDS OF BORROW'S EARLY YEARS] [Transcriber's Note:
+This is the caption for the page of four portraits, each portrait's
+caption is shown above.]
+
+Phillips explains that he has given up publishing, except 'under the
+rose,' had only _The Monthly Magazine_, here[56] called _The Magazine_,
+but contemplated yet another monthly, _The Universal Review_, here
+called _The Oxford_. He gave Borrow much the same sound advice that a
+publisher would have given him to-day--that poetry is not a marketable
+commodity, and that if you want to succeed in prose you must, as a rule,
+write trash--the most acceptable trash of that day being _The Dairyman's
+Daughter_,[57] which has sold in hundreds of thousands, and is still
+much prized by the Evangelical folk who buy the publications of the
+Religious Tract Society. Phillips, moreover, asked him to dine to meet
+his wife, his son, and his son's wife,[58] and we know what an amusing
+account of that dinner Borrow gives in _Lavengro_. Moreover, he set
+Borrow upon his first piece of hack-work, the _Celebrated Trials_, and
+gave him something to do upon _The Universal Review_ and also upon _The
+Monthly_. _The Universal_ lasted only for six numbers, dying in January
+1825. In that year appeared the six volumes of the _Celebrated Trials_,
+of which we have something to say in our next chapter. Borrow found
+Phillips most exacting, always suggesting the names of new criminals,
+and leaving it to the much sweated author to find the books from which
+to extract the necessary material:
+
+     In the compilation of my Lives and Trials I was exposed to
+     incredible mortification, and ceaseless trouble, from this same
+     rage for interference.... This was not all; when about a moiety
+     of the first volume had been printed, he materially altered the
+     plan of the work; it was no longer to be a collection of mere
+     Newgate lives and trials, but of lives and trials of criminals
+     in general, foreign as well as domestic.... 'Where is Brandt
+     and Struensee?' cried the publisher. 'I am sure I don't know,'
+     I replied; whereupon the publisher falls to squealing like one
+     of Joey's rats. 'Find me up Brandt and Struensee by next
+     morning, or--' 'Have you found Brandt and Struensee?' cried the
+     publisher, on my appearing before him next morning. 'No,' I
+     reply, 'I can hear nothing about them'; whereupon the publisher
+     falls to bellowing like Joey's bull. By dint of incredible
+     diligence, I at length discover the dingy volume containing the
+     lives and trials of the celebrated two who had brooded treason
+     dangerous to the state of Denmark. I purchase the dingy volume,
+     and bring it in triumph to the publisher, the perspiration
+     running down my brow. The publisher takes the dingy volume in
+     his hand, he examines it attentively, then puts it down; his
+     countenance is calm for a moment, almost benign. Another moment
+     and there is a gleam in the publisher's sinister eye; he
+     snatches up the paper containing the names of the worthies
+     which I have intended shall figure in the forthcoming
+     volumes--he glances rapidly over it, and his countenance once
+     more assumes a terrific expression. 'How is this?' he exclaims;
+     'I can scarcely believe my eyes--the most important life and
+     trial omitted to be found in the whole criminal record--what
+     gross, what utter negligence! Where's the life of Farmer Patch?
+     where's the trial of Yeoman Patch?'
+
+     'What a life! what a dog's life!' I would frequently exclaim,
+     after escaping from the presence of the publisher.[59]
+
+Then came the final catastrophe. Borrow could not translate Phillips's
+great masterpiece, _Twelve Essays on the Proximate Causes_, into German
+with any real effectiveness although the testimonial of the enthusiastic
+Taylor had led Phillips to assume that he could. Borrow, as we shall
+see, knew many languages, and knew them well colloquially, but he was
+not a grammarian, and he could not write accurately in any one of his
+numerous tongues. His wonderful memory gave him the words, but not
+always any thoroughness of construction. He could make a good
+translation of a poem by Schiller, because he brought his own poetic
+fancy to the venture, but he had no interest in Phillips's philosophy,
+and so he doubtless made a very bad translation, as German friends were
+soon able to assure Phillips, who had at last to go to a German for a
+translation, and the book appeared at Stuttgart in 1826.[60] Meanwhile,
+Phillips's new magazine, _The Universal Review_, went on its course. It
+lasted only for a few numbers, as we have said--from March 1824 to
+January 1825--and it was entirely devoted to reviews, many of them
+written by Borrow, but without any distinction calling for comment
+to-day. Dr. Knapp thought that Gifford was the editor, with Phillips's
+son and George Borrow assisting. Gifford translated _Juvenal_, and it
+was for a long time assumed that Borrow wished merely to disguise
+Gifford's identity when he referred to his editor as the translator of
+_Quintilian_. But Sir Leslie Stephen has pointed out in _Literature_
+that John Carey (1756-1826), who actually edited _Quintilian_ in 1822,
+was Phillips's editor, 'All the poetry which I reviewed,' Borrow tells
+us, 'appeared to be published at the expense of the authors. All the
+publications which fell under my notice I treated in a gentlemanly ...
+manner--no personalities, no vituperation, no shabby insinuations;
+decorum, decorum was the order of the day.' And one feels that Borrow
+was not very much at home. But he went on with his _Newgate Lives and
+Trials_, which, however, were to be published with another imprint,
+although at the instance of Phillips. By that time he and that worthy
+publisher had parted company. Probably Phillips had set out for
+Brighton, which was to be his home for the remainder of his life.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[49] The few lines awarded to him in Mumby's _Romance of Bookselling_
+are an illustration of this.
+
+[50] _Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of Sir Richard Phillips,
+King's High Sheriff for the City of London and the County of Middlesex,
+by a Citizen of London and Assistants_. London, 1808. This _Memoir_ was
+published in 1808, many years before the death of Phillips, and was
+clearly inspired and partly written by him, although an autograph letter
+before me from one Ralph Fell shows that the worthy Fell actually
+received L12 from Phillips for 'compiling' the book. A portion of the
+_Memoir_ may have been written by another literary hack named Pinkerton,
+but all of it was compiled under the direction of Phillips.
+
+[51] Mr. Arthur Aikin Brodribb in his memoir of Aikin in the _Dictionary
+of National Biography_ makes the interesting but astonishing statement
+that Aikin's _Life of Howard_ 'has been adopted, without acknowledgment,
+by a modern writer.' Mr. Brodribb apparently knew nothing of Dr. Aikin's
+association with the _Monthly Magazine_ or with the first _Athenaeum_.
+
+[52] I have no less than four memoirs of Lady Morgan on my
+shelves:--_Passages from my Autobiography_, by Sydney, Lady Morgan
+(Richard Bentley, 1859); _The Friends, Foes, and Adventures of Lady
+Morgan_, by William John Fitzpatrick (W. B. Kelly: Dublin, 1859); _Lady
+Morgan; Her Career, Literary and Personal, with a Glimpse of her
+Friends, and A Word to her Calumniators_, by William John Fitzpatrick
+(London: Charles J. Skeet, 1860); _Lady Morgan's Memoirs: Autobiography,
+Diaries and Correspondence_. Two vols. (London: W. H. Allen, 1863).
+
+[53] _Memoirs of Lady Morgan_, edited by W. Hepworth Dixon.
+
+[54] See Timbs's article on Phillips in his _Walks and Talks about
+London_, 1865. Timbs was wont to recall, as the late W. L. Thomas of the
+_Graphic_ informed me, that while at the _Illustrated London News_ he
+got so exasperated with Herbert Ingram, the founder and proprietor, that
+he would frequently write and post a letter of resignation, but would
+take care to reach the office before Ingram in the morning in order to
+withdraw it.
+
+[55] Another London book before me, which bears the imprint 'Richard
+Phillips, Bridge Street,' is entitled _The Picture of London for 1811_.
+Mine is the twelfth edition of this remarkable little volume.
+
+[56] In _Lavengro_.
+
+[57] Legh Richmond (1772-1827), the author of _The Dairyman's Daughter_
+and _The Young Cottager_, which had an extraordinary vogue in their day.
+A few years earlier than this Princess Sophia Metstchersky translated
+the former into the Russian language, and Borrow must have seen copies
+when he visited St. Petersburg. Richmond was the first clerical
+secretary of the Religious Tract Society, with which _The Dairyman's
+Daughter_ has always been one of the most popular of tracts.
+
+[58] Phillips at his death in 1840 left a widow, three sons, and four
+daughters. One son was Vicar of Kilburn.
+
+[59] _Lavengro_, ch. xxxix.
+
+[60] _Ueber die naechsten Ursachen der materiellen Erscheinungen des
+Universums_, von Sir Richard Phillips, nach dem Englischen bearbeitet
+von General von Theobald und Prof. Dr. Lebret. Stuttgart, 1826.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+_FAUSTUS_ AND _ROMANTIC BALLADS_
+
+
+In the early pages of _Lavengro_ Borrow tells us nearly all we are ever
+likely to know of his sojourn in London in the years 1824 and 1825,
+during which time he had those interviews with Sir Richard Phillips
+which are recorded in our last chapter. Dr. Knapp, indeed, prints a
+little note from him to his friend Kerrison, in which he begs his friend
+to come to him as he believes he is dying. Roger Kerrison, it would
+seem, had been so frightened by Borrow's depression and threats of
+suicide that he had left the lodgings at 16 Milman Street, Bedford Row,
+and removed himself elsewhere, and so Borrow was left friendless to
+fight what he called his 'horrors' alone. The depression was not
+unnatural. From his own vivid narrative we learn of Borrow's bitter
+failure as an author. No one wanted his translations from the Welsh and
+the Danish, and Phillips clearly had no further use for him after he had
+compiled his _Newgate Lives and Trials_ (Borrow's name in _Lavengro_ for
+_Celebrated Trials_), and was doubtless inclined to look upon him as an
+impostor for professing, with William Taylor's sanction, a mastery of
+the German language which had been demonstrated to be false with regard
+to his own book. No 'spirited publisher' had come forward to give
+reality to his dream thus set down:
+
+     I had still an idea that, provided I could persuade any
+     spirited publisher to give these translations to the world, I
+     should acquire both considerable fame and profit; not, perhaps,
+     a world-embracing fame such as Byron's; but a fame not to be
+     sneered at, which would last me a considerable time, and would
+     keep my heart from breaking;--profit, not equal to that which
+     Scott had made by his wondrous novels, but which would prevent
+     me from starving, and enable me to achieve some other literary
+     enterprise. I read and re-read my ballads, and the more I read
+     them the more I was convinced that the public, in the event of
+     their being published, would freely purchase, and hail them
+     with the merited applause.
+
+He has a tale to tell us in _Lavengro_ of a certain _Life and Adventures
+of Joseph Sell, the Great Traveller_, the purchase of which from him by
+a publisher at the last moment saved him from starvation and enabled him
+to take to the road, there to meet the many adventures that have become
+immortal in the pages of _Lavengro_. Dr. Knapp has encouraged the idea
+that _Joseph Sell_ was a real book, ignoring the fact that the very
+title suggests doubts, and was probably meant to suggest them. In
+Norfolk, as elsewhere, a 'sell' is a word in current slang used for an
+imposture or a cheat, and doubtless Borrow meant to make merry with the
+credulous. There was, we may be perfectly sure, no _Joseph Sell_, and it
+is more reasonable to suppose that it was the sale of his translation of
+Klinger's _Faustus_ that gave him the much needed money at this crisis.
+Dr. Knapp pictures Borrow as carrying the manuscript of his translation
+of _Faustus_ with him to London. There is not the slightest evidence of
+this. It may be reasonably assumed that Borrow made the translation from
+Klinger's novel during his sojourn in London. It is true the preface is
+dated 'Norwich, April 1825,' but Borrow did not leave London until the
+end of May 1825, that is to say, until after he had negotiated with 'W.
+Simpkin and R. Marshall,' now the well-known firm of Simpkin and
+Marshall, for the publication of the little volume. That firm,
+unfortunately, has no record of the transaction. My impression is that
+Borrow in his wandering after old volumes on crime for his great
+compilation, _Celebrated Trials_, came across the French translation of
+Klinger's novel published at Amsterdam. From that translation he
+acknowledges that he borrowed the plate which serves as frontispiece--a
+plate entitled 'The Corporation Feast.' It represents the corporation of
+Frankfort at a banquet turned by the devil into various animals. It has
+been erroneously assumed that Borrow had had something to do with the
+designing of this plate, and that he had introduced the corporation of
+Norwich in vivid portraiture into the picture. Borrow does, indeed,
+interpolate a reference to Norwich into his translation of a not too
+complimentary character, for at that time he had no very amiable
+feelings towards his native city. Of the inhabitants of Frankfort he
+says:
+
+     They found the people of the place modelled after so unsightly
+     a pattern, with such ugly figures and flat features, that the
+     devil owned he had never seen them equalled, except by the
+     inhabitants of an English town called Norwich, when dressed in
+     their Sunday's best.[61]
+
+In the original German version of 1791 we have the town of Nuremberg
+thus satirised. But Borrow was not the first translator to seize the
+opportunity of adapting the reference for personal ends. In the French
+translation of 1798, published at Amsterdam, and entitled _Les Aventures
+du Docteur Faust_, the translator has substituted Auxerre for
+Nuremberg. What makes me think that Borrow used only the French version
+in his translation is the fact that in his preface he refers to the
+engravings of that version, one of which he reproduced; whereas the
+engravings are in the German version as well.
+
+Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger (1752-1831), who was responsible for
+Borrow's 'first book,' was responsible for much else of an epoch-making
+character. It was he who by one of his many plays, _Sturm und Drang_,
+gave a name to an important period of German Literature. In 1780 von
+Klinger entered the service of Russia, and in 1790 married a natural
+daughter of the Empress Catherine. Thus his novel, _Faust's Leben,
+Thaten und Hoellenfahrt_, was actually first published at St. Petersburg
+in 1791. This was seventeen years before Goethe published his first part
+of _Faust_, a book which by its exquisite poetry was to extinguish for
+all self-respecting Germans Klinger's turgid prose. Borrow, like the
+translator of Rousseau's _Confessions_ and of many another classic,
+takes refuge more than once in the asterisk. Klinger's _Faustus_, with
+much that was bad and even bestial, has merits. The devil throughout
+shows his victim a succession of examples of 'man's inhumanity to man.'
+Borrow's translation of Klinger's novel was reprinted in 1864 without
+any acknowledgment of the name of the translator, and only a few stray
+words being altered.[62] Borrow nowhere mentions Klinger's name in his
+latter volume, of which the title-page runs:
+
+     Faustus: His Life, Death, and Descent into Hell. Translated
+     from the German. London: W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1825.
+
+I doubt very much if he really knew who was the author, as the book in
+both the German editions I have seen as well as in the French version
+bears no author's name on its title-page. A letter of Borrow's in the
+possession of an American collector indicates that he was back in
+Norwich in September 1825, after, we may assume, three months' wandering
+among gypsies and tinkers. It is written from Willow Lane, and is
+apparently to the publishers of _Faustus_:
+
+     As your bill will become payable in a few days, I am willing to
+     take thirty copies of _Faustus_ instead of the money. The book
+     has been _burnt_ in both the libraries here, and, as it has
+     been talked about, I may perhaps be able to dispose of some in
+     the course of a year or so.
+
+This letter clearly demonstrates that the guileless Simpkin and the
+equally guileless Marshall had paid Borrow for the right to publish
+_Faustus_, and even though part of the payment was met by a bill, I
+think we may safely find in the transaction whatever verity there may be
+in the Joseph Sell episode. 'Let me know how you sold your manuscript,'
+writes Borrow's brother to him so late as the year 1829. And this was
+doubtless _Faustus_. The action of the Norwich libraries in burning the
+book would clearly have had the sympathy of one of its few reviewers had
+he been informed of the circumstance. It is thus that the _Literary
+Gazette_ for 16th July 1825 refers to Borrow's little book:
+
+     This is another work to which no respectable publisher ought to
+     have allowed his name to be put. The political allusions and
+     metaphysics, which may have made it popular among a low class
+     in Germany, do not sufficiently season its lewd scenes and
+     coarse descriptions for British palates. We have occasionally
+     publications for the fireside--these are only fit for the fire.
+
+Borrow returned then to Norwich in the autumn of 1825 a disappointed man
+so far as concerned the giving of his poetical translations to the
+world, from which he had hoped so much. No 'spirited publisher' had been
+forthcoming, although Dr. Knapp's researches have unearthed a 'note' in
+_The Monthly Magazine_, which, after the fashion of the anticipatory
+literary gossip of our day, announced that Olaus Borrow was about to
+issue _Legends and Popular Superstitions of the North_, 'in two elegant
+volumes.' But this never appeared. Quite a number of Borrow's
+translations from divers languages had appeared from time to time,
+beginning with a version of Schiller's 'Diver' in _The New Monthly
+Magazine_ for 1823, continuing with Stolberg's 'Ode to a Mountain
+Torrent' in _The Monthly Magazine_, and including the 'Deceived Merman.'
+These he collected into book form and, not to be deterred by the
+coldness of heartless London publishers, issued them by subscription.
+Three copies of the slim octavo book lie before me, with separate
+title-pages:
+
+     (1) Romantic Ballads, Translated from the Danish; and
+     Miscellaneous Pieces by George Borrow. Norwich: Printed and
+     Published by S. Wilkin, Upper Haymarket, 1826.
+
+     (2) Romantic Ballads, Translated from the Danish; and
+     Miscellaneous Pieces by George Borrow. London: Published by
+     John Taylor, Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, 1826.
+
+     (3) Romantic Ballads, Translated from the Danish; and
+     Miscellaneous Pieces, by George Borrow. London: Published by
+     Wightman and Cramp, 24 Paternoster Row, 1826.[63]
+
+The book contains an introduction in verse by Allan Cunningham, whose
+acquaintance Borrow seems to have made in London. It commences:
+
+                Sing, sing, my friend, breathe life again
+                Through Norway's song and Denmark's strain:
+                On flowing Thames and Forth, in flood,
+                Pour Haco's war-song, fierce and rude.
+
+Cunningham had not himself climbed very far up the literary ladder in
+1825, although he was forty-one years of age. At one time a stonemason
+in a Scots village, he had entered Chantrey's studio, and was
+'superintendent of the works' to that eminent sculptor at the time when
+Borrow called upon him in London, and made an acquaintance which never
+seems to have extended beyond this courtesy to the younger man's _Danish
+Ballads_. The point of sympathy of course was that in the year 1825
+Cunningham had published _The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern_.
+But Allan Cunningham, whose _Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters_
+is his best remembered book to-day, scarcely comes into this story.
+There are four letters from Cunningham to Borrow in Dr. Knapp's _Life_,
+and two from Borrow to Cunningham. The latter gave his young friend much
+good advice. He told him, for example, to send copies of his book to the
+newspapers--to the _Literary Gazette_ in particular, and 'Walter Scott
+must not be forgotten.' Dr. Knapp thinks that the newspapers were
+forgotten, and that Borrow neglected to send to them. In any case not a
+single review appeared. But it is not exactly true that Borrow ignored
+the usual practice of authors so entirely as Dr. Knapp supposes. There
+is a letter to Borrow among my Borrow Papers from Francis Palgrave the
+historian, who became Sir Francis Palgrave seven years later, which
+throws some light upon the subject:
+
+
+To George Borrow
+
+                PARLIAMENT ST., _17 June 1826._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I am very much obliged to you for the opportunity
+     that you have afforded me of perusing your spirited and
+     faithful translating of the Danish ballads. Mr. Allan
+     Cunningham, who, as you will know, is an ancient minstrel
+     himself, says that they are more true to the originals and more
+     truly poetical than any that he has yet seen. I have delivered
+     one copy to Mr. Lockhart, the new editor of the _Quarterly
+     Review_, and I hope he will notice it as it deserves. Murray
+     would probably be inclined to publish your translations.--I
+     remain, dear sir, your obedient and faithful servant,
+
+                FRANCIS PALGRAVE.
+
+It is probable that he did also send a copy to Scott, and it is Dr.
+Knapp's theory that 'that busy writer forgot to acknowledge the
+courtesy.' It may be that this is so. It has been the source of many a
+literary prejudice. Carlyle had a bitterness in his heart against Scott
+for much the same cause. Rarely indeed can the struggling author endure
+to be ignored by the radiantly successful one. It must have been the
+more galling in that a few years earlier Scott had been lifted by the
+ballad from obscurity to fame. Borrow did not in any case lack
+encouragement from Allan Cunningham: 'I like your Danish ballads much,'
+he writes. 'Get out of bed, George Borrow, and be sick or sleepy no
+longer. A fellow who can give us such exquisite Danish ballads has no
+right to repose.'[64] Borrow, on his side, thanks Cunningham for his
+'noble lines,' and tells him that he has got 'half of his _Songs of
+Scotland_ by heart.'
+
+Five hundred copies of the _Romantic Ballads_ were printed in Norwich by
+S. Wilkin, about two hundred being subscribed for, mainly in that city,
+the other three hundred being dispatched to London--to Taylor, whose
+name appears on the London title-page, although he seems to have passed
+on the book very quickly to Wightman and Cramp, for what reason we are
+not informed. Borrow tells us that the two hundred subscriptions of half
+a guinea 'amply paid expenses,' but he must have been cruelly
+disappointed, as he was doomed to be more than once in his career, by
+the lack of public appreciation outside of Norwich. Yet there were many
+reasons for this. If Scott had made the ballad popular, he had also
+destroyed it for a century--perhaps for ever--by substituting the novel
+as the favourite medium for the storyteller. Great ballads we were to
+have in every decade from that day to this, but never another 'best
+seller' like _Marmion_ or _The Lady of the Lake_. Our _popular_ poets
+had to express themselves in other ways. Then Borrow, although his verse
+has been underrated by those who have not seen it at its best, or who
+are incompetent to appraise poetry, was not very effective here,
+notwithstanding that the stories in verse in _Romantic Ballads_ are all
+entirely interesting. This fact is most in evidence in a case where a
+real poet, not of the greatest, has told the same story. We owe a
+rendering of 'The Deceived Merman' to both George Borrow and Matthew
+Arnold, but how widely different the treatment! The story is of a merman
+who rose out of the water and enticed a mortal--fair Agnes or
+Margaret--under the waves; she becomes his wife, bears him children, and
+then asks to return to earth. Arriving there she refuses to go back when
+the merman comes disconsolately to the churchdoor for her. Here are a
+few lines from the two versions, which demonstrate that here at least
+Borrow was no poet and that Arnold was a very fine one:
+
+
+GEORGE BORROW
+
+    'Now, Agnes, Agnes list to me,
+    Thy babes are longing so after thee.'
+    'I cannot come yet, here must I stay
+    Until the priest shall have said his say,'
+    And when the priest had said his say,
+    She thought with her mother at home she'd stay.
+    'O Agnes, Agnes list to me,
+    Thy babes are sorrowing after thee,'
+    'Let them sorrow and sorrow their fill,
+    But back to them never return I will.'
+
+
+MATTHEW ARNOLD
+
+    We climbed on the graves, on the stones worn with rains,
+    And we gazed up the aisles through the small leaded panes.
+    She sate by the pillar; we saw her clear:
+    'Margaret, hist! come quick we are here!
+    Dear heart,' I said, 'we are long-alone;
+    The sea grows stormy, the little ones moan,'
+    But, ah, she gave me never a look,
+    For her eyes were sealed on the holy book!
+    Loud prays the priest; shut stands the door.
+    Come away, children, call no more!
+    Come away, come down, call no more!
+
+It says much for the literary proclivities of Norwich at this period
+that Borrow should have had so kindly a reception for his book as the
+subscription list implies. At the end of each of Wilkin's two hundred
+copies a 'list of subscribers' is given. It opens with the name of the
+Bishop of Norwich, Dr. Bathurst; it includes the equally familiar names
+of the Gurdons, Gurneys, Harveys, Rackhams, Hares (then as now of Stow
+Hall), Woodhouses--all good Norfolk or Norwich names that have come down
+to our time. Mayor Hawkes, who is made famous in _Lavengro_ by Haydon's
+portrait, is there also. Among London names we find 'F. Arden,' which
+recalls his friend 'Francis Ardry' in _Lavengro_, John Bowring, Borrow's
+new friend, and later to be counted an enemy, Thomas Campbell, Benjamin
+Haydon, and John Timbs, But the name that most strikes the eye is that
+of 'Thurtell.' Three of the family are among the subscribers, including
+Mr. George Thurtell of Eaton, near Norwich, brother of the murderer;
+there also is the name of John Thurtell, executed for murder exactly a
+year before. This would seem to imply that Borrow had been a long time
+collecting these names and subscriptions, and doubtless before the
+all-too-famous crime of the previous year he had made Thurtell promise
+to become a subscriber, and, let us hope, had secured his half-guinea.
+That may account, with so sensitive and impressionable a man as our
+author, for the kindly place that Weare's unhappy murderer always had in
+his memory. Borrow, in any case, was now, for a few years, to become
+more than ever a vagabond. Not a single further appeal did he make to an
+unsympathetic literary public for a period of five years at least.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[61] _Life and Death of Faustus_, p. 59.
+
+[62] _Faustus: His Life, Death, and Doom: a Romance in Prose, translated
+from the German_. London: W. Kent and Co., Paternoster Row, 1864,
+Borrow's _Life and Death of Faustus_ was reprinted in 1840, again with
+Simpkin's imprint. Collating Borrow's translation with the issue of
+1864, I find that, with a few trivial verbal alterations, they are
+identical--that is to say, the translator of the book of 1864 did not
+translate at all, but copied from Borrow's version of _Faustus_, copying
+even his errors in translation. There is no reason to suppose that the
+individual, whoever he may have been, who prepared the 1864 edition of
+_Faustus_ for the Press, had ever seen either the German original or the
+French translation of Klinger's book. It is clear that he 'conveyed'
+Borrow's translation almost in its entirety.
+
+[63] Allan Cunningham, in a letter to Borrow, says, 'Taylor will
+undertake to publish.' But there must have been a change afterwards, for
+some of the London copies bear the imprint Wightman and Cramp. In 1913
+Jarrold and Sons of Norwich issued a reprint of _Romantic Ballads_
+limited to 300 copies, with facsimiles of the manuscript from my Borrow
+Papers.
+
+[64] Knapp's _Life_, vol. i 117.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+_CELEBRATED TRIALS_ AND JOHN THURTELL
+
+
+Borrow's first book was _Faustus_, and his second was _Romantic
+Ballads_, the one being published, as we have seen, in 1825, the other
+in 1826. This chronology has the appearance of ignoring the _Celebrated
+Trials_, but then it is scarcely possible to count _Celebrated
+Trials_[65] as one of Borrow's books at all. It is largely a
+compilation, exactly as the _Newgate Calendar_ and Howell's _State
+Trials_ are compilations. In his preface to the work Borrow tells us
+that he has differentiated the book from the _Newgate Calendar_[66] and
+the _State Trials_[67] by the fact that he had made considerable
+compression. This was so, and in fact in many cases he has used the blue
+pencil rather than the pen--at least in the earlier volumes. But Borrow
+attempted something much more comprehensive than the _Newgate Calendar_
+and the _State Trials_ in his book. In the former work the trials range
+from 1700 to 1802; in the latter from the trial of Becket in 1163 to
+the trial of Thistlewood in 1820. Both works are concerned solely with
+this country. Borrow went all over Europe, and the trials of Joan of
+Arc, Count Struensee, Major Andre, Count Cagliostro, Queen Marie
+Antoinette, the Duc d'Enghien, and Marshal Ney, are included in his
+volumes. Moreover, while what may be called state trials are numerous,
+including many of the cases in _Howell_, the greater number are of a
+domestic nature, including nearly all that are given in the _Newgate
+Calendar_. In the first two volumes he has naturally mainly state trials
+to record; the later volumes record sordid everyday crimes, and here
+Borrow is more at home. His style when he rewrites the trials is more
+vigorous, and his narrative more interesting. It is to be hoped that the
+exigent publisher, who he assures us made him buy the books for his
+compilation out of the L50 that he paid for it, was able to present him
+with a set of the _State Trials_, if only in one of the earlier and
+cheaper issues of the work than the one that now has a place in every
+lawyer's library.[68]
+
+The third volume of _Celebrated Trials_, although it opens with the
+trial of Algernon Sidney, is made up largely of crime of the more
+ordinary type, and this sordid note continues through the three final
+volumes. I have said that _Faustus_ is an allegory of 'man's inhumanity
+to man.' That is emphatically, in more realistic form, the
+distinguishing feature of _Celebrated Trials_. Amid these records of
+savagery, it is a positive relief to come across such a trial as that of
+poor Joseph Baretti. Baretti, it will be remembered, was brought to
+trial because, when some roughs set upon him in the street, he drew a
+dagger, which he usually carried 'to carve fruit and sweetmeats,' and
+killed his assailant. In that age, when our law courts were a veritable
+shambles, how cheerful it is to find that the jury returned a verdict of
+'self-defence.' But then Sir Joshua Reynolds, Edmund Burke, Dr. Johnson,
+and David Garrick gave evidence to character, representing Baretti as 'a
+man of benevolence, sobriety, modesty, and learning.' This trial is an
+oasis of mercy in a desert of drastic punishment. Borrow carries on his
+'trials' to the very year before the date of publication, and the last
+trial in the book is that of 'Henry Fauntleroy, Esquire,' for forgery.
+Fauntleroy was a quite respectable banker of unimpeachable character, to
+whom had fallen at a very early age the charge of a banking business
+that was fundamentally unsound. It is clear that he had honestly
+endeavoured to put things on a better footing, that he lived simply, and
+had no gambling or other vices. At a crisis, however, he forged a
+document, in other words signed a transfer of stock which he had no
+right to do, the 'subscribing witness' to his power of attorney being
+Robert Browning, a clerk in the Bank of England, and father of the
+distinguished poet.[69] Well, Fauntleroy was sentenced to be hanged--and
+he was duly hanged at Newgate on 30th October 1824, only thirteen years
+before Queen Victoria came to the throne!
+
+Borrow has affirmed that from a study of the _Newgate Calendar_ and the
+compilation of his _Celebrated Trials_ he first learned to write genuine
+English, and it is a fact that there are some remarkably dramatic
+effects in these volumes, although one here withholds from Borrow the
+title of 'author' because so much is 'scissors and paste,' and the
+purple passages are only occasional. All the same I am astonished that
+no one has thought it worth while to make a volume of these dramatic
+episodes, which are clearly the work of Borrow, and owe nothing to the
+innumerable pamphlets and chap-books that he brought into use. Take such
+an episode as that of Schening and Harlin, two young German women, one
+of whom pretended to have murdered her infant in the presence of the
+other because she madly supposed that this would secure them bread--and
+they were starving. The trial, the scene at the execution, the
+confession on the scaffold of the misguided but innocent girl, the
+respite, and then the execution--these make up as thrilling a narrative
+as is contained in the pages of fiction. Assuredly Borrow did not spare
+himself in that race round the bookstalls of London to find the material
+which the grasping Sir Richard Phillips required from him. He found, for
+example, Sir Herbert Croft's volume, _Love and Madness_, the supposed
+correspondence of Parson Hackman and Martha Reay, whom he murdered. That
+correspondence is now known to be an invention of Croft's. Borrow
+accepted it as genuine, and incorporated the whole of it in his story of
+the Hackman trial.
+
+But after all, the trial which we read with greatest interest in these
+six volumes is that of John Thurtell, because Borrow had known Thurtell
+in his youth, and gives us more than one glimpse of him in _Lavengro_
+and _The Romany Rye_. We recall, for example, Lavengro's interview with
+the magistrate when a visitor is announced:
+
+     'In what can I oblige you, sir?' said the magistrate.
+
+     'Well, sir; the soul of wit is brevity; we want a place for an
+     approaching combat between my friend here and a brave from
+     town. Passing by your broad acres this fine morning we saw a
+     pightle, which we deemed would suit. Lend us that pightle, and
+     receive our thanks; 'twould be a favour, though not much to
+     grant: we neither ask for Stonehenge nor for Tempe.'
+
+     My friend looked somewhat perplexed; after a moment, however,
+     he said, with a firm but gentlemanly air, 'Sir, I am sorry that
+     I cannot comply with your request.'
+
+     'Not comply!' said the man, his brow becoming dark as midnight;
+     and with a hoarse and savage tone, 'Not comply! why not?'
+
+     'It is impossible, sir--utterly impossible!'
+
+     'Why so?'
+
+     'I am not compelled to give my reasons to you, sir, nor to any
+     man.'
+
+     'Let me beg of you to alter your decision,' said the man, in a
+     tone of profound respect.
+
+     'Utterly impossible, sir; I am a magistrate.'
+
+     'Magistrate! then fare-ye-well, for a green-coated buffer and a
+     Harmanbeck.'
+
+     'Sir,' said the magistrate, springing up with a face fiery with
+     wrath.
+
+     But, with a surly nod to me, the man left the apartment; and in
+     a moment more the heavy footsteps of himself and his companion
+     were heard descending the staircase.
+
+     'Who is that man?' said my friend, turning towards me.
+
+     'A sporting gentleman, well known in the place from which I
+     come.'
+
+     'He appeared to know you.'
+
+     'I have occasionally put on the gloves with him.'
+
+     'What is his name?'
+
+In the original manuscript in my possession the name 'John Thurtell' is
+given as the answer to that inquiry. In the printed book the chapter
+ends more abruptly as we see. The second reference is even more
+dramatic. It occurs when Lavengro has a conversation with his friend the
+gypsy Petulengro in a thunderstorm--when all are hurrying to the
+prize-fight. Here let Borrow tell his story:
+
+     'Look up there, brother!'
+
+     I looked up. Connected with this tempest there was one feature
+     to which I have already alluded--the wonderful colours of the
+     clouds. Some were of vivid green, others of the brightest
+     orange, others as black as pitch. The gypsy's finger was
+     pointed to a particular part of the sky.
+
+     'What do you see there, brother?'
+
+     'A strange kind of cloud.'
+
+     'What does it look like, brother?'
+
+     'Something like a stream of blood.'
+
+     'That cloud foreshoweth a bloody dukkeripen.'
+
+     'A bloody fortune!' said I. 'And whom may it betide?'
+
+     'Who knows?' said the gypsy.
+
+     Down the way, dashing and splashing, and scattering man, horse,
+     and cart to the left and right, came an open barouche, drawn by
+     four smoking steeds, with postillions in scarlet jackets and
+     leather skull-caps. Two forms were conspicuous in it--that of
+     the successful bruiser, and of his friend and backer, the
+     sporting gentleman of my acquaintance.
+
+     'His!' said the gypsy, pointing to the latter, whose stern
+     features wore a smile of triumph, as, probably recognising me
+     in the crowd, he nodded in the direction of where I stood, as
+     the barouche hurried by.
+
+     There went the barouche, dashing through the rain-gushes, and
+     in it one whose boast it was that he was equal to 'either
+     fortune.' Many have heard of that man--many may be desirous of
+     knowing yet more of him. I have nothing to do with that man's
+     after life--he fulfilled his dukkeripen. 'A bad, violent man!'
+     Softly, friend; when thou wouldst speak harshly of the dead,
+     remember that thou hast not yet fulfilled thy own dukkeripen!
+
+There is yet another reference by Borrow to Thurtell in _The Gypsies of
+Spain_, which runs as follows:
+
+     When a boy of fourteen I was present at a prize-fight; why
+     should I hide the truth? It took place on a green meadow,
+     beside a running stream, close by the old church of E----, and
+     within a league of the ancient town of N----, the capital of
+     one of the eastern counties. The terrible Thurtell was present,
+     lord of the concourse; for wherever he moved he was master, and
+     whenever he spoke, even when in chains, every other voice was
+     silent. He stood on the mead, grim and pale as usual, with his
+     bruisers around. He it was, indeed, who _got up_ the fight, as
+     he had previously done twenty others; it being his frequent
+     boast that he had first introduced bruising and bloodshed
+     amidst rural scenes, and transformed a quiet slumbering town
+     into a den of Jews and metropolitan thieves.
+
+Rarely in our criminal jurisprudence has a murder trial excited more
+interest than that of John Thurtell for the murder of Weare--the Gill's
+Hill Murder, as it was called. Certainly no murder of modern times has
+had so many indirect literary associations. Borrow, Carlyle, Hazlitt,
+Walter Scott, and Thackeray are among those who have given it lasting
+fame by comment of one kind or another; and the lines ascribed to
+Theodore Hook are perhaps as well known as any other memory of the
+tragedy:
+
+    They cut his throat from ear to ear,
+      His brain they battered in,
+    His name was Mr. William Weare,
+      He dwelt in Lyon's Inn.
+
+Carlyle's division of human beings of the upper classes into 'noblemen,
+gentlemen, and gigmen,' which occurs in his essay on Richter, and a
+later reference to gig-manhood which occurs in his essay on Goethe's
+Works, had their inspiration in an episode in the trial of Thurtell,
+when the question being asked, 'What sort of a person was Mr. Weare?'
+brought the answer, 'He was always a respectable person.' 'What do you
+mean by respectable?' the witness was asked. 'He kept a gig,' was the
+reply, which brought the word 'gigmanity' into our language.[70]
+
+I have said that John Thurtell and two members of his family became
+subscribers for Borrow's _Romantic Ballads_,[71] and it is certain that
+Borrow must often have met Thurtell, that is to say looked at him from a
+distance, in some of the scenes of prize-fighting which both affected,
+Borrow merely as a youthful spectator, Thurtell as a reckless backer of
+one or other combatant. Thurtell's father was an alderman of Norwich
+living in a good house on the Ipswich Road when the son's name rang
+through England as that of a murderer. The father was born in 1765 and
+died in 1846. Four years after his son John was hanged he was elected
+Mayor of Norwich, in recognition of his violent ultra-Whig or blue and
+white political opinions. He had been nominated as mayor both in 1818
+and 1820, but it was perhaps the extraordinary 'advertisement' of his
+son's shameful death that gave the citizens of Norwich the necessary
+enthusiasm to elect Alderman Thurtell as mayor in 1828. It was in those
+oligarchical days a not unnatural fashion to be against the Government.
+The feast at the Guildhall on this occasion was attended by four hundred
+and sixty guests. A year before John Thurtell was hanged, in 1823, his
+father moved a violent political resolution in Norwich, but was
+out-Heroded by Cobbett, who moved a much more extreme one over his head
+and carried it by an immense majority. It was a brutal time, and there
+cannot be a doubt but that Alderman Thurtell, while busy setting the
+world straight, failed to bring up his family very well. John, as we
+shall see, was hanged; Thomas, another brother, was associated with him
+in many disgraceful transactions; while a third brother, George, also a
+subscriber, by the way, to Borrow's _Romantic Ballads_, who was a
+landscape gardener at Eaton, died in prison in 1848 under sentence for
+theft. Apart from a rather riotous and bad bringing up, which may be
+pleaded in extenuation, it is not possible to waste much sympathy over
+John Thurtell. He had thoroughly disgraced himself in Norwich before he
+removed to London. There he got further and further into difficulties,
+and one of the many publications which arose out of his trial and
+execution was devoted to pointing the moral of the evils of
+gambling.[72] It was bad luck at cards, and the loss of much money to
+William Weare, who seems to have been an exceedingly vile person, that
+led to the murder. Thurtell had a friend named Probert who lived in a
+quiet cottage in a byway of Hertfordshire--Gill's Hill, near Elstree. He
+suggested to Weare in a friendly way that they should go for a day's
+shooting at Gill's Hill, and that Probert would put them up for the
+night. Weare went home, collected a few things in a bag, and took a
+hackney coach to a given spot, where Thurtell met him with a gig. The
+two men drove out of London together. The date was 24th October 1823. On
+the high-road they met and passed Probert and a companion named Joseph
+Hunt, who had even been instructed by Thurtell to bring a sack with
+him--this was actually used to carry away the body--and must therefore
+have been privy to the intended murder. By the time the second gig
+containing Probert and Hunt arrived near Probert's cottage, Thurtell met
+it in the roadway, according to their accounts, and told the two men
+that he had done the deed; that he had killed Weare first by
+ineffectively shooting him, then by dashing out his brains with his
+pistol, and finally by cutting his throat. Thurtell further told his
+friends, if their evidence was to be trusted, that he had left the body
+behind a hedge. In the night the three men placed the body in a sack and
+carried it to a pond near Probert's house and threw it in. The next
+night they fished it out and threw it into another pond some distance
+away.
+
+Thurtell meanwhile had divided the spoil--some L20, which he said was
+all that he had obtained from Weare's body--with his companions. Hunt,
+it may be mentioned, afterwards declared his conviction that Thurtell,
+when he first committed the murder, had removed his victim's principal
+treasure, notes to the value of three or four hundred pounds. Suspicion
+was aroused, and the hue and cry raised through the finding by a
+labourer of the pistol in the hedge, and the discovery of a pool of
+blood on the roadway. Probert promptly turned informer; Hunt also tried
+to save himself by a rambling confession, and it was he who revealed
+where the body was concealed, accompanying the officers to the pond and
+pointing out the exact spot where the corpse would be found. When
+recovered the body was taken to the Artichoke Inn at Elstree, and here
+the coroner's inquest was held. Meanwhile Thurtell had been arrested in
+London, and taken down to Elstree to be present at the inquest. A
+verdict of guilty against all three miscreants was given by the
+coroner's jury, and Weare's body was buried in Elstree Churchyard.[73]
+
+In January 1824 John Thurtell was brought to trial at Hertford Assizes,
+and Hunt also. But first of all there were some interesting proceedings
+in the Court of King's Bench, before the Chief Justice and two other
+judges,[74] complaining that Thurtell had not been allowed to see his
+counsel. And there were other points at issue. Thurtell's counsel moved
+for a criminal injunction against the proprietor of the Surrey Theatre
+in that a performance had been held there, and was being held, which
+assumed Thurtell's guilt, the identical horse and gig being exhibited in
+which Weare was supposed to have ridden to the scene of his death.
+Finally this was arranged, and a _mandamus_ was granted 'commanding the
+admission of legal advisers to the prisoner.' At last the trial came on
+at Hertford before Mr. Justice Park. It lasted two days, although the
+judge wished to go on all night in order to finish in one. But the
+protest of Thurtell, supported by the jury, led to an adjournment.
+Probert had been set free and appeared as a witness. The jury gave a
+verdict of guilty, and Thurtell and Hunt were sentenced to be hanged,
+but Hunt escaped with transportation. Thurtell made his own speech for
+the defence, which had a great effect upon the jury, until the judge
+swept most of its sophistries away. It was, however, a very able
+performance. Thurtell's line of defence was to declare that Hunt and
+Probert were the murderers, and that he was a victim of their perjuries.
+If hanged, he would be hanged on circumstantial evidence only, and he
+gave, with great elaboration, the details of a number of cases where men
+had been wrongfully hanged upon circumstantial evidence. His lawyers had
+apparently provided him with books containing these examples from the
+past, and his month in prison was devoted to this defence, which showed
+great ability. The trial took place on 6th January 1824, and Thurtell
+was hanged on the 9th, in front of Hertford Gaol: his body was given to
+the Anatomical Museum in London. A contemporary report says that
+Thurtell, on the scaffold,
+
+     fixed his eyes on a young gentleman in the crowd, whom he had
+     frequently seen as a spectator at the commencement of the
+     proceedings against him. Seeing that the individual was
+     affected by the circumstances, he removed them to another
+     quarter, and in so doing recognised an individual well known in
+     the sporting circles, to whom he made a slight bow.
+
+The reader of _Lavengro_ might speculate whether that 'young gentleman'
+was Borrow, but Borrow was in Norwich in January 1824, his father dying
+in the following month. In his _Celebrated Trials_ Borrow tells the
+story of the execution with wonderful vividness, and supplies effective
+quotations from 'an eyewitness.' Borrow no doubt exaggerated his
+acquaintance with Thurtell, as in his _Robinson Crusoe_ romance he was
+fully entitled to do for effect. He was too young at the time to have
+been much noticed by a man so much his senior. The writer who accepts
+Borrow's own statement that he really gave him 'some lessons in the
+noble art' is too credulous,[75] and the statement that Thurtell's house
+'on the Ipswich Road was a favourite rendezvous for the Fancy' is
+unsupported by evidence. Old Alderman Thurtell owned the house in
+question, and we find no evidence that he encouraged his son's
+predilection for prize-fighting. In _The Romany Rye_ he gives his friend
+the jockey as his authority for the following apologia:
+
+     The night before the day he was hanged at H----, I harnessed a
+     Suffolk Punch to my light gig, the same Punch which I had
+     offered to him, which I have ever since kept, and which brought
+     me and this short young man to Horncastle, and in eleven hours
+     I drove that Punch one hundred and ten miles. I arrived at
+     H---- just in the nick of time. There was the ugly jail--the
+     scaffold--and there upon it stood the only friend I ever had in
+     the world. Driving my Punch, which was all in a foam, into the
+     midst of the crowd, which made way for me as if it knew what I
+     came for, I stood up in my gig, took off my hat, and shouted,
+     'God Almighty bless you, Jack!' The dying man turned his pale
+     grim face towards me--for his face was always somewhat grim, do
+     you see--nodded and said, or I thought I heard him say, 'All
+     right, old chap.' The next moment--my eyes water. He had a high
+     heart, got into a scrape whilst in the marines, lost his
+     half-pay, took to the turf, ring, gambling, and at last cut the
+     throat of a villain who had robbed him of nearly all he had.
+     But he had good qualities, and I know for certain that he never
+     did half the bad things laid to his charge.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[65] _Celebrated Trials and Remarkable Cases of Criminal Jurisprudence
+from the Earliest Records to the Year 1825_. In six volumes. London:
+Printed for Geo. Knight & Lacey, Paternoster Row, 1825. Price L3, 12s.
+in boards.
+
+[66] _The New and Complete Newgate Calendar or Malefactors Recording
+Register_. By William Jackson. Six vols. 1802.
+
+[67] Cobbett and Howell's _State Trials_. In thirty-three volumes and
+index, 1809 to 1828. The last volume, apart from the index, was actually
+published the year after Borrow's _Celebrated Trials_, that is, in 1826;
+but the last trial recorded was that of Thistlewood in 1820. The editors
+were William Cobbett, Thomas Bayly Howell, and his son, Thomas Jones
+Howell.
+
+[68] The following note appeared in _The Monthly Magazine_ for 1st July
+1824 (vol. lvii. p. 557):
+
+'A Selection of the most remarkable Trials and Criminal Causes is
+printing in five volumes. It will include all famous cases, from that of
+Lord Cobham, in the reign of Henry the Fifth, to that of John Thurtell;
+and those connected with foreign as well as English jurisprudence. Mr.
+Borrow, the editor, has availed himself of all the resources of the
+English, German, French, and Italian languages; and his work, including
+from 150 to 200 of the most interesting cases on record, will appear in
+October next. The editor of the preceding has ready for the press a
+_Life of Faustus, his Death, and Descent into Hell_, which will also
+appear early in the next winter.'
+
+[69] Did the poet, who had an interest in criminology, know of his
+father's quite innocent association with the Fauntleroy trial?
+
+[70] Another witness attained fame by her answer to the inquiry, 'Was
+supper postponed?' with the reply, 'No, it was pork.'
+
+[71] I have already stated (ch. x. p. 111) that three members of the
+Thurtell family subscribed for _Romantic Ballads_. I should have
+hesitated to include John Thurtell among the subscribers, as he was
+hanged two years before the book was published, had I not the high
+authority of Mr. Walter Rye, but recently Mayor of Norwich, and the
+honoured author of a _History of Norfolk Families_ and other works. Mr.
+Rye, to whom I owe much of the information concerning the Thurtells
+published here, tells me that there was only this one, 'J. Thurtell.'
+Borrow had doubtless been appealing for subscribers for a very long
+time. I cannot, however, accept Mr. Rye's suggestion to me that Borrow
+left Norwich because he was mixed up with Thurtell in ultra-Whig or
+Radical scrapes, the intimidation and 'cooping' of Tory voters being a
+characteristic of the elections of that day with the wilder spirits, of
+whom Thurtell was doubtless one. Borrow's sympathies were with the Tory
+party from his childhood up--following his father.
+
+[72] _The Fatal Effects of Gambling Exemplified in the Murder of Wm.
+Weare and the Trial and Fate of John Thurtell, the Murderer, and his
+Accomplices_. London: Thomas Kelly, Paternoster Row. 1824. I have a very
+considerable number of Weare pamphlets in my possession, one of them
+being a record of the trial by Pierce Egan, the author of _Life in
+London_ and _Boxiana_. Walter Scott writes in his diary of being
+absorbed in an account of the trial, while he deprecates John Bull's
+maudlin sentiment over 'the pitiless assassin.' That was in 1826, but in
+1828 Scott went out of his way when travelling from London to Edinburgh,
+to visit Gill's Hill, and describes the scene of the tragedy very
+vividly. Lockhart's _Life_, ch. lxxvi.
+
+[73] Elstree had already had its association with a murder case, for
+Martha Reay, the mistress of John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich, was
+buried in the church in 1779. She was the mother of several of the
+Earl's children, one of whom was Basil Montagu. She was a beautiful
+woman and a delightful singer, and was appearing on the stage at Covent
+Garden, which theatre she was leaving on the night of 7th April 1779,
+when the Reverend James Hackman, Vicar of Wiveton in Norfolk, shot her
+through the head with a pistol in a fit of jealous rage. Hackman was
+hanged at Tyburn, Boswell attending the funeral. Croft's supposed
+letters between Hackman and Martha Reay, which made a great sensation
+when issued under the title of _Love and Madness_, are now known to be
+spurious (see ch. x. p. 115). Martha Reay was buried in the chancel of
+Elstree Church, but Lord Sandwich, who, although he sent word to
+Hackman, who asked his forgiveness, that 'he had robbed him of all
+comfort in this world,' took no pains to erect a monument over her
+remains. On 28th February 1913 the present writer visited Elstree in the
+interest of this book. He found that the church of Martha Reay and
+William Weare had long disappeared. A new structure dating from 1853 had
+taken its place. The present vicar, he was told, has located the spot
+where Weare was buried, and it coincides with the old engravings. Martha
+Reay's remains, at the time of the rebuilding, were removed to the
+churchyard, and lie near the door of the vestry, lacking all memorial.
+The Artichoke Inn has also been rebuilt, and 'Weare's Pond,' which alone
+recalls the tragedy to-day, where the body was found, has contracted
+into a small pool. It is, however, clearly authentic, the brook, as
+pictured in the old trial-books, now running under the road.
+
+[74] One of them was Mr. Justice Best, of whom it is recorded that a
+certain index had the reference line, 'Mr. Justice Best: his Great
+Mind,' which seemed to have no justification in the mental qualities of
+that worthy, but was explained when one referred to the context and saw
+that 'Mr. Justice Best said that he had a great mind to commit the
+witness for contempt.'
+
+[75] See an introduction by Thomas Seccombe to _Lavengro_ in 'Everyman's
+Library.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BORROW AND THE FANCY
+
+
+George Borrow had no sympathy with Thurtell the gambler. I can find no
+evidence in his career of any taste for games of hazard or indeed for
+games of any kind, although we recall that as a mere child he was able
+to barter a pack of cards for the Irish language. But he had certainly
+very considerable sympathy with the notorious criminal as a friend and
+patron of prize-fighting. This now discredited pastime Borrow ever
+counted a virtue. Was not his God-fearing father a champion in his way,
+or, at least, had he not in open fight beaten the champion of the
+moment, Big Ben Brain? Moreover, who was there in those days with blood
+in his veins who did not count the cultivation of the Fancy as the
+noblest and most manly of pursuits! Why, William Hazlitt, a prince among
+English essayists, whose writings are a beloved classic in our day,
+wrote in _The New Monthly Magazine_ in these very years[76] his own
+eloquent impression, and even introduces John Thurtell more than once as
+'Tom Turtle,' little thinking then of the fate that was so soon to
+overtake him. What could be more lyrical than this:
+
+     Reader, have you ever seen a fight? If not, you have a pleasure
+     to come, at least if it is a fight like that between the
+     Gas-man and Bill Neate.
+
+And then the best historian of prize-fighting, Henry Downes Miles, the
+author of _Pugilistica_, has his own statement of the case. You will
+find it in his monograph on John Jackson, the pugilist who taught Lord
+Byron to box, and received the immortality of an eulogistic footnote in
+_Don Juan_. Here is Miles's defence:
+
+     No small portion of the public has taken it for granted that
+     pugilism and blackguardism are synonymous. It is as an antidote
+     to these slanderers that we pen a candid history of the boxers;
+     and taking the general habits of men of humble origin (elevated
+     by their courage and bodily gifts to be the associates of those
+     more fortunate in worldly position), we fearlessly maintain
+     that the best of our boxers present as good samples of honesty,
+     generosity of spirit, goodness of heart and humanity, as an
+     equal number of men of any class of society.
+
+From Samuel Johnson to George Bernard Shaw literary England has had a
+kindness for the pugilist, although the magistrate has long, and
+rightly, ruled him out as impossible. Borrow carried his enthusiasm
+further than any, and no account of him that concentrates attention upon
+his accomplishment as a distributor of Bibles and ignores his delight in
+fisticuffs, has any grasp of the real George Borrow. Indeed it may be
+said, and will be shown in the course of our story, that Borrow entered
+upon Bible distribution in the spirit of a pugilist rather than that of
+an evangelist. But to return to Borrow's pugilistic experiences. He
+claims, as we have seen, occasionally to have put on the gloves with
+John Thurtell. He describes vividly enough his own conflicts with the
+Flaming Tinman and with Petulengro. His one heroine, Isopel Berners,
+had 'Fair Play and Long Melford' as her ideal, 'Long Melford' being the
+good right-handed blow with which Lavengro conquered the Tinman. Isopel,
+we remember, had learned in Long Melford Union to 'Fear God and take
+your own part!'
+
+George Borrow, indeed, was at home with the whole army of
+prize-fighters, who came down to us like the Roman Caesars or the Kings
+of England in a noteworthy procession, their dynasty commencing with
+James Fig of Thame, who began to reign in 1719, and closing with Tom
+King, who beat Heenan in 1863, or with Jem Mace, who flourished in a
+measure until 1872. With what zest must Borrow have followed the account
+of the greatest battle of all, that between Heenan and Tom Sayers at
+Farnborough in 1860, when it was said that Parliament had been emptied
+to patronise a prize-fight; and this although Heenan complained that he
+had been chased out of eight counties. For by this time, in spite of
+lordly patronage, pugilism was doomed, and the more harmless boxing had
+taken its place. 'Pity that corruption should have crept in amongst
+them,' sighed Lavengro in a memorable passage, in which he also has his
+paean of praise for the bruisers of England:
+
+     Let no one sneer at the bruisers of England--what were the
+     gladiators of Rome, or the bull-fighters of Spain, in its
+     palmiest days, compared to England's bruisers?[77]
+
+[Illustration: THE FAMILY OF JASPER PETULENGRO
+
+'Jasper' or Ambrose Smith was a very old man when this picture was taken
+by Mr. Andrew Innes of Dunbar in 1878. In both pictures we see
+Sanspirella, Jasper's wife, seated and holding a child. We are indebted
+to Mr. Charles Spence of Dunbar for these interesting groups.]
+
+Yes: Borrow was never hard on the bruisers of England, and followed
+their achievements, it may be said, from his cradle to his grave. His
+beloved father had brought him up, so to speak, upon memories of one who
+was champion before George was born--Big Ben Brain of Bristol. Brain,
+although always called 'Big Ben,' was only 5 feet 10 in. high. He was
+for years a coal porter at a wharf off the Strand. It was in 1791 that
+Ben Brain won the championship which placed him upon a pinnacle in the
+minds of all robust people. The Duke of Hamilton then backed him against
+the then champion, Tom Johnson, for five hundred guineas. 'Public
+expectation,' says _The Oracle_, a contemporary newspaper, 'never was
+raised so high by any pugilistic contest; great bets were laid, and it
+is estimated L20,000 was wagered on this occasion.' Ben Brain was the
+undisputed conqueror, we are told, in eighteen rounds, occupying no more
+than twenty-one minutes.[78] Brain died in 1794, and all the biographers
+tell of the piety of his end, so that Borrow's father may have read the
+Bible to him in his last moments, as Borrow avers,[79] but I very much
+doubt the accuracy of the following:
+
+     Honour to Brain, who four months after the event which I have
+     now narrated was champion of England, having conquered the
+     heroic Johnson. Honour to Brain, who, at the end of other four
+     months, worn out by the dreadful blows which he had received in
+     his manly combats, expired in the arms of my father, who read
+     the Bible to him in his latter moments--Big Ben Brain.
+
+We have already shown that Brain lived for four years after his fight
+with Johnson. Perhaps the fight in Hyde Park between Borrow's father and
+Ben, as narrated in _Lavengro_, is all romancing. It makes good reading
+in any case, as does Borrow's eulogy of some of his own contemporaries
+of the prize-ring:
+
+     So the bruisers of England are come to be present at the grand
+     fight speedily coming off; there they are met in the precincts
+     of the old town, near the field of the chapel, planted with
+     tender saplings at the restoration of sporting Charles, which
+     are now become venerable elms as high as many a steeple. There
+     they are met at a fitting rendezvous, where a retired coachman,
+     with one leg, keeps an hotel and a bowling-green. I think I now
+     see them upon the bowling-green, the men of renown, amidst
+     hundreds of people with no renown at all, who gaze upon them
+     with timid wonder. Fame, after all, is a glorious thing, though
+     it lasts only for a day. There's Cribb, the champion of
+     England, and perhaps the best man in England; there he is, with
+     his huge, massive figure, and face wonderfully like that of a
+     lion. There is Belcher, the younger, not the mighty one, who is
+     gone to his place, but the Teucer Belcher, the most scientific
+     pugilist that ever entered a ring, only wanting strength to be,
+     I won't say what. He appears to walk before me now, as he did
+     that evening, with his white hat, white greatcoat, thin genteel
+     figure, springy step, and keen, determined eye. Crosses him,
+     what a contrast! grim, savage Shelton, who has a civil word for
+     nobody, and a hard blow for anybody--hard! one blow, given with
+     the proper play of his athletic arm, will unsense a giant.
+     Yonder individual, who strolls about with his hands behind him,
+     supporting his brown coat lappets, under-sized, and who looks
+     anything but what he is, is the king of the light weights, so
+     called--Randall! the terrible Randall, who has Irish blood in
+     his veins--not the better for that, nor the worse; and not far
+     from him is his last antagonist, Ned Turner, who, though beaten
+     by him, still thinks himself as good a man, in which he is,
+     perhaps, right, for it was a near thing; and 'a better
+     shentleman,' in which he is quite right, for he is a Welshman.
+     But how shall I name them all? They were there by dozens, and
+     all tremendous in their way. There was Bulldog Hudson, and
+     fearless Scroggins, who beat the conqueror of Sam the Jew.
+     There was Black Richmond--no, he was not there, but I knew him
+     well; he was the most dangerous of blacks, even with a broken
+     thigh. There was Purcell, who could never conquer till all
+     seemed over with him. There was--what! shall I name thee last?
+     ay, why not? I believe that thou art the last of all that
+     strong family still above the sod, where mayest thou long
+     continue--true piece of English stuff, Tom of Bedford--sharp as
+     winter, kind as spring.
+
+All this is very accurate history. We know that there really was this
+wonderful gathering of the bruisers of England assembled in the
+neighbourhood of Norwich in July 1820, that is to say, sixteen miles
+away at North Walsham. More than 25,000 men, it is estimated, gathered
+to see Edward Painter of Norwich fight Tom Oliver of London for a purse
+of a hundred guineas. There were three Belchers, heroes of the
+prize-ring, but Borrow here refers to Tom, whose younger brother, Jem,
+had died in 1811 at the age of thirty. Tom Belcher died in 1854 at the
+age of seventy-one. Thomas Cribb was champion of England from 1805 to
+1820. One of Cribb's greatest fights was with Jem Belcher in 1807, when,
+in the forty-first and last round, as we are told by the chroniclers,
+'Cribb proving the stronger man put in two weak blows, when Belcher,
+quite exhausted, fell upon the ropes and gave up the combat.' Cribb had
+a prolonged career of glory, but he died in poverty in 1848. Happier was
+an earlier champion, John Gully, who held the glorious honour for three
+years--from 1805 to 1808. Gully turned tavern-keeper, and making a
+fortune out of sundry speculations, entered Parliament as member for
+Pontefract, and lived to be eighty years of age.
+
+It is necessary to dwell upon Borrow as the friend of prize-fighters,
+because no one understands Borrow who does not realise that his real
+interests were not in literature but in action. He would have liked to
+join the army but could not obtain a commission. And so he had to be
+content with such fighting as was possible. He cared more for the men
+who could use their fists than for those who could but wield the pen. He
+would, we may be sure, have rejoiced to know that many more have visited
+the tomb of Tom Sayers in Highgate Cemetery than have visited the tomb
+of George Eliot in the same burial-ground. A curious moral obliquity
+this, you may say. But to recognise it is to understand one side of
+Borrow, and an interesting side withal.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[76] _The New Monthly Magazine_, February 1822, 'The Fight.' Reprinted
+among William Hazlitt's _Fugitive Writings_ in vol. xii. of his
+Collected Works (Dent, 1904).
+
+[77] _Lavengro_ ch. xxvi. 'It is as good as Homer,' says Mr. Augustine
+Birrell, quoting the whole passage in his _Res Judicatae_. Mr. Birrell
+tells a delightful story of an old Quaker lady who was heard to say at a
+dinner-table, when the subject of momentary conversation was a late
+prize-fight: 'Oh, pity it was that ever corruption should have crept in
+amongst them'--she had just been reading _Lavengro_.
+
+[78] _Pugilistica_, vol. i. 69.
+
+[79] _Lavengro_, ch. i.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+EIGHT YEARS OF VAGABONDAGE
+
+
+There has been much nonsense written concerning what has been called the
+'veiled period' of George Borrow's life. This has arisen from a letter
+which Richard Ford of the _Handbook for Travellers in Spain_ wrote to
+Borrow after a visit to him at Oulton in 1844. Borrow was full of his
+projected _Lavengro_, the idea of which he outlined to his friends. He
+was a genial man in those days, on the wave of a popular success.
+Was not _The Bible in Spain_ passing merrily from edition to
+edition! Borrow, it is clear, told Ford that he was writing his
+'Autobiography'--he had no misgiving then as to what he should call
+it--and he evidently proposed to end it in 1825 and not in 1833, when
+the Bible Society gave him his real chance in life. Ford begged him, in
+letters that came into Dr. Knapp's possession, and from which he quotes
+all too meagrely, not to 'drop a curtain' over the eight years
+succeeding 1825. 'No doubt,' says Ford, 'it will excite a mysterious
+interest,' but then he adds in effect it will lead to a wrong
+construction being put upon the omission. Well, there can be but one
+interpretation, and that not an unnatural one. Borrow had a very rough
+time during these eight years. His vanity was hurt, and no wonder. It
+seems a small matter to us now that Charles Dickens should have been
+ashamed of the blacking-bottle episode of his boyhood. Genius has a
+right to a penurious, and even to a sordid, boyhood. But genius has no
+right to a sordid manhood, and here was George 'Olaus' Borrow, who was
+able to claim the friendship of William Taylor, the German scholar; who
+was able to boast of his association with sound scholastic foundations,
+with the High School at Edinburgh and the Grammar School at Norwich; who
+was a great linguist and had made rare translations from the poetry of
+many nations, starving in the byways of England and of France. What a
+fate for such a man that he should have been so unhappy for eight years;
+should have led the most penurious of roving lives, and almost certainly
+have been in prison as a common tramp.[80] It was all very well to
+romance about a poverty-stricken youth. But when youth had fled there
+ceased to be romance, and only sordidness was forthcoming. From his
+twenty-third to his thirty-first year George Borrow was engaged in a
+hopeless quest for the means of making a living. There is, however, very
+little mystery. Many incidents of each of these years are revealed at
+one or other point. His home, to which he returned from time to time,
+was with his mother at the cottage in Willow Lane, Norwich. Whether he
+made sufficient profit out of a horse, as in _The Romany Rye_, to enable
+him to travel upon the proceeds, as Dr. Knapp thinks, we cannot say. Dr.
+Knapp is doubtless right in assuming that during this period he led 'a
+life of roving adventure,' his own authorised version of his career at
+the time, as we have quoted from the biography in his handwriting from
+_Men of the Time_. But how far this roving was confined to England, how
+far it extended to other lands, we do not know. We are, however,
+satisfied that he starved through it all, that he rarely had a penny in
+his pocket. At a later date he gave it to be understood at times that he
+had visited the East, and that India had revealed her glories to him. We
+do not believe it. Defoe was Borrow's master in literature, and he
+shared Defoe's right to lie magnificently on occasion. Dr. Knapp has
+collected the various occasions upon which Borrow referred to his
+supposed earlier travels abroad prior to his visit to St. Petersburg in
+1833. The only quotation that carries conviction is an extract from a
+letter to his mother from St. Petersburg, where he writes of 'London,
+Paris, Madrid, and other capitals which I have visited.' I am not,
+however, disinclined to accept Dr. Knapp's theory that in 1826-7 Borrow
+did travel to Paris and through certain parts of Southern Europe. It is
+strange, all the same, that adventures which, had they taken place,
+would have provoked a thousand observations, provoked but two or three
+passing references. Yet there is no getting over that letter to his
+mother, nor that reference in _The Gypsies of Spain_, where he
+says--'Once in the south of France, when I was weary, hungry, and
+penniless....' Borrow certainly did some travel in these years, but it
+was sordid, lacking in all dignity--never afterwards to be recalled. For
+the most part, however, he was in England. We know that Borrow was in
+Norwich in 1826, for we have seen him superintending the publication of
+the _Romantic Ballads_ by subscription in that year. In that year also
+he wrote the letter to Haydon, the painter, to say that he was ready to
+sit for him, but that he was 'going to the south of France in a little
+better than a fortnight.'[81] We know also that he was in Norwich in
+1827, because it was then, and not in 1818 as described in _Lavengro_,
+that he 'doffed his hat' to the famous trotting stallion Marshland
+Shales, when that famous old horse was exhibited at Tombland Fair on the
+Castle Hill. We meet him next as the friend of Dr. Bowring. The letters
+to Bowring we must leave to another chapter, but they commence in 1829
+and continue through 1830 and 1831. Through them all Borrow shows
+himself alive to the necessity of obtaining an appointment of some kind,
+and meanwhile he is hard at work upon his translations from various
+languages, which, in conjunction with Dr. Bowring, he is to issue as
+_Songs of Scandinavia_. Dr. Knapp thinks that in 1829 he made the
+translation of the _Memoirs of Vidocq_, which appeared in that year with
+a short preface by the translator.[82] But these little volumes bear no
+internal evidence of Borrow's style, and there is no external evidence
+to support the assumption that he had a hand in their publication. His
+occasional references to Vidocq are probably due to the fact that he had
+read this little book.
+
+I have before me one very lengthy manuscript of Borrow's of this period.
+It is dated December 1829, and is addressed, 'To the Committee of the
+Honourable and Praiseworthy Association, known by the name of the
+Highland Society.'[83] It is a proposal that they should publish in two
+thick octavo volumes a series of translations of the best and most
+approved poetry of the ancient and modern Scots-Gaelic bards. Borrow was
+willing to give two years to the project, for which he pleads 'with no
+sordid motive.' It is a dignified letter, which will be found in one of
+Dr. Knapp's appendices--so presumably Borrow made two copies of it. The
+offer was in any case declined, and so Borrow passed from disappointment
+to disappointment during these eight years, which no wonder he desired,
+in the coming years of fame and prosperity, to veil as much as possible.
+The lean years in the lives of any of us are not those upon which we
+delight to dwell, or upon which we most cheerfully look back.[84]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[80] Only thus can we explain Borrow's later declaration that he had
+_four_ times been in prison.
+
+[81] I quote this letter in another chapter. Mr. Herbert Jenkins thinks
+(_Life_, ch. v. p. 88) that Borrow was in Paris during the revolution of
+1830, because of a picturesque reference to the war correspondents there
+in _The Bible in Spain_. But Borrow never hesitated to weave little
+touches of romance from extraneous writers into his narratives, and may
+have done so here. I have visited most of the principal capitals of the
+world, he says in _The Bible in Spain_. This we would call a palpable
+lie were not so much of _The Bible in Spain_ sheer invention.
+
+[82] _Memoirs of Vidocq, Principal Agent of the French Police until
+1827, and now proprietor of the paper manufactory at St. Mande_. Written
+by himself. Translated from the French. In Four Volumes. London:
+Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot, Ave Maria Lane, 1829.
+
+[83] This with other documents I am about to present to the Borrow
+Museum, Norwich.
+
+[84] In 1830 Borrow had another disappointment. He translated _The
+Sleeping Bard_ from the Welsh. This also failed to find a publisher. It
+was issued in 1860, under which date we discuss it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+SIR JOHN BOWRING
+
+
+'Poor George.... I wish he were making money. He works hard and remains
+poor'--thus wrote John Borrow to his mother in 1830 from Mexico, and it
+disposes in a measure of any suggestion of mystery with regard to five
+of those years that he wished to veil. They were not spent, it is clear,
+in rambling in the East, as he tried to persuade Colonel Napier many
+years later. They were spent for the most part in diligent attempt at
+the capture of words, in reading the poetry and the prose of many lands,
+and in making translations of unequal merit from these diverse tongues.
+This is indisputably brought home to me by the manuscripts in my
+possession, supplemented by those that fell to Dr. Knapp. These
+manuscripts represent years of work. Borrow has been counted a
+considerable linguist, and he had assuredly a reading and speaking
+acquaintance with a great many languages. But this knowledge was
+acquired, as all knowledge is, with infinite trouble and patience. I
+have before me hundreds of small sheets of paper upon which are written
+English words and their equivalents in some twenty or thirty languages.
+These serve to show that Borrow learnt a language as a small boy in an
+old-fashioned system of education learns his Latin or French--by writing
+down simple words--'father,' 'mother,' 'horse,' 'dog,' and so on with
+the same word in Latin or French in front of them. Of course Borrow had
+a superb memory and abundant enthusiasm, and so he was enabled to add
+one language to another and to make his translations from such books as
+he could obtain, with varied success. I believe that nearly all the
+books that he handled came from the Norwich library, and when Mrs.
+Borrow wrote to her elder son to say that George was working hard, as we
+may fairly assume, from the reply quoted, that she did, she was
+recalling this laborious work at translation that must have gone on for
+years. We have seen the first fruit in the translation from the
+German--or possibly from the French--of Klinger's _Faustus_; we have
+seen it in _Romantic Ballads_ from the Danish, the Irish, and the
+Swedish. Now there really seemed a chance of a more prosperous
+utilisation of his gift, for Borrow had found a zealous friend who was
+prepared to go forward with him in this work of giving to the English
+public translations from the literatures of the northern nations. This
+friend was Dr. John Bowring, who made a very substantial reputation in
+his day.
+
+Bowring has told his own story in a volume of _Autobiographical
+Recollections_,[85] a singularly dull book for a man whose career was at
+once so varied and so full of interest. He was born at Exeter in 1792 of
+an old Devonshire family, and entered a merchant's office in his native
+city on leaving school. He early acquired a taste for the study of
+languages, and learnt French from a refugee priest precisely in the way
+in which Borrow had done. He also acquired Italian, Spanish, German and
+Dutch, continuing with a great variety of other languages. Indeed, only
+the very year after Borrow had published _Faustus_, he published his
+_Ancient Poetry and Romances of Spain_, and the year after Borrow's
+_Romantic Ballads_ came Bowring's _Servian Popular Poetry_. With such
+interest in common it was natural that the two men should be brought
+together, but Bowring had the qualities which enabled him to make a
+career for himself and Borrow had not. In 1811, as a clerk in a London
+mercantile house, he was sent to Spain, and after this his travels were
+varied. He was in Russia in 1820, and in 1822 was arrested at Calais and
+thrown into prison, being suspected by the Bourbon Government of
+abetting the French Liberals. Canning as Foreign Minister took up his
+cause, and he was speedily released. He assisted Jeremy Bentham in
+founding _The Westminster Review_ in 1824. Meanwhile he was seeking
+official employment, and in conjunction with Mr. Villiers, afterwards
+Earl of Clarendon, and that ambassador to Spain who befriended Borrow
+when he was in the Peninsula, became a commissioner to investigate the
+commercial relations between England and France. After the Reform Bill
+of 1832 Bowring was frequently a candidate for Parliament, and was
+finally elected for Bolton in 1841. In the meantime he assisted Cobden
+in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League in 1838. Having suffered
+great monetary losses in the interval, he applied for the appointment of
+Consul at Canton, of which place he afterwards became Governor, being
+knighted in 1854. At one period of his career at Hong Kong his conduct
+was made the subject of a vote of censure in Parliament, Lord
+Palmerston, however, warmly defending him. Finally returning to England
+in 1862, he continued his literary work with unfailing zest. He died at
+Exeter, in a house very near that in which he was born, in 1872. His
+extraordinary energies cannot be too much praised, and there is no
+doubt but that in addition to being the possessor of great learning he
+was a man of high character. His literary efforts were surprisingly
+varied. There are at least thirty-six volumes with his name on the
+title-page, most of them unreadable to-day; even such works, for
+example, as his _Visit to the Philippine Isles_ and _Siam and the
+Siamese_, which involved travel into then little-known lands. Perhaps
+the only book by him that to-day commands attention is his translation
+of Chamisso's _Peter Schlemihl_. The most readable of many books by him
+into which I have dipped is his _Servian Popular Poetry_ of 1827, in
+which we find interesting stories in verse that remind us of similar
+stories from the Danish in Borrow's _Romantic Ballads_ published only
+the year before. The extraordinary thing, indeed, is the many points of
+likeness between Borrow and Bowring. Both were remarkable linguists;
+both had spent some time in Spain and Russia; both had found themselves
+in foreign prisons. They were alike associated in some measure with
+Norwich--Bowring through friendship with Taylor--and I might go on to
+many other points of likeness or of contrast. It is natural, therefore,
+that the penniless Borrow should have welcomed acquaintance with the
+more prosperous scholar. Thus it is that, some thirty years later,
+Borrow described the introduction by Taylor:
+
+     The writer had just entered into his eighteenth year, when he
+     met at the table of a certain Anglo-Germanist an individual,
+     apparently somewhat under thirty, of middle stature, a thin and
+     weaselly figure, a sallow complexion, a certain obliquity of
+     vision, and a large pair of spectacles. This person, who had
+     lately come from abroad, and had published a volume of
+     translations, had attracted some slight notice in the literary
+     world, and was looked upon as a kind of lion in a small
+     provincial capital. After dinner he argued a great deal, spoke
+     vehemently against the Church, and uttered the most desperate
+     Radicalism that was perhaps ever heard, saying, he hoped that
+     in a short time there would not be a king or queen in Europe,
+     and inveighing bitterly against the English aristocracy, and
+     against the Duke of Wellington in particular, whom he said, if
+     he himself was ever president of an English republic--an event
+     which he seemed to think by no means improbable--he would hang
+     for certain infamous acts of profligacy and bloodshed which he
+     had perpetrated in Spain. Being informed that the writer was
+     something of a philologist, to which character the individual
+     in question laid great pretensions, he came and sat down by
+     him, and talked about languages and literature. The writer, who
+     was only a boy, was a little frightened at first.[86]
+
+The quarrels of authors are frequently amusing but rarely edifying, and
+this hatred of Bowring that possessed the soul of poor Borrow in his
+later years is of the same texture as the rest. We shall never know the
+facts, but the position is comprehensible enough. Let us turn to the
+extant correspondence[87] which, as far as we know, opened when Borrow
+paid what was probably his third visit to London in 1829:
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                17 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, BLOOMSBURY. [_Dec. 6, 1829._]
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--Lest I should intrude upon you when you are busy,
+     I write to inquire when you will be unoccupied. I wish to shew
+     you my translation of _The Death of Balder_, Ewald's most
+     celebrated production,[88] which, if you approve of, you will
+     perhaps render me some assistance in bringing forth, for I
+     don't know many publishers. I think this will be a proper time
+     to introduce it to the British public, as your account of
+     Danish literature will doubtless cause a sensation. My friend
+     Mr. R. Taylor has my _Kaempe Viser_, which he has read and
+     approves of; but he is so very deeply occupied, that I am
+     apprehensive he neglects them: but I am unwilling to take them
+     out of his hands, lest I offend him. Your letting me know when
+     I may call will greatly oblige,--Dear Sir, your most obedient
+     servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                17 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, BLOOMSBURY. [_Dec. 28, 1829._][89]
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I trouble you with these lines for the purpose of
+     submitting a little project of mine for your approbation. When
+     I had last the pleasure of being at yours, you mentioned, that
+     we might at some future period unite our strength in composing
+     a kind of Danish Anthology. You know, as well as I, that by far
+     the most remarkable portion of Danish poetry is comprised in
+     those ancient popular productions termed _Kaempe Viser_, which I
+     have translated. Suppose we bring forward at once the first
+     volume of the Danish Anthology, which should contain the heroic
+     and supernatural songs of the _K. V._, which are certainly the
+     most interesting; they are quite ready for the press with the
+     necessary notes, and with an introduction which I am not
+     ashamed of. The second volume might consist of the Historic
+     songs and the ballads and Romances, this and the third volume,
+     which should consist of the modern Danish poetry, and should
+     commence with the celebrated 'Ode to the Birds' by Morten
+     Borup, might appear in company at the beginning of next season.
+     To Oelenslager should be allotted the principal part of the
+     fourth volume; and it is my opinion that amongst his minor
+     pieces should be given a good translation of his Aladdin, by
+     which alone he has rendered his claim to the title of a great
+     poet indubitable. A proper Danish Anthology cannot be contained
+     in less than 4 volumes, the literature being so copious. The
+     first volume, as I said before, might appear instanter, with no
+     further trouble to yourself than writing, if you should think
+     fit, a page or two of introductory matter.--Yours most truly,
+     my dear Sir,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                17 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, _Decr. 31, 1829._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I received your note, and as it appears that you
+     will not be disengaged till next Friday evening (this day week)
+     I will call then. You think that no more than two volumes can
+     be ventured on. Well! be it so! The first volume can contain 70
+     choice _Kaempe Viser_; viz. all the heroic, all the supernatural
+     ballads (which two classes are by far the most interesting),
+     and a few of the historic and romantic songs. The sooner the
+     work is advertised the better, _for I am terribly afraid of
+     being forestalled in the Kaempe Viser by some of those Scotch
+     blackguards_ who affect to translate from all languages, of
+     which they are fully as ignorant as Lockhart is of Spanish. I
+     am quite ready with the first volume, which might appear by the
+     middle of February (the best time in the whole season), and if
+     we unite our strength in the second, I think we can produce
+     something worthy of fame, for we shall have plenty of matter to
+     employ talent upon.--Most truly yours,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                17 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, BLOOMSBURY, _Jany. 14, 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I approve of the prospectus in every respect; it
+     is business-like, and there is nothing flashy in it. I do not
+     wish to suggest one alteration. I am not idle: I translated
+     yesterday from your volume 3 longish _Kaempe Visers_, among
+     which is the 'Death of King Hacon at Kirkwall in Orkney,' after
+     his unsuccessful invasion of Scotland. To-day I translated 'The
+     Duke's Daughter of Skage,' a noble ballad of 400 lines. When I
+     call again I will, with your permission, retake Tullin and
+     attack _The Surveyor_. Allow me, my dear Sir, to direct your
+     attention to Oelenschlaeger's _St. Hems Aftenspil_, which is the
+     last in his Digte of 1803. It contains his best lyrics, one or
+     two of which I have translated. It might, I think, be contained
+     within 70 pages, and I could translate it in 3 weeks. Were we
+     to give the whole of it we should gratify Oelenschlaeger's wish
+     expressed to you, that one of his larger pieces should appear.
+     But it is for you to decide entirely on what _is_ or what is
+     _not_ to be done. When you see the _foreign_ editor I should
+     feel much obliged if you would speak to him about my reviewing
+     Tegner, and enquire whether a _good_ article on Welsh poetry
+     would be received. I have the advantage of not being a
+     Welshman. I would speak the truth, and would give translations
+     of some of the best Welsh poetry; and I really believe that my
+     translations would not be the worst that have been made from
+     the Welsh tongue.--Most truly yours,
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                17 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, BLOOMSBURY, _Jany. 7, 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I send the prospectus[90] for your inspection and
+     for the correction of your master hand. I have endeavoured to
+     assume a Danish style, I know not whether I have been
+     successful.
+
+     Alter, I pray you, whatever false logic has crept into it, find
+     a remedy for its incoherencies, and render it fit for its
+     intended purpose. I have had for the two last days a rising
+     headache which has almost prevented me doing anything. I sat
+     down this morning and translated a hundred lines of the
+     _May-day_; it is a fine piece.--Yours most truly, my dear Sir,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                7 MUSEUM STREET, _Jany. 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I write this to inform you that I am at No. 7
+     Museum St., Bloomsbury. I have been obliged to decamp from
+     Russell St. for the cogent reason of an execution having been
+     sent into the house, and I thought myself happy in escaping
+     with my things. I have got half of the Manuscript from Mr.
+     Richard Taylor, but many of the pages must be rewritten owing
+     to their being torn, etc. He is printing the prospectus, but a
+     proof has not yet been struck off. Send me some as soon as you
+     get them.[91] I will send one with a letter to _H. G._--Yours
+     eternally,
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                7 MUSEUM STREET, _Jany. 25, 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I find that you called at mine, I am sorry that I
+     was not at home. I have been to Richard Taylor, and you will
+     have the prospectuses this afternoon. I have translated
+     Ferroe's 'Worthiness of Virtue' for you, and the two other
+     pieces I shall translate this evening, and you shall have them
+     all when I come on Wednesday evening. If I can at all assist
+     you in anything, pray let me know, and I shall be proud to do
+     it.--Yours most truly,
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                7 MUSEUM STREET, _Feby. 20, 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--To my great pleasure I perceive that the books
+     have all arrived safe. But I find that, instead of an
+     Icelandic Grammar, you have lent me an _Essay on the origin of
+     the Icelandic Language_, which I here return. Thorlakson's
+     Grave-ode is superlatively fine, and I translated it this
+     morning, as I breakfasted. I have just finished a translation
+     of Baggesen's beautiful poem, and I send it for your
+     inspection.--Most sincerely yours,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+     _P.S._--When I come we will make the modifications of this
+     piece, if you think any are requisite, for I have various
+     readings in my mind for every stanza. I wish you a very
+     pleasant journey to Cambridge, and hope you will procure some
+     names amongst the literati.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                7 MUSEUM STREET, _March 9, 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I have thought over the Museum matter which we
+     were talking about last night, and it appears to me that it
+     would be the very thing for me, provided that it could be
+     accomplished. I should feel obliged if you would deliberate
+     upon the best mode of proceeding, so that when I see you again
+     I may have the benefit of your advice.--Yours most sincerely,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+To this letter Bowring replied the same day, and his reply is preserved
+by Dr. Knapp. He promised to help in the Museum project 'by every sort
+of counsel and creation.' 'I should rejoice to see you _nicked_ in the
+British Museum,' he concludes.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                7 MUSEUM STREET, _Friday Evening, May 21, 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I shall be happy to accept your invitation to
+     meet Mr. Grundtvig to-morrow morning. As at present no doubt
+     seems to be entertained of Prince Leopold's accepting the
+     sovereignty of Greece, would you have any objection to write to
+     him concerning me? I should be very happy to go to Greece in
+     his service. I do not wish to go in a civil or domestic
+     capacity, and I have, moreover, no doubt that all such
+     situations have been long since filled up; I wish to go in a
+     military one, for which I am qualified by birth and early
+     habits. You might inform the Prince that I have been for years
+     on the Commander-in-Chief's List for a commission, but that I
+     have not had sufficient interest to procure an appointment. One
+     of my reasons for wishing to reside in Greece is, that the
+     mines of Eastern Literature would be acceptable to me. I should
+     soon become an adept in Turkish, and would weave and transmit
+     to you such an anthology as would gladden your very heart. As
+     for _The Songs of Scandinavia_, all the ballads would be ready
+     before departure, and as I should take books, I would in a few
+     months send you translations of the modern lyric poetry. I hope
+     this letter will not displease you. I do not write it from
+     _flightiness_, but from thoughtfulness. I am uneasy to find
+     myself at four and twenty drifting on the sea of the world, and
+     likely to continue so.--Yours most sincerely,
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+This letter is printed in part by Dr. Knapp, and almost in its entirety
+by Mr. Herbert Jenkins. Dr. Knapp has much sound worldly reflection upon
+its pathetic reference to 'drifting on the sea of the world.' If only,
+he suggests, Borrow had not received that unwise eulogy from Allan
+Cunningham about his 'exquisite Danish ballads,' if only he had listened
+to Richard Ford's advice--which came too late in any case--'Avoid poetry
+and translations of poets'--how much better it would have been. But
+Borrow had not the makings in him of a 'successful' man, and we who
+enjoy his writings to-day must be contented with the reflection that he
+had just the kind of life-experience which gave us what he had to give.
+Here Borrow holds his place among the poets--an unhappy race. In any
+case the British Museum appointment was not for him, nor the military
+career. Had one or other fallen to his lot, we might have had much
+literary work of a kind, but certainly not _Lavengro_. To return to the
+correspondence:
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                7 MUSEUM ST., _June 1, 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I send you _Hafbur and Signe_ to deposit in the
+     Scandinavian Treasury, and I should feel obliged by your doing
+     the following things.
+
+     1. Hunting up and lending me your Anglo-Saxon Dictionary as
+     soon as possible, for Grundtvig wishes me to assist him in the
+     translation of some Anglo-Saxon Proverbs.
+
+     2. When you write to Finn Magnussen to thank him for his
+     attention, pray request him to send the _Feeroiska Quida_, or
+     popular songs of Ferroe, and also _Broder Run's Historie, or
+     the History of Friar Rush_, the book which Thiele mentions in
+     his _Folkesagn_.--Yours most sincerely,
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                7 MUSEUM STREET, _June 7, 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I have looked over Mr. Grundtvig's manuscripts.
+     It is a very long affair, and the language is Norman-Saxon. L40
+     would not be an extravagant price for a transcript, and so they
+     told him at the museum. However, as I am doing nothing
+     particular at present, and as I might learn something from
+     transcribing it, I would do it for L20. He will call on you
+     to-morrow morning, and then if you please you may recommend me.
+     The character closely resembles the ancient Irish, so I think
+     you can answer for my competency.--Yours most truly,
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+     _P.S._--Do not lose the original copies of the Danish
+     translations which you sent to the _Foreign Quarterly_, for I
+     have no duplicates. I think _The Roses_ of Ingemann was sent;
+     it is not printed; so if it be not returned, we shall have to
+     re-translate it.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                7 MUSEUM ST., _Sept. 14, 1830._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I return you the Bohemian books. I am going to
+     Norwich for some short time as I am very unwell, and hope that
+     cold bathing in October and November may prove of service to
+     me. My complaints are, I believe, the offspring of ennui and
+     unsettled prospects. I have thoughts of attempting to get into
+     the French service, as I should like prodigiously to serve
+     under Clausel in the next Bedouin campaign. I shall leave
+     London next Sunday and will call some evening to take my leave;
+     I cannot come in the morning, as early rising kills me.--Most
+     sincerely yours,
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                WILLOW LANE, NORWICH, _Sept. 11, 1831._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I return you my most sincere thanks for your kind
+     letter of the 2nd inst., and though you have not been
+     successful in your application to the Belgian authorities in my
+     behalf, I know full well that you did your utmost, and am only
+     sorry that at my instigation you attempted an impossibility.
+     The Belgians seem either not to know or not to care for the
+     opinion of the great Cyrus, who gives this advice to his
+     captains: 'Take no heed from what countries ye fill up your
+     ranks, but seek recruits as ye do horses, not those
+     particularly who are of your own country, but those of merit.'
+     The Belgians will only have such recruits as are born in
+     Belgium, and when we consider the _heroic_ manner in which the
+     native Belgian army defended the person of their new sovereign
+     in the last conflict with the Dutch, can we blame them for
+     their determination? It is rather singular, however, that,
+     resolved as they are to be served only by themselves, they
+     should have sent for 50,000 Frenchmen to clear their country of
+     a handful of Hollanders, who have generally been considered the
+     most unwarlike people in Europe, but who, if they had had fair
+     play given them, would long ere this time have replanted the
+     Orange flag on the towers of Brussels, and made the Belgians
+     what they deserve to be--hewers of wood and drawers of water.
+     And now, my dear Sir, allow me to reply to a very important
+     part of your letter. You ask me whether I wish to purchase a
+     commission in the British Service, because in that case you
+     would speak to the Secretary at War about me. I must inform
+     you, therefore, that my name has been for several years upon
+     the list _for the purchase_ of a commission, and I have never
+     yet had sufficient interest to procure an appointment. If I can
+     do nothing better I shall be very glad to purchase; but I will
+     pause two or three months before I call upon you to fulfil your
+     kind promise. It is believed that the militias will be embodied
+     in order to be sent to that unhappy country Ireland, and,
+     provided I can obtain a commission in one of them and they are
+     kept in service, it would be better than spending L500 upon one
+     in the line. I am acquainted with the colonels of the two
+     Norfolk regiments, and I dare say that neither of them would
+     have any objection to receive me. If they are not embodied I
+     will most certainly apply to you, and you may say when you
+     recommend me that, being well grounded in Arabic, and having
+     some talent for languages, I might be an acquisition to a corps
+     in one of our Eastern colonies. I flatter myself that I could
+     do a great deal in the East provided I could once get there,
+     either in a civil or military capacity. There is much talk at
+     present about translating European books into the two great
+     languages, the Arabic and Persian. Now I believe that with my
+     enthusiasm for those tongues I could, if resident in the East,
+     become in a year or two better acquainted with them than any
+     European has been yet, and more capable of executing such a
+     task. Bear this in mind, and if, before you hear from me again,
+     you should have any opportunity to recommend me as a proper
+     person to fill any civil situation in those countries, or to
+     attend any expedition thither, I pray you to lay hold of it,
+     and no conduct of mine shall ever give you reason to repent of
+     it.--I remain, my dear Sir, your most obliged and obedient
+     servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+     _P.S._--Present my best remembrances to Mrs. Bowring and to
+     Edgar, and tell them that they will both be starved. There is
+     now a report in the street that twelve corn-stacks are blazing
+     within twenty miles of this place. I have lately been wandering
+     about Norfolk, and I am sorry to say that the minds of the
+     peasantry are in a horrible state of excitement. I have
+     repeatedly heard men and women in the harvest-field swear that
+     not a grain of the corn they were cutting should be eaten, and
+     that they would as lieve be hanged as live. I am afraid all
+     this will end in a famine and a rustic war.
+
+Borrow's next letter to Bowring that has been preserved is dated 1835
+and was written from Portugal. With that I will deal when we come to
+Borrow's travels in the Peninsula. Here it sufficeth to note that during
+the years of Borrow's most urgent need he seems to have found a kind
+friend if not a very zealous helper in the 'Old Radical' whom he came to
+hate so cordially.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[85] _Autobiographical Reflections of Sir John Bowring. With a Brief
+Memoir by Lewin B. Bowring_. Henry S. King and Co., London, 1877.
+
+[86] _The Romany Rye_ Appendix, ch. xi.
+
+[87] Kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. Wilfred J. Bowring, Sir John
+Bowring's grandson. The rights which I hold through the executors of
+George Borrow's stepdaughter, Mrs. MacOubrey, over the Borrow
+correspondence enable me to publish in their completeness letters which
+three previous biographers, all of whom have handled the correspondence,
+have published mainly in fragments.
+
+[88] The manuscript of _The Death of Balder_ came into the hands of Mr.
+William Jarrold of Norwich through Mr. Webber of Ipswich, who purchased
+a large mass of Borrow manuscripts that were sold at Borrow's death,
+most of which were re-purchased by Dr. Knapp. His firm, Jarrold and
+Sons, issued _The Death of Balder, from the Danish of Johannes Ewald_,
+in 1889.
+
+[89] This and the previous letter are undated, but bear the careful
+endorsement of Dr. John Bowring, as he then was, with the date of
+receipt, presumably the day _after_ the letters were written.
+
+[90]
+
+'PROSPECTUS
+
+It is proposed to publish, in Two Volumes Octavo Price to Subscribers
+L1, 1s., to Non Subscribers L1, 4s.
+
+THE SONGS OF SCANDINAVIA
+
+Translated by
+
+Dr. BOWRING and Mr. BORROW.
+
+Dedicated to the King of Denmark, by permission of His Majesty.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The First Volume will contain about One Hundred Specimens of the Ancient
+Popular Ballads of North-Western Europe, arranged under the heads of
+Heroic, Supernatural, Historical, and Domestic Poems.
+
+The Second Volume will represent the Modern School of Danish Poetry,
+from the time of Tullin, giving the most remarkable lyrical productions
+of Ewald, Oelenschlaeger, Baggesen, Ingemann, and many others.'
+
+This four-page leaflet contains two blank pages for lists of
+subscribers, who apparently did not come, and the project seems to have
+been abandoned.
+
+[91] The prospectus, already quoted, bears the imprint: Printed by
+Richard Taylor, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+BORROW AND THE BIBLE SOCIETY
+
+
+That George Borrow should have become an agent for the Bible Society,
+then in the third decade of its flourishing career, has naturally
+excited doubts as to his moral honesty. The position was truly a
+contrast to an earlier ideal contained in the letter to his Norwich
+friend, Roger Kerrison, that we have already given, in which, with all
+the zest of a Shelley, he declares that he intends to live in London,
+'write plays, poetry, etc., abuse religion, and get myself prosecuted.'
+But that was in 1824, and Borrow had suffered great tribulation in the
+intervening eight years. He had acquired many languages, wandered far
+and written much, all too little of which had found a publisher. There
+was plenty of time for his religious outlook to have changed in the
+interval, and in any case Borrow was no theologian. The negative outlook
+of 'Godless Billy Taylor,' and the positive outlook of certain
+Evangelical friends with whom he was now on visiting terms, were of
+small account compared with the imperative need of making a living--and
+then there was the passionate longing of his nature for a wider
+sphere--for travelling activity which should not be dependent alone upon
+the vagabond's crust. What matter if, as Harriet Martineau--most
+generous and also most malicious of women, with much kinship with Borrow
+in temperament--said, that his appearance before the public as a devout
+agent of the Bible Society excited a 'burst of laughter from all who
+remembered the old Norwich days'; what matter if another 'scribbling
+woman,' as Carlyle called such strident female writers as were in vogue
+in mid-Victorian days--Frances Power Cobbe--thought him 'insincere';
+these were unable to comprehend the abnormal heart of Borrow, so
+entirely at one with Goethe in _Wilhelm Meister's Wanderjahre_:
+
+    Bleibe nicht am Boden heften,
+    Frisch gewagt und frisch hinaus!
+    Kopf und Arm, mit heitern Kraften,
+    Ueberall sind sie zu Haus;
+    Wo wir uns der Sonne freuen,
+    Sind wir jede Sorge los;
+    Dass wir uns in ihr zerstreuen,
+    Darum ist die Welt so gross.[92]
+
+Here was Borrow's opportunity indeed. Verily I believe that it would
+have been the same had it been a society for the propagation of the
+writings of Defoe among the Persians. With what zest would Borrow have
+undertaken to translate _Moll Flanders_ and _Captain Singleton_ into the
+languages of Hafiz and Omar! But the Bible Society was ready to his
+hand, and Borrow did nothing by halves. A good hater and a staunch
+friend, he was loyal to the Bible Society in no half-hearted way, and
+not the most pronounced quarrel with forces obviously quite out of tune
+with his nature led to any real slackening of that loyalty. In the end a
+portion of his property went to swell the Bible Society's funds.[93]
+
+When Borrow became one of its servants, the Bible Society was only in
+its third decade. It was founded in the year 1804, and had the names of
+William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, and Zachary Macaulay on its first
+committee. To circulate the authorised version of the Bible without note
+or comment was the first ideal that these worthy men set before them;
+never to the entire satisfaction of the great printing organisations,
+which already had a considerable financial interest in such a
+circulation. For long years the words 'Sold under cost price' upon the
+Bibles of the Society excited mingled feelings among those interested in
+the book trade[94]. The Society's first idea was limited to Bibles in
+the English tongue. This was speedily modified. A Bible Society was set
+up in Nuremberg to which money was granted by the parent organisation. A
+Bible in the Welsh language was circulated broadcast through the
+Principality, and so the movement grew. From the first it had one of its
+principal centres in Norwich, where Joseph John Gurney's house was open
+to its committee, and at its annual gatherings at Earlham his sister
+Elizabeth Fry took a leading part, while Wilberforce, Charles Simeon,
+the famous preacher, and Legh Richmond, whose _Dairyman's Daughter_
+Borrow failed to appreciate, were of the company. 'Uncles Buxton and
+Cunningham are here,' we find one of Joseph John Gurney's daughters
+writing in describing a Bible Society gathering. This was John
+Cunningham, rector of Harrow, and it was his brother who helped Borrow
+to his position in connection with the Society, as we shall see. At the
+moment of these early meetings Borrow is but a boy, meeting Joseph
+Gurney on the banks of the river near Earlham, and listening to his
+discourse upon angling. The work of the Bible Society in Russia may be
+said to have commenced when one John Paterson of Glasgow, who had been a
+missionary of the Congregational body, went to St. Petersburg during
+those critical months of 1812 that Napoleon was marching into Russia.
+Paterson indeed, William Canton tells us,[95] was 'one of the last to
+behold the old Tartar wall and high brick towers' and other splendours
+of the Moscow which in a month or two were to be consumed by the flames.
+Paterson was back again in St. Petersburg before the French were at the
+gates of Moscow, and it is noteworthy that while Moscow was burning and
+the Czar was on his way to join his army, this remarkable Scot was
+submitting to Prince Galitzin a plan for a Bible Society in St.
+Petersburg, and a memorial to the Czar thereon:
+
+     The plan and memorial were examined by the Czar on the 18th (of
+     December); with a stroke of his pen he gave his sanction--'So
+     be it, Alexander'; and as he wrote, the last tattered remnants
+     of the Grand Army struggled across the ice of the Niemen.[96]
+
+The Society was formed in January 1813, and when the Czar returned to
+St. Petersburg in 1815, after the shattering of Napoleon's power, he
+authorised a new translation of the Bible into modern Russian. From
+Russia it was not a far cry, where the spirit of evangelisation held
+sway, to Manchuria and to China. To these remote lands the Bible Society
+desired to send its literature. In 1822 the gospel of St. Matthew was
+printed in St. Petersburg in Manchu. Ten years later the type of the
+whole New Testament in that language was lying in the Russian capital.
+'All that was required was a Manchu scholar to see the work through the
+press'.[97] Here came the chance for Borrow. At this period there
+resided at Oulton Hall, Suffolk, but a few miles from Norwich, a family
+of the name of Skepper, Edward and Anne his wife, with their two
+children, Breame and Mary. Mary married in 1817 one Henry Clarke, a
+lieutenant in the Royal Navy. He died a few months afterwards of
+consumption. Of this marriage there was a posthumous child, Henrietta
+Mary, born but two months after her father's death. Mary Clarke, as she
+now was, threw herself with zest into all the religious enthusiasms of
+the locality, and the Rev. Francis Cunningham, Vicar of St. Margaret's,
+Lowestoft, was one of her friends. Borrow had met Mary Clarke on one of
+his visits to Lowestoft, and she had doubtless been impressed with his
+fine presence, to say nothing of the intelligence and varied learning of
+the young man. The following note, the first communication I can find
+from Borrow to his future wife, indicates how matters stood at the time:
+
+
+To Mrs. Clarke
+
+                ST. GILES, NORWICH, 22 _October 1832._
+
+     DEAR MADAM,--According to promise I transmit you a piece of
+     Oriental writing, namely the tale of Blue Beard, translated
+     into Turkish by myself. I wish it were in my power to send you
+     something more worthy of your acceptance, but I hope you will
+     not disdain the gift, insignificant though it be. Desiring to
+     be kindly remembered to Mr. and Mrs. Skepper and the remainder
+     of the family,--I remain, dear Madam, your most obedient humble
+     servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+That Borrow owed his introduction to Mr. Cunningham to Mrs. Clarke is
+clear, although Cunningham, in his letter to the Bible Society urging
+the claims of Borrow, refers to the fact that a 'young farmer' in the
+neighbourhood had introduced him. This was probably her brother, Breame
+Skepper. Dr. Knapp was of the opinion that Joseph John Gurney obtained
+Borrow his appointment, but the recently published correspondence of
+Borrow with the Bible Society makes it clear that Cunningham wrote--on
+27th December 1832--recommending Borrow to the secretary, the Rev.
+Andrew Brandram. How little he knew of Borrow is indicated by the fact
+that he referred to him as 'independent in circumstances.' Brandram told
+Caroline Fox many years afterwards that Gurney had effected the
+introduction, but this was merely a lapse of memory. In fact we find
+Borrow asking to be allowed to meet Gurney before his departure. In any
+case he has himself told us, in one of the brief biographies of himself
+that he wrote, that he promptly walked to London, covering the whole
+distance of 112 miles in twenty-seven hours, and that his expenses
+amounted to 5-1/2d. laid out in a pint of ale, a half-pint of milk, a
+roll of bread, and two apples. He reached London in the early morning,
+called at the offices of the Bible Society in Earl Street, and was
+kindly received by Andrew Brandram and Joseph Jowett, the two
+secretaries. He was asked if he would care to learn Manchu, and go to
+St. Petersburg. He was given six months for the task, and doubtless also
+some money on account. He returned to Norwich more luxuriously--by mail
+coach. In June 1833 we find a letter from Borrow to Jowett, dated from
+Willow Lane, Norwich, and commencing, 'I have mastered Manchu, and I
+should feel obliged by your informing the committee of the fact, and
+also my excellent friend, Mr. Brandram.' A long reply to this by Jowett
+is among my Borrow Papers, but the Bible Society clearly kept copies of
+its letters, and a portion of this one has been printed.[98] It shows
+that Borrow went through much heart-burning before his destiny was
+finally settled. At last he was again invited to London, and found
+himself as one of two candidates for the privilege of going to Russia.
+The examination consisted of a Manchu hymn, of which Borrow's version
+seems to have proved the more acceptable, and he afterwards printed it
+in his _Targum_. Finally, on the 5th of July 1833, Borrow received a
+letter from Jowett offering him the appointment, with a salary of L200 a
+year and expenses. The letter contained his first lesson in the then
+unaccustomed discipline of the Evangelical vocabulary. Borrow had spoken
+of the prospect of becoming 'useful to the Deity, to man, and to
+himself.'
+
+'Doubtless you meant,' commented Jowett, 'the prospect of glorifying
+God,' and Jowett frankly tells him that his tone of confidence in
+speaking of himself 'had alarmed some of the excellent members of our
+committee.' Borrow adapted himself at once, and is congratulated by
+Jowett in a later communication upon the 'truly Christian' spirit of his
+next letter.
+
+By an interesting coincidence there was living in Norwich at the moment
+when Borrow was about to leave it, a man who had long identified himself
+with good causes in Russia, and had lived in that country for a
+considerable period of his life. John Venning[99] was born in Totnes in
+1776, and he is buried in the Rosary Cemetery at Norwich, where he died
+in 1858, after twenty-eight years' residence in that city. He started
+for St. Petersburg four years after John Howard had died, ostensibly on
+behalf of the commercial house with which he was associated, but with
+the intention of carrying on the work of that great man in prison
+reform. Alexander I. was on the throne, and he made Venning his friend,
+frequently conversing with him upon religious subjects. He became the
+treasurer of a society for the humanising of Russian prisons; but when
+Nicholas became Czar in 1825 Venning's work became more difficult,
+although the Emperor was sympathetic. Venning returned to England in
+1830, and thus opportunely, in 1833, was able to give his
+fellow-townsman letters of introduction to Prince Galitzin and other
+Russian notables, so that Borrow was able to set forth under the
+happiest auspices--with an entire change of conditions from those eight
+years of semi-starvation that he was now to leave behind him for ever.
+Borrow left London for St. Petersburg on 31st July 1833, not forgetting
+to pay his mother before he left the L17 he had had to borrow during his
+time of stress. Always devoted to his mother, Borrow sent her sums of
+money at intervals from the moment the power of earning came to him. We
+shall never know, we can only surmise something of the self-sacrificing
+devotion of that mother during the years in which Borrow had failed to
+find remunerative work. Wherever he wandered there had always been a
+home in the Willow Lane cottage. It is probable that much the greater
+part of the period of his eight years of penury was spent under her
+roof. Yet we may be sure that the good mother never once reproached her
+son. She had just that touch of idealism in her character that made for
+faith and hope. In any case never more was Borrow to suffer penury, or
+to be a burden on his mother. Henceforth she was to be his devoted care
+to her dying day.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[92]
+
+Keep not standing, fixed and rooted,
+  Briskly venture, briskly roam;
+Head and hand, where'er thou foot it,
+  And stout heart, are still at home.
+In each land the sun does visit;
+  We are gay whate'er betide.
+To give room for wandering is it,
+  That the world was made so wide.
+
+--Carlyle's translation.
+
+[93] Through the will of his stepdaughter, Henrietta MacOubrey.
+
+[94] Although the Bible Society then as now purchased all the sheets of
+its Bibles from the three authorised sources of production--the King's
+printers who hold a patent, and the universities of Oxford and
+Cambridge, which hold licences to print--these exclusive privileges
+being granted in order that the text of the Bible should be maintained
+with accuracy.
+
+[95] Let me here acknowledge with gratitude my indebtedness to that fine
+work _The History of the British Foreign Bible Society_ (1904-10,
+Murray), by William Canton, which is worthy of the accomplished author
+of _The Invisible Playmate_. An earlier history of the Society, by the
+Rev. George Browne, published in 1859, has necessarily been superseded
+by Mr. Canton's book.
+
+[96] Canton's _History of the Bible Society_, vol. i. 195.
+
+[97] _Ibid._, vol. ii. 127.
+
+[98] In _Letters from George Borrow to the Bible Society_ (Hodder and
+Stoughton), 1911.
+
+[99] See _Memoirs of John Venning, Esq., formerly of St. Petersburgh and
+late of Norwich. With Numerous Notices from his Manuscripts relative to
+the Imperial Family of Russia_. By Thulia S. Henderson. London: Knight
+and Son, 1862. Borrow's name is not once mentioned, but there is a
+slight reference to him on pages 148 and 149.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+ST. PETERSBURG AND JOHN P. HASFELD
+
+
+Borrow travelled by way of Hamburg and Luebeck to Travemuende, whence he
+went by sea to St. Petersburg, where he arrived on the twentieth of
+August 1833. He was back in London in September 1835, and thus it will
+be seen that he spent two years in Russia. After the hard life he had
+led, everything was now rose-coloured. 'Petersburg is the finest city in
+the world,' he wrote to Mr. Jowett; 'neither London nor Paris nor any
+other European capital which I have visited has sufficient pretensions
+to enter into comparison with it in respect to beauty and grandeur.' But
+the striking thing about Borrow in these early years was his capacity
+for making friends. He had not been a week in St. Petersburg before he
+had gained the regard of one, William Glen, who, in 1825, had been
+engaged by the Bible Society to translate the Old Testament into
+Persian. The clever Scot, of whom Borrow was informed by a competent
+judge that he was 'a Persian scholar of the first water,' was probably
+too heretical for the Society which recalled him, much to his chagrin.
+'He is a very learned man, but of very simple and unassuming manners,'
+wrote Borrow to Jowett.[100] His version of the _Psalms_ appeared in
+1830, and of _Proverbs_ in 1831. Thus he was going home in despair, but
+seems to have had good talk on the way with Borrow in St. Petersburg. In
+1845 his complete Old Testament in Persian appeared in Edinburgh. This
+William Glen has been confused with another William Glen, a law student,
+who taught Carlyle Greek, but they had nothing in common. Borrow and
+Carlyle could not possibly have had friends in common. Borrow was drawn
+towards this William Glen by his enthusiasm for the Persian language.
+But Glen departed out of his life very quickly. Hasfeld, who entered it
+about the same time, was to stay longer. Hasfeld was a Dane, now
+thirty-three years of age, who, after a period in the Foreign Office at
+Copenhagen, had come to St. Petersburg as an interpreter to the Danish
+Legation, but made quite a good income as a professor of European
+languages in cadet schools and elsewhere. The English language and
+literature would seem to have been his favourite topic. His friendship
+for Borrow was a great factor in Borrow's life in Russia and elsewhere.
+If Borrow's letters to Hasfeld should ever turn up, they will prove the
+best that he wrote. Hasfeld's letters to Borrow were preserved by him.
+Three of them are in my possession. Others were secured by Dr. Knapp,
+who made far too little use of them. They are all written in Danish on
+foreign notepaper: flowery, grandiloquent productions we may admit, but
+if we may judge a man by his correspondents, we have a revelation of a
+more human Borrow than the correspondence with the friends at Earl
+Street reveals:
+
+                ST. PETERSBURG, _6/18 November 1836._
+
+     MY DEAR FRIEND,--Much water has run through the Neva since I
+     last wrote to you, my last letter was dated 5/17th April; the
+     last letter I received from you was dated Madrid, 23rd May, and
+     I now see with regret that it is still unanswered; it is,
+     however, a good thing that I have not written as often to you
+     as I have thought about you, for otherwise you would have
+     received a couple of letters daily, because the sun never sets
+     without you, my lean friend, entering into my imagination. I
+     received the Spanish letter a day or two before I left for
+     Stockholm, and it made the journey with me, for it was in my
+     mind to send you an epistle from Svea's capital, but there were
+     so many petty hindrances that I was nearly forgetting myself,
+     let alone correspondence. I lived in Stockholm as if each day
+     were to be my last, swam in champagne, or rested in girls'
+     embraces. You doubtless blush for me; you may do so, but don't
+     think that that conviction will murder my almost shameless
+     candour, the only virtue which I possess, in a superfluous
+     degree. In Sweden I tried to be lovable, and succeeded, to the
+     astonishment of myself and everybody else. I reaped the reward
+     on the most beautiful lips, which only too often had to
+     complain that the fascinating Dane was faithless like the foam
+     of the sea and the ice of spring. Every wrinkle which
+     seriousness had impressed on my face vanished in joy and
+     smiles; my frozen heart melted and pulsed with the rapid beat
+     of gladness; in short, I was not recognisable. Now I have come
+     back to my old wrinkles, and make sacrifice again on the altar
+     of friendship, and when the incense, this letter, reaches you,
+     then prove to me your pleasure, wherever you may be, and let an
+     echo of friendship's voice resound from Granada's Alhambra or
+     Sahara's deserts. But I know that you, good soul, will write
+     and give me great pleasure by informing me that you are happy
+     and well; when I get a letter from you my heart rejoices, and I
+     feel as if I were happy, and that is what happiness consists
+     of. Therefore, let your soldierlike letters march promptly to
+     their place of arms--paper--and move in close columns to St.
+     Petersburg, where they will find warm winter quarters. I have
+     received a letter from my correspondent in London, Mr. Edward
+     Thomas Allan, No. 11 North Audley St.; he informs me that my
+     manuscript has been promenading about, calling on publishers
+     without having been well received; some of them would not even
+     look at it, because it smelt of Russian leather; others kept it
+     for three or six weeks and sent it back with 'Thanks for the
+     loan.' They probably used it to get rid of the moth out of
+     their old clothes. It first went to Longman and Co.'s,
+     Paternoster Row; Bull of Hollis St.; Saunders and Otley,
+     Conduit St.; John Murray of Albemarle St., who kept it for
+     three weeks; and finally it went to Bentley of New Burlington
+     St., who kept it for SIX weeks and returned it; now it is to
+     pay a visit to a Mr. Colburn, and if he won't have the
+     abandoned child, I will myself care for it. If this finds you
+     in London, which is quite possible, see whether you can do
+     anything for me in this matter. Thank God, I shall not buy
+     bread with the shillings I perhaps may get for a work which has
+     cost me seventy nights, for I cannot work during the day. In
+     _The Athenaenum_,[101] No. 436, issued on the 3rd March this
+     year, you will find an article which I wrote, and in which you
+     are referred to; in the same paper you will also find an
+     extract from my translation. I hope that article will meet with
+     your approbation. Ivan Semionewitch sends his kind regards to
+     you. I dare not write any more, for then I should make the
+     letter a double one, and it may perhaps go after you to the
+     continent; if it reaches you in England, write AT ONCE to your
+     sincere friend,
+
+                J. P. HASFELD.
+
+     My address is, Stieglitz and Co., St. Petersburg.
+
+                ST. PETERSBURG, _9th/21st July 1842._
+
+     DEAR FRIEND,--I do not know how I shall begin, for you have
+     been a long time without any news from me, and the fault is
+     mine, for the last letter was from you; as a matter of fact, I
+     did produce a long letter for you last year in September, but
+     you did not get it, because it was too long to send by post and
+     I had no other opportunity, so that, as I am almost tired of
+     the letter, you shall, nevertheless, get it one day, for
+     perhaps you will find something interesting in it; I cannot do
+     so, for I never like to read over my own letters. Six days ago
+     I commenced my old hermit life; my sisters left on the 3rd/15th
+     July, and are now, with God's help, in Denmark. They left with
+     the French steamer _Amsterdam_, and had two Russian ladies with
+     them, who are to spend a few months with us and visit the sea
+     watering-places. These ladies are the Misses Koladkin, and have
+     learnt English from me, and became my sisters' friends as soon
+     as they could understand each other. My sisters have also made
+     such good progress in your language that they would be able to
+     arouse your astonishment. They read and understand everything
+     in English, and thank you very much for the pleasure you gave
+     them with your 'Targum'; they know how to appreciate 'King
+     Christian stood by the high mast,' and everything which you
+     have translated of languages with which they are acquainted.
+     They have not had more than sixty real lessons in English.
+     After they had taken ten lessons, I began, to their great
+     despair, to speak English, and only gave them a Danish
+     translation when it was absolutely necessary. The result was
+     that they became so accustomed to English that it scarcely ever
+     occurs to them to speak Danish together; when one cannot get
+     away from me one must learn from me. The brothers and sisters
+     remaining behind are now also to go to school when they get
+     home, for they have recognised how pleasant it is to speak a
+     language which servants and those around one do not understand.
+     During all the winter my dearest thought was how, this summer,
+     I was going to visit my long, good friend, who was previously
+     lean and who is now fat, and how I should let him fatten me a
+     little, so as to be able to withstand better the long winter in
+     Russia; I would then in the autumn, like the bears, go into my
+     winter lair fat and sleek, and of all these romantic thoughts
+     none has materialised, but I have always had the joy of
+     thinking them and of continuing them; I can feel that I smile
+     when such ideas run through my mind. I am convinced that if I
+     had nothing else to do than to employ my mind with pleasant
+     thoughts, I should become fat on thoughts alone. The principal
+     reason why this real pleasure journey had to be postponed, was
+     that my eldest sister, Hanna, became ill about Easter, and it
+     was not until the end of June that she was well enough to
+     travel. I will not speak about the confusion which a sick lady
+     can cause in a bachelor's house, occasionally I almost lost my
+     patience. For the amount of roubles which that illness cost I
+     could very well have travelled to America and back again to St.
+     Petersburg; I have, however, the consolation in my reasonable
+     trouble that the money which the doctor and chemist have
+     received was well spent. The lady got about again after she had
+     caused me and Augusta just as much pain, if not more, than she
+     herself suffered. Perhaps you know how amiable people are when
+     they suffer from liver trouble; I hope you may never get it. I
+     am not anxious to have it either, for you may do what the devil
+     you like for such persons, and even then they are not
+     satisfied. We have had great festivals here by reason of the
+     Emperor's marriage; I did not move a step to see the pageantry;
+     moreover, it is difficult to find anything fresh in it which
+     would afford me enjoyment; I have seen illuminations and
+     fireworks, the only attractive thing there was must have been
+     the King of Prussia; but as I do not know that good man, I have
+     not very great interest in him either; nor, so I am told, did
+     he ask for me, and he went away without troubling himself in
+     the slightest about me; it was a good thing that I did not
+     bother him.
+
+                J. P. H.
+
+                ST. PETERSBURG, _26th April/8th May 1858._
+
+     DEAR FRIEND,--I thank you for your friendly letter of the 12th
+     April, and also for the invitation to visit you. I am thinking
+     of leaving Russia soon, perhaps permanently, for twenty-seven
+     years are enough of this climate. It is as yet undecided when I
+     leave, for it depends on business matters which must be
+     settled, but I hope it will be soon. What I shall do I do not
+     yet know either, but I shall have enough to live on; perhaps I
+     shall settle down in Denmark. It is very probable that I shall
+     come to London in the summer, and then I shall soon be at
+     Yarmouth with you, my old true friend. It was a good thing that
+     you at last wrote, for it would have been too bad to extend
+     your disinclination to write letters even to me. The last
+     period one stays in a country is strange, and I have many
+     persons whom I have to separate from. If you want anything done
+     in Russia, let me know promptly; when I am in movement I will
+     write, so that you may know where I am, and what has become of
+     me. I have been ill nearly all the winter, but now feel daily
+     better, and when I get on the water I shall soon be well. We
+     have already had hot and thundery weather, but it has now
+     become cool again. I have already sold the greater part of my
+     furniture, and am living in furnished apartments which cost me
+     seventy roubles per month; I shall soon be tired of that. I am
+     expecting a letter from Denmark which will settle matters, and
+     then I can get ready and spread my wings to get out into the
+     world, for this is not the world, but Russia. I see you have
+     changed houses, for last year you lived at No. 37. With kindest
+     regards to your dear ones, I am, dear friend, yours sincerely,
+
+                JOHN P. HASFELD.[102]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[100] Darlow's _George Borrow's Letters to the Bible Society_, page 76.
+There are twenty letters written by Borrow from Russia to the Bible
+Society, contained in T. H. Darlow's _Letters of George Borrow to the
+British and Foreign Bible Society_, several of which, in the original
+manuscripts, are in my possession. There are as many also in Knapp's
+_Life of Borrow_, and these last are far more interesting, being
+addressed to his mother and other friends. I have several other letters
+concerned with Borrow's Bible Society work in Russia, but they are not
+inspiring. Borrow's correspondence with Hasfeld, of which Knapp gives us
+glimpses, is more bracing, and the two or three letters from that
+admirable Dane that are in my collection I am glad to print here.
+
+[101] In the _Athenaeum_ for March 5, 1836, there is a short, interesting
+letter, dated from St. Petersburg, signed J. P. H. This was obviously
+written by Hasfeld. 'Here your journal is found in every well furnished
+library,' he writes, 'and yet not a passing word do you ever bestow upon
+us,' and then, to the extent of nearly five columns, he discourses upon
+the present state of Russian literature, and has very much to say about
+his friend George Borrow:
+
+'Will it be thought ultra-barbarian if I mention that Mr. George Borrow
+concluded, in the autumn, the publication of the New Testament in the
+Mandchou language? Remember, if you please, that he was sent here for
+the express purpose by the British and Foreign Bible Society of London.
+The translation was made for the Society by Mr. Lipoftsof, a gentleman
+in the service of the Russian Department of Foreign Affairs, who has
+spent the greater part of an industrious life in Peking and the East. I
+can only say that it is a beautiful edition of an Oriental work, that it
+is printed with great care on a fine imitation of Chinese paper made on
+purpose. At the outset, Mr. Borrow spent weeks and months in the
+printing-office to make the compositors acquainted with the intricate
+Mandchou types, and that, as for the contents, I am assured by
+well-informed persons, that this translation is remarkable for the
+correctness and fidelity with which it has been executed.'
+
+Then Hasfeld goes on to describe Borrow's small volume, _Targum_: 'The
+exquisite delicacy with which he has caught and rendered the beauties of
+his well-chosen originals,' he says, 'is a proof of his learning and
+genius. The work is a pearl in literature, and, like pearls, it derives
+value from its scarcity, for the whole edition was limited to about a
+hundred copies.' Then Hasfeld gives two poems from the book, which
+really justify his eulogy, for the poetic quality of _Targum_ has not
+had justice done to it by Borrow's later critics.
+
+[102] The name is frequently spelt 'Hasfeldt,' but I have followed the
+spelling not only of Hasfeld's signature in his letters in my
+possession, but also of the printed addressed envelope which he was in
+the habit of forwarding to his friends in his letters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE MANCHU BIBLE--_TARGUM_--_THE TALISMAN_
+
+
+The Bible Society wanted the Bible to be set up in the Manchu language,
+the official language of the Chinese Court and Government. A Russian
+scholar named Lipoftsof, who had spent twenty years in China, undertook
+in 1821 to translate the New Testament into Manchu for L560. Lipoftsof
+had done his work in 1826, and had sent two manuscript copies to London.
+In 1832 the Rev. William Swan of the London Missionary Society in
+passing through St. Petersburg discovered a transcript of a large part
+of the Old and New Testament in Manchu, made by one Pierot, a French
+Jesuit, many years before. This transcript was unavailable, but a second
+was soon afterwards forthcoming for free publication if a qualified
+Manchu scholar could be found to see it through the Press. Mr. Swan's
+communication of these facts to the Bible Society in London gave Borrow
+his opportunity. It was his task to find the printers, buy the paper,
+and hire the qualified compositors for setting the type. It must be
+admitted Borrow worked hard for his L200 a year. First he had to ask the
+diplomatists for permission from the Russian Government, not now so
+friendly to British Missionary zeal. The Russian Bible Society had been
+suppressed in 1826. He succeeded here. Then he had to continue his
+studies in the Manchu language. He had written from Norwich to Mr.
+Jowett on 9th June 1833, 'I have mastered Manchu,' but on 20th January
+1834 we find him writing to the same correspondent: 'I pay about six
+shillings, English, for each lesson, which I grudge not, for the perfect
+acquirement of Manchu is one of my most ardent wishes.'[103] Then he
+found the printers--a German firm, Schultz and Beneze--who probably
+printed the two little books of Borrow's own for him as a 'make weight.'
+He purchased paper for his Manchu translation with an ability that would
+have done credit to a modern newspaper manager. Every detail of these
+transactions is given in his letters to the Bible Society, and one
+cannot but be amused at Borrow's explanation to the Reverend Secretary
+of the little subterfuges by which he proposed to 'best' the godless for
+the benefit of the godly:
+
+     Knowing but too well that it is the general opinion of the
+     people of this country that Englishmen are made of gold, and
+     that it is only necessary to ask the most extravagant price for
+     any article in order to obtain it, I told no person, to whom I
+     applied, who I was, or of what country; and I believe I was
+     supposed to be a German.[104]
+
+Then came the composing or setting up of the type of the book. When
+Borrow was called to account by his London employers, who were not sure
+whether he was wasting time, he replied: 'I have been working in the
+printing-office, as a common compositor, between ten and thirteen hours
+every day.' In another letter Borrow records further difficulties with
+the printers after the composition had been effected. Several of the
+working printers, it appears, 'went away in disgust,' Then he adds:
+
+     I was resolved 'to do or die,' and, instead of distressing and
+     perplexing the Committee with complaints, to write nothing
+     until I could write something perfectly satisfactory, as I now
+     can; and to bring about that result I have spared neither
+     myself nor my own money. I have toiled in a close
+     printing-office the whole day, during ninety degrees of heat,
+     for the purpose of setting an example, and have bribed people
+     to work whom nothing but bribes would induce so to do. I am
+     obliged to say all this in self-justification. No member of the
+     Bible Society would ever have heard a syllable respecting what
+     I have undergone but for the question, 'What has Mr. Borrow
+     been about?'[105]
+
+It is not my intention to add materially to the letters of Borrow from
+Russia and from Spain that have already been published, although many
+are in my possession. They reveal an aspect of the life of Borrow that
+has been amply dealt with by other biographers, and it is an aspect that
+interests me but little. Here, however, is one hitherto unpublished
+letter that throws much light upon Borrow's work at this time:
+
+
+To the Rev. Andrew Brandram
+
+                ST. PETERSBURG, _18th Oct. 1833._
+
+     REVEREND SIR,--Supposing that you will not be displeased to
+     hear how I am proceeding, I have taken the liberty to send a
+     few lines by a friend[106] who is leaving Russia for England.
+     Since my arrival in Petersburg I have been occupied eight hours
+     every day in transcribing a Manchu manuscript of the Old
+     Testament belonging to Baron Schilling, and I am happy to be
+     able to say that I have just completed the last of it, the Rev.
+     Mr. Swan, the Scottish missionary, having before my arrival
+     copied the previous part. Mr. Swan departs to his mission in
+     Siberia in about two months, during most part of which time I
+     shall be engaged in collating our transcripts with the
+     original. It is a great blessing that the Bible Society has now
+     prepared the whole of the Sacred Scriptures in Manchu, which
+     will doubtless, when printed, prove of incalculable benefit to
+     tens of millions who have hitherto been ignorant of the will of
+     God, putting their trust in idols of wood and stone instead of
+     in a crucified Saviour. I am sorry to say that this country in
+     respect to religion is in a state almost as lamentable as the
+     darkest regions of the East, and the blame of this rests
+     entirely upon the Greek hierarchy, who discountenance all
+     attempts to the spiritual improvement of the people, who, poor
+     things, are exceedingly willing to receive instruction, and,
+     notwithstanding the scantiness of their means in general for
+     the most part, eagerly buy the tracts which a few pious English
+     Christians cause to be printed and hawked in the neighbourhood.
+     But no one is better aware, Sir, than yourself that without the
+     Scriptures men can never be brought to a true sense of their
+     fallen and miserable state, and of the proper means to be
+     employed to free themselves from the thraldom of Satan. The
+     last few copies which remained of the New Testament in Russian
+     were purchased and distributed a few days ago, and it is
+     lamentable to be compelled to state that at the present there
+     appears no probability of another edition being permitted in
+     the modern language. It is true that there are near twenty
+     thousand copies of the Sclavonic bible in the shop which is
+     entrusted with the sale of the books of the late Russian Bible
+     Society, but the Sclavonian translation is upwards of a
+     thousand years old, having been made in the eighth century, and
+     differs from the dialect spoken at present in Russia as much as
+     the old Saxon does from the modern English. Therefore it cannot
+     be of the slightest utility to any but the learned, that is, to
+     about ten individuals in one thousand. I hope and trust that
+     the Almighty will see fit to open some door for the
+     illumination of this country, for it is not to be wondered if
+     vice and crime be very prevalent here when the people are
+     ignorant of the commandments of God. Is it to be wondered that
+     the people follow their every day pursuits on the Sabbath when
+     they know not the unlawfulness of so doing? Is it to be
+     wondered that they steal when only in dread of the laws of the
+     country, and are not deterred by the voice of conscience which
+     only exists in a few. This accounts for their profanation of
+     their Sabbath, their proneness to theft, etc. It is only
+     surprising that so much goodness is to be found in their nature
+     as is the case, for they are mild, polite, and obliging, and in
+     most of their faces is an expression of great kindness and
+     benignity. I find that the slight knowledge which I possess of
+     the Russian tongue is of the utmost service to me here, for the
+     common opinion in England that only French and German are
+     spoken by persons of any respectability in Petersburg is a
+     great and injurious error. The nobility, it is true, for the
+     most part speak French when necessity obliges them, that is,
+     when in company with foreigners who are ignorant of Russian,
+     but the affairs of most people who arrive in Petersburg do not
+     lie among the nobility, therefore a knowledge of the language
+     of the country, unless you associate solely with your own
+     countrymen, is indispensable. The servants speak no language
+     but their native tongue, and also nine out of ten of the middle
+     classes of Russians. I might as well address Mr. Lipoftsof, who
+     is to be my coadjutor in the edition of the New Testament (in
+     Manchu) in Hebrew as in either French or German, for though he
+     can read the first a little he cannot speak a word of it or
+     understand when spoken. I will now conclude by wishing you all
+     possible happiness. I have the honour to be, etc.,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+When the work was done at so great a cost of money,[107] and of energy
+and enthusiasm on the part of George Borrow, it was found that the books
+were useless. Most of these New Testaments were afterwards sent out to
+China, and copies distributed by the missionaries there as opportunities
+offered. It was found, however, that the Manchus in China were able to
+read Chinese, preferring it to their own language, which indeed had
+become almost confined to official use.[108] In the year 1859 editions
+of _St. Matthew_ and _St. Mark_ were published in Manchu and Chinese
+side by side, the Manchu text being a reprint of that edited by Borrow,
+and these books are still in use in Chinese Turkestan. But Borrow had
+here to suffer one of the many disappointments of his life. If not
+actually a gypsy he had all a gypsy's love of wandering. No impartial
+reader of the innumerable letters of this period can possibly claim that
+there was in Borrow any of the proselytising zeal or evangelical fervour
+which wins for the names of Henry Martyn and of David Livingstone so
+much honour and sympathy even among the least zealous. At the best
+Borrow's zeal for religion was of the order of Dr. Keate, the famous
+headmaster of Eton--'Blessed are the pure in heart ... if you are not
+pure in heart, by God, I'll flog you!' Borrow had got his New Testaments
+printed, and he wanted to distribute them because he wished to see still
+more of the world, and had no lack of courage to carry out any well
+defined scheme of the organisation which was employing him. Borrow had
+thrown out constant hints in his letters home. People had suggested to
+him, he said, that he was printing Testaments for which he would never
+find readers. If you wish for readers, they had said to him, 'you must
+seek them among the natives of Pekin and the fierce hordes of desert
+Tartary.' And it was this last most courageous thing that Borrow
+proposed. Let him, he said to Mr. Jowett, fix his headquarters at
+Kiachta upon the northern frontier of China. The Society should have an
+agent there:
+
+     I am a person of few words, and will therefore state without
+     circumlocution that I am willing to become that agent. I speak
+     Russ, Manchu, and the Tartar or broken Turkish of the Russian
+     steppes, and have also some knowledge of Chinese, which I
+     might easily improve at Kiachta, half of the inhabitants of
+     which town are Chinamen. I am therefore not altogether
+     unqualified for such an adventure.[109]
+
+The Bible Committee considered this and other plans through the
+intervening months, and it seems clear that at the end they would have
+sanctioned some form of missionary work for Borrow in the Chinese
+Empire; but on 1st June 1835 he wrote to say that the Russian
+Government, solicitous of maintaining good relations with China, would
+not grant him a passport across Siberia except on the condition that he
+carried not one single Manchu Bible thither.[110] And so Borrow's dreams
+were left unfulfilled. He was never to see China or the farther East,
+although, because he was a dreamer and like his hero, Defoe, a bit of a
+liar, he often said he had. In September 1835 he was back in England
+awaiting in his mother's home in Norwich further commissions from his
+friends of the Bible Society.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Work on the Manchu New Testament did not entirely absorb Borrow's
+activities in St. Petersburg. He seems to have made a proposition to
+another organisation, as the following letter indicates. The proposal
+does not appear to have borne any fruit:
+
+                PRAYER BOOK AND HOMILY SOCIETY,
+                NO. 4 EXETER HALL, LONDON, _January 16th, 1835._
+
+     SIR,--Your letters dated July and November 17, 1834, and
+     addressed to the Rev. F. Cunningham, have been laid before the
+     Committee of the Prayer Book and Homily Society, who have
+     agreed to print the translation of the first three Homilies
+     into the Russian language at St. Petersburg, under the
+     direction of Mr. and Mrs. Biller, so soon as they shall have
+     caused the translation to undergo a thorough revision, and
+     shall have certified the same to this Society. I write by this
+     post to Mrs. Biller on the subject. In respect to the second
+     Homily in Manchu, if we rightly understand your statement, an
+     edition of five hundred copies may be sent forth, the whole
+     expense of which, including paper and printing, will amount to
+     about L12. If we are correct in this the Committee are willing
+     to bear the expense of five hundred copies, by way of trial,
+     their wish being this, viz.: that printed copies should be put
+     into the hands of the most competent persons, who shall be
+     invited to offer such remarks on the translation as shall seem
+     desirable; especially that Dr. Morrison of Canton should be
+     requested to submit copies to the inspection of Manchu scholars
+     as he shall think fit. When the translation has been thoroughly
+     revised the Committee will consider the propriety of printing a
+     larger edition. They think that the plan of submitting copies
+     in letters of gold to the inspection of the highest personages
+     in China should probably be deferred till the translation has
+     been thus revised. We hope that this resolution will be
+     satisfactory to you; but the Committee, not wishing to
+     prescribe a narrower limit than such as is strictly necessary,
+     have directed me to say, that should the expense of an edition
+     of five hundred copies of the Homily in Manchu exceed L12, they
+     will still be willing to meet it, but not beyond the sum of
+     L15.
+
+     Should you print this edition be pleased to furnish us with
+     twenty-five copies, and send twenty-five copies at the least to
+     Rev. Dr. Morrison, at Canton, if you have the means of doing
+     so; if not, we should wish to receive fifty copies, that _we_
+     may send twenty-five to Canton. In this case you will be at
+     liberty to draw a bill upon us for the money, within the limits
+     specified above, in such manner as is most convenient. Possibly
+     Mr. and Mrs. Biller may be able to assist you in this matter.
+     Believe me, dear Sir, yours most sincerely,
+
+                C. R. PRITCHETT.
+
+     Mr. G. Borrow.
+
+     I am not aware whether I am addressing a clergyman or a layman,
+     and therefore shall direct as above. Will you be so kind as to
+     send the MS. of the Russian Homilies to Mrs. Biller?
+
+During Borrow's last month or two in St. Petersburg he printed two thin
+octavo volumes of translations--some of them verses which, undeterred by
+the disheartening reception of earlier efforts, he had continued to make
+from each language in succession that he had the happiness to acquire,
+although most of the poems are from his old portfolios. These little
+books were named _Targum_ and _The Talisman_. Dr. Knapp calls the latter
+an appendix to the former. They are absolutely separate volumes of
+verse, and I reproduce their title-pages from the only copies that
+Borrow seems to have reserved for himself out of the hundred printed of
+each. The publishers, it will be seen, are the German firm that printed
+the Manchu New Testament, Schultz and Beneze. Borrow's preface to
+_Targum_ is dated 'St. Petersburg, June 1, 1835.' Here in _Targum_ we
+find the trial poem which in competition with a rival candidate had won
+him the privilege of going to Russia for the Bible Society--_The
+Mountain Chase_. Here also among new verses are some from the Arabic,
+the Persian, and the Turkish. If it be true, as his friend Hasfeld said,
+that here was a poet who was able to render another without robbing the
+garland of a single leaf--that would but prove that the poetry which
+Borrow rendered was not of the first order. Nor, taking another
+standard--the capacity to render the ballad with a force that captures
+'the common people,'--can we agree with William Bodham Donne, who was
+delighted with _Targum_ and said that 'the language and rhythm are
+vastly superior to Macaulay's _Lays of Ancient Rome_.' In _The Talisman_
+we have four little poems from the Russian of Pushkin followed by
+another poem, _The Mermaid_, by the same author. Three other poems in
+Russian and Polish complete the booklet. Borrow left behind him in St.
+Petersburg with his friend, Hasfeld, a presentation copy for Pushkin,
+who, when he received it, expressed regret that he had not met his
+translator while Borrow was in St. Petersburg.
+
+[Illustration: Title Page from "Targum"]
+
+[Illustration: Title Page from "The Talisman"]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[103] Darlow, _Letters to the Bible Society_, p. 32.
+
+[104] _Ibid._ p. 47.
+
+[105] Darlow, _Letters to the Bible Society_, pp. 60, 61.
+
+[106] Mr. Glen.
+
+[107] The Manchu version--_i.e._ the transcript of Pierot's MS. of the
+Old Testament and 1000 copies of Lipoftsof's translation of the
+New--cost the Society in all L2600. Canton: _History of the Bible
+Society_, vol. ii. p. 239.
+
+[108] Darlow; _Letters to the Bible Society_, p. 96.
+
+[109] Darlow: _Letters to the Bible Society_, p. 65.
+
+[110] _Ibid._, p. 81.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THREE VISITS TO SPAIN
+
+
+From his journey to Russia Borrow had acquired valuable experience, but
+nothing in the way of fame, although his mother had been able to record
+in a letter to St. Petersburg that she had heard at a Bible Society
+gathering in Norwich his name 'sounded through the hall' by Mr. Joseph
+John Gurney and Mr. Cunningham, to her great delight. 'All this is very
+pleasing to me,' she said, 'God bless you!' Even more pleasing to Borrow
+must have been a letter from Mary Clarke, his future wife, who was able
+to tell him that she heard Francis Cunningham refer to him as 'one of
+the most extraordinary and interesting individuals of the present day.'
+But these tributes were not all-satisfying to an ambitious man, and this
+Borrow undoubtedly was. His Russian journey was followed by five weeks
+of idleness in Norwich varied by the one excitement of attending a Bible
+meeting at Oulton with the Reverend Francis Cunningham in the chair,
+when 'Mr. George Borrow from Russia'[111] made one of the usual
+conventional missionary speeches, Mary Clarke's brother, Breame Skepper,
+being also among the orators. Borrow begged for more work from the
+Society. He urged the desirability of carrying out its own idea of an
+investigation in Portugal and perhaps also in Spain, and hinted that he
+could write a small volume concerning what he saw and heard which might
+cover the expense of the expedition.[112] So much persistency conquered.
+Borrow sailed from London on 6th November 1835, and reached Lisbon on
+12th November, this his first official visit to the Peninsula lasting
+exactly eleven months. The next four years and six months were to be
+spent mainly in Spain.[113] Broadly the time divides itself in the
+following fashion:
+
+    1st Tour (_via_ Lisbon),
+    Nov. 1835 to Oct. 1836.
+
+    Lisbon.
+    Mafia.
+    Evora.
+    Badajoz.
+    Madrid.
+
+    2nd Tour (_via_ Cadiz),
+    Nov. 1836 to Sept. 1838.
+
+    Cadiz.
+    Lisbon.
+    Seville.
+    Madrid.
+    Salamanca.
+    Coruna.
+    Oviedo.
+    Toledo.
+
+    3rd Tour (_via_ Cadiz),
+    Dec. 1838 to March 1840.
+
+    Cadiz.
+    Seville.
+    Madrid.
+    Gibraltar.
+    Tangier.
+
+What a world of adventure do the mere names of these places call up.
+Borrow entered the Peninsula at an exciting period of its history.
+Traces of the Great War in which Napoleon's legions faced those of
+Wellington still abounded. Here and there a bridge had disappeared, and
+some of Borrow's strange experiences on ferry-boats were indirectly due
+to the results of Napoleon's ambition.[114] Everywhere there was still
+war in the land. Portugal indeed had just passed through a revolution.
+The partisans of the infant Queen Maria II. had been fighting with her
+uncle Dom Miguel for eight years, and it was only a few short months
+before Borrow landed at Lisbon that Maria had become undisputed queen.
+Spain, to which Borrow speedily betook himself, was even in a worse
+state. She was in the throes of a six years' war. Queen Isabel II., a
+child of three, reigned over a chaotic country with her mother Dona
+Christina as regent; her uncle Don Carlos was a formidable claimant to
+the throne and had the support of the absolutist and clerical parties.
+Borrow's political sympathies were always in the direction of
+absolutism; but in religion, although a staunch Church of England man,
+he was certainly an anti-clerical one in Roman Catholic Spain. In any
+case he steered judiciously enough between contending factions,
+describing the fanatics of either side with vigour and sometimes with
+humour. Mr. Brandram's injunction to Borrow 'to be on his guard against
+becoming too much committed to one particular party' seems to have been
+unnecessary.
+
+Borrow's three expeditions to Spain have more to be said for them than
+had his journey to St. Petersburg. The work of the Bible Society was and
+is at its highest point of human service when distributing either the
+Old or the New Testament in Christian countries, Spain, England, or
+another. Few there be to-day in any country who, in the interests of
+civilisation, would deny to the Bible a wider distribution. In a remote
+village of Spain a Bible Society's colporteur, carrying a coloured
+banner, sold me a copy of Cipriano de Valera's New Testament for a
+peseta. The villages of Spain that Borrow visited could even at that
+time compare favourably morally and educationally, with the villages of
+his own county of Norfolk at the same period. The morals of the
+agricultural labourers of the English fen country eighty years ago were
+a scandal, and the peasantry read nothing; more than half of them could
+not read. They had not, moreover, the humanising passion for song and
+dance that Andalusia knew. But this is not to deny that the Bible
+Society under Borrow's instrumentality did a good work in Spain, nor
+that they did it on the whole in a broad and generous way. Borrow admits
+that there was a section of the Roman Catholic clergy 'favourably
+disposed towards the circulation of the Gospel,'[115] and the Society
+actually fixed upon a Roman Catholic version of the Spanish Bible, that
+by Scio de San Miguel,[116] although this version Borrow considered a
+bad translation. Much has been said about the aim of the Bible Society
+to provide the Bible without notes or comment--in its way a most
+meritorious aim, although then as now opposed to the instinct of a large
+number of the priests of the Roman Church. It is true that their
+attitude does not in any way possess the sanction of the ecclesiastical
+authorities. It may be urged, indeed, that the interpretation of the
+Bible by a priest, usually of mature judgment, and frequently of a
+higher education than the people with whom he is associated, is at least
+as trustworthy as its interpretation at the hands of very partially
+educated young women and exceedingly inadequately equipped young men who
+to-day provide interpretation and comment in so many of the Sunday
+Schools of Protestant countries.[117]
+
+Behold George Borrow, then, first in Portugal and a little later in
+Spain, upon his great mission--avowedly at first a tentative
+mission--rather to see what were the prospects for Bible distribution
+than to distribute Bibles. But Borrow's zeal knew no such limitations.
+Before very long he had a shop in one of the principal streets of
+Madrid--the Calle del Principe--much more in the heart of things than
+the very prosperous Bible Society of our day ventures upon.[118]
+Meanwhile he is at present in Portugal not very certain of his
+movements, and he writes to his old friend Dr. Bowring the following
+letter with a request with which Bowring complied, although in the
+coldest manner:
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring.
+
+                EVORA IN THE ALEMTEJO, _27 Decr. 1835._
+
+     DEAR SIR,--Pray excuse me for troubling you with these lines. I
+     write to you, as usual, for assistance in my projects,
+     convinced that you will withhold none which it may be in your
+     power to afford, more especially when by so doing you will
+     perhaps be promoting the happiness of our fellow creatures. I
+     returned from dear, glorious Russia about three months since,
+     after having edited there the Manchu New Testament in eight
+     volumes. I am now in Portugal, for the Society still do me the
+     honour of employing me. For the last six weeks I have been
+     wandering amongst the wilds of the Alemtejo and have introduced
+     myself to its rustics, banditti, etc., and become very popular
+     amongst them, but as it is much more easy to introduce oneself
+     to the cottage than the hall (though I am not entirely unknown
+     in the latter), I want you to give or procure me letters to the
+     most liberal and influential minds of Portugal. I likewise want
+     a letter from the Foreign Office to Lord De Walden, in a word,
+     I want to make what interest I can towards obtaining the
+     admission of the Gospel of Jesus into the public schools of
+     Portugal which are about to be established. I beg leave to
+     state that this is _my plan_, and not other persons', as I was
+     merely sent over to Portugal to observe the disposition of the
+     people, therefore I do not wish to be named as an Agent of the
+     B.S., but as a person who has plans for the mental improvement
+     of the Portuguese; should I receive _these letters_ within the
+     space of six weeks it will be time enough, for before setting
+     up my machine in Portugal I wish to lay the foundation of
+     something similar in Spain. When you send the Portuguese
+     letters direct thus:
+
+                Mr. George Borrow,
+                    to the care of Mr. Wilby,
+                      Rua Dos Restauradores, Lisbon.
+
+     I start for Spain to-morrow, and I want letters something
+     similar (there is impudence for you) for Madrid, _which I
+     should like to have as soon as possible_. I do not much care at
+     present for an introduction to the Ambassador at Madrid, as I
+     shall not commence operations seriously in Spain until I have
+     disposed of Portugal. I will not apologise for writing to you
+     in this manner, for you know me, but I will tell you one
+     thing, which is that the letter which you procured for me, on
+     my going to St. Petersburg, from Lord Palmerston, assisted me
+     wonderfully. I called twice at your domicile on my return; the
+     first time you were in Scotland, the second in France, and I
+     assure you I cried with vexation. Remember me to Mrs. Bowring
+     and God bless you.
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+     _P.S._--I am told that Mendizabal is liberal, and has been in
+     England; perhaps he would assist me.
+
+During this eleven months' stay in the Peninsula Borrow made his way to
+Madrid, and here he interviewed the British Minister, Sir George
+Villiers, afterwards fourth Earl of Clarendon, and had received a quite
+remarkable encouragement from him for the publication and distribution
+of the Bible. He also interviewed the Spanish Prime Minister,
+Mendizabal, 'whom it is as difficult to get nigh as it is to approach
+the North Pole,' and he has given us a picturesque account of the
+interview in _The Bible in Spain_. It was agreed that 5000 copies of the
+Spanish Testament were to be reprinted from Scio's text at the expense
+of the Bible Society, and all these Borrow was to handle as he thought
+fit. Then Borrow made his way to Granada, where, under date 30th August
+1836, his autograph may be read in the visitors' book of the Alhambra:
+
+_George Borrow Norvicensis._
+
+Here he studied his friends the gypsies, now and probably then, as we
+may assume from his _Zincali_, the sordid scum on the hillside of that
+great city, but now more assuredly than then unutterably demoralised by
+the numerous but curious tourists who visit this rabble under police
+protection, the very policeman or gendarme not despising a peseta for
+his protective services. But Borrow's hobbies included the Romanies of
+every land, and a year later he produced and published a gypsy version
+of the Gospel of St. Luke.[119] In October 1836 Borrow was back in
+England. He found that the Bible Society approved of him. In November of
+the same year he left London for Cadiz on his second visit to Spain. The
+journey is described in _The Bible in Spain_;[120] but here, from my
+Borrow Papers, is a kind letter that Mr. Brandram wrote to Borrow's
+mother on the occasion:
+
+[Illustration: PORTION OF A LETTER FROM GEORGE BORROW TO THE REV. SAMUEL
+BRANDRAM.]
+
+                NO. 10 EAST STREET, _Jany. 11, 1837._
+
+     MY DEAR MADAM,--I have the joyful news to send you that your
+     son has again safely arrived at Madrid. His journey we were
+     aware was exceedingly perilous, more perilous than we should
+     have allowed him to take had we sooner known the extent of the
+     danger. He begs me to write, intending to write to you himself
+     without delay. He has suffered from the intense cold, but
+     nothing beyond inconvenience. Accept my congratulations, and my
+     best wishes that your dear son may be preserved to be your
+     comfort in declining years--and may the God of all consolation
+     himself deign to comfort your heart by the truths of that holy
+     volume your son is endeavouring, in connection with our
+     Society, to spread abroad.--Believe me, dear Madam, yours
+     faithfully,
+
+                A. BRANDRAM.
+                Mrs. Borrow, Norwich.
+
+A brilliant letter from Seville followed soon after, and then he went on
+to Madrid, not without many adventures. 'The cold nearly killed me,' he
+said. 'I swallowed nearly two bottles of brandy; it affected me no more
+than warm water.' This to kindly Mr. Brandram, who clearly had no
+teetotaller proclivities, for the letter, as he said, 'filled his heart
+with joy and gladness.' Meanwhile those five thousand copies of the New
+Testament were a-printing, Borrow superintending the work with the
+assistance of a new friend, Dr. Usoz. 'As soon as the book is printed
+and issued,' he tells Mr. Brandram, 'I will ride forth from Madrid into
+the wildest parts of Spain, ...' and so, after some correspondence with
+the Society which is quite entertaining, he did. The reader of _The
+Bible in Spain_ will note some seventy separate towns and villages that
+Borrow visited, not without countless remarkable adventures on the way.
+'I felt some desire,' he says in _The Romany Rye_, 'to meet with one of
+those adventures which upon the roads of England are generally as
+plentiful as blackberries in autumn.' Assuredly in this tour of Spanish
+villages Borrow met with no lack of adventures. The committee of the
+Bible Society authorised this tour in March 1837, and in May Borrow
+started off on horseback attended by his faithful servant, Antonio. This
+tour was to last five months, and 'if I am spared,' he writes to his
+friend Hasfeld, 'and have not fallen a prey to sickness, Carlists,
+banditti, or wild beasts, I shall return to Madrid.' He hopes a little
+later, he tells Hasfeld, to be sent to China. We have then a glimpse of
+his servant, the excellent Antonio, which supplements that contained in
+_The Bible of Spain_. 'He is inordinately given to drink, and is of so
+quarrelsome a disposition that he is almost constantly involved in some
+broil.'[121] Not all his weird experiences were conveyed in his letters
+to the Bible Society's secretary. Some of these letters, however--the
+more highly coloured ones--were used in _The Bible in Spain_, word for
+word, and wonderful reading they must have made for the secretary, who
+indeed asked for more, although, with a view to keeping Borrow
+humble--an impossible task--Mr. Brandram takes occasion to say 'Mr.
+Graydon's letters, as well as yours, are deeply interesting,' Graydon
+being a hated rival, as we shall see. The question of L.S.D. was also
+not forgotten by the assiduous secretary. 'I know you are no
+accountant,' he writes, 'but do not forget there are some who are,' and
+a financial document was forwarded to Borrow about this time which we
+reproduce in facsimile.
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF AN ACCOUNT OF GEORGE BORROW'S EXPENSES IN
+SPAIN MADE OUT BY THE BIBLE SOCIETY]
+
+But now Borrow was happy, for next to the adventures of five glorious
+months in the villages between Madrid and Coruna nothing could be more
+to the taste of Borrow than a good wholesome quarrel. He was imprisoned
+by order of the Spanish Government and released on the intervention of
+the British Embassy.[122] He tells the story so graphically in _The
+Bible in Spain_ that it is superfluous to repeat it; but here he does
+not tell of the great quarrel with regard to Lieutenant Graydon that led
+him to attack that worthy zealot in a letter to the Bible Society. This
+attack did indeed cause the Society to recall Graydon, whose zealous
+proclamation of anti-Romanism must however have been more to the taste
+of some of its subscribers than Borrow's trimming methods. Moreover,
+Graydon worked for love of the cause and required no salary, which must
+always have been in his favour. Borrow was ten days in a Madrid prison,
+and there, as ever, he had extraordinary adventures if we may believe
+his own narrative, but they are much too good to be torn from their
+context. Suffice to say here that in the actual correspondence we find
+breezy controversy between Borrow and the Society. Borrow thought that
+the secretary had called the accuracy of his statements in question as
+to this or that particular in his conduct. Ever a fighter, he appealed
+to the British Embassy for confirmation of his word, and finally Mr.
+Brandram suggested he should come back to England for a time and talk
+matters over with the members of the committee. In the beginning of
+September 1838 Borrow was again in England, when he issued a lengthy and
+eloquent defence of his conduct and a report on 'Past and Future
+Operations in Spain.'[123] In December of the same year Borrow was
+again on his way to Cadiz upon his third and last visit to Spain.
+
+Borrow reached Cadiz on this his last visit on 31st December 1838, and
+went straight to Seville, where he arrived on 2nd January 1839. Here he
+took a beautiful little house, 'a paradise in its way,' in the Plazuela
+de la Pila Seca, and furnished it--clearly at the expense of his friend
+Mrs. Clarke of Oulton, who must have sent him a cheque for the purpose.
+He had been corresponding regularly with Mrs. Clarke, who had told him
+of her difficulties with lawyers and relatives, and Borrow had advised
+her to cut the Gordian knot and come to Spain. But Mrs. Clarke and her
+daughter, Henrietta, did not arrive from England until June.
+
+In the intervening months Borrow had been working more in his own
+interests than in those of the patient Bible Society, for he started to
+gather material for his _Gypsies of Spain_, and this book was for the
+most part actually written in Seville. It was at this period that he had
+the many interviews with Colonel Elers Napier that we quote at length in
+our next chapter.
+
+A little later he is telling Mr. Brandram of his adventure with the
+blind girl of Manzanares who could talk in the Latin tongue, which she
+had been taught by a Jesuit priest, an episode which he retold in _The
+Bible in Spain_. 'When shall we hear,' he asks, 'of an English rector
+instructing a beggar girl in the language of Cicero?' To which Mr.
+Brandram, who was rector of Beckenham, replied 'Cui bono?' The letters
+of this period are the best that he ever wrote, and are incorporated
+more exactly than the earlier ones in _The Bible in Spain_.
+
+[Illustration: WHERE BORROW LIVED IN MADRID
+
+The house of Maria Diaz in the Calle del Santiago. Borrow occupied the
+third floor front. A laundry is now in possession.]
+
+[Illustration: THE CALLE DEL PRINCIPE, MADRID
+
+Where Borrow opened a shop for the sale of New Testaments, which was
+finally closed by order of the Government.]
+
+Four letters to his mother within the period of his second and third
+Spanish visits may well be presented together here from my Borrow
+Papers:
+
+
+To Mrs. Ann Borrow
+
+                MADRID, _July 27, 1838._
+
+     MY DEAR MOTHER,--I am in perfect health though just returned
+     from a long expedition in which I have been terribly burnt by
+     the sun. In about ten days I sold nearly a thousand Testaments
+     among the labourers of the plains and mountains of Castille and
+     La Mancha. Everybody in Madrid is wondering and saying such a
+     thing is a miracle, as I have not entered a town, and the
+     country people are very poor and have never seen or heard of
+     the Testament before. But I confess to you that I dislike my
+     situation and begin to think that I have been deceived; the
+     B.S. have had another person on the sea-coast who has nearly
+     ruined their cause in Spain by circulating seditious handbills
+     and tracts. The consequence has been that many of my depots
+     have been seized in which I kept my Bibles in various parts of
+     the country, for the government think that he is employed by
+     me; I told the B.S. all along what would be the consequence of
+     employing this man, but they took huff and would scarce believe
+     me, and now all my words are come true; I do not blame the
+     government in the slightest degree for what they have done in
+     many points, they have shown themselves to be my good friends,
+     but they have been driven to the step by the insane conduct of
+     the person alluded to. I told them frankly in my last letter
+     that I would leave their service if they encouraged him; for I
+     will not be put in prison again on his account, and lose
+     another servant by the gaol fever, and then obtain neither
+     thanks nor reward. I am going out of town again in a day or
+     two, but I shall now write very frequently, therefore be not
+     alarmed for I will run into no danger. Burn this letter and
+     speak to no one about it, nor any others that I may send. God
+     bless you, my dear mother.
+
+                G. B.
+
+
+To Mrs. Ann Borrow, Willow Lane, St. Giles, Norwich (Inglaterra)
+
+                MADRID, _August 5, 1838._
+
+     MY DEAR MOTHER,--I merely write this to inform you that I am
+     back to Madrid from my expedition. I have been very successful
+     and have sold a great many Testaments. Indeed all the villages
+     and towns within thirty miles have been supplied. In Madrid
+     itself I can do nothing as I am closely watched by order of the
+     government and not permitted to sell, so that all I do is by
+     riding out to places where they cannot follow me. I do not
+     blame them, for they have much to complain of, though nothing
+     of me, but if the Society will countenance such men as they
+     have lately done in the South of Spain they must expect to reap
+     the consequences. It is very probable that I may come to
+     England in a little time, and then you will see me; but do not
+     talk any more about yourself being 'no more seen,' for it only
+     serves to dishearten me, and God knows I have enough to make me
+     melancholy already. I am in a great hurry and cannot write any
+     more at present.--I remain, dear mother, yours affectionately,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. Ann Borrow
+
+                (No date.)
+
+     MY DEAR MAMA,--As I am afraid that you may not have received my
+     last letter in consequence of several couriers having been
+     stopped, I write to inform you that I am quite well.
+
+     I have been in some difficulties. I was selling so many
+     Testaments that the priests became alarmed, and prevailed on
+     the government to put a stop to my selling any more; they were
+     likewise talking of prosecuting me as a witch, but they have
+     thought better of it. I hear it is very cold in England, pray
+     take care of yourself, I shall send you more in a few
+     weeks.--God bless you, my dear mama,
+
+                G. B.
+
+It was in the middle of his third and last visit to Spain that Borrow
+wrote this next letter to his mother which gives the first suggestion of
+the romantic and happy termination of his final visit to the Peninsula:
+
+
+To Mrs. Ann Borrow
+
+                SEVILLE, SPAIN, _April 27, 1839._
+
+     MY DEAR MOTHER,--I should have written to you before I left
+     Madrid, but I had a long and dangerous journey to make, and I
+     wished to get it over before saying anything to you. I am now
+     safely arrived, by the blessing of God, in Seville, which, in
+     my opinion, is the most delightful town in the world. If it
+     were not a strange place with a strange language I know you
+     would like to live in it, but it is rather too late in the day
+     for you to learn Spanish and accommodate yourself to Spanish
+     ways. Before I left Madrid I accomplished a great deal, having
+     sold upwards of one thousand Testaments and nearly five hundred
+     Bibles, so that at present very few remain; indeed, not a
+     single Bible, and I was obliged to send away hundreds of people
+     who wanted to purchase, but whom I could not supply. All this
+     has been done without the slightest noise or disturbance or
+     anything that could give cause of displeasure to the
+     government, so that I am now on very good terms with the
+     authorities, though they are perfectly aware of what I am
+     about. Should the Society think proper to be guided by the
+     experience which I have acquired, and my knowledge of the
+     country and the people, they might if they choosed sell at
+     least twelve thousand Bibles and Testaments yearly in Spain,
+     but let them adopt or let any other people adopt any other
+     principle than that on which I act and everything will
+     miscarry. All the difficulties, as I told my friends the time I
+     was in England, which I have had to encounter were owing to the
+     faults and imprudencies of other people, and, I may say, still
+     are owing. Two Methodist schoolmasters have lately settled at
+     Cadiz, and some little time ago took it into their heads to
+     speak and preach, as I am informed, against the Virgin Mary;
+     information was instantly sent to Madrid, and the blame, or
+     part of it, was as usual laid to me; however, I found means to
+     clear myself, for I have powerful friends in Madrid, who are
+     well acquainted with my views, and who interested themselves
+     for me, otherwise I should have been sent out of the country,
+     as I believe the two others have been or will be. I have said
+     nothing on this point in my letters home, as people would
+     perhaps say that I was lukewarm, whereas, on the contrary, I
+     think of nothing but the means best adapted to promote the
+     cause; but I am not one of those disposed to run a ship on a
+     rock when only a little skill is necessary to keep her in the
+     open sea.
+
+     I hope Mrs. Clarke will write shortly; tell her if she wishes
+     for a retreat I have found one here for her and Henrietta. I
+     have my eye on a beautiful one at fifteen pence a day. I call
+     it a small house, though it is a paradise in its way, having a
+     stable, court-yard, fountain, and twenty rooms. She has only to
+     write to my address at Madrid and I shall receive the letter
+     without fail. Henrietta had better bring with her a Spanish
+     grammar and pocket dictionary, as not a word of English is
+     spoken here. The house-dog--perhaps a real English bulldog
+     would be better--likewise had better come, as it may be useful.
+     God bless you therefore for the present, my dearest mother.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+Borrow had need of friends more tolerant of his idiosyncrasies than the
+'powerful friends' he describes to his mother, for the Secretary of the
+Bible Society was still in a critical mood:--
+
+     You narrate your perilous journey to Seville, and say at the
+     beginning of the description, 'my usual wonderful good fortune
+     accompanying us.' This is a mode of speaking to which we are
+     not accustomed--it savours, some of our friends would say, a
+     little of the profane.[124]
+
+On 29th July 1839 Borrow was instructed by his Committee to return to
+England, but he was already on the way to Tangier, whence in September
+he wrote a long and interesting letter to Mr. Brandram, which was
+afterwards incorporated in _The Bible in Spain_. He had left Mrs. Clarke
+and her daughter in Seville, and they joined him at Gibraltar later. We
+find him _en route_ for Tangier, staying two days with Mr. John M.
+Brackenbury, the British Consul in Cadiz, who found him a most
+fascinating man.
+
+His Tangier life is fully described in _The Bible in Spain_. Here he
+picked up a Jewish youth, Hayim Ben Attar, who returned to Spain as his
+servant, and afterwards to England.
+
+Borrow, at the end of September, was back again in Seville, in his house
+near the cathedral, in the Plazuela de la Pila Seca, which, when I
+visited Seville in the spring of this year (1913), I found had long been
+destroyed to make way for new buildings. Here he received the following
+letter from Mr. George Browne of the Bible Society:--
+
+
+To Mr. Borrow
+
+                BIBLE HOUSE, _Oct. 7, 1839._
+
+     MY DEAR FRIEND,--Mr. Brandram and myself being both on the eve
+     of a long journey, I have only time to inform you that yours of
+     the 2d ult. from Tangier, and 21st from Cadiz came to hand this
+     morning. Before this time you have doubtless received Mr.
+     Brandram's letter, accompanying the resolution of the Comee.,
+     of which I apprised you, but which was delayed a few days, for
+     the purpose of reconsideration. We are not able to suggest
+     precisely the course you should take in regard to the books
+     left at Madrid and elsewhere, and how far it may be absolutely
+     necessary or not for you to visit that city again before you
+     return. The books you speak of, as at Seville, may be sent to
+     Gibraltar rather than to England, as well as any books you may
+     deem it expedient or find it necessary to bring out of the
+     country. As soon as your arrangements are completed we shall
+     look for the pleasure of seeing you in this country. The haste
+     in which I am compelled to write allows me to say no more than
+     that my best wishes attend you, and that I am, with sincere
+     regard, yours truly,
+
+                G. BROWNE.
+
+     I thank you for your kind remembrance of Mrs. Browne. Did I
+     thank you for your letter to her? She feels, I assure you, very
+     much obliged. Your description of Tangier will be another
+     interesting 'morceau' for her.
+
+'Where is Borrow?' asked the Bible Society meanwhile of the Consuls at
+Seville and Cadiz, but Borrow had ceased to care. He hoped to become a
+successful author with his _Gypsies_; he would at any rate secure
+independence by marriage, which must have been already mooted. In
+November he and Mrs. Clarke were formally betrothed, and would have
+been married in Spain, but a Protestant marriage was impossible there.
+When preparing to leave Seville he had one of those fiery quarrels, with
+which his life was to be studded. This time it was with an official of
+the city over a passport, and the official promptly locked him up, for
+thirty hours. Hence the following letter in response to his complaint.
+The writer is Mr., afterwards Sir, George Jerningham, then Secretary of
+Legation at Madrid, who it may be mentioned came from Costessey, four
+miles from Norwich. It is written from the British Legation, and is
+dated 23rd December 1839:
+
+     I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your two
+     letters, the one without date, the second dated the _19th
+     November_ (which however ought to have been _December_),
+     respecting the outrageous conduct pursued towards you at
+     Seville by the Alcalde of the district in which you resided. I
+     lost no time in addressing a strong representation thereon to
+     the Spanish Minister, and I have to inform you that he has
+     acquainted me with his having written to Seville for exact
+     information upon the whole subject, and that he has promised a
+     further answer to my representation as soon as his inquiries
+     shall have been answered. In the meantime I shall not fail to
+     follow up your case with proper activity.
+
+Borrow was still in Seville, hard at work upon the _Gypsies_, all
+through the first three months of the year 1840. In April the three
+friends left Cadiz for London. A letter of this period from Mr.
+Brackenbury, the British Consul at Cadiz, is made clear by these facts:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                BRITISH CONSULATE, CADIZ, _January 27th, 1840._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I received on the 19th your very acceptable
+     letter without date, and am heartily rejoiced to find that you
+     have received satisfaction for the insult, and that the Alcalde
+     is likely to be punished for his unjustifiable conduct. If you
+     come to Cadiz your baggage may be landed and deposited at the
+     gates to be shipped with yourselves wherever the steamer may
+     go, in which case the authorities would not examine it, if you
+     bring it into Cadiz it would be examined at the gates--or, if
+     you were to get it examined at the Custom House at Seville and
+     there sealed with the seal of the Customs--it might then be
+     transhipped into the steamer or into any other vessel without
+     being subjected to any examination. If you take your horse, the
+     agents of the steamer ought to be apprized of your intention,
+     that they may be prepared, which I do not think they generally
+     are, with a suitable box.
+
+     Consuls are not authorised to unite Protestant subjects in the
+     bonds of Holy Matrimony in popish countries--which seems a
+     peculiar hardship, because popish priests could not, if they
+     would--hence in Spain no Protestants can be legally married.
+     Marriages solemnised abroad according to the law of that land
+     wheresoever the parties may at the time be inhabitants are
+     valid--but the law of Spain excludes their priests from
+     performing these ceremonies where both parties are
+     Protestants--and where one is a Papist, except a dispensation
+     be obtained from the Pope. So you must either go to
+     Gibraltar--or wait till you arrive in England. I have
+     represented the hardship of such a case more than once or twice
+     to Government. In my report upon the Consular Act, 6 Geo. IV.
+     cap. 87--eleven years ago--I suggested that provision should be
+     made to legalise marriages solemnised by the Consul within the
+     Consulate, and that such marriages should be registered in the
+     Consular Office--and that duly certified copies thereof should
+     be equivalent to certificates of marriages registered in any
+     church in England. These suggestions not having been acted
+     upon, I brought the matter under the consideration of Lord John
+     Russell (I being then in England at the time of his altering
+     the Marriage Act), and proposed that Consuls abroad should have
+     the power of magistrates and civil authorities at home for
+     receiving the declarations of British subjects who might wish
+     to enter into the marriage state--but they feared lest the
+     introduction of such a clause, simple and efficacious as it
+     would have been, might have endangered the fate of the Bill;
+     and so we are as Protestants deprived of all power of being
+     legally married in Spain.
+
+     What sort of a horse is your hack?--What colour? What age?
+     Would he carry me?--What his action? What his price? Because if
+     in all these points he would suit me, perhaps you would give me
+     the refusal of him. You will of course enquire whether your
+     Arab may be legally exported.
+
+     All my family beg to be kindly remembered to you.--I am, my
+     dear sir, most faithfully yours,
+
+                J. M. BRACKENBURY.
+
+     There is a young gentleman here, who is in Spain partly on
+     account of his health--partly for literary purposes. I will
+     give him, with your leave, a line of introduction to you
+     whenever he may go to Seville. He is the Honourable R. Dundas
+     Murray, brother of Lord Elibank, a Scottish nobleman.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[111] _Norfolk Chronicle_, 17th October 1835.
+
+[112] Secretary Samuel Brandram, writing to Borrow from the office of
+the Bible Society in October 1835, gave clear indication that the
+Society was uncertain how next to utilise Borrow's linguistic and
+missionary talents. Should he go to Portugal or to China was the
+question. In November the committee had decided on Portugal, although
+they thought it probable that Borrow would 'eventually go to China,'
+'With Portugal he is already acquainted,' said Mr. Brandram in a letter
+of introduction to the Rev. E. Whitely, the British chaplain in Oporto.
+So that Borrow must really have wandered into Portugal in that earlier
+and more melancholy apprenticeship to vagabondage concerning which there
+is so much surmise and so little knowledge. Had he lied about his
+acquaintance with Portugal he would certainly have been 'found out' by
+this Portuguese acquaintance, with whom he had much social intercourse.
+
+[113] The reader who finds Borrow's _Bible in Spain_ insufficient for
+his account of that period, and I am not of the number, may turn to the
+_Letters of George Borrow to the Bible Society_, from which we have
+already quoted, or to Mr. Herbert Jenkins's _Life of George Borrow_. In
+the former book the greater part of 500 closely-printed pages is taken
+up with repetitions of the story as told in _The Bible in Spain_, or
+with additions which Borrow deliberately cancelled in the work in
+question. In Mr. Jenkins's _Life_ he will find that out of a solid
+volume of 496 pages exactly 212 are occupied with Borrow's association
+with the Peninsula and his work therein. To the enthusiast who desires
+to supplement _The Bible in Spain_ with valuable annotation I cordially
+commend both these volumes.
+
+
+[114] Who that has visited Spain can for a moment doubt but that, if
+Napoleon had really conquered the Peninsula and had been able to put his
+imprint upon it as he did upon Italy, the Spain of to-day would have
+become a much greater country than it is at present--than it will be in
+a few short years.
+
+[115] _The Bible in Spain_, ch. xlii.
+
+[116] The Old and New Testament, in ten volumes, were first issued in
+Spanish at Valencia in 1790-93. When in Madrid I picked up on a
+second-hand bookstall a copy of a cheap Spanish version of Scio's New
+Testament, which bears a much earlier date than the one Borrow carried.
+It was published, it will be noted, two years before Borrow published
+his translation of Klinger's ribald book _Faustus_:--
+
+'El Nuevo Testamento, Traducido al Espanol de la Vulgata Latina por el
+Rmo. P. Philipe Scio de S. Miguel. Paris: En la Imprenta de J. Smith,
+1823,'
+
+[117] This kind of interpretation is not restricted to the youthful
+Sunday School teacher. At a meeting of the Bible Society held at
+Norwich--Borrow's own city--on 29th May 1913, Mrs. Florence Barclay, the
+author of many popular novels, thus addressed the gathering. I quote
+from the _Eastern Daily Press_: 'She had heard sometimes a shallow form
+of criticism which said that it was impossible that in actual reality
+any man should have lived and breathed three days and three nights in
+the interior of a fish. Might she remind the meeting that the Lord Jesus
+Christ, who never made mistakes, said Himself, "As Jonah was three days
+and three nights in the interior of the sea monster." Please note that
+in the Greek the word was not "whale," but "sea monster." And then, let
+us remember, that we were told that the Lord God had prepared the great
+fish in order that it should swallow Jonah. She did suggest that if mere
+man nowadays could construct a submarine, which went down to the depths
+of the ocean and came up again when he pleased, it did not require very
+much faith to believe that Almighty God could specially prepare a great
+fish which should rescue His servant, to whom He meant to give another
+chance, from the depths of the sea, and land him in due course upon the
+shore. (Applause).' These crude views, which ignored the symbolism of
+Nineveh as a fish, now universally accepted by educated people, were
+not, however, endorsed by Dr. Beeching, the learned Dean of Norwich, who
+in the same gathering expressed the point of view of more scholarly
+Christians:--'He would not distinguish inspired writing from fiction. He
+would say there could be inspired fiction just as well as inspired
+facts, and he would point to the story of the prodigal son as a
+wonderful example from the Bible of inspired fiction. There were a good
+many other examples in the Old Testament, and he had not the faintest
+doubt that the story of Jonah was one. It was on the same level as the
+prodigal son. It was a story told to teach the people a distinct truth.'
+
+[118] When in Madrid in May 1913 I called upon Mr. William Summers, the
+courteous Secretary of the Madrid Branch of the British and Foreign
+Bible Society in the Flor Alta. Mr. Summers informs me that the issues
+of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Bibles and Testaments, in
+Spain for the past three years are as follows:
+
+Year. Bibles. Testaments. Portions. Total. 1910, 5,309 8,971 70,594
+84,874 1911, 5,665 11,481 79,525 96,671 1912, 9,083 11,842 85,024
+105,949
+
+The Calle del Principe is now rapidly being pulled down and new
+buildings taking the place of those Borrow knew.
+
+[119] _Embeo e Majaro Lucas. El Evangelio segun S. Lucas traducido al
+Romani o dialecto de los Gitanos de Espana_, 1857. Two later copies in
+my possession bear on their title-pages 'Lundra, 1871' and 'Lundra,
+1872.' But the Bible Society in Spain has long ceased to handle or to
+sell any gypsy version of St. Luke's Gospel.
+
+[120] And in Darlow's _Letters of George Borrow to the Bible Society_,
+pp. 180-4.
+
+[121] Darlow, _Letters of George Borrow to the Bible Society_.
+
+[122] The story of all the negotiations concerning this imprisonment and
+release is told by Dr. Knapp (_Life_, vol. i, pp. 279-297), and is
+supplemented by Mr. Herbert Jenkins by valuable documents from the
+Foreign Office Papers at the Record Office.
+
+[123] Printed by Mr. Darlow in _Letters of George Borrow to the Bible
+Society_, pp. 359-379.
+
+[124] Darlow, _George Borrow's Letters to the Bible Society_, p. 414.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BORROW'S SPANISH CIRCLE
+
+
+There are many interesting personalities that pass before us in Borrow's
+three separate narratives,[125] as they may be considered, of his
+Spanish experiences. We would fain know more concerning the two
+excellent secretaries of the Bible Society--Samuel Brandram and Joseph
+Jowett. We merely know that the former was rector of Beckenham and was
+one of the Society's secretaries until his death in 1850;[126] that the
+latter was rector of Silk Willoughby in Lincolnshire, and belonged to
+the same family as Jowett of Balliol. But there are many quaint
+characters in Borrow's own narrative to whom we are introduced. There is
+Maria Diaz, for example, his landlady in the house in the Calle de
+Santiago in Madrid, and her husband, Juan Lopez, also assisted Borrow in
+his Bible distribution. Very eloquent are Borrow's tributes to the pair
+in the pages of _The Bible in Spain_. 'Honour to Maria Diaz, the quiet,
+dauntless, clever, Castilian female! I were an ungrate not to speak well
+of her,' We get a glimpse of Maria and her husband long years afterwards
+when a pensioner in a Spanish almshouse revealed himself as the son of
+Borrow's friends. Eduardo Lopez was only eight years of age when Borrow
+was in Madrid, and he really adds nothing to our knowledge.[127] Then
+there were those two incorrigible vagabonds--Antonio Buchini, his Greek
+servant with an Italian name, and Benedict Mol, the Swiss of Lucerne,
+who turns up in all sorts of improbable circumstances as the seeker of
+treasure in the Church of St. James of Compostella--only a masterly
+imagination could have made him so interesting. Concerning these there
+is nothing to supplement Borrow's own story. But we have attractive
+glimpses of Borrow in the frequently quoted narrative of Colonel
+Napier,[128] and this is so illuminating that I venture to reproduce it
+at greater length than previous biographers have done. Edward Elers
+Napier, who was born in 1808, was the son of one Edward Elers of the
+Royal Navy. His widow married the famous Admiral Sir Charles Napier, who
+adopted her four children by her first husband. Edward Elers, the
+younger, or Edward Napier, as he came to be called, was educated at
+Sandhurst and entered the army, serving for some years in India. Later
+his regiment was ordered to Gibraltar, and it was thence that he made
+several sporting excursions into Spain and Morocco. Later he served in
+Egypt, and when, through ill-health, he retired in 1843 on half-pay, he
+lived for some years in Portugal. In 1854 he returned to the army and
+did good work in the Crimea, becoming a lieutenant-general in 1864. He
+died in 1870. He wrote, in addition to these _Excursions_, several
+other books, including _Scenes and Sports in Foreign Lands_.[129] It was
+during his military career at Gibraltar that he met George Borrow at
+Seville, as the following extracts from his book testify. Borrow's
+pretension to have visited the East is characteristic--and amusing:--
+
+     1839. _Saturday 4th_.--Out early, sketching at the Alcazar.
+     After breakfast it set in a day of rain, and I was reduced to
+     wander about the galleries overlooking the 'patio.' Nothing so
+     dreary and out of character as a rainy day in Spain. Whilst
+     occupied in moralising over the dripping water-spouts, I
+     observed a tall, gentlemanly-looking man, dressed in a
+     zamarra,[130] leaning over the balustrades, and apparently
+     engaged in a similar manner with myself. Community of thoughts
+     and occupation generally tends to bring people together. From
+     the stranger's complexion, which was fair, but with brilliant
+     black eyes, I concluded he was not a Spaniard; in short, there
+     was something so remarkable in his appearance that it was
+     difficult to say to what nation he might belong. He was tall,
+     with a commanding appearance; yet, though apparently in the
+     flower of manhood, his hair was so deeply tinged with the
+     winter of either age or sorrow as to be nearly snow-white.
+     Under these circumstances, I was rather puzzled as to what
+     language I should address him in. At last, putting a bold face
+     on the matter, I approached him with a 'Bonjour, monsieur, quel
+     triste temps!'
+
+     'Yes, sir,' replied he in the purest Parisian accent; 'and it
+     is very unusual weather here at this time of the year.'
+
+     'Does "monsieur" intend to be any time at Seville?' asked I. He
+     replied in the affirmative. We were soon on a friendly footing,
+     and from his varied information I was both amused and
+     instructed. Still I became more than ever in the dark as to his
+     nationality; I found he could speak English as fluently as
+     French. I tried him on the Italian track; again he was
+     perfectly at home.
+
+     He had a Greek servant, to whom his gave his orders in Romaic.
+     He conversed in good Castilian with 'mine host'; exchanged a
+     German salutation with an Austrian Baron, at the time an inmate
+     of the fonda; and on mentioning to him my morning visit to
+     Triano, which led to some remarks on the gypsies, and the
+     probable place from whence they derived their origin, he
+     expressed his belief that it was from Moultan, and said that,
+     even to this day, they retained many Moultanee and Hindoostanee
+     expressions, such as 'panee' (water), 'buree panee'[131] (the
+     sea), etc. He was rather startled when I replied 'in Hindee,'
+     but was delighted on finding I was an Indian, and entered
+     freely, and with depth and acuteness, on the affairs of the
+     East, most of which part of the world he had visited.
+
+     In such varied discourse did the hours pass so swiftly away
+     that we were not a little surprised when Pepe, the 'mozo' (and
+     I verily believe all Spanish waiters are called Pepe),
+     announced the hour of dinner; after which we took a long walk
+     together on the banks of the river. But, on our return, I was
+     as much as ever in ignorance as to who might be my new and
+     pleasant acquaintance.
+
+     I took the first opportunity of questioning Antonio Baillie
+     (Buchini) on the subject, and his answer only tended to
+     increase my curiosity. He said that nobody knew what nation the
+     mysterious 'Unknown' belonged to, nor what were his motives for
+     travelling. In his passport he went by the name of ----, and as
+     a British subject, but in consequence of a suspicion being
+     entertained that he was a Russian spy, the police kept a sharp
+     look-out over him. Spy or no spy, I found him a very agreeable
+     companion; and it was agreed that on the following day we
+     should visit together the ruins of Italica.
+
+     _May 5._--After breakfast, the 'Unknown' and myself, mounting
+     our horses, proceeded on our expedition to the ruins of
+     Italica. Crossing the river, and proceeding through the
+     populous suburb of Triano, already mentioned, we went over the
+     same extensive plain that I had traversed in going to San
+     Lucar, but keeping a little more to the right a short ride
+     brought us in sight of the Convent of San Isidrio, surrounded
+     by tall cypress and waving date-trees. This once richly-endowed
+     religious establishment is, together with the small
+     neighbouring village of Santi Ponci, I believe, the property of
+     the Duke of Medina Coeli, at whose expense the excavations are
+     now carried on at the latter place, which is the ancient site
+     of the Roman Italica.
+
+     We sat down on a fragment of the walls, and sadly recalling the
+     splendour of those times of yore, contrasted with the
+     desolation around us, the 'Unknown' began to feel the vein of
+     poetry creeping through his inward soul, and gave vent to it by
+     reciting, with great emphasis and effect, and to the
+     astonishment of the wondering peasant, who must have thought
+     him 'loco,' the following well-known and beautiful  lines:--
+
+    'Cypress and ivy, weed and wallflower, grown,
+      Matted and massed together, hillocks heap'd
+    On what were chambers, arch crush'd, column strown
+      In fragments, choked up vaults, and frescoes steep'd
+    In subterranean damps, where the owl peep'd,
+      Deeming it midnight; Temples, baths, or halls--
+    Pronounce who can: for all that Learning reap'd
+      From her research hath been, that these are walls.'
+
+     I had been too much taken up with the scene, the verses, and
+     the strange being who was repeating them with so much feeling,
+     to notice the approach of one who now formed the fourth person
+     of our party. This was a slight female figure, beautiful in the
+     extreme, but whom tattered garments, raven hair (which fell in
+     matted elf-locks over her naked shoulders), swarthy complexion,
+     and flashing eyes, proclaimed to be of the wandering tribe of
+     'gitanos.' From an intuitive sense of natural politeness she
+     stood with crossed arms, and a slight smile on her dark and
+     handsome countenance, until my companion had ceased, and then
+     addressed us in the usual whining tone of supplication, with
+     'Caballeritos, una limosita! Dios se lo pagara a ustedes!'
+     ('Gentlemen, a little charity! God will repay it to you!') The
+     gypsy girl was so pretty, and her voice so sweet, that I
+     involuntarily put my hand in my pocket.
+
+     'Stop!' said the 'Unknown.' 'Do you remember what I told you
+     about the Eastern origin of these people? You shall see I am
+     correct. Come here, my pretty child,' said he in Moultanee,
+     'and tell me where are the rest of your tribe?'
+
+     The girl looked astounded, replied in the same tongue, but in
+     broken language; when, taking him by the arm, she said, in
+     Spanish: 'Come, caballero; come to one who will be able to
+     answer you;' and she led the way down amongst the ruins towards
+     one of the dens formerly occupied by the wild beasts, and
+     disclosed to us a set of beings scarcely less savage. The
+     sombre walls of this gloomy abode were illumined by a fire, the
+     smoke from which escaped through a deep fissure in the massy
+     roof; whilst the flickering flames threw a blood-red glare on
+     the bronzed features of a group of children, of two men, and a
+     decrepit old hag, who appeared busily engaged in some culinary
+     preparations.
+
+     On our entrance, the scowling glance of the males of the party,
+     and a quick motion of the hand towards the folds of the
+     'faja,'[132] caused in _me_, at least, anything but a
+     comfortable sensation; but their hostile intentions, if ever
+     entertained, were immediately removed by a wave of the hand
+     from our conductress, who, leading my companion towards the
+     sibyl, whispered something in her ear. The old crone appeared
+     incredulous. The 'Unknown' uttered one word; but that word had
+     the effect of magic; she prostrated herself at his feet, and in
+     an instant, from an object of suspicion he became one of
+     worship to the whole family, to whom, on taking leave, he made
+     a handsome present, and departed with their united blessings,
+     to the astonishment of myself, and what looked very like terror
+     in our Spanish guide.
+
+     I was, as the phrase goes, dying with curiosity, and, as soon
+     as we mounted our horses, exclaimed, 'Where, in the name of
+     goodness, did you pick up your acquaintance and the language of
+     these extraordinary people?' 'Some years ago, in Moultan,' he
+     replied. 'And by what means do you possess such apparent
+     influence over them?' But the 'Unknown' had already said more
+     than he perhaps wished on the subject. He drily replied that he
+     had more than once owed his life to gipsies, and had reason to
+     know them well; but this was said in a tone which precluded all
+     further queries on my part. The subject was never again
+     broached, and we returned in silence to the fonda....
+
+     _May 7th._--Pouring with rain all day, during which I was
+     mostly in the society of the 'Unknown.' This is a most
+     extraordinary character, and the more I see of him the more I
+     am puzzled. He appears acquainted with everybody and
+     everything, but apparently unknown to every one himself. Though
+     his figure bespeaks youth--and by his own account his age does
+     not exceed thirty--yet the snows of eighty winters could not
+     have whitened his locks more completely than they are. But in
+     his dark and searching eye there is an almost supernatural
+     penetration and lustre, which, were I inclined to superstition,
+     might induce me to set down its possessor as a second Melmoth;
+     and in that character he often appears to me during the
+     troubled rest I sometimes obtain through the medium of the
+     great soother, 'laudanum.'
+
+The next most interesting figure in the Borrow gallery of this period is
+Don Luis de Usoz y Rio, who was a good friend to Borrow during the whole
+of his sojourn in Spain. It was he who translated Borrow's appeal to the
+Spanish Prime Minister to be permitted to distribute Scio's New
+Testament. He watched over Borrow with brotherly solicitude, and wrote
+him more than one excellent letter, of which the two following from my
+Borrow Papers, the last written at the close of the Spanish period, are
+the most interesting:
+
+
+To Mr. George Borrow
+
+(_Translated from the Spanish_)
+
+                PIAZZA DI SPAGNA 17, ROME, _7 April 1838._
+
+     DEAR FRIEND,--I received your letter, and thank you for the
+     same. I know the works under the name of 'Boz,' about which you
+     write, and also the _Memoirs of the Pickwick Club_, and
+     although they seemed to me good, I have failed to appreciate
+     properly their qualities, because much of the dramatic style
+     and dialogue in the same are very difficult for those who know
+     English merely from books. I made here a better acquaintance
+     than that of Mezzofanti (who knows nothing), namely, that of
+     Prof. Michel-Angelo Lanci, already well-known on account of his
+     work, _La sacra scrittura illustrata con monumenti
+     fenico-assiri ed egiziani_, etc., etc. (The Scriptures,
+     illustrated with Ph[oe]nician-Assyrian and Egyptian monuments),
+     which I am reading at present, and find very profound and
+     interesting, and more particularly very original. He has
+     written and presented me a book, _Esposizione dei versetti del
+     Giobbe intorno al cavallo_ (Explanation of verses of Job about
+     a horse), and in these and other works he proves himself to be
+     a great philologist and Oriental scholar. I meet him almost
+     daily, and I assure you that he seems to me to know everything
+     he treats thoroughly, and not like Gayangos or Calderon, etc.,
+     etc. His philosophic works have created a great stir here, and
+     they do not please much the friars here; but as here they are
+     not like the police barbarians there, they do not forbid it, as
+     they cannot. Lanci is well known in Russia and in Germany, and
+     when I bring his works there, and you are there and have not
+     read them, you will read them and judge for yourself.
+
+     Wishing you well, and always at your service, I remain, always
+     yours,
+
+                LUIS DE USOZ Y RIO.
+
+
+To Mr. George Borrow
+
+(_Translated from the Spanish_)
+
+                NAPLES, _28 August 1839._
+
+     DEAR FRIEND,--I received your letter of the 28 July written
+     from Sevilla, and I am waiting for that which you promise me
+     from Tangier.
+
+     I am glad that you liked Sevilla, and I am still more glad of
+     the successful shipment of the beloved book. In distributing
+     it, you are rendering the greatest service that generous
+     foreigners (I mean Englishmen) can render to the real freedom
+     and enlightenment in Spain, and any Spaniard who is at heart a
+     gentleman must be grateful for this service to the Society and
+     to its agent. In my opinion, if Spain had maintained the
+     customs, character, and opinions that it had three centuries
+     ago, it ought to have maintained also unity in religious
+     opinions: but that at present the circumstances have changed,
+     and the moral character and the advancement of my unfortunate
+     country would not lose anything in its purification and
+     progress by (the grant of) religious liberty.
+
+     You are saying that I acted very light-mindedly in judging
+     Mezzofanti without speaking to him. You know that the other
+     time when I was in Italy I had dealings and spoke with him, and
+     that I said to you that he had a great facility for speaking
+     languages, but that otherwise he was no good. Because I have
+     seen him several times in the Papal chapels with a certain air
+     of an ass and certain grimaces of a blockhead that cannot
+     happen to a man of talent. I am told, moreover, that he is a
+     spy, and that for that reason he was given the hat. I know,
+     moreover, that he has not written anything at all. For that
+     reason I do not wish to take the trouble of seeing him.
+
+     As regards Lanci, I am not saying anything except that I am
+     waiting until you have read his work without passion, and that
+     if my books have arrived at Madrid, you can ask my brother in
+     Santiago.
+
+     You are judging of him and of Pahlin in the way you reproach me
+     with judging Mezzofanti; I thank you, and I wish for the
+     dedication Gabricote; and I also wish for your return to
+     Madrid, so that in going to Toledo you would get a copy of
+     Aristophanes with the order that will be given to you by my
+     brother, who has got it.
+
+     If for the Gabricote or other work you require my clumsy pen,
+     write to Florence and send me a rough copy of what is to be
+     done, in English or in Spanish, and I will supply the finished
+     work. From Florence I intend to go to London, and I should be
+     obliged if you would give me letters and instructions that
+     would be of use to me in literary matters, but you must know
+     that my want of knowledge of _speaking_ English makes it
+     necessary that the Englishmen who speak to me should know
+     Spanish, French, or Italian.
+
+     As regards robberies, of which you accuse Southern people, from
+     the literatures of the North, do you think that the robberies
+     committed by the Northerners from the Southern literature would
+     be left behind? Erunt vitia donec homines.--Always yours,
+
+                ELEUTHEROS.
+
+Yet another acquaintance of these Spanish days was Baron Taylor--Isidore
+Justin Severin Taylor, to give him his full name--who had a career of
+wandering achievement, with Government pay, that must have appealed to
+Borrow. Although his father was an Englishman he became a naturalised
+Frenchman, and he was for a time in the service of the French Government
+as Director of the Theatre Francais, when he had no little share in the
+production of the dramas of Victor Hugo and Dumas. Later he was
+instrumental in bringing the Luxor obelisk from Egypt to Paris. He wrote
+books upon his travels in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.[133] He wandered
+all over Europe in search of art treasures for the French Government,
+and may very well have met Borrow again and again. Borrow tells us that
+he had met Taylor in France, in Russia, and in Ireland, before he met
+him in Andalusia, collecting pictures for the French Government.
+Borrow's description of their meetings is inimitable:--
+
+     Whenever he descries me, whether in the street or the desert,
+     the brilliant hall or amongst Bedouin _haimas_, at Novogorod or
+     Stambul, he flings up his arms and exclaims, "_O ciel_! I have
+     again the felicity of seeing my cherished and most respectable
+     Borrow."[134]
+
+[Illustration: A LETTER FROM SIR GEORGE VILLIERS, AFTERWARDS EARL OF
+CLARENDON, BRITISH MINISTER TO SPAIN, TO GEORGE BORROW]
+
+The last and most distinguished of Borrow's colleagues while in Spain
+was George Villiers, fourth Earl of Clarendon, whom we judge to have
+been in private life one of the most lovable men of his epoch. George
+Villiers was born in London in 1800, and was the grandson of the first
+Earl, Thomas Villiers, who received his title when holding office in
+Lord North's administration, but is best known from his association in
+diplomacy with Frederick the Great. His grandson was born, as it were,
+into diplomacy, and at twenty years of age was an _attache_ to the
+British Embassy in St. Petersburg. Later he was associated with Sir John
+Bowring in negotiating a commercial treaty with France. In August 1833
+he was sent as British Minister--'envoy extraordinary' he was called--to
+Madrid, and he had been two years in that seething-pot of Spanish
+affairs, with Christinos and Carlists at one another's throats, when
+Borrow arrived in the Peninsula. His influence was the greater with a
+succession of Spanish Prime Ministers in that in 1838 he had been
+largely instrumental in negotiating the quadruple alliance between
+England, France, Spain, and Portugal. In March 1839--exactly a year
+before Borrow took his departure--he resigned his position at Madrid,
+having then for some months exchanged the title of Sir George Villiers
+for that of Earl of Clarendon through the death of his uncle;[135]
+Borrow thereafter having to launch his various complaints and grievances
+at his successor, Mr.--afterwards Sir George--Jerningham, who, it has
+been noted, had his home in Norfolk, at Costessey, four miles from
+Norwich. Villiers returned to England with a great reputation, although
+his Spanish policy was attacked in the House of Lords. In that same
+year, 1839, he joined Lord Melbourne's administration as Lord Privy
+Seal, O'Connell at the time declaring that he ought to be made
+Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, so sympathetic was he towards concession and
+conciliation in that then feverishly excited country. This office
+actually came to him in 1847, and he was Lord-Lieutenant through that
+dark period of Ireland's history, including the Famine, the Young
+Ireland rebellion, and the Smith O'Brien rising. He pleased no one in
+Ireland. No English statesman could ever have done so under such ideals
+of government as England would have tolerated then, and for long years
+afterwards. The Whigs defended him, the Tories abused him, in their
+respective organs. He left Ireland in 1852 and was more than once
+mentioned as possible Prime Minister in the ensuing years. He was
+Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Lord Aberdeen's Administration
+during the Crimean War, and he held the same office under Lord
+Palmerston, again under Earl Russell in 1865, and under Mr. Gladstone in
+1868. He might easily have become Prime Minister. Greville in his
+_Diary_ writes of Prince Albert's desire that he should succeed Lord
+John Russell, but Clarendon said that no power on earth would make him
+take that position. He said he could not speak, and had not had
+parliamentary experience enough. He died in 1870, leaving a reputation
+as a skilful diplomatist and a disinterested politician, if not that of
+a great statesman. He had twice refused the Governor-Generalship of
+India, and three times a marquisate.
+
+Sir George Villiers seems to have been very courteous to Borrow during
+the whole of the time they were together in Spain. It would have been
+easy for him to have been quite otherwise. Borrow's Bible mission
+synchronised with a very delicate diplomatic mission of his own, and in
+a measure clashed with it. The government of Spain was at the time
+fighting the ultra-clericals. Physical and moral strife were rife in the
+land. Neither Royalists nor Carlists could be expected to sympathise
+with Borrow's schemes, which were fundamentally to attack their church.
+But Villiers was at all times friendly, and, as far as he could be,
+helpful. Borrow seems to have had ready access to him, and he answered
+his many letters. He gave Borrow an opportunity of an interview with the
+formidable Prime Minister Mendizabal, and he interviewed another
+minister and persuaded him to permit Borrow to print and circulate his
+Bibles. He intervened successfully to release Borrow from his Madrid
+prison. But Villiers could not have had any sympathy with Borrow other
+than as a British subject to be protected on the Roman citizen
+principle. We do not suppose that when _The Bible in Spain_ appeared he
+was one of those who were captivated by its extraordinary qualities.
+When Borrow crossed his path in later life he received no special
+consideration, such as would be given very promptly in our day by a
+Cabinet minister to a man of letters of like distinction. We find him on
+one occasion writing to the ex-minister, now Lord Clarendon, asking his
+help for a consulship. Clarendon replied kindly enough, but sheltered
+himself behind the statement that the Prime Minister was overwhelmed
+with applications for patronage. Yet Clarendon, who held many high
+offices in the following years, might have helped if he had cared to do
+so. Some years later--in 1847--there was further correspondence when
+Borrow desired to become a Magistrate of Suffolk. Here again Clarendon
+wrote three courteous letters, and appears to have done his best in an
+unenthusiastic way. But nothing came of it all.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[125] The accounts in _The Bible in Spain_, _The Gypsies of Spain_, and
+the _Letters to the Bible Society_.
+
+[126] The only 'Samuel Brandram' in the _Dictionary of National
+Biography_ is a reciter who died in 1892; he certainly had less claim to
+the distinction than his namesake.
+
+[127] See 'Footprints of George Borrow' by A. G. Jayne in _The Bible in
+the World_ for July 1908.
+
+[128] _Excursions along the Shores of the Mediterranean_, by
+Lieut.-Colonel E. Napier, vol. ii (Henry Colburn), 1842.
+
+[129] See _Dictionary of National Biography_, vol. xl. pp. 54-55.
+
+[130] A sheepskin jacket with the wool outside, a costume much worn here
+in cold weather.
+
+[131] 'panee' is masculine (marginal note in pencil).
+
+[132] In the folds of the sash is concealed the 'navaja,' or formidable
+clasp-knife, always worn by the Spaniard.
+
+[133] His principal work was _Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans
+l'ancienne France_.
+
+[134] _The Bible in Spain_, ch. xv.
+
+[135] Many interesting letters from Villiers will be found in _Memoirs
+and Memories_, by his niece, Mrs. C. W. Earle, 1911.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+MARY BORROW
+
+
+Among the many Borrow manuscripts in my possession I find a page of
+unusual pathos. It is the inscription that Borrow wrote for his wife's
+tomb, and it is in the tremulous handwriting of a man weighed down by
+the one incomparable tragedy of life's pilgrimage:
+
+    _Sacred to the Memory of Mary Borrow,
+    the Beloved and Affectionate Wife of
+    George Borrow, Esquire, who departed
+    this Life on the 30th Jan. 1869._
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+The death of his wife saddened Borrow, and assisted to transform him
+into the unamiable creature of Norfolk tradition. But it is well to bear
+in mind, when we are considering Borrow on his domestic and personal
+side, that he was unquestionably a good and devoted husband throughout
+his married life of twenty-nine years. It was in the year 1832 that
+Borrow and his wife first met. He was twenty-nine; she was a widow of
+thirty-six. She was undeniably very intelligent, and was keenly
+sympathetic to the young vagabond of wonderful adventures on the
+highways of England, now so ambitious for future adventure in distant
+lands. Her maiden name was Mary Skepper. She was one of the two children
+of Edmund Skepper and his wife Anne, who lived at Oulton Hall in
+Suffolk, whither they had removed from Beceles in 1805. Mary's brother
+inherited the Oulton Hall estate of three hundred acres, and she had a
+mortgage the interest of which yielded L450 per annum. In July 1817 Mary
+married, at Oulton Church, Henry Clarke,[136] a lieutenant in the Navy,
+who died eight months later of consumption. Two months after his death
+their child Henrietta Mary, the 'Hen' who was Borrow's life companion,
+was born. There is a letter among my Borrow Papers addressed to the
+widow by her husband's father at this time. It is dated 17th June 1818,
+and runs as follows:
+
+     I read your very kind, affectionate, and respectful Letter of
+     the 15th Inst. with Feelings of Satisfaction and
+     thankfulness--thankful that God has mercifully given you so
+     pleasing a Pledge of the Love of my late dear, but lamented
+     son, and I most sincerely hope and trust that dear little
+     Henrietta will live to be the Joy and Consolation of your Life:
+     and satisfyed I am that you are what I always esteemed you to
+     be, _one_ of the best of Women; God grant! that you may be, as
+     I am sure you deserve to be _one_ of the happiest--His Ways of
+     Providence are past finding out; to you--they seem indeed to
+     have been truly afflictive: but we cannot possibly say that
+     they are really so; we cannot doubt His Wisdom nor ought we to
+     distrust His Goodness, let us avow, then, where we have not the
+     Power of fathoming--viz. the dispensations of God; in His good
+     time He will show us, perhaps, that every painful Event which
+     has happened was abundantly for the best--I am truly glad to
+     hear that you and the sweet Babe, my little grand Daughter, are
+     doing so well, and I hope I shall have the pleasure shortly of
+     seeing you either at Oulton or Sisland. I am sorry to add that
+     neither Poor L. nor myself are well.--Louisa and my Family join
+     me in kind love to you, and in best regards to your worthy
+     Father, Mother, and Brother.
+
+Mary Skepper was certainly a bright, intelligent girl, as I gather from
+a manuscript poem before me written to a friend on the eve of leaving
+school. As a widow, living at first with her parents at Oulton Hall, and
+later with her little daughter in the neighbouring cottage, she would
+seem to have busied herself with all kinds of philanthropies, and she
+was clearly in sympathy with the religious enthusiasms of certain
+neighbouring families of Evangelical persuasion, particularly the
+Gurneys and the Cunninghams. The Rev. Francis Cunningham was Rector of
+Pakefield, near Lowestoft, from 1814 to 1830. He married Richenda, a
+sister of the distinguished Joseph John Gurney and of Elizabeth Fry, in
+1816. In 1830 he became Vicar of St. Margaret's, Lowestoft. His brother,
+John William Cunningham, was Vicar of Harrow, and married a Verney of
+the famous Buckinghamshire family. This John William Cunningham was a
+great light of the Evangelical Churches of his time, and was for many
+years editor of _The Christian Observer_. His daughter Mary Richenda
+married Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, the well-known judge, and the
+brother of Sir Leslie Stephen. But to return to Francis Cunningham,
+whose acquaintance with Borrow was brought about through Mrs. Clarke.
+Cunningham was a great supporter of the British and Foreign Bible
+Society, and was the founder of the Paris branch. It was speedily
+revealed to him that Borrow's linguistic abilities could be utilised by
+the Society, and he secured the co-operation of his brother-in-law,
+Joseph John Gurney, in an effort to find Borrow work in connection with
+the Society. There is a letter of Borrow's to Mrs. Clarke of this period
+in my Borrow Papers which my readers will already have read.[137]
+
+We do not meet Mary Clarke again until 1834, when we find a letter from
+her to Borrow addressed to St. Petersburg, in which she notifies to him
+that he has been 'mentioned at many of the Bible Meetings this year,'
+adding that 'dear Mr. Cunningham' had spoken so nicely of him at an
+Oulton gathering. 'As I am not afraid of making you proud,' she
+continues, 'I will tell you one of his remarks. He mentioned you as one
+of the most extraordinary and interesting individuals of the present
+day.' Henceforth clearly Mary Clarke corresponded regularly with Borrow,
+and one or two extracts from her letters are given by Dr. Knapp. Joseph
+Jowett of the Bible Society forwarded Borrow's letters from Russia to
+Cunningham, who handed them to Mrs. Clarke and her parents. Borrow had
+proposed to continue his mission by leaving Russia for China, but this
+Mary Clarke opposed:
+
+     I must tell you that your letter chilled me when I read your
+     intention of going as a Missionary or Agent, with the Manchu
+     Scriptures in your hand, to the Tartars, that land of
+     incalculable dangers.[138]
+
+In 1835 Borrow was back in England at Norwich with his mother, and on a
+visit to Mary Clarke and the Skeppers at Oulton. Mrs. Skepper died just
+before his arrival in England--that is, in September 1835--while her
+husband died in February 1836. Mary Clarke's only brother died in the
+following year.[139]
+
+Thus we see Mary Clarke, aged about forty, left to fight the world with
+her daughter, aged twenty-three, and not only to fight the world but her
+own family, particularly her brother's widow, owing to certain
+ambiguities in her father's will which are given forth in dreary detail
+in Dr. Knapp's _Life_.[140] It was these legal quarrels that led Mary
+Clarke and her daughter to set sail for Spain, where Mary had had the
+indefatigable and sympathetic correspondent during the previous year of
+trouble. Borrow and Mary Clarke met, as we have seen, at Seville and
+there, at a later period, they became 'engaged.' Mrs. Clarke and her
+daughter Henrietta sailed for Spain in the _Royal Tar_, leaving London
+for Cadiz in June 1839. Much keen correspondence between Borrow and Mrs.
+Clarke had passed before the final decision to visit Spain. His mother
+was one of the few people who knew of Mrs. Clarke's journey to Seville,
+and must have understood, as mothers do, what was pending, although her
+son did not. When the engagement is announced to her--in November
+1839--she writes to Mary Clarke a kindly, affectionate letter:
+
+     I shall now resign him to your care, and may you love and
+     cherish him as much as I have done. I hope and trust that each
+     will try to make the other happy.
+
+There is no reason whatever to accept Dr. Knapp's suggestion,[141]
+strange as coming from so pronounced a hero-worshipper, that Borrow
+married for money. And this because he had said in one of his letters,
+'It is better to suffer the halter than the yoke,' the kind of thing
+that a man might easily say on the eve of making a proposal which he was
+not sure would be accepted. Nor can Dr. Knapp's further discovery of a
+casual remark of Borrow's--'marriage is by far the best way of getting
+possession of an estate'--be counted as conclusive. That Borrow was all
+his life devoted to his wife I think is proved by his many letters to
+her that are given in this volume, letters, however, which Dr. Knapp had
+not seen. Borrow's further tribute to his wife and stepdaughter in _Wild
+Wales_ is well known:
+
+     Of my wife I will merely say that she is a perfect paragon of
+     wives, can make puddings and sweets and treacle posset, and is
+     the best woman of business in Eastern Anglia. Of my
+     stepdaughter--for such she is, though I generally call her
+     daughter, and with good reason, seeing that she has always
+     shown herself a daughter to me--that she has all kinds of good
+     qualities, and several accomplishments, knowing something of
+     conchology, more of botany, drawing capitally in the Dutch
+     style, and playing remarkably well on the guitar--not the
+     trumpery German thing so called, but the real Spanish guitar.
+
+Borrow belonged to the type of men who would never marry did not some
+woman mercifully take them in hand. Mrs. Clarke, when she set out for
+Spain, had doubtless determined to marry Borrow. It is clear that he had
+no idea of marrying her. Yet he was certainly 'engaged,' as we learn
+from a letter to Mr. Brackenbury, to be given hereafter, when he wrote a
+letter from Seville to Mr. Brandram, dated March 18, in which he said:
+'I wish very much to spend the remaining years of my life in the
+northern parts of China, as I think I have a call to those regions.... I
+hope yet to die in the cause of my Redeemer.' Surely never did man take
+so curious a view of the responsibilities of marriage. He must have
+known that his proposal would be declined--as it was.
+
+Very soon after the engagement Borrow experienced his third term of
+imprisonment in Spain, this time, however, only for thirty hours, and
+all because he had asked the Alcalde, or mayor of the district in which
+he lived, for his passport, and had quarrelled with his worship over the
+matter. Borrow gave up the months of this winter of 1839 rather to
+writing his first important book, _The Gypsies of Spain_, than to the
+concerns of the Bible Society. Finally Borrow, with Mrs. Clarke and her
+daughter, sailed from Cadiz on the 3rd April 1840, as we have already
+related. He had with him his Jewish servant, Hayim Ben Attar, and his
+Arabian horse, Sidi Habismilk, both of which were to astonish the
+natives of the Suffolk broads. The party reached London on 16th April
+and stayed at the Spread Eagle Inn, Gracechurch Street. The marriage
+took place at St. Peter's Church, Cornhill, on 23rd April 1840.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. BORROW'S COPY OF HER MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE.]
+
+There are only two letters from Mrs. Borrow to her husband extant. Dr.
+Knapp apparently discovered none in the Borrow Papers in his possession.
+The two before me were written in the Hereford Square days between the
+years 1860 and 1869--the last year of Mrs. Borrow's life. The pair had
+been married some twenty-five years at least, and it is made clear by
+these letters alone that at the end of this period they were still a
+most happily assorted couple. Mrs. Borrow must have gone to Brighton for
+her health on two separate occasions, each time accompanied by her
+daughter. Borrow, who had enjoyed many a pleasant ramble on his own
+account, as we shall see--rambles which extended as far away as
+Constantinople--is 'keeping house' in Hereford Square, Brompton, the
+while. It will be noted that Mrs. Borrow signed herself 'Carreta,' the
+pet name that her husband always gave her. Dr. Knapp points out that
+'carreta' means a Spanish dray-cart, and that 'carita,' 'my dear,' was
+probably meant. But, careless as was the famous word-master over the
+spelling of words in the tongues that he never really mastered
+scientifically, he could scarcely have made so obvious a blunder as
+this, and there must have been some particular experience in the lives
+of husband and wife that led to the playful designation.[142] Here are
+the two letters:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                GRENVILLE PLACE, BRIGHTON, SUSSEX.
+
+     MY DARLING HUSBAND,--I am thankful to say that I arrived here
+     quite safe on Saturday, and on Wednesday I hope to see you at
+     home. We may not be home before the evening about six o'clock,
+     sooner or later, so do not be anxious, as we shall be careful.
+     We took tea with the Edwards at six o'clock the day I came;
+     they are a very kind, nice family. You must take a walk when we
+     come home, but remember now we have a young servant, and do not
+     leave the house for very long together. The air here is very
+     fresh, and much cooler than in London, and I hope after the
+     five days' change I shall be benefited, but I wish to come home
+     on Wednesday. See to all the doors and windows of a night, and
+     let Jane keep up the chain, and lock the back door by the hop
+     plant before it gets dark. Our love to Lady Soame.--And with
+     our best love to you, believe me, your own
+
+                CARRETA.
+
+                _Sunday morning, 10 o'clock._
+
+     If I do not hear from you I shall conclude all is well, and you
+     may do the same with regard to us. Have the tea ready a little
+     before six on Wednesday. Henrietta is wonderfully improved by
+     the change, and sends dear and best love to you.
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                33 GRENVILLE PLACE, BRIGHTON, SUSSEX.
+                _Thursday morning_.
+
+     MY DEAR HUSBAND,--As it is raining again this morning I write a
+     few lines to you. I cannot think that we have quite so much
+     rain as you have at Brompton, for I was out _twice_ yesterday,
+     an hour in the morning in a Bath chair, and a little walk in
+     the evening on the Marine Parade, and I have been out little or
+     much every day, and hope I feel a little better. Our dear
+     Henrietta likewise says that she feels the better for the air
+     and change. As we are here I think we had better remain till
+     Tuesday next, when the fortnight will be up, but I fear you
+     feel very lonely. I hope you get out when you can, and that you
+     take care of your health. I hope Ellen continues to attend to
+     yr. comfort, and that when she gives orders to Mrs. Harvey or
+     the Butcher that she shews you what they send. I shall want
+     the stair carpets down, and the drawing-room _nice_--blinds and
+     shutters closed to prevent the sun, also bed-rooms prepared,
+     with well _aired sheets_ and counterpane _by next Tuesday_. I
+     suppose we shall get to Hereford Square perhaps about five
+     o'clock, but I shall write again. You had better dine at yr.
+     usual time, and as we shall get a dinner here we shall want
+     only tea.
+
+     Henrietta's kindest dear love and mine, remaining yr. true and
+     affectionate wife.
+
+                CARRETA.
+
+There is one letter from Borrow to his wife, written from London in
+1843, in which he says:
+
+     I have not been particularly well since I wrote last; indeed,
+     the weather has been so horrible that it is enough to depress
+     anybody's spirits, and, of course, mine. I did very wrong not
+     to bring you when I came, for without you I cannot get on at
+     all. Left to myself a gloom comes upon me which I cannot
+     describe.[143]
+
+Assuredly no reader can peruse the following pages without recognising
+the true affection for his wife that is transparent in his letters to
+her. Arthur Dalrymple's remark that he had frequently seen Borrow and
+his wife travelling:
+
+     He stalking along with a huge cloak wrapped round him in all
+     weathers, and she trudging behind him like an Indian squaw,
+     with a carpet bag, or bundle, or small portmanteau in her arms,
+     and endeavouring under difficulty to keep up with his enormous
+     strides,
+
+is clearly a travesty. 'Mrs. Borrow was devoted to her husband, and
+looked after business matters; and he always treated her with exceeding
+kindness,' is the verdict of Miss Elizabeth Jay, who was frequently
+privileged to visit the husband and wife at Oulton.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[136] All I know of Henry Clarke is contained in two little documents in
+my Borrow Papers which run as follows:
+
+'These are to Certify the Principal Officers and Commissioners of H.M.
+Navy that Mr. Henry Clarke has Served as Midshipman on board H.M. Ship
+_Salvador del Mundo_ under my Command from the 23 September 1810 to the
+date hereof, during which time he behaved with Diligence, Sobriety, and
+Attention, and was always obedient to Command.
+
+Given under my Hand on board the _Salvador del Mundo_ the 4 April 1811.
+
+JAMES NASH, _Captain_.'
+
+'These are to Certify the Principal Officers and Commissioners of H.M.
+Navy that Mr. Henry Clarke has Served as Midshipman on board H.M. Ship
+_Tisiphone_ under my Command from the 20th of June 1813 to the date
+hereof, during which time he behaved with Diligence, Sobriety, and
+Attention, and was always obedient to Command.
+
+Given under my Hand on board the _Tisiphone_ in the Needles passage this
+30th day of November 1813.
+
+E. HODDER, _Captain_.'
+
+[137] _Vide supra_, p. 158.
+
+[138] Knapp's _Life_, vol. i. 189.
+
+[139] The tombs in Oulton Churchyard bear the following inscriptions:
+
+(1) Beneath this stone are interred in the same grave the Mortal Remains
+of Edmund Skepper, who died Febry. 5th, 1836, aged 69. Also Ann Skepper,
+his wife, who died Sept. 15th, 1835, aged 62.
+
+(2) Beneath this stone are interred the Mortal Remains of Breame
+Skepper, who died May 22nd, 1837, aged 42, leaving a wife and six
+children to lament his severe loss.
+
+(3) Sacred to the Memory of Lieut. Henry Clarke of His Maj.'s Royal
+Navy, who departed this life on the 21st of March 1818, aged 25 years,
+leaving a firmly attached widow and an infant daughter to lament his
+irreparable loss.
+
+A further tomb commemorates the mother of George Borrow, whose epitaph
+is given elsewhere.
+
+[140] The following document in Henrietta's handwriting is among my
+Borrow Papers:
+
+'When my Grandfather died he owed a mortgage of L5000 on the Oulton Hall
+estate--to a Mrs. Purdy.
+
+'At my Grandfather's death my Mother applied to her Brother for the
+money left to her and also the money left--beside the money owed to her
+daughter which is also mentioned in the Will. She was refused both, and
+told moreover that neither the money nor the interest would be paid to
+her.
+
+'My Mother and I were living at the Cottage since the funeral of my
+Grandfather--the Skeppers removed to the Hall. The Estate was to be
+sold--and my Mother and myself were to be paid. 'My Mother mentioned
+this to her solicitor, who hastened back to Norwich and got L5000--which
+he carried to the old lady, Mrs. Purdy, next day and paid off the
+mortgage. My Mother then was mortgagee in possession--after which she
+let the place for what she could get--this accounts for the whole affair
+and the whole confusion.
+
+'My Mother was a Widow at this time and remained so for some time
+after--consequently all transactions took place with her and not with
+Mr. Borrow--she being afterwards married to Mr. Borrow without a
+settlement.
+
+'After this, in 1844, the place was again put up by public auction and
+bought in by Mr. Borrow and my Mother.'
+
+[141] Knapp's _Life_, vol. i. pp. 330, 331.
+
+[142] The following suggestion has, however, been made to me by a friend
+of Henrietta MacOubrey _nee_ Clarke:
+
+'I think Borrow intended "Carreta" for "dearest," It is impossible to
+think that he would call his wife a "cart." Perhaps he intended
+"Carreta" for "Querida." Probably their pronunciation was not
+Castillian, and they spelled the word as they pronounced it. In speaking
+of her to "Hen." Borrow always called her "Mamma." Mrs. MacOubrey took a
+great fancy to me because she said I was like "Mamma." She meant in
+character, not in person.'
+
+[143] Dr. Knapp: _Life_, vol. ii p. 39.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+'THE CHILDREN OF THE OPEN AIR'
+
+
+Behold George Borrow, then, in a comfortable home on the banks of Oulton
+Broad--a family man. His mother--sensible woman--declines her son's
+invitation to live with the newly-married pair. She remains in the
+cottage at Norwich where her husband died. The Borrows were married in
+April 1840, by May they had settled at Oulton. It was a pleasantly
+secluded estate, and Borrow's wife had L450 a year. He had, a month
+before his marriage, written to Mr. Brandram to say that he had a work
+nearly ready for publication, and 'two others in a state of
+forwardness.' The title of the first of these books he enclosed in his
+letter. It was _The Zincali: Or an Account of the Gypsies of Spain_. Mr.
+Samuel Smiles, in his history of the House of Murray--_A Publisher and
+his Friends_--thus relates the circumstances of its publication:--
+
+     In November 1840 a tall, athletic gentleman in black called
+     upon Mr. Murray offering a MS. for perusal and publication....
+     Mr. Murray could not fail to be taken at first sight with this
+     extraordinary man. He had a splendid physique, standing six
+     feet two in his stockings, and he had brains as well as
+     muscles, as his works sufficiently show. The book now submitted
+     was of a very uncommon character, and neither the author nor
+     the publisher were very sanguine about its success. Mr. Murray
+     agreed, after perusal, to print and publish 750 copies of _The
+     Gypsies of Spain_, and divide the profits with the author.
+
+It was at the suggestion of Richard Ford, then the greatest living
+English authority on Spain, that Mr. Murray published the book. It did
+not really commence to sell until _The Bible in Spain_ came a year or so
+later to bring the author reputation.[144] From November 1840 to June
+1841 only three hundred copies had been sold in spite of friendly
+reviews in some half dozen journals, including _The Athenaeum_ and _The
+Literary Gazette_. The first edition, it may be mentioned, contained on
+its title-page a description of the author as 'late agent of the British
+and Foreign Bible Society in Spain.'[145] There is very marked
+compression in the edition now in circulation, and a perusal of the
+first edition reveals many interesting features that deserve to be
+restored for the benefit of the curious. But nothing can make _The
+Zincali_ a great piece of literature. It was summarised by the
+_Edinburgh Review_ at the time as 'a hotch-potch of the jockey, tramper,
+philologist, and missionary.' That description, which was not intended
+to be as flattering as it sounds to-day, appears more to apply to _The
+Bible in Spain_. But _The Zincali_ is too confused, too ill-arranged a
+book to rank with Borrow's four great works. There are passages in it,
+indeed, so eloquent, so romantic, that no lover of Borrow's writings can
+afford to neglect them. But this was not the book that gypsy-loving
+Borrow, with the temperament of a Romany, should have written, or could
+have written had he not been obsessed by the 'science' of his subject.
+His real work in gypsydom was to appear later in _Lavengro_ and _The
+Romany Rye_. For Borrow was not a man of science--a philologist, a
+folk-lorist of the first order.
+
+No one, indeed, who had read only _The Zincali_ among Borrow's works
+could see in it any suspicion of the writer who was for all time to
+throw a glamour over the gypsy, to make the 'children of the open air' a
+veritable cult, to earn for him the title of 'the walking lord of gypsy
+lore,' and to lay the foundations of an admirable succession of books
+both in fact and fiction--but not one as great as his own. The city of
+Seville, it is clear, with sarcastic letters from Bible Society
+secretaries on one side, and some manner of love romance on the other,
+was not so good a place for an author to produce a real book as Oulton
+was to become. Richard Ford hit the nail on the head when he said with
+quite wonderful prescience:
+
+     How I wish you had given us more about yourself, instead of the
+     extracts from those blunder-headed old Spaniards, who knew
+     nothing about gypsies! I shall give you the _rap_, on that, and
+     a hint to publish your whole adventures for the last twenty
+     years.[146]
+
+Henceforth Borrow was to write about himself and to become a great
+author in consequence. For in writing about himself as in _Lavengro_ and
+_The Romany Rye_ he was to write exactly as he felt about the gypsies,
+and to throw over them the glamour of his own point of view, the view of
+a man who loved the broad highway and those who sojourned upon it. In
+_The Gypsies of Spain_ we have a conventional estimate of the gypsies.
+'There can be no doubt that they are human beings and have immortal
+souls,' he says, even as if he were writing a letter to the Bible
+Society. All his anecdotes about the gypsies are unfavourable to them,
+suggestive only of them as knaves and cheats. From these pictures it is
+a far cry to the creation of Jasper Petulengro and Isopel Berners. The
+most noteworthy figure in _The Zincali_ is the gypsy soldier of
+Valdepenas, an unholy rascal. 'To lie, to steal, to shed human
+blood'--these are the most marked characteristics with which Borrow
+endows the gypsies of Spain. 'Abject and vile as they have ever been,
+the gitanos have nevertheless found admirers in Spain,' says the author
+who came to be popularly recognised as the most enthusiastic admirer of
+the gypsies in Spain and elsewhere. Read to-day by the lover of Borrow's
+other books _The Zincali_ will be pronounced a readable collection of
+anecdotes, interspersed with much dull matter, with here and there a
+piece of admirable writing. But the book would scarcely have lived had
+it not been followed by four works of so fine an individuality. Well
+might Ford ask Borrow for more about himself and less of the extracts
+from 'blunder-headed old Spaniards.' When Borrow came to write about
+himself he revealed his real kindness for the gypsy folk. He gave us
+Jasper Petulengro and the incomparable description of 'the wind on the
+heath.' He kindled the imagination of men, proclaimed the joys of
+vagabondage in a manner that thrilled many hearts. He had some
+predecessors and many successors, but 'none could then, or can ever
+again,' says the biographer of a later Rye, 'see or hear of Romanies
+without thinking of Borrow.'[147] In her biography of one of these
+successors in gypsy lore, Charles Godfrey Leland, Mrs. Pennell discusses
+the probability that Borrow and Leland met in the British Museum. That
+is admitted in a letter from Leland to Borrow in my possession. To this
+letter Borrow made no reply. It was wrong of him. But he was then--in
+1873--a prematurely old man, worn out and saddened by neglect and a
+sense of literary failure. For this and for the other vagaries of those
+latter years Borrow will not be judged harshly by those who read his
+story here. Nothing could be more courteous than Borrow's one letter to
+Leland, written in the failing handwriting--once so excellent--of the
+last sad decade of his life:
+
+[Illustration: AN APPLICATION FOR A BOOK IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, WITH
+BORROWS SIGNATURE]
+
+                22 HEREFORD SQUARE, BROMPTON, _Nov. 2, 1871._
+
+     SIR,--I have received your letter and am gratified by the
+     desire you express to make my acquaintance. Whenever you please
+     to come I shall be happy to see you.--Yours truly,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.[148]
+
+The meeting did not, through Leland's absence from London, then take
+place. Two years later it was another story. The failing powers were
+more noteworthy. Borrow was by this time dead to the world, as the
+documents before me abundantly testify. It is not, therefore, necessary
+to assume, as Leland's friends have all done, that Borrow never replied
+because he was on the eve of publishing a book of his own about the
+gypsies. There seems no reason to assume, as Dr. Knapp does and as
+Leland does, that this was the reason for the unanswered letter:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                LANGHAM HOTEL, PORTLAND PLACE, _March 31st, 1873._
+
+     DEAR SIR,--I sincerely trust that the limited extent of our
+     acquaintanceship will not cause this note to seem to you too
+     presuming. _Breviter_, I have thrown the results of my
+     observations among English gypsies into a very unpretending
+     little volume consisting almost entirely of facts gathered from
+     the Romany, without any theory. As I owe all my interest in the
+     subject to your writings, and as I am sincerely grateful to you
+     for the impulse which they gave me, I should like very much to
+     dedicate my book to you. Of course if your kindness permits I
+     shall submit the proofs to you, that you may judge whether the
+     work deserves the honour. I should have sent you the MS., but
+     not long after our meeting at the British Museum I left for
+     Egypt, whence I have very recently returned, to find my
+     publisher clamorous for the promised copy.
+
+     It is _not_--God knows--a mean and selfish desire to help my
+     book by giving it the authority of your name, which induces
+     this request. But I am earnestly desirous for my conscience'
+     sake to publish nothing in the Romany which shall not be true
+     and sensible, even as all that you have written is true and
+     sensible. Therefore, _should_ you take the pains to glance over
+     my proof, I should be grateful if you would signify to me any
+     differences of opinion should there be ground for any. Dr. A.
+     F. Pott in his _Zigeuner_ (vol. ii. p. 224), intimates very
+     decidedly that you took the word _shastr_ (Exhastra de Moyses)
+     from Sanskrit and put it into Romany; declaring that it would
+     be very important if _shaster_ were Romany. I mention in my
+     book that English gypsies call the New Testament (also any MS.)
+     a _shaster_, and that a betting-book on a racecourse is called
+     a _shaster_ 'because it is written.' I do not pretend in my
+     book to such deep Romany as you have achieved--all that I claim
+     is to have collected certain words, facts, phrases, etc., out
+     of the Romany of the roads--corrupt as it is--as I have found
+     it to-day. I deal only with the gypsy of the _Decadence_. With
+     renewed apology for intrusion should it seem such, I remain,
+     yours very respectfully,
+
+                CHARLES G. LELAND.
+
+Francis Hindes Groome remarked when reviewing Borrow's _Word Book_ in
+1874,[149] that when _The Gypsies of Spain_ was published in 1841 'there
+were not two educated men in England who possessed the slightest
+knowledge of Romany.' In the intervening thirty-three years all this was
+changed. There was an army of gypsy scholars or scholar gypsies of whom
+Leland was one, Hindes Groome another, and Professor E. H. Palmer a
+third, to say nothing of many scholars and students of Romany in other
+lands. Not one of them seemed when Borrow published his _Word Book of
+the Romany_ to see that he was the only man of genius among them. They
+only saw that he was an inferior philologist to them all. And so Borrow,
+who prided himself on things that he could do indifferently quite as
+much as upon things that he could do well, suffered once again, as he
+was so often doomed to suffer, from the lack of appreciation which was
+all in all to him, and his career went out in a veritable blizzard. He
+published nothing after his _Romano Lavo-Lil_ appeared in 1874.[150] He
+was then indeed a broken and a bitter man, with no further interest in
+life. Dedications of books to him interested him not at all. In any
+other mood, or a few years earlier, Leland's book, _The English
+Gypsies_,[151] would have gladdened his heart. In his preface Leland
+expresses 'the highest respect for the labours of Mr. George Borrow in
+this field,' he quotes Borrow continually and with sympathy, and renders
+him honour as a philologist, that has usually been withheld. 'To Mr.
+Borrow is due the discovery that the word _Jockey_ is of gypsy origin
+and derived from _chuckiri_, which means a whip,' and he credits Borrow
+with the discovery of the origin of 'tanner' for sixpence; he vindicates
+him as against Dr. A. F. Pott,--a prince among students of gypsydom--of
+being the first to discover that the English gypsies call the Bible the
+_Shaster_. But there is a wealth of scientific detail in Leland's books
+that is not to be found in Borrow's, as also there is in Francis Hindes
+Groome's works. What had Borrow to do with science? He could not even
+give the word 'Rumani' its accent, and called it 'Romany.' He 'quietly
+appropriated,' says Groome, 'Bright's Spanish gypsy words for his own
+work, mistakes and all, without one word of recognition. I think one
+has the ancient impostor there.'[152] 'His knowledge of the strange
+history of the gypsies was very elementary, of their manners almost more
+so, and of their folk-lore practically _nil_,' says Groome
+elsewhere.[153] Yet Mr. Hindes Groome readily acknowledges that Borrow
+is above all writers on the gypsies. 'He communicates a subtle insight
+into gypsydom'--that is the very essence of the matter.[154] Controversy
+will continue in the future as in the present as to whether the gypsies
+are all that Borrow thought them. Perhaps 'corruption has crept in among
+them' as it did with the prize-fighters. They have intermarried with the
+gorgios, thrown over their ancient customs, lost all their picturesque
+qualities, it may be. But Borrow has preserved in literature for all
+time, as not one of the philologists and folk-lore students has done, a
+remarkable type of people. But this is not to be found in his first
+original work, _The Zincali_, nor in his last, _The Romano Lavo-Lil_.
+This glamour is to be found in _Lavengro_ and _The Romany Rye_, to which
+books we shall come in due course. Here we need only refer to the fact
+that Borrow had loved the gypsies all his life--from his boyish meeting
+with Petulengro until in advancing years the prototype of that wonderful
+creation of his imagination--for this the Petulengro of _Lavengro_
+undoubtedly was--came to visit him at Oulton. Well might Leland call him
+'the Nestor of Gypsydom.'
+
+We find the following letter to Dr. Bowring accompanying a copy of _The
+Zincali_:
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring.
+
+                58 JERMYN STREET, ST. JAMES, _April 14, 1841._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I have sent you a copy of my work by the mail. If
+     you could contrive to notice it some way or other I should feel
+     much obliged. Murray has already sent copies to all the
+     journals. It is needless to tell you that despatch in these
+     matters is very important, the first blow is everything. Lord
+     Clarendon is out of town. So I must send him his presentation
+     copy through Murray, and then write to him. I am very unwell,
+     and must go home. My address is George Borrow, Oulton Hall,
+     Oulton, Lowestoft, Suffolk. Your obedient servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+Two years later we find Borrow writing to an unknown correspondent upon
+a phase of folk-lore:
+
+                OULTON, LOWESTOFT, SUFFOLK, _August 11, 1843._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--Many thanks for your interesting and kind letter
+     in which you do me the honour to ask my opinion respecting the
+     pedigree of your island goblin, le feu follet Belenger; that
+     opinion I cheerfully give with a premise that it is only an
+     opinion; in hunting for the etymons of these fairy names we can
+     scarcely expect to arrive at anything like certainty.
+
+     I suppose you are aware that the name of Bilenger or Billinger
+     is of occasional though by no means of frequent occurrence both
+     in England and France. I have seen it; you have heard of
+     Billings-gate and of Billingham, the unfortunate assassin of
+     poor Percival,--all modifications of the same root; Belingart,
+     Bilings home or Billing ston. But what is Billin-ger? Clearly
+     that which is connected in some way or other with Billing. You
+     will find _ger_, or something like it, in most
+     European-tongues--Boulan_ger_, horolo_ger_, tal_ker_, walk_er_,
+     ba_ker_, bre_wer_, beg_gar_. In Welsh it is of frequent
+     occurrence in the shape of _ur_ or _gwr_--hen_ur_ (an eld_er_),
+     her_wr_ (a prow_ler_); in Russian the ger, gwr, ur, er, appears
+     in the shape of _ik_ or _k_--sapojgn_ik_, a shoema_ker_,
+     Chinobu_ik_, a man possessed of rank. The root of all these, as
+     well as of _or_ in senator, victor, etc., is the Sanscrit _ker_
+     or _kir_, which means lord, master, maker, doer, possessor of
+     something or connected with something.
+
+     We want now to come at the meaning of Beling or Billing, which
+     probably means some action, or some moral or personal
+     attribute; Bolvile in Anglo-Saxon means honest, Danish Bollig;
+     Wallen, in German, to wanken or move restlessly about; Baylan,
+     in Spanish, to dance (Ball? Ballet?), connected with which are
+     to whirl, to fling, and possibly Belinger therefore may mean a
+     Billiger or honest fellow, or it may mean a Walter_ger_, a
+     whirl_enger_, a flinger, or something connected with restless
+     motion.
+
+     Allow me to draw your attention to the word 'Will' in the
+     English word will-o-the-wisp; it must not be supposed that this
+     Will is the abbreviation of William; it is pure Danish,
+     'Vild'--pronounced will,--and signifies wild; Vilden Visk, the
+     wild or moving wisp. I can adduce another instance of the
+     corruption of the Danish vild into will: the rustics of this
+     part of England are in the habit of saying 'they are led will'
+     (vild or wild) when from intoxication or some other cause they
+     are bewildered at night and cannot find their way home. This
+     expression is clearly from the old Norse or Danish. I am not at
+     all certain that 'Bil' in Bilinger may not be this same will or
+     vild, and that the word may not be a corruption of vilden, old
+     or elder, wild or flying fire. It has likewise occurred to me
+     that Bilinger may be derived from 'Volundr,' the worship of the
+     blacksmith or Northern Vulcan. Your obedient servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[144] There were 750 copies of the first edition of _The Zincali_ in two
+vols. in 1841. 750 of the second edition in 1843, and a third issue of
+750 in the same year. A fourth edition of 7,500 copies appeared in the
+cheap Home and Colonial Library in 1846, and there was a fifth edition
+of 1000 copies in 1870. These were all the editions published in England
+during Borrow's lifetime. Dr. Knapp traced three American editions
+during the same period.
+
+[145] _The Zincali; or an Account of the Gypsies of Spain_. With an
+original collection of their songs and poetry, and a copious dictionary
+of their language. By George Borrow, Late Agent of the British and
+Foreign Bible Society in Spain. '_For that which is unclean by nature,
+thou canst entertain no hope; no washing will turn the gypsy
+white_.'--Ferdousi. In two volumes. London: John Murray, Albemarle
+Street, 1841.
+
+[146] Knapp's _Life_, vol. i. p. 378.
+
+[147] Mrs. Pennell. See _Charles Godfrey Leland: a Biography_, by
+Elizabeth Robins Pennell. 2 vols. 1906.
+
+[148] Given in Mrs. Pennell's _Leland: a Biography_, vol. ii. pp. 142-3.
+The letter to which it is a reply is given in Knapp's _Borrow_, vol. ii.
+pp. 228-9.
+
+[149] _The Academy_, June 13, 1874.
+
+[150] _Romano Lavo-Lil: Word Book of the Romany; or, English Gypsy
+Language_. By George Borrow. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street,
+1874.
+
+[151] Charles Godfrey Leland (1824-1903) better known as 'Hans
+Breitmann' of the popular ballads, was born in Philadelphia and died in
+Florence. He was always known among his friends as 'The Rye,' in
+consequence of his enthusiasm for the gypsies concerning whom he wrote
+four books, the best known being: _The English Gypsies and their
+Language_, by Charles G. Leland: Truebner. _The Gypsies_, by Charles G.
+Leland: Truebner.
+
+[152] See Groome's _In Gipsy Tents_ (W. P. Nimmo, 1880), and _Gipsy
+Folk-Tales_ (Hurst & Blackett, 1899). Francis Hindes Groome (1851-1902),
+whom it was my privilege to know, was the son of Archdeacon Groome, the
+friend of Edward FitzGerald. He was the greatest English authority of
+his time on gypsy language and folk-lore. He celebrated his father's
+friendship with the paraphraser of Omar Khayyam in _Two Suffolk
+Friends_, 1895, and wrote a good novel of gypsydom in _Kriegspiel_,
+1896. He also edited an edition of _Lavengro_ (Methuen), 1901.
+
+[153] Groome to Leland in _Charles Godfrey Leland: a Biography_, by E.
+R. Pennell, vol. ii. p. 141.
+
+[154] Introduction to _Lavengro_ (Methuen), 1901.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+_THE BIBLE IN SPAIN_
+
+
+In an admirable appreciation of our author, the one in which he gives
+the oft-quoted eulogy concerning him as 'the delightful, the bewitching,
+the never-sufficiently-to-be-praised George Borrow,' Mr. Birrell records
+the solace that may be found by small boys in the ambiguities of a
+title-page, or at least might have been found in it in his youth and in
+mine. In those days in certain Puritan circles a very strong line was
+drawn between what was known as Sunday reading, and reading that might
+be permitted on week-days. The Sunday book must have a religious
+flavour. There were magazines with that particular flavour, every story
+in them having a pious moral withal. Very closely watched and
+scrutinised was the reading of young people in those days and in those
+circles. Mr. Birrell, doubtless, speaks from autobiographical memories
+when he tells us of a small boy with whose friends _The Bible in Spain_
+passed muster on the strength of its title-page. For Mr. Birrell is the
+son of a venerated Nonconformist minister; and perhaps he, or at least
+those who were of his household, had this religious idiosyncrasy. It may
+be that the distinction which pervaded the evangelical circles of Mr.
+Birrell's youth as to what were Sunday books, as distinct from books to
+be read on week-days, has disappeared. In any case think of the
+advantage of the boy of that generation who was able to handle a book
+with so unexceptionable a title as _The Bible in Spain_. His elders
+would succumb at once, particularly if the boy had the good sense to
+call their attention to the sub-title--'The Journeys, Adventures, and
+Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures
+in the Peninsula.' Nothing could be said by the most devout of seniors
+against so prepossessing a title-page.[155] But what of the boy who had
+thus passed the censorship? What a revelation of adventure was open to
+him! Perhaps he would skip the 'preachy' parts in which Borrow was
+doubtless sincere, although the sincerity has so uncertain a ring
+to-day. Here are five passages, for example, which do not seem to belong
+to the book:
+
+     In whatever part of the world I, a poor wanderer in the
+     Gospel's cause, may chance to be
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     very possibly the fate of St. Stephen might overtake me; but
+     does the man deserve the name of a follower of Christ who would
+     shrink from danger of any kind in the cause of Him whom he
+     calls his Master? 'He who loses his life for my sake shall find
+     it,' are words which the Lord Himself uttered. These words were
+     fraught with consolation to me, as they doubtless are to every
+     one engaged in propagating the Gospel, in sincerity of heart,
+     in savage and barbarian lands.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     Unhappy land! not until the pure light of the Gospel has
+     illumined thee, wilt thou learn that the greatest of all gifts
+     is charity!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     and I thought that to convey the Gospel to a place so wild and
+     remote might perhaps be considered an acceptable pilgrimage in
+     the eyes of my Maker. True it is that but one copy remained of
+     those which I had brought with me on this last journey; but
+     this reflection, far from discouraging me in my projected
+     enterprise, produced the contrary effect, as I called to mind
+     that, ever since the Lord revealed Himself to man, it has
+     seemed good to Him to accomplish the greatest ends by
+     apparently the most insufficient means; and I reflected that
+     this one copy might serve as an instrument for more good than
+     the four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine copies of the
+     edition of Madrid.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     I shall not detain the course of my narrative with reflections
+     as to the state of a Church which, though it pretends to be
+     founded on scripture, would yet keep the light of scripture
+     from all mankind, if possible. But Rome is fully aware that she
+     is not a Christian Church, and having no desire to become so,
+     she acts prudently in keeping from the eyes of her followers
+     the page which would reveal to them the truths of Christianity.
+
+All this does not ring quite true, and in any case it is too much on the
+lines of 'Sunday reading' to please the small boy, who must, however,
+have found a thousand things in that volume that were to his taste--some
+of the wildest adventures, hairbreadth escapes, extraordinary meetings
+again and again with unique people--with Benedict Mol, for example, who
+was always seeking for treasure. Gypsies, bull-fighters, quaint and
+queer characters of every kind, come before us in rapid succession.
+Rarely, surely, have so many adventures been crowded into the same
+number of pages. Only when Borrow remembers, as he has to do
+occasionally, that he is an agent of the Bible Society does the book
+lose its vigour and its charm. We have already pointed out that the
+foundations of the volume were contained in certain letters written by
+Borrow during his five years in Spain to the secretaries of the Bible
+Society in London. The recent publication of these letters has revealed
+to us Borrow's methods. When he had settled down at Oulton he took down
+his notebooks, one of which is before me, but finding this was not
+sufficient, he asked the Bible Society for the loan of his letters to
+them.[156] Other letters that he hoped to use were not forthcoming, as
+the following note from Miss Gurney to Mrs. Borrow indicates:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                EARLHAM, _12th June 1840._
+
+     DEAR MRS. BORROW,--I am sorry I cannot find any of Mr. Borrow's
+     letters from Spain. I don't think we ever had any, but my
+     brother is from home and I therefore cannot inquire of him. I
+     send you the only two I can find. I am very glad he is going to
+     publish his travels, which I have no doubt will be very
+     interesting. It must be a pleasant object to assist him by
+     copying the manuscripts. If I should visit Lowestoft this
+     summer I shall hope to see you, but I have no immediate
+     prospect of doing so. With kind regards to all your party, I
+     am, Dear Mrs. Borrow, Yours sincerely,
+
+                C. GURNEY.[157]
+
+The Bible Society applied to in the same manner lent Borrow all his
+letters to that organisation and its secretaries. Not all were returned.
+Many came to Dr. Knapp when he purchased the half of the Borrow papers
+that were sold after Borrow's death; the remainder are in my possession.
+It is a nice point, seventy years after they were written, as to whom
+they belong. In any case the Bible Society must have kept copies of
+everything, for when, in 1911, they came to publish the _Letters_[158]
+the collection was sufficiently complete. That publication revealed some
+interesting sidelights. It proved on the one hand that Borrow had drawn
+more upon his diaries than upon his letters, although he frequently
+reproduced fragments of his diaries in his letters. It revealed further
+the extraordinary frankness with which Borrow wrote to his employers.
+But the main point is in the discovery revealed to us that Borrow was
+not an artist in his letters. Borrow was never a good letter writer,
+although I think that many of the letters that appear for the first
+time in these pages will prove that his letters are very interesting as
+contributions to biography. If some of the letters that helped to make
+up _The Bible in Spain_ are interesting, it is because in them Borrow
+incorporated considerable fragments of anecdote and adventure from his
+notebooks. It is quite a mistake to assume, as does Dr. Knapp, that the
+'Rev. and Dear Sir' at the head of a letter was the only variation. You
+will look in vain in the Bible Society correspondence for many a pearl
+that is contained in _The Bible in Spain_, and you will look in vain in
+_The Bible in Spain_ for many a sentence which concludes some of the
+original letters. In one case, indeed, a letter concludes with Heber's
+hymn--
+
+    'From Greenland's Icy Mountains,'
+
+with which Borrow's correspondent must already have been sufficiently
+familiar. But Borrow could not be other than Borrow, and the secretaries
+of the Bible Society had plentiful matter with which to astonish them.
+The finished production, however, is a fascinating book. You read it
+again and it becomes still more entertaining. No wonder that it took the
+world by storm and made its author the lion of a season. 'A queer book
+will be this same _Bible in Spain_,' wrote Borrow to John Murray in
+August 1841, 'containing all my queer adventures in that queer country
+... it will make two nice foolscap octavo volumes.'[159] It actually
+made three volumes, and Borrow was as irritated at Mr. Murray's delay in
+publishing as that publisher afterwards became at Borrow's own delay
+over _Lavengro_. The whole book was laboriously copied out by Mrs.
+Borrow. When this copy was sent to Mr. Murray, it was submitted to his
+'reader,' who reported 'numerous faults in spelling and some in
+grammar,' to which criticism Borrow retorted that the copy was the work
+of 'a country amanuensis.' The book was published in December 1842, but
+has the date 1843 on its title-page.[160] In its three-volumed form 4750
+copies of the book were issued by July 1843, after which countless
+copies were sold in cheaper one-volumed form. Success had at last come
+to Borrow. He was one of the most talked-of writers of the day. His
+elation may be demonstrated by his discussion with Dawson Turner as to
+whether he should leave the manuscript of _The Bible in Spain_ to the
+Dean and Chapter's Library at Norwich or to the British Museum, by his
+gratification at the fact that Sir Robert Peel referred to his book in
+the House of Commons, and by his pleasure in the many appreciative
+reviews which, indeed, were for the most part all that an ambitious
+author could desire. 'Never,' said _The Examiner_, 'was book more
+legibly impressed with the unmistakable mark of genius.' 'There is no
+taking leave of a book like this,' said the _Athenaeum_. 'Better
+Christmas fare we have never had it in our power to offer our readers.'
+
+[Illustration: A SHEKEL
+
+given to Borrow by Hasfeld, his Danish friend, as a talisman when they
+parted at St. Petersburg. In _The Bible in Spain_ Borrow relates that he
+showed this shekel at Gibraltar to a Jew, who exclaimed, 'Brothers,
+witness, these are the letters of Solomon. This silver is blessed. We
+must kiss this money.']
+
+The publication of _The Bible in Spain_ made Borrow famous for a time.
+Hitherto he had been known only to a small religious community, the
+coterie that ran the Bible Society. Even the large mass of people who
+subscribed to that Society knew its agent in Spain only by meagre
+allusions in the Annual Reports. Now the world was to talk about him,
+and he enjoyed being talked about. Borrow declared--in 1842--that the
+five years he passed in Spain were the most happy years of his
+existence. But then he had not had a happy life during the previous
+years, as we have seen, and in Russia he had a toilsome task with an
+added element of uncertainty as to the permanence of his position. The
+five years in Spain had plentiful adventure, and they closed in a
+pleasant manner. Yet the year that followed, even though it found him
+almost a country squire, was not a happy one. Once again the world did
+not want him and his books--not the _Gypsies of Spain_ for example.
+Seven weeks after publication it had sold only to the extent of some
+three hundred copies.[161] But the happiest year of Borrow's life was
+undoubtedly the one that followed the publication of _The Bible in
+Spain_. Up to that time he had been a mere adventurer; now he was that
+most joyous of beings--a successful author; and here, from among his
+Papers, is a carefully preserved relic of his social triumph:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq., at Mr. Murray's, Bookseller, Albemarle Street.
+
+                4 CARLTON TERRACE, _Tuesday, 30th May._
+
+     The Prussian Minister and Madam Bunsen would be very happy to
+     see Mr. Borrow to-morrow, Wednesday evening, about half past
+     nine o'clock or later, when some German national songs will be
+     performed at their house, which may possibly suit Mr. Borrow's
+     taste. They hoped to have met him last night at the Bishop of
+     Norwich's, but arrived there too late. They had already
+     commissioned Lady Hall (sister to Madam Bunsen) to express to
+     Mr. Borrow their wish for his acquaintance.
+
+In a letter to his wife, of which a few lines are printed in Dr. Knapp's
+book, he also writes of this visit to the Prussian Minister, where he
+had for company 'Princes and Members of Parliament.' 'I was the star of
+the evening,' he says; 'I thought to myself, "what a difference!"'[162]
+The following letter is in a more sober key:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, Oulton, Suffolk.
+
+                _Wednesday_, 58 JERMYN STREET.
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I was glad to receive your letter; I half
+     expected one on Tuesday. I am, on the whole, very comfortable,
+     and people are kind. I passed last Sunday at Clapham with Mrs.
+     Browne; I was glad to go there for it was a gloomy day. They
+     are now glad enough to ask me: I suppose I must stay in London
+     through next week. I have an invitation to two grand parties,
+     and it is as well to have something for one's money. I called
+     at the Bible Society--all remarkably civil, Joseph especially
+     so. I think I shall be able to manage with my own Dictionary.
+     There is now a great demand for Morrison. Yesterday I again
+     dined at the Murrays. There was a family party; very pleasant.
+     To-morrow I dine with an old schoolfellow. Murray is talking of
+     printing a new edition to sell for five shillings: those
+     rascals, the Americans, have, it seems, reprinted it, and are
+     selling it for _eighteen_ pence. Murray says he shall print ten
+     thousand copies; it is chiefly wanted for the Colonies. He says
+     the rich people and the libraries have already got it, and he
+     is quite right, for nearly three thousand copies have been sold
+     at 27s.[163] There is no longer the high profit to be made on
+     books there formerly was, as the rascals abroad pirate the good
+     ones, and in the present state of copyright there is no help;
+     we can, however, keep the American edition out of the Colonies,
+     which is something. I have nothing more to say save to commend
+     you not to go on the water without me; perhaps you would be
+     overset; and do not go on the bridge again till I come. Take
+     care of Habismilk and Craffs; kiss the little mare and old Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+The earliest literary efforts of Borrow in Spain were his two
+translations of St. Luke's Gospel--the one into Romany, the other into
+Basque. This last book he did not actually translate himself, but
+procured 'from a Basque physician of the name of Oteiza.'
+
+[Illustration: TITLE-PAGE OF BASQUE TRANSLATION BY OTEIZA OF THE GOSPEL
+OF ST. LUKE]
+
+[Illustration: TITLE-PAGE OF FIRST EDITION OF ROMANY TRANSLATION OF THE
+GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE]
+
+[Illustration: TWO PAGES FROM BORROW'S CORRECTED PROOF SHEETS OF ROMANY
+TRANSLATION OF THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[155] Yet one critic of Borrow--Jane H. Findlater, in the _Cornhill
+Magazine_, November 1899--actually says that '_The Bible in Spain_ was
+perhaps the most ill-advised title that a well-written book ever
+laboured under, giving, as it does, the idea that the book is a
+prolonged tract.'
+
+[156] Borrow had really written a great deal of the book in Spain. The
+'notebook' contained many of his adventures, and moreover on August 20,
+1836, the _Athenaeum_, published two long letters from him under the
+title of 'The Gypsies in Russia and in Spain,' opening with the
+following preliminary announcement:
+
+We have been obligingly favoured with the following extracts from
+letters of an intelligent gentleman, whose literary labours, the least
+important of his life, we not long since highly praised, but whose name
+we are not at liberty, on this occasion, to make public. They contain
+some curious and interesting facts relating to the condition of this
+peculiar people in very distant countries.
+
+The first letter is dated September 23, 1835, and gives an account of
+his experiences with the gypsies in Russia. The whole of this account he
+incorporated in _The Gypsies of Spain_. Following this there are two
+columns, dated Madrid, July 19, 1836, in which he gives an account of
+the gypsies in Spain. All the episodes that he relates he incorporated
+in _The Bible in Spain_. The two letters so plainly indicate that all
+the time Borrow was in Spain his mind was more filled with the subject
+of the gypsies than with any other question. He did his work well for
+the Bible Society no doubt, and gave them their money's worth, but there
+is a humorous note in the fact that Borrow should have utilised his
+position as a missionary--for so we must count him--to make himself so
+thoroughly acquainted with gypsy folklore and gypsy songs and dances as
+these two fragments by an 'intelligent gentleman' imply. It is not
+strange that under the circumstances Borrow did not wish that his name
+should be made public.
+
+[157] This was Miss Catherine Gurney, who was born in 1776, in Magdalen
+Street, Norwich, and died at Lowestoft in 1850, aged seventy-five. She
+twice presided over the Earlham home. The brother referred to was Joseph
+John Gurney.
+
+[158] _Letters of George Borrow to the British and Foreign Bible
+Society_. Published by direction of the Committee. Edited by T. H.
+Darlow. Hodder and Stoughton, 1911.
+
+[159] Samuel Smiles: _A Publisher and his Friends_, vol. ii. p. 485.
+
+[160] _The Bible in Spain; or The Journeys, Adventures, and
+Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures
+in the Peninsula_. By George Borrow, author of _The Gypsies of Spain_.
+In three volumes. London: John Murray, Albemarle St., 1843.
+
+[161] Herbert Jenkins: _Life_, p. 341.
+
+[162] Knapp's _Life_, vol. i. p. 398. In the _Annals of the Harford
+Family_, edited by Alice Harford (Westminster Press, 1909), there is an
+account of this gathering in a letter from J. Harford-Battersby to
+Louisa Harford. There was present 'the amusing author of _The Bible in
+Spain_, a man who is remarkable for his extraordinary powers as a
+linguist, and for the originality of his character, not to speak of the
+wonderful adventures he narrates, and the ease and facility with which
+he tells them. He kept us laughing a good part of breakfast time by the
+oddity of his remarks, as well as the positiveness of his assertions,
+often rather startling, and, like his books, partaking of the
+marvellous.'
+
+[163] 4750 copies were sold in the three volume form in 1843, and a
+sixth and cheaper edition the same year sold 9000 copies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+RICHARD FORD
+
+
+The most distinguished of Borrow's friends in the years that succeeded
+his return from Spain was Richard Ford, whose interests were so largely
+wrapped-up in the story of that country. Ford was possessed of a very
+interesting personality, which was not revealed to the public until Mr.
+Rowland E. Prothero issued his excellent biography[164] in 1905,
+although Ford died in 1858. This delay is the more astonishing as Ford's
+_Handbook for Travellers in Spain_ was one of the most famous books of
+its day. Ford's father, Sir Richard Ford, was a friend of William Pitt,
+and twice sat in Parliament, being at one time Under-Secretary of State
+for the Home Department. He ended his official career as a police
+magistrate at Bow Street, but deserves to be better known to fame as the
+creator of the mounted police force of London. Ford was born with a
+silver spoon in his mouth, inheriting a fortune from his father, and
+from his mother an extraordinary taste for art. Although called to the
+bar he never practised, but spent his time in travelling on the
+Continent, building up a valuable collection of books and paintings. He
+was three times married, and all these unions seem to have been happy,
+in spite of an almost unpleasant celerity in the second alliance, which
+took place nine months after the death of his first wife. A very large
+portion of his life he devoted to Spain, which he knew so intimately
+that in 1845 he produced that remarkable _Handbook_ in two closely
+printed volumes, a most repellent-looking book in appearance to those
+who are used to contemporary typography, usually so attractive. Ford, in
+fact, was so full of his subject that instead of a handbook he wrote a
+work which ought to have appeared in half a dozen volumes. In later
+editions the book was condensed into one of Mr. Murray's usual
+guide-books, but the curious may still enjoy the work in its earliest
+form, so rich in discussions of the Spanish people, their art and
+architecture, their history and their habits. The greater part of the
+letters in Mr. Prothero's collection are addressed to Addington, who was
+our ambassador to Madrid for some years, until he was superseded by
+George Villiers, Lord Clarendon, with whom Borrow came so much in
+contact. Those letters reveal a remarkably cultivated mind and an
+interesting outlook on life, an outlook that was always intensely
+anti-democratic. It is impossible to sympathise with him in his brutal
+reference to the execution by the Spaniards of Robert Boyd, a young
+Irishman who was captured with Torrijos by the Spanish Government in
+1831. Richard Ford apparently left Spain very shortly before George
+Borrow entered that country. Ford passed through Madrid on his way to
+England in September 1833. He then settled near Exeter, purchasing an
+Elizabethan cottage called Heavitree House, with twelve acres of land,
+and devoted himself to turning it into a beautiful mansion. Presumably
+he first met Borrow in Mr. John Murray's famous drawing-room soon after
+the publication of _The Gypsies of Spain_. He tells Addington, indeed,
+in a letter of 14th January 1841:
+
+     I have made acquaintance with an extraordinary fellow, George
+     Borrow, who went out to Spain to convert the gypsies. He is
+     about to publish his failure, and a curious book it will be. It
+     was submitted to my perusal by the hesitating Murray.
+
+Ford's article upon Borrow's book appeared in _The British and Foreign
+Review_, and Ford was delighted that the book had created a sensation,
+and that he had given sound advice as to publishing the manuscript. When
+_The Bible in Spain_ was ready, Ford was one of the first to read it.
+Then he wrote to John Murray:
+
+     I read Borrow with great delight all the way down per rail. You
+     may depend upon it that the book will sell, which after all is
+     the rub.
+
+And in that letter Ford describes the book as putting him in mind of Gil
+Blas with 'a touch of Bunyan.' Lockhart himself reviewed the book in
+_The Quarterly_, so Ford had to go to the rival organ--_The Edinburgh
+Review_--receiving L44 for the article, which sum, he tells us, he
+invested in Chateau Margaux.
+
+Ford's first letter to Borrow in my collection is written in Spanish:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq., Oulton Hall, Lowestoft.
+
+                HEAVITREE HOUSE, EXETER, _Jan. 19, 1842._
+
+     QUERIDO COMPADRE,--Mucho m'ha alegrado el buen termino de sus
+     trabajos literarios que V.M. me participo. Vaya con los picaros
+     de Zincali, buenas pesetas han cobrado--siempre he tenido a los
+     Sres. M. como muy hombres de bien, suele ser que los que tratan
+     mucho con personages de categoria, tomen un algo del grande y
+     liberal. Convega V.M. que soy critico de tipo, y que digo,
+     'Bahi de los gabicotes.' Conosco bastante loque agradecera al
+     muy noble y illustrado publico--conque sigue V.M. adelante y no
+     dejes nada en el tintero, pero por vida del Demonio, huyese
+     V.M. de los historiadores espanoles, embusteros y majaderos.
+     Siento mucho que V.M. haya salido de Londres, salgo de esto
+     Sabato, y pienso hacer una visita de como unas tres semanas, en
+     la casa maternal, como es mi costumbre por el mes de los
+     aguinaldos. Con mucho gusto hubiera praticado con V.M. y
+     charleado sobre las cosas de Espana y otra chismografia
+     gitanesca y zandungera, por ahora no entiendo nada de eso. No
+     dejare de llevar conmigo los papeles y documentos que V.M. se
+     sirvio de remitirme a Cheltenham. Hare de ellos un paquete, y
+     lo confiare a los Senores Murray, para quando V.M. guste
+     reclamarlo. Hare el mio posible de averiguar y aprofundicar
+     aquellos misterios y gente estrambotica. El Senor Murray hijo,
+     me escrive muy contento de la _Biblia en Espana_. Descaria yo
+     escribir un articulo sobre asunto tan relleno de interes.
+     Talvez el articulo mio de los Gitanos parecera en el numero
+     proximo, y en tal caso ha de ser mas util a V.M. que no hubiera
+     sido ahora. La vida y memoria de las revistas, es muy corta.
+     Salen como miraposas y mueren en un dia. Los muertos y los idos
+     no tienen amigos. Los vivos a la mesa, y los muertos a la
+     huesa. Al istante que esta imprimido un nuevo numero, el pasado
+     y esta olvidado y entra entre las cosas del Rey Wamba. Que le
+     parece a V.M., ultimamente en un baile donde sacaron un Rey de
+     Hubas (twelfth night) tire El Krallis de los Zincali. Incluyo a
+     V. Majestad tabula, de veras es preciso que yo tengo en mis
+     venas algunas gotitas de legitimo errante. El Senor Gagargos
+     viene a ser nombrado Consul espanol a Tunis, donde no le
+     faltaron medios de adelantarse en el idioma y literatura
+     arabica. Queda de S.M. afemo. su amigo, Q.B.S.M.,
+
+                RICHARD FORD.[165]
+
+Here is a second letter of the following month:
+
+                _February 26th_, HEAVITREE HOUSE, EXETER.
+
+     BATUSCHCA BORROW,--I am glad that the paper pleased you, and I
+     think it calculated to promote the sale, which a too copious
+     extracting article does not always do, as people think that
+     they have had the cream. Napier sent me L44 for the thirty-two
+     pages; this, with Kemble's L50, 8s. for the _Zincali_, nearly
+     reaches L100: I lay it out in claret, being not amiss to do in
+     the world, and richer by many hundreds a year than last year,
+     but with a son at Eton and daughters coming out, and an
+     overgrown set of servants, money is never to be despised, and I
+     find that expenditure by some infernal principle has a greater
+     tendency to increase than income, and that when the latter
+     increases it never does so in the ratio of the former--enough
+     of that. How to write an article without being
+     condensed--epigrammatical and _epitomical cream-skimming that
+     is_--I know not, one has so much to say and so little space to
+     say it in.
+
+     I rejoice to hear of your meditated biography; really I am your
+     wet nurse, and you ought to dedicate it to me; take time, but
+     not too much; avoid all attempts to write fine; just dash down
+     the first genuine uppouring idea and thoughts in the plainest
+     language and that which comes first, and then fine it and
+     compress it. Let us have a glossary; for people cry out for a
+     Dragoman, and half your local gusto evaporates.
+
+     I am amazed at the want of profits--'tis sad to think what
+     meagre profits spring from pen and ink; but Cervantes died a
+     beggar and is immortal. It is the devil who comes into the
+     market with ready money: _No_ solvendum in futuro: I well know
+     that it is cash down which makes the mare to go; dollars will
+     add spurs even to the Prince of Mustard's paces.
+
+     It is a bore not receiving even the crumbs which drop from such
+     tables as those spread by Mr. Eyre: Murray, however, is a deep
+     cove, _y muy pratico en cosas de libreteria_: and he knew that
+     the _first out_ about Afghan would sell prodigiously. I doubt
+     now if Lady Sale would now be such a general Sale. Murray
+     builds solid castles in Eyre. Los de Espana rezalo bene de ser
+     siempre muy Cosas de Espana: Cachaza! Cachaza! firme, firme!
+     Arhse! no dejei nada en el tintero; basta que sea nuevo y muy
+     piquunte cor sal y ajo: a los Ingleses le gustan mucho las
+     Longanizas de Abarbenel y los buenos Choriyos de Montanches:
+
+     El handbook sa her concluido jeriayer: abora principia el
+     trabajo: Tengo benho un monton de papel acombroso. El menester
+     reducirlo a la mitad y eso so hara castratandolo de lo bueno
+     duro y particolar a romperse el alma:
+
+     I had nothing to do whatever with the _manner_ in which the
+     handbook puff was affixed to your book. I wrote the said paper,
+     but concluded that Murray would put it, as usual, in the
+     fly-leaf of the book, as he does in his others, and the _Q.
+     Rev._
+
+     Sabe mucho el hijo--ha imaginado altacar mi obresilla al flejo
+     de vuestra immortalidad y lo que le toca de corazon,
+     facilitarsele la venta.
+
+     Yo no tengo nada en eso y quede tanalustado amo V^{m} a la
+     primera vista de aquella hoja volante. Conque Mantengare V^{m}
+     bueno y alegre y mande V^{m} siempre, a S : S : S : y buen Critico,
+     L : I : M : B.,
+
+                R. F.
+
+During these years--1843 and onwards--Borrow was regularly corresponding
+with Ford. I quote a sentence from one of these letters:
+
+     Borrow writes me word that his Life is nearly ready, and it
+     will run the Bible hull down. If he tells truth it will be a
+     queer thing. I shall review it for _The Edinburgh_.
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq., Oulton Hall, Lowestoft.
+
+                123 PARK MANSIONS, _Thursday, April 13, 1843._
+
+     BATUSCHCA B.,--Knowing that you seldom see a newspaper I send
+     you one in which Peel speaks very handsomely of your labour.
+     Such a public testimonial is a good puff, and I hope will
+     attract purchasers.--Sincerely yours,
+
+                R. F.
+
+This speech of Peel's in the House of Commons, in which in reply to a
+very trivial question by Dr. Bowring, then M.P. for Bolton, upon the
+subject of the correspondence of the British Government with Turkey, the
+great statesman urged:
+
+     It might have been said to Mr. Borrow, with respect to Spain,
+     that it would be impossible to distribute the Bible in that
+     country in consequence of the danger of offending the
+     prejudices which prevail there; yet he, a private individual,
+     by showing some zeal in what he believed to be right, succeeded
+     in triumphing over many obstacles.[166]
+
+Borrow was elated with the compliment, and asked Mr. Murray two months
+later if he could not advertise the eulogium with one of his books.
+
+In June 1844, while the _Handbook for Travellers in Spain_ was going to
+press, Ford went on a visit to Borrow at Oulton, and describes the pair
+as 'two rum coves in a queer country'; and further gives one of the best
+descriptions of the place:
+
+     His house hangs over a lonely lake covered with wild fowl, and
+     is girt with dark firs through which the wind sighs sadly.
+
+When the _Handbook for Travellers in Spain_ was published in 1845 it was
+agreed that Borrow should write the review for _The Quarterly_. Instead
+of writing a review Borrow, possessed by that tactlessness which so
+frequently overcame him, wrote an article on 'Spain and the Spaniards,'
+very largely of abuse, an absolutely useless production from the point
+of view of Ford the author, and of Lockhart, his editor friend. Borrow
+never forgave Lockhart for returning this manuscript, but that it had no
+effect on Ford's friendship is shown by the following letter, dated 1846
+(p. 258), written long after the unfortunate episode, and another in Dr.
+Knapp's _Life_, dated 1851:
+
+
+To Mrs. Borrow, Oulton Hall, Lowestoft.
+
+                _Oct. 6, 1844_, CHELTENHAM.
+
+     MY DEAR MADAM,--I trouble you with a line to say that I have
+     received a letter from Don Jorge, from Constantinople. He
+     evidently is now anxious to be quietly back again on the banks
+     of your peaceful lake; he speaks favourably of his health,
+     which has been braced up by change of air, scenery, and
+     occupations, so I hope he will get through next winter without
+     any bronchitis, and go on with his own biography.
+
+     He asks me when _Handbook_ will be done? Please to tell him
+     that it is done and printing, but that it runs double the
+     length which was contemplated: however, it will be a _queer_
+     book, and tell him that we reserve it until his return to
+     _review_ it. I am now on the point of quitting this pretty
+     place and making for my home at Hevitre, where we trust to
+     arrive next Thursday.
+
+     Present my best compliments to your mother, and believe me,
+     your faithful and obedient servant,
+
+                RCH. FORD.
+
+     When you write to Don Jorge thank him for his letter.
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq., Oulton Hall, Lowestoft.
+
+                123 PARLIAMENT STREET,
+                GROSVENOR SQUARE, _Feb. 17, 1845._
+
+     DEAR BORROW,--_El hombre propose pero Dios es que dispose._ I
+     had hope to have run down and seen you and yours in your quiet
+     Patmos; but the Sangrados will it otherwise. I have never been
+     quite free from a tickling pain since the bronchitis of last
+     year, and it has recently assumed the form of extreme
+     relaxation and irritation in the uvula, which is that pendulous
+     appendage which hangs over the orifice of the throat. Mine has
+     become so seriously elongated that, after submitting for four
+     days last week to its being burnt with caustic every morning in
+     the hopes that it might thus crimp and contract itself, I have
+     been obliged to have it amputated. This has left a great
+     soreness, which militates against talking and deglutition, and
+     would render our charming chats after the Madeira over la
+     cheminea del _cueldo_ inadvisable. I therefore defer the visit:
+     my Sangrado recommends me, when the summer advances, to fly
+     away into change of air, change of scene; in short, must seek
+     an _hejira_ as you made. How strange the coincidence! but those
+     who have wandered much about require periodical migration, as
+     the encaged quail twice a year beats its breast against the
+     wires.
+
+     I am not quite determined where to go, whether to Scotland and
+     the sweet heath-aired hills, or to the wild rocks and clear
+     trout streams of the Tyrol; it is a question between the gun
+     and the rod. If I go north assuredly si Dios quiere I will take
+     your friendly and peaceful abode in my way.
+
+     As to my immediate plans I can say nothing before Thursday,
+     when the Sangrado is to report on some diagnosis which he
+     expects.
+
+     Meanwhile _Handbook_ is all but out, and Lockhart and Murray
+     are eager to have you in the _Q. R._ I enclose you a note from
+     the editor. How feel you inclined? I would send you down 30
+     sheets, and you might run your eye through them. _There are
+     plums in the pudding._
+
+                RICHARD FORD.
+
+A proof in slip form of the rejected review, with Borrow's corrections
+written upon it, is in my possession. Our author pictures Gibraltar as a
+human entity thus addressing Spain:
+
+     Accursed land! I hate thee, and far from being a defence, will
+     invariably prove a thorn in thy side.
+
+And so on through many sentences of excited rhetoric. Borrow forgot
+while he wrote that he had a book to review--a book, moreover, issued by
+the publishing house which issued the periodical in which his review was
+to appear. And this book was a book in ten thousand--a veritable mine of
+information and out of the way learning. Surely this slight reference
+amid many dissertations of his own upon Spain was to damn his friend's
+book with faint praise:
+
+     A Handbook is a Handbook after all, a very useful thing, but
+     still--the fact is that we live in an age of humbug, in which
+     everything, to obtain note and reputation, must depend less
+     upon its own intrinsic merit than on the name it bears. The
+     present book is about one of the best books ever written upon
+     Spain; but we are afraid that it will never be estimated at its
+     proper value; for after all a Handbook is a Handbook.
+
+Yet successful as was Ford's _Handbook_, it is doubtful but that Borrow
+was right in saying that it had better have been called _Wanderings in
+Spain_ or _Wonders of the Peninsula_. How much more gracious was the
+statement of another great authority on Spain--Sir William
+Stirling-Maxwell--who said that 'so great a literary achievement had
+never before been performed under so humble a title.' The article,
+however, furnishes a trace of autobiography in the statement by Borrow
+that he had long been in the habit of reading _Don Quixote_ once every
+nine years. Yet he tells us that he prefers Le Sage's _Gil Blas_ to _Don
+Quixote_, 'the characters introduced being certainly more true to
+nature.' But altogether we do not wonder that Lockhart declined to
+publish the article. Here is the last letter in my possession; after
+this there is one in the Knapp collection dated 1851, acknowledging a
+copy of _Lavengro_, in which Ford adds: 'Mind when you come to see the
+Exhibition you look in here, for I long to have a chat,' and so the
+friendship appears to have collapsed as so many friendships do. Ford
+died at Heavitree in 1858:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq., Oulton Hall, Lowestoft
+
+                HEAVITREE, _Jany. 28, 1846._
+
+     QUERIDO DON JORGE,--How are you getting on in health and
+     spirits? and how has this absence of winter suited you? Are you
+     inclined for a run up to town next week? I propose to do so,
+     and Murray, who has got Washington Irving, etc., to dine with
+     him on Wednesday the 4th, writes to me to know if I thought you
+     could be induced to join us. Let me whisper in your ear, yea:
+     it will do you good and give change of air, scene and thought:
+     we will go and beat up the renowned Billy Harper, and see how
+     many more ribs are stoved in.
+
+     I have been doing a paper for the _Q. R._ on Spanish
+     Architecture; how gets on the _Lavengro_? I see the 'gypsies'
+     are coming out in the _Colonial_, which will have a vast sale.
+
+     John Murray seems to be flourishing in spite of corn and
+     railomania.
+
+     Remember me kindly and respectfully to your Ladies, and beg
+     them to tell you what good it will do you to have a frisk up to
+     town, and a little quiet chat with your pal and amigo,
+
+                RICHARD FORD.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[164] _The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858_, edited by Rowland E.
+Prothero, M. V. O. John Murray, 1905.
+
+[165] DEAR FRIEND,--I was glad to hear from you of the successful
+termination of your literary work. Fancy those rogues of Zincali! They
+have managed to make good money--I always thought Messrs. M. very decent
+people, it usually happens that those who have much to do with good
+class of people become themselves somewhat large-minded and liberal. You
+must admit that I am a model critic, and that I cry, 'Luck to the Books'
+Full well do I know how you thank the most noble and illustrious public!
+Go ahead, therefore, and leave nothing forgotten in the ink-pot; but by
+all that is holy, shun the Spanish historians, who are liars and fools!
+I regret very much that you should have left London; I leave here on
+Saturday with the intention of paying a visit of about three weeks to
+the maternal home, as is my custom in the month of the Christmas boxes.
+Very much would I have liked to see you and discuss with you about
+things of Spain and other gypsy lore and fancy topics, but of which at
+present nothing do I understand. I shall not fail to take with me the
+papers and documents which you kindly sent me to Cheltenham. I will make
+them into a parcel and leave them with Messrs. Murray, so that you can
+send for them whenever you like. I shall do my best to penetrate those
+mysteries and that strange people. Mr. Murray, junior, writes in a
+pleased tone respecting _The Bible in Spain_. I should like to write an
+article on a subject so full of interest. Possibly my article on the
+gypsies will appear in the next number, and in such case it will prove
+more useful to you than if it appeared now. The life and memory of
+reviews are very short. They appear like butterflies, and die in a day.
+The dead and the departed have no friends. The living to the feast, the
+dead to the grave. No sooner does a new number appear than the last one
+is already forgotten and joins the things of the past. What do you
+think? At a party recently in which a drawing was held, I drew the
+_Krallis de los Zincali_. I beg to enclose the table (or index) for your
+Majesty's guidance; really, I must have in my veins a few drops of the
+genuine wanderer. Mr. Gagargos has been just appointed Spanish Consul in
+Tunis, where he will not lack means for progressing in the Arabic
+language and literature.--Yours, etc.,
+
+R. F.
+
+[166] _The Times_, April 12, 1843.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+IN EASTERN EUROPE
+
+
+In 1844 Borrow set out for the most distant holiday that he was ever to
+undertake. Passing through London in March 1844, he came under the
+critical eye of Elizabeth Rigby, afterwards Lady Eastlake, that
+formidable critic who four years later--in 1848--wrote the cruel review
+of _Jane Eyre_ in _The Quarterly_ that gave so much pain to Charlotte
+Bronte. She was not a nice woman. These sharp, 'clever' women-critics
+rarely are; and Borrow never made a pleasant impression when such women
+came across his path--instance Harriet Martineau, Frances Cobbe, and
+Agnes Strickland. We should sympathise with him, and not count it for a
+limitation, as some of his biographers have done. The future Lady
+Eastlake thus disposes of Borrow in her one reference to him:
+
+     _March 20._--Borrow came in the evening; now a fine man, but a
+     most disagreeable one; a kind of character that would be most
+     dangerous in rebellious times--one that would suffer or
+     persecute to the utmost. His face is expressive of
+     strong-headed determination.[167]
+
+Quoting this description of Borrow, Dr. Knapp describes it as
+'shallow'--for 'he was one of the kindest of men, as my documents
+show.' The description is shallow enough, because the writer had no kind
+of comprehension of Borrow, but then, perhaps, his champion had not.
+Borrow was neither one of the 'kindest of men' nor the reverse. He was a
+good hater and a whole-hearted lover, and to be thus is to fill a
+certain uncomfortable but not discreditable place in the scheme of
+things. About a month later Borrow was on the way to the East,
+travelling by Paris and Vienna. From Paris he wrote to Mr. John Murray
+that Vidocq 'wished much to have a copy of my _Gypsies in Spain_,' but
+suspects the Frenchman of desiring to produce a compressed translation.
+Will Mr. Murray have the book translated into French? he asks, and so
+circumvent his wily friend.[168] In June he is in Buda Pesth, whence he
+wrote to his wife:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, Oulton, Lowestoft
+
+                PESTH, HUNGARY, _14th June 1844._
+
+     MY DEAREST CARRETA,--I was so glad to get your letter which
+     reached me about nine days ago; on receiving it, I instantly
+     made preparations for quitting Vienna, but owing to two or
+     three things which delayed me, I did not get away till the
+     20th; I hope that you received the last letter which I sent, as
+     I doubt not that you are all anxious to hear from me. You
+     cannot think how anxious I am to get back to you, but since I
+     am already come so far, it will not do to return before my
+     object is accomplished. Heaven knows that I do not travel for
+     travelling's sake, having a widely different object in view. I
+     came from Vienna here down the Danube, but I daresay I shall
+     not go farther by the river, but shall travel through the
+     country to Bucharest in Wallachia, which is the next place I
+     intend to visit; but Hungary is a widely different country to
+     Austria, not at all civilised, no coaches, etc., but only carts
+     and wagons; however, it is all the same thing to me as I am
+     quite used to rough it; Bucharest is about three hundred miles
+     from here; the country, as I have said before, is wild, but the
+     people are quite harmless--it is only in Spain that any danger
+     is to be feared from your fellow creatures. In Bucharest I
+     shall probably stay a fortnight. I have a letter to a French
+     gentleman there from Baron Taylor. Pesth is very much like
+     Edinburgh--there is an old and a new town, and it is only the
+     latter which is called Pesth, the name of the old is Buda,
+     which stands on the side of an enormous mountain overlooking
+     the new town, the Danube running between. The two towns
+     together contain about 120,000 inhabitants; I delivered the
+     letter which dear Woodfall was kind enough to send; it was to a
+     person, a Scotchman, who is superintending in the building of
+     the chain bridge over the Danube; he is a very nice person, and
+     has shown me every kind of civility; indeed, every person here
+     is very civil; yesterday I dined at the house of a rich Greek;
+     the dinner was magnificent, the only drawback was that they
+     pressed me too much to eat and drink; there was a deal of
+     champagne, and they would make me drink it till I was almost
+     sick, for it is a wine that I do not like, being far too sweet.
+     Since I have been here I have bathed twice in the Danube, and
+     find myself much the better for it; I both sleep and eat better
+     than I did. I have also been about another chapter, and get on
+     tolerably well; were I not so particular I should get on
+     faster, but I wish that everything that I write in this next be
+     first-rate. Tell Mama that this chapter begins with a dialogue
+     between her and my father; I have likewise contrived to bring
+     in the poor old dog in a manner which I think will be
+     interesting. I began this letter some days ago, but have been
+     so pleasantly occupied that I have made little progress till
+     now. Clarke, poor fellow, does not know how to make enough of
+     me. He says he could scarcely believe his eyes when he first
+     received the letter, as he has just got _The Bible in Spain_
+     from England, and was reading it. This is the 17th, and in a
+     few days I start for a place called Debreczen, from whence I
+     shall proceed gradually on my journey. The next letter which
+     you receive will probably be from Transylvania, the one after
+     that from Bucharest, and the third D.V. from Constantinople. If
+     you like you may write to Constantinople, directing it to the
+     care of the English Ambassador, but be sure to pay the
+     postage.
+
+     Before I left Vienna Baron Hammer, the great Orientalist,
+     called upon me; his wife was just dead, poor thing, which
+     prevented him showing me all the civility which he would
+     otherwise have done. He took me to the Imperial Library. Both
+     my books were there, _Gypsies_ and _Bible_. He likewise
+     procured me a ticket to see the Imperial treasure. (Tell
+     Henrietta that I saw there the diamond of Charles the Bold; it
+     is as large as a walnut.) I likewise saw the finest opal, as I
+     suppose, in the world; it was the size of a middling pear;
+     there was likewise a hyacinth as big as a swan's egg; I
+     likewise saw a pearl so large that they had wrought the figure
+     of a cock out of it, and the cock was somewhat more than an
+     inch high, but the thing which struck me most was the sword of
+     Tamerlane, generally called Timour the Tartar; both the hilt
+     and scabbard were richly adorned with diamonds and emeralds,
+     but I thought more of the man than I did of them, for he was
+     the greatest conqueror the world ever saw (I have spoken of him
+     in _Lavengro_ in the chapter about David Haggart).
+     Nevertheless, although I have seen all these fine things, I
+     shall be glad to get back to my Carreta and my darling mother
+     and to dear Hen. From Debreczen I hope to write to kind dear
+     Woodfall, and to Lord from Constantinople. I must likewise
+     write to Hasfeld. The mulet of thirty pounds upon Russian
+     passports is only intended for the subjects of Russia. I see by
+     the journals that the Emperor has been in England; I wonder
+     what he is come about; however, the less I say about that the
+     better, as I shall soon be in his country. Tell Hen that I have
+     got her a large piece of Austrian gold money, worth about
+     forty-two shillings; it is quite new and very handsome;
+     considerably wider than the Spanish ounce, only not near so
+     thick, as might be expected, being of considerable less value;
+     when I get to Constantinople I will endeavour to get a Turkish
+     gold coin. I have also got a new Austrian silver dollar and a
+     half one; these are rather cumbersome, and I don't care much
+     about them--as for the large gold coin, I carry it in my
+     pocket-book, which has been of great use to me hitherto. I have
+     not yet lost anything, only a pocket handkerchief or two as
+     usual; but I was obliged to buy two other shirts at Vienna; the
+     weather is so hot, that it is quite necessary to change them
+     every other day; they were beautiful linen ones, and I think
+     you will like them when you see. I shall be so glad to get
+     home and continue, if possible, my old occupation. I hope my
+     next book will sell; one comfort is that nothing like it has
+     ever been published before. I hope you all get on comfortably,
+     and that you catch some fish. I hope my dear mother is well,
+     and that she will continue with you till the end of July at
+     least; ah! that is my month, I was born in it, it is the
+     pleasantest month in the year; would to God that my fate had
+     worn as pleasant an aspect as the month in which I was born.
+     God bless you all. Write to me, _to the care of the British
+     Embassy_, Constantinople. Kind remembrances to Pilgrim.
+
+In the intervening journey between Pesth and Constantinople he must have
+talked long and wandered far and wide among the gypsies, for Charles L.
+Brace in his _Hungary in 1851_ gives us a glimpse of him at Grosswardein
+holding conversation with the gypsies:
+
+     They described his appearance--his tall, lank, muscular
+     form--and mentioned that he had been much in Spain, and I saw
+     that it must be that most ubiquitous of travellers, Mr. Borrow.
+
+The four following letters require no comment:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, Oulton, Lowestoft
+
+                DEBRECZEN, HUNGARY, _8th July 1844._
+
+     MY DARLING CARRETA,--I write to you from Debreczen, a town in
+     the heart of Hungary, where I have been for the last fortnight
+     with the exception of three days during which I was making a
+     journey to Tokay, which is about forty miles distant. My reason
+     for staying here so long was my liking the place where I have
+     experienced every kind of hospitality; almost all the people in
+     these parts are Protestants, and they are so fond of the very
+     name of Englishmen that when one arrives they scarcely know how
+     to make enough of him; it is well the place is so remote that
+     very few are ever seen here, perhaps not oftener than once in
+     ten years, for if some of our scamps and swell mob were once to
+     find their way there the good people of Hungary would soon
+     cease to have much respect for the English in general; as it
+     is they think that they are all men of honour and accomplished
+     gentlemen whom it becomes them to receive well in order that
+     they may receive from them lessons in civilisation; I wonder
+     what they would think if they were to meet such fellows as
+     Squarem and others whom I could mention. I find my knowledge of
+     languages here of great use, and the people are astonished to
+     hear me speak French, Italian, German, Russian, and
+     occasionally Gypsy. I have already met with several Gypsies;
+     those who live abroad in the wildernesses are quite black; the
+     more civilised wander about as musicians, playing on the
+     fiddle, at which they are very expert, they speak the same
+     languages as those in England, with slight variations, and upon
+     the whole they understand me very well. Amongst other places I
+     have been to Tokay, where I drank some of the wine. I am
+     endeavouring to bring two or three bottles to England, for I
+     thought of my mother and yourself and Hen., and I have got a
+     little wooden case made; it is very sweet and of a pale straw
+     colour; whether I shall be able to manage it I do not know;
+     however, I shall make the attempt. At Tokay the wine is only
+     two shillings the bottle, and I have a great desire that you
+     should taste some of it. I sincerely hope that we shall soon
+     all meet together in health and peace. I shall be glad enough
+     to get home, but since I am come so far it is as well to see as
+     much as possible. Would you think it, the Bishop of Debreczen
+     came to see me the other day and escorted me about the town,
+     followed by all the professors of the college; this was done
+     merely because I was an Englishman and a Protestant, for here
+     they are almost all of the reformed religion and full of love
+     and enthusiasm for it. It is probable that you will hear from
+     Woodfall in a day or two; the day before yesterday I wrote to
+     him and begged him to write to you to let you know, as I am
+     fearful of a letter miscarrying and your being uneasy. This is
+     unfortunately post day and I must send away the letter in a
+     very little time, so that I cannot say all to you that I could
+     wish; I shall stay here about a week longer, and from here
+     shall make the best of my way to Transylvania and Bucharest; I
+     shall stay at Bucharest about a fortnight, and shall then dash
+     off for Constantinople--I shan't stay there long--but when once
+     there it matters not as it is a civilised country from which
+     start steamers to any part where you may want to go. I hope to
+     receive a letter from you there. You cannot imagine what
+     pleasure I felt when I got your last. Oh, it was such a comfort
+     to me! I shall have much to tell you when I get back. Yesterday
+     I went to see a poor wretch who is about to be hanged; he
+     committed a murder here two years ago, and the day after
+     to-morrow he is to be executed--they expose the people here who
+     are to suffer three days previous to their execution--I found
+     him in a small apartment guarded by soldiers, with hundreds of
+     people staring at him through the door and the windows; I was
+     admitted into the room as I went with two officers; he had an
+     enormous chain about his waist and his feet were manacled; he
+     sat smoking a pipe; he was, however, very penitent, and said
+     that he deserved to die, as well he might; he had murdered four
+     people, beating out their brains with a club; he was without
+     work, and requested of an honest man here to receive him into
+     his house one night until the morning. In the middle of the
+     night he got up, and with his brother, who was with him, killed
+     every person in the house and then plundered it; two days
+     after, he was taken; his brother died in prison; I gave him a
+     little money, and the gentleman who was with me gave him some
+     good advice; he looked most like a wild beast, a huge mantle of
+     skin covered his body; for nine months he had not seen the
+     daylight; but now he is brought out into a nice clean
+     apartment, and allowed to have everything he asks for, meat,
+     wine, tobacco--nothing is refused him during these last three
+     days. I cannot help thinking that it is a great cruelty to keep
+     people so long in so horrid a situation; it is two years nearly
+     since he has been condemned. Do not be anxious if you do not
+     hear from me regularly for some time. There is no escort post
+     in the countries to which I am going. God bless my mother,
+     yourself, and Hen.
+
+                G. B.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, Oulton, Lowestoft
+
+                HERMANSTADT, _July 30, 1844._
+
+     MY DEAREST CARRETA,--I write to you a line or two from this
+     place; it is close upon the frontier of Wallachia. I hope to be
+     in Bucharest in a few days--I have stopped here for a day owing
+     to some difficulty in getting horses--I shall hasten onward as
+     quick as possible. In Bucharest there is an English Consul, so
+     that I shall feel more at home than I do here. I am only a few
+     miles now from the termination of the Austrian dominions, their
+     extent is enormous, the whole length of Hungary and
+     Transylvania; I shall only stay a few days in Bucharest and
+     shall then dash off straight for Constantinople; I have no time
+     to lose as there is a high ridge of mountains to cross called
+     the Balkans, where the winter commences at the beginning of
+     September. I thought you would be glad to hear from me, on
+     which account I write. I sent off a letter about a week ago
+     from Klausenburg, which I hope you will receive. I have written
+     various times from Hungary, though whether the letters have
+     reached you is more than I can say. I wrote to Woodfall from
+     Debreczen. I have often told you how glad I shall be to get
+     home and see you again. If I have tarried, it has only been
+     because I wished to see and learn as much as I could, for it
+     was no use coming to such a distance for nothing. By the time I
+     return I shall have made a most enormous journey, such as very
+     few have made. The place from which I write is very romantic,
+     being situated at the foot of a ridge of enormous mountains
+     which extend to the clouds, they look higher than the Pyrenees.
+     My health, thank God, is very good. I bathed to-day and feel
+     all the better for it; I hope you are getting on well, and that
+     all our dear family is comfortable. I hope my dear mother is
+     well. Oh, it is so pleasant to hope that I am still not alone
+     in the world, and that there are those who love and care for me
+     and pray for me. I shall be very glad to get to Constantinople,
+     as from there there is no difficulty; and a great part of the
+     way to Russia is by sea, and when I am in Russia I am almost at
+     home. I shall write to you again from Bucharest if it please
+     God. It is not much more than eighty miles from here, but the
+     way lies over the mountains, so that the journey will take
+     three or four days. We travel here in tilted carts drawn by
+     ponies; the carts are without springs, so that one is terribly
+     shaken. It is, however, very healthy, especially when one has a
+     strong constitution. The carts are chiefly made of sticks and
+     wickerwork; they are, of course, very slight, and indeed if
+     they were not so they would soon go to pieces owing to the
+     jolting. I read your little book every morning; it is true that
+     I am sometimes wrong with respect to the date, but I soon get
+     right again; oh, I shall be so glad to see you and my mother
+     and old Hen. and Lucy and the whole dear circle. I hope Crups
+     is well, and the horse. Oh, I shall be so glad to come back.
+     God bless you, my heart's darling, and dear Hen.; kiss her for
+     me, and my mother.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, Oulton, Lowestoft
+
+                BUCHAREST, _August 5, 1844._
+
+     MY DEAREST CARRETA,--I write you a few lines from the house of
+     the Consul, Mr. Colquhoun, to inform you that I arrived at
+     Bucharest quite safe: the post leaves to-day, and Mr. C. has
+     kindly permitted me to send a note along with the official
+     despatches. I am quite well, thank God, but I thought you would
+     like to hear from me. Bucharest is in the province of Wallachia
+     and close upon the Turkish frontier. I shall remain here a week
+     or two as I find the place a very interesting one; then I shall
+     proceed to Constantinople. I wrote to you from Hermanstadt last
+     week and the week previous from Clausenburgh, and before I
+     leave I shall write again, and not so briefly as now. I have
+     experienced every possible attention from Mr. C., who is a very
+     delightful person, and indeed everybody is very kind and
+     attentive. I hope sincerely that you and Hen. are quite well
+     and happy, and also my dear mother. God bless you, dearest.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, Oulton, Lowestoft
+
+                BUCHAREST, _August 14, 1844._
+
+     MY DARLING CARRETA,--To-morrow or the next day I leave
+     Bucharest for Constantinople. I wrote to you on my arrival a
+     few days ago, and promise to write again before my departure. I
+     shall not be sorry to get to Constantinople, as from thence I
+     can go where-ever I think proper without any difficulty. Since
+     I have been here, Mr. Colquhoun, the British Consul-General,
+     has shown me every civility, and upon the whole I have not
+     passed the time disagreeably. I have been chiefly occupied of
+     late in rubbing up my Turkish a little, which I had almost
+     forgotten; there was a time when I wrote it better than any
+     other language. It is coming again rapidly, and I make no doubt
+     that in a little time I should speak it almost as well as
+     Spanish, for I understand the groundwork. In Hungary and
+     Germany I picked up some curious books, which will help to pass
+     the time at home when I have nothing better to do. It is a long
+     way from here to Constantinople, and it is probable that I
+     shall be fifteen or sixteen days on the journey, as I do not
+     intend to travel very fast. It is possible that I shall stay a
+     day or two at Adrianople, which is half way. If you should not
+     hear from me for some time don't be alarmed, as it is possible
+     that I shall have no opportunities of writing till I get to
+     Constantinople. Bucharest, where I am now, is close on the
+     Turkish frontier, being only half a day's journey. Since I have
+     been here, I have bought a Tartar dress and a couple of Turkish
+     shirts. I have done so in order not to be stared at as I pass
+     along. It is very beautiful and by no means dear. Yesterday I
+     wrote to M. Since I have been here I have seen some English
+     newspapers, and see that chap H. has got in with M. Perhaps his
+     recommendation was that he had once insulted us. However, God
+     only knows. I think I had never much confidence in M. I can
+     read countenances as you know, and have always believed him to
+     be selfish and insincere. I, however, care nothing about him,
+     and will not allow, D.V., any conduct of his to disturb me. I
+     shall be glad to get home, and if I can but settle down a
+     little, I feel that I can accomplish something great. I hope
+     that my dear mother is well, and that you are all well. God
+     bless you. It is something to think that since I have been away
+     I have to a certain extent accomplished what I went about. I am
+     stronger and better and hardier, my cough has left me, there is
+     only occasionally a little huskiness in the throat. I have also
+     increased my stock of languages, and my imagination is
+     brightened, Bucharest is a strange place with much grandeur and
+     much filth. Since I have been here I have dined almost every
+     day with Mr. C., who wants me to have an apartment in his
+     house. I thought it, however, better to be at an inn, though
+     filthy. I have also dined once at the Russian Consul-General's,
+     whom I knew in Russia. Now God bless you my heart's darling;
+     kiss also Hen., write to my mother, and remember me to all
+     friends.
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+The best letter that I have of this journey, and indeed the best letter
+of Borrow's that I have read, is one from Constantinople to his
+wife--the only letter by him from that city:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, Oulton, Lowestoft
+
+                CONSTANTINOPLE, 16_th September 1844._
+
+     MY DARLING CARRETA,--I am about to leave Constantinople and to
+     return home. I have given up the idea of going to Russia; I
+     find that if I go to Odessa I shall have to remain in
+     quarantine for fourteen days, which I have no inclination to
+     do; I am, moreover, anxious to get home, being quite tired of
+     wandering, and desirous of being once more with my loved ones.
+     This is a most interesting place, but unfortunately it is
+     extremely dear. The Turks have no inns, and I am here at an
+     English one, at which, though everything is comfortable, the
+     prices are very high. To-day is Monday, and next Friday I
+     purpose starting for Salonica in a steamboat--Salonica is in
+     Albania. I shall then cross Albania, a journey of about three
+     hundred miles, and get to Corfu, from which I can either get to
+     England across Italy and down the Rhine, or by way of
+     Marseilles and across France. I shall not make any stay in
+     Italy if I go there, as I have nothing to see there. I shall be
+     so glad to be at home with you once again, and to see my dear
+     mother and Hen. Tell Hen. that I picked up for her in one of
+     the bazaars a curious Armenian coin; it is silver, small, but
+     thick, with a most curious inscription upon it. I gave fifteen
+     piastres for it. I hope it and the rest will get safe to
+     England. I have bought a chest, which I intend to send by sea,
+     and I have picked up a great many books and other things, and I
+     wish to travel light; I shall, therefore, only take a bag with
+     a few clothes and shirts. It is possible that I shall be at
+     home soon after your receiving this, or at most three weeks
+     after. I hope to write to you again from Corfu, which is a
+     British island with a British garrison in it, like Gibraltar;
+     the English newspapers came last week. I see those wretched
+     French cannot let us alone, they want to go to war; well, let
+     them; they richly deserve a good drubbing. The people here are
+     very kind in their way, but home is home, especially such a one
+     as mine, with true hearts to welcome me. Oh, I was so glad to
+     get your letters; they were rather of a distant date, it is
+     true, but they quite revived me. I hope you are all well, and
+     my dear mother. Since I have been here I have written to Mr.
+     Lord. I was glad to hear that he has written to Hen. I hope
+     Lucy is well; pray remember me most kindly to her, and tell her
+     that I hope to see her soon. I count so of getting into my
+     summer-house again, and sitting down to write; I have arranged
+     my book in my mind, and though it will take me a great deal of
+     trouble to write it, I feel that when it is written it will be
+     first-rate. My journey, with God's help, has done me a great
+     deal of good. I am stronger than I was, and I can now sleep. I
+     intend to draw on England for forty or fifty pounds; if I don't
+     want the whole of it, it will be all the same. I have still
+     some money left, but I have no wish to be stopped on my journey
+     for want of it. I am sorry about what you told me respecting
+     the railway, sorry that the old coach is driven off the road. I
+     shall patronise it as little as possible, but stick to the old
+     route and Thurton George. What a number of poor people will
+     these railroads deprive of their bread. I am grieved at what
+     you say about poor M.; he can take her into custody, however,
+     and oblige her to support the children; such is law, though the
+     property may have been secured to her, she can be compelled to
+     do that. Tell Hen. that there is a mosque here, called the
+     mosque of Sultan Bajazet; it is full of sacred pigeons; there
+     is a corner of the court to which the creatures flock to be
+     fed, like bees, by hundreds and thousands; they are not at all
+     afraid, as they are never killed. Every place where they can
+     roost is covered with them, their impudence is great; they
+     sprang originally from two pigeons brought from Asia by the
+     Emperor of Constantinople. They are of a deep blue. God bless
+     you, dearest.
+
+                G. B.
+
+He returned home by way of Venice and Rome as the following two letters
+indicate:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, Oulton, Lowestoft
+
+                VENICE, _22nd Octr. 1844._
+
+     MY DEAREST CARRETA,--I arrived this day at Venice, and though
+     I am exceedingly tired I hasten to write a line to inform you
+     of my well-being. I am now making for home as fast as possible,
+     and I have now nothing to detain me. Since I wrote to you last
+     I have been again in quarantine for two days and a half at
+     Trieste, but I am glad to say that I shall no longer be
+     detained on that account. I was obliged to go to Trieste,
+     though it was much out of my way, otherwise I must have
+     remained I know not how long in Corfu, waiting for a direct
+     conveyance. After my liberation I only stopped a day at Corfu
+     in order that I might lose no more time, though I really wished
+     to tarry there a little longer, the people were so kind. On the
+     day of my liberation, I had four invitations to dinner from the
+     officers. I, however, made the most of my time, and escorted by
+     one Captain Northcott, of the Rifles, went over the
+     fortifications, which are most magnificent. I saw everything
+     that I well could, and shall never forget the kindness with
+     which I was treated. The next day I went to Trieste in a
+     steamer, down the whole length of the Adriatic. I was horribly
+     unwell, for the Adriatic is a bad sea, and very dangerous; the
+     weather was also very rough; after stopping at Trieste a day,
+     besides the quarantine, I left for Venice, and here I am, and
+     hope to be on my route again the day after to-morrow. I shall
+     now hurry through Italy by way of Ancona, Rome, and Civita
+     Vecchia to Marseilles in France and from Marseilles to London,
+     in not more than six days' journey. Oh, I shall be so glad to
+     get back to you and my mother (I hope she is alive and well)
+     and Hen. I am glad to hear that we are not to have a war with
+     those silly people, the French. The idea made me very uneasy,
+     for I thought how near Oulton lay to the coast. You cannot
+     imagine what a magnificent old town Venice is; it is clearly
+     the finest in Italy, although in decay; it stands upon islands
+     in the sea, and in many places is intersected with canals. The
+     Grand Canal is four miles long, lined with palaces on either
+     side. I, however, shall be glad to leave it, for there is no
+     place to me like Oulton, where live two of my dear ones. I have
+     told you that I am very tired, so that I cannot write much
+     more, and I am presently going to bed, but I am sure that you
+     will be glad to hear from me, however little I may write. I
+     think I told you in my last letter that I had been to the top
+     of Mount Olympus in Thessaly. Tell Hen. that I saw a whole herd
+     of wild deer bounding down the cliffs, the noise they made was
+     like thunder; I also saw an enormous eagle--one of Jupiter's
+     birds, his real eagles, for, according to the Grecian
+     mythology, Olympus was his favourite haunt. I don't know what
+     it was then, but at present the most wild savage place I ever
+     saw; an immense way up I came to a forest of pines; half of
+     them were broken by thunderbolts, snapped in the middle, and
+     the ruins lying around in the most hideous confusion; some had
+     been blasted from top to bottom and stood naked, black, and
+     charred, in indescribable horridness; Jupiter was the god of
+     thunder, and he still seems to haunt Olympus. The worst is
+     there is little water, so that a person might almost perish
+     there of thirst; the snow-water, however, when it runs into the
+     hollows is the most delicious beverage ever tasted--the snow,
+     however, is very high up. My next letter, I hope, will be from
+     Marseilles, and I hope to be there in a very few days. Now, God
+     bless you, my dearest; write to my mother, and kiss Hen., and
+     remember me kindly to Lucy and the Atkinses.
+
+                G. B.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, Oulton, Lowestoft
+
+                ROME, _1 Nov. 1844._
+
+     MY DEAREST CARRETA,--My last letter was from Ancona; the
+     present is, as you see, from Rome. From Ancona I likewise wrote
+     to Woodfall requesting he would send a letter of credit for
+     twelve or fifteen pounds, directing to the care of the British
+     Consul at Marseilles. I hope you received your letter and that
+     he received his, as by the time I get to Marseilles I shall be
+     in want of money by reason of the roundabout way I have been
+     obliged to come. I am quite well, thank God, and hope to leave
+     here in a day or two. It is close by the sea, and France is
+     close by, but I am afraid I shall be obliged to wait some days
+     at Marseilles before I shall get the letter, as the post goes
+     direct from no part of Italy, though it is not more than six
+     days' journey, or seven at most, from Ancona to London. It was
+     that wretched quarantine at Corfu that has been the cause of
+     all this delay, as it caused me to lose the passage by the
+     steamer [original torn here] Ancona, which forced me to go
+     round by Trieste and Venice, five hundred miles out of my way,
+     at a considerable expense. Oh, I shall be so glad to get home.
+     As I told you before, I am quite well; indeed, in better health
+     than I have been for years, but it is very vexatious to be
+     stopped in the manner I have been. God bless you, my darling.
+     Write to my mother and kiss her.
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[167] _Journals and Correspondence of Lady Eastlake_, edited by her
+nephew, Charles Eastlake Smith, vol. i. p. 124. John Murray, 1895.
+
+[168] _Life of Borrow_ by Herbert Jenkins, p. 361.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+_LAVENGRO_
+
+
+_The Bible in Spain_ bears on its title-page the date 1843, although my
+copy makes it clear in Borrow's handwriting that it was really ready for
+publication in the previous year.
+
+[Illustration: [handwritten text]
+
+    Mary Borrow
+    With Her Husband's Love.
+    13 Dec'r 1842]
+
+Borrow's handwriting had changed its character somewhat when he
+inscribed to his wife a copy of his next book _Lavengro_ in 1851.
+
+[Illustration: [handwritten text]
+
+    Mary Borrow
+    With Her Husband's Love.]
+
+In the intervening eight or nine years he had travelled much--suffered
+much. During all these years he had been thinking about, talking about,
+his next book, making no secret of the fact that it was to be an
+Autobiography. Even before _The Bible in Spain_ was issued he had
+written to Mr. John Murray foreshadowing a book in which his father,
+William Taylor, and others were to put in an appearance. In the
+'Advertisement' to _The Romany Rye_ he tells us that 'the principal part
+of _Lavengro_ was written in the year '43, that the whole of it was
+completed before the termination of the year '46, and that it was in the
+hands of the publisher in the year '48.' As the idea grew in his mind,
+his friend, Richard Ford, gave him much sound advice:
+
+     Never mind nimminy-pimminy people thinking subjects _low_.
+     Things are low in manner of handling. Draw Nature in rags and
+     poverty, yet draw her truly, and how picturesque! I hate your
+     silver fork, kid glove, curly-haired school.[169]
+
+And so in the following years, now to Ford, now to Murray, he traces his
+progress, while in 1844 he tells Dawson Turner that he is 'at present
+engaged in a kind of Biography in the Robinson Crusoe style.'[170] But
+in the same year he went to Buda-Pesth, Venice, and Constantinople. The
+first advertisement of the book appeared in _The Quarterly Review_ in
+July 1848, when _Lavengro, An Autobiography_, was announced. Later in
+the same year Mr. Murray advertised the book as _Life, A Drama_; and Dr.
+Knapp, who had in his collection the original proof-sheets of
+_Lavengro_, reproduces the title-page of the book which then stood as
+_Life, A Drama_, and bore the date 1849. Borrow's procrastination in
+delivering the complete book worried John Murray exceedingly. Not
+unnaturally, for in 1848 he had offered the book at his annual sale
+dinner to the booksellers who had subscribed to it liberally. Eighteen
+months later Murray was still worrying Borrow for the return of the
+proof-sheets of the third and last volume. Not until January 1850 do we
+hear of it as _Lavengro, An Autobiography_, and under this title it was
+advertised in _The Quarterly Review_ for that month as 'nearly ready for
+publication.' In April 1850 we find Woodfall, John Murray's printer,
+writing letter after letter urging celerity, to which Mrs. Borrow
+replies, excusing the delay on account of her husband's indifferent
+health. They have been together in lodgings at Yarmouth. 'He had many
+plunges into the briny Ocean, which seemed to do him good.'[171] Murray
+continued to exhort, but the final chapter did not reach him. 'My sale
+is fixed for December 12th,' he writes in November, 'and if I cannot
+show the book then I must throw it up.' This threat had little effect,
+for on 13th December we find Murray still coaxing his dilatory author,
+telling him with justice that there were passages in his book 'equal to
+Defoe.' The very printer, Mr. Woodfall, joined in the chase. 'The public
+is quite prepared to devour your book,' he wrote, which was unhappily
+not the case. Nor was Ford a happier prophet, although a true friend
+when he wrote--'I am sure it will be _the_ book of the year when it is
+brought forth.'[172] The activity of Mrs. Borrow in this matter of the
+publication of _Lavengro_ is interesting. 'My husband ... is, I assure
+you, doing all he can as regards the completion of the book,' she
+writes to Mr. Murray in December 1849, and in November of the following
+year Murray writes to her to say that he is engraving Phillips's
+portrait of Borrow for the book. 'I think a cheering letter from you
+will do Mr. Borrow good,' she writes later. Throughout the whole
+correspondence between publisher and printer we are impressed by Mrs.
+Borrow's keen interest in her husband's book, her anxiety that he should
+be humoured. Sadly did Borrow need to be humoured, for if he had
+cherished the illusion that his book would really be the 'Book of the
+Year' he was to suffer a cruel disillusion. Scarcely any one wanted it.
+All the critics abused it. In _The Athenaeum_ it was bluntly pronounced a
+failure. 'The story of _Lavengro_ will content no one,' said Sir William
+Stirling-Maxwell in _Fraser's Magazine_. The book 'will add but little
+to Mr. Borrow's reputation,' said _Blackwood_. The only real insight
+into the book's significance was provided by Thomas Gordon Hake in a
+letter to _The New Monthly Review_, in which journal the editor,
+Harrison Ainsworth, had already pronounced a not very favourable
+opinion. '_Lavengro's_ roots will strike deep into the soil of English
+letters,' wrote Dr. Hake, and he then pronounced a verdict now
+universally accepted. George Henry Lewes once happily remarked that he
+would make an appreciation of Boswell's _Life of Johnson_ a test of
+friendship. Many of us would be almost equally inclined to make such a
+test of Borrow's _Lavengro_. Tennyson declared that an enthusiasm for
+Milton's _Lycidas_ was a touchstone of taste in poetry. May we not say
+that an enthusiasm for Borrow's _Lavengro_ is now a touchstone of taste
+in English prose literature?
+
+But the reception of _Lavengro_ by the critics, and also by the
+public,[173] may be said to have destroyed Borrow's moral fibre.
+Henceforth, it was a soured and disappointed man who went forth to meet
+the world. We hear much in the gossip of contemporaries of Borrow's
+eccentricities, it may be of his rudeness and gruffness, in the last
+years of his life. Only those who can realise the personality of a
+self-contained man, conscious, as all genius has ever been, of its
+achievement, and conscious also of the failure of the world to
+recognise, will understand--and will sympathise.
+
+Borrow, as we have seen, took many years to write _Lavengro_. 'I am
+writing the work,' he told Dawson Turner, 'in precisely the same manner
+as _The Bible in Spain_, viz., on blank sheets of old account-books,
+backs of letters,' etc., and he recalls Mahomet writing the Koran on
+mutton bones as an analogy to his own 'slovenliness of manuscript.'[174]
+I have had plenty of opportunity of testing this slovenliness in the
+collection of manuscripts of portions of _Lavengro_ that have come into
+my possession. These are written upon pieces of paper of all shapes and
+sizes, although at least a third of the book in Borrow's very neat
+handwriting is contained in a leather notebook, of which I give examples
+of the title-page and opening leaf in facsimile. The title-page
+demonstrates the earliest form of Borrow's conception. Not only did he
+then contemplate an undisguised autobiography, but even described
+himself, as he frequently did in his conversation, as 'a Norfolk man.'
+Before the book was finished, however, he repudiated the
+autobiographical note, and by the time he sat down to write _The Romany
+Rye_ we find him fiercely denouncing his critics for coming to such a
+conclusion. 'The writer,' he declares, 'never said it was an
+autobiography; never authorised any person to say it was one.' Which was
+doubtless true, in a measure. Yet I find among my Borrow Papers the
+following letter from Whitwell Elwin, who, writing from Booton Rectory
+on 21st October 1852, and addressing him as 'My dear Mr. Borrow,' said:
+
+[Illustration: THE ORIGINAL TITLE-PAGE OF _LAVENGRO_.
+
+_From the Manuscript in the possession of the Author of 'George Borrow
+and his Circle.'_]
+
+     I hoped to have been able to call upon you at Yarmouth, but a
+     heavy cold first, and now occupation, have interfered with my
+     intentions. I daresay you have seen the mention made of your
+     _Lavengro_ in the article on Haydon in the current number of
+     _The Quarterly Review_, and I thought you might like to know
+     that every syllable, both comment and extract, was inserted by
+     the writer (a man little given to praise) of his own _accord_.
+     Murray sent him your book, and that was all. No addition or
+     modification was made by myself, and it is therefore the
+     unbiassed judgment of a _very critical_ reviewer. Whenever you
+     appear again before the public I shall endeavour to do ample
+     justice to your past and present merits, and there is one point
+     in which you could aid those who understand you and your books
+     in bringing over general readers to your side. I was myself
+     acquainted with many of the persons you have sketched in your
+     _Lavengro_, and I can testify to the extraordinary vividness
+     and accuracy of the portraits. What I have seen, again, of
+     yourself tells me that romantic adventures are your natural
+     element, and I should _a priori_ expect that much of your
+     history would be stranger than fiction. But you must remember
+     that the bulk of readers have no personal acquaintance with
+     you, or the characters you describe. The consequence is that
+     they fancy there is an immensity of romance mixed up with the
+     facts, and they are irritated by the inability to distinguish
+     between them. I am confident, from all I have heard, that this
+     was the source of the comparatively cold reception of
+     _Lavengro_. I should have partaken the feeling myself if I had
+     not had the means of testing the fidelity of many portions of
+     the book, from which I inferred the equal fidelity of the rest.
+     I think you have the remedy in your own hands, viz., by giving
+     the utmost possible matter-of-fact air to your sequel. I do not
+     mean that you are to tame down the truth, but some ways of
+     narrating a story make it seem more credible than others, and
+     if you were so far to defer to the ignorance of the public they
+     would enter into the full spirit of your rich and racy
+     narrative. You naturally look at your life from your own point
+     of view, and this in itself is the best; but when you publish a
+     book you invite the reader to participate in the events of your
+     career, and it is necessary then to look a little at things
+     from _his_ point of view. As he has not your knowledge you must
+     stoop to him. I throw this out for your consideration. My sole
+     wish is that the public should have a right estimate of you,
+     and surely you ought to do what is in your power to help them
+     to it. I know you will excuse the liberty I take in offering
+     this crude suggestion. Take it for what it is worth, but
+     anyhow....
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST PAGE OF _LAVENGRO_.
+
+_From the Manuscript in the possession of the Author of 'George Borrow
+and his Circle.'_]
+
+To this letter, as we learn from Elwin's _Life_, 'instead of roaring
+like a lion,' as Elwin had expected, he returned quite a 'lamb-like
+note.'
+
+Read by the light in which we all judge the book to-day, this estimate
+by Elwin was about as fatuous as most contemporary criticisms of a
+masterpiece. Which is only to say that it is rarely given to
+contemporary critics to judge accurately of the great work that comes to
+them amid a mass that is not great. That Elwin, although not a good
+editor of Pope, was a sound critic of the literature of a period
+anterior to his own is demonstrated by the admirable essays from his pen
+that have been reprinted with an excellent memoir of him by his
+son.[175] In this memoir we have a capital glimpse of our hero:
+
+     Among the notables whom he had met was Borrow, whose _Lavengro_
+     and _Romany Rye_ he afterwards reviewed in 1857 under the title
+     of 'Roving Life in England,' Their interview was
+     characteristic of both. Borrow was just then very sore with his
+     snarling critics, and on some one mentioning that Elwin was a
+     _quartering_ reviewer, he said, 'Sir, I wish you a better
+     employment.' Then hastily changing the subject he called out,
+     'What party are _you_ in the Church--Tractarian, Moderate, or
+     Evangelical? I am happy to say I am the old _High_.' 'I am
+     happy to say I am _not_,' was Elwin's emphatic reply. Borrow
+     boasted of his proficiency in the Norfolk dialect, which he
+     endeavoured to speak as broadly as possible. 'I told him,' said
+     Elwin, 'that he had not cultivated it with his usual success.'
+     As the conversation proceeded it became less disputatious, and
+     the two ended by becoming so cordial that they promised to
+     visit each other. Borrow fulfilled his promise in the following
+     October, when he went to Booton,[176] and was 'full of anecdote
+     and reminiscence,' and delighted the rectory children by
+     singing them songs in the gypsy tongue. Elwin during this visit
+     urged him to try his hand at an article for the _Review_.
+     'Never,' he said; 'I have made a resolution never to have
+     anything to do with such a blackguard trade.'
+
+While writing of Whitwell Elwin and his association with Borrow, which
+was sometimes rather strained as we shall see when _The Romany Rye_
+comes to be published, it is interesting to turn to Elwin's final
+impression of Borrow, as conveyed in a letter which the recipient[177]
+has kindly placed at my disposal. It was written from Booton Rectory,
+and is dated 27th October 1893:
+
+     I used occasionally to meet Borrow at the house of Mr. Murray,
+     his publisher, and he once stayed with me here for two or three
+     days about 1855. He always seemed to me quite at ease 'among
+     refined people,' and I should not have ascribed his dogmatic
+     tone, when he adopted it, to his resentment at finding himself
+     out of keeping with his society. A spirit of self-assertion was
+     engrained in him, and it was supported by a combative
+     temperament. As he was proud of his bodily prowess, and rather
+     given to parade it, so he took the same view of an argument as
+     of a battle with fists, and thought that manliness required him
+     to be determined and unflinching. But this, in my experience of
+     him, was not his ordinary manner, which was calm and
+     companionable, without rudeness of any kind, unless some
+     difference occurred to provoke his pugnacity. I have witnessed
+     instances of his care to avoid wounding feelings needlessly. He
+     never kept back his opinions which, on some points, were
+     shallow and even absurd; and when his antagonist was as
+     persistently positive as himself, he was apt to be over
+     vehement in contradiction. I have heard Mr. Murray say that
+     once in a dispute with Dr. Whewell at a dinner the language on
+     both sides grew so fiery that Mrs. Whewell fainted.
+
+     He told me that his composition cost him a vast amount of
+     labour, that his first draughts were diffuse and crude, and
+     that he wrote his productions several times before he had
+     condensed and polished them to his mind. There is nothing
+     choicer in the English language than some of his narratives,
+     descriptions, and sketches of character, but in his best books
+     he did not always prune sufficiently, and in his last work,
+     _Wild Wales_, he seemed to me to have lost the faculty
+     altogether. Mr. Murray long refused to publish it unless it was
+     curtailed, and Borrow, with his usual self-will and
+     self-confidence, refused to retrench the trivialities. Either
+     he got his own way in the end, or he revised his manuscript to
+     little purpose.
+
+     Probably most of what there was to tell of Borrow has been
+     related by himself. It is a disadvantage in _Lavengro_ and
+     _Romany Rye_ that we cannot with certainty separate fact from
+     fiction, for he avowed in talk that, like Goethe, he had
+     assumed the right in the interests of his autobiographical
+     narrative to embellish it in places; but the main outline, and
+     larger part of the details, are the genuine record of what he
+     had seen and done, and I can testify that some of his minor
+     personages who were known to me in my boyhood are described
+     with perfect accuracy.
+
+Two letters by Mr. Elwin to Borrow, from my Borrow Papers, both dated
+1853--two years after _Lavengro_ was written,--may well have place here:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                BOOTON, NORWICH, _Oct. 26, 1853._
+
+     MY DEAR MR. BORROW,--I shall be rejoiced to see you here, and I
+     hope you will fasten a little luggage to the bow of your
+     saddle, and spend as much time under my roof as you can spare.
+     I am always at home. Mrs. Elwin is sure to be in the house or
+     garden, and I, at the worst, not further off than the extreme
+     boundary of my parish. Pray come, and that quickly. Your
+     shortest road from Norwich is through Horsford, and from thence
+     to the park wall of Haverland Hall, which you skirt. This will
+     bring you out by a small wayside public house, well known in
+     these parts, called 'The Rat-catchers.' At this point you turn
+     sharp to the left, and keep the straight road till you come to
+     a church with a new red brick house adjoining, which is your
+     journey's end.
+
+     The conclusion of your note to me is so true in sentiment, and
+     so admirable in expression, that I hope you will introduce it
+     into your next work. I wish it had been said in the article on
+     Haydon. Cannot you strew such criticisms through the sequel to
+     _Lavengro_? They would give additional charm and value to the
+     work. Believe me, very truly yours,
+
+                W. ELWIN.
+
+     You are of course aware that if _I_ had spoken of _Lavengro_ in
+     the _Q.R._ I should have said much more, but as I hoped for my
+     turn hereafter, I preferred to let the passage go forth
+     unadulterated.
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                BOOTON RECTORY, NORWICH, _Nov. 5, 1853._
+
+     MY DEAR MR. BORROW,---You bore your mishap with a philosophic
+     patience, and started with an energy which gives the best
+     earnest that you would arrive safe and sound at Norwich. I was
+     happy to find yesterday morning, by the arrival of your kind
+     present, a sure notification that you were well home. Many
+     thanks for the tea, which we drink with great zest and
+     diligence. My legs are not as long as yours, nor my breath
+     either. You soon made me feel that I must either turn back or
+     be left behind, so I chose the former. Mrs. Elwin and my
+     children desire their kind regards. They one and all enjoyed
+     your visit. Believe me, very truly yours,
+
+                W. ELWIN.
+
+I have said that I possess large portions of _Lavengro_ in manuscript.
+Borrow's always helpful wife, however, copied out the whole manuscript
+for the publishers, and this 'clean copy' came to Dr. Knapp, who found
+even here a few pages of very valuable writing deleted, and these he has
+very rightly restored in Mr. Murray's edition of _Lavengro_. Why Borrow
+took so much pains to explain that his wife had copied _Lavengro_, as
+the following document implies, I cannot think. I find in his
+handwriting this scrap of paper signed by Mary Borrow, and witnessed by
+her daughter:
+
+                _Janry. 30, 1869._
+
+     This is to certify that I transcribed _The Bible in Spain_,
+     _Lavengro_, and some other works of my husband George Borrow,
+     from the original manuscripts. A considerable portion of the
+     transcript of _Lavengro_ was lost at the printing-office where
+     the work was printed.
+
+                            MARY BORROW.
+
+                Witness: Henrietta M., daughter of Mary Borrow.
+
+It only remains here to state the melancholy fact once again that
+_Lavengro_, great work of literature as it is now universally
+acknowledged to be, was not 'the book of the year.' The three thousand
+copies of the first issue took more than twenty years to sell, and it
+was not until 1872 that Mr. Murray resolved to issue a cheaper edition.
+The time was not ripe for the cult of the open road; the zest for 'the
+wind on the heath' that our age shares so keenly.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[169] Knapp's _Life_, vol. ii p. 9.
+
+[170] _Ibid._ p. 11.
+
+[171] Knapp's _Life_, vol. ii. p. 19.
+
+[172] Ford was right, however, if authors wrote only for posterity,
+although 1851 was not a very important year among the great Victorian
+writers. It produced Carlyle's _John Sterling_, Ruskin's _Stones of
+Venice_, and Kingsley's _Yeast_.
+
+[173] Mr. Murray published _Lavengro_ in an edition of 3000 copies in
+1851, a second edition (incorrectly called the third) was not asked for
+until 1872.
+
+[174] Jenkins's _Life_, p. 387.
+
+[175] _Some XVIII. Century Men of Letters: Biographical Essays_, by the
+Rev. Whitwell Elwin, sometime Editor of _The Quarterly Review_, With a
+Memoir by his son Warwick Elwin, 2 vols. John Murray, 1902.
+
+[176] Whitwell Elwin was Rector of Booton, Norfolk--a family
+living--from 1849 to his death, aged 83, on 1st January 1900. He
+succeeded Lockhart as editor of _The Quarterly Review_ in 1853, and
+resigned in 1860. He was born in 1816, and educated at Caius College,
+Cambridge. Thackeray called him 'a grandson of the late Rev. Dr.
+Primrose,' thereby recognising in Elwin many of the kindly qualities of
+Goldsmith's admirable creation.
+
+[177] Mr. James Hooper, of Norwich, whose kindness in placing this and
+many other documents at my disposal I have already acknowledged. This
+letter was first published in _The Sphere_, December 19, 1903.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+A VISIT TO CORNISH KINSMEN
+
+
+If Borrow had been a normal man of letters he would have been quite
+satisfied to settle down at Oulton, in a comfortable home, with a
+devoted wife. The question of money was no longer to worry him. He had
+moreover a money-making gift, which made him independent in a measure of
+his wife's fortune. From _The Bible in Spain_ he must have drawn a very
+considerable amount, considerable, that is, for a man whose habits were
+always somewhat penurious. _The Bible in Spain_ would have been followed
+up, were Borrow a quite other kind of man, by a succession of books
+almost equally remunerative. Even for one so prone to hate both books
+and bookmen there was always the wind on the heath, the gypsy
+encampment, the now famous 'broad,' not then the haunt of innumerable
+trippers. But Borrow ever loved wandering more than writing. Almost
+immediately after his marriage--in 1840--he hinted to the Bible Society
+of a journey to China; a year later, in June 1841, he suggested to Lord
+Clarendon that Lord Palmerston might give him a consulship: he consulted
+Hasfeld as to a possible livelihood in Berlin, and Ford as to travel in
+Africa. He seems to have endured residence at Oulton with difficulty
+during the succeeding three years, and in 1844 we find him engaged upon
+the continental travel that we have already recorded. In 1847 he had
+hopes of the consulship at Canton, but Bowring wanted it for himself,
+and a misunderstanding over this led to an inevitable break of old
+friendship. Borrow's passionate love of travel was never more to be
+gratified at the expense of others. He tried hard, indeed, to secure a
+journey to the East from the British Museum Trustees, and then gave up
+the struggle. Further wanderings, which were many, were to be confined
+to Europe and indeed to England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man.
+His first journey, however, was not at his own initiative. Mrs. Borrow's
+health was unequal to the severe winters at Oulton, and so the Borrows
+made their home at Yarmouth from 1853 to 1860. During these years he
+gave his vagabond propensities full play. No year passed without its
+record of wandering. His first expedition was the outcome of a burst of
+notoriety that seems to have done for Borrow what the success of his
+_Bible in Spain_ could not do--revealed his identity to his Cornish
+relations. The _Bury Post_ of 17th September 1853 recorded that Borrow
+had at the risk of his life saved at least one member of a boat's crew
+wrecked on the coast at Yarmouth:
+
+     The moment was an awful one, when George Borrow, the well-known
+     author of _Lavengro_ and _The Bible in Spain_, dashed into the
+     surf and saved one life, and through his instrumentality the
+     others were saved. We ourselves have known this brave and
+     gifted man for years, and, daring as was his deed, we have
+     known him more than once to risk his life for others. We are
+     happy to add that he has sustained no material injury.
+
+I was quite sorry to find this extract from the _Bury Post_ among my
+Borrow Papers in Mrs. Borrow's handwriting. It a little suggests that
+she sent the copy to the journal in question, or at least inspired the
+paragraph, perhaps in a letter to her friend, Dr. Gordon Hake, who with
+his family then resided at Bury St. Edmunds. Borrow was a perfect
+swimmer, and there is no reason to suppose but that he did act
+heroically.[178] In my Borrow Papers I find in his handwriting his own
+account of the adventure:
+
+     I was seated on Yarmouth jetty; the weather was very stormy;
+     there came a tremendous sea, which struck the jetty, and made
+     it quiver; there was a boat on the lee-side of the jetty
+     fastened by a painter; the surge snapped the painter like a
+     thread, the boat was overset with two men in it, there was a
+     cry, 'The men must be drowned.' I started up from my seat on
+     the north side of the jetty, and saw the boat bottom upwards,
+     and I heard some people say, 'The men are under it.' I ran a
+     little way along the jetty, and then jumped upon the sand;
+     before taking the leap I saw a man flung by the surge upon the
+     shore; he crawled up upon the beach, and was, I believe, lifted
+     up upon his legs by certain beachmen. I had my eye upon the
+     boat, which was now near the shore; I had an idea that there
+     was a man under it; I flung off my coat and hat, and went a
+     little way into the sea, about parallel to some beachmen who
+     were moving backwards and forwards as the waves advanced and
+     receded. I now saw a man as a wave recoiled lying close by the
+     boat in the reflux. I dashed forward and made a grip at the
+     man, then came a tremendous wave which tumbled me heels over
+     head; being an expert diver I did not attempt to rise, lest I
+     should be flung on shore. When the wave receded, I found
+     myself near the boat; the man was now nearer to the shore than
+     myself. I believe a man or two were making towards him; another
+     wave came which overwhelmed me, and flung me on the shore, to
+     which I was now making with all my strength. I got on my legs
+     for one moment, when the advanced guard, if I may call it so,
+     of another wave, struck me on the back, and laid me upon my
+     face, but I was now quite out of danger. A man now came and
+     lifted me up, as others lifted up the other man, who seemed
+     quite unable to exert himself. The above is a plain statement
+     of facts. I was the only person, with the exception of the man
+     in distress, who was in the deep water, or who confronted the
+     billows, which were indeed monstrous, but which I cared little
+     for, being, as I said before, an expert diver. Had I been alone
+     the result of the affair would have been much the same; as it
+     is, after the last wave I could easily have dragged the man up
+     upon the beach. I am willing to give to the beachmen whatever
+     credit is due to them; I am anxious to believe that one of them
+     was once up to his middle in water, but truth compels me to
+     state that I never saw one of them up to his knees. I received
+     very uncivil language from one of them, but every species of
+     respect and sympathy from the genteel part of the spectators. A
+     gentleman, I believe from Norwich, and a policeman, attended me
+     in a cab to my lodgings, where they undressed and dressed me.
+     The kindness of these two individuals I shall never forget.
+
+In any case this adventure had exceptional publicity. For example Mr.
+Robert Cooke of John Murray's firm wrote to Mrs. Borrow on 13th October
+1853 to say that while travelling abroad he had read in _Galignani's
+Messenger_ an account of his friend Lavengro's 'daring and heroic act in
+rescuing so many from a watery grave.' 'I wish they had all been
+critics,' he adds; 'he would have done just the same, and they might
+perhaps have shown their gratitude when they got among his inky waves of
+literature.'
+
+More than this, the paragraph in the Bury St. Edmunds newspaper was
+copied into the _Plymouth Mail_, and was there read by the Borrows of
+Cornwall, who had heard nothing of their relative, Thomas Borrow, the
+army captain and his family, for fifty years or more. One of Borrow's
+cousins by marriage, Robert Taylor of Penquite, invited him to his
+father's homeland, and Borrow accepted, glad, we may be sure, of any
+excuse for a renewal of his wanderings. And so on the 23rd of December
+1853 Borrow made his way from Yarmouth to Plymouth by rail, and thence
+walked twenty miles to Liskeard, where quite a little party of Borrow's
+cousins were present to greet him. The Borrow family consisted of Henry
+Borrow of Looe Doun, the father of Mrs. Taylor, William Borrow of
+Trethinnick, Thomas Nicholas and Elizabeth Borrow, all first cousins,
+except Anne Taylor. Anne, talking to a friend, describes Borrow on this
+visit better than any one else has done:
+
+     A fine tall man of about six feet three; well-proportioned and
+     not stout; able to walk five miles an hour successively; rather
+     florid face without any hirsute appendages; hair white and
+     soft; eyes and eyebrows dark; good nose and very nice mouth;
+     well-shaped hands;--altogether a person you would notice in a
+     crowd.[179]
+
+Dr. Knapp possessed two 'notebooks' of this Cornish tour. Borrow stayed
+at Penquite with his cousins from 24th December to 9th January, then he
+went on a walking tour to Land's End, through Truro and Penzance; he was
+back at Penquite from 26th January to 1st February, and then took a
+week's tramp to Tintagel, King Arthur's Castle, and Pentire. Naturally
+he made inquiries into the language, already extinct, but spoken within
+the memory of the older inhabitants. 'My relations are most excellent
+people,' he wrote to his wife from London on his way back, 'but I could
+not understand more than half of what they said.'
+
+I have only one letter to Mrs. Borrow written during this tour:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                PENQUITE, _27th Janry. 1854._
+
+     MY DEAR CARRETA,--I just write you a line to inform you that I
+     have got back safe here from the Land's End. I have received
+     your two letters, and hope you received mine from the Land's
+     End. It is probable that I shall yet visit one or two places
+     before I leave Cornwall. I am very much pleased with the
+     country. When you receive this if you please to write a line
+     _by return of post_ I think you may; the Trethinnick people
+     wish me to stay with them for a day or two. When you see the
+     Cobbs pray remember me to them; I am sorry Horace has lost his
+     aunt, he will _miss her_. Love to Hen. Ever yours, dearest,
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+     (Keep this.)
+
+One of Borrow's biographers, Mr. Walling, has given us the best account
+of that journey through Cornwall,[180] and his explanation of why Borrow
+did not write the Cornish book that he caused to be advertised in a
+fly-leaf of _The Romany Rye_, by the discouragement arising out of the
+dire failure of that book, may be accepted.[181] Borrow would have made
+a beautiful book upon Cornwall. Even the title, _Penquite and Pentyre;
+or, The Head of the Forest and the Headland_, has music in it. And he
+had in these twenty weeks made himself wonderfully well acquainted not
+only with the topography of the principality, but with its folklore and
+legend. The gulf that ever separated the Borrow of the notebook and of
+the unprepared letter from the Borrow of the finished manuscript was
+extraordinary, and we may deplore with Mr. Walling the absence of this
+among Borrow's many unwritten books.
+
+Borrow was back in Yarmouth at the end of February 1854--he had not fled
+the country as Dalrymple had suggested--but in July he was off again for
+his great tour in Wales, in which he was accompanied by his wife and
+daughter. Of that tour we must treat in another and later chapter, for
+_Wild Wales_ was not published until 1862. The year following his great
+tour in Wales he went on a trip to the Isle of Man.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[178] It is thus that an old schoolfellow, Dalrymple, describes the
+episode in a fragment of manuscript in the possession of Mrs. James
+Stuart of Carrow Abbey, from which I have already quoted:
+
+'In 1850/2/3 Borrow lived at Yarmouth; he here made rather a ludicrous
+exhibition of himself on the occasion of a wreck, when he ran into the
+sea through a full tide up to his knees, with the utmost apparent
+heroism, and retreated again as soon as he thought it might be
+dangerous. He incurred so much ridicule that he abruptly quitted the
+town, and I have not heard since of him.'
+
+[179] Knapp's _Life_, vol. ii. p. 97. Letter from Mrs. Robert Taylor to
+Mrs. Wilkey.
+
+[180] _George Borrow, The Man and His Work_. By R. A. J. Walling.
+Cassell, 1908.
+
+[181] It is not generally known that not less than eleven books by
+Borrow were advertised in the first edition of _The Romany Rye_ in 1857,
+of which only two were published in his lifetime:
+
+1. _Celtic Bards, Chiefs, and Kings._ 2 volumes.
+
+2. _Wild Wales: Its People, Language, and Scenery._ 2 volumes.
+
+3. _Songs of Europe, or Metrical Translations from all the European
+Languages._ 2 volumes.
+
+4. _Kaempe Viser. Songs about Giants and Heroes._ 2 volumes.
+
+5. _The Turkish Jester._ 1 volume.
+
+6. _Penquite and Pentyre; or, The Head of the Forest and the Headland. A
+Book on Cornwall._ 2 volumes.
+
+7. _Russian Popular Tales._ 1 volume.
+
+8. _The Sleeping Bard._ 1 volume.
+
+9. _Norman Skalds, Kings, and Earls._ 2 volumes.
+
+10. _The Death of Balder._ 1 volume.
+
+11. _Bayr Jairgey and Glion Doo. Wanderings in Search of Manx
+Literature._ 1 volume.
+
+Of these _The Sleeping Bard_ appeared in 1860 and _Wild Wales_ in 1862;
+and after Borrow's death _The Turkish Jester_ in 1884 and _The Death of
+Balder_ in 1889. The remaining seven books have not yet been published.
+Their manuscript is partly in the Knapp Collection now in the Hispanic
+Society's possession, partly in my Collection, while certain fragments
+and the manuscript of _Romano Lavo-Lil_ are in the possession of
+well-known Borrow enthusiasts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+IN THE ISLE OF MAN
+
+
+The holiday which Borrow gave himself the year following his visit to
+Wales, that is to say, in September 1855, is recorded in his unpublished
+diaries. He never wrote a book as the outcome of that journey, although
+he caused one to be advertised under the title of _Bayr Jairgey and
+Glion Doo: Wanderings in Search of Manx Literature_.[182] Dr. Knapp
+possessed two volumes of these notebooks closely written in pencil.
+These he reproduced conscientiously in his _Life_, and indeed here we
+have the most satisfactory portion of his book, for the journal is
+transcribed with but little modification, and so we have some thirty
+pages of genuine 'Borrow' that are really very attractive reading.
+Borrow, it will be remembered, learnt the Irish language as a mere
+child, much to his father's disgust. Although he never loved the Irish
+people, the Celtic Irish, that is to say, whose genial temperament was
+so opposed to his own, he did love the Irish language, which he more
+than once declared had incited him to become a student of many tongues.
+He never made the mistake into which two of his biographers have fallen
+of calling it 'Erse.' He was never an accurate student of the Irish
+language, but among Englishmen he led the way in the present-day
+interest in that tongue--an interest which is now so pronounced among
+scholars of many nationalities, and has made in Ireland so definite a
+revival of a language that for a time seemed to be on the way to
+extinction. Two translations from the Irish are to be found in his
+_Targum_ published so far back as 1835, and many other translations from
+the Irish poets were among the unpublished manuscripts that he left
+behind him. It would therefore be with peculiar interest that he would
+visit the Isle of Man which, at the beginning of the nineteenth century,
+was an Irish-speaking land, but in 1855 was at a stage when the language
+was falling fast into decay. What survived of it was still Irish with
+trifling variations in the spelling of words. 'Cranu,' a tree, for
+example, had become 'Cwan,' and so on--although the pronunciation was
+apparently much the same. When the tall, white-haired Englishman talked
+to the older inhabitants who knew something of the language they were
+delighted. 'Mercy upon us,' said one old woman, 'I believe, sir, you are
+of the old Manx!' Borrow was actually wandering in search of Manx
+literature, as the title of the book that he announced implied. He
+inquired about the old songs of the island, and of everything that
+survived of its earlier language. Altogether Borrow must have had a good
+time in thus following his favourite pursuit.
+
+But Dr. Knapp's two notebooks, which are so largely taken up with these
+philological matters, are less human than a similar notebook that has
+fallen into my hands. This is a long leather pocket-book, in which,
+under the title of 'Expedition to the Isle of Man,' we have, written in
+pencil, a quite vivacious account of his adventures. It records that
+Borrow and his wife and daughter set out through Bury to Peterborough,
+Rugby, and Liverpool. It tells of the admiration with which
+Peterborough's 'noble cathedral' inspired him. Liverpool he calls a
+'London in miniature':
+
+     Strolled about town with my wife and Henrietta; wonderful docks
+     and quays, where all the ships of the world seemed to be
+     gathered--all the commerce of the world to be carried on; St.
+     George's Crescent; noble shops; strange people walking about,
+     an Herculean mulatto, for example; the old china shop; cups
+     with Chinese characters upon them; an horrible old Irishwoman
+     with naked feet; Assize Hall a noble edifice.
+
+The party left Liverpool on 20th August, and Borrow, when in sight of
+the Isle of Man, noticed a lofty ridge of mountains rising to the
+clouds:
+
+     Entered into conversation with two of the crew--Manx
+     sailors--about the Manx language; one, a very tall man, said he
+     knew only a very little of it as he was born on the coast, but
+     that his companion, who came from the interior, knew it well;
+     said it was a mere gibberish. This I denied, and said it was an
+     ancient language, and that it was like the Irish; his
+     companion, a shorter man, in shirt sleeves, with a sharp, eager
+     countenance, now opened his mouth and said I was right, and
+     said that I was the only gentleman whom he had ever heard ask
+     questions about the Manx language. I spoke several Irish words
+     which they understood.
+
+When he had landed he continued his investigations, asking every peasant
+he met the Manx for this or that English word:
+
+     'Are you Manx?' said I. 'Yes,' he replied, 'I am Manx.' 'And
+     what do you call a river in Manx?' 'A river,' he replied. 'Can
+     you speak Manx?' I demanded. 'Yes,' he replied, 'I speak Manx.'
+     'And you call a river a river?' 'Yes,' said he, 'I do.' 'You
+     don't call it owen?' said I. 'I do not,' said he. I passed on,
+     and on the other side of the bridge went for some time along an
+     avenue of trees, passing by a stone water-mill, till I came to
+     a public-house on the left hand. Seeing a woman looking out of
+     the window, I asked her to what place the road led. 'To
+     Castletown,' she replied. 'And what do you call the river in
+     Manx?' said I. 'We call it an owen,' said she. 'So I thought,'
+     I replied, and after a little further discourse returned, as
+     the night was now coming fast on.
+
+One man whom Borrow asked if there were any poets in Man replied that he
+did not believe there were, that the last Manx poet had died some time
+ago at Kirk Conoshine, and this man had translated Parnell's _Hermit_
+beautifully, and the translation had been printed. He inquired about the
+Runic Stones, which he continually transcribed. Under date Thursday,
+30th August, we find the following:
+
+     This day year I ascended Snowdon, and this morning, which is
+     very fine, I propose to start on an expedition to Castletown
+     and to return by Peel.
+
+Very gladly would I follow Borrow more in detail through this
+interesting holiday by means of his diary,[183] but it would make my
+book too long. As he had his wife and daughter with him there are no
+letters by him from the island. But wherever Borrow went he met people
+who were interested in him, and so I find the following letter among his
+Papers, which he received a year after his return:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                3 ALBERT TERRACE, DOUGLAS, _11 February 1856._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--If experience on report has made you acquainted
+     with the nature of true Celtic indolence and procrastination
+     you will be prepared to learn, without surprise, that your
+     Runic stone still remains unerected.[184] In vain have I called
+     time after time upon the clerk of Braddan--in vain have I
+     expostulated. Nothing could I get but fair words and fair
+     promises. First he was very rheumatic, having, according to his
+     own account, contracted his dolorous aches in the course of
+     that five-hours' job under your superintendence in the steeple,
+     where, it seems, a merciless wind is in the habit of disporting
+     itself. Then the weather was so unfavourable, then his wife was
+     ailing, etc., etc. On Saturday, however, armed with your potent
+     note, I made another attack, and obtained a promise that the
+     stone should be in its right place on that day of the week
+     following. So I await the result. My own private impression is
+     that if we see the achievement complete by Easter there will be
+     much cause for thankfulness.
+
+     Many thanks for _The Illustrated News_; I read the article with
+     great interest, and subsequently studied the stone itself as
+     well as its awkward position in its nook in the steeple would
+     allow me. Your secret, I need hardly say, was faithfully kept
+     till the receipt of the news assured me that it need be a
+     secret no longer. I may just mention that the clerk thinks that
+     the sovereign you left will be quite enough to defray the
+     expenses. I think so too; at least if there be anything more it
+     cannot be worth mentioning. Though no Manxman myself still I
+     shall take the liberty of thanking you in the name of Mona--may
+     I not add in the name of Antiquarian Science too--for your
+     liberality in this matter. Mrs. Borrow, I trust, is
+     convalescent by this time, and Miss Clarke well. With our
+     united kind regards, believe me, my dear Sir, very sincerely
+     yours,
+
+                S. W. WANTON.
+
+And even three years later we find that Borrow has not forgotten the
+friends of that Manx holiday. This letter is from the Vicar of Malew in
+acknowledgment of a copy of _The Romany Rye_ published in the interval:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                MALEW VICARAGE, BALLASALLA, ISLE OF MAN, _27 Jany. 1859._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I return you my most hearty thanks for your most
+     handsome present of _Romany Rye_, and no less handsome letter
+     relative to your tour in the Isle of Man and the literature of
+     the Manx. Both I value very highly, and from both I shall
+     derive useful hints for my introduction to the new edition of
+     the _Manx Grammar_. I hope you will have no objection to my
+     quoting a passage or two from the advertisement of your
+     forthcoming book; and if I receive no intimation of your
+     dissent, I shall take it for granted that I have your kind
+     permission. The whole notice is so apposite to my purpose, and
+     would be so interesting to every Manxman, that I would fain
+     insert the whole bodily, did the Author and the limits of an
+     Introduction permit. The _Grammar_ will, I think, go to press
+     in March next. It is to be published under the auspices of 'The
+     Manx Society,' instituted last year 'for the publication of
+     National documents of the Isle of Man.' As soon as it is
+     printed I hope to beg the favour of your acceptance of a
+     copy.--I am, my dear Sir, your deeply obliged humble servant,
+
+                WILLIAM GILL.
+
+The letter from Mr. Wanton directs us to the issue of _The Illustrated
+London News_ for 8th December 1855, where we find the following note on
+the Isle of Man, obviously contributed to that journal by Borrow,
+together with an illustration of the Runic Stone, which is also
+reproduced here:
+
+[Illustration: RUNIC STONE FROM THE ISLE OF MAN]
+
+     ANCIENT RUNIC STONE, RECENTLY FOUND IN THE ISLE OF MAN
+
+     For upwards of seventy years a stone which, as far as it could
+     be discerned, had the appearance of what is called a Danish
+     cross, has been known to exist in the steeple of Kirk Braddan,
+     Isle of Man. It was partly bedded in mortar and stones above
+     the lintel of a doorway leading to a loft above the gallery.
+     On the 19th of November it was removed from its place under the
+     superintendence of an English gentleman who had been travelling
+     about the island. It not only proved to be a Northern cross,
+     but a Runic one; that is, it bore a Runic inscription. As soon
+     as the stone had been taken out of the wall, the gentleman in
+     question copied the inscription and translated it, to the best
+     of his ability, in the presence of the church clerk who had
+     removed the stone. The Runes were in beautiful preservation,
+     and looked as fresh as if they had just come out of the
+     workshop of Orokoin Gaut. Unfortunately the upper part of the
+     cross was partly broken, so that the original inscription was
+     not entire. In the inscription, as it is, the concluding word
+     is mutilated; in its original state it was probably 'sonr,'
+     son; the Runic character which answers to _s_ being distinct,
+     and likewise the greater part of one which stands for _o_. Yet
+     there is reason for believing that sonr was not the concluding
+     word of the original, but the penultimate, and that the
+     original terminated with some Norwegian name: we will suppose
+     'Olf.' The writing at present on the stone is to this effect:
+
+    OTR. RISTI. KROS. THUNU. AFT. FRUKA
+    FATHOR. SIN. IN. THORWIAORI. S ... (SONR OLFS)
+    OTR RAISED THIS CROSS TO FRUKI HIS FATHER,
+    THE THORWIAORI, SO(N OF OLF).
+
+     The names Otr and Fruki have never before been found on any of
+     the Runic stones in the Isle of Man. The words _In_ ...
+     Thorwiaori, which either denote the place where the individual
+     to whom they relate lived, or one of his attributes or
+     peculiarities, will perhaps fling some light on the words In
+     ... Aruthur, which appear on the beautiful cross which stands
+     nearly opposite the door of Kirk Braddan.
+
+     The present cross is curiously ornamented. The side which we
+     here present to the public bears two monsters, perhaps intended
+     to represent dragons, tied with a single cord, which passes
+     round the neck and body of one whose head is slightly averted,
+     whilst, though it passes round the body of the other, it leaves
+     the neck free. Little at present can be said about the other
+     side of the stone, which is still in some degree covered with
+     the very hard mortar in which it was found lying. The gentleman
+     of whom we have already spoken, before leaving the island, made
+     arrangements for placing the stone beside the other cross,
+     which has long been considered one of the principal ornaments
+     of the beautiful churchyard of Braddan.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[182] In vol. ii. of _The Romany Rye_, _vide supra_.
+
+[183] The whole of this diary, which is the best original work that
+Borrow left behind him unpublished, will be issued in my edition of _The
+Collected Works_.
+
+[184] Borrow found the stone had fallen, and he left money for its
+re-erection. He copied this stone on 13th September 1855, noting in his
+diary that Henrietta sketched the church while he copied and translated
+the inscription which ran as follows--_Thorleifr Nitki raised this Cross
+to Fiak, son of his brother's son_, the date being 1084 or 1194 A.D.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+OULTON BROAD AND YARMOUTH
+
+George Borrow wandered far and wide, but he always retraced his
+footsteps to East Anglia, of which he was so justly proud. From his
+marriage in 1840 until his death in 1881 he lived twenty-seven years at
+Oulton or at Yarmouth. 'It is on sand alone that the sea strikes its
+true music,' Borrow once remarked, 'Norfolk sand'--and it was in the
+waves and on the sands of the Norfolk coast that Borrow spent the
+happiest hours of his restless life. Oulton Cottage is only about two
+miles from Lowestoft, and so, walking or driving, these places were
+quite near one another. But both are in Suffolk. Was it because
+Yarmouth--ten miles distant--is in Norfolk that it was always selected
+for seaside residence? I suspect that the careful Mrs. Borrow found a
+wider selection of 'apartments' at a moderate price. In any case the sea
+air of Yarmouth was good for his wife, and the sea bathing was good for
+him, and so we find that husband and wife had seven separate residences
+at Yarmouth during the years of Oulton life.[185] But Oulton was ever to
+be Borrow's headquarters, even though between 1860 and 1874 he had a
+house in London. Borrow was thirty-seven years of age when he settled
+down at Oulton.
+
+[Illustration: _Copyright of Mrs. Simms Reeve_
+
+A HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED PORTRAIT OF GEORGE BORROW
+
+Taken in the garden of Mrs. Simms Reeve of Norwich in 1848. This is the
+only photograph of George Borrow extant, although two paintings of him
+exist, one by Henry Wyndham Phillips, which forms the frontispiece of
+this volume, taken in 1843, and an earlier portrait by his brother John,
+which will be found facing page 32]
+
+He was, he tells us in _The Romany Rye_, 'in tolerably easy
+circumstances and willing to take some rest after a life of labour.'
+Their home was a cottage on the Broad, for the Hall, which was also Mrs.
+Borrow's property, was let on lease to a farmer.[186] The cottage,
+however, was an extremely pleasant residence with a lawn running down to
+the river. A more substantial house has been built on this site since
+Borrow's day. The summer-house is generally assumed to be the same, but
+has certainly been reroofed since the time when Henrietta Clarke drew
+the picture of it that is reproduced in this book. Probably the whole
+summer-house is new, but at any rate the present structure stands on the
+site of the old one. Here Borrow did his work, wrote and wrote and
+wrote, until he had, as he said, 'Mountains of manuscripts.' Here first
+of all he completed _The Zincali_ (1841), commenced in Seville; then he
+wrote or rather arranged _The Bible in Spain_ (1843), and then at long
+intervals, diversified by extensive travel holidays, he wrote _Lavengro_
+(1851), _The Romany Rye_ (1857), and _Wild Wales_ (1860),--these are the
+five books and their dates that we most associate with Borrow's sojourn
+at Oulton. When _Wild Wales_ was published he had removed to London.
+Borrow brought with him to Oulton, as we have said, a beautiful Arabian
+horse, Sidi Habismilk, and a Jewish servant, Hayim Ben Attar. The horse
+remained to delight the neighbourhood. It followed Borrow like a dog
+when he was not riding it. The Jew had soon had enough of this rural
+retreat and sighed for a sunnier clime. Thus, under date 1843, I find
+among my Borrow Papers the following letter to a firm of shipbrokers:
+
+
+To Messrs. Nickols and Marshal, London.
+
+                _4th July 1843._
+
+     GENTLEMEN,--Having received a communication from Liverpool from
+     Harry Palmer, Esq., stating that you are his agents in London,
+     and that as such he has requested you to communicate with us
+     relative to a passage required for a man sent to Cadiz or
+     Gibraltar, I shall as briefly as possible state the
+     particulars. Mr. Palmer names L7 or L8 as the lowest which he
+     thinks it will cost us to get him to Gibraltar or Cadiz. This
+     we consider is a large sum when it is to be remembered that he
+     is to fare as the ship's crew fare, and with the exception of a
+     berth to lie down in, no difference is required at this
+     beautiful season of the year. I must here state as an excuse
+     for the above remark that this man came to England at his own
+     particular desire. I have been at much expense about him. He
+     has had good wages, but now that he wants to get back to his
+     own country the whole expense is thrown upon me, as he has
+     saved no money, and we wish it to be clearly understood by the
+     captain who will take him that when he is once off from England
+     and his passage paid that we will be responsible for no further
+     expense whatever. We do not want to get him to Tangier, as we
+     shall put money in his pocket which will enable him to pay for
+     a passage across if he wishes to go there, but we will pay only
+     to Gibraltar or Cadiz. A steam vessel sails from Yarmouth
+     bridge every Wednesday and Friday. This will be the most direct
+     and safe way to send him to London, and then trouble you to
+     have him met at the steamer and conveyed to the ship at once in
+     which he is to have his passage. All therefore that remains to
+     be done is to trouble you to give us a few days' notice with
+     time to get him up per Yarmouth steamer. I beg to thank you for
+     the willingness you expressed to Mr. Palmer to assist me in
+     this affair by getting as cheap a passage as you can and seeing
+     him on board and the passage _not_ paid till the ship sails.
+     You no doubt can quite understand our anxious feelings upon the
+     subject from your connection with shipping, and consequently
+     knowing what foreigners generally are.--I am, Sir, Your
+     obedient servant,
+
+                G. H. BORROW.[187]
+
+Then we have the following document with which his cautious master
+provided himself:
+
+     A Statement of Hayim Ben Attar previous to his leaving England.
+
+     I declare that it was my own wish to come to England with my
+     master G. H. Borrow, who offered to send me to my own country
+     before he left Spain. That I have regularly received the
+     liberal wages he agreed to give me from the first of my coming
+     to him. That I have been treated justly and kindly by him
+     during my stay in England, and that I return to my country at
+     my own wish and request, and at my master's expense. To this
+     statement, which I declare to be true, I sign my name.--HAYIM
+     BEN ATTAR.
+
+     Declared before me this 9 of August 1843.
+
+                W. M. HAMMOND, Magistrate for Great Yarmouth.
+
+I find a letter among my Papers which bears no name, and is probably a
+draft. It contains an interesting reference to Hayim Ben Attar, and
+hence I give it here:
+
+     SIR,--I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
+     letter of the 17th inst., which my friend, Mr. Murray, has just
+     forwarded to me. I am afraid that you attribute to me powers
+     and information which I am by no means conscious of possessing;
+     I should feel disposed to entertain a much higher opinion of
+     myself than I at present do could I for a moment conceive
+     myself gifted with the talent of inducing any endeavour to
+     dismiss from his mind a theory of the reasonableness of which
+     appears to him obvious. Nevertheless, as you do me the honour
+     of asking my opinion with respect to the theory of Gypsies
+     being Jews by origin, I hasten to answer to the following
+     effect. I am not prepared to acknowledge the reasonableness of
+     any theory which cannot be borne out by the slightest proof.
+     Against the theory may be offered the following arguments which
+     I humbly consider to be unanswerable. The Gypsies differ from
+     the Jews in feature and complexion--in whatever part of the
+     world you find the Gypsy you recognise him at once by his
+     features which are virtually the same--the Jew likewise has a
+     peculiar countenance by which at once he may be distinguished
+     as a Jew, but which would certainly prevent the probability of
+     his being considered as a scion of the Gypsy stock--in proof of
+     which assertion I can adduce the following remarkable instance.
+
+     I have in my service a Jew, a native of Northern Africa. Last
+     summer I took him with me to an encampment of Romanies or
+     Gypsies near my home at Oulton in Suffolk. I introduced him to
+     the Chief, and said, Are ye not dui patos (two brothers). The
+     Gypsy passed his hand over the Jew's face and stared him in the
+     eyes, then turning to me he answered--we are not two brothers,
+     not two brothers--this man is no rom--I believe him to be a
+     Jew. Now this Gypsy has been in the habit of seeing German and
+     English Jews who must have been separated from their African
+     brothers for a term of 1700 years--yet he recognised the Jew of
+     Troy for what he was--a Jew--and without hesitation declared
+     that he was not a rom; the Jews, therefore, and the Gypsies
+     have each their peculiar and distinctive features, which
+     disprove the impossibility of their having been originally the
+     same people.--Your obedient servant,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+I find also in this connection a letter from Tangier addressed to 'Mr.
+H. George Borrow' under date 2nd November 1847. It tells us that the
+worthy Jew longs once again to see the 'dear face' of his master. Since
+he left his service he has married and has two sons, but he is anxious
+to return to England if that same master will find him work. We can
+imagine that by this time Borrow had had enough of Hayim Ben Attar, and
+that his answer was not encouraging.
+
+But by far the best glimpses of Borrow during these years of Suffolk
+life are those contained in a letter contributed by his friend,
+Elizabeth Harvey, to _The Eastern Daily Press_ of Norwich over the
+initials 'E.H.':[188]
+
+     When I knew Mr. Borrow he lived in a lovely cottage whose
+     garden sloped down to the edge of Oulton Broad. He had a wooden
+     room built on the very margin of the water, where he had many
+     strange old books in various languages. I remember he once put
+     one before me, telling me to read it. 'Oh, I can't,' I replied.
+     He said, 'You ought, it's your own language.' It was an old
+     Saxon book. He used to spend a great deal of his time in this
+     room writing, translating, and at times singing strange words
+     in a stentorian voice, while passers-by on the lake would stop
+     to listen with astonishment and curiosity to the singular
+     sounds. He was 6 feet 3 inches, a splendid man, with handsome
+     hands and feet. He wore neither whiskers, beard, nor
+     moustache. His features were very handsome, but his eyes were
+     peculiar, being round and rather small, but very piercing, and
+     now and then fierce. He would sometimes sing one of his Romany
+     songs, shake his fist at me and look quite wild. Then he would
+     ask, 'Aren't you afraid of me?' 'No, not at all,' I would say.
+     Then he would look just as gentle and kind, and say, 'God bless
+     you, I would not hurt a hair of your head,' He was an expert
+     swimmer, and used to go out bathing, and dive under water an
+     immense time. On one occasion he was bathing with a friend, and
+     after plunging in nothing was seen of him for some while. His
+     friend began to be alarmed, when he heard Borrow's voice a long
+     way off exclaiming, 'There, if that had been written in one of
+     my books they would have said it was a lie, wouldn't they?' He
+     was very fond of animals, and the animals were fond of him. He
+     would go for a walk with two dogs and a cat following him. The
+     cat would go a quarter of a mile or so and then turn back home.
+     He delighted to go for long walks and enter into conversation
+     with any one he might meet on the road, and lead them into
+     histories of their lives, belongings, and experiences. When
+     they used some word peculiar to Norfolk (or Suffolk) countrymen
+     he would say, 'Why, that's a Danish word.' By and by the man
+     would use another peculiar expression, 'Why, that's Saxon'; a
+     little later on another, 'Why, that's French.' And he would
+     add, 'Why, what a wonderful man you are to speak so many
+     languages.' One man got very angry, but Mr. Borrow was quite
+     unconscious that he had given any offence. He spoke a great
+     number of languages, and at the Exhibition of 1851, whither he
+     went with his stepdaughter, he spoke to the different
+     foreigners in their own language, until his daughter saw some
+     of them whispering together and looking as if they thought he
+     was 'uncanny,' and she became alarmed and drew him away. He,
+     however, did not like to hear the English language adulterated
+     with the introduction of foreign words. If his wife or friends
+     used a foreign word in conversation, he would say, 'What's
+     that, trying to come over me with strange languages.'
+
+     I have gone for many a walk with him at Oulton. He used to go
+     on, singing to himself or quite silent, quite forgetting me
+     until he came to a high hill, when he would turn round, seize
+     my hand, and drag me up. Then he would sit down and enjoy the
+     prospect. He was a great lover of nature, and very fond of his
+     trees. He quite fretted if, by some mischance, he lost one. He
+     did not shoot or hunt. He rode his Arab at times, but walking
+     was his favourite exercise. He was subject to fits of nervous
+     depression. At times also he suffered from sleeplessness, when
+     he would get up and walk to Norwich (25 miles), and return the
+     next night recovered. His fondness for the gypsies has been
+     noticed. At Oulton he used to allow them to encamp in his
+     grounds, and he would visit them, with a friend or alone, talk
+     to them in Romany, and sing Romany songs. He was very fond of
+     ghost stories and believed in the supernatural. He was keenly
+     sympathetic with any one who was in trouble or suffering. He
+     was no man of business and very guileless, and led a very
+     harmless, quiet life at Oulton, spending his evenings at home
+     with his wife and stepdaughter, generally reading all the
+     evening. He was very hospitable in his own home, and detested
+     meanness. He was moderate in eating and drinking, took very
+     little breakfast, but ate a very great quantity at dinner, and
+     then had only a draught of cold water before going to bed. He
+     wrote much in praise of 'strong ale,' and was very fond of good
+     ale, of whose virtue he had a great idea. Once I was speaking
+     of a lady who was attached to a gentleman, and he asked, 'Well,
+     did he make her an offer?' 'No,' I said. 'Ah,' he exclaimed,
+     'if she had given him some good ale he would.' But although he
+     talked so much about ale I never saw him take much. He was very
+     temperate, and would eat what was set before him, often not
+     thinking of what he was doing, and he never refused what was
+     offered him. He took much pleasure in music, especially of a
+     light and lively character. My sister would sing to him, and I
+     played. One piece he seemed never to tire of hearing. It was a
+     polka, 'The Redowa,' I think, and when I had finished he used
+     to say, 'Play that again, E----.' He was very polite and
+     gentlemanly in ladies' society, and we all liked him.
+
+It is refreshing to read this tribute, from which I have omitted nothing
+salient, because a very disagreeable Borrow has somehow grown up into a
+tradition. I note in reading some of the reviews of Dr. Knapp's _Life_
+that he is charged, or half-charged, with suppressing facts, 'because
+they do not reflect credit upon the subject of his biography.' Now,
+there were really no facts to suppress. Borrow was at times a very
+irritable man, he was a very self-centred one. His egotism might even be
+pronounced amazing by those who had never met an author. But those of us
+who have, recognise that with very few exceptions they are all egotists,
+although some conceal it from the unobservant more deftly than others.
+Let me recall Mr. Arthur Christopher Benson's verses on 'My Poet.'
+
+    He came; I met him face to face,
+      And shrank amazed, dismayed; I saw
+    No patient depth, no tender grace,
+      No prophet of the eternal law.
+
+    But weakness, fretting to be great,
+      Self-consciousness with sidelong eye,
+    The impotence that dares not wait
+      For honour, crying 'This is I.'
+
+    The tyrant of a sullen hour,
+      He frowned away our mild content;
+    And insight only gave him power
+      To see the slights that were not meant.[189]
+
+Many successful and unsuccessful authors, living and dead, are here
+described, and Borrow was far from one of the worst. He was quarrelsome,
+and I rather like him for that. If he was a good hater he was also a
+very loyal friend, as we find Miss Elizabeth Harvey and, in after years,
+Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton testifying. Moreover, Borrow had a grievance
+of a kind that has not often befallen a man of his literary power. He
+had written a great book in _Lavengro_, and the critics and the public
+refused to recognise that it was a great book. Many authors of power
+have died young and unrecognised; but recognition has usually come to
+those men of genius who have lived into middle age. It did not come to
+Borrow. He had therefore a right to be soured. This sourness found
+expression in many ways. Borrow, most sound of churchmen, actually
+quarrelled with his vicar over the tempers of their respective dogs.
+Both the vicar, the Rev. Edwin Proctor Denniss, and his parishioner
+wrote one another acrid letters. Here is Borrow's parting shot:
+
+     Circumstances over which Mr. Borrow has at present no control
+     will occasionally bring him and his family under the same roof
+     with Mr. Denniss; that roof, however, is the roof of the House
+     of God, and the prayers of the Church of England are wholesome
+     from whatever mouth they may proceed.[190]
+
+Surely that is a kind of quarrel we have all had in our day, and we
+think ourselves none the less virtuous in consequence. Then there was
+Borrow's very natural ambition to be made a magistrate of Suffolk. He
+tells Mr. John Murray in 1842 that he has caught a bad cold by getting
+up at night in pursuit of poachers and thieves. 'A terrible
+neighbourhood this,' he adds, 'not a magistrate dare do his duty.' And
+so in the next year he wrote again to the same correspondent:
+
+     Present my compliments to Mr. Gladstone, and tell him that the
+     _Bible in Spain_ will have no objection to becoming one of the
+     'Great Unpaid.'
+
+Mr. Gladstone, although he had admired _The Bible in Spain_, and indeed
+had even suggested the modification of one of its sentences, did
+nothing. Lockhart, Lord Clarendon, and others who were applied to were
+equally powerless or indifferent. Borrow never got his magistracy.
+To-day no man of equal eminence in literature could possibly have failed
+of so slight an ambition. Moreover, Borrow wanted to be a J.P., not from
+mere snobbery as many might, but for a definite, practical object. I am
+afraid he would not have made a very good magistrate, and perhaps
+inquiry had made that clear to the authorities. Lastly, there was
+Borrow's quarrel with the railway which came through his estate. He had
+thoughts of removing to Bury, where Dr. Hake lived, or to Troston Hall,
+once the home of the interesting Capell Lofft. But he was not to leave
+Oulton. In intervals of holidays, journeys, and of sojourn in Yarmouth
+it was to remain his home to the end. In 1849 his mother joined him at
+Oulton. She had resided for thirty-three years at the Willow Lane
+Cottage. She was now seventy-seven years of age. She lived-on near her
+son as a tenant of his tenant at Oulton Hall until her death nine years
+later, dying in 1858 in her eighty-seventh year. She lies buried in
+Oulton Churchyard, with a tomb thus inscribed:
+
+     Sacred to the memory of Ann Borrow, widow of Captain Thomas
+     Borrow. She died on the 16th of August 1858, aged eighty-six
+     years and seven months. She was a good wife and a good mother.
+
+During these years at Oulton we have many glimpses of Borrow. Dr.
+Jessopp, for example, has recorded in _The Athenaeum_[191] newspaper his
+own hero-worship for the author of _Lavengro_, whom he was never to
+meet. This enthusiasm for _Lavengro_ was shared by certain of his
+Norfolk friends of those days:
+
+     Among those friends were two who, I believe, are still alive,
+     and who about the year 1846 set out, without telling me of
+     their intention, on a pilgrimage to Oulton to see George Borrow
+     in the flesh. In those days the journey was not an
+     inconsiderable one; and though my friends must have known that
+     I would have given my ears to be of the party, I suppose they
+     kept their project to themselves for reasons of their own. Two,
+     they say, are company and three are none; two men could ride in
+     a gig for sixty miles without much difficulty, and an odd man
+     often spoils sport. At any rate, they left me out, and one day
+     they came back full of malignant pride and joy and exultation,
+     and they flourished their information before me with boastings
+     and laughter at my ferocious jealousy; for they had seen, and
+     talked with, and eaten and drunk with, and sat at the feet of
+     the veritable George Borrow, and had grasped his mighty hand.
+     To me it was too provoking. But what had they to tell?
+
+     They found him at Oulton, living, as they affirmed, in a house
+     which belonged to Mrs. Borrow and which her first husband had
+     left her. The household consisted of himself, his wife, and his
+     wife's daughter; and among his other amusements he employed
+     himself in training some young horses to follow him about like
+     dogs and come at the call of his whistle. As my two friends
+     were talking with him Borrow sounded his whistle in a paddock
+     near the house, which, if I remember rightly, was surrounded by
+     a low wall. Immediately two beautiful horses came bounding over
+     the fence and trotted up to their master. One put his nose into
+     Borrow's outstretched hand and the other kept snuffing at his
+     pockets in expectation of the usual bribe for confidence and
+     good behaviour. Borrow could not but be flattered by the young
+     Cambridge men paying him the frank homage they offered, and he
+     treated them with the robust and cordial hospitality
+     characteristic of the man. One or two things they learnt which
+     I do not feel at liberty to repeat.
+
+Mr. Arthur W. Upcher of Sheringham Hall, Cromer, also provided in _The
+Athenaeum_[192] a quaint reminiscence of Borrow in which he recalled that
+Lavengro had called upon Miss Anna Gurney. This lady had, assuredly with
+less guile, treated him much as Frances Cobbe would have done. She had
+taken down an Arabic grammar, and put it into his hand, asking for
+explanation of some difficult point which he tried to decipher; but
+meanwhile she talked to him continuously. 'I could not,' said Borrow,
+'study the Arabic grammar and listen to her at the same time, so I threw
+down the book and ran out of the room.' He soon after met Mr. Upcher, to
+whom he made an interesting revelation:
+
+     He told us there were three personages in the world whom he had
+     always a desire to see; two of these had slipped through his
+     fingers, so he was determined to see the third. 'Pray, Mr.
+     Borrow, who were they?' He held up three fingers of his left
+     hand and pointed them off with the forefinger of the right: the
+     first Daniel O'Connell, the second Lamplighter (the sire of
+     Phosphorus, Lord Berners's winner of the Derby), the third,
+     Anna Gurney. The first two were dead and he had not seen them;
+     now he had come to see Anna Gurney, and this was the end of his
+     visit.
+
+Mr. William Mackay, who now lives at Oulton Broad, where he has heard
+all the village gossip about Borrow and his _menage_, and we may hope
+has discounted it fully, furnishes me with the following impression of
+Borrow, which is of a much later date than those I have just given:
+
+     I met Borrow in 1869 at the house of Dr. Gordon Hake at Coombe
+     End, near the top of Roehampton Lane, Wimbledon Common. My
+     recollection is of a tall, broad-shouldered old man, stooping
+     a little, engaged in reading a small volume held close to his
+     eyes. Something Yorkshire about his powerful build, but little
+     tolerance or benevolence in his expression. A fine, strongly
+     marked clean shaven face, but with no kindliness or sense of
+     humour indicated in its lines. In loosely made broadcloth he
+     gave the idea of a nonconformist minister--a Unitarian, judging
+     from the intellectuality betrayed in his countenance. To me he
+     was always civil and, even, genial, for he did not know that I
+     was a writing fellow. But to others casually met he seemed to
+     be invariably and intolerably rude. He could not brook
+     contradiction--particularly on religious topics. He was an
+     earnest believer. But it was in the God of Battles that he
+     believed. And he would be delighted at any time to prove in a
+     stand-up fight the honesty of his convictions. In the union of
+     a deep religious fervour with an overwhelming love of
+     fighting--sheer physical hand-to-hand fighting--he was an
+     interesting study. In this curious blending of what appear to
+     be opposite qualities he resembled General Gordon, who, by the
+     way, was a cousin of Dr. Gordon Hake at whose place I met
+     Borrow.
+
+     He was a splendid liar too. Not in the ordinary domestic
+     meaning of the word. But he lied largely, picturesquely, like
+     Baron Munchausen. That is one of the reasons that he did not
+     take to the literary persons whom he met at Hake's. Perhaps he
+     was afraid that some of them would steal his thunder, or
+     perhaps he had a contempt for their serious pose. But to those
+     whom he did not suspect of literary leanings he lied
+     delightfully. That fine boys' book, _The Bible in Spain_, is, I
+     should say, chiefly lies. I have heard him reel off adventures
+     as amazing as any in the Spanish reminiscences, related as
+     having happened on the very Common which we were crossing.
+     Theodore Watts, who first met Borrow at Hake's, appears to have
+     got on all right with him. But then Watts would get on with
+     anybody. Besides, the two men had a common topic in Romany
+     lore. But toward the literary man in general his attitude was
+     pretty much that of Carlyle. He was contemptuous towards those
+     who followed his own trade.
+
+At one moment of the correspondence we obtain an interesting glimpse of
+a great man of science. Mr. Darwin sent the following inquiry through
+Dr. Hooker, afterwards Sir Joseph Hooker, and it reached Borrow through
+his friend Thomas Brightwell:
+
+     Is there any Dog in Spain closely like our English Pointer, in
+     _shape_ and size, and _habits_,--namely in pointing, backing,
+     and not giving tongue. Might I be permitted to quote Mr.
+     Borrow's answer to the query? Has the improved English pointer
+     been introduced into Spain?
+
+                C. DARWIN.
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A COMMUNICATION FROM CHARLES DARWIN TO
+GEORGE BORROW.]
+
+Borrow took constant holidays during these Oulton days. We have
+elsewhere noted his holidays in Eastern Europe, in the Isle of Man, in
+Wales, and in Cornwall. Letters from other parts of England would be
+welcome, but I can only find two, and these are but scraps. Both are
+addressed to his wife, each without date:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                OXFORD, _Feb. 2nd._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I reached this place yesterday and hope to be
+     home to-night (Monday). I walked the whole way by Kingston,
+     Hampton, Sunbury (Miss Oriel's place), Windsor, Wallingford,
+     etc., a good part of the way was by the Thames. There has been
+     much wet weather. Oxford is a wonderful place. Kiss Hen., and
+     God bless you!
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                TUNBRIDGE WELLS, _Tuesday evening._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I have arrived here safe--it is a wonderful
+     place, a small city of palaces amidst hills, rocks, and woods,
+     and is full of fine people. Please to carry up stairs and lock
+     in the drawer the little paper sack of letters in the parlour;
+     lock it up with the bank book and put this along with it--also
+     be sure to keep the window of my room fastened and the door
+     locked, and keep the key in your pocket. God bless you and Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+One of the very last letters of Borrow that I possess is to an unknown
+correspondent. It is from a rough 'draft' in his handwriting:
+
+                OULTON, LOWESTOFT, _May 1875._
+
+     SIR,--Your letter of the eighth of March I only lately
+     received, otherwise I should have answered it sooner. In it you
+     mention Chamberlayne's work, containing versions of the Lord's
+     Prayer translated into a hundred languages, and ask whether I
+     can explain why the one which purports to be a rendering into
+     Waldensian is evidently made in some dialect of the Gaelic. To
+     such explanation as I can afford you are welcome, though
+     perhaps you will not deem it very satisfactory. I have been
+     acquainted with Chamberlayne's work for upwards of forty years.
+     I first saw it at St. Petersburg in 1834, and the translation
+     in question very soon caught my attention. I at first thought
+     that it was an attempt at imposition, but I soon relinquished
+     that idea. I remembered that Helvetia was a great place for
+     Gaelic. I do not mean in the old time when the Gael possessed
+     the greater part of Europe, but at a long subsequent period:
+     Switzerland was converted to Christianity by Irish monks, the
+     most active and efficient of whom was Gall. These people
+     founded schools in which together with Christianity the Irish
+     or Gaelic language was taught. In process of time, though the
+     religion flourished, the Helveto Gaelic died away, but many
+     pieces in that tongue survived, some of which might still
+     probably be found in the recesses of St. Gall. The noble abbey
+     is named after the venerable apostle of Christianity in
+     Helvetia; so I deemed it very possible that the version in
+     question might be one of the surviving fruits of Irish
+     missionary labour in Helvetia, not but that I had my doubts,
+     and still have, principally from observing that the language
+     though certainly not modern does not exhibit any decided marks
+     of high antiquity. It is much to be regretted that Chamberlayne
+     should have given the version to the world under a title so
+     calculated to perplex and mislead as that which it bears, and
+     without even stating how or where he obtained it. This, sir, is
+     all I have to say on the very obscure subject about which you
+     have done me the honour to consult me.--Yours truly,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[185] They lived first at 169 King Street, then at two addresses
+unknown, then successively at 37, 38 and 39 Camperdown Terrace, their
+last address was 28 Trafalgar Place.
+
+[186] Borrow's letters were frequently addressed to Oulton Hall, but he
+never lived here. Oulton Hall was the name given to the farm house which
+went with Oulton Hall Farm. 'Old inhabitants,' writes Mr. William Mackay
+of Oulton Broad to me, 'remember that seventy years ago it was occupied
+by Skepper, who was succeeded by Grimmer, who was succeeded by Smith.'
+'I can find no one,' continues Mr. Mackay, 'who recollects old Mrs.
+Borrow lodging at the farm house. But what more likely? And it was
+characteristic of Borrow--don't you think?--that he should hold out
+"Oulton Hall" as an address to those who were not likely to visit him.'
+When Mrs. Borrow, senior, was persuaded to leave Willow Lane, Norwich,
+for Oulton, her son took lodgings for her at the 'Hall,' and here she
+died. Very commonplace farm houses in East Anglia are frequently called
+'halls,' to the great amazement of visitors from other counties,
+although there are some very noble ones, as, for example, Kirkstead,
+Swineshead, Parham and Dalling.
+
+[187] This was in reply to a letter from Mr. Harry Palmer which ran as
+follows:--'When in London on Thursday I saw the captain and brothers of
+several vessels bound to Gibraltar and Cadiz, and the passage money
+required will be about L10. The _Warblington_ will leave to-morrow, the
+latter part of next week, and should you decide upon sending your
+servant I have requested Messrs. Nickols and Marshal to attend to any
+communication you may make to them, who will do their utmost to get him
+out at the least possible expense, and pay the passage money upon his
+leaving England, and make arrangements with the captain for his passage
+to Tangier. As Gibraltar would be as convenient as Cadiz, have little
+doubt Messrs. Nickols and Co. would be able to get him out for L7 or L8.
+I have a vessel now loading in this port for Barcelona, to which port
+(if you could send him to Liverpool) should be happy to take him and
+then send him forward to his destination.'
+
+[188] _The Eastern Daily Press_, 1st October 1892. The Harveys were
+great friends of Borrow, and he left one of them co-executor with Mrs.
+MacOubrey of his estate. Miss Harvey's impressions make an interesting
+contrast to those of Miss Frances Power Cobbe. I have to thank Mr. A.
+Cozens-Hardy, the editor of _The Eastern Daily Press_, for courteously
+furnishing me with copies of these letters, and for giving me permission
+to use them here.
+
+[189] _The Poems of A. C. Benson_, p. 213: Published by John Lane, 1909.
+
+[190] Dr. Knapp's _Life_, vol. ii, p. 41.
+
+[191] _The Athenaeum_, July 8, 1893. Dr. Jessopp's feeling for Borrow was
+much more kindly then than when he supplied to the London _Daily
+Chronicle_ of 30th April 1900 an article which had better not have been
+written.
+
+[192] Letter to _The Athenaeum_, July 22, 1893.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
+
+
+Borrow has himself given us--in _Lavengro_--a picturesque record of his
+early experiences in Scotland. It is passing strange that he published
+no account of his two visits to the North in maturer years. Why did he
+not write _Wild Scotland_ as a companion volume to _Wild Wales_? He
+preserved in little leather pocket-books or leather-covered
+exercise-books copious notes of both tours. Two of his notebooks came
+into the possession of the late Dr. Knapp, Borrow's first biographer,
+and are thus described in his Bibliography:
+
+     _Note Book of a Tour in Scotland, the Orkneys and Shetland in
+     Oct. and Dec. 1858._ 1 large vol. leather.
+
+     _Note Book of Tours around Belfast and the Scottish Borders
+     from Stranraer to Berwick-upon-Tweed in July and August 1866._
+     1 vol. leather.
+
+Of these Dr. Knapp made use only to give the routes of Borrow's journeys
+so far as he was able to interpret them. It may be that he was doubtful
+as to whether his purchase of the manuscript carried with it the
+copyright of its contents, as it assuredly did not; it may be that he
+quailed before the minute and almost undecipherable handwriting. But
+similar notebooks are in my possession, and there are, happily, in
+these days typists--you pay them by the hour, and it means an infinity
+of time and patience--who will copy the most minute and the most obscure
+documents. There are some of the notebooks of the Scottish tour of 1858
+before me, and what is of far more importance--Borrow's letters to his
+wife while on this tour. Borrow lost his mother in August 1858, and this
+event was naturally a great blow to his heart. A week or two later he
+suffered a cruel blow to his pride also, nothing less than the return of
+the manuscript of his much-prized translation from the Welsh of _The
+Sleeping Bard_--and this by his 'prince of publishers,' John Murray.
+'There is no money in it,' said the publisher, and he was doubtless
+right.[193] The two disasters were of different character, but both
+unhinged him. He had already written _Wild Wales_, although it was not
+to be published for another four years. He had caused to be
+advertised--in 1857--a book on Cornwall, but it was never written in any
+definitive form, and now our author had lost heart, and the Cornish
+book--_Penquite and Pentyre_--and the Scots book never saw the light. In
+these autumn months of 1858 geniality and humour had parted from Borrow;
+this his diary makes clear. He was ill. His wife urged a tour in
+Scotland, and he prepared himself for a rough, simple journey, of a kind
+quite different from the one in Wales. The north of Scotland in the
+winter was scarcely to be thought of for his wife and stepdaughter
+Henrietta. He tells us in one of these diaries that he walked 'several
+hundred miles in the Highlands.' His wife and daughter were with him in
+Wales, as every reader of _Wild Wales_ will recall, but the Scots tour
+was meant to be a more formidable pilgrimage, and they went to Great
+Yarmouth instead. The first half of the tour--that of September--is
+dealt with in letters to his wife, the latter half is reflected in his
+diary. The letters show Borrow's experiences in the earlier part of his
+journey, and from his diaries we learn that he was in Oban on 22nd
+October, Aberdeen on 5th November, Inverness on the 9th, and thence he
+went to Tain, Dornoch, Wick, John o'Groat's, and to the island towns,
+Stromness, Kirkwall, and Lerwick. He was in Shetland on the 1st of
+December--altogether a bleak, cheerless journey, we may believe, even
+for so hardy a tramp as Borrow, and the tone of the following extract
+from one of his rough notebooks in my possession may perhaps be
+explained by the circumstance. Borrow is on the way to Loch Laggan and
+visits a desolate churchyard, Coll Harrie, to see the tomb of John
+Macdonnel or Ian Lom:
+
+     I was on a Highland hill in an old Popish burying-ground. I
+     entered the ruined church, disturbed a rabbit crouching under
+     an old tombstone--it ran into a hole, then came out running
+     about like wild--quite frightened--made room for it to run out
+     by the doorway, telling it I would not hurt it--went out again
+     and examined the tombs.... Would have examined much more but
+     the wind and rain blew horribly, and I was afraid that my hat,
+     if not my head, would be blown into the road over the hill.
+     Quitted the place of old Highland Popish devotion--descended
+     the hill again with great difficulty--grass slippery and the
+     ground here and there quaggy, resumed the road--village--went
+     to the door of house looking down the valley--to ask its
+     name--knock--people came out, a whole family, looking sullen
+     and all savage. The stout, tall young man with the grey savage
+     eyes--civil questions--half-savage answers--village's name
+     Achaluarach--the neighbourhood--all Catholic--chiefly
+     Macdonnels; said the English, _my countrymen_, had taken the
+     whole country--'but not without paying for it,' I replied--said
+     I was soaking wet with a kind of sneer, but never asked me in.
+     I said I cared not for wet. A savage, brutal Papist and a hater
+     of the English--the whole family with bad countenances--a tall
+     woman in the background probably the mother of them all. Bade
+     him good-day, he made no answer and I went away. Learnt that
+     the river's name was Spean.
+
+He passed through Scotland in a disputative vein, which could not have
+made him a popular traveller. He tells a Roman Catholic of the Macdonnel
+clan to read his Bible and 'trust in Christ, not in the Virgin Mary and
+graven images.' He went up to another man who accosted him with the
+remark that 'It is a soft day,' and said, 'You should not say a "soft"
+day, but a wet day.' Even the Spanish, for whom he had so much contempt
+and scorn when he returned from the Peninsula, are 'in many things a
+wise people'--after his experiences of the Scots. There is abundance of
+Borrow's prejudice, intolerance, and charm in this fragment of a
+diary[194]; but the extract I have given is of additional interest as
+showing how Borrow wrote all his books. The notebooks that he wrote in
+Spain and Wales were made up of similar disjointed jottings. Here is a
+note of more human character interspersed with Borrow's diatribes upon
+the surliness of the Scots. He is at Invergarry, on the Banks of Loch
+Oich. It is the 5th of October:
+
+     Dinner of real haggis; meet a conceited schoolmaster. This
+     night, or rather in the early morning, I saw in the dream of my
+     sleep my dear departed mother--she appeared to be coming out of
+     her little sleeping-room at Oulton Hall--overjoyed I gave a
+     cry and fell down at her knee, but my agitation was so great
+     that it burst the bonds of sleep, and I awoke.
+
+But the letters to Mrs. Borrow are the essential documents here, and not
+the copious diaries which I hope to publish elsewhere. The first letter
+to 'Carreta' is from Edinburgh, where Borrow arrived on Sunday, 19th
+September 1858:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, 38 Camperdown Place, Yarmouth, Norfolk
+
+                EDINBURGH, _Sunday (Sept. 19th, 1858)._
+
+DEAR CARRETA,--I just write a line to inform you that I arrived here
+yesterday quite safe. We did not start from Yarmouth till past three
+o'clock on Thursday morning; we reached Newcastle about ten on Friday.
+As I was walking in the street at Newcastle a sailor-like man came
+running up to me, and begged that I would let him speak to me. He
+appeared almost wild with joy. I asked him who he was, and he told me he
+was a Yarmouth north beach man, and that he knew me very well. Before I
+could answer, another sailor-like, short, thick fellow came running up,
+who also seemed wild with joy; he was a comrade of the other. I never
+saw two people so out of themselves with pleasure, they literally danced
+in the street; in fact, they were two of my old friends. I asked them
+how they came down there, and they told me that they had been down
+fishing. They begged a thousand pardons for speaking to me, but told me
+they could not help it. I set off for Alnwick on Friday afternoon,
+stayed there all night, and saw the castle next morning. It is a fine
+old place, but at present is undergoing repairs--a Scottish king was
+killed before its walls in the old time. At about twelve I started for
+Edinburgh. The place is wonderfully altered since I was here, and I
+don't think for the better. There is a Runic stone on the castle brae
+which I am going to copy. It was not there in my time. If you write
+direct to me at the Post Office, Inverness. I am thinking of going to
+Glasgow to-morrow, from which place I shall start for Inverness by one
+of the packets which go thither by the North-West and the Caledonian
+Canal. I hope that you and Hen are well and comfortable. Pray eat plenty
+of grapes and partridges. We had upon the whole a pleasant passage from
+Yarmouth; we lived plainly but well, and I was not at all ill--the
+captain seemed a kind, honest creature. Remember me kindly to Mrs.
+Turnour and Mrs. Clarke, and God bless you and Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+In his unpublished diary Borrow records his journey from Glasgow through
+beautiful but over-described scenery to Inverness, where he stayed at
+the Caledonian Hotel:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, 38 Camperdown Place, Yarmouth
+
+                INVERNESS, _Sunday (Sept. 26th)._
+
+DEAR CARRETA,--This is the third letter which I have written to you.
+Whether you have received the other two, or will receive this, I am
+doubtful. I have been several times to the post office, but we found no
+letter from you, though I expected to find one awaiting me when I
+arrived. I wrote last on Friday. I merely want to know once how you are,
+and if all is well I shall move onward. It is of not much use staying
+here. After I had written to you on Friday I crossed by the ferry over
+the Firth and walked to Beauly, and from thence to Beaufort or Castle
+Downie; at Beauly I saw the gate of the pit where old Fraser used to put
+the people whom he owed money to--it is in the old ruined cathedral, and
+at Beaufort saw the ruins of the house where he was born. Lord Lovat
+lives in the house close by. There is now a claimant to the title, a
+descendant of old Fraser's elder brother who committed a murder in the
+year 1690, and on that account fled to South Wales. The present family
+are rather uneasy, and so are their friends, of whom they have a great
+number, for though they are flaming Papists they are very free of their
+money. I have told several of their cousins that the claimant has not a
+chance as the present family have been so long in possession. They
+almost blessed me for saying so. There, however, can be very little
+doubt that the title and estate, more than a million acres, belong to
+the claimant by strict law. Old Fraser's brother was called Black John
+of the Tasser. The man whom he killed was a piper who sang an insulting
+song to him at a wedding. I have heard the words and have translated
+them; he was dressed very finely, and the piper sang:
+
+    'You're dressed in Highland robes, O John,
+      But ropes of straw would become ye better;
+    You've silver buckles your shoes upon
+      But leather thongs for them were fitter.'
+
+     Whereupon John drew his dagger and ran it into the piper's
+     belly; the descendants of the piper are still living at Beauly.
+     I walked that day thirty-four miles between noon and ten
+     o'clock at night. My letter of credit is here. This is a dear
+     place, but not so bad as Edinburgh. _If you have written_,
+     don't write any more till you hear from me again. God bless you
+     and Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+'Swindled out of a shilling by rascally ferryman,' is Borrow's note in
+his diary of the episode that he relates to his wife of crossing the
+Firth. He does not tell her, but his diary tells us, that he changed his
+inn on the day he wrote this letter: the following jottings from the
+diary cover the period:
+
+     _Sept. 29th._--Quit the 'Caledonian' for 'Union Sun'--poor
+     accommodation--could scarcely get anything to eat--unpleasant
+     day. Walked by the river--at night saw the comet again from the
+     bridge.
+
+     _Sept. 30th._--Breakfast. The stout gentleman from Caithness,
+     Mr. John Miller, gave me his card--show him mine--his delight.
+
+     _Oct. 1st._--Left Inverness for Fort Augustus by
+     steamer--passengers--strange man--tall gentleman--half
+     doctor--breakfast--dreadful hurricane of wind and rain--reach
+     Fort Augustus--inn--apartments--Edinburgh ale--stroll over the
+     bridge to a wretched village--wind and rain--return--fall
+     asleep before fire--dinner--herrings, first-rate--black ale,
+     Highland mutton--pudding and cream--stroll round the fort--wet
+     grass--stormy-like--wind and rain--return--kitchen--kind,
+     intelligent woman from Dornoch--no Gaelic--shows me a Gaelic
+     book of spiritual songs by one Robertson--talks to me about
+     Alexander Cumming, a fat blacksmith and great singer of Gaelic
+     songs.
+
+But to return to Borrow's letters to his wife:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, 38 Camperdown Terrace, Gt. Yarmouth
+
+                INVERNESS, _September 29th, 1858._
+
+     MY DEAR CARRETA,--I have got your letter, and glad enough I was
+     to get it. The day after to-morrow I shall depart from here for
+     Fort Augustus at some distance up the lake. After staying a few
+     days there, I am thinking of going to the Isle of Mull, but I
+     will write to you if possible from Fort Augustus. I am rather
+     sorry that I came to Scotland--I was never in such a place in
+     my life for cheating and imposition, and the farther north you
+     go the worse things seem to be, and yet I believe it is
+     possible to live very cheap here, that is if you have a house
+     of your own and a wife to go out and make bargains, for things
+     are abundant enough, but if you move about you are at the mercy
+     of innkeepers and suchlike people. The other day I was swindled
+     out of a shilling by a villain to whom I had given it for
+     change. I ought, perhaps, to have had him up before a
+     magistrate provided I could have found one, but I was in a wild
+     place and he had a clan about him, and if I had had him up I
+     have no doubt I should have been outsworn. I, however, have met
+     one fine, noble old fellow. The other night I lost my way
+     amongst horrible moors and wandered for miles and miles without
+     seeing a soul. At last I saw a light which came from the window
+     of a rude hovel. I tapped at the window and shouted, and at
+     last an old man came out; he asked me what I wanted, and I told
+     him I had lost my way. He asked me where I came from and where
+     I wanted to go, and on my telling him he said I had indeed lost
+     my way, for I had got out of it at least four miles, and was
+     going away from the place I wanted to get to. He then said he
+     would show me the way, and went with me for several miles over
+     most horrible places. At last we came to a road where he said
+     he thought he might leave me, and wished me good-night. I gave
+     him a shilling. He was very grateful and said, after
+     considering, that as I had behaved so handsomely to him he
+     would not leave me yet, as he thought it possible I might yet
+     lose my way. He then went with me three miles farther, and I
+     have no doubt that, but for him, I should have lost my way
+     again, the roads were so tangled. I never saw such an old
+     fellow, or one whose conversation was so odd and entertaining.
+     This happened last Monday night, the night of the day in which
+     I had been swindled of the shilling by the other; I could write
+     a history about those two shillings.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, 39 Camperdown Terrace, Gt. Yarmouth
+
+                INVERNESS, _30th September 1858._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I write another line to tell you that I have got
+     your second letter--it came just in time, as I leave to-morrow.
+     In your next, address to George Borrow, Post Office, Tobermory,
+     Isle of Mull, Scotland. You had, however, better write without
+     delay, as I don't know how long I may be there; and be sure
+     only to write once. I am glad we have got such a desirable
+     tenant for our Maltings, and should be happy to hear that the
+     cottage was also let so well. However, let us be grateful for
+     what has been accomplished. I hope you wrote to Cooke as I
+     desired you, and likewise said something about how I had waited
+     for Murray.... I met to-day a very fat gentleman from
+     Caithness, at the very north of Scotland; he said he was
+     descended from the Norse. I talked to him about them, and he
+     was so pleased with my conversation that he gave me his card,
+     and begged that I would visit him if I went there. As I could
+     do no less, I showed him my card--I had but one--and he no
+     sooner saw the name than he was in a rapture. I am rather glad
+     that you have got the next door, as the locality is highly
+     respectable. Tell Hen that I copied the Runic stone on the
+     Castle Hill, Edinburgh. It was brought from Denmark in the old
+     time. The inscription is imperfect, but I can read enough of
+     it to see that it was erected by a man to his father and
+     mother. I again write the direction for your next: George
+     Borrow, Esq., Post Office, Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Scotland.
+     God bless you and Hen. Ever yours,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, 39 Camperdown Terrace, Gt. Yarmouth
+
+                FORT AUGUSTUS, _Sunday, October 17th, 1858._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I write a line lest you should be uneasy. Before
+     leaving the Highlands I thought I would see a little more about
+     me. So last week I set on a four days' task, a walk of a
+     hundred miles. I returned here late last Thursday night. I
+     walked that day forty-five miles; during the first twenty the
+     rain poured in torrents and the wind blew in my face. The last
+     seventeen miles were in the dark. To-morrow I proceed towards
+     Mull. I hope that you got my letters, and that I shall find
+     something from you awaiting me at the post office. The first
+     day I passed over Corryarrick, a mountain 3000 feet high. I was
+     nearly up to my middle in snow. As soon as I had passed it I
+     was in Badenoch. The road on the farther side was horrible, and
+     I was obliged to wade several rivulets, one of which was very
+     boisterous and nearly threw me down.[195] I wandered through a
+     wonderful country, and picked up a great many strange legends
+     from the people I met, but they were very few, the country
+     being almost a desert, chiefly inhabited by deer. When amidst
+     the lower mountains I frequently heard them blaring in the
+     woods above me. The people at the inn here are by far the
+     nicest I have met; they are kind and honourable to a degree.
+     God bless you and Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, 39 Camperdown Terrace, Yarmouth
+
+                (Fragment? undated.)
+
+     On Tuesday I am going through the whole of it to Icolmkill--I
+     should start to-morrow--but I must get my shoes new soles, for
+     they have been torn to pieces by the roads, and likewise some
+     of my things mended, for they are in a sad condition.
+
+     I shall return from Thurso to Inverness, as I shall want some
+     more money to bring me home. So pray do not let the credit be
+     withdrawn. What a blessing it is to have money, but how
+     cautious people ought to be not to waste it. Pray remember me
+     most kindly to our good friend Mr. Hills. Send the Harveys the
+     pheasant as usual with my kind regards. I think you should
+     write to Mr. Dalton of Bury telling him that I have been
+     unwell, and that I send my kind regards and respects to him. I
+     send dear Hen a paper in company with this, in which I have
+     enclosed specimens of the heather, the moss and the fern, or
+     'raineach,' of Mull.--God bless you both,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+     Do not delay in sending the order. Write at the same time
+     telling me how you are.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow, 39 Camperdown Terrace, Yarmouth, Norfolk
+
+                INVERNESS, _Nov. 7th, 1858._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--After I wrote to you I walked round Mull and
+     through it, over Benmore. I likewise went to Icolmkill, and
+     passed twenty-four hours there. I saw the wonderful ruin and
+     crossed the island. I suffered a great deal from hunger, but
+     what I saw amply repaid me; on my return to Tobermory I was
+     rather unwell, but got better. I was disappointed in a passage
+     to Thurso by sea, so I was obliged to return to this place by
+     train.[196] On Tuesday, D. V., I shall set out on foot, and
+     hope to find your letter awaiting me at the post office at
+     Thurso. On coming hither by train I nearly lost my things. I
+     was told at Huntly that the train stopped ten minutes, and
+     meanwhile the train drove off _purposely_; I telegraphed to
+     Keith in order that my things might be secured, describing
+     where they were, under the seat. The reply was that there was
+     nothing of the kind there. I instantly said that I would bring
+     an action against the company, and walked off to the town,
+     where I stated the facts to a magistrate, and gave him my name
+     and address. He advised me to bring my action. I went back and
+     found the people frightened. They telegraphed again--and the
+     reply was that the things were safe. There is nothing like
+     setting oneself up sometimes. I was terribly afraid I should
+     never again find my books and things. I, however, got them, and
+     my old umbrella, too. I was sent on by the mail train, but lost
+     four hours, besides undergoing a great deal of misery and
+     excitement. When I have been to Thurso and Kirkwall I shall
+     return as quick as possible, and shall be glad to get out of
+     the country. As I am here, however, I wish to see all I can,
+     for I never wish to return. Whilst in Mull I lived very
+     cheaply--it is not costing me more than seven shillings a day.
+     The generality of the inns, however, in the lowlands are
+     incredibly dear--half-a-crown for breakfast, consisting of a
+     little tea, a couple of small eggs, and bread and butter--_two_
+     shillings for attendance. Tell Hen that I have some moss for
+     her from Benmore--also some seaweed from the farther shore of
+     Icolmkill. God bless you.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+I do not possess any diaries or notebooks covering the period of the
+following letters. The diary which covers this period is mentioned in
+the bibliography attached to Dr. Knapp's _Life of Borrow_, which, with
+the rest of Dr. Knapp's Borrow papers, is now in the possession of the
+Hispanic Society, New York.
+
+                THURSO, _21st Nov. 1858._
+
+     MY DEAR CARRETA,--I reached this place on Friday night, and was
+     glad enough to get your kind letter. I shall be so glad to get
+     home to you. Since my last letter to you I have walked nearly
+     160 miles. I was terribly taken in with respect to
+     distances--however, I managed to make my way. I have been to
+     Johnny Groat's House, which is about twenty-two miles from this
+     place. I had tolerably fine weather all the way, but within two
+     or three miles of that place a terrible storm arose; the next
+     day the country was covered with ice and snow. There is at
+     present here a kind of Greenland winter, colder almost than I
+     ever knew the winter in Russia. The streets are so covered with
+     ice that it is dangerous to step out; to-morrow D. and I pass
+     over into Orkney, and we shall take the first steamer to
+     Aberdeen and Inverness, from whence I shall make the best of my
+     way to England. It is well that I have no farther to walk, for
+     walking now is almost impossible--the last twenty miles were
+     terrible, and the weather is worse now than it was then. I was
+     terribly deceived with respect to steamboats. I was told that
+     one passed over to Orkney every day, and I have now been
+     waiting two days, and there is not yet one. I have had quite
+     enough of Scotland. When I was at Johnny Groat's I got a shell
+     for dear Hen, which I hope I shall be able to bring or send to
+     her. I am glad to hear that you have got out the money on
+     mortgage so satisfactorily. One of the greatest blessings in
+     this world is to be independent. My spirits of late have been
+     rather bad, owing principally to my dear mother's death. I
+     always knew that we should miss her. I dreamt about her at Fort
+     Augustus. Though I have walked so much I have suffered very
+     little from fatigue, and have got over the ground with
+     surprising facility, but I have not enjoyed the country so much
+     as Wales. I wish that you would order a hat for me against I
+     come home; the one I am wearing is very shabby, having been so
+     frequently drenched with rain and storm-beaten. I cannot say
+     the exact day that I shall be home, but you may be expecting
+     me. The worst is that there is no depending on the steamers,
+     for there is scarcely any traffic in Scotland in winter. My
+     appetite of late has been very poorly, chiefly, I believe,
+     owing to badness of food and want of regular meals. Glad
+     enough, I repeat, shall I be to get home to you and Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+                Kirkwall, Orkney, _November 27th, 1858. Saturday._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I am, as you see, in Orkney, and I expect every
+     minute the steamer which will take me to Shetland and Aberdeen,
+     from which last place I go by train to Inverness, where my
+     things are, and thence home. I had a stormy passage to
+     Stromness, from whence I took a boat to the Isle of Hoy, where
+     I saw the wonderful Dwarf's House hollowed out of the stone.
+     From Stromness I walked here. I have seen the old Norwegian
+     Cathedral; it is of red sandstone, and looks as if cut out of
+     rock. It is different from almost everything of the kind I ever
+     saw. It is stern and grand to a degree. I have also seen the
+     ruins of the old Norwegian Bishop's palace in which King Hacon
+     died; also the ruins of the palace of Patrick, Earl of Orkney.
+     I have been treated here with every kindness and civility. As
+     soon as the people knew who I was they could scarcely make
+     enough of me. The Sheriff, Mr. Robertson, a great Gaelic
+     scholar, said he was proud to see me in his house; and a young
+     gentleman of the name of Petrie, Clerk of Supply, has done
+     nothing but go about with me to show me the wonders of the
+     place. Mr. Robertson wished to give me letters to some
+     gentleman at Edinburgh. I, however, begged leave to be excused,
+     saying that I wished to get home, as, indeed, I do, for my mind
+     is wearied by seeing so many strange places. On my way to
+     Kirkwall I saw the stones of Stennis--immense blocks of stone
+     standing up like those of Salisbury Plain. All the country is
+     full of Druidical and Pictish remains. It is, however, very
+     barren, and scarcely a tree is to be seen, only a few dwarf
+     ones. Orkney consists of a multitude of small islands, the
+     principal of which is Pomona, in which Kirkwall is. The
+     currents between them are terrible. I hope to be home a few
+     days after you receive these lines, either by rail or steamer.
+     This is a fine day, but there has been dreadful weather here. I
+     hope we shall have a prosperous passage. I have purchased a
+     little Kirkwall newspaper, which I send you with this letter. I
+     shall perhaps post both at Lerwick or Aberdeen. I sent you a
+     Johnny Groat's newspaper, which I hope you got. Don't tear
+     either up, for they are curious. God bless you and Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+                STIRLING, _Dec. 14th, 1858._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I write a line to tell you that I am well and
+     that I am on my way to England, but I am stopped here for a
+     day, for there is no conveyance. Wherever I can walk I get on
+     very well--but if you depend on coaches or any means of
+     conveyance in this country you are sure to be disappointed.
+     This place is but thirty-five miles from Edinburgh, yet I am
+     detained for a day--there is no train. The waste of that day
+     will prevent me getting to Yarmouth from Hull by the steamer.
+     Were it not for my baggage I would walk to Edinburgh. I got to
+     Aberdeen, where I posted a letter for you. I was then obliged
+     to return to Inverness for my luggage--125 miles. Rather than
+     return again to Aberdeen, I sent on my things to Dunkeld and
+     walked the 102 miles through the Highlands. When I got here I
+     walked to Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine, thirty-eight miles over
+     horrible roads. I then got back here. I have now seen the whole
+     of Scotland that is worth seeing, and have walked 600 miles. I
+     shall be glad to be out of the country; a person here must
+     depend entirely upon himself and his own legs. I have not spent
+     much money--my expenses during my wanderings averaged a
+     shilling a day. As I was walking through Strathspey, singularly
+     enough I met two or three of the Phillips. I did not know them,
+     but a child came running after me to ask me my name. It was
+     Miss P. and two of the children. I hope to get to you in two or
+     three days after you get this. God bless you and dear Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+In spite of Borrow's vow never to visit Scotland again, he was there
+eight years later--in 1866--but only in the lowlands. His stepdaughter,
+Hen., or Henrietta Clarke, had married Dr. MacOubrey, of Belfast, and
+Borrow and his wife went on a visit to the pair. But the incorrigible
+vagabond in Borrow was forced to declare itself, and leaving his wife
+and daughter in Belfast he crossed to Stranraer by steamer on 17th July
+1866, and tramped through the lowlands, visiting Ecclefechan and Gretna
+Green. We have no record of his experiences at these places. The only
+literary impression of the Scots tour of 1866, apart from a brief
+reference in Dr. Knapp's _Life_, is an essay on Kirk Yetholm in _Romano
+Lavo-Lil_. We would gladly have exchanged it for an account of his
+visits to Abbotsford and Melrose, two places which he saw in August of
+this year.
+
+In his letter of 27th November from Kirkwall it will be seen that Borrow
+records the kindness received from 'a young gentleman of the name of
+Petrie.' It is pleasant to find that when he returned to England he did
+not forget that kindness, as the next letter demonstrates:
+
+
+To George Petrie, Esq., Kirkwall
+
+                39 CAMPERDOWN PLACE, YARMOUTH, _Jany. 14, 1859._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--Some weeks ago I wrote to Mr. Murray (and)
+     requested him to transmit to you two works of mine. Should you
+     not have received them by the time this note reaches you, pray
+     inform me and I will write to him again. They may have come
+     already, but whenever they may come to hand, keep them in
+     remembrance of one who will never forget your kind attention to
+     him in Orkney.
+
+     On reaching Aberdeen I went to Inverness by rail. From there I
+     sent off my luggage to Dunkeld, and walked thither by the
+     Highland road. I never enjoyed a walk more--the weather was
+     tolerably fine, and I was amidst some of the finest scenery in
+     the world. I was particularly struck with that of Glen Truim.
+     Near the top of the valley in sight of the Craig of Badenoch on
+     the left hand side of the way, I saw an immense cairn, probably
+     the memorial of some bloody clan battle. On my journey I picked
+     up from the mouth of an old Highland woman a most remarkable
+     tale concerning the death of Fian or Fingal. It differs
+     entirely from the Irish legends which I have heard on the
+     subject--and is of a truly mythic character. Since visiting
+     Shetland I have thought a great deal about the Picts, but
+     cannot come to any satisfactory conclusion. Were they Celts?
+     were they Laps? Macbeth could hardly have been a Lap, but then
+     the tradition of the country that they were a diminutive race,
+     and their name Pight or Pict, which I almost think is the same
+     as petit--pixolo--puj--pigmy. It is a truly perplexing
+     subject--quite as much so as that of Fingal, and whether he
+     was a Scotsman or an Irishman I have never been able to decide,
+     as there has been so much to be said on both sides of the
+     question. Please present my kind remembrances to Mrs. Petrie
+     and all friends, particularly Mr. Sheriff Robertson,[197] who
+     first did me the favour of making me acquainted with you.--And
+     believe me to remain, dear Sir, ever sincerely yours,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+     Thank you for the newspaper--the notice was very kind, but
+     rather too flattering.
+
+On the same day that Borrow wrote, Mr. Petrie sent his acknowledgment of
+the books, and so the letters crossed:
+
+     I was very agreeably surprised on opening a packet, which came
+     to me per steamer ten days ago, to find that it contained a
+     present from you of your highly interesting and valuable works
+     _Lavengro_ and _Romany Rye_. Coming from any person such books
+     would have been highly prized by me, and it is therefore
+     specially gratifying to have them presented to me by their
+     author. Please to accept of my sincere and heartfelt thanks for
+     your kind remembrance of me and your valuable gift. May I
+     request you to confer an additional favour on me by sending me
+     a slip of paper to be pasted on each of the five volumes,
+     stating that they were presented to me by you. I would like to
+     hand them down as an heirloom to my family. I am afraid you
+     will think that I am a very troublesome acquaintance.
+
+     I would have written sooner, but I expected to have had some
+     information to give you about some of the existing
+     superstitions of Orkney which might perhaps have some interest
+     for you. I have, however, been much engrossed with county
+     business during the last fortnight, and must therefore reserve
+     my account of these matters till another opportunity.
+
+     Mr. Balfour, our principal landowner in Orkney, is just now
+     writing an article on the ancient laws and customs of the
+     county to be prefixed to a miscellaneous collection of
+     documents, chiefly of the sixteenth century. He is taking the
+     opportunity to give an account of the nature of the tenures by
+     which the ancient Jarls held the Jarldom, and the manner in
+     which the odalret became gradually supplanted. I have furnished
+     him with several of the documents, and am just now going over
+     it with him. It is for the Bannatyne Club in Edinburgh that he
+     is preparing it, but I have suggested to him to have it printed
+     for general sale, as it is very interesting, and contains a
+     great mass of curious information condensed into a
+     comparatively small space. Mr. Balfour is very sorry that he
+     had not the pleasure of meeting you when you were here.
+
+My last glimpse of George Borrow in Scotland during his memorable trip
+of the winter of 1858 is contained in a letter that I received some time
+ago from the Rev. J. Wilcock of St. Ringan's Manse, Lerwick, which runs
+as follows:
+
+                _Nov. 18th, 1903._
+
+     DEAR SIR,--As I see that you are interested in George Borrow,
+     would you allow me to supply you with a little notice of him
+     which has not appeared in print? A friend here--need I explain
+     that this is written from the capital of the Shetlands?--a
+     friend, I say, now dead, told me that one day early in the
+     forenoon, during the winter, he had walked out from the town
+     for a stroll into the country. About a mile out from the town
+     is a piece of water called the Loch of Clickimin, on a
+     peninsula, in which is an ancient (so-called) 'Pictish Castle.'
+     His attention was attracted by a tall, burly stranger, who was
+     surveying this ancient relic with deep interest. As the water
+     of the loch was well up about the castle, converting the plot
+     of ground on which it stood almost altogether into an island,
+     the stranger took off shoes and stockings and trousers, and
+     waded all round the building in order to get a thorough view of
+     it. This procedure was all the more remarkable from the fact,
+     as above mentioned, that the season was winter. I believe that
+     there was snow on the ground at the time. My friend noticed on
+     meeting him again in the course of the same walk that he was
+     very lightly clothed. He had on a cotton shirt, a loose open
+     jacket, and on the whole was evidently indifferent to the
+     rigour of our northern climate at that time of the year.
+
+In addition to the visit to Belfast in 1866, Borrow was in Ireland the
+year following his Scots tour of 1858, that is to say from July to
+November 1859. He went, accompanied by his wife and daughter, by
+Holyhead to Dublin, where, as Dr. Knapp has discovered, they resided at
+75 St. Stephen Green, South. Borrow, as was his custom, left his family
+while he was on a walking tour which included Connemara and on northward
+to the Giant's Causeway. He was keenly interested in the two Societies
+in Dublin engaged upon the study of ancient Irish literature, and he
+became a member of the Ossianic Society in July of this year. I have a
+number of Borrow's translations from the Irish in my possession, but no
+notebooks of his tour on this occasion.
+
+All Irishmen who wish their country to preserve its individuality should
+have a kindly feeling for George Borrow. Opposed as he was to the
+majority of the people in religion and in politics, he was about the
+only Englishman of his time who took an interest in their national
+literature, language and folk-lore. Had he written such another travel
+book about Ireland as he wrote about Wales he would certainly have added
+to the sum of human pleasure.
+
+I find only one letter to his wife during this Irish journey:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                BALLINA, COUNTY MAYO, _Thursday Morning._
+
+     MY DEAR CARRETA,--I write to you a few lines. I have now walked
+     270 miles, and have passed through Leinster and Connaught. I
+     have suffered a good deal of hardship, for this is a very
+     different country to walk in from England. The food is bad and
+     does not agree with me. I shall be glad to get back, but first
+     of all I wish to walk to the Causeway. As soon as I have done
+     that I shall get on railroad and return, as I find there is a
+     railroad from Londonderry to Dublin. Pray direct to me at Post
+     Office, Londonderry. I have at present about seven pounds
+     remaining, perhaps it would bring me back to Dublin; however,
+     to prevent accidents, have the kindness to enclose me an order
+     on the Post Office, Londonderry, for five pounds. I expect to
+     be there next Monday, and to be home by the end of the week.
+     Glad enough I shall be to get back to you and Hen. I got your
+     letter at Galway. What you said about poor Flora was
+     comforting--pray take care of her. Don't forget the order. I
+     hope to write in a day or two a kind of duplicate of this. I
+     send Hen. heath from Connemara, and also seaweed from a bay of
+     the Atlantic. I have walked across Ireland; the country people
+     are civil; but I believe all classes are disposed to join the
+     French. The idolatry and popery are beyond conception. God
+     bless you, dearest.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+     Love to Hen. and poor Flora. (Keep this.)
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[193] Borrow had _The Sleeping Bard_ printed at his own expense in Great
+Yarmouth in 1860, Mr. Murray giving his imprint on the title-page. See
+Chapter XXXV. p. 404
+
+[194] Which will be published in my edition of _Borrow's Collected
+Works_.
+
+[195] Mr. James Barren of _The Inverness Courier_ informs me that Borrow
+took a well-known route between Fort Augustus and Badenoch, although
+nowadays it is rarely used, as Wade's Road has been abandoned; it is
+very dilapidated. It was not quite so bad, he says, in 1858.
+
+[196] Mr. Barron points out to me that as there was no direct railway
+communication Borrow must have gone to Aberdeen or Huntly, and returned
+from the latter town to Inverness. He must have taken a steamer from
+Tobermory to Fort William, and thence probably walked by Glen Spean and
+Laggan to Kingussie. After that he must have traversed one of the passes
+leading by Ben Macdhui or the Cairngorms to Aberdeenshire.
+
+[197] Mr. Sheriff Robertson's son kindly sends me the following extract
+from the diary of his father, James Robertson, Sheriff of Orkney:
+
+'_Friday, 26th November, 1858._--In the evening Geo. Petrie called with
+"Bible Borrow." He is a man about 60, upwards of six feet in height, and
+of an athletic though somewhat gaunt frame. His hair is pure white
+though a little bit thin on the top, his features high and handsome, and
+his complexion ruddy and healthy. He was dressed in black, his surtout
+was old, his shoes very muddy. He spoke in a loud tone of voice, knows
+Gaelic and Irish well, quoted Ian Lom, Duncan Ban M'Intyre, etc., is
+publishing an account of Welsh, Irish, and Gaelic bards. He
+travelled--on foot principally--from Inverness to Thurso, and is going
+on to-morrow to Zetland. He walked lately through the upper part of
+Badenoch, Lochaber, and the adjacent counties, and through Mull, which
+he greatly admired.... In his rambles he associated exclusively with the
+lower classes, and when I offered to give him letters of introduction to
+Wm. F. Skene, Robert Chambers, Joseph Robertson, etc., he declined to
+accept them. His mother died lately and he was travelling, he said, to
+divert and throw off his melancholy. He talked very freely on all
+subjects that one broached, but not with precision, and he appeared to
+me to be an amiable man and a gentleman, but, withal, something of a
+projector, if not an adventurer. He is certainly eccentric. I asked him
+to take wine, etc., and he declined. He said he was bred at the High
+School of Edinburgh, and that he was there in 1813, and mentioned that
+he was partly educated in Ireland, and that by birth and descent he is
+an Englishman.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+_THE ROMANY RYE_
+
+
+George Borrow's three most important books had all a very interesting
+history. We have seen the processes by which _The Bible in Spain_ was
+built up from notebooks and letters. We have seen further the most
+curious apprenticeship by which _Lavengro_ came into existence. The most
+distinctly English book--at least in a certain absence of
+cosmopolitanism--that Victorian literature produced was to a great
+extent written on scraps of paper during a prolonged Continental tour
+which included Constantinople and Budapest. In _Lavengro_ we have only
+half a book, the whole work, which included what came to be published as
+_The Romany Rye_, having been intended to appear in four volumes. The
+first volume was written in 1843, the second in 1845, after the
+Continental tour, which is made use of in the description of the
+Hungarian, and the third volume in the years between 1845 and 1848. Then
+in 1852 Borrow wrote out an 'advertisement' of a fourth volume,[198]
+which runs as follows:
+
+     Shortly will be published in one volume. Price 10s. _The
+     Rommany Rye_, Being the fourth volume of _Lavengro_. By George
+     Borrow, author of _The Bible in Spain_.
+
+But this volume did not make an appearance 'shortly.' Its author was far
+too much offended with the critics, too disheartened it may be to care
+to offer himself again for their gibes. The years rolled on, much of the
+time being spent at Yarmouth, a little of it at Oulton. There was a
+visit to Cornwall in 1854, and another to Wales in the same year. The
+Isle of Man was selected for a holiday in 1855, and not until 1857 did
+_The Romany Rye_ appear. The book was now in two volumes, and we see
+that the word Romany had dropped an 'm':
+
+     The Romany Rye: A Sequel to 'Lavengro.' By George Borrow,
+     author of 'The Bible in Spain,' 'The Gypsies of Spain,' etc.,
+     'Fear God, and take your own part.' In Two Volumes. London:
+     John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1857.
+
+Dr. Knapp publishes some vigorous correspondence between Mrs. Borrow and
+her husband's publisher written prior to the issue of _The Romany Rye_.
+'Mr. Borrow has not the slightest wish to publish the book,' she says.
+'The manuscript was left with you because you wished to see it.'[199]
+This was written in 1855, the wife presumably writing at her husband's
+dictation. In 1857 the situation was not improved, as Borrow himself
+writes to Mr. Murray: 'In your last letter you talk of _obliging me by
+publishing my verse_. Now is not that speaking very injudiciously?'[200]
+At last, however, in April 1857, _The Romany Rye_ appeared, and we are
+introduced once more to many old favourites, to Petulengro, to the Man
+in Black, and above all to Isopel Berners. The incidents of _Lavengro_
+are supposed to have taken place between the 24th May 1825 and the 18th
+July of that year. In _The Romany Rye_ the incidents apparently occur
+between 19th July and 3rd August 1825. In the opinion of that most
+eminent of gypsy experts, Mr. John Sampson,[201] the whole of the
+episodes in the five volumes occurred in seventy-two days. Mr. Sampson
+agrees with Dr. Knapp in locating Mumper's Dingle in Momber or Monmer
+Lane, Willenhall, Shropshire. The dingle has disappeared--it is now
+occupied by the Monmer Lane Ironworks--but you may still find Dingle
+Bridge and Dingle Lane. The book has added to the glamour of gypsydom,
+and to the interest in the gypsies which we all derive from _Lavengro_,
+but Mr. Sampson makes short work of Borrow's gypsy learning on its
+philological side. 'No gypsy,' he says, 'ever uses _chal_ or _engro_ as
+a separate word, or talks of the _dukkering dook_ or of _penning a
+dukkerin_.' 'Borrow's genders are perversely incorrect'; and 'Romany'--a
+word which can never get out of our language, let philologists say what
+they will--should have been 'Romani.' '"Haarstraeubend" is the fitting
+epithet,' says Mr. Sampson, 'which an Oriental scholar, Professor
+Richard Pischel of Berlin, finds to describe Borrow's etymologies.' But
+all this is very unimportant, and the book remains in the whole of its
+forty-seven chapters not one whit less a joy to us than does its
+predecessor _Lavengro_, with its visions of gypsies and highwaymen and
+boxers.
+
+But then there is its 'Appendix.' That appendix of eleven petulant
+chapters undoubtedly did Borrow harm in his day and generation. Now his
+fame is too great, and his genius too firmly established for these
+strange dissertations on men and things to offer anything but amusement
+or edification. They reveal, for example, the singularly non-literary
+character of this great man of letters. Much--too much--has been made of
+his dislike of Walter Scott and his writings. As a matter of fact Borrow
+tells us that he admired Scott both as a prose writer and as a poet.
+'Since Scott he had read no modern writer. Scott was greater than
+Homer,' he told Frances Cobbe. But he takes occasion to condemn his
+'Charlie o'er the water nonsense,' and declares that his love of and
+sympathy with certain periods and incidents have made for sympathy with
+what he always calls 'Popery.'[202] Well, looking at the matter from an
+entirely opposite point of view, Cardinal Newman declared that the
+writings of Scott had had no inconsiderable influence in directing his
+mind towards the Church of Rome.[203]
+
+     During the first quarter of this century a great poet was
+     raised up in the North, who, whatever were his defects, has
+     contributed by his works, in prose and verse, to prepare men
+     for some closer and more practical approximation to Catholic
+     truth. The general need of something deeper and more attractive
+     than what had offered itself elsewhere may be considered to
+     have led to his popularity; and by means of his popularity he
+     re-acted on his readers, stimulating their mental thirst,
+     feeding their hopes, setting before them visions, which, when
+     once seen, are not easily forgotten, and silently
+     indoctrinating them with nobler ideas, which might afterwards
+     be appealed to as first principles.[204]
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT OF _THE ROMANY RYE_
+
+_From the Borrow Papers in the possession of the Author of 'George
+Borrow and his Circle'_]
+
+And thus we see that Borrow had a certain prescience in this matter. But
+Borrow, in good truth, cared little for modern English literature. His
+heart was entirely with the poets of other lands--the Scandinavians and
+the Kelts. In Virgil he apparently took little interest, nor in the
+great poetry of Greece, Rome and England, although we find a reference
+to Theocritus and Dante in his books. Fortunately for his fame he had
+read _Gil Blas_, _Don Quixote_, and, above all, _Robinson Crusoe_, which
+last book, first read as a boy of six, coloured his whole life. Defoe
+and Fielding and Bunyan were the English authors to whom he owed most.
+Of Byron he has quaint things to say, and of Wordsworth things that are
+neither quaint nor wise. We recall the man in the field in the
+twenty-second chapter of _The Romany Rye_ who used Wordsworth's poetry
+as a soporific. And throughout his life Borrow's position towards his
+contemporaries in literature was ever contemptuous. He makes no mention
+of Carlyle or Ruskin or Matthew Arnold, and they in their turn, it may
+be added, make no mention of him or of his works. Thackeray he snubbed
+on one of the few occasions they met, and Browning and Tennyson were
+alike unrevealed to him. Borrow indeed stands quite apart from the great
+literature of a period in which he was a striking and individual figure.
+Lacking appreciation in this sphere of work, he wrote of 'the
+contemptible trade of author,' counting it less creditable than that of
+a jockey.
+
+But all this is a digression from the progress of our narrative of the
+advent of _The Romany Rye_. The book was published in an edition of 1000
+copies in April 1857, and it took thirty years to dispose of 3750
+copies. Not more than 2000 copies of his book were sold in Great Britain
+during the twenty-three remaining years of Borrow's life. What wonder
+that he was embittered by his failure! The reviews were far from
+favourable, although Mr. Elwin wrote not unkindly in an article in the
+_Quarterly Review_ called 'Roving Life in England.' No critic, however,
+was as severe as _The Athenaeum_, which had called _Lavengro_
+'balderdash' and referred to _The Romany Rye_ as the 'literary dough' of
+an author 'whose dullest gypsy preparation we have now read.' In later
+years, when, alas! it was too late, _The Athenaeum_, through the eloquent
+pen of Theodore Watts, made good amends. But William Bodham Donne wrote
+to Borrow with adequate enthusiasm:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                12 ST. JAMES'S SQUARE, _May 24th, 1857._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I received your book some days ago, but would not
+     write to you before I was able to read it, at least once, since
+     it is needless, I hope, for me to assure you that I am truly
+     gratified by the gift.
+
+     Time to read it I could not find for some days after it was
+     sent hither, for what with winding up my affairs here, the
+     election of my successor, preparations for flitting, etc.,
+     etc., I have been incessantly occupied with matters needful to
+     be done, but far less agreeable to do than reading _The Romany
+     Rye_. All I have said of _Lavengro_ to yourself personally, or
+     to others publicly or privately, I say again of _The Romany
+     Rye_. Everywhere in it the hand of the master is stamped boldly
+     and deeply. You join the chisel of Dante with the pencil of
+     Defoe.
+
+     I am rejoiced to see so many works announced of yours, for you
+     have more that is worth knowing to tell than any one I am
+     acquainted with. For your coming progeny's sake I am disposed
+     to wish you had worried the literary-craft less. Brand and
+     score them never so much, they will not turn and repent, but
+     only spit the more froth and venom. I am reckoning of my
+     emancipation with an eagerness hardly proper at my years, but I
+     cannot help it, so thoroughly do I hate London, and so much do
+     I love the country. I have taken a house, or rather a cottage,
+     at Walton on Thames, just on the skirts of Weybridge, and there
+     I hope to see you before I come into Norfolk, for I am afraid
+     my face will not be turned eastward for many weeks if not
+     months.
+
+     Remember me kindly to Mrs. Borrow and Miss Clarke, and believe
+     me, my dear Sir, very truly and thankfully yours.
+
+                WM. B. DONNE.
+
+And perhaps a letter from the then Town Clerk of Oxford is worth
+reproducing here:
+
+
+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.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[198] Borrow was fond of writing out title-pages for his books, and I
+have a dozen or so of these draft title-pages among my Borrow Papers.
+
+[199] Dr. Knapp's _Life_, vol. ii. p. 167.
+
+[200] Borrow's association with the firm of Murray deserves a chapter to
+itself, but the material for writing such a chapter has already been
+used by Dr. Knapp and Mr. Herbert Jenkins. The present Mr. John Murray,
+John Murray IV., has seventy letters from Borrow to his firm in his
+possession. The first of the name to publish Borrow's works was John
+Murray II., who died in 1843. John Murray III., who died in 1892, and
+his partner and cousin Robert Cooke, were Borrow's friends. He had
+differences at times, but he was loyal to them and they were loyal to
+him as good authors and good publishers ought to be. With all his
+irritability Borrow had the sense to see that there was substantial
+reason in their declining to issue his translations. That, although at
+the end there were long intervals of silence, the publishers and their
+author remained friends is shown by letters written to his daughter
+after Borrow's death, and by the following little note from Borrow to
+John Murray which was probably never sent. It is in the feeble, broken
+handwriting of what was probably the last year of Borrow's life.
+
+
+To John Murray, Esq.
+
+                'OULTON (_no date_).
+
+'MY DEAR FRIEND,--Thank you most sincerely for sending me the last vol.
+of the _Quarterly_, a truly remarkable one it is, full of literature of
+every description--I should have answered the receipt of it before had I
+not been very unwell. Should you come to these parts do me the favour to
+look in upon me--it might do me good, and say the same thing from me to
+my kind and true friend Robt. Cooke. His last visit to me did me much
+good, and another might probably do me the same. What a horrible state
+the country seems to be in, and no wonder--a monster-minister whose
+principal aim seems to be the ruin of his native land, a parliament
+either incompetent or indifferent. However, let us hope for the best.
+Pray send my cordial respects to Mrs. Murray and kind regards to the
+rest of your good family.--Ever sincerely yours,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.'
+
+[201] Mr. Sampson has written an admirable introduction to _The Romany
+Rye_ in Methuen's 'Little Library,' but he goes rather far in his
+suggestion that Borrow instead of writing 'Joseph Sell' for L20,
+possibly obtained that sum by imitating 'the methods of Jerry Abershaw,
+Galloping Dick,' or some of the 'fraternity of vagabonds' whose lives
+Borrow had chronicled in his _Celebrated Trials_, in other words, that
+he stole the money.
+
+[202] _The Romany Rye_, Appendix, ch. vii.
+
+[203] It is interesting to note that all the surviving members of Sir
+Walter Scott's family belong to the Roman Catholic Church, as do certain
+members of the family of Newman's opponent, Charles Kingsley. Several
+members of Charles Dickens's family are also Roman Catholics.
+
+[204] _Essays Critical and Historical_ by John Henry Cardinal Newman,
+vol. i., Longmans. See also _Apologia pro Vita Sua_, pp. 96-97.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+EDWARD FITZGERALD
+
+
+Edward FitzGerald once declared that he was about the only friend with
+whom Borrow had never quarrelled.[205] There was probably no reason for
+this exceptional amity other than the 'genius for friendship' with which
+FitzGerald has been rightly credited. There were certainly, however,
+many points of likeness between the two men which might have kept them
+at peace. Both had written copiously and out of all proportion to the
+public demand for their work. Both revelled in translation. FitzGerald's
+eight volumes in a magnificent American edition consists mainly of
+translations from various tongues which no man presumably now reads. All
+the world has read and will long continue to read his translation or
+paraphrase of Omar Khayyam's _Rubaiyat_. 'Old Fitz,' as his friends
+called him, lives by that, although his letters are among the best in
+literature. Borrow wrote four books that will live, but had publishers
+been amenable he would have published forty, and all as unsaleable as
+the major part of FitzGerald's translations. Both men were Suffolk
+squires, and yet delighted more in the company of a class other than
+their own, FitzGerald of boatmen, Borrow of gypsies; both were counted
+eccentrics in their respective villages. Perhaps alone among the great
+Victorian authors they lived to be old without receiving in their lives
+any popular recognition of their great literary achievements. But
+FitzGerald had a more cultivated mind than Borrow. He loved literature
+and literary men whilst Borrow did not. His criticism of books is of the
+best, and his friendships with bookmen are among the most interesting in
+literary history. 'A solitary, shy, kind-hearted man,' was the verdict
+upon him of the frequently censorious Carlyle. When Anne Thackeray asked
+her father which of his friends he had loved best, he answered 'Dear old
+Fitz, to be sure,' and Tennyson would have said the same. Borrow had
+none of these gifts as a letter-writer and no genius for friendship. The
+charm of his style, so indisputable in his best work, is absent from his
+letters; and his friends were alienated one after another. Borrow's
+undisciplined intellect and narrow upbringing were a curse to him, from
+the point of view of his own personal happiness, although they helped
+him to achieve exactly the work for which he was best fitted. Borrow's
+acquaintance with FitzGerald was commenced by the latter, who, in July
+1853, sent from Boulge Hall, Suffolk, to Oulton Hall, in the same
+county, his recently published volume _Six Dramas of Calderon_. He
+apologises for making so free with 'a great man; but, as usual, I shall
+feel least fear before a man like yourself who both do fine things in
+your own language and are deep read in those of others.' He also refers
+to 'our common friend Donne,' so that it is probable that they had met
+at Donne's house.[206] The next letter, also published by Dr. Knapp,
+that FitzGerald writes to Borrow is dated from his home in Great
+Portland Street in 1856. He presents his friend with a Turkish
+Dictionary, and announces his coming marriage to Miss Barton, 'Our
+united ages amount to 96!--a dangerous experiment on both sides'--as it
+proved. The first reference to Borrow in the FitzGerald _Letters_ issued
+by his authorised publishers is addressed to Professor Cowell in January
+1857:
+
+     I was with Borrow a week ago at Donne's, and also at Yarmouth
+     three months ago: he is well, but not yet agreed with Murray.
+     He read me a long translation he had made from the Turkish:
+     which I could not admire, and his taste becomes stranger than
+     ever.[207]
+
+But Borrow's genius if not his taste was always admired by FitzGerald,
+as the following letter among my Borrow Papers clearly indicates. Borrow
+had published _The Romany Rye_ at the beginning of May:
+
+[Illustration: OULTON COTTAGE FROM THE BROAD
+
+Showing the summer house on the left from a sketch by Henrietta
+MacOubrey. The house which has replaced it has another aspect.]
+
+[Illustration: THE SUMMER HOUSE OULTON, AS IT IS TO DAY
+
+Which when compared with Miss MacOubrey's sketch shows that it has been
+reroofed and probably rebuilt altogether.]
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq., Oulton Hall.
+
+                GOLDINGTON HALL, BEDFORD, _May 24/57_[208]
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--Your Book was put into my hands a week ago just
+     as I was leaving London; so I e'en carried it down here, and
+     have been reading it under the best Circumstances:--at such a
+     Season--in the Fields as they now are--and in company with a
+     Friend I love best in the world--who scarce ever reads a Book,
+     but knows better than I do what they are made of from a hint.
+
+     Well, lying in a Paddock of his, I have been travelling along
+     with you to Horncastle, etc.,--in a very delightful way for the
+     most part; something as I have travelled, and love to travel,
+     with Fielding, Cervantes, and Robinson Crusoe--and a smack of
+     all these there seems to me, with something beside, in your
+     book. But, as will happen in Travel, there were some spots I
+     didn't like so well--didn't like _at all_: and sometimes wished
+     to myself that I, a poor 'Man of Taste,' had been at your Elbow
+     (who are a Man of much more than Taste) to divert you, or get
+     you by some means to pass lightlier over some places. But you
+     wouldn't have heeded me, and won't heed me, and _must_ go your
+     own way, I think--And in the parts I least like, I am yet
+     thankful for honest, daring, and original Thought and Speech
+     such as one hardly gets in these mealy-mouthed days. It was
+     very kind of you to send me your book.
+
+     My Wife is already established at a House called 'Albert's
+     Villa,' or some such name, at Gorlestone--but a short walk from
+     you: and I am to find myself there in a few days. So I shall
+     perhaps tell you more of my thoughts ere long. Now I shall
+     finish this large Sheet with a Tetrastich of one Omar Khayyam
+     who was an Epicurean Infidel some 500 years ago:
+
+    [Persian][209]
+
+                and am yours very truly,
+                EDWARD FITZGERALD.
+
+In a letter to Cowell about the same time--June 5, 1857--FitzGerald
+writes that he is about to set out for Gorleston, Great Yarmouth:
+
+     Within hail almost lives George Borrow, who has lately
+     published, and given me, two new volumes of Lavengro called
+     _Romany Rye_, with some excellent things, and some very bad (as
+     I have made bold to write to him--how shall I face him!) You
+     would not like the book at all I think.[210]
+
+It was Cowell, it will be remembered, who introduced FitzGerald to the
+Persian poet Omar, and afterwards regretted the act. The first edition
+of _The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam_ appeared two years later, in 1859.
+Edward Byles Cowell was born in Ipswich in 1826, and he was educated at
+the Ipswich Grammar School. It was in the library attached to the
+Ipswich Library Institution that Cowell commenced the study of Oriental
+languages. In 1842 he entered the business of his father and grandfather
+as a merchant and maltster. When only twenty years of age he commenced
+his friendship with Edward FitzGerald, and their correspondence may be
+found in Dr. Aldis Wright's _FitzGerald Correspondence_. In 1850 he left
+his brother to carry on the business and entered himself at Magdalen
+Hall, Oxford, where he passed six years. At intervals he read Greek with
+FitzGerald and, later, Persian. FitzGerald commenced to learn this last
+language, which was to bring him fame, when he was forty-four years of
+age. In 1856 Cowell was appointed to a Professorship of English History
+at Calcutta, and from there he sent FitzGerald a copy of the manuscript
+of _Omar Khayyam_, afterwards lent by FitzGerald to Borrow. Much earlier
+than this--in 1853--FitzGerald had written to Borrow:
+
+     At Ipswich, indeed, is a man whom you would like to know, I
+     think, and who would like to know you; one Edward Cowell: a
+     great scholar, if I may judge.... Should you go to Ipswich do
+     look for him! a great deal more worth looking for (I speak with
+     no sham modesty, I am sure) than yours,--E. F. G.[211]
+
+Twenty-six years afterwards--in 1879--we find FitzGerald writing to Dr.
+Aldis Wright to the effect that Cowell had been seized with 'a wish to
+learn Welsh under George Borrow':
+
+     And as he would not venture otherwise, I gave him a Note of
+     Introduction, and off he went, and had an hour with the old
+     Boy, who was hard of hearing and shut up in a stuffy room, but
+     cordial enough; and Cowell was glad to have seen the Man, and
+     tell him that it was his _Wild Wales_ which first inspired a
+     thirst for this language into the Professor.[212]
+
+This introduction and meeting are described by Professor Cowell in the
+following letter:[213]
+
+                CAMBRIDGE, _December 10, 1892._
+
+     DEAR SIR,--I fear I cannot help you much by my reminiscences
+     of Borrow. I never had the slightest interest in the gipsies,
+     but I always had a corner in my heart for Spain and Wales, and
+     consequently _The Bible in Spain_ and _Wild Wales_ have always
+     been favourite books. But though Borrow's works were well known
+     to me, I never saw him but once, and what I saw of him then
+     made me feel that he was one of those men who put the best part
+     of themselves into their books. We get the pure gold there
+     without the admixture of alloy which daily life seemed to
+     impart.
+
+     I was staying one autumn at Lowestoft some ten years or more
+     ago when I asked my dear old friend, Mr. Edward FitzGerald, to
+     give me a letter of introduction to Mr. George Borrow. Armed
+     with this I started on my pilgrimage and took a chaise for
+     Oulton Hall. I remember as we drew near we turned into a kind
+     of drift road through the fields where the long sweeping boughs
+     of the trees hung so low that I lost my hat more than once as
+     we drove along. My driver remarked that the old gentleman would
+     not allow any of his trees to be cut. When we reached the hall
+     I went in at the gate into the farmyard, but I could see nobody
+     about anywhere. I walked up to the front door, but nobody
+     answered my knock except some dogs, who began barking from
+     their kennels. At last in answer to a very loud knock, the door
+     was opened by an old gentleman whom I at once recognised by the
+     engraving to be Borrow himself. I gave him my letter and
+     introduced myself. He replied in a tone of humorous petulance,
+     'What is the good of your bringing me a letter when I haven't
+     got my spectacles to read it?' However, he took me into his
+     room, where I fancy my knock had roused him from a siesta. We
+     soon got into talk. He began by some unkind remarks about one
+     or two of our common friends, but I soon turned the subject to
+     books, especially Spanish and Welsh books. Here I own I was
+     disappointed in his conversation. I talked to him about Ab
+     Gwilym, whom he speaks so highly of in _Wild Wales_, but his
+     interest was languid. He did not seem interested when I told
+     him that the London Society of Cymmrodorion were publishing in
+     their journal the Welsh poems of Iolo Goch, the bard of Owen
+     Glendower who fought with our Henry v., two of whose poems
+     Borrow had given spirited translations of in _Wild Wales_. He
+     told me he had heaps of translations from Welsh books somewhere
+     in his cupboards but he did not know where to lay his hand on
+     them. He did not show me one Welsh or Spanish book of any kind.
+     You may easily imagine that I was disappointed with my
+     interview and I never cared to visit him again. Borrow was a
+     man of real genius, and his _Bible in Spain_ and _Wild Wales_
+     are unique books in their way, but with all his knowledge of
+     languages he was not a scholar. I should be the last person to
+     depreciate his _Sleeping Bard_, for I owe a great deal to it as
+     it helped me to read the Welsh original, but it is full of
+     careless mistakes. The very title is wrong; it should not be
+     the _Visions of the Sleeping Bard_ but the _Visions of the Bard
+     Sleep_, as the bard or prophet Sleep shows the author in a
+     series of dreams--his visions of life, death, and hell, which
+     form the three chapters of the book.
+
+     Borrow knew nothing of philology. His strange version of 'Om
+     mani padme hum' (Oh! the gem in the lotus ho!) must have been
+     taken from some phonetic representation of the sounds as heard
+     by an ignorant traveller in China or Mongolia.
+
+     I have written this long letter lured on by my recollections,
+     but after all I can tell you nothing. Surely it is best that
+     Borrow should remain a name; we have the best part of him still
+     living in his best books.
+
+    'He gave the people of his best;
+    His worst he kept, his best he gave.'
+
+     I don't see why we should trouble ourselves about his 'worst.'
+     He had his weaker side like all of us, the foolish part of his
+     nature as well as the wise; but 'de mortuis nil nisi bonum'
+     especially applies in such cases.--I remain, dear sir, yours
+     sincerely,
+
+                E. B. COWELL.
+
+There is one short letter from FitzGerald to Borrow in Dr. Aldis
+Wright's _FitzGerald Letters_. It is dated June 1857 and from it we
+learn that FitzGerald lent Borrow the Calcutta manuscript of _Omar
+Khayyam_, upon which he based his own immortal translation, and from a
+letter to W. H. Thompson in 1861 we learn that Cowell, who had inspired
+the writing of FitzGerald's _Omar Khayyam_, Donne and Borrow were the
+only three friends to whom he had sent copies of his 'peccadilloes in
+verse' as he calls his remarkable translation,[214] and this two years
+after it was published. A letter, dated July 6, 1857,[215] asks for the
+return of FitzGerald's copy of the Ouseley manuscript of _Omar Khayyam_,
+Borrow having clearly already returned the Calcutta manuscript. This
+letter concludes on a pathetic note:
+
+     My old Parson Crabbe is bowing down under epileptic fits, or
+     something like, and I believe his brave old white head will
+     soon sink into the village church sward. Why, _our_ time seems
+     coming. Make way, gentlemen!
+
+Borrow comes more than once into the story of FitzGerald's great
+translation of _Omar Khayyam_, which in our day has caused so great a
+sensation, and deserves all the enthusiasm that it has excited as the
+
+    '... golden Eastern lay,
+    Than which I know no version done
+    In English more divinely well,'
+
+to quote Tennyson's famous eulogy. Cowell, to his after regret, for he
+had none of FitzGerald's _dolce far niente_ paganism, had sent
+FitzGerald from Calcutta, where he was, the manuscript of Omar Khayyam's
+_Rubaiyat_ in Persian, and FitzGerald was captured by it. Two years
+later, as we know, he produced the translation, which was so much more
+than a translation. 'Omar breathes a sort of consolation to me,' he
+wrote to Cowell. 'Borrow is greatly delighted with your MS. of Omar
+which I showed him,' he says in another letter to Cowell (June 23,
+1857), 'delighted at the terseness so unusual in Oriental verse.'[216]
+
+The next two letters by FitzGerald from my Borrow Papers are of the year
+1859, the year of the first publication of the _Rubaiyat_:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                10 MARINE PARADE, LOWESTOFT.
+
+MY DEAR BORROW,--I have come here with three nieces to give them sea air
+and change. They are all perfectly quiet, sensible, and unpretentious
+girls; so as, if you will come over here any day or days, we will find
+you board and bed too, for a week longer at any rate. There is a good
+room below, which we now only use for meals, but which you and I can be
+quite at our sole ease in. Won't you come?
+
+I purpose (and indeed have been some while intentioning) to go over to
+Yarmouth to look for you. But I write this note in hope it may bring you
+hither also.
+
+Donne has got his soldier boy home from India--Freddy--I always thought
+him a very nice fellow indeed. No doubt life is happy enough to all of
+them just now. Donne has been on a visit to the Highlands--which seems
+to have pleased him--I have got an MS. of Bahram and his Seven Castles
+(Persian), which I have not yet cared to look far into. Will you? It is
+short, fairly transcribed, and of some repute in its own country, I
+hear. Cowell sent it me from Calcutta; but it almost requires _his_
+company to make one devote one's time to Persian, when, with what
+remains of one's old English eyes, one can read the Odyssey and
+Shakespeare.
+
+With compliments to the ladies, believe me, Yours very truly,
+
+                EDWARD FITZGERALD.
+
+     I didn't know you were back from your usual summer tour till
+     Mr. Cobb told my sister lately of having seen you.
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                BATH HOUSE, LOWESTOFT, _October 10/59._
+
+     DEAR BORROW,--This time last year I was here and wrote to ask
+     about you. You were gone to Scotland. Well, where are you now?
+     As I also said last year: 'If you be in Yarmouth and have any
+     mind to see me I will go over some day; or here I am if you
+     will come here. And I am quite alone. As it is I would bus it
+     to Yarmouth but I don't know if you and yours be there at all,
+     nor if there, whereabout. If I don't hear at all I shall
+     suppose you are not there, on one of your excursions, or not
+     wanting to be rooted out; a condition I too well understand. I
+     was at Gorleston some months ago for some while; just after
+     losing my greatest friend, the Bedfordshire lad who was crushed
+     to death, coming home from hunting, his horse falling on him.
+     He survived indeed two months, and I had been to bid him
+     eternal adieu, so had no appetite for anything but
+     rest--rest--rest. I have just seen his widow off from here.
+     With kind regards to the ladies, Yours very truly,
+
+                EDWARD FITZGERALD.
+
+In a letter to George Crabbe the third, and the grandson of the poet, in
+1862, FitzGerald tells him that he has just been reading Borrow's _Wild
+Wales_, 'which _I_ like well because I can hear him talking it. But I
+don't know if others will like it.' 'No one writes better English than
+Borrow in general,' he says. But FitzGerald, as a lover of style, is
+vexed with some of Borrow's phrases, and instances one: '"The scenery
+was beautiful _to a degree_," _What_ degree? When did this vile phrase
+arise?' The criticism is just, but Borrow, in common with many other
+great English authors whose work will live was not uniformly a good
+stylist. He has many lamentable fallings away from the ideals of the
+stylist. But he will, by virtue of a wonderful individuality, outlive
+many a good stylist. His four great books are immortal, and one of them
+is _Wild Wales_.
+
+We have a glimpse of FitzGerald in the following letter in my
+possession, by the friend who had introduced him to Borrow, William
+Bodham Donne:[217]
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                40 WEYMOUTH STREET, PORTLAND PLACE, W., _November 28/62._
+
+     MY DEAR BORROW,--Many thanks for the copy of _Wild Wales_
+     reserved for and sent to me by Mr. R. Cooke.[218] Before this
+     copy arrived I had obtained one from the London Library and
+     read it through, not exactly _stans pede in uno_, but certainly
+     almost at a stretch. I could not indeed lay it down, it
+     interested me so much. It is one of the very best records of
+     home travel, if indeed so strange a country as Wales is can
+     properly be called _home_, I have ever met with.
+
+     Immediately on closing the third volume I secured a few pages
+     in _Fraser's Magazine_ for _Wild Wales_, for though you do not
+     stand in need of my aid, yet my notice will not do you a
+     mischief, and some of the reviewers of _Lavengro_ were, I
+     recollect, shocking blockheads, misinterpreting the letter and
+     misconceiving the spirit of that work. I have, since we met in
+     Burlington Arcade, been on a visit to FitzGerald. He is in
+     better spirits by far than when I saw him about the same time
+     in last year. He has his pictures and his chattels about him,
+     and has picked up some acquaintance among the merchants and
+     mariners of Woodbridge, who, although far below his level, are
+     yet better company than the two old skippers he was consorting
+     with in 1861. They--his present friends--came in of an evening,
+     and sat and drank and talked, and I enjoyed their talk very
+     much, since they discussed of what they understood, which is
+     more than I can say generally of the fine folks I occasionally
+     (very occasionally now) meet in London. I should have said more
+     about your book, only I wish to keep it for print: and you
+     don't need to be told by me that it is very good.--With best
+     regards to Mrs. Borrow and Miss Clarke, I am, yours ever truly,
+
+                W. B. DONNE.
+
+The last letter from FitzGerald to Borrow is dated many years after the
+correspondence I have here printed,[219] and from it we gather that
+there had been no correspondence in the interval.[220] FitzGerald writes
+from Little Grange, Woodbridge, in January 1875, to say that he had
+received a message from Borrow that he would be glad to see him at
+Oulton. 'I think the more of it,' says FitzGerald, 'because I imagine,
+from what I have heard, that you have slunk away from human company as
+much as I have.' He hints that they might not like one another so well
+after a fifteen years' separation. He declares with infinite pathos that
+he has now severed himself from all old ties, has refused the
+invitations of old college friends and old schoolfellows. To him there
+was no companionship possible for his declining days other than his
+reflections and verses. It is a fine letter, filled with that
+graciousness of spirit that was ever a trait in FitzGerald's noble
+nature. The two men never met again. When Borrow died, in 1881,
+FitzGerald, who followed him two years later, suggested to Dr. Aldis
+Wright, afterwards to be his (FitzGerald's) executor, who was staying
+with him at the time, that he should look over Borrow's books and
+manuscripts if his stepdaughter so desired. If this had been arranged,
+and Dr. Aldis Wright had written Borrow's life, there would have been no
+second biographer.[221]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[205] This was said by FitzGerald to his friend Frederick Spalding.
+
+[206] Edward FitzGerald to George Borrow, in Knapp's _Life_, vol. ii. p.
+346.
+
+[207] _The Works of Edward FitzGerald_, vol. ii. p. 59 (Macmillan).
+
+[208] FitzGerald was staying with his friends Mr. and Mrs. W. K. Browne.
+There is no letter other than this one to Borrow to recall that visit,
+which is, however, referred to in the _FitzGerald Correspondence_
+(Works, vol. ii. p. 75) by the following sentence:--'When in
+Bedfordshire I put away almost all Books except Omar Khayyam! which I
+could not help looking over in a Paddock covered with Buttercups and
+brushed by a delicious Breeze, while a dainty racing Filly of Browne's
+came startling up to wonder and to snuff about me.' The 'friend' of the
+letter was of course Mr. W. K. Browne, who was more of an open air man
+than a bookman.
+
+[209] I am indebted to Mr. Edward Heron-Allen for the information that
+this is the original of the last verse but one in FitzGerald's first
+version of the _Rubaiyat_:
+
+r 74. Ah Moon of my Delight, who knowest no wane, The Moon of Heaven is
+rising once again, How oft, hereafter rising, shall she look Through
+this same Garden after me--in vain.
+
+The literal translation is:
+
+[Persian]
+Since no one will guarantee thee a to-morrow,
+[Persian]
+Make thou happy now this lovesick heart;
+[Persian]
+Drink wine in the moonlight, O Moon, for the Moon
+[Persian]
+Shall seek us long and shall not find us.
+
+[210] _The Works of Edward FitzGerald_, vol. ii. p. 74 (Macmillan).
+
+[211] _Letters of Edward FitzGerald_, vol. ii. p. 15.
+
+[212] _Ibid._, vol. iv. p. 85 (Macmillan).
+
+[213] First published in _The Sphere_, October 31, 1903. The letter was
+written to Mr. James Hooper of Norwich.
+
+[214] _Works of Edward FitzGerald_, vol. ii. p. 135 (Macmillan).
+
+[215] Published by Dr. Knapp in _Borrow's Life_, vol. ii. p. 348
+(Murray).
+
+[216] We learn from FitzGerald that Borrow's eyesight gave way about
+this time, and his wife had to keep all books from him.
+
+[217] There are two or three references to Borrow in _William Bodham
+Donne and his Friends_, edited by Catharine B. Johnson (Methuen). The
+most important of these is in a letter from Donne to Bernard Barton,
+dated from Bury St. Edmunds, September 12th, 1848:
+
+'We have had a great man here, and I have been walking with him and
+aiding him to eat salmon and mutton and drink port--George Borrow; and
+what is more, we fell in with some gypsies and I heard the speech of
+Egypt, which sounded wonderously like a medley of broken Spanish and dog
+Latin. Borrow's face lighted by the red turf fire of the tent was worth
+looking at. He is ashy white now, but twenty years ago, when his hair
+was like a raven's wing, he must have been hard to discriminate from a
+born Bohemian. Borrow is best on the tramp, if you can walk four and a
+half miles per hour--as I can with ease and do by choice--and can walk
+fifteen of them at a stretch--which I can compass also--then he will
+talk Iliads of adventures even better than his printed ones. He cannot
+abide those amateur pedestrians who saunter, and in his chair he is
+given to groan and be contradictory. But on Newmarket Heath, in Rougham
+Woods, he is at home, and specially when he meets with a thorough
+vagabond like your present correspondent.'
+
+In June 1874 FitzGerald writes to Donne:
+
+'I saw in some _Athenaeum_ a somewhat contemptuous notice of G. B.'s
+_Rommany Lil_ or whatever the name is. I can easily understand that B.
+should not meddle with _science_ of any sort; but some years ago he
+would not have liked to be told so; however, old age may have cooled him
+now.'
+
+[218] Mr. Robert Cooke was a partner in John Murray's firm at this time.
+
+[219] It is to be found in Dr. Knapp's _Life_, vol. ii. pp. 248-9.
+
+[220] I have a copy of FitzGerald's.
+
+[221] Dr. Aldis Wright tells me that he did go over to Oulton to see
+Mrs. MacOubrey, and gave her the best advice he could, but it was
+neglected.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+_WILD WALES_
+
+
+The year 1854 was an adventurous one in Borrow's life, for he, so
+essentially a Celt, as Mr. Watts-Dunton has more than once reminded
+us,[222] had in that year two interesting experiences of the 'Celtic
+Fringe.' He spent the first months of the year in Cornwall, as we have
+seen, and from July to November he was in Wales. That tour he recorded
+in pencilled notebooks, four of which are in the Knapp Collection in New
+York, and are duly referred to in Dr. Knapp's biography, and two of
+which are in my possession. In addition to this I have the complete
+manuscript of _Wild Wales_ in Borrow's handwriting, and many variants of
+it in countless, carefully written pages. Therein lie the possibilities
+of a singularly interesting edition of _Wild Wales_ should opportunity
+offer for its publication. When I examine the manuscript, with its
+demonstration of careful preparation, I do not wonder that it took
+Borrow eight years--from 1854 to 1862--to prepare this book for the
+press. Assuredly we recognise here, as in all his books, that he
+realised Carlyle's definition of genius--'the transcendent capacity of
+taking trouble--first of all.'
+
+[Illustration: _WILD WALES_ IN ITS BEGINNINGS.
+
+Two pages from one of George Borrow's Pocket-books with pencilled notes
+made on his journey through Wales.]
+
+It was on 27th July 1854 that Borrow, his wife and her daughter,
+Henrietta Clarke, set out on their journey to North Wales. Dr. Knapp
+prints two kindly letters from Mrs. Borrow to her mother-in-law written
+from Llangollen on this tour. 'We are in a lovely quiet spot,' she
+writes, 'Dear George goes out exploring the mountains.... The poor here
+are humble, simple, and good.' In the second letter Mrs. Borrow records
+that her husband 'keeps a _daily_ journal of all that goes on, so that
+he can make a most amusing book in a month.' Yet Borrow took eight years
+to make it. The failure of _The Romany Rye_, which was due for
+publication before _Wild Wales_, accounts for this, and perhaps also the
+disappointment that another book, long since ready, did not find a
+publisher. In the letter from which I have quoted Mary Borrow tells Anne
+Borrow that her son will, she expects at Christmas, publish _The Romany
+Rye_, 'together with his poetry in all the European languages.' This
+last book had been on his hands for many a day, and indeed in _Wild
+Wales_ he writes of 'a mountain of unpublished translations' of which
+this book, duly advertised in _The Romany Rye_, was a part.[223]
+
+After an ascent of Snowdon arm in arm with Henrietta, Mrs. Borrow
+remaining behind, Borrow left his wife and daughter to find their way
+back to Yarmouth, and continued his journey, all of which is most
+picturesquely described in _Wild Wales_. Before that book was published,
+however, Borrow was to visit the Isle of Man, Scotland, and Ireland. He
+was to publish _Lavengro_ (1857); to see his mother die (1858); and to
+issue his very limited edition of _The Sleeping Bard_ (1860); and,
+lastly, to remove to Brompton (1860). It was at the end of the year 1862
+that _Wild Wales_ was published. It had been written during the two
+years immediately following the tour in Wales, in 1855 and 1856. It had
+been announced as ready for publication in 1857, but doubtless the
+chilly reception of _The Romany Rye_ in that year, of which we have
+written, had made Borrow lukewarm as to venturing once more before the
+public. The public was again irresponsive. _The Cornhill Magazine_, then
+edited by Thackeray, declared the book to be 'tiresome reading.' The
+_Spectator_ reviewer was more kindly, but nowhere was there any
+enthusiasm. Only a thousand copies were sold,[224] and a second edition
+did not appear until 1865, and not another until seven years after
+Borrow's death. Yet the author had the encouragement that comes from
+kindly correspondents. Here, for example, is a letter that could not but
+have pleased him:
+
+                WEST HILL LODGE, HIGHGATE,
+                _Dec. 29th, 1862._
+
+     DEAR SIR,--We have had a great Christmas pleasure this
+     year--the reading of your _Wild Wales_, which has taken us so
+     deliciously into the lovely fresh scenery and life of that
+     pleasant mountain-land. My husband and myself made a little
+     walking tour over some of your ground in North Wales this year;
+     my daughter and her uncle, Richard Howitt, did the same; and we
+     have been ourselves collecting material for a work, the scenes
+     of which will be laid amidst some of our and your favourite
+     mountains. But the object of my writing was not to tell you
+     this; but after assuring you of the pleasure your work has
+     given us--to say also that in one respect it has tantalised us.
+     You have told over and over again to fascinated audiences, Lope
+     de Vega's ghost story, but still leave the poor reader at the
+     end of the book longing to hear it in vain.
+
+     May I ask you, therefore, to inform us in which of Lope de
+     Vega's numerous works this same ghost story is to be found? We
+     like ghost stories, and to a certain extent believe in them, we
+     deserve therefore to know the best ghost story in the world:
+
+     Wishing for you, your wife and your Henrietta, all the
+     compliments of the season in the best and truest of
+     expression.--I am, dear sir, yours sincerely,
+
+                MARY HOWITT.[225]
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF THE TITLE-PAGE OF _WILD WALES_
+
+_From the original Manuscript in the possession of the Author of 'George
+Borrow and his Circle.'_]
+
+The reference to Lope de Vega's ghost story is due to the fact that in
+the fifty-fifth chapter of _Wild Wales_, Borrow, after declaring that
+Lope de Vega was 'one of the greatest geniuses that ever lived,' added,
+that among his tales may be found 'the best ghost story in the world.'
+Dr. Knapp found the story in Borrow's handwriting among the manuscripts
+that came to him, and gives it in full. In good truth it is but
+moderately interesting, although Borrow seems to have told it to many
+audiences when in Wales, but this perhaps provides the humour of the
+situation. It seems clear that Borrow contemplated publishing Lope de
+Vega's ghost story in a later book. We note here, indeed, a letter of a
+much later date in which Borrow refers to the possibility of a
+supplement to _Wild Wales_, the only suggestion of such a book that I
+have seen, although there is plenty of new manuscript in my Borrow
+collection to have made such a book possible had Borrow been encouraged
+by his publisher and the public to write it.
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST PAGE OF _WILD WALES_
+
+_From the original Manuscript in the possession of the Author of 'George
+Borrow and his Circle.'_]
+
+
+To J. Evan Williams, Esq.
+
+                22 HEREFORD SQUARE, BROMPTON, _Decr. 31, 1863._
+
+     DEAR SIR,--I have received your letter and thank you for the
+     kind manner in which you are pleased to express yourself
+     concerning me. Now for your questions. With respect to Lope De
+     Vega's ghost story, I beg to say that I am thinking of
+     publishing a supplement to my _Wild Wales_ in which, amongst
+     other things, I shall give a full account of the tale and point
+     out where it is to be found. You cannot imagine the number of
+     letters I receive on the subject of that ghost story. With
+     regard to the Sclavonian languages, I wish to observe that they
+     are all well deserving of study. The Servian and Bohemian
+     contain a great many old traditionary songs, and the latter
+     possesses a curious though not very extensive prose literature.
+     The Polish has, I may say, been rendered immortal by the
+     writings of Mickiewicz, whose 'Conrad Wallenrod' is probably
+     the most remarkable poem of the present century. The Russian,
+     however, is the most important of all the Sclavonian tongues,
+     not on account of its literature but because it is spoken by
+     fifty millions of people, it being the dominant speech from the
+     Gulf of Finland to the frontiers of China. There is a
+     remarkable similarity both in sound and sense between many
+     Russian and Welsh words, for example 'tchelo' ([Russian]) is
+     the Russian for forehead, 'tal' is Welsh for the same; 'iasnhy'
+     (neuter 'iasnoe') is the Russian for clear or radiant, 'iesin'
+     the Welsh, so that if it were grammatical in Russian to place
+     the adjective after the noun as is the custom in Welsh, the
+     Welsh compound 'Taliesin' (Radiant forehead) might be rendered
+     in Russian by 'Tchel[=o]iasnoe,' which would be wondrously like
+     the Welsh name; unfortunately, however, Russian grammar would
+     compel any one wishing to Russianise 'Taliesin' to say not
+     'Tchel[=o]iasnoe' but 'Iasnoetchelo.'--Yours truly,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+
+
+
+Another letter that Borrow owed to his _Wild Wales_ may well have place
+here. It will be recalled that in his fortieth chapter he waxes
+enthusiastic over Lewis Morris, the Welsh bard, who was born in Anglesey
+in 1700 and died in 1765. Morris's great-grandson, Sir Lewis Morris
+(1833-1907), the author of the once popular _Epic of Hades_, was
+twenty-nine years of age when he wrote to Borrow as follows:--
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                REFORM CLUB, _Dec. 29, 1862._
+
+     SIR,--I have just finished reading your work on _Wild Wales_,
+     and cannot refrain from writing to thank you for the very
+     lifelike picture of the Welsh people, North and South, which,
+     unlike other Englishmen, you have managed to give us. To
+     ordinary Englishmen the language is of course an
+     insurmountable bar to any real knowledge of the people, and the
+     result is that within six hours of Paddington or Euston Square
+     is a country nibbled at superficially by droves of
+     holiday-makers, but not really better known than Asia Minor. I
+     wish it were possible to get rid of all obstacles which stand
+     in the way of the development of the Welsh people and the Welsh
+     intellect. In the meantime every book which like yours tends to
+     lighten the thick darkness which seems to hang round Wales
+     deserves the acknowledgments of every true Welshman. I am,
+     perhaps, more especially called upon to express my thanks for
+     the very high terms in which you speak of my great-grandfather,
+     Lewis Morris. I believe you have not said a word more than he
+     deserves. Some of the facts which you mention with regard to
+     him were unknown to me, and as I take a very great interest in
+     everything relating to my ancestor I venture to ask you whether
+     you can indicate any source of knowledge with regard to him and
+     his wife, other than those which I have at present--viz. an old
+     number of the _Cambrian Register_ and some notices of him in
+     the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1760-70. There is also a letter of
+     his in Lord Teignmouth's _Life of Sir William Jones_ in which
+     he claims kindred with that great scholar. Many of his
+     manuscript poems and much correspondence are now in the library
+     of the British Museum, most of them I regret to say a sealed
+     book to one who like myself had yet to learn Welsh. But I am
+     not the less anxious to learn all that can be ascertained about
+     my great ancestor. I should say that two of his brothers,
+     Richard and William, were eminent Welsh scholars.
+
+     With apologies for addressing you so unceremoniously, and with
+     renewed thanks, I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
+
+                LEWIS MORRIS.
+
+An interesting letter to Borrow from another once popular writer belongs
+to this period:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                THE 'PRESS' OFFICE, STRAND, WESTMINSTER, _Thursday._
+
+     One who has read and delighted in everything Mr. Borrow has
+     yet published ventures to say how great has been his delight in
+     reading _Wild Wales_. No philologist or linguist, I am yet an
+     untiring walker and versifier: and really I think that few
+     things are pleasanter than to walk and to versify. Also, well
+     do I love good ale, natural drink of the English. If I could
+     envy anything, it is your linguistic faculty, which unlocks to
+     you the hearts of the unknown races of these islands--unknown,
+     I mean, as to their real feelings and habits, to ordinary
+     Englishmen--and your still higher faculty of describing your
+     adventures in the purest and raciest English of the day. I send
+     you a Danish daily journal, which you may not have seen. Once a
+     week it issues articles in English. How beautiful (but of
+     course not new to you) is the legend of Queen Dagmar, given in
+     this number! A noble race, the Danes: glad am I to see their
+     blood about to refresh that which runs in the royal veins of
+     England. Sorry and ashamed to see a Russell bullying and
+     insulting them.
+
+                MORTIMER COLLINS.[226]
+
+How greatly Borrow was disappointed at the comparative failure of _Wild
+Wales_ may be gathered from a curt message to his publisher which I find
+among his papers:
+
+     Mr. Borrow has been applied to by a country bookseller, who is
+     desirous of knowing why there is not another edition of _Wild
+     Wales_, as he cannot procure a copy of the book, for which he
+     receives frequent orders. That it was not published in a cheap
+     form as soon as the edition of 1862 was exhausted has caused
+     much surprise.
+
+Borrow, it will be remembered, left Wales at Chepstow, as recorded in
+the hundred and ninth and final chapter of _Wild Wales_, 'where I
+purchased a first class ticket, and ensconcing myself in a comfortable
+carriage, was soon on my way to London, where I arrived at about four
+o'clock in the morning.' In the following letter to his wife there is a
+slight discrepancy, of no importance, as to time:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                53A PALL MALL, LONDON.
+
+     DEAR WIFE CARRETA,--I arrived here about five o'clock this
+     morning--time I saw you. I have walked about 250 miles. I
+     walked the whole way from the North to the South--then turning
+     to the East traversed Glamorganshire and the county of
+     Monmouth, and came out at Chepstow. My boots were worn up by
+     the time I reached Swansea, and was obliged to get them new
+     soled and welted. I have seen wonderful mountains, waterfalls,
+     and people. On the other side of the Black Mountains I met a
+     cartload of gypsies; they were in a dreadful rage and were
+     abusing the country right and left. My last ninety miles proved
+     not very comfortable, there was so much rain. Pray let me have
+     some money by Monday as I am nearly without any, as you may
+     well suppose, for I was three weeks on my journey. I left you
+     on a Thursday, and reached Chepstow yesterday, Thursday,
+     evening. I hope you, my mother, and Hen. are well. I have seen
+     Murray and Cooke.--God bless you, yours,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+     (Keep this.)
+
+Before Borrow put the finishing touches to _Wild Wales_ he repeated his
+visit of 1854. This was in 1857, the year of _The Romany Rye_. Dr. Knapp
+records the fact through a letter to Mr. John Murray from Shrewsbury, in
+which he discusses the possibility of a second edition of _The Romany
+Rye_: 'I have lately been taking a walk in Wales of upwards of five
+hundred miles,' he writes. This tour lasted from August 23rd to October
+5th. I find four letters to his wife that were written in this holiday.
+He does not seem to have made any use of this second tour in his _Wild
+Wales_, although I have abundance of manuscript notes upon it in my
+possession.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                TENBY, _Tuesday, 25._
+
+     MY DEAR CARRETA,--Since writing to you I have been rather
+     unwell and was obliged to remain two days at Sandypool. The
+     weather has been horribly hot and affected my head and likewise
+     my sight slightly; moreover one of the shoes hurt my foot. I
+     came to this place to-day and shall presently leave it for
+     Pembroke on my way back. I shall write to you from there. I
+     shall return by Cardigan. What I want you to do is to write to
+     me directed to the post office, Cardigan (in Cardiganshire),
+     and either inclose a post office order for five pounds or an
+     order from Lloyd and Co. on the banker of that place for the
+     same sum; but at any rate write or I shall not know what to do.
+     I would return by railroad, but in that event I must go to
+     London, for there are no railroads from here to Shrewsbury. I
+     wish moreover to see a little more. Just speak to the banker
+     and don't lose any time. Send letter, and either order in it,
+     or say that I can get it at the bankers. I hope all is well.
+     God bless you and Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                TRECASTLE, BRECKNOCKSHIRE, SOUTH WALES, _August 17th._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I write to you a few words from this place;
+     to-morrow I am going to Llandovery and from there to
+     Carmarthen; for the first three or four days I had dreadful
+     weather. I got only to Worthen the first day, twelve miles--on
+     the next to Montgomery, and so on. It is now very hot, but I am
+     very well, much better than at Shrewsbury. I hope in a few days
+     to write to you again, and soon to be back to you. God bless
+     you and Hen.
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                LAMPETER, _3rd September 1857._
+
+     MY DEAR CARRETA,--I am making the best of my way to Shrewsbury
+     (My face is turned towards Mama). I write this from Lampeter,
+     where there is a college for educating clergymen intended for
+     Wales, which I am going to see. I shall then start for Badnor
+     by Tregaron, and hope soon to be in England. I have seen an
+     enormous deal since I have been away, and have walked several
+     hundred miles. Amongst other places I have seen St. David's, a
+     wonderful half ruinous cathedral on the S. Western end of
+     Pembrokeshire, but I shall be glad to get back. God bless you
+     and Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+     Henrietta! Do you know who is handsome?
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                PRESTEYNE, RADNORSHIRE, _Monday morning._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I am just going to start for Ludlow, and hope to
+     be at Shrewsbury on Tuesday night if not on Monday morning. God
+     bless you and Hen.
+
+                G. BORROW.
+
+     When I get back I shall have walked more than 400 miles.
+
+In _Wild Wales_ we have George Borrow in his most genial mood. There are
+none of the hairbreadth escapes and grim experiences of _The Bible in
+Spain_, none of the romance and the glamour of _Lavengro_ and its
+sequel, but there is good humour, a humour that does not obtain in the
+three more important works, and there is an amazing amount of frank
+candour of a biographical kind. We even have a reference to Isopel
+Berners, referred to by Captain Bosvile as 'the young woman you used to
+keep company with ... a fine young woman and a virtuous.' It is the
+happiest of Borrow's books, and not unnaturally. He was having a genuine
+holiday, and he had the companionship during a part of it of his wife
+and daughter, of whom he was, as this book is partly written to prove,
+very genuinely fond. He also enjoyed the singularly felicitous
+experience of harking back upon some of his earliest memories. He was
+able to retrace the steps he took in the Welsh language during his
+boyhood:
+
+     That night I sat up very late reading the life of Twm O'r Nant,
+     written by himself in choice Welsh.... The life I had read in
+     my boyhood in an old Welsh magazine, and I now read it again
+     with great zest, and no wonder, as it is probably the most
+     remarkable autobiography ever penned.
+
+It is in this ecstatic mood that he passes through Wales. Let me recall
+the eulogy on 'Gronwy' Owen, and here it may be said that Borrow rarely
+got his spelling correct of the proper names of his various literary
+heroes, in the various Norse and Celtic tongues in which he
+delighted.[227] But how much Borrow delighted in his poets may be seen
+by his eulogy on Goronwy Owen, which in its pathos recalls Carlyle's
+similar eulogies over poor German scholars who interested him, Jean Paul
+Richter and Heyne, for example. Borrow ignored Owen's persistent
+intemperance and general impracticability. Here and here only, indeed,
+does he remind one of Carlyle.[228] He had a great capacity for
+hero-worship, although the two were not interested in the same heroes.
+His hero-worship of Owen took him over large tracks of country in search
+of that poet's birthplace. He writes of the delight he takes in
+inspecting the birth-places and haunts of poets. 'It is because I am
+fond of poetry, poets, and their haunts, that I am come to
+Anglesey.'[229] 'I proceeded on my way,' he says elsewhere, 'in high
+spirits indeed, having now seen not only the tomb of the Tudors, but one
+of those sober poets for which Anglesey has always been so famous.' And
+thus it is that _Wild Wales_ is a high-spirited book, which will always
+be a delight and a joy not only to Welshmen, who, it may be hoped, have
+by this time forgiven 'the ecclesiastical cat' of Llangollen, but to all
+who rejoice in the great classics of the English tongue.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[222] 'Not one drop of East Anglian blood was in the veins of Borrow's
+father, and very little in the veins of his mother. Borrow's ancestry
+was pure Cornish on one side, and on the other mainly French.'--Theodore
+Watts-Dunton: Introduction to _The Romany Rye_ (Ward and Lock).
+
+[223] The advertisement describes it thus: 'In two volumes, _Songs of
+Europe: or Metrical Translations from all the European Languages; With
+Brief Prefatory Remarks on each Language and its Literature_.'
+
+[224] _Wild Wales: Its People, Language, and Scenery_. By George Borrow.
+3 vols. John Murray, 1862.
+
+[225] Mary Botham (1799-1888) was born at Coleford, Gloucestershire, and
+married William Howitt in 1821. The pair compiled many books together.
+The statement in the _Dictionary of National Biography_ that 'nothing
+that either of them wrote will live' is quite unwarranted. William
+Howitt's _Homes and Haunts of the most eminent British Poets_ (Bentley,
+2 vols., 1847) is still eagerly sought after for every good library. In
+_Mary Howitt: An Autobiography_ (Isbister, 2 vols., 1889), a valuable
+book of reminiscences, there is no mention of Borrow.
+
+[226] Edward James Mortimer Collins (1827-1876), once bore the title of
+'King of the Bohemians' among his friends; wrote _Sweet and Twenty_ and
+many other novels once widely popular.
+
+[227] Goronwy or Gronow Owen (1723-1769), born at Rhos Fawr in Anglesey,
+and died at St. Andrews, Brunswick County, Virginia.
+
+[228] Borrow had at many points certain affinities to Carlyle's hero
+Johnson, but lacked his epigrammatic wit--and much else. But he seems to
+have desired to emulate Johnson in one particular, as we find in the
+following dialogue:--
+
+'I wouldn't go on foot there this night for fifty pounds.'
+
+'Why not?' said I.
+
+'For fear of being knocked down by the colliers, who will be all out and
+drunk.'
+
+'If not more than two attack me,' said I, 'I shan't so much mind. With
+this book I am sure I can knock down one, and I think I can find play
+for the other with my fists.'
+
+[229] When searching for the home of Goronwy Owen Borrow records a
+meeting with one of his descendants--a little girl of seven or eight
+years of age, named Ellen Jones, who in recent years has been
+interviewed as to her impressions of Borrow's visit. 'He did speak
+_funny_ Welsh,' she says, '... he could not pronounce the "ll." 'He had
+plenty of words, but bad pronunciation.'--Herbert Jenkins: _Life of
+Borrow_, p. 418. But Borrow in _Wild Wales_ frequently admits his
+imperfect acquaintance with spoken Welsh.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+LIFE IN LONDON, 1860-1874
+
+
+George Borrow's earlier visits to London are duly recorded, with that
+glamour of which he was a master, in the pages of _Lavengro_. Who can
+cross London Bridge even to-day without thinking of the apple-woman and
+her copy of _Moll Flanders_; and many passages of Borrow's great book
+make a very special appeal to the lover of London. Then there was that
+visit to the Bible Society's office made on foot from Norwich, and the
+expedition a few months later to pass an examination in the Manchu
+language. When he became a country squire and the author of the very
+successful _Bible in Spain_ Borrow frequently visited London, and his
+various residences may be traced from his letters. Take, for example,
+these five notes to his wife, the first apparently written in 1848, but
+all undated:
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                _Tuesday afternoon._
+
+     MY DEAR WIFE,--I just write you a line to tell you that I am
+     tolerably well as I hope you are. Every thing is in confusion
+     abroad. The French King has disappeared and will probably never
+     be heard of, though they are expecting him in England. Funds
+     are down nearly to eighty. The Government have given up the
+     income tax and people are very glad of it. _I am not._ With
+     respect to the funds, if I were to sell out I should not know
+     what to do with the money. J. says they will rise. I do not
+     think they will, they may, however, fluctuate a little.--Keep
+     up your spirits, my heart's dearest, and kiss old Hen. for me.
+
+     G. B.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                53_a_, PALL MALL.
+
+     DEAR WIFE CARRETA,--I write you a line as I suppose you will be
+     glad to have one. I dine to-night with Murray and Cooke, and we
+     are going to talk over about _The Sleeping Bard_; both are very
+     civil. I have been reading hard at the Museum and have lost no
+     time. Yesterday I went to Greenwich to see the Leviathan. It is
+     almost terrible to look at, and seems too large for the river.
+     It resembles a floating town--the paddle is 60 feet high. A
+     tall man can stand up in the funnel as it lies down. 'Tis sad,
+     however, that money is rather scarce. I walked over Blackheath
+     and thought of poor dear Mrs. Watson. I have just had a note
+     from FitzGerald. We have had some rain but not very much.
+     London is very gloomy in rainy weather. I was hoping that I
+     should have a letter from you this morning. I hope you and Hen.
+     have been well.--God bless you,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                PALL MALL, _53a, Saturday._
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I am thinking of coming to you on Thursday. I do
+     not know that I can do anything more here, and the dulness of
+     the weather and the mists are making me ill. Please to send
+     another five pound note by Tuesday morning. I have spent
+     scarcely anything of that which you sent except what I owe to
+     Mrs. W., but I wish to have money in my pocket, and Murray and
+     Cooke are going to dine with me on Tuesday; I shall be glad to
+     be with you again, for I am very much in want of your society.
+     I miss very much my walks at Llangollen by the quiet canal; but
+     what's to be done? Everything seems nearly at a standstill in
+     London, on account of this wretched war, at which it appears to
+     me the English are getting the worst, notwithstanding their
+     boasting. They thought to settle it in an autumn's day; they
+     little knew the Russians, and they did not reflect that just
+     after autumn comes winter, which has ever been the Russians'
+     friend. Have you heard anything about the rent of the Cottage?
+     I should have been glad to hear from you this morning. Give my
+     love to Hen. and may God bless you, dear.
+
+     (Keep this.)
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                No. 53_a_ PALL MALL.
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I hope you received my last letter written on
+     Tuesday. I am glad that I came to London. I find myself much
+     the better for having done so. I was going on in a very
+     spiritless manner. Everybody I have met seems very kind and
+     glad to see me. Murray seems to be thoroughly staunch. Cooke,
+     to whom I mentioned the F.T., says that Murray was delighted
+     with the idea, and will be very glad of the 4th of _Lavengro_.
+     I am going to dine with Murray to-day, Thursday. W. called upon
+     me to-day. I wish you would send me a blank cheque, in a letter
+     so that if I want money I may be able to draw for a little. I
+     shall not be long from home, but now I am here I wish to do all
+     that's necessary. If you send me a blank cheque, I suppose W.
+     or Murray would give me the money. I hope you got my last
+     letter. I received yours, and Cooke has just sent the two
+     copies of _Lavengro_ you wrote for, and I believe some
+     engravings of the picture. I shall wish to return by the packet
+     if possible, and will let you know when I am coming. I hope to
+     write again shortly to tell you some more news. How is mother
+     and Hen., and how are all the creatures? I hope all well. I
+     trust you like all I propose--now I am here I want to get two
+     or three things, to go to the Museum, and to arrange matters.
+     God bless you. Love to mother and Hen.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. George Borrow
+
+                No. 58 JERMYN STREET, ST. JAMES.
+
+     DEAR CARRETA,--I got here safe, and upon the whole had not so
+     bad a journey as might be expected. I put up at the Spread
+     Eagle for the night for I was tired and _hungry_; have got into
+     my old lodgings as you see, those on the second floor, they are
+     very nice ones, with every convenience; they are expensive, it
+     is true, but they are _cheerful_, which is a grand
+     consideration for me. I have as yet seen nobody, for it is only
+     now a little past eleven. I can scarcely at present tell you
+     what my plans are, perhaps to-morrow I shall write again. Kiss
+     Hen., and God bless you.
+
+                G. B.
+
+It was in the year 1843 that Borrow, on a visit to London following upon
+the success of _The Bible in Spain_, sat to Henry Wyndham Phillips for
+his portrait at the instigation of Mr. Murray, who gave Borrow a
+replica, retaining for himself Phillips's more finished picture, which
+has been reproduced again and again in the present Mr. Murray's Borrow
+productions.[230]
+
+Borrow was in London in 1845 and again in 1848. There must have been
+other occasional visits on the way to this or that starting point of his
+annual holiday, but in 1860 Borrow took a house in London, and he
+resided there until 1874, when he returned to Oulton. In a letter to Mr.
+John Murray, written from Ireland in November 1859, Mrs. Borrow writes
+to the effect that in the spring of the following year she will wish to
+look round 'and select a pleasant holiday residence within three to ten
+miles of London.' There is no doubt that a succession of winters on
+Oulton Broad had been very detrimental to Mrs. Borrow's health, although
+they had no effect upon Borrow, who bathed there with equal indifference
+in winter as in summer, having, as he tells us in _Wild Wales_, 'always
+had the health of an elephant.' And so Borrow and his wife arrived in
+London in June, and took temporary lodgings at 21 Montagu Street,
+Portman Square. In September they went into occupation of a house in
+Brompton--22 Hereford Square, which is now commemorated by a County
+Council tablet. Here Borrow resided for fourteen years, and here his
+wife died on January 30, 1869. She was buried in Brompton Cemetery,
+where Borrow was laid beside her twelve years later. For neighbour, on
+the one side, the Borrows had Mr. Robert Collinson and, on the other,
+Miss Frances Power Cobbe and her companion, Miss M. C. Lloyd. From Miss
+Cobbe we have occasional glimpses of Borrow, all of them unkindly. She
+was of Irish extraction, her father having been grandson of Charles
+Cobbe, Archbishop of Dublin. Miss Cobbe was an active woman in all kinds
+of journalistic and philanthropic enterprises in the London of the
+'seventies and 'eighties of the last century, writing in particular in
+the now defunct newspaper, the _Echo_, and she wrote dozens of books and
+pamphlets, all of them forgotten except her _Autobiography_,[231] in
+which she devoted several pages to her neighbour in Hereford Square.
+Borrow had no sympathy with fanatical women with many 'isms,' and the
+pair did not agree, although many neighbourly courtesies passed between
+them for a time. Here is an extract from Miss Cobbe's _Autobiography_:
+
+     George Borrow, who, if he were not a gypsy by blood, _ought_ to
+     have been one, was for some years our near neighbour in
+     Hereford Square. My friend[232] was amused by his quaint
+     stories and his (real or sham) enthusiasm for Wales, and
+     cultivated his acquaintance. I never liked him, thinking him
+     more or less of a hypocrite. His missions, recorded in _The
+     Bible in Spain_, and his translations of the Scriptures into
+     the out-of-the-way tongues, for which he had a gift, were by no
+     means consonant with his real opinions concerning the veracity
+     of the said Bible.
+
+One only needs to quote this by the light of the story as told so far in
+these pages to see how entirely Miss Cobbe misunderstood Borrow, or
+rather how little insight she was able to bring to a study of his
+curious character. The rest of her attempt at interpretation is largely
+taken up to demonstrate how much more clever and more learned she was
+than Borrow. Altogether it is a sorry spectacle this of the
+pseudo-philanthropist relating her conversations with a man broken by
+misfortune and the death of his wife. Many of Miss Cobbe's statements
+have passed into current biographies and have doubtless found
+acceptance.[233] I do not find them convincing. Archdeacon Whately on
+the other hand tells us that he always found Borrow 'most civil and
+hospitable,' and his sister gives us the following 'impression':
+
+     When Mr. Borrow returned from this Spanish journey, which had
+     been full, as we all know, of most entertaining adventures,
+     related with much liveliness and spirit by himself, he was
+     regarded as a kind of 'lion' in the literary circles of London.
+     When we first saw him it was at the house of a lady who took
+     great pleasure in gathering 'celebrities' in various ways
+     around her, and our party was struck with the appearance of
+     this renowned traveller--a tall, thin, spare man with
+     prematurely white hair and intensely dark eyes, as he stood
+     upright against the wall of one of the drawing-rooms and
+     received the homage of lion-hunting guests, and listened in
+     silence to their unsuccessful attempts to make him talk.'[234]
+
+Another reminiscence of Borrow in London is furnished by Mr. A. T.
+Story, who writes:[235]
+
+     I had the pleasure of meeting Borrow on several occasions in
+     London some forty years ago. I cannot be quite certain of the
+     year, but I think it was either in 1872 or '73. I saw him first
+     in James Burns's publishing office in Southampton Row. I
+     happened to call just as a tall, strongly-built man with an
+     unforgettable face was leaving. When he had gone, Mr. Burns
+     asked: 'Do you know who that gentleman was?' and when I said I
+     did not, he said: 'He is the man whose book, _The Bible in
+     Spain_, I saw you take down from the shelf there the other day
+     and read.' 'What, George Borrow?' I exclaimed. He nodded, and
+     then said Borrow had called several times.
+
+     A few days later I had an opportunity of making the good man's
+     acquaintance and hearing a conversation between him and Mr.
+     Burns. They talked about Spiritualism, with which Borrow had
+     very little patience, though, after some talk he consented to
+     attend a seance to be held that evening in Burns's
+     drawing-room. We sat together, and I had the pleasure of
+     hearing from time to time his grunts of disapproval. When the
+     discourse--'in trance'--was over, he asked me if I believed in
+     'this sort of thing,' and when I said I was simply an
+     investigator he remarked, 'That's all right, I, too, am an
+     investigator--of things in general--and it would not take me
+     long to sum up that little man (the medium) as a humbug, but a
+     very clever humbug.'
+
+     That evening I had a long walk and a talk with him, and after
+     that several other opportunities of talk, the last being one
+     night when I chanced upon him on Westminster Bridge. It was a
+     superb starlight night, and he was standing about midway over
+     the bridge gazing down into the river. When I approached him he
+     said: 'I have been standing here for twenty minutes looking
+     round and meditating. There is not another city like this in
+     the world, nor another bridge like this, nor a river, nor a
+     Parliament House like that--with its little men making little
+     laws--which the Lawgiver that made yonder stars--look at
+     them!--is continually confounding--and will confound. O, we
+     little men! How long before we are dust? And the stars there,
+     how they smile at our puny lives and tricks--here to-day, gone
+     to-morrow. And yet to-night how glorious it is to be here!'
+
+     So he rhapsodised. And then it was, 'Where can we get a bite
+     and sup? I've been footing it all day among the hills
+     there--the Surrey Hills--for a breath of fresh air.'
+
+     In appearance, at the time I knew him, Borrow was neither thin
+     nor stout, but well proportioned and apparently of great
+     strength.
+
+During this sojourn in London, which was undertaken because Oulton and
+Yarmouth did not agree with his wife, Borrow suffered the tragedy of her
+loss. Borrow dragged on his existence in London for another five years,
+a much broken man. It is extraordinary how little we know of Borrow
+during that fourteen years' sojourn in London; how rarely we meet him in
+the literary memoirs of this period. Happily one or two pleasant
+friendships relieved the sadness of his days; and in particular the
+reminiscences of Walter Theodore Watts-Dunton assist us to a more
+correct appreciation of the Borrow of these last years of London life.
+Of Mr. Watts-Dunton's 'memories,' we shall write in our next chapter.
+Here it remains only to note that Borrow still continued to interest
+himself in his various efforts at translation, and in 1861 and 1862 the
+editor of _Once a Week_ printed various ballads and stories from his
+pen. The volumes of this periodical are before me, and I find
+illustrations by Sir John Millais, Sir E. J. Poynter, Simeon Solomon and
+George Du Maurier; stories by Mrs. Henry Wood and Harriet Martineau, and
+articles by Walter Thornbury.
+
+In 1862 _Wild Wales_ was published, as we have seen. In 1865 Henrietta
+married William MacOubrey, and in the following year, Borrow and his
+wife went to visit the pair in their Belfast home. In the beginning of
+the year 1869 Mrs. Borrow died, aged seventy-three. There are few
+records of the tragedy that are worth perpetuating.[236] Borrow consumed
+his own smoke. With his wife's death his life was indeed a wreck. No
+wonder he was so 'rude' to that least perceptive of women, Miss Cobbe.
+Some four or five years more Borrow lingered on in London, cheered at
+times by walks and talks with Gordon Hake and Watts-Dunton, and he then
+returned to Oulton--a most friendless man:--
+
+    What land has let the dreamer from its gates,
+      What face beloved hides from him away?
+    A dreamer outcast from some world of dreams,
+      He goes for ever lonely on his way.
+
+    Like a great pine upon some Alpine height,
+      Torn by the winds and bent beneath the snow
+    Half overthrown by icy avalanche,
+      The lone of soul throughout the world must go.
+
+    Alone among his kind he stands alone,
+      Torn by the passions of his own strange heart,
+    Stoned by continual wreckage of his dreams,
+      He in the crowd for ever is apart.
+
+    Like the great pine that, rocking no sweet rest,
+      Swings no young birds to sleep upon the bough,
+    But where the raven only comes to croak--
+      'There lives no man more desolate than thou!'
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[230] The frontispiece to the present volume is from the replica in the
+possession of Borrow's executor, who has kindly permitted me to have it
+photographed for the purpose. There are slight and interesting
+variations from Mr. Murray's portrait. Phillips (1820-1868), the artist
+of these pictures, is often confused with his father, Thomas
+(1770-1845), the Royal Academician and a much superior painter, who, by
+the way, painted many portraits of authors for Mr. John Murray. Henry
+Phillips was never an R.A. A letter from Phillips to Borrow in my
+possession shows that he visited the latter at Oulton. The portrait of
+Borrow is pronounced by Henry Dalrymple, his schoolfellow, from whose
+manuscript we have already quoted, to be 'very like him.' This fact is
+the more remarkable as the only photograph of Borrow that is known, one
+taken in a group with Mrs. Simms Reeve of Norwich in 1848--five years
+later--has many points of difference. The reader will here be able to
+compare the two portraits in this book. A third portrait of Borrow--a
+crude painting by his brother John taken in his early years, is now in
+the London National Portrait Gallery.
+
+[231] _Life of Frances Power Cobbe as told by Herself_. With Additions
+by the Writer and Introduction by Blanche Atkinson. 2 vols., 1904.
+Frances Power Cobbe was born in Dublin in 1822, and died at Hengwrt in
+1904.
+
+[232] Miss Lloyd, who was a Welshwoman. Miss Cobbe lived with her and
+was doubtless a jealous woman. There are many kindly letters from Miss
+Lloyd to Borrow in my collection. She seems always to be anxious to
+invite him to her house.
+
+[233] About three months before her death Miss Cobbe replied to an
+inquiry made by Mr. James Hooper of Norwich concerning her estimate of
+Borrow. As it is all but certain that Borrow was never intoxicated in
+his life, we may find the letter of interest only as giving a point of
+view:
+
+                'HENGWRT, DOLGELLEY, N. WALES, _Jan_. 26, 1904.
+
+'I can have no objection to your asking me if my little sketch of George
+Borrow in my _Life_ is my _dernier mot_ about him. If I were to give my
+_dernier mot_, it would be much more to his disadvantage than anything I
+liked to insert in my biography. I see his American biographer has
+accused me of 'bitterness.' I do not think that what is contained in my
+book is 'bitter' at all. But if I were to have told my last interview
+with him,--when I was driven practically to drive him out of our house,
+more or less drunk, or mad with some opiate--the charge might have had
+some colour. He was not a good man, and not a true or honourable one, by
+any manner of means.'
+
+Here assuredly we miss the fine charity which led Goethe's friend, the
+Duchess of Weimar, to urge that there was a special moral law for poets.
+Not for one moment does it occur to Miss Cobbe that her neighbour was a
+man of genius who had written four imperishable contributions to English
+literature. To her he was merely a conceited, brusque old man.
+Concerning the adage that 'no man is a hero to his valet,' well may
+Carlyle remark that that is more often the fault of the valet than of
+the hero.
+
+[234] _Personal and Family Glimpses of Remarkable People_. By Edward W.
+Whately. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1889.
+
+[235] London _Daily Chronicle_, July 9, 1913.
+
+[236] There is an interview between Borrow and his wife's medical
+attendant, Dr. Playfair, recorded in Herbert Jenkins's _Life_, that is
+full of poignancy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+FRIENDS OF LATER YEARS
+
+
+We should know little enough of George Borrow's later years, were it not
+for his friendship with Thomas Gordon Hake and Theodore Watts-Dunton.
+Hake was born in 1809 and died in 1895. In 1839 he settled at Bury St.
+Edmunds as a physician, and he resided there until 1853. Here he was
+frequently visited by the Borrows. We have already quoted his prophecy
+concerning _Lavengro_ that 'its roots will strike deep into the soil of
+English letters.' In 1853 Dr. Hake and his family left Bury for the
+United States, where they resided for some years. Returning to England
+they lived at Roehampton and met Borrow occasionally in London. During
+these years Hake was, according to Mr. W. M. Rossetti, 'the earthly
+Providence of the Rossetti family,' but he was not, as his _Memoirs_
+show, equally devoted to Borrow. In 1872, however, he went to live in
+Germany and Italy for a considerable period. Concerning the relationship
+between Borrow and Hake, Mr. Watts-Dunton has written:
+
+     After Hake went to live in Germany, Borrow told me a good deal
+     about their intimacy, and also about his own early life: for,
+     reticent as he naturally was, he and I got to be confidential
+     and intimate. His friendship with Hake began when Hake was
+     practising as a physician in Norfolk. It lasted during the
+     greater part of Borrow's later life. When Borrow was living in
+     London his great delight was to walk over on Sundays from
+     Hereford Square to Coombe End, call upon Hake, and take a
+     stroll with him over Richmond Park. They both had a passion for
+     herons and for deer. At that time Hake was a very intimate
+     friend of my own, and having had the good fortune to be
+     introduced by him to Borrow I used to join the two in their
+     walks. Afterwards, when Hake went to live in Germany, I used to
+     take those walks with Borrow alone. Two more interesting men it
+     would be impossible to meet. The remarkable thing was that
+     there was between them no sort of intellectual sympathy. In
+     style, in education, in experience, whatever Hake was, Borrow
+     was not. Borrow knew almost nothing of Hake's writings, either
+     in prose or in verse. His ideal poet was Pope, and when he
+     read, or rather looked into, Hake's _World's Epitaph_, he
+     thought he did Hake the greatest honour by saying, 'there are
+     lines here and there that are nigh as good as Pope'!
+
+     On the other hand, Hake's acquaintance with Borrow's works was
+     far behind that of some Borrovians who did not know Lavengro in
+     the flesh, such as Saintsbury and Mr. Birrell. Borrow was shy,
+     angular, eccentric, rustic in accent and in locution, but with
+     a charm for me, at least, that was irresistible. Hake was
+     polished, easy and urbane in everything, and, although not
+     without prejudice and bias, ready to shine generally in any
+     society.
+
+     So far as Hake was concerned the sole link between them was
+     that of reminiscence of earlier days and adventures in Borrow's
+     beloved East Anglia. Among many proofs I would adduce of this I
+     will give one. I am the possessor of the MS. of Borrow's
+     _Gypsies of Spain_, written partly in a Spanish notebook as he
+     moved about Spain in his colporteur days. It was my wish that
+     Hake would leave behind him some memorial of Borrow more worthy
+     of himself and his friend than those brief reminiscences
+     contained in _Memoirs of Eighty Years_. I took to Hake this
+     precious relic of _one of the most wonderful men of the
+     nineteenth century_, in order to discuss with him differences
+     between the MS. and the printed text. Hake was writing in his
+     invalid chair,--writing verses. 'What does it all matter?' he
+     said. 'I do not think you understand Lavengro,' I said. Hake
+     replied, 'And yet Lavengro had an advantage over me, for _he_
+     understood _nobody_. Every individuality with which he was
+     brought into contact had, as no one knows better than you, to
+     be tinged with colours of his own before he could see it at
+     all.' That, of course, was true enough; and Hake's asperities
+     when speaking of Borrow in _Memoirs of Eighty
+     Years_,--asperities which have vexed a good many
+     Borrovians,--simply arose from the fact that it was impossible
+     for two such men to understand each other. When I told him of
+     Mr. Lang's angry onslaught upon Borrow in his notes to the
+     _Waverley Novels_, on account of his attacks upon Scott, he
+     said, 'Well, does he not deserve it?' When I told him of Miss
+     Cobbe's description of Borrow as a _poseur_, he said to me, 'I
+     told you the same scores of times. But I saw Borrow had
+     bewitched you during that first walk under the rainbow in
+     Richmond Park. It was that rainbow, I think, that befooled
+     you.' Borrow's affection for Hake, however, was both strong and
+     deep, as I saw after Hake had gone to Germany and in a way
+     dropped out of Borrow's ken. Yet Hake was as good a man as ever
+     Borrow was, and for certain others with whom he was brought in
+     contact as full of a genuine affection as Borrow was
+     himself.[237]
+
+Mr. Watts-Dunton refers here to Hake's asperities when speaking of
+Borrow. They are very marked in the _Memoirs of Eighty Years_, and
+nearly all the stories of Borrow's eccentricities that have been served
+up to us by Borrow's biographers are due to Hake. It is here we read of
+his snub to Thackeray. 'Have you read my Snob Papers in _Punch_?'
+Thackeray asked him. 'In _Punch_?' Borrow replied. 'It is a periodical I
+never look at.' He was equally rude, or shall we say Johnsonian,
+according to Hake, when Miss Agnes Strickland asked him if she might
+send him her _Queens of England_. He exclaimed, 'for God's sake don't,
+madam; I should not know where to put them or what to do with them.'
+Hake is responsible also for that other story about the woman who,
+desirous of pleasing him, said, 'Oh, Mr. Borrow, I have read your books
+with so much pleasure!' On which he exclaimed, 'Pray, what books do you
+mean, madam? Do you mean my account books?'[238] Dr. Johnson was guilty
+of many such vagaries, and the readers of Boswell have forgiven him
+everything because they are conveyed to them through the medium of a
+hero-worshipper. Borrow never had a Boswell, and despised the literary
+class so much that he never found anything in the shape of an apologist
+until he had been long dead. The most competent of these, because
+writing from personal knowledge, was Walter Theodore Watts-Dunton, who
+is known in literature as Theodore Watts, the author of _Aylwin_ and
+_The Coming of Love_, and the writer of many acute and picturesque
+criticisms. Mr. Watts-Dunton--who added his mother's name of Dunton to
+his own in later life--was the son of a solicitor of St. Ives in
+Huntingdonshire. In early life he was himself a solicitor, which
+profession he happily abandoned for literature. His friendship with
+Algernon Charles Swinburne is one of the romances of the Victorian era.
+His affectionate solicitude doubtless kept that great poet alive for
+many a year beyond what would otherwise have been his lot. Watts-Dunton
+was, as we have seen, introduced to Borrow by Hake. He has written a
+romance which, if he could be persuaded to publish it, would doubtless
+command the same attention as _Aylwin_, in which Borrow is introduced as
+'Dereham' and Hake as 'Gordon,' and here he tells the story of that
+introduction:
+
+     One day when I was sitting with him in his delightful home,
+     near Roehampton, whose windows at the back looked over Richmond
+     Park, and in front over the wildest part of Wimbledon Common,
+     one of his sons came in and said that he had seen Dereham
+     striding across the common, evidently bound for the house.
+
+     'Dereham,' I said, 'is there a man in the world I should so
+     like to see as Dereham?'
+
+     And then I told Gordon how I had seen him years before swimming
+     in the sea off Yarmouth, but had never spoken to him.
+
+     'Why do you want so much to see him?' asked Gordon.
+
+     'Well, among other things, I want to see if he is a true Child
+     of the Open Air.'[239]
+
+I find no letter from Hake to Borrow among my papers, but three to his
+wife:
+
+                BURY ST. EDMUNDS, _Jan. 27, '48. Evening._
+
+     MY DEAR MRS. BORROW,--It gave me great pleasure, as it always
+     does, to see your handwriting; and as respects the subject of
+     your note you may make yourself quite easy, for I believe the
+     idea has crossed no other mind than your own. How sorry I am to
+     learn that you have been so unwell since your visit to us. I
+     hope that by care you will get strong during this bracing
+     weather. I wish that you were already nearer to us, and cannot
+     resign the hope that we shall yet enjoy the happiness of having
+     you as our neighbours. I have felt a strong friendship for Mr.
+     Borrow's mind for many years, and have ardently wished from
+     time to time to know him, and to have realised my desire I
+     consider one of the most happy events of my life. Until lately,
+     dear Mrs. Borrow, I have had no opportunity of knowing you and
+     your sweet simple-hearted child; but now I hope nothing will
+     occur to interrupt a regard and friendship which I and Mrs.
+     Hake feel most truly towards you all. Tell Mr. Borrow how much
+     we should like to be his Sinbad. I wish he would bring you all
+     and his papers and come again to look about him. There is an
+     old hall at Tostock, which, I hear to-day, is quite dry; if so
+     it is worthy of your attention. It is a mile from the Elmswell
+     station, which is ten minutes' time from Bury. This hall has
+     got a bad name from having been long vacant, but some friends
+     of mine have been over it and they tell me there is not a damp
+     spot on the premises. It is seven miles from Bury. Mrs. Hake
+     has written about a house at Rougham, but had no answer. The
+     cottage at Farnham is to let again. I know not whether Mr.
+     Harvey will make an effort for it. A little change would do you
+     all good, and we can receive Miss Clarke without any
+     difficulty. Give our kindest regards to your party, and believe
+     me, dear Mrs. Borrow, sincerely yours,
+
+                T. G. HAKE.
+
+
+                BURY ST. EDMUNDS, _January 19th, '49._
+
+     MY DEAR MRS. BORROW,--The sight of your handwriting is always a
+     luxury--but you say nothing about coming to see us. We are
+     pleased to get good accounts of your party, and only wish you
+     could report better of yourself. I must take you fairly in hand
+     when you come again to the ancient quarters, for such they are
+     becoming now from your long absence. You might try bismuth and
+     extract of hop, which is often very strengthening to the
+     stomach. Five grains of extract of hop and five grains of
+     trisnitrate of bismuth made into two pills, which are to be
+     taken at eleven and repeated at four--daily. I am so pleased to
+     learn that Miss Clarke is better, as well as Mr. Borrow. I hope
+     that on some occasion, the morphia may be of great comfort to
+     him should his night watchings return. It is good news that the
+     proofs are advancing--I hope towards a speedy end. Messrs.
+     Oakes and Co.'s Bank is as safe as any in the kingdom and more
+     substantial than any in this county. It must be safe, for the
+     partners are men of large property, and of careful habits. I am
+     happy to say we are all well here, but my brother's house in
+     town is a scene of sad trouble. He is himself laid up with bad
+     scarlet fever as well as five children, all severely attacked.
+     One they have lost of this fearful complaint.
+
+     Give our kindest regards to Mr. Borrow and accept them
+     yourselves. Ever, dear Mrs. Borrow, sincerely yours,
+
+                T. G. HAKE.
+
+     I send Beethoven's epitaph for Miss Clarke's album according to
+     promise. It is _not_ by Wordsworth.
+
+
+                BURY ST. EDMUNDS, _June 24, '51._
+
+     MY DEAR MRS. BORROW,--I am very sorry to hear that you are not
+     feeling strong, and that these flushes of heat are so frequent
+     and troublesome. I will prescribe a medicine for you which I
+     hope may prove serviceable. Let me hear again about your
+     health, and be assured you cannot possibly give me any trouble.
+
+     I am also glad to hear of Mr. Borrow. I envy him his bath. I am
+     looking out anxiously for the new quarterly reviews. I wonder
+     whether the _Quarterly_ will contain anything. Is there a
+     prospect of vol. iv.? I really look to passing a day and two
+     half days with you, and to bringing Mrs. Hake to your classic
+     soil some time in August--if we are not inconveniencing you in
+     your charming and snug cottage. I hope Miss Clarke is well. Our
+     united kind regards to you all. George is quite brisk and
+     saucy--Lucy and the infant have not been well. Mrs. Hake has
+     better accounts from Bath. Believe me, dear Mrs. Borrow, very
+     sincerely yours,
+
+                T. G. HAKE.
+
+     Mr. Donne was pleased that Mr. Borrow liked his notice in
+     _Tait_. You can take a little cold sherry and water after your
+     dinner.
+
+Mr. A. Egmont Hake, one of Dr. Hake's sons, has also given us an
+interesting reminiscence of Borrow:[240]
+
+     Though he was a friend of my family before he wrote _Lavengro_,
+     few men have ever made so deep an impression on me as George
+     Borrow. His tall, broad figure, his stately bearing, his fine
+     brown eyes, so bright yet soft, his thick white hair, his oval,
+     beardless face, his loud rich voice, and bold heroic air, were
+     such as to impress the most indifferent of lookers-on. Added to
+     this there was something not easily forgotten in the manner in
+     which he would unexpectedly come to our gates, singing some
+     gipsy song, and as suddenly depart. His conversation, too, was
+     unlike that of any other man; whether he told a long story or
+     only commented on some ordinary topic, he was always quaint,
+     often humorous.... It was at Oulton that the author of _The
+     Bible in Spain_ spent his happiest days. The _menage_ in his
+     Suffolk home was conducted with great simplicity, but he always
+     had for his friends a bottle or two of wine of rare vintage,
+     and no man was more hearty than he over the glass. He passed
+     his mornings in his summer-house, writing on small scraps of
+     paper, and these he handed to his wife who copied them on
+     foolscap. It was in this way and in this retreat that the
+     manuscript of _Lavengro_ as well as of _The Bible in Spain_ was
+     prepared, the place of which he says, 'I hastened to my
+     summer-house by the side of the lake and there I thought and
+     wrote, and every day I repaired to the same place and thought
+     and wrote until I had finished _The Bible in Spain_.' In this
+     outdoor studio, hung behind the door, were a soldier's coat and
+     a sword which belonged to his father; these were household gods
+     on which he would often gaze while composing.
+
+To Mr. Watts-Dunton we owe by far the best description of Borrow's
+personal appearance:
+
+     What Borrow lacked in adaptability was in great degree
+     compensated by his personal appearance. No one who has ever
+     walked with him, either through the streets of London or along
+     the country roads, could fail to remark how his appearance
+     arrested the attention of the passers-by. As a gypsy woman once
+     remarked to the present writer, 'Everybody as ever see'd the
+     white-headed Romany Rye never forgot him.' When he chanced to
+     meet troops marching along a country road, it was noticeable
+     that every soldier, whether on foot or horseback, would
+     involuntarily turn to look at Borrow's striking figure. He
+     stood considerably above six feet in height, was built as
+     perfectly as a Greek statue, and his practice of athletic
+     exercises gave his every movement the easy elasticity of an
+     athlete under training. Those East Anglians who have bathed
+     with him on the east coast, or others who have done the same in
+     the Thames or the Ouse, can vouch for his having been an almost
+     faultless model of masculine symmetry, even as an old man. With
+     regard to his countenance, 'noble' is the only word which can
+     be used to describe it. When he was quite a young man his thick
+     crop of hair had become of a silvery whiteness.[241] There was
+     a striking relation between the complexion, which was as
+     luminous and sometimes rosy as an English girl's, and the
+     features--almost perfect Roman-Greek in type, with a dash of
+     Hebrew. To the dark lustre of the eyes an increased intensity
+     was lent by the fair skin. No doubt, however, what most struck
+     the observer was the marked individuality, not to say
+     singularity, of his expression. If it were possible to describe
+     this expression in a word or two, it might, perhaps, be called
+     a self-consciousness that was both proud and shy.[242]
+
+Here is another picture by Mr. Watts-Dunton of this London period:[243]
+
+     At seventy years of age, after breakfasting at eight o'clock in
+     Hereford Square, he would walk to Putney, meet one or more of
+     us at Roehampton, roam about Wimbledon and Richmond Park with
+     us, bathe in the Fen Ponds with a north-east wind cutting
+     across the icy water like a razor, run about the grass
+     afterwards, like a boy to shake off some of the water-drops,
+     stride about the park for hours, and then, after fasting for
+     twelve hours, eat a dinner at Roehampton that would have done
+     Sir Walter Scott's eyes good to see. Finally, he would walk
+     back to Hereford Square, getting home late at night. And if the
+     physique of the man was bracing, his conversation, unless he
+     happened to be suffering from one of his occasional fits of
+     depression, was still more so. Its freshness, raciness, and
+     eccentric whim no pen could describe. There is a kind of
+     humour, the delight of which is that while you smile at the
+     pictures it draws, you smile quite as much to think that there
+     is a mind so whimsical, crotchety, and odd as to draw them.
+     This was the humour of Borrow.
+
+And there is yet another description, equally illuminating, in which Mr.
+Watts-Dunton records how he won Borrow's heart by showing a familiarity
+with Douglas Jerrold's melodrama _Ambrose Gwinett_:
+
+     From that time I used to see Borrow often at Roehampton,
+     sometimes at Putney, and sometimes, but not often, in London. I
+     could have seen much more of him than I did had not the
+     whirlpool of London, into which I plunged for a time, borne me
+     away from this most original of men; and this is what I so
+     greatly lament now: for of Borrow it may be said, as it was
+     said of a greater man still, that 'after Nature made _him_ she
+     forthwith broke the mould.' The last time I ever saw him was
+     shortly before he left London to live in the country. It was, I
+     remember well, on Waterloo Bridge, where I had stopped to gaze
+     at a sunset of singular and striking splendour, whose gorgeous
+     clouds and ruddy mists were reeling and boiling over the
+     West-End. Borrow came up and stood leaning over the parapet,
+     entranced by the sight, as well he might be. Like most people
+     born in flat districts, he had a passion for sunsets. Turner
+     could not have painted that one, I think, and certainly my pen
+     could not describe it; for the London smoke was flushed by the
+     sinking sun, and had lost its dunness, and, reddening every
+     moment as it rose above the roofs, steeples, and towers, it
+     went curling round the sinking sun in a rosy vapour, leaving,
+     however, just a segment of a golden rim, which gleamed as
+     dazzlingly as in the thinnest and clearest air--a peculiar
+     effect which struck Borrow deeply. I never saw such a sunset
+     before or since, not even on Waterloo Bridge; and from its
+     association with 'the last of Borrow' I shall never forget
+     it.[244]
+
+Mr. Watts-Dunton concludes his reminiscences--the most valuable personal
+record that we have of Borrow--with a sonnet that now has its place in
+literature:
+
+    We talked of 'Children of the Open Air'
+      Who once in Orient valleys lived aloof,
+      Loving the sun, the wind, the sweet reproof
+    Of storms, and all that makes the fair earth fair,
+    Till, on a day, across the mystic bar
+      Of moonrise, came the 'Children of the Roof,'
+      Who find no balm 'neath Evening's rosiest woof,
+    Nor dews of peace beneath the Morning Star.
+    We looked o'er London where men wither and choke,
+      Roofed in, poor souls, renouncing stars and skies,
+      And lore of woods and wild wind-prophecies--
+    Yea, every voice that to their fathers spoke:
+    And sweet it seemed to die ere bricks and smoke
+      Leave never a meadow outside Paradise.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[237] Theodore Watts-Dunton's memoir of Thomas Gordon Hake in the
+_Athenaeum_, January 19, 1895.
+
+An interesting letter that I have received from Mr. Watts-Dunton clears
+up several points and may well have place here:--
+
+                'THE PINES, 11 PUTNEY HILL, S.W., _31st May 1913._
+
+'You ask me what I have written upon George Borrow. When Borrow died
+(26th July 1881), the first obituary notice of him in the _Athenaeum_ was
+not by me, but by W. Elwin. This appeared on the 6th August 1881. At
+this time the general public had so forgotten that Borrow was alive that
+I remember once, at one of old Mrs. Procter's receptions, it had been
+discussed, as Lowell and Browning afterwards told me, as to whether I
+was or was not "an archer of the long bow" because I said that on the
+previous Sunday I had walked with Borrow in Richmond Park, and was
+frequently seeing him, and that on the Sunday before I had walked in the
+same beautiful park with Dr. Gordon Latham, another celebrity of the
+past "known to be dead." The fact is, Borrow's really great books were
+_Lavengro_ and _The Romany Rye_, and the latter had fallen almost dead
+from the press, smothered by Victorian respectability and philistinism.
+He was thoroughly soured and angry, and no wonder! He fought shy of
+literary society. He quite resented being introduced to strangers.
+
+'Elwin's article was considered very unsatisfactory. Knowing that the
+most competent man in England to write about Borrow was my old friend,
+Dr. Gordon Hake, I suggested that MacColl should ask the doctor (one of
+the few men whom Borrow really loved) to furnish the _Athenaeum_ with
+another article. This was agreed to, and another article was written,
+either by Dr. Hake himself, or by one of his sons--I don't quite
+remember at this distance of time. It appeared in the _Athenaeum_ of the
+13th August 1881. But even this article did not seem to MacColl to
+vitalise one of the most remarkable personalities of the 19th century;
+and as I was then a leading writer in the literary department of the
+_Athenaeum_, MacColl asked me to give him an article upon Borrow whom I
+had known so well. I did so, and the article "caught on," as MacColl
+said, more than had any _Athenaeum_ article for a long time. This
+appeared 3rd September 1881. When MacColl read the article he was so
+much pleased with it that he urged me to follow it up with an article on
+Borrow in connection with the Children of the Open Air--a subject upon
+which I had previously written a good deal in the _Athenaeum_. This
+appeared on the 10th September 1881, and became still more popular, and
+the _Athenaeum_ containing it had quite an exceptional sale.
+
+'The Hake whom you inquire about, Egmont Hake, has drifted out of my
+ken. He at one time lived in Paris, and wrote a book called _Paris
+Originals_. I know that he did, at one time, contemplate writing upon
+Borrow, and corresponded with Mrs. MacOubrey with this view; but the
+affair fell through. As a son of Dr. Hake's he could not fail to know
+Borrow. He wrote a brief article about him, in the _Dictionary of
+National Biography_. But the two Hakes who were thrown across Borrow
+most intimately were Thomas Hake and George Hake, the latter of whom
+lately died in Africa. Thomas Hake, the eldest of the family, knew
+Borrow in his own childhood, which the other members of the family did
+not. After Dr. Gordon Hake went to live in Germany, after the Roehampton
+home was broken up, I saw a good deal of Borrow. He always thought that
+no one sympathised with him and understood him so thoroughly as I
+did,--Ever most cordially yours,
+
+                'THEODORE WATTS-DUNTON.'
+
+Since receiving this letter I have been in communication with Mr. Egmont
+Hake, who generously offered to place his Borrow material at my
+disposal, but this offer came too late to be of service. Mr. Hake will,
+however, shortly publish his _Memoirs_ in which he will include some
+interesting impressions of George Borrow which it has been my privilege
+to read in manuscript.
+
+[238] Dr. Hake was equally severe in his references to Thackeray, of
+whom scarcely any one has spoken ill. 'Thackeray spent a good deal of
+his time on stilts,' he says. '... He was a very disagreeable companion
+to those who did not want to boast that they knew him.'--_Memoirs_, p.
+86. 'Thackeray,' he says elsewhere, 'as if under the impression that
+the party was invited to look at him, thought it necessary to
+make a figure.... Borrow knew better how to behave in good
+company.'--_Memoirs_, p. 166.
+
+[239] _Theodore Watts-Dunton: Poet, Novelist, Critic_. By James Douglas.
+Hodder and Stoughton, 1904, p. 96.
+
+[240] 'Recollections of George Borrow,' by A. Egmont Hake in _The
+Athenaeum_, Aug. 13, 1881.
+
+[241] Borrow's hair was black until he was about twenty years of age,
+when it turned white.
+
+[242] _Chambers's Cyclopaedia of English Literature_, vol. iii. p. 430.
+
+[243] _The Athenaeum_, September 3, 1881.
+
+[244] _The Athenaeum_, September 10, 1881. I am indebted to my friend Mr.
+John Collins Francis., of _The Athenaeum_ newspaper, for generously
+placing the columns of that journal at my disposal for the purposes of
+this book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+BORROW'S UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS
+
+
+To many in our day, less utilitarian than those of an earlier era,
+Borrow must have been an interesting man of letters had he not written
+his four great books. Single-minded devotion to the less commercially
+remunerative languages has now become respectable and even estimable.
+Students of the Scandinavian languages, and of the Celtic, abound in our
+midst. Borrow was a forerunner with Bowring of much of this 'useless'
+learning. Borrow came to consider Bowring's apparent neglect of him to
+be unforgivable. But that time had not arrived, when in 1842 he wrote to
+him as follows:
+
+
+To Dr. John Bowring
+
+                OULTON, LOWESTOFT, SUFFOLK, _July 14th, 1842._
+
+     DEAR DEAR SIR,--Pray excuse my troubling you with a line. I
+     wish you would send as many of the papers and manuscripts,
+     which I left at yours some twelve years ago, as you can find.
+     Amongst others there is an essay on Welsh poetry, a translation
+     of the _Death of Balder_, etc. If I am spared to the beginning
+     of next year, I intend to bring out a volume called _Songs of
+     Denmark_, consisting of some selections from the _Kaempe Viser_
+     and specimens from Ewald, Grundtvig, Oehlenschlaeger, and I
+     suppose I must give a few notices of those people. Have you any
+     history of Danish literature from which I could glean a few
+     hints. I think you have a book in two volumes containing
+     specimens of Danish poetry. It would be useful to me as I want
+     to translate Ingemann's _Dannebrog_; and one or two other
+     pieces. I shall preface all with an essay on the Danish
+     language. It is possible that a book of this description may
+     take, as Denmark is quite an untrodden field.
+
+     Could you lend me for a short time a Polish and French or
+     Polish and German dictionary. I am going carefully through
+     Makiewitz, about whom I intend to write an _article_.
+
+     _The Bible in Spain_ is in the press, and with God's permission
+     will appear about November in three volumes. I shall tell
+     Murray to send a copy to my oldest, I may say my _only_ friend.
+     Pray let me know how you are getting on. I every now and then
+     see your name in the _Examiner_, the only paper I read. Should
+     you send the papers and the books it must be by the Yarmouth
+     coach which starts from Fetter Lane. Address: George Borrow,
+     Crown Inn, Lowestoft, Suffolk. With kindest remembrances to
+     Mrs. Bowring, Miss Bowring, and family--I remain, Dear Sir,
+     ever yours,
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A POEM FROM _TARGUM_
+
+A Translation from the French by George Borrow
+
+    My Eighteenth Year
+
+    Where is my eighteenth year? far back
+    Upon life's variegated track;
+    Yet fondly oft I turn my eye,
+    And for my eighteenth year I sigh.
+
+    Each pleasure then I took with zest,
+    And hope was inmate of my breast,
+    Enchanting hope, consoling thing,
+    The plucker out of sorrow's sting.
+
+    The sun above shone brighter then
+    Fairer were women, kinder men
+    If tears I shed they soon were o'er
+    And I was happier than before.]
+
+Now with the achieved success of _The Bible in Spain_ and the leisure of
+a happy home Borrow could for the moment think of the ambition of
+'twelve years ago'--an ambition to put before the public some of the
+results of his marvellous industry. The labours of the dark, black years
+between 1825 and 1830 might now perchance see the light. Three such
+books got themselves published, as we have seen, _Romantic Ballads_,
+_Targum_, and _The Talisman_. _The Sleeping Bard_ had been translated
+and offered to 'a little Welsh bookseller' of Smithfield in 1830, who,
+however, said, when he had read it, 'were I to print it I should be
+ruined.' That fate followed the book to the end, and Borrow was
+premature when he said in his Preface to _The Sleeping Bard_ that such
+folly is on the decline, because he found 'Albemarle Street in '60
+willing to publish a harmless but plain-speaking book which Smithfield
+shrank from in '30.' At the last moment John Murray refused to publish,
+but seems to have agreed to give his imprint to the title-page. Borrow
+published the book at his own expense, it being set up by James Matthew
+Denew, of 72 Hall Plain, Great Yarmouth. Fourteen years later--in
+1874--Mr. Murray made some amends by publishing _Romano Lavo-Lil_, in
+which are many fine translations from the Romany, and that, during his
+lifetime, was the 'beginning and the end' of Borrow's essays in
+publishing so far as his translations were concerned. Webber, the
+bookseller of Ipswich, did indeed issue _The Turkish Jester_--advertised
+as ready for publication in 1857--in 1884, and Jarrold of Norwich _The
+Death of Balder_ in 1889; but enthusiasts have asked in vain for _Celtic
+Bards_, _Chiefs and Kings_, _Songs of Europe_, and _Northern Skalds,
+Kings and Earls_. It is not recorded whether Borrow offered these to any
+publisher other than 'Glorious John' of Albemarle Street, but certain it
+is that Mr. Murray would have none of them. The 'mountains of
+manuscript' remained to be the sorrowful interest of Borrow as an old
+man as they had--many of them--been the sorrow and despair of his early
+manhood. Here is a memorandum in his daughter's handwriting of the work
+that Borrow was engaged upon at the time of his death:
+
+
+    Songs of Ireland.
+    Songs of the Isle of Man.
+    Songs of Wales.
+    Songs of the Gaelic Highlands.
+    Songs of Anglo-Saxon England.
+    Songs of the North, Mythological.
+    Songs of the North, Heroic.
+    Songs of Iceland.
+    Songs of Sweden.
+    Songs of Germany.
+    Songs of Holland.
+    Songs of Ancient Greece.
+    Songs of the Modern Greeks.
+    Songs of the Klephts.
+    Songs of Denmark, Early Period.
+    Songs of Denmark, Modern Period.
+    Songs of the Feroe Isles.
+    Songs of the Gascons.
+    Songs of Modern Italy.
+    Songs of Portugal.
+    Songs of Poland.
+    Songs of Hungary.
+    Songs and Legends of Turkey.
+    Songs of Ancient Rome.
+    Songs of the Church.
+    Songs of the Troubadours.
+    Songs of Normandy.
+    Songs of Spain.
+    Songs of Russia.
+    Songs of the Basques.
+    Songs of Finland.
+
+     These translations were intended to form a volume with copious
+     notes, but were only completed a month before Mr. Borrow's
+     death, which occurred at his residence, Oulton Cottage,
+     Suffolk, July 26th, 1881, in the seventy-ninth year of his age.
+     This grand old man, full of years and honour, was buried beside
+     his wife (who had proved a noble helpmate to him), in Brompton
+     Cemetery, August 4th.
+
+And so what many will consider Borrow's 'craze' for verse translations
+remained with him to the end. We know with what equanimity he bore his
+defeat in early years. Did he not make humorous 'copy' out of it in
+_Lavengro_. It must have been a greater disappointment that his
+publisher would have none of his wares when he had proved by writing
+_The Bible in Spain_ that at least some of his work had money in it. For
+years it was Borrow's opinion that Lockhart stood in his way, wishing to
+hold the field with his _Ancient Spanish Ballads_ (1821), and
+maintaining that Borrow was no poet. The view that Borrow had no poetry
+in him and that his verse is always poor has been held by many of
+Borrow's admirers. The view will not have the support of those who have
+had the advantage of reading all Borrow's less known published writings,
+and the many manuscripts that he left behind him. But on the general
+question let us hear Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton:--
+
+     It should never be forgotten that Borrow was, before everything
+     else, a poet.... By poet I do not mean merely a man who is
+     skilled in writing lyrics and sonnets and that kind of thing,
+     but primarily a man who has the poetic gift of seeing through
+     'the show of things,' and knowing where he is--the gift of
+     drinking deeply of the waters of life, and of feeling grateful
+     to Nature for so sweet a draught.'[245]
+
+Possibly Mr. Watts-Dunton did not contemplate his idea being applied to
+Borrow's verse translations, but all the same the quality of poetic
+imagination may be found here in abundance. The little Welsh bookseller
+of Smithfield said to Borrow in reference to _The Sleeping Bard_:
+
+     Were I to print it I should be ruined; the terrible description
+     of vice and torment would frighten the genteel part of the
+     English public out of its wits, and I should to a certainty be
+     prosecuted by Sir James Scarlett. I am much obliged to you for
+     the trouble you have given yourself on my account--but, Myn
+     Diawl! I had no idea, till I had read him in English, that Elis
+     Wyn had been such a terrible fellow.
+
+And here the little Welsh bookseller paid Borrow a signal compliment. In
+the main Borrow provided a prose translation of _The Sleeping Bard_. In
+_Targum_ however, he showed himself a quite gifted balladist, far
+removed from the literary standard of _Romantic Ballads_ ten years
+earlier. Space does not permit of any quotation in this chapter, and I
+must be content here to declare that the spirit of poetry came over
+Borrow on many occasions. The whole of Borrow's _Songs of Scandinavia_
+will ultimately be published, although for eighty and more years[246]
+the pile of neatly written manuscript of that book, which is now in my
+possession, has appealed for publication in vain. There will be found,
+in such a ballad as _Orm Ungerswayne_, for example, a practical
+demonstration that Borrow had the root of the matter in him. It is true
+that Borrow's limited acquaintance with English poetry was a serious
+drawback to great achievement, and his many translations from his
+favourite Welsh bard Goronwy Owen that are before me are too much under
+the influence of Pope. In addition to the _Songs of Scandinavia_ I have
+before me certain other ballads in manuscript--such portions of his
+various unpublished but frequently advertised works as did not fall to
+Dr. Knapp.[247] Of these I do not hesitate to say that whatever the
+difference of opinion as to their poetic quality there can be no
+difference of opinion as to their being well-told stories of an
+exceedingly interesting and invigorating character. But I must leave for
+another time and another opportunity any discussion of Borrow's poetic
+achievement of which at present the world has had little opportunity of
+knowing anything.[248] Of prose manuscript there is also a considerable
+quantity, including diaries of travel and translations of nine or ten
+stories from various languages. Of the minor books already published we
+have already spoken of _Faustus_, _Romantic Ballads_, _Targum_, and _The
+Talisman_, and Borrow's last and least interesting book _Romano
+Lavo-Lil_. There remains but to recall:--
+
+_The Sleeping Bard_,   published by    John Murray, 1860
+_The Turkish Jester_,        "           W. Webber, 1884
+_The Death of Balder_,       "    Jarrold and Sons, 1889
+
+These eight little volumes will always remain Borrow's least-read books.
+Only in _Targum_ and _The Sleeping Bard_ do we find much indication of
+those qualities which made him famous. It is not in the least surprising
+that the other work failed to find a publisher, and, indeed, from a
+merely commercial point of view, the late John Murray had more excuse
+for refusing _Romano Lavo-Lil,_ which he did publish, than _The Sleeping
+Bard_, which he refused to publish--at least on his own responsibility.
+Such books, whatever their merits, are issued to-day only by learned
+societies. In a quite different category were those many ballads[249]
+from diverse languages that Borrow had hoped to issue under such titles
+as _Celtic Bards_, _Chiefs and Kings_, and _Northern Skalds, Kings and
+Earls_. These books would have had no difficulty in finding a publisher
+to-day were they offered by a writer of one half the popularity of
+Borrow.[250]
+
+[Illustration: BORROW AS A PROFESSOR OF LANGUAGES
+
+An 'Advertisement' put forth by Borrow in Norwich during the years of
+struggle before he was sent to Russia by the Bible Society. This
+interesting document, which is in Borrow's handwriting, is in the
+possession of Mr. Frank J. Farrell of Great Yarmouth, by whose courtesy
+it is reproduced here.]
+
+There is, I repeat, excellent work in these ballads. As to _Targum_ let
+it not be forgotten that Hasfeld--really a good judge--said in _The
+Athenaeum_ that 'the work is a pearl of genius,' and that William Bodham
+Donne declared that 'the language and rhythm are vastly superior to
+Macaulay's _Lays of Ancient Rome_.' As to _The Sleeping Bard_ Borrow
+himself was able to make his own vigorous defence of that work. In
+emulation of Walter Scott he reviewed himself in _The Quarterly_.[251]
+His article is really an essay on Welsh poetry, and incidentally he
+quotes from his unpublished _Celtic Bards, Chiefs and Kings_ a lengthy
+passage, the manuscript of which is in my possession. We are introduced
+again to all Borrow's old friends of _Wild Wales_: Hew Morris, Goronwy
+Owen, and finally Elis Wyn. Borrow quotes from _The Romany Rye_, but as
+becomes a reviewer of his own book, gives no praise to his achievement.
+
+I find no plays among Borrow's 'mountains of manuscript' in my
+possession, and so I am not disposed to accept the suggestion that the
+following letter from Gifford to Borrow refers to a play which Borrow
+pretended to be the work of a friend while it was really his own. If it
+was his own he doubtless took Gifford's counsel to heart and promptly
+destroyed the manuscript:--
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+     _A Specimen of Gifford's criticism on a friend's_ play, _which
+     I was desired to send to him_.
+
+     MY DEAR BORROW,--I have read your M.S. very attentively, and
+     may say of it with Desdemona of the  song--
+
+                   'It is silly, sooth,
+    And dallies with the innocence of love
+    Like to old age.'
+
+     The poetry in some places is pretty, the sentiment is also
+     excellent. And can I say more? The plot is petty, the
+     characters without vigour, and the story poorly told. Instead
+     of Irene the scene seems to be laid in Arcadia, and the manners
+     are not so much confounded as totally lost. There are
+     Druids--but such Druids! O Lord!
+
+     There is to be seen no physical, perhaps no moral lesson,
+     though a Druid should not be a rogue--but it is not so set down
+     in the bond. Is this the characterisation which we have been
+     used to see there? To end an unpleasant letter, I must leave
+     to your friendship for the author to contrive some mode of
+     dissuading him from publishing. If, however, he is determined
+     to rush on the world, let him do it, in the first place,
+     anonymously. If it takes, he may then toss up his nose at my
+     opinion, and claim his work.
+
+[Illustration: A PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT OF BORROW'S _SONGS OF
+SCANDINAVIA_--AN UNPUBLISHED WORK]
+
+     Say nothing of me, for I would not be thought to offend so
+     excellent and so able a man. He may be content with his
+     literary fame, and can do without poetic praise.
+
+     Your answer is short. The play might have passed very well had
+     it been published when written, and when the writer was yet
+     young and little known, but it will be hazardous now, as the
+     world is cross-grained, and will not see your master in the
+     grave and learned author of so many valuable works; but judge
+     him from his present attainments. But this, as Mrs. Quickly
+     says, 'is alligant terms,' and it may do.--Ever yours,
+
+                WM. GIFFORD.
+
+     _P.S._--I see the preface is already written, and do what you
+     will, the play will be published.
+
+One other phase of this more limited aspect of Borrow's work may be
+dealt with here--his mastery of languages. I have before me scores of
+pages which reveal the way that Borrow became a lav-engro--a
+word-master. He drew up tables of every language in turn, the English
+word following the German, or Welsh, or whatever the tongue might be,
+and he learnt these off with amazing celerity. His wonderful memory was
+his greatest asset in this particular. He was not a philologist if we
+accept the dictionary definition of that word as 'a person versed in the
+science of language.' But his interest in languages is refreshing and
+interesting--never pedantic, and he takes rank among those disinterested
+lovers of learning who pursue their researches without any regard to the
+honours or emoluments that they may bring, loving learning for
+learning's sake, undaunted by the discouragements that come from the
+indifference of a world to which they have made their appeal in vain.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[245] _The Athenaeum_, September 3, 1881.
+
+[246] In the _Monthly Magazine_ for March 1830 under the head of
+'Miscellaneous Intelligence' we find the following announcement:--
+
+'Dr. Bowring and Mr. George Borrow are about to publish _The Songs of
+Scandinavia_, containing a selection of the most interesting of the
+Historical and Romantic Ballads of North-Western Europe, with specimens
+of the Danish and Norwegian Poets down to the present day.'
+
+[247] Dr. Knapp's Borrow manuscripts are now in the Hispanic Society's
+Archives in New York.
+
+[248] I contemplate at a later date an edition of Borrow's Collected
+Writings, in which the unpublished verse will extend to two volumes.
+
+[249] Certain of these have of late been privately printed in pamphlet
+form--limited to thirty copies each.
+
+[250] The works of Dr. George Sigerson, Dr. Douglas Hyde and Dr. Kuno
+Meyer in Irish Literature are an evidence of this. Dr. Sigerson's _Bards
+of the Gael and Gaul_ and Dr. Hyde's _Love Songs of Connaught_ have each
+gone through more than one edition and have proved remunerative to their
+authors.
+
+[251] _The Quarterly Review_, January 1861, pp. 38-63.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+HENRIETTA CLARKE
+
+
+Borrow never had a child, but happy for him was the part played by his
+stepdaughter Henrietta in his life. She was twenty-three years old when
+her mother married him, and it is clear to me that she was from the
+beginning of their friendship and even to the end of his life devoted to
+her stepfather. Readers of _Wild Wales_ will recall not only the tribute
+that Borrow pays to her, which we have already quoted, in which he
+refers to her 'good qualities and many accomplishments,' but the other
+pleasant references in that book. 'Henrietta,' he says in one passage,
+'played on the guitar[252] and sang a Spanish song, to the great delight
+of John Jones.' When climbing Snowdon he is keen in his praises of the
+endurance of 'the gallant girl.' As against all this, there is an
+undercurrent of depreciation of his stepdaughter among Borrow's
+biographers. The picture of Borrow's home in later life at Oulton is
+presented by them with sordid details. The Oulton tradition which still
+survives among the few inhabitants who lived near the Broad at Borrow's
+death in 1881, and still reside there, is of an ill-kept home, supremely
+untidy, and it is as a final indictment of his daughter's callousness
+that we have the following gruesome picture by Dr. Knapp:
+
+     On the 26th of July 1881 Mr. Borrow was found dead in his house
+     at Oulton. The circumstances were these. His stepdaughter and
+     her husband drove to Lowestoft in the morning on some business
+     of their own, leaving Mr. Borrow without a living soul in the
+     house with him. He had earnestly requested them not to go away
+     because he felt that he was in a dying state; but the response
+     intimated that he had often expressed the same feeling before,
+     and his fears had proved groundless. During the interval of
+     these few hours of abandonment nothing can palliate or excuse,
+     George Borrow died as he had lived--_alone_! His age was
+     seventy-eight years and twenty-one days.
+
+Dr. Knapp no doubt believed all this;[253] it is endorsed by the village
+gossip of the past thirty years, and the mythical tragedy is even
+heightened by a further story of a farm tumbril which carried poor
+Borrow's body to the railway station when it was being conveyed to
+London to be buried beside his wife in Brompton Cemetery.
+
+The tumbril story--whether correct or otherwise--is a matter of
+indifference to me. The legend of the neglect of Borrow in his last
+moments is however of importance, and the charge can easily be
+disproved.[254] I have before me Mrs. MacOubrey's diary for 1881.
+
+I have many such diaries for a long period of years, but this for 1881
+is of particular moment. Here, under the date July 26th, we find the
+brief note, _George Borrow died at three o'clock this morning_. It is
+scarcely possible that Borrow's stepdaughter and her husband could have
+left him alone at three o'clock in the morning in order to drive into
+Lowestoft, less than two miles distant. At this time, be it remembered,
+Dr. MacOubrey was eighty-one years of age. Now, as to the general
+untidiness of Borrow's home at the time of his death--the point is a
+distasteful one, but it had better be faced. Henrietta was twenty-three
+years of age when her mother married Borrow. She was sixty-four at the
+time of his death, and her husband, as I have said, was eighty-one years
+of age at that time, being three years older than Borrow. Here we have
+three very elderly people keeping house together and little accustomed
+overmuch to the assistance of domestic servants. The situation at once
+becomes clear. Mrs. Borrow had a genius for housekeeping and for
+management. She watched over her husband, kept his accounts, held the
+family purse,[255] managed all his affairs. She 'managed' her daughter
+also, delighting in that daughter's accomplishments of drawing and
+botany, to which may be added a zeal for the writing of stories which
+does not seem, judging from the many manuscripts in her handwriting that
+I have burnt, to have received much editorial encouragement. In short,
+Henrietta was not domesticated. But just as I have proved in preceding
+chapters that Borrow was happy in his married life, so I would urge that
+as far as a somewhat disappointed career would permit to the sadly
+bereaved author he was happy in his family circle to the end. It was at
+his initiative that, when he had returned to Oulton after the death of
+his wife, his daughter and her husband came to live with him. He
+declared that to live alone was no longer tolerable, and they gave up
+their own home in London to join him at Oulton.
+
+A new glimpse of Borrow on his domestic side has been offered to the
+public even as this book is passing through the press. Mr. S. H.
+Baldrey, a Norwich solicitor, has given his reminiscences of the author
+of _Lavengro_ to the leading newspaper of that city.[256] Mr. Baldrey is
+the stepson of the late John Pilgrim of the firm of Jay and Pilgrim, who
+were Borrow's solicitors at Norwich in the later years of his life. One
+at least of Mr. Baldrey's many reminiscences has in it an element of
+romance; that in which he recalls Mrs. Borrow and her daughter:
+
+     Mrs. Borrow always struck me as a dear old creature. When
+     Borrow married her she was a widow with one daughter, Henrietta
+     Clarke. The old lady used to dress in black silk. She had
+     little silver-grey corkscrew curls down the side of her face;
+     and she wore a lace cap with a mauve ribbon on top, quite in
+     the Early Victorian style. I remember that on one occasion when
+     she and Miss Clarke had come to Brunswick House they were
+     talking with my mother in the temporary absence of George
+     Borrow, who, so far as I can recall, had gone into another room
+     to discuss business with John Pilgrim.
+
+     'Ah!' she said, 'George is a good man, but he is a strange
+     creature. Do you know he will say to me after breakfast,
+     "Mary, I am going for a walk," and then I do not see anything
+     more of him for three months. And all the time he will be
+     walking miles and miles. Once he went right into Scotland, and
+     never once slept in a house. He took not even a handbag with
+     him or a clean shirt, but lived just like any old tramp.'
+
+Mr. Baldrey is clearly in error here, or shall we say that Mrs. Borrow
+humorously exaggerated? We have seen that Borrow's annual holiday was a
+matter of careful arrangement, and his knapsack or satchel is frequently
+referred to in his descriptions of his various tours. But the matter is
+of little importance, and Mr. Baldrey's pictures of Borrow are
+excellent, including that of his personal appearance:
+
+     As I recall him, he was a fine, powerfully built man of about
+     six feet high. He had a clean-shaven face with a fresh
+     complexion, almost approaching to the florid, and never a
+     wrinkle, even at sixty, except at the corners of his dark and
+     rather prominent eyes. He had a shock of silvery white hair. He
+     always wore a very badly brushed silk hat, a black frock coat
+     and trousers, the coat all buttoned down before; low shoes and
+     white socks, with a couple of inches of white showing between
+     the shoes and the trousers. He was a tireless walker, with
+     extraordinary powers of endurance, and was also very handy with
+     his fists, as in those days a gentleman required to be, more
+     than he does now.
+
+Mr. John Pilgrim lived at Brunswick House, on the Newmarket Road,
+Norwich, and here Borrow frequently visited him. Mr. Baldrey recalls one
+particular visit:
+
+[Illustration: A LETTER FROM BORROW TO HIS WIFE WRITTEN FROM ROME IN HIS
+CONTINENTAL JOURNEY OF 1844]
+
+     I have a curious recollection of his dining one night at
+     Brunswick House. John Pilgrim, who was a careful, abstemious
+     man, never took more than two glasses of port at dinner.
+     'John,' said Borrow, 'this is a good port. I prefer Burgundy if
+     you can get it good; but, lord, you cannot get it now.' It so
+     happened that Mr. Pilgrim had some fine old Clos-Vougeot in the
+     cellar. 'I think,' said he, 'I can give you a good drop of
+     Burgundy.' A bottle was sent for, and Borrow finished it, alone
+     and unaided. 'Well,' he remarked, 'I think this is a good
+     Burgundy. But I'm not quite certain. I should like to try a
+     little more.' Another bottle was called up, and the guest
+     finished it to the last drop. I am still,' he said, 'not quite
+     sure about it, but I shall know in the morning.' The next
+     morning Mr. Pilgrim and I were leaving for the office, when
+     Borrow came up the garden path waving his arms like a
+     windmill. 'Oh, John,' he said, 'that _was_ Burgundy! When I
+     woke up this morning it was coursing through my veins like
+     fire.' And yet Borrow was not a man to drink to excess. I
+     cannot imagine him being the worse for liquor. He had wonderful
+     health and digestion. Neither a gourmand nor a gourmet, he
+     could take down anything, and be none the worse for it. I don't
+     think you could have made him drunk if you tried.
+
+And here is a glimpse of Borrow after his wife's death, for which we are
+grateful to Mr. Baldrey:
+
+     After the funeral of Mrs. Borrow he came to Norwich and took me
+     over to Oulton with him. He was silent all the way. When we got
+     to the little white wicket gate before the approach to the
+     house he took off his hat and began to beat his breast like an
+     Oriental. He cried aloud all the way up the path. He calmed
+     himself, however, by the time that Mr. Crabbe had opened the
+     door and asked us in. Crabbe brought in some wine, and we all
+     sat down to table. I sat opposite to Mrs. Crabbe; her husband
+     was on my left hand. Borrow sat at one end of the table, and
+     the chair at the opposite end was left vacant. We were talking
+     in a casual way when Borrow, pointing to the empty chair, said
+     with profound emotion, 'There! It was there that I first saw
+     her.' It was a curious coincidence that though there were four
+     of us we should have left that particular seat unoccupied at a
+     little table of about four feet square.[257]
+
+But this is a lengthy digression from the story of Henrietta Clarke, who
+married William MacOubrey, an Irishman--and an Orangeman--from Belfast
+in 1865. The pair lived first in Belfast and afterwards at 80 Charlotte
+Street, Fitzroy Square. Before his marriage he had practised at 134
+Sloane Street, London. MacOubrey, although there has been some doubt
+cast upon the statement, was a Doctor of Medicine of Trinity College,
+Dublin, and a Barrister-at-Law. Within his limitations he was an
+accomplished man, and before me lie not only documentary evidence of his
+M.D. and his legal status, but several printed pamphlets that bear his
+name.[258] What is of more importance, the letters from and to his wife
+that have through my hands and have been consigned to the flames prove
+that husband and wife lived on most affectionate terms.
+
+It is natural that Borrow's correspondence with his stepdaughter should
+have been of a somewhat private character, and I therefore publish only
+a selection from his letters to her, believing however that they modify
+an existing tradition very considerably:
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--Have you heard from the gentleman whom you
+     said you would write to about the farm?[259] Mr. C. came over
+     the other day and I mentioned the matter to him, but he told me
+     that he was on the eve of going to London on law business and
+     should be absent for some time. His son is in Cambridge. I am
+     afraid that it will be no easy matter to find a desirable
+     tenant and that none are likely to apply but a set of needy
+     speculators; indeed, there is a general dearth of money. How is
+     Dr. M.? God bless you!
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I have received some of the rent and send a
+     cheque for eight pounds. Have the kindness to acknowledge the
+     receipt of same by return of post. As soon as you arrive in
+     London, let me know, and I will send a cheque for ten pounds,
+     which I believe will pay your interest up to Midsummer. If
+     there is anything incorrect pray inform me. God bless you. Kind
+     regards to Miss Harvey.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--As soon as Smith has paid his Michaelmas rent
+     I will settle your interest up to Midsummer. Twenty-one pounds
+     was, I think, then due to you, as you received five pounds on
+     the account of the present year. If, however, you are in want
+     of money let me know forthwith, and I will send you a small
+     cheque. The document which I mentioned has been witnessed by
+     Mrs. Church and her daughter. It is in one of the little tin
+     boxes on the lower shelf of the closet nearest to the window in
+     my bedroom. I was over at Mattishall some weeks ago. Things
+     there look very unsatisfactory. H. and his mother now owe me
+     L20 or more. The other man a year's rent for a cottage and
+     garden, and two years' rent for the gardens of two cottages
+     unoccupied. I am just returned from Norwich where I have been
+     to speak to F. I have been again pestered by Pilgrim's
+     successor about the insurance of the property. He pretends to
+     have insured again. A more impudent thing was probably never
+     heard of. He is no agent of mine, and I will have no
+     communication with him. I have insured myself in the Union
+     Office, and have lately received my second policy. I have now
+     paid upwards of twelve pounds for policies. F. says that he
+     told him months ago that the demand he made would not be
+     allowed, that I insured myself and was my own agent, and that
+     as he shall see him in a few days he will tell him so again. Oh
+     what a source of trouble that wretched fellow Pilgrim has been
+     both to you and me.
+
+     I wish very much to come up to London. But I cannot leave the
+     country under present circumstances. There is not a person in
+     these parts in whom I can place the slightest confidence. I
+     most inform you that at our interview F. said not a word about
+     the matter in Chancery. God bless you. Kind remembrances to Dr.
+     M.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I wish to know how you are. I shall shortly
+     send a cheque for thirteen pounds, which I believe will settle
+     the interest account up to Michaelmas. If you see anything
+     inaccurate pray inform me. I am at present tolerably well, but
+     of late have been very much troubled with respect to my people.
+     Since I saw you I have been three times over to Mattishall, but
+     with very little profit. The last time I was there I got the
+     key of the house from that fellow Hill, and let the place to
+     another person who I am now told is not much better. One
+     comfort is that he cannot be worse. But now there is a
+     difficulty. Hill refuses to yield up the land, and has put
+     padlocks on the gates. These I suppose can be removed as he is
+     not in possession of the key of the house. On this point,
+     however, I wish to be certain. As for the house, he and his
+     mother, who is in a kind of partnership with him, have
+     abandoned it for two years, the consequence being that the
+     windows are dashed out, and the place little better than a
+     ruin. During the four years he has occupied the land he has
+     been cropping it, and the crops have invariably been sold
+     before being reaped, and as soon as reaped carried off. During
+     the last two years there has not been a single live thing kept
+     on the premises, not so much as a hen. He now says that there
+     are some things in the house belonging to him. Anything,
+     however, which he has left is of course mine, though I don't
+     believe that what he has left is worth sixpence. I have told
+     the incoming tenant to deliver up nothing, and not permit him
+     to enter the house on any account. He owes me ten or twelve
+     pounds, arrears of rent, and at least fifteen for
+     dilapidations. I think the fellow ought to be threatened with
+     an action, but I know not whom to employ. I don't wish to apply
+     to F. Perhaps Dr. M.'s London friend might be spoken to. I
+     believe Hill's address is Alfred Hill, Mattishall, Norfolk, but
+     the place which he occupied of me is at Mattishall Burgh. I
+     shall be glad to hear from you as soon as is convenient. I have
+     anything but reason to be satisfied with the conduct of S. He
+     is cropping the ground most unmercifully, and is sending sacks
+     of game off the premises every week. Surely he must be mad, as
+     he knows I can turn him out next Michaelmas. God bless you.
+     Kind regards to Dr. M. Take care of this.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I was glad to hear that you had obtained your
+     dividend. I was afraid that you would never get it. I shall be
+     happy to see you and Dr. M. about the end of the month.
+     Michaelmas is near at hand, when your half-year's interest
+     becomes due. God bless you. Kind remembrances to Dr. M.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+     OULTON, LOWESTOFT, _November 29th, 1874._
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I send a cheque for L15, which will settle the
+     interest account up to Michaelmas last. On receipt of this have
+     the kindness to send me a line. I have been to Norwich, and now
+     know all about your affair. I saw Mr. Durrant, who, it seems,
+     is the real head of the firm to which I go. He received me in
+     the kindest manner, and said he was very glad to see me. I
+     inquired about J.P.'s affairs. He appeared at first not
+     desirous to speak about them, but presently became very
+     communicative. I inquired who had put the matter into Chancery,
+     and he told me he himself, which I was very glad to hear. I
+     asked whether the mortgagees would get their money, and he
+     replied that he had no doubt they eventually would, as far as
+     principal was concerned. I spoke about interest, but on that
+     point he gave me slight hopes. He said that the matter, if not
+     hurried, would turn out tolerably satisfactory, but if it were,
+     very little would be obtained. It appears that the unhappy
+     creature who is gone had been dabbling in post obit bonds, at
+     present almost valueless, but likely to become available. He
+     was in great want of money shortly before he died. Now, dear,
+     pray keep up your spirits; I hope and trust we shall meet about
+     Christmas. Kind regards to Dr. M.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+     Keep this. Send a line by return of post.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I thought I would write to you as it seems a
+     long time since I heard from you. I have been on my expedition
+     and have come back safe. I had a horrible time of it on the
+     sea--small dirty boat crowded with people and rough weather.
+     Poor Mr. Brightwell is I am sorry to say dead--died in January.
+     I saw Mr. J. and P. and had a good deal of conversation with
+     them which I will talk to you about when I see you. Mr. P. sent
+     an officer over to M. I went to Oulton, and as soon as I got
+     there I found one of the farm cottages nearly in ruins; the
+     gable had fallen down--more expense! but I said that some
+     willow trees must be cut down to cover it. The place upon the
+     whole looks very beautiful. C. full of complaints, though I
+     believe he has a fine time of it. He and T. are at daggers
+     drawn. I am sorry to tell you that poor Mr. Leathes is
+     dying--called, but could not see him, but he sent down a kind
+     message to me. The family, however, were rejoiced to see me and
+     wanted me to stay. The scoundrel of a shoemaker did not send
+     the shoes. I thought he would not. The shirt-collars were much
+     too small. I, however, managed to put on the shirts and am glad
+     of them. At Norwich I saw Lucy, who appears to be in good
+     spirits. Many people have suffered dreadfully there from the
+     failure of the Bank--her brother, amongst others, has been let
+     in. I shall have much to tell you when I see you. I am glad
+     that the Prussians are getting on so famously. The Pope it
+     seems has written a letter to the King of Prussia and is asking
+     favours of him. A low old fellow!!! Remember me kindly to Miss
+     H., and may God bless you! Bring this back.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+                _March 6, 1873._
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I was so grieved to hear that you were unwell.
+     Pray take care of yourself, and do not go out in this dreadful
+     weather. Send and get, on my account, six bottles of good port
+     wine. Good port may be had at the cellar at the corner of
+     Charles Street, opposite the Hospital near Hereford Square--I
+     think the name of the man is Kitchenham. Were I in London I
+     would bring it myself. Do send for it. May God Almighty bless
+     you!
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+                NORWICH, _July 12, 1873._
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I shall be glad to see you and Dr. M. as soon
+     as you can make it convenient to come. As for my coming up to
+     London it is quite out of the question. I am suffering greatly,
+     and here I am in this solitude without medicine or advice. I
+     want very much to pay you up your interest. I can do so without
+     the slightest inconvenience. I have money. It is well I have,
+     as it seems to be almost my only friend. God bless you. Kind
+     regards to Dr. M.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+Here I find a letter from Mrs. MacOubrey to her stepfather:
+
+
+To George Borrow, Esq.
+
+                SOUTHGATE HOUSE, BURY ST. EDMUNDS, _Novbr. 25th, 1873._
+
+     MY BELOVED FRIEND,--I sincerely trust that you are well, and
+     received my letter which I sent about ten days ago. Miss Harvey
+     is pretty well and very kind, and it really is a great pleasure
+     to be here during the dark foggy month of November, the most
+     disagreeable in London. I saw Miss Beevor the other day; she is
+     confined to the house with rheumatism and a strain; she was so
+     pleased to see me, and talked about the Images of Mildenhall.
+     They now set up for the great county gentry; give very grand
+     entertainments, dinners, etc., and go also to grand dinners, so
+     their time is fully taken up going and receiving; they never
+     scarce honour the little paltry town of Bury St. Edmunds.
+     Bloomfield, the old butler, is gone to service again; he could
+     not bear himself without horses, so he is gone to the Wigsons,
+     near Bury, where he will have plenty of hunters to look after;
+     he wished to live with Miss Harvey.
+
+     Poor Miss Borton died about a week ago; she did not live long
+     to enjoy the huge fortune her brother left. Bury seems very
+     much changing its inhabitants, but there are still some nice
+     people. I shall always like it while dear Miss Harvey lives;
+     she is so very kind to me. It is extremely cold, but we keep
+     tremendous fires, which combats it.
+
+     I do sincerely trust, dear, that you are well. I should like
+     to have a line just to say how you are. I return to London the
+     6th of Decbr., not later, but you see Miss Harvey likes to keep
+     me as long as she can, and I am very happy with her, but at
+     that time I shall be sure to be at home. If you were going up
+     to London I would leave sooner. If you want any medicine or
+     anything, only let me know and you shall have it.
+
+     Accept my most affec. love, and believe me ever, your attached
+     daughter,
+
+                HENRIETTA MACOUBREY.
+
+     _P.S._--Miss Harvey desires her kind regards. May God bless
+     you.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey, 50 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, London
+
+                OULTON, LOWESTOFT, _April 1, 1874._
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I have received your letter of the 30th March.
+     Since I last wrote I have not been well. I have had a great
+     pain in the left jaw which almost prevented me from eating. I
+     am, however, better now. I shall be glad to see you and Dr. M.
+     as soon as you can conveniently come. Send me a line to say
+     when I may expect you. I have no engagements. Before you come
+     call at No. 36 to inquire whether anything has been sent there.
+     Leverton had better be employed to make a couple of boxes or
+     cases for the books in the sacks. The sacks can be put on the
+     top in the inside. There is an old coat in one of the sacks in
+     the pocket of which are papers. Let it be put in with its
+     contents just as it is. I wish to have the long white chest and
+     the two deal boxes also brought down. Buy me a thick
+     under-waistcoat like that I am now wearing, and a lighter one
+     for the summer. Worsted socks are of no use--they scarcely last
+     a day. Cotton ones are poor things, but they are better than
+     worsted. Kind regards to Dr. M. God bless you!
+
+     Return me this when you come.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey, 50 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, London
+
+                OULTON, _Nov. 14, 1876._
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--You may buy me a large silk handkerchief,
+     like the one you brought before. I shall be glad to see you and
+     Dr. M. I am very unwell.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I shall be glad to see you and Dr. M. as soon
+     as you can make it convenient. In a day or two the house will
+     be in good repair and very comfortable. I want you to go to the
+     bank and have the cheque placed to my account. Lady Day is nigh
+     at hand, and it must be seen after. Buy for me a pair of those
+     hollow ground razors and tell Dr. M. to bring a little
+     laudanum. Come if you can on the first of March. It is dear
+     Mama's birthday. God bless you! Kind regards to Dr. M.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey, 50 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, London
+
+                MRS. CHURCH'S, LADY'S LANE, NORWICH, _Feb. 28, 1877._
+
+     DEAR HENRIETTA,--I received your letter this morning with the
+     document. The other came to hand at Oulton before I left. I
+     showed Mr. F. the first document on Wednesday, and he expressed
+     then a doubt with regard to the necessity of an affidavit from
+     me, but he said it would perhaps be necessary for him to see
+     the security. I saw him again this morning and he repeated the
+     same thing. To-night he is going to write up to his agent on
+     the subject, and on Monday I am to know what is requisite to be
+     done--therefore pray keep in readiness. On Tuesday, perhaps, I
+     shall return to Oulton, but I don't know. I shall write again
+     on Monday. God bless you.
+
+                GEORGE BORROW.
+
+Borrow died, as we have seen, in 1881, and was buried by the side of his
+wife in Brompton Cemetery. By his will, dated 1st December 1880, he
+bequeathed all his property to his stepdaughter, making his friend,
+Elizabeth Harvey, her co-executrix. The will, a copy of which is before
+me, has no public interest, but it may be noted that Miss Harvey
+refused to act, as the following letter to Mrs. MacOubrey
+testifies[260]:
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+                BURY ST. EDMUNDS, _August 13th._
+
+     MY DEAREST HENRIETTA,--I was just preparing to write to you
+     when yours arrived together with Mrs. Reeve's despatch. You
+     know how earnestly I desire your welfare--but _because_ I do so
+     I earnestly advise you immediately to exercise the right you
+     have of appointing another trustee in my place. I am sure it
+     will be best for you. You ought to have a trustee at least
+     _not_ older than yourself, and one who has health and strength
+     for discharging the office. I _know_ what are the duties of a
+     trustee. There's _always_ a considerable responsibility
+     involved in the discharge of the duties of a trustee--and it
+     may easily occur that great responsibility may be thrown on
+     them, and it may become an anxious business fit only for those
+     who have youth and health and strength of mind, and are likely
+     to live.
+
+     My dear friend, you do not like to realise the old age of your
+     dear friends, but you must consider that I am quite past the
+     age for such an office, and my invalid state often prevents my
+     attending to my own small affairs. I have no relation or
+     confidential friend who can act for me. My executors were Miss
+     Venn and John Venn. Miss Venn departed last February to a
+     better land. John is in such health with heart disease that he
+     cannot move far from his home--he writes as one _ready_ and
+     desiring to depart. I do not expect to see _him_ again. So you
+     see, my dearest friend, I am not able to undertake this
+     trusteeship, and I think the sooner you consult Mrs. Reeve as
+     to the appointment of another trustee--the better it will
+     be--and the more _permanent_. Had I known it was Mr. Borrow's
+     intention to put down my name I should have prevented it, and
+     he would have seen that an aged and invalid lady was not the
+     person to carry out his wishes--for I am quite unable.
+
+     I pray that a fit person may be induced to undertake the
+     business, and that it may please God so to order all for your
+     good. It is indeed the greatest mercy that your dear husband is
+     well enough to afford you such help and such comfort. Pray hire
+     a proper servant who will obey orders.--In haste, ever yrs.
+     affectionately,
+
+                E. HARVEY.
+
+Another letter that has some bearing upon Borrow's last days is worth
+printing here:
+
+
+To Mrs. MacOubrey
+
+                YARMOUTH, _August 19, 1881._
+
+     MY DEAR MRS. MACOUBREY,--I was very sorry indeed to hear of Mr.
+     Borrow's death. I thought he looked older the last time I saw
+     him, but with his vigorous constitution I have not thought the
+     end so near. You and Mr. MacOubrey have the comfort of knowing
+     that you have attended affectionately to his declining years,
+     which would otherwise have been very lonely. I have been abroad
+     for a short time, and this has prevented me from replying to
+     your kind letter before. Pray receive the assurance of my
+     sympathy, and with my kind remembrances to Mr. MacOubrey,
+     believe me, yours very truly,
+
+                R. H. INGLIS PALGRAVE.
+
+Three years later Dr. MacOubrey died in his eighty-fourth year, and was
+interred at Oulton. Mrs. MacOubrey lived for a time at Oulton and then
+removed to Yarmouth. A letter that she wrote to a friend soon after the
+death of her husband is perhaps some index to her character:
+
+                OULTON COTTAGE, OULTON, NR. LOWESTOFT, _Sept. 3rd, 1884._
+
+     MY DEAR SIR,--I beg to thank you for your kind thought of me.
+     On Sunday night the 24th Augst., it pleased God to take from me
+     my excellent and beloved husband--his age was nearly 84. He
+     sunk simply from age and weakness. I was his nurse by night and
+     by day, administering constant nourishment, but he became
+     weaker and weaker, till at last 'The silver cord was loosed.'
+     My dear father died about this time three years since, which
+     makes the blow more stunning. I feel very lonely now in my
+     secluded residence on the banks of the Broad--the music of the
+     wild birds adds not to my pleasure now. Trusting that yourself
+     and Mrs. S---- may long be spared.--Believe me to remain, yours
+     very truly,
+
+                HENRIETTA MACOUBREY.
+
+The cottage at Oulton was soon afterwards pulled down, but the
+summer-house where Borrow wrote a portion of his _Bible in Spain_ and
+his other works remained for some years. That ultimately an entirely new
+structure took its place may be seen by comparing the roof in Mrs.
+MacOubrey's drawing with the illustration of the structure as it is
+to-day. Mrs. MacOubrey died in 1903 at Yarmouth, and the following
+inscription may be found on her tomb in Oulton Churchyard:
+
+     Sacred to the memory of Henrietta Mary, widow of William
+     MacOubrey, only daughter of Lieut. Henry Clarke, R.N., and Mary
+     Skepper, his wife, and stepdaughter of George Henry Borrow,
+     Esq., the celebrated author of _The Bible in Spain_, _The
+     Gypsies of Spain_, _Lavengro_, _The Romany Rye_, _Wild Wales_,
+     and other works and translations. Henrietta Mary MacOubrey was
+     born at Oulton Hall in this Parish, May 17th, 1818, and died
+     23rd December 1903. 'And He shall give His angels charge over
+     thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.'--Psalm xci. 11.
+
+The following extract from her will is of interest as indicating the
+trend of a singularly kindly nature. The intimate friends of Mrs.
+MacOubrey's later years, whose opinion is of more value than that of
+village gossips, speak of her in terms of sincere affection:
+
+     I give the following charitable legacies, namely, to the London
+     Bible Society, in remembrance of the great interest my dear
+     father, George Henry Borrow, took in the success of its great
+     work for the benefit of mankind, the sum of one hundred
+     pounds. To the Foreign Missionary Society the sum of one
+     hundred pounds. To the London Religious Tract Society the sum
+     of one hundred pounds. To the London Society for the Prevention
+     of Cruelty to Animals, the sum of one hundred pounds.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[252] Henrietta's guitar is now in my possession and is a very handsome
+instrument.
+
+[253] Henrietta MacOubrey put every difficulty in the way of Dr. Knapp,
+and I hold many letters from her strongly denouncing his _Life_.
+
+[254] The stories against Henrietta MacOubrey have received endorsement
+from that pleasant writer Mr. W. A. Dutt, who has long lived near
+Lowestoft. It is conveyed in such a communication as the following from
+a correspondent: 'After Borrow's death Mr. Reeve, Curator of Norwich
+Castle Museum, visited the Oulton house with the Rev. J. Gunn (died 28th
+May 1890), having some idea of buying Borrow's books for the Colman
+collection. Mrs. MacOubrey wanted L1000 for them, but Mr. Reeve did not
+think them worth more than L200. They were, however, bought by Webber of
+Ipswich, who soon afterwards entered into the employment of Jarrold of
+Norwich. Mr. Reeve described the scene as one of rank dilapidation and
+decay--evidences of extreme untidiness and neglect everywhere.'
+
+[255] Mr. Herbert Jenkins has drawn a quite wrong conclusion--although
+natural under the circumstances--from a letter he had seen in which
+Borrow asked his wife for money. Mrs. Borrow kept the banking account.
+Moreover, it is not generally known that Borrow completed the possession
+of his wife's estate, including Oulton Hall farm and some cottage
+property, with the money that came to him from _The Bible in Spain_.
+
+[256] 'George Borrow Reminiscences' in _The Eastern Daily Press_, July
+31, 1913.
+
+[257] Mr. Baldrey also gives us reminiscences of Borrow's prowess as a
+swimmer:
+
+'It was one of the signs of his perfect health and vigour that he was a
+fine swimmer. On one occasion George Jay and John Pilgrim were out for a
+sail in Jay's old yacht, the _Widgeon_. Becalmed, they were drifting
+somewhere down by Reedham, when suddenly Borrow said, "George, how deep
+is it here?" "About twenty-two feet, sir," said George Jay. The partners
+always called him "sir." "George," said Borrow, "I am going to the
+bottom." Straightway he stripped, dived, and presently came up with a
+handful of mud and weeds. "There, George," he said, "I've been to the
+bottom," Some time in 1872 or 1873, for Borrow was then sixty-nine, my
+mother and I were walking on the beach at Lowestoft, when just round the
+Ness Light we met Borrow coming: towards us from the Corton side. He got
+hold of my shoulder, and, pointing to the big black buoy beyond the
+Ness, he said, "There! Do you see that? I have just been out there. I
+have not been back many minutes." At the age of nearly seventy he had
+been round the Ness Buoy and home again--a wonderful performance if, in
+addition to his age, you remember the dangerous set of the currents
+thereabouts.'
+
+There is also a story, which comes to me from another quarter, of Borrow
+skating upon the ice of Oulton Broad a few months before his death, and
+remarking that he had not skated since he was in Russia. The following
+passage from Mr. Baldrey's narrative is interesting as showing that
+Borrow did not in later life quite lose sight of his birthplace:
+
+'Apparently I interested him in some way, for twice while I was at
+school at East Dereham he came over specially to take me out for the
+afternoon. He had ascertained from my mother which were the school
+half-holidays, and purposely chose those days so that I might be free.
+We would start off at half-past twelve and return at bedtime. Where we
+went I could not tell you for certain, but I know that once we went
+through Scarning and once through Mattishall. What we talked about of
+course I cannot recall, for I was then a boy between 13 and 15 years of
+age, and I had no sort of inkling that my companion was even then a
+celebrity and destined to be a still greater one in the future. But I do
+remember that sometimes I could not get a word out of him for an hour or
+more, and that then suddenly he would break out with all sorts of
+questions. "I wonder if you can see what I can," he once remarked. "Do
+you see that the gypsies have been here?" "No," I replied. "And you are
+not likely to," said he. And then he would tell me no more. He was
+rather prone to arouse one's curiosity and refuse to pursue the subject.
+I do not mean that he was morose. Far from it. He was always very kind
+to me. After I had left school and returned to Norwich he frequently
+called for me and took me out with him. Once or twice I went with him to
+Lowestoft.'
+
+[258] One of them is entitled _The Present Crisis: The True Cause of Our
+Indian Troubles_, by William MacOubrey of the Middle Temple. There are
+also countless pamphlets in manuscript. MacOubrey was an enthusiastic
+and indeed truculent upholder of the Act of Union.
+
+[259] The farm referred to was Oulton Hall farm, often referred to as
+Oulton Hall.
+
+[260] Another letter from Miss Harvey, dated 1st August, is one of
+sympathy, and there are passages in it that may well be taken to heart
+when it is considered that Miss Harvey was the most intimate friend of
+Borrow and his stepdaughter:
+
+                'BURY, _August 1st, 1881._
+
+'DEAREST FRIEND,--Though I cannot be with you in your trouble I am
+continually thinking of you, and praying that all needful help and
+comfort may be sent to you _as_ you need and _how_ you need it. I have
+no means of hearing any particulars, and am most anxious to know how you
+do, and how you have got through the last painful week. Whenever you
+feel able write me a few words, I await them with much anxiety. When you
+are able to realise the _reality_ of his eternal gain--you will feel
+that all is well. A _great_ spirit, a great and noble spirit, has passed
+from the earth, his earthly tabernacle is taken down to be raised
+again--glorious and immortal, a fitting abode for a spirit of the just
+_made perfect_. How wonderful are those words, "made perfect." We are
+even now part of that grand assembly where they dwell. "We are come to
+the general assembly and church of the first born which are written in
+heaven. To God the judge of all, to Jesus the Mediator, to an
+innumerable company of angels, etc., to the _spirits of the just made
+perfect_." Let us realise our communion with them even now, and _soon_
+to meet them on the Resurrection Morn--when they who sleep in Jesus will
+God _bring_ with Him ... and so we shall be ever with the Lord.
+
+Ever with the Lord, Amen, so let it be, Life from the dead is in that
+word, 'Tis immortality.
+
+Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, their _works_ do follow
+them. Your beloved father's work in Spain will follow _him_. His efforts
+to spread the word of God in that benighted land, ever has and ever will
+bring forth blessed fruits. Dearest Henrietta, be comforted, you have
+been a most devoted daughter to him, and latterly his greatest earthly
+comfort; your dear husband also; and together you have tended him to the
+last. He now rests in peace. All the sufferings of mind and body are
+over for ever. You will have much earthly business on your hands. I pray
+that you may be directed in all things by true wisdom. The time is
+short, we must set our houses in order, that we may not be unnecessarily
+burdened with earthly cares. Having food and raiment, let us be
+therewith content.
+
+'Let us be without carefulness, and so quietly and piously spend the
+remnant of our days--ever growing in the knowledge of Christ, and
+finding in _Him_ all our comfort and all our joy, and when our own time
+of departure shall arrive may we be _ready_ and able to say, "I have a
+_desire_ to depart and be with Christ, which is _far better_." The path
+of the just is as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the
+_perfect day_. May our path be so lighted up--until the day break and
+the shadows flee away. Dearest friend, do write soon. I am so anxious to
+hear how Dr. MacOubrey is.--Your most affect. friend,
+
+               E. HARVEY.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+THE AFTERMATH
+
+'We are all Borrovians now.'--AUGUSTINE BIRRELL.
+
+
+It is a curious fact that of only two men of distinction in English
+letters in these later years can it be said that they lived to a good
+old age and yet failed of recognition for work that is imperishable.
+Many poets have died young--Shelley and Keats for example--to whom this
+public recognition was refused in their lifetime. But given the
+happiness of reaching middle age, this recognition has never failed. It
+came, for example, to Wordsworth and Coleridge long after their best
+work was done. It came with more promptness to all the great Victorian
+novelists. This recognition did not come in their lifetime to two
+Suffolk friends, Edward FitzGerald with _Omar Khayyam_ and George Borrow
+with _Lavengro_. In the case of FitzGerald there was probably no
+consciousness that he had produced a great poem. In any case his sunny
+Irish temperament could easily have surmounted disappointment if he had
+expected anything from the world in the way of literary fame. Borrow was
+quite differently made. He was as intense an egoist as Rousseau, whose
+work he had probably never read, and would not have appreciated if he
+had read. He longed for the recognition of the multitude through his
+books, and thoroughly enjoyed it when it was given to him for a
+moment--for his _Bible in Spain_. Such appreciation as he received in
+his lifetime was given to him for that book and for no other. There were
+here and there enthusiasts for his _Lavengro_ and _Romany Rye_. Dr.
+Jessopp has told us that he was one. But it was not until long after his
+death that the word 'Borrovian'[261] came into the language. Not a
+single great author among his contemporaries praised him for his
+_Lavengro_, the book for which we most esteem him to-day. His name is
+not mentioned by Carlyle or Tennyson or Ruskin in all their voluminous
+works. Among the novelists also he is of no account. Dickens and
+Thackeray and George Eliot knew him not. Charlotte Bronte does indeed
+write of him with enthusiasm,[262] but she is alone among the great
+Victorian authors in this particular. Borrow's _Lavengro_ received no
+commendation from contemporary writers of the first rank. He died in his
+seventy-eighth year an obscure recluse whose works were all but
+forgotten. Since that year, 1881, his fame has been continually growing.
+His greatest work, _Lavengro_, has been reprinted with introductions by
+many able critics;[263] notable essayists have proclaimed his worth. Of
+these Mr. Watts-Dunton and Mr. Augustine Birrell have been the most
+assiduous. The efforts of the former have already been noted. Mr.
+Birrell has expressed his devotion in more than one essay.[264]
+Referring to a casual reference by Robert Louis Stevenson to _The Bible
+in Spain_,[265] in which R. L. S. speaks well of that book, Mr. Birrell,
+not without irony, says:
+
+     It is interesting to know this, interesting, that is, to the
+     great Clan Stevenson, who owe suit and service to their liege
+     lord; but so far as Borrow is concerned, it does not matter, to
+     speak frankly, two straws. The author of _Lavengro_, _The
+     Romany Rye_, _The Bible in Spain_, and _Wild Wales_ is one of
+     those kings of literature who never need to number their tribe.
+     His personality will always secure him an attendant company,
+     who, when he pipes, must dance.
+
+This is to sum up the situation to perfection. You cannot force people
+to become readers of Borrow by argument, by criticism, or by the force
+of authority. You reach the stage of admiration and even love by effects
+which rise remote from all questions of style or taste. To say, as does
+a recent critic, that 'there is something in Borrow after all; not so
+much as most people suppose, but still a great deal,'[266] is to miss
+the compelling power of his best books as they strike those with whom
+they are among the finest things in literature.[267] In attempting to
+interest new readers in the man--and this book is not for the sect
+called Borrovians, to whom I recommend the earlier biographies, but for
+a wider public which knows not Borrow--I hope I shall succeed in sending
+many to those incomparable works, which have given me so many pleasant
+hours.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[261] A word that is very misleading, as no writer was ever so little
+the founder of a school.
+
+[262] Although this fact was not known until 1908 when I published _The
+Brontes: Life and Letters_. See vol. ii. p. 24, where Charlotte Bronte
+writes: 'In George Borrow's works I found a wild fascination, a vivid
+graphic power of description, a fresh originality, an athletic
+simplicity, which give them a stamp of their own.'
+
+[263] Theodore Watts-Dunton, Augustine Birrell, Francis Hindes Groome,
+and Thomas Seccombe. Lionel Johnson's essay on Borrow is the more
+valuable in its enthusiasm in that it was written by a Roman Catholic.
+Writing in the _Outlook_ (April 1, 1899) he said:
+
+'What the four books mean and are to their lovers is upon this sort.
+Written by a man of intense personality, irresistible in his hold upon
+your attention, they take you far afield from weary cares and business
+into the enamouring airs of the open world, and into days when the
+countryside was uncontaminated by the vulgar conventions which form the
+worst side of "civilised" life in cities. They give you the sense of
+emancipation, of manumission into the liberty of the winding road and
+fragrant forest, into the freshness of an ancient country-life, into a
+_milieu_ where men are not copies of each other. And you fall in with
+strange scenes of adventure, great or small, of which a strange man is
+the centre as he is the scribe; and from a description of a lonely glen
+you are plunged into a dissertation upon difficult old tongues, and from
+dejection into laughter, and from gypsydom into journalism, and
+everything is equally delightful, and nothing that the strange man shows
+you can come amiss. And you will hardly make up your mind whether he is
+most Don Quixote, or Rousseau, or Luther, or Defoe; but you will always
+love these books by a brave man who travelled in far lands, travelled
+far in his own land, travelled the way of life for close upon eighty
+years, and died in perfect solitude. And this will be the least you can
+say, though he would not have you say it--_Requiescat in pace Viator_.'
+
+[264] In _Res Judicatae_ 1892 (a paper reprinted from _The Reflector_,
+Jan. 8, 1888), in his Introduction to _Lavengro_ (Macmillan, 1900), in
+an essay entitled 'The Office of literature,' in the second series of
+_Obiter Dicta_, and in an address at Norwich; on July 5, 1913, reprinted
+in full in the _Eastern Daily Press_ of July 7, 1913.
+
+[265] There are but three references to Borrow in Stevenson's writings,
+all of them perfunctory. These are in _Memories and Portraits_ ('A
+Gossip on a novel of Dumas''), in _Familiar Studies of Men and Books_
+('Some aspects of Robert Burns'), and in _The Ideal House_.
+
+[266] _The Spectator_, July 12, 1913.
+
+[267] On July 6, 1913, Dr. H. C. Beeching, Dean of Norwich, preached a
+sermon on Borrow in Norwich Cathedral, which in its graceful literary
+enthusiasm may be counted the culminating point of recognition of Borrow
+so far, when the place is considered. The sermon has been published by
+Jarrold and Sons of Norwich.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+A
+
+Aikin, Dr., quarrels with Phillips, 90.
+
+---- Lucy, 90;
+  on Mrs. John Taylor, 64;
+  on William Taylor, 66.
+
+Ainsworth, Harrison, _Lavengro_ criticised by, 278.
+
+_Ancient Poetry and Romances of Spain_, by Bowring, 140.
+
+Andre, Major, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.
+
+_Annals of the Harford Family_, reference to Borrow in, 245.
+
+_Apologia pro Vita Sua_, by J. H. Newman, 345.
+
+Arden, F., 111.
+
+_Athenaeum, The_, founding of, 90;
+  Hasfeld's letter on Russian literature and Borrow in, 165-166;
+  friendly review of _The Zincali_ in, 227;
+  publishes letters from Borrow, 240;
+  severely criticises _Lavengro_, 278, 347
+    and _Romany Rye,_ 347;
+  reminiscences of Borrow contributed to, 315-316;
+  contemptuous notice of _Romano Lavo-Lil_ in, 361;
+  obituary of Borrow in, 391.
+
+Austin, John, 64.
+
+---- Sarah, 55.
+
+_Autobiographical Recollections of Sir John Bowring_, 139.
+
+_Autobiography of Harriet Martineau_, quoted, 65.
+
+
+B
+
+Baldrey, S. H., reminiscences of the Borrows published by, 416-420.
+
+Barbauld, Mrs., 67, 90.
+
+Barclay, Mrs. Florence, addresses Bible Society meeting, 183-184.
+
+_Bards of the Gael and Gaul_, by Dr. Sigerson;
+  editions published of, 408.
+
+Baretti, Joseph, witnesses at trial of, 114.
+
+Barron, James, on Borrow's itinerary in Scotland, 330, 331.
+
+Bathurst, Bishop, 57, 110.
+
+Beeching, Dr., 184;
+  graceful recognition of Borrow in sermon of, 437.
+
+Belcher, pugilist, 130, 131.
+
+Bell, Catherine, 55.
+
+_Benjamin Robert Haydon; Correspondence and Table Talk_,
+  by F. W. Haydon, 25.
+
+Benson, A. C., verses on 'My Poet,' 312.
+
+Best, Mr. Justice, his 'Great Mind,' 123.
+
+_Bible in Spain, The_, 180, 201, 202, 289;
+  much sheer invention in, 136, 313;
+  quoted, 182-183, 210, 238-239;
+  episode of the blind girl, 192;
+  brings fame to Borrow, 227, 243-244;
+  the title of, 237-238;
+  criticisms of Mr. Murray's reader on copy of--number of copies
+    sold--referred to in House of Commons, 243;
+  reviews of, 243, 250, 278;
+  how written, 279;
+  Gladstone's admiration of, 313, 397;
+  Cowell's opinion of, 356.
+
+Birrell, Augustine, 237, 238;
+  story told by, 128;
+  introduction to _Lavengro_ by, 435, 436.
+
+_Blackwood's Magazine_, condemns _Lavengro_, 278.
+
+Borrow, Ann, mother of Borrow 2, 6, 10, 139, 219;
+  life in Norwich of, 12-17, 71;
+  correspondence of, 17, 33-35, 188, 193-196, 220;
+  death--inscription on tomb of, 314.
+
+Borrow, Elizabeth, 293.
+
+---- George Henry, biographical drafts and family history of, 1-7;
+  wandering childhood of, 36-53;
+  schooldays and schoolfellows at Norwich of, 71-78;
+  struggles and failure in London, 96-102;
+  Celtic ancestry of, 364;
+  characteristics of, 14, 15, 161, 285, 312-313, 316-317, 350, 361,
+    393, 405-412, 434;
+  agent for Bible Society, 159, 191;
+  facsimile of an account of the Society with, 190;
+  work for the Society in
+    --Portugal, 184-185
+    --Russia, 162-178
+    --Spain, 179-214;
+  imprisonments of, 134, 191, 198, 222;
+  correspondence of, with
+    --Bowring, 142-151
+    --Brackenbury, 198-200
+    --Ford, 250-259
+    --Haydon, 25
+    --Jerningham, 198
+    --Henrietta MacOubrey, 421-428
+    --publishers of _Faustus_, 108
+    --Secretary at War, 28-32
+    --his wife, 223-225, 261-268, 272-273, 319, 325-335, 340;
+  Darwin asks information from, 317-318;
+  handwriting of, 275;
+  fails to become a magistrate, 214, 313-314;
+  feeling of, as regards people and language of Ireland, 50, 296-297;
+  friends of later years, 389-400;
+  life of, in London, 379-388
+    --in Oulton Broad and Yarmouth, 304-320;
+  attainments of, as a linguist, 3, 4, 51, 68, 138-139, 412;
+  advertisement of, as a Professor of Languages, 409;
+  his ignorance of philology, 357;
+  literary tastes of, 2, 11, 38, 135, 344-346, 390;
+  literary methods of, 240-243, 285;
+  attitude towards literary men of, 317, 347, 393;
+  marriage of, 3, 198-199, 220-223, 225;
+  personal appearance of, 226, 260-261, 293, 309-311, 316-317, 339, 385,
+    397-398;
+  physical vigour of, 383, 419-420;
+  political sympathies of, 181;
+  existing portraits of, 382;
+  pugilistic tastes of, 126-132;
+  on a phase of folklore, 235-236;
+  on theory of Jewish origin of the Gypsies, 308-309;
+  on Spiritualism, 386;
+  translations by, 82, 133-137, 187, 247, 404-405;
+  travels in
+    --Austria-Hungary, 261-268
+    --Greece and Italy, 272-273
+    --Ireland, 339-340
+    --Portugal, 184-185
+    --Russia, 162-178
+    --Scotland, 321-330
+    --Spain, 179-214
+    --Wales, 364-366, 374-378;
+  unfounded reports as to neglect of, when dying, 414-415;
+  unrecognised genius and growing fame of, 312-313, 435-436;
+  Yarmouth rescue episode, 290-293.
+
+Borrow, Henry, 293.
+
+---- John, grandfather of George Henry, 3-5.
+
+---- John Thomas, 4, 6, 49, 50;
+  Captain Borrow's love of, 8, 19;
+  described in _Lavengro_, 18-19;
+  pictures by, 21;
+  career and death of, 19-35.
+
+---- Mary, 218, 219, 222, 277, 278;
+  correspondence with
+    --Ann Borrow, 365-366
+    --G. H. Borrow, 157-158, 246, 261-274, 294, 374-376, 379-382
+    --Clarke, 216-217
+    --Hake, 394-396;
+  epitaph written for, by Borrow, 215;
+  family history of, 214-217;
+  housekeeping genius of, 415;
+  marriage of, 157-158, 225;
+  unpublished works of, 295;
+  death of, 383, 387.
+
+---- Captain Thomas, 19, 20, 36, 49, 87, 293;
+  descent of, 2-5;
+  military career of, 5-7;
+  references to, in _Lavengro_, 8-11;
+  prejudiced against the Irish, 50, 52;
+  pensioned off, 70;
+  his fight with Big Ben Brain, 126, 129.
+
+---- William, 293.
+
+Bowring, Sir John, collaboration with Borrow, 136;
+  correspondence of, with Borrow, 142-152, 184-186, 235, 401-402;
+  described by Borrow, 141-142;
+  Borrow's misunderstanding with, 290;
+  Borrow's relations with, 138-152.
+
+Boyd, Robert, 249.
+
+Brace, Charles L., 264.
+
+Brackenbury, Mr., letter from, to Borrow, 198-200.
+
+Brain, Big Ben, supposed fight between Captain Borrow and, 8, 9, 10;
+  career of, 129, 130.
+
+Brandram, Rev. Mr., 159;
+  correspondence of, with Borrow, 171-173, 180-182, 189-192, 221-222;
+  letter from, to Mrs. Borrow, 188;
+  reproduction of portion of Borrow's letter to, 187.
+
+Brightwell, Cecilia, letter from, to Mary Borrow, 16.
+
+British and Foreign Bible Society, aided by the Gurneys, 62;
+  Borrow's connection with, 3, 133, 153-196;
+  growth and procedure of, 155-157;
+  sanctioned in Russia by the Czar, 156-157;
+  number of bibles issued in Spain for three years up to 1913, 184;
+  work of, in Spain, 182-200;
+  facsimile of an account with Borrow of the, 190;
+  breezy controversy between Borrow and the, 191.
+
+Brodripp, A. A., 90.
+
+Bronte, Charlotte, writes of Borrow with enthusiasm, 435.
+
+_Brontes, The_, by Clement Shorter, quoted, 435.
+
+Brooke, Rajah, 17, 71, 72.
+
+Brown, Rev. Arthur, 40, 41.
+
+Browne, Sir Thomas, 54.
+
+Browning, Robert, 114.
+
+Buchini, Antonio, Borrow's attendant in Spain, 189.
+
+Bunsens, the invitation given to Borrow by, 245.
+
+Bunyan, what Borrow owed to, 346.
+
+Burcham, Thomas, 81;
+  letter from, to _The Britannia_ on _Lavengro_, 17.
+
+Burke, Edmund, 114.
+
+_Bury Post, The_, account in, of lifesaving by Borrow at Yarmouth, 290.
+
+Buxton, Sir T. F., 56.
+
+---- Lady, 56, 58.
+
+
+C
+
+Cagliostro, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.
+
+Caius, John, 71.
+
+Campbell, Thomas, 82, 111.
+
+Cannon, Sergeant, 5.
+
+Canton, William, 156.
+
+Carlyle, Thomas, 154, 163;
+  point of similitude between Borrow and, 377;
+  on Edward FitzGerald, 351;
+  prejudiced against Scott, 67, 108.
+
+_Celebrated Trials_, Borrow's first piece of hack-work, 97;
+  payment made to Borrow for, 113;
+  distinguishing feature of, 114;
+  dramatic episodes in, 114-116.
+
+_Celtic Bards_, unpublished work of Borrow, 294, 404;
+  merits of, 408.
+
+_Chiefs and Kings_, unpublished work of Borrow, 404;
+  merits of, 408.
+
+_Christ's Entry into Jerusalem_, picture by Haydon, 24.
+
+Clarendon, Earl of, 289;
+  befriends Borrow in Spain, 140, 186;
+  career of, and services to Borrow, 210-214;
+  facsimile of letter to Borrow from, 211.
+
+Clarke, Lieutenant Henry, 216, 219.
+
+---- Dr. Samuel, 71.
+
+Cobbe, Frances Power, 344;
+  her opinion of Borrow, 154;
+  her story of Borrow and James Martineau, 77;
+  unkindly glimpses of Borrow given by--her character and works, 383-385;
+  Borrow's rudeness to, 388.
+
+Cobham, Lord, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.
+
+Cockburn, Lord, on David Haggart, 46.
+
+Coke, Lord Chief Justice, 71.
+
+Collins, Mortimer, his appreciation of _Wild Wales_, 372-373;
+  works of, 373.
+
+Collinson, Robert, 383.
+
+Combe, George, phrenological observations of, regarding David Haggart, 46.
+
+Cooke, Robert, 361.
+
+_Cornhill Magazine, The_, reviews _Wild Wales_ unfavourably, 367.
+
+'Corporation Feast, The,' plate of, borrowed for _Life and Death of
+  Faustus_, 103.
+
+Cowell, Professor E. C., friendship of, with FitzGerald, 354-355;
+  describes interview with Borrow, 355-357.
+
+Cowper, poet, Borrow's devotion to, 2, 38.
+
+Cozens-Hardy, A., 309.
+
+Crabbe, Mrs., 419.
+
+---- George, FitzGerald's letter to, 360.
+
+Cribb, pugilist, 130, 131.
+
+Croft, Sir Herbert, 115.
+
+Crome, John, 21, 22, 56, 70.
+
+Cunningham, Mrs., 56.
+
+---- Allan, writes introduction in verse to _Romantic Ballads_; correspondence
+    with Borrow, 107;
+  encourages Borrow, 108-109.
+
+Cunningham, Rev. Francis,
+  befriends Borrow with the Bible Society, 56, 62, 156, 158;
+  his praise of Borrow, 179, 218.
+
+---- Rev. John W., 156, 217.
+
+
+D
+
+_Dairyman's Daughter, The_, extraordinary vogue of, 97;
+  Borrow's failure to appreciate, 155.
+
+Dalrymple, Arthur, on schooldays of Borrow, 73-74;
+  on Borrow and his wife, 225;
+  ridicules story of lifesaving by Borrow at Yarmouth, 291.
+
+---- John, joins Borrow in a schoolboy escapade, 73, 75.
+
+Darwin, Charles, facsimile of letter from, asking for information,
+  regarding the dogs of Spain, from Borrow, 317-318.
+
+_Death of Balder, The_, translation by Borrow, 142, 295;
+  issued by Jarrold, 404.
+
+_Deceived Merman, The_, versions by Borrow and Matthew Arnold
+  compared, 109-110.
+
+Defoe, Daniel, Borrow's master in literature, 40, 135, 346.
+
+Denniss, Rev. E. P., acrid correspondence between Borrow and, 313.
+
+D'Eterville, Thomas, Borrow's teacher, 72-73.
+
+Diaz, Maria, Borrow's tribute to, 201.
+
+Dickens, Charles, 345.
+
+_Dictionary of National Biography_, article on Borrow in, 392.
+
+Donne, W. B., letters to Borrow, 347, 361-362;
+  awards high praise to _Romany Rye_ and _Lavengro_, 347-348.
+
+Drake, William, description of Borrow by, 80.
+
+Duff-Gordon, Lady A., 64.
+
+Dumpling Green, birthplace of Borrow, 1, 2, 37.
+
+Dutt, W. A., on Borrow and James Martineau, 75-76;
+  on state of Oulton house after Borrow's death, 414.
+
+
+E
+
+East Dereham, described in _Lavengro_, 1, 38.
+
+_Eastern Daily Press, The_, 'George Borrow Reminiscences' published
+    in, 416-420;
+  Miss Harvey's letter on Borrow in, 309-311.
+
+Eastlake, Lady, her description of Borrow, 260-261.
+
+Edinburgh, childhood of Borrow in, 45-49.
+
+_Edinburgh Review_, reviews Borrow's works, 227.
+
+Egan, Pierce, 121.
+
+Elwin, Rev. Whitwell, his estimate of _Lavengro_, 281, 283;
+  his interview with, and impressions of, Borrow, 284-285;
+  letters to Borrow from, 286-287;
+  reviews _Romany Rye_ in _Quarterly Review_, 347;
+  writes obituary of Borrow in _Athenaeum_, 391.
+
+Enghien, Duc d', trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.
+
+_English Gypsies, The_, by Charles G. Leland, 233.
+
+_Essays Critical and Historical_, by J. H. Newman, quoted, 345.
+
+_Examiner, The_, at one time only paper read by Borrow, 402.
+
+_Excursions along the Shores of the Mediterranean_, attractive glimpse of
+  Borrow in, 202-207.
+
+
+F
+
+Fauntleroy, Henry, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 114-115.
+
+_Faustus_, translated by Borrow, 101-106, 112, 139, 140;
+  burned by libraries of Norwich, 105;
+  criticisms on, 106.
+
+Fell, Ralph, compiles memoirs of Phillips, 88.
+
+Fenn, Lady, commemorated by Cowper, and in _Lavengro_--books for
+  children by, 38.
+
+---- Sir John, author of Paston Letters, 38.
+
+Fielding, what Borrow owed to, 346.
+
+Fig, James, 128.
+
+Findlater, Jane H., on the title of _The Bible in Spain_, 238.
+
+FitzGerald, Edward, parallel between Borrow and,--works of, 350-351;
+  character and gifts of, 351;
+  marriage of, 352;
+  letters to Borrow, 351-355, 359-362;
+  criticises Borrow's expressions, 360.
+
+_Footprints of George Borrow_, by A. G. Jayne, 202.
+
+Ford, Richard, 227, 289;
+  family history and fortune of, 248-249;
+  anti-democratic outlook of, 249;
+  his tribute to Borrow--reviews _The Bible in Spain_, 250;
+  correspondence with the Borrows, 133, 250-259;
+  odd sentence referring to Borrow, in a letter of, 254;
+  advice given to Borrow by, 148, 276;
+  his ideas about _Lavengro_, 277;
+  on _The Zincali_, 228, 229;
+  his work, 133, 255, 257, 258.
+
+---- Sir Richard, creator of mounted police force of London, 248.
+
+Fox, Caroline, 159.
+
+Francis, John Collins, 400.
+
+_Frazer's Magazine_, _Lavengro_ condemned by, 278.
+
+_French Prisoners of Norman Cross, The_, by Rev. Arthur Brown, 40.
+
+Fry, Elizabeth, 65-66;
+  connection of, with Bible Society, 155;
+  the courtship of, 56-57.
+
+
+G
+
+Garrick, David, 114.
+
+'George Borrow Reminiscences,' by S. H. Baldrey, quoted, 416-420.
+
+_George Borrow's Letters to the Bible Society_, 162-163.
+
+_George Borrow; The Man and his Work_, account of Borrow's Cornish journey
+  in, 294.
+
+Gibson, Robin, 47.
+
+Gifford, William, 99;
+  letter from, to Borrow, criticising a friend's play, 410-412.
+
+Gill, Rev. W., letter to Borrow from, 301.
+
+Gypsies, language of, studied by Borrow, 3, 4;
+  Borrow's description of Hungarian, 265.
+
+Gladstone, W. E., his admiration of _The Bible in Spain_, 313.
+
+Glen, William, Borrow's friendship with, 162-163.
+
+Gould, J. C., 85.
+
+Graydon, Lieutenant, a rival of Borrow in Spain, 189;
+  Borrow's attack upon, 191.
+
+Groome, Archdeacon, his memories of Borrow's schooldays, 80.
+
+---- F. H., gipsy scholar, 43;
+  writes introduction to _Lavengro_, 435;
+  reviews _Romano Lavo-Lil_, 232, 233-234;
+  works of, 234.
+
+Grundtvig, Mr., Borrow's translations for, 147, 149.
+
+Gully, John, career of, 131.
+
+Gunn, Rev. J., 414.
+
+Gurdons, the, subscribe to Borrow's 'Romantic Ballads,' 110.
+
+Gurney, Miss Anna, letter from, to Mrs. Borrow, 240-241;
+  Borrow cross-examined in Arabic by, 316.
+
+---- Daniel, 58.
+
+---- John, 55-56.
+
+---- Joseph John, connection of with great bank, 56-58;
+  and with Bible Society, 155;
+  his praise of Borrow, 179.
+
+Gurneys, the, at Norwich, 55-62;
+  subscribe to Borrow's 'Romantic Ballads,' 110.
+
+_Gurneys of Earlham, The_, by A. J. C. Hare, quoted, 56.
+
+_Gypsies of Spain, The._ See _Zincali, The_.
+
+
+H
+
+Hackman, Parson, trial of, in Borrow's volumes, 115.
+
+Haggart, David, 20;
+  story of, 45-48;
+  trial and execution of--verses written by, 49.
+
+Hake, Egmont, article of, in _Dictionary of National Biography_, on
+     Borrow, 392;
+  his reminiscence of Borrow, 397.
+
+---- Dr. T. G., 74, 291;
+  on _Lavengro_, 278, 389, 390-391;
+  his intimacy with Borrow, 389-397;
+  relations of, with the Rossetti family, 389;
+  asperities of, when speaking of Borrow, 391, 392, 393;
+  memoir of, in the _Athenaeum_, 391.
+
+Hamilton, Duke of, 129.
+
+_Handbook for Travellers in Spain_, by Richard Ford, 133;
+  Borrow's blundering review of, 255, 257;
+  Maxwell's praise of, 258.
+
+Hare, Augustus J. C., 56.
+
+Hares, the, 110.
+
+Harper, Lieutenant, 32.
+
+Harvey, Miss Elizabeth, her impressions of Borrow, 309-312;
+  letters to Mrs. MacOubrey from, 429-431.
+
+Harveys, the, 110.
+
+Hasfeld, John P., 244, 289;
+  Borrow's correspondence with, 163-168;
+  high praise of _Targum_ by, 408.
+
+Hawkes, Robert, 25, 111;
+  painting of, 23-24.
+
+Hawthorne, Nathaniel, suggestion of, as to gypsy descent of
+  Borrow, 6, 12, 13.
+
+Haydon, Benjamin, 111;
+  career of, 24-27;
+  correspondence of, with Borrow, 25, 135-136.
+
+Hayim Ben Attar, Moorish servant of Borrow, 197, 222;
+  Borrow's precautions in repatriating, 306-309.
+
+Hazlitt, William, on prize-fighting, 126-127.
+
+Heenan, pugilist, 128.
+
+Herne, Sanspirella, second wife of Ambrose Smith, 42-43.
+
+Hester, George P., writes to Borrow on possible connection between Sclaves
+  and Saxons, 348-349.
+
+Highland Society, the, Borrow's proposal to, 136-137.
+
+Hill, Mary, 48.
+
+_Historic Survey of German Poetry_, by William Taylor, 68.
+
+_History of the British and Foreign Bible Society_, by William Canton, 156.
+
+Hooper, James, letter from Professor Cowell to, 355-357.
+
+Howell, _State Trials_ of, 112, 113.
+
+Howitt, Mary, her appreciation of _Wild Wales_, 369.
+
+Hudson, pugilist, 130.
+
+_Hungary in 1851_, glimpse of Borrow in, 264.
+
+Hunt, Joseph, trial and execution of, 121-123.
+
+Hyde, Dr. Douglas, Irish scholar, 51;
+  success of _Love Songs of Connaught_ by, 408.
+
+
+I
+
+_Ida of Athens_, judgment of Phillips on, 93.
+
+_Illustrated London News, The_, 94;
+  Borrow's contribution to, on Runic stone, 301-303.
+
+Image, W. E., last survivor of Borrow's schoolfellows, 77.
+
+_In Gipsy Tents_, by F. H. Groome, 43.
+
+Ireland, Borrow's early years in, 49-53;
+  his feelings as regards people and language of, 296-297.
+
+_Iris, The_, editing of, 67.
+
+
+J
+
+Jackson, John, pugilist, 127.
+
+_Jane Eyre_, cruelly reviewed by Lady Eastlake, 260.
+
+Jay, Elizabeth, on happy married life of the Borrows, 225.
+
+---- George, Borrow on yacht of, 419-420.
+
+Jenkins, Mr. Herbert, 136, 148, 378, 387, 415.
+
+Jerningham, Sir George, letter from, to Borrow, 198;
+  Borrow's complaints to, 212.
+
+Jessopp, Dr., on Borrow as a pupil at the Grammar School, 72;
+  his admiration of Borrow, 314-315.
+
+Joan of Arc, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.
+
+Johnson, publisher, his offers for _The Wild Irish Girl_, 92.
+
+---- Catharine B., 361.
+
+---- Dr. Samuel, 114;
+  on Ireland and Irish Literature, 51;
+  his kindness for pugilists, 127.
+
+---- Tom, his fight with Brain, 129.
+
+---- Lionel, his essay on Borrow, 435.
+
+Jones, Ellen, on Borrow's pronunciation of Welsh, 378.
+
+_Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society_, 41, 44.
+
+Jowett, Rev. Joseph, Secretary of the Bible Society, 62;
+  correspondence of, with Borrow, 162, 170-171, 175.
+
+_Judgment of Solomon_, painting by John Borrow, 21.
+
+
+K
+
+_Kaempe Viser_, translation by Borrow, 143-144.
+
+Keate, Dr., 174.
+
+Kerrison, Alladay, 84;
+  invites John Borrow to join him in Mexico, 27.
+
+---- Roger, 84, 101;
+  Borrow's correspondence with, 85, 153.
+
+---- Thomas, 84.
+
+Kett, Robert, 54.
+
+_Kings and Earls_, unpublished work of Borrow, 404;
+  merits of, 408.
+
+Kingsley, Charles, 345.
+
+King, Thomas, owner of the Borrow house in Willow Lane--descent of,
+  from Archbishop Parker, 16-17.
+
+---- ---- junior, career of--marries sister of J. S. Mill,--Burcham's
+  allusion to, 16-17.
+
+---- Tom, conqueror of Heenan, 128.
+
+Klinger, F. M. von, responsible for Borrow's first book--works of, 104.
+
+Knapp, Dr., _Life of Borrow_ by, 5 and _passim_;
+  purchases half the Borrow papers, 241.
+
+
+L
+
+Lambert, Daniel, gaoler of Phillips, 89.
+
+Lamplighter, racehorse, Borrow's desire to see, 316.
+
+Lang, Andrew, his onslaught on Borrow, 391.
+
+Laurie, Sir Robert, 17.
+
+_Lavengro_, appreciations of, 228-230, 278, 389, 391;
+  autobiographical nature of, 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 52, 58-62, 81, 83-84,
+    96-97, 279, 285-286, 379;
+  copies of, sold, 279, 287-288;
+  criticisms and reviews of, 278-279, 281, 347;
+  Donne on some reviewers of, 361-362;
+  facsimile of first manuscript page of, 282;
+  greatness of, unrecognised in Borrow's lifetime, 312-313;
+  original manuscript title-page of, 280;
+  preparation of manuscript of, 276-277, 397;
+  Thurtell referred to in, 116-117.
+
+_Leicester Herald_ started by Phillips, 88-89.
+
+Leland, Charles Godfrey, correspondence of, with Borrow, 230-232;
+  his books--tribute to Borrow, 233.
+
+_Letters from Egypt_, by Lady A. Duff-Gordon, 64.
+
+_Letters from George Borrow to the Bible Society_, 159, 162, 163, 169;
+  valuable information in, 180-181;
+  interesting facts revealed in, 241-242;
+  quoted, 174, 175.
+
+_Letters of Richard Ford_, 248, 249;
+  Borrow's mistake in reviewing, 255.
+
+_Life and Adventures of Joseph Sell_, Borrow's story of the writing
+  of, 102.
+
+_Life of Borrow_, by Dr. Knapp, 5, 6, 8, and _passim_;
+  glimpse of Ann Perfrement's girlhood in, 13;
+  gruesome picture of circumstances of Borrow's death--strongly denounced
+    by Henrietta MacOubrey, 414.
+
+_Life of B. R. Haydon_, by Tom Taylor, 24, 25.
+
+_Life of David Haggart_, by himself, 46.
+
+_Life of Frances Power Cobbe as told by Herself_, glimpses of Borrow
+  in, 383-384.
+
+_Life of George Borrow_, by Herbert Jenkins, 387, and _passim_;
+  valuable information in, 180-181;
+  quoted, 261, 378.
+
+_Life of Howard_, 90.
+
+_Life of Sir James Mackintosh_, quoted, 64-65.
+
+_Lights on Borrow_, by Rev. A. Jessopp, D.D., quoted, 72.
+
+Lipoftsof, worker for Bible Society, 169, 173.
+
+_Literary Gazette, The_, reviews of Borrow's works in, 106, 227.
+
+Lloyd, Miss M. C., 383.
+
+Lofft, Capell, 90.
+
+Lopez, Eduardo, 202.
+
+---- Juan, Borrow's tribute to, 201-202.
+
+_Love Songs of Connaught_, by Dr. Hyde, success of, 408.
+
+
+M
+
+Macaulay, Zachary, connection of, with Bible Society, 155.
+
+MacColl, Mr., 392.
+
+Mace, Jem, 128.
+
+Mackay, William, his impressions of Borrow related by, 316-317.
+
+MacOubrey, Dr., 335, 414, 415;
+  status and accomplishments of, 420;
+  pamphlets issued by, 421;
+  illness and death of, 431-432.
+
+MacOubrey, Henrietta, 155, 195, 216, 363, and _passim_;
+  on Borrow, 81;
+  Borrow's tribute to, in _Wild Wales_--her devotion to Borrow, 413;
+  unfounded stories of her neglect of Borrow, 414-416;
+  correspondence of, 421-431;
+  death of--inscription on tomb of, 432;
+  charitable bequests of, 431-432.
+
+Man, Isle of, Borrow's expedition to, 296-303;
+  his investigations into the Manx language, 298-299;
+  the Runic stone, 300-303.
+
+Marie Antoinette, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.
+
+Martelli, C. F., his memories of Borrow, 86.
+
+Martineau, David, 63.
+
+---- Dr. James, on supposed gypsy descent of Borrow, 12-13;
+  impressions of, as schoolfellow of Borrow, 62, 71, 74-77.
+
+---- Gaston, 63.
+
+---- Harriet, 63;
+  on Borrow's connection with the Bible Society, 153-154.
+
+Matthew, Father, 66.
+
+Mavor, Dr., school-books issued by, 94.
+
+Maxwell, Sir W. S., praises Ford's book, 258;
+  criticises _Lavengro_, 278.
+
+Meadows, Margaret, 63.
+
+---- Sarah, 63.
+
+_Memoir of the Life and Writings of William Taylor of Norwich, A_, by J. W.
+Robbards, 66.
+
+_Memoirs of Fifty Years_, by T. G. Hake, 166, 390.
+
+_Memoirs of John Venning_, 160.
+
+_Memoirs of Lady Morgan_, quoted, 62.
+
+_Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of Sir Richard Phillips_, 88.
+
+_Memoirs of Vidocq_, translated by Borrow, 136.
+
+Mendizabal, Borrow's interview with, 186, 214.
+
+_Men of the Time_, biographical drafts drawn up by Borrow for, 3-5.
+
+Meyer, Dr. Kuno, Irish scholar, 51;
+  work of, in Irish literature, 408.
+
+Mezzofanti, 209.
+
+Miles, H. D., his defence of prize-fighting, 127.
+
+Mill, John Stuart, Thomas King marries sister of, 16-17.
+
+Mitford, Miss, 25.
+
+Moira, Lord, 89.
+
+Mol, Benedict, 202, 239.
+
+Montague, Basil, his reference to Mrs. John Taylor, 64-65.
+
+_Monthly Magazine, The_, 67, 69, 90, 113;
+  Borrow's work on, 97.
+
+Moore, Thomas, 91.
+
+_More Leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands_, visit to gypsy
+  encampment described in, 43.
+
+Morgan, Lady, works of, published by Phillips, 91-93.
+
+Morrin, killed by David Haggart, 48.
+
+Morris, Lewis, Welsh bard, 371.
+
+---- Sir Lewis, letter to Borrow, 371-372.
+
+Mousehold Heath, historical and artistic associations of, 42, 54.
+
+Mousha, introduces Borrow to Taylor, 83;
+  figures in _Lavengro_, 83-84.
+
+Murray, John, publishes _The Zincali_, 226-227;
+  Borrow's relations with, 342-343;
+  correspondence of Borrow with, 313, 342-343.
+
+---- Hon. R. D., 200.
+
+Murtagh, Irish friend of Borrow--figures in _Lavengro_, 49-52.
+
+_Museum, The_, 89.
+
+
+N
+
+Nantes, Edict of, Borrow's ancestors driven from France by Revocation
+  of, 4, 12, 63.
+
+Napier, Admiral Sir C., 202.
+
+---- Col. E., 138;
+  interesting account of Borrow by, 202-207.
+
+Nelson, Lord, a pupil of Norwich Grammar School, 71.
+
+_Newgate Calendar_, edited by Borrow, 5, 112, 113.
+
+_Newgate Lives and Trials_, Borrow's work on, 100.
+
+Newman, Cardinal, influenced towards Roman Catholicism by Scott, 345.
+
+_New Monthly Magazine, The_, 126.
+
+New Testament, edited by Borrow in Manchu and Spanish, 3.
+
+Ney, Marshal, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.
+
+Nicholas, Thomas, 293.
+
+Norfolk, Duke of, 89.
+
+Norman Cross, French prisoners at, 7, 45;
+  Borrow's memories of, 40-45.
+
+_Northern Skalds_, unpublished work of Borrow, 404;
+  merits of, 408.
+
+Norwich, 54, 86;
+  Borrow's description of, 82-83;
+  satirised by Borrow, 103.
+
+_Novice, The_, favourite book of William Pitt, 91-92.
+
+
+O
+
+O'Connell, Daniel, Borrow's desire to see, 316.
+
+Oliver, Tom, pugilist, 131.
+
+_Once a Week_, Borrow contributes to, 387.
+
+Opie, Mrs., 56.
+
+_Oracle, The_, quoted, 129.
+
+Orford, Col. Lord, 27, 31;
+  Ann Borrow's letter to, 33-34.
+
+_Outlook, The_, Lionel Johnson on Borrow in, quoted, 435-436.
+
+Overend and Gurney, banking firm, 57-58.
+
+Owen, Goronwy, Borrow's favourite Welsh bard, 377-378, 407.
+
+Owenson, Sydney. _See_ Morgan, Lady.
+
+
+P
+
+Pahlin, 209.
+
+Painter, Edward, pugilist, 131.
+
+Palgrave, Sir Francis, letter to Borrow from, 108.
+
+---- R. H. I., letters to Mrs. MacOubrey from, 431.
+
+Palmer, Professor E. H., gypsy scholar, 232.
+
+Park, Mr. Justice, 123.
+
+Parker, Archbishop., pupil at Norwich Grammar School, 71.
+
+---- Archbishop (temp. Queen Elizabeth) descent of Thomas King from, 16.
+
+Paterson, John, work of, for Bible Society in Russia, 156.
+
+Pennell, Mrs. Elizabeth Robins, her biography of Leland, quoted, 230-231.
+
+Perfrement, Mary, grandmother of Borrow, 2, 13.
+
+---- Samuel, grandfather of Borrow, 2, 12-13.
+
+_Personal and Family Glimpses of Remarkable People_, by E. W. Whately,
+  quoted, 385.
+
+_Peter Schlemihl_, translated by Bowring, 141.
+
+Petrie, George, correspondence of Borrow with, 336-338.
+
+Phillips, Lady, 90.
+
+---- H. W., portrait of Borrow by, 382.
+
+---- Sir Richard, 27, 69, 100;
+  early days of, 87-88;
+  imprisonment of, 88-89;
+  knighted, 94;
+  books published by, 90-95;
+  relations of, with Borrow, 96-100.
+
+_Phrenological Observations, etc._, by George Combe, 46.
+
+Picts, the, Borrow on, 336-337.
+
+Pilgrim, John, Borrow's visits to, 417-420.
+
+Pinkerton, literary hack, 88.
+
+Pischel, Professor Richard, criticises Borrow's etymologies, 344.
+
+Playfair, Dr., 387.
+
+Pope, influence of, on Borrow, 407.
+
+Pott, Dr. A. F., gypsy scholar, 232, 233.
+
+_Prayer Book and Homily Society_, Borrow's correspondence with, 176-177.
+
+Prize-fighting, Borrow's taste for, 11, 82, 126-132.
+
+Probert, witness against Thurtell, 121.
+
+Prothero, Rowland E., 248, 249.
+
+Purcell, pugilist, 130-131.
+
+Purland, Francis, companion of Borrow in schoolboy escapade, 73-75.
+
+---- Theodosius, 73-75.
+
+Pushkin, Alexander, Russian poet, translated by Borrow, 178.
+
+
+Q
+
+_Quarterly Review, The_,
+  review of _Lavengro_ in, 281;
+  of _Romany Rye_ in, 347.
+
+
+R
+
+Rackham, Tom, 79.
+
+Rackhams, the, 110.
+
+_Raising of Lazarus_, picture by Haydon, 24.
+
+Randall, pugilist, 130.
+
+Reay, Martha, murdered by Hackman, 115.
+
+'Recollections of George Borrow,' by A. Egmont Hake in _Athenaeum_,
+  quoted, 397.
+
+Reeve, Mr., on scene in Oulton house after Borrow's death, 414.
+
+---- Henry, 64.
+
+_Res Judicatae_, by Augustine Birrell, 436.
+
+Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 114.
+
+Richmond, pugilist, 130.
+
+---- Legh, connection of, with Bible Society, 155.
+
+_Rights of Man_, Phillips charged with selling, 89.
+
+Robbards, J. W., writes memoir of William Taylor, 65-66.
+
+Robertson, George, 47.
+
+_Romance of Bookselling_, by Mumby, 87.
+
+_Romano Lavo-Lil,_ manuscript of, 295;
+  published by Murray, 404;
+  reviews of, 232, 233, 234, 361.
+
+_Romantic Ballads_, translation from the Danish by Borrow, 106-111, 112,
+  139, 140.
+
+_Romany Rye, The_, 4, 125, 141-142, 305;
+  appreciations of, 228-230, 234-235, 349, 354, 391;
+  autobiographical nature of, 279-280, 285-286;
+  Borrow embittered by failure of, 347;
+  characters in, 343;
+  defects of Appendix, 344-345;
+  facsimile of page of manuscript of, 346;
+  identification of localities of, 343-344;
+  philological criticism of, 344;
+  preparation of manuscript of, 341;
+  quoted, 189;
+  reviews of, 347, 349.
+
+Ross, Janet, 64.
+
+Rowe, Quartermaster, 17.
+
+_Rubaiyat,_ Fitzgerald's paraphrase, 350;
+  quoted in original and translated, 353-354;
+  Tennyson's eulogy of, 358.
+
+Rye, Walter, 119.
+
+
+S
+
+St. Petersburg, Borrow in, 162-178.
+
+Sampson, John, eminent gypsy expert--extraordinary suggestion, of,
+    regarding Borrow, 343;
+  criticises Borrow's etymologies, 344.
+
+Sam the Jew, pugilist, 130.
+
+Samuel, A. M., Lord Mayor of Norwich--presents Borrow house to Norwich, 16.
+
+Sayers, Dr., 64.
+
+---- Tom, pugilist, 130.
+
+Scott, Sir Walter, 68;
+  Borrow's prejudice against, 19, 108, 344;
+  influence of, on J. H. Newman, 345;
+  Taylor's influence on, 66;
+  interest of, in Thurtell's trial, 121;
+  writings of, admired by Borrow, 344.
+
+Scroggins, pugilist, 130.
+
+Seccombe, Thomas, introduction to _Lavengro_ by, 125, 435.
+
+_Servian Popular Poetry_, by Bowring, 140.
+
+Sharp, Granville, connection with Bible Society of, 155.
+
+Shaw, G. B., his kindness for the pugilist, 127.
+
+Shelton, pugilist, 130.
+
+Sidney, Algernon, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.
+
+Sigerson, Dr., Irish scholar, 51;
+  success of _Bards of the Gael and Gaul_, by, 408.
+
+Simeon, Charles, connection with Bible Society of, 155.
+
+Simpson, William, Borrow articled to, 79-81;
+  described by Borrow, 80-81.
+
+Skepper, Anne, 157, 215, 216, 219.
+
+---- Breame, 156, 157, 219.
+
+---- Edmund, 215, 219.
+
+---- Edward, 157.
+
+_Sleeping Bard, The_, translation by Borrow, 137;
+  his mistakes in, 357;
+  refused by publishers, 322, 402, 404, 406, 408, 410;
+  printed at his own expense, 322.
+
+Smiles, Samuel, on publication of _The Zincali_, 226-227.
+
+Smith, Ambrose, the Jasper Petulengro of _Lavengro_, 41-45.
+
+---- F[=a]den, 42.
+
+---- Thomas, 44.
+
+_Songs from Scandinavia_, translation by Borrow, 136;
+  prospectus of, 145;
+  future publication of, 406-407;
+  page of manuscript of, 411.
+
+_Songs of Europe_, metrical translation by Borrow, 294, 404.
+
+_Songs of Scotland_, by Allan Cunningham, Borrow's appreciation of, 109.
+
+Southey, Robert, affection of, for William Taylor, 66;
+  on death of Taylor, 69.
+
+Spalding, Frederick, 351.
+
+_Spectator, The_, point of view of criticism of Borrow of, 437;
+  reviews _Wild Wales_, 367.
+
+_Sphere, The_, article on Borrow and Martineau in, 75-76.
+
+_State Trials_, 112-113.
+
+Stephen, Sir J. Fitzjames, 217.
+
+---- Sir Leslie, 99.
+
+Stevenson, R. L., perfunctory references to Borrow in writings of, 436.
+
+Stoddard, Mr., Burcham's reference to, 17.
+
+Story, A. T., reminiscences of Borrow by, 385-387.
+
+Struensee, Count, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.
+
+Stuart, Mrs. James, 73.
+
+Suffolk, Duke of, 64.
+
+Summers, William, 184.
+
+Swan, Rev. William, 169.
+
+
+T
+
+_Talisman, The_, translation by Borrow, 178.
+
+_Targum_, translation by Borrow, 3, 297;
+  high praise of, 165-166, 177, 178, 408;
+  facsimile of a poem from, 403.
+
+Taylor, Anne, describes Borrow's appearance, 293.
+
+---- Baron, Borrow's meeting with, 210.
+
+---- Dr. John, 63.
+
+---- John, 63.
+
+---- Mrs. John, 55;
+  Basil Montague on, 64-65.
+
+---- Richard, 63.
+
+---- Robert, 293.
+
+---- Tom, author of _Life of B. R. Haydon_, 24, 25.
+
+---- William, 55, 70;
+  dialogue in _Lavengro_ between Borrow and, 8-9, 83-84;
+  gives Borrow lessons in German, 81-82;
+  gives Borrow introductions to Phillips and Campbell, 84;
+  his love of paradox, 75;
+  influence of, on Borrow, 65;
+  Harriet Martineau on, 65-66;
+  his friends and literary work, 66-69;
+  correspondence with Southey, 67-68;
+  his testimony to Borrow's knowledge of German, 101.
+
+Taylors, the, at Norwich, 55, 63-69.
+
+Tennyson on enthusiasm for Lycidas, 278;
+  his eulogy of FitzGerald's translation of the _Rubaiyat_, 358.
+
+Thackeray, W. M., Borrow's attitude towards, 347, 393;
+  on Edward FitzGerald, 351;
+  Hake's severe reference to, 393.
+
+_Theodore Watts-Dunton: Poet, Novelist, Critic,_ by James Douglas,
+  quoted, 394.
+
+Thompson, T. W., article of, on Jasper Petulengro, 44.
+
+---- W. H., 357.
+
+_Three Generations of Englishwomen_, by Janet Ross, 64.
+
+Thurtell, Alderman, 120, 125.
+
+---- John, 82, 111;
+  trial of--glimpses of, in Borrow's books, 116-125;
+  great authors who have commented on crime of, 118.
+
+Timbs, John, 111;
+  stories told by, 94, 95.
+
+Tom of Bedford, pugilist, 131.
+
+Treve, Captain, 17.
+
+_Turkish Jester, The_, by Borrow, 295;
+  issued by Webber, 404.
+
+Turner, Dawson, 243, 279.
+
+---- Ned, pugilist, 130.
+
+_Twelve Essays on the Phenomena of Nature_, Phillips anxious to produce in a
+  German dress, 96.
+
+_Twelve Essays on the Proximate Causes_, Borrow unable to translate into
+  German--published in German, 99.
+
+
+U
+
+_Universal Review, The_, 99;
+  Borrow's work on, 97.
+
+Upcher, A. W., contributes reminiscences of Borrow to the _Athenaeum_, 316.
+
+Usoz y Rio, Don Luis de, letters from, to Borrow, 207-209.
+
+
+V
+
+Valpy, Rev. E., Borrow's schoolmaster--story of Borrow being flogged by,
+  73-78.
+
+Venning, John, work of, in Russia--befriends Borrow, 160-161.
+
+Victoria, Queen, visits gypsy encampment, 43.
+
+Vidocq, 261;
+  memoirs of, translated by Borrow, 136.
+
+
+W
+
+_Wahrheit und Dichtung_, opening lines of, compared with those of
+  _Lavengro_, 1.
+
+_Walks and Talks about London_, 94;
+  story told of Phillips in, 95.
+
+Walling, R. A. J., biography of Borrow by, 294-295.
+
+Walpole, Horace, on Mr. Fenn, 39.
+
+Wanton, S. W., letter to Borrow from, 299-300.
+
+Waterfield, Mrs., 64.
+
+Watts-Dunton, Theodore, criticism of Borrow's work, 347, 392;
+  description of personal appearance of Borrow, 397-398;
+  friendship with Borrow, 317;
+  on intimacy between Borrow and Hake, 389-391;
+  introduction to _Lavengro_ by, 435, 436;
+  on Borrow's loyalty in friendship, 312;
+  on poetic gifts of Borrow, 406;
+  reminiscences of Borrow, 398-400;
+  sonnet written by, 400.
+
+Weare pamphlets, 120-121.
+
+---- William, murder of, 121, 122.
+
+Webber, Borrow's books bought by, 414.
+
+_Westminster Review_, 140.
+
+Whately, Archdeacon, description of Borrow by, 385.
+
+Whewell, Dr., 285.
+
+Wilberforce, William, connection of, with Bible Society, 155.
+
+Wilcock, Rev. J., his impressions of Borrow, 338-339.
+
+_Wild Irish Girl, The_, the publication of, 91, 92.
+
+_Wild Wales_, 4, 6, 221, 383, 413;
+  appreciations of, 356, 360, 369, 372-373;
+  comparative failure of, 367, 373;
+  comparison of, with Borrow's three other great works, 376-377;
+  facsimiles of two pages from Borrow's pocket-books, and of title-page
+    of manuscript, 365, 368;
+  high spirits of, 378;
+  Lope de Vega's ghost-story referred to in, 369;
+  reviews of, 367;
+  time taken to write, 366.
+
+_Wilhelm Meister_, quoted, 154.
+
+_William Bodham Donne and his Friends,_ Borrow described in, 361.
+
+Williams, Lieutenant, 32.
+
+---- J. Evan, letter from Borrow to, on similarity of some Sclavonian and
+  Welsh words, 369-371.
+
+Wolcot, Dr., 90.
+
+Woodhouses, the, 111.
+
+Wordsworth, Borrow's estimate of, 346-347.
+
+Wormius, Olaus, 82.
+
+Wright, Dr. Aldis, 357, 363.
+
+
+Y
+
+_Young Cottager, The_, by Legh Richmond, extraordinary vogue of, 97.
+
+
+Z
+
+_Zincali, The_, work by Borrow, 3, 4, 42, 118;
+  reference to Borrow's travels in, 135;
+  criticisms of, 227-229;
+  number of copies of, sold, 244;
+  editions of, issued, 226-227.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of George Borrow and His Circle, by
+Clement King Shorter
+
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