diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:21:28 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:21:28 -0700 |
| commit | ed7cfac18a068deb361a09ecfc26d2f7687bbdda (patch) | |
| tree | 112a4d77d0c41fd2a69c986a940cf6063c8ac428 /old/lfgbr10.txt | |
Diffstat (limited to 'old/lfgbr10.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/lfgbr10.txt | 18291 |
1 files changed, 18291 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/lfgbr10.txt b/old/lfgbr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..391ef24 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lfgbr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18291 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Life of George Borrow, by Herbert Jenkins + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. The words +are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they +need about what they can legally do with the texts. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 + +As of 12/12/00 contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, +Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, +Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, +Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. Please feel +free to ask to check the status of your state. + +International donations are accepted, +but we don't know ANYTHING about how +to make them tax-deductible, or +even if they CAN be made deductible, +and don't have the staff to handle it +even if there are ways. + +These donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +Title: The Life of George Borrow + +Author: Herbert Jenkins + +Official Release Date: October, 2002 [Etext #3481] +[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] +[The actual date this file first posted = 05/11/01] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Project Gutenberg's The Life of George Borrow, by Herbert Jenkins +*******This file should be named lfgbr10.txt or lfgbr10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, lfgbr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, lfgbr10a.txt + +This etext was produced by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk, +from the 1912 John Murray edition. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after +the official publication date. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +http://gutenberg.net +http://promo.net/pg + + +Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement +can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext02 +or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext02 + +Or /etext01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +Presently, contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, +Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, +Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, +Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. + +These donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, +EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541, +has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal +Revenue Service (IRS). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent +permitted by law. As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin in the +additional states. + +All donations should be made to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation. Mail to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Avenue +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 [USA] + + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +*** + + +Example command-line FTP session: + +ftp ftp.ibiblio.org +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +**END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.08.01*END** +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk, +from the 1912 John Murray edition. + + + + + +THE LIFE OF GEORGE BORROW + +by Herbert Jenkins + + + + +PREFACE + + + +During the whole of Borrow's manhood there was probably only one +period when he was unquestionably happy in his work and content with +his surroundings. He may almost be said to have concentrated into +the seven years (1833-1840) that he was employed by the British and +Foreign Bible Society in Russia, Portugal and Spain, a lifetime's +energy and resource. From an unknown hack-writer, who hawked about +unsaleable translations of Welsh and Danish bards, a travelling +tinker and a vagabond Ulysses, he became a person of considerable +importance. His name was acclaimed with praise and enthusiasm at +Bible meetings from one end of the country to the other. He +developed an astonishing aptitude for affairs, a tireless energy, and +a diplomatic resourcefulness that aroused silent wonder in those who +had hitherto regarded him as a failure. His illegal imprisonment in +Madrid nearly brought about a diplomatic rupture between Great +Britain and Spain, and later his missionary work in the Peninsula was +referred to by Sir Robert Peel in the House of Commons as an instance +of what could be achieved by courage and determination in the face of +great difficulties. + +Those seven rich and productive years realised to the full the +strange talents and unsuspected abilities of George Borrow's unique +character. He himself referred to the period spent in Spain as the +"five happiest years" of his life. When, however, his life came to +be written by Dr Knapp, than whom no biographer has approved himself +more loyal or enthusiastic, it was found that the records of that +period were not accessible. The letters that he had addressed to the +Bible Society had been mislaid. These came to light shortly after +the publication of Dr Knapp's work, and type-written copies were +placed at my disposal by the General Committee long before they were +given to the public in volume form. + +A systematic search at the Public Record Office has revealed a wealth +of unpublished documents, including a lengthy letter from Borrow +relating to his imprisonment at Seville in 1839. From other sources +much valuable information and many interesting anecdotes have been +obtained, and through the courtesy of their possessor a number of +unpublished Borrow letters are either printed in their entirety or +are quoted from in this volume. + +My thanks are due in particular to the Committee of British and +Foreign Bible Society for placing at my disposal the copies of the +Borrow Letters, and also for permission to reproduce the interesting +silhouette of the Rev. Andrew Brandram, and to the Rev. T. H. Darlow, +M.A. (Literary Superintendent), whose uniform kindness and desire to +assist me I find it impossible adequately to acknowledge. My thanks +are also due to the Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Grey, M.P., for permission to +examine the despatches from the British Embassy at Madrid at the +Record Office, and the Registers of Passports at the Foreign Office, +and to Mr F. H. Bowring (son of Sir John Bowring), Mr Wilfrid J. +Bowring (who has placed at my disposal a number of letters from +Borrow to his grandfather), Mr R. W. Brant, Mr Ernest H. Caddie, Mr +William Canton, Mr S. D. Charles, an ardent Borrovian from whom I +have received much kindness and many valuable suggestions, Mr A. I. +Dasent, the editors of The Athenaeum and The Bookman, Mr Thomas Hake, +Mr D. B. Hill of Mattishall, Norfolk, Mr James Hooper, Mr W. F. T. +Jarrold (for permission to reproduce the hitherto unpublished +portrait of Borrow painted by his brother), Dr F. G. Kenyon, C.B., Mr +F. A. Mumby, Mr George Porter of Denbigh (for interesting particulars +about Borrow's first visit to Wales), Mr Theodore Rossi, Mr Theodore +Watts-Dunton, Mr Thomas Vade-Walpole, who have all responded to my +appeal for help with great willingness. + +To one friend, who elects to be nameless, I am deeply grateful for +many valuable suggestions and much help; but above all for the keen +interest he has taken in a work which he first encouraged me to +write. To her who gave so plentifully of her leisure in transcribing +documents at the Record Office and in research work at the British +Museum and elsewhere, I am indebted beyond all possibility of +acknowledgment. To no one more than to Mr John Murray are my +acknowledgments due for his unfailing kindness, patience and +assistance. It is no exaggeration to state that but for his aid and +encouragement this book could not have been written. + +HERBERT JENKINS. +January, 1912. + + + +CHAPTER I: 1678-MAY 1816 + + + +On 28th July 1783 was held the annual fair at Menheniot, and for +miles round the country folk flocked into the little Cornish village +to join in the festivities. Among the throng was a strong contingent +of young men from Liskeard, a town three miles distant, between whom +and the youth of Menheniot an ancient feud existed. In days when the +bruisers of England were national heroes, and a fight was a fitting +incident of a day's revelry, the very presence of their rivals was a +sufficient challenge to the chivalry of Menheniot, and a contest +became inevitable. Some unrecorded incident was accepted by both +parties as a sufficient cause for battle, and the two factions were +soon fighting furiously midst collapsing stalls and tumbled +merchandise. Women shrieked and fainted, men shouted and struck out +grimly, whilst the stall-holders, in a frenzy of grief and despair, +wrung their hands helplessly as they saw their goods being trampled +to ruin beneath the feet of the contestants. + +Slowly the men of Liskeard were borne back by their more numerous +opponents. They wavered, and just as defeat seemed inevitable, there +arrived upon the scene a young man who, on seeing his townsmen in +danger of being beaten, placed himself at their head and charged down +upon the enemy, forcing them back by the impetuosity of his attack. + +The new arrival was a man of fine physique, above the medium height +and a magnificent fighter, who, later in life, was to achieve +something of which a Mendoza or a Belcher might have been proud. He +fought strongly and silently, inspiring his fellow townsmen by his +example. The new leader had entirely turned the tide of battle, but +just as the defeat of the men of Menheniot seemed certain, a +diversion was created by the arrival of the local constables. Now +that their own villagers were on the verge of disaster, there was no +longer any reason why they should remain in the background. They +made a determined effort to arrest the leader of the Liskeard +contingent, and were promptly knocked down by him. + +At that moment Mr Edmund Hambley, a much-respected maltster and the +headborough of Liskeard, was attracted to the spot. Seeing in the +person of the outrageous leader of the battle one of his own +apprentices, he stepped forward and threatened him with arrest. +Goaded to desperation by the scornful attitude of the young man, the +master-maltster laid hands upon him, and instantly shared the fate of +the constables. With great courage and determination the headborough +rose to his feet and again attempted to enforce his authority, but +with no better result. When he picked himself up for a second time, +it was to pass from the scene of his humiliation and, incidentally, +out of the life of the young man who had defied his authority. + +The young apprentice was Thomas Borrow (born December 1758), eighth +and posthumous child of John Borrow and of Mary his wife, of +Trethinnick (the House on the Hill), in the neighbouring parish of St +Cleer, two and a half miles north of Liskeard. At the age of +fifteen, Thomas had begun to work upon his father's farm. At +nineteen he was apprenticed to Edmund Hambley, maltster, of Liskeard, +who five years later, in his official capacity as Constable of the +Hundred of Liskeard, was to be publicly defied and twice knocked down +by his insubordinate apprentice. + +A trifling affair in itself, this village fracas was to have a +lasting effect upon the career of Thomas Borrow. He was given to +understand by his kinsmen that he need not look to them for sympathy +or assistance in his wrongdoing. The Borrows of Trethinnick could +trace back further than the parish registers record (1678). They +were godly and law-abiding people, who had stood for the king and +lost blood and harvests in his cause. If a son of the house disgrace +himself, the responsibility must be his, not theirs. In the opinion +of his family, Thomas Borrow had, by his vigorous conduct towards the +headborough, who was also his master, placed himself outside the +radius of their sympathy. At this period Trethinnick, a farm of some +fifty acres in extent, was in the hands of Henry, Thomas' eldest +brother, who since his mother's death, ten years before, had assumed +the responsibility of launching his youngest brother upon the world. + +Fearful of the result of his assault on the headborough, Thomas +Borrow left St Cleer with great suddenness, and for five months +disappeared entirely. On 29th December he presented himself as a +recruit before Captain Morshead, {3a} in command of a detachment of +the Coldstream Guards, at that time stationed in the duchy. + +Thomas Borrow was no stranger to military training. For five years +he had been in the Yeomanry Militia, which involved a short annual +training. In the regimental records he is credited with five years +"former service." He remained for eight years with the Coldstream +Guards, most of the time being passed in London barracks. He had no +money with which to purchase a commission, and his rise was slow and +deliberate. At the end of nine months he was promoted to the rank of +corporal, and five years later he became a sergeant. In 1792 he was +transferred as Sergeant-Major to the First, or West Norfolk Regiment +of Militia, whose headquarters were at East Dereham in Norfolk. + +It was just previous to this transfer that Sergeant Borrow had his +famous encounter in Hyde Park with Big Ben Bryan, the champion of +England; he "whose skin was brown and dusky as that of a toad." It +was a combat in which "even Wellington or Napoleon would have been +heartily glad to cry for quarter ere the lapse of five minutes, and +even the Blacksmith Tartar would, perhaps, have shrunk from the +opponent with whom, after having had a dispute with him," Sergeant +Borrow "engaged in single combat for one hour, at the end of which +time the champions shook hands and retired, each having experienced +quite enough of the other's prowess." {4a} + +At East Dereham Thomas Borrow met Ann {4b} Perfrement, {4c} a +strikingly handsome girl of twenty, whose dark eyes first flashed +upon him from over the footlights. It was, and still is, the custom +for small touring companies to engage their supernumeraries in the +towns in which they were playing. The pretty daughter of Farmer +Perfrement, whose farm lay about one and a half miles out of East +Dereham, was one of those who took occasion to earn a few shillings +for pin-money. The Perfrements were of Huguenot stock. On the +revocation of the Edict of Nantes, their ancestors had fled from +their native town of Caen and taken refuge in East Anglia, there to +enjoy the liberty of conscience denied them in their beloved +Normandy. Thomas Borrow made the acquaintance of the young +probationer, and promptly settled any aspirations that she may have +had towards the stage by marrying her. The wedding took place on +11th February 1793 at East Dereham church, best known as the resting- +place of the poet Cowper, Ann being twenty-one and Thomas thirty-four +years of age. + +For the next seven years Thomas and Ann Borrow moved about with the +West Norfolk Militia, which now marched off into Essex, a few months +later doubling back again into Norfolk. Then it dived into Kent and +for a time hovered about the Cinque Ports, Thomas Borrow in the +meantime being promoted to the rank of quarter-master (27th May +1795). It was not until he had completed fourteen years of service +that he received a commission. On 27th February 1798 he became +Adjutant in the same regiment, a promotion that carried with it a +captain's rank. + +Whilst at Sandgate Mrs Borrow became acquainted with John Murray, the +son of the founder of the publishing house from which, forty-four +years later, were to be published the books of her second son, then +unborn. The widow of John Murray the First had married in 1795 +Lieutenant Henry Paget of the West Norfolk Militia. Years later +(27th March 1843) George Borrow wrote to John Murray, Junr., third of +the line: + + +"I am at present in Norwich with my mother, who has been ill, but is +now, thank God, recovering fast. She begs leave to send her kind +remembrances to Mr Murray. She knew him at Sandgate in Kent FORTY- +SIX years ago, when he came to see his mother, Mrs P[aget]. She was +also acquainted with his sister, Miss Jane Murray, {5a} who used to +ride on horseback with her on the Downs. She says Captain [sic] +Paget once cooked a dinner for Mrs P. and herself; and sat down to +table with his cook's apron on. Is not this funny? Does it not +'beat the Union,' as the Yankees say?" + + +The first child of the marriage was born in 1800, it is not known +exactly when or where. This was John, "the brother some three years +older than myself," whose beauty in infancy was so great "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," {6a} with its rosy cheeks and smiling, blue-eyed innocence. +On one occasion even, an attempt was made to snatch him from the arms +of his nurse as she was about to enter a coach. The parents became a +prey to anxiety; for the child seems to have possessed many endearing +qualities as well as good looks. He was quick and clever, and when +the time came for instruction, "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." {6b} His cleverness +increased as he grew up, and later he seems to have become, in the +mind of Captain Borrow at least, a standard by which to measure the +shortcomings of his younger son George, whom he never was able to +understand. + +For the next three years, 1800-3, the regiment continued to hover +about the home counties. The Peace of Amiens released many of the +untried warriors, who had enlisted "until the peace," their adjutant +having to find new recruits to fill up the gaps. War broke out again +the following year (18th May 1803), and the Great Terror assumed a +phase so critical as to subdue almost entirely all thought of party +strife. On 5th July Ann Borrow gave birth to a second son, in the +house of her father. At the time Captain Borrow was hunting for +recruits in other parts of Norfolk, in order to send them to +Colchester, where the regiment was stationed. In due course the +child was christened George Henry {7a} at the church of East Dereham, +and, within a few weeks of his birth, he received his first +experience of the vicissitudes of a soldier's life, by accompanying +his father, mother, and brother to Colchester to rejoin the regiment. +The whole infancy of George Borrow was spent in the same trailing +restlessness. Napoleon was alive and at large, and the West Norfolks +seemed doomed eternally to march and countermarch in the threatened +area, Sussex, Kent, Essex. + +No efforts appear to have been made to steal the younger brother, +although "people were in the habit of standing still to look at me, +ay, more than at my brother." {7b} Unlike John in about everything +that one child could be unlike another, George was a gloomy, +introspective creature who considerably puzzled his parents. He +compares himself to "a deep, dark lagoon, shaded by black pines, +cypresses and yews," {7c} beside which he once paused to contemplate +"a beautiful stream . . . sparkling in the sunshine, and . . . +tumbling merrily into cascades," {7d} which he likened to his +brother. + +Slow of comprehension, almost dull-witted, shy of society, sometimes +bursting into tears when spoken to, George became "a lover of nooks +and retired corners," {7e} where he would sit for hours at a time a +prey to "a peculiar heaviness . . . and at times . . . a strange +sensation of fear, which occasionally amounted to horror," {7f} for +which there was no apparent cause. In time he grew to be as much +disliked as his brother was admired. On one occasion an old Jew +pedlar, attracted by the latent intelligence in the smouldering eyes +of the silent child, who ignored his questions and continued tracing +in the dust with his fingers curious lines, pronounced him "a +prophet's child." This carried to the mother's heart a quiet +comfort; and reawakened in her hope for the future of her second son. + +The early childhood of George Borrow was spent in stirring times. +Without, there was the menace of Napoleon's invasion; within, every +effort was being made to meet and repel it. Dumouriez was preparing +his great scheme of defence; Captain Thomas Borrow was doing his +utmost to collect and drill men to help in carrying it into effect. +Sometimes the family were in lodgings; but more frequently in +barracks, for reasons of economy. Once, at least, they lived under +canvas. + +The strange and puzzling child continued to impress his parents in a +manner well-calculated to alarm them. One day, with a cry of +delight, he seized a viper that, "like a line of golden light," was +moving across the lane in which he was playing. Whilst making no +effort to harm the child, who held and regarded it with awe and +admiration, the reptile showed its displeasure towards John, his +brother, by hissing and raising its head as if to strike. This +happened when George was between two and three years of age. At +about the same period he ate largely of some poisonous berries, which +resulted in "strong convulsions," lasting for several hours. He +seems to have been a source of constant anxiety to his parents, who +were utterly unable to understand the strange and gloomy child who +had been vouchsafed to them by the inscrutable decree of providence. + +In the middle of the year 1809 the regiment returned from Essex to +Norfolk, marching first to Norwich and thence to other towns in the +county. Captain Borrow and his family took up their quarters once +more at Dereham. George was now six years old, acutely observant of +the things that interested him, but reluctant to proceed with studies +which, in his eyes, seemed to have nothing to recommend them. Books +possessed no attraction for him, although he knew his alphabet and +could even read imperfectly. The acquirement of book-learning he +found a dull and dolorous business, to which he was driven only by +the threats or entreaties of his parents, who showed some concern +lest he should become an "arrant dunce." + +The intelligence that the old Jew pedlar had discovered still lay +dormant, as if unwilling to manifest itself. The boy loved best "to +look upon the heavens, and to bask in the rays of the sun, or to sit +beneath hedgerows and listen to the chirping of the birds, indulging +the while in musing and meditation." {9a} Meanwhile John was earning +golden opinions for the astonishing progress he continued to make at +school, unconsciously throwing into bolder relief the apparent +dullness of his younger brother. George, however, was as active +mentally as the elder. The one was studying men, the other books. +George was absorbing impressions of the things around him: of the +quaint old Norfolk town, its "clean but narrow streets branching out +from thy modest market-place, with thine old-fashioned houses, with +here and there a roof of venerable thatch"; of that exquisite old +gentlewoman Lady Fenn, {9b} as she passed to and from her mansion +upon some errand of bounty or of mercy, "leaning on her gold-headed +cane, whilst the sleek old footman walked at a respectful distance +behind." {9c) On Sundays, from the black leather-covered seat in the +church-pew, he would contemplate with large-eyed wonder the rector +and James Philo his clerk, "as they read their respective portions of +the venerable liturgy," sometimes being lulled to sleep by the +monotonous drone of their voices. + +On fine Sundays there was the evening walk "with my mother and +brother--a quiet, sober walk, during which I would not break into a +run, even to chase a butterfly, or yet more a honey-bee, being fully +convinced of the dread importance of the day which God had hallowed. +And how glad I was when I had got over the Sabbath day without having +done anything to profane it. And how soundly I slept on the Sabbath +night after the toil of being very good throughout the day." {10a} + +During these early years there was being photographed upon the brain +of George Borrow a series of impressions which, to the end of his +life, remained as vivid as at the moment they were absorbed. What +appeared to those around him as dull-witted stupidity was, in +reality, mental surfeit. His mind was occupied with other things +than books, things that it eagerly took cognisance of, strove to +understand and was never to forget. {10b} Hitherto he had taken "no +pleasure in books . . . and bade fair to be as arrant a dunce as ever +brought the blush of shame into the cheeks of anxious and +affectionate parents." {10c} His mind was not ready for them. When +the time came there was no question of dullness: he proved an eager +and earnest student. + +One day an intimate friend of Mrs Borrow's, who was also godmother to +John, brought with her a present of a book for each of the two boys, +a history of England for the elder and for the younger Robinson +Crusoe. Instantly George became absorbed. + +"The true chord had now been touched . . . Weeks succeeded weeks, +months followed months, and the wondrous volume was my only study and +principal source of amusement. For hours together I would sit poring +over a page till I had become acquainted with the import of every +line. My progress, slow enough at first, became by degrees more +rapid, till at last, under a 'shoulder of mutton sail,' I found +myself cantering before a steady breeze over an ocean of enchantment, +so well pleased with my voyage that I cared not how long it might be +ere it reached its termination. And it was in this manner that I +first took to the paths of knowledge." {11a} + +In the spring of 1810 the regiment was ordered to Norman Cross, in +Huntingdonshire, situated at the junction of the Peterborough and +Great North Roads. At this spot the Government had caused to be +erected in 1796 an extensive prison, covering forty acres of ground, +in which to confine some of the prisoners made during the Napoleonic +wars. There were sixteen large buildings roofed with red tiles. +Each group of four was surrounded by a palisade, whilst another +palisade "lofty and of prodigious strength" surrounded the whole. At +the time when the West Norfolk Militia arrived there were some six +thousand prisoners, who, with their guards, constituted a +considerable-sized township. From time to time fresh batches of +captives arrived amid a storm of cheers and cries of "Vive +L'Empereur!" These were the only incidents in the day's monotony, +save when some prisoner strove to evade the hospitality of King +George, and was shot for his ingratitude. + +Captain Borrow rejoined his regiment at Norman C Cross, leaving his +family to follow a few days later. At the time the country round +Peterborough was under water owing to the recent heavy rains, and at +one portion of the journey the whole party had to embark in a species +of punt, which was towed by horses "up to the knees in water, and, on +coming to blind pools and 'greedy depths,' were not unfrequently +swimming." {11b} But they were all old campaigners and accepted such +adventures as incidents of a soldier's life. + +At Norman Cross George made the acquaintance of an old snake-catcher +and herbalist, a circumstance which, insignificant in itself, was to +exercise a considerable influence over his whole life. Frequently +this curious pair were to be seen tramping the countryside together; +a tall, quaint figure with fur cap and gaiters carrying a leathern +bag of wriggling venom, and an eager child with eyes that now burned +with interest and intelligence--and the talk of the two was the lore +of the viper. When the snake-catcher passed out of the life of his +young disciple, he left behind him as a present a tame and fangless +viper, which George often carried with him on his walks. It was this +well-meaning and inoffensive viper that turned aside the wrath of +Gypsy Smith, {12a} and awakened in his heart a superstitious awe and +veneration for the child, the Sap-engro, who might be a goblin, but +who certainly would make a most admirable "clergyman and God +Almighty," who read from a book that contained the kind of prayers +particularly to his taste--perhaps the greatest encomium ever +bestowed upon the immortal Robinson Crusoe. Thus it came about that +George Borrow was proclaimed brother to the gypsy's son Ambrose, +{12b} who as Jasper Petulengro figures so largely in Lavengro and The +Romany Rye, and is credited with that exquisitely phrased pagan +glorification of mere existence: + + +"Life is sweet, brother . . . There's night and day, brother, both +sweet things; sun, moon and stars, brother, all sweet things; there's +likewise the wind on the heath. Life is very sweet, brother; who +would wish to die?" {13a} + + +The Borrows were nomads, permitted by God and the king to tarry not +over long in any one place. In the following July (1811) the West +Norfolks proceeded to Colchester via Norfolk, after fifteen months of +prison duty and straw-plait destroying. {13b} Captain Borrow betook +himself to East Dereham again to seek for likely recruits. In the +meantime George made his first acquaintance with that universal +specific for success in life, for correctness of conduct, for +soundness of principles--Lilly's Latin Grammar, which to learn by +heart was to acquire a virtue that defied evil. The good old +pedagogue who advocated Lilly's Latin Grammar as a remedy for all +ills, would have traced George Borrow's eventual success in life +entirely to the fact that within three years of the date that the +solemn exhortation was pronounced the boy had learned Lilly by heart, +although without in the least degree comprehending him. + +Early in 1812 the regiment turned its head north, and by slow +degrees, with occasional counter marchings, continued to progress +towards Edinburgh, which was reached thirteen months later (6th April +1813). "With drums beating, colours flying, and a long train of +baggage-waggons behind," {13c} the West Norfolk Militia wound its way +up the hill to the Castle, the adjutant's family in a chaise forming +part of the procession. There in barracks the regiment might rest +itself after long and weary marches, and the two young sons of the +adjutant be permitted to continue their studies at the High School, +without the probability that the morrow would see them on the road to +somewhere else. + +Whilst at Edinburgh George met with his first experience of racial +feeling, which, under uncongenial conditions, develops into race- +hatred. He discovered that one English boy, when faced by a throng +of young Scots patriots, had best be silent as to the virtues of his +own race. He joined in and enjoyed the fights between the "Auld and +the New Toon," and incidentally acquired a Scots accent that somewhat +alarmed his loyal father, who had named him after the Hanoverian +Georges. Proving himself a good fighter, he earned the praise of his +Scots acquaintances, and a general invitation to assist them in their +"bickers" with "thae New Toon blackguards." + +He loved to climb and clamber over the rocks, peeping into "all +manner of strange crypts, crannies, and recesses, where owls nestled +and the weasel brought forth her young." He would go out on all-day +excursions, enjoying the thrills of clambering up to what appeared to +be inaccessible ledges, until eventually he became an expert +cragsman. One day he came upon David Haggart {14a} sitting on the +extreme verge of a precipice, "thinking of Willie Wallace." + +For fifteen months the regiment remained at Edinburgh. In the spring +of 1814 the waning star of Napoleon had, to all appearances, set, and +he was on his way to his miniature kingdom, the Isle of Elba (28th +April). Europe commenced to disband its huge armies, Great Britain +among the rest. On 21st June the West Norfolks received orders to +proceed to Norwich by ship via Leith and Great Yarmouth. The +Government, relieved of all apprehension of an invasion, had time to +think of the personal comfort of the country's defenders. With +marked consideration, the orders provided that those who wished might +march instead of embarking on the sea. Accordingly Captain Borrow +and his family chose the land route. Arrived at Norwich, the +regiment was formally disbanded amid great festivity. The officers, +at the Maid's Head, the queen of East Anglian inns, and the men in +the spacious market-place, drank to the king's health and peace. The +regiment was formally mustered out on 19th July. + +The Borrows took up their quarters at the Crown and Angel in St +Stephen's Street, a thoroughfare that connects the main roads from +Ipswich and Newmarket with the city. George, now eleven years old, +had an opportunity of continuing his education at the Norwich Grammar +School, whilst his brother proceeded to study drawing and painting +with a "little dark man with brown coat . . . and top-boots, whose +name will one day be considered the chief ornament of the old town," +{15a} and whose works are to "rank among the proudest pictures of +England,"--the Norwich painter, "Old Crome." {15b} + +Whilst the two boys were thus occupied, Louis XVIII. was endeavouring +to reorder his kingdom, and on a little island in the Mediterranean, +Napoleon was preparing a bombshell that was to shatter the peace of +Europe and send Captain Borrow hurrying hither and thither in search +of the men who, a few months before, had left the colours, convinced +that a generation of peace was before them. + +On 1st March Napoleon was at Cannes; eighteen days later Louis XVIII. +fled from Paris. Everywhere there were feverish preparations for +war. John Borrow threw aside pencil and brush and was gazetted +ensign in his father's regiment (29th May). Europe united against +the unexpected and astonishing danger. By the time Captain Borrow +had finished his task, however, the crisis was past, Waterloo had +been won and Napoleon was on his way to St Helena. + +By a happy inspiration it was decided to send the West Norfolks to +Ireland, where "disturbances were apprehended" and private stills +flourished. On 31st August the regiment, some eight hundred strong, +sailed in two vessels from Harwich for Cork, the passage occupying +eight days. The ship that carried the Borrows was old and crazy, +constantly missing stays and shipping seas, until it seemed that only +by a miracle she escaped "from being dashed upon the foreland." + +After a few days' rest at Cork, the "city of contradictions," where +wealth and filth jostled one another in the public highways and +"boisterous shouts of laughter were heard on every side," the +regiment marched off in two divisions for Clonmel in Tipperary. +Walking beside his father, who was in command of the second division, +and holding on to his stirrup-leather, George found a new country +opening out before him. On one occasion, as they were passing +through a village of low huts, "that seemed to be inhabited solely by +women and children," he went up to an old beldam who sat spinning at +the door of one of the hovels and asked for some water. She +"appeared to consider for a moment, then tottering into her hut, +presently reappeared with a small pipkin of milk, which she offered . +. . with a trembling hand." When the lad tendered payment she +declined the money, and patted his face, murmuring some +unintelligible words. Obviously there was nothing in the boy's +nature now that appeared strange to simple-minded folk. Probably the +intercourse with other boys at Edinburgh and Norwich had been +beneficial in its effect. Keenly interested in everything around +him, George fell to speculating as to whether he could learn Irish +and speak to the people in their own tongue. + +At Clonmel the Borrows lodged with an Orangeman, who had run out of +his house as the Adjutant rode by at the head of his men, and +proceeded to welcome him with flowery volubility. On the advice of +his host Captain Borrow sent George to a Protestant school, where he +met the Irish boy Murtagh, who figures so largely in Lavengro and The +Romany Rye. Murtagh settled any doubts that Borrow may have had as +to his ability to acquire Erse, by teaching it to him in exchange for +a pack of cards. + +On 23rd December 1815 Ensign John Thomas Borrow was promoted to the +rank of lieutenant, he being then in his sixteenth year. In the +following January, after only a few months' stay, the West Norfolks +were moved on to Templemore. It was here that George learned to +ride, and that without a saddle, and had awakened in him that +"passion for the equine race" that never left him. {17a} + +The nine months spent in Ireland left an indelible mark upon Borrow's +imagination. In later life he repeatedly referred to his knowledge +of the country, its people, and their language. In overcoming the +difficulties of Erse, he had opened up for himself a larger prospect +than was to be enjoyed by a traveller whose first word of greeting or +enquiry is uttered in a hated tongue. + +On 11th May 1816 the West Norfolk Militia was back again at Norwich. +Peace was now finally restored to Europe, and every nation was far +too impoverished, both as regards men and money, to nourish any +schemes of aggression. Napoleon was safe at St Helena, under the eye +of that instinctive gaoler, Sir Hudson Lowe. The army had completed +its work and was being disbanded with all possible speed. The turn +of the West Norfolk Militia came on 17th June, when they were +formally mustered out for the second time within two years. Three +years later their Adjutant was retired upon full-pay--eight shillings +a day. + + + +CHAPTER II: MAY 1816-MARCH 1824 + + + +For the first time since his marriage, Captain Borrow found himself +at liberty to settle down and educate his sons. He had spent much of +his life in Norfolk, and he decided to remain there and make Norwich +his home. It was a quiet and beautiful old-world city: healthy, +picturesque, ancient, and, above all, possessed of a Grammar School, +where George could try and gather together the stray threads of +education that he had acquired at various times and in various +dialects. It was an ideal city for a warrior to take his rest in; +but probably what counted most with Captain Borrow was the Grammar +School--more than the Norman Cathedral, the grim old Castle that +stands guardian-like upon its mound, the fact of its being a garrison +town, or even the traditions that surrounded the place. He had two +sons who must be appropriately sent out into the world, and Norwich +offered facilities for educating both. He accordingly took a small +house in Willow Lane, to which access was obtained by a covered +passage then called King's, but now Borrow's Court. + +During the most nomadic portion of his life, when, with discouraging +rapidity, he was moving from place to place, Captain Borrow never for +one moment seems to have forgotten his obligations as a father. +Whenever he had been quartered in a town for a few months, he had +sought out a school to which to send John and George, notably at +Huddersfield and Sheffield. Had he known it, these precautions were +unnecessary; for he had two sons who were of what may be called the +self-educating type: John, by virtue of the quickness of his parts; +George, on account of the strangeness of his interests and his thirst +for a knowledge of men and the tongues in which they communicate to +each other their ideas. It would be impossible for an unconventional +linguist, such as George Borrow was by instinct, to remain +uneducated, and it was equally impossible to educate him. + +Quite unaware of the trend of his younger son's genius, Captain +Borrow obtained for him a free-scholarship at the Grammar School, +then under the headmastership of the Rev. Edward Valpy, B.D., whose +principal claims to fame are his severity, his having flogged the +conqueror of the "Flaming Tinman," and his destruction of the School +Records of Admission, which dated back to the Sixteenth Century. +Among Borrow's contemporaries at the Grammar School were "Rajah" +Brooke of Sarawak (for whose achievements he in after life expressed +a profound admiration), Sir Archdale Wilson of Delhi, Colonel Charles +Stoddart, Dr James Martineau, and Thomas Borrow Burcham, the London +Magistrate. + +Borrow was now thirteen, and, it would appear, as determined as ever +to evade as much as possible academic learning. He was "far from an +industrious boy, fond of idling, and discovered no symptoms by his +progress either in Latin or Greek of that philology, so prominent a +feature of his last work (Lavengro)." {20a} Borrow was an idler +merely because his work was uncongenial to him. "Mere idleness is +the most disagreeable state of existence, and both mind and body are +continually making efforts to escape from it," he wrote in later +years concerning this period. He wanted an object in life, an +occupation that would prove not wholly uncongenial. That he should +dislike the routine of school life was not unnatural; for he had +lived quite free from those conventional restraints to which other +boys of his age had always been accustomed. Occupation of some sort +he must have, if only to keep at a distance that insistent melancholy +that seems to have been for ever hovering about him, and the tempter +whispered "Languages." {21a} One day chance led him to a bookstall +whereon lay a polyglot dictionary, "which pretended to be an easy +guide to the acquirement of French, Italian, Low Dutch, and English." +He took the two first, and when he had gleaned from the old volume +all it had to teach him, he longed for a master. Him he found in the +person of an old French emigre priest, {21b} a study in snuff-colour +and drab with a frill of dubious whiteness, who attended to the +accents of a number of boarding-school young ladies. The progress of +his pupil so much pleased the old priest that "after six months' +tuition, the master would sometimes, on his occasional absences to +teach in the country, request his so forward pupil to attend for him +his home scholars." {21c} It was M. D'Eterville who uttered the +second recorded prophecy concerning George Borrow: "Vous serez un +jour un grand philologue, mon cher," he remarked, and heard that his +pupil nourished aspirations towards other things than mere philology. + +In the study of French, Spanish, and Italian, Borrow spent many hours +that other boys would have devoted to pleasure; yet he was by no +means a student only. He found time to fish and to shoot, using a +condemned, honey-combed musket that bore the date of 1746. His +fishing was done in the river Yare, which flowed through the estate +of John Joseph Gurney, the Quaker-banker of Earlham Hall, two miles +out of Norwich. It was here that he was reproached by the voice, +"clear and sonorous as a bell," of the banker himself; not for +trespassing, but "for pulling all those fish out of the water, and +leaving them to gasp in the sun." + +At Harford Bridge, some two miles along the Ipswich Road, lived "the +terrible Thurtell," a patron and companion of "the bruisers of +England," who taught Borrow to box, and who ultimately ended his own +inglorious career by being hanged (9th January 1824) for the murder +of Mr Weare, and incidentally figuring in De Quincey's "On Murder +Considered As One of the Fine Arts." It was through "the king of +flash-men" that Borrow saw his first prize-fight at Eaton, near +Norwich. + +The passion for horses that came suddenly to Borrow with his first +ride upon the cob in Ireland had continued to grow. He had an +opportunity of gratifying it at the Norwich Horse Fair, held each +Easter under the shadow of the Castle, and famous throughout the +country. {22a} It was here, in 1818, that Borrow encountered again +Ambrose Petulengro, an event that was to exercise a considerable +influence upon his life. Mr Petulengro had become the head of his +tribe, his father and mother having been transported for passing bad +money. He was now a man, with a wife, a child, and also a mother-in- +law, who took a violent dislike to the tall, fair-haired gorgio. +Borrow's life was much broadened by his intercourse with Mr +Petulengro. He was often at the gypsy encampment on Mousehold, a +heath just outside Norwich, where, under the tuition of his host, he +learned the Romany tongue with such rapidity as to astonish his +instructor and earn for him among the gypsies the name of "Lav- +engro," word-fellow or word-master. He also boxed with the godlike +Tawno Chikno, who in turn pronounced him worthy to bear the name +"Cooro-mengro," fist-fellow or fist-master. He frequently +accompanied Mr Petulengro to neighbouring fairs and markets, riding +one of the gypsy's horses. At other times the two would roam over +the gorse-covered Mousehold, discoursing largely about things Romany. + +The departure of Mr Petulengro and his retinue from Norwich threw +Borrow back once more upon his linguistic studies, his fishing, his +shooting, and his smouldering discontent at the constraints of school +life. It was probably an endeavour on Borrow's part to make himself +more like his gypsy friends that prompted him to stain his face with +walnut juice, drawing from the Rev. Edward Valpy the question: +"Borrow, are you suffering from jaundice, or is it only dirt?" The +gypsies were not the only vagabonds of Borrow's acquaintance at this +period. There were the Italian peripatetic vendors of weather- +glasses, who had their headquarters at Norwich. In after years he +met again more than one of these merchants. They were always glad to +see him and revive old memories of the Norwich days. + +About this time he saved a boy from drowning in the Yare. {23a} It +may be this act with which he generously credits his brother John +when he says - + + +"I have known him dash from a steep bank into a stream in his full +dress, and pull out a man who was drowning; yet there were twenty +others bathing in the water, who might have saved him by putting out +a hand, without inconvenience to themselves, which, however, they did +not do, but stared with stupid surprise at the drowning one's +struggles." {24a} + + +From the first Borrow had shown a strong distaste for the humdrum +routine of school life. In a thousand ways he was different from his +fellows. He had been accustomed to meet strange and, to him, deeply +interesting people. Now he was bidden adopt a course of life against +which his whole nature rebelled. It was impossible. He missed the +atmosphere of vagabondage that had inspired and stimulated his early +boyhood. + +The crisis came at last. There was only one way to avoid the awkward +and distasteful destiny that was being forced upon him. He entered +into a conspiracy with three school-fellows, all younger than +himself, to make a dash for a life that should offer wider +opportunities to their adventurous natures. The plan was to tramp to +Great Yarmouth and there excavate on the seashore caves for their +habitation. From these headquarters they would make foraging +expeditions, and live on what they could extract from the surrounding +country, either by force or by the terror that they inspired. One +morning the four started on their twenty-mile trudge to the sea; but, +when only a few miles out, one of their number became fearful and +turned back. + +Encouraged by their leader, the others continued on their way. The +father of the other two boys appears to have got wind of the project +and posted after them in a chaise. He came up with them at Acle, +about eleven miles from Norwich. When they were first seen, Borrow +was striving to hearten his fellow buccaneers, who were tired and +dispirited after their long walk. The three were unceremoniously +bundled into the chaise and returned to their homes and, +subsequently, to the wrath of the Rev. Edward Valpy. {25a} + +The names of the three confederates were John Dalrymple (whose heart +failed him) and Theodosius and Francis Purland, sons of a Norwich +chemist. The Purlands are credited with robbing "the paternal till," +while Dalrymple confined himself to the less compromising duty of +"gathering horse-pistols and potatoes." If the boys robbed their +father's till, why did they beg? In the ballad entitled The +Wandering Children and the Benevolent Gentleman, Borrow depicts the +"eldest child" as begging for charity for these hungry children, who +have had "no breakfast, save the haws." This does not seem to +suggest that the boys were in the possession of money. Again, it was +the father of one of their schoolfellows who was responsible for +their capture, according to Dr Knapp, by asking them to dinner whilst +he despatched a messenger to the Rev. Edward Valpy. The story of +Borrow's being "horsed" on Dr Martineau's back is apocryphal. +Martineau himself denied it. {25b} + +There is no record of how Captain Borrow received the news of his +younger son's breach of discipline. It probably reminded him that +the boy was now fifteen and it was time to think about his future. +The old soldier was puzzled. Not only had his second son shown a +great partiality for acquiring Continental tongues, but he had +learned Irish, and Captain Borrow seemed to think that by learning +the language of Papists and rebels, his son had sullied the family +honour. To his father's way of thinking, this accomplishment seemed +to bar him from most things that were at one and the same time +honourable and desirable. + +The boy's own inclinations pointed to the army; but Captain Borrow +had apparently seen too much of the army in war time, and the +slowness of promotion, to think of it as offering a career suitable +to his son, now that there was every prospect of a prolonged peace. +He thought of the church as an alternative; but here again that fatal +facility the boy had shown in learning Erse seemed to stand out as a +barrier. "I have observed the poor lad attentively and really I do +not see what to make of him," Captain Borrow is said to have +remarked. What could be expected of a lad who would forsake Greek +for Irish, or Latin for the barbarous tongue of homeless vagabonds? +Certainly not a good churchman. At length it became obvious to the +distressed parents that there was only one choice left them--the law. + +About this period Borrow fell ill of some nameless and unclassified +disease, which defied the wisdom of physicians, who shook their heads +gravely by his bedside. An old woman, however, cured him by a +decoction prepared from a bitter root. The convalescence was slow +and laborious; for the boy's nerves were shattered, and that deep, +haunting melancholy, which he first called the "Fear" and afterwards +the "Horrors," descended upon him. + +On the 30th of March 1819 Borrow was articled for five years to +Simpson & Rackham, solicitors, of Tuck's Court, St Giles, Norwich. +{26a} He consequently left home to take up his abode at the house of +the senior partner in the Upper Close. {27a} Mr William Simpson was +a man of considerable importance in the city; for besides being +Treasurer of the County, he was Chamberlain and Town Clerk, whilst +his wife was famed for her hospitality, in particular her expensive +dinners. + +With that unerring instinct of contrariety that never seemed to +forsake him, Borrow proceeded to learn, not law but Welsh. When the +eyes of authority were on him he transcribed Blackstone, but when +they were turned away he read and translated the poems of Ab Gwilym. +He performed his tasks "as well as could be expected in one who was +occupied by so many and busy thoughts of his own." + +At the end of Tuck's Court was a house at which was employed a Welsh +groom, a queer fellow who soon attracted the notice of Simpson & +Rackham's clerks, young gentlemen who were bent on "mis-spending the +time which was not legally their own." {27b} They would make audible +remarks about the unfortunate and inoffensive Welsh groom, calling +out after him "Taffy"--in short, rendering the poor fellow's life a +misery with their jibes, until at last, almost distracted, he had +come to the determination either to give his master notice or to hang +himself, that he might get away from that "nest of parcupines." +Borrow saw in the predicament of the Welsh groom the hand of +providence. He made a compact with him, that in exchange for lessons +in Welsh, he, Borrow, should persuade his fellow clerks to cease +their annoyance. + +From that time, each Sunday afternoon, the Welsh groom would go to +Captain Borrow's house to instruct his son in Welsh pronunciation; +for in book Welsh Borrow was stronger than his preceptor. Borrow had +learned the language of the bards "chiefly by going through Owen +Pugh's version of 'Paradise Lost' twice" with the original by his +side. After which "there was very little in Welsh poetry that I +could not make out with a little pondering." {28a} This had occupied +some three years. The studies with the groom lasted for about twelve +months, until he left Norwich with his family. {28b} + +Captain Borrow's thoughts were frequently occupied with the future of +his younger son, a problem that had by no means been determined by +signing the articles that bound him to Simpson & Rackham. The boy +was frank and honest and did not scruple to give expression to ideas +of his own, and it was these ideas that alarmed his father. Once at +the house of Mr Simpson, and before the assembled guests, he told an +archdeacon, worth 7000 pounds a year, that the classics were much +overvalued, and compared Ab Gwilym with Ovid, to the detriment of the +Roman. To Captain Borrow the possession of ideas upon any subject by +one so young was in itself a thing to be deplored; but to venture an +opinion contrary to that commonly held by men of weight and substance +was an unforgivable act of insubordination. + +The boy had been sent to Tuck's Court to learn law, and instead he +persisted in acquiring languages, and such languages! Welsh, Danish, +Arabic, Armenian, Saxon; for these were the tongues with which he +occupied himself. None but a perfect mother such as Mrs Borrow could +have found excuses for a son who pursued such studies, and her +husband pointed out to her, it is "in the nature of women invariably +to take the part of the second born." + +In one of those curiously self-revelatory passages with which his +writings abound, Borrow tells how he continued to act as door-keeper +long after it had ceased to be part of his duty. As a student of men +and a collector of strange characters, it was in keeping with his +genius to do so, although he himself was unable to explain why he +took pleasure in the task. No one was admitted to the presence of +the senior partner who did not first pass the searching scrutiny of +his articled clerk. Those who pleased him were admitted to Mr +Simpson's private room; to those who did not he proved himself an +almost insuperable obstacle. Unfortunately Borrow's standards were +those of the physiognomist rather than the lawyer; he inverted the +whole fabric of professional desirability by admitting the goats and +refusing the sheep. He turned away a knight, or a baronet, and +admitted a poet, until at last the distressed old gentleman in black, +with the philanthropical head, his master, was forced to expostulate +and adjure his clerk to judge, not by faces but by clothes, which in +reality make the man. Borrow bowed to the ruling of "the prince of +English solicitors," revised his standards and continued to act as +keeper of the door. + +Mr Simpson seems to have earned Borrow's thorough regard, no small +achievement considering in how much he differed from his illustrious +articled-clerk in everything, not excepting humour, of which the +delightful, old-world gentleman seems to have had a generous share. +He was doubtless puzzled to classify the strange being by whose +instrumentality a stream of undesirable people was admitted to his +presence, whilst distinguished clients were sternly and rigorously +turned away. He probably smiled at the story of the old yeoman and +his wife who, in return for some civility shown to them by Borrow, +presented him with an old volume of Danish ballads, which inspired +him to learn the language, aided by a Danish Bible. {30a} He was not +only "the first solicitor in East Anglia," but "the prince of all +English solicitors--for he was a gentleman!" {30b} In another place +Borrow refers to him as "my old master . . . who would have died +sooner than broken his word. God bless him!" {30c} And yet again as +"my ancient master, the gentleman solicitor of East Anglia." {30d} + +Borrow was always handsome in everything he did. If he hated a man +he hated him, his kith and kin and all who bore his name. His +friendship was similarly sweeping, and his regard for William Simpson +prompted him to write subsequently of the law as "a profession which +abounds with honourable men, and in which I believe there are fewer +scamps than in any other. The most honourable men I have ever known +have been lawyers; they were men whose word was their bond, and who +would have preferred ruin to breaking it." {31a} + +Fortunately for Borrow there was at the Norwich Guildhall a valuable +library consisting of a large number of ancient folios written in +many languages. "Amidst the dust and cobwebs of the Corporation +Library" he studied earnestly and, with a fine disregard for a +librarian's feelings, annotated some of the volumes, his marginalia +existing to this day. One of his favourite works was the Danica +Literatura Antiquissima of Olaus Wormius, 1636, which inspired him +with the idea of adopting the name Olaus, his subsequent +contributions to The New Magazine being signed George Olaus Borrow. + +Whilst Borrow was striving to learn languages and avoid the law, +{31b} the question of his brother's career was seriously occupying +the mind of their father. Borrow loved and admired his brother. +There is sincerity in all he writes concerning John, and there is +something of nobility about the way in which he tells of his father's +preference for him. "Who," he asks, "cannot excuse the honest pride +of the old man--the stout old man?" {31c} + +The Peace had closed to John Borrow the army as a profession, and he +had devoted himself assiduously to his art. Under Crome the elder he +had made considerable progress, and had exhibited a number of +pictures at the yearly exhibitions of the Norwich Society of Artists. +He continued to study with Crome until the artist's death (22nd April +1821), when a new master had to be sought. With his father's +blessing and 150 pounds he proceeded to London, where he remained for +more than a year studying with B. R. Haydon. {32a} Later he went to +Paris to copy Old Masters. + +About this time Borrow had an opportunity of seeing many of "the +bruisers of England." In his veins flowed the blood of the man who +had met Big Ben Bryan and survived the encounter undefeated. "Let no +one sneer at the bruisers of England," Borrow wrote--"What were the +gladiators of Rome, or the bull-fighters of Spain, in its palmiest +days, compared to England's bruisers?" {32b} he asks. On 17th July +1820 Edward Painter of Norwich was to meet Thomas Oliver of London +for a purse of a hundred guineas. On the Saturday previous (the +15th) the Norwich hotels began to fill with bruisers and their +patrons, and men went their ways anxiously polite to the stranger, +lest he turn out to be some champion whom it were dangerous to +affront. Thomas Cribb, the champion of England, had come to see the +fight, "Teucer Belcher, savage Shelton, . . . the terrible Randall, . +. . Bulldog Hudson, . . . fearless Scroggins, . . . Black Richmond, . +. . Tom of Bedford," and a host of lesser lights of the "Fancy." + +On the Monday, upwards of 20,000 men swept out of the old city +towards North Walsham, less than twenty miles distant, among them +George Borrow, striding along among the varied stream of men and +vehicles (some 2000 in number) to see the great fight, which was to +end in the victory of the local man and a terrible storm, as if +heaven were thundering its anger against a brutal spectacle. The +sportsmen were left to find their way to shelter, Borrow and Mr +Petulengro, whom he had encountered just after the fight, with them, +talking of dukkeripens (fortunes). + +Some time during the year 1820, a Jew named Levy (the Mousha of +Lavengro), Borrow's instructor in Hebrew, introduced him to William +Taylor, {33a} one of the most extraordinary men that Norwich ever +produced. In the long-limbed young lawyer's clerk, whose hair was +rapidly becoming grey, Taylor showed great interest, and, as an act +of friendship, undertook to teach him German. He was gratified by +the young man's astonishing progress, and much interested in his +remarkable personality. As a result Borrow became a frequent visitor +at 21 King Street, Norwich, where Taylor lived and many strange men +assembled. + +It is doubtful if William Taylor ever found another pupil so apt, or +a disciple so enthusiastic among all the "harum-scarum young men" +{33b} that he was so fond of taking up and introducing "into the best +society the place afforded." {33c} He was much impressed by Borrow's +extraordinary memory and power of concentration. Speaking one day of +the different degrees of intelligence in men he said:- "I cannot give +you a better example to explain my meaning than my two pupils (there +was another named Cooke, who was said to be 'a genius in his way'); +what I tell Borrow once he ever remembers; whilst to the fellow Cooke +I have to repeat the same thing twenty times, often without effect; +and it is not from want of memory either, but he will never be a +linguist." {33d} + +To a correspondent Taylor wrote:- + + +"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." {34a} + +This was in 1821; two years later Borrow is said to have "translated +with fidelity and elegance from twenty different languages." {34b} +In spite of his later achievements in learning languages, it seems +scarcely credible that he acquired eight separate languages in two +years, although it must be remembered that with him the learning of a +language was to be able to read it after a rather laborious fashion. +Taylor, however, uses the words "facility and elegance." + +In the autobiographical notes that Borrow supplied to Mr John Longe +in 1862 there appears the following passage:- + + +"At the expiration of his clerkship he knew little of the law, but he +was well versed in languages, being not only a good Greek and Latin +scholar, but acquainted with French, Italian, Spanish, all the Celtic +and Gothic dialects, and likewise with the peculiar language of the +English Romany Chals or gypsies." + + +At William Taylor's table Borrow met "the most intellectual and +talented men of Norwich, as also those of note who visited the city." +{34c} Taylor was much interested in young men, into whose minds he +did not hesitate to instil his own ideas, ideas that not only earned +for him the name of "Godless Billy," but outraged his respectable +fellow-citizens as much as did his intemperate habits. "His face was +terribly bloated from drink, and he had a look as if his intellect +was almost as much decayed as his body," wrote a contemporary. {35a} +"Matters grew worse in his old age," says Harriet Martineau, "when +his habits of intemperance kept him out of the sight of ladies, and +he got round him a set of ignorant and conceited young men, who +thought they could set the whole world right by their destructive +propensities. One of his chief favourites was George Borrow." {35b} +Borrow has given the following convincing picture of Taylor: + + +"Methought I was in a small, comfortable room wainscotted with oak; I +was seated on one side of a fireplace, close by a table on which were +wine and fruit; on the other side of the fire sat a man in a plain +suit of brown, with the hair combed back from the somewhat high +forehead; he had a pipe in his mouth, which for some time he smoked +gravely and placidly, without saying a word; at length, after drawing +at the pipe for some time rather vigorously, he removed it from his +mouth, and emitting an accumulated cloud of smoke, he exclaimed in a +slow and measured tone: 'As I was telling you just now, my good +chap, I have always been an enemy of humbug.'" {35c} + + +William Taylor appears to have flattered "the harum-scarum young men" +with whom he surrounded himself by talking to them as if they were +his intellectual equals. He encouraged them to form their own +opinions, in itself a thing scarcely likely to make him popular with +either parents or guardians, least of all with discipline-loving +Captain Borrow, who declined even to return the salute of his son's +friend on the public highway. + +Borrow now began to look to the future and speculate as to what his +present life would lead to. His cogitations seem to have ended, +almost invariably, in a gloomy mist of pessimism and despair--in +other words, an attack of the "Horrors." If Mr Petulengro were +encamped upon Mousehold, the antidote lay near to hand in his +friend's pagan optimism; if, on the other hand, the tents of Egypt +were pitched on other soil, there was no remedy, unless perhaps a +prize-fight supplied the necessary stimulus to divert his thoughts +from their melancholy trend. + +Borrow met at the house of his tutor and friend, in July 1821, Dr +Bowring {36a} (afterwards Sir John) at a dinner given in his honour. +Bowring had recently published Specimen of Russian Poets, in +recognition of which the Czar (Alexander I.) had presented him with a +diamond ring. He had a considerable reputation as a linguist, which +naturally attracted Borrow to him. Dr Bowring was told of Borrow's +accomplishments, and during the evening took a seat beside him. +Borrow confessed to being "a little frightened at first" of the +distinguished man, whom he described as having "a thin weaselly +figure, a sallow complexion, a certain obliquity of vision, and a +large pair of spectacles." It would be dangerous to accept entirely +the account that Borrow gives of the meeting, {36b} because when that +was written he had come to hate and despise the man whom he had begun +by regarding with such awe. Bowring appears to have ventilated his +views with some freedom, and to have had a rather serious passage of +arms with another guest whom he had rudely contradicted. It is very +probable that Borrow's dislike of Bowring prompted him to exaggerate +his account of what happened at Taylor's house that evening. + +Whilst Borrow was industriously occupied in collecting vagabonds and +imbibing the dangerous beliefs of William Taylor, there sat in an +easy-chair in the small front-parlour of the little house in Willow +Lane, in a faded regimental coat, a prematurely old man, whose frame +still showed signs of the magnificent physique of his vigorous +manhood. "Sometimes in prayer, sometimes in meditation, and +sometimes in reading the Scriptures," with his dog beside him, +Captain Thomas Borrow, now sixty-five, was preparing for the end that +he felt to be approaching. He frequently meditated upon what was to +become of his younger son George, who held his father in such awe as +to feel ill at ease when alone with him. + +One day the inevitable interrogation took place. "What do you +propose to do?" and the equally inevitable reply followed, "I really +do not know what I shall do." In the course of a somewhat lengthy +cross-examination, Captain Borrow discovered that his son knew the +Armenian tongue, for which he very cunningly strove to enlist his +father's interest by telling him that in Armenia was Mount Ararat, +whereon the ark rested. Captain Borrow also discovered that his son +could not only shoe a horse, but also make the shoes; but, what was +most important, he found that George had learned "very little" law. +When asked if he thought he could support himself by Armenian or his +"other acquirements," the younger man was not very hopeful, and +horrified the old soldier by suggesting that if all else failed there +was always suicide. + +The dying man was thus left to yearn for the return of his elder son, +in whom all his hopes lay centred. John appears to have been by no +means dutiful to his parents in the matter of letters. For six +months he left them unacquainted even with his address in Paris, +where he was still copying Old Masters in the Louvre. + +After their talk the father and younger son seem to have come to a +better understanding. George would frequently read aloud from the +Bible, whilst Captain Borrow would tell about his early life. His +son "had no idea that he knew and had seen so much; my respect for +him increased, and I looked upon him almost with admiration. His +anecdotes were in general highly curious; some of them related to +people in the highest stations, and to men whose names are closely +connected with some of the brightest glories of our native land." +{38a} + +At last John arrived, apparently a little disillusioned with the +world; but the coming of his favourite son produced no change for the +better in Captain Borrow s health. He was content and happy that God +had granted his wish. There remained nothing now to do but "to bless +my little family and go." George learned "that it is possible to +feel deeply and yet make no outward sign." + +The end came on the morning of 28th February 1824. It was by a +strange chance that the old man should die in the arms of his younger +son, who had run down on hearing his mother's anguished screams. +Borrow has given a dramatic account of his father's last moments:- + + +"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 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 stupified, 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 +sergeant, 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." {39a} + + + +CHAPTER III: APRIL 1824-MAY 1825 + + + +On 2nd April 1824, George Borrow was cast upon the world of London by +the death of his father, "with an exterior shy and cold, under which +lurk much curiosity, especially with regard to what is wild and +extraordinary, a considerable quantity of energy and industry, and an +unconquerable love of independence." {40a} + +It had become necessary for him to earn his own livelihood. Captain +Borrow's pension had ceased with his death, and the old soldier's +savings of a lifetime were barely sufficient to produce an income of +a hundred pounds a year for his widow. The provision made in the +will for his younger son during his minority would operate only for +about four months, as he would be of age in the following July. {40b} +The clerkship with Simpson & Rackham would expire at the end of +March. Borrow had outlined his ambitions in a letter written on 20th +January 1824, when he was ill and wretched, to Roger Kerrison, then +in London: "If ever my health mends [this has reference to a very +unpleasant complaint he had contracted], 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 +he was tired of the "dull and gloomy town." It was therefore with a +feeling of relief that, on the evening of 1st April, he took his seat +on the top of the London coach, his hopes centred in a small green +box that he carried with him. It contained his stock-in-trade as an +author: his beloved manuscripts, "closely written over in a singular +hand." + +Among the bundles of papers were: + + +(i.) The Ancient Songs of Denmark, heroic and romantic, translated +by himself, with notes philological, critical and historical. + +(ii.) The Songs of Ab Gwilym, the Welsh Bard, also translated by +himself, with notes critical, philological and historical. {41a} + +(iii.) A romance in the German style. + + +In addition to his manuscripts, Borrow had some twenty or thirty +pounds, his testimonials, and a letter from William Taylor to Sir +Richard Phillips, the publisher, to whose New Magazine he had already +contributed a number of translations of poems. He had also printed +in The Monthly Magazine and The New Monthly Magazine translations of +verse from the German, Swedish, Dutch, Danish and Spanish, and an +essay on Danish ballad writing. + +On the morning of 2nd April there arrived at 16 Milman Street, +Bedford Row, London, W.C., + + +"A lad who twenty tongues can talk, +And sixty miles a day can walk; +Drink at a draught a pint of rum, +And then be neither sick nor dumb; +Can tune a song and make a verse, +And deeds of Northern kings rehearse; +Who never will forsake his friend +While he his bony fist can bend; +And, though averse to broil and strife, +Will fight a Dutchman with a knife; +O that is just the lad for me, +And such is honest six-foot-three." {42a} + + +It was through the Kerrisons that Borrow went to 16 Milman Street, +where Roger was lodging. His apartments seem to have been dismal +enough, consisting of "a small room, up two pair of stairs, in which +I was to sit, and another, still smaller, above it, in which I was to +sleep." After the first feeling of loneliness had passed, dispelled +largely by a bright fire and breakfast, he sallied forth, the +contents of the green box under his arm, to present his letter of +introduction to Sir Richard Phillips, {42b} in whom centred his hopes +of employment. + +On arriving at the publisher's house in Tavistock Square, he was +immediately shown into Sir Richard's study, where he found "a tall, +stout man, about sixty, dressed in a loose morning gown," and with +him his confidential clerk Bartlett (the Taggart of Lavengro). Sir +Richard was at first enthusiastic and cordial, but when he learned +from William Taylor's letter that Borrow had come up to earn his +livelihood by authorship, his manner underwent a marked change. The +bluff, hearty expression gave place to "a sinister glance," and +Borrow found that within that loose morning gown there was a second +Sir Richard. + +He learned two things--first, that Sir Richard Phillips had retired +from publishing and had reserved only The Monthly Magazine; {43a} +secondly, that literature was a drug upon the market. With airy +self-assertiveness, the ex-publisher dismissed the contents of the +green box that Borrow had brought with him, which had already aroused +considerable suspicion in the mind of the maid who had admitted him +to the publisher's presence. + +When he had thoroughly dashed the young author's hopes of employment, +Sir Richard informed him of a new publication he had in preparation, +The Universal Review [The Oxford Review of Lavengro], which was to +support the son of the house and the wife he had married. With a +promise that he should become a contributor to the new review, an +earnest exhortation to write a story in the style of The Dairyman's +Daughter, and an invitation to dinner for the following Sunday, the +first interview between George Borrow and Sir Richard Phillips ended, +and Borrow left the great man's presence to begin his exploration of +London, first leaving his manuscripts at Milman Street. During the +rest of the day he walked "scarcely less than thirty miles about the +big city." It was late when he returned to his lodgings, thoroughly +tired, but with a copy of The Dairyman's Daughter, for "a well- +written tale in the style" of which Sir Richard Phillips "could +afford as much as ten pounds." The day had been one of the most +eventful in Borrow's life. + +On the following Sunday Borrow dined at Tavistock Square, and met +Lady Phillips, young Phillips and his bride. He learned that Sir +Richard was a vegetarian of twenty years' standing and a total +abstainer, although meat and wine were not banished from his table. +When publisher and potential author were left alone, the son having +soon followed the ladies into the drawing-room, Borrow heard of Sir +Richard's amiable intentions towards him. He was to compile six +volumes of the lives and trials of criminals [the Newgate Lives and +Trials of Lavengro], each to contain not less than a thousand pages. +{44a} For this work he was to receive the munificent sum of fifty +pounds, which was to cover all expenses incurred in the purchase of +books, papers and manuscripts necessary to the compilation of the +work. This was only one of the employments that the fertile brain of +the publisher had schemed for him. He was also to make himself +useful in connection with the forthcoming Universal Review. +"Generally useful, sir--doing whatever is required of you"; for it +was not Sir Richard's custom to allow young writers to select their +own subjects. + +With impressive manner and ponderous diction, Sir Richard Phillips +unfolded his philanthropic designs regarding the young writer to whom +his words meant a career. He did not end with the appointment of +Borrow as general utility writer upon The Universal Review; but +proceeded to astonish him with the announcement that to him, George +Borrow, understanding German in a manner that aroused the "strong +admiration" of William Taylor, was to be entrusted the translating +into that tongue of Sir Richard Phillips' book of Philosophy. {44b} +If translations of Goethe into English were a drug, Sir Richard +Phillips' Proximate Causes was to prove that neither he nor his book +would be a drug in Germany. For this work the remuneration was to be +determined by the success of the translation, an arrangement +sufficiently vague to ensure eventual disagreement. + +When Sir Richard had finished his account of what were his intentions +towards his guest, he gave him to understand that the interview was +at an end, at the same time intimating how seldom it was that he +dealt so generously with a young writer. Borrow then rose from the +table and passed out of the house, leaving his host to muse, as was +his custom on Sunday afternoons, "on the magnificence of nature and +the moral dignity of man." + +For the next few weeks Borrow was occupied in searching in out-of- +the-way corners for criminal biography. If he flagged, a visit from +his philosopher-publisher spurred him on to fresh effort. He +received a copy of Proximate Causes, with an injunction that he +should review it in The Universal Review, as well as translate it +into German. He was taken to and introduced to the working editor +{45a} of the new publication, which was only ostensibly under the +control of young Phillips. + +In the provision that he should purchase at his own expense all the +necessary materials for Celebrated Trials, Borrow found a serious tax +upon his resources; but a harder thing to bear with patience and +good-humour were the frequent visits he received from Sir Richard +himself, who showed the keenest possible interest in the progress of +the compilation. He had already caused a preliminary announcement to +be made {45b} to the effect that: + + +"A Selection of the most remarkable Trials and Criminal Causes is +printing, in five volumes. {46a} 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 {46b} of the most interesting +cases on record, will appear in October next." {46c} + + +Sir Richard's visits to Milman Street were always accompanied by +numerous suggestions as to criminals whose claims to be included in +this literary chamber of horrors were in his, Sir Richard's, opinion +unquestionable. The English character of the compilation was soon +sacrificed in order to admit notable malefactors of other +nationalities, and the drain upon the editor's small capital became +greater than ever. + +The leisure that he allowed himself, Borrow spent in exploring the +city, or in the company of Francis Arden (Ardrey in Lavengro), whom +he had met by chance in the coffee-room of a hotel. The two appear +to have been excellent friends, perhaps because of the dissimilarity +of their natures. "He was an Irishman," Borrow explains, "I an +Englishman; he fiery, enthusiastic and opened-hearted; I neither +fiery, enthusiastic, nor open-hearted; he fond of pleasure and +dissipation, I of study and reflection." {46d} + +They went to the play together, to dog-fights, gaming-houses, in +short saw the sights of London. The arrival of Francis Arden at 16 +Milman Street was a signal for books and manuscripts to be thrown +aside in favour either of some expedition or an hour or two's +conversation. Borrow, however, soon tired of the pleasures of +London, and devoted himself almost entirely to work. Although he saw +less of Francis Arden in consequence, they continued to be excellent +friends. + +After being some four weeks in London, Borrow received a surprise +visit (29th April) from his brother, whom he found waiting for him +one morning when he came down to breakfast. John told him of his +mother's anxiety at receiving only one letter from him since his +departure, of her fits of crying, of the grief of Captain Borrow's +dog at the loss of his master. He also explained the reason for his +being in London. He had been invited to paint the portrait of Robert +Hawkes, an ex-mayor of Norwich, for a fee of a hundred guineas. +Lacking confidence in his own ability, he had declined the honour and +suggested that Benjamin Haydon should be approached. At the request +of a deputation of his fellow citizens, which had waited upon him, he +had undertaken to enter into negotiations with Haydon. He even +undertook to come up to London at his own expense, that he might see +his old master and complete the bargain. Borrow subsequently +accompanied his brother when calling upon Haydon, and was enabled to +give a thumbnail-sketch of the painter of the Heroic at work that has +been pronounced to be photographic in its faithfulness. + +John returned to Norwich about a fortnight later accompanied by +Haydon, who was to become the guest of his sitter, {47a} and George +was left to the compilation of Celebrated Trials. Sir Richard +Phillips appears to have been a man as prolific of suggestion as he +was destitute of tact. He regarded his authors as the instruments of +his own genius. Their business it was to carry out his ideas in a +manner entirely congenial to his colossal conceit. His latest author +he exposed "to incredible mortification and ceaseless trouble from +this same rage for interference." + +The result of all this was an attack of the "Horrors." Towards the +end of May, Roger Kerrison received from Borrow a note saying that he +believed himself to be dying, and imploring him to "come to me +immediately." The direct outcome of this note was, not the death of +Borrow, but the departure from Milman Street of Roger Kerrison, lest +he should become involved in a tragedy connected with Borrow's oft- +repeated threat of suicide. Kerrison became "very uneasy and +uncomfortable on his account, so that I have found it utterly +impossible to live any longer in the same lodgings with him." {48a} +Looked at dispassionately it seems nothing short of an act of +cowardice on Kerrison's part to leave alone a man such as Borrow, who +might at any moment be assailed by one of those periods of gloom from +which suicide seemed the only outlet. On the other hand, from an +anecdote told by C. G. Leland ("Hans Breitmann"), there seems to be +some excuse for Kerrison's wish to live alone. "I knew at that time +[about 1870]," he writes, {48b} "a Mr Kerrison, who had been as a +young man, probably in the Twenties, on intimate terms with Borrow. +He told me that one night Borrow acted very wildly, whooping and +vociferating so as to cause the police to follow him, and after a +long run led them to the edge of the Thames, 'and there they thought +they had him.' But he plunged boldly into the water and swam in his +clothes to the opposite shore, and so escaped." + +A serious misfortune now befell Borrow in the premature death of The +Universal Review, which expired with the sixth number (March 1824-- +January 1825). It is not known what was the rate of pay to young and +impecunious reviewers {49a} certainly not large, if it may be judged +by the amount agreed upon for Celebrated Trials. Still, its end +meant that Borrow was now dependent upon what he received for his +compilation, and what he merited by his translation into German of +Proximate Causes. + +There appears to have been some difficulty about payment for Borrow's +contributions to the now defunct review, which considerably widened +the breach that the Trials had created. Sir Richard became more +exacting and more than ever critical. {49b} The end could not be far +off. Borrow had come to London determined to be an author, and by no +juggling with facts could his present drudgery be considered as +authorship. Occasionally his mind reverted to the manuscripts in the +green box, his faith in which continued undiminished. He made +further efforts to get his translations published, but everywhere the +answer was the same, in effect, "A drug, sir, a drug!" + +At last he determined to approach John Murray (the Second), "Glorious +John, who lived at the western end of the town"; but he called many +times without being successful in seeing him. Another seventeen +years were to elapse before he was to meet and be published by John +Murray. + +Yet another dispute arose between Borrow and Sir Richard Phillips. +Neither appeared to have realised the supreme folly of entrusting to +a young Englishman the translation into German of an English work. A +novel would have presented almost insurmountable difficulties; but a +work of philosophy! The whole project was absurd. The diction of +philosophy in all languages is individual, just as it is in other +branches of science, and a very thorough knowledge of, and deep +reading in both languages are necessary to qualify a man to translate +from a foreign tongue into his own. To expect an inexperienced youth +to reverse the order seems to suggest that Sir Richard Phillips must +have been a publisher whose enthusiasm was greater than his judgment. + +One day when calling at Tavistock Square, Borrow found Sir Richard in +a fury of rage. He had submitted the first chapter of the +translation of Proximate Causes to some Germans, who found it utterly +unintelligible. This was only to be expected, as Borrow confesses +that, when he found himself unable to comprehend what was the meaning +of the English text, he had translated it LITERALLY INTO GERMAN! + +The result of the interview was that Borrow, after what appears to be +a tactless, not to say impertinent, rejoinder, {50a} relapsed into +silence and finally left the house, ordered back to his compilation +by Sir Richard, as soon as he became sufficiently calm to appear +coherent, and Borrow walked away musing on the "difference in clever +men." + +The discovery of the inadequacy of the German translation apparently +urged Borrow to hasten on with Celebrated Trials. The Universal +Review was dead, the German version of Proximate Causes {50b} had +passed out of his hands. It was desirable, therefore, that the +remaining undertaking should be completed as soon as possible, that +the two might part. The last of the manuscript was delivered, the +proofs passed for press, and on 19th March the work appeared, the six +volumes, running to between three and four thousand pages, containing +accounts of some four hundred trials, including that of Borrow's old +friend Thurtell for the murder of Mr Weare. + +Borrow's name did not appear. He was "the editor," and as such was +referred to in the preface contributed by Sir Richard himself. Among +other things he tells of how, in some cases, "the Editor has +compressed into a score of pages the substance of an entire volume." +Sir Richard was a philosopher as well as a preface-writing publisher, +and it was only natural that he should speculate as to the effect +upon his editor's mind of months spent in reading and editing such +records of vice. "It may be expected," he writes, "that the Editor +should convey to his readers the intellectual impressions which the +execution of his task has produced on his mind. He confesses that +they are mournful." Sir Richard was either a master of irony, or a +man of singular obtuseness. + +One effect of this delving into criminal records had been to raise in +Borrow's mind strange doubts about virtue and crime. When a boy, he +had written an essay in which he strove to prove that crime and +virtue were mere terms, and that we were the creatures of necessity +or circumstance. These broodings in turn reawakened the theory that +everything is a lie, and that nothing really exists except in our +imaginations. The world was "a maze of doubt." These indications of +an overtaxed brain increased, and eventually forced Borrow to leave +London. His work was thoroughly uncongenial. He disliked reviewing; +he had failed in his endeavours to render Proximate Causes into +intelligible German; and it had taken him some time to overcome his +dislike of the sordid stories of crime and criminals that he had to +read and edit. He became gloomy and depressed, and prone to compare +the real conditions of authorship with those that his imagination had +conjured up. + +The most important result of his labours in connection with +Celebrated Trials was that upon his literary style. There is a +tremendous significance in the following passage. It tells of the +transition of the actual vagabond into the literary vagabond, with +power to express in words what proved so congenial to Borrow's +vagabond temperament: + + +"Of all my occupations at this period I am free to confess I liked +that of compiling the Newgate Lives and Trials [Celebrated Trials] +the best; that is, after I had surmounted a kind of prejudice which I +originally entertained. The trials were entertaining enough; but the +lives--how full were they of wild and racy adventures, and in what +racy, genuine language were they told. What struck me most with +respect to these lives was the art which the writers, whoever they +were, possessed of telling a plain story. It is no easy thing to +tell a story plainly and distinctly by mouth; but to tell one on +paper is difficult indeed, so many snares lie in the way. People are +afraid to put down what is common on paper, they seek to embellish +their narratives, as they think, by philosophic speculations and +reflections; they are anxious to shine, and people who are anxious to +shine can never tell a plain story. 'So I went with them to a music +booth, where they made me almost drunk with gin, and began to talk +their flash language, which I did not understand,' {52a} says, or is +made to say, Henry Simms, executed at Tyburn some seventy years +before the time of which I am speaking. I have always looked upon +this sentence as a masterpiece of the narrative style, it is so +concise and yet so clear." {52b} + + +By the time the work was published and Borrow had been paid his fee, +all relations between editor and publisher had ceased, and there was +"a poor author, or rather philologist, upon the streets of London, +possessed of many tongues," which he found "of no use in the world." +{52c} A month after the appearance of Celebrated Trials (18th +April), and a little more than a year after his arrival in London, +Borrow published a translation of Klinger's Faustus. {53a} He +himself gives no particulars as to whether it was commissioned or no. +It may even have been "the Romance in the German style" from the +Green Box. It is known that he received payment for it by a bill at +five or six months, {53b} but there is no mention of the amount. It +would appear that the translation had long been projected, for in The +Monthly Magazine, July 1824, there appeared, in conjunction with the +announcement of Celebrated Trials, the following paragraph: "The +editor of the preceding has ready for the press, a Life of Faustus, +his Death and Descent into Hell, which will also appear the next +winter." + +Faustus did not meet with a very cordial reception. The Literary +Gazette (16th July 1825) characterised it as "another work to which +no respectable publisher ought to have allowed his name to be put. +The political allusion 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 had apparently been in some doubt about certain passages, for +in a note headed "The Translator to the Public," he defends the work +as moral in its general teaching: + + +"The publication of the present volume may at first sight appear to +require some brief explanation from the Translator, inasmuch as the +character of the incidents may justify such an expectation on the +part of the reader. It is, therefore, necessary to state that, +although scenes of vice and crime are here exhibited, it is merely in +the hope that they may serve as beacons, to guide the ignorant and +unwary from the shoals on which they might otherwise be wrecked. The +work, when considered as a whole, is strictly moral." + + +It must be confessed that Faustus does not err on the side of +restraint. Many of its scenes might appear "lewd . . . and coarse" +to anyone who for a moment allowed his mind to wander from the +morality of "its general teaching." The attacks upon the lax morals +of the priesthood must have proved particularly congenial to the +translator. + +The more Borrow read his translations of Ab Gwilym, the more +convinced he became of their merit and the profit they would bring to +him who published them. The booksellers, however, with singular +unanimity, declined the risk of introducing to the English public +either Welsh or Danish ballads; and their translator became so shabby +in consequence, that he refrained from calling upon his friend Arden, +for whom he had always cherished a very real friendship. He began to +lose heart. His energy left him and with it went hope. He was +forced to review his situation. Authorship had obviously failed, and +he found himself with no reasonable prospect of employment. + +There is no episode in Borrow's life that has so exercised the minds +of commentators and critics as his account of the book he terms in +Lavengro, The Life and Adventures of Joseph Sell, the Great +Traveller. Some dismiss the whole story as apocryphal; others see in +it a grain of truth distorted into something of vital importance; +whilst there are a number of earnest Borrovians that accept the whole +story as it is written. Dr Knapp has said that Joseph Sell "was not +a book at all, and the author of it never said that it was." This +was obviously an error, for the bookseller is credited with saying, +"I think I shall venture on sending your book to the press," {55a} +referring to it as a "book" four times in nine lines. Again, in +another place, Borrow describes how he rescued himself "from +peculiarly miserable circumstances by writing a book, an original +book, within a week, even as Johnson is said to have written his +Rasselas and Beckford his Vathek." {55b} This removes all question +of the Life and Adventures of Joseph Sell being included in a +collection of short stories. The title would not be the same, the +date is most probably wrongly given, as in the case of Marshland +Shales; but the general accuracy of the account as written seems to +be highly probable. Many efforts have been made to trace the story; +but so far unsuccessfully. It must be remembered that Borrow loved +to stretch the long arm of coincidence; but he loved more than +anything else a dramatic situation. He was always on the look out +for effective "curtains." + +In favour of the story having been actually written, is the knowledge +that Borrow invented little or nothing. Collateral evidence has +shown how little he deviated from actual happenings, although he did +not hesitate to revise dates or colour events. The strongest +evidence, however, lies in the atmosphere of truth that pervades +Chapters LV.-LVII. of Lavengro. They are convincing. At one time or +another during his career, it would appear that Borrow wrote against +time from grim necessity; otherwise he must have been a master of +invention, which everything that is known about him clearly shows +that he was not. + +Joseph Sell has disappeared, a most careful search of the Registers +at Stationers' Hall can show no trace of that work, or any book that +seems to suggest it, and the contemporary literary papers render no +assistance. + +According to Borrow's own account, one morning on getting up he found +that he had only half a crown in the world. It was this +circumstance, coupled with the timely notice that he saw affixed to a +bookseller's window to the effect that "A Novel or Tale is much +wanted," that determined him to endeavour to emulate Dr Johnson and +William Beckford. He had tired of "the Great City," and his thoughts +turned instinctively to the woods and the fields, where he could be +free to meditate and muse in solitude. + +When he returned to Milman Street after seeing the bookseller's +advertisement, he found that his resources had been still further +reduced to eighteen-pence. He was too proud to write home for +assistance, he had broken with Sir Richard Phillips, and he had no +reasonable expectation of obtaining employment of any description; +for his accomplishments found no place in the catalogue of everyday +wants. He was a proper man with his hands, and knew some score or +more languages. No matter how he regarded the situation, the facts +were obvious. Between him and actual starvation there was the +inconsiderable sum of eighteen-pence and the bookseller's +advertisement. The gravity of the situation banished the cloud of +despondency that threatened to settle upon him, and also the doubts +that presented themselves as to whether he possessed the requisite +ability to produce what the bookseller required. The all-important +question was, could he exist sufficiently long on eighteen-pence to +complete a story? Sir Richard Phillips had told him to live on bread +and water. He now did so. + +For a week he wrote ceaselessly at the Life and Adventures of Joseph +Sell, the Great Traveller. He wrote with the feverish energy of a +man who sees the shadow of actual starvation cast across his +manuscript. When the tale was finished there remained the work of +revision, and after that, worst of all, fears lest the bookseller +were already suited. + +Fortune, however, was kind to him, and he was successful in +extracting for his story the sum of twenty pounds. Borrow had not +mixed among gypsies for nothing. He, a starving and unknown author, +succeeded in extracting from a bookseller twenty pounds for a story, +twice the amount offered by Sir Richard Phillips for a novel on the +lines of The Dairyman's Daughter. It was an achievement. + +The first argument against the story, as related by Borrow, is that +he was not without resources at the time. Why should he be so +impoverished a few weeks after receiving payment for Celebrated +Trials? {57a} Above all, why did he not realise upon Simpkin & +Marshall's bill for Faustus? He would have experienced no difficulty +in discounting a bill accepted by such a firm. It seems hardly +conceivable that he should preserve this piece of paper when he had +only eighteen-pence in the world. Everything seems to point to the +fact that in May 1825 Borrow was not in want of money, and if he were +not, why did he almost kill himself by writing the Life and +Adventures of Joseph Sell? Again, at that period he had met with no +adventures such as might be included in the life of a "Great +Traveller," and Borrow was not an inventive writer. Later he +possessed plenty of material; for there can be no question that he +roamed about the world for a considerable portion of those seven +mysterious years of his life that came to be known as the "Veiled +Period." His accuracy as to actual occurrences has been so +emphasised that this particular argument holds considerable +significance. + +The strongest evidence against Joseph Sell having been written in +1825, however, lies in the fact that Greenwich Fair was held on 23rd +May, and not 12th May, as given by Dr Knapp. By his error Dr Knapp +makes Borrow leave London a day before the Fair took place that he +describes. Borrow must have left London on the day following +Greenwich Fair (24th May). If he left later, then those things which +tend to confirm his story of the life in the Dingle do not fit in, as +will be seen. He certainly could not have left before Greenwich Fair +was held. + +In one of his brother John's letters, written at the end of 1829, +there is a significant passage, "Let me know how you sold your +manuscript." {58a} What manuscript is it that is referred to? There +is no record of George having sold a manuscript in the autumn of +1829. The passage can scarcely have reference to some article or +translation; it seems to suggest something of importance, an event in +George's life that his brother is anxious to know more about. If +this be Joseph Sell, then it explains where Borrow got the money from +to go up to London at the end of 1829, when he entered into relations +with Dr Bowring. It is merely a theory, it must be confessed; but +there is certain evidence that seems to support it. In the first +place, Borrow was a chronicler before all else. He possessed an +amazing memory and a great gift for turning his experiences into +literary material. If he coloured facts, he appears to have done so +unconsciously, to judge from those portions of The Bible in Spain +that were covered by letters to the Bible Society. Not only are the +facts the same, but, with very slight changes, the words in which he +relates them. He never hesitated to change a date if it served his +purpose, much as an artist will change the position of a tree in a +landscape to suit the exigencies of composition. His five volumes of +autobiography bristle with coincidences so amazing that, if they were +actually true, he must have been the most remarkable genius on record +for attracting to himself strange adventures. He met the sailor son +of the old Apple-Woman returning from his enforced exile; Murtagh +tells him of how the postilion frightened the Pope at Rome by his +denunciation, a story Borrow had already heard from the postilion +himself; the Hungarian at Horncastle narrates how an Armenian once +silenced a Moldavian, the same Moldavian whom Borrow had encountered +in London; the postilion meets the man in black again. There are +scores of such coincidences, which must be accepted as dramatic +embellishments. + + + +CHAPTER IV: MAY-SEPTEMBER 1825 + + + +Fourteen months in London had shown Borrow how hard was the road of +authorship. He confessed that he was not "formed by nature to be a +pallid indoor student." "The peculiar atmosphere of the big city" +did not agree with him, and this fact, together with the anxiety and +hard work of the past twelve months, caused him to flag, and his +first thought was how to recover his health. He was disillusioned as +to the busy world, and the opportunities it offered to a young man +fired with ambition to make a stir in it. He determined to leave +London, which he did towards the end of May, {60a} first despatching +his trunk "containing a few clothes and books to the old town +[Norwich]." He struck out in a south-westerly direction, musing on +his achievements as an author, and finding that in having preserved +his independence and health, he had "abundant cause to be grateful." + +Throughout his life Borrow was hypnotised by independence. Like many +other proud natures, he carried his theory of independence to such an +extreme as to become a slave to it and render himself unsociable, +sometimes churlish. It was this virtue carried to excess that drove +Borrow from London. He must tell men what was in his mind, and his +one patron, Sir Richard Phillips, he had mortally offended in this +manner. + +Finding that he was unequal to much fatigue, after a few hours' +walking he hailed a passing coach, which took him as far as Amesbury +in Wiltshire. From here he walked to Stonehenge and on to Salisbury, +"inspecting the curiosities of the place," and endeavouring by sleep +and good food to make up the wastage of the last few months. The +weather was fine and his health and spirits rapidly improved as he +tramped on, his "daily journeys varying from twenty to twenty-five +miles." He encountered the mysterious stranger who "touched" against +the evil eye. F. H. Groome asserts, on the authority of W. B. Donne, +that this was in reality William Beckford. Borrow must have met him +at some other time and place, as he had already left Fonthill in +1825. It is, however, interesting to recall that Borrow himself +"touched" against the evil eye. Mr Watts-Dunton has said: + + +"There was nothing that Borrow strove against with more energy than +the curious impulse, which he seems to have shared with Dr Johnson, +to touch the objects along his path in order to save himself from the +evil chance. He never conquered the superstition. In walking +through Richmond Park he would step out of his way constantly to +touch a tree, and he was offended if the friend he was with seemed to +observe it." {61a} + + +The chance meeting with Jack Slingsby (in fear of his life from the +Flaming Tinman, and bound by oath not to continue on the same beat) +gave Borrow the idea of buying out Slingsby, beat, plant, pony and +all. "A tinker is his own master, a scholar is not," {61b} he +remarks, and then proceeds to draw tears and moans from the +dispirited Slingsby and his family by a description of the joys of +tinkering, "the happiest life under heaven . . . pitching your tent +under the pleasant hedge-row, listening to the song of the feathered +tribes, collecting all the leaky kettles in the neighbourhood, +soldering and joining, earning your honest bread by the wholesome +sweat of your brow." {62a} + +By the expenditure of five pounds ten shillings, plus the cost of a +smock-frock and some provisions, George Borrow, linguist, editor and +translator, became a travelling tinker. With his dauntless little +pony, Ambrol, he set out, a tinkering Ulysses, indifferent to what +direction he took, allowing the pony to go whither he felt inclined. +At first he experienced some apprehension at passing the night with +only a tent or the stars as a roof. Rain fell to mar the opening day +of the adventure, but the pony, with unerring instinct, led his new +master to one of Slingsby's usual camping grounds. + +In the morning Borrow fell to examining what it was beyond the pony +and cart that his five pounds ten shillings had purchased. He found +a tent, a straw mattress and a blanket, "quite clean and nearly new." +There were also a frying-pan, a kettle, a teapot (broken in three +pieces) and some cups and saucers. The stock-in-trade "consisted of +various tools, an iron ladle, a chafing-pan, and small bellows, +sundry pans and kettles, the latter being of tin, with the exception +of one which was of copper, all in a state of considerable +dilapidation." The pans and kettles were to be sold after being +mended, for which purpose there was "a block of tin, sheet-tin, and +solder." But most precious of all his possessions was "a small anvil +and bellows of the kind which are used in forges, and two hammers +such as smiths use, one great, and the other small." {62b} Borrow +had learned the blacksmith's art when in Ireland, and the anvil, +bellows and smith's hammers were to prove extremely useful. + +A few days after pitching his tent, Borrow received from his old +enemy Mrs Herne, Mr Petulengro's mother-in-law, a poisoned cake, +which came very near to ending his career. He then encountered the +Welsh preacher ("the worthiest creature I ever knew") and his wife, +who were largely instrumental in saving him from Mrs Herne's poison. +Having remained with his new friends for nine days, he accompanied +them as far as the Welsh border, where he confessed himself the +translator of Ab Gwilym, giving as an excuse for not accompanying +them further that it was "neither fit nor proper that I cross into +Wales at this time, and in this manner. When I go into Wales, I +should wish to go in a new suit of superfine black, with hat and +beaver, mounted on a powerful steed, black and glossy, like that +which bore Greduv to the fight of Catraeth. I should wish, +moreover," he continued, "to see the Welshmen assembled on the border +ready to welcome me with pipe and fiddle, and much whooping and +shouting, and to attend me to Wrexham, or even as far as +Machynllaith, where I should wish to be invited to a dinner at which +all the bards should be present, and to be seated at the right hand +of the president, who, when the cloth was removed, should arise, and +amidst cries of silence, exclaim--'Brethren and Welshmen, allow me to +propose the health of my most respectable friend the translator of +the odes of the great Ab Gwilym, the pride and glory of Wales.'" +{63a} + +He returned with Mr Petulengro, who directed him to Mumber Lane +(Mumper's Dingle), near Willenhall, in Staffordshire, "the little +dingle by the side of the great north road." Here Borrow encamped +and shod little Ambrol, who kicked him over as a reminder of his +clumsiness. + +He had refused an invitation from Mr Petulengro to become a Romany +chal and take a Romany bride, the granddaughter of his would-be +murderess, who "occasionally talked of" him. He yearned for solitude +and the country's quiet. He told Mr Petulengro that he desired only +some peaceful spot where he might hold uninterrupted communion with +his own thoughts, and practise, if so inclined, either tinkering or +the blacksmith's art, and he had been directed to Mumper's Dingle, +which was to become the setting of the most romantic episode in his +life. + +In the dingle Borrow experienced one of his worst attacks of the +"Horrors"--the "Screaming Horrors." He raged like a madman, a prey +to some indefinable, intangible fear; clinging to his "little horse +as if for safety and protection." {64a} He had not recovered from +the prostrating effects of that night of tragedy when he was called +upon to fight Anselo Herne, "the Flaming Tinman," who somehow or +other seemed to be part of the bargain he had made with Jack +Slingsby, and encounter the queen of road-girls, Isopel Berners. The +description of the fight has been proclaimed the finest in our +language, and by some the finest in the world's literature. + +Isopel Berners is one of the great heroines of English Literature. +As drawn by Borrow, with her strong arm, lion-like courage and tender +tearfulness, she is unique. However true or false the account of her +relations with Borrow may be, she is drawn by him as a living woman. +He was incapable of conceiving her from his imagination. It may go +unquestioned that he actually met an Isopel Berners, {64b} but +whether or no his parting from her was as heart-rendingly tragic as +he has depicted it, is open to very grave question. + +With this queen of the roads he seems to have been less reticent and +more himself than with any other of his vagabond acquaintance, not +excepting even Mr Petulengro. To the handsome, tall girl with "the +flaxen hair, which hung down over her shoulders unconfined," and the +"determined but open expression," he showed a more amiable side of +his character; yet he seems to have treated her with no little +cruelty. He told her about himself, how he "had tamed savage mares, +wrestled with Satan, and had dealings with ferocious publishers," +bringing tears to her eyes, and when she grew too curious, he +administered an antidote in the form of a few Armenian numerals. If +his Autobiography is to be credited, Isopel loved him, and he was +aware of it; but the knowledge did not hinder him from torturing the +poor girl by insisting that she should decline the verb "to love" in +Armenian. + +Borrow's attitude towards Isopel was curiously complex; he seemed to +find pleasure in playing upon her emotions. At times he appeared as +deliberately brutal to her, as to the gypsy girl Ursula when he +talked with her beneath the hedge. He forced from Isopel a +passionate rebuke that he sought only to vex and irritate "a poor +ignorant girl . . . who can scarcely read or write." He asked her to +marry him, but not until he had convinced her that he was mad. How +much she had become part of his life in the dingle he did not seem to +realise until after she had left him. Isopel Berners was a woman +whose character was almost masculine in its strength; but she was +prepared to subdue her spirit to his, wished to do so even. With her +strength, however, there was wisdom, and she left Borrow and the +dingle, sending him a letter of farewell that was certainly not the +composition of "a poor girl" who could "scarcely read or write." The +story itself is in all probability true; but the letter rings false. +Isopel may have sent Borrow a letter of farewell, but not the one +that appears in The Romany Rye. + +Among Borrow's papers Dr Knapp discovered a fragment of manuscript in +which Mr Petulengro is shown deliberating upon the expediency of +emulating King Pharaoh in the number of his wives. Mrs Petulengro +desires "a little pleasant company," and urges her husband to take a +second spouse. He proceeds:- + + +"Now I am thinking that this here Bess of yours would be just the +kind of person both for my wife and myself. My wife wants something +gorgiko, something genteel. Now Bess is of blood gorgious; if you +doubt it, look at her face, all full of pawno ratter, white blood, +brother; and as for gentility, nobody can make exceptions to Bess's +gentility, seeing she was born in the workhouse of Melford the +Short." + + +Mr Petulengro sees in Bess another advantage. If "the Flaming +Tinman" {66a} were to descend upon them, as he once did, with the +offer to fight the best of them for nothing, and Tawno Chikno were +absent, who was to fight him? Mr Petulengro could not do so for less +than five pounds; but with Bess as a second wife the problem would be +solved. She would fight "the Flaming Tinman." + +This proves nothing, one way or the other, and can scarcely be said +to "dispel any allusions," as Dr Knapp suggests, or confirm the story +of Isopel. Why did Borrow omit it from Lavengro? Not from caprice +surely. It has been stated that those who know the gypsies can vouch +for the fact that no such suggestion could have been made by a gypsy +woman. + +It would appear that Isopel Berners existed, but the account of her +given by Borrow in Lavengro and The Romany Rye is in all probability +coloured, just as her stature was heightened by him. If she were +taller than he, she must have appeared a giantess. Borrow was an +impressionist, and he has probably succeeded far better in giving a +faithful picture of Isopel Berners than if he had been +photographically accurate in his measurements. + +According to Borrow's own account, he left Willenhall mounted upon a +fine horse, purchased with money lent to him by Mr Petulengro, a +small valise strapped to the saddle, and "some desire to meet with +one of those adventures which upon the roads of England are generally +as plentiful as blackberries." From this point, however, The Romany +Rye becomes dangerous as autobiography. {66b} + +For one thing, it was unlike Borrow to remain in debt, and it is +incredible that he should have ridden away upon a horse purchased +with another man's money, without any set purpose in his mind. +Therefore the story of his employment at the Swan Inn, Stafford, +where he found his postilion friend, and the subsequent adventures +must be reluctantly sacrificed. They do not ring true, nor do they +fit in with the rest of the story. That he experienced such +adventures is highly probable; but it is equally probable that he +took some liberty with the dates. + +Up to the point where he purchases the horse, Borrow's story is +convincing; but from there onwards it seems to go to pieces, that is +as autobiography. The arrival of Ardry (Arden) at the inn, {67a} +PASSING THROUGH STAFFORD ON HIS WAY TO WARWICK to be present at a dog +and lion fight that had already taken place (26th July), is in itself +enough to shake our confidence in the whole episode of the inn. In +The Gypsies of Spain Mr Petulengro is made to say: + + +"I suppose you have not forgot how, fifteen years ago, when you made +horseshoes in the little dingle by the side of the great north road, +I lent you fifty cottors [guineas] to purchase the wonderful trotting +cob of the innkeeper with the green Newmarket coat, which three days +after you sold for two hundred. Well, brother, if you had wanted the +two hundred instead of the fifty, I could have lent them to you, and +would have done so, for I knew you would not be long pazorrhus +[indebted] to me." {67b} + + +It seems more in accordance with Borrow's character to repay the loan +within three days than to continue in Mr Petulengro's debt for weeks, +at one time making no actual effort to realise upon the horse. The +question as to whether Borrow received a hundred and fifty (as he +himself states) or two hundred pounds is immaterial. It is quite +likely that he sold the horse before he left the dingle, and that the +adventures he narrates may be true in all else save the continued +possession of his steed, that is, with the exception of the Francis +Ardry episode, the encounter with the man in black, and the arrival +at Horncastle during the fair. If Borrow left London on 24th May, +and he could not have left earlier, as has been shown, he must have +visited the Fair (Tamworth) with Mr Petulengro on 26th July, and set +out from Willenhall about 2nd August. + +It has been pointed out by that distinguished scholar and gentleman- +gypsy, Mr John Sampson, {68a} that as the Horse Fair at Horncastle +was held 12th-21st August, if Borrow took the horse there it could +not have been in the manner described in The Romany Rye, where he is +shown as spending some considerable time at the inn, if we may judge +by the handsome cheque (10 pounds) offered to him by the landlord as +a bonus on account of his services. Then there was the accident and +the consequent lying-up at the house of the man who knew Chinese, but +could not tell what o'clock it was. To confirm Borrow's itinerary +all this must have been crowded into less than three weeks, fully a +third of which Borrow spent in recovering from his fall. This would +mean that for less than a fortnight's work, the innkeeper offered him +ten pounds as a gratuity, in addition to the bargain he had made, +which included the horse's keep. + +Mr Sampson has supported his itinerary with several very important +pieces of evidence. Borrow states in Lavengro that "a young moon +gave a feeble light" as he mounted the coach that was to take him to +Amesbury. The moon was in its first quarter on 24th May. There +actually was a great thunderstorm in the Willenhall district about +the time that Borrow describes (18th July). It is Mr Sampson also +who has identified the fair to which Borrow went with the gypsies as +that held at Tamworth on 26th July. + +Whatever else Borrow may have been doing immediately after leaving +the dingle, he appears to have been much occupied in speculating as +to the future. Was he not "sadly misspending his time?" He was +forced to the conclusion that he had done nothing else throughout his +life but misspend his time. He was ambitious. He chafed at his +narrow life. "Oh! what a vast deal may be done with intellect, +courage, riches, accompanied by the desire of doing something great +and good!" {69a} he exclaims, and his thoughts turned instinctively +to the career of his old school-fellow, Rajah Brooke of Sarawak. +{69b} He was now, by his own confession, "a moody man, bearing on my +face, as I well knew, the marks of my strivings and my strugglings, +of what I had learnt and unlearnt." {69c} He recognised the +possibilities that lay in every man, only awaiting the hour when they +should be called forth. He believed implicitly in the power of the +will. {69d} He possessed ambition and a fine workable theory of how +success was to be obtained; but he lacked initiative. He expected +fortune to wait for him on the high-road, just as he knew adventures +awaited him. He would not go "across the country," to use a phrase +of the time common to postilions. He was too independent, perhaps +too sensitive of being patronised, to seek employment. That he cared +"for nothing in this world but old words and strange stories," was an +error into which his friend Mr Petulengro might well fall. The +mightiness of the man's pride could be covered only by a cloak of +assumed indifference. He must be independent of the world, not only +in material things, but in those intangible qualities of the spirit. +It was this that lost him Isopel Berners, whose love he awakened by a +strong right arm and quenched with an Armenian noun. Again, his +independence stood in the way of his happiness. A man is a king, he +seemed to think, and the attribute of kings is their splendid +isolation, their godlike solitude. If his Ego were lonely and crying +out for sympathy, Borrow thought it a moment for solitude, in which +to discipline his insurgent spirit. The "Horrors" were the result of +this self-repression. When they became unbearable, his spirit broke +down, the yearning for sympathy and affection overmastered him, and +he stumbled to his little horse in the desolate dingle, and found +comfort in the faithful creature's whinny of sympathy and its +affectionate licking of his hand. The strong man clung to his dumb +brute friend as a protection against the unknown horror--the +screaming horror that had gripped him. + +One quality Borrow possessed in common with many other men of strange +and taciturn personality. He could always make friends when he +chose. Ostlers, scholars, farmers, gypsies; it mattered not one jot +to him what, or who they were. He could earn their respect and +obtain their good-will, if he wished to do so. He demanded of men +that they should have done things, or be capable of doing things. +They must know everything there was to be known about some one thing; +and the ostler, than whom none could groom a horse better, was worthy +of being ranked with the best man in the land. He demanded of every +man that he should justify his existence, and was logical in his +attitude, save in the insignificant particular that he applied the +same rule to himself only in theory. + +He was shrewd and a good judge of character, provided it were +Protestant character, and could hold his own with a Jew or a Gypsy. +He was fully justified in his boast of being able to take "precious +good care of" himself, and "drive a precious hard bargain"; yet these +qualities were not to find a market until he was thirty years of age. + +Sometime during the autumn (1825) Borrow returned to Norwich, where +he busied himself with literary affairs, among other things writing +to the publishers of Faustus about the bill that was shortly to fall +due. The fact of the book having been destroyed at both the Norwich +libraries, gave him the idea that he might make some profit by +selling copies of the suppressed volume. Hence his offer to Simpkin +& Marshall to take copies in lieu of money. + + + +CHAPTER V: SEPTEMBER 1825-DECEMBER 1832 + + + +From the autumn of 1825 until the winter of 1832, when he obtained an +introduction to the British & Foreign Bible Society, only fragmentary +details of Borrow's life exist. He decided to keep sacred to himself +the "Veiled Period," as it came to be called. In all probability it +was a time of great hardship and mortification, and he wished it to +be thought that the whole period was devoted to "a grand philological +expedition," or expeditions. There is no doubt that some portion of +the mysterious epoch was so spent, but not all. Many of the +adventures ascribed to characters in Lavengro and The Romany Rye +were, most probably, Borrow's own experiences during that period of +mystery and misfortune. Time after time he was implored to "lift up +a corner of the curtain"; but he remained obdurate, and the seven +years are in his life what the New Orleans days were in that of Walt +Whitman. + +Soon after his return to Norwich, Borrow seems to have turned his +attention to the manuscripts in the green box. In the days of happy +augury, before he had quarrelled with Sir Richard Phillips, there had +appeared in The Monthly Magazine the two following paragraphs:- + + +"We have heard and seen much of the legends and popular superstitions +of the North, but, in truth, all the exhibitions of these subjects +which have hitherto appeared in England have been translations from +the German. Mr Olaus Borrow, who is familiar with the Northern +Languages, proposes, however, to present these curious reliques of +romantic antiquity directly from the Danish and Swedish, and two +elegant volumes of them now printing will appear in September. They +are highly interesting in themselves, but more so as the basis of +most of the popular superstitions of England, when they were +introduced during the incursions and dominion of the Danes and +Norwegians." (1st September 1824.) + +"We have to acknowledge the favour of a beautiful collection of +Danish songs and ballads, of which a specimen will be seen among the +poetical articles of the present month. One, or more, of these very +interesting translations will appear in each succeeding number." +(1st December 1824.) + + +It seems to have been Borrow's plan to run his ballads serially +through The Monthly Magazine and then to publish them in book-form. +His initial contribution to The Monthly Magazine had appeared in +October 1823. The first of the articles, entitled "Danish Traditions +and Superstitions," appeared August 1824, and continued, with the +omission of one or two months, until December 1825, there being in +all nine articles; but there was only one instalment of "Danish Songs +and Ballads." {73a} + +Borrow was determined that these ballads, at least, should be +published, and he set to work to prepare them for the press. Allan +Cunningham, with whom Borrow was acquainted, contributed, at his +request, a metrical dedication. The volume appeared on 10th May, in +an edition of five hundred copies at ten shillings and sixpence each. +It appears that some two hundred copies were subscribed for, thus +ensuring the cost of production. The balance, or a large proportion +of it, was consigned to John Taylor, the London publisher, who +printed a new title-page and sold them at seven shillings each, +probably the trade price for a half-guinea book. + +Cunningham wrote to Borrow advising him to send out freely copies for +review, and with each a note saying that it was the translator's +ultimate intention to publish an English version of the whole Kiaempe +Viser with notes; also to "scatter a few judiciously among literary +men." It is doubtful if this sage counsel were acted upon; for there +is no record of any review or announcement of the work. This in +itself was not altogether a misfortune; for Borrow did not prove +himself an inspired translator of verse. Apart from the two hundred +copies sold to subscribers, the book was still-born. + +After the publication of Romantic Ballads, Borrow appears to have +returned to London, not to his old lodging at Milman Street, possibly +on account of the associations, but to 26 Bryanston Street, Portman +Square, from which address he wrote to Benjamin Haydon the following +note:- {74a} + + +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. + + +In his account of how he first became acquainted with Haydon, Borrow +shows himself as anything but desirous of appearing in a picture. +When John tells of the artist's wish to include him as one of the +characters in a painting upon which he is engaged, Borrow replies: +"I have no wish to appear on canvas." It is probable that in some +way or other Haydon offended his sitter, who, regretting his +acquiescence, antedated the episode and depicted himself as refusing +the invitation. Such a liberty with fact and date would be quite in +accordance with Borrow's autobiographical methods. + +Borrow wrote in Lavengro, "I have been a wanderer the greater part of +my life; indeed I remember only two periods, and these by no means +lengthy, when I was, strictly speaking, stationary." {75a} One of +the "two periods" was obviously the eight years spent at Norwich, +1816-24, the other is probably the years spent at Oulton. Thus the +"Veiled Period" may be assumed to have been one of wandering. The +seven years are gloomy and mysterious, but not utterly dark. There +is a hint here, a suggestion there--a letter or a paragraph, that +gives in a vague way some idea of what Borrow was doing, and where. +It seems comparatively safe to assume that after the publication of +Romantic Ballads he plunged into a life of roving and vagabondage, +which, in all probability, was brought to an abrupt termination by +either the loss or the exhaustion of his money. Anything beyond this +is pure conjecture. {75b} + +After he became associated with the British & Foreign Bible Society, +his movements are easily accounted for; but all we have to guide us +as to what countries he had seen before 1833 is an occasional hint. +He casually admits having been in Italy, {75c} at Bayonne, {75d} +Paris, {75e} Madrid, {75f} the south of France. {75g} "I have +visited most of the principal capitals of the world," he writes in +1843; and again in the same year, "I have heard the ballad of Alonzo +Guzman chanted in Danish, by a hind in the wilds of Jutland." {76a} +"I have lived in different parts of the world, much amongst the +Hebrew race, and I am well acquainted with their words and +phraseology," {76b} he writes; and on another occasion: "I have seen +gypsies of various lands, Russian, Hungarian, and Turkish; and I have +also seen the legitimate children of most countries of the world." +{76c} An even more significant admission is that made when Colonel +Elers Napier, whom Borrow met in Seville in 1839, enquired where he +had obtained his knowledge of Moultanee. "Some years ago, in +Moultan," was the reply; then, as if regretting that he had confessed +so much, showed by his manner that he intended to divulge nothing +more. {76d} + +"Once, during my own wanderings in Italy," Borrow writes, "I rested +at nightfall by the side of a kiln, the air being piercingly cold; it +was about four leagues from Genoa." {76e} Again, "Once in the south +of France, when I was weary, hungry, and penniless, I observed one of +these last patterans {76f} [a cross marked in the dust], and +following the direction pointed out, arrived at the resting-place of +'certain Bohemians,' by whom I was received with kindness and +hospitality, on the faith of no other word of recommendation than +patteran." {76g} In a letter of introduction to the Rev. E. Whitely, +of Oporto, the Rev. Andrew Brandram, of the Bible Society, wrote in +1835: "With Portugal he [Borrow] is already acquainted, and speaks +the language." This statement is significant, for only during the +"Veiled Period" could Borrow have visited Portugal. + +It may be argued that Borrow was merely posing as a great traveller, +but the foregoing remarks are too casual, too much in the nature of +asides, to be the utterances of a poseur. A man seeking to impress +himself upon the world as a great traveller would probably have been +a little more definite. + +The only really reliable information as to Borrow's movements after +his arrival in London is contained in the note to Haydon. In all +probability he went to Paris, where possibly he met Vidocq, the +master-rogue turned detective. {77a} It has been suggested by Dr +Knapp that he went to Paris, and thence on foot to Bayonne and +Madrid, after which he tramped to Pamplona, where he gets into +trouble, is imprisoned, and is released on condition that he leave +the country; he proceeds towards Marseilles and Genoa, where he takes +ship and is landed safely in London. The data, however, upon which +this itinerary is constructed are too frail to be convincing. There +is every probability that he roamed about the Continent and met with +adventures--he was a man to whom adventures gravitated quite +naturally--but the fact of his saying that he had been imprisoned on +three occasions, and there being only two instances on record at the +time, cannot in itself be considered as conclusive evidence of his +having been arrested at Pamplona. {77b} + +In the spring of 1827 Borrow was unquestionably at Norwich, for he +saw the famous trotting stallion Marshland Shales on the Castle Hill +(12th April), and did for that grand horse "what I would neither do +for earl or baron, doffed my hat." {78a} Borrow apparently remained +with his mother for some months, to judge from certain entries (29th +September to 19th November) in his hand that appear in her account +books. + +In December 1829 he was back again in London at 77 Great Russell +Street, W.C. He was as usual eager to obtain some sort of work. He +wrote to "the Committee of the Honourable and Praiseworthy +Association, known by the name of the Highland Society . . . a body +animate with patriotism, which, guided by philosophy, produces the +noblest results, and many of whose members stand amongst the very +eminent in the various departments of knowledge." + +The project itself was that of translating into English "the best and +most approved poetry of the Ancient and Modern Scoto-Gaelic Bards, +with such notes on the usages and superstitions therein alluded to, +as will enable the English reader to form a clear and correct idea of +the originals." In the course of a rather ornate letter, Borrow +offers himself as the translator and compiler of such a work as he +suggests, avowing his willingness to accept whatsoever remuneration +might be thought adequate compensation for his expenditure of time. +Furthermore, he undertakes to complete the work within a period of +two years. + +On 7th December he wrote to Dr Bowring, recently returned from +Denmark:- + + +"Lest I should intrude upon you when you are busy, I write to enquire +when you will be unoccupied. I wish to show you my translation of +The Death of Balder, Ewald's most celebrated production, 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." {79a} + + +On 29th December he wrote again:- + + +"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. Suppose we bring forward at once the first +volume of the Danish Anthology, which should contain the heroic +supernatural songs of the K[iaempe] V[iser]." + + +It was suggested that there should be four volumes in all, and the +first, with an introduction that Borrow expressed himself as not +ashamed of, was ready and "might appear instanter, with no further +trouble to yourself than writing, if you should think fit, a page or +two of introductory matter." Dr Bowring replied by return of post +that he thought that no more than two volumes could be ventured on, +and Borrow acquiesced, writing: "The sooner the work is advertised +the better, FOR I AM TERRIBLY AFRAID OF BEING FORESTALLED IN THE +KIAEMPE 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." + +Borrow was full of enthusiasm for the project, and repeated that the +first volume was ready, adding: "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." A later letter, which +was written from 7 Museum Street (8th January), told how he had "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." + +He drew up a prospectus, endeavouring "to assume a Danish style," +which he submitted to his collaborator, begging him to "alter . . . +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." + +It would appear that Dr Bowring did not altogether approve of the +"Danish style," for on 14th January Borrow wrote, "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 . . . +When you see the foreign Editor," he continues, "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." + +The prospectus, which appeared in several publications ran as +follows:- + + +"Dr Bowring and Mr George Borrow are about to publish, dedicated to +the King of Denmark, by His Majesy's permission, THE SONGS OF +SCANDINAVIA, in 2 vols. 8vo, 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. + +Price to Subscribers, 1 pound, 1s.--to Non-Subscribers 1 pound, 5s. +The First Volume will be devoted to Ancient Popular Poetry; the +Second will give the choicest productions of the Modern School, +beginning with Tullin." {81a} + + +The Songs of Scandinavia now became to Borrow what the Celebrated +Trials had been four years previously, a source of constant toil. On +one occasion he writes to Dr Bowring telling him that he has just +translated an ode "as I breakfasted." What Borrow lived on at this +period it is impossible to say. It may be assumed that Mrs Borrow +did not keep him, for, apart from the slender proportions of the +income of the mother, the unconquerable independence of the son must +be considered; and Borrow loved his mother too tenderly to allow her +to deprive herself of luxuries even to keep him. He borrowed money +from her at various times; but he subsequently faithfully repaid her. +Even John was puzzled. "You never tell me what you are doing," he +writes to his brother at the end of 1832; "you can't be living on +nothing." + +Borrow appears to have kept Dr Bowring well occupied with suggestions +as to how that good-natured man might assist him. Although he is to +see him on the morrow, he writes on the evening of 21st May regarding +another idea that has just struck him: + + +"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-Chiefs 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 accessible 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 have 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." + + +On 22nd May Dr Bowring introduced Borrow to Dr Grundtvig, the Danish +poet, who required some transcriptions done. On 7th June, Borrow +wrote to Dr Bowring: + + +"I have looked over Mr Gruntvig's (sic) manuscript. It is a very +long affair, and the language is Norman Saxon. 40 pounds 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 20 +pounds. 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." + + +At this time there were a hundred schemes seething through Borrow's +eager brain. Hearing that "an order has been issued for the making a +transcript of the celebrated Anglo-Saxon Codex of Exeter, for the use +of the British Museum," he applied to some unknown correspondent for +his interest and help to obtain the appointment as transcriber. The +work, however, was carried out by a Museum official. + +Another project appears to have been to obtain a post at the British +Museum. On 9th March 1830 he had written to Dr Bowring: + + +"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." + + +In reply Dr Bowring commended the scheme, and promised to assist "by +every sort of counsel and exertion. But it would injure you," he +proceeds, "if I were to take the initiative. [The Gibraltar house of +Bowring & Murdock had recently failed.] Quietly make yourself master +of that department of the Museum. We must then think of how best to +get at the Council. If by any management they can be induced to ask +my opinion, I will give you a character which shall take you to the +top of Hecla itself. You have claims, strong ones, and I should +rejoice to see you NICHED in the British Museum." + +Again failure! Disappointment seemed to be dogging Borrow's +footsteps at this period. For years past he had been seeking some +sort of occupation, into which he could throw all that energy and +determination of character that he possessed. He was earnest and +able, and he knew that he only required an opportunity of showing to +the world what manner of man he was. He seemed doomed to meet +everywhere with discouragement; for no one wanted him, just as no one +wanted his translations of the glorious Ab Gwilym. He appeared +before the world as a failure, which probably troubled him very +little; but there was another aspect of the case that was in his +eyes, "the most heartbreaking of everything, the strange, the +disadvantageous light in which I am aware that I must frequently have +appeared to those whom I most love and honour." {83a} + +On 14th September he wrote to Dr Bowring: + + +"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." + +A year later he writes again to Dr Bowring, who once more has been +exerting himself on his friend's behalf: + + +"WILLOW LANE, NORWICH, +11th September 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 5000 +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 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 Militia 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 500 pounds about one in +the line. I am acquainted with the Colonels of the two Norfolk +regiments, and I daresay 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 these 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 it. + +I remain, +My Dear Sir, +Your most obliged and obedient Servant, +GEORGE BORROW. + +P.S.--Present my best remembrances to Mrs B. 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. + + +It was pride that prompted Borrow to ask Dr Bowring to stay his hand +for the moment about a commission. There was no reasonable +possibility of his being able to raise 500 pounds. Even if his +mother had possessed it, which she did not, he would not have drained +her resources of so large an amount. His subsequent attitude towards +the Belgians was characteristic of him. To his acutely sensitive +perceptions, failure to obtain an appointment he sought was a rebuff, +and his whole nature rose up against what, at the moment, appeared to +be an intolerable slight. + +Nothing came of the project of collaboration between Bowring and +Borrow beyond an article on Danish and Norwegian literature that +appeared in The Foreign Quarterly Review (June 1830), in which Borrow +supplied translations of the sixteen poems illustrating Bowring's +text. In all probability the response to the prospectus was deemed +inadequate, and Bowring did not wish to face a certain financial +loss. + +From Borrow's own letters there is no question that Dr Bowring was +acting towards him in a most friendly manner, and really endeavouring +to assist him to obtain some sort of employment. It may be, as has +been said, and as seems extremely probable, that Bowring used his +"facility in acquiring and translating tongues deliberately as a +ladder to an administrative post abroad," {86a} but if Borrow "put a +wrong construction upon his sympathy" and was led into "a veritable +cul-de-sac of literature," {86b} it was no fault of Bowring's. + +Borrow's relations with Dr Bowring continued to be most cordial for +many years, as his letters show. "Pray excuse me for troubling you +with these lines," he writes years later; "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." This is very significant as indicating the nature of the +relations between the two men. + +Borrow was to experience yet another disappointment. A Welsh +bookseller, living in the neighbourhood of Smithfield, commissioned +him to translate into English Elis Wyn's The Sleeping Bard, a book +printed originally in 1703. The bookseller foresaw for the volume a +large sale, not only in England but in Wales; but "on the eve of +committing it to the press, however, the Cambrian-Briton felt his +small heart give way within him. 'Were I to print it,' said he, 'I +should be ruined; the terrible descriptions 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 . . . Myn +Diawl! I had no idea, till I had read him in English, that Elis Wyn +had been such a terrible fellow.'" {87a} + +With this Borrow had to be content and retire from the presence of +the little bookseller, who told him he was "much obliged . . . for +the trouble you have given yourself on my account," {87b} and his +bundle of manuscript, containing nearly three thousand lines, the +work probably of some months, was to be put aside for thirty years +before eventually appearing in a limited edition. + +It cannot be determined with exactness when Borrow relinquished the +unequal struggle against adverse circumstances in London. He had met +with sufficient discouragement to dishearten him from further effort. +Perhaps his greatest misfortune was his disinclination to make +friends with anybody save vagabonds. He could attract and earn the +friendship of an apple-woman, thimble-riggers, tramps, thieves, +gypsies, in short with any vagrant he chose to speak to; but his +hatred of gentility was a great and grave obstacle in the way of his +material advancement. His brother John seemed to recognise this; for +in 1831 he wrote, "I am convinced that YOUR WANT OF SUCCESS IN LIFE +is more owing to your being unlike other people than to any other +cause." + +It would appear that, finding nothing to do in London, Borrow once +more became a wanderer. He was in London in March; but on 27th, +28th, and 29th July 1830 he was unquestionably in Paris. Writing +about the Revolution of La Granja (August 1836) and of the energy, +courage and activity of the war correspondents, he says: + + +"I saw them [the war correspondents] during the three days at Paris, +mingled with canaille and gamins behind the barriers, whilst the +mitraille was flying in all directions, and the desperate cuirassiers +were dashing their fierce horses against these seemingly feeble +bulwarks. There stood they, dotting down their observations in their +pocket-books as unconcernedly as if reporting the proceedings of a +reform meeting in Covent Garden or Finsbury Square." {88a} + + +This can have reference only to the "Three Glorious Days" of +Revolution, 27th to 29th July 1830, during which Charles X. lost, and +Louis-Philippe gained, a throne. He returned to Norwich sometime +during the autumn of 1830. {88b} In November he was entering upon +his epistolary duel with the Army Pay Office in connection with +John's half-pay as a lieutenant in the West Norfolk Militia. + +In 1826 John had gone to Mexico, then looked upon as a land of +promise for young Englishmen, who might expect to find fortunes in +its silver mines. Allday, brother of Roger Kerrison, was there, and +John Borrow determined to join him. Obtaining a year's leave of +absence from his colonel, together with permission to apply for an +extension, he entered the service of the Real del Monte Company, +receiving a salary of three hundred pounds a year. He arranged that +his mother should have his half-pay, and it was in connection with +this that George entered upon a correspondence with the Army Pay +Office that was to extend over a period of fifteen months. + +Originally John had arranged for the amounts to be remitted to +Mexico, and he sent them back again to his mother. This involved +heavy losses in connection with the bills of exchange, and wishing to +avoid this tax, John sent to his brother an official copy of a +Mexican Power of Attorney, which George strove to persuade the Army +Pay Office was the original. + +Tact was unfortunately not one of George Borrow's acquirements at +this period, and in this correspondence he adopted an attitude that +must have seriously prejudiced his case. "I am a solicitor myself, +Sir," he states, and proceeds to threaten to bring the matter before +Parliament. He writes to the Solicitor of the Treasury "as a member +of the same honourable profession to which I was myself bred up," and +demands whether he has not law, etc., on his side. The outcome of +the correspondence was that the disembodied allowance was refused on +the plea "that Lieutenant Borrow having been absent without Leave +from the Training of the West Norfolk Militia has, under the +provisions of the 12th Section of the Militia Pay and Clothing Act, +forfeited his Allowance." In consequence, payment was made only for +the amount due from 25th June 1829 to 24th December 1830. The whole +tone of Borrow's letters was unfortunate for the cause he pleaded. +He wrote to the Secretary of State for War as he might have written +to the little Welsh bookseller with "the small heart." He was +indignant at what he conceived to be an injustice, and was unable to +dissemble his anger. + +George had thought of joining his brother, but had not received any +very marked encouragement to do so. John despised Mexican methods. +On one occasion he writes apropos of George's suggestion of the army, +"If you can raise the pewter, come out here rather than that, and +ROB." One sage thing at least John is to be credited with, when he +wrote to his brother, "Do not enter the army; it is a bad spec." It +would have been for George Borrow. + +Among the papers left at Borrow's death was a fragment of a political +article in dispraise of the Radicals. The editorial "We" suggests +that Borrow might possibly have been engaged in political journalism. +The statement made by him that he "frequently spoke up for +Wellington" {90a} may or may not have had reference to contributions +to the press. The fragment itself proves nothing. Many would-be +journalists write "leaders" that never see the case-room. + +It is useless to speculate further regarding the period that Borrow +himself elected to veil from the eyes, not only of his +contemporaries, but those of another generation. Men who have +overcome adverse conditions and achieved fame are not as a rule +averse from publishing, or at least allowing to be known, the +difficulties that they had to contend with. Borrow was in no sense +of the word an ordinary man. He unquestionably suffered acutely +during the years of failure, when it seemed likely that his life was +to be wasted, barren of anything else save the acquirement of a score +or more languages; keys that could open literary storehouses that +nobody wanted to explore, to the very existence of which, in fact, +the public was frigidly indifferent. + +"Poor George . . . I wish he was making money . . . He works hard +and remains poor," is the comment of his brother John, written in the +autumn of 1830. To no small degree Borrow was responsible for his +own failure, or perhaps it would be more just to say that he had been +denied many of the attributes that make for success. His +independence was aggressive, and it offended people. Even with the +Welsh Preacher and his wife he refused to unbend. + +"'What a disposition!'" Winifred had exclaimed, holding up her hands; +"'and this is pride, genuine pride--that feeling which the world +agrees to call so noble. Oh, how mean a thing is pride! never before +did I see all the meanness of what is called pride!'" {91a} + +This pride, magnificent as the loneliness of kings, and about as +unproductive of a sympathetic view of life, always constituted a +barrier in the way of Borrow's success. There were innumerable other +obstacles: his choice of friends, his fierce denunciatory hatred of +gentility, together with humbug, which he always seemed to confuse +with it, the attacks of the "Horrors," his grave bearing, which no +laugh ever disturbed, and, above all, his uncompromising hostility to +the things that the world chose to consider excellent. The world in +return could make nothing of a man who was a mass of moods and +sensibilities, strange tastes and pursuits. It is not remarkable +that he should fail to make the stir that he had hoped to make. + +With the unerring instinct of a hypersensitive nature, he knew his +merit, his honesty, his capacity--knew that he possessed one thing +that eventually commands success, which "through life has ever been +of incalculable utility to me, and has not unfrequently supplied the +place of friends, money, and many other things of almost equal +importance--iron perseverance, without which all the advantages of +time and circumstance are of very little avail in any undertaking." +{91b} It was this dogged determination that was to carry him through +the most critical period of his life, enable him to earn the approval +of those in whose interests he worked, and eventually achieve fame +and an unassailable place in English literature. + + + +CHAPTER VI: JANUARY-JULY 1833 + + + +It is not a little curious that no one should have thought of putting +Borrow's undoubted gifts as a linguist to some practical use. He +himself had frequently cast his eyes in the direction of a political +appointment abroad. It remained, however, for the Rev. Francis +Cunningham, {92a} vicar of Lowestoft, in Suffolk, to see in this +young man against whom the curse of Babel was inoperative, a sword +that, in the hands of the British and Foreign Bible Society, might be +wielded with considerable effect against the heathen. + +Borrow appears to have become acquainted with the Rev. Francis +Cunningham through the Skeppers of Oulton Hall, near Lowestoft, of +whom it is necessary to give some account. Edmund Skepper had +married Anne Breame of Beetley, who, on the death of her father, came +into 9000 pounds. She and her husband purchased the Oulton Hall +estate, upon which Anne Skepper seems to have been given a five per +cent. mortgage. There were two children of the marriage, Breame +(born 1794) and Mary (born 1796). The boy inherited the estate, and +the girl the mortgage, worth about 450 pounds per annum. Mary +married Henry Clarke, a lieutenant in the Navy (26th July 1817), who +within eight months died of consumption. Two months later Mrs Clarke +gave birth to a daughter, who was christened Henrietta Mary. Mrs +Clarke became acquainted with the Cunninghams while they were at +Pakefield, and there is every reason to believe that she was +instrumental in introducing Borrow to Cunningham. It is most +probable that they met during Borrow's visit at Oulton Hall in +November 1832. + +The Rev. Francis Cunningham appears to have been impressed by +Borrow's talent for languages, and fully alive to his value to an +institution such as the Bible Society, of which he, Cunningham, was +an active member. He accordingly addressed {93a} to the secretary, +the Rev. Andrew Brandram, the following letter: + + +LOWESTOFT VICARAGE, +27th Dec. 1832. + +MY DEAR FRIEND, - + +A young farmer in this neighbourhood has introduced me to-day to a +person of whom I have long heard, who appears to me to promise so +much that I am induced to offer him to you as a successor of Platt +and Greenfield. {93b} He is a person without University education, +but who has read the Bible in thirteen languages. He is independent +in circumstances, of no very defined denomination of Christians, but +I think of certain Christian principle. I shall make more enquiry +about him and see him again. Next week I propose to meet him in +London, and I could wish that you should see him, and, if you please, +take him under your charge for a few days. He is of the middle order +in Society, and a very produceable person. + +I intend to be in town on Tuesday morning to go to the Socy. P. C. K. +On Wednesday is Dr Wilson's meeting at Islington. He may be in town +on Monday evening, and will attend to any appointment. + +Will you write me word by return of post, and believe me ever + +Most truly and affectionately yours, + +F. CUNNINGHAM. + + +The recommendation was well-timed, for the Bible Society at that +particular moment required such a man as Borrow for a Manchu-Tartar +project it had in view. In 1821 the Bible Society had commissioned +Stepan Vasilievitch Lipovzoff, {94a} of St Petersburg, to translate +the New Testament into Manchu, the court and diplomatic language of +China. A year later, an edition of 550 copies of the First Gospel +was printed from type specially cast for the undertaking. A hundred +copies were despatched to headquarters in London, and the remainder, +together with the type, placed with the Society's bankers at St +Petersburg, {94b} until the time should arrive for the distribution +of the books. + +Three years after (1824), the overflowing Neva flooded the cellars in +which the books were stored, causing their irretrievable ruin, and +doing serious damage to the type. This misfortune appeared +temporarily to discourage the authorities at home, although Mr +Lipovzoff was permitted to proceed with the work of translation, +which he completed in two years from the date of the inundation. + +In 1832 the Rev. Wm. Swann, of the London Missionary Society, +discovered in the famous library of Baron Schilling de Canstadt at St +Petersburg the manuscript of a Manchu translation of "the principal +part of the Old Testament," and two books of the New. The discovery +was considered to be so important that Mr Swann decided to delay his +departure for his post in Siberia and make a transcription, which he +did. The Manchu translation was the work of Father Puerot, +"originally a Jesuit emissary at Pekin [who] passed the latter years +of his life in the service of the Russian Mission in the capacity of +physician." {95a} + +The immediate outcome of Mr Cunningham's letter was an interview +between Borrow and the Bible Society's officials. With +characteristic energy and determination, Borrow trudged up to London, +covering the 112 miles on foot in 27.5 hours. His expenses by the +way amounted to fivepence-halfpenny for the purchase of a roll, two +apples, a pint of ale and a glass of milk. On reaching London he +proceeded direct to the Bible Society's offices in Earl Street, in +spite of the early hour, and there awaited the arrival of the Rev. +Andrew Brandram (Secretary), and the Rev. Joseph Jowett (Literary +Superintendent). + +The story of Borrow's arrival at Earl Street was subsequently told, +by one of the secretaries at a provincial meeting in connection with +the Bible Society. The Rev. Wentworth Webster writes: + + +"I was little more than a boy when I first heard George Borrow spoken +of at the annual dinner given by a connection of my family to the +deputation of the British and Foreign Bible Society in a country town +near London . . . I can distinctly recall one of the secretaries +telling of his first meeting with Borrow, whom he found waiting at +the offices of the Society one morning;--how puzzled he was by his +appearance; how, after he had read his letter of introduction, he +wished to while away the time until a brother secretary should +arrive, and did not want to say anything to commit himself to such a +strange applicant; so he began by politely hoping that Borrow had +slept well. 'I am not aware that I fell asleep on the road,' was the +reply; I have walked from Norwich to London.'" {96a} + + +It would appear that this conference took place on Friday, 4th +January; for on that day there is an entry in the records of the +Society of the loan to George Borrow of several books from the +Society's library. On this and subsequent occasions, Borrow was +examined as to his capabilities, the result appearing to be quite +satisfactory. To judge from the books lent to Borrow, one of the +subjects would seem to have been Arabic. + +Borrow appeared before the Committee on 14th January, with the result +that they seemed to be "quite satisfied with me and my philological +capabilities," which they judged of from the report given by the +Secretary and his colleague. A more material sign of approval was +found in the undertaking to defray "the expenses of my journey to and +from London, and also of my residence in that city, in the most +handsome manner." {96b} That is to say, the Committee voted him the +sum of ten pounds. + +Borrow had been formally asked if he were prepared to learn Manchu +sufficiently well to edit, or translate, into that language such +portions of the Scriptures as the Society might decide to issue, +provided means of acquiring the language were put within his reach, +and employment should follow as soon as he showed himself proficient. +To this Borrow had willingly agreed. At this period, the idea +appears to have been to execute the work in London. + +Shortly after appearing before the Committee Borrow returned to +Norwich, this time by coach, with several books in the Manchu-Tartar +dialect, including the Gospel of St Matthew and Amyot's Manchu-French +Dictionary. His instructions were to learn the language and come up +for examination in six months' time. Possibly the time limit was +suggested by Borrow himself, for he had said that he believed he +could master any tongue in a few months. + +After two or three weeks of incessant study of a language that Amyot +says "one may acquire in five or six years," Borrow, who, it should +be remembered, possessed no grammar of the tongue, wrote to Mr +Jowett: + + +"It is, then, your opinion that, from the lack of anything in the +form of Grammar, I have scarcely made any progress towards the +attainment of Manchu: {97a} perhaps you will not be perfectly +miserable at being informed that you were never more mistaken in your +life. I can already, with the assistance of Amyot, translate Manchu +with no great difficulty, and am perfectly qualified to write a +critique on the version of St Matthew's Gospel, which I brought with +me into the country . . . I will now conclude by beseeching you to +send me, as soon as possible, WHATEVER CAN SERVE TO ENLIGHTEN ME IN +RESPECT TO MANCHU GRAMMAR, for, had I a Grammar, I should in a +month's time be able to send a Manchu translation of Jonah." + + +The racy style of Borrow's letters must have been something of a +revelation to the Bible Society's officers, who seem to have shown +great tact and consideration in dealing with their self-confident +correspondent There is something magnificent in the letters that +Borrow wrote about this period; their directness and virility, their +courage and determination suggest, not a man who up to the thirtieth +year of his age has been a conspicuous failure, as the world gauges +failure; but one who had grown confident through many victories and +is merely proceeding from one success to another. + +Whilst in London, Borrow had discussed with Mr Brandram "the Gypsies +and the profound darkness as to religion and morality that envolved +them." {98a} The Secretary told him of the Southampton Committee for +the Amelioration of the Condition of the Gypsies that had recently +been formed by the Rev. James Crabbe for the express purpose of +enlightening and spreading the Gospel among the Romanys. +Furthermore, Mr Brandram, on hearing of Borrow's interest in, and +knowledge of, the gypsies, had requested him immediately on his +return to Norwich to draw up a vocabulary of Mr Petulengro's +language, during such time as he might have free from his other +studies. Borrow showed himself, as usual, prolific of suggestions, +all of which involved him in additional labour. He enquired through +Mr Jowett if Mr Brandram would write about him to the Southampton +Committee. He wished to translate into the gypsy tongue the Gospel +of St John, "which I could easily do," he tells Mr Jowett, "with the +assistance of one or two of the old people, but then they must be +paid, for the gypsies are more mercenary than the Jews." + +He also informed Mr Jowett that he had a brother in Mexico, +subsequently assuring him that he had no doubt of John's willingness +to assist the Society in "flinging the rays of scriptural light o'er +that most benighted and miserable region." He sent to his brother, +at Mr Jowett's request, first a sheet, and afterwards a complete +copy, of the Gospel of St Luke translated into Nahuatl, the +prevailing dialect of the Mexican Indians, by Mariano Paz y Sanchez. +{99a} + +In addition to learning Manchu, Borrow is credited with correcting +and passing for press the Nahuatl version of St. Luke. {99b} The +Bible Society's records, however, point to the fact that this work +was carried through by John Hattersley, who later was to come up with +Borrow for examination in Manchu. In the light of this, the +following passage from one of John's letters is puzzling in the +extreme:- "I have just received your letter of the 16th of February, +together with your translation of St Luke. I am glad you have got +the job, but I must say that the Bible Society are just throwing away +their time." + +He goes on to explain how many dialects there are in Mexico. "The +job" can only refer to the Mexican translation, as, at that period, +Borrow was merely studying Manchu. He had received no appointment +from the Society. It may have happened that Borrow expressed a wish +to look through the proofs and that a set was sent to him for this +purpose; but there seems no doubt that the actual official +responsibility for the work rested with Hattersley. A very important +point in support of this view is that there is no record of Borrow +being paid anything in connection with this Mexican translation, +beyond the amount of fifteen shillings and fivepence, which he had +expended in postage on the advance sheet and complete copy sent to +John. To judge from the subsequent financial arrangements between +the Society and its agent, it is very improbable that he was given +work to do without payment. + +After seven weeks' study Borrow wrote again to Mr Jowett: + + +"I am advancing at full gallop, and . . . able to translate with +pleasure and facility the specimens of the best authors who have +written in the language contained in the compilation of the Klaproth. +But I confess that the want of a Grammar has been, particularly in +the beginning of my course, a great clog to my speed, and I have +little doubt that had I been furnished with one I should have +attained my present knowledge of Manchu in half the time. I was +determined, however, not to be discouraged, and, not having a hatchet +at hand to cut down the tree with, to attack it with my knife; and I +would advise every one to make the most of the tools which happen to +be in his possession until he can procure better ones, and it is not +improbable that by the time the good tools arrive he will find he has +not much need of them, having almost accomplished his work." {100a} + + +There is a hint of the difficulties he was experiencing in his +confession that tools would still be of service to him, in particular +"this same tripartite Grammar which Mr Brandram is hunting for, my +ideas respecting Manchu construction being still very vague and +wandering." {100b} There is also a request for "the original +grammatical work of Amyot, printed in the Memoires." {100c} + +Borrow had been studying Manchu for seven weeks when, feeling that +his glowing report of the progress he was making might be regarded as +"a piece of exaggeration and vain boasting," he enclosed a specimen +translation from Manchu into English. This he accompanied with an +assurance that, if required, he could at that moment edit any book +printed in the Manchu dialect. About this period Mr Jowett and his +colleagues passed from one sensation to another. The calm confidence +of this astonishing man was more than justified by his performance. +His attitude towards life was strange to Earl Street. + +Nineteen weeks from the date of commencing his study of Manchu, +Borrow wrote again to Mr Jowett with unmistakable triumph: "I have +mastered Manchu, and I should feel obliged by your informing the +Committee of the fact, and also my excellent friend Mr Brandram." He +proceeds to indicate some of the many difficulties with which he has +had to contend, the absolute difference of Manchu from all the other +languages that he has studied, with the single exception of Turkish; +the number of its idiomatic phrases, which must of necessity be +learnt off by heart; the little assistance he has had in the nature +of books. Finally he acknowledges "the assistance of God," and asks +"to be regularly employed, for though I am not in want, my affairs +are not in a very flourishing condition." + +The response to this letter was an invitation to proceed to London to +undergo an examination. His competitor was John Hattersley, upon +whom, in the event of Borrow's failure, would in all probability have +devolved the duty of assisting Mr Lipovzoff. A Manchu hymn, a paean +to the great Futsa, was the test. Each candidate prepared a +translation, which was handed to the examiners, who in turn were to +report to the Sub-Committee. Borrow returned to Norwich to await the +result. This was most probably towards the end of June. {101a} + +Mr Jowett wrote encouragingly to Borrow of his prospects of obtaining +the coveted appointment. In acknowledgment of this letter, Borrow +dashed off a reply, magnificent in its confidence and manly +sincerity. It was a defiance to the fate that had so long dogged his +footsteps. + + +"What you have written has given me great pleasure," he wrote, "as it +holds out hope that I may be employed usefully to the Deity, to man, +and myself. I shall be very happy to visit St Petersburg and to +become the coadjutor of Lipovzoff, {102a} and to avail myself of his +acquirements in what you very happily designate a most singular +language, towards obtaining a still greater proficiency in it. I +flatter myself that I am for one or two reasons tolerably well +adapted for the contemplated expedition, for besides a competent +knowledge of French and German, I possess some acquaintance with +Russian, being able to read without much difficulty any printed +Russian book, and I have little doubt that after a few months +intercourse with the natives, I should be able to speak it fluently. +It would ill become me to bargain like a Jew or a Gypsy as to terms; +all I wish to say on that point is, that I have nothing of my own, +having been too long dependent on an excellent mother, who is not +herself in very easy circumstances." + + +Whilst still waiting for the confirmation by the General Committee of +the Sub-Committee's resolution, which was favourable to Borrow, Mr +Jowett wrote to him (5th July), telling him how good were his +prospects; but warning him not to be too confident of success. The +Sub-Committee had recommended that Borrow's services should be +engaged that he might go to St Petersburg and assist Mr Lipovzoff in +editing St Luke and the Acts and any other portions of the New +Testament that it was thought desirable to publish in Manchu. Should +the Russian Government refuse to permit the work to be proceeded +with, Borrow was to occupy himself in assisting the Rev. Wm. Swan to +transcribe and collate the manuscript of the Old Testament in Manchu +that had recently come to light. At the same time, he was to seize +every opportunity that presented itself of perfecting himself in +Manchu. For this he was to receive a salary of two hundred pounds a +year to cover all expenses, save those of the journey to and from St +Petersburg, for which the Society was to be responsible. Borrow was +advised to think carefully over the proposal, and, if it should prove +attractive to him, to hold himself in readiness to start as soon as +the General Committee should approve of the recommendation that was +to be placed before it. In conclusion, Mr Jowett proceeded to +administer a gentle rebuke to the confident pride with which the +candidate indited his letters. Only a quotation can show the tact +with which the admonition was conveyed. + +"Excuse me," wrote the Literary Superintendent, "if as a clergyman, +and your senior in years though not in talent, I venture, with the +kindest of motives, to throw out a hint which may not be without its +use. I am sure you will not be offended if I suggest that there is +occasionally a tone of confidence in speaking of yourself, which has +alarmed some of the excellent members of our Committee. It may have +been this feeling, more than once displayed before, which prepared +one or two of them to stumble at an expression in your letter of +yesterday, in which, till pointed out, I confess I was not struck +with anything objectionable, but at which, nevertheless, a humble +Christian might not unreasonably take umbrage. It is where you speak +of the prospect of becoming 'useful to the Deity, to man, and to +yourself.' Doubtless you meant the prospect of glorifying God." + +Borrow had yet to learn the idiom of Earl Street, which he showed +himself most anxious to acquire. He clearly recognised that the +Bible Society required different treatment from the Army Pay Office, +or the Solicitor of the Treasury. It was accustomed to humility in +those it employed, and a trust in a higher power, and Borrow's self- +confident letters alarmed the members of the Committee. How +thoroughly Borrow appreciated what was required is shown in a letter +that he wrote to his mother from Russia, when anticipating the return +of his brother. "Should John return home," he warns her, "by no +means let him go near the Bible Society, for he would not do for +them." + +Borrow's reply to the Literary Superintendent's kindly worded +admonition was entirely satisfactory and "in harmony with the rule +laid down by Christ himself." It was something of a triumph, too, +for Mr Jowett to rebuke a man of such sensitiveness as Borrow, +without goading him to an impatient retort. + +The meeting of the General Committee that was to decide upon Borrow's +future was held on 22nd July, and on the following day Mr Jowett +informed him that the recommendation of the Sub-Committee had been +adopted and confirmed, at the same time requesting him to be at Earl +Street on the morning of Friday, 26th July, that he might set out for +St Petersburg the following Tuesday. On 25th July Borrow took the +night coach to London. On the 29th he appeared before the Editorial +Sub-Committee and heard read the resolution of his appointment, and +drafts of letters recommending him to the Rev. Wm. Swan and Dr I. J. +Schmidt, a correspondent of the Society's in St Petersburg and a +member of the Russian Board of Censors. Finally, there was impressed +upon him "the necessity of confining himself closely to the one +object of his mission, carefully abstaining from mingling himself +with political or ecclesiastical affairs during his residence in +Russia. Mr Borrow assured them of his full determination religiously +to comply with this admonition, and to use every prudent method for +enlarging his acquaintance with the Manchu language." {104a} + +The salary was to date from the day he embarked, and on account of +expenses to St Petersburg he drew the sum of 37 pounds. The actual +amount he expended was 27 pounds, 7s. 6d., according to the account +he submitted, which was dated 2nd October 1834. It is to be feared +that Borrow was not very punctual in rendering his accounts, as Mr +Brandram wrote to him (18th October 1837): --"I know you are no +accountant, but do not forget that there are some who are. My memory +was jogged upon this subject the other day, and I was expected to say +to you that a letter of figures would be acceptable." + +It is not unnatural that those who remembered Borrow as one of +William Taylor's "harum-scarum" young men, who at one time intended +to "abuse religion and get prosecuted," should find in his +appointment as an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society a +subject for derisive mirth. Harriet Martineau's voice was heard well +above the rest. "When this polyglott gentleman appeared before the +public as a devout agent of the Bible Society in foreign parts," she +wrote, "there was one burst of laughter from all who remembered the +old Norwich days." {105a} Like hundreds of other men, Borrow had, in +youth, been led to somewhat hasty and ill-considered conclusions; but +this in itself does not seem to be sufficiently strong reason why he +should not change his views. Many young men pass through an +aggressively irreligious phase without suffering much harm. Harriet +Martineau was rather too precipitate in assuming that what a man +believes, or disbelieves, at twenty, he holds to at thirty; such a +view negatives the reformer. Perhaps the chief cause of the change +in Borrow's views was that he had touched the depths of failure. +Here was an opening that promised much. He was a diplomatist when it +suited his purpose, and if the old poison were not quite gone out of +his system, he would hide his wounds, or allow the secretaries to +bandage them with mild reproof. + +Very different from the attitude of Harriet Martineau was that of +John Venning, an English merchant resident at Norwich and recently +returned from St Petersburg, where his charity and probity had placed +him in high favour with the Emperor and the Goverment officials. Mr +Venning gave Borrow letters of introduction to a number of +influential personages at St Petersburg, including Prince Alexander +Galitzin and Baron Schilling de Canstadt. Dr Bowring obtained a +letter from Lord Palmerston to someone whose name is not known. +There were letters of introduction from other hands, so that when he +was ready to sail Borrow found himself "loaded with letters of +recommendation to some of the first people in Russia. Mr Venning's +packet has arrived with letters to several of the Princes, so that I +shall be protected if I am seized as a spy; for the Emperor is +particularly cautious as to the foreigners whom he admits. It costs +2 pounds, 7s. 6d. merely for permission to go to Russia, which alone +is enough to deter most people." {106a} + +Before leaving England, Borrow paid into his mother's account at her +bank the sum of seventeen pounds, an amount that she had advanced to +him either during his unproductive years, or on account of his +expenses in connection with the expedition to St Petersburg. + + + +CHAPTER VII: AUGUST 1833-JANUARY 1834 + + + +On 19th/31st July 1833 Borrow set out on a journey that was to some +extent to realise his ambitions. He was to be trusted and encouraged +and, what was most important of all, praised for what he +accomplished; for Borrow's was a nature that responded best to the +praise and entire confidence of those for whom he worked. + +Travelling second class for reasons of economy, he landed at Hamburg +at seven in the morning of the fourth day, after having experienced +"a disagreeable passage of three days, in which I suffered much from +sea-sickness." {107a} Exhausted by these days of suffering and want +of sleep, the heat of the sun brought on "a transient fit of +delirium," {107b} in other words, an attack of the "Horrors." Two +fellow-passengers (Jews), with whom he had become acquainted, +conveyed him to a comfortable hotel, where he was visited by a +physician, who administered forty drops of laudanum, caused his head +to be swathed in wet towels, ordered him to bed, and charged a fee of +seven shillings. The result was that by the evening he had quite +recovered. + +One of Borrow's first duties was to write a lengthy letter to Mr +Jowett, telling him of his movements, describing the city, the +service at a church he attended, the lax morality of the Hamburgers +in permitting rope-dancers in the park, and the opening of dancing- +saloons, "most infamous places," on the Lord's day. "England, with +all her faults," he proceeds, "has still some regard to decency, and +will not tolerate such a shameless display of vice on so sacred a +season, when a decent cheerfulness is the freest form in which the +mind or countenance ought to invest themselves." In conclusion, he +announced his intention of leaving for Lubeck on the sixth, {108a} +and he would be on the Baltic two days later en route for St +Petersburg. "My next letter, provided it pleases the Almighty to +vouchsafe me a happy arrival, will be from the Russian capital." By +"a fervent request that you will not forget me in your prayers," he +demonstrated that Mr Jowett's hint had not been forgotten. + +The distance between Hamburg and Lubeck is only about thirty miles, +yet it occupied Borrow thirteen hours, so abominable was the road, +which "was paved at intervals with huge masses of unhewn rock, and +over this pavement the carriage was very prudently driven at a +snail's pace; for, had anything approaching speed been attempted, the +entire demolition of the wheels in a few minutes must have been the +necessary result. No sooner had we quitted this terrible pavement +than we sank to our axle-trees in sand, mud, and water; for, to +render the journey perfectly delectable, the rain fell in torrents +and ceaselessly." {108b} The state of the road Borrow attributed to +the ill-nature of the King of Denmark, for immediately on leaving his +dominions it improved into an excellent carriageway. + +On 28th July/9th August Borrow took steamer from Travemunde, and +three days later landed at St Petersburg. His first duty was to call +upon Mr Swan, whom he found "one of the most amiable and interesting +characters" he had ever met. The arrival of a coadjutor caused Mr +Swan considerable relief, as he had suffered in health in consequence +of his uninterrupted labours in transcribing the Manchu manuscript. + +Borrow was enthusiastic in his admiration of the capital of "our dear +and glorious Russia." St Petersburg he considered "the finest city +in the world" {109a} other European capitals were unworthy of +comparison. The enormous palaces, the long, straight streets, the +grandeur of the public buildings, the noble Neva that flows +majestically through "this Queen of the cities," the three miles long +Nevsky Prospect, paved with wood; all aroused in him enthusiasm and +admiration. "In a word," he wrote to his mother, "I can do little +else but look and wonder." All that he had read and heard of the +capital of All the Russias had failed to prepare him for this scene +of splendour. The meeting and harmonious mixing of East and West +early attracted his attention. The Oriental cultivation of a twelve- +inch beard among the middle and lower classes, placed them in marked +contrast with the moustached or clean-shaven patricians and +foreigners. In short, Russia gripped hold of and warmed Borrow's +imagination. Here were new types, curious blendings of nationalities +unthought of and strange to him, a mine of wealth to a man whose +studies were never books, except when they helped him the better to +understand men. + +Another thing that attracted him to Russia was the great kindness +with which he was received, both by the English Colony and the +natives: to the one he appealed by virtue of a common ancestry; to +the other, on account of his knowledge of the Russian tongue, not to +speak of his mission, which acted as a strong recommendation to their +favour. On his part Borrow reciprocated the esteem. If he were an +implacable enemy, he was also a good friend, and he thoroughly +appreciated the manner in which he was welcomed by his countrymen, +especially the invitation he received from one of them to make his +house his home until he found a suitable dwelling. To his mother he +wrote: + + +"The Russians are the best-natured, kindest people in the world, and +though they do not know as much as the English [he was not referring +to the Colony], they have not their fiendish, spiteful dispositions, +and if you go amongst them and speak their language, however badly, +they would go through fire and water to do you a kindness." Later, +when in Portugal, he heartily wished himself "back in Russia . . . +where I had left cherished friends and warm affections." + + +High as was his opinion of the Russians, he was at a loss to +understand how they had earned their reputation as "the best general +linguists in the world." He found Russian absolutely necessary to +anyone who wished to make himself understood. French and German as +equivalents were of less value in St Petersburg than in England. + +At first Borrow took up his residence "for nearly a fortnight in a +hotel, as the difficulty of procuring lodgings in this place is very +great, and when you have procured them you have to furnish them +yourself at a considerable expense . . . eventually I took up my +abode with Mr Egerton Hubbard, a friend of Mr Venning's [at 221 +Galernoy Ulitza], where I am for the present very comfortably +situated." {110a} He stayed with Mr Hubbard for three months; but +was eventually forced to leave on account of constant interruptions, +probably by his fellow-boarders, in consequence of which he could +neither perform his task of transcription nor devote himself to +study. He therefore took a small lodging at a cost of nine shillings +a week, including fires, where he could enjoy quiet and solitude. +His meals he got at a Russian eating-house, dinner costing fivepence, +"consequently," he writes to his mother, "I am not at much expense, +being able to live for about sixty pounds a year and pay a Russian +teacher, who has five shillings for one lesson a week." + +One of Borrow's earliest thoughts on arriving at St Petersburg had +been to present his letters of introduction. Within two days of +landing he called upon Prince Alexander Galitzin, {111a} accompanied +by his fellow-lodger, young Venning. One of the most important, and +at the same time useful, friendships that he made was with Baron +Schilling de Canstadt, the philologist and savant, who, later, with +his accustomed generosity, was to place his unique library at +Borrow's disposition. The Baron was one of the greatest bibliophiles +of his age, and possessed a collection of Eastern manuscripts and +other priceless treasures that was world-famous. He spared neither +expense nor trouble in procuring additions to his collection, which +after his death was acquired by the Imperial Academy of Science at St +Petersburg. In this literary treasure-house Borrow found facilities +for study such as he nowhere else could hope to obtain. + +Another friendship that Borrow made was with John P. Hasfeldt, a man +of about his own age attached to the Danish Legation, who also gave +lessons in languages. Borrow seems to have been greatly attracted to +Hasfeldt, who wrote to him with such cordiality. It was Hasfeldt who +gave to Borrow as a parting gift the silver shekel that he invariably +carried about with him, and which caused him to be hailed as blessed +by the Gibraltar Jews. + +In his letter Hasfeldt shows himself a delightful correspondent. His +generous camaraderie seemed to warm Borrow to response, as indeed +well it might. Who could resist the breezy good humour of the +following from a letter addressed to Borrow by Hasfeldt years later? +- + + +"Do you still eat Pike soup? Do you remember the time when you lived +on that dish for more than six weeks, and came near exterminating the +whole breed? And the pudding that accompanied it, that always lay as +hard as a stone on the stomach? This you surely have not forgotten. +Yes, your kitchen was delicately manipulated by Machmoud, your Tartar +servant, who only needed to give you horse-meat to have merited a +diploma. Do you still sing when you are in a good humour? Doubtless +you are not troubled with many friends to visit you, for you are not +of the sort who are easily understood, nor do you care to have +everyone understand you; you prefer to have people call you grey and +let you gae." + + +Other friends Borrow made, including Nikolai Ivanovitch Gretch, +{112a} the grammarian, and Friedrich von Adelung, {112b}} who +assisted him with the loan of books and MSS. in Oriental tongues. + +The story of Borrow's labours in connection with the printing of the +Manchu version of the New Testament, forms a remarkable study of +unswerving courage and will-power triumphing over apparently +insurmountable obstacles. The mere presence of difficulties seemed +to increase his eagerness and determination to overcome them. +Disappointments he had in plenty; but his indomitable courage and +untiring energy, backed up by the earnest support he received from +Earl Street, enabled him to emerge from his first serious undertaking +with the knowledge that he had succeeded where failure would not have +been discreditable. + +He threw himself into his work with characteristic eagerness. At the +end of the first two months he had transcribed the Second Book of +Chronicles and the Gospel of St Matthew. He formed a very high +opinion of the work of the translator, and took the opportunity of +paying a tribute to the followers of Ignatius Loyola (Father Puerot +was a Jesuit). "When," he writes, "did a Jesuit any thing which he +undertook, whether laudable or the reverse, not far better than any +other person?" yet they laboured in vain, for "they thought not of +His glory, but of the glory of their order." {113a} + +Borrow discovered that Mr Lipovzoff knew nothing of the Bible +Society's scheme for printing the New Testament in Manchu; but he +found, what was of even greater importance to him, that the old man +knew no European language but Russian. Thus the frequent +conversations and explanations all tended to improve Borrow's +knowledge of the language of the people among whom he was living. + +Mr Lipovzoff struck Borrow as being "rather a singular man," as he +took occasion to inform Mr Jowett, apparently utterly indifferent as +to the fate of his translation, excellent though it was. As a matter +of fact, Mr Lipovzoff was occupied with his own concerns, and, as an +official in the Russian Foreign Office, most likely saw the +inexpediency of a too eager enthusiasm for the Bible Society's +Manchu-Tartar programme. He was probably bewildered by the fierce +energy of its honest and compelling agent, who had descended upon St +Petersburg to do the Society's bidding with an impetuosity and +determination foreign to Russian official life. Borrow was on fire +with zeal and impatient of the apathy of those around him. + +He soon began to show signs of that singleness of purpose and +resourcefulness that, later, was to arouse so much enthusiasm among +the members of the Bible Society at home. The transcribing and +collating Puerot's version of the Scriptures occupied the remainder +of the year. On the completion of this work, it had been arranged +that Mr Swan should return to his mission-station in Siberia. The +next step was to obtain official sanction to print the Lipovzoff +version of the New Testament. Dr Schmidt, to whom Borrow turned for +advice and information, was apparently very busily occupied with his +own affairs, which included the compilation of a Mongolian Grammar +and Dictionary. The Doctor was optimistic, and promised to make +enquiries about the steps to be taken to obtain the necessary +permission to print; but Borrow heard nothing further from him. + + +"Thus circumstanced, and being very uneasy in my mind," he writes, "I +determined to take a bold step, and directly and without further +feeling my way, to petition the Government in my own name for +permission to print the Manchu Scriptures. Having communicated this +determination to our beloved, sincere, and most truly Christian +friend Mr Swan (who has lately departed to his station in Siberia, +shielded I trust by the arm of his Master), it met with his perfect +approbation and cordial encouragement. I therefore drew up a +petition, and presented it with my own hand to His Excellence Mr +Bludoff, Minister of the Interior." {114a} + + +The minister made reply that he doubted his jurisdiction in the +matter; but that he would consider. Fearful lest the matter should +miscarry or be shelved, Borrow called on the evening of the same day +upon the British Minister, the Hon. J. D. Bligh, "a person of superb +talents, kind disposition, and of much piety," {114b} whose +friendship Borrow had "assiduously cultivated," and who had shown him +"many condescending marks of kindness." {114c} But Mr Bligh was out. +Nothing daunted, Borrow wrote a note entreating his interest with the +Russian officials. On calling for an answer in the morning, he was +received by Mr Bligh, when "he was kind enough to say that if I +desired it he would apply officially to the Minister, and exert all +his influence in his official character in order to obtain the +accomplishment of my views, but at the same time suggested that it +would, perhaps, be as well at a private interview to beg it as a +personal favour." {115a} + +There was hesitation, perhaps suspicion, in official quarters. It is +easy to realise that the Government was not eager to assist the agent +of an institution closely allied to the Russian Bible Society, which +it had recently been successful in suppressing. It might with +impunity suppress a Society; but in George Borrow it soon became +evident that the officials had to deal with a man of purpose and +determination who used a British Minister as a two-edged sword. +Borrow was invited to call at the Asiatic Department: he did so, and +learned that if permission were granted, Mr Lipovzoff (who was a +clerk in the Department) was to be censor (over his own translation!) +and Borrow editor. There was still the "If." Borrow waited a +fortnight, then called on Mr Bligh. By great good chance Mr Bludoff +was dining that evening with the British Minister. The same night +Borrow received a message requesting him to call on Mr Bludoff the +next day. On presenting himself he was given a letter to the +Director of Worship, which he delivered without delay, and was told +to call again on the first day of the following week. + +"On calling there I FOUND THAT PERMISSION HAD BEEN GRANTED TO PRINT +THE MANCHU SCRIPTURE." {115b} Baron Schilling had rendered some +assistance in getting the permission, and Borrow was requested to +inform him of "the deep sense of obligation" of the Bible Society, to +which was added a present of some books. + +Borrow clearly viewed this as only a preliminary success; he had in +mind the eventual printing of the whole Bible. He was beginning to +feel conscious of his own powers. Mr Swan had gone, and upon +Borrow's shoulders rested the whole enterprise. A mild wave of +enthusiasm passed over the Head Office at Earl Street on receipt of +the news that permission to print had been obtained. + +"You cannot conceive," Borrow wrote to Mr Jowett, "the cold, +heartless apathy in respect to the affair, on which I have been +despatched hither as an ASSISTANT, which I have found in people to +whom I looked not unreasonably for encouragement and advice." {116a} +Well might he underline the word "assistant." In this same letter, +with a spasmodic flicker of the old self-confidence, he adds, "In +regard to what we have yet to do, let it be borne in mind, that we +are by no means dependent upon Mr Lipovzoff, though certainly to +secure the services, which he is capable of performing, would be +highly desirable, and though he cannot act outwardly in the character +of Editor (he having been appointed censor), he may privately be of +great utility to us." Borrow seems to have formed no very high +opinion of Mr Lipovzoff's capacity for affairs, although he +recognised his skill as a translator. + +At first Borrow seems to have found the severity of the winter very +trying. "The cold when you go out into it," he writes to his mother +(1st/13th Feb. 1834), "cuts your face like a razor, and were you not +to cover it with furs the flesh would be bitten off. The rooms in +the morning are heated with a stove as hot as ovens, and you would +not be able to exist in one for a minute; but I have become used to +them and like them much, though at first they made me dreadfully sick +and brought on bilious headaches." + +There was still at the Sarepta House, the premises of the Bible +Society's bankers in St Petersburg, the box of Manchu type, which had +not been examined since the river floods. In addition to this, the +only other Manchu characters in St Petersburg belonged to Baron +Schilling, who possessed a small fount of the type, which he used +"for the convenience of printing trifles in that tongue," as Borrow +phrased it. This was to be put at Borrow's disposal if necessary; +but first the type at the Sarepta House had to be examined. Borrow's +plan was, provided the type were not entirely ruined, to engage the +services of a printer who was accustomed to setting Mongolian +characters, which are very similar to those of Manchu, who would, he +thought, be competent to undertake the work. He suggested following +the style of the St Matthew's Gospel already printed, giving to each +Gospel and the Acts a volume and printing the Epistles and the +Apocalypse in three more, making eight volumes in all. + +These he proposed putting "in a small thin wooden case, covered with +blue stuff, precisely after the manner of Chinese books, in order +that they may not give offence to the eyes of the people for whom +they are intended by a foreign and unusual appearance, for the mere +idea that they are barbarian books would certainly prevent them being +read, and probably cause their destruction if ever they found their +way into the Chinese Empire." {117a} Borrow left nothing to chance; +he thought out every detail with great care before venturing to put +his plans into execution. + +Although busily occupied in an endeavour to stimulate Russian +government officials to energy and decision, Borrow was not +neglecting what had been so strongly urged upon him, the perfecting +of himself in the Manchu dialect. In reply to an enquiry from Mr +Jowett as to what manner of progress he was making, he wrote + + + "For some time past I have taken lessons from a person who was +twelve years in Pekin, and who speaks Manchu and Chinese with +fluency. I pay him about six shillings English for each lesson, +which I grudge not, for the perfect acquirement of Manchu is one of +my most ardent wishes." {118a} + + +This person Borrow subsequently recommended to the Society "to assist +me in making a translation into Manchu of the Psalms and Isaiah," but +the pundit proved "of no utility at all, but only the cause of +error." + +Borrow was soon able to transcribe the Manchu characters with greater +facility and speed than he could English. In addition to being able +to translate from and into Manchu, he could compose hymns in the +language, and even prepared a Manchu rendering of the second Homily +of the Church of England, "On the Misery of Man." He had, however, +made the discovery that Manchu was far less easy to him than it had +at first appeared, and that Amyot was to some extent justified in his +view of the difficulties it presented. "It is one of those deceitful +tongues," he confesses in a letter to Mr Jowett, "the seeming +simplicity of whose structure induces you to suppose, after applying +to it for a month or two, that little more remains to be learned, but +which, should you continue to study a year, as I have studied this, +show themselves to you in their veritable colours, amazing you with +their copiousness, puzzling with their idioms."{118b} Its +difficulties, however, did not discourage him; for he had a great +admiration for the language which "for majesty and grandeur of sound, +and also for general copiousness is unequalled by any existing +tongue." {118c} + +However great his exertions or discouragements, Borrow never forgot +his mother, to whom he was a model son. On 1st/13th February he sent +her a draft for twenty pounds, being the second since his arrival six +months previously. Thus out of his first half-year's salary of a +hundred pounds, he sent to his mother forty pounds (in addition to +the seventeen pounds he had paid into her account before sailing), +and with it a promise that "next quarter I shall try and send you +thirty," lest in the recent storms of which he had heard, some of her +property should have suffered damage and be in need of repair. The +larger remittance, however, he was unable to make on account of the +illness that had necessitated the drinking of a bottle of port wine +each day (by doctor's orders); but he was punctual in remitting the +twenty pounds. The attack which required so drastic a remedy +originated in a chill caught as the ice was breaking up. "I went +mad," he tells his mother, "and when the fever subsided, I was seized +with the 'Horrors,' which never left me day or night for a week." +{119a} During this illness everyone seems to have been extremely +kind and attentive, the Emperor's apothecary, even, sending word that +Borrow was to order of him anything, medical or otherwise, that he +found himself in need of. + + + +CHAPTER VIII: FEBRUARY-OCTOBER 1834 + + + +Borrow had at last found work that was thoroughly congenial to him. +It was not in his nature to exist outside his occupations, and his +whole personality became bound up in the mission upon which he was +engaged. Not content with preparing the way for printing the New +Testament in Manchu, he set himself the problem of how it was to be +distributed when printed. He foresaw serious obstacles to its +introduction into China, on account of the suspicion with which was +regarded any and everything European. With a modest disclaimer that +his suggestion arose "from a plenitude of self-conceit and a +disposition to offer advice upon all matters, however far they may be +above my understanding," he proceeds to deal with the difficulties of +distribution with great clearness. + +To send the printed books to Canton, to be distributed by English +missionaries, he thought would be productive of very little good, nor +would it achieve the object of the Society, to distribute copies at +seaports along the coasts, because it was unlikely that there would +be many Tartars or people there who understood Manchu. There was a +further obstacle in the suspicion in which the Chinese held all +things English. On the other hand, he tells Mr Jowett, + + +"there is a most admirable opening for the work on the Russian side +of the Chinese Empire. About five thousand miles from St Petersburg, +on the frontiers of Chinese Tartary, and only nine hundred miles +distant from Pekin, the seat of the Tartar Monarchy, stands the town +of Kiakhta, {121a} which properly belongs to Russia, but the +inhabitants of which are a medley of Tartary, Chinese, and Russ +(sic). As far as this town a Russian or foreigner is permitted to +advance, but his further progress is forbidden, and if he make the +attempt he is liable to be taken up as a spy or deserter, and sent +back under guard. This town is the emporium of Chinese and Russian +trade. Chinese caravans are continually arriving and returning, +bringing and carrying away articles of merchandise. There are +likewise a Chinese and a Tartar Mandarin, also a school where Chinese +and Tartar are taught, and where Chinese and Tartar children along +with Russian are educated." {121b} + + +The advantages of such a town as a base of operations were obvious. +Borrow was convinced that he could dispose "of any quantity of +Testaments to the Chinese merchants who arrive thither from Pekin and +other places, and who would be glad to purchase them on speculation." +{121c} + +Russia and China were friendly to each other, so much so, that there +was at Pekin a Russian mission, the only one of its kind. These good +relations rendered Borrow confident that books from Russia, +especially books which had not an outlandish appearance, would be +purchased without scruple. "In a word, were an agent for the Bible +Society to reside at this town [Kiakhta] for a year or so, it is my +humble opinion, and the opinion of much wiser people, that if he were +active, zealous and likewise courageous, the blessings resulting from +his labours would be incalculable." {121d} + +He might even make excursions into Tartary, and become friendly with +the inhabitants, and eventually perhaps, "with a little management +and dexterity," he might "penetrate even to Pekin, and return in +safety, after having examined the state of the land. I can only say +that if it were my fortune to have the opportunity, I would make the +attempt, and should consider myself only to blame if I did not +succeed." Borrow was to revert to this suggestion on many occasions, +in fact it seems to have been in his mind during the whole period of +his association with the Bible Society. + +Acting upon instructions from Earl Street, Borrow proceeded to find +out the approximate cost of printing the Manchu New Testament. He +early discovered that in Russia "the wisdom of the serpent is quite +as necessary as the innocence of the dove," as he took occasion to +inform Mr Jowett. The Russians rendered him estimates of cost as if +of the opinion 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." + +In St Petersburg Borrow was taken for a German, a nation for which he +cherished a cordial dislike. This mistake as to nationality, +however, did not hinder the Russian tradesmen from asking exorbitant +prices for their services or their goods. At first Borrow "was quite +terrified at the enormous sums which some of the printers . . . +required for the work." At length he applied to the University +Press, which asked 30 roubles 60 copecks (24s. 8d.) per sheet of two +pages for composition and printing. A young firm of German printers, +Schultz & Beneze, was, however, willing to undertake the same work at +the rate of 12.5 roubles (10s.) per two sheets. + +In contracting for the paper Borrow showed himself quite equal to the +commercial finesse of the Russian. He scoured the neighbourhood +round St Petersburg in a calash at a cost of about four pounds. +Russian methods of conducting business are amazing to the English +mind. At Peterhof, a town about twenty miles out of St Petersburg, +he found fifty reams of a paper such as he required. "Concerning the +price of this paper," he writes, "I could obtain no positive +information, for the Director and first and second clerks were +invariably absent, and the place abandoned to ignorant understrappers +(according to the custom of Russia). And notwithstanding I found out +the Director in St Petersburg, he himself could not tell me the +price." {123a} + +Eventually 75 roubles (3 pounds) a ream was quoted for the stock, and +100 roubles (4 pounds) a ream for any further quantity required. +Thus the paper for a thousand copies would run to 40,000 roubles +(1600 pounds), or 32s. a copy. Borrow found that the law of commerce +prevalent in the East was that adopted in St Petersburg. A price is +named merely as a basis of negotiation, and the customer beats it +down to a figure that suits him, or he goes elsewhere. Borrow was a +master of such methods. The sum he eventually paid for the paper was +25 roubles (1 pound) a ream! Of all these negotiations he kept Mr +Jowett well informed. By June he had received from Earl Street the +official sanction to proceed, together with a handsome remittance. + +For some time past Borrow had been anxious on account of his brother +John. On 9th/21st November, he had written to his mother telling her +to write to John urging him to come home at once, as he had seen in +the Russian newspapers how the town of Guanajuato had been taken and +sacked by the rebels, and also that cholera was ravaging Mexico. +Later {123b} he tells her of that nice house at Lakenham, {123c} +which he means to buy, and how John can keep a boat and amuse himself +on the river, and adds, "I dare say I shall continue for a long time +with the Bible Society, as they see that I am useful to them and can +be depended upon." + +On the day following that on which Borrow wrote asking his mother to +urge his brother to return home, viz., 10th/22nd November, John died. +He was taken ill suddenly in the morning and passed away the same +afternoon. + +In February 1832 John Borrow had, much against the advice of his +friends, left the United Mexican Company, which he had become +associated with the previous year. He was of a restless disposition, +never content with what he was doing. Thinking he could better +himself, and having saved a few hundred dollars, he resigned his +post. He appears soon to have discovered his mistake. First he +indulged in an unfortunate speculation, by which he was a +considerable loser, then cholera broke out. Without a thought of +himself he turned nurse and doctor, witnessing terrible scenes of +misery and death and ministering to the poor with an energy and +humanity that earned for him the admiration of the whole township. +Finally, finding himself in serious financial difficulties, he +entered the service of the Colombian Mining Company, and was to be +sent to Colombia "for the purpose of introducing the Mexican system +of beneficiating there." It only remained for the agreement to be +signed, when he was taken ill. + +In the letter in which she tells George of their loss, Mrs Borrow +expresses fear that he does "not live regular. When you find +yourself low," she continues, "take a little wine, but not too much +at one time; it will do you the more good; I find that by myself." +Her solicitude for George's health is easily understandable. He is +now her "only hope," as she pathetically tells him. "Do not grieve, +my dear George," she proceeds tenderly, "I trust we shall all meet in +heaven. Put a crape on your hat for some time." + +George wrote immediately to acknowledge his mother's letter +containing the news of John's death, which had given him "the +severest stroke I ever experienced. It [the letter] quite stunned +me, and since reading its contents I have done little else but moan +and lament . . . O that our darling John had taken the advice which I +gave him nearly three years since, to abandon that horrid country and +return to England! . . . Would that I had died for him! for I loved +him dearly, dearly." Borrow's affection for his bright and +attractive brother is everywhere manifest in his writings. He never +showed the least jealousy when his father held up his first-born as a +model to the strange and incomprehensible younger son. His love for +and admiration of John were genuine and deep-rooted. In the same +letter he goes on to assure his mother that he was never better in +his life, and that experience teaches him how to cure his disorders. +"The 'Horrors,' for example. Whenever they come I must drink strong +Port wine, and then they are stopped instantly. But do not think +that I drink habitually, for you ought to know that I abhor drink. +The 'Horrors' are brought on by weakness." + +He goes on to reassure his mother as to the care he takes of himself, +telling her that he has three meals a day, although, as a rule, +dinner is a poor one, "for the Russians, in the first place, are very +indifferent cooks, and the meat is very bad, as in fact are almost +all the provisions." The fish is without taste, Russian salmon +having less savour than English skate; the fowls are dry because no +endeavour is made to fatten them, and the "mutton stinks worst than +carrion, for they never cut the wool." + +With great thought and tenderness he tells her that he wishes her "to +keep a maid, for I do not like that you should live alone. Do not +take one of the wretched girls of Norwich," he advises her, but +rather the daughter of one of her tenants. "What am I working for +here and saving money, unless it is for your comfort? for I assure +you that to make you comfortable is my greatest happiness, almost my +only one." Urging her to keep up her spirits and read much of the +things that interest her, he concludes with a warning to her not to +pay any debts contracted by John. {126a} The letter concludes with +the postscript: "I have got the crape." + +In July 1834 Borrow again changed his quarters, taking an unfurnished +floor, {126b} at the same time hiring a Tartar servant named Mahmoud, +{126c} "the best servant I ever had." {126d} The wages he paid this +prince of body-servants was thirty shillings a month, out of which +Mahmoud supplied himself "with food and everything." Borrow's reason +for making this change in his lodgings was that he wanted more room +than he had, and furnished apartments were very expensive. The +actual furnishing was not a very costly matter to a man of Borrow's +simple wants; for the expenditure of seven pounds he provided himself +with all he required. + +After the letter of 27th June/9th July the Bible Society received no +further news of what was taking place in St Petersburg. Week after +week passed without anything being heard of its Russian agent's +movements or activities. On 25th September/7th October Mr Jowett +wrote an extremely moderate letter beseeching Borrow to remember "the +very lively interest" taken by the General Committee in the printing +of the Manchu version of the New Testament; that people were asking, +"What is Mr Borrow doing?" that the Committee stands between its +agents and an eager public, desirous of knowing the trials and +tribulations, the hopes and fears of those actively engaged in +printing or disseminating the Scriptures. "You can have no +difficulty," he continues, "in furnishing me with such monthly +information as may satisfy the Committee that they are not expending +a large sum of money in vain." There was also a request for +information as to how "some critical difficulty has been surmounted +by the translator, or editor, or both united, not to mention the +advance already made in actual printing." On 1st/13th Oct. Borrow +had written a brief letter giving an account of his disbursements +during the journey to St Petersburg FIFTEEN MONTHS PREVIOUSLY; but he +made no mention of what was taking place with regard to the printing. + +The letter in which Borrow replied to Mr Jowett is probably the most +remarkable he ever wrote. It presents him in a light that must have +astonished those who had been so eager to ridicule his appointment as +an agent of the Bible Society. The letter runs:- + + +ST PETERSBURG, +8th [20th] October 1834. + +I have just received your most kind epistle, the perusal of which has +given me both pain and pleasure--pain that from unavoidable +circumstances I have been unable to gratify eager expectation, and +pleasure that any individual should have been considerate enough to +foresee my situation and to make allowance for it. The nature of my +occupations during the last two months and a half has been such as +would have entirely unfitted me for correspondence, had I been aware +that it was necessary, which, on my sacred word, I was not. Now, and +only now, when by the blessing of God I have surmounted all my +troubles and difficulties, I will tell, and were I not a Christian I +should be proud to tell, what I have been engaged upon and +accomplished during the last ten weeks. I have been working in the +printing-office, as a common compositor, between ten and thirteen +hours every day during that period; the result of this is that St +Matthew's Gospel, printed from such a copy as I believe nothing was +ever printed from before, has been brought out in the Manchu +language; two rude Esthonian peasants, who previously could barely +compose with decency in a plain language which they spoke and were +accustomed to, have received such instruction that with ease they can +each compose at the rate of a sheet a day in the Manchu, perhaps the +most difficult language for composition in the whole world. +Considerable progress has also been made in St Mark's Gospel, and I +will venture to promise, provided always the Almighty smiles upon the +undertaking, that the entire work of which I have the superintendence +will be published within eight months from the present time. Now, +therefore, with the premise that I most unwillingly speak of myself +and what I have done and suffered for some time past, all of which I +wished to keep locked up in my own breast, I will give a regular and +circumstantial account of my proceedings from the day when I received +your letter, by which I was authorised by the Committee to bespeak +paper, engage with a printer, and cause our type to be set in order. + +My first care was to endeavour to make suitable arrangements for the +obtaining of Chinese paper. Now those who reside in England, the +most civilised and blessed of countries, where everything is to be +obtained at a fair price, have not the slightest idea of the anxiety +and difficulty which, in a country like this, harass the foreigner +who has to disburse money not his own, if he wish that his employers +be not shamefully and outrageously imposed upon. In my last epistle +to you I stated that I had been asked 100 roubles per ream for such +paper as we wanted. I likewise informed you that I believed that it +was possible to procure it for 35 roubles, notwithstanding our +Society had formerly paid 40 roubles for worse paper than the samples +I was in possession of. Now I have always been of opinion that in +the expending of money collected for sacred purposes, it behoves the +agent to be extraordinarily circumspect and sparing. I therefore was +determined, whatever trouble it might cost me, to procure for the +Society unexceptionable paper at a yet more reasonable rate than 35 +roubles. I was aware that an acquaintance of mine, a young Dane, was +particularly intimate with one of the first printers of this city, +who is accustomed to purchase vast quantities of paper every month +for his various publications. I gave this young gentleman a specimen +of the paper I required, and desired him (he was under obligations to +me) to inquire of his friend, AS IF FROM CURIOSITY, the least +possible sum per ream at which THE PRINTER HIMSELF (who from his +immense demand for paper should necessarily obtain it cheaper than +any one else) could expect to purchase the article in question. The +answer I received within a day or two was 25 roubles. Upon hearing +this I prevailed upon my acquaintance to endeavour to persuade his +friend to bespeak the paper at 25 roubles, and to allow me, +notwithstanding I was a perfect stranger, to have it at that price. +All this was brought about. I was introduced to the printer, Mr +Pluchard, by the Dane, Mr Hasfeldt, and between the former gentleman +and myself a contract was made to the effect that by the end of +October he should supply me with 450 reams of Chinese paper at 25 +roubles per ream, the first delivery to be made on the 1st of August; +for as my order given at an advanced period of the year, when all the +paper manufactories were at full work towards the executing of orders +already received, it was but natural that I should verify the old +apophthegm, 'Last come, last served.' As no orders are attended to +in Russia unless money be advanced upon them, I deposited in the +hands of Mr Pluchard the sum of 2000 roubles, receiving his receipt +for that amount. + +Having arranged this most important matter to my satisfaction, I +turned my attention to the printing process. I accepted the offer of +Messrs Schultz & Beneze to compose and print the Manchu Testament at +the rate of 25 roubles per sheet [of four pages], and caused our +fount of type to be conveyed to their office. I wish to say here a +few words respecting the state in which these types came into my +possession. I found them in a kind of warehouse, or rather cellar. +They had been originally confined in two cases; but these having +burst, the type lay on the floor trampled amidst mud and filth. They +were, moreover, not improved by having been immersed within the +waters of the inundation of '27 [1824]. I caused them all to be +collected and sent to their destination, where they were purified and +arranged--a work of no small time and difficulty, at which I was +obliged to assist. Not finding with the type what is called +'Durchschuss' by the printers here, consisting of leaden wedges of +about six ounces weight each, which form the spaces between the +lines, I ordered 120 pounds weight of those at a rouble a pound, +being barely enough for three sheets. {129a} I had now to teach the +compositors the Manchu alphabet, and to distinguish one character +from another. This occupied a few days, at the end of which I gave +them the commencement of St Matthew's Gospel to copy. They no sooner +saw the work they were called upon to perform than there were loud +murmurs of dissatisfaction, and . . . 'It is quite impossible to do +the like,' was the cry--and no wonder. The original printed Gospel +had been so interlined and scribbled upon by the author, in a hand so +obscure and irregular, that, accustomed as I was to the perusal of +the written Manchu, it was not without the greatest difficulty that I +could decipher the new matter myself. Moreover, the corrections had +been so carelessly made that they themselves required far more +correction than the original matter. I was therefore obliged to be +continually in the printing-office, and to do three parts of the work +myself. For some time I found it necessary to select every character +with my own fingers, and to deliver it to the compositor, and by so +doing I learnt myself to compose. We continued in this way till all +our characters were exhausted, for no paper had arrived. For two +weeks and more we were obliged to pause, the want of paper being +insurmountable. At the end of this period came six reams; but partly +from the manufacturers not being accustomed to make this species of +paper, and partly from the excessive heat of the weather, which +caused it to dry too fast, only one ream and a half could be used, +and this was not enough for one sheet; the rest I refused to take, +and sent back. The next week came fifteen reams. This paper, from +the same causes, was as bad as the last. I selected four reams, and +sent the rest back. But this paper enabled us to make a beginning, +which we did not fail to do, though we received no more for upwards +of a fortnight, which caused another pause. At the end of that time, +owing to my pressing remonstrances and entreaties, a regular supply +of about twelve reams per week of most excellent paper commenced. +This continued until we had composed the last five sheets of St +Matthew, when some paper arrived, which in my absence was received by +Mr Beneze, who, without examining it, as was his duty, delivered it +to the printers to use in the printing of the said sheets, who +accordingly printed upon part of it. But the next day, when my +occupation permitted me to see what they were about, I observed that +the last paper was of a quality very different from that which had +been previously sent. I accordingly instantly stopped the press, +and, notwithstanding eight reams had been printed upon, I sent all +the strange paper back, and caused Mr Beneze to recompose three +sheets, which had been broken up, at his own expense. But this +caused the delay of another week. + +This last circumstance made me determine not to depend in future for +paper on one manufactory alone. I therefore stated to Mr P[luchard] +that, as his people were unable to furnish me with the article fast +enough, I should apply to others for 250 reams, and begged him to +supply me with the rest as fast as possible. He made no objection. +Thereupon I prevailed upon my most excellent friend, Baron Schilling, +to speak to his acquaintance, State-Councillor Alquin, who is +possessed of a paper-factory, on the subject. M. Alquin, as a +personal favour to Baron Schilling (whom, I confess, I was ashamed to +trouble upon such an affair, and should never have done so had not +zeal for the cause induced me), consented to furnish me with the +required paper on the same terms as Mr P. At present there is not +the slightest risk of the progress of our work being retarded--at +present, indeed, the path is quite easy; but the trouble, anxiety, +and misery which have till lately harassed me, alone in a situation +of great responsibility, have almost reduced me to a skeleton. + +My dearest Sir, do me the favour to ask our excellent Committee, +Would it have answered any useful purpose if, instead of continuing +to struggle with difficulties and using my utmost to overcome them, I +had written in the following strain--and what else could I have +written if I had written at all?--'I was sent out to St Petersburg to +assist Mr Lipovzoff in the editing of the Manchu Testament. That +gentleman, who holds three important Situations under the Russian +Government, and who is far advanced in years, has neither time, +inclination, nor eyesight for the task, and I am apprehensive that my +strength and powers unassisted are incompetent to it' (praised be the +Lord, they were not!), 'therefore I should be glad to return home. +Moreover, the compositors say they are unaccustomed to compose in an +unknown tongue from such scribbled and illegible copy, and they will +scarcely assist me to compose. Moreover, the working printers say +(several went away in disgust) that the paper on which they have to +print is too thin to be wetted, and that to print on dry requires a +twofold exertion of strength, and that they will not do such work for +double wages, for it ruptures them.' Would that have been a welcome +communication to the Committee? Would that have been a communication +suited to the public? 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; {132a} 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 when nothing but +bribes would induce them 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?' I +hope and trust that question is now answered to the satisfaction of +those who do Mr Borrow the honour to employ him. In respect to the +expense attending the editing of such a work as the New Testament in +Manchu, I beg leave to observe that I have obtained the paper, the +principal source of expense, at fifteen roubles per ream less than +the Society formerly paid for it--that is to say, at nearly half the +price. + +As St Matthew's Gospel has been ready for some weeks, it is high time +that it should be bound; for if that process be delayed, the paper +will be dirtied and the work injured. I am sorry to inform you that +book-binding in Russia is incredibly dear, {132b} and that the +expenses attending the binding of the Testament would amount, were +the usual course pursued, to two-thirds of the entire expenses of the +work. Various book-binders to whom I have applied have demanded one +rouble and a half for the binding of every section of the work, so +that the sum required for the binding of one Testament alone would be +twelve roubles. Doctor Schmidt assured me that one rouble and forty +copecks, or, according to the English currency, fourteenpence +halfpenny, were formerly paid for the binding of every individual +copy of St Matthew's Gospel. + +I pray you, my dear Sir, to cause the books to be referred to, for I +wish to know if that statement be correct. In the meantime +arrangements have to be made, and the Society will have to pay for +each volume of the Testament the comparatively small sum of forty- +five copecks, or fourpence halfpenny, whereas the usual price here +for the most paltry covering of the most paltry pamphlet is +fivepence. Should it be demanded how I have been able to effect +this, my reply is that I have had little hand in the matter. A +nobleman who honours me with particular friendship, and who is one of +the most illustrious ornaments of Russia and of Europe, has, at my +request, prevailed on his own book-binder, over whom he has much +influence, to do the work on these terms. That nobleman is Baron +Schilling. + +Commend me to our most respected Committee. Assure them that in +whatever I have done or left undone, I have been influenced by a +desire to promote the glory of the Trinity and to give my employers +ultimate and permanent satisfaction. If I have erred, it has been +from a defect of judgment, and I ask pardon of God and them. In the +course of a week I shall write again, and give a further account of +my proceedings, for I have not communicated one-tenth of what I have +to impart; but I can write no more now. It is two hours past +midnight; the post goes away to-morrow, and against that morrow I +have to examine and correct three sheets of St Mark's Gospel, which +lie beneath the paper on which I am writing. With my best regards to +Mr Brandram, + +I remain, dear Sir, +Most truly yours, +G. BORROW. + +Rev. JOSEPH JOWETT. + + +Closely following upon this letter, and without waiting for a reply, +Borrow wrote again to Mr Jowett, 13th/25th October, enclosing a +certificate from Mr Lipovzoff, which read:- + +"Testifio:- Dominum Burro ab initio usque ad hoc tempus summa cum +diligentia et studio in re Mantshurica laborasse, Lipovzoff." + +He also reported progress as regards the printing, and promised +(D.V.) that the entire undertaking should be completed by the first +of May; but the letter was principally concerned with the projected +expedition to Kiakhta, to distribute the books he was so busily +occupied in printing. He repeated his former arguments, urging the +Committee to send an agent to Kiakhta. "I am a person of few words," +he assured Mr Jowett, "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." +As regards the danger to himself of such a hazardous undertaking, the +conversion of the Tartar would never be achieved without danger to +someone. He had become acquainted with many of the Tartars resident +in St Petersburg, whose language he had learned through conversing +with his servant (a native of Bucharia [Bokhara]), and he had become +"much attached to them; for their conscientiousness, honesty, and +fidelity are beyond all praise." + +To this further offer Mr Jowett replied:- + + +"Be not disheartened, even though the Committee postpone for the +present the consideration of your enterprising, not to say intrepid, +proposal. Thus much, however, I may venture to say: that the offer +is more likely to be accepted now, than when you first made it. If, +when the time approaches for executing such a plan, you give us +reason to believe that a more mature consideration of it in all its +bearings still leaves you in hope of a successful result, and in +heart for making the attempt, my own opinion is that the offer will +ultimately be accepted, and that very cordially." + + + +CHAPTER IX: NOVEMBER 1834-SEPTEMBER 1835 + + + +Borrow was an unconventional editor. He foresaw the interminable +delays likely to arise from allowing workmen to incorporate his +corrections in the type. To obviate these, he first corrected the +proof, then, proceeding to the printing office, he made with his own +hands the necessary alterations in the type. This involved only two +proofs, the second to be submitted to Mr Lipovzoff, instead of some +half a dozen that otherwise would have been necessary. During these +days Borrow was ubiquitous. Even the binder required his assistance, +"for everything goes wrong without a strict surveillance." + +Borrow had passed through THE crisis in his career. Stricken with +fever, which was followed by an attack of the "Horrors" (only to be +driven away by port wine), he had scarcely found time in which to eat +or sleep. He had emerged triumphantly from the ordeal, and if he had +"almost killed Beneze and his lads"{135a} with work, he had not +spared himself. If he had to report, as he did, that "my two +compositors, whom I had instructed in all the mysteries of Manchu +composition, are in the hospital, down with the brain fever," {135b} +he himself had grown thin from the incessant toil. + +The simple manliness and restrained dignity of his justification had +produced a marked effect upon the authorities at home. If the rebuke +administered by Mr Jowett had been mild, his acknowledgment of the +reply that it had called forth was most cordial and friendly. After +assuring Borrow of the Committee's high satisfaction at the way in +which its interests had been looked after, he proceeds sincerely to +deprecate anything in his previous letter which may have caused +Borrow pain, and continues: + + +"Yet I scarcely know how to be sorry for what has been the occasion +of drawing from you (what you might otherwise have kept locked up in +your own breast) the very interesting story of your labours, +vexations, disappointments, vigilance, address, perseverance, and +successes. How you were able in your solitude to keep up your +spirits in the face of so many impediments, apparently +insurmountable, I know not . . . Do not fear that WE should in any +way interrupt your proceedings. We know our interest too well to +interfere with an agent who has shown so much address in planning, +and so much diligence in effecting, the execution of our wishes." + + +These encouraging words were followed by a request that he would keep +a careful account of all extraordinary expenses, that they might be +duly met by the Society:- + + +"I allude, you perceive, to such things," the letter goes on to +explain, "as your journies huc et illuc in quest of a better market, +and to the occasional bribes to disheartened workmen. In all matters +of this kind the Society is clearly your debtor." Borrow replied +with a flash of his old independent spirit: "I return my most +grateful thanks for this most considerate intimation, which, +nevertheless, I cannot avail myself of, as, according to one of the +articles of my agreement, my salary of 200 pounds was to cover all +extra expenses. Petersburg is doubtless the dearest capital in +Europe, and expenses meet an individual, especially one situated as I +have been, at every turn and corner; but an agreement is not to be +broken on that account." {136a} + +That the Committee, even before this proof of his ability, had been +well pleased with their engagement of Borrow is shown by the +acknowledgment made in the Society's Thirtieth Annual Report: "Mr +Borrow has not disappointed the expectation entertained." + +There were other words of encouragement to cheer him in his labours. +His mother wrote in September of that year, telling him how, at a +Bible Society's gathering at Norwich, which had lasted the whole of a +week, his name "was sounded through the Hall by Mr Gurney and Mr +Cunningham"; telling how he had left his home and his friends to do +God's work in a foreign land, calling upon their fellow-citizens to +offer up prayers beseeching the Almighty to vouchsafe to him health +and strength that the great work he had undertaken might be +completed. "All this is very pleasing to me," added the proud old +lady. "God bless you!" + +From Mrs Clarke of Oulton Hall, with whom he kept up a +correspondence, he heard how his name had been mentioned at many of +the Society's meetings during the year, and how the Rev. Francis +Cunningham had referred to him as "one of the most extraordinary and +interesting individuals of the present day." Even at that date, +viz., before the receipt of the remarkable account of his labours, +the members and officials of the Bible Society seem to have come to +the conclusion that he had achieved far more than they had any reason +to expect of him. Their subsequent approval is shown by the manner +in which they caused his two letters of 8th/20th and 13th/25th +October to be circulated among the influential members of the +Society, until at last they had reached the Rev. F. Cunningham and +Mrs Clarke. + +About the middle of January (old style) 1835, Borrow placed in the +hands of Baron Schilling a copy of each of the four Gospels in +Manchu, to be conveyed to the Bible Society by one of the couriers +attached to the Foreign Department at St Petersburg; but they did not +reach Earl Street until several weeks later. There were however, +still the remaining four volumes to complete, and many more +difficulties to overcome. + +One vexation that presented itself was a difference of opinion +between Borrow and Lipovzoff, who "thought proper, when the Father +Almighty is addressed, to erase the personal and possessive pronouns +thou or thine, as often as they occur, and in their stead to make use +of the noun as the case may require. For example, 'O Father! thou +art merciful' he would render, 'O Father! the Father is merciful.'" +Borrow protested, but Lipovzoff, who was "a gentleman, whom the +slightest contradiction never fails to incense to a most incredible +degree," told him that he talked nonsense, and refused to concede +anything. {138a} Lipovzoff, who had on his side the Chinese scholars +and unlimited powers as official censor (from whose decree there was +no appeal) over his own work, carried his point. He urged that +"amongst the Chinese and Tartars, none but the dregs of society were +ever addressed in the second person; and that it would be most +uncouth and indecent to speak of the Almighty as if He were a servant +or a slave." This difficulty of the verbal ornament of the East was +one that the Bible Society had frequently met with in the past. It +was rightly considered as ill-fitting a translation of the words of +Christ. Simplicity of diction was to be preserved at all costs, +whatever might be the rule with secular books. Mr Jowett had warned +Borrow to "beware of confounding the two distinct ideas of +translation and interpretation!" {138b} and also informed him that +"the passion for honorific-abilitudinity is a vice of Asiatic +languages, which a Scripture translator, above all others, ought to +beware of countenancing." {139a} + +Well might Borrow write to Mr Jowett, "How I have been enabled to +maintain terms of friendship and familiarity with Mr Lipovzoff, and +yet fulfil the part which those who employ me expect me to fulfil, I +am much at a loss to conjecture; and yet such is really the case." +{139b} On the whole, however, the two men worked harmoniously +together, the censor-translator being usually amenable to editorial +reason and suggestion; and Borrow was able to assure Mr Jowett that +with the exception of this one instance "the word of God has been +rendered into Manchu as nearly and closely as the idiom of a very +singular language would permit." + +Borrow's mind continued to dwell upon the project of penetrating into +China and distributing the Scriptures himself. He wrote again, +repeating "the assurance that I am ready to attempt anything which +the Society may wish me to execute, and, at a moment's warning, will +direct my course towards Canton, Pekin, or the court of the Grand +Lama." {139c} The project had, however, to be abandoned. The +Russian Government, desirous of maintaining friendly relations with +China, declined to risk her displeasure for a missionary project in +which Russia had neither interest nor reasonable expectation of gain. +In agreeing to issue a passport such as Borrow desired, it stipulated +that he should carry with him "not one single Manchu Bible thither." +{139d} In spite of this discouragement, Borrow wrote to Mr Jowett +with regard to the Chinese programme, "I AGAIN REPEAT THAT I AM AT +COMMAND." {139e} + +This determination on Borrow's part to become a missionary filled his +mother with alarm. She had only one son now, and the very thought of +his going into wild and unknown regions seemed to her tantamount to +his going to his death. Mrs Clarke also expressed strong disapproval +of the project. "I must tell you," she wrote, "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, the +land of incalculable dangers." + +By the middle of May 1835 Borrow saw the end of his labours in sight. +On 3rd/15th May he wrote asking for instructions relative to the +despatch of the bulk of the volumes, and also as to the disposal of +the type. "As for myself," he continues, "I suppose I must return to +England, as my task will be speedily completed. I hope the Society +are convinced that I have served them faithfully, and that I have +spared no labour to bring out the work, which they did me the honor +of confiding to me, correctly and within as short a time as possible. +At my return, if the Society think that I can still prove of utility +to them, I shall be most happy to devote myself still to their +service. 1 am a person full of faults and weaknesses, as I am every +day reminded by bitter experience, but I am certain that my zeal and +fidelity towards those who put confidence in me are not to be +shaken." {140a} + +On 15th/27th June he reported the printing completed and six out of +the eight volumes bound, and that as soon as the remaining two +volumes were ready, he intended to take his departure from St +Petersburg; but a new difficulty arose. The East had laid a heavy +hand upon St Petersburg. "To-morrow, please God!" met the energetic +Westerner at every turn. The bookbinder delayed six weeks because he +could not procure some paper he required. But the real obstacle to +the despatch of the books was the non-arrival of the Government +sanction to their shipment. Nothing was permitted to move either in +or out of the sacred city of the Tsars without official permission. +Probably those responsible for the administration of affairs had +never in their experience been called upon to deal with a man such as +Borrow. To apply to him the customary rules of procedure was to +bring upon "the House of Interior Affairs" a series of visits and +demands that must have left it limp with astonishment. + +On 16th/28th July Borrow wrote to the Bible Society, "I herewith send +you a bill of lading for six of the eight parts of the New Testament, +which I have at last obtained permission to send away, after having +paid sixteen visits to the House of Interior Affairs." {141a} He +expresses a hope that in another fortnight he will have despatched +the remaining two volumes and have "bidden adieu to Russia"; but it +was dangerous to anticipate the official course of events in Russia. +Even to the last Borrow was tormented by red tape. Early in August +the last two volumes were ready for shipment to England; but he could +not obtain the necessary permission. He was told that he ought never +to have printed the work, in spite of the license that had been +granted, and that grave doubts existed in the official mind as to +whether or no he really were an agent of the Bible Society. At +length Borrow lost patience and told the officials that during the +week following the books would be despatched, with or without +permission, and he warned them to have a care how they acted. These +strong measures seem to have produced the desired result. + +Despite his many occupations on behalf of the Bible Society, Borrow +found time in which to translate into Russian the first three +Homilies of the Church of England, and into Manchu the Second. His +desire was that the Homily Society should cause these translations to +be printed, and in a letter to the Rev. Francis Cunningham he strove +to enlist his interest in the project, offering the translations +without fee to the Society if they chose to make use of them. {141b} +As "a zealous, though most unworthy, member of the Anglican Church," +he found that his "cheeks glowed with shame at seeing dissenters, +English and American, busily employed in circulating Tracts in the +Russian tongue, whilst the members of the Church were following their +secular concerns, almost regardless of things spiritual in respect to +the Russian population." {142a} + +Borrow also translated into English "one of the sacred books of +Boudh, or Fo," from Baron Schilling de Canstadt's library. The +principal occupation of his leisure hours, however, was a collection +of translations, which he had printed by Schultz & Beneze, and +published (3rd/ 15th June 1835) under the title of Targum, or +Metrical Translations from Thirty Languages and Dialects. {142b} In +a prefatory note, the collection is referred to as "selections from a +huge and undigested mass of translation, accumulated during several +years devoted to philological pursuits." Three months later he +published another collection entitled The Talisman, From the Russian +of Alexander Pushkin. With Other Pieces. {143a} There were seven +poems in all, two after Pushkin, one from the Malo-Russian, one from +Mickiewicz, and three "ancient Russian Songs." Again the printers +were Schultz & Beneze. Each of these editions appears to have been +limited to one hundred copies. {143b} + +Writing in the Athenaeum, {143c} J. P. H[asfeldt] says:- "The work is +a pearl in literature, and, like pearls, derives value from its +scarcity, for the whole edition was limited to about a hundred +copies." W. B. Donne admired the translations immensely, considering +"the language and rhythm as vastly superior to Macaulay's Lays of +Ancient Rome." {143d} + +Whilst the last two volumes of the Manchu New Testament were waiting +for paper (probably for end-papers), Borrow determined to pay a +hurried visit to Moscow, "by far the most remarkable city it has ever +been my fortune to see." One of his principal objects in visiting +the ancient capital of Russia was to see the gypsies, who flourished +there as they flourished nowhere else in Europe. They numbered +several thousands, and many of them inhabited large and handsome +houses, drove in their carriages, and were "distinguishable from the +genteel class of the Russians only . . . by superior personal +advantages and mental accomplishments." {143e} For this unusual +state of prosperity the women were responsible, "having from time +immemorial cultivated their vocal powers to such an extent that, +although in the heart of a country in which the vocal art has arrived +at greater perfection than in any other part of the world, the +principal Gypsy choirs in Moscow are allowed by the general voice of +the public to be unrivalled and to bear away the palm from all +competitors. It is a fact notorious in Russia that the celebrated +Catalani was so filled with admiration for the powers of voice +displayed by one of the Gypsy songsters, who, after the former had +sung before a splendid audience at Moscow, stepped forward and with +an astonishing burst of melody ravished every ear, that she +[Catalani] tore from her own shoulders a shawl of immense value which +had been presented to her by the Pope, and embracing the Gypsy, +compelled her to accept it, saying that it had been originally +intended for the matchless singer, which she now discovered was not +herself." {144a} + +These Russian gypsy singers lived luxurious lives and frequently +married Russian gentry or even the nobility. It was only the +successes, however, who achieved such distinction, and there were "a +great number of low, vulgar, and profligate females who sing in +taverns, or at the various gardens in the neighbourhood, and whose +husbands and male connections subsist by horse-jobbing and such kinds +of low traffic." {144b} + +One fine evening Borrow hired a calash and drove out to Marina Rotze, +"a kind of sylvan garden," about one and a half miles out of Moscow, +where this particular class of Romanys resorted. "Upon my arriving +there," he writes, "the Gypsies swarmed out of their tents and from +the little tracteer or tavern, and surrounded me. Standing on the +seat of the calash, I addressed them in a loud voice in the dialect +of the English Gypsies, with which I have some slight acquaintance. +A scream of wonder instantly arose, and welcomes and greetings were +poured forth in torrents of musical Romany, amongst which, however, +the most pronounced cry was: ah kak mi toute karmuma {145a}--'Oh how +we love you'; for at first they supposed me to be one of their +brothers, who, they said, were wandering about in Turkey, China, and +other parts, and that I had come over the great pawnee, or water, to +visit them." {145b} + +On several other occasions during his stay at Moscow, Borrow went out +to Marina Rotze, to hold converse with the gypsies. He "spoke to +them upon their sinful manner of living," about Christianity and the +advent of Christ, to which the gypsies listened with attention, but +apparently not much profit. The promise that they would soon be able +to obtain the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in their own tongue +interested them far more on account of the pleasurable strangeness of +the idea, than from any anticipation that they might derive spiritual +comfort from such writings. + +Returning to St Petersburg from Moscow, after four-days' absence, +Borrow completed his work, settled up his affairs, bade his friends +good-bye, and on 28th August/9th September left for Cronstadt to take +the packet for Lubeck. The authorities seem to have raised no +objection to his departure. His passport bore the date 28th August +O/S (the actual day he left) and described him as "of stature, tall-- +hair, grey--face, oval--forehead, medium--eyebrows, blonde--eyes, +brown--nose and mouth, medium--chin, round." + +Borrow's work at St Petersburg gave entire satisfaction to the Bible +Society. The Official Report for the year 1835 informed the members +that - + + +"The printing of the Manchu New Testament in St Petersburg is now +drawing to a conclusion. Mr G. Borrow, who has had to superintend +the work, has in every way afforded satisfaction to the Committee. +They have reason to believe that his acquirements in the language are +of the most respectable order; while the devoted diligence with which +he has laboured, and the skill he has shown in surmounting +difficulties, and conducting his negotiations for the advantage of +the Society, justly entitle him to this public acknowledgment of his +services." {146a} + + +Of the actual work itself John Hasfeldt justly wrote: + + +"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 Manchu 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." +{146b} + + +The total cost to the Society of his labours in connection with the +transcription of Puerot's MS., and printing and binding one thousand +copies of Lipovzoff's New Testament had reached the very considerable +sum of 2600 pounds. What the amount would have been if Borrow had +not proved a prince of bargainers, it is impossible to imagine. The +entire edition was sent to Earl Street, and eventually distributed in +China as occasion offered. An edition of the Gospels in this version +has recently been reprinted, and is still in use among certain tribes +in Mongolia. + +Borrow arrived in London somewhere about 20th September (new style), +after an absence of a little more than two years. He went to St +Petersburg "prejudiced against the country, the government, and the +people; the first is much more agreeable than is generally supposed; +the second is seemingly the best adapted for so vast an empire; and +the third, even the lowest classes, are in general kind, hospitable, +and benevolent." {147a} + +On 23rd September Borrow was still in London writing his report to +the General Committee upon his recent labours. In all probability he +left immediately afterwards for Norwich, there to await events. + + + +CHAPTER X: OCTOBER 1835-JANUARY 1836 + + + +Borrow had strong hopes that the Bible Society would continue to +employ him. Mr Brandram had written (5th June 1835) that the +Committee "will not very willingly suffer themselves to be deprived +of your services. From Russia Borrow had written to his mother: +{148a} + + +"They [the Bible Society] place great confidence in me, and I am +firmly resolved to do all in my power to prove that they have not +misplaced that confidence. I dare say that when I return home they +will always be happy to employ me to edit their Bibles, and there is +no employment in the whole world which I should prefer and for which +I am better fitted. I shall, moreover, endeavour to get ordained." + + +On another occasion he wrote, also to his mother: + + +"I hope that the Bible Society will employ me upon something new, for +I have of late led an active life, and dread the thought of having +nothing to do except studying as formerly, and I am by no means +certain that I could sit down to study now. I can do anything if it +is to turn to any account; but it is very hard to dig holes in the +sand and fill them up again, as I used to do. However, I hope God +will find me something on which I can employ myself with credit and +profit. I should like very much to get into the Church, though I +suppose that that, like all other professions, is overstocked." + + +Mrs Borrow reminded him that he had a good home ready to receive him, +and a mother grown lonely with long waiting. She told him, among +other things, that she had spent none of the money that he had so +generously and unsparingly sent her. + +Borrow certainly had every reason to expect further employment. He +had proved himself not only a thoroughly qualified editor; but had +discovered business qualities that must have astonished and delighted +the General Committee. Above all he had brought to a most successful +conclusion a venture that, but for his ability and address, would in +all probability have failed utterly. The application for permission +to proceed with the distribution had, it is true, been unsuccessful; +but there was, as Mr Brandram wrote, the "seed laid up in the +granary; but 'it is not yet written' that the sowers are to go forth +to sow." + +After remaining for a short time with his mother at Norwich, Borrow +appears to have paid a visit to his friends the Skeppers of Oulton. +Old Mrs Skepper, Mrs Clarke's mother, had just died, and it is a +proof of Borrow's intimacy with the family that he should be invited +to stay with them whilst they were still in mourning. Although there +is no record of the date when he arrived at Oulton, he is known to +have been there on 9th October, when he addressed a Bible Society +meeting, about which he wrote the following delectable postscript to +a letter he addressed to Mr Brandram: {149a} + + +"There has been a Bible meeting at Oulton, in Suffolk, to which I was +invited. The speaking produced such an effect, that some of the most +vicious characters in the neighbourhood have become weekly +subscribers to the Branch Society. So says the Chronicle of Norfolk +in its report." The actual paragraph read: + +"It will doubtless afford satisfaction to the Christian public to +learn that many poor individuals in this neighbourhood, who previous +to attending this meeting were averse to the cause or indifferent to +it, had their feelings so aroused by what was communicated to them, +that they have since voluntarily subscribed to the Bible Society, +actuated by the hope of becoming humbly instrumental in extending the +dominion of the true light, and of circumscribing the domains of +darkness and of Satan." + + +On returning to the quiet of the old Cathedral city, Borrow had an +opportunity of resting and meditating upon the events of the last two +years; but he soon became restless and tired of inaction. {150a} "I +am weary of doing nothing, and am sighing for employment," {150b} he +wrote. He had impatiently awaited some word from Earl Street, where, +seemingly, he had discussed various plans for the future, including a +journey to Portugal and Spain, as well as the printing in Armenian of +an edition of the New Testament. Hearing nothing from Mr Jowett, he +wrote begging to be excused for reminding him that he was ready to +undertake any task that might be allotted to him. + +On the day following, he received a letter from Mr Brandram telling +of how a resolution had been passed that he should go to Portugal. +Then the writer's heart misgave him. In his mind's eye he saw Borrow +set down at Oporto. What would he do? Fearful that the door was not +sufficiently open to justify the step, he had suggested the +suspension of the resolution. Borrow was asked what he himself +thought. What did he think of China, and could he foresee any +prospect for the distribution of the Scriptures there? "Favour us +with your thoughts," Mr Brandram wrote. "Experimental agency in a +Society like ours is a formidable undertaking." Borrow replied the +same day, {150c} + + +"As you ask me to favour you with my thoughts, I certainly will; for +I have thought much upon the matters in question, and the result I +will communicate to you in a very few words. I decidedly approve +(and so do all the religious friends whom I have communicated it to) +of the plan of a journey to Portugal, and am sorry that it has been +suspended, though I am convinced that your own benevolent and +excellent heart was the cause, unwilling to fling me into an +undertaking which you supposed might be attended with peril and +difficulty. Therefore I wish it to be clearly understood that I am +perfectly willing to undertake the expedition, nay, to extend it into +Spain, to visit the town and country, to discourse with the people, +especially those connected with institutions for infantine education, +and to learn what ways and opportunities present themselves for +conveying the Gospel into those benighted countries. I will moreover +undertake, with the blessing of God, to draw up a small volume of +what I shall have seen and heard there, which cannot fail to be +interesting, and if patronised by the Society will probably help to +cover the expenses of the expedition. On my return I can commence +the Armenian Testament, and whilst I am editing that, I may be +acquiring much vulgar Chinese from some unemployed Lascar or stray +Cantonman whom I may pick up upon the wharves, and then . . . to +China. I have no more to say, for were I to pen twenty pages, and I +have time enough for so doing, I could communicate nothing which +would make my views more clear." + +The earnestness of this letter seems effectually to have dissipated +Mr Brandram's scruples, for events moved forward with astonishing +rapidity. Four days after the receipt of Borrow's letter, a +resolution was adopted by the Committee to the following effect:- + + +"That Mr Borrow be requested to proceed forthwith to Lisbon and +Oporto for the purpose of visiting the Society's correspondents +there, and of making further enquiries respecting the means and +channels which may offer for promoting the circulation of the Holy +Scriptures in Portugal." {151a} + + +Mr Brandram gave Borrow two letters of introduction, one to John +Wilby, a merchant at Lisbon, and the other to the British Chaplain, +the Rev. E. Whiteley. Having explained to Mr Whiteley how Borrow had +recently been eventually going to employed in St Petersburg in +editing the Manchu New Testament, he wrote:- + + +"We have some prospect of his China; but having proved by experience +that he possesses an order of talent remarkably suited to the +purposes of our Society, we have felt unwilling to interrupt our +connection with him with the termination of his engagement at St +Petersburg. In the interval we have thought that he might +advantageously visit Portugal, and strengthen your hands and those of +other friends, and see whether he could not extend the promising +opening at present existing. He has no specific instructions, though +he is enjoined to confer very fully with yourself and Mr Wilby of +Lisbon. + +"I have mentioned his recent occupation at St Petersburg, and you may +perhaps think that there is little affinity between it and his +present visit to Portugal. But Mr Borrow possesses no little tact in +addressing himself to anything. With Portugal he is already +acquainted, and speaks the language. He proposes visiting several of +the principal cities and towns . . . + +"Our correspondence about Spain is at this moment singularly +interesting, and if it continues so, and the way seems to open, Mr +Borrow will cross the frontier and go and enquire what can be done +there. We believe him to be one who is endowed with no small portion +of address and a spirit of enterprise. I recommend him to your kind +attentions, and I anticipate your thanks for so doing, after you +shall have become acquainted with him. Do not, however, be too hasty +in forming your judgment." + + +This letter outlines very clearly what was in the minds of the +Committee in sending Borrow to Portugal. He was to spy out the land +and advise the home authorities in what direction he would be most +likely to prove useful. He was in particular to direct his attention +to schools, and was "authorised to be liberal in GIVING New +Testaments." Furthermore, he was to be permitted to draw upon the +Society's agents to the extent of one hundred pounds. + +The most significant part of this letter is the passage relating to +China. It leaves no doubt that Borrow's reiterated requests to be +employed in distributing the Manchu New Testament had appealed most +strongly to the General Committee. Mr Brandram was evidently in +doubt as to how Borrow would strike his correspondent as an agent of +the Bible Society, hence his warning against a hasty judgment. +Apparently this letter was never presented, as it was found among +Borrow's papers, and Mr Whiteley had to form his opinion entirely +unaided. + +On 6th November Borrow sailed from the Thames for Lisbon in the +steamship London Merchant. The voyage was fair for the time of year, +and was marked only by the tragic occurrence of a sailor falling from +the cross-trees into the sea and being drowned. The man had dreamed +his fate a few minutes previously, and had told Borrow of the +circumstances on coming up from below. {153a} + +Borrow had scarcely been in Lisbon an hour before he heartily wished +himself "back in Russia . . . where I had left cherished friends and +warm affections." The Customs-house officers irritated him, first +with their dilatoriness, then by the minuteness with which they +examined every article of which he was possessed. Again, there was +the difficulty of obtaining a suitable lodging, which when eventually +found proved to be "dark, dirty and exceedingly expensive without +attendance." Mr Wilby was in the country and not expected to return +for a week. It would also appear that the British Chaplain was +likewise away. Thus Borrow found himself with no one to advise him +as to the first step he should take. This in itself was no very +great drawback; but he felt very much a stranger in a city that +struck him as detestable. + +Determined to commence operations according to the dictates of his +own judgment, he first engaged a Portuguese servant that he might +have ample opportunities of perfecting himself in the language. He +was fortunate in his selection, for Antonio turned out an excellent +fellow, who "always served me with the greatest fidelity, and . . . +exhibited an assiduity and a wish to please which afforded me the +utmost satisfaction." {154a} + +When Borrow arrived in Portugal, it was to find it gasping and dazed +by eight years of civil war (1826-1834). In 1807, when Junot invaded +the country, the Royal House of Braganza had sailed for Brazil. In +1816 Dom Joao succeeded to the thrones of Brazil and Portugal, and +six years later he arrived in Portugal, leaving behind him as Viceroy +his son Dom Pedro, who promptly declared himself Emperor of Brazil. +Dom Joao died in 1826, leaving, in addition to the self-styled +Emperor of Brazil, another son, Miguel. Dom Pedro relinquished his +claim to the throne of Portugal in favour of his seven years old +daughter, Maria da Gloria, whose right was contested by her uncle Dom +Miguel. In 1834 Dom Miguel resigned his imaginary rights to the +throne by the Convention of Evora, and departed from the country that +for eight years had been at war with itself, and for seven with a +foreign invader. + +Borrow proceeded to acquaint himself with the state of affairs in +Lisbon and the surrounding country, that he might transmit a full +account to the Bible Society. He visited every part of the city, +losing no opportunity of entering into conversation with anyone with +whom he came in contact. The people he found indifferent to +religion, the lower orders in particular. They laughed in his face +when he enquired if ever they confessed themselves, and a muleteer on +being asked if he reverenced the cross, "instantly flew into a rage, +stamped violently, and, spitting on the ground, said it was a piece +of stone, and that he should have no more objection to spit upon it +than the stones on which he trod." {154b} + +Many of the people could read, as they proved when asked to do so +from the Portuguese New Testament; but of all those whom he addressed +none appeared to have read the Scriptures, or to know anything of +what they contain. + +After spending four or five days at Lisbon, Borrow, accompanied by +Antonio, proceeded to Cintra. {155a} Here he pursued the same +method, also visiting the schools and enquiring into the nature of +the religious instruction. During his stay of four days, he +"traversed the country in all directions, riding into the fields, +where I saw the peasants at work, and entering into discourse with +them, and notwithstanding many of my questions must have appeared to +them very singular, I never experienced any incivility, though they +frequently answered me with smiles and laughter." {155b} + +From Cintra he proceeded on horseback to Mafra, a large village some +three leagues distant. Everywhere he subjected the inhabitants to a +searching cross-examination, laying bare their minds upon religious +matters, experiencing surprise at the "free and unembarrassed manner +in which the Portuguese peasantry sustain a conversation, and the +purity of the language in which they express their thoughts," {155c} +although few could read or write. + +On the return journey from Mafra to Cintra he nearly lost his life, +owing to the girth of his saddle breaking during his horse's +exertions in climbing a hill. Borrow was cast violently to the +ground; but fortunately on the right side, otherwise he would in all +probability have been bruised to death by tumbling down the steep +hill-side. As it was, he was dazed, and felt the effects of his +mishap for several days. + +On his return to Lisbon, Borrow found that Mr Wilby was back, and he +had many opportunities of taking counsel with him as to the best +means to be adopted to further the Society's ends. He learned that +four hundred copies of the Bible and the New Testament had arrived, +and it was decided to begin operations at once. Mr Wilby recommended +the booksellers as the best medium of distribution; but Borrow urged +strongly that at least half of the available copies "should be +entrusted to colporteurs," who were to receive a commission upon +every copy sold. To this Mr Wilby agreed, provided the operations of +the colporteurs were restricted to Lisbon, as there was considerable +danger in the country, where the priests were very powerful and might +urge the people to mishandle, or even assassinate, the bearers of the +Word. + +By nature Borrow was not addicted to half measures. His whole record +as an agent of the Bible Society was of a series of determined +onslaughts upon the obstacles animate and inanimate, that beset his +path. Sometimes he took away the breath of his adversaries by the +very vigour of his attack, and, like the old Northern leaders, whose +deeds he wished to give to an uneager world in translated verse, he +faced great dangers and achieved great ends. Recognising that the +darkest region is most in need of light, he enquired of Mr Wilby in +what province of Portugal were to be found the most ignorant and +benighted people, and on being told the Alemtejo (the other side of +the Tagus), he immediately announced his intention of making a +journey through it, in order to discover how dense spiritual gloom +could really be in an ostensibly Christian country. + +The Alemtejo was an unprepossessing country, consisting for the most +part of "heaths, broken by knolls and gloomy dingles, swamps and +forests of stunted pine," with but few hills and mountains. The +place was infested with banditti, and robberies, accompanied by +horrible murders, were of constant occurrence. On 6th December, +accompanied by his servant Antonio, Borrow set out for Evora, the +principal town, formerly a seat of the dreaded Inquisition, which +lies about sixty miles east of Lisbon. After many adventures, which +he himself has narrated, including a dangerous crossing of the Tagus, +and a meeting with Dom Geronimo Joze d'Azveto, secretary to the +government of Evora, Borrow arrived at his destination, having spent +two nights on the road. During the journey he had been constantly +mindful of his mission; beside the embers of a bandit's fire he left +a New Testament, and the huts that mark the spot where Dom Pedro and +Dom Miguel met, he sweetened with some of the precious little +tracts." + +He had brought with him to Evora twenty Testaments and two Bibles, +half of which he left with an enlightened shopkeeper, to whom he had +a letter of introduction. The other half he subsequently bestowed +upon Dom Geronimo, who proved to be a man of great earnestness, +deeply conscious of his countrymen's ignorance of true Christianity. +Each day during his stay at Evora, Borrow spent two hours beside the +fountain where the cattle were watered, entering into conversation +with all who approached, the result being that before he left the +town, he had spoken to "about two hundred . . of the children of +Portugal upon matters connected with their eternal welfare." +Sometimes his hearers would ask for proofs of his statements that +they were not Christians, being ignorant of Christ and his teaching, +and that the Pope was Satan's prime minister. He invariably replied +by calling attention to their own ignorance of the Scripture, for if +the priests were in reality Christ's ministers, why had they kept +from their flocks the words of their Master? + +When not engaged at the fountain, Borrow rode about the neighbourhood +distributing tracts. Fearful lest the people might refuse them if +offered by his own hand, he dropped them in their favourite walks, in +the hope that they would be picked up out of curiosity. He caused +the daughter of the landlady of the inn at which he stopped to burn a +copy of Volney's Ruins of Empire, because the author was an "emissary +of Satan," the girl standing by telling her beads until the book were +entirely consumed. + +Borrow had been greatly handicapped through the lack of letters of +introduction to influential people in Portugal. He wrote, therefore, +to Dr Bowring, now M.P. for Kilmarnock, telling him of his wanderings +among the rustics and banditti of Portugal, with whom he had become +very popular; but, he continues: + + +"As it is much more easy to introduce oneself to the cottage than the +hall (though I am not utterly unknown in the latter), I want you to +give or procure me letters to the most liberal and influential minds +in Portugal. I likewise want a letter from the Foreign Office to +Lord [Howard] 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 no other person's, 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 foundations of something similar in +Spain." + +P.S.--"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." {159a} + + +In this letter Borrow gives another illustration of his shrewdness. +He saw clearly the disadvantage of appealing for assistance as an +agent of the Bible Society, a Protestant institution which was +anathema in a Roman Catholic country, whereas if he posed merely as +"a gentleman who has plans for the mental improvement of the +Portuguese," he could enlist the sympathetic interest of any and +every broad-minded Portuguese mindful of his country's intellectual +gloom. In response to this request Dr Bowring, writing from +Brussels, sent two letters of introduction, one each for Lisbon and +Madrid. + +After remaining at Evora for a week (8th to 17th December) Borrow +returned to Lisbon, thoroughly satisfied with the results of his +journey. The next fortnight he spent in a further examination of +Lisbon, and becoming acquainted with the Jews of the city, by whom he +was welcomed as a powerful rabbi. He favoured the mistake, with the +result that in a few days he "knew all that related to them and their +traffic in Lisbon." {159b} + +Borrow's methods seem to have impressed Earl Street most favourably. +In a letter of acknowledgment Mr Brandram wrote:- + + +"We have been much interested by your two communications. {159c} +They are both very painful in their details, and you develop a truly +awful state of things. You are probing the wound, and I hope +preparing the way for our pouring in by and by the healing balsam of +the Scripture. We shall be anxious to hear from you again. We often +think of you in your wanderings. We like your way of communicating +with the people, meeting them in their own walks." + + +Thoroughly convinced as to the irreligious state of Portugal, Borrow +determined to set out for Spain, in order that he might examine into +the condition of the people, and report to the Bible Society their +state of preparedness to receive the Scriptures. On the afternoon of +1st January 1836 he set out, bound for Badajos, a hundred miles south +of Lisbon. From Badajos he intended to take the diligence on to +Madrid, which he decided to make his headquarters. + +Having taken leave of his servant Antonio (who had accompanied him as +far as Aldea Gallega) almost with tears, Borrow mounted a hired mule, +and with no other companion than an idiot lad, who, when spoken to, +made reply only with an uncouth laugh, he plunged once more into the +dangerous and desolate Alemtejo on a four days' journey "over the +most savage and ill-noted track in the whole kingdom." At first he +was overwhelmed with a sense of loneliness, and experienced a great +desire for someone with whom to talk. There was no one to be seen-- +he was hemmed in by desolation and despair. + +At Montemor Novo Borrow appears in a new light when he kisses his +hand repeatedly to the tittering nuns who, with "dusky faces and +black waving hair," {160a} strove to obtain a glance of the stranger +who, a few minutes previously, had dared to tell one of their number +that he had come "to endeavour to introduce the gospel of Christ into +a country where it is not known." {160b} + +One adventure befel him that might have ended in tragedy. Soon after +leaving Arrayolos he overtook a string of carts conveying ammunition +into Spain. One of the Portuguese soldiers of the guard began to +curse foreigners in general and Borrow, whom he mistook for a +Frenchmen, in particular, because "the devil helps foreigners and +hates the Portuguese." When about forty yards ahead of the advance +guard, with which the discontented soldier marched, Borrow had the +imprudence to laugh, with the result that the next moment two well- +aimed bullets sang past his ears. Taking the hint, Borrow put spurs +to his mule, and, followed by the terrified guide, soon outdistanced +these official banditti. With great naivete he remarks, "Oh, may I +live to see the day when soldiery will no longer be tolerated in any +civilised, or at least Christian country!" {161a} + +For two and a half days the idiot guide had met Borrow's most +dexterous cross-examination with a determined silence; but on +reaching a hill overlooking Estremoz he suddenly found tongue, and, +in an epic of inspiration, told of the wonderful hunting that was to +be obtained on the Serre Dorso, the Alemtejo's finest mountain. "He +likewise described with great minuteness a wonderful dog, which was +kept in the neighbourhood for the purpose of catching the wolves and +wild boars, and for which the proprietor had refused twenty +moidores." {161b} From this it would appear that the idiocy of the +guide was an armour to be assumed at will by one who preferred the +sweetness of his own thoughts to the cross-questionings of his +master's clients. + +At Elvas, which he reached on 5th January, Borrow showed very +strongly one rather paradoxical side of his character. Never +backward in his dispraise of Englishmen and things English, in +particular those responsible for the administration of the nation's +affairs, past and present, he demonstrated very clearly, in his +expressions of indignation at the Portuguese attitude towards +England, that he reserved this right of criticism strictly to +himself. At the inn where he stayed, he thoroughly discomfited a +Portuguese officer who dared to criticise the English Government for +its attitude in connection with the Spanish civil war. When refused +entrance to the fort, where he had gone in order to satisfy his +curiosity, Borrow exclaims, "This is one of the beneficial results of +protecting a nation, and squandering blood and treasure in its +defence." {162a} + +Borrow was essentially an Englishman and proud of his blood, prouder +perhaps of that which came to him from Norfolk, {162b} and although +permitting himself and his fellow-countrymen considerable license in +the matter of caustic criticism of public men and things, there the +matter must end. Let a foreigner, a Portuguese, dare to say a word +against his, Borrow's, country, and he became subjected to either a +biting cross-examination, or was denounced in eloquent and telling +periods. "I could not command myself," he writes in extenuation of +his unchristian conduct in discomfiting the officer at Elvas, "when I +heard my own glorious land traduced in this unmerited manner. By +whom? A Portuguese? A native of a country which has been twice +liberated from horrid and detestable thraldom by the hands of +Englishmen." {162c} + +On 6th January 1836, {162d} having sent back the "idiot" guide with +the two mules, Borrow "spurred down the hill of Elvas to the plain, +eager to arrive in old, chivalrous, romantic Spain," and having +forded the stream that separates the two countries, he crossed the +bridge over the Guadiana and entered the North Gate of Badajos, +immortalised by Wellington and the British Army. He had reached +Spain "in the humble hope of being able to cleanse some of the foul +stains of Popery from the minds of its children." {162e} + + + +CHAPTER XI: JANUARY-OCTOBER 1836 + + + +When Borrow entered Spain she was in the throes of civil war. In +1814 British blood and British money had restored to the throne +Ferdinand VII., who, immediately he found himself secure, and +forgetting his pledges to govern constitutionally, dissolved the +Cortes and became an absolute monarch. All the old abuses were +revived, including the re-establishment of the Inquisition. For six +years the people suffered their King's tyranny, then they revolted, +with the result that Ferdinand, bending to the wind, accepted a re- +imposition of the Constitution. In 1823 a French Army occupied +Madrid in support of Ferdinand, who promptly reverted to absolutism. + +In 1829 Ferdinand married for the fourth time, and, on the birth of a +daughter, declared that the Salic law had no effect in Spain, and the +young princess was recognised as heir-apparent to the throne. This +drew from his brother, Don Carlos, who immediately left the country, +a protest against his exclusion from the succession. When his +daughter was four years of age, Ferdinand died, and the child was +proclaimed Queen as Isabel II. + +A bitter war broke out between the respective adherents of the Queen +and her uncle Don Carlos. Prisoners and wounded were massacred +without discrimination, and an uncivilised and barbarous warfare +waged when Borrow crossed the Portuguese frontier "to undertake the +adventure of Spain." + +Spain had always appealed most strongly to Borrow's imagination. + + +"In the day-dreams of my boyhood," he writes, "Spain always bore a +considerable share, and I took a particular interest in her, without +any presentiment that I should, at a future time, be called upon to +take a part, however humble, in her strange dramas; which interest, +at a very early period, led me to acquire her noble language, and to +make myself acquainted with the literature (scarcely worthy of the +language), her history and traditions; so that when I entered Spain +for the first time I felt more at home than I should otherwise have +done." {164a} + + +Whilst standing at the door of the Inn of the Three Nations on the +day following his arrival at Badajos, meditating upon the deplorable +state of the country he had just entered, Borrow recognised in the +face of one of two men who were about to pass him the unmistakable +lineaments of Egypt. Uttering "a certain word," he received the +reply he expected and forthwith engaged in conversation with the two +men, who both proved to be gypsies. These men spread the news abroad +that staying at the Inn of the Three Nations was a man who spoke +Romany. "In less than half an hour the street before the inn was +filled with the men, women, and children of Egypt." Borrow went out +amongst them, and confesses that "so much vileness, dirt, and misery +I had never seen among a similar number of human beings; but worst of +all was the evil expression of their countenances." {164b} He soon +discovered that their faces were an accurate index to their hearts, +which were capable of every species of villainy. The gypsies +clustered round him, fingering his hands, face and clothes, as if he +were a holy man. + +Gypsies had always held for Borrow a strange attraction, {164c} and +he determined to prolong his stay at Badajos in order that he might +have an opportunity of becoming "better acquainted with their +condition and manners, and above all to speak to them of Christ and +His Word; for I was convinced, that should I travel to the end of the +universe, I should meet with no people more in need of a little +Christian exhortation." {165a} + +Intimate though his acquaintance with the gypsies of other countries +had been, Borrow was aghast at the depravity of those of Spain. The +men were drunkards, brigands, and murderers; the women unchaste, and +inveterate thieves. Their language was terrifying in its foulness. +They seemed to have no religion save a misty glimmering of +metempsychosis, which had come down to them through the centuries, +and having been very wicked in this world they asked, with some show +of reason, why they should live again. They were incorrigible +heathens, keenly interested in the demonstration that their language +was capable of being written and read, but untouched by the parables +of Lazarus or the Prodigal Son, which Borrow read and expounded to +them. "Brother," exclaimed one woman, "you tell us strange things, +though perhaps you do not lie; a month since I would sooner have +believed these tales, than that this day I should see one who could +read Romany." {165b} + +Neither by exhortation nor by translating into Romany a portion of +the Gospel of St Luke could Borrow make any impression upon the minds +of the gypsies, therefore when one of them, Antonio by name, +announced that "the affairs of Egypt" called for his presence "on the +frontiers of Costumbra," and that he and Borrow might as well journey +thus far together, he decided to avail himself of the opportunity. +It was arranged that Borrow's luggage should be sent on ahead, for, +as Antonio said, "How the Busne [the Spaniards] on the road would +laugh if they saw two Cales [Gypsies] with luggage behind them." +{166a} Thus it came about that an agent of the British and Foreign +Bible Society, mounted upon a most uncouth horse "of a spectral +white, short in the body, but with remarkably long legs" and high in +the withers, set out from Badajos on 16th January 1836, escorted by a +smuggler astride a mule; for the affairs of Egypt on this occasion +were the evasion of the Customs dues. + +Towards evening on the first day the curiously assorted pair arrived +at Merida, and proceeded to a large and ruinous house, a portion of +which was occupied by some connections of the gypsy Antonio's. In +the large hall of the old mansion they camped, and here, acting on +the gypsy's advice, Borrow remained for three days. Antonio himself +was absent from early morning until late at night, occupied with his +own affairs. {166b} + +The fourth night was spent in the forest by the campfire of some more +of Antonio's friends. On one occasion, but for the fortunate +possession of a passport, the affairs of Egypt would have involved +Borrow in some difficulties with the authorities. At another time, +for safety's sake, he had to part from Antonio and proceed on his way +alone, picking up the contrabandista further on the road. + +When some distance beyond Jaraicejo, it was discovered that the +affairs of Egypt had ended disastrously in the discomfiture and +capture of Antonio's friends by the authorities. The news was +brought by the gypsy's daughter. Antonio must return at once, and as +the steed Borrow was riding, which belonged to Antonio, would be +required by him, Borrow purchased the daughter's donkey, and having +said good-bye to the smuggler, he continued his journey alone. + +By way of Almaraz and Oropesa Borrow eventually reached Talavera +(24th Jan.). On the advice of a Toledo Jew, with whom he had become +acquainted during the last stage of his journey, he decided to take +the diligence from Talavera to Madrid, the more willingly because the +Jew amiably offered to purchase the donkey. On the evening of 25th +Jan. Borrow accordingly took his place on the diligence, and reached +the capital the next morning. + +On arriving at Madrid, Borrow first went to a Posada; but a few days +later he removed to lodgings in the Calle de la Zarza (the Street of +the Brambles),--"A dark and dirty street, which, however, was close +to the Puerta del Sol, the most central point of Madrid, into which +four or five of the principal streets debouche, and which is, at all +times of the year, the great place of assemblage for the idlers of +the capital, poor or rich." {167a} + +The capital did not at first impress Borrow very favourably. {167b} +"Madrid is a small town," he wrote to his mother, {167c} "not larger +than Norwich, but it is crammed with people, like a hive with bees, +and it contains many fine streets and fountains . . . Everything in +Madrid is excessively dear to foreigners, for they are made to pay +six times more than natives . . . I manage to get on tolerably well, +for I make a point of paying just one quarter of what I am asked." + +He suffered considerably from the frost and cold. From the snow- +covered mountains that surround the city there descend in winter such +cold blasts "that the body is drawn up like a leaf." {167d} Then +again there were the physical discomforts that he had to endure. + +"You cannot think," he wrote, {168a} "what a filthy, uncivilised set +of people the Spanish and Portuguese are. There is more comfort in +an English barn than in one of their palaces; and they are rude and +ill-bred to a surprising degree." + +Borrow was angry with Spain, possibly for being so unlike his "dear +and glorious Russia." He saw in it a fertile and beautiful country, +inhabited by a set of beings that were not human, "almost as bad as +the Irish, with the exception that they are not drunkards." {168b} +They were a nation of thieves and extortioners, who regarded the +foreigner as their legitimate prey. Even his own servant was "the +greatest thief and villain that ever existed; who, if I would let +him, would steal the teeth out of my head," {168c} and who seems +actually to have destroyed some of his master's letters for the sake +of the postage. Being forced to call upon various people whose +addresses he did not know, Borrow found it necessary to keep the man, +in spite of his thievish proclivities, for he was clever, and had he +been dismissed his place would, in all probability, have been taken +by an even greater rogue. + +At night he never went out, for the streets were thronged with +hundreds of people of the rival factions, bent on "cutting and +murdering one another; . . . for every Spaniard is by nature a cruel, +cowardly tiger. Nothing is more common than to destroy a whole town, +putting man, woman, and child to death, because two or three of the +inhabitants have been obnoxious." {168d} Thus he wrote to his +mother, all-unconscious of the anxiety and alarm that he was causing +her lest he, her dear George, should be one of the cut or murdered. + +Later, Borrow seems to have revised his opinion of Madrid and of its +inhabitants. He confesses that of all the cities he has known Madrid +interested him the most, not on account of its public buildings, +squares or fountains, for these are surpassed in other cities; but +because of its population. "Within a mud wall scarcely one league +and a half in circuit, are contained two hundred thousand human +beings, certainly forming the most extraordinary vital mass to be +found in the entire world." {169a} In the upper classes he had +little interest. He mixed but little with them, and what he saw did +not impress him favourably. It was the Spaniard of the lower orders +that attracted him. He regarded this class as composed not of common +beings, but of extraordinary men. He admired their spirit of proud +independence, and forgave them their ignorance. His first +impressions of Spain had been unfavourable because, as a stranger, he +had been victimised by the amiable citizens, who were merely doing as +their fathers had done before them. Once, however, he got to know +them, he regarded with more indulgence their constitutional +dishonesty towards the stranger, a weakness they possessed in common +with the gypsies, and hailed them as "extraordinary men." Borrow's +impulsiveness frequently led him to ill-considered and hasty +conclusions, which, however, he never hesitated to correct, if he saw +need for correction. + +The disappointment he experienced as regards Madrid and the Spaniards +is not difficult to understand. He arrived quite friendless and +without letters of introduction, to find the city given over to the +dissensions and strifes of the supporters of Isabel II. and Don +Carlos. His journey had been undertaken in "the hope of obtaining +permission from the Government to print the New Testament in the +Castilian language, without the notes insisted on by the Spanish +clergy, for circulation in Spain," and there seemed small chance of +those responsible for the direction of affairs listening to the +application of a foreigner for permission to print the unannotated +Scriptures. For one thing, any acquiescence in such a suggestion +would draw forth from the priesthood bitter reproaches and, most +probably, active and serious opposition. It is only natural that +despondency should occasionally seize upon him who sought to light +the lamp of truth amidst such tempests. + +The man to approach was the premier, Juan Alvarez y Mendizabal, +{170a} a Christianised Jew. He was enormously powerful, and Borrow +decided to appeal to him direct; for, armed with the approval of +Mendizabal, no one would dare to interfere with his plans or +proceedings. Borrow made several attempts to see Mendizabal, who +"was considered as a man of almost unbounded power, in whose hands +were placed the destinies of the country." Without interest or +letters of introduction, he found it utterly impossible to obtain an +audience. Recollecting the assistance he had received from the Hon. +J. D. Bligh at St Petersburg, Borrow determined to make himself known +to the British Minister at Madrid, the Hon. George Villiers, {170b} +and, "with the freedom permitted to a British subject . . . ask his +advice in the affair." Borrow was received with great kindness, and, +after conversing upon various topics for some time, he introduced the +subject of his visit. Mr Villiers willingly undertook to help him as +far as lay in his power, and promised to endeavour to procure for him +an audience with the Premier. In this he was successful, and Borrow +had an interview with Mendizabal, who was almost inaccessible to all +but the few. + +At eight o'clock on the morning of 7th February Borrow presented +himself at the palace, where Mendizabal resided, and after waiting +for about three hours, was admitted to the presence of the Prime +Minister of Spain, whom he found--"A huge athletic man, somewhat +taller than myself, who measure six foot two without my shoes. His +complexion was florid, his features fine and regular, his nose quite +aquiline, and his teeth splendidly white; though scarcely fifty years +of age, his hair was remarkably grey. He was dressed in a rich +morning gown, with a gold chain round his neck, and morocco slippers +on his feet." {171a} + +Borrow began by assuring Mendizabal that he was labouring under a +grave error in thinking that the Bible Society had sought to +influence unduly the slaves of Cuba, that they had not sent any +agents there, and they were not in communication with any of the +residents. Mr Villiers had warned Borrow that the premier was very +angry on account of reports that had reached him of the action in +Cuba of certain people whom he insisted were sent there by the Bible +Society. In vain Borrow suggested that the disturbers of the +tranquillity of Spain's beneficent rule in the Island were in no way +connected with Earl Street; he was several times interrupted by +Mendizabal, who insisted that he had documentary proof. Borrow with +difficulty restrained himself from laughing in the premier s face. +He pointed out that the Committee was composed of quiet, respectable +English gentlemen, who attended to their own concerns and gave a +little of their time to the affairs of the Bible Society. + +On Borrow asking for permission to print at Madrid the New Testament +in Spanish without notes, he was met with an unequivocal refusal. In +spite of his arguments that the whole tenor of the work was against +bloodshedding and violence, he could not shake the premier's opinion +that it was "an improper book." + +At first Borrow had experienced some difficulty in explaining +himself, on account of the Spaniard's habit of persistent +interruption, and at last he was forced in self-defence to hold on in +spite of Mendizabal's remarks. The upshot of the interview was that +he was told to renew his application when the Carlists had been +beaten and the country was at peace. Borrow then asked permission to +introduce into Spain a few copies of the New Testament in the Catalan +dialect, but was refused. He next requested to be allowed to call on +the following day and submit a copy of the Catalan edition, and +received the remarkable reply that the prime-minister refused his +offer to call lest he should succeed in convincing him, and +Mendizabal did not wish to be convinced. This seemed to show that +the Mendizabal was something of a philosopher and a little of a +humorist. + +With this Borrow had to be content, and after an hour's interview he +withdrew. The premier was unquestionably in a difficult position. +On the one hand, he no doubt desired to assist a man introduced to +him by the representative of Great Britain, to whom he looked for +assistance in suppressing Carlism; on the other hand, he had the +priesthood to consider, and they would without question use every +means of which they stood possessed to preserve the prohibition +against the dissemination of the Scriptures, without notes, a +prohibition that had become almost a tradition. + +But Borrow was not discouraged. He wrote in a most hopeful strain +that he foresaw the speedy and successful termination of the +Society's negotiations in the Peninsula. He looked forward to the +time when only an agent would be required to superintend the +engagement of colporteurs, and to make arrangements with the +booksellers. He proceeds to express a hope that his exertions have +given satisfaction to the Society. + +Borrow received an encouraging letter from Mr Brandram, telling him +of the Committee's appreciation of his work, but practically leaving +with him the decision as to his future movements. They were inclined +to favour a return to Lisbon, but recognised that "in these wondrous +days opportunities may open unexpectedly." In the matter of the +Gospel of St Luke in Spanish Romany, the publication of extracts was +authorised, but there was no enthusiasm for the project. "We say," +wrote Mr Brandram, "festina lente. You will be doing well to occupy +leisure hours with this work; but we are not prepared for printing +anything beyond portions at present." + +In the meantime, however, an article in the Madrid newspaper, El +Espanol, upon the history, aims, and achievements of the British and +Foreign Bible Society, had determined Borrow to remain on at Madrid +for a few weeks at least. + + +"Why should Spain, which has explored the New World, why should she +alone be destitute of Bible Societies," asked the Espanol. "Why +should a nation eminently Catholic continue isolated from the rest of +Europe, without joining in the magnificent enterprise in which the +latter is so busily engaged?" {173a} + + +This article fired Borrow, and with the promise of assistance from +the liberal-minded Espanol, he set to work "to lay the foundation of +a Bible Society at Madrid." {173b} As a potential head of the +Spanish organization, Borrow's eyes were already directed towards the +person of "a certain Bishop, advanced in years, a person of great +piety and learning, who has himself translated the New Testament" +{173c} and who was disposed to print and circulate it. + +Nothing, however, came of the project. Mr Brandram wrote to Borrow:- +"With regard to forming a Bible Society in Madrid, and appointing Dr +Usoz Secretary, it is so out of our usual course that the Committee, +for various reasons, cannot comply with your wishes--of the +desirableness of forming such a Society at present, you and your +friend must be the best judges. If it is to be an independent +society, as I suppose must be the case," Mr Brandram continues, and +the Bible Society's aid or that of its agent is sought, the new +Society must be formed on the principles of the British and Foreign +Bible Society, admitting, "on the one hand, general cooperation, and +on the other, that it does not circulate Apocryphal Bibles." There +was doubt at Earl Street as to whether the time was yet ripe; so the +decision was very properly left with Borrow, and he was told that he +"need not fear to hold out great hopes of encouragement in the event +of the formation of such a Society." {174a} + +A serious difficulty now arose in the resignation of Mendizabal +(March 1836). Two of his friends and supporters, in the persons of +Francisco de Isturitz and Alcala Galiano, seceded from his party, +and, under the name of moderados, formed an opposition to their Chief +in the Cortes. They had the support of the Queen Regent and General +Cordova, whom Mendizabal had wished to remove from his position as +head of the army on account of his great popularity with the +soldiers, whose comforts and interests he studied. Isturitz became +Premier, Galiano Minister of Marine (a mere paper title, as there was +no navy at the time), and the Duke of Rivas Minister of the Interior. + +Conscious of the advantage of possessing powerful friends, especially +in a country such as Spain, Borrow had used every endeavour to +enlarge the circle of his acquaintance among men occupying +influential positions, or likely to succeed those who at present +filled them. The result was that he was able to announce to Mr +Brandram that the new ministry, which had been formed, was composed +"entirely of MY friends." {175a} With Galiano in particular he was +on very intimate terms. Everything promised well, and the new +Cabinet showed itself most friendly to Borrow and his projects, until +the actual moment arrived for writing the permission to print the +Scriptures in Spanish. Then doubts arose, and the decrees of the +Council of Trent loomed up, a threatening barrier, in the eyes of the +Duke of Rivas and his secretary. + +So hopeful was Borrow after his first interview with the Duke that he +wrote: --"I shall receive the permission, the Lord willing, in a few +days . . . The last skirts of the cloud of papal superstition are +vanishing below the horizon of Spain; whoever says the contrary +either knows nothing of the matter or wilfully hides the truth." +{175b} + +At Earl Street the good news about the article in the Espanol gave +the liveliest satisfaction. "Surely a new and wonderful thing in +Spain," wrote Mr Brandram {175c} in a letter in which he urged Borrow +to "guard against becoming too much committed to one political +party," and asked him to write more frequently, as his letters were +always most welcome. This letter reached Madrid at a time when +Borrow found himself absolutely destitute. + +"For the last three weeks," he writes, {175d} "I have been without +money, literally without a farthing." Everything in Madrid was so +dear. A month previously he had been forced to pay 12 pounds, 5s. +for a suit of clothes, "my own being so worn that it was impossible +to appear longer in public with them." {175e} He had written to Mr +Wilby, but in all probability his letter had gone astray, the post to +Estremadura having been three times robbed. "The money may still +come," he continues, {176a} "but I have given up all hopes of it, and +I am compelled to write home, though what I am to do till I can +receive your answer I am at a loss to conceive . . . whatever I +undergo, I shall tell nobody of my situation, it might hurt the +Society and our projects here. I know enough of the world to be +aware that it is considered as the worst of crimes to be without +money." {176b} + +For weeks Borrow devoted himself to the task of endeavouring to +obtain permission to print the Scriptures in Spanish. The Duke of +Rivas referred him to his secretary, saying, "He will do for you what +you want!" But the secretary retreated behind the decrees of the +Council of Trent. Then Mr Villiers intervened, saw the Duke and gave +Borrow a letter to him. Again the Council of Trent proved to be the +obstacle. Galiano took up the matter and escorted Borrow to the +Bureau of the Interior, and had an interview with the Duke's +secretary. When Galiano left, there remained nothing for the +conscientious secretary to do but to write out the formal permission, +all else having been satisfactorily settled; but no sooner had +Galiano departed, than the recollection of the Council of Trent +returned to the secretary with terrifying distinctness, and no +permission was given. + +Tired of the Council of Trent and the Duke's secretary, Borrow would +sometimes retire to the banks of the canal and there loiter in the +sun, watching the gold and silver fish basking on the surface of its +waters, or gossiping with the man who sold oranges and water under +the shade of the old water-tower. Once he went to see an execution-- +anything to drive from his mind the conscientious secretary and the +Council of Trent, the sole obstacles to the realisation of his plans. + +Borrow informed Mr Brandram at the end of May that the Cabinet was +unanimously in favour of granting his request; nothing happened. +There seems no doubt that the Cabinet's policy was one of subterfuge. +It could not afford to offend the British Minister, nor could it, at +that juncture, risk the bitter hostility of the clergy, consequently +it promised and deferred. A petition to the Ecclesiastical Committee +of Censors, although strongly backed by the Civil Governor of Madrid +(within whose department lay the censorship), produced no better +result. There was nothing heard but "To-morrow, please God!" + +Foiled for the time being in his constructive policy, Borrow turned +his attention to one of destruction. He had already announced to the +Bible Society that the authority of the Pope was in a precarious +condition. + + +"Little more than a breath is required to destroy it," he writes, +{177a} "and I am almost confident that in less than a year it will be +disowned. I am doing whatever I can in Madrid to prepare the way for +an event so desirable. I mix with the people, and inform them who +and what the Pope is, and how disastrous to Spain his influence has +been. I tell them that the indulgences, which they are in the habit +of purchasing, are of no more intrinsic value than so many pieces of +paper, and were merely invented with the view of plundering them. I +frequently ask: 'Is it possible that God, who is good, would +sanction the sale of sin? and, supposing certain things are sinful, +do you think that God, for the sake of your money, would permit you +to perform them?' In many instances my hearers have been satisfied +with this simple reasoning, and have said that they would buy no more +indulgences." + + +Mr Brandram promptly wrote warning Borrow against becoming involved +in any endeavour to hasten the fall of the Pope. Although deeply +interested in what their agent had to say, there was a strong +misgiving at headquarters that for a few moments Borrow had +"forgotten that our hopes of the fall of -- are founded on the simple +distribution of the Scriptures," {178a} and he was told that, as +their agent, he must not pursue the course that he described. The +warning was carefully worded, so that it might not wound Borrow's +feelings or lessen his enthusiasm. + +Borrow had found that the climate of Madrid did not agree with him. +It had proved very trying during the winter; but now that summer had +arrived the heat was suffocating and the air seemed to be filled with +"flaming vapours," and even the Spaniards would "lie gasping and +naked upon their brick floors." {178b} In spite of the heat, +however, he was occupied "upon an average ten hours every day, +dancing attendance on one or another of the Ministers." {178c} + +Sometimes the difficulties that he had to contend with reduced him +almost to despair of ever obtaining the permission he sought. "Only +those," he writes, {178d} "who have been in the habit of dealing with +Spaniards, by whom the most solemn promises are habitually broken, +can form a correct idea of my reiterated disappointments, and of the +toil of body and agony of spirit which I have been subjected to. One +day I have been told, at the Ministry, that I had only to wait a few +moments and all I wished would be acceded to; and then my hopes have +been blasted with the information that various difficulties, which +seemed insurmountable, had presented themselves, whereupon I have +departed almost broken-hearted; but the next day I have been summoned +in a great hurry and informed that 'all was right,' and that on the +morrow a regular authority to print the Scriptures would be delivered +to me, but by that time fresh and yet more terrible difficulties had +occurred--so that I became weary of my life." + +Mr Villiers evidently saw through the Spanish Cabinet's policy of +delay; for he spoke to the ministers collectively and individually, +strongly recommending that the petition be granted. He further +pointed out the terrible condition of the people, who lacked +religious instruction of any kind, and that a nation of atheists +would not prove very easy to govern. It may have been these +arguments, or, what is more likely, a desire on the part of the +Cabinet to please the representative of Great Britain, in any case a +greater willingness was now shown to give the necessary permission. +Measures were accordingly taken to evade the law and protect the +printer into whose hands the work was to be entrusted, until an +appropriate moment arrived for repealing the existing statute. + +Borrow forwarded to Earl Street the following interesting letter that +he had received from Mr Villiers, which confirms his words as to the +keen interest taken by the British Minister in the endeavour to +obtain the permission to print the New Testament in Spanish + + +DEAR SIR, + +I have had a long conversation with Mr Isturitz upon the subject of +printing the Testament, in which he showed himself to be both +sagacious and liberal. He assured me that the matter should have his +support whenever the Duque de Ribas brought it before the Cabinet, +and that as far as he was concerned the question MIGHT BE CONSIDERED +AS SETTLED. + +You are quite welcome to make any use you please of this note with +the D. de Ribas or Mr Olivan. {179a} + +I am, Dear Sir, +Yours faithfully, +GEORGE VILLIERS. +June 23rd [1836]. + + +It was unquestionably Borrow's personality that was responsible for +Mr Villiers' interest in the scheme, as when Lieutenant Graydon +{179b} had applied to him on a previous occasion he declined to +interfere. + +At Borrow's suggestion the President of the Bible Society, Lord +Bentley, wrote to Mr Villiers thanking him for the services he had +rendered in connection with the Spanish programme. It was +characteristic of Borrow that he added to his letter as a reason for +his request, that "I may be again in need of Mr V's. assistance +before I leave Spain." {180a} Borrow was always keenly alive to the +advantage of possessing influential friends who would be likely to +assist him in his labours for the Society. He was not a profound +admirer of the Society of Jesus for nothing, and although he would +scorn to exercise tact in regard to his own concerns, he was fully +prepared to make use of it in connection with those of the Bible +Society. He was a Jesuit at heart, and would in all probability have +preferred a good compositor who had been guilty of sacrilege to a bad +one who had not. He saw that besides being something of a +diplomatist, an agent of the Bible Society had also to be a good +business man. He has been called tactless, until the word seems to +have become permanently identified with his name; how unjustly is +shown by a very hasty examination of his masterly diplomacy, both in +Russia and Spain. Diplomacy, as Borrow understood it, was the art of +being persuasive when persuasion would obtain for him his object, and +firm, even threatening, when strong measures were best calculated to +suit his ends. It is only the fool who defines tact as the gentle +art of pleasing everybody. Diplomacy is the art of getting what you +want at the expense of displeasing as few people as possible. + +"The affair is settled--thank God!!! and we may begin to print +whenever we think proper." With these words Borrow announces the +success of his enterprise. "Perhaps you have thought," he continues, +"that I have been tardy in accomplishing the business which brought +me to Spain; but to be able to form a correct judgment you ought to +be aware of all the difficulties which I have had to encounter, and +which I shall not enumerate. I shall content myself with observing +that for a thousand pounds I would not undergo again all the +mortifications and disappointments of the last two months." {181a} + +There were moments when Borrow forgot the idiom of Earl Street and +reverted to his old, self-confident style, which had so alarmed some +of the excellent members of the Committee. He had achieved a great +triumph, how great is best shown by the suggestion made by the prime +minister that if determined to avail himself of the permission that +had been obtained, he had better employ "the confidential printer of +the Government, who would keep the matter secret; as in the present +state of affairs he [the prime minister] would not answer for the +consequences if it were noised abroad." {181b} By giving the license +to print the New Testament without notes, the Cabinet was assuming a +very grave responsibility. All this shows how great was the +influence of the British Minister upon the Isturitz Cabinet, and how +considerable that of Borrow upon the British Minister. + +Now that his object was gained, there was nothing further to keep +Borrow in Spain, and he accordingly asked for instructions, +suggesting that, as soon as the heats were over, Lieutenant Graydon +might return to Madrid and take charge, "as nothing very difficult +remains to be accomplished, and I am sure that Mr Villiers, at my +entreaty, would extend to him the patronage with which he has +honoured me." {181c} In conclusion he announced himself as ready to +do "whatever the Bible Society may deem expedient." {181d} + +Borrow now began to suffer from the reaction after his great +exertions. He became so languid as scarcely to be able to hold a +pen. He had no books, and conversation was impossible, for the heat +had driven away all who could possibly escape, among them his +acquaintances, and he frequently remembered with a sigh the happy +days spent in St Petersburg. + +A few days later (25th July) he wrote proposing as a member of the +Bible Society Dr Luis de Usoz y Rio, "a person of great +respectability and great learning." {182a} Dr Usoz, who was +subsequently to be closely associated with Borrow in his labours in +Spain, was a man of whom he was unable to "speak in too high terms of +admiration; he is one of the most learned men in Spain, and is become +in every point a Christian according to the standard of the New +Testament." {182b} + +Dr Usoz also addressed a letter to the Society asking to be +considered as a correspondent and entrusted with copies of the +Scriptures, which he was convinced he could circulate in every +province of Spain. The advantage of having one of the editors of the +principal newspaper of Spain on the side of the Society did not fail +to appeal to Borrow. Dr Usoz not only became a member of the Bible +Society, but earned from Borrow a splendid tribute in the Preface to +The Bible in Spain. + +Before advantage could be taken of the hardly earned permission to +print the New Testament in Madrid, the Revolution of La Granja {182c} +broke out, resulting in the proclamation of the Constitution of 1812, +by which the press became free. In Madrid chaos reigned as a result. +Borrow himself has given a vivid account of how Quesada, by his +magnificent courage, quelled for the time being the revolution, how +the ministers fled, how eventually the heroic tyrant was recognised +and killed, and, finally, how, at a celebrated coffee-house in +Madrid, Borrow saw the victorious Nationals drink to the Constitution +from a bowl of coffee, which had first been stirred with one of the +mutilated hands of the hated Quesada. {183a} + +Now that no obstacle stood in the way of the printing of the Spanish +New Testament, Borrow was requested to return to England that he +might confer with the authorities at Earl Street. "You may now +consider yourself under marching orders to return home as soon as you +have made all the requisite arrangements; . . . you have done, we are +persuaded, a good and great work," {183b} Mr Brandram wrote. It was +thought by the Committee that the advantages to be derived from a +conference with Borrow would be well worth the expense involved in +his having to return again to Spain. + +To this request for his immediate presence in London Borrow replied: + + +"I shall make the provisional engagement as desired [as regards the +printing of the New Testament] and shall leave Madrid as soon as +possible; but I must here inform you, that I shall find much +difficulty in returning to England, as all the provinces are +disturbed in consequence of the Constitution of 1812 having been +proclaimed, and the roads are swarming with robbers and banditti. It +is my intention to join some muleteers, and attempt to reach Granada, +from whence, if possible, I shall proceed to Malaga or Gibraltar, and +thence to Lisbon, where I left the greatest part of my baggage. Do +not be surprised, therefore, if I am tardy in making my appearance; +it is no easy thing at present to travel in Spain. But all these +troubles are for the benefit of the Cause, and must not be repined +at." {183c} + + +Leaving Madrid on 20th August, Borrow was at Granada on the 30th, as +proved by the Visitors' Book, in which he signed himself + + +"George Borrow Norvicensis." + + +The real object of this visit appears to have been his desire to +study more closely the Spanish gypsies. From Granada he proceeded to +Malaga. Neither place can be said to be on the direct road to +England; but the disturbed state of the country had to be taken into +consideration, and it was a question not of the shortest road but the +safest. + +On his return to London, early in October, Borrow wrote a report +{184a} upon his labours, roughly sketching out his work since he left +Badajos. He repeated his view that the Papal See had lost its power +over Spain, and that the present moment was a peculiarly appropriate +one in which to spread the light of the Gospel over the Peninsula. +Forgetting the thievish propensities of the race, he wrote glowingly +of the Spaniards and their intellectual equipment, the clearness with +which they expressed themselves, and the elegance of their diction. +The mind of the Spaniard was a garden run to waste, and it was for +the British and Foreign Bible Society to cultivate it and purge it of +the rank and bitter weeds. + +He foresaw no difficulty whatever in disposing of 5000 copies of the +New Testament in a short time in the capital and provincial towns, in +particular Cadiz and Seville where the people were more enlightened. +He was not so confident about the rural districts, where those who +assured him that they were acquainted with the New Testament said +that it contained hymns addressed to the Virgin which were written by +the Pope. + + + +CHAPTER XII: NOVEMBER 1836-MAY 1837 + + + +Borrow remained in England for a month (3rd October/4th November), +during which time he conferred with the Committee and Officials at +Earl Street as to the future programme in Spain. On 4th November, +having sent to his mother 130 pounds of the 150 pounds he had drawn +as salary, and promising to write to Mr Brandram from Cadiz, he +sailed from London in the steamer Manchester, bound for Lisbon and +Cadiz. + +In a letter to his mother, he describes his fellow passengers as +invalids fleeing from the English winter. "Some of them are three +parts gone with consumption," he writes, "some are ruptured, some +have broken backs; I am the only sound person in the ship, which is +crowded to suffocation. I am in a little hole of a berth where I can +scarcely breathe, and every now and then wet through." + +The horrors of the voyage from Falmouth to Lisbon he has described +with terrifying vividness; {185a} how the engines broke down and the +vessel was being driven on to Cape Finisterre; how all hope had been +abandoned, and the Captain had told the passengers of their impending +fate; how the wind suddenly "VEERED RIGHT ABOUT, and pushed us from +the horrible coast faster than it had previously driven us towards +it." {185b} + +During the whole of that terrible night Borrow had remained on deck, +all the other passengers having been battened down below. He was +almost drowned in the seas that broke over the vessel, and, on one +occasion, was struck down by a water cask that had broken away from +its lashings. Even after he had escaped Cape Finisterre, the ordeal +was not over; for the ship was in a sinking condition, and fire broke +out on board. Eventually the engines were repaired, the fire +extinguished, and Lisbon was reached on the 13th, where Borrow landed +with his water-soaked luggage, and found on examination that the +greater part of his clothes had been ruined. In spite of this +experience, he determined to continue his voyage to Cadiz in the +Manchester, probably for reasons of economy, indifferent to the fact +that she was utterly unseaworthy, and that most of the other +passengers had abandoned her. During his enforced stay in Lisbon, +whilst the ship was being patched up, Borrow saw Mr Wilby and made +enquiry into the state of the Society's affairs in Portugal. Many +changes had taken place and the country was in a distracted state. + +After a week's delay at Lisbon the Manchester continued her voyage to +Cadiz, where she arrived without further mishap on the 21st. During +this voyage a fellow passenger with Borrow was the Marques de Santa +Coloma. "According to the expression of the Marques, when they +stepped on to the quay at Cadiz, Borrow looked round, saw some +Gitanos lounging there, said something that the Marques could not +understand, and immediately 'that man became une grappe de Gitanos.' +They hung round his neck, clung to his knees, seized his hands, +kissed his feet, so that the Marques hardly liked to join his comrade +again after such close embraces by so dirty a company." {186a} + +Borrow now found himself in his allotted field--unhappy, miserable, +distracted Spain. Gomez, the Carlist leader, had been sweeping +through Estremadura like a pestilence, and Borrow fully expected to +find Seville occupied by his banditti; but Carlists possessed no +terrors for him. Unless he could do something to heal the spiritual +wounds of the wretched country, he assured Mr Brandram, he would +never again return to England. + +On 1st December Mr Brandram wrote to Borrow expressing deep sympathy +with all he had been through, and adding: "If you go forward . . . +we will help you by prayer. If you retreat we shall welcome you +cordially." He appears to have written before consulting with the +Committee, who, on hearing of the actual state of affairs in Spain, +became filled with misgiving and anxiety for the safety of their +agent, who seemed to be destitute of fear. Mr Brandram had been +content for Borrow to go forward if he so decided, but, as he wrote +later, "your prospective dangers, while they created an absorbing +interest, were viewed in different lights by the Committee," who +thought they had "no right to commit you to such perils. My own +feeling was that, while I could not urge you forward, there were +peculiarities in your history and character that I would not keep you +back if you were minded to go. A few felt with me--most, however, +thought that you should have been restrained." {187a} It was decided +therefore to forbid him to proceed on his hazardous adventure, and +accordingly a letter was addressed to him care of the British Consul +at Cadiz. If Borrow received this he disregarded the instructions it +contained. + +Cadiz proved to be in a state of great confusion. It was reported +that numerous bands of Carlists were in the neighbourhood, and the +whole city was in a state of ferment in consequence. In the coffee- +houses the din of tongues was deafening; would-be orators, sometimes +as many as six at one time, sprang up upon chairs and tables and +ventilated their political views. The paramount, nay, the only, +interest was not in the words of Christ; but the probable doings of +the Carlists. + +On the night of his arrival Borrow was taken ill with what, at the +time, he thought to be cholera, and for some time in the little +"cock-loft or garret" that had been allotted to him at the over- +crowded French hotel, he was "in most acute pain, and terribly sick," +drinking oil mixed with brandy. For two days he was so exhausted as +to be able to do nothing. + +On the morning of the 24th he embarked in a small Spanish steamer +bound for Seville, which was reached that same night. The sun had +dissipated the melancholy and stupor left by his illness, and by the +time he arrived at Seville he was repeating Latin verses and +fragments of old Spanish ballads to a brilliant moon. The condition +of affairs at Seville was as bad if not worse than at Cadiz. There +was scarcely any communication with the capital, the diligences no +longer ran, and even the fearless arrieros (muleteers) declined to +set out. Famine, plunder and murder were let loose over the land. +Bands of banditti robbed, tortured and slew in the name of Don +Carlos. They stripped the peasantry of all they possessed, and the +poor wretches in turn became brigands and preyed upon those weaker +than themselves. Through all this Borrow had to penetrate in order +to reach Madrid. Had the road been familiar to him he would have +performed the journey alone, dressed either as a beggar or as a +gypsy. It is obvious that he appreciated the hazardous nature of the +journey he was undertaking, for he asked Mr Brandram, in the event of +his death, to keep the news from old Mrs Borrow as long as possible +and then to go down to Norwich and break it to her himself. + +At Seville Borrow encountered Baron Taylor, {188a} whom he states +that he had first met at Bayonne (during the "veiled period"), and +later in Russia, beside the Bosphorus, and finally in the South of +Ireland. Than Baron Taylor there was no one for whom Borrow +entertained "a greater esteem and regard . . . There is a mystery +about him which, wherever he goes, serves not a little to increase +the sensation naturally created by his appearance and manner." {189a} +Borrow was much attracted to this mysterious personage, about whom +nothing could be asserted "with downright positiveness." + +From Seville Borrow proceeded to Cordoba, accompanied by "an elderly +person, a Genoese by birth," whose acquaintance he had made and whom +he hoped later to employ in the distribution of the Testaments. +Borrow had hired a couple of miserable horses. The Genoese had not +been in the saddle for some thirty years, and he was an old man and +timid. His horse soon became aware of this, and neither whip nor +spur could persuade it to exert itself. When approaching night +rendered it necessary to make a special effort to hasten forward, the +bridle of the discontented steed had to be fastened to that of its +fellow, which was then urged forward "with spur and cudgel." Both +the Genoese and his mount protested against such drastic measures, +the one by entreaties to be permitted to dismount, the other by +attempting to fling itself down. The only notice Borrow took of +these protests was to spur and cudgel the more. + +On the night of the third day the party arrived at Cordoba, and was +cordially welcomed by the Carlist innkeeper, who, although avowing +himself strictly neutral, confessed how great had been his pleasure +at welcoming the Carlists when they occupied the City a short time +before. It was at this inn that Borrow explained to the elderly +Genoese, who had indiscreetly resented his host's disrespectful +remarks about the young Queen Isabel, how he invariably managed to +preserve good relations with all sorts of factions. "My good man," +he said, "I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose +table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep; at least I never say +anything which can lead them to suspect the contrary; by pursuing +which system I have more than once escaped a bloody pillow, and +having the wine I drank spiced with sublimate." {190a} + +Borrow remained at Cordoba much longer than he had intended, because +of the reports that reached him of the unsafe condition of the roads. +He sent back the old Genoese with the horses, and spent the time in +thoroughly examining the town and making acquaintances among its +inhabitants. At length, after a stay of ten or eleven days, +despairing of any improvement in the state of the country, he +continued his journey in the company of a contrabandista, temporarily +retired from the smuggling trade, from whom he hired two horses for +the sum of forty-two dollars. Borrow allowed no compunction to +assail him as to the means he employed when he was thoroughly +convinced as to the worthiness of the end he had in view. To further +his projects he would cheerfully have travelled with the Pope +himself. + +The journey to Madrid proved dismal in the extreme. The +contrabandista was sullen and gloomy, despite the fact that his +horses had been insured against loss and the handsome fee he was to +receive for his services. The Despenaperros in the Sierra Morena +through which Borrow had to pass, had, even in times of peace, a most +evil reputation; but by great good luck for Borrow, the local +banditti had during the previous day "committed a dreadful robbery +and murder by which they sacked 40,000 reals." {190b} They were in +all probability too busily occupied in dividing their spoil to watch +for other travellers. Another factor that was much in Borrow's +favour was a change in the weather. + + +"Suddenly the Lord breathed forth a frozen blast," Borrow writes, +"the severity of which was almost intolerable. No human being but +ourselves ventured forth. We traversed snow-covered plains, and +passed through villages and towns to all appearance deserted. The +robbers kept close to their caves and hovels, but the cold nearly +killed us. We reached Aranjuez late on Christmas day, and I got into +the house of an Englishman, where I swallowed nearly a pint of +brandy: {191a} it affected me no more than warm water. {191b} + + +Borrow arrived at Madrid on 26th December, having almost by a miracle +avoided death or capture by the human wolves that infested the +country. He took up his quarters at 16 Calle de Santiago at the +house of Maria Diaz, who was to prove so loyal a friend during many +critical periods of his work in Spain. His first care was to call +upon the British Minister, and enquire if he considered it safe to +proceed with the printing without special application to the new +Government. Mr Villiers' answer is interesting, as showing how +thoroughly he had taken Borrow under his protection. + + +"You obtained the permission of the Government of Isturitz," he +replied, "which was a much less liberal one than the present; I am a +witness to the promise made to you by the former Ministers, which I +consider sufficient; you had best commence and complete the work as +soon as possible without any fresh application, and should anyone +attempt to interrupt you, you have only to come to me, whom you may +command at any time." {191c} + + +Having saved the Bible Society 9000 reals in its paper bill alone, +{191d} Borrow proceeded to arrange for the printing. He had already +opened negotiations with Charles Wood, who was associated with +Andreas Borrego, {192a} the most fashionable printer in Madrid, who +not only had the best printing-presses in Spain, but had been +specially recommended by Isturitz. It had been tentatively arranged +that an edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament should be printed +from the version of Father Felipe Scio de San Miguel, confessor to +Ferdinand VII., without notes or commentaries, and delivered within +three months. + +Remembering the advice of Isturitz, Borrow determined to entrust the +work to Borrego, including the binding. He was the Government +printer, and, furthermore, enjoyed the good opinion of Mr Villiers. +Having persuaded Borrego to reduce his price to 10 reals a sheet, he +placed the order. It was agreed that the work should be completed in +ten weeks from 20th January. + +Each sheet was to be passed by Borrow. As a matter of fact he read +every word three times; but in order to insure absolute accuracy, he +engaged the services of Dr Usoz, "the first scholar in Spain," {192b} +who was to be responsible for the final revision, leaving the +question of the remuneration to the generosity of the Bible Society. +The result of all this care was that, according to Borrow the edition +exhibited scarcely one typographical error. {192c} + +The question of systematic distribution had next to be considered. +After much musing and cogitation, Borrow came to the conclusion that +the only satisfactory method was for him to "ride forth from Madrid +into the wildest parts of Spain," where the word is most wanted and +where it seems next to an impossibility to introduce it, and this he +proposed to the Committee. + + +"I will take with me 1200 copies," he wrote, {193a} "which I will +engage to dispose of for little or much to the wild people of the +wild regions which I intend to visit; as for the rest of the edition, +it must be disposed of, if possible, in a different way--I may say +the usual way; part must be entrusted to booksellers, part to +colporteurs, and a depot must be established at Madrid. Such work is +every person's work, and to anyone may be confided the execution of +it; it is a mere affair of trade. What I wish to be employed in is +what, I am well aware, no other individual will undertake to do: +namely, to scatter the Word upon the mountains, amongst the valleys +and the inmost recesses of the worst and most dangerous parts of +Spain, where the people are more fierce, fanatic and, in a word, +Carlist." + + +In the same letter Borrow shows how thoroughly he understood his own +character when he wrote: + + +"I shall not feel at all surprised should it [the plan] be +disapproved of all-together; but I wish it to be understood that in +that event I could do nothing further than see the work through the +press, as I am confident that whatever ardour and zeal I at present +feel in the cause would desert me immediately, and that I should +neither be able nor willing to execute anything which might be +suggested. I wish to engage in nothing which would not allow me to +depend entirely on myself. It would be heart-breaking to me to +remain at Madrid expending the Society's money, with almost the +certainty of being informed eventually by the booksellers and their +correspondents that the work has no sale. In a word, to make sure +that some copies find their way among the people, I must be permitted +to carry them to the people myself." + + +He goes on to inform Mr Brandram that in anticipation of the +acquiescence of the Committee in his schemes, he has purchased, for +about 12 pounds, one of the smuggler's horses, which he has preferred +to a mule, on account of the expense of the popular hybrid, and also +because of its enormous appetite, to satisfy which two pecks of +barley and a proportionate amount of straw are required each twenty- +four hours, as the beast must be fed every four hours, day and night. +Thus the members of the Committee learned something about the ways of +the mule. + +The response to this suggestion was a resolution passed by the Sub- +Committee for General Purposes, by which Borrow was permitted to +enter into correspondence with the principal booksellers and other +persons favourable to the dissemination of the Scriptures. In a +covering letter {194a} Mr Brandram very pertinently enquired, "Can +the people in these wilds read?" Whilst not wishing to put a final +negative to the proposal, the Secretary asked if there were no middle +course. Could Borrow not establish a depot at some principal place, +and from it make excursions occupying two or three days each, +"instead of devoting yourself wholly to the wild people." + +Borrow assured Mr Brandram that he had misunderstood. The care of +"the wild people" was only to be incidental on his visits to towns +and villages to establish depots or agencies. "On my way," he wrote, +"I intended to visit the secret and secluded spots amongst the rugged +hills and mountains, and to talk to the people, after my manner, of +Christ." {194b} + +It was on 3rd April that Borrow had received the letter from Earl +Street authorising him "to undertake the tour suggested . . . for the +purpose of circulating the Spanish New Testament in some of the +principal cities of Spain." He was requested to write as frequently +as possible, giving an account of his adventures. At the same time +Mr Brandram wrote: "You will perceive by the Resolution that nearly +all your requests are complied with. You have authority to go forth +with your horses, and may you have a prosperous journey . . . Pray +for wisdom to discern between presumptuousness and want of Faith. +{195a} + +The printing of the 5000 copies of the New Testament in Spanish was +completed early in April, but there was considerable delay over the +binding. The actual date of publication was 1st May. The work had +been well done, and was "allowed by people who have perused it, and +with no friendly feeling, to be one of the most correct works that +have ever issued from the press in Spain, and to be an exceedingly +favourable specimen of typography and paper." {195b} + +In addition to the contrabandista's horse, Borrow had acquired "a +black Andalusian stallion of great size and strength, and capable of +performing a journey of a hundred leagues in a week's time." {195c} +In spite of his unbroken state, Borrow decided to purchase the +animal, relying upon "a cargo of bibles" to reduce him to obedience. +It was with this black Andalusian that he created a sensation by +riding about Madrid, "with a Russian skin for a saddle, and without +stirrups. Altogether making so conspicuous a figure that [the +Marques de] Santa Coloma hesitated, and it needed all his courage to +be seen riding with him. At this period Borrow spent a good deal of +money and lived very freely (i.e., luxuriously) in Spain. From the +point of view of the Marques, a Spanish Roman Catholic, Borrow was +excessively bigoted, and fond of attacking Roman Catholics and +Catholicism. He evidently, however, liked him as a companion; but he +says Borrow never, as far as he saw or could learn, spoke of religion +to his Gypsy friends, and that he soon noticed his difference of +attitude towards them. He was often going to the British Embassy, +and he thinks was considered a great bore there." {195d} + +The unanimous advice of Borrow's friends, Protestant and Roman +Catholic, was "that for the present I should proceed with the utmost +caution, but without concealing the object of my mission." {196a} He +was to avoid offending people's prejudices and endeavour everywhere +to keep on good terms with the clergy, "at least one-third of whom +are known to be anxious for the dissemination of the Word of God, +though at the same time unwilling to separate themselves from the +discipline and ceremonials of Rome." {196b} + +Thus equipped with sage counsel, Borrow was just about to start upon +his journey into the North, when he found it necessary to dismiss his +servant owing to misconduct. This caused delay. Through Mr O'Shea, +the banker, he got to know Antonio Buchini, the Greek of +Constantinople, who, of all the strange characters Borrow had met he +considered "the most surprising." {196c} Antonio's vices were +sufficiently obvious to discourage anyone from attempting to discover +his virtues. He loved change, quarrelled with everybody, masters, +mistresses, and fellow-servants. Borrow engaged him; but looked to +the future with misgiving. Antonio unquestionably had his bad +points; yet he was a treasure compared with the Spaniard whom he +succeeded. This man was much given to drink and was always engaged +in some quarrel. He drew his terrible knife, such as all Spaniards +carry, upon all who offended him. On one occasion Borrow saved from +his wrath a poor maid-servant who had incurred his ire by burning a +herring she was toasting for him. Antonio's virtues comprised an +unquestioned honesty and devotion, and on the whole he was a +desirable servant in a country where such virtues were extremely +rare. + +It was not until 15th May that Borrow, accompanied by Antonio, was +able to get away from Madrid. A few days previously he had +contracted "a severe cold which terminated in a shrieking, +disagreeable cough." This, following on a fortnight's attack of +influenza, proved difficult to shake off. Finding himself scarcely +able to stand, he at length appealed to a barber-surgeon, who drew 16 +oz. of blood, assuring his patient that on the following day he would +be well enough to start. + +That same evening Mr Villiers sent round to Borrow's lodgings +informing him that he had decided to help him by every means in his +power. He announced his intention of purchasing a large number of +the Testaments, and despatching them to the various British Consuls +in Spain, with instructions "to employ all the means which their +official situation should afford them to circulate the books in +question, and to assure their being noticed." {197a} They were also +to render every assistance in their power to Borrow "as a friend of +Mr Villiers, and a person in the success of whose enterprise he +himself took the warmest interest." {197b} Mr Villiers' interest in +Borrow's mission seems to have led him into a diplomatic +indiscretion. Borrow himself confesses that he could scarcely +believe his ears. Although assured of the British Minister's +friendly attitude, he "could never expect that he would come forward +in so noble, and to say the least of it, considering his high +diplomatic situation, so bold and decided a manner." {197c} This act +of friendliness becomes a personal tribute to Borrow, when it is +remembered that at first Mr Villiers had been by no means well +disposed towards the Bible Society. + +Before leaving Madrid, Borrow had circularised all the principal +booksellers, offering to supply the New Testament at fifteen reals a +copy, the actual cost price; but he was not sanguine as to the +result, for he found the Spaniard "short-sighted and . . . so utterly +unacquainted with the rudiments of business." {198a} Advertisements +had been inserted in all the principal newspapers stating that the +booksellers of Madrid were now in a position to supply the New +Testament in Spanish, unencumbered by obscuring notes and comments. +Borrow also provided for an advertisement to be inserted each week +during his absence, which he anticipated would be about five months. +After that he knew not what would happen--there was always China. + + + +CHAPTER XIII: MAY-OCTOBER 1837 + + + +The prediction of the surgeon-barber was fulfilled; by the next +morning the fever and cough had considerably abated, although the +patient was still weak from loss of blood. This, however, did not +hinder him from mounting his black Andalusian, and starting upon his +initial journey of distribution. On arriving at Salamanca, his first +objective, he immediately sought out the principal bookseller and +placed with him copies of the New Testament. He also inserted an +advertisement in the local newspaper, stating that the volume was the +only guide to salvation; at the same time he called attention to the +great pecuniary sacrifices that the Bible Society was making in order +to proclaim Christ crucified. This advertisement he caused to be +struck off in considerable numbers as bills and posted in various +parts of the town, and he even went so far as to affix one to the +porch of the church. He also distributed them as he progressed +through the villages. {199a} + +From Salamanca (10th June) Borrow journeyed to Valladolid, and from +thence to Leon, {200a} (a hotbed of Carlism), where the people were +ignorant and brutal and refused to the stranger a glass of water, +unless he were prepared to pay for it. At Leon he was seized by a +fever that prostrated him for a week. He also experienced marked +antagonism from the clergy, who threatened every direful consequence +to whosoever read or purchased "the accursed books" which he brought. +A more serious evidence of their displeasure was shown by the action +they commenced in the ecclesiastical court against the bookseller +whom Borrow had arranged with to act as agent for his Testaments. +The bookseller himself did not mend matters by fixing upon the doors +of the cathedral itself one of the advertisements that he had +received with the books. + +When sufficiently recovered to travel, Borrow proceeded to Astorga, +which he reached with the utmost difficulty owing to bad roads and +the fierce heat. + + +"We were compelled to take up our abode," he writes, {200b} "in a +wretched hovel full of pigs' vermin and misery, and from this place I +write, for this morning I felt myself unable to proceed on my +journey, being exhausted with illness, fatigue and want of food, for +scarcely anything is to be obtained; but I return God thanks and +glory for being permitted to undergo these crosses and troubles for +His Word's sake. I would not exchange my present situation, +unenviable as some may think it, for a throne." + + +Thus Borrow wrote when burning with fever, after having just been +told to vacate his room at the posada, and having his luggage flung +into the yard to make room for the occupants of the "waggon" from +Madrid to Coruna. + +From Astorga he proceeded by way of Puerto de Manzanal, Bembibre, +Cacabelos, Villafranca, Puerto de Fuencebadon and Nogales, "through +the wildest mountains and wildernesses" to Lugo. + +Owing to the unsafety of the roads, it was customary for travellers +to attach themselves to the Grand Post, which was always guarded by +an escort. At Nogales Borrow joined the mail courier; but as a rule +he was too independent, too much in a hurry, and too indifferent to +danger to wait for such protection against the perils of the robber- +infested roads. He has given the following graphic account "of the +grand post from Madrid to Coruna, attended by a considerable escort, +and an immense number of travellers . . . We were soon mounted and in +the street, amidst a confused throng of men and quadrupeds. The +light of a couple of flambeaus, which were borne before the courier, +shone on the arms of several soldiers, seemingly drawn up on either +side of the road; the darkness, however, prevented me from +distinguishing objects very clearly. The courier himself was mounted +on a little shaggy pony; before and behind him were two immense +portmanteaus, or leather sacks, the ends of which nearly touched the +ground. For about a quarter of an hour there was much hubbub, +shouting, and trampling, at the end of which period the order was +given to proceed. Scarcely had we left the village when the +flambeaus were extinguished, and we were left in almost total +darkness. In this manner we proceeded for several hours, up hill and +down dale, but generally at a very slow pace. The soldiers who +escorted us from time to time sang patriotic songs . . . At last the +day began to break, and I found myself amidst a train of two or three +hundred people, some on foot, but the greater part mounted, either on +mules or the pony mares: I could not distinguish a single horse +except my own and Antonio's. A few soldiers were thinly scattered +along the road." {201a} + +After about a week's stay at Lugo, Borrow again attached himself to +the Grand Post; but tiring of its slow and deliberate progress, he +decided to push on alone, and came very near to falling a prey to the +banditti. He was suddenly confronted by two of the fraternity, who +presented their carbines, "which they probably intended to discharge +into my body, but they took fright at the noise of Antonio's horse, +who was following a little way behind." {202a} + +The night was spent at Betanzos, where the black Andalusian was +stricken with "a deep, hoarse cough." Remembering a prophetic remark +that had been made by a roadside acquaintance to the effect that "the +man must be mad who brings a horse to Galicia, and doubly so he who +brings an entero," Borrow, determined to have the animal bled, sent +for a farrier, meanwhile rubbing down his steed with a quart of anis +brandy. The farrier demanded an ounce of gold for the operation, +which decided Borrow to perform it himself. With a large fleam that +he possessed, he twice bled the Andalusian, to the astonishment of +the discomfited farrier, and saved its valuable life, also an ounce +of gold. Next day he and Antonio walked to Coruna, leading their +horses. + +At Coruna were five hundred copies of the New Testament that had been +sent on from Madrid. So far Borrow had himself disposed of sixty- +five copies, irrespective of those sold at Lugo and other places by +means of the advertisement. These books were all sold at prices +ranging from 10 to 12 reals each. Borrow made a special point of +this, "to give a direct lie to the assertion" that the Bible Society, +having no vent for the Bibles and New Testaments it printed, was +forced either to give them away or sell them by auction, when they +were purchased as waste paper. + +The condition of the roads at that period was so bad, on account of +robbers and Carlists, that it was forbidden to anyone to travel along +the thoroughfare leading to Santiago unless in company with the mail +courier and his escort of soldiers. Unfortunately for Borrow his +black Andalusian was not of a companionable disposition, and to bring +him near other horses was to invite a fierce contest. On the rare +occasions that he did travel with the Grand Post, Borrow was +frequently involved in difficulties on account of the entero's +unsociable nature; but as he was deeply attached to the noble beast, +he retained him and suffered dangers rather than give up the +companion of many an adventure. + +Some idea may be obtained of the state of rural Spain in 1837, when +the highways teemed with "patriots" bent upon robbing friend and foe +alike and afterwards assassinating or mutilating their victims, from +a story that Borrow tells of how a viper-catcher, who was engaged in +pursuing his calling in the neighbourhood of Orense, fell into the +hands of these miscreants, who robbed and stripped him. They then +pinioned his hands behind him and drew over his head the mouth of the +bag containing the LIVING vipers, which they fastened round his neck +and listened with satisfaction to the poor wretch's cries. The +reptiles stung their victim to madness, and after having run raving +through several villages he eventually fell dead. {203a} + +Making Coruna his headquarters, Borrow proceeded to Santiago, +"travelling with the courier or weekly post," and from thence to +Padron, Pontevedra, and Vigo. At Vigo he was apprehended as a spy, +but immediately released. It was whilst at Santiago that he repeated +an experiment he had previously made at Valladolid. + + +"I . . . sallied forth," he writes, {203b} "alone and on horseback, +and bent my course to a distant village; on my arrival, which took +place just after the siesta or afternoon's nap had concluded, I +proceeded . . . to the market place, where I spread a horse-cloth on +the ground, upon which I deposited my books. I then commenced crying +with a loud voice: 'Peasants, peasants, I bring you the Word of God +at a cheap price. I know you have but little money, but I bring it +you at whatever you can command, at four or three reals, according to +your means.' I thus went on till a crowd gathered round me, who +examined the books with attention, many of them reading aloud, but I +had not long to wait; . . . my cargo was disposed of almost +instantaneously, and I mounted my horse without a question being +asked me, and returned to my temporary abode lighter than I came." + + +Borrow did not repeat the experiment for fear of giving offence to +the clergy. The new means of distribution was to be used only as a +last resource. + +Arriving at Padron on the return journey, Borrow found that he had +only one book left. He determined to send Antonio forward with the +horses to await him at Coruna, whilst he made an excursion to Cape +Finisterre. + + +"It would be," he says, "difficult to assign any plausible reason for +the ardent desire which I entertained to visit this place; but I +remembered that last year I had escaped almost by a miracle from +shipwreck and death on the rocky sides of this extreme point of the +Old World, 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." {204a} + + +Hiring a guide and a pony, he reached the Cape, after surmounting +tremendous difficulties, and on arrival he and his guide were +arrested as Carlist spies. {204b} In all probability he would have +been shot, such was the certainty of the Alcalde that he was a spy, +had not the professional hero of the place come forward and, after +having cross-examined him as to his knowledge of "knife" and "fork," +the only two English words the Spaniard knew, pronounced him English, +and eventually conveyed him to the Alcalde of Convucion, who released +him. On the man who had saved him Borrow privately bestowed a +gratuity, and publicly the copy of the New Testament that had led to +the expedition. He then returned to Coruna, by his journey having +accomplished "what has long been one of the ardent wishes of my +heart. I have carried the Gospel to the extreme point of the Old +World." {205a} + +The black Andalusian was totally unfitted for the long mountainous +journey into the Asturias that Borrow now planned to undertake, and +he decided to dispose of him. He was greatly attached to the +creature, notwithstanding his vicious habits and the difficulties +that arose out of them. Now the entero would be engaged in a deadly +struggle with some gloomy mule; again, by rushing among a crowd +outside a posada, he would do infinite damage and earn for his master +and himself an evil name. Borrow thus announces to the Bible Society +the sale of its property: "This animal cost the Society about 2000 +reals at Madrid; I, however, sold him for 3000 at Coruna, +notwithstanding that he has suffered much from the hard labour which +he had been subjected to in our wanderings in Galicia, and likewise +from bad provender." {205b} + +Borrow next set out upon an expedition to Orviedo in the Asturias, +{205c} then in daily expectation of being attacked by the Carlists. +It was at Orviedo that he received a striking tribute from a number +of Spanish gentlemen. + + +"A strange adventure has just occurred to me," he wrote. {205d} "I +am in the ancient town of Orviedo, in a very large, scantily +furnished and remote room of an ancient posada, formerly a palace of +the Counts of Santa Cruz, it is past ten at night and the rain is +descending in torrents. I ceased writing on hearing numerous +footsteps ascending the creeking stairs which lead to my apartment-- +the door was flung open, and in walked nine men of tall stature, +marshalled by a little hunchbacked personage. They were all muffled +in the long cloaks of Spain, but I instantly knew by their demeanour +that they were caballeros, or gentlemen. They placed themselves in a +rank before the table where I was sitting; suddenly and +simultaneously they all flung back their cloaks, and I perceived that +every one bore a book in his hand, a book which I knew full well. +After a pause, which I was unable to break, for I sat lost in +astonishment and almost conceived myself to be visited by +apparitions, the hunchback advancing somewhat before the rest, said, +in soft silvery tones, 'Senor Cavalier, was it you who brought this +book to the Asturias?' I now supposed that they were the civil +authorities of the place come to take me into custody, and, rising +from my seat, I exclaimed: 'It certainly was I, and it is my glory +to have done so; the book is the New Testament of God; I wish it was +in my power to bring a million.' 'I heartily wish so too,' said the +little personage with a sigh; 'be under no apprehension, Sir +Cavalier, these gentlemen are my friends. We have just purchased +these books in the shop where you have placed them for sale, and have +taken the liberty of calling upon you in order to return you our +thanks for the treasure you have brought us. I hope you can furnish +us with the Old Testament also!' I replied that I was sorry to +inform him that at present it was entirely out of my power to comply +with his wish, as I had no Old Testaments in my possession, but I did +not despair of procuring some speedily from England. {206a} He then +asked me a great many questions concerning my Biblical travels in +Spain and my success, and the views entertained by the Society in +respect to Spain, adding that he hoped we should pay particular +attention to the Asturias, which he assured me was the best ground in +the Peninsula for our labour. After about half an hour's +conversation, he suddenly said in the English language, 'Good night, +Sir,' wrapped his cloak around him and walked out as he had come. +His companions, who had hitherto not uttered a word, all repeated, +'Good night, Sir,' and adjusting their cloaks followed him." + + +This anecdote greatly impressed the General Committee. Mr Brandram +wrote (15th November 1837): "We were all deeply interested with your +ten gentlemen of Orviedo. I have introduced them at several +meetings." + +Whilst at Orviedo, Borrow began to be very uneasy about the state of +affairs at the capital. "Madrid," he wrote, {207a} "is the depot of +our books, and I am apprehensive that in the revolutions and +disturbances which at present seem to threaten it, our whole stock +may perish. True it is that in order to reach Madrid I should have +to pass through the midst of the Carlist hordes, who would perhaps +slay or make me prisoner; but I am at present so much accustomed to +perilous adventure, and have hitherto experienced so many fortunate +escapes, that the dangers which infest the route would not deter me a +moment from venturing. But there is no certain intelligence, and +Madrid may be in safety or on the brink of falling." + +Another factor that made him desirous of returning to the capital was +that, ever since leaving Coruna, he had been afflicted with a +dysentery and, later, with ophthalmia, which resulted from it, and he +was anxious to obtain proper medical advice. He determined, however, +first to carry out his project of visiting Santander, which he +reached by way of Villa Viciosa, Colunga, Riba de Sella, Llanes, +Colombres, San Vicente, Santillana. It was at Santander that he +encountered the unfortunate Flinter, {208a} as brave with his sword +as with his tongue. + +Instructions had been given in a letter to Borrego to forward to +Santander two hundred copies of the New Testament; but, much to +Borrow's disappointment, he found that they had not arrived. He +thought that either they had fallen into the hands of the Carlists, +or his letter of instruction had miscarried: as a matter of fact +they did not leave Madrid until 30th October, the day before Borrow +arrived at the capital. Thus his journey was largely wasted. It +would be folly to remain at Santander, where, in spite of the +strictest economy, his expenses amounted to two pounds a day, whilst +a further supply of books was obtained. Accordingly he determined to +make for Madrid without further delay. + +Purchasing a small horse, and notwithstanding that he was so ill as +scarcely to be able to support himself; indifferent to the fact that +the country between Santander and Madrid was overrun with Carlists, +whose affairs in Castile had not prospered; too dispirited to collect +his thoughts sufficiently to write to Mr Brandram, he set out, +accompanied by Antonio, "determined to trust, as usual, in the +Almighty and to venture." Physical ailments, however, did not in any +way cause him to forget why he had come to Santander, and before +leaving he made tentative arrangements with the booksellers of the +town as to what they should do in the event of his being able to send +them a supply of Testaments. + +That journey of a hundred leagues was a nightmare. "Robberies, +murders, and all kinds of atrocity were perpetrated before, behind, +and on both sides" of them; but they passed through it all as if +travelling along an English highway. Even when met at the entrance +of the Black Pass by a man, his face covered with blood, who besought +him not to enter the pass, where he had just been robbed of all he +possessed, Borrow, without making reply, proceeded on his way. He +was too ill to weigh the risks, and Antonio followed cheerfully +wherever his master went. Madrid was reached on 31st October. {209a} +The next day Borrow wrote to Mr Brandram: "People say we have been +very lucky; Antonio says, 'It was so written'; but I say, Glory be to +the Lord for His mercies vouchsafed." + +The expedition to the Northern Provinces had occupied five and a half +months. Every kind of fatigue had been experienced, dangers had been +faced, even courted, and every incident of the road turned to further +the end in view--the distribution of the Scriptures in Spain. The +countryside had proved itself ignorant and superstitious, and the +towns eager, not for the Word of God but "for stimulant narratives, +and amongst too many a lust for the deistical writings of the French, +especially for those of Talleyrand, which have been translated into +Spanish and published by the press of Barcelona, and for which I was +frequently pestered." {209b} Antonio had proved himself a unique +body-servant and companion, and if with a previous employer he had +valued his personal comfort so highly as to give notice because his +mistress's pet quail disturbed his slumbers, he was nevertheless +utterly indifferent to the hardships and discomforts that he endured +when with Borrow, and always proved cheerful and willing. + +Borrow had "by private sale disposed of one hundred and sixteen +Testaments to individuals entirely of the lower classes, namely, +muleteers, carmen, contrabandistas, etc." {209c} He had dared to +undertake what perhaps only he was capable of carrying to a +successful issue; for, left alone to make his own plans and conduct +the campaign along his own lines, Borrow has probably never been +equalled as a missionary, strange though the term may seem when +applied to him. His fear of God did not hinder him from making other +men fear God's instrument, himself. His fine capacity for affairs, +together with what must have appeared to the clergy of the districts +through which he passed his outrageous daring, conspired to his +achieving what few other men would have thought, and probably none +were capable of undertaking. A missionary who rode a noble, black +Andalusian stallion, who could use a fleam as well as a blacksmith's +hammer, who could ride barebacked, and, above all, made men fear him +as a physical rather than a spiritual force, was new in Spain, as +indeed elsewhere. The very novelty of Borrow's methods, coupled with +the daring and unconventional independence of the man himself, +ensured the success of his mission. There was something of the +Camel-Driver of Mecca about his missionary work. He saw nothing +anomalous in being possessed of a strong arm as well as a Christian +spirit. He would endeavour to win over the ungodly; but woe betide +them if they should attempt to pit their strength against his. +Borrow's own comment upon his journey in the Northern Provinces was, +"Insignificant are the results of man's labours compared with the +swelling ideas of his presumption; something, however, had been +effected by the journey which I had just concluded." {210a} + + + +CHAPTER XIV: NOVEMBER 1837-APRIL 1838 + + + +Great changes had taken place in Madrid during Borrow's absence. The +Carlists had actually appeared before its gates, although they had +subsequently retired. Liberalism had been routed and a Moderado +Cabinet, under the leadership of Count Ofalia, ruled the city and +such part of the country as was sufficiently complaisant as to permit +itself to be ruled. As the Moderados represented the Court faction, +Borrow saw that he had little to expect from them. He was +unacquainted with any of the members of the Cabinet, and, what was +far more serious for him, the relations between the new Government +and Sir George Villiers {211a} were none too cordial, as the British +Minister had been by no means favourable to the new ministry. + +Having written to Mr Brandram telling of his arrival in Madrid, +"begging pardon for all errors of commission and omission," and +confessing himself "a frail and foolish vessel," that had +"accomplished but a slight portion of what I proposed in my vanity," +Borrow proceeded to disprove his own assertion. He found the affairs +of the Bible Society in a far from flourishing condition. The +Testaments had not sold to any considerable extent, for which "only +circumstances and the public poverty" were the cause, as Dr Usoz +explained. + +To awaken interest in his campaign, Borrow planned to print a +thousand advertisements, which were to be posted in various parts of +the city, and to employ colporteurs to vend the books in the streets. +He despatched consignments of books to towns he had visited that +required them, and in the enthusiasm of his eager and active mind +foresaw that, "as the circle widens in the lake into which a +stripling has cast a pebble, so will the circle of our usefulness +continue widening, until it has embraced the whole vast region of +Spain." {212a} + +It soon became evident that there was to be a very strong opposition. +A furious attack upon the Bible Society was made in a letter +addressed to the editors of El Espanol on 5th November, prefixed to a +circular of the Spiritual Governor of Valencia, forbidding the +purchase or reading of the London edition of Father Scio's Bible. +The letter described the Bible Society as "an infernal society," and +referred in passing to "its accursed fecundity." It also strongly +resented the omission of the Apocrypha from the Scio Bible. Borrow +promptly replied to this attack in a letter of great length, and +entirely silenced his antagonist, whom he described to Mr Brandram +(20th Nov.) as "an unprincipled benefice-hunting curate." "You will +doubtless deem it too warm and fiery," he writes, referring to his +reply, "but tameness and gentleness are of little avail when +surrounded by the vassal slaves of bloody Rome." {212a} Borrow's +response to the "benefice-hunting curate" not only silenced him, but +was listened to by the General Committee of the Society "with much +pleasure." + +The cause of the trouble in Valencia lay with the other agent of the +Bible Society in Spain, Lieutenant James Newenham Graydon, R.N., who +first took up the work of distributing the Scriptures at Gibraltar in +1835. Here he became associated with the Rev. W. H. Rule, of the +Wesleyan Methodist Society. "The Lieutenant, who seems to have +combined the personal charm of the Irish gentleman with some of the +perfervid incautiousness of the Keltic temperament, finding himself +unemployed at Gibraltar, resolved to do what lay in his power for the +spiritual enlightenment of Spain. Without receiving a regular +commission from any society, he took up single-handed the task which +he had imposed upon himself." {213a} + +Borrow had first met Lieutenant Graydon at Madrid, in the summer of +1836, where he saw him two or three times. When Graydon left, on +account of the heat, Borrow had removed to Graydon's lodgings as +being more comfortable than his own. The prohibition in Valencia was +directly due to the indiscretion and incaution of Graydon. The +Vicar-General of the province gave as a reason for his action, an +advertisement that had appeared in the Diario Comercial of Valencia, +undertaking to supply Bibles gratis to those who could not afford to +buy them. For this advertisement Graydon was admonished by the +General Committee, which refused to entertain his plea that, being +unpaid, he was not, strictly speaking, an agent of the Bible Society. +He was given to understand that as the Society was responsible for +his acts he must be guided by its views and wishes. + +The next occasion on which Borrow came into conflict with this +impulsive missionary free-lance was in March 1838, when he heard from +the Rev. W. H. Rule that Graydon was on his way to Andalusia. Borrow +immediately wrote to Mr Brandram that he, acting on the advice of Sir +George Villiers, had already planned an expedition into that +province, and furthermore that he had despatched there a number of +Testaments. He explained to Mr Brandram that he was apprehensive "of +the re-acting at Seville of the Valencian Drama, which I have such +unfortunate cause to rue, as I am the victim on whom an aggravated +party have wreaked their vengeance, and for the very cogent reason +that I was within their reach." {213b} On this occasion Graydon was +instructed not to start upon his projected journey, although Mr +Brandram gave the order much against his own inclination. {214a} + +One great difficulty that Borrow had to contend with was the apathy +of the Madrid booksellers, who "gave themselves no manner of trouble +to secure the sale, and even withheld [the] advertisements from the +public." {214b} This determined him to open a shop himself, and, +accordingly, towards the end of November, he secured premises in the +Calle del Principe, one of the main thoroughfares, for which he +agreed to pay a rent of eight reals a day. He furnished the premises +handsomely, with glass cases and chandeliers, and caused to be +painted in large yellow characters the sign "Despacho de la Sociedad +Biblica y Estrangera" (Depot of the Biblical and Foreign Society). +He engaged a Gallegan (Jose Calzado, whom he called Pepe) as +salesman, and on 27th November formally opened his new premises. +Customers soon presented themselves; but many were disappointed on +finding that they could not obtain the Bible. "I could have sold ten +times the amount of what I did," Borrow writes. "I MUST therefore be +furnished with Bibles instanter; send me therefore the London +edition, bad as it is, say 500 copies." {214c} + +To facilitate the passing of these books through the customs, Borrow +suggested that they should be consigned to the British Consul at +Cadiz, who was friendly to the Society and "would have sufficient +influence to secure their admission into Spain. But the most +advisable way," he goes on to explain with great guile, "would be to +pack them in two chests, placing at the top Bibles in English and +other languages, for there is a demand, viz., 100 English, 100 +French, 50 German, 50 Hebrew, 50 Greek, 10 Modern Greek, 10 Persian, +20 Arabic. PRAY DO NOT FAIL." {215a} + +When Sir George Villiers first obtained from Isturitz permission for +Borrow to print and sell the New Testament in Spanish without notes, +he had cautioned him "to use the utmost circumspection, and in order +to pursue his vocation with success, to avoid offending popular +prejudices, which would not fail to be excited against a Protestant +and a Foreigner engaged in the propagation of the Gospel." {215b} +This warning the British Minister had repeated frequently since. It +was without consulting Sir George that Borrow opened his depot, and +"imprudently painted upon the window that it was the Depot of the +London (sic) Bible Society for the sale of Bibles. I told him," Sir +George writes "that such a measure would render the interference of +the Authorities inevitable, and so it turned out." {215c} + +Borrow now lost the services of the faithful Antonio, who, on the +last day of the year, informed him that he had become unsettled and +dissatisfied with everything at his master's lodgings, including the +house, the furniture, and the landlady herself. Therefore he had +hired himself out to a count for four dollars a month less than he +was receiving from Borrow, because he was "fond of change, though it +be for the worse. Adieu, mon maitre," he said in parting; "may you +be as well served as you deserve. Should you chance, however, to +have any pressing need de mes soins, send for me without hesitation, +and I will at once give my new master warning." A few days later +Borrow engaged a Basque, named Francisco, who "to the strength of a +giant joined the disposition of a lamb," {216a} and who had been +strongly recommended to him. + +On his return from a hurried visit to Toledo, Borrow found his +Despacho succeeding as well as could be expected. To call attention +to his premises he now took an extremely daring step. He caused to +be printed three thousand copies of an advertisement on paper yellow, +blue, and crimson, "with which I almost covered the sides of the +streets" he wrote, "and besides this inserted notices in all the +journals and periodicals, employing also a man, after the London +fashion, to parade the streets with a placard, to the astonishment of +the populace." {216b} The result of this move, Borrow declared, was +that every man, woman and child in Madrid became aware of the +existence of his Despacho, as well they might. In spite of this +commercial enterprise, the first month's trading showed a sale of +only between seventy and eighty New Testaments, and ten Bibles, +{216c} these having been secured from a Spanish bookseller who had +brought them secretly from Gibraltar, but who was afraid to sell them +himself. Mr Brandram's comment upon the letter from Borrow telling +of the posters was that its contents had "afforded us no little +merriment. The idea of your placards and placard-bearers in Madrid +is indeed a novel one. It cannot but be effectual in giving +publicity. I sincerely hope it may not be prejudicial." {216d} + +When in England, at the end of 1836, Borrow had been authorised by +the Bible Society to find "a person competent to translate the +Scriptures in Basque." On 27th February 1837, he wrote telling Mr +Brandram that he had become "acquainted with a gentleman well versed +in that dialect, of which I myself have some knowledge." Dr Oteiza, +the domestic physician of the Marques de Salvatierra, was accordingly +commissioned to proceed with the work, for which, when completed, he +was paid the sum of "8 pounds and a few odd shillings." Borrow +reported to Mr Brandram (7th June 1837): + + +"I have examined it with much attention, and find it a very faithful +version. The only objection which can be brought against it is that +Spanish words are frequently used to express ideas for which there +are equivalents in Basque; but this language, as spoken at present in +Spain, is very corrupt, and a work written entirely in the Basque of +Larramendi's Dictionary would be intelligible to very few. I have +read passages from it to men of Guipuscoa, who assured me that they +had no difficulty in understanding it, and that it was written in the +colloquial style of the province." + + +Borrow had "obtained a slight acquaintance" with Basque when a youth, +which he lost no opportunity of extending by mingling with Biscayans +during his stay in the Peninsula. He also considerably improved +himself in the language by conversing with his Basque servant +Francisco. Borrow now decided to print the Gitano and Basque +versions of St Luke, which he accordingly put in hand; but as the +compositors were entirely ignorant of both languages, he had to +exercise the greatest care in reading the proofs. + +During his stay in Spain he had found time to translate into the +dialect of the Spanish gypsies the greater part of the New Testament. +{217a} His method had been somewhat original. Believing that there +is "no individual, however wicked and hardened, who is utterly +GODLESS," {217b} he determined to apply his belief to the gypsies. +To enlist their interest in the work, he determined to allow them to +do the translating themselves. At one period of his residence in +Madrid he was regularly visited by two gypsy women, and these he +decided to make his translators; for he found the women far more +amenable than the men. In spite of the fact that he had already +translated into Gitano the New Testament, or the greater part of it, +he would read out to the women from the Spanish version and let them +translate it into Romany themselves, thus obtaining the correct gypsy +idiom. The women looked forward to these gatherings and also to "the +one small glass of Malaga" with which their host regaled them. They +had got as far as the eighth chapter before the meetings ended. What +was the moral effect of St Luke upon the minds of two gypsies? +Borrow confessed himself sceptical; first, because he was acquainted +with the gypsy character; second, because it came to his knowledge +that one of the women "committed a rather daring theft shortly +afterwards, which compelled her to conceal herself for a fortnight." +{218a} Borrow comforted himself with the reflection that "it is +quite possible, however, that she may remember the contents of those +chapters on her death-bed." {218b} The translation of the remaining +chapters was supplied from Borrow's own version begun at Badajos in +1836. + +It is not strange that Borrow should be regarded with suspicion by +the Spaniards on account of his association with the Gitanos. +Sometimes there would be as many as seventeen gypsies gathered +together at his lodgings in the Calle de Santiago. + + +"The people in the street in which I lived," he writes, {218c} +"seeing such numbers of these strange females continually passing in +and out, were struck with astonishment, and demanded the reason. The +answers which they obtained by no means satisfied them. 'Zeal for +the conversion of souls--the souls too of Gitanas,--disparate! the +fellow is a scoundrel. Besides he is an Englishman, and is not +baptised; what cares he for souls? They visit him for other +purposes. He makes base ounces, which they carry away and circulate. +Madrid is already stocked with false money.' Others were of the +opinion that we met for the purposes of sorcery and abomination. The +Spaniard has no conception that other springs of action exist than +interest or villany." + + +Borrow was in reality endeavouring to convey to his "little +congregation," as he called them, some idea of abstract morality. He +was bold enough "to speak against their inveterate practices, +thieving and lying, telling fortunes," etc., and at first experienced +much opposition. About the result, he seems to have cherished no +illusions; still, he wrote a hymn in their dialect which he taught +his guests to sing. + +For some time past it had been obvious to Borrow that he was becoming +more than ever unpopular with certain interested factions in Madrid, +who looked upon his missionary labours with angry disapproval. The +opening of his Despacho had caused a great sensation. "The Priests +and Bigots are teeming with malice and fury," he had written to Mr +Brandram, {219a} "which hitherto they have thought proper to exhibit +only in words, as they know that all I do here is favoured by Mr +Villiers {219b} (sic) . . . There is no attempt, however atrocious, +which may not be expected from such people, and were it right and +seemly for ME, the most insignificant of worms, to make such a +comparison, I would say that, like Paul at Ephesus, I am fighting +with wild beasts." He was attacked in print and endeavours were made +to incite the people against him as a sorcerer and companion of +gypsies and witches. When he decided upon the campaign of the +posters it would appear, at first glance, that in the claims of the +merchant Borrow had entirely forgotten the obligations of the +diplomatist. On the other hand, he may have foreseen that the +priestly party would soon force the Government to action, and was +desirous of selling all the books he could before this happened. His +own words seem to indicate that this was the case. + + +"People who know me not," he wrote to Mr Brandram, "nor are +acquainted with my situation, may be disposed to call me rash; but I +am far from being so, as I never adopt a venturous course when any +other is open to me; but I am not a person to be terrified by any +danger when I see that braving it is the only way to achieve an +object." {220a} + + +Whatever may have been Borrow's motives, the crisis arrived on 12th +January, when he received a peremptory order from the Civil Governor +of Madrid (who had previously sent for and received two copies, to +submit for examination to the Ecclesiastical Authorities) to sell no +more of the New Testament in Spanish without notes. At that period +the average sale was about twenty copies a day. "The priests have at +length 'swooped upon me,'" Borrow wrote to Mr Brandram, three days +later. The order did not, however, take him unawares. + +Borrow saw that little assistance was to be expected from Sir George +Villiers, who, for obvious reasons, was not popular with the Ofalia +ministry, and, accepting the British Minister's advice, he promptly +complied with the edict. He recognised that for the time being his +enemies were paramount. He accuses the priests of employing the +ruffian who, one night in a dark street, warned him to discontinue +selling his "Jewish books," or he would "have a knife 'NAILED IN HIS +HEART'" to which he replied by telling the fellow to go home, say his +prayers and inform his employers that he, Borrow, pitied them. It +was a few days after this episode that Borrow received the formal +notice of prohibition. + +Consoling himself with the fact that he was not ordered to close his +Despacho, and refusing the advice that was tendered to him to erase +from its windows the yellow-lettered sign, he determined to continue +his campaign with the Bibles that were on their way to him, and the +Gitano and Basque versions of St Luke as soon as they were ready. +The prohibition referred only to the Spanish New Testament without +notes, and in this Borrow took comfort. He had every reason to feel +gratified; for, since opening the Despacho, he had sold nearly three +hundred copies of the New Testament. + +At Earl Street it was undoubtedly felt that Borrow had to some extent +precipitated the present crisis. On 8th February Mr Brandram wrote +that, whilst there was no wish on the part of the Committee to +censure him, they were not altogether surprised at what had occurred; +for, when they first heard about them, "some DID think that your tri- +coloured placards and placard-bearer were somewhat calculated to +provoke what has occurred." In reply Borrow confessed that the view +of the "some" gave him "a pang, more especially as I knew from +undoubted sources that nothing which I had done, said, or written, +was the original cause of the arbitrary step which had been adopted +in respect to me." {221a} + +The printing of the Gitano and Basque editions of St Luke (500 copies +{221b} of each) was completed in March, and they were published +respectively in March and April. The Gitano version attracted much +attention. Some months later Borrow wrote:- + + +"No work printed in Spain ever caused so great and so general a +sensation, not so much amongst the Gypsies, that peculiar people for +whom it was intended, as amongst the Spaniards themselves, who, +though they look upon the Roma with some degree of contempt as a low +and thievish race of outcasts, nevertheless take a strange interest +in all that concerns them, it having been from time immemorial their +practice, more especially of the dissolute young nobility, to +cultivate the acquaintance of the Gitanos, as they are popularly +called, probably attracted by the wild wit of the latter and the +lascivious dances of the females. The apparation, therefore, of the +Gospel of St Luke at Madrid in the peculiar jargon of these people, +was hailed as a strange novelty and almost as a wonder, and I believe +was particularly instrumental in bruiting the name of the Bible +Society far and wide through Spain, and in creating a feeling far +from inimical towards it and its proceedings." {222a} + + +The little volume appears to have sold freely among the gypsies. +"Many of the men," Borrow says, {222b} "understood it, and prized it +highly, induced of course more by the language than the doctrine; the +women were particularly anxious to obtain copies, though unable to +read; but each wished to have one in her pocket, especially when +engaged in thieving expeditions, for they all looked upon it in the +light of a charm." + +All endeavours to get the prohibition against the sale of the New +Testament removed proved unavailing. Borrow's great strength lay in +the support he received from the British Minister, and, in all +probability, this prevented his expulsion from Spain, which alone +would have satisfied his enemies. At the request of Sir George +Villiers, he drew up an account of the Bible Society and an +exposition of its views, telling Count Ofalia, among other things, +that "the mightiest of earthly monarchs, the late Alexander of +Russia, was so convinced of the single-mindedness and integrity of +the British and Foreign Bible Society, that he promoted their efforts +within his own dominions to the utmost of his ability." He pointed +to the condition of Spain, which was "overspread with the thickest +gloom of heathenish ignorance, beneath which the fiends and demons of +the abyss seem to be holding their ghastly revels." He described it +as "a country in which all sense of right and wrong is forgotten . . +. where the name of Jesus is scarcely ever mentioned but in +blasphemy, and His precepts [are] almost utterly unknown . . . +[where] the few who are enlightened are too much occupied in the +pursuit of lucre, ambition, or ungodly revenge to entertain a desire +or thought of bettering the moral state of their countrymen." This +report, in which Borrow confesses that he "made no attempts to +flatter and cajole," must have caused the British Minister some +diplomatic embarrassment when he read it; but it seems to have been +presented, although, as is scarcely surprising, it appears to have +been ineffectual in causing to be removed the ban against which it +was written as a protest. + +The Prime Minister was in a peculiarly unpleasant position. On the +one hand there was the British Minister using all his influence to +get the prohibition rescinded; on the other hand were six bishops, +including the primate, then resident in Madrid, and the greater part +of the clergy. Count Ofalia applied for a copy of the Gipsy St Luke, +and, seeing in this an opening for a personal appeal, Borrow +determined to present the volume, specially and handsomely bound, in +person, probably the last thing that Count Ofalia expected or +desired. The interview produced nothing beyond the conviction in +Borrow's mind that Spain was ruled by a man who possessed the soul of +a mouse. Borrow had been received "with great affability," thanked +for his present, urged to be patient and peaceable, assured of the +enmity of the clergy, and promised that an endeavour should be made +to devise some plan that would be satisfactory to him. The two then +"parted in kindness," and as he walked away from the palace, Borrow +wondered "by what strange chance this poor man had become Prime +Minister of a country like Spain." + +In reporting progress to the Bible Society on 17th March Borrow, +after assuring Mr Brandram that he had "brought every engine into +play which it was in my power to command," asked for instructions. +"Shall I wait a little time longer in Madrid," he enquired; "or shall +I proceed at once on a journey to Andalusia and other places? I am +in strength, health and spirits, thanks be to the Lord! and am at all +times ready to devote myself, body and mind, to His cause." {224a} +The decision of the Committee was that he should remain at Madrid. + +During the time that Borrow had been preparing his Depot in Madrid, +Lieutenant Graydon had been feverishly active in the South. On 19th +April Borrow wrote to Mr Brandram:- + + +"Sir George Villiers has vowed to protect me and has stated so +publicly . . . He has gone so far as to state to Ofalia and [Don +Ramon de] Gamboa [the Civil Governor], that provided I be allowed to +pursue my plans without interruption, he will be my bail (fiador) and +answerable for everything I do, as he does me the honor to say that +he knows me, and can confide in MY discretion." + + +In the same letter he begs the Society to be cautious and offer no +encouragement to any disposed "'to run the muck' (sic) (it is Sir +George's expression) against the religious and political INSTITUTIONS +of Spain"; but "the delicacy of the situation does not appear to have +been thoroughly understood at the time even by the Committee at +home." {224b} They saw the astonishing success of Graydon in +distributing the Scripture, and became infused with his enthusiasm, +oblivious to the fact that the greater the enthusiasm the greater the +possibilities of indiscretion. On the other hand Graydon himself saw +only the glory of the Gospel. If he were indiscreet, it was because +he was blinded by the success that attended his efforts, and he +failed to see the clouds that were gathering. {225a} Borrow saw the +danger of Graydon's reckless evangelism, and although he himself had +few good words for the pope and priestcraft, he recognised that a +discreet veiling of his opinions was best calculated to further the +ends he had in view. + +About this period Borrow became greatly incensed at the action of the +Rev. W. H. Rule of Gibraltar in consigning to his care an ex-priest, +Don Pascual Mann, who, it was alleged, had been persuaded to secede +from Rome "by certain promises and hopes held out" to him. He had +accordingly left his benefice and gone to Gibraltar to receive +instruction at the hands of Mr Rule. On his return to Valencia his +salary was naturally sequestrated, and he was reduced to want. When +he arrived at Madrid it was with a letter (12th April) from Mr Rule +to Borrow, in which it was stated that Mann was sent that he might +"endeavour to circulate the Holy Scriptures, Religious Tracts and +books, and if possible prepare the minds of some with a view to the +future establishment of a Mission in Madrid." + +Borrow had commiserated with the unfortunate Mann, even to the extent +of sending him 500 reals out of his own pocket; but on hearing that +he was on his way to Madrid to engage in missionary work, he +immediately wrote a letter of protest to Mr Brandram. He was angry +at Mr Rule's conduct in saddling him with Mann, and that without any +preliminary correspondence. He had entertained Mr Rule when in +Madrid, had conversed with him about the unfortunate ex-priest; but +there had never been any mention of his being sent to Madrid. Mr +Rule, on the other hand, thought it had been arranged that Mann +should be sent to Borrow. The whole affair appears to have arisen +out of a misunderstanding. There was considerable danger to Borrow +in Mann's presence in the capital; but it was not the thought of the +danger that incensed him so much as what he conceived to be Mr Rule's +unwarrantable conduct, and his own deeply-rooted objection to working +with anyone else. Mr Brandram repudiated the suggestion that +assistance had been promised Mann from London (although he authorised +Borrow to give him ten pounds in his, Brandram's, name), and gave as +an excuse for what Borrow described as the desertion of the ex-priest +by those who were responsible for his conversion, that "the man had +returned of his own accord to Rome," Graydon vouching for the +accuracy of the statement. + +On the other hand, Mann stated that he was persuaded to secede by +promises made by Graydon and Rule, and induced to sign a document +purporting to be a separation from the Roman Church. He further +stated that he was abandoned because he refused to preach publicly +against the Chapter of Valencia, which in all probability would have +resulted in his imprisonment. Whatever the truth, there appears to +have been some embarrassment among those responsible for bringing in +the lost sheep as to what should be done with him. "I hope that +Mann's history will be a warning to many of our friends," Borrow +wrote to Mr Rule and quoted the passage in his letter to Mr Brandram, +{226a} "and tend to a certain extent to sober down the desire for +doing what is called at home SMART THINGS, many of which terminate in +a manner very different from the original expectations of the parties +concerned." Mr Brandram thought that Borrow was a little hard upon +Graydon, and that he had not received "with the due grano salis the +statements of the unfortunate M." He intimated, nevertheless, that +the Committee had no opening for Mann's services. + +That Borrow was justified in his anger is shown by the fact that, as +he had foreseen, he reaped all the odium of Mann's conversion. The +Bishop of Cordoba in Council branded him as "a dangerous, pestilent +person, who under the pretence of selling the Scriptures went about +making converts, and moreover employed subordinates for the purpose +of deluding weak and silly people into separation from the Mother +Church." {227a} + +Although Borrow was angry about the Mann episode, he did not allow +his personal feelings to prevent him from ministering to the needs of +the poor ex-priest "as far as prudence will allow," when he fell ill. +He even went the length of writing to Mr Rule, being wishful "not to +offend him." None the less he felt that he had not been well +treated. To Mr Brandram he wrote reminding him "that all the +difficulty and danger connected with what has been accomplished in +Spain have fallen to my share, I having been labouring on the flinty +rock and sierra, and not in smiling meadows refreshed by sea +breezes." {227b} + +On 14th July 1838 Borrow made the last reference to the ex-priest in +a letter to Mr Brandram: "The unfortunate M. is dying of a galloping +consumption, brought on by distress of mind. All the medicine in the +world would not accomplish his cure." {227c} + +The watchful eye of the law was still on Borrow, and fearful lest his +stock of Bibles, of which 500 had arrived from Barcelona, and the +Gypsy and Basque editions of St Luke should he seized, he hired a +room where he stored the bulk of the books. He now advertised the +two editions of St Luke, with the result that on 16th April a party +of Alguazils entered the shop and took possession of twenty-five +copies of the Romany Gospel of St Luke. + +On the publication of the Gypsy St Luke, a fresh campaign had been +opened against Borrow, and accusations of sorcery were made and fears +expressed as to the results of the publication of the book. +Application was made by the priestly party to the Civil Governor, +with the result that all the copies at the Despacho of the Basque and +Gitano versions of St Luke had been seized. Borrow states that the +Alguazils "divided the copies of the gypsy volume among themselves, +selling subsequently the greater number at a large price, the book +being in the greatest demand." {228a} Thus the very officials +responsible for the seizure and suppression of the Bible Society's +books in Spain became "unintentionally agents of an heretical +society." {228b} + +Disappointed at the smallness of the spoil, the authorities strove by +artifice to discover if Borrow still had copies of the books in his +possession. To this end they sent to the Despacho spies, who offered +high prices for copies of the Gitano St Luke, in which their interest +seemed specially to centre, to the exclusion of the Basque version. +To these enquiries the same answer was returned, that at present no +further books would be sold at the Despacho. + +As evidence of the high opinion formed of the Romany version of St +Luke, the following story told by Borrow is amusing:- + + +"Shortly before my departure a royal edict was published, authorising +all public libraries to provide themselves with copies of the said +works [the Basque and Gypsy St Lukes] on account of their +philological merit; whereupon on application being made to the Office +[of the Civil Governor, where the books were supposed to be stored], +it was discovered that the copies of the Gospel in Basque were safe +and forthcoming, whilst every one of the sequestered copies of the +Gitano Gospel had been plundered by hands unknown [to the +authorities]. The consequence was that I was myself applied to by +the agents of the public libraries of Valencia and other places, who +paid me the price of the copies which they received, assuring me at +the same time that they were authorised to purchase them at whatever +price which might be demanded." {229a} + + +Borrow's enemies acknowledged that the Gitano St Luke was a +philological curiosity; but that it was impossible to allow it to +pass into circulation without notes. How great a philological +curiosity it actually was, is shown by the fact that the +ecclesiastical authorities were unable to find anywhere a person, in +whom they had confidence, capable of pronouncing upon it, +consequently they could only condemn it on two counts of omission; +firstly the notes, secondly the imprint of the printer from the +title-page. + +The Basque version was by no means so popular; for one thing, "It can +scarcely be said to have been published," Borrow wrote, "it having +been prohibited, and copies of it seized on the second day of its +appearance." {229b} Several orders were received from San Sebastian +and other towns where Basque predominates, which could not be +supplied on account of the prohibition. + +The official remonstrance from Sir George Villiers to Count Ofalia in +respect of the seizure of the Gypsy and Basque Gospels is of great +interest as showing, not only the British Minister's attitude towards +Borrow, but how, and with what wrath, Borrow "desisted from his +meritorious task." The communication runs:- + +MADRID, 24th April 1838. +SIR, + +It is my duty to request the attention of Your Excellency to an act +of injustice committed against a British subject by the Civil +Authorities of Madrid. + +It appears that on the 16th inst., two officers of Police were sent +by the Civil Governor to a Shop, No. 25 Calle del Principe occupied +by Mr Borrow, where they seized and carried away 25 Copies of the +Gospel of St Luke in the Gitano language, being the entire number +exposed there for sale. + +Mr Borrow is an agent of the British Bible Society, who has for some +time past been in Spain, and in the year 1836 obtained permission +from the Government of Her Catholic Majesty to print, at the expense +of the Society, Padre Scio's translation of the New Testament. He +subsequently sold the work at a moderate price and had no reason to +believe that in so doing he infringed any law of Spain or exposed +himself to the animadversion of the Authorities, otherwise, from my +knowledge of Mr Borrow s character, I feel justified in assuring Your +Excellency that he would at once, although with regret, have desisted +from his meritorious task of propagating the Gospel. Some months +ago, however, the late Civil Governor of Madrid, after having sent +for and examined a copy of the work, thought proper to direct that +its further sale should be suspended, which order was instantly +complied with. + +Mr Borrow is a man of great learning and research and master of many +languages, and having translated the Gospel of St Luke into the +Gitano, he presented a copy of it to Don Ramon Gamboa, the late Civil +Governor, and announced his intention to advertise it for sale, to +which no objection was made. + +Since that time neither Mr Borrow nor the persons employed by him +received any communication from the present Civil Governor forbidding +the sale of this work until it was seized in the manner I have above +described to Your Excellency. + +I feel convinced that the mere statement of these facts without any +commentary on my part will be sufficient to induce your Excellency to +take steps for the indemnification of Mr Borrow, who is not only a +very respectable British subject but the Agent of one of the most +truly benevolent and philanthropic Societies in the world. + +I have, etc., etc., etc. +GEORGE VILLIERS. + +His Excellency Count Ofalia. + + + +CHAPTER XV: MAY 1-13, 1838 + + + +On the morning of 30th April, whilst at breakfast, Borrow, according +to his own account, received a visit from a man who announced that he +was "A Police Agent." He came from the Civil Governor, who was +perfectly aware that he, Borrow, was continuing in secret to dispose +of the "evil books" that he had been forbidden to sell. The man +began poking round among the books and papers that were lying about, +with the result that Borrow led his visitor by the arm down the three +flights of stairs into the street, "looking him steadfastly in the +face the whole time," and subsequently sending down by his landlady +the official's sombrero, which, in the unexpectedness of his +departure, he had left behind him. + +The official report of Pedro Martin de Eugenio, the police agent in +question, runs as follows + + +MADRID, 30th April 1838. +OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE POLICE AGENT OF THE LANGUAGE HELD BY MR +BORROW. + +Public Security,--In virtue of an order from His Excellency the Civil +Governor, {231a} I went to seize the Copies Entitled the Gospel of St +Luke, in the Shop Princes Street No. 25, belonging to Mr George +Borrow, but not finding him there; I went to his lodgings, which are +in St James Street, No. 16, on the third floor and presenting the +said order to Him He read it, and with an angry look threw it on the +ground saying, that He had nothing to do with the Civil Governor, +that He was authorised by His Ambassador to sell the Work in +question, and that an English Stable Boy, is more than any Spanish +Civil Governor, and that I had forcibly entered his house, to which I +replied that I only went there to communicate the order to Him, as +proprietor as he was of the said Shop, and to seize the Copies in it +in virtue of that Order, and He answered I might do as I liked, that +He should go to the House of His Ambassador, and that I should be +responsible for the consequences; to which I replied that He had +personally insulted the Civil Governor and all Spain, to which He +answered in the same terms, holding the same language as above +stated. + +All of which I communicate to you for the objects required. + +THE POLICE AGENT +PEDRO MARTIN DE EUGENIO. {232a} + + +Borrow felt that the fellow had been sent to entrap him into some +utterance that should justify his arrest. In any case a warrant was +issued that same morning. The news caused Borrow no alarm; for one +thing he was indifferent to danger, for another he was desirous of +studying the robber language of Spain, and had already, according to +his own statement, {232b} made an unsuccessful effort to obtain +admission to the city prison. + +The official account of the interview between Borrow and the "Police +Agent" is given in the following letter from the Civil Governor to +Sir George Villiers:- + +To the British Minister, - +MADRID, 30th April 1838. +SIR, + +The Vicar of the Diocese having, on the 16th and 26th Instant, +officially represented to me, that neither the publication nor the +sale of the Gospel of St Luke translated into the romain, or Gitano +Dialect ought to be permitted, until such time as the translation had +been examined and approved by the competent Ecclesiastical Authority, +in conformity with the Canonical and Civil regulations existing on +the matter, I gave an order to a dependent of this civil +administration, to present himself in the house of Mr George Borrow, +a British Subject, charged by the London Bible Society with the +publication of this work, and to seize all the Copies of it. In +execution of this order my Warrant was yesterday morning {233a} +presented to the said Mr George Borrow; who, so far from obeying it, +broke out in insults most offensive to my authority, threw the order +on the ground with angry gestures, and grossly abused the bearer of +it, and said that he had nothing to do with the Civil Governor. The +detailed report in writing which has been made to me of this +disageeeable occurrence could not but deeply affect me, being a +question of a British Subject, to whom the Government of Her Catholic +Majesty has always afforded the same protection as to its own. As +Executor of the Law it is my duty to cause its decrees to be +inviolably observed; and you will well understand, that both the +Canonical as the Civil Laws now existing, in this kingdom, relative +to writings and works published upon Dogmas, Morals, and holy and +religious matters, are the same without distinction for the Subjects +of all Countries residing in Spain. No one can be permitted to +violate them with impunity, without detriment to the Laws themselves, +to the Royal Authority and to the Evangelical Moral which is highly +interested in preventing the propagation of doctrines which may be +erroneous, and that the purity of the sublime maxims of our divine +Faith should remain intact. + +In conformity with these undeniable principles, which are in the Laws +of all civilised nations, you must acknowledge that the offensive +conduct of Mr George Borrow, and his disobedience to a legitimate +Authority sufficiently authorised the proceeding to his arrest . . . + +I have, etc., etc. +DEIGO DE ENTRENA. + + +The "Police Agent" seems to have boasted that within twenty-four +hours Borrow would be in prison; Borrow, on the other hand, +determined to prove the "Police Agent" wrong. He therefore spent the +rest of the day and the following night at a cafe. {234a} In the +evening he received a visit from Maria Diaz, {234b} his landlady and +also his strong adherent and friend, whom he had informed of his +whereabouts. From her he learned that his lodgings had been searched +and that the alguazils, who bore a warrant for his arrest, were much +disappointed at not finding him. + +The next morning, 1st May, at the request of Sir George Villiers, +Borrow called at the Embassy and narrated every circumstance of the +affair, with the result that he was offered the hospitality of the +Embassy, which he declined. Whilst in conversation with Mr Sothern, +Sir George Villiers' private secretary, Borrow's Basque servant +Francisco rushed in with the news that the alguazils were again at +his rooms searching among his papers, whereat Borrow at once left the +Embassy, determined to return to his lodgings. Immediately +afterwards he was arrested, {234c} within sight of the doors of the +Embassy, and conducted to the office of the Civil Governor. +Francisco in the meantime, acting on his master's instructions, +conveyed to him in Basque that the alguazils might not understand, +proceeded immediately to the British Embassy and informed Sir George +Villiers of what had just taken place, with such eloquence and +feeling that Mr Sothern afterwards remarked to Borrow, "That Basque +of yours is a noble fellow," and asked to be given the refusal of his +services should Borrow ever decide to part with him. With his +dependents Borrow was always extremely popular, even in Spain, where, +according to Mr Sothern, a man's servant seemed to be his worst +enemy. + +Borrow submitted quietly to his arrest and was first taken to the +office of the Civil Governor (Gefatura Politica), and subsequently to +the Carcel de la Corte, by two Salvaguardias, "like a common +malefactor." Here he was assigned a chamber that was "large and +lofty, but totally destitute of every species of furniture with the +exception of a huge wooden pitcher, intended to hold my daily +allowance of water." {235a} For this special accommodation Borrow +was to pay, otherwise he would have been herded with the common +criminals, who existed in a state of foulness and misery. Acting on +the advice of the Alcayde, Borrow despatched a note to Maria Diaz, +with the result that when Mr Sothern arrived, he found the prisoner +not only surrounded by his friends and furniture, but enjoying a +comfortable meal, whereat he laughed heartily. + +Borrow learned that, immediately on hearing what had taken place, Sir +George Villiers had despatched Mr Sothern to interview Senor Entrena, +the Civil Governor, who rudely referred him to his secretary, and +refused to hold any communication with the British Legation save in +writing. Nothing further could be done that night, and on hearing +that Borrow was determined to remain in durance, even if offered his +liberty, now that he had been illegally placed there, Mr Sothern +commended his resolution. The Government had put itself grievously +in the wrong, and Sir George, who had already sent a note to Count +Ofalia demanding redress, seemed desirous of making it as difficult +for them as possible, now that they had perpetrated this wanton +outrage on a British subject. He determined to make it a national +affair. + +It is by no means certain that Borrow was anxious to leave the Carcel +de la Corte, even with the apologies of Spain in his pocket. The +prison afforded him unique opportunities for the study of criminal +vagabonds. An entirely new phase of life presented itself to him, +and, but for this arrest and his subsequent decision to involve the +authorities in difficulties, The Bible in Spain would have lacked +some of its most picturesque pages. It would have been strange if he +had not encountered some old friend or acquaintance in the prison of +the Spanish capital. At the Carcel de la Corte he found the +notorious and immense Gitana, Aurora, who had fallen into the hands +of the Busne for defrauding a rather foolish widow. + +"A great many people came to see me," Borrow wrote to his mother, +"amongst others, General Quiroga, the Military Governor, who assured +me that all he possessed was at my service. The Gypsies likewise +came, but were refused admittance." His dinner was taken to him from +an inn, and Sir George Villiers sent his butler each day to make +enquiries. There was, however, one very unpleasant feature of his +prison life, the verminous condition of the whole building. In spite +of having fresh linen taken to him each day, he suffered very much +from what the polished Spaniard prefers to call miseria. + +Sir George Villiers took active and immediate steps, not only to +secure Borrow's release, but to obtain an unqualified apology. +Referring to the letter he had received from the Civil Governor (30th +April), he expressed himself as convinced that "a gentleman of +Borrow's character and education was incapable of the conduct +alleged," and had accordingly requested Mr Sothern to enquire into +the matter and then to call upon the Civil Governor to explain in +what manner he had been misinformed. As the Civil Governor refused +to receive Mr Sothern, Sir George adds that he need trouble him no +further, as the affair had been placed before Her Catholic Majesty's +Government; but during his five years of office at the Court of +Madrid, he proceeded, "no circumstance has occurred likely to be more +prejudicial to the relations between the two Countries than the +insult and imprisonment to which a respectable Englishman has now +been subjected upon the unsupported evidence of a Police Officer," +acting under the orders of the Civil Governor. + +On 3rd May Sir George Villiers wrote again to Count Ofalia, reminding +him that he had not received the letter from him that he had +expected. In the course of a lengthy recapitulation of the +occurrences of the past ten days, Sir George reminded Count Ofalia +that, as a result of their interview on 30th April about the ill- +usage of Borrow, the Count had written on 1st May to him a private +letter stating that measures had been taken to release Borrow on +parole, he to appear when necessary, and that if Sir George would +abstain from making a written remonstrance, Count Ofalia would see +that both he and Borrow received the ample satisfaction to which they +were entitled. Borrow had been taken by two Guards "like a +Malefactor, to the Common Prison, where he would have been confined +with Criminals of every description if he had not had money to pay +for a Cell to Himself." The British Minister complained that every +step that he had taken for Borrow's protection was followed by fresh +insult, and he further intimated that Borrow refused to leave the +prison until his character had been publicly cleared. + +The Spanish Government now found itself in a quandary. The British +Minister was pressing for satisfaction, and he was too powerful and +too important to the needs of Spain to be offended. The prisoner +himself refused to be liberated, because he had been illegally +arrested, inasmuch as he, a foreigner, had been committed to prison +without first being conducted before the Captain-General of Madrid, +as the law provided. Furthermore, Borrow advised the authorities +that if they chose to eject him from the prison he would resist with +all his bodily strength. In this determination he was confirmed by +the British Minister. + +A Cabinet Council was held, at which Senor Entrena was present. The +Premier explained the serious situation in which the ministry found +itself, owing to the attitude assumed by the British Minister, and he +remarked that the Civil Governor must respect the privileges of +foreigners. Senor Entrena suggested that he should be relieved of +his duties; but the majority of the Cabinet seems to have been +favourable to him. The Affaire Borrow is said to have come up for +debate even during a secret session of the Chamber. + +When Count Ofalia had called at the British Embassy (4th May) he was +informed by Sir George Villiers that the affair had passed beyond the +radius of a subordinate authority of the Government, and that he +"considered that great want of respect had been shown to me, as Her +Majesty's Minister, and that an unjustifiable outrage had been +committed upon a British Subject," {238a} and that the least +reparation that he was disposed to accept was a written declaration +that an injustice had been done, and the dismissal of the Police +Officer. {238b} + +The value of a British subject's freedom was brought home to the +Spanish Government with astonishing swiftness and decision. The +Civil Governor wrote to Sir George Villiers (3rd May), apparently at +the instance of the distraught premier, discoursing sagely upon the +Civil and Canon Laws of Spain, and adding that the 25 copies of the +Gitano St Luke were seized, "not as being confiscated, but as a +deposit to be restored in due time." He concluded by hoping that he +had convinced the British Minister of his good faith. + +In his reply, Sir George considered that the Civil Governor had been +led to view the matter in a light that would not "bear the test of +impartial examination." The result of this interchange of letters +was twofold. Sir George dropped the correspondence with "that +Functionary [who] displays so complete a disregard for fact," {239a} +and as Count Ofalia evaded the real question at issue, holding out +"slender hopes of the matter ending in the reparation which I +considered to be peremptorily called for," {239b} he advised Borrow +to claim protection from the Captain-General, the only authority +competent to exercise any jurisdiction over him. The Captain-General +Quiroga, jealous of his authority, entered warmly into the dispute +and ordered the Civil Governor to hand over the case to him. There +was now a danger of the Affaire Borrow being made a party question, +in which case it would have been extremely difficult to settle. + +The intervention of the Captain-General rendered all the more obvious +the illegality of the Civil Governor's action, and increased the +embarrassment of Count Ofalia, who called on Sir George to ask him to +have Borrow's memorial to the Captain-General withdrawn. He refused, +and said the only way now to finish the affair was that "His +Excellency should in an official Note declare to me that Mr Borrow +left the prison, where he had been improperly placed, with unstained +honour,--that the Police Agent, upon whose testimony he had been +arrested, should be dismissed,--that all expenses imposed upon Mr +Borrow by his detention should be repaid him by the Government,--that +Mr Borrow's not having availed himself of the 'Fuero Militar' should +not be converted into a precedent, or in any way be considered to +prejudice that important right, and that Count Ofalia should add with +reference to maintaining the friendly relations between Great Britain +and Spain, that he hoped I would accept this satisfaction as +sufficient." {240a} + +Borrow states that Sir George Villiers went to the length of +informing Count Ofalia that unless full satisfaction were accorded +Borrow, he would demand his passports and instruct the commanders of +the British war vessels to desist from furnishing further assistance +to Spain. {240b} There is, however, no record of this in the +official papers sent by Sir George to the Foreign Office. What +actually occurred was that, on 8th May, the British Minister, +determined to brook no further delay, wrote a grave official +remonstrance, in which he stated that, "if the desire had existed to +bring it to a close," the case of Borrow could have been settled. +"Having up to the present moment," he proceeds, "trusted that in Your +Excellency's hands, this affair would be treated with all that +consideration required by its nature and the consequences that may +follow upon it . . . I have forborne from denouncing the whole extent +of the illegality which has marked the proceedings of the case" +(viz., the Civil Governor's having usurped the right of the Captain- +General of the Province in causing Borrow's arrest). In conclusion, +Sir George states that he considers the + + +"case of most pressing importance, for it may compromise the +relations now existing between Great Britain and Spain. It is one +that requires a complete satisfaction, for the honor of England and +the future position of Englishmen in the Country are concerned; and +the satisfaction, in order to be complete, required to be promptly +given." + + +"This disagreeable business," Sir George writes in another of his +despatches, "is rendered yet more so by the impossibility of +defending with success all Mr Borrow's proceedings . . . His +imprudent zeal likewise in announcing publicly that the Bible Society +had a depot of Bibles in Madrid, and that he was the Agent for their +sale, irritated the Ecclesiastical Authorities, whose attention has +of late been called to the proceedings of a Mr Graydon,--another +agent of the Bible Society, who has created great excitement at +Malaga (and I believe in other places) by publishing in the +Newspapers that the Catholic Religion was not the religion of God, +and that he had been sent from England to convert Spaniards to +Protestantism. I have upon more than one occasion cautioned Mr +Graydon, but in vain, to be more prudent. The Methodist Society of +England is likewise endeavouring to establish a School at Cadiz, and +by that means to make conversions. + +"Under all these circumstances it is not perhaps surprising that the +Archbishop of Toledo and the Heads of the Church should be alarmed +that an attempt at Protestant Propagandism is about to be made, or +that the Government should wish to avert the evils of religious +schism in addition to all those which already weigh upon the Country; +and to these different causes it must, in some degree, be attributed +that Mr Borrow has been an object of suspicion and treated with such +extreme rigor. Still, however, they do not justify the course +pursued by the Civil Governor towards him, or by the Government +towards myself, and I trust Your Lordship will consider that in the +steps I have taken upon the matter, I have done no more than what the +National honor, and the security of Englishmen in this Country, +rendered obligatory upon me." {241a} + + +Whilst Borrow was in the Carcel de la Corte, a grave complication had +arisen in connection with the misguided Lieutenant Graydon. Borrow +gives a strikingly dramatic account {241b} of Count Ofalia's call at +the British Embassy. He is represented as arriving with a copy of +one of Graydon's bills, which he threw down upon a table calling upon +Sir George Villiers to read it and, as a gentleman and the +representative of a great and enlightened nation, tell him if he +could any longer defend Borrow and say that he had been ill or +unfairly treated. According to the Foreign Office documents, Count +Ofalia WROTE to Sir George Villiers on 5th May, ENCLOSING a copy of +an advertisement inserted by Lieutenant Graydon in the Boletin +Oficial de Malaga, which, translated, runs as follows:- + + +"The Individual in question most earnestly calls the greatest +attention of each member of the great Spanish Family to this DIVINE +Book, in order that THROUGH IT he may learn the chief cause, if not +the SOLE ONE, of all his terrible afflictions and of his ONLY remedy, +as it is so clearly manifested in the Holy Scripture . . . A +detestable system of superstition and fanaticism, ONLY GREEDY FOR +MONEY, and not so either of the temporal or eternal felicity of man, +has prevailed in Spain (as also in other Nations) during several +Centuries, by the ABSOLUTE exclusion of the true knowledge of the +Great God and last Judge of Mankind: and thus it has been plunged +into the most frightful calamities. There was a time in which +precisely the same was read in the then VERY LITTLE Kingdom of +England, but at length Her Sons recognising their imperative DUTY +towards God and their Neighbour, as also their unquestionable rights, +and that since the world exists it has never been possible to gather +grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles, they destroyed the system +and at the price of their blood chose the Bible. Oh that the +unprejudiced and enlightened inhabitants not only of Malaga and of so +many other Cities, but of all Spain, would follow so good an +example." {242a} + + +The result of Graydon's advertisement was that "the people flocked in +crowds to purchase it [the Bible], so much so that 200 copies, all +that were in Mr Graydon's possession at the time, were sold in the +course of the day. The Bishop sent the Fiscal to stop the sale of +the work, but before the necessary measures were taken they were all +disposed of." {242b} In consequence Graydon "was detained and under +my [the Consul's] responsibility allowed to remain at large." {243a} +A jury of nine all pronounced the article to contain "matter subject +to legal process" {243b} but a second jury of twelve at the +subsequent public trial "unanimously absolved" Graydon. + +Sir George Villiers acknowledged the letter from Count Ofalia (9th +May) saying that he had written to Graydon warning him to be more +cautious in future. He stated that from personal knowledge he could +vouch for the purity of Lieutenant Graydon's intentions; but he +regretted that he should have announced his object in so imprudent a +manner as to give offence to the ministers of the Catholic religion +of Spain. In a despatch to Lord Palmerston he states that he has not +thought it in the interests of the Bible Society to defend this +conduct of Graydon, "whose zeal appears so little tempered by +discretion," {243c} as he had written to Count Ofalia. "Had I done +so," he proceeds, "and thereby tended to confirm some of the idle +reports that are current, that England had a national object to serve +in the propagation of Protestantism in Spain, it is not improbable +that a legislative Enactment might have been introduced by some +Member of the Cortes, which would be offensive to England, and render +it yet more difficult than it is the task the Bible Society seems +desirous to undertake in this Country." {243d} Sir George concludes +by saying that he gave to "these Agents the best advice and +assistance in my power, but if by their acts they infringe the laws +of the Country," it will be impossible to defend them. + +Sir George thought so seriously of the Affaire Borrow, as endangering +the future liberty of Englishmen in Spain, that he went so far as to +send a message to the Queen Regent, "by a means which I always have +at my disposal," {244a} in which he told her that he thought the +affair "might end in a manner most injurious to the continuance of +friendly relations between the two Countries." {244b} He received a +gracious assurance that he should have satisfaction. Later there +reached him + + +"a second message from the Queen Regent expressing Her Majesty's hope +that Count Ofalia's Note [of 11th May] would be satisfactory to me, +and stating that Her Ministers had so fully proved their incompetency +by giving any just cause of complaint to the Minister of Her only +real Friend and Ally, The Queen of England, that she should have +dismissed them, were it not that the state of affairs in the Northern +Provinces at this moment might be prejudiced by a change of +Government, which Her Majesty said she knew no one more than myself +would regret, but at the same time if I was not satisfied I had only +to state what I required and it should be immediately complied with. +My answer was confined to a grateful acknowledgement of Her Majesty's +condescension and kindness. Count Ofalia has informed me that as +President of the Council He had enjoined all his Colleagues never to +take any step directly or indirectly concerning an Englishman without +a previous communication with Him as to its propriety, and I +therefore venture to hope that the case of Mr Borrow will not be +unattended with ultimate advantage to British subjects in Spain." +{243c} + + +The "Note" referred to by the Queen Regent in her message was Count +Ofalia's acquiescence in Sir George Villiers' demands, with the +exception of the dismissal of the Police Officer. His communication +runs:- + + +"11th May 1838. + +"SIR,--The affair of Mr Borrow is already decided by the Judge of +First Instance and his decision has been approved by the Superior or +Territorial Court of the Province. As I stated to you in my note of +the fourth last, the foundation of the arrest of Mr Borrow, who was +detained (and not committed), was an official communication from the +Agent of Police, Don Pedro Martin de Eugenio, in which he averred +that on intimating to Mr Borrow the written order of the Civil +Governor relative to the seizure of a book which he had published and +exposed for sale without complying with the forms prescribed by the +Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws of Spain, he (Mr Borrow) had thrown on +the floor the order of the Superior Authority of the Province and +used offensive expressions with regard to the said Authority. + +"The judicial proceedings have had for their object the ascertainment +of the fact. Mr Borrow has denied the truth of the statement and the +Agent of Police, who it appears entered the lodgings of Mr Borrow +without being accompanied by any one, has been unable to confirm by +evidence what he alleged in his official report, or to produce the +testimony of any one in support of it. + +"This being the case the judge has declared and the Territorial Court +approved the superceding of the cause, putting Mr Borrow immediately +at complete liberty, with the express declaration that the arrest he +has suffered in no wise affects his honor and good fame, and that the +'celador of Public Security,' Don Pedro Martin de Eugenio, be +admonished for the future to proceed in the discharge of his duty +with proper respect and circumspection according to the condition and +character of the persons whom he has to address. + +"In accordance with the judicial decision and anxious to give +satisfaction to Mr Borrow, correcting at the same time the fault of +the Agent of Police in having presented himself without being +accompanied by any person in order to effect the seizure in the +lodging of Mr Borrow, Her Majesty has thought proper to command that +the aforesaid Don Pedro Martin de Eugenio be suspended from his +office for the space of Four Months, an order which I shall +communicate to the Minister of the Interior, and that Mr Borrow be +indemnified for the expenses which may have been incurred by his +lodging in the apartment of the Alcaide (chief gaoler or Governor) +for the days of his detention, although even before the expiration of +24 hours after his arrest he was permitted to return to his house +under his word of honor during the judicial proceedings, as I stated +to you in my note already cited. I flatter myself that in this +determination you as well as your Government will see a fresh proof +of the desire which animates that of H.M. the Queen Regent to +maintain and draw closer the relation of friendship and alliance +existing between the two countries. And with respect to the claim +advanced by Mr Borrow, and of which you also make mention in Your +Note of the 8th inst., I ought to declare to you that when the Judge +of First Instance received official information of the said claim the +business was already concluded in his tribunal, and consequently +there was nothing to be done. Without, for this reason, there being +understood any innovation with respect to the matter of privilege +(fuero) according as it is now established." {246a} + + +Borrow was liberated with unsullied honour on 12th May, after twelve +days' imprisonment. He refused the compensation that Sir George +Villiers had made a condition, and later wrote to the Bible Society +asking that there might be deducted from the amount due to him the +expenses of the twelve days. He states also that he refused to +acquiesce in the dismissal of the Agent of Police, by which he +doubtless means his suspension, giving as a reason that there might +be a wife and family likely to suffer. In any case the man was only +carrying out his instructions. Borrow's reason for refusing the +payment of his expenses was that he was unwilling to afford them, the +Spanish Government, an opportunity of saying that after they had +imprisoned an Englishman unjustly, and without cause, he condescended +to receive money at their hands. {246b} + +The greatest loss to Borrow, consequent upon his imprisonment, no +government could make good. His faithful Basque, Francisco, had +contracted typhus, or gaol fever, that was raging at the time, and +died within a few days of his master's release. "A more affectionate +creature never breathed," Borrow wrote to Mr Brandram. The poor +fellow, who, "to the strength of a giant joined the disposition of a +lamb . . . was beloved even in the patio of the prison, where he used +to pitch the bar and wrestle with the murderers and felons, always +coming off victor." {247a} The next day Antonio presented himself at +Borrow's lodging, and without invitation or comment assumed the +duties he had relinquished in order that he might enjoy the +excitements of change. "Who should serve you now but myself?" he +asked when questioned as to the meaning of his presence, "N'est pas +que le sieur Francois est mort!" {247b} + +John Hasfeldt's comment on his friend's imprisonment was +characteristic. In September 1838 he wrote:- + + +"The very last I heard of you is that you have had the great good +fortune to be stopping in the carcel de corte at Madrid, which +pleasing intelligence I found in the Preussiche Staats-Zeitung this +last spring. If you were fatter no doubt the monks would have got up +an Auto de Fe on your behalf, and you might easily have become a +nineteenth-century martyr. Then your strange life would have been +hawked about the streets of London for one penny, though you never +obtained a fat living to eat and drink and take your ease after all +the hardships you have endured." + + + +CHAPTER XVI: MAY-JULY 1838 + + + +Borrow was now to enter upon that lengthy dispute with the Bible +Society that almost brought about an open breach, and eventually +proved the indirect cause that led to the severance of their +relations. Graydon's mistake lay in not contenting himself with +printing and distributing the Scriptures, of which he succeeded in +getting rid of an enormous quantity. He had advertised his +association with the Bible Society and proclaimed Borrow as a +colleague, and the authorities at Madrid were not greatly to blame +for being unable to distinguish between the two men. Whereas Graydon +and Rule, who was also extremely obnoxious to the Spanish Clergy, +were safe at Gibraltar or generally within easy reach of it, Borrow +was in the very midst of the enemy. He was not unnaturally furiously +angry at the situation that he conceived to have been brought about +by these evangelists in the south. He referred to Graydon as the +Evil Genius of the Society's Cause in Spain. + +It may be felt that Borrow was a prejudiced witness, he had every +reason for being so; but a despatch from Sir George Villiers to the +Consul at Malaga shows clearly how the British Minister viewed +Lieutenant Graydon's indiscretion: + + +"You will communicate Count Ofalia's note to Mr Graydon," he writes, +"and tell him from me that, feeling as I do a lively interest in the +success of his mission, I cannot but regret that he should have +published his opinions upon the Catholic religion and clergy in a +form which should render inevitable the interference of +ecclesiastical authority. I have no doubt that Mr Graydon, in the +pursuit of the meritorious task he has undertaken, is ready to endure +persecution, but he should bear in mind that it will not lead him to +success in this country, where prejudices are so inveterate, and at +this moment, when party spirit disfigures even the best intentions. +Unless Mr Graydon proceeds with the utmost circumspection it will be +impossible for me, with the prospect of good result, to defend his +conduct with the Government, for no foreigner has a right, however +laudable may be his object, to seek the attainment of that object by +infringing the laws of the country in which he resides." {249a} + + +In writing to Mr Brandram, Borrow pointed out that although he had +travelled extensively in Spain and had established many depots for +the sale of the Scriptures, not one word of complaint had been +transmitted to the Government. He had been imprisoned; but he had +the authority of Count Ofalia for saying that it was not on account +of his own, but rather of the action of others. Furthermore the +Premier had advised him to endeavour to make friends among the +clergy, and for the present at least make no further effort to +promote the actual sale of the New Testament in Madrid. + +On the day following his release from prison (13th May) Borrow, after +being sent for by the British Minister, wrote to Mr Brandram as +follows:- + + +"Sir George has commanded me . . . to write to the following effect:- +Mr Graydon must leave Spain, or the Bible Society must publicly +disavow that his proceedings receive their encouragement, unless they +wish to see the Sacred book, which it is their object to distribute, +brought into universal odium and contempt. He has lately been to +Malaga, and has there played precisely the same part which he acted +last year at Valencia, with the addition that in printed writings he +has insulted the Spanish Government in the most inexcusable manner. +A formal complaint of his conduct has been sent up from Malaga, and a +copy of one of his writings. Sir George blushed when he saw it, and +informed Count Ofalia that any steps which might be taken towards +punishing the author would receive no impediment from him. I shall +not make any observation on this matter farther than stating that I +have never had any other opinion of Mr Graydon than that he is +insane--insane as the person who for the sake of warming his own +hands would set a street on fire. Sir George said to-day that he +(Graydon) was the cause of my HARMLESS shop being closed at Madrid +and also of my imprisonment. The Society will of course communicate +with Sir George on the subject, I wash my hands of it." + + +On 23rd May Borrow wrote again to Mr Brandram: + +"In the name of the MOST HIGHEST take steps for preventing that +miserable creature Graydon from ruining us all." Borrow's use of the +term "insane" with regard to Graydon was fully justified. The Rev. +W. H. Rule wrote to him on 14th May: + + +"Our worthy brother Graydon is, I suppose, in Granada. I overtook +him in Cartagena, endured the process of osculation, saw him without +rhime or reason wrangle with and publicly insult our Consul there. +Had his company in the steamer to Almeria, much to my discomfort. +Never was a man fuller of love and impudence, compounded in the most +provoking manner. In Malaga, just as we were to part, he broke out +into a strain highly disagreeable, and I therefore thought it a +convenient occasion to tell him that I should have no more to do with +him. I left him dancing and raving like an energumen." + + +This letter Borrow indiscreetly sent to Mr Brandram, much to Mr +Rule's regret, who wrote to Mr Brandram, saying that whilst he had +nothing to retract, he would not have written for the eyes of the +Bible Society's Committee what he had written to Borrow. To Mr Rule +Lieut. Graydon was "a good man, or at least a well-meaning [one], who +has not the balance of judgment and temper necessary for the +situation he occupies." He was given to "the promulgation of +Millenianism," and to calling the Bible "the true book of the +Constitution." + +Mann had confirmed all the rumours current about Graydon. In order +to remove from his shoulders "the burden of obloquy," Borrow's first +act on leaving prison was to publish in the Correo Nacional an +advertisement disclaiming, in the name of the Bible Society, any +writings which may have been circulated tending to lower the +authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, in the eyes of the people. He +denied that it was the Society's intention or wish to make proselytes +from the Roman Catholic form of worship, and that it was at all times +prepared to extend the hand of brotherhood to the Spanish clergy. +This notice was signed "George Borrow, Sole authorised Agent of the +British and Foreign Bible Society in Spain." + +El Gazeta Oficial in commenting on the situation, saw in the anti- +Catholic tracts circulated by Graydon "part of the monstrous plan, +whose existence can no longer be called in question, concocted by the +enemies of all public order, for the purpose of inaugurating on our +unhappy soil a SOCIAL revolution, just as the political one is +drawing to a close." The Government was urged to allow no longer +these attacks upon the religion of the country. Rather illogically +the article concludes by paying a tribute to the Bible Society, +"considered not under the religious but the social aspect." After +praising its prudence for "accommodating itself to the civil and +ecclesiastical laws of each country, and by adopting the editions +there current," it concludes with the sophisticated argument that, +"if the great object be the propagation of evangelic maxims, the +notes are no obstacle, and by preserving them we fulfil our religious +principle of not permitting to private reason the interpretation of +the Sacred Word." + +The General Committee expressed themselves, somewhat enigmatically, +it must be confessed, as in no way surprised at this article, being +from past experience learned enough in the ways of Rome to anticipate +her. + + +"That advertisement," Borrow wrote six months later in his Report +that was subsequently withdrawn, "gave infinite satisfaction to the +liberal clergy. I was complimented for it by the Primate of Spain, +who said I had redeemed my credit and that of the Society, and it is +with some feeling of pride that I state that it choked and prevented +the publication of a series of terrible essays against the Bible +Society, which were intended for the Official Gazette, and which were +written by the Licentiate Albert Lister, the editor of that journal, +the friend of Blanco White, and the most talented man in Spain. +These essays still exist in the editorial drawer, and were +communicated to me by the head manager of the royal printing office, +my respected friend and countryman Mr Charles Wood, whose evidence in +this matter and in many others I can command at pleasure. In lieu of +which essays came out a mild and conciliatory article by the same +writer, which, taking into consideration the country in which it was +written, and its peculiar circumstances, was an encouragement to the +Bible Society to proceed, although with secrecy and caution; yet this +article, sadly misunderstood in England, gave rise to communications +from home highly mortifying to myself and ruinous to the Bible +cause." + + +Borrow had written from prison to Mr Brandram {252a} telling him that +it had "pleased God to confer upon me the highest of mortal honors, +the privilege of bearing chains for His sake." After describing how +it had always been his practice, before taking any step, to consult +with Sir George Villiers and receive his approval, and that the +present situation had not been brought about by any rashness on his, +Borrow's, part, he proceeds to convey the following curious piece of +information that must have caused some surprise at Earl Street + + +"I will now state a fact, which speaks volumes as to the state of +affairs at Madrid. My arch-enemy, the Archbishop of Toledo, the +primate of Spain, wishes to give me the kiss of brotherly Peace. He +has caused a message to be conveyed to me in my dungeon, assuring me +that he has had no share in causing my imprisonment, which he says +was the work of the Civil Governor, who was incited to the step by +the Jesuits. He adds that he is determined to seek out my +persecutors amongst the clergy, and to have them punished, and that +when I leave prison he shall be happy to co-operate with me in the +dissemination of the Gospel!! I cannot write much now, for I am not +well, having been bled and blistered. I must, however, devote a few +lines to another subject, but not one of rejoicing or Christian +exultation. Mann arrived just after my arrest, and visited me in +prison, and there favoured me with a scene of despair, abject +despair, which nearly turned my brain. I despised the creature, God +forgive me, but I pitied him; for he was without money and expected +every moment to be seized like myself and incarcerated, and he is by +no means anxious to be invested with the honors of martyrdom." + + +That the Primate of Spain should have sent to Borrow such a message +is surprising; but what is still more so is that six days later +Borrow wrote telling Mr Brandram that he had asked a bishop to +arrange an interview between him and the Archbishop of Toledo, and +Sir George Villiers, who was present, begged the same privilege. +{253a} On 23rd May Borrow wrote again to Mr Brandram: "I have just +had an interview with the Archbishop. It was satisfactory to a +degree I had not dared to hope for." In his next letter (25th May) +he writes: + + +"I have had, as you are aware, an interview with the Archbishop of +Toledo. I have not time to state particulars, but he said amongst +other things, 'Be prudent, the Government are disposed to arrange +matters amicably, and I am disposed to co-operate with them.' At +parting he shook me most kindly by the hand saying that he liked me. +Sir George intends to visit him in a few days. He is an old, +venerable-looking man, between seventy and eighty. When I saw him he +was dressed with the utmost simplicity, with the exception of a most +splendid amethyst ring, the lustre of which was truly dazzling." + + +There is only one conclusion to be drawn from this archiepiscopal +condescension, if the interview were not indeed sought by Borrow, +that it was a political move to pacify the wounded feelings of an +outraged Englishman at a time when the goodwill of England was as +necessary to the kingdom of Spain as the sun itself + +The upshot of the Malaga Incident was that "the Spanish Government +resolved to put an end to Bible transactions in Spain, and forthwith +gave orders for the seizure of all the Bibles and Testaments in the +country, wherever they might be deposited or exposed for sale. They +notified Sir George Villiers of the decision, expressly stating that +the resolution was taken in consequence of the 'Ocurrido en Malaga.'" +{254a} The letter in which Sir George Villiers was informed of the +Government's decision runs as follows:- + + +MADRID, 19th May 1838. +SIR, + +I have the honor to inform You that in consequence of what has taken +place at Malaga and other places, respecting the publication and sale +of the Bible translated by Padre Scio, which are not complete (since +they do not contain all the Books which the Catholic Church +recognises as Canonical) nor even being complete could they be +printed unless furnished with the Notes of the said Padre Scio, +according to the existing regulations; Her Majesty has thought proper +to prevent this publication and sale, but without insulting or +molesting those British Subjects who for some time past have been +introducing them into the Kingdom and selling them at the lowest +prices, thinking they were conferring a benefit when in reality they +were doing an injury. + +I have also to state to You that in order to carry this Royal +determination into effect, orders have been issued to prohibit its +being printed in Spain, in the vulgar tongue, unless it should be the +entire Bible as recognised by the Catholic Church with corresponding +Notes, preventing its admittance at the Frontiers, as is the case +with books printed in Spanish abroad; that the Bibles exposed for +public sale be seized and given to their owners in a packet marked +and sealed, upon the condition of its being sent out of the country +through the Custom Houses on the Frontier or at the Ports. + +I avail myself, etc., etc. + +THE COUNT OF OFALIA. {255a} + + +Borrow and Graydon were advised of this inhibition, and both ordered +their establishments for the sale of books to be closed, thus showing +that they were "Gentlemen who are animated with due respect for the +Laws of Spain." {255b} At Valladolid, Santiago, Orviedo, Pontevedra, +Seville, Salamanca, and Malaga the decree was at once enforced. On +learning that the books at his depots had all been seized, Borrow +became apprehensive for the safety of his Madrid stock of New +Testaments, some three thousand in number. He accordingly had them +removed, under cover of darkness, to the houses of his friends. + +Borrow was not the man to accept defeat, and he wrote to Mr Brandram +with great cheerfulness: + + +"This, however, gives me little uneasiness, for, with the blessing of +God, I shall be able to repair all, always provided I am allowed to +follow my own plans, and to avail myself of the advantages which have +lately been opened--especially to cultivate the kind feeling lately +manifested towards me by the principal Spanish clergy. {255c} + + +Later he wrote: + + +"Another bitter cup has been filled for my swallowing. The Bible +Society and myself have been accused of blasphemy, sedition, etc. A +collection of tracts has been seized in Murcia, in which the Catholic +religion and its dogmas are handled with the most abusive severity; +{256a} these books have been sworn to as having been left BY THE +COMMITTEE OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY WHILST IN THAT TOWN, and Count Ofalia +has been called upon to sign an order for my arrest and banishment +from Spain. Sir George, however, advises me to remain quiet and not +to be alarmed, as he will answer for my innocence." {256b} + + +Borrow strove to galvanise the General Committee into action. The +Spanish newspapers were inflamed against the Society as a sectarian, +not a Christian institution. "Zeal is a precious thing," he told Mr +Brandram, when accompanied with one grain of common sense." The +theme of his letters was the removal of Graydon. "Do not be cast +down," he writes; "all will go well if the stumbling block [Graydon] +be removed." + +Borrow's state of mind may well be imagined, and if by his impulsive +letters he unwittingly harmed his own cause at Earl Street, he did so +as a man whose liberty, perhaps his life even, was being jeopardised, +although not deliberately, by another whom the reforming spirit +seemed likely to carry to any excess. It must be admitted that for +the time being Borrow had forgotten the idiom of Earl Street. + +The president (a bishop) of the body of ecclesiastics that was +engaged in examining the Society's Spanish Bible, communicated with +Borrow, through Mr Charles Wood, the suggestion that "the Committee +of the Bible Society should in the present exigency draw up an +exposition of their views respecting Spain, stating what they are +prepared to do and what they are not prepared to do; above all, +whether in seeking to circulate the Gospel in this Country they +harbour any projects hostile to the Government or the established +religion; moreover, whether the late distribution of tracts was done +by their connivance or authority, and whether they are disposed to +sanction in future the publication in Spain of such a class of +writings." {257a} + +Borrow was of the opinion that this should be done, although he would +not take upon himself to advise the Committee upon such a point, he +merely remarked that "the Prelate in question is a most learned and +respectable man, and one of the warmest of our friends." {257b} The +Society very naturally declined to commit itself to any such +undertaking. It would not have been quite logical or conceivable +that a Protestant body should give a guarantee that it harboured no +projects hostile to Rome. + +Undeterred by the official edict against the circulation in Spain of +the Scriptures, Borrow wrote to Mr Brandram (14th June): + + +"I should wish to make another Biblical tour this summer, until the +storm be blown over. Should I undertake such an expedition, I should +avoid the towns and devote myself entirely to the peasantry. I have +sometimes thought of visiting the villages of the Alpujarra Mountains +in Andalusia, where the people live quite secluded from the world; +what do you think of my project?" + + +All this time Borrow had heard nothing from Earl Street as to the +effect being produced there by his letters. On 15th or 16th June he +received a long letter from Mr Brandram enclosing the Resolutions of +the General Committee with regard to the crisis. They proved +conclusively that the officials failed entirely to appreciate the +state of affairs in Spain, and the critical situation of their paid +and accredited agent, George Borrow. Their pride had probably been +wounded by Borrow's impetuous requests, that might easily have +appeared to them in the light of commands. It may have struck some +that the Spanish affairs of the Society were being administered from +Madrid, and that they themselves were being told, not what it was +expedient to do, but what they MUST do. Another factor in the +situation was the Committee's friendliness for their impulsive, +unsalaried servant Lieut. Graydon, who was certainly a picturesque, +almost melodramatic figure. In any case the letter from Mr Brandram +that accompanied the Resolutions was couched in a strain of fair play +to Graydon that became a thinly disguised partizanship. At the +meeting of the Committee held on 28th May the following Resolutions +had been adopted:- + + +First.--"That Mr Borrow be requested to inform Sir George Villiers +that this Committee have written to Mr Graydon through their +Secretary, desiring him to leave Spain on account of his personal +safety." + +Second.--"That Mr Borrow be informed that in the absence of specific +documents, this Committee cannot offer any opinion on the proceedings +of Mr Graydon, and that therefore he be desired to obtain, either in +original or copy, the objectionable papers alleged to have been +issued by Mr Graydon and to transmit them hither." + +Third.--"That Mr Borrow be requested not to repeat the Advertisement +contained in the Correo Nacional of the 17th inst., and that he be +cautioned how he commits the Society by advertisements of a similar +character. And further, that he be desired to state to Sir George +Villiers that the advertisement in question was inserted by him on +the spur of the moment, and without any opportunity of obtaining +instructions from this Committee." + + +In justice to the Committee, it must be said that they did not +appreciate the delicacy of the situation, being only Christians and +not diplomatists. Perhaps they were unaware that the WHOLE OF SPAIN +WAS UNDER MARTIAL LAW, or if they were, the true significance of the +fact failed to strike them. Mr Brandram's letter accompanying these +Resolutions is little more than an amplification of the Committee's +decision: + + +"I have, I assure you," he writes, "endeavoured to place myself in +your situation and enter into your feelings strongly excited by the +irreparable mischief which you suppose Mr G. to have done to our +cause so dear to you. Under the influence of these feelings you have +written with, what appears to us, unmitigated severity of his +conduct. But now, let me entreat you to enter into our feelings a +little, and to consider what we owe to Mr Graydon. If we have at +times thought him imprudent, we have seen enough in him to make us +both admire and love him. He has ever approved himself as an +upright, faithful, conscientious, indefatigable agent; one who has +shrunk from no trials and no dangers; one who has gone through in our +service many and extraordinary hardships. What have we against him +at present? He has issued certain documents of a very offensive +character, as is alleged. We have not seen them, neither does it +appear that you have, but that you speak from the recollections of Mr +Sothern." {259a} + + +The letter goes on to say that if it can be shown that Lieut. Graydon +is acting in the same manner as he did in Valencia, for which he was +admonished, + + +"he will assuredly be recalled on this ground. You wonder perhaps +that we for a moment doubt the fact of his reiterated imprudence; but +audi alteram partem must be our rule--and besides, on reviewing the +Valencia proceedings, we draw a wide distinction. Had he been as +free, as you suppose him to be, of the trammels of office in our +service, many would say and think that he was prefectly at liberty to +act and speak as he did of the Authorities, if he chose to take the +consequences. Really in such a country it is no marvel if his Spirit +has been stirred within him! Will you allow me to remind you of the +strong things in your own letter to the Valencia ecclesiastic, the +well pointed and oft repeated Vae!" + + +Mr Brandram points out that strong language is frequently the sword +of the Reformer, and that there are times when it has the highest +sanction; but + + +"the judgment of all [the members of the Committee] will be that an +Agent of the Bible Society is a Reformer, not by his preaching or +denouncing, but by the distribution of the Bible. If Mr G's. conduct +is no worse than it was in Valencia," the letter continues, rather +inconsistently, in the light of the assurance in the early part that +recall would be the punishment for another such lapse into +indiscretion, "you must not expect anything beyond a qualified +disavowal of it, and that simply as unbecoming an Agent of such a +Society as ours. + +"After what I have written, you will hardly feel surprised that our +Committee could not quite approve of your Advertisement. We have +ever regarded Mr Graydon as much our Agent as yourself. In three of +our printed reports in succession we make no difference in speaking +of you both. We are anxious to do nothing to weaken your hands at so +important a crisis, and we conceive that the terms we have employed +in our Resolution are the mildest we could have used. Do not insert +the Advertisement a second time. Let it pass; let it be forgotten. +If necessary we shall give the public intimation that Mr G. was, but +is not our agent any longer. Remember, we entreat you, the very +delicate position that such a manifesto places us in, as well as the +effect which it may have on Mr Graydon's personal safety. We give +you full credit for believing it was your duty, under the peculiar +circumstances of the case, to take so decided and bold a step, and +that you thought yourself fully justified by the distinction of +salaried and unsalaried Agent, in speaking of yourself as the alone +accredited Agent of the Society. Possibly when you reflect a little +upon the matter you may view it in another light. There are besides +some sentiments in the Advertisement which we cannot perhaps fully +accord with . . . If to our poor friend there has befallen the +saddest of all calamities to which you allude, should we not speak of +him with all tenderness. If he be insane I believe much of it is to +be attributed to that entire devotion with which he has devoted +himself to our work. + + +No complaint can be urged against the Committee for refusing to +condemn one of their agents unheard, and without documentary +evidence; but it was strange that they should pass resolutions that +contained no word of sympathy with Borrow for his sufferings in a +typhus-infested prison. It is even more strange that the covering +letter should refer to Graydon's sufferings and hardships and the +danger to his person, without apparently realising that Borrow HAD +ACTUALLY suffered what the Committee feared that Graydon MIGHT +suffer. There is no doubt that Borrow's impulsive letters had +greatly offended everybody at Earl Street, where Lieut. Graydon +appears to have been extremely popular; and the few words of sympathy +with Borrow that might have saved much acrimonious correspondence +were neither resolved nor written. + +The other side of the picture is shown in a vigorous passage from +Borrow's Report, which was afterwards withdrawn: + + +"A helpless widow [the mother of Don Pascual Mann] was insulted, her +liberty of conscience invaded, and her only son incited to rebellion +against her. A lunatic [Lieut. Graydon] was employed as the +repartidor, or distributor, of the Blessed Bible, who, having his +head crammed with what he understood not, ran through the streets of +Valencia crying aloud that Christ was nigh at hand and would appear +in a short time, whilst advertisements to much the same effect were +busily circulated, in which the name, the noble name, of the Bible +Society was prostituted; whilst the Bible, exposed for sale in the +apartment of a public house, served for little more than a decoy to +the idle and curious, who were there treated with incoherent railings +against the Church of Rome and Babylon in a dialect which it was well +for the deliverer that only a few of the audience understood. But I +fly from these details, and will now repeat the consequences of the +above proceedings to myself; for I, I, and only I, as every +respectable person in Madrid can vouch, have paid the penalty for +them all, though as innocent as the babe who has not yet seen the +light." + + +If the General Committee at a period of anxiety and annoyance failed +to pay tribute to Borrow's many qualities, the official historian of +the Society makes good the omission when he describes him as "A +strange, impulsive, more or less inflammable creature as he must have +occasionally seemed to the Secretaries and Editorial Superintendent, +he had proved himself a man of exceptional ability, energy, tact, +prudence--above all, a man whose heart was in his work." {262a} + +Borrow's acknowledgment of the Resolutions was dated 16th June. It +ran:- + + +"I have received your communication of the 30th ult. containing the +resolutions of the Committee, to which I shall of course attend. + +"Of your letter in general, permit me to state that I reverence the +spirit in which it is written, and am perfectly disposed to admit the +correctness of the views which it exhibits; but it appears to me that +in one or two instances I have been misunderstood in the letters +which I have addressed [to you] on the subject of Graydon. + +"I bear this unfortunate gentleman no ill will, God forbid, and it +will give me pain if he were reprimanded publicly or privately; +moreover, I can see no utility likely to accrue from such a +proceeding. All that I have stated hitherto is the damage which he +has done in Spain to the cause and myself, by the--what shall I call +it?--imprudence of his conduct; and the idea which I have endeavoured +to inculcate is the absolute necessity of his leaving Spain +instantly. + +"Take now in good part what I am about to say, and O! do not +misunderstand me! I owe a great deal to the Bible Society, and the +Bible Society owes nothing to me. I am well aware and am always +disposed to admit that it can find thousands more zealous, more +active, and in every respect more adapted to transact its affairs and +watch over its interests; yet, with this consciousness of my own +inutility, I must be permitted to state that, linked to a man like +Graydon, I can no longer consent to be, and that if the Society +expect such a thing, I must take the liberty of retiring, perhaps to +the wilds of Tartary or the Zingani camps of Siberia. + +"My name at present is become public property, no very enviable +distinction in these unhappy times, and neither wished nor sought by +myself. I have of late been subjected to circumstances which have +rendered me obnoxious to the hatred of those who never forgive, the +Bloody Church of Rome, which I have [no] doubt will sooner or later +find means to accomplish my ruin; for no one is better aware than +myself of its fearful resources, whether in England or Spain, in +Italy or in any other part. I should not be now in this situation +had I been permitted to act alone. How much more would have been +accomplished, it does not become me to guess. + +"I had as many or more difficulties to surmount in Russia than I +originally had here, yet all that the Society expected or desired was +effected, without stir or noise, and that in the teeth of an imperial +Ukase which forbade the work which I was employed to superintend. + +"Concerning my late affair, I must here state that I was sent to +prison on a charge which was subsequently acknowledged not only to be +false but ridiculous; I was accused of uttering words disrespectful +towards the Gefe Politico of Madrid; my accuser was an officer of the +police, who entered my apartment one morning before I was dressed, +and commenced searching my papers and flinging my books into +disorder. Happily, however, the people of the house, who were +listening at the door, heard all that passed, and declared on oath +that so far from mentioning the Gefe Politico, I merely told the +officer that he, the officer, was an insolent fellow, and that I +would cause him to be punished. He subsequently confessed that he +was an instrument of the Vicar General, and that he merely came to my +apartment in order to obtain a pretence for making a complaint. He +has been dismissed from his situation and the Queen [Regent] has +expressed her sorrow at my imprisonment. If there be any doubt +entertained on the matter, pray let Sir George Villiers be written +to! + +"I should be happy to hear what success attends our efforts in China. +I hope a prudent conduct has been adopted; for think not that a +strange and loud language will find favour in the eyes of the +Chinese; and above all, I hope that we have not got into war with the +Augustines and their followers, who, if properly managed, may be of +incalculable service in propagating the Scriptures . . . P.S.--The +Documents, or some of them, shall be sent as soon as possible." + + +Nine days later (25th June) Borrow wrote: + + +"I now await your orders. I wish to know whether I am at liberty to +pursue the course which may seem to me best under existing +circumstances, and which at present appears to be to mount my horses, +which are neighing in the stable, and once more betake myself to the +plains and mountains of dusty Spain, and to dispose of my Testaments +to the muleteers and peasants. By doing so I shall employ myself +usefully, and at the same time avoid giving offence. Better days +will soon arrive, which will enable me to return to Madrid and reopen +my shop, till then, however, I should wish to pursue my labours in +comparative obscurity." + + +Replying to Borrow's letter of 16th June, Mr Brandram wrote (29th +June): "I trust we shall not easily forget your services in St +Petersburg, but suffer me to remind you that when you came to the +point of distribution your success ended." {265a} This altogether +unworthy remark was neither creditable to the writer nor to the +distinguished Society on whose behalf he wrote. Borrow had done all +that a man was capable of to distribute the books. His reply was +dignified and effective. + + +"It was unkind and unjust to taunt me with having been unsuccessful +in distributing the Scriptures. Allow me to state that no other +person under the same circumstances would have distributed the tenth +part; yet had I been utterly unsuccessful, it would have been wrong +to check me with being so, after all I have undergone, and with how +little of that are you acquainted." {265b} + + +In response, Mr Brandram wrote (28th July): + + +"You have considered that I have taunted you with want of success in +St Petersburg. I thought that the way in which I introduced that +subject would have prevented any such unpleasant and fanciful +impression." + + +That was all! It became evident to all at Earl Street that a +conference between Borrow, the Officials and the General Committee +was imperative if the air were to be cleared of the rancour that +seemed to increase with each interchange of letters. {265c} Unless +something were done, a breach seemed inevitable, a thing the Society +did not appear to desire. When Borrow first became aware that he was +wanted at Earl Street for the purpose of a personal conference, he in +all probability conceived it to be tantamount to a recall, and he was +averse from leaving the field to the enemy. + + +"In the name of the Highest," he wrote, {266a} "I entreat you all to +banish such a preposterous idea; a journey home (provided you intend +that I should return to Spain) could lead to no result but expense +and the loss of precious time. I have nothing to explain to you +which you are not already perfectly well acquainted with by my late +letters. I was fully aware at the time I was writing them that I +should afford you little satisfaction, for the plain unvarnished +truth is seldom agreeable; but I now repeat, and these are perhaps +among the last words which I shall ever be permitted to pen, that I +cannot approve, and I am sure no Christian can, of the system which +has lately been pursued in the large sea-port cities of Spain, and +which the Bible Society has been supposed to sanction, +notwithstanding the most unreflecting person could easily foresee +that such a line of conduct could produce nothing in the end but +obloquy and misfortune." + + +Borrow saw that his departure from Spain would be construed by his +enemies as flight, and that their joy would be great in consequence. + +The Spanish authorities were determined if possible to rid the +country of missionaries. The Gazeta Oficial of Madrid drew attention +to the fact that in Valencia there had been distributed thousands of +pamphlets "against the religion we profess." Sir George Villiers +enquired into the matter and found that there was no evidence that +the pamphlets had been written, printed, or published in England; and +when writing to Count Ofalia on the subject he informed him that the +Bible Society distributed, not tracts or controversial writings, but +the Scriptures. + +The next move on the part of the authorities was to produce sworn +testimony from three people (all living in the same house, by the +way) that they had purchased copies of "the New Testament and other +Biblical translations at the Despacho on 5th May." Borrow was in +prison at the time, and his assistant denied the sale. Documents +were also produced proving that the imprint on the title-page of the +Scio New Testament was false, as at the time it was printed no such +printer as Andreas Borrego (who by the way was the Government printer +and at one time a candidate for cabinet rank) lived in Madrid. In +drawing the British Minister's attention to these matters, Count +Ofalia wrote (31st May): + + +"It would be opportune if you would be pleased to advise Mr Borrow +that, convinced of the inutility of his efforts for propagating here +the translation in the vulgar tongue of Sacred Writings without the +forms required by law, he would do much better in making use of his +talents in some other class of scientifical or literary Works during +his residence in Spain, giving up Biblical Enterprises, which may be +useful in other countries, but which in this Kingdom are prejudicial +for very obvious reasons." + + + +CHAPTER XVII: JULY-NOVEMBER 1838 + + + +Borrow's spirit chafed under this spell of enforced idleness. His +horses were neighing in the stable and "Senor Antonio was neighing in +the house," as Maria Diaz expressed it; and for himself, Borrow +required something more actively stimulating than pen and ink +encounters with Mr Brandram. He therefore determined to defy the +prohibition and make an excursion into the rural districts of New +Castile, offering his Testaments for sale as he went, and sending on +supplies ahead. His first objective was Villa Seca, a village +situated on the banks of the Tagus about nine leagues from Madrid. + +He was aware of the danger he ran in thus disregarding the official +decree. + + +"I will not conceal from you," he writes to Mr Brandram on 14th July, +"that I am playing a daring game, and it is very possible that when I +least expect it I may be seized, tied to the tail of a mule, and +dragged either to the prison of Toledo or Madrid. Yet such a +prospect does not discourage me in the least, but rather urges me on +to persevere; for I assure you, and in this assertion there lurks not +the slightest desire to magnify myself and produce an effect, that I +am eager to lay down my life in this cause, and whether a Carlist's +bullet or a gaol-fever bring my career to an end, I am perfectly +indifferent." + + +He was not averse from martyrdom; but he objected to being +precipitated into it by another man's folly. In his interview with +Count Ofalia, he had been solemnly warned that if a second time he +came within the clutches of the authorities he might not escape so +easily, and had replied that it was "a pleasant thing to be +persecuted for the Gospel's sake." + +In his decision to make Villa Seca his temporary headquarters, Borrow +had been influenced by the fact that it was the home of Maria Diaz, +his friend and landlady. Her husband was there working on the land, +Maria herself living in Madrid that her children might be properly +educated. Borrow left Madrid on 10th July, and on his arrival at +Villa Seca he was cordially welcomed by Juan Lopez, the husband of +Maria Diaz, who continued to use her maiden name, in accordance with +Spanish custom. Lopez subsequently proved of the greatest possible +assistance in the work of distribution, shaming both Borrow and +Antonio by his energy and powers of endurance. + +The inhabitants of Villa Seca and the surrounding villages of Bargas, +Coveja, Villa Luenga, Mocejon, Yuncler eagerly bought up "the book of +life," and each day the three men rode forth in heat so great that +"the very arrieros frequently fall dead from their mules, smitten by +a sun-stroke." {269a} + +It was in Villa Seca that Borrow found "all that gravity of +deportment and chivalry of disposition which Cervantes is said to +have sneered away" {269b} and there were to be heard "those grandiose +expressions which, when met with in the romances of chivalry, are +scoffed at as ridiculous exaggerations." {269c} Borrow so charmed +the people of the district with the elaborate formality of his +manner, that he became convinced that any attempt to arrest or do him +harm would have met with a violent resistance, even to the length of +the drawing of knives in his defence. + +In less than a week some two hundred Testaments had been disposed of, +and a fresh supply had to be obtained from Madrid. Borrow's methods +had now changed. He had, of necessity, to make as little stir as +possible in order to avoid an unenviable notoriety. He carefully +eschewed advertisements and handbills, and limited himself almost +entirely to the simple statement that he brought to the people "the +words and life of the Saviour and His Saints at a price adapted to +their humble means." {270a} + +It is interesting to note in connection with this period of Borrow's +activities in Spain, that in 1908 one of the sons of Maria Diaz and +Juan Lopez was sought out at Villa Seca by a representative of the +Bible Society, and interrogated as to whether he remembered Borrow. +Eduardo Lopez (then seventy-four years of age) stated that he was a +child of eight {270b} when Borrow lived at the house of his mother; +yet he remembers that "El ingles" was tall and robust, with fair hair +turning grey. Eduardo and his young brother regarded Borrow with +both fear and respect; for, their father being absent, he used to +punish them for misdemeanours by setting them on the table and making +them remain perfectly quiet for a considerable time. The old man +remembered that Borrow had two horses whom he called "la Jaca" and +"el Mondragon," and that he used to take to the house of Maria Diaz +"his trunk full of books which were beautifully bound." He +remembered Borrow's Greek servant, "Antonio Guchino" (the Antonio +Buchini of The Bible in Spain), who spoke very bad Spanish. + +The most interesting of Eduardo Lopez' recollections of Borrow was +that he "often recited a chant which nobody understood," and of which +the old man could remember only the following fragment + + +"Sed un la in la en la la +Sino Mokhamente de resu la." + + +It has been suggested, {271a} and with every show of probability, +that "this is the Moslem kalimah or creed which he had heard sung +from the minarets": + + +"La illaha illa allah +Wa Muhammad rasoul allah." + + +Borrow recognised that he must not stay very long in any one place, +and accordingly it was his intention, as soon as he had supplied the +immediate wants of the Sagra (the plain) of Toledo, "to cross the +country to Aranjuez, and endeavour to supply with the Word the +villages on the frontier of La Mancha." {271b} As he was on the +point of setting out, however, he received two letters from Mr +Brandram, which decided him to return immediately to Madrid instead +of pursuing his intended route. + +Borrow was informed that if, after consulting with Sir George +Villiers, it was thought desirable that he should leave Madrid, he +was given a free hand to do so. Furthermore, the President of the +Bible Society (Lord Bexley), with whom Mr Brandram had consulted, was +of the opinion that Borrow should return home to confer with the +Committee. It was clear from the correspondence that nothing short +of an interview could remove the very obvious feeling of irritation +that existed between Borrow and the Society. In his reply (23rd +July), Borrow showed a dignity and calmness of demeanour that had +been lacking from his previous letters; and it most likely produced a +far more favourable effect at Earl Street than the impassioned +protests of the past two months:- + + +"My answer will be very brief;" he wrote, "as I am afraid of giving +way to my feelings; I hope, however, that it will be to the purpose. + +"It is broadly hinted in yours of the 7th that I have made false +statements in asserting that the Government, in consequence of what +has lately taken place, had come to the resolution of seizing the +Bible depots in various parts of this country. [Borrow had written +to Mr Brandram on 25th June, "The Society are already aware of the +results of the visit of our friend to Malaga; all their Bibles and +Testaments having been seized throughout Spain, with the exception of +my stock in Madrid."] + +"In reply I beg leave to inform you that by the first courier you +will receive from the British Legation at Madrid the official notice +from Count Ofalia to Sir George Villiers of the seizures already +made, and the motives which induced the Government to have recourse +to such a measure. + +"The following seizures have already been made, though some have not +as yet been officially announced:- The Society's books at Orviedo, +Pontevedra, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, and Valladolid. + +"It appears from your letters that the depots in the South of Spain +have escaped. I am glad of it, although it be at my own expense. I +see the hand of the Lord throughout the late transactions. He is +chastening me; it is His pleasure that the guilty escape and the +innocent be punished. The Government gave orders to seize the Bible +depots throughout the country on account of the late scenes at Malaga +and Valencia--I have never been there, yet only MY depots are meddled +with, as it appears! The Lord's will be done, blessed be the name of +the Lord! + +"I will write again to-morrow, I shall have then arranged my +thoughts, and determined on the conduct which it becomes a Christian +to pursue under these circumstances. Permit me, in conclusion, to +ask you: + +"Have you not to a certain extent been partial in this matter? Have +you not, in the apprehension of being compelled to blame the conduct +of one who has caused me unutterable anxiety, misery and persecution, +and who has been the bane of the Bible cause in Spain, refused to +receive the information which it was in YOUR power to command? I +called on the Committee and yourself from the first to apply to Sir +George Villiers; no one is so well versed as to what has lately been +going as himself; but no. It was God's will that I, who have risked +all and lost ALMOST all in the cause, be taunted, suspected, and the +sweat of agony and tears which I have poured out be estimated at the +value of the water of the ditch or the moisture which exudes from +rotten dung; but I murmur not, and hope I shall at all times be +willing to bow to the dispensations of the Almighty. + +"Sir George Villiers has returned to England for a short period; you +have therefore the opportunity of consulting him. I WILL NOT leave +Spain until the whole affair has been thoroughly sifted. I shall +then perhaps appear and bid you an eternal farewell. {273a} Four +hundred Testaments have been disposed of in the Sagra of Toledo. + +"P.S.--I am just returned from the Embassy, where I have had a long +interview with that admirable person Lord Wm. Hervey [Charge +d'Affaires during Sir George Villiers' absence]. He has requested me +to write him a letter on the point in question, which with the +official documents he intends to send to the Secretary of State in +order to be laid before the Bible Society. He has put into my hands +the last communication from Ofalia {273b} it relates to the seizure +of MY depots at Malaga, Pontevedra, etc. I have not opened it, but +send it for your approval." + + +It is pleasant to record that the Sub-Committee expressed itself as +unable to see in Mr Brandram's letter what Borrow saw. There was no +intention to convey the impression that he had made false statements, +and regret was expressed that he had thought it necessary to apply to +the Embassy for confirmation of what he had written. All this Mr +Brandram conveyed in a letter dated 6th August. He continues: "I am +now in full possession of all that Mr Graydon has done, and find it +utterly impossible to account for that very strong feeling that you +have imbibed against him." + +On 20th July Mr Brandram had written that, after consulting with two +or three members of the Committee, they all confirmed a wish already +expressed that their Agent should not continue to expose himself to +such dangers. If, however, he still saw the way open before him, + + +"as so pleasantly represented in your letter . . . you need not think +of returning . . . Do allow me to suggest to you," he continues, "to +drop allusion to Mr Graydon in your letters. His conduct is not +regarded here as you regard it. I could fancy, but perhaps it is all +fancy, that you have him in your eye when you tell us that you have +eschewed handbills and advertisements. Time has been when you have +used them plentifully . . . Sir George Villiers is in England--but I +do not know that we shall seek an interview with him--We are afraid +of being hampered with the trammels of office." + + +The Committee, however, did not endorse Mr Brandram's view as to +Borrow continuing in Spain, and further, they did "not see it right," +the secretary wrote (6th August), "after the confidential +communication in which you have been in with the Government, that you +should be acting now in such open defiance of it, and putting +yourself in such extreme jeopardy." Later Borrow made reference to +the remark about the handbills. + + +"It would have been as well," he wrote, "if my respected and revered +friend, the writer, had made himself acquainted with the character of +my advertisements before he made that observation. There is no harm +in an advertisement, if truth, decency and the fear of God are +observed, and I believe my own will be scarcely found deficient in +any of these three requisites. It is not the use of a serviceable +instrument, but its abuse that merits reproof, and I cannot conceive +that advertising was abused by me when I informed the people of +Madrid that the New Testament was to be purchased at a cheap price in +the Calle del Principe." {275a} + + +Elsewhere he referred to these same advertisements as "mild yet +expressive." + +In spite of the strained state of his relations with the Bible +Society, Borrow had no intention of remaining in Madrid brooding over +his wrongs. Encouraged by the success that had attended his efforts +in the Sagra of Toledo, and indifferent to the fact that his renewed +activity was known at Toledo, where it was causing some alarm, he +determined to proceed to Aranjuez, and, on his arrival there, to be +guided by events as to his future movements. Accordingly about 28th +July he set out attended by Antonio and Lopez, who had accompanied +him from Villa Seca to Madrid, proceeding in the direction of La +Mancha, and selling at every village through which they passed from +twenty to forty Testaments. At Aranjuez they remained three days, +visiting every house in the town and disposing of about eighty books. +It was no unusual thing to see groups of the poorer people gathered +round one of their number who was reading aloud from a recently +purchased Testament. + +Feeling that his enemies were preparing to strike, Borrow determined +to push on to the frontier town of Ocana, beyond which the clergy had +only a nominal jurisdiction on account of its being in the hands of +the Carlists. Lopez was sent on with between two and three hundred +Testaments, and Borrow, accompanied by Antonio, followed later by a +shorter route through the hills. As they approached the town, a man, +a Jew, stepped out from the porch of an empty house and barred their +way, telling them that Lopez had been arrested at Ocana that morning +as he was selling Testaments in the streets, and that the authorities +were now waiting for Borrow himself. + +Seeing that no good could be done by plunging into the midst of his +enemies, who had their instructions from the corregidor of Toledo, +Borrow decided to return to Aranjuez. This he did, on the way +narrowly escaping assassination at the hands of three robbers. The +next morning he was rejoined by Lopez, who had been released. He had +sold 27 Testaments, and 200 had been confiscated and forwarded to +Toledo. The whole party then returned to Madrid. + +The unfortunate affair at Ocana by no means discouraged Borrow. It +was his intention "with God's leave" to "fight it out to the last." +He saw that his only chance of distributing his store of Testaments +lay in visiting the smaller villages before the order to confiscate +his books arrived from Toledo. His enemies were numerous and +watchful; but Borrow was as cunning as a gypsy and as far-seeing as a +Jew. Thinking that his notoriety had not yet crossed the Guadarrama +mountains and penetrated into Old Castile, he decided to anticipate +it. Lopez was sent ahead with a donkey bearing a cargo of +Testaments, his instructions being to meet Borrow and Antonio at La +Granja. Failing to find Lopez at the appointed place, Borrow pushed +on to Segovia, where he received news that some men were selling +books at Abades, to which place he proceeded with three more donkeys +laden with books that had been consigned to a friend at Segovia. At +Abades Lopez was discovered busily occupied in selling Testaments. + +Hearing that an order was about to be sent from Segovia to Abades for +the confiscation of his Testaments, Borrow immediately left the town, +donkeys, Testaments and all, and for safety's sake passed the night +in the fields. The next day they proceeded to the village of +Labajos. A few days after their arrival the Carlist leader +Balmaceda, at the head of his robber cavalry, streamed down from the +pine woods of Soria into the southern part of Old Castile, Borrow +"was present at all the horrors which ensued--the sack of Arrevalo, +and the forcible entry into Marrin Munoz and San Cyprian. Amidst +these terrible scenes we continued our labours undaunted." {277a} He +witnessed what "was not the war of men or even cannibals . . . it +seemed a contest of fiends from the infernal pit." Antonio became +seized with uncontrollable fear and ran away to Madrid. Lopez soon +afterwards disappeared, and, left alone, Borrow suffered great +anxiety as to the fate of the brave fellow. Hearing that he was in +prison at Vilallos, about three leagues distant, and in spite of the +fact that Balmaceda's cavalry division was in the neighbourhood, +Borrow mounted his horse and set off next day (22nd Aug.) alone. He +found on his arrival at Vilallos, that Lopez had been removed from +the prison to a private house. Disregarding an order from the +corregidor of Avila that only the books should be confiscated and +that the vendor should be set at liberty, the Alcalde, at the +instigation of the priest, refused to liberate Lopez. It had been +hinted to the unfortunate man that on the arrival of the Carlists he +was to be denounced as a liberal, which would mean death. "Taking +these circumstances into consideration," Borrow wrote, {277b} "I +deemed it my duty as a Christian and a gentleman to rescue my +unfortunate servant from such lawless hands, and in consequence, +defying opposition, I bore him off, though perfectly unarmed, through +a crowd of at least one hundred peasants. On leaving the place I +shouted 'Viva Isabella Segunda.'" + +In this affair Borrow had, not only the approval of Lord William +Hervey, but of Count Ofalia also. In all probability the Bible +Society has never had, and never will have again, an agent such as +Borrow, who on occasion could throw aside the cloak of humility and +grasp a two-edged sword with which to discomfit his enemies, and who +solemnly chanted the creed of Islam whilst engaged as a Christian +missionary. There was something magnificent in his Christianity; it +savoured of the Crusades in its pre-Reformation virility. Martyrdom +he would accept if absolutely necessary; but he preferred that if +martyrs there must be they should be selected from the ranks of the +enemy, whilst he, George Borrow, represented the strong arm of the +Lord. + +After the Vilallos affair, Borrow returned to Madrid, crossing the +Guadarramas alone and with two horses. "I nearly perished there," he +wrote to Mr Brandram (1st Sept.), "having lost my way in the darkness +and tumbled down a precipice." The perilous journey north had +resulted in the sale of 900 Testaments, all within the space of three +weeks and amidst scenes of battle and bloodshed. + +On his return to Madrid, Borrow found awaiting him the Resolution of +the General Committee (6th Aug.), recalling him "without further +delay." + + +"I will set out for England as soon as possible," he wrote in reply; +{278a} "but I must be allowed time. I am almost dead with fatigue, +suffering and anxiety; and it is necessary that I should place the +Society's property in safe and sure custody." + + +On 1st September he wrote to Mr Brandram that he should "probably be +in England within three weeks." Shortly after this he was attacked +with fever, and confined to his bed for ten days, during which he was +frequently delirious. When the fever departed, he was left very weak +and subject to a profound melancholy. + + +"I bore up against my illness as long as I could," he wrote, {279a} +"but it became too powerful for me. By good fortune I obtained a +decent physician, a Dr Hacayo, who had studied medicine in England, +and aided by him and the strength of my constitution I got the better +of my attack, which, however, was a dreadfully severe one. I hope my +next letter will be from Bordeaux. I cannot write more at present, +for I am very feeble." + + +The actual date that Borrow left Madrid is not known. He himself +gave it as 31st August, {279b} which is obviously inaccurate, as on +19th September he wrote to Mr Brandram: "I am now better, and hope +in a few days to be able to proceed to Saragossa, which is the only +road open." He travelled leisurely by way of the Pyrenees, through +France to Paris, where he spent a fortnight. Of Paris he was very +fond; "for, leaving all prejudices aside, it is a magnificent city, +well supplied with sumptuous buildings and public squares, unequalled +by any town in Europe." {279c} Having bought a few rare books he +proceeded to Boulogne, "and thence by steamboat to London," {279d} +where in all probability he arrived towards the end of October. + +He had "long talks on Spanish affairs" with his friends at Earl +Street, where personal interviews seem to have brought about a much +better feeling. The General Committee requested Borrow to put into +writing his views as to the best means to be adopted for the future +distribution of the Scriptures in Spain. He accordingly wrote a +statement, {280a} a fine, vigorous piece of narrative, putting his +case so clearly and convincingly as to leave little to be said for +the unfortunate Graydon. He expressed himself as "eager to be +carefully and categorically questioned." This Report appears +subsequently to have been withdrawn, probably on the advice of +Borrow's friends, who saw that its uncompromising bluntness of +expression would make it unacceptable to the General Committee. It +was certainly presented to and considered by the Sub-Committee. +Another document was drawn up entitled, "Report of Mr Geo. Borrow on +Past and Future Operations in Spain." This reached Earl Street on +28th November. In it Borrow states that as the inhabitants of the +cities had not shown themselves well-disposed towards the Scriptures, +it would be better to labour in future among the peasantry. It was +his firm conviction, he wrote, + + +"that every village in Spain will purchase New Testaments, from +twenty to sixty, according to its circumstances. During the last two +months of his sojourn in Spain he visited about forty villages, and +in only two instances was his sale less than thirty copies in each . +. . If it be objected to the plan which he has presumed to suggest +that it is impossible to convey to the rural districts of Spain the +book of life without much difficulty and danger, he begs leave to +observe that it does not become a real Christian to be daunted by +either when it pleases his Maker to select him as an instrument; and +that, moreover, if it be not written that a man is to perish by wild +beasts or reptiles he is safe in the den even of the Cockatrice as in +the most retired chamber of the King's Palace; and that if, on the +contrary, he be doomed to perish by them, his destiny will overtake +him notwithstanding all the precautions which he, like a blind worm, +may essay for his security." + + +In conclusion Borrow calls attention, without suggesting intimate +alliance and co-operation, to the society of the liberal-minded +Spanish ecclesiastics, which has been formed for the purpose of +printing and circulating the Scriptures in Spanish WITHOUT COMMENTARY +OR NOTES. This had reference to a movement that was on foot in +Madrid, supported by the Primate and the Bishops of Vigo and Joen, to +challenge the Government in regard to its attempt to prevent the free +circulation of the Scriptures. It was held that nowhere among the +laws of Spain is it forbidden to circulate the Scriptures either with +or without annotations. The only prohibition being in the various +Papal Bulls. Charles Wood was chosen as "the ostensible manager of +the concern"; but had it not been for the trouble in the South, +Borrow would have been the person selected. + +It would have been in every way deplorable had Borrow severed his +connection with the Bible Society as a result of the Graydon episode. +Borrow had been impulsive and indignant in his letters to Earl +Street, Mr Brandram, on the other hand, had been "a little partial," +and on one or two occasions must have written hastily in response to +Borrow's letters. There is no object in administering blame or +directing reproaches when the principals in a quarrel have made up +their differences; but there can be no question that the failure of +the Officials and Committee of the Bible Society to appreciate the +situation in Spain retarded their work in that country very +considerably. This fact is now generally recognised. Mr Canton has +admirably summed up the situation when he says: + + +"Borrow had his faults, but insincerity and lack of zeal in the cause +he had espoused were not among them. Both Sir George Villiers and +his successor [during Sir George's visit to England], Lord William +Hervey, were satisfied with the propriety of his conduct. Count +Ofalia himself recognised his good faith--'cuia buena fe me es +conocida.' To see his plans thwarted, his work arrested, the objects +of the Society jeopardised, and his own person endangered by the +indiscretion of others, formed, if not a justification, at least a +sufficient excuse for the expression of strong feeling. On the other +hand, it was difficult for those at home to ascertain the actual +facts of the case, to understand the nicety of the situation, and to +arrive at an impartial judgment. Mr Brandram, who in any case would +have been displeased with Borrow's unrestrained speech, appears to +have suspected that his statements were not free from exaggeration, +and that his discretion was not wholly beyond reproach. Happily the +tension caused by this painful episode was relieved by Lieut. +Graydon's withdrawal to France in June." {282a} + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: DECEMBER 1838-MAY 1839 + + + +On 14th December 1838 it was resolved by the General Committee of the +Bible Society that Borrow should proceed once more to Spain to +dispose of such copies of the Scriptures as remained on hand at +Madrid and other depots established by him in various parts of the +country. He left London on the 21st, and sailed from Falmouth two +days later, reaching Cadiz on the 31st, after a stormy passage, and +on 2nd January he arrived at Seville, "rather indisposed with an old +complaint," probably "the Horrors." + +In such stirring times to be absent from the country, even for so +short a period as two months, meant that on his return the traveller +found a new Spain. Borrow learned that the Duke of Frias had +succeeded Count Ofalia in September. The Duke had advised the +British Ambassador in November that the Spanish authorities were +possessed of a quantity of Borrow's Bibles (?New Testaments) that had +been seized and taken to Toledo, and that if arrangements were not +made for them to be taken out of Spain they would be destroyed. Sir +George Villiers had replied that Mr Borrow, who was then out of the +country, had been advised of the Duke's notification, and as soon as +word was received from him, the Duke should be communicated with. +Then the Duke of Frias in turn passed out of office and was succeeded +by another, and so, politically, change followed change. + +The Government, however, had no intention of putting itself in the +wrong a second time. Great Britain's friendship was of far too great +importance to the country to be jeopardised for the mere +gratification of imprisoning George Borrow. An order had been sent +out to all the authorities that an embargo was to be placed upon the +books themselves; but those distributing them were not to be arrested +or in any way harmed. + +At Seville he found evidences of the activity of the Government in +the news that of the hundred New Testaments that he had left with his +correspondent there, seventy-six had been seized during the previous +summer. Hearing that the books were in the hands of the +Ecclesiastical Governor, Borrow astonished that "fierce, persecuting +Papist by calling to make enquiries concerning them." The old man +treated his visitor to a stream of impassioned invective against the +Bible Society and its agent, expressing his surprise that he had ever +been permitted to leave the prison in Madrid. Seeing that nothing +was to be gained, although he had an absolute right to the books, +provided he sent them out of the country, Borrow decided not to press +the matter. + +On the night of 12th Jan. 1839, he left Seville with the Mail Courier +and his escort bound for Madrid, where he arrived on the 16th without +accident or incident, although the next Courier traversing the route +was stopped by banditti. It was during this journey, whilst resting +for four hours at Manzanares, a large village in La Mancha, that he +encountered the blind girl who had been taught Latin by a Jesuit +priest, and whom he named "the Manchegan Prophetess." {284a} In +telling Mr Brandram of the incident, Borrow tactlessly remarked, +"what wonderful people are the Jesuits; when shall we hear of an +English rector instructing a beggar girl in the language of Cicero?" +Mr Brandram clearly showed that he liked neither the remark, which he +took as personal, nor the use of the term "prophetess." + +On reaching Madrid a singular incident befell Borrow. On entering +the arch of the posada called La Reyna, he found himself encircled by +a pair of arms, and, on turning round, found that they belonged to +the delinquent Antonio, who stood before his late master "haggard and +ill-dressed, and his eyes seemed starting from their sockets." The +poor fellow, who was entirely destitute, had, on the previous night, +dreamed that he saw Borrow arrive on a black horse, and, in +consequence, had spent the whole day in loitering about outside the +posada. Borrow was very glad to engage him again, in spite of his +recent cowardice and desertion. Borrow once more took up his abode +with the estimable Maria Diaz, and one of his first cares was to call +on Lord Clarendon (Sir George Villiers had succeeded his uncle as +fourth earl), by whom he was kindly received. + +A week later, there arrived from Lopez at Villa Seca his "largest and +most useful horse," the famous Sidi Habismilk (My Lord the Sustainer +of the Kingdom), "an Arabian of high caste . . . the best, I believe, +that ever issued from the desert," {285a} Lopez wrote, regretting +that he was unable to accompany "The Sustainer of the Kingdom" in +person, being occupied with agricultural pursuits, but he sent a +relative named Victoriano to assist in the work of distributing the +Gospel. + +Borrow's plan was to make Madrid his headquarters, with Antonio in +charge of the supplies, and visit all the villages and hamlets in the +vicinity that had not yet been supplied with Testaments. He then +proposed to turn eastward to a distance of about thirty leagues. + + +"I have been very passionate in prayer," he writes, {285b} "during +the last two or three days; and I entertain some hope that the Lord +has condescended to answer me, as I appear to see my way with +considerable clearness. It may, of course, prove a delusion, and the +prospects which seem to present themselves may be mere palaces of +clouds, which a breath of wind is sufficient to tumble into ruin; +therefore bearing this possibility in mind it behoves me to beg that +I may be always enabled to bow meekly to the dispensations of the +Almighty, whether they be of favour or severity." + + +Mr Brandram's comment on this portion of Borrow's letter is rather +suggestive of deliberate fault-finding. + + +"May your 'passionate' prayers be answered," he writes. {286a} "You +see I remark your unusual word--very significant it is, but one +rather fitted for the select circle where 'passion' is understood in +its own full sense--and not in the restricted meaning attached to it +ordinarily. Perhaps you will not often meet with a better set of men +than those who assembled in Earl Street, but they may not always be +open to the force of language, and so unwonted a phrase may raise odd +feelings in their minds. Do not be in a passion, will you, for the +freedom of my remarks. You will perhaps suppose remarks were made in +Committee. This does not happen to be the case, though I fully +anticipated it. Mr Browne, Mr Jowett and myself had first privately +devoured your letter, and we made our remarks. We could relish such +a phrase." + + +Sometimes there was a suggestion of spite in Mr Brandram's letters. +He was obviously unfriendly towards Borrow during the latter portion +of his agency. It was clear that the period of Borrow's further +association with the Bible Society was to be limited. If he replied +at all to this rather unfair criticism, he must have done so +privately to Mr Brandram, as there is no record of his having +referred to it in any subsequent letters among the Society's +archives. + +All unconscious that he had so early offended, Borrow set out upon +his first journey to distribute Testaments among the villages around +Madrid. Dressed in the manner of the peasants, on his head a +montera, a species of leathern helmet, with jacket and trousers of +the same material, and mounted on Sidi Habismilk, he looked so unlike +the conventional missionary that the housewife may be excused who +mistook him for a pedlar selling soap. + +In some villages where the people were without money, they received +Testaments in return for refreshing the missionaries. "Is this +right?" Borrow enquires of Mr Brandram. The village priests +frequently proved of considerable assistance; for when they +pronounced the books good, as they sometimes did, the sale became +extremely brisk. After an absence of eight days, Borrow returned to +Madrid. Shortly afterwards, when on the eve of starting out upon +another expedition to Guadalajara and the villages of Alcarria, he +received a letter from Victoriano saying that he was in prison at +Fuente la Higuera, a village about eight leagues distant. Acting +with his customary energy and decision, Borrow obtained from an +influential friend letters to the Civil Governor and principal +authorities of Guadalajara. He then despatched Antonio to the +rescue, with the result that Victoriano was released, with the +assurance that those responsible for his detention should be severely +punished. + +Whilst Victoriano was in prison, Borrow and Antonio had been very +successful in selling Testaments and Bibles in Madrid, disposing of +upwards of a hundred copies, but entirely to the poor, who "receive +the Scriptures with gladness," although the hearts of the rich were +hard. The work in and about Madrid continued until the middle of +March, when Borrow decided to make an excursion as far as Talavera. +The first halt was made at the village of Naval Carnero. Soon after +his arrival orders came from Madrid warning the alcaldes of every +village in New Castile to be on the look out for the tall, white- +haired heretic, of whom an exact description was given, who to-day +was in one place and to-morrow twenty leagues distant. No violence +was to be offered either to him or to his assistants; but he and they +were to be baulked in their purpose by every legitimate means. + +Foiled in the rural districts, Borrow instantly determined to change +his plan of campaign. He saw that he was less likely to attract +notice in the densely-populated capital than in the provinces. He +therefore galloped back to Madrid, leaving Victoriano to follow more +leisurely. He rejoiced at the alarm of the clergy. "Glory to God!" +he exclaims, "they are becoming thoroughly alarmed, and with much +reason." {288a} The "reason" lay in the great demand for Testaments +and Bibles. A new binding-order had to be given for the balance of +the 500 Bibles that had arrived in sheets, or such as had been left +of them by the rats, who had done considerable damage in the Madrid +storehouse. + +It was at this juncture that Borrow's extensive acquaintance with the +lower orders proved useful. Selecting eight of the most intelligent +from among them, including five women, he supplied them with +Testaments and instructions to vend the books in all the parishes of +Madrid, with the result that in the course of about a fortnight 600 +copies were disposed of in the streets and alleys. A house to house +canvass was instituted with remarkable results, for manservant and +maidservant bought eagerly of the books. Antonio excelled himself +and made some amends for his flight from Labajos, when, like a +torrent, the Carlist cavalry descended upon it. Dark Madrid was +becoming illuminated with a flood of Scriptural light. In two of its +churches the New Testament was expounded every Sunday evening. +Bibles were particularly in demand, a hundred being sold in about +three weeks. The demand exceeded the supply. "The Marques de Santa +Coloma," Borrow wrote, "has a large family, but every individual of +it, old or young, is now in possession of a Bible and likewise of a +Testament." {288b} + +Borrow appears to have enlisted the aid of other distributors than +the eight colporteurs. One of his most zealous agents was an +ecclesiastic, who always carried with him beneath his gown a copy of +the Bible, which he offered to the first person he encountered whom +he thought likely to become a purchaser. Yet another assistant was +found in a rich old gentleman of Navarre, who sent copies to his own +province. + +One night after having retired to bed, Borrow received a visit from a +curious, hobgoblin-like person, who gave him grave, official warning +that unless he present himself before the corregidor on the morrow at +eleven A.M., he must be prepared to take the consequences. The hour +chosen for this intimation was midnight. On the next day at the +appointed time Borrow presented himself before the corregidor, who +announced that he wished to ask a question. The question related to +a box of Testaments that Borrow had sent to Naval Carnero, which had +been seized and subsequently claimed on Borrow's behalf by Antonio. +In Spain they have the dramatic instinct. If it strike the majestic +mind of a corregidor at midnight that he would like to see a citizen +or a stranger on the morrow about some trifling affair, time or place +are not permitted to interfere with the conveyance of the intimation +to the citizen or stranger to present himself before the gravely +austere official, who will carry out the interrogation with a +solemnity becoming a capital charge. + +By the middle of April barely a thousand Testaments remained; these +Borrow determined to distribute in Seville. Sending Antonio, the +Testaments and two horses with the convoy, Borrow decided to risk +travelling with the Mail Courier. For one thing, he disliked the +slowness of a convoy, and for another the insults and irritations +that travellers had to put up with from the escort, both officers and +men. His original plan had been to proceed by Estremadura; but a +band of Carlist robbers had recently made its appearance, murdering +or holding at ransom every person who fell into its clutches. Borrow +wrote:- + + +"I therefore deem it wise to avoid, if possible, the alternative of +being shot or having to pay one thousand pounds for being set at +liberty . . . It is moreover wicked to tempt Providence +systematically. I have already thrust myself into more danger than +was, perhaps, strictly necessary, and as I have been permitted +hitherto to escape, it is better to be content with what it has +pleased the Lord to do for me up to the present moment, than to run +the risk of offending Him by a blind confidence in His forbearance, +which may be over-taxed. As it is, however, at all times best to be +frank, I am willing to confess that I am what the world calls +exceedingly superstitious; perhaps the real cause of my change of +resolution was a dream, in which I imagined myself on a desolate road +in the hands of several robbers, who were hacking me with their long, +ugly knives." {290a} + + +In the same letter, which was so to incur Mr Brandram's disapproval, +Borrow tells of the excellent results of his latest plan for +disposing of Bibles and Testaments, three hundred and fifty of the +former having been sold since he reached Spain. He goes on to +explain and expound the difficulties that have been met and overcome, +and hopes that his friends at Earl Street will be patient, as it may +not be in his power to send "for a long time any flattering accounts +of operations commenced there." In conclusion, he assures Mr +Brandram that from the Church of Rome he has learned one thing, "EVER +TO EXPECT EVIL, AND EVER TO HOPE FOR GOOD." + +Nothing could have been more unfortunate than the effect produced +upon Mr Brandram's mind by this letter. + + +"I scarcely know what to say," he writes. "You are in a very +peculiar country; you are doubtless a man of very peculiar +temperament, and we must not apply common rules in judging either of +yourself or your affairs. What, e.g., shall we say to your +confession of a certain superstitiousness? It is very frank of you +to tell us what you need not have told; but it sounded very odd when +read aloud in a large Committee. Strangers that know you not would +carry away strange ideas . . . In bespeaking our patience, there is +an implied contrast between your own mode of proceeding and that +adopted by others--a contrast this a little to the disadvantage of +others, and savouring a little of the praise of a personage called +number one . . . Perhaps my vanity is offended, and I feel as if I +were not esteemed a person of sufficient discernment to know enough +of the real state of Spain . . . + +"Bear with me now in my criticisms on your second letter [that of 2nd +May]. 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 +well accustomed; it savours, some of our friends would say, a little +of the profane. Those who know you will not impute this to you. But +you must remember that our Committee Room is public to a great +extent, and I cannot omit expressions as I go reading on. Pious +sentiments may be thrust into letters ad nauseam, and it is not for +that I plead; but is there not a via media? "We are odd people, it +may be, in England; we are not fond of prophets or 'prophetesses' [a +reference to her of La Mancha about whom Borrow had previously been +rebuked]. I have not turned back to your former description of the +lady whom you have a second time introduced to our notice. Perhaps +my wounded pride had not been made whole after the infliction you +before gave it by contrasting the teacher of the prophetess with +English rectors." + + +Borrow replied to this letter from Seville on 28th June, and there +are indications that before doing so he took time to deliberate upon +it. + + +"Think not, I pray you," he wrote, "that any observation of yours +respecting style, or any peculiarities of expression which I am in +the habit of exhibiting in my correspondence, can possibly awaken in +me any feeling but that of gratitude, knowing so well as I do the +person who offers them, and the motives by which he is influenced. I +have reflected on those passages which you were pleased to point out +as objectionable, and have nothing to reply further than that I have +erred, that I am sorry, and will endeavour to mend, and that, +moreover, I have already prayed for assistance to do so. Allow me, +however, to offer a word, not in excuse but in explanation of the +expression 'wonderful good fortune' which appeared in a former letter +of mine. It is clearly objectionable, and, as you very properly +observe, savours of pagan times. But I am sorry to say that I am +much in the habit of repeating other people's sayings without +weighing their propriety. The saying was not mine; but I heard it in +conversation and thoughtlessly repeated it. A few miles from Seville +I was telling the Courier of the many perilous journeys which I had +accomplished in Spain in safety, and for which I thank the Lord. His +reply was, 'La mucha suerte de Usted tambien nos ha acompanado en +este viage." {292a} + + +Thus ended another unfortunate misunderstanding between secretary and +agent. + +Borrow had taken considerable risk in making the journey to Seville +with the Courier. The whole of La Mancha was overrun with the +Carlist-banditti, who, "whenever it pleases them, stop the Courier, +burn the vehicle and letters, murder the paltry escort which attends, +and carry away any chance passenger to the mountains, where an +enormous ransom is demanded, which if not paid brings on the dilemma +of four shots through the head, as the Spaniards say." The Courier's +previous journey over the same route had ended in the murder of the +escort and the burning of the coach, the Courier himself escaping +through the good offices of one of the bandits, who had formerly been +his postilion. Borrow was shown the blood-soaked turf and the skull +of one of the soldiers. At Manzanares, Borrow invited to breakfast +with him the Prophetess who was so unpopular at Earl Street. +Continuing the journey, he reached Seville without mishap, and a few +days later Antonio arrived with the horses. It was found that the +two cases of Testaments that had been forwarded from Madrid had been +stopped at the Seville Customs House, and Borrow had recourse to +subterfuge in order to get them and save his journey from being in +vain. + + +"For a few dollars," he tells Mr Brandram (2nd May), "I procured a +fiador or person who engaged THAT THE CHESTS should be carried down +the river and embarked at San Lucar for a foreign land. Yesterday I +hired a boat and sent them down, but on the way I landed in a secure +place all the Testaments which I intend for this part of the +country." + + +The fiador had kept to the letter of his undertaking, and the chests +were duly delivered at San Lucar; but a considerable portion of their +contents, some two hundred Testaments, had been abstracted, and these +had to be smuggled into Seville under the cloaks of master and +servant. The officials appear to have treated Borrow with the +greatest possible courtesy and consideration, and they told him that +his "intentions were known and honored." + + +Borrow had great hopes of achieving something for the Gospel's sake +in Seville; but the operation would be a delicate one. To Mr +Brandram he wrote:- + + +"Consider my situation here. I am in a city by nature very +Levitical, as it contains within it the most magnificent and +splendidly endowed cathedral of any in Spain. I am surrounded by +priests and friars, who know and hate me, and who, if I commit the +slightest act of indiscretion, will halloo their myrmidons against +me. The press is closed to me, the libraries are barred against me, +I have no one to assist me but my hired servant, no pious English +families to comfort or encourage me, the British subjects here being +ranker papists and a hundred times more bigoted than the Spanish +themselves, the Consul, a RENEGADE QUAKER. Yet notwithstanding, with +God's assistance, I will do much, though silently, burrowing like the +mole in darkness beneath the ground. Those who have triumphed in +Madrid, and in the two Castiles, where the difficulties were seven +times greater, are not to be dismayed by priestly frowns at Seville." +{293a} + + +On arriving at Seville Borrow had put up at the Posada de la Reyna, +in the Calle Gimios, and here on 4th May (he had arrived about 24th +April) he encountered Lieut.-Colonel Elers Napier. Borrow liked +nothing so well as appearing in the role of a mysterious stranger. +He loved mystery as much as a dramatic moment. His admiration of +Baron Taylor was largely based upon the innumerable conjectures as to +who it was that surrounded his puzzling personality with such an air +of mystery. That May morning Colonel Napier, who was also staying at +the Posada de la Reyna, was wandering about the galleries overlooking +the patio. He writes:- + + +"whilst occupied in moralising over the dripping water spouts, I +observed a tall, gentlemanly-looking man dressed in a semarra +[zamarra, a sheepskin jacket with the wool outside] leaning over the +balustrades and apparently engaged in a similar manner with myself . +. . 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." {294a} + + +Colonel Napier was thoroughly mystified. The stranger answered his +French in "the purest Parisian Accent"; yet he proved capable of +speaking fluent English, of giving orders to his Greek servant in +Romaic, of conversing "in good Castillian with 'mine host'," and of +exchanging salutations in German with another resident at the fonda. +Later the Colonel had the gratification of startling the Unknown by +replying to some remark of his in Hindi; but only momentarily, for he +showed himself "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." {294b} + +No one could give any information about "the mysterious Unknown," who +or what he was, or why he was travelling. It was known that the +police entertained suspicions that he was a Russian spy, and kept him +under strict observation. Whatever else he was, Colonel Napier found +him "a very agreeable companion." {295a} + +On the following morning (a Sunday) Colonel Napier and his Unknown +set out on horseback on an excursion to the ruins of Italica. As +they sat on a ruined wall of the Convent of San Isidoro, +contemplating the scene of ruin and desolation around, "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" some +lines that the scene called up to his mind. + + +"I had been too much taken up with the scene," Colonel Napier +continues, "the verses, and the strange being who was repeating them +with so much feeling, to notice the approach of a slight female +figure, beautiful in the extreme, but whose tattered garments, raven +hair, swarthy complexion and flashing eyes proclaimed to be of the +wandering tribe of Gitanos. From an intuitive sense of 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-- +'Caballeritos, una limosnita! Dios se la 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, +cabellero--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 the gloomy abode were +illumined by a fire the smoke from which escaped through a deep +fissure in the mossy 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' [a sash in +which the Spaniard carries a formidable clasp-knife] 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 with the language of those +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 gypsies, 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 . . . This is a most extraordinary character, and the more +I see of him the more am I 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 [he would be thirty-six in the +following July]--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." {297a} + + + +CHAPTER XIX: MAY-DECEMBER 1839 + + + +Borrow confesses that he was at a loss to know how to commence +operations in Seville. He was entirely friendless, even the British +Consul being unapproachable on account of his religious beliefs. +However, he soon gathered round him some of those curious characters +who seemed always to gravitate towards him, no matter where he might +be, or with what occupied. Surely the Scriptures never had such a +curious assortment of missionaries as Borrow employed? At Seville +there was the gigantic Greek, Dionysius of Cephalonia; the "aged +professor of music, who, with much stiffness and ceremoniousness, +united much that was excellent and admirable"; {298a} the Greek +bricklayer, Johannes Chysostom, a native of Morea, who might at any +time become "the Masaniello of Seville." With these assistants +Borrow set to work to throw the light of the Gospel into the dark +corners of the city. + +Soon after arriving at Seville, he decided to adopt a new plan of +living. + + +"On account of the extreme dearness of every article at the posada," +he wrote to Mr Brandram on 12th June, "where, moreover, I had a +suspicion that I was being watched [this may have reference to the +police suspicion that he was a Russian spy], I removed with my +servant and horses to an empty house in a solitary part of the town . +. . Here I live in the greatest privacy, admitting no person but two +or three in whom I had the greatest confidence, who entertain the +same views as myself, and who assist me in the circulation of the +Gospel." + + +The house stood in a solitary situation, occupying one side of the +Plazuela de la Pila Seca (the Little Square of the Empty Trough). It +was a two-storied building and much too large for Borrow's +requirements. Having bought the necessary articles of furniture, he +retired behind the shutters of his Andalusian mansion with Antonio +and the two horses. He lived in the utmost seclusion, spending a +large portion of his time in study or in dreamy meditation. "The +people here complain sadly of the heat," he writes to Mr Brandram +(28th June 1839), "but as for myself, I luxuriate in it, like the +butterflies which hover about the macetas, or flowerpots, in the +court." In the cool of the evening he would mount Sidi Habismilk and +ride along the Dehesa until the topmost towers of the city were out +of sight, then, turning the noble Arab, he would let him return at +his best speed, which was that of the whirlwind. + +Throughout his work in Spain Borrow had been seriously handicapped by +being unable to satisfy the demand for Bibles that met him everywhere +he went. In a letter (June) from Maria Diaz, who was acting as his +agent in Madrid, {299a} the same story is told. + + +"The binder has brought me eight Bibles," she writes, "which he has +contrived to make up out of THE SHEETS GNAWN BY THE RATS, and which +would have been necessary even had they amounted to eight thousand (y +era necesario se puvieran vuelto 8000), because the people are +innumerable who come to seek more. Don Santiago has been here with +some friends, who insisted upon having a part of them. The Aragonese +Gentleman has likewise been, he who came before your departure, and +bespoke twenty-four; he now wants twenty-five. I begged them to take +Testaments, but they would not." {300a} + + +The Greek bricklayer proved a most useful agent. His great influence +with his poor acquaintances resulted in the sale of many Testaments. +More could have been done had it not been necessary to proceed with +extreme caution, lest the authorities should take action and seize +the small stock of books that remained. + +When he took and furnished the large house in the little square, +there had been in Borrow's mind another reason than a desire for +solitude and freedom from prying eyes. Throughout his labours in +Spain he had kept up a correspondence with Mrs Clarke of Oulton, who, +on 15th March, had written informing him of her intention to take up +her abode for a short time at Seville. + +For some time previously Mrs Clarke had been having trouble about her +estate. Her mother (September 1835) and father (February 1836) were +both dead, and her brother Breame had inherited the estate and she +the mortgage together with the Cottage on Oulton Broad. Breame +Skepper died (May 1837), leaving a wife and six children. In his +will he had appointed Trustees, who demanded the sale of the Estate +and division of the money, which was opposed by Mrs Clarke as +executrix and mortgagee. Later it was agreed between the parties +that the Estate should be sold for 11,000 pounds to a Mr Joseph Cator +Webb, and an agreement to that effect was signed. Anticipating that +the Estate would increase in value, and apparently regretting their +bargain, the Trustees delayed carrying out their undertaking, and Mr +Webb filed a bill in Chancery to force them to do so. Mrs Clarke's +legal advisers thought it better that she should disappear for a +time. Hence her letter to Borrow, in replying to which (29th March), +he expresses pleasure at the news of his friend's determination "to +settle in Seville for a short time--which, I assure you, I consider +to be the most agreeable retreat you can select . . . for THERE the +growls of your enemies will scarcely reach you." He goes on to tell +her that he laughed outright at the advice of her counsellor not to +take a house and furnish it. + + +"Houses in Spain are let by the day: and in a palace here you will +find less furniture than in your cottage at Oulton. Were you to +furnish a Spanish house in the style of cold, wintry England, you +would be unable to breathe. A few chairs, tables, and mattresses are +all that is required, with of course a good stock of bed-linen . . . + +"Bring with you, therefore, your clothes, plenty of bed-linen, etc., +half-a-dozen blankets, two dozen knives and forks, a mirror or two, +twelve silver table spoons, and a large one for soup, tea things and +urn (for the Spaniards never drink tea), a few books, but not many,-- +and you will have occasion for nothing more, or, if you have, you can +purchase it here as cheap as in England." + + +Borrow's ideas of domestic comfort were those of the old campaigner. +For all that, he showed himself very thorough in the directions he +gave as to how and where Mrs Clarke should book her passage and +obtain "a passport for yourself and Hen." (Henrietta her daughter, +now nearly twenty years of age), and the warning he gave that no +attempt should be made to go ashore at Lisbon, "a very dangerous +place." + +On 7th June Mrs Clarke and her daughter Henrietta sailed from London +on board the steam-packet Royal Tar bound for Cadiz, where they +arrived on the 16th, and, on the day following, entered into +possession of their temporary home where Borrow was already +installed, safe for the time from Mr Webb's Chancery bill. It was no +doubt to Mrs and Miss Clarke that Borrow referred when he wrote to Mr +Brandram {301a} saying that "two or three ladies of my acquaintance +occasionally dispose of some [Testaments] amongst their friends, but +they say that they experience some difficulty, the cry for Bibles +being great." + +Borrow continued to reside at 7 Plazuela de la Pila Seca, and Mrs +Clarke and Henrietta soon learned something of the vicissitudes and +excitements of a missionary's life. On Sunday, 8th July, as Borrow +"happened to be reading the Liturgy," he received a visit from +"various alguacils, headed by the Alcade del Barrio, or headborough, +who made a small seizure of Testaments and Gypsy Gospels which +happened to be lying about." {302a} This circumstance convinced +Borrow of the good effect of his labours in and around Seville. + +The time had now arrived, however, when the whole of the smuggled +Testaments had been disposed of, and there was no object in remaining +longer in Seville, or in Spain for that matter. There were books at +San Lucar that might without official opposition be shipped out of +the country, and Borrow therefore determined to see what could be +done towards distributing them among the Spanish residents on the +Coast of Barbary. This done, he hoped to return to Spain and dispose +of the 900 odd Testaments lying at Madrid. On 18th July he wrote to +Mr Brandram:- + + +"I should wish to be permitted on my return from my present +expedition to circulate some in La Mancha. The state of that +province is truly horrible; it appears peopled partly with spectres +and partly with demons. There is famine, and such famine; there is +assassination and such unnatural assassination [another of Borrow's +phrases that must have struck the Committee as odd]. There you see +soldiers and robbers, ghastly lepers and horrible and uncouth maimed +and blind, exhibiting their terrible nakedness in the sun. I was +prevented last year in carrying the Gospel amongst them. May I be +more successful this." + + +Antonio had been dismissed, his master being "compelled to send [him] +back to Madrid . . . on account of his many irregularities," and in +consequence it was alone, on the night of 31st July, that Borrow set +out upon his expedition. From Seville he took the steamer to +Bonanza, from whence he drove to San Lucar, where he picked up a +chest of New Testaments and a small box of St Luke's Gospel in +Gitano, with a pass for them to Cadiz. It proved expensive, this +claiming of his own property, for at every step there was some fee to +be paid or gratuity to be given. The last payment was made to the +Spanish Consul at Gibraltar, who claimed and received a dollar for +certifying the arrival of books he had not seen. + +Borrow was instinctively a missionary, even a great missionary. At +the Customs House of San Lucar some questions were asked about the +books contained in the cases, and he seized the occasion to hold an +informal missionary meeting, with the officials clustered round him +listening to his discourse. One of the cases had to be opened for +inspection, and the upshot of it was that, to the very officials +whose duty it was to see that the books were not distributed in +Spain, Borrow sold a number of copies, not only of the Spanish +Testament, but of the Gypsy St Luke. Such was the power of his +personality and the force of his eloquence. + +From San Lucar Borrow returned to Bonanza and again took the boat, +which landed him at Cadiz, where he was hospitably entertained by Mr +Brackenbury, the British Consul, who gave him a letter of +introduction to Mr Drummond Hay, the Consul-General at Tangier. On +4th August he proceeded to Gibraltar. It was not until the 8th, +however, that he was able to cross to Tangier, where he was kindly +received by Mr Hay, who found for him a very comfortable lodging. + +Taking the Consul's advice, Borrow proceeded with extreme caution. +For the first fortnight of his stay he made no effort to distribute +his Testaments, contenting himself with studying the town and its +inhabitants, occasionally speaking to the Christians in the place +(principally Spanish and Genoese sailors and their families) about +religious matters, but always with the greatest caution lest the two +or three friars, who resided at what was known as the Spanish +Convent, should become alarmed. Again Borrow obtained the services +of a curious assistant, a Jewish lad named Hayim Ben Attar, who +carried the Testaments to the people's houses and offered them for +sale, and this with considerable success. On 4th September Borrow +wrote to Mr Brandram:- + + +"The blessed book is now in the hands of most of the Christians of +Tangier, from the lowest to the highest, from the fisherman to the +consul. One dozen and a half were carried to Tetuan on speculation, +a town about six leagues from hence; they will be offered to the +Christians who reside there. Other two dozen are on their way to +distant Mogadore. One individual, a tavern keeper, has purchased +Testaments to the number of thirty, which he says he has no doubt he +can dispose of to the foreign sailors who stop occasionally at his +house. You will be surprised to hear that several amongst the Jews +have purchased copies of the New Testament with the intention, as +they state, of improving themselves in Spanish, but I believe from +curiosity." + + +During his stay in Tangier, Borrow had some trouble with the British +Vice-Consul, who seems to have made himself extremely offensive with +his persistent offers of service. His face was "purple and blue" and +in whose blood-shot eyes there was an expression "much like that of a +departed tunny fish or salmon," and he became so great an annoyance +that Borrow made a complaint to Mr Drummond Hay. This is one of the +few instances of Borrow's experiencing difficulty with any British +official, for, as a rule, he was extremely popular. In this +particular instance, however, the Vice-Consul was so obviously +seeking to make profit out of his official position, that there was +no other means open to Borrow than to make a formal complaint. + +In the case of Mr Drummond Hay, he obtained the friendship of a "true +British gentleman." At first the Consul had been reserved and +distant, and apparently by no means inclined to render Borrow any +service in the furtherance of his mission; but a few days sufficed to +bring him under the influence of Borrow's personal magnetism, and he +ended by assuring him that he would be happy to receive the Society's +commands, and would render all possible assistance, officially or +otherwise, to the distribution of the Scriptures "in Fez or Morocco." + +Borrow was thoroughly satisfied with the result of his five weeks' +stay in Tangier. He reached Cadiz on his way to Seville on 21st +Sept., after undergoing a four days' quarantine at Tarifa, when he +wrote to Mr Brandram (29th Sept.): + + +"I am very glad that I went to Tangier, for many reasons. In the +first place, I was permitted to circulate many copies of God's Word +both among the Jews and the Christians, by the latter of whom it was +particularly wanted, their ignorance of the most vital points of +religion being truly horrible. In the second place, I acquired a +vast stock of information concerning Africa and the state of its +interior. One of my principal Associates was a black slave whose +country was only three days' journey from Timbuctoo, which place he +had frequently visited. The Soos men also told me many of the +secrets of the land of wonders from which they come, and the Rabbis +from Fez and Morocco were no less communicative." + + +Borrow had started upon his expedition to the Barbary Coast without +any definite instructions from Earl Street. On 29th July the Sub- +Committee had resolved that as his mission to Spain was "nearly +attained by the disposal of the larger part of the Spanish Scriptures +which he went out to distribute," the General Committee be +recommended to request him to take measures for selling or placing in +safe custody all copies remaining on hand and returning to England +"without loss of time." This was adopted on 5th Aug.; but before it +received the formal sanction of the General Committee Mr Browne had +written (29th July) to Borrow acquainting him with the feeling of the +Sub-Committee, thinking that he ought to have early intimation of +what was taking place. This letter Borrow found awaiting him at +Cadiz on his return from Tangier. He replied immediately (21st +Sept.): + + +"Had I been aware of that resolution before my departure for Tangier +I certainly should not have gone; my expedition, however, was the +result of much reflection. I wished to carry the Gospel to the +Christians of the Barbary shore, who were much in want of it; and I +had one hundred and thirty Testaments at San Lucar, which I could +only make available by exportation. The success which it has pleased +the Lord to yield me in my humble efforts at distribution in Barbary +will, I believe, prove the best criterion as to the fitness of the +enterprise. + +"I stated in my last communication to Mr Brandram the plan which I +conceived to be the best for circulating that portion of the edition +of the New Testament which remains unsold at Madrid, and I scarcely +needed a stimulant in the execution of my duty. At present, however, +I know not what to do; I am sorrowful, disappointed and unstrung. + +I wish to return to England as soon as possible; but I have books and +papers at Madrid which are of much importance to me and which I +cannot abandon, this perhaps alone prevents me embarking in the next +packet. I have, moreover, brought with me from Tangier the Jewish +youth [Hayim Ben Attar], who so powerfully assisted me in that place +in the work of distribution. I had hoped to have made him of service +in Spain, he is virtuous and clever . . . + +"I am almost tempted to ask whether some strange, some unaccountable +delusion does not exist: what should induce me to stay in Spain, as +you appear to suppose I intend? I may, however, have misunderstood +you. I wish to receive a fresh communication as soon as possible, +either from yourself or Mr Brandram; in the meantime I shall go to +Seville, to which place and to the usual number pray direct." + + +It would appear that the Bible Society had become aware of Borrow's +menage at Seville, and concluded that he meant to take up his abode +in Spain more or less permanently. + +Borrow's next plan was to order a chest of Testaments to be sent to +La Mancha, where he had friends, then to mount his horse and proceed +there in person. With the assistance of his Jewish body-servant he +hoped to circulate many copies before the authorities became aware of +his presence. Later he would proceed to Madrid, put his affairs in +order, and make for France by way of Saragossa (where he hoped to +accomplish some good), and then--home. + +In September a circular signed by Lord Palmerston was received by all +the British Consuls in Spain, strictly forbidding them "to afford the +slightest countenance to religious agents. {307a} What was the cause +of this last blow?" {307b} Borrow rather unfortunately enquired of +Mr Brandram. The Consul at Cadiz, Mr Brackenbury, explained it, +according to Borrow, as due to "an ill-advised application made to +his Lordship to interfere with the Spanish Government on behalf of a +certain individual {307c} [Lieut. Graydon] whose line of conduct +needs no comment." {307d} After pointing out that once the same +consuls had received from a British Ambassador instructions to +further, in their official capacity, the work of the Bible Society, +he concludes with the following remark, as ill-advised as it is +droll: "When dead flies fall into the ointment of the apothecary +they cause it to send forth an unpleasant savour." {308a} + +It must have been obvious to both Borrow and Mr Brandram that matters +were rapidly approaching a crisis. Mr Brandram seems to have been +almost openly hostile, and draws Borrow's attention to the fact that +after all his distributions have been small. Borrow replies by +saying that the fault did not rest with him. Had he been able to +offer Bibles instead of Testaments for sale, the circulation would +have been ten times greater. He expresses it as his belief that had +he received 20,000 Bibles he could have sold them all in Madrid +during the Spring of 1839. + + +"When the Bible Society has no further occasion for my poor labours," +he wrote {309b} somewhat pathetically, "I hope it will do me justice +to the world. I have been its faithful and zealous servant. I shall +on a future occasion take the liberty of addressing you as a friend +respecting my prospects. I have the materials of a curious book of +travels in Spain; I have enough metrical translations from all +languages, especially the Celtic and Sclavonic, to fill a dozen +volumes; and I have formed a vocabulary of the Spanish Gypsy tongue, +and also a collection of the songs and poetry of the Gitanos, with +introductory essays. Perhaps some of these literary labours might be +turned to account. I wish to obtain honourably and respectably the +means of visiting China or particular parts of Africa." + + +It is clear from this that Borrow saw how unlikely it was that his +association with the Bible Society would be prolonged beyond the +present commission. For one thing Spain was, to all intents and +purposes, closed to the unannotated Scriptures. Something might be +done in the matter of surreptitious distribution; but that had its +clearly defined limitations, as the authorities were very much alive +to the danger of the light that Borrow sought to cast over the gloom +of ignorance and superstition. + +At Earl Street it was clearly recognised that Borrow's work in Spain +was concluded. On 1st November the Sub-Committee resolved that it +could "not recommend to the General Committee to engage the further +services of Mr Borrow until he shall have returned to this country +from his Mission in Spain." Again, on 10th January following, it +recommends the General Committee to recall him "without further +delay." + +Although he had been officially recalled, nothing was further from +Borrow's intentions than to retire meekly from the field. He +intended to retreat with drums sounding and colours flying, fighting +something more than a rearguard action. This man's energy and +resource were terrible--to the authorities! Seville he felt was +still a fruitful ground, and sending to Madrid for further supplies +of Testaments, he commenced operations. "Everything was accomplished +with the utmost secrecy, and the blessed books obtained considerable +circulation." {309a} Agents were sent into the country and he went +also himself, "in my accustomed manner," until all the copies that +had arrived from the capital were put into circulation. He then +rested for a while, being in need of quiet, as he was indisposed. + +By this action Borrow was incurring no little risk. The Canons of +the Cathedral watched him closely. Their hatred amounted "almost to +a frenzy," and Borrow states that scarcely a day passed without some +accusation of other being made to the Civil Governor, all of which +were false. People whom he had never seen were persuaded to perjure +themselves by swearing that he had sold or given them books. The +same system was carried on whilst he was in Africa, because the +authorities refused to believe that he was out of Spain. + +There now occurred another regrettable incident, and Borrow once more +suffered for the indiscretion of those whom he neither knew nor +controlled. To Mr Brandram he wrote: + + +"Some English people now came to Seville and distributed tracts in a +very unguarded manner, knowing nothing of the country or the +inhabitants. They were even so unwise as TO GIVE TRACTS INSTEAD OF +MONEY ON VISITING PUBLIC BUILDINGS, ETC. [!]. These persons came to +me and requested my cooperation and advice, and likewise +introductions to people spiritually disposed amongst the Spaniards, +to all which requests I returned a decided negative. But I foresaw +all. In a day or two I was summoned before the Civil Governor, or, +as he was once called, the Corregidor, of Seville, who, I must say, +treated me with the utmost politeness and indeed respect; but at the +same time he informed me that he had (to use his own expression) +terrible orders from Madrid concerning me if I should be discovered +in the act of distributing the Scriptures or any writings of a +religious tendency; he then taxed me with having circulated both +lately, especially tracts; whereupon I told him that I had never +distributed a tract since I had been in Spain nor had any intention +of doing so. We had much conversation and parted in kindness." +{310a} + + +For a few days nothing happened; then, determined to set out on an +expedition to La Mancha (the delay had been due to the insecure state +of the roads), Borrow sent his passport (24th Nov.) for signature to +the Alcalde del Barrio. + + +"This fellow," Borrow informs Mr Brandram, "is the greatest ruffian +in Seville, and I have on various occasions been insulted by him; he +pretends to be a liberal, but he is of no principle at all, and as I +reside within his district he has been employed by the Canons of the +Cathedral to vex and harrass me on every possible occasion." + + +In the following letter, addressed to the British Charge d'Affaires +(the Hon. G. S. S. Jerningham), Borrow gives a full account of what +transpired between him and the Alcalde of Seville:- + + +SIR, + +I beg leave to lay before you the following statement of certain +facts which lately occurred at Seville, from which you will perceive +that the person of a British Subject has been atrociously outraged, +the rights and privileges of a foreigner in Spain violated, and the +sanctuary of a private house invaded without the slightest reason or +shadow of authority by a person in the employ of the Spanish +Government. + +For some months past I have been a resident at Seville in a house +situated in a square called the "Plazuela de la Pila Seca." In this +house I possess apartments, the remainder being occupied by an +English Lady and her daughter, the former of whom is the widow of an +officer of the highest respectability who died in the naval service +of Great Britain. On the twenty-fourth of last November, I sent a +servant, a Native of Spain, to the Office of the "Ayuntamiento" of +Seville for the purpose of demanding my passport, it being my +intention to set out the next day for Cordoba. The "Ayuntamiento" +returned for answer that it was necessary that the ticket of +residence (Billete de residencia) which I had received on sending in +the Passport should be signed by the Alcalde of the district in which +I resided, to which intimation I instantly attended. I will here +take the liberty of observing that on several occasions during my +residence at Seville, I have experienced gross insults from this +Alcalde, and that more than once when I have had occasion to leave +the Town, he has refused to sign the necessary document for the +recovery of the passport; he now again refused to do so, and used +coarse language to the Messenger; whereupon I sent the latter back +with money to pay any fees, lawful or unlawful, which might be +demanded, as I wished to avoid noise and the necessity of applying to +the Consul, Mr Williams; but the fellow became only more outrageous. +I then went myself to demand an explanation, and was saluted with no +inconsiderable quantity of abuse. I told him that if he proceeded in +this manner I would make a complaint to the Authorities through the +British Consul. He then said if I did not instantly depart he would +drag me off to prison and cause me to be knocked down if I made the +slightest resistance. I dared him repeatedly to do both, and said +that he was a disgrace to the Government which employed him, and to +human nature. He called me a vile foreigner. We were now in the +street and a mob had collected, whereupon I cried: "Viva Inglaterra +y viva la Constitucion." The populace remained quiet, +notwithstanding the exhortations of the Alcalde that they would knock +down "the foreigner," for he himself quailed before me as I looked +him in the face, defying him. At length he exclaimed, with the usual +obscene Spanish oath, "I will make you lower your head" (Yo te hare +abajar la cabeza), and ran to a neighbouring guard-house and +requested the assistance of the Nationals in conducting me to prison. +I followed him and delivered myself up at the first summons, and +walked to the prison without uttering a word; not so the Alcalde, who +continued his abuse until we arrived at the gate, repeatedly +threatening to have me knocked down if I moved to the right or left. + +I was asked my name by the Authorities of the prison, which I refused +to give unless in the presence of the Consul of my Nation, and indeed +to answer any questions. I was then ordered to the Patio, or +Courtyard, where are kept the lowest thieves and assassins of +Seville, who, having no money, cannot pay for better accommodation, +and by whom I should have been stripped naked in a moment as a matter +of course, as they are all in a state of raging hunger and utter +destitution. I asked for a private cell, which I was told I might +have if I could pay for it. I stated my willingness to pay anything +which might be demanded, and was conducted to an upper ward +consisting of several cells and a corridor; here I found six or seven +Prisoners, who received me very civilly, and instantly procured me +paper and ink for the purpose of writing to the Consul. In less than +an hour Mr Williams arrived and I told him my story, whereupon he +instantly departed in order to demand redress of the Authorities. +The next morning the Alcalde, without any authority from the +Political [Civil] Governor of Seville, and unaccompanied by the +English Consul, as the law requires in such cases, and solely +attended by a common Escribano, went to the house in which I was +accustomed to reside and demanded admission. The door was opened by +my Moorish Servant, Hayim Ben-Attar, whom he commanded instantly to +show the way to my apartments. On the Servant's demanding by what +authority he came, he said, "Cease chattering" (Deje cuentos), "I +shall give no account to you; show me the way; if not, I will take +you to prison as I did your master: I come to search for prohibited +books." The Moor, who being in a strange land was somewhat +intimidated, complied and led him to the rooms occupied by me, when +the Alcalde flung about my books and papers, finding nothing which +could in the slightest degree justify his search, the few books being +all either in Hebrew or Arabic character (they consisted of the +Mitchna and some commentaries on the Coran); he at last took up a +large knife which lay on a chair and which I myself purchased some +months previous at Santa Cruz in La Mancha as a curiosity--the place +being famous for those knives--and expressed his determination to +take it away as a prohibited article. The Escribano, however, +cautioned him against doing so, and he flung it down. He now became +very vociferous and attempted to force his way into some apartments +occupied by the Ladies, my friends; but soon desisted and at last +went away, after using some threatening words to my Moorish Servant. +Late at night of the second day of my imprisonment, I was set at +liberty by virtue of an order of the Captain General, given on +application of the British Consul, after having been for thirty hours +imprisoned amongst the worst felons of Andalusia, though to do them +justice I must say that I experienced from them nothing but kindness +and hospitality. + +The above, Sir, is the correct statement of the affair which has now +brought me to Madrid. What could have induced the Alcalde in +question to practise such atrocious behaviour towards me I am at a +loss to conjecture, unless he were instigated by certain enemies +which I possess in Seville. However this may be, I now call upon +you, as the Representative of the Government of which I am a Subject, +to demand of the Minister of the Spanish Crown full and ample +satisfaction for the various outrages detailed above. In conclusion, +I must be permitted to add that I will submit to no compromise, but +will never cease to claim justice until the culprit has received +condign punishment. + +I am, etc., etc., etc. +GEORGE BORROW. +MADRID (no date). + +Recorded 6th December [1839]." {313a} + + +Thus it happened that on 19th December Mr Brandram received the +following letter:- + + +PRISON OF SEVILLE, 25th Nov. 1839. + +I write these lines, as you see, from the common prison of Seville, +to which I was led yesterday, or rather dragged, neither for murder +nor robbery nor debt, but simply for having endeavoured to obtain a +passport for Cordoba, to which place I was going with my Jewish +servant Hayim Ben-Attar. + + +When questioned by the Vice-Consul as to his authority for searching +Borrow's house, the Alcalde produced a paper purporting to be the +deposition of an old woman to whom Borrow was alleged to have sold a +Testament some ten days previously. The document Borrow pronounced a +forgery and the statement untrue. + +Borrow's fellow-prisoners treated him with unbounded kindness and +hospitality, and he was forced to confess that he had "never found +himself amongst more quiet and well-behaved men." Nothing shows more +clearly the power of Borrow's personality over rogues and vagabonds +than the two periods spent in Spanish prisons--at Madrid and at +Seville. Mr Brandram must have shuddered when he read Borrow's +letter telling him by what manner of men he was surrounded. + + +"What is their history?" he writes apropos of his fellow-prisoners. +"The handsome black-haired man, who is now looking over my shoulder, +is the celebrated thief, Pelacio, the most expert housebreaker and +dexterous swindler in Spain--in a word, the modern Guzman +D'alfarache. The brawny man who sits by the brasero of charcoal is +Salvador, the highwayman of Ronda, who has committed a hundred +murders. A fashionably dressed man, short and slight in person, is +walking about the room: he wears immense whiskers and mustachios; he +is one of that most singular race the Jews of Spain; he is imprisoned +for counterfeiting money. He is an atheist; but, like a true Jew, +the name which he most hates is that of Christ. Yet he is so quiet +and civil, and they are all so quiet and civil, and it is that which +most horrifies me, for quietness and civility in them seems so +unnatural." {315a} + + +Such were the men who fraternised with an agent of a religious +society and showed him not only civility but hospitality and +kindness. It is open to question if they would have shown the same +to any other unfortunate missionary. In all probability they +recognised a fellow-vagabond, who was at much at issue with the +social conventions of communities as they were with the laws of +property. + +On this occasion the period of Borrow's imprisonment was brief. He +was released late at night on 25th Nov., within thirty hours of his +arrest, and he immediately set to work to think out a plan by which +he could once more discomfit the Spanish authorities for this +indignity to a British subject. He would proceed to Madrid without +delay and put his case before the British Minister, at the same time +he would "make preparations for leaving Spain as soon as possible." + + + +CHAPTER XX: DECEMBER 1839-MAY 1840 + + + +It was probably about this time (1839) that + + +"The Marques de Santa Coloma met Borrow again at Seville. He had +great difficulty in finding him out; though he was aware of the +street in which he resided, no one knew him by name. At last, by +dint of inquiry and description, some one exclaimed, 'Oh! you mean el +Brujo' (the wizard), and he was directed to the house. He was +admitted with great caution, and conducted through a lot of passages +and stairs, till at last he was ushered into a handsomely furnished +apartment in the 'mirador,' where Borrow was living WITH HIS WIFE AND +DAUGHTER. . . It is evident . . . that, to his Spanish friends at +least, he thus called Mrs Clarke and her daughter Henrietta his wife +and daughter: and the Marques de Santa Coloma evidently believed +that the young lady was Borrow's OWN daughter, and not his step- +daughter merely (!). At the time the roads from Seville to Madrid +were very unsafe. Santa Coloma wished Borrow to join his party, who +were going well armed. Borrow said he would be safe with his +Gypsies. Both arrived without accident in Madrid; the Marques's +party first. Borrow, on his arrival, told Santa Coloma that his +Gypsy chief had led him by by-paths and mountains; that they had not +slept in a village, nor seen a town the whole way." {316a} + + +It must be confessed that Mr Webster was none too reliable a witness, +and it seems highly improbable that Borrow would wish to pass Mrs +Clarke off as his wife before their marriage. The fact of their +occupying the same house may have seemed to their Spanish friends +compromising, as it unquestionably was; but had he spoken of Mrs +Clarke as his wife, it would have left her not a vestige of +reputation. + +On arriving at Madrid Borrow found that Lord Clarendon's successor, +Mr Arthur Aston, had not yet arrived, he therefore presented his +complaint to the Charge d'Affaires, the Hon. G. S. S. Jerningham, who +had succeeded Mr Sothern as private secretary. Mr Sothern had not +yet left Madrid to take up his new post as First Secretary at Lisbon, +and therefore presented Borrow to Mr Jerningham, by whom he was +received with great kindness. He assured Mr Jerningham that for some +time past he had given up distributing the Scriptures in Spain, and +he merely claimed the privileges of a British subject and the +protection of his Government. The First Secretary took up the case +immediately, forwarding Borrow's letter to Don Perez de Castro with a +request for "proper steps to be taken, should Mr Borrow's complaint . +. . be considered by His Excellency as properly founded." Borrow +himself was doubtful as to whether he would obtain justice, "for I +have against me," he wrote to Mr Brandram (24th December), "the +Canons of Seville; and all the arts of villany which they are so +accustomed to practise will of course be used against me for the +purpose of screening the ruffian who is their instrument. . . . I +have been, my dear Sir, fighting with wild beasts." + + +The rather quaint reply to Borrow's charges was not forthcoming until +he had left Spain and was living at Oulton. It runs: {317a} + + +MADRID, 11th May 1840. + +Under date of 20th December last, Mr Perez de Castro informed Mr +Jerningham that in order to answer satisfactorily his note of 8th +December re complaint made by Borrow, he required a faithful report +to be made. These have been stated by the Municipality of Seville to +the Civil Governor of that City, and are as follows:- + +"When Borrow meant to undertake his journey to Cadiz towards the end +of last year, he applied to the section of public security for his +Passport, for which purpose he ought to deliver his paper of +residence which was given to him when he arrived at Seville. That +paper he had not presented in its proper time to the Alcalde of his +district, on which account this person had not been acquainted as he +ought with his residence in the district, and as his Passport could +not be issued in consequence of this document not being in order, +Borrow addressed, through the medium of a Servant, to the house of +the said district Alcalde that the defect might be remedied. That +functionary refused to do so, founded on the reasons already stated; +and for the purpose of overcoming his resistance he was offered a +gratification, the Servant with that intent presenting half a dollar. +The Alcalde, justly indignant, left his house to make the necessary +complaint respecting their indecorous action when he met Borrow, who, +surprised at the refusal of the Alcalde, expressed to him his +astonishment, addressing insulting expressions not only against his +person but against the authorities of Spain, who, he said, he was +sure were to be bought at a very small price--crying on after this, +Long live the Constitution, Death to the Religion, and Long live +England. These and other insults gave rise to the Alcalde proceeding +to his arrest and the assistance of the armed force of Veterans, and +not of the National Militia, as Borrow supposed, making a detailed +report to the Constitutional Alcalde, who forwarded it original to +the Captain General of the Province as Judge Protector of Foreigners, +leaving him under detention at his disposition. He did the same with +another report transmitted by the said functionary, in which +reference to a Lady who lived at the Gate of Xerez; he denounced +Borrow as a seducer of youth in matters of Religion by facilitating +to them the perusal of prohibited books, of which a copy, that was in +the hands of the Ecclesiastical Governor, was likewise transmitted to +the Captain General. These antecedents were sufficient to have +authorised a summary to have been formed against Borrow, but the +repeated supplications of the British Vice-Consul, Mr Williams, who +among other things stated that Borrow laboured under fits of madness, +had the effect of causing the above Constitutional Alcalde to forgive +him the fault committed and recommend to the Captain General that the +matter should be dropped, which was acceded to, and he was put at +liberty. The above facts, official proofs of which exist in the +Captain General's Office, clearly disprove the statement of Borrow, +who ungrateful for the generous hospitality which he has received, +and for the consideration displayed towards him on account of his +infirmity, and out of deference to the request of the British Vice- +Consul, makes an unfounded complaint against the very authorities who +have used attentions towards him which he is certainly not deserving; +it being worthy of remark, in order to prove the bad faith of his +procedure, that in his own expose, although he disfigures facts at +pleasure, using a language little decorous, he confesses part of his +faults, such as the offering of money TO PAY, as he says, 'THE LEGAL +OR EXTRA-LEGAL DUES THAT MIGHT BE EXACTED, and his having twice +challenged the Alcalde.' + +"I should consider myself wanting towards your enlightened sense of +justice if, after the reasons given, I stopped to prove the just and +prudent conduct of Seville authorities. + +"Hope he will therefore be completely satisfied, especially after the +want of exactitude on Borrow's part. + +From +EVARISTO PEREZ DE CASTRO." +To Mr Aston. {319a} + + +And so the matter ended. The Spanish authorities knew that they no +longer had a Sir George Villiers to deal with, and had recourse to +that trump card of weak and vacillating diplomatists--delay. +Whatever Borrow's offence, the method of his arrest and imprisonment +was in itself unlawful. + +It was Borrow's intention on his return to England to endeavour to +obtain an interview with some members of the House of Lords, in order +to acquaint them with the manner in which Protestants were persecuted +in Spain. They were debarred from the exercise of their religion +from being married by Protestant rites, and the common privileges of +burial were denied them. He was anxious for Protestant England, lest +it should fall a victim to Popery. This fear of Rome was a very real +one to Borrow. He marvelled at people's blindness to the danger that +was threatening them, and he even went so far as to entreat his +friends at Earl Street "to drop all petty dissensions and to comport +themselves like brothers" against their common enemy the Pope. + +Unfortunately Borrow had shown to a number of friends one of his +letters to Mr Brandram dealing with the Seville imprisonment, and had +even allowed several copies of it to be taken "in order that an +incorrect account of the affair might not get abroad." The result +was an article in a London newspaper containing remarks to the +disparagement of other workers for the Gospel in Spain. Borrow +disavowed all knowledge of these observations. + + +"I am not ashamed of the Methodists of Cadiz," he assures Mr +Brandram, "their conduct in many respects does them honor, nor do I +accuse any one of fanaticism amongst our dear and worthy friends; but +I cannot answer for the tittle-tattle of Madrid. Far be it from me +to reflect upon any one, I am but too well aware of my own +multitudinous imperfections and follies." + + +There is nothing more mysterious in Borrow's life than his years of +friendship with Mrs Clarke. He was never a woman's man, but Mary +Clarke seems to have awakened in him a very sincere regard. The +menage at Seville was a curious one, and both Borrow and Mrs Clarke +should have seen that it was calculated to make people talk. There +may have been a tacit understanding between them. Everything +connected with their relations and courtship is very mysterious. Dr +Knapp is scarcely just to Borrow or gracious to the woman he married, +when he implies that it was merely a business arrangement on both +sides. Mrs Clarke's affairs required a man's hand to administer +them, and Borrow was prepared to give the man's hand in exchange for +an income. The engagement could scarcely have taken place in the +middle of November 1839, as Dr Knapp states, for on the day of his +arrest at Seville (24th Nov.) Borrow wrote:- + + +MY DEAR MRS CLARKE,--Do not be alarmed, but I am at present in the +prison, to which place the Alcalde del Barrio conducted me when I +asked him to sign the Passport. If Phelipe is not already gone to +the Consul, let Henrietta go now and show him this letter. When I +asked the fellow his motives for not signing the Passport, he said if +I did not go away he would carry me to prison. I dared him to do so, +as I had done nothing; whereupon he led me here.--Yours truly, + +GEORGE BORROW. + + +This is obviously not the letter of a man recently engaged to the +woman who is to become his wife. On the other hand, Borrow may have +been writing merely for the Consul's eye. + +On hearing the news of the engagement old Mrs Borrow wrote:- + + +"I am not surprised, my dear Mrs Clarke, at what you tell me, though +I knew nothing of it. It put me in mind of the Revd. Flethers; you +know they took time to consider. So far all is well. 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. You will always have my prayers and best wishes. Give my +kind love to dear George and tell him he is never out of my thoughts. +I have much to say, but I cannot write. I shall be glad to see you +all safe and well. Give my love to Henrietta; tell her _I_ can sing +'Gaily the Troubadour'; I only want the 'guitar.' {332a} God bless +you all." + + +There is no doubt that a very strong friendship had existed between +Mrs Clarke and Borrow during the whole time that he had been +associated with the Bible Society. She it was who had been +indirectly responsible for his introduction to Earl Street. It is +idle to speculate what it was that led Mrs Clarke to select Seville +as the place to which to fly from her enemies. There is, however, a +marked significance in old Mrs Borrow's words, "I am not surprised, +my dear Mrs Clarke, at what you tell me." Whatever his mother may +have seen, there appears to have been no thought of marriage in +Borrow's mind when, on 29th September 1839, he wrote to Mr Brandram +telling him of his wish to visit "China or particular parts of +Africa." + +Borrow paid many tributes to his wife, not only in his letters, but +in print, every one of which she seems thoroughly to have merited. +"Of my wife," he writes, {322a} "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 East Anglia." On +another occasion he praises her for more general qualities, when he +compares her to the good wife of the Triad, the perfect woman endowed +with all the feminine virtues. His wife and "old Hen." (Henrietta) +were his "two loved ones," and he subsequently shows in a score of +ways how much they had become part of his life. + +After his return to Seville, early in January, Borrow proceeded to +get his "papers into some order." There seems no doubt that this +meant preparing The Zincali for publication. In the excitement and +enthusiasm of authorship, and the pleasant company of Mrs and Miss +Clarke, he seems to have been divinely unconscious that he was under +orders to proceed home. Week after week passed without news of their +Agent in Spain reaching Earl Street, and the Officials and Committee +of the Bible Society became troubled to account for his non- +appearance. The last letter from him had been received on 13th +January. Early in March Mr Jackson wrote to Mr Brackenbury asking +for news of him. A letter to Mr Williams at Seville was enclosed, +which Mr Brackenbury had discretionary powers to withhold if he were +able to supply the information himself. Two letters that Borrow had +addressed to the Society it appears had gone astray, and as "one +steamer . . . arrived after another and yet no news from Mr Borrow," +some apprehension began to manifest itself lest misfortune had +befallen him. On the other hand, Borrow had heard nothing from the +Society for five months, the long silence making him "very, very +unhappy." + +In reply to Mr Brandram's letter Borrow wrote:- + + +"I did not return to England immediately after my departure from +Madrid for several reasons. First, there was my affair with the +Alcalde still pending; second, I wished to get my papers into some +order; third, I wished to effect a little more in the cause, though +not in the way of distribution, as I have no books: moreover the +house in which I resided was paid for and I was unwilling altogether +to lose the money; I likewise dreaded an English winter, for I have +lately been subjected to attacks, whether of gout or rheumatism I +know not, which I believe were brought on by sitting, standing and +sleeping in damp places during my wanderings in Spain. The Alcalde +has lately been turned out of his situation, but I believe more on +account of his being a Carlist than for his behaviour to me; that, +however, is of little consequence, as I have long forgotten the +affair." {323a} + + +There was no longer any reason for delay; the English winter was +over, he had one book nearly ready for publication and two others in +a state of forwardness. + + +"I embark on the third of next month [April]," he continued, "and you +will probably see me by the 16th. 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 for those regions, and shall endeavour by every +honourable means to effect my purpose." {323b} + + +These words would seem to imply that his marriage with Mrs Clarke was +by no means decided upon at the date he wrote, although during the +previous month he had been in correspondence with Mr Brackenbury +regarding Protestants in Spain being debarred from marrying. It is +inconceivable that Mrs Clarke and her daughter contemplated living in +the North of China; and equally unlikely that Mrs Clarke would marry +a potential "absentee landlord," or one who frankly confessed "I hope +yet to die in the cause of my Redeemer." + +Sidi Habismilk had at first presented a grave problem; but Mr +Brackenbury, who secured the passages on the steamer, arranged also +for the Arab to be slung aboard the Steam-Packet. On 3rd April the +whole party, including Hayim Ben Attar and Sidi Habismilk, boarded +the Royal Adelaide bound for London. + +Borrow never forgave Spain for its treatment of him, although some of +the happiest years of his life had been spent there. "The Spaniards +are a stupid, ungrateful set of ruffians," he afterwards wrote, "and +are utterly incapable of appreciating generosity or forbearance." He +piled up invective upon the unfortunate country. It was "the chosen +land of the two fiends--assassination and murder," where avarice and +envy were the prevailing passions. It was the "country of error"; +yet at the same time "the land of extraordinary characters." As he +saw its shores sinking beneath the horizon, he was mercifully denied +the knowledge that never again was he to be so happily occupied as +during the five years he had spent upon its soil distributing the +Scriptures, and using a British Minister as a two-edged sword. + +The party arrived in London on 16th April and put up at the Spread +Eagle in Gracechurch Street. On 23rd April, at St Peter's Church in +Cornhill, the wedding took place. There were present as witnesses +only Henrietta Clarke and John Pilgrim, the Norwich solicitor. In +the Register the names appear as:- + + +"George Henry Borrow--of full age--bachelor--gentleman--of the City +of Norwich--son of Thomas Borrow--Captain in the Army. + +"Mary Clarke--of full age--widow--of Spread Eagle Inn, Gracechurch +Street--daughter of Edmund Skepper--Esquire." + + +On 2nd May an announcement of the marriage appeared in The Norfolk +Chronicle. A few days later the party left for Oulton Cottage, and +Borrow became a landed proprietor on a small scale in his much-loved +East Anglia. + +On 21st April Mr Brandram had written to Borrow the following +letter:- + + +MY DEAR FRIEND,--Your later communications have been referred to our +Sub-Committee for General Purposes. After what you said yesterday in +the Committee, I am hardly aware that anything can arise out of them. +The door seems shut. The Sub-Committee meet on Friday. Will you +wish to make any communications to them as to any ulterior views that +may have occurred to yourself? I do not myself at present see any +sphere open to which your services in connection with our Society can +be transferred. . . . With best wishes--Believe me--Yours truly, + +A. BRANDRAM. + + +On 24th April, the day after Borrow's wedding, the Sub-Committee duly +met and + + +"Resolved that, upon mature consideration, it does not appear to this +Sub-Committee that there is, at present, any opening for employing Mr +Borrow beneficially as an Agent of the Society . . . and that it be +recommended to the General Committee that the salary of Mr Borrow be +paid up to the 10th June next." + + +The Bible Society's valediction, which appeared in the Thirty-Sixth +Annual Report, read:- + + +"G. Borrow, Esq., one of the gentlemen referred to in former Reports +as having so zealously exerted themselves on behalf of Spain, has +just returned home, hopeless of further attempts at present to +distribute the Scriptures in that country. Mr B. has succeeded, by +almost incredible pains, and at no small cost and hazard, in selling +during his last visit a few hundred copies of the Bible, and most +that remained of the edition of the New Testament printed in Madrid." + + +Thus ended George Borrow's activities on behalf of the British and +Foreign Bible Society, and incidentally the seven happiest and most +active years of his life. On the whole the association had been +honourable to all concerned. There had been moments of irritation +and mistakes on both sides. It would be foolish to accuse the +Society of deliberately planting obstacles in the path of its own +agent; but the unfortunate championing of Lieutenant Graydon was the +result of a very grave error of judgment. Borrow had no personal +friends among the Committee, to whom the impetuous zeal of Graydon +was more picturesque than the grave and deliberate caution of Borrow. +The Officials and Committee alike saw in Graydon the ideal Reformer, +rushing precipitately towards martyrdom, exposing Anti-Christ as he +ran. Had Borrow been content to allow others to plead his cause, the +history of his relations with the Bible Society would, in all +probability, have been different. He felt himself a grievously +injured man, who had suffered from what he considered to be the +insane antics of another, and he was determined that Earl Street +should know it. On the other hand, Mr Brandram does not appear to +have understood Borrow. He made no attempt to humour him, to praise +him for what he had done and the way in which he had done it. Praise +was meat and drink to Borrow; it compensated him for what he had +endured and encouraged him to further effort. He hungered for it, +and when it did not come he grew discouraged and thought that those +who employed him were not conscious of what he was suffering. Hence +the long accounts of what he had undergone for the Gospel's sake. + +During his six years in Spain he had distributed nearly 5000 copies +of the New Testament and 500 Bibles, also some hundreds of the Basque +and Gypsy Gospel of St Luke. These figures seem insignificant beside +those of Lieut. Graydon, who, on one occasion, sold as many as 1082 +volumes in fourteen days, and in two years printed 13,000 Testaments +and 3000 Bibles, distributing the larger part of them. During the +year 1837 he circulated altogether between five and six thousand +books. But there was no comparison between the work of the two men. +Graydon had kept to the towns and cities on the south coast; Borrow's +methods were different. He circulated his books largely among +villages and hamlets, where the population was sparse and the +opportunities of distribution small. He had gone out into the +highways, risking his life at every turn, penetrating into bandit- +infested provinces in the throes of civil war, suffering incredible +hardships and fatigues and, never sparing himself. Both men were +earnest and eager; but the Bible Society favoured the wrong man--at +least for its purposes. But for Lieut. Graydon, Borrow would in all +probability have gone to China, and what a book he would have +written, at least what letters, about the sealed East! + +Borrow, however, had nothing to complain of. He had found occupation +when he badly needed it, which indirectly was to bring him fame. He +had been well paid for his services (during the seven years of his +employment he drew some 2300 pounds in salary and expenses), his 200 +pounds a year and expenses (in Spain) comparing very favourably with +Mr Brandram's 300 pounds a year. + +He was loyal to the Bible Society, both in word and thought. He +honourably kept to himself the story of the Graydon dispute. He +spoke of the Society with enthusiasm, exclaiming, "Oh! the blood +glows in his veins! oh! the marrow awakes in his old bones when he +thinks of what he accomplished in Spain in the cause of religion and +civilisation with the colours of that society in his hat." {328a} In +spite of the misunderstandings and the rebukes he could write +fourteen years later that he "bade it adieu with feelings of love and +admiration." {328b} He "had done with Spain for ever, after doing +for her all that lay in the power of a lone man, who had never in +this world anything to depend upon, but God and his own slight +strength." {328c} In the preface to The Bible in Spain he pays a +handsome tribute to both Rule and Graydon, thus showing that although +he was a good hater, he could be magnanimous. + +It has been stated that, during a portion of his association with the +Bible Society, Borrow acted as a foreign correspondent for The +Morning Herald. Dr Knapp has very satisfactorily disproved the +statement, which the Rev. Wentworth Webster received from the Marques +de Santa Coloma. Either the Marques or Mr Webster is responsible for +the statement that Borrow was wrecked, instead of nearly wrecked, off +Cape Finisterre. As the Marques was a passenger on the boat, the +mistake must be ascribed to Mr Webster. The further statement that +Borrow was imprisoned at Pamplona by Quesada is scarcely more +credible than that about the wreck. His imprisonment could not very +well have taken place, as stated, in 1837-9, because General Quesada +was killed in 1836. Mention is made of this foreign correspondent +rumour only because it has been printed and reprinted. It may be +that Borrow was imprisoned at Pamplona during the "Veiled Period"; +there is certainly one imprisonment (according to his own statement) +unaccounted for. It is curious how the fact first became impressed +upon the Marques' mind, unless he had heard it from Borrow. It is +quite likely that he confused the date. + +It would be interesting to identify the two men whom Borrow describes +in Lavengro as being at the offices of the Bible Society in Earl +Street, when he sought to exchange for a Bible the old Apple-woman's +copy of Moll Flanders. "One was dressed in brown," he writes, "and +the other was dressed in black; both were tall men--he who was +dressed in brown was thin, and had a particularly ill-natured +countenance; the man dressed in black was bulky, his features were +noble, but they were those of a lion." {329a} Again, in The Romany +Rye, he makes the man in black say with reference to the Bible +Society:- "There is one fellow amongst them for whom we entertain a +particular aversion: a big, burly parson, with the face of a lion, +the voice of a buffalo, and a fist like a sledge-hammer." {329b} Who +these two worthies were it is impossible to say with any degree of +certainty. Caroline Fox describes Andrew Brandram no further than +that he "appeared before us once more with his shaggy eyebrows." +{329c} Mr Brandram was not thin and his countenance was not ill- +natured. + + + +CHAPTER XXI: MAY 1840-MARCH 1841 + + + +Early in May, Borrow, his wife and step-daughter left London to take +up their residence at Oulton, in Suffolk. After years of wandering +and vagabondage he was to settle down as a landed proprietor. His +income, or rather his wife's, amounted to 450 pounds per annum, and +he must have saved a considerable sum out of the 2300 pounds he had +drawn from the Bible Society, as his mother appears to have regarded +the amounts he had sent to her as held in trust. He was therefore +able to instal himself, Sidi Habismilk and the Jew of Fez upon his +wife's small estate, with every prospect of enjoying a period of +comfort and rest after his many years of wandering and adventure. + +Oulton Cottage was ideally situated on the margin of the Broad. It +was a one-storied building, with a dormer-attic above, hanging "over +a lonely lake covered with wild fowl, and girt with dark firs, +through which the wind sighs sadly. {330a} A regular Patmos, an +ultima Thule; placed in an angle of the most unvisited, out-of-the- +way portion of England." {330b} A few yards from the water's edge +stood the famous octagonal Summer-house that Borrow made his study. +Here he kept his books, a veritable "polyglot gentleman's" library, +consisting of such literary "tools" as a Lav-engro might be expected +to possess. There were also books of travel and adventure, some +chairs, a lounge and a table; whilst behind the door hung the sword +and regimental coat of the sleeping warrior to whom his younger son +had been an affliction of the spirit, because his mind pursued paths +that appeared so strangely perilous. + +Here in this Summer-house Borrow wrote his books. Here when +"sickness was in the land, and the face of nature was overcast--heavy +rain-clouds swam in the heavens--the blast howled amid the pines +which nearly surround the lonely dwelling, and the waters of the lake +which lies before it, so quiet in general and tranquil, were +fearfully agitated," Borrow shouted, "'Bring lights hither, O Hayim +Ben Attar, son of the miracle!' And the Jew of Fez brought in the +lights," {331a} and his master commenced writing a book that was to +make him famous. When tired of writing, he would sometimes sing +"strange words in a stentorian voice, while passers-by on the lake +would stop to listen with astonishment and curiosity to the singular +sounds." {331b} + +Life at Oulton Cottage was delightfully simple. Borrow was a good +host. "I am rather hospitable than otherwise," {331c} he wrote, and +thoroughly disliked anything in the nature of meanness. There was +always a bottle of wine of a rare vintage for the honoured guest. +Sometimes the host himself would hasten away to the little Summer- +house by the side of the Broad to muse, his eyes fixed upon the +military coat and sword, or to scribble upon scraps of paper that, +later, were to be transcribed by Mrs Borrow. Borrow would spend his +evenings with his wife and Henrietta, generally in reading until +bedtime. + +In the Norwich days Borrow had formed an acquaintance with another +articled-clerk named Harvey (probably one of his colleagues at Tuck's +Court). They had kindred tastes, in particular a love of the open +air and vigorous exercise. After settling at Oulton, the Borrows and +the Harveys (then living at Bury St Edmunds) became very intimate, +and frequently visited each other. Elizabeth Harvey, the daughter of +Borrow's contemporary, has given an extremely interesting account of +the home life of the Borrows. She has described how sometimes Borrow +would 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.'" +{332a} + +Miss Harvey has also given us many glimpses into Borrow's character. +"He was very fond of ghost stories," she writes, "and believed in the +supernatural." {332b} He enjoyed music of a lively description, one +of his favourite compositions being the well-known "Redowa" polka, +which he would frequently ask to have played to him again. + +As an eater Borrow was very moderate, he "took very little breakfast +but ate a very great quantity of dinner, and then had only a draught +of cold water before going to bed . . . 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." {332c} On one +occasion when he was dining with the Harveys, young Harvey, seeing +Borrow engrossed in telling of his travels, handed him dish after +dish in rapid succession, from all of which he helped himself, +entirely unconscious of what he was doing. Finally his plate was +full to overflowing, perceiving which he became very angry, and it +was some time before he could be appeased. A practical joke made no +appeal to him. {332d} + +Elizabeth Harvey also tells how, when a cousin of hers was staying at +Cromer, the landlady went to her one day and said, "O, Miss, there's +such a curious gentleman been. I don't know what to think of him, I +asked him what he would like for dinner, and he said, 'Give me a +piece of flesh.'" "What sort of gentleman was it?" enquired the +cousin, and on hearing the description recognised George Borrow, and +explained that the strange visitor merely wanted a rump-steak, a +favourite dish with him. + +As he did not shoot or hunt, he obtained exercise either by riding or +walking. At times "he suffered from sleeplessness, when he would get +up and walk to Norwich (25 miles) and return the next night +recovered" {333a} yet Borrow has said that "he always had the health +of an elephant." + +He was proud of the Church and took great pleasure in showing to his +friends the brasses it contained, including one bearing an effigy of +Sir John Fastolf, whom he considered to be the original of Falstaff. +He was also "very fond of his trees. He quite fretted if by some +mischance he lost one." {333b} + +His methods with the country people round Oulton were calculated to +earn for him a reputation for queerness. "Curiosity is the leading +feature of my character" {333c} he confessed, and the East Anglian +looks upon curiosity in others with marked suspicion. It was +impossible for Borrow to walk far without getting into conversation +with someone or other. He delighted in getting people to tell their +histories and experiences; "when they used some word peculiar to +Norfolk (or Suffolk) country men, he would say 'Why, that's a Danish +word.' By and bye the man would use another peculiar expression, +'Why, that's Saxon'; a little further 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." {334a} + +He took pleasure in puzzling people about languages. Elizabeth +Harvey tells {334b} how he once put a book before her telling her to +read it, and on her saying she could not, he replied, "You ought; +it's your own language." The volume was written in Saxon. Yet for +all this he hated to hear foreign words introduced into conversation. +When he heard such adulterations of the English language he would +exclaim jocosely, "What's that, trying to come over me with strange +languages?" {334c} + +Borrow's first thoughts on settling down were of literature. He had +material for several books, as he had informed Mr Brandram. Putting +aside, at least for the present, the translations of the ballads and +songs, he devoted himself to preparing for the press a book upon the +Spanish Gypsies. During the five years spent in Spain he had +gathered together much material. He had made notes in queer places +under strange and curious conditions, "in moments snatched from more +important pursuits--chiefly in ventas and posadas" {334d}--whilst +engaged in distributing the Gospel. It was a book of facts that he +meant to write, not theories, and if he sometimes fostered error, it +was because at the moment it was his conception of truth. Very +little remained to do to the manuscript. Mrs. Borrow had performed +her share of the work in making a fair copy for the printer. +Borrow's subsequent remark that the manuscript "was written by a +country amanuensis and probably contains many ridiculous errata," was +scarcely gracious to the wife, who seems to have comprehended so well +the first principle of wifely duty to an illustrious and, it must be +admitted, autocratic genius--viz., self-extinction. + +"No man could endure a clever wife," Borrow once confided to the +unsympathetic ear of Frances Power Cobbe; but he had married one +nevertheless. No woman whose cleverness had not reached the point of +inspiration could have lived in intimate association with so +capricious and masterful a man as George Borrow. John Hasfeldt, in +sending his congratulations, had seemed to suggest that Borrow was +one of those abstruse works of nature that require close and constant +study. "When your wife thoroughly knows you," he wrote, "she will +smooth the wrinkles on your brow and you will be so cheerful and +happy that your grey hair will turn black again." + +"In November 1840 a tall athletic gentleman in black called upon Mr +Murray, offering a manuscript for perusal and publication." {335a} +Fifteen years before, the same "tall athletic gentleman" had called a +dozen times at 50a Albemarle Street with translations of Northern and +Welsh ballads, but "never could see Glorious John." Borrow had +determined to make another attempt to see John Murray, and this time +he was successful. He submitted the manuscript of The Zincali, which +Murray sent to Richard Ford {335b} that he might pronounce upon it +and its possibilities. "I have made acquaintance," Ford wrote to H. +U. Addington, 14th Jan. 1841, "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." {335c} On Ford's advice the +book was accepted for publication, it being arranged that author and +publisher should share the profits equally between them. + +On 17th April 1841 there appeared in two volumes The Zincali; {336a} +or, An Account of the Gypsies in 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. It was dedicated to the Earl of Clarendon, +G.C.B. (Sir George Villiers), in "remembrance of the many obligations +under which your Lordship has placed me, by your energetic and +effectual interference in time of need." The first edition of 750 +copies sufficed to meet the demand of two years. Ford, however, +wrote to Murray: "The book has created a great sensation far and +wide. I was sure it would, and I hope you think that when I read the +MS. my opinion and advice were sound." {336b} + +The Zincali had been begun at Badajos with the Romany songs or rhymes +copied down as recited by his gypsy friends. To these he had +subsequently added, being assisted by a French courier, Juan Antonio +Bailly, who translated the songs into Spanish. These translations +were originally intended to be published in a separate work, as was +the Vocabulary, which forms part of The Zincali. Had Borrow sought +to make two separate works of the "Songs" and "Vocabulary," there is +very considerable doubt if they would have fared any better than the +everlasting Ab Gwilym; but either with inspiration, or acting on some +one's wise counsel, he determined to subordinate them to an account +of the Spanish Gypsies. + +As a piece of bookmaking The Zincali is by no means notable. Borrow +himself refers to it (page 354) as "this strange wandering book of +mine." In construction it savours rather of the method by which it +was originally inspired; but for all that it is fascinating reading, +saturated with the atmosphere of vagabondage and the gypsy +encampment. It was not necessarily a book for the scholar and the +philologist, many of whom scorned it on account of its rather obvious +carelessnesses and inaccuracies. Borrow was not a writer of academic +books. He lacked the instinct for research which alone insures +accuracy. + +It was particularly appropriate that Borrow's first book should be +about the Gypsies, who had always exercised so strange an attraction +for him that he could not remember the time "when the very name of +Gypsy did not awaken within me feelings hard to be described." {337a} +His was not merely an interest in their strange language, their +traditions, their folk-lore; it was something nearer and closer to +the people themselves. They excited his curiosity, he envied their +mode of life, admired their clannishness, delighted in their +primitive customs. Their persistence in warring against the gentile +appealed strongly to his instinctive hatred of "gentility nonsense"; +and perhaps more than anything else, he envied them the stars and the +sun and the wind on the heath. + +"Romany matters have always had a peculiar interest for me," {337b} +he affirms over and over again in different words, and he never lost +an opportunity of joining a party of gypsies round their camp-fire. +His knowledge of the Romany people was not acquired from books. +Apparently he had read very few of the many works dealing with the +mysterious race he had singled out for his particular attention. +With characteristic assurance he makes the sweeping assertion that +"all the books which have been published concerning them [the +Gypsies] have been written by those who have introduced themselves +into their society for a few hours, and from what they have seen or +heard consider themselves competent to give the world an idea of the +manners and customs of the mysterious Romany." {338a} + +His attitude towards the race is curious. He recognised the Gypsies +as liars, rogues, cheats, vagabonds, in short as the incarnation of +all the vices; yet their fascination for him in no way diminished. +He could mix with them, as with other vagabonds, and not become +harmed by their broad views upon personal property, or their hundred +and one tricks and dishonesties. He was a changed man when in their +company, losing all that constraint that marked his intercourse with +people of his own class. + +He had laboured hard to bring the light of the Gospel into their +lives. He made them translate for him the Scriptures into their +tongue; but it was the novelty of the situation, aided by the glass +of Malaga wine he gave them, not the beauty of the Gospel of St Luke, +that aroused their interest and enthusiasm. To this, Borrow's own +eyes were open. "They listened with admiration," he says; "but, +alas! not of the truths, the eternal truths, I was telling them, but +to find that their broken jargon could be written and read." {338b} + +On one occasion, having refused to one of his congregation the loan +of two barias (ounces of gold), he proceeded to read to the whole +assembly instead the Lord's Prayer and the Apostle's Creed in Romany. +Happening to glance up, he found not a gypsy in the room, but +squinted, "the Gypsy fellow, the contriver of the jest, squinted +worst of all. Such are Gypsies." {338c} + +It was indeed the novelty that appealed to them. They greeted with a +shout of exultation the reading aloud a translation that they +themselves had dictated; but they remained unmoved by the Christian +teaching it contained. For all these discouragements Borrow +persisted, and perhaps none of his efforts in Spain produced less +result than this "attempt to enlighten the minds of the Gitanos on +the subject of religion." {339a} + +If the Gypsies were all that is evil, judged by conventional +standards, they at least loyally stood by each other in the face of a +common foe. Borrow knew Ambrose Petulengro to be a liar, a thief, in +fact most things that it is desirable a man should not be; yet he was +equally sure that under no circumstances would he forsake a friend to +whom he stood pledged. There seems to be little doubt that Borrow's +fame with the Gypsies spread throughout England and the Continent. +"Everybody as ever see'd the white-headed Romany Rye never forgot +him." + +Borrow was by no means the first Romany Rye. From Andrew Boorde +(15th-16th Century) down the centuries they are to be found, even to +our day, in the persons of Mr Theodore Watts-Dunton and Mr John +Sampson; but Borrow was the first to bring the cult of Gypsyism into +popularity. Before he wrote, the general view of Gypsies was that +they were uncomfortable people who robbed the clothes-lines and hen- +roosts, told fortunes and incidentally intimidated the housewife if +unprotected by man or dog. Borrow changed all this. The suspicion +remained, so strongly in fact that he himself was looked at askance +for consorting with such vagabonds; but with the suspicion was more +than a spice of interest, and the Gypsies became epitomised and +immortalised in the person of Jasper Petulengro. Borrow's Gypsyism +was as unscientific as his "philology." Their language, their origin +he commented on without first acquainting himself with the literature +that had gathered round their name. Francis Hindes Groome, "that +perfect scholar-gypsy and gypsy-scholar," wrote:- + + +"The meagreness of his knowledge of the Anglo-Gypsy dialect came out +in his Word Book of the Romany (1874); there must have been over a +dozen Englishmen who have known it far better than he. For his +Spanish-Gypsy vocabulary in The Zincali he certainly drew largely +either on Richard Bright's Travels through Lower Hungary or on +Bright's Spanish authority, whatever that may have been. 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. And yet I would put George Borrow above every other writer on +the Gypsies. In Lavengro and, to a less degree, in its sequel, The +Romany Rye, he communicates a subtle insight into Gypsydom that is +totally wanting in the works--mainly philological--of Pott, Liebich, +Paspati, Miklosich, and their confreres." {340a} + + +Groome was by no means partial to Borrow, as a matter of fact he +openly taxed him {340b} with drawing upon Bright's Travels in Hungary +(Edinburgh 1819) for the Spanish-Romany Vocabulary, and was strong in +his denunciation of him as a poseur. + +Borrow scorned book-learning. Writing to John Murray, Junr. (21st +Jan. 1843), about The Bible in Spain, he says, "I was conscious that +there was vitality in the book and knew that it must sell. I read +nothing and drew entirely from my own well. I have long been tired +of books; I have had enough of them," {340c} he wrote later, and +this, taken in conjunction with another sentence, viz., "My +favourite, I might say my only study, is man," explains not only +Borrow's Gypsyism, but also his casual philology. Languages he +mostly learned that he might know men. In youth he read--he had to +do something during the long office hours, and he read Danish and +Welsh literature; but he did not trouble himself much with the +literary wealth of other countries, beyond dipping into it. He had a +brain of his own, and preferred to form theories from the knowledge +he had acquired first hand, a most excellent thing for a man of the +nature of George Borrow, but scarcely calculated to advance learning. +He hated anything academic. + + +"I cannot help thinking," he wrote, "that it was fortunate for +myself, who am, to a certain extent, a philologist, that with me the +pursuit of languages has been always modified by the love of horses . +. . I might, otherwise, have become a mere philologist; one of those +beings who toil night and day in culling useless words for some opus +magnum which Murray will never publish and nobody ever read--beings +without enthusiasm, who, having never mounted a generous steed, +cannot detect a good point in Pegasus himself." {341a} + + +This quotation clearly explains Borrow's attitude towards philology. +As he told the emigre priest, he hoped to become something more than +a philologist. + +There was nothing in the sale of The Zincali to encourage Borrow to +proceed with the other books he had partially prepared. Nearly seven +weeks after publication, scarcely three hundred copies had been sold. +In the spring of the following year (18th March) John Murray wrote: +"The sale of the book has not amounted to much since the first +publication; but in recompense for this the Yankees have printed two +editions, one for twenty pence COMPLETE." As Borrow did not benefit +from the sale of American editions, the news was not quite so +comforting as it would have been had it referred to the English +issue. + + + +CHAPTER XXII: APRIL 1841-MARCH 1844 + + + +During his wanderings in Portugal and Spain Borrow had carried out +his intention of keeping a journal, from which on several occasions +he sent transcriptions to Earl Street instead of recapitulating in +his letters the adventures that befell him. Many of his letters went +astray, which is not strange considering the state of the country. +The letters and reports that Borrow wrote to the Bible Society, which +still exist, may be roughly divided as follows + +From his introduction until the end + of the Russian expedition 17.50 +Used for The Bible in Spain 30.00 +Others written during the Spanish + and Portuguese periods and not used + for The Bible in Spain 52.50 + 100.00 + +Thirty per cent, of the whole number of the letters was all that +Borrow used for The Bible in Spain. In addition he had his Journal, +and from these two sources he obtained all the material he required +for the book that was to electrify the religious reading-public and +make famous its writer. + +Between Borrow and Ford a warm friendship had sprung up, and many +letters passed between them. Ford, who was busily engaged upon his +Hand-Book, sought Borrow's advice upon a number of points, in +particular about Gypsy matters. There was something of the same +atmosphere in his letters as in those of John Hasfeldt: a frank, +affectionate interest in Borrow and what affected him that it was +impossible to resent. "How I wish you had given us more about +yourself," he wrote to Borrow apropos of The Zincali, "instead of the +extracts from those blunder-headed old Spaniards, who knew nothing +about Gypsies! I shall give you . . . a hint to publish your whole +adventures for the last twenty years." But Hayim Ben-Attar, son of +the miracle, had already brought lights, and The Bible in Spain had +been begun. + +Ford's counsel was invariably sound and sane. He advised El Gitano, +as he sometimes called Borrow, "to avoid Spanish historians and +POETRY like Prussic acid; to stick to himself, his biography and +queer adventures," {343a} to all of which Borrow promised obedience. +Ford wrote to Borrow (Feb. 1841) suggesting that The Bible in Spain +should be what it actually was. "I am delighted to hear," he wrote, +"that you meditate giving us your travels in Spain. The more odd +personal adventures the better, and still more so if DRAMATIC; that +is, giving the exact conversations." + +In June 1841 Borrow received from Earl Street the originals of his +letters to the Bible Society, and when he was eventually called upon +to return them he retained a number, either through carelessness or +by design. It was evidently understood that there should be no +reference to any contentious matters. Borrow set to work with the +aid of his "Country Amanuensis" to transcribe such portions of the +correspondence as he required. The work proceeded slowly. + +"I still scribble occasionally for want of something better to do," +he informs John Murray, Junr. (23rd Aug. 1841), and continues: " . . +. A queer book will be this same Bible in Spain, containing all my +queer adventures in that queer country whilst engaged in distributing +the Gospel, but neither learning, nor disquisitions, fine writing, or +poetry. A book with such a title and of this description can +scarcely fail of success." + + +Through a dreary summer and autumn he wrote on complaining that there +was "scarcely a gleam of sunshine." Remote from the world "with not +the least idea of what is going on save in my immediate +neighbourhood," he wrote merely to kill time. Such an existence was, +to the last degree, uncongenial to a man who for years had been +accustomed to sunshine and a life full of incident and adventure. + +He grew restless and ill-content. He had been as free as the wind, +with occupation for brain and body. He was now, like Achilles, +brooding in his tent, and over his mind there fell a shadow of +unrest. As early as July 1841 he had thought of settling in Berlin +and devoting himself to study. Hasfeldt suggested Denmark, the land +of the Sagas. Later in the same year Africa had presented itself to +Borrow as a possible retreat, but Ford advised him against it as "the +land from which few travellers return," and told him that he had much +better go to Seville. Still later Constantinople was considered and +then the coast of Barbary. Into his letters there crept a note of +querulous complaint. John Hasfeldt besought him to remember how much +he had travelled and he would find that he had wandered enough, and +then he would accustom himself to rest. + +The manuscript of The Bible in Spain was completed early in January +(1842) and despatched to John Murray, who sent it to Richard Ford. +From the "reader's report" it is to be gathered that in addition to +the manuscript Borrow sent also the letters that he had borrowed from +the Bible Society. Ford refers to the story of the man stung to +death by vipers {344a} "in the letter of the 16th August 1837," and +advises that "Mr Borrow should introduce it into his narrative." He +further recommends him "to go carefully over the whole of his +Letters, as it is very probable that other points of interest which +they contain may have been omitted in the narrative. Some of the +most interesting letters relate to journies not given in the MS." + +The work when it reached Ford was apparently in a very rough state. +In addition to many mistakes in spelling and grammar, a number of +words were left blank. In a vast number of instances short sentences +were run together. Mrs Borrow does not appear to have been a very +successful amanuensis at this period. Perhaps the most interesting +indication of how much the manuscript, as first submitted, differed +from the published work is shown by one of Ford's criticisms:- + + +"In the narrative there are at present two breaks--one from about +March 1836 to June 1837 [Chapters XIII.-XX.],--and the other from +November 1837 to July 1839 [Chapters XXXVI.-XLIX.] + + +This represents a third of the book as finally printed. Ford +objected to the sudden ending; but Borrow made no alteration in this +respect. There were a number of other suggestions of lesser +importance in this admirable piece of technical criticism. Ford +disliked Borrow's striving to create an air of mystery as "taking an +unwarrantable liberty with the reader"; he suggested a map and a +short biographical sketch of the author, and especially the nature of +his connection with the Bible Society. Finally he gives it as his +opinion that it is neither necessary nor advisable to insert any of +his letters to the Bible Society, either in the body of the book or +as an Appendix. + + +"The Dialogues are amongst the best parts of the book," Ford wrote; +"but in several of them the tone of the speakers, of those especially +who are in humble life, is too correct and elevated, and therefore +out of character. This takes away from their effect. I think it +would be very advisable that Mr Borrow should go over them with +reference to this point, simplifying a few of the turns of expression +and introducing a few contractions--don'ts, can'ts, etc. This would +improve them greatly." + + +This criticism applies to all Borrow's books, in particular to the +passages dealing with the Gypsies, who, in spite of their love of +high-sounding words, which they frequently misuse, do not speak with +the academic precision of Borrow's works any more than do peers or +princes or even pedagogues. Borrow met Ford's criticism with the +assurance that "the lower classes in Spain are generally elevated in +their style and scarcely ever descend to vulgarity." + +Borrow's first impulse appears to have been to disregard the +suggestion that the two breaks should be filled in. On 13th Jan. he +wrote to John Murray, Junr.: + + +"I have received the MS. and likewise your kind letter . . . Pray +thank the Gentleman who perused the MS. in my name for his +suggestions, which I will attend to. [By this it is clear that +Borrow was not told that Ford was 'the Gentleman.'] I find that the +MS. was full of trifling mistakes, the fault of my amanuensis; but I +am going through it, and within three days shall have made all the +necessary corrections." + + +No man, of however sanguine a temperament, could seriously +contemplate the mere transcription of some eighty thousand words, in +addition to the correction of twice that amount of manuscript, within +three days. Nine days later Borrow wrote again to John Murray, Junr. +"We are losing time; I have corrected seven hundred CONSECUTIVE pages +of MS., and the remaining two hundred will be ready in a fortnight." +That he had taken so long was due to the fact that the greater part +of the preceding week had been occupied with other and more exciting +matters than correcting manuscript. + + +"During the last week," he continues, "I have been chiefly engaged in +horse-breaking. A most magnificent animal has found his way to this +neighbourhood--a half-bred Arabian--he is at present in the hands of +a low horse-dealer; he can be bought for eight pounds, but no person +will have him; it is said that he kills everybody who mounts him. I +have been CHARMING him, and have so far succeeded that at present he +does not fling me more than once in five minutes. What a +contemptible trade is the Author's compared to that of the jockey." + + +It was not until towards the end of February that the corrected +manuscript of the first volume of The Bible in Spain reached +Albemarle Street. Later and better counsels had apparently +prevailed, and Borrow had become reconciled to filling up the breaks. + +Borrow had other occupations than preparing his manuscript for the +printer's hands. He was ill and overwrought, and small things became +magnified out of all proportion to their actual importance. There +had been a dispute between Borrow's dog and that of the rector of +Oulton, the Rev. E. P. Denniss, and as the place was small, the dogs +met frequently and renewed their feud. Finally the masters of the +animals became involved, and an interchange of frigid notes ensued. +It appears that Borrow threatened to appeal to the Law and to the +Bishop of the Diocese, and further seems to have suggested that in +the interests of peace, the rector might do away with his own dog. +The tone of the correspondence may be gathered from the following +notes:- {347a} + + +"Mr Denniss begs to acknowledge Mr Borrow's note, and is sorry to +hear that his dog and Mr Borrow's have again fallen out. Mr Denniss +learns from his servant that Mr D's dog was no more in fault than Mr +B's, which latter is of a very quarrelsome and savage disposition, as +Mr Denniss can himself testify, as well as many other people. Mr +Denniss regrets that these two animals cannot agree when they meet, +but he must decline acceding to Mr Borrow's somewhat arbitrary +demand, conceiving he has as much right to retain a favourite, and in +reality very harmless, animal, as Mr Borrow has to keep a dog which +has once bitten Mr Denniss himself, and oftentimes attacked him and +his family. Mr Borrow is at perfect liberty to take any measure he +may deem advisable, either before the magistrates or the Bishop of +the Diocese, as Mr Denniss is quite prepared to meet them." + +"OULTON RECTORY, 22nd April 1842." + + +Borrow's reply (in the rough draft found among his papers after his +death) ran: + + +"Mr Borrow has received Mr Denniss' answer to his note. With respect +to Mr Denniss' recrimination on the quarrelsome disposition of his +harmless house-dog, Mr Borrow declines to say anything further. No +one knows better than Mr Denniss the value of his own assertions . . +. 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." + + +Borrow's most partisan admirer could not excuse the outrage to all +decency contained in the last paragraph of his note, if indeed it +were ever sent, in any other way than to plead the writer's ill- +health. + +It had been arranged that The Bible in Spain should make its +appearance in May. In July Borrow wrote showing some impatience and +urging greater expedition. + + +"What are your intentions with respect to the Bible in Spain?" he +enquires of John Murray. "I am a frank man, and frankness never +offends me. Has anybody put you out of conceit with the book? . . . +Tell me frankly and I will drink your health in Romany. Or would the +appearance of the Bible on the first of October interfere with the +avatar, first or second, of some very wonderful lion or Divinity, to +whom George Borrow, who is NEITHER, must of course give place? Be +frank with me, my dear Sir, and I will drink your health in Romany +and Madeira." + + +He goes on to offer to release John Murray from his "share in the +agreement" and complete the book himself remitting to the printer +"the necessary money for the purchase of paper." + +To Ford, who had acted as a sort of godfather to The Bible in Spain, +it was "a rum, very rum, mixture of gypsyism, Judaism, and missionary +adventure," as he informed John Murray. He read it "with great +delight," and its publisher may "depend upon it that the book will +sell, which, after all, is the rub." He liked the sincerity, the +style, the effect of incident piling on incident. It reminded him of +Gil Blas with a touch of Bunyan. Borrow is "such a TRUMP . . . as +full of meat as an egg, and a fresh-laid one." All this he tells +John Murray, and concludes with the assurance, "Borrow will lay you +golden eggs, and hatch them after the ways of Egypt; put salt on his +tail and secure him in your coop, and beware how any poacher coaxes +him with 'raisins' or reasons out of the Albemarle preserve." {349a} + +Ford was never tired of applying new adjectives to Borrow and his +work. He was "an extraordinary fellow," "this wild missionary," "a +queer chap." Borrow, on the other hand, cherished a sincere regard +for the man who had shown such enthusiasm for his work. To John +Murray, Junr., he wrote (4th April 1843): "Pray remember me to Ford, +who is no humbug and is one of the few beings that I care something +about." + +Throughout his correspondence with Borrow, Richard Ford showed a +judgment and an appreciation of what the public would be likely to +welcome that stamped him as a publishers' "reader" by instinct. Such +advice as he gave to Borrow in the following letter set up a standard +of what a book, such as Borrow had it in his power to write, actually +should be. It unquestionably influenced Borrow:- + + +10th June 1842. + +"My advice again and again is to avoid all fine writing, all +descriptions of mere scenery and trivial events. What the world +wants are racy, real, genuine scenes, and the more out of the way the +better. Poetry is utterly to be avoided. If Apollo were to come +down from Heaven, John Murray would not take his best manuscript as a +gift. Stick to yourself, to what you have seen, and the people you +have mixed with. The more you give us of odd Jewish people the +better . . . Avoid WORDS, stick to DEEDS. Never think of how you +express yourself; for good matter MUST tell, and no fine writing will +make bad matter good. Don't be afraid that what YOU may not think +good will not be thought so by others. It often happens just the +reverse . . . New facts seen in new and strange countries will please +everybody; but old scenery, even Cintra, will not. We know all about +that, and want something that we do not know . . . The grand thing is +to be bold and to avoid the common track of the silver paper, silver +fork, blue-stocking. Give us adventure, wild adventure, journals, +thirty language book, sorcery, Jews, Gentiles, rambles, and the +INTERIOR of Spanish prisons--the way you get in, the way you get out. +No author has yet given us a Spanish prison. Enter into the +iniquities, the fees, the slang, etc. It will be a little a la +Thurtell, but you see the people like to have it so. Avoid rant and +cant. Dialogues always tell; they are dramatic and give an air of +reality." + + +The Bible in Spain was published 10th December, and one of the first +copies that reached him was inscribed by the author to "Ann Borrow. +With her son's best love, 13th Decr. 1842." + +From the critics there was praise and scarcely anything but praise. +It was received as a work bearing the unmistakable stamp of genius. +Lockhart himself reviewed it in The Quarterly Review, confessing the +shame he felt at not having reviewed The Zincali. "Very good--very +clever--very neatly done. Only one fault to find--too laudatory," +was Borrow's comment upon this notice. + +And through the clamour and din of it all, old Mrs Borrow wrote to +her daughter-in-law telling her of the call of an old friend, whom +she had not seen for twenty-eight years, and who had come to talk +with her of the fame of her son, "the most remarkable man that +Dereham ever produced. Capt. Girling is a man of few words, but when +he DO speak it is to some purpose." Ford wrote also (he was always +writing impulsive, boyish letters) telling how Borrow's name would +"fill the trump of fame," and that "Murray is in high bone" about the +book. Hasfeldt wrote, too, saying that he saw his "friend 'tall +George,' wandering over the mountains until I ached in every joint +with the vividness of his descriptions." + +In all this chorus of praise there was the complaint of the Dublin +Review that "Borrow was a missionary sent out by a gang of +conspirators against Christianity." Borrow's comment upon this +notice was that "It is easier to call names and misquote passages in +a dirty Review than to write The Bible in Spain." + +A second edition of The Bible in Spain was issued in January, to +which the author contributed a preface, "very funny, but wild," he +assured John Murray, Junr., and he promised "yet another preface for +the third edition, should one be called for." The third edition +appeared in March, the fourth in June, and the fifth in July. When +the Fourth Edition was nearing completion Borrow wrote to Murray: +"Would it be as well to write a preface to this FOURTH edition with a +tirade or two against the Pope, and allusions to the Great North +Road?" To which Murray replied, "With due submission to you as +author, I would suggest that you should not abuse the Pope in the new +preface." + +In the flush of his success Borrow could afford to laugh at the few +cavilling critics. + + +"Let them call me a nonentity if they will," he wrote to John Murray, +Junr. (13th March). "I believe that some of those, who say I am a +phantom, would alter their tone provided they were to ask me to a +good dinner; bottles emptied and fowls devoured are not exactly the +feats of a phantom. No! I partake more of the nature of a Brownie +or Robin Goodfellow, goblins, 'tis true, but full of merriment and +fun, and fond of good eating and drinking." + + +America echoed back the praise and bought the book in thousands. +Publishers issued editions in Philadelphia and New York; but Borrow +did not participate in the profits, as there was then no copyright +protection for English books in the United States of America. The +Athenaeum reported (27th May 1843) that 30,000 copies had been sold +in America. "I really never heard of anything so infamous," wrote +Borrow to his wife. The only thing that America gave him was praise +and (in common with other countries) a place in its biographical +dictionaries and encyclopaedias. The Bible in Spain was translated +into French and German and subsequently (abridged) into Russian. + +What appeared to please Borrow most was Sir Robert Peel's reference +to him in the House of Commons, although he regretted the scanty +report of the speech given in the newspapers. Replying to Dr +Bowring's (at that time Borrow's friend) motion "for copies of the +correspondence of the British Government with the Porte on the +subject of the Bishop of Jerusalem," Sir Robert remarked: "If Mr +Borrow had been deterred by trifling obstacles, the circulation of +the Bible in Spain would never have been advanced to the extent which +it had happily attained. If he had not persevered he would not have +been the agent of so much enlightment." {352a} + +There were many things that contributed to the instantaneous success +of The Bible in Spain. Apart from the vivid picture that it gave of +the indomitable courage and iron determination of a man commanding +success, its literary qualities, and enthralling interest, its +greatest commercial asset lay in its appeal to the Religious Public. +Never, perhaps, had they been invited to read such a book, because +never had the Bible been distributed by so amazing a missionary as +George Borrow. Gil Blas with a touch of Bunyan, as Ford delightfully +phrased it, and not too much Bunyan. Thieves, murderers, gypsies, +bandits, prisons, wars--all knit together by the missionary work of a +man who was persona grata with every lawless ruffian he encountered, +and yet a sower of the seed. The Religious Public did not pause to +ponder over the strangeness of the situation. They had fallen among +thieves, and with breathless eagerness were prepared to enjoy to the +full the novel experience. + +Here was a religious book full of the most exquisite material thrills +without a suggestion of a spiritual moral. Criminals were +encountered, their deeds rehearsed and the customary sermon upon the +evils arising from wickedness absent. It was a stimulating drink to +unaccustomed palates. The Bible in Spain sold in its thousands. + +The accuracy of the book has never been questioned; if it had, +Borrow's letters to the Bible Society would immediately settle any +doubt that might arise. If there be one incident in the work that +appears invented, it is the story of Benedict Moll, the treasure- +hunter; yet even that is authentic. In the following letter, dated +22nd June 1839, Rey Romero, the bookseller of Santiago, refers to the +unfortunate Benedict Moll:- + + +"The German of the Treasure," he writes, "came here last year bearing +letters from the Government for the purpose of discovering it. But, +a few days after his arrival, they threw him into prison; from thence +he wrote me, making himself known as the one you introduced to me; +wherefore my son went to see him in prison. He told my son that you +also had been arrested, but I could not credit it. A short time +after, they took him off to Coruna; then they brought him back here +again, and I do not know what has become of him since." {353a} + + +Borrow now became the lion of the hour. He was feted and feasted in +London, and everybody wanted to meet the wonderful white-haired +author of The Bible in Spain. One day he is breakfasting with the +Prussian Ambassador, "with princes and members of Parliament, I was +the star of the morning," he writes to his wife. "I thought to +myself 'what a difference!'" Later he was present at a grand soiree, +"and the people came in throngs to be introduced to me. To-night," +he continues, "I am going to the Bishop of Norwich, to-morrow to +another place, and so on." {354a} + +Borrow had been much touched by the news of the death of Allan +Cunningham (1785-1842). + + +"Only think, poor Allan Cunningham dead!" he wrote to John Murray, +Junr. (25th Nov. 1842). "A young man--only fifty-eight--strong and +tall as a giant; might have lived to a hundred and one, but he +bothered himself about the affairs of this world far too much. That +statue shop was his bane; took to book making likewise, in a word too +fond of Mammon--awful death--no preparation--came literally upon him +like a thief in the dark. Am thinking of writing a short life of +him; old friend--twenty years' standing, knew a good deal about him; +Traditional Tales his best work . . . + +"Pray send Dr Bowring a copy of Bible. Lives No. 1, Queen Square, +Westminster, another old friend. Send one to Ford--capital fellow. +Respects to Mr M. God bless you. Feel quite melancholy, Ever +yours." + + +In these Jinglelike periods Borrow pays tribute to the man who +praised his Romantic Ballads and contributed a prefatory poem. He +returned to the subject ten days later in another letter to John +Murray, Junr. "I can't get poor Allan out of my head," he wrote. +"When I come up I intend to go and see his wife. What a woman!" + +Fame did not dispel from Borrow's mind the old restlessness, the +desire for action. He was still unwell, worried at the sight of +"Popery . . . springing up in every direction . . . THERE'S NO PEACE +IN THIS WORLD." {355a} A cold contracted by his wife distressed him +to the point of complaining that "there is little but trouble in this +world; I am nearly tired of it." {355b} Exercise failed to benefit +him. He was suffering from languor and nervousness. And through it +all that Spartan woman who had committed the gravest of matrimonial +errors, that of marrying a genius, soothed and comforted the sick +lion, tired even of victory. + +Small things troubled him and honours awakened in him no enthusiasm. +The Times in reviewing The Bible in Spain had inferred that he was +not a member of the Church of England, {355c} and the statement "must +be contradicted." The Royal Institution was prepared to confer an +honour upon him, and he could not make up his mind whether or not to +accept it. + + +"What would the Institute expect me to write?" he enquires of John +Murray, Junr., 25th Feb. 1843. "(I have exhausted Spain and the +Gypsies.) Would an essay on the Welsh language and literature suit, +with an account of the Celtic tongues? Or would something about the +ancient North and its literature be more acceptable? . . . Had it +been the Royal Academy, I should have consented at once, and do +hereby empower you to accept in my name any offer which may be made +from that quarter. I should very much like to become an Academician, +the thing would just suit me, more especially as 'they do not want +CLEVER men, but SAFE men.' Now I am safe enough, ask the Bible +Society, whose secrets I have kept so much to their satisfaction, +that they have just accepted at my hands an English Gypsy Gospel +gratis." {356a} + +He declined an invitation to join the Ethnological Society. + + +"Who are they?" he enquires in the same letter. "At present I am in +great demand. A Bishop has just requested me to visit him. The +worst of these Bishops is that they are all skinflints, saving for +their families; their cuisine is bad and their Port-wine execrable, +and as for their cigars--. . . " + + +Borrow strove to quiet his spirit by touring about Norfolk, "putting +up at dead of night in country towns and small villages." He +returned to Oulton at the end of a fortnight, having tired himself +and knocked up his horse. Even the news that a new edition of The +Bible in Spain was required could not awaken in him any enthusiasm. +He was glad the book had sold, as he knew it would, and he would like +a rough estimate of the profits. A few days later he writes to John +Murray, Junr., with reference to a new edition of The Zincali, saying +that he finds "that there is far more connection between the first +and second volumes than he had imagined," and begging that the +reprint may be the same as the first. "It would take nearly a month +to refashion the book," he continues, "and I believe a month's mental +labour at the present time would do me up." The weather in +particular affected, him. For years he had been accustomed to sun- +warmed Spain, and the gloom and greyness of England depressed him. + + +"Strange weather this," he had written to John Murray (31st Dec. +1842)--"very unwholesome I believe both for man and beast. Several +people dead and great mortality amongst the cattle. Am intolerably +well myself, but get but little rest--disagreeable dreams--digestion +not quite so good as I could wish--been on the water system--won't +do--have left it off, and am now taking lessons in singing." + + +Many men have earned the reputation of madness for less eccentric +actions than taking lessons in singing as a cure for indigestion, +after the failure of the water cure. + +Although he was receiving complimentary letters from all quarters and +from people he had never even heard of, he seemed acutely unhappy. + + +"I did wrong," he writes to his wife from London (29th May 1843), +"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. +I will endeavour to be home on Thursday, as I wish so much to be with +you, without whom there is no joy for me nor rest. You tell me to +ask for SITUATIONS, etc. I am not at all suited for them. My place +seems to be in our own dear cottage, where, with your help, I hope to +prepare for a better world . . . I dare say I shall be home on +Thursday, perhaps earlier, if I am unwell; for the poor bird when in +trouble has no one to fly to but his mate." And a few days later: +"I wish I had not left home. Take care of yourself. Kiss poor Hen." + + +During his stay in London, Borrow sat to Henry Wyndham Phillips, +R.A., for his portrait. {357a} On 21st June John Murray wrote: "I +have seen your portrait. Phillips is going to saw off a bit of the +panel, which will give you your proper and characteristic height. +Next year you will doubtless cut a great figure in the Exhibition. +It is the best thing young Phillips has done." The painting was +exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1844 as "George Borrow, Esq., +author of The Bible in Spain," and is now in the possession of Mr +John Murray. + +There is a story told in connection with the painting of this +portrait. Borrow was a bad sitter, and visibly chafed at remaining +indoors doing nothing. To overcome this restlessness the painter had +recourse to a clever stratagem. He enquired of his sitter if Persian +were really a fine language, as he had heard; Borrow assured him that +it was, and at Phillips' request, started declaiming at the top of +his voice, his eyes flashing with enthusiasm. When he ceased, the +wily painter mentioned other tongues, Turkish, Armenian, etc., in +each instance with the same result, and the painting of the portrait +became an easy matter. + +On 23rd June John Murray (the Second) died, at the age of sixty-five, +and was succeeded by his son. "Poor old Murray!" Ford wrote to +Borrow, "We shall never see his like again. He . . . was a fine +fellow in every respect." In another letter he refers to him as +"that Prince of Bibliophiles, poor, dear, old Murray." Borrow's own +relations with John Murray had always been most cordial. On one +occasion, when writing to his son, he says: "I shall be most happy +to see you and still more your father, whose jokes do one good. I +wish all the world were as gay as he." Then without a break, he goes +on to deplore the fact that "a gentleman drowned himself last week on +my property. I wish he had gone somewhere else." Such was George +Borrow. + +For some time past Borrow's thoughts had been directed towards +obtaining a Government post abroad. The sentence, "You tell me to +ask for situations, etc.," in a letter to his wife had reference to +this ambition. He had previously (21st June 1841) written to Lord +Clarendon suggesting for himself a consulship; but the reply had not +been encouraging. It was "quite hopeless to expect a consulship from +Lord Palmerston, the applicants were too many and the appointments +too few." + +Borrow recognised the stagnation of his present life. + + +"I wish the Government would give me some command in Ireland which +would call forth my energies," he wrote to John Murray (25th Oct. +1843). "If there be an outbreak there I shall apply to them at once, +for my heart is with them in the present matter: I hope they will be +firm, and they have nothing to fear; I am sure that the English +nation will back them, for the insolence and ingratitude of the +Irish, and the cowardice of their humbug chief, have caused universal +disgust." Later he wrote, also to John Murray, with reference to +that "trumpery fellow O'Connell . . . I wish I were acquainted with +Sir Robert Peel. I could give him many a useful hint with respect to +Ireland and the Irish. I know both tolerably well. Whenever there's +a row I intend to go over with Sidi Habismilk and put myself at the +head of a body of volunteers." + + +He had previously written "the old Duke [Wellington] will at last +give salt eel to that cowardly, bawling vagabond O'Connell." Borrow +detested O'Connell as a "Dublin bully . . . a humbug, without courage +or one particle of manly feeling." Again (17th June) he had written: +"Horrible news from Ireland. I wish sincerely the blackguards would +break out at once; they will never be quiet until they have got a +sound licking, and the sooner the better." + +The finer side of Borrow's character was shown in his eagerness to +obtain employment. There is a touch of pathos in the sight of this +knight, armed and ready to fight anything for anybody, wasting his +strength and his talents in feuds with his neighbours. + +In the profits on the old and the preparation of new editions of The +Bible in Spain, Borrow took a keen interest. The money he was making +enabled him to assist his wife in disembarrassing her estate. "I +begin to take considerable pleasure in making money," he wrote to his +publisher, "which I hope is a good sign; for what is life unless we +take pleasure in something?" Again he enquires, "Why does not the +public call for another edition of them [The Gypsies of Spain]. You +see what an unconscionable rascal I am becoming." During his +lifetime Borrow received from the firm of Murray, 3437 pounds, 19s., +most of which was on account of The Bible in Spain and, consequently, +was paid to him during the first years of his association with +Albemarle Street. + +Caroline Fox gives an interesting picture of Borrow at this period as +he appeared to her:- + + +"25th Oct. 1843. + +"Catherine Gurney gave us a note to George Borrow, so on him we +called,--a tall, ungainly, uncouth man, with great physical strength, +a quick penetrating eye, a confident manner, and a disagreeable tone +and pronunciation. He was sitting on one side of the fire, and his +old mother on the other. His spirits always sink in wet weather, and +to-day was very rainy, but he was courteous and not displeased to be +a little lionised, for his delicacy is not of the most susceptible. +He talked about Spain and the Spaniards; the lowest classes of whom, +he says, are the only ones worth investigating, the upper and middle +class being (with exceptions, of course) mean, selfish, and proud +beyond description. They care little for Roman Catholicism, and bear +faint allegiance to the Pope. They generally lead profligate lives, +until they lose all energy and then become slavishly superstitious. +He said a curious thing of the Esquimaux, namely, that their language +is a most complex and highly artificial one, calculated to express +the most delicate metaphysical subtleties, yet they have no +literature, nor are there any traces of their ever having had one--a +most curious anomaly; hence he simply argues that you can ill judge +of a people by their language." {360a} + + +One of the strangest things about Borrow's personality was that it +almost invariably struck women unfavourably. That he himself was not +indifferent to women is shown by the impression made upon him by the +black eyes of one of the Misses Mills of Saxham Hall, where he was +taken to dinner by Dr Hake, who states that "long afterwards, his +inquiries after the black eyes were unfailing." {360b} He was also +very kind and considerate to women. "He was very polite and +gentlemanly in ladies' society, and we all liked him," wrote one +woman friend {360c} who frequently accompanied him on his walks. She +has described him as walking along "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." {360d} + + + +CHAPTER XXIII: MARCH 1844-1848 + + + +In March 1844 Borrow, unable longer to control the Wanderlust within +him, gave up the struggle, and determined to make a journey to the +East. He was in London on the 20th, as Lady Eastlake (then Miss +Elizabeth Rigby) testifies in her Journal. "Borrow came in the +evening," she writes: "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 wrong-headed determination." {361a} + +He left London towards the end of April for Paris, from which he +wrote to John Murray, 1st May + + +"Vidocq wishes very much to have a copy of my Gypsies of Spain, and +likewise one of the Romany Gospels. On the other side you will find +an order on the Bible Society for the latter, and perhaps you will be +so kind as to let one of your people go to Earl Street to procure it. +You would oblige me by forwarding it to your agent in Paris, the +address is Monsr. Vidocq, Galerie Vivienne, No. 13 . . . V. is a +strange fellow, and amongst other things dabbles in literature. He +is meditating a work upon Les Bohemiens, about whom I see he knows +nothing at all. I have no doubt that the Zincali, were it to fall +into his hands, would be preciously gutted, and the best part of the +contents pirated. By the way, could you not persuade some of the +French publishers to cause it to be translated, in which event there +would be no fear. Such a work would be sure to sell. I wish Vidocq +to have a copy of the book, but I confess I have my suspicions; he is +so extraordinarily civil." + + +From Paris he proceeded to Vienna, and thence into Hungary and +Transylvania, where he remained for some months. He is known to have +been "in the steppe of Debreczin," {362a} to Koloszvar, through Nagy- +Szeben, or Hermannstadt, on his journey through Roumania to +Bucharest. He visited Wallachia "for the express purpose of +discoursing with the Gypsies, many of whom I found wandering about." +{362b} + +So little is known of Borrow's Eastern Journey that the following +account, given by an American, has a peculiar interest:- + + +"My companions, as we rode along, related some marvellous stories of +a certain English traveller who had been here [near Grosswardein] and +of his influence over the Gypsies. One of them said that he was +walking out with him one day, when they met a poor gypsy woman. The +Englishman addressed her in Hungarian, and she answered in the usual +disdainful way. He changed his language, however, and spoke a word +or two in an unknown tongue. The woman's face lighted up in an +instant, and she replied in the most passionate, eager way, and after +some conversation dragged him away almost with her. After this the +English gentleman visited a number of their most private gatherings +and was received everywhere as one of them. He did more good among +them, all said, than all the laws over them, or the benevolent +efforts for them, of the last half century. 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." {362c} + +This was the fame most congenial to Borrow's strange nature. +Dinners, receptions, and the like caused him to despise those who +found pleasure in such "crazy admiration for what they called +gentility." It was his foible, as much as "gentility nonsense" was +theirs, to find pleasure in the role of the mysterious stranger, who +by a word could change a disdainful gypsy into a fawning, awe- +stricken slave. Fame to satisfy George Borrow must carry with it +something of the greatness of Olympus. + +A glimpse of Borrow during his Eastern tour is obtained from Mrs +Borrow's letters to John Murray. After telling him that she +possesses a privilege which many wives do not (viz.), permission to +open her Husband's letters during his absence, she proceeds:- + + +"The accounts from him are, I am thankful to say, very satisfactory. +It is extraordinary with what marks of kindness even Catholics of +distinction treat him when they know who he is, but it is clearly his +gift of tongues which causes him to meet with so many adventures, +several of which he has recorded of a most singular nature." {363a} + + +At Vienna Borrow had arranged to wait until he should receive a +letter from his wife, "being very anxious to know of his family," as +Mrs Borrow informed John Murray (24th July). + + +"Thus far," she continues, "thanks be to God, he has prospered in his +journey. Many and wonderful are the adventures he has met with, +which I hope at no distant period may be related to his friends. +Doctor Bowring was very kind in sending me flattering tidings of my +Husband." + + +Borrow was at Constantinople on 17th Sept. when he drew on his letter +of credit. Leland tells an anecdote about Borrow at Constantinople; +but it must be remembered that it was written when he regarded Borrow +with anything but friendly feelings:- + + +"Sir Patrick Colquhoun told me that once when he was at +Constantinople, Mr Borrow came there, and gave it out that he was a +marvellous Oriental scholar. But there was great scepticism on this +subject at the Legation, and one day at the table d'hote, where the +great writer and divers young diplomatists dined, two who were seated +on either side of Borrow began to talk Arabic, speaking to him, the +result being that he was obliged to confess that he not only did not +understand what they were saying, but did not even know what the +language was. Then he was tried in Modern Greek, with the same +result." {364a} + + +The story is obviously untrue. Had Borrow been ignorant of Arabic he +would not have risked writing to Dr Bowring (11th Sept. 1831; see +ante, page 85) expressing his enthusiasm for that language. Arabic +had, apparently, formed one of the subjects of his preliminary +examination at Earl Street. With regard to Modern Greek he confessed +in a letter to Mr Brandram (12th June 1839), "though I speak it very +ill, I can make myself understood." + +Having obtained a Turkish passport, and after being presented to +Abdul Medjid, the Sultan, Borrow proceeded to Salonika and, crossing +Thessaly to Albania, visited Janina and Prevesa. He passed over to +Corfu, and saw Venice and Rome, returning to England by way of +Marseilles, Paris and Havre. He arrived in London on 16th November, +after nearly seven months' absence, to find his "home particularly +dear to me . . . after my long wanderings." + +It is curious that he should have left no record of this expedition; +but if he made notes he evidently destroyed them, as, with the +exception of a few letters, nothing was found among his papers +relating to the Eastern tour. There is evidence that he was occupied +with his pen during this journey, in the existence at the British +Museum of his Vocabulary of the Gypsy Language as spoken in Hungary +and Transylvania, compiled during an intercourse of some months with +the Gypsies in those parts in the year 1844, by George Borrow. In +all probability he prepared his Bohemian Grammar at the same time. +{365a} + +From the time that he became acquainted with Borrow, Richard Ford had +constituted himself the genius of La Mezquita (the Mosque), as he +states the little octagonal Summer-house was called. He was for ever +urging in impulsive, polyglot letters that the curtain to be lifted. +"Publish your WHOLE adventures for the last twenty years," he had +written. {365b} Ford saw that a man of Borrow's nature must have had +astonishing adventures, and with HIS pen would be able to tell them +in an astonishing manner. + +As early as the summer of 1841 Borrow appears to have contemplated +writing his Autobiography. On the eve of the appearance of The Bible +in Spain (17th Dec.) he wrote to John Murray: "I hope our book will +be successful; if so, I shall put another on the stocks. Capital +subject: early life; studies and adventures; some account of my +father, William Taylor, Whiter, Big Ben, etc. etc." + +The first draft of notes for Lavengro, an Autobiography, as the book +was originally advertised in the announcement, is extremely +interesting. It runs:- + + +"Reasons for studying languages: French, Italian, D'Eterville. +Southern tongues. Dante. +Walks. The Quaker's Home, Mousehold. Petulengro. +The Gypsies. +The Office. Welsh. Lhuyd. +German. Levy. Billy Taylor. +Danish. Kaempe Viser. Billy Taylor. Dinner. +Bowring. +Hebrew. The Jew. +Philosophy. Radicalism. Ranters. +Thurtell. Boxers. Petulengres." {365c} + + +Lavengro was planned in 1842 and the greater part written before the +end of the following year, although the work was not actually +completed until 1846. There are numerous references in Borrow's +letters of this period to the book on which he was then engaged, and +he invariably refers to it as his Life. On 21st January 1843 he +writes to John Murray, Junr.: "I meditate shortly a return to +Barbary in quest of the Witch Hamlet, and my adventures in the land +of wonders will serve capitally to fill the thin volume of My Life, a +Drama, By G. B." Again and again Borrow refers to My Life. Hasfeldt +and Ford also wrote of it as the "wonderful life" and "the +Biography." + +In his letters to John Murray, Borrow not only refers to the book as +his Life, but from time to time gives crumbs of information +concerning its progress. The Secretary of the Bible Society has just +lent him his letters from Russia, "which will be of great assistance +in the Life, as I shall work them up as I did those relating to +Spain. The first volume," he continues, "will be devoted to England +entirely, and my pursuits and adventures in early life." He +recognises that he must be careful of the reputation that he has +earned. His new book is to be original, as would be seen when it at +last appears; but he confesses that occasionally he feels +"tremendously lazy." On another occasion (27th March 1843) he writes +to John Murray, Junr.: "I hope by the end of next year that I shall +have part of my life ready for the press in 3 vols." Six months +later (2nd Oct. 1843) he writes to John Murray:- + + +"I wish I had another Bible ready; but slow and sure is my maxim. +The book which I am at present about will consist, if I live to +finish it of a series of Rembrandt pictures interspersed here and +there with a Claude. I shall tell the world of my parentage, my +early thoughts and habits; how I became a sap-engro, or viper- +catcher; my wanderings with the regiment in England, Scotland and +Ireland . . . Then a great deal about Norwich, Billy Taylor, +Thurtell, etc.; how I took to study and became a lav-engro. What do +you think of this as a bill of fare for the FIRST Vol.? The second +will consist of my adventures in London as an author in the year '23 +(sic), adventures on the Big North Road in '24 (sic), Constantinople, +etc. The third--but I shall tell you no more of my secrets." + + +In a letter to John Murray (25th Oct. 8843), the title is referred to +as Lavengro: A Biography. It is to be "full of grave fun and solemn +laughter like the Bible." On 6th December he again writes:- + + +"I do not wish for my next book to be advertised yet; I have a +particular reason. The Americans are up to everything which affords +a prospect of gain, and I should not wonder that, provided I were to +announce my title, and the book did not appear forthwith, they would +write one for me and send forth their trash into the world under my +name. For my own part I am in no hurry," he proceeds. "I am writing +to please myself, and am quite sure that if I can contrive to please +myself, I shall please the public also. Had I written a book less +popular than the Bible, I should be less cautious; but I know how +much is expected from me, and also know what a roar of exultation +would be raised by my enemies (and I have plenty) were I to produce +anything that was not first rate." + + +Time after time he insists upon his determination to publish nothing +that is not "as good as the last." "I shall go on with my Life," he +writes, to Ford (9th Feb. 1844), "but slowly and lazily. What I +write, however, is GOOD. I feel it is good, strange and wild as it +is." {367a} + +From 24th-27th Jan. 1844 that "most astonishing fellow" Richard Ford +visited Borrow at Oulton, urging again in person, most likely, the +lifting of the veil that obscured those seven mysterious years. Ford +has himself described this visit to Borrow in a letter written from +Oulton Hall. + + +"I am here on a visit to El Gitano;" he writes, "two 'rum' coves, in +a queer country . . . we defy the elements, and chat over las cosas +de Espana, and he tells me portions of his life, more strange even +than his book. We scamper by day over the country in a sort of gig, +which reminds me of Mr Weare on his trip with Mr THURTELL [Borrow's +old preceptor]; 'Sidi Habismilk' is in the stable and a Zamarra +[sheepskin coat] now before me, writing as I am in a sort of summer- +house called La Mezquita, in which El Gitano concocts his +lucubrations, and PAINTS his pictures, for his object is to colour up +and poetise his adventures." + + +By this last sentence Ford showed how thoroughly he understood +Borrow's literary methods. A fortnight later Borrow writes to Ford:- + + +"You can't think how I miss you and our chats by the fireside. The +wine, now I am alone, has lost its flavour, and the cigars make me +ill. I am frequently in my valley of the shadows, and had I not my +summer jaunt [the Eastern Tour] to look forward to, I am afraid it +would be all up with your friend and Batushka." + + +The Eastern Tour considerably interfered with the writing of +Lavengro. There was a seven months' break; but Borrow settled down +to work on it again, still determined to take his time and produce a +book that should be better than The Bible in Spain. + +Ford's Hand-Book for Travellers in Spain and Readers at Home appeared +in 1845, a work that had cost its author upwards of sixteen years of +labour. In a letter to Borrow he characterised it as "a RUM book and +has queer stuff in it, although much expurgated for the sake of +Spain." Ford was very anxious that Borrow should keep the promise +that he had given two years previously to review the Hand-Book when +it appeared. "You will do it MAGNIFICENTLY. 'Thou art the man,'" +Ford had written with the greatest enthusiasm. On 2nd June an +article of thirty-seven folio pages was despatched by Borrow to John +Murray for The Quarterly Review, with the following from Mrs Borrow:- + + +"With regard to the article, it must not be received as a specimen of +what Mr Borrow would have produced had he been well, but he +considered his promise to Mr Ford sacred--and it is only to be wished +that it had been written under more favourable circumstances." +Borrow was ill at the time, having been "very unwell for the last +month," as Mrs Borrow explains, "and particularly so lately. +Shivering fits have been succeeded by burning fever, till his +strength was much reduced; and he at present remains in a low, and +weak state, and what is worse, we are by no means sure that the +disease is subdued." + + +Ford saw in Borrow "a crack reviewer." " . . . You have," he assured +him in 1843, "only to write a LONG LETTER, having read the book +carefully and thought over the subject." Ford also wrote to Borrow +(26th Oct. 1843): "I have written several letters to Murray +recommending them to BAG you forthwith, unless they are demented." +There was no doubt in his, Ford's, mind as to the acceptance of +Borrow's article. + + +"If insanity does not rule the Q. R. camp, they will embrace the +offer with open arms in their present Erebus state of dullness," he +tells Borrow, then, with a burst of confidence continues, "But, +barring politics, I confidentially tell you that the Ed[inburgh] Rev. +does business in a more liberal and more business-like manner than +the Q[uarterly] Rev. I am always dunning this into Murray's head. +More flies are caught with honey than vinegar. Soft sawder, +especially if plenty of GOLD goes into the composition, cements a +party and keeps earnest pens together. I grieve, for my heart is +entirely with the Q. R., its views and objects." + + +The article turned out to be, not a review of the Hand-Book, but a +bitter attack on Spain and her rulers. The second part was to some +extent germane to the subject, but it appears to have been more +concerned with Borrow's view of Spain and things Spanish than with +Ford's book. Lockhart saw that it would not do. In a letter to John +Murray he explains very clearly and very justly the objections to +using the article as it stood. + + +"I am very sorry," he writes (13th June), "after Borrow has so kindly +exerted himself during illness, that I must return his paper. I read +the MS. with much pleasure; but clever and brilliant as he is sure +always to be, it was very evident that he had not done such an +article as Ford's merits required; and I therefore intended to adopt +Mr Borrow's lively diatribe, but interweave with his matter and add +to it, such observations and extracts as might, I thought, complete +the paper in a REVIEW SENSE. + +"But it appears that Mr B. won't allow anybody to tamper with his +paper; therefore here it is. It will be highly ornamental as it +stands to any Magazine, and I have no doubt either Blackwood or +Fraser or Colburn will be [only] too happy to insert it next month, +if applied to now. + +"Mr Borrow would not have liked that, when his Bible in Spain came +out, we should have printed a brilliant essay by Ford on some point +of Spanish interest, but including hardly anything calculated to make +the public feel that a new author of high consequence had made his +appearance among us--one bearing the name, not of Richard Ford, but +of George Borrow." + + +Lockhart was right and Borrow was wrong. There is no room for +equivocation. Borrow should have sunk his pride in favour of his +friendship for Ford, who had, even if occasionally a little tedious +in his epistolary enthusiasm, always been a loyal friend; but Borrow +was ill and excuses must be made for him. Lockhart wrote also to +Ford describing Borrow's paper as "just another capital chapter of +his Bible in Spain," which he had read with delight, but there was +"hardly a word of REVIEW, and no extract giving the least notion of +the peculiar merits and style especially, of the Hand-Book." "He is +unwell," continued Lockhart, "I should be very sorry to bother him +more at present; and, moreover, from the little he has said of your +STYLE, I am forced to infer that a REVIEW of your book by him would +never be what I could feel authorised to publish in the Q. R." The +letter concludes with a word of condolence that the Hand-Book will +have to be committed to other hands. + +Ford realised the difficulty of the situation in which he was placed, +and strove to wriggle out of it by telling Borrow that his wife had +said all along that + + +"'Borrow can't write anything dull enough for your set; I wonder how +I ever married one of them,'--I hope and trust you will not cancel +the paper, for we can't afford to lose a scrap of your queer sparkle +and 'thousand bright daughters circumvolving.' I have recommended +its insertion in Blackwood, Fraser, or some of those clever +Magazines, who will be overjoyed to get such a hand as yours, and I +will bet any man 5 pounds that your paper will be the most popular of +all they print." + + +It is evident that Ford was genuinely distressed, and in his anxiety +to be loyal to his friend rather overdid it. His letter has an air +of patronage that the writer certainly never intended. The +outstanding feature is its absolute selflessness. Ford never seems +to think of himself, or that Borrow might have made a concession to +their friendship. Happy Ford! The unfortunate episode estranged +Borrow from Ford. Letters between them became less and less frequent +and finally ceased altogether, although Borrow did not forget to send +to his old friend a copy of Lavengro when it appeared. + +Worries seemed to rain down upon Borrow's head about this time. +Samuel Morton Peto (afterwards Sir Samuel) had decided to enrich +Lowestoft by improving the harbour and building a railway to Reedham, +about half-way between Yarmouth and Norwich. He was authorised by +Parliament and duly constructed his line, which not even Borrow's +anger could prevent from passing through the Oulton Estate, between +the Hall and the Cottage. Borrow could not fight an Act of +Parliament, which forced him to cross a railway bridge on his way to +church; but he never forgave the man who had contrived it, or his +millions. His first thought had been to fly before the invader. All +quiet would be gone from the place. "Sell and be off," advised Ford; +"I hope you will make the railway pay dear for its whistle," quietly +observed John Murray. At first Borrow was inclined to take Ford's +advice and settle abroad; but subsequently relinquished the idea. + +He was not, however, the man quietly to sit down before what he +conceived to be an unjustifiable outrage to his right to be quiet. +He never forgave railways, although forced sometimes to make use of +them. Samuel Morton Peto became to him the embodiment of evil, and +as "Mr Flamson flaming in his coach with a million" he is +immortalised in The Romany Rye. + +It is said that Sir Samuel boasted that he had made more than the +price he had paid for Borrow's land out of the gravel he had taken +from off it. On one occasion, after he had bought Somerleyton Hall, +happening to meet Borrow, he remarked that he never called upon him, +and Borrow remembering the boast replied, "I call on you! Do you +think I don't read my Shakespeare? Do you think I don't know all +about those highwaymen Bardolph and Peto?" {372a} + +The neighbourhood of Oulton appears to have been infested with +thieves, and poachers found admirable "cover" in the surrounding +plantations, or small woods. On several occasions Borrow himself had +been attacked at night on the highway between Lowestoft and Oulton. +Once he had even been shot at and nearly overpowered. John Murray +(the Second) on hearing of one of these assaults had written (1841) +artfully enquiring, "Were your wood thieves Gypsies, and have the +Cales got notice of your publication [The Zincali]?" + +Borrow had written to John Murray, Junr. (10th May 1842):- + + +"I have been dreadfully unwell since I last heard from you--a regular +nervous attack. At present I have a bad cough, caught by getting up +at night in pursuit of poachers and thieves. A horrible +neighbourhood this--not a magistrate dares do his duty." On 18th +September 1843 he again wrote to John Murray: "One of the +Magistrates in this district is just dead. Present my compliments to +Mr Gladstone and tell him that the The Bible in Spain would have no +objection to become 'a great unpaid!'" + + +Gladstone is said greatly to have admired The Bible in Spain, even to +the extent of writing to John Murray counselling him to have amended +a passage that he considered ill-advised. Gladstone's letter was +sent on to Borrow, and he acknowledges its receipt (6th November +1843) in the following terms:- + + +"Many thanks for the perusal of Mr Gladstone's letter. I esteem it a +high honour that so distinguished a man should take sufficient +interest in a work of mine as to suggest any thing in emendation. I +can have no possible objection to modify the passage alluded to. It +contains some strong language, particularly the sentence about the +scarlet Lady, which it would be perhaps as well to omit." + + +The offending passage was that in which Borrow says, when describing +the interior of the Mosque at Tangier: "I looked around for the +abominable thing, and found it not; no scarlet strumpet with a crown +of false gold sat nursing an ugly changeling in a niche." In later +editions the words "no scarlet strumpet," etc., were changed to "the +besetting sin of the pseudo-Christian Church did not stare me in the +face in every corner." + +The amendment was little likely to please a Churchman of Gladstone's +calibre, or procure for the writer the magistracy he coveted, even if +it had been made less grudgingly. "We must not make any further +alterations here," Borrow wrote to Murray a few days later, +"otherwise the whole soliloquy, which is full of vigor and poetry, +and moreover of TRUTH, would be entirely spoiled. As it is, I cannot +help feeling that [it] is considerably damaged." There seems very +little doubt that this passage was referred to in the letter that +John Murray encloses in his of 10th July 18431 with this reference: +"(The writer of the enclosed note is a worthy canon of St Paul's, and +has evidently seen only the 1st edition)." Borrow replied:- + + +"Pray present my best respects to the Canon of St Paul's and tell him +from me that he is a burro, which meaneth Jackass, and that I wish he +would mind his own business, which he might easily do by attending a +little more to the accommodation of the public in his ugly +Cathedral." + + +Borrow appears to have set his mind on becoming a magistrate. He had +written to Lockhart (November 1843) enquiring how he had best proceed +to obtain such an appointment. Lockhart was not able to give him any +very definite information, his knowledge of such things, as he +confessed, "being Scotch." For the time being the matter was allowed +to drop, to be revived in 1847 by a direct application from Borrow to +Lord Clarendon to support his application with the Lord Chancellor. +His claims were based upon (1) his being a large landed-proprietor in +the district (Mrs Borrow had become the owner of the Oulton Hall +Estate during the previous year); (2) the fact that the neighbourhood +was over-run with thieves and undesirable characters; (3) that there +was no magistrate residing in the district. Lord Clarendon promised +his good offices, but suggested that as all such appointments were +made through the Lord-Lieutenant of the County, the Earl of +Stradbroke had better be acquainted with what was taking place. This +was done through the Hon. Wm. Rufus Rous, Lord Stradbroke's brother, +whose interest was obtained by some of Borrow's friends. + +After a delay of two months, Lord Stradbroke wrote to Lord Clarendon +that he was quite satisfied with "the number and efficiency of the +Magistrates" and also with the way in which the Petty Sessions were +attended. He could hear of no complaint, and when the time came to +increase the number of J.P.'s, he would be pleased to add Borrow's +name to the list, provided he were advised to do so by "those +gentlemen residing in the neighbourhood, who, living on terms of +intimacy with them [the Magistrates], will be able to maintain that +union of good feeling which . . . exists in all our benches of Petty +Sessions." + +Borrow would have made a good magistrate, provided the offender were +not a gypsy. He would have caused the wrong-doer more fear the +instrument of the law rather than the law itself, and some of his +sentences might possibly have been as summary as those of Judge +Lynch. + + +"It was a fine thing," writes a contemporary, "to see the great man +tackle a tramp. Then he scented the battle from afar, bearing down +on the enemy with a quivering nostril. If the nomad happened to be a +gypsy he was courteously addressed. But were he a mere native +tatterdemalion, inclined to be truculent, Borrow's coat was off in a +moment, and the challenge to decide there and then who was the better +man flung forth. I have never seen such challenges accepted, for +Borrow was robust and towering." {375a} + + +It is not strange that Borrow's application failed; for he never +refused leave to the gypsies to camp upon his land, and would +sometimes join them beside their campfires. Once he took a guest +with him after dinner to where the gypsies were encamped. They +received Borrow with every mark of respect. Presently he "began to +intone to them a song, written by him in Romany, which recounted all +their tricks and evil deeds. The gypsies soon became excited; then +they began to kick their property about, such as barrels and tin +cans; then the men began to fight and the women to part them; an +uproar of shouts and recriminations set in, and the quarrel became so +serious that it was thought prudent to quit the scene." {376a} "In +nothing can the character of a people be read with greater certainty +and exactness than in its songs," {376b} Borrow had written. {376c} + +These disappointments tended to embitter Borrow, who saw in them only +a conspiracy against him. There is little doubt that Lord +Stradbroke's enquiries had revealed some curious gossip concerning +the Master of Oulton Hall, possibly the dispute with his rector over +the inability of their respective dogs to live in harmony; perhaps +even the would-be magistrate's predilection for the society of +gypsies, and his profound admiration for "the Fancy" had reached the +Lord-Lieutenant's ears. + +The unfortunate and somewhat mysterious dispute with Dr Bowring was +another anxiety that Borrow had to face. He had once remarked, "It's +very odd, Bowring, that you and I have never had a quarrel." {376d} +In the summer of 1842 he and Bowring seem to have been on excellent +terms. Borrow wrote asking for the return of the papers and +manuscripts that had remained in Bowring's hands since 1829, when the +Songs of Scandinavia was projected, as Borrow hoped to bring out +during the ensuing year a volume entitled Songs of Denmark. The +cordiality of the letter may best be judged by the fact that in it he +announces his intention of having a copy of the forthcoming Bible in +Spain sent "to my oldest, I may say my ONLY friend." + +In 1847 Bowring wrote to Borrow enquiring as to the Russian route +through Kiakhta, and asking if he could put him in the way of +obtaining the information for the use of a Parliamentary Committee +then enquiring into England's commercial relations with China. +Borrow's reply is apparently no longer in existence; but it drew from +Bowring another letter raising a question as to whether "'two hundred +merchants are allowed to visit Pekin every three years.' Are you +certain this is in practice now? Have you ever been to Kiakhta?" It +would appear from Bowring's "if summoned, your expenses must be paid +by the public," that Borrow had suggested giving evidence before the +Committee, hence Bowring's question as to whether Borrow could speak +from personal knowledge of Kiakhta. + +Borrow's claim against Bowring is that after promising to use all his +influence to get him appointed Consul at Canton, he obtained the post +for himself, passing off as his own the Manchu-Tartar New Testament +that Borrow had edited in St Petersburg. There is absolutely no +other evidence than that contained in Borrow's Appendix to The Romany +Rye. There is very little doubt that Bowring was a man who had no +hesitation in seizing everything that presented itself and turning +it, as far as possible, to his own uses. In this he was doing what +most successful men have done and will continue to do. He had been +kind to Borrow, and had helped him as far as lay in his power. He no +doubt obtained all the information he could from Borrow, as he would +have done from anyone else; but he never withheld his help. It has +been suggested that he really did mention Borrow as a candidate for +the Consulship and later, when in financial straits and finding that +Borrow had no chance of obtaining it, accepted Lord Palmerston's +offer of the post for himself. It is, however, idle to speculate +what actually happened. What resulted was that Bowring as the "Old +Radical" took premier place in the Appendix-inferno that closed The +Romany Rye. {378a} + +Fate seemed to conspire to cause Borrow chagrin. Early in 1847 it +came to his knowledge that there were in existence some valuable +Codices in certain churches and convents in the Levant. In +particular there was said to be an original of the Greek New +Testament, supposed to date from the fourth century, which had been +presented to the convent on Mount Sinai by the Emperor Justinian. +Borrow received information of the existence of the treasure, and +also a hint that with a little address, some of these priceless +manuscripts might be secured to the British Nation. It was even +suggested that application might be made to the Government by the +Trustees of the British Museum. {378b} Borrow's reply to this was an +intimation that if requested to do so he would willingly undertake +the mission. Nothing, however, came of the project, and the +remainder of the manuscript of the Greek Testament (part of it had +been acquired in 1843 by Tischendorf) was presented by the monks to +Alexander II. and it is now in the Imperial Library at St Petersburg. + +The information as to the existence of the manuscripts, it is +alleged, was given to the Museum Trustees by the Hon. Robert Curzon, +who had travelled much in Egypt and the Holy Land. It was certainly +no fault of his that the mission was not sent out, and Borrow's +subsequent antagonism to him and his family is difficult to +understand and impossible to explain. + +Borrow had achieved literary success: before the year 1847 The +Zincali was in its Fourth Edition (nearly 10,000 copies having been +printed) and The Bible in Spain had reached its Eighth Edition +(nearly 20,000 copies having been printed). He was an unqualified +success; yet he had been far happier when distributing Testaments in +Spain. The greyness and inaction of domestic life, even when +relieved by occasional excursions with Sidi Habismilk and the Son of +the Miracle, were irksome to his temperament, ever eager for +occupation and change of scene. He was like a war-horse champing his +bit during times of peace. + + +"Why did you send me down six copies [of The Zincali]?" he bursts out +in a letter to John Murray (29th Jan. 1846). "Whom should I send +them to? Do you think I have six friends in the world? Two I have +presented to my wife and daughter (in law). I shall return three to +you by the first opportunity." + + +In 1847, through the Harveys, he became acquainted with Dr Thomas +Gordon Hake, who was in practice at Brighton 1832-37 and at Bury St +Edmunds 1839-53, and who was also a poet. The two families visited +each other, and Dr Hake has left behind him some interesting stories +about, and valuable impressions of, Borrow. Dr Hake shows clearly +that he did not allow his friendship to influence his judgment when +in his Memoirs he described Borrow as + + +"one of those whose mental powers are strong, and whose bodily frame +is yet stronger--a conjunction of forces often detrimental to a +literary career, in an age of intellectual predominance. His temper +was good and bad; his pride was humility; his humility was pride; his +vanity in being negative, was one of the most positive kind. He was +reticent and candid, measured in speech, with an emphasis that made +trifles significant." {379a} + + +This rather laboured series of paradoxes quite fails to give a +convincing impression of the man. A much better idea of Borrow is to +be found in a letter (1847) by a fellow-guest at a breakfast given by +the Prussian Ambassador. He writes that 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." {380a} + + +Abandoning paradox, Dr Hake is more successful in his description of +Borrow's person. + + +"His figure was tall," he tells us, "and his bearing very noble; he +had a finely moulded head, and thick white hair--white from his +youth; his brown eyes were soft, yet piercing; his nose somewhat of +the 'semitic' type, which gave his face the cast of the young Memnon. +His mouth had a generous curve; and his features, for beauty and true +power, were such as can have no parallel in our portrait gallery." + + +When not occupied in writing, Borrow would walk about the estate with +his animals, between whom and their master a perfect understanding +existed. Sidi Habismilk would come to a whistle and would follow him +about, and his two dogs and cat would do the same. When he went for +a walk the dogs and cat would set out with him; but the cat would +turn back after accompanying him for about a quarter of a mile. +{381a} + +The two young undergraduates who drove in a gig from Cambridge to +Oulton to pay their respects to Borrow (circa 1846) described him as +employed + + +"in training some young horses to follow him about like dogs and come +at the call of his whistle. As my two friends {381b} 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's love of animals was almost feminine. The screams of a hare +pursued by greyhounds would spoil his appetite for dinner, and he +confessed himself as "silly enough to feel disgust and horror at the +squeals of a rat in the fangs of a terrier." {381c} When a favourite +cat was so ill that it crawled away to die in solitude, Borrow went +in search of it and, discovering the poor creature in the garden- +hedge, carried it back into the house, laid it in a comfortable place +and watched over it until it died. His care of the much persecuted +"Church of England cat" at Llangollen {381d} is another instance of +his tender-heartedness with regard to animals. + +Borrow had ample evidence that he was still a celebrity. "He was +much courted . . . by his neighbours and by visitors to the sea- +side," Dr Hake relates; but unfortunately he allowed himself to +become a prey to moods at rather inappropriate moments. As a lion, +Borrow accompanied Dr Hake to some in the great houses of the +neighbourhood. On one occasion they went to dine at Hardwick Hall, +the residence of Sir Thomas and Lady Cullum. The last-named +subsequently became a firm friend of Borrow's during many years. + + +"The party consisted of Lord Bristol; Lady Augusta Seymour, his +daughter; Lord and Lady Arthur Hervey; Sir Fitzroy Kelly; Mr +Thackeray, and ourselves. At that date, Thackeray had made money by +lectures on The Satirists, and was in good swing; but he never could +realise the independent feelings of those who happen to be born to +fortune--a thing which a man of genius should be able to do with +ease. He told Lady Cullum, which she repeated to me, that no one +could conceive how it mortified him to be making a provision for his +daughters by delivering lectures; and I thought she rather +sympathised with him in this degradation. He approached Borrow, who, +however, received him very dryly. As a last attempt to get up a +conversation with him, he said, 'Have you read my Snob Papers in +Punch?'" + +"'In Punch?' asked Borrow. 'It is a periodical I never look at!' + +"It was a very fine dinner. The plates at dessert were of gold; they +once belonged to the Emperor of the French, and were marked with his +"N" and his Eagle. + +"Thackeray, as if under the impression that the party was invited to +look at him, thought it necessary to make a figure, and absorb +attention during the dessert, by telling stories and more than half +acting them; the aristocratic party listening, but appearing little +amused. Borrow knew better how to behave in good company, and kept +quiet; though, doubtless he felt his mane." {382a} + + +There were other moments when Borrow caused acute embarrassment by +his rudeness. Once his hostess, a simple unpretending woman desirous +only of pleasing her distinguished guest, said, "Oh, Mr Borrow, I +have read your books with so much pleasure!" "Pray, what books do +you mean, madam? Do you mean my account books?" was the ungracious +retort. He then rose from the table, fretting and fuming and walked +up and down the dining-room among the servants "during the whole of +the dinner, and afterwards wandered about the rooms and passage, till +the carriage could be ordered for our return home." {383a} The +reason for this unpardonable behaviour appears to have been ill- +judged loyalty to a friend. His host was a well-known Suffolk banker +who, having advanced a large sum of money to a friend of Borrow's, +the heir to a considerable estate, who was in temporary difficulties, +then "struck the docket" in order to secure payment. Borrow confided +to another friend that he yearned "to cane the banker." His loyalty +to his friend excuses his wrath; it was his judgment that was at +fault. He should undoubtedly have caned the banker, in preference to +going to his house as a guest and revenging his friend upon the +gentle and amiable woman who could not be held responsible for her +husband's business transgressions. + +Unfortunate remarks seemed to have a habit of bursting from Borrow's +lips. When Dr Bowring introduced to him his son, Mr F. J. Bowring, +and with pardonable pride added that he had just become a Fellow of +Trinity, Borrow remarked, "Ah! Fellows of Trinity always marry their +bed-makers." Agnes Strickland was another victim. Being desirous of +meeting him and, in spite of Borrow's unwillingness, achieving her +object, she expressed in rapturous terms her admiration of his works, +and concluded by asking permission to send him a copy of The Queens +of England, to which he ungraciously replied, "For God's sake, don't, +madam; I should not know where to put them or what to do with them." +"What a damned fool that woman is!" he remarked to W. B. Donne, who +was standing by. {383b} + +There is a world of meaning in a paragraph from one of John Murray's +(the Second) letters (21st June 1843) to Borrow in which he enquires, +"Did you receive a note from Mme. Simpkinson which I forwarded ten +days ago? I have not seen her since your abrupt departure from her +house." + +It is rather regrettable that the one side of Borrow's character has +to be so emphasised. He could be just and gracious, even to the +point of sternly rebuking one who represented his own religious +convictions and supporting a dissenter. After a Bible Society's +meeting at Mutford Bridge (the nearest village to Oulton Hall), the +speakers repaired to the Hall to supper. One of the guests, an +independent minister, became involved in a heated argument with a +Church of England clergyman, who reproached him for holding +Calvinistic views. The nonconformist replied that the clergy of the +Established Church were equally liable to attack on the same ground, +because the Articles of their Church were Calvinistic, and to these +they had all sworn assent. The reply was that the words were not +necessarily to be taken in their literal sense. At this Borrow +interposed, attacking the clergyman in a most vigorous fashion for +his sophistry, and finally reducing him to silence. The Independent +minister afterwards confessed that he had never heard "one man give +another such a dressing down as on that occasion." {384a} + +Borrow was capable of very deep feeling, which is nowhere better +shown than in his retort to Richard Latham whom he met at Dr Hake's +table. Well warmed by the generous wine, Latham stated that he +should never do anything so low as dine with his publisher. "You do +not dine with John Murray, I presume?" he added. "Indeed I do," +Borrow responded with deep emotion. "He is a most kind friend. When +I have had sickness in the house he has been unfailing in his +goodness towards me. There is no man I more value." {384b} + +Borrow was a frequent visitor to the Hakes at Bury St Edmunds. W. B. +Donne gives a glimpse to him in a letter to Bernard Barton (12th +Sept. 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 his speech +of Egypt, which sounded wondrously 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 4.5 miles per hour, as I can with ease and do by choice, +and can walk 15 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." {385a} + + +The present Mr John Murray recollects Borrow very clearly as + + +"tall, broad, muscular, with very heavy shoulders" and of course the +white hair. "He was," continues Mr Murray, "a figure which no one +who has seen it is likely to forget. I never remember to have seen +him dressed in anything but black broad cloth, and white cotton socks +were generally distinctly visible above his low shoes. I think that +with Borrow the desire to attract attention to himself, to inspire a +feeling of awe and mystery, must have been a ruling passion." + + +Borrow was frequently the guest of his publisher at Albemarle Street, +in times well within the memory of Mr Murray, who relates how on one +occasion + + +"Borrow was at a dinner-party in company with Whewell {385b} [who by +the way it has been said was the original of the Flaming Tinman, +although there is very little to support the statement except the +fact that Dr Whewell was a proper man with his hands] both of them +powerful men, and both of them, if report be true, having more than a +superficial knowledge of the art of self-defence. A controversy +began, and waxed so warm that Mrs Whewell, believing a personal +encounter to be imminent, fainted, and had to be carried out of the +room. Once when Borrow was dining with my father he disappeared into +a small back room after dinner, and could not be found. At last he +was discovered by a lady member of the family, stretched on a sofa +and groaning. On being spoken to and asked to join the other guests, +he suddenly said: Go away! go away! I am not fit company for +respectable people. There was no apparent cause for this strange +conduct, unless it were due to one of those unaccountable fits to +which men of genius (and this description will be allowed him by +many) are often subject. + +"On another occasion, when dining with my father at Wimbledon, he was +regaled with a 'haggis,' a dish which was new to him, and of which he +partook to an extent which would have astonished many a hardy +Scotsman. One summers day, several years later, he again came to +dinner, and having come on foot, entered the house by a garden door, +his first words--without any previous greetings--were: 'Is there a +haggis to-day?'" {386a} + + + +CHAPTER XXIV: LAVENGRO--1843-1851 + + + +During all these years Lavengro had been making progress towards +completion, irregular and spasmodic it would appear; but still each +year brought it nearer to the printer. "I cannot get out of my old +habits," Borrow wrote to Dawson Turner (15th January 1844), "I find I +am writing the work . . . in precisely the same manner as The Bible +in Spain, viz., on blank sheets of old account books, backs of +letters, etc. In slovenliness of manuscript I almost rival Mahomet, +who, it is said, wrote his Coran on mutton spade bones." "His +[Borrow's] biography will be passing strange if he tells the WHOLE +truth," Ford writes to a friend (27th February 1843). "He is now +writing it by my advice. I go on . . . scribbling away, though with +a palpitating heart," Borrow informs John Murray (5th February 1844), +"and have already plenty of scenes and dialogues connected with my +life, quite equal to anything in The Bible in Spain. The great +difficulty, however, is to blend them all into a symmetrical whole." +On 17th September 1846 he writes again to his publisher: + + +"I have of late been very lazy, and am become more addicted to sleep +than usual, am seriously afraid of apoplexy. To rouse myself, I rode +a little time ago to Newmarket. I felt all the better for it for a +few days. I have at present a first rate trotting horse who affords +me plenty of exercise. On my return from Newmarket, I rode him +nineteen miles before breakfast." + + +Another cause of delay was the "shadows" that were constantly +descending upon him. His determination to give only the best of +which he was capable, is almost tragic in the light of later events. +To his wife, he wrote from London (February 1847): "Saw M[urray] who +is in a hurry for me to begin [the printing]. I will not be hurried +though for anyone." + +In the Quarterly Review, July 1848, under the heading of Mr Murray's +List of New Works in Preparation, there appeared the first +announcement of Lavengro, an Autobiography, by George Borrow, Author +of The Bible in Spain, etc., 4 vols. post 8vo. This was repeated in +October. During the next two months the book was advertised as Life; +A Drama, in The Athenaeum and The Quarterly Review, and the first +title-page (1849) was so printed. On 7th October John Murray wrote +asking Borrow to send the manuscript to the printer. This was +accordingly done, and about two-thirds of it composed. Then Borrow +appears to have fallen ill. On 5th January 1849 John Murray wrote to +Mrs Borrow: + + +"I trust Mr Borrow is now restored to health and tranquillity of +mind, and that he will soon be able to resume his pen. I desire this +on his own account and for the sake of poor Woodfall [the printer], +who is of course inconvenienced by having his press arrested after +the commencement of the printing." + + +Writing on 27th November 1849, John Murray refers to the work having +been "first sent to press--now nearly eighteen months." This is +clearly a mistake, as on 7th October 1848, thirteen and a half months +previously, he asks Borrow to send the manuscript to the printer that +he may begin the composition. John Murray was getting anxious and +urges Borrow to complete the work, which a year ago had been offered +to the booksellers at the annual trade-dinner. + +"I know that you are fastidious, and that you desire to produce a +work of distinguished excellence. I see the result of this labour in +the sheets as they come from the press, and I think when it does +appear it will make a sensation," wrote the tactful publisher. +"Think not, my dear friend," replied Borrow, "that I am idle. I am +finishing up the concluding part. I should be sorry to hurry the +work towards the last. I dare say it will be ready by the middle of +February." The correspondence grew more and more tense. Mrs Borrow +wrote to the printer urging him to send to her husband, who has been +overworked to the point of complaint, "one of your kind encouraging +notes." Later Borrow went to Yarmouth, where sea-bathing produced a +good effect upon his health; but still the manuscript was not sent to +the despairing printer. "I do not, God knows! wish you to overtask +yourself," wrote the unhappy Woodfall; "but after what you last said, +I thought I might fully calculate on your taking up, without further +delay, the fragmentary portions of your 1st and 2nd volumes and let +us get them out of hand." + +Letters continued to pass to and fro, but the balance of manuscript +was not forthcoming until November 1850, when Mrs Borrow herself took +it to London. Another trade-dinner was at hand, and John Murray had +written to Mrs Borrow, "If I cannot show the book then--I must throw +it up." To Mrs Borrow this meant tragedy. The poor woman was +distracted, and from time to time she begs for encouraging letters. +In response to one of these appeals, John Murray wrote with rare +insight into Borrow's character, and knowledge of what is most likely +to please him: "There are passages in your book equal to De Foe." + +The preface when eventually submitted to John Murray disturbed him +somewhat. "It is quaint," he writes to Mrs Borrow, "but so is +everything that Mr Borrow writes." He goes on to suggest that the +latter portion looks too much as if it had been got up in the +interests of "Papal aggression," and he calls attention to the oft- +repeated "Damnation cry". There appears to have been some +modification, a few "Damnation Cries" omitted, the last sheet passed +for press, and on 7th February 1851 Lavengro was published in an +edition of three thousand copies, which lasted for twenty-one years. + +The appearance of Lavengro was indeed sensational: but not quite in +the way its publisher had anticipated. Almost without exception the +verdict was unfavourable. The book was attacked vigorously. The +keynote of the critics was disappointment. Some reviews were purely +critical, others personal and abusive, but nearly all were +disapproving. "Great is our disappointment" said the Athenaeum. "We +are disappointed," echoed Blackwood. Among the few friendly notices +was that of Dr Hake, in which he prophesied that "Lavengro's roots +will strike deep into the soil of English letters." Even Ford wrote +(8th March): + + +"I frankly own that I am somewhat disappointed with the very LITTLE +you have told us about YOURSELF. I was in hopes to have a full, +true, and particular account of your marvellously varied and +interesting biography. I do hope that some day you will give it to +us." + + +In this chorus of dispraise Borrow saw a conspiracy. "If ever a book +experienced infamous and undeserved treatment," he wrote, {390a} "it +was that book. I was attacked in every form that envy and malice +could suggest." In The Romany Rye he has done full justice to the +subject, exhibiting the critics with blood and foam streaming from +their jaws. In the original draft of the Advertisement to the same +work he expresses himself as "proud of a book which has had the +honour of being rancorously abused and execrated by every unmanly +scoundrel, every sycophantic lacquey, and EVERY POLITICAL AND +RELIGIOUS RENEGADE in Britain." A few years previously, Borrow had +written to John Murray, "I have always myself. If you wish to please +the public leave the matter [the revision of The Zincali] to me." +{391a} From this it is evident that Borrow was unprepared for +anything but commendation from critics and readers. + +Dr Bowring had some time previously requested the editor of The +Edinburgh Review to allow him to review Lavengro; but no notice ever +appeared. In all probability he realised the impossibility of +writing about a book in which he and his family appeared in such an +unpleasant light. It is unlikely that he asked for the book in order +to prevent a review appearing in The Edinburgh, as has been +suggested. + +In the Preface, Lavengro is described as a dream; yet there can be +not a vestage of doubt that Borrow's original intention had been to +acknowledge it as an autobiography. This work is a kind of biography +in the Robinson Crusoe style, he had written in 1844. This he +contradicted in the Appendix to The Romany Rye; yet in his manuscript +autobiography {391b} (13th Oct. 1862) he says: "In 1851 he published +Lavengro, a work in which he gives an account of his early life." +Why had Borrow changed his mind? + +When Lavengro was begun, as a result of Ford's persistent appeals, +Borrow was on the crest of the wave of success. He saw himself the +literary hero of the hour. The Bible in Spain was selling in its +thousands. The press had proclaimed it a masterpiece. He had seen +himself a great man. The writer of a great book, however, does not +occupy a position so kinglike in its loneliness as does gentleman a +gypsy, round whom flock the gitanos to kiss his hand and garments as +if he were a god or a hero. The literary and social worlds that The +Bible in Spain opened to Borrow were not to be awed by his mystery, +or, disciplined into abject hero-worship by one of those steady +penetrating gazes, which cowed jockeys and alguacils. They claimed +intellectual kinship and equality, the very things that Borrow had no +intention of conceding them. He would have tolerated their +"gentility nonsense" if they would have acknowledged his paramountcy. +He found that to be a social or a literary lion was to be a tame +lion, and he was too big for that. His conception of genius was that +it had its moods, and mediocrity must suffer them. + +Borrow would rush precipitately from the house where he was a guest; +he would be unpardonably rude to some inoffensive and well-meaning +woman who thought to please him by admiring his books; he would +magnify a fight between their respective dogs into a deadly feud +between himself and the rector of his parish: thus he made enemies +by the dozen and, incidentally, earned for himself an extremely +unenviable reputation. A hero with a lovable nature is twice a hero, +because he is possessed of those qualities that commend themselves to +the greater number. Wellington could never be a serious rival in a +nation's heart to dear, weak, sensitive, noble Nelson, who lived for +praise and frankly owned to it. + +Borrow's lovable qualities were never permitted to show themselves in +public, they were kept for the dingle, the fireside, or the inn- +parlour. That he had a sweeter side to his nature there can be no +doubt, and those who saw it were his wife, his step-daughter, and his +friends, in particular those who, like Mr Watts-Dunton and Mr A. +Egmont Hake, have striven for years to emphasise the more attractive +part of his strange nature. + +Borrow's attitude towards literature in itself was not calculated to +gain friends for him. He was uncompromisingly and caustically severe +upon some of the literary idols of his day, men who have survived +that terrible handicap, contemporary recognition and appreciation. + +He was not a deep reader, hardly a reader at all in the accepted +meaning of the word. He frankly confessed that books were to him of +secondary importance to man as a subject for study. In his +criticisms of literature, he was apt to confuse the man with his +works. His hatred of Scott is notorious; it was not the artist he so +cordially disliked, but the politician; he admitted that Scott "wrote +splendid novels about the Stuarts." {393a} He hailed him as "greater +than Homer;" {393b} but the House of Stuart he held in utter +detestation, and when writing or speaking of Scott he forgot to make +a rather necessary distinction. He wrote: + + +"He admires his talents both as a prose writer and a poet; as a poet +especially. {393c} . . . As a prose writer he admires him less, it +is true, but his admiration for him in that capacity is very high, +and he only laments that he prostituted his talents to the cause of +the Stuarts and gentility . . . in conclusion, he will say, in order +to show the opinion which he entertains of the power of Scott as a +writer, that he did for the spectre of the wretched Pretender what +all the kings of Europe could not do for his body--placed it on the +throne of these realms." {393d} + + +In later years Borrow paid a graceful tribute to Scott's memory. +When at Kelso, in spite of the rain and mist, he "trudged away to +Dryburgh to pay my respects to the tomb of Walter Scott, a man with +whose principles I have no sympathy, but for whose genius I have +always entertained the most intense admiration." {393e} It was just +the same with Byron, "for whose writings I really entertained +considerable admiration, though I had no particular esteem for the +man himself." {393f} + +With Wordsworth it was different, and it was his cordial dislike of +his poetry that prompted Borrow to introduce into The Romany Rye that +ineffectual episode of the man who was sent to sleep by reading him. +Tennyson he dismissed as a writer of "duncie books." + +For Dickens he had an enthusiastic admiration as "a second Fielding, +a young writer who . . . has evinced such talent, such humour, +variety and profound knowledge of character, that he charms his +readers, at least those who have the capacity to comprehend him." +{394a} He was delighted with The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. + +His reading was anything but thorough, in fact he occasionally showed +a remarkable ignorance of contemporary writers. Mr A. Egmont Hake +tells how: + + +"His conversation would sometimes turn on modern literature, with +which his acquaintance was very slight. He seemed to avoid reading +the products of modern thought lest his own strong opinions should +undergo dilution. We were once talking of Keats whose fame had been +constantly increasing, but of whose poetry Borrow's knowledge was of +a shadowy kind, when suddenly he put a stop to the conversation by +ludicrously asking, in his strong voice, 'Have they not been trying +to resuscitate him?'" {394b} + + +By the time that Lavengro appeared, Borrow was estranged from his +generation. The years that intervened between the success of The +Bible in Spain and the publication of Lavengro had been spent by him +in war; he had come to hate his contemporaries with a wholesome, +vigorous hatred. He would give them his book; but they should have +it as a stray cur has a bone--thrown at them. Above all, they should +not for a moment be allowed to think that it contained an intimate +account of the life of the supreme hater who had written it. When +there had been sympathy between them, Borrow was prepared to allow +his public to peer into the sacred recesses of his early life. Now +that there was none, he denied that Lavengro was more than "a dream", +forgetting that he had so often written of it as an autobiography, +had even seen it advertised as such, and insisted that it was +fiction. + +When Lavengro was published Borrow was an unhappy and disappointed +man. He had found what many other travellers have found when they +come home, that in the wilds he had left his taste and toleration for +conventional life and ideas. The life in the Peninsula had been +thoroughly congenial to a man of Borrow's temperament: hardships, +dangers, imprisonments,--they were his common food. He who had +defied the whole power of Spain, found himself powerless to prevent +his Rector from keeping a dog, or a railway line from being cut +through his own estate and his peace of mind disturbed by the rumble +of trains and the shriek of locomotive-whistles. He had beaten the +Flaming Tinman and Count Ofalia, but Samuel Morton Peto had +vanquished and put him to flight by virtue of an Act of Parliament, +in all probability without being conscious of having achieved a +signal victory. Borrow's life had been built up upon a wrong +hypothesis: he strove to adapt, not himself to the Universe; but the +Universe to himself. + +It is easy to see that a man with this attitude of mind would regard +as sheer vindictiveness the adverse criticism of a book that he had +written with such care, and so earnest an endeavour to maintain if +not improve upon the standard created in a former work. It never for +a moment struck him that the men who had once hailed him "great", +should now admonish him as a result of the honest exercise of their +critical faculties. No; there was conspiracy against him, and he +tortured himself into a pitiable state of wrath and melancholy. A +later generation has been less harsh in its judgment. The +controversial parts of Lavengro have become less controversial and +the magnificent parts have become more magnificent, and it has taken +its place as a star of the second magnitude. + +The question of what is actual autobiography and what is so coloured +as to become practically fiction, must always be a matter of opinion. +The early portion seems convincing, even the first meeting with the +gypsies in the lane at Norman Cross. It has been asked by an eminent +gypsy scholar how Borrow knew the meaning of the word "sap", or why +he addressed the gypsy woman as "my mother". When the Gypsy refers +to the "Sap there", the child replies, "what, the snake"? The +employment of the other phrase is obviously an inadvertent use of +knowledge he gained later. + +In writing to Mrs George Borrow (24th March 1851) to tell her that W. +B. Donne had been unable to obtain Lavengro for The Edinburgh Review +as it had been bespoken a year previously by Dr Bowring, Dr Hake adds +that Donne had written "putting the editor in possession of his view +of Lavengro, as regards verisimilitude, vouching for the +Daguerreotype-like fidelity of the picture in the first volume, etc., +etc., in order to prevent him from being TAKEN IN BY a spiteful +article." This passage is very significant as being written by one +of Borrow's most intimate friends, with the sure knowledge that its +contents would reach him. It leaves no room for doubt that, although +Borrow denied publicly the autobiographical nature of Lavengro, in +his own circle it was freely admitted and referred to as a life. + +"What is an autobiography?" Borrow once asked Mr Theodore Watts- +Dunton (who had called his attention to several bold coincidences in +Lavengro). "Is it the mere record of the incidents of a man's life? +or is it a picture of the man himself--his character, his soul?" +{396a} Mr Watts-Dunton confirms Borrow's letters when he says "That +he [Borrow] sat down to write his own life in Lavengro I know. He +had no idea then of departing from the strict line of fact." + +At times Borrow seemed to find his pictures flat, and heightened the +colour in places, as a painter might heighten the tone of a drapery, +a roof or some other object, not because the individual spot required +it, but rather because the general effect he was aiming at rendered +it necessary. He did this just as an actor rouges his face, darkens +his eyebrows and round his eyes, that he may appear to his audience a +living man and not an animated corpse. + +Borrow was drawing himself, striving to be as faithful to the +original as Boswell to Johnson. Incidents! what were they? the straw +with which the bricks of personality are made. A comparison of +Lavengro with Borrow's letters to the Bible Society is instructive; +it is the same Borrow that appears in both, with the sole difference +that in the Letters he is less mysterious, less in the limelight than +in Lavengro. + +Mr Watts-Dunton, with inspiration, has asked whether or not Lavengro +and The Romany Rye form a spiritual autobiography; and if they do, +whether that autobiography does or does not surpass every other for +absolute truth of spiritual representation. Borrow certainly did +colour his narrative in places. Who could write the story of his +early life with absolute accuracy? without dwelling on and +elaborating certain episodes, perhaps even adjusting them somewhat? +That would not necessarily prove them untrue. + +There are, unquestionably, inconsistencies in Lavengro and The Romany +Rye -they are admitted, they have been pointed out. There are many +inaccuracies, it must be confessed; but because a man makes a mistake +in the date of his birth or even the year, it does not prove that he +was not born at all. Borrow was for ever making the most inaccurate +statements about his age. + +In the main Lavengro would appear to be autobiographical up to the +period of Borrow's coming to London. After this he begins to indulge +somewhat in the dramatic. The meeting with the pickpocket as a +thimble-rigger at Greenwich might pass muster were it not for the +rencontre with the apple-woman's son near Salisbury. The Dingle +episode may be accepted, for Mr John Sampson has verified even the +famous thunder-storm by means of the local press. Isopel Berners is +not so easy to settle; yet the picture of her is so convincing, and +Borrow was unable to do more than colour his narrative, that she too +must have existed. + +The failure of Lavengro is easily accounted for. Borrow wrote of +vagabonds and vagabondage; it did not mitigate his offence in the +eyes of the critics or the public that he wrote well about them. His +crime lay in his subject. To Borrow, a man must be ready and able to +knock another man down if necessity arise. When nearing sixty he +lamented his childless state and said very mournfully: "I shall soon +not be able to knock a man down, and I have no son to do it for me." +{398a} He glorified the bruisers of England, in the face of +horrified public opinion. England had become ashamed of its bruisers +long before Lavengro was written, and this flaunting in its face of +creatures that it considered too low to be mentioned, gave mortal +offence. That in Lavengro was the best descriptions of a fight in +the language, only made the matter worse. Borrow's was an age of +gentility and refinement, and he outraged it, first by glorifying +vagabondage, secondly by decrying and sneering at gentility. + + +"Qui n' a pas l'esprit de son age, +De son age a tout le malheur." + + +And Borrow proved Voltaire's words. + +It is not difficult to understand that an age in which prize-fighting +is anathema should not tolerate a book glorifying the ring; but it is +strange that Borrow's simple paganism and nature-worship should not +have aroused sympathetic recognition. Poetry is ageless, and such +passages as the description of the sunrise over Stonehenge should +have found some, at least, to welcome them, even when found in +juxtaposition with bruisers and gypsies. + +Borrow loved to mystify, but in Lavengro he had overreached himself. +"Are you really in existence?" wrote one correspondent who was +unknown to Borrow, "for I also have occasionally doubted whether +things exist, as you describe your own feelings in former days." + +John Murray wrote (8th Nov. 1851):- + + +"I was reminded of you the other day by an enquiry after Lavengro and +its author, made by the Right Honourable John Wilson Croker. Knowing +how fastidious and severe a critic he is, I was particularly glad to +find him expressing a favourable opinion of it; and thinking well of +it his curiosity was piqued about you. Like all the rest of the +world, he is mystified by it. He knew not whether to regard it as +truth or fiction. How can you remedy this defect? I call it a +defect, because it really impedes your popularity. People say of a +chapter or of a character: 'This is very wonderful, IF TRUE; but if +fiction it is pointless.'--Will your new volumes explain this and +dissolve the mystery? If so, pray make haste and get on with them. +I hope you have employed the summer in giving them the finishing +touches." + + +"There are," says a distinguished critic, {399a} "passages in +Lavengro which are unsurpassed in the prose literature of England-- +unsurpassed, I mean, for mere perfection of style--for blending of +strength and graphic power with limpidity and music of flow." +Borrow's own generation would have laughed at such a value being put +upon anything in Lavengro. + +Another thing against the books success was its style. It lacked +what has been described as the poetic ecstacy or sentimental verdure +of the age. Trope, imagery, mawkishness, were all absent, for Borrow +had gone back to his masters, at whose head stood the glorious Defoe. +Borrow's style was as individual as the man himself. By a curious +contradiction, the tendency is to overlook literary lapses in the +very man towards whom so little latitude was allowed in other +directions. Many Borrovians have groaned in anguish over his misuse +of that wretched word "Individual." A distinguished man of letters +{400a} has written:- "I would as lief read a chapter of The Bible in +Spain as I would Gil Blas; nay, I positively would give the +preference to Senor Giorgio." Another critic, and a severe one, has +written:- + + +"It is not as philologist, or traveller, or wild missionary, or folk- +lorist, or antiquary, that Borrow lives and will live. It is as the +master of splendid, strong, simple English, the prose Morland of a +vanished road-side life, the realist who, Defoe-like, could make +fiction seem truer than fact. To have written the finest fight in +the whole world's literature, the fight with the Flaming Tinman, is +surely something of an achievement." {400b} + + +It is Borrow's personality that looms out from his pages. His +mastery over the imagination of his reader, his subtle instinct of +how to throw his own magnetism over everything he relates, although +he may be standing aside as regards the actual events with which he +is dealing, is worthy of Defoe himself. It is this magnetism that +carries his readers safely over the difficult places, where, but for +the author's grip upon them, they would give up in despair; it is +this magnetism that prompts them to pass by only with a slight +shudder, such references as the feathered tribe, fast in the arms of +Morpheus, and, above all, those terrible puns that crop up from time +to time. There is always the strong, masterful man behind the words +who, like a great general, can turn a reverse to his own advantage. + +In his style perhaps, after all, lay the secret of Borrow's +unsuccess. He was writing for another generation; speaking in a +voice too strong to be heard other than as a strange noise by those +near to him. It may be urged that The Bible in Spain disproves these +conclusions; but The Bible in Spain was a peculiar book. It was a +chronicle of Christian enterprise served up with sauce picaresque. +It pleased and astonished everyone, especially those who had grown a +little weary of godly missioners. It had the advantage of being +spontaneous, having been largely written on the spot, whereas +Lavengro and The Romany Rye were worked on and laboured at for years. +Above all, it had the inestimable virtue of being known to be True. +To the imaginative intellectual, Truth or Fiction are matters of +small importance, he judges by Art; but to the general public of +limited intellectual capacity, Truth is appreciated out of all +proportion to its artistic importance. If Borrow had published The +Bible in Spain after the failure of Lavengro, it would in all +probability have been as successful as it was appearing before. + + + +CHAPTER XXV: SEPTEMBER 1849-FEBRUARY 1854 + + + +One of the finest traits in Borrow's character was his devotion to +his mother. He was always thoughtful for her comfort, even when +fighting that almost hopeless battle in Russia, and later in the +midst of bandits and bloody patriots in Spain. She was now, in 1849, +an old woman, too feeble to live alone, and it was decided to +transfer her to Oulton. An addition to the Hall was constructed for +her accommodation, and she was to be given an attendant-companion in +the person of the daughter of a local farmer. + +For thirty-three years she had lived in the little house in Willow +Lane; yet it was not she, but Borrow, who felt the parting from old +associations. "I wish," she writes to her daughter-in-law on 16th +September 1849, "my dear George would not have such fancies about the +old house; it is a mercy it has not fallen on my head before this." +The old lady was anxious to get away. It would not be safe, she +thought, for her to be shut up alone, as the old woman who had looked +after her could, for some reason or other, do so no longer. She +urges her daughter-in-law to represent this to Borrow. + + +"There is a low, noisy set close to me," she continues. "I shall not +die one day sooner, or live one day longer. If I stop here and die +on a sudden, half the things might be lost or stolen, therefore it +seems as if the Lord would provide me a SAFER HOME. I have made up +my mind to the change and only pray that I may be able to get through +the trouble." + + +It would appear that the move, which took place at the end of +September, was brought about by the old lady's appeals and +insistence, and that Borrow himself was not anxious for it. He felt +a sentimental attachment to the old place, which for so many years +had been a home to him. + +In 1853 Borrow removed to Great Yarmouth. During the summer of that +year, Dr Hake had peremptorily ordered Mrs George Borrow not to spend +the ensuing winter and spring at Oulton, and the move was made in +August. The change was found to be beneficial to Mrs Borrow and +agreeable to all, and for the next seven years (Aug. 1853-June 1860) +Borrow's headquarters were to be at Great Yarmouth, where he and his +family occupied various lodgings. + +Shortly before leaving Oulton, Borrow had received the following +interesting letter from FitzGerald:- + + +BOULGE, WOODBRIDGE, 22nd July 1853. + +MY DEAR SIR,--I take the liberty of sending you a book [Six Dramas +from Calderon], of which the title-page and advertisement will +sufficiently explain the import. I am afraid that I shall in general +be set down at once as an impudent fellow in 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. I mean, that whether you like or not what I +send you, you will do so from knowledge and in the candour which +knowledge brings. + +I had even a mind to ask you to look at these plays before they were +printed, relying on our common friend Donne for a mediator; but I +know how wearisome all MS. inspection is; and, after all, the whole +affair was not worth giving you such a trouble. You must pardon all +this, and believe me,--Yours very faithfully, + +EDWARD FITZGERALD. + + +Soon after his arrival by the sea, Borrow performed an act of bravery +of which The Bury Post (17th Sept. 1852) gave the following account, +most likely written by Dr Hake:- + + +"INTREPIDITY.--Yarmouth jetty presented an extra-ordinary and +thrilling spectacle on Thursday, the 8th inst., about one o'clock. +The sea raged frantically, and a ship's boat, endeavouring to land +for water, was upset, and the men were engulfed in a wave some thirty +feet high, and struggling with it in vain. 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 this 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." + + +Borrow was a splendid swimmer. {404a} In the course of one of his +country walks with Robert Cooke (John Murray's partner), with whom he +was on very friendly terms, "he suggested a bathe in the river along +which they were walking. Mr Cooke told me that Borrow, having +stripped, took a header into the water and disappeared. More than a +minute had elapsed, and as there were no signs of his whereabouts, Mr +Cooke was becoming alarmed, lest he had struck his head or been +entangled in the weeds, when Borrow suddenly reappeared a +considerable distance off, under the opposite bank of the stream, and +called out 'What do you think of that?'" {404b} + + +Elizabeth Harvey, in telling the same story, says that on coming up +he exclaimed: "There, if that had been written in one of my books, +they would have said it was a lie, wouldn't they?" + +The paragraph about Borrow's courage was printed in various +newspapers throughout the country, amongst others in the Plymouth +Mail under the heading of "Gallant Conduct of Mr G. Borrow," and was +read by Borrow's Cornish kinsmen, who for years had heard nothing of +Thomas Borrow. Apparently quite convinced that George was his son, +they deputed Robert Taylor, a farmer of Penquite Farm (who had +married Anne Borrow, granddaughter of Henry Borrow), to write to +Borrow and invite him to visit Trethinnick. The letter was dated +10th October and directed to "George Borrow, Yarmouth." Borrow +replied as follows:- + + +YARMOUTH, 14th Octr., 1853. + +MY DEAR SIR,--I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your letter +of the 10th inst. in which you inform me of the kind desire of my +Cornish relatives to see me at Trethinnock (sic). Please to inform +them that I shall be proud and happy to avail myself of their +kindness and to make the acquaintance of "one and all" {405a} of +them. My engagements will prevent my visiting them at present, but I +will appear amongst them on the first opportunity. I am delighted to +learn that there are still some living at Trethinnock who remember my +honoured father, who had as true a Cornish heart as ever beat. + +I am at present at Yarmouth, to which place I have brought my wife +for the benefit of her health; but my residence is Oulton Hall, +Lowestoft, Suffolk. With kind greetings to my Cornish kindred, in +which my wife and my mother join,--I remain, my dear Sir, ever +sincerely yours, - + +GEORGE BORROW. + + +Borrow was not free to visit his kinsfolk until the following +Christmas. First advising Robert Taylor of his intention, and +receiving his approval and instructions for the journey, Borrow set +out from Great Yarmouth on 23rd December. He spent the night at +Plymouth. Next morning on finding the Liskeard coach full, he +decided to walk. Leaving his carpet-bag to be sent on by the mail, +and throwing over his arm the cloak that had seen many years of +service, he set out upon his eighteen-mile tramp. He arrived at +Liskeard in the afternoon, and was met by his cousin Henry Borrow and +Robert Taylor, as well as by several local celebrities. + +After tea Borrow, accompanied by Robert Taylor, rode to Penquite, +four miles away. "Ride by night to Penquite, Borrow records in his +Journal. House of stone and slate on side of a hill. Mrs Taylor. +Hospitable reception. Christmas Eve. Log on fire." He found alive +of his own generation, Henry, William, Thomas, Elizabeth (who lived +to be 94 years of age) and Nicholas, the children of Henry Borrow, +Captain Borrow's eldest brother. Also Anne, daughter of Henry, who +married Robert Taylor, and their daughter, likewise named Anne, and +William Henry, son of Nicholas. + +In the Cornish Note Books there appears under the date of 3rd January +the following entry: "Rain and snow. Rode with Mr Taylor to dine at +Trethinnick. House dilapidated. A family party. Hospitable +people." On first entering his father's old home tears had sprung to +Borrow's eyes, and he was much affected. There was present at the +dinner the vicar of St Cleer, the Rev. J. R. P. Berkeley, a pleasant +Irish clergyman who, years later, was able to give to Dr Knapp an +account of what took place. He noticed the "vast difference in +appearance and manners between the simple yet shrewd Cornish farmers +and the betravelled gentleman their kinsman;" yet for all this there +were shades of resemblance--in a look, some turn of thought or tone +of voice. George Borrow was not at his best that evening, Mr +Berkeley relates of the dinner at Trethinnick: + + +"his feelings were too much excited. He was thinking of the time +when his father's footsteps and his father's voice re-echoed in the +room in which we were sitting. His eyes wandered from point to +point, and at times, if I was not mistaken, a tear could be seen +trembling in them. At length he could no longer control his +feelings. He left the hall suddenly, and in a few moments, but for +God's providential care, the career of George Borrow would have been +ended. There was within a few feet of the house a low wall with a +drop of some feet into a paved yard. He walked rapidly out, and, it +being nearly dark, he stepped one side of the gate and fell over the +wall. He did not mention the accident, although he bruised himself a +good deal, and it was some days before I heard of it. His words to +me that evening, when bidding me good-bye, were: 'Well, we have +shared the old-fashioned hospitality of old-fashioned people in an +old-fashioned house.'" {407a} + + +Borrow created something of a sensation in the neighbourhood. As a +celebrity his autograph was much sought after; but he would gratify +nobody. His hosts experienced many little surprises from their +guest's strange ways. He would plunge into a moorland pool to fetch +a bird that had fallen to his gun, or, round the family fireside, he +would shout his ballads of the North, at one time alarming his +audience by seizing a carving-knife and brandishing it about in the +air to emphasize the passionate nature of his song. When a card- +party proved too dull he slipped off and found his way into some +slums, picking up all the disreputable characters he could find, +working off his knowledge of cant on them, and getting out of them +what he could. {407b} + +On one occasion when dining at the house of a local celebrity he was +suddenly missed from table during dessert. + + +"A search revealed him in a remote room surrounded by the children of +the house, whom he was amusing by his stories and catechising in the +subject of their studies and pursuits. He excused his absence by +saying that he had been fascinated by the intelligence of the +children, and had forgotten about the dinner." {407c} + +His hatred of gentility led him into some actions that can only be +characterised as childish. Even in Cornwall he was on the lookout +for his fetish. On one occasion when dining with the ex-Mayor of +Liskeard, he pulled out of his pocket and used instead of a +handkerchief, a dirty old grease-stained rag with which he was wont +to clean his gun. {408a} This was done as a protest against +something or other that seemed to him to suggest mock refinement. + +When at Wolsdon as the guest of the Pollards there arrived a lady and +gentleman of the name of Hambly, according to the Note Books. In +spite of this brief reference, Borrow immediately recognised a hated +name. Never was one of the name good, he informed Mr Berkeley. He +may even have been informed that they were descendants of the +Headborough whom his father had knocked down. He showed his +detestation for the name by being as rude as he could to those who +bore it. + +Borrow was as incapable of dissimulating his dislikes as he was of +controlling his moods. Even during his short stay at Penquite he was +on one occasion, at least, plunged into a deep melancholy, sitting +before a huge fire entirely oblivious to the presence of others in +the room. Mrs Berkeley, who, with the vicar himself, was a caller, +thinking to produce some good effect upon the gloomy man, sat down at +the piano and played some old Irish and Scottish airs. After a time +Borrow began to listen, then he raised his head, and finally "he +suddenly sprang to his feet, clapped his hands several times, danced +about the room, and struck up some joyous melody. From that moment +he was a different man." He told them "tales and side-splitting +anecdotes," he joined the party at supper, and when the vicar and his +wife rose to take their leave he pressed Mrs Berkeley's hands, and +told her that her music had been as David's harp to his soul. + +To the young man he met during this visit who informed him that he +had left the Army as it was no place for a gentleman, Borrow replied +that it was no place for a man who was not a gentleman, and that he +was quite right in leaving it. To speak against the Army to Borrow +was to speak against his honoured father. + +How Borrow struck his Cornish kinsfolk is shown in a letter written +by his hostess to a friend. "I must tell you," she writes, "a bit +about our distinguished visitor." She gives one of the most valuable +portraits of Borrow that exists. He was to her: + + +"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. His character is +not so easy to portray. The more I see of him the less I know of +him. He is very enthusiastic and eccentric, very proud and +unyielding. He says very little of himself, and one cannot ask him +if inclined to . . . He is a marvel in himself. There is no one here +to draw him out. He has an astonishing memory as to dates when great +events have taken place, no matter in what part of the world. He +seems to know everything." {409a} + + +Borrow was gratified at the welcome he received, and was much pleased +with the neighbourhood and its people. "My relations are most +excellent people," he wrote to his wife, "but I could not understand +more than half they said." He was puzzled to know why the head of a +family, which was reputed to be worth seventy thousand pounds, should +live in a house which could not boast of a single grate--"nothing but +open chimneys." + +He remained at Penquite for upwards of a fortnight, at one time +galloping over snowy hills and dales with Anne Taylor, Junr., "as +gallant a girl as ever rode," at another, alert as ever for fragments +of folk-lore or philology, jotting down the story of a pisky-child +from the dictation of his cousin Elizabeth. + +On 9th January Borrow left Penquite on a tour to Truro, Penzance, +Mousehole, and Land's End, armed with the inevitable umbrella, +grasped in the centre by the right hand, green, manifold and bulging, +that so puzzled Mr Watts-Dunton and caused him on one occasion to ask +Dr Hake, "Is he a genuine Child of the Open Air?" It was one of the +first things to which Borrow's pedestrian friends had to accustom +themselves. With this "damning thing . . . gigantic and green," +Borrow set out upon his excursion, now examining some Celtic barrow, +now enquiring his way or the name of a landmark, occasionally singing +in that tremendous voice of his, "Look out, look out, Swayne Vonved!" + +At Mousehole he called upon a relative, H. D. Burney (who was, it +would seem, in charge of the Coast Guard Station), to whom he had a +letter of introduction from Robert Taylor. Mr Burney entertained him +with stories, showed him places and things of interest in the +neighbourhood, and accompanied him on his visit to St Michael's +Mount. Borrow returned to Penquite on the 25th with a considerable +store of Cornish legends and Cornish words, and the knowledge that +you can only see Cornwall or know anything about it by walking +through it. + +The next excursion was to the North Coast, Pentire Point, Tintagel, +King Arthur's Castle, etc. On the 1st of February he left Penquite, +and slept the night at Trethinnick. The next morning he set out on +horseback accompanied by Nicholas Borrow. + +To the vicar of St Cleer and his family, Borrow was a very welcome +visitor. Mr Berkeley's eldest son, a boy of ten years of age, on +being introduced to the distinguished caller, gazed at him for some +moments and then without a word left the room and, going straight to +his mother in another apartment cried, "Well, mother, that IS a man." +Borrow was delighted when he heard of the child's enthusiasm. Mr +Berkeley give a picture of his distinguished visitor far more +prepossessing than many that exist. He was particularly struck, as +was everybody, by the beauty of Borrow's hands, and their owner's +vanity over them as the legacy of his Huguenot ancestors. Mr +Berkeley found Borrow's countenance pleasing, betokening calm +firmness, self-confidence and a mind under control, though capable of +passion. He could on occasion prove a delightful talker, and he gave +to the vicar's family a new maxim to implant upon their Christianity, +the old prize-fighters receipt for a quiet life: "Learn to box, and +keep a civil tongue in your head." He would often drop in at the +vicarage in the evening, when he would + + +"sit in the centre of a group before the fire with his hands on his +knees--his favourite position--pouring forth tales of the scenes he +had witnessed in his wanderings. . . . Then he would suddenly spring +from his seat and walk to and fro the room in silence; anon he would +clap his hands and sing a Gypsy song, or perchance would chant forth +a translation of some Viking poem; after which he would sit down +again and chat about his father, whose memory he revered as he did +his mother's; {411a} and finally he would recount some tale of +suffering or sorrow with deep pathos--his voice being capable of +expressing triumphant joy or the profoundest sadness." + + +It was Borrow's intention to write a book about his visit to +Cornwall, and he even announced it at the end of The Romany Rye. He +was delighted with the Duchy, and evidently gave his relatives to +understand that it was his intention to use the contents of his Note +Books as the nucleus of a book. "He will undoubtedly write a +description of his visit," Mrs Taylor wrote to her friend. "I walked +through the whole of Cornwall and saw everything," Borrow wrote to +his wife after his return to London. "I kept a Journal of every day +I was there, and it fills TWO pocket books." + +Borrow left Cornwall the second week in February and was in London on +the 10th, where he was to break his journey home in order to obtain +some data at the British Museum for the Appendix of The Romany Rye. +On 13th February he writes to his wife:- + + +"For three days I have been working hard at the Museum, I am at +present at Mr Webster's, but not in the three guinea lodgings. I am +in rooms above, for which I pay thirty shillings a week. I live as +economically as I can; but when I am in London I am obliged to be at +certain expense. I must be civil to certain friends who invite me +out and show me every kindness. Please send me a five pound note by +return of post." + + +His wife appears to have been anxious for his return home, and on the +17th he writes to her:- + + +"It is hardly worth while making me more melancholy than I am. Come +home, come home! is the cry. And what are my prospects when I get +home? though it is true that they are not much brighter here. I have +nothing to look forward to. Honourable employments are being given +to this and that trumpery fellow; while I, who am an honourable man, +must be excluded from everything." + + +Of literature he expressed himself as tired, there was little or +nothing to be got out of it, save by writing humbug, which he refused +to do. "My spirits are very low," he continues, "and your letters +make them worse. I shall probably return by the end of next week; +but I shall want more money. I am sorry to spend money for it is our +only friend, and God knows I use as little as possible, but I can't +travel without it." {412b} A few days later there is another letter +with farther reference to money, and protests that he is spending as +little as possible. "Perhaps you had better send another note," he +writes, "and I will bring it home unchanged, if I do not want any +part of it. I have lived very economically as far as I am concerned +personally; I have bought nothing, and have been working hard at the +Museum." {413a} + +These constant references to money seem to suggest either some +difference between Borrow and his wife, or that he felt he was +spending too much upon himself and was anticipating her thoughts by +assuring her of how economically he was living. He had an +unquestioned right to spend, for he had added considerable sums to +the exchequer from the profits of his first two books. + +Borrow returned to Yarmouth on 25th February. The Romany Rye was now +rapidly nearing completion; but there was no encouragement to publish +a new book. He worked at The Romany Rye, not because he saw profit +in it, not because he was anxious to give another book to an uneager +public; but because of the sting in its tail, because of the +thunderbolt Appendix in which he paid off old scores against the +critics and his personal enemies. The Romany Rye was to him a work +of hate; it was a bomb disguised as a book, which he intended to +throw into the camp of his foes. He was tired of literature, by +which he meant that he was tired of producing his best for a public +that neither wanted nor understood it. He forgot that the works of a +great writer are sometimes printed in his own that they may be read +in another generation. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI: MARCH 1854-MAY 1856 + + + +During the months that followed Borrow's return to Great Yarmouth, +the question of the coming summer holiday was discussed. From the +first Borrow himself had been for Wales. He was eager to pursue his +Celtic researches further north. "I should not wonder if he went +into Wales before he returns," Mrs Robert Taylor had written to her +friend during Borrow's stay in Cornwall. His wife and Henrietta had +"a hankering after what is fashionable," and suggested Harrogate or +Leamington. To which Borrow replied that there was nothing he "so +much hated as fashionable life." He, however, gave way, the two +women followed suit, as he had intended they should, and Wales was +decided upon. For Borrow the literature of Wales had always +exercised a great attraction. Her bards were as no other bards. Ab +Gwilym was to him the superior of Chaucer, and Huw Morris "the +greatest songster of the seventeenth century." It was, he confessed, +a desire to put to practical use his knowledge of the Welsh tongue, +"such as it was," that first gave him the idea of going to Wales. + +The party left Great Yarmouth on 27th July 1854, spending one night +at Peterborough and three at Chester. They reached Llangollen, which +was to be their head-quarters, on 1st August. On 9th August Mrs +George Borrow wrote to the old lady at Oulton, "We all much enjoy +this wonderful and beautiful country. We are in a lovely quiet spot. +Dear George goes out exploring the mountains, and when he finds +remarkable views takes us of an evening to see them." + +Borrow wanted to see Wales and get to know the people, and, above +all, to speak with them in their own language, and on 27th August he +started upon a walking tour to Bangor, where he was to meet his wife +and Henrietta, who were to proceed thither by rail. It was during +this excursion that he encountered the delightful Papist-Orange +fiddler, whose fortunes and fingers fluctuated between "Croppies Get +Up" and "Croppies Lie Down." + +From Bangor Borrow explored the surrounding places of interest. He +ascended Snowdon arm-in-arm with Henrietta, singing "at the stretch +of my voice a celebrated Welsh stanza," the boy-guide following +wonderingly behind. In spite of the fatigues of the climb, "the +gallant girl" reached the summit and heard her stepfather declaim two +stanzas of poetry in Welsh, to the grinning astonishment of a small +group of English tourists and the great interest of a Welshman, who +asked Borrow if he were a Breton. + +There is no question that Borrow was genuinely attached to Henrietta. +"I generally call her daughter," he writes, "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," {415a} not to speak of her ability to play on the +Spanish guitar. She was "the dear girl," or "the gallant girl," +between whom and her stepfather existed a true spirit of comradeship. +In 1844 she wrote to him, "And then that FUNNY look {415b} would come +into your eyes and you would call me 'poor old Hen.'" He seemed +incapable of laughing, and one intimate friend states that she "never +saw him even smiling, but there was a twinkle in his eyes which told +you that he was enjoying himself just the same." {416a} + +About this time Mrs George Borrow wrote to old Mrs Borrow at Oulton +Hall, saying that all was well with her son. + + +"He is very regular in his morning and evening devotions, so that we +all have abundant cause for thankfulness . . . As regards your dear +son and his peace and comfort, you have reason to praise and bless +God on his account . . . He is fully occupied. He keeps a DAILY +Journal of all that goes on, so that he can make a most amusing book +in a month, whenever he wishes to do so." + + +The first sentence is very puzzling, and would seem to suggest that +Borrow's moods were somehow or other associated with outbursts +against religion. "Be sure you BURN this, or do not leave it about," +the old lady is admonished. + +On the day following the ascent of Snowdon, Mrs Borrow and Henrietta +returned to Llangollen by train, leaving Borrow free to pursue his +wanderings. He eventually arrived at Llangollen on 6th September, by +way of Carnarvon, Festiniog and Bala. After remaining another twenty +days at Llangollen, he despatched his wife and stepdaughter home by +rail. He then bought a small leather satchel, with a strap to sling +it over his shoulder, packed in it a white linen shirt, a pair of +worsted stockings, a razor and a prayer-book. Having had his boots +resoled and his umbrella repaired, he left Llangollen for South +Wales, upon an excursion which was to occupy three weeks. During the +course of this expedition he was taken for many things, from a pork- +jobber to Father Toban himself, as whom he pronounced "the best Latin +blessing I could remember" over two or three dozen Irish reapers to +their entire satisfaction. Eventually he arrived at Chepstow, having +learned a great deal about wild Wales. + +One of the excursions that Borrow made from Bangor was to Llanfair in +search of Gronwy, the birthplace of Gronwy Owen. He found in the +long, low house an old woman and five children, descendants of the +poet, who stared at him wonderingly. To each he gave a trifle. +Asking whether they could read, he was told that the eldest could +read anything, whether Welsh or English. In Wild Wales he gives an +account of the interview. + + +"'Can you write?' said I to the child [the eldest], a little stubby +girl of about eight, with a broad flat red face and grey eyes, +dressed in a chintz gown, a little bonnet on her head, and looking +the image of notableness. + +"The little maiden, who had never taken her eyes off of me for a +moment during the whole time I had been in the room, at first made no +answer; being, however, bid by her grandmother to speak, she at +length answered in a soft voice, 'Medraf, I can.' + +"'Then write your name in this book,' said I, taking out a pocket- +book and a pencil, 'and write likewise that you are related to Gronwy +Owen--and be sure you write in Welsh.' + +"The little maiden very demurely took the book and pencil, and +placing the former on the table wrote as follows:- + +"'Ellen Jones yn perthyn o bell i gronow owen.' {417a} + +"That is, 'Ellen Jones belonging, from afar off to Gronwy Owen.'" +{417b} + + +Ellen Jones is now Ellen Thomas, and she well remembers Borrow coming +along the lane, where she was playing with some other children, and +asking for the house of Gronwy Owen. Later, when she entered the +house, she found him talking to her grandmother, who was a little +deaf as described in Wild Wales. Mrs Thomas' recollection of Borrow +is that he had the appearance of possessing great strength. He had +"bright eyes and shabby dress, more like a merchant than a gentleman, +or like a man come to buy cattle [others made the same mistake]. +But, dear me! he did speak FUNNY Welsh," she remarked to a student of +Borrow who sought her out, he could not pronounce the 'll' +[pronouncing the word "pell" as if it rhymed with tell, whereas it +should be pronounced something like "pelth"], and his voice was very +high; but perhaps that was because my grandmother was deaf." He had +plenty of words, but bad pronunciation. William Thomas {418a} +laughed many a time at him coming talking his funny Welsh to him, and +said he was glad he knew a few words of Spanish to answer him with. +Borrow was, apparently, unconscious of any imperfection in his +pronunciation of the "ll". He has written: "'Had you much +difficulty in acquiring the sound of the "ll"?' I think I hear the +reader inquire. None whatever: the double l of the Welsh is by no +means the terrible guttural which English people generally suppose it +to be." {418b} + +Mrs Thomas is now sixty-seven years of age (she was eleven and not +eight at the time of Borrow's visit) and still preserves carefully +wrapped up the book from which she read to the white-haired stranger. +The episode was not thought much of at the time, except by the child, +whom it much excited. {418c} + +It was in all probability during this, his first tour in Wales, that +Borrow was lost on Cader Idris, and spent the whole of one night in +wandering over the mountain vainly seeking a path. The next morning +he arrived at the inn utterly exhausted. It was quite in keeping +with Borrow's nature to suppress from his book all mention of this +unpleasant adventure. {419a} + +The Welsh holiday was unquestionably a success. Borrow's mind had +been diverted from critics and his lost popularity. He had forgotten +that in official quarters he had been overlooked. He was in the land +of Ab Gwilym and Gronwy Owen. "There never was such a place for +poets," he wrote; "you meet a poet, or the birthplace of a poet, +everywhere." {419b} He was delighted with the simplicity of the +people, and in no way offended by their persistent suspicion of all +things Saxon. At least they knew their own poets; and he could not +help comparing the Welsh labouring man who knew Huw Morris, with his +Suffolk brother who had never heard of Beowulf or Chaucer. He +discoursed with many people about their bards, surprising them by his +intimate knowledge of the poets and the poetry of Wales. He found +enthusiasm "never scoffed at by the noble simple-minded genuine +Welsh, whatever treatment it may receive from the coarse-hearted, +sensual, selfish Saxon." {419c} Sometimes he was reminded "of the +substantial yoemen of Cornwall, particularly . . . of my friends at +Penquite." {419d} Wherever he went he experienced nothing but +kindness and hospitality, and it delighted him to be taken for a +Cumro, as was frequently the case. + +What Borrow writes about his Welsh is rather contradictory. +Sometimes he represents himself as taken for a Welshman, at others as +a foreigner speaking Welsh. "Oh, what a blessing it is to be able to +speak Welsh!" {420a} he exclaims. He acknowledged that he could read +Welsh with far more ease than he could speak it. There is absolutely +no posing or endeavour to depict himself a perfect Welsh scholar, +whose accent could not be distinguished from that of a native. The +literary results of the Welsh holiday were four Note Books written in +pencil, from which Wild Wales was subsequently written. Borrow was +in Wales for nearly sixteen weeks (1st Aug.--16th November), of which +about a third was devoted to expeditions on foot. + +In the annual consultations about holidays, Borrow's was always the +dominating voice. For the year 1855 the Isle of Man was chosen, +because it attracted him as a land of legend and quaint customs and +speech. Accordingly during the early days of September Mrs Borrow +and Henrietta were comfortably settled at Douglas, and Borrow began +to make excursions to various parts of the island. He explored every +corner of it, conversing with the people in Manx, collecting ballads +and old, smoke-stained carvel {420b} (or carol) books, of which he +was successful in securing two examples. He discovered that the +island possessed a veritable literature in these carvels, which were +circulated in manuscript form among the neighbours of the writers. + +The old runic inscriptions that he found on the tombstones exercised +a great fascination over Borrow. He would spend hours, or even days +(on one occasion as much as a week), in deciphering one of them. +Thirty years later he was remembered as an accurate, painstaking man. +His evenings were frequently occupied in translating into English the +Manx poem Illiam Dhoo, or Brown William. He discovered among the +Manx traditions much about Finn Ma Coul, or M'Coyle, who appears in +The Romany Rye as a notability of Ireland. He ascended Snaefell, +sought out the daughter of George Killey, the Manx poet, and had much +talk with her, she taking him for a Manxman. The people of the +island he liked. + + +"In the whole world," he wrote in his 'Note Books,' "there is not a +more honest, kindly race than the genuine Manx. Towards strangers +they exert unbounded hospitality without the slightest idea of +receiving any compensation, and they are, whether men or women, at +any time willing to go two or three miles over mountain and bog to +put strangers into the right road." + + +During his stay in the Isle of Man, news reached Borrow of the death +of a kinsman, William, son of Samuel Borrow, his cousin, a cooper at +Devonport. William Borrow had gone to America, where he had won a +prize for a new and wonderful application of steam. His death is +said to have occurred as the result of mental fatigue. In this +Borrow saw cause for grave complaint against the wretched English +Aristocracy that forced talent out of the country by denying it +employment or honour, which were all for their "connections and lick- +spittles." + +The holiday in the Isle of Man had resulted in two quarto note books, +aggregating ninety-six pages, closely written in pencil. Again +Borrow planned to write a book, just as he had done on the occasion +of the Cornish visit. Nothing, however, came of it. Among his +papers was found the following draft of a suggested title-page:- + + +BAYR JAIRGEY +AND +GLION DOO +THE RED PATH AND THE BLACK VALLEY +WANDERINGS IN QUEST OF MANX LITERATURE + + +A curious feature of Mrs Borrow's correspondence is her friendly +conspiracies, sometimes with John Murray, sometimes with Woodfall, +the printer, asking them to send encouraging letters that shall +hearten Borrow to greater efforts. On 26th November 1850 John Murray +wrote to her: "I have determined on engraving [by W. Holl] Phillips' +portrait {422a} . . . as a frontispiece to it [Lavengro]. I trust +that this will not be disagreeable to you and the author--in fact I +do it in confident expectation that it will meet with YOUR assent; I +do not ask Mr Borrow's leave, remember." + +It must be borne in mind that Mrs Borrow had been in London a few +days previously, in order to deliver to John Murray the manuscript of +Lavengro. Mrs Borrow's reply to this letter is significant. With +regard to the engraving, she writes (28th November), "I LIKE THE IDEA +OF IT, and when Mr Borrow remarked that he did not wish it (as we +expected he would) I reminded him that HIS leave WAS not asked." + +Again, on 30th October 1852, Mrs Borrow wrote to Robert Cooke asking +that either he or John Murray would write to Borrow enquiring as to +his health, and progress with The Romany Rye, and how long it would +be before the manuscript were ready for the printer. "Of course," +she adds, "all this is in perfect confidence to Mr Murray and +yourself as you BOTH of you know my truly excellent Husband well +enough to be aware how much he every now and then requires an impetus +to cause the large wheel to move round at a quicker pace . . . Oblige +me by committing this to the flames, and write to him just as you +would have done, without hearing A WORD FROM ME." On yet another +occasion when she and Borrow were both in London, she writes to Cooke +asking that either he "or Mr Murray will give my Husband a look, if +it be only for a few minutes . . . He seems rather low. Do, NOT let +this note remain on your table," she concludes, "or MENTION it." + +If Borrow were a problem to his wife and to his publisher, he +presented equal difficulties to the country folk about Oulton. To +one he was "a missionary out of work," to another "a man who kep' +'isself to 'isself"; but to none was he the tired lion weary of the +chase. "His great delight . . . was to plunge into the darkening +mere at eventide, his great head and heavy shoulders ruddy in the +rays of the sun. Here he hissed and roared and spluttered, sometimes +frightening the eel-catcher sailing home in the half-light, and +remembering suddenly school legends of river-sprites and monsters of +the deep." {423a} + +In the spring following his return from the Isle of Man, Borrow made +numerous excursions on foot through East Anglia. He seemed too +restless to remain long in one place. During a tramp from Yarmouth +to Ely by way of Cromer, Holt, Lynn and Wisbech, he called upon Anna +Gurney. {423b} His reason for doing so was that she was one of the +three celebrities of the world he desired to see. The other two were +Daniel O'Connell {423c} and Lamplighter (the sire of Phosphorus), +Lord Berners winner of the Derby. Two of the world's notabilities +had slipped through his fingers by reason of their deaths, but he was +determined that Anna Gurney, who lived at North Repps, should not +evade him. He gave her notice of his intention to call, and found +her ready to receive him. + + +"When, according to his account, {424a} he had been but a very short +time in her presence, she wheeled her chair round and reached her +hand to one of her bookshelves and took 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; when, said he, 'I could not study the Arabic grammar +and listen to her at the same time, so I threw down the book and ran +out of the room.'" + + +It is said that Borrow ran until he reached Old Tucker's Inn at +Cromer, where he ate "five excellent sausages" and found calm. He +then went on to Sheringham and related the incident to the Upchers. + +These lonely walking tours soothed Borrow's restless mind. He had +constant change of scene, and his thoughts were diverted by the +adventures of the roadside. He encountered many and interesting +people, on one occasion an old man who remembered the fight between +Painter and Oliver; at another time he saw a carter beating his horse +which had fallen down. "Give him a pint of ale, and I will pay for +it," counselled Borrow. After the second pint the beast got up and +proceeded, "pulling merrily . . . with the other horses." + +Ale was Borrow's sovereign remedy for the world's ills and wrongs. +It was by ale that he had been cured when the "Horrors" were upon him +in the dingle. "Oh, genial and gladdening is the power of good ale, +the true and proper drink of Englishmen," he exclaims after having +heartened Jack Slingsby and his family. "He is not deserving of the +name of Englishman," he continues, "who speaketh against ale, that is +good ale." {425a} To John Murray (the Third) he wrote in his letter +of sympathy on the death of his father: "Pray keep up your spirits, +and that you may be able to do so, take long walks and drink plenty +of Scotch ale with your dinner . . . God bless you." + +He liked ale "with plenty of malt in it, and as little hop as well +may be--ale at least two years old." {425b} The period of its +maturity changed with his mood. In another place he gives nine or +ten months as the ideal age. {425c} He was all for an Act of +Parliament to force people to brew good ale. He not only drank good +ale himself; but prescribed it as a universal elixir for man and +beast. Hearing from + +Elizabeth Harvey "of a lady who was attached to a gentleman," Borrow +demanded bluntly, "Well, did he make her an offer?" "No," was the +response. "Ah," Borrow replied with conviction, "if she had given +him some good ale he would." {425d} He loved best old Burton, which, +with '37 port, were his favourites; yet he would drink whatever ale +the roadside-inn provided, as if to discipline his stomach. It has +been said that he habitually drank "swipes," a thin cheap ale, +because that was the drink of his gypsy friends; but Borrow's +friendship certainly did not often involve him in anything so +distasteful. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII: THE ROMANY RYE. 1854-1859 + + + +Borrow was not a great correspondent, and he left behind him very few +letters from distinguished men of his time. Among those few were +several from Edward FitzGerald, whose character contrasted so +strangely with that of the tempestuous Borrow. In 1856 FitzGerald +wrote:- + + +31 GREAT PORTLAND STREET, +LONDON, 27th October 1856. + +My Dear Sir,--It is I who send you the new Turkish Dictionary +[Redhouse's Turkish & English Dictionary] which ought to go by this +Post; my reasons being that I bought it really only for the purpose +of doing that little good to the spirited Publisher of the book (who +thought when he began it that the [Crimean] War was to last), and I +send it to you because I should be glad of your opinion, if you can +give it. I am afraid that you will hardly condescend to USE it, for +you abide in the old Meninsky; but if you WILL use it, I shall be +very glad. I don't think _I_ ever shall; and so what is to be done +with it now it is bought? + +I don't know what Kerrich told you of my being too LAZY to go over to +Yarmouth to see you a year ago. No such thing as that. I simply had +doubts as to whether you would not rather remain unlookt for. I know +I enjoyed my evening with you a month ago. I wanted to ask you to +read some of the Northern Ballads too; but you shut the book. + +I must tell you. I am come up here on my way to Chichester to be +married! to Miss Barton (of Quaker memory) and our united ages amount +to 96!--a dangerous experiment on both sides. She at least brings a +fine head and heart to the bargain--worthy of a better market. But +it is to be, and I dare say you will honestly wish we may do well. + +Keep the book as long as you will. It is useless to me. I shall be +to be heard of through Geldeston Hall, Beccles. With compliments to +Mrs Borrow, believe me, + +Yours truly, +EDWARD FITZGERALD. + +P.S.--Donne is well, and wants to know about you. + + +A few months later FitzGerald wrote again: + + +ALBERT HOUSE, GORLESTON, +6th July 1857. + +Dear Borrow,--Will you send me [The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam] by +bearer. I only want to look at him, for that Frenchman {427a} has +been misquoting him in a way that will make [Professor] E. Cowell [of +Cambridge] answerable for another's blunder, which must not be. You +shall have 'Omar back directly, or whenever you want him, and I +should really like to make you a copy (taking my time) of the best +Quatrains. I am now looking over the Calcutta MS. which has 500!-- +very many quite as good as those in the MS. you have; but very many +in BOTH MSS. are well omitted. + +I have been for a fortnight to Geldeston where Kerrich is not very +well. I shall look for you one day in my Yarmouth rounds, and you +know how entirely disengaged and glad to see you I am here. I have +two fresh Nieces with me--and I find I gave you the WORST wine of two +samples Diver sent me. I wish you would send word by bearer you are +better--this one word written will be enough you see. + +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 Churchsward. Why, OUR time seems coming. Make way, +Gentlemen!--Yours very truly, + +EDWARD FITZGERALD. + + +What effect the sweet gentleness of FitzGerald's nature had upon that +of Borrow is not known, for the replies have not been preserved. +FitzGerald was a man capable of soothing the angriest and most +discontented mind, and it is a misfortune that he saw so little of +Borrow. In the early part of the following year (24th Jan. 1857) +FitzGerald wrote to Professor E. B. Cowell of Cambridge:- + + +"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." {428a} + + +From Wales Mrs George Borrow had written (Sept. 1854) to old Mrs +Borrow: "He [Borrow] will, I expect at Christmas, publish his other +work [The Romany Rye] together with his poetry in all the European +languages." {428b} In November (1854) the manuscript of The Romany +Rye was delivered to John Murray, who appears to have taken his time +in reading it; for it was not until 23rd December that he expressed +his views in the following letter. Even when the letter was written +it was allowed to remain in John Murray's desk for five weeks, not +being sent until 27th January:- + + +My Dear Borrow,--I have read with care the MS. of The Romany Rye and +have pondered anxiously over it; and in what I am about to write I +think I may fairly claim the privilege of a friend deeply interested +in you personally, as well as in your reputation as author, and by no +means insensible to the abilities displayed in your various works. +It is my firm conviction then, that you will incur the certainty of +failure and run the risque of injuring your literary fame by +publishing the MS. as it stands. Very large omissions seem to me-- +and in this, Elwin, {429a} no mean judge, concurs--absolutely +indispensable. That Lavengro would have profited by curtailment, I +stated before its publication. The result has verified my +anticipations, and in the present instance I feel compelled to make +it the condition of publication. You can well imagine that it is not +my INTEREST to shorten a book from two volumes to one unless there +were really good cause. + +Lavengro clearly has not been successful. Let us not then risque the +chance of another failure, but try to avoid the rock upon which we +then split. You have so great store of interesting matter in your +mind and in your notes, that I cannot but feel it to be a pity that +you should harp always upon one string, as it were. It seems to me +that you have dwelt too long on English ground in this new work, and +have resuscitated some characters of the former book (such as F. +Ardry) whom your readers would have been better pleased to have left +behind. Why should you not introduce us rather to those novel scenes +of Moscovite and Hungarian life respecting which I have heard you +drop so many stimulating allusions. Do not, I pray, take offence at +what I have written. It is difficult and even painful for me to +assume the office of critic, and this is one of the reasons why this +note has lingered so long in my desk. Fortunately, in the advice I +am tendering I am supported by others of better literary judgment +than myself, and who have also deep regard for you. I will specify +below some of the passages which I would point out for omission.-- +With best remembrances, I remain, my dear Borrow, Your faithful +publisher and sincere friend, + +JOHN MURRAY. + + +Suggestions for Omission. + +The Hungarian in No. 6. +The Jockey Story, terribly spun out, No. 7. +Visit to the Church, too long. +Interview with the Irishman, Do. +Learning Chinese, too much repetition in this part of a very +interesting chapter. +The Postilion and Highwayman. +Throughout the MS. condensation is indispensable. Many of the +narratives are carried to a tedious length by details and repetition. +The dialogue with Ursula, the song, etc., border on the indelicate. +I like much Horncastle Fair, the Chinese scholar, except objection +noted above. +Grooming of the horse. +January 27, 1855. + + +On 29th January, Mrs Borrow wrote to John Murray a letter that was +inspired by Borrow himself. Dr Knapp discovered the original draft, +some of which was in Borrow's own hand. It runs:- + + +Dear Mr Murray,--We have received your letters. In the first place I +beg leave to say something on a very principal point. You talk about +CONDITIONS of publishing. Mr Borrow has not the slightest wish to +publish the book. The MS. was left with you because you wished to +see it, and when left, you were particularly requested not to let it +pass out of your own hands. But it seems you have shown it to +various individuals whose opinions you repeat. What those opinions +are worth may be gathered from the following fact. + +The book is one of the most learned works ever written; yet in the +summary of the opinions which you give, not one single allusion is +made to the learning which pervades the book, no more than if it +contained none at all. It is treated just as if all the philological +and historical facts were mere inventions, and the book a common +novel . . . + +With regard to Lavengro it is necessary to observe that if ever a +book experienced infamous and undeserved treatment it was that book. +It was attacked in every form that envy and malice could suggest, on +account of Mr Borrow's acquirements and the success of The Bible in +Spain, and it was deserted by those whose duty it was, in some degree +to have protected it. No attempt was ever made to refute the vile +calumny that it was a book got up against the Popish agitation of +'51. It was written years previous to that period--a fact of which +none is better aware than the Publisher. Is that calumny to be still +permitted to go unanswered? + +If these suggestions are attended to, well and good; if not, Mr +Borrow can bide his time. He is independent of the public and of +everybody. Say no more on that Russian Subject. Mr Borrow has had +quite enough of the press. If he wrote a book on Russia, it would be +said to be like The Bible in Spain, or it would be said to be unlike +The Bible in Spain, and would be blamed in either case. He has +written a book in connection with England such as no other body could +have written, and he now rests from his labours. He has found +England an ungrateful country. It owes much to him, and he owes +nothing to it. If he had been a low ignorant impostor, like a person +he could name, he would have been employed and honoured.--I remain, +Yours sincerely, + +MARY BORROW. + + +On 5th April 1856 Mrs Borrow wrote again, requesting Murray to return +the manuscript, but for what purpose she does not state. Two days +later it was despatched by rail from Albemarle Street. + +Some years before, Borrow had met Rev. Whitwell Elwin, Rector of +Booton, somewhere about the time he (Elwin) came up to London to edit +The Quarterly Review, viz., 1853. {431a} The first interview between +the two men has been described as characteristic of both. + + +"Borrow was just then very sore with his slashing critics, and on +someone 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, 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.'" {432a} + + +Elwin became greatly interested in The Romany Rye. He endeavoured to +influence its composition, and even wrote to Borrow begging him "to +give his sequel to Lavengro more of an historical, and less of a +romancing air." He was not happy about the book. He wrote to John +Murray in March:- + + +"'It is not the statements themselves which provoke incredulity, but +the melodramatic effect which he tries to impart to all his +adventures.' Instead of 'roaring like a lion,' in reply, as Elwin +had expected, he returned quite a 'lamb-like' note, which gave +promise of a greater success for his new work than its precursor." +{432b} + + +Borrow appears to have become tired of biding his time with regard to +The Romany Rye, and on 27th Feb. 1857 he wrote to John Murray to say +that "the work must go to press, and that unless the printing is +forthwith commenced, I must come up to London and make arrangements +myself. Time is passing away. It ought to have appeared many years +ago. I can submit to no more delays." The work was accordingly +proceeded with, and Elwin wrote a criticism of the work for The +Quarterly Review from the proof-sheets:- + + +"When the review was almost finished, it was on the point of being +altogether withdrawn, owing to a passage in Romany Rye which Elwin +said was clearly meant to be a reflection on his friend Ford, 'to +avenge the presumed refusal of the latter to praise Lavengro in The +Quarterly Review.' 'I am very anxious,' he said, 'to get Borrow +justice for rare merits which have been entirely overlooked, but if +he persists in publishing an attack of this kind I shall, I fear, not +be able to serve him.' The objectionable paragraphs had been written +by Borrow under a misapprehension, and he cancelled them as soon as +he was convinced of his error." {433a} + + +John Murray determined not to publish the book unless the offending +passage were removed. He wrote to Borrow the following letter:- + + +8th April 1857. + +My Dear Borrow,--When I have done anything towards you deserving of +apology I will not hesitate to offer one. As it is, I have acted +loyally towards you, and with a view to maintain your interests. + +I agreed to publish your present work solely with the object of +obliging you, and in a great degree at the strong recommendation of +Cooke. I meant (as was my duty) to do my very best to promote its +success. You on your side promised to listen to me in regard to any +necessary omissions; and on the faith of this, I pointed out one +omission, which I make the indispensable condition of my proceeding +further with the book. I have asked nothing unfair nor unreasonable- +-nay, a compliance with the request is essential for your own +character as an author and a man. + +You are the last man that I should ever expect to "frighten or +bully"; and if a mild but firm remonstrance against an offensive +passage in your book is interpreted by you into such an application, +I submit that the grounds for the notion must exist nowhere but in +your own imagination. The alternative offered to you is to omit or +publish elsewhere. Nothing shall compel me to PUBLISH what you have +written. Think calmly and dispassionately over this, and when you +have decided let me know. + +Yours very faithfully, +JOHN MURRAY. + + +The reference that had so offended Murray and Elwin had, in all +probability been interpolated in proof form, otherwise it would have +been discovered either when Murray read the manuscript or Elwin the +proofs. By return of post came the following reply from Borrow, then +at Great Yarmouth:- + + +Dear Sir,--Yesterday I received your letter. You had better ask your +cousin [Robert Cooke] to come down and talk about matters. AFTER +Monday I shall be disengaged and shall be most happy to see him. And +now I must tell you that you are exceedingly injudicious. You call a +chapter heavy, and I, not wishing to appear unaccommodating, remove +or alter two or three passages for which I do not particularly care, +whereupon you make most unnecessary comments, obtruding your private +judgment upon matters with which you have no business, and of which +it is impossible that you should have a competent knowledge. If you +disliked the passages you might have said so, but you had no right to +say anything more. I believe that you not only meant no harm, but +that your intentions were good; unfortunately, however, people with +the best of intentions occasionally do a great deal of harm. In your +language you are frequently in the highest degree injudicious; for +example, in your last letter you talk of obliging me by publishing my +work. Now is not that speaking very injudiciously? Surely you +forget that I could return a most cutting answer were I disposed to +do so. + +I believe, however, that your intentions are good, and that you are +disposed to be friendly.--Yours truly, + +GEORGE BORROW. + + +The tone of this letter is strangely reminiscent of some of the Rev +Andrew Brandram's admonitions to Borrow himself, during his +association with the Bible Society. Borrow bowed to the wind, and +the offending passage was deleted, and The Romany Rye eventually +appeared on 30th April 1857, in an edition of a thousand copies. The +public, or such part of it as had not forgotten Borrow, had been kept +waiting six years to know what had happened on the morning after the +storm. Lavengro had ended by the postilion concluding his story with +"Young gentleman, I will now take a spell on your blanket--young +lady, good-night," and presumably the three, Borrow, Isopel Berners +and their guest had lain down to sleep, and a great quiet fell upon +the dingle, and the moon and the stars shone down upon it, and the +red glow from the charcoal in the brazier paled and died away. + +The Romany Rye is a puzzling book. The latter portion, at least, +seems to suggest "spiritual autobiography." It reveals the man, his +atmosphere, his character, and nowhere better than among the jockeys +at Horncastle. It gives a better and more convincing picture of +Borrow than the most accurate list of dates and occurrences, all +vouched for upon unimpeachable authority. It is impressionism +applied to autobiography, which has always been considered as +essentially a subject for photographic treatment. Borrow thought +otherwise, with the result that many people decline to believe that +his picture is a portrait, because there is a question as to the +dates. + +Among the reviews, which were on the whole unfriendly, was the +remarkable notice in The Quarterly Review, by the Rev. Whitwell +Elwin:- {435a} + + +"Nobody," he wrote, "sympathises with wounded vanity, and the world +only laughs when a man angrily informs it that it does not rate him +at his true value. The public to whom he appeals must, after all, be +the judge of his pretensions. Their verdict at first is frequently +wrong, but it is they themselves who must reverse it, and not the +author who is upon his trial before them. The attacks of critics, if +they are unjust, invariably yield to the same remedy. Though we do +not think that Mr Borrow is a good counsel in his own cause, we are +yet strongly of the opinion that Time in this case has some wrongs to +repair, and that Lavengro has NOT obtained the fame which was its +due. It contains passages which in their way are not surpassed by +anything in English Literature." + + +The value of these prophetic words lies in the fine spirit of +fatherly reproof in which the whole review was written. It is the +work of a critic who regarded literature as a thing to be approached, +both by author and reviewer, with grave and deliberate ceremony, not +with enthusiasm or prejudice. From any other source the following +words would not have possessed the significance they did, coming from +a man of such sane ideas with the courage to express them:- + + +"Various portions of the history are known to be a faithful narrative +of Mr Borrow's career, while we ourselves can testify, as to many +other parts of his volumes, that nothing can excel the fidelity with +which he has described both men and things. Far from his showing any +tendency to exaggeration, such of his characters as we chance to have +known, and they are not a few, are rather within the truth than +beyond it. However picturesquely they may be drawn, the lines are +invariably those of nature. Why under these circumstances he should +envelop the question in mystery is more than we can divine. There +can be no doubt that the larger part, and possibly the whole, of the +work is a narrative of actual occurrences." {436a} + + +The Appendix itself, which had drawn from Elwin the grave declaration +that "Mr Borrow is very angry with his critics," is a fine piece of +rhetorical denunciation. It opens with the deliberate restraint of a +man who feels the fury of his wrath surging up within him. It tells +again the story of Lavengro, pointing morals as it goes. Then the +studied calm is lost--Priestcraft, "Foreign Nonsense," "Gentility +Nonsense," "Canting Nonsense," "Pseudo-Critics," "Pseudo-Radicals" he +flogs and pillories mercilessly until, arriving at "The Old Radical," +he throws off all restraint and lunges out wildly, mad with hate and +despair. As a piece of literary folly, the Appendix to The Romany +Rye has probably never been surpassed. It alienated from Borrow all +but his personal friends, and it sealed his literary fate as far as +his own generation was concerned. In short, he had burnt his boats. + +Borrow had sent a copy of The Romany Rye to FitzGerald, which is +referred to by him in a letter written from Gorleston to Professor +Cowell (5th June 1857):- + + +"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." {437a} + + +Borrow was bitterly disappointed at the effect produced by The Romany +Rye. On someone once saying that it was the finest piece of literary +invective since Swift, he replied, "Yes, I meant it to be; and what +do you think the effect was? No one took the least notice of it!" +{437b} + +The Romany Rye was not a success. The thousand copies lasted a year. +When it appeared likely that a second edition would be required, +Borrow wrote to John Murray urging him not to send the book to the +press again until he "was quite sure the demand for it will at least +defray all attendant expenses." He saw that whatever profits had +resulted from the publication of the first edition, were in danger of +being swallowed up in the preparation of a second. When this did +eventually make its appearance in 1858, it was limited to 750 copies, +which lasted until 1872. + +Borrow's own attitude with regard to the work and his wisdom in +publishing it is summed up in a letter to John Murray (17th Sept. +1857):- + + +"I was very anxious to bring it out," he writes; "and I bless God +that I had the courage and perseverance to do so. It is of course +unpalatable to many; for it scorns to foster delusion, to cry 'peace +where there is no peace,' and denounces boldly the evils which are +hurrying the country to destruction, and which have kindled God's +anger against it, namely, the pride, insolence, cruelty, +covetousness, and hypocrisy of its people, and above all the rage for +gentility, which must be indulged in at the expense of every good and +honourable feeling." + + +The writing of the Appendix had aroused in Borrow all his old +enthusiasm, and he appears to have come to the determination to +publish a number of works, including a veritable library of +translations. At the end of The Romany Rye appeared a lengthy list +of books in preparation. {438a} + +In August 1857 Borrow paid a second visit to Wales, walking "upwards +of four hundred miles." Starting from Laugharne in Carmarthenshire, +he visited Tenby, Pembroke, Milford Haven, Haverford, St David's, +Fishguard, Newport, Cardigan, Lampeter; passing into Brecknockshire, +he eventually reached Mortimer's Cross in Hereford and thence to +Shrewsbury. In October he was at Leighton, Donnington and Uppington, +where he found traces of Gronwy Owen, the one-time curate and all- +time poet. + +Throughout his life Borrow had shown by every action and word written +about her, the great love he bore his mother. When his wife wrote to +her and he was too restless to do so himself, he would interpolate +two or three lines to "My dear Mamma." She was always in his +thoughts, and he never wavered in his love for her and devotion to +her comfort; whilst she looked upon him as only a mother so good and +so tender could look upon a son who had become her "only hope." + +For many years of her life it had been ordained that this brave old +lady should live alone. {439a} In the middle of August 1858 the news +reached Borrow that his mother had been taken suddenly ill. She was +in her eighty-seventh year, and at such an age all illnesses are +dangerous. Borrow hastened to Oulton, and arrived just in time to be +with her at the last. + +Thus on 16th August 1858, of "pulmonary congestion," died Anne +Borrow, who had followed her husband about with his regiment, and had +reared and educated her two boys under circumstances of great +disadvantage. She had lost one; but the other, her youngest born, +whom she had so often shielded from his father's reproaches, had been +spared to her, and she had seen him famous. Upon her grave in Oulton +Churchyard the son caused to be inscribed the words, "She was a good +wife and a good mother," than which no woman can ask more. {440a} + +The death of his mother was a great shock to Borrow. "He felt the +blow keenly," Mrs Borrow wrote to John Murray, "and I advised a tour +in Scotland to recruit his health and spirits." Accordingly he went +North early in October, leaving his wife and Henrietta at Great +Yarmouth. He visited the Highlands, walking several hundred miles. +Mull struck him as "a very wild country, perhaps the wildest in +Europe." Many of its place-names reminded him strongly of the Isle +of Man. At the end of November he finished up the tour at Lerwick in +Shetland, where he bought presents for his "loved ones," having seen +Greenock, Glasgow, Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Wick, Thurso among +other places. His impressions were not altogether favourable to the +Scotch. "A queerer country I never saw in all my life," he wrote +later . . . "a queerer set of people than the Scotch you would +scarcely see in a summer's day." {440b} + +In the following year (1859) an excursion was made to Ireland by +Borrow and his family. Making Dublin his headquarters, where he left +his wife and Henrietta comfortably settled, he tramped to Connemara +and the Giant's Causeway, the expedition being full of adventure and +affording him "much pleasure," in spite of the fact that he was +"frequently wet to the skin, and indifferently lodged." + +Borrow had inherited from his mother some property at Mattishall +Burgh, one and a half miles from his birth-place, consisting of some +land, a thatched house and outbuildings, now demolished. This was +let to a small-holder named Henry Hill. Borrow thought very highly +of his tenant, and for hours together would tramp up and down beside +him as he ploughed the land, asking questions, and hearing always +something new from the amazing stores of nature knowledge that Henry +Hill had acquired. This Norfolk worthy appears to have been +possessed of a genius for many things. He was well versed in herbal +lore, a self-taught 'cellist, playing each Sunday in the +Congregational Chapel at Mattishall, and an equally self-taught +watch-repairer; but his chief claim to fame was as a bee-keeper, +local tradition crediting him with being the first man to keep bees +under glass. He would solemnly state that his bees, whom he looked +upon as friends, talked to him. On Sundays the country folk for +miles round would walk over to Mattishall Burgh to see old Henry +Hill's bees, and hear him expound their lore. It was perforce +Sunday, there was no other day for the Norfolk farm-labourer of that +generation, who seemed always to live on the verge of starvation. +Borrow himself expressed regret to Henry Hill that it had not been +possible to add the education of the academy to that of the land. He +saw that the combination would have produced an even more remarkable +man. + +In Norfolk all strangers are regarded with suspicion. Lifelong +friendships are not contracted in a day. The East Anglian is shrewd, +and requires to know something about those whom he admits to the +sacred inner circle of his friendship. Borrow was well-known in the +Mattishall district, and was looked upon with more than usual +suspicion. He was unquestionably a strange man, in speech, in +appearance, in habits. He could and would knock down any who +offended him; but, worst of all, he was the intimate of gypsies, sat +by their fires, spoke in their tongue. The population round about +was entirely an agricultural one, and all united in hating the +gypsies as their greatest enemies, because of their depredations. +Add to this the fact that Borrow was a frequenter of public-houses, +of which there were SEVEN in the village, and was wont to boast that +you could get at the true man only after he had been mellowed into +speech by good English ale. Then he would open his heart and +unburden his mind of all the accumulated knowledge that he possessed, +and add something to the epic of the soil. Borrow's overbearing +manner made people shy of him. On one occasion he told John, the son +and successor of Henry Hill, that he ought to be responsible for the +debt of his half-brother; the debt, it may be mentioned, was to +Borrow. + +There is no better illustration of the suspicion with which Borrow +was regarded locally, than an incident that occurred during one of +his visits to Mattishall. He called upon John Hill at Church Farm to +collect his rent. The evening was spent very agreeably. Borrow +recited some of his ballads, quoted Scripture and languages, and sang +a song. He was particularly interested on account of Mrs Hill being +from London, where she knew many of his haunts. He remained the +whole evening with the family and partook of their meal; but was +allowed to go to one of the seven public-houses for a bed, although +there were spare bedrooms in the house that he might have occupied. +Such was the suspicion that Borrow's habits created in the minds of +his fellow East Anglians. {442a} + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII: JULY 1859-JANUARY 1869 + + + +After his second tour in Wales, Borrow had submitted to John Murray +the manuscript of his translation of The Sleeping Bard, which in 1830 +had so alarmed the little Welsh bookseller of Smithfield. "I really +want something to do," Borrow wrote, "and seeing the work passing +through the press might amuse me." Murray, however, could not see +his way to accept the offer, and the manuscript was returned. Borrow +decided to publish the book at his own expense, and accordingly +commissioned a Yarmouth man to print him 250 copies, upon the title- +page of which John Murray permitted his name to appear. + +In the note in which he tells of the Welsh bookseller's doubts and +fears, Borrow goes on to assure his readers that there is no harm in +the book. + + +"It is true," he says, "that the Author is any thing but mincing in +his expressions and descriptions, but there is nothing in the +Sleeping Bard which can give offence to any but the over fastidious. +There is a great deal of squeamish nonsense in the world; let us hope +however that there is not so much as there was. Indeed can we doubt +that such folly is on the decline, when we find Albemarle Street in +'60, willing to publish a harmless but plain speaking book which +Smithfield shrank from in '30." + + +The edition was very speedily exhausted, largely on account of an +article entitled, The Welsh and Their Literature, written years +before, that Borrow adapted as a review of the book, and published +anonymously in The Quarterly Review (Jan. 1861). The Sleeping Bard +was not reprinted. + +The next event of importance in Borrow's life was his removal to +London with Mrs Borrow and Henrietta. Towards the end of the Irish +holiday (4th Nov. 1859), Mrs Borrow had written to John Murray: "If +all be well in the Spring, I shall wish to look around, and select a +pleasant, healthy residence within from three to ten miles of +London." Borrow may have felt more at liberty to make the change now +that his mother was dead, although whilst she was at Oulton he was as +little company for her at Great Yarmouth as he would have been in +London. Whatever led them to the decision to take up their residence +in London, Borrow and his wife left Great Yarmouth at the end of +June, and immediately proceeded to look about them for a suitable +house. Their choice eventually fell upon number 22 Hereford Square, +Brompton, which had the misfortune to be only a few doors from number +26, where lived Frances Power Cobbe. The rent was 65 pounds per +annum. The Borrows entered upon their tenancy at the Michaelmas +quarter, and were joined by Henrietta, who had remained behind at +Great Yarmouth during the house-hunting. + +Miss Cobbe has given in her Autobiography a very unlovely picture of +George Borrow during the period of his residence in Hereford Square. +No woman, except his relatives and dependants, will tolerate egoism +in a man. Borrow was an egoist. If not permitted to lead the +conversation, he frequently wrapped himself in a gloomy silence and +waited for an opportunity to discomfit the usurper of the place he +seemed to consider his own. Among his papers were found after his +death a large number of letters from poor men whom Borrow had +assisted. His friend the Rev. Francis Cunningham once wrote to him a +letter protesting against his assisting Nonconformist schools. He +gave to Church and Chapel alike. This disproves misanthropy, and +leaves egoism as the only explanation of his occasional lapses into +bitterness or rudeness. When in happy vein, however, "his +conversation . . . 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." {445a} + +Miss Cobbe would not humour an egoist, because constitutionally +women, especially clever women, dislike them, unless they wish to +marry them. When she heard it said, as it very frequently was said, +that Borrow was a gypsy by blood, she caustically remarked that if he +were not he "OUGHT to have been." Miss Cobbe had living with her a +Miss Lloyd who, "amused by his quaint stories and his (real or sham) +enthusiasm for Wales, . . . cultivated his acquaintance. I," +continued Miss Cobbe frankly, "never liked him, thinking him more or +less of a hypocrite." {445b} + +On one occasion Borrow had accepted an invitation from Miss Cobbe to +meet some friends, but subsequently withdrew his acceptance "on +finding that Dr Martineau was to be of the party . . . nor did he +ever after attend our little assemblies without first ascertaining +that Dr Martineau would not be present!" This she explained by the +assertion that Dr Martineau had "horsed" Borrow when he was punished +for running away from school at Norwich. It appeared "irresistibly +comic" to her mind. + +There is an amusing account given by Miss Cobbe of how she worsted +Borrow, which is certainly extremely flattering to her +accomplishments. Once when talking with him she happened to say + + +"something about the imperfect education of women, and he said it was +RIGHT they should be ignorant, and that no man could endure a clever +wife. I laughed at him openly," she continues, "and told him some +men knew better. What did he think of the Brownings? 'Oh, he had +heard the name; he did not know anything of them. Since Scott, he +read no modern writer; Scott WAS GREATER THAN HOMER! What he liked +were curious, old, erudite books about mediaeval and northern +things.' I said I knew little of such literature, and preferred the +writers of our own age, but indeed I was no great student at all. +Thereupon he evidently wanted to astonish me; and, talking of +Ireland, said, 'Ah, yes; a most curious, mixed race. First there +were the Firbolgs,--the old enchanters, who raised mists.' . . . +'Don't you think, Mr Borrow,' I asked, 'it was the Tuatha-de-Danaan +who did that? Keatinge expressly says that they conquered the +Firbolgs by that means.' (Mr B. somewhat out of countenance), 'Oh! +Aye! Keatinge is THE authority; a most extraordinary writer.' +'Well, I should call him the Geoffrey of Monmouth of Ireland.' (Mr +B. changing the VENUE), 'I delight in Norse-stories; they are far +grander than the Greek. There is the story of Olaf the Saint of +Norway. Can anything be grander? What a noble character!' 'But,' I +said, 'what do YOU think of his putting all those poor Druids on the +Skerry of Shrieks, and leaving them to be drowned by the tide?' +(Thereupon Mr B. looked at me askant out of his gipsy eyes, as if he +thought me an example of the evils of female education!) 'Well! +Well! I forgot about the Skerry of Shrieks. Then there is the story +of Beowulf the Saxon going out to sea in his burning ship to die.' +'Oh, Mr Borrow! that isn't a Saxon story at all. It is in the +Heimskringla! It is told of Hakon of Norway.' Then, I asked him +about the gipsies and their language, and if they were certainly +Aryans? He didn't know (or pretended not to know) what Aryans were; +and altogether displayed a miraculous mixture of odd knowledge and +more odd ignorance. Whether the latter were real or assumed I know +not!" {446a} + + +These were some of the neighbourly little pleasantries indulged in by +Miss Cobbe, regarding a man who was a frequent guest at her house. + + +"His has indeed been a fantastic fate!" writes Mr Theodore Watts- +Dunton. "When the shortcomings of any illustrious man save Borrow +are under discussion, 'les defauts de ses qualites' is the criticism- +-wise as charitable--which they evoke. Yes, each one is allowed to +have his angularities save Borrow. Each one is allowed to show his +own pet unpleasant facets of character now and then--allowed to show +them as inevitable foils to the pleasant ones--save Borrow. HIS +weaknesses no one ever condones. During his lifetime his faults were +for ever chafing and irritating his acquaintances, and now that he +and they are dead, these faults of his seem to be chafing and +irritating people of another generation. A fantastic fate, I say, +for him who was so interesting to some of us!" {447a} + + +On occasion Borrow could be inexcusably rude, as he was to a member +of the Russian Embassy who one day called at Hereford Square for a +copy of Targum for the Czar, when he told him that his Imperial +master could fetch it himself. Again, no one can defend him for +affronting the "very distinguished scholar" with whom he happened to +disagree, by thundering out, "Sir, you're a fool!" Such lapses are +deplorable; but why should we view them in a different light from +those of Dr Johnson? + +What would have been regarded in another distinguished man as a +pleasant vein of humour was in Borrow's case looked upon as evidence +of his unveracity. A contemporary tells how, on one occasion, he +went with him into "a tavern" for a pint of ale, when Borrow pointed +out + + +"a yokel at the far end of the apartment. The foolish bumpkin was +slumbering. Borrow in a stage whisper, gravely assured me that the +man was a murderer, and confided to me with all the emphasis of +honest conviction the scene and details of his crime. Subsequently I +ascertained that the elaborate incidents and fine touches of local +colour were but the coruscations of a too vivid imagination, and that +the villain of the ale-house on the common was as innocent as the +author of The Romany Rye." {447b} + + +If Borrow had been called upon to explain this little pleasantry he +would in all probability have replied in the words of Mr Petulengro, +that he had told his acquaintance "things . . . which are not exactly +true, simply to make a fool of you, brother." + +It is strange how those among his contemporaries who disliked him, +denied Borrow the indulgence that is almost invariably accorded to +genius. Those who were not for him were bitterly against him. In +their eyes he was either outrageously uncivil or insultingly rude. +Dr Hake, although a close friend, saw Borrow's dominant weakness, his +love of the outward evidences of fame. Dr Hake's impartiality gives +greater weight to his testimony when he tells of Borrow's first +meeting with Dr Robert Latham, the ethnologist, philologist and +grammarian. Latham much wanted to meet Borrow, and promised Dr Hake +to be on his best behaviour. He was accordingly invited to dinner +with Borrow. Latham as usual began to show off his knowledge. He +became aggressive, and finally very excited; but throughout the meal +Borrow showed the utmost patience and courtesy, much to his host's +relief. When he subsequently encountered Latham in the street he +always stopped "to say a kind word, seeing his forlorn condition." + +Dr Hake had settled at Coombe End, Roehampton, and now that the +Borrows were in London, the two families renewed their old +friendship. Borrow would walk over to Coombe End, and on arriving at +the gate would call out, "Are you alone?" If there were other +callers he would pass by, if not he would enter and frequently +persuade Dr Hake, and perhaps his sons, to accompany him for a walk. + +"There was something not easily forgotten," writes Mr A. Egmont Hake, +"in the manner in which he would unexpectedly come to our gates, +singing some gypsy song, and as suddenly depart." {448a} They had +many pleasant tramps together, mostly in Richmond Park, where Borrow +appeared to know every tree and showed himself very learned in deer. +He was + + +"always saying something in his loud, self-asserting voice; sometimes +stopping suddenly, drawing his huge stature erect, and changing the +keen and haughty expression of his face into the rapt and half +fatuous look of the oracle, he would without preface recite some long +fragment from Welsh or Scandinavian bards, his hands hanging from his +chest and flapping in symphony. Then he would push on again, and as +suddenly stop, arrested by the beautiful scenery, and exclaim, 'Ah! +this is England, as the Pretender said when he again looked on his +fatherland.' Then on reaching any town, he would be sure to spy out +some lurking gypsy, whom no one but himself would have known from a +common horse-dealer. A conversation in Romany would ensue, a +shilling would change hands, two fingers would be pointed at the +gypsy, and the interview would be at an end." {449a} + + +One day he asked Dr Hake's youngest boy if he knew how to fight a man +bigger than himself, and on being told that he didn't, advised him to +"accept his challenge, and tell him to take off his coat, and while +he was doing it knock him down and then run for your life." {449b} + +Once Borrow arrived at Dr Hake's house to find another caller in the +person of Mr Theodore Watts-Dunton, and they "went through a pleasant +trio, in which Borrow, as was his wont, took the first fiddle . . . +Borrow made himself agreeable to Watts [-Dunton], recited a fairy +tale in the best style to him, and liked him." Borrow did not +recognise in Mr Watts-Dunton the young man whom he had seen bathing +on the beach at Great Yarmouth, pleased to be near his hero, but too +much afraid to venture to address him. Writing of this meeting at +Coombe End, Mr Watts-Dunton says: "There is however no doubt that +Borrow would have run away from me had I been associated in his mind +with the literary calling. But at that time I had written nothing at +all save poems, and a prose story or two of a romantic kind." Borrow +hated the literary man, he was at war with the whole genus. + +Mr Watts-Dunton confesses that he made great efforts to enlist +Borrow's interest. He touched on Bamfylde Moore Carew, beer, +bruisers, philology, "gentility nonsense," the "trumpery great"; but +without success. Borrow was obviously suspicious of him. Then with +inspiration he happened to mention what proved to be a magic name. + + +"I tried other subjects in the same direction," Mr Watts-Dunton +continues, "but with small success, till in a lucky moment I +bethought myself of Ambrose Gwinett, . . . the man who, after having +been hanged and gibbeted for murdering a traveller with whom he had +shared a double-bedded room at a seaside inn, revived in the night, +escaped from the gibbet-irons, went to sea as a common sailor, and +afterwards met on a British man-of-war the very man he had been +hanged for murdering. The truth was that Gwinett's supposed victim, +having been attacked on the night in question by a violent bleeding +of the nose, had risen and left the house for a few minutes' walk in +the sea-breeze, when the press-gang captured him and bore him off to +sea, where he had been in service ever since. The story is true, and +the pamphlet, Borrow afterwards told me (I know not on what +authority), was written by Goldsmith from Gwinett's dictation for a +platter of cow-heel. + +"To the bewilderment of Dr Hake, I introduced the subject of Ambrose +Gwinett in the same manner as I might have introduced the story of +'Achilles' wrath,' and appealed to Dr Hake (who, of course, had never +heard of the book or the man) as to whether a certain incident in the +pamphlet had gained or lost by the dramatist who, at one of the minor +theatres, had many years ago dramatized the story. Borrow was caught +at last. 'What?' said he, 'you know that pamphlet about Ambrose +Gwinett?' 'Know it?' said I, in a hurt tone, as though he had asked +me if I knew 'Macbeth'; 'of course I know Ambrose Gwinett, Mr Borrow, +don't you?' 'And you know the play?' said he. 'Of course I do, Mr +Borrow,' I said, in a tone that was now a little angry at such an +insinuation of crass ignorance. 'Why,' said he, 'it's years and +years since it was acted; I never was much of a theatre man, but I +did go to see THAT.' 'Well I should rather think you DID, Mr +Borrow,' said I. 'But,' said he, staring hard at me, 'you--you were +not born!' 'And I was not born,' said I, 'when the "Agamemnon" was +produced, and yet one reads the "Agamemnon," Mr Borrow. I have read +the drama of "Ambrose Gwinett." I have it bound in morocco, with +some more of Douglas Jerrold's early transpontine plays, and some +AEschylean dramas by Mr Fitzball. I will lend it to you, Mr Borrow, +if you like.' He was completely conquered, 'Hake!' he cried, in a +loud voice, regardless of my presence, 'Hake! your friend knows +everything.' Then he murmured to himself. 'Wonderful man! Knows +Ambrose Gwinett!' + +"It is such delightful reminiscences as these that will cause me to +have as long as I live a very warm place in my heart for the memory +of George Borrow." {451a} + + +After this, intercourse proved easy. At Borrow's suggestion they +walked to the Bald-Faced Stag, in Kingston Vale, to inspect Jerry +Abershaw's sword. This famous old hostelry was a favourite haunt of +Borrow's, where he would often rest during his walk and drink "a cup +of ale" (which he would call "swipes," and make a wry face as he +swallowed) and talk of the daring deeds of Jerry the highwayman. + +Many people have testified to the pleasure of being in the company of +the whimsical, eccentric, humbug-hating Borrow. + + +"He was a choice companion on a walk," writes Mr A. Egmont Hake, +"whether across country or in the slums of Houndsditch. His +enthusiasm for nature was peculiar; he could draw more poetry from a +wide-spreading marsh with its straggling rushes than from the most +beautiful scenery, and would stand and look at it with rapture." +{451b} + + +Since the tour in Wales in 1854, from which he returned with the four +"Note Books," Borrow had been working steadily at Wild Wales. In +1857 the book had been announced as "ready for the press"; but this +was obviously an anticipation. The manuscript was submitted to John +Murray early in November 1861. On the 20th of that month he wrote +the following letter, addressing it, not to Borrow, but to his wife:- + + +Dear Mrs Borrow,--The MS. of Wild Wales has occupied my thoughts +almost ever since Friday last. + +I approached this MS. with some diffidence, recollecting the +unsatisfactory results, on the whole, of our last publication--Romany +Rye. I have read a large part of this new work with care and +attention, and although it is beautifully written and in a style of +English undefiled, which few writers can surpass, there is yet a want +of stirring incident in it which makes me fearful as to the result of +its publication. + +In my hands at least I cannot think it would succeed even as well as +Romany Rye--and I am fearful of not doing justice to it. I do not +like to undertake a work with the chance of reproach that it may have +failed through my want of power to promote its circulation, and I do +wish, for Borrow's own sake, that in this instance he would try some +other publisher and perhaps some other form of publication. + +In my hands I am convinced the work will not answer the author's +expectations, and I am not prepared to take on me this amount of +responsibility. + +I will give the best advice I can if called upon, and shall be only +too glad if I can be useful to Mr Borrow. I regret to have to write +in this sense, but believe me always, Dear Mrs Borrow, + +Your faithful friend, +JOHN MURRAY. + + +The reply to this letter has not been preserved. It would appear +that some "stirring incidents" were added, among others most probably +the account of Borrow blessing the Irish reapers, who mistook him for +Father Toban. This anecdote was one of John Murray's favourite +passages. It is evident that some concession was made to induce +Murray to change his mind. In any case Wild Wales appeared towards +the close of 1862 in an edition of 1000 copies. The publisher's +misgivings were not justified, as the first edition produced a +profit, up to 30th June 1863, of 531 pounds, 14s., which was equally +divided between author and publisher. The second, and cheap, edition +of 3000 copies lasted for thirteen years, and the deficiency on this +absorbed the greater part of the publisher's profit. + +In a way it is the most remarkable of Borrow's books; for it shows +that he was making a serious effort to regain his public. It is an +older, wiser and chastened Borrow that appears in its pages, striding +through the land of the bards at six miles an hour, his satchel slung +over his shoulder, his green umbrella grasped in his right hand, +shouting the songs of Wales, about which he knew more than any man he +met. There are no gypsies (except towards the end of the book a +reference to his meeting with Captain Bosvile), no bruisers, the pope +is scarcely mentioned, and "gentility-nonsense" is veiled almost to +the point of elimination. It seems scarcely conceivable that the +hand that had written the appendix to The Romany Rye could have so +restrained itself as to write Wild Wales. Borrow had evidently read +and carefully digested Whitwell Elwin's friendly strictures upon The +Romany Rye. Instead of the pope, the gypsies and the bruisers of +England, there were the vicarage cat, the bards and the thousand and +one trivial incidents of the wayside. There were occasional gleams +of the old fighting spirit, notably when he characterises sherry, +{453a} as "a silly, sickly compound, the use of which will transform +a nation, however bold and warlike by nature, into a race of +sketchers, scribblers, and punsters,--in fact, into what Englishmen +are at the present day." He has created the atmosphere of Wales as +he did that of the gypsy encampment. He shows the jealous way in +which the Welsh cling to their language, and their suspicion of the +Saesneg, or Saxon. Above all, he shows how national are the Welsh +poets, belonging not to the cultured few; but to the labouring man as +much as to the landed proprietor. Borrow earned the respect of the +people, not only because he knew their language; but on account of +his profound knowledge of their literature, their history, and their +traditions. No one could escape him, he accosted every soul he met, +and evinced a desire for information as to place-names that instantly +arrested their attention. + +The most curious thing about Wild Wales is the omission of all +mention of the Welsh Gypsies, who, with those of Hungary, share the +distinction of being the aristocrats of their race. Several +explanations have been suggested to account for the curious +circumstance. Had Borrow's knowledge of Welsh Romany been scanty, he +could very soon have improved it. The presence of his wife and +stepdaughter was no hindrance; for, as a matter of fact, they were +very little with him, even when they and Borrow were staying at +Llangollen; but during the long tours they were many miles away. In +all probability the Welsh Gypsies were sacrificed to British +prejudice, much as were pugilism and the baiting of the pope. + +In spite of its simple charm and convincing atmosphere, Wild Wales +did not please the critics. Those who noticed it (and there were +many who did not) either questioned its genuineness, or found it +crowded with triviality and self-glorification. It was full of the +superfluous, the superfluous repeated, and above all it was too long +(some 250,000 words). The Spectator notice was an exception; it did +credit to the critical faculty of the man who wrote it. He declined +"to boggle and wrangle over minor defects in what is intrinsically +good," and praised Wild Wales as "the first really clever book . . . +in which an honest attempt is made to do justice to Welsh +literature." + +Borrow had much time upon his hands in London, which he occupied +largely in walking. He visited the Metropolitan Gypsyries at +Wandsworth, "the Potteries," and "the Mounts," as described in Romano +Lavo-Lil. Sometimes he would be present at some sporting event, such +as the race between the Indian Deerfoot and Jackson, styled the +American Deer--tame sport in comparison with the "mills" of his +boyhood. He did very little writing, and from 1862, when Wild Wales +appeared, until he published The Romano Lavo-Lil in 1874, his +literary output consisted of only some translations contributed to +Once a Week (January 1862 to December 1863). + +In 1865 he was to lose his stepdaughter, who married a William +MacOubrey, M.D., described in the marriage register as a physician of +Sloane Street, London, and subsequently upon his tombstone as a +barrister. In the July of 1866 Borrow and his wife went to Belfast +on a visit to the newly married pair. From Belfast Borrow took +another trip into Scotland, crossing over to Stranraer. From there +he proceeded to Glen Luce and subsequently to Newton Stewart, Castle +Douglas, Dumfries, Ecclefechan, Gretna Green, Carlisle, Langholm, +Hawick, Jedburgh, Yetholm (where he saw Esther Blyth of Kirk +Yetholm), Kelso, Abbotsford, Melrose, Berwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow, +and so back to Belfast, having been absent for nearly four weeks. + +Mrs Borrow's health had been the cause of the family leaving Oulton +for Great Yarmouth, and about the time of the Irish visit it seems to +have become worse. When Borrow was away upon his excursion he +received a letter at Carlisle in which his wife informed him that she +was not so well; but urging him not to return if he were enjoying his +trip and it were benefiting his health. + +In the autumn of the following year (1867) they were at Bognor, Mrs +Borrow taking the sea air, her husband tramping about the country and +penetrating into the New Forest. On their return to town Mrs Borrow +appears to have become worse. There was much correspondence to be +attended to with regard to the Oulton Estate, and she had to go down +to Suffolk to give her personal attention to certain important +details. Miss Cobbe throws a little light on the period in a letter +to a friend, in which she says: + + +"Mr Borrow says his wife is very ill and anxious to keep the peace +with C. (a litigious neighbour). Poor old B. was very sad at first, +but I cheered him up and sent him off quite brisk last night. He +talked all about the Fathers again, arguing that their quotations +went to prove that it was NOT our gospels they had in their hands. I +knew most of it before, but it was admirably done. I talked a little +theology to him in a serious way (finding him talk of his 'horrors') +and he abounded in my sense of the non-existence of Hell, and of the +presence and action on the soul of _A_ Spirit, rewarding and +punishing. He would not say 'God'; but repeated over and over again +that he spoke not from books but from his own personal experience." +{456a} + + +On 24th January (1869) Mrs Borrow was taken suddenly ill and the +family doctor being out of town, Borrow sent for Dr W. S. Playfair of +5 Curzon Street. A letter from Dr Playfair, 25th January, to the +family doctor is the only coherent testimony in existence as to what +was actually the matter with Mrs Borrow. It runs:- + + +"I found great difficulty in making out the case exactly," he writes, +"since Mr Borrow himself was so agitated that I could get no very +clear account of it. I could detect no marked organic affection +about the heart or lungs, of which she chiefly complained. It seemed +to me to be either a very aggravated form of hysteria, or, what +appears more likely, some more serious mental affection. In any +case, the chief requisite seemed very careful and intelligent nursing +or management, and I doubt very much, from what I saw, whether she +gets that with her present surroundings. If it is really the more +serious mental affection, I should fancy that the sooner means are +taken to have her properly taken care of, the better." + + +Dr Playfair saw in Borrow's highly nervous excitable nature, if not +the cause of his wife's breakdown, at least an obstacle to her +recovery, and was of opinion that Mrs Borrow's disorder had been +greatly aggravated by her husband's presence. + +Mrs Borrow never rallied from the attack, and on the 30th she died of +"valvular disease of the heart and dropsy," being then in her +seventy-seventh year. On 4th February she was buried in Brompton +Cemetery, and the lonely man, her husband, returned to Hereford +Square. The grave bears the inscription, "To the Beloved Memory of +My Mother, Mary Borrow, who fell asleep in Jesus, 30th January 1869." +It is strange that this should be in Henrietta's and not Borrow's +name. + +Mrs Borrow evidently made over her property to her husband during her +lifetime, as there is no will in existence, and no application +appears to have been made either by Borrow or anyone else for letters +of administration. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX: JANUARY 1869-1881 + + + +The death of his wife was a last blow to Borrow, and he soon retired +from the world. At first he appears to have sought consolation in +books, to judge from the number of purchases he made about this time; +but it was, apparently, with pitiably unsuccessful results. In a +letter to a friend Miss Cobbe gives a picture in his lonliness: + + +"Poor old Borrow is in a sad state," she wrote. "I hope he is +starting in a day or two for Scotland. I sent C. with a note begging +him to come and eat the Welsh mutton you sent me to-day, and he sent +back word, 'Yes.' Then, an hour afterwards, he arrived, and in a +most agitated manner said he had come to say 'he would rather not. +He would not trouble anyone with his sorrows.' I made him sit down, +and talked as gently to him as possible, saying: 'It won't be a +trouble Mr. Borrow, it will be a pleasure to me.' But it was all of +no use. He was so cross, so RUDE, I had the greatest difficulty in +talking to him. I asked about his servant, and he said I could not +help him. I asked him about Bowring, and he said: 'Don't speak of +it.' (It was some dispute with Sir John Bowring, who was an +acquaintance of mine, and with whom I offered to mediate.) 'I asked +him would he look at the photos of the Siamese,' and he said: 'Don't +show them to me!' So, in despair, as he sat silent, I told him I had +been at a pleasant dinner-party the night before, and had met Mr L-- +, who told me of certain curious books of mediaeval history. 'Did he +know them?' 'No, and he DARE SAID Mr L-- did not, either! Who was +Mr L--?' I described that OBSCURE individual, (one of the foremost +writers of the day), and added that he was immensely liked by +everybody. Whereupon Borrow repeated at least twelve times, +'Immensely liked! As if a man could be immensely liked!' quite +insultingly. To make a diversion (I was very patient with him as he +was in trouble), 'I said I had just come home from the Lyell's and +had heard--' . . . But there was no time to say what I had heard! +Mr Borrow asked: 'Is that old Lyle I met here once, the man who +stands at the door (of some den or other) and BETS?' I explained who +Sir Charles was, {459a} (of course he knew very well), but he went on +and on, till I said gravely: 'I don't think you will meet those sort +of people here, Mr Borrow. We don't associate with blacklegs, +exactly.'" {459b} + + +In the Autumn of 1870 Borrow became acquainted with Charles G. Leland +("Hans Breitmann") as the result of receiving from him the following +letter:- + + +BRIGHTON, 24th October 1870. + +Dear Sir,--During the eighteen months that I have been in England, my +efforts to find some mutual friend who would introduce me to you have +been quite in vain. As the author of two or three works which have +been kindly received in England, I have made the acquaintance of many +literary men and enjoyed much hospitality; but I assure you very +sincerely that my inability to find you out or get at you has been a +source of great annoyance to me. As you never published a book which +I have not read through five times--excepting The Bible in Spain and +Wild Wales, which I have only read once--you will perfectly +understand why I should be so desirous of meeting you. + +As you have very possibly never heard of me before, I would state +that I wrote a collection of Ballads satirising Germany and the +Germans under the title of Hans Breitmann. + +I never before in my life solicited the favour of any man's +acquaintance, except through the regular medium of an introduction. +If my request to be allowed the favour of meeting and seeing you does +not seem too outre, I would be to glad to go to London, or wherever +you may be, if it can be done without causing you any inconvenience, +and if I should not be regarded as an intruder. I am an American, +and among us such requests are parfaitment (sic) en regle. + +I am, . . . + +CHARLES G. LELAND. + + +Borrow replied on 2nd Nov.: + + +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. + +Truly yours, +GEORGE BORROW. {460a} + + +The meeting unquestionably took place at Hereford Square, and Leland +found Borrow "a tall, large, fine-looking man who must have been +handsome in his youth." {460b} The result of the interview was that +Leland sent to Borrow a copy of his Ballads and also The Music Lesson +of Confucius, then about to appear. At the same time he wrote to +Borrow drawing his attention to one of the ballads written in German +Romany jib, and enquiring if it were worth anything. Whilst +deprecating his "impudence" in writing a Romany gili and telling, as +a pupil might a master, of his interest in and his association with +the gypsies, he continues: "My dear Mr Borrow, for all this you are +entirely responsible. More than twenty years ago your books had an +incredible influence on me, and now you see the results." After +telling him that he can NEVER thank him sufficiently for the +instructions he has given in The Romany Rye as to how to take care of +a horse on a thirty mile ride, he concludes--"With apologies for the +careless tone of this letter, and with sincere thanks for your +kindness in permitting me to call on you and for your courteous +note,--I am your sincere admirer." + + +The account that Leland gives of this episode in his Memoirs is +puzzling and contradictory in the light of his first letter. He +writes: + + +"There was another hard old character with whom I became acquainted +in those days, and one who, though not a Carlyle, still, like him, +exercised in a peculiar way a great influence on English literature. +This was George Borrow. I was in the habit of reading a great deal +in the British Museum, where he also came, and there I was introduced +to him. {461a} [Leland seems to be in error here; see ante, page +460.] He was busy with a venerable-looking volume in old Irish, and +made the remark to me that he did not believe there was a man living +who could read old Irish with ease (which I now observe to myself was +'fished' out of Sir W. Betham). We discussed several Gypsy words and +phrases. I met him in the same place several times." {461b} + + +Leland states that he sent a note to Borrow, care of John Murray, +asking permission to dedicate to him his forthcoming book, The +English Gypsies and Their Language; but received no reply, although +Murray assured him that the letter had been received by Borrow. "He +received my note on the Saturday," Leland writes--"never answered it- +-and on Monday morning advertised in all the journals his own +forthcoming work on the same subject." {461c} Had Borrow asked him +to delay publishing his own book, Leland says he would have done so, +"for I had so great a respect for the Nestor of Gypsyism, that I +would have been very glad to have gratified him with such a small +sacrifice." {462a} + +However Borrow may have heard that Leland had in preparation a book +on the English Gypsies, he seemed to feel that it was a trespass upon +ground that was peculiarly his own. Having revised and prepared for +the press the new edition of the Gypsy St Luke for the Bible Society +(published December 1872), and the one-volume editions of Lavengro +and The Romany Rye, he set to work to forestall Leland with his own +Romano Lavo-Lil. + +In spite of his haste, however, Borrow was beaten in the race, and +Leland got his volume out first. When the Romano Lavo-Lil {462b} +appeared in March 1874, Borrow found what, in all probability he had +not dreamed of, that the thirty-three years intervening between its +publication and that of The Zincali, had changed the whole literary +world as regards "things of Egypt." In 1841 Borrow had produced a +unique book, such as only one man in England could have written, and +that man himself {462c}; but in 1874 he found himself not only out of +date, but out-classed. + +The title very thoroughly explains the scope of the work. The +Vocabulary had existed in manuscript for many years. For some +reason, difficult to explain, Borrow had omitted from this Vocabulary +a number of the gypsy words that appeared in Lavengro and The Romany +Rye. In spite of this "Mr Borrow's present vocabulary makes a goodly +show," wrote F. H. Groome, ". . . containing no fewer than fourteen +hundred words, of which about fifty will be entirely new to those who +only know Romany in books." {463a} + +After praising the Gypsy songs as the best portion of the book, +Groome proceeds: + + +"Of his prose I cannot say so much. It is the Romany of the study +rather than of the tents [!] Mr Borrow has attempted to rehabilitate +English Romany by enduing it with forms and inflections, of which +some are still rarely to be heard, some extinct, and others +absolutely incorrect; while Mr Leland has been content to give it as +it really is. Of the two methods I cannot doubt that most readers +will agree with me in thinking that Mr Leland's is the more +satisfactory." {463b} + + +The Athenaeum sternly rebuked Borrow for seeming "to make the mistake +of confounding the amount of Rommanis which he has collected in this +book with the actual extent of the language itself." The reviewer +pays a somewhat grudging tribute to other portions of the book, the +accounts of the Gypsyries and the biographical particulars of the +Romany worthies, but the work suffers by comparison with those of +Paspati and Leland. He acknowledges that Borrow was one of the +pioneers of those who gave accounts of the Gypsies in English, who +gave to many their present taste for Gypsy matters, + + +"but," he proceeds, "we cannot allow merely sentimental +considerations to prevent us from telling the honest truth. The fact +is that the Romano Lavo-Lil is nothing more than a rechauffe of the +materials collected by Mr Borrow at an early stage of his +investigations, and nearly every word and every phrase may be found +in one form or another in his earlier works. Whether or not Mr +Borrow HAS in the course of his long experience become the DEEP Gypsy +which he has always been supposed to be, we cannot say; but it is +certain that his present book contains little more than he gave to +the public forty years ago, and does not by any means represent the +present state of knowledge on the subject. But at the present day, +when comparative philology has made such strides, and when want of +accurate scholarship is as little tolerated in strange and remote +languages as in classical literature, the Romano Lavo-Lil is, to +speak mildly, an anachronism." + + +This notice, if Borrow read it, must have been very bitter to him. +All the loyalty to, and enthusiasm for, Borrow cannot disguise the +fact that his work, as far as the Gypsies were concerned, was +finished. He had first explored the path, but others had followed +and levelled it into a thoroughfare, and Borrow found his facts and +theories obsolete--a humiliating discovery to a man so shy, so proud, +and so sensitive. + +The Romano Lavo-Lil was Borrow's swan song. He lived for another +seven years; but as far as the world was concerned he was dead. In +an obituary notice of Robert Latham, Mr Watts-Dunton tells a story +that emphasizes how thoroughly his existence had been forgotten. At +one of Mrs Procter's "at homes" he was talking of Latham and Borrow, +but when he happened to mention that both men were still alive, that +is in the early Seventies, and that quite recently he had been in the +company of each on separate occasions, he found that he had lost +caste in the eyes of his hearers for talking about men as alive "who +were well known to have been dead years ago." {464a} + +There is an interesting picture of Borrow as he appeared in the +Seventies, given by F. H. Groome, who writes: + + +"The first time I ever saw him was at Ascot, the Wednesday evening of +the Cup week in, I think, the year 1872. I was stopping at a wayside +inn, half-a-mile on the Windsor road, just opposite which inn there +was a great encampment of Gypsies. One of their lads had on the +Tuesday affronted a soldier; so two or three hundred redcoats came +over from Windsor, intending to wreck the camp. There was a babel of +cursing and screaming, much brandishing of belts and tent-rods, when +suddenly an arbiter appeared, a white-haired, brown-eyed, calm +Colossus, speaking Romany fluently, and drinking deep draughts of +ale--in a quarter of an hour Tommy Atkins and Anselo Stanley were +sworn friends over a loving-quart. "Mr Burroughs," said one of the +Gypsies (it is the name by which Gypsies still speak of him), and I +knew that at last I had met him whom of all men I most wished to +meet. Matty Cooper, the 'celebrated Windsor Frog' (vide Leland), +presented me as 'a young gentleman, Rya, a scholard from Oxford'; and +'H'm,' quoth Colossus, 'a good many fools come from Oxford.' It was +a bad beginning, but it ended well, by his asking me to walk with him +to the station, and on the way inviting me to call on him in London. +I did so, but not until nearly a twelve-month afterwards, when I +found him in Hereford Square, and when he set strong ale before me, +as again on the occasion of my third and last meeting with him in the +tent of our common acquaintance, Shadrach Herne, at the Potteries, +Notting Hill. Both these times we had much talk together, but I +remember only that it was partly about East Anglia, and more about +'things of Egypt.' Conversations twenty years old are easy to +imagine, hard to reproduce . . . Probably Borrow asked me the Romany +for 'frying-pan,' and I modestly answered, 'Either maasalli or +tasseromengri' (this is password No. 1), and then I may have asked +him the Romany for 'brick,' to which he will have answered, that +'there is no such word' (this is No. 2). But one thing I do +remember, that he was frank and kindly, interesting and interested; I +was only a lad, and he was verging on seventy. I could tell him +about a few 'travellers' whom he had not recently seen--Charlie +Pinfold, the hoary polygamist, Plato and Mantis Buckland, Cinderella +Petulengro, and Old Tom Oliver ('Ha! so he has seen Tom Oliver,' I +seem to remember that)." {466a} + + +There was nothing now to keep Borrow in London. Nobody wanted to +read his books, other stars had risen in the East. His publisher had +exclaimed with energy, as Borrow himself would relate, "I want to +meet with good writers, but there are none to be had: I want a man +who can write like Ecclesiastes." There is something tragic in the +account that Mr Watts-Dunton gives of his last encounter with Borrow: + + +"The last time I ever saw him," he writes, "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 . . . 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." +{466b} + + +In 1874 Borrow withdrew to Oulton, there to end his lonely life, his +spirit seeming to enjoy the dreary solitude of the Cottage, with its +mournful surroundings. His stepdaughter, the Henrietta of old, +remained in London with her husband, and Borrow's loneliness was +complete. Sometimes he was to be seen stalking along the highways at +a great pace, wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a Spanish cloak, a +tragic figure of solitude and despair, speaking to no one, no one +daring to speak to him, who locally was considered as "a funny +tempered man." + +In a fragment of a letter from Edward FitzGerald to W. B. Donne (June +1874), there is an interesting reference to Borrow:- + + +"Wait!" he writes. "I have one little thing to tell you, which, +little as it is, is worth all the rest, if you don't know already. + +"Borrow--has got back to his own Oulton Lodge. My Nephew, Edmund +Kerrich, now Adjutant to some Volunteer Battalion, wants a house +NEAR, not IN, Lowestoft: and got some Agent to apply for Borrow's-- +who sent word that he is himself there--an old Man--wanting +Retirement, etc. This was the account Edmund got. + +"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." {467a} + + +Borrow sent a message to FitzGerald through Edmund Kerrich of +Geldeston, asking him to visit Oulton Cottage. The reply shows all +the sweetness of the writer's nature:- + + +LITTLE GRANGE, WOODBRIDGE, +Jan. 10/75. + +Dear Borrow,--My nephew Kerrich told me of a very kind invitation +that you sent to me, through him, some while ago. I think the more +of it because I imagine, from what I have heard, that you have slunk +away from human company as much--as I have! For the last fifteen +years I have not visited any one of my very oldest friends, except +the daughters of my old [?friend] George Crabbe, and Donne--once +only, and for half a day, just to assure myself by--my own eyes how +he was after the severe illness he had last year, and which he never +will quite recover from, I think; though he looked and moved better +than I expected. + +Well--to tell you all about WHY I have thus fallen from my company +would be a tedious thing, and all about one's self too--whom, +Montaigne says, one never talks about without detriment to the person +talked about. Suffice to say, 'so it is'; and one's friends, however +kind and 'loyal' (as the phrase goes), do manage to exist and enjoy +themselves pretty reasonably without one. + +So with me. And is it not much the same with you also? Are you not +glad now to be mainly alone, and find company a heavier burden than +the grasshopper? If one ever had this solitary habit, it is not +likely to alter for the better as one grows older--as one grows OLD. +I like to think over my old friends. There they are, lingering as +ineffaceable portraits--done in the prime of life--in my memory. +Perhaps we should not like one another so well after a fifteen-years +separation, when all of us change and most of us for the worse. I do +not say THAT would be your case; but you must, at any rate, be less +inclined to disturb the settled repose into which you, I suppose, +have fallen. I remember first seeing you at Oulton, some twenty-five +years ago; then at Donne's in London; then at my own happy home in +Regent's Park; then ditto at Gorleston--after which, I have seen +nobody, except the nephews and nieces left me by my good sister +Kerrich. + +So shall things rest? I could not go to you, after refusing all this +while to go to older--if not better--friends, fellow Collegians, +fellow schoolfellows; and yet will you still believe me (as I hope +THEY do) + +Yours and theirs sincerely, +EDWARD FITZGERALD. + + +Borrow was still a remarkably robust man. Mr Watts-Dunton tells how, + + +"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 or more to think that there is a mind so whimsical, crotchetty, +and odd as to draw them. This was the humour of Borrow." {469a} + + +He was seventy years of age when, one March day during a bitterly- +cold east wind, he stripped and plunged into one of the Fen Ponds in +Richmond Park, which was covered with ice, and dived and swam under +the water for a time, reappearing some distance from the spot where +he had entered the water. {469b} + +The remaining years of Borrow's life were spent in Suffolk. He would +frequently go to Norwich, however; for the old city seemed to draw +him irresistibly from his hermitage. He would take a lodging there, +and spend much of his time occupying a certain chair in the Norfolk +Hotel in St Giles. There were so many old associations with Norwich +that made it appear home to him. He was possessed of sentiment in +plenty, it had caused his old mother to wish that "dear George would +not have such fancies about THE OLD HOUSE" in Willow Lane. + +Later, Dr and Mrs MacOubrey removed to Oulton (about 1878), and +Borrow's life became less dismal and lonely; but he was nearing his +end. Sometimes there would be a flash of that old unconquerable +spirit. His stepdaughter relates how, + + +"on the 21st of November [1878], the place [the farm] having been +going to decay for fourteen months, Mr Palmer [the tenant] called to +demand that Mr Borrow should put it in repair; otherwise he would do +it himself and send in the bills, saying, 'I don't care for the old +farm or you either,' and several other insulting things; whereupon Mr +Borrow remarked very calmly, 'Sir, you came in by that door, you can +go out by it'--and so it ended." {470a} + + +It was on an occasion such as this that Borrow yearned for a son to +knock the rascal down. He was an infirm man, his body feeling the +wear and tear of the strenuous open-air life he had led. In 1879, +according to Mrs MacOubrey, he was "unable to walk as far as the +white gate," the boundary of his estate. He was obviously breaking- +up very rapidly. The surroundings appear to have reflected the +gloomy nature of the master of the estate. The house was +dilapidated, "with everything about it more or less untidy," {470b} +although at this period his income amounted to upwards of five +hundred pounds a year. + + +"During his latter years," writes Mr W. A. Dutt, "his tall, erect, +somewhat mysterious figure was often seen in the early hours of +summer mornings or late at night on the lonely pathways that wind in +and out from the banks of Oulton Broad . . . the village children +used to hush their voices and draw aside at his approach. They +looked upon him with fear and awe. . . . In his heart, Borrow was +fond of the little ones, though it amused him to watch the impression +his strange personality made upon them. Older people he seldom spoke +to when out on his solitary rambles; but sometimes he would flash out +such a glance from beneath his broad-brimmed hat and shaggy eyebrows +as would make timid country folk hasten on their way filled with +vague thoughts and fears of the evil eye." {470c} + + +Even to the last the old sensitiveness occasionally flashed out, as +on the occasion of a visit from the Vicar of Lowestoft, who drove +over with an acquaintance of Borrow's to make the hermit's +acquaintance. The visitor was so incautious as to ask the age of his +host, when, with Johnsonian emphasis, came the reply: "Sir, I tell +my age to no man!" This occurred some time during the year 1880. +Immediately his discomfited guest had departed, Borrow withdrew to +the summer-house, where he drew up the following apothegm on +"People's Age": - + + +"Never talk to people about their age. Call a boy a boy, and he will +fly into a passion and say, 'Not quite so much of a boy either; I'm a +young man.' Tell an elderly person that he's not so young as he was, +and you will make him hate you for life. Compliment a man of eighty- +five on the venerableness of his appearance, and he will shriek out: +'No more venerable than yourself,' and will perhaps hit you with his +crutch." + + +On 1st December 1880 Borrow sent for his solicitor from Lowestoft, +and made his will, by which he bequeathed all his property, real and +personal, to his stepdaughter Henrietta, devising that it should be +held in trust for her by his friend Elizabeth Harvey. It was +evidently Borrow's intention so to tie up the bequest that Dr +MacOubrey could not in any way touch his wife's estate. + +The end came suddenly. On the morning of 26th July 1881 Dr and Mrs +MacOubrey drove into Lowestoft, leaving Borrow alone in the house. +When they returned he was dead. Throughout his life Borrow had been +a solitary, and it seems fitting that he should die alone. It has +been urged against his stepdaughter that she disregarded Borrow's +appeals not to be left alone in the house, as he felt himself to be +dying. He may have made similar requests on other occasions; still, +whatever the facts, it was strange to leave so old and so infirm a +man quite unattended. + +On 4th August the body was brought to London, and buried beside that +of Mrs George Borrow in Brompton Cemetery. On the stone, which is +what is known as a saddle-back, is inscribed: + + +IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF +GEORGE HENRY BORROW, ESQ., +WHO DIED JULY 26TH, 1881 (AT HIS RESIDENCE "OULTON +COTTAGE, SUFFOLK") +IN HIS 79TH YEAR. +(AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE IN SPAIN, LAVENGRO--AND +OTHER WORKS.) +"IN HOPE OF A GLORIOUS RESURRECTION." + + +A fruitless effort was made by the late J. J. Colman of Carrow to +purchase the whole of Borrow's manuscripts, library, and papers for +the Carrow Abbey Library; but the price asked, a thousand pounds, was +considered too high, and they passed into the possession of another. +Eventually they found their way into the reverent hands of the man +who subsequently made Borrow his hero, and who devoted years of his +life to the writing of his biography--Dr W. J. Knapp. + +It was Borrow's fate, a tragic fate for a man so proud, to outlive +the period of his fame. Not only were his books forgotten, but the +world anticipated his death by some seven or eight years. His was a +curiously complex nature, one that seems specially to have been +conceived by Providence to arouse enmity among the many, and to +awaken in the hearts of the few a sterling, unwavering friendship. +It is impossible to reconcile the accounts of those who hated him +with those whose love and respect he engaged. + +He was in sympathy with vagrants and vagabonds--a taste that was +perhaps emphasised by the months he spent in preparing Celebrated +Trials. If those months of hack work taught him sympathy with +pariahs, it also taught him to write strong, nervous English. + +He was one of the most remarkable characters of his century-- +whimsical, eccentric, lovable, inexplicable; possessed of an odd, dry +humour that sometimes failed him when most he needed it. He lived +and died a stranger to the class to which he belonged, and was the +intimate friend and associate of that dark and mysterious personage, +Mr Petulengro. He hated his social equals, and admired Tamerlane and +Jerry Abershaw. It has been said that he was born three centuries +too late, and that he belonged to the age when men dropped +mysteriously down the river in ships, later to return with strange +stories and great treasure from the Spanish Main. Mr Watts-Dunton +has said:- + + +"When Borrow was talking to people in his own class of life there was +always in his bearing a kind of shy, defiant egotism. What Carlyle +called the 'armed neutrality' of social intercourse oppressed him. +He felt himself to be in the enemy's camp. In his eyes there was +always a kind of watchfulness, as if he were taking stock of his +interlocutor and weighing him against himself. He seemed to be +observing what effect his words were having, and this attitude +repelled people at first. But the moment he approached a gypsy on +the heath, or a poor Jew in Houndsditch, or a homeless wanderer by +the wayside, he became another man. He threw off the burden of +restraint. The feeling of the 'armed neutrality' was left behind, +and he seemed to be at last enjoying the only social intercourse that +could give him pleasure. This it was that enabled him to make +friends so entirely with the gypsies. Notwithstanding what is called +'Romany guile' (which is the growth of ages of oppression), the basis +of the Romany character is a joyous frankness. Once let the +isolating wall which shuts off the Romany from the 'Gorgio' be broken +through, and the communicativeness of the Romany temperament begins +to show itself. The gypsies are extremely close observers; they were +very quick to notice how different was Borrow's bearing towards +themselves from his bearing towards people of his own race, and +Borrow used to say that 'old Mrs Herne and Leonora were the only +gypsies who suspected and disliked him.'" {474a} + + +This convincing character sketch seems to show the real Borrow. It +accounts even for that high-piping, artificial voice (a gypsy trait) +that he assumed when speaking with those who were not his intimate +friends, and which any sudden interest in the conversation would +cause him to abandon in favour of his own deep, rich tones. Mr F. J. +Bowring, himself no friend of Borrow's for very obvious reasons, has +described this artificial intonation as something between a beggar's +whine and the high-pitched voice of a gypsy--in sort, a falsetto. He +tells how, on one occasion, when in conversation with Borrow, he +happened to mention to him something of particular interest +concerning the gypsies, Borrow became immensely interested, +immediately dropped the falsetto and spoke in his natural voice, +which Mr Bowring describes as deep and manly. + +Even his friends were led sometimes into criticisms that appear +unsympathetic. {474b} He was, Dr Hake has said, "essentially +hypochondriacal. Society he loved and hated alike: he loved it that +he might be pointed out and talked of; he hated it because he was not +the prince that he felt himself in its midst." {474c} It is the son +who shows the better understanding, although there is no doubt about +Dr Hake's loyalty to Borrow. There is a faithful presentation of a +man such as Borrow really seems to have been, in the following +words:- + + +"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 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 gypsy song, and as suddenly depart." {475a} + + +If Borrow wrote that he was ashamed of being an Englishman and +referred to their "pinched and mortified expressions," if he found +the virtues of the Saxons "uncouth and ungracious," he never +permitted others to make disparaging remarks about his country or his +countrymen. {475b} He was typically English in this: agree with his +strictures, add a word or two of dispraise of the English, and there +appeared a terrifying figure of a patriot; "not only an Englishman +but an East Englishman," which in Borrow's vocabulary meant the +finest of the breed. He might with more truth have said a +Cornishman. "I could not command myself when I heard my own glorious +land traduced in this unmerited manner," {475c} he once exclaimed. +He permitted to himself, and to himself only, a certain latitude in +such matters. + +That Borrow exaggerated is beyond all question, but it must not be +called deliberate. He desired to give impressions of scenes and +people, and he was inclined to emphasize certain features. Isopel +Berners he wished it to be known was a queenly creature, and he +described her as taller than himself (he was 6 feet 2 inches without +his shoes). Exaggeration is colour, not form. A disbelief in his +having encountered the convict son of the old apple-woman near +Salisbury does not imply that the old woman herself is a fiction. +Borrow insisted upon Norfolk as his county, "where the people eat the +best dumplings in the world, and speak the purest English." He even +spoke with a strong, if imperfect, East Anglian accent. As a matter +of fact his father was Cornish and his mother of Huguenot stock. It +would be absurd to argue from this obvious exaggeration of the actual +facts that Borrow was a myth. + +Then he has been taken to task for not being a philologist as well as +a linguist. He may have used the word philologist somewhat loosely +on occasion. "Think what the reader would have lost," says one +eminent but by no means prejudiced critic {476a} with real sympathy +and insight, "had Borrow waited to verify his etymologies." In all +probability Nature will never produce a Humboldt-Le Sage combination +of intellect. Language was to Borrow merely the key that permitted +him access to the chamber of men's minds. It must be confessed that +sometimes he invaded the sacred precincts of philology. His chapter +on the Basque language in The Bible in Spain has been described as +"utterly frantic," and German philologists, speechless in their +astonishment, have expressed themselves upon his conclusions in marks +of exclamation! He was not qualified to discourse upon the science +of language. + +He was a staunch member of the Church of England, because he believed +there was in it more religion than in any other Church; but this did +not hinder him from consorting with the godless children of the +tents, or contributing towards the upkeep of Nonconformist-schools. +The gypsies honoured and trusted him because, crooked themselves, +they appreciated straightness and clean living in another. They had +never known him use a bad word or do a bad thing. He was, on +occasion, arrogant, overbearing, ungracious, in short all the +unattractive things that a proud and masterful man can be; but his +friendship was as strong as the man himself; his charity above the +narrow prejudices of sect. When he threw his tremendous power into +any enterprise or undertaking, it was with the determination that it +should succeed, if work and self-sacrifice could make it. "The +wisest course," he thought, was, " . . . to blend the whole of the +philosophy of the tombstone with a portion of the philosophy of the +publican and something more, to enjoy one's pint and pipe and other +innocent pleasures, and to think every now and then of death and +judgment." + +Borrow loved mystery for its own sake, and none were ever able quite +to penetrate into the inner fastness of his personality. Those who +came nearest to it were probably Hasfeldt and Ford, whose persistent +good-humour was an armour against a reserve that chilled most men. +Of all Borrow's friends it is probable that none understood him so +well as Hasfeldt. He recognised the strength of character of the +white-haired man who sang when he was happy, and he refused to be +affected by his gloomy moods. "Write and tell me," he requests, "if +you have not fallen in love with some nun or Gypsy in Spain, or have +met with some other romantic adventure worthy of a roaming knight." +On another occasion (June 1845) he boasts with some justification, +"Heaven be praised, I can comprehend you as a reality, while many +regard you as an imaginary, fantastic being. But they who portray +you have not eaten bread and salt with you." + +Borrow's contemporary recognition was a chance; he was writing for +another generation, and some of the friends that he left behind have +loyally striven to erect to him the only monument an artist desires-- +the proclaiming of his works. + +Nature it appeared had framed Borrow in a moment of magnificence, +and, lest he should be enticed away from her, had instilled into his +soul a hatred of all things artificial and at variance with her +august decrees. He was shy and suspicious with the men and women who +regulated their lives by the narrow standards of civilisation and +decorum; but with the children of the tents and the vagrants of the +wayside he was a single-minded man, eager to learn the lore of the +open air. He recognised in these vagabonds the true sons and +daughters of "the Great Mother who mixes all our bloods." + + + +APPENDIX: LIST OF BORROW'S WORKS + + + +1825 + +Celebrated Trials, and Remarkable Cases of Criminal Jurisprudence, +from the Earliest Records to the Year 1825. Six volumes, with +plates. London. + +Faustus: His Life, Death, and Descent into Hell. Translated from +the German [of F. M. von Klinger]. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, +London. + +1826 + +Romantic Ballads. Translated from the Danish: and Miscellaneous +Pieces. S. Wilkin, Norwich. + +1835 + +Targum: or, Metrical Translations from Thirty Languages and +Dialects. St Petersburgh. Reprinted later by Jarrold & Sons, +Norwich. + +The Talisman. From the Russian of Alexander Pushkin. With Other +Pieces. St Petersburg. + +1841 + +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. Two volumes. John Murray, London. + +1842 + +The Bible in Spain; or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments +of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the +Peninsula. Three volumes. John Murray, London. + +Lavengro: The Scholar--The Gypsy--The Priest. Three volumes. John +Murray, London. + +The Romany Rye: a Sequel to Lavengro. Two volumes. John Murray, +London. + +The Sleeping Bard; or, Visions of the World, Death, and Hell. By +Elis Wyn. Translated from the Cambrian British. John Murray, +London. + +1862 + +Wild Wales: Its People, Language, and Scenery. Three volumes. John +Murray, London. + +Romano Lavo-Lil: Word-Book of Romany; or, English Gypsy Language. +With Many Pieces in Gypsy, Illustrative of the Way of Speaking and +Thinking of the English Gypsies; with Specimens of Their Poetry, and +an Account of Certain Gypsyries or Places Inhabited by Them, and of +Various Things Relating to Gypsy Life in England. John Murray, +London. + +1884 + +The Turkish Jester; or, the Pleasantries of Cogia Nasr Eddin Effendi. +Translated from the Turkish. Jarrold & Sons, Norwich. + +1892 + +The Death of Balder. Translated from the Danish of Evald. Jarrold & +Sons, Norwich. + +From the foregoing list has been omitted the mysterious Life and +Adventures of Joseph Sell, the Great Traveller, and those works that +Borrow edited or translated for the British and Foreign Bible +Society. + + + +Footnotes: + +{3a} Afterwards General Morshead and friend of the Duke of York. +Captain Morshead, himself a Cornishman, is credited with doing +everything in his power to dissuade Thomas Borrow from enlisting, but +without result. + +{4a} Lavengro, page 2. References to Borrow's works throughout this +volume are to the Standard Edition, published by John Murray. + +{4b} Ann, the third of eight children born to Samuel Perfrement and +Mary his wife, 23rd January 1772. + +{4c} Locally, the name is pronounced "PARfrement." This is quite in +accordance with the Norfolk dialect, which changes "e" into "a." +Thus "Ernest" becomes "Arnest"; "Earlham," "Arlham"; "Erpingham," +"Arpingham," and so on. In Norfolk there are grave peculiarities of +pronunciation, which have caused many a stranger to wish that he had +never enquired his way, so puzzling are the replies hurled at him in +an incomprehensible vernacular. + +{5a} Married the Rev. Wm. Holland, rector of Walmer and afterwards +rector of Brasted, Kent. + +{6a} Lavengro, page 5. + +{6b} Lavengro, page 5. + +{7a} George in honour of the King, it is said, and Henry after his +father's eldest brother. + +{7b} Lavengro, page 6. + +{7c} Lavengro, page 6. + +{7d} Lavengro, page 6. + +{7e} Lavengro, page 7. + +{7f} Lavengro, page 7. + +{9a} Lavengro, page 16. + +{9b} The widow of Sir John Fenn, editor of the Paston Letters. + +{9c} Lavengro, page 15. + +{10a} Lavengro, pages 398-9. + +{10b} "Many years have not passed over my head, yet during those +which I can call to remembrance, how many things have I seen +flourish, pass away, and become forgotten, except by myself, who, in +spite of all my endeavours, never can forget anything."--Lavengro, +page 166. + +{10c} Lavengro, page 16. + +{11a} Lavengro, pages 19-20. + +{11b} Lavengro, page 22. + +{12a} The gypsies "have a double nomenclature, each tribe or family +having a public and private name, one by which they are known to the +Gentiles, and another to themselves alone . . . There are only two +names of trades which have been adopted by English gypsies as proper +names, Cooper and Smith: these names are expressed in the English +gypsy dialect by Vardo-mescro and Petulengro (Romano Lavo-Lil, page +185). Thus the Smiths are known among themselves as the Petulengros. +Petul, a horse shoe, and engro a "masculine affix used in the +formation of figurative names." Thus Boshomengro (a fiddler) comes +from Bosh a fiddle, Cooromengro (a soldier, a pugilist) from Coor = +to fight. + +{12b} The Rev. Wentworth Webster heard narrated at a provincial +Bible Society's meeting that when Borrow first called at Earl Street +"he said that he had been stolen by gypsies in his boyhood, had +passed several years with them, but had been recognised at a fair in +Norfolk and brought home to his family by his uncle." There is, +however, nothing to confirm this story. + +{13a} Lavengro, page 164. + +{13b} The prisoners occupied much of their time in straw-plait +making; but the quality of their work was so much superior to that of +the English that it was forbidden, and consequently destroyed when +found. + +{13c} Lavengro, page 45. + +{14a} David Haggart, born 24th June 1801, was an instinctive +criminal, who, at Leith Races, in 1813, enlisted, whilst drunk, as a +drummer in the West Norfolks. Eventually he obtained his discharge +and continued on his career of crime and prison-breaking, among other +things murdering a policeman and a gaoler, until, on 18th July 1821, +he was hanged at Edinburgh. + +{15a} Lavengro, page 138. + +{15b} John Crome (1768-1821), landscape painter. Apprenticed 1783 +as sign-painter; introduced into Norwich the art of graining; founded +the Norwich School of Painting; first exhibited at the Royal Academy +1806. + +{17a} Borrow was always a magnificent horseman. "Vaya! how you +ride! It is dangerous to be in your way!" said the Archbishop of +Toledo to him years later. In The Bible in Spain he wrote that he +had "been accustomed from . . . childhood to ride without a saddle." +The Rev. Wentworth Webster states that in Madrid "he used to ride +with a Russian skin for a saddle and WITHOUT STIRRUPS." + +{20a} Letter from "A School-fellow of Lavengro" in The Britannia, +26th April 1851. + +{21a} "It is probable, that had I been launched about this time into +some agreeable career, that of arms, for example, for which, being +the son of a soldier, I had, as was natural, a sort of penchant, I +might have thought nothing more of the acquisition of tongues of any +kind; but, having nothing to do, I followed the only course suited to +my genius which appeared open to me."--Lavengro, page 89. + +{21b} The Rev. Thomas D'Eterville, M.A., "Poor Old Detterville," as +the Grammar School boys called him, of Caen University, who arrived +at Norwich in 1793. He acquired a small fortune by teaching +languages. There were rumours that he was engaged in the contraband +trade, an occupation more likely to bring fortune than teaching +languages. + +{21c} Letter from "A School-fellow of Lavengro" in The Britannia, +26th April 1851. + +{22a} It was here, in 1827, that he saw the world's greatest +trotter, Marshland Shales, and in common with other lovers of horses +lifted his hat to salute "the wondrous horse, the fast trotter, the +best in mother England." In Lavengro Borrow antedated this event by +some nine years. + +{23a} Manuscript autobiographical notes supplied by Borrow to Mr +John Longe, 1862. + +{24a} Lavengro, page 134. + +{25a} This account is taken from a letter by "A Schoolfellow of +Lavengro" in The Britannia, 26th April 1851. + +{25b} In a letter to Borrow, dated 15th October 1862, John Longe, +J.P., of Spixworth Park, Norwich, in acknowledging some biographical +particulars that Borrow had sent him for inclusion in Burton's +Antiquities of the Royal School of Norwich, wrote:- + +"You have omitted an important and characteristic anecdote of your +early days (fifteen years of age). When at school you, with +Theodosius and Francis W. Purland, ABSENTED yourself from home and +school and took up your abode in a certain 'Robber's Cave' at Acle, +where you RESIDED three days, and once more returned to your homes." + +{26a} According to the original manuscript of Lavengro, it appears +that Roger Kerrison, a Norwich friend of Borrow's, strongly advised +the law as "an excellent profession . . . for those who never intend +to follow it."--Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp, i., 66. + +{27a} The Rev. Wm. Drake of Mundesley, in a letter which appeared in +The Eastern Daily Press, 22nd September 1892:- + +" . . . I was at the Norwich Grammar School nine years, from 1820 to +1829, and during that time (probably in 1824 and 1825) George Borrow +was lodging in the Upper Close . . . The house was a low old- +fashioned building with a garden in front of it, and the fact of +Borrow's residence there is fixed in my memory because I had spent +the first five or six years of my own life in the same house, from +1811 to 1816 or 1817. My father occupied it in virtue of his being a +minor canon in Norwich Cathedral. I remember Borrow very distinctly, +because he was fond of chatting with the boys, who used to gather +round the railings of his garden, and occasionally he would ask one +or two of them to have tea with him. I have a faint recollection +that he gave us some of our first notions of chess, but I am not sure +of this. I . . . remember him a tall, spare, dark-complexioned man, +usually dressed in black. In person he was not unlike another +Norwich man, who obtained in those days a very different notoriety +from that which now belongs to Borrow's name. I mean John Thurtell, +who murdered Mr Weare." + +{27b} Wild Wales, page 3. + +{28a} Wild Wales, page 157. + +{28b} Forty years later Borrow wrote of these days: --"'How much +more happy, innocent, and holy I was in the days of my boyhood when I +translated Iolo's ode than I am at the present time!' Then covering +my face with my hands I wept like a child."--Wild Wales, page 448. + +{30a} There is no doubt that Borrow became possessed of a copy of +Kiaempe Viser, first collected by Anders Vedel, which may or may not +have been given to him, with a handshake from the old farmer and a +kiss from his wife, in recognition of the attention he had shown the +pair in his official capacity. He refers to the volume repeatedly in +Lavengro, and narrates how it was presented by some shipwrecked +Danish mariners to the old couple in acknowledgment of their humanity +and hospitality. It is, however, most likely that he was in error +when he stated that "in less than a month" he was able "to read the +book."--Lavengro, pages 140-4. + +{30b} Wild Wales, page 2. + +{30c} Wild Wales, page 374. + +{30d} Wild Wales, page 9. There is an interesting letter written to +Borrow by the old lawyer's son on the appearance of Lavengro, in +which he says: "With tearful eyes, yet smiling lips, I have read and +re-read your faithful portrait of my dear old father. I cannot +mistake him--the creaking shoes, the florid face, the polished pate-- +all serve as marks of recognition to his youngest son!" + +{31a} Wild Wales, page 374. + +{31b} During the five years that he was articled to Simpson & +Rackham, Borrow, according to Dr Knapp, studied Welsh, Danish, +German, Hebrew, Arabic, Gaelic, and Armenian. He already had a +knowledge of Latin, Greek, Irish, French, Italian, and Spanish. + +{31c} Lavengro, page 235. + +{32a} Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786-1846), the historical painter. + +{32b} Lavengro, page 166. + +{33a} William Taylor (1765-1836) was an admirer of German literature +and a defender of the French Revolution. He is credited with having +first inspired his friend Southey with a liking for poetry. He +travelled much abroad, met Goethe, attended the National Assembly +debates in 1790, translated from the German and contributed to a +number of English periodicals. + +{33b} Harriet Martineau's Autobiography, 1877. + +{33c} Harriet Martineau's Autobiography, 1877. + +{33d} Letter from "A School-fellow of Lavengro" in The Britannia, +26th April 1851. + +{34a} Memoir of Wm. Taylor, by J. W. Robberds. + +{34b} Memoir of Wm. Taylor, by J. W. Robberds. + +{34c} Letter from "A School-fellow of Lavengro" in The Britannia, +26th April 1851. + +{35a} The Rev. Whitwell Elwin, in a letter, 17th February 1887. + +{35b} Harriet Martineau's Autobiography, 1877. + +{35c} Lavengro, page 355. + +{36a} John Bowring, F.R.S. (1792-1872), began life in trade, went to +the Peninsula for Milford & Co., army contractors, in 1811, set up +for himself as a merchant, travelled and acquired a number of +languages. He was ambitious, energetic and shrewd. He became editor +of The Westminster Review in 1824, and LL.D., Gronigen, in 1829. He +was sent by the Government upon a commercial mission to Belgium, +1833; to Egypt; Syria and Turkey, 1837-8; M.P. for Clyde burghs, +1835-7, and for Bolton, 1841; was instrumental in obtaining the issue +of the florin as a first step toward a decimal system of currency; +Consul of Canton, 1847; plenipotentiary to China; governor, +commander-in-chief, and vice-admiral of Hong Kong, 1854; knighted +1854; established diplomatic and commercial relations with Siam, +1855. He published a number of volumes of translations from various +languages. He died full of years and honours in 1872. + +{36b} The Romany Rye, page 368, et seq. + +{38a} Lavengro, pages 177-8. + +{39a} Lavengro, pages 179-80. Captain Borrow was in his sixty-sixth +year at his death; b. December 1758, d. 28th February 1824. He was +buried in St Giles churchyard, Norwich, on 4th March 1824. + +{40a } The Romany Rye, page 302. + +{40b} In his will Captain Borrow bequeathed to George his watch and +"the small Portrait," and to John "the large Portrait" of himself; +his mother to hold and enjoy them during her lifetime. Should Mrs +Borrow die or marry again, elaborate provision was made for the +proper distribution of the property between the two sons. + +{41a} In particular Borrow believed in Ab Gwilym "the greatest +poetical genius that has appeared in Europe since the revival of +literature" (Wild Wales, page 6). "The great poet of Nature, the +contemporary of Chaucer, but worth half-a-dozen of the accomplished +word-master, the ingenious versifier of Norman and Italian Tales." +(Wild Wales, page xxviii.). + +{42a} Lines to Six-Foot-Three. Romantic Ballads. Norwich 1826. + +{42b} Sir Richard Phillips (1767-1840) before becoming a publisher +was a schoolmaster, hosier, stationer, bookseller, and vendor of +patent medicines at Leicester, where he also founded a newspaper. In +1795 he came to London, was sheriff in 1807, and received his +knighthood a year later. + +{43a} It has been urged against Borrow's accuracy that Sir Richard +Phillips had retired to Brighton in 1823, vide The Dictionary of +National Biography. In the January number (1824) of The Monthly +Magazine appeared the following paragraph: "The Editor [Sir Richard +Phillips], having retired from his commercial engagements and removed +from his late house of business in New Bridge Street, communications +should be addressed to the appointed Publishers [Messrs Whittakers]; +but personal interviews of Correspondents and interested persons may +be obtained at his private residence in Tavistock Square." This +proves conclusively that Sir Richard was to be seen in London in the +early part of 1824. + +{44a} Celebrated Trials and Remarkable Cases of Criminal +Jurisprudence from the Earliest Records to the Year 1825, 6 vols., +with plates. London, 1825. + +{44b} Proximate Causes of the Material Phenomena of the Universe. +By Sir Richard Phillips. London, 1821. + +{45a} Dr Knapp identified the editor as "William Gifford, editor of +The Quarterly Review from 1809 to September 1824." (Life of George +Borrow, i. 93.) The late Sir Leslie Stephen, however, cast very +serious doubt upon this identification, himself concluding that the +editor of The Universal Review was John Carey (1756-1826), whose name +was actually associated with an edition of Quintilian published in +1822. Carey was a known contributor to two of Sir Richard Phillips' +magazines. + +{45b} The Monthly Magazine, July 1824. + +{46a} It appeared in six volumes. + +{46b} The work when completed contained accounts of over 400 trials. + +{46c} It appeared on 19th March following. + +{46d} Lavengro, page 210. + +{47a} The picture was duly painted in the Heroic manner, the artist +lending to the ex-mayor, for some reason or other, his own +unheroically short legs. Haydon received his fee of a hundred +guineas, and the picture now hangs in St Andrew's Hall, Norwich. + +{48a} Letter from Roger Kerrison to John Borrow, 28th May 1824. + +{48b} Memoirs, C. G. Leland 1893. + +{49a} Borrow himself gave the sum as "eighteen-pence a page." The +books themselves apparently did not become the property of the +reviewer.--The Romany Rye, page 324. + +{49b} Borrow says that he demanded lives of people who had never +lived, and cancelled others that Borrow had prepared with great care, +because be considered them as "drugs."--Lavengro, pages 245-6. + +{50a} "'Sir,' said he, 'you know nothing of German; I have shown +your translation of the first chapter of my Philosophy to several +Germans: it is utterly unintelligible to them.' 'Did they see the +Philosophy?' I replied. 'They did, sir, but they did not profess to +understand English.' 'No more do I,' I replied, 'if the Philosophy +be English.'"--Lavengro, page 254. + +{50b} A German edition of the work appeared in Stuttgart in 1826. + +{52a} This sentence is quoted in The Gypsies of Spain as a heading +to the section "On Robber Language," page 335. + +{52b} Lavengro, pages 216-7. + +{52c} Lavengro, page 271. + +{53a} Faustus: His Life, Death and Descent into Hell. Translated +from the German. London: W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1825, pages +xxii., 251. Coloured Plate. + +{53b} A letter from Borrow to the publishers, which Dr Knapp quotes, +and dates 15th September 1825, but without giving his reasons, was +written from Norwich, and runs: + +Dear Sir, - + +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.--Yours, G. BORROW. + +{55a} Lavengro, page 310. + +{55b} The Romany Rye, Appendix, page 303. + +{57a} Probably it was only a portion of the whole amount of 50 +pounds that Borrow drew after the completion of the work. One thing +is assured, that Sir Richard Phillips was too astute a man to pay the +whole amount before the completion of the work. + +{58a} Dr Knapp's Life of George Borrow, i., page 141. + +{60a} Dr Knapp gives the date as the 22nd; but Mr John Sampson makes +the date the 24th, which seems more likely to be correct. + +{61a} The Athenaeum, 25th March 1899. + +{61b} Lavengro, page 362. + +{62a} Lavengro, page 362. + +{62b} Lavengro, page 374. + +{63a} Lavengro, pages 431-2. + +{64a} Lavengro, page 451. + +{64b} Mr Watts-Dunton in a review of Dr Knapp's Life of Borrow says +that she "was really an East-Anglian road-girl of the finest type, +known to the Boswells, and remembered not many years ago."-- +Athenaeum, 25th March 1899. + +{66a} Mr Petulengro is made to say the "Flying Tinker." + +{66b} Dr Knapp sees in the account of Murtagh's story of his travels +Barrow's own adventures during 1826-7, but there is no evidence in +support of this theory. Another contention of Dr Knapp's is more +likely correct, viz., that the story of Finn MacCoul was that told +him by Cronan the Cornish guide during the excursion to Land's End. + +{67a} It will be remembered that in The Romany Rye Borrow takes his +horse to the Swan Inn at Stafford, meets his postilion friend and is +introduced by him to the landlord, with the result that he arranges +to act as "general superintendent of the yard," and keep the hay and +corn account. In return he and his horse are to be fed and lodged. +Here Borrow encounters Francis Ardry, on his way to see the dog and +lion fight at Warwick, and the man in black. + +{67b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 360. + +{68a} Introduction to The Romany Rye in The Little Library, Methuen +& Co., Ltd. + +{69a} The Romany Rye, page 162. + +{69b} The Romany Rye, page 162. + +{69c} The Romany Rye, page 50. + +{69d} "Let but the will of a human being be turned to any particular +object, and it is ten to one that sooner or later he achieves it."-- +Lavengro, page 16. + +{73a} They appeared as Romantic Ballads, translated from the Danish, +and Miscellaneous Pieces, by George Borrow. Norwich. S. Wilkin, +1826. Included in the volume were translations from the Kiaempe +Viser and from Oehlenschlaeger. + +{74a} Correspondence and Table-Talk of B. R. Haydon. London, 1876. +The position of the letter in the Haydon Journal is between November +1825 and January 1826; but it is more likely that it was written some +months later. Unfortunately, Borrow's portrait cannot be traced in +any of Haydon's pictures. + +{75a} Lavengro, page 9. + +{75b} There was a tradition that Borrow became a foreign +correspondent for the Morning Herald, and it was in this capacity +that he travelled on the Continent in 1826-7; but Dr Knapp clearly +showed that such a theory was untenable. + +{75c} The Gypsies of Spain, page 11. + +{75d} The Bible in Spain, page 219. + +{75e} Letter to his mother, August 1833. + +{75f} The Bible in Spain, page 172. + +{75g} The Gypsies of Spain, page 31. + +{76a} The Bible in Spain, page 703. + +{76b} The Bible in Spain, page 67. + +{76c} The Gypsies of Spain, page 19. + +{76d} Excursions Along the Shores of the Mediterranean, by Lt.-Col. +E. H. D. E. Napier. London, 1842. + +{76e} The Gypsies of Spain, pages 10-11. + +{76f} Patteran, or Patrin; a gypsy method of indicating by means of +grass, leaves, or a mark in the dust to those behind the direction +taken by the main body. + +{76g} The Gypsies of Spain, page 31. + +{77a} If he went abroad, he certainly did so without obtaining a +passport from the Foreign Office. The only passports issued to him +between the years 1825-1840 were: + +27th July 1833, to St Petersburg; +2nd November 1836 and 20th December 1838, to Spain, + +as far as the F. O. Registers show. + +{77b} Dr Knapp takes Borrow's statement, made 29th March 1839, "I +have been three times imprisoned and once on the point of being +shot," as indicating that he was imprisoned at Pamplona in 1826. The +imprisonments were September 1837, Finisterre; May 1838, Madrid; and +another unknown. The occasion on which he was nearly shot, which may +be assumed to be connected with one of the imprisonments (otherwise +he was more than "once nearly shot"), was at Finisterre, when he, +with his guide, was seized as a Carlist spy "by the fishermen of the +place, who determined at first on shooting us." (Letter to Rev. A. +Brandram, 15th September 1837.) + +{78a} The incident is given in Lavengro under date of 1818, when +Marshland Shales was fifteen years old. It was not, however, until +1827 that he appeared at the Norwich Horse Fair and was put up for +auction. "Such a horse as this we shall never see again; a pity that +he is so old," was the opinion of those who lifted their hats as a +token of respect. + +{79a} This and subsequent letters from Borrow to Sir John Bowring +not specially acknowledged have been courteously placed at the +writer's disposal by Mr Wilfred J. Bowring, Sir John Bowring's +grandson. + +{81a} In The Monthly Review, March 1830, there appeared among the +literary announcements a paragraph to the same effect. + +{83a} From the original draft of his letter of 20th May to Dr +Bowring, omitted from the letter itself. + +{86a} Mr Thomas Seccombe in Bookman, February 1902. + +{86b} It is only fair to add that Mr Seccombe wrote without having +seen the correspondence quoted from above. His words have been given +as representing the opinion held by most people regarding the Borrow- +Bowring dispute. It has been said that Bowring sought to suck +Borrow's brains; it would appear, however, that Borrow strove rather +to make every possible use that he could of Bowring. + +{87a} Preface to The Sleeping Bard, 1860. + +{87b} Ibid. + +{88a} The Bible in Spain, page 201. + +{88b} Dr Knapp gives the date as during the early days of September, +but without mentioning his authority. + +{90a} The Romany Rye, page 362. + +{91a} Lavengro, page 403. + +{91b} Lavengro, page 446. + +{92a} Vicar of Pakefield, in Norfolk, 1814-1830; Lowestoft, 1830-63. +He married a sister of J. J. Gurney of Earlham Hall. + +{93a} Dr Knapp was in error when he credited J. J. Gurney with the +introduction. In a letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 10th Feb. 1833, +Borrow wrote, "I must obtain a letter from him [Rev. F. Cunningham] +to Joseph Gurney." + +{93b} T. Pell Platt, formerly the Hon. Librarian of the Society; W. +Greenfield, its lately deceased Editorial Superintendent. + +{94a} S. V. Lipovzoff (1773-1841) had studied Chinese and Manchu at +the National College of Pekin, and had lived in China for 20 years; +belonged to the Russian Foreign Office (Asiatic section); head of +Board of Censors for books in Eastern languages printed in Russia: +Corresponding member of Academy of Sciences for department of +Oriental Literature and Antiquities. "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."--J. P. +H[asfeldt] in the Athenaeum, 5th March 1836. + +{94b} Asmus, Simondsen & Co., Sarepta House. + +{95a} Borrow's report upon Puerot's translation, 23rd September 5th +October, 1835. + +{96a} The Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, vol. i., July 1888 to +October 1899. In the MS. autobiographical note he wrote later for Mr +John Longe, Borrow stated that he walked from London to Norwich in +November 1825. He may have performed the journey twice. + +{96b} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. Francis Cunningham, to whom he +wrote on his return home, circa January, acquainting him with what +had transpired in London, assuring him that "I am returned with a +firm determination to exert all my energies to attain the desired end +[the learning of Manchu]; and I hope, Sir, that I shall have the +benefit of your prayers for my speedy success, for the language is +one of those which abound with difficulties against which human skill +and labour, without the special favour of God, are as blunt hatchets +against the oak; and though I shall almost weary Him with my own +prayers, I wish not to place much confidence in them, being at +present very far from a state of grace and regeneration, having a +hard and stony heart, replete with worldy passions, vain wishes, and +all kinds of ungodliness; so that it would be no wonder if God to +prayers addressed from my lips were to turn away His head in wrath." + +{97a} Borrow always writes Mandchow, but, for the sake of uniformity +his spelling is corrected throughout. + +{98a} Letter to Rev. Francis Cunningham, circa January 1833. + +{99a} Dr Knapp ascribes the translation to Dr Pazos Kanki, who +undertook it at the instance of the Bishop of Puebla, but gives no +authority. Dr Kanki was a native of La Paz, Peru, and translated St +Luke into his native dialect Aimara. He had no more connection with +Mexico than "stout Cortez" with "a peak in Darien." + +{99b} Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp, i., page 157. + +{100a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 18th March 1833. + +{100b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 18th March 1833. + +{100c} Letter to Rev J. Jowett, 18th March 1833. + +{101a} Caroline Fox wrote in her Memories of Old Friends (1882): +"Andrew Brandram gave us at breakfast many personal recollections of +curious people. J. J. Gurney recommended George Borrow to their +Committee [!]; so he stalked up to London, and they gave him a hymn +to translate into the Manchu language, and the same to one of their +own people to translate also. When compared they proved to be very +different. When put before their reader, he had the candour to say +that Borrow's was much the better of the two. On this they sent him +to St Petersburg, got it printed [!] and then gave him business in +Portugal, which he took the liberty greatly to extend, and to do such +good as occurred to his mind in a highly executive manner [22nd +August 1844]." + +{102a} Mr Lipovzoff's unfortunate name was a great stumbling-block. +Borrow spelt it many ways, varying from Lipoffsky to Lipofsoff. It +has been thought advisable to adopt Mr Lipovzoff's OWN spelling of +his name, in order to preserve some uniformity. + +{104a} Minutes of the Editorial Sub-Committee, 29th July 1833. + +{105a} Harriet Martineau's Autobiography. + +{106a} Letter to his mother, 30th July 1833. + +{107a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 4th August 1833. + +{107b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 4th August 1833. + +{108a} Borrow is always puzzling when concerned with dates. He +writes to his mother telling her that he left on the 7th, and later +gives the date, in a letter to Mr Jowett, as 24th July, O.S. (5th +August). The 7th seems to be the correct date. + +{108b} Letter to his mother. + +{109a} "If I had my choice of all the cities of the world to live +in, I would choose Saint Petersburg."--Wild Wales, page 665. + +{110a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, undated: received 26th September +1833. + +{111a} In a letter dated 3rd/15th August, the Prince wrote to Mr +Venning at Norwich, "On returning thence, your son came to introduce +to me the Englishman who has come over here about the translation of +the Manchu Bible, and who brought with him your letter."--Memorials +of John Venning, 1862. + +{112a} Best known for his Grammar, written in German. + +{112b} Nephew of J. C Adelung, the philologist. + +{113a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, undated, but received 26th +September 1833. + +{114a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834. + +{114b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834. + +{114c} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834. + +{115a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834. + +{115b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834. +Probably this means the New Testament only, as there was no intention +of printing the Old Testament at that date. + +{116a} In a letter to his mother, dated 1st/13th Feb., Borrow +writes: "The Bible Society depended upon Dr Schmidt and the Russian +translator Lipovzoff to manage this business [the obtaining of the +official sanction], but neither the one nor the other would give +himself the least trouble about the matter, or give me the slightest +advice how to proceed." + +{117a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 4th/16th February 1834. + +{118a} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 20th Jan./1st Feb. 1834. + +{118b} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 20th Jan./1st Feb. 1834. + +{118c} Letter to the Rev. F. Cunningham, 17th/29th Nov. 1834. + +{119a} 1st/13th May 1834. + +{121a} This spelling is adopted throughout for uniformity. Borrow +writes Chiachta. + +{121b} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 4th/16th February 1834. + +{121c} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 4th/16th February 1834. + +{121d} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 4th/16th February 1834. + +{123a} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 15th/23rd April 1834. + +{123b} In a letter dated 1st/13th May 1834. + +{123c} A suburb of Norwich. + +{126a} Mrs Borrow eventually received from Allday Kerrison 50 +pounds, 11s. 1d., the amount realised from the sale of John's +effects. + +{126b} This was partly on account of the Bible Society for storage +purposes. In the minutes of the Sub-Committee, 18th August 1834, +there is a record of an advice having been received from Borrow that +he had drawn "for 400 Roubles for one year's rent in advance for a +suitable place of deposit for the Society's paper, etc., part of +which had been received." + +{126c} Letter to John P. Hasfeldt from Madrid, 29th April 1837. + +{129a} In the minutes of the Sub-Committee, 18th August (N.S.) 1834, +there is a note of Borrow having drawn 210 roubles "to pay for +certain articles required to complete the Society's fount of Manchu +type." + +{132a} "My letters to my private friends have always been written +during gleams of sunshine, and traced in the characters of hope." + +{132b} "You may easily judge of the state of book-binding here by +the fact that for every volume, great or small, printed in Russia, +there is a duty of 30 copecks, or threepence, to be paid to the +Russian Government, if the said volume be exported unbound." + +{135a} John Hasfeldt. + +{135b} Letter to Mr J. Tarn, Treasurer of the Bible Society, +15th/27th December 1834. + +{136a} Letter to the Rev. Joseph Jowett, 3rd/15th May 1835. + +{138a} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. J. Jowett, 20th Feb./4th March +1834. In his Report on Puerot's translation, received on 23rd Sep. +1835, Borrow writes: "To translate literally, or even closely, +according to the common acceptation of the term, into the Manchu +language is of all impossibilities the greatest; partly from the +grammatical structure of the language, and partly from the abundance +of its idioms." The lack of "some of those conjunctions generally +considered as indispensable" was one of the chief difficulties. + +{138b} Letter, 31st Dec. 1834. + +{139a} Letter, 31st Dec. 1834. + +{139b} Letter, 20th Feb./4th Mar. 1835. + +{139c} Letter, 20th Feb./4th Mar. 1835. + +{139d} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 3rd/15th May 1835. + +{139e} Ibid. + +{140a} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 3rd/15th May 1835. + +{141a} Letter to Mr J. Tarn. + +{141b} None of these translations ever appeared, owing to the +refusal of the Russian Government to grant permission. John Hasfeldt +wrote to Borrow, June 1837, apropos of the project: "You know the +Russian priesthood cannot suffer foreigners to mix themselves up in +the affairs of the Orthodox Church. The same would have happened to +the New Testament itself. You may certainly print in the Manchu- +Tartar or what the d-l you choose, only not in Russian, for that the +long-bearded he-goats do not like." + +{142a} Letter to Rev. F. Cunningham, 27th/29th Nov. 1834. + +{142b} The principal interest in Targum lies in the number of +languages and dialects from which the poems are translated; for it +must be confessed that Borrow's verse translations have no very great +claim to attention on account of their literary merit. The "Thirty +Languages" were, in reality, thirty-five, viz.:- + +Ancient British. Gaelic. Portuguese. + " Danish. German. Provencal + " Irish. Greek. Romany. + " Norse. Hebrew. Russian. +Anglo-Saxon. Irish. Spanish. +Arabic. Italian. Suabian. +Cambrian British. Latin. Swedish. +Chinese. Malo-Russian. Tartar. +Danish. Manchu. Tibetan. +Dutch. Modern Greek. Turkish. +Finnish. Persian. Welsh. +French. Polish. + +{143a} A copy was presented by John Hasfeldt to Pushkin, who +expressed in a note to Borrow his gratification at receiving the +book, and his regret at not having met the translator. + +{143b} These two volumes were printed in one and published at a +later date by Messrs Jarrold & Son, London & Norwich. + +{143c} 5th March 1836. + +{143d} From a letter to Borrow from Dr Gordon Hake. + +{143e} Borrow's Report to the Committee of the Bible Society, +received 23rd September 1835. + +{144a} Borrow's Report to the Committee of the Bible Society, +received 23rd September 1835. + +{144b} Ibid. + +{145a} Kak my tut kamasa. + +{145b} Borrow's Report to the Committee of the Bible Society, +received 23rd September 1835. He gives an account of the episode in +The Gypsies of Spain, page 6. + +{146a} The Thirty-First Annual Report. + +{146b} Athenaeum, 5th March 1836. + +{147a} Borrow's Report to the Committee of the Bible Society, +received 23rd September 1835. + +{148a} 18th/30th June 1834. + +{149a} 27th October 1835. + +{150a} His salary was paid continuously, and included the period of +rest between the Russian and Peninsula expeditions. + +{150b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 26th October 1835. + +{150c} In a letter dated 27th October 1835. + +{151a} Minutes of the General Committee of the Bible Society, 2nd +Nov. 1835. + +{153a} In his first letter from Spain, addressed to Rev. J. Jowett +(30th Nov. 1835), Borrow tells of this incident in practically the +same words as it appears in The Bible in Spain, pages 1-3. + +{154a} The Bible in Spain, pages 73-4. + +{154b} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 30th Nov. 1835. + +{155a} Dr Knapp states that upon this expedition he was accompanied +by Captain John Rowland Heyland of the 35th Regiment of Foot, whose +acquaintance he had made on the voyage out.--Life of George Borrow, +i., page 234. + +{155b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 30th Nov. 1835. + +{155c} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 15th Dec. 1835. + +{159a} Letter to Dr Bowring, 26th December 1835. + +{159b} The Bible in Spain, page 67. + +{159c} Dated 8th and 10th January 1836, giving an account of his +journey to Evora. + +{160a} The Bible in Spain, page 78. + +{160b} The Bible in Spain, pages 77-8. + +{161a} The Bible in Spain, page 87. + +{161b} The Bible in Spain, page 88. + +{162a} The Bible in Spain, page 99. + +{162b} Lavengro, page 191. + +{162c} The Bible in Spain, pages 97-8. + +{162d} Not 5th Jan., as given in The Bible in Spain. + +{162e} The Bible in Spain, page 103. + +{164a} The Bible in Spain, Preface, page vi. + +{164b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 179. + +{164c} "Throughout my life the Gypsy race has always had a peculiar +interest for me. Indeed I can remember no period when the mere +mention of the name Gypsy did not awaken within me feelings hard to +be described. I cannot account for this--I merely state it as a +fact."--The Gypsies of Spain, page 1. + +{165a} The Gypsies of Spain, pages 184-5. + +{165b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 186. + +{166a} The Bible in Spain, page 109. + +{166b} Dr Knapp states that the wedding described in The Gypsies of +Spain took place during these three days.--Life of George Borrow, by +Dr Knapp, i., page 242. + +{167a} The Bible in Spain, page 162. + +{167b} "I am not partial to Madrid, its climate, or anything it can +offer, if I except its unequalled gallery of pictures."--Letter to +Rev. A. Brandram, 22nd March 1836. + +{167c} 24th February 1836. + +{167d} Letter to his mother, 24th February 1836. + +{168a} Letter to his mother, 24th February 1836 + +{168b} Ibid. + +{168c} Ibid. + +{168d} Ibid. + +{169a} The Bible in Spain, page 173. + +{170a} Born 1790, commissariat contractor in 1808 during the French +invasion, he was of great assistance to his country. In 1823 he fled +from the despotism of Ferdinand VII.; he returned twelve years later +as Minister of Finance under Toreno. He resigned in 1837, was again +in power in 1841, and died in 1853. + +{170b} George William Villiers, afterwards 4th Earl of Clarendon, +born 12th Jan. 1800; created G.C.B., 19th Oct. 1837; succeeded his +uncle as Earl of Clarendon, 1838; K.G., 1849. He twice refused a +Marquisate, also the Governor-generalship of India. He refused the +Order of the Black Eagle (Prussia) and the Legion of Honour. Lord +Privy Seal, 1839-41; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1840-1, +1864-5; Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1847-52. Secretary of State for +Foreign Affairs, 1853-8, 1865-6, 1868-9. Died 27th June 1870. + +{171a} The Bible in Spain, page 165. + +{173a} Extracts accompanying letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 22nd March +1836. + +{173b} Ibid. + +{173c} Ibid. + +{174a} Letter of 22nd March 1837. + +{175a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 22nd May 1836. + +{175b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 22nd May 1836. + +{175c} Letter dated 6th April 1836. + +{175d} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 20th April 1836. + +{175e} Ibid. + +{176a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 20th April 1836. + +{176b} Ibid. Borrow's destitution was entirely accidental, and +immediately that his letter was received at Earl Street the sum of +twenty-five pounds was forwarded to him. + +{177a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 20th April 1836. + +{178a} Letter of 9th May 1836. + +{178b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 30th June 1836. + +{178c} Ibid. + +{178d} Ibid. + +{179a} The Duke's secretary who had shown so profound a respect for +the decrees of the Council of Trent. + +{179b} Late of the Royal Navy, who for sheer love of the work +distributed the Scriptures in Spain, and who later was to come into +grave conflict with Borrow. + +{180a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 30th June 1836. + +{181a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 7th July 1836. + +{181b} Ibid. + +{181c} Ibid. + +{181d} Ibid. + +{182a} Dr Usoz was a Spaniard of noble birth, a pupil of Mezzofanti, +and one of the editors of El Espanol. He occupied the chair of +Hebrew at Valladolid. He was deeply interested in the work of the +Bible Society, and was fully convinced that in nothing but the +reading of the Bible could the liberty in Spain be found. + +{182b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th December 1837. + +{182c} La Granja was a royal palace some miles out of Madrid, to +which the Queen Regent had withdrawn. On the night of 12th August, +two sergeants had forced their way into the Queen Regent's presence, +and successfully demanded that she should restore the Constitution of +1812. This incident was called the Revolution of La Granja. + +{183a} The Bible in Spain, pages 197-206. + +{183b} 30th July 1836. + +{183c} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 10th August 1836. + +{184a} 17th October 1836. + +{185a} The Bible in Spain, pages 209-11. + +{185b} Ibid., page 211. + +{186a} The Rev. Wentworth Webster in The Journal of Gypsy Lore +Society, vol. i., July 1888-Oct. 1889. + +{187a} Letter from Rev. A. Brandram, 6th Jan. 1837. + +{188a} Isidor Just Severin, Baron Taylor (1789-1879), was a +naturalised Frenchman and a great traveller. In 1821 he, with +Charles Nodier, wrote the play Bertram, which was produced with great +success at Paris in 1821. Later he was made Commissaire du Theatre +Francais, and authorised the production of Hernani and Le Mariage de +Figaro. Later he became Inspecteur-General des Beaux Arts (1838). +When seen by Borrow in Seville he was collecting Spanish pictures for +Louis-Philippe. + +{189a} The Bible in Spain, page 221. + +{190a} The Bible in Spain, page 237. + +{190b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 26th Dec. 1836. + +{191a} In letter to the Rev. A. Brandram (26th Dec. 1836), Borrow +gives the quantity of brandy as two bottles. This letter was written +within a few hours of the act and is more likely to be accurate. + +{191b} The Bible in Spain, page 254. + +{191c} Borrow's letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th Jan. 1837. + +{191d} He was authorised to purchase 600 reams at 60 reals per ream, +whereas he paid only 45 reals a ream for a paper "better," he wrote, +"than I could have purchased at 70." + +{192a} Author of La Historia de las Cortes de Espana durante el +Siglo XIX. (1885) and other works of a political character. He was +also proprietor and editor of El Espanol. Isturitz had intended +raising Borrego to the position of minister of finance when his +government suddenly terminated. + +{192b} General report prepared by Borrow in the Autumn of 1838 for +the General Committee of the Bible Society detailing his labours in +Spain. This was subsequently withdrawn, probably on account of its +somewhat aggressive tone. In the course of this work the document +will be referred to as General Report, Withdrawn. + +{192c} To Rev. A. Brandram, 14th Jan. 1837. + +{193a} To Rev. A. Brandram, 14th Jan. 1837. + +{194a} 27th January 1837. + +{194b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 27th Feb. 1837. + +{195a} Letter from Rev. A. Brandram to Borrow, 22nd March 1837. + +{195b} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Dec. 1837. + +{195c} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 27th February 1837. + +{195d} Rev. Wentworth Webster in The Journal of the Gypsy Lore +Society, vol. i., July 1888-October 1889. + +{196a} General Report withdrawn. + +{196b} General Report, withdrawn. + +{196c} Borrow to Richard Ford. Letters of Richard Ford 1797-1858. +Ed. R. E. Prothero. Murray, 1905. + +{197a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 7th June 1837. + +{197b} Ibid. + +{197c} Ibid. + +{198a} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. A. Brandram, 27th February +1837. + +{199a} As the method adopted was practically the same in every town +he visited, no further reference need be made to the fact, and in the +brief survey of the journeys that Borrow himself has described so +graphically, only incidents that tend to throw light upon his +character or disposition, and such as he has not recorded himself, +will be dealt with. + +{200a} Via Pitiegua, Pedroso, Medina del Campo, Duenas Palencia. + +"I suffered dreadfully during this journey," Borrow wrote, "as did +likewise my man and horses, for the heat was the fiercest which I +have ever known, and resembled the breath of the simoon or the air +from an oven's mouth."--Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 5th July 1837. + +{200b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 5th July 1837. + +{201a} The Bible in Spain, pages 352-4. + +{202a} The Bible in Spain, page 364. + +{203a} This is the story particularly referred to by Richard Ford in +report upon the MS. of The Bible in Spain. + +{203b} In the Report to the General Committee of the Bible Society +on Past and Future Operations in Spain, November 1838. + +{204a} The Bible in Spain, page 409. + +{204b} In The Bible in Spain Borrow says he was arrested on +suspicion of being the Pretender himself; but in a letter to Rev. A. +Brandram, 15th September 1837, he says that he and his guide were +seized as Carlist spies, and makes no mention of Don Carlos. + +{205a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 15th September 1837. + +{205b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 29th September 1837. + +{205c} By way of Ferrol, Novales, Santa Maria, Coisa d'Ouro, +Viviero, Foz, Rivadeo, Castro Pol, Navaia, Luarca, the Caneiro, Las +Bellotas, Soto Luino, Muros, Aviles and Gijon. + +{205d} To the Rev. A. Brandram, 29th Sept. 1837. The story also +appears in The Bible in Spain, pages 479-480. + +{206a} Borrow's original idea in printing only the New Testament was +that in Spain and Portugal he deemed it better not to publish the +whole Bible, at least not "until the inhabitants become +christianised," because the Old Testament "is so infinitely +entertaining to the carnal man," and he feared that in consequence +the New Testament would be little read. Later he saw his mistake, +and was constantly asking for Bibles, for which there was a big +demand. + +{207a} To Rev. A. Brandram, 29th September 1837. + +{208a} George Dawson Flinter, an Irishman in the service of Queen +Isabella II., who fought for his adopted Queen with courage and +distinction, and eventually committed suicide as a protest against +the monstrously unjust conspiracy to bring about his ruin, September + +{209a} By way of Ontaneda, Ona, Burgos, Vallodolid, Guadarrama. + +{209b} General Report, withdrawn. + +{209c} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 1st November 1837. + +{210a} The Bible in Spain, page 507. + +{211a} He was created G.C.B. 19th Oct. 1837. + +{212a} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. A. Brandram, 20th Nov. 1837. + +{212b} To the Rev. A. Brandram, 20th Nov. 1837. + +{213a} History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, W. Canton. + +{213b} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 30th March 1838. + +{214a} Mr Brandram wrote to Graydon (12th April 1838): "Mr Rule +being at Madrid and having conferred with Mr Borrow and Sir George +Villiers, it appears to have struck them all three that a visit on +your part to Cadiz and Seville could not at present be advantageous +to our cause." + +{214b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 20th November 1837. + +{214c} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 28th November 1837. The comment +on the badness of the London edition had reference to the +translation, which Borrow had condemned with great vigour; he +subsequently admitted that he had been too sweeping in his +disapproval. + +{215a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 28th November 1837. + +{215b} Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston, 5th May 1838. + +{215c} Ibid. + +{216a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 241. + +{216b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Dec. 1837. + +{216c} These Bibles fetched, the large edition (Borrow wrote "I +would give my right hand for a thousand of them") 17s. each, and the +smaller 7s. each, whereas the New Testaments fetched about half-a +crown. + +{216d} Letter dated 16th Jan. 1838. + +{217a} In The Bible in Spain he says "the greater part," in The +Gypsies of Spain he says "the whole." + +{217b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 275. + +{218a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 280. + +{218b} Ibid. + +{218c} Ibid., page 282. + +{219a} On 25th December 1837. + +{219b} It is strange that Borrow should insist that he had Sir +George Villiers' approval; for Sir George himself has clearly stated +that he strongly opposed the opening of the Despacho. + +{220a} 15th January 1838. + +{221a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 30th March 1838. + +{221b} In The Gypsies of Spain Borrow gives the number as 500 (page +281); but the Resolution, confirmed 20th March 1837, authorised the +printing of 250 copies only. In all probability the figures given by +Borrow are correct, as in a letter to Mr Brandram, dated 18th July +1839, he gives his unsold stock of books at Madrid as:- + +Of Testaments . . . . . . . 962 +Of Gospels in the Gypsy Tongue . 286 +Of ditto in Basque . . . . . 394 + +{222a} Original Report, withdrawn. + +{222b} The Gypsies of Spain, pages 280-1. + +{224a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 17th March 1838. + +{224b} The History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by W. +Canton. + +{225a} Mr Canton writes in The History of the British and Foreign +Bible Society: "His [Graydon's] opportunity was indeed +unprecedented; and had he but more accurately appreciated the +unstable political conditions of the country, the susceptibilities, +suspicious and precarious tenure of ministers and placemen, the +temper of the priesthood, their sensitive attachment to certain +tenets of their faith, and their enormous influence over the civil +power, there is reason to believe that he might have brought his +mission to a happier and more permanent issue." + +{226a} [11th] May 1838. + +{227a} Letter from George Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram [11th] May +1838. + +{227b} 23rd April 1838. + +{227c} The Marin episode is amazing. The object of distributing the +Scriptures was to enlighten men's minds and bring about conversion, +and a priest was a distinct capture, more valuable by far than a +peasant, and likely to influence others; yet when they had got him no +one appears to have known exactly what to do, and all were anxious to +get rid of him again. + +{228a} The Bible in Spain, page 536. + +{228b} Ibid. + +{229a} Original Report, withdrawn. + +{229b} Original Report, withdrawn. + +{231a} Sometimes this personage is referred to in official papers as +the "Political Chief," a too literal translation of Gefe Politico. +In all cases it has been altered to Civil Governor to preserve +uniformity. Many of the official translations of Foreign Office +papers can only be described as grotesque. + +{232a} This is the official translation among the Foreign Office +papers at the Record Office. + +{232b} The Bible in Spain, page 539. + +{233a} There is an error in the dating of this letter. It should be +1st May. + +{234a} In a letter to Count Ofalia, Sir George Villiers states that +"George Borrow, fearing violence, prudently abstained from going to +his ordinary place of abode." + +{234b} Borrow pays a magnificent and well-deserved tribute to this +queen among landladies. (The Bible in Spain, pages 256-7.) She was +always his friend and frequently his counsellor, thinking nothing of +the risk she ran in standing by him during periods of danger. She +refused all inducements to betray him to his enemies, and, thoroughly +deserved the eulogy that Borrow pronounced upon her. + +{234c} It was subsequently stated that the arrest was ordered +because Borrow had refused to recognise the Civil Governor's +authority and made use "of offensive expressions" towards his person. +The Civil Governor had no authority over British subjects, and Borrow +was right in his refusal to acknowledge his jurisdiction. + +{235a} The Bible in Spain, page 547. + +{238a} Dispatch from Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston, 5th +May. + +{238b} Ibid. + +{239a} Despatch from Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston, +12th May 1838. + +{239b} Ibid. + +{240a} Despatch from Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston. + +{240b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 17th May 1838. + +{241a} Despatch from Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston, 5th +May 1838. + +{241b} In a letter to the Rev. A. Brandram, 17th May 1838. + +{242a} The Official Translation among the Foreign Office Papers at +the Record Office. + +{242b} Mr William Mark's (the British Consul at Malaga) Official +account of the occurrence, 16th May 1838. + +{243a} Mr William Mark's (the British Consul at Malaga) Official +account of the occurrence, 16th May 1838. + +{243b} Ibid. + +{243c} Despatch to Viscount Palmerston, 12th May 1838. + +{243d} Ibid. + +{244a} Despatch to Viscount Palmerston, 12th May 1838. + +{244b} Ibid. + +{244c} Sir George Villiers' Despatch to Viscount Palmerston, 12th +May 1838. + +{246a} The Official Translation among the Foreign Office Papers at +the Record Office. + +{246b} The Bible in Spain, page 578. + +{247a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 241. + +{247b} The Bible in Spain, page 579. + +{249a} History of the British and Foreign Bible Society. By W. +Canton. + +{252a} On [11th] May 1838. + +{253a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 17th May 1838. + +{254a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th May 1838. + +{255a} The Official Translation among the Foreign Office Papers at +the Record Office. + +{255b} Sir George Villiers to Count Ofalia, 25th May 1838. + +{255c} Letter to Mr A. Brandram, 25th May 1838. + +{256a} At the time of writing Borrow had not seen any of these +tracts himself; but Sir George Villiers, who had, expressed the +opinion that "one or two of them were outrages not only to common +sense but to decency."--Borrow to the Rev. A. Brandram, 25th June +1838. + +{256b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th June 1838. + +{257a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th June 1838. + +{257b} Ibid. + +{259a} The quotations from Lieut. Graydon's tracts were not sent by +Borrow to Mr Brandram until some weeks later. They ran:- A True +History of the Dolorous Virgin to whom the Rebellious and Fanatical +Don Carlos Has Committed His Cause and the Ignorance which It +Displays. + +EXTRACTS. + +Page 17. You will readily see in all those grandiose epithets +showered upon Mary, the work of the enemy of God, which tending +essentially towards idolatry has managed, under the cloak of +Christianity, to introduce idolatry, and endeavours to divert to a +creature, and even to the image of that creature, the adoration which +is due to God alone. Without doubt it is with this very object that +on all sides we see erected statues of Mary, adorned with a crown, +and bearing in her arms a child of tender years, as though to +accustom the populace intimately to the idea of Mary's superiority +over Jesus. + +Page 30. This, then, is our conclusion. In recognising and +sanctioning this cult, the Church of Rome constitutes itself an +idolatrous Church, and every member of it who is incapable of +detecting the truth behind the monstrous accumulation of impieties +with which they veil it, is proclaimed by the Church as condemned to +perdition. The guiding light of this Church, which they are not +ashamed to smother or to procure the smothering of, by which +nevertheless they hold their authority, to be plain, the word of God, +should at least teach them, if they set any value on the Spirit of +Christ, that their Papal Bulls would be better directed to the +cleansing of the Roman Church from all its iniquities than to the +promulgation of such unjust prohibitions. Yet in struggling against +better things, this Church is protecting and hallowing in all +directions an innumerable collection of superstitions and false +cults, and it is clear that by this means it is abased and labelled +as one of the principal agents of Anti-Christ." + +{262a} The History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by W. +Canton. + +{265a} This letter reached Borrow when his "foot was in the +stirrup," as he phrased it, ready to set out for the Sagra of Toledo. +He felt that it could only have originated with "the enemy of mankind +for the purpose of perplexing my already harrassed and agitated +mind"; but he continues, "merely exclaiming 'Satan, I defy thee,' I +hurried to the Sagra. . . . But it is hard to wrestle with the great +enemy." General Report, withdrawn. + +{265b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th July 1838. + +{265c} Mr Brandram informed Borrow that the General Committee wished +him to visit England if he could do so without injury to the cause +(29th June). + +{266a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th July 1838. + +{269a} The Bible in Spain, page 602. + +{269b} Ibid., page 606. + +{269c} Ibid., page 606. + +{270a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 27th July 1838. + +{270b} This would have been impossible. If his age were seventy- +four, he would of necessity have been four years old in 1838. + +{271a} By Mr A. G. Jayne in "Footprints of George Borrow," in The +Bible in the World, July 1908. + +{271b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 17th July 1838. + +{273a} This letter, in which there was a hint of desperation, +disturbed the officials at Earl Street a great deal. Mr Brandram +wrote (28th July) that he was convinced that the Committee would +"still feel that if you are to continue to act with them THEY MUST +SEE YOU, and I will only add that it is UTTERLY FOREIGN TO THEIR +WISHES that you should EXPOSE YOURSELF IN THE DARING MANNER YOU ARE +NOW DOING. I lose not a post in conveying this impression to you." + +{273b} The Translation of this communication runs:- "Madrid, 7th +July 1838--I have the honour to inform your Excellency that according +to official advices received in the first Secretary of State's +Office, it appears that in Malaga, Murcia, Valladolid, and Santiago, +copies of the New Testament of Padre Scio, without notes, have been +exposed for sale, which have been deposited with the political chiefs +of the said provinces, or in the hands of such persons as the chiefs +have entrusted with them in Deposit; it being necessary further to +observe that the parties giving them up have uniformly stated that +they belonged to Mr Borrow, and that they were commissioned by him to +sell and dispose of them. + +"Under these circumstances, Her Majesty's Government have deemed it +expedient that I should address your Excellency, in order that the +above may be intimated to the beforementioned Mr Borrow, so that he +may take care that the copies in question, as well as those which +have been seized in this City, and which are packed up in cases or +parcels marked and sealed, may be sent out of the Kingdom of Spain, +agreeably to the Royal order with which your Excellency is already +acquainted, and through the medium of the respective authorities who +will be able to vouch for their Exportation. To this Mr Borrow will +submit in the required form, and with the understanding that he +formally binds himself thereto, they will remain in the meantime in +the respective depots." + +{275a} General Report, withdrawn. + +{277a} Borrow's letter to the Rev. A. Brandram, 1st Sept. 1838. + +{277b} To Lord William Hervey, Charge d'Affaires at Madrid (23rd +Aug. 1838). + +{278a} To Rev. G. Browne, one of the Secretaries of the Bible +Society, 29th Aug. 1838. + +{279a} To Rev. A. Brandram, 19th September 1838. + +{279b} The Bible in Spain, page 621. + +{279c} Letter to Dr Usoz, 22nd Feb. 1839. + +{279d} Ibid. + +{279e} Ibid. + +{280a} The Report has here been largely drawn upon and has been +referred to as "Original Report, withdrawn." + +{282a} History of the British and Foreign Bible Society. + +{284a} On the publication of The Bible in Spain the Prophetess +became famous. Thirty-six years later Dr Knapp found her still +soliciting alms, and she acknowledged that she owed her celebrity to +the Ingles rubio, the blonde Englishman. + +{285a} The Bible in Spain, page 627. + +{285b} To Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Jan. 1839. + +{286a} On 6th Feb. 1839. + +{288a} Letter to Mr W. Hitchin of the Bible Society, 9th March 1839. + +{288b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 26th March 1839. + +{290a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 10th April 1839. + +{293a} Letter to the Rev. A. Brandram, 2nd May 1839. + +{294a} Excursions Along the Shores of the Mediterranean, by Lt.-Col. +E. Napier, 46th Regt. Colburn, 1842, 2 vols. + +{294b} Ibid. + +{295a} Excursions Along the Shores of the Mediterranean, by Lt.-Col. +E. Napier, 46th Regt. Colburn, 1842, 2 vols. + +{297a} A reference to Charles Robert Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer, +4 vols., 1820. This book was republished in 3 vols. in 1892, an +almost unparalleled instance of the reissue of a practically +forgotten book in a form closely resembling that of the original. +Melmoth the Wanderer was referred to in the most enthusiastic terms +by Balzac, Thackeray and Baudelaire among others. + +{298a} The Bible in Spain, page 663. + +{299a} Maria Diaz had written on 24th May: "Calzado has been here +to see if I would sell him the lamps that belong to the shop [the +Despacho]. He is willing to give four dollars for them, and he says +they cost five, so if you want me to sell them to him, you must let +me know. It seems he is going to set up a beer-shop." It is not on +record whether or no the lamps from the Bible Society's Despacho +eventually illuminated a beer-shop. + +{300a} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. A. Brandram, 28th June 1839. + +{301a} 28th June. + +{302a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 18th July 1839. + +{307a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 29th Sept. 1839. + +{307b} Ibid. + +{307c} Mr John M. Brackenbury, in writing to Mr Brandram, made it +quite clear that he had no doubt that the "inhibition was assuredly +accelerated, if not absolutely occasioned, by the indiscretion of +some of those who entered Spain for the avowed object of circulating +the Scriptures, and of others who, not being Agents of the British +and Foreign Bible Society, were nevertheless considered to be +connected with it, as they distributed your editions of the Old and +New Testaments. Our objects were defeated and your interests +injured, therefore, when the Spanish Government required the +departure from this country of those who, by other acts and deeds +wholly distinct from the distribution of Bibles and Testaments, had +been infracting the Laws, Civil and Ecclesiastical." + +{307d} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 29th Sept. 1839. + +{308a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 29th Sept. 1839. + +{308b} Ibid. + +{309a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Nov. 1839. + +{310a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Nov. 1839. + +{313a} From the Public Record Office. + +{315a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Nov. 1839. + +{316a} Rev. Wentworth Webster in The Journal of the Gypsy Lore +Society. + +{317a} The phrasing of the official translation has everywhere been +followed. + +{319a} The Official Translation among the Foreign Office Papers at +the Record Office. + +{320a} 28th Dec. 1839. + +{321a} Henrietta played "remarkably well on the guitar--not the +trumpery German thing so-called--but the real Spanish guitar."--Wild +Wales, page 6. + +{322a} Wild Wales, page 6. + +{323a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 18th March 1840. + +{323b} Ibid. + +{328a} The Romany Rye, page 312. + +{328b} Ibid., page 313. + +{328c} Wild Wales, page 289. + +{329a} Lavengro, page 261. + +{329b} The Romany Rye, page 22. + +{329c} The Journals of Caroline Fox. + +{330a} The Letters of Richard Ford 1797-1858.--Edited, R. E. +Prothero, M.V.O., 1905. + +{330b} Ibid. + +{331a} The Gypsies of Spain, page xiv. + +{331b} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. +1892. + +{331c} The Gypsies of Spain, page 238. + +{332a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. +1892. + +{332b} Ibid. + +{332c} Ibid. + +{332d} Ibid. + +{333a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. +1892. + +{333b} Ibid. + +{333c} The Bible in Spain, page 41. + +{334a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. +1892. + +{334b} In The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. 1892. She also tells +how "at the Exhibition in 1851, whither we went with his step- +daughter, he spoke to the different foreigners in their own +languages, 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." + +{334c} Ibid. + +{334d} The Gypsies of Spain, page vii. + +{335a} A Publisher and His Friends. Samuel Smiles. + +{335b} Richard Ford, 1796-1858. Critic and author. Spent several +years in touring about Spain on horseback. Published in 1845, Hand- +Book for Travellers in Spain. Contributed to the Edinburgh, +Quarterly, and Westminster Reviews from 1837. + +{335c} The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858. Ed. R. E. Prothero, +M.V.O., 1905. + +{336a} Dr. Knapp points out that the title is inaccurate, there +being no such word as "Zincali." It should be "Zincale." + +{336b} The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858. Ed. R. E. Prothero, +M.V.O., 1905. + +{337a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 1. As the current edition of The +Zincali has been retitled The Gypsies of Spain, reference is made to +it throughout this work under that title and to the latest edition. + +{337b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 32. + +{338a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 81. + +{338b} Ibid., page 186. + +{338c} Ibid., page 283. + +{339a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 274. + +{340a} Introduction to Lavengro. The Little Library, Methuen, 2 +vols., 1, xxiii.-xxiv. C. G. Leland expressed himself to the same +effect. + +{340b} Academy, 13th July 1874. + +{340c} Wild Wales, page 186. + +{340d} The Bible in Spain, page 64. + +{341a} Lavengro, page 81. + +{343a} Ford to John Murray. The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858. +Ed. R. E. Prothero, M.V.O., 1905. + +{344a} Ford to John Murray. The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858. +Ed. R. E. Prothero, M.V.O., 1905. + +{347a} Dr Knapp's Life of George Borrow. + +{349a} The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858. Edited, R. E. +Prothero, M.V.O., 1905. + +{352a} Times, 12th April 1843, Hansard's summary reads: "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." + +{353a} This is obviously the letter that Borrow paraphrases at the +end of Chapter XLII. of The Bible in Spain. + +{354a} In the Appendix to The Romany Rye Borrow wrote, "Having the +proper pride of a gentleman and a scholar, he did not, in the year +'43, choose to permit himself to be exhibited and made a zany of in +London." Page 355. + +{355a} Letters to John Murray, 27th Jan. and 13th March, 1843. + +{355b} Letters to John Murray, 27th Jan. and 13th March, 1843. + +{355c} Borrow wrote later on that he was "a sincere member of the +old-fashioned Church of England, in which he believes there is more +religion, and consequently less cant, than in any other Church in the +world" (The Romany Rye, page 346). On another occasion he gave the +following reason for his adherence to it: "Because I believe it is +the best religion to get to heaven by" (Wild Wales, page 520). + +{356a} No trace can be found among the Bible Society Records of any +such translation. + +{357a} This portrait has sometimes been ascribed to Thomas Phillips, +R.A., in error. + +{360a} Memories of Old Friends (1835-1871). London 1882. + +{360b} Memories of Eighty Years, page 164. + +{360c} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. +1892. + +{360d} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Express, 1st Oct. +1892. + +{361a} Journals and Correspondence of Lady Eastlake, ed. by C. E. +Smith, 1895. + +{362a} The Romany Rye, page 344. + +{362b} Dr Knapp's Life of George Borrow, ii. 44. + +{362c} Hungary in 1851. By Charles L. Brace. + +{363a} Mrs Borrow to John Murray, 4th June 1844. + +{364a} Memoirs, C. G. Leland, 1893. + +{365a} Both these MSS. were acquired by the Trustees of the British +Museum in 1892 by purchase. The Gypsy Vocabulary runs to fifty-four +Folios and the Bohemian Grammar to seventeen Folios. + +{365b} 24th April 1841. + +{365c} Dr Knapp's Life of George Borrow, ii. page 5. + +{367a} As late even as 13th March 1851, Dr Hake wrote to Mrs Borrow: +"He [Borrow] had better carry on his biography in three more +volumes." + +{372a} Mr A. Egmont Hake in Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881. + +{374a} There is something inexplicable about these dates. On 6th +November Borrow agrees to alter a passage that in the 14th of the +previous July he refers to as already amended. + +{375a} Vestiges of Borrow: Some Personal Reminiscences, The Globe, +21st July 1896. + +{376a} Mr A. Egmont Hake in Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881. + +{376b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 287. + +{376c} "His sympathies were confined to the gypsies. Where he came +they followed. Where he settled, there they pitched their greasy and +horribly smelling camps. It pleased him to be called their King. He +was their Bard also, and wrote songs for them in that language of +theirs which he professed to consider not only the first, but the +finest of the human modes of speech. He liked to stretch himself +large and loose-limbed before the wood fires of their encampment and +watch their graceful movements among the tents" (Vestiges of Borrow: +Some Personal Reminiscences, Globe, 21st July 1896). + +{376d} This was said in the presence of Mr F. G. Bowring, son of Dr +Bowring. + +{378a} Mr F. J. Bowring writes: "I was myself present at Borrow's +last call, when he came to take tea AS USUAL, and not a word of the +kind [as given in the Appendix], was delivered." + +{378b} There is no record of any correspondence with Borrow among +the Museum Archives. Dr F. G. Kenyon, C.B., to whom I am indebted +for this information, suggests that the communications may have been +verbal. + +{379a} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892. + +{380a} Annals of the Harford Family. Privately printed, 1909. Mr +Theodore Watts-Dunton, in the Athenaeum, 25th March 1899, has been +successful in giving a convincing picture of Borrow: "As to his +countenance," he writes, "'noble' is the only word that can be used +to describe it. The silvery whiteness of the thick crop of hair +seemed to add in a remarkable way to the beauty of the hairless face, +but also it gave a strangeness to it, and this strangeness was +intensified by a certain incongruity between the features (perfect +Roman-Greek in type), and the Scandinavian complexion, luminous and +sometimes rosy as an English girl's. An increased intensity was lent +by the fair skin to the dark lustre of the eyes. What struck the +observer, therefore, was not the beauty but the strangeness of the +man's appearance." + +{380b} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892. + +{381a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. +1892. + +{381b} The story is narrated by Dr Augustus Jessopp in the +Athenaeum, 8th July 1893. + +{381c} Wild Wales, page 487. + +{381d} Wild Wales, page 36 et seq. + +{382a} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892. + +{383a} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892. + +{383b} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892. + +{384a} George Borrow in East Anglia. W. A. Dutt. + +{384b} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892. + +{385a} William Bodham Donne and His Friends. By Catherine B. +Johnson. + +{385b} William Whewell (1794-1866), Master of Trinity College, +Cambridge, 1848-66; Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, 1843-56; +secured in 1847 the election of the Prince Consort as Chancellor; +enlarged the buildings of Trinity College and founded professorship +and scholarships for international law. Published and edited many +works on natural and mathematical science, philosophy, theology and +sermons. + +{386a} Mr John Murray in Good Words. + +{390a} To John Murray; the letter is in Mrs Borrow's hand but +drafted by Borrow himself, 29th Jan. 1855. + +{391a} 16th April 1845. + +{391b} See post. + +{393a} The Romany Rye, page 338. + +{393b} Life of Frances Power Cable, by herself. + +{393c} Borrow goes on to an anti-climax when he states that he +believes him [Scott] to have been by far the greatest [poet], with +perhaps the exception of Mickiewicz, who only wrote for unfortunate +Poland, that Europe has given birth to during the last hundred +years." + +{393d} The Romany Rye, pages 344-5. + +{393e} Romano Lavo-Lil, page 274. + +{393f} The Romany Rye, page 134. + +{394a} Letter from Borrow to Dr Usoz, 22nd Feb. 1839. + +{394b} Macmillan's Magazine, vol. 45. + +{396a} "Notes upon George Borrow" prefaced to an edition of +Lavengro. Ward, Lock & Co. + +{398a} Mr W. Elvin in the Athenaeum, 6th Aug. 1881. + +{399a} John Wilson Croker (1780-1857): Politician and Essayist; +friend of Canning and Peel. At one time Temporary Chief Secretary +for Ireland and later Secretary of the Admiralty. Supposed to have +been the original of Rigby in Disraeli's Coningsby. + +{399b} Mr Theodore Watts-Dunton, "Notes upon George Borrow" prefaced +to an edition of Lavengro. Ward, Lock & Co. + +{400a} The Rt. Hon. Augustine Birrell in Obiter Dicta, and Series, +1887. + +{400b} Francis Hindes Groome in Bookman, May 1899. + +{404a} "Swimming is a noble exercise, but it certainly does not tend +to mortify either the flesh or the spirit."--The Bible in Spain, page +688. + +{404b} Mr John Murray in Good Words. + +{404c} In The Eastern Daily Press, 1st October 1892. + +{405a} Borrow's reference is to the county motto, "One and All." + +{407a} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp, ii., 79-80. + +{407b} George Borrow, by R. A. J. Walling. + +{407c} George Borrow, by R. A. J. Walling. + +{408a} George Borrow, by R. A. J. Walling. + +{409a} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp. + +{411a} This is rather awkwardly phrased, as Mrs Borrow was alive at +that date. + +{412a} The first reference to the famous Appendix is contained in a +letter to John Murray (11th Nov. 1853) in which Borrow writes: "In +answer to your inquiries about the fourth volume of Lavengro, I beg +leave to say that I am occasionally occupied upon it. I shall +probably add some notes." + +{412b} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp. + +{413a} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp. + +{415a} Wild Wales, page 6. + +{415b} There appears to have been a slight cast in his (Borrow's) +left eye. The Queen of the Nokkums remarked that, like Will Faa, he +had "a skellying look with the left eye" (Romano Lavo-Lil, page 267). +Mr F. H. Bowring, who frequently met him, states that he "had a +slight cast in the eye." + +{416a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. +1892. + +{417a} Ellen Jones actually wrote - + +Ellen Jones +yn pithyn pell +i gronow owen + +{417b} Wild Wales, pages 227-8. + +{418a} This was the mason of whom Borrow enquired the way, and who +"stood for a moment or two, as if transfixed, a trowel motionless in +one of his hands, and a brick in the other," who on recovering +himself replied in "tolerable Spanish."--Wild Wales, page 225. + +{418b} Wild Wales, page 5. + +{418c} These particulars have been courteously supplied by Mr George +Porter of Denbigh, who interviewed Mrs Thomas on 27th Dec. 1910. +Borrow's accuracy in Wild Wales was photograph. The Norwich jeweller +Rossi mentioned in Wild Wales (page 159 et seq.) was a friend of +Borrow's with whom he frequently spent an evening: conversing in +Italian, "being anxious to perfect himself in that language." I +quote from a letter from his son Mr Theodore Rossi. "There was an +entire absence of pretence about him and we liked him very much--he +always seemed desirous of learning." + +{419a} This story is told by Mr F. J. Bowring, son of Sir John +Bowring. He heard it from Mrs Roberts, the landlady of the inn. + +{419b} Wild Wales, page 274. + +{419c} Wild Wales, page 130. + +{419d} Wild Wales, page 130. + +{420a} Wild Wales, page 150. + +{420b} These carvels were written by such young people as thought +themselves "endowed with the poetic gift, to compose carols some time +before Christmas, and to recite them in the parish churches. Those +pieces which were approved of by the clergy were subsequently chanted +by their authors through their immediate neighbourhoods." +(Introduction to Bayr Jairgey, Borrow's projected book on the Isle of +Man.) + +{422a} Painted by H. W. Phillips in 1843. + +{423a} Vestiges of Borrow: Some Personal Reminiscences. The Globe, +21st July 1896. + +{423b} The Anglo-Saxon scholar (1795-1857), who though paralysed +during the whole of her life visited Rome, Athens and other places. +She was the first woman elected a member of the British Association. + +{423c} To judge from Borrow's opinion of O'Connell previously +quoted, "notoriety" would have been a more appropriate word in his +case. + +{424a} Given to the Rev. A. W. Upcher and related by him in The +Athenaeum, 22nd July 1893. + +{425a} Lavengro, page 361. + +{425b} The Romany Rye, page 309. + +{425c} Wild Wales, page 285. + +{425d} The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. 1892. + +{427a} Garcin de Tassy. Note sur les Ruba'iyat de 'Omar Khaiyam, +which appeared in the Journal Asiatique. + +{428a} Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald, 1889. + +{428b} Songs of Europe, or Metrical Translations from All the +European Languages, With Brief Prefatory Remarks on Each Language and +its Literature. 2 vols. (Advertised as "Ready for the Press" at the +end of The Romany Rye. See page 438.) + +{429a} Rev. Whitwell Elwin, editor of The Quarterly Review. See +post, p. 431. + +{431a} Elwin could not very well have known Borrow all his, Borrow's +life, as Dr Knapp states, for he was fifteen years younger, being +born 26th Feb. 1816. + +{432a} Some XVIII. Century Men of Letters. Ed. Warwick Elwin, 1902. + +{432b} Some XVIII. Century Men of Letters. Ed. Warwick Elwin, 1902. + +{433a} Some XVIII. Century Men of Letters. Ed. Warwick Elwin, 1902. + +{435a} Entitled Roving Life in England. March 1857. + +{436a} Elwin had already testified, also in The Quarterly Review, to +the accuracy of Borrow's portrait of B. R. Haydon in Lavengro, as +confirmed by documentary evidence, and this after first reading the +account as "a comic exaggeration." + +{437a} Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald, 1889. + +{437b} Mr A. Egmont Hake in Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881. + +{438a} Works by the Author of The Bible in Spain, ready for the +Press. + +In Two Volumes, Celtic Bards, Chiefs, and Kings.--In Two Volumes, +Wild Wales, Its People, Language, and Scenery.--In Two Volumes, Songs +of Europe; or, Metrical Translations From all the European Languages. +With brief Prefatory Remarks on each Language and its Literature.--In +Two Volumes, Koempe Viser; Songs about Giants and Heroes. With +Romantic and Historical Ballads, Translated from the Ancient Danish. +With an Introduction and Copious Notes.--In One Volume, The Turkish +Jester; or, The Pleasantries of Cogia Nasr Eddin Efendi. Translated +from the Turkish. With an Introduction.--In Two Volumes, Penquite +and Pentyre; or, The Head of the Forest and the Headland. A Book on +Cornwall.--In One Volume, Russian Popular Tales, With an Introduction +and Notes. Contents:- The Story of Emelian the Fool; The Story of +the Frog and the Hero; The Story of the Golden Mountain; The Story of +the Seven Sevenlings; The Story of the Eryslan; The Story of the Old +Man and his Son, the Crane; The Story of the Daughter of the Stroey; +The Story of Klim; The Story of Prince Vikor; The Story of Prince +Peter; The Story of Yvashka with the Bear's Ear.--In One Volume, The +Sleeping Bard; or, Visions of the World, Death, & Hell. By Master +Elis Wyn. Translated from the Cambrian British.--In Two Volumes +(Unfinished), Northern-Skalds, Kings, and Earls.--The Death of +Balder; A Heroic Play. Translated from the Danish of Evald.--In One +Volume, Bayr Jairgey and Glion Doo: The Red Path and the Black +Valley. Wanderings in Quest of Manx Literature. + +{439a} "She was a lady of striking figure and very graceful manners, +perhaps more serious than vivacious."--Mr A. Egmont Hake in The +Athenaeum, 13th August 1881. + +{440a} She bequeathed to her son by will "all and every thing" of +which she died possessed, charging him with the delivery of any gift +to any other person she might desire. + +{440b} Wild Wales, page 548. + +{442a} These particulars have been kindly supplied by Mr D. B. Hill +of Mattishall, Norfolk. + +{445a} Mr. A. Egmont Hake in The Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881. + +{445b} The Life of Frances Power Cobbe, by Herself, 1894. + +{446a} The Life of Frances Power Cobbe, by Herself, 1894. + +{447a} "In Defence of Borrow," prefixed to The Romany Rye. Ward, +Locke & Co. + +{447b} Vestiges of Borrow; Some Personal Reminiscences. The Globe, +21st July 1896. + +{448a} The Athenaeum, 13th August 1881. + +{449a} Mr A. Egmont Hake in Macmillan's Magazine, November 1881. + +{449b} Mr A. Egmont Hake in The Athenaeum, 13th August 1881. + +{449c} Memoirs of Eighty Years, by Dr Gordon Hake, 1892. + +{450a} The Athenaeum, 10th September 1881. + +{451a} The Athenaeum, 10th September 1881. + +{451b} The Athenaeum, 13th August 1881. + +{453a} "Sherry drinkers, . . . I often heard him say in a tone of +positive loathing, he DESPISED. He had a habit of speaking in a +measured syllabic manner, if he wished to express dislike or +contempt, which was certainly very effective. He would say: 'If you +want to have the Sherry TANG, get Madeira (that's a gentleman's +wine), and throw into it two or three pairs of old boots, and you'll +get the taste of the pig skins they carry the Sherry about in."--Rev. +J. R. P. Berkeley's Recollections. The Life of George Borrow, by Dr +Knapp. + +{456a} Life of Frances Power Cobbe, by Herself, 1894. + +{459a} The Geologist, 1797-1875. + +{459b} The Life of Frances Power Cobbe, by Herself, 1894. + +{460a} Charles Godfrey Leland, by E. R. Pennell, 1908 + +{460b} Memoirs, by C. G. Leland, 1893. + +{461a} In her biography of Leland, Mrs Pennell states that an +American woman, a Mrs Lewis ("Estelle") introduced Leland to Borrow +at the British Museum and that they talked Gypsy. "I hear he +expressed himself as greatly pleased with me," was Leland's comment. +The correspondence clearly shows that Leland called on Borrow. + +{461b} Memoirs of C. G. Leland, 1893. + +{461c} Memoirs of C. G. Leland, 1893. + +{462a} Leland's annoyance with Borrow did not prevent him paying to +his memory the following tribute:- + +"What I admire in Borrow to such a degree that before it his faults +or failings seem very trifling, is his absolutely vigorous, +marvellously varied originality, based on direct familiarity with +Nature, but guided and cultured by the study of natural, simple +writers, such as Defoe and Smollett. I think that the 'interest' in, +or rather sympathy for gypsies, in his case as in mine, came not from +their being curious or dramatic beings, but because they are so much +a part of free life, of out-of-doors Nature; so associated with +sheltered nooks among rocks and trees, the hedgerow and birds, river- +sides, and wild roads. Borrow's heart was large and true as regarded +English rural life; there was a place in it for everything which was +of the open air and freshly beautiful."--Memoirs of C. G. Leland, +1893. + +{462b} Romano Lavo-Lil. Word-Book of the Romany, or English Gypsy +Language. With Specimens of Gypsy Poetry, and an Account of Certain +Gypsyries or Places Inhabited by Them, and of Various Things Relating +to Gypsy Life in England. + +{462c} "There were not two educated men in England who possessed the +slightest knowledge of Romany."--F. H. Groome in Academy,--13th June +1874. + +{463a} F. H. Groome in Academy, 13th June 1874. + +{463b} Ibid + +{464a} The Athenaeum, 17th March 1888. + +{466a} The Bookman, February 1893. + +{466b} The Athenaeum, 10th Sept. 1881. + +{467a} William Bodham Donne and His Friends. Edited by Catherine B. +Johnson, 1905. + +{469a} Mr T. Watts-Dunton, in The Athenaeum, 3rd Sept. 1881. + +{469b} Mr A. Egmont Hake, in The Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881. + +{470a} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp. + +{470b} East Anglia, by J. Ewing Ritchie, 1883. + +{470c} George Borrow in East Anglia + +{473a} W. E. Henley. + +{474a} The Athenaeum, 25th March 1899. + +{474b} Many attacks have been made upon Borrow's memory: one well- +known man of letters and divine has gone to lengths that can only be +described as unpardonable. It is undesirable to do more than deplore +the lapse that no doubt the writer himself has already deeply +regretted. + +{474c} Memoirs of Eighty Years, 1892. + +{475a} Mr A. Egmont Hake in The Athenaeum, 13th August 1881. + +{475b} In The Bible in Spain. "Next to the love of God, the love of +country is the best preventative of crime." (Page 53.) + +{475c} The Bible in Spain, page 97. + +{476a} Mr Thomas Seccombe in The Bookman, Feb. 1892. + +{477a} Wild Wales, page 628. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of George Borrow, by Herbert Jenkins + |