Books: The Life of George Borrow

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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."

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