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Books: The Life of George Borrow

H >> Herbert Jenkins >> The Life of George Borrow





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}