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Books: The Life of George Borrow

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




"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}