Plutarch - "The Complete Works Volume 3: Essays and Miscellanies"

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Edgar Rice Burroughs - "Princess of Mars"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

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Books: The Life of George Borrow

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




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.