Books: The Life of George Borrow

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"I am very sorry," he writes (13th June), "after Borrow has so kindly
exerted himself during illness, that I must return his paper. I read
the MS. with much pleasure; but clever and brilliant as he is sure
always to be, it was very evident that he had not done such an
article as Ford's merits required; and I therefore intended to adopt
Mr Borrow's lively diatribe, but interweave with his matter and add
to it, such observations and extracts as might, I thought, complete
the paper in a REVIEW SENSE.

"But it appears that Mr B. won't allow anybody to tamper with his
paper; therefore here it is. It will be highly ornamental as it
stands to any Magazine, and I have no doubt either Blackwood or
Fraser or Colburn will be [only] too happy to insert it next month,
if applied to now.

"Mr Borrow would not have liked that, when his Bible in Spain came
out, we should have printed a brilliant essay by Ford on some point
of Spanish interest, but including hardly anything calculated to make
the public feel that a new author of high consequence had made his
appearance among us--one bearing the name, not of Richard Ford, but
of George Borrow."

Lockhart was right and Borrow was wrong. There is no room for
equivocation. Borrow should have sunk his pride in favour of his
friendship for Ford, who had, even if occasionally a little tedious
in his epistolary enthusiasm, always been a loyal friend; but Borrow
was ill and excuses must be made for him. Lockhart wrote also to
Ford describing Borrow's paper as "just another capital chapter of
his Bible in Spain," which he had read with delight, but there was
"hardly a word of REVIEW, and no extract giving the least notion of
the peculiar merits and style especially, of the Hand-Book." "He is
unwell," continued Lockhart, "I should be very sorry to bother him
more at present; and, moreover, from the little he has said of your
STYLE, I am forced to infer that a REVIEW of your book by him would
never be what I could feel authorised to publish in the Q. R." The
letter concludes with a word of condolence that the Hand-Book will
have to be committed to other hands.

Ford realised the difficulty of the situation in which he was placed,
and strove to wriggle out of it by telling Borrow that his wife had
said all along that

"'Borrow can't write anything dull enough for your set; I wonder how
I ever married one of them,'--I hope and trust you will not cancel
the paper, for we can't afford to lose a scrap of your queer sparkle
and 'thousand bright daughters circumvolving.' I have recommended
its insertion in Blackwood, Fraser, or some of those clever
Magazines, who will be overjoyed to get such a hand as yours, and I
will bet any man 5 pounds that your paper will be the most popular of
all they print."

It is evident that Ford was genuinely distressed, and in his anxiety
to be loyal to his friend rather overdid it. His letter has an air
of patronage that the writer certainly never intended. The
outstanding feature is its absolute selflessness. Ford never seems
to think of himself, or that Borrow might have made a concession to
their friendship. Happy Ford! The unfortunate episode estranged
Borrow from Ford. Letters between them became less and less frequent
and finally ceased altogether, although Borrow did not forget to send
to his old friend a copy of Lavengro when it appeared.

Worries seemed to rain down upon Borrow's head about this time.
Samuel Morton Peto (afterwards Sir Samuel) had decided to enrich
Lowestoft by improving the harbour and building a railway to Reedham,
about half-way between Yarmouth and Norwich. He was authorised by
Parliament and duly constructed his line, which not even Borrow's
anger could prevent from passing through the Oulton Estate, between
the Hall and the Cottage. Borrow could not fight an Act of
Parliament, which forced him to cross a railway bridge on his way to
church; but he never forgave the man who had contrived it, or his
millions. His first thought had been to fly before the invader. All
quiet would be gone from the place. "Sell and be off," advised Ford;
"I hope you will make the railway pay dear for its whistle," quietly
observed John Murray. At first Borrow was inclined to take Ford's
advice and settle abroad; but subsequently relinquished the idea.

He was not, however, the man quietly to sit down before what he
conceived to be an unjustifiable outrage to his right to be quiet.
He never forgave railways, although forced sometimes to make use of
them. Samuel Morton Peto became to him the embodiment of evil, and
as "Mr Flamson flaming in his coach with a million" he is
immortalised in The Romany Rye.

It is said that Sir Samuel boasted that he had made more than the
price he had paid for Borrow's land out of the gravel he had taken
from off it. On one occasion, after he had bought Somerleyton Hall,
happening to meet Borrow, he remarked that he never called upon him,
and Borrow remembering the boast replied, "I call on you! Do you
think I don't read my Shakespeare? Do you think I don't know all
about those highwaymen Bardolph and Peto?" {372a}

The neighbourhood of Oulton appears to have been infested with
thieves, and poachers found admirable "cover" in the surrounding
plantations, or small woods. On several occasions Borrow himself had
been attacked at night on the highway between Lowestoft and Oulton.
Once he had even been shot at and nearly overpowered. John Murray
(the Second) on hearing of one of these assaults had written (1841)
artfully enquiring, "Were your wood thieves Gypsies, and have the
Cales got notice of your publication [The Zincali]?"

Borrow had written to John Murray, Junr. (10th May 1842):-

"I have been dreadfully unwell since I last heard from you--a regular
nervous attack. At present I have a bad cough, caught by getting up
at night in pursuit of poachers and thieves. A horrible
neighbourhood this--not a magistrate dares do his duty." On 18th
September 1843 he again wrote to John Murray: "One of the
Magistrates in this district is just dead. Present my compliments to
Mr Gladstone and tell him that the The Bible in Spain would have no
objection to become 'a great unpaid!'"

Gladstone is said greatly to have admired The Bible in Spain, even to
the extent of writing to John Murray counselling him to have amended
a passage that he considered ill-advised. Gladstone's letter was
sent on to Borrow, and he acknowledges its receipt (6th November
1843) in the following terms:-

"Many thanks for the perusal of Mr Gladstone's letter. I esteem it a
high honour that so distinguished a man should take sufficient
interest in a work of mine as to suggest any thing in emendation. I
can have no possible objection to modify the passage alluded to. It
contains some strong language, particularly the sentence about the
scarlet Lady, which it would be perhaps as well to omit."

The offending passage was that in which Borrow says, when describing
the interior of the Mosque at Tangier: "I looked around for the
abominable thing, and found it not; no scarlet strumpet with a crown
of false gold sat nursing an ugly changeling in a niche." In later
editions the words "no scarlet strumpet," etc., were changed to "the
besetting sin of the pseudo-Christian Church did not stare me in the
face in every corner."

The amendment was little likely to please a Churchman of Gladstone's
calibre, or procure for the writer the magistracy he coveted, even if
it had been made less grudgingly. "We must not make any further
alterations here," Borrow wrote to Murray a few days later,
"otherwise the whole soliloquy, which is full of vigor and poetry,
and moreover of TRUTH, would be entirely spoiled. As it is, I cannot
help feeling that [it] is considerably damaged." There seems very
little doubt that this passage was referred to in the letter that
John Murray encloses in his of 10th July 18431 with this reference:
"(The writer of the enclosed note is a worthy canon of St Paul's, and
has evidently seen only the 1st edition)." Borrow replied:-

"Pray present my best respects to the Canon of St Paul's and tell him
from me that he is a burro, which meaneth Jackass, and that I wish he
would mind his own business, which he might easily do by attending a
little more to the accommodation of the public in his ugly
Cathedral."

Borrow appears to have set his mind on becoming a magistrate. He had
written to Lockhart (November 1843) enquiring how he had best proceed
to obtain such an appointment. Lockhart was not able to give him any
very definite information, his knowledge of such things, as he
confessed, "being Scotch." For the time being the matter was allowed
to drop, to be revived in 1847 by a direct application from Borrow to
Lord Clarendon to support his application with the Lord Chancellor.
His claims were based upon (1) his being a large landed-proprietor in
the district (Mrs Borrow had become the owner of the Oulton Hall
Estate during the previous year); (2) the fact that the neighbourhood
was over-run with thieves and undesirable characters; (3) that there
was no magistrate residing in the district. Lord Clarendon promised
his good offices, but suggested that as all such appointments were
made through the Lord-Lieutenant of the County, the Earl of
Stradbroke had better be acquainted with what was taking place. This
was done through the Hon. Wm. Rufus Rous, Lord Stradbroke's brother,
whose interest was obtained by some of Borrow's friends.

After a delay of two months, Lord Stradbroke wrote to Lord Clarendon
that he was quite satisfied with "the number and efficiency of the
Magistrates" and also with the way in which the Petty Sessions were
attended. He could hear of no complaint, and when the time came to
increase the number of J.P.'s, he would be pleased to add Borrow's
name to the list, provided he were advised to do so by "those
gentlemen residing in the neighbourhood, who, living on terms of
intimacy with them [the Magistrates], will be able to maintain that
union of good feeling which . . . exists in all our benches of Petty
Sessions."

Borrow would have made a good magistrate, provided the offender were
not a gypsy. He would have caused the wrong-doer more fear the
instrument of the law rather than the law itself, and some of his
sentences might possibly have been as summary as those of Judge
Lynch.

"It was a fine thing," writes a contemporary, "to see the great man
tackle a tramp. Then he scented the battle from afar, bearing down
on the enemy with a quivering nostril. If the nomad happened to be a
gypsy he was courteously addressed. But were he a mere native
tatterdemalion, inclined to be truculent, Borrow's coat was off in a
moment, and the challenge to decide there and then who was the better
man flung forth. I have never seen such challenges accepted, for
Borrow was robust and towering." {375a}

It is not strange that Borrow's application failed; for he never
refused leave to the gypsies to camp upon his land, and would
sometimes join them beside their campfires. Once he took a guest
with him after dinner to where the gypsies were encamped. They
received Borrow with every mark of respect. Presently he "began to
intone to them a song, written by him in Romany, which recounted all
their tricks and evil deeds. The gypsies soon became excited; then
they began to kick their property about, such as barrels and tin
cans; then the men began to fight and the women to part them; an
uproar of shouts and recriminations set in, and the quarrel became so
serious that it was thought prudent to quit the scene." {376a} "In
nothing can the character of a people be read with greater certainty
and exactness than in its songs," {376b} Borrow had written. {376c}

These disappointments tended to embitter Borrow, who saw in them only
a conspiracy against him. There is little doubt that Lord
Stradbroke's enquiries had revealed some curious gossip concerning
the Master of Oulton Hall, possibly the dispute with his rector over
the inability of their respective dogs to live in harmony; perhaps
even the would-be magistrate's predilection for the society of
gypsies, and his profound admiration for "the Fancy" had reached the
Lord-Lieutenant's ears.

The unfortunate and somewhat mysterious dispute with Dr Bowring was
another anxiety that Borrow had to face. He had once remarked, "It's
very odd, Bowring, that you and I have never had a quarrel." {376d}
In the summer of 1842 he and Bowring seem to have been on excellent
terms. Borrow wrote asking for the return of the papers and
manuscripts that had remained in Bowring's hands since 1829, when the
Songs of Scandinavia was projected, as Borrow hoped to bring out
during the ensuing year a volume entitled Songs of Denmark. The
cordiality of the letter may best be judged by the fact that in it he
announces his intention of having a copy of the forthcoming Bible in
Spain sent "to my oldest, I may say my ONLY friend."

In 1847 Bowring wrote to Borrow enquiring as to the Russian route
through Kiakhta, and asking if he could put him in the way of
obtaining the information for the use of a Parliamentary Committee
then enquiring into England's commercial relations with China.
Borrow's reply is apparently no longer in existence; but it drew from
Bowring another letter raising a question as to whether "'two hundred
merchants are allowed to visit Pekin every three years.' Are you
certain this is in practice now? Have you ever been to Kiakhta?" It
would appear from Bowring's "if summoned, your expenses must be paid
by the public," that Borrow had suggested giving evidence before the
Committee, hence Bowring's question as to whether Borrow could speak
from personal knowledge of Kiakhta.

Borrow's claim against Bowring is that after promising to use all his
influence to get him appointed Consul at Canton, he obtained the post
for himself, passing off as his own the Manchu-Tartar New Testament
that Borrow had edited in St Petersburg. There is absolutely no
other evidence than that contained in Borrow's Appendix to The Romany
Rye. There is very little doubt that Bowring was a man who had no
hesitation in seizing everything that presented itself and turning
it, as far as possible, to his own uses. In this he was doing what
most successful men have done and will continue to do. He had been
kind to Borrow, and had helped him as far as lay in his power. He no
doubt obtained all the information he could from Borrow, as he would
have done from anyone else; but he never withheld his help. It has
been suggested that he really did mention Borrow as a candidate for
the Consulship and later, when in financial straits and finding that
Borrow had no chance of obtaining it, accepted Lord Palmerston's
offer of the post for himself. It is, however, idle to speculate
what actually happened. What resulted was that Bowring as the "Old
Radical" took premier place in the Appendix-inferno that closed The
Romany Rye. {378a}

Fate seemed to conspire to cause Borrow chagrin. Early in 1847 it
came to his knowledge that there were in existence some valuable
Codices in certain churches and convents in the Levant. In
particular there was said to be an original of the Greek New
Testament, supposed to date from the fourth century, which had been
presented to the convent on Mount Sinai by the Emperor Justinian.
Borrow received information of the existence of the treasure, and
also a hint that with a little address, some of these priceless
manuscripts might be secured to the British Nation. It was even
suggested that application might be made to the Government by the
Trustees of the British Museum. {378b} Borrow's reply to this was an
intimation that if requested to do so he would willingly undertake
the mission. Nothing, however, came of the project, and the
remainder of the manuscript of the Greek Testament (part of it had
been acquired in 1843 by Tischendorf) was presented by the monks to
Alexander II. and it is now in the Imperial Library at St Petersburg.

The information as to the existence of the manuscripts, it is
alleged, was given to the Museum Trustees by the Hon. Robert Curzon,
who had travelled much in Egypt and the Holy Land. It was certainly
no fault of his that the mission was not sent out, and Borrow's
subsequent antagonism to him and his family is difficult to
understand and impossible to explain.

Borrow had achieved literary success: before the year 1847 The
Zincali was in its Fourth Edition (nearly 10,000 copies having been
printed) and The Bible in Spain had reached its Eighth Edition
(nearly 20,000 copies having been printed). He was an unqualified
success; yet he had been far happier when distributing Testaments in
Spain. The greyness and inaction of domestic life, even when
relieved by occasional excursions with Sidi Habismilk and the Son of
the Miracle, were irksome to his temperament, ever eager for
occupation and change of scene. He was like a war-horse champing his
bit during times of peace.

"Why did you send me down six copies [of The Zincali]?" he bursts out
in a letter to John Murray (29th Jan. 1846). "Whom should I send
them to? Do you think I have six friends in the world? Two I have
presented to my wife and daughter (in law). I shall return three to
you by the first opportunity."

In 1847, through the Harveys, he became acquainted with Dr Thomas
Gordon Hake, who was in practice at Brighton 1832-37 and at Bury St
Edmunds 1839-53, and who was also a poet. The two families visited
each other, and Dr Hake has left behind him some interesting stories
about, and valuable impressions of, Borrow. Dr Hake shows clearly
that he did not allow his friendship to influence his judgment when
in his Memoirs he described Borrow as

"one of those whose mental powers are strong, and whose bodily frame
is yet stronger--a conjunction of forces often detrimental to a
literary career, in an age of intellectual predominance. His temper
was good and bad; his pride was humility; his humility was pride; his
vanity in being negative, was one of the most positive kind. He was
reticent and candid, measured in speech, with an emphasis that made
trifles significant." {379a}

This rather laboured series of paradoxes quite fails to give a
convincing impression of the man. A much better idea of Borrow is to
be found in a letter (1847) by a fellow-guest at a breakfast given by
the Prussian Ambassador. He writes that there was present

"the amusing author of The Bible in Spain, a man who is remarkable
for his extraordinary powers as a linguist, and for the originality
of his character, not to speak of the wonderful adventures he
narrates, and the ease and facility with which he tells them. He
kept us laughing a good part of breakfast time by the oddity of his
remarks, as well as the positiveness of his assertions, often rather
startling, and like his books partaking of the marvellous." {380a}

Abandoning paradox, Dr Hake is more successful in his description of
Borrow's person.

"His figure was tall," he tells us, "and his bearing very noble; he
had a finely moulded head, and thick white hair--white from his
youth; his brown eyes were soft, yet piercing; his nose somewhat of
the 'semitic' type, which gave his face the cast of the young Memnon.
His mouth had a generous curve; and his features, for beauty and true
power, were such as can have no parallel in our portrait gallery."

When not occupied in writing, Borrow would walk about the estate with
his animals, between whom and their master a perfect understanding
existed. Sidi Habismilk would come to a whistle and would follow him
about, and his two dogs and cat would do the same. When he went for
a walk the dogs and cat would set out with him; but the cat would
turn back after accompanying him for about a quarter of a mile.
{381a}

The two young undergraduates who drove in a gig from Cambridge to
Oulton to pay their respects to Borrow (circa 1846) described him as
employed

"in training some young horses to follow him about like dogs and come
at the call of his whistle. As my two friends {381b} were talking
with him, Borrow sounded his whistle in a paddock near the house,
which, if I remember rightly, was surrounded by a low wall.
Immediately two beautiful horses came bounding over the fence and
trotted up to their master. One put his nose into Borrow's
outstretched hand and the other kept snuffing at his pockets in
expectation of the usual bribe for confidence and good behaviour."

Borrow's love of animals was almost feminine. The screams of a hare
pursued by greyhounds would spoil his appetite for dinner, and he
confessed himself as "silly enough to feel disgust and horror at the
squeals of a rat in the fangs of a terrier." {381c} When a favourite
cat was so ill that it crawled away to die in solitude, Borrow went
in search of it and, discovering the poor creature in the garden-
hedge, carried it back into the house, laid it in a comfortable place
and watched over it until it died. His care of the much persecuted
"Church of England cat" at Llangollen {381d} is another instance of
his tender-heartedness with regard to animals.

Borrow had ample evidence that he was still a celebrity. "He was
much courted . . . by his neighbours and by visitors to the sea-
side," Dr Hake relates; but unfortunately he allowed himself to
become a prey to moods at rather inappropriate moments. As a lion,
Borrow accompanied Dr Hake to some in the great houses of the
neighbourhood. On one occasion they went to dine at Hardwick Hall,
the residence of Sir Thomas and Lady Cullum. The last-named
subsequently became a firm friend of Borrow's during many years.

"The party consisted of Lord Bristol; Lady Augusta Seymour, his
daughter; Lord and Lady Arthur Hervey; Sir Fitzroy Kelly; Mr
Thackeray, and ourselves. At that date, Thackeray had made money by
lectures on The Satirists, and was in good swing; but he never could
realise the independent feelings of those who happen to be born to
fortune--a thing which a man of genius should be able to do with
ease. He told Lady Cullum, which she repeated to me, that no one
could conceive how it mortified him to be making a provision for his
daughters by delivering lectures; and I thought she rather
sympathised with him in this degradation. He approached Borrow, who,
however, received him very dryly. As a last attempt to get up a
conversation with him, he said, 'Have you read my Snob Papers in
Punch?'"

"'In Punch?' asked Borrow. 'It is a periodical I never look at!'

"It was a very fine dinner. The plates at dessert were of gold; they
once belonged to the Emperor of the French, and were marked with his
"N" and his Eagle.

"Thackeray, as if under the impression that the party was invited to
look at him, thought it necessary to make a figure, and absorb
attention during the dessert, by telling stories and more than half
acting them; the aristocratic party listening, but appearing little
amused. Borrow knew better how to behave in good company, and kept
quiet; though, doubtless he felt his mane." {382a}

There were other moments when Borrow caused acute embarrassment by
his rudeness. Once his hostess, a simple unpretending woman desirous
only of pleasing her distinguished guest, said, "Oh, Mr Borrow, I
have read your books with so much pleasure!" "Pray, what books do
you mean, madam? Do you mean my account books?" was the ungracious
retort. He then rose from the table, fretting and fuming and walked
up and down the dining-room among the servants "during the whole of
the dinner, and afterwards wandered about the rooms and passage, till
the carriage could be ordered for our return home." {383a} The
reason for this unpardonable behaviour appears to have been ill-
judged loyalty to a friend. His host was a well-known Suffolk banker
who, having advanced a large sum of money to a friend of Borrow's,
the heir to a considerable estate, who was in temporary difficulties,
then "struck the docket" in order to secure payment. Borrow confided
to another friend that he yearned "to cane the banker." His loyalty
to his friend excuses his wrath; it was his judgment that was at
fault. He should undoubtedly have caned the banker, in preference to
going to his house as a guest and revenging his friend upon the
gentle and amiable woman who could not be held responsible for her
husband's business transgressions.

Unfortunate remarks seemed to have a habit of bursting from Borrow's
lips. When Dr Bowring introduced to him his son, Mr F. J. Bowring,
and with pardonable pride added that he had just become a Fellow of
Trinity, Borrow remarked, "Ah! Fellows of Trinity always marry their
bed-makers." Agnes Strickland was another victim. Being desirous of
meeting him and, in spite of Borrow's unwillingness, achieving her
object, she expressed in rapturous terms her admiration of his works,
and concluded by asking permission to send him a copy of The Queens
of England, to which he ungraciously replied, "For God's sake, don't,
madam; I should not know where to put them or what to do with them."
"What a damned fool that woman is!" he remarked to W. B. Donne, who
was standing by. {383b}

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