The Life of George Borrow Part 12

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 t.i.ttering 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 a.s.sumed 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 att.i.tude 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 att.i.tude 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 const.i.tutionally, 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 Const.i.tution. 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 ma.s.sacred 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 n.o.ble 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 pa.s.s 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 cl.u.s.tered 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 a.s.sorted 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 pa.s.sport, 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 princ.i.p.al streets debouche, and which is, at all times of the year, the great place of a.s.semblage 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 surpa.s.sed 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 ma.s.s to be found in the entire world." {169a} In the upper cla.s.ses 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 cla.s.s 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 const.i.tutional 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 a.s.sistance 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 a.s.suring 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 doc.u.mentary 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 a.s.sist a man introduced to him by the representative of Great Britain, to whom he looked for a.s.sistance 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 dest.i.tute 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 a.s.sistance 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}