NOVEMBER 1834–SEPTEMBER 1835
BORROW was an unconventional editor. He foresaw the interminable delays
likely to arise from allowing workmen to incorporate his corrections in
the type. To obviate these, he first corrected the proof, then,
proceeding to the printing office, he made with his own hands the
necessary alterations in the type. This involved only two proofs, the
second to be submitted to Mr Lipovzoff, instead of some half a dozen that
otherwise would have been necessary. During these days Borrow was
ubiquitous. Even the binder required his assistance, “for everything
goes wrong without a strict surveillance.”
Borrow had passed through _the_ crisis in his career. Stricken with
fever, which was followed by an attack of the “Horrors” (only to be
driven away by port wine), he had scarcely found time in which to eat or
sleep. He had emerged triumphantly from the ordeal, and if he had
“almost killed Beneze and his lads”{135a} with work, he had not spared
himself. If he had to report, as he did, that “my two compositors, whom
I had instructed in all the mysteries of Manchu composition, are in the
hospital, down with the brain fever,” {135b} he himself had grown thin
from the incessant toil.
The simple manliness and restrained dignity of his justification had
produced a marked effect upon the authorities at home. If the rebuke
administered by Mr Jowett had been mild, his acknowledgment of the reply
that it had called forth was most cordial and friendly. After assuring
Borrow of the Committee’s high satisfaction at the way in which its
interests had been looked after, he proceeds sincerely to deprecate
anything in his previous letter which may have caused Borrow pain, and
continues:
“Yet I scarcely know how to be sorry for what has been the occasion
of drawing from you (what you might otherwise have kept locked up in
your own breast) the very interesting story of your labours,
vexations, disappointments, vigilance, address, perseverance, and
successes. How you were able in your solitude to keep up your
spirits in the face of so many impediments, apparently
insurmountable, I know not . . . Do not fear that _we_ should in any
way interrupt your proceedings. We know our interest too well to
interfere with an agent who has shown so much address in planning,
and so much diligence in effecting, the execution of our wishes.”
These encouraging words were followed by a request that he would keep a
careful account of all extraordinary expenses, that they might be duly
met by the Society:—
“I allude, you perceive, to such things,” the letter goes on to
explain, “as your journies _huc et illuc_ in quest of a better
market, and to the occasional bribes to disheartened workmen. In all
matters of this kind the Society is clearly your debtor.” Borrow
replied with a flash of his old independent spirit: “I return my most
grateful thanks for this most considerate intimation, which,
nevertheless, I cannot avail myself of, as, according to one of the
articles of my agreement, my salary of £200 was to cover all extra
expenses. Petersburg is doubtless the dearest capital in Europe, and
expenses meet an individual, especially one situated as I have been,
at every turn and corner; but an agreement is not to be broken on
that account.” {136}
That the Committee, even before this proof of his ability, had been well
pleased with their engagement of Borrow is shown by the acknowledgment
made in the Society’s Thirtieth Annual Report: “Mr Borrow has not
disappointed the expectation entertained.”
There were other words of encouragement to cheer him in his labours. His
mother wrote in September of that year, telling him how, at a Bible
Society’s gathering at Norwich, which had lasted the whole of a week, his
name “was sounded through the Hall by Mr Gurney and Mr Cunningham”;
telling how he had left his home and his friends to do God’s work in a
foreign land, calling upon their fellow-citizens to offer up prayers
beseeching the Almighty to vouchsafe to him health and strength that the
great work he had undertaken might be completed. “All this is very
pleasing to me,” added the proud old lady. “God bless you!”
From Mrs Clarke of Oulton Hall, with whom he kept up a correspondence, he
heard how his name had been mentioned at many of the Society’s meetings
during the year, and how the Rev. Francis Cunningham had referred to him
as “one of the most extraordinary and interesting individuals of the
present day.” Even at that date, viz., before the receipt of the
remarkable account of his labours, the members and officials of the Bible
Society seem to have come to the conclusion that he had achieved far more
than they had any reason to expect of him. Their subsequent approval is
shown by the manner in which they caused his two letters of 8th/20th and
13th/25th October to be circulated among the influential members of the
Society, until at last they had reached the Rev. F. Cunningham and Mrs
Clarke.
About the middle of January (old style) 1835, Borrow placed in the hands
of Baron Schilling a copy of each of the four Gospels in Manchu, to be
conveyed to the Bible Society by one of the couriers attached to the
Foreign Department at St Petersburg; but they did not reach Earl Street
until several weeks later. There were however, still the remaining four
volumes to complete, and many more difficulties to overcome.
One vexation that presented itself was a difference of opinion between
Borrow and Lipovzoff, who “thought proper, when the Father Almighty is
addressed, to erase the personal and possessive pronouns _thou_ or
_thine_, as often as they occur, and in their stead to make use of the
noun as the case may require. For example, ‘O Father! thou art merciful’
he would render, ‘O Father! the Father is merciful.’” Borrow protested,
but Lipovzoff, who was “a gentleman, whom the slightest contradiction
never fails to incense to a most incredible degree,” told him that he
talked nonsense, and refused to concede anything. {138a} Lipovzoff, who
had on his side the Chinese scholars and unlimited powers as official
censor (from whose decree there was no appeal) over his own work, carried
his point. He urged that “amongst the Chinese and Tartars, none but the
dregs of society were ever addressed in the second person; and that it
would be most uncouth and indecent to speak of the Almighty as if He were
a servant or a slave.” This difficulty of the verbal ornament of the
East was one that the Bible Society had frequently met with in the past.
It was rightly considered as ill-fitting a translation of the words of
Christ. Simplicity of diction was to be preserved at all costs, whatever
might be the rule with secular books. Mr Jowett had warned Borrow to
“beware of confounding the two distinct ideas of translation and
interpretation!” {138b} and also informed him that “the passion for
honorific-abilitudinity is a vice of Asiatic languages, which a Scripture
translator, above all others, ought to beware of countenancing.” {139a}
Well might Borrow write to Mr Jowett, “How I have been enabled to
maintain terms of friendship and familiarity with Mr Lipovzoff, and yet
fulfil the part which those who employ me expect me to fulfil, I am much
at a loss to conjecture; and yet such is really the case.” {139b} On the
whole, however, the two men worked harmoniously together, the
censor-translator being usually amenable to editorial reason and
suggestion; and Borrow was able to assure Mr Jowett that with the
exception of this one instance “the word of God has been rendered into
Manchu as nearly and closely as the idiom of a very singular language
would permit.”
Borrow’s mind continued to dwell upon the project of penetrating into
China and distributing the Scriptures himself. He wrote again, repeating
“the assurance that I am ready to attempt anything which the Society may
wish me to execute, and, at a moment’s warning, will direct my course
towards Canton, Pekin, or the court of the Grand Lama.” {139c} The
project had, however, to be abandoned. The Russian Government, desirous
of maintaining friendly relations with China, declined to risk her
displeasure for a missionary project in which Russia had neither interest
nor reasonable expectation of gain. In agreeing to issue a passport such
as Borrow desired, it stipulated that he should carry with him “not one
single Manchu Bible thither.” {139d} In spite of this discouragement,
Borrow wrote to Mr Jowett with regard to the Chinese programme, “_I again
repeat that I am at command_.” {139e}
This determination on Borrow’s part to become a missionary filled his
mother with alarm. She had only one son now, and the very thought of his
going into wild and unknown regions seemed to her tantamount to his going
to his death. Mrs Clarke also expressed strong disapproval of the
project. “I must tell you,” she wrote, “that your letter chilled me when
I read your intention of going as a Missionary or Agent, with the Manchu
Scriptures in your hand, to the Tartars, the land of incalculable
dangers.”
By the middle of May 1835 Borrow saw the end of his labours in sight. On
3rd/15th May he wrote asking for instructions relative to the despatch of
the bulk of the volumes, and also as to the disposal of the type. “As
for myself,” he continues, “I suppose I must return to England, as my
task will be speedily completed. I hope the Society are convinced that I
have served them faithfully, and that I have spared no labour to bring
out the work, which they did me the honor of confiding to me, correctly
and within as short a time as possible. At my return, if the Society
think that I can still prove of utility to them, I shall be most happy to
devote myself still to their service. I am a person full of faults and
weaknesses, as I am every day reminded by bitter experience, but I am
certain that my zeal and fidelity towards those who put confidence in me
are not to be shaken.” {140}
On 15th/27th June he reported the printing completed and six out of the
eight volumes bound, and that as soon as the remaining two volumes were
ready, he intended to take his departure from St Petersburg; but a new
difficulty arose. The East had laid a heavy hand upon St Petersburg.
“To-morrow, please God!” met the energetic Westerner at every turn. The
bookbinder delayed six weeks because he could not procure some paper he
required. But the real obstacle to the despatch of the books was the
non-arrival of the Government sanction to their shipment. Nothing was
permitted to move either in or out of the sacred city of the Tsars
without official permission. Probably those responsible for the
administration of affairs had never in their experience been called upon
to deal with a man such as Borrow. To apply to him the customary rules
of procedure was to bring upon “the House of Interior Affairs” a series
of visits and demands that must have left it limp with astonishment.
On 16th/28th July Borrow wrote to the Bible Society, “I herewith send you
a bill of lading for six of the eight parts of the New Testament, which I
have at last obtained permission to send away, after having paid sixteen
visits to the House of Interior Affairs.” {141a} He expresses a hope
that in another fortnight he will have despatched the remaining two
volumes and have “bidden adieu to Russia”; but it was dangerous to
anticipate the official course of events in Russia. Even to the last
Borrow was tormented by red tape. Early in August the last two volumes
were ready for shipment to England; but he could not obtain the necessary
permission. He was told that he ought never to have printed the work, in
spite of the license that had been granted, and that grave doubts existed
in the official mind as to whether or no he really were an agent of the
Bible Society. At length Borrow lost patience and told the officials
that during the week following the books would be despatched, with or
without permission, and he warned them to have a care how they acted.
These strong measures seem to have produced the desired result.
Despite his many occupations on behalf of the Bible Society, Borrow found
time in which to translate into Russian the first three Homilies of the
Church of England, and into Manchu the Second. His desire was that the
Homily Society should cause these translations to be printed, and in a
letter to the Rev. Francis Cunningham he strove to enlist his interest in
the project, offering the translations without fee to the Society if they
chose to make use of them. {141b} As “a zealous, though most unworthy,
member of the Anglican Church,” he found that his “cheeks glowed with
shame at seeing dissenters, English and American, busily employed in
circulating Tracts in the Russian tongue, whilst the members of the
Church were following their secular concerns, almost regardless of things
spiritual in respect to the Russian population.” {142a}
Borrow also translated into English “one of the sacred books of Boudh, or
Fo,” from Baron Schilling de Canstadt’s library. The principal
occupation of his leisure hours, however, was a collection of
translations, which he had printed by Schultz & Beneze, and published
(3rd/ 15th June 1835) under the title of _Targum_, _or Metrical
Translations from Thirty Languages and Dialects_. {142b} In a prefatory
note, the collection is referred to as “selections from a huge and
undigested mass of translation, accumulated during several years devoted
to philological pursuits.” Three months later he published another
collection entitled _The Talisman_, _From the Russian of Alexander
Pushkin_. _With Other Pieces_. {143a} There were seven poems in all,
two after Pushkin, one from the Malo-Russian, one from Mickiewicz, and
three “ancient Russian Songs.” Again the printers were Schultz & Beneze.
Each of these editions appears to have been limited to one hundred
copies. {143b}
Writing in the _Athenæum_, {143c} J. P. H[asfeldt] says:—“The work is a
pearl in literature, and, like pearls, derives value from its scarcity,
for the whole edition was limited to about a hundred copies.” W. B.
Donne admired the translations immensely, considering “the language and
rhythm as vastly superior to Macaulay’s _Lays of Ancient Rome_.” {143d}
Whilst the last two volumes of the Manchu New Testament were waiting for
paper (probably for end-papers), Borrow determined to pay a hurried visit
to Moscow, “by far the most remarkable city it has ever been my fortune
to see.” One of his principal objects in visiting the ancient capital of
Russia was to see the gypsies, who flourished there as they flourished
nowhere else in Europe. They numbered several thousands, and many of
them inhabited large and handsome houses, drove in their carriages, and
were “distinguishable from the genteel class of the Russians only . . .
by superior personal advantages and mental accomplishments.” {143e} For
this unusual state of prosperity the women were responsible, “having from
time immemorial cultivated their vocal powers to such an extent that,
although in the heart of a country in which the vocal art has arrived at
greater perfection than in any other part of the world, the principal
Gypsy choirs in Moscow are allowed by the general voice of the public to
be unrivalled and to bear away the palm from all competitors. It is a
fact notorious in Russia that the celebrated Catalani was so filled with
admiration for the powers of voice displayed by one of the Gypsy
songsters, who, after the former had sung before a splendid audience at
Moscow, stepped forward and with an astonishing burst of melody ravished
every ear, that she [Catalani] tore from her own shoulders a shawl of
immense value which had been presented to her by the Pope, and embracing
the Gypsy, compelled her to accept it, saying that it had been originally
intended for the matchless singer, which she now discovered was not
herself.” {144a}
These Russian gypsy singers lived luxurious lives and frequently married
Russian gentry or even the nobility. It was only the successes, however,
who achieved such distinction, and there were “a great number of low,
vulgar, and profligate females who sing in taverns, or at the various
gardens in the neighbourhood, and whose husbands and male connections
subsist by horse-jobbing and such kinds of low traffic.” {144b}
One fine evening Borrow hired a calash and drove out to Marina Rotze, “a
kind of sylvan garden,” about one and a half miles out of Moscow, where
this particular class of Romanys resorted. “Upon my arriving there,” he
writes, “the Gypsies swarmed out of their tents and from the little
_tracteer_ or tavern, and surrounded me. Standing on the seat of the
calash, I addressed them in a loud voice in the dialect of the English
Gypsies, with which I have some slight acquaintance. A scream of wonder
instantly arose, and welcomes and greetings were poured forth in torrents
of musical Romany, amongst which, however, the most pronounced cry was:
_ah kak mi toute karmuma_ {145a}—‘Oh how we love you’; for at first they
supposed me to be one of their brothers, who, they said, were wandering
about in Turkey, China, and other parts, and that I had come over the
great _pawnee_, or water, to visit them.” {145b}
On several other occasions during his stay at Moscow, Borrow went out to
Marina Rotze, to hold converse with the gypsies. He “spoke to them upon
their sinful manner of living,” about Christianity and the advent of
Christ, to which the gypsies listened with attention, but apparently not
much profit. The promise that they would soon be able to obtain the
teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in their own tongue interested them far
more on account of the pleasurable strangeness of the idea, than from any
anticipation that they might derive spiritual comfort from such writings.
Returning to St Petersburg from Moscow, after four-days’ absence, Borrow
completed his work, settled up his affairs, bade his friends good-bye,
and on 28th August/9th September left for Cronstadt to take the packet
for Lübeck. The authorities seem to have raised no objection to his
departure. His passport bore the date 28th August O/S (the actual day he
left) and described him as “of stature, tall—hair, grey—face,
oval—forehead, medium—eyebrows, blonde—eyes, brown—nose and mouth,
medium—chin, round.”
Borrow’s work at St Petersburg gave entire satisfaction to the Bible
Society. The Official Report for the year 1835 informed the members
that—
“The printing of the Manchu New Testament in St Petersburg is now
drawing to a conclusion. Mr G. Borrow, who has had to superintend
the work, has in every way afforded satisfaction to the Committee.
They have reason to believe that his acquirements in the language are
of the most respectable order; while the devoted diligence with which
he has laboured, and the skill he has shown in surmounting
difficulties, and conducting his negotiations for the advantage of
the Society, justly entitle him to this public acknowledgment of his
services.” {146a}
Of the actual work itself John Hasfeldt justly wrote:
“I can only say, that it is a beautiful edition of an oriental
work—that it is printed with great care on a fine imitation of
Chinese paper, made on purpose. At the outset, Mr Borrow spent weeks
and months in the printing office to make the compositors acquainted
with the intricate Manchu types; and that, as for the contents, I am
assured by well-informed persons, that this translation is remarkable
for the correctness and fidelity with which it has been executed.”
{146b}
The total cost to the Society of his labours in connection with the
transcription of Puerot’s MS., and printing and binding one thousand
copies of Lipovzoff’s New Testament had reached the very considerable sum
of £2600. What the amount would have been if Borrow had not proved a
prince of bargainers, it is impossible to imagine. The entire edition
was sent to Earl Street, and eventually distributed in China as occasion
offered. An edition of the Gospels in this version has recently been
reprinted, and is still in use among certain tribes in Mongolia.
Borrow arrived in London somewhere about 20th September (new style),
after an absence of a little more than two years. He went to St
Petersburg “prejudiced against the country, the government, and the
people; the first is much more agreeable than is generally supposed; the
second is seemingly the best adapted for so vast an empire; and the
third, even the lowest classes, are in general kind, hospitable, and
benevolent.” {147}
On 23rd September Borrow was still in London writing his report to the
General Committee upon his recent labours. In all probability he left
immediately afterwards for Norwich, there to await events.