FRIENDS OF LATER YEARS
WE should know little enough of George Borrow’s later years were it not
for his friendship with Thomas Gordon Hake and Theodore Watts-Dunton.
Hake was born in 1809 and died in 1895. In 1839 he settled at Bury St.
Edmunds as a physician, and he resided there until 1853. Here he was
frequently visited by the Borrows. We have already quoted his prophecy
concerning _Lavengro_ that “its roots will strike deep into the soil of
English letters.” In 1853 Dr. Hake and his family left Bury for the
United States, where they resided for some years. Returning to England
they lived at Roehampton and met Borrow occasionally in London. During
these years Hake was, according to Mr. W. M. Rossetti, “the earthly
Providence of the Rossetti family,” but he was not, as his _Memoirs_
show, equally devoted to Borrow. In 1872, however, he went to live in
Germany and Italy for a considerable period. Concerning the relationship
between Borrow and Hake, Mr. Watts-Dunton has written:
After Hake went to live in Germany, Borrow told me a good deal about
their intimacy, and also about his own early life: for, reticent as
he naturally was, he and I got to be confidential and intimate. His
friendship with Hake began when Hake was practising as a physician in
Norfolk. It lasted during the greater part of Borrow’s later life.
When Borrow was living in London his great delight was to walk over
on Sundays from Hereford Square to Coombe End, call upon Hake, and
take a stroll with him over Richmond Park. They both had a passion
for herons and for deer. At that time Hake was a very intimate
friend of my own, and having had the good fortune to be introduced by
him to Borrow I used to join the two in their walks. Afterwards,
when Hake went to live in Germany, I used to take those walks with
Borrow alone. Two more interesting men it would be impossible to
meet. The remarkable thing was that there was between them no sort
of intellectual sympathy. In style, in education, in experience,
whatever Hake was, Borrow was not. Borrow knew almost nothing of
Hake’s writings, either in prose or in verse. His ideal poet was
Pope, and when he read, or rather looked into, Hake’s _World’s
Epitaph_, he thought he did Hake the greatest honour by saying,
“there are lines here and there that are nigh as good as Pope!”
On the other hand, Hake’s acquaintance with Borrow’s works was far
behind that of some Borrovians who did not know Lavengro in the
flesh, such as Saintsbury and Mr. Birrell. Borrow was shy, angular,
eccentric, rustic in accent and in locution, but with a charm for me,
at least, that was irresistible. Hake was polished, easy and urbane
in everything, and, although not without prejudice and bias, ready to
shine generally in any society.
So far as Hake was concerned the sole link between them was that of
reminiscence of earlier days and adventures in Borrow’s beloved East
Anglia. Among many proofs I would adduce of this I will give one. I
am the possessor of the MS. of Borrow’s _Gypsies of Spain_, written
partly in a Spanish notebook as he moved about Spain in his
colporteur days. It was my wish that Hake would leave behind him
some memorial of Borrow more worthy of himself and his friend than
those brief reminiscences contained in _Memoirs of Eighty Years_. I
took to Hake this precious relic of _one of the most wonderful men of
the nineteenth century_, in order to discuss with him differences
between the MS. and the printed text. Hake was writing in his
invalid chair,—writing verses. “What does it all matter?” he said.
“I do not think you understand Lavengro,” I said. Hake replied, “And
yet Lavengro had an advantage over me, for _he_ understood _nobody_.
Every individuality with which he was brought into contact had, as no
one knows better than you, to be tinged with colours of his own
before he could see it at all.” That, of course, was true enough;
and Hake’s asperities when speaking of Borrow in _Memoirs of Eighty
Years_,—asperities which have vexed a good many Borrovians,—simply
arose from the fact that it was impossible for two such men to
understand each other. When I told him of Mr. Lang’s angry onslaught
upon Borrow in his notes to the _Waverley Novels_, on account of his
attacks upon Scott, he said, “Well, does he not deserve it?” When I
told him of Miss Cobbe’s description of Borrow as a _poseur_, he said
to me, “I told you the same scores of times. But I saw Borrow had
bewitched you during that first walk under the rainbow in Richmond
Park. It was that rainbow, I think, that befooled you.” Borrow’s
affection for Hake, however, was both strong and deep, as I saw after
Hake had gone to Germany and in a way dropped out of Borrow’s ken.
Yet Hake was as good a man as ever Borrow was, and for certain others
with whom he was brought in contact as full of a genuine affection as
Borrow was himself.
Mr. Watts-Dunton refers here to Hake’s asperities when speaking of
Borrow. They are very marked in the _Memoirs of Eighty Years_, and
nearly all the stories of Borrow’s eccentricities that have been served
up to us by Borrow’s biographers are due to Hake. It is here we read of
his snub to Thackeray. “Have you read my Snob Papers in _Punch_?”
Thackeray asked him. “In _Punch_?” Borrow replied. “It is a periodical
I never look at.” He was equally rude, or shall we say Johnsonian,
according to Hake, when Miss Agnes Strickland asked him if she might send
him her _Queens of England_. He exclaimed, “For God’s sake don’t, madam;
I should not know where to put them or what to do with them.” Hake is
responsible also for that other story about the woman who, desirous of
pleasing him, said, “Oh, Mr. Borrow, I have read your books with so much
pleasure!” On which he exclaimed, “Pray, what books do you mean, madam?
Do you mean my account books?” Dr. Johnson was guilty of many such
vagaries, and the readers of Boswell have forgiven him everything because
they are conveyed to them through the medium of a hero-worshipper.
Borrow never had a Boswell, and despised the literary class so much that
he never found anything in the shape of an apologist until he had been
long dead.
I find no letter from Hake to Borrow among my papers, but three to his
wife:
BURY ST. EDMUNDS, _Jan._ 27, ’48. _Evening_.
MY DEAR MRS. BORROW,—It gave me great pleasure, as it always does, to
see your handwriting; and as respects the subject of your note you
may make yourself quite easy, for I believe the idea has crossed no
other mind than your own. How sorry I am to learn that you have been
so unwell since your visit to us. I hope that by care you will get
strong during this bracing weather. I wish that you were already
nearer to us, and cannot resign the hope that we shall yet enjoy the
happiness of having you as our neighbours. I have felt a strong
friendship for Mr. Borrow’s mind for many years, and have ardently
wished from time to time to know him, and to have realised my desire
I consider one of the most happy events of my life. Until lately,
dear Mrs. Borrow, I have had no opportunity of knowing you and your
sweet simple-hearted child; but now I hope nothing will occur to
interrupt a regard and friendship which I and Mrs. Hake feel most
truly towards you all. Tell Mr. Borrow how much we should like to be
his Sinbad. I wish he would bring you all and his papers and come
again to look about him. There is an old hall at Tostock, which, I
hear to-day, is quite dry; if so it is worthy of your attention. It
is a mile from the Elmswell station, which is ten minutes’ time from
Bury. This hall has got a bad name from having been long vacant, but
some friends of mine have been over it and they tell me there is not
a damp spot on the premises. It is seven miles from Bury. Mrs. Hake
has written about a house at Rougham, but had no answer. The cottage
at Farnham is to let again. I know not whether Mr. Harvey will make
an effort for it. A little change would do you all good, and we can
receive Miss Clarke without any difficulty. Give our kindest regards
to your party, and believe me, dear Mrs. Borrow, sincerely yours,
T. G. HAKE.
* * * * *
BURY ST. EDMUNDS, _January_ 19_th_, ’49.
MY DEAR MRS. BORROW,—The sight of your handwriting is always a
luxury—but you say nothing about coming to see us. We are pleased to
get good accounts of your party, and only wish you could report
better of yourself. I must take you fairly in hand when you come
again to the ancient quarters, for such they are becoming now from
your long absence. You might try bismuth and extract of hop, which
is often very strengthening to the stomach. Five grains of extract
of hop and five grains of trisnitrate of bismuth made into two pills,
which are to be taken at eleven and repeated at four—daily. I am so
pleased to learn that Miss Clarke is better, as well as Mr. Borrow.
I hope that on some occasion the morphia may be of great comfort to
him should his night watchings return. It is good news that the
proofs are advancing—I hope towards a speedy end. Messrs. Oakes and
Co.’s Bank is as safe as any in the kingdom and more substantial than
any in this county. It must be safe, for the partners are men of
large property, and of careful habits. I am happy to say we are all
well here, but my brother’s house in town is a scene of sad trouble.
He is himself laid up with bad scarlet fever as well as five
children, all severely attacked. One they have lost of this fearful
complaint.
Give our kindest regards to Mr. Borrow and accept them yourselves.
Ever, dear Mrs. Borrow, sincerely yours,
T. G. HAKE.
I send Beethoven’s epitaph for Miss Clarke’s album according to
promise. It is _not_ by Wordsworth.
* * * * *
BURY ST. EDMUNDS, _June_ 24, ’51.
MY DEAR MRS. BORROW,—I am very sorry to hear that you are not feeling
strong, and that these flushes of heat are so frequent and
troublesome. I will prescribe a medicine for you which I hope may
prove serviceable. Let me hear again about your health, and be
assured you cannot possibly give me any trouble.
I am also glad to hear of Mr. Borrow. I envy him his bath. I am
looking out anxiously for the new quarterly reviews. I wonder
whether the _Quarterly_ will contain anything. Is there a prospect
of vol. iv.? I really look to passing a day and two half days with
you, and to bringing Mrs. Hake to your classic soil some time in
August—if we are not inconveniencing you in your charming and snug
cottage. I hope Miss Clarke is well. Our united kind regards to you
all. George is quite brisk and saucy—Lucy and the infant have not
been well. Mrs. Hake has better accounts from Bath. Believe me,
dear Mrs. Borrow, very sincerely yours,
T. G. HAKE.
Mr. Donne was pleased that Mr. Borrow liked his notice in _Tait_.
You can take a little cold sherry and water after your dinner.