done with the volumes when the work shall have passed through the press?
As I am sure you will feel at a loss to give a satisfactory answer, allow
me to propose the only plan which appears feasible. Believe me when I
say that it is not the result of a few moments' cogitation. I have mused
on it much and often. I mused on it when off Cape Finisterre in the
tempest, in the cut-throat passes of the Morena, and on the plains of La
Mancha, as I jogged along a little way ahead of the smuggler. It is
this.
As soon as the work is printed and bound, I will ride forth from Madrid
into the wildest parts of Spain, where the Word is most wanted, and where
it seems next to an impossibility to introduce it. I will go through the
whole of the Asturias and Galicia, and along the entire line of the
Pyrenees, not forgetting to visit every part of Biscay. To accomplish
this I must have horses and a man to take care of them. To purchase
horses will be much more economical than to hire them, as the hire of an
animal for a journey of only thirty leagues generally amounts to nearly
its full value; the purchase of three horses will not amount to more than
36 pounds, and a servant may be obtained for 9d. per day and his board.
I will take with me 1200 copies, which I will engage to dispose of, for
little or much, to the wild people of the wild regions which I intend to
visit. As for the rest of the edition it must be disposed of, if
possible, in a different way--I may say the usual way; part must be
entrusted to booksellers, part to colporteurs, and a depot must be
established at Madrid. Such work is every person's work, and to any one
may be confided the execution of it; it is a mere affair of trade. What
I wish to be employed in is what, I am well aware, no other individual
will undertake to do: namely, to scatter the Word upon the mountains,
amongst the valleys and the inmost recesses of the worst and most
dangerous parts of Spain, where the people are more fierce, fanatic and,
in a word, Carlist,--parts where bookshops are unknown, and where none of
those means can be resorted to for the spread of the Bible which can be
used in the more civilised portions of the kingdom.
This is the plan which I most humbly offer to the consideration of the
Committee and yourself. I shall not feel at all surprised should it be
disapproved of altogether; but I wish it to be understood that in that
event I could do nothing further than see the work through the press, as
I am confident that whatever ardour and zeal I at present feel in the
cause would desert me immediately, and that I should neither be able nor
willing to execute anything which might be suggested. I wish to engage
in nothing which would not allow me to depend entirely on myself. It
would be heart-breaking to me to remain at Madrid, expending the
Society's money, with almost the certainty of being informed eventually
by the booksellers and their correspondents that the work has no sale.
In a word, to make sure that some copies find their way among the people
I must be permitted to carry them to the people myself; and what people
have more need of Christian instruction than the inhabitants of the
districts alluded to?
Ere the return of the _contrabandista_ to Cordova, I purchased one of the
horses which had brought us to Madrid. It is an exceedingly strong,
useful animal, and as I had seen what it is capable of performing, I gave
him the price which he demanded (about 11 pounds, 17s.). It will go
twelve leagues a day with ease, and carry three hundred-weight on its
back. I am looking out for another, but shall of course make no further
purchase until I hear from you. I confess I would sooner provide myself
with mules, but they are very expensive creatures. In the first place,
the original cost of a tolerable one amounts to 30 pounds; and they,
moreover, consume a vast quantity of fodder, at least two pecks of barley
in the twenty-four hours with straw in proportion, and if they are
stinted in their food they are of no manner of service; the attendance
which they require is likewise very irksome, as they must be fed once
every four hours night and day; they are, however, noble animals, and are
much in vogue amongst the principal nobility.
Hoping to hear from you soon, I remain, Revd. and dear Sir, most truly
yours,
G. B.
To the Rev. A. Brandram
(_Endorsed_: recd. Mar. 6, 1837)
MADRID, No. 16 CALLE SANT. IAGO,
_Feby._ 27, 1837.
REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--I have received your letter of the 27th ult.
containing the resolution of the Committee, and also yours of the [17th]
ult. with my account. I was exceedingly grieved at learning that poor
Mr. Tarn has been removed, for he was a most worthy person, and the Bible
Society will experience a severe loss in his death; but I hope and trust
that eventually some one will be found worthy to succeed him. He is
doubtless at present in the other world receiving the reward of his faith
in this; let us pray that we may be counted worthy to join him there!
By the time these lines reach you the four Gospels will have passed
through the press; for the work is going on well and prosperously, and I
have little doubt that within five weeks it will be completed. I have
already entered into arrangements respecting the binding with Mr.
Borrego, who is about to unite bookbinding with printing; the terms are
very reasonable, considering the current prices of the country, as I am
to pay but three _reals_ per volume for a calf binding similar to that of
the copy which was entrusted to me. I have reckoned that the expense of
each book, printing, paper, and binding included, will but barely amount
to 15 _reals_; and cheaper than this it is utterly impossible to bring
out a work of the size of the New Testament, handsomely and creditably in
Spain.
Within a few days I shall despatch letters circular to all the principal
booksellers in Spain, specifying the nature, size and quality of the
work, and inviting them to subscribe at 15 _reals_ per copy, the prime
cost; for if anything will tempt them to a speculation of the kind, it
will be the hope and prospect of making a very handsome profit. Yet they
are so short-sighted and, like all their countrymen, so utterly
unacquainted with the rudiments of business, that it is by no means
improbable that they, one and all, take no notice of this proposal, which
is however the only plan which at present appears available for promoting
the _general_ circulation of the Scriptures.
Dr. Usoz, the gentleman who is at present assisting me in the editing of
the work in question, is very anxious to become a member and a
correspondent of the Bible Society. His letter on that subject I
translated and transmitted previous to my last visit to England, but he
has never received an answer. I beg leave to say that I am extremely
desirous that his request be granted, and that he be written to without
delay; and I must moreover beg to be furnished with a written or printed
authority to establish a branch Bible Society in Madrid, and to nominate
Dr. Usoz as secretary.
That part of my last letter, where I stated my wish of making a tour
through the Asturias, Galicia, and the Biscays, as soon as the work
should be completed, does not seem to have been clearly understood. I
did not intend to devote myself entirely to _the wild people_, but to
visit the villages and towns as well as the remote and secluded glens. I
intended to take letters of introduction to some of the most respectable
people of Oviedo, of Corunna, of Lugo, of Vigo, Pontevedro, Barbastro,
Bilboa, etc., and to establish depots of Bibles in those towns; but in my
way I intended to visit the secret and secluded spots amongst the rugged
hills and mountains, and to talk to the people, after my manner, of
Christ and to explain to them the nature of His book, and to place that
book in the hands of those whom I should deem capable of deriving benefit
from it. True it is that such a journey would be attended with
considerable danger, and very possibly the fate of St. Stephen might
befall the adventurer; but does the man deserve the name of a follower of
Christ who would shrink from danger of any kind in the cause of Him whom
he calls his Master? 'He who loses his life for My sake, shall save it,'
are words which the Lord Himself uttered, and words surely fraught with
consolation to every one engaged in propagating His Gospel in savage and
barbarian lands.
About a fortnight since I purchased another horse, for these animals are
at present exceedingly cheap. A royal requisition is about to be issued
for 5000, and the consequence is that an immense number are for sale; for
by virtue of this requisition the horses of any person not a foreigner
can be seized for the benefit of the service. It is probable that when
the number is made up the price of horses will be treble what it is at
present, which consideration induced me to purchase this animal before I
exactly want him. He is a black Andalusian stallion of great size and
strength, and capable of performing a journey of 100 leagues in a week's
time, but he is unbroke, savage and furious. However, a cargo of Bibles
which I hope shortly to put on his back will, I have no doubt, thoroughly
tame him, especially when labouring up the flinty hills of the north of
Spain. I wished to purchase a mule, according to my instructions, but
though I offered 30 pounds for a sorry one, I could not obtain her;
whereas the cost of both the horses, tall, powerful, stately animals,
scarcely amounted to that sum.
I will now say a few words respecting the state of Spain, though what I
communicate will probably startle you, as in England you are quite in the
dark respecting what is going on here. At the moment I am writing,
Cabrera, the tiger-friar, is within nine leagues of Madrid with an army
nearly ten thousand strong; he has beaten the Queen's troops in several
engagements, and has ravaged La Mancha with fire and sword, burning
several towns; bands of affrighted fugitives are arriving every hour
bringing tidings of woe and disaster, and I am but surprised that the
enemy does not appear, and by taking Madrid, which is at his mercy, put
an end to the war at once. But the truth is, the Carlist generals do not
wish the war to cease; for as long as the country is involved in
bloodshed and anarchy, they can plunder and exercise that lawless
authority so dear to men of fierce and brutal passions. Cabrera is a
wretch whose sole enjoyment consists in inflicting pain and torture and
causing woe and misery to his fellow creatures; he is one of the
instruments of the anger of the Almighty, a scourge in the hand of
Providence to chastise a land whose wickedness had become intolerable.
For the elect's sake, and there are a few even in Spain, may it please
the Lord to shorten the affliction of these days, or all flesh must
succumb.
I remain, dear Sir, most truly yours,
G. B.
_P.S._--Pray let me hear from you shortly, and remember me particularly
to Mr. Jowett and Mr. Browne.
_P.S._ 2.--I have already paid, in part, for the printing and paper, as
you will have concluded by my draft. The Gospel of Saint Luke, in the
Rommany language, is nearly ready for the press. It is my intention to
subjoin a vocabulary of all the words used, with an explanation in the
Spanish language.
Before I left England I was authorised to look out for a person competent
to translate the Scriptures in Basque (Spanish). I am acquainted with a
gentleman who is well versed in that dialect, of which I myself have some
knowledge. Perhaps it would not be unwise to engage him to translate St.
Luke as a trial of his powers.
To the Rev. A. Brandram
(_Endorsed_: recd. Mar. 25, 1837)
MADRID, No. 16 CALLE SANT IAGO PISO 3RO.
[_March_ 16th, 1837].
REVD. SIR,--I write a few lines for the purpose of informing you that the
New Testament in Castilian will be ready in a few days, probably before
you receive this epistle, should it reach you, which I have some doubts
of from the terrible and distracted state of Spain at the present time.
The work has been printed on the best paper, and no pains have been
spared, at least on my part, to render it as correct as possible, having
read every proof-sheet three times. I must here take the liberty of
observing that the work executed in London, and of which a copy was
delivered to me to print from, abounds in errors of every kind and
reflects little credit on the person who edited it; no systematic order
is observed either in the orthography or the use of accents or capitals,
and whole sentences frequently appear in a mangled and mutilated state
which renders them unintelligible.
On my final settlement with Mr. Borrego I shall send a regular account of
my disbursements; he has already received two-thirds of his money, as you
will have conjectured from the bills I have drawn. I wish very much that
the Committee would vote a letter of thanks to Mr. Henry O'Shea for the
interest which he has taken in this affair and the assistance which he
has rendered. I shall write again in a few days. I am afraid that you
did not receive my last letter.
I remain, Revd. and dear Sir, most faithfully yours,
GEORGE BORROW.
To the Rev. A. Brandram
(_Endorsed_: recd. Decr. 1, 1837)
MADRID, _April_ 27, 1837.
MY DEAR SIR,--Please to let the bearer have the under-mentioned Bibles;
they are for Dr. Usoz, from whom I have received their value.
Entire Bible in German.
Entire Bible in Modern Greek.
Do. do. in Portuguese.
If possible, I should wish to have the New Testament in Persian, for my
own private use.
Most sincerely yours,
GEORGE BORROW.
The Basque translation of St. Luke is completed and in my possession; the
whole expense attending it amounts to 8 pounds and a few odd shillings.
To the Rev. A. Brandram
(_Endorsed_: recd. May 13, 1837)
[MADRID, 29 _April_, 1837].
REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--Do me the favour after reading the enclosed letter,
and making what use of it you please, to seal it, pay the postage, and
despatch it to Russia. It contains all I have at present to say, and is
as much intended for yourself, as for the person to whom it is directed.
I leave Madrid in about three days, and it is my intention to write
frequently whilst upon my journey; but should few letters reach you, be
not surprised, but attribute it to the state of the country, which is
terrible indeed. I am first going to Salamanca, by the pass of the
Guadarama; from thence to Burgos; then to the Asturias, Galicia, and
Biscay, and along the whole chain of the Pyrenees.
Some hundreds of our books have been placed in the hands of a bookseller
at Madrid, and I have ordered them to be advertised, once a week, in the
principal journals. Dr. Usoz and another friend will do what they can in
my absence.
To-morrow I send the bill of my expenses; it would have been despatched
sooner, but I could not obtain my account from Mr. O'Shea.
I remain, Revd. and dear Sir, most faithfully yours,
G. BORROW.
_P.S._--My best remembrances to Mr. Jowett, Mr. Browne, and all my
friends.
To Mr. John Hasfeldt
MADRID, 29 _April_, 1837.
I received your letter of last January a few weeks since, and I sincerely
hope that mine of February may have reached your hands. The principal
reason of my taking up the pen at present is the long and adventurous
journey which I am about to engage in, and which I am afraid will
preclude the possibility of my writing to you for some months. In a few
days I quit Madrid, it being my intention to visit the mountainous
districts of Spain, particularly Galicia and the Basque Provinces, for
the purpose of disposing of part of the edition of the New Testament in
Spanish, lately completed at Madrid, under my superintendence. It was my
intention to have set out sooner, but the state of the weather has been
such that I thought it more prudent to defer my departure; during the
last two months violent and bitter winds have blown without ceasing,
before whose baneful influence animal and vegetable nature seems to have
quailed. I was myself, during a fortnight, prostrated, body and limb, by
a violent attack of _la grippe_, or, as it is styled in English, the
'influenza.' I am, however, by the blessing of the Almighty, perfectly
recovered and enjoying excellent spirits, but multitudes less favoured
have perished, especially the poor.
I expect to be absent on my journey about five months, when, if I am
spared, not having fallen a prey to sickness, Carlists, banditti, or wild
beasts, I shall return to Madrid for the purpose of carrying through the
press my own translation of the Gospel of St. Luke in the language of the
Spanish Gypsies, and also the same Gospel in Cantabrian or Basque,
executed by the domestic physician of the Marquis of Salvatierra. What I
am destined to do subsequently I know not; but I should wish to visit
China by a land journey, either through Russia, or by Constantinople
[and] Armenia as far as the Indian Gulf; as it is my opinion that, with
God's permission, I might sow some seed by the way which might in time
yield a good harvest.
Speaking of these matters reminds me that in your next letter (written in
your usual choice Danish) you might send me some useful information
respecting what might be done in Russia. Do you think permission might
be obtained to print the New Testament in Russ, and that the Russian
Hierarchy would be inclined to offer any serious opposition? I wish you
would speak to Gretsch on the subject, to whom you will, as usual,
present my kindest remembrances. I believe you are acquainted with Mrs.
Biller, but if not, you would confer a great favour upon me by calling on
her, and requesting her opinion, as she is better acquainted than perhaps
any person in Russia with the course to be pursued if the attempt were to
be hazarded. Perhaps at the same time you will enquire of her as to what
has become of my translation into Russ of the second and third Homilies
which I left with her, and whether license to print has been obtained.
If not, I should wish that energetic steps be taken to that effect, and
as you are an energetic person, and she may possibly have too many
important affairs upon her hands, I pray you to take the matter up, but
at all events to follow her advice; pray remember me to her likewise.
The translation was corrected by that unfortunate man Nicanoff, who,
though he lived and died a drunkard, was an excellent Russian scholar;
therefore I think that no objection can reasonably be made in respect to
style, though indeed the original is very plain and homely, being adapted
to the most common understanding. I offer no apology for giving you all
this trouble, as I am fully aware that you are at all times eagerly ready
to perform anything which I may consider as a service rendered to myself.
Spain at present, I am sorry to say, is in a more distracted and
convulsed situation than at any former period, and the prospect is gloomy
in the extreme. The Queen's troops have sustained of late grievous
defeats in the Basque provinces and Valencia, and a Carlist expedition of
18,000 men, whose object is to ravage Castile and to carry the war to the
gates of Madrid, is shortly expected to pass the Ebro. From what I have
seen and heard of the demoralised state of the Cristinos forces, I
believe they will meet with no effectual resistance, and that Cristina
and her daughter will be compelled to flee from the capital to Cadiz, or
to some strong frontier town. Nevertheless, such is the nature of the
Spanish people, that it is impossible to say whether the liberal cause
(as it is called) be desperate or not, as neither one party nor the other
knows how to improve an advantage. Twice might Don Carlos have marched
to Madrid and seized the crown; and more than once his army has been at
the mercy of the Cristinos; yet still is the affair undecided, and will
perhaps continue so for years. The country is, as you may well conceive,
in a most distracted state; robbery and murder are practised with
impunity, and the roads are in such an insecure state that almost all
communication has ceased between one town and another; yet I am going
forth without the slightest fear, trusting in God; for if He is with me,
who shall stand against me?
I have a servant, a person who has been a soldier for fifteen years, who
will go with me for the purpose of attending to the horses and otherwise
assisting me in my labours. His conduct on the journey is the only thing
to which I look forward with uneasiness; for though he has some good
points, yet in many respects a more atrocious fellow never existed. He
is inordinately given to drink, and of so quarrelsome a disposition that
he is almost constantly involved in some broil. Like most of his
countrymen, he carries an exceedingly long knife, which he frequently
unsheaths and brandishes in the faces of those who are unfortunate enough
to awaken his choler. It is only a few days since that I rescued the
maid-servant of the house from his grasp, whom otherwise he would
undoubtedly have killed, and all because she too much burnt a red herring
which he had given her to cook. You perhaps wonder that I retain a
person of this description, but, bad as he is, he is the best servant I
can obtain; he is very honest, a virtue which is rarely to be found in a
Spanish servant, and I have no fear of his running away with the horses
during the journey, after having perhaps knocked me on the head in some
lone _posada_. He is moreover acquainted with every road, cross-road,
river, and mountain in Spain, and is therefore a very suitable squire for
an errant knight, like myself. On my arrival in Biscay I shall perhaps
engage one of the uncorrupted Basque peasants, who has never left his
native mountains and is utterly ignorant of the Spanish language, for I
am told that they are exceedingly faithful and laborious. The best
servant I ever had was the Tartar Mahmoud at St. Petersburg, and I have
frequently repented that I did not bring him with me on my leaving
Russia; but I was not then aware that I was about to visit this
unfortunate country, where goodness of every description is so difficult
to find.
To the Rev. A. Brandram
(_Endorsed_: recd. May 23, 1837)
MADRID, _May_ 10_th_, 1837.
REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--I herewith send the long promised account of my
private expenses, which I hope will be found correct. I start to-morrow
for Salamanca, at which place I should now be, but for the misconduct of
my servant, whom I have been compelled to turn away. I have experienced
great difficulty in obtaining another; my present one is a Greek, who
formerly waited on Mr. O'Shea; I hope he will turn out well. Mr. O'Shea
has given me a general letter of credit to his correspondents in various
parts of Spain. You will receive my draft in a few days. I shall write
from Salamanca, and various other places, detailing all my proceedings
and adventures. I hope you received my last letter.
I remain, etc.,
GEORGE BORROW.
To the Rev. A. Brandram
(_Endorsed_: recd. June 21, 1837)
SALAMANCA, June 7, 1837.
REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--I arrived at Salamanca about a fortnight since, in
safety and in tolerable good health. I shall defer for a few days
communicating the particulars of my journey, though they are not
destitute of interest, having at present information to afford which I
consider of more importance, and which I hope will afford the same
satisfaction to yourself and our friends at home which I myself
experience in communicating them.
Some days previous to my departure from Madrid I was very much
indisposed. Owing to the state of the weather--for violent and biting
winds had long prevailed--I had been attacked with a severe cold which
terminated in a shrieking disagreeable cough, which the many remedies
which I successively tried were unable to subdue. I had made preparation
for departing on a particular day, but owing to the state of my health I
was apprehensive that I should be compelled to postpone my journey for a
time. The last day of my stay in Madrid, finding myself scarcely able to
stand, I was fain to submit to a somewhat desperate experiment, and by
the advice of the barber-surgeon who visited me, I determined to be bled.
Late on the night of that same day he eased me of sixteen ounces of
blood, and having received his fee, left me, wishing me a pleasant
journey, and assuring me upon his reputation that by noon the next day I
should be perfectly recovered.