Letters of George Borrow

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LETTERS OF
GEORGE BORROW
TO THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN
BIBLE SOCIETY


Published by Direction of the Committee

EDITED BY
T. H. DARLOW

HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO
1911

TO
WILLIAMSON LAMPLOUGH
CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE
OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN
BIBLE SOCIETY
THESE LETTERS FROM
THE SOCIETY'S DISTINGUISHED AGENT
ARE DEDICATED WITH
MOST SINCERE RESPECT AND REGARD
BY
THEIR EDITOR




To the Rev. J. Jowett


WILLOW LANE, ST. GILES, NORWICH,
_Feb._ 10_th_, 1833.

REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--I have just received your communication, and
notwithstanding it is Sunday morning, and the bells with their loud and
clear voices are calling me to church, I have sat down to answer it by
return of post. It is scarcely necessary for me to say that I was
rejoiced to see the Chrestomathie Mandchou, which will be of no slight
assistance in learning the Tartar dialect, on which ever since I left
London I have been almost incessantly occupied. It is, then, your
opinion, that from the lack of anything in the form of Grammar I have
scarcely made any progress towards the attainment of Mandchou; perhaps
you will not be perfectly miserable at being informed that you were never
more mistaken in your life. I can already, with the assistance of Amyot,
_translate Mandchou_ with no great difficulty, and am perfectly qualified
to write a critique on the version of St. Matthew's Gospel, which I
brought with me into the country. Upon the whole, I consider the
translation a good one, but I cannot help thinking that the author has
been frequently too paraphrastical, and that in various places he must be
utterly unintelligible to the Mandchous from having unnecessarily made
use of words which are not Mandchou, and with which the Tartars cannot be
acquainted.

What must they think, for example, on coming to the sentence . . . _apkai
etchin ni porofiyat_, _i.e._ the prophet of the Lord of heaven? For the
last word in the Mandchou quotation being a modification of a Greek word,
with no marginal explanation, renders the whole dark to a Tartar. [Greek
text]; _apkai_ I know, and _etchin_ I know, but what is _porofiyat_, he
will say. Now in Tartar, there are words synonymous with our seer,
diviner, or foreteller, and I feel disposed to be angry with the
translator for not having used one of these words in preference to
modifying [Greek text]; and it is certainly unpardonable of him to have
Tartarized [Greek text] into . . . _anguel_, when in Tartar there is a
word equal to our messenger, which is the literal translation of [Greek
text]. But I will have done with finding fault, and proceed to the more
agreeable task of answering your letter.

My brother's address is as follows:

Don Juan Borrow,
Compagnia Anglo Mexicana,
Guanajuato, Mexico.

When you write to him, the letter must be put in post before the third
Wednesday of the month, on which day the Mexican letter-packet is made
up. I suppose it is unnecessary to inform you that the outward postage
of all foreign letters must be paid at the office, but I wish you
particularly to be aware that it will be absolutely necessary to let my
brother know in what dialect of the Mexican this translation is made, in
order that he may transmit it to the proper quarter, for within the short
distance of twenty miles of the place where he resides there are no less
than six dialects spoken, which differ more from each other than the
German does from the English. I intend to write to him next Thursday,
and if you will favour me with an answer on this very important point, by
return of post, I shall feel obliged.

Return my kind and respected friend Mr. Brandram my best thanks for his
present of _The Gypsies' Advocate_, and assure him that, next to the
acquirement of Mandchou, the conversion and enlightening of those
interesting people occupy the principal place in my mind. Will he be
willing to write to the Gypsy Committee concerning me? I wish to
translate the Gospel of St. John into their language, which I could
easily do with the assistance of one or two of the old people, but then
they must be paid, for the Gypsies are more mercenary than Jews. I have
already written to my dear friend Mr. Cunningham on this subject, and
have no doubt that he will promote the plan to the utmost of his ability.
I must procure a letter of introduction from him to Joseph Gurney, and
should be very happy to obtain one also from Mr. Brandram, for in all
which regards the Gospel and the glory of Christ, Joseph Gurney is the
principal person to look to in these parts. I will now conclude by
beseeching you to send me as soon as possible _whatever can serve to
enlighten me in respect to Mandchou Grammar_, for had I a Grammar, I
should in a month's time be able to send a Mandchou translation of Jonah.
In the meanwhile I remain, Revd. and dear Sir, your most humble and
obedient servant,

G. BORROW.




To the Rev. J. Jowett


18_th_ _March_, 1833,
WILLOW LANE, ST. GILES, NORWICH.

DEAR SIR,--As yourself and Mr. Brandram expressed a desire to hear from
me occasionally concerning my progress in Mandchou, I now write to inform
you that I am advancing at full gallop, and am able to translate with
pleasure and facility the specimens of the best authors who have written
in the language contained in the compilation of Klaproth. But I must
confess that the want of a Grammar has been, particularly in the
beginning of my course, a great clog to my speed, and I have little doubt
that had I been furnished with one I should have attained my present
knowledge of Mandchou in half the time. I was determined however not to
be discouraged, and, not having a hatchet at hand to cut down the tree
with, to attack it with my knife; and I would advise every one to make
the most of the tools which happen to be in his possession, until he can
procure better ones, and it is not improbable that by the time the good
tools arrive he will find he has not much need of them, having almost
accomplished his work. This is not exactly my case, for I shall be very
glad to receive this same tripartite Grammar which Mr. Brandram is
hunting for, my ideas respecting Mandchou construction being still very
vague and wandering, and I should also be happy if you could and would
procure for me the original grammatical work of Amyot, printed in the
_Memoires_, etc. Present my kind regards to Mr. Hattersley, and thank
him in my name for his kind letter, but at the same time tell him that I
was sorry to learn that he was putting himself to the trouble of
transferring into Mandchou characters the specimens which Amyot has given
in Roman, as there was no necessity for it in respect to myself, a mere
transcript being quite sufficient to convey the information I was in need
of. Assure him likewise that I am much disposed to agree with him in his
opinion of Amyot's Dictionary, which he terms in his letter 'something
not very first-rate,' for the Frenchman's translations of the Mandchou
words are anything but clear and satisfactory, and being far from
literal, frequently leave the student in great doubt and perplexity.

I have sent to my brother one copy of St. Luke's Gospel with a letter;
the postage was 15s. 5d. My reason for sending only one was, that the
rate of postage increases with the weight, and that the two Gospels can
go out much cheaper singly than together. The other I shall dispatch
next month.

I subjoin a translation from the Mandchou, as I am one of those who do
not wish people to believe words but works; and as I have had no Grammar,
and been only seven weeks at a language which Amyot says _one may acquire
in five or six years_, I thought you might believe my account of my
progress to be a piece of exaggeration and vain boasting. The
translation is from the Mongol History, which, not being translated by
Klaproth, I have selected as most adapted to the present occasion; I must
premise that I translate as I write, and if there be any inaccuracies, as
I daresay there will, some allowance must be made for haste, which
prevents my devoting the attention necessary to a perfectly correct
rendering of the text.

I will conclude by observing that I believe myself at present competent
to edit any book in Mandchou, _if that be what is wanted_, and beg leave
to remain, dear Sir, your obedient humble servant,

GEORGE BORROW.




To the Rev. J. Jowett


_June_ 9_th_, 1833
WILLOW LANE, ST. GILES, NORWICH.

REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--I have mastered Mandchou, and I should feel obliged
by your informing the Committee of the fact, and also my excellent friend
Mr. Brandram.

I assure you that I have had no easy and pleasant task in acquiring this
language. In the first place, it is in every respect different from all
others which I have studied, with perhaps the exception of the Turkish,
to which it seems to bear some remote resemblance in syntax, though none
in words. In the second place, it abounds with idiomatic phrases, which
can only be learnt by habit, and to the understanding of which a
Dictionary is of little or no use, the words separately having either no
meaning or a meaning quite distinct from that which they possess when
thus conjoined. And thirdly the helps afforded me in this undertaking
have been sadly inadequate. However, with the assistance of God, I have
performed my engagement.

I have translated several pieces from the Mandchou, amongst which is the
. . . or Spirit of the Hearth ([Greek text]), which is a peculiarly
difficult composition, and which had never previously been translated
into a European language. Should you desire a copy, I shall have great
pleasure in sending one.

I shall now be happy to be regularly employed, for though I am not in
want, my affairs are not in a very flourishing condition.

I remain, Revd. and dear Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

GEORGE BORROW.




To the Rev. J. Jowett


WILLOW LANE, ST. GILES, NORWICH,
_July_ 3rd, 1833.

REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--Owing to the culpable tardiness of the post-office
people, I have received your letter so late that I have little more than
a quarter of an hour to answer it in, and be in time to despatch it by
this day's mail. What you have written has given me great pleasure, as
it holds out hope that I may be employed usefully to the Deity, to man,
and myself. I shall be very happy to visit St. Petersburg and to become
the coadjutor of Mr. Lipoftsoff, and to avail myself of his acquirements
in what you very happily designate a most singular language, towards
obtaining a still greater proficiency in it. I flatter myself that I am
for one or two reasons tolerably well adapted for the contemplated
expedition, for besides a competent knowledge of French and German, I
possess some acquaintance with Russian, being able to read without much
difficulty any printed Russian book, and I have little doubt that after a
few months' intercourse with the natives I should be able to speak it
fluently. It would ill become me to bargain like a Jew or a Gypsy as to
terms; all I wish to say on that point is, that I have nothing of my own,
having been too long dependent on an excellent mother, who is not herself
in very easy circumstances.

I remain, Revd. and dear Sir, truly yours,

GEORGE BORROW.




To the Rev. J. Jowett


(_Endorsed_: recd. Aug. 13, 1833)
HAMBURG, _August_ 4_th_, 1833.

REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--I arrived at Hamburg yesterday after a disagreeable
passage of three days, in which I suffered much from sea-sickness, as did
all the other passengers, who were a medley of Germans, Swedes, and
Danes, I being the only Englishman on board, with the exception of the
captain and crew. I landed about seven o'clock in the morning, and the
sun, notwithstanding the earliness of the hour, shone so fiercely that it
brought upon me a transient fit of delirium, which is scarcely to be
wondered at, if my previous state of exhaustion be considered. You will
readily conceive that my situation, under all its circumstances, was not
a very enviable one; some people would perhaps call it a frightful one.
I did not come however to the slightest harm, for the Lord took care of
me through two of His instruments, Messrs. Weil and Valentin, highly
respectable Jews of Copenhagen, who had been my fellow-passengers, and
with whom I had in some degree ingratiated myself on board, in our
intervals of ease, by conversing with them about the Talmud and the book
Sohar. They conveyed me to the Konig von Engeland, an excellent hotel in
the street called the Neuenwall, and sent for a physician, who caused me
to take forty drops of laudanum and my head to be swathed in wet towels,
and afterwards caused me to be put to bed, where I soon fell asleep, and
awoke in the evening perfectly recovered and in the best spirits
possible. This morning, Sunday, I called on the British Consul, Mr. H.
Canning, to whom I had a letter of recommendation. He received me with
great civility, and honoured me with an invitation to dine with him
to-morrow, which I of course accepted. He is a highly intelligent man,
and resembles strikingly in person his illustrious relative, the late
George Canning. Since visiting him I have been to one of the five tall
churches which tower up above the tall houses; I thought its interior
very venerable and solemn, but the service seemed to be nothing more than
a low-muttered chanting, from which it was impossible to derive much
spiritual edification. There was no sermon, and not more than twenty
persons were present, though the edifice would contain thousands
conveniently. Hamburg is a huge place, and the eastern part of it is
intersected by wide canals communicating with the Elbe, so that vessels
find their way into most parts of the city; the bridges are consequently
very numerous, and are mostly of wood. Some of the streets are planted
with trees, which have a pretty appearance, though upon the whole it has
certainly no claim to the appellation of a handsome town. But no
observer can fail to be struck with the liveliness and bustle which reign
in this emporium of continental Europe, worthy to be compared with Tyre
of old or our own Liverpool. Another city adjoins it called Altona, the
park of which and the environs are the favourite Sunday lounge of the
Hamburgers. Altona is in Holstein, which belongs to the Danish
Government. It is separated from the Hanseatic town merely by a small
gateway, so that it may truly be said here that there is but one step
from a republic to a monarchy. Little can be said in commendation of the
moral state of this part of the world, for rope-dancers were displaying
their agility in the park to-day, and the dancing-saloons, which I am
informed are most infamous places, are open to the public this evening.
England with all her faults has still some regard to decency, and will
not tolerate such a shameless display of vice on so sacred a season, when
a decent cheerfulness is the freest form in which the mind or countenance
ought to invest themselves. I shall depart for Lubeck on the sixth
(Tuesday), and shall probably be on the Baltic on my way to St.
Petersburg on the eighth, which is the day notified for the departure the
steamboat. My next letter, provided it pleases the Almighty to
vouch-safe me a happy arrival, will be from the Russian capital; and with
a fervent request that you will not forget me in your prayers, and that
you will present my kind remembrances and best respects to Mr. Brandram,
and also remember me to Mr. Hattersley and Mr. Tarn, I have the honour to
remain, Revd. and dear Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,

GEORGE BORROW.




To the Rev. J. Jowett


(_Endorsed_: recd. Sept. 26th, 1833)
ST. PETERSBURG, No. 221 GALERNOY ULITZA.
[Undated.]

REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--My last letter was from Hamburg, which I hope and
trust you received. I started from thence on the 24th, and embarking at
Travemunde I arrived at the Russian capital on the 31st July (old style)
after an exceedingly pleasant passage, accomplished in the short space of
72 hours; for the wind was during the greatest part of our way favourable
and gentle, the sea being quite as smooth as a mill pond, so that the
paddles of our noble steamer, the _Nikolai_, were not at all impeded in
their working by any rolling or pitching of the vessel. Immediately on
my arrival I sought out Mr. Swan, one of the most amiable and interesting
characters I have ever met with, and delivered to him your letter, the
contents of which were very agreeable to him; for from applying himself
too un-interruptedly to transcribing the manuscript of the Mandchou Old
Testament he had in some degree injured his health; and the arrival of a
coadjutor in the task was exceedingly opportune. In a day or two I went
with him to pay a visit to Mr. Schmidt, who resides a few miles out of
town. He assured us that he had no doubt of permission being granted for
the printing of the Mandchou New Testament, and promised to make all the
necessary inquiries, and to inform Mr. Swan and myself of the result. He
was at the time we saw him much occupied with his Mongolian Grammar and
Dictionary, which are in the press. We have not heard from him since
this visit, and I shall probably call upon him again in a week or two to
hear what steps he has taken. I resided for nearly a fortnight in a
hotel, as the difficulty of procuring lodgings in this place is very
great, and when you have procured them, you have to furnish them yourself
at a considerable expense. During this time I collated with Mr. Swan the
greatest part of what he had transcribed, and eventually I took up my
abode with Mr. Egerton Hubbard, a friend of Mr. Venning's, where I am for
the present very comfortably situated, and I do assure you exerting
myself to the utmost to fulfil the views of the Society. I have
transcribed from the Mandchou Old Testament the second book of
Chronicles, which when I had done, I put aside the Old Testament for a
season, and by the advice of Mr. Swan began to copy St. Matthew's Gospel
from the version of the New, executed by the same hand as the Old, with
the purpose of comparing it with that of Mr. Lipoftsoff. This task I
have just completed, and am now about to commence a transcript of the
Acts. Respecting this manuscript translation of the Old and New
Testaments I must here observe, that with scarcely one exception it is
the most laborious and best executed work of the kind which I have ever
seen, and I cannot but admire the diligence and learning of him who,
probably unasked and unrewarded, engaged in and accomplished it. The
style, as far as I can judge, is to an eminent degree elegant and
polished, and likely to captivate those whose taste is cultivated, and
with this advantage, it exhibits none of that obscurity which too
frequently attends refinement of language; and as for fidelity--it is
upon the whole executed as literally, and with as much adherence to the
original, as the genius of the Tartar language and the understandings of
the people, for whose edification it is intended, will permit. But the
notes and elucidations (which I copy not) which follow every chapter,
both of the Old and New Testament, constitute the most surprising feature
of this work. They are so full and copious, that they occupy far more
space than the text; indeed, I think I speak quite within bounds when I
say that for every page of text there are two of explanatory matter. The
author was a French Jesuit, and when did a Jesuit any thing which he
undertook, whether laudable or the reverse, not far better than any other
person? Staunch Protestant though I be, I am not ashamed to say that all
the skill and talent of our own missionaries, in acquiring languages and
making versions of the Scriptures, are, when compared with the
capabilities displayed by the seminary priests, faint and seemingly
insignificant; and yet it is singular enough that the labours of the
latter in this line have had almost invariably no other fate than to be
buried in continental public libraries or in the literary collections of
the learned and curious; from which it is manifest that the Lord smiled
not upon their undertakings. They thought not of His glory but of the
glory of their order, and the consequence has been that 'He has put down
the mighty from their seat and has exalted the humble and meek.'

A few days since I called upon Mr. Lipoftsoff, and to my surprise
discovered that he was totally unaware of any plan being in agitation for
the printing of his translation of the Scriptures. He said that he had
had no communication with Mr. Schmidt for several months; and far from
being able to furnish me with any information respecting the probable
destiny of his work, he asked questions of me concerning it. He is a
gentleman rather advanced in years, probably between sixty and seventy,
but is nevertheless surprisingly hale and robust. He was very kind, and
promised to give me any assistance in his power towards acquiring a
thorough knowledge of the Mandchou; and, permit me to say, that
Petersburg is the only place in Europe where such a knowledge can be
obtained, for the manuscripts and printed books in that tongue are very
plentiful here, and there are moreover several individuals who speak and
write it. I of course most gladly accepted such an offer, and shall
endeavour to turn it to the best account. Mr. L. speaks no European
language but Russ, which I am not sorry for, because frequent
conversation and intercourse with him will improve my knowledge of that
language. It is a great error to suppose that a person resident in this
country can dispense with Russ, provided he is acquainted with French and
German. The two latter languages, it is true, are spoken by the French
and German shop-keepers settled here. French is moreover spoken (to
foreigners) by the nobility and a few of the officers in the army; but
neither are so generally understood as in England--German far less so;
and as for the Russians being the best general linguists in Europe, I am
totally unable to guess how the idea could have originated, but am
certain from personal experience that they are quite the contrary.

Petersburg is the finest city in the world; neither London nor Paris nor
any other European capital which I have visited has sufficient
pretensions to enter into comparison with it in respect to beauty and
grandeur. Many of the streets are miles in length, as straight as an
arrow and adorned with the most superb edifices. The so-called Nevsky
Prospect, a street which runs from the Admiralty to the Monastery of St.
Alexander Nevsky, is nearly three miles in length and for the greatest
part of the way floored with small blocks of wood shaped octagonally.
The broad and rapid Neva runs through the centre of this Queen of cities,
and on either side is a noble quay, from which you have a full view of
the river and of what is passing on its bosom. But I will not be diffuse
in the description of objects which have been so often described, but
devote the following lines which my paper will contain to more important
matters.

The lower orders of the Russians are very willing to receive Scriptural
information, and very willing to purchase it if offered to them at a
price which comes within their means. I will give an interesting example
of this. A young man of the name of Nobbs, in the employ of Mr. Leake,
an English farmer residing a few _versts_ from Petersburg, is in the
habit on his return from the latter place, whither he is frequently sent
by his master, to carry with him a satchel filled with Russian New
Testaments and religious tracts, with which he is supplied by an
excellent English lady who dwells there. He says that before he has
reached home, he has invariably disposed of his whole cargo to the
surrounding peasantry; and such is the hunger and thirst which they
display for the word of salvation that his stock has always been
insufficient to answer all the demands made, after it was known what
merchandise he brought with him. There remain at present three hundred
copies unsold of the modern Russian New Testament at the shop which has
the disposal of the works of the late Russian Bible Society; these
copies, all of which are damaged from having been immersed during the
inundation of 1824, might all be disposed of in one day, provided proper
individuals were employed to hawk them about in the environs of this
capital. There are twenty thousand copies on hand of the Sclavonian
Bible, which being in a language and character differing materially from
the modern Russ character and language, and only understood by the
learned, is unfit for general circulation, and the copies will probably
remain unsold, though the Synod is more favourable to the distribution of
the Scriptures in the ancient than in the modern form. I was informed by
the attendant in the shop that the Synod had resolved upon not permitting
the printing of any fresh edition of the Scriptures in the modern Russ
until these twenty thousand copies in the ancient language had been
disposed of. But it is possible that this assertion is incorrect.