The Life of George Borrow Part 18

"This disagreeable business," Sir George writes in another of his despatches, "is rendered yet more so by the impossibility of defending with success all Mr Borrow's proceedings . . . His imprudent zeal likewise in announcing publicly that the Bible Society had a depot of Bibles in Madrid, and that he was the Agent for their sale, irritated the Ecclesiastical Authorities, whose attention has of late been called to the proceedings of a Mr Graydon,--another agent of the Bible Society, who has created great excitement at Malaga (and I believe in other places) by publishing in the Newspapers that the Catholic Religion was not the religion of G.o.d, and that he had been sent from England to convert Spaniards to Protestantism. I have upon more than one occasion cautioned Mr Graydon, but in vain, to be more prudent. The Methodist Society of England is likewise endeavouring to establish a School at Cadiz, and by that means to make conversions.

"Under all these circ.u.mstances it is not perhaps surprising that the Archbishop of Toledo and the Heads of the Church should be alarmed that an attempt at Protestant Propagandism is about to be made, or that the Government should wish to avert the evils of religious schism in addition to all those which already weigh upon the Country; and to these different causes it must, in some degree, be attributed that Mr Borrow has been an object of suspicion and treated with such extreme rigor. Still, however, they do not justify the course pursued by the Civil Governor towards him, or by the Government towards myself, and I trust Your Lordship will consider that in the steps I have taken upon the matter, I have done no more than what the National honor, and the security of Englishmen in this Country, rendered obligatory upon me." {241a}

Whilst Borrow was in the Carcel de la Corte, a grave complication had arisen in connection with the misguided Lieutenant Graydon. Borrow gives a strikingly dramatic account {241b} of Count Ofalia's call at the British Emba.s.sy. He is represented as arriving with a copy of one of Graydon's bills, which he threw down upon a table calling upon Sir George Villiers to read it and, as a gentleman and the representative of a great and enlightened nation, tell him if he could any longer defend Borrow and say that he had been ill or unfairly treated. According to the Foreign Office doc.u.ments, Count Ofalia WROTE to Sir George Villiers on 5th May, ENCLOSING a copy of an advertis.e.m.e.nt inserted by Lieutenant Graydon in the Boletin Oficial de Malaga, which, translated, runs as follows:-

"The Individual in question most earnestly calls the greatest attention of each member of the great Spanish Family to this DIVINE Book, in order that THROUGH IT he may learn the chief cause, if not the SOLE ONE, of all his terrible afflictions and of his ONLY remedy, as it is so clearly manifested in the Holy Scripture . . . A detestable system of superst.i.tion and fanaticism, ONLY GREEDY FOR MONEY, and not so either of the temporal or eternal felicity of man, has prevailed in Spain (as also in other Nations) during several Centuries, by the ABSOLUTE exclusion of the true knowledge of the Great G.o.d and last Judge of Mankind: and thus it has been plunged into the most frightful calamities. There was a time in which precisely the same was read in the then VERY LITTLE Kingdom of England, but at length Her Sons recognising their imperative DUTY towards G.o.d and their Neighbour, as also their unquestionable rights, and that since the world exists it has never been possible to gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles, they destroyed the system and at the price of their blood chose the Bible. Oh that the unprejudiced and enlightened inhabitants not only of Malaga and of so many other Cities, but of all Spain, would follow so good an example." {242a}

The result of Graydon's advertis.e.m.e.nt was that "the people flocked in crowds to purchase it [the Bible], so much so that 200 copies, all that were in Mr Graydon's possession at the time, were sold in the course of the day. The Bishop sent the Fiscal to stop the sale of the work, but before the necessary measures were taken they were all disposed of." {242b} In consequence Graydon "was detained and under my [the Consul's] responsibility allowed to remain at large." {243a} A jury of nine all p.r.o.nounced the article to contain "matter subject to legal process" {243b} but a second jury of twelve at the subsequent public trial "unanimously absolved" Graydon.

Sir George Villiers acknowledged the letter from Count Ofalia (9th May) saying that he had written to Graydon warning him to be more cautious in future. He stated that from personal knowledge he could vouch for the purity of Lieutenant Graydon's intentions; but he regretted that he should have announced his object in so imprudent a manner as to give offence to the ministers of the Catholic religion of Spain. In a despatch to Lord Palmerston he states that he has not thought it in the interests of the Bible Society to defend this conduct of Graydon, "whose zeal appears so little tempered by discretion," {243c} as he had written to Count Ofalia. "Had I done so," he proceeds, "and thereby tended to confirm some of the idle reports that are current, that England had a national object to serve in the propagation of Protestantism in Spain, it is not improbable that a legislative Enactment might have been introduced by some Member of the Cortes, which would be offensive to England, and render it yet more difficult than it is the task the Bible Society seems desirous to undertake in this Country." {243d} Sir George concludes by saying that he gave to "these Agents the best advice and a.s.sistance in my power, but if by their acts they infringe the laws of the Country," it will be impossible to defend them.

Sir George thought so seriously of the Affaire Borrow, as endangering the future liberty of Englishmen in Spain, that he went so far as to send a message to the Queen Regent, "by a means which I always have at my disposal," {244a} in which he told her that he thought the affair "might end in a manner most injurious to the continuance of friendly relations between the two Countries." {244b} He received a gracious a.s.surance that he should have satisfaction. Later there reached him

"a second message from the Queen Regent expressing Her Majesty's hope that Count Ofalia's Note [of 11th May] would be satisfactory to me, and stating that Her Ministers had so fully proved their incompetency by giving any just cause of complaint to the Minister of Her only real Friend and Ally, The Queen of England, that she should have dismissed them, were it not that the state of affairs in the Northern Provinces at this moment might be prejudiced by a change of Government, which Her Majesty said she knew no one more than myself would regret, but at the same time if I was not satisfied I had only to state what I required and it should be immediately complied with.

My answer was confined to a grateful acknowledgement of Her Majesty's condescension and kindness. Count Ofalia has informed me that as President of the Council He had enjoined all his Colleagues never to take any step directly or indirectly concerning an Englishman without a previous communication with Him as to its propriety, and I therefore venture to hope that the case of Mr Borrow will not be unattended with ultimate advantage to British subjects in Spain."

{243c}

The "Note" referred to by the Queen Regent in her message was Count Ofalia's acquiescence in Sir George Villiers' demands, with the exception of the dismissal of the Police Officer. His communication runs:-

"11th May 1838.

"SIR,--The affair of Mr Borrow is already decided by the Judge of First Instance and his decision has been approved by the Superior or Territorial Court of the Province. As I stated to you in my note of the fourth last, the foundation of the arrest of Mr Borrow, who was detained (and not committed), was an official communication from the Agent of Police, Don Pedro Martin de Eugenio, in which he averred that on intimating to Mr Borrow the written order of the Civil Governor relative to the seizure of a book which he had published and exposed for sale without complying with the forms prescribed by the Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws of Spain, he (Mr Borrow) had thrown on the floor the order of the Superior Authority of the Province and used offensive expressions with regard to the said Authority.

"The judicial proceedings have had for their object the ascertainment of the fact. Mr Borrow has denied the truth of the statement and the Agent of Police, who it appears entered the lodgings of Mr Borrow without being accompanied by any one, has been unable to confirm by evidence what he alleged in his official report, or to produce the testimony of any one in support of it.

"This being the case the judge has declared and the Territorial Court approved the superceding of the cause, putting Mr Borrow immediately at complete liberty, with the express declaration that the arrest he has suffered in no wise affects his honor and good fame, and that the 'celador of Public Security,' Don Pedro Martin de Eugenio, be admonished for the future to proceed in the discharge of his duty with proper respect and circ.u.mspection according to the condition and character of the persons whom he has to address.

"In accordance with the judicial decision and anxious to give satisfaction to Mr Borrow, correcting at the same time the fault of the Agent of Police in having presented himself without being accompanied by any person in order to effect the seizure in the lodging of Mr Borrow, Her Majesty has thought proper to command that the aforesaid Don Pedro Martin de Eugenio be suspended from his office for the s.p.a.ce of Four Months, an order which I shall communicate to the Minister of the Interior, and that Mr Borrow be indemnified for the expenses which may have been incurred by his lodging in the apartment of the Alcaide (chief gaoler or Governor) for the days of his detention, although even before the expiration of 24 hours after his arrest he was permitted to return to his house under his word of honor during the judicial proceedings, as I stated to you in my note already cited. I flatter myself that in this determination you as well as your Government will see a fresh proof of the desire which animates that of H.M. the Queen Regent to maintain and draw closer the relation of friendship and alliance existing between the two countries. And with respect to the claim advanced by Mr Borrow, and of which you also make mention in Your Note of the 8th inst., I ought to declare to you that when the Judge of First Instance received official information of the said claim the business was already concluded in his tribunal, and consequently there was nothing to be done. Without, for this reason, there being understood any innovation with respect to the matter of privilege (fuero) according as it is now established." {246a}

Borrow was liberated with unsullied honour on 12th May, after twelve days' imprisonment. He refused the compensation that Sir George Villiers had made a condition, and later wrote to the Bible Society asking that there might be deducted from the amount due to him the expenses of the twelve days. He states also that he refused to acquiesce in the dismissal of the Agent of Police, by which he doubtless means his suspension, giving as a reason that there might be a wife and family likely to suffer. In any case the man was only carrying out his instructions. Borrow's reason for refusing the payment of his expenses was that he was unwilling to afford them, the Spanish Government, an opportunity of saying that after they had imprisoned an Englishman unjustly, and without cause, he condescended to receive money at their hands. {246b}

The greatest loss to Borrow, consequent upon his imprisonment, no government could make good. His faithful Basque, Francisco, had contracted typhus, or gaol fever, that was raging at the time, and died within a few days of his master's release. "A more affectionate creature never breathed," Borrow wrote to Mr Brandram. The poor fellow, who, "to the strength of a giant joined the disposition of a lamb . . . was beloved even in the patio of the prison, where he used to pitch the bar and wrestle with the murderers and felons, always coming off victor." {247a} The next day Antonio presented himself at Borrow's lodging, and without invitation or comment a.s.sumed the duties he had relinquished in order that he might enjoy the excitements of change. "Who should serve you now but myself?" he asked when questioned as to the meaning of his presence, "N'est pas que le sieur Francois est mort!" {247b}

John Hasfeldt's comment on his friend's imprisonment was characteristic. In September 1838 he wrote:-

"The very last I heard of you is that you have had the great good fortune to be stopping in the carcel de corte at Madrid, which pleasing intelligence I found in the Preussiche Staats-Zeitung this last spring. If you were fatter no doubt the monks would have got up an Auto de Fe on your behalf, and you might easily have become a nineteenth-century martyr. Then your strange life would have been hawked about the streets of London for one penny, though you never obtained a fat living to eat and drink and take your ease after all the hardships you have endured."

CHAPTER XVI: MAY-JULY 1838

Borrow was now to enter upon that lengthy dispute with the Bible Society that almost brought about an open breach, and eventually proved the indirect cause that led to the severance of their relations. Graydon's mistake lay in not contenting himself with printing and distributing the Scriptures, of which he succeeded in getting rid of an enormous quant.i.ty. He had advertised his a.s.sociation with the Bible Society and proclaimed Borrow as a colleague, and the authorities at Madrid were not greatly to blame for being unable to distinguish between the two men. Whereas Graydon and Rule, who was also extremely obnoxious to the Spanish Clergy, were safe at Gibraltar or generally within easy reach of it, Borrow was in the very midst of the enemy. He was not unnaturally furiously angry at the situation that he conceived to have been brought about by these evangelists in the south. He referred to Graydon as the Evil Genius of the Society's Cause in Spain.

It may be felt that Borrow was a prejudiced witness, he had every reason for being so; but a despatch from Sir George Villiers to the Consul at Malaga shows clearly how the British Minister viewed Lieutenant Graydon's indiscretion:

"You will communicate Count Ofalia's note to Mr Graydon," he writes, "and tell him from me that, feeling as I do a lively interest in the success of his mission, I cannot but regret that he should have published his opinions upon the Catholic religion and clergy in a form which should render inevitable the interference of ecclesiastical authority. I have no doubt that Mr Graydon, in the pursuit of the meritorious task he has undertaken, is ready to endure persecution, but he should bear in mind that it will not lead him to success in this country, where prejudices are so inveterate, and at this moment, when party spirit disfigures even the best intentions.

Unless Mr Graydon proceeds with the utmost circ.u.mspection it will be impossible for me, with the prospect of good result, to defend his conduct with the Government, for no foreigner has a right, however laudable may be his object, to seek the attainment of that object by infringing the laws of the country in which he resides." {249a}

In writing to Mr Brandram, Borrow pointed out that although he had travelled extensively in Spain and had established many depots for the sale of the Scriptures, not one word of complaint had been transmitted to the Government. He had been imprisoned; but he had the authority of Count Ofalia for saying that it was not on account of his own, but rather of the action of others. Furthermore the Premier had advised him to endeavour to make friends among the clergy, and for the present at least make no further effort to promote the actual sale of the New Testament in Madrid.

On the day following his release from prison (13th May) Borrow, after being sent for by the British Minister, wrote to Mr Brandram as follows:-

"Sir George has commanded me . . . to write to the following effect:- Mr Graydon must leave Spain, or the Bible Society must publicly disavow that his proceedings receive their encouragement, unless they wish to see the Sacred book, which it is their object to distribute, brought into universal odium and contempt. He has lately been to Malaga, and has there played precisely the same part which he acted last year at Valencia, with the addition that in printed writings he has insulted the Spanish Government in the most inexcusable manner.

A formal complaint of his conduct has been sent up from Malaga, and a copy of one of his writings. Sir George blushed when he saw it, and informed Count Ofalia that any steps which might be taken towards punishing the author would receive no impediment from him. I shall not make any observation on this matter farther than stating that I have never had any other opinion of Mr Graydon than that he is insane--insane as the person who for the sake of warming his own hands would set a street on fire. Sir George said to-day that he (Graydon) was the cause of my HARMLESS shop being closed at Madrid and also of my imprisonment. The Society will of course communicate with Sir George on the subject, I wash my hands of it."

On 23rd May Borrow wrote again to Mr Brandram:

"In the name of the MOST HIGHEST take steps for preventing that miserable creature Graydon from ruining us all." Borrow's use of the term "insane" with regard to Graydon was fully justified. The Rev.

W. H. Rule wrote to him on 14th May:

"Our worthy brother Graydon is, I suppose, in Granada. I overtook him in Cartagena, endured the process of osculation, saw him without rhime or reason wrangle with and publicly insult our Consul there.

Had his company in the steamer to Almeria, much to my discomfort.

Never was a man fuller of love and impudence, compounded in the most provoking manner. In Malaga, just as we were to part, he broke out into a strain highly disagreeable, and I therefore thought it a convenient occasion to tell him that I should have no more to do with him. I left him dancing and raving like an energumen."

This letter Borrow indiscreetly sent to Mr Brandram, much to Mr Rule's regret, who wrote to Mr Brandram, saying that whilst he had nothing to retract, he would not have written for the eyes of the Bible Society's Committee what he had written to Borrow. To Mr Rule Lieut. Graydon was "a good man, or at least a well-meaning [one], who has not the balance of judgment and temper necessary for the situation he occupies." He was given to "the promulgation of Millenianism," and to calling the Bible "the true book of the Const.i.tution."

Mann had confirmed all the rumours current about Graydon. In order to remove from his shoulders "the burden of obloquy," Borrow's first act on leaving prison was to publish in the Correo Nacional an advertis.e.m.e.nt disclaiming, in the name of the Bible Society, any writings which may have been circulated tending to lower the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, in the eyes of the people. He denied that it was the Society's intention or wish to make proselytes from the Roman Catholic form of worship, and that it was at all times prepared to extend the hand of brotherhood to the Spanish clergy.

This notice was signed "George Borrow, Sole authorised Agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Spain."

El Gazeta Oficial in commenting on the situation, saw in the anti- Catholic tracts circulated by Graydon "part of the monstrous plan, whose existence can no longer be called in question, concocted by the enemies of all public order, for the purpose of inaugurating on our unhappy soil a SOCIAL revolution, just as the political one is drawing to a close." The Government was urged to allow no longer these attacks upon the religion of the country. Rather illogically the article concludes by paying a tribute to the Bible Society, "considered not under the religious but the social aspect." After praising its prudence for "accommodating itself to the civil and ecclesiastical laws of each country, and by adopting the editions there current," it concludes with the sophisticated argument that, "if the great object be the propagation of evangelic maxims, the notes are no obstacle, and by preserving them we fulfil our religious principle of not permitting to private reason the interpretation of the Sacred Word."

The General Committee expressed themselves, somewhat enigmatically, it must be confessed, as in no way surprised at this article, being from past experience learned enough in the ways of Rome to antic.i.p.ate her.

"That advertis.e.m.e.nt," Borrow wrote six months later in his Report that was subsequently withdrawn, "gave infinite satisfaction to the liberal clergy. I was complimented for it by the Primate of Spain, who said I had redeemed my credit and that of the Society, and it is with some feeling of pride that I state that it choked and prevented the publication of a series of terrible essays against the Bible Society, which were intended for the Official Gazette, and which were written by the Licentiate Albert Lister, the editor of that journal, the friend of Blanco White, and the most talented man in Spain.

These essays still exist in the editorial drawer, and were communicated to me by the head manager of the royal printing office, my respected friend and countryman Mr Charles Wood, whose evidence in this matter and in many others I can command at pleasure. In lieu of which essays came out a mild and conciliatory article by the same writer, which, taking into consideration the country in which it was written, and its peculiar circ.u.mstances, was an encouragement to the Bible Society to proceed, although with secrecy and caution; yet this article, sadly misunderstood in England, gave rise to communications from home highly mortifying to myself and ruinous to the Bible cause."

Borrow had written from prison to Mr Brandram {252a} telling him that it had "pleased G.o.d to confer upon me the highest of mortal honors, the privilege of bearing chains for His sake." After describing how it had always been his practice, before taking any step, to consult with Sir George Villiers and receive his approval, and that the present situation had not been brought about by any rashness on his, Borrow's, part, he proceeds to convey the following curious piece of information that must have caused some surprise at Earl Street

"I will now state a fact, which speaks volumes as to the state of affairs at Madrid. My arch-enemy, the Archbishop of Toledo, the primate of Spain, wishes to give me the kiss of brotherly Peace. He has caused a message to be conveyed to me in my dungeon, a.s.suring me that he has had no share in causing my imprisonment, which he says was the work of the Civil Governor, who was incited to the step by the Jesuits. He adds that he is determined to seek out my persecutors amongst the clergy, and to have them punished, and that when I leave prison he shall be happy to co-operate with me in the dissemination of the Gospel!! I cannot write much now, for I am not well, having been bled and blistered. I must, however, devote a few lines to another subject, but not one of rejoicing or Christian exultation. Mann arrived just after my arrest, and visited me in prison, and there favoured me with a scene of despair, abject despair, which nearly turned my brain. I despised the creature, G.o.d forgive me, but I pitied him; for he was without money and expected every moment to be seized like myself and incarcerated, and he is by no means anxious to be invested with the honors of martyrdom."