The Life of George Borrow

of, 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 s

ch 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, tha

d 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

ointments, 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

t he would keep a careful account of all extraordinary

." 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 ￡

h their engagement of Borrow is shown by the acknowledgment made in the Society's Th

ek, 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

ing 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 e

o 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

" 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

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 suggestio

nton, 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

wn 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 let

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 sti

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 per

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 grant

d 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 "chee

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,

value from its scarcity, for the whole edition was limited to about a hundred copies." W. B. Donne admired the transl

e 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

wever, who achieved such distinction, and there were "a great number of low, vulgar, and profligate females who sing in taverns, or at the

ern, 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 whic

nity 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 Nazar

eptember 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

sfaction to the Bible Society. The Official Rep

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 sk

k itself John Has

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 th

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 Str

"prejudiced against the country, the government, and the people; the first is much more agreeable than is generally supposed; the second is se

the General Committee upon his recent labours. In all probability