The Life of George Borrow [130]
In his will he had appointed Trustees, who demanded the sale of the Estate and division of the money, which was opposed by Mrs Clarke as executrix and mortgagee. Later it was agreed between the parties that the Estate should be sold for 11,000 pounds to a Mr Joseph Cator Webb, and an agreement to that effect was signed. Anticipating that the Estate would increase in value, and apparently regretting their bargain, the Trustees delayed carrying out their undertaking, and Mr Webb filed a bill in Chancery to force them to do so. Mrs Clarke's legal advisers thought it better that she should disappear for a time. Hence her letter to Borrow, in replying to which (29th March), he expresses pleasure at the news of his friend's determination "to settle in Seville for a short time--which, I assure you, I consider to be the most agreeable retreat you can select . . . for THERE the growls of your enemies will scarcely reach you." He goes on to tell her that he laughed outright at the advice of her counsellor not to take a house and furnish it.
"Houses in Spain are let by the day: and in a palace here you will find less furniture than in your cottage at Oulton. Were you to furnish a Spanish house in the style of cold, wintry England, you would be unable to breathe. A few chairs, tables, and mattresses are all that is required, with of course a good stock of bed-linen . . .
"Bring with you, therefore, your clothes, plenty of bed-linen, etc., half-a-dozen blankets, two dozen knives and forks, a mirror or two, twelve silver table spoons, and a large one for soup, tea things and urn (for the Spaniards never drink tea), a few books, but not many,-- and you will have occasion for nothing more, or, if you have, you can purchase it here as cheap as in England."
Borrow's ideas of domestic comfort were those of the old campaigner. For all that, he showed himself very thorough in the directions he gave as to how and where Mrs Clarke should book her passage and obtain "a passport for yourself and Hen." (Henrietta her daughter, now nearly twenty years of age), and the warning he gave that no attempt should be made to go ashore at Lisbon, "a very dangerous place."
On 7th June Mrs Clarke and her daughter Henrietta sailed from London on board the steam-packet Royal Tar bound for Cadiz, where they arrived on the 16th, and, on the day following, entered into possession of their temporary home where Borrow was already installed, safe for the time from Mr Webb's Chancery bill. It was no doubt to Mrs and Miss Clarke that Borrow referred when he wrote to Mr Brandram {301a} saying that "two or three ladies of my acquaintance occasionally dispose of some [Testaments] amongst their friends, but they say that they experience some difficulty, the cry for Bibles being great."
Borrow continued to reside at 7 Plazuela de la Pila Seca, and Mrs Clarke and Henrietta soon learned something of the vicissitudes and excitements of a missionary's life. On Sunday, 8th July, as Borrow "happened to be reading the Liturgy," he received a visit from "various alguacils, headed by the Alcade del Barrio, or headborough, who made a small seizure of Testaments and Gypsy Gospels which happened to be lying about." {302a} This circumstance convinced Borrow of the good effect of his labours in and around Seville.
The time had now arrived, however, when the whole of the smuggled Testaments had been disposed of, and there was no object in remaining longer in Seville, or in Spain for that matter. There were books at San Lucar that might without official opposition be shipped out of the country, and Borrow therefore determined to see what could be done towards distributing them among the Spanish residents on the Coast of Barbary. This done, he hoped to return to Spain and dispose of the 900 odd Testaments lying at Madrid. On 18th July he wrote to Mr Brandram:-
"I should wish to be permitted on my return from my present expedition to circulate some in La Mancha. The state of that province is truly horrible; it appears peopled partly with spectres
"Houses in Spain are let by the day: and in a palace here you will find less furniture than in your cottage at Oulton. Were you to furnish a Spanish house in the style of cold, wintry England, you would be unable to breathe. A few chairs, tables, and mattresses are all that is required, with of course a good stock of bed-linen . . .
"Bring with you, therefore, your clothes, plenty of bed-linen, etc., half-a-dozen blankets, two dozen knives and forks, a mirror or two, twelve silver table spoons, and a large one for soup, tea things and urn (for the Spaniards never drink tea), a few books, but not many,-- and you will have occasion for nothing more, or, if you have, you can purchase it here as cheap as in England."
Borrow's ideas of domestic comfort were those of the old campaigner. For all that, he showed himself very thorough in the directions he gave as to how and where Mrs Clarke should book her passage and obtain "a passport for yourself and Hen." (Henrietta her daughter, now nearly twenty years of age), and the warning he gave that no attempt should be made to go ashore at Lisbon, "a very dangerous place."
On 7th June Mrs Clarke and her daughter Henrietta sailed from London on board the steam-packet Royal Tar bound for Cadiz, where they arrived on the 16th, and, on the day following, entered into possession of their temporary home where Borrow was already installed, safe for the time from Mr Webb's Chancery bill. It was no doubt to Mrs and Miss Clarke that Borrow referred when he wrote to Mr Brandram {301a} saying that "two or three ladies of my acquaintance occasionally dispose of some [Testaments] amongst their friends, but they say that they experience some difficulty, the cry for Bibles being great."
Borrow continued to reside at 7 Plazuela de la Pila Seca, and Mrs Clarke and Henrietta soon learned something of the vicissitudes and excitements of a missionary's life. On Sunday, 8th July, as Borrow "happened to be reading the Liturgy," he received a visit from "various alguacils, headed by the Alcade del Barrio, or headborough, who made a small seizure of Testaments and Gypsy Gospels which happened to be lying about." {302a} This circumstance convinced Borrow of the good effect of his labours in and around Seville.
The time had now arrived, however, when the whole of the smuggled Testaments had been disposed of, and there was no object in remaining longer in Seville, or in Spain for that matter. There were books at San Lucar that might without official opposition be shipped out of the country, and Borrow therefore determined to see what could be done towards distributing them among the Spanish residents on the Coast of Barbary. This done, he hoped to return to Spain and dispose of the 900 odd Testaments lying at Madrid. On 18th July he wrote to Mr Brandram:-
"I should wish to be permitted on my return from my present expedition to circulate some in La Mancha. The state of that province is truly horrible; it appears peopled partly with spectres