The Life of George Borrow [137]
and mustachios; he is one of that most singular race the Jews of Spain; he is imprisoned for counterfeiting money. He is an atheist; but, like a true Jew, the name which he most hates is that of Christ. Yet he is so quiet and civil, and they are all so quiet and civil, and it is that which most horrifies me, for quietness and civility in them seems so unnatural." {315a}
Such were the men who fraternised with an agent of a religious society and showed him not only civility but hospitality and kindness. It is open to question if they would have shown the same to any other unfortunate missionary. In all probability they recognised a fellow-vagabond, who was at much at issue with the social conventions of communities as they were with the laws of property.
On this occasion the period of Borrow's imprisonment was brief. He was released late at night on 25th Nov., within thirty hours of his arrest, and he immediately set to work to think out a plan by which he could once more discomfit the Spanish authorities for this indignity to a British subject. He would proceed to Madrid without delay and put his case before the British Minister, at the same time he would "make preparations for leaving Spain as soon as possible."
CHAPTER XX: DECEMBER 1839-MAY 1840
It was probably about this time (1839) that
"The Marques de Santa Coloma met Borrow again at Seville. He had great difficulty in finding him out; though he was aware of the street in which he resided, no one knew him by name. At last, by dint of inquiry and description, some one exclaimed, 'Oh! you mean el Brujo' (the wizard), and he was directed to the house. He was admitted with great caution, and conducted through a lot of passages and stairs, till at last he was ushered into a handsomely furnished apartment in the 'mirador,' where Borrow was living WITH HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER. . . It is evident . . . that, to his Spanish friends at least, he thus called Mrs Clarke and her daughter Henrietta his wife and daughter: and the Marques de Santa Coloma evidently believed that the young lady was Borrow's OWN daughter, and not his step- daughter merely (!). At the time the roads from Seville to Madrid were very unsafe. Santa Coloma wished Borrow to join his party, who were going well armed. Borrow said he would be safe with his Gypsies. Both arrived without accident in Madrid; the Marques's party first. Borrow, on his arrival, told Santa Coloma that his Gypsy chief had led him by by-paths and mountains; that they had not slept in a village, nor seen a town the whole way." {316a}
It must be confessed that Mr Webster was none too reliable a witness, and it seems highly improbable that Borrow would wish to pass Mrs Clarke off as his wife before their marriage. The fact of their occupying the same house may have seemed to their Spanish friends compromising, as it unquestionably was; but had he spoken of Mrs Clarke as his wife, it would have left her not a vestige of reputation.
On arriving at Madrid Borrow found that Lord Clarendon's successor, Mr Arthur Aston, had not yet arrived, he therefore presented his complaint to the Charge d'Affaires, the Hon. G. S. S. Jerningham, who had succeeded Mr Sothern as private secretary. Mr Sothern had not yet left Madrid to take up his new post as First Secretary at Lisbon, and therefore presented Borrow to Mr Jerningham, by whom he was received with great kindness. He assured Mr Jerningham that for some time past he had given up distributing the Scriptures in Spain, and he merely claimed the privileges of a British subject and the protection of his Government. The First Secretary took up the case immediately, forwarding Borrow's letter to Don Perez de Castro with a request for "proper steps to be taken, should Mr Borrow's complaint . . . be considered by His Excellency as properly founded." Borrow himself was doubtful as to whether he would obtain justice, "for I have against me," he wrote to Mr Brandram (24th December), "the Canons of Seville; and all the arts of villany which they are so accustomed
Such were the men who fraternised with an agent of a religious society and showed him not only civility but hospitality and kindness. It is open to question if they would have shown the same to any other unfortunate missionary. In all probability they recognised a fellow-vagabond, who was at much at issue with the social conventions of communities as they were with the laws of property.
On this occasion the period of Borrow's imprisonment was brief. He was released late at night on 25th Nov., within thirty hours of his arrest, and he immediately set to work to think out a plan by which he could once more discomfit the Spanish authorities for this indignity to a British subject. He would proceed to Madrid without delay and put his case before the British Minister, at the same time he would "make preparations for leaving Spain as soon as possible."
CHAPTER XX: DECEMBER 1839-MAY 1840
It was probably about this time (1839) that
"The Marques de Santa Coloma met Borrow again at Seville. He had great difficulty in finding him out; though he was aware of the street in which he resided, no one knew him by name. At last, by dint of inquiry and description, some one exclaimed, 'Oh! you mean el Brujo' (the wizard), and he was directed to the house. He was admitted with great caution, and conducted through a lot of passages and stairs, till at last he was ushered into a handsomely furnished apartment in the 'mirador,' where Borrow was living WITH HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER. . . It is evident . . . that, to his Spanish friends at least, he thus called Mrs Clarke and her daughter Henrietta his wife and daughter: and the Marques de Santa Coloma evidently believed that the young lady was Borrow's OWN daughter, and not his step- daughter merely (!). At the time the roads from Seville to Madrid were very unsafe. Santa Coloma wished Borrow to join his party, who were going well armed. Borrow said he would be safe with his Gypsies. Both arrived without accident in Madrid; the Marques's party first. Borrow, on his arrival, told Santa Coloma that his Gypsy chief had led him by by-paths and mountains; that they had not slept in a village, nor seen a town the whole way." {316a}
It must be confessed that Mr Webster was none too reliable a witness, and it seems highly improbable that Borrow would wish to pass Mrs Clarke off as his wife before their marriage. The fact of their occupying the same house may have seemed to their Spanish friends compromising, as it unquestionably was; but had he spoken of Mrs Clarke as his wife, it would have left her not a vestige of reputation.
On arriving at Madrid Borrow found that Lord Clarendon's successor, Mr Arthur Aston, had not yet arrived, he therefore presented his complaint to the Charge d'Affaires, the Hon. G. S. S. Jerningham, who had succeeded Mr Sothern as private secretary. Mr Sothern had not yet left Madrid to take up his new post as First Secretary at Lisbon, and therefore presented Borrow to Mr Jerningham, by whom he was received with great kindness. He assured Mr Jerningham that for some time past he had given up distributing the Scriptures in Spain, and he merely claimed the privileges of a British subject and the protection of his Government. The First Secretary took up the case immediately, forwarding Borrow's letter to Don Perez de Castro with a request for "proper steps to be taken, should Mr Borrow's complaint . . . be considered by His Excellency as properly founded." Borrow himself was doubtful as to whether he would obtain justice, "for I have against me," he wrote to Mr Brandram (24th December), "the Canons of Seville; and all the arts of villany which they are so accustomed