The Life of George Borrow [90]
of the Camel-Driver of Mecca about his missionary work. He saw nothing anomalous in being possessed of a strong arm as well as a Christian spirit. He would endeavour to win over the ungodly; but woe betide them if they should attempt to pit their strength against his. Borrow's own comment upon his journey in the Northern Provinces was, "Insignificant are the results of man's labours compared with the swelling ideas of his presumption; something, however, had been effected by the journey which I had just concluded." {210a}
CHAPTER XIV: NOVEMBER 1837-APRIL 1838
Great changes had taken place in Madrid during Borrow's absence. The Carlists had actually appeared before its gates, although they had subsequently retired. Liberalism had been routed and a Moderado Cabinet, under the leadership of Count Ofalia, ruled the city and such part of the country as was sufficiently complaisant as to permit itself to be ruled. As the Moderados represented the Court faction, Borrow saw that he had little to expect from them. He was unacquainted with any of the members of the Cabinet, and, what was far more serious for him, the relations between the new Government and Sir George Villiers {211a} were none too cordial, as the British Minister had been by no means favourable to the new ministry.
Having written to Mr Brandram telling of his arrival in Madrid, "begging pardon for all errors of commission and omission," and confessing himself "a frail and foolish vessel," that had "accomplished but a slight portion of what I proposed in my vanity," Borrow proceeded to disprove his own assertion. He found the affairs of the Bible Society in a far from flourishing condition. The Testaments had not sold to any considerable extent, for which "only circumstances and the public poverty" were the cause, as Dr Usoz explained.
To awaken interest in his campaign, Borrow planned to print a thousand advertisements, which were to be posted in various parts of the city, and to employ colporteurs to vend the books in the streets. He despatched consignments of books to towns he had visited that required them, and in the enthusiasm of his eager and active mind foresaw that, "as the circle widens in the lake into which a stripling has cast a pebble, so will the circle of our usefulness continue widening, until it has embraced the whole vast region of Spain." {212a}
It soon became evident that there was to be a very strong opposition. A furious attack upon the Bible Society was made in a letter addressed to the editors of El Espanol on 5th November, prefixed to a circular of the Spiritual Governor of Valencia, forbidding the purchase or reading of the London edition of Father Scio's Bible. The letter described the Bible Society as "an infernal society," and referred in passing to "its accursed fecundity." It also strongly resented the omission of the Apocrypha from the Scio Bible. Borrow promptly replied to this attack in a letter of great length, and entirely silenced his antagonist, whom he described to Mr Brandram (20th Nov.) as "an unprincipled benefice-hunting curate." "You will doubtless deem it too warm and fiery," he writes, referring to his reply, "but tameness and gentleness are of little avail when surrounded by the vassal slaves of bloody Rome." {212a} Borrow's response to the "benefice-hunting curate" not only silenced him, but was listened to by the General Committee of the Society "with much pleasure."
The cause of the trouble in Valencia lay with the other agent of the Bible Society in Spain, Lieutenant James Newenham Graydon, R.N., who first took up the work of distributing the Scriptures at Gibraltar in 1835. Here he became associated with the Rev. W. H. Rule, of the Wesleyan Methodist Society. "The Lieutenant, who seems to have combined the personal charm of the Irish gentleman with some of the perfervid incautiousness of the Keltic temperament, finding himself unemployed at Gibraltar, resolved to do what lay in his power for the spiritual enlightenment of Spain. Without receiving a regular commission from
CHAPTER XIV: NOVEMBER 1837-APRIL 1838
Great changes had taken place in Madrid during Borrow's absence. The Carlists had actually appeared before its gates, although they had subsequently retired. Liberalism had been routed and a Moderado Cabinet, under the leadership of Count Ofalia, ruled the city and such part of the country as was sufficiently complaisant as to permit itself to be ruled. As the Moderados represented the Court faction, Borrow saw that he had little to expect from them. He was unacquainted with any of the members of the Cabinet, and, what was far more serious for him, the relations between the new Government and Sir George Villiers {211a} were none too cordial, as the British Minister had been by no means favourable to the new ministry.
Having written to Mr Brandram telling of his arrival in Madrid, "begging pardon for all errors of commission and omission," and confessing himself "a frail and foolish vessel," that had "accomplished but a slight portion of what I proposed in my vanity," Borrow proceeded to disprove his own assertion. He found the affairs of the Bible Society in a far from flourishing condition. The Testaments had not sold to any considerable extent, for which "only circumstances and the public poverty" were the cause, as Dr Usoz explained.
To awaken interest in his campaign, Borrow planned to print a thousand advertisements, which were to be posted in various parts of the city, and to employ colporteurs to vend the books in the streets. He despatched consignments of books to towns he had visited that required them, and in the enthusiasm of his eager and active mind foresaw that, "as the circle widens in the lake into which a stripling has cast a pebble, so will the circle of our usefulness continue widening, until it has embraced the whole vast region of Spain." {212a}
It soon became evident that there was to be a very strong opposition. A furious attack upon the Bible Society was made in a letter addressed to the editors of El Espanol on 5th November, prefixed to a circular of the Spiritual Governor of Valencia, forbidding the purchase or reading of the London edition of Father Scio's Bible. The letter described the Bible Society as "an infernal society," and referred in passing to "its accursed fecundity." It also strongly resented the omission of the Apocrypha from the Scio Bible. Borrow promptly replied to this attack in a letter of great length, and entirely silenced his antagonist, whom he described to Mr Brandram (20th Nov.) as "an unprincipled benefice-hunting curate." "You will doubtless deem it too warm and fiery," he writes, referring to his reply, "but tameness and gentleness are of little avail when surrounded by the vassal slaves of bloody Rome." {212a} Borrow's response to the "benefice-hunting curate" not only silenced him, but was listened to by the General Committee of the Society "with much pleasure."
The cause of the trouble in Valencia lay with the other agent of the Bible Society in Spain, Lieutenant James Newenham Graydon, R.N., who first took up the work of distributing the Scriptures at Gibraltar in 1835. Here he became associated with the Rev. W. H. Rule, of the Wesleyan Methodist Society. "The Lieutenant, who seems to have combined the personal charm of the Irish gentleman with some of the perfervid incautiousness of the Keltic temperament, finding himself unemployed at Gibraltar, resolved to do what lay in his power for the spiritual enlightenment of Spain. Without receiving a regular commission from