as for the absurd object for which borrow was sent to russia the less said the better. any of my readers who care for the survey of human folly associated with undiscriminating bible worship can read of this particular example in the society’s own records. [102] the bible society wanted the bible to be set up in the manchu language, the official language of the chinese court and government. a russian scholar named lipóftsof, who had spent twenty years in china, undertook in 1821 to translate the new testament into manchu for £560. lipóftsof had done his work in 1826, and had sent two manuscript copies to london. in 1832 the rev. william swan of the london missionary society in passing through st. petersburg discovered a transcript of a large part of the old and new testament in manchu, made by one pierot, a french jesuit, many years before. this transcript was unavailable, but a second was soon afterwards forthcoming for free publication if a qualified manchu scholar could be found to see it through the press. mr. swan’s communication of these facts to the bible society in london gave borrow his opportunity. it was his task to find the printers, buy the paper, and hire the qualified compositors for setting the type. it must be admitted borrow worked hard for his £200 a year. first he had to ask the diplomatists for permission from the russian government, not now so friendly to british missionary zeal. the russian bible society had been suppressed in 1826. he succeeded here. then he had to continue his studies in the manchu language. he had written from norwich to mr. jowett on 9th june, 1833, “i have mastered manchu,” but on 20th january, 1834, we find him writing to the p. 103same correspondent: “i pay about six shillings, english, for each lesson, which i grudge not, for the perfect acquirement of manchu is one of my most ardent wishes.” [103a] then he found the printers—a german firm, schultz and beneze—who probably printed the two little books of borrow’s own for him as a “make weight.” he purchased paper for his manchu translation with an ability that would have done credit to a modern newspaper manager. every detail of these transactions is given in his letters to the bible society, and one cannot but be amused at borrow’s explanation to the reverend secretary of the little subterfuges by which he proposed to “best” the godless for the benefit of the godly:
knowing but too well that it is the general opinion of the people of this country that englishmen are made of gold, and that it is only necessary to ask the most extravagant price for any article in order to obtain it, i told no person, to whom i applied, who i was, or of what country; and i believe i was supposed to be a german. [103b]
then came the composing or setting up of the type of the book. when borrow was called to account by his london employers, who were not sure whether he was wasting time, he replied: “i have been working in the printing-office as a common compositor, between ten and thirteen hours every day.” in another letter borrow records further difficulties with the printers after the composition had been effected. several of the working printers, it appears, “went away in disgust.” then he adds:
i was resolved “to do or die,” and, instead of distressing and perplexing the committee with complaints, to write nothing until i could write something perfectly satisfactory, as i now can; and to bring about that result i have spared neither myself nor my own money. i have toiled in a close printing-office the whole day, during ninety degrees of heat, for the purpose of setting an example, and have bribed people to work whom nothing but bribes would induce so to do. i am obliged to say all this in self-justification. no member of the bible society would ever have heard a syllable respecting what i have undergone but for the question, “what has mr. borrow been about?” [103c]
p. 104it is not my intention to add materially to the letters of borrow from russia and from spain that have already been published, although many are in my possession. they reveal an aspect of the life of borrow that has been amply dealt with already, and it is an aspect that interests me but little. here, however, is one hitherto unpublished letter that throws much light upon borrow’s work at this time, and shows, moreover, how well he was learning the cant phrases which found acceptance with his friends in earl street:
to the rev. andrew brandram
st. petersburg, 18th oct., 1833.
reverend sir,—supposing that you will not be displeased to hear how i am proceeding, i have taken the liberty to send a few lines by a friend [104] who is leaving russia for england. since my arrival in petersburg i have been occupied eight hours every day in transcribing a manchu manuscript of the old testament belonging to baron schilling, and i am happy to be able to say that i have just completed the last of it, the rev. mr. swan, the scottish missionary, having before my arrival copied the previous part. mr. swan departs to his mission in siberia in about two months, during most part of which time i shall be engaged in collating our transcripts with the original. it is a great blessing that the bible society has now prepared the whole of the sacred scriptures in manchu, which will doubtless, when printed, prove of incalculable benefit to tens of millions who have hitherto been ignorant of the will of god, putting their trust in idols of wood and stone instead of in a crucified saviour. i am sorry to say that this country in respect to religion is in a state almost as lamentable as the darkest regions of the east, and the blame of this rests entirely upon the greek hierarchy, who discountenance all attempts to the spiritual improvement of the people, who, poor things, are exceedingly willing to receive instruction, and, notwithstanding the scantiness of their means in general for the most part, eagerly buy the tracts which a few pious english christians cause to be printed and hawked in the neighbourhood. but no one is better aware, sir, than yourself that without the scriptures men can never be brought to a true sense of their fallen and miserable state, and of the proper means to be employed to free themselves from the thraldom of satan. the last few copies which remained of the new testament in russian were purchased and distributed a few days ago, and it is lamentable to be compelled to state that at the present there appears no probability of another edition being permitted in the modern language. it is true that there are near twenty thousand copies of the sclavonic bible in the shop which is entrusted with the sale of p. 105the books of the late russian bible society, but the sclavonian translation is upwards of a thousand years old, having been made in the eighth century, and differs from the dialect spoken at present in russia as much as the old saxon does from the modern english. therefore it cannot be of the slightest utility to any but the learned, that is, to about ten individuals in one thousand. i hope and trust that the almighty will see fit to open some door for the illumination of this country, for it is not to be wondered if vice and crime be very prevalent here when the people are ignorant of the commandments of god. is it to be wondered that the people follow their every day pursuits on the sabbath when they know not the unlawfulness of so doing? is it to be wondered that they steal when only in dread of the laws of the country, and are not deterred by the voice of conscience which only exists in a few? this accounts for their profanation of their sabbath, their proneness to theft, etc. it is only surprising that so much goodness is to be found in their nature as is the case, for they are mild, polite, and obliging, and in most of their faces is an expression of great kindness and benignity. i find that the slight knowledge which i possess of the russian tongue is of the utmost service to me here, for the common opinion in england that only french and german are spoken by persons of any respectability in petersburg is a great and injurious error. the nobility, it is true, for the most part speak french when necessity obliges them, that is, when in company with foreigners who are ignorant of russian, but the affairs of most people who arrive in petersburg do not lie among the nobility, therefore a knowledge of the language of the country, unless you associate solely with your own countrymen, is indispensable. the servants speak no language but their native tongue, and also nine out of ten of the middle classes of russians. i might as well address mr. lipóftsof, who is to be my coadjutor in the edition of the new testament (in manchu), in hebrew as in either french or german, for though he can read the first a little he cannot speak a word of it or understand when spoken. i will now conclude by wishing you all possible happiness. i have the honour to be, etc.,
george borrow.
when the work was done at so great a cost of money, and of energy and enthusiasm on the part of george borrow, it was found that the books were useless. most of these new testaments were afterwards sent out to china, and copies distributed by the missionaries there as opportunities offered. it was found then—why not before is not explained—that the manchus in china were able to read chinese, preferring it to their own language, which indeed had become almost confined to official use. [105] in fact what was p. 106a congenial livelihood for borrow—this production of a bible in the manchu tongue—would have been death and desolation to the highly placed caste of the chinese empire had these been compelled to make use of borrow’s efforts. the experiment was not to be made. the bible society had such comfort for their subscribers as is contained in the fact that in the year 1859 editions of st. matthew and st. mark were published in manchu and chinese side by side, the manchu text being a reprint of that edited by borrow, and that these books are still in use in chinese turkestan. but borrow had here to suffer one of the many disappointments of his life. if not actually a gypsy he had all a gypsy’s love of wandering. no impartial reader of the innumerable letters of this period can possibly claim that there was in borrow any of the proselytising zeal or evangelical fervour which wins for the names of henry martyn and of david livingstone so much honour and sympathy even among the least zealous. at the best borrow’s zeal for religion was of the order of dr. keate, the famous headmaster of eton—“blessed are the pure in heart . . . if you are not pure in heart, by god, i’ll flog you!” borrow had got his new testaments printed, and he wanted to distribute them because he wished to see still more of the world, and had no lack of courage to carry out any well-defined scheme of the organisation which was employing him. borrow had thrown out constant hints in his letters home. people had suggested to him, he said, that he was printing testaments for which he would never find readers. if you wish for readers, they had said to him, “you must seek them among the natives of pekin and the fierce hordes of desert tartary.” and it was this last most courageous thing that borrow proposed. let him, he said to mr. jowett, fix his headquarters at kiachta upon the northern frontier of china. the society should have an agent there:
i am a person of few words, and will therefore state without circumlocution that i am willing to become that agent. i speak russ, manchu, and the tartar or broken turkish of the russian steppes, and have also some knowledge of chinese, which i might easily improve at kiachta, half of the inhabitants of which town are chinamen. i am therefore not altogether unqualified for such an adventure. [106]
p. 107the bible committee considered this and other plans through the intervening months, and it seems clear that at the end they would have sanctioned some form of missionary work for borrow in the chinese empire; but on 1st june, 1835, he wrote to say that the russian government, solicitous of maintaining good relations with china, would not grant him a passport across siberia except on the condition that he carried not one single manchu bible thither. [107] and so borrow’s dreams were left unfulfilled. he was never to see china or the farther east, although, because he was a dreamer and like his hero, defoe, a bit of a liar, he often said he had. in september, 1835, he was back in england awaiting in his mother’s home in norwich further commissions from his friends of the bible society.
work on the manchu new testament did not entirely absorb borrow’s activities in st. petersburg. he seems to have made a proposition to another organisation, as the following letter indicates. the proposal does not appear to have borne any fruit:
prayer book and homily society,
no. 4 exeter hall, london, january 16th, 1835.
sir,—your letters dated july and november 17, 1834, and addressed to the rev. f. cunningham, have been laid before the committee of the prayer book and homily society, who have agreed to print the translation of the first three homilies into the russian language at st. petersburg, under the direction of mr. and mrs. biller, so soon as they shall have caused the translation to undergo a thorough revision, and shall have certified the same to this society. i write by this post to mrs. biller on the subject. in respect to the second homily in manchu, if we rightly understand your statement, an edition of five hundred copies may be sent forth, the whole expense of which, including paper and printing, will amount to about £12. if we are correct in this the committee are willing to bear the expense of five hundred copies, by way of trial, their wish being this, viz.: that printed copies should be put into the hands of the most competent persons, who shall be invited to offer such remarks on the translation as shall seem desirable; especially that dr. morrison of canton should be requested to submit copies to the inspection of manchu scholars as he shall think fit. when the translation has been thoroughly revised, the committee will consider the propriety of printing a larger edition. they think that the plan of submitting copies in letters of gold to the p. 108inspection of the highest personages in china should probably be deferred till the translation has been thus revised. we hope that this resolution will be satisfactory to you; but the committee, not wishing to prescribe a narrower limit than such as is strictly necessary, have directed me to say, that should the expense of an edition of five hundred copies of the homily in manchu exceed £12, they will still be willing to meet it, but not beyond the sum of £15.
should you print this edition be pleased to furnish us with twenty-five copies, and send twenty-five copies at the least to rev. dr. morrison, at canton, if you have the means of doing so; if not, we should wish to receive fifty copies, that we may send twenty-five to canton. in this case you will be at liberty to draw a bill upon us for the money, within the limits specified above, in such manner as is most convenient. possibly mr. and mrs. biller may be able to assist you in this matter. believe me, dear sir, yours most sincerely,
c. r. pritchett.
mr. g. borrow.
i am not aware whether i am addressing a clergyman or a layman, and therefore shall direct as above. will you be so kind as to send the ms. of the russian homilies to mrs. biller?
during borrow’s last month or two in st. petersburg he printed two thin octavo volumes of translations—some of them verses which, undeterred by the disheartening reception of earlier efforts, he had continued to make from each language in succession that he had the happiness to acquire, although most of the poems are from his old portfolios. these little books were named targum and the talisman. dr. knapp calls the latter an appendix to the former. they are absolutely separate volumes of verse. the publishers, it will be seen, are the german firm that printed the manchu new testament, schultz and beneze. borrow’s preface to targum is dated “st. petersburg, june 1, 1835.” here in targum we find the trial poem which in competition with a rival candidate had won him the privilege of going to russia for the bible society—the mountain chase. here also among new verses are some from the arabic, the persian, and the turkish. if it be true, as his friend hasfeld said, that here was a poet who was able to render another without robbing the garland of a single leaf—that would but prove that the poetry which borrow rendered was not of the first order. nor taking another standard—the capacity to render p. 109the ballad with a force that captures “the common people”—can we agree with william bodham donne, who was delighted with targum and said that “the language and rhythm are vastly superior to macaulay’s lays of ancient rome.” in the talisman we have four little poems from the russian of pushkin followed by another poem, the mermaid, by the same author. three other poems in russian and polish complete the little book. borrow left behind him in st. petersburg with his friend, hasfeld, a presentation copy for pushkin, who, when he received it, expressed regret that he had not met his translator while borrow was in st. petersburg.
