On the morning of 30th April, whilst at breakfast, Borrow, according to his own account, received a visit from a man who announced that he was "A Police Agent." He came from the Civil Governor, who was perfectly aware that he, Borrow, was continuing in secret to dispose of the "evil books" that he had been forbidden to sell. The man began poking round among the books and papers that were lying about, with the result that Borrow led his visitor by the arm down the three flights of stairs into the street, "looking him steadfastly in the face the whole time," and subsequently sending down by his landlady the official's sombrero, which, in the unexpectedness of his departure, he had left behind him.
The official report of Pedro Martin de Eugenio, the police agent in question, runs as follows
MADRID, 30th April 1838. OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE POLICE AGENT OF THE LANGUAGE HELD BY MR BORROW.
Public Security,--In virtue of an order from His Excellency the Civil Governor, {231a} I went to seize the Copies Entitled the Gospel of St Luke, in the Shop Princes Street No. 25, belonging to Mr George Borrow, but not finding him there; I went to his lodgings, which are in St James Street, No. 16, on the third floor and presenting the said order to Him He read it, and with an angry look threw it on the ground saying, that He had nothing to do with the Civil Governor, that He was authorised by His Ambassador to sell the Work in question, and that an English Stable Boy, is more than any Spanish Civil Governor, and that I had forcibly entered his house, to which I replied that I only went there to communicate the order to Him, as proprietor as he was of the said Shop, and to seize the Copies in it in virtue of that Order, and He answered I might do as I liked, that He should go to the House of His Ambassador, and that I should be responsible for the consequences; to which I replied that He had personally insulted the Civil Governor and all Spain, to which He answered in the same terms, holding the same language as above stated.
All of which I communicate to you for the objects required.
THE POLICE AGENT PEDRO MARTIN DE EUGENIO. {232a}
Borrow felt that the fellow had been sent to entrap him into some utterance that should justify his arrest. In any case a warrant was issued that same morning. The news caused Borrow no alarm; for one thing he was indifferent to danger, for another he was desirous of studying the robber language of Spain, and had already, according to his own statement, {232b} made an unsuccessful effort to obtain admission to the city prison.
The official account of the interview between Borrow and the "Police Agent" is given in the following letter from the Civil Governor to Sir George Villiers:-
To the British Minister, - MADRID, 30th April 1838. SIR,
The Vicar of the Diocese having, on the 16th and 26th Instant, officially represented to me, that neither the publication nor the sale of the Gospel of St Luke translated into the romain, or Gitano Dialect ought to be permitted, until such time as the translation had been examined and approved by the competent Ecclesiastical Authority, in conformity with the Canonical and Civil regulations existing on the matter, I gave an order to a dependent of this civil administration, to present himself in the house of Mr George Borrow, a British Subject, charged by the London Bible Society with the publication of this work, and to seize all the Copies of it. In execution of this order my Warrant was yesterday morning {233a} presented to the said Mr George Borrow; who, so far from obeying it, broke out in insults most offensive to my authority, threw the order on the ground with angry gestures, and grossly abused the bearer of it, and said that he had nothing to do with the Civil Governor. The detailed report in writing which has been made to me of this disageeeable occurrence could not but deeply affect me, being a question of a British Subject, to whom the Government of Her Catholic Majesty has always afforded the same protection as to its own. As Executor of the Law it is my duty to cause its decrees to be inviolably observed; and you will well understand, that both the Canonical as the Civil Laws now existing, in this kingdom, relative to writings and works published upon Dogmas, Morals, and holy and religious matters, are the same without distinction for the Subjects of all Countries residing in Spain. No one can be permitted to violate them with impunity, without detriment to the Laws themselves, to the Royal Authority and to the Evangelical Moral which is highly interested in preventing the propagation of doctrines which may be erroneous, and that the purity of the sublime maxims of our divine Faith should remain intact.
In conformity with these undeniable principles, which are in the Laws of all civilised nations, you must acknowledge that the offensive conduct of Mr George Borrow, and his disobedience to a legitimate Authority sufficiently authorised the proceeding to his arrest . . .
I have, etc., etc. DEIGO DE ENTRENA.
The "Police Agent" seems to have boasted that within twenty-four hours Borrow would be in prison; Borrow, on the other hand, determined to prove the "Police Agent" wrong. He therefore spent the rest of the day and the following night at a cafe. {234a} In the evening he received a visit from Maria Diaz, {234b} his landlady and also his strong adherent and friend, whom he had informed of his whereabouts. From her he learned that his lodgings had been searched and that the alguazils, who bore a warrant for his arrest, were much disappointed at not finding him.
The next morning, 1st May, at the request of Sir George Villiers, Borrow called at the Embassy and narrated every circumstance of the affair, with the result that he was offered the hospitality of the Embassy, which he declined. Whilst in conversation with Mr Sothern, Sir George Villiers' private secretary, Borrow's Basque servant Francisco rushed in with the news that the alguazils were again at his rooms searching among his papers, whereat Borrow at once left the Embassy, determined to return to his lodgings. Immediately afterwards he was arrested, {234c} within sight of the doors of the Embassy, and conducted to the office of the Civil Governor. Francisco in the meantime, acting on his master's instructions, conveyed to him in Basque that the alguazils might not understand, proceeded immediately to the British Embassy and informed Sir George Villiers of what had just taken place, with such eloquence and feeling that Mr Sothern afterwards remarked to Borrow, "That Basque of yours is a noble fellow," and asked to be given the refusal of his services should Borrow ever decide to part with him. With his dependents Borrow was always extremely popular, even in Spain, where, according to Mr Sothern, a man's servant seemed to be his worst enemy.
Borrow submitted quietly to his arrest and was first taken to the office of the Civil Governor (Gefatura Politica), and subsequently to the Carcel de la Corte, by two Salvaguardias, "like a common malefactor." Here he was assigned a chamber that was "large and lofty, but totally destitute of every species of furniture with the exception of a huge wooden pitcher, intended to hold my daily allowance of water." {235a} For this special accommodation Borrow was to pay, otherwise he would have been herded with the common criminals, who existed in a state of foulness and misery. Acting on the advice of the Alcayde, Borrow despatched a note to Maria Diaz, with the result that when Mr Sothern arrived, he found the prisoner not only surrounded by his friends and furniture, but enjoying a comfortable meal, whereat he laughed heartily.
Borrow learned that, immediately on hearing what had taken place, Sir George Villiers had despatched Mr Sothern to interview Senor Entrena, the Civil Governor, who rudely referred him to his secretary, and refused to hold any communication with the British Legation save in writing. Nothing further could be done that night, and on hearing that Borrow was determined to remain in durance, even if offered his liberty, now that he had been illegally placed there, Mr Sothern commended his resolution. The Government had put itself grievously in the wrong, and Sir George, who had already sent a note to Count Ofalia demanding redress, seemed desirous of making it as difficult for them as possible, now that they had perpetrated this wanton outrage on a British subject. He determined to make it a national affair.
It is by no means certain that Borrow was anxious to leave the Carcel de la Corte, even with the apologies of Spain in his pocket. The prison afforded him unique opportunities for the study of criminal vagabonds. An entirely new phase of life presented itself to him, and, but for this arrest and his subsequent decision to involve the authorities in difficulties, The Bible in Spain would have lacked some of its most picturesque pages. It would have been strange if he had not encountered some old friend or acquaintance in the prison of the Spanish capital. At the Carcel de la Corte he found the notorious and immense Gitana, Aurora, who had fallen into the hands of the Busne for defrauding a rather foolish widow.
"A great many people came to see me," Borrow wrote to his mother, "amongst others, General Quiroga, the Military Governor, who assured me that all he possessed was at my service. The Gypsies likewise came, but were refused admittance." His dinner was taken to him from an inn, and Sir George Villiers sent his butler each day to make enquiries. There was, however, one very unpleasant feature of his prison life, the verminous condition of the whole building. In spite of having fresh linen taken to him each day, he suffered very much from what the polished Spaniard prefers to call miseria.
Sir George Villiers took active and immediate steps, not only to secure Borrow's release, but to obtain an unqualified apology. Referring to the letter he had received from the Civil Governor (30th April), he expressed himself as convinced that "a gentleman of Borrow's character and education was incapable of the conduct alleged," and had accordingly requested Mr Sothern to enquire into the matter and then to call upon the Civil Governor to explain in what manner he had been misinformed. As the Civil Governor refused to receive Mr Sothern, Sir George adds that he need trouble him no further, as the affair had been placed before Her Catholic Majesty's Government; but during his five years of office at the Court of Madrid, he proceeded, "no circumstance has occurred likely to be more prejudicial to the relations between the two Countries than the insult and imprisonment to which a respectable Englishman has now been subjected upon the unsupported evidence of a Police Officer," acting under the orders of the Civil Governor.
On 3rd May Sir George Villiers wrote again to Count Ofalia, reminding him that he had not received the letter from him that he had expected. In the course of a lengthy recapitulation of the occurrences of the past ten days, Sir George reminded Count Ofalia that, as a result of their interview on 30th April about the ill- usage of Borrow, the Count had written on 1st May to him a private letter stating that measures had been taken to release Borrow on parole, he to appear when necessary, and that if Sir George would abstain from making a written remonstrance, Count Ofalia would see that both he and Borrow received the ample satisfaction to which they were entitled. Borrow had been taken by two Guards "like a Malefactor, to the Common Prison, where he would have been confined with Criminals of every description if he had not had money to pay for a Cell to Himself." The British Minister complained that every step that he had taken for Borrow's protection was followed by fresh insult, and he further intimated that Borrow refused to leave the prison until his character had been publicly cleared.
The Spanish Government now found itself in a quandary. The British Minister was pressing for satisfaction, and he was too powerful and too important to the needs of Spain to be offended. The prisoner himself refused to be liberated, because he had been illegally arrested, inasmuch as he, a foreigner, had been committed to prison without first being conducted before the Captain-General of Madrid, as the law provided. Furthermore, Borrow advised the authorities that if they chose to eject him from the prison he would resist with all his bodily strength. In this determination he was confirmed by the British Minister.
A Cabinet Council was held, at which Senor Entrena was present. The Premier explained the serious situation in which the ministry found itself, owing to the attitude assumed by the British Minister, and he remarked that the Civil Governor must respect the privileges of foreigners. Senor Entrena suggested that he should be relieved of his duties; but the majority of the Cabinet seems to have been favourable to him. The Affaire Borrow is said to have come up for debate even during a secret session of the Chamber.
When Count Ofalia had called at the British Embassy (4th May) he was informed by Sir George Villiers that the affair had passed beyond the radius of a subordinate authority of the Government, and that he "considered that great want of respect had been shown to me, as Her Majesty's Minister, and that an unjustifiable outrage had been committed upon a British Subject," {238a} and that the least reparation that he was disposed to accept was a written declaration that an injustice had been done, and the dismissal of the Police Officer. {238b}
The value of a British subject's freedom was brought home to the Spanish Government with astonishing swiftness and decision. The Civil Governor wrote to Sir George Villiers (3rd May), apparently at the instance of the distraught premier, discoursing sagely upon the Civil and Canon Laws of Spain, and adding that the 25 copies of the Gitano St Luke were seized, "not as being confiscated, but as a deposit to be restored in due time." He concluded by hoping that he had convinced the British Minister of his good faith.
In his reply, Sir George considered that the Civil Governor had been led to view the matter in a light that would not "bear the test of impartial examination." The result of this interchange of letters was twofold. Sir George dropped the correspondence with "that Functionary [who] displays so complete a disregard for fact," {239a} and as Count Ofalia evaded the real question at issue, holding out "slender hopes of the matter ending in the reparation which I considered to be peremptorily called for," {239b} he advised Borrow to claim protection from the Captain-General, the only authority competent to exercise any jurisdiction over him. The Captain-General Quiroga, jealous of his authority, entered warmly into the dispute and ordered the Civil Governor to hand over the case to him. There was now a danger of the Affaire Borrow being made a party question, in which case it would have been extremely difficult to settle.
The intervention of the Captain-General rendered all the more obvious the illegality of the Civil Governor's action, and increased the embarrassment of Count Ofalia, who called on Sir George to ask him to have Borrow's memorial to the Captain-General withdrawn. He refused, and said the only way now to finish the affair was that "His Excellency should in an official Note declare to me that Mr Borrow left the prison, where he had been improperly placed, with unstained honour,--that the Police Agent, upon whose testimony he had been arrested, should be dismissed,--that all expenses imposed upon Mr Borrow by his detention should be repaid him by the Government,--that Mr Borrow's not having availed himself of the 'Fuero Militar' should not be converted into a precedent, or in any way be considered to prejudice that important right, and that Count Ofalia should add with reference to maintaining the friendly relations between Great Britain and Spain, that he hoped I would accept this satisfaction as sufficient." {240a}
Borrow states that Sir George Villiers went to the length of informing Count Ofalia that unless full satisfaction were accorded Borrow, he would demand his passports and instruct the commanders of the British war vessels to desist from furnishing further assistance to Spain. {240b} There is, however, no record of this in the official papers sent by Sir George to the Foreign Office. What actually occurred was that, on 8th May, the British Minister, determined to brook no further delay, wrote a grave official remonstrance, in which he stated that, "if the desire had existed to bring it to a close," the case of Borrow could have been settled. "Having up to the present moment," he proceeds, "trusted that in Your Excellency's hands, this affair would be treated with all that consideration required by its nature and the consequences that may follow upon it . . . I have forborne from denouncing the whole extent of the illegality which has marked the proceedings of the case" (viz., the Civil Governor's having usurped the right of the Captain- General of the Province in causing Borrow's arrest). In conclusion, Sir George states that he considers the
"case of most pressing importance, for it may compromise the relations now existing between Great Britain and Spain. It is one that requires a complete satisfaction, for the honor of England and the future position of Englishmen in the Country are concerned; and the satisfaction, in order to be complete, required to be promptly given."
"This disagreeable business," Sir George writes in another of his despatches, "is rendered yet more so by the impossibility of defending with success all Mr Borrow's proceedings . . . His imprudent zeal likewise in announcing publicly that the Bible Society had a depot of Bibles in Madrid, and that he was the Agent for their sale, irritated the Ecclesiastical Authorities, whose attention has of late been called to the proceedings of a Mr Graydon,--another agent of the Bible Society, who has created great excitement at Malaga (and I believe in other places) by publishing in the Newspapers that the Catholic Religion was not the religion of God, and that he had been sent from England to convert Spaniards to Protestantism. I have upon more than one occasion cautioned Mr Graydon, but in vain, to be more prudent. The Methodist Society of England is likewise endeavouring to establish a School at Cadiz, and by that means to make conversions.
"Under all these circumstances it is not perhaps surprising that the Archbishop of Toledo and the Heads of the Church should be alarmed that an attempt at Protestant Propagandism is about to be made, or that the Government should wish to avert the evils of religious schism in addition to all those which already weigh upon the Country; and to these different causes it must, in some degree, be attributed that Mr Borrow has been an object of suspicion and treated with such extreme rigor. Still, however, they do not justify the course pursued by the Civil Governor towards him, or by the Government towards myself, and I trust Your Lordship will consider that in the steps I have taken upon the matter, I have done no more than what the National honor, and the security of Englishmen in this Country, rendered obligatory upon me." {241a}
Whilst Borrow was in the Carcel de la Corte, a grave complication had arisen in connection with the misguided Lieutenant Graydon. Borrow gives a strikingly dramatic account {241b} of Count Ofalia's call at the British Embassy. He is represented as arriving with a copy of one of Graydon's bills, which he threw down upon a table calling upon Sir George Villiers to read it and, as a gentleman and the representative of a great and enlightened nation, tell him if he could any longer defend Borrow and say that he had been ill or unfairly treated. According to the Foreign Office documents, Count Ofalia WROTE to Sir George Villiers on 5th May, ENCLOSING a copy of an advertisement inserted by Lieutenant Graydon in the Boletin Oficial de Malaga, which, translated, runs as follows:-
"The Individual in question most earnestly calls the greatest attention of each member of the great Spanish Family to this DIVINE Book, in order that THROUGH IT he may learn the chief cause, if not the SOLE ONE, of all his terrible afflictions and of his ONLY remedy, as it is so clearly manifested in the Holy Scripture . . . A detestable system of superstition and fanaticism, ONLY GREEDY FOR MONEY, and not so either of the temporal or eternal felicity of man, has prevailed in Spain (as also in other Nations) during several Centuries, by the ABSOLUTE exclusion of the true knowledge of the Great God and last Judge of Mankind: and thus it has been plunged into the most frightful calamities. There was a time in which precisely the same was read in the then VERY LITTLE Kingdom of England, but at length Her Sons recognising their imperative DUTY towards God and their Neighbour, as also their unquestionable rights, and that since the world exists it has never been possible to gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles, they destroyed the system and at the price of their blood chose the Bible. Oh that the unprejudiced and enlightened inhabitants not only of Malaga and of so many other Cities, but of all Spain, would follow so good an example." {242a}
The result of Graydon's advertisement was that "the people flocked in crowds to purchase it [the Bible], so much so that 200 copies, all that were in Mr Graydon's possession at the time, were sold in the course of the day. The Bishop sent the Fiscal to stop the sale of the work, but before the necessary measures were taken they were all disposed of." {242b} In consequence Graydon "was detained and under my [the Consul's] responsibility allowed to remain at large." {243a} A jury of nine all pronounced the article to contain "matter subject to legal process" {243b} but a second jury of twelve at the subsequent public trial "unanimously absolved" Graydon.
Sir George Villiers acknowledged the letter from Count Ofalia (9th May) saying that he had written to Graydon warning him to be more cautious in future. He stated that from personal knowledge he could vouch for the purity of Lieutenant Graydon's intentions; but he regretted that he should have announced his object in so imprudent a manner as to give offence to the ministers of the Catholic religion of Spain. In a despatch to Lord Palmerston he states that he has not thought it in the interests of the Bible Society to defend this conduct of Graydon, "whose zeal appears so little tempered by discretion," {243c} as he had written to Count Ofalia. "Had I done so," he proceeds, "and thereby tended to confirm some of the idle reports that are current, that England had a national object to serve in the propagation of Protestantism in Spain, it is not improbable that a legislative Enactment might have been introduced by some Member of the Cortes, which would be offensive to England, and render it yet more difficult than it is the task the Bible Society seems desirous to undertake in this Country." {243d} Sir George concludes by saying that he gave to "these Agents the best advice and assistance in my power, but if by their acts they infringe the laws of the Country," it will be impossible to defend them.
Sir George thought so seriously of the Affaire Borrow, as endangering the future liberty of Englishmen in Spain, that he went so far as to send a message to the Queen Regent, "by a means which I always have at my disposal," {244a} in which he told her that he thought the affair "might end in a manner most injurious to the continuance of friendly relations between the two Countries." {244b} He received a gracious assurance that he should have satisfaction. Later there reached him
"a second message from the Queen Regent expressing Her Majesty's hope that Count Ofalia's Note [of 11th May] would be satisfactory to me, and stating that Her Ministers had so fully proved their incompetency by giving any just cause of complaint to the Minister of Her only real Friend and Ally, The Queen of England, that she should have dismissed them, were it not that the state of affairs in the Northern Provinces at this moment might be prejudiced by a change of Government, which Her Majesty said she knew no one more than myself would regret, but at the same time if I was not satisfied I had only to state what I required and it should be immediately complied with. My answer was confined to a grateful acknowledgement of Her Majesty's condescension and kindness. Count Ofalia has informed me that as President of the Council He had enjoined all his Colleagues never to take any step directly or indirectly concerning an Englishman without a previous communication with Him as to its propriety, and I therefore venture to hope that the case of Mr Borrow will not be unattended with ultimate advantage to British subjects in Spain." {243c}
The "Note" referred to by the Queen Regent in her message was Count Ofalia's acquiescence in Sir George Villiers' demands, with the exception of the dismissal of the Police Officer. His communication runs:-
"11th May 1838.
"SIR,--The affair of Mr Borrow is already decided by the Judge of First Instance and his decision has been approved by the Superior or Territorial Court of the Province. As I stated to you in my note of the fourth last, the foundation of the arrest of Mr Borrow, who was detained (and not committed), was an official communication from the Agent of Police, Don Pedro Martin de Eugenio, in which he averred that on intimating to Mr Borrow the written order of the Civil Governor relative to the seizure of a book which he had published and exposed for sale without complying with the forms prescribed by the Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws of Spain, he (Mr Borrow) had thrown on the floor the order of the Superior Authority of the Province and used offensive expressions with regard to the said Authority.
"The judicial proceedings have had for their object the ascertainment of the fact. Mr Borrow has denied the truth of the statement and the Agent of Police, who it appears entered the lodgings of Mr Borrow without being accompanied by any one, has been unable to confirm by evidence what he alleged in his official report, or to produce the testimony of any one in support of it.
"This being the case the judge has declared and the Territorial Court approved the superceding of the cause, putting Mr Borrow immediately at complete liberty, with the express declaration that the arrest he has suffered in no wise affects his honor and good fame, and that the 'celador of Public Security,' Don Pedro Martin de Eugenio, be admonished for the future to proceed in the discharge of his duty with proper respect and circumspection according to the condition and character of the persons whom he has to address.
"In accordance with the judicial decision and anxious to give satisfaction to Mr Borrow, correcting at the same time the fault of the Agent of Police in having presented himself without being accompanied by any person in order to effect the seizure in the lodging of Mr Borrow, Her Majesty has thought proper to command that the aforesaid Don Pedro Martin de Eugenio be suspended from his office for the space of Four Months, an order which I shall communicate to the Minister of the Interior, and that Mr Borrow be indemnified for the expenses which may have been incurred by his lodging in the apartment of the Alcaide (chief gaoler or Governor) for the days of his detention, although even before the expiration of 24 hours after his arrest he was permitted to return to his house under his word of honor during the judicial proceedings, as I stated to you in my note already cited. I flatter myself that in this determination you as well as your Government will see a fresh proof of the desire which animates that of H.M. the Queen Regent to maintain and draw closer the relation of friendship and alliance existing between the two countries. And with respect to the claim advanced by Mr Borrow, and of which you also make mention in Your Note of the 8th inst., I ought to declare to you that when the Judge of First Instance received official information of the said claim the business was already concluded in his tribunal, and consequently there was nothing to be done. Without, for this reason, there being understood any innovation with respect to the matter of privilege (fuero) according as it is now established." {246a}
Borrow was liberated with unsullied honour on 12th May, after twelve days' imprisonment. He refused the compensation that Sir George Villiers had made a condition, and later wrote to the Bible Society asking that there might be deducted from the amount due to him the expenses of the twelve days. He states also that he refused to acquiesce in the dismissal of the Agent of Police, by which he doubtless means his suspension, giving as a reason that there might be a wife and family likely to suffer. In any case the man was only carrying out his instructions. Borrow's reason for refusing the payment of his expenses was that he was unwilling to afford them, the Spanish Government, an opportunity of saying that after they had imprisoned an Englishman unjustly, and without cause, he condescended to receive money at their hands. {246b}
The greatest loss to Borrow, consequent upon his imprisonment, no government could make good. His faithful Basque, Francisco, had contracted typhus, or gaol fever, that was raging at the time, and died within a few days of his master's release. "A more affectionate creature never breathed," Borrow wrote to Mr Brandram. The poor fellow, who, "to the strength of a giant joined the disposition of a lamb . . . was beloved even in the patio of the prison, where he used to pitch the bar and wrestle with the murderers and felons, always coming off victor." {247a} The next day Antonio presented himself at Borrow's lodging, and without invitation or comment assumed the duties he had relinquished in order that he might enjoy the excitements of change. "Who should serve you now but myself?" he asked when questioned as to the meaning of his presence, "N'est pas que le sieur Francois est mort!" {247b}
John Hasfeldt's comment on his friend's imprisonment was characteristic. In September 1838 he wrote:-
"The very last I heard of you is that you have had the great good fortune to be stopping in the carcel de corte at Madrid, which pleasing intelligence I found in the Preussiche Staats-Zeitung this last spring. If you were fatter no doubt the monks would have got up an Auto de Fe on your behalf, and you might easily have become a nineteenth-century martyr. Then your strange life would have been hawked about the streets of London for one penny, though you never obtained a fat living to eat and drink and take your ease after all the hardships you have endured."
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