G. BORROW.

“The Bible in Spain” was published towards the end of the year, and created a sensation.  It was praised by many critics, and condemned by others, for Borrow had his enemies in the press.

Mr. George Borrow to John Murray, Junior.

LOWESTOFT, December 1, 1842.

MY DEAR SIR,

I received your kind letter containing the bills.  It was very friendly of you, and I thank you, though, thank God, I have no Christmas bills to settle.  Money, however, always acceptable.  I dare say I shall be in London with the entrance of the New Year; I shall be most happy to see you, and still more your father, whose jokes do one good.  I wish all the world were as gay as he; a gentleman drowned himself last week on my property, I wish he had gone somewhere else.  I can’t get poor Allan out of my head.  When I come up, intend to go and see his wife.  What a woman!  I hope our book will be successful.  If so, shall put another on the stocks.  Capital subject; early life, studies, and adventures; some account of my father, William Taylor, Whiter, Big Ben, etc., etc.  Had another letter from Ford; wonderful fellow; seems in high spirits.  Yesterday read “Letters from the Baltic”; much pleased with it; very clever writer; critique in Despatch harsh and unjust; quite uncalled for; blackguard affair altogether.

I remain, dear Sir, ever yours,

GEORGE BORROW,

December 31, 1842.

MY DEAR SIR,

I have great pleasure in acknowledging your very kind letter of the 28th, and am happy to hear that matters are going on so prosperously.  It is quite useless to write books unless they sell, and the public has of late become so fastidious that it is no easy matter to please it.  With respect to the critique in the Times, I fully agree with you that it was harsh and unjust, and the passages selected by no means calculated to afford a fair idea of the contents of the work.  A book, however, like “The Bible in Spain” can scarcely be published without exciting considerable hostility, and I have been so long used to receiving hard knocks that they make no impression upon me.  After all, the abuse of the Times is better than its silence; it would scarcely have attacked the work unless it had deemed it of some importance, and so the public will think.  All I can say is, that I did my best, never writing but when the fit took me, and never delivering anything to my amanuensis but what I was perfectly satisfied with.  You ask me my opinion of the review in the Quarterly.  Very good, very clever, very neatly done.  Only one fault to find—­too laudatory.  I am by no means the person which the reviewer had the kindness to represent me.  I hope you are getting on well as to health; strange weather this, very unwholesome, I believe, both for man and beast:  several people dead, and great mortality amongst the cattle.  Am tolerably well