his courage, his excellent stomach, his equestrian prowess, his gold, his Bibles, his popularity, his powerful patronage, his cunning, his cant, his ready talk, his learning, his attractive manners, his great labours; notwithstanding all these, this famous agent of the great Bible Society, this stallion-striding missionary, has effected nothing, and shows in his narrative, that he has effected nothing.

O, Protestantism!-Protestantism! the curse of barrenness is on thee. Thou dwellest in the fortress of the most powerful nation in the world; the swords of invincible armies flame around thee in thy defence; the gold of many conquered tribes, and of many plundered shrines is flung into thy lap; the ways of the earth is made clear before thee, wherever the "white-winged commerce" of England shines; and courage and wisdom and eloquence and learning wait upon thee. For three centuries have thine heralds trumpeted thee forth in the ears of men; and thou hast smitten with thy sceptre of power those who stood against thee, and broken their earthly might into pieces; and those thou couldst not strike, thou hast tried to bribe with thy gold; and those thou couldst not bribe, thou hast tried to debauch with the wine of thy fornications.' And there thou art, like her, who chiefly made thee what thou art, withered and withering, wooing, but never winning, with none, out of thy narrow dwelling-place, who truly love thee, none who yield thee the homage of the heart.+

Thus far we have been engaged rather in exhibiting a general idea of the drift and character of Mr. Borrow's work: we shall now transcribe a few extracts, shewing more clearly its furious and scurrilous anti-Catholic spirit.

"For nearly two centuries, she was the she-Butcher of malignant Rome; the chosen instrument for carrying into effect the atrocious projects of that power." (Pref i. xiv.)

"Rome has no respect for a nation, save so far as it can minister to her cruelty or avarice."--(Pref. i. xvi.)

The following is the strain in which he addresses the pope ::-" Undeceive yourself, Batuscha (Daddy) ..... Amongst the peasantry of Spain I found my sturdiest supporters; and yet, the holy father supposes, that the Spanish labourers are friends and lovers of his. Undeceive yourself, Batuscha.".-(Ib. xvii. xx.)

The pope is an arch deceiver, and the head minister of Satan here on earth," &c.-(i. 51.)

The Edinburgh Review tells us that "Mr. Borrow never spares the pope; he treats him with defiance and sarcasm."

With regard to the support Mr. Borrow speaks of his having found from

• Elizabeth.

"We think it a most remarkable fact that no Christian nation, which did not adopt the principles of the Reformation before the end of the sixteenth century, should ever have adopted them. Catholic communities have, since that time, become infidel and become Catholic again; but none has become Protestant."-Edinburgh Review, No. cxlv. p. 258.

the Spanish peasantry-the assertion is false; and his own account of his 'campaign' proves it to be false-utterly false. If by support he means patronage of his cause, purchase of his Bibles, abuse of the pope and the clergy, and the Catholic faith, such support he did receive, but from whom? From the British minister, from straggling bandits, thieves, cutthroats; cunning guides, and avaricious booksellers, and poor hotel keepers, who, caring very little for any form of religion, and knowing their man, flattered his ruling passion, for the sake of the money which he scattered among them with no sparing hand, and, seeing that the bait took, regaled his appetite with slanderous and incredible stories about monks and priests. By glosing words he seduced a few simple-minded people, ignorant of his real design, to purchase his book. But of support, such as a Christian missionary would not be ashamed to speak of in a Christian country, he received none whatever, from the peasantry, or from any other class.

He calls the Virgin Mother of our Lord, whom the archangel pronounced "blessed among women," and who was to be called blessed among all generations-he call her jibingly-how can we write the words?-"the Goddess of Rome, Maria Santissima."-(Ibid. xix.)

"I, therefore, when they" [some two hundred children at Evora, in Portugal, who, as Borrow says, had not seen the Bible] "told me they were Christians, denied the possibility of their being so, as they were ignorant of Christ and his commandments [not having seen the Bible!] and placed their hope of salvation on outward forms and observances, which were the invention of Satan, who wished to keep them in darkness, that at last they might tumble into the pit which he had dug for them. I said repeatedly that the pope, whom they revered, was an arch deceiver, and the head minister of Satan here on earth, and that the monks and friars, whose absence they so deplored, and to whom they had been accustomed to confess themselves, were subordinate agents. When called upon for proofs, I invariably cited the ignorance of my auditors respecting the Scriptures, &c. . . . . Since this occurred, I have been frequently surprised, that I experienced no insult and illtreatment from the people, whose superstitions I was thus attacking; but I really experienced none," &c.(i. 50.)

Need we tell our readers to mark the forbearance and meekness of these poor Portuguese Catholics, hearing the brutal and atrocious language in which the head of the Church, and their beloved and proscribed fathers are assailed. It brings the tears to our eyes to think of these little children-two hundred Portuguese Catholic children-deploring the loss of spiritual fathers to whom they had been accustomed to confess themselves, and, in the simplicity of their hearts, obliged to listen to the howlings of this ravenous wolf.*

Mr. Borrow [i. 58] gives a translation of a ridiculous charm which he dis

An epithet which B. applies to one of the civil functionaries at Madrid, who endeavoured to stop his incendiary operations. (ii. 10.)

covered on some person: whereupon he adds, "All these charms were the fabrications of the monks, who had sold them to their infatuated confessants." He, of course, gives no proof of this abominable charge against the poor monks: he does not even hint that he had any proof: he does not state that he heard the fact from any one--not even from one of his usual authorities, a thief, a liberal, or a gipsy. Now, what if we said that the charm itself, and the whole story about it, were inventions of Mr. Borrow's own? We have just as good a right to assert this, as he has to assert that the monks were the authors of the imposture --nay, a much better right; for we have every reason to conclude from the tenour of this work, that he is not incapable of such a forgery, and we have no reason to think that the monks in question, are anything worse than ordinary good Christians. However this may be, we do not believe one word of the story from beginning to end.

Akin to this gratuitous assertion is another which he makes, in describing the execution of a criminal at which he was present, in Madrid. He tells us that "Two priests led the animal [on which the culprit sat] by the bridle: two others walked on either side chaunting litanies, amongst which I distinguished the words of heavenly peace and tranquility, for the culprit had received absolution, and had been promised admission, into heaven [of course, on condition of his sincere repentence] . . . . One of the priests then in a loud voice commenced saying the belief [creed,] and the culprit repeated the words after him. . . . As the screw went round, the priest began to shout "pax et misericordia et tranquillitas," and still as he shouted, his voice become louder and louder, until the lofty walls of Madrid rang with it: then stooping down, he placed his mouth close to the culprit's ear, still shouting just as if he would pursue the spirit through its course to eternity, cheering it on its way. The effect was tremendous. I myself was so excited, that I involuntarily shouted misericordia, and so did many others." Now, leaving out the light and sneering tone of the narrative, in what regards the priest, we would naturally suppose that such a scene, even as witnessed with Mr. B's. eyes, would have suggested peaceful and becalming reflections; and that, if he added anything, it would be to say that, after all, there was something to be admired and loved in Catholicity, which thus strengthens and cheers the departing spirit, and lifts the soul even of the dying malefactor, on the wings of faith and hope and charity. But no-even the virtues which a pagan would admire, are, in this fellow's eyes, vices when they exist in a Catholic priest. Hear his blasphemous revelings! -"God was not thought of; Christ was not thought of [how under heaven could he know this?] only the priest was thought of, for he seemed at that mo ment to be the first being in existence, &c. . . . . A striking instance of the successful working of the popish system, whose grand aim has ever been to keep people's minds as far as possible from God."--[i. 249.]

In like manner, in describing [iii. 2] a threat of assassination he received from some ruffian, in a dark street, after night, he quite cooly, and as a matter

of course, and without producing or hinting that he had the smallest particle of proof, attributes it to the machinations of the clergy. The Edinburgh Reviewer [p. 130] making the slander his own, exclaims, "Such was the hellish rancour and hostillity to the word of God, exhibited by the Romanists clergy." If the threat were really made [and it should be recollected that we have no other authority for the statement than Borrow himself.] it was evidently made by some prowling nightwalker, such as might be found gratis in every street in London every night in the year.

There is a comical passage at page 253; we shall transcribe it, merely to relieve the sameness of our other extracts:

"Who can rival the English aristocrat in lofty stature, in dignified bearing, in strength of hand, and valour of heart? who rides a nobler horse? [we could name one ;] who has a firmer seat? and who more lovely than his wife, or sister, or daughter? [what will O'Connell say to this?] But with regard to the Spanish aristocracy,-the ladies and gentlemen,-the cavaliers and senoras, I believe the less that is said of them on the points to which I have just alluded the better. I confess, however, that I know little about them"!!! [i. 253.]

The following gem is worth preserving:

"..... Popery, a delusion which, more than any other, has tended to debase and brutalize the human mind."--[ii. 89.]

The value of Mr. Borrow's authority as to the character of the Spanish people and priests, will be admirably illustrated from the account he gives [vol. ii. chap. 5] of his brief" campaing" at Astorga, the capital of a tract of land called the country of the Maragatos. He tells us that he received some uncivil treatment at a posada in the suburbs of this town; which we have no doubt he richly deserved, and, indeed, we might gather so much from his own account of the affair; for he says, on our complaining of this treatment, we were told that we were two vagabonds [himself and servant,] whom nobody knew; who had come without an arriero, and had already set the whole house in confusion." [ii. 93.] Mr. B. pours out the most unmeasured invectives against the poor Maragatos; but the true motives of this special outbreak of his wrath will be very easily gathered from the following extract :--"I once or twice contrived to make my way into the town, but found no bookseller, nor any person willing to undertake the charge of disposing of my testaments. The people were brutal, stupid, and uncivil, and I returned to my tester bed fatigued and dispirited." The good citizens would not purchase testaments from a "vagabond whom nobody knew," ergo, they were brutal, stupid, and uncivil.

But the Maragatos not only did not allow their pockets to be picked by the tramper, but, "like true men of the north, they delight in swelling liquors, and fattening upon gross and lucious meats [we suspect they were not over liberal in sharing these meats with B.,] which help to swell out their tall and goodly

figures. Many of them have died possessed of considerable riches, part of which they have not unfrequently bequeathed to the erection or establishment of religious houses. . . . . . I spoke to several of these men respecting the all important subject of religion. . . . . There was one in particular, to whom I showed the New Testament, and whom I addressed for a considerable time. After I had concluded, he said. . . . . As for what you told me, I understand little of it, and believe not a word of it [O, the stupid unbeliever!] So much for the Maragatos. (p. 98, &c.) Most brutal, stupid, and uncivil Maragatos, who refused to swallow Borrow's preachings, although they fattened on luscious meats; who were not ashamed to present their tall and goodly figures, as if in rivalry, before a vagabond whom nobody knew, and who was six feet two in his stocking soles! but, oh more brutal still, to bequeath at their dying moments part of their riches for religious purposes! We hope Mr. Borrow will try, with the help of Lord Clarendon, to pursuade the infidel party in Spain to adopt some measures to stunt the growth of these Maragatos down to the ordinary stature of fallen humanity, and to extinguish their passion for making pious bequests. For attaining the first object, we would humbly suggest, as a good means, a law compelling them to adopt the Irish luxury of "potatoes and point" once every day: and, for the second, the distribution of the bible without note or comment, with a full license to each to form his religious creed out of it, as best he can,-not forgetting, of course, a hint that the Pope is the head minister of Satan, and that the two fundamental doctrines of Christianity are, that it is a theological virtue to hate the Pope, and a cardinal virtue to abuse him.

Of the countenance which he received from the Spanish clergy, he says:— "Throughout my residence in Spain, the clergy were the party from whom I experienced the strongest opposition. [Honour to them, the clergy of Spain.]

.. Rome is fully aware that she is not a Christian Church, and having no desire to become so, she acts prudently in keeping from the eyes of her followers the page that would reveal to them the truths of Christianity. . . . There was, however, one section of the clergy, a small one it is true [thank God,] rather favourably disposed towards the circulation of the Gospel [i. e. the jockeytramper's perversion of it.] . . It is, however, worthy [indeed, most worthy] of remark that, of all these, not ONE but owed his office, not to the pope, who disowns them one and all, but to the Queen Regent, the professed head of liberalism throughout Spain." [iii. 79, &c.] Of one of these Queen Regent's ecclesiastics, he conjectures [p. 86] that he was made choice of to fill the office which he occupies, "as they sometimes do primates in his own country [England,] for his own incapacity." We were not aware before of the fact stated here in regard to the selection of English primates.

We suppose that our readers are by this time perfectly satisfied as to the real nature of Mr. Borrow's work, and that further extracts would be quite needless. We might quote on in the same strain: but that Mr. B. is a fanatic,

VOL. 2.

82.