ow would tolerate no interference with his work, and promptly
withdrew the Essay, which had meanwhile been set up in type. The
following letter, addressed by Lockhart to Ford, sufficiently explains
the position:

_London_,
_June_ 13_th_, 1845.

_Dear Ford_,

'_El Gitano_' _sent me a paper on the_ "_Hand-Book_" _which I read
with delight_. _It seemed just another capital chapter of his_
"_Bible in Spain_," _and I thought_, _as there was hardly a word of_
'_review_,' _and no extract giving the least notion of the peculiar
merits and style of the_ "_Hand-Book_," _that I could easily_ (_as is
my constant custom_) _supply the humbler part myself_, _and so
present at once a fair review of the work_, _and a lively specimen of
our friend's vein of eloquence in exordio_.

_But_, _behold_! _he will not allow any tampering_ . . . _I now write
to condole with you_; _for I am very sensible_, _after all_, _that
you run a great risk in having your book committed to hands far less
competent for treating it or any other book of Spanish interest than
Borrow's would have been_ . . . _but I consider that_, _after all_,
_in the case of a new author_, _it is the first duty of_ "_The
Quarterly Review_" _to introduce that author fully and fairly to the
public_.

_Ever Yours Truly_,
_J. G. Lockhart_.

The action of Lockhart in seeking to amend his Essay excited Borrow's
keenest indignation, and induced him to produce the following amusing
squib:--

_Would it not be more dignified_
_To run up debts on every side_,
_And then to pay your debts refuse_,
_Than write for rascally Reviews_?
_And lectures give to great and small_,
_In pot-house_, _theatre_, _and town-hall_,
_Wearing your brains by night and day_
_To win the means to pay your way_?
_I vow by him who reigns in_ [_hell_],
_It would be more respectable_!

This squib was never printed by Borrow. I chanced to light upon it
recently in a packet of his as yet unpublished verse.

The Essay itself is far too interesting, and far too characteristic of
its author, to be permitted to remain any longer inaccessible; hence the
present reprint. The or