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.[104]

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?'[105]

It 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 by other biographers, 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 Here, however, is one hitherto unpublished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:

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 li