Letters of George Borrow | Page 6

Consul, Mr. H. Canning,
to whom I had a letter of recommendation. He received me with great
civility, and honoured me with an invitation to dine with him
to-morrow, which I of course accepted. He is a highly intelligent man,
and resembles strikingly in person his illustrious relative, the late
George Canning. Since visiting him I have been to one of the five tall
churches which tower up above the tall houses; I thought its interior
very venerable and solemn, but the service seemed to be nothing more
than a low- muttered chanting, from which it was impossible to derive
much spiritual edification. There was no sermon, and not more than
twenty persons were present, though the edifice would contain
thousands conveniently. Hamburg is a huge place, and the eastern part
of it is intersected by wide canals communicating with the Elbe, so that
vessels find their way into most parts of the city; the bridges are
consequently very numerous, and are mostly of wood. Some of the
streets are planted with trees, which have a pretty appearance, though
upon the whole it has certainly no claim to the appellation of a
handsome town. But no observer can fail to be struck with the
liveliness and bustle which reign in this emporium of continental
Europe, worthy to be compared with Tyre of old or our own Liverpool.
Another city adjoins it called Altona, the park of which and the
environs are the favourite Sunday lounge of the Hamburgers. Altona is
in Holstein, which belongs to the Danish Government. It is separated
from the Hanseatic town merely by a small gateway, so that it may
truly be said here that there is but one step from a republic to a
monarchy. Little can be said in commendation of the moral state of this
part of the world, for rope-dancers were displaying their agility in the
park to-day, and the dancing-saloons, which I am informed are most
infamous places, are open to the public this evening. England with all
her faults has still some regard to decency, and will not tolerate such a
shameless display of vice on so sacred a season, when a decent
cheerfulness is the freest form in which the mind or countenance ought
to invest themselves. I shall depart for Lubeck on the sixth (Tuesday),
and shall probably be on the Baltic on my way to St. Petersburg on the
eighth, which is the day notified for the departure the steamboat. My

next letter, provided it pleases the Almighty to vouch-safe me a happy
arrival, will be from the Russian capital; and with a fervent request that
you will not forget me in your prayers, and that you will present my
kind remembrances and best respects to Mr. Brandram, and also
remember me to Mr. Hattersley and Mr. Tarn, I have the honour to
remain, Revd. and dear Sir, your most obedient and most humble
servant,
GEORGE BORROW.

LETTER: Undated

To the Rev. J. Jowett (ENDORSED: recd. Sept. 26th, 1833) ST.
PETERSBURG, No. 221 GALERNOY ULITZA. [Undated.]
REVD. AND DEAR SIR, - My last letter was from Hamburg, which I
hope and trust you received. I started from thence on the 24th, and
embarking at Travemunde I arrived at the Russian capital on the 31st
July (old style) after an exceedingly pleasant passage, accomplished in
the short space of 72 hours; for the wind was during the greatest part of
our way favourable and gentle, the sea being quite as smooth as a mill
pond, so that the paddles of our noble steamer, the NIKOLAI, were not
at all impeded in their working by any rolling or pitching of the vessel.
Immediately on my arrival I sought out Mr. Swan, one of the most
amiable and interesting characters I have ever met with, and delivered
to him your letter, the contents of which were very agreeable to him;
for from applying himself too un-interruptedly to transcribing the
manuscript of the Mandchou Old Testament he had in some degree
injured his health; and the arrival of a coadjutor in the task was
exceedingly opportune. In a day or two I went with him to pay a visit to
Mr. Schmidt, who resides a few miles out of town. He assured us that
he had no doubt of permission being granted for the printing of the
Mandchou New Testament, and promised to make all the necessary
inquiries, and to inform Mr. Swan and myself of the result. He was at
the time we saw him much occupied with his Mongolian Grammar and
Dictionary, which are in the press. We have not heard from him since
this visit, and I shall probably call upon him again in a week or two to
hear what steps he has taken. I resided