s adventures and travels, something
"thick and slab," to follow "The Bible in Spain." The result shows that
Borrow had almost done with outward adventure. "The Bible in Spain" had
an atmosphere composed at best of as much Spain as Borrow. But the
autobiography is pure inward Borrow: except a few detachable incidents
there is nothing in it which is not Borrow's creation, nothing which
would have any value apart from his own treatment of it. A man might
have used "The Bible in Spain" as a kind of guide to men and places in
1843, and it is possible he would not have been wholly disappointed. The
autobiography does not depend on anything outside itself, but creates its
own atmosphere and dwells in it without admitting that of the outer
world--no: not even by references to events like the campaign of Waterloo
or the funeral of Byron; and, as if conscious that this other atmosphere
must be excluded, Borrow has hardly mentioned a name which could act upon
the reader as a temporary check to the charm. When he does recall
contemporary events, and speaks as a Briton to Britons, the rant is of a
brave degree that is almost as much his own, and it makes more intense
than ever the solitude and inwardness of the individual life going on
side by side with war and with politics.

"Pleasant were those days of my early boyhood; and a melancholy pleasure
steals over me as I recall them. Those were stirring times of which I am
speaking, and there was much passing around me calculated to captivate
the imagination. The dreadful struggle which so long convulsed Europe,
and in which England bore so prominent a part, was then at its hottest;
we were at war, and determination and enthusiasm shone in every face;
man, woman and child were eager to fight the Frank, the hereditary, but,
thank God, never dreaded enemy of the Anglo-Saxon race. 'Love your
country and beat the French, and then never mind what happens,' was the
cry of entire England. Oh those were days of power, gallant days,
bustling days, worth the bravest days of chivalry, at least; tall
battalions of native warriors were marching through the land; there was
the glitter of the bayonet and the gleam of the sabre; the shrill squeak
of the fife and loud rattling of the drum were heard in the streets of
county towns, and the loyal shouts of the inhabitants greeted the
soldiery on their arrival or cheered them at their departure. And now
let us leave the upland and descend to the