第37章 27th October,1835

To the Rev.A.Brandram (ENDORSED:recd.Oct.28,1835)WILLOW LANE,ST.GILES,NORWICH,27OCTR.,1835.

REVD.AND DEAR SIR,-I have received your letter of the 26th,as Isuppose Mr.Jowett has received mine of the same date which Ineedlessly sent.As you ask me to favour you with my thoughts,Icertainly will;for I have thought much upon the matters in question,and the result I will communicate to you in a very few words.I decidedly approve (and so do all the religious friends whom I have communicated it to)of the plan of a journey to Portugal,and am sorry that it has been suspended,though I am convinced that your own benevolent and excellent heart was the cause,unwilling to fling me into an undertaking which you supposed might be attended with peril and difficulty.Therefore I wish it to be clearly understood that I am perfectly willing to undertake the expedition,nay,to extend it into Spain,to visit the town and country,to discourse with the people,especially those connected with institutions for infantine education,and to learn what ways and opportunities present themselves for conveying the Gospel into those benighted countries.I will moreover undertake,with the blessing of God,to draw up a small volume of what I shall have seen and heard there which cannot fail to be interesting,and if patronised by the Society will probably help to cover the expenses of the expedition.

On my return I can commence the Armenian Testament,and whilst I am editing that,I may be acquiring much vulgar Chinese from some unemployed Lascar or stray Cantonman whom I may pick up upon the wharves;and then -to China.I have no more to say,for were I to pen twenty pages,and I have time enough for so doing,I could communicate nothing which would make my views more clear.Many thanks to you for enclosing the letter from St.Petersburg:it was written in Danish,and came from a very dear and excellent friend who rendered me in Russia services of no common nature.

I have the honour to be,Revd.and Dear Sir,your most obedient servant,GEORGE BORROW.

P.S.-There has been a Bible meeting at Oulton in Suffolk,to which I was invited.The speaking produced such an effect that some of the most vicious characters in the neighbourhood have become weekly subscribers to the Branch Society.So says the CHRONICLE of Norfolk in its report.