The pocket George Borrow : $b passages chosen from the works of George BorrowBorrow, George
General
The pocket George Borrow : $b passages chosen from the works of George Borrow
Borrow, George
Authors, English -- 19th century; Borrow, George, 1803-1881 -- Selections
My eyes filled with tears; for in the whole course of my life I had never
experienced so much genuine hospitality. Honour to the miller of Mona
and his wife; and honour to the kind hospitable Celts in general! How
different is the reception of this despised race of the wandering
stranger from that of ---. However, I am a Saxon myself, and the Saxons
have no doubt their virtues; a pity that they should be all uncouth and
ungracious ones!
* * * * *
Now real Republicanism is certainly a very fine thing, a much finer thing
than Toryism, a system of common robbery, which is nevertheless far
better than Whiggism--a compound of petty larceny, popular instruction,
and receiving of stolen goods. Yes, real Republicanism is certainly a
very fine thing, and your real Radicals and Republicans are certainly
very fine fellows, or rather were fine fellows, for the Lord only knows
where to find them at the present day--the writer does not. If he did,
he would at any time go five miles to invite one of them to dinner, even
supposing that he had to go to a workhouse in order to find the person he
wished to invite. Amongst the real Radicals of England, those who
flourished from the year '16 to '20, there were certainly extraordinary
characters, men partially insane, perhaps, but honest and brave--they did
not make a market of the principles which they professed, and never
intended to do so; they believed in them, and were willing to risk their
lives in endeavouring to carry them out. The writer wishes to speak in
particular of two of these men, both of whom perished on the
scaffold--their names were Thistlewood and Ings. Thistlewood, the best
known of them, was a brave soldier and had served with distinction as an
officer in the French service; he was one of the excellent swordsmen of
Europe; had fought several duels in France, where it is no child's play
to fight a duel; but had never unsheathed his sword for single combat,
but in defence of the feeble and insulted--he was kind and open-hearted
but of too great simplicity; he had once ten thousand pounds left him,
all of which he lent to a friend, who disappeared and never returned him
a penny. Ings was an uneducated man, of very low stature, but amazing
strength and resolution; he was a kind husband and father, and though a
humble butcher, the name he bore was one of the royal names of the
heathen Anglo-Saxons. These two men, along with five others, were
executed, and their heads hacked off, for levying war against George the
Fourth; the whole seven dying in a manner which extorted cheers from the
populace, the most of them uttering philosophical or patriotic sayings.
Thistlewood, who was, perhaps, the most calm and collected of all, just
before he was turned off, said, 'We are now going to discover the great
secret.' Ings, the moment before he was choked, was singing 'Scots wha
hae wi' Wallace bled.' Now there was no humbug about those men, nor
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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