kind and attentive, the Emperor's apothecary, even, sending word that
Borrow was to order of him anything, medical or otherwise, that he
found himself in need of.



CHAPTER VIII: FEBRUARY-OCTOBER 1834



Borrow had at last found work that was thoroughly congenial to him.
It was not in his nature to exist outside his occupations, and his
whole personality became bound up in the mission upon which he was
engaged. Not content with preparing the way for printing the New
Testament in Manchu, he set himself the problem of how it was to be
distributed when printed. He foresaw serious obstacles to its
introduction into China, on account of the suspicion with which was
regarded any and everything European. With a modest disclaimer that
his suggestion arose "from a plenitude of self-conceit and a
disposition to offer advice upon all matters, however far they may be
above my understanding," he proceeds to deal with the difficulties of
distribution with great clearness.

To send the printed books to Canton, to be distributed by English
missionaries, he thought would be productive of very little good, nor
would it achieve the object of the Society, to distribute copies at
seaports along the coasts, because it was unlikely that there would
be many Tartars or people there who understood Manchu. There was a
further obstacle in the suspicion in which the Chinese held all
things English. On the other hand, he tells Mr Jowett,