On 2nd April 1824, George Borrow was cast upon the world of London by
the death of his father, "with an exterior shy and cold, under which
lurk much curiosity, especially with regard to what is wild and
extraordinary, a considerable quantity of energy and industry, and an
unconquerable love of independence." {40a}

It had become necessary for him to earn his own livelihood. Captain
Borrow's pension had ceased with his death, and the old soldier's
savings of a lifetime were barely sufficient to produce an income of
a hundred pounds a year for his widow. The provision made in the
will for his younger son during his minority would operate only for
about four months, as he would be of age in the following July. {40b}
The clerkship with Simpson & Rackham would expire at the end of
March. Borrow had outlined his ambitions in a letter written on 20th
January 1824, when he was ill and wretched, to Roger Kerrison, then
in London: "If ever my health mends [this has reference to a very
unpleasant complaint he had contracted], and possibly it may by the
time my clerkship is expired, I intend to live in London, write
plays, poetry, etc., abuse religion and get myself prosecuted," for
he was tired of the "dull and gloomy town." It was therefore with a
feeling of relief that, on the evening of 1st April, he took his seat
on the top of the London coach, his hopes centred in a small green
box that he carried with him. It contained his stock-in-trade as an
author: his beloved manuscripts, "closely written over in a singular
hand."

Among the bundles of papers were: