It is not a little curious that no one should have thought of putting
Borrow's undoubted gifts as a linguist to some practical use. He
himself had frequently cast his eyes in the direction of a political
appointment abroad. It remained, however, for the Rev. Francis
Cunningham, {92a} vicar of Lowestoft, in Suffolk, to see in this
young man against whom the curse of Babel was inoperative, a sword
that, in the hands of the British and Foreign Bible Society, might be
wielded with considerable effect against the heathen.

Borrow appears to have become acquainted with the Rev. Francis
Cunningham through the Skeppers of Oulton Hall, near Lowestoft, of
whom it is necessary to give some account. Edmund Skepper had
married Anne Breame of Beetley, who, on the death of her father, came
into 9000 pounds. She and her husband purchased the Oulton Hall
estate, upon which Anne Skepper seems to have been given a five per
cent. mortgage. There were two children of the marriage, Breame
(born 1794) and Mary (born 1796). The boy inherited the estate, and
the girl the mortgage, worth about 450 pounds per annum. Mary
married Henry Clarke, a lieutenant in the Navy (26th July 1817), who
within eight months died of consumption. Two months later Mrs Clarke
gave birth to a daughter, who was christened Henrietta Mary. Mrs
Clarke became acquainted with the Cunninghams while they were at
Pakefield, and there is every reason to believe that she was
instrumental in introducing Borrow to Cunningham. It is most
probable that they met during Borrow's visit at Oulton Hall in
November 1832.

The Rev. Francis Cunningham appears to have been impressed by
Borrow's talent for languages, and fully alive to his value to an