Termination of our Rural Labours—Alarm of the Clergy—A New
Experiment—Success at Madrid—Goblin-Alguazil—Staff of Office—The
Corregidor—An Explanation—The Pope in England—New Testament
expounded—Works of Luther.
We proceeded in our task of distributing the Scriptures with various
success, until the middle of March, when I determined upon starting for
Talavera, for the purpose of seeing what it was possible to accomplish in
that town and the neighbourhood. I accordingly bent my course in that
direction, accompanied by Antonio and Victoriano. On our way thither we
stopped at Naval Carnero, a large village five leagues to the west of
Madrid, where I remained three days, sending forth Victoriano to the
circumjacent hamlets with small cargoes of Testaments. Providence,
however, which had hitherto so remarkably favoured us in these rural
excursions, now withdrew from us its support, and brought them to a
sudden termination: for in whatever place the sacred writings were
offered for sale, they were forthwith seized by persons who appeared to
be upon the watch; which events compelled me to alter my intention of
proceeding to Talavera, and to return forthwith to Madrid.
I subsequently learned that our proceedings on the other side of Madrid
having caused alarm amongst the heads of the clergy, they had made a
formal complaint to the government, who immediately sent orders to all
the _alcaldes_ of the villages, great and small, in New Castile, to seize
the New Testament wherever it might be exposed for sale; but, at the same
time, enjoining them to be particularly careful not to detain or maltreat
the person or persons who might be attempting to vend it. An exact
description of myself accompanied these orders; and the authorities, both
civil and military, were exhorted to be on their guard against me and my
arts and machinations; for, as the document stated, I was to-day in one
place, and tomorrow at twenty leagues’ distance.
I was not much discouraged by this blow, which, indeed, did not come
entirely unexpected. I, however, determined to change the sphere of
action, and not expose the sacred volume to seizure at every step which I
should take to circulate it. In my late attempts I had directed my
attention exclusively to the villages and small towns, in which it was
quite easy for the government to frustrate my efforts by means of
circulars to the local authorities, who would, of course, be on the
alert, and whose vigilance it would be impossible to baffle, as every
novelty which occurs in a small place is forthwith bruited about. But
the case would be widely different amongst the crowds of the capital,
where I could pursue my labours with comparative secrecy. My present
plan was to abandon the rural districts, and to offer the sacred volume
at Madrid, from house to house, at the same low price as in the country.
This plan I forthwith put into execution.
Having an extensive acquaintance amongst the lower orders, I selected
eight intelligent individuals to co-operate with me, amongst whom were
five women. All these I supplied with Testaments, and then sent them
forth to all the parishes in Madrid. The result of their efforts more
than answered my expectations. In less than fifteen days after my return
from Naval Carnero, nearly six hundred copies of the life and words of
Him of Nazareth had been sold in the streets and alleys of Madrid: a fact
which I hope I may be permitted to mention with gladness and with decent
triumph in the Lord.
One of the richest streets is the Calle Montera, where reside the
principal merchants and shopkeepers of Madrid. It is, in fact, the
street of commerce, in which respect, and in being a favourite promenade,
it corresponds with the far-famed Nefsky {234} of Saint Petersburg.
Every house in this street was supplied with its Testament, and the same
might be said with respect to the Puerta del Sol. Nay, in some
instances, every individual in the house, man and child, manservant and
maid-servant, was furnished with a copy. My Greek, Antonio, made
wonderful exertions in this quarter; and it is but justice to say that,
but for his instrumentality, on many occasions, I might have been by no
means able to give so favourable an account of the spread of “the Bible
in Spain.” There was a time when I was in the habit of saying “dark
Madrid,” an expression which, I thank God, I could now drop. It were
scarcely just to call a city “dark,” in which thirteen hundred Testaments
at least were in circulation, and in daily use.
It was now that I turned to account a supply of Bibles which I had
received from Barcelona, in sheets, at the commencement of the preceding
year. The demand for the entire Scriptures was great; indeed far greater
than I could answer, as the books were disposed of faster than they could
be bound by the man whom I employed for that purpose. Eight-and-twenty
copies were bespoken and paid for before delivery. Many of these Bibles
found their way into the best houses in Madrid. The Marquis of --- had a
large family, but every individual of it, old and young, was in
possession of a Bible, and likewise a Testament, which, strange to say,
were recommended by the chaplain of the house. One of my most zealous
agents in the propagation of the Bible was an ecclesiastic. He never
walked out without carrying one beneath his gown, which he offered to the
first person he met whom he thought likely to purchase. Another
excellent assistant was an elderly gentleman of Navarre, enormously rich,
who was continually purchasing copies on his own account, which he, as I
was told, sent into his native province, for distribution amongst his
friends and the poor.
On a certain night I had retired to rest rather more early than usual,
being slightly indisposed. I soon fell asleep, and had continued so for
some hours, when I was suddenly aroused by the opening of the door of the
small apartment in which I lay. I started up, and beheld Maria Diaz,
with a lamp in her hand, enter the room. I observed that her features,
which were in general peculiarly calm and placid, wore a somewhat
startled expression. “What is the hour, and what brings you here?” I
demanded.
“_Señor_,” said she, closing the door, and coming up to the bedside, “it
is close upon midnight; but a messenger belonging to the police has just
entered the house, and demanded to see you. I told him that it was
impossible, for that your worship was in bed. Whereupon he sneezed in my
face, and said that he would see you if you were in your coffin. He has
all the look of a goblin, and has thrown me into a tremor. I am far from
being a timid person, as you are aware, _Don Jorge_; but I confess that I
never cast my eyes on these wretches of the police, but my heart dies
away within me! I know them but too well, and what they are capable of.”
“Pooh,” said I, “be under no apprehension; let him come in, I fear him
not, whether he be _alguazil_ or hobgoblin. {236} Stand, however, at the
doorway, that you may be a witness of what takes place, as it is more
than probable that he comes at this unseasonable hour to create a
disturbance, that he may have an opportunity of making an unfavourable
report to his principals, like the fellow on the former occasion.”
The hostess left the apartment, and I heard her say a word or two to some
one in the passage, whereupon there was a loud sneeze, and in a moment
after a singular figure appeared at the doorway. It was that of a very
old man, with long white hair, which escaped from beneath the eaves of an
exceedingly high-peaked hat. He stooped considerably, and moved along
with a shambling gait. I could not see much of his face, which, as the
landlady stood behind him with the lamp, was consequently in deep shadow.
I could observe, however, that his eyes sparkled like those of a ferret.
He advanced to the foot of the bed, in which I was still lying, wondering
what this strange visit could mean; and there he stood gazing at me for a
minute, at least, without uttering a syllable. Suddenly, however, he
protruded a spare skinny hand from the cloak in which it had hitherto
been enveloped, and pointed with a short staff, tipped with metal, in the
direction of my face, as if he were commencing an exorcism. He appeared
to be about to speak, but his words, if he intended any, were stifled in
their birth by a sudden sternutation which escaped him, and which was so
violent that the hostess started back, exclaiming, “_Ave Maria
purísima_!” and nearly dropped the lamp in her alarm.
“My good person,” said I, “what do you mean by this foolish hobgoblinry?
If you have anything to communicate do so at once, and go about your
business. I am unwell, and you are depriving me of my repose.”
“By the virtue of this staff,” said the old man, “and the authority which
it gives me to do and say that which is convenient, I do command, order,
and summon you to appear to-morrow, at the eleventh hour, at the office
of my lord the _corregidor_ of this village of Madrid, {237} in order
that, standing before him humbly, and with befitting reverence, you may
listen to whatever he may have to say, or, if necessary, may yield
yourself up to receive the castigation of any crimes which you may have
committed, whether trivial or enormous. _Tenez_, _compère_,” he added,
in most villanous French, “_voilà mon affaire_; _voilà ce que je viens
vous dire_.”
Thereupon he glared at me for a moment, nodded his head twice, and
replacing his staff beneath his cloak, shambled out of the room, and with
a valedictory sneeze in the passage left the house.
Precisely at eleven on the following day I attended at the office of the
_corregidor_. He was not the individual whose anger I had incurred on a
former occasion, and who had thought proper to imprison me, but another
person, I believe a Catalan, whose name I have also forgotten. Indeed,
these civil employments were at this period given to-day and taken away
tomorrow, so that the person who held one of them for a month might
consider himself a functionary of long standing. I was not kept waiting
a moment, but as soon as I had announced myself, was forthwith ushered
into the presence of the _corregidor_—a good-looking, portly, and
well-dressed personage, seemingly about fifty. He was writing at a desk
when I entered, but almost immediately arose and came towards me. He
looked me full in the face, and I, nothing abashed, kept my eyes fixed
upon his. He had, perhaps, expected a less independent bearing, and that
I should have quaked and crouched before him; but now, conceiving himself
bearded in his own den, his old Spanish leaven was forthwith stirred up.
He plucked his whiskers fiercely. “_Escuchad_,” said he, casting upon me
a ferocious glance, “I wish to ask you a question.”
“Before I answer any question of your excellency,” said I, “I shall take
the liberty of putting one myself. What law or reason is there that I, a
peaceable individual and a foreigner, should have my rest disturbed by
_duendes_ and hobgoblins sent at midnight to summon me to appear at
public offices like a criminal?”
“You do not speak the truth,” shouted the _corregidor_; “the person sent
to summon you was neither _duende_ nor hobgoblin, but one of the most
ancient and respectable officers of this _casa_, and so far from being
despatched at midnight, it wanted twenty-five minutes to that hour by my
own watch when he left this office, and as your lodging is not distant,
he must have arrived there at least ten minutes before midnight, so that
you are by no means accurate, and are found wanting in regard to truth.”
“A distinction without a difference,” I replied. “For my own part, if I
am to be disturbed in my sleep, it is of little consequence whether at
midnight or ten minutes before that time; and with respect to your
messenger, although he might not be a hobgoblin, he had all the
appearance of one, and assuredly answered the purpose, by frightening the
woman of the house almost into fits by his hideous grimaces and sneezing
convulsions.”
_Corregidor_.—You are a—I know not what. Do you know that I have the
power to imprison you?
_Myself_.—You have twenty _alguazils_ at your beck and call, and have of
course the power, and so had your predecessor, who nearly lost his
situation by imprisoning me; but you know full well that you have not the
right, as I am not under your jurisdiction, but that of the
captain-general. If I have obeyed your summons, it was simply because I
had a curiosity to know what you wanted with me, and from no other motive
whatever. As for imprisoning me, I beg leave to assure you, that you
have my full consent to do so; the most polite society in Madrid is to be
found in the prison, and as I am at present compiling a vocabulary of the
language of the Madrilenian thieves, I should have, in being imprisoned,
an excellent opportunity of completing it. There is much to be learnt
even in the prison, for, as the gypsies say, “The dog that trots about
finds a bone.” {240}
_Corregidor_.—Your words are not those of a _caballero_. Do you forget
where you are, and in whose presence? Is this a fitting place to talk of
thieves and gypsies in?
_Myself_.—Really I know of no place more fitting, unless it be the
prison. But we are wasting time, and I am anxious to know for what I
have been summoned; whether for crimes trivial or enormous, as the
messenger said.
It was a long time before I could obtain the required information from
the incensed _corregidor_; at last, however, it came. It appeared that a
box of Testaments, which I had despatched to Naval Carnero, had been
seized by the local authorities, and having been detained there for some
time, was at last sent back to Madrid, intended, as it now appeared, for
the hands of the _corregidor_. One day as it was lying at the
waggon-office, Antonio chanced to enter on some business of his own and
recognized the box, which he instantly claimed as my property, and having
paid the carriage, removed it to my warehouse. He had considered the
matter as of so little importance, that he had not as yet mentioned it to
me. The poor _corregidor_, however, had no doubt that it was a deep-laid
scheme to plunder and insult him. And now, working himself up into
almost a frenzy of excitement, he stamped on the ground, exclaiming,
“_Que picardia_! _Que infamia_!”
The old system, thought I, of prejudging people, and imputing to them
motives and actions of which they never dreamed. I then told him frankly
that I was entirely ignorant of the circumstance by which he had felt
himself aggrieved; but that if, upon inquiry, I found that the chest had
actually been removed by my servant from the office to which it had been
forwarded, I would cause it forthwith to be restored, although it was my
own property. “I have plenty more Testaments,” said I, “and can afford
to lose fifty or a hundred. I am a man of peace, and wish not to have
any dispute with the authorities for the sake of an old chest and a cargo
of books, whose united value would scarcely amount to forty dollars.”
He looked at me for a moment, as if in doubt of my sincerity, then, again
plucking his whiskers, he forthwith proceeded to attack me in another
quarter: “_Pero que infamia_, _que picardia_! to come into Spain for the
purpose of overturning the religion of the country. What would you say
if the Spaniards were to go to England and attempt to overturn the
Lutheranism established there?”
“They would be most heartily welcome,” I replied; “more especially if
they would attempt to do so by circulating the Bible, the book of
Christians, even as the English are doing in Spain. But your excellency
is not perhaps aware that the Pope has a fair field and fair play in
England, and is permitted to make as many converts from Lutheranism every
day in the week as are disposed to go over to him. He cannot boast,
however, of much success; the people are too fond of light to embrace
darkness, and would smile at the idea of exchanging their Gospel
privileges for the superstitious ceremonies and observances of the Church
of Rome.”
On my repeating my promise that the books and chest should be forthwith
restored, the _corregidor_ declared himself satisfied, and all of a
sudden became excessively polite and condescending: he even went so far
as to say that he left it entirely with myself, whether to return the
books or not; “and,” continued he, “before you go, I wish to tell you
that my private opinion is, that it is highly advisable in all countries
to allow full and perfect tolerance in religious matters, and to permit
every religious system to stand or fall according to its own merits.”
Such were the concluding words of the _corregidor_ of Madrid, which,
whether they expressed his private opinion or not, were certainly
grounded on sense and reason. I saluted him respectfully and retired,
and forthwith performed my promise with regard to the books; and thus
terminated this affair.
It almost appeared to me at this time that a religious reform was
commencing in Spain; indeed, matters had of late come to my knowledge,
which, had they been prophesied only a year before, I should have
experienced much difficulty in believing.
The reader will be surprised when I state that, in two churches of
Madrid, the New Testament was regularly expounded every Sunday evening,
by the respective curates, to about twenty children who attended, and who
were all provided with copies of the society’s edition of Madrid, 1837.
{242a} The churches which I allude to were those of San Gines and Santa
Cruz. {242b} Now, I humbly conceive that this fact alone is more than
equivalent to all the expense which the society had incurred in the
efforts which it had been making to introduce the Gospel into Spain; but
be this as it may, I am certain that it amply recompensed me for all the
anxiety and unhappiness which I had undergone. I now felt that whenever
I should be compelled to discontinue my labours in the Peninsula, I
should retire without the slightest murmur, my heart being filled with
gratitude to the Lord for having permitted me, useless vessel as I was,
to see at least some of the seed springing up, which during two years I
had been casting on the stony ground of the interior of Spain.
When I recollected the difficulties which had encompassed our path, I
could sometimes hardly credit all that the Almighty had permitted us to
accomplish within the last year. A large edition of the New Testament
had been almost entirely disposed of in the very centre of Spain, in
spite of the opposition and the furious cry of the sanguinary priesthood
and the edicts of a deceitful government, and a spirit of religious
inquiry excited, which I had fervent hope would sooner or later lead to
blessed and most important results. Till of late the name most abhorred
and dreaded in these parts of Spain was that of Martin Luther, who was in
general considered as a species of demon, a cousin-german to Belial and
Beelzebub, who, under the disguise of a man, wrote and preached blasphemy
against the Highest; yet now, strange to say, this once abominated
personage was spoken of with no slight degree of respect. People with
Bibles in their hands not unfrequently visited me, inquiring with much
earnestness, and with no slight degree of simplicity, for the writings of
the great Doctor Martin, whom, indeed, some supposed to be still alive.
It will be as well here to observe, that of all the names connected with
the Reformation, that of Luther is the only one known in Spain; and let
me add, that no controversial writings but his are likely to be esteemed
as possessing the slightest weight or authority, however great their
intrinsic merit may be. The common description of tracts, written with
the view of exposing the errors of Popery, are therefore not calculated
to prove of much benefit in Spain, though it is probable that much good
might be accomplished by well executed translations of judicious
selections from the works of Luther.