Had The Carlists Succeeded In
Apprehending Me, I Should Instantly Have Been Shot, And My Body
Cast On The Rocks To Feed The Vultures And Wolves.
But "it was not
so written," said Antonio, who, like many of his countrymen, was a
fatalist.
The next night we had another singular escape: we had
arrived near the entrance of a horrible pass called "El puerto de
la puente de las tablas," or the pass of the bridge of planks,
which wound through a black and frightful mountain, on the farther
side of which was the town of Onas, where we meant to tarry for the
night. The sun had set about a quarter of an hour. Suddenly a
man, with his face covered with blood, rushed out of the pass.
"Turn back, sir," he said, "in the name of God; there are murderers
in that pass; they have just robbed me of my mule and all I
possess, and I have hardly escaped with life from their hands." I
scarcely know why, but I made him no answer and proceeded; indeed I
was so weary and unwell that I cared not what became of me. We
entered; the rocks rose perpendicularly, right and left, entirely
intercepting the scanty twilight, so that the darkness of the
grave, or rather the blackness of the valley of the shadow of death
reigned around us, and we knew not where we went, but trusted to
the instinct of the horses, who moved on with their heads close to
the ground. The only sound which we heard was the plash of a
stream, which tumbled down the pass. I expected every moment to
feel a knife at my throat, but "IT WAS NOT SO WRITTEN." We
threaded the pass without meeting a human being, and within three
quarters of an hour after the time we entered it, we found
ourselves within the posada of the town of Onas, which was filled
with troops and armed peasants expecting an attack from the grand
Carlist army, which was near at hand.
Well, we reached Burgos in safety; we reached Valladolid in safety;
we passed the Guadarama in safety; and were at length safely housed
in Madrid. People said we had been very lucky; Antonio said, "It
was so written"; but I say, Glory be to the Lord for his mercies
vouchsafed to us.
CHAPTER XXXVI
State of Affairs at Madrid - The New Ministry - Pope of Rome - The
Bookseller of Toledo - Sword Blades - Houses of Toledo - The Forlorn
Gypsy - Proceedings at Madrid - Another Servant.
During my journey in the northern provinces of Spain, which
occupied a considerable portion of the year 1837, I had
accomplished but a slight portion of what I proposed to myself to
effect in the outset. Insignificant are the results of man's
labours compared with the swelling ideas of his presumption;
something, however, had been effected by the journey, which I had
just concluded. The New Testament of Christ was now enjoying a
quiet sale in the principal towns of the north, and I had secured
the friendly interest and co-operation of the booksellers of those
parts, particularly of him the most considerable of them all, old
Rey of Compostella. I had, moreover, disposed of a considerable
number of Testaments with my own hands, to private individuals,
entirely of the lower class, namely, muleteers, carmen,
contrabandistas, etc., so that upon the whole I had abundant cause
for gratitude and thanksgiving.
I did not find our affairs in a very prosperous state at Madrid,
few copies having been sold in the booksellers' shops, yet what
could be rationally expected during these latter times? Don
Carlos, with a large army, had been at the gates; plunder and
massacre had been expected; so that people were too much occupied
in forming plans to secure their lives and property, to give much
attention to reading of any description.
The enemy, however, had now retired to his strongholds in Alava and
Guipuscoa. I hoped that brighter days were dawning, and that the
work, under my own superintendence, would, with God's blessing,
prosper in the capital of Spain. How far the result corresponded
with my expectations will be seen in the sequel. During my absence
in the north, a total change of ministers had occurred. The
liberal party had been ousted from the cabinet, and in their place
had entered individuals attached to the moderado or court party:
unfortunately, however, for my prospects, they consisted of persons
with whom I had no acquaintance whatever, and with whom my former
friends, Galiano and Isturitz, had little or no influence. These
gentlemen were now regularly laid on the shelf, and their political
career appeared to be terminated for ever.
From the present ministry I could expect but little; they consisted
of men, the greater part of whom had been either courtiers or
employes of the deceased King Ferdinand, who were friends to
absolutism, and by no means inclined to do or to favour anything
calculated to give offence to the court of Rome, which they were
anxious to conciliate, hoping that eventually it might be induced
to recognize the young queen, not as the constitutional but as the
absolute Queen Isabella the Second.
Such was the party which continued in power throughout the
remainder of my sojourn in Spain, and which persecuted me less from
rancour and malice than from policy. It was not until the
conclusion of the war of the succession that it lost the
ascendancy, when it sank to the ground with its patroness the
queen-mother, before the dictatorship of Espartero.
The first step which I took after my return to Madrid, towards
circulating the Scriptures, was a very bold one. It was neither
more nor less than the establishment of a shop for the sale of
Testaments. This shop was situated in the Calle del Principe, a
respectable and well-frequented street in the neighbourhood of the
Square of Cervantes. I furnished it handsomely with glass cases
and chandeliers, and procured an acute Gallegan of the name of Pepe
Calzado, to superintend the business, who gave me weekly a faithful
account of the copies sold.
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