"We Shall Scarcely Reach
Segovia To-Night, Mon Maitre," Said Antonio.
And so indeed it
proved, for we became bewildered, and at last arrived where two
roads branched off in
Different directions, we took not the left
hand road, which would have conducted us to Segovia, but turned to
the right, in the direction of La Granja, where we arrived at
midnight.
We found the desolation of La Granja far greater than that of
Aranjuez; both had suffered from the absence of royalty, but the
former to a degree which was truly appalling. Nine-tenths of the
inhabitants had left this place, which, until the late military
revolution, had been the favourite residence of Christina. So
great is the solitude of La Granja, that wild boars from the
neighbouring forests, and especially from the beautiful pine-
covered mountain which rises like a cone directly behind the
palace, frequently find their way into the streets and squares, and
whet their tusks against the pillars of the porticos.
"Ride on because of the word of righteousness." After a stay of
twenty-four hours at La Granja, we proceeded to Segovia. The day
had arrived on which I had appointed to meet Lopez. I repaired to
the aqueduct, and sat down beneath the hundred and seventh arch,
where I waited the greater part of the day, but he came not,
whereupon I rose and went into the city.
At Segovia I tarried two days in the house of a friend, still I
could hear nothing of Lopez. At last, by the greatest chance in
the world, I heard from a peasant that there were men in the
neighbourhood of Abades selling books.
Abades is about three leagues distant from Segovia, and upon
receiving this intelligence, I instantly departed for the former
place, with three donkeys laden with Testaments. I reached Abades
at nightfall, and found Lopez, with two peasants whom he had
engaged, in the house of the surgeon of the place, where I also
took up my residence. He had already disposed of a considerable
number of Testaments in the neighbourhood, and had that day
commenced selling at Abades itself; he had, however, been
interrupted by two of the three curas of the village, who, with
horrid curses denounced the work, threatening eternal condemnation
to Lopez for selling it, and to any person who should purchase it;
whereupon Lopez, terrified, forbore until I should arrive. The
third cura, however, exerted himself to the utmost to persuade the
people to provide themselves with Testaments, telling them that his
brethren were hypocrites and false guides, who, by keeping them in
ignorance of the word and will of Christ, were leading them to the
abyss. Upon receiving this information, I instantly sallied forth
to the market-place, and that same night succeeded in disposing of
upwards of thirty Testaments. The next morning the house was
entered by the two factious curas, but upon my rising to confront
them, they retreated, and I heard no more of them, except that they
publicly cursed me in the church more than once, an event which, as
no ill resulted from it, gave me little concern.
I will not detail the events of the next week; suffice it to say
that arranging my forces in the most advantageous way, I succeeded,
by God's assistance, in disposing of from five to six hundred
Testaments amongst the villages from one to seven leagues' distance
from Abades. At the expiration of that period I received
information that my proceedings were known in Segovia, in which
province Abades is situated, and that an order was about to be sent
to the alcalde to seize all books in my possession. Whereupon,
notwithstanding that it was late in the evening, I decamped with
all my people, and upwards of three hundred Testaments, having a
few hours previously received a fresh supply from Madrid. That
night we passed in the fields, and next morning proceeded to
Labajos, a village on the high road from Madrid to Valladolid. In
this place we offered no books for sale, but contented ourselves
with supplying the neighbouring villages with the word of God: we
likewise sold it in the highways.
We had not been at Labajos a week, during which time we were
remarkably successful, when the Carlist chieftain, Balmaseda, at
the head of his cavalry, made his desperate inroad into the
southern part of Old Castile, dashing down like an avalanche from
the pine-woods of Soria. I was present at all the horrors which
ensued, - the sack of Arrevalo, and the forcible entry into Martin
Munoz. Amidst these terrible scenes we continued our labours.
Suddenly I lost Lopez for three days, and suffered dreadful anxiety
on his account, imagining that he had been shot by the Carlists; at
last I heard that he was in prison at Villallos, three leagues
distant. The steps which I took to rescue him will be found
detailed in a communication, which I deemed it my duty to transmit
to Lord William Hervey, who, in the absence of Sir George Villiers,
now became Earl of Clarendon, fulfilled the duties of minister at
Madrid:-
LABAJOS, PROVINCE OF SEGOVIA,
August 23, 1838.
My Lord, - I beg leave to call your attention to the following
facts. On the 21st inst. I received information that a person in
my employ, of the name of Juan Lopez, had been thrown into the
prison of Villallos, in the province of Avila, by order of the cura
of that place. The crime with which he was charged was selling the
New Testament. I was at that time at Labajos, in the province of
Segovia, and the division of the factious chieftain Balmaseda was
in the immediate neighbourhood. On the 22nd, I mounted my horse
and rode to Villallos, a distance of three leagues. On my arrival
there, I found that Lopez had been removed from the prison to a
private house. An order had arrived from the corregidor of Avila,
commanding that the person of Lopez should be set at liberty, and
that the books which had been found in his possession should be
alone detained.
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