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."
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 recognised 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.
