At A Very Early Age She
Married A Respectable Yeoman Of Villa Seca, Lopez By Name, By Whom
She Had Three Sons.
On the death of her father, which occurred
about five years previous to the time of which I am
Speaking, she
removed to Madrid, partly for the purpose of educating her
children, and partly in the hope of obtaining from the government a
considerable sum of money for which it stood indebted to her
father, at the time of his decease, for various useful and
ornamental works, principally in the neighbourhood of Aranjuez.
The justness of her claim was at once acknowledged; but, alas! no
money was forthcoming, the royal treasury being empty. Her hopes
of earthly happiness were now concentrated in her children. The
two youngest were still of a very tender age; but the eldest, Juan
Jose Lopez, a lad of about sixteen, was bidding fair to realize the
warmest hopes of his affectionate mother; he had devoted himself to
the arts, in which he made such progress that he had already become
the favourite pupil of his celebrated namesake Lopez, the best
painter of modern Spain. Such was Maria Diaz, who, according to a
custom formerly universal in Spain, and still very prevalent,
retained the name of her maidenhood though married. Such was Maria
Diaz and her family.
One of my first cares was to wait on Mr. Villiers, who received me
with his usual kindness. I asked him whether he considered that I
might venture to commence printing the Scriptures without any more
applications to government.
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