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 guise 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.
CHAPTER XLVIII
Projected Journey - A Scene of Blood - The Friar - Seville - Beauties
of Seville - Orange Trees and Flowers - Murillo - The Guardian Angel -
Dionysius - My Coadjutors - Demand for the Bible.
By the middle of April I had sold as many Testaments as I thought
Madrid would bear; I therefore called in my people, for I was
afraid to overstock the market, and to bring the book into contempt
by making it too common. I had, indeed, by this time, barely a
thousand copies remaining of the edition which I had printed two
years previously; and with respect to Bibles, every copy was by
this time disposed of, though there was still a great demand for
them, which, of course, I was unable to satisfy.
With the remaining copies of the Testament, I now determined to
betake myself to Seville, where little had hitherto been effected
in the way of circulation:
