With
Respect To The Queen Regent Christina, Of Whom The Less Said The
Better, The Reins Of Government Fell Into Her Hands On The Decease
Of Her Husband, And With Them The Command Of The Soldiery.
The
respectable part of the Spanish nation, and more especially the
honourable and toilworn peasantry, loathed and execrated both
factions.
Oft when I was sharing at nightfall the frugal fare of
the villager of Old or New Castile, on hearing the distant shot of
the Christino soldier or Carlist bandit, he would invoke curses on
the heads of the two pretenders, not forgetting the holy father and
the goddess of Rome, Maria Santissima. Then, with the tiger energy
of the Spaniard when roused, he would start up and exclaim:
"Vamos, Don Jorge, to the plain, to the plain! I wish to enlist
with you, and to learn the law of the English. To the plain,
therefore, to the plain to-morrow, to circulate the gospel of
Ingalaterra."
Amongst the peasantry of Spain I found my sturdiest supporters:
and yet the holy father supposes that the Spanish labourers are
friends and lovers of his. Undeceive yourself, Batuschca!
But to return to the present work: it is devoted to an account of
what befell me in Spain whilst engaged in distributing the
Scripture. With respect to my poor labours, I wish here to
observe, that I accomplished but very little, and that I lay claim
to no brilliant successes and triumphs; indeed I was sent into
Spain more to explore the country, and to ascertain how far the
minds of the people were prepared to receive the truths of
Christianity, than for any other object; I obtained, however,
through the assistance of kind friends, permission from the Spanish
government to print an edition of the sacred volume at Madrid,
which I subsequently circulated in that capital and in the
provinces.
During my sojourn in Spain, there were others who wrought good
service in the Gospel cause, and of whose efforts it were unjust to
be silent in a work of this description. Base is the heart which
would refuse merit its meed, and, however insignificant may be the
value of any eulogium which can flow from a pen like mine, I cannot
refrain from mentioning with respect and esteem a few names
connected with Gospel enterprise. A zealous Irish gentleman, of
the name of Graydon, exerted himself with indefatigable diligence
in diffusing the light of Scripture in the province of Catalonia,
and along the southern shores of Spain; whilst two missionaries
from Gibraltar, Messrs. Rule and Lyon, during one entire year,
preached Evangelic truth in a Church at Cadiz. So much success
attended the efforts of these two last brave disciples of the
immortal Wesley, that there is every reason for supposing that, had
they not been silenced and eventually banished from the country by
the pseudo-liberal faction of the Moderados, not only Cadiz, but
the greater part of Andalusia, would by this time have confessed
the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and have discarded for ever the
last relics of popish superstition.
More immediately connected with the Bible Society and myself, I am
most happy to take this opportunity of speaking of Luis de Usoz y
Rio, the scion of an ancient and honourable family of Old Castile,
my coadjutor whilst editing the Spanish New Testament at Madrid.
Throughout my residence in Spain, I experienced every mark of
friendship from this gentleman, who, during the periods of my
absence in the provinces, and my numerous and long journeys,
cheerfully supplied my place at Madrid, and exerted himself to the
utmost in forwarding the views of the Bible Society, influenced by
no other motive than a hope that its efforts would eventually
contribute to the peace, happiness, and civilisation of his native
land.
In conclusion, I beg leave to state that I am fully aware of the
various faults and inaccuracies of the present work. It is founded
on certain journals which I kept during my stay in Spain, and
numerous letters written to my friends in England, which they had
subsequently the kindness to restore: the greater part, however,
consisting of descriptions of scenery, sketches of character, etc.,
has been supplied from memory. In various instances I have omitted
the names of places, which I have either forgotten, or of whose
orthography I am uncertain. The work, as it at present exists, was
written in a solitary hamlet in a remote part of England, where I
had neither books to consult, nor friends of whose opinion or
advice I could occasionally avail myself, and under all the
disadvantages which arise from enfeebled health; I have, however,
on a recent occasion, experienced too much of the lenity and
generosity of the public, both of Britain and America, to shrink
from again exposing myself to its gaze, and trust that, if in the
present volumes it finds but little to admire, it will give me
credit for good spirit, and for setting down nought in malice.
Nov. 26, 1842.
CHAPTER I
Man Overboard - The Tagus - Foreign Languages - Gesticulation - Streets
of Lisbon - The Aqueduct - Bible tolerated in Portugal - Cintra - Don
Sebastian - John de Castro - Conversation with a Priest - Colhares -
Mafra - Its Palace - The Schoolmaster - The Portuguese - Their
Ignorance of Scripture - Rural Priesthood - The Alemtejo.
On the morning of the tenth of November, 1835, I found myself off
the coast of Galicia, whose lofty mountains, gilded by the rising
sun, presented a magnificent appearance. I was bound for Lisbon;
we passed Cape Finisterre, and standing farther out to sea,
speedily lost sight of land. On the morning of the eleventh the
sea was very rough, and a remarkable circumstance occurred. I was
on the forecastle, discoursing with two of the sailors: one of
them, who had but just left his hammock, said, "I have had a
strange dream, which I do not much like, for," continued he,
pointing up to the mast, "I dreamt that I fell into the sea from
the cross-trees." He was heard to say this by several of the crew
besides myself.
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