I Was Of Course Very Much Surprised, But Summoning All My
Latinity, I Called Her Manchegan Prophetess, And Expressing My
Admiration For Her Learning, Begged To Be Informed By What Means
She Became Possessed Of It.
I must here observe that a crowd
instantly gathered around us, who, though they understood not one
word of our discourse, at every sentence of the girl shouted
applause, proud in the possession of a prophetess who could answer
the Englishman.
She informed me that she was born blind, and that a Jesuit priest
had taken compassion on her when she was a child, and had taught
her the holy language, in order that the attention and hearts of
Christians might be more easily turned towards her. I soon
discovered that he had taught her something more than Latin, for
upon telling her that I was an Englishman, she said that she had
always loved Britain, which was once the nursery of saints and
sages, for example Bede and Alcuin, Columba and Thomas of
Canterbury; but she added those times had gone by since the re-
appearance of Semiramis (Elizabeth). Her Latin was truly
excellent, and when I, like a genuine Goth, spoke of Anglia and
Terra Vandalica (Andalusia), she corrected me by saying, that in
her language those places were called Britannia and Terra Betica.
When we had finished our discourse, a gathering was made for the
prophetess, the very poorest contributing something.
After travelling four days and nights, we arrived at Madrid,
without having experienced the slightest accident, though it is but
just to observe, and always with gratitude to the Almighty, that
the next mail was stopped. A singular incident befell me
immediately after my arrival; on entering the arch of the posada
called La Reyna, where I intended to put up, I found myself
encircled in a person's arms, and on turning round in amazement,
beheld my Greek servant, Antonio. He was haggard and ill-dressed,
and his eyes seemed starting from their sockets.
As soon as we were alone he informed that since my departure he had
undergone great misery and destitution, having, during the whole
period, been unable to find a master in need of his services, so
that he was brought nearly to the verge of desperation; but that on
the night immediately preceding my arrival he had a dream, in which
he saw me, mounted on a black horse, ride up to the gate of the
posada, and that on that account he had been waiting there during
the greater part of the day. I do not pretend to offer an opinion
concerning this narrative, which is beyond the reach of my
philosophy, and shall content myself with observing that only two
individuals in Madrid were aware of my arrival in Spain. I was
very glad to receive him again into my service, as, notwithstanding
his faults, he had in many instances proved of no slight assistance
to me in my wanderings and biblical labours.
I was soon settled in my former lodgings, when one my first cares
was to pay a visit to Lord Clarendon. Amongst other things, he
informed me that he had received an official notice from the
government, stating the seizure of the New Testaments at Ocana, the
circumstances relating to which I have described on a former
occasion, and informing him that unless steps were instantly taken
to remove them from the country, they would be destroyed at Toledo,
to which place they had been conveyed. I replied that I should
give myself no trouble about the matter; and that if the
authorities of Toledo, civil or ecclesiastic, determined upon
burning these books, my only hope was that they would commit them
to the flames with all possible publicity, as by so doing they
would but manifest their own hellish rancour and their hostility to
the word of God.
Being eager to resume my labours, I had no sooner arrived at Madrid
than I wrote to Lopez at Villa Seca, for the purpose of learning
whether he was inclined to co-operate in the work, as on former
occasions. In reply, he informed me that he was busily employed in
his agricultural pursuits: to supply his place, however, he sent
over an elderly villager, Victoriano Lopez by name, a distant
relation of his own.
What is a missionary in the heart of Spain without a horse? Which
consideration induced me now to purchase an Arabian of high caste,
which had been brought from Algiers by an officer of the French
legion. The name of this steed, the best I believe that ever
issued from the desert, was Sidi Habismilk.
CHAPTER XLVI
Work of Distribution resumed - Adventure at Cobenna - Power of the
Clergy - Rural Authorities - Fuente la Higuera - Victoriano's Mishap -
Village Prison - The Rope - Antonio's Errand - Antonio at Mass.
In my last chapter, I stated that, immediately after my arrival at
Madrid, I proceeded to get everything in readiness for commencing
operations in the neighbourhood; and I soon entered upon my labours
in reality. Considerable success attended my feeble efforts in the
good cause, for which at present, after the lapse of some years, I
still look back with gratitude to the Almighty.
All the villages within the distance of four leagues to the east of
Madrid, were visited in less than a fortnight, and Testaments to
the number of nearly two hundred disposed of. These villages for
the most part are very small, some of them consisting of not more
than a dozen houses, or I should rather say miserable cabins. I
left Antonio, my Greek, to superintend matters in Madrid, and
proceeded with Victoriano, the peasant from Villa Seca, in the
direction which I have already mentioned. We, however, soon parted
company, and pursued different routes.
The first village at which I made an attempt was Cobenna, about
three leagues from Madrid. I was dressed in the fashion of the
peasants in the neighbourhood of Segovia, in Old Castile; namely, I
had on my head a species of leather helmet or montera, with a
jacket and trousers of the same material.
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