CHAPTER XLII
Liberation from Prison - The Apology - Human Nature - The Greek's
Return - Church of Rome - Light of Scripture - Archbishop of Toledo -
An Interview - Stones of Price - A Resolution - The Foreign Language -
Benedict's Farewell - Treasure Hunt at Compostella - Truth and
Fiction.
I remained about three weeks in the prison of Madrid, and then left
it. If I had possessed any pride, or harboured any rancour against
the party who had consigned me to durance, the manner in which I
was restored to liberty would no doubt have been highly gratifying
to those evil passions; the government having acknowledged, by a
document transmitted to Sir George, that I had been incarcerated on
insufficient grounds, and that no stigma attached itself to me from
the imprisonment I had undergone; at the same time agreeing to
defray all the expenses to which I had been subjected throughout
the progress of this affair.
It moreover expressed its willingness to dismiss the individual
owing to whose information I had been first arrested, namely, the
corchete or police officer who had visited me in my apartments in
the Calle de Santiago, and behaved himself in the manner which I
have described in a former chapter. I declined, however, to avail
myself of this condescension of the government, more especially as
I was informed that the individual in question had a wife and
family, who, if he were disgraced, would be at once reduced to
want.
