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. His reply was satisfactory: "You
obtained the permission of the government of Isturitz," said he,
"which was a much less liberal one than the present. I am a
witness to the promise made to you by the former ministers, which I
consider sufficient. You had best commence and complete the work
as soon as possible, without any fresh application; and should any
one attempt to interrupt you, you have only to come to me, whom you
may command at any time." So I went away with a light heart, and
forthwith made preparation for the execution of the object which
had brought me to Spain.
I shall not enter here into unnecessary details, which could
possess but little interest for the reader; suffice it to say that,
within three months from this time, an edition of the New
Testament, consisting of five thousand copies, was published at
Madrid. The work was printed at the establishment of Mr. Borrego,
a well-known writer on political economy, and proprietor and editor
of an influential newspaper called El Espanol. To this gentleman I
had been recommended by Isturitz himself, on the day of my
interview with him. That unfortunate minister had, indeed, the
highest esteem for Borrego, and had intended raising him to the
station of minister of finance, when the revolution of the Granja
occurring, of course rendered abortive this project, with perhaps
many others of a similar kind which he might have formed.
The Spanish version of the New Testament which was thus published,
had been made many years before by a certain Padre Filipe Scio,
confessor of Ferdinand the Seventh, and had even been printed, but
so encumbered by notes and commentaries as to be unfitted for
general circulation, for which, indeed, it was never intended. In
the present edition, the notes were of course omitted, and the
inspired word, and that alone, offered to the public. It was
brought out in a handsome octavo volume, and presented, upon the
whole, a rather favourable specimen of Spanish typography.
The mere printing, however, of the New Testament at Madrid could be
attended with no utility whatever, unless measures, and energetic
ones, were taken for the circulation of the sacred volume.
In the case of the New Testament, it would not do to follow the
usual plan of publication in Spain, namely, to entrust the work to
the booksellers of the capital, and rest content with the sale
which they and their agents in the provincial towns might be able
to obtain for it, in the common routine of business; the result
generally being, the circulation of a few dozen copies in the
course of the year; as the demand for literature of every kind in
Spain was miserably small.
The Christians of England had already made considerable sacrifices
in the hope of disseminating the word of God largely amongst the
Spaniards, and it was now necessary to spare no exertion to prevent
that hope becoming abortive. Before the book was ready, I had
begun to make preparations for putting a plan into execution, which
had occupied my thoughts occasionally during my former visit to
Spain, and which I had never subsequently abandoned. I had mused
on it when off Cape Finisterre in the tempest; in the cut-throat
passes of the Morena; and on the plains of La Mancha, as I jogged
along a little way ahead of the Contrabandista.
I had determined, after depositing a certain number of copies in
the shops of the booksellers of Madrid, to ride forth, Testament in
hand, and endeavour to circulate the word of God amongst the
Spaniards, not only of the towns but of the villages; amongst the
children not only of the plains but of the hills and mountains. I
intended to visit Old Castile, and to traverse the whole of Galicia
and the Asturias, - to establish Scripture depots in the principal
towns, and to visit the people in secret and secluded spots, - to
talk to them of Christ, to explain to them the nature of his book,
and to place that book in the hands of those whom I should deem
capable of deriving benefit from it. I was aware that such a
journey would be attended with considerable danger, and very
possibly the fate of St. Stephen might overtake me; but does the
man deserve the name of a follower of Christ who would shrink from
danger of any kind in the cause of Him whom he calls his Master?
"He who loses his life for my sake, shall find it," are words which
the Lord himself uttered. These words were fraught with
consolation to me, as they doubtless are to every one engaged in
propagating the gospel in sincerity of heart, in savage and
barbarian lands.
I now purchased another horse; for these animals, at the time of
which I am speaking, were exceedingly cheap. A royal requisition
was about to be issued for five thousand, the consequence being,
that an immense number were for sale, for, by virtue of this
requisition, the horses of any person not a foreigner could be
seized for the benefit of the service.
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