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.
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