Excuse me now for speaking one moment of myself.Notwithstanding Ihave travelled very extensively in this strange country,and have established many depots of Testaments most of which are flourishing (I have just received intelligence from my correspondent at Valladolid that forty copies have been sold at Burgos,the heart of Old Castile),not one word of complaint has been transmitted to the Government;and though I have suffered so much persecution in Madrid,I have been but paying (one of my sources of information is Count Ofalia himself)the account of others who seem to have been reckless as to how much woe and misery they might heap on my head,provided they could play the part with impunity which their own distempered desires dictated.
Now to pleasanter subjects.Count Ofalia has given me very excellent advice,which it will be well if the Society permit me to follow.Amongst other things he said:-'Be very cautious for some time,and even suspend the sale of the Gospel in Madrid,and devote all your energies to make friends amongst the clergy,very many of whom are disposed to favour your enterprise.It would not be prudent at present for the Government to interfere with ecclesiastical matters,as the war is not yet terminated,but much can be done in a quiet way by yourself.'
I must here state that there is a board of ecclesiastics at present sitting,occupied in examining the Spanish Bible as printed by the Society.It has been denounced by the Jesuits as not being a faithful edition of Father Scio's version,independent of the omission of the Apocrypha;but hitherto the opinion of the board has been decidedly in our favour,and the Bishop of Vich has,moreover,declared that it probably will be expedient to co-operate with the Society in printing cheap editions of the Scripture for the use of the people,as daily experience shows that the old system cannot be carried on and that the sacred writings must be thrown open.
The chief difficulty to settle will be the Apocrypha;but I have authorised a friend to state that the Society is disposed to make every possible concession,and to go so far as to relinquish the Old Testament entirely and to content itself with circulating the New.Perhaps I went too far in this advance;but I believe a similar concession has been made in the case of Ireland,and Ifeared to lose all by aiming at too much.However flattering affairs may appear at present,I am well aware that a herculean labour is to be surmounted before matters can be placed on a safe footing in Spain.Prudence,coolness and firmness are at this moment particularly necessary;and let it never for a moment be supposed that religious instruction and the knowledge of genuine Christianity can be introduced into Spain by scurrilous handbills and the low arts of the mountebank.
A split with Rome will very shortly ensue,by which I mean that no attention will be paid to Bulls,against which several of the principal ecclesiastics have spoken;with these puissant auxiliaries we must act in concert.
Allow me in conclusion to state a beautiful piece of conduct of Sir George Villiers.I have commissioned one of the Bishops to request for me an interview with the Archbishop of Toledo.Sir George on hearing this said:-'Tell the Archbishop that I also am anxious for the favour of an interview,in order that I may assist in clearing up any doubt,which he may still entertain,respecting the intentions of the Bible Society;he has only to state the day,and I will wait upon him.'
G.BORROW.
