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letters-第94章

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f the great image of the patron of  Spain; and the most favourite resort in the world of benighted  Popish pilgrims?  Nevertheless 115 copies of the pure unadulterated  Word of God were purchased there in a few months at the high price  of ten REALS each。  I humbly beg leave to refer you to my account  of that remarkable place; and to hope that in the statement of  proceedings in Spain it will not be forgotten。  64 copies; it  appears; were also sold in the small town of Lugo; also in Galicia;  and 56 at Leon; the capital of the ancient kingdom of the same  name; and which perhaps may be considered as the least enlightened  and most fanatic place in all Spain。

By advice from Madrid from Mrs。 Maria Diaz; whom I charged with the  care of the property of the Bible Society in that place; it appears  that there remain unsold:…


Of Testaments; 962 Of Gospels in the Gypsy tongue; 286 Of ditto in Basque; 394


The quantity of Testaments would not have been so large had I not  recovered before leaving Madrid upwards of two hundred; which had  been placed in embargo at Santander and subsequently removed to the  capital。  On a rough account; therefore; I should say that about  three thousand have been sold during the last twelve months in the  interior of Spain; for which I give praise to God with the humility  and gratitude due。  Of those which remain I should wish to be  permitted on my return from my present expedition to circulate some  in La Mancha; especially at Manzanares and Valdepenas。  The state  of that province is truly horrible; it appears peopled partly with  spectres and partly with demons。  There is famine; and such famine;  there is assassination; and such unnatural assassination。  There  you see soldiers and robbers; ghastly lepers and horrible and  uncouth maimed and blind; exhibiting their terrible nakedness in  the sun。  I was prevented last year in carrying the Gospel amongst  them。  May I be more successful this。

I now beg leave to conclude my tedious letter with requesting that  you will be kind enough to send the enclosed communication to my  friend in Russia。  I hope you will pardon the trouble I am giving  you; but I have no other resource; as there is no direct mode of  communication between Russia and Spain。  Present my kind  remembrances to dear Mr。 Jowett and other friends; and believe me  to remain; Revd。 and dear Sir;

Ever truly yours;

G。 B。



LETTER: 4th September; 1839



To the Rev。 A。 Brandram (ENDORSED: recd。 Oct。 7; 1839) TANGIERS; SEPTEMBER 4; 1839。

REVD。 AND DEAR SIR; … I have now been nearly one month in this  place; and should certainly have written to you before had I  possessed any secure means of despatching a letter; but there is no  mail from Tangiers to any part of the world; so that when writing  one is obliged to have recourse to the disagreeable necessity of  confiding letters to individuals who chance to be going to  Gibraltar to be put into the post there; who not unfrequently lose  or forget them。  One which I wrote for Spain has already  miscarried; which circumstance makes me cautious。  I will now  relate the leading events which have occurred to me since my  departure from Seville; observing however that I have kept a  regular journal; which on the first opportunity I shall transmit  for the satisfaction of my friends at home。  You are already aware  that I had determined to carry the Scripture in Spanish to the  Christian families established on the sea…coast of Barbary; and  more especially Tangiers; the Spanish language being in general use  among them; whether Spaniards by birth or Genoese; French or  English。  To enable me to do this; having no copies of the sacred  volume at Seville; I determined to avail myself of a certain number  of Testaments in embargo at the custom…house of San Lucar a town at  the mouth of the Guadalquivir; forming part of the stock seized by  order of the Government and which I had been officially requested  to remove from Spain。  I started from Seville on the night of the  31st of July in one of the steamers which ply upon the  Guadalquivir; arriving at San Lucar early in the morning。  I shall  now make an extract from my journal; relative to the Testaments。

'It will be as well here to curtail what relates to these books;  otherwise the narrative might be considerably embarrassed。  They  consisted of a chest of Testaments in Spanish; and a small box of  Saint Luke's Gospel in the Gitano or language of the Spanish  Gypsies。  I obtained them from the custom…house of San Lucar with a  pass for that of Cadiz。  At Cadiz I was occupied two days; and also  a person whom I employed; in going through all the required  formalities and in procuring the necessary papers。  The expense was  great; as money was demanded at every step I took; though I was  simply complying with the orders of the Spanish Government in  removing prohibited books from Spain。  The farce did not end till  after my arrival at Gibraltar; where I paid the Spanish consul a  dollar for certifying on the back of the pass that the books had  arrived; which pass I was obliged to send back to Cadiz。  It is  true that he never saw the books nor enquired about them; but he  received the money; for which alone he seemed to be anxious。

'Whilst at the custom…house of San Lucar; I was asked one or two  questions respecting the books contained in the chests; this  afforded me some opportunity of speaking of the New Testament and  the Bible Society。  What I said excited attention; and presently  all the officers and dependents of the house; great and small; were  gathered around me; from the governor to the porter。  As it was  necessary to open the boxes to inspect their contents; we all  proceeded to the courtyard where; holding a Testament in my hand; I  recommenced my discourse。  I scarcely know what I said; for I was  much agitated and hurried away by my feelings; when I bethought me  of the manner in which the Word of God was persecuted in the  unhappy kingdom of Spain。  My words however evidently made  impression; and to my astonishment every person present pressed me  for a copy。  I sold several within the walls of the custom…house。   The object; however; of most attention was the Gypsy Gospel; which  was minutely examined amidst smiles and exclamations of surprise;  some individual every now and then crying 'COSAS DE LOS INGLESES。'   A bystander asked me whether I could speak the Gitano language。  I  replied that I could not only speak it but write it; and instantly  made a speech of about five minutes in the Gypsy tongue; which I  had no sooner concluded than all clapped their hands; and  simultaneously shouted; 'COSAS DE LOS INGLESES!  COSAS DE LOS  INGLESES!'  I disposed of several Gypsy Gospels likewise; and  having now settled the business which brought me to the custom… house; I saluted my new friends and departed with my books。

'I strolled from the inn to view the town。  It was past noon; and  the heat was exceedingly fierce 。 。 。 I became tired of gazing; and  was retracing my steps; when I was accosted by two Gypsies; men who  by some means had heard of my arrival。  We exchanged some words in  Gitano; but they appeared to be very ignorant of the langu
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