I have at various times stated that the Bible Cause had many and powerful friends in Spain,though my statements up to the present moment seem to have been hailed with little attention.I remember in one particular letter recommending prudence,patience,and co-operation with the liberal clergy,who were sincerely disposed to help us on,provided that by intemperateness of conduct we gave them no reasonable ground for offence.There is now a society formed at Madrid,determined upon making the Word of God,without note or comment,known amongst the children of Spain.The laws concerning the publishing the Scripture have been diligently and minutely examined,and it has been discovered that by none of the laws of Spain,ancient or modern,whether made by Cortes or by kings,is the publication of the Scripture,in the whole or in parts,with or without comment,forbidden -but merely and solely by particular Bulls of various Bishops of Rome,which Bulls though respected by many of the Spaniards form no part of the law of Spain.Provided resistance be offered to the undertaking either by the Government or any portion of the ecclesiastics,it has been determined to bring the matter before the Cortes,from whom a favourable decision may be expected with certainty.An individual has been selected as the ostensible manager of this great and glorious undertaking,this individual is Mr.C.Wood,whom I have already had occasion to mention,though it is in my power to state that but for the manner in which the name of the Bible Society has on various occasions been brought before the public,and almost invariably to its disadvantage,myself its well-known Agent,would have been the person selected.If it be here asked who are the respectable and influential persons who are at the head of this undertaking and who patronise it,I reply the Archbishop of Toledo,the Primate of Spain,and the Bishops of Vich and Jaen.
Now merely one word in conclusion.I have related facts,and to attempt to contravene them would be as futile as to endeavour to breast the billows of the Atlantic.For the fact that I have throughout my residence in Spain conducted myself as becomes a gentleman,a Christian and an Agent of a Christian Society,I can at all times command the evidence of Sir George Villiers.For the fact that no act of mine has given offence to the Spanish Government,or was calculated to do so,I can,if required,produce a communication from Count Ofalia,who has in writing expressed to Sir George Villiers his full reliance in my prudence and good faith.For the fact that the establishment at Madrid was closed,not in consequence of my own imprudence,but on account of certain proceedings at Valencia,I can receive,if I need it,a testimonial from Count Ofalia.For the fact that proceedings of a highly objectionable nature were transacted in the south of Spain,I have the affidavit of the unhappy ex-priest Pascual Marin,who can likewise afford,when called upon,information on various points.
For the fact that my depots in various provinces of Spain were seized in consequence of doings with which I had no connexion,Ican cite official correspondence.For the fact that my advertisement,in which I disowned in the name of the Society and in my own any sympathy with the scenes alluded to,was productive of infinite benefit to the Cause,I can at any time produce incontestable evidence.And lastly,for my zeal in the Bible Cause,whilst employed in the Peninsula,I can have the evidence not only of some of the most illustrious characters resident in Madrid,but likewise that of the greatest part of Spain,throughout which I believe my name is better known than in my native village in East Anglia.
Mr.G.Borrow's Report on Past and Future Operations in Spain (ENDORSED:recd.Nov.28,1838)LONDON,NOVR.1838.
HAVING been requested to commit to paper my opinion respecting the mode most advisable to be adopted for the propagation of the Word of God in Spain,provided the Committee of the Bible Society should consider it their duty to resume operations in that country,Ishall as briefly as possible communicate the results of an experience which three years'residence has enabled me to acquire.
The Committee are already aware that I have traversed the greatest part of Spain in all directions,and have lived for a considerable time in Madrid and other large towns.I have therefore had opportunities of forming a tolerably accurate idea as to the mode of thinking upon religious subjects of the Spaniards,whether of town or country,and of their character in general.I need not enter into a repetition of my labours during my last sojourn in Spain.It is well known that,after printing the New Testament at Madrid,I endeavoured to distribute it in the principal towns,and also in the rural districts.Particular circumstances prevented my experiencing in the former the success which I had hoped for,and with some reason,at the commencement of my Biblical labours;and indeed I did not find the minds of the inhabitants of the great cities which I visited so well disposed as I could have wished,for receiving and relishing the important but simple truths of the Bible.I cannot say that a spirit of fanatic bigotry was observable amongst them,except in a very few instances,but rather of lamentable indifference;their minds being either too much engrossed by the politics of the period to receive the doctrine of the Bible,or averse to it owing to the poison of infidelity imbibed from the deistical writings of the French.My success among the peasants was however very different,nearly two thousand copies having been disposed of in an extraordinarily short space of time,and under much disadvantage owing to the peculiarly unhappy situation of those parts which it was my fortune to visit.I will now,without further preamble,state the line of conduct which Ishould wish to see pursued in Spain under existing circumstances.
