I twice sallied forth alone and on horseback,and bent my course to a distant village.On my arrival,which took place just after the SIESTA or afternoon's nap had concluded,I proceeded in both instances to the market-place,where I spread a horse-cloth on the ground,upon which I deposited my books.I then commenced crying with a loud voice:'Peasants,peasants,I bring you the Word of God at a cheap price.I know you have but little money,but Ibring it you at whatever you can command,at four or three REALS,according to your means.'I thus went on till a crowd gathered round me,who examined the books with attention,many of them reading aloud,but I had not long to wait.In both instances my cargo was disposed of almost instantaneously,and I mounted my horse without a question being asked me,and returned to my temporary abode lighter than I came.These instances occurred in Castile and Galicia,near the towns of Santiago and Valladolid.
It is the firm conviction of the writer from subsequent experience that every village in Spain will purchase Testaments,from twenty to sixty,according to its circumstances.During the last two months of his sojourn in Spain he visited about forty villages,and in only two instances was his sale less than thirty copies in each.
The two villages which he alludes to were Mocejon in the Sagra of Toledo,and Torre Lodones about four leagues from Madrid in the road which leads to the Guadarama hills.The last village is indeed a mere wretched assemblage of huts,the inhabitants of which labour under the most squalid poverty,owing to the extreme niggardness of the neighbouring soil,which consists almost entirely of rock from which scarcely anything can be gathered,so that the people are proverbially thieves.Only three copies of the sacred volume were purchased in this unhappy place,and only nine in the comparatively rich village of Mocejon -which,it is true,was visited on the day of a festival,when the inhabitants were too much occupied with dancing and other amusements to entertain any serious thoughts.
There are at the present moment about two thousand copies of the New Testament in Madrid.It appears to the writer that it would be most expedient to distribute one-half of these books in La Mancha,commencing from the town of Ocana,and concluding with Argamasilla at the other end of the province;the remaining thousand might be devoted to the many villages on the road towards Arragon,especially to those of Alcarria where the people are honest,mild and serious.The writer would by no means advise for the present an attempt to distribute the entire Bible amongst the peasantry,as he is of opinion that the New Testament is much better adapted to their understandings and circumstances.If it be objected to the plan which he has presumed to suggest that it is impossible to convey to the rural districts of Spain the book of life without much difficulty and danger,he begs leave to observe that it does not become a real Christian to be daunted by either when it pleases his Maker to select him as an instrument;and that moreover if it be not written that a man is to perish by wild beast or reptiles,he is as safe in the den even of the cockatrice as in the most retired chamber of the king's palace;and that if on the contrary he be doomed to perish by them,his destiny will overtake him notwithstanding all the precautions which he,like a blind worm,may essay for his security.
In conclusion the writer begs leave to remind the Committee that a society of liberal Spanish ecclesiastics is being formed for printing and circulating the Scripture without note or comment.He does not advise the entering into an intimate alliance and co-operation with this society,but he ventures to hope that if it continue to progress,there will be found Christian hearts in England to wish it success and Christian hands to afford it some occasional assistance.If the work of the Lord be done,it matters little whether Apollos or Paul be the labourers.
GEORGE BORROW.
