al Committee of Censors. It was strongly
backed by the Civil Governor of Madrid, within whose department the
Censorship is. In this petition, after a preamble on the religious state
of Spain, I requested permission to print the New Testament without note
or comment, according to the version of Father Scio, and in the same form
and size as the small edition of Paris, in order that the book might be
'_al alcance asi de los pobres como de los ricos_' (within the reach of
the poor as well as of the wealthy). {154} The Ecclesiastical Board are
at present consulting about it, as I was informed to-day, upon my
repairing to their house for the purpose of knowing how matters were
going on. I have hopes of success, having done all in my power to
prevent a failure by making important friends since the moment of my
arrival. I was introduced to the Governor by his most intimate
acquaintance Synudi, the Deputy of Huelba, to whom I was introduced by
the celebrated Alcala de Galiano, the Deputy of Cadiz, who will sooner or
later be Prime Minister, and to him I was introduced by--but I will not
continue, as I might run on for ever, much after the fashion as

'This is the house which Jack built.'

And now I have something to tell you which I think will surprise you, and
which, strange as it may sound, is nevertheless true. The authority of
the Pope in this country is in so very feeble and precarious a situation,
that little more than a breath is required to destroy it, and I am almost
confident that in less than a year it will be disowned. I am doing
whatever I can in Madrid to prepare the way for an event so desirable. I
mix with the people, and inform them who and what the Pope is, and how
disastrous to Spain his influence has been. I tell them that the
indulgences, which they are in the habit of purchasing, are of no more
intrinsic value than so many pieces of paper, and were merely invented
with the view of plundering them. I frequently ask: 'Is it possible that
God, who is good, would sanction the sale of sin?' and, 'Supposing
certain things are sinful, do you think that God, for the sake of your
money, would permit you to perform them?' In many instances my hearers
have been satisfied with this simple reasoning, and have said that they
would buy no more indulgences. Moreover, the newspapers have, in two or
three instances, taken up the subject of Rome upon national and political
grounds. The Pope is an avowed friend of