fever, though, owing to the great
loss of blood, I was very feeble and weak. Precisely at twelve o'clock
myself and man rode forth from the gate of Saint Vincent, directing our
course to the lofty mountains which separate Old from New Castile. That
night we rested at Guadarama, a large village at their foot, distant from
Madrid about twenty-five miles. The journey to Salamanca occupied four
days, and I disposed of five Testaments by the way.
Since my arrival at Salamanca I have been taking measures that the Word
of God may become generally known in this place, so celebrated in many
respects. The principal bookseller of the town, Blanco, a man of great
wealth and respectability, has consented to become our agent here, and I
have deposited in his shop a certain number of New Testaments. He is the
proprietor of a small printing press, where the official bulletin of the
place is published. For this bulletin I have prepared an advertisement
of the work, in which amongst other things I have said that the New
Testament is the only guide to salvation. I have also spoken of the
Bible Society, and the great pecuniary sacrifices which it is making with
the view of proclaiming Christ crucified, and of making His doctrine
known. This step will perhaps be considered by some as too bold, but I
am not aware that I can take any more calculated to arouse the attention
of the people--a considerable point. I have also ordered numbers of the
same advertisement to be struck off in the shape of bills which I am
causing to be stuck up in various parts of the town. I have great hope
that by means of these a considerable number of New Testaments will be
sold. I shall repeat this experiment in Valladolid, Leon, St. Jago, and
all the principal towns which it is my intention to visit in my
wanderings, and I shall likewise distribute them as I ride along. The
children of Spain will thus be brought to know that such a work as the
New Testament is in existence, a fact of which not five in one hundred
are at present aware, notwithstanding their so frequently repeated boasts
of their Catholicity and Christianity.
I carry with me the Gospel of St. Luke in the Cantabrian or Basque
language. It is my intention to print this little book, either at San
Sebastian or Pamplona; as it would be unwise not to avail myself of so
favourable an opportunity of circulating it as my visit to the provinces
where the language is spoken will afford me. I ha
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