ky it is
for me that it is impossible to say anything against the edition. {275a}
You will easily suppose that such an establishment in Madrid has caused a
great sensation. The priests and bigots are teeming with malice and
fury, which hitherto they have thought proper to exhibit only in words,
as they know that all I do here is favoured by Mr. Villiers; {275b} but
there is no attempt, however atrocious, which may not be expected from
such people, and were it right and seemly for _me_, the most
insignificant of worms, to make such a comparison, I would say that, like
Paul at Ephesus, I am fighting with wild beasts.

I receive daily a great many applications for copies gratis, as it is
here the generally received opinion that the Bible Society invariably
gives away its publications; and I must confess that this opinion,
however it may have originated, is very prejudicial to the sale of the
Testament.

'Wait a while,' say many, 'and these books may be had for nothing.
Friends of ours who have been in England have had them pressed upon them,
and _cart-loads_ have been given away in Cadiz and other places.' Such a
conversation was related to me yesterday, by my excellent friend and
coadjutor Doctor Usoz, who had just heard it in a coffee-house. Of this
gentleman I cannot speak in too high terms of admiration; he is one of
the most learned men in Spain, and is become in every point a Christian,
according to the standard of the New Testament.

My projects are these. As soon as ever my Gospels are ready, I mount the
saddle once more, entrusting the _despacho_ and shopman to the care of
Dr. Usoz. My course will be directed to Andalusia, a rich and tolerably
enlightened province. Hitherto I have only had to deal with poverty,
ignorance, and bigotry; but I hope with God's assistance to accomplish
much at Seville and Cadiz. It is true that to arrive there I shall have
to pass through La Mancha and the Morena district, which are entirely in
the hands of the swarms of banditti whose general is Palillos (he has
upwards of 9000 under his command), or through Estremadura, occupied at
present by the hordes of Jara and Orejita. But I fear nothing, and trust
that One above will preserve me. In the meantime let me beg and pray
that you will send Bibles, Bibles, Bibles of all sizes and prices, and in
all languages to Madrid. You cannot conceive how helpless and forlorn I
feel, 400 miles from the sea-coast, on being begged to sup