which I have been confined for the last ten days; for it has pleased God
to confer upon me the highest of mortal honours, the privilege of bearing
chains for His sake. I shall not at present detail the circumstances
which occasioned my arrest, as doubtless the English newspapers will
afford you all the particulars, nor shall I dwell upon the situation in
which I find myself, but be content with observing that the violence, the
preconcerted violence and atrocity, which have been practised towards me,
will prove the means of accomplishing not what my enemies hoped and
wished, the destruction and disgrace of the Bible-cause in Spain, but its
triumph, its pure and sublime triumph.

Satan has, as usual, foiled himself, and his poisoned shafts have
recoiled, and pierced his own bosom. You will have heard how gallantly
Sir George Villiers has taken my part, and how he has made a national
question of the persecution of which I have been the object, and which
lately reached its climax. It will be necessary to tell you here that I
have always communicated to him the steps which I intended to take in
order to promote the circulation of the Bible, and they have uniformly
met with his approbation; therefore you will easily conceive that in what
I have done there has been no rashness nor anything which savoured of the
arts of the charlatan: I have too much respect for the Gospel and my own
character to have recourse to them.

I will now state a fact which speaks volumes as to the state of affairs
at Madrid. My arch-enemy the Archbishop of Toledo, the Primate of Spain,
wishes to give me the kiss of brotherly peace. He has caused a message
to be conveyed to me in my dungeon, assuring me that he has had no share
in causing my imprisonment, which he says was the work of the Civil
Governor, who was incited to that step by the Jesuits. He adds that he
is determined to seek out my persecutors amongst the clergy and to have
them punished, and that when I leave prison he shall be happy to
co-operate with me in the dissemination of the Gospel!!!

I cannot write much now, for I am not well, having been bled and
blistered. I must, however, devote a few lines to another subject, but
not one of rejoicing or Christian exultation. Marin arrived just after
my arrest, and visited me in prison, and there favoured me with a scene
of despair, abject despair, which nearly turned my brain. I despised the
creature, God forgive me, but I pitied h