第153章 4th March,1839(1)

To the Rev.A.Brandram (ENDORSED:recd.Mar.15,1839)NAVAL CARNERO,NEW CASTILE,MARCH 4,1839.

REVD.AND DEAR SIR,-I have to acknowledge the receipt of your kind letter of the 6th ult.,which I hope to be able to answer in all points on another occasion.I am now in a small town on the road to Talavera,to which place it is possible that I may proceed.

I take up the pen in order to give you a brief account of what has taken place since I last wrote.I have that to communicate which Iam confident will cause yourself and the remainder of my dear friends in Earl Street to smile;while at the same time it will not fail to prove interesting,as affording an example of the feeling prevalent in some of the lone and solitary villages of Spain with respect to innovation and all that savours thereof,and the strange acts which are sometimes committed by the rural authorities and the priests,without the slightest fear of being called to account;for as they live quite apart (6)from the rest of the world,they know no people greater than themselves,and scarcely dream of a higher power than their own.In my latest communication I stated that Iwas about to make an excursion to Gaudalajara and the villages of Alcarria;indeed I merely awaited the return of Vitoriano to sally forth:I having despatched him in that direction with a few Testaments as a kind of explorer,in order that from his report as to the disposition manifested by the people for purchasing,I might form a tolerably accurate opinion as to the number of copies which it might be necessary to carry with me.However I heard nothing of him for a fortnight,at the end of which period a letter was brought to me by a peasant,dated from the prison of Fuente La Higuera,a village eight leagues from Madrid,in the CAMPINA,or champaign of Alcala.This letter,written by Vitoriano,gave me to understand,that he had been already eight days imprisoned,and that unless I could find some means to extricate him there was every probability of his remaining in durance until he should perish with hunger,which he had no doubt would occur as soon as his money was exhausted and he was unable to purchase the necessaries of life at a great price.From what I afterwards learned it appeared that after passing the town of Alcala he had commenced distributing,and with considerable success.His entire stock consisted of sixty-one Testaments,twenty-five of which he sold without the least difficulty or interruption in the single village of Arganza,the poor labourers showering blessings on his head for providing them with such good books at an easy price.Not more than eighteen remained when he turned off the high road towards Fuente La Higuera.This place was already tolerably well known to him,he having visited it of old when he travelled the country in the capacity of a vendor of CACHARROS or earthen pans.

He subsequently stated that he felt some misgiving whilst on the way,as the village had invariably enjoyed a bad reputation.On his arrival,after having put up his CABALLEJO,or little pony,at a POSADA,he proceeded to the ALCALDE for the purpose of demanding permission to sell books,which that dignitary immediately granted.

He now entered a house and sold a copy,and likewise in a second.

Emboldened by success he entered a third,which it appeared belonged to the barber-surgeon of the village.This personage,having just completed his dinner,was seated in an arm-chair within his doorway when Vitoriano made his appearance.He was a man of about thirty-five,of a savage,truculent countenance.On Vitoriano's offering him a Testament he took it into his hand to examine it;but no sooner did his eyes glance over the title-page than he burst into a loud laugh,exclaiming:'Ha,ha,Don Jorge Borrow,the English heretic,we have encountered you at last.

Glory to the Virgin and the Saints!We have long been expecting you here,and at length you have arrived.'He then enquired the price of the book,and on being told three REALS,he flung down two,and rushed out of the house with the Testament in his hand.

Vitoriano now became alarmed,and determined upon leaving the place as soon as possible.He therefore hurried back to the POSADA,and having paid for the barley which his pony had consumed,went into the stable,and placing the pack-saddle on the animal's back was about to lead it forth when the ALCALDE of the village,the surgeon,and twelve other men,some of whom were armed with muskets,suddenly presented themselves.They instantly made Vitoriano prisoner,and,after seizing the books and laying an embargo on the pony,proceeded amidst much abuse to drag their captive to what they denominated their prison,a low damp apartment with a little grated window,where they locked him up and left him.