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MANUEL MATAMOROS: 
 
 HIS LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 ; 
 
 A NARRATIVE OF THE LATE PERSECUTION 
 OF CHRISTIANS IN SPAIN, | 
 
 COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS. 
 BY WILLIAM GREENE. 
 
 WITH A PHOTOGRAPH OF MATAMOROS IN HIS CELL. 
 
 ‘Ts not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wicked- 
 ness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that 
 ye break every yoke ?’’—IsataH lviii. 6. 
 
 LONDON: 
 MORGAN & CHASH, 38, LUDGATE HILL. 
 1866. 
 

 

 
 CONTENTS. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Brrru. — Conversion. — SERVICE IN THE GoOsPEL, — 
 IMPRISONMENT 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 COMMUNICATIONS FROM BARCELONA 
 
 i CHAPTER IV. 
 IMPRISONMENT AT GRANADA . 
 
 CHAPTER YV. 
 LETTER FROM ReEFoRMED CHURCH AT GRANADA.— 
 PROCEEDINGS OF FRIENDS IN ENGLAND 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Tue Losa TRAGEDY 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 LETTERS FROM GRANADA.—SPEECHES IN PARLIAMENT. 
 —TuHEr Encuisu Press . 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE DEFENCE OF THE PRISONERS AT 
 Maaga 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Or 
 
 16 
 
 45 
 
 80 
 
 130 
 
iv CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Tue Spanisp Press.—LetrerR FRoM MATAMOROS.— 
 DEFENCE BY HIS ADVOCATE BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL 
 AT GRANADA . 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LETTERS FROM GRANADA ’ ; : 2 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Visir oF AN EnouisHh CLERGYMAN.— LETTER FROM 
 Maramoros.—A WARNING 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Maramoros’s APPEAL TO THE RoMAN CATHOLICS OF 
 ENGLAND, IRELAND, AND ScoTLAND 
 
 PAGE 
 
 138 
 
 178 
 
 185 
 
 MEMORIALS OF THE LAST DAYS AND DEATH OF 
 
 MANUEL MATAMOROS. 
 
 CHAPTER XITI, 
 
 A Vistt To THE PRISON AT GRANADA.—THE DEPUTATION 
 OF THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Maramoros’s RELEASE FROM PRISON 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Work at LAUSANNE.—PREPARATIONS FOR EVANGELIZING 
 
 Spain.—Work ORGANIZED aT Pav, BAYONNE, AND 
 BourDEAUX . : ; ; ; : ; 5 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Farninc Heattu.—Lovine Frienps.—Last Days.— 
 ASLEEP IN JESUS 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF OUR DEPARTED BROTHER . 
 
 195 
 
 209 
 
 214 
 

 
 MANUEL MATAMOROS, 
 
 SR aaa 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 FEELING it at once a duty and a privilege to give to 
 the church a brief account of the life, labours, and 
 imprisonment of that beloved disciple of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, Manuel Matamoros, I commence my 
 pleasant undertaking by asking the aid and blessing 
 of the Divine Counsellor, without whom nothing 
 is strong and nothing is holy, and I look to Him for 
 that guidance which He never refuses to those who 
 feel their own insufficiency and who throw themselves 
 on Him in their hour of need. Christ loved the 
 church, and gave Himself for it, and it is for that 
 church that these pages are penned; not only for 
 those members of it now living, ae also for those 
 who may come after. 
 
 “It seemed good to me also, having had perfect 
 understanding of all things from the very first,” to 
 give back to the flock what the Great Shepherd has 
 entrusted to my keeping, even the detailed account 
 of the sufferings and trials and untiring labours of 
 our brother in bonds, with extracts from the many 
 
 B 
 
2 THE AUTHOR’S RESIDENCE IN SPAIN. 
 
 long and interesting letters I have received from 
 him, all which have been carefully preserved from 
 
 the first. “TI delight in the law of the Lord afterthe © 
 
 inward man ;” “ His way is in the whirlwind, and in 
 the storm,” as well as in the breath of the south 
 wind ; and He knoweth them that trust in Him, and 
 He still shows Himself strong towards those who 
 depend on Him alone. 
 
 His superintending care has been unmistakably 
 over this servant of his in many ways. “Thou shalt 
 not be for another man, so will I also be for thee,” 
 the Lord said to Israel, and the dependence and 
 whole-heartedness of the prisoner in being for the 
 Lord, has been one of the secrets of the Lord’s un- 
 ceasing love and tender care for him. 
 
 I obtained a knowledge of the Spanish language 
 during a residence of several years in Spain, where 
 I was engaged in the laying out and construction of 
 some of the many lines of railway that now inter- 
 sect the Peninsula, and having been, by God’s good 
 providence, led to know and love the Lord Jesus, I 
 endeavoured, while helping in the material progress of 
 the country, to prepare that highway which shall be 
 called the way of holiness, wherein the redeemed 
 shall walk. 
 
 It was in the year 1858 that I left Spain, but ever 
 since I have taken a deep interest and active part in 
 the great work of God going on there, and, latterly, 
 have had the honour and privilege of receiving, and 
 communicating to many Christian friends, the prison 
 letters of a faithful martyr. 
 
 As it is my intention to give to the church some 
 
 a a a 
 

 
 THE GOSPEL IN SPAIN. 3 
 
 information respecting “the beginning of the shoot- 
 ing up of the latter’growth” in Spain, it may be inter- 
 esting to know that a countryman of ours, Dr. Rule, of 
 Aldershot, began some thirty years ago to labour for 
 the Lord in Andalusia; his message was honoured of 
 God, and received by many Spaniards, and the schools — 
 which he then established in Gibraltar, in common 
 with the Wesleyan body, are thriving to this day. 
 This learned and laborious servant of Christ trans- 
 lated into the Spanish language a tract entitled 
 *¢ Andrew Dunn,’’ which has since been used by God 
 in enlightening many. 
 
 The late Dr. James Thompson, an agent of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, was the next sent 
 by the Lord into Spain ; he was at Madrid about the 
 year 1845, as far as I can learn, where he lost his be- 
 loved wife; his prayers and activity for the advance- 
 ment of the Lord’s kingdom in Spain were untiring 
 while he lived. He died about the year 1854. His 
 efforts resulted in the formation of the Spanish Evan- 
 gelization Society at Edinburgh, which has continued 
 from that time to the present to labour with success. 
 
 At about this period Mr. Parker, of London, 
 brought out his modest publication entitled the 
 “ Alba,” printed in Spanish, with a view to enlighten 
 the Spanish mind as to the errors of Popery, and to 
 introduce the pure gospel of the grace of God. This 
 little messenger has done important service in Spain, 
 and the “Spanish Evangelical Record,” edited by 
 Mrs. Robert Peddie, of Edinburgh, has served to 
 keep the people in this country informed as to the 
 progress of God’s work in Spain. 
 
A THE ADVERSARIES, 
 
 There are at the present time about 14,000,000 
 Spaniards in the Peninsula, and were we carried by 
 the Spirit into the midst of the open country, we 
 should see it full of bones and very dry, so that we 
 might ask, ‘‘ Can these bones live ?”? And then the 
 answer of the Word is, ‘‘ Prophesy upon these bones, 
 and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of 
 the Lord.” | 
 
 Already, with the feeble efforts that have been — 
 
 made, glorious results have been obtained, and a 
 goodly band of witnesses has been brought out ready 
 to testify to their countrymen the glad tidings of the 
 grace of God. But we are only on the threshold, and 
 the bitter opposition, by the adversaries, to the intro- 
 duction of the truth into Spain, offers no obstacle to 
 the “hosts of the Lord.” There are separated unto 
 our David men of might and men of war who by 
 
 God’s grace have faces like the faces of lions; He — 
 
 has his Gideons now as of old, to whom He has said, 
 “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” 
 They have not been wanting in this first glorious 
 campaign who “have jeoparded their lives on the 
 high places of the field,” neither shall they be want- 
 ing while there is one stronghold to be cast down, or 
 one captive to be set free. The Red Sea is before us, 
 mountains on the right hand and on the left, but the 
 word abideth sure, ‘‘ Stand still, and see the salva- 
 tion of the Lord; the Lord shall fight for you, and 
 ye shall hold your peace.” Hven so, Lord Jesus, be 
 it unto thy servant according to thy word. 
 
 r 
 
 
 
MATAMOROS’ EARLY LIFE, De 
 
 . CHAPTER II. 
 
 BIRTH.—CONVERSION.—SERVICE IN THE GOSPEL.—IMPRI- 
 : SONMENT. 
 
 Tue name of Manuel Matamoros will, in the lapse 
 of a century or two, hold as important a place in 
 the religious history of Spain as the name of Savona- 
 rola in that of Italy. 
 
 In a letter I received from him, dated “ Carcel 
 de la Audiencia, Granada, Feb. 12, 1861,” he 
 gives a brief sketch of his life in the following 
 words :— 
 
 “Tam twenty-five years of age, according to the 
 baptismal record read by the tribunal from the place 
 of my birth, Malaga; and, beloved brother, young as 
 I am, nevertheless, ever since I have had the use of 
 my reason, my life has been one continued chain of 
 suffering. After studying three years in the mili- 
 _tary college of Toledo, according to the wish of my 
 deceased father, who was a lieutenant-colonel in the 
 Spanish artillery, I abandoned that profession, which 
 was so much opposed to my tastes, at least as it 
 exists in Spain, and I came to manage my property, 
 consisting of seven pretty good farms at Malaga and 
 its neighbourhood. 
 
 ““A succession of misfortunes, which happened 
 
6.. HIS CONVERSION, : 
 
 within a very short time, obliged me to sell five, 
 leaving two remaining, of the value of about 10,000 
 dollars, but which were mortgaged to free me from 
 the military service which fell to my lot, and to 
 help me to maintain my mother and her family, and 
 move with them to Barcelona. I now see my poor 
 mother in great straits, which weighs heavily on my 
 spirit; she has hitherto been always pretty well off, 
 but is now obliged to earn her bread by embroidering. 
 May God bless her; she has many virtues. 
 
 “The reason of my leaving the service was 
 through a notable circumstance, which placed me in 
 a. critical position, even endangering my life, and 
 came about through the confession made by a cor- — 
 poral in my company to the chaplain of the regiment, 
 who gave me much annoyance. To this corporal I 
 had given a copy of the tract, ‘ Andrew Dunn,’ and 
 had succeeded in convincing him of the truth; he 
 forwarded it to his mother, with the desire of effect- 
 ing the same change in her mind, but she forced him 
 to retract his opinions, and to confess to the priest, 
 threatening that if he did not comply with her wish, 
 he should lose her favour.” 
 
 It appears that Matamoros’ first religious im- 
 pressions were received from hearing the preaching 
 of Don F.. R——,, an ordained minister, in the Pres-. 
 byterian church at Gibraltar, as also by attending 
 the ministry of a Sefor B——, at Seville, a convert 
 from Romanism in that town. These impressions, 
 deepened by the-reading of the Spanish tract, ‘“‘ An- 
 drew Dunn,”’ caused Matamoros to send in a formal 
 protest against the errors of Romanism, and to in- 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 A DANGEROUS MISSION. 7 
 
 scribe his name in the books of the Presbyterian 
 congregation of Gibraltar. 
 
 Don F.R was born at Barcelona, and brought 
 up for an advocate, but went to exercise his profession 
 at Turin, where he heard the celebrated De Sanctis, 
 the Italian reformer, preach, and became a convert 
 to the pure faith of the gospel of Christ. He suffered 
 imprisonment at Barcelona in the year 1855, but was 
 afterwards, at the end of nine months, set at liberty, 
 and banished from Spain. He went then to Gibral- 
 tar, where he still remains, and has been instrumental 
 in convincing many Spaniards of the errors of the 
 Roman Catholic faith. 
 
 The reception of the gospel of the grace of God 
 by Matamoros was as seed sown in good ground; 
 and from the day he accepted that grace, he became 
 a willing follower of the Lamb: his first inquiry, it 
 would appear, on entering the service of Christ, was, 
 “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” R— 
 directed the steps of our faithful brother to Malaga 
 and Granada, to preach Christ to those who, in these 
 towns, were sitting in darkness and in the shadow 
 of death; and they have seen “the great light ;” 
 yes, even upon them has the light shined. 
 
 But before undertaking this dangerous mission, 
 Matamoros understood well the immense difficulties 
 that lay in his path, and that bonds and imprison- 
 ments awaited him; but he had counted the cost, 
 and, like Paul, had been enabled to say, “‘ None of 
 these things move me, neither count I my life dear 
 unto myself, so that I might finish my course with 
 joy, and the ministry which I have received of the. 
 
 
 
8 -LABOURS IN MALAGA. 
 
 Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of 
 God.” 
 Malaga, his native town, was the place in which 
 
 he commenced his loving and successful labours. In 
 
 one of his early letters to me he gives an account 
 of his first proceedings in the following terms :— 
 “From the moment I dedicated myself to the holy 
 cause of the gospel, I understood, beloved brother, 
 that its propagation ought not to be an isolated 
 attempt, nor reduced ice to the circulation of 
 books, many of which I have seen thrown into the 
 fire, or used for purposes completely different to 
 those for which they were intended; indeed, I ob- 
 served that not more than one in every thousand 
 accomplished the end in view; while I desired, on 
 the contrary, that one tract should be the means of 
 enlightening at least a hundred persons. 
 
 “‘ As soon as I arrived at Malaga, and being still 
 in the army, I devoted myself to convincing my 
 fellow-countrymen, by discussing with them, and 
 by comparing and drawing deductions from the 
 Word of God; but principally among those persons 
 in whom I had most confidence through their ante- 
 cedents. As soon as I had succeeded in convincing 
 them, I invited them to unite with the true church 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and when they decided 
 on so doing, I showed them the importance of 
 writing a letter, in which they expressed clearly and 
 explicitly their views, and these letters were signed 
 and dated in due order. By this plan we guarded 
 against betrayal, and interested them in the work, 
 and knew with more certainty the faith and con- 
 
 
 

 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH. 9 
 
 viction of the writer of the document. Having 
 agreed with Sefor R , 1 directed them to write 
 to him, with a countersign, so as to prevent a sur- 
 prise ; and he in his turn answered them and encou- 
 raged them in further inquiries, and in deeper study 
 of the Word ; sustained their faith, and his letters, 
 being read by many, produced a good effect, and 
 gave most excellent results. 
 
 “The protests thus obtained at Malaga were the 
 first commenced in Spain. In a short time, dear 
 
 
 
 brother, they became so numerous, that the instruc- 
 tion of all was a task infinitely superior to my 
 ability ; nor could I keep alive the faith of such a 
 number of people; so I determined to give an 
 entirely new organization to my labours. I formed 
 a committee from among the most active, best in- 
 structed, and most evangelical of the believers, for 
 the purpose of directing and propagating our work 
 onamore solid basis, and for producing the most 
 consoling and blessed results. The total number of 
 brethren were divided into as many congregations 
 as our committee was composed of members, and 
 these semi-missionaries were entrusted with the in- 
 struction of these meetings. By this means I suc- 
 ceeded in making our work go forward with renewed 
 activity, and augmented the number of meetings 
 for edification. In aword, at every step we found 
 ourselves approximating more closely to the sacred 
 end to which the blessed cause of the Lord ought 
 to bring us. 
 
 “When I received some packages of books, I no 
 longer let them be given away at random, nor did I 
 
10 MEETINGS FOR EDIFICATION. 
 
 allow them to be thrown in at the doors of some 
 houses, as had been done elsewhere, neither did I 
 place them in the hands of uncertain individuals.; but 
 I handed them over to the committee, and as they 
 knew the exact state of the church and its wants, the 
 books were divided into as many parts as there were 
 members of the committee, and each member took that 
 proportion which he required for his congregation. 
 The leaders, knowing most accurately the wants of 
 their respective congregations, distributed the books 
 with the greatest prudence, and thus in two or three 
 days I saw a considerable number put into circula- 
 tion, all of which seemed to be thankfully received. 
 Never, beloved brother, have I had too many books; 
 on the contrary, I have often had reiterated peremp- 
 tory demands, and have not been able to meet all the 
 wants. 
 
 ‘“¢Tt will be easy for you to see that this system 
 given to our work ought to give satisfactory results, 
 and so it proved. Speedily the members of the com- 
 mittee found themselves insufficient to carry on the 
 work of preaching; speedily the congregations were 
 firm in faith and well instructed, to such an extent, 
 indeed, that it would have filled you with joy to have 
 witnessed those meetings for simple Christian edifi- 
 cation. 
 
 “These meetings were commenced by fervent 
 prayer for the presence of the Holy Spirit, and were 
 concluded by thanksgiving, because there was daily 
 manifested a visible improvement in them. I, poor 
 in talent and oratory, and with but little instruction, 
 devoted myself to preaching, which I did two or 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 JOURNEYINGS OF MATAMOROS. 1] 
 
 three times a week, and which did not hinder the 
 members of the committee from going forward with 
 the separate classes, which was always desirable, as 
 our meeting in large numbers was dangerous. One 
 of these meetings was witnessed by Dr. and Mrs. 
 Tregelles, at which there were about ninety-seven 
 present, and among them my dear mother. . 
 
 “¢ All the members of our churches are in admi- 
 rable contact, and know each other well; and imme- 
 diately when one is unwell, and when the state of his 
 health is not satisfactory, a committee of three attend 
 ’ by turns at the house of the sufferer, visiting him at 
 least once every day, and see after the wants of his 
 family ; and to the sick person no care is lacking so 
 that his wants may be supplied, the expenses being 
 paid out of the general fund of the church for this 
 end ; so that the spirit of fraternity is indeed a truth.” 
 
 From Malaga, Matamoros proceeded to Seville, 
 Granada, Barcelona, Jaen, and other towns of the 
 province of Andalusia. In Granada particularly his 
 labours were much blessed, and a large, numerous, 
 and influential body of believers was gathered there. 
 At Barcelona, our brother met again Dr. and Mrs. 
 Tregelles, in the month of September, 1860. 
 
 Here it is necessary for me to say, that feeling 
 that my knowledge of Spanish was a talent com- 
 mitted to me by God for which I was responsible, I 
 felt desirous of employing it to his glory, and was 
 impelled one afternoon to kneel down, and pray that 
 He would allow me to use it for the good of Spain. 
 The prayer was short, but it was heard, and. was 
 speedily answered, 
 
1902s SECOND LETTER, 
 
 In a conversation Mrs. Tregelles had with Mata-— 
 moros, she mentioned my name to him, and recom- 
 mended his writing to me, which he did in the month 
 of September, 1860. In answer to this letter, I en- 
 - couraged him to continue in his self-denying and 
 glorious work, and promised him my sympathy, 
 prayers, and support in every way. The second 
 letter I received from him was from the prison at 
 Barcelona, as follows :— 
 
 ‘* Prison, Barcelona, October 17th, 1860. 
 
 ‘“‘ RESPECTED AND VERY DEAR BROTHER IN JESUS CHRIST, 
 
 “T have received with sincerest joy your kind letter 
 of the 9th, which afforded me infinite comfort in this 
 house of misfortune. The same day on which you 
 were so good as to write to me—the 9th imstant—at 
 seven o’clock in the morning, I was arrested for the 
 single crime of being a Christian, and loving my 
 fellow-men so well as to desire that they also should 
 know the Lord Jesus, by whom alone they can be 
 saved. A charge laid against me in Granada induced 
 the civil governor of that city to send a telegraphic 
 order to the governor of this place for my arrest, and 
 also for the minute examination of my house, etc. 
 After a most rigorous and tyrannical search, there 
 was found in my possession a packet of letters and 
 papers from several places in Spain, and certain other 
 documents which compromised me to a considerable 
 degree. I was brought to this prison, and kept for 
 eight days in a sad and terrible solitary confinement. 
 After two examinations before the whole tribunal, I 
 was relieved from my solitude, that is to say, 1 am 
 
 
 

 
 HIS TRIAL AT BARCELONA. 1s 
 
 now confined with criminals! I gave my answers 
 without confessing anything—so as not to involve 
 others—except my faith ; that faith which shall save 
 me when the one Supreme Judge shall sit upon his 
 throne. 
 
 “At this stage of my examination a singular epi- 
 sode occurred—the magistrates believed that I should 
 deny my faith, and that the sight of the enemies of 
 Christ and my tyrants would overwhelm me, but 
 they were mistaken. The questions and answers 
 were as follow :—Question. ‘Do you profess the 
 Catholic apostolic Roman faith; and if not, what 
 religion do you profess?’ Answer. ‘My religion is 
 that of Jesus Christ; my rule of faith is the Word of 
 God, or Holy Bible, which, without a word altered, 
 curtailed, or added, is the basis of my belief; and in 
 this I am confirmed by the last few sentences of the 
 Apocalypse, and the many distinct charges of the 
 Apostles in their Epistles. The Roman Catholic and 
 Apostolic Church not being based upon these prin- 
 ciples, I do not believe in her dogmas, and still less 
 do I obey her in practice.’ The tribunal appeared 
 astonished at these words, and the judge said to me, 
 ‘Do you know what you are saying?’ ‘Yes, sir,’ 
 I replied in a firm voice, ‘I cannot deny it; I have 
 put my hand to the plough, and I dare not look back.’ 
 The judge was silent, and the tribunal rose. 
 
 “Nothing, dear brother, alarms me for myself, 
 but I do grieve over the arrests which have been 
 made, both before and since mine took place, in 
 various parts of Andalusia. Oh! they will injure 
 worthy Christian people, honoured fathers and virtuous 
 
14 AIM OF HIS LABOURS. 
 
 sons! Alas! this oversets my tranquillity of mind, 
 and I shall not recover it for many days! And 
 again, my dear old mother, with my two little 
 brothers, are left alone in this strange town. Thus my 
 position is very trying ; I suffer, yes, I suffer much ! 
 
 “Our mission, my dear friend, is not, and has 
 not been, to separate believers from the Church of 
 Rome; it has been to bring souls out of the Roman 
 darkness, and from Atheism or indifference to the 
 knowledge of Christ; to gather together intelligent 
 and evangelical congregations ; in a word, to form 
 churches worthy of God and of the world. As you 
 will easily imagine, my spirit is not at rest, and I 
 cannot to-day write you at length upon these topics ; 
 but I promise to do so shortly, and give you explicit 
 details. 
 
 “You may do much for Catalonia; it requires 
 and promises more than any other part of Spain. 
 
 “‘ Although my imprisonment threatens to be a 
 long one, that is, of some months’ duration, yet I can 
 labour here also, for the brethren visit me; and from 
 this spot I can give you full information. The work 
 in Barcelona has not suffered in the slightest degree, 
 for all depends upon me, and I would sooner die than 
 cause any one to suffer. In Andalusia they have 
 received a fearful blow; but time will obliterate their 
 panic, and all will go on as before. The seed sown 
 has been abundant and good, and the enmity of 
 Christ’s foes is impotent. God is on our side. 
 
 “Later, I hope to send you the rules of our 
 organization, but the basis of our existence is the 
 Word of God—the Holy Bible. 
 
 i a i 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 GOD IS ON OUR SIDE. 15 
 
 * Adieu, dear brother, I would gladly be free to 
 do all that you would wish; but, alas! in Spain, it is 
 a crime to love the gospel! I trust you will soon 
 write to me, you will easily believe that now, more 
 than ever, your letters will be a comfort to me in my 
 _ present sorrowful and trying position. Counsel and 
 consolation from Christian friends is a necessary of 
 life to me now! 
 
 “* God be with you, dear friend, 
 
 ** Your brother in Jesus Christ, 
 (Signed) “ M. M.” 
 
16 THE PRESS OF SPAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 COMMUNICATIONS FROM BARCELONA. 
 
 On the receipt: of the last interesting letter, and 
 feeling deeply for our brother in bonds, I wrote to 
 him again to solace and comfort him, laying his case 
 before the Lord in prayer frequently, and asking for 
 especial wisdom and guidance. I watched anxiously, 
 as may be supposed, for an answer, and received, in 
 the beginning of November, the following reply :— 
 
 * Prison, Barcelona, November 8th, 1860. 
 ‘“‘ RESPECTED AND MOST DEAR BROTHER IN THE LorD 
 JESUS CHRIST, OUR HOPE AND CONFIDENCE, 
 
 ‘“‘My poor pen cannot describe to you the ex- 
 ceeding joy and gratitude which I felt on the receipt 
 of your most kind and Christian letter. I can only 
 say that it was a real comfort to me in my bitter 
 trial. 
 
 “The Spanish clergy are thoroughly alarmed; 
 the press, which is their creature, labours to aggra- 
 vate the evils of our position—inquisitorial influences 
 are pitilessly working against us, both in secret and 
 in public. May God forgive them all for the evil 
 they would do, and bring them into the path that 
 

 
 LETTER FROM BARCELONA. Nay, 
 
 leads to life! Has the English press done anything 
 forus? It is most desirable that it should do so; 
 for that portion of the Spanish press which is favour- 
 able to us dares not speak out, and that portion 
 which is against us is doing us much injury, by giving’ 
 an utterly false colour to our holy cause. 
 
 “‘T purpose, dear friend, when lam brought before 
 the superior tribunal, protesting before them and 
 before the Spanish public /against the injustice and 
 cruelty with which they treat us, for the sole crime: 
 of being Christians. If I am condemned, I will pro- 
 test, by the press of every country in Europe, against 
 the injustice that punishes for the sole sin of pro- 
 fessmg Christianity. The world should know that 
 the Inquisition still rules in Spain; the world should 
 know that itis a crime in this land to love the 
 gospel; the world should know that if the fires of 
 the stake have-been extinguished, the tortures of the 
 galleys still exist. This protest I will.send to you, 
 that you may translate and. publish it. It is no 
 foolish pride that induces me to do this; I believe it 
 is an act of Christian faith. I love the Lord Christ, 
 and will confess his name; and will protest against 
 the Church of Rome, which so unjustly assumes it. 
 
 “The Council of Granada summons me to ap- 
 pear there. I shall be forced to travel 200 leagues 
 (about 700 miles) on foot, bound in a gang of crimi-- 
 nals, and confounded in their disgrace in every town. 
 and village through which we: shall pass, where my 
 offence will not be known. My health is very deli- 
 cate, and this journey and the cold, and the wretched 
 prisons of the smaller villages on our road, will be 
 
 C 
 
18 A GLOOMY PROSPECT. 
 
 all dangerous to me. Only by paying my own pas- 
 sage, and that of the two men who escort me, should 
 I be permitted to make the journey by sea: of course 
 this expense is quite beyond my power. Neither 
 will I ask any fresh sacrifice from our friends in. 
 France. My family is in much distress on this 
 account; in truth, my position is trying. My faith 
 does not and will not waver, but I suffer physically. 
 
 ‘“‘A thousand, thousand thanks to you for the 
 love and favour which you express towards me in 
 your letter. Ido not deserve it, but I am grateful 
 for your noble and Christian feeling; also I thank 
 you for the succour you are sending to my family. 
 God will repay you. He is blessing me with much 
 quietness of mind on this account. 
 
 “T hope you will soon write to me. I can re- 
 ceive but one more letter from you at. Barcelona. 
 My family remains here. Pray to God for us, dear 
 brother, as I pray for you. 
 
 “‘ iver believe in the love and gratitude of your 
 brother in Christ, “ M. Matamoros.” 
 
 On learning by ‘the last letter the summons of the 
 Granada tribunal, and hearing of the very delicate 
 state of Matamoros’ health— brought on by his 
 great exertions in preaching, and labouring for the 
 good of souls—I feared that if he made this long 
 journey on foot, and in the manner mentioned in his 
 letter, his health would give way, and that he would 
 never reach Granada alive. So I determined at once 
 to send him what money I had by me at the time, 
 and which I forwarded, amounting to £15. And 
 

 
 A REMARKABLE PROVIDENCE. 19 
 
 here let me give an account of God’s faithfulness in 
 behalf of those that endeavour to serve Him. 
 
 The account of the imprisonment of a Spaniard at 
 Barcelona appeared, I believe, in a London paper. 
 My name was connected in some way with it. <A 
 lady residing there read the account, and immediately 
 sent me a sum of money in aid of the prisoner. The 
 amount which she sent me was precisely that which 
 I had sent to Matamoros, and this without the least 
 communication between her and myself. Indeed, no 
 one but the God who had enabled me to send the 
 money, and who had now returned it to me, knew of 
 the matter. I felt deeply humbled, and very grate- 
 ful to the loving Father who had thus ordered the 
 steps of His children, and heartily set my seal to the 
 words, “ Doubtless there is a God that judgeth in 
 the earth.” ) 
 
 The following letter came at this time :— 
 
 “ Prison, Barcelona, November 27th, 1860. 
 
 ** RESPECTED AND VERY DEAR BROTHER IN OUR BELOVED 
 REDEEMER JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY MEDIATOR BE- 
 TWEEN GOD AND MEN, 
 
 “T have just received your comforting and Chris- 
 tian letter of the 17th November,.and with it an 
 order for £15. Thanks! a thousand thanks, dear 
 brother, to you and to your friends, for this good 
 deed—thanks from the bottom of my heart, which my 
 pen cannot express. But you, and the lovers of the 
 gospel, the true children of the Church of Christ who 
 have joined you, will be able to appreciate the depth 
 of my gratitude, by the Christian joy you have expe- 
 
20 THE PRISONER'S MOTHER. 
 
 rienced in succouring a brother in bonds for Christ’s — 
 sake, a brother whose only offence and only crime has 
 been loving and circulating the Word of God. 
 
 ‘‘ Dear brother, it appears that my.tyrants seek 
 to make my captivity daily more irksome, striving 
 with each other for the. pleasure of giving me pain. 
 I have been examined a third.time, and have been 
 informed that I must obey the summons of the 
 tribunal of Granada; but that besides this, the 
 ‘ Audiencia’ of Barcelona had determined to bring 
 another action against me, to discover and prove 
 what I have done and attempted for the circulation 
 of the gospel in Catalonia. So.not only is one 
 tribunal acting against.me, but two—or rather three 
 —those of Granada, Barcelona, and Malaga. The 
 tribunal of Granada is so anxious for my appearance 
 there, that in the space of a very few days I have 
 been several times summoned, and my papers called 
 for also. They need not be in haste—I am ready. 
 My poor mother has petitioned the government to 
 delay my journey, in consideration of the feeble state 
 of my health ; and some of the newspapers have sup- 
 ported this demand of hers. Will the governor grant 
 it? We shall see; and I will let you know the 
 result. My poor mother is suffering martyrdom. 
 Her repeated anxieties have brought on a serious 
 attack of illness; and she has been confined to bed 
 for several days. 
 
 “YT cannot recall without a shudder the sorrowful 
 scene that occurred the day of my arrest. When my 
 dearly-beloved and most unhappy mother saw me 
 seized, she fell fainting and senseless to the ground ; 
 

 
 
 
 \ 
 
 THE SPANIARDS ARE SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 21 
 
 and mylittle brothers burst into tears‘and loud cries, for 
 in their innocent and comfortless sorrow they believed 
 that she was dead. I attempted to go to her assist- 
 ance, and was not permitted. Cruelty! I shall ever 
 remember that terrible moment with anguish. From 
 that time her health has been so feeble that I am 
 deeply anxious about her and on her account. I 
 really dread the day of my departure. God’s will be 
 done. 
 
 “Spain is the grave of many martyrs, the victims 
 of the Church of Rome. In her religious intolerance 
 she has only changed in the external forms for the 
 last two hundred years. The Church of Rome hates 
 light and knowledge, and punishes'us because we 
 have learnt to know Christ. The Church of Rome 
 despises the Word of God, and imprisons us because 
 we love and respect it and hold it in our hearts asa 
 sacred and saving possession. Let us take comfort, 
 however, for wesee that the rigour of Papal tyranny 
 is impotent against us, and their satanic wiles are 
 useless. Our imprisonment was needful, and has 
 done much service to our holy work. All Spain 
 knows that we suffer for Christ’s sake; and so all 
 may see, evidently, how far removed is the practice 
 of the Roman Church from the precepts of God’s 
 holy Word. But whatever she may attempt against 
 us now is already too late. The Word of God is in 
 the hands of thousands of Spaniards, and the study 
 of it has raised up hundreds of decided Christians, 
 willing and rejoicing to spread the good news, and, 
 despising the gainsaying and the persecution of men, 
 ready to take up the cross and follow Christ. So, 
 
Jay CONFESSION OF CHRIST.’ 
 
 though tyranny does not falter, neither shall our holy 
 work. But tyranny is the work of man, therefore it 
 must cease. Our work is of God, and therefore ulti- 
 mately it shall gloriously triumph. : 
 “For myself, I am perfectly tranquil. Every 
 fresh suffering that my poor weak body endures, 
 every fresh delay which is interposed between me 
 and the day of my release, is a fresh motive to in- 
 crease my joy and confirm my faith. I glory m 
 tribulations! My imprisonment is a trial to the 
 body, but not tothe soul. The slayers of the body are 
 weak and miserable enemies to the soul of a Christian. 
 It can even rejoice in its sufferings for Christ’s sake. 
 **T cannot describe to you, dear brother, the hap- 
 piness that I have felt since I received your letter, 
 and learnt from it that your noble fellow-countrymen 
 had interested themselves in my fate. Oh, give them — 
 the assurance of my deep gratitude. How can I 
 repay so many favours, so much Christian love ? 
 The reward is so great that I could never give it, but 
 God will repay it tenfold ; and posterity will not fail to 
 keep a sacred niche in history for the sons of noble 
 and powerful Albion, who are ever ready to support the 
 good cause, and to defend the weak and the afilicted. 
 “May God enlighten you, dear brothers in Christ, 
 —may He take you under his special protection ! 
 May He recompense, as He sees fit, your noble deeds ! 
 “T have confessed Christ before the tribunals. I 
 do not, and shall never, repent of this. As I have 
 done at Barcelona I purpose doing at Granada. I 
 will confess Christ before the weak as before the 
 strong; before my brethren as before my murderers. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTORS. 23 
 
 I shall suffer—and what then? Did not Christ suffer 
 for us miserable sinners? Did He not lay down his 
 life for our sins? Did Henotredeem us by his death? 
 What are my little trials to be compared to the bless- 
 ing that his words and his example are to me? Oh, 
 nothing! less than nothing! I knew well, when I 
 undertook my evangelical labours, that I was in the 
 midst of wolves. J knew the thorns and thistles that 
 would be under my feet, but I never forgot the words 
 of the Saviour, ‘ He that taketh not his cross and fol- 
 loweth after me, is not worthy of me.’ 
 
 ‘Let us pray to our great Master, that He would ~ 
 pardon our enemies and persecutors. Let us pray 
 with sincere and humble faith that He would bring, 
 them to his heavenly fold—that He would enlighten. 
 and preserve them. I feel no anger against them.. 
 Tunderstand the motives of their inhuman cruelty, and 
 
 I heartily pity them. for their separation from Christ. 
 | “ Farewell, dear brother; I do not yet know when. 
 I shall leave this place. The journey to Granada is 
 indispensable ; but the state of my health may occa- 
 sion some delay. But you shall hear of my move- 
 ments if possible. 
 ** Your brother in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 “¢ManvEL Matamoros,” 
 
 Seeing that the money had been received in due . 
 time, I felt a pleasure in praying much to the Lord 
 that He would continue to guide all things for the 
 best, and for his own glory, and fur the advancement 
 of his truth in Spain. Before leaving Barcelona, the 
 intelligence having reached that city of the sympathy 
 
24, LETTER OF BARCELONA CHRISTIANS. 
 
 of British Christians, a letter was received by Mata- 
 moros as follows, with forty signatures appended :— 
 
 “© Barcelona, December 26th, 1860. 
 
 ** RESPECTED BROTHER IN THE Lorp, 
 “We desire to use but few words in the expres- 
 sion of our-deep gratitude towards your Christian — 
 fellow-countrymen, for their noble and generous con- 
 duct towards our brethren in Christ, who suffer perse- 
 cution for their faith in this country, through the 
 intolerance of our government and the influence of 
 the Romish priesthood. We, the undersigned, have 
 now the pleasure of declaring that we do not belong, 
 nor will we ever belong again, to the Church of 
 Rome, whose dogmas we consider to be opposed to 
 the Word of God, which is our.rule of faith now; nor 
 do we acknowledge any other religion to be true than 
 that of Jesus Christ and his apostles. Having made 
 the above declaration, you will understand, dear 
 brother, how grateful we feel for the active measures 
 taken by the distinguished deputation which waited 
 en Lord John Russell, not only because of the good 
 it will do to our brethren, but because of -the incal- 
 culable benefit which will result to the Lord’s work 
 here. We have heard, also, of the generous assist- 
 ance which Messrs. Newton, Tregelles, and Peddie 
 have, with yourself and others, rendered to our dear 
 brother, Don M. Matamoros, whom we love as he 
 deserves, and for which we hasten to express our 
 heartfelt gratitude. We feel confident that we ex- 
 press the sentiments of many Spaniards, and there- 
 fore we have not hesitated an instant in sending you 
 

 
 SAILS FROM BARCELONA. 25 
 
 not only our own thanks but also those of many who 
 are like-minded with ourselves. 
 
 “We trust you will not be surprised at not seeing 
 - our addresses given, because of the fatal persecutions 
 to which we are exposed in this unfortunate country. 
 To you and all Englishmen who are entrusted in the 
 Lord’s work, we offer our sincere Christian love, 
 sympathy, and affection, and are your brothers in the 
 Lord Jesus.” 
 
 [Here follow forty signatures. | 
 
 All haying been prepared by God for our brother’s 
 voyage, he set sail on the 26th December, 1860, and I 
 received a letter communicating the fact to me, as 
 follows :— 
 
 “ National Prison, Barcelona, December 26th, 1860. 
 “BELOVED Brotruer, Mr. GREEND, 
 
 “In two hours from now I start for Granada in 
 the steamboat as far as Malaga. 
 
 “T have just been visited by a body of the 
 brethren, who have given me the accompanying 
 memorial to forward to you. They had previously 
 read the letters you wrote to me, which produced 
 enthusiastic joy, and have called forth the inclosed 
 document, which, as you will perceive, is a most im- 
 portant one. It would be well to publish it, sup- 
 pressing the names, the insertion of which would be 
 quite sufficient to insure the immediate imprisonment 
 of all concerned. The reason there are not double 
 the number of signatures is because they wish to 
 take advantage of my presence here to forward it. 
 The enthusiasm is intense and indescribable. They 
 
26 ORIGIN OF THE PERSECUTION. 
 
 have written to Malaga on the same subject, and I 
 believe that they will also write to you. 
 
 “T shall have to be three days in prison at Ali- 
 cante. My expenses will be greater than I expected, 
 but there is no help for that now. I know that my 
 friends are awaiting me on the pier, and ‘ will accom- 
 pany me to the ship,’ to bid me farewell. The Lord 
 reward their love. What think you of the love of 
 these brethren? I will send you my address when I 
 arrive at Granada, and if possible will write to you 
 from Alicante. I am writing to-day to A——, and 
 yesterday I wrote to Dr. Tregelles. Farewell, dear 
 brother ; athousand kind regards to your dear family. 
 Adieu! may his Holy Spirit be with you. 
 
 “¢M. Maramoros.” 
 
 
 
 About this time a valuable letter appeared, which, 
 as it gave many interesting statements to the public 
 concerning the imprisonments made in Spain, I have 
 thought well to introduce here. It is as follows :— 
 
 “The following is a brief statement of facts con- 
 nected with the still continuing persecution in Spain. 
 It originated thus: A young man of about twenty 
 years of age, named N. A——-, belonging to a respect- 
 able family at Granada, was student at an ecclesiasti- 
 cal seminary, presided over by the archbishop of that 
 province. Having made rapid progress in his studies, 
 he became one of the favourite scholars of the rector, 
 and a protégé of the archbishop. A friend presented 
 A—— with a New Testament and two controversial 
 works. He was reprimanded and kept in close con- 
 finement for a week; but his convictions remaining 
 
 
 

 
 ARREST OF ALHAMA, 97 
 
 - unchanged, it was resolved that he should be arrested. 
 His Protestant friends having heard of this, advised 
 him to escape to Gibraltar. He did so, and is now a 
 refugee in England. 
 
 * José Alhama, a hatter at Granada, a man of high 
 Christian character, and greatly respected by all, was 
 suspected of having aided the flight of A ; he 
 was suddenly arrested, his house searched, and him- 
 self carried off to a dungeon, his wife and family 
 being wholly unprovided for. Among the letters 
 found in Alhama’s house were some from Manuel 
 Matamoros, from Barcelona. <A telegram was sent 
 to that town for his arrest. At midnight, on the 
 6th of February, four gensdarmes with their sergeant 
 and a constable entered the house of Alhama; his 
 aged mother admitted them, they demanded all the 
 keys to search the house. His wife was in bed, ill 
 from premature confinement, brought on by distress 
 at her husband’s sufferings. They obliged her to 
 rise, and searched the mattresses, boxes, trunks, beds, 
 clothes, pockets; for two hours the savage search 
 continued; nothing, however, was found to incrimi- 
 nate the family, but the terror was too great for 
 Alhama’s wife, and she fell down in an epileptic fit. 
 
 “Very recently eighteen persons have been ar- 
 rested in Malaga; three out of one family, the father, 
 mother, and eldest son, five little children being left 
 wholly unprovided for. They were arrested at dead 
 of night, and were carried off to a dungeon where 
 they still remain. More arrests have also taken 
 place at Seville, and the head of one of the best 
 public schools in that city is now in prison.” 
 
 
 
98 JOURNEY TO GRANADA. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ‘IMPRISONMENT AT GRANADA. 
 
 TuE last letter left. Matamoros on board the steamer 
 at Barcelona, accompanied by-his guards; the sym- 
 pathy of the crowd on the quay showed how much 
 they admired him,and the love they bore to the cause 
 for which he was suffering. 
 
 Everything went on smoothly on board the 
 steamer, and the voyage was performed most plea- 
 santly, thanks to a mercifal God, whose loving arm 
 had been and is still stretched out over his faithful 
 servant. He arrived at Malaga in due course, as will 
 be seen by the following extracts from his letter of 
 January 8th, 1861 :— 
 
 ‘“T left Barcelona on the 26th, and reached Ma- 
 laga on the 30th of December, where I was received 
 by a considerable number of brethren, who came on 
 board the steamer to see me. The same even- 
 ing, when I was starting for Granada, numbers of 
 friends and brethren accompanied me to the dih- 
 gence, in which Sir Robert Peel was also a passen- 
 ger. I arrived at Granada on the Ist of January, 
 and on appearing before the tribunal was ordered 
 into solitary confinement, and was accordingly taken 
 
SIR ROBERT PEEL. 29 
 
 to a different prison from that of our dear brother 
 Alhama. 
 
 “This scandalous, tyrannical, and arbitrary action 
 coming to the ears of Sir Robert Peel, he imme- 
 diately presented himself with truly admirable energy 
 before the authorities, and demanded that I should be 
 released from this position, and also, that he with 
 Lady H. Peel and Lady J. Hay should be permitted 
 to visit me. The judge gave him a written order to 
 visit me, but doubtless the tribunal were unwilling 
 that I should receive visitors of such high rank in a 
 filthy, damp, and dark apartment, where the only bed 
 was a small mattress spread upon the floor. When 
 removed, I had the honour of receiving a visit from 
 these personages. We spoke very plainly together ; 
 they went all over the prison ; they saw the cell where 
 I was first confined, and where, thanks to them, I re- 
 mained only two days. ‘They also saw the cell where 
 Alhama was confined for twenty-two days, the sight 
 of which called forth an-energetic protest from these 
 good people, who could not comprehend why so much 
 tyranny was exercised against a person for preaching 
 the gospel, which is the duty of every good Christian. 
 Lady Emily Peel and Lady Jane Hay went through 
 the female ward, accompanied by the governor’s wife, 
 and comforted the unfortunate women by speaking 
 kindiy and edifying them by wholesome Christian 
 
 ~ counsel. 
 
 
 
 
 
 “They so delighted these poor folks that they 
 begged for another visit the day followmg. They 
 left Granada assuring me of their wish to return to 
 London, so that Sir Robert might speak about this 
 
30 THE PRISON, GRANADA. 
 
 matter in Parliament. . . . ‘The spirit of the 
 Barcelona and Malaga churches is excellent, as is 
 also that of Granada, in spite of the terror the 
 clergy have inspired. 
 
 “Tet us go onwardand upwards. It is necessary 
 
 to make use of this precious present time, and be 
 firmly assured that both Alhama and myself will 
 stand out boldly to the last. We know that Spain 
 and Hurope have their eyes upon us, and we would 
 prefer to die in bonds sooner than appear to falter. 
 Our deep love for the cause of our divine Redeemer 
 urges us onward; what avails the anger of our 
 tyrants, what their threats? Nothing, nothing: we 
 glory in our sufferings. Alas! dear friend, how I 
 miss the visits of my mother and my family. They 
 are ever before my mind ; I am getting my food from 
 the hotel, but itis much dearer than at Barcelona, and 
 when I had it from home I could economize greatly. 
 The heavy expenses of myself and guards from Bar- 
 celona to Granada, and their pay back, has been 
 double what I expected, £24, and I.am fretting about 
 this. But farewell, dear friend, I shall expect a long 
 letter from you to comfort me.” 
 
 Thus far our dear sufferer has got on his thorny 
 way; but how bright will be his crown, and how the 
 good hand of his God has been upon him hitherto, is 
 fully manifest to those who have watched the movings 
 of the Divine hand in his behalf. 
 
 From Barcelona Matamoros had written a letter to 
 A: , now in this country, an extract from which I 
 give as follows :— 
 
 
 
 — a ae ” 
 
 vane — 
 

 
 
 
 LETTER TO A——. 81 
 
 “ National Prison, Barcelona, December 13th, 1860. 
 “* DEAREST BROTHER IN THE Lorn, 
 
 ““You have done well in writing to me. My 
 thoughts have been constantly fixed on you since [ left 
 Granada. I have not forgotten you for a moment. 
 I have prayed constantly to the Lord for your well- 
 being, for the steadfastness of your faith, and for up- 
 holding you in every Christian grace. 
 
 “ God will not forsake us; his Holy Beaee is con- 
 stantly with us. In our poor country, tyrants re- 
 joice in our sufferings; all their energy, all their 
 desires, all their highest aims are to augment the 
 fetters which bind down our liberties and blight our 
 hopes. They labour, agitate, and hasten to present 
 to us, with inquisitorial cleverness, horrible scenes, to 
 annihilate us. But, unfortunate people, they do not 
 understand that we are peaceful, satisfied, and proud 
 of our lot. 
 
 “ Rejoice, brother, for since the day of my impri- 
 sonment the enthusiasm in Malaga has increased, as 
 in my letters I have exhorted them not to be weary. 
 At first their hearts sunk at the rigour of the tyrants ; 
 but since, they have understood that they must go 
 forward with a double speed, and they have done so. 
 Thirty-seven new converts have been added to the 
 church, and the Spirit of grace is every day more 
 comforting and more deeply rooted in the hearts of 
 that Christian band. Many prayers ascend daily for 
 the deliverance of our church, now so fiercely perse- 
 cuted by these enemies of Christ. They are bring- 
 ing an action against them and me in Malaga at the 
 
Soe. LETTER TO A——, 
 
 present time, and notwithstanding, this only serves 
 to increase our numbers, and to inspire us with new 
 courage. 
 
 “Yes, dear brother, my physical forces are sinking 
 rapidly ; my weak flesh fails me,and the thread of 
 life appears nearly spunout. The dampness of these 
 prisons is killing me; but every step I take towards 
 the tomb, every grain of sand that falls through life’s 
 glass, is a powerful, yes, an indestructible force, which 
 strengthens my faith and my joy, and enables me to 
 anticipate my last hour with rejoicing, and with a 
 peace I was a perfect stranger to until I found 
 Christ. . 
 
 “*Oh! how I praise the supreme Creator for this 
 benefit of his inexhaustible love. I have always felt 
 an indestructible love and fear to the Lord before and 
 since my imprisonment, and if it could serve in the 
 least to forward our holy cause, I beseech the Al- 
 mighty that He would prolong it to the end of my 
 days. I beg you also will pray for this. Do, for I 
 do not desire the well-being of my body, which is 
 destined to death, and my greatest consolation would 
 be to know that my sufferings had been beneficial to 
 humanity. What signifies one day more or less here 
 below ? What signifies one more pang? Nothing, 
 when it is for the greatest, for the only holy cause. 
 
 “Your letter gave me great comfort. I rejoice to 
 see the just tribute which Hnglish Christians have 
 rendered to your virtues and those of Alhama. But 
 I deserve it not, and all that you say with reference 
 to myself only makes me ashamed. I do not deserve 
 such honour as.these noble. brethren have conferred 
 
 ee 
 

 
 LETTER TO A——, oa 
 
 upon me. I have done only what it was my duty to 
 do. During the last fortnight there have occurred. 
 here things worthy of special mention. The Society 
 of St. Vincent de Paul has exhausted every possible 
 means to induce me to retract my declaration. The. 
 chaplain of that establishment, the notary in my 
 case, and the president of that inquisitorial institu- 
 tion, have offered me their most cordial support for 
 the recovery of my liberty if I will retract my decla- 
 ration, and I have complained to the governor of 
 their barbarous abuses. I rejected their propositions 
 with contempt. I have told them plainly that they 
 were insulting me, and that if they repeated their 
 unworthy act I should feel obliged to refuse to admit 
 them into my dungeon. 
 
 “T also sent a communication to the papers, 
 which they have not inserted. You can hardly 
 imagine with what sagacity and skill they have made 
 these proposals to me. They were careful not to 
 wound my delicacy, and made their offers hypothe- 
 tically ; but I, understanding their object, rose, and 
 answered them in a strong and suitable language, 
 and retired without even taking leave. They began 
 by reminding me of the orphanhood of my family, 
 the state of my health, my resources, and the sorrow- 
 ful future that lay before me. ‘I am only sorry on 
 account of my family,’ I told them. ‘The rest; 
 gentlemen, is of so little consequence, that I would 
 lay down not one life alone for the benefit of the 
 gospel cause, but a thousand, if 1 had them.’ ‘They 
 answered me with sagacity, and made the proposition 
 
 to which I replied as I stated above. 
 D 
 
34: eee LETTER TO A——. 
 
 “In spite of the state of my health, I must go 
 shortly to Granada. I am only awaiting a letter 
 from Mr. Greene, and from thence I shall write to him 
 at length, giving him.every intelligence. | 
 
 “T must remain here no longer. J am injuring 
 the brethren imprisoned at Malaga, and above all, 
 Alhama, and I'am determined to go, but I do not 
 think my health will improve. 
 
 “T am waiting to be called before the superior 
 tribunal with anxiety. I shall present myself before 
 them as the law permits, and shall defend myself 
 energetically. I desire to prove to them why I have © 
 cast away tradition, the only support of the Church 
 of Rome. I desire to prove to them that my conduct - 
 is worthy of a true Christian, and I will send you my 
 defence, which I shall write from Granada; and yet, 
 dear A——, I am sorry to leave this place. My 
 room is a little focus of gospel light. I have three 
 converts among the prisoners, whose protests I hold, 
 and who will, I trust, be virtuous Christians. 
 
 “Oh, how much an energetic, evangelic propa- 
 ganda is needed in this house of crime! The chap- 
 lain of the prison is satisfied with celebrating the 
 sacrilegious and unbloody sacrifice of mass. God re- 
 joices in the conversion of the most miserable. Our 
 Lord came not to save the righteous, but sinners ; 
 and in these prisons his holy word should be preached 
 with double fervour, 
 
 “Be diligent, dear brother; lay up a store of 
 Bible knowledge; and this, illustrated by your prac- 
 tice, may yet prove a blessing to Spain. Write to 
 me, for though I may not be here, your letters will 
 
 
 

 
 LETTER TO A——. . 30 
 
 reach me. May God be with you—may his Holy 
 Spirit guide you! Jam tranquil, and strong in the 
 Spirit. Iwill never yield. Now and ever I will de- 
 dicate my life and all my energy to the work of the 
 Lord. I will take no rest. You know me, and you 
 know I will do what I say. Let us be worthy of the 
 blessed cause to which we have dedicated ourselves ; 
 let our one aim be the good of mankind, and the ac- 
 complishment of it the only recompence to which we 
 aspire. 
 
 * Give in my name my most humble remembrances . 
 to Mr. G—— and Mrs. T . I cannot tell you, dear» 
 brother, how IJ have cried over sae G ’s last letter. . 
 I have read it perhaps sixty times—it comforts, and 
 does not weary me. I am waiting for letters from 
 the said gentleman, and Mrs. T——. Iam only de- 
 _ tained from starting by waiting for letters from 
 them. 
 
 “‘ Adieu, dear brother. Yours most affectionately, 
 
 * MANUEL: Matamoros. 
 
 
 
 
 
 “To N. A——.” 
 
 The last letter shows the deep and zealous spirit. 
 that animates this earnest disciple of Jesus, and also 
 how bonds are ever for the furtherance of the 
 gospel, and for the deepening of that spirit of Christ 
 which is in the regenerate. 
 
 The following letter from the brethren comprising 
 the Reformed Church at Malaga was forwarded 
 at this time to Dr. Tregelles, of Plymouth, and is 
 addressed to the pacers of Jesus Christ in this 
 country :— 
 
36 LETTER OF MALAGA BRETHREN. 
 
 “‘ REVERED BRETHREN IN THE LorD, 
 
 “Our hearts are filled with joy and rralisdeesed ; 
 and fraternal gratitude ; and we desire to express to 
 you something of the holy Christian happiness which 
 we have felt on hearing of the noble and generous 
 .protection which you have extended to our dear 
 brother Don M. Matamoros, now a prisoner for the 
 sake of the Divine Redeemer, the only Intercessor 
 and Mediator with God. 
 
 “The holiest spiritual bonds unite us to this 
 dear brother. Seconding the noble efforts of that 
 worthy minister, Don IF. R——, he formed in this 
 town a church, whose members do not, and will not, 
 recognize as chief or head of the same any but the 
 Redeemer, the Lord Jesus: Christ; nor will take as a 
 rule of faith any other than the Word of God—the 
 Holy Bible. 
 
 “The religion of Jesus Christ and of his apostles 
 is that which we follow; we believe it to be alone 
 true, and consequently we do not recognize the 
 authority of the Church of Rome, but rather hold 
 her to be the greatest foe to Holy Scripture. 
 
 “That we have found the fountain:of the water 
 of life, we owe to Don M. Matamoros. His constant 
 and evangelical instructions have given to this little 
 hidden church much of the Scriptural knowledge 
 that it possesses, and by his energy and zeal so 
 considerable a number of names has been enrolled 
 in its ranks. . 
 
 “ Dr. Tregelles can give you an idea of our state, 
 our hopes, and expectations. The noble attitude of 
 the generous deputation which appeared in behalf of 
 

 
 LETTER FROM ALHAMA, 37 
 
 our suffering brethren, and the sacrifices which you 
 have made for the benefit of Don M. Matamoros and 
 Alhama, have determined us to address these few 
 words to you, as a public manifestation of our grati- 
 tude. United with our whole hearts and by the bonds 
 of an unwavering faith to the church of Jesus Christ, 
 we cannot but protest against the devices and snares 
 of the Church of Rome, and we witness with deepest 
 sorrow the sufferings of her victims in this miser- 
 able land, while yet we cannot but rejoice to find 
 that our English brethren unite with us in their 
 sympathy. 
 
 “We. trust that you will give publicity to this 
 manifestation of our gratitude ; but we beg that you 
 will not publish our names, as a severe and certain 
 persecution would be the result. 
 
 “We remain, your Brothers and Sisters, 
 in the Lord Jesus.” 
 (Here. follow 130 signatures.) 
 
 And on January 19th, 1861, Alhama:wrote to Don 
 Nv A as follows :— 
 
 
 
 * Prison, Granada, January 19th, 1861. 
 
 * Dear N——,, MY BELOVED BRoTHER IN THE LoRD, 
 
 “With pleasure I take up my pen, though I have 
 only sorrowful. tidings to give you of the troubles 
 that I endure; I am not allowed now to hear from 
 you so often as I wish. I know how much you must 
 have sympathized with me, for I know how much 
 you love me. Yes, dear N——, I suffer very, very 
 deeply. You will imagine all, if I tell you a little. 
 
38 LETTER FROM ALHAMA. 
 
 If I tell you that my wife is now constantly recom- 
 mended to obtain a divorce, because I am, as they 
 term it, a Jew. Don R. C asked her if she was 
 not ashamed to have a husband who was a thief— 
 a thief of men’s belief? People will spit at me, and 
 at my children in the street. In short, wherever 
 they go they are assailed with insults and opprobrium 
 from the superstitious and priest-led part of the 
 population. These priests, who should be called 
 ministers of Satan rather than of Christ, alas! how 
 can they ‘be His priests, whose last words were a 
 prayer for the pardon of His murderers, when they 
 deprive innocent children of their father, a wife of 
 her husband, and a venerable mother of the son who © 
 ’ was her blessing and her support. 
 
 “¢Oh, my poor children! your father will probably. 
 die the death of a felon and a galley-slave, but he 
 will die confessing his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and scorning all vain traditions and the false teaching 
 of the impostor, King Pope. This will only add to 
 your misfortunes, for in this land no asylum will 
 be open to you. But we will put our trust in God, 
 God the refuge of the defenceless, the comforter of 
 the afflicted, and He will never forsake you; and 
 your enemies cannot take away your heavenly Father 
 as they are killing your earthly one. 
 
 “Nicolas, the finger of God points to thee to be 
 the protector of my innocent orphans. You know, 
 had the case been reversed, I would gladly have 
 succoured yours. My poor mother will need nothing. 
 At her great age it is impossible that she can long 
 survive my misfortune. And my poor wife, who 
 
 
 

 
 LETTER FROM ALHAMA. 39 
 
 was only just convalescent when I was arrested, has 
 suffered so severely since, that she is threatened 
 with consumption, and her life is endangered. 
 
 “JT fear my letter will grieve you. I shall be 
 sorry indeed for this, but I know you love me, and 
 will allow me to unbosom all my griefs to you. 
 R—— told me that you had written to him, and 
 that you regretted deeply having been the cause of 
 my misfortune. No, dear friend, be at peace; my 
 family loves you as ever, and to me you are what 
 you have always been. 
 
 “On the first of this month I had the pleasure 
 of embracing our brother Matamoros. He arrived 
 here in very delicate health, but, thank God, is 
 getting better, although we are enduring much - 
 trouble, partly on account of our trial, of which we 
 have very bad news daily. When Matamoros was 
 first examined, the prosecutor told him that he would 
 probably be condemned to ten or twelve years at the 
 galleys. To-day the attorney has confirmed this, 
 telling us that our case comes under the 125th article 
 of the penal code. . 
 
 “It is also unfortunate for us that the alcaide 
 (or governor) of this prison is son of the house- 
 keeper of the Cordovese priest, and this man is in- 
 fluencing the alcaide much against us, and there- 
 fore we are suffering from many annoyances. Our 
 families and friends are not allowed to visit us, and 
 the alcaide has informed the governor that he felt 
 this step necessary, because we were conspiring with 
 the Protestants for the subversion of religion. The 
 wife of the alcaide said to me plainly, that she could 
 
40 LETTER FROM ALHAMA, 
 
 not conceive why we were not confined in the courts 
 (patios), for people accused of such crimes as ours 
 might properly be with the worst convicts, and 
 should not be allowed to communicate with anybody. 
 Pray that God may forgive. them all as I do. 
 
 “They persecute us even in our dungeons, and 
 we must pray for them from thence. Is not this 
 what the gospel teaches us? Oh how good and 
 pleasant a thing it is to know the Word of God, 
 which teaches us to suffer with patience all that is 
 hardest in our undeserved captivity. 
 
 “Never will I draw back from the holy work in 
 which I am engaged, nor will I utter one sigh of 
 regret, for God strengthens me. The Holy Spirit 
 enlightens me, and St. Paul sets me an example of 
 resignation in tribulation ; so all the fury and cruelty 
 of these modern Diocletians shall be unavailing to 
 silence.us. We will preach the Word of God in our 
 chains, as though we dwelt in palaces. In spite of 
 our rulers, and in their very presence, we confess 
 the truths of the gospel. 
 
 ““Hivery time that I have been brought before 
 the tribunals, I have declared that my only crime 
 has been that I have striven to be a follower of 
 Jesus Christ and not of the Pope; and that the 
 only result of their persecuting. us would be to add 
 some fresh names to the Christian martyrology. In 
 truth, the work in Spain has never excited so much 
 attention and interest as it does now. Ten years of 
 preaching would not have advanced our labour so 
 much as our imprisonment and trial are doing. All 
 are asking, ‘What is this new Protestant doctrine ?’ 
 

 
 LETTER FROM ALHAMA. 41 
 
 and they seek after our books from simple curiosity ; 
 and when they have read them, they cannot but 
 condemn the cruelty of the clergy, and confess that 
 we teach the true religion of the Son of God. 
 
 “In Spain, Christianity will date a new era from 
 our trial. The clergy have perceived this, though 
 something too late, and therefore they are now doing 
 everything in their power to represent us to the 
 people as Jews. The Archbishop has issued a pas- 
 toral of thirty-eight pages in quarto, which treats 
 only of the Protestants. 
 
 “Sefor P has been at the expense of a 
 ‘Novena’ to St. Joseph, and every evening sermons 
 have been preached, and prayers made to the saint 
 to intercede with God that we may be brought back 
 into the fold of the Romish church. This pastoral 
 contains confessions which the clergy have never 
 before made. How can I send it to you? It is a 
 powerful assistance to our propaganda. Our brothers 
 are all firm. Daily the church grows both in mem- 
 bers and in faith. 
 
 “‘ At —— no arrests have yet been made. Hvi- 
 dently the weight of the trouble is resting upon 
 Matamoros and myself. We put our trust in God 
 and in the church of Christ, else our fate would be 
 very sad—the galleys. Ours is a state trial. All 
 Spaniards look to. England in this crisis, and from 
 England only can we expect any help. Our French 
 friends are powerless in the hands of their govern- 
 ment. . . . Hard labour on roads or canals,’or in 
 mines, is the sentence which the law passes on those 
 who are condemned, as we shall be. This is horrible! 
 
 
 
42, LETTER FROM ALHAMA. 
 
 “‘ Matamoros will be obliged to go to Malaga, to 
 be judged there, in the first place; but as that infe- 
 rior tribunal depends, as you know,"upon this one, he 
 will return here to receive his final sentence. Our 
 suit already covers 1000 pages of law papers, and it 
 appears to be only begimning. The indictments will 
 be read separately ; but as we cannot receive different 
 sentences for one offence, they will be considered 
 together, and the maximum punishment which the 
 law permits will be inflicted. The places mentioned 
 in our several indictments are Granada, Barcelona, 
 Malaga, Seville, and Cordova; but in Seville and 
 Cordova there is little or no evidence against us. 
 The Seville accusation only rests upon two unim- 
 portant letters found upon Matamoros, and the ad- 
 dress of B——. 
 
 “A ffectionate remembrances from all the brethren. 
 Ever believe in the imextinguishable love of your 
 brother in Christ, 
 
 “‘ Jose ALHAMA.” 
 
 In this letter we see the strong and unwavering 
 faith of the other patient and untiring witness for 
 Jesus. 
 
 March 12th, 1861, Matamoros says:— 
 
 “On the night of the 7th, after our five months’ 
 imprisonment, seven police agents entered our cell, 
 and began to search it minutely, but with great rude- 
 ness and harshness of manner and behaviour. We 
 strove to bear this with perfect calmness; and when 
 they announced to us the object of their visit, we 
 simply replied that it was a matter of complete in- 
 

 
 THE POLICE SEARCH, 43 
 
 difference to us, and, sitting down, we left them to 
 their work. 
 
 “But this attempt to preserve an outward tran- 
 quillity was too much for the strength of two unfor- 
 tunate prisoners, already weary with suffering and 
 with guiltless consciences. The impudent rudeness 
 with which they dragged about everything we pos- 
 sessed irritated us to’ such a degree that I energeti- 
 cally reminded them of their duties, and of the respeet 
 which is due not only to our misfortunes, but also to 
 our position in society, and even to the class of our 
 accusation. 
 
 “ After this they behaved at least with less brutal 
 rudeness of language, though their actions continued 
 to be as savage as before. Nothing, I repeat, was 
 respected by them; our persons, our bedding, the 
 sacking of our bedsteads, all were rigorously ex- 
 amined. Nay, they carried the absurdity of the 
 affair to such a pitch as to empty the water in our 
 pitchers and jugs. Indeed, it is difficult to say what 
 they expected to discover—they know best them- 
 selves. On the table by my bed lay a Bible, a New 
 Testament (the gift of Dr. Tregelles, and which I valued 
 highly on that account), a copy of the four gospels 
 with notes, a few controversial tracts, amongst them 
 ‘Andrew Dunn;’ all these were seized. I told them 
 very simply and plainly that I was a Protestant, that 
 the study of the law. of God as contained in the 
 Word of Life was of the first importance and neces- 
 sity to me, and I besought and entreated them to 
 give me back at least my Bible. But my reasonings, 
 my supplications, and my wishes were equally un- 
 
 
 
4A, THE BIBLES TAKEN. 
 
 availing. With this holy book, which was our daily 
 study, we have both lost much of our tranquillity and 
 calmness.”’ 
 
 Man may take away their Bibles, but he can- 
 not take away Christ from them. ‘ My sheep shall 
 never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my 
 hand.” ‘Iam persuaded that neither death nor life, 
 nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
 present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, 
 nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us 
 from the love of God which is in Christ. Jesus our 
 Lord.” 
 

 
 LETTER FROM GRANADA. 45 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 LETTER FROM REFORMED CHURCH AT GRANADA.—PRO- 
 CEEDINGS OF FRIENDS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Asour this time we received from the Reformed 
 Church of Granada the following letter :— 
 
 “DEAR AND REVERED BRETHREN IN OUR BLESSED ReE- 
 DEEMER, Jusus CHRIST, 
 
 “We learn, by letters from Malaga and Barce- 
 lona, that our brothers in those towns have, through 
 you, addressed the Hnglish public in terms of hearty 
 gratitude for the support which has been rendered to 
 our persecuted brethren here. 
 
 “We rejoice to hear that the Churches of Malaga 
 and Barcelona have adopted so wise a method of 
 manifesting their Christian thankfulness to the illus- 
 trious deputation which brought the case of our 
 friends before Lord John Russell. 
 
 “Tf the sufferings of Don M. Matamoros and Don 
 J. Alhama were not inflicted on account of their 
 evangelical sentiments and their constant co-opera- 
 tion and eminent services in the Lord’s work, we 
 would silently lament over their miserable condition, 
 and pray to the Lord to pardon and defend them. 
 But their crime has been none other than the offence 
 
AG. LETTER FROM GRANADA. 
 
 _ of being Protestants and preachers of the truth; and 
 we seize this opportunity of protesting against the 
 barbarous tyranny which has entombed them for 
 four months in loathsome dungeons, which has asso- 
 ciated them with criminals, and which has made them 
 the object of infinite vexations and persecutions. 
 
 “We unite with the Churches of Malaga and 
 Barcelona in thankfulness to those among you 
 who have lightened the sufferings of our innocent 
 brethren. 
 
 “In Don Jose Alhama we recognize the fervent 
 Christian, the honoured citizen, the unwearied sol- 
 dier of Christ, who formed and gave existence to this - 
 Church, sacrificing, in so doing, not only his worldly 
 interests, but also his precious freedom. 
 
 “In Don M. Matamoros we recognize an equally 
 worthy brother, a zealous fellow-worker and preacher 
 of the gospel in “many places, and the founder of. the 
 Churches of Malaga and Barcelona; on whose name, 
 as on that of his fellow-prisoner, no shadow of a stain 
 has ever fallen. Yet these are.the only accusations 
 which can be brought against these dear friends, and 
 which, in substance, appear in their indictment. 
 Yet, were they simple brothers in Christ, and not 
 distinguished champions doing battle for his name, 
 we would yet raise our voice of thankfulness to you, 
 and our cry of loud protest against the tyranny of 
 our oppressors, 
 
 ““'We protest, because our religious sentiments 
 are identical with those of our suffering brothers—we 
 are Christians. Our rule of faith is the whole Bible, 
 andthe Bible alone.. We.desire. to be distinguished 
 

 
 LETTER FROM GRANADA. © AZ 
 
 by our pure and sincere faith, our love, and our trust 
 in Jesus Christ, our only Advocate and Mediator. 
 And, therefore, we energetically protest against the 
 Church of Rome, which is the greatest and wiliest foe 
 of our Lord. 
 
 * We conclude with an earnest expression of our 
 gratitude to Sir R. Peel, whose energy and Christian 
 zeal were the means of greatly alleviating the suffer- 
 ings of our brethren, releasing Matamoros from the 
 solitude of his confinement by especial recommenda- 
 tion, the jailers rendering the condition of both of 
 these prisoners of Christ less lamentable. 
 
 ‘It is useless to attempt to express by these few 
 words our gratitude to you and the other eminent 
 Christians who are praying and watching for the 
 ‘well-being of the sufferers; all Spanish Christians 
 know and venerate these, names. 
 
 * Receive, dear English brethren, the expression 
 of our Christian love. May the Divine Spirit dwell 
 with you and yours for ever. 
 
 ‘¢ Your brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus, 
 
 ‘THE PRESIDENT (in prison). 
 [Here follow one hundred and sixty signatures. | 
 ““Messrs. Newton, Tregelles, and Greene.” 
 
 A letter from. Alhama gives some faint idea of the 
 sorrows of these brethren :— 
 
 “‘ My DEAR SIR, AND BELOVED BROTHER IN Curist, 
 “With great joy and hearty gratitude I take up 
 
 my pen to write you a few lines. I have read the 
 
 letters which you have.addressed to the worthy Chris- 
 
48 - LETTER FROM ALHAMA, 
 
 tian soldier and brave gospel champion, Don M. 
 Matamoros. I have read in your last letter the pas- 
 sage in which you so kindly wrote of me. Oh, dear 
 brother, your letters strengthen our faith, and give 
 peace and consolation to our spirits. Truly, the con- 
 duct of the Pope’s Christians and of Christ’s Chris- 
 tians is widely different. The Pope’s Christians tor- 
 ment us, body and soul; they speak ill of us; they 
 anathematize us; they represent us as the vilest 
 criminals, that the people may hate us; they cast us 
 into filthy dungeons, separating us from our dear 
 families and from our brethren in Christ, thus bring- 
 ing the former to the verge of destitution, and filling 
 the hearts of the latter with fear and mourning; and 
 all this they do for the honour and glory of God. 
 
 ““What! Does the love of the gospel lead men 
 to ruin an honest and honourable family? Is it to 
 the glory of God to rob innocent children of their 
 father, and deprive them at once of his paternal affec- 
 tion, and of the means of subsistence? Is it in the 
 spirit of the Lord Jesus, who pardoned the adulteress 
 and prayed for his murderers, to cast into dreadful 
 prisons, amidst the lowest felons, those whose only 
 offence is, that they have preached the gospel and 
 taught men to love as brethren, and strive to instruct 
 them in those divine truths which God through his 
 Son Jesus Christ has given to us for our learning,— 
 truths which can alone make nations happy and re- 
 lease humanity from its curse? 
 
 ‘‘And the children of the gospel, how do they 
 act? They fortify our faith; they wipe our tears ; 
 they comfort us in our afflictions; our children are 
 

 
 
 
 LETTER FROM ALHAMA.. 4.9: 
 
 their children; they pray for us; they pray for our 
 enemies : and we from our doleful prison daily do the. 
 same. Hternal glory be: to Jesus Christ—glory to 
 his holy gospel—glory to.those Christians who teach 
 -and practise the Word of prea and who unite faith 
 and charity. 
 
 “T thank God for my conversion. I thank Him 
 for having permitted me-to read his Holy Word, for 
 having learnt from it to convert hatred into love, to 
 pardon and pity those who do me wrong, and to en- 
 dure with resignation and faith the troubles of this 
 valley of tears. 
 
 “ Until to-day I Heed that dear M. Matamoros 
 would have been able to answer your kind letter him- 
 self, but the state of his health makes me fear that he 
 may still be some days before he can do so. 
 
 “Yor the first fortnight of our stay here I trusted 
 that he would be completely restored to health, but, 
 alas! these hopes have not been realized. 
 
 “The unhealthy condition of our prisons renders 
 his recovery but too doubtful. Nevertheless, I trust 
 in God that he may be spared to us. . . . He 
 sends to you and your dear family a thousand kind- 
 nesses. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 
 all, is what I pray. 
 
 3 ‘Your brother in the Lord, 
 “ Jose ALHAMA.”” 
 
 It may not be generally known that at the time: 
 of the irruption of the barbarians the Vandals took 
 possession of the southern portion of Spain. Hence 
 the word Vandalusia, the v having been dropped 
 
 E 
 
50 PETITION TO PARLIAMENT. 
 
 in the lapse of time. Matamoros, from his complexion, 
 evidently belongs to the race of the Vandals, whilst 
 Alhama is supposed to be of Moorish origin, sundry 
 circumstances indicating this, and particularly the 
 Arabic prefix to his name, Al, which is found in many 
 Spanish words, and is easily accounted for by the 
 800 years of Moorish rule in Spain. 
 
 The English public were not idle during this reign 
 of terror to Protestants in Spain. Deputations 
 waited on Earl Russell, Minister for Foreign Affairs. 
 The newspapers joined to help, and daily the voice of 
 public sympathy became more audible. Petitions 
 were sent to the Houses of Parliament. Prayer was 
 made, but the Lord’s time to deliver had not arrived. 
 His way is not as our way. We are so short-sighted. 
 One of the petitions sent to the House of Commons, 
 after detailing many of the sorrows and persecutions 
 of our brethren, concluded by the following words :— 
 
 “That your petitioners are informed that by the 
 law of Spain there is but one religion professed in 
 Spain—the Roman Catholic—and no other form of 
 worship is tolerated; and that if any one quit the 
 Roman Catholic Church, he therefore renders himself 
 liable to several years’ penal servitude at the galleys. 
 
 “That your petitioners fear that the present 
 severe persecution of Protestants in Spain by the 
 Romish priesthood is to exterminate, if possible, the 
 Protestant faith in the land. 
 
 “That as Roman Catholics have in this country 
 full liberty of worship, your petitioners earnestly pray 
 your honourable House to adopt such measures as may 
 seem advisable for the purpose of supporting her 
 

 
 
 
 THE PRESS. 51 
 
 Majesty’s Government, by co-operation with other 
 Protestant Powers, or otherwise, in making such a 
 representation as may obtain from the Spanish 
 Government, by pacific and friendly action, an assur- 
 ance that such persecutions will be stopped. And 
 your petitioners will ever pray.” 
 
 _ The Morning Post newspaper also had some excel- 
 lent articles, an extract from one of which we tran- 
 scribe :— 
 
 “TI may add that the health of Matamoros, always 
 delicate, is fast sinking under the rigour of his con- 
 finement. 
 
 “ As the subject is likely soon to be brought before 
 Parliament, I am anxious, through your columns, to 
 draw the attention of members of both Houses to the 
 facts. I need not inform you that it is a distinct 
 principle of international law that nations may inter- 
 fere on behalf of their co-religionists when severely 
 persecuted. Not that any ask for forcible interven- 
 tion; but might not the English Government (if their 
 remonstrances are despised) induce other Govern- 
 ments—Prussia, Holland, Sweden, Belgium, and pro- 
 bably France—to unite with them in the endeavour 
 to induce the Spanish Government to rescind the 
 law which punishes Protestantism asa crime? And 
 might not our consuls and vice-consuls in Spain be 
 instructed to show as much sympathy with those per- 
 secuted for Protestantism there as our consuls in 
 Syria and elsewhere in the Turkish dominions have 
 been directed to show to the persecuted in those 
 countries? Suppose that in this country we were to 
 pass a law condemning to the galleys for eight years 
 
52 SPEECHES IN PARLIAMENT. 
 
 every one who professed himself a Roman Catholic, | 
 would not all Catholic Christendom be aroused? <A 
 convention exists with Spain touching the slave 
 trade; is a convention with her impossible for the 
 abandonment of that which is virtually the Inquisi- 
 tion? (Zeal, earnestness, and pertinacity in reiterat- 
 ing applications and remonstrances often effect great 
 things.) 
 
 “Tt is very probable that Matamoros and Alhama 
 may be worn out with protracted suffering, and die, 
 but it must not be supposed that the question will 
 expire with them. It will revive in a hundred other 
 cases, and we must be prepared to meet it. 
 
 ‘““Tt has been said, and I believe on the best 
 authority, that the Spanish Government would gladly 
 wash their hands of these persecutions, but they yield 
 at present to the pressure of the priesthood and the 
 Court. If this be so, itis an additional reason for 
 pertinacious effort on our part. I inclose my card, 
 and beg to subscribe myself your obedient servant, 
 
 “ Heb. 25th. ANGLICANUS.”” 
 
 Speeches were made in Parliament by Sir Robert 
 Peel and Mr. Kinnaird ; but the days of action in favour 
 of God’s truth have passed away among our rulers, 
 and of us nationally it may be written, “Thou hast 
 praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, 
 wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; 
 and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose - 
 are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.” While all 
 this want of action and sympathy was seen in our 
 Government, the oppressed continued to groan and’ 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 THE PRISON EMPLOYES. 53 
 
 sigh, “and their cries have entered into the ears of 
 the Lord of Sabaoth.” 
 
 In February 1861, Matamoros writes, “ After the 
 silence of a few days that have appeared years to me, 
 I take up my pen to write to you. My imprison- 
 ment rapidly weakens my strength of body, but there 
 is compensation, for my spirit is strengthened, my 
 faith is assured, and I am passing through the 
 happiest time of my life. It is now a quarter to 
 two o'clock in the morning while I write to you, and 
 I have been obliged to rise from my bed to do so, for 
 during the day it would be impossible ; we are much 
 exposed, for there are many treacherous persons 
 watching over us. I am very ill, but no other result 
 could be expected from the effect of many privations 
 and the unhealthiness of the prison (of which the 
 first and second storeys are under ground) on my 
 already feeble constitution. Hven men of robust 
 health suffer here. The expense of my correspond- 
 ence in Spain and abroad is considerable, but besides 
 that, to be allowed to speak with a friend, to receive a 
 visit, to send the most trifling message, or to procure 
 the smallest comfort, all costs money. Such is the 
 morality of the Spanish employés; even in the 
 prisons they live upon the fears of the prisoners ; 
 they flourish in the shade of their griefs, and will 
 not grant them the slightest alleviation unless it is 
 paid for with money which their victims may save 
 by depriving themselves of necessaries, or selling the 
 furniture of their houses.” 
 
 In the month of June the tidings below reached. 
 
54 THE PETITION OF THE FISCAL. 
 
 “ Prison of the ‘Audiencia, Granada, June 11, 1861. 
 ‘RESPECTED AND DEAR BroTHER IN THE LORD, OUR 
 
 Hore, Trust, AND ONLY Joy, 
 
 “Three days ago I completed eight hoe of my 
 sad and dismal imprisonment, and to-day at length I 
 hear that my case is to be tried. 
 
 “The petition of the ‘ Promoter: Fiscal’ has been 
 notified to us. I gave you, some time ago, some 
 account of this man. He asks for nine years at the 
 galleys for us three who are imprisoned at Granada, 
 and four years at the galleys for those who were let 
 out on bail, and who are now here for their trial, 
 whose number is about ten. Advocates have been 
 chosen for us; three from among the most eminent 
 of Granada, as follows:—For Alhama, Don Antonio 
 Moreno Dias; for Don Manuel Trigo, Don Mariano 
 Lederma; and for me, Don Juan Rodriguez de la 
 Escalera. The case will be defended by them this 
 week before the inferior tribunal. 
 
 ““T will send you, dear brother, a copy of the 
 sentence, and the defence of our advocates, and any 
 farther facts worthy of notice. Believe me that these 
 things do not alarm me in the least. Absolutely in 
 no wise has it changed, nor can it change the com- 
 plete tranquillity that I enjoy, both in my spirit and 
 in my conscience as a Christian. I despise the rigour 
 of the tyrant; and the physical sufferings I am under- 
 going are impotent in causing me to vacillate for a 
 single moment. 
 
 ‘““No, a thousand times no! My life has been 
 but a chain of sorrow, sown with thorns which have 
 _ lacerated my heart; but our sufferings for the cause 
 
 
 

 
 LETTERS INTERCEPTED. 55 
 
 of the gospel are and ever shall be an eternal satis- 
 faction to us. I am not shaken, nor shallI be. I 
 live happy under continual suffering; and this happi- 
 ness is mine by faith in Christ, who I ask to pardon 
 my enemies. Good-bye for the present, dear brother ; 
 I cannot now write more; but let me remind you that 
 your unwonted silence, and the remembrance of my 
 dear mother, are the only things that make me a 
 little sad.— Yours ever in Christ, 
 “* ManvueL Matamoros.” 
 ““N.B.—I fear my correspondence with Matamoros 
 and his with me has been intercepted this last month. 
 ‘Wa. GREENE.” 
 
 Six of Matamoros’ letters had been intercepted, 
 which caused us great anxiety about him; and not 
 until the latter end of June did we know any details, 
 when the letter explaining the delay was received. 
 
 “ Prison, Granada, June 15, 1861. 
 
 “ VERY DEARLY-LOVED AND RESPECTED BRoTHER, 
 
 ‘| have never experienced more difficulty in con- 
 veying to you my sentiments of love and gratitude 
 than Ido at present. I have never rejoiced more 
 fervently at the receipt of your letter than I did when 
 your last was delivered to me; for, for six weeks I 
 had not heard from you, though I have written to 
 you six times. And what a miserable time has this 
 been! These last six weeks have been full of suffer- 
 ings to me. Annoyances, many and various, have 
 tormented my enfeebled frame. My life is one of per- 
 petual agitation. Itis hike atempest which threatens 
 
2 bet Ped 
 } ba { 
 
 06 LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 
 
 my existence, as a little boat tossed on the breakers 
 would be imperilled by a storm. My constitution is 
 failing under the weight of these repeated blows. 
 But with all this I receive the most powerful assist- 
 ance, the most precious help, which leads me to a 
 haven of salvation; which converts grief into joy; 
 suffering into peace; and changes all that is gloomy 
 into all that is bright. My invariable faith in the 
 Lord, our dear Redeemer, does this for me. 
 
 ** But life has its necessities, and one of the chief 
 to me at present is to receive your letters and those 
 of Mrs. Tregelles; and during this unfortunate time 
 I have not received her letters either. Consider my 
 condition and you will pity and pardon me. 
 
 “Your letter of the 4th has made me uneasy 
 concerning mine to you. You say you have not 
 heard from me since a certain date, and I shave 
 written siz times to you without receiving any answer. 
 Oh, may God touch the hearts of our enemies, and if 
 the letters have fallen into their hands : 
 
 “T pass on to another point which will give you > 
 and your family much sadness of heart. The punish- 
 ment which has been awarded to us was officially an- 
 nounced to us on the 13th. Alhama, Trigo, and my- 
 self are to be condemned to eighteen years’ punish- 
 ment: nine at the galleys, and nine more under the 
 constant vigilance of the civil authorities.; Besides 
 this, we are to be declared for ever incapable of hold- — 
 ing any office or political position, and also of teach- 
 ing or instructing. This is horrible, inquisitorial, 
 and inhuman. 
 
 “Of this nine years of convict labour I need say 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 57 
 
 nothing. You can fancy what they will be in Spain. 
 But the other nine of vigilance are also very severe 
 and trying. We shall be obliged to present ourselves 
 once or twice daily to the authorities. We shall not 
 be allowed to leave the town in which we may be; 
 but in case we should do so, we shall be obliged to 
 travel by a route which shall be appointed for us, and 
 also to have a note of infamy upon our passports. If 
 we fail in any of these points the remainder of our 
 sentence must be fulfilled at the hulks. 
 
 *‘ Nine of our brethren are sentenced to seven 
 years of the galleys, and D. N. N, to four. In all, 
 twenty-one brethren are involved in this affair in 
 Granada alone; and, with the exception of a few 
 against whom the charges were not proved, are all 
 doomed by the tyranny under which we groan toa 
 dark and disastrous future. We read calmly the 
 sentence of the Fiscal which imposes so barbarous a 
 punishment upon us, and it should be made known 
 throughout Hurope as a specimen of the tyrannical 
 spirit which influences the Spanish laws, and their 
 inquisitorial rage against those Protestants who de- 
 sire to propagate their faith. 
 
 “This sanguinary document is yet a curiosity, 
 and is worthy of all our pity. It is a document 
 written by a Roman Catholic to demand the punish- 
 ment of men who are children of God, but are Pro- 
 testants. This is sufficient to give you an idea of 
 its form and its spirit. It is specially severe upon 
 me. Iam considered as a criminal of the first mag- 
 nitude, and of a deeper dye than any of the rest. I 
 am repeatedly called the chief of the organization, 
 
58 LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 
 
 the instigator and erector of all the rest. I am 
 declared responsible for the crime of forming the 
 churches of Malaga and Barcelona, and guilty also 
 of evangelizing in these and other parts of Spain ; 
 and this, as well as my declaration of faith before the 
 tribunal, demands a severe and heavy punishment. 
 
 “Amongst other little things, it is remarked in 
 this document that my imprisonment has not answered 
 the purpose of converting me; but that I have con- 
 stantly been striving to propagate my heresies even 
 in prison. In fact, nothing that could prejudice the 
 supreme tribunal against me, or compass my total 
 ruin, has been forgotten. But with all this, one pot 
 is very remarkable: the Fiscal confesses distinctly 
 that this Protestant organization may one day change 
 the religion of Spain. What a confession! And if 
 it is true, how can they say that their religion is the 
 true one? and if it is the true one, why do they fear 
 and persecute the Protestants so much ? 
 
 ‘‘Our dear Alhama is accused of various crimes; 
 the chief of them being, the having assisted A: 
 in his escape; being president of the Granada com- 
 mittee, and, therefore, responsible for all its doings. 
 His sentence will be the same as mine, as the accom- 
 plice of a crime is as guilty as the perpetrator ; and, 
 besides, other heavy charges are laid against him. 
 
 “The Fiscal has been completely and deeply to 
 blame in his accusations against Don Miguel Trigo. 
 Hvery one of the charges against him is unjust and 
 inspired by revenge. The Fiscal has been for years 
 a personal enemy of Trigo, and has now an oppor- 
 tunity of exhibiting and satisfying his vengeance; 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 THE **CLAMOR PUBLICO.”” 59 
 
 for although several of the lawyers believe that the 
 superior court will release him, in the mean time he 
 will have to endure the sufferings and pain of cap- 
 tivity. I would dwell at greater length upon these 
 points, but that I purpose sending you a copy of the 
 sentence in the course of a few days. It consists 
 of twenty pages of MSS. 
 
 “The more liberal portions of the press, though 
 themselves Roman Catholics, are horrified at the 
 severity of the sentence. The Clamor Publico is 
 taking an attitude which is worthy at least of the 
 century in which we live, and touches upon this dis- 
 graceful affair in a few eloquent passages, which have 
 _ been copied by other newspapers. 
 
 * But, dear friend, though I am sure this letter 
 will make you grieve, yet you will see in all this 
 matter the hand of Providence, which has determined 
 that Roman Catholicism should throw this dark stain 
 upon her name, to prove once more how different is 
 her teaching from that of Him who would not permit 
 Peter to strike his enemies; who healed the wound 
 which his disciple made; and whose last words were 
 to ask for the pardon of those who had shed his 
 blood, and given Him gall to drink; and whose 
 whole life taught humility, gentleness, charity, and 
 fraternal love. 
 
 “Be fully persuaded, however, that courage, re- 
 signation, and tranquillity have not failed me, do not 
 fail me now, and never will fail me, to bear with 
 Christian resignation whatever afflictions weigh down 
 my weakened frame. Neither in prison, nor before 
 the executioner, will I ever retract; wherever I find 
 
60 : ALHAMA’S SHOP ROBBED. 
 
 myself, there they shall see me tranquil and rejoicing; 
 there they shall see me disposed to confess my faith 
 in the Lord, and to protest against the ini) “a veh 
 Rome, his implacable enemy. 
 
 ‘“‘ Our beloved Alhama has suffered from a robbery 7 
 
 of goods in his establishment to the value of 1000 — 
 reals, through a person in charge there. The replac- 
 ing of these goods has cost him more than the value 
 of the lost ones, that he had bought on favourable 
 terms from another artificer. This, added to the 
 great wants of a numerous family, of which he is the 
 only support ; to the supplying of rich goods for the 
 season; and to the wants that are produced from 
 day to day by the prolongation of an eight months’ 
 imprisonment, has caused that the sums received by 
 him have not covered his necessities. Besides this, 
 Sefor Alhama has not omitted, as far as his means 
 would allow, to assist Trigo and other unfortunate 
 brethren, who, having been taken prisoners with him, 
 are now in want, and some-donation for Malaga, the 
 total sum of which, since the month of March, 
 amounts to some 600 reals. . 
 “T say nothing of the content which your sym- 
 pathy has produced, and the love shown in your 
 desire to see me, because my unworthy pen is too 
 weak to do so; but, suffice it to say, that you make 
 me happy with such significant proofs of Christian 
 love. Ido not think we shall be allowed out for a 
 long walk. However, if you settle upon your jour- 
 ney, I think perhaps it would be more opportune, 
 and of greater interest to you to do so, in time to 
 hear the final sentence, when the defences are made 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 MATAMOROS’ LETTER. 61 
 
 in public, when our crime, and the reason of our 
 punishment is shown, and I think this act will be 
 amOOredIy, 5s ek 
 
 “‘T think the final sentence will come on towards 
 the end of the year; the circumstances of the birth 
 of the new Infanta would be now very favourable 
 for the ambassador to do much. Do you know if he 
 has done anything ? 
 
 “I shall receive the pictures to-morrow by the 
 diligence, and I await with impatience for this great 
 pleasure; I send you a thousand, thousand thanks 
 for your generous condescension. Alhama feels 
 equally grateful, and also sends you repeated thanks. 
 
 “Count always upon the eternal affection and 
 gratitude of your unworthy brother in the Lord, 
 
 “ Manvet Matamoros. 
 
 *‘ Alhama participates in the same eternal grati- 
 tude with me, gives you thanks for all, and offers his 
 respects to your family.” 
 
 Prison of the ‘ Audiencia, Granada, June 22, 1861. 
 “¢ Most BELOVED BRoTuER In THE Lorn, 
 
 “The pictures are in our hands! Oh, with what 
 anxiety I opened the envelope that contained them! 
 How much I desired to see your likeness, whom I do 
 not know, as I know the greatness of your heart ! 
 My eager gaze has been fixed upon it a thousand 
 times; . . . . They are hung up on the strong 
 wall of my prison, over the table at which I am now 
 writing, and I fix my eyes on them every moment; 
 and those sacred remembrances console me so much, 
 they are a soothing balm to my tried spirit. 
 
62 EFFECT OF FIRST SENTENCE. 
 
 “But in what an opportune occasion your edify- 
 ing letter reached me. This morning dawned upon 
 a fatal day for me—one of those days that take 
 away years of life—one of those days of extreme 
 trial. The Fiscal petition, in which nine years of im- 
 prisonment, and other penalties of an afflictive and 
 disgraceful character, were demanded against my 
 poor person, has traversed Spain like an electric 
 shock. J had wished that my dear mother and the 
 poor prisoners in Malaga had not heard of it, not to 
 tear their sorrowing hearts; however, the press has 
 taken upon itself to cross my desires, and has carried 
 this news to the remotest corner of the Peninsula. 
 But with what anguish to me! 
 
 *“‘T have received various letters from Barcelona, 
 Malaga, and other places, full of tender grief; but, 
 alas! a dear friend in Barcelona has overcome me. 
 He tells me my dearest mother is inconsolable, that 
 she has almost lost her reason! My God, my God, 
 shelter her, as Thou dost shelter me, giving me 
 strength to be able to endure! 
 
 “'T'wo of the prisoners of Malaga hase fallen sick 
 in their wretched dungeons. My poor brothers! 
 This is my situation to-day, think on it, and pity me. 
 I do not suffer on my own account; no, I suffer in 
 thinking that the beings I love most suffer; I suffer 
 in thinking that they perhaps believe that I suffer, 
 when, on the contrary, this epoch (that others, per- 
 haps, may think sad) is to me the happiest epoch in 
 my life. 
 
 ‘““T feel my physical strength weakening under 
 nature’s hard laws, but my moral being grows ever 
 
 
 

 
 CONSTANCY. 63 
 
 more robust, ever more firm; yes, more firm, because 
 there are no chains in the world, no sufferings suffi- 
 cient, no torments capable of making me draw back. 
 All the earthly power of the Church of Rome, with 
 its adornings of stakes and scaffolds, would not be 
 sufficient ever to intimidate this poor prisoner, the 
 most unworthy of all the Spanish Christians. 
 
 “T know what I owe to my beloved Jesus, I know 
 what I owe to his holy and immortal church, and that 
 which I owe to myself, so as not to present myself 
 timid before the horrible torments of tyrants. What 
 are their rigours to me? Nothing, nothing. I only 
 hold as sublimely important that which is acceptable 
 in the eyes of God. It is true that I suffer, know- 
 ing that my brethren in the faith, and my virtuous 
 and incomparable mother suffers; but this grief is 
 produced by sincere Christian affection; it is the 
 natural feeling of a son who loves a mother to whom 
 he owes tender love, sacrifices, and cares; but it is 
 not the suffering of my incomparable situation, that 
 I would not exchange for the felicities of Pius IX. 
 
 ‘“‘ The translation of the notable discourse of Sir 
 Robert Peel has been published in a Spanish news- 
 paper. I pray you to tell him in my humble name 
 that I offer him my sincerest thanks for his noble, 
 worthy, and magnanimous efforts; poor Spain owes 
 him much, much, beloved brother, and our gratitude 
 towards such an eloquent orator is engraved in the 
 depth of our hearts. 
 
 “To the excellent Mr. Newton, offerin my humble 
 name my respects ; tell him, also, of my eternal gra- 
 titude, my warm Christian love; and assure him in 
 
64: MEETING IN LONDON. 
 
 the most positive manner of my constancy, my un- 
 varying desire of sacrificing even my life, if necessary, 
 
 for the cause of the gospel, and of my perfect tran- | a 
 
 quillity in the midst of so many sad and repeated 
 blows. 
 
 “‘T received yesterday a notable, expressive, and 
 
 most eloquent letter, signed by different amiable and 
 charitable brothers and sisters in Dublin. My state ~ 
 of health and my occupations prevent me from 
 answering it immediately; however, perhaps I es 
 be able to do so to-morrow. 
 
 “The blessing of the Lord be with you constantly, 
 and with all your family. Alhama, who participates 
 in equal gratitude and love towards you, begs me to 
 assure you of it in the warmest manner. 
 
 “Your brother in the Lord, 
 “Manvet Matamoros.” 
 
 _ A short time before the reception of the above, a 
 meeting had been convened at St. James’s Hall, Lon- 
 don; presided over by Lord Shaftesbury, and attended 
 by a highly influential and respectable audience. On 
 this occasion Sir R. Peel made a long and powerful 
 speech, bringing before the public the horrors that 
 these Spanish Protestants were obliged to suffer. 
 After introducing this subject at some length, he 
 continued by saying :— 
 
 “What have these violent prosecutions cost Spain 
 in the past! What lost Spain the Indies? Its 
 miserable persecutions. What lost Spain the Nether- 
 lands? Mr. Motley, in his charming work, recently 
 published, says:—‘The great cause of the revolt 
 
 
 

 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL’S SPEECH. 65 
 
 which in a few years was to break out through the 
 Netherlands, was the introduction of the Inquisition, 
 and the persecution which Philip of Spain, m 1561, 
 had arranged for exterminating that religious belief, 
 which was already accepted by a large portion of the 
 Netherland subjects.’ Let Spain take care that its 
 intolerance even now, in these days of revolution, be 
 not pushed too far. When Matamoros was at Bar- 
 celona, he was dragged to Malaga, and from Malaga 
 to the dungeons at Granada. I,in company with two 
 ladies, travelled with him into the mountains of 
 Granada to the prison cell of that town. I learned 
 to admire his simple piety; and ] and the ladies with 
 me were determined to use every effort, although we 
 were strangers, to ameliorate his condition. Now 
 let me read you one or two extracts from letters 
 written by these men,’ Alhama and Matamoros, by 
 which you can judge whether they are suffering be- 
 cause they are excited Socialists or because of their 
 religious belief. Matamoros says, in one of his 
 letters :— 
 
 “<The tribunals in this place are acting in a sa- 
 tanic and inquisitorial manner with us; my physical 
 powers are rapidly sinking, and the thread of my 
 life appears nearly spun out. The dampness of these 
 prisons is killing me; but every step I take towards 
 the tomb strengthens my faith.’ 
 
 “Ts that the language of a Socialist or a political 
 agitator ? I have here a letter from Alhama, which 
 is still more touching :— 
 
 “¢Yes, I suffer very, very deeply. You will 
 imagine all if Itell youalittle. They are constantly 
 
 F 
 
66 ALHAMA’S LETTER. 
 
 trying to make my poor wife ashamed of her hus- 
 band. They call me thief; they assail me with in- 
 sults and opprobrium. These priests, who are called 
 ministers of Christ, how can they be his priests ? Oh, 
 my poor children! your father will probably die the 
 death of a felon and a galley slave, but he will die 
 confessing his faith. N , be the protector of my 
 poor orphans. My poor mother, at her great age, 
 cannot long survive my misfortune; and my poor 
 wife, only just convalescent when I was arrested, ae 
 they tell me, dying. 
 
 “**T suffer with patience all that is hardest in our 
 undeserved captivity. -Be firm; grow in faith; we 
 put our trust in God.’ 
 
 “IT will read only one other extract :— 
 
 “Of our misfortunes and sufferings here in pri- 
 son I will say nothing. The cruelty they practise upon 
 us, the extreme severity they treat us with, is almost 
 without an example in the annals of tyranny. The 
 jailers have received strict orders not to allow us to 
 speak in the prison. The governor calls us heretics. 
 The other prisoners frequently wish to speak to us, 
 but they are told to pass by. Formerly we were 
 allowed to see our friends, and my patient Alhama 
 was permitted to see his mother, and wife, and chil- 
 dren. All the prisoners still have this liberty, be they 
 even robbers or assassins ; but we are allowed nothing, 
 and are not permitted to speak to any one. I asked 
 to walk a little while when the sun was shining, and 
 was refused. The jailer said he had strict injunc- 
 tions to use all rigour towards me. Indeed, were I 
 to write many pages, and to use the strongest 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL’S SPEECH. 67 
 
 language, I could not explain all that I am suf- 
 fering.’ 
 
 “Task, is not that the language of a martyr? 
 Matamoros has heard that the government pretends 
 that they are Socialists, and this is the way he answers 
 the charge :—‘ Our cause has nothing of a political 
 nature ; it is completely separated from every politi- 
 eal and worldly movement; it is the holy cause of 
 the gospel.’ That is the answer, that upon this plat- 
 form, in the presence of a thousand free Englishmen, 
 I give to the Government of Spain when they dare 
 to taunt these people with being imprisoned for their 
 connection with secret socicties. I have seen these 
 men in prison with my own eyes. Their cell was no 
 larger than that table. I paced it in three steps. They 
 had no light—no table; everything was denied them. 
 Do you recollect Byron’s description of the prisoners 
 of Chillon? One of them is dead, another is chained 
 to a pillar, and the third is dying. The description 
 conveys to my mind what I should imagine to be the 
 feelings of these men. The man chained to the pillar 
 says of the other one :— 
 
 «He, too, was struck, and, day by day, 
 Was withered on the stalk away. 
 Oh, God! it is a fearful thing 
 To see the human soul take wing, 
 In any shape, in any mood : 
 T’ve seen it rushing forth in blood, 
 I’ve seen it on the breaking ocean 
 Strive with a swoln convulsive motion, 
 I’ve seen the sick and ghastly bed 
 Of sin delirious with its dread : 
 But these were horrors—this was woe 
 Unmixed with such—but sure and slow; 
 
68 SIR ROBERT PEEL’S SPEECH. — 
 
 He faded, and so calm and meek, 
 So softly worn, so sweetly weak, 
 So tearless, yet so tender—kind, 
 _ And grieved for those he left behind : 
 While all the while a cheek, whose bloom  — 
 Was as the mockery of the tomb.’ 
 
 “ That is what I saw in the dungeon of Granada. 
 I have seen in my own experience the terrors of the 
 ‘heaving ocean.’ I have been with four other men 
 upon a plank in the mid ocean, the sole survivors 
 from a terrible shipwreck. J have seen men, one by 
 one, perish at my side, but it did not move me: I 
 awaited my destiny. It was horrible, but it was not 
 woe. I have seen the battle-field of the defeated : it 
 was horrible, but it was not woe. I have seen the 
 prisoner expiating his offence, and receiving his last 
 sentence for his defiance of the laws of God and man: 
 it was horrible, but it did not affect me. But I have 
 seen the prisoners in the dungeon at Granada, and I 
 admit that I felt, perhaps as many of you have felt 
 often, or, it may be, only once in your life—felt 
 
 “‘¢ What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal.’ 
 
 “Would to God that any words of mine could 
 remove one iota of the burden that presses down 
 these poor fellows in Granada! But they shall be 
 relieved. We havea patriot minister who knows how 
 to interpret the feelings of his countrymen, and he 
 will be prepared to carry out the desire not only of 
 the metropolis, but of every province of this empire, 
 that Her Majesty’s Government should take some 
 step in the matter. We do notask to go to war with 
 Spain. The power of this country does not depend 
 
 
 

 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL’S SPEECH. 69 
 
 upon earthworks and barricades, and lines of defence. 
 The power of this country is in the exercise of its 
 moral influence. It was so in the time of Queen 
 Hlizabeth. For twenty years she never fired a gun, 
 and yet England had then a character and prestige 
 in Europe. Never was this country so much respected 
 abroad, as in the time of Cromwell. Why was it? 
 Not because of sanguinary wars, but because Crom- 
 well knew how to maintain the character and prestige 
 of his country amid the nations of Europe. So shall 
 it be now. We ask that the moral influence of this 
 country, as a friendly power, may be exerted in 
 alleviating the sufferings and calamities which have 
 befallen these poor Christians in Spain, whose doc- 
 trines are not those of a mere sect, but the doctrines 
 of many millions in this country andin Hurope. The 
 resolution I have the honour to move will, I am sure, 
 meet with the assent of every man and woman in 
 this assembly, and will receive the support of public 
 opinion not only here, but throughout Hurope. For, 
 by the friendly sympathy of a free press, which is the 
 worst enemy of oppression, the sentiments we here 
 express will be carried far beyond these walls, and 
 will animate the hearts of many in Sweden, and 
 France, and Germany, and I believe in Spain itself. 
 We would have them know, that as our institutions 
 secure unlimited liberty to every class of professing 
 Christians, so they give us an indisputable right to 
 intercede with other nations in favour of our fellow- 
 Christians who are suffering; not for their political, 
 but for their religious opinions; a persecution, which 
 is not only an insult to Europe, and an outrage to the 
 
70 WIDE-SPREAD SYMPATHY. 
 
 spirit of the age in which we live, but which to my oi ‘ag 
 
 mind is totally incompatible with the mud and chant: 
 able principles of Christianity.” | 
 
 The sympathy evinced by Sir R. Peel at the time ~ 
 of the imprisonment of Matamoros, his great exer- 
 tions since, and many things that have come under 
 my notice, impel me to bid him God speed, and to de- 
 sire, as I do most heartily, that as by God’s providence 
 he has been chosen in the first instance as the instru- 
 ment of advocating the cause of our persecuted 
 Spanish friends, he may never dismiss this matter 
 from his thoughts until he sees an end put to this 
 persecution in the deliverance of the captives, and in 
 the proclamation of religious liberty in priestridden 
 Spain. 
 
 But it was not only in the palaces of our nobility 
 that the story of the Spanish sufferers had become 
 a matter of deep interest. It had already been 
 rehearsed again and again in all the length and 
 breadth of Great Britain, and over the continent of 
 Europe; on the banks of the Ganges and in the 
 United States; and better and higher still, we love to 
 think that the sorrowful sighing of the prisoner has 
 come. into the ears of the Lord of Hosts. In all 
 their afflictions He is afflicted. He has heard shee 
 cry, and will help them. 
 
 But simple imprisonment was not sufficient Sane | 
 ment in the eyes of the enraged ecclesiastics of Spain 
 for thosewho had dared to preach the truth in the midst 
 of the classic land of superstition. A more bitter 
 cup was still their lot, as will be seen in the sequel. © 
 But in the midst of these deep waters, God was day 
 
 
 
PRACTICAL EFFECTS. 71 
 
 by day adding to the number of the ministering chil- 
 dren, who ministered to the afflicted of their sub- 
 stance, and words of sweetest consolation. Among 
 these may be mentioned the Rev. B. W. Newton, of 
 London; Dr. and Mrs. Tregelles, of Plymouth ; Geo. 
 Miller, of Bristol; and the Rev. R. Govett, of Nor- 
 wich, to say nothing of a host of others whose un- 
 tirmg and prayerful sympathy has been invaluable. 
 The Rey. Mr. Dallas and Mr. Eade went from the 
 Geneva Conference to pay them a visit in prison. 
 General Alexander went out at the instance of the 
 Evangelical Alliance, with a mission to General 
 O’Donell, the Spanish Prime Minister at Madrid, but 
 in spite of all his remonstrances, the bars and the 
 bolts are still firmly securing their persons. A sum 
 of nearly £1000 has gone from this country to pay 
 for the heavy law expenses, and for the support of the 
 numerous families of the imprisoned in Malaga, 
 Granada, and Seville ; this is money laid up in heaven 
 that bears good interest here in showers of blessing, 
 and those who thus use their substance shall find that 
 when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, they shall re- 
 ceive a crown of glory which fadeth not away. ‘ In- 
 asmuch as ye have done it to the least of these, my 
 brethren, ye have done it unto me.’’ In the midst of 
 all these prosecutions we see a better day in store for 
 Spain, in answer to the prayers of these sufferers. 
 Before Germany was made free, Luther had to be 
 bound; before England enjoyed an open Bible, Cran- 
 mer must suffer; before France enjoyed the same, 
 centuries of sorrow were the forerunners. The Madiai 
 in Italy were heralds of blessing for their land, but 
 
: ce to sal evar bey shes ode 
 _ that s sow in tears shall reap in joy,” He has sa 
 cannot lie; and we will wait on 1» Him for the fal i I 
 - of the ward: 
 
 
 
A DIABOLICAL SCHEME. 73 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 
 
 OwineG to the interception of six letters from Mata- 
 moros, already mentioned, many of the facts connected 
 with the diabolical scheme concocted at Granada, to 
 inculpate him in the political insurrection at Loja, 
 would not have appeared in the present work were it 
 not for the recent publication of a brochure by Messrs. 
 Nisbet, from which I give the account of this infa- 
 mous tragedy :—“ In the beginning of July, 1861, an 
 insurrection broke out at Loja, a quiet little town 
 situate between Granada and Malaga. Nine thousand 
 men, displaying a republican standard, and proclaim- 
 ing democratic principles, appeared in arms. At a 
 given moment they destroyed the telegraph, inter- 
 cepted the post, and cut off all communication 
 with Granada, and the rest of the chief cities of 
 Spain. 
 
 “When first intelligence of these things reached 
 Granada, public opinion was unanimous in attri- 
 buting the movement to purely political motives, 
 but the enemies of Protestantism in Granada, taking 
 advantage of the surprise and excitement of the 
 public mind, wrote immediately to the government 
 
7A THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 
 
 papers at Madrid, affirming that the imsurrection, 
 besides being republican in its character, bore evident 
 marks of a Protestant origin, the rebels having ~ 
 raised the cry, ‘Death to the Pope.’ The public 
 feeling being very much opposed to this sudden and 
 unexpected outbreak, the reports industriously spread 
 of its having originated with the Protestant party, 
 affected most injuriously the cause of the prisoners, 
 which was beginning to be regarded with interest and 
 favour by the more enlightened portion of the public. 
 Availing themselves of the panic produced, the 
 enemies of Matamoros resolved, if possible, to ineri- 
 minate him and his fellow-prisoners. For this pur- 
 pose the authorities had recourse to a wretched con- 
 vict, condemned for robbery to seven years at the 
 galleys, to whom they promised liberty and 8000 reals, 
 if he would supply information against the Protestant 
 prisoners. This man, fetched back for the purpose 
 from the galleys, was employed to carry food and 
 water to the cells of Matamorosand Alhama. Whilst 
 thus engaged he contrived to steal a letter written 
 by, and others addressed to Matamoros, all of which 
 he carried to the authorities. These letters were 
 purely of a religious character, and contained no allu- 
 sion to politics, yet they were used as a pretext for 
 action. 
 
 “ Karly on the next day, July 8th, Matamoros was 
 roused from his bed and hurried off to a most loath- 
 some dungeon. Alhama, too, and Trigo were re- 
 moved from the cells they were occupying, and 
 
 placed ‘incomunicado.’ At the same time the go- — 
 
 vernor of the prison, and ordinary officials were sus- 
 
 
 
THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 75 
 
 pended, made prisoners, and shut up; new officials 
 being appointed by the military fiscal, who was one 
 of the most bitter enemies of the Protestants. These 
 officials were to exert themselves to find among the 
 prisoners some who, on a promise of a free pardon, 
 would come forward as witnesses against Matamoros 
 and the Protestants. But to return to Matamoros. 
 He, as has been already said, was hurried off to a 
 loathsome den, without daylight or air, where the 
 filthiness and stench, together with the distress and 
 anxiety of his mind (for he knew not of what he was 
 accused), so affected him that he fell ill of violent 
 fever. 
 
 “For three days he struggled on, but on the night 
 of the 13th of July he was so ill, that he begged for 
 medical aid; it was refused; he asked for medicine, 
 that also was deniedhim. For eight days he lay there 
 unable to rise, but at last, through God’s mercy, the 
 fever abated, on the thirteenth day of his imprison- 
 ment in this place. On July 25th, at five o’clock in 
 the morning, he was dragged out to be examined by a 
 military commission. He was eleven hours under 
 examination, and for the first time, by the questions 
 put to him, he discovered of what he was accused. 
 
 “The accusations against him were :— 
 
 “TT. That he had, in his prison, projected and 
 planned the insurrection at Loja, and that the leader 
 of the insurrection had visited and held a conference 
 with him in the prison. 
 
 “JI. That he had furnished the insurgents with 
 large sums of money. 
 
 “III. That he had intended to put himself at 
 
76 THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 
 
 the head of the insurrection in Granada, and to have 
 given liberty to the prisoners, with the ery of ‘ Death | 
 to the Pope.’ 
 
 “TV. That in order to effect all this, he had bribed 
 the former governor with the sum of 30,000 reals 
 (£300), and had hkewise suborned the rest of the 
 officials. 
 
 ““V. That two persons who had visited Alhama 
 on the 6th and 7th of July were conspirators. That 
 one of them had an interview with Matamoros, in 
 order to arrange with him what cries should be raised 
 in the revolution, and that the other had brought to 
 him large sums of money. 
 
 “The means resorted to for obtaining evidence in 
 support of these charges, may be judged of from the 
 following incidents :— 
 
 **On one occasion, the convict aforementioned, 
 who had been appointed to attend upon Matamoros, 
 came to his cell, accompanied by the newly-appointed 
 deputy-governor. The man told Matamoros that it 
 was to the deputy-governor he owed the privilege of 
 being visited, and that he deserved some acknow- 
 ledgment. Matamoros accordingly gave him a gra- 
 tuity. The deputy-governor went immediately to 
 the fiscal, whose agent he was, showed. him the 
 money, and declared that it was given him by Mata- 
 moros as a bribe to silence him, as well as to Secure 
 through him the silence of certain criminals whose 
 evidence he feared. 
 
 ‘These wretches, having been previously instructed, 
 when called upon by the deputy-governor, immedi- 
 ately corroborated the accusation. At another time, 
 
 
 

 
 THE LOJA TRAGEDY. V0 
 
 Matamoros, being in need of some food and some 
 cooling drink, employed his convict attendant to 
 purchase it, giving him some money for the purpose, 
 and a few reals additional as a recompense for the 
 service. The man who was employed as an informer 
 and spy carried the money to the fiscal, and declared 
 that Matamoros had given it as a bribe to prevent 
 his coming forward as a witness against him. 
 
 “On another occasion, this same man stole a hand- 
 kerchief from Matamoros, and carrying it to Alhama’s 
 wife in token that he had been sent by Matamoros, 
 asked for the letters and manuscripts that Matamoros 
 had committed to her care. She replied that she had 
 none, that Matamoros had not committed any letters 
 to her care. The man, disappointed in his scheme, 
 went nevertheless to the fiscal, declared that she had 
 the papers and would not give them up, and suc- 
 ceeded in cbtaining her arrest and imprisonment, 
 as well as the imprisonment of Alhama’s aged 
 mother. 
 
 “Some difficulty being apprehended in consequence 
 of the agreement of Alhama’s declaration with that 
 of Matamoros, the following means were adopted to 
 destroy the value of this accordance. Alhama’s cell 
 was under that of Matamoros, but had no communi- 
 cation with it. One night the deputy-governor came 
 to the cell of Matamoros, and caused a small aperture 
 to be made through the floor into Alhama’s room be- 
 low, then’ went to the military fiscal, and reported 
 that there were means of communication between the 
 cells. While these things were taking place, the 
 leader of the insurrection at Loja was yet at large. 
 
sere THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 
 
 
 
 A prisoner named H came forward and declared 
 that he had not only seen the chief of the insurrection 
 conversing with Matamoros before the rising at Loja, 
 but that since that event he had again seen him 
 talking with Matamoros through one of the windows 
 of the prison. 
 
 ‘When called on to describe the rebel chief, he 
 gave a description which agreed closely with that 
 which had been published in the newspapers. There 
 was also in the prison a parish priest named R 
 S , imprisoned for various robberies and crimes of 
 a disgraceful nature. This priest being cited by 
 HK — in his declaration, came forward, and not only 
 corroborated what E had said, but added fresh 
 charges. They accused Matamoros of having endea- 
 voured to induce the prisoners to rebel against the 
 military fiscal and governor of the prison. Twenty 
 prisoners were called forward, who, to the consterna- 
 tion of Matamoros, all confirmed the testimony of 
 E and the priest, one man showing the money 
 which he declared Matamoros had given him. But 
 the good providence of God was watching over 
 Matamoros. The cause was not decided by the 
 military tribunal, it was passed on to the civil court. 
 There the chief evidence, the person on whom the 
 enemies of Matamoros chiefly rested, turned against 
 them. H , conscience-stricken and repentant, 
 after making two attempts at his life, made solemn 
 recantation before the civil tribunal of all that he had 
 said against Matamoros, and gave a clear and explicit 
 narration of all that had been carried on against him 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 in the prison, and told of the bribes and instructions | 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 Oe ee ee ee ese 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 79 
 
 given by the military fiscal and hisagents. It scarcely 
 need be said that the result was the triumphant ac- 
 quittal of Matamoros and the Protestant prisoners. 
 The military fiscal, who, before the unexpected failure 
 of the cause had been rewarded (somewhat prema- 
 turely) with promotion, was now disgraced and 
 sent away from Granada. Here, then, there was an 
 opportunity for the government of Spain to have 
 come forward and recompensed Matamoros for his 
 unmerited suffering by frankly abandoning the reli- 
 gious charge. Their agents had conspired against 
 his life. Ifthe political charge had been established, 
 he would no doubt have been put to death. But the 
 government whose agents had woven around that 
 complicated web of falsehood, felt no shame, no con- 
 trition. They in no respect recognized themselves 
 his debtors. His reward was continued imprison- 
 ment, and in prospect aggravated, not lessened, 
 punishment.” 
 
SO UNION IN CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 LETTERS PROM GRANADA, 
 
 In September I received again news from the prisoner. 
 Matamoros says :— 
 
 “ The Prison, Granada, Sept. 7th, 1861. 
 
 “Perhaps, dear brother and indefatigable pro- 
 
 tector, this letter may reach you before the very sor- 
 rowful one which I wrote to you last week. How 
 long I have been hindered from corresponding with 
 you (twelve weeks), and without hearing anything 
 of you or my worthy English and Irish friends! 
 This is a great trial to me—greater than my imprison- 
 ment; than the fury of my implacable enemies, or 
 than my physical sufferings, which are, nevertheless, 
 severe. The best and most consoling and greatest 
 news you can give me, is what you tell me of the 
 Christian solicitude and zeal and holy love, with 
 which our friends and brethren in the faith ask after 
 us, the prisoners of Christ. And, believe me, it is 
 not pride or presumption that makes me so much 
 rejoice at this, but rather I rejoice at the manifesta- 
 tion of our holy union as the ‘ body of Christ’ which 
 is thus made so evident. Oh! when you reply to 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 PRAY FOR SPAIN. 81 
 
 these dear friends, speak to them of my gratitude in 
 the most lively and expressive terms. Be very sure 
 that you cannot exaggerate it. 
 
 “If the proposal for a day of prayer on.our behalf 
 throughout Hneland, Ireland, and Scotland, has not 
 yet been carried out, I beg of you to use your legiti- 
 mate and fraternal influence that it may take place. 
 The prayers of the saints are of more value to us than 
 anything else in this world. These supplications will 
 be heard by the great Head, and He in his mercy will 
 give us strength to bear so much suffering, so much 
 torment. Pray for poor Spain; for this unfortunate 
 country, sunken in error and slavery by Satan’s hand, 
 and these prayers will be heard by our loving Father, 
 who will grant all that we ask for his own glory. I 
 have not yet received the last sums which you men- 
 tion as having been sent tome. I received £20 in 
 June ; half was distributed in Malaga, and half was 
 divided amongst ourselves here. Since that time [| 
 have not received any money, and am now in want. 
 The position of the prisoners at Malaga must be ter- 
 rible ; they must be in severe trouble, and this breaks 
 my heart; the more so, as I cannot but feel that the 
 sacrifices made by our British friends are already 
 very great. 
 
 “In Malaga, two more arrests have been made. 
 The defence made for Alhama and myself, I hope to 
 send to you soon. Our lawyers asked for our liberty, 
 but it was refused. Alhama’s advocate made a bril- 
 liant and lucid, as well as a courageous defence, 
 saying amongst other things, after having professed 
 his Catholic belief, ‘That for a society in the state of 
 
 G 
 
ook Se oe 
 Rati het il 
 om Pes ies. 
 
 ~~ > ~ 
 a 
 i. SS a 
 Loe A. 
 
 82 THE DEFENCES. 
 
 corruption of so-called ‘‘ Catholic” Spain, he would 
 prefer the faith professed by his clients, though called 
 Protestants; for its tendencies, apart from the ques- 
 tion of faith, were eminently moral and noble.’ My 
 advocate, and also Trigos, made good defences, and 
 the affair is now in the hands of the lawyers of the 
 accused, who are at liberty on bail. | 
 
 “T will not tell you anything, dear brother, of all 
 that I have suffered. I could fill many pages with 
 horrible descriptions; but in my captivity I have 
 begun to write a sort of sketch of my life since my 
 conversion. If possible, I will send it to you when it 
 is finished. You say that you hope to hear me preach 
 the gospel in Spain. Oh! it is my only aspiration, 
 my highest ambition. I long to complete my classical 
 studies; and then, poor, very poor, but rich in faith, 
 I would preach unweariedly wherever I could be 
 heard. Believe me to be, dear brother, your attached — 
 though unworthy friend, 
 
 “ManurEL Matamoros. 
 
 _ “ My grateful respects to all our brethren in the | 
 Lord, 
 
 Ne 
 
 “ Joss ALHAMA.” 
 
 I received many sweet letters from Christians in 
 England, and, after translating them, sent them to 
 Matamoros, and they helped to wile away the sad 
 time, and were as a sweet cordial: in the cup of his 
 deep and protracted sorrow. One of these, from Mr. 
 Leonard Strong, of Torquay, drew forth the response 
 which follows :— 
 
 
 

 
 LETTER TO MR. LEONARD STRONG. 83 
 
 “* Prison of the Audiencia, Granada, Oct. 8, 1861. 
 “ BELOVED AND RESPECTED BROTHER IN OUR DIVINE Re- 
 DEEMER, JESUS CHRIST, OUR JOY AND OBJECT OF 
 OUR CONSTANT FAITH, 
 
 “Mr. Greene has just given me one more proof 
 of Christian zeal, in translating your important letter 
 of June, the second time, and sending it to me, im- 
 pelled by the desire of comforting me, understand- 
 ing clearly that it would produce in me most whole- 
 some effects of Christian edification. I received 
 with the greatest pleasure your very important 
 letter—important to me in many ways—and which 
 I now hasten to answer; but this I cannot do as I 
 would wish, as, though my heart earnestly desires 
 to do so, my intellectual powers are insufficient; 
 but be it as it will, in whatever I do say my heart 
 shall speak. 
 
 “Beloved and respected brother, if to man on 
 earth it is given to be happy, I enjoy this benefit in a 
 superlative degree. My soul is filled with lofty and 
 permanent recollections of Christian joy ; the history 
 of my life, during the past year, having been the 
 means of procuring them for me, and founded prin- 
 cipally on the magnificent spectacle that the Church 
 of Christ has presented to the eyes of God and of the 
 world, in watching, with pious and evangelical atten- 
 tion, over the wants of their Spanish brothers. The 
 continual and eloquent proofs of this love which I am 
 daily receiving, will always leave in my soul grateful 
 and profound impressions. 
 
 “I see the day approach when my country will be 
 happy by the triumph of the gospel in the hearts of 
 
84, LETTER TO MR. LEONARD STRONG. 
 
 its inhabitants. The honour has fallen to my lot to 
 suffer for having preached the kingdom of God, and 
 for having exhorted men to have faith in Christ, 
 who I know and love with all my heart. I see by 
 the love which you profess for me that He has not 
 
 - forsaken me, that He accepts my sincere Christian 
 
 desires; and tell me, dear brother, is not this the 
 truest happiness that we can enjoy here below? 
 
 Have I not good reason then to be happy, and for 
 calling myself so? Yes, assuredly. Well, such is 
 
 the ground of my joy, the motives I have for glory- 
 ing. This happiness would have been a stranger to 
 me had I been still living in darkness, as is the 
 Church of Rome, that eternal enemy of Christ. 
 
 ‘** Your pious and interesting letter refers, beloved 
 brother, to the sentiments that I had the pleasure of 
 expressing to the brethren of King’s Bridge; and 
 that humble expression of faith, you say, has pro- 
 duced in you the most lively sympathies. Pray give, 
 in my poor name, to all who have honoured me by 
 hearing it, the fullest assurance of my Christian love. 
 Beloved brother, while young, very young, at the age 
 when generally all are left to run after some illusion 
 of fancy, some pleasure of a day, at that in which the 
 deceitful attractions of the world fascinate the heated 
 imagination of youth, the infinite goodness of our 
 heavenly Father saw good to grant me the consola- 
 tion of knowing Himself through his Son Jesus 
 Christ. I knew Him, and knew at the same time 
 my ancient errors, of having followed, as a blind 
 automaton, the Romish Church, which lives so widely 
 distant from Him. I abandoned that path which 
 
 
 
 
 
 — ¥ =~. 
 eee awe ae 
 

 
 
 
 LETTER TO MR. LEONARD STRONG, 85 
 
 leads to perdition, and I proposed to follow firmly 
 and decidedly our Lord Jesus Christ in the path laid 
 down in his holy Word. I desired to teach people 
 the truths which I had believed, to teach my unfor- 
 tunate countrymen who live in sin, and to this Chris- 
 tian end I dedicated all the time which has elapsed 
 since my conversion to Christianity up to this moment. 
 Comprehending that this high mission was superior 
 to my feeble strength, to my poor talents, and to my 
 scanty faculties, but the Lord says that he who lacks 
 wisdom let him ask of God who giveth willingly and 
 upbraideth not. J asked Him from day to day, from 
 hour to hour, and I found that my humble efforts 
 gave a blessed result, that the Lord did not abandon 
 me; and I followed on untiringly, and will ever 
 follow the path traced ont by my faith. This was, 
 yea, this is the crime I am guilty of, and for this 
 crime have they buried me in a miserable dungeon, 
 but providing for me at the same time these happy 
 hours of trial. My sorrowful dungeon, intended to 
 intimidate me, opened for me a door of hope on the 
 one hand, as well as a path full of trials. Of hope, 
 for it was the proof of my faith; of trial, because 
 it led many families to bitter weeping and tears. 
 Never have I dreaded my own sorrows; but I have 
 been grieved much by those of my many and virtuous 
 brethren. In presence of the stern and unbending 
 tribunal, I had the honour of maintaiing my faith as 
 a Protestant, my faith in Christ, and my eternal 
 separation from the Church of Rome, his enemy. 
 “But, beloved brother, if men have traced out 
 for me a path of sharpest thorns, since that day my 
 

 
 86 LETTER TO MR. LEONARD STRONG. 
 
 heavenly Father has portioned out for me one of 
 infinite pleasure. What signify the sufferings of the — 
 body ? What the blind rage of an enemy who neither 
 forgets nor forgives, and who, making use of the 
 power of brute force, rejoices in the sorrows of a 
 Christian who cannot be convinced by their argu- 
 ments, nor be intimidated by their horrible punish- 
 ments? Nothing ought, nothing can avail for the 
 man who, despising the world, fixes his eyes upon 
 his Lord, and, committing his soul to his Maker, 
 determines to follow Him. They may augment my 
 punishment, but they will also augment my joy. 
 ‘They may augment their rage, but it will be manifest 
 to the world, and the world will know them and 
 separate from them. 
 
 ‘“* Not one life but one thousand would I sacrifice | 
 willingly in the name of Christ, and for his holy 
 cause, and for the extension of his holy kingdom on 
 earth. My enemies will find me always disposed to 
 sacrifice all for my faith. There is no bitter future 
 to intimidate me with, nor reasonings to convince 
 -me. My reasoning is all taken from the Word of 
 hfe, and my invariable aim is to accomplish the will 
 of the Lord who exhorts us to imitate Him. 
 
 “The pious remembrances of our beloved brethren 
 in the faith, who offer fervent prayers in our behalf, 
 is invaluable; it is the greatest benefit ‘they can 
 confer upon us; and whatever you tell me on this 
 head, leaves on my mind sweet and enduring record, 
 and on my soul the happiest impression. 
 
 “You exhort me, dear brother, to bear in mind 
 the sacred memorial of the martyrs of Christ and of 
 
 
 

 
 THE GARDEN ENCLOSED. 87 
 
 their tribulations. I give you my best thanks for so 
 doing. Some of those glorious martyrs left behind 
 them, even in dying, the footprints of victory. Oh, 
 may the Supreme Being grant that our sufferings 
 may open the gates of my country to the Word of 
 God; and if this is to happen, they may do their 
 worst tome. I have been too long, and I have tired 
 myself in writing, but it was necessary to my peace 
 to manifest towards you my gratitude. My com- 
 panions in suffering salute you. 
 ‘Your humble servant in Christ, 
 “ M. Maramoros.”’ 
 
 “ey ought to add, that the £3 that you kindly 
 sent has been received and distributed, and it is 
 quite unnecessary to say anything about our grati- 
 tude, as you can imagine. Please make this known 
 to the contributors.” 
 
 On looking through these lovely letters of our 
 brother, I am constrained to see in all his sufferings 
 the hand of the Most High, and I believe they will 
 prove to be a consolation to many a Christian who 
 probably may be comforted by them in endeavouring 
 to follow in the same path of trial. “A garden 
 inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, 
 a fountain sealed, a well of living waters, and streams 
 from Lebanon ;”’ and such would Matamoros have re- 
 mained to us in England, had it not been that in this 
 long and tedious night through which we are passing, 
 God had afflicted one of the members of the body in 
 order that his grace might be manifested. He has 
 blown upon the garden, his Spanish garden, that the 
 
88 ; THE DAY-DAWN IN PRISON. 
 
 spices of it may flow out. But thowgll the church in 
 England has had a sort of first-fruits of the blessing 
 of these bonds suffered in the name of Christ, surely 
 Spain shall have the full harvest of the good results. 
 If large sums of money had been expended, much 
 labour given in evangelizing, the work of the Lord 
 would not have been half so effectually promoted 
 as by the bonds of these brethren. As Paul wrote 
 before, so may we repeat in truth, “I would ye 
 should understand, brethren, that the things which 
 happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the 
 furtherance of the gospel. So that my bonds in 
 Christ are manifested in all the palace, and in all 
 other places.” And the following lines will go to 
 substantiate this :-— 
 
 “« Prison of the Audiencia, Granada, Nov. 28, 1861. 
 “My DEARLY- LOVED AND NEYER- TO -BE- FORGOTTEN 
 BrotTHER In THE Lorp, 
 
 “The day begins to dawn, the first splendours of 
 the morning, entering in by the clefts of the wretched 
 shutters of the old window of my dungeon, announce 
 to me that it has been the will of our beloved Father 
 to spare my life to this day, in spite of the will of 
 tyrants. It is about a quarter of an hour since I 
 finished my morning prayer, which I always make 
 immediately on rising from my bed, be the hour 
 what it may. A melancholy silence reigns in this 
 distant dungeon, and I take advantage of these hours 
 to write to you, and answer some questions In your 
 welcome letter. You, beloved brother, have asked 
 me if Christian principles progress steadily in Spain. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 THE DAY-DAWN IN SPAIN. 89 
 
 In this unfortunate country, where the voice of the 
 press is silenced, the publication of every periodical 
 that is not Catholic prohibited ; the distribution of 
 the Word of God the signal for persecution, as also 
 that of every book that tends to show the true religion 
 preached by Jesus; the enchaining of as many Chris- 
 tians as possible ; the burning in the public ‘ plazas’ 
 of Barcelona and Cordova, and that recently, an 
 - infinite number of books, for the sole cause of their 
 not being in accordance with the ecclesiastical court 
 of Rome, and with the principles that it sustains and 
 defends; drawing forced interpretations from the 
 elastic laws of Spain to the prejudice of the Spanish 
 Christians; and, in short, having recourse even to 
 the ignoble weapons of crime, they try to obscure the 
 truth. 
 
 “However, against these barriers that tyranny 
 presents and sustains with unwearying zeal, you 
 noble and decided soldiers of Jesus have presented 
 yourselves a grand, worthy, and magnanimous van- 
 guard of Christianity as so many sonorous echoes of 
 the Christian spirit, representing its wishes, and 
 making our government see that Christianity esta- 
 blished in the earth demands for itself the fullest 
 liberty of conscience. 
 
 ** However, dear brother, if civilization has not 
 opened, as it ought to have done, the doors of this 
 poor dejected nation, if even it has not been able to 
 shed its light on this soil, on a scale that, if not 
 entire, might at least be in a measure; its spirit, 
 nevertheless, is not a stranger to the land, and thanks 
 to it, and to the age in which we live, it breaks the 
 
90 PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 chains, come from whence they may. The nation 
 feels the necessity of seeking the truth; and in this 
 study, in this meditation, in this search, so inherent 
 to the nineteenth century and to its worthy sons, the 
 triumph is secure, beloved brother; the triumph of 
 truth, yes, of Christian truth, is secure. He who 
 wishes to come to the true knowledge of the secret 
 of the religious tyranny sustained in Spain alone, 
 finds it in the certain danger of the church of Kome, 
 and the positive welfare of the church of God, whose 
 numbers are increasing. . 
 
 “Within my prison I have had the indescribable 
 pleasure of hearing persons of a certain position in 
 the literary and scientific world, of sufficient worth 
 and of sound judgment, support my poor reasonings, 
 and emit new and brilliant judgments on this impor- 
 "tant question, founding their opinions on history, 
 and on the conversations of those whom they may 
 mix with daily, whether on. the public promenade or 
 the evening ‘tertulia.’ Public opinion has occupied 
 itself much upon this question, hitherto dormant in 
 Spain, and, in general, has given its opinion that 
 there is a future for Spain, Yes, beloved brother, a 
 bright morning will shine upon the evangelical work 
 in Spain. 
 
 ‘“‘Tf the fear, and a very possible one, of this letter 
 being intercepted did not prevent me, I would give 
 you the names of those persons who have supplicated 
 me to take an active part in the work of evangeliza- 
 tion. I would tell you what their influence is, what 
 their social position ; and assuredly you would rejoice 
 infinitely, as I have done, at this fruit of your efforts, 
 
 
 

 
 FUTURE HOPES. 9] 
 
 blessed by our dear heavenly Father. I could show 
 you a long catalogue of the fruits of your Christian 
 carefulness that has reached the ears of all, and pro- 
 duces its effects on all souls. A day never passes 
 almost without my receiving letters from different 
 points of the peninsula, in which similar desires are 
 manifested. 
 
 ein I have the positive assurance that 
 the work of evangelization will develop itself both 
 rapidly and solidly, as well as in an eminently con- 
 soling and Christian manner; and that it will be 
 like an electric spark for all the province of = 
 and will have a great effect in Spain, through the 
 great moral influence that the opinion of that part 
 of the country, without doubt the most civilized in 
 Spain, exercises throughout the peninsula. I could 
 have wished that my imprisonment had taken place 
 a year later; oh! only one year; and 14,000 or 15,000 
 Spaniards, declaring themselves Protestants, would 
 have petitioned the Cortes for liberty of worship and 
 the toleration we need. Do not doubt it, this gigantic 
 step would have been made to the astonishment of 
 Hurope and the shame of tyrants. This step will yet 
 be taken, do not doubt it; but at present it is pre- 
 mature. Spain is not a sterile country to sow the 
 gospel seed in; I have been to the humblest dwell- 
 ings, and among some people of elevated position; I 
 have mixed with the humble, and with the proud; 
 I have explored, in short, all that was possible. to 
 me, and the evidence has shown me sufficient to 
 know what may be hoped from this unfortunate 
 
 
 
 
 
 nation. 
 
92 FUTURE HOPES, 
 
 “However, to-day more than ever, 1 hope much 
 for the future. Do not doubt, beloved brother, that 
 that future will be very flattering for the work of the 
 Lord in this classic land of tyranny; your efforts, 
 made patent to the world, promise much prosperity 
 to the holy cause of the gospel. At that time we 
 shall make more progress in one month than at other 
 times in a year. Do not doubt, in short, that you 
 will have the consolation of rejoicing in the rapid 
 progress, and, perhaps, in the complete triumph of 
 the great work prepared for this poor nation, in 
 which you have had so large a part; and this joy 
 you shall very soon feel, with the protection of the 
 Lord. 
 
 “You tell me that you note more confidence of 
 my gaining the victory in my letter to A—— than in 
 any of my others. Oh no, a thousand times no, 
 beloved brother, my hope increases every moment, 
 every minute that passes; and if in some letter I 
 have lamented, these lamentations have not been, by 
 any means, the result of discouragement; no, dis- 
 couragement is impossible to me! Believe it im- 
 plicitly, I have never known what it is, and I hope 
 never to know it. ; 
 
 “The battle is gained, be the result what it may ; 
 tyranny has received a fatal blow in Spain; the life 
 and magnitude of evangelical work is every way more 
 secure, and my liberty or my imprisonment are alike 
 for its good; my liberty, because thus tyranny shows 
 its impatience; my imprisonment, because thus it 
 shows its only way of sustaining itself, and announces 
 from its own mouth its approaching end. } 
 

 
 
 
 ACTIVITY IN PRISON. . 93 
 
 ““ May peace, grace, and the fellowship of the ree 
 Spirit dwell in you eternally. 
 “Your humble brother, friend, and son, 
 * ManveL Matamoros.” 
 
 The days of our prisoner are by no means spent 
 in idleness. On the contrary, an activity almost 
 unparalleled seemed to animate him. In one of his 
 letters, received about this time, he writes, “I have 
 just received my correspondence. One long and 
 eminently consoling letter from Mrs. Tregelles, yours 
 of the 14th, the inclosed notable. one from Miss 
 Whately, three from Gibraltar of importance, four 
 from Malaga, and one from Barcelona. These 
 have come by this morning’s post, and I hope for 
 some also by the evening’s delivery. The letter 
 of —— is very valuable, and is written so sweetly, 
 with so much purity and feeling, that it has edified 
 my spirit, and filled my heart with joy. I can write 
 no more to-night; my eyes are sore, and my head 
 aches. I must go to bed, for it is already three 
 o’clock in the mPOTRING and I have some things still 
 to do.” 
 
 In another part of the same letter he adds, “‘ One 
 of our brethren in Christ has fled to Gibraltar. -He 
 was a great helper in the Lord’s work, and was 
 well off at Malaga; and after going through repeated 
 trials, he is now serving as mason’s labourer. This 
 breaks my heart. I really don’t know what to do. 
 The life which I pass is not life. My own position 
 does not affect me in the least, but these tidings are 
 too much for me; they affect me profoundly, and, 
 
94, TRUE LIBERTY. 
 
 believe me, that more than all the os they are 
 helping to kill me.’ 
 
 Deep ae seems to be one of Matamoros’ 
 leading characteristics, but many are the other graces 
 that adorn this loving and faithful man. ‘ How 
 beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daugh- 
 ter! How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, 
 for delights!’ His confidence in God is seen in ey 
 letter of February :— 
 
 “ Prison of the Audiencia, Granada, Feb. 26, 1862. 
 
 ‘‘ VERY DEAR AND RESPECTED BROTHER IN THE LORD, 
 
 “You judge most truly when you suppose that 
 the continued and eloquent proofs of Christian love, 
 manifested towards us by your various correspon- 
 dents, give me much true consolation. You tell me 
 that England will do what she can with France for 
 us. This is, mdeed, a source of material comfort ; 
 but I must be plain and frank with you on this score. 
 
 “‘T believe that whatever efforts have been or 
 shall be made on our behalf may, perhaps, be fruit- 
 less.. But I have always striven to set aside the idea 
 of what may be beneficial in the unimportant matter 
 of my personal liberty, which is really of very little 
 consequence to the world and to myself. The only 
 slavery which appals me is the slavery of sin. But 
 my slavery for the love of God makes me happy ; 
 and surely this happiness could not be increased by 
 the addition of some physical comforts for an already 
 weak and contemptible body; nor can its liberty 
 be compared with the liberty, the happiness of the 
 soul. 
 

 
 THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH. 95 
 
 “You know I have never desired the noble efforts 
 of the church of Christ for the sake of benefits con- 
 ferred upon myself. I have greatly rejoiced on 
 account of the advantage to that which concerns the 
 salvation of the world, the salvation of my poor 
 nation. In this sense, all that the church has done 
 or may do for me gives me great pleasure; her atti- 
 tude and her efforts have filled me with Christian 
 joy. 
 
 “The exertions of a Catholic nation in my favour 
 might be successful. I believe they would; but 1 
 repeat I could not rejoice in them. For me the Spirit 
 that animates you and the loved and loving brethren 
 has infinitely more importance and value than all the 
 political movements of France and the whole Catholic 
 world. . . . From the hour when I read "3 
 speech, I feared his want of energy, and that it would 
 only add strength to tyranny. In effect the neo- 
 Catholic press has adopted his arguments as its text, 
 and has made use of them to assure our condemna- 
 tion. If La Correspondencia is correct in the report 
 
 
 
 of the Duke of Tetuan’s answer, I perceive that this 
 
 answer is really identical with that given to Sir R. 
 Peel in the House of Commons. 
 
 “And now, without reference to this diplomatic 
 question, this wisdom of this world, what have been 
 the commands which Divine love has issued to the 
 church of Christ? To be unwearied in well doing, 
 ceaselessly to invoke the mercy of the Hternal upon 
 us, to hasten to our relief, and to display perfectly 
 the picture of its Christian love. Then let diplomacy 
 follow on its course, defending its own interests, and 
 
96 TRUE HONOUR. 
 
 let the church of God follow hers ; they will ever be 
 widely distant the one from the other. » Finally, no- 
 thing disturbs me nor violates my tranquillity. I 
 desire a happy termination of this matter, for there 
 are many destitute families concerned; but our 
 heavenly Father, who has seen the end from the 
 beginning, will bring it to the conclusion which He 
 sees fit. His holy and divine will be done, be it 
 what it may. 
 
 “The most hodirase le doen of my life is draw- 
 ing near. In a few more months my enemies will 
 have achieved their victory, and I shall enter upon 
 my convict life. I shall no longer possess the rights 
 of citizenship. The moment the sentence is pro- 
 nounced against me I shall be a criminal, and only: 
 a criminal, in the eyes of society. My rights will be 
 the rights of the parricide, of the thief, of the assassin. 
 There will be no difference there. There will be one 
 law, one regimen, one rule for us all. 
 
 ‘‘ Not only shall I be deprived of my clothes, my 
 hair cut off, and the happiness of seeing my beloved 
 and tender mother denied to me; but I shall be abso- 
 lutely prohibited from writing. Your letters, con- 
 soling, loving, edifying as they are, will not reach me 
 then. Of course it will be impossible for you ever to 
 hear from me. Then, dear friend, if those sad but 
 honourable hours are drawing so near, I entreat you 
 to make use quickly of the time that remains for my 
 consolation. I trust you will not delay in writing 
 to me. 
 
 ‘Your letters are very necessary to me, yet now 
 I can hardly hope to receive more than four more of 
 

 
 A VISIT FROM ONE OF THE AUTHORITIES. 97 
 
 them. Ali the trouble that I have caused you is now 
 nearly over. I know I have often unreasonably im- 
 posed upon your love, but I feel a real want of your 
 comforting letters, and I cannot resist the impulse to 
 tell you so. Pardon one who loves you heartily, and 
 feels that he encroaches on your kindness. 
 
 “A few days ago, on the 17th, one of the autho- 
 rities of Granada came to the prison at about ten A.M. 
 He asked directly for me, and was immediately con- 
 ducted to my room by the chief of this establishment. 
 I was in bed; feeling even now far from well. He 
 took his hat off immediately on entering, and, in spite 
 of my repeated requests, would not replace it. With 
 the most lively interest he inquired after my health, 
 and begged me to tell him if I wished for anything. 
 I thanked him, and said I wanted and want nothing. 
 On the table beside my bed lay two copies of the 
 Bible, the one Valera’s version, the second Scio’s. 
 The first attracted his attention, and he said. to 
 me':— 
 
 “¢ Have you the Bible there ?’ 
 
 “¢Yes, senor,’ I answered. 
 
 ** He took it up, and before he opened it he asked, 
 ‘Ts it English ?’ 
 
 «Tt was printed in London in 1853,’ I answered. 
 
 *¢¢ Do you read much in it?’ he asked. 
 
 “* Yes, sefior, at least twice every day; it is my 
 greatest comfort in this place of suffering.’ 
 
 **¢ To you profess yourself a Protestant ?’ 
 
 “¢Yes, sefior. I was interrogated by the tribu- 
 nals of Barcelona and Granada, and not choosing to 
 deny, I confessed the truth.’ 
 
 H 
 
98 THE OLD LADY AND 
 
 “‘ All these questions were asked with great polite- 
 ness, and then laying down the Bible, he turned to 
 another table where I had more books, and asked :— 
 
 “*¢ Are those tracts or religious books ?’ 
 
 ‘No, sir, excepting a copy of the Liturgy. The 
 rest are the History of the English Revolution and 
 some other books which have been lent to me, but 
 which I have not had time to read, and must return.’ 
 
 ‘He then examined with extreme, almost exag- 
 gerated attention, the likenesses which I have hung 
 up in my cell. He dwelt long upon yours, and asked 
 if you were English. I replied, ‘Yes,’ and he then 
 looked at that of my mother, and he told me her 
 name without my asking. 
 
 ‘When he had left me, with an insite to let 
 him know if I wanted anything, he desired to be 
 shown our exercise-ground, asked the hours at. which 
 we are allowed to see our friends, and finally inquired 
 into the position of our case, and gave orders for 
 what was to be done if General Alexander came, and 
 how he was to enter. He also went to the apart- 
 ments of Trigo and of Alhama; was exceedingly 
 polite with cian also, and asked many sasulaer 
 concerning their treatment in the prison. 
 
 “A few days ago, the following scene occurred 
 in the alcaide’s house, where I was spending the 
 evening:—An old lady, with less prudence. than 
 fanatical love to Popery, insisted on opening a dis- 
 cussion with me on matters of religion. As the 
 conversation advanced, the good Jady took advantage 
 
 of the privileges of her age and sex to insult rather 
 
 than to reason with me. When I was allowed to 
 
eo 
 oF 
 
 
 
 THE LITTLE CHILD. 99 
 
 speak I took occasion to show her that she was more 
 
 likely to wound my feelings, perhaps involuntarily, 
 than to convince my intelligence by such a mode of 
 proceeding. My little brother Enriqué was standing 
 by, and did not lose a word of the conversation. The 
 old lady, having somewhat moderated the tone of her 
 argument, we began to discuss the question of the 
 Hucharist, and after some general remarks the good 
 lady concluded by saying to me, ‘Do you see how 
 wisely the Inquisition acted in burning all heretics. 
 Your words are more evil and dangerous than fire. 
 Look at that little angel (pointing to Enriqué), he is 
 listening to every word, and at last will be a Protes- 
 tant like yourself.’ 
 
 “*¢T believe you,’ said Hnriqué. ‘I don’t mean 
 to go to hell with you and the Pope!’ This sally 
 of my little brother’s drew forth the laughter of 
 all the guests, and the renewed wrath of the old 
 lady. 
 
 “TI have just learned that to-morrow our case 
 passes into the hands of the royal fiscal, by his own 
 demand. There are two assistant fiscals, who do 
 nearly all the business ; but it appears that the royal 
 fiscal desires to take our case into his own hands. 
 We shall see. He is, I believe, the most liberal 
 member of the Audiencia; for the rest, nearly all 
 old men, belong to the old school, and are thoroughly 
 priest-ridden. The English ambassador has lately 
 asked for, and immediately received from the 
 fullest details respecting our case. | 
 
 “‘ Seftor Marin, of Malaga, has been very ill in 
 prison, and his daughter also. Both are now better, 
 
 
 
100 : LOVE FOR HIS MOTHER. 
 
 and the latter has been ordered change of air and 
 water for a few weeks, 
 
 “My mother is very well. Alhama “a his family 
 continue well. Trigo also is in good health. I am 
 as usual, but with good heart. All send you a thou- 
 sand kind regards. In answer to your exhortation 
 to stand firm, I must tell you that I purpose to be 
 stedfast to the end, be that what it may; you will 
 not see me shrink. I ask of the Lord the powerful 
 aid of the Holy Spirit, and I fear nothing for the 
 body while I am so happy in my mind. 
 
 ‘Onward, dear brother—onward and upward! I. 
 cannot tell you all I feel towards you. You have a — 
 high place in my heart. I pray that God may fill 
 you and yours with peace, grace, and the communion 
 of his Holy Spirit. 
 
 “Your loving brother in the Lord, 
 ‘“ManvEL Matamoros.” 
 
 His deep attachment to his mother is another 
 sweet trait in his character. She has indeed proved 
 a mother to him in this long night of sorrow, and 
 had it not been for her untiring care, he must long 
 ago have succumbed to his bodily sufferings. Per- 
 haps I may be wrong in speaking thus. Would it 
 not be wiser to say of him, as he would say himself, 
 “The Lord God is my strength, and He will make 
 my feet like hinds’ feet, and He will make me to walk 
 upon my high places.” His unflinching stedfast- 
 ness on hearing the royal fiscal’s demand against 
 him is manifested in his next sweet letter. Of him 
 it may be said— 
 

 
 
 
 ' CONDEMNED TO THE GALLEYS. 101 
 
 “Tf on my face for Thy dear name 
 Shame and reproaches be, 
 I'll hail reproach and welcome shame, 
 For Thou rememberest me.” 
 
 Matamoros wrote again on the 17th of March. 
 The following are extracts from his letter :— 
 
 “The results of the accusation and the demand of 
 the royal fiscal is, as you know, the sentence of eleven 
 years at the galleys, and other accessory punishments. 
 This ferocious outburst of intolerance has not sur- 
 prised me. After a year anda half of such and so 
 many vexations, after so many troubles and trials, 
 the three prisoners of Granada are to be condemned 
 to eleven years of penal servitude, for the sole offence 
 of their Christian faith. This is the maximum 
 punishment indicated by the penal code; and if the 
 accessory penalties are confirmed, it will be an in- 
 finitely severer sentence than the framers of the code 
 ever anticipated. 
 
 “The demand of the royal fiscal generally in- 
 dicates, with tolerable certamty, what will be the 
 sentence of the superior court. There may be trifling 
 variations—as increase or diminution of penalty, but 
 they are usually slight. In this suit, the belief of 
 the judges has been evidently influential. They have 
 thought the greater our martyrdom the greater their 
 merit. 
 
 “Four days before the fiscal’s accusation the 
 archbishops sent hastily for the secretary. They say 
 it was to ask the number of the accused. Possibly. 
 It is only too certain that on the following day the 
 case had taken an unfavourable turn. The accusa- 
 
102 “‘ PERSECUTED, BUT NOT FORSAKEN.” 
 
 tion was settled in consultation by the four fiscals, 
 lawyers of the ‘ Audiencia,’ every one of whom is a 
 
 bigoted Roman Catholic—nay, belongs to the party 
 
 who still defend the Spanish Inquisition. It seems 
 as if they sought to make my future as dark as 
 can be. No matter; I forgive them with my whole 
 heart, and I pray to God that my suffermgs may be 
 the means of one day making them remember and 
 repent, and that, in their repentance, they may seek 
 
 the truth of Christ, and faithfully follow it. eae 
 
 our God have pity upon them! 
 
 “A similar penalty has been demanded for AL 
 hama and Trigo, but I hardly think it possible that 
 it can be confirmed against the latter. For those 
 prisoners who have been at liberty on bail, a term of 
 eight years has been demanded. In fact, the whole 
 accusation breathes out slaughter, threatening, hatred, 
 vengeance. 
 
 “ Onward! onward! They demand the maximum 
 penalty against us. Is not this the maximum of our 
 honour? I will go forward, and will fulfil the word 
 that I gave to the judge at Barcelona, when he 
 desired me to withdraw my confession of Protes- 
 
 tantism. I repeat now what I said then: ‘I 
 
 have put my hand to the plough, and will not look 
 back.’ This is the road that my faith points out. 
 I will never waver. To me to live is Christ and to 
 die is gain. I will go forward and onward. The 
 disciple is intimately united with his Master. That 
 Divine Master sought his cross, and voluntarily shed 
 his blood for us; He died to give us life. Well, 
 then, if I desire to follow Him, shall I fear what 
 
 SS ee 
 

 
 THE AMBITION OF A SAINT, 103 
 
 Jesus did not fear? No! If I die in Christ, and for 
 Christ, I shall live eternally with Him. The will of 
 God be done in all things. 
 
 “Your assurance of the continued prayers of 
 many saints on behalf of the prisoners fills me with 
 happy joy. Give to all my hearty thanks, and the 
 assurance of my gratitude and love. My dear mother 
 consoles and sustains me in these trying circum- 
 stances by her courage and resignation.. Yesterday 
 some friends called, and expressed their sympathy on 
 the result of the fiscal’s address, and said, amongst 
 other things, that our enemies, in addition to the 
 penalty, sought to brand the Spanish Protestants 
 with the infamy of the galleys. Steadily my mother 
 answered, ‘They are deceived; my son ought to be 
 proud of it. I, his mother, shall glory in telling that 
 I have a son at the galleys for his Protestant faith ; 
 and if children should survive him, this remembrance 
 of their father will ennoble them.’ 
 
 ‘“‘The prisoners of Malaga have nddet a Slagle 
 page to the church’s history. Three days ago, they 
 declared before the tribunal that they were not Roman 
 Catholics, but Protestants by faith and conviction. 
 I believe some of them had answered ambiguously at. 
 their first interrogation, and could not rest without. 
 this fresh step to satisfy their consciences. May God, 
 enlighten them and me also! . 
 
 “T earnestly aspire to a fair and bela fed 
 for myself! My. will and.my soul are bent upon this 
 point; nothing disturbs. me or alters my tranquillity, 
 save the idea of involuntarily straying from my chosen 
 path—this terrifies and confounds me. ‘This path is 
 
104: A LIVING SACRIFICE. 
 
 not that which the world opens to me. So widely 
 apart are the two, that now, although I recognize 
 pious and eminently evangelical zeal and love in the 
 efforts which you and your friends are making for 
 my liberty; yet, I believe that J ought not to strive 
 for it. 
 
 ‘**T read in the Book of Life, that the Lord knew 
 that his hour had not yet come; that He knew when 
 it had come, and that He advanced as it were to 
 meet his fate, although it was one of anguish. It is 
 true that He withdrew from a place where He was 
 persecuted, but only because his time was not yet 
 come ; when that hour arrived, He—life of our life— 
 went to seek the scene of his martyrdom! 
 
 ‘‘T have given myself entirely to God, through 
 the most sweet name of Jesus. [I am his. He will 
 open the door of my prison, if He sees it meet for me 
 and for all. Or else, He has another lot in store for 
 me which I cannot imagine, the end of which, as far 
 as this earth is concerned, I shrink from contemplat- 
 ing. -But:my-end and aim is Jesus, and being so, 
 ought I to shrink from or refuse to bear sorrow or 
 persecution for his name’s sake? No; for He sought 
 out his sufferings for us. No; for the pathway te 
 heaven is the pathway of the cross. Well, then, I 
 know not if it is for the advancement of the cause of 
 my freedom, that my poor and humble but sincere 
 letters should be published. But I do know that 
 the publicity which has been given to the story of 
 the sufferings of Jesus has saved my soul; that the 
 publicity given to the.constancy and piety of Paul 
 has given me a bright example; and that the pub- 
 

 
 CHRIST’S WITNESSES. 105 
 
 licity given to the Book of Life has given me life, for 
 it has taught me to worship God through Jesus, in 
 spirit and in truth. Now, who can say whether the 
 publication of my sufferings for my fidelity may not 
 bring some soul to the gate of salvation? Might it 
 be so? Yes, then let that soul be saved, and let my 
 body perish in the hands of my tormentors. So 
 many saints have died, but their souls have been 
 witnesses of the truth before the world, and have 
 been saved by Jesus. For he who loses his life for 
 his sake, the same shall find it. 
 
 “This publicity has been for nineteen centuries 
 wounding to death the power of the evil one, witness- 
 ing against his impurity, destroying his kingdom, step 
 by step driving back his hosts. Light has sprung 
 up in the dark places, and in the region of error 
 enters eternal truth. 
 
 ‘¢ My letters are poor and weak, but as they are 
 the expression of the vehement and sincere desire of — 
 my heart, some who read them may be led to ask 
 the reason of my joy in tribulation, and he who can- 
 ‘not understand it by faith, may strive to fill the void 
 ‘that my words: will leave in his heart by the study of 
 the Book of Life, which is my strength and consola- 
 ‘tion, and this study may give health to the soul which 
 is sick with doubt or indifference. Perhaps, also, my 
 ‘weak but sincere words-may confirm in the way of 
 ‘life some one who is walking or. beginning to walk 
 feebly in its glorious path. My pen is very weak and 
 ignorant, but my desires and wishes are in no way 
 weak or feeble ; they are solidly written in my heart, 
 
 -and to carry them out, .I will go on unweariedly, 
 
106 -FAITH INVINCIBLE. 
 
 firmly, and steadily to the end, to the last moment of 
 my life. 
 
 “T must repeat and reiterate to-day what I have 
 said for a year and a half now; to-day, that the pas- 
 
 sions of my enemies appear like an overflowing river; 
 
 which is that, by God’s grace, I will go forward and 
 onward with yet greater joy and decision. Iam, 
 as ever, most earnestly fixed in my mind. Most 
 thoroughly resolved not to lose one moment or one 
 opportunity to show forth all my wishes, their 
 grounds, and the deeply-rooted sentiment that pro- 
 duces them, or to declare to my foes that they will 
 never succeed in conquering or in punishing me. 
 For earnest faith is uneonquerable, and against such 
 there is no law. 
 
 “‘ This is my soul’s necessity, or rather the natural 
 effect of my faith in God. He gives me life, joy, 
 peace, spiritual food for my soul’s health. But on 
 the other hand, I only look forward to increased 
 wrath on the part of my enemies: fury, that grieves 
 me on their account, but that is to me a sweet pledge 
 of my sure rejoicmg in Jesus. But once again. 
 When I shall have entered upon my term of punish- 
 ment, I cannot but look forward to my death, perhaps 
 very close at hand, for the flesh is weak ; but in this 
 I shall find my joy. The hand of the all-wise God, 
 the gentle hand of my gracious Father, will be in 
 this. If I am faithful unto death, He will give me 
 the crown of life; and being faithful, I must die 
 under my punishment, for this: will be for the ad- 
 vancement of the holy cause; welcome then, this 
 death! Thisis the future to which I aspire, as I told 
 
 a ee 
 
ea 
 
 ee eee ee eee re 
 
 
 
 LETTER FROM THE PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 107 
 
 you before. Therefore, I must not struggle for liberty. 
 The will of the Lord be done in allthings. And you, 
 his faithful children, act as seems fittest.” 
 
 At this time (March 1862) the prisoners at 
 Malaga addressed to Matamoros the following as- 
 surance of their faith having been strengthened by 
 his constancy :— 
 
 “ DEAR FRIEND, AND OUR LOVED BROTHER IN CurisT, 
 “We have received your Christian letter, and we 
 confess frankly that we were anxious for the moment 
 to arrive, because we are always delighted by your 
 correspondence, and because our souls receive by it 
 the efficacious consolation which keeps faith alive in 
 our hearts, and gives us the aid we require to suffer 
 patiently persecution and disgrace. We find much 
 to admire, dear brother, in your letters; much to 
 respect and follow. In them we perceive that pure 
 ideas animate you; what unwavering faith and what 
 holy love to the Lord Jesus, and that this love is 
 exalted in proportion to your sufferings for his name. 
 We see by your letter that you have not flinched to 
 confess. before the tribunal the creed you profess ; 
 that your principal wish is that the Protestant reli- 
 gion be propagated in our benighted country, by 
 spreading the light of truth, and making all know 
 the maxims contained in the Book of Life. All these 
 things we respect, and we cannot do less than render 
 our just tribute of admiration to the indefatigable 
 propagation of such holy truths. Up to the present 
 we have kept you informed of our declarations, acts, 
 etc., which have been given in our trial, and the 
 
108 LETTER FROM 
 
 faithful observations that concerning them we have 
 received from you have so deeply moved us, and 
 have caused such a deep sensation in our minds, that 
 having repented from the bottom of our hearts for 
 having wavered in confessing our faith, we have 
 resolved to go before the tribunal that is tryimg us, 
 and with all clearness to amplify our declaration ; 
 manifesting to them, that owing to certain untoward 
 
 circumstances foreign to our character we held silence 
 
 for a length of time, which now causes us remorse, 
 for we are Protestants to the bottom of our hearts, 
 
 and we have propagated and will propagate the — 
 
 maxims and. doctrines contained in the Holy Bible, 
 and imprisonment is not sufficient to quench our 
 ardent faith, nor shall it tear from our bosoms those 
 ideas which are our chiefest glory, and which we 
 pray to the Eternal may be diffused through the 
 length and breadth of Spain. Also we desire to 
 inform you that our one desire is that the truth be 
 propagated, and that all may receive the divine light 
 of the gospel, and may be made acquainted with the 
 true doctrines that Jesus taught upon earth. We 
 also desire to say that in this step we have not been 
 moved by any human interest, but simply from the 
 ‘conviction that the Reformed religion is the right 
 one; and believing, as we do, that all the creeds 
 which differ from it are either false or adulterated, 
 -we abandon‘the maxims that the Church of Rome 
 teaches, and-will only follow those contained in God’s 
 Word, where we hear the voice of God only speaking, 
 -and the holy apostles who accompanied Him during 
 ‘his ministry. -This.is our act of faith, and this is 
 
Minerecs 
 E aes 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 THE PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 109 
 
 what probably we shall have put into execution 
 before the competent authority, when you have re- 
 ceived this letter. 
 
 “We confess, beloved Manuel, that we have not 
 been given the same energy and decision as you in 
 confessing Jesus. We confess that we have been 
 lukewarm in publishing what we believe. But we 
 trust that you will pardon us in this delicate matter, 
 and we hope that you will perceive that it was only 
 circumstances which caused us to conceal for a time 
 our faith. We feel we have erred ; but now be assured 
 that we are disposed, come what’ may, to repair our 
 mistake, and we believe that God in his infinite mercy, 
 so loving, so benign, will pardon us this fault. We 
 are led to think this by the many proofs of the Divine 
 clemency we have given us; the Magdalen, that sin- 
 ful woman, a model of corruption and vice, who had 
 never thought about the salvation of her soul, and 
 had during her lfetime ete art ah of carnal de- 
 LOS 0 one ee 
 
 The last letter from the Malaga prisoners shows 
 the important place which Matamoros’ faithfulness 
 held in determining them to follow his example. 
 One of them, Sefior Marin, of Malaga, is a sculptor 
 of great merit, and, from his long confinement in a 
 damp cell, he has nearly completely lost his eye- 
 sight. He, from his deep devotion to Christ, has 
 received the cognomen of the Spanish Andrew Dunn. 
 On March 14th, the case of the Spanish persecutions 
 was brought before the British House of Commons, 
 on which occasion Mr. Kinnaird spoke at great 
 
V0: MR. KINNAIRD’S SPEECH 
 
 length, and also Lord Palmerston, but no results fol- 
 lowed. We give their speeches below :— 
 
 THE PERSECUTIONS IN SPAIN. 
 
 “Mr, Kinnarrp said it would be recollected that, 
 during the last session, the Right Hon. Baronet the 
 Chief Secretary for Ireland on more than one occa- 
 sion brought under the notice of the House the case 
 of the persecution of certain people in Spain, solely 
 on account of their religious opinions. The Right 
 Hon. Baronet stated the case with great ability, and 
 
 he had no doubt that, although he had since accepted — 
 
 office, the Right Hon. gentleman still remained true 
 to his principles. The Spanish persecutions com- 
 menced in 1859. In that year a naturalized British 
 subject (Escalante) was seized, and imprisoned in a 
 loathsome dungeon, for merely circulating the Scrip- 
 tures. He was sentenced to nine years’ penal servi- 
 tude in the galleys, but owing to the intercession of 
 our consul. he obtained a remission of the. sentence. 
 The opinions for which he was persecuted had since 
 spread in Spain, as they had spread in Italy, in 
 France, and in other Roman Catholic countries. The 
 Roman Catholic priesthood became alarmed, tracked 
 the readers of the Bible through the agency of police 
 spies, and subjected them to cruel persecution. The 
 names of Matamoros and Alhama were already as 
 familiar to the people of this country as those of the 
 Madiai were ten years ago. Since his Right Hon, 
 friend brought the subject before the House, those 
 
 two unhappy men had, on the 6th of January of the 
 
 present year, been sentenced to seven years of the 
 

 
 ON THE PERSECUTIONS IN SPAIN. 111 
 
 galleys, while to a third victim (Trigo) had been 
 awarded four years of a similar servitude. An at- 
 tempt had been made to connect these men with 
 certain political disturbances which had occurred in 
 the district, but they had been twice honourably ac- 
 quitted of the charge by the tribunal before which 
 they were carried for trial. They had been con- 
 demned to the galleys for no other offence than pro- 
 fessing those religious views which were held by the 
 bulk of our countrymen. An appeal had been raised 
 from that iniquitous sentence, and he wished to im- 
 press on our Government the duty of an indignant 
 and energetic remonstrance against its confirmation. 
 To be sent to the galleys was not only to be stripped 
 of every right of citizenship, but to be doomed to the 
 companionship of murderers and felons, to wear a 
 galling chain for years, to be denied letters or visits 
 even from one’s nearest relatives. Already Mata- 
 moros’ strength was breaking down under his cap- 
 tivity. Originally an officer in the army, he had 
 been compelled to throw up his commission on 
 account of the faith which he held, and was subse- 
 quently, in October, 1860, thrown into prison for the 
 same reason. But these three men did not.stand 
 alone. The number of victims to persecution had 
 been constantly growing, though he was happy to 
 hear that there were not so many in prison just now 
 as formerly. Within a few weeks or months, thirty 
 persons were arrested and imprisoned in Granada, 
 Malaga, and Seville alone. Many others fled for 
 refuge to Gibraltar and elsewhere. At one time as 
 many as. fifty persons in Malaga were left destitute 
 
112 MR. KINNAIRD’S SPEECH, - 
 
 through the disappearance of heads of families. In 
 one case, a sculptor with his wife and eldest son 
 were arrested in the dead of night, and cast into a 
 dungeon, leaving five helpless children totally un- 
 provided for. In another instance, the head of one 
 of the best public schools in Seville was apprehended. 
 It was well known that at Granada the vilest crimi- 
 nals received better treatment in prison than the 
 Christians who were convicted of reading the Bible. 
 By the latest accounts five were still in prison at 
 Malaga, and three at Granada. The others had been 
 released, and some, if not all, had become refugees. 
 It might be said that this was a matter which con- 
 cerned the Spaniards alone, and with which we had 
 no right to interfere. Others thought that inter- 
 ference was unadvisable, because 1t would prove of no 
 avail. Knowing, as he did, what an impression the 
 debates in the House last year had produced in Spain, 
 he was confident that great good would result from a 
 decided expression of opinion on the present occasion, 
 and from cordial intercession on the part of the 
 Government. One of the prisoners wrote, with re- 
 ference to one of the discussions of last session, ‘I 
 
 have not yet read the speech of Sir Robert Peel, but — 
 
 I have heard it notably praised. An extract from 
 
 Lord John Russell’s reply has been translated, but 
 
 only by the reactionary and anti-liberal section of the 
 Spanish press. These periodicals have also published 
 long leading articles commenting on the words of the 
 minister, which, unfortunately, appear to be favour- 
 able to the neo-Catholic party (of course that was 
 only the distorted interpretation which that party 
 
 ee ee ee ee ee 
 
 
 

 
 MR. KINNAIRD’S SPEECH. 118 
 
 sought to put on the speech of the noble lord), and 
 
 double anathemas and menaces have fallen upon us. 
 The speech has been a fertile subject with our foes. 
 I do not know what the spirit of it as a whcle may 
 have been, but I venture to believe that it was not 
 that which the enemies of the gospel and the friends 
 of slavery of conscience would represent it. Be that 
 as it may, the clergy have taken fresh life from it, 
 for something; and not a little was expected from 
 England. We, and with us all Spanish Protestants, 
 looked to you, after God, for everything. 
 
 Spain has advanced towards religious liberty more 
 rapidly than in many past years. The attitude of 
 England has done much. Our brethren have taken 
 courage. ‘I'he liberal press, in its narrow circle, has 
 done what it could. Nay, in the Spanish Chambers 
 the other day notice was given of an intended imter- 
 pellation to the Government respecting us.’ The 
 writer says elsewhere that ‘all Spaniards. look to 
 England in this crisis, and from England only can we 
 expect any help.’ That illustrated the moral effect of 
 the discussions in the British Parliament. He would 
 not recapitulate all the precedents quoted last session 
 by his right hon. friend as to the right of this coun- 
 try to interfere in the matter. He would only remind 
 the House of the words of the eminent authority, 
 Vattel, on this question. ‘When a religion is perse- 
 cuted, the foreign nations who profess it may intercede 
 for their brethren; but this is all they can lawfully do, 
 unless the persecution be carried to an intolerable ex- 
 cess. ‘Then, indeed, it becomes a case of manifest 
 tyranny, in which all nations are permitted to succour 
 
 } 
 
114 MR. KINNAIRD’S SPEECH. 
 
 an unhappy people. A regard to their own safety 
 may also authorize them to undertake the defence of 
 the persecuted.’ An hon. friend of his, the member 
 for Galway, the other evening made an earnest 
 appeal to the sympathies of the House in behalf of 
 
 the Southerners who were in armed secession from — 
 
 the United States of America, and who demanded 
 liberty to keep 4,000,000 of people in perpetual 
 bondage; might not he far more confidently ask 
 their sympathies for those who only exercised the 
 right to profess what they conscientiously believed, 
 and sought not to be treated as felons for holding 
 the faith professed by the majority of the members 
 of that House? Nor were they without encourage- 
 ment from the results of the intercession made in 
 behalf of their persecuted brethren in former instances. 
 He had had the honour of bringing before the House 
 the case of the Madiai, and their release speedily 
 followed. Little did he think when he brought that 
 case before the House how soon the Grand Ducal 
 Government which persecuted them would be swept 
 away. ‘The tendency of these persecutions was to 
 alienate the people from their Governments, and they 
 were never forgotten when the day of reckoning 
 came. The House would recollect the benefits which 
 followed the withdrawal of our diplomatic representa- 
 tive from the Neapolitan Court, and the publication 
 of that remarkable pamphlet of the Chancellor of the 
 Hxchequer with reference to Poerio and his fellow- 
 sufferers. Where now was that persecuting Govern- 
 ment? Here was a great moral lesson which should 
 not be lost on such Governments—an advantage 
 
 
 
 a a ee. onl tear ae aap eee ore ee ee 
 
 
 

 
 ele, a 
 —: 
 1 
 
 + 
 
 MR. KINNAIRD’S SPEECH. 115 
 
 gained in a peaceable way by bringing public opinion 
 to bear upon them. And was the idea of religions 
 liberty in Spain perfectly hopeless? Within the last 
 ten years the question of right of worship had been 
 discussed in the Cortez, and was only lost by one 
 vote. The press, moreover, was not completely sub- 
 servient to the Romish priesthood. Another fact of 
 great importance was that, since his right hon. friend 
 had brought forward this subject, we did not stand 
 alone in our remonstrances with the Spanish Govern- 
 ment. Greatly to the credit of the Emperor of the 
 French, M. Thouvenel had written a very admirable 
 despatch, instructing his minister at Madrid strongly 
 to remonstrate with the Spanish Government on the 
 subject of these unhappy persecutions ; and when he 
 remembered the position of France in relation to the 
 Pope’s continued possession of Rome, the fact was all 
 the more significant. Prussia, Russia, and Sweden 
 had also remonstrated, and were endeavouring to 
 persuade Marshal O’ Donnell of the impolicy as well as 
 injustice of persisting in these iniquitous sentences. 
 The hon. member for Launceston (Mr. Haliburton), 
 with that power of sarcasm for which he was so re- 
 markable, referred the other evening to what Juarez 
 might have said to the Spanish General who had 
 command of the expedition to Mexico. It certainly 
 was somewhat remarkable that Spain, who had often 
 repudiated her public engagements, kept notoriously 
 bad faith with us in her treaties in regard to the 
 slave-trade, and was now disgracing herself by these 
 persecutions, should go to Mexico in order to compel 
 her to pay her debts. He did trust that Marshal 
 
116 MR. KINNAIRD’S SPEECH: 
 
 O’Donnell, who had great experience in public life, 
 would see the inexpediency of continuing these per- 
 secutions. What was immediately wanted was the 
 pardon of these persons. Private efforts had been 
 unable to obtain this. He therefore asked again for 
 the remonstrance of our Government, and he hoped 
 ultimately to see a change in those laws under which 
 these persecutions had taken place, which were a 
 
 disgrace to a civilized nation, making it impossible to — 
 
 know if any man was honest in his religious pro- 
 fession ; for while one man would undergo imprison- 
 ment and the galleys rather than deny his faith, 500 
 others might think him right without daring to face 
 the danger of avowing their convictions. He begged 
 to ask the noble lord, the First Lord of the Treasury, 
 in reference to what took place last session on the 
 subject of the persecution in Spain and the efforts 
 which were understood to be about to be made by 
 Her Majesty’s Secretary of. State for Foreign Affairs 
 in order to obtain remission of punishment for 
 Matamoros and others, who were undergoing im- 
 prisonment and are now under sentence of the 
 galleys, on the charge of maintaining certain religious 
 opinions and practices contrary to the religion of the 
 State, whether he had any objection to state to the 
 House if any and what steps had been taken in 
 reference to this matter ; and whether Her Majesty’s 
 
 Minister at Madrid had been able to obtain any ~ 
 
 satisfactory assurance that a favourable consider- 
 ation would be given to his representations on the 
 subject. 
 
 ‘‘ Viscount Palmerston.—Sir, I quite admit that my 
 
 
 

 
 LORD PALMERSTON’S SPEECH. 117 
 
 hon. friend has performed a duty which nobody can 
 complain of in bringing this matter under the con- 
 sideration and attention of the House. And there 
 can be no doubt the expression of opinion in the 
 British House of Commons must have great weight 
 with those in any country in Europe to whose conduct 
 those observations apply. I am sorry to say that I 
 cannot, however, make any report to my hon. friend 
 and the House as to any satisfactory result, which 
 has yet followed any attempts or exertions of Her 
 Majesty’s Government to obtain the pardon and 
 release of the persons to whom the observations of 
 my honourable friend apply. The difficulties, as he 
 must be aware, are very great. The Spanish nation 
 is a nation full of valiant, noble, chivalrous feelings 
 and sentiments; but unfortunately in Spain, the 
 Catholic priesthood exercise a sway greater than that 
 they possess in any other country; and, however 
 liberal—I believe I may say so—the Catholic laity in 
 most countries are, history tells us that wherever the 
 priesthood gets the predominance, the utmost amount 
 of intolerance as invariably prevails. And although 
 in countries where they form a minority they are 
 constantly demanding, not only toleration, but equa- 
 lity, in countries where they are predominant neither 
 equality nor toleration exists. Well, sir, the case in 
 this instance bears upon law. It does not depend 
 upon the will and action of the Government. There 
 are ancient laws of the most intolerant and perse- 
 euting kind which have been called into action by the 
 ministers of the Christian religion, and that action 
 has been the condemnation of these unhappy men to 
 
118 LORD PALMERSTON’S SPEECH. 
 
 punishment, which must, in its nature, be revolting 
 to the minds of liberal persons. Hfforts have been 
 made to obtain from the Ministers of the Crown of | 
 Spain the exercise of their advice to the Sovereign to 
 show ‘that mercy which belongs to the sovereign of © 
 every country. Those efforts have not yet been 
 successful. Mixed with the admirable qualities which 
 distinguish the Spanish people, there is one quality 
 not undeserving of respect, viz., a feeling of jealousy 
 of foreign interference in their internal affairs. It is 
 a quality which is connected with one of the highest 
 national virtues ; and, therefore, it 1s obvious that, in 
 any endeavour to obtain the reversal, mitigation, or 
 cessation of punishment, great delicacy must be 
 shown, and great care taken, lest in endeavouring to 
 do good we should, on the contrary, perpetuate evil. 
 I can only assure my hon. friend that no effort will 
 be omitted by Her Majesty’s Government which they 
 think will be conducive to the attainment of the 
 object which he has in view.”’ 
 
 May England not allow the blood of this martyr 
 to be at her door. God forbid that it ever may be 
 written of us that we, through our lukewarmness, 
 have seemed to say, “‘ His blood be on ws and on our 
 children.” It is not yet too late to alter our hitherto 
 timid and humiliating policy; and, no doubt, if a 
 decided course of action were pursued an end would 
 be put to this detestable priestcraft and cruelty. “I 
 was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and 
 ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited 
 me not.” Our position has been sustained and our 
 country blessed before now by our helping the op- 
 
 
 
 
 
— 
 
 
 
 THE PATRIOT NEWSPAPER. 119 
 
 pressed, and now we have another opportunity offered 
 us which, as yet, has not been taken. 
 
 The public press was not silent during this ini- 
 quitous persecution ; the Patriot of Feb. 27, 1862, took 
 it up warmly, and its brilliant article we give below :— 
 
 “THE LOOK OUT. 
 
 “Let the names of Manuel Matamoros and of J. 
 Alhama become household words in every Christian 
 family in these islands. ‘Remember them that are 
 in bonds as bound with them.’ The Spanish Govern- 
 ment, in accordance with Article 128 of the Penal 
 Code, has condemned these noble confessors of the 
 gospel to seven years of the galleys, and to perpetual 
 civil disability, with costs. Spain, which is advancing 
 rapidly in wealth, education, political influence, and 
 military power, remains medieval, tyrannical, exclu- 
 sive, spiteful, intoleraut in her views of religion. It 
 is sometimes supposed that all national development 
 is co-ordinate, and that advance in every line of pro- 
 gress is equal and parallel. _But experience proves 
 that this is far from being the truth. A people may 
 make progress in military power without advanciny 
 in arts or virtues; a nation may develop to a mar- 
 vellous degree the resources of a fertile country, while 
 remaining as to the higher departments of thought 
 and feeling in a state of barbarism. The diffusion of 
 secular knowledge has in itself little effect upon 
 superstition. Why should a nation abandon ancient 
 
 superstitions as the result of instruction in science 
 
 when it is seen that an individual great man, who 
 has mastered the whole circle of modern knowledge, 
 
120 THE PATRIOT NEWSPAPER. 
 
 remains a bigoted Catholic? Besides, Spain acts 
 
 in this business, so she imagines, on principle and _ 
 
 on experience. In Spain, if anywhere, it has been 
 proved, so she alleges, that thorough persecution is, 
 on the whole, effectual in the suppression of ‘ heresy,’ 
 at least for the time present; and the government 
 appreciates the advantages of unity in the affairs 
 of ‘religion.’ There is not much ground for asto- 
 nishment, therefore, at the issue of the trial of 
 the Spanish Bible-readers. If you add together the 
 probabilities arising from Spanish experiences in his- 
 tory ; from the wrath of priestcraft assailed in one of 
 its last strongholds; from the demands of a popular 
 superstition friendly to the vices of a self-indulgent 
 nation ; from the cold-blooded cruelty of a modern 
 bureaucratic and centralized government aiming at 
 ‘order’ and quietness, you arrive at a sum total of 
 likeihoods which convert into a philosophical cer- 
 tainty and a State necessity the result which has been 
 realized. 
 
 “* But MM. Matamoros and Alhama will not suffer 
 in vain. They are accompanied to the galleys by a 
 Power who will cause their detention and slavery to 
 turn out ‘rather to the furtherance of the gospel.’ 
 
 The widely-diffused zeal on behalf of religious liberty _ 
 
 which is a characteristic of our times, has somewhat 
 tempted men to a forgetfulness of the fact that the 
 sufferings of Christian teachers have as important a 
 part to bear in the extension of Christianity as the 
 openings for unhindered works liberally afforded by 
 political wisdom and justice. There never was a time, 
 perhaps, when there was more danger than at present 
 
 
 
THE PATRIOT NEWSPAPER. Tat 
 
 of the missionaries of the gospel permitting them- 
 selves to suppose that the prospects even of imprison- 
 ment and death are decisive reasons for abandoning 
 particular evangelic enterprises. There never was a . 
 time when the self-devoting heroism of a few martyrs 
 would produce deeper and wider effects upon the 
 kingdom of darkness than now. We are all too prone 
 to make our own safety and comfort the first condition 
 of Christian soldiership. The extreme antagonism 
 existing between true Christianity and ‘all that is in 
 the world,’ should prepare us for the frequent practical 
 expression of the deep spiritual opposition to God 
 harboured in the bosom of mankind. ‘ Political and 
 religious liberty all over the world’ will never oblite- 
 rate the strife between truth and falsehood, good and 
 evil, God and the Devil. ‘They that are born after 
 the flesh’ will persecute, as far as they are able, ‘them 
 that are born after the spirit.’ There are many who 
 wish to ‘live godly’ in Christ Jesus, but who, ina 
 sense far different from that of St. Paul, will not 
 ‘suffer persecution.” They will not hear of a man’s 
 undergoing wrong for his ‘religious opinions.’ Now, 
 such extravagance proceeds from a miscalculation of 
 forces. Liberty is a good thing, to be much sought 
 after, and to be struggled for by Christian politicians. 
 Meantime, suffering also is a good thing, and ex- 
 ercises a material influence upon the diffusion of 
 spiritual religion. Towards the close of his ministry 
 Paul spent nearly five years of his life, continuously 
 in a state of bondage; yet, in the Roman letter, 
 written during the latter portion of this detention, he 
 always speaks of his ‘bonds’ as effectual preachers of 
 
 
 
122 THE PATRIOT NEWSPAPER. 
 
 truth. Chained by the hand, like a dangerous wild 
 beast, to a Roman legionary, he ever speaks of his 
 manacles as of equal value with miracles in the de- 
 - fence and propagation of the Gospel. 
 
 “How is this? It is because the spectacle of a 
 cultivated man suffering severe affliction for con- 
 science’ sake, affliction which he might wholly escape 
 _ by ungodly abandonment of his principles, always 
 makes a deep impression on thoughtful observers. 
 When men bring themselves ‘much gain by sooth- 
 saying,’ or by any form of religion, it throws a doubt 
 upon their absolute sincerity. The obvious gain in 
 money, in station, in authority, in reputation, is con- 
 sidered to offer a sufficient rationale and exposition of 
 the ruling motive. Doth Jobserve God for nought ? 
 is Satan’s taunt at the prosperous believer, re-echoed 
 by the world, which is always sceptical of fine excel- 
 lence. But, when a man brings himself into trouble, 
 or hard labour, or irksome toil, or straitened circum- 
 stances, by following his conscience ; when he sacri- 
 fices bright worldly prospects for a spiritual and 
 eternal end, it draws attention to the faith, and per- 
 suades men that there is something in it. Some 
 
 people, indeed, talk as if the world were more likely 
 
 to be wrought upon religiously, the more influential 
 and prosperous, in a worldly point of view, are its 
 advocates and patrons. It is conceived that the 
 “upper classes’ particularly are more likely to be 
 converted to goodness by a right reverend father 
 in God enthroned in the House of Lords, and having 
 five or ten thousand a-year at his disposal. But, in 
 truth, this is a mistake. A duke or a marquis is 
 
 Oe Ee re 
 
 Aas 
 

 
 THE PATRIOT NEWSPAPER. ¥2e 
 
 just like any other man in the constitution of his 
 mind, and is more likely to be persuaded by the epec- 
 tacle of self-denial, of disinterestedness, of suffering 
 borne for the sake of conscience, than by all the 
 gorgeous trappings of a secularized hierarchy. 
 
 “ Thus it is that suffering for the truth proves. so 
 powerful an auxiliary in its diffusion. It furnishes 
 the evidence of a real faith and patience. Men are 
 at ease in their sins when they see only a ‘ godliness’ 
 which is ‘ gain.” But when they see a man burning 
 to ashes for a principle, or going to the galleys for an 
 idea of God, it gives them the impression that reli- 
 gion 1s a reality; and to make it seem real is half 
 way towards making it be believed. Suffering for 
 the faith also exhibits God’s supporting grace in sor- 
 row. Matamoros says in his recent letter to the 
 churches in Paris, ‘ This sentence causes me ineffable 
 joy.’ It represents the comforting action of the 
 Divine Spirit in the midst of a world doubtful of all 
 supernatural agencies. It kindles the enthusiasm of 
 sympathizers, and makes them much more bold to 
 speak the word of God without fear. Nothing is 
 more inspirmg than a martyrdom. The sparks of 
 the burning fly and fall in every direction, and raise 
 fresh ‘fires’ on earth, such as God delights in—fires 
 in which truth shall consume error. Suffering 
 quickens the ingenuity of Christians, and leads them 
 to devise fresh methods for assailing the fortresses of 
 superstition. It exposes to public gaze the hateful 
 qualities of the opposition. It exhibits the essential 
 weakness of systems which can support themselves 
 -only by force, not by argument. It brings to light 
 
124, THE PATRIOT NEWSPAPER. 
 
 the tyranny and cruelty of priests, who will leap 
 through every restraint of right and honour in order 
 to maintain their power. Frequently persecution has 
 widely diffused the gospel by dispersing its con- 
 fessors, who go ‘everywhere preaching the word,’ 
 just as Palestine was filled with the fugitives from 
 the persecution at Jerusalem, and American freedom 
 was founded by the exiles of Hngland. And, lastly, 
 oftentimes the imprisonment of noted Christians has 
 turned their thoughts inwards, since all outward — 
 activity was forbidden, and enabled them to mature 
 in solitude thoughts and works which have operated 
 to the production of evangelical religion long after 
 their imprisonment was ended. It was thus that 
 Patmos, under a divine inspiration, produced the 
 Apocalypse. It was thus that the Restoration, 
 with its Act of Uniformity, and its Conventicle Act, 
 and its Five-mile Act, produced Baxter’s ‘ Christian 
 _ Directory,’ and Howe’s ‘ Blessedness of the Righteous,’ 
 and ‘ Delighting in God,’ and ‘The Vanity of Man 
 as Mortal,’ and Alleine’s ‘Alarm to the Uncon- 
 verted,’ and Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress,’ and 
 Milton’s ‘ Paradise Lost,’ and many other spiritual 
 legacies of that age of sorrow. And thus our 
 beloved brethren in Spain shall not suffer so 
 many things in vain. We shall pray for them in 
 every public act of worship; we shall ask that the 
 solicitations of England, and Prussia, and Russia 
 shall not be ineffectual in bending the pride of the 
 Spanish Government; we shall beg that the warm 
 intercessions of the Evangelical Alliance, so ably pre- 
 sented to the Prime Minister O’Donnell, by General 
 

 
 GENERAL ALEXANDER. 125 
 
 Alexander, may not fail of success. But, even if the 
 Spanish hierarchy persist in enforcing the terrible and 
 cruel sentence of the galleys, we shall still confi- 
 dently expect that one Matamoros will, though in 
 his bonds, chase ten thousand opponents, and one 
 single Alhama, in chains and convict dress, prove 
 stronger for the shaking of the Popedom than all 
 this petty persecution can prove for the extinction of 
 the gospel. oe Ne 
 
 Though the mission of General Alexander has not 
 given as yet any results, the fault has not been his. 
 Few in our country have shown more unceasing sym- 
 pathy and perseverance in the case of Matamoros 
 than General Alexander, and the record of his mission, 
 which is also from the Patriot newspaper; we here 
 insert :— . 
 
 “SPAIN. 
 “THE PRISONERS FOR THE GOSPEL. 
 
 “The following statement of the result of General 
 Alexander’s visit to Spain has been forwarded to us 
 by the Evangelical Alliance :— : 
 
 “¢* Major-General Alexander, who, at the request 
 of the British Committee of the Evangelical Alliance, 
 and as the representative of the Conference of Chris- 
 tians of All Nations, held a few months since at 
 Geneva, visited Madrid, to endeavour to obtain the 
 liberation of the Spaniards imprisoned for reading 
 the Bible, has just returned from his mission. 
 
 “¢ ¢ The object of the mission was not to excite pub- 
 lic agitation, or to adopt any course which might wear 
 
Dee 
 
 i 
 
 126 GHNERAL ALEXANDER’S 
 
 the appearance of foreign interference with the laws 
 of Spain—a point on which the people of that country 
 
 are proverbially sensitive—but simply to seek for an ~ 
 
 act of royal clemency towards the prisoners, espe- 
 cially towards Matamoros, Alhama, and Trigo, who 
 haye, solely on the ground of their religion, been 
 condemned to the galleys, the first two for seven years, 
 and the third for four years. 
 
 “Through the kindness of several distinguished 
 persons in this and other countries, the cordial, 
 _ though unofficial, services of the ambassadors of 
 England, France, and Russia, were enlisted in this 
 work of mercy. The Prussian ambassador, though 
 a Roman Catholic, had already made representations to 
 the Spanish Government. Other valuable aid, Spanish 
 and foreign, was also obtained. At the request of 
 Sir John Crampton, Captain-General O’Donnell 
 favoured General Alexander with an interview, at 
 which he entered fully into the subject of the Gene- 
 ral’s mission. 
 
 “At that interview the General frankly stated 
 the circumstances under which he was deputed to lay 
 before his Excellency the expression of the principles 
 and sentiments of his co-religionists, not in England 
 only, but in France, Germany, Sweden, Holland, 
 Switzerland, and other countries; that, although the 
 arrangements for his mission had been made by a 
 particular Society, the cause was common to all 
 Protestants. 
 
 “General Alexander then presented to Captain- 
 General O’Donnell a written statement of the object 
 of his mission, and of the pleas adduced to obtain 
 
ae ee 
 wh + a 
 : * AK 
 
 VISIT TO SPAIN. a 474 
 
 from the clemency of Her Majesty the Queen of Spain 
 the pardon of men who stand acquitted of all poli- 
 
 _ tical and criminal offences, but who are condemned to 
 the galleys for taking the Sacred Scriptures as their 
 rule of faith, and acting according to their conscien- 
 tious convictions. 
 
 *** The Prime Minister was most courteous in his 
 reception of General Alexander. He received very 
 cordially the statement above referred to, together 
 with a translation of a Minute on the subject of the 
 Spanish prisoners, adopted by the Geneva Conference 
 in 1861, and of lists of the nationalities represented 
 at that Conference, and of many persons of note in 
 Europe known to be interested in the fate of men 
 now suffering for conscience’ sake in prison, and over 
 whom impends the dread sentence of labour in the 
 galleys. 
 
 “ «The Duke of Tetuan, while stating the obstacles 
 to General Alexander’s object, expressed his satisfac- 
 tion with the manner in which it had been sought to 
 promote it, and promised to submit the papers pre- 
 sented to him to his colleagues in office. He made 
 some remarks upon Spain being less intolerant than 
 was generally supposed, but said that though she 
 would allow nothing like dictation or foreign inter- 
 ference, still her Government was considerate of moral 
 influences and of fair representations that came pro- 
 perly before them. He observed that, though he 
 could hold out no hope of an immediate favourable 
 result, yet, if the object was to be gained, the course 
 adopted was the best that could have been pursued 
 for the purpose. In the course of his remarks, the 
 
 
 
128 DANIEL IN THE LIONS’ DEN. 
 
 Captain-General alluded in a gratifying manner to his 
 own Irish origin, and spoke in very complimentary 
 
 terms of the army to which the General belongs, and — 
 
 of the Sovereign whom it is his honour to serve. 
 
 “<The final result of this interview will be anxi- 
 ously waited for by Protestants throughout Hurope 
 and America.’ ”’ } 
 
 If we contrast the conduct of our rulers in this 
 matter with that of Darius the Persian monarch, 
 when Daniel was in the lions’ den, we cannot but 
 see the deepest sympathy and energy evinced in 
 the actions of the latter, whilst supimeness and 
 apathy are the characteristics of the former. We 
 cannot but admire the conduct of Darius when we 
 read the words, “The king was sore displeased with 
 himself, and set his heart wpon Daniel to deliver him, 
 and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver 
 him.” Again, “ The king went to his palace and passed 
 the might fasting, neither were instruments of music 
 brought before him, and his sleep went from him. Then 
 the king arose very early im the morning, and went im 
 haste unto the den of lions.” The remainder of the 
 story is well known. The deep sympathy of the 
 Persian monarch elicits from us sentiments of grateful 
 admiration for his untiring care and love to Daniel, 
 and hitherto we have sought in vain for a correspond- 
 ing line of action from those in power in our Govern- 
 
 ment. If they will hear, and, before too late, use 
 
 their influence, we doubt not but that good results 
 will be obtained; but, if not, we use to them Mor- 
 decai’s words, “‘ If thou altogether holdest thy peace at 
 this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance 
 
 eis a ab ie 
 a ae a 
 
 \ 
 ee ee ee ee ee 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 Een, from dhothor nee bats Mon oe ae 
 rs house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth 
 
 pepe 6% 
 
 thow art come to the Iingdom for such a time 
 
 
 
 
 
130 DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT MALAGA. . 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE DEFENCE OF THE PRISONERS AT 
 MALAGA. . 
 
 THE conduct and activity of the Roman Catholic 
 
 advocates chosen to defend the cause of the Malaga 
 prisoners, appears bold when compared with that of 
 our Protestant rulers. In order that our countrymen 
 may judge between the two, we give some extracts 
 from the defence made in Malaga by the learned jurist 
 Don Bernabé Davila y Bertoli, in the month of August, 
 1862. 
 DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 
 
 “'D. Roqué Meaito and D. Francisco Mariano Lopez, 
 —in the names of D. José Gonzalez Mejias and D. 
 Antonio Carrasco Palomo, prisoners in the public 
 prison of this city for the supposed crime of attempt- 
 ing to abolish or change the Roman Catholic and 
 Apostolic religion in Spain—appeal against the accu- 
 sation of the fiscal, in which he demands for our 
 clients the penalty of nine years of penal servitude 
 with accessories, and a payment of a part of the costs 
 of the case. : ; : : : : : 
 
 “It is an eternal principle that a man cannot be 
 forced to believe anything which his reason rejects or 
 his will repels ; and the Catholic religion—this religion 
 
 “ 
 A 
 : 
 q 
 r 
 a 
 j 
 i 
 ‘ 
 4 
 q 
 q 
 i 
 
 
 

 
 DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 131 
 
 of pure love, which has been founded by Jesus Christ 
 in the external form of the Christian church, which 
 has amongst all social institutions borne the precious 
 fruit of salvation on the earth, and to which Europe 
 owes that pure humanity which les at the root of its 
 civilization—the example and the teacher of all other 
 civilizations, which has awakened, by means of the 
 instructions of its Divine Founder, the sentiment 
 of human dignity in every man, under every sky, 
 and in every social state; which has kindled the hea- 
 venly flame of love amongst men; which has drawn 
 closer the bonds of universal brotherhood, and has 
 been the best stimulant to the development of all 
 the physical and moral forces with which human 
 nature is gifted—this religion, we say, cannot be 
 forced upon any one by material force or moral 
 violence, for the eternal designs of God have made 
 it in harmony with the nature of the free and rational 
 man. If there have been limitations and imperfec- 
 tions in the history of our country which have au- 
 thorized prosecutions and punishments for religious 
 opinions—if fanaticism and dogmatism once found 
 their perfect, genuine, and severe representation in 
 the tribunal of the Holy Office, which was clothed with 
 immense privileges and armed with an absurd private 
 jurisdiction to defend the sublime principles of Chris- 
 tianity with the weapons of fire and tortures—these 
 imperfections should for ever be put away from among 
 us, and these bygone times should never return, for 
 every religious doctrine, and especially the Catholic, 
 constitutes a subjective relation apart from and above 
 the objective idea, which is the fatal basis of all in- 
 
182 DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 
 
 
 
 tolerance, and which springs from an imperfect know- 
 ledge of God. 
 
 “To-day the scene has quite chap geal oleae to. 
 the advance of human reason and the salutary con- 
 clusions which the philosophy of our day has drawn, 
 from the history of the past. Progress has created a, 
 new world of ideas more in accordance with that, 
 Divine will, which must rule the earth until it be 
 accomplished. Amongst these ideas shines the doc- 
 trine of the Divine Unity as taught by Jesus Christ. 
 and explained and illustrated fully in the whole 
 life of the Teacher. Toleration is already a dogma. 
 throughout civilized Europe, and truly Christian so- 
 ciety looks with horror upon slavery, tyranny, and: 
 the abominations of the middle ages, which can only 
 be compared to the abominations and miseries of 
 Paganism. 
 
 “This then is the reason of the just celebrity. 
 which this suit, and some others of the same cha- 
 racter, have attained in other countries—of the ge- 
 neral interest which has been called forth in favour, 
 of those persecuted for their religious opinions, and. 
 expressed by almost the whole press here and abroad, 
 and which has found a solemn echo of just complaint, 
 in some of the Parliaments of Europe. | 
 
 “When some new symptoms of the old, intoler- 
 ance were remarked. in our land—when, in, this great 
 age of the earthly life of humanity, the shadow of 
 a half-living apparition of the past fell across the. 
 present—immediately the chill was felt. by uni- 
 
 versal and, most worthy interests, and.since then. a 
 all civilized nations have kept their. eyes fixed upon 
 
 
 

 
 DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 133 
 
 us, and wait anxiously for the definitive issue of these 
 proceedings. : 
 “As the pee erie aus Whe eile een gich 
 
 the Roman Catholic and Apostolic religion as the 
 
 only one of the Spanish nation, it is evident that no 
 form of worship distinct from that consecrated to, 
 and practised by, the Catholic church can be ad- 
 mitted into our land. 
 
 ‘We are not competent, nor is it our present 
 business, to examine the causes and the lessons for 
 this legal disposition, which we simply recognize as 
 existing; it is sufficient for us to remark that the law 
 limits the exterior liberty of the citizen in a very 
 positive manner under these special circumstances, 
 its precept involving a prohibition of all public acts 
 of any other worship or religious sect. 
 
 “But how can our clients be accused of having 
 
 violated this law? We understand why the terrors 
 
 of justice should visit the criminal who carries alarm, 
 consternation, and tears to the heart of a family. 
 We desire the punishment of him who destroys, 
 usurps, or injures the property of another. We 
 perceive the wisdom of inflicting a severe penalty 
 upon those citizens who scandalously sow disorder 
 and anarchy in society, upon those who scatter broad- 
 cast upon its surface the germs of evil and transcen- 
 dental misery ; but we cannot see how reason or the 
 law can be so tortured as to be made to accuse any 
 good citizens for the sole crime of not believing what 
 the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church believes, and 
 for having privately practised the rites of any other 
 religious sect. 
 
184, DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 
 
 “We concede at once that the intelligence of our 
 clients is labouring under a lamentable delusion. 
 The spirit always strives to attain truth, and im the 
 heat of its constant thirst, and im the imcessant 
 struggle which it sustains, it may often stumble 
 into error or fall into scepticism. } 
 
 “Truth is not the cup which passes from lip to lp 
 at the festal board, and therefore it would be very 
 dangerous to seek the basis of crime in any of the 
 frequent deliriums of human reason. 
 
 ‘“‘We do not seek here for crime. The measure of 
 the offence can only be the evil done to society— 
 injuries which the public sustain ; and if this sublime 
 principle of science cannot be denied by sound logic, 
 we must acknowledge that though the doctrines 
 
 held by the accused and their co-religionists are not 
 
 in accordance with all the dogmas of the Catholic 
 faith, at least, the end which they propose to them- 
 selves is one extremely beneficial to society, and its 
 tendency is an eminently moral one. As a proof, we 
 take some articles of the statutes or organized rules 
 of this secret association. The document is found in 
 the 129th folio of the acts. 
 
 “Article 8. These members must set an example 
 of morality, propriety, and manifested love to the 
 gospel. Hach must be a constant observer of these 
 duties ; a good parent and householder, a man with- 
 out degrading vices, or propensities opposed to the 
 
 teaching of the gospel. He should be discreet and 
 
 courteous; in a word, an example to other Christians. 
 “““ Article 20. The Council must watch with special 
 care over the religious instruction of those individuals 
 
 ee 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 135 
 
 who compose the association, striving to create a 
 family in Christ, which shall be well taught. in the 
 gospel, an example to the age and worthy of their 
 profession, to which end it must watch constantly 
 those who have the direction of the congregations.’ 
 
 “ These are some of the requisites demanded from, 
 and some of the duties imposed upon, the individuals 
 of the Directive or Governing Council. We now 
 quote two of the articles which refer to the brethren 
 in general. 
 
 “ “Article 3. Every member (of the society) must 
 remember that when he is received by his brothers 
 in Christ, it is on the ground of his being a man of 
 faith, and having laid aside all miserable ambitions. 
 
 “*¢ Article 4. Every brother must practise evan- 
 gelical Christianity with all assiduity and zeal, and 
 must not look with indifference on the afflictions of 
 his brethren, nor of the rest of mankind; dedicating 
 himself constantly to this duty, and giving by his 
 own example the highest stimulus to others.’ 
 
 “We have drawn special attention to these passages 
 because they, and all the rest of the rules, show with 
 perfect distinctness the humane and charitable ob- 
 jects of the association, as well as the beneficent 
 tendency and the laudable aim of its members. 
 
 “This line of conduct is in strict accordance with 
 the sublime precepts of the gospel. Separation from 
 degrading and corrupting vices, sincere and earnest 
 faith, progressive moral culture, domestic love, the 
 renunciation of mean and low ambitions, the con- 
 tinual exercise of Christian charity, voluntary sacri- 
 fices for the alleviation of the miseries and the sorrows 
 
136 DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT “MALAGA. 
 
 of mankind ;~such is the summary of the spirit of 
 those wise maxims which our clients inculcated, and 
 which they practised with scrupulous zeal. 
 
 “We wait now with tranquillity for the decision 
 which will, we doubt not, be the free ‘and complete 
 absolution of our clients. Can we do other than 
 expect it? Can we believe for one moment that 
 after all the sorrows and griefs which our ‘clients 
 have already suffered for ‘so long a time, they could 
 be condemned to a terrible and undeserved punish- 
 ment? No; the law is above all the’shield of the 
 citizens’ rights, and in virtue of its ‘precepts the 
 mnocent who are unjustly accused can always be 
 defended. 
 
 “ The punishment inflicted upon an innocent man 
 
 can never be repealed. ‘The suffering of the honour- | 
 
 able citizen who has not infringed the rights of others, 
 and has not injured them, afflicts and ‘troubles society 
 in all its breadth and depth. 
 
 “ Behind our clients stands all Hurope interested 
 in ‘this case, which involves her own rights and 
 liberties, and waiting with impatience for the dénoue- 
 
 ment of this drama, which seems not to belong to our — 
 
 age. The august doctrines of progress, the continual 
 teaching of history, and the almost divine inspiration 
 of reason, proclaim with trumpet voice the triumph 
 of this cause, which is the cause of justice and of 
 right, the cause of humanity and civilization. 
 
 “We live in a time of conflict. The field is ever 
 open to contrary ideas, but truth loses nothing in the 
 struggle, but rather gains ground by discussion, and, 
 with its beneficent influence, dissipates the dense ob- 
 
 
 
 ” 
 4 
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 a 
 4 
 
 — 
 
 a Pg Sa eg ee, ee Oe 
 
 oe ee ee 
 
 a ee ee oe 
 
 Se ee ed 
 
 
 
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 DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT MALAGA, 137 
 
 scurity of error, and raises at last the banner of 
 triumph. Finally, let it not be forgotten that the 
 
 Catholic faith rejects by its first principles all in- 
 
 tolerance, knowing that intolerance has been the fatal 
 origin of so many heresies and of some deep schisms 
 in the very bosom of the universal church. 
 
 “‘ Away, then, for ever with intolerance and its 
 evil root from our noble and beautiful soil, and 
 flourish here for ever with an absolute empire the 
 fertile idea of the unity of God and the love of all 
 mankind in God.” 
 
1388 THE SPANISH PRESS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SPANISH PRESS.—LETTER FROM MATAMOROS.—DEFENCE 
 BY HIS ADVOCATE BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL AT GRANADA. 
 
 Tue Spanish Press gave no uncertain sound in this 
 great religious question, of such transcendental impor- 
 tance to Spain. The editor of the Clamor Publico, Don 
 Fernando Corradi, supported and pleaded for the 
 oppressed in many excellent articles. In a letter to 
 Matamoros about the same time, he says :—“‘ Because 
 I have defended, and continue to defend, religious 
 liberty, I have been threatened even with death. Be- 
 cause | have supported your cause, they are endea- 
 vouring to ruin my family with violent exactions.” 
 In one year only, this newspaper was fined to the 
 extent of £800 sterling, but in spite of all it holds on 
 its way bravely. Matamoros, in commenting on the 
 rigour of the Spanish Government in his case, says :— 
 “Why does not the Government ask for the official 
 documents in a case where the superstitious and in- 
 tolerant action of the tribunal is thrown into the 
 balance? That tribunal is entirely composed of Neo- 
 Catholics, and that particular section of them who, in 
 Spain, defend the stake and the Inquisition, and in 
 every act its intolerant spirit is manifested. Its 
 
 hatred to Christians and the intimate assurance that 
 
 ; 
 i 
 | 
 
 
 
A 
 
 es 
 
 
 
 
 
 CONSTANCY OF THE CHRISTIANS. 139 
 
 they are doing good to their souls by endeavouring to 
 exterminate us, is already contributing, and will con- 
 tribute, to bias the sentence passed upon us as Pro- 
 testants. To ask from the friends and supporters of 
 the Inquisition justice for Protestants, is like asking the 
 Pope to canonize Luther. Our Spanish churches are 
 animated by a noble and generous spirit, which is not 
 easy to describe, and the Malaga prisoners are setting 
 an excellent example. The persecuted, who have been 
 hiding for months from the rage of their enemies, are 
 now even desirous of appearing before the tribunals, 
 without dreading in the least the consequences. Oh, 
 brother of my heart, all this is unspeakably precious, 
 and assures to us happy results. This discourages 
 tyranny, although it stirs it up to greater wrath. 
 My beloved brothers write to me to say that they 
 wish to imitate my example, that they wish to come 
 into prison to suffer with me; and the poor people 
 attribute their valour to my exhortations and con- 
 duct. Poor dear people, they owe nothing to me, but 
 all to God who gives them his Holy Spirit. Com- 
 prehending the weakness of the human heart and the 
 infant state of the Spanish Church, I have laboured 
 much more than you could believe, that this church 
 should be firm in Jesus, and might give a worthy 
 example to the world. I have prayed much to the 
 Lord to help me in this respect, and He has heard my 
 prayer. You cannot imagine how profound are the 
 sympathies evinced in all parts of Hurope towards us ; 
 they are manifested by various acts and under different 
 auspices. In the midst of all these things the enemy 
 is exhausting all the means of wrath against us, but 
 
140 SYMPATHY OF FOREIGN CHRISTIANS. 
 
 this gives a contrary result to that which they pro- 
 pose. 
 
 “From Amsterdam, the eee and Rotterdam, I 
 receive letters constantly, which are eminently conso- 
 latory to me, which I answer, and publicity is given 
 to all my communications in Holland. The consistory 
 of the Free Church at Amsterdam, in answer to a 
 letter of mine, in which I begged them to help us in 
 our evangelical labours in Spain, answered me that, 
 though they had neglected to do so up to this 
 present time, would nevertheless in the future re- 
 member Spain. So that even if I do die, I shall die 
 happy when I think that in every place people are 
 taking an interest in the spiritual welfare of Spain. 
 The suffering prisoners of Malaga have again written 
 to me in such a happy strain. Their letters reveal 
 such a spirit of Christian resignation, and are neither 
 more nor less than the expression of that holy joy 
 that inspires them with such deep love and gratitude 
 to you all, and with the most complete and decided 
 faith. Oh, I am so thankful for all this ; itis for me 
 a motive of interminable joy in Jesus to witness the 
 noble spectacle they are giving to the world of faith- 
 fulness in their chains, and I have not words to 
 express my thankfulness to the Lord for this. J bow 
 my knee before our heavenly Father for them, and my 
 heart is full to overflowmg with these pure emotions. 
 I am so happy, yes more than happy; something won- 
 derful that I cannot explain it, but it is, beloved friend, 
 my rejoicing in Jesus, the fountain of all joy and 
 superior to all. When, on the other hand, I meditate 
 on the spectacle presented by the Church of Christ in 
 

 
 GLORIOUS RESULTS. 141 
 
 all places of the world, to the unbelieving world, that. 
 world which rushing headlong downwards loses itself 
 at last in the dark and solitary valley of death, my 
 eratitude to God gains strength and humbleness, and 
 I begin to understand that, grateful as I may have been. 
 to Him, I can never be grateful enough ; and now while 
 my enemies rejoice in my grief and in that of all my. 
 dear brothers, while they are exhausting the dregs of 
 their wrath, I see, on the other hand, many thousand 
 hearts bending humbly before the Lord in prayer for 
 the poor martyrs, dropping tears of love at the re- 
 membrance of their sorrows, giving an example of 
 faith and love, and saying to the world, Do your worst, 
 we pity you, we pardon you, and not by force, but by 
 prayer, we shall be more than conquerors. And what 
 can I say to you about that zeal which is manifested by. 
 you all in supporting the numerous families of the 
 imprisoned? Oh, beloved brother, I cannot find words. 
 to signify to you all I feel on this head. When I see 
 so many families who would have been exposed to the 
 greatest misery, now, thanks to your charity, enabled 
 to bring their husbands, sons, and brothers in bonds, 
 the food they so much want, that bread which the 
 angry hands of their enemies have deprived them of, 
 by taking from their midst the worthy bread-earners, 
 _ who, through the sweat of their brows, provided for, 
 them ; when I consider that now, though the father is, 
 imprisoned, vexed, and tormented, his heart is at 
 least not torn by the idea of the misery of his children 
 and of his wife, that our enemies cannot rejoice in, 
 their complete destitution as they can do in our mar-. 
 tyrdom; and when I consider that all this is in. 
 
142 DEFENCE OF DON M. MATAMOROS. 
 
 answer to prayer, and what a brilliant spectacle this 
 Christian love presents which springs from faith in 
 Jesus, I rejoice with true evangelic joy. 
 
 ‘“‘T am glad to hear that you liked the defence my 
 advocate made in my case. It has been printed, and 
 is a document that has made a deep impression on 
 the minds of Spaniards; and though the advocate is 
 a Roman Catholic, this seems to have given it more 
 weight, for it is so compact.” 
 
 THE DEFENCE OF DON MANUEL MATAMOROS 
 BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL OF GRANADA. 
 
 The Advocate, D. Antonio Moreno y Diaz (whom 
 the editor of the Clamor Publico calls “a person well 
 known in Granada for his faith in the sacred dogmas 
 of the Catholic religion which we profess, for the 
 moderation of his ideas, and for the independence of 
 his character’’), having stated the case in the, usual 
 legal terms, thus proceeds :— 
 
 “Our position at this moment is critical in the 
 highest degree, delicate beyond belief, and in many 
 respects most embarrassing. We are about to defend 
 a worthy man and a noble cause, but the man is not 
 known, and is therefore all but abhorred by ignorant 
 minds, and the cause is terrifying those fanatics who 
 refuse to comprehend it. 
 
 “The ministerial voice has said, ‘An attempt has 
 been made to change in our beloved country the 
 Catholic faith, and to substitute for it that which 
 Protestants profess; and the very mention of such a 
 crime causes deep pain to every good Spaniard. The 
 

 
 DEFENCE OF DON M. MATAMOROS. 143 
 
 religious unity of the nation, our most deeply-rooted 
 and venerable faith—that which our ancestors left to 
 us—that which has borne our banners from pole to 
 pole unsullied, and with honour and glory—that 
 faith which reconquered our land, and rescued it 
 from the hands of the infidels—that which bore civili- 
 zation to the New World—that religion which our 
 fundamental laws declare to be the true, the only 
 one—some unfortunates have attempted to overturn, 
 substituting in its place error, disorder, and chaos. 
 Instead of the Catholic unity, this great blessing the 
 envy of all, which we have been able to preserve in 
 the midst of the perturbations and schisms which 
 have afflicted Hurope, they seek to give us anarchy ; 
 and by breaking the sacred chains of the obedience 
 due to the Holy See, to destroy that principle of au- 
 thority already, alas! much weakened.’ 
 
 “How, then, if the crime is so horrible, if the 
 work in question will lead to such horrible disorders, 
 how do we dare, notwithstanding, to support the 
 cause of him whom the representative of the law would 
 no doubt call the worst of the enemies of our past 
 glories, of our beloved country, and of the religion of 
 our ancestors? It is true that we, who glory in the 
 name of Catholics and Spaniards, and who would 
 rejoice to declare ourselves such, as much to-day as 
 yesterday, by word and deed, in the secret of our 
 consciences as before the whole world, we cannot but 
 shudder at the picture of the crime and its authors, 
 which the official pen of the zealous functionary to 
 whom we allude has sketched for us. 
 
 “ But our view of these things is by good or 
 
144. DEFENCE OF DON M. MATAMOROS. 
 
 bad fortune so totally different, from his, and our in- 
 experience on our good faith has caused us to adopt. 
 such convictions on this subject that, terrible as may, — 
 be the prospect, and many the catastrophes set before — 
 us, nothing will make us, waver from our point. 
 
 ‘* We undertake the defence of Don Manuel Mata- 
 moros Garcia not only without uneasiness, but with 
 satisfaction, and though we feel that this noble task. 
 may call forth censures which we have not received, 
 when we have pleaded for unfortunate criminals who. 
 have expiated their guilt on the shameful scaffold, 
 yet we live in the firm hope that, if we succeed in, 
 gaining a favourable result, our efforts will have been, 
 more truly profitable to the Church and the State than. 
 are all these passionate accusations and these terrible. 
 sentences which weigh down those who are persecuted , 
 in Spain for their religious opinions, to the astonish- 
 ment and alarm of civilized Hurope. 
 
 “From a long series of prolix observations which. 
 we have made upon the past and present life of our. 
 client, we have arrived at the positive conviction that, 
 while he. resists with indescribable severity every 
 effort which is made. to overcome him. by force, we 
 may hope everything from him if he is treated with. 
 gentleness and persuaded with reason. He is still. 
 very young, imaginative, ardent, gentle, and of noble. 
 sentiments, with a soul, unfortunately, of a class but, 
 too rare in the world; and in the heyday of his youth , 
 he sacrifices himself at the altar of an idea, which. 
 we will not specifically describe, but which, even if 
 realized, would produce neither anarchy, disorder, nor. 
 chaos. | 
 

 
 BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL AT GRANADA. — 145 
 
 “He dearly loves his fatherland, and is interested, 
 as is every good Spaniard, in its prosperity, its re- 
 nown, and its glory, but he desires to see Spain free 
 in an absolute sense ; that is, enjoying the peace, and 
 the benefits, and the admirable harmonies which re- 
 sult in a civilized nation from the knowledge and the 
 practice of the doctrines of the gospel. This, and no 
 other, is the beautiful ideal of his illusions, as we 
 shall hope to prove. Those who do not know him— 
 those who, having never seen him, judge of him by 
 what the ignorant vulgar say, may perhaps stigma- 
 tize him as a visionary, an innovator, a madman, a 
 heretic, or an apostate. But we must oppose the 
 torrent of public opinion in this question, and declare 
 our belief that he is a worthy man. We have several 
 reasons for so believing. ‘The first, because every 
 one is worthy who, like D. M. M., aspires continually 
 to benefit mankind, presenting constantly health and 
 life with the words and the example of Him who re- 
 deemed us at Golgotha. Secondly, because we be- 
 lieve that no other epithet can be applied to him who 
 carries a treasury of goodness within him, and who 
 practises, as if by instinct, the Christian virtues 
 whereof we are the admiring witnesses. And thirdly 
 because, apart from all this, we must remember that 
 more than once he has desired to immolate himself 
 in the place of his companions in misfortune, and has 
 asked for pity for them and their families, while, with 
 chivalrous enthusiasm and sublime resignation, he 
 has proclaimed himself the sole author of the crime 
 for which they are accused, and the only person re- 
 
 sponsible for all its consequences; and fourthly, and 
 L 
 
146 DEFENCE OF DON M. MATAMOROS 
 
 lastly, because it is impossible to withhold respect 
 from a young man who, like our client, has borne 
 with nobility of soul all the hard and constant suf- 
 ferings which have been his lot in the Wen 
 imprisonment which he has endured. 
 
 “The majority of enlightened iene of fa. 
 country for whom toleration is a dogma, and all those 
 neighbouring nations where this precious conquest 
 of modern days exercises all its salutary influence, 
 these have no sooner learned that the prisons of An- 
 dalusia are filled with unfortunates who are perse- 
 cuted for their religious opimions, than they were 
 deeply moved, and have not ceased since then to 
 intercede for them by the press, from the tribune, and 
 even in high official places. 
 
 “This case, then, is of such intrinsic importance, 
 and has acquired so much interest, that, not only 
 those whose fate will be decided by its results, but 
 also all the nations of Hurope, are waiting with 
 anxiety and with impatience for its termination. 
 
 “With impatience because they wish to see these — 
 unhappy prisoners at once set free ; and with anxiety 
 because they tremble lest, in the middle of the nine- 
 teenth century, and in a nation so cultivated, so 
 noble, and so generous as that which inhabits the 
 Iberian peninsula, the sorrowful spectacle should be 
 presented of certain honourable citizens condemned 
 to heavy punishments for the single erime of pro- | 
 fessing a religion which is not the religion of the 
 State. 
 
 “Our examination must rest upon three points— 
 _the existence of the crime, the legality of the pro- 
 

 
 BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL AT GRANADA. 14,7 
 
 ceedings employed for its discovery, and the justice 
 of the penalties enacted for its punishment. 
 
 “ As regards the first particular, let us hear how 
 the representative of the law argues. He desires to 
 prove that Don Manuel Matamoros. unreasonably 
 complains of intolerance. He affirms that in Spain 
 no one is punished for their religious belief, though 
 openly manifested and heterodox, as long as they do 
 not publicly apostatize. Afterwards, comparing the 
 conduct of Luther with that of the prisoners, he 
 says, ‘But Matamoros and his associates, forgetting 
 the faith of their ancestors, and without any external 
 cause for irritation or exasperation, preached their 
 errors, catechized the incautious, established Protes- 
 tant churches, each severally and all together form- 
 ing associations prohibited by the law.’ Then 
 triumphantly he continues, ‘The prisoners must 
 know and understand that they are not accused for 
 their religious faith, nor for having manifested it ; 
 but because they have attempted to change the 
 religion of the State, and have practised external and 
 abstract acts, and of which the direct result would 
 be such a change. Finally, as if to give a clear and 
 precise formula of his opinions in the matter, he 
 asserts that when one or more persons propagate 
 doctrines contrary to the most holy dogmas of our 
 faith as the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church 
 teaches, they commit the crime which comes under 
 the 128th article of the code.’ : 
 
 ‘In Spain we are no longer in the eae of Ton 
 quemada! For arbitrary authority can no longer 
 call itself law, and the ominous tribunal of the holy 
 
148 DEFENCE OF DON M. MATAMOROS 
 
 offices no longer takes account of offences against 
 religion. If such offences exist now, they are pro- 
 perly classified and punished by the penal code, and 
 the magistrates and judges, whose duty it is to ad- 
 minister justice, must regulate their decisions by its 
 decrees. 
 
 * Our faitadenet eat law lage down the Dane 
 
 that the only religion of the State is the Roman 
 
 Catholic Apostolic, and the penal code punishes 
 not alone any who attempt to abolish or alter it 
 (Art. 128), but also all who shall publicly apostatize 
 from it (Art. 136), and also those, who, having pro- 
 pagated doctrines or maxims contrary to its dogmas, 
 shall persist in publishing such after they have been 
 condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities (180). 
 These are the three chief offences against religion 
 which are noted by our code, and of which of these 
 is Don Manuel Matamoros accused ? 
 
 “In the world of speculation an arena is open $ all 
 
 intelligence by means of discussion. To believe or to 
 doubt, to accept as good or to reject as evil, to admit 
 as suitable or to shut out as prejudicial, ideas and 
 theories, are movements and evolutions of our mind 
 which cannot be contained within bounds without 
 tyrannizing over conscience and impeding the neces- 
 sary onward progress of humanity. Man must have, 
 by an inalienable right of his existence, full liberty 
 to think, full liberty to express his thoughts, full 
 liberty to discuss them, full liberty to adhere to what 
 he thinks best, and full liberty, in short, to associate 
 himself with those who believe as he does. There is 
 no danger that he will go astray in the path, for all 
 
 jt a 
 

 
 BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL AT GRANADA. 149 
 
 who have studied, known, or thought anything about 
 the mind of man, will recognize that he is not less 
 rebellious against the reason of force, than submissive 
 to the force of reason; and thus guided by reason, 
 and shielded by faith, he can go safely forth into the 
 arena where ideas, principles, and doctrines are strug- 
 gling together, and he arrives at the knowledge of 
 the good, the useful, and the true, in all branches of 
 human wisdom. Hence, toleration is the rule in 
 every civilized nation. Hence, there can be no poli- 
 tical liberty without free discussion, and hence the 
 need of the distinction between him who attacks any 
 institution, and him who is not its partisan, and who 
 may associate himself with others, to combat it on 
 scientific grounds, to use his influence to induce the 
 number of those who oppose it, and to desire that it 
 should succumb to, or be modified by, the benefit of 
 public opinion. ‘ : ; ‘ ; 
 
 “The letters of Don F R show us that 
 the writer having announced to the Neophytes that 
 their wish to be enrolled in the books of the Re- 
 formed Spanish Church has been fulfilled, proceeds 
 to trace for them the line of their future conduct. 
 
 “¢ Hvery Spaniard,’ he says, ‘ whe is converted to 
 the true faith, must be a real missionary to his friends, 
 and must strive with persuasive words, and by works 
 of mercy, to convince many others.’ 
 
 “Faithfully following this peaceful counsel, the 
 members of the directive junta of the Reformed 
 Church of Barcelona, in the circular which they ad- 
 dressed to other juntas and brothers in Spain, thus 
 write :—‘If mutually and fraternally encouraging 
 
 
 
 
 
150 DEFENCE OF DON M.. MATAMOROS 
 
 one another our faith fail not, perhaps we may be 
 permitted to salute with hymns of jubilee, the radiant 
 aurora of the kingdom of God in our unhappy land. 
 Let us labour then with ardour in the holy work of 
 the evangelization of our brothers, and if our efforts 
 appear barren, let us console ourselves with having 
 done our duty to God and man as good and sincere 
 believers. But no! we will fill the field with seed, 
 and when God wills it shall bring forth fruit. 
 
 ‘** Tf we can do nothing else, let us sow the grain 
 of mustard seed, and let us rejoice in the conviction 
 that it is written, that “the birds of the air shall 
 lodge in the branches which grow from the least of 
 all seeds.’ ” 
 
 “Matamoros and Alhama, thoroughly agreeing 
 with these bases in their correspondence, actions, 
 and words, have constantly taught that the chief, if 
 not the only principles of action which should be used, 
 are the moral and religious education of the people, 
 mutual concord amongst the afflicted, zeal in the 
 preaching of gospel truth, and the constant practice 
 of Christian virtues. Finally, the high praises which 
 in their exposition to the Scotch committee they 
 lavish upon young N: A , all and only for 
 
 
 
 
 
 his faith, his preaching, and the good fruits of the 
 
 latter, which drew out a multitude of hearts to the 
 love of Jesus Christ. 
 
 ‘Here, then, is all that Manuel Matamoros and 
 his co-religionists have done, or have attempted—to 
 convince many by persuasive words and good works ; 
 to evangelize, that is, to teach the people the doc- 
 trines of the crucified Lord ; to encourage one another 
 
 Se 
 

 
 BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL AT GRANADA, 151 
 
 fraternally in this holy work, and do their duty as 
 good and earnest believers, filling the field with the 
 seed which should bear fruit in God’s good time, 
 and hoping, as the result of all, for the establishment 
 of religious reformation, so that they might salute 
 with hymns of joy the radiant aurora of the king- 
 dom of God amongst us. Not one word of menace, 
 not one subversive sentence, not one remotest thought 
 can we trace, that they had realized, that they pur- 
 posed to realize, one material exterior direct action 
 which should in any way change or abolish in Spain 
 the Roman Catholic and Apostolic religion. 
 
 “¢ How then can Manuel Matamoros be accused as 
 the author of this crime? How can he be supposed 
 to deserve the penalty of eleven years’ imprison- 
 ment? . : ' : ‘ : 
 
 _ “ Now it will be easy to us to prove that, contrary 
 to the opinions of the counsel for the crown, Don 
 Manuel Matamoros has but too good cause for com- 
 plaining of cruelty, arbitrary and even inhuman 
 treatment, practised upon himself and others in the 
 name of the law. 
 
 “There is no penal law in Spain against those who 
 introduce, keep, or circulate prohibited books. Not- 
 withstanding this, the civil governor of the province 
 heard that some brought from San Roque were cir- 
 culating in Granada. He gave verbal orders to a 
 police agent to inquire and discover who were the 
 individuals concerned in this. But this agent took 
 upon himself powers which he neither possessed 
 absolutely nor relatively, and having at midnight 
 entered the house of Don José Alhama, searched it 
 
152 DEFENCE OF DON M. MATAMOROS 
 
 all through, and seized whatever letters and papers 
 he could find, finally arrested the master of the 
 house, and placed him in solitary confinement. 
 
 “By impartial reflection upon these facts, that a 
 simple policeman, to verify a question, may invade 
 the domestic hearth, search at his pleasure, tear 
 away whatever books and papers he fancies, and 
 finally drag away to a solitary dungeon an honour- 
 able citizen, are we not convinced that there has 
 been here serious abuse, and the more censurable 
 because its consequences have been so serious? Where 
 are the laws that protect social menP Who ever 
 imagined himself authorized to infringe and break 
 them as this police agent did? And who was this 
 man, to presume, on his own authority, to seize 
 papers and books, which were private property, to 
 classify them as good or evil, to discover in them 
 the proofs of the existence of a crime, and to take 
 away to prison their owner. : ‘ : : 
 
 “ But that is not all. Hardly had the name of 
 Manuel Matamoros been found in these papers, when 
 the civil governor of Barcelona (where our client 
 then was) received a telegraphic order to search and 
 seize him in like manner, and that he should be 
 brought as a prisoner by stages to this capital. Very 
 serious was this order to Sefor Matamoros, His health 
 was much broken, and two well-known and highly- 
 esteemed medical men certified that his life would 
 be endangered by the journey on foot of one hundred 
 and seventy leagues, during the rigorous cold of that 
 season. Any one would have supposed that at least 
 he would have been permitted to remain where he 
 

 
 
 
 BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL AT GRANADA. 153 
 
 was till his health should have improved. Not at 
 all—the order was given and must be obeyed. ‘ Let 
 him come to Granada, ill or well,’ was the only 
 answer which the well-considered opinion of the 
 medical men elicited. What would have happened 
 if he had not been enabled to make this journey by 
 sea? Where would he be now if he had travelled 
 hither from Barcelona, on foot, chained in a gang of 
 prisoners, and lodging with them in prisons on the 
 road? Probably his name would have been sent 
 forward—but nothing more. 
 
 *‘ And yet the counsel for the crown is astonished 
 that he should complain! and affirms that complaints 
 are unjustifiable. 
 
 “Truly, we would inform this gentleman that the 
 sole reason for the interest which so many thousands 
 are taking in this case, both within and without the 
 Peninsula is, first, upon the very nature of the case 
 itself, and then the luxury of persecution in which 
 the authorities have indulged. 
 
 “It was not enough to drag Don Manuel Mata- 
 moros hither at a moment when he needed the most 
 tender care from his family, there was still something 
 to be done, and now one of the many military com- 
 missions, which began to act on their discretion after 
 the affair of Loja, took upon itself to meddle here, 
 and to implicate him. His situation was, for some 
 time, terrible, in consequence of this new accusation. 
 The fiscal-instructor lavished his ‘in-communica- 
 tions’ (orders to place the prisoner in solitary con- 
 finement); he resorted to every description of 
 treachery to create the proofs of the imaginary 
 
154 DEFENCE OF DON M. MATAMOROS 
 
 crime; and having placed the fate of our client in 
 the hands of wicked men and vile criminals—at last, 
 fortunately, the case passed from the hands of its 
 
 author and came before the ordinary tribunals— 
 
 where it was immediately quashed, so evident, so 
 palpable, so enormous was the injustice with which 
 Don Manuel Matamoros had been persecuted. 
 
 “‘ Without desiring to enter into any detail of the 
 errors into which opposing parties run, or to present 
 ourselves before the world as models of perfect 
 Roman Catholic Apostolic believers, we affirm, as in- 
 contestible truth, that from the doctrines which our 
 clients teach, we should expect anything rather than 
 bad citizens. As the basis of their propagandist 
 labours was ever to teach the maxims of the gospel, 
 we may easily see that though their neophytes might 
 not acquire a pure orthodoxy, they would, at least, 
 receive an amount of religious instruction which is 
 but too rare at present, and which could only tend to 
 make them peaceful and useful members of society. 
 
 ‘¢ And what more could a truly enlightened Govern- 
 ment desire? What greater glory could we desire 
 for our dear fatherland, eminently Catholic as it is, 
 but where, we confess with grief and shame, there is 
 so much ignorance, and indifference, and hypocrisy, 
 than to see all its sons converted into faithful and 
 obedient followers of the crucified Lord P 
 
 “Truly, whoever thinks calmly on these things 
 must agree that, if Don Manuel Matamoros is con- 
 demned to any penalty, he will not be punished for 
 the harm that he did, but for the good that he desired 
 to do. Farther, and this is very important, so unjust 
 
BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL AT GRANADA. 155 
 a sentence as this would injure rather than benefit 
 the Church. We all know that the Catholic Apos- 
 tolic and Roman religion is not the only ruling faith 
 on earth, but that there are, unfortunately, not a few 
 countries where it is either persecuted or only tole- 
 rated; and with what reason shall we demand that 
 these persecutions should cease, and that under the 
 wing of toleration the most holy dogmas of our faith 
 should be preached, if we make a display and a glory 
 of our intolerance by condemning to prison and the 
 galleys those who incur the guilt of heresy or pro- 
 pagate its errors. We offend against the sanctity of 
 our faith, against the belief which our ancestors be- 
 queathed to us; which has crowned the brow of 
 our country with laurels; which carried civilization 
 to a new world; which is the first and best ornament 
 of the Spanish nation, if we believed for an instant 
 that it was necessary to use in its defence the rigour, 
 the intolerance, and the tyranny of earthly powers. 
 “No! Our Mother Church suffices for herself, for 
 she is borne in the arms of a supernatural. strength. 
 Seek the proof of this in the words of her Divine 
 Founder; in the promise of the Holy Spirit which 
 never abandons her; in the grand code which con- 
 tains her doctrines, and remember that a God-man 
 cast the seed of the church into the earth, that, 
 watered with the blood of innumerable martyrs dur- 
 ing centuries of horrible persecution, it should, at 
 last, fill the face of the earth with the fruit of life 
 eternal. 
 “Tf, then, in the name of our most holy religion, 
 which is all mercy and gentleness, no tyranny or 
 

 
 
 
 
 ‘injustice can. ni practised ; if tolerat 
 
 (3 a 
 
 ie tial dogma of Catholicism, and a power 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 other hand, the clients in this case, at v 
 stands Don Manuel Matamoros, in dissemi i 
 doctrines which they profess, and which are a St 
 the gospel, do society no harm, but rather instr 
 and improve it, we can come but to one conclus 
 that the complete absolution of the prisoners is 1 
 only reasonable, just, and equitable termination 
 the affair.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
‘¢ BPISTOLA CONSOLATORIA.”’ Rg 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LETTERS FROM GRANADA. 
 
 Matamoros again writes:—‘‘ Our Paris friends in- 
 tend to make the greater part of the defence public, 
 according to a letter they have lately sent me, for, 
 like yourself, they think it so good. Sefior Don 
 Moreno Dias is my advocate’s name, and he has been 
 complimented by many eminent people, some of 
 whom are known to him only by hearsay, so great is 
 the enthusiasm that has been produced by its perusal. 
 I can assure you that from much experience I can 
 say that you have done notable service to Spain by 
 the translation and printing of the works of Dr. De 
 Sanctis, ‘Confession and Tradition,’ and when I 
 first heard of it I found it impossible to get many 
 copies, but those I did get have done good service. 
 A fellow-countryman, Sefior ——, sent me by Mr. 
 Rew the important work called the ‘ Epistola Con- 
 solatoria,’ written in 1560 by the distinguished 
 Spanish brother, Don Juan Perez. Itis addressed to 
 the suffering saints in the prisons of the Inquisition 
 at Seville, Valladolid, etc. It is written in the 
 old Castilian language used in those days, and is 
 extremely interesting. It is a treasure of piety and 
 
158 MR, REW. 
 
 divine love, and one of the best books that has come 
 within myreach. I must tell you something of this 
 Mr. Rew, who came all the way to Granada to visit 
 me, with his wife and niece. When he was here in 
 my cell, there were present also the wife and daughter 
 of Senor Marin the Malaga prisoner, my mother, 
 Sefior Trigo and his wife, Alhama, and my brother 
 Henry. After talking a little together, Mr. Rew 
 spoke to us most opportunely, and with much faith, 
 and, filled by the love of Jesus, with much feeling he 
 exhorted us to persevere, to continue instant in 
 prayer. I had also the pleasure of speaking at this 
 time to those then present, and of explaining to them 
 the continual joy I had in Jesus, and the hope I 
 entertained that this joy would be unceasing, through 
 a lively faith, much prayer, and the consolations of the 
 Holy Spirit. I spoke at length on these important 
 subjects, and many tears fell from the eyes of the 
 women there present, who were much moved. __ read 
 to them the Ist chapter to the Philippians, as also the 
 4th of Ist Peter, and happy thoughts came to the 
 minds of all touching these beautiful passages from 
 the Book of Life, and there was manifest in the midst 
 of our little congregation a visible but inexplicable 
 
 joy in Jesus. Mr. R. asked me at this time also what. 
 
 was my opinion as to the education of some of the 
 children of the prisoners in England, and I gave him 
 my humble opinion on the matter, which is very im- 
 portant, and ever since I have been reflecting over it 
 with great pleasure. I told him that I thought it not 
 only desirable, but that the results likely to follow 
 would, with God’s blessing, be very great indeed. He 
 
 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY. 159 
 
 seemed to think the same, and left, animated by the 
 best desires. May God bless him! And finally, dear 
 brother, in my humble cell we all bent the knee to 
 our heavenly Father, and I returned thanks to Him 
 for the joy He allowed me to experience in my chains. 
 I thanked Him for the willingness with which I and 
 the other prisoners would give up our lives for the 
 sweet name of Jesus, and for hislove. I thanked our 
 Father for the Christian activity displayed by the 
 body of Christ, and begged of Him to give to it con- 
 stantly the presence of the Divine Spirit. I pardoned 
 in his sight all our enemies, and finally I gave thanks 
 to God for permitting me to suffer for the divine 
 name of Jesus. Certain other subjects I embraced 
 in my prayer, and was almost exhausted as I finished, 
 for [am so powerfully moved, so deeply impressed 
 when I am engaged in this delightful exercise, that 
 the pleasure I feel is immeasurable, and on the coldest 
 winter’s day I perspire profusely.” 
 
 In a letter from Matamoros in June, 1862, he 
 says the following :—“I have received four copies of 
 the small but important tract against the traffic of 
 negroes in Cuba, against that horrible, that dis- 
 honourable traffic in human blood, that terrible stain 
 to humanity, that execrable blot on my country, and 
 on all countries that continue to allow this page to 
 remain in their history. 
 
 “T have sent the tract to various towns in Spain, 
 and if I had some hundreds of them I would will- 
 ingly pay the postage, so as to have the pleasure of 
 forwarding it to various friends and important per- 
 sonages. No one has ever been able to make me 
 
160 NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 give up my opinion, which is that Europe can never ~ 
 
 expiate the crime of allowing the continuance of this 
 traffic. I can’t understand how modern society can 
 
 permit that the father be torn from the bosom of his ~ 
 
 family, and the son from the father, the spirit of 
 destruction pandered to, and all for the sake of sacri- 
 legious gains to a few hundred ambitious and privi- 
 leged individuals.” F 
 
 In the month of August I had a long letter giving 
 much information, a copious extract from which I give 
 below :— 
 
 *“* Prison of the Audiencia, Granada, Aug. 11, 1862. 
 
 ‘My dearest and ever-to-be remembered father in 
 Jesus, my indefatigable, my zealous, and beloved 
 brother, in the hope of our future life. Your highly 
 appreciated and beautiful letter of the 25th of the 
 past month, received the 5th of the present, and the 
 longest of all I have had the comfort of receiving 
 from you, reached me in all safety, and how cheering 
 and edifying to my spirit it has been ! 
 
 “When I had the joy of receiving it, one of mine 
 was on the road, with an inclosure for the Rey. Mr. 
 Magee, and in itI told you of the petition of the fiscal, 
 against the dearly-loved friends and brothers in Malaga. 
 
 “Your letter contains two things eminently beau- 
 tiful, and of unlimited consolation to me; one is the 
 almost entire re-establishment of your most precious 
 health. Oh! this is of such importance to me; this 
 is more to the poor prisoner than his own personal 
 health, more, a thousand times, than his liberty. The 
 second, my beloved, are the eloquent proofs of love 
 
 
 
 ll a 
 
LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 161 
 
 that you give all through your country (and likewise 
 beyond it), unequivocal expression of incomparable 
 esteem that the body of Christ gives us, in recom- 
 pense of your great zeal. This said, 1 am going to 
 answer your letter, although I shall do it indifferently, 
 as usual. 
 
 “T rejoice greatly that you have written to the 
 Rev. Seftor R——-; he also tells me of it to-day, in a 
 letter, that is like a heavy tear falling from his over- 
 whelmed heart. 
 
 ‘Poor Pastor! in every place grief pursues him. 
 What a sad exile he is suffering. In short, my 
 beloved, believe me truly. I have a most vehement 
 desire to see you, and to talk with you. I havea 
 very strong persuasion that you are chosen by the 
 Lord to open to my poor country the path of its 
 triumph ; I hold as a certainty, that the Lord will 
 grant you this distinguished favour, this precious 
 page in the history of your Christian life. I pray 
 to the Lord that He will grant me to see you, to 
 embrace you, to speak much, much with you of what 
 relates to Spain, and then, that God may show me 
 the road I have to follow. May the will of the Lord 
 be done! 
 
 “JT would say much to you to-day, much about 
 this great work to which you are called; I would 
 initiate you in the best means, that, in my humble 
 opinion, are the most opportune for arriving soonest 
 at the desired end, for gathering the spiritual fruits, 
 of so much sacrifice, so many efforts, of so much 
 labour ; but I think the moment has not yet arrived. 
 At the present, there is a most important question 
 
 M 
 
162 LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 
 
 that opens to my country the desired road for its 
 triumph in the gospel; and it is necessary that this 
 should come to a conclusion. When this is settled, be 
 it in what way it may, we will think with indefatigable 
 solicitude upon the rest, for I think there is now doing 
 for Spain a thousand times more than one could cal- 
 culate, and with better success than could have been 
 accomplished, perhaps, by the work of many years. 
 Hach day I note a greater enthusiasm for the evan- 
 gelical cause in Spain. Now I do not see that dread 
 of tyranny—everything presents itself before me 
 now, firm, decided, and hopeful in Jesus; the shield 
 of Jesus, stronger a thousand times than steel, makes 
 it impossible for the sharp weapons of tyranny to 
 wound the heart of our holy work. Tyranny only in 
 appearance triumphs, but its triumph is like that of 
 the tiger with the poor sheep, drawing forth his 
 claws, filled with innocent and inoffensive blood; it 
 has no other triumph, this is its miserable victory. 
 
 “T note, dear friend, a certain terror in the 
 enemy’s press—I note a certaim panic amongst our 
 enemies, and I see much love, much life in Jesus, in 
 all the beloved brethren. Oh! a thousand times 
 blessed be the sweet name of Jesus, fountain of all 
 consolation, of all resignation, of strength, and of 
 hope. 
 
 “Tam very glad that the tract, ‘The Redeemer,’ 
 is near its publication. You know already how anxious 
 I am on this particular. Will you let me have two 
 or three copies as soon as possible ? 
 
 “The consoling picture you have given me of all 
 your family has caused me profound joy. God bless 
 
 
 
LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 163 
 
 them! and let their virtues and Christian faith be 
 the comfort of your days. Iam not a parent, dear 
 friend, and assuredly I shall not be one. I believe 
 this is not to be granted me, since, perchance, my 
 prison will be my tomb; but, ah! without being a 
 father, I can comprehend your felicity. Whata great 
 happiness it is! Blessed be God, that has given you 
 these pure pleasures. I have no children, but I have 
 much, very much, to praise the Lord for; He has 
 given me a fond, fond mother to love profoundly, and 
 to admire her virtues. If to-morrow, Providence 
 should destine me to be a parent, I have much to 
 imitate in her, she has made me understand all the 
 depth of maternal love—she has left traced out to 
 her poor son a path of immortal memory. Oh, 
 mother dear, mother of my heart, if thy son could 
 but repay thee with a profound love. Our common 
 Father will reward thee. 
 
 “IT see you have many children, do you destine 
 some of them for the ministry of Jesus ?P 
 
 “As soon as I have an unoccupied moment, I 
 mean to write a letter to the Clamor, giving a general 
 idea of all that has happened, and is now taking 
 place in Spain, in order that public opinion may have 
 a true and full impression, under which it may study 
 this great cause, which eminent men call the first 
 cause of the globe. The picture it presents is assur- 
 edly more important than appears at first sight, and 
 I think Spain ought to know what it is. 
 
 “From what I have said to youin the beginning of 
 this letter, you will understand, my beloved protector 
 in Jesus, that my days have been greatly occupied ; 
 
164 LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 
 
 besides what I have already told you, I have had to 
 reproduce new and numerous data for the committee 
 of Paris, that they may be published in connection 
 withthe religious persecution in Spain. From Madrid 
 I have had a number of letters from different friends 
 and people there. I have had some from Malaga, 
 from Gibraltar, from Holland; and, in short, each 
 day my occupations increase more and more, and 
 this has been the cause that I have not yet written 
 my letter to the Roman Catholics; but do not fear, 
 it shall be written on the first occasion, and probably 
 very soon. 
 
 “It would be almost impossible for me to explain 
 how much I am occupied. I rise to write, and I am 
 - writing all day, and I finish doing so late at night; 
 this is a great consolation to me, it gives me lite, dear 
 friend. 
 
 “‘T have received an excellent letter from Dr. 
 Capadose, of Holland, deeply and profoundly touching. 
 Dr. Capadose is an old man, but with a vigorous 
 imagination, a heart full of life and health, and very 
 deeply instructed. He loves you much, and he knows 
 all your worth ; he knows and admires your eminent 
 zeal. I had very strong desires that you two should 
 be in direct communication; already, some time 
 since, I mentioned it to him, and he assured me he 
 would write to you; and now, I see with joy, that he 
 has done so, and that it has given you Christian plea- 
 sure. Oh that this mutual correspondence of beings, 
 so much loved by me, that this kind of double link 
 between two of God’s beloved sons may give to the 
 world the worthy fruit of the virtues of both, of the 
 
 ‘ “ig 
 oe 
 a ys — 
 
 ee 
 
LETTER FROM MATAMOROS, 165 
 
 Great Captain Jesus, under whose glorious banner 
 they serve with so much enthusiasm. 
 
 “In some of my former letters I think I told you 
 of his wish to publish a pamphlet upon this question, 
 and he asked permission from me a short time since- 
 to publish all my letters in it. I replied that he might 
 use them in whatever way he thought would most 
 advance the Lord’s holy cause! nevertheless, I had 
 never expected that my humble letters would see the 
 light. But how could I refuse this to a dear-brother 
 who thinks such a publication is beneficial to the 
 Lord’s body? Itis now many months since I received: 
 a letter from the venerable Mr. Dallas; perhaps my 
 last went astray, or his occupations have prevented 
 him; at any rate, I think I will write very soon. to: 
 him. , 
 
 “The signatures to the letter from the Presby- 
 terian Church in Dublin, St. Mary’s Abbey, I have: 
 not been able to make out entirely; two only have I 
 understood. If you find any mistakes, correct them 
 in the translation, I pray you. Both of them are 
 worth very little, rather, I should say, nothing, com- 
 ing from my feeble pen ; if they have anything that. 
 recommends them, it is because my heart speaks in. 
 them. 
 
 “‘T have read with much gratitude the words that 
 Mrs. Sturge dedicates to my humble self; if I have 
 time I will send her a few lines in this, trying to 
 show her the great value in which Iholdhers. They 
 are a great consolation to me; but Mrs. Sturge will 
 know that nothing is due to me; no man can do any 
 good thing; whatever is acceptable in me is the 
 
166 LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 
 
 work of the Holy Spirit, the work of God; Mata- 
 moros is worth a thousand times less than nothing. 
 
 “These proofs of divine love that are manifested _ | 
 
 by all the brethren, and that offer to my sight the 
 sacred spectacle of the most holy union in the divine 
 name of Jesus, make me happy a thousand times 
 more than one can imagine; and as this consoles me 
 in Jesus, so does it disquiet me little or nothing 
 
 whether the Roman Catholics ask my liberty or not 
 
 from the Spanish government or the queen. 
 
 ‘““T have already told you more than once that 
 my liberty does not disturb me. My prison is no 
 cause of sadness to me; it is a sweet cause of joy 
 and rejoicing in Jesus; and my liberty, except as 
 granted through the powerful influence of prayer, 
 affects my heart very little. 
 
 ““T know that God watches over me, and how 
 little can the enemies of saving faith do! of that faith 
 that He left us, as the only path to life. But the 
 way of God is different from our way, and I often 
 say to myself, ‘If it is the will of the Lord that the 
 Roman Catholics ask for my liberty, must I not 
 respect the designs of the Most High? who knows, 
 if He permits this, that through my very enemies 
 the injustice of my imprisonment may be shown 
 forth ?’ 
 
 *¢T will not ask for it; but neither will I refuse it.. 
 
 It is indifferent to me, however, as in all this matter 
 my liberty is not the one object; but the necessity of 
 showing the injustice of these attempts against con- 
 science. I leave to the day the anxiety that belongs 
 to it. Sut 
 
 
 
LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 167 
 
 * But permit me to tell you one thing. It 
 appears to me that I see in this what I read in the 
 Book of Life respecting Jesus under the judgment of 
 Pilate (Matt. xxvii. 19). His wife writes to Pilate, 
 under the impression caused upon her by a dream, 
 and frightened, prays her husband to have nothing 
 to do with the case of that Just One. Pilate washes 
 his hands; but he sends him to be scourged, and 
 gives him up to the rage of the people in spite of 
 knowing his innocence. 
 
 “T am not just; there is but one man to whom 
 the ‘being just’ belongs, and He is Jesus Christ. 
 J am a miserable sinner, but I am innocent; and if 
 before the laws of the world I am criminal, it is 
 because men agree it should be so, that they may 
 better serve Satan. Other men besides those who 
 believe me guilty, ranged under an equal banner, 
 might warn, and even supplicate them not to punish 
 me, and to cease their rigour; but for this they 
 would invoke the laws of worldly expediency. They 
 calculate an evil in all this, and like the wife of 
 Pilate, they desire, through fear of the world, to 
 avoid it. But in all this do you see the work of the 
 Holy Spirit in the Catholics? I think not, it is 
 mere worldly expediency. Notwithstanding, I be- 
 lieve that my Pilate (the king and his government) 
 will give me up to the convict overseers of the gal- 
 leys. I think they will allow all the fury of that 
 clergy to fall on me; who embitter the laws, irritate 
 the conscience of the judges, and in every way work 
 against Christians. 
 
 “Pardon me, dear friend, for having taken the 
 
168 © LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 
 
 liberty of making this poor, humble comparison to 
 you. I think the charity of Catholics ome be the 
 charity of Pilate. 
 
 “Tf you can send me by R——, Valera’s Bible, 
 recently published in London, I shall be greatly 
 obliged; it may be useful to me in the galleys. 
 
 “This moment I have received a letter from 
 Seville, containmg mighty interesting details, which 
 I shall now give you a brief sketch of, and at greater 
 length hereafter. 
 
 “ In Seville, nineteen persons have been proceeded 
 against; for four of this number only has the fiscal 
 demanded seven years at the galleys. The judge 
 asked pardon for all the nineteen. 
 
 “‘ The fiseal of her Majesty demanded pardon for 
 seventeen, but the superior tribunal begged that the 
 penalty of seven years at the galleys should be passed 
 upon Sefiors Don Diego Bordallo and Don T. Mesa 
 Santanella. The audiencia of Seville or superior 
 tribunal approved entirely the petition of her Majesty’s 
 fiscal, and they have sentenced Bordallo and Mesa, to 
 seven years at the galleys. | 
 
 “When the sentences of the judges in the inferior 
 tribunal differs from that of the superior tribunal, the 
 parties sentenced have the right of appealing the 
 third time ; and as this has oceurred in the case at 
 Seville, Bordallo and Mesa have appealed, and the 
 cause is now running the usual course; there is still 
 a hope of pardon for these two victims of tyranny. 
 
 ‘“‘In the cause nothing has been proved; but 
 Bordallo and Mesa are sentenced on the ground of 
 moral evidence, and by the 45th rule of the code the 
 
 
 
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 ‘ 5 ‘ ——— 
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 a 5 SgstSode saith ain aaa 
 es Se eer 
 
 a ee ee ee ee 
 
 —_— 
 
LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 169 
 
 judges are authorized to impose penalties for moral 
 evidence, although proofs may be wanted. 
 
 “This is a sketch of the spectacle presented by 
 the cause in Seville. But, there is something more. 
 Bordallo writes to me that he has been seventeen 
 months in prison, and he has not received a single 
 real from anybody to help him. I believe it, but I 
 do not understand it; for I had been assured from 
 different sources that the prisoners at Seville were 
 succoured, and now I see it is not so, at least with 
 Bordallo and Mesa, the only ones at present in prison 
 there. 
 
 “As soon as I was aware of this, I wrote to 
 Bordallo, telling him to let me know immediately to 
 whom I might send some relief for him from the sum 
 that I have for my own necessities. This letter goes 
 out to-day, and within three days I shall have the 
 answer, and I will send him 200 Rs., which is all I 
 can spare. 
 
 “* Henceforward I shall put myself in direct com- 
 munication with the prisoners at Seville. Ido not 
 abandon any one; whilst I have a loaf, three parts of 
 it shall be for my brother prisoners, be they Spaniards 
 or not. The All Powerful will do me justice. Hence- 
 forward, dear friend, the prisoners at Seville shall 
 have a place in my poor letters; you shall know all 
 about them, for I think my duty is not only towards 
 a certain set of prisoners ; all are equal in my estima- 
 tion. 
 
 “Those sentenced at Seville have not been found 
 out through the papers that were taken from me, 
 but through some documents that the post-office 
 
170 LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 
 
 authorities intercepted; in short, when I receive your 
 answer to this, I shall give you fuller particulars. 
 
 “Let us turn to Granada; there is no news here; 
 Trigo’s wife has been very ill, but is now much 
 better; indeed, I may say convalescent. Alhama 
 continues well, and so are allhis family. Thealcalde 
 has gone to a bathing-place for two months, and on 
 this account we are enjoying more liberty. 
 
 “‘T send you, inclosed in this, some of my like- 
 nesses, as an humble proof of gratitude to those dear 
 brethren. 
 
 “T am going now to finish, after having detained 
 you so long. My letters are archives, and it requires 
 patience to read them; but, friend of my heart, you 
 must bear my failing with resignation. I hope, when 
 writing to your respected father, that you will offer 
 him my humble remembrances. 
 
 ‘‘Mamma salutes you, and all your family, with 
 gratitude and Christian joy, as also does Huriqué. 
 The Christian remembrances of all the brethren, and 
 the heart of your humble brother in the Lord, 
 
 “¢ MANUEL Matamoros.” 
 
 ‘“‘N.B.—The missionary, of whom I spoke to you, 
 for Oran, has been entirely approved of by the com- 
 mittee at Paris.” 
 
 “ Granada, September 10. 
 
 “| think that in fifteen days my trial will be 
 public, for I observe an unusual activity, and, as I 
 believe, because they are desirous that I may be con- 
 demned before the arrival of the queen at Granada, 
 which will be on the 8th or 9th of October, and just 
 
 ¢ ae 
 o's 
 aie 
 ea! aes 
 By ee 
 
LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 171 
 
 two years since my imprisonment. What is most 
 likely, when I receive your answer to this, my case 
 will be settled, and I shall be able to tell you about 
 it. Iam completely tranquil, and if my sentence is 
 severe, I shall sing songs of praise to my Lord. I 
 intend to be present at the public trial, and to speak 
 before the tribunal—not to ask their pardon, for that — 
 I do not need, but to ask that all the weight of the 
 law may fall upon me alone, and not on my com- 
 panions.”’ 
 
 After two years of “wearing out of this saint of 
 the Most High,” the oft-mentioned and long pro- 
 tracted.trial was brought to a close; and the letter 
 following, giving some account of the same, was 
 received :— 
 
 LETTER FROM MANUEL MATAMOROS. 
 
 “ Granada, Prison of the Audiencia, Oct. 5, 1862. 
 
 ‘My dear and zealous brother in Him who is our 
 life and hope, two years ago the governor of Granada 
 sent the order for my capture, and for the examina- 
 tion of my house. I was seized, was taken to a 
 miserable prison, and from that time until now, you 
 know what a chain of suffermg has bound me; you 
 know how much honour has been put upon me; for 
 it is a glory and a joy to be permitted to suffer for 
 Jesus’ sake. Well, now my enemies, not yet satis- 
 fied, have condemned me to suffer eight years of the 
 galleys, to inhabilitation, and to the judgment of all 
 the costs. 
 
172 THE SENTENCE. 
 
 “T am twenty-seven, and I am going to the gal- 
 
 leys; to a horrible place which is intended for the — 
 
 shame and sorrow of those who dwell there. But 
 there is neither shame nor sorrow forme! My soul 
 rejoices in Jesus. J, a poor miserable sinner, have 
 been chosen by the Lord to suffer; and in this there 
 is no shame, but honour; wonderful honour for me; 
 for Ido not deserve this distinction, and I am very 
 grateful to my Master who has granted it to me. 
 
 ‘This horrible suit has at length come to an end, 
 having been carried forward with a most tyrannical 
 spirit for two years—two years of grief, and tribula- 
 tion, and tears—two years of the patient resignation 
 of a dear mother, whose son has been torn from her 
 side, and placed under the ban of a terrible sentence. 
 Oh, my poor mother! She was attacked with illness 
 when she received the news. Mother, thou art also 
 _a victim to this cruelty, but thou also canst rejoice in 
 thy tribulation for Christ. 
 
 “The time has come, dear friend, when I, de- 
 prived by men of all rights of citizenship, must enter 
 upon my punishment—must go to the place which 
 society has set apart for those wretches who are 
 unworthy to continue in its midst. The voice of 
 my dearly-loved mother will, perhaps, never again 
 reach my ears. I shall know that she suffers, but 
 shall not be able to comfort her with my presence. 
 I shall be there altogether at the mercy of a fanatical 
 governor, who will visit me with all the force of 
 popish cruelty. There, at the merest caprice of the 
 officials, the unfortunate convicts are beaten, and 
 buffeted, and abused, even when inoffensive; and I 
 
 
 
THE GALLEYS. 173 
 
 ‘shall be exposed, perhaps, to the cruel blows of some 
 vile criminal, who has been chosen as overseer chiefly 
 because his terrible antecedents are such as to inspire 
 his fellow-prisoners with terror. 
 
 “The blows of such an one may fall upon me and 
 hasten my death. I shall never hear the voice of my 
 dear brothers. Your precious letters, my much-loved 
 friend, will never reach me; and this will be my life 
 for eight long years. But for all this, my cross I take 
 up joyfully and follow Jesus. If I have not been 
 permitted to carry the Word of God from village to 
 village throughout Spain, I will publish it in prison. 
 God rejoices over the conversion of the most abject, 
 of the most sinful, and to those criminals I will show 
 the way of life. There I will be, if the Lord allows 
 me, just what I was when free. My hearers will not 
 be honourable citizens, they will be miserable con- 
 victs. But perhaps, these very convicts may see how 
 horrible their past life has been, and will begin to 
 live a new one, and will respect and will follow Jesus; 
 and you can fancy how I rejoice to be able to dedi- 
 cate myself to such a glorious work; and I must not 
 fear the rod of punishment. Jesus sought out his 
 death for our sakes. 
 
 “His apostles went everywhere preaching the 
 word, through sorrow, tribulations, torments; they 
 are my example, I follow them. And all this is not 
 in my own strength, I am worthless, am nothing, 
 can do nothing, by God’s strength only I shall be 
 enabled to do this; yet my heart tells me that I shall 
 be permitted to carry out my earnest desires, as I 
 have prayed for the sake of Jesus. 
 
174° APPEAL. 
 
 “ Alhama has been sentenced to nine years. The 
 additional year of punishment.is given (amongst other 
 reasons) because he wrote and acknowledged that let- 
 
 _ter, directed to me, which was seized, and which, bear- 
 
 ing my name and address in full, and containing im- 
 
 portant intelligence, was the cause of my imprisonment 
 also in Barcelona; which, you remember, was com- 
 manded by telegram. The judges believed that Gra- 
 nada was the chief seat and origin of these troubles, 
 of which they suppose me to be a victim. Notwith- 
 standing, they condemned me to eight years. The 
 Lord pardon them ! 
 
 “Trigo has been pronounced not guilty, and will 
 soon be set free. He will return to the bosom of 
 his family. JI do heartily rejoice. Dear Trigo, 
 may the Lord enlighten and protect him for the 
 future ! 
 
 ‘As our sentences do not exactly correspond with 
 those of the inferior tribunal, we may again appeal 
 against them. It is a matter of indifference to me 
 whether an appeal is made, or whether I go at once 
 to my doom. The appeal would keep us still for 
 some months in this prison; but this offers nothing 
 to be wished for, as the immediate commencement of 
 my term of labour has no terrors. | 
 
 “‘T have, however, consulted my respected and 
 revered friends, B., W. N., and Dr. B., and yourself. 
 I will do as you advise, but have no choice in the 
 matter myself. Alhama will appeal, but I need not 
 therefore. I will fulfil my eight years, and he may 
 obtain commutation. Believe me, dear friend, I am 
 very happy. The continued illness of my poor dar- 
 
 
 
 
 
LETTER FROM TRIGO. -175 
 
 ling mother is my only real trouble ; but my Lord 
 gives me strength to bear all with patience. 
 
 “T shall address a letter to the queen on her 
 arrival at Granada, not to ask for mercy, which I do 
 not need from her; no, for my crime, if it existed, 
 would only be judged by the God who judges the con- 
 sciences of all men, but I will represent to her our 
 inoffensive lives, the liberty of our brothers in Seville, 
 Malaga, and Granada, and the inalienable right of 
 Christians to meet together to worship round the 
 household hearth. 
 
 “JT forgot to tell you that all the rest of the 
 prisoners have been, or will immediately be set at 
 liberty. My most loving remembrances to all dear 
 to you. Salute all my brothers in my name. Your 
 affectionate brother in the Lord, 
 
 6é M. M.”’ 
 
 About this time, the other Granada prisoner, 
 Sefior Trigo, writes as follows :—“ Respected Sir, 
 and beloved brother in Christ, after nineteen months 
 of untold sufferings, the tribunals of this world have 
 absolved me from the eleven years of penal servitude 
 that was petitioned for against me by her majesty’s 
 fiscal, and in a few days probably I shall be set at 
 liberty. Conscientious motives of eternal gratitude 
 impel me to write these few lines to you. My heart 
 is so filled to you and all the rest of your magnani- 
 mous and sympathizing countrymen, that I wish I 
 possessed the eloquence of Paul, in order to express 
 to you as I should desire my deep and earnest gra- 
 titude for the many benefits received from you all, 
 
176 LETTER FROM TRIGO. ; ; 
 
 and which have helped in no small degree to sweeten 
 the bitter cup of sorrow mixed for us by the | 
 hands of tyrants, for the sole crime of loving and | 
 propagating the blessed gospel of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. And as I have taken the liberty of addressing 
 you, I cannot help mentioning in my letter how 
 much the Spanish church owes to that eminent, 
 decided, and resigned champion of the truth, Don 
 Manuel Matamoros. Without him, and the Divine 
 help dispensed to him, the persecutions we have 
 undergone would have destroyed the Spanish Chris- 
 tians ; and what can I say of his excellent mother— 
 of that worthy lady whose maternal love is only 
 equalled by her many virtues, by her heroic resigna- 
 tion, and by the distinguished gifts that adorn her, 
 and which are the admiration and the respect of all 
 who know her. I say all this, though I feel that 
 already you are aware of these facts, but a sacred 
 duty of conscience impels me not to be silent. The 
 labours of the son bring him into prison. He is 
 condemned to eight years of servitude, but neverthe- 
 less, all is resignation m them both, all is rejoicing 
 in Jesus, all is Christian decision. Manuel has the 
 pleasure of receiving innumerable visits from people 
 in every rank of life, and letters of sympathy; even 
 his enemies cannot help paying a tribute of respect 
 to his virtues. Yesterday he was visited by an 
 ecclesiastic, who, moved by a desire to know him, 
 found his way to his prison, where he remained for 
 a long time, talking and discussing; and he finally 
 told him, that he had come to see him, moved as 
 he was by his energetic and dignified deportment, 
 
LETTER FROM TRIGO. L7z 
 
 although walking himself in quite a distinct path 
 from Matamoros. But I must conclude. Manuel, 
 placed at the head of all correspondence concerning 
 the Spanish prisoners, has watched over all with 
 unceasing care, and, as far as I am personally con- 
 cerned, I can say that he has done for me far beyond 
 what I could ever have contemplated. I say this, 
 for I have never known him indifferent to my wants, 
 but ever endeavouring in every way to mitigate my 
 sufferings. I conclude by wishing that the Most 
 High may grant to you and your family His heavenly 
 grace, and that being sustained by it you may enjoy 
 that felicity which your humble brother in the Lord 
 desires you. 
 ‘“‘MiaueL TRIGO.”’ - 
 
178 VISIT OF AN ENGLISH CLERGYMAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 VISIT OF AN ENGLISH CLERGYMAN.—LETTER FROM MATA- 
 MOROS.—CONCLUSION. 
 
 An English clergyman visited Granada latterly, and 
 gave an account of his journey, which I extract from 
 the Christian Observer of December, as follows :— 
 “We reached Granada on the 11th of September 
 last, and on the following day went to the Prison of the 
 Audiencia. It is at the back of the Palace of Justice, 
 a pretentious stone building, at the foot of the hill 
 on which the Alhambra is built, and, though some- 
 what gloomy, not more sombre-looking than such 
 places usually are. A few soldiers were lounging 
 in the doorway as we went in, but they did not 
 appear to take much notice of us, and we were 
 instantly admitted when it was known that we were 
 friends of Matamoros. Inside the prison we were 
 met by one of the Protestants, who bore in his face 
 evident traces of a long imprisonment. We followed 
 him up a stone staircase, and into a corridor, where 
 several other prisoners were idling about, smoking, 
 eating, sleeping, or playing at cards; and then he 
 led us into a good-sized airy room, with a window 
 looking out into the court, three beds, a table, and 
 some chairs; and where, from a photograph I had 
 
 
 
PORTRAIT OF MATAMOROS. _ 179 
 
 Seen in England, I instantly recognized, in the man 
 who rose to meet us, Manuel Matamoros. 
 
 “« He is in the early summer of manhood, slightly 
 above the middle height, with jet black hair, and 
 finely chiselled features, Italian rather than Spanish. 
 His face beams with intelligence. I confess he took 
 my heart by storm, and I speedily found in hima 
 most beloved brother, whom I shall know instantly 
 if we shall meet in heaven. My first and last im- 
 pression of him was, that he is a prince among men. 
 There was a force and an authority in his very way of 
 expressing himself, that, to our mind, stamped him 
 with the stamp of genius, and our guide said to us, 
 that his language was so sublime, he had the greatest 
 difficulty in translating it. He gave me the notion, 
 moreover, of being a man of strong affections, for 
 the love in him seemed to kindle into a white heat 
 as he showed us photographs of friends, among which 
 I recognized Dr. and Mrs. Tregelles and Mr. Dallas. 
 
 There were several others in the room. 
 José Alhama, a hatter of Granada, who was present, 
 has since been sentenced to a more severe imprison- 
 ment than Matamoros. He is quite unlike his friend, 
 both in appearance and cast of mind, but there was 
 an air of quiet strength about him, that showed he 
 knew in whom he had believed, and that if he could 
 not confess his Lord with excellency of speech and 
 wisdom, he could at least suffer for Him. 
 I can never forget how he read the eighth shaptes 
 of the Romans, which seemed to open up to him a 
 new mine of gospel promises, how grandly it sounded 
 in the majestic Spanish tongue; what emphasis he 
 
180 ‘FRESH SORROWS. 
 
 laid on the passages that touched on the fulness of 
 the gospel liberty, and on the certainty of the coming 
 glory ; how, ever and anon he would lift up his 
 voice, and look round on his fellow-prisoners, his 
 whole face beaming with radiance, until the climax 
 of the apostle’s appeal, in verse thirty-one, almost 
 overcame him; and he asked in a tone of ecstatic 
 triumph, ‘ Who shall separate us from the love of 
 Christ ?’” 
 
 There remains but one more letter to complete 
 those received and printed, which we give below. 
 
 ‘“* Granada, Nov. 8, 1862. 
 
 “BELOVED Broruer,—I am happy. I live in 
 the joy of Jesus. Liberty will never be to me 
 more sweet than my prison has been, through the 
 divine name of Him who on Golgotha sacrificed his 
 life to snatch us from eternal death. No suffering, 
 no sorrow, clouds for a moment my Christian glad- 
 ness. God has granted me this blessing, for his 
 goodness is inexhaustible. In my letter of the 30th 
 I gave you the details of our present position. This 
 ministerial fiscal is very bitter against us. He has 
 demanded the augmentation of my sentence. He is 
 not content with that of eight years of the galleys, 
 perpetual inhabilitation for all instruction, rights, or 
 political position, and the payment of the heavy 
 costs of the suit! He has also appealed against 
 Trigo’s acquittal, and his present liberation. In fact, 
 the whole case stands as it did the day after the 
 sentence of the inferior tribunal. All must be done 
 
 
 
MORE RIGOUR. 181 
 
 ‘over again. The fiscal has appealed against us all, 
 except Alhama ; so that it is quite possible that those 
 who have been acquitted may now be condemned. ' 
 
 “* Dearest, friend, you know that my health -has 
 been poor and weak for along time. The sufferings 
 of prison or of the galleys cannot but hasten the 
 day of my death ; but I look forward with joy to 
 that day. ion death is not for those who love 
 the Lord Jesus.’ 
 
 “T thought it right, in my aatiedad to he queen, 
 to vindicate our common right, and to demand from 
 her permission to worship God according to our 
 consciences, and to ask from her, if not perfect 
 religious liberty, at least toleration. 
 
 “ You write to me of my sufferings, dearest 
 brother. I see that they occupy your heart and 
 memory, sadly and constantly. But, dearly-loved 
 brother, let your mourning on my account be turned 
 into joy. JI, your poor brother in Jesus, whom you 
 love and with whom you suffer, I suffer not. No! 
 I rejoice unspeakably. This cruel sentence, these 
 appeals, these two years of captivity,these doubts and 
 delays on the part of foreign governments to speak a 
 word in favour of our Christian liberty, and the op- 
 position of the queen and the government to our re- 
 lease, all seem to my memory as causes for rejoicing. 
 
 “If I perceived love and kindness in my enemies, 
 that would indeed seem strange! but their anger 
 against me is natural, is consequent ; and this anger 
 causes me to raise my heart continually to my Lord, 
 thanking Him for this eminent honour which He has 
 ‘been pleased to lay upon me, a despicable, useless, all- 
 
182 PRAYER IS ASKED. 
 
 unworthy sinner. Oh! believe me, dearest friend, not 
 alone in prison could I rejoice; not alone in the 
 sufferings of the galleys; the stake, the scaffold, the 
 axe of the executioner, would give me only fresh 
 cause for gladness. Jam ready not only to suffer for 
 the divine name of Jesus, but also to die for Him. 
 
 “Do not let the indifference of the Huropean 
 governments affect you. All their power is as nought 
 if the will of God is contrary to their will. Our 
 weapon is only prayer—a powerful and mighty 
 weapon, of which the world knows nothing; but the 
 prayers which ascend to the throne of the Eternal 
 bring forth fruit; for the goodness of God our 
 heavenly Father is inexhaustible and infinite. I 
 should rejoice to see these governments do all they 
 could to procure liberty and toleration for all nations; 
 but the Lord must do it, or nothing will be done. 
 He wills that.all shall be obtained by prayer; and 
 therefore, whatever happens, I shall rejoice in Jesus. 
 The liberty of my body is nothing to me; for this 
 reason I said nothing of it in my address to the queen. 
 
 “That which really interests me is the salvation 
 of my soul. I entreat you, dear friend, and all my 
 brothers, to pray for me, that I may be faithful to 
 the end. I have been told that a Huropean deputa- 
 tion is about to visit Madrid. I rejoice! for by the 
 might of prayer the doors—not of my prison, that is 
 nothing—but of my country, may be thrown open to 
 religious liberty, and I would fain hasten the dawn 
 of that approaching day. This was one of the 
 reasons for my address to the queen. | 
 
 ‘“‘ Farewell, dearest brother in the Lord. Receive 
 
 
 
_ CONCLUSION, 183 
 
 this letter as a token of the constant Jove and 
 gratitude of your brother in Christ, 
 ' : “ Manvuet MatTamoros.”’ 
 
 And now, in conclusion, I pray that this little 
 work may be prospered by Him whose foolishness is 
 wiser than men, and whose weakness is stronger 
 than men. Has England no lesson to learn from 
 Spain? What wasit that helped so much to lull the 
 voice of God’s Spirit in that land in the sixteenth 
 century? Was it not the gold of Pern? And with 
 what is Satan seducing the hosts of the Lord in this 
 country now? Is it not with the golden cup of 
 Babylon, full of abominations and filthiness of her 
 fornication? Is not our commercial pride, of which 
 our Exhibition is the exponent, the Delilah that has 
 kept Samson spellbound ? and is not the fierce anger 
 of the Lord revealed against us nationally, and 
 smiting us sore in the very heart of our stronghold, 
 by what is occurring now in our manufacturing 
 districts ? 
 
 Shall we continue to be silent ? Saints of Christ, 
 awake. Behold the Judge standeth at the door. Wit- 
 ness the good confession of the young Spaniard whose 
 letters you now have before you, and arm your- 
 selves with a like mind. A greater evil than Roman- 
 ism is eating out the vitals of our populations. 
 But the Lord will appear to “destroy them that 
 destroy the earth,” though they give to their sorceries 
 the pleasing name of civilization. The enemy has 
 come in like a flood, but the Spirit of the Lord shall 
 put him to flight. Nothing else can stand before 
 
184 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Satan. In this alone has been the secret of Mata- 
 
 moros’ strength. It was this made Samson more 
 
 shnaela 
 Parte 
 
 than conqueror. Does the young lion roar against — 
 
 him? The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, 
 and he rent him as he would have rent a kid. Do the 
 Philistines shout against him? By the same Spirit 
 the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that 
 was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his 
 hands; and he found a new jaw-bone of an ass, and 
 put forth his hand and took it, and slew a thousand men 
 therewith—a most unlikely weapon for such a war- 
 fare, but none other than the sword of the Lord 
 when wielded by the brawny arm of a lively faith. 
 
 Drei the = 4c, ane denen 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 —_— 
 
 The following earnest and affectionate appeal from 
 one now in bonds, because of witnessing a good profes- 
 sion of the faith of Christ, was addressed to Roman 
 Catholics at the suggestion of a Presbyterian clergyman 
 in Ireland. 
 
 TO THE ROMAN CATHOLICS OF ENGLAND, IKELAND, 
 AND SCOTLAND, 
 
 My prar FRirnps,— 
 
 The moment when the tribunals of this land shall 
 pronounce their executive sentence against me draws near 
 —the day when, deprived by men of all my rights asa 
 citizen, I shall be buried in the place of the punishment 
 of crime ; and as the time approaches when my voice will 
 no longer be able to reach you through the walls of the 
 prison, I hasten to address you now in the words of sin- 
 cere and Christian love. 
 
 You will not find in these few lines the agreeable echo 
 of an enchanting eloquence—you will not find evidences 
 of talents or learning. No; you will only hear the voice 
 of a poor prisoner, surrounded with tribulations, with 
 torments, with continual annoyances, with indefatigable 
 enemies, but who is happy, eminently happy, in Jesus, 
 and who desires that you should partake of that joy which 
 is the health of the soul, the life of life. 
 
186 isan 
 
 In this nation, in this my fatherland, which I love so 
 dearly, the slow and cruel fires wherein Christians used 
 to suffer death have been extinguished ; the public squares 
 are no longer disgraced by these horrible spectacles; the 
 tribunal of the Inquisition no longer rules over the con- 
 sciences of men; but, unfortunately, the influence of these 
 impious engines of destruction has by no means dis- 
 appeared ; and to-day, in the heart of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, it is in Spain a crime to love the gospel. Chains 
 and imprisonment have taken the place of the rack and 
 the stake; the ordinary law-courts that of the misnamed 
 Holy Inquisition; and the punishment which the law 
 allots to the thief or the assassin is adjudged to the humble 
 disciple of Jesus. 
 
 For this cause, I address you from my prison. 
 
 All my desire was, and is, that eternal death should 
 not triumph over me, but that Jesus should conquer for 
 me. All my longing was, is, and ever will be, by the 
 grace of God, to follow the way of eternal life; and ina 
 sorrowful past time I sought to fulfil this longing by fol- 
 lowing the path traced by the Church of Rome, as it is 
 followed in this my country, where the light of Divine 
 Truth is hidden from men’s eyes. But the supreme good- 
 ness of God had ordered it that these confused thoughts 
 should for ever disappear. The Holy Scriptures are 
 destined by God to convince, to correct, to instruct, that 
 the man of God may follow the perfect way of salvation, 
 through faith which is in Jesus* (2 Tim. iii. 16—17); and 
 He permitted me to study them. He permitted me to love 
 his law with a deep consideration, a-sincere desire, a vehe- 
 ment and unwearied solicitude. Soon, very soon, by the 
 help of God, the way of salvation was made clear before 
 me in all its fair splendour. Soon I learnt, from the 
 
 = +2 
 
 oracles of God, from the Book of Life, that Abraham was ~ 
 
 * The Christian friend, who has kindly acted the part of translator, in 
 quoting texts of Scripture, has generally adopted the words of the autho- 
 rized versicn. 
 
APPENDIX. 187 
 
 ‘saved by faith, and was justified by faith alone before God, 
 and not by the works of the law (Rom. iv. 1—3; Gal. v. 
 1). Soon I understood that we had no merit of our own 
 ‘whereby we might be saved ; that the only ground of our 
 safety was the mercy of our Heavenly Father; that this 
 alone is the anchor of our salvation. 
 
 If our justification before the Father depended upon 
 the righteousness of our works, and not upon faith in the 
 blood of the only-begotten Son, grace would no longer 
 be grace in all its paternal plenitude: it would be error, 
 * darkness, chaos. 
 
 If we are evil, our works are evil also—the growth of 
 a bad seed, the fruit of a corrupt tree. The works of the 
 just are the fruit of righteousness; but when we have 
 done all that is commanded to Christians, we are still un- 
 profitable servants (Luke xvii. 10). 
 
 We are not saved by our own strength, nor by our 
 actions; we are only saved by the mercy of God, which 
 has called us to be regenerated by the precious blood of 
 Christ. We are justified only by faith in Him (Gal. ii. 
 16); and our works are the fruits and inalienable conse- 
 quences of our faith—the work in us of the Divine Spirit, 
 which by faith we receive. 
 
 No, no; there is no other path, there is no other 
 safety, but in Jesus Christ (1 Cor. iii. 11). There is no 
 condemnation to them who are in Him. By the stripes of 
 Christ we are healed (1 Peter ii. 5,24). By his one offer- 
 ing He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified 
 (Heb. x.14). If we believe in Jesus Christ, we shall be 
 saved (Mark xvi. 16); and being justified by this faith, 
 we shall have peace with God, for the precious blood of 
 his Son Jesus Christ saves us from wrath (Rom. v. 1, 9). 
 Jesus Christ, the bright Sun of Righteousness, who scat- 
 ters the darkness of death, is the Saviour, and there is no 
 other ; He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of 
 the world (John i. 29). No one goeth unto the Father 
 but by Him (John:xiv. 6), In none other is there salva- 
 
188 APPENDIX. 
 
 tion, for there is no other name under heaven whereby 
 _we can be saved (Acts iv. 12). Without Him we can do 
 nothing (John xv. 5). If our salvation depends upon our 
 works, the salvation which Jesus offers us must be in- 
 complete. If the folly of men has attributed this value 
 to the works of sinners, who are nothing, can do nothing, 
 and merit nothing,—One who is greater than man, to 
 whom man owes everything—One who cannot be de- 
 ceived, who is alone infallible, who never changes—our 
 Divine Redeemer, the only High Priest and Shepherd of 
 his Church—tells us by his Holy Spirit that life eternal 
 is the gift which God gives to faith (1 Peter i. 9); and 
 woe unto us if we forget this lesson of his Divine Spirit ! 
 
 Do not forget, my dear friends, that the Church does 
 not give authority to the Word of God—it is the Word 
 that gives authority to the Church. 
 
 If any one speaks, he should speak according to the 
 
 oracles of God, so that Jesus Christ may be glorified in 
 all things. Have the councils of the doctors of the Church 
 of Rome done this? 
 _ God commands his people not to add to nor take from 
 the Word which He gave to them (Deut. iv.2; Prov. 
 xxx. 5,6); yet the councils of Rome have declared, and 
 the Church has received, as canonical, certain books which 
 are not and cannot be such—thus adding to the Word 
 that which God commanded not. Does this Divine de- 
 cree refer to the law which God wrote with his finger on 
 the tables of stone? Then, what has Rome done with the 
 second of the ten commandments? Why is the tenth 
 divided and the others altered and mutilated? Oh! be- 
 cause this Church has not the mind of God. 
 
 Turning to the New Testament, I find not only a con- 
 firmation of the law of God, but also of the unfaithfulness 
 of the Church of Rome, to which I once belonged. Paul 
 says, in his first letter to the Corinthians, that they should 
 learn from him, and from Apollos, not to hesitate, nor 
 
 waver from that which is written (1 Cor. iv. 6). Jesus ~ 
 
 yor io 
 
APPENDIX. ; 189 
 
 anathematizes those who make void the commandment of 
 God by their tradition (Matt. xv. 6—9). That which is 
 written is sufficient, without addition or diminution, to 
 point out the way of salvation (Matt. xxii. 29; John v. 
 39). That you may be thoroughly convinced of this, I 
 entreat you to ponder the conclusion of the Revelation by 
 the Apostle John (xxii. 18, 19). Why, then, dear friends, 
 do you obey the Church of Rome, which commands and 
 directs, not by the Word of God, but by the traditions 
 of men P 
 
 Remember that there is but one Head of the Church— 
 Jesus Christ: He it is who has the pre-eminence (Col. i. 
 18). He has the key of David—He shuts, and no man 
 Opens ; opens, and no man shuts. Remember that after 
 this life there will be no more suffering, no more pain, for 
 the purifying of the souls of those who are in Jesus; and 
 remember finally, that his blood, and his blood only, 
 cleanseth from all sin (1 John i. 7); and surely you will 
 abandon this sorrowful road which leads from Christ. 
 Yes, dear friends, leave this sad road, and cast yourselves 
 into Jesus’ arms. I have left it, and am happy in 
 Him. 
 
 The links of the continual persecution which the wrath 
 of man has forged for me have formed a long and heavy 
 chain, which is wearing out my physical strength, and, 
 unless the will of the Lord be otherwise, is leading me 
 rapidly to the grave. My life is probably nearly at an 
 end. Soon I shali go hence, broken down with suffering, 
 but I shall die happily, yes, very happily, because I expect 
 my last moment with deep and unwavering joy in Him 
 who died to give us life, and who is my only, my perfect 
 hope (1 Peter i. 13). My persecutors think that they are 
 doing God service in causing me to suffer, and in hasten- 
 ing my premature death (John xvi. 2); but the horrors of 
 my imprisonment, its vexations, its sufferings—all, in fact, 
 that make up the sum of my tribulation for the Divine 
 name of Jesus, and which my enemies intend for my 
 
190 | APPENDIX. 
 
 greatest grief—are changed into my invariable and emi- 
 nent joy. Yes, to-day I have the happiness of partaking 
 of the sufferings of Christ; and soon, when his glory 
 shall be manifested, I shall rejoice, and triumph with un- 
 apeakable joy (1 Peter iv. 13). He has promised a crown 
 of life to them that are faithful unto death (Rev. ii. 10). 
 He is true and faithful, and in Him is no change (Rev. 
 xii. 11; Malachi iti. 6). 
 
 
 
 My present tribulations do not surprise me. The 
 
 persecutions of Abraham, the afflictions of Moses, the 
 tribulation of Elijah, the martyrdom of the prophets, 
 the persecutions of the apostles, the overthrow of Satan’s 
 wrath against Jesus, the only Just One, the blood of the. 
 faithful shed in all ages—all prove to me that the pathway 
 to heaven is the path of the cross, and that the way of 
 tyrants has ever been the same, 
 
 I need not fear the power of the world: the gates of 
 hell shall not prevail against the true disciples of Jesus 
 Christ. Who shall harm me if I follow that which is 
 good, even Jesus Christ (1 Peter iii. 13)? Iam the object 
 of much annoyance: the lowest criminals are not treated 
 with such extreme rigour as I am; but all the power of 
 my foes can only reach my body—their poor, weak.efforts 
 cannot reach a jot further, they cannot touch the safety 
 and joy of my soul. I have life in Jesus. In Jesus I am 
 more than conqueror, and my victory cannot be marred 
 in the smallest degree by the power of the world or the 
 weight of my chains. If I die for the faith of Christ, 
 Jesus, through Him [I shall receive everlasting life (Rom. 
 vill. 16, 17). Where is the peril in my death? where the 
 pain of my sufferings? where the triumph of my perse- 
 eutors (1 Cor. xv. 55—57)? To me to live is Christ: He 
 is my unvarying Hope, my Comfort, my Guide: He is 
 my Life, and my death for his sake will be ineffable gain. 
 I welcome that death which my persecutors are thinking 
 to inflict upon me, and I will receive it with joy. I expect 
 it with peace: ‘Our light affliction, which is but for a 
 
APPENDIX. 191 
 
 moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory.” I know my Jesus—I desire to go to 
 Him: He is the Good Shepherd, and knows his sheep. 
 He is the Just One, at whose tribunal we must all stand, 
 and to his justice I appeal. I do not waver in my course 
 —TI shall never waver. Chains and torments do not alarm 
 me: Jesus is my shield, and these imprisonments and 
 sorrows, which slay the body, do not enchain my. soul, 
 nor change my constant happiness. I am free—Jesus has 
 made me free. He is my joy and my liberty, and all the 
 pomp and power of the world cannot deprive me of this 
 treasure. 
 
 I am free, because I have cast myself into the arms of 
 Jesus ; I am happy, because I follow his footsteps; there- 
 fore I urge you to leave the way of error, and to fly to 
 Him to save you. 
 
 Judge, dear friends, of the greatness of your peril, 
 and think seriously of the value of the blood of Jesus— 
 the blood that cleanses us from all sin, the blood of recon- 
 ciliation. Do not trust to the erroneous doctrines of men. 
 Open the Book of Life, the oracles of God: raise your 
 heart to Him, pray that He would bless your reading, and 
 * you shall know the truth of God and his ways. 
 
 He who speaks to you from this prison is a poor sinner, 
 an entirely unprofitable servant; he is nothing, can do 
 nothing, is worth nothing; but he receives the sweet yoke 
 of Jesus with infinite joy, for his yoke is life; and not 
 for our merits or good works, but through his merits are 
 we blessed, and it is to Him that I entreat you to come, 
 and not to the Church of Rome. As I write these words, 
 dear friends, a feeling of deep and profound love in Jesus 
 animates me. The echo of my poor, weak voice is very 
 low and feeble; but this is nothing. Forget him that 
 speaks. I am the least, the unworthiest, the last of the 
 Christian Spaniards who are suffering for the love of the 
 Redeemer of the world. But do not forget what I say: 
 I do not desire that you should admire my poor words, 
 
5 ‘ 
 
 192 APPENDIX:. 
 
 but I entreat you to seek Jesus; I beseech you to seek 
 Him in all his regenerating truth; to despise the world 
 that would lead you astray, and to follow the footsteps of 
 Him who shed his blood to give you life, and who will 
 lead you to the heavenly Jerusalem. 
 
 Perchance these truthful and humble words of mine 
 may call forth an indignant answer. Perchance you will 
 call my sincere decision an apostaey—perchance you will 
 call me hard names; but, in any case, [ freely forgive, as 
 I have forgiven with my whole heart all my bitterest 
 enemies ; but before you decide, I entreat you to consider 
 what I have said, and the spirit in which I have said it. 
 Accept the expression of the earnest love of him who 
 prays the Lord to enlighten you, and subscribes himself, | 
 
 Your servant and your friend, . 
 
 Manvet Matamoros. 
 
 Prison of the Audiencia, Granada, 
 28th August, 1862. 
 
 Huarritp, Printer, Lonpox. 
 
atlemorials 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LAST DAYS AND DEATH 
 
 OF 
 
 MANUEL MATAMOROS. 
 
 *¢ He being dead yet speaketh,”’ 
 
 
 
Tuose readers who have followed us in the previous 
 narrative, which detailed the conversion, the subse- 
 quent “bonds and imprisonments,” and the “ good 
 confession’ of Manuel Matamoros, will linger with 
 a saddened interest over these ‘ MmmoriAus,” which 
 tell of his work of faith and labour of love during 
 the period subsequent to his liberation from the 
 Prison of the Audiencia, at Granada. “ For the 
 space of three years he ceased not” to spend his 
 strength in that cause so dear to his heart—the 
 evangelization of his countrymen. 
 
 In these concluding pages will be found the par- 
 ticulars of our beloved friend’s declining days, and 
 the record of his departure to that better land con- 
 cerning which he said, “I shall live in the midst of 
 that joy unceasing, of that peace, and of that love, 
 which I have sought in vain on earth.”’ 
 
 Wat 
 
IN FAVOUR WITH THE JAILOR. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A VISIT TO THE PRISON AT GRANADA.—THE DEPUTATION 
 ’ OF THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 
 
 It was arranged by our loving Heavenly Father, that 
 in the spring of 1863, and about two years and nine 
 months after our beloved brother had been impri- 
 soned at Barcelona, I was enabled to pay him a visit 
 in the prison at Granada. A short time before this 
 his confinement had been made a little less irk- 
 some by the goodness of God, who, as in the case 
 of Joseph, caused the jailor to become favourable to 
 him. It appears that the wife of the jailor was very 
 sick, and in his trouble the husband came and 
 humbled himself to Matamoros, who, touched by his 
 sorrowful story, promised to pray for the poor 
 woman. The Lord graciously heard the prayer, and 
 she was soon restored to health. This occurrence 
 was the means of bringing about a great change in 
 his conduct to Matamoros, who from this time had 
 liberty within the prison. The prisoners used to 
 take off their hats to him when he passed, and he 
 was respected and beloved by all, but by none more 
 than by the jailor himself, who, desirous of showing 
 him some special act of favour, offered to give him 
 any one,of the prisoners as a servant to wait on him 
 
* 
 
 196 FIRST MEETING WITH MATAMOROS. 
 
 in prison. He chose one of the greatest criminals 
 for this service, and before long this man, who was im- 
 prisoned for murder, heard from the martyr’s lips the 
 wondrous story of the love of Jesus, which touched 
 his hard heart; and he became a believer in that blood 
 that cleanseth from sin, even when of the deepest 
 dye, and he was from that time not only a happy man 
 himself, and enabled unmoved to look forward to his 
 severe punishment at the galleys, but he also became 
 a faithful and loving attendant on our afflicted brother, 
 and relieved the tedium of his solitude. 
 
 On arriving at the prison I was at once admitted 
 to the cell of Matamoros, whom I now saw for the 
 first time, after a correspondence which had lasted 
 nearly three years. The time that we spent in that 
 never-to-be-forgotten cell was, as can be well ima- 
 gined, a period of extreme joy to us both. We were 
 soon in each other’s arms, experiencing the happi- 
 ness that loving hearts feel under such circum- 
 stances—hearts joined and made one in Jesus, 
 brought to know each other through the agency of 
 God’s Holy Spirit, and sustained in that relation by 
 the same Spirit. } 
 
 Through the kindness of English Christians, I 
 had had the pleasure of alleviating his sufferings ; 
 and large sums of money had been sent for him and 
 the other prisoners at’ Granada and Malaga by my- 
 self and other friends. This amount during the long 
 period of their imprisonment cannot have been less 
 than a thousand pounds, and was intended also to 
 pay a part of the law expenses, and to help the 
 families of the persecuted. : 
 
 
 
A GROSS-BEARER. 197 
 
 Knowing, as I did, that this money had all passed 
 through Manuel’s hands, I was prepared to find in 
 the prison some few comforts; but in this I was 
 quite mistaken. I pictured to myself our Christians 
 in London, who many of them are in affluent circum- 
 stances, and in many cases surrounded by luxuries ; 
 but, thank God, the religion of Matamoros was more 
 in conformity with the type presented to us by the 
 Christ of the Evangelists. His beautiful hair was 
 neglected; his trousers, which had been much worn 
 at the knees through kneeling on the rough flags of 
 his cell, were mended by his own hands; there was 
 no sofa, no easy chair. On a small table was a huge 
 pile of letters, papers, etc. Seldom have I been in a 
 more melancholy apartment, yet never in a more 
 hallowed one. All I saw was more apostolic than 
 anything that I have witnessed before or since, and 
 preached a sermon not easily to be effaced from my 
 mind. 
 
 When, afterwards, I aegked the families of the 
 persecuted if they had received sufficient for their 
 wants, they quickly replied— 
 
 “Oh, we have all had enough. You do not know 
 Don Manuel; he has given all to us, and kept 
 nothing for himself.” 
 
 I am constrained to say, that in all his ways he 
 more closely imitated the blessed Saviour than did 
 any other man I ever knew. Let us thank God 
 that He has permitted us, in these days of formality 
 and deadness, when selfishness seems to have taken 
 such a strong hold on our hearts’ best affections, 
 to see, in this dear disciple, some few living traits 
 
q 
 
 and characteristics of Him who said, “The foxes 
 have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but 
 the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.” 
 
 The short time that I was enabled to be with him 
 in the prison was most precious and profitable to us 
 both. I found out that he scarcely ever ate anything 
 with appetite. His tears were his meat day and 
 night. I fancied that if I could join him at his 
 dinner he might eat with more comfort. I therefore 
 had some food brought from the hotel, and, after a 
 long and most interesting morning of sweetest com- 
 munion, we sat down to the table which our blessed 
 Father had spread for us in this memorable spot. — 
 How it rejoiced my heart to see this dear afflicted © 
 one forget for a time his sorrow, and eat, as he told 
 me, with more appetite and relish than he had done 
 for many a day before. I am one who believes in 
 the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sims, and 
 the life everlasting. I believe and enjoy all these 
 things now. 
 
 198 THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 
 
 After this, our time was spent in going all over 
 the prison, speaking with many of the prisoners, 
 visiting the cells of Alhama and Trigo, and seeing 
 in the upper part of the prison the place where 
 Matamoros had spent such weeks of terrible solitary 
 confinement as nearly cost him his life. He paused 
 long in telling me all about this; impressing on me 
 what it was for one like him, with a heart full of 
 love, to be shut out for weeks from all who were 
 dear to him; to have his correspondence intercepted ; 
 to be seized with a burning fever, and have no doctor 
 to attend, no friend to soothe, no one to give even a 
 
A MEETING IN HIS CELL. 199 
 
 cup of cold water. But such was his lot, and he 
 dragged this chain for many weeks alone. No Silas 
 was with him during this period, but One was there 
 who more than supplied his place, even Jesus, the 
 Faithful Promiser, who has said, “Lo, Jam with you 
 alway, even to the end,” and who kept his word. 
 
 While here, and in great bitterness of spirit, 
 Matamoros wrote on the wall some verses of poetry, 
 which I read with deep interest. They had the fire, 
 the zeal, and the talent, that characterized all his cor- 
 respondence, and many times since have I regretted 
 that I did not take a copy of them. Alas, what is 
 our life, but a great blank of duties neglected, of 
 sympathies unheeded and refused, of dry eyes where 
 tears were called for, and of hard stony hearts when 
 tenderness was needed! Alas, alas, what unprofit- 
 able servants we are, and how far, O Jesus, from the 
 standard of thy bright loving example! 
 
 We were permitted to have Alhama and Trigo, 
 Matamoros’s mother, and two others, with us in 
 our brother’s cell. We read the Scriptures together, 
 and he prayed with extraordinary fervour. Prayer 
 with him appeared to be a mighty struggle, a con- 
 tinued supplication, into which he threw the full 
 powers of his mind, and soon convinced the friends 
 who were present of the immense difference there 
 was between it and the formal petitions which many 
 of us offer; as, indeed, there is also between our 
 lukewarm lives and his burning, unceasing zeal and 
 activity. Our chapter on this occasion was Romans 
 vili., which was his favourite portion, and on which 
 he seemed to feed continually. We obeyed our dear 
 
200 THE DEPUTATION OF 
 
 Lord’s command at the same time, and, in remem- 
 brance of his love to us, celebrated his supper. 
 
 On the whole, the two days I spent here were 
 - delightful to myself, and most profitable to dear Matn- 
 moros, and to all; but my visit was short, for, from 
 prudential motives as well as from other causes, my — 
 time was limited; but I had seen the man whom I 
 loved and admired so much, and truly there is nothing 
 like seeing. God keeps this great joy in store for us, 
 to see Jesus, whom having not seen we love, and to 
 see Himself and the lovely place He has prepared 
 for us. ; 
 
 After the last loving embrace, we parted, and as 
 I descended the hill from the prison, I saw this dear 
 witness for Jesus stretching out his arms between _ 
 the bars of his window to wave to me his last 
 farewell. Oh, how indelibly is impressed upon my 
 memory that noble countenance, beaming with love, 
 from behind that grim, lugubrious grating. The 
 contrast will be all the more striking to those who 
 have come out of such great tribulation, and have 
 washed their robes and made them white in the 
 blood of the Lamb. “ Therefore are they before the 
 throne of God, and serve Him day and night im his 
 temple.” ee shall indeed ‘‘ wipe away all tears bitte 
 their eyes.” 
 
 THE DEPUTATION OF THE EVANGELICAL 
 ALLIANCE, 
 
 The Evangelical Alliance, finding that the efforts 
 of the British Parliament had no effect in obtaining 
 from the Queen of Spain the liberation of Matamoros 
 
 
 
THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 201 
 
 and his companions, and that the mission of General 
 Alexander was alike unproductive of fruit, deter- 
 mined on sending to Madrid a Huropean deputation, 
 composed of some of the leading Christian men from 
 the following countries, whose names are affixed 
 
 below. 
 NAMES OF DEPUTIES. 
 
 | AUSTRIA). ...0,.. Baron Von Riese Stallburg. 
 BEN RBIAS sce Pastor W. Tretzel. 
 DENMARK ...... M. A. L. Brandt. 
 ENGLAND ...... Samuel Gurney, Col. J. G. Walker, John 
 
 Hodgkin, Esq., R. W. Fox, HEsq., John 
 Finch, Hsq., Joseph Cooper, Esq., Rev. 
 Dr. Steane, Rev. H. Schmettau. 
 
 BRANCH \..c55s00 Count Edmond de Pourtales, Pastor G. Monod, 
 M. George André, Baron L. de Bussiére. 
 
 HOLLAND ...... Baron K. F. de Lynden, Dr. A. Capadose, 
 M. Van Loon. 
 
 PBUSSENG Hi. on Capt. Von Kluber, Henry XIII. Prince Reuss, 
 Count Von Behr Negendauk. 
 
 SWITZERLAND... M. Adrien Naville. 
 
 SWEDEN ......... Baron Hans Essen. 
 
 But before reaching this stage in its organization 
 months were consumed in meetings, consultations, 
 and the interchange of communications between the 
 committees of the Protestant and LHvangelical 
 Alliances, until at length the time drew on when 
 the case would be finally disposed of by the Spanish 
 Judges. About this time, the Rev. Dr. Steane ad- 
 dressed to Major-General Alexander a remarkable 
 letter entitled “The Persecution in Spain,” which 
 was published by Messrs. Nisbet, and which increased 
 the sympathies of many in this interesting Mission. 
 The local committees of the Hvangelical Alliance at 
 
202 THE POWER OF PRAYER, — 
 
 Edinburgh, Glasgow, Carlisle, Dublin, ete., met and 
 
 sent resolutions to the London committee, protesting 
 against further delay. The Foreign Secretary, the 
 Rev. H. Schmettau, whose unwearied diligence in 
 corresponding with individuals and committees in 
 
 almost all parts of the Continent, entitles him to the 
 
 highest praise, was continually receiving letters to 
 the same effect, showing that foreign Protestants 
 were everywhere expecting the summons, and holding 
 themselves in readiness to obey it. And it was at 
 this period, that Sir Culling Eardley published his 
 letter to the Earl of Roden, in which he explained 
 the cause of the delay, and the course intended to be 
 pursued. That course was at length adopted, and 
 it was determined to organize the deputation, A 
 special committee was appointed to carry the reso- 
 lution into effect, Sir Culling Eardley being the 
 chairman, Lord Calthorpe treasurer, Revs. Dr. Steane 
 and H. Schmetitau its secretaries, and everything was 
 done which the emergency required. 
 
 This work was commenced and carried on through 
 allits stages with prayer. Often the difficulties were 
 so formidable and the discouragements so great, that 
 the only hope which could be indulged, lay in the 
 belief that importunate and united prayer would not be 
 offered in vain. It was not forgotten thatit was while 
 the church was praying that Peter was liberated, and 
 as that fact stands in the sacred page to show to the 
 followers of Christ in all ages where, amidst the 
 furious persecutions of the ungodly, their great 
 strength lies, so let the story which these pages 
 record find a place for the same blessed end, and as a 
 
 
 
THE DEPUTATION IN MADRID. 203 
 
 further testimony to the glory of God, in the annals 
 of the modern Church.* 
 
 On Tuesday, May 19, 1863, with the ets excep- 
 tion of the Harl of Aberdeen, the English members of 
 the deputation had all arrived at Madrid, as also had 
 the majority of the deputies from the other Huropean 
 nations. The English members lost no time in waiting 
 upon Mr. Hdwards, the Chargé d’ Affaires at the British 
 Embassy, Sir John Crampton, the English ambas- 
 sador, being then absent. The strong impression left 
 by the interview was, that the deputation had little 
 to expect from this quarter, and it was afterwards 
 found to be shared by the deputation of ‘‘ Friends,” to 
 whom Mr. Edwards had also stated his strong dis- 
 approval of the. course which the prisoners had 
 taken, that of appealing against their sentence—and 
 especially of the independent tone with which, in their 
 appeal, they had poneroatsd on the persecuting laws 
 of Spain. 
 
 Two of the deputies had also a private interview 
 with the Duke de Montpensier, who gave them some 
 good advice as to the best course to pursue, and who 
 said that he himself was an advocate for religious 
 liberty, and that in consequence of his conduct in 
 this business, he had been charged by his friends 
 about the court with being a Protestant. He was 
 nevertheless a sincere Catholic, but as in England, 
 
 * For a full account of all the proceedings of the Evangelical 
 Alliance in the matter of this deputation, see the pamphlet 
 entitled “ Narrative of the Proceedings of the Deputation to 
 Madrid in behalf of the Spanish Prisoners. By Edward Steane, 
 D.D.” Nisbet. 
 
204 THE COMMUTATION OF SENTENCE. 
 
 which is a Protestant country, he himself enjoyed 
 perfect liberty of public worship, and was treated 
 with full consideration in all that affected his faith 
 both by Queen Victoria and by her subjects, so he 
 desired that Protestants in a Catholic country might 
 enjoy like privileges. ; | 
 
 Soon after this the deputation met to consider 
 the propriety of seeking an audience with the Queen 
 of Spain, and also as to the mode of making their 
 desire known to her Majesty. On the latter point, 
 the meeting was much guided by Count Stallburgh, 
 Chamberlain to the Emperor of Austria, and Baron | 
 Von Lynden, Chamberlain to the King of Holland, 
 who stated the usages of their courts; and as there 
 seemed little probability that an audience would be 
 asked for the deputation through diplomatic channels, 
 it was resolved to ask for it through the Queen’s 
 Major Domo. On this very evening, however, as M. 
 H. Schmettau was returning home, hearing an even- 
 ing paper called La Oorrespondencia cried in the 
 streets, he bought one, and there read the announce- 
 ment that the Government had commuted the 
 sentence on Matamoros and his companions to 
 banishment, for the same length of time as the 
 prisoners had been condemned to imprisonment with 
 hard labour. 
 
 On finding this sudden and remarkable change 
 in the sentence, much discussion arose as to what 
 should be the line of action now taken by the 
 deputies, and they decided that first an address to the 
 Queen should be prepared, to be signed by all the 
 members of the deputation, stating, that while they 
 
 
 
DEATH OF SIR CULLING EARDLEY. 205 
 
 felt thankful to God that her Majesty had mitigated 
 the sentence under which our brethren were suffering, 
 they had much more to claim respectfully at her 
 hands, and that they begged to be allowed to leave 
 with her Majesty the petitions they had brought with 
 them, in which the views and principles of the 
 large bodies of Christians, in the different countries 
 of Hurope who had sent them, would be found defe- 
 rentially and explicitly stated. Secondly, that a letter 
 should be written, in the name of the deputation, to 
 Matamoros and his fellow-sufferers, congratulating 
 them on the mitigation of the terrible punishment 
 to which they had been sentenced, and offering them 
 affectionate and Christian counsel and sympathy. Dr. 
 Capadose and the Rev. H. Schmettau were requested 
 to draft a letter to Matamoros, and M. A. Naville, 
 M. Van Loon, Count Kanitz, Pastor William Monod, 
 and Dr. Steane, were appointed to prepare the 
 address to the Queen. 
 
 After the meeting broke up at which these mea- 
 sures were adopted, a telegram was received, com- 
 municating the distressing intelligence of the death 
 of Sir Culling Hardley, president of the Evangelical 
 Alliance, who from the first had taken the deepest 
 interest in the case. It is as impossible, as it is 
 unnecessary, to describe the deep gloom which this 
 event threw over the deputation. Many tears of 
 _ sincere affection and sorrow were shed ; many prayers 
 of profound submission to the holy will of God, and 
 of sympathy with the bereaved family, were. offered 
 up; and the subsequent meetings for business and for 
 devotion were all shaded as with the solemnities of 
 
206 PRESENTATION TO THE QUEEN OF SPAIN. 
 
 the eternal world, and saddened with the sense of an 
 irreparable loss. 
 
 At the next meeting the draft-letter eee the 
 Queen was produced, carefully considered, and 
 approved, as well as the one for Matamoros, which 
 was ordered to be forwarded to him. Just at this 
 crisis, Count Edmond de Pourtales and Baron de 
 Bussicére arrived as deputies from Paris. These 
 noblemen waited at once on the French Ambassador, 
 and placed the whole matter of the deputation before 
 him. He at once undertook the difficult and delicate 
 mission of presenting the letter to the Queen. Thus 
 the last difficulty was in a most unexpected manner 
 removed. Nothing could have been more opportune 
 than the coming of the two French noblemen just 
 when they did; and it will always stand as one re- 
 markable proof, among many others, of God’s gracious 
 smile on that errand of love which had taken the 
 deputation to Spain, and of his providential guidance 
 of their measures. 
 
 The Prussian members of the deputation had been 
 in communication with the Government on the sub- 
 ject of their being admitted to the royal presence to 
 deliver the message and letter from the King of 
 Prussia, and from the Prussian Queen Dowager, and 
 in this they ultimately succeeded, though under restric- 
 tions as to any reference to the objects of the deputa- 
 tion. They mentioned that when, during the interview, 
 Prince Reuss seemed as if approaching the obnoxious 
 subject, the Marquis of Miraflores immediately inter- 
 posed, and turned the conversation to another topic. 
 It appeared also that the commutation of the sen- 
 
 
 
LETTER TO THE QUEEN. 207 
 
 tence had been hastened, in order that it might be 
 accomplished before the presentation of these dis- 
 tinguished persons to the Queen could take place. 
 It should further be stated that as a token of respect 
 _ tothe deputies, and as at least an implied recogni- 
 tion of their part in the matter, the act of commuta- 
 tion, signed by the Queen herself, was sent by the 
 Premier to the Prussian Deputies for their more 
 entire satisfaction in reference to the attainment of 
 the object of their mission. They were also assured 
 that the prisoners at Malaga, as well as those in the 
 city of Granada, were included in the mitigated 
 sentence. 
 
 Soon after this the letter of the deputation to the 
 Queen was conveyed by Baron de Bussiéres and the 
 Count de Pourtales to the Marquis of Miraflores at 
 Aranjuez. He promised to lay it before her Majesty, 
 and consented to receive at his house in Madrid the 
 various petitions and addresses from different coun- 
 tries, and to inform the Queen of their contents. A 
 copy of the letter to the Queen appeared in The 
 Times of June 3. In the meetings for worship held 
 by the deputation at Madrid, and scarcely less in 
 those for the transaction of business, they were often 
 constrained to acknowledge the manifest presence of 
 the promised Comforter, for to his divine power 
 alone could they ascribe it, that their hearts were so 
 drawn together, that their embarrassments were so 
 gently cleared away, and that their conclusions, 
 though previously discussed with unrestrained liberty 
 of opinion and of speech, were ultimately adopted 
 with perfect unanimity. And as they thus met in 
 
208 MATAMOROS’S UNSELFISHNESS. 
 
 the charity of the Gospel, so they at length parted 
 with augmented mutual respect, and cherishing that 
 love for each other whichis the greatest of the Chris- 
 tian graces, and the most precious because the most 
 enduring fruit of the Spirit. Nor, finally, can the 
 fact be suppressed, that they were thus enabled to 
 realize and to manifest in Spain, that most intolerant 
 of the Papal nations, and in the face of the whole 
 observant hierarchy of Rome, the*true unity of the 
 Church of Christ—a unity not more blessed in itself 
 than it will ultimately be seen to be powerful, when 
 in that universal manifestation which it is one day 
 destined to attain, it shall overthrow every antagonis- 
 tic force and hold forth the crowning demonstration 
 that Jesus is the Christ until, in his own words, “ the 
 world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” | 
 
 It was eminently characteristic of dear Manuel’s 
 large-hearted unselfishness that when the news of his 
 owu safety from his severe sentence was telegraphed 
 to him, he instantly flashed back the question— 
 ** And the brothers at Malaga Pp” 
 
 
 
VIEWS OF FRIENDS. 209 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 MATAMOROS’S RELEASE FROM PRISON. 
 
 In a memorandum which our brother has left among 
 his papers we find some interesting notes on the 
 manner of his release from his long confinement at 
 Granada, which we give in his own words :— 
 
 ‘In the month of May, 1863, I was sentenced to 
 nine years at the galleys. It was afterwards thought 
 that this sentence might be changed into nine years 
 of banishment. My own wish was not to have any 
 alteration at allin the original sentence, nor to ask 
 for pardon from Queen Isabella. An excellent friend 
 to me and my work in Spain wrote to me some 
 months before, saying, ‘You ought not to ask for 
 anything, nor to admit of any alteration in the sen- 
 tence pronounced, as you have been now finally 
 sentenced to the galleys,’ and my own sentiments on 
 the matter were entirely in accordance with this 
 advice. Nevertheless, the general opmion of my 
 friends was of a contrary nature. All wished that I 
 should accept the commutation of the sentence, so 
 when the royal order was communicated to me [ 
 accepted the matter, so as not to place myself in 
 opposition to my friends’ wishes and not to prejudice 
 my dear fellow-prisoners. 
 
 p 
 
“216 DEPARTURE FROM GRANADA, 
 
 = 
 
 “The immediate consequence of this commutation 
 in the sentence was that my liberation from the 
 prison of Granada took place at five o’clock in the 
 morning of the 29th May, 1863, and I was accom- 
 panied by the Serjeant of the Civil Guard, Antonio 
 Perez Oriviola. My journey from Granada to Malaga 
 I accomplished by the diligence, accompanied by 
 
 Trigo, Alhama, and their two daughters, and by the 
 
 wife of the former. The conditions that the Serjeant 
 of the Civil Guard fixed before consenting to allow us 
 to travel by diligence were :— Fist. That a carriage 
 should take us from the gates of the prison to the 
 distance of half a league from the town, and that 
 another should wait outside Malaga,so as toprevent any 
 public manifestations in either of these towns. Second. 
 That we must take all the seats in the diligence. 
 Third. That I should pay for the seats of the Civil 
 Guard to Malaga and back to Granada. Jowrth. 
 That once in the diligence I must not get out before 
 arriving at Malaga, and if I was hungry 1 must eat 
 in the diligence. Jifth. That none of the public 
 papers of Granada, or of any other part of Spain, 
 should mention about our deliverance. Such were 
 the principal conditions, and there were other unim- 
 portant ones not added. 
 
 ‘“‘ We arrived at Malaga at half-past seven o’clock 
 the same evening. The Serjeant of the Civil Guard 
 
 behaved very well to us, showing us much attention, 
 
 He appeared to be a worthy and educated man, never 
 unnecessarily displaying his authority, but doing all 
 in his power to be agreeable to us, and at the same 
 time to fulfil his obligations. Indeed, on the whole 
 
 
 
 a 
 a 
 
 a rt 
 i 
 a 
 q 
 i: 
 & 
 - 
 
FROM MALAGA TO GIBRALTAR. OVL 
 
 he appeared to sympathize with us. We arrived 
 safely, but dreadfully tired. Nothing important 
 happened by the way, with the exception of the con- 
 duct of the last guard we had when entering into 
 Malaga, who was drunk and. was very impertinent to 
 us; but this was of small importance.” 
 
 After sleeping at the prison at Malaga they pro- 
 ceeded to Gibraltar, according to orders received from 
 Madrid. From the same paper we extract the 
 following :— 
 
 “ At four o’clock in the evening the public prison 
 of Malaga was filled with police. The commissary 
 and the turnkeys were waiting for us. Our sortie 
 from the prison was managed with much prudence 
 on the part of the authorities. We were each one of 
 us led to the port by a single policeman, and each one 
 through a different street in the town of Malaga, and 
 thus arrived at the place where we were to embark. 
 The Mole was filled with people ; many were waiting 
 for us there. ‘The boat left the shore at six in the 
 evening, and I left my beloved Malaga; but oh, how 
 my heart bled as I left the shore of my fatherland! . 
 
 “ At nine o’clock in the evening the ship of war 
 * Alerta,’ in which we were, started on her way to 
 Gibraltar. They gave us good places on board, and 
 during the journey we received many kind attentions. 
 We arrived at Gibraltar on the 3lst of May, at nine 
 in the morning.” 
 
 After passing a few days there he determined on 
 visiting England, and embarked for London on the 
 22nd June, 1863, at an early hour of the morning. 
 Of this he says :— 
 
212 VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. he 
 
 “The first day on board I passed tolerably, but 
 on the second I found myself unwell from head to 
 foot, and with this many sorrowful recollections came 
 into my mind, as well as lamentable meditations and 
 impressions, making my fatiguing journey sadder 
 still. Yes, but all this was necessary ; 1t was indis- 
 pensable to sacrifice all, all, all, for that holy work, 
 the evangelization of Spain, for the temporal and 
 
 spiritual wants of my dear friends, and in connection 
 
 with everything that had to do with my poor and 
 unfortunate country.” 
 
 After a rough passage along the coast of Spain 
 and Portugal, they experienced finer weather across” 
 the Bay of Biscay, but nevertheless he appears to 
 have suffered much. He adds :— , 
 
 “Finally we came in sight of England. What 
 joy ; what profound delight for all the Englishmen 
 on board. The most unspeakable delight was painted 
 on the countenance of each one, and they all, as if 
 drunk with pleasure, came to point me out that 
 handful of land that loomed in the distance,’ exclaim- 
 ing, ‘England! England!’ We gradually neared the 
 shore. 1 had formed a very unfavourable idea of the 
 vegetation of England, fancying that it was poor and 
 feeble ; but my surprise was great when I discerned 
 from the vessel that, on the contrary, it was luxuriant, 
 _ healthy, and very lovely. On entering a little farther 
 inland we saw the country more clearly. It was the 
 Isle of Wight; and now for the first time I saw an 
 English town. On the 30th June we reached the 
 mouth of the Thames. What a lovely aspect pre- 
 sented itself before me; what a delightful impres- 
 
 
 
RECEPTION IN ENGLAND. 218 
 
 sion it made on my mind; and what poetry filled 
 my soul on that beautiful morning! As we pro- 
 ceeded up the river the stream became narrower, and 
 every turn brought before us something agreeable to 
 look upon.” 
 
 At length our dear brother arrived at London, 
 and remained there about a fortnight. Huis reception 
 was, unfortunately, very far from what his true friends 
 wished to give him, but all was permitted by Him 
 who giveth not account of any of his matters. 
 
 We cannot look back to this period of dear 
 Manuel’s history without feeling that the fire of 
 persecution was hotter, or, at least, the fogs of intoler- 
 ance and misunderstanding were darker and heavier 
 around him at this time than ever before. It is a 
 mournful page in the history of our Hnglish Chris- 
 tianity, and we gladly turn it over, leaving to Him 
 who hath said “‘ There is nothing hid that shall not 
 be revealed,” to show in his own good time how pure 
 and single-eyed was dear Manuel in all his dealings, 
 and also how severely he suffered at the hands of 
 some from whom he expected love and support. 
 
ts 
 
 214 A SPANISH COLLEGE CONTEMPLATED. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WORK AT LAUSANNE.—PREPARATIONS FOR EVANGELIZING 
 SPAIN.—WORK ORGANIZED AT PAU, BAYONNE, AND 
 BOURDEAUX. o 
 
 To give some idea of the labours of our brother after 
 
 his release from prison, an extract from a statement 
 
 of his own is here imtroduced. This will put the 
 
 reader in possession of many facts that will show 
 
 the nature and importance of the undertakings which — 
 
 were commenced in France and Switzerland, ae 
 carried on with most blessed results. 
 
 ‘When once the prison doors were opened to the 
 prisoners, and when persecution ceased in Spain, the 
 first thought that occupied the minds of the exiles 
 was to continue the work begun, profiting by the 
 experience of the past and preparing for the even- 
 tualities of the future. As there are many appear- 
 ances that the day is near at hand when liberty of 
 worship will be granted, we have been led to prepare 
 ourselves, and also to prepare our youth. When I 
 left Spain the first thing that was laid on my mind 
 in a particular way was the creation of a Spanish 
 college for that portion of our young men who should 
 feel disposed to prepare themselves by theological 
 studies; a fitting place was soon fixed upon in 
 
 
 
WORK AT BAYONNE AND LAUSANNE. 215 
 
 Hrance, and we commenced with six young Spanish 
 pupils. At the same time one of our young perse- 
 cuted brethren went to Switzerland, where, being 
 already far advanced in knowledge, he was enabled 
 to devote his time to the more serious studies, while 
 in France I began to prepare myself for everything 
 that my future position might call me to undertake. 
 
 “ During this period, the work in the interior of 
 Spain advanced with fresh vigour, and its results 
 were visible in many ways; and now this implacable 
 persecution, by means of which our enemies expected 
 entirely to destroy our work, had, on the contrary, 
 only opened a new future, by preparing public opinion 
 (which generally is favourable to toleration), to re- 
 cognize the cause of the persecuted, and to take 
 an interest in them. Our beloved brothers at 
 boldly put themselves at the head of the work, which 
 began to be extended and consolidated. Besides 
 this, the creation of a college in France filled them 
 with joy, which was increased when they learned 
 that some were thinking of founding, at Lausanne, 
 an institution which was intended to afford oppor- 
 tunities for supplementing and completing the studies 
 of the youth from Bayonne, where the teaching was 
 more of an elementary character. The work at 
 Lausanne was inaugurated at the beginning with only 
 six young people, but afterwards its numbers were 
 increased. 
 
 
 
 “The well-disposed among our youth in Spain 
 appeared to vie with one another in their emulation 
 to be among the number of the future preachers of 
 the gospel in their country, and fathers and children. 
 
= 
 216 REPORT OF PASTOR CURRIE. 
 
 both gave many manifest proofs of this fact. It is 
 not difficult to observe the rapid progress that the 
 Spirit of God has given to this blessed work. The 
 number of converts in Spain has increased consider- 
 ably, as have also their means of labouring, and the 
 interior organization of the churches has guaranteed 
 solid and positive progress. But in order that you 
 may have a good idea of the same, I will cite some 
 passages from an important report made by Pastor 
 Currie to the Paris committee, of which he was the — 
 representative, subsequent to his visit last year to the 
 churches in Spain. The following is a part of his 
 report :— 
 
 “On arriving at ——, all the friends there 
 received me with the greatest cordiality, Hvery one, 
 from the directing body down to the humblest Chris- 
 tian, appeared desirous of being useful to me, and 
 of anticipating my wishes. Often from morning till 
 evening have I been engaged in receiving and paying 
 visits, my friends wishing to accompany me wherever 
 I went. There exists in this place a congregation of © 
 three hundred members, whose names have been 
 given to me. This congregation is thoroughly well 
 organized, as you will hereafter see. A committee 
 composed of six individuals, who are. all sincere 
 Christians, and who are both capable and prudent, 
 manage the work, under the superintendence of 
 our brother Matamoros, who is recognized and loved 
 as the founder, the father, and spiritual director of 
 this body. This committee holds its regular sessions, 
 which are opened and closed with prayer; its acts 
 are duly registered in a book, which I examined. 
 
 
 
if 
 
 THE REFORMED CHURCH. Die 
 
 Political discussion is strictly forbidden. With the 
 exception of ten evangelists or missionaries, who are 
 labouring for the dissemination of the Scriptures and 
 of Scripture truth, the remainder of the congregation 
 are quite ignorant of the names of the persons who 
 form the committee. Sometimes, in cases of emer- 
 gency, the committee invites the other evangelists to 
 be present at their meeting, so as to obtain their 
 advice and to have the assistance of their judgment. 
 These missionaries are, for the greater part, young 
 men of exemplary conduct, intelligent, and filled with 
 zealous and noble sentiments. These, after their 
 daily avocations are finished, seize every propitious 
 
 - occasion to combat the errors of the Church of Rome, 
 
 and to preach the truth. These dear friends have as 
 yet but a limited knowledge of the Scriptures ; but, 
 nevertheless, such as they are, the evangelists of —— 
 interest. me much, for while they do not dishonour the 
 name they profess, they act faithfully to the extent of 
 their light and their faith. 
 
 «These young men are, so to speak, self-taught, 
 for they have neither a pastor to instruct nor books 
 to enlighten them. Every Sunday morning, they 
 form small gatherings in different parts of the town, 
 where they preach the truth; and afterwards, when 
 among their audiences they observe people sufficiently 
 convinced of the errors of Romanism, and who are 
 living a good life, they ask them to join the Reformed 
 Church. Indeed, sometimes the demand is sponta- 
 neous on the part of the listeners, and needs not to 
 be provoked. In such cases,. the person who wishes 
 to be received has to sign a request to that effect 
 
218 SATISFACTORY CONDITION OF THE 
 
 addressed to the committee. The evangelist presents 
 this, and, if there be no opposition, the Ps is 
 admitted. 
 
 “<During my sojourn at ped scien . 
 assisted at the committee meetings, and on each 
 occasion, two, four, six, and even seven propositions 
 
 
 
 for admittance, were presented. In receiving these 
 
 new members, I believe that the committee makes 
 few mistakes. They know that the faith and walk 
 of the neophytes are still weak, and that they 
 need instruction ; but being once convinced of the 
 sincerity of the step they have taken, of the fervency 
 of their desires, and uprightness of their conduct, — 
 the course of the committee is easy. These brethren 
 are received, and the committee look forward to 
 seeing them progress in their spiritual career, and 
 in the love and knowledge of their Saviour. Every 
 Sunday evening, the members of the committee, 
 together with some evangelists, meet for reading 
 and worship, when the Word of God is studied 
 and prayer is offered. All the functions of the 
 committee and of the evangelists are gratuitous, 
 and among them simplicity, brotherly love, and 
 peace abide. They seem to out-rival each other 
 in zeal, and display the greatest activity. These 
 churches are as yet quite in an incipient stage, 
 and much is wanting; yet, nevertheless, even as 
 matters now are, they have pleased me greatly, and 
 I ever wish to see them increase more and more, 
 not only in numbers, but also in that spiritual life 
 which is hid with Christ in God. The doctrines of 
 the gospel appear to have taken such deep root at — 
 
 
 
EER 
 
 INFANT CHURCH IN SPAIN. 219 
 
 
 
 , that from three to four thousand persons, it is 
 believed, would join the Reformed Church on the day 
 that religious liberty was proclaimed in Spain. 
 
 *¢* Besides the many visits that I paid to these 
 
 _ friends, I was also enabled on many occasions to cele- 
 
 brate divine worship, first with the members of the 
 committee and the evangelists united, and afterwards 
 with sundry individuals from among the groups to 
 whom the evangelists were in the habit of preaching. 
 On all occasions I remarked the most sustained atten- 
 tion, and a great thirst after truth on the part of the 
 hearers, who numbered from fifteen to twenty indi- 
 viduals. I also had the pleasure of having meetings 
 composed entirely of females. One evening there 
 were seventeen present, and had all who wished been 
 able to attend we should have had twenty-five. This 
 fact is, to my mind, most comforting; for not only 
 do they form the most living part of the Church, 
 as was explained to me, but, besides, as wives, 
 mothers of families, and Christians, they may, by 
 God’s grace, do much good, not only at home, but 
 all around.’ These were M. Currie’s words, written 
 in October, 1865. 
 
 “T shall now say a few words about an institu- 
 tion which I some time since had the pleasure of 
 founding here at Pau. Some years ago I had the 
 idea of forming an institution for young Spanish 
 women, the daughters of our Protestant brethren, 
 and to give them the education necessary to fit them 
 to serve the Lord in the different vocations he might 
 call them to occupy, whether as governesses, or 
 as wives and mothers. Different propositions from 
 
220 PROPOSED INSTITUTION AT PAU 
 
 Spain made to me in regard to this matter confirmed 
 
 me in my conviction that this project was approved 
 by God in connection with the work in Spain, and 
 would have his blessing. Consequently, immedi- 
 ately after my arrival at Pau, I communicated my 
 
 idea to Miss C——, who sympathized with me, and 
 
 who made it, from that time forward, the subject of 
 her constant prayers, as I did also; and it frequently 
 formed the subject of our conversations. I soon after 
 left Pau filled with this idea, which occupied my 
 thoughts, and I wrote a long letter to her from 
 Haux Bonnes, touching lightly on the different points 
 of the work in general. Part of my letter was as 
 follows :— 
 “<* Haus Bonnes, on the Rhine. 
 
 “¢The habits and customs in Spain are very 
 different to what, I am happy to observe, prevail here, 
 and they do not allow the same freedom in social 
 intercourse. On this account, and from other circum- 
 stances, there is a difficulty in obtaining access to 
 females in Spain for the purpose of announcing to 
 them the gospel of God’s grace. For this reason, this 
 great and delightful task (whose importance is: such 
 that we would willingly call it the heart of our work) 
 can only be carried on by females. But, through the 
 grace of God, this branch of our labour may become 
 
 one of the most solid bases on which our work 
 of evangelizing our beloved country may have its 
 
 foundation ; for in all places doors are open to women, 
 and they are always well received, whether they 
 come to sit down at the domestic hearth, or to 
 address the wife, the mother, or the unmarried 
 
 
 
 Fa evils pi aS Bek [en alee lt tint a lid ge hlgal Presa blac aa altel 
 
 Aaa yer 
 es 
 
 PPS 
 
FOR SPANISH WOMEN. 221 
 
 female. They have access everywhere, which is far 
 from being the case with the men. 
 
 “¢T believe, then, dear sister, that it is not only 
 useful, but indispensable, that this special establish- 
 ment should be founded, for the purpose of receiving 
 a sufficient number of young Spanish girls, and of 
 giving them a solid Christian education, so that they 
 may acquire not only sound Scriptural instruction, 
 but, at the same time, all the general information 
 which pertains to a solid education, and which will 
 by and by open a way for them among the many 
 different classes of society. Under proper direction, 
 and, above all, with a view to serve the Lord, they 
 should be taught what are the duties of the daughter, 
 the wife, and the Christian mother; they should be 
 initiated into all the exercises of Christian charity, 
 and be led to visit the sick and the poor. Indeed, 
 by giving them an opportunity of living for some 
 time in a Christian atmosphere, where spiritual life 
 is a fact, and where faith is manifested by works 
 of love and self-denial, we should be commencing a 
 holy and blessed work, whose results may have, 
 through God’s grace, an incalculable influence on 
 the religious future of Spain; and I cannot but 
 recommend it to your notice, dear sister, in the 
 divine name of our Blessed Lord.’ 
 
 “Such were the considerations which decided 
 Miss C——, after a season of prayer and inward 
 conflict, with full confidence to begin this work of 
 faith, which already has given such happy results, 
 and has made us joyful in the thought that the 
 blessing of Jesus is resting upon it.” 
 
222, AN INTERESTING CONVERSATION. © 
 
 I lately received a letter from a brother in Spain, 
 who takes a lively interest in our work there. — From 
 it the following is extracted :— 
 
 “We feel, from day to day, that the Loa is 
 
 blessing us in this town abundantly. A few days 
 back, being the anniversary of the death of Torrijos — 
 and of his forty-eight companions in misfortune, I 
 was walking with © , and, as we felt tired, we 
 sat down to rest. The seats on this promenade are 
 
 double, so that the persons who sit down are seated 
 
 back to back. Well, as we were sitting on one of these 
 
 seats, there came two others to sit down also. One 
 
 was an honourable old man; his companion a man, 
 too, of mature years. Three others soon joined them, 
 
 and commenced a conversation. The youngest, speak- 
 
 ing of the recognition of Italy by Spain, said, amongst 
 
 other things— 
 
 “¢ This was a want of our age, in the presence of 
 which the will of the Queen and the clerical party 
 have been obliged to bow; and those who to-day 
 recognize the unity of the kingdom of Italy, will also 
 be forced to submit to the other conquests of this 
 century—bloody conquests, as the event we to-day 
 are celebrating ; and in due time we shall have liberty 
 of worship posted over the door of every dwelling.’ 
 
 “** Quite true,’ replied the other. ‘ You remember 
 the persecutions of 1860 and 1861? ‘That is a blot 
 on the history of Spain that must be effaced by 
 asking for liberty of worship.’ 
 
 “¢ Yes,’ said the old gentleman. 
 
 “< But perhaps you are not aware that there are 
 in this town now many Christians like those who 
 
 
 
 
 
LIGHT IN DARKNESS. o95 
 
 suffered persecution, and that their number daily 
 increases. A man comes to our house twice a week 
 to read to us the Bible, and a tract entitled ‘“‘ Andrew 
 Dunn.” What pleasure we experience in listening 
 to him, and in seeing that these people only seek 
 after peace. More than once I wished to introduce 
 politics, but he always replied that it was not about 
 earthly things he wished to converse, but on divine 
 things alone. He said, also, that the Church of Spain 
 must be reformed, and return to its primitive standing, 
 for then only would all things go on well.’ 
 
 “*That would be for the true welfare of the 
 people,’ replied the younger man. ‘I also have had 
 some serious conversations with one of these primi- 
 tive Christians, and when I expressed my desire of 
 entering into communion with them, he replied, 
 “Yes; but you must first of all enter into com- 
 munion with Christ.’’’ 
 
 “Such was the conversation of these sincere men. 
 We said nothing, thinking that thus they would 
 speak more unrestrainedly; but we seem to have 
 perceived in their words a spark of that divine light 
 which rejoices Christians here, and so we were made 
 truly glad.” 
 
 Much more of a still more interesting nature is 
 contained in the same letter, but we cannot at 
 present reproduce it. A little farther on, however, 
 we have a few lines of much importance, and, as 
 they are from Matamoros’s own pen, they are well 
 worthy of our consideration :— 
 
 “The counsel that I give to my fellow-country- 
 men is, not to allow themselves to be governed by 
 
294, ‘MATAMOROS’S PRAYERFUL ACTIVITY. 
 
 any one in the development of their work, but by ‘ 
 Jesus only. Let us be neither of Paul, nor of 
 Apollos, nor of Cephas, but of Christ, and may his 
 Spirit be our guide. This is the best recommenda- 
 tion that I can at the present time give to the church 
 in Spain. May she apply herself to the study of the 
 Word, and, with the help of the Lord, that Word 
 alone shall be her guide. Let us seek to belong 
 only to Christ, to walk and to increase in Him. Let 
 us labour in the evangelization of the people, and let 
 us be directed by his Spirit alone. This is my 
 
 counsel for the present. . 
 “ Manvugt Matamoros.” 
 
 The above will give some little insight into a por- 
 tion of the labours of our brother when in France, but 
 presents only a very superficial glance at the immense 
 activity and unceasing care that he took of every- 
 thing, and every individual, in any way connected 
 with this most interesting work. 
 
 At Bordeaux, three other of the persecuted brethren 
 were located, and, through his assiduity and atten- 
 tion, they were enabled to support themselves and 
 their families. The young men established in Lan- 
 sanne were most comfortably lodged in an excellent 
 house, and attend the instructions of the college of 
 the free church of the Canton de Vaud. Funds on 
 a large scale were required for all’ these things, and 
 the activity and prayers of our brother have sup- 
 plied them all. Two missionaries labouring among 
 the Spaniards at Algiers and Oran, were placed there 
 at the suggestion and request of Matamoros. But it 
 
 
 
ENGLAND'S NEGLECT. OSD 
 
 was necessary to know him intimately to compre- 
 hend how his whole life was a living sacrifice to Him 
 who has sacrificed his life for us all, in order that 
 we might be his purchased people. 
 
 During the whole of the time of his exile, Mata- 
 moros’s health was very feeble, and he was scarcely 
 a day out of the doctor’s hands; but in the midst of 
 all this, when strength permitted, his lips and pen 
 were never quiet. Such activity for Christ I have 
 rarely witnessed, and such generosity of disposition 
 I have seen in none. He was very much beloved in 
 Holland, Switzerland, and France, and received in- 
 numerable presents of various kinds from the saints 
 in all these countries; but his joy appeared to mani- 
 fest itself more in giving than receiving, and he 
 kept scarcely anything for himself. 
 
 A part of his three years of exile was spent at 
 Bayonne, but at Lausanne his heart seemed to have 
 been more at home than anywhere else, thanks to 
 the loving sympathy he found in the house of those 
 warm-hearted, earnest Christians, M. and Mme. 
 Bridel. He was in journeyings oft, sometimes to 
 Holland and scmetimes to Paris. England saw but 
 little of him, though he sighed to be among us, and 
 looked to us as those from whom he expected all ; 
 but we “received him not.” It is painful to pen such 
 words, but he has often mourned over this to me. 
 With deep sorrow I write it, but I feel it a duty tc 
 state that thus far our country, which owes so much 
 to Christ, has not, in the case of this martyr for 
 the truth, stretched out the right hand of fellow- 
 ship to Him nor to his cause. There is time still to 
 
 Q 
 
228 . THE CRY FOR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 make amends. Spain calls at “presen 
 voice as ever Macedonia did, 
 Come over and give us Ohrist? S gospel. af 
 give us your sympathy in a cause which et 
 of all causes, because wt is for rn 
 
 hear. In such a case, my book will have ans 
 the purpose I have in view, not merely to give a faith 
 picture of God’s faithful. servant, but to rouse oth 
 to imitate his bright example. 
 
RETURN TO LAUSANNE. : 3287 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 FAILING HEALTH.—LOVING FRIENDS.—LAST DAYS.— 
 ASLEEP IN JESUS. 
 
 AFTER organizing the work at Pau, Bayonne, and 
 Bordeaux, Matamoros went to Paris to make some 
 arrangements. The long journey by railway from 
 Pau, much speaking and exertion while at Paris, 
 but principally the unkind slanders coming from 
 
 England, and circulated afterwards in France—all 
 
 these combined, were too much for this great. tender 
 heart, which seemed to live only to love and to be 
 loved. ‘This inclement clime of human life was no 
 longer suited to a nature ripe for the “ better land.” 
 After a short visit to Paris in the beginning of the 
 year 1866, he returned to Lausanne, in Switzerland, 
 where he had founded one of the establishments for 
 the preparation of the Spanish youth for service in 
 the gospel in Spain. 
 
 He reached Lausanne on the 3rd May, 1866. An 
 American lady in affluent circumstances had met him 
 at Pau, in the previous summer. She had suffered 
 the loss of all she held dearest on earth, and was 
 led by the Lord to sympathize with and finally to 
 devote herself to the noble cause which was so dear 
 to Manuel’s heart. Having ample means at her dis- 
 

 
 298 CONSECRATION BY THE FREE CHURCH. 
 
 posal, she quickly entered into his views concerning 
 his much-loved country, and helped him in bringing _ 
 
 twelve more young Spaniards to be educated at — 
 Pau. During the month of May they arrived at ~ 
 
 Lausanne, where they were first placed in certain 
 pious families for a few months, so as to enable them 
 to obtain some knowledge of the French language 
 before commencing their studies at Pau. i 
 ‘This lady was happy in being able to supply all ~ 
 the wants of her dear adopted son ; and thus, through 4 
 the kind providence of God, he was during the last 
 year of his life in very comfortable circumstances. 4 
 His arrival at Lausanne was the cause of great joy 
 to all his numerous friends there, and to himself. — 
 His home was for some time with his good and ~ 
 faithful helpers, M. and Mme. Bridel, at La Borde, 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, 
 by whom he was received quite as their own son. 
 Although he often complained of being much ~ 
 fatigued, yet at the commencement of his visit the ~ 
 state of his health did not alarm them. While with — 
 them he expressed a desire to be consecrated by the 
 synod of the Free Church of the Canton de Vaud, 
 and in spite of the irregularity of the case, this body 
 decided on granting his request, as they considered — 
 _ that he had, through the sufferings and persecutions — 
 he had endured in his long imprisonment, received — 
 from the Lord a higher consecration than theirs. 
 But he now daily appeared to be gradually sinking, 
 and from the beginning of June his friends became — 
 seriously alarmed for his health. Many combined — 
 causes brought on low fever, accompanied by want of — 
 
DECLINE OF STRENGTH. 229 
 
 sleep. He received afflicting intelligence about the 
 state of the health of his dear mother. This was a 
 time to him of much trial and inward struggle. He 
 said to Mme. Bridel, ‘“ No doubt the Lord is causing 
 “me to pass through all this in order to prove to me 
 once more that in ail things I must trust in Him and 
 in Him alone, and that to Him only must I look to 
 bring all hearts to be favourable to me and to my 
 country.” 
 
 He also wrote to a friend, saying, ‘I hear my 
 poor mother will probably lose her sight. Alas, my 
 mother! She suffers sorely, but it is not thought that 
 her life is in danger, though she is seriously ill. She 
 is much supported by God, and evinces a sweet and 
 heroic constancy. Oh, who can tell how much I love 
 her! But I am sure that God himself will take this 
 care into his own hands, and tell her that I love her 
 beyond all bounds. May God support thee, mother 
 of my heart, and may He bless thee with his choicest 
 blessings.” 
 
 On Saturday, 26th May, he held his first meeting 
 for prayer and reading of the Word with the young 
 Spaniards at La Borde, and these meetings were 
 repeated twice a week till the 25rd June, when, being 
 too fatigued, he was obliged to retire: this caused 
 all his friends the most serious anxiety. 
 
 I was enabled at this time to leave my usual 
 occupations, and to spend nearly six weeks at 
 Lausanne. As the good Lord had brought me to 
 cheer my friend in prison, so now He sent me to 
 console and comfort him in his dying hour. The 
 very day he was no longer able to feed the flock of 
 
230 NIGHTS WITHOUT SLEEP. | 
 
 God, I was sent to take his place. The Lord was 
 very present at our little gathering. From this time a 
 forward, it was thought for many reasons desirable — 
 for Matamoros to be at the Hotel Gibbon, where : 
 Mrs. Mc E——, the American lady before-mentioned, 
 was staying. Until the moment of his death, she 
 rendered him constant and invaluable attention. 
 This pleasure of ministering to an heir of glory was 
 also afforded me for many weeks. Manuel often said, 
 during his last illness, that God had gathered round 
 
 him his best friends to comfort him, and we all 
 
 thanked God that it was his good pleasure thus to 
 solace his loving generous heart. There were others 
 that loved him dearly, who longed to be in the pri- 
 vileged place that we felt we were holding by the 
 dying bed of this dear saint, but the great Orderer 
 of all our steps did not call them to this honoured 
 post. . 
 The decline of our beloved friend’s strength was 
 very rapid, and in spite of the attention we rendered, 
 and of every care that medical aid could afford, we 
 found nothing could arrest the progress of the 
 disease. The lungs were much affected, and his 
 breathing daily became more difficult. For a month 
 he passed very restless nights, almost without sleep, 
 being frequently obliged to sit in an upright position 
 with his head supported on pillows, unable to lie 
 down, and in intense pain. The lungs, heart, and 
 liver were completely disorganized, and a great 
 quantity of water having now collected around the 
 heart, we deemed it prudent to have a consultation 
 without loss of time. The eminent medical men 
 
 
 
READY | 931 
 
 called in gave it as their opinion that, if the features 
 of the case became aggravated, he might be carried 
 off in a few days. I felt it a duty to apprize him of 
 the nearness of his end, and when I told him that 
 within a week he might receive the final summons, 
 he replied very calmly— 
 
 “Bueno! Al cielo !”—“ It is well! To heaven!’’ 
 
 He requested me to go at once to La Borde, 
 where his letters and papers were, and to bring them 
 to the Hotel Gibbon, which I did. The amount of 
 correspondence and documents was so great that it 
 took us the best part of two days to sort and arrange 
 them, and when this was done, he was enabled quietly 
 to leave all in the hands of his heavenly Father, 
 though he had many hours of struggling and of 
 prayer. On the same evening that he heard the 
 doctor’s opinion, Pastor Bridel read and prayed with 
 him. Matamoros himself also prayed with a re- 
 markable warmth of emotion and elevation of soul, 
 and asked particularly that if God wished to call him 
 home, He would enable him to obey the summons ; 
 not in the spirit of a servant who knows not the 
 will of his Master, but as a child, who knows that his 
 Father is doing what is best for his child; and he 
 thanked God for bringing his loving friends about 
 him at sucha moment. But even after this he was 
 able to go out a little in an open carriage as far as 
 La Borde, where he was able to breathe the sweet 
 fresh air, and where he enjoyed perfect tranquillity. 
 
 On Monday, the 16th June, he was very weak, 
 and the Lord’s Supper was celebrated in his room, 
 about ten people being present. Pastor Bridel, who 
 
939 - LETTER TO THE YOUNG SPANIARDS. 
 
 presided, addressed to each of us two verses of 
 
 Scripture. Those for’ Matamoros were, “My grace — | q 
 is sufficient for thee,” and “ All things work together a 
 
 for good to them that love God.” a 
 
 In a letter he addressed at this time to Mime. ae 
 Bridel, Matamoros says— a 
 
 “Tam very weak, though the doctors say I am 
 better, but be that as it may, the Lord is my all. 
 In beginning to struggle with the agonies of death, 
 I desired life, but now I alone desire the perfect reali- 
 zation of the will of God. A few days ago, certain 
 matters connected with my work engaged my atten- 
 tion, but now I lay down my work at the feet of 
 Him who gave it to me. He will make a perfect 
 use of what is his alone. I should have liked to 
 labour yet a little, but under these solemn circum- 
 stances it is no question what I like, but what is the 
 Lord’s will.” | 
 
 Amidst their deep sorrow it was yet to his friends 
 a source of joy, and a cause for gratitude, that they 
 were permitted to see him enter into this complete 
 rest and detachment from all earthly things. This 
 grace was granted to him, after much striving and 
 anguish on his part. He wrote a few lines to the 
 young Spaniards in the town and neighbourhood, as 
 follows :— 
 
 “With what sympathy do I write to you and 
 with what love do I address you! In these solemn 
 moments I wish to speak to you to tell you that I 
 love you, and that your spiritual good is the burden 
 of my prayers. Take notice of my position. Still 
 
 
 
DYING PRAYERS. OSS 
 
 * young and in‘the first years of my Christian activity, 
 the thread of my life is about to be severed. What 
 would become of me if I had not such a Saviour as 
 Jesus Christ now? Jesus in this hour of sorrow is 
 my friend, my help, my strength; as He is also my 
 salvation. Adieu, my dearly beloved ones. May the 
 Lord bless you with his choicest blessings. 
 
 ¢ M. Maramoros.”’ 
 
 He invited the young Spaniards at Lausanne to 
 come to hisroom and sing to him his favourite hymns 
 in Spanish and in French, when he spoke most 
 touchingly to them, telling them in his ardent and 
 loving way all the affection that he bore them; and 
 how he hoped that they would be earnest and 
 faithful in the blessed work they were beginning. 
 He also expressed himself to them most tenderly and 
 touchingly about his probable speedy departure from 
 this world, saying, “‘ Leaving you all appears to me 
 as if pieces were torn from my heart.” After they 
 had sung the sweet hymn, “‘ Venia Pecadores,” etc., 
 he remarked, ‘‘ How lovely and how true are those 
 words, ‘El cielo es del alma la patria mejor,’”’ 
 —“* Heaven is the better country of the soul,” adding 
 that the sweet melody of their voices had seemed 
 to him like the music of a choir of angels ; and such 
 indeed it had appeared to us all who were present at 
 this memorable farewell scene. At an earlier period 
 of the evening he prayed earnestly, sweetly, and 
 devoutly for Mme. Bridel, Mrs. McH——., and myself, 
 that we might be faithful to the cause he had so 
 much at heart. 
 
2040) A REMOVAL PROPOSED. 
 
 A celebrated doctor of Lausanne was called in at 
 this crisis. He gave us some hopes that if we could 
 find a suitable private dwelling-house on an eminence 
 in the neighbourhood of Lausanne, his breathing 
 might be improved, and his sufferings be rendered 
 less intense. Mrs. McH requested me to search 
 
 for a house so situated, giving me carte blanche 
 as to expense, so anxious was she to do everything 
 possible to save such a precious life. A Scotch lady 
 then at Lausanne volunteered to accompany me in 
 the search, which appeared likely to be no easy task. 
 Iwas truly helped by this Christian woman in the 
 accomplishment of what appeared to all so desirable. 
 After seeing a very nice villa in an elevated 
 position, but which we were unable to secure, we 
 proceeded to another that appeared to us to combine 
 everything that was required by our dear sufferer. 
 We were ushered into a beautiful drawing-room 
 which overlooked the placid Lake of Geneva, with 
 the majestic Alps beyond. The walls of the apart- 
 ment were hung with costly paintings, and the tout 
 ensemble of the room bespoke at once comfort, taste, 
 and refinement. As I looked round it, I was con- 
 strained to say to myself, “It will be hard work for 
 the flesh to give up all these nice things,” not 
 remembering at the time that the hearts of all men 
 are in the hands of the Lord, and that He turns them 
 whithersoever He will. In dependence on Jesus, who 
 is indeed a very present help in time of need, and who 
 in a special manner proved Himself to be so on this 
 occasion, I stated the object of our visit to Mme. 
 G She appeared desirous of assisting Mata- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
‘Cyn. HAVE DONE IT UNTO MR.’’ 235 
 
 moros, and offered to receive him, and even herself 
 to help in attending on him; but when I explained 
 that we wished to rent the whole house just as it 
 stood, with all its conveniences and dependencies, 
 the case appeared to be altered. She did not see her 
 way very clearly, and appeared not a little surprised 
 at our rather extraordinary request. ‘“‘ The Lord had 
 need of it; and He had sent us there to ask it in 
 his name. Soon after she had left the room to con- 
 sult her aunt, she returned with a face shining at 
 once with pleasure and deep sympathy, and an- 
 nounced to us that. we should at once have her 
 beautiful villa, servants, linen, carriage, etc., ete. 
 We returned with her to the drawing-room, where 
 we found her aunt, and we all four sat down. 
 
 After asking the lady the terms on which she 
 would rent her house, and receiving from her the 
 unexpected reply, that we were to pay nothing, our 
 hearts were filled to overflowing, and we did indeed 
 rejoice with abundant tears of joy and thankfulness. 
 I told this lady how she had by this act refreshed 
 the saints; and I felt indeed the force of those 
 words, “ Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of 
 these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” O 
 glorious faith of Jesus, that leads to acts of self- 
 denial such as this; and, O blessed Spirit of God, 
 that gives grace to perform such noble acts! We 
 had been very anxious about this matter, which 
 had been recommended by the physicians, and was 
 considered by ourselves as so desirable, and it was 
 no light cause for gratitude that we had met with 
 such complete success in so short a time. 
 
236 "GIVING UP FOR CHRIST. 
 
 This arrangement took place on Saturday. On 
 the Monday following, at an early hour, our beloved | 
 Manucl was safely installed in the new abode pro- 
 vided for him by the same Friend who said, “‘ In my 
 Father’s house there are many mansions. I go to 
 prepare a place for you.” As I walked in the garden 
 of the new dwelling, I was joined by Mme. G——, and 
 was not a little surprised when she told me that she 
 was not enjoying peace of conscience. I told her 
 that she had not believed God’s promise; explaining — 
 to her that when she promised her house for Mata- 
 moros I had not doubted her word, and reminding 
 her that she had doubted God’s word. This observa- 
 tion appeared to produce an immediate and deep 
 effect. She said how wrong it was of her to doubt, 
 and asked me to pray for her. I replied that I cer- 
 tainly would, and that I felt sure that God would 
 hear, and give her Jesus for her portion. His words 
 are, “‘ No man hath given up houses or lands for my 
 sake and the gospel’s, but he shall receive manifold 
 more in this present time, and in the world to come 
 life everlasting.” 
 
 
 
 The remainder of this story is most interesting. 
 When these ladies went out of their pleasant dwelling, 
 they took lodgings at Lausanne, where I had the 
 pleasure of reading and praying with them. The 
 Lord appears most graciously to have blessed the 
 words; and, by a letter I have since had from Mme. 
 G——,I am led to believe that she now possesses Jesus 
 as the portion of her soul, and that He has already 
 fulfilled his promise to her. He enabled her to give 
 up her earthly house for his service, and has, I trust, 
 
 
 
_ A FAITHFUL SERVANT. 937 
 
 already made her possessor of the house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens. The noble act 
 of this lady reminds us of the breaking of the ala- 
 baster box of ointment, exceeding precious; and the 
 fragrance of this act of love may waft its sweet 
 perfume abroad now as did the spikenard of the 
 Magdalene. 7 
 
 But many were the incidents worthy of notice 
 that we witnessed during the sickness of our Manuel, 
 and a long and interesting book might be made 
 from the little details connected with our beloved 
 sufferer. A Roman Catholic servant, who attended 
 him at the Hotel Gibbon, appeared to spare no pains 
 in smoothing his dying pillow, and doing all im 
 her power to make him as comfortable as she could. | 
 I thanked her frequently for her self-denying atten- 
 tion, as did also dear Manuel. When he was removed 
 to the new habitation, she expressed a desire to 
 go and attend on him there also, but as she was the 
 principal housemaid in this large hotel, where they 
 have two hundred beds, her services could not. be 
 dispensed with. On leaving Lausanne, I had some 
 conversation with her, and asked her if I should see 
 her again? She asked what I meant. I replied, 
 “ Au grand rendezvous.” To which she immediately 
 answered— 
 
 Out, monsieur, je Vespéere.” (‘ Yes, sir, I trust 
 so.” 
 
 I asked her, “Do you believe in Jesus?” and 
 was answered in a very unmistakable way in the 
 affirmative. I had in my pocket a copy of St. Luke’s 
 Gospel, which she received with tears of joy; and 
 
238 THE FAREWELL LETTER. 
 
 I look forward to see this dear woman with our 
 beloved Manuel on the resurrection morning, now so 
 near at hand. The servants of the hotel appeared — 
 all to vie with one another in serving him, and the eg 
 sweet ‘impressions he kas left behind him in Lan- 
 sanne will not be soon forgotten. 
 
 But I am diverging from-my. subject, and must 
 retrace my steps to the Belvedere, the name of his 
 new abode. We there procured an invalid’s carriage, 
 in which he was drawn about on the green turf, so 
 abundant in this sweet garden. This little exercise, 
 and the lovely view, and the pleasant flowers, were 
 all most precious to the dear saint, and much alle- 
 viated his sufferings. 
 
 I had now remained with him for about five 
 weeks, and fully purposed remaining to the end, 
 but had two unmistakable proofs from God that it 
 was his will that I should go to do a little service 
 for Him in Holland, which was also connected with 
 our dear brother. My decision to depart was finally 
 formed after receiving a letter of farewell that dear 
 Manuel penned at, three o’clock in the morning after 
 a night of pain and acute suffering. It was as 
 follows :— 
 
 — § Lausanne, July 23. 
 
 ** REVERED AND Dearest Friznp,—The noble, con- 
 stant, and Christian aid which, in these last days of 
 my earthly suffering, you have rendered both to my 
 soul and body, is the lovely continuation of the 
 history of our friendship, in which your part has been — 
 one sustained sacrifice. You are about to leave me, 
 
 
 
MR. GREENE’S DEPARTURE. 239 
 
 and I desire to assure you that you are right in so 
 doing. You have given up a long and precious 
 period of time to me, but now your fatherly duties 
 recal you to your family. It is I who remind you 
 that you ought to go, and yet itis I who will suffer 
 the most deeply from your absence. The loss to me 
 will be irreparable, for your holy and edifying posi- 
 tion at my side has been at once that of a father and 
 a friend. But in heaven, in those mansions which 
 are already ours through Jesus Christ, we shall meet 
 again and spend eternity together. The Lord is very 
 near me. His presence strengthens me. I feel that 
 Christ is my friend, my Saviour, my all. My peace 
 is perfect. I am only awaiting the will of God. 
 ‘Your son, your friend, your brother, in prison 
 as at liberty, in days of health and on the brink of 
 the grave, am I, friend of my heart, friend in Jesus. 
 Embrace all who are dear to you in my name until 
 we meet in heaven. In the Lord, your 
 “¢ MANUEL.” 
 
 This letter left no doubt on my mind as to what 
 the Lord wished me to do, so on Tuesday I started 
 on my journey for Holland. My separation from 
 Matamoros cost us both a severe pang, but it was the 
 will of God. I much dreaded the farewell, fearing 
 that it might hurry on my friend’s decease. 
 
 On the day before his death Mme. Bridel was 
 with him, encouraging and directing him. She 
 spoke to him about the intense joy that awaits all 
 the faithful servants of Jesus Christ, when they 
 can contemplate what eye hath not seen nor ear 
 
24.0 THE LAST MORNING. 7 
 
 heard. He answered her out a child- Yikes confi- 
 dence of manner, so characteristic and so indescrib- 
 able, which those who knew him can never forget, 
 and those who did not know him can hardly i imagine. 
 Soon afterwards he proposed prayer, and prayed in ~ 
 
 nearly the following words:—“My God,God Almighty, _ 
 
 Icall on Thee. Jesus, my Saviour, and Thou, Holy 
 Spirit, do [invoke. Thou knowest that I know the 
 - joys of heaven, but oh, give me to enjoy them in a 
 deeper degree. Do Thou thyself prepare me for 
 heaven. Hnable me to make those around me feel 
 the joy that fills my heart. I bless Thee for the 
 Christian friends Thou hast given me in this land of 
 
 exile. I bless Thee for the happy moments we have 
 
 been able to pass together. Cause them to know 
 how much love and respect I feel towards them. 
 Give them, too, to be daily more encouraged in 
 labouring for Spain.” 
 
 On the morning of his death, and after passing a 
 troubled night, having had painful dreams, he said 
 to Mrs. McH—— and to M. Carraseo, who were near 
 his bed, ‘“‘ From earth to heaven by the way of Gol- 
 gotha. It is a beautiful journey.” At eleven o'clock 
 in the morning he asked for all the young Spaniards 
 to be called together. He wished to hear them 
 singing, which they did in the adjoining apartment, 
 the doors being open. They sang the French can- 
 tique, ‘‘ Vers le Ciel,’ and the Spanish one, “ Venia, 
 Pecadores.” Afterwards they came into the large 
 drawing-room, where Matamoros was, and he said 
 to them, “Avangons-nous.’ * This was a hymn which 
 
 * A hymn translated from the English, “ Joyfully, joyfully, 
 
 onward we move.” 
 
 
 
PASSING AWAY. QA 1 
 
 Matamoros greatly liked. The young Spaniards sang 
 it, and Matamoros endeavoured to accompany them 
 with his dying voice. He afterwards said to them, 
 ‘“ Live very near to God; yes, very, very near. May 
 God bless you much, very much.’’ He was exhausted, 
 and his head fell on his breast. Ali around him 
 were bathed in tears. It was mid-day. The young 
 people had left, and only the elder ones had re- 
 mained with Mrs. McE———-. Matamoros appeared 
 to be asleep. After a few moments he awoke, and 
 addressed to Mme. Bridel some words of blessing 
 and farewell. After this/he was again troubled a 
 little, and spoke of some dreadful things he saw in 
 his dreams. Mme. Bridel said to him, “ The 
 Lord is my Shepherd.” After these words, pro- 
 nounced slowly, he became calm, and nodded assent. 
 A moment later he said, “Like my Saviour;’’ to 
 which Mme. Bridel replied, “ Yes, at thirty-three 
 years of age.”” These words arose from a conversa- 
 tion which he and Mme. Bridel had had a few 
 days previously, when she remarked to him that his 
 labours on earth had been short and were soon to 
 be terminated, and that our Lord had finished his 
 great work at the age of thirty-three. After this 
 conversation he appeared to sleep peacefully. 
 
 Some passages of Scripture were read to him, 
 and one of the Swiss pastors, M. G——, prayed by 
 his bed; but we do not know if he was enabled to 
 hear these consoling words at this time, or whether 
 his soul, which was now parting from his suffering 
 frame, was not already contemplating his Saviour’s 
 face in the heavenly city. Ob, how sweet and con- 
 
 R 
 
249 ASLEEP IN JESUS. 
 
 soling was this sleep. His death was very tranquil, 
 for towards the end, God in his infinite mercy took 
 away all pain, and restored to him facility in breathing, 
 from the want of which he had suffered so much. 
 At length he breathed quite naturally, and soon after- 
 wards he fell asleep in Jesus. 
 
 Oh, how blessed this sleep! The thunder rolled in 
 
 the distance, but on the sleeper’s placid face rested a 
 heavenly calm. At about half-past two in the after- 
 noon there was no sign of earthly life remaining; the 
 heavenly life in Jesus’ bosom had commenced. A few 
 minutes elapsed, when a terrible peal of thunder 
 
 seemed to announce the departure from this earth of 
 
 a great soul who had entered into eternity. 
 
 On Thursday, August 2nd, a number of friends 
 from Lausanne, Geneva, and other parts of the Canton 
 de Vaud, accompanied his mortal remains to their last 
 testing place. In the drawing-room at the “ Belve- 
 dere,” and standing by the coffin, Pastor Bridel 
 
 (after a short prayer had been uttered and a Spanish ~ 
 hymn sung by the young friends and countrymen of | 
 
 the departed) gave his testimony to the faith, the 
 devoted activity, and the Christian death of Mata- 
 rnoros, reading some passages of the New Testament 
 at the same time. The faith of our brother was 
 expressed, he said, by Titus ii. 11—14 and iii. 47; 
 the aim of his life and his zeal for God’s kingdom by 
 Acts xx. 24 and 2 Tim. iv. 5—8; the struggles of his 
 heart during his illness and his peaceable farewell 
 and quiet Repose in God by Phil. i. 20—24. After 
 the reading of these passages the large assembly, 
 drawn together by a feeling of deep love and sorrow, 
 
 
 
ADDRESS AT THE GRAVE. 243 
 
 united in prayer from their hearts’ depths with M. 
 _ Pastor G——-: another verse of a hymn was sung 
 by the Spaniards, and they then moved forward to 
 the burial-ground. Over the grave, and after some 
 remarks on Phil. 1. 21, Rev. xiv. 18, and John xi. 25, 
 Pastor Bridel gave a rapid reswié of the life of Mata- 
 moros :— | 
 
 “Born at Malaga, October, 1834; converted at 
 Gibraltar in 1857 ; imprisoned for the Gospel in 1860. 
 He remained in prison three years, during which 
 time his zeal for God won many souls to Christ; but 
 it was also during this harsh imprisonment that his 
 comparatively strong constitution gave way. He 
 was condemned to the galleys, but in 1863 the sen- 
 tence was commuted to one of exile. After some 
 journeyings, and visits to England, Gibraltar, and 
 Bayonne, he arrived at Lausanne in the year 1864, 
 where, during twelve months and with blessing to 
 his soul, he followed his theological studies. He went 
 to the south of France in June, 1865, and passed the 
 winter at Pau, returning to Lausanne in May, 1866. 
 He enjoyed while there but a short period of health 
 and activity, suddenly becoming ill, and falling asleep 
 in Jesus on the 3lst July, 1866, at half-past two 
 o’clock in the afternoon.” 
 
 M. Bridel added that ‘“‘ Matamoros, by the ardour 
 of his zeal, redeemed the time, and by the entire 
 - consecration of himself to his work he multiplied his 
 years. Let us imitate his example, and sustain by 
 our efforts and prayers that work, the eqingelization 
 of Spain, which he had so much at heart.” 
 
 This funeral ceremony, at once touching and 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 | selene was renee ee M. Dawe 
 i agg himself at once the a 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 the Father of the ame that possession ~~ 
 inheritance that can neither be removed nor 
 away. 
 
THE DISCIPLE LIKE HIS LORD. QA5 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF OUR DEPARTED BROTHER. 
 
 Wz are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his 
 bones. The Head of the body, when in the flesh, was 
 despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and. 
 acquainted with grief. Nevertheless, “The chosen of 
 God and precious.” Is it any wonder that the members. 
 should share the fate of the Head? I have learned 
 from good authority that on Matamoros’s last visit to 
 Paris he was received by French Christians with 
 coldness. This was owing, I believe, to unkind 
 reports and suspicions then current in England, 
 which, in his enfeebled condition, he felt acutely, and 
 he came to Lausanne to die of a broken heart. 
 Thank God, he is now far above the strife of the 
 tongues of men. God has given a faithful picture of 
 the children, of Adam in the third of Romans, and 
 the longer we live the more we prove the truth of 
 that word. He there says, “ Their throat is an open 
 sepulchre ; with their tongues they have used deceit ; 
 the poison of asps is under their lips; their mouth is 
 full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to 
 shed blood.” | 
 
 But we have the satisfaction of knowing that if 
 Matamoros had enemies he also had many good 
 
946 MISUNDERSTOOD AND MISJUDGED. 
 
 friends, who loved, esteemed, and valued him as he 
 deserved. Among these Dr. Capadose, of Holland, 
 and a Christian lady at Amsterdam, hold a foremost 
 _ place. On my way to London in July, I visited these. 
 friends in passing through Rotterdam, and found 
 that the Lord had very graciously directed my steps 
 to the houses of both these saints, and by his help 
 I was enabled to comfort them when they received 
 the sad intelligence of Manuel’s death. I had left, 
 for their perusal, a diary which Matamoros gave 
 me on his death-bed, and I soon after received a 
 letter from the lady, from which I extract the follow- 
 ing :— 
 
 ‘¢ Many, many thanks for your kindness in lending 
 it tome. I only wish I had had it in England last 
 year, when I was hunting for justifying evidences 
 and proofs to vindicate our friend’s integrity and 
 honour. Butit was not to be, and Matamoros had to 
 bear to the last a cross which was the most painful 
 of all to the uprightness of his soul—that of being 
 misunderstood and misjudged by his brethren in the 
 faith. It was the kind of martyrdom he would least 
 have chosen, but that which his heavenly Father 
 appointed as the purifying process by which he was 
 to be made fit for the holiness and happiness of 
 heaven. And now the diamond, being thoroughly 
 polished, is set as a precious jewel in his Master’s 
 crown. He has gone straight to his heavenly home, 
 and who among us could wish to call him back? Oh 
 no, rather let all the good purposes of God’s infinite 
 love be made manifest to him as soon as he was able 
 to bear the weight of glory and felicity prepared for 
 
 
 
DETAILS FROM A FRENCH PERIODICAL. QA7 
 
 the beloved child; the faithful servant of a righteous 
 Master, who deemed that his task was finished and 
 that he was ready to enter into the joy of his Lord. 
 If we could have been present and felt the raptures 
 of his soul when brought into the presence of his 
 Saviour, how we should wonder and adore! 
 
 “What I most wish now is to be used by the 
 Lord to continue the work of Matamoros, and to 
 forward it, under the tuition of the Spirit, to the best 
 of my power. Pray for me, that I may not be put 
 aside as utterly unworthy. I must not bring any 
 strange fire to the altar, but serve the Lord only, 
 worship Him, work for Him alone. I am thirsting 
 after holiness, after inward purity, after a quickening 
 of the Spirit to a renewal of the inner man; and I 
 wish to be among the faithful witnesses of God’s 
 grace, by proclaiming in word and deed the virtues 
 of Him who called me also from darkness and death 
 to the wondrous light of his love, even unto. ever- 
 lasting life. i too feel that the time may be short, 
 and it must not be spent in grieving, nor in un- 
 profitable dreaming.” 
 
 M. Roger Hollard, of Paris, an eminent Christian 
 writer, has given to his countrymen some interesting 
 details of Matamoros in an article which appeared in 
 Le Chrétien Evangélique of the 20th Sept. 1856, 
 published at Lausanne by M. G. Bridel: from it we 
 make some extracts. These further details of his 
 conversion are not generally known in England :— 
 
 “When at Gibraltar he was engaged in some 
 literary pursuits that gained for him general appro- 
 
248. * -YATAMOROS’S CONVERSION. 
 
 bation and marked applause at the theatre. — His | 
 mind’ was preoccupied with a.poem which he had 
 been asked to write on a given subject, and while 
 walking one evening in the principal square at. 
 
 Gibraltar he heard the church bell summoning to “3 
 worship. He at first felt disposed to enter, for from | 
 
 his infancy he had been taught both by father and 
 mother to respect religion ; nevertheless his literary 
 
 pursuits seemed to take the upper place in his mind, 
 when he heard the bell ring a second time. And 
 
 when that solemn sound was heard the third time he 4 
 
 could no longer resist. He entered the church, which 
 
 to his great astonishment he found was a Protestant 
 
 one, in which English Christians supported the 
 preaching of the Gospel in Spanish. He was quite 
 surprised with all he saw and heard, for he had strong 
 prejudices against the Protestants, who, up to that — 
 
 time, were in his mind classed with the Jews. What Ry: q 
 
 produced the strongest effect on him was the prayer 
 of M. Ruet, the Spanish evangelist; and what most 
 impressed him in the preaching was the advice 
 given to search the Scriptures. He immediately 
 procured a New Testament, ‘and read it all that 
 night in bed; and when the cannon of the Rock* 
 announced the dawning of a new day, a new day had 
 also begun to shine in his heart. Soon after this he 
 had the pleasure of seeing many members of his 
 family join with him in believing in the Gospel of 
 Jesus, to which he bore, ever after his conversion, 
 
 such a faithful testimony~ im the midst of his own a 
 
 people.” ” 
 * At Gibraltar a cannon is fired off at daybreak. 
 
 
 
HIS UNFLINCHING CONSTANCY. 249 
 
 M. Hollard commences his article, which 1! 
 strongly recommend to my readers, by saying— 
 
 “Manuel Matamoros, one of the most powerful 
 and loving Christian individualities which has ap- 
 peared in our midst for a long period of time, is 
 lost to us. Hven among our religious men, Mata- 
 moros was little understood. When death came and 
 called him away at thirty-two years of age he was 
 already for many only a reminiscence. They remem- 
 bered him indeed as the young Spanish soldier con- 
 verted some eight years ago to the Gospel, and who 
 had suffered in the dungeon for the ardent zeal he 
 displayed for the faith he had embraced. They knew 
 that, condemned to the galleys, after three years of 
 close confinement, he had seen, throrgh the interven- 
 tion of a deputation of all evangelical Hurope, his 
 sentence changed into that of exile. Nor were they 
 ignorant that he had, while confessing his faith before 
 the tribunal, displayed a courage which called to 
 mind that of the early martyrs of the Christian 
 Church, and that when called upon to retract he 
 determined to write with his own hand the expression 
 of his faith, that is to say, to write his own condem- 
 nation. But what was Matamoros at heart? Born of 
 persecution, the hero of a day, and one whose heroism 
 would die with him? Ora man, a Christian, born to 
 leave an unmistakable footprint wherever he passed ? 
 What was he in exile? What effect will his death 
 produce? This is known only to a comparatively 
 small circle, and is that of which I wish to convey 
 some idea. 
 
 “It was not difficult to know him; it was suffi- 
 
250 HIS CHRISTIAN CHARACTER, 
 
 cient to love him; and it was so easy to love him. 
 There was an indescribably noble, yet child-like, 
 candour in him that was irresistibly attractive. He 
 met men and circumstances with the fresh confi- — 
 dence of a child, and faced them with the brave 
 
 determination of a strong man, who has found ~ 
 
 in his religious faith an immovable foundation. 
 All that he had to suffer did not shake his 
 confidence, and it is needless to add, that trial 
 appeared only to strengthen his determination. We 
 have often admired how many dangers Matamoros 
 was preserved from, by the candour of his nature 
 and of his faith. We donot mean by this to allude to 
 the trials he underwent in his persecution; they were — 
 not the greatest he met with; but in religious matters 
 how happily did he avoid the many rocks that he 
 might so easily have been dashed against. Perhaps 
 it was the natural reaction against the ecclesiastical 
 system in whose bosom he had been educated, or, 
 perhaps the affection that he owed, and with good ~ 
 - reason, to Christians of different denominations who 
 sustained him in his captivity or received him in 
 exile. But the fact remains the same: his faith 
 enabled him to preserve to the end his own peculiar 
 style, as well as his original and apostolic simplicity. 
 And the same may be said of his private character. 
 Over those in Spain who shared his convictions 
 Matamoros had acquired a moral ascendancy, the 
 measure of which we shall be able to appreciate by 
 and by. He was received in his exile by numerous 
 tender, powerful, sympathizing hearts, and in all this 
 there was for him a double danger. But over all he 
 
 
 
HIS MOTHER’S TESTIMONY. Vor 
 
 _ triumphed gloriously, for he was as humble in what 
 for lack of a better word we miglit call success, as he 
 had been strong in the midst of persecution and 
 obscurity. This is saying much. But I express now 
 not merely a personal conviction, but that of those 
 who were most intimately acquainted with this great 
 witness for the gospel, but who at first asserted that 
 because his danger was great, his fall was certain.” 
 
 M. Hollard continues his interesting account by 
 giving an extract from a letter of Manuel’s noble 
 mother, whom the son resembled both in appearance 
 and in heart :— 
 
 “This lady, in a letter to Dr. Capadose, says: 
 ‘With joy do I watch him treading that thorn- 
 covered path, which the enemies of Jesus have pre- 
 pared for my son; but I see him strong and 
 unmovable in his career: I see with infinite satisfac- 
 tion that he is aiming at nothing short of the crown 
 of life; and forgetting his sufferings, I rejoice with 
 him. Had I beheld him weak or wavering, then his 
 poor mother would have died not from the fear of his 
 liberty but of his salvation.’ ”’ 
 
 On one occasion, the director of the prison found 
 Matamoros’s mother in tears by the sick bed of her 
 son. The report had been spread, that his powerful 
 enemies had poisoned him, and the director had come 
 to hold an inquest. 
 
 “You weeping ?” he said to his mother. 
 
 ** How can I help it,” she replied, ‘“‘ when my son 
 is sick and nigh unto death P” 
 
 ‘“‘If your son,”’ replied the director, ‘‘ was not as 
 

 
 9592 A GENERATION WITHOUT HEROES. 
 
 
 
 bad a son to you, as he is to his mother the Church e. 
 of Rome, it would be easy for him to dry oe - q 
 tears.” “t 
 
 At these words his mother arose quickly, and tof © 
 the prison, remarking, “If my son were to deny his ; 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, I, in my turn, would deny him i 
 as my son,” — 
 
 The director, not a little surprised, turned to 
 Matamoros and said, ‘‘ You have a noble mother.” 
 
 Further on, M. Hollard remarks,—“ There was one 
 joy that Matamores could not do without, the joy 
 of being understood and loved—both himself and his 
 cause, for they were inseparable. Alas, even in his 
 exile he was sometimes deprived of this joy. He 
 came to us out of prison full of confidence and hope, =— 
 doubting not but that soon he would have inspired — 
 us all with pity for his poor country, and inflamed 
 us with love for the work he lived for. Matamoros 
 knew little about us; he did not understand that one 
 of the misfortunes and one of the first impulses of a — 
 generation without heroes, is to look with suspicion 
 on heroism wherever it appears. 
 
 “hey called him imperious: he was only deter: 
 mined to sacrifice all to his mission, beginning by 
 sacrificing himself. He was accused of imprudence: 
 he had faith. They said he confided too easily: he 
 only loved. But let us be silent about all these © 
 miseries. They were more painful to him than his 
 captivity or his exile, and caused him to shed many 
 a tear; but no uncharitable wish or word escaped his — 
 lips. Let us call to mind sweeter thoughts. We have 
 said that he lived to be loved; and he was loved, and 
 
LETTERS TO M. AND MME. BRIDEL. OG 
 
 deeply. If there was anything on earth that could 
 have caused him to forget his exile, undoubtedly it 
 was the sympathy that he enjoyed in his last days. 
 Above ali, there was one little spot to which he clung 
 _with deep affection. He thus wrote, a year before 
 his death, to some of the best friends he had during 
 his exile. | 
 
 “<As far as | am concerned,’ he said to M. Bridel, 
 ‘do what you think best; I will go where you say, and 
 do what you like. But withal, Lausanne has been 
 to me such a consolation, so pure and so holy in times 
 past, and has answered so completely all the wants 
 of my spirit, that just, as, if in Spain, I should 
 choose Malaga as the spot for my tomb, so out of 
 Spain I would select Lausanne.’ And in June 1866, 
 _ he wrote to Mme. Bridel, ‘On the day that your 
 poor adopted son shall leave this world, gather 
 around you all the others of your adopted family, 
 and make them sing a song of eternal thanksgiving. 
 My tomb must not be watered by tears, but compassed 
 with a song of triumph. My tomb will only be a 
 shadow, a dream. I myself shall live in the midst of 
 that. joy unceasing, of that peace and of that love, 
 that I have sought in vain on earth. And though [ 
 have experienced it with a few of those noble beings 
 who love me, and whom [ have loved with a heavenly 
 love, yet even then, here below it has been ever 
 watered by tears of separation and of suffering.’ 
 
 ‘*‘ Such was the man we lament. The void that he 
 leaves in the hearts of his friends is deep, and that 
 which he has left in the heart of his Spanish brethren 
 is immeasurable ; but when men like Matamoros fall, 
 
r ] 
 a ‘ . a; 
 
 254 THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. Beieve 
 
 broken down by labour and ‘su Sania sis not Bile! a 4 
 leave behind them a great void, but also a “great ag 
 work which cannot perish; a great example, more oe 4 
 needed to-day than ever. And what they find in 
 the presence of that God whom they have served, is oy a 
 —a great repose, the very thought of which dries the = 
 tears 4 those whom the affliction had cules tor 
 
 mourn.’ 
 
 I may safely let the curtain fall at this part of my ‘ 4 
 
 narrative. He has fought a good fight; he has ~ 
 finished his course; in a Laodicean and degenerate — 
 age witnessed a good confession; and, by God’s — 
 grace, he has left us an example well worth imitating. 
 “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my 
 last end be like his.” 
 
 May God bless my little book. May He makeit 
 
 acceptable to those of his blood-bought flock who 
 shall read it. May they be stirred up by it to live a 
 little nearer to Jesus, and to pray and labour a little 
 more for Spain. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 HARRBILD, PRINTER, LONDON. 
 
 
 
- WORKS PUBLISHED BY 
 MORGAN & CHASE, 
 
 38, LUDGATE HILL, LONDON, 
 And may be ordered of any Bookseller in the kingdom. 
 
 
 
 Second Hdition, Revised, 
 
 GEORGE WHITEFIELD, a Light Rising in Obscurity ; 
 
 being an entirely newly-written Biography of this great 
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 * The best life which has appeared of this extraordinary man.”’—Heruld 
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 “The delightful biography by J. R. Andrews.”— Wesleyan Times. 
 
 **Unaccountable that a life so full of incident should have remained 
 unwritten so long.’’—Christian Work. 
 
 ** Possesses an interest tur beyond any special class, and deserves a wide 
 and general circulation.” —Methodist Recorder. 
 
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 down.’ —The Revival. 
 
 “The siory of such a life ought to be read by every succeeding genera- 
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 __ Second Edition, 
 DOROTHEA TRUDEL; or, the Prayer of Faith. Being 
 
 a Narrative of Remarkable Facts and of Answers to Special 
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 Baptist Minister. 
 
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 These remarkable cases of healing send us back to apostolic times, and prove 
 that the prayer of faith is as powerful as ever.”—TZhe Ruinbow. 
 
 ** A touching narrative of the simple faith and devoted piety of one who 
 effected in Switzerland hundreds of most extraordinary and well-authenti- 
 cated cures of mental and bodily diseases.” —Christian World. 
 
 PASTOR GOSSNER: his Life, Labours, and Persecu- 
 
 tions. Bythe Rev. Dr. Procunow. With an introductory 
 
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 ** Viewed in any aspect, Gossner was a great man, and in his life did a 
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 little volume before us.”’— Wesleyan Times : 
 

 
 WORKS BY ANNA SHIPTON. 
 
 Fifth Edition, Enlarged, 
 
 “TELL JESUS ” or, Recollections of Emily Gosse. 
 
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 ** Will be read with interest by all who care to know more of ‘a character 
 
 of the rarest and most beautiful Christian type.’—Christian Work. 
 “A life spent in loving, intimate, and uninterrupted communion with a 
 
 personal Lord. We have read the book with deep interest.”—London — 
 
 Ohristian Times. 
 
 ‘* In this delightful narrative of Christian experience, we have an ex- 
 
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 and being happy, and of dying and being happy.’ — Wesleyan Times. 
 
 THE CHILD MINISTER: Records of a Young Life. 
 Printed on toned paper, and elegantly bound, price 2s. ; or 
 with Photographed Portrait of the “ Child Minister,” 2s. 6d. 
 Cheap edition, for general distribution, complete, 6d. Con- 
 tents: The Sunset Cloud—The Light of Day—Ministry— 
 The Little Praise-bird—“ Fallen Asleep’—Fruit of the 
 Land—The Haven Gained—The Voice in the Cloud—Light 
 in the Dwelling. 
 
 **Those of our readers who have little ones in heaven will best appre- 
 ciate the motive which led the author of ‘Tell Jesus’ to render this tribute 
 of love to the memory of a lovable, beautiful child. ‘Of such is the 
 kingdom of heaven.’ ’—Illustrated Christian Times. 
 
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 many a parent and child with attectionate interest.” —The Friend. 
 
 THE VALLEY OF BLESSING: The Conversion and 
 Last days of Louisa Matthews. Hnamelled wrapper, 6d. ; 
 cloth, elegant, 1s, Contents: Harthly Hopes—Bread upon 
 the Waters—Through the Lattice—A Lily in the Valley— 
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 the Valley—Extracts from Diary—“ Thy will be done”— 
 An Allegory 
 The White-robed Minister. 
 
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 Friend. 
 “This sweet book is a touching record of the last days of a young 
 Christian, ‘ Louisa Matthews.’ We have seldom met with a more lovable 
 characcer, or one more simply and eloquently delineated; but while the 
 authoress thus shows forth the character of her amiable and trustiog 
 young friend, she is careful to give all the glory to that God by whose 
 grace she was what she was, and toimpress on her readers the dangers of 
 irusting in any natural or acquired grace short of the converting grace of 
 God,’’—The Portadoun News. 
 
 LONDON: MORGAN AND CHASE, 38, LUDGATS HILL. 
 
 An hour in Jerusalem—The Lost Cherith— - 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
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