EdnmEi 
 
 
H PRINCETON, N. J «& 
 
 
 BX 4851 .G7 
 
 
 Greene, William. 
 
 
 Manuel Matamoros and his 
 
 
 fellow prisoners 
 
 s**y 
 
 

IS#7/Z6^*S ' Cs^&fe^l**r**7 
 
 
 
MANUEL MATAMOROS 
 
 AND HIS 
 
 FELLOW-PRISONERS; 
 
 A NARRATIVE OF THE PRESENT PERSECUTION 
 OF CHRISTIANS IN SPAIN. 
 
 COMPILED PROM ORIGINAL LETTERS WRITTEN IN PRISON. 
 
 BY WILLIAM GREENE. 
 
 WITH A PHOTOGRAPH OF MATAMOROS IN HIS CELL. 
 
 M Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? to loose the bands of vrieked- 
 D6M, to undo the lit'iivv I urdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that 
 ye break every yoke."— Isaiah lviii. <j. 
 
 LONDON: 
 MORGAN & CHASE, 3, AMEN CORNER, 
 
 I'UERNOSTER ROW. 
 
THBQLOGICi* 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introductory 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Birth. — Conversion. — Sertice in the Gospel. — 
 
 Imprisonment 5 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Communications from Barcelona .... 16 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Imprisonment at Granada 28 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I.Kiiii; from Reformed Church at Granada. — 
 
 Proceedings of Friends in England . . 45 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Till I.m.i \ Ti;.\.;h>V 73 
 
 CHAPTER YJI. 
 
 Letters from Ghana da. — Speeches in Parliament. 
 
 Thi English I'kess 80 
 
iv com 
 
 (II LPTEB \ III 
 
 PAG C 
 
 SONEKS AT 
 Mai v v 130 
 
 CHAPTEB l\. 
 
 Tin: Si \\i>ii I'i.i B8. — Id 
 
 I BT ins \ ! ki- 
 
 1 \wnv L88 
 
 (II AIM I 
 
 157 
 
 OHAPTKB \l. 
 
 VtaJ i ur \ I 
 
 M \ iamouos.— ' .... 178 
 
 APPSKDDL 
 
 s OF 
 
 I AM), AM > . . 185 
 
MANUEL IATAIOKOS. 
 
 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, but 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 
 
I THE AUTHOR S RESIDENCE IN STAIN. 
 
 long and interesting Inters I have received from 
 him, all which have been carefully preserved fi 
 the first. '* I delight in the law of the Lord after the 
 inward man ;" "His way LB in the whirlwind, and in 
 the storm,"' as well as in the breath of the south 
 wind : and //• knoweth them that trust in Him, and 
 
 lie still shows !! mself strong towards those who 
 depend on Him slone. 
 
 Hit Bnperintendi] been unmistakably 
 
 mt of his in many Wi '.alt 
 
 not be for another man, so will I aU be for th< 
 
 thi' ! ,1, and the dependence and 
 
 whole-lu 
 
 Lord, has 1 en one of tin • :' I he Lord's on- 
 
 ■ _r lore and tender care for him. 
 I obtained a knowledge of the Spanish langi 
 
 during a - in Spain, v> 
 
 I \\ 1 in the laying out ami oonstructi ' 
 
 some of the many lines of railway that now it | 
 sect the Peninsula, and hi 
 
 providence, led to know and love the Lord J< IDS, I 
 endeavoured, while helping in the material pi | 
 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 
 
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. 
 
4 Tin: ai>vi:rsakies. 
 
 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 an 1 weary dry, bo thai we 
 might ask, "Can these bones liver" And then the 
 answer of the Word is, " Prophesy upon these bones, 
 
 and say unto them, I > ye dry hones, hsor the word • •/ 
 
 tk I rd." 
 
 Already, with the feeble efforts that have been 
 
 made, glorious results have been obtained, ami a 
 
 goodly hand of witnesses baa been bronghl out ready 
 'V to their oonntrymen the glad tidim_ r > of the 
 graos of 1 kxL Bui we are only on the threshold, and 
 the bitter opposition, by the adversaries, to the intro- 
 duction of the truth into Spain, offers Q0 obstaole to 
 
 the "hosts of the Lord." There are separated unto 
 
 our David men of might and men of war who by 
 Gfod'fl graOS h like the faces of lions; He 
 
 has his Gideons DOWSJ of old, to whom II 
 
 '■ The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." 
 They have not been wanting in this first glorious 
 campaign who M have jeoparded their lives on the 
 high places of the field,* 1 neither shall they he 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 ahideth sure, "Stand still, and see the salva- 
 tion of the Lord ; the Lord shall fight for you, and 
 ye shall hold your peace." Even so, Lord Jesus, be 
 it unto thy servant according to thy word. 
 
- 
 
 i'l^W EARLY LIFE, 
 
 ,REC 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BIRTH. — CONVRRSION. SRRVICE IN THE GOSPEL. — IMPRI- 
 SONMENT. 
 
 The 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 : — 
 
 " I am 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 
 
C 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 t«» 
 help me to maintain my mother and her family, and 
 move with them to Barcelona. 1 now see my poor 
 mother in great straits, which weighs heavily on my 
 spirit : slir has hitherto been always pretty well off, 
 but is now obliged to earn her bread by embroidering. 
 May God bless her; she has many virtu 
 
 "The re as on of my leaving the was 
 
 through a notable cucumstanoe, which placed me in 
 a critical position, even endangering my life, and 
 came about through the OOnfeSSion made by a cor- 
 poral in my company to the chaplain of tin- regiment) 
 who gave me much annoyance. To this corporal I 
 
 had L r i\a n 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 eflfect- 
 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 Sefior 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 one 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 j" 
 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 r 
 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 Of 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 tlio gospel, I understood, beloved brother, 
 that its propagation ought not to be an isolated 
 attempt, nor reduced limply to the circulation of 
 books, many of which 1 bare seen thrown into the 
 fire, or used for pur impletely different to 
 
 those for which they wnv 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 s hundred persons, 
 
 " As soon as I an kialaga, and being still 
 
 in the army, I devoted myself to convincing my 
 fellow-countrymen, by discussing with them, and 
 
 by comparing ami 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 Seiior R , I 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 
 on a more solid basis, and for producing the most 
 consoling and blessed results. The total number of 
 brethren w r ere 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 a word, 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 MIKTINCS FOR EDIFICATION. 
 
 allow them to be thrown in at the doors of some 
 house-. as had been done elsewhere, neither < 1 i « 1 I 
 place t ln*iii in the hands of uncertain individuals ; l»ut 
 1 handed them over to the committee, and as they 
 knew the exact state of the church and it- wants, tin- 
 books were divided into as many parte a> there m 
 members of the oommittaa, and each member took that 
 proportion which he required for his congregation. 
 The Leaden, knowing most accurately the wants of 
 their respective congregations, distributed the books 
 with the groateoi prudence, and thus in two or three 
 days I saw s considerable number pui into circula- 
 tion, all of which seemed bo be thankfully received. 
 
 \ cr. beloved brother, have I had too many 1 ks; 
 
 on the contrary, I have often had reiterated peremp- 
 tory demands, and have act been able to meet all the 
 wants. 
 
 " It will be easy for you to see thai this system 
 given to our work ought I ttisfactory results, 
 
 and bo it proved. Speedily the members of the com- 
 mittee found themselves in-uilicieiit to carry on the 
 work of preaching; speedily the congregations i 
 
 firm in faith and well instructed, to BUCh an extent, 
 
 indi ed. 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 i 
 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. 11 
 
 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. 
 
L2 SECOND LETTER. 
 
 In a conversation Mrs. Tregelles had with Mata- 
 moros, she mentioned my name to him, Bad reoom- 
 mended his writing to me, which he did in the month 
 of September, L860. In answer to this letter, I en- 
 oonraged him to oontinne in ma Belf-denying and 
 glorious work, and promised him my sympathy, 
 prayers, and support in every way. The Beoond 
 letter I received from him was from the prison at 
 Barcelona, as foUowi : — 
 
 H Prison, Barcelona, October 17M, I860. 
 ■■ II - ill- am- vi :i;v Dial SBOTHBI in JlSUI 0HRI8T, 
 " I have received with Binoeresl j<>y yonrkind Letter 
 of the JHh, which afforded me infinite oomforl in this 
 house of misfortnne. The same day on which yon 
 were bo good bj to write to me- tin- 9th instant— at 
 m o'clock in the morning, I was arrested for the 
 
 gle crime <.f being a Christian, ami Loving my 
 
 fellow-men so well as t<> desire that they also should 
 know the Lord .Ion-, by whom alone they can be 
 saved. A charge laid againsi me in Granada induced 
 
 tin- civil governor of that city to Bend a telegraphic 
 
 order to the governor of this plane for my arrest, and 
 
 also for the minute examination of my house, etc. 
 After a most rigorous and tyrannical search, there 
 WBfl Pound 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, I am 
 
HIS TRIAL AT BARCELONA. 13 
 
 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. Tims my 
 position is wry trying; I suffer, yes, I Buffer much! 
 "Our mission, my dear friend, is not. and has 
 
 not been, to separate beKevers from the Church of 
 
 Rome ; it has been to bring SOuls 0U( of the Roman 
 
 darkness, and from Atheism or indifference to the 
 knowledge of Christ ; to gather together intelligent 
 and evangelical oongregations ; in ■ 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 tlioc top 
 
 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 pari of Spain. 
 
 "Although my imprisonmenl threatens to be a 
 
 long one. that is, offrOme months' duration, yet I can 
 labour here also, for the brethren vi>it me; and from 
 this spot 1 can give \ on full information. The work 
 in Barcelona has not Buffered 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. 
 
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 THK PRESS OF SPAIX. 
 
 CHAFFEE III. 
 
 OOMMUNlCATIOHfl n."M BARCILOVA. 
 
 On the receipt of tin- last interesting Letter, and 
 feeling <liTjily for our brother in bonds, I wrote to 
 him again to solace and comfort him, laying his 
 before the Lord in prayer frequently, and asking for 
 < -i:i 1 wisdom and guidance. I watched anxiously, 
 as may be supposed, for an answer, and received, in 
 the beginning "t' November, the following reply: — 
 
 " Prison, Bare ■ nber 8th, 1800. 
 
 M EtlSPECTBD AM- MOST WAi: BbOTHIR in mi: LORD 
 ChSIST, <>ri; HOP! kMD COKTIDSfl 
 u My poor pen cannot describe to you the BX- 
 
 ling joj and gratitude which I felt on the receipt 
 
 of your most kind and Christian letter. I can only 
 
 Bay that it was a real comfort to me in my bitter 
 trial. 
 
 "The Spanish clergy are thoroughly alarmed; 
 the press, which is their creature, I •_rra- 
 
 the evils of our position — inquisitorial influei 
 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. 17 
 
 leads to life ! Has the English press done anything 
 for us ? 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 mueh injury, by giving 
 an utterly false colour to our holy cause. 
 
 " I purpose, dear friend, when I am 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- 
 fessing Christianity. The world should know that 
 the Inquisition still rules in Spain : the world should 
 know that it is 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 Chrisi, 
 and will confess his name ; and will protest against 
 the Church of Rome, which so unjustly assumeG 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-. 
 Ha Is, and confounded in their disgrace in every town 
 and village through which we shall pass, where rny 
 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 TROSPECT. 
 
 all dangerous to me. Only by paying my own p 
 
 1 that i)l' the two men who escort me, should 
 I be permitted to make tlie jonrney by sea: of coarse 
 tin's expense is quite beyond my power. Neither 
 will 1 ask any fresh sacrifice from our friends in 
 France. My family is in much distress on this 
 ant ; in truth, my npsK&on is trying. My faith 
 
 - not end will ■ •. hat I Buffer physically. 
 
 ••A thousand, thousand thanks to you for tho 
 love ami favour which yon express towards me in 
 I do i."t dessn e it, hut I am grateful 
 for your noble and Christian feeling; also 1 thank 
 yu for the succour j Mwiflmg fco my family. 
 
 c i • "1 will repay you. Ee sg me with much 
 
 qnietaess of mind on this account, 
 
 "I hope you will soon write to me. lean re- 
 ceive hut one more Letter from you at Barcelona. 
 My family remains here. Pray to Gtod for as, dear 
 as 1 pray for you. 
 
 M 1 ■'.-. •• ■ the love and gr ati t u de of your 
 
 brother in Christ, U M. MiTAMOl 
 
 On learning by the last letter the summons of the 
 Granada tribunal, and hearing of the wry delicate 
 
 be o[ % Matamoros' health — brought on by 
 
 ■ us 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 I dive. So 1 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 vert dear Brother in our beloved 
 Redeemer Jesus Christ, the only Mediator be- 
 tween God and men, 
 " I 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 fco appreciate the depth 
 of my gratitude, by the Christian joy you have expe- 
 
20 ihe PBIBONlfi'fl UOtBMM. 
 
 rienoed in Buceouring a brother in bonds for Chr 
 Bake, a brother whose only offence and only crime has 
 
 a loving and oircnlatmg the Word of God. . . 
 
 " Dear brother, H appears that my tyn 
 to make my captivity daily more irksome, 
 with each other for the pleasure of giving me pain. 
 1 have been examined a third time, and have been 
 informed thai 1 must obey tin- summons of 
 tribunal of Granada ; but that besides • 
 'Audiencia' of Barcelona bad determined to bring 
 another igamsi me, ar and j>rove 
 
 what 1 have done and attempted for the circulation 
 of tin- gospel in Catalonia. Bo not only is one 
 tribunal acting againsi me, but two— or rather ti 
 those of 1 1 (elona, and Malaga, ] 
 
 tribunal of Granada ii us for my ap] 
 
 there, that In the Bpace of a very few days 1 have 
 been several times Bummoned, and my papers called 
 for also. D not be in haste I am ready. 
 
 My poor mother has petitioned the government to 
 delay my journey, in consideration of the feeble Bl 
 of my health ; and fthe newspapers have rop- 
 
 ported this demand of hen. Will tl or -rant 
 
 it? We shall see; and I will let you know the 
 
 lit My poor mother is Buffering martyrdom. 
 Her repeated anxieties have brought on a serious 
 attack of illness; and she has been confined to bed 
 for several day-. 
 
 "I 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 Eome 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 as a 
 sacred and saving possession. Let us take comfort, 
 however, for we see 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 bhe persecution of men, 
 ready to take up the cross and follow Christ. So, 
 
22 ooanssiOH of purist. 
 
 though tyranny does not falter, neither shall our holy 
 Work, lint tyranny is the work of man. therefore it 
 must cease. Our work is of God, ami therefore ulti- 
 mately it shall Laboriously triumph. 
 
 •• For myself) I am perfectly tranquil. Every 
 h suffering thai my poor weak body endures, 
 every fresh delay which is interposed between inl- 
 and the day of my n i fresh motive to in- 
 crease my joy and confirm my faith. I glory in 
 tribulations! My imprisonment is a trial to the 
 body, bat not to the soul. The fthebodj 
 weak and miserable enemies to the soul of a Christian. 
 It can even rejoice in its Bufferings for Christ's sake. 
 U I oanno4 describe to yon, dear brother, the hap- 
 piness thai 1 have felt since I , 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 \ 
 repay so many favours. BO much Christian love? 
 The reward is so great thai I could never give it, but 
 Godwin repay it tenfold ; and posterity will not fail to 
 keep a sacred niche in history for the sons of noble 
 and powerful Albiou, who are ever ready to support the 
 good cause, and to defend the weak and the afflicted. 
 
 " May (Jod enlighten you, dear brothers in Christ, 
 — may He take you under his special protection! 
 May He recompense, as He sees tit, your noble deeds I 
 
 "I 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. 
 
PRATER FOR THE PERSECUTORS. 23 
 
 I si i all suffer— and what then ? Did not Christ suffer 
 for us miserable sinners ? Did He not lay down his 
 life for our sins ? Did He not redeem us by his death? 
 What a re 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. I 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- 
 io wet h 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. 
 I understand 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, 
 
 "Manuel Matamoros." 
 
 Seeing thai the money had been received in due 
 time, I fell a pleasure in praying much to the Lord 
 thai Be would continue to guide all things for the 
 best, and for his own glozy, and for the advancement 
 of his truth in Spain. Before leaving Barcelona, the 
 intelligence having reached that city of the sympathy 
 
24 I. KITES OF BIBCILONi IIUMMAW. 
 
 of British Christians, a letter was received by Matar 
 
 moros as follows, with forty signatures appended: — 
 
 " Barcelona, December B60, 1860. 
 u BbSPBOTID P>i."i mi: ]\ I SI LOBD, 
 
 "We desire to use but few words in the expres- 
 Bion of oar deep gratitude towards yonr Christian 
 fellow-oonntrymen, for their noble and generous oon- 
 duct towards onr brethren in Christ, who suffer )>■ 
 cntion for their faith in this oountry, through the 
 intolerance of our government and tin- influenoi 
 the Elomish priesthood. We, the undersigned, b 
 now the pleasure of deolaring that we do not belong, 
 nor will r belong again, to the Church of 
 
 Rome, whose dogmas we consider to be opposed to 
 
 Word of God, which is our rule of faith now; nor 
 do we acknowledge any other religion to be true than 
 iliat of Jesus Chris! and bis apostles. Saving made 
 the above declaration, you will understand, dear 
 brother, how grateful we feel for the active mess 
 taken 1>. i deputation which waited 
 
 on 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 beard, also, of the generous 
 anee which Messrs. Newton, Tregelles, and Peddie 
 have, with yourself and other.-, rend. -red to our dc:>v 
 brother, Don M. Idatamoros, whom we love as he 
 deserves, and for which we hasten to our 
 
 heartfelt gratitude. We feel confident thai 
 press the sentiments of many Spaniards, and tl. 
 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 having 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 : — 
 
 11 National Prison, Barcelona, December 2Qth, 1860. 
 
 "Beloved Brother, Mr. Greene, 
 
 " In two hours from now I start for Granada in 
 the steamboat as far as Malaga. 
 
 " I 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 bo forward it. 
 The enthusiasm is intense ami indescribable. They 
 
2G OBIGDi 01 Tin 
 
 have written to Malaga on 1 1 10 Mine subject, and I 
 believe thai they will also write fco yon, 
 
 "I shall have fco 1"- three days in prison at Ali- 
 
 bhere is no help for thai now. I know that my 
 friends are awaito the pier, and * will accom- 
 
 pany me t" the ship,' to bid me farewell. 'I 
 reward their lore. What think yon of the lovi 
 
 ethren P I will send you my addreas when I 
 arrn i. ami it' poaaible will write to yon 
 
 from Alio ate. I am writing A , and 
 
 alios. Farewell, dear 
 brother; a thousand kind regards to yt>ur dear family. 
 
 Adieu ! may his Holy Spirit be with you. 
 
 •• M. M i 
 
 Ah ime a valuable letter appeared, which, 
 
 a- it gave many interesting statements to the p I 
 terning the imprisonments made in Spain, I i 
 
 thought well to introduce here. It is as follows: — 
 
 '• The following is I - con- 
 
 nected with the Btfll continuing pera in Spain. 
 
 It originated thus: A yonng man of about twenty 
 
 yean of age, named X. A , belonging 
 
 able family at Granada, was student at an ecc 
 
 eal seminary, presided over by the archbishop of that 
 
 province. Having made rapid progress inhis stn 
 
 lie became one of the favourite scholars of the re 
 and of the archbishop. A friend presented 
 
 A with a New Testament and two controve 
 
 works. He was reprimanded and kept in close con- 
 finement for a week ; but his convictions remaining 
 
ARREST OF ALHAMA. 27 
 
 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. 
 
 " Jose 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." 
 
28 JOURNEY TO GRANADA. 
 
 CHAFTEB IV. 
 
 DfPBISOHMBHT AT GRANADA. 
 
 r rnr. ];. board t 1 i 
 
 eoompanied by his guards; the sym- 
 pathy of the croud on i lie quay Bhowed hoi? much 
 Imired him. ami the lore t!.- > the cause 
 
 for wliich lie was Buffering. 
 
 rything went on ly on board tlic 
 
 steamer, and theYoyagi most plea- 
 
 sanily. thanks to a merciful God, whose Loving arm 
 had been and is -t ill Btretched <>ut over bis faithful 
 servant, li . rrived at Malaga in due course, as will 
 i by the following extracts from his Letter of 
 3th, L861 : — 
 "I Left Barcelona on the 26th, and reached ftfa- 
 mber, where I wb 
 by a considerable numb thren, who came on 
 
 board the Bteamer to see me. 'J 1 
 ing, when I was starting tor Granada, numb 
 friends and brethren accompanied me to the <lili- 
 
 . in wliich Sir Rol 
 ger. I arrived at Granada on the 1st of January; 
 and on appearing before the tribunal was ordered 
 into solitary confinement, and was accordingly 
 
SIR ROBERT PEEL. 29 
 
 to a different prison from that of our dear brother 
 AlliMinn. 
 
 " 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 E. 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, 
 a tid comforted the unfortunate women by speaking 
 kindly and edifying them by wholesome Christian 
 counsel. 
 
 "They so delighted these poor folks that they 
 begged for another visit the day following. 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. 
 
 l - Let us go onward and upwards. It is necessary 
 to make use of tltis preeious pr OOOn t time, and be 
 
 firmly assured that both Alhama and myself will 
 
 stand out boldly to the Last We know that Spain 
 
 and Europe have their eve- upon us, and we would 
 prefer bo die in bonds sooner than appear bo biter. 
 
 Our deep love for t! of our divine Redeemer 
 
 us onward ; what avails the anger of our 
 
 tyrants, what their t hro a ts f Nothing, nothing: we 
 glory in our sufferings. Alas I dear friend, how r 
 
 Of my mother and my family. They 
 
 are ever before my mind ; I am getting my food from 
 the hotel, but it is much dearer than at Barcelona) and 
 
 when I had it from home I COUld economise -jreatly. 
 
 The heavy expenses of myself and guards from Bar- 
 celona to Granada, and their pay back, has been 
 double what 1 expected, £24, and 1 am fretting about 
 
 this. Bui farewell, dear friend, 1 shall expect a long 
 letter from you to comfort me." 
 
 Thus far our dear sufferer has got on his thorny 
 
 hut 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 let' 
 
 A , now in this countiy, an extract from which I 
 
 give as follows : — 
 
LETTER TO A . 31 
 
 " National Prison, Barcelona, December 13^, 1860. 
 
 " Dearest Brother in the Lord, 
 
 "You have done well in writing to me. My 
 thoughts heave been constantly fixed on you since I 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 Spirit 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 Avhich 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 brino-. 
 ing an action against them and me in Malaga at the 
 
32 LETTER TO A . 
 
 i time, and notwithstanding, this only seizes 
 to increase our numbers, and to inspire us with new 
 oonn 
 
 11 Xes, dear brother, my physical forces are sinking 
 rapidly; my weak flesh fails me, and the thread of 
 life appears nearly Bpnn <>ut. The dampness of these 
 prisons is killing me; bni every step I take towards 
 the tomb, i in of sand thai Galls through life's 
 
 ■ ructible force, which 
 Btreagthens my Gaith and my joy, and enables 
 anticipate my laai hour with rejoicing, and with a 
 peace I was a perfect stranger to until I i'uund 
 Christ 
 
 u Oli ! how T praise the supreme Creator for this 
 • of his inexhaustible lore. Ihaveaiwa; 
 an indestructible love and fear to the Lord befoi 
 sinoe my imprisonment, and it* it could serve in the 
 leasi i" forward cur holy cause, I beseech the Al- 
 mighty thai He would prolong it to the end of my 
 you also will pray for this. Do, for I 
 do not desire the well-being of my body, which is 
 destined to death, and mygreatesi consolation would 
 be to know thai my sufferings had been beneficial to 
 humanity. What signifies one day more or Less hers 
 below? What signifies one more]*;;: _ .- Nothing, 
 when it is for the greatest, for fcl • 
 
 "Your letter gave me great comfort. I rejoic 
 seethe just tribute which English Christians have 
 rendered to VOUT virtues and those of Alliania. Bui 
 I deserve it not, and all that you say with reft 
 to myself only makes me ashamed. I do n 
 such honour as these noble brethren hav€ 
 
LETTER TO A . 33 
 
 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. 
 
 " I 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 I had them.' They 
 answered me with sagacity, and made t lie proposition 
 to which I replied as I stated above. 
 
 D 
 
S I LETTER TO A- 
 
 " In spite of the state of my health* I srasi go 
 
 shortly fco ( Ir;m:i«la. I BID only awaiting a li ' 
 
 from Mr. Greene, and from thence I shall write to him 
 atleiiLr'li, giving him every intelligei 
 
 "I must remain here no longer. [ am injuring 
 the brethren imprisoned at Malaga, and above :ill, 
 Albania, and I am determined to L r ", bni 1 <!«> not 
 think my health will improve. 
 
 "I am waiting to be called before the superior 
 tribunal with anxiety. I shall present myself lx'fore 
 thrni as the law permits, and shall defend myself 
 energetically. 1 d them why 1 1 
 
 away tradition, the only support of the Chnrch 
 of Rome. I desire to prove to them thai myoonduot 
 is worthy of a true Christian, and I will Bend yoi my 
 ace, whi.h I shall write from Granada; and yet, 
 A . I am sorry to Leave this place. My 
 room is a little focus of gospel light. 1 have tl 
 converts anion*.: the prison old, 
 
 and who will, I trust, be virtuous Christ;;. 
 
 "Oh, bow much an energ lie propa- 
 
 ganda is needed in this bouse of orime! The chap- 
 lain of tho prison is satisfied with celebrating the 
 
 • ilegious and unbloody sacrifice of ma 1 re- 
 
 joices in the conversion of the most miserable. Our 
 Lord came not to save the righteous, hut 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 . 35 
 
 reach me. May God be with you — may his Holy 
 Spirit guide you ! I am tranquil, and strong in the 
 Spirit. I will 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 I have cried over Mr. 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 . I am 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 Charch at Malaga was forwarded 
 at this time to Dr. Tregelles, of Plymouth, and is 
 addressed to the followers of Jesus Christ in this 
 country : — 
 
3G LETTER OF MALAGA BRETHREN. 
 
 " Revered Brethkex in iiii: Lord, 
 
 " Our hearts are filled with joy and w ell-deserved 
 and fraternal gratitude ; and ire desire to express to 
 you something of the holy Christian happiness which 
 we have felt on hearing of the. noble and generous 
 protection which yon liavc extended to our deaz 
 brother Don M. stntsanoros, now i prisoner for the 
 sake of the Divine Redeemer, the only [ntercessot 
 and Mediator with ( hod, 
 
 '■The holiest spiritual bonds unite dj to this 
 dear brother. 3 ling the noble efforts of thai 
 
 worthy minister, l>'>n P. B , he formed in this 
 
 town a oharoh, whose members do not, and will not, 
 
 recognise as chief or head of the 98000 :my hut the 
 
 Redeemer, the Lord Jeans Christ : nor will take i 
 
 rule of faith any other than the Word of God — the 
 
 Holy Bible. 
 
 "The religion of Jesus Christ and <>f his apostles 
 
 is that which we follow ; we believe it td he ;; ; 
 true, and consequently we do not recognise the 
 authority of the Church of Rome, hut rather hold 
 her to be the great bo Holy Scripture. 
 
 "That we have found the fountain of the water 
 of life, we owe to Don 1£ ^latamoros. His constant 
 ami 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 b 
 our hopes, and expectations. The noble attitude of 
 the generous deputation which appeared in behalf of 
 
J.UTER FROM ALHAMA. 37 
 
 our suffering brethren, and the sacrifices which you 
 have made for the benefit of Don M. Matamoros and 
 Albania, 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 
 N. A as follows : — 
 
 " Prison, Granada, January 19th, 1861. 
 
 "Dear N , my beloved Brother in the Lord, 
 
 l - 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 H. C asked her if she iras 
 
 not ashamed to have a husband who was a thief — 
 i thief of men's belief P People will spit at me, and 
 at my children in tl In Bhort, when 
 
 they go tiny are assailed with insults and opprobrium 
 from the superstitious and priest-led pari of the 
 population. These j i bo should be called 
 
 mii d rather than of Christ, alas I how 
 
 they be Hii whose lad a re a 
 
 prayer for the pardon of His murderers, when fchey 
 deprive innooenl children of their father, n wife of 
 her husband, and b venerable mother of the son who 
 was her blessing and her Bupport. 
 
 "Oh, my poor children ! your father will probably 
 die the death of a felon and a galley-slave, bui he 
 will die o _ his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
 and scorning all vain traditions ami the ' hing 
 
 of the impostor, Kini; 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. 
 
 " I 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 1 1 ie 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 ALII AM A. 
 
 not conceive why we were noi confined in the courts 
 (jxUioe), for people if such crimes m ours 
 
 might properly hv with the worst coniriote, and 
 should uot be allowed to communicate with anybody. 
 Pray tlnit Gk>d may foi ■ all m I Jo. 
 
 "They persecute as eren in our dungeons, and 
 we must pray for them from l> aot thii 
 
 what the i_-< ■-] >*-l teaches oaf (Jh how good and 
 pleasant :i thing it is to know- the Word of God, 
 which teaohei ai to Buffer with patience all thai is 
 hardest in our nndi spt ivny. 
 
 •• .\. .< v will 1 draw kick from the holy work in 
 
 which I am engaged, nor will I otter one sigh of 
 for God strengthens ma. The Holy Spirit 
 
 enlightens me, and St. Paul sett ma an example of 
 on in tribulation ; so all the fury and cruelty 
 
 of these modern Diocletiaas shall be unavailing to 
 
 sQenoe as. We s ill preat b I he W ord of ( tod in our 
 
 chains, as though WC dwelt in nalaOSSJ. In spite of 
 our rulers, and in their \ we coni 
 
 the truths of the gospeL 
 
 '• livery time that I have been brought before 
 the tribunals, I hare declared that my only crime 
 
 has been that I hare 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 
 ation 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 P 1 
 
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. 
 
 " Seiior 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. Evi- 
 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 ! 
 
1- I I.I UK 1 SOU Al.HA.MA. 
 
 11 Matamoros will be obliged to go to Malag 
 be judged there, in the first place; but as that info* 
 rior tribunal depends, as you know, upon this one, he 
 will return here to receive his final - Our 
 
 suit already eov» law papers, and it 
 
 appeara to be only beginning. The mdictmenti will 
 be read separately; but as We cannot re. -rive different 
 
 sentences for one otl'eiice, they will be OOnsidered 
 together, and the niaxiinum punishment which the 
 
 law permits will he inflicted. The plaoea mentioned 
 in our several indiotmente are Granada, Barcelona, 
 Malaga, Seville, ami Cordova; but in Seville and 
 Cordon there \a little or no evidence against as. 
 The Serille accusation only rests upon two anim- 
 
 ])or-t:tnt letters found UpOD Matainoro-, and the ad- 
 dress of H . 
 
 "Affectionate remembi >m all the brethren^ 
 
 Ever believe in the inextinguishable h-ve of your 
 
 brother in Chi 
 
 " Jose Aj.ha.ma." 
 
 In this Letter we see the strong and unwavering 
 
 faith of the other patient and untiring witin 
 Jesus. 
 
 March 12th, 1861, Matamoros says: — 
 
 "On the night of the 7th. after our live 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 hear 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 respect 
 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- 
 
44 THE BIBLES TAKKN'. 
 
 availing. With this holy book, which was our daily 
 study, wo Lave both lost much of our tranquillity and 
 calmnt 
 
 Man may take away their Bibles, but he can- 
 not take away Chri>t from them. " My sheep -hall 
 
 ii, neither shall any pluck them out of my 
 
 hand." "J am persuaded thai neither death nor life, 
 
 nor angi Is, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
 
 b, nor things to conic nor height, nor depth, 
 
 nor an j other oreatnre, shall be able to separ 
 
 from the lore of Qod which is in Christ Jesus our 
 Lord." 
 
LETTER FROM GRANADA. 4-J 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 LETTER FROM REFORMED CHURCH AT GRANADA. — PRO- 
 CEEDINGS OF FRIENDS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 About this time we received from the Reformed 
 Church of Granada the following letter : — 
 
 " Dear and revered Brethren in our blessed Re- 
 deemer, Jesus Christ, 
 
 " We learn, by letters from Malaga and Barce- 
 lona, that our brothers in those towns have, through 
 you, addressed the English 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. 
 
 " If the sufferings of Don M. Matamoros and Don 
 J. Albania 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 
 
40 LETTER FROM GRANADA. 
 
 of being Protestants and preachers of the troth ; 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, 
 
 M We unite with the Churches of Malaga and 
 lona in thankfulness to those among you 
 who liave lightened the Bufferings of our innocent 
 brethren. 
 
 M In Doo Jose Albania we recognise the fervent 
 Christian, the honoured citizen, the unwearied sol- 
 dier of Christ, who formed and gave existence to this 
 Church, sacrificing, in bo doing, not only his worldly 
 interests, hut also his precious freedom. 
 
 " In I ton M. Matamoa an equally 
 
 worthy brother, a Bealous fellow-worker and preacher 
 
 of the L r o>jicl in many plaees, and the founder of the 
 
 Churc ' tlaga and Barcelona ; on whose name, 
 
 as 011 that of his fellow-prisoner, no shadow of a .-tain 
 
 >r fallen. Yet tl the only accusations 
 
 which can be broujj; ear 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 oppress 
 
 " AYe protest, because our religious sentiments 
 are identical with those of our suffering brothers — we 
 are Christians. Our rule of faith is the whole Bible, 
 and the Bible alone. We desire to be distinguished 
 
LETTER FROM GRANADA, 47 
 
 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.] 
 M Messrs. Newton, Tregelles, and Greene." 
 
 A letter from Albania gives some faint idea of the 
 sorrows of these brethren : — 
 
 " My dear Sir, and beloved Brother in Christ, 
 
 " With great joy and hearty gratitude I take up 
 my pen to write 70a B few lines. I have read the 
 letters which you have addressed to the worthy Chris- 
 
48 mm rson alhama. 
 
 tian soldier and bravo gospel champion, Don If. 
 Matamoros. I hare read m your last Letter the pas- 
 sage in which yoa BO kindly wrote of me. Oh, dear 
 brother, your !• engthea our faith, and givo 
 
 ■ our spirits. Truly, the con- 
 duct of tli I of ( t'l ( 'hris- 
 ia widely diffe r en t Tl Ohristiani tor- 
 ment y ipeak ill of us; they 
 anathematize us; they represent us Be tin- vilest 
 criminals, that the people may hate u- ; they castas 
 into tilthy dan from oar dear 
 families and from our brethren fan Christ, thus bring- 
 ■•imt toil • ion, and oiling 
 the hearts of ti sndmcrariiing; and 
 
 all this they do for the honour and glory of ( rod. 
 
 t- \Vhat! Docs the love of the gospel Lead nun 
 to ruin an honed and honourable family? Is it to 
 t lie glory of God to rub innocent children of their 
 
 father, and deprive them :-nal atlec- 
 
 ti«m. and of tb ? Is it in the 
 
 who pardoned the aduli 
 and prayed for his murderers, to east into dreadful 
 aids* the lowest felons, those whose only 
 offence is, that they have preached the gospel and 
 tan-lit men to love as brethren, and strive to ini 
 them in those divine truths which God through his 
 Son Jesus Christ has given to ns 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 1 
 they comfort us in our afflictions ; our children are 
 
LETTER FROM ALIIAMA. 40 
 
 their children ; they pray for us ; they pray for our 
 enemies : and we from our doleful prison daily do the 
 same. Eternal glory be to Jesus Christ — glory to 
 his holy gospel — glory to those Christians who teacli 
 and practise the Word of God, and who unite faith 
 ami charity'. 
 
 " I 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 hoped 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. 
 
 " For 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 
 Bends to you and your dear family a thousand kind- 
 les. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you 
 all, is what I pray. 
 
 "Your brother in the Lord, 
 
 " Jose Alhama." 
 
 It may not be generally known that at the time 
 of the irruption of fch • barbarians the Vandals took 
 
 session of the Bonthern portion of Spain. Hence 
 the word Vandahisia, the v having been dropped 
 
 E 
 
50 PETITION TO PABLIAM1HT. 
 
 in tin- lapse of time. Matamoros, from his complexion, 
 
 evidently belongs to the race of the Vandals, whilst 
 
 Alhama is Bnpposed to be of Moorish origin, sundry 
 circumstances indicating this, and particularly the 
 Arabic prefix to bis name, -AZ, which is found in many 
 Spanish words, and lb accounted for by the 
 
 ish rule in Spain. 
 The English public were not idle during this reign 
 of terror to 1' stents in Spain. Imputations 
 
 i Karl RrUSSell, Minister for Q Atlairs. 
 
 The oewspapi 1 to help, and daily the 
 
 public sympathy became more audible. Pe itions 
 • to the Bona liament. Prayer was 
 
 made, hut the Lord's time to deliver had not arrived. 
 
 His way is not as OUT way. We are BO short-sighted. 
 
 I louse of Commons, 
 
 ■ detailing many of the Borrows and persecutions 
 of our brethren, concluded by the following words: — 
 rs are informed thai by the 
 law of Spain there is hut one religion professed in 
 Spain— the B Catholic— and no other form of 
 
 worship is I lerated; and thai if any out- quit the 
 I ' [nan Catholic Church, hi a himself 
 
 liabL 
 
 "Thai your petitioners fear that the pi' 
 
 cution ol in Spain by the 
 
 I; • | exterminate, if possible, the 
 
 Protestant faith in the 
 
 "That as Roman Catholics have in this country 
 full liberty of worship, your petitioners earnestly : 
 your honourable House to adopt such mea 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 : — 
 
 " I 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 .as a 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 
 
BFEE6HB8 TN PARMAMFXT. 
 
 every one who professed himself a Roman Catholic, 
 would not all Catholic Christendom be arousal ? A 
 eonvention exists with Spain touching the Blare 
 trade; La 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 remOl 
 t h in _ 
 
 "It is very probable thai Matamoroa and Albania 
 
 may be worn out with protracted Buffering, and die, 
 
 but it must not be Bupposed thai the question will 
 
 expire with them. It will revive in a hundred other 
 
 and we must be prepai 
 
 "It has been said, and 1 on the beet 
 
 ority, that the Spanish I would gladly 
 
 wash their hands of the rntions,bu1 they yield 
 
 at | and the 
 
 ,:t. If this be so, it is an additional reason for 
 : t on our part. I inclose my card, 
 and beg to Bubscribe myself your obedient Bervant, 
 15th. 
 
 Speeches were made in Parliament by Sir Robert 
 Peel and Mr. Kinnaird ; Inn 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 -tone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; 
 and the God in whose hand thy bn d whose 
 
 are all thy ways, hast thonnot glorified." While all 
 this want of action and sympathy was seen in onr 
 Government, the oppressed continued to groan and 
 
THE PRISON EMPLOYES. 53 
 
 sigh, " ami their cries have entered into the ears of 
 the Lord of Sabaoth." 
 
 In February 18(31, Matamoros writes, "After the 
 silence of a Pew 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. Even 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 tli 
 morality of the Spanish employes; 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' Oranndu, June 11, L86L 
 BOTBD AND DSAB BeOTHEB IN I III LORD, OUE 
 
 Hoi r, Trust, and only Joy, 
 
 "Three daya ago I completed eight months of my 
 sad and dismal imprisonment, and to-day at length I 
 hear that my case Lb to be tried. 
 
 "The petition of the ' Promoter Fiscal ' has been 
 
 notified to as. I g , some I some 
 
 ■ t of this man. He asks for nine years at the 
 
 galleys for US three who are imprisoned at Granada, 
 
 and four yean at the galleys lor those who were lei 
 
 out on hail, and who arc now here for their trial, 
 
 nnmber is abonl Ivocates have been 
 
 . for as; three from among the most eminent 
 
 — For Alliam::. I I m Antonio 
 Don .Manuel TrigO, Don .Mariano 
 
 Lederma; and for me, Don Juan Rodriguez de la 
 pa. The ill be defended by them this 
 
 before the inferior tribunal. 
 "I will Bend yon, dear brother, a copy of the 
 
 sentence, and the defence of our adv ad any 
 
 farther facts worthy of notice. Believe me that these 
 things do not alarm me in the least. Absolut 
 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. OO 
 
 of the gospel are and ever sliall bo an eternal satis- 
 faction to us. I am not shaken, nor shall I 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, 
 
 " Manuel Matamoros." 
 " N.B. — I fear my correspondence with Matamoros 
 and his with me has been intercepted this last month. 
 
 "Wm. 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. 
 
 u Prison, Granada, June 15, L861. 
 
 " Very dearly-loved and respected Brother, 
 
 " I have never experienced more difficulty in con- 
 veying to you my sentiments of love and gratitude 
 than I do 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 nor heard from you, though I have written to 
 you six times. And what a miserable time has this 
 been ! These last BIX wicks 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. It is like a tempest which threatens 
 
LETT1B rBOM MATAM0BO8. 
 
 raj i . as a little boat tossed on the breakers 
 
 would be imperilled by a storm. My constitution is 
 failing under the weigh! of these repeated blows. 
 Hut with .all this I receive the most powerfb 
 
 % the mosl precious help, which leads me to a 
 haven of salvation ; which converts grief into joy; 
 Buffering into peace ; and changes all thai is gloomy 
 into all that is bright. My invariable faith in the 
 Lord, our dear Etedeemer, does this for ma 
 
 " Hut life has its oecc the chief 
 
 to me ai ive your letters ami 1 1 
 
 of Mr-. ; : and daring this unfortunate time 
 
 I have not received her letters either. Consider my 
 condition and you will pity and pardon me. 
 
 •■ ^i our letter of the 1th has made me m 
 concerning mine to you. v i Bay yon have not 
 
 beard from me since a certain data, and I have 
 
 written to ymi without receiving any answer. 
 
 Oh, may God touch the hearts of our enemies, and if 
 the letters have fallen into their hands 
 
 k - 1 pass on to another point which will giv< 
 and your family much Badness of heart. The punish- 
 ment which has been awarded to OS was officially an- 
 nounced to us on the 13th. Albania, TrigO, and my- 
 self are to be condemned to eighteen years' punish- 
 ment : nine at the galleys, and nine more under the 
 hmce of the civil aut! id^s 
 
 this, we are to be declared for everincapable 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 maybe; 
 but in rase we should do so, we shall be obliged to 
 travel by a route which shall be appointed for ns, 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 to a 
 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 Europe as a specimen of the tyrannical 
 spirit which influences the Spanish laws, and their 
 inquisitorial rage against those Protestants who de- 
 Bire 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- 
 im-nt 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. I am 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 ;md 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 ami other parts of Spain ; 
 ami this, as well as my declaration of faith before the 
 tribunal, demands a severe and heavy punishment. 
 
 "An • Bfsl other lit;lc things, it is remarked in 
 thisdocnmenl that my imprisonment hasnol answ< 
 the purpose of converting me ; hut thai con- 
 
 stantly been Btriving to pi 
 
 in prison. In fact, nothing that could prejudice the 
 supreme tribunal me, or com] I >tal 
 
 ruin, has been foi . 1 hit with all this, one point 
 
 is very remarkable: the Fiscal 001 ctly 
 
 that t hie izal ion may one day cht 
 
 the religion of Spain. What a confession! And if 
 it is !!".;• y that their religion is the 
 
 true 1 if it is the true one, why do they fear 
 
 and persecute the I ' nts bo much r 
 
 "Ou Uhama is accosed of various crimes; 
 
 the chief of them being, the having I A 
 
 in hie ; being president of the Q om- 
 
 mittee, and, ti . responsible for all its doings. 
 
 His • the same as mine, as the accom- 
 
 plice of a crime is as guilty as the perpetrator ; and, 
 lea, other heavy charges arc laid against him. 
 
 "The Fiscal has been completely and deeply to 
 blame in his accusations against Don Miguel Trigo. 
 Every 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 j 
 
TI1E " 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, lnil that I purpose sending you a copy of the 
 Bentence 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 Puhlico 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 
 
GO alhama's shop bobbed. 
 
 \ there they shall see mo tranquil and rejoicing ; 
 there they BhaU Bee me disposed to oonfesa my faith 
 in the Lord, and to pr rinst the Churofa of 
 
 Rome, hia Implacable en< 
 
 " Onr beloved Alhama 1ms Buffered from a robbery 
 
 da in hia establishment to the value of L000 
 
 reals, through a person in charge there. The replao- 
 
 isi him more than the value 
 
 -. thai he had bought on favourable 
 
 tiother artificer. This, added to the 
 
 great want- of a numerous family, of which he is the 
 
 only Bupport ; to the supplying of rich L r <"»'ls for the 
 
 : ami to the want- that are produced from 
 
 day to day by the prolongation of an eight months 1 
 
 tnment, has caused thai the sums received by 
 
 him have not covered hia d< Besides this, 
 
 Senor Alhama has not omitted, a hi- means 
 
 would allow, to as.;ist TrigO ami other unfortunate 
 
 brethren, who, having been taken prisoners with him, 
 
 are now in wai 'ion for Malaga, the 
 
 total .sum of which, since the month of .March, 
 amounts to some »'■"" reals. 
 
 "I say nothing of the content which your sym- 
 pathy has produced, ami the love shown in your 
 to see me, because my unworthy pen i- to,, 
 weak to do so; but, suffice it to say, that you make 
 me happy with such significant proofs of Christian 
 love. I do 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 
 important 
 
 " I 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, 
 
 "Manuel Matamqeos. 
 
 " 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 c Audiencia,' Granada, June 22, 1861. 
 
 11 Most beloved Brother in the Lord, 
 
 " 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 1 tix my eyes on them every moment ; 
 and those sacred remembrances console me so much, 
 they are a soothing balm to my tried spirit. 
 
62 cr of rn 
 
 "But in what an opportune oocMion your edify- 
 ing letter reached me. This morning dawned npon 
 •al day for me — one of those 'lavs thai take 
 are of life— one of tl of extreme 
 
 trial. The Fiscal petition, in which nine yean of im- 
 prisonment, : an afflictire and 
 il chara re demanded my 
 
 ain like ;in 
 
 ik. I had wished that my dear mother and I 
 iaonera in Malaga had no1 heard of it. no! to 
 
 has 
 
 • 
 
 this news to the reu ilu. 
 
 Bni with whai 
 
 •• I Lona, 
 
 • . but, 
 
 ime me. 
 
 ] ie tells me nrj ible, that 
 
 1 . my < '""1, 
 me 
 . . 
 •• T.\ o of the fallen sick 
 
 in their wretched du '/ >r l»r*>t 1 • 
 
 This is my ritual , think on it, and pity nir. 
 
 I do not sutler <>n my own soconnl ; no, I Buffer in 
 thinking that the beings I . I suffer 
 
 in thinkim: that they | believe that I suffer, 
 
 when, on the contrary, thia epoch (that others, per- 
 haps, may think sad) is to me the happiest epoch in 
 my I 
 
 "I feel my physica] strength weakening under 
 nature's hard laws, but my moral being grows ever 
 
CONSTANCY. 63 
 
 more robust, ever more firm ; yes, more firm, because 
 tli ere are uo 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. 
 
 " I 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, offer in my humble 
 name my respects ; tell him, also, of my eternal gra- 
 titude, my warm Christian love ; and assure him in 
 
MEETING IN LONDON. 
 
 ihc most positive manner of my constancy, my un- 
 varying desire of sacrificing even my life, it' accessary, 
 for the cause of the gospel, and of my perfect tran- 
 quillity in the midst of so many sad and v< ■ 
 blows. 
 
 " I i yesterda; . and 
 
 most eloquent I gned by different amiable and 
 
 charitable brothers and Bisters in Dublin. -M . 
 
 of health and my occupations me from 
 
 ring it immediately; however, perhaps I may 
 
 10 to-morrow. 
 
 "The blessing of the Lord be with yon constantly, 
 
 ith all your family. Alhama, who participates 
 
 in equal gratitude and love towards yon, begs me to 
 
 i of it in the warmest manner. 
 
 • V >ur brother in the Lord, 
 
 EL BfATAl 
 
 A sh ■!'• ' ire the n >f the ah 
 
 meeting had been convened a Sail, Lon- 
 
 don; presided over bj L LShaftesbur 
 by a highly influential and respectable audience. On 
 
 this occasion Sir Et. Peel made a long and powerful 
 sj eech, bringing before the public the h 
 these Spanish Protestants were obliged to - 
 
 After introducing this subject at some length, lie 
 continued by saying : — 
 
 " What have these violent prosecutions cost 5 
 in the past ! What lost Spain the Indies ? Its 
 eutions. What lost Spain the Nether- 
 lands ? Mr. Motley, in his charming work, recently 
 published, says : — ' The great cause of the revolt 
 
SIR ROBERT TEEL S SPEECH. 00 
 
 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, in 15G1, 
 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 I 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 : — 
 
 u ' The tribunals in this place arc 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 bomb strengthens my faith.' 
 
 " Is that tin' language of a Socialist or a political 
 agitator ? I have here a letter from Alhania, which 
 is still more touching : — 
 
 "'Yes, I suffer very, very deeply. You will 
 imagine all if I tell you a little. They are constantly 
 
 I 
 
66 AI.HAMa'.S LETTl i:. 
 
 trying to make my poor wife ashamed of Irt hus- 
 band. They call me thief; they assail me with in- 
 sults and opprobrium. These priests, ffho are called 
 ministers of Christ, how can they be his priests ? Oh, 
 
 my poor children ! your lather 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 greai 
 cannot Ioiilc survive my misfortune; and my poor 
 wife, only just convalescent when I was arrested, is, 
 they tell me, dying. 
 
 "' I Suffer with pal ' that is hardest in our 
 
 undeserved captivity. Be firm; grow in faith; we 
 
 put our trust in ( lodV 
 
 " I will read only one other extract i — 
 "'Of our misfortunes and Bufferings here in pri- 
 son I will say nothing. The cruelty they pract ise upon 
 
 us, • me severity they treal as with. i> almost 
 
 without an example in the annals ot' tyranny. The 
 
 jailers have received stric not to allow OS 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 w< 
 allowed to see our friends, and my patient Albania 
 W8S permitted to Bee 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.' 
 
 " I ask, 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- 
 cal 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 societies. 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 : — 
 
 " ' lie, 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 : 
 
 I'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; 
 
C8 SIR ROBERT FEEL'S SPEECH. 
 
 ITe faded, and so calm and meek, 
 So softly worn, so sweetly iresk, 
 So tearless, yd so tender — kind, 
 And grieved for those he left behind i 
 
 While all the while a elnvk, wliose bloom 
 \\ us m the raookery Of the tomb.' 
 
 11 That is -what I saw in the dungeon of Granada. 
 I have Been in my own experience the terrors of the 
 1 heaving ocean. 1 I have been with fonr other men 
 upon a plank in the mid ocean, the Bole survivors 
 
 from a terrible shipwreck. I hi men, one by 
 
 one, perish at my aide, bal it did not move me: I 
 awaited my destiny. It was horrible, but it was not 
 woe. I have s<cn the battle-field of the defeated: it 
 was horrible, lmt it was nol woe. I 1 . the 
 
 prisoner expiating liis offence, and i bis last 
 
 sentence for his defiance of the laws of God and man: 
 it was horrible, bnt it did noi affed me. Bn< I have 
 d the prisoners in the dungeon at Granada, and I 
 admit that I felt, perhaps as many of yon have felt 
 often, or, it may be, only once in your life — fell 
 
 '• ' What I ean ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.' 
 
 "W.mld to God that any words of mine could 
 remove one iota of the burden that presses down 
 these poor fellows in Granada ! r.ut fchey shall be 
 relieved. We haves patriot minister who knows bow 
 
 to interpret the feelings of bis countrymen, and lie 
 will be prepared to carry out the desire not only of 
 the metropolis, but of every province of this empire, 
 that Her }! Government should take some 
 
 step in the matter. We do not ask to go to war with 
 Spain. The power of tbis country docs cot 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 
 Elizabeth. 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 and in Europe. 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 Europe. 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 arc Buffering J not for their political, 
 but for their religions opinions; a persecution, which 
 is not only an insult to Europe, and an outrage to the 
 
70 WIDB-8PB1AD BTMPATHT. 
 
 spirit of the age in which we live, but which to my 
 mind is totally incompatible with the mild and charit- 
 able principles of Chri>tianity." 
 
 The sympathy evinced by Sir El. Peel at the time 
 of the imprisonment of Mataaoros, his g 
 tions since, ami many things that have come under 
 
 ' ice, impel me to bid him ( tod Bpeed, and to de- 
 sire,as 1 do most heartily, thai as by God's providence 
 a been chosen in the first instance as the instru- 
 ment of advocating the cause of onr persecuted 
 Spanish friends, he may never dismiss this matter 
 from his thoughts until he Bees an end put to this 
 
 at&on in the deliverance of the captives, and in 
 the proclamation of religions liberty in priestridden 
 
 Sj>ain. 
 
 J i u t it was not only in thepalaces of our nobility 
 that the Btory of the Spanish snfferen had become 
 u matter of deep interest. It had already 
 rehearsed again and again in all the l< 
 breadth of I tritain, and over the conti] 
 
 Bnrope ; on the hanks of the I ad in the 
 
 United States; and better and higher stall, we 1 
 think that the sorrowful sighing of the prisoner has 
 come into the ears of the Lord of Hosts. In all 
 their afflictions //• is afflicted. He has heard their 
 
 Cry, and will help them. 
 
 But simple imprisonment was not sufficient punish- 
 ment in the eyes of the enraged ecclesiastics of Spain 
 for those who had dared topreach 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. 
 Muller, of Bristol ; and the Rev. R. Govett, of Nor- 
 wich, to say nothing of a host of others whose un- 
 tiring and prayerful sympathy has been invaluable. 
 The Rev. 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 sorn m were the forerunners. The Madiai 
 in Italy were beraldfl of blessing- for their land, but 
 
72 JIAITY ITITI.K. 
 
 they must submit to tlie will of the Lord first in 
 bonds, ami shall ire say i li.it the same lawi do not 
 apply to Spain. Away with the thought "They 
 that bow in tears shall reapin joy,V lie lias said who 
 oaanot lie ; and we will wait on 11 im for the fhlnlment 
 of the word. 
 
A DIABOLICAL SCHEME. 73 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 
 
 Owing 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. 
 
 M Winn 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 
 
"i TOE LOJA TRAGEDY. 
 
 papers at Madrid, affirming that the insurrection, 
 besides being republican in its character, bore evident 
 marks of a Protectant origin, the rebels having 
 raised the cry, 'Death to the Pope.' The public 
 feeling being very much opposed to this Budden and 
 unexpected outbreak, the re po rts industriously spread 
 of its having originated with the Pj testanl party, 
 1 most injuriously the cause of the prisoners, 
 which was beginning to be regarded with interest and 
 favour l>y the more enlightened portion of the public. 
 Availing themselves of the panic produced, the 
 enemies of Bfatamoros resolved, if possible, to incri- 
 minate him and his fellow-prisoners. For this par- 
 te authorities had recourse to s wretched eon- 
 riot, condemned for robbery to seven yen- at the 
 galleys, to whom they promised liberty and 3< N H I reals, 
 if he would Bupply information againsi the Protestant 
 prisoners. This man, fetched hark for the purpose 
 from tin' gallej i mployed to carry food and 
 
 water to the cells of Mat amOTOS and Alhaina. 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 s religious character, and contained no allu- 
 sion to polities, yet they were u>ed as a pretext i'ur 
 action. 
 
 " Early 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 denied him. 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 : — 
 
 " I. 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. 
 
 " II. That he had famished the insurgents with 
 large sums of money. 
 
 " III. That he had intended to put himself at 
 
T'> THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 
 
 the bead of the insurrection in Granada, and to liavo 
 given liberty to the prisoners, with the cry of 'Death 
 to the Pope. 1 
 
 "IV. That in order to effect ell tide, he had bribed 
 
 the former governor with the bdjd i I reals 
 
 , and had likewise suborned the rest of the 
 
 Ax. 
 
 " V. Ti :,t two persons who bad visited Alhama 
 
 on the • ; th and 7th of duly ii piraton. Thai 
 
 one of them had en interview with Matamoi 
 
 order to arrange with bun wl hould be raised 
 
 in the revolution, and that the other had brought to 
 
 him large sums of mom 
 
 " Th ;ted to for obtaining evidence in 
 
 support of theee charges, may be judged of from tlie 
 
 following incidents : — 
 
 "On one occasion, the oonvici aforementioned, 
 who bad been appointed to attend upon Matamoros, 
 came to his cell, accompanied by the newly-appointed 
 deputy* r. The man told Bfatamoroa 'hat it 
 
 the deputy-g ove rnor he owed the privili 
 being visited, ami that he deserved some acknow- 
 ledgment. Matamoroe accordingly gave him agra- 
 
 tuity. The deputy-governor went immediately to 
 
 the fiscal, whof 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 t<» secure 
 through him the silence of certain criminals whose 
 evidence he feared. 
 
 "These wretches, having been previously instructed, 
 when called upon by the deputy-gov e rnor, immedi- 
 ately corroborated the accusation. At another time, 
 
THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 77 
 
 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 obtaining 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 eell 
 was under thai 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 Hoor 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. 
 
78 THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 
 
 A prisoner named E came forward and declared 
 
 that he had not only seen the chief of tin- insurrection 
 conversing with ftfatamoroe before fche rising at Loja, 
 hut thut Ennee that event he had sgain seen him 
 talkinir with BiatamoroB through one of the windows 
 of the prison. 
 
 •■ When called on to describe the rebel chi- 
 
 gave a description which agreed closer/ with t lint 
 which had been published in the newspapers. There 
 
 wbb also in the prison a parish priest named B 
 
 S , imprisoned for various robberies and crimes of 
 
 a disgraoefbJ nature. This priest being cited by 
 
 B in his declaration, came forward, and nol only 
 
 corroborated what E had said, but added fresh 
 
 charges. They accused Matamoros of having endear 
 voured to induce the prisoners to rebel against the 
 military fiscal and gov e rnor of the prison. Twenty 
 prison* called forward, who, to the consterna- 
 
 tion of Matamoros, all confirmed the testimony of 
 
 B and the priest, one man showing the money 
 
 which he declared Biatamorofl had given him. But 
 the good providence of God was watching over 
 Matamoros. The cause was not decided by the 
 
 militarvtrihunal.it was passed on to the civil court. 
 There the chief evidence, the person on whom the 
 
 enemies of Matamoros chiefly rested, turned airainst 
 
 them. E , 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. ami 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 
 
THE LOJA TRAGEDY. 79 
 
 given by the military fiscal and his agents. It scarcely 
 need be said thai 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. If the 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." 
 
80 UNION IN CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTEB VII. 
 
 I II rERS FROM GRANADA. 
 
 In September I received again news from the prisoner. 
 Matamoros Baji : — 
 
 " The Triton, Granada, Sept. 1th, 1801 
 
 " Per ha ps, dear brother and indefatigable pro- 
 tector, this letter may reach yon before t! 
 
 row lul one which I wrote to yon last week. How 
 an hindered from corresponding with 
 vim (twelve m 1 without hearing anything 
 
 i or my worthy English and Irish friends! 
 This is a Lfvat trial i r than my imp 
 
 meni ; than the fury of my implacable enemi 
 than my physica] Bufferings, which are, neverti 
 severe. The besi and mosi consoling and greatest 
 
 news you can give me, is what yon tell nie of the 
 Christian solicitude and zeal and holy love, with 
 
 which our friends and brethren in the faith ask after 
 as, the prisoners of Christ. And, believe me, it is 
 not pride or presumption thai makes me so mnch 
 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 
 
i-i;ay for spaix. 81 
 
 these deai- friends, speak to them of my gratitude in 
 the most lively and expressive terms. Be very sure 
 that you cannot exaggerate it. 
 
 " It' the proposal for a day of prayer on our behalf 
 throughout England, 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 to me. I received £20 in 
 June; half was distributed in Malaga, and halt was 
 divided amongst ourselves here. Since that time I 
 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. 
 
 M 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. Albania's advocate made a bril- 
 liant and Lucid, as well as a courageous defence, 
 saying amongst other- things, after having pro 
 
 .tholic belief, ' That for a society in the state oi 
 
THE DEFENCES. 
 
 corniptioii of so-called "Catholic" Spain, be would 
 prefer the faith professed by his clients, though called 
 Protestants; for its tendencies, apari from the ques- 
 tion of faith, wen- eminently moral and noble.' My 
 
 advocate, and also Trigos, made g 1 defences, and 
 
 the affair is now in the hands of the lawyers of the 
 accused, who are at liberty on bail. 
 
 "I \\\\\ not tell yon anything, dear brother, of all 
 thai I have raftered. I could fill many pages with 
 horrible descriptions; bni in my captivity I have 
 
 begtm t<> write ;i BOrl "f sketch of my lil'f sine, my 
 
 conversion. Ef possible, I will send it to yon when it 
 is finished. Yon Bay that yon hope t«. hear me p rea ch 
 spel in Spain. Oh! it is my only aspiration, 
 ghesl ambition. 1 Long to complete my cla 
 studies; and then, poor, very poor, bni rich in faith, 
 I would ]. r.ach onweariedly wherever I could be 
 heard. Believe me t«. be, dear brother, your attached 
 though unworthy friend, 
 
 M .Manti.i, MaiamoKOS. 
 
 •• at; la to all our brethren in the 
 
 • Joss Aluama." 
 
 I received mi I n> 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 
 dec]! 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 Aiulieucia, (Iranada, Oct. 8, 1801. 
 
 " 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 
 means of procuring them for me, and founded prin- 
 cipally on the magnificent spectacle that the Chun b 
 of Christ has presented to the eyes of God and of 
 world, in watching, with pious and evangelical at;> 
 tion, over the wants of their Spanish brothers. 1 
 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 
 
8-4 LETTER TO MR. LEONARD STI: 
 
 its inhabitants. The honour has fallen bo 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 whieh yon profess for me thai He lias not 
 forsaken me, thai He accepts my sincere Christian 
 desires; and tell me, dear brother, is no! this the 
 trnesl happiness that we can enjoy here below J 
 Have I noi good then to be happy, and for 
 
 calling myself so! Fas, assuredly. Well, such is 
 the ground of my joy, the motives 1 have for glory- 
 ing. This happiness would have been a Btranger to 
 
 me had I been still living in darkm the 
 
 Church of Rome, that eternal enemy of Christ. 
 
 11 To ■'■ pi rot and interesting letter • 
 brother, to the Bentiments thai I had the pleasure of 
 expressing to the brethren <•!' King's Bridge; and 
 that humble on of faith, j has pro- 
 
 dnoed in yon the moat lively sympathies. Pray give, 
 in my poor name, to all who have honoured me by 
 hearing it, the fullest i of my Christian 1 
 
 Beloved brother, whili 
 
 when generally all are left lu run after some Qlufi 
 of faney. BOme pleasure of a day. at that in whieh the 
 
 n itful attractions of I be world fascinate the boated 
 
 imagination of youth, the infinite goodness of our 
 heavenly Father Bfl to grant me the OOnSOhv 
 
 tion of knowing Himself through his Son Jesus 
 Christ. 1 knew Him, and knew at the same time 
 my ancient errors, of having followed, as a blind 
 automaton, the Komi.sh Chureh, which lives so widely 
 distant from FLiin. 1 abandoned that path which 
 
LETTEfi 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 1 dedicated all the iime which has elapsed 
 since my conversion to Christianity up to this moment. 
 Comprehending thai 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. I 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 out 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 maintaining my faith as 
 ;i. 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 
 
LETTEB 10 MB. LEONARD STRONG. 
 
 heavenly Father has portioned out for me one of 
 infinite pleasure. What signify the Bufferings of the 
 body ? What the blind rage of an enemy who neither 
 forgets nor forgives, and who, making use of the 
 power of brnte force, rejoices in the Borrows of s 
 Christian who cannot be convinced by their argu- 
 ments, nor be intimidated by their horrible punish- 
 ments f Nothing ought, nothing can avail for the 
 man who, despising the world, fixes his eyes upon 
 his Lord, and, committing his son] to his Maker, 
 determines to follow Jlim. They may augment my 
 punishment, bat they will also augment my joy. 
 'I hey may augment their rage, but it will be manii 
 to the world, and the world will know them and 
 i 'in them. 
 
 M Not one life but one thousand would 1 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 hitter rotate 
 
 intimidate me with, nor reasonings to convince 
 me. My reasoning is all taken from the Word of 
 lite, and my invariable aim is to accomplish the will 
 (»t' lla' Lord who exlmrts as to imitate Him. 
 
 '" The pious remembrances of our beloved brethren 
 
 in the faith, who oiler fervent prayers in our behalf, 
 
 valuable ; it is the greatest benefit they can 
 
 for upon us; and whatever you tell rae 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 to me. 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. Matamoros." 
 "I 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 afHicted one of the members of tho body in 
 order that his grace might be manifested. He lias 
 blown upon the garden, his Spanish garden, that the 
 
88 • Tin: DAT-DAWB in PRE 
 
 spices of it may flow oat. But though the church in 
 England has bad a sort of first-fruits of the blessing 
 of these bonds Buffered in the name of Christ, surely 
 
 in Bhall have the full hanreai of the good results. 
 If large sums of money had been expended, much 
 labour given in evangelizing, the work of the Lord 
 
 ctually prom 
 is by the bonds of these brethren. As Paul irrote 
 
 90 may we repeat in truth, " I would ye 
 
 Bhould 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 
 
 \ud the following lines will go to 
 
 I his : — 
 
 i.son of the Ai'diencia. L861« 
 
 " Ml D1ASLT - UN ID and ni.\i:k -T0-1 
 Bbotheb i\ Tin 
 
 " The day 1" y I Bplendoui 
 
 the morning, entering in by I lied 
 
 shut! le old window of my dungeon, announce 
 
 ie that it has been the will of our beloved Father 
 to spare my life to this day, in spite of the will of 
 It i> 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 DAT- DAWN IN SPAIN. 89 
 
 hi tin's 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 us 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. 
 
 M However, dear brother, if civilization has not 
 opened, as it onght 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 stair 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 I\T!LIC opinion. 
 
 chains, come from whence they may. The nation 
 foelfl the necessity of seeking the truth ; and in this 
 study, in this meditation, in tin's Bearch, so in] 
 to the nineteenth century and to its worthy sons, the 
 triumph is secure, beloved brother; the triumph of 
 truth, yes, of Christian truth, i> Becnre. He who 
 wishes to come to the true knowledge of the 
 
 of the religion! tyranny sustained in Spain alone, 
 
 finds it in the certain danger of the ehnroh of Rome, 
 and the positive welfare of the church of < tod, whose 
 numbers arc mcreasiiig. 
 
 M Within my prison T have had the indescribable 
 pleasure of hearing persons of a bion in 
 
 the literary and Scientific world, of sullicient worth 
 
 and of sound judgment* support my pool- reasonings, 
 and emit new and brilliant judgments on this impor- 
 tant question, founding their opinions on hi 
 and on thi nations 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 ttfl opinion that 
 there is a future for Spain. Ye>, beloved brother, a 
 bright morning will shine upon the evangelical work 
 in Spain. 
 
 " If the fear, and a very possible one, of this letter 
 being intercepted did not prevent me, I would <_ r ive 
 you the names of those persons who have supplicated 
 me to take an active part in the work of evangelisa- 
 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. 91 
 
 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. 
 
 " In 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 
 Europe and the shame of tyrants. This step will yet 
 1x3 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. 
 
02 FUTUK! II 
 
 "However, to-day more than ever, I hope mnofa 
 for the future. Do not doubt, beloved brother, that 
 that tut mi- 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 tlmt time we 
 shall make more pr o g re ss in one month than at other 
 ir. I to not donbt, in short, that yon 
 will have the consolation of rejoicing in the rapid 
 •nh perhaps, in the complete triumph of 
 the great work prepared for this poor nation, in 
 which you have bad .^o large a part; and tl 
 von shall wry >oon feel, witli the protection <>f the 
 
 Lord. 
 
 •■ You toll me that von cote more confidenc 
 
 !!iin!_r the victory in my letter to A- than in 
 
 any of my others. Oh no. a thousand tim- 
 
 1 brother, my h y moment, 
 
 every minute that and if in some letter I 
 
 have lamented, these lamental renai been, by 
 
 any means, the result of discouragement ; no, dis- 
 
 conragemenl is impossible to me! Believe it im- 
 plicitly, I have never known what it is, and I hope 
 never to know it. 
 
 "The battle ia gained, In- the result what it i 
 tyranny has I a fatal Mow in Spain; tin- life 
 
 and magnitude of evangelical work is every way more 
 secure, ami my liberty or my imprisonment arc alike 
 for its good; my liberty, because thus tyranny shows 
 its impatience; my imprisonment, because thus it 
 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 Holy 
 Spirit dwell in you eternally. 
 
 " Your humble brother, friend, and son, 
 
 " Manuel 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 morning, 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 alter 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, 
 
04 TRUE LIBEIHY. 
 
 believe me, that more than all the rest, fchey arc 
 helping to kill me." 
 
 Deep sympathy 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 feel with shoes, <> prince's daugh- 
 ter! HOW fair and how plea>ant art thou, loTO, 
 
 for delights !" His confidence in God is seen in his 
 letter of February : — 
 
 " rrison (,/(},'■ AmdUmeU, Grmmadm, I'tb. 20, 1868. 
 •' V I D1AS ami RESPECTED BBOTHlli in mi 
 
 •• You judge most truly when yon suppose that 
 the continned and eloquent proofs of Christian love, 
 manifested towards us by yonr various correspon- 
 
 me much true consolation. You tell me 
 that England will do what shr can with France for 
 
 us. This is. indeed, a BOUT08 of material comfort; 
 
 1 • I must be plain and frank with you on this score. 
 
 "I believe that whatever efforts have been or 
 shall be made on our behalf may. perhaps, be fruit- 
 less. But I have always striven to >et 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 TUE CHURCH. 05 
 
 "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 
 
 " The exertions of a Catholic nation in my favour 
 might be successful. I believe they would ; but I 
 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 's 
 
 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 doinjr, 
 ceaselessly to invoke the mercy of the Eternal 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 
 
'il;i | BOB 
 
 let tlu* church of God follow bean; they will ever be 
 widely distant the one from tlu- other. Finally, no- 
 thing diatnrbe me nor violates my tranquillity. 1 
 ■ happy termination of thi> matter, for there 
 are many destitute families concerned; hoi 
 heavenly Father, who b the end from the 
 
 •.mil', will bring it to the conclusion which He 
 sets tit. His holy and divine will be dona, be it 
 what it may 
 
 M The in"-', hononrahle morneni of my life ia draw- 
 h mors months my enemiei will 
 liave achieved their and I ahall enter npon 
 
 avid life. I shall no Longer posaesa the rights 
 of aitisenship. The moment tin- aentenoe is pro- 
 nonnced against □ • 1 thai] be b criminal, and only 
 a criminal, in t' : « • r \- . .My rightfl will be 
 
 the rightfl of the parricide, of the thief, of 1 1 
 There will be no differen 
 law, one n ne rnle for us all. 
 
 •• BToi only ahall 1 be deprived of my olothes, sty 
 hair eut off, and the haj.piiitss of seeing mj beloved 
 and tender mother denied to me; but 1 shall be 
 Lately prohibited from writing, four letters, con- 
 soling, loving, edifying ss they are. will not reach me 
 then. Ot'< will be impossible ever to 
 
 hear from me. Then, dear friend, if those sad but 
 honourable hours are drawing SO near, I entre 
 to make use quickly of the time thai remains I 
 consolation. I trust you will not delay in writing 
 to me. 
 
 "Your letter :y 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. All 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 : — 
 
 11 ' Have you the Bible there ?' 
 
 " ' Yes, seiior,' I answered. 
 
 " He took it up, and before he opened it he asked, 
 4 Is it English?' 
 
 " ' It was printed in London in 1853,' I answered. 
 
 " ' Do you read much in it ? ' he asked. 
 
 " ' Yes, seiior, at least twice every day ; it is my 
 greatest comfort in this place of suffering.' 
 
 " ' Do you profess yourself a Protestant ? ' 
 
 " ' Yes, seiior. I was interrogated by the tribu- 
 nals of Barcelona and Granada, and not choosing to 
 deny, I confessed the truth.' 
 
 H 
 
98 THl OLD LAD1 AID 
 
 "All these qnestionfl were asked frith greal polite- 
 and then laying down the Bible, he turned t«> 
 another table where 1 had more books, and asked: — 
 " ■ Are those traotfl or religious books ?' 
 ■■ N ... but, i scepting a oopy of the Liturgy. Tlie 
 re the History of the English Revolution and 
 some other books which have been lent to me, but 
 which 1 have ooi had time to read, and must return.' 
 " llr then examined witli extreme, aln. 
 
 1 attention, the likenesses which I have hung 
 up in my cell. He dwelt Long opon yours, and 
 
 if yOU were English. I rep! > :. 'Yes,' and lie then 
 
 looked at that of my mother, and he told me her 
 
 inline without my asking. 
 
 •• When he had left me. with ;in injunction to let 
 
 him know if I wanted anything, he desired to be 
 shown our -ground, asked the hours at which 
 
 we are allowed to see our friends, and finally inquired 
 into the position of our ease, and gave orders for 
 what irae to be done it' General Alexander came, and 
 
 how he was to enter. He also went to the apart- 
 
 of Trigo and of Albania; was exceedingly 
 
 polite with them also, and Baked many questions 
 concerning their treatment in the prison. 
 
 "A few days ago, the following scene oecurred 
 in the alcaide's house, where 1 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 lady took advantage 
 of the privileges of her age and sex to insult rather 
 than to reason with me. "When I was allowed to 
 
IIIK LITTLE CHILD. 90 
 
 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 Enrique 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 
 Eucharist, 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 Enrique), he is 
 listening to every word, and at last will be a Protes- 
 tant like yourself.' 
 
 " ' I believe you,' said Enrique. ' 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. 
 
 " I 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. 
 
 " Senor Marin, of Malaga, has been very ill in 
 prison, and his daughter also. Both are now better, 
 
100 LOVE FOR HIS MOTHKK. 
 
 and the latter has been ordered change of air and 
 water for s few weeks. 
 
 " My mother is very well. Alhama and his family 
 continue well. Trigo also is in good health. I an 
 as usual, hut with good heart. All Bend you a thou- 
 sand kind regards. In answer to yonr exhortation 
 to Btand firm, I must tell you tliat I purpose to be 
 stedmsj to the end. be that whai it may; you will 
 
 ■ 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 y<»u all 1 feel towards you. Ton have a 
 
 high place in my heart. 1 pray that God may till 
 
 you and yonn with peace, grace, and the communion 
 
 of his Holy Spirit. 
 
 •• Your loving brother in the Lord, 
 
 " M lb ; ; Maiamoros." 
 
 ITis deep attachment to hi- mother is another 
 
 sweet trait in his character. She has indeed proved 
 a mother to him in this lonff ni<_dit of sorrow, and 
 had it not been for her untiring care, he must long 
 nu r o have snoenmbed 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 a _ 
 him is manifested in his next sweet letter. Of him 
 it may be said — 
 
CONDEMNED TO THE GALLEYS. 101 
 
 " If 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 and a 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 certainty, 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. Tn 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 scut 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, HUT NOT IOB8ADH." 
 
 tion was settled in consultation by the four fiscala, 
 lawyers of the ' Audiencia,' c\ cry one of whom II ■ 
 
 bigoted Roman Catholic — nay, belongs to the party 
 who still defend the Spanish Inquisition. It seems 
 as if they sought t^ make my future as dark as 
 
 oan be. No matter; 1 forgive them with my whole 
 heart, and I pray to God that my Bufferings may be 
 the means of one day making them remember and 
 repent, and that, in their repentance, they mag 
 the truth of Christ, and faithfully follow it. May 
 
 OUT God have pity upon them ! 
 
 •• A similar penalty has been demanded for Al- 
 bania and TrigO, hut I hardly think it possible that 
 
 it oan be confirmed against the latter. For those 
 prisoners who have been at liberty on hail, a term of 
 eight yean has been demanded. La mot, the whole 
 accusation breathes out slaughter, threatening, 1 
 vengeance. 
 
 ■• < toward ' onward ! They demand the maximum 
 penalty againai us. Is n«»t 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 Pi 
 
 tantism. I repeat now what 1 said then: 'I 
 have put my hand to the plough, and will not look 
 hack.' 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 Bought 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 
 
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 added a glorious 
 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 ! 
 
 " I earnestly aspire to a fair and brilliant future 
 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 nie. This path is 
 
10 i A LIVING SACRIFK 
 
 not that which the world opens to me. So widely 
 apart are the two, that now, although 1 recognise 
 pious and eminently evangelical seal and love in the 
 efforts which you and your friends are making for 
 my liberty; yet, I believe that I ought not to strive 
 for it. 
 
 "I read in the Hook of Life, that tlio Lord knew 
 
 thai his hour had not yei come : that He knew when 
 it had come, and that Be advanced ai it were to 
 Lthough it was one of anguish. It is 
 brae that He withdrew Brora a place where He waa 
 sted, hat only because his time was not yet 
 come ; when that hour arrived, 1U — lite of our life — 
 went to seek the scene of his martyrdom ! 
 
 "I have given myself entirely to God, through 
 
 the most >\virt name of JeSUS. I am his. II.- will 
 Open the door of my prison, if He SSefl it meet for me 
 
 and for all. Or else, He lias another lot instoi 
 
 me which 1 cannot imagine, the end of which, as tai- 
 ns this earth is concerned. I shrink from Contemplat- 
 ing, Bui my end ami aim is .'■ 
 OUghl I to shrink from or refuse to hear sorrow or 
 persecution for his name's sake P No ; for He .sought 
 out his Bufferings for us. N ■. for the pathway to 
 
 IS the pathway of the cross. Well, then, I 
 know not it* it is for the advancement of tl 
 my free. lom, that my pour and humble but sincere 
 
 should be published. But I do know that 
 the publicity which has been given to the story <»i 
 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. 
 
 " Tins 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 cany them out, I will go on unweariedly, 
 
106 FAITH INVINCIBLE. 
 
 firmly, and steadily to the end, to the last moment of 
 my life. 
 
 "I must repeal and reiterate to-day what T 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'a grace, I will go forward and 
 onward with yet <_ r reater joy and decision. I am, 
 as ever, most earnestly fixed in my mind. Most 
 thoroughly resolved not to lose one moment or one 
 opportunity to Bhow forth all my wishes, their 
 grounds, and the deeply-rooted sentiment that pro- 
 duces them, or to declare to my foes that they will 
 in conquering or in punishing me. 
 For earned faith is unconquerable, and against such 
 
 there is DO law. 
 
 " This is my soul's aeoessity, or rather the natural 
 
 of my faith in God. He gives me life, joy, 
 . spiritual food for my soul's health. But on 
 the other hand, I only look forward to in< • 
 wrath on the part of my enemies: fury, that grieves 
 me on their account, hut that is to me a sweet pledge 
 of my Bare rejoicing in Jesus. But once again. 
 When I shall have entered upon my term of punish- 
 ment, I cannot hut 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 ! This is the future to which I aspire, as I told 
 
LETTER FROM THE PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 107 
 
 you before. Therefore, I must not struggle for liberty. 
 The will of the Lord be done in all things. 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 Christ, 
 
 " 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 
 
1<'»^ LETTER FEOM 
 
 faithful observations that concerning them ire have 
 received from you have so deeply moved us, and 
 have caused such a deep sensation in our minds, that 
 having repented from t he bottom of our hearts for 
 haying wavered in confessing our faith, we have 
 resolved to go before the tribunal thai is trying us, 
 and with all clearness to amplify our declaration ; 
 manifi them, that owing to certain untoward 
 
 cironn go to our character we held silence 
 
 tor a length of time, which now causes us remorse, 
 
 for we are Protestanti to the bottom of our 1 
 ami we hive propagated and will propagate the 
 maxims and doctrines contained in the Holy Bible, 
 ami imprisonment if not snmcient to quench our 
 
 ardent faith, nor shall it tear from our bosoms those 
 
 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 ifl that the truth be 
 propagated, ami that all may receive the divine light 
 of the be made acquainted with the 
 
 true doctrines that .Ions taught upon earth. We 
 
 also di say that in this step we have not been 
 
 I by any human interest, but simply from the 
 conviction that the Reformed religion is the right 
 one; ami 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 
 
THE TRISONERS AT MALAGA. 109 
 
 what probably we shall have put into execution 
 before the competent authority, wlien you have re- 
 ceived this letter. 
 
 " We confess, beloved Manuel, that we liave not 
 been given the same energy and decision as you in 
 confessing Jesus. We confess that we nave 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 lifetime only thought of carnal de- 
 lights." 
 
 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, Senor 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 Clirist, has 
 received the cognomen of the Spanish Andrew Dunn. 
 On March 14th, the case of the Spanish persecutions 
 w r as brought before the British House of Commons, 
 on which occasion Mr. Kinnaird spoke at great 
 
110 MR. Kl\N.\ll;l»'s SPEECH 
 
 length, and also Lord Palmerston, but no results fol- 
 lowed. We give their speeches below : — 
 
 THE PERSECUTIONS in spa IN. 
 "Mr. KiWAiki' said it would be recollected that, 
 during the last session, the Etighi Hon. Baronet the 
 Ohief Secretary for Ireland on more than one occa- 
 sion brought under the notice of the Bouse 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 do doubt that, although he had since accepted 
 
 office, the Etighi Hon. gentleman still remained true 
 
 to bis principles. The Spanish persecutions com- 
 menced in L859. In that year a naturalised British 
 subject (Escalante) was seised, and imprisoned in a 
 
 loathsome dungeon, for merely circulating the Scrip- 
 tures. Hewai d to nine year-' penal 
 tude in the galleys, but owing to the intercession of 
 our consul he Obtained a remission of the sentence. 
 
 The opinions for which be 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 p lice 
 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 Gth of January of the 
 present year, been sentenced to seven ye a-s of the 
 
ON THE PERSECUTIONS IN SPAIN. Ill 
 
 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- 
 inoros' 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 
 
1 L2 Mil. KIWAIKI'V SPEECH. 
 
 through the disappearance of beads of families. In 
 one case, a sculptor with his wife and eldest son 
 
 arrested in the dead of night, and cast into a 
 son, leaving five helpless children totally un- 
 provided for. In another instance, the head of one 
 of the besi 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 vioted of reading the Bible. 
 
 J3v the Levi five were still in prhi 
 
 Malaga, and three at Granada The others had been 
 released, and some, it' nol all, had become refugees. 
 It might be said thai this was a matter which con- 
 
 1 the Spaniards ah. it. and with which we had 
 [ghl to interfere. Others thought that inter- 
 ference was ouadvisable, because it would prove of no 
 avail. Knowing, as he did, what an impression the 
 debates in the Bouse last year had produced in Spam, 
 
 lie was confident that gr oat -_ r 1 would result from a 
 
 f opinion on the present occasion, 
 
 and from cordial intercession on the part of the 
 
 Government. One of the pi wrote, with re- 
 
 ference to one of the discussions of last session, "I 
 have n"t vet read the speech of Sir B ibert Peel, but 
 I have heard it notably praised. An extract from 
 
 Lord John RosselTfl reply has heen 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 
 
KB. KlNN\lKl/s SPEECH. 113 
 
 sought to put on the speech of the noble lord), and 
 double anathemas and menaces have fallen upon us. 
 The speech baa been a fertile subject with our foes. 
 I do no1 know what the spirit of it as a whole may 
 have been, but 1 venture to believe that it was not 
 tiiai which the enemies of the gospel and the friend.- 
 ef 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. The 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 inter- 
 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 
 expeci 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 author! u. 
 Vattel, on this question. 'When a religion is perse- 
 cuted, the foreign nation- 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 
 
 l 
 
1 1 1 MB. DNNAIBD'S BP] 
 
 un unhappy people. A regard to their own safety 
 may also authorize them to undertake the defence of 
 the persecuted.' An hon. friend of bis, the member 
 for Galway, the other evening made an earnest 
 appeal t<> the sympathies of the House in behalf of 
 the Southerners who were in armed secession from 
 the l of America, and who demanded 
 
 liberty to keep b,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 Bouse? 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 
 followcd. Little did he think when lie brought that 
 case before the House how soon the Grand Ducal 
 
 Government which persecuted them would be swept 
 
 away. The tendency of tic- Dfl wafl to 
 
 alienate the people from their Governments, and fchej 
 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 
 Exchequer with reference to Poerio and his fellow- 
 sufferers. "Where now w T as that persecuting Govern- 
 ment ? Here was a great moral lesson which should 
 not be lost on such Governments — an advantage 
 
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 
 sl.ive-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 MB. kinn*.\ii:i>'- 
 
 O'Donnell, who had great experience in public life, 
 would see the inexpediency of continuing these per- 
 secutions. What was immediately wanted was tin' 
 pardon of these persons. Private efforts Lad been 
 unable to obtain this. Be t] asked again for 
 
 the remonstrance of our Governmentj and he hoped 
 oltima change in those laws under which 
 
 dad taken place, which v. 
 
 ce to a civilized nation, making it impossible to 
 
 know it" any i d bis religion 
 
 r while one man would undergo imprison- 
 
 and the galleys rather than d< ny his faith, 600 
 
 others might think him right without bo lace 
 
 og their convictions. He 1 
 to a.^k the noble lord, the Firs! Lord of the Treasury , 
 os to what took place on the 
 
 subject el' ' '>n in Spain and the 
 
 which were understood to 1 
 
 story of State tor Foreign Affairs 
 in order to obtain re; t' punishment tor 
 
 Mates 1 others, win ttg im- 
 
 prisonment and are now ondei f the 
 
 _e of maintaining certain religious 
 i act ices contrary to the religion of the 
 he had any objection to state to the 
 House if any and what steps had been tak< 
 ace to this matter ; and whether Her Ma 
 Minister at Madrid had been able to obtau 
 satisfactory assurance that a favourable 
 ation -would be given to his represti, on the 
 
 subject. 
 
 " Viscount Palmerston. — Sir, I quite admit t hat my 
 
LOBD palmerston's SPEECH. 11/ 
 
 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. lam 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- 
 cuting 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 
 
11^ LOBD PAL - BPEKCH. 
 
 punishment, which must, in its nature, be revolting 
 to the minds of liberal persons. Efforts have been 
 made to obtain from the Ministers of the Crown of 
 Spain the exercise of their advice to the S \< reign to 
 show thai mercy which belongs to the sovereign of 
 every country. Those efforts have not yd been 
 successful. Mixed with the admirable qualities which 
 distinguish the Spanish people, there is one quality 
 nol undeserving of respect, viz., a feeling oi jeal 
 of foreign interference in their internal affau 
 a quality which ia connected with one of the highest 
 
 national virtues; and, therefore, it is obvious that, in 
 
 any endeavour to obtain the reversal, mitigation, 
 
 : of punishmi ; delicacy must be 
 
 shown, and LTiv.it care taken, lest in endeavouring to 
 
 do good we Bhould, on the contrary, perpetuate evil. 
 1 ean only assure my hon. friend that do effort will 
 be omitted by Her Majesty's Government which they 
 
 think will be conducive to the attainment of the 
 ct which he has in view." 
 May England not allow the Mood of this martyr 
 
 to b door, God forbid that it ever may be 
 
 written of us that we. through our lukewarmness, 
 
 have Beemed " His blood h i on our 
 
 children." It is not yet too lute to alter our hitherto 
 timid and humiliating policy ; and, no doubt, if a 
 decided course of action were pursued an end would 
 he 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- 
 
tin; 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 Are give below :— 
 
 "THE LOOK OUT. 
 
 " Let the names of Manuel Matamoros and of J. 
 Minima 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 mediaeval, tyrannical, exclu- 
 sive, spiteful, intolerant 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 advancing 
 iu 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 modem knowledge, 
 
1*20 Tin: PATRIOT KEW8PAPBR> 
 
 remains a bigoted Catholic? Spain acts 
 
 in this busin< :,cs. on principle and 
 
 "ii experience. In Spain, if anywhere, it has been 
 proved, bo she alleges, thai thorough persecution is, 
 "ii the whole, effectual in the suppn 
 at least for the tinie present ; and the governn 
 appreciatefl the advaj unity in the affairs 
 
 of 'religion. 1 There is not much ground for asto- 
 nishment, therefore, al the issue of the trial of 
 the Spanish Bible-readers, [f you add together the 
 probabilities arising from Spanish experiences in his- 
 
 . ; from the wrath of priestcraft assailed in oni 
 its I Ids; from the demands of a popular 
 
 irstition friendly to thi f 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 
 likelihoods which convert into a philosophical cer- 
 tainty and a State nee result which has 1 
 realized. 
 
 ,i MM. M - and AJhama will not Buffer 
 
 in vain. The tcompanied to the galleys by a 
 
 Power who will cause tlu-ir detention and slavery t<> 
 turn out 'rather t<> the furtherance "{'the gospel.' 
 The widely-dififused zeal on behalf of religious liberty 
 which is a characteristic of our tir mewhal 
 
 tempted men to. ilness of the tact thai the 
 
 sufferings of Christian teachers have as important a 
 in the extension of Christianity as the 
 openings for unhindered works liberally afforded 
 political wisdom and justice. There never wac 
 perhaps, when there was more danger than al 
 
nil. PATRIOT NEWSPAPER. 121 
 
 of the missionaries of the gospel permitting them- 
 selves to suppose thai ilie prospects even of imprison- 
 ment and death are decisive reasons for abandoning 
 particular evangelic enterprises. There never was a 
 time when i lie Beif-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, in a 
 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, 
 sueh extravagance proceeds from a miscalculation of 
 s. Liberty is a good thing, to be much sought 
 . and to be struggled for by Christian politicians. 
 Meantime, suffering also is a good thing, and ex- 
 : material influence upon the diffusion of 
 spiritual religion. Towards the close of his ministry 
 Paul spent nearly live 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 liis { bonds' as effectual preachers of 
 
L22 THE PATRIOT ITBW8PAFBB. 
 
 truth. Chained by the Land, 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 tliis P It 18 because the spectacle of a 
 cultivated man Bufferi re affliction for con- 
 
 science' Bake, affliction which Ik- 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- 
 u r ,' "i" by any form of religion, it throws a d«>uht 
 upon their absolute The obvious gain in 
 
 money, in Btation, in authority, in reputation, la con- 
 red to offer a sufflcienl and exposition of 
 tin' ruling motive. Doth Job serve God for nought f 
 
 IS Satan's taunl at tin- prosperous believer, re-echoed 
 by the world, which is always sceptical of fine excel- 
 lence. But, when a man brings himself into trou 
 or hard labour, or irksome toil, or straitened circum- 
 ces, by following his conscience ; when lie 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 
 
THE PATRIOT NEWSPAPKK. 123 
 
 just tike any other man in the constitution of his 
 mind, and is more likely to be persuaded by the spec- 
 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 is 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 inspiring 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 
 
L24 i in: PATRIOT HEW8PAFIR. 
 
 the tyranny and cruelty of priests, who will leap 
 through every restrainl of righi and honour in order 
 to maintain their power. Frequently persecution has 
 widely diffused the gospel by dispersing Its con- 
 fessors, who Biywhere preaching the word,' 
 just as Palestine was filled with the fugitives from 
 the persecution at Jerusalem, and American freedom 
 was founded by tJ - of England. And, lastly. 
 atimes the imprisonment of noted Christians baa 
 
 turned their thoughts inwards, iinee all outward 
 
 activity was forbidden, and enabled them to mature 
 in solitude thoughts and works which bave operated 
 to the production of evangelical religion Long after 
 their imprisonment was ended. It was thus that 
 Patmos, under i divine inspiration, produced the 
 Apocalypse. It was thus thai the Restoration, 
 with its Act of Uniformity, and its Conventicle Act, 
 and its Five-mile Act, produced Baxter's ' Christian 
 Directory,' and Howe's *B1 B ghteousV 
 
 and 'Delighting in God,' and 'The Vanity of Man 
 
 d." and Alleine'fi ' Alann to the l/noon- 
 
 ■d." ai I 1 1 ;i ■; an'fl * Pilgrim's Pr and 
 
 Milton's ' Paradise Lost,' and many other spiritual 
 legacies of that acre of sorrow. And thus our 
 beloved brethren iii Spain shall not sailer 
 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 Alliama, 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. '• W." 
 
 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- 
 
L26 .: KM. ALEXANDER'S 
 
 the appearance of foreign interference with the laws 
 of Spain — a point on which the people of that count ry 
 are proverbially sensitive — hut simply to seek for an 
 act of royal clemency towards the prisoners, espe- 
 cially towards Matanmros, Alhama, and TligO, who 
 have, solely on the ground of their religion, been 
 condemned to tin- galleys, tin* first two for seven years, 
 
 ami the third for four years. 
 
 '"Through the kindness of several distinguished 
 08 in this and other countries, the cordial, 
 though unofficial, services of the ambassadors of 
 England, Prance, and Russia, were enlisted in this 
 work of mercy. The Prussian ambassador, though 
 a Roman Catholic, had already made representations to 
 tlir Spanish I foverument. ( >ther valuable aid, S] 
 
 and foreign, was also obtained. At the requ 
 
 Sir John Crampton, Captain-General O'Donnell 
 
 favoured General Alexander with an interview, at 
 
 which he entered fully into the subject of the (iene- 
 ral's mission. 
 
 "'At that interview the CJeneral frankly stated 
 the circumstances under which he was deputed to lay 
 Uency th< >n of the principles 
 
 and sentiments of his eo-reliirionists, 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 
 
VISIT TO SPAIN. 127 
 
 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 alladed in a gratifying rto his 
 
 own Irish origin, and Bpoke in very complimentary 
 terms oftl • which the General belongs, 
 
 of the Sovereign whom it is his hononr to serve. 
 
 "'The final result of this interview will be anxi- 
 ously waited for by 1'; Europe 
 and Americ 
 
 [f we contrast the conduct of onr • . this 
 
 mutter with that of Darius the Persian monarch, 
 when Daniel was in the lions' den, »t but 
 
 see tin- d< apathy and i rinced in 
 
 tin* actions of the latter, whilst Bupin 
 apathy are the characfc We 
 
 cannot but admire the conduct of Darius when we 
 read the w I with 
 
 It ims, . . ' r It 'mi, 
 
 ured (ill >• 
 
 ■ 
 •;fit fasti 
 
 I 
 story is well known. ] 
 
 admiration for his nntaru and love to D 
 
 and hitherto we have sought in vain forac 
 ing line of action from those in power in out ( I 
 
 iiient. If they will hear, and. I 
 
 their influence, we doubt not but thi results 
 
 will be obtained; but, if not, we use to then 
 decai's words, " If t/nni altuyAhtr hoi ' 
 me, then shall there enlargement a 
 
DELIVERANCE SURE. 120 
 
 arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy 
 father's house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth 
 whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time 
 as this r 
 
130 DEFENCE OF PRISONERS AT MALAGA. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 EXTRACTS rBOM Till. DIFIHOJ 01 TH1 PRISONERS AT 
 MALAGA. 
 
 Tur conduct and activity of tin- fi Oatl 
 
 advocates chosen to defend the cause of the Malaga 
 prisoners, appears bold when compared with that of 
 oop Ptotettamt rulers. In order tha4 onr oonntrymen 
 may jndge between the two, we gire some exton 
 from the defence made in Malaga by the learned jurist 
 
 Don Iieniabe Davila y Bertoli, in the month <»t' August, 
 18G2. 
 
 DEFENCE OF PBIBOlTSBfl \T M M.AGA. 
 "D. Roqne* M» isno and D. Francisco Mariano Lopes, 
 — in the names of D. Jose* Gonzalez Mejias and D. 
 Antonio Carrasoo 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 
 
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 lies 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- 
 
132 DEFENCE OF PBIBOHIBfl AT MALAGA. 
 
 tolerance, and which springs from an imperfect know- 
 ledge of God. 
 
 u To-day the Bcene has quite changed — thank* to 
 the advance of human reason and the Balntary oon- 
 clnsions which the philosophy of onr day has drawn 
 from the history of the past. Progress has created a 
 new world of ideas mure in accordance with that 
 Divine will, which must rule the earth until it be 
 accomplished. Amongst these ideas Bhines the doc- 
 trine of tlif Divine Onity as taught by Jesna Christ 
 
 and explained and illustrated fully in the whole 
 
 life of the Teacher. Toleration is already b dogma 
 thronghont civilized Europe, and trnly 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 
 ism. 
 
 "This then is the reason of the jnsf celebrity 
 which this suit, and some others of the s;mie cha- 
 racter, have attained in other countries — of the ge- 
 neral interest which lias been called forth in favour 
 of those persecuted for their religions 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. 
 
 M 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 
 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 fundamental code, the state established 
 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. 
 
134 DOTHGJ Of PRI80N1BS AT MAI ' 
 
 " We concede at once that the intelligence of our 
 clients is labouring under ;t lamentable delusion. 
 The spirit always strives to attain truth, and in the 
 heai of its constant thirst, and in the incessant 
 struggle which it sustains, it may often stumble 
 into error or 'all into BoepticienL 
 
 "Truth is uoi the cup which passes from lip to lip 
 at the festal board, and therefore it would be very 
 dangerous to Beek the basin of crime iu any of the 
 frequent deliriums of human reason. 
 
 •• We do not seek litre for crime. Tin- measure of 
 the offence can only be the evil done to soci 
 injuries which the public sustain ; and if this Bublime 
 principle of science cannot be denied by sound Logic, 
 
 we must acknowledge tliat 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 i> an eminently moral one. A- a proof, we 
 
 take some articles of the statutes or organized rules 
 of this Becrel association. The document is found in 
 
 the l-J'.'th folio Of the acts. 
 
 "'Article 3. These members must Bel an example 
 
 of morality, propriety, and manifested love to the 
 gospel. Bach 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 
 
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 mnst 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 practise 1 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 r Can we believe for one moment that 
 after all the MMTOW1 and griefs which our clients 
 
 hare already Buffered f'>r 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 
 innocent who are unjustly accused can always be 
 defended. 
 
 " The punishment inflicted upon an innocent man 
 can never he repealed. The suffering of the honour- 
 able citizen who has not i nfring e d the rights of others, 
 and has not injured them, afflicts and troubles society 
 in all its breadth and depth. 
 
 "Behind our clients stands all Europe interested 
 in this ease, which involves her own rights and 
 liberties, and waiting with impatience for the denoue- 
 
 I 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- 
 
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 eve • with an absolute empire the 
 fertile idea of the unity of God and the love of all 
 mankind in God." 
 
138 THE SPANISH PRESS. 
 
 OHAPTBB IX. 
 
 wish PBBB8.— i ii in: ri:«-M matamoroS. — Dl 
 BI HIS advocate BIPOB1 mi: ii.iiunai. ai QRiHADA. 
 
 'I'm: Spanish Press gave no uncertain Bound in this 
 great religions question, of rack transcendental impor- 
 tance to Spain. The editor of the 051 P iblic . I km 
 Fernando Corradi, Bnpported and pleaded for the 
 oppressed in many exceflenl articles. In ■ led 
 Matamoroe about the Bame time, ; M Beeanae 
 I have defended, and continue to defend, religions 
 liberty, I have been threatened even with death. Be- 
 cause I have supported your cause, they are endea- 
 vouring t<> roin 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 wav brayely. Matamoros, in commenting' on the 
 rigour of the Spanish G overn ment in his cat 
 " 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 ifl entirely composed ofNeo- 
 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 
 
CONSTANCY OF THE CHRISTIANS. 139 
 
 they are doing good to their souls by endeavouring to 
 exterminate us, is already eontributing, 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 Europe 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 CUKIMlA 
 
 this gives a contrary result to that which they pro- 
 pose. 
 
 '• I-Yom Amsterdam, the Bague, 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 OOnsistory 
 
 of the Free Church at Amsterdam, in answer to a 
 
 letter of mine, in which I begged them to help us in 
 oiur evangelical labours in Spain, answered me that, 
 
 though they had neglected to do so op to this 
 i time, would nevertheless in the future re- 
 member Spain. So that even if I do die, 1 shall die 
 happy when I think that in SVery place people are 
 
 taking an intereei in the spiritual wellare of Spain 
 
 The Buffering prisoners of Malaga have a<_ r ain written 
 to me in Midi a happy Btrahx Their letter- reveal 
 such a spirii of Christian resignation, and are neither 
 more nor less than the • n of thai holy y>y 
 
 that in-j. ires thein with BUCh dee]. loVC and gratitude 
 
 to y<>u all, and witli the most complete and decided 
 faith. ( >h. 1 am BO thankful for all this ; it is for me 
 
 a motive of mtenninable 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. I bow 
 my knee before our heavenly Father for them, and my 
 heart is full to overflowing 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. AVhen, on the other hand, I meditate 
 on the spectacle presented by the Church of Christ in 
 
GLOKIOUS RESULTS. 141 
 
 all placos 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 
 gratitude to God gains strength and humbleness, and 
 1 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. 
 
 " I am glad to hear that you liked the defence my 
 Advocate made in my case. It has been printed, and 
 i> a document that has made a deep impression on 
 the minds of Spaniards ; and though the advocate is 
 
 a Ionian Catholic. thi> seems to have given it more 
 
 freight, far it is bo compact." 
 
 Tin: DEFENCE OF DOH MWT.I. KATAMOB08 
 BEFORK I Hi: n:n;i nai. OF «.i:\n\da. 
 
 The Advocate, D. Antonio aforenoy Diai (whom 
 the editor of the Clamor Publico calls " a person well 
 
 known in Cranada for his faith in the saci-.d 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 J usual 
 
 legal terms, thus proceeds: — 
 
 "Our position at this moment is critical in the 
 
 highest degree, delicate beyond belief and in many 
 respects mosi embarrassing. We are about to defend 
 a worthy man and a noble cause, hut the man is not 
 known, and is therefore all hut 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 
 ciime 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 Europe, 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 
 
1 1 1 DEFENCE OF DON M. MMAMOROS. 
 
 1 »: 1 1 fortune so totally different from his, and our in- 
 experience on our good faith baa caused us to adopt 
 such convictions on this subject that, terrible as may 
 be the prospect, and many the catastrophes Bet before 
 us, nothing will make us waver from our point. 
 
 u We 'in lertake tin- defence of Don Manuel sfata- 
 moros Garcia not only without oneasiness, 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 guili on the shameful scaffold, 
 
 we live in the firm hope that, if we succeed in 
 
 gaining B favourable result, OUT efforts will have been 
 more truly profitable to the ( '1 lurch and the State than 
 
 are all t : mate 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 Europe. 
 
 ■• Prom a Long of prolix observations which 
 
 we have made upon the pa>t and present life of our 
 client, we have arrived at the positive conviction that 
 while hi 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 
 
L46 DEFENCE OF DON M. MA1AMOROS 
 
 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 Buf- 
 ferings which have been his lot in the disgraceful 
 
 imprisonment which he has endured 
 
 "The majority of enlightened persons of tin's 
 country for whom toleration is a dogma, and all those 
 neighbouring nations where this precious conquest 
 of modern dag - les all its Balutary influence, 
 
 these have ni) sooner Learned that the prisons of An- 
 dalusia are filled with unfortunates who 
 outed for their religious opinions, than they were 
 
 deeply moved, and have m»t erased .since then to 
 
 le for them b\ the pre--, from the tribune, and 
 even in high official plac 
 
 "This case, then, is of such intrinsic importance, 
 ami has acquired so much interest, that, not only 
 
 whose fate will be decided by its resull 
 also all the nations of Europe, are waiting with 
 
 anxiety ami with impatience for its termination. 
 
 •■ With impatience because they wish to see these 
 unhappy prisoner) at once set free ; and with anxiety 
 
 bee, ease they tremble lot. in the middle of the nine- 
 th century, and in a nation so cultivated, so 
 noble, and so generous as that which inhabits the 
 Iberian peninsula, the Borrowfu] spectacle .should be 
 presented of certain honourable citizens condemned 
 to heavy punishments for the single crime 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. 147 
 
 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 times of Tor- 
 quemada ! For arbitrary authority can no longer 
 call itself law, and the ominous tribunal of the holy 
 
148 DEFENCE OF DON M. MAIAMOROS 
 
 offices no longer takes account of offences against 
 religion. If such offences exist now, they are pro- 
 perly classified and punished by (fee penal code, and 
 the magistrates and judges, whose duty it is to ad- 
 minister justice, must regulate their decisions by its 
 decn 
 
 "Our fundamental law lays down the principle 
 thai the only religion of the State is the Roman 
 Catholic ApostoKc, and the penal code punishes 
 noi alone any who attempt to abolish OT alter it 
 (<Arfc L28), bar also all who Bhall publicly apostatise 
 
 from it Art. 186), and also those, who. 'having pro- 
 pagated doctrines or maxims contrary to its dogmas, 
 shall jurist in publishing such after they have been 
 condemned by the ecclesiasticaJ authorities (130). 
 These are the three chief offences against religion 
 which are noted by our code, and of which of these 
 is Don Manuel Matamoroe accused ? 
 
 "In the world of speculation an arena is open to 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, id< 
 theories, are movements ami evolutions of our mind 
 which cannot be contained within bounds without 
 tyrannizing over conscience and impeding the neces- 
 aary 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 
 
BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL AT GRANADA. 140 
 
 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. 
 
 " ' Every Spaniard,' he says, ' wh© 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 DlTHrOE of pox m. MATAMOBOfl 
 
 otic another our faith fail not, perhaps we mny 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 OUT duty to God and man as good and sincere 
 
 believers. But do! we will till tin- field with 
 and when G<h1 wills it shall bring forth fruit. 
 
 11 ' If we on do nothing else, let us sow the grain 
 
 of mustard seed, and let Ufl rejoice in the conviction 
 
 that it is written, that "the birds of the air shall 
 
 in the branches which grow from the least of 
 
 all seeds.' '" 
 
 " .Matamoros and Albania, 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 bt 
 are the moral and religious education of the people, 
 mutual concord amongst the afflicted, zeal in the 
 pr e a ching 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 
 
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 Jose Alhama, searched it 
 
152 DEFENCE OF DON M. .MAIA.MOR03 
 
 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 
 anally 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 
 becaiiM iiieneeshave been soseri»>u> r Where 
 
 are the laws that protect social men *r Who ever 
 imagined himself authorised 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. . 
 
 " Bui that is not all. Hardly had the name of 
 Manuel sfatamoros 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, ami that he should be 
 brought as a prisoner by stages to this capital. Aery 
 serious was this order to Sem >r 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 DOH M. MATAMOROS 
 
 crime; and having placed the fate of our client in 
 tlir 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 bad been persecuted. . . . 
 
 "Without desiring to enter into any detail of the 
 errors into which opposing parties run, or to present 
 
 selves before the world as models of perfect 
 Roman Catholic Apostolic believers, we affirm, as in- 
 contestible troth, thai from the doctrines which our 
 clients tench, wc should expect anything rather than 
 bad citizens, As the basis of their propagandist 
 labours was ever bo teach the maxims of* the gospel, 
 we may easily sec th.it though their neophytes might 
 not acquire a pure orthodoxy, they would, at L< 
 
 an am. unit of religious instruction which is 
 
 but too rare at present, and which could only tend to 
 make them peaceful and useful members of S0( 
 
 " 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 ? 
 
 "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 sufiices 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. 
 
 " If, then, in the name of our most holy religion, 
 which is all mercy and gentleness, no tyranny or 
 
156 DEFENCE OF DON M. MATAMOROS. 
 
 injustice can be practised; if toleration is an essen- 
 tial dogma of Catholicism, and a powerful instrument 
 in the development of the Church; and if, on the 
 other hand, the elients in this case, at whose head 
 
 Btands Don Manual Matamoros, in disseminating the 
 doctrines which they profess, and which are those of 
 
 the gospel, do society no harm, but rather instruct 
 
 and improve it, ire can come but to one conclusion, 
 that the complete absolution of the prisoners i^ the 
 only reasonable, just, and equitable termination to 
 
 ••air." 
 
"EPISTOLA CONSOLATORIA." 157 
 
 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. Seiior 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, Seiior , sent me by Mr. 
 
 Hew the important work called the ' Epistola Con- 
 solatoria,' written in 1560 by the distinguished 
 Spanish brother, Don Juan Perez. It is 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 .mi;. i;i w. 
 
 divine love, and one of the best books that has come 
 within my reach. I must tell you something of this 
 -Mr. Rew, who came all the way to (iranada to visit 
 me, with Ins wife and niece. When he was here in 
 my cell, there vrere present also the wife and daughter 
 of Senor Marin the Malaga prisoner, my mother, 
 Sefior Trigo and Ins wife, Albania, and my brother 
 Henry. After talking a little together, .Mr. Hew 
 spoke to us mosi opportunely, and with much faith, 
 and, tilled by the love of Jesus, with mnch feeling lie 
 exhorted us to perse v ere, t<> continue instanl in 
 
 prayer. I had also the pleasure of >i>rakiii:_ r at this 
 
 time to those then present, and of explaining to them 
 
 the continual joy 1 had in JeSUS, and the hope I 
 entertained that this joy would be unceasing, through 
 a lively faith, mueh prayer, and the consolations of the 
 Holy Spirit. 1 spoke at length on these important 
 subjects, and many tears tell from the eyes of the 
 women there pre sent , who were much moved. read 
 to them the 1st chapter to the Philippians, as also the 
 
 1th of 1-t Peter, and happy thoughts came to the 
 minds of all touch in L r these beautiful passages from 
 the 13ook of Life, and there was manifest in the n. 
 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 tin- 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 his love. 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 I 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. 
 
 " I 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 Gather, the spirit of 
 
 traction pandered to, and all for the sake ofsacri- 
 legi - to a few hundred ambitions ami privi- 
 
 i individuals." 
 
 In the month of Angnsi I had a Long letter giving 
 much information, a copious extract from which 1 give 
 below : — 
 
 "Prison of the Audiencia, Granada, Aug. 11, 18 
 
 11 My dearesl and ever- to-be remembered father in 
 is, my indefatigable, my zealous, and beloved 
 
 brother, in the hope of OUT future lite. Your highly 
 appreciated and beautiful letter of the li-'.th of the 
 
 past month, received the 5th of the present, ami the 
 
 longest of all I have had the comfort of receiving 
 from you, readied me in all safety, and how cheering 
 and edifying to my spirit it has 1 
 
 •• When I had the j<>y of receiving it, one of mine 
 was on the road, with an inclosure for the Rev. Mr. 
 Magee, and in it I told you of the petition of the fiscal, 
 againsi (foedearlyJoveafriendsand brothers inMalaga. 
 
 "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 
 
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, I am going to 
 answer your letter, although I shall do it indifferently, 
 as usual. 
 
 " I rejoice greatly that you have written to the 
 
 Rev. Senor 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 have a 
 very strong persuasion that you are chosen by the 
 Lord to open to my poor country the path of its 
 triumph 3 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 ! 
 
 " I 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 
 
102 LETTER FBOM 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 wh.it 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 >uccess than could have been 
 accomplished, perhaps, by the work of many years. 
 Each day I note a greater enthusiasm for the evan- 
 gelical cause in Spain. Now I do not SOS that dread 
 <>f 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, hut its triumph is like that of 
 the tiger with the poor sheep, drawing forth his 
 . tilled with innocent and inoffensive blood; it 
 has no other triumph, this is its miserable vietory. 
 
 "I note, dear friend, a certain terror in the 
 
 enemy's press — I note a certain panic amongst our 
 enemies, and I see much love, much life in Jesus, in 
 all tin- beloved brethren. Oh! a thousand times 
 1 be the sweet name of Jesus, fountain of all 
 consolation, of all resignation, of strength, and of 
 hope. 
 
 u I am 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 
 
 tliem ! and let their virtues and Christian faith be 
 the comfort of your days. I am 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. What a 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. 
 
 " I see you have many children, do you destine 
 some of them for the ministry of Jesus ? 
 
 " As soon as I have an unoccupied moment, I 
 mean to write a letter to the Glamor, 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 you in the beginning of 
 this letter, you will understand, my beloved protector 
 in Jesus, that my days have been greatly occupied ; 
 
L64 LETTER FKo.M KATAMOB08. 
 
 Lea what I have already told you, I have had to 
 reproduce new and numerous data for the committee 
 of Paria, thai they may be pnbliahed in connection 
 with the religions peraecntion in Spain. Prom Madrid 
 I have bad a number of letters from different friends 
 ami people there. I have had Borne from Malaga, 
 from Gibraltar, from Holland: and, in short) 
 day my occupations increase more and more, and 
 this hae been the cause thai I have nol yel written 
 my Letter bo the Roman Catholics; but do nol fear, 
 it shall be written on the firs! occasion, and probably 
 very soon. 
 
 k - It would be almost impossible for me to explain 
 how much 1 am occupied. 1 rise to write, and I am 
 writing all day, and 1 finish doing so late at night; 
 
 latdoD to me, it gives me lif< . 
 friend. 
 
 "I have * 11« nt letter from Dr. 
 
 Capadoae, of Holland, deeply and profoundly touching. 
 i 1 Capadoae is an "1.1 man. hut with a vigorous 
 imagination, a heart full of life and health, and very 
 deeply instructed. He loves you much, and he knows 
 ail your worth : he knows and admires your eminent 
 z«.-al. I had very si area 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, 1 free with yy\ that lie 
 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 
 
LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 1C5 
 
 Great Captain Jesus, under whose glorious banner 
 they servo 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 ? It is 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. 
 
 " I 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 I hold hers. 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 
 
ICG LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 
 
 work of the Holy Spirit, the work of God ; Muta- 
 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 eight the 
 sacred spectacle of the most holy union in the divine 
 name iA' Jesus, make me happy a thousand times 
 more than one can imagine; and as this consoles me 
 in Jesus, so doe* it disquiet me little or nothing 
 whether the Roman Catholics a.-k my liberty OP not 
 
 from the Spanish government or the queen 
 
 "I have already told VOU more than once that 
 my liberty doOB Dot disturb me. .My prison is no 
 oaaae oi kO me; it is a sweet cause of joy 
 
 and rejoicing in Jeena; and my liberty, except as 
 
 granted through the powerful intluenee of prayer, 
 affectfl my heart very little. 
 
 "I know that God watehes over EDO, and how 
 little Can the em-inies of saving faith do ! of that faith 
 that He left us, M the only path to life. Jhit the 
 w:iy of God is different from our way, and I often 
 say to myself ' If it i:s the will of the Lord that the 
 Romas Catholics ask for my liberty, must I not 
 reaped the deeigna of the Most High? who knows, 
 if He permits this, that through my very enemies 
 the injustice of my imprisonment may be shown 
 forth ? ' 
 
 u I 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. 
 
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. IV). 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. 
 
 " I am not just ; there is but one man to whom 
 tae ' being just ' belongs, and He is Jesus Christ. 
 I 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 
 beljeve 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 
 wou d invoke the laws of worldly expediency. They 
 calcilate an evil in all this, and like the wife of 
 Pilate, they desire, through fear of the world, to 
 avoic". 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 :hat 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 
 clerg) to fall on me ; who embitter the laws, irritate 
 the ccn science of the judges, and in every way work 
 against Christians. 
 
 " Pardon me, dear friend, for having taken the 
 
1<>> LITTEB rROM KATAMOl 
 
 liberty of making this poor, humble comparison fco 
 you. I think the charity of Catholics would be the 
 charily of Pilate. 
 
 " It' yon can Bend me by B , Valera's Bible, 
 
 recently published In London, T shall be gj 
 obliged; it may be useful to me in th< 
 
 "This moment I have received a letter from 
 Seville, containing mighty interesting details, which 
 I shall now give yon 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 
 denial The judgi 
 
 asked pardon for all the nineteen. 
 
 M The ti-eal of her Majesty demanded pardon f<r 
 
 seventeen, hut the superior tribunal begged that tie 
 
 penalty of real the galleys should he ; 
 
 upon Senors Don Diego Bordallo and Don T. Mmh 
 Santanella. The audiencia of Seville or si;' 
 tribunal approved entirely the petition of her Ma 
 
 fiscal, and they have sentenced Bordallo and Mi 
 
 Beven years at the gall< 
 
 '•When the sentences of the judges in the inferior 
 tribunal diners from that of the superior tribunal the 
 
 parties sentenced have the right of appealing the 
 
 third time : and as this has occurred in the ca-« at 
 Seville, Bordallo and Mesa have appealed, and the 
 cause is now running the usual course; there ;'■ 
 a hope of pardon for these two victims of tyrnniy. 
 
 "In the cause nothing has been proved; but 
 Bordallo and Mesa are sentenced on the grouid of 
 moral evidence, and by the 45th rule of the code the 
 
LETTER FROM MATAMOROS. 160 
 
 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. I do 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 KATAM0BO8, 
 
 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. Albania 
 continues will, and BO are all his family. The alcalde 
 has gone to a bathing-place for two months, and on 
 this aocouxd we are enjoying more Liberty. 
 
 "I send you, inclosed in this, some of my like- 
 nesses, as an humble proof of gratitude to those dear 
 brethren. 
 
 "I am going DOW fcfl finish, after having detained 
 
 you SO long. My letters are archive-, and it requires 
 
 patience to read them; bat, friend of my heart, you 
 hum bear my failing with resignation. I hope, when 
 writing to your respected father, that you will offer 
 lum my humble remembrances. 
 
 M M.mima salntefl yon, and all your family, with 
 gratitude and Christian joy, as also does Enrique. 
 The Christian remembrances of all the brethren, and 
 the heart of your humble brother in the Lord, 
 
 •• Manti f. MiXAM 
 
 •■ X.B. — The missionary, of whom I spoke to you, 
 for Oran, has been entirely approved of by the com- 
 mittee at Peril 
 
 11 Granada, September 10. 
 " I 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 
 
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. I am 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 suffering 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' Bake. 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 cost-. 
 
1T2 THE SENTENCE. 
 
 "I am ;■ v.-n, and F am going fco th< 
 
 leys; fco ■ horrible place which is intended for the 
 Bhame and Borrow of those who dwell Bui 
 
 there is neither shame nor sorrow for me ! My son! 
 rejoice- in Jesus. I. a poor n Burner, have 
 
 bh< Ijord i" Buffer ; and in this thi 
 ime, luit honour; wonderful honour for me; 
 for I do noi deserve this distinction, and I am very 
 ''ill to my Master n ho has granted it to ma 
 
 u This horrible suit ha I li oome to an 
 
 having been carried forward with a mosl tyrannical 
 spiril for two yeara two; ^rief, and tribnla- 
 
 of the patiei I I ion 
 
 dear mother, whose boii has b en torn from her 
 I placed under the ban of a terrible Bentence. 
 Oh. my poor mother! She was attacked with ill; 
 when Bne received the news. Mother, thon art also 
 a victim to this cruelty, but thon also cansi rejoice in 
 thy fcribnlation for Ohri 
 
 "The time has come, dear friend, when I, de- 
 prived by men of all rights of citizenship, mnsi enter 
 apon my punishment— must lt«' to the place which 
 society has Bet apart for those wretches who 
 unworthy to continue in its midst. The voice of 
 my dearly-loved mother will, pern r again 
 
 reach my ears. I shall know that she Buffers, 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 
 popi>h cruelty. There, at the merest caprice of the 
 officials, the unfortunate convicts are beaten, 
 buffeted, and abused, even when inoffensive j and I 
 
Till: GALLEYS. 173 
 
 si in II be exposed, perhaps, to the cruel blows of some 
 vile criminal, who lias been ehosen as overseer chiefly 
 because his terrible antecedents are such as to inspire 
 his fellow-prisoners with terror. 
 
 " The blows of such an one may Ml 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 Bakes. 
 
 "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 cany out my earnest desires, as I 
 have prayed for the sake of Jesus. 
 
174 APPEAL. 
 
 " Allmma has been sentenced to nine years. The 
 additional year of punishment is '.riven (amongst other 
 reasons) because he wrote and acknowledged that let- 
 ter, directed to me, which was seised, and which, bear- 
 in L r my name and address in fall, and containing im- 
 portant intelligence, was the cause ofmj imprisonment 
 also in Barcelona; which, jon 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 sight yean. The 
 
 Lord pardon them ' 
 
 M Trigo has been pronounced not guilty, and will 
 soon ; He will return to the bosom of 
 
 his family. I do heartily rejoice. Dear TrigO, 
 
 may the Lord enlighten and protect him for the 
 
 future ! 
 
 •• Aj Our sentence- do QOt •■xaelly correspond with 
 of the inferior tribunal, WC may again B 
 
 st them. It : indifference I 
 
 whether an appeal is made, CT whether I go at 
 
 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 lahour has UO te: 
 
 "I have, however, consulted my i 1 and 
 
 1 friends, B., W. X.. and Dr. 15.. and you 
 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, de; L, 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. 
 
 " I 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. 
 
 " I 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, 
 
 " M. M." 
 
 About this time, the other Granada prisoner, 
 Senor 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, 
 
L76 LETTM raOM TBI 
 
 and which have helped in no small deg 
 tlic bitter cup of sorrow mixed for ne by bhe 
 hands of tyrants, for the Bole crime <>{' loving and 
 propagating the blessed gospel of the Lord 
 Christ. And :i> 1 have taken the liberty of addn 
 you. I oannol help mentioning in my Letter how 
 nmch the Spanish ohnrch i thai eminent, 
 
 I, and resigned ohampion of the truth, 
 Manuel Matamoros. Without him, and the Divine 
 help dispensed to him, the pea have 
 
 undergone would have destroyed th<- Sp.-misli Chris- 
 and what can I say of his excellent mother - 
 of thai worthy lady whose maternal Love is onry 
 equalled by her many virtues, by her heroic resigna- 
 tion, and by the distinguished gifts thai adorn her, 
 and which are the admiration and th- of all 
 
 who know her. I say all this, though I feel that 
 already you are aware of these mots, bul 
 iluty of oo impels m be Bflent. Tke 
 
 Labours Bon bring him into prison. Be is 
 
 condemned to eighl yea ritude, bul neverthe- 
 
 .'.1 is reeignation in them both, all is rejoicing 
 in Jesus, all is Christian decision. Manuel has the 
 pleasure of receiving innumerable visits from people 
 
 py 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 
 
 - by his energetic and dignified dejxjrtment, 
 
LETTER FROM TRTGO. 177 
 
 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. 
 
 " Miguel Trigo." 
 
178 VISIT OF AN ENGLISH CLERGYMAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 7I8II Of A\ EKQUSB OLSSOTHAH. — LXTTI1 PBOM MATA- 
 KOBOSv 
 
 An English clergyman raited Qranada latterly, and 
 
 ;m account of his journey, which I extract from 
 
 tin- ( '/ rit ' /■ of I December, as follows : — 
 
 "We reached Granada on the 11th of September 
 last, and on the following day went to the Prison of the 
 Andienoia. It is at the back of the Palace of Justice, 
 ■ pretentious stone building, at the fool of the Inll 
 on which the Alhambra is built, and, though Bome- 
 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 tliat we were 
 
 friends of Matamoros. Inside the prison we n 
 
 met by one of the Protestant-, 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 lie 
 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 1 had 
 
TORTRAIT 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 him a 
 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. 
 Jose 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 chapter 
 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 BOBBOW8. 
 
 laid on the passages that touched on tlio fulness of 
 the gospel liberty, and on the certainty of the coming 
 
 glory ; how, BVOT and anon lie would lift up liis 
 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 ■ tone of ecstatic 
 triumph, ' Wno shall separate us from tin- love of 
 Chris! 
 
 There remains hut one more letter to com] 
 those received and printed, which w . Low. 
 
 * Ormmaii L86S. 
 
 " BSLOYEI) B — 1 am happy. I live in 
 
 the joy of Jesus, liberty will never be to me 
 more sweet than my prisoB 1 through the 
 
 divine name of Him who on Golgotha .sacrificed his 
 
 life to snatch os from eternal death. No snffei 
 
 no sorrow, clouds for ■ moment my Christian glad- 
 God has granted me this blessing, for his 
 dness is inexhaustible. In my Utter of the ;jOth 
 I gave you the details of OUT present position. This 
 ministerial fiscal is very hitter against us. He has 
 demanded the augmentation of my sentence. He is 
 not content with that of eight years of the galleys, 
 perpetual inhabiHtataon 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 
 
MOKE 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 a long 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. Eternal death is not for those who love 
 the Lord Jesus." ..... 
 
 " I thought it right, in my address to the 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. I, 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 FRAYER IS ASKED. 
 
 unworthy sinner. Oli ! 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 free]] 
 ewe for gladness. 1 in ready not only to suffer for 
 the divine name of Jesus, but also to die for Him. 
 
 M Do not let tike indifference of the European 
 governments affect yon. All their power is as sought 
 
 it' the will of God IB Contrary to their will. Our 
 
 weapon is only prayer — a powerful and mighty 
 
 weapon, of which the world knOWS nothing: hut the 
 
 pr aye rs which ax-end to the throne of the Eternal 
 bring forth fruit ; for the goodness of God oar 
 heavenly Father is mezhanstible and inhnii 
 should rej governments do all they 
 
 could to proonre liberty and toleration for all nations; 
 
 hut the Lord must do it, or nothing will he done. 
 
 He wills that all shall he obtained by prayer; 
 therefore, whatever happens, 1 thai] rejoice in Joans. 
 The liberty of my body i> nothing to in.-: for this 
 I -aid nothing of it in my address to the queen. 
 '•That which really intern - the salvation 
 
 of my soul. I e n t rea t you, dear friend, and all my 
 
 brothers, t<> pray for me. that I may he faithful to 
 the end. I have been told that a European deputa- 
 tion is about to visit Madrid. I rejoice ! for by the 
 
 might of prayer the doors — not of my prison, that is 
 
 nothing — hut of my country, may he 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 love and 
 gratitude of your brother in Christ, 
 
 "Manuel Matamoros." 
 
 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 was it 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 Peru ? 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 ? 
 
 SI i all 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- 
 nioros' strength. It was this made Samson more 
 than conqueror. Does the young lion roar against 
 him? The Spirit of the lard cann mightily upon him, 
 and he rent him at he would have r> wt a hid. Do the 
 Philistines shout against him? By the same Spirit 
 the cords thai < hie arms become at fUut thai 
 
 wot burnt with fire, and hit h i ; : hit 
 
 handt ; <//"/ . 'lid 
 
 put forth hit I look it, a tin ueand < 
 
 therewith- a in<>>t 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 l'aith. 
 
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 boman catholics of england, ireland, 
 and scotland. 
 
 My dear Fbiends, — 
 
 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 as a 
 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 APPENDIX, 
 
 In this nation, in this my fatherland, which I love bo 
 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 l"\v the gOSpeL Chains 
 and imprisonment have taken t lie place of the rack and 
 the .-tike : the ordinary law-courts that of the misnamed 
 1 1 " 1 v Inquisition ; and the punishment which the law 
 allots to the thief or the assassin is adjudged to the humble 
 disciple of Jesus. 
 
 r this cause. I address you from my prison. 
 
 All my denre VTSS, and is, that eternal death should 
 not triumph over me, but that Jesus should conquer for 
 \11 my longing was, is, and ever will be, by the 
 grace of God, to follow the way of eternal life ; and in a 
 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 it hiilden 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. 15 — 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 
 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 version. 
 
APPENDIX. 187 
 
 paved 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 
 * -hereby 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. Hi. 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 every tiling — One who cannot be de- 
 luivtil. who is alone infallible, who never changes — our 
 Divine Redeemer, the only High Priest end Shepherd of 
 
 his Church— tells oe by All Holy Spirit that life eternal 
 Lethe gift which God gives to faith (1 Peter i. 9); and 
 woe unto us if we forget this t e eeo a of fail 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 giroi 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 Borne 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 W<>rd 
 that which God commanded not. Doca this Divine de- 
 cree refer to the law which God wrote with his linger on 
 the tables of stone? Then, what has Rome done with the 
 second of the ten commandments P 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 
 
APPENDIX. 180 
 
 anathematizes those who make void the commandment of 
 God by their tradition (Matt. xv. 6—9). That which is 
 written is sufficient, without addition qr 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 ? 
 
 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 
 opena ; 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 shall 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 Je9us, and which my enemies intend for my 
 
100 AI'liNMX. 
 
 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- 
 speakable joy (1 Peter iv. 13). He has promised a crown 
 of life to them that are faithful unto death (Rev. ii. 1<>). 
 Be il true ind faithful, and in Him is no change (Rev. 
 \ii. 1 1 ; Malaehi iii. 6). 
 
 My present trihulat ions do not surprise me. The 
 persecutions of Abraham, the affliction! of Hoses, the 
 
 tribulation of Elijah, the martyrdom of the prophets 
 the persecutions of the apostles, the overthrow of Satan's 
 wrath ■gainst Jesas, the only Just One, the blood of the 
 
 faitliful shed in all ages — all prove t<> BM that the pathway 
 to heaven is the path of the cross, and that the way of 
 tyrants has ever heen the same. 
 
 I need DOt tear 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 
 
 1. even Jesus Christ (1 Peter iii. 13) ? I am 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 
 iuore than conqueror, and my victory cannot be marred 
 in the smallest d egree 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. 
 viii. It). 17). Where is the peril in my death? where the 
 pain of my sufferings ? where the triumph of my perse- 
 cutors (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 
 — I 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 oracle9 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, 
 
102 APrT.Nl'lX. 
 
 but I entreat you to seek Jesus ; I beseech you to seek 
 Him in all his regenerating truth; to despise the world 
 t hat 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. lVrchance you will 
 call my sincere decision an apostacy — perchance you will 
 call me hard names; but, in any case, [ freely forgire, :>s 
 I have forgiren 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, 
 
 Mamki Matamobob. 
 
 Prison of the Audiencia, Granada, 
 8814 August, LS 
 
 Habbild, .Printer, Lokdok. 
 
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