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 THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 RAMON MONSALVATGE, 
 
 A 
 
 CONVERTED SPANISH MONK, 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ORDER OF THE CAPUCHINS. 
 
 WlfM 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION, 
 
 * 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. ROBERT BAIRD, D. D. 
 
 " To show forth the praises of Him who hath called me out o! 
 darkness into His marvellous light." 1 PETER 2 : 9. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PRINTED BY J. F. TROW & CO.. 
 33 ANX-STREET. 
 
 I S 4 5 .
 
 
 EHTEBED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by 
 
 W. W. CHESTER, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District 
 of New- York.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TAGE 
 
 The Author's Youth. His Residence in the Monas- 
 tery. A false Miracle, ..... 37 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Causes of the attack upon the Conventual Establish- 
 ments. Dispersion of Monastic Communities. 
 The Author's Enlistment in the Army. State of 
 the Army of Don Carlos, 47 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 My Imprisonment. The Convent in Savoy. Return 
 to Spain. Change in the Army. Capture of Ripoll 
 and Moya. Wonderful Preservation, . . 56 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Defeat of the Carlist Army. How I met with the 
 Word of God. I enter the Seminary. Protestant 
 Arguments. Interview with a Protestant Pastor. 
 My resolution to leave the Seminary overcome, . C8 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A sacrilegious Experiment. I leave the Seminary. 
 The Spanish Priest. I am driven to Langres. 
 Unhappy situation there. The Spanish character. 81 
 
 2052967
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Despair. Conversion. Depart from Langres. Cor- 
 respondence with my Parents, . . . .97 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Distribution of the Scriptures among my Countrymen. 
 The Wolf turned into a Lamb. Plots formed for 
 taking my life, Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VI'T. 
 
 Visit to the Republicans at Clermont. Brief account 
 of Thiers. Testaments sold and returned, . 119 
 
 CHAPIER IX. 
 
 The Wine-store of Cabrera. Interview with two 
 Priests, and the results. Glay, .... 123 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Best Medicine and the Best Physician. The 
 Curate of Salvatat. My Ex-General Zorrilla. 
 My Retreat to Geneva, 137 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 My Countryman Yagues. Calderon's Visit to Mai- 
 rid. Failure of my Plan to Return to Spain. The 
 desired one arrives unexpectedly. My Departure 
 from Geneva, 150 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 My Feelings towards those who think me in Error. 
 Passage across the Atlantic. Address to the Amer- 
 ican Brethren. Conclusion, .... 160
 
 TKODUCTION. 
 
 CIBCUMSTANCES seem to require that some- 
 thing should be said by way of introduction in 
 presenting the following memoirs to the Chris- 
 tian public ; and at the request of their author. 
 I have consented to undertake the task. 
 
 When Mr. Monsalvatge arrived in this coun 
 try, a few months ago, many persons who heard 
 from his own lips an account of his life, his 
 conversion to true religion, and his subsequent 
 labors in behalf of his countrymen, expressed 
 a dtsire to see something from his pen, in 
 order that there might be some permanent 
 memorials of the wonderful display of Divine 
 gracp which had brought him out of the dread- 
 ful darkness and delusions of the papacy into 
 the glorious light of the Truth. And every 
 week of his stay among I as increased and 
 diffu ed this wish in the hearts of those who 
 have from time to time become acquainted 
 with him. The consequence has been the 
 I*
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 preparation of the narrative which follows in 
 the French by Mr. Monsalvatge, and its trans- 
 lation into English by some of his friends. 
 
 And it is with great pleasure that I assure 
 the reader, that these memoirs are worthy of 
 his entire and unhesitating belief. Their au- 
 thor and subject is a man who has been well 
 tried since he became a Protestant, and lias 
 given the best of proof, both of the sincerity 
 of his convictions, and of the truth of his state- 
 ments. He has the entire confidence of many 
 excellent brethren in France and Switzerland, 
 by whom he has been most affection it ely 
 commended to us. Still more ; all who have 
 become acquainted with him since he came to 
 our shores, have been struck with his simple, 
 fervent, and unostentatious piety ; his sound 
 judgment ; his prudent .zeal ; his remarkable 
 wisdom ; and his admirable charity. Every 
 where there has been but one opinion enter- 
 tained respecting him, and that is, that wheth- 
 er we consider his natural endowments of un- 
 derstanding and heart, or the transforming 
 influence of Divine grace upon his character, 
 
 *
 
 INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 he is no common man. And we cannot but 
 hope that the God of all grace, who has called 
 him to the knowledge of His salvation, and 
 who has hitherto blessed his labors, will con- 
 tinue to make him an instrument of doing 
 great good to many souls. 
 
 These memoirs possess a thrilling interest 
 from the beginning to the end. They tell us 
 the history of one who was born and educated 
 in the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church, 
 not as she is when surrounded by the light 
 which shines upon her in this Protestant coun- 
 try, but when enshrouded in the bigotry, 
 ignorance, and ferociousness which prevail in 
 benighted Spain. They reveal to us the 
 heart of a Capuchin monk, who for years 
 pursued a monastic life, and submitted to all 
 its repulsive rigors with cheerfulness, in the 
 vain hope of meriting the felicity of heaven, 
 or at least of abridging the pains of purgatory. 
 They reproduce this same man on the stage, 
 no longer as a monk, but as a soldier, a man 
 of blood, fighting for Don Carlos and for 
 Rome, r with the same zeal which characterized
 
 Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 his life in the monastery. But another change 
 takes place, and the warrior-monk again ap- 
 pears as the humble child of grace, meekly 
 bearing ir suits ai d blows from his former fel- 
 low soldiers and officers, whilst he goes about 
 bearing to them the Sacred Scriptures, and 
 exhorting them to buy and read the Word of 
 life. 
 
 But they also have an interest which is of 
 another and very peculiar nature. They re- 
 late not only to the conversion of one individual, 
 but of several others of the Spanish race. 
 They show us that the Spanish mind and the 
 Spanish heart, though the most firm of all 
 minds and of all hearts in adherence to the 
 Roman Catholic faith, the most bigoted in its 
 attachment to the religion of Rome, and the 
 most ready to obey her call to the work of exter- 
 minating heretics, can be enlightened and re- 
 newed by the grace of God, and won over by 
 the sweet influences of the Gospel to that " king- 
 dom which consists in righteousness, peace, and 
 joy in the Holy Ghost." They demonstrate, 
 what we were slow to believe, that the glorious
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 and peaceful Gospel can triumph over a race 
 which has been, for ages, the most cruel and 
 bloodthirsty of all the family of civilized men : 
 a race from which sprang the Society of the 
 Jesuits ; amid which the Inquisition has been 
 worked with the most unrelenting and fearful 
 energy ; and which has been the most solici- 
 tous of all the Roman Catholic world to purge 
 itself of even the slightest taint or charge of 
 heresy. 
 
 Yes, these memoirs show us that there is 
 hope for the Spanish race, which is, next to 
 the Gallican, the most important of all the 
 Latin nations. This is a subject of vast im- 
 portance, and I propose to call the reader's 
 attention particularly to it in a few of the fol- 
 lowing paragraphs. 
 
 The French, or Gallican race, comprehends 
 about thirty-eight millions. And although no 
 portion of the subjects of Rome have shown 
 more jealousy of ultra-montane, or excessive, 
 claims on the part of the Papal See, or more 
 independence of spirit on certain points of 
 doctrine, and on certain occasions, when it has
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 been attempted to enforce those claims, yet 
 no race has rendered Rome more effectual 
 service. It was this race that created the 
 Papacy ; and it has ever done more to 
 sustain it than any other. The French 
 Roman Catholics have always given more 
 money to propagate the Roman Catholic faith 
 than any other people ; and the best Roman 
 Catholic missionaries have in all time past 
 been Frenchmen. 
 
 Now, in the wonderful providence of God, 
 it is exactly among this very portion of the 
 subjects of Rome that the Truth is making 
 most progress in our day. Dreadful as were 
 the persecutions which Rome excited against 
 the Protestants of France in the 16th, 17th, 
 and 18th centuries, they were not permitted 
 to lead to their extermination. A " remnant" 
 still remained. And from its ashes, as it were, 
 the Protestant Church has been raised up 
 within these last few years, and great is the 
 progress which Truth is making in a country 
 which has been steeped in the blood of mar- 
 tyrs.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 The glorious Reformation spread in Spain 
 also in the 16th century ; and many embraced 
 its doctrines. Nor were they among the hum- 
 bler classes of people ; some noble minds re- 
 ceived those doctrines, and were ready to suf- 
 fer the loss of all things for the sake of the 
 Truth. But soon that most horrible of all 
 engines, the Inquisition, was employed to ef- 
 fect their destruction ; and in the course of a 
 few years Protestantism was extirpated from 
 the entire Peninsula. The consequence was, 
 that for more than two hundred and fifty years, 
 neither in Spain, nor any of the countries col- 
 onized from Spain, was the least vestige of the 
 Protestant religion to be found. Over the 
 whole Iberian race, whether in the Old or the 
 New World, Rome maintained an undisputed 
 reign ; and a cruel and debasing superstition 
 supplanted the Truth. What the fruits of Ro- 
 manism have been among that race, I need 
 not undertake to say, for the world knows that 
 they have been ignorance, bigotry, despotism, 
 civil wars, and deplorable wretchedness. 
 The history of Christianity in Spain is
 
 XII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 deeply interesting. Rejecting, as absurd, the 
 Spanish traditions, that James, the son of 
 Zebedee, first preached the Christian doctrine 
 to the people of that country, sent seven pres- 
 byters to Rome to be ordained by Pope Peter, 
 and then returned to Jerusalem in time to ob- 
 tain the martyr's crown, we may confidently 
 receive two facts which are sufficiently estab- 
 lished by authentic history ; one of which is, 
 that the Gospel was early preached in the 
 Peninsula, and the other, that it extensively 
 spread there notwithstanding the persecutions 
 to which those who received it were from time 
 to time exposed. Beyond these two facts 
 nothing is certainly known respecting the very 
 early history of Christianity in Spain. 
 
 In the fourth century, the Spanish churches 
 were overrun by the Priscillian heresy, which 
 predominated in them about two centuries, 
 and was a compound of the tenets of the 
 Manicheans and Gnostics. In other words, in 
 its most important principle, it was Arianism. 
 Nestorianism and some other heresies of less 
 note also had considerable currency in Spain
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 But that which made the most noise was what 
 was called " adoptionarian heresy," viz., that 
 Christ is only the adopted Son of God which 
 was broached by Elipand, Archbishop of 
 Toledo, in the eighth century. 
 
 But if Spain had her heretics, and even her 
 heresiarchs, she also had noble defenders of 
 the Truth. Claude, so greatly celebrated as 
 Bishop of Turin, in the ninth century, was a 
 native of Spain. And so was Galindo Pru- 
 dentio, Bishop of Troyes in France, a con- 
 temporary of Claude, and like him, a great 
 favorite with Charlemagne, and an able and 
 zealous friend of the true Gospel. 
 
 And although the Spanish churches had 
 bishops in the fourth century, and gradually, 
 in imitation of the churches in other countries, 
 which had submitted to tbe lordly domination 
 of the clergy of the great cities, that began in 
 the days of Constantino, allowed, but after 
 much opposition, the creation of metropolitans, 
 archbishops, vicar-generals, etc., yet they 
 never suffered the Bishops of Rome to inter- 
 fere authoritatively in their affairs during the 
 2
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 first eight centuries. And although it may 
 seem strange to those who only know that the 
 Spaniards have been the most devoted and 
 firm of all the subjects of the Roman See in 
 modern times, and the most ready to fight its 
 battles, to hear that the supremacy of the self- 
 styled successors of St. Peter was never fully 
 established in Spain until the first eleven cen- 
 turies had passed away, it is nevertheless true. 
 Still more, it was not until about three hun- 
 dred and fifty years ago, that the zeal of the 
 Spanish nation in behalf of the Roman See 
 reached any thing like its present maturity of 
 growth and extent of vigor, a consummation 
 to which the expulsion of the Moors in the 
 reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic, 
 and the discovery of both the Indies, greatly 
 contributed. 
 
 Nor was the Roman See left long in undis- 
 turbed possession of Spain. For the doctrines 
 of the Albigenses penetrated into the northern 
 portions of the Peninsula in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, if not earlier, and found many friends 
 an advocates. Indeed, the northern districts
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 of that country and the adjacent provinces of 
 France were then, and for centuries afterwards, 
 under the same government. Their inhabit- 
 ants were, and are still, essentially the same 
 people. Their language was, and is still, es- 
 sentially the same patois, or dialect, differing 
 almost equally from pure French on the one 
 hand, and pure Castilian on the other ; being 
 in fact the remains of an old Celtic tongue, 
 which has not been absorbed in either of the 
 two Latin languages which have striven to 
 supplant it. Under these circumstances, 
 nothing could be more probable than that the 
 " Albigensian heresy," as Rome denominated 
 the blessed doctrines held by the noble re- 
 formers whom God raised up in Languedoc 
 and Provence, and especially in the region 
 around Toulouse, in the twelfth century, or 
 rather who were only a resuscitation of the 
 primitive Christianity which had never become 
 extinct in those provinces, should spread into 
 the northern, and especially the north-eastern 
 parts of Spain. And history tells us that this 
 was the case. Nor were they confined in their
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 dissemination to the northern parts of t't 
 Peninsula ; they spread extensively in other 
 portions of it. And Spain possessed many 
 thousands of devoted Christians, who never 
 bowed the knee to that Baal which had been 
 set up in Rome. They were called by va- 
 rious names, among which those of Albigen- 
 ses, and Vaudois or Waldenses, were the 
 most common. 
 
 But history takes care also to inform us that 
 the same Rome which instigated Simon de 
 Montfort and the kings of France to make 
 war upon the Albigenses in France, and upon 
 their good and noble protectors, the Counts of 
 Toulouse, and after having broken them down 
 by war, exterminated them at her leisure by 
 the aid of St. Dominic and his monkish Jani- 
 zaries, was not less active in hunting up those 
 who had embraced the same doctrines south 
 of the Pyrenees. Blood followed abundantly 
 in Spain as well as in France. And the 
 prayers and the groans 6f dying martyrs as- 
 cended, from many a spot in that country, to 
 heaven's high vault, not to remain unheard
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 or forgotten j by Him who is exalted to be 
 " Lord over all," and who sitteth " King in 
 Zion." 
 
 But Rome triumphed, and the Truth fell 
 down slain by her hand, both in France and 
 Spain. And yet all was not lost. The holy 
 appeals of Wickliff in England, and of Huss 
 and Jerome amid the mountains in Bohemia, 
 found a welcome and a response in many a 
 heart even in the Iberian Peninsula. Tt was 
 in this way that Error was prevented from 
 having exclusive and uncontested dominion in 
 that beautiful but benighted country. 
 
 At k'ngth the 16th century came, and with 
 it the voice of Luther summoning the nations 
 to rise and cast from them the yoke of Rome. 
 Nor did the doctrines of the Reformation fail 
 to reach Spain. There were many causes 
 which led to this. A king of Spain was cho- 
 sen Emperor of Germany, under the title of 
 Charles V. This prince was born in Nether- 
 lands, as what are now Belgium and Holland 
 were then called, and which were then under 
 the government of Spain. The eventful life of
 
 XVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 this monarch was spent in various countries. 
 One while he was in Spain, then in Italy, then 
 in Germany, then in the Low Countries, and 
 then hack in his patrimonial inheritance. This 
 led to a vast intercourse on the part of the 
 Spaniards with the Italians, the Germans, and 
 the Flemish. Not only courtiers, statesmen, 
 and merchants, but soldiers also, went from 
 the Peninsula into those various countries ; 
 and there many of them came into con- 
 tact with the Reformed opinions. And from 
 those various countries these opinions were 
 carried into Spain, in spite of all that Rome 
 could do, sometimes in the writings of the 
 Reformers published at Wittemburg, or Basle, 
 or Venice, or Antwerp ; but oftener still in the 
 hearts of those who had embraced them. In 
 this way the Truth threatened to overrun and 
 conquer one of the fairest provinces of Rome. 
 It is certain that the Reformed opinions se- 
 cretly gained an extensive currency in both 
 Spain and Portugal for several years before 
 they were avowed by any native of either 
 country. The first Spaniard who is known
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 to have professed openly the Protestant Faith 
 was Juan Valdes, who by his conversations 
 and by his writings did much to make known, 
 both in his native land and in Italy, the true 
 Gospel. He was a layman who stood high in 
 the estimation of Charles V., who sent him to 
 Naples in quality of Secretary to the Vice- 
 roy ; for the southern part of Italy, together 
 with the Island of Sicily, belonged at that day 
 to the Crown of Spain. At Naples Valdes 
 spent a number of years, actively promoting 
 in secret the cause of Truth, and died in the 
 year 1540, to the great regret of all who loved 
 the new doctrines in that city. Many of his 
 best writings were published several years af- 
 ter his death, at Venice ; among which was 
 his commentary on the Psalms. 
 
 The next Spaniard of influence who avow- 
 ed the Reformed doctrine was Rodrigo de 
 Valer, a native of Lebrixa, a town about thir- 
 ty miles from Seville. He had been an ex- 
 ceedingly dissipated young man; but was led 
 suddenly to abandon all the scenes of folly 
 and fashion by the reading of the Vulgate, the
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 only translation of the Bible permitted in 
 Spain. For a while he was enabled boldly to 
 make known the Truth ; but at length he was 
 arrested and condemned to imprisonment for 
 life, a punishment which he underwent in a 
 monastery in the town of San Lucar, near the 
 mouth of the Guadalquiver, where, separated 
 from all human society, he died about the age 
 of fifty. 
 
 The most distinguished of the converts of 
 Valer was Juan Gil, better known by the 
 name of Egidius. He had early distinguished 
 himself by his knowledge of Scholastic the- 
 ology, and was chosen preacher in the Cathe- 
 dral of Seville. Several years after having 
 entered upon the duties of that post, his mind 
 was enlightened in the great doctrines of the 
 Gospel by the conversations of Valer, and he 
 became a faithful and most eloquent preacher 
 of the Truth, and brought many others to the 
 knowledge of it, some of whom received the 
 crown of martyrdom. At length, being sus- 
 pected of heresy, he was arrested, tried by the 
 Inquisition, and condemned to three years im-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXi 
 
 prisonment. Shortly after having completed 
 this term of suffering for righteousness' sake 
 he died. Few men in Spain did so much as 
 he for the diffusion of the Reformed doctrine. 
 He died in the year 1556. Among those who 
 had aided most effectually in his efforts to 
 make known the Truth in Seville, were two 
 men of distinguished merit ; the one was Var- 
 gas, and the other Constantine Ponce de la 
 Fuente. The former, however, was after a 
 few years taken away by death, and the latter 
 was called for a while to the Netherlands. 
 
 One of the Spaniards who earliest em- 
 braced the doctrines of the Reformation, was 
 Francisco San Roman, a native of Burgos, 
 who having gone to Bremen on mercantile 
 business, there heard the gospel, and embraced 
 it with the whole heart. His zeal, which 
 needed the restraints of prudence, led him to 
 be arrested at Ratisbon, whither he had gone 
 to see the Emperor of Germany. After hav- 
 ing been carried in chains to Italy, and thence 
 to Algiers, which the Emperor attempted in 
 vain to capture, he was brought to Valladolid,
 
 XX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in his native country, where he was tried by 
 the Inquisition, condemned, and burned. The 
 Christian manner in which he met this awful 
 death, together with the nature of the accusa- 
 tion on which he was condemned, inspired 
 many in that city who secretly held the new 
 opinions to profess them boldly, and exert 
 themselves actively in their propagation. 
 
 Among the distinguished Spaniards who 
 embraced the Reformed doctrines, were three 
 brothers of the name of Enzinas, Jayme, 
 Francisco, and Juan, who \vere sent by their 
 father to prosecute their studies at Louvain, a 
 university in the Netherlands. It was there 
 that they first became acquainted with the 
 gospel. The lives of these young men were 
 various. One of them, Juan, studied medi- 
 cine, and became a professor of that science 
 at Marburg, in Germany. Jayme resided at 
 Rome several years, engaged in the prosecu- 
 tion of his studies, and living the life of a de- 
 voted Christian. But just as he was about to 
 quit the Eternal City for Germany, he was 
 informed against, arrested, condemned, and
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXI11 
 
 burned as a heretic. He underwent this 
 dreadful death with the cheerful heroism of a 
 martyr. The second brother, Francisco, after 
 having resided at Paris, Geneva, and Brus- 
 sels, published his translation of the New Tes- 
 tament at Antwerp in the year 1543 ; and 
 for doing so, and especially for his supposed 
 attachment to the Reformed opinions, he was 
 thrown into prison in Brussels, where he lay 
 several months : but escaping from confine- 
 ment, he took refuge in Germany, and after- 
 wards visited London, whence he returned to 
 the continent, and went to reside at Basle. 
 
 The efforts of Francisco Enzinas to give 
 his countrymen the Scriptures in their vernac- 
 ular tongue, were followed by those of Juan 
 Perez, Casiodoro de Reyna, and Cypriano de 
 Valera, all friends of Egidius, who sought 
 safety in quitting Seville, when that excellent 
 man was thrown into prison. The first nam- 
 ed translated the New Testament and the 
 Psalms into Spanish, and wrote a catechism, 
 or summary of Christian doctrine, which were 
 published in Venice in the years 1556 and
 
 XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1557. After his death, de Reyna continued 
 the translation of the Old Testament, and 
 produced a version of the whole Bible, which 
 was printed in 1569 at Basle. Cypriano de 
 Valera revised the whole, and published the 
 New Testament in 1596 at London, and both 
 the Old and the New in 1602 at Amsterdam. 
 And although these translations appeared af- 
 ter the Reformation had been suppressed in 
 Spain, they helped to diffuse the truth among 
 the Spaniards residing out of Spain, and are a 
 monument of the noble zeal of their authors 
 in behalf of God'? Word. 
 
 Among the most distinguished leaders of 
 the friends of the Reformed doctrine in Spain, 
 after the death of Egidius, were, unquestion- 
 ably, Constantine Ponce de la Fuente, at 
 Seville, and Christobal Losada, a doctor of 
 medicine, Don Juan Ponce de Leon, and Do- 
 mingo de Guzman, of the same city ; Domin- 
 go de Roxas, Augustin Cazalla, (esteemed 
 one of the best pulpit orators in Spain, and of 
 Jewish extraction,) and Don Carlos de Seso, 
 at Valladolid. There were, however, many 
 others who were active in the good cause.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 Seville and Vallaclolid were the two cities 
 in and around which the Reformation spread 
 most, penetrating even into several monaste- 
 ries and convents. Yet there were many 
 Protestants in Aragon,in New Castile, and in 
 the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and Va- 
 lencia. In fact, the doctrines of the Refor- 
 mation found secret friends in almost all parts 
 of the Peninsula. And what is not a little 
 remarkable, they were among distinguished 
 people of the country, for rank and learning. 
 And so great was the progress of the Truth, 
 that had not the Government conspired with 
 the Roman hierarchy, and put in requisition 
 every means which the Inquisition furnished, 
 Spain would unquestionably have soon become 
 a Protestant country. 
 
 But at length Rome awoke to a sense of 
 the danger which menaced her dominion in 
 Spain, and buckled on the harness for th<3 
 work of exterminating the " heresy " which 
 was fast spreading there. And now bloody 
 Bcenes began to be witnessed in all directions, 
 especially about Seville and Valladolid, and 
 3
 
 XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in the country of Aragon. The Inquisition 
 was worked with Spanish, or, in other words, 
 hellish cruelty. It was in the year 1558 that 
 Rome let loose the myrmidons of St. Domi- 
 nic upon the Protestants of Spain, and so 
 effectually did they accomplish their task, 
 that in the space of two years they succeeded 
 in getting quite through it. Vast numbers fled 
 from the country. Those who resided in Ara- 
 gon and other parts in the northern portion of 
 the kingdom, escaped by hundreds to Beam 
 and other adjoining provinces in France, where 
 they were received with joy by their Protest- 
 ant brethren. But many were condemned to 
 hard work, to solitary confinement, or other 
 forms of penance ; and not a few were burned 
 at the stake. The great and good Constan- 
 tine Ponce de la Fuente died hi a loathsome 
 dungeon ; so did Olmedo, a man distinguished 
 for his learning and piety ; Cazalla ; and his 
 sister Donna Beatrice de Vibero, Don Carlos 
 de Seso, Domingo de Roxas, Juan Sanchez, 
 Don Juan Ponce de Leon, Juan Gonzalez, 
 Garcia de Arias, Christobal d' Arellano, Juan
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV11 
 
 de Leon, Fernando de San Juan, Christobal 
 Losada, and many others, were burned. 
 Among these were several ladies who under- 
 went that dreadful death, of whom may be 
 mentioned Donna Marina Guevara, Donna 
 Isabel de Baena, Maria de Virves, Maria de 
 Cornel, and Maria de Bohorques, all of them 
 distinguished women, who nobly endured the 
 torture, and death itself, " not accepting deliv- 
 erance, that they might obtain a better resur- 
 recton." 
 
 But I can pursue this subject no further. 
 Persecution did its work effectually, and Spain 
 was rid of heresy. The Reformation was 
 extinguished in that country. Those who 
 fled found refuge in France, in Switzerland, in 
 Germany, the Low Countries, and in Eng- 
 land. Churches of Spanish Protestants exist- 
 ed for a time in Geneva, in Antwerp, in Lon- 
 don. In some cases the Spanish Protestants 
 united with the exiles from Italy, and joined 
 in their churches. But in process of time 
 they and their descendants became absorbed 
 in the churches of the native Protestants in 
 the places where they settled.
 
 XXVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As to Spain, having now extinguished the 
 lights which had for a while been kindled in 
 her midst, a heavier gloom than ever settled 
 down upon her. and upon the countries which 
 had been colonized from her. Superstition, 
 ignorance, and bigotry, have had an undis- 
 puted reign over both during almost three 
 hundred years. And what have been their 
 appropriate fruits ? They are to be seen in 
 the political decline, diminished wealth, re- 
 stricted industry and commerce, degraded 
 morals, uncultivated intellect, deplorable dis- 
 tractions and civil wars, and general unhappi- 
 ness, which prevail in those countries. From 
 being the first political power in Europe, Spain 
 has sunk so low that, with a population of 
 sixteen millions of souls, she is hardly equal to 
 Denmark, which has not two millions. And 
 as to the Spanish countries on our own conti- 
 nent, there is not one that is capable of main- 
 taining a good constitutional government. 
 
 But a brighter day, we trust, is about to 
 dawn upon Spain and the Spanish race. The 
 papacy will not be permitted to have an un-
 
 INTRODUCTION. . XXJX 
 
 ending dominion over a people who possess so 
 many traits of character which, when soften- 
 ed and moulded by the genial influences of a 
 pure Gospel, will render them as noble Chris- 
 tians as the world has ever seen. Their very 
 pride, and haughtiness, and firmness, surpass- 
 ing even Roman constancy, when subdued by 
 the blessed religion of the Bible, will sink 
 down into elements of character of a most 
 valuable nature. It may be difficult to con- 
 vert Spaniards to pure Christianity; but when 
 converted they will be worth something. They 
 will be men who may be depended on. They 
 will be soldiers of the cross who can endure 
 both its fatigues and its shame. That Span- 
 iards can be converted, this little volume proves 
 beyond a doubt. Who can read, unmoved, 
 the simple account which is here given of the 
 patient, kind, and persevering efforts of this 
 converted monk to save his fellow country- 
 men ? Where shall we find persons who 
 have encountered, undaunted, such opposition ? 
 Who of us has gone the fifteenth time to a 
 neighbor or friend who is out of Christ, after 
 3*
 
 XXX . INTRODUCTION. 
 
 having been repulsed fourteen times ? And 
 not only repulsed, but beaten, and treated 
 with every species of ignominious insult ? 
 Here is the Spanish character, under the in- 
 fluence of Divine grace. And what may we 
 not expect from such a race in the work of 
 building up the kingdom of Christ, when they 
 shall have received extensively the blessed 
 Gospel ? 
 
 The Spanish people have done much evil 
 in the world in their cruel treatment of the 
 aborigines of America, and in commencing 
 and prosecuting the slave-trade. But they can 
 plead ignorance to a far greater extent, as an 
 excuse for their crimes, than we can. They 
 have not known that blessed Gospel which has 
 been our glorious inheritance, bequeathed to 
 us by ancestors who obtained it at the price of 
 many struggles and much blood. How great 
 their ignorance of the Gospel is, the reader 
 will be able to form some idea from the pages 
 which follow ; for they contain the testimony 
 of a competent and indubitable witness. 
 
 But if the Spanish people have done much
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 evil in the world, they are a race to which the 
 world also owes much. For they once did 
 much for commerce, and for the extension of 
 the boundaries of human knowledge. It was 
 Spanish ships which led the way to both the 
 Indies. It was under Spanish auspices, and 
 through Spanish enterprise, that the continent 
 upon which we live was discovered, and where 
 a home was found by our Protestant ancestors 
 when they were compelled, for conscience' 
 sake, to quit the Old World. 
 
 We are " verily debtors" on this account 
 to the Spanish people, and ought to be willing 
 to impart to them that which is our greatest 
 glory, and of which they have the greatest 
 need. But we are "debtors" to them in a 
 higher sense ; for they, as all other men, are 
 our brethren and our neighbors, and we are 
 intrusted with the Gospel, and have received 
 a charge to impart it to " every creature," so 
 far as it is in our power to do so. 
 
 And God is certainly opening the door to 
 our efforts ; and will more extensively, if wa 
 importune Him to do so. It will be seen in
 
 XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the following pages that the civil war which 
 has so long raged in Spain is unquestionably 
 preparing the way for the spread of a purer 
 Christianity in that country. The party which 
 is called the Liberals, or Christines, from their 
 hatred to the Roman See and the Roman 
 Catholic priests, because they have ever found 
 both to be hostile to constitutional liberty, are 
 
 -evidently brought into a state of feeling which 
 is favorable to the reception of the Protes- 
 tant Faith, when properly presented to them. 
 And whatever vicissitudes that party may un- 
 dergo, it is certain in the end to prevail. It 
 cannot fail to be so. Such an issue of the 
 present struggle would be eminently propi- 
 tious to the cause of Truth. It would secure 
 an open door for the glorious Gospel. Espar- 
 tero, the late regent or dictator of Spain, and 
 head of the liberal party, remarked to a friend 
 
 <of mine a few years ago, that he wished to see 
 all Spain filled with the Bible, " for," said he, 
 
 " we shall never have a good government here 
 till we have a better religion." Nor are these 
 
 enlightened views held by him alone. There
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXX1I1 
 
 are many distinguished men in Spain who 
 share them with him. 
 
 The following memoirs show also how God 
 is making the civil war in Spain "turn to the 
 furtherance of the Gospel," in another way. 
 The driving, alternately, of thousands of Car- 
 lists and Christinos into France has been made 
 the occasion of bringing some of them into con- 
 tact with the Sacred Scriptures, by which their 
 minds have been enlightened in the " Truth as 
 it is in Jesus." Who can tell what effect the 
 conversion of even a few men of talents and 
 energy and prudence, may have upon the work 
 of God in Spain, or in Spanish America ? 
 
 How important this subject becomes when 
 viewed'as it ought to be ! The population of 
 Spain is about sixteen millions. The portion 
 of the population of this continent which is of 
 Spanish origin, or under Spanish dominion, 
 and receiving their character from Spanish 
 laws and opinions, cannot be less than sixteen 
 or eighteen millions more. We have then 
 some thirty-two or thirty-four millions of peo- 
 ple who constitute the Spanish race.
 
 XXXI V JNTRODUCTION. 
 
 Will not the churches of our land, and of 
 other Protestant countries, awake to the vast 
 importance of praying and laboring for the 
 conversion of Roman Catholic nations ? Will 
 they not be provoked to right views and ap- 
 propriate efforts, by the wisdom and zeal which 
 the Romanists show in their aims to convert 
 Protestant countries, especially Great Britain 
 and these United States ? I cannot but be- 
 lieve that they will. Indeed no little progress 
 has already been made in this good movement. 
 And it is confidently hoped that the perusal 
 of this little work will contribute to the same 
 good result. That this may be the case is the 
 earnest prayer of all those who have been 
 concerned in its preparation. And should it 
 lead to a more heartfelt and effective interest 
 in behalf of the Society which has undertaken 
 the mission of Mr. Monsalvatge to the Span- 
 ish people in South America, as soon as the 
 door may be opened for it, it will not have 
 been written in vain. 
 
 In relation to the style in which the follow- 
 ing memoirs have been written, it does not be-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 come me to say much. The work has mainly 
 been prepared by a member of my family, who 
 has had very little time in which to translate 
 and arrange it. As to myself, my official and 
 other duties have utterly precluded my giving 
 any attention to the subject. Should any por- 
 tions of it be .found defective in point of phrase,, 
 or in point of arrangement, I beg that it may 
 be regarded with indulgence, for the best has 
 been done that the circumstances of the case 
 have permitted. 
 
 I cannot but hope that those who read this 
 little work will not fail to remember the simple 
 and earnest request which Monsalvatge ad- 
 dresses to American Christians, to remember 
 him and his mission in their prayers. Let 
 them remember also his parents, his brother,, 
 and his two sisters, who are all living in the 
 darkness and superstition of Romanism. And 
 let them not forget to pray for Spain, benight- 
 ed and distracted Spain, and the whole Span- 
 ish race. 
 
 Nor can I bring these introductory remarks 
 to a close, without alluding to the very kind
 
 XXXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 manner in which Mr. Monsalvatge refers lo 
 the American churches, and the high opinion 
 which he has expressed respecting their piety, 
 and their zeal for the cause of Christ. Would 
 that this eulogium were better deserved ! 
 Would that we could see in the nearly three 
 millions of tnembers of evangelical churches 
 in this land, that interest which they ought to 
 feel in the conversion of the world ! Would 
 that we could see them making those efforts 
 to impart lo others that blessed salvation of 
 which they profess to have partaken ! Alas, 
 how far they are, as a whole, from coming up 
 to. the work of ihe Lord, as they ought, con 
 sidering by what blood they have been re- 
 deemed, and by what an Agent they have 
 been enlightened, and brought out of darkness 
 into marvellous light! May God speedily 
 cause His dear children to consider these 
 things, and give them grace to do with all dil- 
 igence what they can to save a world that lieth 
 in wickedness. R. B. 
 
 New York, May 1, 1845.
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 OF A 
 
 SPANISH MONK 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 The Author's Youth. His Residence in the Monastery. 
 A false Miracle. 
 
 IN the following pages I shall attempt to give 
 a brief sketch of my history, dwelling especially 
 on the latter years, during which I have had the 
 happiness to be called by our Lord to the know- 
 ledge of His truth, and the practice of a Chris- 
 tian life. I was born on the 17th of October, 
 1815, in the town of Olot, in the province of 
 Giron and the principality of Catalonia, in Spain. 
 My father, a merchant of that place, gave me 
 the name of Ramon Baudilio Estaban Monsal- 
 vatge. 
 
 4
 
 38 THE LIFE Of A 
 
 Olot is a town of about 16,060 inhabitants, 
 pleasantly situated on the border of a wide plain, 
 eight leagues from the Pyrenees. Two steep 
 hills, called San Francisco and Mount Olivet, 
 rise on its sides, between which flows a clear 
 stream which passes by the town. Its inhabit- 
 ants ?re very industrious, and are widely en- 
 gaged in manufactures. 
 
 My parents were very devout and strict in fol- 
 lowing the rules and performances of the Rom- 
 ish Church. From my very infancy they dedi- 
 cated me to the priesthood. In my childhood I 
 was by every possible means withdrawn from the 
 knowledge of the customs of the world, and was 
 made to consider the estate to which I was de- 
 voted as being the holiest and highest in exist- 
 ence. All kinds of books the object of which 
 was other than to inspire religious sentiments 
 were kept from me. At the age of twelve, my 
 father and my uncle provided for me a sum of 
 3,000 dollars, which was required before a person 
 could enter the priesthood. 1 But some time after 
 
 1 At that time the priests in Spain were not supported 
 by the government ; the above sum was therefore to be 
 provided for every man who desired to enter the priest- 
 hood.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 39 
 
 this, my father, who was in the habit of attend- 
 ing the chapel of the Franciscan convent, and 
 greatly admired the regulations and customs of 
 that order of monks, determined to place me 
 among them. 
 
 I remained under the paternal roof till the age 
 of fifteen, when, having passed through all the 
 lower classes, and learned the Latin language, I 
 was sent to the convent of the Capuchin Friars 
 at Barcelona, where I was admitted, after pass- 
 ing an examination. I was then sent to Sarria, 
 to spend the twelve months of my novitiate ; and 
 it was on the 7th of September, 1830, that I re- 
 linquished the dress of a private citizen for a 
 monk's coarse robe and cowl ; where they gave 
 me the name of Friar Simon of Olot, instead of 
 that which had been conferred on me at bap- 
 tism by my parents. 
 
 The austerity and severity of the Capuchin 
 order is well known. One cannot but be struck, 
 upon entering one of its convents, with the rigid 
 simplicity of its churches and chapels, and the 
 strict regulations which govern its members. 
 The cells of the monks are usually but ten feet 
 long and seven wide ; the furniture consists of 
 a bed of boards, with a simple covering, a small
 
 40 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 table upon which is a skull, a crucifix, and a few 
 devotional books ; the floor is the only seat of 
 the inmates. Their dress consists in a coarse 
 frock, a cowl, and sandals. 
 
 At midnight we arose, and for one hour sung 
 the Matins ; at five we spent two hours in medi- 
 tation, on our knees. The day was occupied by 
 meditation, reading of devotional books, and 
 worship in the chapel. The works we read 
 were, the lives of saints, tales of miracles, chron- 
 icles of our order, and such like ; but never did 
 we receive any instruction respecting other 
 things than the doctrines and saints of the Rom- 
 ish Church. 1 
 
 Three times a week we performed the pen- 
 ance of flagellation. This consisted in striking 
 ourselves with whips. Some of these were mere- 
 ly of seven knotted ropes; others of seven cords 
 of iron chain; and some of the latter had small 
 points or pins, which brought blood at almost 
 every blow. Often have I seen the floor and the 
 walls spattered with the blood of the penitents ; 
 and this penance was not merely an occasional 
 punishment, but a regular duty performed thrice 
 
 1 This refers only to the year of novitiate.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 41 
 
 a week. At table, the strictest silence was 
 maintained, whilst one of the friars read aloud 
 the lives of saints, etc. 
 
 During the year of my novitiate I was not al- 
 lowed to speak to any one but the confessor and 
 the superior ; and that only in cases of urgent 
 necessity. The monks are not allowed to raise 
 their eyes under any circumstances. The pun- 
 ishments, inflicted for the slightest fault, were of 
 the most degrading nature ; such as licking the 
 floor, eating on the ground, severe penance, &,c. 
 
 Let not the reader imagine for a moment that 
 the men who lived such a life were hypocrites 
 and deceivers. I do not think that there was 
 one man in our convent who did not sincerely 
 believe that by these vain and disgusting per- 
 formances he was gaining the favor of God and an 
 entrance into heaven. Yes; the sincerity and ar- 
 dor of these deluded men might well cause many 
 to blush, who in a land of light and intelligence 
 neglect the glorious salvation of Jesus Christ. 
 
 I believed in these vain ceremonies, in these 
 extravagant tales and histories, as, I doubt not, 
 many others have believed them. And when, 
 after years of ignorance and superstition, 1 
 learned to love the Word of God, how precious 
 4*
 
 42 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 did it appear to me ! how infinitely superior to 
 the silly imaginations upon which my soul had 
 been fed ! 
 
 At sixteen, having terminated my year of trial, 
 I made a religious profession, by taking the vows 
 of obedience, poverty and chastity ; thus re- 
 nouncing the pleasures of a world of which I 
 knew nothing. In the month of December 1 
 was to begin the study of philosophy ; and until 
 then, I took up my residence in the Convent of 
 Sabadell, four leagues from the city of Barce- 
 lona. After my year of novitiate, my duties 
 were not so strict. I was allowed to converse, 
 to spend one hour a day in recreation, and to 
 devote some time to the study of metaphysics. 
 Another daily duty was added : that of visiting 
 the sick and the dying. 
 
 During my stay at Sabadell, I was one night 
 awoke from my sleep, and commanded to visit a 
 dying man, to prepare him for his end. I went ; 
 and the man cried out to me with imprecations : 
 " What do you come here for ?" I answered, "My 
 friend, I come to console and exhort you, that you 
 may die in God, by the intercession of our bless- 
 ed Virgin Mary, who is the Mediatrix between 
 God and man ; and also to induce you to pray
 
 SPANISH MONK. 43 
 
 to St. Joseph, who is the guardian of the dying."- 
 He then ordered his wife to put me out of the 
 house. In a few moments, the soul which I 
 would fain have led to heaven by the interces- 
 sion of Mary, had gone to appear at the judg- 
 ment bar of the eternal God. Oh ! Jesus, my 
 only Saviour! had I but pointed that soul to 
 Thee, Thou couldst have saved it from the hor- 
 rors of the second death ! Alas ! I myself was 
 then in the thickest darkness ; but now, O my 
 God ! I know that Thou hast received my ran- 
 som, and hast pardoned this and all my sins 
 through Thy Son, who died on the cross. 
 
 Near the house of this dying man, was another 
 person in the same state, attended by a priest 
 from our convent, who, having been informed of 
 my circumstances, hastened to my assistance. 
 He was too late ; the soul had already taken its 
 flight ; and I had retired into an adjoining room 
 and had fallen asleep. The priest, on his arrival, 
 sent for the servant of the convent to keep him 
 company, as he desired to spend the night in the 
 chamber of the dead man, in order to keep off 
 the powers of darkness, which, he said, would 
 certainly come to take away the corpse, the in- 
 mate of which they had already in their posses-
 
 44 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 sion. The room in which I was sleeping was 
 close to that of the dead man, and I was sudden- 
 ly awoke by a dreadful noise, which greatly 
 alarmed me. Much excited, and afraid to leave 
 the room, lest devils of all sorts and shapes 
 should surround me, " What can I do ?" I said 
 to myself; " if I call, I shall frighten the widow." 
 At length I gathered some courage, and covered 
 my head with the bedclothes ; but it was in 
 vain. I heard persons moving the bedstead, 
 throwing down the bureau, and making such a 
 noise that it seemed as though every piece of 
 furniture were moving of itself. I then jumped 
 out of bed, and ran to the kitchen, where I found 
 the widow with two other women, who were 
 trying to console and comfort her. I begged 
 them to come with me to the room where the 
 corpse lay ; but, when we arrived there, we found 
 the door fastened within. After knocking, we 
 were asked what we wanted, and I recognized 
 the voice of Father Matthew, who told me to 
 lead the women back to the kitchen, and to 
 come to him alone. I obeyed, and entered the 
 room, where I found Father Matthew and the 
 servant of the convent on their knees, praying. 
 They told me that four evil spirits, in the form
 
 SPANISH MONK. 45 
 
 of large dogs, had come and torn the dead body 
 in pieces, each seizing one quarter, and thus 
 the whole body disappeared. " Let us continue 
 together," said Father Matthew, " to pray and 
 exorcise the evil spirits, so that now, at least, 
 they shall leave the house in peace." After this 
 had been done, we agreed with the relatives 
 that a large block of wood should be placed in 
 the coffin, so that they who carried it might not 
 perceive that it was empty, and that the infamy 
 attached to such an event should be avoided by 
 the family. 
 
 The next day the funeral took place, and Fa- 
 ther Matthew in his sermon, declared to his 
 hearers that the body could not be interred in 
 the cemetery, as it was well known how the man 
 had died ; it was therefore buried without the 
 precincts of the holy ground. Soon after, a 
 pamphlet was printed and circulated, which ex- 
 plained the manner of the death and the taking 
 away of the body of the unfortunate man by 
 devils ; but without designating his name or that 
 of the village in which he had lived. 
 
 When Father Matthew told me what had hap- 
 pened, I believed it ; but now that God has 
 been so gracious to me as to open my eyes to
 
 46 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 his truth, I simply believe that Father Matthew 
 and the servant made way with the corpse. It 
 is easy to understand that by such means the 
 priests in Spain act on the credulity of ignorant 
 people, and thus lead them to throw themselves 
 upon their protection, believing that on their 
 superstitious performances depends the salvation 
 of their souls.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 47 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Causes of the attack upon the Conventual Establishments. 
 Dispersion of Monastic Communities. The Author's 
 Enlistment in the Army. State of the Army of Don 
 Carles. 
 
 ON the 8th of December, 1632, I was sent* 
 from the convent of Sabadell to that of my na- 
 tive town, Olot, to study philosophy. I contin- 
 ued there three years. 
 
 The last twelvemonth, 1835, which I spent 
 in the convent of Olot, was one of continual 
 anxiety and alarm. News was often received of 
 the exasperation excited among the republicans 
 in Spain against the monks, especially in Mad- 
 rid, Barcelona, Reus, and other parts of my 
 country, as well as in our more immediate vi- 
 cinity. The people grew more and more loud 
 in their complaints of the idleness, wealth, im- 
 posture, and immorality which prevailed among 
 the monks.
 
 48 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 It was during this last year of my residence 
 in the convent, that the people arose against 
 their spiritual masters. In the course of that 
 time, they broke out in many places into open 
 violence, destroyed several convents, and killed 
 many of their inmates. Tidings of scenes of 
 bloodshed and devastation were constantly arri- 
 ving ; and we were kept in a state of continual 
 alarm. We took measures, also, for our own 
 defence, expecting an attack from the people of 
 Olot, who were in great majority against us. At 
 the command of our Superior, we collected great 
 heaps of stones in different parts of the convent, 
 to be used as missiles in case of necessity, and it 
 was understood that, upon any alarm, the bell 
 would be rung to summon all good Catholics to 
 our aid. We had, indeed, several opportunities 
 of defending ourselves against our enemies. 
 
 In 1835, the Liberal Government of Spain, at 
 the head of which was Queen Christina, since 
 the death of Ferdinand VII. in 1833, was unable 
 any longer to withstand the insurgents, and or- 
 dered that all the monastic communities should 
 be dispersed, and their convents destroyed, 
 which was done in many places. The 6th of 
 July was the day appointed for the formal sup-
 
 SPANISH MONK. 49 
 
 pression of our convent. The Justicia, or civil 
 officers, presented themselves, and, in the name 
 of the queen, declared the community to be dis- 
 solved, and delivered to each monk a passport to 
 return to his native place. But before we had 
 time to leave the convent, the leaders of the in- 
 surgents of Olot rushed in, and begantheir work 
 of destruction. The crowd soon hastened to 
 the chapel, and tore down the pictures and the 
 altars, which had so long been the objects of 
 blind adoration. 
 
 There was there an image of the Virgin Mary, 
 which had the miraculous property of weeping. 
 Many a time have I seen it, with the big tears 
 trickling down its cheeks, and I, as did all 
 others, believed it to be unquestionably a mira- 
 cle. When the insurgents penetrated into the 
 chapel, as I have above stated, they tore the im- 
 age down from its niche, and discovered behind 
 its head small tubes conducting from a basin in 
 which water was poured ; and thus the image 
 wept. 
 
 Another similar discovery was made in our 
 
 vicinity. In the town of Baguet there was q. 
 
 church which was celebrated far and wide for 
 
 containing a figure of the Saviour, called the 
 
 5
 
 50 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 " Santa Majestad," or Sacred Majesty. It had 
 the appearance of being covered with a shining 
 dress down to the knees, and was reported to 
 have been miraculously saved from destruction, 
 when in 1816 the French ineffectually attempted 
 to burn it. This image had, it was said, the 
 property of sweating. This was called a mira- 
 cle ; but the insurgents, who tore it down, with 
 its fellow-idols, found that a vessel of boiling wa- 
 ter was placed beneath the statue, and the steam 
 was carried through tubes over the body, and is- 
 sued through small holes or pores. As to its 
 quality of not burning, this was not of much ef- 
 fect, as it by no means resisted the attempts of 
 the insurgents. 
 
 These discoveries, and many other such, of 
 the shameful impositions to which they had so 
 long been subjected, so exasperated the people, 
 that all religious feeling was lost in the detesta- 
 tion of those who had so lately been the objects 
 of their respect. The churches were closed for 
 some time; all images and pictures of the saints 
 which, as customary, were hung up in the 
 streets, were torn down and destroyed. 
 
 On the top of the steeple of the parish church 
 at Olot there was a wooden statue, called the
 
 SPANISH MONK. 51 
 
 " Guardian Angel." One day the insurgents 
 succeeded in taking down this image from its 
 lofty position, and dragged it along through the 
 streets. They then cut it up in pieces, set it on 
 fire, and placed a large kettle above it, in which 
 they threw a crucifix, and pretended to be ma- 
 king a soup of it. 
 
 When I saw these horrible scenes, these acts 
 in my eyes so sacrilegious, and the contempt and 
 abuse with which my brethren were covered, I 
 was filled with indignation and hatred against 
 the insurgents. At this time, all those who had 
 not taken holy orders, were liable to military 
 service in the army of Queen Christina, to 
 whose government, though they had exceeded 
 her commands in their destruction of the con- 
 vents, the insurgents were subject. 
 
 Since the death of Ferdinand VII. in 1833, 
 his brother Don Carlos had laid claim to the 
 throne of Spain, and his party had been constant- 
 ly in rivalship with that of the Queen Christina. 
 He was regarded as the protector of religion, 
 and on his side were all those who were to be 
 considered as true Catholics. I was then unable 
 to discern which of these political parties was in 
 the right, and I was eager only to avenge the
 
 52 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 massacre of my brethren. Incited by the exhor- 
 tations of the priests, who promised indulgence s 
 to all who should enter the army of Don Carlos 
 to uphold the rights of religion, and who, like 
 the prophet Isaiah, exclaimed, " Who is on the 
 Lord's side ? let him come unto us ; put every 
 man his sword on his side, and go in and out 
 from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay 
 every man his brother, and every man his com- 
 panion, and every man his neighbour ;" it is not 
 surprising that I felt it my duty to join the army. 
 After staying three weeks with my parents at 
 Olot, I therefore enlisted in the army of Don 
 Carlos, and received the grade of a sergeant. 
 
 The life of a soldier was very different from 
 that of the quiet monk. The mental prayer was 
 exchanged for the oath; the bed of boards at 
 night for the damp ground ; and though I still 
 counted my beads three times a day, I was fre- 
 quently interrupted by the cry, " To arms !" 
 During the first six months of my military 
 course I had to sleep on the ground like the beasts 
 of the field. More than this; whereas in the 
 convent I had a sympathizing heart for the mis- 
 fortunes of my fellow-creatures, in the army I 
 became hardened, unfeeling, and cruel ; I loved 
 ~
 
 SPANISH MONK. 53 
 
 to shed blood, and applauded those of my compan- 
 ions who were more skilled in cruelty than myself. 
 
 I might attempt to give a description of the 
 life we led in the army of Don Carlos, but I 
 would fail of communicating any adequate idea 
 of its distresses and dangers. We realized there, 
 in its fullest extent, the peculiar evils of civil 
 war. Things are very different when you fight 
 with foreigners. Then you know your enemies, 
 and can never be in doubt with regard to them. 
 Their dress, countenance, language, every thing, 
 betrays them. But not so when you are at war 
 with your own countrymen. Friends and foes 
 all look alike, and you can never be sure that 
 you are not deceived in any one on whom you 
 rely, until, perhaps, it is too late. 
 
 Much of our time was spent among the for- 
 ests, for the Christines often drove us before 
 them to the most inaccessible places, and watch- 
 ed us constantly. Weeks have passed when, I 
 may say, I hardly spent an hour, by day or by 
 night, without hearing the sound of firearms ; 
 and the attacks were often the most sudden and 
 unexpected. Rest and food were indeed often 
 necessary, yet continual alarms granted us the 
 enjoyment of neither. 
 
 5*
 
 54 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 The peasants and shepherds, on whom we 
 were generally dependent for the necessaries of 
 life, were sometimes in heart our enemies ; and, 
 when not so, were threatened or bribed to be- 
 tray us. The Queen's soldiers would some- 
 times come to them to inquire what sick or 
 wounded of our party were concealed in their 
 houses or in the caverns of the mountains, and 
 would offer them money for every one they dis- 
 covered to them. They frequently threatened 
 to burn their houses, and even to take their 
 lives, unless they gave them the required infor- 
 mation. There were many who, yielding to the 
 threats and promises of our enemies, betrayed 
 us. Sometimes a poor monk would climb up to 
 the peasants among the mountains, begging for 
 food, and telling a tale of injuries received 
 from the Christinos. His eager inquiries, 
 where he could see his friends the Carlists, and 
 at what hour they would be present, would be 
 answered, and at the appointed hour he would 
 appear again, not as a monk, but as a soldier, 
 with a troop of Christinos at his back. 
 
 In some instances men were sent among us by 
 the government or its supporters, who entered 
 our ranks with professions of being devoted to
 
 SPANISH MONK. 55 
 
 our cause, but who took the first opportunity to 
 sprinkle poison in our food when preparing it for 
 us ; and I have known three hundred men to 
 die in one day by such means. The destruc- 
 tion of life, in a similar manner, as well as by 
 continual fighting, was great. Of five young men 
 who left Olot with me, but one is now living, 
 and he has lost an arm. I myself did not es- 
 cape many wounds and injuries. Indeed it is 
 very rare in this day to meet one of the twenty- 
 one thousand Catalonians who assembled under 
 Don Carlos in 1835 and 1836.
 
 56 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 My Imprisonment. The Convent in Savoy. Return to 
 Spain. Change in the Army. Capture of Ripoll and 
 Moya. Wonderful Preservation. 
 
 IT was in 1836 that I one day received the 
 order to be stationed with my company at the 
 extreme point of the Pyrenee mountains, which 
 divide France and Spain. The ground was co- 
 vered with snow, and the fog was so thick that 
 I mistook the boundary line, and we were on the 
 French territory before we knew it. In a few 
 moments I was arrested by two French soldiers, 
 together with one of my men ; the rest of the 
 company retreated to the soil of Spain. 
 
 We were conducted from prison to prison, 
 until we reached Montpellier, where I received 
 my freedom and a passport for Grenoble. Some 
 Spanish priests in that city counselled me to go 
 into Savoy. I therefore went to Chambery,
 
 SPANISH MONK. 57 
 
 where I laid aside my military dress, and took 
 once more the robe of a Capuchin monk. I 
 was immediately sent to Yenne, where I entered 
 a convent of my order. But this life, after the 
 active one to which I had lately been accustom- 
 ed, soon wearied me ; and it seemed to me that 
 it was not in solitude that I ought to serve God 
 whilst the Church of Spain was ravaged in the 
 most barbarous manner. I thought that God 
 and His faithful soldiers called none to the aid of 
 religion but those who had strong arms to de- 
 stroy its enemies, and to sustain and protect His 
 Church. 
 
 On the 18th of June, 1837, having obtained 
 a certificate of good conduct from the Superior 
 of the convent of Yenne, I left Savoy to return 
 to Spain, where I arrived safely, though I had to 
 cross a large portion of the French territory 
 without a passport. On my arrival at the army 
 I was promoted, and received the grade of sub- 
 lieutenant. 
 
 Our army was then of an entirely different as- 
 pect. We no longer counted our forces by 
 bands of twenty or thirty men, but by thousands. 
 We wandered no longer among the mountains, 
 but came down into the plain, and soon we
 
 58 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 longed for pillage. In our Carlist army this cry 
 was heard : " We are weary of suffering ; we 
 will conquer or die ;" and those generals who 
 were unwilling to lead us to the capture of towns 
 and villages, were assassinated or driven away. 
 
 Among the generals whom we had successive- 
 ly was one named Don Carlos, Count of Spain, 
 (who is not to be confounded with Don Carlos, 
 brother of Ferdinand VII. and pretender to the 
 crown.) The cruelty and brutality of this man 
 are too well known to need a description here ; 
 yet I cannot avoid mentioning two deeds accom- 
 plished by his order, which will show the ex- 
 treme barbarity with which we acted, and the 
 great necessity in which we ought to feel our- 
 selves of praying for Spain, my dearly beloved 
 and unhappy country. May the Lord have mer- 
 cy on her, and put a stop to her desolation, by 
 sending forth the light of his holy gospel ! 
 
 Thirty-six miles distant from the Eastern Pyr- 
 enees, was a pretty little town, named Ripoll ; 
 situated between two rivers, and surrounded by 
 two fortifications, containing 2800 souls, and 
 famed for its manufactures of firearms. In 
 1838 the Count of Spain presented himself be- 
 fore it with 10,000 men and besieged it during
 
 SPANISH MONK. 59 
 
 fifteen days. The town was defended by 200 
 soldiers, besides the militia. There was also 
 a numerous company of young women, armed 
 with lances, who fought courageously, to protect 
 themselves from outrages, which they remem- 
 bered but too well having been subjected to in 
 1837, when the town surrendered to General 
 Orbistondo. Notwithstanding the active resist- 
 ance of the besieged, who twice repulsed the 
 enemy, the town became the prey of the Carlists 
 at the third assault. Then Don Carlos, acting 
 as Nero might have done, exclaimed : " My 
 brave soldiers, all is yours ! do not even spare 
 the suckling babes ; cut them in pieces ! All 
 you do will be right ; and the one who will have 
 mercy and spare one inhabitant shall immedi- 
 ately be shot." These words electrified the ar- 
 my, who instantly scaled the town walls. 
 
 The besieged took refuge in a large church, 
 but in vain ; the only persons who were saved, 
 were a few women, who had fled into a very 
 small church. All the rest perished ; neither 
 the hoary heads of the aged, the tears of the fe- 
 males, nor the cries of infancy were sufficient 
 to arrest the tigers in their career of de- 
 struction. Women were first dishonored, and
 
 60 THE LIFE Or A 
 
 then destroyed by the sword ; fathers were 
 spared until they had witnessed the dishonor of 
 their daughters, and then murdered with them. 
 And when the general had witnessed the whole 
 of these atrocious acts of cruel imitation of Ne- 
 ro's, he ordered fire to be set at the four corners 
 of the unfortunate town, which was entirely de- 
 stroyed. Even this awful destruction could not 
 satisfy the barbarous propensity of General Don 
 Carlos ; even in sight of the smoke of the burn- 
 ing town, he exclaimed to his soldiers: " Come 
 on, my men, and follow your general, he will 
 again conduct you to victory ; and, with the 
 same bravery, Moya will be yours." .... Alas ! 
 what a victory ! It was again an opportunity of 
 shedding blood. Moya was a small town like 
 Ripoll, and at the distance of sixty miles ; the 
 general had premeditated to destroy it, and he 
 loved to accomplish his designs, however cruel 
 they might be. 
 
 Moya was taken, though not without much 
 effort on the part of its inhabitants to save it. 
 The same scenes of cruelty were perpetrated as 
 far as the regular army was concerned : the in- 
 habitants were spared their lives, but nothing 
 else. He made them all go out of the town,
 
 SPANISH MONK. 61 
 
 and gave the order to set it on fire. When the 
 flames were raging, and had already destroyed 
 three fourths of the residences of the unfortu- 
 nate inhabitants, touched by the cries and sup- 
 plication of the unhappy population, our com- 
 mander ordered us to quench the devouring ele- 
 ment, and though at last we succeeded in doing 
 so, yet it became impossible to save even one 
 house entire. 
 
 This destruction of Moya puts me in mind of 
 an event that occurred to me, which proves, in 
 a remarkable manner, the special protection of 
 my divine Father, and the design He had that I 
 should be spared to work one day in His vine- 
 yard. 
 
 About fifteen days after the destruction of 
 Moya, and while nearly nine miles distant from 
 it, whilst we were every instant expecting the 
 army of our enemies, my company was desig- 
 nated to be on the watch in advance of our ar- 
 ray. I fulfilled my duty ; and, not having dis- 
 covered any traces of the enemy, I directed my 
 company back towards our camp. On our way 
 we had to pass through the unfortunate town of 
 Moya, in which I tarried with my servant, hav- 
 ing given charge of the company to the corporal. 
 6
 
 62 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 I hurried not, believing the enemy yet far dis- 
 tant. We entered what had been the inn, and 
 where now there was only one room, in which 
 were a few wretched chairs, a broken table, and 
 a closet hidden merely by a curtain. Whilst my 
 servant was helping the good woman to prepare 
 my supper in another room, spared by the late 
 conflagration in another house, she perceived 
 that the town was filling rapidly with the sol- 
 diers of the queen. She immediately gave me 
 notice of it, and advised me to escape as quickly 
 as I could. I did not believe the woman, hav- 
 ing, but the night previous, gone over the whole 
 neighborhood, without having perceived the least 
 sign of an enemy. However, seeing that she 
 persisted in her assertion, and begged that I 
 would assure myself of the truth of her words, 
 I went to the window. 
 
 But what was my surprise and my terror, 
 when, as far as I could see, my sight encounter- 
 ed the enemy's soldiers ! Immediately turning 
 round, I addressed her with much earnest- 
 ness : " Madam, my life is in your hands, hide 
 me in some corner, and do not hesitate to open 
 the door." " Sir," said she, not less frightened 
 than I was, " how can I hide you any where ?
 
 SPANISH MONK. 63 
 
 This room is all that remains of my former spa- 
 cious home ; your party have burnt the whole." 
 I renewed my demand with impatience ; and, 
 being in the greatest anxiety, I even threatened 
 her life ; but, having no other resource, I placed 
 myself in the clothes-press and said to her : " Be- 
 ware, Madam! my company know that I am 
 here ; and, if you betray me, they will surely 
 take revenge on you. If, on the contrary, you 
 try your best to save me, you shall be recom- 
 pensed." I had hardly done speaking, when 
 some one knocked at the door, and eleven sol- 
 diers of Christina entered the room. It is ut- 
 terly impossible to express the state of mind in 
 which I was then. Methought I saw the enemy 
 as though there had been no curtain between us. 
 The first thing they inquired was, if the wo- 
 man had seen any Carlists, to which she an- 
 swered very composedly in the negative. They 
 asked for food and drink ; and, whilst these 
 were being prepared, they mourned over the 
 misfortunes of the town of Moya, in which we 
 were, and which had been burnt by my own 
 party. I feared that the woman, meeting with 
 sympathy on her lamented loss, would betray me 
 to them ; and my dread was so intense, that an
 
 64 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 abundant cold sweat ran down my body, which 
 trembled as in a severe fit of fever-chill. I lifted 
 my eyes towards Heaven, at least, I thought I 
 did ; and said, " Oh ! thrice holy mother of our 
 Lord ! Virgin Protectress ! have mercy on me ! 
 If thou deignest keep me from harm ; and, if I 
 ever become a priest, I promise to consecrate to 
 thee three masses yearly. Oh ! blessed Virgin 
 Mary, I will say four, even if I never become a 
 priest," (and this I afterwards faithfully per- 
 formed at Besancon,) " remember me, oh ! good 
 Mother ! and do not permit me to fall into the 
 hands of my enemies, who are also thine." I 
 prayed thus all the time ; and, not only to Mary, 
 but to every saint I could think of, and whose 
 name was presented to my memory. 
 
 This I have wished to relate here, that the 
 glory of God might be the* more effectually ap- 
 parent in my case, showing from what depth of 
 real idolatry I have been brought to the blessed 
 light of the truth as it is in Jesus. If God Al- 
 mighty, whom I forgot to implore, had also for- 
 gotten me, unworthy as I was of his notice and 
 compassionate mercy, what would have become 
 of me ? And of what avail might have been all 
 the prayers that I addressed to beings, who had
 
 SPANISH MONK. 65 
 
 only been mortal sinners like myself? Does 
 not St. Paul tell us, that there is but one media- 
 tor between God and man, our blessed Redeem- 
 er Jesus Christ? (1 Tim. 2:5.) But I could 
 only address those whom I had been taught to 
 believe could help me ; the true source of bless- 
 ings I knew not ; or, if I did know His name, it 
 was only through a- crowd of other intercessors' 
 names, and I never addressed myself directly to 
 Him. Notwithstanding, I was saved; not by 
 those to whom my prayers were addressed, but 
 by the divine protection of Him, who gives and 
 takes away life at His pleasure, and always for 
 good purposes. Yes, oh ! heavenly Father ! 
 Thou alone kept me safe in that imminent dan- 
 ger, and thou only canst protect me through 
 good or evil. Oh, God Almighty ! grant that 
 I may be thankful to thee with all my heart. 
 
 God did indeed watch over me ; and this was 
 the way in which he permitted that I should be 
 saved from danger of my life for that time. A 
 quarter of an hour after they had come in, the sol- 
 diers of the Queen Christina left the room. Fif- 
 teen minutes is a short space of time ; and yet it 
 was to me almost interminable. I counted each se- 
 cond, with inexpressible anxiety. When I saw 
 6*
 
 66 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 them go out, my agitation became less intolera- 
 ble, and very soon the servant was the only 
 person in the room. Whilst doing her work, she 
 had taken the precaution not to turn her eyes 
 towards the side of the room where I was hid, 
 and she continued to do so, until the arrival of 
 her mistress, who had seen the soldiers out of 
 the street, so as to be more sure. She came to 
 me full of joy, and said : " Sir, you can go now 
 without fear." Oh ! what relief ! what a joyful 
 sensation I experienced ! It was so great and 
 so sudden, that, in coming out of my hiding- 
 place, I lost my senses. The two women took 
 every care of me, and brought me to. As soon 
 as I had come to my senses, I prepared to leave 
 them. After having expressed my gratitude for 
 their kind attention, I offered to them all the 
 valuables I had with me, namely, my gold watch 
 and my purse, though unfortunately this last was 
 not well filled. I asked for my man servant ; 
 but alas ! What a deplorable end had he met 
 with ! A few steps from the door we found one 
 of his hands ; and we soon learned that his 
 whole body had been cut in pieces. When I 
 ascertained the fact, I shuddered, my sight grew 
 dim, and it seemed as if a thick cloud was over
 
 SPANISH MONK. 67 
 
 my eyes ; my whole body was instantly covered 
 
 with large red lumps, and again I lost my senses. 
 
 There was no time to be lost; and the women 
 
 atrain brought me back with affectionate care: 
 
 O O ' 
 
 but I had experienced a great change in my 
 spirits. Notwithstanding my great weakness, I 
 was in haste to leave the place as quietly as I 
 could, and, with extraordinary exertion, I reach- 
 ed the spot where my company had taken ref- 
 uge. They were all greatly astonished to see 
 me, for they supposed I had been cut to pieces. 
 Tell me, reader, was it not God who watched 
 over me ? Ah ! His mercy alone could do it ; 
 for what was I ? A wretched sinner, continually 
 offending Him, and shedding the blood of my 
 fellows. How much do I owe to that merciful 
 Saviour ! But continue with me the course of 
 my life, and we will see that His arm upheld me 
 in the midst of many dangers.
 
 68 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Defeat of the Carlist Army. How I met with the Word of 
 God. I enter the Seminary. Protestant Arguments. 
 Interview with a Protestant Pastor. My resolution to 
 leave the Seminary overcome. 
 
 IN 1839, Maroto, General-in-chief of the army 
 of Don Carlos, betrayed the forces under his 
 command to General Espartero, by the treaty of 
 Bergara. On the appointed day, he drew up 
 the army in front of that of Espartero, under pre- 
 tence of giving battle ; and at the moment of at- 
 tack it was discovered that the powder in the 
 guns was worthless, and could not be used. Sur- 
 rounded by unexpected forces, and without the 
 means of defence, 40,000 men yielded their 
 arms to the General Espartero. Ten thousand 
 men escaped, with Don Carlos himself who was 
 present, and fled to the territory of France. 
 Thus the army of Navarre was destroyed, and 
 those of Arragon and Catalonia only remained.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 69 
 
 But notwithstanding the obstinacy and courage 
 of the last-named armies they were driven by 
 Espartero from place to place, till on the 6th of 
 July, 1840, we were forced to enter France, un- 
 der the command of General Cabrera; we num- 
 bered 30,000 men. In the city of Perpignan 
 we received an order from our so-called king, 
 Don Carlos, which promoted the sub-officers to 
 the grade of officers in the army, and decided 
 that they should be paid as such by the French 
 Government, which had promised this upon con- 
 dition of our entry into France. 
 
 The life I had led in the war, had made me a 
 kind of madman. I was hard-hearted, and looked 
 upon every stranger with suspicion, or rather 
 I considered him as my enemy ; so that I never 
 bought a morsel of bread or a drop of wine, with- 
 out making the seller taste it before I put it to 
 my mouth. I was habitually under the fear of 
 poison ; and my temper had become so irritable, 
 hasty, and violent, that I was ready to accuse 
 any one of an intention to kill me, on the slight- 
 est suspicion. I lived according to the familiar 
 saying : We must die some time ; it is as well to 
 die to-day. 
 
 We remained eleven days encamped near
 
 70 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 \ 
 
 Perpignan, till the French government decided to 
 give to each officer a passport for certain cities 
 of France. I received a passport for Besanqon, 
 which was the destination of the priests and the 
 inferior officers. In this city I met with the cu- 
 rate of my native place, who, like myself had ta- 
 ken part with the Carlists in the war. I was in 
 the habit of visiting him frequently. One day I 
 saw a book on his table, and taking it up, asked 
 him, What book is this? He answered, It is 
 the Bible. But what is the Bible? The Bible is 
 the book on which the doctrines of the Church 
 are founded. He then made a eulogy of this 
 book, which greatly excited my curiosity. 
 For, till that day, neither at my father's house, 
 in the convent, nor during my military course, 
 had I ever heard the Bible spoken of, much less 
 seen a copy of it. 1 He added that this was a 
 work which all priests ought to possess, but none 
 others. When I requested him to lend it to me, 
 he hesitated, saying that if I received holy orders 
 I could then procure it. After much persuasion, 
 he permitted me to take it. 
 
 1 It is true that I read short extracts from the gospels 
 in the Breviary and the Missal ; but the word Bible, I had 
 never heard before.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 71 
 
 Is was proposed to me to enter the Theologi- 
 cal Seminary of Besanqon ; I accepted the pro- 
 position with eagerness, for I had no higher wish 
 in this world than to become a priest, so that I 
 could return to Spain, there to thunder anathe- 
 mas from the pulpit on all those who had taken 
 part against the ministers of the sanctuary. At 
 the same time desirous of fulfilling the wishes of 
 my parents, I yielded to the curate of my native 
 place, who presented me to the Archbishop of 
 Besanqon. The latter, after having asked me 
 some questions, required certificates respecting 
 my monastic and military life, whereupon he per- 
 mitted me to enter the Seminary, where I studied 
 Theology during one year, as is stated in the 
 certificate which the Superior of the Seminary 
 gave rne, and which bears the legalization of the 
 Archbishop. 
 
 It is the custom in the Seminary that the can- 
 didates should retain for three weeks their secu- 
 lar dress, to give them the opportunity of making 
 a general confession to a priest, of all the sins 
 which they committed during their lives before 
 entering the institution. This I did, laying at 
 the feet of the confessor the levities of my con- 
 science, without considering the blood which I
 
 TO THE LIFE OF A 
 
 had shed as criminal, for I only regretted that I 
 had not shed more, firmly believing that my ac- 
 tions had been sanctioned by the Almighty, as 
 that blood was that of His enemies. Not only 
 thus ; I do not doubt that if on my entry into 
 France one of the enemies of Rome had been 
 pointed out to me, I would have plunged my 
 dagger into his bosom. 
 
 When this general confession had been made, 
 I relinquished the military dress and put on the 
 cassock. I began a course of theology ; and I 
 did not forget daily to peruse my Latin Vulgate. 
 Whilst reading this divine book, I stopped with 
 interest at such passages as showed to me that 
 mortal men had no power to remit sins ; that it 
 was through Jesus alone that I could obtain for- 
 giveness, " in whom we have redemption through 
 his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to 
 the riches of his grace;" 1 that it was by faith in 
 Christ alone that I could be saved, for " he that 
 believeth on Him is not condemned : but he that 
 believeth not is condemned already, because he 
 hath not believed in the name of the only begot- 
 ten Son of God." 2 But, alas ! notwithstanding 
 
 1 Eph. 1 : 7. Rom. 3 : 24. 8 John 3 : 18, 36.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 73 
 
 the truth and force of these and many like pas- 
 sages, which I read without much reflection, I 
 did not recognize this call of the Saviour, and I 
 drove away the slight impressions which they 
 made on me. 
 
 But a merciful God chose to rescue my wretch- 
 ed soul from the state of ignorance, error and 
 idolatry in which it was lying; and for this pur- 
 pose he willed that the very errors which were 
 taught me as the means of attacking and destroy- 
 ing the Gospel, should lead me to defend the 
 truth of the Bible publicly. One day, while an- 
 swering the argument of a fellow-student in fa- 
 vor of the existence of a Purgatory, in the pres- 
 ence of the whole college, I made use of quota- 
 tions from the Bible, which showed me that far 
 from sustaining certain doctrines of the Romish 
 Church, as the curate had told me, there were 
 texts in direct opposition with them. My oppo- 
 nent was so embarrassed by my answers, that the 
 Professor thought proper to come to his help, and 
 ended by commanding me to be silent, and say- 
 ing, " A Protestant could not say more." I was 
 astonished beyond measure to learn from my 
 teacher himself that the Protestants could argue 
 according to the Word of God, although they 
 7
 
 74 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 were heretics, as I then believed. As scon as I 
 had returned to my room I was honored by a 
 visit from the Superior of the Seminary and the 
 Professor, who, after some conversation, forbade 
 me to read the Bible. As it was not mine, they 
 could not take it from me ; but they ordered me 
 to send it back to its owner ; and, though with 
 regret, I obeyed. The very interdiction im- 
 posed on my reading the Word of God increased 
 within me the desire to know it better, as well as 
 to learn whether the Protestants could really ar- 
 gue from it as I had done, and as the Professor 
 had said they could. A few days after I formed 
 the resolution to go and see the " Chief of the 
 Protestants" I did not know what title to give 
 him in order to learn from him what were their 
 doctrines. 
 
 On the llth of June, 1841, in the eighth 
 month of rny studies at the Seminary, T called on 
 the Rev. Mr. Sandoz, pastor at Besanc,on. I 
 imparted to him my doubts, my wishes, and the 
 controversy which I had sustained at the Semi- 
 nary. I begged him to inform me of the funda- 
 mental doctrines of the Protestant Church. The 
 kind pastor replied : " Sir, I will be happy to 
 satisfy you ; but first let us begin by prayer."
 
 SPANISH MONK. 75 
 
 We knelt down. I can say that never before 
 that day had I heard a prayer from the heart, 
 such as that heretical pastor made. In my child- 
 hood, and in the convent also, I only recited 
 written prayers, and almost all these in Latin. 
 But the mouth of this priest without a cassock, 
 poured forth the sentiments which filled his 
 heart. He prayed with much earnestness for 
 those whose souls were yet in darkness, that the 
 light of salvation might shine upon them. He 
 then arose from his knees, and spoke to me in 
 these words : " My dear sir, I rejoice that the 
 good tidings of salvation, as contained in the 
 Holy Bible, have reached you, and waked up 
 your conscience. If it be the wish of your heart 
 to become one of the flock of Christ, the Bible 
 will teach you what to believe, and what to do, 
 to make your peace with God, and to share in His 
 eternal glory ; for that inspired book can render 
 you wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ. 
 It was written that you might believe that Jesus 
 is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that, believ- 
 ing, you might have life through His name. As 
 for the dogmas of the Protestant religion, they 
 teach that your duty consists, first, in acknow- 
 ledging yourself to be a condemned sinner, un-
 
 76 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 worthy of forgiveness, and incapable of doing 
 any thing acceptable to God, before having been 
 regenerated by the Holy Spirit ; secondly, ac- 
 knowledging Jesus as God manifested in the 
 flesh, and in recognizing Him as your only hope 
 of salvation and eternal life ; thirdly, in receiv- 
 ing the Bible as divinely inspired, and as the 
 only rule of faith and conduct ; fourthly, the ab- 
 solute necessity of sanctification of the heart by 
 the Holy Spirit, and good works as testimony 
 that your faith is alive and works by love. 
 
 "God has very greatly favored you in open- 
 ing your eyes, and showing you that you are in 
 a wrong path. You must reply to his call. If 
 you sincerely desire to save your soul, leave the 
 Seminary, and give yourself up entirely to the 
 Lord." 
 
 I had not anticipated that the good clergyman 
 would have suggested the propriety of my leav- 
 ing the Seminary, to save my soul ; I had sup- 
 posed that he would merely have explained to 
 my satisfaction the prominent points of the 
 Protestant faith. His advice to forsake my 
 theological studies, brought this reflection to my 
 mind : " What will the world say, to see one of 
 my nation, so faithful to the doctrines of Rome,
 
 SPANISH MONK. 77 
 
 reject her dogmas, and thus show that he looks 
 upon his countrymen as being in error ?" Then 
 came the presentiment that the love of my rela- 
 tives would be turned into hatred, so that the 
 hope of returning to my beloved country was to 
 be abandoned ; that I would thus give up the 
 profession which was the object of my ambition 
 and desire, and to which my parents had them- 
 selves directed my attention. I was so absorbed 
 by these reflections, that I stood before the pas- 
 tor, without knowing what to answer. He saw 
 plainly that I was troubled, and said to me : 
 " Sir, you should leave the Seminary without re- 
 gard to worldly considerations ; but I must tell 
 you that you will have a great deal to suffer, if 
 you wish to be faithful to the call of the Lord. 
 It is only by taking up your cross that you can 
 follow Jesus ; and it is through great tribu- 
 lation, and many hardships, that we shall enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven ; but, on the other 
 hand, if your father and your mother forsake 
 you, the Lord will take you up. If your brethren 
 in the flock abandon you, other brethren will 
 take you by the hand ; and if, by renouncing the 
 profession of a priest, you lose the means of liv- 
 ing, be not discouraged ; for, young as you are, 
 7*
 
 70 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 you can easily earn your bread by the labor of 
 your hands." 
 
 These reflections were accompanied by quo- 
 tations from the Scriptures, which he pointed 
 out to me ; and I was in a situation similar to 
 that of the soldiers of whom John speaks as hav- 
 ing been sent to arrest our Lord, and who were 
 so touched by His heavenly words, that they ex- 
 claimed : " Never man spake like this man." 
 
 Finally, I decided tojquit the Seminary ; and 
 the pastor, having given me a Testament and 
 several tracts, went with me to a porcelain fac- 
 tory, to seek employment for me, which I ob- 
 tained easily, and I agreed to begin the next 
 day. The good minister accompanied me as 
 far as the entrance of the Seminary, and, on 
 parting, said : " Take courage, my young friend ; 
 I fear they may succeed in keeping you." But 
 I, like Peter, trusting in my own strength, re- 
 plied': " Do not fear that, sir ; they cannot do 
 it." I called immediately on the Father Supe- 
 rior, to give him back some books which I had 
 borrowed of him. I thanked him for his kind- 
 ness to me, and told him of my intention to 
 leave, stating as my reason for so doing that 
 they did not teach the true doctrines of religion,
 
 SPANISH MONK. 79 
 
 and that I only desired to follow such as were to 
 be found in the Bible. I will not attempt to 
 describe the energy, the anger, the gentleness, 
 with which the Superior successively spoke to 
 me. I will only say, that he left no way untried 
 to seduce me. 
 
 He threatened to write to my parents, from 
 whom I could expect nothing but their curses. 
 He said that, if I persisted in my resolution to 
 become a Protestant, I would be hated, despised 
 and repulsed by the world; that I would be un- 
 happy in the body in this world, and lose my 
 soul for the next. He contrasted this prospect 
 with the happiness I might enjoy as a priest. 
 " The priest," said he, " is respected even by 
 his enemies ; he can go every where, to the 
 court or the cottage, and all uncover their heads 
 and bow before him." 
 
 Alas ! I was not yet converted unto Thee, O 
 my Saviour ! and since, as Thou hast said, " no 
 man can come unto Thee except the Father 
 draw him;" 1 and since, moreover, my heart was 
 still bound up in the things of this world, I could 
 not but contrast the words of the Protestant pas- 
 
 1 John 6 : 44.
 
 80 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 tor, who offered me no flattering prospects, with 
 those of the Superior, who promised me comfort, 
 temporal ease, the treasures and grandeurs of 
 this world. I did not suspect that the Superior's 
 heart was full of bitterness and cruelty, while 
 his lips uttered gentle words. I determined to 
 remain, and continued four months in the Semi- 
 nary.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 81 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A sacrilegious Experiment. I leave the Seminary. 
 The Spanish Priest. I am driven to Langres. Un- 
 happy situation there. The Spanish character. 
 
 No one will be astonished at this result ; for 
 even the most ignorant are aware that the Ro- 
 man Catholics spare neither threats nor promises 
 in order to allure Protestants. To one they of- 
 fer the fortunate termination of a lawsuit ; to 
 another a lucrative employment, a civil situation, 
 or worldly honors, etc. But what a difference 
 there is between the religion of Rome and that 
 of Christ ! The ministers of Jesus represent to 
 us the very profession of the Gospel as insepara- 
 ble from the affliction, persecution and shame of 
 the cross. I know this by my own experience ; 
 for I was not led to believe otherwise than that 
 it would be with me as with the Apostle Paul, of 
 whom our Lord Jesus said, speaking of his con-
 
 82 
 
 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 version : " I will show him how great things he 
 must suffer for my name's sake." 1 
 
 Having made up my mind to continue to stay 
 at the Seminary, I was frequently visited by the 
 Superior. As he knew that I had had an inter- 
 view with the Rev. Mr. Sandoz, he suspected 
 that he had given me some heretical work. He 
 therefore searched my room and found a Testa- 
 ment and some tracts, which he took away and 
 burned. Happily my Vulgate Bible was still at 
 the house of my friend, or else it would have un- 
 dergone the same fate. 
 
 Although deprived of the Word of God, I still 
 remembered having read that " We are justified 
 freely by His grace, through the redemption that 
 is in Christ Jesus ;" " In whom we have redemp- 
 tion through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, 
 according to the riches of His grace;" "He 
 will subdue our iniquities, and will cast all our 
 sins into the depths of the sea ;" " Not imput- 
 ing their trespasses unto them ;" 2 as well a? 
 the relation of David's answer to his servants, 
 on the death of his child, 2 Sam. 12 : 22, 23. 3 
 
 1 Acts 9 : 16. 
 
 2 Rom. 3 : 24. Eph. 1 : 7. Micah 7 : 19. 2 Cor. 5 : 19. 
 
 3 It was by means of these passages that I argued
 
 SPANISH MONK. 83 
 
 Meditating on these passages, I came to the 
 conclusion that there existed no purgatory, that 
 the infallibility of the Church was more than 
 doubtful, and that many other doctrines of the 
 kind were mere human inventions : such as au- 
 ricular confession, prayers for the dead, com- 
 munion in one kind only, the invocation of 
 saints, the veneration of images, the adoration 
 of the cross and of relics, celibacy of the priests, 
 monastic vows, pilgrimages, rosaries, jubilees, 
 indulgences, the sale of holy things, the suprem- 
 acy of the Pope, &c. 
 
 When I had once discovered that Rome had 
 wandered from the truth, I could no longer be- 
 lieve in that which she commanded me to be- 
 lieve. Thus my conscience was disturbed, re- 
 proaching me with following errors, and yet I 
 could not decide to walk in the ways of God, 
 who said to me : " Seek the Lord while He may 
 be found, call ye upon Him while He is near;" 1 
 " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends 
 of the earth ;" 2 " Seek ye me, and ye shall 
 
 against the infallibility of the Church, denying the exist- 
 ence of a purgatory, &c., in the discussion spoken of in 
 the preceding chapter. 
 
 1 Is. 55 : 6. 2 Is. 45 : 22.
 
 84 
 
 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 live;" 1 " Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
 are heavy laden, and I will give you rest;" 2 
 " Except a man be born again, he cannot see 
 the kingdom of God ;" 3 " Come out of Baby- 
 lon, my people, that ye be not partakers of her 
 sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." 4 
 
 I was on the point of leaving the Seminary ; 
 but, incredulous as I was with regard to the in- 
 ventions of Rome, I still hesitated to deny that 
 the host contained the body, blood, soul and di- 
 vinity of Jesus Christ. I did not dare to test 
 the truth of this by making an experiment which 
 seemed to me horrible. One day, nevertheless, 
 I took courage, and resolved, by committing 
 what Rome calls the most horrible sacrilege, to 
 dispel the ignorance in which I was lying, and 
 to embrace with eagerness, in the struggle in 
 which I was engaged, the side which this test 
 would make victorious. 
 
 On the 14th of September, 1841, I came to 
 the communion with the rest. Having received 
 the wafer on my tongue, I returned to my 
 seat, and secretly took it from my mouth with 
 my handkerchief. I remained whilst the cus 
 
 1 Amos 5: 4. * Matt. 11:28. ' John 3: 3. 4 Rev. 18:4. 
 

 
 SPANISH MONK. 85 
 
 ternary ceremonies were performed, and when I 
 returned to my chamber, I unfolded my hand- 
 kerchief on the table, holding a pin in my hand 
 with which to pierce the wafer. But then, re- 
 flecting that the blood of Jesus Christ was about 
 to flow, a shudder passed over me, I could hard- 
 ly stand, and I felt as though my eyes would close 
 
 forever 
 
 At this critical moment I ran toward the room 
 of my confessor, with the intention of acknow- 
 ledging the crime I had intended to commit. 
 When I reached his door, I said to myself, No, 
 I will return ; why should I fear ? If the blood 
 flows I will be a priest of Rome, and men will 
 be converted by my words, for all will perceive 
 this miracle. If the blood does not flow, I will 
 this day leave this house of error and falsehood. 
 I went back, and, taking up the pin, I stuck 
 it very gently into the wafer .... the blood did 
 not flow ! I stuck it again, and again, till the 
 wafer was broken into pieces. Then seeing 
 that the bread was still bread, after it had been 
 in the priest's hands as before, on the same day, 
 the 10th of September, 1841, at ten o'clock in 
 the morning, I went to the room of the Supe- 
 rior, to perform that which fear had prevented 
 8 
 
 m
 
 86 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 my doing before. I requested him to make out 
 a certificate of my good conduct. After much 
 hesitation he did so, and gave it to me ; and I 
 left the Seminary at that moment. 
 
 Here I can say that hell itself seemed to be 
 let loose upon me. Persecution came npon me 
 from all sides, and a new exile was prepared for 
 me. 
 
 As soon as I had left the Seminary, I began 
 to follow the trade of a barber, as I had learned 
 it in the convent, where it was my duty to per- 
 form the tonsure of the monks. Thus I earned 
 my bread, without the necessity of importuning 
 any one. 
 
 I received one day in my shop a visit from a 
 distinguished ecclesiastic, who came to endeavor 
 to persuade me to retrace my steps, and become 
 reconciled to the Church. He was the Chap- 
 lain of General Cabrera. He informed me that 
 the Archbishop had sent him to try to induce 
 me to return to the Seminary. He argued with 
 me for some time, saying that I had been de- 
 ceived and seduced, assuring me that he had the 
 most friendly feelings towards me. 
 
 " You are young and inexperienced," said he : 
 " you know not what trials await you, if you
 
 SPANISH MONK. 87 
 
 persevere in your inconsiderate and ruinous 
 course. The Spaniards will insult and injure 
 you. Your parents and relatives will be ex- 
 ceedingly distressed unless you return ; and they 
 will cast you oft', so that you will be left friend- 
 less and destitute. 
 
 " Vaya !" replied I ; "do you think to deter 
 me by such means from doing my duty ? Do 
 you not know what Jesus says : ' Fear not them 
 that kill the body?' " I then went on, with my 
 Bible in my hand, reading the texts which had 
 produced the strongest effect on me, and preach- 
 ing the truth to him as God enabled me, dwell- 
 ing particularly on the doctrine that no man 
 can forgive our sins, but that Christ alone has 
 made atonement for them all. He was struck 
 by the passages which I repeated ; and when I 
 inquired of him whether he had not known all 
 this before, he replied : " I have read a little in 
 the Bible, but I do not remember these things. 
 
 ' O 
 
 Can you lend me that book ?" I hesitated, for 
 I supposed he only desired to burn it ; and I led 
 him to the house of the Rev. Mr. Sandoz, to 
 procure one for him. He then left me, and I 
 saw him again in two weeks, but his manner 
 was very different.
 
 88 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 " Ramon," said he, " you will not be alone in 
 your sufferings ; here is one ready to suffer with 
 you ; read this." He handed me a letter, in 
 which I read, with the greatest astonishment, a 
 formal address to the Archbishop, declaring that 
 he felt himself compelled by a sense of duty to 
 renounce his ecclesiastical office and all con- 
 nection with Rome, whose doctrines and prac- 
 tices he had discovered to be contrary to the 
 Word of God. This letter he afterwards sent 
 to the Archbishop. 
 
 When I had read this, he addressed me in the 
 most affectionate terms. " You have rendered 
 me," said he, " the greatest service in the power 
 of man ; I love you like a father." We after- 
 wards spent much time together in studying the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 We were watched daily by our fellow-coun- 
 trymen, who frequently insulted us for having 
 forsaken the religion of our fathers. Their ha- 
 tred led them even to form the design of attack-. 
 ing us with blows. With this object, they 
 awaited us one night at the corner of a narrow 
 street in Besancon. But a Spaniard had the 
 kindness to warn me of the intentions of his 
 companions ; and I consequently refrained from
 
 SPANISH MONK. 89 
 
 passing through that street, and even from being 
 seen in the streets after sunset. But Garcia was 
 less careful, and was attacked by a set of men, 
 and was so severely beaten that for some time 
 after he was unable to leave his room. A few 
 days after he was followed by the persecutions 
 of the Archbishop, who induced the civil author- 
 ities to force him to leave the city ; he went to 
 Strasburg, where he met with an English fam- 
 ily, by whom he was received With great affec- 
 tion, and with whom he has since lived. 
 
 As regards myself, the Archbishop took an in- 
 terest in me also, and kindly sent a Spanish 
 colonel to me, who said to me : " The Arch- 
 bishop has sent me to you, to tell you that he 
 has received an anonymous letter in Spanish, 
 stating that if you do not leave Besanc.on you will 
 one of these days be stabbed. And, lest that 
 should happen, the Archbishop says that it would 
 be well for you to leave the city immediately. He 
 desires me to bring him back an answer, whether 
 you will leave or not." I replied that I would 
 go and thank the Archbishop myself for his warn- 
 ing, and would then express my determination. 
 
 Accordingly, the next day, I paid the unfor- 
 tunate visit. The Archbishop repeated that I 
 8*
 
 90 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 must leave Besanqon ; to which I replied, that I 
 was too comfortably situated there to desire to 
 leave ; that I feared nothing, since I sought to 
 wrong no one. 
 
 The Archbishop then lost all patience with 
 me, and exclaimed : " Sir, it is my will that you 
 leave the city within twenty-four hours, and if in 
 that time you are not gone, I will take other 
 means." Then I answered : " Sir, if you wish 
 me absolutely to go, it depends on you ; settle a 
 pension of three francs per day on me, and I will 
 go whither you choose, providing it be not to a 
 Seminary." He imposed silence on me, saying 
 that I had insulted him ; and, commanding me 
 to leave the apartment, went immediately to the 
 Prefect, and requested him to give me a pass- 
 port for some distant place, with the order to 
 leave directly. 1 The Prefect could not satisfy 
 him ; " I have received no complaint," said he, 
 " from the police relative to this man ; and con- 
 sequently I cannot make him leave the station as- 
 signed to him, unless he asks for his passport of 
 his own accord." 
 
 What will the holy man do then ? He has too 
 
 1 This I afterwards learned from the Sub-Prefect.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 91 
 
 much influence not to pursue this matter, think- 
 ing thus to terrify by my example any Spaniard 
 who, enlightened by the beams of Truth, might 
 be tempted to forsake Rome and her errors for 
 the Gospel. He wrote to the Minister of the Inte- 
 rior, and requested him to assign to me as a 
 forced residence the town of Langres, (Haute- 
 Marnc,) which he was well acquainted with, -and 
 which would answer his object better than any 
 other, since there are no Protestants there. In- 
 deed he knew Langres very well, since he had 
 once been bishop there. The Minister of the 
 Interior did not fail to have in consideration the 
 request of his noble petitioner. 
 
 On the 21st of January, 1842, I received a 
 visit from a police officer, who commanded me 
 to present myself to the Prefect, to hear a minis- 
 terial decision. It was, that Langres had been 
 assigned as my place of abode. The Prefect re- 
 ceived at the same time the express command to 
 inform the authorities of that town of my arrival, 
 and the Sub-Prefect was ordered to let the Min- 
 ister know whether I had obeyed his mandate. I 
 asked for three days to prepare to leave ; and on 
 the 24th January I had to enter the stage-coach 
 in presence of two police officers, as if I had
 
 92 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 been a malefactor ; my passport was delivered to 
 me only at the moment that the driver cracked 
 his whip to start. 
 
 Here was I, with only eighteen francs in my 
 pocket, travelling towards a strange place, in a 
 foreign country, and not knowing how I would 
 be received. 
 
 I arrived at Langres on the 25th, and stopped 
 at an inn, where rny eighteen francs were spent 
 in a few days. I met there with about twenty 
 Spaniards ; but not one would ever recognize 
 me as a countryman ; for they had been advised 
 by their friends in Besancon of the occurrences 
 there, and not one ever came near me, unless it 
 was to insult me. My persecutors took such 
 measures to make me unfavorably known among 
 the inhabitants that soon all eyes in that town 
 were turned to me. 1 could not leave the house 
 without hearing these words : " There goes the 
 Spanish monk ; look at the seminarist who turn- 
 ed Protestant. They drove him from Besan- 
 c,on." The inquisitive would sometimes speak 
 to me, saying : " Is it true that you have become 
 a Protestant ? Who has bewitched you, that 
 you should enter a party which ought to appear 
 suspicious to you on account of its novelty, since
 
 SPANISH MONK. 93 
 
 it never existed in any part of the world before 
 Luther and Calvin, its authors, established that 
 religion? How could you leave the Church, 
 which is the pillar and ground of the truth, 
 which comes down from the Apostles by the un- 
 interrupted succession of its pastors ?" I an- 
 swered them : " Yes, I am a Protestant, and it 
 is by the reading of the Bible that I was bewitch- 
 ed. And as to what you say about my having 
 entered the party of Luther and Calvin, I will 
 tell you that I am of their party so far as thf& 
 are of the party of the Bible. You err in think- 
 ing that the religion which the Protestants pro- 
 fess was founded by Luther and Calvin, for it 
 draws its origin neither from earth nor from any 
 
 man living or dead. Truth is not to be found 
 
 . *J* 
 
 in Rome, since she acts contrary to the com- 
 mands of God and of the Bible ; and finally, you 
 cannot speak of succession, since the Popes 
 have been entirely opposed to the doctrine and 
 practice of the Apostles." 
 
 I visited all the barbers of that town, to see if 
 any of them was willing to employ me, and at 
 last I succeeded in finding one who would take 
 me without other payment than my meals. But 
 three weeks had scarcely elapsed 0Kbre he sent
 
 94 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 me away, telling me that he was blamed by all, 
 and especially by some priests who were his 
 customers, and was unwilling on my account to 
 expose himself to having his child sent away 
 from the Seminary of that town, at which he was 
 then. 
 
 What a sad position was mine at that moment, 
 without aid from the government, obliged to 
 consider myself as a prisoner, yet without re- 
 ceiving the bread which the law grants to pris- 
 ers, and contrasting it with my previous situa- 
 m. I wished to earn my food merely by the 
 labor of my hands ; I knew but one trade, and 
 no one would employ me. I was not at liberty 
 to seek employment elsewhere, and I could find 
 none in the home assigned for me. Two peti- 
 
 o r 
 
 tions which I addressed to the Minister of the 
 Interior to obtain permission to go to Dijon or 
 Strasburg, where I could readily have earned 
 my bread, were of no effect. Neither did my 
 parents answer my letters. 
 
 What will become of him to whose just recla- 
 mations all appear deaf? How will end the in- 
 cessant persecutions of these strangers, and the 
 often-repeated insults of his fellow-countrymen 
 even ? Whither will the contempt of those peo-
 
 SPANISH MONK. 95 
 
 pie conduct him, who disdainfully turn their fa- ^ 
 ces from him as soon as he addresses them ? He 
 must fall, unless He who is almighty becomes 
 his support. If he trusts in an arm of flesh, 
 despair will seize upon him. I acknowledge 
 with sincerity that my soul at that moment was 
 very sad and miserable, and more than ever ex- 
 posed to entire defeat. 
 
 I shall perhaps have astonished two kinds of 
 persons by the relation of my life from the 14th 
 September, 1841, till this time. The uncon-^ 
 verted will have said with astonishment : " What 
 a conversion took place in this Spaniard !" But 
 1 will say to them : You, who do not possess the 
 spirit of Christ, are too hasty in considering as 
 a disciple of Chjast one who as yet in no wise 
 belonged to Iran. The ransomed of Jesus 
 Christ will have perceived that I was not yet 
 converted to Him who alone can give ue life. 
 They will also have been equally astonished at 
 the sight of the courage with which, although 
 still in error, I underwent all my trials. You, 
 my brethren in Christ, I will free from your as- 
 tonishment by saying a few words with regard 
 t<5 the Spanish character. 
 
 One of its principal traits is perseverance.
 
 96 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 jyhen a Spaniard has adopted any opinion what- 
 Wever, he will die rather than give it up. For 
 this reason, when he knows of any doctrine op- 
 posed to what he believes to be the truth, he 
 cannot'help condemning it, and even if possible 
 to persecute bitterly those who profess it. And 
 it is very difficult to persuade him that his belief 
 is erroneous, that his opinion is not that which 
 he ought to hold, that his religion is not the true 
 one. But when he is once convinced, he will 
 faithful to his conviction, he will courageously 
 nounce his former opinion or doctrine, and 
 will firmly advance in the new path in which 
 he has entered, even if it be a wrong one. 
 
 According to this explanation, you can easily 
 conceive, dear brethren, how^could so ener- 
 getically endure the persecutions of the Romish 
 clergy, as well as the unkind behaviour of my 
 fellow-countrymen, my fellow-exiles.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 97 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Despair. Conversion. Depart from Langres. Corres- 
 pondence with my Parents. 
 
 FROM the time of my leaving the Seminary till 
 the month of March, 1842, 1 was in a state which 
 it is impossible to describe. I had scarcely any 
 religious feeling in my heart. I protested against 
 Rome, because I saw that its instructions were 
 contrary to those of the Bible, although I was 
 not very fond of reading that holy Book. When 
 I attempted to read a chapter of it for the pur- 
 pose of finding consolation, I almost always 
 closed it before I had read a verse. I was dead 
 in my sins ; I could not pray ; I could not be- 
 lieve ; or if I believed, my faith was not watered 
 by the Holy Spirit. It was a dead faith ! Fi- 
 nally, I was without God and without hope, and 
 yet, astonishing fact ! I endured all manner of 
 9
 
 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 ution for the sake of the love I bore to the 
 contained in the Bible. 
 
 One night, my countrymen, not knowing what 
 more to do to insult me, came with their guitars 
 before my window to give me a mock serenade. 
 When I attempted to say a few words to them, 
 praying them to leave me in peace, I received a 
 violent blow on my forehead from a stone. I 
 then shut myself up in my room, and passed that 
 night in the greatest anguish of mind. 
 
 On the next morning I went to take a walk 
 in the environs of the city. I sat down by the 
 side of a fountain. My mind was agitated and 
 pensive. I took up a Spanish Testament which 
 I had with me, to read a chapter, and thus to 
 drive away the evil thoughts that my sad situa- 
 tion suggested to me, and to seek in it some 
 consolation. I opened the sacred volume, but 
 my eye could not distinguish a single letter. My 
 mind was not disposed to the study and medita- 
 tion of the holy Word of God, which is profita- 
 ble for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
 instruction in righteousness. 2 Finding that I 
 was thus without consolation, I gave way to 
 
 1 2 Tim. 3 : 16.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 99 
 
 despair. " Wretch that I am !" I exclaimed, 
 "is it possible that I can live thus ? no, no. Oh ! 
 inhuman Prelate ! it is thou who hast driven me 
 to this state ! it is thou who makest me to be 
 persecuted even by my fellow-countrymen. Oh ! 
 hardened parents ! is it possible that the com- 
 plaints of your miserable son cannot touch you 1" 
 For a moment I reflected on what I should do ; 
 fatal thoughts came into my mind. Suddenly I 
 arose. "All is decided," I exclaimed: "It is 
 thou, unworthy Prelate, who art the cause of all 
 my sorrows. Tremble ! for thou shalt soon be 
 the victim of my despair. And thou, book call- 
 ed holy, thou who art the first author of my mis- 
 erable fate, thou shouldst console me, and thou 
 speakest not! Be it right or wrong, all is deci- 
 ded !" With these words I tore my Testament 
 to pieces, and left the place to accomplish my 
 project, which was to take the life of the Arch- 
 bishop, and to end my own also. 
 
 In what fatal bewilderment was I ! Ah ! had 
 I known how to raise my mind to God, and to 
 ask Him to enlighten me in reading His holy 
 Word, how different would have been my 
 thoughts ! But I forgot Him, and my trial be-
 
 100 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 came only more severe. Nevertheless, He 
 watched over me, as will be seen. 
 
 As 1 could think of no other way of going 
 thither, I went to the Sub-Prefecture, and re- 
 quested leave to enlist in the regiment which was 
 then stationed at Besanqon. I was far from expect- 
 ing the answer which the Secretary of the Sub- 
 Prefect made me. " Sir," said he to me, " I 
 am deeply moved by your unhappy situation ; I 
 know how much and how unjustly you suffer ; I 
 think often of you, and I pity your misery. But 
 at present you are not self-possessed, and I will 
 not enregister your name, for I would be your 
 enemy, and you would repent of it to-morrow 
 yourself. Let the night pass, and your tumultu- 
 ous thoughts will be calmer. In the mean time 
 here is a little help," and he handed me a dollar. 
 " Come to me," he added, " when you are in 
 need ; but do not salute me in the street, for I 
 would be compromised." These friendly words 
 did not calm me, for I was out of my mind. 
 " What !" I exclaimed to myself, " shall this at- 
 tempt fail ? I must and will go to Besan^on." 
 I returned to the inn, and showing to the inn. 
 keeper's wife a part of my clothing, I told her
 
 SPANISH MONK. 101 
 
 that I had to make a journey to Besanqon, and 
 would be gone three days. I requested her to 
 give me the necessary money, for which I would 
 pawn her my clothes ; which she did. She 
 promised to say that I was sick if I was called 
 for, as I had to present myself every day to the 
 Sub-Prefecture. I then went to buy two pistols, 
 and loaded them heavily. At 10 o'clock in the 
 evening, when the stage was about to leave, I 
 asked the driver for a seat, and I took that which 
 he pointed to me, having a pistol in each pocket. 
 Whilst the other travellers were talking to- 
 gether, the unfortunate man was silent, his eyes 
 sparkling with fury ; nothing around him could 
 turn his mind from that one thought. When 
 the stage stopped, and the travellers took their 
 meals, he alone thought not of food or drink ; 
 hatred was his only nourishment. And this 
 wretch in a few hours will be no more ! . . . But 
 the arm which stopped Abraham about to sacri- 
 fice his son will be able to hold him back ; and 
 who knows but what that man, who intends to 
 end his days after a horrible homicide, is an in- 
 strument which God will use, to bear His name 
 in the world, and to draw many souls to Jesus ! 
 Will not He who stopped Saul on his way to Da- 
 
 9* 
 
 
 

 
 102 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 mascus, send another Ananias to draw a mad- 
 man from his blindness ? Listen : 
 
 At one o'clock in the afternoon I arrived at 
 Besanqon. This hour was unfavorable for my 
 design ; for the Archbishop could only be seen 
 at ten in the morning and four in the afternoon. 
 In the meantime I went to the house of a man 
 with whom I was acquainted, and who had al- 
 ways loaded me with kindness. Ah ! if he or 
 his mother had known my state at Langres ! 
 but I dared not ask any thing of them. The lady 
 and her son were much astonished to see me. 
 They asked me if I had obtained a passport ; I 
 answered all their questions abruptly, and when 
 they said that the police would soon be after me, 
 I replied that I feared nothing. They then per- 
 ceived that I had lost all self-control ; but noth- 
 ing could console me ; I wept with rage. The 
 son came up to me in the most affectionate man- 
 ner, and by chance touched one of my pistols. 
 On seeing it, he exclaimed : " What, my friend ! 
 are going to commit an evil action ?" I did 
 not hesitate* to acknowledge it to him, and when 
 he attempted to seize my hands, and his mother 
 came to snatch the fatal weapons from me, I 
 turned with violence to the door. But the son,
 
 SPANISH MONK. 103 
 
 more nimble, closed it before I reached it. Then 
 I heard these words in a solemn tone from my 
 benefactress : " Sir, you have had the courage 
 to renounce father, mother, honor in the world, 
 to become despised of all men in forsaking a vo- 
 cation in which you might have been happy all 
 your life, you have suffered all manner of perse- 
 cution, and recently another exile ; and why 
 all this courageous conduct? You said that it 
 was to stand by the Word of God alone. Is it 
 then the Word of God which commands you to 
 act thus 1 " My conscience, or rather the di- 
 rect voice of God answered within me : " No ! 
 no ! the Word of God neither commands thee 
 nor even allows thee to do thus ; on the contrary, 
 it says to thee : Thou shall not kill ; thou shall 
 love *thine enemies." That which could not 
 have been effected with a dagger at my throat, the 
 very mention of the sharp and two-edged sword 
 performed in an instant, and pierced my hard- 
 ened heart. Then, with my eyes full of tears of 
 repentance, and yielding the two pistols to her 
 who had disarmed me by these Christian words, 
 " Engage a place for me in the stage," I said, 
 " and I will return immediately to Langres," 
 which I did.
 
 104 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 During the first seven days after my arrival, I 
 saw in a peculiar manner that I was guilty and 
 condemned in the sight of God, " being filled 
 with all unrighteousness, fornication, wicked- 
 
 O * ', 
 
 ness, covetousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, 
 murder," in a word, " a hater of God '" The 
 sins which I had committed in Spain, the blood 
 which I had shed, and that which I had been on 
 the point of shedding, all these crimes were ar- 
 rayed before me. In recalling to mind the nu- 
 merous circumstances in which the Lord had 
 testified His love to me, in delivering me from 
 the dangers to which I had been exposed, and 
 considering also the indifference with which I 
 had received these proofs of His solicitude and 
 the various calls of His grace, I could neither 
 sleep, nor take my meals. I took up again and 
 again the Bible, thinking to find some consoling 
 invitation, but it was in vain. Whichever chap- 
 ter I might choose, I read in each my condem- 
 nation, and soon I closed the book. I took it 
 up again, but it was always without prayer, for 
 I thought myself unworthy of addressing the 
 least request to a God whom I had so much of- 
 
 1 Rom. 1 : 29, 30.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 105 
 
 fended. I think that if the Lord had allowed 
 me to groan a few days longer under the weight 
 of my sins, my end would have been similar to 
 that of Judas. But it could not be thus ; for 
 before the foundation of the world I was the ob- 
 ject of the mercy of the Father. He soon testi- 
 fied it to me, when, on my knees before Him in 
 the deepest conviction of my sins, He relieved 
 my soul by these words of mercy. "Thy sins 
 are forgiven ; go, and sin no more." 
 
 The moment of deliverance had arrived at 
 last; it was the 22d of March, 1842. The 
 Lord permitted me to understand His Word, 
 and receive His free salvation. My heavenly 
 Father revealed to me that Jesus is the Christ, 
 the Son of the living God, and God Himself. 
 The Spirit bore witness with my spirit that I 
 was a child of God, and taught me that there 
 was " no condemnation to me, being in Christ 
 Jesus." 1 God be praised for His unspeakable 
 gift ! With what joy did I then seize that Tes- 
 tament which I had lately torn ! What consola- 
 tion I felt in reading it! Ah! then my soul 
 was tranquil ; it had the peace of God. I loved 
 
 1 Rom. 8: 16 and 1.
 
 
 106 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 all my enemies, and prayed for those who perse- 
 cuted me. 
 
 The Lord, who had taken pity on me, and had 
 adopted me as His child, did not forsake me ; 
 unexpected relief came from all directions. A 
 few days after, I asked for a passport for Spain ; 
 it was granted me, but assigning the places 
 through which I was to pass, and giving me 
 merely the pay of a simple soldier. On my way 
 I passed through Dijon, and the Prefect of that 
 city, at the request of the Protestant pastor, 
 made me another, which gave me more liberty 
 in choosing my road. He also granted me the 
 pay of an officer. 
 
 In that city I was received at the communion 
 by the pastor, Mr. De Frontin, who, after three , 
 weeks of religious instruction at his house, au- 
 thorized me to approach, for the first time, the 
 table of the Lord, on the day of Pentecost, the 
 15th of May. I then pursued my journey to- 
 wards my native country. 
 
 At Nimes and Montpellier, I was advised not 
 to return to Spain without knowing how I would 
 be received by my family. I wrote to my pa- 
 rents, and they replied But what a re- 
 ply ! this remembrance saddens my heart. It
 
 SPANISH MONK. 107 
 
 was my mother who wrote to me, and these 
 were her words : " Cruel son ! can it be that 
 from our house went forth the first Spanish Cal- 
 vin ? If thou canst pass the frontier, thou shalt 
 not pass the threshold of our house ; thy very 
 father will sacrifice thy body. Ah ! would to 
 God I had died before I bore thee. Write no 
 more ; we want no tidings of thee." 
 
 According to the advice of the Rev. Mr. Lis- 
 signol, I wrote again to my beloved mother, and 
 begged her, since I might not return home, to 
 send me pecuniary aid. My mother, thinking 
 this to be a favorable opportunity for an inter- 
 view with me, wrote to me to meet her at a cer- 
 tain house in the town of Perpignan on the 2*2d 
 of July. The Rev. Mr. Lissignol, fearful lest 
 this might be a snare, thought it best that I 
 should not go, and advised me to write again, 
 requesting her to send me money through the 
 post-office. Fatal answer ! my mother said : 
 " You thought that the object of my visit was 
 merely to bring you some money ; it was rather 
 to try if, by my tears and my persuasion, I might 
 soften your heart, and make you perform a gen- 
 eral confession, oblige you to renounce the sect 
 which you have embraced, and then shut you up
 
 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 i 
 
 in some seminary. Since you reject the appeals 
 of your mother, and persist in heresy, it is use- 
 less for you to write to us, for we will not receive 
 your letters. Do not expect to receive any thing 
 from us while we live ; our lives will not be 
 long, for you drag us to the grave. Your father 
 is already stretched on a bed of suffering, and 
 soon your mother, your brothers, and your sis- 
 ters will follow him." 
 
 Although my parents rejected me, as can be 
 seen by the two letters which I have transcribed, 
 they did not fail, by new efforts, to endeavor to 
 bring me back to their idolatrous faith. My mo- 
 ther sent me a golden chain, to which was attach- 
 ed a cross and a medal of the Virgin Mary, also in 
 gold ; she supposed that the supernatural virtue 
 of these amulets would bring me back from my 
 error. In order to induce me to wear these ob- 
 jects, in which she put her trust, my mother 
 added to them one hundred dollars, on the ex- 
 press condition that I would wear this chain. 
 But He who said to Satan, " thou shalt not 
 tempt the Lord thy God," gave me strength, by 
 His example, to send back to my mother those 
 pretended supernatural objects, and also the 
 money which accompanied them.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 109 
 
 But, oh ! my beloved mother ! how bitterly 
 must you weep on seeing that all your measures 
 are useless ! You spend much money in having 
 masses said in one chapel and another ; you 
 spare no sum in burning lamps before the altars 
 of Mary and St. Francis ; I know it, my mother ! 
 You pray together, father, mother, brothers and 
 sisters, for that Lazarus, whom you think al- 
 ready under the reign of corruption ! Oh, no ! 
 it is not so ; he is the beloved of Jesus. Yes, 
 that Saviour has brought him forth from the 
 grave, and now he walks beneath the rod and 
 the staff of the Good Shepherd. But to whom 
 do you pray, dear parents'? You pray to the 
 god of the Athenians an unknown god. The 
 true God will not be petitioned through the in- 
 tercession of any creature : He grants only 
 through Jesus Christ. I perceive that I drag 
 you to the grave oh ! my mother ; and that 
 your hairs are whitening by grief and sadness ; 
 but you know that I love you, and would not for 
 the world shorten your life ty a single moment. 
 God knows how I pray that He may deign to be 
 your helper in your old age. O Rachel ! be 
 comforted ; thy son is not dead. O Shunamite ! 
 if thou hast faith in Jesus Christ, thou wilt see 
 10
 
 110 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 thy child arisen from the dead, and wilt arise 
 with him in the last day. 
 
 I am convinced, beloved parents, that if you 
 treat me with such bitterness in your letters, it is 
 not that you hate me ; far from me be that 
 thought. It is because you love me tenderly that 
 you have acted thus towards me. You have 
 given me a proof of it in the gifts which you 
 have sent me. Thus, one while by offers, an- 
 other while by remonstrances, you endeavour to 
 separate me from the communion of Jesus, who 
 alone has the words of eternal life. Yours is a 
 blind zeal. I myself would probably have done 
 as you have. I do not blame you ; I pity you 
 from the bottom of my soul. And as for myself, 
 I repeat, dear parents, I love you tenderly ; but I 
 must love God better. " He that loveth father 
 or mother more than me, is not worthy of me," 
 saith Jesus'; Matth. x. 37.
 
 SPANISH MONK. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Distribution of the Scriptures among my Countrymen. 
 The Wolf turned into a Lamb. Plots formed for taking 
 my life. 
 
 THE preceding correspondence took place at 
 Montpellier, where I remained some time. On 
 my arrival in that city, I began again to prac- 
 tise the trade of a barber, but I continued to do 
 so only two months, for I earned nothing but my 
 sustenance. I had made an arrangement with 
 my employer so as not to work on the Sabbath ; 
 on this account, the salary which should have 
 been given to me, was given to a soldier, who 
 took my place on Sunday, so that I could keep 
 the day of the Lord holy. I therefore forsook 
 that trade, and entered a carpet factory as 
 clerk, where I gained three francs a day. But 
 this was not what was necessary for me; I 
 thirsted more after the nourishment of the Word 
 of God, and longed rather to consecrate myself
 
 112 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 entirely to the service of the Lord, than to 
 amass wealth for the perishable body. I spoke 
 to the Rev. Mr. Lissignol of the desire which 
 God had placed in my heart ; he approved it, 
 and advised me to study seriously the Holy 
 Scriptures with him. To facilitate this study, 
 he made me translate into Spanish the work en- 
 titled, " Indications of the Principal Passages of 
 the Holy Scriptures," as well as other books. 
 He then employed me in the kingdom of God, 
 making me distribute the word of God among 
 those of my countrymen who were then living 
 at Montpellier. Although I experienced much 
 persecution from them, I nevertheless had the 
 satisfaction of distributing a large number of 
 copies among them. 
 
 Two families which repulsed me for a long 
 time, at last accepted the New Testament and 
 religious tracts, and a short time after abjured 
 Popery. Of one of these families I will now 
 speak. 
 
 Among the six hundred Spaniards whom I 
 visited there, and to whom I offered the word of 
 God, there was one, a man of distinction and 
 wealth, who had served in the army, and now 
 lived in retirement.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 113 
 
 One day I went to the house of this gentle- 
 man, and told him I had taken the liberty to call 
 and offer him the Word of God. " Ah !" said he, 
 " I know you ; I have heard of you. You are a 
 worthless fellow." " Very true," I replied ; " I 
 feel that more and more ; and this book has 
 taught me what I am, and who is that Saviour 
 whom I needed. And it has afforded me such 
 
 consolation and instruction " He did 
 
 not allow me to finish, but, in his fury, gave me 
 a violent kick, and drove me from his house. I 
 went away ; but the next day I returned. I had 
 hardly time to state my object, before he raised 
 an umbrella which he held in his hand, and 
 struck me a heavy blow on my head. I turned 
 away, and went back. 
 
 The third day I had no better success ; the 
 fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on to the fourteenth 
 time I repeated my visit ; but I must own that I 
 trembled each time, as I mounted his steps, ex- 
 pecting to be loaded with contempt. The last 
 time, enraged at my perseverance, he gave me 
 a blow which threw me down, and injured me 
 so as to force me to remain in my room several 
 days. 
 
 10*
 
 114 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 On the first day that I could leave the house, 
 having heard that the wife of him who had re- 
 pulsed me so often, was ill, I again resolved to 
 visit him. On my way to his house, I met him 
 in the street. " Senor," I said to him, " I have 
 heard bad news." " What news?" returned he, 
 in a tone of contempt. " That your lady is very 
 sick." " What business is that of yours ?" " It 
 is my business, Senor ; for I feel a desire to 
 pray for her. Will you not accept this book, 
 the Word of God, which has given peace to my 
 soul, and will give peace to yours, if you will 
 receive it 1" Then, to get clear of me, he took 
 the book, paid me, and hurried away. 
 
 Five days after I was in my room, and saw 
 this gentleman coming towards the house with 
 the Testament in his hand. I thought immedi- 
 ately that he came to return the book and mal- 
 treat me, and I hastily locked my door. He 
 approached, and knocked at my door ; I re- 
 mained quiet, and he withdrew. An hour after, 
 I saw him again coming ; and soon perceived 
 that he had pushed a paper under my door. I 
 took it, and read the following words : 
 
 " SIR : Though I am unworthy to speak to 

 
 SPANISH MONK. 115 
 
 you, if you will come to my house, my wife and 
 I shall be glad to hear you pray for your ene- 
 mies. DE VIVES." 
 
 I took the note to my friend the pastor, who 
 thought it imprudent to trust myself alone in the 
 house of the gentleman ; and I went in his com- 
 pany. As soon as the officer saw me, he em- 
 braced me, and said, " I have read the book to 
 my wife, and beg your pardon for the brutal 
 manner in which I have treated you. Forgive 
 me." I replied, " Dear Sir, it is not to me that 
 you should return thanks, but to God. Let us 
 pray to Him." When we had done so, I took 
 the Testament and read a ^chapter, to which he 
 paid the most serious attention. His wife also 
 received me with the greatest kindness. 
 
 " There is one thing," said he, " which I wish 
 you to promise me ; that is, if you ever again 
 offer that book to a monster like myself, who re- 
 pulses you fourteen times, go again a fifteenth 
 time to him." 
 
 My new friends, desiring to be instructed in 
 the way of salvation, frequently visited the Pro- 
 testants to whom I introduced them. Shortly 
 after, they testified publicly the sincerity of their 
 convictions, by having their infant baptized in 

 
 116 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 the Protestant church. The change of their 
 religion drew upon them the hatred and per- 
 secution of their fellow-countrymen, to avoid 
 which they were finally obliged to leave Mont- 
 pellier. 
 
 Similar treatment to that which this interest- 
 ing pair received, I had often and long endured, 
 both before and since my arrival in that city. 
 And the more repeated and violent these perse- 
 cutions were, the more I perceived that the hand 
 of God was with me. Of this the reader may 
 judge by that which precedes and follows. 
 
 At Montpellier God saved me from a plot which 
 was formed against me. One day a child brought 
 me a letter signed by two Spaniards, who had 
 received a New Testament from me, and, pre- 
 tending to be greatly interested in my cause, re- 
 quested me to meet them at nine o'clock in the 
 evening, in an isolated spot. They said they 
 had important things to say to me, and begged 
 that I would be there without fail. As this was 
 an irregular hour, I feared lest they had evil in- 
 tentions with regard to me, although they had, 
 in conversation with me, the appearance of sin- 
 cerity. On the next day, the woman in whose 
 house my two fellow-countrymen lived, met me in
 
 SPANISH MONK. 117 
 
 the street, and exclaimed with surprise, " What ! 
 I thought you were already assassinated ! Yes- 
 terday I heard one of the Spaniards saying to 
 the other, ' That rascal who wanted us to be- 
 come Protestants will not fail of being stabbed 
 to-day.' As they supposed they would succeed 
 in their attempt, they sent their trunk before- 
 hand to the office of the stage-coach, for they 
 intended, after having killed you, to take the 
 coach immediately for Cettes and embark for 
 Barcelona. As they have not returned to my 
 house, I suppose they have left, and I was afraid 
 that you were already their victim. Since 1 did 
 not know where you lived, I could not come to 
 warn you of this ; and even had I warned you 
 of it, if they had learned it, they would have as- 
 sassinated me also." 
 
 One more fact which occurred to me in that 
 city, will suffice. I occasionally visited the house 
 of a lady who appeared very friendly, and who 
 on Christmas presented me with a large cake. 
 I returned home with it ; and, when I entered 
 the house, the landlady exclaimed : " Ah ! you 
 have bought a cake." " No," f replied, " Ma- 
 dame gave it to me." " What ! Madairie 
 
 ? then you shall not eat it; if you only
 
 118 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 knew all she says against you ! She declared 
 the other day that he who poisoned you would 
 deserve an indulgence. And was it not she who 
 poisoned her husband because he was a Protest- 
 ant ?" I would not listen to her at first, saying 
 that these were unworthy suspicions ; but she 
 snatched it from my hand, and, breaking off a 
 piece, gave it to a dog which was in the room. 
 The animal was shortly after swollen to double 
 its size, and expired the next day. 
 
 How often already would I have perished, had 
 not He preserved me who said, " Even the very 
 hairs of your head are all numbered !" 

 
 SPANISH MONK. 119 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Visit to the Republicans at Clermont. Brief account of 
 Thiers. Testaments sold and returned. 
 
 THE Corresponding Committee at Montpel- 
 lier of the Geneva Evangelical Society obtained 
 a passport for me to travel in the interior of 
 France, for the purpose of performing the work 
 of a colporteur among my countrymen who were 
 in the larger cities. I first went to Clermont- 
 Ferrand, to labor among the republicans who 
 had risen against Espartero, and had been ex- 
 pelled from Barcelona in 1842. On leaving 
 Spain they were received by the French govern- 
 ment, and provided with support, being placed 
 among the Carlist exiles ; but in consequence of 
 their disputes with the Carlists, they were placed 
 at separate stations, one of which was Clermont- 
 Ferrand. I there found four hundred of them, 
 living in the town and its environs. On enter-
 
 120 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 ing the town I approached a house where several 
 of my countrymen were seated near the door, 
 some playing the guitar, and others at cards. I 
 began by saying : " Gentlemen, I find you en- 
 gaged ; but there is a time for all things ; a time 
 to play, and a time for more serious objects. 
 Permit me to tell you that I have here a book, 
 which is of great value and interest to us all, and 
 offered at a very low price." 
 
 " Did the priest send you?" was the first ques- 
 tion. , - 
 
 "Oh! no," I replied; " the priests never send 
 this book, I assure you; it is too much opposed 
 to their principles and lives. This is the thing 
 they most hate in the world." 
 
 " Vaya !" l exclaimed they ; " what a beautiful 
 volume ! how cheap ! Only ten cents for such 
 an elegant book?" 
 
 " But it is of great value, gentlemen," I added ; 
 " it is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and 
 such are its instructions, and such is its power, 
 that if it were in the hands of as many people as 
 there are in Spain, the priests would soon find 
 that they must either change their doctrines and 
 
 1 A Spanish exclamation, equivalent to " See !"
 
 SPANISH MONK. 121 
 
 mend their morals, or come down from their 
 pulpits. Yes, gentlemen ! examine for your- 
 selves, and you will find it true, just as I tell 
 you." 
 
 By this time the attention of my audience was 
 fixed. They forgot their cards and their music, 
 and gave their attention wholly to me. " What 
 does it say against the curates ?" inquired one. 
 " Listen, and judge for yourselves. Here is a 
 description of Antichrist, and decide yourselves 
 if this is not applicable to the Pope : ' Who 
 opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is 
 called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he, as 
 God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing him- 
 self that he is God.' 1 You know that in Spain, 
 when a priest passes through the street, the 
 people make haste to kiss his hand ; now look 
 at this : When John fell down at the angel's 
 feet to worship, the Spirit exclaimed, ' See thou 
 do it not; worship God." 2 I could quote many 
 other similar texts ; but I only desired to satisfy 
 your curiosity a little. However, I must say that 
 I, and the other Christians, do not use the Bible 
 merely to find out what it says against the 
 
 1 2 These. 2:4. 2 Rev. 22: 9 ; Acts 10: 26. 
 
 11
 
 122 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 priests ; but we seek to see ourselves in it. And 
 you too ought to search this book, for it is profit- 
 able for reproof, for correction, for instruction." 1 
 They then became more serious, and eagerly 
 bought my Testaments. I next proceeded to 
 another house, and another ; till I had sold a 
 copy to every Spaniard in the town. 
 
 I saw enough there to convince me that if the 
 Bible could enter Spain freely, and it were 
 brought to the republicans, with these words 
 printed on the cover in large letters : " THE BOOK 
 WHICH UNVEILS THE FALSE DOCTRINE OF THE 
 PRIESTS, AND WHICH CONTAINS THE TRUE DOC- 
 TRINE," it would be purchased and read by 
 every body. 
 
 How different were their opinions, and their 
 consequent treatment of myself and the sacred 
 volume, from those which had been displayed 
 continually by the Carlists! With the latter 
 the exclamation was : " Bringing forbidden 
 books to us ! books condemned by the Pope, 
 who has power on earth ! Vaya ! a base Pro- 
 testant!" And as for arguing, it was not 
 thought of nothing but : " There is no religion 
 
 1 2 Tim. 3 : 16.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 123 
 
 but the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman ; so get 
 out !" 
 
 You see, then, my dear American brethren, 
 that there are a great many Spaniards who are 
 not difficult of access. Though the impostures 
 of the Romish faith have led them to such bar- 
 barity, still they feel the need of a religion. 
 Labor then, with us ; ind soon we shall see the 
 fruit of our work. Spain will soon be convert- 
 ed ! 
 
 After having visited those who had so long 
 been my enemies, I went to visit my country- 
 men at Dole and Lons-le-Saulnier. On my way 
 I passed through Thiers. I did not meet any of 
 my countrymen there ; yet I think it will not be 
 uninteresting to give a short account of the man- 
 ner in which that place was reformed, and the 
 zeal of those who forsook the yoke of Rome to 
 enlist under the standard of the Gospel. 
 
 Two years before, the state of the people was 
 extremely discouraging. There was not then a 
 Protestant to be found ; and the people seemed 
 devoted to their superstitious faith, and subject 
 to the control of the priests. However, a Scotch 
 
 gentleman of fortune, Mr. L , who annually 
 
 visits different parts of France for the purpose
 
 124 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 of disseminating the Scriptures, went there, and, 
 with the aid of a few devoted colporteurs, fur- 
 nished many a family with the Word of God. 
 The year after he paid another visit to the town, 
 and an agent was employed to visit the families 
 where the Scriptures had been placed, with ur- 
 gent appeals to them to engage in its study. 
 
 I had the happiness of forming an acquaint- 
 ance with this excellent man, and of accompany- 
 ing him in many of his labors of love. Some- 
 times he brought me into the large street which 
 leads in from the country, before the dawn 
 of day, laden with copies of the Scriptures; and 
 when one of the large wagons, which transport 
 the produce of the farms to the market of Thiers 
 passed by, he addressed each wagoner : " My 
 friend, can you read ?" " Yes, sir," was usual- 
 ly the answer. " Let us hear you," handing 
 him a Testament. When he had' spoken a few 
 words of exhortation to the man, he gave him 
 the book, and passed on. Often we would go 
 through the streets, entering each shop and sell- 
 ing or giving away copies of the Word. Ere 
 long, the character of the people was deeply af- 
 fected by the distribution of books ; new ideas 
 were entertained of religion, old superstitions
 
 SPANISH MONK. 125 
 
 were renounced, and a new form of worship was 
 soon longed for. A large congregation was 
 formed, who proceeded to the erection of a 
 church, and sought a pastor of their own prin- 
 ciples. In short, a large number of the inhabit- 
 ants of Thiers became, not only Protestants, but 
 devoted and evangelical Christians. I have 
 never seen, in any place, such Christian love 
 and such lively zeal for religion, as in Thiers. 
 Their very enemies are struck by their conduct, 
 and give honorable testimony respecting them. 
 
 Every storekeeper among these converts keeps 
 a supply of Bibles, Testaments, and Tracts ; and 
 every customer is sure to hear religious exhorta- 
 tions and to have the Scriptures offered him, or 
 some religious book given him before he leaves. 
 And above every door are inscribed striking 
 texts from the Scriptures, in large letters ; so 
 that no one can pass through the streets without 
 casting his eye on some of them. 
 
 At Thiers I addressed several meetings of 
 these new Christians ; and before my departure, 
 I had the pleasure of hearing them pray for those 
 who belonged to my nation. Thus, seeing that 
 there every man was a missionary, laboring with 
 11*
 
 126 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 zeal in the field around him, I proceeded with 
 renewed courage to my companions in arms 
 at Dole, where I visited eighty of my country- 
 men, but could sell only six Testaments. 
 
 At Lons-le-Saulnier, I met with two men who 
 had belonged to the same company as myself, 
 and with whom I had been very intimate. They 
 received me with much friendship, and led me 
 themselves to the houses of thirty Carlist Span- 
 iards, where I sold as many Testaments. But 
 a few days after, a priest went to each per- 
 son whom I had visited, and told them that I 
 had left the Seminary and the Catholic Church, 
 that I was Protestant heretic, and desired to make 
 them such also. Then the love of my two former 
 companions was turned into hatred ; and they 
 went to the inn where I was staying ; but I was 
 not in. The next day, as I was coming out of 
 the Evangelical meeting with the pastor of the 
 town, I was attacked with blows by several men, 
 and was told that I would find my books at my 
 room. And when I returned to the inn, I found 
 my thirty Testaments, with a note commanding 
 me to leave the money I had received for them 
 in the hands of the landlady, that it might
 
 SPANISH MONK. 127 
 
 be returned to them ; and I did as they de- 
 sired. 
 
 Father, forgive them ! for they knew not what 
 they did.
 
 128 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Wine-store of Cabrera. Interview with two Priests, 
 and the results. Glay. 
 
 SADDENED, and almost discouraged by the 
 treatment which I received at Lons-le-Saulnier, 
 I went to Lyons, where I distributed a great 
 number of copies of the Word of God and of re- 
 ligious tracts among my countrymen. But the 
 Archbishop, having heard of rny visits, sent a 
 French priest, his secretary, to me. The cir- 
 cumstances were these : 
 
 After the retreat of our army into France, 
 General Cabrera had established in the city of 
 Lyons a large wine-store, having formed partner- 
 ships in various towns in that country. In this store 
 he had eight Spanish clerks, who had formerly 
 belonged to his army. Very soon after I had 
 commenced my labors in Lyons, I visited that 
 store, and, finding one of the clerks in, invited
 
 SPANISH MONK. 129 
 
 him to purchase one of my Testaments, telling 
 him that it was a volume of inestimable value, 
 being nothing less than the Word of God, etc. 
 He replied to me in contemptuous and oppro- 
 brious language, and I withdrew without mak- 
 ing any reply which might irritate him. I re- 
 peated my visit shortly after, but found the same 
 person alone, and met with the same reception 
 as before. Almost discouraged, I called at the 
 house of the French pastor, Mr. Fisch, a man of 
 great zeal and sincerity. This gentleman first 
 invited me to pray for God's assistance, and 
 then advised me to call again at the wine-store, 
 for I might perhaps meet with the others. 
 Strengthened by this, I resolved to venture once 
 more. I entered, and found the other clerks 
 present; and he who had insulted me remark- 
 ed : " There is an importunate fellow, who has 
 been here twice already to sell his books. Here, 
 take a seat. Now, what do you want ? What 
 books are those ?" I immediately opened one 
 before them, saying : " It is a book which has 
 done me much good, and speaks in words of 
 high importance to us all. Perhaps some per- 
 sons may tell you not to read it ; but God him- 
 
 I
 
 130 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 self has commanded us all to examine and 
 study it." 
 
 I then began in the proper manner to proceed 
 with Spaniards, and according to what I call 
 the tactics of colportage with them. I first en- 
 deavored to produce an impression on them as 
 regards the natural state of man. I showed 
 them what value ought to be set upon the Scrip- 
 tures. " They are not like any of the writings 
 of men. This is a divine book, and above all 
 price." This being explained, I related to 
 them all that the priests could say, anticipating 
 their objections, and pointing out the answers to 
 them in the Word of God. For instance : 
 " They will tell you that the Bible is obscure, 
 and needs an interpreter. There is a text 
 which declares the contrary.'" And they 
 noted it down. " Next, they will tell you that 
 this edition is destitute of notes. Here is a pas- 
 sage which overthrows that objection. 2 But it 
 is not approved by the Church. No such ap- 
 proval is necessary. 3 And all that concerns 
 salvation is plainly set forth ; if there is any 
 thing which we do not understand, we need 
 
 1 2 Cor. 4: 3, 4. * Rev. 22 : 19. 3 2 Tim. 3 : 16.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 131 
 
 only ask for the light of the Spirit, which will 
 be given us. Then you will be told that the 
 people are not allowed to read it. Mark this 
 answer." 1 I then told them, as I have told 
 many others, that the priests had strong reasons 
 for desiring to keep that book from the laity, 
 because it contains so many passages which 
 show that they do not live and preach in confor- 
 mity with the Gospel, and the people would soon 
 see it so plainly, that the priests would have to 
 conform their doctrines to it. After a long in- 
 terview, and having sold them a Testament with 
 marks of the passages I had quoted, I left them, 
 praying that God would bless its perusal. 
 
 But, as I afterwards learned, I had scarcely 
 got out of sight, before a French priest entered 
 the wine-store, having been sent by the Arch- 
 bishop to warn all the Spanish inhabitants against 
 me, as a vender of bad books. 
 
 " Have you seen a Spaniard with books to 
 sell 1" asked the priest. " Yes," replied one of 
 the clerks ; " you would have met him if you 
 had come in a moment ago ; and here is one of 
 his books." "Give it to me," said the priest 
 
 1 John 5 : 39.
 
 132 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 eagerly; " it is a bad book ; I will take it away." 
 " No, no," replied the other ; " I choose to keep 
 it." Seeing that he could not obtain it, he be- 
 gan to talk against it. " Oh ! yes," returned 
 the clerk ; " the Spaniard told me you would 
 come and speak against it; but listen to this 
 passage, if you please." So saying, he opened 
 at one of the places marked, and then at ano- 
 ther, till the poor ecclesiastic had no resource 
 but to leave him and come in search of me. 
 
 I had not been long at my lodgings before I 
 was informed that two priests were waiting for 
 me below. Expecting an attack upon my Bi- 
 bles, I took two of them in my hands, one Latin, 
 and the other Spanish, in order to be fully pre- 
 pared to meet their objections ; and I hastened 
 down stairs. 
 
 It was dinner-time, and my visitors awaited 
 me in the large public hall, where about thirty 
 persons were at their tables. One of the priests 
 was the same who, as I afterwards understood, 
 had called at the wine-store. He had met with 
 another priest, and with them came a Spaniard 
 who had formerly been my grammar-master at 
 Olot, and with whom I was well acquainted. He 
 was now a dealer in chocolate, at Lyons, and I
 
 SPANISH MONK. 133 
 
 had met with him a short time previous, and 
 sold him a New Testament, which he now held 
 in his hand, having evidently been persuaded by 
 the priests to return it. 
 
 , Being asked what they wanted, one of them 
 replied in a low tone : " Sir, we desire to speak 
 to you ; can you lead us to your room ?" I an- 
 swered : "Gentlemen, as I suppose the subject 
 of our conversation is to be the Word of God, 
 I do not think these ladies and gentlemen will 
 be sorry to listen to it." " But do not speak so 
 loud," returned he. " Gentlemen," I replied, " I 
 am not ashamed of the Gospel." " The Arch- 
 bishop," said he, " having"! heard that you are 
 distributing bad books among your countrymen, 
 has sent us to gather them together ; and 
 since you have prepared them in your own way 
 to receive your books, they will not give them 
 up to us. The Archbishop says therefore that 
 you must go yourself and take them from your 
 countrymen, and tell them that they are bad 
 books which you were selling for your own pro- 
 fit. You must return the money to them, and 
 take the books to the Archbishop, who will pay 
 you." " Gentlemen, I believe that I distributed 
 no other books than the Word of God, and those 
 12
 
 134 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 works which are conformed to it. But if you 
 can prove the contrary, I will willingly take the 
 books back and return the money." " Sir," 
 they answered, " it is not for you to command, 
 but to advise." " Gentlemen, this book has 
 taught me that I must obey God rather than 
 man. I pity you, for it is not long since I 
 thought as you do, and would have acted like 
 you." I then spoke with some length on the 
 sinful state of all men, pastors as well as people, 
 and of their need of turning away from .man to 
 God. The priests then, arose, and were about 
 to leave the room, when I exclaimed, " Stop ! 
 stop, gentlemen; you should not get angry at that. 
 I only ask you to prove that my books are bad, 
 and you willjiot grant my request. Is it not true 
 that you, and I, and all of us, need to be con- 
 verted ?" Then my old teacher exclaimed : 
 " Ramon, I came here thinking that this was a 
 bad book, and intending to make you return the 
 money ; but since that cannot be proved, I will 
 keep it. You say we need conversion ; that is 
 very true, and my wife needs it as much as I do ; 
 so give me another Testament for my wife." I 
 then went up into my room, took two French 
 Testaments and one Spanish; and hastened
 
 SPANISH MONK. 135 
 
 down again ; but the priests had left. I gave the 
 Testament to my old master, and I then address- 
 ed the other spectators, saying, "Gentlemen, 
 whilst I labor for Spaniards, I feel much interest 
 in the French also ; will you not also receive a 
 Testament, the accusations against which could 
 not be proved just now ?" I sold two copies. 
 
 Among the persons who were present in the 
 hall, were several young men, who, when I of- 
 fered them a Testament, said they did not need 
 it. In the evening one of them came to me and 
 said : " Sir, I refused that Testament when you 
 offered it to me, because my companions would 
 have laughed at me and called me a bigot, if I 
 had bought it. But, desirous of owning one, I beg 
 you to sell it to me." He afterwards added : " I 
 do not know to what religion I belong. My 
 mother was a Protestant, and I was baptized in 
 the Protestant church. She died, and my fa- 
 ther, a Roman Catholic, brought me up in the 
 Roman Catholic faith. I was taught the trade 
 of a baker ; and as this requires labor by day 
 and night, and on the Sabbath, I would never 
 know where the churches are if I did not see 
 their steeples." I then showed him that he was 
 in a sad situation, and that instead of doubting
 
 136 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 to which religion he belonged, he ought to ac- 
 knowledge that he had none at all. I announced 
 the Gospel to him according to his necessity, 
 and led him to the house of Mr. Moureton, deacon 
 of the evangelical church at Lyons. This brother, 
 having understood the subject of our visit, made 
 a fervent prayer, and then taught the truths of 
 the Gospel to that soul. The young man, 
 touched by the Spirit of God, exclaimed : " Since 
 I cannot keep the Sabbath holy in my present 
 trade, I give it up, and I beg you to tell me in 
 what way I can gain my living." It was after- 
 wards proposed that he should enter an evangel- 
 ical institution for young men who desire to 
 become ministers of the Word, which he accept- 
 ed. 
 
 As for me, the Archbishop of Lyons and his ad- 
 herents entered an accusation against me in the 
 Police Office, of troubling my countrymen who 
 had taken refuge in that city, and of selling 
 books without having a bookseller's warrant, as 
 is required by law. The Police Officers obliged 
 me to leave the town immediately, and I went 
 to Glay, to the institution of the Rev. Mr. Ja- 
 quet.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 137 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Best Medicine and the Best Physician. The Curate 
 of Salvatat. My Ex-General Zorrilla. My Retreat to 
 Geneva. 
 
 I ARRIVED at Glay on the 18th of June, 1843. 
 In that Christian institution I was greatly blessed 
 by the Lord. I there gathered new strength to 
 resist the enemy, and, as it were, collected 
 smooth stones from the brook for another Go- 
 liath. After three months I left Glay, at the re- 
 quest of the Rev. Mr. Lissignol, and returned 
 to Montpellier. On my way I was enabled to 
 proclaim the gospel to many persons, in the 
 manner which I will here relate. It was on the 
 river Rhone that the Lord gave me an opportu- 
 nity to speak of Him to those who travelled with 
 me. 
 
 Shortly after my arrival on board the steam- 
 boat, I began a religious conversation with two 
 12*
 
 138 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 gentlemen who had lodged with me at Lyons. 
 They took more interest in speaking of religious 
 subjects, than in taking part in the frivolous oc- 
 cupations of those who surrounded us. The 
 conversation was assuming a still graver charac- 
 ter, when we were interrupted by two pedlars, 
 dressed in the robe of the Augustine monks. 
 They invited us to buy various objects which 
 they had for sale; medals, crosses, scapularies, 
 rosaries, and a tract in honor of the Virgin 
 Mary, entitled, " The Best Medicine." I asked 
 them if they could prove to me that the Word of 
 God authorized them to distribute such objects ; 
 and as this unexpected question greatly embar- 
 rassed them, they began to preach about the ap- 
 probation of these amulets given by the Popes, 
 and the prodigies which they had performed on 
 those who humbly trusted in them. Neither 
 waves, nor lightning, nor even the power of Sa- 
 tan could, according to them, overcome the per- 
 son who wore one of these precious articles. 
 Although I requested them several times to al- 
 low me to speak, they continued to preach. I 
 saw that their only object was to prevent my 
 being heard ; and I therefore began also to 
 preach aloud to those who were crowding around
 
 SPANISH MONK. 139 
 
 us. This method succeeded. Soon numerous 
 passages of the Scriptures took the place of the 
 vain and lying declamation of the priests. 
 Several gentlemen gave their testimony to the 
 truth of the Word of God. I had in my trunk 
 the well-known tract : " Who is the Best Physi- 
 cian 1" I immediately took out a number of cop- 
 ies, which I offered to the travellers in exchange 
 for the " Best Medicine" of the priests, their 
 medals, scapularies, and rosaries. When I had 
 collected a quantity of these, I threw them into 
 the river. I had several copies of the Spanish 
 Testament, but only six in French, which I sold 
 on this occasion. 
 
 An English Christian, Mr. Evans, to whom I 
 offered the above named tract, requesting him 
 to give me in return any thing which he might 
 have received from the priests, accepted it with 
 pleasure, saying that he had not bought any 
 thing of them, to which he added : " May God 
 bless you ! and since you are occupied in dis- 
 tributing His Word, and in destroying the 
 traffic of medals, accept this medal ;" and 
 he handed me a gold coin. 
 
 At last I arrived at Montpellier, where I found 
 two other brethren, colporteurs of Dauphiny, with
 
 140 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 whom I united, so that he who formerly wore 
 the cassock, carried on his back a pack weigh- 
 ing thirty pounds. 1 We travelled over the de- 
 partment of L'Heraut. This winter campaign 
 was greatly blessed to our souls, and I needed it 
 very much ; for, though I was a Christian, I 
 knew but little yet of the Christian life. Since 
 my conversion. I had been \almost entirely left 
 to myself. The Lord made me advance more 
 and more by placing in relation with the Chris- 
 tians of various places which we visited. 
 We could not distribute as many of our books 
 in that department as we had anticipated ; both 
 because it had been visited by colporteurs in the 
 preceding year, and because we found there two 
 other brethren sent thither by the French and For- 
 eign Bible Society, but especially because of the 
 opposition of the priests. We were often obliged 
 to go to the curates to verify our Bibles, which 
 they accused of being falsified. 
 
 On entering the little town of Salvatat, we 
 
 1 During my colportage among the Spaniards, I carried 
 my books in a trunk, and not on my back . On my arrival 
 in the towns, I put two or three in my pocket, and went 
 to meet my countrymen.
 
 SPANISH MONR. 141 
 
 went into a tavern to rest, after which we 
 went from door to door. Almost all those to 
 whom we offered the Scriptures accepted them 
 without hesitation. We therefore supposed that 
 no opposition had been made yet by the curate. 
 When we had sold a large number of copies, to 
 our great astonishment, we heard the public 
 crier with his trumpet, repeating to the people 
 the following proclamation : " His Reverence 
 the Curate, with the consent of the May or, gives 
 notice to the people that two pedlars are going 
 about the town selling bad books, coming from 
 the Protestants ; and these men desire thus to 
 make you change your religion. All those who 
 have bought their books are invited to come to 
 the inn, where the Curate will be, to force these 
 pedlars to take back their books and return the 
 money." Having heard this proclamation, we 
 immediately went to the inn, where we found 
 the Curate. He scarcely allowed us time to bid 
 him good-day, and exclaimed, " Gentlemen, it is 
 my will that you should leave this place instant- 
 ly ; but you must first return the money you re- 
 ceived for your books." I replied, " Sir, you 
 must remember that you are not the Mayor, but 
 simply a man dressed in a cassock ; and even
 
 142 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 were you the magistrate, I think you would ex- 
 ceed your duty in expelling persons who have 
 passports. As to what you say about our books, 
 I would like to know what are your reasons." 
 He answered, " I have not read them ; but it is 
 enough to know that the Protestants send them." 
 I returned, " Then if you have not read them, 
 you are very hasty in saying that these books 
 are bad ; for you see that the outside is new ; 
 and, as for what is inside, I will ask you, if a 
 Protestant brought you a purse of money, would 
 you refuse it because it came from him ? You 
 would simply examine whether the money was 
 good or not. This is what you ought to do, and 
 I require that you should prove whether our Bi- 
 bles are falsified, and whether the other books 
 are not conformed to them." He replied, 
 " Since the Protestants do not believe that 
 Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, those books 
 must say the same thing." " Mr. Curate," I 
 returned, " I will not take you at your word ; 
 you did not mean that." " I have said that the 
 Protestants do not believe this, and I repeat it." 
 " Gentlemen and ladies," said I to those around 
 us, " do you hear what the Curate says ? Now 
 let each open his Testament at the first chapter 

 
 SPANISH MONK. 143 
 
 of Matthew, and the eighteenth verse. Does 
 riot this book, which comes from the Protest- 
 ants, declare the contrary of what the Curate 
 has said ?" I then began to explain that the 
 Bible was indeed a bad book for the priests, 
 since it condemns error and establishes truth ; 
 which I supported by many quotations from the 
 Scriptures. After I had proclaimed the truth 
 of the gospel with energy, and had shown him 
 how much the Romish Church had deviated 
 from it, one of the gentlemen present exclaimed, 
 " Now, then, Mr. Curate, when you are in the 
 pulpit, you say what you please, and there is 
 nobody to answer you ; but you have found your 
 equal to-day. Answer this man if you can." I 
 interrupted this address by quotations from the 
 Divine Word, exhorting them all to seek for 
 truth in unity and love. Several other persons 
 exclaimed, " Mr. Curate, this man is right." 
 Overcome by the excitement, the poor Curate 
 shook and trembled, and in a few moments 
 swooned away. He was soon brought to his 
 senses by the immediate care of the bystanders. 
 As I stood near him, he took me by the hand, 
 and with tears told me, that he was convinced 
 that it was the Word of God which guided us,
 
 144 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 that he had misrepresented us, and was ready to 
 go with us from house to house, to retract what 
 he had said against the Protestants, and would 
 help us in the distribution of the Word of God. 
 " I acknowledge," said he, " that the Church 
 of Rome has held doctrines, as you have just 
 demonstrated, which are contrary to the Word 
 of God, and that we ministers do not act 
 as we ought to. Pray for me." " What ! pray 
 for you!" I exclaimed; "of course I will, and 
 that immediately. Ladies and gentlemen, I am 
 going to shut the door, and, if you please, we 
 will pray together." When I had done, my 
 companion prayed, full of love and earnestness. 
 I then said to the Curate, " Mr. Curate, will 
 you not pray too 1" He replied, with tears in 
 his eyes, " No, no, sir, all has been said ; I can 
 only add, Amen. Come," said he, rising, " my 
 house is open to you ; we will take tea together." 
 We went, and spent the evening with him, and, 
 in familiar conversation, we compared together 
 the translation of De Saci with that of the Latin 
 Vulgate. He bought eighteen Testaments, with a 
 number of tracts. The next day he told two little 
 children to follow us, carrying Testaments, and 
 taking us by the arm, led us from house to
 
 SPANISH MONK. 145 
 
 house, saying, " Buy them, buy them, they are 
 very good." We sold five hundred copies, and 
 we were obliged to go and procure more, which 
 we left at a depdt. We separated with much af- 
 fection. May God abundantly bless the seed 
 sown in that place ! 
 
 We left the department of L'Heraut, and we 
 travelled over that of Aveyron. Whilst colport- 
 ing for the French, I neglected no occasion to 
 sow the good seed among my countrymen also, 
 whenever I met them. At St. Affrique, a town 
 in that department, after having sold to them 
 five Testaments and some religious tracts, I in- 
 vited them to attend a religious meeting, which 
 was to take place on that day. We meditated 
 the word of God in both languages, and prayed 
 in Spanish as well as in French. This made 
 a great excitement among the priests, and par- 
 ticularly alarmed our ex-general, Zorrilla, who 
 had resided in that town since our expulsion 
 from Spain. This general, as well as some 
 priests and gentlemen of St. Affrique, desired to 
 see me. They met together at the house of the 
 general, where they decided to endeavor to per- 
 suade me to leave my vocation of colporteur, and 
 to return to the yoke of Rome, holding out the 
 13
 
 146 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 inducement of a sum of money. Consequently 
 they sent the servant of my ex-general to invite 
 me to make him a visit. I went, accompa- 
 nied by my two colleagues. The general ex- 
 pressed his regret at seeing me a member of 
 the Protestant sect, and refused absolutely to 
 accept the books which contain the good news 
 of salvation. He did not insult us, however ; on 
 the contrary, with the most cunning hypocrisy, 
 he invited me to dine with him, rnd to send 
 away my two companions, as he desired to say a 
 few words to me more particularly. I thanked 
 him for his offer, and told him that he could 
 speak with perfect freedom in presence of my 
 companions ; but he would not do so. He then 
 requested me to return alone at four o'clock in 
 the afternoon. " I will then, ' said he, " send for 
 several respectable gentlemen of the town, who 
 wish to speak with you, and to make you a happy 
 man. I believe," he added, " that they think of 
 setting up a shop for you, so that you may earn 
 a living with less trouble. You have humbled 
 yourself too much, sir," he continued; "you 
 are injuring your family and your own dignity." 
 I was going to express to him how happy I was to 
 be one of the laborers employed in the Lord's
 
 SPANISH MONK.. 147 
 
 vineyard, when he interrupted me, saying, " We 
 will speak of all that at four o'clock." I told 
 him that I could not promise to return at that 
 hour, unless he would allow my two companions 
 to come with me. When I saw that he per- 
 sisted in desiring none but me, I promised to be 
 there at the appointed hour. After having left 
 him, we united with the brethren of that town 
 to pray, after which we decided together that it 
 was not proper that I should go alone to the 
 house of the general, and that, since I had 
 promised to do so, there was no other way than 
 to write boldly to him, that if he was not willing 
 that my friends should accompany me, I could 
 not come. This is what Zorrilla answered : " I 
 did not invite your companions, because the 
 gentlemen who take an interest in you, and de- 
 sire to speak to you, have nothing to do with 
 them. You have nothing to fear from us ; we 
 desire to speak to you of Montpellier, for some 
 persons have written to us from that place, as 
 well as from Lyons and Besangon. I am deeply 
 affected, with them, at seeing you in greater 
 danger than Mahomet. You have wholly de- 
 ceived me, for I did not expect that of you 
 when you were under my command. The re-
 
 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 membrance that you are a Spaniard pains me. 
 Return to the Church which you have forsaken, 
 and you will be happy in your body and your 
 
 SOul. DE ZORRILLA." 
 
 The general and his friends of St. Affrique, 
 not having succeeded in their attempt to over- 
 come me by flattery, tried persecution. They 
 accused me before the Minister of the Interior 
 of forming a plot among those of the Spaniards 
 and French, who, not having been forewarned, 
 were seduced by my insinuations. But the 
 Lord, who overthrows the machinations of the 
 wicked, permitted that they should not give my 
 right name. In the mandate of arrest which 
 was sent to me, I was indeed designated by the 
 name of Ramon, a native of Olot, in Catalonia, 
 ex-student, ex-secretary of a general, 27 years of 
 age ; but, unfortunately for my adversaries, in- 
 stead of Monsalvatge, the arrest bore the initial 
 N. 
 
 On the 23d of March, 1844, at six in the 
 morning, the officers came to the inn of the vil- 
 lage of Soulier (Tarne), where I had spent the 
 night with my companion. They asked leave 
 to see our passports. Though these were all 
 right, they said that it was I whom they wanted, 

 
 SPANISH MONK. 149 
 
 and they led me to the mayor of the next town. 
 The latter would not consent to my arrest, since 
 my name was not similar to that on the pa- 
 per. They therefore only copied my passport, 
 and sent me back. As soon as I was at liberty, 
 we went to the town of Bastide-Rouairouge, 
 which was our dep6t and the centre of our la- 
 bors. The pastor of that place had received a 
 letter from Mr. Lissignol, saying that he had re- 
 ceived recent letters from the friends at St. Af- 
 frique, telling him that the Spanish general had 
 succeeded in procuring my arrest. This was 
 enough to make us decide to take the stage- 
 coach and return to Montpellier. We left with 
 much regret a field of labor in which the Lord 
 had comforted us by great success. 
 
 When we arrived at Montpellier, the Rev. 
 Mr. Lissignol hastened to procure a passport to 
 Geneva for me. I therefore set out for the 
 " Christian Rome," where I arrived in safety, 
 on the 4th of April, 1844. 
 
 13*
 
 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 * 
 
 My Countryman Yagues. Calderon's Visit to Madrid 
 Failure of my Plan to Return to Spain. The desired 
 one arrives unexpectedly. My Departure from Ge- 
 neva. 
 
 I WAS received at Geneva, as may be sup- 
 posed, with the greatest affection, by the mem- 
 bers of the Evangelical Society. The Lord led 
 me thither in a very remarkable manner, as the 
 reader has seen in the preceding chapter. He 
 knew better than I did, that I needed to reside 
 there some time that the brethren there, abun- 
 dantly nourished by the Word of Truth, might 
 impart to me the spiritual gifts with which God 
 had blessed them. The instruction which I re- 
 ceived there, strengthened and encouraged me 
 to enter into the struggle with ignorance and 
 superstition in the New World. One thing 
 which greatly added to the happiness and bless-
 
 SPANISH MONK. 151 
 
 ing which I experienced during my residence in 
 that city, was my acquaintance with a fellow- 
 countrymen, named Yagues. Like all others 
 of my nation born in the Romish Church, and 
 in strict subjection to Papal influences, he lived 
 till the age of thirty in that false tranquillity in 
 which the members of that Church dwell. It 
 was by the instrumentality of Dr. Malan, that 
 the Lord brought him out of darkness into His 
 marvellous light. He is one whose Christian 
 life is in harmony with the energy and enthu- 
 siasm of the Spanish character. He is well ac- 
 quainted with the French, Italian, and English 
 languages, and has travelled much in different 
 countries, and especially in Italy, where he held 
 secret meetings in every place which he visited, 
 and was twice thrown into prison on account of 
 the distribution of the Scriptures. In several 
 places in France and Italy, he has been the 
 founder of prosperous churches. He is about 
 forty years of age, and has a family. 
 
 Among the blessings which I received in his 
 company, I can never forget an evening which I 
 spent with the brethren of Geneva. It was at 
 an Agape, or love-feast, which it is customary to 
 hold there, on the plan of those of the primitive
 
 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 Christians. On this occasion he addressed the as- 
 sembly on these words from the parable of the 
 Marriage Supper : " Compel them to come in." 
 He spoke to the brethren who were present of 
 the necessity of prayer for the Spanish nation 
 particularly, that peace may be re-established, 
 and that the light of the Gospel may enlighten 
 that people, zealous without knowledge. To 
 me, in particular, he addressed the exhortations 
 which the importance of my mission seemed to 
 require. 
 
 I had been but a few months at Geneva when 
 my desires were directed anew towards Spain. 
 I felt an unconquerable longing to visit my na- 
 tive land, and make known to my countrymen 
 the Gospel of which they are so ignorant. My 
 thoughts were daily turned to this subject, when 
 I received a letter from Calderon, a Spanish 
 priest, converted since 1823 to the evangelical 
 doctrine. He was a laborer of the Toulouse 
 Society, residing at Bordeaux. In the spring of 
 1844 he was requested by Christian friends to 
 visit the city of Madrid, for the purpose of see- 
 ing what effect had been produced by the Bibles 
 which that remarkable man, Mr. Borrow, dis- 
 tributed there a few years agoT He readily
 
 SPANISH MONK. 153 
 
 complied with the request ; and the letters which 
 he wrote me communicated some of the results 
 of his investigations. 
 
 Mr. Borrow tells us, in his interesting book. 
 " The Bible in Spain," that he distributed a 
 considerable number of Bibles in the city of Ma- 
 drid. In visiting many houses, Calderon in- 
 quired whether the people had the Bible, and 
 often he was answered in the affirmative. In 
 some houses he ascertained that the owners 
 highly prized their treasure, and showed that the 
 Word of God had been accompanied by the in- 
 fluences of His Spirit. 
 
 My friend related in his letter a case which 
 greatly interested me. Having been introduced 
 to a family the father of which was very ill, he 
 conversed with him in a friendly and serious man- 
 ner, and then proposed to pray with him, which 
 was joyfully accepted. On rising from his 
 knees after fervent petitions to God, and the free 
 expression of evangelical sentiments, the sick 
 man eagerly extended his hand, and, giving him 
 an animated look and a brotherly grasp, exclaim- 
 ed, " Why, I see that you too have been saved by 
 the blood of Christ !" " How did you learn that 
 salvation comes in that way ?" inquired Calde-
 
 154 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 ron, with equal surprise. " From a book which 
 I have," replied he; " bring it hither," he add- 
 ed, addressing one of his children. " Here it 
 is ; I received it from an Englishman some time 
 ago." It was one of Sorrow's Bibles. 
 
 A man of rank of whom Calderon made the 
 inquiry whether he had a Bible, replied that he 
 had; he had bought it from an Englishman, 
 thinking that the book exposed the absurdities 
 of the priests ; and since he had not found any 
 thing on the subject, he had laid it aside. My 
 friend then said : " Sir, you must have read it 
 very lightly, then ; for I can point out many 
 passages to you which unveil those absurdities." 
 This gentleman being curious to see them, he 
 showed them to him. He then added that the 
 gentleman would be very unhappy if he sought 
 to see nothing but the priests in that book. He 
 asked him if his soul was at peace ; and as he 
 could not answer in the affirmative, Calderon 
 spoke to him with much solemnity on the sub- 
 ject of personal religion. On parting, the gen- 
 tleman said : " May God forgive me for having 
 neglected so long the study of a book which I 
 possessed, without endeavoring to ascertain its 
 contents. Come often to see me, and I will be
 
 SPANISH MONK. 155 
 
 happy to hear you explain, as you have done to- 
 day, a few verses of this book, which I will 
 henceforth make a better use of." 
 
 My friend remained four months at Madrid, 
 without suffering any persecution. One reason 
 of this was that he made no effort to distribute 
 the Word of God, his only object being to see 
 what effect had been produced by other travel- 
 lers. Another was that he had never taken any 
 part in the civil wars of Spain, having been in 
 France during that time, and consequently, he 
 was free from all suspicion of political or reli- 
 gious objects. 
 
 Seeing by these letters that my friend met 
 with no opposition in his residence at Madrid, 
 the thought came to my mind : Might I not also, 
 with God's blessing, visit this and other parts of 
 my country without meeting with much opposi- 
 tion ? The place which appeared to me most 
 favorable for the object of my mission, which 
 would be to establish a school, was Majorca, 
 Majorca is an island inhabited by a people 
 speaking our language, but who have much in- 
 tercourse with other countries, and have conse- 
 quently more liberality and toleration than the 
 inhabitants of the interior of Spain.
 
 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 I expressed my views and desires to the Soci- 
 ety, by whom I was immediately sent to Berne, 
 where the Spanish ambassador near the Swiss 
 government resides, for the purpose of obtaining 
 of him the documents necessary for my mission 
 to Majorca. The ambassador, after having re- 
 quired an oath of fidelity to the government of 
 Spain, gave me a passport, which, far from be- 
 ing such as I desired, was such as the French 
 government had commanded to be given to the 
 Carlist refugees. It was my wish to embark at 
 Marseilles, so as to avoid passing through my 
 native town, where I would probably have found 
 a grave. But the passport given me was valid, 
 not for a year as they are usually, but for one 
 month ; and moreover, every town and village 
 through which I must pass was designated, and 
 among them was Olot. On my return to Gene- 
 va, the Society saw the danger to which I would 
 be exposed, and told me that I must renounce 
 my project of going to Spain. However safely 
 Calderon may have travelled in that country, 
 I then saw plainly that, as an ex-Carlist, I could 
 not pursue my mission there in the way that he 
 did, even if I succeeded in avoiding my native 
 town.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 157 
 
 Nevertheless, my desire to labor among my 
 fellow-countrymen did not decrease, although 
 the door of Spain was closed against me. My 
 eyes turned then towards Africa, where there 
 are several thousand Spaniards But having the 
 presentiment that, being under the French gov- 
 ernment, I would meet with the same difficulties 
 which I met with formerly in France, I thought 
 if at least I had a companion, I would go with 
 more courage and joy. 
 
 One day the President of the American 
 Swiss Committee came to me with a letter in 
 his hand, and said : " You have often prayed for 
 a companion of your nation, to Avork with you, 
 and comfort you; here he is." So saying, he 
 informed me that he had received a letter from 
 a pastor at Dijon, who wrote that a Spanish cu- 
 rate, who had forsaken Rome and her errors 
 from a conviction that such was his duty, was 
 desirous of studying evangelical theology, and 
 becoming a Protestant minister ; and, if accept- 
 ed by the Evangelical Society, he would come 
 immediately to Geneva. This new convert, the 
 letter said, had been brought to the knowledge 
 of the truth by reading a Bible which a Spanish 
 colporteur had given him about a year before ; 
 14
 
 158 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 and he proved his sincerity by resigning his 
 ministry, and exposing himself to contempt and 
 persecution. 
 
 This news gave me sincere pleasure, and I 
 anxiously awaited the arrival of my countryman, 
 whom I looked upon as a future friend and fel- 
 low-laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. At 
 length he arrived. How great was my surprise 
 and joy when I recognized in him a priest to 
 whom I had myself presented, a year before , the 
 blessed volume which was the means of his con- 
 version ! 
 
 I advised my friend Sanchez to write frequent- 
 ly to his Catholic friends in France. He did 
 so ; particularly he kept up an interesting corre- 
 spondence with a priest, the result of which he 
 is about to publish. 
 
 The Society at Geneva, seeing that Sanchez 
 needed to remain some time in the Theological 
 School, wrote to the Foreign Evangelical Socie- 
 ty of New- York, to inquire if I could not be 
 useful on this continent among those who speak 
 the Spanish tongue. Foreseeing that the 
 American Society would countenance the pro- 
 posal of that of Geneva, I wrote to my parents 
 in Spain, bidding them adieu. I said to them
 
 SPANISH MONK. 159 
 
 that I expected soon to leave Europe, to go and 
 proclaim the good news of salvation in a distant 
 country. I begged them, since the letters which I 
 had sent them every month since my conversion 
 had not drawn from them a reply since July, 1842, 
 at the very least, if they would not enter into 
 family details, to write their names on a sheet 
 of paper, and send it to me. Then at any rate 
 I could have left in peace, knowing that they 
 were alive. A short time after this a letter was 
 received from the New- York Committee, saying 
 that I could embark ; and I had to leave Gene- 
 va without receiving a word from my home to 
 gladden my heart ! Nevertheless, the grief oc- 
 casioned by the rejection of my parents accord- 
 ing to the flesh, was mitigated by the Christian 
 consolation of my brethren in Jesus of Geneva ; 
 whom I left on the llth of November, 1844, 
 with the conviction that their prayers will often 
 arise towards the throne of grace for one who 
 needs them so much ! The sweet remembrance 
 of their affection and of the pleasant hours that 
 we spent together, will never be effaced from 
 my mind.
 
 160 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 My feelings towards those who think me in error. Pas- 
 sage across the Atlantic. Address to my American 
 brethren. Conclusion. 
 
 AFTER having bid adieu to my relations and to 
 my brethren in Christ, I feel the need of ex- 
 pressing what great consolation and peace the 
 Lord gives me even in the midst of my afflictions, 
 and what feelings I entertain towards my pa- 
 rents who have rejected me, and towards others 
 who have persecuted me. 
 
 He who has said,]" Blessed are ye when men 
 shall persecute you," sustains me in the midst of 
 my trials, and gives me strength to address with 
 charity my parents, as well as my fellow-country- 
 men, and all others who think me to be in error, 
 reminding them that our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 about to endure the shameful death of the cross, 
 said to the women who were weeping : " Weep 
 not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your
 
 SPANISH MONK. 161 
 
 children." 1 Far be it from me to compare my 
 position with that of the glorious Saviour ; yet I 
 venture, in His example, to say to you, Dear pa- 
 rents, dear friends, weep not at seeing me in a 
 communion exposed to the hatred and persecu- 
 tion of the world ; for the soul is more precious 
 than the body. If here below I bear the cross of 
 Jesus, I will wear His crown above. But weep, 
 yes, weep for yourselves, and your children, and 
 for your friends who are exposed to the same 
 danger. Go to Jesus, for He laments that you 
 resist His call : " Ye will not come to me, that 
 ye might have life."* Oh ! you who are ignorant 
 of the value of Jesus' blood! in desiring that I 
 should return to your midst, you wish for me the 
 greatest evil that can ever happen to me. I pray 
 for you, but I cannot follow you. " For it had 
 been better for me not to have known the way 
 of righteousness, than, after I have known it, to 
 turn from the holy commandment delivered unto 
 me." 3 I hope that God will make perfect His 
 strength in my weakness, and that,, as it has 
 pleased Him to fulfil in me the work of His grace, 
 He will not abandon it till He has raised me to 
 
 'Luke 23: 28. 2 John 5 : 40. 3 2 Peter 2: 21. 
 
 14%
 
 162 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 the height of His glory. He will grant me 
 strength to " be faithful unto death," to receive 
 from him " a crown of life." 1 Instead of that 
 fearful misfortune which you desire for me, to 
 return to the yoke of Rome, I desire for you the 
 greatest of all blessings, that is, that you be like 
 me, except the trials that accompany the holy 
 and divine profession of the Gospel. O, beloved 
 fellow-countrymen ! that you could all read in 
 my heart the peace and sweet tranquillity of my 
 conscience ! You would then prefer these joys 
 to all the riches of the earth, to all the luxuries 
 of this life, which vanish like a sound. If it be 
 not the Lord's will to unite us together by the 
 sacred bonds of that divine grace, at least let a 
 patriotic love remain. 
 
 And you too, my dear parents ! if like many 
 others you believe me to be in error, pity me ; 
 do not hate me. As for me, far from having the 
 least thought of hatred towards you or towards 
 those who have persecuted and do still persecute 
 me, I feel, on the contrary, new flames of love 
 arising in my heart, and, as I have said, my soul 
 is lifted up to God, entreating Him to give you 
 
 1 Rev. 2 : 10.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 163 
 
 all a faith of similar value, and to draw into His 
 service by the bands of His love ; so that we may 
 have the joy of loving one another on this earth, 
 and the consolation of seeing one another united 
 in that Church which fights beneath the stand- 
 ard of Jesus Christ. Yes ! may He grant that 
 one day we be transported into the bosom of the 
 victorious Church in heaven, there to praise 
 Him forever with those who have washed their 
 garments white in the blood of the Lamb ! Such 
 is the prayer which I offer up in your behalf.. 
 
 It was with sadness that, on the 18th of Novem- 
 ber, 1S44, about to leave Europe, I used the 
 language of Paul to my fellow countrymen : " It 
 was necessary that the word of God should first 
 have been spoken to you ; but seeing ye put it 
 from you, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." 1 
 
 He who says : "When thou passest through the 
 waters, I will be with thee," 2 fulfilled this prom- 
 ise towards me, during my voyage across the 
 ocean, in the ship St. Nicholas. 
 
 On the 30th November, in mounting the stair- 
 case from the cabin, I fell from the top down- 
 wards. The blow which I received on my head, 
 
 1 Acts 13: 46. 8 Is. 43:
 
 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 deprived me of my senses for some hours. Those 
 around me almost gave me up, and I myself 
 thought that the moment was come in which the 
 Lord chose to call me to Himself. But, thanks 
 to God, I was enabled to rise from my bed after 
 some days, and I reached the American shore 
 the 3d of January, 1845, in the enjoyment of 
 perfect health. 
 
 My dear American brethren, I cannot but 
 bless God and thank you for the sympathy which 
 you have shown me, and especially for the wel- 
 come given me by the members of the Foreign 
 Evangelical Society, under the direction of 
 whom I have placed myself, to labor in the field 
 of evangelization among those who speak my 
 language, in whatever land it may please the So- 
 ciety to send me in the name of the Lord. 
 
 The good tidings of your churches which I 
 learned on the other side of the Atlantic, from 
 the descendants of those who transmitted to you 
 the evangelical doctrine, made me long more 
 than once to witness myself the almost complete 
 reformation in the United States. In truth, the 
 number of Protestants astonishes me ; and the 
 Christian life of those who know the Father 
 through the Son astonishes me still more. When
 
 SPANISH MONK. 165 
 
 I look at myself in the mirror of your zeal and 
 activity, I find reason to humble myself in my 
 lukewarmness. And often in my neglect 1 feel 
 myself reproved by this solemn voice : " Be not 
 afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace ; for 1 
 am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to 
 hurt thee." 1 
 
 I know, my dear friends, that I should labor 
 like a good soldier of Jesus Christ ; that I 
 should speak " in season and out of season, re- 
 prove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering." 3 
 But there are painful, difficult moments in my 
 ministry ; moments in which 1 am afflicted and 
 discouraged at the sight of the obstacles which 
 impede the success of my labors. In those mo- 
 ments I feel that I need that the Lord should 
 come to raise my downcast heart. But, what is 
 far sadder, when I am covered by these clouds, 
 I cannot kneel down to invoke " Him who 
 giveth power to the faint, and who, to them that 
 have no might, increaseth strength. Even the 
 youths shall faint and be weary, and the young 
 men shall utterly fall ; but they that wait upon 
 the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall 
 mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, 
 
 1 Acts 18 : 9, 10. 2 2 Tim. 4: 2.
 
 166 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 and not be weary ; and they shall walk and not 
 faint." 1 Thus, since the Lord gives me an 
 occasion, by the publication of my life, to ad- 
 dress you, I think it my duty to expose my 
 wants to you, that you may uphold me by your 
 prayers. 
 
 First, I am exposed to fearing the enemies of 
 the Gospel, and the persecutors of the disciples 
 of Christ. My flesh is ready to dread suffering, 
 reproach and calumny. You are aware, dear 
 brethren, that to this 1 am daily subject. Per- 
 haps you may have read, in a public journal of 
 New York, that one of my fellow-countrymen 
 spoke with bitterness against me because of the 
 crime I had committed in obeying Him who 
 says to me : " Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy 
 voice like a trumpet, and show my people their 
 transgressions, and the house of Jacob their 
 sins ;"* and in having preached Christ and Him 
 crucified. 
 
 Secondly, the prospect of the difficulty of the 
 work of evangelization among my fellow-coun- 
 trymen, may also lead me to fear to labor in 
 vain, not to be listened to, and to be unable to 
 overcome all obstacles. Such fear Moses felt 
 
 1 Is. 40: 29 31. 2 Is. 58: 1.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 167 
 
 when he refused five times to be the minister of 
 God to Israel, saying : " Behold, they will not 
 believe me nor hearken unto my voice." 1 
 
 Thirdly, Satan may induce me to fear the 
 want of that which is necessary, making me to 
 forget the kind promises of the Lord, contained 
 in Luke 12 : 12-32. But although I rely on 
 this promise with regard to my personal wants, 
 another fear may yet assail me ; it is this : I may 
 fear lest I shall want that which is necessary for 
 success in my mission, such as Bibles, religious 
 books and tracts printed in Spanish. To banish 
 this fear, I take the liberty to make an appeal to 
 all those who feel the danger in which the thou- 
 sands of descendants of Spaniards who inhabit the 
 different countries of the New World are lying. 
 My friends, I commend those immortal souls to 
 your prayers, and that for the love of Him who 
 makes no distinction of persons, and who will 
 one day unite the various nations in one. Yes, 
 dear brethren, contribute to the support of this 
 Society, that it may carry out its plans of lead- 
 ing out of darkness those who belong to my na- 
 tion. But, I repeat, let your gifts be accompa- 
 nied by prayer. 
 
 1 Exodus 4:1.
 
 163 THE LIFE OF A 
 
 Such, dear friends, are, in a few words, my 
 wants, which claim the succor of your prayers. 
 Sustained by them, and by those of Christians in 
 different countries of Europe, I will joyfully ad- 
 vance in the path which it may please God to 
 point out to me, and I will say to myself daily 
 I must courageously proclaim to my countrymen 
 that in his state of sin every man is lost 1 with- 
 out Jesus Christ. I must proclaim to them Je 
 sus Christ and Him crucified, as the only Saviour, 
 the sole means of reconciliation with God for us 
 all, who by birth are His enemies in our 
 minds by wicked works. 2 I must declare that 
 where there is need of reconciliation, there must 
 be enmity ; for friends have no need of being 
 reconciled. I must speak to all of that faith in 
 the Lord Jesus, who alone can make us lay hold 
 of the gift of God, and who alone can procure 
 peace for us with the Father, and can save us. 3 
 I must show Spaniards that if they are in Christ, 
 they will no longer be the same ; they will be 
 new creatures ; that without that new birth of 
 which the Saviour speaks, and which the Holy 
 
 1 Liike!l9: 10. Col. 1:21. Rom. 5 : 10. 8 : 7. 
 3 Rom. 5:1. Eph. S: 8. Acts 16: 31.
 
 SPANISH MONK. 169 
 
 Spirit produces in the soul, it is impossible that 
 any man should see the Kingdom of God, or en- 
 ter into it. 1 " In this, my dear countrymen," I 
 will say to them, " consists the true reformation. 
 Yes, it must be effected in the heart, and the 
 life become entirely new. This new life* is the 
 necessary consequence of the new birth, which is 
 called sanctification, without which, it is said, 
 no man shall see God." 3 
 
 Dear brethren and sisters in Christ, such is 
 the noble, sublime, and difficult task which God 
 
 alls me to perform with reference to the per- 
 severing Spanish mind. I acknowledge that it is 
 my duty to. fear nothing, and to proclaim the 
 whole counsel of God. But the Lord does not 
 leave me without encouragement, for he says to 
 me : " I am with thee, and no man shall set on 
 thee to hurt thee." And leave me not either, 
 dear American friends, without encouragement. 
 Pray much for me, for my parents, for my bro- 
 thers and sisters. Pray for Spain ; that peace 
 may return to it, and that the Lord may con- 
 vert the rulers and subjects, the priests and the 
 flocks. Pray for the Spaniards also who are on 
 
 1 John 3:3,5. Rom. 6:4. ' Heb. 12 : 1.4 
 
 15
 
 170 THE LIFE OF A SPANISH MONK. 
 
 your own continent : that God may make the way 
 smooth, and prepare the hearts to receive the 
 Word made flesh. For my part, I will pray tor 
 you, and for your nation : that the Lord may bless 
 you spiritually and temporally, and may reward 
 you a hundred-fold for your offerings. Amen ' 
 
 THE END.
 
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