第165章 28th June,1839(1)

To the Rev.A.Brandram (ENDORSED:recd.July 15,1839)SEVILLE,PLAZUELA DE LA PILA SECA,No.7,28JUNE 1839.

REVD.AND DEAR SIR,-I received your letter of the 22nd May,and likewise Mr.Jackson's of the 5th June,containing the conclusion of the [Annual]Report,which you were so kind as to send me.Iwish in the first place to say a few words,which some passages in your communication suggest.Think not I pray you that any observation of yours respecting style,or any peculiarities of expression which I am in the habit of exhibiting in my correspondence,can possibly awaken in me any feeling but that of gratitude,knowing so well as I do the person who offers them,and the motives by which he is influenced.I have reflected on those passages which you were pleased to point out as objectionable,and have nothing to reply further than that I have erred,that I am sorry,and will endeavour to mend,and that moreover I have already prayed for assistance so to do.Allow me however to offer a word not in excuse but in explanation of the expression 'wonderful good fortune'which appeared in a former letter of mine.It is clearly objectionable,and,as you very properly observe,savours of pagan times.But I am sorry to say that I am much in the habit of repeating other people's sayings without weighing their propriety.

The saying was not mine:but I heard it in conversation and thoughtlessly repeated it.A few miles from Seville I was telling the courier of the many perilous journeys which I had accomplished in Spain in safety,and for which I thanked the Lord.His reply was:'LA MUCHA SUERTE DE USTED TAMBIEN NOS HA ACOMPANADO EN ESTEVIAGE.'

Your reply to the Trinitarian Society,for I suppose that it was written by you,afforded me the highest satisfaction.I admired its tone and spirit,and said at the time that a more convincing piece of reasoning had never been penned on any subject.The case of Luther and the early Reformers,who were converted from the errors of Popery by the perusal of the Vulgate,the book of the Popish Church,is certainly exceedingly strong;as it at once does away with any argument which may be raised against the propriety of circulating versions made from it.Perhaps it would have been as well to add that the Lollards'Bible,the book which converted England,was a literal translation from the Vulgate and not from the original tongues,which,as is well knows,Wickliffe did not understand.Those who decry the Vulgate should please to remember that,though adopted by the Popish Church,its foundation was laid before Popery existed,and that before criticising a book it is desirable to have read it.There are faults in the Vulgate,indeed far too many;but I believe them to be more the result of infirmity than malice,all the heavy and strong texts most dangerous to the Papal system appearing in it uncurtailed and unmodified.No people dread the Vulgate more than the Papists themselves,which they know to be A TERRIBLE TWO-EDGED SWORD WHICH WILL CUT OFF THEIR HANDS IFTHEY HANDLE IT.

I now beg leave to send you an extract of a letter which I received yesterday morning from Madrid.It is from my landlady,who is my agent there,and I consider it to be my duty to communicate it to the Society,as I consider that it speaks volumes as to the state of affairs in the capital and the spirit of enquiry abroad;at the same time I presume not to offer any comment upon it.The rest of the letter treats of indifferent matters.