The Bible in Spain, Vol. 1 [of 2]: Or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the PeninsulaBorrow, George
Religion
The Bible in Spain, Vol. 1 [of 2]: Or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula
Borrow, George
Borrow, George, 1803-1881 -- Travel -- Spain; Spain -- Description and travel; Spain -- History -- 19th century
_Stranger_.—My history I shall tell to no one. I have travelled much, I
have been in commerce, and have thriven. I am at present established in
Portugal, but I love not the people of Catholic countries, and least of
all these of Spain. I have lately experienced the most shameful
injustice in the _Aduana_ of this town, and when I complained, they
laughed at me, and called me Jew. Wherever he turns, the Jew is reviled,
save in your country, and on that account my blood always warms when I
see an Englishman. You are a stranger here. Can I do aught for you?
You may command me.
_Myself_.—I thank you heartily, but I am in need of no assistance.
_Stranger_.—Have you any bills? I will accept them if you have.
_Myself_.—I have no need of assistance; but you may do me a favour by
accepting of a book.
_Stranger_.—I will receive it with thanks. I know what it is. What a
singular people! The same dress, the same look, the same book. Pelham
gave me one in Egypt. Farewell! Your Jesus was a good man, perhaps a
prophet; but . . . farewell!
Well may the people of Pontevedra envy the natives of Vigo their bay,
with which, in many respects, none other in the world can compare. On
every side it is defended by steep and sublime hills, save on the part of
the west, where is the outlet to the Atlantic; but in the midst of this
outlet, up towers a huge rocky wall, or island, which breaks the swell,
and prevents the billows of the western sea from pouring through in full
violence. On either side of this island is a passage, so broad that
navies might pass through at all times in safety. The bay itself is
oblong, running far into the land, and so capacious that a thousand sail
of the line might ride in it uncrowded. The waters are dark, still, and
deep, without quicksands or shallows, so that the proudest man-of-war
might lie within a stone’s throw of the town ramparts without any fear of
injuring her keel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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