I told the Prior of the convent and the others, that the sale which had been effected in that place, so much greater than in the other places I had visited in their neighbourhood, did great honour to their town. I took occasion also to return them my sincere thanks for the very active and friendly part they had taken in this matter, and told them I should have great pleasure in communicating the same to the Society in London, and which I accordingly now do. The Prior said that he should be very glad, upon any future occasion, to forward the objects of the Society as far as he could, and that in regard to any other supply of the Scriptures destined for Tacunga, he would most readily take charge of them, and dispose of them according to the directions which might be sent with them. The other Friars heartily seconded the Prior in all these matters. In conversing about the Bibles that were to come to them from Guayaquil, it was agreed that not fewer than fifty copies would be required for Tacunga, and I promised to write to Guayaquil in order that this number might be sent to them upon their arrival there from Lima. At the same time I write to Lima to forward a sufficient supply to Guayaquil of your second edition, which must, I should think, be already in Callao, or near it.
In the preceding part of this letter, I gave you the names and address of some persons who would gladly carry forward your object in the places mentioned. I now add to this list another, namely, the Prior already mentioned, “El R. P. Fr. Manuel Peñaherrera, Prior de Santo Domingo de Latacunga.” The person just named, as well as all his colleagues, will be most ready to establish an Auxiliary Bible Society in that place, when the proper time comes for doing so. I give you also the names of some others belonging to this convent, as my duty and my promise require of me, and could wish that in some corner of one of your monthly extracts or annual reports their names might be recorded, for I think they are worthy of it; and in seeing their names in any of these publications I shall feel myself as discharged from what nearly amounts to an obligation, and which my feelings of respect and gratitude towards my friends led me into. The names are as follows: Padre Mariano Quintana, Padre Narciso Molina, Padre Matias Granja. To which I add, as the last, but not the least, my travelling companion, Padre José Celio.[4]
I conclude this letter, the writing of which has been the means of my enjoying over again the encouraging scenes which I have endeavoured to describe, and which I lay before you that you may comply with the pleasing duty of rejoicing with those that rejoice.—I only add, May God Almighty prosper you most abundantly in all your undertakings; and unto whom in all things be glory for ever: Amen.
[4] These names were not inserted in the Society’s Extracts, as the Secretaries thought the doing so might, perhaps, compromise our friends there with their superiors. A letter, however, was written to the Prior, in the name of the Society, conveying to him those sentiments which his conduct, on the above occasion, called forth. A few weeks ago an answer was received from the Prior, in reply to this letter, in which he expresses his continued interest in the object of the Bible Society, and his desire to circulate the Scriptures in his native country.—It may be mentioned here also, that a suitable letter was sent by the Society to the Governor of Guaranda, and that a very friendly reply to it has been lately received. This gentleman continues a warm friend to the Bible Society.
Quito, 19th November, 1824.
A considerable time has elapsed since the date of my last letter to you, and during the same period, if I remember right, I have not been favoured with any of your communications. So that, as far as mere exchange of letters is concerned, I am not so much in arrear as you may perhaps be thinking. It is true, indeed, that it is my part to write to you, rather than yours to write to me, but that again supposes that I have something worth communicating. Now, I am sorry to say that this has not been the case during my partial silence, a silence arising from a very natural cause, that of having nothing to say. I mean that I have had nothing to say about the progress of education in this quarter: and though I have still very little to say upon that subject, yet, knowing you take a great interest in the well being of this part of the world, and in my feeble efforts to promote it, I think it my duty to let you know at least where I am, and what I am doing.
You will observe by the line at the top, that I am in the city of Quito, and I shall now state to you why I am here, and what I am engaged in. You know how the war has raged for some time past in Peru, and that Lima has been for a considerable time in the hands of the enemy. I am not sure that I have expressed myself correctly in saying the enemy, a term applied by each party to the other, but which in the mouth of a neutral is an impropriety of speech. I beg leave to justify myself in this, by informing you that I am not a neutral in this contest, as all my feelings and my wishes are on the one side, and of course the other side is the enemy. I leave you to find out at your leisure what side I am on, and shall proceed to give you what information I have to communicate relative to our concerns, the concerns of education.
I left Lima in the beginning of September, with the intention of not returning to it for some time. The immediate cause was the impossibility of moving forwards in our work under the pressure of existing circumstances. The very utmost that could be done was to keep hold of what we had obtained, and even that was done with great difficulty. Our model school in Lima, at the time I came away, contained about 200 children, a number somewhat less than what it contained some months previous to that time. This decrease is owing to the great poverty that existed there, on the one hand; and on the other hand it arose from a natural fear in the parents lest their children should be picked up on their way to the School by the recruiting parties, a fear not altogether groundless. I may mention here, that there is another School on our plan, containing about 80 children.
You know that, for a considerable time back, I have had a desire to pass through that part of this Continent where I now am, but I was prevented from doing so, by the difficulty of leaving Lima in the state in which things were, and by the prospect of making a rapid progress in extending education over Peru. At the time I came away, the difficulty referred to was removed, and the prospect in regard to the other circumstance mentioned was altogether blasted, at least for a time. The difficulty I have noticed was the want of a proper master, in whose hands I could trust the school with confidence. The school, however, at my leaving Lima, was in the hands of a good master, with an assistant to aid him, whilst the superintendence of all is in the hands of my excellent friend the Clergyman, of whom I have often spoken to you with approbation. From this good friend, notwithstanding these favourable arrangements, I was obliged to tear myself away. He urged me to stop, and would at length only hear of my going away in the expectation of my early return, and in the hope of my visit to England being turned to the advantage of the schools in Peru, as I trust it will, should I have the happiness to reach your favoured country.