Rev A Brandram
Lima, 15th July, 1824.[1]
My Dear Sir,
Your very acceptable favour of 6th January last, came safely into my hands on the 22nd ultimo, and I have now the pleasure of writing you a few lines in reply. Your notice of the progress of Bible Societies in France is very interesting, and it is not less so what you mention regarding the circulation of the Holy Scriptures in Egypt, and in Jerusalem, the city of the great King. To whatever quarter we turn our eyes, we behold the word of God silently making its way into the hands of men of every nation and of every language, saying unto all, Fear God, and give glory to his name, for the day of his merciful visitation is come. The strains of the Bible Society remind us of the song of the heavenly messengers upon their announcing the Advent of our great Deliverer. The language of both is, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will towards men."
It affords me much satisfaction to observe the interest which the Society takes on behalf of South America, and I hope the day is coming when we shall be more sensible of your favours to us, and when we shall join together in grateful acknowledgment of your godly benevolence. Have the goodness to convey my sincere thanks to the Committee, for the readiness with which they have acceded to my request respecting the translating and printing of a part of the Holy Scriptures into the ancient Peruvian tongue. I thought I should, by this time, have been able to give you a very favourable account of the progress of this work, but we are subject here to sad vicissitudes, for war rages in the land, and of late the sword has reached unto our very soul. How long we shall be visited with this scourge I cannot tell. The Judge of all the earth will do right, and it is our duty to submit to his holy will.
The translation of the whole of the New Testament into the Peruvian language was finished about two months ago. The Gospel by Luke has been very carefully revised and corrected by four individuals, one of whom is a Clergyman, another is a Theological Tutor in one of the colleges of this city, and the other two are of the medical profession. These four, along with the gentleman who made the translation, went over this gospel verse by verse, with great care. The present corrected version, therefore, is the joint work of five persons, and I trust it may be relied on with some confidence. It has not yet been put to the press, for we have not had a printing press in Lima during these four months past. There are two indifferent ones in Callao, one of them in the castle and the other under its guns, but I have not yet been able to ascertain, since I received your letter, whether anything can be done at these or not. In my next I shall inform you more particularly upon this subject, and if the printing shall be then begun, I shall forward you a copy of the first sheet.
In my letter to Mr. Ronneberg of 29th March last, I noticed the safe arrival of the Grecian in Callao, bringing the 2,500 Spanish New Testaments addressed to me, and the 1,592 addressed to Mr. Lynch. Of the six boxes which came to me, I have sent two to Guatemala by a favourable opportunity which offered. I have also sent one to Arequipa, and one to Truxillo, and two yet remain on hand. A few weeks ago I received from Captain Hobson, of the Sesostris, two boxes of New Testaments (Paris edition,) containing about 500 each. These he received, I believe, from the Merchants' Bible Society, or from some other of the Societies in London. In the letter already referred to, I noticed what had taken place with regard to 50 New Testaments, which I sent to Truxillo some time ago. I mentioned the impossibility of getting them conveyed to Truxillo under the circumstances then existing in that place, and that in consequence they were carried to Guayaquil. I have since received a very pleasing letter regarding their reception in that place, of which the following is an extract.
"It is with the utmost pleasure I sit down to write these few lines to you, to inform you of the hunger and thirst, after the word of God in this part of the world. You may remember, that when I last left Lima you gave me a box containing Tracts and Testaments, for Dr. O'Donovan in Truxillo, but from the then existing state of the country it was out of my power to forward the above mentioned box to Truxillo, and as we were not allowed to enter that port, we were consequently obliged to proceed to Guayaquil. I wrote you from that place, saying, that I was bound for the coast of Mexico, but as affairs would not permit it, I made a trading voyage to Jipijapi, Monte Cristi, and the Bay of Caracas. But before leaving Guayaquil some one got knowledge of my having these Testaments, and the demand was so great, that it was almost out of my power to save any of them, although it was my intention to do so, for the other above mentioned parts; and as I had no likely opportunity of forwarding them to Mr. O'Donovan, I thought it best to circulate them, and not to let such a treasure lie hid in darkness; and I am convinced that it is in general considered as a treasure; for with pleasure have I seen, in passing through the streets of Guayaquil, not once or twice, but mostly every day, the shopkeepers, and the poor people who have stalls, read in the blessed Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If I had had ten times as many, I am persuaded I could have sold them all.
On my arrival in this port, (Monte Cristi, latitude 3° south) I had no Testaments, but a few tracts, and some of the instructions of the Lancasterian system of teaching; I gave the latter to different school masters, and likewise a few tracts along with them. A day or two after it was known that I had tracts on board, it was astonishing, but at the same time pleasing, to see both old and young coming after me in the street, and to where I lived, requesting me either to sell or give them one of each kind. There was one tract in particular, which, to my knowledge, was sent twenty leagues to a curate, an acquaintance of mine, and on, my going to some of the inland towns, which I had occasion at times to do, there was always particular inquiry for Tracts and New Testaments. I had once, about four years ago, distributed a few Testaments in Monte Cristi, one or two of which I saw this time. Such is the thirst after the word of God, that the Governor and two or three more, requested me as a particular favour, that I would leave a New Testament I had for my own use, until I should return, and begged and even offered money, so that I would bring either the New Testament or the whole Bible on my return. The Governor, after reading the rules of the Lancasterian plan of teaching, gave orders in my presence to some of the school-masters to conform to some of the rules as near as they could. He seems to be a young man very much inclined to forward anything that tends to promote the education of youth. At this moment I am surrounded with children requesting tracts, but as my stock is small, I am very particular to whom I give them, making every one read a sentence or two before they get a tract.—It gives me infinite pleasure to be thus employed in distributing the word of God to those that hunger and thirst after righteousness; and after the fatigues of the day, I feel refreshed to be thus employed."
The information contained in the above extract is very interesting, and I trust many other instances will be witnessed upon this continent, of a sincere desire to possess, and to read the Holy Scriptures, I shall take care to seize the first opportunity of sending a supply of New Testaments to Guayaquil and parts adjacent. It often occurs to me that it might prove very useful to make journeys through various parts of this country, in order to dispose of the Scriptures to the best advantage, and to the greatest extent possible. I felt much inclined to employ a person in whom I have confidence, in such journeys, but did not like to do so at your expense without orders, and my own funds at present cannot afford it.—I have as yet received no answer to my letter to the Viceroy, and am quite uncertain as to the time I remain here. I had almost forgot to mention to you the safe arrival of the parcel containing the Brief View, in Spanish. Many copies of this have already been circulated, and they have produced a good effect.
I conclude, my dear Sir, by praying that an abundant measure of the Holy Spirit may be poured out upon yourself, and upon all your associates.
Yours very sincerely,
James Thomson.
[1] BSA-D1-2-A. Also in James Thomson. Letters on the Moral and Religious State of South America. (London: James Nisbet, 1827), pp. 151-157.