to be particularly careful not to detain or
maltreat the person or persons who might be attempting to vend it. An
exact description of myself accompanied these orders, and the
authorities, both civil and military, were exhorted to be on their guard
against me, and my arts and machinations; for, as the document stated, I
was to-day in one place and to-morrow at twenty leagues distance. On
receiving this intelligence, I instantly resolved to change for a time my
strategic system, and not to persist in a course which would expose the
sacred volume to seizure at every step which I might take to circulate
it. I therefore galloped back to Madrid, leaving Vitoriano to follow.
It will be as well to observe here, that we sold twenty and odd
Testaments in villages adjacent to Naval Carnero, before the orders had
arrived.

Arrived at Madrid, I lost not a moment in putting into execution the plan
which I had formed. Having an extensive acquaintance amongst the lower
orders, I instantly selected eight of the most intelligent to co-operate
with me, amongst whom were five women. All these I supplied with
Testaments, and then sent them forth to all the parishes in Madrid. I
will at once state the result which, I confess, has more than answered my
expectations. Since my return from Naval Carnero nearly six hundred
copies of the life and words of Him of Nazareth have been sold in the
streets and alleys of Madrid, a fact which I hope I may be permitted to
mention with gladness and with decent triumph in the Lord. There is a
place in Madrid called the Puerta del Sol, which is a central spot,
surrounded with shops, into which the four principal streets disembogue,
if I may be allowed the expression. These streets are the Calle Alcala,
the Calle Montera, the Calle Mayor, and that of Carreta. The wealthiest
of all these is the Calle Montera, where reside the principal merchants
and shop-keepers of Madrid; it is in fact the street of commerce, and is
in many respects similar to the Zacatin of Granada. Every house in this
street is supplied with its Testament, and the same may be said with
respect to the Puerta del Sol; nay, in some instances every individual in
the house, man and child, man-servant and maid-servant, is furnished with
a copy, which we have invariably sold, and never given. My Greek Antonio
has made wonderful exertions in this quarter, and it is but justice to
say that but for his instrumentality, on many occasions,