work, and besides preaching began a course of Bible lectures at a school in the city. By degrees he also was suspected by the Inquisition, which frequently summoned him to explain his conduct. When his friends asked him the reason of his frequent visits to Triana, he replied, "They wish to burn me, but as yet they find me too green." As time went on he began to lose heart, and at length, in order to disarm suspicion, resolved to join the newly-arrived Jesuits. But they had been warned, and refused to receive one who would otherwise have been acceptable enough as a recruit.
At length the Inquisition obtained proof of what they had doubtless long suspected: there existed in Seville a sect of considerable size, whose members met together secretly and had their own organisation and services. They had grown up about Gil and Constantino, had increased rapidly, and had obtained copies of the New Testament from abroad through the activity of one of their members. The detection of this society led to the accidental discovery of a large collection of Constan-tino's writings, in which he had spoken his full mind. He was at once arrested. After a vain denial, he avowed that the books were his, and that they represented his convictions. He was imprisoned in the dungeons of Triana, and died two years afterwards of disease and privation. Meanwhile, the search went on vigorously; and by degrees all was discovered. From the Sanctae Inquisitionis artes aliquot detectae, published under an assumed name in 1567 by a former member of the sect, it appears that more than eight hundred people were proceeded against altogether. They had two centres, the house of Isabel de Baena, "the temple of the new light," the place "where the faithful assembled to hear the Word of God," and the Hieronymite monastery of San Isidro. Led by their prior Garci-Arias, known as Maestro Blanco from his white hair, the friars of San Isidro embraced the new views almost to a man, amongst them being the learned Cristöbal de Arellano, Antonio del Corro, and Cipriano de Valera; they abolished fasts and mortifications, and substituted readings from the Scriptures for the canonical hours. Amongst the lay members of the sect were Juan Ponce de Leon, second son of the Count de Bauen, Juan Gonzales, the physician Cristöbal de Losada, and Fernando de San Juan, rector of the Colegio de la doctrina; above all, there was Julian Hernandez, known to the rest as Julianillo, since he was very small of stature and " no more than skin and bone." But he was a man of fearless courage, and by his means they were able to procure religious books in Spanish, including the New Testament. Juan Ferez, the former rector of the Colegio de la doctrina, had fled from Spain when Gil was arrested; in his exile he had prepared a version of the New Testament, which was published at Venice in 1556. By the courage and resourcefulness of Julianillo two great tuns filled with copies were safely smuggled into Seville, despite the watchfulness of the Inquisition.
