'
'The river which runneth with sound bears along with it stones and
water.'
CHAPTER III
THE Gitanos not unfrequently made their appearance in considerable
numbers, so as to be able to bid defiance to any force which could
be assembled against them on a sudden; whole districts thus became
a prey to them, and were plundered and devastated.
It is said that, in the year 1618, more than eight hundred of these
wretches scoured the country between Castile and Aragon, committing
the most enormous crimes. The royal council despatched regular
troops against them, who experienced some difficulty in dispersing
them.
But we now proceed to touch upon an event which forms an era in the
history of the Gitanos of Spain, and which for wildness and
singularity throws all other events connected with them and their
race, wherever found, entirely into the shade.
THE BOOKSELLER OF LOGRONO
About the middle of the sixteenth century, there resided one
Francisco Alvarez in the city of Logrono, the chief town of Rioja,
a province which borders on Aragon. He was a man above the middle
age, sober, reserved, and in general absorbed in thought; he lived
near the great church, and obtained a livelihood by selling printed
books and manuscripts in a small shop.
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