the climax came about in connexion with the text: 'Out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise.' Castro obstinately
maintained that Vatable's interpretation of this passage was an
interpretation favoured by the Jews against whom he cherished an
incorrigible prejudice. Luis de Leon is reported to have lost patience
at this assertion, and to have said that he would cause Castro's
_Commentaria in Essaiam Prophetam_ to be burnt. Castro, whatever his
faults, was not the man to be cowed by a threat, and he retorted with
the remark that, by God's grace, this should not come to pass, and
that if there were any burning it would be applied rather to Luis de
Leon and his family.[39] Having fired his bolt, but conscious that he
was in a minority on the committee, Castro concluded with the sulky
declaration that he did not propose to attend any further meetings of
that body. He would seem to have changed his mind later on this point,
modestly alleging that he gave way to the insistence of others who
deemed his presence indispensable, on account of his knowledge of
languages.[40] Whatever his linguistic accomplishments, they did not
produce the desired effect, for Vatable's version of the Bible was
passed as revised by the committee of Salamancan theologians in 1571,
though, for some unexplained reason, their revised text was not
published till thirteen years later.

The quarrel between Castro and Luis de Leon soon became public
property. Passions were ablaze in a moment. Parties were formed, and
Castro found much support, especially among the body of
undergraduates, of whom one at least ingenuously described himself as
'del bando de Jesucristo'.[41] There was almost as much tumult in the
University of Salamanca as in Agramante's camp. Even if Castro thought
that the hour of his triumph was at hand, he was too experienced and
too Spanish to be precipitate. He may well have had an inkling that,