Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/198

178 were distributed in the different chapels. Of considerable value were also the church vessels, among which a silver baptismal font, and a monstrance of the same metal, especially excited admiration.

Although the viceroy proved himself beyond doubt a man of Christian character, he would not allow the least encroachment of the church upon his prerogatives as the representative of the king. In 1666 a litigation arose between him and the inquisition about a small sum of money which the holy office had forcibly extracted from the royal treasury at Guadalajara under some trivial pretext. Mancera objected, and with the consent of the audiencia, notwithstanding loud protests of the inquisition, obliged the latter to refund the money. Both parties appealed to the king, who after some investigations had been made approved the marqués' conduct. At other times disputes sprang up between him and the clergy about that fruitful source of discord, the royal patronage, but he usually contrived to check their aspirations when too grasping, while on other occasions he would give way if it could be done without prejudice to the crown. He was prompted to the latter course by the king, who while approving his efforts to maintain the royal authority, intimated that he disliked such quarrels, from which, moreover, little benefit was derived.

The viceroy always pursued a conciliatory policy,