Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/720

700 had attained great predominance, causing even the viceroy and audiencia to lose much of their power and prestige. In 1747 the inquisidor general had issued an ordinance in thirty-four sections intended to avert all disputes on jurisdiction, and to maintain intact the prerogatives of each department of government. That ordinance was, however, often disregarded by the inquisitors of Mexico. Between the year 1600 and the end of the eighteenth century occurred many autos de fé, both particular and general, the records of which have not been completely published. In the latter part of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, the inquisition, which till then had been mainly engaged in persecuting Portuguese Jews, sorcerers, witches, apostate priests, bigamists, and other offenders, found a new and fruitful field among the readers of modern philosophical works, most of which were