the three Viceroyalties, Mexico, Buenos Ayres, and Peru; to Caracas, and many other considerable towns, it was denied altogether.
To guard against the importation of books, was, as I before observed, the special province of the Inquisition; and the whole ingenuity of this odious tribunal was exerted, in order to check it: not only were vessels subjected to a vigorous examination upon their arrival in port, but the captains were rendered, personally, responsible for the correctness of the list of the books on board, which they were compelled to give in. In the interior, domiciliary visits were resorted to, and denunciations encouraged amongst members of the same family; with what success, may be inferred from the fact, that, as late as 1807, a Mexican, called Don Jose Roxas, was denounced by his own mother, for having a volume of Rousseau in his possession, and confined for several years in the dungeons of the Holy Office. He was fortunate enough to effect his escape, but died, in 1811, at New Orleans.[1] These instances of extreme severity, however, were rare, and were less felt, because, in theory at least, the jurisdiction of the Inquisition was as extensive in the Mother country as in the Colonies. In practice, its prohibitions were disregarded in both, by the higher classes, who were, in general, acquainted
- ↑ Vide Brackenbridge, who lived in the same house with him, and was in the possession of his papers after his death.
