The sessions of the audience were held every day, excepting holidays, from nine o'clock in the morning till twelve; and here all cases both civil and criminal were tried, either by the whole of the members or by committees, and there was no appeal, except in some few cases, to the Consejo de Indias. The audience was a court of appeal from any other authority, even from the ecclesiastical courts, by a recurso de fuersa; but all its sentences required the signature of the Viceroy or President; for the obtaining of which, an escribano de camara waited on his excellency every day with all those papers that had received the signatures of the audience and required to be signed by him. Papers addressed to the audience were headed with mui poderoso señor, most potent lord; and the title of the members in session was highness, altesa, individually that of lordship, senoria.
The Cabildo of Lima had two Alcaldes Ordinarios, twelve Regidores, a Sindico Procurador, a Secretary, an Alguacil Mayor and a legal Advisor called the Asesor. The Cabildo appointed out of its own members a Justice of Police, Jues de Policia; a Jues de Aguas, who decided in all questions respecting the water-works belonging to the city and suburbs; also a Fiel Egecutor, for examining weights and measures. The Royal Ensign, Alferes Real was another member de oficio, appointed by the King, who held in his possession the royal standard, (the same that was brought by Pizarro) which was carried by the alferes real, accompanied by the Viceroy, a deputation from the audience, another from the Cabildo, including the two alcaldes, and others from the different corporate bodies, in solemn procession through some of the principal streets of the city, on the 8th of January, being the anniversary of the foundation of Lima. The title of alferes real was hereditary in the family of the Count of Monte Mar, y Monte Blanco.
The Viceroy was President of the Cabildo. The alcaldes had cognizance in all causes cognizable by governors; their sentences had the same force, and were carried by appeal to the audience.
The forms of law in the Spanish tribunals were very complicated, tedious and expensive. The escribano wrote down all declarations, accusations, and confessions, and the courts decided on the merits of the case according to what was read to them by the relator from the writings presented; the client, if in prison, not being admitted to hear his own cause. The tribunals, or judges very reluctantly deprived a man of his life, but they had no regard to his personal liberty; even a supposition of criminality was sufficient to incarcerate an individual, perhaps for years, during which he had not the power to prove himself innocent. From the facility of imprisonment it was not considered a disgrace, and a prisoner often received visits from his friends in a jail, which he returned as a matter of politeness when liberated. I saw prisoners here who had been incarcerated for twenty years, some for murder; their causes were not then and probably never would be finished till death stepped in.
The Viceroy visited all the prisons on the Friday before Easter, and two days before Christmas, when he discharged some persons who were confined for petty crimes. A surgeon and one of the alcaldes visited the prisons every day, which visits produced much good; the alcalde de corte examined their food two or three times a week, and attended to any complaints respecting the internal arrangements made by the alcaide, jailor.
Of the military, not only those who were in actual service, but the militia, and persons who had held military rank, and had retired, were tried by their particular laws, or court martials. This exemption was called fuero, but its enjoyment was not equally extended. The private, the corporal, and the serjeant might be tried, condemned and executed, but the sentence of an officer required the confirmation of the Captain-general, and in some cases the approbation of the King.
The Roman Catholic religion was established here in the same manner as in all the Spanish dominions, all sectaries being excluded. The inexorable tribunal for the protection of the former, and for the persecution of the latter, held its sessions in Lima, and was one of the three instituted in South America, the other two being at Mexico and Carthagena.
Much has been written at different times respecting this Tribunal de la Fe, tribunal of faith, and much more has been said about it, in opposition to the old Spanish adage, de Rey e Inquisicion—chiton, of the King and the Inquisition—not a word. The primitive institution was entirely confined to adjudge matters strictly heretical, but it soon assumed cognizance of civil and political affairs, becoming at the same time the stay of the altar, and the prop of the throne.
All the sessions of the Inquisition being inaccessible, and the persons tried, consulted, or called in as evidence having been sworn to keep secret every thing which they should hear, see, or say, has, in a great measure, deprived the public of any knowledge respecting what transpired in its mysterious proceedings.
This tribunal could condemn to fine, confiscation, banishment, or the flames. Since its erection in 1570, not fewer than forty individuals have been sentenced to the latter punishment, from which one hundred and twenty have escaped by recantation. The last who suffered was a female of the name of Castro, a native of Toledo, in Spain. She was burnt in the year 1761. Formerly the portraits of those unfortunate individuals who had been burnt were hung up, with the names annexed, in the passage leading from the cathedral to the Sagrario, where also the names of those who had recanted were exposed, having a large red cross on the pannel, but no portrait. In the year 1812, as one of the results of the promulgation of the constitution, this revolting exhibition was removed.
The tribunal was composed of three Inquisitors and two secretaries, called of despatch and of secret, del despacho y del secreto; alguasiles, or bailiffs, porters, brothers of punishment, being lay brothers of the order of Dominicans, whose duty it was to attend when requested, and to inflict corporal punishment on the unhappy victims of persecution. There were also brothers of charity, of the Hospitallery order of Saint Juan de Dios, to whom the care of the sick was confided; and both were sworn not to divulge what they had done or seen. Besides these, a great number of commissaries were appointed by the inquisitors, in the principal towns within their jurisdiction, for the purpose of furnishing them with information on every matter denounced; also of forwarding accusations, processes, and persons accused, to the tribunal. Qualifiers were elected, whose duty it was to spy out whatever might appear to them offensive to religion, in books, prints or images; they likewise reported to the tribunal their opinion of new publications. These were wretches worse than slander, for not even the secrets of the grave could escape them!
All books, before they were offered for sale, must have had a permit from the Inquisition; and if they were contained in the published list of prohibited works, the possessor was obliged to go to a calificador, qualifier, and deliver them to him; and should a person have known that another had such books in his possession, it was his duty to denounce the individual, whose house, through this circumstance, was subject to a visit from those holy men. When such books were found, the owner became amenable to any punishment which these arbitrary priests might think proper to inflict. The punishment was generally a fine, which was of the greatest utility to the judges, because all the salaries were paid out of fines and confiscations, and a stipend arising from a canonry in each cathedral within their jurisdiction. It was often said by the people, that some books were prohibited because they were bad; others were bad, because they were prohibited.
The inquisitors were secular priests, and distinguished from the others by wearing a pale blue silk cuff, buttoned over that of the coat. They were addressed as lords spiritual, and when speaking, although individually, used the plural pronoun we.
The inquisitorial power was never exercised over the Indians or negroes, who were considered in the class of neophytes; but every other individual, including the viceroy, archbishop, judges, prebends, &c. was subject to its almost omnipotent authority.
Lima was the see of a bishop from 1539 to 1541, when it was created an archbishopric by Paul IV., being a suffragan to the mitre of Seville till the year 1571. It was afterwards erected into a metropolitan, and has for suffragans the bishops of
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