134 BULLS DE CRUZADA DE DEFUNTOS OF COMPOSITION. 



as long as this talismanic paper was in his possession. Besides 

 this, it exempted him from many of the rigorous fasts of the 

 church ; while two of them, of course, possessed double the virtue 

 of one. The "Bull for the dead" was a needful passport for a 

 sinner's soul from purgatory. There was no escape without it 

 from the satanic police, and the poor and ignorant classes suffered 

 all the pains of their miserable friends who had gone to the other 

 world, until they were able to purchase the inestimable ticket of 

 release. But of all these wretched impostures, the " Bull of com- 

 position" was, probably, the most shameful as well as dangerous. 

 It " released persons who had stolen goods from the obligation to 

 restore them to the owner, provided the thief had not been moved 

 to commit his crime in consequence of a belief that he might 

 escape from its sin by subsequently purchasing the immaculate 

 'Bull.' " Nor were these all the virtues of this miraculous docu- 

 ment. It had the power to " correct the moral offence of false 

 weights and measures ; tricks and frauds in trade ; all the obliqui- 

 ties of principle and conduct by which swindlers rob honest folks 

 of their property ; and, finally, whilst it converted stolen articles 

 into the lawful property of the thief, it also assured to purchasers 

 the absolute ownership of whatever they obtained by modes that 

 ought to have brought them to the gallows. The price of these 

 Bulls depended on the amount of goods stolen ; but it is just to 

 add, that only fifty of them could be taken by the same person in 

 a year." 1 



These disgusting details might suffice to show the student how 

 greatly America was oppressed and corrupted by the Spanish 

 government ; yet we regret that there are other important matters 

 of misrule which we are not authorised to pass by unnoticed. 

 Thus far we have considered the direct administration and taxing 

 power of the king and Council of the Indies ; we must now turn 

 to the despotism exercised over the mind as well as the body of 

 the Creoles. 



The holy church held all its appointments directly from the 

 king, though the pope enjoyed the privilege of nomination ; conse- 

 quently the actual influence and power of the Hispano-American 

 church, rested in the sovereign. The Recopilacion de las leyes 

 expressly prohibits the erection of cathedrals, parish churches, 

 monasteries, hospitals, native chapels, or other pious or religious 



1 See Pazo's letters on South America, pages 88, 89, North American Review, 

 art. antec, pages 186 and 187, et Depons. 



