PROVINCIAL COUNCILS. 



161 



the church by every pra£licable expedient, after having holden 

 several synods of the dioceses, finally convened a third pro- 

 vincial council, which assembled in 1601. The bishops of 

 Quito and Panama gave their attendance ; but the other pro- 

 vincial bishops sent procurators. It was brought to a speedy 

 conclusion, on this account, that, as it had been made appa- 

 rent, by an experience of eighteen years, that little attention 

 had been paid to the decrees of 1583, instead of making any 

 new provisions, it would be most advisable to try the efFe£l of 

 a gentle exhortation to a compliance with their tenor and pur- 

 port, and, if that should fail, to threaten the refra6tory with 

 the penalties of the church. It was once more recommended 

 to all ecclesiastics, to have in their possession the a6ls of the 

 council of 1583, by which their condu6t should be regulated. 

 That these a6ls had been so much negle6ted, was the neces- 

 sary efFe6l of the disputes between the royal and ecclesiastical 

 tribunals. They had at that time been productive of much 

 warmth and animosity ; and as malignant spirits were not 

 wanting to take advantage of these turbulencies, by espousing 

 alternately the cause of either party, according as it suited their 

 convenience, the archbishop was thus defeated in the accom- 

 plishment of his views, as he himself complained in his letters 

 to Philip IL 



The above are the five provincial councils holden in the 

 capital of Peru ; and are so many testimonies of the zeal which 

 was displayed in those times, for the purity of the faith, the 

 sacred doctrines, and ecclesiastical discipline. Respe6ling 

 the earlier two, it has already been observed, that their de- 

 crees have not been transmitted to us. Of the three latter, 



Y the 



