With the advance both in royal authority and in the scope and extension of government it was inevitable that the new bureaucracy, which had made its appearance in the modern sense under the Catholic Kings, should increase in the number of its officials and in power until it absorbed a great part of the functions which the kings themselves had formerly exercised in person. Aside from the royal secretaries, the governor-generals (during the absence of the king), regents, and members of the various administrative groups there were often individuals without portfolios who exercised great power as private counselors of the king. Some of the members of the _Consejo Real_ were also prominent in this extra-official way. The importance of the royal secretaries, of whom there were always more than one, was notably great in this period. Whenever one of them became the favorite, the others were nevertheless retained, grouping themselves around the one who had the ear of the king. The office of the latter became a universal bureau and secretariat of state (_Secretaría de Estado y del Despacho Universal_), presiding over the others. [Sidenote: Power of the _Consejo Real_.] Meanwhile, the _Consejo Real_ advanced in power, and new councils were added. The most notable reform in the _Consejo Real_ was its division in 1608 into four sections, or _salas_, respectively of government (_Gobierno_), justice (_Justicia_), “fifteen hundred” (_Mil y quinientos_), and the provinces (_Provincia_). The last three had to do with affairs of justice, while the _Sala de Gobierno_, the most important of the four, was supposed to concern itself mainly with politics and administration. Nevertheless, the variety of functions which had always characterized the _Consejo_ as a whole applied in like manner to each of the _salas_. Thus the _Sala de Gobierno_ handled such widely divergent matters as the extirpation of vice and sin, the economic development of the country, the decision in cases of conflict of laws or jurisdictions, cases of recourse of _fuerza_, the cleaning and improvement of Madrid, questions of peace and war, together with a great number of others. Moreover, many of its functions were judicial in character. Important affairs, especially those on which the king requested advice, were taken up by the _Consejo_ in full (_en pleno_),--that is, by a joint meeting of the four _salas_. While the _Consejo_ had been in origin a purely consultive body, it now acquired the privilege of making suggestions to the king of its own volition and of indicating its objections to any measures he might have taken. It was natural that the decisions, or _autos_, of the _Consejo_ should have great weight, both as affecting matters of justice, and as concerned government and administration in general, since the _Consejo_ might make new laws and annul or dispense with old ones, although of course consulting with the king before publishing its decision. The _autos_ of