Brigadier Gonzalez affirmed, that whoever opposed the freedom of the press was a bad Spaniard. This occasioned a warm reply, and one of those altercations followed, which the Cortes was not then so well regulated as to prevent or to cut short. A priest terminated it, by saying, that their first duty was to defend the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman religion, and whatever was contrary to that religion was bad. Then, citing the canons to prove that no work ought to be published without the license of a council, or of a bishop, he inferred that the liberty of the press was contrary to religion. The conclusion was perfectly legitimate, but it was met by an answer not less curious than the argument. “No person,” said Mexia, “will deny that Christianity has existed from the beginning of the world; for though our Saviour was not yet come, those moral precepts, which are the basis of his religion, and which were given by Moses, were written in the heart of man. In like manner, the liberty of the press has existed from the time of Adam; for printing is a mode of writing, and the liberty of doing it is the same, whether it be upon the leaf of a tree, or in wax, or upon paper; and this liberty all men have possessed. The art of printing, therefore, where the liberty of the press was restrained, was an injury to man, inasmuch as it deprived him of this primitive liberty.” There was, however, a great number of members who were by no means prepared to change the opinions in which they had been bred up; and they listened with deep attention to those speakers who maintained that it was both for the interest of the writer and the public, that books should be subjected rather to a previous censure, than to an after responsibility. The result was not less characteristic than the long and animated discussions which preceded it. After declaring that all persons were at liberty to publish their sentiments without any license, the Cortes unanimously admitted an amendment which, by inserting the word political, curtailed this liberty of half its extent: and all writings upon religious matters were left subject to the previous censure of the ecclesiastic authorities, according to the decree of the Council of Trent. Anonymous publication was allowed, but the printer was to put his name and place of abode; and if, in case of an offence against the laws, he did not make known the author, he was to incur the punishment himself. For the purpose of securing the freedom of the press, and providing against its abuse, the Cortes was to appoint a supreme board of censure, composed of nine individuals, who were to reside near the Government; and a similar board of five members in every provincial capital; three of the nine, and two of the five, being secular clergy. The business of the provincial boards was to examine such works as were denounced; and upon their sentence the judges were to suppress the book, and call in the copies which might