In 1682, it was ordered that books on the several subjects “affecting the interests of the State” (a definition which was of course capable of a very wide range of application) should be submitted to a special council or the department to whose affairs they related. The approbation of such department must be secured before the license could be issued. For instance, a book in regard to the colonies called for the approval of the Colonial Department, and one in regard to commerce or metals had to be submitted to the Department of Commerce. As late as 1757, a law issued by Ferdinand VI, and repeated in 1778 by Carlos III, ordered that all books on medical science must, before being published, secure the approval of a physician selected by the president of the _Protomedicato_. Printers and publishers, under the close supervision of the host of officials who had charge of the printing-offices and bookshops, were practically outlawed. The only printers who had any measure of freedom of action were those who carried on the printing-offices in the religious houses. The Crown could deprive its subjects of their civil rights, but it dared not meddle with ecclesiastical privileges. In 1752, under a royal decree, it is prohibited to import or to sell any books in Spanish written by Spaniards and printed abroad without special royal license; the penalty is death and confiscation. The death penalty could, however, be commuted to four years of _presidio_. With this varied series of obstacles in the way of printing and burdensome charges increasing the cost of publication, it is by no means surprising that the production of books in Spain was, for the three centuries after 1560, inconsiderable as compared with that of the other States of Europe. As Lea says, Spain fell absolutely behind in the development of literature, science, arts, and industry, when human thought seeking expression was surrounded and rendered ineffectual by so many impediments. Carlos III, realising the disadvantage to the community of the hampering of the work of the printing-press, undertook, in 1769, to remove certain of the restrictions. In 1778, he was able to congratulate himself on the increased prosperity of the printing business.