340
HISTORY
OF
THE
MARRANOS
to
the
protracted
emigration
which
had
drained
the
country
of
its
ablest
brains.
The
restoration
of
the
House
of
Braganza,
in
which
the
New
Christians
had
participated
to
a
notable
extent,
marked
the
beginning
of
the
decline
of
the
Inquisition,
which
had
attained
its
greatest
influence
under
Spanish
rule.
The
new
King,
Jodo
IV,
was
reported
(probably
unfoundedly)
to
be
willing
to
allow
freedom
of
conscience
in
the
country,
and
certainly
attempted
to
modify
the
rigor
of
the
Inquisitional
procedure.
He
was
forced
to
forego
this
owing
to
the
impossibility
of
obtaining
con-
firmation
from
Rome;
but
he
was
able
for
a
short
time
to
suspend
the
sequestration
of
the
property
of
persons
accused.
Meanwhile,
the
Inquisition
had
continued
its
activity
with
apparently
unabated
zeal;
and,
as
a
matter
of
policy,
the
King
and
his
family
had
attended
a
series
of
autos
held
at
Lisbon,
in
1642
and
1645.
In
1652
the
poet-statesman,
Manuel
Fernandez
Villareal,
was
relaxed,
notwithstanding
the
favor
which
he
enjoyed
at
Court.
On
June
23,
1663,
an
auto
with
one
hundred
and
forty-
two
penitents
was
held
at
Evora,
in
spite
or
perhaps
because
of
the
fact
that
Don
John
of
Austria
was
occu-
pying
the
city
with
a
hostile
Spanish
force.
From
1651
to
1673,
in
the
three
tribunals
of
the
kingdom,
no
fewer
than
184
persons
were
relaxed
in
person
and
59
in
effigy,
while
4793
were
penanced.
In
1663,
Duarte
da
Silva,
who
had
been
reconciled
eleven
years
earlier,
brought
forward
from
his
refuge
in
London
proposals
for
the
amelioration
of
the
position
of
the
New
Christians
(including,
it
was
reported,
though
with
obvious
exaggeration,
the
establishment
of
an
open
synagogue)
in
return
for
which
he
promised
the
govern-
DECLINE
OF
THE
INQUISITION
341
ment
considerable
subsidies
in
men
and
ships.
Dom
Francisco
de
Mello,
the
eminent
Portuguese
statesman
and
man
of
letters
(himself
apparently
of
Marrano
birth),
threw
the
weight
of
his
influence
into
the
scales
in
favor
of
these
concessions.
They
were
viewed
sympathetically
by
the
Court;
and
the
refugees,
in
London
and
elsewhere,
were
looking
forward
eagerly
to
hearing
the
good
tidings
of
the
release
of
their
imprisoned
kinsmen.
Before
long
the
rumor
reached
the
ears
of
the
Pope,
who
protested
vigorously,
and
with
complete
success.
On
the
death
of
Jodo
IV,
in
1656,
the
Inquisition
set
about
collecting
the
arrears
of
confiscations
of
which
it
had
been
deprived
during
the
last
half-dozen
years.
Within
the
next
quarter
of
a
century,
the
total
reached
twenty-five
millions,
of
which
not
more
than
one-fiftieth
found
its
way
to
the
royal
treasury.
In
1671,
a
pyx
with
a
consecrated
host
was
stolen
from
the
church
of
Orivellas
in
Lisbon.
A
great
commotion
was
caused
throughout
the
country.
The
Court
put
on
mourning.
An
edict
was
actually
signed
banishing
all
New
Christians
(whose
guilt
was
naturally
assumed)
from
the
country.
Before
this
could
be
put
into
execution
a
common
thief
was
arrested
near
Coimbra,
~
with
the
stolen
article
in
his
possession.
Fortunately,
no
Jewish
blood
was
traceable
in
his
veins;
and,
though
he
was
burned,
the
New
Christians
were
saved.
By
this
time,
a
ray
of
hope
had
burst
through
the
clouds.
An
interregnum
in
the
office
of
Grand
Inquisitor
from
1653
to
1672,
though
it
did
not
bring
about
any
decrease
in
the
activity
of
the
Tribunal,
sensibly
lessened
.
its
authority.
Meanwhile,
arms
had
been
taken
up
on
behalf
of
the
New
Christians
by
no
less
a
person
than
Antonio
Vieira,
the
distinguished
Jesuit,
who
had
earned