V. THE: Administration of

CHAPTER V.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE INDIES.

1492-1526.
COLUMBUS THE RIGHTFUL RULER JUAN AGUADO FRANCISCO DE BOBADILLA

NICOLAS DE OVANDO SANTO DOMINGO THE CAPITAL OP THE INDIES
EXTENSION OF ORGANIZED GOVERNMENT TO ADJACENT ISLANDS ANP
MAIN-LAND RESIDENCIAS GOLD MINING AT ESPANOLA RACE AND
CASTE IN GOVERNMENT INDIAN AND NEGRO SLAVERY CRUELTY TO
THE NATIVES SPANISH SENTIMENTALISM PACIFICATION, NOT CON
QUEST THE SPANISH MONARCHS ALWAYS THE INDIAN S FRIENDS BAD
TREATMENT DUE TO DISTANCE AND EVIL-MINDED AGENTS INFAMOUS
DOINGS OF OVANDO REPARTIMIENTOS AND ENCOMIENDAS THE SOV
EREIGNS INTEND THEM AS PROTECTION TO THE NATIVES SETTLERS
MAKE THEM THE MEANS OF INDIAN ENSLAVEMENT LAS CASAS
APPEARS AND PROTESTS AGAINST INHUMANITIES THE DEFAULTING
TREASURER, DIEGO COLON SUPERSEDES OVANDO AS GOVERNOR AND
MAKES MATTERS WORSE THE JERONIMITE FATHERS SENT OUT
AUDIENCIAS A SOVEREIGN TRIBUNAL is ESTABLISHED AT SANTO DO
MINGO WHICH GRADUALLY ASSUMES ALL THE FUNCTIONS OF AN AUDI-
ENCIA, AND AS SUCH FINALLY GOVERNS THE INDIES LAS CASAS IN
SPAIN THE CONSEJO DE INDIAS, AND CASA DE CONTRATACION LEGIS
IATION FOR THE INDIES.
WE have seen how it had been first of all agreed

that Columbus should be sole ruler, under the crown,
of such lands and seas as he might discover for Spain.
We have seen how, under that rule, disruption and
rebellion followed at the heels of mismanagement,
until the restless colonists made Espaiiola an angusti-
arum insula to the worthy admiral, and until their
majesties thought they saw in it decent excuse for
taking the reins from the Genoese, and supplanting
him by agents of their own choosing. The first of
these agents was Juan Aguado, who was merely a
(247)
248 ADMINISTRATION OF THE INDIES.
commissioner of inquiry. With him, it will be re

membered, Columbus returned to Spain after his
second voyage,
*J O leavingC^
his brother Bartolome in com-
mand. The admiral was permitted to try again; but
on reaching the scat of his government he was unable
to quiet the disturbances which had increased during
his absence. Rebellion had almost reached the dig
nity of revolution, and stronger than the government
were factions whose leaders openly defied the gov
ernor-general, viceroy, and admiral of the ocean sea.
That their Majesties were greatly grieved at this, I
do not say; or that they were displeased that the
rebels, or revolutionists, of Espanola should refer
their troubles to them. But this is certain, that
after another fair trial Columbus was obliged to give
it
up, and to see himself displaced by a person far
worse than himself Perhaps it is true that a knave
WTIS better for the office than an honest man.
Not that Francisco cle Bobadilla may be lawfully
accused of dishonesty; the sovereigns seemed compe
tent to take care of themselves where their revenue
was concerned. And yet he was certainty influenced
in his conduct by no sense of right or of humanity.
He was a man of narrow mind, of ignoble instincts
/ 5
and mean prejudices. He was popular for a time

with the colonists because he was like them, and be
cause lie reduced the royal share of the product of the
mines from a third to an eleventh, and permitted the
dissolute to idle their time and illtreat the natives;
and because he released those whom the admiral had
imprisoned, and enabled Columbus to pay his debts
for which last mentioned measure I have no fault to
find with him.
It was the 21st of March, 1499, that Bobadilla was
authorized to proceed against offenders at Espanola,
but he did not leave Spain until July, 1500, renching
Santo Domingo the 23d of August. The enchain
ing5 of the illustrious discoverer by an infamous a^
1
*/ O cnt,
7
and for no crime, excited universal disgust throughout

NICOLAS DE OVANDO. 249
Christendom; and yet their Majesties seemed in no

haste to depose him; for it was not until the 3d of
September, 1501, in answer to the persistent remon
strances of Columbus, that a change was made, and
the government given to Nicolas de Ovando, who
sailed from Spain the 13th of February following,
and arrived at Santo Domingo the 15th of April,
1502; so that Bobadilla was in office on the island
over a year and a half, long enough to sow the seeds
of much iniquity.
Ovando was a knight of the order of Alcantara,
of neither massive mind nor commanding mien. But
his firm and fluent speech lent strength to his slight
figure and fair complexion, and a courteous manner
made amends for a vanity which in him assumed the
form of deep humility. He was well known to their
Majesties, havingbeen one of the companions of Prince
Juan, and it was thought would make a model gov
ernor. Ample instructions, both written and verbal,
were given
O him before sailing. O The natives should
be converted, but their bodies should not be enslaved
or inhumanly treated. They must pay tribute, and
gather gold, but for the latter they should be paid
wages. There was to be a complete change of soldiers
and officials at Espafiola, that the new government
might begin untainted by the late disorders. Neither
Jews nor Moors might go to the Indies, but negro
slaves, born into the possession of Christians, were to
be permitted passage. For any loss resulting from
Bobadilla must be made the ad
s acts, full restitution
miral, and henceforth his rights of property must be

respected. Columbus might always keep there an
agent to collect his clues, and he was to be treated
with consideration. The idle and profligate were to
be returned to Spain. Except the provinces given to
Ojcda and Pinzon, Ovando s jurisdiction was made
to extend over the Indies, that is to sa}^, over all
all
the New World dominions of Spain, islands and firm
land, with the capital at Santo Domingo, and subor-
>50 ADMINISTRATION OF THE
dinate or municipal governments in the more impor

tant localities. All mining licenses issued by Bobadilla
were to be revoked; of the gold thus far collected
one third should be taken for the crown, and of all
thereafter gathered one half. Supplementing these
instructions with much paternal advice consisting of
minor moralities and Machiavelisms, their Majesties
bade their viceroy God speed and sent him forth in a
truly royal fashion.
There were no less than thirty ships and twenty-
five hundred persons comprising the expedition. Of
the company were Alonso Maldonado, newly ap
pointed alcalde mayor* and twelve Franciscans, with
a prelate, Antonio de Espinal. Las Casas was pres
ent; and Hernan Cortes would have been there but
for an illness which prevented him. There were
seventy-three respectable married women, who had
come with their husbands and children, and who
were to salt society at their several points of distri
bution. It was evident as the new governor entered
his capital, elegantly attired, with a body-guard of
lixty-two foot-soldiers and ten horsemen, and a large

and brilliant retinue, that the colonization of the
New World had now been assumed in earnest by
the sovereigns of Spain. Nor was Ovando disposed
to be dilatory in his duty. He at once announced the
2
residencia of Bobadilla, and put Holdall, ci-devant
1
Chief judge, or highest judicial officer in the colony, to take the place
of Roldan, who was to bo returned to Spain. Irving, Columbus, ii. 331, writes
erroneously alguazii mayor, evidently confounding the two offices. For Las
Casas, JH-it. I /id., iii. 18, says plainly enough: Trujo consigo por Alcalde
mayor un caballero de Salamanca y licenciado, Hamad o Alonso Maldonado.
An alguacil mayor was a chief constable, or high sheriff, a very different
person from a chief judge. These terms, and the offices represented by them,
will be fully explained in another place.
2
As this word will often occur in these pages, and as neither the term nor
the institution it symbolizes has any equivalent in English, I will enter here
a full explanation. Residencia was the examination or account taken of the
official acts of an executive or judicial officer during the term of his residence
within the province of his jurisdiction, and while in the exercise of the
functions of his office. This was done at the expiration of the term of office,
or at stated periods, or in case of malefeasance at any time. The person
making the examination was appointed by the king, or in New World affairs
the Conwjo
*>y
India*, or by a viceroy,
<
< and was called a juez de resi-
iencia. Before this judge, within a given time, any one might appear
KESIDENCIAS. 251
rebel, and later chief judge, under arrest. He built

in Espanola several towns to which arms and other
privileges were given, founded a hospital, removed
and make complaint, and offer evidence against the retiring or suspended
official, who might refute and rebut as in an ordinary tribunal. The resi-
dencia of any officer appointed by the crown must be taken by a judge
appointed by the crown; the residencia of officers appointed in the Indies
by viceroys, audiencias, or president-governors, was taken by a judge
appointed by the same authority. Following are some of the changes rung
upon the subject by royal decrees, the better to make it fit the government
of the Indies. The 10th of June, 1523, and again the 17th of November,
1526, Charles V. decreed that appeal might be made from the judge of resi-
Qtiucia to the Council of the Indies, except in private demands not exceeding
GOO pesos de oro, when appeal was to the audiencia. In 1530 viceroys and
president-governors were directed to take the residencia of visitadores de
Indios that wrong-doing to the natives might not escape punishment and by;
a later law proclamations of residencias must be made in such manner that

the Indians might know thereof. The Ordenanzas de Audiencias of Philip II. of
1503 and 15G7, state that in some cities of the Indies it was customary to
appoint at certain seasons two regidores, who, with an alcalde, acted as
fides ejrcutore*. At the beginning of every year the viceroy, or the president,
\n a city which was the residence of an audiencia, had to appoint an oidor to
tttke the residencia of the fieles ejecutores of the previous year. The same
was to be done if those offices had been sold to the city, villa, or lugar ; but
in such cases it was left to the discretion of the viceroy or president to cause
them to be taken when necessary, not allowing them to become too common
place. Philip II. in 1573, and his successors as late as 1680, directed that in
residencias of governors and their subordinates, when the fine did not exceed
20,000 maravedis, execution should issue immediately; in damages granted
from private demands to the amount of 200 ducats, the condemned was to
give bonds to respond. While an official was undergoing his residencia it
was equivalent to his being under arrest, as he could neither exercise office
nor, except in certain cases specified, leave the place. Thus the law of 1530,
reiterated in 1581, stated that from the time of the proclamation of a resi
dencia till its conclusion alyuacilea mayores and their lenientes should be sus
pended from carrying the varas, or from exercising any of the functions of
office. In 1583, in 1620, and in 1680, it was ordered that such judges of resi
dencia as were appointed in the Indies should be selected by a viceroy and
audiencia, or by a president and audiencia, acting in accord. Salaries of
jueces de residencia were ordered by Felipe III. in 1618 to be paid by the
official tried if found guilty, if not by the audiencia appointing. Before this,
in 1610, the same sovereign had ordered notaries employed in residencias
taken by corregldores to be paid in like manner. The next monarch directed
that ships officers should be subject to residencia in the form of a vlstia; and
in visitas to gale ones and flotas none but common sailors, artillerymen, and
soldiers should be exempt. Carlos II. in 1667 decreed that the residencia
of a viceroy must be terminated within six months from the publication of
the notice of the judge taking it. Felipe III. in 1619, and Carlos II. in
1680, ordered that viceroys and presidents should send annually to the crown
lists of persons suitable for conducting residencias, so that no one might be
chosen to act upon the official under whose jurisdiction he resided. See
Recop. de Indias, ii. 176-89. Of the report of the residencia the original
was sent to the Council of the Indies, and a copy deposited in the archives
of the audiencia. So burdensome were these trials, so corrupt became the
judges, that later, in America, the residencia seemed rather to defeat than to
promote justice, and in 1799 it was abolished so far as the subordinate officers
were concerned.
Santo Domingo to a more healthful site on the

other side of the river, and established a
colony at
Puerto de Plata, on the north side of Espanola, near
Isabela.
Distant eight leagues from Santo Domingo were
the mines where the twenty-five hundred thought
immediately to enrich themselves. For several days
after landing the road wns alive with eager gold
hunters drawn from all classes of the community;
cavalier, hidalgo? and laborer, priest and artisan,
honest men and villains, whose cupidity had been fired
by the display of precious metal lately gathered, and
who were now hurrying forward with hard breath
and anxious eyes under their bundle of necessities.
But there was no happy fortune in store for these
new-comers. The story then new has been oft re
peated since expecting to fill their sacks quickly and
:
with ease, and finding that a very little gold was to

be obtained only by very great labor, they were soon
on their way back to the city, where many of them
fell into poverty, half of them dying of fever.
Poor fools they did not know; their countrymen,
!
those that were left from former attempts, did not tell
them, though Holdan s men, Bobaclilla s men knew
well enough, and in truth the remnant of Ovando s
men were not slow to learn, that the wise man, the wise
and villainous man from Spain, did not work or die for
gold, or for anything else, when there were savages
that might be pricked to it by the sword.
3
Originally written Jijodafyo, son of something. Later applied to gentle
men, country gentlemen perhaps more particularly. Oviedo, ii. 4G6, calls
Diego de Nicuesa hombrc de lirnpia sangre de hijosdalgo, a man of pure gentle
blood. Concerning the origin of the word hidalyr>, Juan de la Puente states
that during the Moorish wars, whenever a large town was captured the king
and
kept it; the villages he gave to captains who had distinguished themselves,
who were called at first ricos homes, and afterward grandes. To minor meri
torious persons something less was given, a portion of the spoils or a grant of
land, but always something; hence their descendants were called fijosdalyos,
hijos /aljo*, or /udalyos, sons of something.
In the Die. Univ. authorities are
colonists -
quoted showing that the word Iddaljo originated with tho Roman
of Spain, called Ildlicos, who were exempt from imposts. Hence those
enjoying similar benefits were called Itdticos, which word
in lapse of time
became ludalijo.
GOVERNMENT OF THE NATIVES. 253
During this earliest period of Spanish domination

in America, under successive viceroys and subordinate
rulers, by far the most important matter which arose
for consideration or action was the treatment of the
aborigines. Most momentous to them it was, cer
tainly, and of no small consequence to Spain. Unfor
tunately, much damage was done before the subject
was fairly understood; and afterward, evils continued
because bad men were always at hand ready to risk
future punishment for present benefits. Spain was
so far away, and justice moved so slowly, if it moved
at all, that this risk was seldom of the greatest.
The sovereigns of Spain now found themselves
calledupon two races in the New World, the
to rule
white and the red. And it was not always easy to
determine what should be done, what should be the
relative attitude of onetoward the other. As to the
superiority of the white race there was no question.
And among white men, Spaniards were the natural
masters; and among Spaniards, Castilians possessed
the first rights in the new lands the Genoese had
found for them.
All was plain enough so far. It was natural and
right that Spaniards should be masters in America.
Their claim was twofold; as discoverers, and as prop
agandists. But in just what category to place the
red man was a question almost as puzzling as to tell
who he was, and whence he came. Several times
the question arose as to whether he had a soul, or
a semi-soul, and whether the liquid so freely let by
the conquerors was brute blood, or of as high proof
as that which ran in Castilian veins. The savages
were to be governed, of course; but how, as sub
jects or as slaves? Columbus was strongly in favor
of Indian slavery. He had participated in the
Portuguese slave-trade, and had found it profitable.
Spaniards enslaved infidels, and why not heathens?
Mahometans enslaved Christians, and Christians
Mahometans. Likewise Christians enslaved Chris-
tians, white as well as black, though it began to be

questioned in Spain whether it was quite proper to
enslave white Christians.
The negro slave-trade was at this time compara
tively a new thing. It was one of the proximate
results of fifteenth-century maritime discovery. The
Portuguese were foremost in it, organizing for the
purpose a company at Lagos, and a factory at Arguin,
about the middle of the century, Prince Henry re
ceiving his fifth. Europe, however, offered no profit
able field for African slave labor, and but for the
discovery of America the traffic probably never would
have assumed large proportions. Public sentiment
was not in those days averse to slavery, particularly
to the enslavement of the children of Ham. And
yet neither Isabella nor Ferdinand was at all dis
posed, in regard to their New World possessions, to
follow the example of Portugal on the coast of Africa.
Though they had scarcely made personal the appli
cation that the practice was one of the chief causes
of Rome s ruin, yet they seemed instinctively opposed
to it in this instance. They did not want these
creatures in Spain, they had no use for ihcî. In
regard to the ancient custom of enslaving prisoners of
war, particularly the detested and chronically hostile
Moors, it was different. This New World had been
given them for a higher purpose. Its natives were
not the enemies of Spain they were innocent of any
;
offence against Spain. It was better, it was more

glorious, there was higher
O O and surer reward in it,
to Christianize than to enslave. This the clergy
constantly urged; so that in Spain the passion for
propagandism was greater than the passion for en
slaving.
Columbus must have been aware of this when in
1495 he sent by Torres, with the four ship-loads of
Indian slaves, the apology to their Majesties that
these were man-eating Caribs, monsters, the legitimate
prey of slave-makers wherever found. Peradventure
SLAVERY. 255
some of them might be made Christians, who when

they had learned Castilian could be sent back ir
serve as missionaries and interpreters to aid in deliv
ering their countrymen from the powers of darkness.
This was plausible, and their Majesties seemed con
tent; but when Columbus pressed the matter further,
and requested that arrangements should be made for
entering extensively into the traffic, they hesitated.
Meanwhile the Genoese launched boldly forth in the
old way, not only making slaves of cannibals but of
prisoners of war; and whenever slaves were needed,
a pretence for war was not long wanting. There
upon, with another shipment, the admiral grows
jubilant, and swears by the holy Trinity that he can
send to Spain as many slaves as can be sold, four
thousand if necessary, and enters upon the details
of capture, carriage, sale, and return cargoes of goods,
with all the enthusiasm of a sometime profitable
experience in the business. Further than this he
permits enforced labor where there had been failure
to pay tribute, and finally gives to every one who
comes an Indian for a slave.
Then the monarchs were angry. "What authority
from me has the admiral to give to any one my vassals !"
exclaimed the queen. All who had thus been stolen

from home and country, among whom were pregnant
women and babes newly born, were ordered returned.
And from that moment the sovereigns of Spain were
the friends of the Indians. Not Isabella alone but
Ferdinands-Charles, and Philip, and their successors
for two hundred years with scarcely an exceptional
instance, stood manfully for the rights of the sav
ages always subordinate however to their own
fancied rights constantly and determinately inter
posing their royal authority between the persistent
wrong-doing of their Spanish subjects, and their
defenceless subjects of the New World. Likewise
the Catholic Church is entitled to the highest praise
for her influence in the direction of humanity, and
25G ADMINISTRATION OF THE INDIES.
for theunwearied efforts of her ministers in guarding

from cruelty and injustice these poor creatures. Here
and there in the course of this narrative we find a
priest carried away by the spirit of proselytism commit
acts of folly and unrighteousness; and men announc
ing as church measures proceedings which when known
in the mother
country received the prompt condem
nation of the church. These men and measures I
shall not be backward to condemn. But it is with
no small degree of pleasure that I record thus early
in this history the noble attributes of the self-sacri
ficing Christian heroes who while preaching their faith

to the savage endeavored to bridle as best
they could
the cupidity and cruelty of the Spanish adventurers
who accompanied them.
After the first invasions, in various quarters, ag
gressive warfare on the natives, even on obdurate
heathen nations, was prohibited. In the extension
of dominion that followed, the very word conquest
was forbidden to be employed, even though it were a
conquest gained by fighting, and the milder term
4
pacification was substituted. Likewise, after the
first great land robberies had been committed, side
by side with the minor seizures^ was in practice the

regulation that enough of the ancient territory should
be left each native community to support it com
fortably in a fixed residence. The most that was
required of the Indians was to abolish their ancient
inhuman practices, put on the outward apparel of civ
ilization, and as fast as possible adapt themselves to
Christian customs, paying a light tax, in kind, nomi
nally for protection and instruction. This doing, they
were to be left free and happy. Such were the wishes
of crown and clergy; for which both strove steadily
4
Por justas causas, y consideraciones conviene, quo cii todas las capitu-
laciones quo se hicicren para imevos descubrimicntos, se excuse esta palabra
conqui.sta, y en su lugar se use de las de pacificacion y poblacion, pues liabi-
eiidoso de hacer con toda paz y caridad, cs nuestra voluntad, que aun esttT
uombre interpretado contra nuestra intencion, no ocasione, ni color a lo
de"
uapitulado, para que se pucdo hacer fuerza ni agravio a los Indios. Recop.
de Idias, ii. 2.
LAWS RESPECTING THE ABORIGINES. 257
though unsuccessfully until the object of their solici

5
tude crumbled into earth.
5
The best proof of the policy of Spain in regard to the natives of the
New World is found in her laws upon the subject. Writers may possibly
color their assertions, but by following the royal decrees through suc
cessive reigns we have what cannot be controverted. The subject of the
treatment of the Indians occupies no inconsiderable space in the Recopilaciori
deLet/esde its India-s. At the beginning of tit. x. lib. vi. is placed a clause of
Isabella s will, solemnly enjoining her successors to see that the Indians were
always equitably and kindly treated ; and this was the text for future legis
lation. And now let us glance at the laws ; I cannot give them all but I ;
can assure the reader they are of one tenor. First of all the natives were
to be protected by the ecclesiastical and civil authorities. They might marry
freely, but always in accordance with Christian usage ; must not be taken to
Spain; must be civilized, Christianized, taught to speak Spanish, and to love
labor, if possible; they might sow seed, breed stock, keep their ancient
market-days, buy and sell at pleasure, and even dispose of their lands,
only the Spaniards were not allowed to sell them arms or alcoholic liquors.
The Inquisition could not touch them, fo in religious matters they were subject
to the bishop s jurisdiction, and in cases of witchcraft to the civil power.
They might have their municipal organizations in imitation of the Spanish
town government, with their alcaldes, fiscales, and regidores, elected from
among themselves to serve for one year, elections to be held in the presence
of the priest. It was made the duty of priests, prelates, all officers of the
government, and in fact every Spanish subject, to watch over and protect
the Indians. Governors and judges were charged under the severest pen- _
alties to see justice done them. Two officers were created at an early day \
for this purpose, those of protector and defcnsor, the former having general
oversight of the natives and their interests, and the latter appearing in their
behalf in court. After a time, when it was thoiight the aborigines could
stand alone, the offices were abolished. But the action was premature, and
in 1589 Philip II. ordered them These officers were appointed by
revived.
the viceroys and president-governors. Indians might appear in courts of law
and have counsel assigned them free of any cost; and even in suits between
the natives themselves there was to be no expense, the fiscal appearing on
one side, and the protector on the othei?. Philip also gave notice in 1593 that
Spaniards who maltreated Indians were to be punished with gi-cater rigor
than for badly treating a Spaniard. This was a remarkable law; it is a
pity the Puritans and their descendants lacked such a one. Indians might
be hired, but they must be paid promptly. They might work in the mines,
or carry burdens if they chose, but it must bo done voluntarily. Enforced
personal service, or any approach to it, was jealously and repeatedly pro
hibited. Indians under eighteen must not be employed to carry burdens.
Let those who sneer at Philip and Spain remember that two centuries after
this England could calmly look on and see her own little children, six years
of age, working with their mothers in coal-pits. There were many ways the
Spaniards had of evading the just and humane laws of their monarchs
instance the trick of employers of getting miners or other laborers in debt to
them, and keeping them so, and if they attempted to run away interpose the
law for their restraint. It was equivalent to slavery. A native might even
sell his labor for an indefinite time, until Felipe III. in 1618 decreed that no
Indian could bind himself to work for more than one year. The law en
deavored to throw all severe labor upon the negro, who was supposed to be
better able to endure it. The black man was likewise placed far below the
red in the social scale. It was criminal for a negro or mixed-breed to have
an Indian work for him, although voluntarily and for pay; nor might an
African even go to the house of an American. The law endeavored to guard
the Indian in his privacy, as well as in his rights. It studied to make the
HIST. CENT. AM., V< L. I. 17
25S ADMINISTRATION OF THE INDIES.
For thesoldier, the sailor, the cavalier, the vaga

bond, the governor, and all their subordinates and
associates, all the Xcw World rabble from viceroy to
menial willed it otherwise, the New World clergy too
lot of the aboriginal as peaceful and comfortable under Christian civilization
as under heathen barbarism. More could not do; it could not do this
it
much; after the pacifying raid through the primeval garden, all Europe
could not restore it. But Spain s monarchs did their best to mitigate the
sufferings caused by Spain s unruly sons. The cacique might hold his place
among his people, and follow ancient usage in regard to his succession, but he
must not enslave them, or inflict upon them the ancient cruel customs, such
as giving Indian girls in lieu of tribute, or burying servants with their dead
masters. And these petty rulers must stay at home and attend to their affairs;
Indians could not leave one pueblo to take up their residence in another, and
caciques could not go to Spain without special license from the king. The
natives were ordered to live in communities, and have a fixed residence, and
their lands were not in consequence to be taken from them. They must not
ride on horseback, for that would make them too nearly equal to the cavalier
in battle they must not hold dances without permission, for then they might
;
plot conspiracies, or give themselves up to servo heathen gods as of old;

they must nob work in gold or silver, an illiberal restriction which lost
to the world the finest of America s arts. Spaniards could not place a
cattle rancho within H
leagues of a native pueblo; or swine, sheep, or goats
within half a league the Indians might lawfully kill cattle trespassing on
;
their lands. In a pueblo of Indians neither Spaniard, nor mulatto, nor negro
should live. Xo traveller might spend the night at the house of a native if
an inn was at hand. No Spanish or mestizo merchant might remain in an
Indian pueblo more than three days, nor another white man more than two
days. Beside the property of individuals each Indian pueblo had some com
mon property, and a strong-box in which the community money and title-
deeds were kept. Caciques must riot call themselves lords of pueblos, as
that detracted from royal preeminence they must be called caciques simply.
;
The cacique must not attempt feudal fashions; he must not oppress his
people, or take more than the stipulated tribute; and he who worked for
the cacique must be paid by the cacique. In criminal matters the jurisdic
tion of caciques over their people could not extend to death or mutilation.
On the other hand a cacique could not be tried by the ordinary Spanish justice
of the peace, but only by the judge of a district. The last four laws were made
by Charles V. in 1538. And beside these were many other edicts promulgated
by the Spanish monarchs during two and a half centuries, notable for their
wisdom, energy, and humanity. By the continued outrages and excesses of
their subjects in the New World the temper of the crown was often severely
tried. Thus was found written by Felipe IV. with his own hand, on a decree
of the council ordering the immediate suppression of all those infamous evils
practised in spite of laws against them, a sentiment which was fully reiterated
by his son Carlos II. in 1GSO: I will that you give satisfaction to me and
to the world concerning the manner of treating those my vassals, so reads
the writing and if this be not done, so that as in response to this letter
;
I may see exemplary punishment meted offenders, I shall hold myself dis
obeyed and be assured that if you do not remedy it, I will. The least omis
;
sions I shall consider grave crimes against God and against me the evil conduct
;
tending as it does to the total ruin and destruction of those realms whose
natives I hold in estimation and I will that they be treated as is merited by
;
Ixvi.; Las C usas, Carta, in Pacheco and Cdrdenas, Col. Doc., vii. 290-338.
DASTARDLY DOIXGS OF OVAXDO. 59
often winking assent. However omnipotent in Spain,

there were some things in America that the sover
eigns and their confessors could not do. They could
not control the bad passions of their subjects when
beyond the reach of rope and dungeon. That these
evil proclivities were of home engendering, having
for their sanction innumerable examples from church
and state, statesmen and prelates would hardly admit,
but it is in truth a plausible excuse for the excesses
committed. The fact is that for every outrage by a
subject in the far away Indies, there were ten, each
of magnitude tenfold for evil, committed by the sov
ereigns in Spain: so that it is by no means wonderful
that the Spaniards determined here to practise a little
sinfulncss for their own gratification, even though their
preceptors did oppose wickedness which by reason of
their absence they themselves could not enjoy.
Though the monarchs protested earnestly, honestly,
and at the length of centuries, their subjects went
their way and executed their will with the natives.
Were I to tell a tenth of the atrocities perpetrated by
Christian civilization on the natives of America, I
could tell nothing else. The catalogue of European
crime, Spanish, English, French, is as long as it is
revolting. Therefore, whenever I am forced to touch
upon this most distasteful subject, I shall be as brief
as possible.
O the crimes of Columbus and Bobadilla, the
Passin^
sins of the two being, for biographical effect, usually
placed upon the latter, let us look at the conduct
of Ovando, who, as Spanish provincial rulers went
in those days, was an average man. He ruled with
victor;and as if to offset his strict dealings with
offending Spaniards, unoffending Indians were treated
with treachery and merciless brutality.
Rumor reaching him that Anacaona, queen of Ja-
ragua, meditated revolt, he marched thither at the
head of two hundred foot-soldiers and seventy horse
men. The queen came out to meet him, and escorted
him with music and dancing to the groat banqueting-

hall, and entertained him there for several days. Still
assured by evil tongues that his hostess intended
treachery, he determined to forestall her. On a
Sunday afternoon, while a tilting-match was in prog
ress, Ovando gave the signal. He raised his hand
and touched his Alcantara cross a badge of honor
it was which, had it been real, should have
called,
shrivelled the hand that for such a purpose touched it.
On the instant Anacaona and her caciques were seized
and a mock trial given them; after which the queen
was hanged, the caciques tortured and burned, and the
people of the province, men, women, and children,
ruthlessly and indiscriminately butchered. Those who
escaped the massacre were afterward enslaved. For
intelligence, grace, and beauty Anacaona was the Isa
bella of the Indies, and there was no valid proof that
she meditated the slightest injury to the Spaniards.
The natives of Saona and Higuey, in revenge for
the death of a chief torn in pieces by a Spanish blood
hound, rose to arms, and slew a boat s crew of eight
Spaniards. Juan de Esquivel with four hundred men
was sent against them, and the usual indiscriminate
hanging and burning followed. It is stated that over
six hundred were slaughtered at one time in one house.
A peace was conquered, a fort built; fresh outrages
provoked a fresh outbreak; and the horrors of the
extermination that followed Las Casas confessed him
self unable to describe. Apassion arose for mutila
tion, and for prolonging agony by new inventions for
refining cruelty. And the irony of Christianity was
reached when thirteen men were hanged side by side
in honor of Christ and his apostles. Cotubano, the
last of tho five native kings of Espaiiola, was taken
to Santo Domingo, and hanged by order of Ovando.
In Higuey were then formed two settlements, Sal-
valeon and Santa Cruz. To take the places in the
Spanish service of the Indians thus slain in Espauola,
forty thousand natives of the Lucayas Islands were
THE LABOR QUESTION. 261
enticed thither upon the pretext of the captors that

they were the Indians dead ancestors come from
heaven to take their loved ones back with them.
Espanola was indeed their shortest way to heaven,
though not the way they had been led to suppose.
When tidings of Ovando s doings reached Spain,
notably of his treatment of Anacaona, Queen Isabella
was on her death-bed; but raising herself as best she
was able, she exclaimed to the president of the council,
I will have you take of him such a residencia as was
"
never taken."
Both the Spaniards and the Indians, as we

seen, were averse to labor. To both it was degrading;
to the latter, killing. And yet it was necessary that
mines should be worked, lands cultivated, and cattle
raised. Else of what avail was the New World?
The colonists clamored, and the crown was at a loss
what to do. In her dilemma there is no wonder the
queen appeared to equivocate; but when in Decem
ber, 1503, she permitted Ovando to use force in bring
ing the natives to a sense of their duty, though they
must be paid wages and made to work as free
"
fair
persons, for so they she committed a fatal error.

are,"
The least latitude was sure to be abused. Under

royal permission of 1501 a few negro slaves from time
to time were taken to the Indies. Las Casas urged
the extension of this traffic in order to save the In
dians. Ovando complained that the negroes fled and
hid themselves among the natives, over whom they
exercised an unwholesome influence; nevertheless in
September, 1505, we find the king sending over more
African slaves to work in the mines, this time about
one hundred. From 1517, when importations from
the Portuguese establishments on the Guinea coast
\vere authorized by Charles V., the traffic increased,
and under the English, particularly, assumed enormous
proportions. This unhappy confusion of races led to
a negro insurrection at Espanola in 1522.
We come now to some of the

results of the tem
porizing policy of Spain always bad one when the
a
subject is beyond the reach of the ruling arm in
regard to the Indians. For out of a desire to avoid
the odium of Indian slavery, and yet secure the bene
fits thereof, grew a system of servitude embodying all
the worst features of absolute bondage, with none of
its mitigations.
It will be remembered that during his second voy
age Columbus made war on the natives of Espanola,
and after sending some as slaves to Spain, imposed a
tribute on the rest; on some a bell-measure of gold,
and on others an arroba6 of cotton, every three months.
So severe was this tax that many could not meet it,
and in 149G service was accepted in place of tribute.
This was the beginning in the New World of the
repcirtimiento? or as it shortly afterward became the
c
Twenty-five pounds. The Spanish pound is a little more than the En-
glish pound. There are four arrobas in a quintal.
1
Repartimiento, a distribution; re/xtrtir, to divide; encomienda, a charge,
a commandery ; encomendar, to give in charge ; encomendero, lie who
holds an encomiencla. In Spain an encomienda, as here understood, was
a dignity in the four military orders, endowed with a rental, and held
by certain members of the order. It was acquired through the liberality
of the crown as a reward for services in the wars against the Moors.
The lands taken from the Infidels were divided among Christian com
manders; the inhabitants of those lands were crown tenants, and life-
rig] its to their services were given these commanders. In the legislation
of the Indies, encomienda was the patronage conferred by royal favor over
a portion of the natives, coupled with the obligation to teach them the
doctrines of the Church, and to defend their persons and property. It was
originally intended that the recipients of these favors were to be the discov
erers, conquerors, meritorious settlers, and their descendants; but in this as
in many other respects the wishes of the monarchs and their advisers did not
always reach the mark. The system begun in the New World by Columbus,)
Bobadilla, and Ovando was continued by Vasco Nunez, Pedrarias, Cortes/
and Pizarro, and finally became general. Royal decrees upon the subject,
which seemed to grow more and more intricate as new possessions were paci
fied, began with a law by Ferdinand the Catholic in 1509, reiterated by Philip
II. in 1080, to the effect that immediately upon the pacification of a province
the governor should divide the natives among the settlers. The natives
thus distributed were held for a term of years, or during the life of the
holder, or for two or more lives that is, during the life of the first holder,
and that of his heir, and perhaps that of his heir s heir, or until the king
should otherwise decree. 8olor::nno, DdndiarumJure, ii. lib. ii. cap. i. Acosta,
;
]}?. J I ml., iii. cap. x. When by this course three fourths of certain
r<-//r.
populations had been recommended to their death, at the representation

of Las Casas, the king in 1./J3 decreed that as God our lord had made
the Indians free, they must not be enslaved on this or any other pretext;
and therefore we command t.?\i.t it !:o done no more, and that those
R^PARTIMIENTOS AND ENCOMIENDAS. 263
encomienda, system, under which the natives of a con

quered country were divided among the conquerors,
recommended to their care, and made tributary to
them.
already distributed be set at liberty. Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 10. But by
this abolition the destruction of the colonies was threatened. Petition
followed petition for the restoration of the system, until the king finally
yielded, tiolorzano, Politico, Indiana, i. 223. In 1542 encomiendas were again
abolished, and again the king was obliged to restore them. Meanwhile
every effort possible was made by the crown to prevent abuses. The enco-
mendero must fultil in person the intention of the law. He must not leave
without permission from the governor, and then his duties must be dele
gated to a responsible agent. If away for four months without permission,
his encomienda was to be declared vacant. The encomendero must not hire
out any natives, or pledge them to creditors, under penalty of loss of Indians
and a fine of 50,000 maravedis. No one could appropriate any natives except
those legally assigned. When it was seen how those in office misused their
power, in 1530, in 1532, in 1542, in 1551, and in 1503 all civil and ecclesias
tical functionaries were forbidden to hold encomiendas; but in 1544 Philip II.
excepted from this prohibition tenientes de gobernadores, correyidorcs, and al
calde* mayores de pueblos. Indians should not be given in encomienda to the
daughters of royal officials, or to sons unless married. It was just and reason
able that the savages should pay the Spaniards tribute, for so God had ap
pointed, so the pope had ordained, and the king had commanded; but it
was the collection of this tribute only, and not the deprivation of liberty, or
of any personal rights, that the encomienda was intended to cover. And for
this tax, which whosoever enjoys the boon of civilization must surely pay,
the vassal was to receive protection, and the still more blessed boon of
Christianity. Nor must this impost under any consideration be made burden
some.
The manner of making assessments was minutely defined by edicts of
Charles V. at divers dates from 1528 to 1555, and of Philip II. from the be
ginning to the end of his reign. In substance they were as follows. The
king made responsible to him the viceroys, and the presidents and audiencias,
who, by the aid of a commissioner and assessors, fixed the rates in their re
spective districts. The assessors having first heard a solemn mass of the Holy
Ghost, in order to enlighten their understanding that they might justly regard
the value of the rental and equitably determine the rate, they were to swear
with all solemnity before the priest this to do without bias. They were per
sonally to inspect all the pueblos of the province, noting the number of settlers
and natives in each pueblo, and the quality of the land. They were to ascer
tain what the natives had originally paid to their caciques as tribute, and
never make the new rate higher, but always lower, than the old one. For
surely they should not be worse off in serving Spain than in serving their
heathen lords. After thus carefully examining the resources and capa
bilities of the tributaries, and never infringing on the comfort of the women
and children, the assessors should fix the rate according to God and their
conscience. The natives might pay in money if they preferred, but pay
ment should be required only in kind, in whatever produce grew on their
lands. They must not be required to raise anything specially for this pur
pose; and from not over two or three kinds of produce should tribute be
taken; a few chickens, or a pig or two, need not be counted at all. It was
the intention of the monarchs that from a tenth to a fifth might in this way
be taken, though the encomendero too often managed to get twice or thrice as
much, or all the natives had. The Indians must be made to understand how
the appraisement was made, and that it was not done in the interests of the
Spaniards alone. Then the assessor must put in writing what each had to pay,
and leave the original with the cacique, giving one copy to the encomendero,
The theory was that the Indians were the vassals

of Spain, no more to be imposed upon than other
Spanish subjects. The sovereigns wishing to stimu
late discovery, pacification, and settlement, were willing
to waive their right to the tribute due the crown in
favor of enterprising and meritorious persons, who had
taken upon themselves the hardships incident to life in
and sending one to the Council of the Indies, or to the viceroy, or to the au-
diencia. For the encomendero to practise extortion, or demand more than
the schedule called for, there were pronounced the severest penalties, even to
the loss of the encomienda and half his goods. Natives voluntarily coming
forward and entering in encomienda were excused from paying tribute for ten
years and, in any event, for the first two years after congregating in pueblos
;
but one half the usual tribute could be legally exacted. Males were taxed
after the eighteenth year caciques, elder sons, women, and alcaldes in office
;
were exempt. After the gift, the encomienda was the property of the enco
mendero, not to be taken from him before the expiration of his term without
cause. In every encomienda there must be a church, and where there was
none, the natives must be stimulated to build one, the priest to be paid out
of the rental. In every pueblo of 100 or more natives, two or three must be
taught to sing, so that they might act as choristers; also a native sacristan
these to bo exempt from tribute. In 1568 Philip II. ordered that no encomen
dero should receive a rental of over 2000 pesos; any excess was to be returned
to the crown and employed as pensions. The same monarch directed in 1573
that when an encomienda fell vacant, a viceroy or governor might, if he deemed
best, appropriate the rental to benevolent objects, and defer granting it again
till the king s pleasure should be known. And again, in 1583, that the en
comendero must have a house of his own, built of stone for purposes of de
fence, in the city of his residence; and lie must keep his family "there, lie
should maintain no house in the town of the Indians, nor should he have any
building there except a granary. In 1592 it was decreed that Indians in cn-
comionda could be given to none but residents in the Indies. When an enco
mienda became vacant, so it was decreed in 1594 and subsequently, the fact wa ?
advertised for from twenty to thirty days, during which time applicants might
prefer their respective claims, and recite services rendered the crown by them
selves or their ancestors. Preference was always to be given to the descendants
of discoverers and settlers. Two or three small encomiendas might sometimes
be joined in one. And never might religious training be forgotten; when tlio
rental was not sufficient for the support of the encomendero and the instruc
tor, the latter must have the revenue. Felipe III. in 1002, 1011, 1616, 1618,
and 1620, decreed that as a rule but one encomienda could be held by one
pel-son; still more seldom could one be given up and another taken. There
was to be no such thing as commerce in them. They were a trust. Much
evil had arisen from dividing encomiendas, and it should be done no more.
Felipe IV. in 1655 ordered that governors under royal commission and those
named by the viceroy a7 -inter! HI, might give Indians in encomienda, but alcalde
ordiimrios holding temporarily the office of governor were not allowed this
privilege. Itecop. de Indicts, ii. 249-284 and passim. Finally, toward the close
of the seventeenth century, the monarchs, becoming more and more straitened
in their need of money, ordered that encomenderos should pay a portion of thei 1
revenue to the crown; then a larger portion was demanded; and then the whol>
of it. In 1721 the system came to an end. But after endeavoring tw

f:>r >
hundred years to get back what they had given away, the monarchs foun
there was nothing left of it, the natives having by this time merged wit
sometimes slightly whitened skins into the civilized pueblos.
THE PARTITION SYSTEM. 205
a new country. At first in certain instances, but later

to an extent which became general, they settled this
tribute upon worthy individuals among the conquerors
and colonists and their descendants, on condition that
those who thus directly received a portion of the
royal revenue should act the part of royalty to the
people placed temporarily in their care. They were
to be as a sovereign lord and father, and not as a
merciless or unjust taskmaster. They were to teach
their wards the arts of civilization, instruct them in
the Christian doctrine, watch over and guide and
guard them, and never to restrict them in the use
of their liberties, nor impose burdens on them, nor
in any way to injure or permit injury to befall them.
And for this protection they were neither to demand
nor receive more than the legal tribute fixed by the
royal officers, and always such as the natives could
without distress or discomfort pay. What the sj^stem
was in practice we shall have ample opportunity of
judging as we proceed in this history. Suffice it to
say here that to the fatherly-protection part of their
compact the colonists paid little heed, but evaded the
law in many ways, and ground the poor savages under
their iron heel, while the crown by ordering, and
threatening, earnestly but vainly sought to carry
out in good faith and humanity what they deemed a
sacred trust.
First, repartimientos of lands were authorized by
the sovereigns. This was in 1497, and nothing was
then said about the natives. But after dividing the
land it was but a step to the dividing of the inhab
itants. With the shipment of six hundred slaves in
1498, and an offer to their Majesties of as many more
as they could find sale for, Columbus wrote asking
permission to enforce the services of the natives until
settlement should be fairly begun, say for a year
or two; but without waiting for a reply he at once
began the practice, which introduced a new feature
into repartimientos. Then to all who chose to take
them, to Roldan and his followers, to the worst char

acters on the island, among whom were the late
occupants of Spanish prisons, the vilest of human
kind,was given absolute dominion over these helpless
and innocent creatures. Having paid nothing for
them, having no pecuniary interest in them, they had
no object in caring whether they were fed or starved,
whether they lived or died, for if they died there were
more at hand upon the original terms.
Under Bobadilla the infamy assumed bolder pro
portions. Columbus had apportioned to certain lands
certain natives to labor for the benefit of Spaniards,
but they worked under their cacique. Natives were
forced by Spaniards to work mines, but only under
special monthly license. Bobadilla not only per
mitted the exaction from the natives of mining and
farming labor, but all restrictions were laid aside, and
from working their own soil they became mere labor-
gangs to be driven anywhere. Before sailing for the
New World Ovando had been charged by the sov
ereigns with the exercise of extreme moderation in
levying tributes and making repartimientos. Those
who came with him not only failed in mining, but
neglected to plant, as did likewise the natives, think
ing thereby the quicker to rid themselves of the
invaders. Hence famine, engendering new diseases,
was at hand for both white men and red. Then the
Indians were systematically parcelled among the Span
iards, to one fifty, to another one hundred, and the rc-
partim lento unfolded into the encomienda. Columbus
and Bobadilla had each endeavored to fasten Indian
slavery upon the New World, but this legalizing by
Ovando what had been illegally done by them, was
the heaviest blow in that direction. "To you is given
an encomienda of Indians with their chief; and you
are to teach them the things of our holy Catholic
faith,"
was the thin subterfuge by which this foul act
was accomplished.
In 1508 was sent to Santo Domingo as treasurer-
THE KING S STRONG BOX. 267
general Miguel de Pasamonte to supersede Bernar

dino de Santa Clara, who had received the office of
treasurer from Ovando. Santa Clara loved display
and lacked honesty. Using freely the king s money
he bought estates, and gave feasts, in one of which
the salt-cellars were filled with gold-dust. This folly
reaching the king s ears, Gil Gonzalez Davila, of whom
we shall know more presently, was sent to investi
gate the matter, and found Santa Clara a defaulter
to the extent of eighty thousand pesos de oro. His
property was seized and offered at auction. Ovando,
with whom Santa Clara was a favorite, stood by at
the sale, and holding up a pineapple offered it to the
most liberal bidder, which pleasantry was so stimulat
ing that the estate brought ninety-six thousand pesos

de oro, more than twice its value. Afterward the
plan was adopted of having three locks upon the gov
ernment s strong-box, the keys to which were carried
8
by the three chief treasury officials. Pasamonte was
an Aragonese, in the immediate service of Ferdinand,
with whom
he corresponded in cipher during his
residence in the Indies. A
very good repartimiento
of Indians was ordered by the king to be given the
faithful Pasamonte. In 1511 Gil Gonzalez Davila
was made contador of Espanola, and Juan de Am-
pues factor to each were given two hundred Indians,
;
and they were ordered to examine the accounts of the

treasurer, Pasamonte. For the faithful must be kept
faithful by the strictest watching; such was Spanish
8
It was decreed by the emperor in 1555 that the Casa de ContratAicion
should have an area de tres Haves, a chest of three keys ; after which the gov
ernment strong-box became common in Spanish America. It was usually in
the form of a sailor s chest, of heavy wood bound with brass or iron, and
having three locks fastening the lid by hasps. The strong-box of the India
House, the law goes on to say, must remain in the custody of the treasurer,
who was responsible for its safe keeping. One of the keys was held by the
tcsorero, one by the contador, and one by the factor. Out of the hand of any
one of these three royal officers his key could not lawfully go ; and no one
but they might put into the chest or take out of it any thing, under penalty,
on the official permitting it, of four times the value of the things so handled.
In this box were kept, temporarily, all gold, silver, pearls, and precious
stones that came from the Indies on the king s account, or were recovered for
him by suits at law brought before the India House in Spain. Recop. de
fndias, iii. 17.
discretion, whether in the management of men or

women.
The removal of Ovando was delayed by the death

of Isabella in 1504, and of Columbus in 1506. After
persistent importunities Diego Colon, son of the ad
miral, was permitted in 1508 to plead in the courts
of Spain his claim, as his father s successor, to the
viceroyalty of the Indies. His marriage, meanwhile,
with Maria de Toledo, a lady of high birth and con
nection, assisted in opening the eyes of the law to
the justness of his demands, fully as much as did
any argument of counsel. Ovando was recalled and
Diego authorized to take his place.
The new governor, accompanied by his wife, his
brother Fernando, his uncles Bartolomo and Diego,
and a retinue brilliant with rank and beauty, landed
at Santo Domingo in July, 1509. Although Ferdi
nand had withheld the title of viceroy, Diego evi
dently regarded his appointment nothing less than a
viceroyalty, although the two mainland governors,
Alonso de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa, for the prov
inces east and west of Uraba, remained independent
of him.
Diego s administration was but little if any im
provement on those of his predecessors. He possessed
neither the ability nor the prudence of Ovando. He
had intended equity and honesty in his rulings, and
exceptional kindness to the natives; notwithstanding
which he began by granting repartimientos to him
self, his wife, and kindred, and giving the best of the
remainder to his favorites. So that the now standard
evils of favoritism and cruelty were in no wise miti
gated. Not only were the Indians no better used

than formerly, but falling into the errors of his father
in the management of men Diego s weak government
soon found opposed to it a faction at whose head was.,
the powerful Pasamonte. Charges of a serious nature
against the son of the Genoese so frequently reached
THE SOVEREIGN TRIBUNAL. 269
Spain that in 1 5 1 1 the king found it necessary to estab

lish atSanto Domingo a sovereign tribunal to which
appeals might be made from the decisions of the gov
ernor. This tribunal which at first was only a royal
court of law, superior to any other colonial power, was
the germ of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo
by which the greater part of the Indies, islands and
firm land, were governed for a period subsequent
to 1521. It was at first composed of three jueces de
apelacion, or judges of appeal, Marcelo de Yillalobos,
Juan Ortiz de Matienzo, and Liicas Vazquez de Ai-
llon. These licenciados, having brought with them
instructions from Spain, and also orders on Diego
Colon for partitions of land and two hundred Indians
each, in 1511 were ready to rule. They were em
powered to hear and determine appeals from the gov
ernor, his tenientes and alcaldes may ores, and from any
other judges that had been or should be appointed
either by the colonial governor or by the crown,
appeal from their decision being only to the Council
of the Indies in Spain. Although from its creation
clothed with many of the powers of an audiencia, it
did not all at once possess that title, but gradually
assumed it. 9 By decree of September 14, 1526, we
find the emperor ordering that in the city of Santo
Domingo there should reside the Audiencia y CJian-

cillerta Real, como esta fundada," as at present
"
constituted. It was to consist of a president; four

oidores, who were also alcaldes del crimen, or criminal
9
0viedo, i. 103, says that when the Jeronimite fryirs arrived a few days
before Christmas, 1516, the jueces de apelacion ya se llamaban oydores, e su
auditorio ya se decia audiencia Real. Herrera, ii. ii. iv., treating of the
instructions given the Jeronimites remarks, that it was ordered also that the
jueces de apelacion should be submitted to residencia. After that he writes
jueces de apelacion, and audiencia indifferently. Las Casas, Hist. Ind., v. 45,
treating of events in 1518-20, says jueces de apelacion; relating the occur-
rencesof 1521, 165, 177, he writes audiencia, and cuatro oidores. Writing
the king August 30, 1520, Pacheco and Cardenas, Col. Doc., xiii. 332-48, the
court styles itself Real Audiencia, the members signing the communication.
In Pacheco and Cdrdenas, Col. Doc., xiv. 568, the presidents of this audiencia
are given as Luis de Figueroa, 1523; Sebastian Ramirez in 1527; Fuente
Mayor in 1533; Maldonado in 1552; Alonso Arias de Herrera in 1560; and
in 1566 Diego de Vera, who was sent to Panama as president when he was
succeeded by Doctor Mcjia.
judges; a fiscal, a prosecuting officer in this case; an

alcjuacil mayor, or high sheriff; a teniente de gran can-
cillcr, or deputy grand chancellor, and other necessary
officers. Indeed, beside some of the other officers, a
president had already been provided in 1521, in the
person of Luis do Figueroa, bishop of Concepcion.
Francisco de Prado was appointed fiscal in 1523, at
which time the salaries of the oidores were raised,
as they had been deprived of the right of holding
Indians. All appeals from the jueces de residencia,
where the amount involved was less than six hundred
pesos de oro, were thereafter referred to this tribunal.
Alonso cle Zuazo took his seat among the oidores
in 152G. To the audiencia of Santo Domingo was
given for its district the West India Islands; and on
the mainland the governments of Venezuela, Nucva
Anclalucia, Rio de llacha, and Guayana, or el Dorado,
this district being bounded by those of the audiencias
of the Nuevo Reino de Granada, Tierra Firme, Gua
temala, Nueva Espaiia, and the provinces of Florida,
The president was empowered to make such ordi
nances as he should deem essential to the good gov
ernment and defence of the island, just as was done,
within their jurisdiction, by other governors of Indian
provinces. He might fill vacancies in the variou:-
subordinate offices until the pleasure of the kin;,
should be known, and he might do generally all
things pertaining to the executive power. In these
matters the oidores were forbidden to interfere; nor
could the president exercise judicial functions, but
must nevertheless si^n O with the judges
O all sentences.
t/
In other respects this tribunal was on an equal footing

with others of its class. 10
10
The word awliciicia, from audire, to hear, has a variety of signification.:.
in Spanish; meaning, namely, the act of hearing, the tribunal, the court
room and building, and finally, jurisdiction. Oidor, he who hears, comes
from the same root, but is now applied only to the magistrate of an audi
encia. The more important general laws governing audiencias in the New
World were the following. In 1528 the emperor ordered, and the decree was
reiterated in 1548, 1509, 1575, and 1589, that each audiencia should make a
tariff of fees of notaries and other officers, which must not exceed five times
those in Spain. In 1530 the mandates of this tribunal were made of equal
AUDIEXCIAS. 271
Meanwhile the most disturbing question in the col

ony was that of labor. To govern the few Spaniards
at Espaiiola, under the arbitrary system of Spain, was
force with those of the king himself. Should any one demand it, decisions in
civil suits were to be rendered in one case before another was begun ; suits
of poor persons always to have preference in time of hearing. Even dis
senting judges must sign the decision, making it unanimous. On the first
business day of each year, all the members and officers being present, the laws
governing audiencias should be read. In 1541 the emperor ordered that in
first instance alcaldes, regidores, alguaciles may ores, and escribanos should
not be brought before the audiencia ; in each pueblo one alcalde should have
cognizance of what affected the other, and both of matters concerning its
other officers. In 1540, and many times thereafter, the audiencia was
charged to look to the welfare of the natives, to watch narrowly the con
duct of governors and other officials, and to punish excesses. While in Octo
ber, 1545, the emperor was at Malines, hence known as the law of Malinas,
directions were given for procedure in cases of claims of Indians. Me/ior
cuantid in suits was fixed at 300,000 maravedis; not exceeding this amount
two oidores might decide; also in suits of mayor cuantia, except at Lima and
Mexico where three votes were necessary as in Spanish law. It was ordered
in 1548 that audiencias must not meddle with questions of rank and pre
cedence. In 1551, Saturdays and two other days in the week were set aside,
there being no suits of poor persons, for hearing disputes between Indians,
and between Indians and Spaniards. More capos de cortc, that is important
suits taken from lower courts, were not to be admitted by an audiencia of
the Indies than was customary in Spain. This was in 1552, and repeated in
1572. In 1553 it was ordered that any person having a grievance against a
president or viceroy might appeal to the audiencia, the accused officer being
forbidden to preside at such times. If the president was a bishop he was not
permitted to adjudicate in matters ecclesiastic. Six years later all petitions
presented were to be admitted. Philip II. in 1561 ordered that suits of the
royal treasury should have precedence over all others. The year 15G3 was
prolific in regulations for the audiencia. Where the president of an audiencia
was governor and captain-general, the tribunal should not meddle in matters
of war, unless the president was absent, or unless specially directed by the
crown. In the city where the audiencia is held there must be an Audiencia
)
House, and the president must live there, and keep there the royal seal, the
registry, the jail, and the mint; in this house must be a striking clocks
and if there be no such building provided, the residence of the president
shall in the mean time be so used. On every day not a feast-day the
audiencia must sit at least three hours, beginning at 7 A. M. in summer, and
8 A. M. in winter, and at least three oidorcs must be present. Audiencias
must not annul sentences of exile or, unless bonds for payment are given,
;
grant letters of delay to condemned treasury debtors. The majority decide.

The governor, alcalde mayor, or other person refusing obedience to any mandate
of the tribunal must be visited by a judge and punished. In exceptional
cases only the audiencia might touch the royal treasury. Each audiencia must
keep a book in which was to be recorded where the amount in question was
over 100,000 maravedis, or, in other important cases the verdict of each
oidor; and the president must swear to keep secret the contents of this book
unless ordered by the king to divulge the same. A book should also be kept
in which was to be entered anything affecting the treasury; and another the
fines imposed. Audiencias could appoint only to certain offices. Philip II.
further ordered during the subsequent years of his reign, that audiencias
must keep secret the instructions from the crown that they must not in
;
terfere with the lower courts, or with the courts of ecclesiastics, except in
cases provided by law, but rather aid them ;
that they should register the
a small matter; but to divide amon^ O them lands,

cultural and mineral, and laborers in such a way as to
satisfy at once the colonists and the many tender and
names of persons coming from Spain, with their New World address; that
with such matters as. residencias, compelling married men to live with
their wives, and the estates of deceased persons, presidents and viceroys
should not intermeddle, but leave them to the other members; that they
should use no funds resulting from their judgments, but draw on the treasury
for expenses; that when an audiencia was to be closed, a governor should be
appointed with power to continue and determine pending suits, but he
should institute no new suits, and appeals lie to the nearest audiencia that
;
they should not make public the frailties of ecclesiastics, but examine charges
against them in secret ; that royal despatches for the audiencia must not be
opened by the president alone, but at an acuerdo, and in presence of the
oidores and fiscal, and if thought necessary the escribano de cdmara must be
present; and that they must not remit to the Council of the Indies trivial
matters for decision. In subsequent reigns during the seventeenth century
it was at various times decreed that a president might impeach an oidor
before the Council of the Indies, though he could not send him to Spain, but
no oidor might impeach his president except by royal command ; that audi-
encias should exercise their functions in love and temperance, especially
during a vacancy in the office of president or viceroy that in their visits to
;
the jail the oidores should not entertain petitions of those condemned to
death by the ordinary justices in consultation with the criminal section
of the audiencia, nor should they on such visits take cognizance of anything
not specially confided to them ; that they should not legitimize natural
children, but refer such cases to the Council of the Indies; that each year
the pi esidcnt should designate an oidor to oversee the officers and attaches
and punish their faults; that no favoritism should be shown appointees of
viceroys or presidents; one oidor might transact business, if the audiencia
were reduced to that extremity; in arriving at a decision the junior member
should vote first, then the next youngest, and so on up to the senior member.
This from the Recopilacion de las Indicts, i. 323-70. In the Politico, Indiana
of Solorzano, ii. 271-82, may be found how the audiencias of America dif
fered from those of Spain. Larger powers were given the former by reason
of their distance from the throne. They were given jurisdiction in the
residencias of the inferior judiciary; they could commission pesquisidores, or
special judges, and order execution to issue where an inferior judge had neg
lected to do so. They had cognizance in matters of tithes, of royal patron
age, patrimony, treasury matters, and jurisdiction; they could even fix the
fee-bill of the ecclesiastical tribunals, settle the estates of bishops, retain
apostolic bulls which they deemed prejudicial to the royal patronage, and
they could watch and regulate the conduct of all ecclesiastical officials. In
making appointments the viceroy was obliged to take the opinion of the
audiencia. Persons aggrieved might appeal from the viceroy to the audi
encia. On the death, absence, or inability of the viceroy the senior oidor
stood in his place. None of these powers were given audiencias in Spain.
This and kindred subjects are treated at great length by Solorzano y Fcreira,
who was a noted Spanish jurist, born at Madrid in 1575. lie studied at
Salamanca, and in 1009 was appointed by Felipe III. oidor of the audi
encia of Lima. Later he became fiscal and councillor in the Conwjo de Jlad-
end, a, the Conscjo India*, and the Conscjo dc. Ca-xtilla.
<lc. He published sev
eral works on jurisprudence, the most conspicuous being Disquisitiones de
Indiarum jure, 2 vols. folio, Madrid, 1029-31). It was reprinted in 1777, an
editionmeanwhile appearing in Lyons in 1072. A Spanish translation by
Vaienzuela was published at Madrid in 1048, and reprinted in 1770. I have
used both the Latin edition and the Spanish, but the latter is preferable.
END OF DIEGO COLON. 273
enlightened consciences in Spain, in such a way as to

prevent the utter ruin either of colonial enterprise or
of the natives themselves, was indeed a difficult task.
In 1509 possession had been taken of Jamaica by
Juan de Esquivel, and toward the end of 151 1 11 the
governor of Espafiola had sent Diego Velazquez to
occupy Cuba, which was done without the loss of a
Spaniard. Ojeda and Nicuesa having failed in col
onizing Darien, the mainland in that vicinity was
offered by the king in 1514 to the adelantado, Earto-
lome Colon, but he was then too ill to accept the
charge, and died not long after. In April, 1515,
Diego Colon embarked for Spain; and we find him
attempting his vindication at court, when Ferdinand
died, the 23d of January, 15 1G. Cardinal Jimenez,
who held the reins of Spanish government for a time,
refused to decide between the governor and treasurer;
but in 1520 the emperor directed Pasamonte to molest
Diego no more. Then affairs at Espafiola became
more intolerable than ever, and in 1523 Diego was
divested of authority by the Council of the Indies,
the sovereign tribunal at Santo Domingo furnishing
The work is a commentary on the laws of the Indies, wonderfully concise for
a Spanish lawyer of that period, and was of great utility at a time when
those laws were in chaotic condition.
To conclude my remarks on audiencias in America I will only say that
ultimately their number was eleven and one at Manila, which, like that of
;
Santo Domingo, had a president, oidores, and a fiscal, and exercised executive
as well as judicial functions. The eleven, including that of Santo Domingo,
were those of Mexico and Lima, each being presided over by a viceroy, and
having 8 oidores, 4 alcaldes del crimen, and 2 fiscales and those of Guate
;
mala, Guadalajara, Panama, Chile, La Plata, Quito, Santa Fe, and Buenos
Ayres. These several audiencias were formed at different times soon after
the establishing of government in the respective places. See further, Monte-
mayor, Svmarios, 110-11 ; Revue Americaine, i. 3-32; Zamora y Coronado, Bib-
llotecade Legislation Ultramarina, passim.
11
Irving says 1510. I cannot undertake to correct all the minor errors
of popular writers, having neither the space nor the inclination. It would
seem that in the present, and like instances, of which there are many, the
mistake springs from an easy carelessness which regards the difference of a
year or two in the date of the settlement of an island as of no consequence;
for Las Casas, and other authorities who agree better than usual in this case,
were before Mr Irving at the time he entered in his manuscript the wrong
date. Important and sometimes even unimportant discrepancies of original
or standard authorities will ahvays be carefully noted in these pages. What
I shall endeavor to avoid is captious criticism, and the pointing out of insig
nificant errors merely for the satisfaction of proving others in the wrong.
HIST. OEN. AM., VOL. I. 18
ample information of a condemnatory character. Diego

succeeded, however, in having a commission appointed
to examine the matter more carefully, but this tended
only to further complications and the last clays of the
;
son, which ended in 1526, were not more happy than

12
those of the father had been.
A steadily growing character, impressing itself more

and more upon the affairs of the Indies as time went
by, was that of Bartolome de las Casas. Born at
Seville in 1474, he conned his humanities at Salamanca,
making little stir among the Gamaliels there, but
taking the bachelor s degree in his eighteenth year.

After a residence of about eight years in the Indies,
havingO come with. Ovando in 1502, he was admitted
to priestly orders, from which time he takes his place
in history. He wâs a man of very pronounced tem
perament and faculties, as much man of business as
but more philanthropist than either; pos
ecclesiastic,
sessed of a burning enthusiasm, when once the fire of
his conviction was fairly kindled, he gave rest neither
to himself nor to his enemies. For every evil-minded
man who came hither was his enemy, between whom
and himself was a death-struggle. The Apostle of
the Indies he was sometimes called, and the mission
he took upon himself was to stand between the naked
natives and their steel-clad tormentors. In this work
12
Maria, widow of Diego, demanded of the audicncia of Santo Domingo for
her son Luis, then six years of age, the viceroyalty of Veragua, which was
refused. She then carried her claim to Spain, where the title of admiral was
conferred on Luis, and many other benefits were extended by the emperor to
the family, but the title of viceroy was withheld. Subsequently Luis, having
instituted court proceedings which were referred to an arbitration, succeeded
in having himself declared captain-general of Espafiola. Shortly before his
death he relinquished the claim to the viceroyalty of the New World for the
titles of duke of Veraguas and marquis of Jamaica,, and gave his right to a tentli
of the produce of the Indies for a pension of a thousand doubloons. Luis was
succeeded by a nephew, Diego, by whose death the legitimate male line was
extinguished. Then followed more litigation, female claimants now being
conspicuous, until in the beginning of the seventeenth century we find in the
Portuguese house of Braganza the titles the discoverer once so coveted, they
being then conferred on Nufio Gelves, grandson of the third daughter of-
Diego, son of Christopher Columbus, and who then might write his name
De Portugallo Colon, duque de Veraguas, marques de la Jamaica, y almirante
de las Indias.
BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS. 275
he was ardent, ofttimes imprudent, always eloquent

and truthful, and as impudently bold and brazen as
any cavalier among them all. Nor was he by any
means a discontented man. He sought nothing for
himself; he had nothing that man could take from
him except life, upon which he set no value, or except
some of its comforts, which were too poor at best to
trouble himself about. His cause, which was the
right, gave breadth and volume to his boldness, beside
which the courage of the hare-brained babbler was
soundingO brass.
When the attention of the church was first seri
ously drawn toward the amelioration of the condition
of the Indians, which was in 1511, there were at
Espaiiola some thirteen Dominicans, living with their
vicar, Pedro de Cordoba, according to the strictest
rules of the order, and likewise several Franciscans,
among whom was Antonio de Espinal. The Domini
cans began their protest by a sermon denouncing the
course of the colonists, and when ordered to retract,
they repeated their charges with still greater empha
sis. The colonists sent agents to Spain to have the
contumacious monks displaced, and among them Es
pinal; for the Franciscans, as much in a spirit of
opposition to the Dominicans as to find favor with

the laity, showed a leaning toward the repartimiento
system, though they could not decently defend it.
The Dominicans sent Antonio Montesino, he who
had preached the distasteful sermon, all the Domini
cans present having signed approval of it. To con
sider the matter, a junta was summoned in Spain,
which pronounced the Indians a free people, a people
to be Christianized, and not enslaved; they were in
nocent heathen, not infidel enemies like the Moors, or
natural-born slaves like the negroes. Ferdinand and
Fonseca were both earnest in obtaining this verdict,
for so had said the king s preachers. Meanwhile
Montesino encountering Espinal in Spain, won him
over to the side of humanity. But all the same the
repartimientos were continued, for they were fatherly

protection only in theory, and the colonists went on
scourging the poor red men.
In the occupation of Cuba, Panfilo de Narvaez was
named by Velazquez his lieutenant, and sent forth to
subjugate other parts of the island. With Narvaez
went Las Casas, who put forth almost superhuman
exertions in vain to stay the merciless slaughter of
the helpless and innocent. A
warm friend of Las
Casas was Velazquez alcalde, Pedro de Renteria,
who in the division of the spoils joined Las Casas
in accepting a large tract of land, and a propor
tionate repartimiento of Indians. This was before
Las Casas had seriously considered the matter, and
he was at first quite delighted with his acquisition.
But the enormity of the wrong coming upon him, his
conversion was as decisive as that of St Paul. Like
the Dominicans of Espanola, Las Casas began by
preaching against repartimientos. In 1515 he sailed
for Spain in company with Montesino, leaving his
charge with certain monks sent over from Espaiiola

by the prelate Cordoba. These Dominican brothers
did what they could, but to such straits were the sav
ages driven after the departure of Las Casas that to
escape the bloodhounds and other evils set upon them
by the Spaniards thousands of them took refuge in
suicide. When Diego Colon arrived in 1509 there
were left in Espanola forty thousand natives. A re-
part idor was appointed in the person of Rodrigo de

Alburquerquc to repartition the Indians, but when he
arrived in 1514 there were but thirteen thousand left
to divide. After proclaiming himself with great pomp,
Alburquerque plainly intimated that bribery was in
order, that he who paid the most money should have
the best repartimiento. Afterward the Licentiate
Ibarra, sent to Espanola to take the residencia of the
alcalde Aguilar, was authorized to make a new par-,
tition. Large numbers of natives were given to the
king s favorites in Spain, and the evil grew apace.
THE JERONIMITE FATHERS. 277
Nor were affairs at Espanola mended by sending out

so frequently new with new and conflicting
officials
powers.
Whatever hopes the monks may have derived from
Ferdinand s benign reception, death cut short the
proposed relief. Fonseca, now bishop of Burgos,

with coarse ribaldry dismissed the subject; but when
Las Casas applied to the regent, Cardinal Jimenez,
an earnest and active interest was manifest. Las
Casas, Montesino, and Palacios Rubios were di
rected to present a plan for the government of the
Indies, which resulted in sending thither three Jero-
nimite Fathers, Luis de Figueroa, Alonso de Santo
Domingo, and Bernardino Manzanedo, monks of the
order of St Jerome, being selected because they were
free from the complications in which those of St
Francis and St Dominic already found themselves
involved in the New World. The Jeronimites were
ordered to visit the several islands and inform them
selves regarding the condition of the Indians, and
adopt measures for the formation of native settle
ments. These settlements or communities were to
be governed each by a cacique, together with an
ecclesiastic; and for every two or three settlements
a civil officer, called an administrator, having supreme
power in the settlements, was to be appointed. The
cacique, after obtaining the consent of the ecclesiastic,
should inflict no higher punishment on his subjects
than stripes none should be capitally punished except
;
under regular process of law. The matters of educa

tion, labor, tribute, mining, and farming were then
treated, in all which the welfare of the natives was
carefully considered, although the repartimiento sys
tem remained. Las Casas was named Protector of
the Indians with a salary of one hundred pesos de oro.
Zuazo, a lawyer of repute, was sent with the most
ample powers to take a residencia of all the judges
in the New World, and against his decisions there
was to be no appeal.
The Jeronimites set out wrapped in mighty deter

minations. They would not even sail in the same
ship with Las Casas, wishing to be wholly free. In
this they were right; but unfortunately, on arriv
ing among the wrangling colonists, and having the
actual issues thrust upon them, they found them
selves by no means infallible. Their measures were
tame, and they soon found the Protector arrayed
against them. The result was their open defence of
the repartimiento system, as the only one by which
Spain could colonize the Indies. The burden should
be laid as lightly as possible on the shoulders of the
natives, but they must be made to work. Las Casas
set out in 1517 to enter his complaints at court,
closely followed by an emissary of the Jeronimites to
represent their side of the question but they arrived
;
in Spain only to find the regent dying. Had Charles

V. remained in Flanders, and had the life of Cardinal
Jimenez been spared to Spain and the New World a
few years longer, it is certain that the cruelties to the
Indians would many of them have been prevented,
and it is doubtful if negro slavery would ever have
been introduced into America.
ThoughO o of rulers which now occurred

the change
seriously clogged the wheels of government in Spain,
the affairs of the Indies seemed directly to suffer
little inconvenience therefrom. It was indeed a great
change, Isabella and Ferdinand gone, Columbus and
Jimenez also and the presence of this young Charles,
;
undemonstrative, thoughtful, cautious, even when a

boy, and enveloped in a Flemish atmosphere that
shut out all that was most beautiful in Spain, even
Castile s liquid language, made it seem strange there
even to Spaniards, made it seem a long, long time
since the Moors were beaten and America discovered.
The Indies, however, were far away, and so little
understood by the Flemings that they did not trouble
themselves much about them.
DIVERS RULES AND RULERS. 279
Las Casas was fortunate winning the favor of

in
the Flemish chancellor, Selvagius, but as in the two
previous cases, scarcely was the friendly footing estab
lished when the great man died, and the bishop of
Burgos, whose influence in the government of the
Indies had fallen low of late, was again elevated.
All the measures that Las Casas had proposed to
Selvagius fell to the ground all save one, the only
bad one, and one concerning which Las Casas after
ward asserted that he would give all he possessed
on earth to recall it; it was the introduction of negro
slaves to relieve the Indians.
If the Jeronimite Fathers accomplished no great
things in the Indies, they at least did little harm.
Small-pox attended the herding of the natives in
settlements, but it never prevailed to the extent
represented. The fact that Fonseca held an cnco-
mienda of eight hundred Indians, the Comendador
Conchillos one of eleven hundred, Vega one of two
hundred, and other influential men at court other
numbers, may have had something to do with the
hostility manifested in that quarter toward Las Casas,
who was unflinching O to the end in denouncing O the
system as unjust, unchristian, and inhuman.
The of Indian distributor was most impor

office
tant, and one in which the vital interests of the

colonists were involved. It should have been filled
by one of high integrity who would hold aloof from
contaminating influences. Such wâs not Ibarra, who
became offensively meddlesome in the affairs of the
common council, and died under suspicious circum
stances not long after, Lebron being sent out to take
his place. When the Jeronimites countenanced negro
slavery to relieve the Indians, the colonists were be
nignant; when they undertook civil service reform,
some of them became furious, especially Pasamonte,
who had been enriching himself as fast as possible
while his patron lived, but who had now sunk into
insignificance. The favorites of the Flemish min

isters, such as Rodrigo de Figueroa, to whom was
given charge of the Indian settlements, were now the
recipients of the fat offices; and the fact of their
being Flemish favorites was sufficient to array the

colonists against them. It was not long before they
succeeded in having the residencia of Figueroa or
dered, and Lebron installed as overseer of Indians in
his place. In 1518, Jimenez who sent the Jeroni-
mites being dead and Fonseca once more manager,
the monks were recalled to Spain, and the affairs of
Espanola and of the Indies were left with the audi-
encia of Santo Domingo, acting in conjunction with
the Consejo de Indias 13 in Spain, the Ccisa de Con-
13
The Consejo Supremo de Indias, Supreme Council of the Indies, some
times termed the Consejo de Indias, or India Council, was a body possessing
executive as well as judicial powers, in permanent session at Madrid, and
having the same jurisdiction over Spanish colonies in America that was held
in Spain by the other supreme councils, especially the Consejo de Castilla.
Immediately after its discovery the American portion of the Spanish realm
was superintended by the Council of Castile, or by councillors selected there
from. But with the constantly increasing burden of business the creation
of a separate supreme tribunal became necessary. Thus the machinery set
in motion by Ferdinand was augmented by Charles, and further improved by
Philip, until these vast western interests were watched over with undeviating
care. Thence all measures for the government and commerce of Spanish
America issued; it was the tribunal likewise of ultimate resort where all
questions relating thereto were adjudicated. For many years, however, the
India Council had no formal existence. Fonseca; Heruandode Vega, comcn-
dador mayor of Leon; Mercurino Gatinara, afterward superintendent of all
the councils a gentleman of the emperor s bedchamber called De Lassao
; ;
Francisco do Vargas, treasurer-general of Castile, and others, acted specially

at the request of their sovereign. This fact gave rise to errors of date into
which several historians fell. Thus Prescott, Fcrd. and Isabella, iii. 452, says,
copying llobertson, II 1st. Am., ii. 358, that the Council of the Indies was first
established by Ferdinand in 1511. Helps, Span. Conq., ii. 28 drawing a false
inference from a false inference drawn by Hen-era, ii. ii. xx., who makes the
date 1517 goes on to describe a council for Indian affairs, dating its organi
zation 1518, and of which Fonseca was president, and Vega, Zapata, Peter
Martyr, and Padilla were members.
It was the first of August, 1524, that the office proper of the Council of
the Indies was created. See Solorr.ano, Polltlca Indiana, ii. 394. The de
cree of final organization may bo found in the Rwop. Indias, i. 228.
d<
j
It sets forth that in view of the great benefits, under divine favor, the
crown daily receives by the enlargement of the realm, the monarch by the
grace of God feeling his obligation to govern these kingdoms M cll, for t!ia
r
better service of God and the well-being of those lands, it was ordered
that there should always reside at court this tribunal. It should have
a president; the grand chancellor of the Indies should also be a coun
cillor; its members, whose number must be eight, should be letrado*, men
learned in the law. There were to be a fiscal, two secretaries, and a deputy
grand chancellor, all of noble birth, upright in morals, prudent, and God-
COUNCIL OF THE INDIES. 281
tratacion having more especial charge of commercial

matters.
fearing men. There must be, also, three relatores, or readers, and a notary,
all of experience, diligence, and fidelity; four expert contadores de cuentas,
accountants and auditors; a treasurer -general; two solicUadorea jiscales,
crown attorneys; a chief chronicler and cosmographer ; a professor of
mathematics; a tasador to tax costs of suits; a lawyer and a procurador for
poor suitors; a chaplain to say mass on council days; four door-keepers, and
a bailiff, all taking oath on assuming duty to keep secret the acts of the
council. The first president appointed was Fray Garcia de Loaysa, at the
time general of the Dominicans, confessor of the emperor, and bishop of
Osma, and later cardinal and archbishop of Seville. The first councillors were
Luis Vaca, bishop of the Canary Islands ; Gonzalo Maldonado, later bishop
of Ciudad Rodrigo ; Diego Beltran ; the prothonotary, Pedro Martyr de An-
gleria, abbot of Jamaica, and Lorenzo Gulindez de Carbajal. Prado was the
first fiscal. A list of the earlier presidents, councillors, and officials
may be
found at the end of Description de las Indlas Occidentals , in vol. i. Barcia s
edition of Herrera.
The jurisdiction of the council extended to every department, civil, mili
tary, ecclesiastical, and commercial, and no other council in Spain might have
cognizance of any affairs appertaining to the New World. Two thirds of tho
members must approve of any law or ordinance before it was presented to the
king for his signature. In the Ifecopllacwn de las Indlas, i. 228-323, is given the
legislation on the council to 1080. Philip II. ordered the council to be obeyed
equally in Spain and in the Indies. Three members were to constitute a
quorum, and sit from three to five hours every day except holidays. For
purposes of temporal government the New World was to be divided into
viceroyalties, provinces of audiencias, and clianclllerias reales, or sovereign
tribunals of lesser weight than audiencias, and provinces of the officials of
the royal exchequer, adelantamientos, or the government of an adelantado,
gobcrnaclones, or governmentships, alcaldias mayores, correyimicnfo*, alcaldias
ord tnarias, and of the Jiermandad, concejos de Espanoles y de Ind/os; and for
spiritual government into archbishoprics and suffragan bishoprics, abbeys,
parishes, and diezmerias, pr tithing districts, and provinces of the religious
orders. The division for temporal matters was to conform as nearly as pos
sible to that for spiritual affairs. The council was commanded to have for its
chief care the conversion and good treatment of the Indians. The laws made
Council for the Indies should conform as nearly as possible to the ex
by^the
isting laws of Spain. In selecting ecclesiastics and civil officers for the Indies,
the greatest care should be exercised that none but good men were sent, and
their final nomination must rest with the king. Nepotism was strictly pro
hibited, and offices were not to be sold. In 1GOO Felipe III. ordered that
twice a week should be held a council of war, composed of eight members,
four of whom were councillors of the Indies, and four specially selected by the
king. It was decreed in 15S4 that the offices of governors, corrcgidores,
and alcaldes mayores of the Indies, when bestowed on persons residing in
Spain, should be for five years when residents in the Indies were appointed,
;
it should be for three years. Felipe IV. in 1636 ordered that in the archives
of the council, beside records, should be kept manuscripts and printed books
treating on matters moral, religious, historical, political, and scientific, touch
ing the Indies, all that had been or should be issued ; and publishers of books
of this class were required by law to deposit one copy each in these archives.
Two keys were ordered kept, one by the councillor appointed by the presi
dent, and the other by the senior secretary. And when the archives of the
council became too full, a portion might be sent to Simancas. It was
early ordered that the chronicler of the council should write a history, natu
ral and political, of the Indies, every facility being afforded him; and before
drawing his last quarter s salary each year, he must present what he had
written. So it was with the cosmographer, who was to calculate eclipses, com-
Many schemes for the benefit of the Indians filled

the mind of Las Casas, who continued to labor for
pile guide-books, prepare tables and descriptions, and give an annual lecture.
The regulations governing this august body were most wise, and it was the con
stant aim of the Spanish monarchs to increase its power and sustain its author
ity. Its jurisdiction extended over half the world, being absolute on sea and
land. By it viceroys were made and unmade, also presidents and governors ;
and, in ecclesiastical rule, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and lesser spiritual

dignitaries. His Holiness himself was second here. All bulls or briefs of in
dulgences issued by the pope must be laid before the Consejo de Cru~ada, and
pass through the Council of the Indies. The Consejo de Indias continued in
Spain till by a law of the Cortes, March 24, 1834, it was abolished, as indeed
was the Consejo de Castillo,. The judicial functions of the two were vested in
the Tribunal Supremo de Espafia c Indias ; their executive powers in the (Jon-
scjo Real de Enpana 6 India*, both being created by the same law.
The next most important agency in the management of New World affairs
was the Canada Contratacion, house or board of trade, supreme in commercial
matters, save only in its subordination to the Consejo de Indias, in common
with every other power below absolute royalty. As before stated, on there
turn of Columbus from his first voyage, Fonseca, with two or three assistants,
was appointed to take charge of the business appertaining to the discov
ery, the nature or importance of which was then but faintly conceived.
This Indian office or agency was established at Seville, with a branch oiiicc in
the form of a custom-house at Cadiz. But before the expiration of the iirst
decade the New World business had so increased, and the New World dimen
sions were so rapidly expanding, that it was found necessary to enlarge the
capabilities and powers of the India Office; hence by decrees of January 20,
and June 5, 1503, was ordered established at Seville the Casa de Contrat tcion
de las Indias, or India house of trade, that commerce between the mother
country and the Indian colonies might be promoted. The first cedula ordered
the office placed in the arsenal, the second in a building known as the al
cazar vifjo, and in that part of it called the cuarlo Ion almirantes, or admi
d<
j
rals quarters. The board consisted of a president, three royal officers, or

judges, to wit, treasurer, auditor, and factor; also three judges bred to the
law; one fiscal, and other lesser officers and attendants. Among the iirst to
serve, beside Fonseca, were Sancho de Matienzo, a canon of Seville, treasurer ;
Francisco Pinelo, factor, or general agent and Jimeno de Bcrvicsca, contador,

;
or auditor. By law those three officers were to reside in the building and were ;
to despatch all ships going to the Indies, and receive all merchandise coming
thence. In all which they were scrupulously to respect the agreement made
with Columbus by the sovereigns. They were, moreover, to proclaim that
licenses for discovery and trade would be given, under just conditions, to all
seeking them and filing commensurate bonds. See Nwvn Enpana, P-rci\
Res. MS.; Vcitla Linage, Norle de la Contratacion; Recop. dc Indian;
Solorzano, Pol. Zamora y Coronado,
In<l.; Uit.;
Lil>.
Younj s II in!.
Le<j.
Wai toil s Expose, 24; Kites

1
Mex., 40-0; Democratic Revieiv, i. 204-9;

S. Am. and Me. -., 05-8; Revolution in Sp. Am., 5-0; Purchas, His I il-
f/rimc.",
iv. 910-17. An officer appointed by the king resided at Cadiz
to despatch vessels under the supervision of the Casa de Contratacion.
The India House was a court of judicature no less than a board of trade; it
had cognizance in all civil, criminal, and commercial questions arising from
the traffic of Spain with the Indies, appeal being to the Council of the Indies.
I will mention a few only of the more important of the many minor orders
regulating this board. The volume and variety of its business rapidly in
creased from year to year. In 1510 Diego Colon was instructed to inform
its officers concerning all that he should write to the king. The board was
obliged to possess itself of the minutest knowledge concerning New World
affairs, and of persons asking permission to go thither, and in the execution of
CASA DE CONTRATACIOK 283
them indefatigably. One, originating with Pedro de

Cordoba, was to set apart on the mainland one hun
dred leagues
O as a place of refuse
JL O for the savages,
O into
which no Spaniards but priests might enter. This
itsduties it was not to be interfered with even by royal officers of high rank.
The actual powers conferred on the three officials first named by Queen Juana
are not given by any of the chronicles, or collections of laws, which I have
examined. Indeed, the powers and jurisdiction of the board were never
clearly defined until the issuing of the ordinances of the 23d of August, L343,
known as the ordenanzas de iacasa, and which should not be confounded with
the ordc.nanztta of other years. Every day but feast-days the board should
meet for business, and remain in session for three hours in the forenoon, and
on the afternoons of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for the despatch of
ships. Absence involved primarily loss of pay, and finally loss of oflice. If
this be not time sufficient for the business, they must take more time. The
president and judges together should transact the business; a judge might
not act singly except upon a matter referred to him by all. The notary should
keep in his book an account of the hours of absence among the officers. Before
the platform on which sat the judges, benches were ordered placed for the con
venience of the visitadores, or inspectors of ships, and such other honorable
persons having business there as should be invited by the tribunal to sit. The
authorities of Seville should not interfere in the trial and punishment of
crimes committed on board ships sailing to and from the Indies. If the pen
alty was death or mutilation, the offender was to be tried by the three judges,
members of the board, learned in the law. In the civil suits of private per
sons, appertaining to the Indies, litigants were given the option of bringing
their disputes before the judges of the India House, or before the ordinary
justice of Seville. Disputes arising from shipwreck, loss of cargo, and frauds
connected therewith, were all brought before the India House. Traders to
the Indies residing in Seville were authorized to meet and elect a prior and
consul, or consuls, which consulate should be called the Universidad de los
Carr/adores d las Indias, and hold their meetings in the Casa de Contratacion.
No foreigner, his son or grandson could so hold office. This consulate had
cognizance in disputes between these merchants and factors in matters relative
to purchases, sales, freights, insurance, and bankruptcy, all being subordinate
to the regular tribunal of the India House. Appeals were from the consulate
to one of the regular judges selected annually to that duty. The consulate
could address the king only through the Casa de Contratacion, and government
despatches from the Indies must be forwarded by the board. As justice alone
was the object of these merchants, and not chicanery, or the distortion of
evidence, parties to suits before the consulate were not allowed lawyers.
That harmony might be maintained, the Casa dc Contratacion should carry
out the orders of the audlencla de (jrados of Seville, if deemed conformable to
law, and to existing regulations of the board. Communications from the
board to the king must be signed by the president and judges conjointly, and
no letter must treat of more than single subject. All gold, silver, pearls,
a
and precious stones coming from the Indies were first to be deposited in the
India House, and thence distributed to the owners. The king s share was to
be placed in a safe with three keys, or if this was too small, then in a room
having three keys. Other safes were to be kept, one for each kind of prop
erty. Accounts of receipts at the India House were to be rendered the king
every year. The board must render an annual statement of its expenditures
on rclijioto* sent to the Indies. Felipe IV. ordered that the board should col
lect from all ships and merchandise, including a pro ratu on the king s share,
the cost for convoying them forth and back. Such was the famous India House
at Seville, modest in its beginning, mighty in its accomplishments, through
which passed into Spain the almost fabnVv.i". wealth of Spanish America.
measure was opposed by Fonseca, who said: "The

king would do well, indeed, to give away a hundred
leagues without any profit to himself." After this
Las Casas spent some time travelling through Spain
and inducing Spaniards to emigrate to the Indies,
but little that was beneficial came of it. Succeeding O
finally in enlisting the sympathies of the king s preach
ers in behalf of the Indians, a plan for founding a
colony on the Pearl Coast was carried, and notwith
standing Oviedo appeared in opposition to his brother
chronicler by offering a larger royalty, a grant of two
hundred and was signed in May, 1520.
sixty leagues
Failing as a colonist, Las Casas retired for a time to
the Dominican convent at Santo Domingo. After
many years spent as missionary and preacher in Nica
ragua, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru, he was appointed
bishop of Chiapas, where in the progress of this history
we shall again meet him.
Certain attention which the Indies were now receiv
ing may be mentioned here. Some little attention
was paid by the ever-watchful government to the
welfare of society in these distant parts. The wearing
of rich apparel in Espafiola was forbidden by the king
in 1523. The appellations of certain of the islands
were undergoing change, so that in due time their
aboriginal names were restored to Cuba and Jamaica,
the authorities thereby evincing a good taste which
rulers and explorers of other nations might well have
profited by at a later period. In 1515 six loaves of
sugar and twenty cassia fistula were taken by Oviedo
to Spain. In 1517 the pope made bishops in the
Indies inquisitors; and when in 15212 the bulls of
Leo X. and Adrian VI. ordered the Franciscans to
prepare for mission work in the New World, liberal
concessions were made to friars going thence. After
the death of Pedro de Cordoba, who had been ap
pointed inquisitor of the Indies, authority became,
vested in the audicncia of Santo Domingo. Desirous
of stimulating emigration, the emperor in 1522 granted
SUNDRY PROVISIONS. 285
further privileges to settlers in the Indies. Colonists

were ordered to take their families to the New World
under severe penalties for neglect. Licenses were re
vised, and regulations concerning the going to the New
World of the religious orders as well as of all others
were made to the utmost extent favorable, but friars
found in the -New World without a license must be
sent forthwith to Spain. Then laws were made at
tempting to regulate the method of making war on
Indians; and in 1523 it was decreed that idols should
be destroyed and cannibalism prevented. Provision
was made for the annual payment of thirty thousand
maravedis for the support of a preceptor of grammar.
And because of the heavy expenses of living, the
emperor permitted the salaries of New World officials
to be increased. The tribunals were likewise reor
ganized to fit the emergency and facilitate business.
Directions were issued how gold chains should be made
and dye-woods cut. It seemed to the emperor neces
sary in 1526 to issue orders facilitating the arrest of
dishonest mercantile agents in the Indies, and to send
Padre de Bobadilla, a provincial of the order of La
Merced, to look after the baptism of the Indians.
And as to the question of negroes, vexatious from the
beginning, the emperor in 1523 revoked for a time
the permission given in 1511 to send negroes as slaves
to the Indies; and it was again ordered in 1526 that
Indian slaves then in Spain should be returned to
14
their country and treated as vassals.
11
liecopilacion deLeyes de los Reynos de las Indias, of which I make general
use in referring to the laws passed in Spain for the regulation of the affairs
of the New World, is the result of several previous efforts in the direction of
compilation. It was published at Madrid, the first edition in four volumes,
by order of Carlos II. in 1681, and the fourth edition in three volumes,
under the direction of the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies, in 1791.
The work aimed to embody all laws in force at the date of the respective
editions relative to the Spanish American colonies. The three volumes are
divided into nine books, and each book into from eight to forty-six titles.
The first title of the first book is De la Santa Fe Catdlica, a subject then
second to none in grave importance. In fact the whole of the first book is
devoted to ecclesiastical and kindred matters. The second book refers in
the main to tribunals and officials; the third in a great measure to the army;
the fourth to discoveries and settlements ; the fifth to executive and judicial
offices; the sixth to Indians, including treatment, repartimientos and eiico-
micndas ; the seventh to crimes and punishments the eighth to the manage
;
ment of the royal treasury ; and the ninth to the India House and the com
merce of the Indies. By a decree of the emperor in 1550, which was
embodied in the ordinances of audiencias in 1503, by Philip II., it was ordered
that all ccdulas and provisiones should be copied in extenso in a book set apart
for that service, and of which great care should be taken, and that the said
documents were to be filed chronologically in the archives of each audiencia.
In 1571, by Philip II., it was decreed, and the decree embodied in the Rce<>-
pilacion of 1GSO, that cedulas and provisiones concerning the royal treasury
should be kept in a separate book.
The earliest printed collection of laws relating solely to the Indies is t .iai
of the ordennnzas for the government of the audiencia of Mexico. This was
issued in 1548. In 1552 a similar collection was made by order of the viceroy of
Peru, Antonio de Mcndoza, for the government of the audiencia of Lima,
but was not printed at that time. Later the fiscal of Mexico, Antonio Mal-
donado, began a compilation to which he gave the name Rcpertorio /as
d<>
Cedulas, Provisiones, i Ordenanzas Rcales, but it does not appear that he ever
completed his task, although a royal cedilla in 1550 authorized him to do so.
Upon the representation in 1552 by Francisco Hernandez de Liebana, fiscal
of the Council of the Indies, of the urgent necessity of such a work, a royal
cddula was issued in 15GO, directing the viceroy of New Spain, Luis do
Velasco, to have prepared and printed such regulations as were in force
within the jurisdiction of the audiencia of Mexico, which was done in 15C\>
under the direction of Vasco de Puga, oidor of the audiencia. Francisco de

Toledo, sent from Spain in 1509 as viceroy of Peru, was ordered to make i\
similar compilation covering the limits of his viceroyalty, but it was after
ward thought better the work should be clone in Spain. Hence in 1570
Philip II. ordered made a general compilation of laws and provisions for the
government of the Indies, which was intended as a code, obsolete laws bein;:
omitted, new ones provided where necessary, and those in conflict reconciled.
Of this work, from some cause not satisfactorily explained, probably from
the death of the author, only the title relating to the Conscjo de Indias and
its ordenanzas was printed, although the whole of the first book had been
prepared.
In 1581 some ordinances relative to the Casa de Contratacion and it
judges were printed at Madrid; and more of a similar nature in 1585, beside
the Leyes y Ordenanzas for the government of the Indies, and the ordinance:-
of 1582 concerning the despatch of fleets for New Spain and Tierra Firmc.
printed at Madrid; and in Guatemala the ordcnanzns of July 14, 1550, relat
ing to the Unirerxidad de los Sfercadercs de Sevilla. In 1594 the marques do
Caiiete, viceroy of Peru, published at Lima a small volume of ordinances re
ative to the good treatment of the Indians. But the want of a general com
pilation becoming more and more apparent, Diego de Encinas, a clerk in the
office of the king s secretary, was ordered to prepare a copy of all provisioned,
nanzas, and instruct ones despatched prior to 1590, which
j
cedulas, cartax,ord<
work was printed at Madrid, in four folio volumes, the same year. Ilarrissj
is mistaken when he says these volumes were suppressed, not having been
authorized; for not only is their authorization distinctly stated over the king ;-.
own hand in the enacting clause of the Rccopilacion de las Indias, May 18,
1080, where it says that Philip II. ordered Encinas to do this work, but tbu:
owing to their faulty arrangement the volumes aim no han satisfecho el in
tento de recopilar en forma convenienfce, which clearly shows them to havo
been in use up to that time. Shortly after this, Alvar Gomez de Abaunza,
oidor of the audiencia of Guatemala, and subsequently alcalde del crimen of
the andiencia of Mexico, compiled two large volumes under the title of Reper-
torio de Cedtilas Rea.les, which were not printed. And in Spain, Diego do Zor-
rilla made an attempt to revive the project of the recopi! acton de leyes, by
making extracts from Encinas and adding laws of later date; but having re
ceived an appointment as oidor of the audiencia of Quito, he left the work
incomplete and in manuscript. Others made similar attempts; I shall not be
RECOPILACION DE LAS INDIAS. 281
able to enumerate them all, or give a full list even of the printed collections.
For example, in 1603 was published at Valladolid a folio entitled Ordcimncas
Reaks del Conwjo de Indias, and another thin folio called Leypsy Ordenangas
Nucva- ,ite I.echas por sn Magestad, para la gouernadd de las India s; later
t
appeared a folio entitled Ordenanqasde In Casa de la Contratacion Sevilla,

</e
and another, rde.nanqas licales pnra el yobierno de los Tribunales de Contadaria

Mayor en los Reynos de las Indias. In 1G06 Hernando de Villagomez began
to arrange c6dulas and other laws relating to the Indies ; and two years after,
the celebrated conde de Lemos being president of the Council, Villagomez,
and Rodrigo de Aguiar y Acuna, member of the Council of the Indies, were ap
pointed a committee to compile the laws but nothing came of it, even Fernando
;
Carrillo failing to complete their unfinished task. Juan de Solorzano y Pcreira,

oidor of the audiencia of Lima, also began a collection of cedulas, and sent
to the Council of the Indies the first book of his contemplated work, with
the titles of the other five books which he intended to compile. In a cartel
real he was thanked for what he had done, and charged to continue his labors,
sending each book as prepared to the Council. I have no evidence that he
did so.
All this time our book was a-building, and indeed for 170 years more. A
complete history of this one work would fill a volume ; obviously in a_biblio-
graphical note, even of undue length, only the more prominent agencies and
incidents of its being can be touched upon.
We come now to the time when Antonio de Leon Pinelo, judge in the
India House, presented to the Council of the Indies the first and second
books, nearly complete, of his Dlscurso sobre la imporiancia, forma, y dispo
sition de la Re<-opilacion Lnes de Indies, which was printed in one volume,
</e
folio, in 1023. This was in reality Encinas work with some cedulas added.
Meanwhile it appears that some direct official work was done 011 a compila
tion, for iu 1024 we find the Council instructing Pinelo to enter into relations
with the custodian of the material for the compilation. Pinelo was likewise
authorized to examine the archives of the Council; and for two years he
employed himself continuously in examining some 500 MS. volumes of cedulas,
containing over 300,000 documents. In the law authorizing the Recopila-
clon de las India* of 1080, it is said that in 1022 the task had been entrusted
to Rodrigo de Aguiar y Acuna, probably the custodian referred to. In 1628
it was thought best to print for the use of the Council an epitome of the part
completed ; hence appeared the Sumarios de la Recopilacion General de la* Leies

de las Indias. Aguiar y A cuila dying, Pinelo worked on alone until 1 034, when
the Council approved of what had been done; and in the year following this
indefatigable and learned man had the satisfaction of presenting the completed
Recopilacion de las Indias. To one of the members, Juan do Solorzano y Pe-
reira, the work was referred, and received his approbation in 1636. More than
half a million of cedulas had been examined and classified during the progress
of this compilation. And yet it was not published and during
;
the delay it
was becoming obsolete, and new material and partial compilations were being
made both in Spain and in America, some which were printed in separate
of
pieces. In 1034 the Ordcuanzas de la Junta de Guerra de Indias were pub
lished; in 1046 Juan Diez de la Calle compiled and published for the Council
of the Indies in small quarto a memorial containing some of the cedulas of
the Recopilacion. A iiseful aid for the study of statistic geography in America
is to be found in the exceedingly rare Memorial y Noticias Macros //Realcs del
Lmpcrio de las Indias Occidental es. By luan Diez de la Calle, 1040, sm. 4to,
183 folios. A register for the Spanish colonies, chiefly of state and church
officials, of towns, their wealth and notable objects. Folios 41-132 refer to
the jurisdictions of the audiencias of Mexico, Guadalajara, and Guatemala.
Calle had in the previous year, as assistant chief clerk to the secretary of the
Royal Council of the Indies, presented the work to the king as Memorial
Informatorio al Rcy, and in accordance with his approval it had been reprinted
with additions as above. Encouraged hereby he wrote at greater length the
Noticias tiacras i Reales in twelve libros, the publication of which was begun,
2SS ADMINISTRATION OF THE INDIES.
but never iinishcd. Puga s work was continued in the form of an Inventario of
the cedulas relating to New Spain issued from 15G7-1G20, the manuscript be
ing presented to the secretary of the New Spain department of the Council
of the Indies by Francisco de Parraga, afterward forming part of the Barcia
collection. In 1G47 appeared at Seville the Ordenancas llealts, para la Ca*a de
Contratacion de Hevilla, y para otras cosas de his Indicts; in 1058 Pinelo pub
lished at Madrid the Autos, acuerdos y decretos de gobicrno del real y supremo
consejo de las Indias. In 1GG1 there was printed at Madrid a folio entitled
tra remcdio de los danos, 6 inconvenientcs que se sir/uen de los des-
Ordenancas p
caminos arribadas maliciosas de los Navios que navegan de las Indias Occiden-
i
tales ; and in 1G7 2 the Norte de la Contratacion de las Indias Occidentals of
loseph de Yeitia Linage was published at Seville. J. Stevens translated this

last work into English and published it in London in 1702.
The many and long periods of suspended animation of the Recopilacion de
Indias, between its inception and its birth, is no less remarkable a feature in
the history of the work than its multiplicity of origins and collateral afflu
ents. In 1GGO the case was brought before the king, and then referred to
successive committees, in each of which were several members of the
Council, the whole being under the supervision of their successive presi
dents, until finally, on the 18th of May, 1G80, a royal decree made the
Recopilacion de Indias law, and all ordinances conflicting therewith null.
Even now printing did not seem to be at first thought of. Two authenticated
copies were ordered made, one to be kept in the archives of the Council, and
the other at Simancas. It was soon seen, however, that this was not suffi
cient, and in 1GS1 the king ordered the book printed under the superintend
ence of the Council of the Indies, which was done. Although the Recopila-
cion de Indias was several times revised, and well fulfilled its mission fof over
a hundred years, in fact to the end of Spain s dominion in America, several
partial collections appeared from time to time in Spain and in America.
Among these were Sumarios de las Ccdulas. .que se han despachado. .dcsde
. . . .
el ano 1G2S. . Jiasta. . .1677, printed in Mexico in 1G78;

. . Ordenanzas del
Peru, Lima, 1GS5; also the Ordenanhas de Crugada, para los Subdelegados del
Peru; Re<ilamcnto y Aranceles Reales para el Comercio Libre de Espana cl
Indias, 1778; Teatro de la legislacion universal de Espana e Indias, by An
tonio Javier Perez y Lopez, 28 vols. 4to, Madrid, 1791-8. In the various
public and private archives of Spain and Spanish America are manuscript
collections of cedulas and compilations on special subjects.

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CHAPTER V.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE INDIES.

COLUMBUS THE RIGHTFUL RULER JUAN AGUADO FRANCISCO DE BOBADILLA

WE have seen how it had been first of all agreed

commissioner of inquiry. With him, it will be re

and mean prejudices. He was popular for a time

and for no crime, excited universal disgust throughout

Christendom; and yet their Majesties seemed in no

miral, and henceforth his rights of property must be

dinate or municipal governments in the more impor

lixty-two foot-soldiers and ten horsemen, and a large

rebel, and later chief judge, under arrest. He built

a later law proclamations of residencias must be made in such manner that

Santo Domingo to a more healthful site on the

with ease, and finding that a very little gold was to

During this earliest period of Spanish domination

tians, white as well as black, though it began to be

offence against Spain. It was better, it was more

some of them might be made Christians, who when

exclaimed the queen. All who had thus been stolen

for theunwearied efforts of her ministers in guarding

ficing Christian heroes who while preaching their faith

by side with the minor seizures^ was in practice the

though unsuccessfully until the object of their solici

For thesoldier, the sailor, the cavalier, the vaga

plot conspiracies, or give themselves up to servo heathen gods as of old;

often winking assent. However omnipotent in Spain,

him with music and dancing to the groat banqueting-

enticed thither upon the pretext of the captors that

Both the Spaniards and the Indians, as we

persons, for so they she committed a fatal error.

The least latitude was sure to be abused. Under

We come now to some of the

populations had been recommended to their death, at the representation

encomienda, system, under which the natives of a con

The theory was that the Indians were the vassals

of it. In 1721 the system came to an end. But after endeavoring tw

a new country. At first in certain instances, but later

them, to Roldan and his followers, to the worst char

general Miguel de Pasamonte to supersede Bernar

ing that the estate brought ninety-six thousand pesos

and they were ordered to examine the accounts of the

discretion, whether in the management of men or

The removal of Ovando was delayed by the death

gated. Not only were the Indians no better used

Spain that in 1 5 1 1 the king found it necessary to estab

Domingo there should reside the Audiencia y CJian-

constituted. It was to consist of a president; four

judges; a fiscal, a prosecuting officer in this case; an

In other respects this tribunal was on an equal footing

Meanwhile the most disturbing question in the col

grant letters of delay to condemned treasury debtors. The majority decide.

a small matter; but to divide amon^ O them lands,

enlightened consciences in Spain, in such a way as to

ample information of a condemnatory character. Diego

son, which ended in 1526, were not more happy than

A steadily growing character, impressing itself more

taking the bachelor s degree in his eighteenth year.

measure was opposed by Fonseca, who said: "The