Chapter 16

THE NEW LAWS

The next few years passed in successful missionary work, without offering any events of particular interest in the life of Las Casas. During this period he composed his work, _De Unico modo vocationis_, in which he argued that Divine Providence had instituted only one way of converting souls, viz., convince the intelligence by reasoning and win the heart by gentleness. (46) The ground principle of all his teaching was unalterably the same, and he eloquently insisted upon his doctrine of peace and kind treatment of the Indians, whom he never ceased to declare were reasonable people of unspoiled nature, who were to be converted by gentleness and justice—not by brutality and oppression. His theories provoked the same ridicule and opposition in Guatemala as elsewhere, though there was not the same bitterness of feeling towards him as existed in the Islands.

The heads of the Spanish colony in Guatemala even challenged him to put his theories into practice, saying that if he succeeded in subduing any tribes, they would admit that they had been unjust, and would abandon their opposition and liberate their slaves. This challenge Las Casas at once accepted, and selected for the field of his undertaking the mountains of the province of Tuzulatlan, inhabited by a warlike people, whom the Spaniards had never been able to conquer, partly on account of the difficult nature of the country, and partly on account of the skill and courage of the inhabitants in defending themselves. Besides the bare necessaries for his support, Las Casas only asked that the conditions expressed in the following agreement bearing the Governor’s signature should be scrupulously observed. The act was thus worded:

“By these presents I promise and give my word in the name and on behalf of his Majesty and by the royal power which I hold that should you, or anyone of your religious here present, to wit, Fray Bartholomew de Las Casas, Fray Rodrigo de Ladrada, and Fray Pedro de Angulo, by your efforts and care, bring any provinces or Indians of them, which may be all or partly within my jurisdiction which I exercise for his Majesty, to peaceably recognise his Majesty as sovereign and to pay a tribute according as their means and property may permit either of gold, if it exists in their country, or of cotton, maize, or any other product which they possess and use for trade amongst themselves, I will, by virtue of his Majesty’s authority, recognise all such and their provinces in his Royal name and present them to his Majesty that they may serve him as his vassals; nor will I give them to any one, nor shall they be given in encomienda to any Spaniard either now or at any time. I will command that no Spaniard shall molest them nor enter their country, under grave penalties, for a period of five years, that they may not disturb them or hinder your preaching and their conversion, unless I should myself go personally when it may seem good to you and when you may accompany me; for in this matter I desire to fulfil the will of God and of his Majesty and to aid you as far as I possibly can to win the natives of this province to the knowledge of God and the service of his Majesty, etc.”

Provided with this official guarantee, the friars began to carefully study the best means for approaching the Indians of Tuzulatlan and after much reflection, they hit upon a plan as simple as it was ingenious. They composed couplets in the Quiche tongue, in which were recited the creation of the world and the story of Eden; man’s fallen state and need of redemption; the birth and miracles of Our Lord and finally His death upon the Cross. These verses were very much after the style of the text of the miracle-plays which were so popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, and as they contained the entire epitome of the Christian religion, the Indians, by merely listening to the chanting of them, would catch the rhythm by ear, and the sense of the doctrines might be trusted to penetrate their understanding, once their attention had been secured.

Selecting four Christianised Indians who plied their trade as itinerant merchants between the country of Zacapula and the Quiché tribes, whom they thought qualified to play the part, the friars carefully taught them the verses. The Indian’s memory is as tenacious as his faculty for learning by rote is quick, and as the rhymes were graceful and the subject matter both dramatic and mysterious, the four traders quickly learned to chant them in chorus, accompanied by several Indian musical instruments. Some time was necessarily consumed in these preparations and it was August of 1537 before the friars were ready to send forth their apostolic troubadours. The news of their conditions and agreement with the governor reached Mexico, where the Bishop Marroquin had gone for his consecration, and met with approval both from the Dominican superiors there and the Governor of the Audiencia.

In addition to the usual stock of merchandise which the traders carried, Las Casas supplied them with a number of such Spanish trifles as most pleased the Indians and instructed them to go first to the house of the principal cacique (47) of the Quiché, who was a warlike chief of great authority, and to do nothing without first consulting him and receiving his approval. To ensure them a good welcome, some special presents adapted to his probable fancy were to be offered him.

The traders obeyed their instructions to the letter, and after offering their gifts, which delighted the cacique, they opened their wares to the public. Their Castilian merchandise added immensely to the attraction of their market and drew a larger number, between buyers and curious people, than usual. When the day’s business was over, they called for some musical instruments—the templanaste—and taking out their own castanets and timbrels, they began to chant the couplets.

Such music had never before been heard in the Quiche land, but if the form attracted their attention, the words of the verses made a still deeper impression on the listeners, and most of all on the cacique himself. The next day, when the fair was over, he asked the traders to sing again the wonderful story and, as the news of the previous day’s performance had spread amongst the people, a still larger crowd had assembled to listen. When the singing had finished, the cacique asked the traders for explanations concerning the sense of their song but they, acting on Las Casas’s instructions, replied that they only knew what they sang and to learn more he would have to send for certain friars who would be very glad to come and tell him everything concerning the mysteries of the verses. This gave the traders an opportunity to describe the friars who, they said, wore white robes covered with black mantles and had their hair cut in the form of a crown around the head; they told of the extreme frugality of their lives, their severe penances, and that their only occupation was to instruct people, for they despised gold and were indifferent to personal possessions. The cacique marvelled not a little to hear of this new variety of Spaniard, so contrary in habits and manners to the others, of whom his knowledge had led him to form the poorest opinion. He conceived an earnest wish to see these strangers and arranged with the traders that his brother, a young man of twenty-two, should return with them to Santiago and see for himself if what they said was true. He charged his brother to observe carefully and secretly the ways of the friars and to learn all he could about them and meanwhile, in return for the gifts of Las Casas, he sent him a number of the most valuable things his country produced.

The anxiety of the friars during all this time as to the result of their first effort must have been keen, and hence the satisfaction with which they welcomed the return of the traders and their distinguished companion amounted to jubilation; still more was the significance of the present, though its actual value or usefulness to the recipients was probably small, but most important of all was the invitation from the cacique to visit his country.

While the young chieftain was busy observing the life of the convent and satisfying himself that the descriptions given by the traders were accurate, the friars had chosen Fray Luis Cancer(48) as their first envoy to his brother. Provided with more gifts for the cacique, he set out, the only Christian amidst the Indians who followed in the train of the Quiché chief, to penetrate into the unknown country, whose turbulent reputation had earned it the sombre name amongst the Spaniards of Tierra de Guerra—land of war,—for it was never at peace.

No sooner had they crossed the Quiché frontier than everywhere the people came out to see the wonderful guest, making his arrival a veritable festival; arches were erected for him to pass under the very roads were swept before his footsteps and his entrance into the cacique’s own town was a triumph. A church was at once built for him, and at the celebration of the first mass, the cacique assisted in absorbed wonder, while the dignity and Solemnity of the ceremonies and the beauty of the sacerdotal vestments impressed him by their favourable contrast to the repugnant rites and filthy robes of the priests of his own religion. Fray Luis spoke the Quiché language with fluency, and during several days he gave instructions and explanations, which resulted in the cacique’s conversion; that of the others followed as a matter of course. The friar had brought with him the contract signed by the Governor, and he explained its conditions and importance very fully; this document was a more valuable instrument of conversion than would have been an authentic manuscript epistle of St. Paul. The cacique’s conversion was complete, and with his own hands he overthrew the national idols, and began, with all the zeal of a convert, to preach Christian doctrine to his people. The propaganda so actively undertaken by this unexpected assistant left Fray Luis free to visit some neighbouring regions, in all of which he was hospitably received and concerning whose inhabitants he made a most encouraging report on his return to Santiago, where, as may be imagined, his companions received him with the greatest joy.

As the rainy season was over at the end of October, the moment for visiting Tuzulatlan was favourable, and Las Casas determined to go himself and visit the newly converted cacique. It was December when he and Fray Pedro de Angulo arrived in the Quiche country, where the cacique, who since his baptism was known as Don Juan, showed them the same hospitality as he had to Fray Luis. While some of the Indians received them as messengers bringing glad tidings, there were others who cast epicurean glances upon them and decided that they would taste well served with a sauce of chili. (49)

The introduction of the new religion had not been effected without opposition and the Indians of Coban had even burned the first church. Another was soon built, however, in which the two friars said mass daily, preaching afterwards in the open air to immense assemblies of people.

Don Juan was at first unwilling that the friars should penetrate farther into the country, fearing that some of the people, who adhered to the old customs and were hostile to the Spaniards might attack them, but he finally withdrew his objections and formed a guard of his bravest warriors, to whom he confided the safety of his guests. Thus escorted, they traversed all the provinces of Tuzulatlan and Coban where, contrary to the cacique’s apprehensions, they encountered only the most friendly treatment.

At this juncture a Bull of Paul III. (Farnese) which was designed to put an end to further disputes concerning the status of the Indians, by defining their rights once for all, arrived in America. (50)

This Bull was issued in reply to letters sent to the Pope by the Bishop of Tlascala, begging his Holiness to decide the vexed question of the status of the Indians, and was based on the Scriptural text _Euntes docete omnes gentes_. The Pope declared the Indians to be rational beings, possessed of liberty and free-will and therefore susceptible to receive the gospel, which must be preached to them in obedience to the divine commands. He condemned in severe terms those who enslaved the Indians and pretended to deny their capacity to become Christians. A pontifical brief was at the same time addressed to the Cardinal-Archbishop of Toledo, confirming the sense of the Bull and commending the Emperor’s condemnation of slavery in his American possessions.

Paul III.

From an engraving by Vincenzo Crispino after the portrait by Titian.

The satisfaction of Las Casas with this authoritative pronouncement from the supreme head of Christendom may be easily imagined, for it reads not unlike some of his own compositions. He translated the Latin text into Spanish and supplied copies to all the governors and chief persons in those colonies, so that the decision and commands of the Pontiff might be perfectly understood by every one.

To one of his projects for civilising and converting the Indians more rapidly, the cacique was very reluctant to agree; this was that they should quit their semi-nomadic life and their custom of living in small scattered groups throughout the country, and come together in towns and villages. They were so much attached to the independence and freedom of their mountains, that it was easier for the natives to renounce their religion, to which indeed they seemed to have little attachment, than to abandon the ancient customs of their race. Their resistance to this innovation risked losing all that had been accomplished, for they were prepared rather to fight than to yield on this point. By his quiet persistence, however, Las Casas succeeded in starting a village of one hundred houses at a place called Rabinal, whose familiar name he wisely refrained from changing, and little by little, even the natives of Coban, who were the least amenable, were attracted by the novelty, and came to inspect the new system, with which those who had adopted it were delighted, as they could thus hear mass every day and enjoy the discourses and conversation of the friars, of which they seem never to have tired. Fray Luis now joined Las Casas at Rabinal, from whence he repeated his former visits to various places through-out the neighbouring country. The friars were obliged to learn the language or dialect of Coban in order to enter into relations with its people, the most savage of all the tribes in those parts.

The Bishop Marroquin had meanwhile returned from Mexico and Pedro de Alvarado, the captain, who distinguished himself during the conquest of Mexico by his rashness and cruelties, was now the lieutenant of the Emperor in Guatemala, and to these authorities Las Casas wished to render an account of what had been accomplished. To give a more striking proof of the condition of things in Tuzulatlan, he wished very much to have Don Juan accompany him, remembering no doubt, the impression the appearance of the cacique Enrique had produced in Santo Domingo. The project suited the cacique perfectly, and he began to make arrangements for his journey, planning to go in considerable pomp with a numerous following of warriors. To this Las Casas objected, foreseeing the difficulty he would have in keeping such a large number from too familiar contact with Spaniards, from which quarrels and troubles would inevitably ensue. He succeeded in convincing Don Juan that such a display was unnecessary, and sent notice of the approaching visit to Guatemala, where Father Ladrada built more rooms onto the convent for the reception of the guests and laid in an extra supply of provisions to regale them.

The Bishop, without waiting for a visit from the cacique upon his arrival, went at once to the convent to see him and, as he spoke the Guatemalan tongue, they talked together, not only on general subjects but also on matters of faith, the Bishop marvelling greatly at the degree of Don Juan’s instruction and the maturity and gravity of his judgment. Indeed, so impressed was he by the exceptional dignity of the cacique that he begged the Adelantado to go and see him. Pedro de Alvarado had had much experience of Indians and was one of the cruellest of Spanish commanders in America, holding the life of an Indian in no more consideration than that of a dog, yet even he was so favourably attracted by Don Juan’s appearance and manners that, wishing in some way to honour him and having nothing at hand to give him, he took off his own red velvet hat and placed it on the cacique’s head. His followers murmured somewhat at this demonstration, which they considered excessive, but Don Juan was radiant in his magnificent headgear.

To celebrate Don Juan’s visit, an inspection of the town was planned, so that he might see how the Spaniards lived; the Bishop and the Aldelantado sent word beforehand to all the merchants to dress their shops with the best things they had, stuffs, jewelry, plate, etc., and if the cacique should show a fancy for anything, it should immediately be given to him and the account sent to the Bishop. This was doing things in a really royal fashion, and one regrets to have to relate that the cacique walked with great gravity and dignity—as much as though he had been born in Burgos, says Remesal—amidst the brave display, without manifesting any surprise or wish to possess anything he saw, refusing also to accept the different articles which were offered to him. The only object about which he seems to have asked a question was a statue of the Blessed Virgin, and when he heard the Bishop repeat the story of the Mother of Christ, just as the friars had first sung it in his mountain home, he knelt down to receive the image from his hands, with great veneration, and afterwards delivered it to one of his attendants, cautioning him to carry it with the greatest care and reverence.

The visit fortunately passed off without any friction between the Spaniards and the followers of Don Juan, and at its close, Las Casas and Fray Rodrigo de Ladrada accompanied the cacique back to his country, intending to penetrate still farther into the interior of Coban where the natives were but little known to white men. Two caciques, whose names as Christians were Don Miguel and Don Pedro and whose tribes were near to Rabinal, rendered much help in carrying out this plan, and so well did everything promise, that the two friars would have remained in the countries of Tuzulatlan and Coban to prosecute their missionary labours, but for a summons from their companions in Guatemala recalling them thither in May of 1538.

The Bishop Marroquin, who had prompted the summons, assembled the community and explained that the urgent need of more clergy in his diocese had decided him to send some of them to Spain to induce other friars of their own and the Franciscan Order to come to his assistance. The choice of the envoy for this mission not unnaturally fell upon Las Casas, for he had often made the journey, was well acquainted in Spain, where he had many and powerful friends, and was well versed in the ways of the court. Fray Rodrigo went as his companion, and before quitting Guatemala, he went to take leave of the cacique Don Juan, who was much dejected at the departure of his friends.

The two travellers repaired first to Mexico, where a chapter of the Dominican Order was held on August 24, 1539, in which Pedro de Angulo was named prior of the convent in Guatemala, and Fray Luis Cancer was designated to accompany Las Casas and Ladrada to Spain. During his stay in Mexico, Las Casas saw the Viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, who was inclined to share the view that humane treatment of the natives promised better results than violence, and willingly combined with him for several peaceful missions to distant provinces in the north-west of Mexico.

Charles V. was absent from Madrid when Las Casas and his companions arrived but the former was welcomed by many old friends and set about his business with the activity and perspicacity which marked his treatment of affairs. Since the death of the Bishop of Burgos, another and a better spirit breathed in the Council, and there was a more sincere and consistent effort to give full effect to the royal decrees in favour of the Indians. To this, the Bull of Paul III. had doubtless in no small measure contributed, for it was obviously impossible after such an authoritative pronouncement to continue along the old lines, treating the natives like chattels and affecting to deny them souls. The Council accorded a number of beneficial provisions in response to Las Casas’s representations. The pact entered into with the Governor, which guaranteed the independence of the cacique of Tuzulatlan and his people, was ratified by the Council, and letters were written in the King’s name to several of the converted caciques; one of these new provisions ordered that the Indians should be taught music and that musical instruments should be furnished them from Spain. Fray Bartholomew was equally successful in finding a number of friars for the diocese of Guatemala, and on January 21, 1541, Fray Luis Cancer sailed with a number of Franciscans on the return journey. Las Casas and the Dominicans remained behind by command of Cardinal Loaysa, who intimated that the former’s presence would be necessary later, for important matters, of which he would learn in due time. Before the departure of the Franciscans, the royal orders concerning the welfare of the Indians were proclaimed from the steps of the Cathedral of Seville in the presence of a large concourse of people.

Cardinal Loaysa, who occupied the metropolitan see of Seville, contemplated making important changes in the code of laws that governed the Indies, and his desire to consult Las Casas before framing his new system rendered it necessary that the latter should remain in Spain. In the following year, 1542, the Nuevas Leyes, or New Laws, as they were termed, were drawn up, and although there is no direct evidence to prove that they were drafted by Las Casas, there is little doubt that many of their most salutary articles were due to his influence and suggestions. The usual method of assembling councils composed of theologians, canonists, lawyers, and men who had had much experience in the colonies, was likewise followed at this time, and in their meetings the several questions concerning the system of government best adapted to the Indians, the most promising means for converting and civilizing them, and the measures required to correct and eliminate the abuses under which they suffered, were exhaustively discussed. The verbal debates were supplemented by the presentation of facts and arguments in support of different theories, drawn up in writing. In a council held by the Emperor’s command at Valladolid in 1542, Las Casas presented one such lengthy memorial, in which he enumerated the different remedies which he maintained were indispensable if his Majesty would provide for the relief of his Indian vassals. The number of the remedies proposed in this document is given by Las Casas himself as sixteen, but of these only the eighth is known to be in existence. Probably it contained the substance of his thesis, which, like most papers of the time, must have been very wordy and discursive. The eighth remedy was afterwards published at Seville in 1552 with twenty reasons in support of it.

Las Casas’s habitual activity was in no way diminished, and he exercised as great energy in winning adherents to his cause as he did foresight in combating opposition to it. Copies of his memorial were distributed to all the important men whose opinions might influence the tenor of the new laws and the spirit of their application, including the members of the council in Valladolid, especially Cardinal Loaysa, who was President of the India Council, Don Ramirez de Fuenleal, who had been transferred from the presidency of the audiencia of Mexico to the bishopric of Cuenca, Don Juan de Zuñiga, Grand Commander of Castile, the Secretary, Francisco de los Cobos, and all the others who had been appointed to act as judges in this affair. These men held meetings in the house of Pedro Gonzalez de Leon and the outcome of their deliberations was the formation of the famous code of Nuevas Leyes.

Several of the articles of this code might have been drafted word for word by Las Casas himself so entirely do they bear the impress of his opinions:

“Item. We ordain and command that from now and henceforth no Indian may be enslaved because he has fought, nor for any other reason, whether because of rebellion, or for purposes of ransom, nor in any other way, and we desire that they shall be treated as our vassals of the Crown of Castile, for such they are.”

“No one may press the Indians into service by way of naboria or tapia(51) nor in any other manner against their will. And since we have ordered that from henceforth the Indians shall not be made slaves, we likewise ordain and command that in the case of such as have been heretofore enslaved contrary to right and justice, the Audiencias shall summon the parties, and without process of law, but promptly and briefly upon the truth being known, shall liberate them. Nor may the Indians be unjustly enslaved in default of persons to solicit the aforesaid [procedure]; we command that the Audiencia shall appoint persons who may pursue this cause for the Indians and that such persons shall be conscientious and diligent men and shall be paid out of the fines of the Exchequer.”

Neither the spirit nor the provisions of these laws differ from those of the various ordinances and cedulas which the Spanish sovereigns from the reign of Isabella the Catholic had from time to time promulgated. So true is the saying of Dr. Johnson that wisdom may make laws but it requires virtue to execute them. The Spanish sovereigns were more humane than their subjects, but the latter were ready with expedients for evading laws whose execution would have hindered their avaricious undertakings in the distant colonies, while venal officials lent their connivance to these violations, instead of administering the laws in the spirit in which their authors had conceived them. The statute books of the worst despotisms are adorned with the wisest and most liberal ordinances. From the iradés of the Ottoman Sultans and ukases of the Russian Tsars, those empires might be easily shown to possess ideal systems of government, under whose enlightened and beneficent sway happy and prosperous peoples have enjoyed the delights of religious and political liberty.

The most important article of the New Laws concerning the encomienda system provided as follows:

“Furthermore we ordain and command that from now and henceforth no Viceroy, Governor, Audiencia, discoverer, or any other persons whatsoever shall allot Indians in encomienda, neither by new provision or resignation, donation, sale, nor in any other form or manner; neither by vacancies, nor inheritance, but, that on the death of any person holding the said Indians, they shall revert to our royal Crown. Let the Audiencias take means to be immediately and particularly informed concerning the deceased person, his rank, merits, services, and his treatment of his Indians and whether there is a widow or children; they shall send us a report on the condition of the Indians and of the property that we may order what may be best for our service and may make such provision as may seem good to us for the widow and children of the deceased. Should the Audiencia meanwhile perceive a need to provide for such widow and children, they may do this out of the tribute paid by the said Indians, giving them a moderate amount for these Indians are under our Crown, as stated.”

This article provided for the gradual and total extinction of slavery, with due regard to the interests of the colonists, and though it did not meet the wishes of Las Casas for the immediate and absolute correction of the prevailing abuses, its strict application promised to produce more slowly, the results which he sought.

On the 20th of November, 1542, Charles V. signed the Nuevas Leyes of Valladolid, in the city of Barcelona, and their publication immediately followed.

Las Casas was in Valencia at this time and it was there that he finished the best known of all his writings, which was first printed in 1552 under the title _Brevissima Relacion de la Destruycion de la Indias_, and bore a dedication to Philip II. (52) This little book, as the reader may see from the translation of it given at the close of this volume, is a veritable catalogue of horrors. Man’s invention has its limits, and the ways of torturing the human body are numbered, hence, as the descriptions of the various scenes of brutality repeat themselves over and over in the same language, they end by becoming wearisome. The book was speedily translated into various European languages and its dissemination aroused a tempest of indignation against the Spanish colonial system in America. Its contents were made to serve in the religious and political controversies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and Las Casas was cited as a witness both against his Church and his country.

There is no doubt that every incident that Las Casas relates as coming within his own knowledge and observation is true, though Prescott describes “the good Bishop’s arithmetic as coming from the heart than from the head” and historians generally have been inclined to doubt his figures. His description of the mild and friendly character of the natives of the islands was doubtless exact, but when he extends it to include the fierce and warlike tribes of the mainland, his generalisations are seen to be misleading. None of the peoples of Anáhuac could be truthfully described as “gentle lambs” or as “humble, submissive, and docile, knowing no evil and neither possessing nor understanding the use of weapons.” Slavery was everywhere established, with its attendant abuses and evils, and it was slavery that Las Casas combated. It must be borne in mind that Las Casas was a man in whom humanitarianism overshadowed every other sentiment, that he was of an ardent, impressionable and imaginative temperament, with sensibilities of the most delicate sort; moreover, he was an apostle, the defender of an oppressed people, whom he had taken under his protection and whose cause it was the mission of his life to sustain and defend. The violation of divine and human justice had been erected into a system by the conquerors and discoverers and nothing, in his eyes, could palliate the evils which that system fostered, and by which the colonists prospered, while the native races were dwindling to extinction. Beyond these primary facts, he refused to see; of them, he had seen more than enough to inflame his indignation and start him upon the crusade for which his iron constitution, his superior intellectual powers, and his resistless eloquence were alone adequate. He was frequently betrayed into invective, and his denunciations are as fierce as language could make them, while the energetic terms in which he depicts, in all their bald horror, the revolting inhumanity of his countrymen provoke a shudder. The Brevissima Relacion is not literature for sensitive readers.