CHAPTER XXI.

GUATEMALA AND CHIAPAS.

1551-1600.

QUESADA'S ADMINISTRATION—THE OIDOR ZORITA GATHERS THE NATIVES INTO TOWNS—EXPEDITION AGAINST THE LACANDONES—ITS FAILURE—LANDECHO APPOINTED QUESADA'S SUCCESSOR—HIS RESIDENCIA TAKEN BY THE LICENTIATE BRIZEÑO—FAMINE, PESTILENCE, AND EARTHQUAKE IN GUATEMALA—THE AUDIENCIA OF THE CONFINES REMOVED TO PANAMÁ—AND AGAIN TRANSFERRED TO GUATEMALA—GONZALEZ APPOINTED PRESIDENT—HE IS SUCCEEDED BY VILLALOBOS—CHANGES IN CHURCH AFFAIRS—DEATH OF BISHOP MARROQUIN—QUARRELS BETWEEN THE DOMINICANS AND FRANCISCANS—BISHOPS VILLALPANDO AND CÓRDOBA—FRACAS BETWEEN TWO ECCLESIASTICS—ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENTS VALVERDE, RUEDA, SANDÉ, AND CASTILLA—INDUSTRIAL CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE.

[Sidenote: ORGANIZATION OF INDIAN TOWNS.]

Cerrato's successor was Doctor Antonio Rodriguez de Quesada, an oidor of the audiencia of Mexico, and a man of learning and ability. Though appointed November 17, 1553, he did not assume office until the beginning of 1555.[XXI‑1] The residencia of the former president and oidores was soon begun, and completed some time in May.[XXI‑2] Quesada was active in establishing reforms, and it was to the Indian question that his principal efforts were directed. The president determined to complete the organization of Indian towns, hoping thus to compel the natives to adopt a civilized mode of life and establishing in them a municipal government similar to that of Spanish settlements, the offices being confided to their hereditary chiefs according to rank.[XXI‑3]

At the request of the bishop and the Dominican provincial, the audiencia ordered Oidor Zorita to call a meeting of friars; and although we have no direct information as to its object, we may conclude that it related to the president's policy, for it was condemned by the settlers,[XXI‑4] and, as we shall see hereafter, the carrying into effect of Quesada's plans was in great part due to the efforts of Zorita who was commissioned for this purpose.

The work of organizing the native towns had already been begun in Nicaragua as early as February 1555, by the licentiate Cavallon, appointed alcalde mayor of that province by the audiencia.[XXI‑5]

In the beginning of March, Zorita set forth on his official tour through the province. From the letters of the Dominicans we learn that during six months he visited on foot the most rugged portions of the province, moderated tributes, and corrected abuses. In gathering the natives into towns he found much difficulty, force being necessary in some instances to accomplish their removal. This, however, was not the only opposition encountered, for as might be expected he incurred the bitter hostility of the settlers. Finding him incorruptible they had recourse as usual to false reports. Witnesses for any purpose could be cheaply bought; and since he would not yield the Spaniards determined to drive him from the province.[XXI‑6] There is no evidence as to the result of this hostility, nor have we any further records of events which occurred during Quesada's administration, save the mention of a fearful epidemic which swept over the country in 1558,[XXI‑7] and the seizure and pillage of Puerto de Caballos by four French ships during the same year.[XXI‑8]

In the letters of the Dominicans already cited, no special mention is made of Quesada, but in February 1558, the cabildo, in a despatch to the king, urge the appointment as governor of some person who should be a gentleman by birth, and have the sole management of affairs.[XXI‑9] This would seem to indicate that, whatever the president's subsequent policy, it was satisfactory neither to the ecclesiastics nor to the settlers.

Quesada died in November 1558, and the oidor and licentiate Pedro Ramirez de Quiñones took temporary charge of the presidency. Ramirez' rule was brief, and the only event of importance of which we have any record was the expedition in 1559 against the hostile provinces of Lacandon and Acala. Of the vast extent of unconquered territory lying beyond Vera Paz, nothing definite was known at this time except from the accounts of the march of Cortés to Honduras, nor had its conquest been attempted.

As early as 1550 attempts at the pacification of the adjacent province of Acala were begun by the Dominicans of Vera Paz. For a time their efforts were successful, but finally, incited by their neighbors and allies, the majority of the natives refused to receive the friars, and in 1555 the combined tribes destroyed the only mission thus far established and murdered Father Vico, the originator of the attempt, together with his companion Father Lopez, and a number of converted Indians from Vera Paz. There is no evidence that their pacification was again attempted.

[Sidenote: THE LACANDONES.]

Chief among the wild tribes of this region were the Lacandones, who though few in number were brave, hardy, daring, and implacable in their hatred of the white race. Their territory extended from the northern frontier of Vera Paz along the eastern border of Chiapas as far as the province of Tabasco. Their chief town and stronghold was on a rocky island, in Lake Lacandon, distant a few days' journey from the provinces of Chiapas and Vera Paz. From this point they issued in organized bands, and sweeping along the border of these two provinces fell suddenly on the defenceless settlements, leaving a track of desolation and blood. These depredations continued for many years, nor is there any record of a single instance of pursuit or punishment previous to 1559. Emboldened by continued success, they extended their incursions to the interior. In 1552 they destroyed two towns in Chiapas, one of them within fifteen leagues of Ciudad Real. The attack was made at night, and but few of the terrified inhabitants escaped. While sacrificing their captives the natives shouted derisively: "Christians, call upon your God to defend you!"

The bishop of Chiapas made overtures of peace to the Lacandones, but they were treated with contempt and his messengers killed. He then appealed to the audiencia; but the oidores, foreseeing in these disasters the failure of the much-vaunted peace policy which had in a measure excluded the civil authority from the territory ceded to the Dominicans, coldly replied that the crown had strictly forbidden the making of war on this province. Reports of the critical condition of affairs were accordingly made to the crown both by bishop and friars. In consequence a cédula dated January 22, 1556, ordered the audiencia de los Confines to investigate the matter, punish the Lacandones as far as practicable, and report the result to the crown. The instructions, however, were unheeded, for the audiencia well knew that nothing short of an armed force would suffice, and this decree did not expressly authorize a disregard of the existing interdict.

In the mean time the depredations of the Lacandones continued unchecked, and threatened to cause the abandonment of Vera Paz. Aroused at last to a full sense of their danger the Dominicans were fain to acknowledge that the coöperation of the sword was necessary to the planting of the cross, and so far diverged from the principles laid down by Las Casas as to declare in the provincial chapter held at Coban, in 1558, that because of the sacrileges and murders they had committed, it was not only lawful for the king to make war on the Lacandones, but if need be, in order to protect his subjects, to exterminate them.[XXI‑10]

In pursuance of this declaration they wrote to the king and suggested as the only efficient remedy the removal of the hostile natives to certain unsettled districts beyond Ciudad Real, thus placing this city between them and the settlements of Chiapas and Vera Paz. In order to reduce the expense of their removal it was further suggested that an expedition be authorized and the Spaniards induced to join it at their own expense under promise that the Lacandones should be granted to them in repartimiento. In accordance with these suggestions a royal cédula dated March 16, 1558, directed the audiencia de los Confines to take steps for the immediate removal of the Indians. If practicable it was to be done peaceably, but if force were necessary all harshness was to be avoided, though the prisoners taken were to become the lawful slaves of their captors.

[Sidenote: MUSTERING OF FORCES.]

This decree was published in Santiago in the beginning of 1559; and attracted by the prospect of gain thus held out, and the charm of adventure and mystery which attaches to the invasion of an unknown and hostile province, large numbers of settlers in Guatemala and Chiapas offered to accompany the expedition. President Ramirez was appointed commander-in-chief, as he had already certain military renown not altogether merited. Early in the same year the respective forces arrived at Comitlan, the appointed rendezvous. The total Spanish force is not stated but is said to have included many persons of quality. The troops from Chiapas were commanded by Gonzalo Dovalle, and besides the colonists, comprised a native contingent of eight hundred warriors. A thousand Indians are said to have accompanied the Spanish from Guatemala. Supplies of all kinds were collected, and two brigantines were built in sections, each vessel being capable of holding a hundred men. A small army of carriers and attendants was required to transport the baggage and wait on the Spaniards, and preparations were on a scale better befitting a conflict with Europeans than with Americans. At Comitlan a review was held which, according to Remesal, presented one of the most brilliant spectacles ever seen in those parts, for no expense had been spared by the Spaniards in their dress, equipments, and arms. At last, the flags having been blessed and mass said, the army set out.

Fifteen days of toilsome march, during which a path had to be cut through the dense vegetation, brought them to the shores of Lake Lacandon. At their approach the natives retreated to the island, after catching and sacrificing a negro boy who was out after some corn which grew in the gardens on the borders of the lake.

From their retreat the Lacandones closely watched the movements of the Spaniards, who in turn eagerly scanned the high bare rock with its white houses and dusky inhabitants, lest any signs of hostile preparation should escape them.

While the work of putting together one of the brigantines was progressing, a few of the natives approached the shore in canoes and demanded of the Spaniards their object in thus invading their country. Returning they made offers of peace, but as they denied having more than eleven canoes, the Spaniards suspected their design. It was believed that they wished to induce the Spaniards to accompany them to the island, a few at a time, where they could easily be despatched. The brigantine was soon afterward launched and as the Lacandones saw it bearing down upon them they took to flight.[XXI‑11] Many were captured, including the principal chief and the high priest. The houses and other defences of the island having been destroyed, a force was then despatched to pursue the savages, and to reduce the stronghold of the Puchutlas, which was also an island fortress, though its exact position cannot now be ascertained.[XXI‑12]

[Sidenote: ILL-ADVISED EFFORTS.]

Near the town of Topiltitepeq this force fell into an ambuscade, and a few of the Spaniards were wounded, but the savages were finally put to rout, and a large supply of provisions was found in the deserted town. Arriving at Puchutla they found the natives in readiness for defence. Preparations were immediately made for the attack, and a raft was built as the second brigantine had been abandoned in the woods, and the one used against the Lacandones had sunk in the lake. No sooner had the Spaniards started from shore than the Indians advanced in their canoes to meet them, and midway between the island and the bank there was a sharp encounter which resulted in the defeat and flight of the Puchutlas. The fortress was found to be deserted, the savages having taken the precaution of removing their families and property to a place of safety.[XXI‑13] No attempt was made to punish the natives or to occupy any portion of their territory, and the expedition returned to Guatemala about Christmas, bringing with them one hundred and fifty prisoners.

In conjunction with the Spaniards, a large force of christianized Indians under the native governor of Vera Paz invaded the province of Ácala, administering a severe punishment, taking many captives, and hanging the principal accomplices in the murder of fathers Vico and Lopez.

Thus ended an expedition which had cost the crown nearly four thousand pesos de oro de minas, but seems to have been without any fixed plan, and was productive of no practical result other than to keep the savages in check for a time.[XXI‑14] Its failure proved most disastrous to the colonists; for, though some are said to have received a reward for their services, the majority were left hopelessly involved in debt for the cost of their outfit, a few miserable slaves being the only spoils obtained in return for the expense, hardships, and peril incurred. It was not long, however, before all the slaves, including their chief, effected their escape and returned to their country. Re-occupying their stronghold, it was not many years before they resumed their depredations, and, as we shall see, successfully resisted all subsequent attempts to subdue them.

In 1564 the Puchutlas were induced, through the efforts of the Dominican Father Laurencio, to submit to the friars, and settled in Vera Paz. This success gained for Father Laurencio the title of the Apostle of Puchutla.[XXI‑15]

* * * * *

In August 1559 the licentiate Juan Martinez de Landecho, Quesada's successor, arrived in Guatemala,[XXI‑16] and entered upon office early in September, Ramirez being appointed an oidor of the audiencia of Lima, and after undergoing the investigation of his residencia embarking at the port of Acajutla, whither he was accompanied by the principal authorities and citizens, who thus showed their recognition of his worth.

The petition of the cabildo of Santiago that a gentleman by birth and education should be sent to govern them, had at last been answered, and the members were profuse in their thanks to the crown for this favor. Experience had taught, however, that in order to protect and further the interests of the colonists, they must control a majority of the oidores, and as this was extremely difficult, they had determined to make an effort to have the political administration and distribution of the Indians vested exclusively in the president. As we have seen, the crown had already been petitioned to make this change, and it was expected that the new president would come with the additional title of governor.

This petition was repeated in the latter part of 1560, and was successful; for in May of the following year we find the cabildo attributing the increasing prosperity of the country to the granting of their request.[XXI‑17]

[Sidenote: MEJÍA AND THE DOMINICANS.]

The colonists were jubilant that the humane measures of Cerrato and of Zorita, which their constant efforts had hitherto failed to accomplish, were now certain of defeat. Doctor Mejía, one of the oidores, was ordered to make an official tour of the provinces, as Zorita had been under the former administration. His measures counteracted the benefits of Zorita's labors. The regulation of tribute was entrusted to the encomenderos and caciques, and as these latter were often but the creatures of the former, the result may be readily inferred.[XXI‑18]

The Dominicans were the object of Mejía's special dislike, and he subjected them to such annoyance and persecution that they were on the point of abandoning the province of Guatemala. The alcaldes and other officers interfered with them in their control of the Indians, secretly charged them with usurping the royal authority and receiving money from the natives, and, though the audiencia, in answer to the complaints of the friars, promised to protect them, little appears to have been done. Even the cabildo sought to make it appear to the crown that the religious exercised an arbitrary and prejudicial authority in the municipal council and elections held by the Indians. The deplorable condition of the natives and the persecution of the friars were made the subject of numerous letters to Las Casas, who represented these abuses to the crown in strong colors, urging the removal of Mejía and the adoption of relief measures for the natives.[XXI‑19]

Some relief was afforded by a royal decree which declared the natives no longer subject to the Spanish alcaldes, and which, according to Remesal,[XXI‑20] was issued about 1563 at the petition of the friars.

Landecho is represented as haughty, capricious, wedded to his own opinions, and unscrupulous in money matters.[XXI‑21] Certain it is that though favoring the interests of the colonists he did not neglect his own, and they soon found that he was neither pliant nor considerate. They never ceased to extol his tact and vigilance, and declared him fit to govern Peru; yet within a year of this declaration, and while assuring the king that they had no cause to change their mind, they observed that it would be well for the crown to instruct the president-governor to have a special care for the welfare of the people.[XXI‑22]

The continued complaints against Landecho at last induced the crown to decide on his removal, and Licentiate Francisco Brizeño,[XXI‑23] oidor of the audiencia of Santa Fé,[XXI‑24] was commissioned to take his residencia. He arrived in Santiago on the 2d of August 1564.[XXI‑25] The residencia of the president was terminated in December of the same year, and resulted in the suspension of the president and the oidor Loaisa.[XXI‑26]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: FAMINE AND EPIDEMIC.]

During Landecho's rule, a drought, which occurred in 1563, was followed by such great scarcity of corn as to cause much suffering among the natives,[XXI‑27] and in the early part of 1565 the country was visited by pestilence and earthquake. The epidemic appears to have been confined to the Indian town of Cinacantlan, in Chiapas, which it nearly depopulated, but the effects of the earthquake were more extended. In Santiago and the adjacent country it was destructive both to life and property.[XXI‑28] To mitigate the wrath of God the terrified inhabitants of the city chose the martyr Saint Stephen as their advocate, and erected in his honor a hermitage, to which a yearly procession was established.[XXI‑29]

A matter of greater moment than the change of governors now occupied the attention of the colonists of Guatemala. The transfer of the audiencia de los Confines to Panamá had been decided on by the crown, but for what cause is not recorded by the chroniclers.[XXI‑30] A decree to this effect was issued early in 1563, and confirmed by a second one dated the 8th of September in the same year in which its jurisdiction was defined.[XXI‑31]

A line extending from the gulf of Fonseca to the mouth of the river Ulúa formed the northern limit of the territory made subject to the new audiencia of Panamá. This did not include, however, the cities of Gracias á Dios and San Gil de Buenavista with their districts, which together with the provinces of Guatemala, Chiapas, Soconusco, and Vera Paz were made subject to the audiencia of New Spain.[XXI‑32]

[Sidenote: ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT.]

Doctor Barros de San Millan, oidor of the audiencia of Panamá, was commissioned by the crown to remove the audiencia de los Confines, and before the end of December 1564 was on his way to Panamá with the seal, the visitador Brizeño having brought the order and published it soon after his arrival.[XXI‑33]

This change, which seriously affected the interests of Guatemala, was vigorously opposed by its inhabitants. Though informed early in 1564, as we have seen, that this measure had been resolved on, the cabildo refrained from decisive action till the arrival of Brizeño, when the publication of his orders would perhaps reveal its origin. In this, however, they were disappointed, for in their letter of December 20, 1564, they write: "Your Majesty, for certain causes which have moved you, has been pleased to order that the audiencia de los Confines be removed to the city of Panamá."

By making the audiencia of New Spain the court of appeals for Guatemala and the other provinces, under the former jurisdiction of the audiencia of the Confines great inconvenience and injustice resulted owing to distance. These facts were dwelt upon in the petitions to the crown, and were supplemented by the reports of the Dominicans, who represented the ill-treatment to which the natives would be exposed without the restraining presence of the audiencia. Las Casas, as we have seen, also employed his voice and influence at court to bring about its restoration, and the result was to induce the crown, by decree of 1568, to order its reëstablishment in Santiago, Doctor Antonio Gonzalez, oidor of the audiencia of Granada, being appointed president and arriving in Santiago with the oidores early in 1570.[XXI‑34]

During the absence of the audiencia the country was governed by the visitador Brizeño, whose administration appears to have been just, and with the exception of church affairs, uneventful. There is no evidence that Gonzalez was given the extraordinary powers granted to Landecho, perhaps because the experiment had not proven satisfactory, but according to Pelaez, a fiscal had been added to the officers of the audiencia during its absence.[XXI‑35] Brizeño's residencia was taken sometime in March, and the only charge brought against him was the granting of certain repartimientos at the suggestion of the cabildo of Santiago. The findings in the case were transmitted to the crown, and the cabildo immediately wrote defending the measure as necessary, and asking for his acquittal.[XXI‑36]

Gonzalez ruled until February 1572, when he was relieved by Doctor Pedro de Villalobos, who came as president and governor. We have no record of any event of importance during Gonzalez' administration; but that it was a just one is proven by his honorable acquittal in the residencia taken by his successor.

* * * * *

About the middle of the sixteenth century the affairs of the church underwent several important changes. Soconusco, which as we have seen was assigned to the bishopric of Chiapas, was subsequently included in the see of Bishop Marroquin, though again affiliated with the bishopric of Chiapas in 1596. Soon after their arrival the Dominicans sent to Soconusco a mission of several friars; but unable to withstand the excessive heat most of them fell sick, and the death of one of their number so dispirited the remainder as to cause the abandonment of the province.

The see of Chiapas remained vacant until 1550, when Father Tomás Casillas, at the suggestion, no doubt, of Las Casas, was appointed to fill it. He visited the greater part of his diocese, including Tabasco; built an episcopal palace, and attended the provincial councils in Mexico in 1555 and 1565. After his decease in 1567, the see again remained vacant until 1574, when Fray Domingo de Lara was designated as his successor. The intelligence of the honor fell strangely upon the recipient; he prayed that he might die before it was confirmed; and curiously enough before the pope's bull came to hand, and while in the midst of preparations for consecration, he expired.[XXI‑37]

[Sidenote: AN HONEST BISHOP.]

The next occupant of the see, Pedro de Fería, was called from the convent of Salamanca, and early in February 1575 was actively engaged in diocesan work. At his invitation the Franciscans sent some friars into the province, and a convent and church were soon erected. Chiapas had the rare fortune to possess in Fería a bishop who was an honest man, and one not greedy for gold or power. Finding himself too feeble for the work he begged the king to name another. In consequence of an order of the king that secular priests must not be displaced by Dominicans, or others who held a temporary dispensation from the pope, Fería appointed seculars to several vacancies to the no small chagrin of some of the friars. In 1592[XXI‑38] Don Fray Andrés de Ubilla was appointed successor to Fería, and continued in office until 1601, when he was promoted to the see of Michoacan.

At a Dominican provincial chapter held in 1576, at Ciudad Real, the convent of Santo Domingo de Chiapas was accepted as that of the province, and Pedro de Barrientos chosen as first vicar. At chapters held in Chiapas and Guatemala prior to 1600, it was forbidden the friars to sign their family name; to write to the president of the audiencia or to the oidores without showing the letters first to the superiors, and so in regard to writing to Spain under penalty of fifteen days' imprisonment. No moneys were to be sent to Spain through the hands of the religious.

Ciudad Real, where the last provincial chapter was held, had in 1580 two hundred Spanish vecinos. There were about ninety Indian towns in the province, within a radius of sixty leagues, containing some twenty-six thousand tributaries. The largest one, Chiapas de los Indios, had twelve hundred Indian vecinos.

In 1559, through the influence of Las Casas, the bishopric of Vera Paz was established, and Father Angulo appointed its first bishop. He accepted the charge and repaired to his see a year or two later, but died early in 1562 before proceeding to consecration.[XXI‑39] The establishment of this see was unwise in the extreme, and must be attributed solely to the representations of Las Casas. As already shown the country was barely capable of sustaining its inhabitants, and in 1564 the cabildo declared to the crown that it would be well to suppress the bishopric as it could not support a prelate; an opinion borne out by subsequent experience.[XXI‑40]

Angulo was succeeded by Father Tomás de Cárdenas, a Dominican. The date of his appointment according to Gonzalez Dávila was April 1, 1565, and according to Remesal he continued in possession until his death, in 1580.[XXI‑41]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: DEATH OF MARROQUIN.]

In 1555 Bishop Marroquin, now old and wearied with over twenty-five years of constant service as priest and bishop, sought to retire, but though President Quesada recommended to the crown that his petition be granted it was refused, and he died at Santiago on holy Friday of 1563,[XXI‑42] and was buried with the highest honors in the cathedral of Santiago.[XXI‑43] His successor was Bernardino de Villalpando, bishop of Cuba, who arrived in Santiago in 1564.[XXI‑44]

The Franciscans and Dominicans in the mean time had made but little progress owing to petty rivalries and dissensions between them, and the interference of the secular clergy. Though the Dominicans had always been the principal confessors and preachers in Santiago, they were less popular than the Franciscans, who were also favored by Bishop Marroquin. As early as 1550 a strong rivalry sprung up between the two orders in regard to the right of possession of sites for churches and convents. These being then determined by the simple act of taking possession, many towns and districts were seized upon by the ecclesiastics which they could not attend to themselves, and would not permit their rivals to control. Dissensions and mutual detractions followed, which the prelates of the respective orders were powerless to suppress in their subordinates.

This scandalous example estranged both the civil authorities and the citizens, and Marroquin, finding his efforts to settle these quarrels fruitless, began to appoint persons to the vacant and neglected towns, in some cases depriving the ecclesiastics of those in their charge. This condition of affairs was duly reported by the authorities, and as a result the religious were reproved, and the selection of sites for convents and the appointment of clergy made subject to the approval of the audiencia, and the bishop was instructed to respect the privileges of the friars and treat them with due consideration.[XXI‑45]

In 1551 the Dominicans of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Chiapas were organized into an independent provincia with the title of San Vicente de Chiapas. Father Tomás de la Torre was appointed provincial, and the first provincial chapter was held at Santiago in January.[XXI‑46] Several convents were founded, mostly in Guatemala, churches built among the Zoques and Quelenes, and with the arrival from time to time of additional friars the organization of new districts was begun. In Chiapas the Dominicans in their labors continued to suffer occasional molestation from the colonists. The provinces of San Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica were visited, a convent was founded in the city of San Salvador, and two attempts were made to establish the order in Nicaragua.[XXI‑47]

In 1559 a custodia was formed of the Franciscans in Guatemala and Yucatan, by which provinces the vicar was alternately chosen. This lasted until 1565, when the religious of Guatemala were authorized to establish a separate provincia with the title of The Holy Name of Jesus. Their first provincial was Father Gonzalo Mendez, and the first provincial chapter was opened in Santiago on the 12th of October, 1566.[XXI‑48]

Owing to the dissensions with the Dominicans and among themselves, many friars left the province, so that in 1566 there were but thirty ecclesiastics and seven convents. In 1574 the audiencia issued a decree permitting the Franciscans to found convents in the provinces of Izalcos, Cuscatlan, and Honduras. About the same time convents were established in the villas of San Salvador and San Miguel.[XXI‑49]

[Sidenote: VILLALPANDO AND CÓRDOBA.]

One of the first acts of Bishop Villalpando was the publication of the decrees of the late council of Trent. Among other measures these restricted the privileges of mendicant friars, and believing or affecting to believe that this extended to a total deprivation of their right to administer the sacraments, the prelate began to secularize the towns in their charge. In vain were the protests of the Franciscan and Dominican provincials and the audiencia, and the representations of all that the secular priests, ignorant of the Indian languages, regardless of their interest, and in many cases of disreputable character, were unfit to succeed the regular orders in the charge of a numerous people, the majority of whom were yet new in the faith. The bishop absolutely insisted on obedience. In consequence recourse was had to the crown, but in the interim the prelate persistently carried out his measures notwithstanding the opposition of the friars, the colonists, and the natives, the religious being prevented from abandoning the province only at the entreaties of the colonists, and the Indians in some instances refusing to receive them in their towns.

At the solicitation of the king the pope restored the privileges of the friars, the extreme measures of the bishop were condemned, and the archbishop of New Spain ordered to send a visitador to examine into certain serious charges made against Villalpando.[XXI‑50] When notified of these decrees, Villalpando is said to have replied: "I have received my church not from the king but from God, to whom I am prepared to render an account." According to Juarros he left Santiago soon after and died suddenly at Chalchuapa, four days' journey from the capital.[XXI‑51] Francisco Cambranes, dean of the cathedral of Santiago and after him Father Alonso de Lamilla, a Dominican, appear to have been appointed to succeed Villalpando. The former died before his appointment reached him and the latter declined the mitre. The see remained vacant until the appointment in 1574 of Bishop Gomez Fernandez de Córdoba who was transferred from the bishopric of Nicaragua.[XXI‑52]

Córdoba was a man simple in habit, humble in spirit, and pure in life. Foppery troubled some of the clergy, and the prelate, who could be stern when needful, took occasion to call up one of the would-be clerical gallants, and severely admonished him upon the extravagance of his dress. The mortifying lesson was not without effect, and he, with not a few others, carefully avoided such display ever after.

[Sidenote: FIGHTING FRIARS.]

In 1575 Córdoba set out on his official visits, and everywhere met with complaints from the natives concerning their priests, especially among the Ochitepiques, who asked to have the Franciscans put in charge. But those in possession were not always willing to gracefully yield as was shown by an incident which occurred in the same year. Father Pedro Diaz, visiting Guatemala for the purpose of founding Franciscan convents, arrived in the little town of Zamayaque, and called to pay his respects to the priest. His advances were coolly received, and the padre, seeking to conciliate him, asked his permission to say mass in the town and confess some of the Indians. From indifference the latter became fiercely indignant, and expressed himself in very unclerical language. His words were violent and his speech so loud that a number of the Indians were attracted to the spot. Thereupon Diaz assumed a humble attitude and deferentially withdrew, after making his apologies, and repaired to the cabildo, where the people flocked to him. Improvising an altar beneath a cotton-tree close by, he then insisted upon performing service, taking care that the priest should be informed and begging him not to interfere. At the consecration, the latter, accompanied by a few armed favorites, rushed in and gave unbridled license to his tongue, calling the people dogs and the Franciscan a madman. It was a strange spectacle—an angry priest wildly gesticulating in his black robe, surrounded by armed men, who momentarily threatened assault, and a padre calmly reciting his orisons, holding the host in uplifted hands in the midst of the people. The priest, exasperated beyond control, ordered his men to charge, which they did, wounding not a few and causing a general stampede.

At this point the encomendero Leon Cardena interposed between the contestants, and the Franciscan tried to assuage the tumult with words of peace. The priest would not be pacified until the Indians tried their skill at stone-throwing, when he ignominiously turned and fled to his house, where he had to undergo a siege until he promised to depart for Guatemala taking all his paraphernalia with him.[XXI‑53] The Franciscan remained master of the field, and was eventually appointed guardian of Zamayaque, but the consequences of the unseemly quarrel were far-reaching, and the discussions to which it gave rise went far to reform the character of priests put in charge of the natives.

Bishop Córdoba labored in Guatemala for twenty-three years, Fray Antonio de Hinojosa being appointed his colleague two years before the decease of the former, which occurred in 1598. During his administration the king gave orders that no expense should be spared in supporting all the religious who might be needed for the conversion of the natives, and that money should be placed at the disposal of the friars for the purpose of administering the sacrament to the Indians in places remote from the settlements. The Franciscans especially multiplied in Guatemala, sixty-six arriving in that province between 1571 and 1573. In 1576 the audiencia was directed by the crown to make an annual grant of fifty thousand maravedís for each mission established by them. In 1578 García de Valverde, who during that year was appointed president of the audiencia, undertook the rebuilding or enlargement of several Franciscan convents[XXI‑54] and the erection of several churches. Such was his enthusiasm that he was often seen carrying stone and mortar for the workmen, and his example spread among the inhabitants of Santiago, men of noble birth imitating the prelate's example.

In the year 1600 when Juan Ramirez was appointed bishop there were in Guatemala twenty-two convents of the Franciscans and fourteen of the Dominican order.[XXI‑55] In 1578 a nunnery was completed and occupied, the funds having been provided by a bequest from the first bishop of Guatemala. In 1592 a college was opened in Santiago, and we learn that the cabildo, encouraged by its success, desired to have a university established there in order that students might complete their education without proceeding to Mexico as was then the custom among the wealthier class of Spaniards.

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[Sidenote: VALVERDE AND RUEDA.]

During Valverde's administration the news of Drake's expedition to the South Sea, of which mention will be made in connection with the raids of that famous adventurer, spread consternation throughout the provinces. On this occasion the president of Guatemala showed himself worthy of the trust imposed in him. Ships and cannon were procured; small arms and ammunition were obtained from Mexico, and an expedition was quickly despatched in search of the enemy. No encounter took place, however, and the commander of the fleet was placed under arrest for non-fulfilment of his orders, which were to proceed in quest of the intruders to the gulf of California where they were supposed to be stationed. In 1586 when news arrived of Drake's capture of Santo Domingo a review was held in the plaza of Santiago, and it was found that the city could put into the field five hundred foot and one hundred horse.[XXI‑56]

Valverde's decease occurred in September 1589, and when on his death-bed he received intelligence of his promotion to the presidency of the audiencia of Nueva Galicia. His successor was Pedro Mayen de Rueda, a man of strong but narrow views, and one who by his injudicious measures soon made enemies both of the oidores and the ecclesiastics, the members of the municipality, however, remaining firm in their allegiance to him. "Rueda," writes the cabildo to the king in 1592, "has given vacant encomiendas to the deserving, and strictly carried out royal cédulas. He has embellished the capital with many a fine building so that it is far other than it was." Nevertheless his enemies were too strong for him, and in the following year he was superseded by Doctor Francisco Sandé, who came to the province vested with the authority of a visitador, but appears to have found nothing specially worthy of censure in the former's administration.[XXI‑57]

The new president incurred the enmity of the cabildo by abolishing one of its most cherished privileges,[XXI‑58] and by causing the office of alférez, the holder of which became ex officio the senior member of the cabildo, to be disposed of for five thousand ducados to one Francisco de Mesa, whose chief recommendation seems to have been that he was a kinsman of the president's wife. In November 1596 Sandé departed for New Granada, of which province he had been appointed governor.[XXI‑59] His successor was Doctor Alonso Criado de Castilla, who assumed office in September 1598, the reins of power being during the interval in the hands of the senior oidor, Alvaro Gomez de Abaunza.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: MINING AND COMMERCE.]

During the closing years of the sixteenth century it was the policy of the cabildo in their reports to the king to represent the industrial condition of Guatemala in as unfavorable a light as possible. Nevertheless there is sufficient evidence that trade was restricted, mining almost neglected, and that agriculture received little attention. Rich mines were discovered in various places, but Indians could not be procured to work them, and mine-owners becoming every day poorer, threatened altogether to abandon the field, thus causing the cabildo to petition for the importation of slaves for the purpose of developing them. So great was the falling-off in receipts at the smelting-works that the royal officials resolved to exact only one tenth instead of the fifth of the proceeds which had before been collected as the king's dues.

The possibility of extending the commerce of the province by the opening of the port of Iztapa, ten or twelve leagues from Santiago, and the point where it will be remembered Alvarado's vessels were built and equipped for his promised expedition to the Spice Islands, was the subject of many petitions to the king. It seemed to present many facilities for an extensive traffic on the South Sea, and its contiguity to Guatemala would afford merchants and speculators an opportunity of dealing in the products of the country. Ship-building especially might become an important industry. Woods of finest quality and in limitless quantity could be had in the district. Large cedars were abundant; while cordage could be had in inexhaustible quantity. The pita, which furnished excellent material for ropes and cables, grew profusely all over the coast. Pitch and tar could also be procured in the valley of Inmais, only a short distance from the port. So far, however, little success had attended the various attempts made to utilize these advantages, but in after years further efforts were made. In 1591, measures were also taken for opening another port named Estero del Salto, seven leagues from Iztapa and capable of accommodating vessels of a hundred tons.[XXI‑60]

While thus struggling for new avenues of trade, the members of the cabildo were tenacious of those already in their possession. Neither the importation of slaves nor a reduction of the royal dues would satisfy them, while cacao, the only product which really did pay and thus preserved the balance of trade, was improperly taxed. Writing in 1575, they alleged that for two years past this once highly profitable trade had been nearly destroyed by excessive taxation and that in consequence the prosperity of Santiago had been greatly diminished.[XXI‑61]

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[Sidenote: VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.]

But commercial decadence was not the only misfortune from which the province suffered. In 1575 and the two subsequent years earthquakes occurred in Guatemala,[XXI‑62] attended with great destruction of property. In December 1581 a violent eruption occurred in the volcano west of Santiago. The land for miles around was covered with scoriæ; the sun was darkened, and the lurid flames darting from the cone spread terror throughout the neighborhood. The inhabitants, believing that the day of judgment had come, marched in penitential procession loudly bewailing their sins. Presently a sharp north wind dispersed the gloom and scattered the ashes. On this occasion no lives were lost. In 1585 and 1586 there were numerous earthquakes, the most violent one occurring just before Christmas of the latter year. Hill-tops were rent, wide chasms appeared in the earth, and the greater part of the city was destroyed, many of the inhabitants being buried in the ruins. In 1587 we hear of another severe earthquake by which fifteen lives were lost and fifty buildings shaken down, among them the old Franciscan convent.[XXI‑63]