And Finally, All Indians
Set At Liberty By This Regulation Were To Belong In Perpetuity To The
Crown, To Whom Their Tributes Were To Be Paid In All Time Coming.
It is perfectly obvious, in consequence of the concluding clause but one
of these regulations, by which all who
Had taken any share in the late
civil wars were to be deprived of their lands and Indians, that every
individual then in Peru would have been reduced to poverty, as it may be
seen by every circumstance related in the foregoing part of this history,
that every Spaniard in the country had embraced one or other of these
parties with extreme violence. Even the native Peruvians had taken a part
in the civil discords, and had frequent quarrels and engagements on the
subject, some of them taking part with the _Chilese_, and others with the
_Pachacamacs_, by which titles they distinguished respectively the
adherents of Almagro and of the marquis. Hitherto the only court of
justice or royal audience was held at Panama, at a most inconvenient
distance from Peru. By the new regulations this court of Panama was
abolished, and besides the establishment of a new court on the frontiers
of Gauatimala and Nicaragua for all the provinces from Tierra Firma
northwards, of which the licentiate Maldonado was made president, another
court of royal audience was ordered to be established in Lima, consisting
of four oydors or judges, and a president who was to have the title of
Viceroy and captain general. This measure was deemed indispensibly
necessary for the well being of this distant country, the richest and most
valuable dominion which belonged to the crown in all America. All these
regulations were enacted and published at Madrid in 1542, and copies of
them were immediately sent to different parts of the New World. These new
reglations gave extreme dissatisfaction to the conquerors of the American
provinces, and particularly to those of Peru; as every Spanish settler in
that country must have been deprived by them of almost every thing they
possessed, and reduced to the necessity of looking out for new means of
subsistence. Every one loudly declared that his majesty must have received
erroneous information respecting the late events, as the partizans and
adherents both of the marquis and of Almagro, had conducted themselves to
the best of their judgment as faithful subjects of his majesty, believing
that they acted in obedience to his orders in what respected the two rival
governors, who acted in his name and by his authority, and were besides
under the necessity of obeying their officers, either by force or good
will, so that they were in fact guilty of no crime in what they had done;
or, even if their conduct were in some measure faulty, they certainly did
not deserve to be stript entirely of their property. They alleged farther,
that when they discovered and conquered the country, which had been done
at their own proper cost, it had been expressly covenanted that they were
to enjoy the division of the lands and Indians among them for their lives,
with remainder to their eldest sons, or to their widows in case of having
no children; and that, in confirmation of all this, an order had been
issued by his majesty, by which all who had participated in making the
conquest of Peru were to marry within a certain specified time, under the
penalty of losing their lands and Indians, with which regulation most of
them had complied; and that it were now unjust, when they had become old
and worn out, and were encumbered with wives and families, to deprive them
of their substance, when they looked to enjoy repose after all their
fatigues and dangers; being unable from age and infirmity to go in search
of new countries and new establishments.
Great numbers of persons repaired to Cuzco, where Vaca de Castro then
resided, to lay their complaints before him. He told them, that he was
persuaded his majesty would remedy their grievances when informed of the
true state of affairs, and recommended therefore that the procurators or
syndics of the different cities should assemble, and elect a deputation to
carry a true statement of matters to the king and royal council of the
Indies, with a humble supplication that his majesty might apply a proper
remedy, by the revocation or modification of those regulations, which, as
they stood, would produce such ruinous consequences to the colony. On
purpose to facilitate this assembly, the governor promised to repair in
person to Lima, as the most convenient and most central situation for the
deputies of all the other cities. He accordingly set out from Cuzco for
Lima, accompanied by the syndics of all the neighbouring cities, and by
several gentlemen and other persons of consequence.
In the year 1542, while these things were going on in Peru, his majesty
appointed Blasco Nunnez Vela, who had been commissary general of the
revenue in Castille, as Viceroy of Peru, and president of the court of
royal audience, to carry those regulations into effect which we have
already given an accoun of. Vela was chosen to this high and important
office as a person of capacity and experience, who would dispense strict
justice without respect of persons, and would punctually fulfil the royal
orders. The four oydors or judges nominated to the royal audience of Lima
were the licentiate Cepeda, doctor Lison de Texada, and the licentiates
Alvarez and Pedro Ortiz. Augustin de Zarate[1], secretary of the royal
council of Castille, was appointed at the same time auditor general of
accounts both for Peru and the Tierra Firma, as since the discovery and
settlement of these provinces, no accounts of the royal revenues had ever
been rendered to the treasurers. All these persons embarked at San Lucar
de Barrameda on the 1st November 1543, and arrived safe at the harbour of
Nombre de Dios, where they made some stay, on purpose to prepare for their
voyage to Peru.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 208 of 216
Words from 212070 to 213076
of 221091
