On one occasion, in the royal antechamber at Molin del Rey, while waiting for the bishop of Badajoz, one of the king's preachers, with whom he had an engagement to dine, Quevedo was bluntly accosted by Las Casas. "I understand, my lord, that you are the bishop of Darien. I too am interested in the Indies, and it is my duty to offer you fellowship." "Ah! Señor Casas," rudely replied Quevedo. "And from what text will you preach us a sermon to-day?" "I have ready two sermons," retorted the always armed Protector, "which, if you would listen to them, might prove to you of higher import than all the moneys which you bring from the Indies." "You are beside yourself! You are beside yourself!" was all the bishop could stammer as his host appeared and withdrew him from the merciless shots of Las Casas. But Quevedo was not to escape so easily. Presenting himself after dinner at the house of the king's preacher, Las Casas tortured his enemy into yet hotter dispute. Young Charles hearing of it ordered the battle of the priests to be continued before him. This was the first audience by the prince in matters relative to the Indies. Brought into the royal presence Quevedo thanked God for the honor, pronounced the first governor of Darien a bad one, the second much worse, and the savages in a deplorable condition. Las Casas following charged the fault as much to royal officers and clergy as to hidalgos and lesser subjects.
Soon after this discussion Quevedo presented two memorials, one against Pedrarias Dávila, and the other for restricting the power of governors in general, and of the military, and for the better protection of the natives. He pledged himself to name a ruler for Castilla del Oro, meaning Diego Velazquez, then governor of Cuba, who would expend from his own private means fifteen thousand ducats in the service of the colony. Within a few days thereafter Quevedo was seized with an illness which terminated in his death; Charles was summoned to accept the imperial crown, and for a time little attention was paid to the affairs of the Indies.[XIII-3]
QUEVEDO AND OVIEDO IN SPAIN.
Another political agency appeared in Spain about this time. Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, first chronicler of the New World, who, as we have seen, came with Pedrarias to Tierra Firme as superintendent of gold-melting and acting notary-general, becoming disgusted with both the governor and the bishop departed from that shore in October, 1515. Scarcely had Oviedo arrived at Madrid when he received word of King Ferdinand's death, which was a severe blow, as he had hoped through the influence of his former patrons to reorganize the government of Castilla del Oro and place it on a better basis. Proceeding to Flanders he laid the matter before the ministers, and was referred to Cardinal Jimenez, who listened and did nothing. There the matter rested until the death of the cardinal, when Oviedo again appeared at court and succeeded in obtaining the appointment of Lope de Sosa to succeed Pedrarias in the government of Castilla del Oro. Satisfied thus far in his attempts to benefit the colonists at Antigua, he solicited for himself the government of Santa Marta. The appointment was conferred; but being refused one hundred knights of Santiago, who were deemed indispensable to the subjugation of the country, he declined the office. Like Quevedo, he aroused the enmity of Las Casas, through his opposition to the schemes of the fiery philanthropist in the management of the natives. Nevertheless Oviedo obtained many beneficial decrees for Darien. The duties of the governor were defined anew; royal officials were forbidden to trade; the royal assayer was required to give bonds; orders were issued regulating the gold-melting house; duties were abolished for four years; the export duty on gold was reduced nearly one half for a term of five years.
A business paralysis succeeded the dark days at Acla. Little was done in 1518 in the way of new adventure, though Pedrarias had enough to occupy himself withal, in keeping his own head on his shoulders. More than one lofty scheme was cut short by the stroke that laid lifeless Vasco Nuñez. The young and hardy scarcely dared achieve prominence; the old and imbecile could not; even the ferocious genius of Francisco Pizarro lay dormant all through his fiery youth, and past early impatient manhood, unknown even to himself.
Made captain-general of the South Sea, not long after the catastrophe at Acla, Espinosa was unable at once to take command in person of the force at Isla Rica. Though the licentiate was of a mild, obedient disposition, it was not without misgivings that Pedrarias permitted him to assume so important a trust, the most dangerous for purposes of revolt of any within the government of Castilla del Oro; for instruments employed in the accomplishment of base purposes are not apt to inspire the greatest confidence. But Espinosa was not a mere rover; he was an anchored judge already high in colonial office, whose robberies and murders, however unjust and lawless, were of a quasi judicial nature; moreover he was popular with the soldiers, for his legal decisions by no means interfered with popular rights in pillage and licentiousness. Indeed, when Pedrarias afterward contemplated absence, the people of Antigua begged that Espinosa might be left there to govern them, but this excited the jealousy of the governor, who refused the petition.[XIII-4]
The much talked of interoceanic chain of posts, with a commercial city at either end, was not yet an accomplished fact. As the breadth, coast-trends, and configuration of the country became better known, Acla was found situated too far to the eastward. The narrowest part of the Isthmus had been ascertained, as also the most practicable route for a road, requiring a north-coast seaport somewhere opposite Panamá, which had long since been decided upon as the best site for a city on the southern seaboard. Hernan Ponce de Leon, temporarily stationed there, had abandoned the place, so that both termini of the proposed road must be founded anew. The point selected on the north coast was Nombre de Dios.
SOUTH SEA ATTRACTIONS.
Before Espinosa was ready for his South Sea command, positive information of the appointment of Lope de Sosa reached Antigua. It now behooved both Pedrarias and the licentiate to look to their footing, for it was not unlikely to fare hard with them in their coming residencias. It might be as well, after all, for these astute and subtle minds to fall back upon the idea of Vasco Nuñez—indeed, the cavalier's ideas seemed better than any of their own—of withdrawing beyond the possibly too restraining influences of superior authority, and establishing themselves in freer latitudes. The north coast offered no further attractions in any event. Give them the South Sea, and Sosa might have the north, and die there at his convenience. For it was assuredly the abode of death.
Pedrarias accordingly determined to make the southern seaboard his future base of operations, and to convey thither as much as possible of what he esteemed valuable. To this end he embarked from Acla, and laid before the council at Antigua a proposal to abandon that site, and remove the capital to Panamá. The plan was not regarded with favor, as he neither expected nor desired it to be; for, if Panamá was made the capital, Sosa's government would be there, and might seriously interfere with his projects. Two advantages were, however, gained by making the proposal. By opening the question it unsettled the minds of residents at Antigua, and enabled Pedrarias with less difficulty to enlist recruits, and it could not afterward be said that he had sought to abandon the government, having offered to carry it with him. Nevertheless, he could not part with the people and their council without a fling at them; so, one night he summoned the cabildo to appear at his house, and took from them their insignia of office, leaving the municipality to manage as best it might during his absence. Returning to Acla, he ordered Espinosa to summon the forces stationed in the province of Pocorosa, and unite with them all the available troops of the colony. With these, and such provisions and articles of trade and use as they could lay their hands upon, the governor and the alcalde mayor set out across the cordillera for the Southern Sea.