[XII‑24] In the valley near Santiago Alvarado had a large plantation with many married slaves, collected in the following manner: Soon after the conquest he summoned the principal lords and demanded from each so many families, with their head, who without more ado were branded and placed on his plantation. These the bishop declared should thenceforth be free, and possess and dwell on the lands they had previously tilled, with the sole obligation of supporting two chaplaincies, founded by this same instrument, for the purpose of saying daily mass for the repose of the souls of Alvarado and his wife. An altar in the cathedral dedicated to St Peter was also ordered to be founded, before which the aforesaid masses were to be said. The slaves in the gold-mines are next declared set free, and are to reside on his plantation; not, however, until the debts of Alvarado shall have been paid, during which time their needs of soul and body were to receive careful attention. The will concludes with an enumeration of Alvarado's property, in which ships, artillery, lands, negroes, houses, live-stock, etc., figure. It was apparently never executed, for the audiencia of Mexico ordered that the encomiendas of Alvarado which were the best and most numerous of the provinces of Guatemala should not be given to any one, but that one or two competent persons be appointed to take charge of and manage them, and that the proceeds be devoted to the public works of the city and cathedral and the opening of roads, building of bridges, and the assisting of poor people to rebuild their homes. On the 10th of October 1542 a royal decree was issued declaring that all the Indians and towns belonging to Alvarado were the property of the crown. This decree was not published, however, until Jan. 8, 1544. A protest was entered against it by the city as being detrimental to the public interest, but it seems to have had no effect, as the royal factor was instructed to collect the tribute of the said towns, and take charge of the Indians. Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 181-90. Bishop Marroquin, in a letter to the emperor, dated March 15, 1545, recommends that his debts be paid, as many needy persons will thereby be benefited. Squier's MSS., xxii. 138. And again in June of the same year, he states that Alvarado having left no legal heirs, the estate reverted to the crown, and repeats his previous recommendation that the debts be paid, adding that the creditors were suffering, many of them being in prison for debt. Cartas de Indias, 441-2. Consult also Testimonio, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xiii. 268-70.
[XII‑25] Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 172.
[XII‑26] 'Fue mejor soldado, que Gouernador.' Gomara, Hist. Ind., 269.
[XII‑27] In a letter to the council of the Indies he says: 'Pues todo lo que yo estubiere sin ocuparme en algo en que sirba á Su Mag. lo tengo por muy mal gastado.' Carta, in Squier's MSS., xix. 31.
[XII‑28] He wrote to the emperor requesting that no change be made in his commission, as he had learned that Cortés was soliciting permission to undertake the conquest he meditated. Herrera, dec. vii. lib. ii. cap. x.; Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iv. 252-3.
[XII‑29] I give herewith a copy of Alvarado's epitaph:
'El que Augusto le tuvo merecido
En este angosto monumento yace
Y Fenis de sus glorias hoy renace
Burlando su memoria del olvido