AUDIENCIA DE LOS CONFINES.
When the new code of laws abolished the audiencia of Panamá and appointed the audiencia of the Confines,[XVII‑20] Alonso de Maldonado was elected its first president[XVII‑21] through the recommendation of Las Casas, the remaining oidores being the licentiates Diego de Herrera, of whom mention has been made in connection with the province of Nicaragua, Pedro Ramirez de Quiñones, and Juan Rogel. Maldonado was directed to establish the seat of government at Comayagua, which was thenceforth to be known as Nueva Villa de Valladolid, but finding that location unsuitable he selected as a more favorable site Gracias á Dios, where in 1545 the first session of the tribunal was held.[XVII‑22] The arrival of Maldonado was celebrated with much rejoicing among the settlers; but their joy was short-lived, for one of the first measures of the audiencia was the publication of the new code of laws which, they declared, was to be strictly and immediately enforced so far as it related to the manumission of the Indians.
In Honduras the new code was regarded with no less disfavor than in the other provinces, and it was probably due only to the sparse population of this territory that we read of no such outbreak among the colonists as that of Gonzalo Pizarro in Peru, and of the Contreras brothers in Nicaragua. The settlers were fain to content themselves with making ineffectual protests, and with sending procurators to advocate their cause at the court of Spain. It does not appear that the natives were at all benefited by the regulations enacted in their favor; for a year or two later, on the arrival at Gracias á Dios of Las Casas and Valdivieso, the former declares that despite all the royal ordinances to the contrary, the Indians placed under the protection of the crown were so grossly maltreated that they preferred to return to the service of their former masters rather than enjoy their new and doubtful liberty.
On the first of June 1549 a royal cédula was issued ordering that the natives should not be used as pack-carriers, except in cases of extreme necessity, and that all employed in whatever capacity should receive payment for their services. These regulations appear, however, to have made their lot still more grievous, for the Spaniards, no longer owning them as human chattels and caring not for their lives, treated them even more harshly than before. At Gracias á Dios we learn that they were offered for hire at public auction, and after being disposed of to the highest bidder were sent to the mines or to the sea-shore forty miles distant. They were driven together, Las Casas tells us, within a circuit of ten or fifteen leagues, and a guard being placed over them, were enclosed in a corral like cattle. They were then divided by an alguacil among the settlers, and after working hard for a month received two reales, sometimes being required to serve an entire year for a single peso. When used as beasts of burden they were compelled to carry a load of seventy-five or one hundred pounds through a country abounding in swamp and forest. Their food consisted of a few hard cakes of maize, and at night, their blankets being taken from them to prevent their running away, they were often left to sleep in the open air almost naked and without shelter.
CHURCH AND STATE.
In addition to Las Casas and Valdivieso, the latter of whom was sojourning at the capital awaiting consecration as bishop of Nicaragua, there were now present at Gracias á Dios the prelates Marroquin of Guatemala, and Pedraza of Honduras.[XVII‑23] It was not of course to be expected that all these dignitaries of the church should work in harmony with each other, and much less with the members of the audiencia. While Las Casas and Valdivieso strove to enforce the unconditional liberation of all Indians, Marroquin and Pedraza, who themselves possessed several encomiendas, were exceeding loath to part with them; and when Las Casas threatened with excommunication all who should refuse to give up their bondsmen, Marroquin assured the settlers that he would grant them quick absolution. The removal of the latter was then demanded by his opponents, who wrote to the emperor denouncing him as "one undeserving of royal favor, having made his fortune at the expense of his honor and that of the people, in violation of the law and the emperor's orders." Pedraza, on the other hand, while discussing the question of establishing schools in the native villages, exclaims: "Would to God that to this purpose the efforts of Las Casas were applied, instead of to the general perdition of the province, his discourse being like that of one demented with rage, himself blindly covetous and ambitious of honor profane. For thirty years was he striving for a bishopric until at length he obtained one by the force of a hundred thousand lies."
The colonists of course had no sympathy with Las Casas, leaving him to complain and sometimes almost to starve unheeded. Those who were secretly his friends, through fear of exposing themselves to persecution, were unwilling to minister to his necessities. The oidores refused to listen to him or to afford him redress, and on one occasion when a certain colonist threatened to assassinate the prelate he was allowed to go unpunished.[XVII‑24] In a letter to the emperor Maldonado states that "Las Casas has become so proud since his return from Spain that it is impossible to deal with him, and the best place for him would be in some convent in Castile." It was proposed by Marroquin to settle the long-vexed Indian question by referring the matter to a commission composed of the viceroy of Mexico, the audiencias, the bishops, and other competent persons both lay and clerical, or to a committee to be chosen by them, and that their decision be submitted to the crown for approval; but Las Casas would admit of no such compromise and insisted that the new laws be immediately enforced. It was finally agreed that the bishops should present to the audiencia a memorial embodying their grievances, asking for redress, and stating explicitly their demands in reference to the treatment and disposition of the natives. Soon afterward Las Casas read this document before the oidores, who, as he now had the support of all his fellow-bishops, did not venture to refuse him an audience. They were requested to render assistance to the ecclesiastical authorities in the exercise of their jurisdiction, and to aid them in punishing all who sinned against God and the church, by committing sacrilege or holding in contempt the episcopal dignity. It was demanded that the natives should not be forced to pay excessive tribute, should not be used as beasts of burden, or required to render any but voluntary service, and that all who were illegally enslaved should be liberated and placed under the protection of the bishops; for it was claimed that Las Casas and his colleagues were their protectors and held the right of adjudication in all cases of alleged maltreatment. It was urged that officials in charge of Indian villages should be held strictly responsible for their trust and punished in case of malfeasance as the new laws prescribed.[XVII‑25] The memorial concluded by threatening the president, oidores, and other officials with excommunication, should they neglect to obey these orders within the space of three months.
ILL-FEELING TOWARD LAS CASAS.
Great was the indignation of the members of the audiencia toward the prelate who thus dared place himself above the highest tribunal in the land. They were accustomed to regard the ecclesiastics as men whose presence must indeed be tolerated for appearance' sake, but whose duty it was only to conduct religious services in which the wives and children of the colonists might perhaps wish to participate, and to make such progress as they could in the conversion of the natives. That they should presume to interfere with their own schemes for self-aggrandizement was not to be tolerated. Maldonado and the oidores gave vent to their ire in such abusive language that three days later Las Casas and Valdivieso addressed a letter to the emperor, stating that neither in the days of Alvarado or Nuño de Guzman, nor during the rule of any of the former tyrants, were the ministers of the church so insulted and oppressed, nor were ever such enormous crimes committed as under the present audiencia of the Confines. The bishops, moreover, expressed their belief "that the devil had filled the oidores with ambition and covetousness when they came to the country," and declared that unless the enforcement of the new laws were intrusted to their own hands the province must go to ruin.[XVII‑26] Meanwhile Marroquin, who was in secret a bitter foe to Las Casas, also sent a despatch to the court of Spain, wherein he speaks of him as one filled with pride, envy, and hypocrisy, and denounces his assumption in daring to present so offensive a memorial to the audiencia.[XVII‑27]
Las Casas waited in vain for an answer to his demands. Not discouraged, however, by the studied inactivity of the oidores he pressed his claims with untiring zeal, exasperating them by his pertinacity, and frequently exposing himself to gross insult and contumely. On one occasion, while entering the hall of the audiencia, he was greeted with shouts of "Throw out that lunatic!" At another time he was coarsely affronted by the president himself;[XVII‑28] and when, notwithstanding all rebuffs, he made a final appeal, demanding compliance with the new laws, and administering to Maldonado a public rebuke, the latter replied: "You are a knave, a bad man, a bad priest, a bad bishop, one lost to all shame and worthy of punishment!" Though stunned, for a moment, by this answer from one whose appointment was due to his own recommendation, the prelate meekly bowed his head, and with the words, "I very well deserve all that your worship says, Señor Licenciado Alonso Maldonado," quietly withdrew from his presence.