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]
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.