_The arrival of the new members of the royal court of audience in
Mexico._
I have above mentioned the orders which his majesty issued with respect
to the formation of a new court of audience, which was solely composed
of men of intelligence and strict justice, and choice was made of the
following persons: Don Sebastian Fuen Leal, as president, who at that
time was bishop of St. Domingo; auditors, the licentiate Maldonado, of
Salamanca; Francisco de Cainos, of Toro or of Zamora; Vasco de Quiroga,
of Madrigal, subsequently bishop of Mechoacan; and Salmeron, of Madrid.
The auditors arrived in Mexico before the president, and they, as well
as the latter, who came a few days after, were received with great
splendour.
These gentlemen immediately instituted a general inquiry into the
government of the late auditors. Numbers of the inhabitants, with the
procuradores from every town of New Spain, besides several Indian
chiefs, repaired without delay to Mexico, and brought such a mass of
accusations against the late auditors, of oppression, extortion, and of
injustice, that the present auditors were utterly astounded. Cortes'
agents also complained of the illegal manner in which Nuno de Guzman and
his colleagues had seized part of the former's property, and sold it by
public auction to the highest bidder. The agents then claimed damages to
the amount of 200,000 pesos. As Nuno de Guzman refused to appear in
Mexico at the summons of the auditors, obstinately refusing to leave the
province of Xalisco, Delgadillo and Matienzo had alone to answer all
these accusations; they, however, threw all the guilt on the shoulders
of Guzman, who, in his capacity of president, they said, had acted on
his own authority, and therefore was the only responsible person.
As Guzman refused to appear before the auditors, all they could do for
the present was to forward his majesty an account of the state of
affairs in New Spain; for they feared, by employing open force, to
create insurrection throughout the country. The council of the Indies,
on receiving this information, despatched to Mexico the licentiate de la
Torre, with orders to repair in person to the province of Xalisco, there
to institute an inquiry against Guzman, and to take him prisoner to
Mexico. This licentiate was also commissioned to see that Guzman repaid
us the money he had obliged us to pay to the wife of Narvaez, as an
indemnification for the losses the latter sustained in our expedition
against him.
The auditors in the meantime continued their investigations, and first
of all ordered the possessions of Delgadillo and of Matienzo sold, to
pay the demands which were made against them; and as the moneys arising
from the sale of their property was not sufficient to satisfy these,
they were to be imprisoned. In like manner they served Berrio, the
brother of Delgadillo, who, in his capacity of alcalde-mayor of Guaxaca,
had thought proper to exercise every species of oppression. The whole of
his property was sold, and he himself thrown into prison, where he died
some time after. Another of Delgadillo's relatives, alcalde-mayor of the
country of the Zatopecs, shared a similar fate.
The new auditors were altogether strictly honest and just in their
proceedings; they were, indeed, men whose only aim was to serve God, and
to watch the true interests of the crown. They were unwearied in their
labours to promote the happiness of the Indian population, made the best
regulations for their being instructed in the doctrine of our holy
faith, and abolished all further marking of slaves.
As two of the auditors, Salmeron and Cainos, were far advanced in age,
they begged permission of his majesty, after a stay of four years in
Mexico, to return to Spain, there to spend the large fortunes which they
had honestly gained, in peace and retirement. His majesty, being
satisfactorily convinced of the excellent conduct they had pursued in
their government, readily granted their request. The emperor at the same
time also recalled the president Don Sebastian, to learn from him the
true state of affairs in New Spain, and soon after appointed him
president of the supreme court of justice at Granada. From this place he
was some time after removed to Valladolid, made bishop of Tui, soon
after bishop of Leon, and then bishop of Cuenca; so that one episcopal
appointment followed the other in quick succession, all of which he
obtained by the strict justice he observed in all matters that came
before him. After this last promotion death called him away, and it
appears to me, according to our holy faith, that he is clothed with the
glory of the blessed in heaven. During the stay of this excellent man in
Mexico I had often occasion to confer personally with him, and I at all
times found him a man of excellent disposition, whose love of justice
knew no bounds. The same kindness of heart he had shown as bishop of St.
Domingo, and previously as inquisitor at Seville.
The licentiate Alonso Maldonado, whom his majesty appointed president
and governor of the provinces of Guatimala, Honduras, and Nicaragua,
likewise possessed every good quality, and was subsequently appointed
governor of Yucatan jointly with his father-in-law Don Francisco de
Montejo.
The licentiate Quiroga also possessed similar virtues, and was
afterwards made bishop of Mechoacan. Thus were these excellent men
rewarded for their virtues; while Delgadillo and Matienzo returned poor
and despised to Spain, where they died a couple of years after in
obscurity.
About this time it pleased his majesty to appoint a viceroy of New
Spain, in the person of the illustrious and excellent cavalier Don
Antonio de Mendoza, whose memory will be honoured to eternity. The
viceroy brought with him, as the new auditors, the doctor Quesada, of
Ledesma, and the licentiate Tejada, of Logrono. As the auditor Maldonado
shortly after left for the province of Guatimala, another person was
appointed in his place, named Loaisa, of Ciudad Real. He was a man
advanced in age, and, after staying a few years in Mexico, he returned
with a handsome fortune to Spain. After him the licentiate Santillana,
of Seville, was appointed an auditor, and the whole of these men
observed the strictest justice in their conduct. Their entry into Mexico
was uncommonly splendid, and they immediately announced to the public
that all those persons who had any complaints to make against the late
members of the court of audience should forthwith produce them. However,
not a single person came forward to offer any, and their government was
pronounced irreproachable.
The first thing which the viceroy did on his arrival in Mexico was to
try if he could not induce Nuno de Guzman to come to terms, without
using open force. For this purpose he invited him to Mexico; and when he
had arrived there, he gave him lodgings in his own palace, treated him
with every possible respect, and allowed him to dine every day at his
own table. While Guzman was staying here, the licentiate De la Torre
arrived, who was commissioned by his majesty to take Guzman prisoner,
and, after communicating with the viceroy, to bring him to trial. The
licentiate De la Torre finding, however, that the viceroy was very
unwilling to assist him in this matter, repaired in person to his
palace, seized the person of Guzman, and threw him into prison, where he
remained for several days, until he was set at liberty again by the
viceroy.
When the disaffected portion of the inhabitants of Mexico found that the
licentiate De la Torre was determined to make the minutest inquiry into
the late conduct of Guzman, if they could do nothing else, they at least
resolved to injure his good name, for which the licentiate's gambling
propensity gave them the best opportunity. At that time it was the
fashion (particularly for those persons who practised in the law courts)
to wear a kind of loose coat with very wide sleeves. In one of the
sleeves of such a coat belonging to the licentiate, one of Guzman's
partisans ingeniously managed to fasten a small pack of cards in such a
manner that they should not fall out immediately. When the licentiate,
accompanied by several distinguished personages, was walking across the
large square at Mexico, the person who had concealed the cards so
contrived it that they dropped one after the other out of his sleeve on
the ground, so as to mark his way as he went along. At length this was
observed by those who accompanied him, and they drew his attention to
what was falling from his coat. This malicious piece of frolic, as may
he imagined, annoyed the licentiate excessively, and he exclaimed, "It
appears to me that the people here are not exactly pleased with the
impartial justice I exercise; however, if I live, his majesty shall
certainly be made acquainted with the insult which has thus been offered
to me."
A few days after this trick had been played off upon him, he actually
fell ill from downright vexation, and died.