_How, as soon as they had drawn up the Ordinances, they sent
them to most parts of the Indies; how in some places great
resentment was shown, while in others there were no slight
disturbances, and how in the city of Lima the Municipality
despatched the alcalde Palomino and Don Antonio de Rivera to
apprise Vaca de Castro of it._
As had been ordered by his Majesty the Emperor, with the concurrence
of the Grandees and Prelates, clergy and members of his Royal Council,
the Ordinances or laws for the government of the Indies, which we
have quoted, were forthwith sent to New Spain, Española, Popayán,
and Cartagena to be put in force. The Licentiate Hernando Díaz de
Armendáriz came to the interior provinces, and when the tenour of
the Ordinances became noised abroad it caused great excitement. Many
who had spent their lives in the conquests, and had grown old in
the discoveries, displayed great gloom, so that their countenances
reflected the anxiety of their minds. In many places there were
meetings and assemblies to discuss the Ordinances, at which it was
proposed to report to his Majesty so that he might order their
petitions to be entertained until he could be better informed; for the
thing had been done on statements of infatuated friars. In New Spain,
however, there was a man abounding in virtues and quick to perceive
what was best both for the King's service and the pacification of the
country, Don Antonio de Mendoza. With great patience and goodwill he
ignored the first outburst of the people, waiting until the general
excitement had abated; and then, with loving words, though weighty, he
not only gave hearing to their petitions but forthwith suspended the
Ordinances, advising his Majesty that it was best so for his service.
In other provinces also those who governed acted prudently and did the
same; while in yet other parts they waited, as all the rest are doing
now, because that course was wisest for the welfare and tranquillity
of those Realms and best, moreover, for the natives, as any reasonable
man will understand.
When the copy of the laws was brought by Diego de Aller to Panamá,
there was in that Realm the captain Alonso de Alvarado who, ceasing
to listen to vain talk, departed for Spain after having expressed the
opinion I have just written. Then Juan de Cáceres the accountant,
and others who were there, sent the transcript of the Ordinances to
Peru. As soon as they reached that Realm great excitement arose, it
being made known that they were very stringent. Alonso Palomino,
who was then _alcalde_ of the city of Lima, and Antonio de Rivera,
were at once sent off in great haste to the city of Cuzco, where the
Governor Vaca de Castro was, to give him an account of the unrest,
that he might form an opinion on the best course to be adopted for
the common weal and the safety of the Realm. They set out accordingly
for Cuzco, where they found Vaca de Castro very indignant because the
municipality of Lima had refused to receive the Bachelor Juan Vélez de
Guevara as his Deputy. He sent a constable of his to Lima to summon
the officials of New Castille to appear before him at Cuzco; and, at
the same time, he directed certain gold of the royal fifths, amounting
to a hundred thousand _pesos_, to be sent to Spain. And because the
royal officials of New Toledo were feeling aggrieved that Cuzco fell
within the limits of that province, the Governor, after the latitude
in which it stands had been well observed, and other points noted,
ruled that it lay within the government of New Castille together
with fifteen leagues beyond it, and that Arequipa and the very rich
districts of the Charcas and Collao were to be included.
In Spain, after the promulgation of the New Laws, they discussed who
should be sent to Peru as Viceroy. News came that it would be Don
Antonio de Leyva, then again that it was the Marshal of Navarre. Some
allege that this was whom his Majesty intended, but that the Marshal
answered that he would not go out to deprive those who were in the
Indies of their property, to which they were so justly entitled.
It was also said here that in Spain many held that the men in the
Indies were of mean position, and a poor lot who could easily be made
to think that it would be best to comply with the Ordinances, and
that very little sufficed to enable them to live as their fathers
did. These things were heard by the people over here with great
indignation, and, laying their hands on their beards, they said that
it was clear that the glory of Spain's past was entirely attributable
to its illustrious men. Their indignation was the greater in that all
who dwelt in the Realms of New Spain and Peru were men of ancient
lineage, whose forefathers had distinguished themselves in the wars
which the Kings of Spain waged against the Moors. Finally, there
was a wild tumult, the news flying from one part to another, and
foreshadowing a recurrence of great evils.