Abuses By The Conquerors--Code For The Colonies-
Great Excitement In Peru--Blasco Nunez The Viceroy-
His Severe Policy--Opposed By Gonzalo Pizarro
1543--1544
Before continuing the narrative of events in Peru, we must turn to the
mother-country, where important changes were in progress in respect to
the administration of the colonies.
Since his accession to the Crown, Charles the Fifth had been chiefly
engrossed by the politics of Europe, where a theatre was opened more
stimulating to his ambition than could be found in a struggle with the
barbarian princes of the New World. In this quarter, therefore, an
empire almost unheeded, as it were, had been suffered to grow up, until
it had expanded into dimensions greater than those of his European
dominions and destined soon to become far more opulent. A scheme of
government had, it is true, been devised, and laws enacted from time to
time for the regulation of the colonies. But these laws were often
accommodated less to the interests of the colonies themselves, than to
those of the parent country; and, when contrived in a better spirit, they
were but imperfectly executed; for the voice of authority, however loudly
proclaimed at home, too often died away in feeble echoes before it had
crossed the waters.
This state of things, and, indeed, the manner in which the Spanish
territories in the New World had been originally acquired, were most
unfortunate both for the conquered races and their masters. Had the
provinces gained by the Spaniards been the fruit of peaceful acquisition,
--of barter and negotiation,--or had their conquest been achieved under
the immediate direction of government, the interests of the natives would
have been more carefully protected. From the superior civilization of the
Indians in the Spanish American colonies, they still continued after the
Conquest to remain on the ground, and to mingle in the same
communities, with the white men; in this forming an obvious contrast to
the condition of our own aborigines, who, shrinking from the contact of
civilization, have withdrawn, as the latter has advanced, deeper and
deeper into the heart of the wilderness. But the South American Indian
was qualified by his previous institutions for a more refined legislation
than could be adapted to the wild hunters of the forest; and, had the
sovereign been there in person to superintend his conquests, he could
never have suffered so large a portion of his vassals to be wantonly
sacrificed to the cupidity and cruelty of the handful of adventurers who
subdued them.
But, as it was, the affair of reducing the country was committed to the
hands of irresponsible individuals, soldiers of fortune, desperate
adventurers, who entered on conquest as a game, which they were to play
in the most unscrupulous manner, with little care but to win it. Receiving
small encouragement from the government, they were indebted to their
own valor for success; and the right of conquest, they conceived,
extinguished every existing right in the unfortunate natives. The lands,
the persons, of the conquered races were parcelled out and appropriated
by the victors as the legitimate spoils of victory; and outrages were
perpetrated every day, at the contemplation of which humanity shudders.
These outrages, though nowhere perpetrated on so terrific a scale as in
the islands, where, in a few years, they had nearly annihilated the native
population, were yet of sufficient magnitude in Peru to call down the
vengeance of Heaven on the heads of their authors; and the Indian might
feel that this vengeance was not long delayed, when he beheld his
oppressors, wrangling over their miserable spoil, and turning their
swords against each other. Peru, as already mentioned, was subdued by
adventurers, for the most part, of a lower and more ferocious stamp than
those who followed the banner of Cortes. The character of the followers
partook, in some measure, of that of the leaders in their respective
enterprises. It was a sad fatality for the Incas; for the reckless soldiers of
Pizarro were better suited to contend with the fierce Aztec than with the
more refined and effeminate Peruvian. Intoxicated by the unaccustomed
possession of power, and without the least notion of the responsibilities
which attached to their situation as masters of the land, they too often
abandoned themselves to the indulgence of every whim which cruelty or
caprice could dictate. Not unfrequently, says an unsuspicious witness, I
have seen the Spaniards, long after the Conquest, amuse themselves by
hunting down the natives with bloodhounds for mere sport, or in order to
train their dogs to the game! 1 The most unbounded scope was given to
licentiousness. The young maiden was torn without remorse from the
arms of her family to gratify the passion of her brutal conqueror.2 The
sacred houses of the Virgins of the Sun were broken open and violated,
and the cavalier swelled his harem with a troop of Indian girls making it
seem that the Crescent would have been a much more fitting symbol for
his banner than the immaculate Cross.3
But the dominant passion of the Spaniard was the lust of gold. For this
he shrunk from no toil himself, and was merciless in his exactions of
labor from his Indian slave. Unfortunately, Peru abounded in mines
which too well repaid this labor; and human life was the item of least
account in the estimate of the Conquerors. Under his Incas, the Peruvian
was never suffered to be idle; but the task imposed on him was always
proportioned to his strength. He had his seasons of rest and refreshment,
and was well protected against the inclemency of the weather. Every
care was shown for his personal safety. But the Spaniards, while they
taxed the strength of the native to the utmost, deprived him of the means
of repairing it, when exhausted. They suffered the provident
arrangements of the Incas to fall into decay. The granaries were
emptied; the flocks were wasted in riotous living. They were slaughtered
to gratify a mere epicurean whim, and many a llama was destroyed solely
for the sake of the brains----a dainty morsel, much coveted by the
Spaniards.4 So reckless was the spirit of destruction after the Conquest,
says Ondegardo. the wise governor of Cuzco, that in four years more of
these animals perished than in four hundred, in the times of the Incas.5
The flocks, once so numerous over the broad table-lands, were now
thinned to a scanty number, that sought shelter in the fastnesses of the
Andes. The poor Indian, without food, without the warm fleece which
furnished him a defence against the cold, now wandered half-starved and
naked over the plateau. Even those who had aided the Spaniards in the
conquest fared no better; and many an Inca noble roamed a mendicant
over the lands where he once held rule, and if driven, perchance, by his
necessities, to purloin something from the superfluity of his conquerors,
he expiated it by a miserable death.6
It is true, there were good men, missionaries, faithful to their calling,
who wrought hard in the spiritual conversion of the native, and who,
touched by his misfortunes, would gladly have interposed their arm to
shield him from his oppressors.7 But too often the ecclesiastic became
infected by the general spirit of licentiousness; and the religious
fraternities, who led a life of easy indulgence on the lands cultivated by
their Indian slaves, were apt to think less of the salvation of their souls
than of profiting by the labor of their bodies.8
Yet still there were not wanting good and wise men in the colonies, who,
from time to time, raised the voice of remonstrance against these abuses,
and who carried their complaints to the foot of the throne. To the credit
of the government, it must also be confessed, that it was solicitous to
obtain such information as it could, both from its own officers, and from
commissioners deputed expressly for the purpose, whose voluminous
communications throw a flood of light on the internal condition of the
country, and furnish the best materials for the historian.9 But it was
found much easier to get this information than to profit by it.
In 1541, Charles the Fifth, who had been much occupied by the affairs of
Germany, revisited his ancestral dominions, where his attention was
imperatively called to the state of the colonies. Several memorials in
relation to it were laid before him; but no one pressed the matter so
strongly on the royal conscience as Las Casas, afterwards Bishop of
Chiapa. This good ecclesiastic, whose long life had been devoted to
those benevolent labors which gained him the honorable title of
Protector of the Indians, had just completed his celebrated treatise on the
Destruction of the Indies, the most remarkable record, probably, to be
found, of human wickedness, but which, unfortunately, loses much of its
effect from the credulity of the writer, and his obvious tendency to
exaggerate.
In 1542, Las Casas placed his manuscript in the hands of his royal aster.
That same year, a council was called at Valladolid, composed chiefly of
jurists and theologians, to devise a system of laws for the regulation of
the American colonies.
Las Casas appeared before this body, and made an elaborate argument,
of which a part only has been given to the public. He there assumes, as a
fundamental proposition, that the Indians were by the law of nature free;
that, as vassals of the Crown, they had a right to its protection, and
should be declared free from that time, without exception and for ever.10
He sustains this proposition by a great variety of arguments,
comprehending the substance of most that has been since urged in the
same cause by the friends of humanity. He touches on the ground of
expediency, showing, that, without the interference of government, the
Indian race must be gradually exterminated by the systematic oppression
of the Spaniards. In conclusion, he maintains, that, if the Indians, as it
was pretended, would not labor unless compelled, the white man would
still find it for his interest to cultivate the soil; and that if he should not
be able to do so, that circumstance would give him no right over the
Indian, since God does not allow evil that good may come of it.11--This
lofty morality, it will be remembered, was from the lips of a Dominican,
in the sixteenth century, one of the order that rounded the Inquisition,
and in the very country where the fiery tribunal was then in most active
operation!12
The arguments of Las Casas encountered all the opposition naturally to
be expected from indifference, selfishness, and bigotry. They were also
resisted by some persons of just and benevolent views in his audience,
who, while they admitted the general correctness of his reasoning, and
felt deep sympathy for the wrongs of the natives, yet doubted whether his
scheme of reform was not fraught with greater evils than those it was
intended to correct. For Las Casas was the uncompromising friend of
freedom. He intrenched himself strongly on the ground of natural right;
and, like some of the reformers of our own day, disdained to calculate
the consequences of carrying out the principle to its full and unqualified
extent. His earnest eloquence, instinct with the generous love of
humanity, and fortified by a host of facts, which it was not easy to assail,
prevailed over his auditors. The result of their deliberations was a code
of ordinances, which, however, far from being limited to the wants of the
natives, had particular reference to the European population, and the
distractions of the country. It was of general application to all the
American colonies. It will be necessary here only to point out some of
the provisions having immediate reference to Peru.
The Indians were declared true and loyal vassals of the Crown, and their
freedom as such was fully recognized. Yet, to maintain inviolate the
guaranty of the government to the Conquerors, it was decided, that those
lawfully possessed of slaves might still retain them; but, at the death of
the present proprietors, they were to revert to the Crown.
It was provided, however, that slaves, in any event, should be forfeited
by all those who had shown themselves unworthy to hold them by
neglect or ill-usage; by all public functionaries, or such as had held
offices under the government; by ecclesiastics and religious
corporations; and lastly,--a sweeping clause,--by all who had taken a
criminal part in the feuds of Almagro and Pizarro.
It was further ordered, that the Indians should be moderately taxed; that
they should not be compelled to labor where they did not choose, and
that where, from particular circumstances, this was made necessary, they
should receive a fair compensation. It was also decreed, that, as the
repartimientos of land were often excessive, they should in such cases be
reduced; and that, where proprietors had been guilty of a notorious abuse
of their slaves, their estates should be forfeited altogether.
As Peru had always shown a spirit of insubordination, which required a
more vigorous interposition of authority than was necessary in the other
colonies, it was resolved to send a viceroy to that country, who should
display a state, and be armed with powers, that might make him a more
fitting representative of the sovereign. He was to be accompanied by a
Royal Audience, consisting of four judges, with extensive powers of
jurisdiction, both criminal and civil, who, besides a court of justice,
should constitute a sort of council to advise with and aid the viceroy.
The Audience of Panama was to be dissolved, and the new tribunal,
with the vice-king's court, was to be established at Los Reyes, or Lima,
as it now began to be called,---henceforth the metropolis of the Spanish
empire on the Pacific.13
Such were some of the principal features of this remarkable code, which,
touching on the most delicate relations of society, broke up the very
foundations of property, and, by a stroke of the pen, as it were, converted
a nation of slaves into freemen. It would have required, we may
suppose, but little forecast to divine, that in the remote regions of
America, and especially in Peru, where the colonists had been hitherto
accustomed to unbounded license, a reform, so salutary in essential
points, could be enforced thus summarily only at the price of a
revolution. Yet the ordinances received the sanction of the emperor that
same year, and in November, 1543, were published at Madrid.14
No sooner was their import known than it was conveyed by numerous
letters to the colonists, from their friends in Spain. The tidings flew like
wildfire over the land, from Mexico to Chili. Men were astounded at the
prospect of the ruin that awaited them. In Peru, particularly, there was
scarcely one that could hope to escape the operation of the law. Few
there were who had not taken part, at some time or other, in the civil
feuds of Almagro and Pizarro; and still fewer of those that remained that
would not be entangled in some one or other of the insidious clauses that
seemed spread out, like a web, to ensnare them.
The whole country was thrown into commotion. Men assembled
tumultuously in the squares and public places, and, as the regulations
were made known they were received with universal groans and hisses.
"Is this the fruit," they cried, "of all our toil? Is it for this that we have
poured out our blood like water? Now that we are broken down by
hardships and sufferings, to be left at the end of our campaigns as poor
as at the beginning! Is this the way government rewards our services in
winning for it an empire? The government has done little to aid us in
making the conquest, and for what we have we may thank our own good
swords; and with these same swords," they continued, warming into
menace, "we know how to defend it." Then, stripping up his sleeve, the
war-worn veteran bared his arm, or, exposing his naked bosom, pointed
to his scars, as the best title to his estates.15
The governor, Vaca de Castro, watched the storm thus gathering from all
quarters, with the deepest concern. He was himself in the very heart of
disaffection; for Cuzco, tenanted by a mixed and lawless population was
so far removed into the depths of the mountains, that it had much less
intercourse with the parent country, and was consequently much less
under her influence, than the great towns on the coast. The people now
invoked the governor to protect them against the tyranny of the Court;
but he endeavored to calm the agitation by representing, that by these
violent measures they would only defeat their own object. He counselled
them to name deputies to lay their petition before the Crown, stating the
impracticability of the present scheme of reform, and praying for the
repeal of it; and he conjured them to wait patiently for the arrival of the
viceroy, who might be prevailed on to suspend the ordinances till further
advices could be received from Castile.
But it was not easy to still the tempest; and the people now eagerly
looked for some one whose interests and sympathies might lie with
theirs, and whose position in the community might afford them
protection. The person to whom they naturally turned in this crisis was
Gonzalo Pizarro, the last in the land of that family who had led the
armies of the Conquest,--a cavalier whose gallantry and popular manners
had made him always a favorite with the people. He was now beset with
applications to interpose in their behalf with the government, and shield
them from the oppressive ordinances.
But Gonzalo Pizarro was at Charcas, busily occupied in exploring the
rich veins of Potosi, whose silver fountains, just brought into light, were
soon to pour such streams of wealth over Europe. Though gratified with
this appeal to his protection, the cautious cavalier was more intent on
providing for the means of enterprise than on plunging prematurely into
it; and, while he secretly encouraged the malecontents, he did not
commit himself by taking part in any revolutionary movement. At the
same period, he received letters from Vaca de Castro,--whose vigilant
eye watched all the aspects of the time,---cautioning Gonzalo and his
friends not to be seduced, by any wild schemes of reform, from their
allegiance. And, to check still further these disorderly movements, he
ordered his alcaldes to arrest every man guilty of seditious language, and
bring him at once to punishment. By this firm yet temperate conduct the
minds of the populace were overawed, and there was a temporary lull in
the troubled waters, while all looked anxiously for the coming of the
viceroy.16
The person selected for this critical post was a knight of Avila, named
Blasco Nunez Vela. He was a cavalier of ancient family, handsome in
person, though now somewhat advanced in years, and reputed brave and
devout. He had filled some offices of responsibility to the satisfaction of
Charles the Fifth, by whom he was now appointed to this post in Peru.
The selection did no credit to the monarch's discernment.
It may seem strange that this important place should not have been
bestowed on Vaca de Castro, already on the spot, and who had shown
himself so well qualified to fill it. But ever since that officer's mission to
Peru, there had been a series of assassinations, insurrections, and civil
wars, that menaced the wretched colony with ruin; and, though his wise
administration had now brought things into order, the communication
with the Indies was so tardy, that the results of his policy were not yet
fully disclosed. As it was designed, moreover, to make important
innovations in the government, it was thought better to send some one
who would have no personal prejudices to encounter, from the part he
had already taken, and who, coming directly from the Court, and clothed
with extraordinary powers, might present himself with greater authority
than could one who had become familiar to the people in an inferior
capacity. The monarch, however, wrote a letter with his own hand to,
Vaca de Castro in which he thanked that officer for his past services, and
directed him, after aiding the new viceroy with the fruits of his large
experience, to return to Castile, and take his seat in the Royal Council.
Letters of a similar complimentary kind were sent to the loyal colonists
who had stood by the governor in the late troubles of the country.
Freighted with these testimonials, and with the ill-starred ordinances,
Blasco Nunez embarked at San Lucar, on the 3d of November, 1543. He
was attended by the four judges of the Audience, and by a numerous
retinue, that he might appear in the state befitting his distinguished
rank.17
About the middle of the following January, 1544, the viceroy, after a
favorable passage, landed at Nombre de Dios. He found there a vessel
laden with silver from the Peruvian mines, ready to sail for Spain. His
first act was to lay an embargo on it for the government, as containing
the proceeds of slave labor. After this extraordinary measure, taken in
opposition to the advice of the Audience, he crossed the Isthmus to
Panama. Here he gave sure token of his future policy, by causing more
than three hundred Indians, who had been brought by their owners from
Peru, to be liberated and sent back to their own country. This
highhanded measure created the greatest sensation in the city, and was
strongly resisted by the judges of the Audience. They besought him not
to begin thus precipitately to execute his commission, but to wait till his
arrival in the colony, when he should have taken time to acquaint himself
somewhat with the country, and with the temper of the people. But
Blasco Nunez coldly replied, that "he had come, not to tamper with the
laws, nor to discuss their merits, but to execute them,--and execute them
he would, to the letter, whatever might be the consequence."18 This
answer, and the peremptory tone in which it was delivered, promptly
adjourned the debate; for the judges saw that debate was useless with one
who seemed to consider all remonstrance as an attempt to turn him from
his duty, and whose ideas of duty precluded all discretionary exercise of
authority, even where the public good demanded it.
Leaving the Audience, as one of its body was ill, at Panama, the viceroy
proceeded on his way, and, coasting down the shores of the Pacific, on
the fourth of March he disembarked at Tumbez. He was well received
by the loyal inhabitants; his authority was publicly proclaimed, and the
people were overawed by the display of a magnificence and state such as
had not till then been seen in Peru. He took an early occasion to intimate
his future line of policy by liberating a number of Indian slaves on the
application of their caciques. He then proceeded by land towards the
south, and showed his determination to conform in his own person to the
strict letter of the ordinances, by causing his baggage to be carried by
mules, where it was practicable; and where absolutely necessary to make
use of Indians, he paid them fairly for their services.19
The whole country was thrown into consternation by reports of the
proceedings of the viceroy, and of his conversations, most unguarded,
which were eagerly circulated, and, no doubt, often exaggerated.
Meetings were again called in the cities. Discussions were held on the
expediency of resisting his further progress, and a deputation of citizens
from Cuzco, who were then in Lima, strongly urged the people to close
the gates of that capital against him. But Vaca de Castro had also left
Cuzco for the latter city, on the earliest intimation of the viceroy's
approach, and, with some difficulty, he prevailed on the inhabitants not
to swerve from their loyalty, but to receive their new ruler with suitable
honors, and trust to his calmer judgment for postponing the execution of
the law till the case could be laid before the throne.
But the great body of the Spaniards, after what they had heard, had
slender confidence in the relief to be obtained from this quarter. They
now turned with more eagerness than ever towards Gonzalo Pizarro; and
letters and addresses poured in upon him from all parts of the country,
inviting him to take on himself the office of their protector. These
applications found a more favorable response than on the former
occasion.
There were, indeed, many motives at work to call Gonzalo into action. It
was to his family, mainly, that Spain was indebted for this extension of
her colonial empire; and he had felt deeply aggrieved that the
government of the colony should be trusted to other hands than his. He
had felt this on the arrival of Vaca de Castro, and much more so when
the appointment of a viceroy proved it to be the settled policy of the
Crown to exclude his family from the management of affairs. His
brother Hernando still languished in prison, and he himself was now to
be sacrificed as the principal victim of the fatal ordinances. For who had
taken so prominent a part in the civil war with the elder Almagro? And
the viceroy was currently reported--it may have been scandal---to have
intimated that Pizarro would be dealt with accordingly.20 Yet there was
no one in the country who had so great a stake, who had so much to lose
by the revolution. Abandoned thus by the government, he conceived that
it was now time to take care of himself.
Assembling together some eighteen or twenty cavaliers in whom he most
trusted, and taking a large amount of silver, drawn from the mines, he
accepted the invitation to repair to Cuzco. As he approached this capital,
he was met by a numerous body of the citizens, who came out to
welcome him, making the air ring with their shouts, as they saluted him
with the title of Procurator-General of Peru. The title was speedily
confirmed by the municipality of the city, who invited him to head a
deputation to Lima, in order to state their grievances to the viceroy, and
solicit the present suspension of the ordinances.
But the spark of ambition was kindled in the bosom of Pizarro. He felt
strong in the affections of the people; and, from the more elevated
position in which he now stood, his desires took a loftier and more
unbounded range. Yet, if he harbored a criminal ambition in his breast,
he skilfully veiled it from others--perhaps from himself. The only object
he professed to have in view was the good of the people;21 a suspicious
phrase, usually meaning the good of the individual. He now demanded
permission to raise and organize an armed force, with the further title of
Captain-General. His views were entirely pacific; but it was not safe,
unless strongly protected, to urge them on a person of the viceroy's
impatient and arbitrary temper. It was further contended by Pizarro's
friends, that such a force was demanded, to rid the country of their old
enemy, the Inca Manco, who hovered in the neighboring mountains with
a body of warriors, ready, at the first opportunity, to descend on the
Spaniards. The municipality of Cuzco hesitated, as well it might, to
confer powers so far beyond its legitimate authority. But Pizarro avowed
his purpose, in case of refusal, to decline the office of Procurator; and
the efforts of his partisans, backed by those of the people, at length
silenced the scruples of the magistrates, who bestowed on the ambitious
chief the military command to which he aspired. Pizarro accepted it with
the modest assurance, that he did so "purely from regard to the interests
of the king, of the Indies, and, above all, of Peru!" 22