THE CLOISTER
Day after day Bartholome Las Casas sat in the garden of the Dominican
monastery at San Domingo, sad and dejected. As he thought of his years
of struggle and realized with bitter grief that he had nothing to show
for it all, doubts assailed him, and he accused himself of having rashly
undertaken work to which he had not been called. He might, indeed, have
gone to Spain again and received help to carry out his plans; but he had
not the courage. His heart was like water within him.
Nor was he encouraged to go on by his friends the monks. They greatly
desired to have him among their number, and urged him strongly to give
up the fight and enter the brotherhood,--which at last he did. The
Dominicans rejoiced greatly as did his enemies in the colonies, for they
thought they were surely now rid of the man who had caused them so much
trouble. And so they were,--for a time.
Seven or eight years went by, and Bartholome Las Casas was seldom heard
of outside the convent walls. He was not even allowed to preach for five
years, but during this time of seclusion he was recovering his strength
of body and soul for the work of the future; and though he was silent,
he did not forget, for a part of the time he was at work on his "History
of the Indies," in which he related the cruelties that had been
inflicted upon the natives.
At length an event occurred that brought the Protector of the Indians
again before the public. The Franciscan monks had educated in their
convent a young Indian chief, Enrique by name. This young man had
married a beautiful Indian girl and he and the Indians under him had
been assigned to a certain Spaniard, as was the custom. This Spanish
master took from Enrique first a fine horse and then his young wife.
When the Indian complained of this ill-usage he was severely whipped. He
then appealed to the authorities, only to receive threats of worse
treatment. Seeing that no help was to be got from any one, he gathered
his Indians together in the mountains, and managed to collect a quantity
of lances and swords and to drill his people in the use of them, so that
they held their ground against the troops sent to subdue them.
One of his old teachers from the Franciscan convent went to him to try
and persuade him to lay down his arms; but without success. At length a
new bishop of San Domingo was sent out, who was also president of the
_Audiencia_, the governing body of the Indies. He had received
instructions to subdue this rebellious chief, and after trying in vain
to accomplish it, bethought himself of Las Casas, for whom he sent.
Las Casas at once agreed to go and see what he could do, and set off
alone into the mountains. When he had been gone several months, the
president and council began to feel alarm for his safety; but one day
who should appear in the streets of San Domingo but Las Casas himself,
leading the rebellious chief by the hand. Great was the wonder and
delight of all. He had promised Enrique that if he would submit to
Spanish rule and pay tribute, as did all Spanish subjects, neither he
nor his Indians should be punished, nor should they ever again be made
slaves. This promise was faithfully kept, and Enrique was ever after a
loyal subject.
During the eight years that Las Casas had spent in the convent, many
important events had taken place in the New World. Cortez had conquered
Mexico, Alvarado had conquered Guatemala, Pedrarias had overrun and laid
waste Nicaragua, and Pizarro had commenced his conquest of Peru.
About 1528 Las Casas went once more to Spain, to obtain a decree from
the King which should prevent the Indians of Peru from being enslaved.
While there he preached several times at court, with the old fiery zeal
and eloquence. He obtained the royal order and returned with it to
Hispaniola. A new prior was about to be sent to the monastery of San
Domingo, in Mexico, and with him went Las Casas, intending to go on to
Peru, with some brothers of the order, not only to make known the royal
commands with regard to the Indians but to found convents in that
country. However, this turned out to be impracticable, and after a short
stay the party returned to Nicaragua.
King Charles had desired the Bishop of Nicaragua to establish
monasteries in his diocese. The arrival of Las Casas and his two
companions presenting the opportunity of carrying out the King's wish,
the bishop begged them to stay with him, and they consented, and began
at once to learn the language of the country.
But Las Casas got into difficulties with the governor by stirring up a
formidable opposition to him and preventing him from undertaking an
expedition into the interior, which he desired to make. The clerico had
good reason for this course, for the most outrageous cruelties had been
practiced against the Indians in that province, and he tells us that it
had been known to happen that when a body of four thousand Indians had
gone with such an expedition to carry burdens, but six returned alive,
and that often when an Indian was sick or overcome with weariness and
want of food, and could not go on, in order to get the chain free (for
they went chained together), his head was cut off and his body thrown
aside, without the necessity of stopping the train.
About this time the Bishop of Nicaragua died, and the Bishop of
Guatemala urged Las Casas to come into his diocese, as he had only one
priest to help him. The feud with the governor having become more
violent than ever, it seemed wise to accept this invitation. Therefore,
abandoning the convent he had established, Las Casas with all his
brethren went into Guatemala, making their home for a time at Santiago,
in a convent that had stood vacant for six years.