Chapter 10 - THE BISHOP OF DARIEN. DEBATE WITH LAS CASAS. DISAGREEMENT WITH DIEGO COLUMBUS

The troubles of Las Casas, however, were not yet over, nor did the opposition to his projects relax; on the contrary, the arrival at Barcelona in 1519 of Fray Juan Quevedo, the first Bishop of Darien, brought a new combatant into the field against him. On his way from Darien to Spain, Quevedo had stopped in Cuba, where he had heard the complaints of the enraged colonists, who declared that unless his mad campaign against his fellow-countrymen was stopped Las Casas would ruin the island, impoverish them all, and destroy every source of revenue.

It was thought that Diego Velasquez paid Quevedo to controvert the representations of Las Casas and to plead the cause of the colonists at Court. As he was a man of considerable weight and an excellent preacher, Velasquez hoped he might win the King to his way of thinking. Arriving at Court, thus prepared to advocate the interests of Velasquez and the colonists, Quevedo was no mean antagonist. The first meeting between him and Las Casas took place in the royal ante-chamber where, on being told who the newly arrived prelate was, the clerigo approached [pg 141] saying, "My lord, since I am interested in the Indies it is my duty to kiss your hand." The Bishop asked who the strange priest was and, on being told, exclaimed with some arrogance, "Oh, Se?or Casas! and what sermon have you got to preach to us?" Had he known Las Casas better he would have adopted other tactics, for the clerigo was not the kind of man to attack. He answered: "Certainly, my lord, since some time I have wished to hear your lordship preach, but I assure your lordship that I have a pair of sermons ready, which if you wish to hear and consider them, may be worth more than all the money you have brought from the Indies."

This exchange of thinly veiled hostilities was cut short by the appearance of the Bishop of Badajoz, who came out from audience with the King, and took Quevedo off with him to dinner. To forestall any unfavourable influence which Quevedo might seek to exercise on the Bishop of Badajoz, who was friendly to Las Casas, the latter made a point of going after dinner to the Bishop's house, where he found an illustrious company comprising, amongst others, the Admiral, Don Diego Columbus, playing chequers. Somebody remarked that wheat was grown in Hispaniola, to which Quevedo replied that it was impossible. Las Casas, who happened to have in his pocket-book some specimen grains which he had gathered in the garden of the monastery of St. Dominic, mildly observed, "It is certain, my lord, for I have seen it of excellent quality in that island, and I may even say, look at it yourself, for [pg 142] I have some with me." The Bishop lost his temper and answered with great asperity: "What do you know? This is like the affairs you manage! What do you know about the matters you handle?"

"Are my affairs evil or unjust, my lord," asked Las Casas. The Bishop even more testily exclaimed, "What do you know, or what knowledge and learning have you that you venture to handle these affairs?" Though mindful not to annoy the Bishop of Badajoz, Las Casas let himself go somewhat, and with something of Quevedo's asperity replied that his knowledge and learning might be even less than the Bishop conceded, but he (the Bishop), instead of defending his flock against the tyranny of the Spaniards, lived on their very flesh and blood, and that if he did not restore to the last penny what he had squeezed out of them, he had no more chance of salvation than had Judas. The host interfered to allay the rising choler of his guests, and Las Casas shortly after withdrew. The incident, however, had its consequences, for the Bishop of Badajoz related the occurrence to the King, who, thinking that a polemical tournament between Las Casas and Quevedo in the royal presence might be something worth hearing, ordered that both should appear before him three days later, to debate the subject. A Franciscan friar, newly arrived from the Indies, where he had witnessed the state of things, happened along just then and sought out Las Casas to express his full sympathy with the latter's efforts on behalf of the [pg 143] natives. The Franciscan began a series of sermons at a church near the palace, to which a number of the Flemings listened, afterwards reporting their impressions to the King. His Majesty therefore commanded that the monk should also be present on the occasion of the discussion between Las Casas and Quevedo. The appearance of the Franciscan, was not to Quevedo's liking, and he somewhat tartly remarked to him that the Court was no place for monks, who had much better be in their cells. As the Bishop himself was of the same Order, the monk aptly retorted that he was of the like opinion and that "all of us monks would be better off in our cells." Quevedo seems to have rarely come out ahead in the verbal skirmishes his choleric temper prompted him to provoke.

The account given by Las Casas of the debate before the King gives us a good picture of the stately ceremonial observed at the Court of Charles V. The King being seated on his throne, the others present were accommodated on benches extending along both sides of the audience chamber; to the right of the King sat M. de Chièvres, next to whom was the Admiral Don Diego Columbus; then the Bishop of Darien and finally the licentiate, Aguirre. On the left hand of the throne was seated the Grand Chancellor, next to whom came the Bishop of Badajoz and so on with the others in their order of precedence. Las Casas and the Franciscan stood at the foot of the room, opposite the throne.

After a moment of silence following the seating of the Court, M. de Chièvres and the Grand [pg 144] Chancellor rose, advanced together, and mounting the steps of the throne knelt before the King, to whom they spoke in whispers as though receiving some secret instructions. Returning then to their respective places and being again seated, the Chancellor said, "Reverend Bishop, his Majesty commands that if you have anything to say concerning the Indies you shall speak." The Bishop of Darien rose and began with an eloquent exordium in the classical style customary in such discourses at that time and which produced the best impression on his hearers. He declared that he had long desired the honour of appearing in the royal presence, and now that God had satisfied his wish, he recognised that facies Priami digna erat imperio, which was a graceful reference to the Imperial dignity to which the young monarch had recently been elected in Germany. He asked, however, that as the matters he had to present to his Majesty's attention were of a private nature, all those present who were not members of the Council should be ordered to withdraw. The Chancellor signed to him to be seated and again he and M. de Chièvres approached the throne with the same ceremonial and after having received the royal commands, sotto voce, they returned to their places and the Chancellor said, "Reverend Bishop, his Majesty commands that if you have anything to say, you shall speak." The Bishop however repeated his demand that all those not of the Council should withdraw, and a third time the Chancellor and M. de Chièvres went through the ceremony of receiving the royal commands. [pg 145] Again the Chancellor, when he resumed his place, said, "Reverend Bishop, his Majesty commands that if you have anything to say, you shall speak, for all here present have been called to be of this Council."

The Bishop's efforts to exclude Las Casas and the Franciscan being thus defeated, for it was impossible for him to insist further, he began as follows: "Most potent lord, the Catholic King, your grandfather (may he rest in holy glory) commanded the construction of an armada to go and make settlements on the mainland of the Indies and solicited our very Holy Father to create me Bishop of that first settlement; besides the time occupied in coming and going, I have been there five years, and as a numerous company went and we only had provisions enough for the journey, all the rest of our people died of hunger: the remainder of us who survived, in order to escape the fate of the others, have done nothing during all that time but rob and kill and eat. As I perceived that that country was going to perdition and that its first governor was bad and the second worse, I determined to return and report these things to our King and Lord in whom is all the hope of a remedy. As for the Indians, judging by the accounts of those in that country whence I come, and those of others whom I saw on my way, they are a natura slaves." The remainder of this speech has not been preserved, but the opening of it was singular enough, considering that it was delivered by the advocate of the colonists and one of the bitterest opponents of Las Casas. [pg 146] At its conclusion the ceremony of taking the royal orders was repeated and the Chancellor commanded Micer Bartholomew in the King's name to speak.

The speech which Las Casas then delivered is given, in part, in the third part of his Historia General. 38 In it he declared that he had accepted his vocation not to please the King but to serve God and that he renounced, once for all, any temporal honour or favour his Majesty might ever wish to confer upon him. A remarkably bold sentence followed: "It is positive, speaking with all the respect and reverence due to so great a King and Lord, that I would not move from here to that corner to serve your Majesty, saving my fidelity as a subject, unless I thought and believed I would render service to God by so doing." The chief point in the Bishop's discourse which he controverted, was the assertion that the Indians were by nature slaves. He was supported throughout, and especially on this point, by the Franciscan; and even the Admiral Diego Columbus, who had himself held encomiendas and whose renowned father had indeed initiated the very abuses which were being denounced, bore witness to the truth of his statements and the weight of his arguments. When Las Casas had finished, Quevedo, who expressed his wish to reply, was notified that anything further he had to say must be submitted in writing. This closed the audience and the King withdrew.

In conformity with the King's order that his [pg 147] answer to Las Casas should be presented in writing the Bishop of Darien prepared two statements, one of which set forth all the various abuses and the destruction caused by the Spaniards in that colony, while the other contained suggestions for remedying those evils; one of these remedies was the prohibition of the customary raids amongst the Indian tribes and the other was that the peaceable Indians should be induced to live in villages where they might be taught, and also pay some tribute to the Crown. The Bishop's view of the lamentable state of things in the colony, his condemnation of the violent conduct of the Spaniards, and his opinion that it was urgent to introduce a new system for regulating the relations between the colonists and natives seem not to have differed from those of Las Casas himself, and both the corrective measures he proposed met with the latter's hearty approval. These memorials were first read by the Bishop to the Chancellor and M. Laxao, both of whom were highly satisfied to discover such unexpected conformity with the representations of their friend the clerigo. When asked by them what he thought of Las Casas's projects, the Bishop replied that he found them excellent and most just.

This singular conversion of the Bishop of Darien from a formidable opponent into a supporter, delighted Las Casas, who, when the Chancellor showed him the two memorials, asked for a pen that he too might sign them, saying: "Did I ever tell your lordship more than the Bishop has here admitted? What greater cruelties, murders, and destruction [pg 148] in that country have I ever reported to your lordship than these?"

What influence worked upon Quevedo does not appear; whether he perceived that the King looked with sympathy on the enthusiastic Las Casas and that the latter was high in favour with the important Flemish group at Court and therefore sure to carry his point, and so decided, as a practised courtier, to pass over to the winning side, or whether under his choleric exterior there was a chord that responded to the sufferings of the obscure Indians in their miseries, and a sense of justice that was outraged by the rapacious cruelty of his countrymen, we have no means of knowing. Shortly afterwards he fell dangerously ill of a sickness which carried him off in three days. Las Casas was much impressed by his Christian end and by the fact that before he died he had been moved to testify to the true condition of things in the Indies, than which no other act on his part could have been a better preparation for death.

The affairs of Las Casas were now well advanced and all seemed plain sailing ahead; he conferred with Diego Columbus, Admiral of the Indies, concerning the foundation of the forts he had undertaken to build along the coast at intervals of one hundred leagues from one another. These forts were to serve for defence and also as centres of trade to which the Indians would be attracted to bring their gold, pearls, and other things of value to be exchanged for the Spanish merchandise they prized-hawks'-bells, beads of coloured glass, and like trifles. The Admiral was in agreement with this project, until he consulted his brother Fernando Columbus, who suggested to him that he should ask from the King the administration of justice in the new settlements and their extensions. Las Casas opposed this project, but the Admiral followed his brother's counsel and presented his petition to the Council, where it was disallowed; the Admiral in consequence took no further interest in the plan and thus Las Casas was deprived of his valuable support.

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