The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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[Footnote 6: "Ahora no tienen que comer ni donde sembrar, i asi
van a hurtallo como solian, delito por que han aorcado a muchos."
Rel. del Provisor Morales, Ms.

This, and some of the preceding citations, as the reader will
see, have been taken from the Ms. of the Bachelor Luis de
Morales, who lived eighteen or twenty years in Cuzco; and, in
1541, about the time of Vaca de Castro's coming to Peru, prepared
a Memorial for the government, embracing a hundred and nine
chapters. It treats of the condition of the country, and the
remedies which suggested themselves to the benevolent mind of its
author. The emperor's notes on the margin show that it received
attention at court. There is no reason, as far as I am aware, to
distrust the testimony of the writer, and Munoz has made some
sensible extracts from it for his inestimable collection.]

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

[Footnote 7: Father Naharro notices twelve missionaries, some of
his own order, whose zealous labors and miracles for the
conversion of the Indians he deems worthy of comparison with
those of the twelve Apostles of Christianity. It is a pity that
history, while it has commemorated the names of so many
persecutors of the poor heathen, should have omitted those of
their benefactors.

"Tomo su divina Magestad por instrumento 12 solos religiosos
pobres, descalzos i desconocidos, 5 del orden de la Merced, 4 de
Predicadores, i 3 de San Francisco, obraron lo mismo que los 12
apostolos en la conversion de todo el universo mundo." Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, Ms.]
[Footnote 8: "Todos los conventos de Dominicos i Mercenarios
tienen repartimientos. Ninguno dellos ha dotrinado ni convertido
un Indio. Procuran sacar dellos quanto pueden, trabajarles en
grangerias; con esto i con otras limosnas enriquecen. Mal
egemplo. Ademas convendra no pasen frailes sino precediendo
diligente examen de vida i dotrina." (Relacion de las cosas que
S. M. deve proveer para los reynos del Peru, embiada desde los
Reyes a la Corte por el Licenciado Martel Santoyo, de quien va
firmada en principios de 1542, Ms.) This statement of the
licentiate shows a different side of the picture from that above
quoted from Father Naharro. Yet they are not irreconcilable.
Human nature has both its lights and its shadows.]

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.
[Footnote 9: I have several of these Memorials or Relaciones, as
they are called, in my possession, drawn up by residents in
answer to queries propounded by government. These queries, while
their great object is to ascertain the nature of existing abuses,
and to invite the suggestion of remedies, are often directed to
the laws and usages of the ancient Incas. The responses,
therefore, are of great value to the historical inquirer. The
most important of these documents in my possession is that by
Ondegardo, governor of Cuzco, covering near four hundred folio
pages, once forming part of Lord Kingsborough's valuable
collection. It is impossible to peruse those elaborate and
conscientious reports without a deep conviction of the pains
taken by the Crown to ascertain the nature of the abuses in the
domestic government of the colonies, and their honest purpose to
amend them. Unfortunately, in this laudable purpose they were
not often seconded by the colonist themselves.]

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 master. 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 founded the Inquisition, and in the very country where the
fiery tribunal was then in most active operation! *12

[Footnote 10: The perpetual emancipation of the Indians is urged
in the most emphatic manner by another bishop, also a Dominican,
but bearing certainly very little resemblance to Las Casas. Fray
Valverde makes this one of the prominent topics in a
communication, already cited, to the government, the general
scope of which must be admitted to do more credit to his humanity
than some of the passages recorded of him in history. - "A V. M.
representaran alla los conquistadores muchos servicios, dandolos
por causa para que los dexen servir de los indios como de
esclavos: V. M. se los tiene mui bien pagados en los provechos
que han avido desta tierra, y no los ha de pagar con hazer a sus
vasallos esclavos." Carta de Valverde al Emperador, Ms.]

[Footnote 11: "La loi de Dieu detend de faire le mal pour qu'il
en resulte du bien." Oeuvres de Las Casas, eveque de Chiapa,
trad. par Llorente, (Paris, 1822,) tom. l. p. 251.]

[Footnote 12: It is a curious coincidence, that this argument of
Las Casas should have been first published - in a translated
form, indeed - by a secretary of the Inquisition, Llorente. The
original still remains in Ms. It is singular that these volumes,
containing the views of this great philanthropist on topics of
such interest to humanity, should not have been more freely
consulted, or at least cited, by those who have since trod in his
footsteps. They are an arsenal from which many a serviceable
weapon for the good cause might be borrowed.]

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

[Footnote 13: The provisions of this celebrated code are to be
found, with more or less - generally less - accuracy, in the
various contemporary writers. Herrera gives them in extenso.
Hist. General, dec 7 lib. 6, cap. 5.]

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
[Footnote 14: Las Casas pressed the matter home on the royal
conscience, by representing that the Papal See conceded the right
of conquest to the Spanish sovereigns on the exclusive condition
of converting the heathen, and that the Almighty would hold him
accountable for the execution of this trust. Oeuvres de Las
Casas, ubi supra.]

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 wild-fire 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

[Footnote 15: Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Pedro de Valdivia, Ms.,
desde Los Reyes, 31 de Oct., 1538. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib.
5, cap. 1. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 6, cap. 10,
11.

Benalcazar, in a letter to Charles the Fifth, indulges in a
strain of invective against the ordinances, which, by stripping
the planters of their Indian slaves, must inevitably reduce the
country to beggary Benalcazar was a conqueror, and one of the
most respectable of his caste. His argument is a good specimen of
the reasoning of his party on this subject, and presents a
decided counterblast to that of Las Casas. Carta de Benalcazar
al Emperador, Ms., desde Cali. 20 de Diciembre, 1544.]
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
endeavoured 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
[Footnote 16: Ibid., ubi supra. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, ubi
supra. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Carta de Gonzalo
Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms. - Montesinos, Annales Ms., ano 1543.]

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

[Footnote 17: Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms. - Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 6, cap. 9. - Fernandez, Hist. del
Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 6. - Zarate, Ms.]

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
high-handed 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.

[Footnote 18: "Estas y otras cosas le dixo el Licenciado Carate:
que no fueron al gusto del Virey: antes se enojo mucho por ello,
y respondio con alguna aspereza: jurando, que auia de executar
las ordenancas come en ellas se contenia: sin esperar para ello
terminos algunos, ni dilaciones." Fernandez, Hist. del Peru,
Parte 1, lib. 1. cap. 6.]

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
[Footnote 19: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 2. -
Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, ubi supra. - Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro
a Valdivia, Ms. - Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1544.]

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.