CHAPTER I. DON DIEGO COLUMBUS LANDS AT ST. DOMINGO. NEW REPAR ARRIVAL OF DISPEOPLED. THE FIRST DOMINICAN FRIARS. HISPANIOLA CHAPTER II. THE DOMINICANS PROTEST AGAINST INDIAN SLAVERY.-FATHER ANTONIO'S SERMON. BOTH THE COLONISTS AND THE MONKS APPEAL TO SPAIN.-FATHER ANTONIO SEES THE KING. — - THE LAWS OF BURGOS. CHAPTER I. DON DIEGO COLUMBUS LANDS AT ST. DOMINGO.-NEW REPARTIMIENTOS.-EARLIEST NOTICE OF LAS CASAS.-ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST DOMINICAN FRIARS.-HISPANIOLA DISPEOPLED.-MODES OF REPLENISHING THE COLONY WITH INDIANS.-NEGROES IN THE INDIES. IN N the midst of the crash of dynasties, the downfall of kingdoms, and the wild havoc in great cities which prevails in these unquiet times,* the study of any transaction which occurred a long while ago, which may not be dramatic, or, at least, not of the same liveliness as the present proceedings in the world, and which derives most of its importance from the largeness of the result, and not from the imposing presence of the means, seems somewhat tame and profitless. And, indeed, in all stirring periods, those engaged in the ordinary affairs of life, especially those who are students, whether readers or writers, feel as if they had been left behind, or as a man sitting in a gloomy room, confined by ill health or dull business, while at intervals comes in the merry noise of boisterous children playing in the sun. But these feelings and fancies are fallacious. The essential greatness of a thing often lies altogether in the principle upon which it is done. The mere physical fate of empires, monarchies, and popedoms, much less of mere swarms of thoughtless people, may not be * Written A.D. 1848. equal in depth and significance to one man's one sin; nor, on the other hand, is a great example of duty performed, though of a simple character (as we shall find in this coming chapter of the doings of some poor monks), to be postponed in consideration to the most loud-sounding battle-fields and ever so much frivolous slaughter. There is a similar thing in fiction: an old Greek drama, which shall have but one mind brought before you greatly tortured by conflicting passions and duties, presents some picture of the universe, throws a sudden light down into the abysses of human misery and madness, and rivets the attention immeasurably more than an ill-told, inconsequent tragedy, in which, however, the deaths may be as numerous as the perplexed spectator can desire. Still less is the benefit which may be derived from the study of history to be measured by the noise and pageantry of the things recorded, but rather by the examples they afford and the formation of character they give rise to. Men have not outgrown the aid which history might afford them: duty-political duty —still requires to be expounded and inculcated; greatness is not yet fully understood; and to revert to the image used above, the man who would come down from his dull chamber and play well with those children in the sun, had better have made up his mind in quiet of what it is well to play at, and what should be the rules of the game. So, too, the student of the records of Spanish America may be content, in the midst of all this present tumult, to go on quietly with his work, and make the most he can of a story which will show what the vain doctrines and desires of men, their cruelty, their piety, and their charity, all mingling together, did with the materials which a so-called "New World" afforded them. The new governor, Don Diego Columbus, and his wife, Maria de Toledo, arrived at St. Domingo in July, 1509. The island had not before been graced by a Spanish lady of her rank, and the arrival of the new authorities was honored by a large assemblage of the colonists, and by grand festivities of various kinds. Behind all this scenic representation of greatness there was, as often happens, but little real power. The governor did not possess the king's confidence (it is a question whether any viceroy would have long enjoyed that), which was chiefly bestowed upon the treasurer Passamonte. There was a correspondence carried on between the king and this officer, in cipher, which did not bode Don Diego much good, for Passamonte was a steady enemy of his. And the treasurer was only one out of many enemies whom the son of Columbus had to encounter, both in Hispaniola and in Spain. Before entering upon the transactions of the new governor, it remains to be seen what became of Ovando. A residencia was held, as usual, upon the late governor and the two alcaldes mayores, which terminated favorably, and left no stain upon them. There was no residencia in this life, as LAS CASAS remarks, about the treatment of the poor oppressed Indians; and with regard to the Spaniards, if indeed their welfare could be considered as a separate thing from that of the Indians, it has always been acknowledged that Ovando managed his own countrymen with much vigor and discretion. Indeed, there must have been something good about Ovando. LAS CASAS, a fair judge of character, admiring greatness of every kind, was evidently at tached to this governor. Would to God, he exclaims, that the final judgment (not man's residencia) may have been favorable to him; for "in truth I loved him, with the exception of those errors into which he fell through moral blindness." There is a story of Ovando from which we may perhaps infer that he was not deficient in good-nature to those about him. Some official person had been extravagant and was ruined. Ovando liked the man, and, attending at the sale of his effects, contrived to raise the prices so that all the debts were satisfied, every one striving by excessive biddings to please the governor. This was not a very high-minded or correct proceeding, but still there is a good-nature in it we might not have expected from so stern a man. He returned home safely to Spain, and was well received by Ferdinand, but did not exercise any influence upon Indian affairs, dying a short time after his arrival. He is said to have written some account of his government, which has not yet reached posterity; but, among the treasures which lie hid in Spanish libraries, it may still be found, and will probably throw light upon those times. It would be curious to see what he says of some of the doings at Xaragua and elsewhere. Peace be with him. Happily, he was to be judged by One who understood him infinitely better than he could his fellow-men, the Indians. We turn now to the proceedings of Don Diego Columbus. The king's instructions to this governor had been given partly in writing and partly by word of mouth,* and, as regards the Indians, were to the following effect: That they should be well treated, being made Christians of, with much management, "little * HERRERA, dec. i., 1. vii., c. 8. NAVARRETE, Col. Dip., Núm. 169. |