Bartholomew de Las Casas; his life, apostolate, and writings Part 12

The Indian porters who were to carry these provisions, were so fearful of being set upon and beaten or even killed by the Spaniards, that it was only after much persuasion that they consented to deliver them: fortunately they were not molested and the supplies reached their destination intact.

A short time after these events, the Auditor, Juan Rogel, sent by the Audiencia of the Confines, arrived at Ciudad Real just as the Bishop was preparing for his journey to Mexico where one Francisco Tello de Sandoval, whom the Emperor had sent as Visitor-General of New Spain, had convoked a meeting of all the bishops and prelates in America to confer upon the vexed questions concerning the Indians, about which opinion was so divided as to render hopeless any acceptable legislation from Madrid. The celebrated Sepulveda, one of the most learned scholars and ablest men of his times, led the opposition to the doctrines of Las Casas and sustained the theory that servitude was the rightful and natural state of the Indians and that it was justifiable to subdue them by force to Spanish rule.

On the 20th of November, 1545, the Emperor, in response to the arguments and pet.i.tions of the representatives of the colonists, had abrogated the most important articles of the New Laws-in fact had substantially revoked them, though this action was not yet known in Chiapa, where the Bishop received the Auditor Rogel, to whom he highly praised the New Laws, whose application was the object of Rogel's visit. The Auditor, after hearing him out, said: "Your lordship well knows that though these New Laws and Ordinances were framed in Valladolid by the agreement of such grave personages,-as your lordship and I witnessed-one of the reasons which has rendered them so hateful in the Indies has been the fact that your lordship had a hand in proposing and framing them: for the conquerors consider your lordship so prejudiced against them, that they believe that what you obtain for the natives is not so much for love of the Indians as for hatred of them. Entertaining such a suspicion, they would feel it more, were I to deprive them while your lordship is present, than the loss itself of their slaves and estates; Senor Don Francisco Tello de Sandoval has summoned your lordship to this meeting of prelates which takes place in Mexico and I would be glad if you would prepare for your journey and hasten your departure, for until your lordship is gone I can do nothing.

I do not want it said that I am doing what is necessary out of respect, as everything would thereby be lost."

This plain speaking, in which Las Casas recognised much truth, convinced him that by remaining, he would only r.e.t.a.r.d the cause he desired to help, so he quickly completed his preparations and left Ciudad Real in the first week of Lent in 1546, hardly a year after his first entrance into it. His departure was signalised by some demonstrations of sympathy, and a few people accompanied him as far as Cinacatlan, where he remained for several days counselling with the friars concerning the stand to be taken on Indian matters in the council or synod he was going to attend in Mexico.

As the other American bishops disapproved of his action in refusing the sacraments to slave-holders and the Visitor General, Tello de Sandoval, had already written him a sharp letter of reproof for his imprudence in obstinately persisting in his views despite the fact that he was alone in holding them, formidable opposition would have to be encountered in the synod. Neither Las Casas nor his Dominican brethren were at all dismayed by their isolation, nor did they for a moment consider the possibility of abandoning or even relaxing their convictions. The Canon, Juan Perera, who had stood loyally by his Bishop, a.s.sisted at these conferences, but as he had previously expressed contrary opinions, he desired to make an act of public reparation for his past errors. He returned to Ciudad Real especially to preach a sermon of retraction and to read a paper prepared for him by Fray Tomas de la Torre, containing a full vindication of his Bishop's opinions. This recantation produced no small effect upon the colonists, some of whom were moved to express regret for their part in the maltreatment of Las Casas and the friars. This business terminated, the Canon rejoined Las Casas at Cinacatlan and accompanied him to Mexico.

Before setting forth on his last journey, the Bishop transferred his property to the Dominicans and, though there was a conditional clause in the deed of gift, there was no reservation in the donor's mind, for he knew that he was leaving Chiapa for ever and would never again govern a diocese. Accompanied by the friars Rodrigo Ladrada, Vicente Ferrer, and Luis Cancer and by the Canon Perera he journeyed to Antequera in the province of Oaxaca-the marquisate of Cortes-where he was received in the Dominican convent. But so intense and wide-spread was the feeling against him that both the Viceroy and the Visitor-General wrote to him that he should not advance farther towards Mexico, until they summoned him, lest his appearance might provoke a disturbance. The march of a hostile army upon a defenceless city could hardly have stirred up greater excitement than the arrival of this aged Bishop with his four humble companions. He finally entered the city of Mexico at ten o'clock one morning, and not only was there no disturbance of the peace when he was recognised, but his followers even heard some comments of admiration for him as he pa.s.sed through the streets to the Dominican monastery where he was to lodge.

The very day of his arrival, Las Casas betrayed his lack of those conciliatory qualities, without which no man can negotiate debatable questions with any hope of success. During his several visits to Spain, where he handled delicate questions with consummate skill, he had shown tact in seeking to disarm opposition and conciliate opponents, but in Mexico he displayed no wordly wisdom whatsoever. He replied to the message of the Viceroy and the auditors who sent to welcome him, that he would not visit them as they were excommunicated because they had cut off the hand of a priest in Antequera.

The news of this message was spread throughout the city and still further inflamed the popular ire against him. Just at a time when so much depended upon winning supporters to his side and conciliating, as far as possible, the conflicting principles of the contending parties, Las Casas alienated the powerful Viceroy and the auditors, and rendered himself inaccessible to any possible overtures from the more reasonable and moderate men of the opposition, whom it should have been his first duty to placate by every possible concession.

The synod or council was composed of the five bishops of Mexico, Chiapa, Guatemala, Oaxaca, and Mechoacan, with possibly a sixth from Tiazcala; besides these, there were the prelates and chief theologians of the religious orders, and finally, all the learned men of the colony. The outcome of their deliberations was contained in eight propositions, of which the five princ.i.p.al ones were as follows:

1.1. All infidels, of whatsoever sect or religion they may be or whatever may be their sins, hold and possess in conformity with the natural and divine law and the law of nations, the property they acquire without prejudice to others; and likewise their princ.i.p.alities, kingdoms, estates, lordships, dignities, and jurisdictions.

2.2. Although four different cla.s.ses of infidels exist, there is but one method inst.i.tuted by divine providence for teaching the true religion, namely, persuading the understanding by reasoning and attracting the will by gentleness. This is common to all men in the world, without regard to difference of errors or sects, or corruption of morals.

3.3. The sole and final cause why the Apostolic See granted supreme sovereignty and imperial jurisdiction over the Indies to the Kings of Castile and Leon was the preaching of the Gospel, the spread of the Christian religion, and the conversion of the nations of those regions, and not to increase their dignity or to make them richer princes than they were.

4.4. The Holy See, in granting the said supreme sovereignty, did not intend to deprive the native sovereigns and rulers of their estates, lordships, jurisdiction, honours, and dignities, nor did it intend to give the Kings of Castile and Leon any license by which the spread of the Gospel should be impeded and the conversion of the people of those regions be r.e.t.a.r.ded.

5.5. The said sovereigns of Castile, who offered and bound themselves of their own choice to see that the faith was preached and the Indians converted, are obliged by divine precept to bear the necessary expenses for accomplishing these ends.

These were the most important of the eight articles approved by the synod, and they were grounded upon and defended by a mult.i.tude of arguments drawn from the Fathers and General Councils: they were not adopted without opposition, and every point was fought over in endless debates, for the conquerors and all holders of encomiendas contested stoutly for what they held to be their rights. The synod also established the conditions on which sacraments should be administered to the colonists, and addressed a full report of the proceedings to the Emperor, soliciting his confirmation and the royal authority for executing all that had been enacted.

Although Las Casas had several times essayed to bring the question of slavery before the council, no direct or explicit decision was given on that important point, and as his efforts were embarra.s.sing, the Viceroy quickly told him that reasons of State had compelled him to defer a definite solution of that question. Far from quieting Las Casas, this information aroused his zeal all the more, and as a hearing in the council was denied him, he preached a few days later when the Viceroy was present, taking for his text this significant pa.s.sage from the thirtieth chapter of the prophet Isaias: "For this is a rebellious people; lying children, children that will not hear the law of G.o.d. Who say to the seers, see not; and to the prophets, prophesy not right things unto us; speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits."

The sermon was not without the intended effect, and the Viceroy began to regret the exclusion of the subject of slavery from the council: as a compromise, he consented that separate meetings should be held in the convent of San Domingo to consider this subject, offering to transmit to the Emperor the conclusions adopted. Las Casas was ably seconded in the proceedings of these meetings, by Fray Luis Cancer, and a declaration was drawn up declaring that the Indians-with few exceptions-had been unjustly enslaved and that those who held them were bound to set them free: slave-holders were described as tyrants and all personal services exacted from the defenceless natives were condemned. Those who took part in these meetings and signed the decisions, were dest.i.tute of any means to give effect to them, but they adopted measures to publish and distribute copies of them throughout the colonies, in the hope that they might influence public opinion in the right direction.

Las Casas named the Canon, Juan Perera, as his Vicar-General in the diocese of Chiapa, on the ninth of November, 1546, and at the same time appointed as confessors the friars Tomas Casillas, Tomas de la Torre, Domingo de Arana, and Alonso de Villabra, to whom he furnished copies of the instructions approved by the council of Mexico, in which were comprised the twelve rules. The colonists appealed to the Emperor against the instructions, which they held to be unduly severe and onerous for them, and, in reply to their pet.i.tion, a royal order dated in Valladolid on the twenty-eighth of November, 1542, was received by the Audiencia of Mexico ordering a copy of the disputed regulations to be sent to Spain for examination.

In the early part of the year 1547, Las Casas arrived in Vera Cruz to embark for Spain, and after some delay there, until a ship could be found for the voyage, left the sh.o.r.es of America for the last time(65)

CHAPTER XX. - LAS CASAS ARRIVES AT VALLADOLID. THE THIRTY PROPOSITIONS.

DEBATE WITH GINES DE SEPULVEDA

Rejected by his flock in Chiapa, abused and denounced by the Spanish colonists in America, the venerable Bishop's arrival in his native country was preceded by accusations intended to prejudice the young Prince, Don Philip, who was regent during the Emperor's absence, against him. Long years of championship of an unpopular cause rendered him impervious to these baseless attacks of his enemies. At a time of life when most men think to rest, Las Casas prepared himself with undiminished vigour to continue the struggle in the cause of freedom. Upon his arrival in Spain, he repaired at once to Valladolid where the court was usually in residence, only to find that Don Philip had gone to hold a Cortes in the kingdom of Aragon. With his habitual promptness, the Bishop followed him thither, and was received with great kindness by the Prince, who, after listening attentively to all that he had to recount, wrote to the Dominicans in Chiapa commending their conduct and offering to send more men of their Order to reinforce them, if they were required.

The Indians were ever uppermost in the mind of Las Casas and he likewise obtained that the Prince should write letters to the caciques in Chiapa and Tuzulutlan, who had become Christians, congratulating them on their conversion, praising their zeal, of which the Bishop had informed him, and urging them to follow the counsels of their Dominican friends. To celebrate his pacific victory in the "Land of War," Las Casas also had the sinister name Tuzulutlan officially changed to that of Vera Paz or True Peace.

The formal resignation of Las Casas from the diocese of Chiapa was made known to the Spanish Amba.s.sador in Rome, Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, in a letter from the Emperor dated September 11, 1550, with instructions to announce the same to the Pope and to present the name of Fray Tomas Casillas for the vacant bishopric.

Mention has been made of the _Confesionario_, or book of instructions written by the Bishop of Chiapa and distributed to the clergy of his diocese. In this little manual, Las Casas demonstrated that the armed invasion of America by the Spaniards and the conquest of the various countries were contrary to all right and justice: he argued that the Bull of donation given by Alexander VI. charged the Spanish sovereigns with the right, or rather the duty, of converting the inhabitants of the New World to Christianity; once their conversion was effected, they might be induced, if possible, by gentle and pacific means to place themselves under Spanish rule. Arguing from these premises, the Bishop directed his clergy to refuse absolution and the sacraments to all who refused to liberate their slaves or continued to oppress and rob the natives.

Reduced to a formula the doctrine of Las Casas may be summed up: Convert the Indians first and they will afterwards become Spanish subjects; as against the contention of his adversaries that they must first be conquered, after which their conversion would follow.

His enemies were not slow in seizing upon these definitions and in twisting them into a denial of the sovereign rights of the Crown. Formal denunciations of the teachings contained in the _Confesionario_ were laid before the India Council, (66) and that body having summoned Las Casas to explain his doctrines in writing, he submitted an exposition of the contents of his book, in the form of thirty propositions, the substance of which may be summarised as follows: (67)

1.1. The power and authority which the Pope holds from Jesus Christ, extends over all men, whether they be Christians or infidels, as far as everything touching their salvation is concerned. Their exercise should, however, be different over pagans than over those who have received or have refused to receive the true faith.

2.2. The primacy of the Pope imposes upon him the obligation to diffuse the Christian religion throughout the world and to see that the Gospel is preached to the heathen wherever they will receive it.

3.3. The Pope is bound to choose proper missioners for such propaganda.

4.4. It is evident that Christian rulers are his most suitable and efficient a.s.sistants in this work.

5.5. The Pope is free to invite or justified in obliging Christian rulers to lend their help, by the exercise of their power, by the expenditure of money, and by sending suitable men to conduct missions.

6.6. The Pope and the Christian sovereigns should act together for this end, in agreement with one another.

7.7. The Pope may distribute heathen lands among Christian rulers, designating where each is to labour for the conversion of the infidels.

8.8. Such distribution should be made, however, for the purpose of ensuring the instruction and the conversion of the pagan nations but not at all to increase the territories of the Christian sovereign or to augment his revenues, t.i.tles, and honours, at the expense of the natives.

9.9. It may follow that Christian princes may incidentally derive some profit from this conversion of such infidels, and all such may be permitted to them, but the primary object must be the propagation of the Faith, the extension of the Church, and the service of G.o.d.

10.10. Native kings and rulers hold their authority and jurisdiction by a just t.i.tle and have a right to the obedience of their lawful subjects, nor should they be deposed or violently treated.

11.11. Injustice, cruelty, and every form of wickedness are produced by the violation of this law.

12.12. Neither idolatry nor any kind of sin justifies Christians in usurping the authority of native rulers or in seizing the lands and goods of their subjects.

13.13. As long as such infidels have not opposed the propagation of the Gospel and have not refused to receive the Faith preached to them, no Christian tribunal or judge has a right to punish them for the practice of idolatry or for the commission of any sins, no matter how heinous.

14.14. The New World was discovered during the pontificate of Alexander VI., hence that pontiff was obliged to designate some Christian prince under whose protection the propagation of the Faith should be carried on.

15.15. Since the Catholic sovereigns of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, had protected and aided Columbus in making his discovery, and had, moreover, expelled the Mahometans from their land, the Pope perceived the special claims they had to receive this privilege, and the great advantages to religion of confiding this mission to them.

16.16. The Pope, having authority to grant such a privilege, has power likewise to annul, revoke, or suspend it for just cause; or he may transfer it to some other ruler and forbid all others to interfere.

17.17. The jurisdiction over the Indies held by the sovereigns of Spain is lawful.

18.18. The native rulers in the Indies are therefore obliged to submit to the jurisdiction of the Spanish sovereigns.

19.19. Once the native rulers have voluntarily and freely accepted the Faith and been baptised Christians, they become bound by another t.i.tle than before to acknowledge the Spanish sovereignty.

20.20. The law of G.o.d imposes on the Spanish sovereigns this duty of selecting proper persons and sending them to preach Christianity to the natives, and to neglect nothing that may ensure their conversion.

21.21. They share this obligation with the Pope and, before the conversion of the natives has been accomplished, they have the same power over them as has His Holiness.

22.22. The Catholic Faith may be best spread throughout the New World by imitating the example of our Lord in establishing His religion upon earth. The natives are submissive, docile people, who may be won by kindness, charity, and good examples of holy living. They should be encouraged and favoured, and treated as brothers.

23.23. The Romans, Mahometans, Moors, and Turks have propagated their doctrines by the sword, but such means are tyrannical, and it is blasphemy for Christians to imitate such cruelties; what has already been done in the Indies has caused the natives to believe the Christian G.o.d to be the most merciless and cruel of all deities.

24.24. It is only natural that the Indians should defend their countries from armed invasion, thus they resist the propagation of the Faith.

25.25. The Spanish sovereigns have from the outset repeatedly forbidden wars, conquests, and acts of cruelty. Those officials who have pretended to act by royal authority in such wars and acts have lied, and the warrants they have shown are forgeries.

26.26. It follows that all the wars, invasions, and conquests that have been made, have been tyrannical, contrary to justice and authority, and hence, in fact, null and void: this is proven by the record of the proceedings in Council against all such tyrants and usurpers who have been found guilty.

27.27. It is the duty of the Spanish sovereigns to maintain and re-establish all laws and usages amongst the Indians which are good, and that is to say the most of them; those which are bad should be abolished, and the preaching and application of the Gospel is the best means for effecting this.

28.28. The Devil himself could not have worked greater harm than have the Spaniards, by their tyranny and cruel greed; they have treated the Indians like beasts, worked them to death, and persecuted those who have wished to learn from the friars, even more than others.

29.29. The system of giving the Indians in encomienda and repartimiento is absolutely contrary to the royal commands issued by Queen Isabella to Columbus and his successors during her reign. The Queen ordered all Indians who had been brought to Spain as slaves, to be sent back and set free. What would she think could she but witness the present state of things? The present sovereign has been kept in ignorance of the true condition, and his long journeys and absences have prevented him from informing himself.

30.30. It follows, therefore, from these propositions that all the conquests, acquisitions of territory, invasions, and usurpations, whether by the Crown officials or by the colonists and individuals, are illegal, because all have been accomplished contrary to the orders of the Spanish sovereigns and in defiance of their authority.

(68)

Without pausing to examine the origin or trace the development of the papal claim to dispose of the western hemisphere, which Las Casas admits in these Thirty Propositions, it should be borne in mind that Alexander VI. made no unusual exercise of his prerogative in so doing, nor was there anybody, whether philosopher, jurist, or statesman, who, at that time, contested his pretension; arguments which Las Casas presented as almost axiomatic are now obsolete, and of interest merely as ill.u.s.trating the political doctrines of his times. He was, perhaps, the first to limit the exercise of the papal power by describing it as conditional, and in denying that the bull gave the sovereigns of Castile any property rights in the New World. According to his doctrines, the Pope was exercising his purely spiritual power. Charged by the Founder of Christianity with the obligation to cause the Gospel to be preached to every creature, he might delegate to the sovereign of his choice the right, or rather the duty of sending his subjects to convert the heathen within a prescribed portion of the Indies-but for no other purpose. Equally clear is the limitation he places to the action of the prince. The latter receives no authorisation from the Pope to invade, occupy, or govern territory in America. His mission is exclusively religious, and any advantage accruing to himself must be merely incidental. Since he may not rightfully use force to establish his rule over the Indians, the rights of sovereignty conferred by the Bull, only become effective in cases where the native rulers, after their conversion, voluntarily acknowledge them.

In these definitions, Las Casas had gone far, but his adversaries despite their subtlety were impotent either to force or inveigle him into a position, where even constructive heresy and disloyalty might be imputed to him. More adroit than they, he skilfully evaded their snares, without sacrificing one jot of his contention. The India Council was well satisfied with his defence of the _Confesionario_, but the resentment of his enemies was inflamed the more by his victory, and it was felt to be more than ever necessary to fix upon some one able to refute his arguments and discredit him in the estimation of statesmen and theologians.

One of the foremost of Spanish theologians and Jurists at that period was Gines de Sepulveda, whose distinction as a master of Latin style had caused Erasmus to describe him as the Spanish Livy. Born in Cordoba of n.o.ble parents in 1490, he had pa.s.sed many years in Italy and had but recently returned to Spain, where he was named royal historiographer by Charles V. During his sojourn in Rome, Sepulveda had published a dialogue ent.i.tled _Democrates_, in which he sought to prove that war was consonant with the doctrines of Christianity: "De convenientia, disciplinae militaris c.u.m cristiana religione."

Whether or no Sepulveda was deliberately chosen by the opponents of Las Casas to dispute the Bishop's propositions in defence of the Indians, does not positively appear, (69) but just before the latter returned from America, he composed a second dialogue, _Democrates II. De justis belli causis apud Indios_, in which he upheld the right of the Spaniards to make war on the Indians. This dialogue was apparently written in Valladolid and called forth an episcopal reprimand from the Bishop of Segovia. The fraternal admonition of the Bishop, instead of disposing of the subject, provoked a reply from Sepulveda in the form of an _Apologia_ of an _Democrates II_.

The India Council having refused to permit the publication of this dialogue, Sepulveda pet.i.tioned the Emperor, who referred the matter to the Council of Castile. That body having given its a.s.sent, the Emperor signed a royal cedula at Aranda de Duero, authorising the printing of the book.

In the midst of the interest excited by this controversy, Las Casas arrived in Spain. He prevailed upon the Council of Castile to reconsider its decision, and to submit Sepulveda's work to the universities of Salamanca and Alcala, for an opinion on the soundness of his doctrine.

The reply of the universities was adverse, and the authorisation to publish was consequently annulled. (70)