News of great Cities in Guatemala.

253

Then they all called upon Santiago, and gave his name to the town; doing him this further honor, that they founded a church which they dedicated to his name. On that same day the alcaldes, the regidores, and the alguazils were appointed; and it may be remarked that, on the very first day of their coming into office, they did a thing which, in modern times, we should not deem very wise: they fixed the price of provisions.*

It was at this time that Alvarado heard of great cities, built of stone and mortar, further inland; and of

* A pig weighing thirty areldes was not to be sold for more than twenty pesos of gold, and one of twenty-five areldes for seventeen pesos of gold. It may show the scarcity of provisions that, a year or two after, eggs were ordered to be sold at a golden real for each egg.

254

The first Settlers in Guatemala.

one especially, about fifteen days' journey from Guatemala, which was said to be as large as Mexico. This, I conjecture, must have been Copan. To show the populousness of this district, I can not do better than cite Alvarado's words, addressed to Cortez: "From the city of Mexico to the point where I have come and conquered there are four hundred leagues, and your honor may believe that this land is more settled and contains more people than all that your honor has hitherto governed."*

The books of the town council of Santiago-which were fortunately well kept from the foundation of the city, and are frequently referred to by Remesal-give many curious particulars respecting the habits and the legislation of the young settlement. The first inhabitants are all inscribed; and it may be noticed that, though the greatest part of them have two names, yet there are some with only one name-either a christian or a surname—who may fairly be conjectured to have been persons of very low rank and little breeding. It is painful to think of such men being suddenly transformed into great lords, for so we must consider each Spaniard to whom an encomienda of Indians was assigned.

The infant town at first suffered greatly from the deficiency of competition among the artisans. The tailor demanded such prices that it was said that each movement of the needle might be reckoned at a real; and the shoemaker demanded so much for his work that, though he gave other people leathern shoes, he

* "Desde esa Ciudad de México, hasta lo que Yo he andado, í conquistado, ai quatrocientas leguas: Y crea Vuestra Merced, que es mas poblada esta Tierra, í de mas Gente, que toda la que Vuestra Merced hasta agora ha governado.”—Otra Relacion de P. ALVARADO. BARCIA, Hist., tom. i., p. 165.

Disputes with the Artisans.

255

himself, it was said, might go shod in silver. The government soon took this matter in hand, and fixed the rate of prices. The artisans, not entirely baffled by the government regulations, resolved not to part with any thing unless they were paid in gold or silver, which was not always forthcoming. This cause of vexation lasted for some time, until the town council decided that the artisans should receive their payment in the current money of the country, such as linen, cocoa, and feathers.*

"Se les mandó recebir la moneda corriente de la tierra, como es ropa, cacao, plumas, y otras cosas de valor."-REMESAL, Historia de la Provincia de Chiapa y Guatemala, lib. i., cap. 3.

CHAPTER III.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DOMINICAN AND FRANCISCAN ORDERS IN NEW SPAIN.-LIFE OF DOMINGO DE BETANZOS. -LETTERS OF THE FIRST BISHOPS.

LEAVING for a time bitants were so busy in con

EAVING for a time the rising town of Guate

mala, where the inhabitants were so busy in considering their new possessions, discovering mines, making slaves, and breeding cattle-which multiplied in the most marvelous manner-that a year, we are told, passed almost without their perceiving it, we must turn to a greater subject even than the conquest of New Spain and Guatemala, namely, the spiritual occupation of these new countries. Hitherto, though there had generally been priests and chaplains in the invading armies (there was one in each of Alvarado's expeditions), these men had been able to effect but little, in the dense mass of heathenism to which they had been opposed, beyond the mere destruction of idols and of temples. But when, in 1522, news arrived in Spain of the conquest of Mexico, and when Cortez, who was a devout man, prayed in his letters to the Emperor to have religiosos sent out for converting the Indians, the matter was taken seriously in hand. It happened, too, that just about the time that these letters arrived, Antonio Montesino, already well known to the readers of this history, and Thomas Ortiz, Dominican monks of the convent in the island of Hispaniola, were at the court of Spain, probably engaged in some negotiation for the good of the Indians. Charles the Fifth was

Dominicans and Franciscans sent to New Spain. 257

absent, having gone to Germany to receive the imperial crown. The Bishop of Burgos, as may be recollected, had recovered his power in the Council of the Indies, and he was cold about this business, as he would have been about any thing that Cortez recommended, for the bishop favored Velazquez and disapproved of Cortez.

Fortunately for the New World, this ungodly prelate died about this time; and the reader will remember that Garcia de Loaysa, a Dominican, Bishop of Osma and Confessor to the Emperor, was appointed President of the Council of the Indies, having really enjoyed the power attached to this office for some little time beforehand. It was then resolved by the Indian Council that twelve Dominicans and twelve Franciscans should be sent to New Spain. The prelate named for the twelve Franciscans was Martin de Valencia. The prelate of the twelve Dominicans, with the title of Vicar General, was Tomas Ortiz. It was arranged that Antonio Montesino should stay in the island of Hispaniola, but his superiors gave him six monks of his order to found a convent in the island of San Juan. The Emperor, or his officers acting in his name, provided all these monks with robes of serge, a material which they chose in order to make demonstration of their poverty. Charles also furnished them with all that was necessary for their voyage. The Franciscans and Dominicans were to go together, in order to show their brotherly feeling; and they were all at San Lucar, ready to sail, when a message came from the Bishop of Osma to Tomas Ortiz requiring him to return to court. A junta was about to be formed of learned and conscientious persons (de sciencia y consciencia) to discuss the question of Indian