BARTHOLOMEW DE LAS CASAS.

THE FRIEND OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS.*

T would be difficult to find throughout the whole course of history a more thoroughly

benevolent and disinterested man than the subject of this present sketch. Undaunted by a thousand obstacles, constantly baffled, generally unsuccessful, hated and persecuted by those whose cruel conduct he opposed, he still, with calm perseverance and trust in God, pursued the one noble philanthropic object of his life, which was so worthy of his energetic and generous character.

Bartholomew de Las Casas was born at Seville in 1474, in the midst of an age of enterprise and maritime discovery. From his childhood he must have heard tell of those gentle Indians whose cause he was hereafter so bravely to espouse, for his father was a sailor, and had accompanied Columbus in his first voyage-that most celebrated of all voyages, which

*Sir A. Helps' "Las Casas" is the chief authority for the present account.

resulted in the discovery of America. In those days a seaman's life was a profitable one, so Antonio de Las Casas made his fortune by it, and was able to send his son, Bartholomew, to the University of Salamanca, where he remained till he was eighteen, and took a licentiate's degree. In 1498 he accompanied his father and Columbus, in a voyage to the West Indies, returning to Cadiz in 1500.

In 1502 he went with Nicholas de Ovando, who was appointed Governor of the Indies, to Hispaniola, where he was ordained priest. He was thirty-six years of age when he first made his appearance on the stage of history. So great was his force of character and general ability, that he would probably have excelled in any career, and he did in fact fulfil three or four vocations, being an eager man of business, a laborious and accurate historian, a great reformer, a warm philanthropist, and a vigorous ecclesiastic. He was eloquent, acute, truthful, bold, self-sacrificing, pious.

When Bartholomew Las Casas arrived in Hispaniola, that island was rapidly becoming depopulated of Indians, owing to the terrible cruelties they suffered at the hands of their oppressors, and to the hard labour to which they were subjected. Las Casas' kind heart was. touched at once, by the scenes of misery and barbarity, he beheld. Henceforth he became the warm advocate of the Indians; to rescue the oppressed race from tyranny was now his lifework. He was sent by Diego Velasquez to Cuba with Pamphilo de Narvaez, whose mission was to

populate and pacify that island. The province where they first landed was soon brought into subjection, and the inhabitants then divided into repartimientos, which were apportioned by Velasquez among his followers.

A repartimiento was a deed by which an encomienda or commandery of so many Indians with a cacique or chief was given to a Spaniard, with the injunction that he was "to teach them the things of the Holy Catholic faith." This condition was looked upon as a mere formality, and was never attended to.

Las Casas was now sent with Narvaez on an expedition into the country of Camaguey. Whenever it was possible, he treated the Indians in the kindest way, and soon gained their confidence. He saw at once how easy the conversion of the Indians would have been by mild means, instead of which it was made the pretext with some, and the real justification with others, for the greatest inhumanities. One of his chief cares was to separate the Indians and the Spaniards, whenever they halted at any Indian town or village. By this means many disorders and much cruelty was prevented. But his chief business was to collect the children to baptize them, as he observes there were many that God bestowed His sacred baptism upon in good time; for scarcely any of all those children remained alive a few months afterwards.

In the course of their journey, the Spaniards approached a large town called Caonao, where a multitude of natives had congregated, chiefly to see the horses the Spaniards had brought with them. Suffer

ing much from thirst on the road, the Indians kindly brought them water. They reached Caonao at the time of vespers, and halted here. The whole population was collected in one spot, sitting on the ground gazing with wonder at the horses. Five hundred, however, who were more timid than the rest, remained in a large hut, where they prepared food for their visitors. A thousand of their own Indian attendants accompanied the Spaniards, who themselves amounted to about a hundred. Suddenly a Spaniard, prompted, as was thought, by the devil, drew his sword. The rest drew theirs also, and immediately all began to hack and hew the poor Indians, who were sitting quietly near them, and offered no more resistance than so many sheep. At the moment when the massacre began, Las Casas was in the sleeping apartment. He had five Spaniards with him. Some Indians, who had brought the baggage, were lying on the ground, overcome with fatigue. The five Spaniards, hearing the blows from their comrades' swords without, would have fallen upon these Indians at once, had not Las Casas prevented them. But they rushed out to join their companions. Las Casas followed them; and to his grief and horror, saw heaps of dead bodies, already strewed about like sheaves of corn, waiting to be gathered up. He rushed hither and thither, endeavouring to prevent the indiscriminate slaughter which was going on of men, women, and children. Then he entered the great hut, where he found many Indians had already

been slaughtered; but some had escaped, and were up aloft. He told them there should be no more slaughter, and entreated them to come down; and one young man, trusting to his words, did so. But the good Las Casas could not be in all places at once; and leaving the hut directly afterwards, a Spaniard drew a sword, and ran the Indian through the body. Las Casas was only back in time to afford the last rites of the Church, to the dying youth. No one ever could tell who was the author of this massacre, which only shows how causeless it was, and gives us an example of the ordinary barbarous conduct of the Spaniards towards the Indians.

When this massacre was known throughout the province, all the inhabitants deserted their towns, and fled for refuge to the innumerable islets on that coast called the Garden of the Queen. But the benevolence and kind-heartedness of the Clerigo (as Las Casas was called), had already become known to the Indians, as no less than a hundred and eighty of them, men and women, came and put themselves under his protection. He was delighted to see them, but sad too, when he considered their gentleness, their humility, their poverty, and their sufferings. Their example, and the kindness with which they were treated, reassured the Indians of the vicinity, who in consequence returned to their homes.

After more cruelties on the part of the Spaniards, mitigated however by the interference of Las Casas, the island of Cuba was at last considered to be paci