of Burgos was recalled to the council, and he did all in his power to oppose Las Casas' excellent plans of colonisation. The Clerigo, too, fell ill, but the influence he had already gained over the young king is apparent by the interest his Majesty expressed about him. On recovering, he joined the court at Saragossa, and brought before the chancellor, evidence of horrible cruelties by a captain named Espinosa, which had caused the destruction of 40,000 souls.

But, again, for the third time, death baffled Las Casas' benevolent plans; the chancellor Selvagius was suddenly seized with a fever, and died in a very few days. "And the grand chancellor being dead," wrote the Clerigo, "of a truth there died for that time, all hope of a remedy for the Indians." The Bishop of Burgos now regained all his old influence in the government of the Indies. A Council for the Indies was formed, of which he was president, and the appointment of which was most disheartening to Las Casas. The bishop's first act was to recall the Jeronomite fathers; their presence had, at all events, been a considerable restraint upon evil-doers, and thus the last vestige of the policy of the great Ximenes, was altogether effaced from the Indian government.

Just then Las Casas was cheered a little by becoming acquainted with a M. de Bure, a young Fleming, whose uncle, De Laxas, had great influence over the king, and who slept in his Majesty's room; both uncle and nephew were much interested in Las Casas' account of Indian affairs, and the result was that he

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found protectors in these powerful men belonging to the king's household.

At this time the Clerigo received a letter from Pedro de Cordova, in which, after relating some horrible exploits of the Spaniards in the island of Trinidad, he expressed a wish that the king would set apart one hundred leagues on the coast of Terra Firma about Cumaná, to be entered solely by monks, for the purpose of preaching the Gospel there; if he could not get one hundred leagues, he asked Las Casas to get ten, or even some little island instead, some fifteen or twenty leagues from the coast. This, he thought, might be as a city of refuge to the Indians, and a place wherein the Gospel should be taught them; he added that if this request was not granted, he would recall the brethren of his order, for it was no use their preaching, when the Indians saw those who called themselves Christians, acting in opposition to Christians.

The Bishop of Burgos would not hear of this request being granted; he said, "the king would be well advised indeed to grant a hundred leagues without any profit to himself!" A strange reply for one of the successors of those apostles who laid down their lives for the sake of the conversion of others. As this scheme came to nothing, Las Casas pursued his own plan of sending out labourers to the West India Islands, but this too failed, owing to the treachery of one Berrio, whom the Clerigo had great confidence in, and whom he had appointed his esquire, but who was in fact a spy and agent of the Bishop of Burgos.

A new grand chancellor, Arborio de Gattinara, had recently been appointed, a learned and good man, who favoured Las Casas almost as much as his predecessor Selvagius had done; he was always ready to give him an audience, and uniformly defended him. The new proposition which Las Casas brought before this chancellor was a very remarkable one; it formed the turning-point of the Clerigo's own life, and in its consequence had the widest influence on the fortunes of the New World. Las Casas engaged to find fifty Spanish colonists who were to subscribe 200 ducats each, which he thought would be enough to supply the requisite outfit and sustenance for a year, as well as presents for the Indians. They were to wear a peculiar dress, white cloth with red crosses, which was to distinguish them from any Spaniards the Indians had seen before; they were also to bring a new message to the Indians, telling them they were sent to salute them from the King of Spain, who had heard of the evils and oppressions they had suffered; to give them presents as a sign of amity, and to protect them from other Spaniards who had done them injury.

For the profit of the king, Las Casas undertook to pacify the country assigned to him, which was to extend one thousand leagues along the coast of Terra Firma; and to send him, in three years' time, 15,000 ducats of tribute from the Indians and Spanish settlements, which tribute should increase gradually till, from the tenth year, it should amount to 70,000 ducats.

He also offered to found three settlements with a fortress in each; to obtain geographical knowledge about the country; and to do all he could to convert the natives, without its being any charge to the king.

The Clerigo also demanded that he should be allowed to take with him twelve priests, Franciscans and Dominicans, who should come voluntarily, and ten Indians from the islands, if they would come with him of their own accord.

The fifty who combined in the enterprise were to have the twelfth part of the revenues accruing to the king, and to be enabled to leave this to their heirs for ever; they were to be made Knights of the Golden Spur; such as Las Casas wished were to be appointed governors of the proposed fortresses, and they were to be allowed to import three negroes each. Various other provisions and exemptions were made in their favour.

On behalf of the Indians, Las Casas demanded an assurance from the king, that neither in the present nor in the future, should the Indians within the limits agreed upon, be given to the Spaniards in repartimientos, or in slavery of any kind.

For himself Las Casas asked nothing. The chancellor and the other Flemings favourably regarded his scheme, and desired him to lay it before the Council of the Indies, where it was badly received by his inveterate enemy, the Bishop of Burgos, and the rest of the councillors, who sought to put it aside by delay. There were at this time eight preachers to the king at

the Spanish court, whose favour and assistance in the cause of the Indians, Las Casas besought. They took up the matter warmly, and together with Las Casas they formed a junta, meeting at the monastery of Sta. Catalina; and constituting a sort of antagonist council to that held on Indian affairs, under the Bishop of Burgos. The conclusion they came to was, that they were obliged by Divine law, to procure a remedy for the evils of the Indians, and they bound themselves by oath, that none of them were to be dismayed, or desist from the undertaking, till it should be accomplished; and that if all earthly powers turned a deaf ear to their admonition, they would preach publicly against all these great men, not omitting to give his due share of blame, to the king himself.

On a certain day they entered the Council of the Indies, to the astonishment of the Bishop of Burgos and the rest, and having requested leave to speak, laid before them their admonitions and suggestions, urging upon them the careful consideration of the proposals they had advocated. The council received them with courtesy; by their quiet demeanour they seem to have absorbed the opposition of the preachers, and these good men thinking they had produced the proper impression on the minds of the statesmen, left the matter in their hands, considering they had fulfilled their vow.

Las Casas, however, had little hope of any good coming from their remonstrance, and he pressed on with vigour his own scheme of colonisation, which the