Great Sensation In Spain. - Pedro De La Gasca. - His Early Life.
- His Mission To Peru. - His Politic Conduct. - His Offers To
Pizarro. - Gains The Fleet.
1545-1547.
While the important revolution detailed in the preceding pages
was going forward in Peru, rumors of it, from time to time, found
their way to the mother-country; but the distance was so great,
and opportunities for communication so rare, that the tidings
were usually very long behind the occurrence of the events to
which they related. The government heard with dismay of the
troubles caused by the ordinances and the intemperate conduct of
the viceroy; and it was not long before it learned that this
functionary was deposed and driven from his capital, while the
whole country, under Gonzalo Pizarro, was arrayed in arms against
him. All classes were filled with consternation at this alarming
intelligence; and many that had before approved the ordinances
now loudly condemned the ministers, who, without considering the
inflammable temper of the people, had thus rashly fired a train
which menaced a general explosion throughout the colonies. *1 No
such rebellion, within the memory of man, had occurred in the
Spanish empire. It was compared with the famous war of the
comunidades, in the beginning of Charles the Fifth's reign. But
the Peruvian insurrection seemed the more formidable of the two.
The troubles of Castile, being under the eye of the Court, might
be the more easily managed; while it was difficult to make the
same power felt on the remote shores of the Indies. Lying along
the distant Pacific, the principle of attraction which held Peru
to the parent country was so feeble, that this colony might, at
any time, with a less impulse than that now given to it, fly from
its political orbit. It seemed as if the fairest of its jewels
was about to fall from the imperial diadem!
[Footnote 1: "Que aquello era contra una cedula que tenian del
Emperador que les daba el repartimiento de los indios de su vida,
y del hijo mayor, y no teniendo hijos a sus mugeres, con
mandarles espresamente que se casasen como lo habian ya hecho los
mas de ellos; y que tambien era contra otra cedula real que
ninguno podia ser despojado de sus indios sin ser primero oido a
justicia y condenado." Historia de Don Pedro Gasca, Obispo de
Siguenza. Ms.]
Such was the state of things in the summer of 1545, when Charles
the Fifth was absent in Germany, occupied with the religious
troubles of the empire. The government was in the hands of his
son, who, under the name of Philip the Second, was soon to sway
the sceptre over the largest portion of his father's dominions,
and who was then holding his court at Valladolid. He called
together a council of prelates, jurists, and military men of
greatest experience, to deliberate on the measures to be pursued
for restoring order in the colonies. All agreed in regarding
Pizarro's movement in the light of an audacious rebellion; and
there were few, at first, who were not willing to employ the
whole strength of government to vindicate the honor of the Crown,
- to quell the insurrection, and bring the authors of it to
punishment. *2
[Footnote 2: Ms. de Caravantes. - Hist. de Don Pedro Gasca, Ms.
One of this council was the great Duke of Alva, of such gloomy
celebrity afterwards in the Netherlands. We may well believe his
voice was for coercion.]
But, however desirable this might appear, a very little
reflection showed that it was not easy to be done, if, indeed, it
were practicable. The great distance of Peru required troops to
be transported not merely across the ocean, but over the broad
extent of the great continent. And how was this to be effected,
when the principal posts, the keys of communication with the
country, were in the hands of the rebels, while their fleet rode
in the Pacific, the mistress of its waters, cutting off all
approach to the coast? Even if a Spanish force could be landed
in Peru, what chance would it have, unaccustomed, as it would be,
to the country and the climate, of coping with the veterans of
Pizarro, trained to war in the Indies and warmly attached to the
person of their commander? The new levies thus sent out might
become themselves infected with the spirit of insurrection, and
cast off their own allegiance. *3
[Footnote 3: "Ventilose la forma del remedio de tan grave caso en
que huvo dos opiniones; la una de imbiar un gran soldado con
fuerza de gente a la demostracion de este castigo; la otra que se
llevase el negocio por prudentes y suaves medios, por la
imposibilidad y falto de dinero para llevar gente, cavallos,
armas, municiones y vastimentos, y para sustentarlos en tierra
firme y pasarlos al Piru." Ms. de Caravantes.]
Nothing remained, therefore, but to try conciliatory measures.
The government, however mortifying to its pride, must retrace its
steps. A free grace must be extended to those who submitted, and
such persuasive arguments should be used, and such politic
concessions made, as would convince the refractory colonists that
it was their interest, as well as their duty, to return to their
allegiance.
But to approach the people in their present state of excitement,
and to make those concessions without too far compromising the
dignity and permanent authority of the Crown, was a delicate
matter, for the success of which they must rely wholly on the
character of the agent. After much deliberation, a competent
person, as it was thought, was found in an ecclesiastic, by the
name of Pedro de la Gasca, - a name which, brighter by contrast
with the gloomy times in which it first appeared, still shines
with undiminished splendor after the lapse of ages.
Pedro de la Gasca was born, probably, towards the close of the
fifteenth century, in a small village in Castile, named Barco de
Avila. He came, both by father and mother's side, from an ancient
and noble lineage; ancient indeed, if, as his biographers
contend, he derived his descent from Casca, one of the
conspirators against Julius Caesar! *4 Having the misfortune to
lose his father early in life, he was placed by his uncle in the
famous seminary of Alcala de Henares, founded by the great
Ximenes. Here he made rapid proficiency in liberal studies,
especially in those connected with his profession, and at length
received the degree of Master of Theology.
[Footnote 4: "Pasando a Espana vinieron a tierra de Avila y quedo
del nombre dellos el lugar y familia de Gasca; mudandose por la
afinidad de la pronunciacion, que hay entre las dos letras
consonantes c. y. g. el nombre de Casca en Gasca." Hist. de Don
Pedro Gasca, Ms.
Similarity of name is a peg quite strong enough to hang a
pedigree upon in Castile.]
The young man, however, discovered other talents than those
demanded by his sacred calling. The war of the comunidades was
then raging in the country; and the authorities of his college
showed a disposition to take the popular side. But Gasca,
putting himself at the head of an armed force, seized one of the
gates of the city, and, with assistance from the royal troops,
secured the place to the interests of the Crown. This early
display of loyalty was probably not lost on his vigilant
sovereign *5
[Footnote 5: This account of the early history of Gasca I have
derived chiefly from a manuscript biographical notice written in
1465, during the prelate's life. The name of the author, who
speaks apparently from personal knowledge, is not given: but it
seems to be the work of a scholar, and is written with a certain
pretension to elegance. The original Ms. forms part of the
valuable collection of Don Pascual de Gayangos of Madrid. It is
of much value for the light it throws on the early career of
Gasca, which has been passed over in profound silence by
Castilian historians. It is to be regretted that the author did
not continue his labors beyond the period when the subject of
them received his appointment to the Peruvian mission.]
From Alcala, Gasca was afterwards removed to Salamanca; where he
distinguished himself by his skill in scholastic disputation, and
obtained the highest academic honors in that ancient university,
the fruitful nursery of scholarship and genius. He was
subsequently intrusted with the management of some important
affairs of an ecclesiastical nature, and made a member of the
Council of the Inquisition.
In this latter capacity he was sent to Valencia, about 1540, to
examine into certain alleged cases of heresy in that quarter of
the country. These were involved in great obscurity; and,
although Gasca had the assistance of several eminent jurists in
the investigation, it occupied him nearly two years. In the
conduct of this difficult matter, he showed so much penetration,
and such perfect impartiality, that he was appointed by the
Cortes of Valencia to the office of visitador of that kingdom; a
highly responsible post, requiring great discretion in the person
who filled it, since it was his province to inspect the condition
of the courts of justice and of finance, throughout the land,
with authority to reform abuses. It was proof of extraordinary
consideration, that it should have been bestowed on Gasca; since
it was a departure from the established usage - and that in a
nation most wedded to usage - to confer the office on any but a
subject of the Aragonese crown. *6
[Footnote 6: "Era tanta la opinion que en Valencia tenian de la
integridad y prudencia de Gasca, que en las Cortes de Monzon los
Estados de aquel Reyno le pidieron por Visitador contra la
costumbre y fuero de aquel Reyno, que no puede serlo sino fuere
natural de la Corona de Araugon, y consintiendo que aquel fuero
se derogase el Emperador lo concedio a instancia y peticion
dellos." Hist. de Don Pedro Gasca Ms.]
Gasca executed the task assigned to him with independence and
ability. While he was thus occupied, the people of Valencia were
thrown into consternation by a meditated invasion of the French
and the Turks, who, under the redoubtable Barbarossa, menaced the
coast and the neighbouring Balearic isles. Fears were generally
entertained of a rising of the Morisco population; and the
Spanish officers who had command in that quarter, being left
without the protection of a navy, despaired of making head
against the enemy. In this season of general panic, Gasca alone
appeared calm and self-possessed. He remonstrated with the
Spanish commanders on their unsoldierlike despondency; encouraged
them to confide in the loyalty of the Moriscos; and advised the
immediate erection of fortifications along the shores for their
protection. He was, in consequence, named one of a commission to
superintend these works, and to raise levies for defending the
sea-coast; and so faithfully was the task performed, that
Barbarossa, after some ineffectual attempts to make good his
landing, was baffled at all points, and compelled to abandon the
enterprise as hopeless. The chief credit of this resistance must
be assigned to Gasca, who superintended the construction of the
defences, and who was enabled to contribute a large part of the
requisite funds by the economical reforms he had introduced into
the administration of Valencia. *7
[Footnote 7: "Que parece cierto," says his enthusiastic
biographer, "que por disposicion Divina vino a hallarse Gasca
entonces en la Ciudad de Valencia, para remedio de aquel Reyno y
Islas de Mallorca y Menorca e lviza, segun la orden, prevencion y
diligencia que en la defensa contra las armadas del Turco y
Francia tuvo, y las provisiones que para ello hizo." Hist. de Don
Pedro Gasca, Ms.]
It was at this time, the latter part of the year 1545, that the
council of Philip selected Gasca as the person most competent to
undertake the perilous mission to Peru. *8 His character, indeed,
seemed especially suited to it. His loyalty had been shown
through his whole life. With great suavity of manners he
combined the most intrepid resolution. Though his demeanour was
humble, as beseemed his calling, it was far from abject; for he
was sustained by a conscious rectitude of purpose, that impressed
respect on all with whom he had intercourse. He was acute in his
perceptions, had a shrewd knowledge of character, and, though
bred to the cloister, possessed an acquaintance with affairs, and
even with military science, such as was to have been expected
only from one reared in courts and camps.
[Footnote 8: "Finding a lion would not answer, they sent a lamb,"
says Gomara; - "Finalmente, quiso embiar una Oveja, pues un Leon
no aprovecho; y asi escogio al Licenciado Pedro Gasca." Hist. de
las Ind., cap. 174.]
Without hesitation, therefore, the council unanimously
recommended him to the emperor, and requested his approbation of
their proceedings. Charles had not been an inattentive observer
of Gasca's course. His attention had been particularly called to
the able manner in which he had conducted the judicial process
against the heretics of Valencia. *9 The monarch saw, at once,
that he was the man for the present emergency; and he immediately
wrote to him, with his own hand, expressing his entire
satisfaction at the appointment, and intimating his purpose to
testify his sense of his worth by preferring him to one of the
principal sees then vacant.
[Footnote 9: Gasca made what the author calls una breve y copyosa
relacion of the proceedings to the emperor in Valencia; and the
monarch was so intent on the inquiry, that he devoted the whole
afternoon to it, notwithstanding his son Philip was waiting for
him to attend a fiesta! irrefragable proof, as the writer
conceives, of his zeal for the faith. -"Queriendo entender muy de
raizo todo lo que pasaba, como Principe tan zeloso que era de las
cosas de la religion." Hist. de Don Pedro Gasca, Ms.]
Gasca accepted the important mission now tendered to him without
hesitation; and, repairing to Madrid, received the instructions
of the government as to the course to be pursued. They were
expressed in the most benign and conciliatory tone, perfectly in
accordance with the suggestions of his own benevolent temper. *10
But, while he commended the tone of the instructions, he
considered the powers with which he was to be intrusted as wholly
incompetent to their object. They were conceived in the jealous
spirit with which the Spanish government usually limited the
authority of its great colonial officers, whose distance from
home gave peculiar cause for distrust. On every strange and
unexpected emergency, Gasca saw that he should be obliged to send
back for instructions. This must cause delay, where promptitude
was essential to success. The Court, moreover, as he represented
to the council, was, from its remoteness from the scene of
action, utterly incompetent to pronounce as to the expediency of
the measures to be pursued. Some one should be sent out in whom
the king could implicitly confide, and who should be invested
with powers competent to every emergency; powers not merely to
decide on what was best, but to carry that decision into
execution; and he boldly demanded that he should go not only as
the representative of the sovereign, but clothed with all the
authority of the sovereign himself. Less than this would defeat
the very object for which he was to be sent. "For myself," he
concluded, "I ask neither salary nor compensation of any kind. I
covet no display of state or military array. With my stole and
breviary I trust to do the work that is committed to me. *11
Infirm as I am in body, the repose of my own home would have been
more grateful to me than this dangerous mission; but I will not
shrink from it at the bidding of my sovereign, and if, as is very
probable, I may not be permitted again to see my native land, I
shall, at least, be cheered by the consciousness of having done
my best to serve its interests." *12
[Footnote 10: These instructions, the patriarchal tone of which
is highly creditable to the government, are given in extenso in
the Ms. of Caravantes, and in no other work which I have
consulted.]
[Footnote 11: "De suerte que juzgassen que la mas fuerca que
lleuaua, era su abito de clerigo y breuiario." Fernandez, Hist.
del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 16.]
[Footnote 12: Ms. de Caravantes. - Hist. del Don Pedro Gasca, Ms.
- Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 16, 17.
Though not for himself, Gasca did solicit one favor of the
emperor, - the appointment of his brother, an eminent jurist, to
a vacant place on the bench of one of the Castilian tribunals]
The members of the council, while they listened with admiration
to the disinterested avowal of Gasca, were astounded by the
boldness of his demands. Not that they distrusted the purity of
his motives, for these were above suspicion. But the powers for
which he stipulated were so far beyond those hitherto delegated
to a colonial viceroy, that they felt they had no warrant to
grant them. They even shrank from soliciting them from the
emperor, and required that Gasca himself should address the
monarch, and state precisely the grounds on which demands so
extraordinary were founded.
Gasca readily adopted the suggestion, and wrote in the most full
and explicit manner to his sovereign, who had then transferred
his residence to Flanders. But Charles was not so tenacious, or,
at least, so jealous, of authority, as his ministers. He had
been too long in possession of it to feel that jealousy; and,
indeed, many years were not to elapse, before, oppressed by its
weight, he was to resign it altogether into the hands of his son.
His sagacious mind, moreover, readily comprehended the
difficulties of Gasca's position. He felt that the present
extraordinary crisis was to be met only by extraordinary
measures. He assented to the force of his vassal's arguments,
and, on the sixteenth of February, 1546, wrote him another letter
expressive of his approbation, and intimated his willingness to
grant him powers as absolute as those he had requested.
Gasca was to be styled President of the Royal Audience. But,
under this simple title, he was placed at the head of every
department in the colony, civil, military, and judicial. He was
empowered to make new repartimientos, and to confirm those
already made. He might declare war, levy troops, appoint to all
offices, or remove from them, at pleasure. He might exercise the
royal prerogative of pardoning offences, and was especially
authorized to grant an amnesty to all, without exception,
implicated in the present rebellion. He was, moreover, to
proclaim at once the revocation of the odious ordinances. These
two last provisions might be said to form the basis of all his
operations.
Since ecclesiastics were not to be reached by the secular arm,
and yet were often found fomenting troubles in the colonies,
Gasca was permitted to banish from Peru such as he thought fit.
He might even send home the viceroy, if the good of the country
required it. Agreeably to his own suggestion, he was to receive
no specified stipend; but he had unlimited orders on the
treasuries both of Panama and Peru. He was furnished with
letters from the emperor to the principal authorities, not only
in Peru, but in Mexico and the neighbouring colonies, requiring
their countenance and support; and, lastly, blank letters,
bearing the royal signature, were delivered to him, which he was
to fill up at his pleasure. *13
[Footnote 13: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 6. - Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 1, cap. 6. - Ms. de Caravantes. -
Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 17, 18. -
Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 174. - Hist. de Don Pedro Gasca,
Ms.]
While the grant of such unbounded powers excited the warmest
sentiments of gratitude in Gasca towards the sovereign who could
repose in him so much confidence, it seems - which is more
extra-ordinary - not to have raised corresponding feelings of
envy in the courtiers. They knew well that it was not for
himself that the good ecclesiastic had solicited them. On the
contrary, some of the council were desirous that he should be
preferred to the bishopric, as already promised him, before his
departure; conceiving that he would thus go with greater
authority than as an humble ecclesiastic, and fearing, moreover,
that Gasca himself, were it omitted, might feel some natural
disappointment. But the president hastened to remove these
impressions. "The honor would avail me little," he said, "where
I am going; and it would be manifestly wrong to appoint me to an
office in the Church, while I remain at such a distance that I
cannot discharge the duties of it. The consciousness of my
insufficiency," he continued, "should I never return, would lie
heavy on my soul in my last moments." *14 The politic reluctance
to accept the mitre has passed into a proverb. But there was no
affectation here; and Gasca's friends, yielding to his arguments,
forbore to urge the matter further.
[Footnote 14: "Especialmente, si alla muriesse o le matassen: que
entoces de nada le podria ser buena, sino para partir desta vida,
con mas congoxa y pena de la poca cuenta que daua de la prouision
que auia aceptado." Fernandez, Hist. de Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2,
cap. 18.]
The new president now went forward with his preparations. They
were few and simple; for he was to be accompanied by a slender
train of followers, among whom the most conspicuous was Alonso de
Alvarado, the gallant officer who, as the reader may remember,
long commanded under Francisco Pizarro. He had resided of late
years at court; and now at Gasca's request accompanied him to
Peru, where his presence might facilitate negotiations with the
insurgents, while his military experience would prove no less
valuable in case of an appeal to arms. *15 Some delay necessarily
occurred in getting ready his little squadron, and it was not
till the 26th of May, 1546, that the president and his suite
embarked at San Lucar for the New World.
[Footnote 15: From this cavalier descended the noble house of the
counts of Villamor in Spain. Ms. de Caravantes.]
After a prosperous voyage, and not a long one for that day, he
landed, about the middle of July, at the port of Santa Martha.
Here he received the astounding intelligence of the battle of
Anaquito, of the defeat and death of the viceroy, and of the
manner in which Gonzalo Pizarro had since established his
absolute rule over the land. Although these events had occurred
several months before Gasca's departure from Spain, yet, so
imperfect was the intercourse, no tidings of them had then
reached that country.
They now filled the president with great anxiety as he reflected
that the insurgents, after so atrocious an act as the slaughter
of the viceroy, might well despair of grace, and become reckless
of consequences. He was careful, therefore, to have it
understood, that the date of his commission was subsequent to
that of the fatal battle, and that it authorized an entire
amnesty of all offences hitherto committed against the
government. *16
[Footnote 16: Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap.
21]
Yet, in some points of view, the death of Blasco Nunez might be
regarded as an auspicious circumstance for the settlement of the
country. Had he lived till Gasca's arrival, the latter would have
been greatly embarrassed by the necessity of acting in concert
with a person so generally detested in the colony, or by the
unwelcome alternative of sending him back to Castile. The
insurgents, moreover, would, in all probability, be now more
amenable to reason, since all personal animosity might naturally
be buried in the grave of their enemy.
The president was much embarrassed by deciding in what quarter he
should attempt to enter Peru. Every port was in the hands of
Pizarro, and was placed under the care of his officers, with
strict charge to intercept any communications from Spain, and to
detain such persons as bore a commission from that country until
his pleasure could be known respecting them. Gasca, at length,
decided on crossing over to Nombre de Dios, then held with a
strong force by Hernan Mexia, an officer to whose charge Gonzalo
had committed this strong gate to his dominions, as to a person
on whose attachment to his cause he could confidently rely.
Had Gasca appeared off this place in a menacing attitude, with a
military array, or, indeed, with any display of official pomp
that might have awakened distrust in the commander, he would
doubtless have found it no easy matter to effect a landing. But
Mexia saw nothing to apprehend in the approach of a poor
ecclesiastic, without an armed force, with hardly even a retinue
to support him, coming solely, as it seemed, on an errand of
mercy. No sooner, therefore, was he acquainted with the
character of the envoy and his mission, than he prepared to
receive him with the honors due to his rank, and marched out at
the head of his soldiers, together with a considerable body of
ecclesiastics resident in the place. There was nothing in the
person of Gasca, still less in his humble clerical attire and
modest retinue, to impress the vulgar spectator with feelings of
awe or reverence. Indeed, the poverty-stricken aspect, as it
seemed, of himself and his followers, so different from the usual
state affected by the Indian viceroys, excited some merriment
among the rude soldiery, who did not scruple to break their
coarse jests on his appearance, in hearing of the president
himself. *17 "If this is the sort of governor his Majesty sends
over to us," they exclaimed, "Pizarro need not trouble his head
much about it."
[Footnote 17: "Especialmente muchos de los soldados, que estauan
desacatados, y decian palabras feas, y desuergocadas. A lo qual
el Presidente (viendo que era necessario) hazia las orejas
sordas." Ibid., Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 23.]
Yet the president, far from being ruffled by this ribaldry, or
from showing resentment to its authors, submitted to it with the
utmost humility, and only seemed the more grateful to his own
brethren, who, by their respectful demeanour, appeared anxious to
do him honor.
But, however plain and unpretending the manners of Gasca, Mexia,
on his first interview with him, soon discovered that he had no
common man to deal with. The president, after briefly explaining
the nature of his commission, told him that he had come as a
messenger of peace; and that it was on peaceful measures he
relied for his success. He then stated the general scope of his
commission, his authority to grant a free pardon to all, without
exception, who at once submitted to government, and, finally, his
purpose to proclaim the revocation of the ordinances. The
objects of the revolution were thus attained. To contend longer
would be manifest rebellion, and that without a motive; and he
urged the commander by every principle of loyalty and patriotism
to support him in settling the distractions of the country, and
bringing it back to its allegiance.
The candid and conciliatory language of the president, so
different from the arrogance of Blasco Nunez, and the austere
demeanour of Vaca de Castro, made a sensible impression on Mexia.
He admitted the force of Gasca's reasoning, and flattered himself
that Gonzalo Pizarro would not be insensible to it. Though
attached to the fortunes of that leader, he was loyal in heart,
and, like most of the party, had been led by accident, rather
than by design, into rebellion; and now that so good an
opportunity occurred to do it with safety, he was not unwilling
to retrace his steps, and secure the royal favor by thus early
returning to his allegiance. This he signified to the president,
assuring him of his hearty cooperation in the good work of
reform. *18
[Footnote 18: Ibid., ubi supra. - Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a
Valdivia, Ms. - Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1546. - Zarate,
Conq. del Peru lib. 6, cap. 6. - Herrera, Hist General, dec. 8,
lib. 2, cap. 5]
This was an important step for Gasca. It was yet more important
for him to secure the obedience of Hinojosa, the governor of
Panama, in the harbour of which city lay Pizarro's navy,
consisting of two-and-twenty vessels. But it was not easy to
approach this officer. He was a person of much higher character
than was usually found among the reckless adventurers in the New
World. He was attached to the interests of Pizarro, and the
latter had requited him by placing him in command of his armada
and of Panama, the key to his territories on the Pacific.
The president first sent Mexia and Alonso de Alvarado to prepare
the way for his own coming, by advising Hinojosa of the purport
of his mission. He soon after followed, and was received by that
commander with every show of outward respect. But while the
latter listened with deference to the representations of Gasca,
they failed to work the change in him which they had wrought in
Mexia; and he concluded by asking the president to show him his
powers, and by inquiring whether they gave him authority to
confirm Pizarro in his present post, to which he was entitled no
less by his own services than by the general voice of the people.
This was an embarrassing question. Such a concession would have
been altogether too humiliating to the Crown; but to have openly
avowed this at the present juncture to so stanch an adherent of
Pizarro might have precluded all further negotiation. The
president evaded the question, therefore, by simply stating, that
the time had not yet come for him to produce his powers, but that
Hinojosa might be assured they were such as to secure an ample
recompense to every loyal servant of his country. *19
[Footnote 19: Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap.
25. - Zarate Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 7. - Ms. de
Caravantes.]
Hinojosa was not satisfied; and he immediately wrote to Pizarro,
acquainting him with Gasca's arrival and with the object of his
mission, at the same time plainly intimating his own conviction
that the president had no authority to confirm him in the
government. But before the departure of the ship, Gasca secured
the services of a Dominican friar, who had taken his passage on
board for one of the towns on the coast. This man he intrusted
with manifestoes, setting forth the purport of his visit, and
proclaiming the abolition of the ordinances, with a free pardon
to all who returned to their obedience. He wrote, also, to the
prelates and to the corporations of the different cities. The
former he requested to cooperate with him in introducing a spirit
of loyalty and subordination among the people, while he intimated
to the towns his purpose to confer with them hereafter, in order
to devise some effectual measures for the welfare of the country.
These papers the Dominican engaged to distribute, himself, among
the principal cities of the colony and he faithfully kept his
word, though, as it proved, at no little hazard of his life. The
seeds thus scattered might many of them fall on barren ground.
But the greater part, the president trusted, would take root in
the hearts of the people; and he patiently waited for the
harvest.
Meanwhile, though he failed to remove the scruples of Hinojosa,
the courteous manners of Gasca, and his mild, persuasive
discourse, had a visible effect on other individuals with whom he
had daily intercourse. Several of these, and among them some of
the principal cavaliers in Panama, as well as in the squadron,
expressed their willingness to join the royal cause, and aid the
president in maintaining it. Gasca profited by their assistance
to open a communication with the authorities of Guatemala and
Mexico, whom he advised of his mission, while he admonished them
to allow no intercourse to be carried on with the insurgents on
the coast of Peru. He, at length, also prevailed on the governor
of Panama to furnish him with the means of entering into
communication with Gonzalo Pizarro himself; and a ship was
despatched to Lima, bearing a letter from Charles the Fifth,
addressed to that chief, with an epistle also from Gasca.
The emperor's communication was couched in the most condescending
and even conciliatory terms. Far from taxing Gonzalo with
rebellion, his royal master affected to regard his conduct as in
a manner imposed on him by circumstances, especially by the
obduracy of the viceroy Nunez in denying the colonists the
inalienable right of petition. He gave no intimation of an
intent to confirm Pizarro in the government, or, indeed, to
remove him from it; but simply referred him to Gasca as one who
would acquaint him with the royal pleasure, and with whom he was
to cooperate in restoring tranquillity to the country.
Gasca's own letter was pitched on the same politic key. He
remarked, however, that the exigencies which had hitherto
determined Gonzalo's line of conduct existed no longer. All that
had been asked was conceded. There was nothing now to contend
for; and it only remained for Pizarro and his followers to show
their loyalty and the sincerity of their principles by obedience
to the Crown. Hitherto, the president said, Pizarro had been in
arms against the viceroy; and the people had supported him as
against a common enemy. If he prolonged the contest, that enemy
must be his sovereign. In such a struggle, the people would be
sure to desert him; and Gasca conjured him, by his honor as a
cavalier, and his duty as a loyal vassal, to respect the royal
authority, and not rashly provoke a contest which must prove to
the world that his conduct hitherto had been dictated less by
patriotic motives than by selfish ambition.
This letter, which was conveyed in language the most courteous
and complimentary to the subject of it, was of great length. It
was accompanied by another much more concise, to Cepeda, the
intriguing lawyer, who, as Gasca knew, had the greatest influence
over Pizarro, in the absence of Carbajal, then employed in
reaping the silver harvest from the newly discovered mines of
Potosi. *20 In this epistle, Gasca affected to defer to the
cunning politician as a member of the Royal Audience, and he
conferred with him on the best manner of supplying a vacancy in
that body. These several despatches were committed to a
cavalier, named Paniagua, a faithful adherent of the president,
and one of those who had accompanied him from Castile. To this
same emissary he also gave manifestoes and letters, like those
intrusted to the Dominican, with orders secretly to distribute
them in Lima, before he quitted that capital. *21
[Footnote 20: "El Licenciado Cepeda que tengo yo agora por
teniente, de quien yo hago mucho caso i le quiero mucho." Carta
de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms.]
[Footnote 21: The letters noticed in the text may be found in
Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 7, and Fernandez, Hist. del
Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 29, 30. The president's letter
covers several pages. Much of it is taken up with historic
precedents and illustrations, to show the folly, as well as
wickedness, of a collision with the imperial authority. The
benignant tone of this homily may be inferred from its concluding
sentence; "Nuestro senor por su infinita bodad alumbre a vuestra
merced, y a todos los demas para que acierten a hazer en este
negocio lo que couiene a sus almas, honras, vidas y haziendas: y
guarde en su sancto servicio la Illustre persona de vuestra
merced."]
Weeks and months rolled away, while the president still remained
at Panama, where, indeed, as his communications were jealously
cut off with Peru, he might be said to be detained as a sort of
prisoner of state. Meanwhile, both he and Hinojosa were looking
with anxiety for the arrival of some messenger from Pizarro, who
should indicate the manner in which the president's mission was
to be received by that chief. The governor of Panama was not
blind to the perilous position in which he was himself placed,
nor to the madness of provoking a contest with the Court of
Castile. But he had a reluctance - not too often shared by the
cavaliers of Peru - to abandon the fortunes of the commander who
had reposed in him so great confidence. Yet he trusted that this
commander would embrace the opportunity now offered, of placing
himself and the country in a state of permanent security.
Several of the cavaliers who had given in their adhesion to
Gasca, displeased by this obstinacy, as they termed it, of
Hinojosa, proposed to seize his person and then get possession of
the armada. But the president at once rejected this offer. His
mission, he said, was one of peace, and he would not stain it at
the outset by an act of violence. He even respected the scruples
of Hinojosa; and a cavalier of so honorable a nature, he
conceived, if once he could be gained by fair means, would be
much more likely to be true to his interests, than if overcome
either by force or fraud. Gasca thought he might safely abide
his time. There was policy, as well as honesty, in this; indeed,
they always go together.
Meantime, persons were occasionally arriving from Lima and the
neighbouring places, who gave accounts of Pizarro, varying
according to the character and situation of the parties. Some
represented him as winning all hearts by his open temper and the
politic profusion with which, though covetous of wealth, he
distributed repartimientos and favors among his followers.
Others spoke of him as carrying matters with a high hand, while
the greatest timidity and distrust prevailed among the citizens
of Lima. All agreed that his power rested on too secure a basis
to be shaken; and that, if the president should go to Lima, he
must either consent to be come Pizarro's instrument and confirm
him in the government, or forfeit his own life. *22
[Footnote 22: Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap.
27. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 2, cap. 7. - Ms. de
Caravantes.]
It was undoubtedly true, that Gonzalo, while he gave attention,
as his friends say, to the public business, found time for free
indulgence in those pleasures which wait on the soldier of
fortune in his hour of triumph. He was the object of flattery
and homage; courted even by those who hated him. For such as did
not love the successful chieftain had good cause to fear him; and
his exploits were commemorated in romances or ballads, as
rivalling - it was not far from truth - those of the most doughty
paladins of chivalry. *23
[Footnote 23: Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap.
32.]
Amidst this burst of adulation, the cup of joy commended to
Pizarro's lips had one drop of bitterness in it that gave its
flavor to all the rest; for, notwithstanding his show of
confidence, he looked with unceasing anxiety to the arrival of
tidings that might assure him in what light his conduct was
regarded by the government at home. This was proved by his
jealous precautions to guard the approaches to the coast, and to
detain the persons of the royal emissaries. He learned,
therefore, with no little uneasiness, from Hinojosa, the landing
of President Gasca, and the purport of his mission. But his
discontent was mitigated, when he understood that the new envoy
had come without military array, without any of the ostentatious
trappings of office to impose on the minds of the vulgar, but
alone, as it were, in the plain garb of an humble missionary. *24
Pizarro could not discern, that under this modest exterior lay a
moral power, stronger than his own steel-clad battalions, which,
operating silently on public opinion, - the more sure that it was
silent, - was even now undermining his strength, like a
subterraneous channel eating away the foundations of some stately
edifice, that stands secure in its pride of place!
[Footnote 24: Gonzalo, in his letter to Valdivia, speaks of Gasca
as a clergyman of a godly reputation, who, without recompense, in
the true spirit of a missionary, had come over to settle the
affairs of the country. "Dicen ques mui buen christiano i hombre
de buena vida i clerigo, i dicen que viene a estas partes con
buena intencion i no quiso salario ninguno del Rey sino venir
para poner paz en estos reynos con sus cristiandades." Carta de
Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms.]
But, although Gonzalo Pizarro could not foresee this result, he
saw enough to satisfy him that it would be safest to exclude the
president from Peru. The tidings of his arrival, moreover,
quickened his former purpose of sending an embassy to Spain to
vindicate his late proceedings, and request the royal
confirmation of his authority. The person placed at the head of
this mission was Lorenzo de Aldana, a cavalier of discretion as
well as courage, and high in the confidence of Pizarro, as one of
his most devoted partisans. He had occupied some important posts
under that chief, one secret of whose successes was the sagacity
he showed in the selection of his agents.
Besides Aldana and one or two cavaliers, the bishop of Lima was
joined in the commission, as likely, from his position, to have a
favorable influence on Gonzalo's fortunes at court. Together
with the despatches for the government, the envoys were intrusted
with a letter to Gasca from the inhabitants of Lima; in which,
after civilly congratulating the president on his arrival, they
announce their regret that he had come too late. The troubles of
the country were now settled by the overthrow of the viceroy, and
the nation was reposing in quiet under the rule of Pizarro. An
embassy, they stated, was on its way to Castile, not to solicit
pardon, for they had committed no crime, *25 but to petition the
emperor to confirm their leader in the government, as the man in
Peru best entitled to it by his virtues. *26 They expressed the
conviction that Gasca's presence would only serve to renew the
distractions of the country, and they darkly intimated that his
attempt to land would probably cost him his life. - The language
of this singular document was more respectful than might be
inferred from its import. It was dated the 14th of October,
1546, and was subscribed by seventy of the principal cavaliers in
the city. It was not improbably dictated by Cepeda, whose hand
is visible in most of the intrigues of Pizarro's little court.
It is also said, - the authority is somewhat questionable, - that
Aldana received instructions from Gonzalo secretly to offer a
bribe of fifty thousand pesos de oro to the president, to prevail
on him to return to Castile; and in case of his refusal, some
darker and more effectual way was to be devised to rid the
country of his presence. *27
[Footnote 25: "Porque perdo ninguno de nosotros le pide, porque
no entendemos que emos errado, sino seruido a su Magestad:
conseruado nuestro derecho; que por sus leyes Reales a sus
vasallos es permitido." Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib.
2, cap. 33.]
[Footnote 26: "Porque el por sus virtudes es muy amado de todos:
y tenido por padre del Peru." Ibid., ubi supra.]
[Footnote 27: Ibid., loc. cit. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8,
lib. 2, cap. 10. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 8. -
Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 177. - Montesinos, Annales, Ms.,
ano 1546.
Pizarro, in his letter to Valdivia, notices this remonstrance to
Gasca, who, with all his reputation as a saint, was as deep as
any man in Spain, and had now come to send him home, as a reward,
no doubt, of his faithful services. "But I and the rest of the
cavaliers," he concludes, "have warned him not to set foot here."
"Y agora que yo tenia puesta esta tierra en sosiego embiava su
parte al de la Gasca que aunque arriba digo que dicen ques un
santo, es un hombre mas manoso que havia en toda Espana e mas
sabio; e asi venia por presidente e Governador, e todo quanto el
quiera; e para poderme embiar a mi a Espana, i a cabo de dos anos
que andavamos fuera de nuestras casas queria el Rey darme este
pago, mas yo con todos los cavalleros deste Reyno le embiavamos a
decir que se vaya, sino que haremos con el como con Blasco
Nunez." Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms.]
Aldana, fortified with his despatches, sped swiftly on his voyage
to Panama. Through him the governor learned the actual state of
feeling in the councils of Pizarro; and he listened with regret
to the envoy's conviction, that no terms would be admitted by
that chief or his companions, that did not confirm him in the
possession of Peru. *28
[Footnote 28: With Aldana's mission to Castile Gonzalo Pizarro
closes the important letter, so often cited in these pages, and
which may be supposed to furnish the best arguments for his own
conduct. It is a curious fact, that Valdivia, the conqueror of
Chili, to whom the epistle is addressed, soon after this openly
espoused the cause of Gasca, and his troops formed part of the
forces who contended with Pizarro, not long afterwards, at
Huarina. Such was the friend on whom Gonzalo relied!]
Aldana was soon admitted to an audience by the president. It was
attended with very different results from what had followed from
the conferences with Hinojosa; for Pizarro's envoy was not armed
by nature with that stubborn panoply which had hitherto made the
other proof against all argument. He now learned with surprise
the nature of Gasca's powers, and the extent of the royal
concessions to the insurgents. He had embarked with Gonzalo
Pizarro on a desperate venture, and he found that it had proved
successful. The colony had nothing more, in reason, to demand;
and, though devoted in heart to his leader, he did not feel bound
by any principle of honor to take part with him, solely to
gratify his ambition, in a wild contest with the Crown that must
end in inevitable ruin. He consequently abandoned his mission to
Castile, probably never very palatable to him, and announced his
purpose to accept the pardon proffered by government, and support
the president in settling the affairs of Peru. He subsequently
wrote, it should be added, to his former commander in Lima,
stating the course he had taken, and earnestly recommending the
latter to follow his example.
The influence of this precedent in so important a person as
Aldana, aided, doubtless, by the conviction that no change was
now to be expected in Pizarro, while delay would be fatal to
himself, at length prevailed over Hinojosa's scruples, and he
intimated to Gasca his willingness to place the fleet under his
command. The act was performed with great pomp and ceremony.
Some of Pizarro's stanchest partisans were previously removed
from the vessels; and on the nineteenth of November, 1546,
Hinojosa and his captains resigned their commissions into the
hands of the president. They next took the oaths of allegiance
to Castile; a free pardon for all past offences was proclaimed by
the herald from a scaffold erected in the great square of the
city; and the president, greeting them as true and loyal vassals
of the Crown, restored their several commissions to the
cavaliers. The royal standard of Spain was then unfurled on
board the squadron, and proclaimed that this strong-hold of
Pizarro's power had passed away from him for ever. *29
[Footnote 29: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Zarate, Conq.
del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 9. - Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1,
lib. 2, cap. 38, 42. - Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, cap. 178. -
Ms. de Caravantes.
Garcilasso de la Vega, - whose partiality for Gonzalo Pizarro
forms a wholesome counterpoise to the unfavorable views taken of
his conduct by most other writers, - in his notice of this
transaction, seems disposed to allow little credit to that
loyalty which is shown by the sacrifice of a benefactor. Com.
Real., Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 4.]
The return of their commissions to the insurgent captains was a
politic act in Gasca. It secured the services of the ablest
officers in the country, and turned against Pizarro the very arm
on which he had most leaned for support. Thus was this great
step achieved, without force or fraud, by Gasca's patience and
judicious forecast. He was content to bide his time; and he now
might rely with well-grounded confidence on the ultimate success
of his mission.
