History of the Conquest of Peru Part 48

[Footnote 3: "Es general el vicio del amancebamiento con Indias, i algunos tienen cantidad dellas como en serrallo." Ibid., Ms.]

But the dominant pa.s.sion of the Spaniard was the l.u.s.t of gold.

For this he shrunk from no toil himself, and was merciless in his exactions of labor from his Indian slave. Unfortunately, Peru abounded in mines which too well repaid this labor; and human life was the item of least account in the estimate of the Conquerors. Under his Incas, the Peruvian was never suffered to be idle; but the task imposed on him was always proportioned to his strength. He had his seasons of rest and refreshment, and was well protected against the inclemency of the weather. Every care was shown for his personal safety. But the Spaniards, while they taxed the strength of the native to the utmost, deprived him of the means of repairing it, when exhausted. They suffered the provident arrangements of the Incas to fall into decay. The granaries were emptied; the flocks were wasted in riotous living.

They were slaughtered to gratify a mere epicurean whim, and many a llama was destroyed solely for the sake of the brains, - a dainty morsel, much coveted by the Spaniards. *4 So reckless was the spirit of destruction after the Conquest, says Ondegardo, the wise governor of Cuzco, that in four years more of these animals perished than in four hundred, in the times of the Incas. *5 The flocks, once so numerous over the broad table-lands, were now thinned to a scanty number, that sought shelter in the fastnesses of the Andes. The poor Indian, without food, without the warm fleece which furnished him a defence against the cold, now wandered half-starved and naked over the plateau. Even those who had aided the Spaniards in the conquest fared no better; and many an Inca n.o.ble roamed a mendicant over the lands where he once held rule, and if driven, perchance, by his necessities, to purloin something from the superfluity of his conquerors, he expiated it by a miserable death. *6 [Footnote 4: "Muchos Espanoles han muerto i matan increible cantidad de ovejas por comer solo los sesos, hacer pasteles del tuetano i candelas de la grasa. De ai hambre general." Ibid., Ms.]

[Footnote 5: "Se puede afirmar que hicieron mas dano los Espanoles en solos quatro anos que el Inga en quatrocientos."

Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., Ms.]

[Footnote 6: "Ahora no tienen que comer ni donde sembrar, i asi van a hurtallo como solian, delito por que han aorcado a muchos."

Rel. del Provisor Morales, Ms.

This, and some of the preceding citations, as the reader will see, have been taken from the Ms. of the Bachelor Luis de Morales, who lived eighteen or twenty years in Cuzco; and, in 1541, about the time of Vaca de Castro's coming to Peru, prepared a Memorial for the government, embracing a hundred and nine chapters. It treats of the condition of the country, and the remedies which suggested themselves to the benevolent mind of its author. The emperor's notes on the margin show that it received attention at court. There is no reason, as far as I am aware, to distrust the testimony of the writer, and Munoz has made some sensible extracts from it for his inestimable collection.]

It is true, there were good men, missionaries, faithful to their calling, who wrought hard in the spiritual conversion of the native, and who, touched by his misfortunes, would gladly have interposed their arm to s.h.i.+eld him from his oppressors. *7 But too often the ecclesiastic became infected by the general spirit of licentiousness; and the religious fraternities, who led a life of easy indulgence on the lands cultivated by their Indian slaves, were apt to think less of the salvation of their souls than of profiting by the labor of their bodies. *8

[Footnote 7: Father Naharro notices twelve missionaries, some of his own order, whose zealous labors and miracles for the conversion of the Indians he deems worthy of comparison with those of the twelve Apostles of Christianity. It is a pity that history, while it has commemorated the names of so many persecutors of the poor heathen, should have omitted those of their benefactors.

"Tomo su divina Magestad por instrumento 12 solos religiosos pobres, descalzos i desconocidos, 5 del orden de la Merced, 4 de Predicadores, i 3 de San Francisco, obraron lo mismo que los 12 apostolos en la conversion de todo el universo mundo." Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms.]

[Footnote 8: "Todos los conventos de Dominicos i Mercenarios tienen repartimientos. Ninguno dellos ha dotrinado ni convertido un Indio. Procuran sacar dellos quanto pueden, trabajarles en grangerias; con esto i con otras limosnas enriquecen. Mal egemplo. Ademas convendra no pasen frailes sino precediendo diligente examen de vida i dotrina." (Relacion de las cosas que S. M. deve proveer para los reynos del Peru, embiada desde los Reyes a la Corte por el Licenciado Martel Santoyo, de quien va firmada en principios de 1542, Ms.) This statement of the licentiate shows a different side of the picture from that above quoted from Father Naharro. Yet they are not irreconcilable.

Human nature has both its lights and its shadows.]

Yet still there were not wanting good and wise men in the colonies, who, from time to time, raised the voice of remonstrance against these abuses, and who carried their complaints to the foot of the throne. To the credit of the government, it must also be confessed, that it was solicitous to obtain such information as it could, both from its own officers, and from commissioners deputed expressly for the purpose, whose voluminous communications throw a flood of light on the internal condition of the country, and furnish the best materials for the historian. *9 But it was found much easier to get this information than to profit by it.

[Footnote 9: I have several of these Memorials or Relaciones, as they are called, in my possession, drawn up by residents in answer to queries propounded by government. These queries, while their great object is to ascertain the nature of existing abuses, and to invite the suggestion of remedies, are often directed to the laws and usages of the ancient Incas. The responses, therefore, are of great value to the historical inquirer. The most important of these doc.u.ments in my possession is that by Ondegardo, governor of Cuzco, covering near four hundred folio pages, once forming part of Lord Kingsborough's valuable collection. It is impossible to peruse those elaborate and conscientious reports without a deep conviction of the pains taken by the Crown to ascertain the nature of the abuses in the domestic government of the colonies, and their honest purpose to amend them. Unfortunately, in this laudable purpose they were not often seconded by the colonist themselves.]

In 1541, Charles the Fifth, who had been much occupied by the affairs of Germany, revisited his ancestral dominions, where his attention was imperatively called to the state of the colonies.

Several memorials in relation to it were laid before him; but no one pressed the matter so strongly on the royal conscience as Las Casas, afterwards Bishop of Chiapa. This good ecclesiastic, whose long life had been devoted to those benevolent labors which gained him the honorable t.i.tle of Protector of the Indians, had just completed his celebrated treatise on the Destruction of the Indies, the most remarkable record, probably, to be found, of human wickedness, but which, unfortunately, loses much of its effect from the credulity of the writer, and his obvious tendency to exaggerate.

In 1542, Las Casas placed his ma.n.u.script in the hands of his royal master. That same year, a council was called at Valladolid, composed chiefly of jurists and theologians, to devise a system of laws for the regulation of the American colonies.

Las Casas appeared before this body, and made an elaborate argument, of which a part only has been given to the public. He there a.s.sumes, as a fundamental proposition, that the Indians were by the law of nature free; that, as va.s.sals of the Crown, they had a right to its protection, and should be declared free from that time, without exception and for ever. *10 He sustains this proposition by a great variety of arguments, comprehending the substance of most that has been since urged in the same cause by the friends of humanity. He touches on the ground of expediency, showing, that, without the interference of government, the Indian race must be gradually exterminated by the systematic oppression of the Spaniards. In conclusion, he maintains, that, if the Indians, as it was pretended, would not labor unless compelled, the white man would still find it for his interest to cultivate the soil; and that if he should not be able to do so, that circ.u.mstance would give him no right over the Indian, since G.o.d does not allow evil that good may come of it.

*11 - This lofty morality, it will be remembered, was from the lips of a Dominican, in the sixteenth century, one of the order that founded the Inquisition, and in the very country where the fiery tribunal was then in most active operation! *12

[Footnote 10: The perpetual emanc.i.p.ation of the Indians is urged in the most emphatic manner by another bishop, also a Dominican, but bearing certainly very little resemblance to Las Casas. Fray Valverde makes this one of the prominent topics in a communication, already cited, to the government, the general scope of which must be admitted to do more credit to his humanity than some of the pa.s.sages recorded of him in history. - "A V. M.

representaran alla los conquistadores muchos servicios, dandolos por causa para que los dexen servir de los indios como de esclavos: V. M. se los tiene mui bien pagados en los provechos que han avido desta tierra, y no los ha de pagar con hazer a sus vasallos esclavos." Carta de Valverde al Emperador, Ms.]

[Footnote 11: "La loi de Dieu detend de faire le mal pour qu'il en resulte du bien." Oeuvres de Las Casas, eveque de Chiapa, trad. par Llorente, (Paris, 1822,) tom. l. p. 251.]

[Footnote 12: It is a curious coincidence, that this argument of Las Casas should have been first published - in a translated form, indeed - by a secretary of the Inquisition, Llorente. The original still remains in Ms. It is singular that these volumes, containing the views of this great philanthropist on topics of such interest to humanity, should not have been more freely consulted, or at least cited, by those who have since trod in his footsteps. They are an a.r.s.enal from which many a serviceable weapon for the good cause might be borrowed.]

The arguments of Las Casas encountered all the opposition naturally to be expected from indifference, selfishness, and bigotry. They were also resisted by some persons of just and benevolent views in his audience, who, while they admitted the general correctness of his reasoning, and felt deep sympathy for the wrongs of the natives, yet doubted whether his scheme of reform was not fraught with greater evils than those it was intended to correct. For Las Casas was the uncompromising friend of freedom. He intrenched himself strongly on the ground of natural right; and, like some of the reformers of our own day, disdained to calculate the consequences of carrying out the principle to its full and unqualified extent. His earnest eloquence, instinct with the generous love of humanity, and fortified by a host of facts, which it was not easy to a.s.sail, prevailed over his auditors. The result of their deliberations was a code of ordinances, which, however, far from being limited to the wants of the natives, had particular reference to the European population, and the distractions of the country. It was of general application to all the American colonies. It will be necessary here only to point out some of the provisions having immediate reference to Peru.

The Indians were declared true and loyal va.s.sals of the Crown, and their freedom as such was fully recognized. Yet, to maintain inviolate the guaranty of the government to the Conquerors, it was decided, that those lawfully possessed of slaves might still retain them; but, at the death of the present proprietors, they were to revert to the Crown.

It was provided, however, that slaves, in any event, should be forfeited by all those who had shown themselves unworthy to hold them by neglect or ill-usage; by all public functionaries, or such as had held offices under the government; by ecclesiastics and religious corporations; and lastly, - a sweeping clause, - by all who had taken a criminal part in the feuds of Almagro and Pizarro.

It was further ordered, that the Indians should be moderately taxed; that they should not be compelled to labor where they did not choose, and that where, from particular circ.u.mstances, this was made necessary, they should receive a fair compensation. It was also decreed, that, as the repartimientos of land were often excessive, they should in such cases be reduced; and that, where proprietors had been guilty of a notorious abuse of their slaves, their estates should be forfeited altogether.

As Peru had always shown a spirit of insubordination, which required a more vigorous interposition of authority than was necessary in the other colonies, it was resolved to send a viceroy to that country, who should display a state, and be armed with powers, that might make him a more fitting representative of the sovereign. He was to be accompanied by a Royal Audience, consisting of four judges, with extensive powers of jurisdiction, both criminal and civil, who, besides a court of justice, should const.i.tute a sort of council to advise with and aid the viceroy.

The Audience of Panama was to be dissolved, and the new tribunal, with the vice-king's court, was to be established at Los Reyes, or Lima, as it now began to be called, - henceforth the metropolis of the Spanish empire on the Pacific. *13

[Footnote 13: The provisions of this celebrated code are to be found, with more or less - generally less - accuracy, in the various contemporary writers. Herrera gives them in extenso.

Hist. General, dec 7 lib. 6, cap. 5.]

Such were some of the princ.i.p.al features of this remarkable code, which, touching on the most delicate relations of society, broke up the very foundations of property, and, by a stroke of the pen, as it were, converted a nation of slaves into freemen. It would have required, we may suppose, but little forecast to divine, that in the remote regions of America, and especially in Peru, where the colonists had been hitherto accustomed to unbounded license, a reform, so salutary in essential points, could be enforced thus summarily only at the price of a revolution. - Yet the ordinances received the sanction of the emperor that same year, and in November, 1543, were published at Madrid. *14 [Footnote 14: Las Casas pressed the matter home on the royal conscience, by representing that the Papal See conceded the right of conquest to the Spanish sovereigns on the exclusive condition of converting the heathen, and that the Almighty would hold him accountable for the execution of this trust. Oeuvres de Las Casas, ubi supra.]

No sooner was their import known than it was conveyed by numerous letters to the colonists, from their friends in Spain. The tidings flew like wild-fire over the land, from Mexico to Chili.

Men were astounded at the prospect of the ruin that awaited them.

In Peru, particularly, there was scarcely one that could hope to escape the operation of the law. Few there were who had not taken part, at some time or other, in the civil feuds of Almagro and Pizarro; and still fewer of those that remained that would not be entangled in some one or other of the insidious clauses that seemed spread out, like a web, to ensnare them.

The whole country was thrown into commotion. Men a.s.sembled tumultuously in the squares and public places, and, as the regulations were made known, they were received with universal groans and hisses. "Is this the fruit," they cried, "of all our toil? Is it for this that we have poured out our blood like water? Now that we are broken down by hards.h.i.+ps and sufferings, to be left at the end of our campaigns as poor as at the beginning! Is this the way government rewards our services in winning for it an empire? The government has done little to aid us in making the conquest, and for what we have we may thank our own good swords; and with these same swords," they continued, warming into menace, "we know how to defend it." Then, stripping up his sleeve, the war-worn veteran bared his arm, or, exposing his naked bosom, pointed to his scars, as the best t.i.tle to his estates. *15

[Footnote 15: Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Pedro de Valdivia, Ms., desde Los Reyes, 31 de Oct., 1538. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib.

5, cap. 1. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 6, cap. 10, 11.

Benalcazar, in a letter to Charles the Fifth, indulges in a strain of invective against the ordinances, which, by stripping the planters of their Indian slaves, must inevitably reduce the country to beggary Benalcazar was a conqueror, and one of the most respectable of his caste. His argument is a good specimen of the reasoning of his party on this subject, and presents a decided counterblast to that of Las Casas. Carta de Benalcazar al Emperador, Ms., desde Cali. 20 de Diciembre, 1544.]

The governor, Vaca de Castro, watched the storm thus gathering from all quarters, with the deepest concern. He was himself in the very heart of disaffection; for Cuzco, tenanted by a mixed and lawless population, was so far removed into the depths of the mountains, that it had much less intercourse with the parent country, and was consequently much less under her influence, than the great towns on the coast. The people now invoked the governor to protect them against the tyranny of the Court; but he endeavoured to calm the agitation by representing, that by these violent measures they would only defeat their own object. He counselled them to name deputies to lay their pet.i.tion before the Crown, stating the impracticability of the present scheme of reform, and praying for the repeal of it; and he conjured them to wait patiently for the arrival of the viceroy, who might be prevailed on to suspend the ordinances till further advices could be received from Castile.

But it was not easy to still the tempest; and the people now eagerly looked for some one whose interests and sympathies might lie with theirs, and whose position in the community might afford them protection. The person to whom they naturally turned in this crisis was Gonzalo Pizarro, the last in the land of that family who had led the armies of the Conquest, - a cavalier whose gallantry and popular manners had made him always a favorite with the people. He was now beset with applications to interpose in their behalf with the government, and s.h.i.+eld them from the oppressive ordinances.

But Gonzalo Pizarro was at Charcas, busily occupied in exploring the rich veins of Potosi, whose silver fountains, just brought into light, were soon to pour such streams of wealth over Europe.

Though gratified with this appeal to his protection, the cautious cavalier was more intent on providing for the means of enterprise than on plunging prematurely into it; and, while he secretly encouraged the malecontents, he did not commit himself by taking part in any revolutionary movement. At the same period, he received letters from Vaca de Castro, - whose vigilant eye watched all the aspects of the time, - cautioning Gonzalo and his friends not to be seduced, by any wild schemes of reform, from their allegiance. And, to check still further these disorderly movements, he ordered his alcaldes to arrest every man guilty of seditious language, and bring him at once to punishment. By this firm yet temperate conduct the minds of the populace were overawed, and there was a temporary lull in the troubled waters, while all looked anxiously for the coming of the viceroy. *16 [Footnote 16: Ibid., ubi supra. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, ubi supra. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms. - Montesinos, Annales Ms., ano 1543.]

The person selected for this critical post was a knight of Avila, named Blasco Nunez Vela. He was a cavalier of ancient family, handsome in person, though now somewhat advanced in years, and reputed brave and devout. He had filled some offices of responsibility to the satisfaction of Charles the Fifth, by whom he was now appointed to this post in Peru. The selection did no credit to the monarch's discernment.

It may seem strange that this important place should not have been bestowed on Vaca de Castro, already on the spot, and who had shown himself so well qualified to fill it. But ever since that officer's mission to Peru, there had been a series of a.s.sa.s.sinations, insurrections, and civil wars, that menaced the wretched colony with ruin; and though his wise administration had now brought things into order, the communication with the Indies was so tardy, that the results of his policy were not yet fully disclosed. As it was designed, moreover, to make important innovations in the government, it was thought better to send some one who would have no personal prejudices to encounter, from the part he had already taken, and who, coming directly from the Court, and clothed with extraordinary powers, might present himself with greater authority than could one who had become familiar to the people in an inferior capacity. The monarch, however, wrote a letter with his own hand to Vaca de Castro, in which he thanked that officer for his past services, and directed him, after aiding the new viceroy with the fruits of his large experience, to return to Castile, and take his seat in the Royal Council. Letters of a similar complimentary kind were sent to the loyal colonists who had stood by the governor in the late troubles of the country. Freighted with these testimonials, and with the ill-starred ordinances, Blasco Nunez embarked at San Lucar, on the 3d of November, 1543. He was attended by the four judges of the Audience, and by a numerous retinue, that he might appear in the state befitting his distinguished rank. *17

[Footnote 17: Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 6, cap. 9. - Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 6. - Zarate, Ms.]

About the middle of the following January, 1544, the viceroy, after a favorable pa.s.sage, landed at Nombre de Dios. He found there a vessel laden with silver from the Peruvian mines, ready to sail for Spain. His first act was to lay an embargo on it for the government, as containing the proceeds of slave labor. After this extraordinary measure, taken in opposition to the advice of the Audience, he crossed the Isthmus to Panama. Here he gave sure token of his future policy, by causing more than three hundred Indians, who had been brought by their owners from Peru, to be liberated and sent back to their own country. This high-handed measure created the greatest sensation in the city, and was strongly resisted by the judges of the Audience. They besought him not to begin thus precipitately to execute his commission, but to wait till his arrival in the colony, when he should have taken time to acquaint himself somewhat with the country, and with the temper of the people. But Blasco Nunez coldly replied, that "he had come, not to tamper with the laws, nor to discuss their merits, but to execute them, - and execute them he would, to the letter, whatever might be the consequence."

*18 This answer, and the peremptory tone in which it was delivered, promptly adjourned the debate; for the judges saw that debate was useless with one who seemed to consider all remonstrance as an attempt to turn him from his duty, and whose ideas of duty precluded all discretionary exercise of authority, even where the public good demanded it.

[Footnote 18: "Estas y otras cosas le dixo el Licenciado Carate: que no fueron al gusto del Virey: antes se enojo mucho por ello, y respondio con alguna aspereza: jurando, que auia de executar las ordenancas come en ellas se contenia: sin esperar para ello terminos algunos, ni dilaciones." Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1. cap. 6.]

Leaving the Audience, as one of its body was ill at Panama, the viceroy proceeded on his way, and, coasting down the sh.o.r.es of the Pacific, on the fourth of March he disembarked at Tumbez. He was well received by the loyal inhabitants; his authority was publicly proclaimed, and the people were overawed by the display of a magnificence and state such as had not till then been seen in Peru. He took an early occasion to intimate his future line of policy by liberating a number of Indian slaves on the application of their caciques. He then proceeded by land towards the south, and showed his determination to conform in his own person to the strict letter of the ordinances, by causing his baggage to be carried by mules, where it was practicable; and where absolutely necessary to make use of Indians, he paid them fairly for their services. *19 [Footnote 19: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 2. - Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, ubi supra. - Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms. - Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1544.]

The whole country was thrown into consternation by reports of the proceedings of the viceroy, and of his conversations, most unguarded, which were eagerly circulated, and, no doubt, often exaggerated. Meetings were again called in the cities.

Discussions were held on the expediency of resisting his further progress, and a deputation of citizens from Cuzco, who were then in Lima, strongly urged the people to close the gates of that capital against him. But Vaca de Castro had also left Cuzco for the latter city, on the earliest intimation of the viceroy's approach, and, with some difficulty, he prevailed on the inhabitants not to swerve from their loyalty, but to receive their new ruler with suitable honors, and trust to his calmer judgment for postponing the execution of the law till the case could be laid before the throne.

But the great body of the Spaniards, after what they had heard, had slender confidence in the relief to be obtained from this quarter. They now turned with more eagerness than ever towards Gonzalo Pizarro; and letters and addresses poured in upon him from all parts of the country, inviting him to take on himself the office of their protector. These applications found a more favorable response than on the former occasion.

There were, indeed, many motives at work to call Gonzalo into action. It was to his family, mainly, that Spain was indebted for this extension of her colonial empire; and he had felt deeply aggrieved that the government of the colony should be trusted to other hands than his. He had felt this on the arrival of Vaca de Castro, and much more so when the appointment of a viceroy proved it to be the settled policy of the Crown to exclude his family from the management of affairs. His brother Hernando still languished in prison, and he himself was now to be sacrificed as the princ.i.p.al victim of the fatal ordinances. For who had taken so prominent a part in the civil war with the elder Almagro? And the viceroy was currently reported - it may have been scandal - to have intimated that Pizarro would be dealt with accordingly.

*20 Yet there was no one in the country who had so great a stake, who had so much to lose by the revolution. Abandoned thus by the government, he conceived that it was now time to take care of himself.

[Footnote 20: "It was not fair," the viceroy said, "that the country should remain longer in the hands of muleteers and swineherds, (alluding to the origin of the Pizarros,) and he would take measures to restore it to the Crown."

"Que asi me la havia de cortar a mi i a todos los que havian seido notablemente, como el decia, culpados en la batalla de las Salinas i en las diferencias de Almagro, i que una tierra como esta no era justo que estuviese en poder de gente tan vaxa que llamava el a los desta tierra porqueros i arrieros, sino que estuviese toda en la Corona real." Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdi via, Ms.]

a.s.sembling together some eighteen or twenty cavaliers in whom he most trusted, and taking a large amount of silver, drawn from the mines, he accepted the invitation to repair to Cuzco. As he approached this capital, he was met by a numerous body of the citizens, who came out to welcome him, making the air ring with their shouts, as they saluted him with the t.i.tle of Procurator-General of Peru. The t.i.tle was speedily confirmed by the munic.i.p.ality of the city, who invited him to head a deputation to Lima, in order to state their grievances to the viceroy, and solicit the present suspension of the ordinances.

But the spark of ambition was kindled in the bosom of Pizarro.

He felt strong in the affections of the people; and, from the more elevated position in which he now stood, his desires took a loftier and more unbounded range. Yet, if he harboured a criminal ambition in his breast, he skilfully veiled it from others, - perhaps from himself. The only object he professed to have in view was the good of the people; *21 a suspicious phrase, usually meaning the good of the individual. He now demanded permission to raise and organize an armed force, with the further t.i.tle of Captain-General. His views were entirely pacific; but it was not safe, unless strongly protected, to urge them on a person of the viceroy's impatient and arbitrary temper. It was further contended by Pizarro's friends, that such a force was demanded, to rid the country of their old enemy, the Inca Manco, who hovered in the neighbouring mountains with a body of warriors, ready, at the first opportunity, to descend on the Spaniards. The munic.i.p.ality of Cuzco hesitated, as well it might, to confer powers so far beyond its legitimate authority.

But Pizarro avowed his purpose, in case of refusal, to decline the office of Procurator; and the efforts of his partisans, backed by those of the people, at length silenced the scruples of the magistrates, who bestowed on the ambitious chief the military command to which he aspired. Pizarro accepted it with the modest a.s.surance, that he did so "purely from regard to the interests of the king, of the Indies, and, above all, of Peru"! *22