THE
C O M P A N I O N S OF C O L U M B U S .
general affairs of the colony.
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They were written after the tidings
of the discovery of the South Sea, and the subjugation of so many important provinces of the Isthmus.
In a letter addressed
to Vasco Nunez, the king expressed his high sense of his merits and services, and constituted him Adelantado of the South Sea, and Governor of the provinces of Panama and Coyba, though subordinate to the general command of Pedrarias.
A letter was
likewise written by the king to Pedrarias, informing him of this appointment, and ordering him to consult Vasco Nunez on all public affairs of importance.
This was a humiliating blow to
the pride and consequence of Pedrarias, but he hoped to parry it. In the meantime, as all letters from Spain were first delivered into his hands, he withheld that intended for Vasco Nunez, until he should determine what course of conduct to adopt.
The latter,
however, heard of the circumstance, as did his friend the Bishop of Darien.
The prelate made loud complaints of this interrup足
tion of the royal correspondence, which he denounced, even from the pulpit, as an outrage upon the rights of the subject, and an act of disobedience to the sovereign. Upon this the governor called a council of his public officers ; and, after imparting the contents of his letter, requested their opinion as to the propriety of investing Vasco Nunez with the dignities thus granted to him.
The alcalde mayor, Espinosa, had
left the party of the bishop, and was now devoted to the governor. He insisted, vehemently, that the offices ought in no wise to be given to Vasco Nunez, until the king should be informed of the result of the inquest still going on against him.
In this he was
warmly supported by the treasurer and the accountant.
The
bishop replied, indignantly, that it was presumptuous and disloyal in them to dispute the commands of the king, and to interfere