416
APPENDIX.
an Indian slave, given him by his father, who had received him from Columbus.
W h e n Isabella, in her transport of
virtuous
indignation,
ordered the Indian slaves to be sent back to their country, this one was taken from Las Casas.
T h e young man was aroused by the circum足
stance, and, on considering the nature of the case, became inflamed with a zeal in favor of the unhappy Indians, which never cooled throughout a long and active life.
It was excited to tenfold fervor, when, at about the
age of twenty-eight years, he accompanied the commander Ovando to Hispaniola in 1502, and was an eye-witness to many of the cruel scenes which took place under his administration.
T h e whole of his future life,
a space exceeding sixty years, was devoted to vindicating the cause, and endeavoring to meliorate the sufferings of the natives.
A s a missionary,
he traversed the wilderness of the N e w W o r l d in various
directions,
seeking to convert and civilize them ; as a protector and champion, he made several voyages to Spain, vindicated their wrongs before courts and monarchs, wrote volumes in their behalf, and exhibited a zeal, and con足 stancy, and intrepidity worthy of an apostle.
H e died at the advanced
age of ninety-two years, and was buried at Madrid, in the church of the Dominican convent of Atocha, of which fraternity he was a member. Attempts have been made to decry the consistency, and question the real philanthropy of Las Casas, in consequence of one of the expedients to which he resorted to relieve the Indians from the cruel bondage im足 posed upon them.
This occurred in 1517, when he arrived in Spain, on
one of his missions, to obtain measures in their favor from the govern足 ment.
On his arrival in Spain, he found cardinal Ximenes, who had
been left regent on the death of king Ferdinand, too ill to attend to his affairs.
H e repaired, therefore, to Valladolid, where he
coming of the new monarch Charles, archduke of the emperor Charles V .
awaited the
Austria, afterwards
H e had strong opponents to encounter in
various persons high in authority, who, holding estates and repartimientos in the colonies, were interested in the slavery of the Indians.
Among
these, and not the least animated, was the bishop Fonseca, president of the council of the Indies. A t length the youthful sovereign
arrived, accompanied by various
Flemings of his court, particularly his grand chancellor, doctor Juan de Selvagio, a learned and upright man, whom he consulted on all affairs of administration and justice.
Las Casas soon became intimate with the
chancellor, and stood high in his esteem ; but so much opposition arose on every side that he found his various propositions for the relief of the na-