were upright, they might be injudicious, and mischief is oftener produced in government through error of judgment than iniquity of design. Isabella doubted, but the jealous Ferdinand felt convinced. He had never regarded Columbus with real cordiality; and ever since he had ascertained the importance of his discoveries, had regretted the extensive powers he had vested in his hands. He now resolved to send out some person to investigate the affairs of the colony, and, if necessary for its safety, to assume the command. This measure had actually been decided upon, and the papers drawn out, early in 1499; but, from various reasons, had been postponed. It is probable Isabella opposed so harsh a step against a man for whom she entertained an ardent gratitude and high admiration. The arrival of the ships with the late followers of Roldan brought matters to a crisis. The king listened entirely to the representations of the rebels, and a circumstance took place, which, for a time, suspended the friendship of Isabella, the great safeguard of Columbus.

The followers of Roldan brought with them a number of slaves, some of which Columbus had been compelled to grant them by the articles of capitulation, others had been conveyed away clandestinely. Among them were several daughters of caciques, who had been seduced from their homes by these profligates. Some were in a state of pregnancy, others had new-born infants. The gifts and transfers of these unhappy beings were all represented as voluntary acts of Columbus. The sensibility of Isabella as a woman, and her dignity as a queen, were instantly in arms. "What right," ex

claimed she, indignantly, " has the admiral to give away my vassals?" She immediately ordered all the Indians to be restored to their homes; nay, more, she commanded that those which had formerly been sent to Spain by the admiral should be sought out and reshipped to Hispaniola. Unfortunately for Columbus, at this very juncture, in one of his letters, he advised the continuance of Indian slavery for some time longer, as a measure important to the welfare of the colony. This contributed to heighten the indignation of Isabella, and induced her no longer to oppose the sending out a commissioner to investigate his conduct, and, if necessary, to supersede him in command.

The person chosen for this most momentous office was Don Francisco de Bobadilla, an officer of the royal household, and commander of the military and religious order of Calatrava. He is represented by some as a very honest and religious man; by others, and with apparent justice, as needy, passionate, and ambitious-three powerful objections to his acting as judge in a case where the utmost caution and candour were required, and where he was to derive wealth and power from the conviction of one of the parties.

Bobadilla arrived at San Domingo on the 23d of August, 1500. Before entering the harbour, he learnt from a canoe which came off from the shore, that the admiral and the Adelantado were absent in the interior of the island, and Don Diego in command. He was told of the recent insurrection of Moxica, and the punishments which had followed. Seven of the rebels had been hanged that week, and five more were in the fortress of San Domingo,

1500.] ARRIVAL OF BOBADILLA AT ST. DOMINGO. 257 condemned to suffer the same fate. Among these were Pedro Reguelme, the factious alcalde of Bonao, and Fernando de Guevara, the young cavalier, whose passion for the daughter of Anacaona had been the original cause of the rebellion. As the vessels entered the river, Bobadilla beheld on either bank a gibbet, with the body of a Spaniard hanging on it. He considered all these circumstances as conclusive proofs of the alleged cruelty of Columbus.

The report had already circulated in the city, that a commissioner had arrived to make inquisition into the late troubles. Many hastened on board the ship to pay early court to this public censor; and as those who sought to secure his favour were those who had most to fear from his scrutiny, it is evident that the nature of their communications were generally unfavourable to the admiral. In fact, before Bobadilla landed, if not before he arrived, the culpability of the admiral was decided in his mind. He acted accordingly. He made proclamations at the church door, in presence of Don Diego and the other persons in authority, of his letters patent, authorizing him to investigate the rebellion, and proceed against delinquents; and in virtue of these he demanded that Guevara, Reguelme, and the other prisoners, should be delivered up to him, with the depositions taken in their cases.

Don Diego declared he could do nothing of the kind without the authority of the admiral, and requested a copy of the letters patent, that he might send it to his brother. This Bobadilla refused, and added, that since the office he proclaimed appeared to have no weight, he would try what efficacy there was in the name of governor. On the

following day, therefore, he caused another royal patent to be read, investing him with the government of the islands, and of Terra Firma; an authority which he was only to have assumed on absolute proof of the delinquency of Columbus. This letter being read, he again demanded the prisoners, and was again refused; Don Diego observing, that they were held in obedience to the admiral, to whom the sovereigns had granted letters of a higher nature.

Bobadilla now produced a mandate from the crown, ordering Columbus and his brothers to deliver up all fortresses, ships, and other royal property; and another, ordering that the arrears of wages due to all persons in the royal service should be immediately paid, and the admiral compelled to pay the arrears of those to whom he was individually accountable.

This last document was received with shouts by the multitude, to many of whom long arrears were due, in consequence of the poverty of the treasury. Flushed with his growing importance and popularity, Bobadilla again demanded the prisoners, and receiving the same reply, he proceeded to the fortress, and made a formal demand of them of the Alcayde Miguel Diaz. The latter refused to surrender them to any one but the admiral. Upon this, the whole spirit of Bobadilla was aroused. He assembled the sailors of the ships, and the rabble of the place, marched them to the prison, broke open the door, which readily gave way, while some of his myrmidons put up ladders to scale the walls. The Alcayde Miguel Diaz, and Don Diego de Alvarado, appeared on the battlements with drawn swords, but offered no resistance. The fortress,

having no garrison, was easily carried, and the prisoners were borne off in triumph, and given in custody to an alguazil.

Such was the entrance into office of Francisco de Bobadilla, and he continued his career in the same spirit, acting as if he had been sent out to degrade the admiral, not to inquire into his conduct. He took up his residence in the house of Columbus, seized upon his arms, gold, plate, jewels, horses, books, letters, and most secret manuscripts, giving no account of the property thus seized, paying out of it the wages of those to whom the admiral was in arrears, and disposing of the rest as if already confiscated to the crown. To increase his favour with the people, he proclaimed a general licence for twenty years, to seek for gold, exacting merely one eleventh for government, instead of a third, as heretofore. At the same time, he used the most unqualified language in speaking of Columbus, hinted that he was empowered to send him home in chains, and declared, that neither he, nor any of his lineage, would ever again be permitted to govern the island.