e to any man.

Nor was the royal favor short lived or confined to the reign of
Ferdinand. In November, 1518, another royal decree from Ferdinand's
successor, Charles I, appointed Velasquez Adelantado of all lands which
he personally or through his agents might discover, and endowed him with
one-fifteenth part of all the revenues which might be obtained from
them. At this time Velasquez was already busy with enterprises of
exploration, and his efforts were redoubled under this incentive. But in
so doing he suffered the same fate that he himself had inflicted upon
Diego Columbus. For he sent Hernando Cortez, who had been alcalde of
Santiago de Cuba, upon the expedition which resulted in the conquest of
Mexico; upon achieving which transcendent exploit, Cortez repudiated him
and his authority, much as Velasquez had repudiated the authority of
Columbus in Hispaniola.

The year 1515 marked a turning-point in the early history of Cuba. In
that year Las Casas began his great crusade in behalf of the natives. At
first, as we have seen, he accepted and approved the repartimiento
system, and himself with his partner and close friend Pedro de Renteria
took several hundred Indians as his wards and servants on the land which
had been allotted to him at Trinidad. But when he became "converted," as
he himself described it, he was convinced that the system, which had
degenerated into little else than slavery, was wholly evil and could be
nothing else, putting all who practised it in imminent danger of hell
fire. To this conviction he was brought through consideration of what he
had heard Dominican friars preach in Hispaniola.

At this time his partner, Renteria, was absent, in Jamaica, and Las
Casas was ignorant of his views on the subject. Moreover, he realized
that the natives whom he had in his possession belonged to Renteria as
much as to him, and he could not properly do anything which would be
injurious to the interests of his partner. Accordingly he went to
Velasquez and told him that his conscience would no longer permit him to
hold slaves, and he must therefore release them; but he wished the
matter held in abeyance and confidence until the return of Renteria, in
order that the latter might protect his own interests as he saw fit. In
addition, he passionately adjured Velasquez, for the sake of his own
soul, to free all the natives and to abolish the repartimiento system.
Velasquez did not follow this advice, but he continued