of the Indians as Las Casas
was striving to bring it about.

Among other attempts that were made to throw obstacles in the way of Las
Casas was one that was rather amusing. Cardinal Ximenes, as they sat in
council, ordered the old laws for the Indies to be read. The clerk who
read them, coming to one that he knew his masters were not obeying,
thought to shield them and hinder Las Casas by changing the wording;
but, unfortunately for him, Las Casas knew the laws by heart, and he
cried out:

"The law says no such thing!"

The clerk, being ordered to read it again, read it as before, when again
Las Casas broke in:

"The law says no such thing!"

A third time the clerk was made to read it; a third time he persisted in
his own way of wording, and a third time Las Casas interrupted by
saying:

"That law says no such thing!"

The Cardinal, provoked by so many interruptions, rebuked him, when he
exclaimed:

"Your lordship may order my head to be cut off if what the clerk reads
is what the law says."

And snatching the book from the clerk, he proved that he was right. We
cannot help thinking that if the clerk had known "the clerico," as he
usually calls himself, a little better, he would not have dared to try
such a trick.

In spite of all obstacles, however, with the help of the Cardinal, new
laws were finally passed for the Indies. By these laws the Spaniards
were forbidden to divide the Indians among themselves and force them to
work without reward.

But the passing of the laws was only a part of the business. It was as
true then as now that good laws are of little use unless there be wise
and good men to enforce them; and the question now arose as to who
should go out and put a stop to the evil system that had caused so much
misery to these innocent and helpless people, and see that the new laws
were obeyed. In those days the Church had great power over both rulers
and people, and so it was not so strange as it would be in these days
that the choice should have fallen on three monks of the order of St.
Jerome. It was anything but a wise choice, however, for although these
monks were good men, they were unused to any life but that of the
convent, had had no experience in statesmanship and were, besides,
rather timid of spirit. Before they sailed, the enemies of Las Casas
filled their minds with distrust of him, and made them think that things
in the islands were not as he had represented, so that they did not