he contrary, to go openly to
both and to explain as frankly to them as he had done to the King, the
exact condition of the Indians, the motives which had prompted him to
intervene, and the measures he judged necessary to stop the depopulation
and ruin of the colonies. Matiencio reasoned that, as the matter must
ultimately come into the hands of these two men, and as they had to be
reckoned with, it was far wiser to give them the fullest information at
the outset, hoping also that Las Casas's moving description of the
sufferings the Indians endured might modify their opposition. This
counsel did not accord with the plan of Las Casas but he allowed his
judgment to be overruled by the royal confessor's advice and sought out
Conchillos as being the less intractable of the two. The letter from the
Archbishop of Seville procured him a courteous reception and had he come
seeking a benefice or some preferment from the King, he might have counted
upon the favour and assistance of the Secretary to advance his suit, but,
as he piously phrases it, he had, by divine mercy, been rescued from the
darkness in which, like all the others, he had wandered, a lost man, and
was liberated from all desire for any temporal benefits. Save the
gracious words and courtly blandishments which Conchillos showered upon
him, nothing resulted from the interview.

His reception by the Bishop of Burgos was of a totally different order
and, though it is to be lamented that this prelate did not possess more of
the virtues becoming his state, it must be noted in his favour that
hypocrisy was wanting in his unlovely character. Amongst other atrocities
which Las Casas brought to his attention was the death of seven thousand
Indian children within three months, on which he dwelt, hoping to touch
some humane chord in the Bishop. He was deceived. "Look what an ignorant
fool you are!" exclaimed his lordship. "What is this to me or what to the
King?" This rough answer goaded his patience beyond control and Las Casas
shouted in reply: "That all these souls perish is nothing to you and
nothing to the King! Oh, Eternal God! then to whom is it anything?" With
this he left the Bishop's presence.

The activity of Las Casas, his earnestness and his eloquence produced
immediate effects, for he forced Indian affairs upon the languid attention
of indifferent people and aroused so much interest in them that they
became a topic of general discussion. He recounted his