and a well organised campaign of calumny
and misrepresentation was set actively in motion. The Indians were
represented as lazy, filthy pagans, of bestial morals, no better than
dogs, and fit only for slavery, in which state alone there might be some
hope of instructing and converting them to Christianity. Las Casas was
flouted as a fanatic, bent on destroying the Spanish colonies, and as an
enemy of his country's interests. So adroitly were these and other
arguments presented, and so overwhelming was the mass of testimony
favourable to the colonists that constantly reached the Jeronymites from
all sides, that they began to be ill-affected towards Las Casas and to
disregard his suggestions. Dr. Palacios Rubios was so disturbed by their
new inclination, that after conversations with them, in which their
changed views were plainly manifested, he declared it would be disastrous
to send such men; he forthwith determined to stop their departure, if
possible, before it was too late.

Cardinal Ximenez fell seriously ill at this time and Palacios Rubios
sought access to him in vain. As soon as his Eminence had sufficiently
convalesced to attend to business, he ordered the final instructions to be
given to the Jeronymites and their departure to be hastened. One of the
orders directed them, upon arriving in Hispaniola, to at once annul the
encomiendas held by members of the Royal Council for the Indies. This
struck a hard blow at Conchillos and the Bishop of Burgos amongst others,
for the former lost eleven hundred Indians and the latter eight hundred,
(29) nor from that time forth did any member of the Council openly hold
property in slaves, though Las Casas was sceptical as to whether they did
not continue to have private interests. Another similar order obliged all
judges and royal officials in the colonies to surrender their slaves. The
general sense of the instructions furnished to the Jeronymites for their
guidance was in conformity with the ideas of Las Casas and the articles
were indeed drawn up by him, although certain concessions which did not
meet with his approval had been made to public opinion, and the important
property-owners in the colonies were sufficiently powerful at court to
obtain some modifications and to suppress some provisions in favour of the
Indians, which seriously hampered the original proposals. In spite of the
declaration formally set down in the will of Isabella the Catholic that
the Ind