rdam and Antwerp, no less than six
different versions were circulated in the Flemish and Dutch vernaculars,
as follows: _Seer cort Verhael van de destructie van d'Indien_, etc.,
Bruselas, 1578. _Spieghel der Spaenscher tyrannye, in West Indien_, etc.,
Amstelredam, 1596. Another edition of the same followed in the same year
and another in 1607. _Den Spieghel van de Spaenscher Tyrannie_, etc.,
Amstelredam, 1609. Second edition of the same work in 1621.

A German translation entitled _Umstaendige Wahrhafftige Beschreibung der
Indianischen Laendern_, etc., was published at Frankfurt-am-Main, in 1645.

It seems hardly necessary, otherwise than as a matter of quaint chronicle,
to notice the fantastic attempt of the Neapolitan writer, Roselli, to
prove that the _Brevissima Relacion_ was not written by Las Casas, but was
composed years later by an unknown Frenchman. This suggestion was too
agreeable to Spanish susceptibilities to lack approval in Spain when it
was first advanced, but it has since been consigned by general consent to
the limbo of fanciful inventions.

The limits of the present volume exclude the possibility of dealing
adequately with a life so fertile in effort, so rich in achievement, as
that of Las Casas, and I have confined myself to composing, from an
immense mass of material, a brief narrative of the acts and events that
seem to best illlustrate his character and to establish his claim to a
foremost place among the great moral heroes of the world.

I have drawn largely upon his own works, and by frequent and ample
quotations from his speeches I have sought to reveal my hero more
intimitely to my readers. In reluctantly quitting this field of
profitable research, I confidently promise myself the satisfaction of one
day seeing literature enriched by an abler presentation of this great
theme than I have felt myself prepared to undertake.

FRANCIS A. MACNUTT.
SCHLOSS RATZOeTZ, TIROL,
June, 1908.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED

Principal authorities consulted in the preparation of this work:

ANTONIO DE REMESAL, _Historia de la Provincia de San Vicente de
Chiyapa_, 1619.
DAVILA PADILLA,_ Historia de la Fundacion_, etc., 1625.
ANTONIO DE HERRERA, _Historia General de las Indias Occidentales_,
1601.
GONZALO FERNANDEZ DE OVIEDO Y VALDEZ (in Ramusio). MOTOLINIA in
volume i. of Icazbalceta's _Documentos I