Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/102

70 the Peninsula of Yucatan, Guatemala, Chile, Venezuela, and the Island of Cuba. The Captains-general, although holding situations of minor importance, were independent of the Viceroys, as were the Viceroys of each other : indeed, in most cases, natural barriers precluded the possibility of communication.

The government of each of the Colonies was vested in the hands of one of these great servants of the crown. In Mex- ico, the Viceroy was endowed with all the prerogatives of royalty, and considered as the alter ego of the King himself. The only checks upon his authority were the "Residencia," or legal investigation of his conduct, to which, at the King's pleasure, he might be subjected, on his return to Spain, but which was seldom, if ever, enforced ; and the "Audiencia," or court of appeal in dernier resort, with which, as honorary president, he had many means of cultivating a good understanding. The Audiencia, however, which was composed entirely of Europeans, possessed considerable power and influence : it had a control over all other tribunals, ecclesiastical as well as civil, in cases where the vakie of the object in litigation did not exceed ten thousand dollars; and it enjoyed the privilege of corresponding directly with the sovereign, and with the Council of the Indies ; a board created in 1511, by Ferdinand II., and remodelled by Charles V. in 1524, for the exclusive superintendence of the affairs of the Colonies. At this board the King was supposed, constantly, to preside in person; orders and decrees, though emanating from the crown, were to be communicated through it in order to acquire the force of law; and all projects of reform were to receive its sanction, before they could be carried into execution.

The right of communicating directly with this formidable tribunal, gave, of itself, great weight to the Audiencia ; and