Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/166

146 and encomiendas, so equivocally begun by Columbus, and authorized by the sovereign as an encouragement to enterprising and meritorious conquerors and colonists, and as the means of securing the pacification and conversion of the natives, together with a fair amount of tribute for the crown. The system as concocted by the government, and as perverted and abused by the subject, has been fully considered in a previous volume. The chief blame for the constant evading of the many measures dictated with charitable intentions by the home authorities, must rest with the officials sent out to watch over the observance of the measures. When those highest in power set the example of disobedience, poor adventurers could scarcely be expected to imperil their interests by seeking to stem the current of general corruption. It had been repeatedly ordered that no wars should be waged against the natives until every effort for gentle conquest had been employed. Priests must accompany expeditions to watch over the fulfilment of this righteous decree, to enlighten the natives as to the consequences of obstinacy, to propose favorable terms for traffic, and to protect them from unfair and cruel treatment. But whether they resisted or submitted, the result was much the same, as we have too often seen. In the former case they were killed or enslaved at once, in the latter the chains of serfdom were slowly and tenderly wrapped round them. In the Antilles, to replenish their fast thinning ranks, regular slave-hunting expeditions had been organized,