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Rh precipitous action. They were aware that many families would be impoverished should the law be vigorously applied, and they decided to be lenient. To gain time, the municipality was requested to send procuradores to present the grievances of the colonists to the king, and to ask the revocation of that portion of the new code which particularly affected the interests of the encomenderos. Alonso Villanuevo, Gerónimo Lopez, and Peralmindez Chirinos, of the city council, and the provincials of the Dominican, Franciscan, and Austin orders were thus appointed, and set out for Spain, accompanied by other influential Spaniards. They were successful even beyond expectation, and by royal decree of October 20, 1545, the obnoxious provisions in the code were revoked, notwithstanding the earnest protestations of Las Casas. The encomenderos and Spanish settlers celebrated their success with feasts and rejoicing, while the poor natives, in whose heart had arisen the hope of deliverance, crept wearily to the task which death alone would terminate.

According to some writers, during the absence of the procuradores, Tello and Mendoza endeavored to enforce some of the less offensive portions of the new code; but, as we have seen, the most important part was abrogated. And in all the other provinces these much feared new laws were for the most part also disregarded, though they caused vexation and trouble to the governors and the governed. In Nicaragua they were the direct cause of the bloody Contreras revolt,