680 / 1060
Royal -
Commentaries.
BooK
III.
·CH AP..
XXII.
Perfons
ar~
appointed to petztton
againfi
the
New
Laws;
.
the
fa111e
are
puhlick]y
proclahned.
Of the Troahle
and
Mutiny which was
caufed
therehy
;
and how
it
was
ap–
peafed.
And how
1natters flourifhetl
in all the Empire
of
l\Jexico
by
the prudence
and good
conduCl
of
this
Vi-
fitor or Super- lntendent.
.
B
UT to return again to the courfe of our Hillory from whence we are
di..
greffed ; we are here to declare , that the next day
after
the arrival of
this
Vifitor , there was a general mutiny and difcontent in all the City of
Mexico
..
faying, That this new Gueft was come to put the new Laws in execution
and
every one defcanted on matters according to his own humour and fancy,
rd
rhac
there were feveral publick Cabals and Confultations held in what manner to over–
throw, and prevent this general agrievance, the refult of which
was
with general
confent , that they iliould petition againfi thefe Ordinances , and lay before the
Vifitor their Objections againft them; to confider and perfeet which the Corpo.
ration of the
City
and
Officers of
his
Majefiies Exchequer
f
penr
that whole
night
and the Sunday following;
and
upon Munday morning, fo foon as it was
lighr, they
convened together, namely , the chief of the Cabal
with
their Clerk who atten•
ded with
a
multitude of People, went to the Monafiery of
St. Domingo,
wheue
they delivered their Petition and Reafons againfi: the
new
Regulations :
and
though the Monall:ery
was
very fpacious ,
yet
the Croud of People
was
fo great,
that the place was not capable to contain them. And though the Vifitor "as
fomething fearfoll and apprehenfive
of
the rudenefs and .infolence of the rabb1e
1
yet
he put a good face upon the matter, and with much franknefs declared unto them
the Reafons ofhis c;oming. Howfoever
he
gently reproved them with fair words,
wondering that before he had opened his Commiffion, or declared the caufes and
matte s upon which he was employed, that they fhould
fo
eagerly offer their
Complaints againfi agrievances which never touched them. Wherefore he defi–
red chem to depart in peace with their multitude, and out of them to depute two
or three of their principal Officers
to
reprefent their Complaints before him;
and that they fhould return to
him
in the afternoon, when he would treat
with
chem, and give Anfwers
to
their Demands: with this Anfwer
they
all retired, and
upon confoltation together, they appointed the Acturney General and two Jufiices
of
the Peace , and the Clerk of the Cabal, named
Lope~
de Legafpi
,
to be their
Depmies ; who accordingly at two a clock in the afternoon went to che Mona–
ftery
to
offer their agrievances.
The Vifitor to outward appearance feemed
to
receive them "'ith much
cheer..
fulnefs ; and having admitted them into an inward room, began !harply ro reprove
them
for
the Tumult which they had raifed in the morning, aggravating their
Fault
by.
the dangerous confequences which
might
have happened thereupon ,
to
the di01onour of God, and the breach of the publick Peace. Moreover he
affa–
red them, that he came not to deftroy or prejudice the
ouncrey, but to advance
a,nd
im
rove
it
to the
utmofl: of his power: he likewife promifed
to
intercede
\Vith
hi. Majefty n
their
behalf, and reprefent the Inconvenience of the
molt ri–
gorous Statutes , and that anti
11
an Anfwer thereof were recurned , he would
fu–
fpend the execution of
chem.
In
fine,
l
fo
managed
his
difcourfe, and
fo
overcame them with good words
and forcible Perfualions, that without enforcing the particulars on which they
were deputed, they returned with
full
fati faltioo,
and
appe_fed the unquietnefS
and rage of the
Tumult ; and fo the
Mutinies of the People being abated for the
fpace