802 / 1070
768
Royal Commentaries.
BooK
V.
the Government ot
Pmé.
And the truth is, it was concluded in
Spain
by
his Ma–
jeíl:y's Council juíl: at the departure of the Prefident, that, as the lafl: and ultimate
remedy of ali, he fhould have powe~ to confirm
Pifam
io the qovernm~nt; for
it
was faid_a·nd concluded, rhat prov1ded the Councrey were the Ernperoar s, twas
no matter, rhough che Devil governed it.
This fecrer, (íaid the Prefident to
Paniagua)
I entruíl: to you in as much confi–
dence as ic was committed to me, and in all things ad as becomes a Gentleman,
1
and as one obliged in ducy
to
ferve the King.
After che Countrey was quieced and feccled, and che Prefident returned
to
Spain,
Paniagua
himfelf revealed this íl:ory, .for_ he rem~ined behi~d wirh
~
good Efl:ate,
anda large proportion of Lands and
Jnd,ans
wh1ch were g1ven to h1m. And he
confeífed
that
he
was often reíolved to have revealed the fecret to
Pifam,
whilíl:
he remai~ed in a doubtfull condition amidíl che various humours and opinions of
the Commonalry ; and he faid, that he often repenred rhac he bad not done it.
But
to
recuro to our HiCrory.
Paniagua
obt~ined an anfwer to bis Meífage;
,
the difpatch unto which was chiefly procured by che imereíl and favour of
Licen–
ciadQ Carvajal :
whi.J1 was a matter of high importance
to
him bei gin continual
fear and danger of bis life ; for had
Piyarro
known that he had fecrecly admitted
acceís to him, and Cabals in che nighr, he " ould cenainly bave been as good
as
bis word in putcing him to death, as he threatned him ar his fuíl: coming
to
che
Cicy.
Paniagua,
having received his difpatch, departed from
Los Reyes
in che
momh of
January,
1
5'
47.
being furnifhed wich.money for his Journey, he carried
onely a fingle Letter for the Prefident , of whKh
Auguftine Carate
takes no notice;
but
Fernande:c. Palentino
rehearfes it in chis manner,
Moíl: Honoured and mofl: Reverend Sir,
Y
OVR
Letter dated from
Panama
of the 16th
o/September
of
the year laft paft,
1
have receivcd, and return you many thank¿, and
kjfs
your hands for the advices you
have given me therein, knowing well that thry proceed from an ajfeétionate and a fincere
heart, agreea/J/e to the quality of your Perfon, endowed 'with much learning and confcience,
As for my part,
J
dejire you would confider me
M
a perfon naturally inclined to the Service
of
his Majefty, the which you feem to ackpowledge without
ªrlJ
uftimony of my own: And
indeed tbofe onely can pr.operly be faid to ferve hi1 Majefty whofe a&ions and not their word1
declare their work¿, Men who ferve the King at bis charge and coft, may be faid to ferve–
j,im; yet howfoever, they are not to be compared and fet in th, ballance with them, who,
likf
rny
Brothers and Re!tttions, and lik! my felf, who have for the [pace
oJ
jixteen years fer–
ved hi1 M ajefty in my Per(on rrithottt any charge or expencc to rhe Croivn; to which
J
have
,~aincd and acr¡uired greater and bctter Countries, rmd a vafter qflantity of Gold and Silver
than ever ar:)' man hath done which wM born; and al/ thu ru
rrry
01v11
charge, without putting
hú Majejly to the expence fo much
~
of fivc Shilling1 towards ali my acq,úficions and la–
bours.
And now al laft therc remains nothing either to me or to my JJrothers b11t onely the
bare and nak_ed rcputation
of
having ferved hi1 M ajefty, in which we have confumed
al!
that
we havc gained, Whex
B!afco Nunnez
firft arrived in thú Co11//trey, there 1vere thm
living of our ftock, the Sons of the M arqui.·,
Hernando Pi'rarro
and mJ' felf, amongft
which there WM fcarce the value
of
a
crown remaining eirher in Gnld or Silver, notrvith–
ftanding all tho(e immenfe Sum1 we had fent to his Majefty
;
nor had wc one .Acre of Land
amongft
™
al!, notwithft.fnding that vaft traél: of Empire
1
1
e h d an>1c nd ro the Imperi;1l
Crown: and
)'Ct
notwirhftanding all thefe negleél:s whrch have beni
t!I
upon
,u,
we remain
firm and immovabze {n our A llegiance, to which duty we have no nccd to be incited from Ar–
guments of hi1 Power, or tobe informcd of his prorvefs andp11ij{ance of hü Armr, 1111/efs
ir
be
to give
™
occafion to praife God who hath beftoired fuch a Prince 1pon
YA,
who
ú
gratior,u
to hú Subjetl:s and fo formidable to hi.r Enemies, that
,u
well Chri.fti~n Princes
M
lnfideLr
fear and envy hú greatnefs.
And though
I
have not fpent fo much time in
hú
llf11jejly' 1
Court
M
1,
have done in the War1 for hú Service, yet
1
wordd have
)'Ot~
to lz.norv, rhat
J
h,tve
been
1u
curiom to hear and 1mderf/-and the Ajfairs
of
hú
M ajef/-y, efpecially rhe fuccef{es
oJ
the late Wars, M any perfon whatfocver that ú converfant in hú Court, ivho
p
r'1aps a1·e not
wcll acquainted with al! the occurrences fo particulady and truly
,u
I
am
;
for thofe ivho
come from thence give me informations of what hath paft, ami fome Friends rvho live upon
the place confta,11/y write ro me from
the
Camp, and give me asgood intelligencc
tU
thry are
abl~; for they k(zowing
me
to be a man of
muh,
~nd delighted rvith
a
real ar.d exaéf ac-
couni