UC-NRLF 
 
SPAIN 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS COLONIES 
 
 BY 
 
 J. W. ROOT 
 
 AUTHOR OF "TARIFF AND TRADE ' 
 
 LONDON 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, & Co. Ltd. 
 
 STATIONERS' HALL COURT, E.G. 
 
 1898 
 
PREFACE 
 
 A DETAILED History of Spain and the Spanish Colonies 
 is at present only to be gathered from a great number 
 of scattered and disconnected volumes, and no attempt 
 to write it in regular sequence could result in anything 
 but a very bulky work. I have endeavoured, however, 
 in the following pages, to give a brief yet comprehen- 
 sive outline of the incidents which led, first to the rise, 
 and then to the ignominious collapse of what ought to 
 have been the greatest Colonial Empire the world has 
 ever seen, and I have been specially careful to give 
 prominence to such actions and policy as seem to me 
 to have been pregnant with the greatest results. 
 
 Apart from any special interest which this little book 
 may possess at the present moment, its contents may be 
 found useful in illustrating more modern methods of 
 colonial government. There are not a few people to-day 
 who would reimpose some of the ancient restrictions 
 where these are no longer binding, and still more who 
 
 801635 
 
6 PREFACE 
 
 are unwilling to remove them where still in force ; and 
 it is just possible that an unprejudiced study of Spanish 
 colonial history may induce such to reconsider their 
 position. 
 
 J. W. R. 
 
 May 1898. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. CONCEPTION ....... 9 
 
 II. EXPEDITION 16 
 
 III. ACQUISITION ....... 23 
 
 IV. EXPLOITATION ...... 45 
 
 V. CONSOLIDATION ...... 53 
 
 VI. RESTRICTION ....... 6l 
 
 VII. OPPOSITION ....... 69 
 
 VIII. EXPULSION ....... 85 
 
 IX. RETENTION . . . . . . -95 
 
 X. SUCCESSION IO2 
 
SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 CONCEPTION 
 
 IT is difficult to believe that the Power now wrestling 
 with such ill success with its remaining colonial pos- 
 sessions, was once the discoverer and mistress of the 
 Western Hemisphere. Well may we exclaim, " How 
 are the mighty fallen ! " as we view Spain almost on the 
 point of being driven out of the New World, when, from 
 San Francisco to the Straits of Magellan (or as they 
 were for a time called the Straits of " Madre de Dios "), 
 the nomenclature, and very frequently the language 
 still in common use, betoken the former all-pervading 
 influence of- the Iberian monarchy. Perhaps it was 
 never fitted for the work it undertook; it certainly never 
 adapted itself to the requisite conditions in that distant 
 empire, which fell to it more by accident than design, 
 and which it always regarded more as a magazine 
 of immediate utility than a trust for development and 
 future advantage. 
 
 The four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of 
 America was celebrated, it will be remembered, some 
 six years ago by the World's Fair at Chicago. But 
 
io SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 what a different place Spain occupied in it, compared 
 with the original event ! The loan of a few trophies, 
 instead of the ownership of a vast continent. Had 
 Columbus foreseen the course events were destined to 
 take, and the disasters that were to befall his adopted 
 country, his troubled career would have been hastened 
 to a still more premature end by chagrin, of which, 
 indeed, he experienced quite enough as it was. But 
 then, that great discoverer died unconscious of the fact 
 that he had achieved anything of sufficient magnitude 
 to alter the destinies of nations, much less create new 
 ones, though no man then living set more value upon 
 what he actually accomplished. He believed, however, 
 that he had merely demonstrated the truth of the theories 
 of many learned men, so enthusiastically adopted by 
 himself, and opened up a new way to the most distant 
 parts of the Old World, long traded with, both directly 
 and indirectly, by the merchants of Venice and Genoa. 
 
 For many years he pored over maps and - charts, 
 and gathered every scrap of information relative to the 
 existence of land in the West. Patriotism induced 
 him at one time to place the fruit of his studies at the 
 disposal of his native city ; but Genoa being no longer 
 in a position to undertake great enterprises, he first of all 
 repaired to Portugal, as by far the most likely country to 
 further his schemes. Ever since the time of Prince 
 Henry the Navigator, in the early part of the fifteenth 
 century, that little kingdom had been foremost in the 
 work of exploration and discovery. The island of 
 Madeira was touched in 1420, the Azores sighted and 
 annexed in 1431. But it was along the African coast 
 that Portuguese effort was mainly directed. Tradition 
 asserted that the entire continent had been circumnavi- 
 
CONCEPTION ii 
 
 gated centuries before by voyagers from Phoenicia ; but, 
 as no details were recorded, the adventure was regarded 
 as something more than dubious. However, the west 
 coast began now to be systematically explored. Nuno 
 Tristao entered the Senegal River in 1445 ; a year later 
 Diniz Dias, a fellow - navigator, sailed as far as Cape 
 Verde. The equator was not crossed until 1471, the 
 Congo was revealed in 1484 ; and in 1486 the crowning 
 feat of all was accomplished, when Bartholomew Diaz 
 rounded the Stormy Cape, soon to become known as 
 the Cape of Good Hope, and opened up communication 
 with the East by water, instead of overland or by the 
 indirect route of the Red Sea, which necessitated the 
 transhipment of all merchandise conveyed that way. 
 
 Columbus arrived in Lisbon as early as 1470, and by 
 his marriage with a lady, whose father and brother were 
 both experienced navigators, his own ambitions were con- 
 siderably stimulated. His expedition to the West was 
 resolved upon in 1474, but was regarded by nearly every- 
 body except himself as entirely visionary. He unfolded 
 his plans to the then King of Portugal, John the Second, 
 who, not liking to reject them on his own responsibility, 
 referred them to a committee of experts, by whom they 
 were reported on as extravagant. The fact is, they ex- 
 pected to accomplish by way of the East what Columbus 
 proposed by sailing to the West ; and the result proved 
 them right, and entirely justified the opinion they formed 
 of the latter's theories, though, as it turned out, it would 
 have been greatly to the advantage of their country had 
 they fallen into the error with him. 
 
 For ten years Columbus urged his views with more 
 or less persistence, but with continually less prospect 
 of success, as not only were the African expeditions 
 
12 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 absorbing attention, but John had himself secretly 
 equipped an enterprise to sail westward, which resulted 
 in failure, as most undertakings do when entered upon 
 in a spirit of doubt, if not of positive disbelief. Disgusted 
 at what appeared to Columbus an act of duplicity, as 
 well as convinced that after what had happened there 
 was little chance of prevailing, he quitted Lisbon, 1484, 
 despatched his brother Bartholomew to enter into 
 negotiations with Henry the Seventh of England, and 
 after assuring himself that neither Genoa nor Venice 
 were likely to lend him a willing ear, much less ready 
 help, he repaired to the south of Spain in 1485. 
 
 Had Bartholomew not fallen into the hands of pirates, 
 and so been prevented from reaching his destination for 
 several years, it is more than probable that the credit as 
 well as the profit of the discovery of America would 
 have fallen at once to England, as Henry had both the 
 means and the inclination to indulge in some such 
 venture, provided it was not too costly, and showed any 
 reasonable prospect of success. As it was, Christopher 
 was left to pursue his weary pleadings before the 
 Spanish Court, not, however, as in Portugal, without 
 sincere and ardent well-wishers, who did their utmost to 
 further his cause. 
 
 The circumstances of the two countries were entirely 
 different. The smaller kingdom was already well on 
 the way to secure the rich trade of the East, the larger 
 one could only hope to thwart it by arriving first by 
 another route. No more powerful sponsors could have 
 been found than the Dukes of Medina Sidonia, and 
 Medina Celi, who undertook to lay the case before Queen 
 Isabella, to whom the latter nobleman sent Columbus 
 armed with a letter of introduction, couched in the most 
 
CONCEPTION 13 
 
 seductive terms. It was an unfortunate time to put 
 forward any proposals calculated to divert the wealth 
 and strength of the kingdom beyond its own borders, 
 for Ferdinand and Isabella were then in the very midst 
 of the campaign which ended in the final overthrow of 
 the Moorish dominion in the peninsula. Ferdinand, 
 indeed, would have given them short shrift in any case ; 
 but there was a mutual sympathy between the Queen and 
 Columbus which inclined her to lend a more ready atten- 
 tion, and eventually to concede all demands. Both, in 
 short, were deeply religious, and though Columbus may 
 have kept that part of his character somewhat in the back- 
 ground while in treaty with King John of Portugal, the 
 revelation of it to his new patron was not inspired by self- 
 interest, nor actuated by hypocrisy ; and in the end the 
 visionary schemes of converting the natives of the distant 
 East to Christianity, and recovering the Holy Sepulchre 
 from the grasp of the infidel, by means of the profits to 
 be derived from the great trade that was to be opened up, 
 had more to do with the discovery of the New World 
 than any dreams of aggrandisement or lust of wealth. 
 
 Columbus had to travel many a thorny path before 
 the goal of his ambition and desire was reached. 
 Isabella never acted entirely on her own responsibility, 
 even in the affairs of her own kingdom of Castile, 
 without, at least, first consulting her consort; and 
 Ferdinand, following the example of John, referred 
 the whole matter to a council. The decision arrived 
 at was the same, only the grounds upon which it was 
 based were entirely different. Talavera, Bishop of 
 Avila, and most of those who sat with him at the 
 council board, professed to believe that the propositions 
 of Columbus were a direct negation of biblical teaching 
 
i 4 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 regarding the shape of the earth ; and the future dis- 
 coverer found himself on the verge of a prosecution for 
 heresy, not a risk to be lightly regarded in those days. 
 
 The worst that happened to him was delay, but as the 
 pressure of the Moorish War became greater, his pro- 
 spects seemed to grow dimmer. Still, he had received 
 more encouragement at the Court of Castile than any- 
 where else ; and mainly through the influence of his 
 friends, he was kept attached to it during its wanderings, 
 and frequently formed part of the royal retinue, though he 
 was given clearly to understand that his affairs could not 
 receive further consideration until after the termination 
 of the war. His patience at last exhausted, he was on 
 the point of quitting the country almost unnoticed, when 
 Juan Perez, at whose convent of La Rabida he sought 
 shelter on his way to the coast, persuaded him to make 
 one more attempt ; and having been a former confessor 
 of the queen, and on terms of intimate friendship with 
 her, undertook to use his own good offices. 
 
 These were so far successful that Columbus was 
 invited to return to the Court, then located in Granada, 
 and, being fortunate enough to arrive just at the 
 moment the stronghold of that kingdom capitulated, 
 was all the more likely to be favourably dealt with 
 during the general rejoicings that followed. No more 
 difficulties indeed would have been placed in his way, 
 had not his own extravagant demands inspired Talavera 
 and his other opponents with fresh courage. Nothing 
 less than appointment as perpetual and hereditary 
 admiral and viceroy of any territories he discovered, 
 together with a tenth of all the profits derived from 
 them, would satisfy him ; and so stubborn was he on 
 that point, that negotiations were, as was supposed, 
 
CONCEPTION 15 
 
 finally broken off, and he left Santa Fe, the Spanish 
 suburb of Granada, in February 1492, intending to 
 proceed direct to France, and there solicit the good 
 offices of the monarch of that kingdom. 
 
 That was exactly the way to rouse Spanish jealousy, 
 and before he had proceeded any distance on his 
 journey, he was again recalled, this time to be granted 
 all his demands. The treasury was exhausted, it is 
 true, and funds were scarce, but, in the enthusiasm of the 
 moment, Luis de St. Angel, the receiver of ecclesiastical 
 revenues, offered to advance whatever was needed, and 
 Isabella, not to be outdone, expressed her intention 
 of pawning the Crown jewels. The more phlegmatic 
 Ferdinand regarded the whole business with contempt, 
 and would have neither part nor parcel in it, with the 
 result that the enterprise, according to stipulation, 
 was undertaken solely for the benefit of Castile, and 
 Ferdinand's neighbouring kingdom of Aragon was 
 to share neither the expense nor the profit. That was 
 a matter of small concern to Columbus, who, after 
 eighteen years of weary waiting, now found his hopes 
 about to be realised. 
 
 The agreement was duly drawn up by a royal officer, 
 and a royal edict was placed in the hands of the over- 
 joyed navigator, who hastened to the port of Palos to 
 put it into effect. He had not foreseen the difficulties 
 to be encountered there, but, after those already over- 
 come, nothing could ever again daunt him, as he enter- 
 tained no more doubt of what awaited him beyond 
 the western sea than he did of his own existence. 
 
II 
 
 EXPEDITION 
 
 WHEN so many learned men had condemned the 
 schemes and ideas of Christopher Columbus, it was 
 scarcely to be expected that the mind of the vulgar 
 crowd would be captivated by them. It was one thing 
 to be the holder of a royal edict of authorisation, and 
 quite another to induce shipowners to risk their property 
 in so foolhardy an enterprise, or mariners their lives on 
 so mad an errand. Fortunately for Columbus, the little 
 seaport of Palos lay, just at that time, under royal 
 displeasure, and the penalty inflicted was to provide a 
 ship for the voyage. There happened, too, to be in the 
 port two enterprising brothers of the name of Pinzon, 
 who were not only skilful navigators, but owned a vessel 
 which they were willing should be included in the little 
 squadron, while they themselves were also ready to 
 embark in it ; but their example did not prove con- 
 tagious. The greatest difficulty was experienced in 
 procuring a third vessel, as well as the crews to man 
 and navigate them ; and had not the most imperious 
 orders been issued by the Court, the expedition would 
 never have been equipped at all. In the long-run a 
 very scratch armada was got together, consisting of two 
 caravels and one larger vessel, the best of them little 
 more than a leaky tub; and one hundred and twenty 
 men were either cajoled or coerced into the service, few 
 
 16 
 
EXPEDITION 17 
 
 of whom ever expected to see their native shores again, 
 while their relatives, in bidding them farewell, freely 
 expressed the opinion that it was the last they would 
 ever take. 
 
 It was a sorry spectacle, on the 3rd of August 1492, 
 when the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nifta, 
 weighed anchor and sailed to discover a new world. 
 Gloom, instead of joy, overspread nearly every counten- 
 ance. Twelve months' provisions were on board, but 
 long before they were consumed, most of the seamen 
 expected to have found a watery grave, if, indeed, they 
 did not meet the worse fate of toppling over the abyss 
 at the world's end. Columbus himself, as admiral of 
 the fleet save the mark ! commanded the Santa 
 Maria \ the two Pinzons, Martin Alonso, and Vicente 
 Yanez, the Pinta and Nina respectively. The expressed 
 object of the voyage was to convert the Grand Khan, 
 supposed to be the great potentate of the far East, to 
 Christianity ; and Columbus never doubted but that in 
 due course he would arrive at Japan, or Zipangu, as it 
 had been named by the Venetian explorer, Marco Polo, 
 who had reached it by an overland route more than a 
 century before, and had described its wonders, together 
 with those of Cathay or China, through which he 
 passed on his way. The one condition imposed was, 
 that the squadron should not touch at any place on the 
 African continent, claimed to be under Portuguese 
 jurisdiction, as that would have led to immediate 
 hostilities between the two countries. King John could 
 not credit that all the expense and trouble that had 
 been gone to, were for so insane an object as had been 
 given forth, and felt convinced that the moment the 
 ships were out of sight, and beyond control from head- 
 
i8 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 quarters, their bows would be turned to some one or 
 other of his recently acquired possessions, and that the 
 contest for Africa, happily delayed for nearly four 
 centuries, was about to be precipitated. 
 
 It would have been too much to expect that all 
 difficulties had come to an end with the final clearance 
 from land, as a crew so discontented at the start was 
 sure to grow mutinous before the finish. Ere the 
 squadron had proceeded far upon the open sea, the 
 Pinta became suddenly disabled, and there was more 
 than a suspicion that the damage was wilful, and 
 inflicted by some of the sailors at the direct instigation 
 of the owners, who hoped by that means to procure her 
 return. The admiral, however, was not to be discon- 
 certed much less turned from his purpose by a trivial 
 detail like that ; and as, fortunately, the Canary Islands 
 were still ahead, they made for them in order that, if 
 possible, a new vessel might be procured. That being 
 impracticable, the Pinta was hastily repaired, causing a 
 delay of some three weeks ; and all the would-be scuttlers 
 earned for their pains was that they had to sail in a 
 ship somewhat less seaworthy than before, though she 
 still remained the fastest of the three. As strict 
 injunctions had been given to each captain never to 
 lose sight of the other vessels, the sailing capacities had 
 of course to be regulated in accordance with the slowest ; 
 and fear, if no worthier motive, caused the order for a 
 long time to be obeyed. Quicker progress was made, 
 however, than most of the men had any idea of, and 
 not even the pilots were taken into the confidence of 
 Columbus, who was keeping two separate logs, in one 
 of which he faithfully recorded the exact distance 
 covered each day, together with every observation he 
 
EXPEDITION 19 
 
 had to make ; while the other, for immediate publication, 
 minimised the number of leagues sailed, and deceived 
 the crews as to their real distance from home. 
 
 That became more and more necessary as day after 
 day passed, and all that met the strained and anxious 
 gaze was a boundless waste of water. The weather 
 continued favourable, and few difficulties of navigation 
 were encountered, the only real cause for alarm being a 
 variation of the compasses, such as the oldest and most 
 experienced seaman had neither experienced nor heard 
 of, and as to the reason for which Columbus had to 
 hazard a guess, and express it as an ascertained fact in 
 order to allay uneasiness. This was not the main 
 cause of anxiety, however. The ships were sailing 
 in an unknown sea ; the very ease with which they 
 moved forward might prove an impediment to their 
 return (there was, of course, no knowledge then that 
 the current as well as the prevailing winds favoured 
 navigation from west to east rather than from east to 
 west) ; and even at the artificial computation, they were 
 farther away from home than the most desponding had 
 ever ventured to imagine possible without certain 
 disaster, but this, so far from reassuring them, only led 
 them to conjure up fresh terrors. Demands to reverse 
 the course grew louder and more persistent ; and had 
 not the Pinzons remained loyal to their admiral, and 
 overawed their crews, no power on earth would have 
 induced the latter to allow Columbus to proceed. He 
 himself was surprised that land had not been made 
 earlier, as he had reckoned Japan to be much nearer. 
 How astonished he would have been to learn, when 
 success had crowned his efforts, that he was still but a 
 third of the distance he imagined he had covered ! He 
 
20 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 subdued the murmurs, therefore, by undertaking that if, 
 within a given period, no land were sighted or encourage- 
 ment forthcoming, he would return. Not that he 
 entertained the slightest intention of abandoning the 
 enterprise, but there had been signs which convinced 
 him that the goal was near. False ones, it is true, for 
 they were merely land birds ; but ornithology had then 
 revealed little or nothing about migration ; and the most 
 diligent student of natural history would have been 
 dumfounded at the very notion of the flights regularly 
 undertaken at each returning season. 
 
 As this occurred on the 1 4th September, no great 
 length of time had elapsed since the commencement of 
 the voyage, allowance being made for the delay at the 
 Canaries. But in those days it was something quite 
 unusual to lose sight of land at all, and a few weeks 
 upon the open sea appeared an eternity. Even the 
 few bolder spirits who had voluntarily embarked in the 
 enterprise, began to despair ; and as Columbus would not 
 return, they endeavoured to persuade him to deviate the 
 course, and set the helms either for a more northerly or 
 more southerly direction. He persisted, however, in 
 making due west, and exhibited all the stubbornness on 
 the quarter-deck that had been so marked a feature of 
 his character while at the Courts of Portugal and Spain. 
 
 On the 25th September, all the labour and anxiety 
 of the previous seven or eight weeks appeared as 
 though it had met with its reward, and amid uni- 
 versal rejoicing Martin Pinzon reported that he had 
 descried land to the south-west. But it turned out 
 to be as great a delusion as the evidence afforded by 
 the birds, or the vast area of weeds through which it 
 had occupied the vessels several days in slowly forcing 
 
EXPEDITION 21 
 
 their way. Such false reports were not at all unlikely, 
 as Columbus, having promised a handsome donation 
 to the first man who should descry land, all on board 
 were naturally eager to gain it, and every cloud on the 
 horizon would be pointed out as the possible realisation 
 of the hope. One distinct advantage, at anyrate, was 
 secured, by giving the men something else than their 
 grievances to think about. 
 
 Nearly a month had elapsed since the sighting of the 
 land birds, and still no sign anywhere of solid ground. 
 At last, unmistakable evidence of its proximity was 
 afforded. A branch of thorn bearing red berries was 
 seen floating on the bosom of the waters. Then a rudely 
 carved staff, and detached weeds, such as were known 
 to grow only in fresh river water. Orders were given 
 that the three vessels should lay-to at night, lest land 
 should be passed in the darkness, or, worse still, collision 
 with it should result in disaster. While in this condition, 
 Columbus, on the night of the I2th October, descried in 
 the distance an unsteady light, as though shed from a 
 lantern waved about or carried from one place to another, 
 and though only exhibited for a brief period, it was 
 distinctly observed by several others whose attention 
 was directed to it. Morning light was eagerly awaited, 
 and as the dawn broke, there sure enough lay the con- 
 summation of their hopes ! To Columbus himself was 
 allotted the promised reward, though it was claimed by 
 a seaman who had previously pointed out certain indi- 
 cations in the exact quarter in which the first island was 
 discovered, and to whom, under the circumstances, it 
 would have been politic to award it. 
 
 There was a remarkable absence of exciting incident 
 in this voyage of seventy days, fraught with such 
 
22 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 immense consequences to the whole world. Though 
 made at a period of the year when the Atlantic is 
 usually visited by the equinoctial disturbances, no 
 unduly severe weather was encountered ; and a belief 
 was even indulged in, that these distant waters were 
 outside the sphere of storms, until some very bitter 
 experiences proved the contrary. What was accom- 
 plished by design, however, in 1492, would have been 
 revealed by accident only eight years later, when a 
 Portuguese captain, Pedro Alvarez Cabral by name, on 
 his voyage to the East, was driven so far out of his 
 course by storms, that he touched the coast of Brazil. 
 Spain, therefore, became the mistress of the New World, 
 not only by the skin of its teeth, but by a stupendous 
 error in calculation ; for though Columbus had rightly 
 judged the shape of the earth, he so far underestimated 
 its immensity, as to believe that the farthest East lay 
 within easy reach of the West. Nor was the mistake 
 discovered until many years later, and in the meantime 
 the appellation of the Indies was assigned to the newly 
 revealed territory, with the subsequent prefix of West to 
 distinguish it from the real Indies, when these were 
 proved beyond doubt to lie at the opposite quarter of 
 the globe. 
 
Ill 
 
 ACQUISITION 
 
 THE discovery proved no barren one. Not only was 
 there land, but the inhabitants crowded down to the 
 beach to stare at the immense floating objects with 
 wings, the like of which they had never before seen. 
 Would they receive the Spaniards as friends, or oppose 
 them stoutly as foes ? was the question that presented 
 itself at once to the mind of Columbus ; and in making 
 preparations for landing, he not only saw that the force 
 which was to accompany him was well-armed, but like- 
 wise well-habited, in order that a feeling of awe might 
 be instilled into the minds of the natives. 
 
 These precautions proved entirely unnecessary, for the 
 most striking feature of the new-comers was their white 
 skins ; and this, together with the manner of their arrival, 
 raised them at once to the dignity of deities descended 
 from the heavens. It soon became evident from the dis- 
 play of simplicity, as well as of apparent ignorance, that 
 these could not be the people spoken of by Marco Polo 
 and other Eastern travellers ; and the conclusion was 
 formed by Columbus and his more intelligent followers, 
 that they had touched at some outlying territory, and that 
 Zipangu and Cathay lay still farther west. Difficult as 
 communication was between peoples absolutely ignorant 
 of each other's language, the Spaniards, with their precon- 
 ceived notions, soon gained sufficient information to 
 
24 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 confirm them in this idea ; and as the little island of San 
 Salvador, as it was named, the Watling Island of to-day, 
 was quickly found to be altogether too small to afford 
 facilities for colonisation, little time was lost in making 
 a fresh start. Columbus, however, in his brief inter- 
 course with the natives, had fully reciprocated their 
 friendly spirit, and so ingratiated himself with them 
 that, without much difficulty, he prevailed upon seven to 
 accompany him on board his vessel, with the object 
 principally of being instructed in the Castilian tongue, 
 and thus making themselves useful as interpreters. 
 
 Sailing in the direction designated, where, as was 
 supposed, lay the territories of the Grand Khan, the 
 vessels touched in quick succession at several of the 
 islands of the Lucayos, or Bahamas group, but none 
 were any more inviting for permanent residence than 
 San Salvador. Everywhere, indeed, there was tropical 
 profusion, and men might subsist by the mere labour 
 entailed in gathering the natural fruits of the earth ; but 
 gold was now the one thing sought, as its existence in 
 these regions was beyond dispute, from the small 
 ornaments already obtained from the natives in exchange 
 for hawks' bells, glass beads, and other such like trinkets. 
 Of commercial instinct these simple creatures had not 
 a trace, and they would have given everything they 
 possessed for the most worthless trifle, provided it was 
 a novelty, had not Columbus restrained their liberality, 
 and forbidden his followers to take undue advantage of 
 it. His aim was to discover the source of this golden 
 wealth ere he returned home, and no one was more 
 anxious than he to accumulate a solid trophy of his 
 much ridiculed expedition ; but, entirely apart from his 
 humane and generous disposition, he clearly realised 
 
ACQUISITION 25 
 
 that future success depended to a very large extent 
 upon the continued friendly and trustful disposition of 
 the new subjects of the Castilian Crown. For such they 
 were the moment they came into contact with Columbus, 
 whose first care was to take formal possession, on behalf 
 of Queen Isabella, of every inch of territory embraced 
 by the islands on which he landed. 
 
 On the 28th October, sixteen days after the first dis- 
 covery, the coast of Cuba hove in sight. As an im- 
 pression prevailed that this at last was the mainland, an 
 embassy was despatched into the interior to notify the 
 mighty potentate supposed to rule over that vast conti- 
 nent, of the arrival of the representative of the Spanish 
 sovereigns, who were desirous of entering into close re- 
 lationship with him. Needless to say, the mission was 
 fruitless ; and the members of it soon became convinced 
 that they were altogether on the wrong tack, as nowhere 
 did they meet with any sign of civilisation, and scarcely 
 anywhere of population. From what little information 
 they were able to glean, the land of promise was still 
 somewhat farther south. 
 
 Martin Alonso Pinzon had been quietly noting all he 
 heard, and being in command of the fastest caravel, the 
 Pinta, he determined to profit by it, and forestall his 
 admiral, not only in arriving first at the place where 
 gold was so abundant, but also in conveying the marvel- 
 lous news to Spain. With this object in view, he deserted 
 on the 2 ist November, but his plans miscarried, and 
 Columbus fell in with him at a later date after his own 
 vessel, the Santa Maria, had been totally wrecked on a 
 sandbank off the coast of Hayti. That island was 
 reached on the 6th December, and gave more evidence 
 of being the place they were in search of than any 
 
26 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 they had yet touched. It was populous, gold was much 
 more abundant, and the natives made it clear that it 
 was to be found in large quantities in the interior. 
 
 Several circumstances made it advisable for Columbus 
 to return to Spain without further delay. He had seen 
 enough to be convinced that a much larger force than he 
 had under his command would be necessary to make the 
 subjugation of these newly acquired territories effective; 
 news of the discovery might reach Europe before him, 
 and be taken advantage of by some other sovereign 
 than the one to whom he was devoted ; and he had 
 now sufficient treasure of various kinds to convince the 
 most sceptical of the complete success of his enterprise. 
 After constructing a small fort out of the materials of 
 the wreck, and leaving a portion of the crew, at their 
 own desire, to garrison it until he should return, he set 
 sail for home with the Nina on the 4th January 1493. 
 Falling in with Pinzon, who had experienced nothing 
 but ill-luck since his desertion, the two ships finally 
 cleared the island a few days later. 
 
 The return voyage was as full of peril as the outward 
 one had been free from it. Indeed, at one time, it looked 
 as though the prognostications of the people of Palos 
 would be fulfilled, and no living soul return to his native 
 land. That two such battered wrecks ever survived 
 the storms they encountered, can only be attributed to 
 the direct intervention of Providence. Columbus, in the 
 full conviction that nothing could save them, prepared 
 a record of the voyage, sealed it, with outward instruc- 
 tions that if ever found it was to be conveyed to the 
 Court of Spain, and having placed it in a barrel made 
 water-tight, committed it to the waves. As there is no 
 record of it ever having been picked up, the story of 
 
ACQUISITION 27 
 
 the discovery of America, as we know it, would never 
 have been written, had not Columbus survived to tell it. 
 
 He was only too delighted to find himself at last off 
 the Azores, though, being a Portuguese possession, he 
 would not in the ordinary course have dreamt of calling 
 at them. As it was, he ran considerable risk from the 
 perfidy of the governor, and was glad to escape without 
 repairing any of the damage to his ships. Subsequent 
 stress of weather compelled him to make for and put in at 
 Lisbon, where his arrival created intense excitement, 
 and King John learned what he had lost by his refusal 
 to listen to the projects of the great discoverer. Many 
 of his subjects urged that it was even then not too late, 
 that Columbus and his crew might be prevented from 
 returning to Spain, and that an expedition might be 
 immediately fitted out to cross the sea and enter into 
 possession of the territories beyond. John, however, 
 was too magnanimous to listen to such proposals, and 
 not only accorded his former suppliant a hearty welcome 
 and brilliant reception, but afforded him the protection 
 necessary to enable him to reach home. 
 
 If the excitement at Lisbon was great, what must it 
 have been at Palos, when the solitary Nina arrived on the 
 1 3th March, the Pinta having again deserted, arriving 
 only some days later ! The news spread with lightning 
 rapidity, and we may be sure lost nothing of its weight 
 and importance as it winged its way. Columbus was 
 summoned to Barcelona, where Ferdinand and Isabella 
 were then domiciled, made a triumphal entry into the 
 city, and on his arrival at the royal residence, was 
 welcomed by the king and queen in person, who com- 
 manded him to be seated by their side, while he related 
 the account of his adventures. 
 
28 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 The first thing to be done was to secure the fruits of 
 this marvellous venture. Portugal sought to protect 
 its possessions, not only by force of arms, but by taking 
 advantage of the fiction that all heathen countries were 
 in the gift of the Pope, and had obtained from him a 
 Bull confirming its rights. Spain immediately followed 
 suit, and as the then occupant of the chair of St. Peter, 
 Alexander VI., was himself a Spaniard, a refusal was 
 hardly likely, though the notorious Roderigo Borgia 
 was far more actuated by self-interest than any patriotic 
 feelings. The Bull confirmed the Portuguese in their 
 existing possessions, and granted them all territory that 
 should be discovered east of a line drawn from north 
 to south, one hundred leagues west of the Azores, while 
 the Spaniards were to enjoy exclusive dominion over 
 everything west of it. 
 
 This was regarded as so unsatisfactory by Portugal, that 
 at its instigation, negotiations between the two countries 
 were opened, and resulted the following year in the 
 conclusion of the Treaty of Tordesillas, by which it was 
 agreed to move the line 370 leagues west of the Azores, 
 a most important change, because by it Portugal subse- 
 quently established its claim to the Brazils, a portion of 
 which was found to fall east of the line of demarcation, 
 while it could urge the further plea of having been first 
 in the field, through the accidental deviation of Cabral. 
 At anyrate, the whole world outside Europe was leased 
 in perpetuity to Spain and Portugal ; and had the pre- 
 tensions of the Holy See in things temporal as well as 
 spiritual continued to be recognised, neither England, 
 France, nor Germany could to-day own a square yard 
 of territory in the three greatest continents of the world. 
 
 While these negotiations were in progress, prepara- 
 
ACQUISITION 29 
 
 tions for a second expedition on a vastly greater scale 
 were rapidly pushed forward. The direction of them 
 was entrusted to a cleric named Fonseca, a capable man 
 of business, but who for some reason or other conceived 
 a violent dislike to Columbus, and threw every obstacle 
 in his way. The eagerness to embark on this second 
 voyage was far more marked than the reluctance 
 exhibited in the first, and the best blood of Spain 
 pressed into the service. The number of adventurers 
 was originally limited to a thousand ; but the applica- 
 tions were so numerous from those who believed that 
 fortunes were waiting to be picked up in the New World, 
 that this was raised to twelve hundred, and fifteen 
 hundred actually sailed in seventeen vessels from the 
 Bay of Cadiz on the 25th September 1493. 
 
 All was keen anticipation during the voyage, the dis- 
 appointments only commenced at its termination. Into 
 these there is no occasion to enter now. The main point 
 of interest is, that a sufficiently large force of Spaniards 
 had taken part in the enterprise to confirm the posses- 
 sion of the New World to their country, and defeat any 
 attempts that Portugal might be likely to make to filch 
 it away. After establishing a settlement at Isabella on 
 the north of Hayti, or Hispaniola as it was then named, 
 Columbus was free to prosecute further explorations, 
 the principal one being to sail along the southern shores 
 of Cuba ; but, after continuing his voyage to within a few 
 miles of its western extremity, he arrived at the con- 
 clusion that it was the mainland, and reported to that 
 effect nor was it until after his death that it was 
 proved to be an island. Everything was claimed for 
 the Spanish Crown ; and, as there were absolutely no 
 competitors, it can well be understood how the entire 
 
30 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 group of islands constituting the West Indies became 
 Spanish colonies. 
 
 Various causes compelled Columbus to relinquish his 
 exploration and return, first to Hispaniola and then to 
 Spain. For one thing, the two vessels with which he 
 set sail were ill-provisioned. With that confidence in 
 his own judgment which was so characteristic of the 
 man, he relied upon encountering at no great distance 
 those civilised, or at least, semi-civilised nations of 
 which he had come in search, but instead he met only 
 the fierce tribes of Cuba and Jamacia, who offered 
 resistance, not welcome, and arrows in lieu of food. 
 
 On his return to the colony, affairs were in a most 
 unsatisfactory condition. The last thing most of the 
 colonists dreamt of when they left their native shores 
 was work. They had gone out, as they fondly imagined, 
 to pick up the gold as it lay at their feet, and when they 
 had accumulated sufficient, meant to return and enjoy it. 
 Though Columbus had never promised, nor even sug- 
 gested anything of the sort, his brilliant descriptions 
 and anticipations were undoubtedly responsible for the 
 ideas so freely indulged, and the indignation against 
 him rose just as rapidly as hopes were blasted. Com- 
 plaints were finding their way to Spain, and lest he 
 should be prejudiced in the eyes of his sovereigns, he 
 determined to embark thence and render a personal 
 account of his stewardship. 
 
 The voyage home was if anything more protracted, 
 and entailed greater hardships than the previous one. 
 Columbus arrived at Cadiz on the ist June 1496, and 
 met with a warmer reception than he had dared to hope 
 for. But intrigue was busy, and his arch-enemy Fonseca, 
 who was by this time in almost undisputed control of 
 
ACQUISITION 31 
 
 colonial affairs, threw numerous and persistent ob- 
 stacles in the way of his fitting out another expedi- 
 tion. The stories told by returned colonists of the want 
 and suffering they had endured were not conducive to 
 others volunteering for the service, and it was only on 
 the 30th May 1498 that the admiral was again able to 
 set sail from San Lucar with a small fleet of six vessels, 
 manned almost entirely by convicts specially released. 
 
 A more southerly course was taken than on either of 
 the previous occasions, and the first place touched was 
 the island of Trinidad. Sailing round it from the south- 
 west, the ships were suddenly caught and swept along 
 by a mighty current, which Columbus discovered to be 
 of fresh water, and rightly judged to be poured out of 
 some vast river. He had in fact reached the coast of 
 South America, and was in the waters of the Orinoco 
 as they rushed to mingle with the ocean. The natives 
 proved of a more friendly disposition, as well as of 
 superior type to those encountered in many of the 
 islands ; and as they possessed gold, and also something 
 still more precious, pearls, every encouragement was 
 given them to trade. They were just as eager after 
 the trumpery toys of the Old World, as the inhabitants 
 of San Salvador had been the first time they were ever 
 exhibited in the New, and we may be sure the bargains 
 made were very profitable to the Spaniards. Still, these 
 were not the people Columbus had come in search of, 
 and his inquiries and labours were diligently directed 
 to the discovery of a passage which should lead him 
 still farther west to the dominions of the Grand Khan. 
 
 After some time vainly spent in exploring the coast 
 with this object, an affection of the eyes compelled him 
 to desist and make once more for Hispaniola, where 
 
32 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 he had left his brother Bartholomew as governor during 
 his absence. A strange welcome awaited him, however. 
 In response to the continued complaints of the colonists, 
 a commissioner had been despatched from Spain to 
 inquire into their grievances, and certain powers were 
 entrusted to him to assume authority in the island in 
 case of necessity. Deeply impressed with a sense of 
 his own importance, Francisco Bobadilla, the officer 
 appointed, immediately on his arrival began to act in the 
 most reckless and arbitrary manner ; and the discoverer 
 of the New World, without any warning, found himself 
 arrested, loaded with chains, thrown into prison, and 
 finally sent home to Spain in this ignominious fashion. 
 
 Great was the public, still greater the royal in- 
 dignation, when he arrived in this sorry plight ; 
 every effort was made to soothe the feelings so deeply 
 wounded by this dire insult, and Bobadilla would 
 have paid dearly for his temerity had he survived 
 to answer for his misdeeds. But news had reached 
 Spain of the wonderful riches of the Gulf of Paria some 
 time before the arrival of Columbus, and the malignant 
 and untiring Fonseca, in direct contravention of the 
 charter conveying the rights to the admiral, stimulated 
 private enterprise to follow in the track, taking the 
 utmost possible advantage of whatever information he 
 had gained in his official capacity, and imparting it 
 to others. An expedition was fitted out under Alonso 
 de Ojeda, one of the most dare-devil adventurers who 
 ever quitted the shores of his own or any other country, 
 and whose marvellous exploits in Hispaniola had already 
 excited the wonder and admiration of men long ac- 
 customed to feats of skill and courage. Accompanying 
 him was Amerigo Vespucci, a Venetian navigator, who 
 
ACQUISITION 33 
 
 strangely enough was destined to give his name to 
 the whole of the vast Continent which he was about 
 to visit for the first time, though he never accomplished 
 anything of practical importance in it. Several other 
 ships were fitted out, including a caravel of 50 tons 
 burden by Pedro Alonso Nino, which performed the 
 most lucrative voyage of any vessel or squadron 
 equipped up to that time, and returned home well 
 freighted with pearls and other costly treasure. This was 
 quite sufficient to stimulate ambition as well as greed, 
 and when Columbus arrived he had the mortification of 
 learning that others were actively exploiting his preserves. 
 While these events were happening, another enter- 
 prise was undertaken quite beyond the cognisance of 
 the Spanish authorities. Bartholomew Columbus, it 
 will be remembered, had proceeded on a mission to 
 Henry vil. some years previous ; and when the English 
 monarch learned that the most sanguine anticipations 
 had been realised, he was anxious to share in the 
 results. As early as 1495 he endeavoured to equip 
 and despatch a squadron of his own, but it was not 
 until two years later that Sebastian Cabot, despite 
 the existence of the Papal Bull, set sail from Bristol. 
 Steering a direct westerly course, he struck the coast of 
 Newfoundland, and leisurely sailed south almost to 
 the extreme point of Florida, ere he resumed his home- 
 ward journey. The Spanish Government naturally pro- 
 tested against this infringement of its rights, and Henry 
 found it politic to listen, as he was then in close alliance, 
 and engaged in negotiating the marriage between his 
 son and Catherine of Aragon, which subsequently 
 proved so pregnant to the religious and ecclesiastical 
 destinies of England. It was at a later period, and 
 3 
 
34 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 under totally different circumstances, that the Anglo- 
 Saxon race was to occupy and overrun the northern 
 continent. 
 
 Columbus himself was spared to undertake one more 
 voyage, and this time it was to be confined exclusively 
 to the continent, he being absolutely forbidden to land 
 at Hispaniola, where Nicolas Ovando, with a force of 
 all sorts and conditions of men numbering 2500 had been 
 installed as governor, and so jealous was he of any inter- 
 ference with his prerogatives, that when the admiral was 
 driven by stress of weather to take shelter in the har- 
 bour of San Domingo, he was ordered to quit instantly. 
 
 This proved the most disastrous of all his voyages. 
 After exploring the coasts of Honduras and Central 
 America generally, in search of the non-existent channel, 
 until the provisions were in such a state that they 
 could only be eaten in the dark, it was decided to 
 land, despite the fierce opposition of the natives, and 
 plant a permanent settlement under Bartholomew, who 
 accompanied his brother. This, however, had to be 
 abandoned ; and on the way back the only remaining 
 vessel ran aground in Dry Harbour in Jamaica, and 
 became a total wreck, the most incredible suffering, 
 aggravated by constant mutiny, being experienced, until 
 the remnant of the crew was eventually relieved. 
 
 Columbus having shown the way to the mainland, as 
 well as the islands, it was left to others to reveal the 
 vast extent and natural wealth of what he had dis- 
 covered, and he died on the 2Oth May 1506, in complete 
 ignorance of many of the most important facts which 
 his genius and tenacity permitted to be made known 
 for the first time to the civilised world. 
 
 Columbus and his immediate followers hit upon the 
 
ACQUISITION 35 
 
 most unpromising part of the American Continent, 
 where the damp hot atmosphere, with its resulting 
 rank and profuse vegetation, makes human existence 
 intolerable if not well-nigh impossible. As the land 
 was known to contain gold, however, the most persistent 
 efforts were made to settle in it, and two regular govern- 
 ments were established under Alonso de Ojeda and Diego 
 de Nicuessa respectively. Nothing but disaster resulted 
 for many a long year, and the greatest difficulties were 
 experienced in extending or enlarging them in any 
 direction but coastwise. 
 
 Narrow as the isthmus is in the part selected, it 
 appeared impenetrable, until eventually the magic word 
 gold encouraged a few bold spirits to overcome every 
 obstacle. Wherever the adventurers went inland they 
 heard of a great sea and vast abundance of the pre- 
 cious metal in an unknown land beyond. After incred- 
 ible hardships, Vasco Nunez de Balboa and a handful 
 of followers forced their way through the thickets and 
 swamps, scaled the mountain range which runs like a 
 backbone along the isthmus, and were rewarded for 
 their pains when they reached the summit by the sight 
 of the great southern sea lying at their feet. This 
 occurred on the 26th September 1513, and on the follow- 
 ing day the party descended the western slopes ; Vasco 
 Nunez, as its leader and commander, taking possession of 
 the Pacific Ocean on behalf of the King of Spain, with all 
 the ceremonies and formalities customary on those 
 occasions. 
 
 How to take advantage of it was the question ? Far 
 south, beyond where vision could reach, lay the golden 
 land. They were without ships or means of conveyance 
 of any sort, and the shore upon which they were now 
 stranded was dangerous as well as inhospitable. The 
 
36 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 observant and ingenious mind of Nunez, inferior 
 only to that of Columbus, evolved the idea of 
 transporting material across the isthmus for the con- 
 struction of a fleet to undertake the subjugation 
 of all countries bordering on the Southern Sea ; and 
 such was the work eventually accomplished, though 
 not by Nunez, who fell a victim to the jealousy 
 and treachery of Pedrarias Davila, a new governor 
 despatched from Spain. It was left to one of his 
 lieutenants, Francisco Pizarro, to set forth on a definite 
 expedition more than ten years later ; and it was not 
 until nearly twenty years had elapsed that Peru was 
 discovered, and the rich kingdom of the Incas added 
 to the spoils of the Castilian monarch. 
 
 Meanwhile, exploration had been busy on the eastern 
 side of the continent. Cuba, realised at length to be 
 an island, was regularly colonised in 1511, and the 
 governor, Diego Velasquez, being an enterprising and 
 ambitious man, despatched an expedition westwards. 
 The great peninsula of Yucatan was reached, and the 
 officers of the little squadron were struck by the much 
 higher state of civilisation exhibited by the natives than 
 by any others hitherto met with either in the islands or 
 on the mainland. The news of this led to the subse- 
 quent expedition of Cortes, the story of whose conquest 
 of Mexico reads more like a fairy tale, than the narrative 
 of actual events and hard realities. 
 
 The years, 1519, 1520, and 1521, were occupied by this, 
 the greatest of all the enterprises undertaken by Spain 
 in the New World. Nor was there any lack of activity 
 in other directions. Juan Ponce sailed from Porto Rico 
 in 1 5 1 2, in search of a spring whose waters ensured per- 
 ennial youth to whoever drank of them, and found and 
 annexed Florida instead. More than one navigator 
 
ACQUISITION 37 
 
 cruised southwards as far as the Rio de la Plata, 
 and in 1520 Magellan reached the extremity of the 
 southern continent, and passed through the straits which 
 bear his name. Nor was Cortes idle after he had 
 accomplished his great work. North and south he 
 sought to add to the territory of New Spain, until all 
 the countries of Central America on one side, and the 
 peninsula of California on the other, were brought 
 under its sway. In less than half a century from the 
 day Columbus first set foot on San Salvador, the entire 
 continent, from Labrador to Patagonia, had been 
 visited, and by far the greater part of it annexed to, and 
 nominally ruled by the Castilian Crown. 
 
 While Spain was actively engaged in exploration and 
 annexation in the West, Portugal was equally busy in 
 the East. Though the Cape of Good Hope had been 
 doubled by Diaz in 1486, it was not until 1497, five 
 years after the discovery of America, that Vasco de 
 Gama proved the possibility of reaching India by that 
 route. Rapid progress, for those days at anyrate, was 
 made from that time. The actual neighbourhood of the 
 Cape apparently offered no attractions ; the advantages 
 of its situation were left to be realised by the Dutch a 
 century later ; and it was not until Natal was reached on 
 Christmas Day, whence its name, that there were any 
 thoughts of annexation or settlement. It was the East 
 Coast of Africa which seemed to offer the greatest 
 facilities for communication and trading with the 
 opposite shores of India, and claimed attention accord- 
 ingly ; and as numerous pilots were to be found there, 
 skilled in navigating vessels across the Indian Ocean, 
 it was there colonies were first established, one of 
 which at least, and the only important one remaining to 
 
38 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 Portugal, Lorenzo Marques, has been the object of 
 envy, and the source of much contention in recent 
 years. 
 
 From the Malabar coast in the south to Karachi in 
 the north of India, Portuguese traders grew active, but, 
 owing to the fierceness and determination of the natives, 
 it was found impossible for some years to permanently 
 occupy any territory, until Goa was established in 1510, 
 as the centre of Portuguese interests. A year earlier 
 than this, Malacca had been subjugated, and the ex- 
 ploration of Sumatra undertaken ; while three years later, 
 Francisco Serrao discovered the Moluccas, the far- 
 famed islands from which Venice and Genoa had so 
 long' drawn their stores of valuable spices by the over- 
 land route through India and Persia, or by the Red 
 Sea and Isthmus of Suez. To divert this traffic round 
 the Cape of Good Hope, expeditions were fitted out 
 against Muscat and Ormuz in the Persian Gulf, and 
 Aden at the entrance to the Red Sea. While, then, the 
 Spanish colonists were searching for gold in sufficient 
 quantities to make the enterprise pay, much less realise 
 fortunes, the Portuguese tapped the source of wealth of 
 the great mercantile communities of the Middle Ages, 
 and, monopolising it themselves, rendered their country 
 for a time the richest in the world. 
 
 Of the numerous governors despatched by Portugal 
 to the East, the Duke of Albuquerque was the most 
 active, and accomplished the greatest results. Serving 
 under him in various capacities was Ferrao Magalhaes, 
 or Maghallanes, a young nobleman who sought on every 
 possible occasion to distinguish himself. Returning 
 home, he did not receive the reward he considered his 
 due ; and though he continued to agitate at Court, and to 
 
ACQUISITION 39 
 
 urge his claims, on the further ground that since his 
 arrival from the East he had taken part in an African 
 campaign, and been permanently lamed, he was either 
 repulsed or put off with some trifling concession. This 
 rankling in his mind, he determined to divest himself 
 of his nationality, and offer his services to Spain, the 
 patron of all foreign adventurers. 
 
 By the Papal Bull, Spain was debarred from under- 
 taking any enterprise in the East. This was, of course, 
 well known to Magalhaes, or Ferdinand Magellan as he 
 now chose to call himself, but he had carefully thought the 
 matter out, and arrived at a conclusion of his own. He 
 had heard much of the ideas which led to the discovery 
 of America, and though other and more important 
 matters then engaged the attention of Spain than the 
 discovery of Japan and China by the western route, he 
 still considered the plan feasible. He intimated to the 
 Emperor Charles V., then King of Spain, his desire to 
 be entrusted with an expedition, with which he would 
 undertake to reach the Moluccas from the west, and so 
 prove that they belonged by right to Spain. 
 
 News of this treachery reached Portugal, where it was 
 heard with the greatest indignation, and an angry corre- 
 spondence passed between the two Courts. Charles' 
 ambitions, however, lay in European aggrandisement, for 
 which the demands upon his exchequer were heavier than 
 he well knew how to meet. His great possessions in the 
 New World had hitherto been a drain upon his scanty 
 resources, as they had been upon those of his grandfather 
 before him ; and although Ferdinand lived for a quarter 
 of a century after the discovery of America, he left 
 hardly sufficient money in his coffers to pay his funeral 
 expenses. Charles, therefore, listened eagerly to the 
 
40 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 proposition by which he might acquire the teeming 
 riches of the Spice Islands, and, notwithstanding protests 
 and warnings alike, terms were finally agreed to in 
 March 1518, which placed five ships, and a full comple- 
 ment of men, at the disposal of Magellan. Failing any 
 other means of putting an end to the enterprise, a plot 
 was formed for the assassination of Magellan, but 
 miscarried ; and he weighed anchor on the loth 
 August 1519, though delayed in his actual departure 
 until the 2Oth September following. 
 
 Instructions were sent to the Brazils, already occupied 
 by Portugal, to waylay Magellan, and at all costs prevent 
 the continuance of his voyage ; and in case he eluded the 
 vigilance of the governor of that settlement, a strict watch 
 was to be kept at the Moluccas, and no quarter given 
 him if he ever reached there, as he was declared a traitor 
 to the Crown of Portugal. He arrived at the Rio de la 
 Plata unmolested, and entered that river, of great width 
 at its mouth and for some distance along its course, with 
 the idea that it offered the long sought passage to the 
 West. The increasing freshness of the water convinced 
 him that it was but a river, and he returned and moved 
 his course southwards. And now his real difficulties 
 began. Winter was setting in with all its rigour, and 
 the farther south he proceeded the more severe became 
 the weather. His crew was most cosmopolitan in 
 character and nationality, and included a number of 
 Portuguese, some of whom, it began to be suspected, had 
 been bribed to mutiny, if not indeed to murder their 
 commander. Dissensions broke out amongst the 
 captains of the different vessels on petty points of 
 precedence and discipline ; and only the most determined 
 stand by Magellan himself, who did not hesitate to hang 
 
ACQUISITION 41 
 
 several of the crew as an example to the rest, prevented 
 the total ruin of his hopes and plans. 
 
 To make matters worse, scarcity of provisions began to 
 be experienced, and it was then decided to winter in the 
 shelter of the river St. Julian. It was in October 1520 
 before a fresh start could be made, and on the 2ist of that 
 month a channel was discovered, the careful navigation 
 of which for thirty-eight days, amid shoals and innumer- 
 able islands, brought them, amid great rejoicing, once 
 more into the open sea, proving the theory maintained by 
 Columbus to his dying day to be so far, at anyrate, correct. 
 
 But Magellan, like all his predecessors, sadly mis- 
 calculated the distance between the remote East and the 
 far West, and after taking in such supplies of provisions 
 as were obtainable, renewed his voyage with a light 
 heart, and in full expectation of reaching land in a week 
 or two at longest. Days grew into weeks, and the weeks 
 passed into months, and still no break on the monotonous 
 horizon. The sufferings of the crew were horrible, as food 
 and water became gradually exhausted, and they had to 
 subsist at last by gnawing anything into which they could 
 get their teeth. To turn back was certain destruction, 
 as they could not possibly last out the time necessary 
 to cover the distance already traversed. To go forward, 
 therefore, was their only chance of salvation ; and after 
 a passage of ninety-eight days, land was sighted on the 
 1 8th March, and the most dreaded of their dangers 
 passed. They had sailed into a group of islands, not 
 the Moluccas as they had anticipated, but the Islas de 
 las Pintados, so called from the custom of the natives of 
 painting or tattooing their naked bodies,and subsequently 
 re-christened the Philippines, in honour of the heir to the 
 Spanish throne, who afterwards reigned as Philip II. 
 
 Magellan was not destined to reap the fruits of his 
 
42 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 enterprise, nor to suffer the punishment subsequently 
 inflicted on some of the survivors. He found the natives 
 among whom he first landed friendly disposed, but rightly 
 suspected them of treachery. Desirous, however, of con- 
 ciliating them as far as possible, he entered into their 
 quarrel with a tribe in a neighbouring island, and, in the 
 attack which he led against it, was slain. 
 
 Disputes arose as to who should succeed to the com- 
 mand ; and what was left of the fleet, after many adven- 
 tures and the loss of a considerable number of the crew, 
 arrived at the island of Tidor in the Moluccas on the 8th 
 November 1521. There it was decided that the Victoria 
 should load a cargo of spices and make its way to Spain 
 by the Cape of Good Hope, in direct defiance of the rights 
 of the Portuguese, while the Trinidad should return the 
 way she came. A valuable cargo, consisting of about 
 twenty-six tons of cloves, with parcels of cinnamon, 
 sandal wood, and nutmegs, was shipped, and after being 
 nearly captured by the Portuguese off the African coast, 
 and again at the Canaries, arrived in the harbour of San 
 Lucar, as was supposed, on the 6th September 1522, 
 having sailed round the world in three years all but a 
 few days. Through all their troubles, a careful record 
 of dates had been kept, and the officers were surprised 
 to find that what they imagined to be the 6th was 
 actually the 7th September in Seville ; and they were at 
 a loss to know how the one day had been missed, being 
 of course unaware that this is the invariable result of 
 circumnavigating the world from East to West. 
 
 Of the total number of 280 hands originally shipped, 
 only a remnant remained, of whom seventeen, together 
 with the captain, Juan Sebastian Elcano, were on board 
 the Victoria. They were received with great rejoicing, 
 and Charles conferred a pension of 500 ducats on 
 
ACQUISITION 43 
 
 Elcano ; but what fate would have awaited Magellan is 
 doubtful, as the captain and crew of the San Antonio, 
 which had deserted in the Straits on the outward voy- 
 age, were cast into prison, and the most hostile reports 
 had been spread as to the misconduct and tyranny of 
 the admiral of the squadron. 
 
 Proof was thus afforded of the possibility of reaching 
 the Spice Islands by a westerly route, and Charles was 
 not the sovereign to relinquish the rights which he 
 supposed this conferred upon him. He realised, how- 
 ever, that whatever connection he maintained with them, 
 must be from the West and not from the East; and 
 accordingly the second expedition set out by the same 
 route, but in the meantime orders were sent by the Portu- 
 guese to strongly fortify the Moluccas. The continental 
 engagements of Charles, together with the absorbing 
 claims of America, caused the East Indies for a time 
 to be neglected, the discoveries of gold having by this 
 time become of greater consequence than the slow accu- 
 mulation of spices. Urgently in need of money, the Em- 
 peror in 1529, in consideration of a loan of 3 50,000 ducats 
 from the King of Portugal, agreed to cede whatever 
 rights he possessed in these islands ; and when the third 
 expedition was planned in 1542 from Mexico, it was 
 directed solely to the Philippines, and express injunc- 
 tions given not to interfere in any way with the Moluccas. 
 
 It was not until 1564 that any definite attempt 
 was made at annexation. Again the voyage was 
 undertaken from Mexico, this time under Miguel 
 Lopez de Legaspi, who landed at Cebu on the 27 th 
 April 1565, and formally took possession. He remained 
 as governor, and five years later his grandson set sail for 
 Luzon, the largest island of the group, which numbers, 
 
44 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 in all some six hundred, and having captured the capital, 
 fortified it and made Manila the centre of government. A 
 municipal council was constituted the following year, 
 and Spain has retained possession of the islands ever 
 since, though not without her rights being more than 
 once seriously contested. In 1574 a Chinese pirate, La- 
 ma-hong, long a terror in Eastern waters, arrived off 
 Manila with sixty-two junks and a large force of fighting- 
 men, and was with difficulty repulsed ; while in 1762 the 
 British actually captured the capital, and would probably 
 have overrun the entire island, had not the Treaty of Paris 
 the following year terminated hostilities between Great 
 Britain and Spain. 
 
 For a lengthy period there was no direct connection 
 with the mother country, and the Philippines were 
 embraced in the viceroyalty of New Spain, through 
 which the whole of its commerce passed. A galleon 
 sailed once a year from Acapulco to Manila, carrying 
 bullion for the purchase of merchandise, as well as for 
 the necessities of the Government, together with such 
 manufactures as found a sale there, and took back in 
 exchange the products of the colony, which in due course 
 were conveyed across the isthmus to Porto Bello, and 
 shipped to Europe, a roundabout way which could not 
 survive the demands and competition of modern com- 
 merce. The loss of Mexico did not entail the forfeiture 
 of the Eastern possessions, as the revolting Mexicans 
 had no desire to burden themselves with such distant 
 responsibilities. Outbreaks in the islands themselves 
 have been numerous, but always hitherto suppressed. 
 It remains to be seen whether Spain can much longer 
 maintain a hold over the Philippines, any more than 
 over the last of its once great American possessions. 
 
IV 
 EXPLOITATION 
 
 HOWEVER desirous Columbus may have been to impart 
 the truths of Christianity to the benighted denizens of 
 the East, there can be no denying the fact that he never 
 lost sight of the main chance of the material benefit 
 likely to accrue from his voyages and discoveries. It 
 was his demand for a tenth of all revenues to be derived 
 from territories he might annex to the Castilian Crown, 
 as well as the hereditary governorship, that so nearly 
 lost Spain the temporary ownership of the New World, 
 though that should hardly have stood in the way with 
 men who believed the enterprise would prove valueless, 
 if not disastrous. Of the entire crew who accompanied 
 him on his first voyage, scarce a dozen anticipated any 
 gain to themselves or anyone else, and we can imagine 
 the feelings of delight, therefore, with which they first 
 viewed the little golden ornaments worn by the natives 
 of San Salvador. A vista of possibilities at once 
 opened up before them. From dreams of a watery grave 
 or a bottomless abyss, they were suddenly transported 
 to the realities of an unknown land, which they promptly 
 persuaded themselves was teeming with wealth ; and 
 wealth in those days had only one meaning gold. 
 
 When the island of Hayti spread itself out before 
 them, with its evident large population, from which 
 they received a most hearty welcome, and its promise 
 
 4-5 
 
46 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 of abundant sustenance, it is hardly surprising that 
 many of the men who left their native shores with 
 such reluctance, were equally chary to return. Columbus 
 himself was only too ready to fall in with their views, 
 and hoped that during the somewhat prolonged 
 absence which his voyage home and back again would 
 necessarily entail, the little colony he was about to 
 plant at Navidad would use all diligence in exploring 
 the interior, so that by the time he returned with a 
 greatly increased force, everything would be ready for 
 the systematic development of this fine estate. 
 
 The admiral was the one man who retained a clear head 
 amid all the excitement. He foresaw that events might 
 arise which would speedily convert the natives from 
 friends to foes, and out of the materials of the wreck of 
 the Santa Maria, which lay close at hand, he caused a 
 fort to be constructed ; and despicable as it must have 
 appeared in the eyes of a European soldier, it was 
 thought to be amply strong enough to afford protection 
 against an unwarlike tribe, possessed of no weapons, 
 and, as far as could be judged, utterly devoid of military 
 skill. The greatest protection of all, however, must be 
 to dwell on intimate terms with those by whom they 
 were surrounded, and to avoid every cause of offence ; 
 and these were the strict injunctions given by Columbus 
 at his departure. The true history of that colony will 
 never be known, as, when the second expedition arrived, 
 not a living soul was left to relate it. All that could be 
 gathered concerning it had to be collected from native 
 sources, which varied somewhat ; but it was only too 
 evident that, when the restraining hand of their captain 
 was removed, the indulgence of every desire and 
 passion was permitted to run riot ; and a terrible 
 
EXPLOITATION 47 
 
 revenge was taken, not by the tribe amongst whom 
 they actually dwelt, but by another and fiercer one from 
 the interior with which somehow or other they came 
 into contact. How often since has this sad story been 
 repeated, either in whole or in part ! 
 
 This disaster to a handful of their fellow-countrymen 
 was not likely to deter the crowd, which now for the 
 first time came out to exploit the riches of the New 
 World. To begin with, all was energy and enthusiasm, 
 but the ardour soon began to cool, and ere long gave 
 way to positive despair. The source of the gold which 
 was to have been at least discovered, if not actually 
 opened up and ready for work, was still unknown, and 
 lay somewhere in the interior defended by fierce 
 barbarians. The food supplies began to run out ; the 
 natives, extremely frugal in their diet, as all the gentler 
 inhabitants of the tropics are, had sufficient for them- 
 selves, and to spare for a few chance visitors ; but it 
 became a serious matter to have to provide for fifteen 
 hundred hungry intruders, the capacities of whose 
 stomachs was not their least surprising characteristic in 
 the minds of their hosts. In addition, there was no 
 adequate shelter for such a large company, which soon 
 began to experience the inconveniences of tropical rains 
 and hurricanes. Columbus, with his usual common- 
 sense, perceived that the first thing to be done was the 
 foundation of a settlement which should develop in 
 due course into a city. A suitable site was chosen, and 
 the town of Isabella built. But that was not the sort of 
 work so many grandees of Spain had left the Old World 
 to undertake ; and as Columbus refused to recognise 
 any distinctions of rank, and compelled all alike to bear 
 their share of the necessary burdens, murmurs grew 
 
48 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 into discontent, and discontent ripened into rebellion. 
 Thus early were planted the seeds of that spirit of 
 turmoil and revolution which is still one of the leading 
 features of every country and people which owe their 
 origin to Spanish settlement, and which, despite full 
 independence and occasional epochs of settled govern- 
 ment, it seems utterly impossible to eradicate. 
 
 The mind of every reader must be prepared for all 
 that followed. The maxims of Columbus were cast to 
 the winds, his foreign birth was suddenly remembered 
 against him as a crime, and the cry went up as of old, 
 " We will not have this man to reign over us." Why 
 should Spaniards work when there were natives to do 
 it for them? was the first idea that struck them, and 
 they became utterly heedless of the circumstance that 
 the labour of the Indians in providing for their own 
 wants was always of the lightest, and that toil in the 
 European sense was unknown to them. The reward 
 of their past faithfulness was compulsory service as 
 hewers of wood and drawers of water, and in a very 
 short time the entire population threatened to be 
 reduced to a state of abject slavery. 
 
 Nor was Columbus himself entirely free from blame for 
 the tendency which things were taking. In the second 
 voyage, the fierce Caribs had been encountered in the 
 islands south of Hayti, and had given every evidence 
 of their cannibal propensities. The admiral, therefore, 
 hoped at one stroke, by shipping to Spain as many as he 
 could capture, to rid the neighbourhood of their unwel- 
 come presence, to supply Spain itself with cheap labour 
 such as Portugal drew from its African dominions, 
 and to raise funds by their sale for the more rapid de- 
 velopment of Hispaniola and the neighbouring islands, 
 
EXPLOITATION 49 
 
 and thus allay, in part at least, the disappointment 
 arising from the absence of gold in the quantities so 
 confidently reckoned upon. 
 
 But the humanity and generous nature of Queen 
 Isabella would not tolerate this degradation of the 
 race, and her anger was roused even against her 
 favourite. With her death, the unfortunate Indians 
 lost, not perhaps their most ardent advocate for 
 the good, though in some points mistaken Las Casas 
 must always occupy that honourable position but 
 certainly their most powerful protector ; and though 
 slavery in its most odious aspect was never tolerated, 
 the increasing burdens and cruelties imposed on the 
 natives, despite every edict of the Home Government 
 to the contrary, rapidly diminished, until it almost 
 exterminated them. Their places were taken by the 
 African negro, who was found to be so much more 
 hardy and enduring that one was counted equal to at 
 least four Indians ; and the trade, as is well known, grew 
 with all its attendant horrors to enormous proportions. 
 Perhaps the strangest thing about it is, that it was 
 encouraged by the very people who took the Indians 
 under their special protection, in the hope of thus 
 relieving them ; and in the attempt to remedy an evil 
 and redress a wrong, a still greater one was perpetrated. 
 
 The rapid exhaustion of Hispaniola, even more than 
 the love of adventure and excitement, was the cause 
 of the creation of colonies elsewhere. That of course 
 would not have been so, had not the inordinate thirst 
 for gold led to the neglect of agriculture and every 
 useful industry, for what for some time was but the 
 pursuit of a will o' the wisp. Still, the most sanguine 
 anticipations, even in this respect, were destined at 
 no distant period to be more than fulfilled. The pearl 
 4 
 
So SPAIN AND IfS COLONIES 
 
 fisheries, first at Paria, and then in the islands of the 
 Pacific, opened up an unexpected source of wealth ; 
 but it was not until Montezuma offered his munificent 
 gifts to Cortes, to induce the latter to quit the shores 
 of Mexico, that the first great reservoir of the precious 
 metals was tapped. Still, it must be remembered that 
 the great stores of gold discovered, first in Mexico, and 
 subsequently in Peru, did not in themselves imply 
 that these countries were capable of continuing to 
 produce unlimited quantities. They were the accumu- 
 lations of many years, possibly of many centuries ; for, 
 as there was no foreign trade, everything produced 
 which could not be consumed had necessarily to be 
 preserved or destroyed. 
 
 It may be wondered what value gold possessed 
 in the ideas of these people. That it was held in 
 nothing like the same esteem as by Europeans is 
 certain ; but in Peru, at anyrate, its production and 
 preservation were assured, from the fact that it was 
 regarded as tears wept by the sun, which was the 
 god of the people, whose Incas, or rulers, were called 
 the Children of the Sun. In neither case, then, is it 
 surprising that the treasure was not clung to with 
 more tenacity. Both Montezuma and Atahualpa set 
 a higher value upon many other things; and the 
 quantities seized by Cortes and Pizarro and their re- 
 spective followers, vast though it appeared in their 
 eyes, and as it really was in those days, was parted 
 with, with scarcely a pang of regret. That secured by 
 Pizarro was by far the greater spoil, and was supposed 
 to be the price of the freedom of the Inca himself, who 
 offered to fill a room 35 feet by 17, and as high as a 
 man could reach, with gold plate in exchange for it. 
 He did not quite succeed, because Pizarro treacherously 
 
EXPLOITATION 51 
 
 put him to death before the task was completed, yet 
 the amount realised for distribution was equivalent 
 to something like 3^ millions sterling of the money of 
 to-day, and enriched the commonest foot-soldier beyond 
 the dreams of avarice. 
 
 It was silver, not gold moreover, which eventually 
 made b3Ttr~trcolhtries at once the wonder and the 
 envy of the civilised world. The richest mines were 
 unknown to the Indians, having only been discovered 
 after the Spanish conquest. Those of Zacotecas in 
 Mexico were first worked in 1532, while the more 
 famous Potosi lode in Peru was laid bare in 1545, by 
 a native scrambling up the side of a mountain in 
 pursuit of some llamas which had strayed from his flock, 
 and uprooting the shrubs to which he clung for support. 
 
 Desirous as the Spanish authorities at home were 
 to obtain all the gold and silver possible, they were 
 not blind to the fact, in the early days of colonisation 
 at anyrate, that true success could only be ensured 
 by permanent settlement. Columbus openly deplored 
 the class of adventurers who sailed forth, and earnestly 
 begged for sober and hard-working men. As governor- 
 general of Hispaniola, he declined to make any grants 
 of land except to those who had cultivated it for at least ^ 
 three years ; and the Government held out inducements / 
 with the same object, offering free passages, a supply 
 of seed and live stock, and exemption from taxation on 
 land and all agricultural produce. Among the 2500 - 
 souls accompanying Nicolas de Ovando in 1502, were 
 seventy-three married men with their wives and families, 
 and these formed the nucleus of the planting community 
 that gradually sprang up. Ovando himself, though a 
 bitter enemy of the Columbus family, adopted many 
 of the principles laid down by its head, and specially 
 
52 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 encouraged the cultivation of the sugar-cane, which sub- 
 sequently became the staple industry of the West Indies. 
 
 It goes without saying, that when the personal rights 
 of the natives were so totally disregarded, their terri- 
 torial ones were never so much as thought of; and a 
 colonist had only to express a desire for lands, not 
 in the occupation of a fellow-Spaniard, to receive them 
 without question as to any other claim over them. The 
 estates granted in this manner, particularly on the 
 mainland, were often of immense area, and more like 
 provinces or even kingdoms, while with these enconiund&s^ 
 as they were termed, went repartintientos, that is, allot- 
 ments of Indians to cultivate them. Just as these had 
 attained a higher grade of civilisation than their 
 brethren on the islands, so were they capable of greater 
 exertion, and negro slavery did not become so rife. 
 But the demands upon their strength nevertheless proved 
 excessive, and the mortality among them was so great 
 as to threaten their extinction. That has not occurred, 
 and their descendants, in greatly reduced numbers it is 
 true, help to people South and Central America to-day. 
 
 But work in the mines deteriorated their physique, 
 while the produce ruined the morals of their masters. 
 Up to the end of last century, when Spain began to lose 
 its hold over its South American possessions, the re- 
 corded import thence of gold and silver alone, consider- 
 ably exceeded one thousand millions sterling ; while 
 good authorities calculate that quite as much more, some 
 indeed say twice as much, was clandestinely sent to 
 Europe to avoid the payment of duty. Could anything 
 prove more conclusively that the precious metals are 
 not the true source of wealth? Spain to-day is the 
 poorest country in Europe, and tottering on the verge 
 of bankruptcy. 
 
CONSOLIDATION 
 
 As soon as the vast extent of the New World began to 
 unfold itself, steps were promptly taken to ensure its 
 peaceable enjoyment, at anyrate as far as European 
 intrusion was concerned. The Bull of Alexander VI. 
 ought to have been sufficient to guarantee this in an 
 intensely religious age, when the Holy See was regarded 
 with superstitious reverence. But the occupants of the 
 papal chair were mixed up too freely in political strife 
 and ambition to gain much respect, and Charles V. 
 himself was more than once in arms against the Pope, 
 and once at least sacked Rome. How much he 
 respected Papal Bulls may be judged by his action with 
 regard to the Moluccas ; and though he quibbled over, 
 rather than openly broke it, he established a precedent 
 for his enemies one day to follow, even had not the 
 Reformation destroyed papal authority and made a 
 merit of setting it at defiance. 
 
 We have already seen that Fonseca, afterwards Bishop 
 of Burgos, was in pretty full control of colonial, or 
 Indian affairs as they were called, when Columbus was 
 preparing his second expedition. In 1501 the Casa de 
 la Contratacion, or Board of Trade, was established at 
 Seville, with Fonseca at its head, and had cognisance of 
 every transaction that took place. It became a perman- 
 ent institution, and exercised a greater inquisition than 
 
 53 
 
54 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 even a modern custom - house in a much protected 
 country. Nothing could enter or leave Spain except 
 under its supervision ; and even when permission had 
 been obtained to land imports, they were stored in the 
 warehouses of the Board, and remained under its control 
 until further permission was given to remove them ; and 
 this, particularly at such times as the treasury was ill 
 supplied, was not an easy matter to arrange. But 
 something more was wanted than merely to regulate 
 trade, and in the year 1511 the Council of the Indies 
 was established, which became the supreme authority 
 of colonial government, as well as the final court of 
 appeal, from the decisions of which there was no further 
 redress. This council was reformed and finally perfected 
 in 1542, when Charles V. enacted a code of regulations, 
 which, with few alterations, remained in force until most 
 of the colonies were for ever lost. 
 
 Such were the home arrangements, but after all the 
 principal activity was in the colonies themselves. The 
 immense rights conferred on Columbus and his descend- 
 ants were sure to prove a bone of contention as soon as 
 their value became more apparent. Fonseca was the 
 first to attempt to undermine them, but he certainly had 
 the goodwill of Ferdinand, who was no advocate of the 
 rights of his subjects. Not only were the expeditions of 
 Ojeda, Nino, and others, breaches of the agreement, but 
 the appointment of Ovando as governor of Hispaniola 
 was a direct violation of it, particularly when accompanied 
 by a strict injunction to Columbus not to set foot on the 
 island, against which he urgently protested. After his 
 decease his son and heir, Diego, was equally persistent 
 in asserting his claims ; and it says a good deal for the 
 administration of justice at that time, that in a suit 
 
CONSOLIDATION 55 
 
 brought by him against the Crown, the Council of the 
 Indies gave a verdict in his favour. This was com- 
 promised by Diego Columbus relinquishing his claims to 
 perpetual governorship in exchange for such grants and 
 privileges as raised him and his family to a high position 
 among the grandees of Spain, as well as conferred upon 
 him a great fortune. 
 
 That left the way clear for such national arrangements 
 as might be necessary. But it was only to be expected 
 that future governors would look to the precedent of 
 the Columbus agreement, and endeavour, whenever 
 possible, to make similar provisions for themselves. 
 This was certainly the object of Diego Velasquez, when 
 he contemplated the conquest of Mexico, of the glory 
 and profit of which Cortes robbed him. Pizarro was 
 equally clamorous for the government of Peru, and 
 undertook a special mission to Spain, to secure it for 
 himself and Almagro who started on equal terms with 
 him ; but, as usually happens in such cases, he forgot all 
 about his comrade-in-arms at the critical moment, and 
 so prepared the way for that later dissension which rent 
 the country in twain. Magellan acted upon exactly the 
 same principle, and was assisted by Juan de Arandas, 
 the head of the Board of Trade, who, by a special and 
 private ageeement, was himself to profit in the venture 
 to the extent of one-eighth, while one-fifth only of the 
 total cargo brought home was to be reserved for the 
 Crown ; very different to Portuguese policy, which made 
 eastern trade a government monopoly, and claimed every- 
 thing, though it generally paid those who worked for 
 it handsomely enough, and a residence of a few years 
 in the colonies invariably meant a fortune. It was not, 
 therefore, until all the original discoverers and conquerors 
 
56 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 were dead that it became possible to make effective and 
 permanent regulations. 
 
 The capital of Hispaniola was soon removed from 
 Isabella on the north side of the island, to, in every way 
 a more convenient and commodious harbour in the 
 south, which received the name of San Domingo, and 
 became the seat of government for the West Indies. 
 The larger islands, like Porto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica, 
 were gradually colonised, but the smaller ones were left 
 alone ; it can well be understood that in the absence of 
 any proved deposits of gold they were scarcely worth 
 attention, and it was sufficient to keep a watch over 
 them to defend them from the incursions of other 
 nations. With the conquest of Mexico, however, the 
 centre of gravity was moved farther west, and still more 
 so when followed by that of Peru, because the only 
 known route from the latter was by Panama and across 
 the isthmus. Though Cortes lived until the last month 
 of the year 1547 he was practically superseded in the 
 government of Mexico some years earlier, as in 1540 
 Antonio de Mendoza, a scion of one of the greatest 
 houses in Spain, was despatched as governor, with 
 almost unlimited powers, and thus established the first 
 of the two great viceroyalties into which the whole 
 American continent was subsequently divided. 
 
 He was removed to Peru in 1550, and succeeded by 
 Luis de Velasco, who retained the position fifteen years, 
 and died at his post. Both were men of ability and integ- 
 rity, and did their utmost for the interests of colony and 
 Crown alike. Indeed, great wisdom was shown in the 
 choice of most of the early viceroys, and in no case were 
 they men who went out to exploit on their own account. 
 It was not they who planted the seeds of decay, nor for 
 
CONSOLIDATION 57 
 
 that matter the government that appointed them ; and 
 we must look for their dispersion to the vicious 
 principles and habits of the colonists themselves, 
 aggravated, it is true, by the false economic policy that 
 was pursued, but which was then universally believed in, 
 and not confined by any means to Spain. 
 
 Thus two great centres of authority were established 
 in the cities of Mexico and Lima respectively. Perhaps 
 the modern system which bears the closest analogy to 
 it, may be seen in British India, where a viceroy 
 exercises regal sway, and is upheld by a number of 
 lesser dignitaries. The latter correspond to the eleven 
 audiencias, or courts of judicature, appointed by Spain 
 to settle all legal questions, in which the viceroys were 
 not permitted to exercise any authority, the decisions 
 being supervised by the Council of the Indies alone. 
 The areas over which the eleven, to say nothing of the 
 two governments, enjoyed control, were of course 
 immense, and much delay as well as expense was 
 entailed in settling disputes and obtaining justice ; but 
 it is only fair to add that the audiencias, like the 
 viceroyalties, were wonderfully free from corruption. - 
 
 These areas, particularly the larger ones, were alto- 
 gether too great for efficient oversight ; that of Mexico 
 stretching from California in the north to Venezuela in 
 the south, and including not only the West Indies, but the 
 far removed Philippines, while that of Lima embraced 
 the whole of South America both east and west of the 
 Andes. The great territories included in the present 
 Republics of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay were 
 looked upon as of little value, as they contained neither 
 gold nor silver; and as every attempt made to settle 
 them only seemed to end in failure, little attention was 
 
58 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 given to their affairs. They became, indeed, a distinct 
 source of loss to Spain, as they were found useful for 
 purposes of contraband trade ; and eventually the gold 
 and silver, which could not be safely smuggled through 
 the ordinary ports of shipment, were conveyed across 
 the Andes and down the rivers to places of embarka- 
 tion on the Amazon or Rio de la Plata, where foreign 
 ships awaited the spoil and were ready to barter the 
 coveted produce and manufactures of Europe in 
 exchange. When these two viceroyalties were event- 
 ually subdivided, it was not into east and west, but 
 north and south, and New Granada became the centre 
 of one ; while the territories now included in the 
 United States were separated from Mexico, and con- 
 stituted the other; but in neither case were the 
 powers conferred on the new governors so great as the 
 original. 
 
 Though, the viceroys and audiencias were in the 
 enjoyment of such extensive power and authority, they 
 were restricted within well-defined limits. They were 
 bound to act strictly upon enactments made in Spain, 
 and had no legislative initiative of their own. True, 
 they might put a very wide construction upon many of 
 the laws laid down for their guidance, but even that 
 was liable to be reversed by appeal to the Council of 
 13ie Indies. Anything like sejf-^oj^ejrnm^tji^^ntirely 
 aksejit ; one rigid cast-irorT system bound the people of 
 every clime and in every stage of progress alike, and 
 it was most difficult to obtain any exemptions or 
 concessions. We must not, however, be too ready to 
 attribute such a policy to sheer stupidity, though there 
 was undoubtedly much of that intense pride and 
 tubborpness which is still characteristic of the modern 
 
CONSOLIDATION 59 
 
 Spaniard. Every other country in Europe would have 
 acted much in the same manner, and as a matter of 
 fact did so as soon as they got the chance. 
 
 Spain, of all countries, however, might at one time have 
 been expected to work on broader principles. It was 
 there civil and religious liberty first took root ; but, alas, 
 the tree which was so goodly to look upon, never bore 
 much fruit. The persistent sapping by Charles V. 
 robbed the people of most of their political privileges, 
 and prepared the way for despotism pure and simple ; 
 while the religious bigotry of his immediate successors, 
 Philip II. and Philip III., rarely equalled and perhaps 
 never exceeded, destroyed every vestige of independ- 
 ence of thought. Not content with establishing the 
 iniquitous Inquisition at home, it was everywhere im- 
 posed on the colonists, despite their emphatic protests, 
 and the wonder is how even the native Indians escaped 
 its clutches. There is always hope for a people 
 oppressed by a secular tyrant; there is rarely any 
 escape from ecclesiastical domination which has grown 
 up with them, and attends them from the cradle 
 to the grave. The latter was imposed at the most 
 critical period in the history of America, nor has 
 political independence yet secured more than a normal 
 deliverance from the thraldom. 
 
 A system, so rigid that it refuses to bend, is bound 
 in the long-run to break ; and that is exactly what 
 happened to Spain. Consolidation, or, as we call it 
 nowadays, federation, is very well in its way, and may 
 accomplish much that is beneficial to all concerned. 
 But its first condition is elasticity, so that every section 
 within its embrace may enjoy full freedom of expansion. 
 There must be no jealousies, no recriminations, and, 
 
60 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 above everything, no attempts to get all and give 
 nothing. These conditions are possible under an 
 arrangement entered into freely by all parties ; they are 
 unattainable when imposed by the strong upon the 
 weak. That is why Spain never won the gratitude of 
 its colonies, why each and every one eagerly seized 
 the opportunity of throwing off the yoke, and fought 
 desperately for independence, and why, to-day, it is 
 in its death-throes as a colonial power. 
 
VI 
 
 RESTRICTION 
 
 IN its desire to retain exclusive possession of the New 
 World, Spain could appeal to an important precedent. 
 In the year 1479, when Ferdinand and Isabella had 
 still to consolidate their kingdom by the final over- 
 throw of the Moorish dominion in Granada, there was 
 too much work at home to seek adventure abroad, and 
 Portugal had little difficulty in obtaining a treaty by 
 which its neighbour bound itself not to engage in 
 African conquest. As far as the west coast was con- 
 cerned, this was faithfully observed, though Ferdinand, 
 in the later years of his life, and Cardinal Ximenes, as 
 regent after his death, carried the war against the Moors 
 to the African shores of the Mediterranean. By the 
 Treaty of Tordesillas, Portugal, in its turn, bound itself 
 not to encroach upon the possessions of Spain in the 
 west, and it was the only power from which there was 
 any imminent danger to be feared. But for all that, 
 every possible precaution was adopted against the 
 intrusion of foreigners ; and as the discovery and con- 
 quest by Columbus had been made exclusively for the 
 benefit of the Castilian Crown, even the Aragonese were 
 included in this category ; and, until the distinction 
 between the two kingdoms was lost during the reign of 
 Charles v., they were forbidden to take part in any of 
 the numerous expeditions. 
 
 The Venetians and Genoese were the great ship- 
 
 61 
 
62 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 owners and merchants of the age; and lest they, or 
 any of the northern nations should be tempted to 
 engage in the lucrative traffic, it was expressly en- 
 acted that no goods were to be shipped to or from 
 America in any foreign bottom, unless a Spanish 
 one was absolutely unavailable. Spaniards were pro- 
 hibited from selling ships to foreigners, and a sub- 
 stantial bounty was offered to anyone who would 
 engage in shipbuilding. Thus early was adopted that 
 policy of restriction which was afterwards carried to such 
 /icliculous extremes with such disastrous results. 
 
 It happened soon after the discovery of America, 
 that the famous mercantile system and theories came 
 into vogue among European nations. Under them 
 there was a perpetual struggle to accumulate the 
 precious metals, the possession of which was supposed 
 to ensure wealth and well-being. It was but natural, 
 therefore, that when Spain found itself mistress of the 
 greatest supplies the world had ever known, it should 
 guard them with jealous care, and use every means to 
 >revent their dissemination. At all times the Crown 
 claimed a large royalty on the mineral productions of 
 the colonies, so large indeed, at first, as to be a practical 
 monopoly. But from two-thirds, its pretensions were 
 gradually lowered to one-half, one-third, and then to 
 one-fifth, at which it remained constant. It can be 
 well understood what a severe tax even twenty per 
 cent, was upon mining industry, one that would to-day 
 kill it in all but the very richest centres, though the 
 cost of production is so immeasurably cheapened. It 
 would have killed it then, had not the principal veins of 
 ore proved to be almost pure metal, which required 
 little more than extraction from the earth in which it 
 
RESTRICTION 63 
 
 was deposited. The royal fifth passing immediately 
 into the hands of government officials in the colonies, 
 appointed to collect it, would be safe in finding its 
 way to Spain, but it was necessary to take every 
 precaution that the remaining four-fifths went there 
 too. This meant that there must be exclusive trade, 
 and thatieverything the colonies wanted in exchange 
 for their bullion must be obtained from the mother 
 country. 
 
 To ensure that nothing should go astray, the channels 
 of trade were narrowed as much as possible. iXDnly on< 
 port in Spain was permitted to traffic with tne Indies, 
 Seville at first, and then Cadiz^s the ships employed 
 increased in burden, and made river navigation some- 
 what risky. The whole manufacturing industry of the 
 country became in consequence centred in that district, 
 and so rapidly was it developed that, by the middle of 
 the sixteenth century, there are said to have been 16,000 
 looms employing 1 30,000 people, engaged in Seville and 
 its environs weaving woollen and silk fabrics, mostly 
 for the American markets. 
 
 After the conquest of Mexico and Peru, the West 
 Indian Islands sank into comparative insignificance, and 
 attention was concentrated upon the mainland. There 
 again the same system prevailed as at home. There 
 were but two ports of arrival and departure Vera Cruz 
 for Mexico, and Porto Bello for the southern continent, 
 though Carthagena eventually became a port of call. To 
 reach Porto Bello everything from the west coast had 
 to be first transported to Panama, and then across the . 
 isthmus. Once a year the galleons crossed the Atlantic, - 
 and on their arrival at Porto Bello the great fair was 
 opened, and the entire business for twelve months had 
 
64 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 to be concluded within the forty days to which the 
 fair was limited. Nor was any allowance made for 
 possible expansion, the same number of ships departed 
 each time with 'much the same cargo. It was all the 
 better for the little coterie of Seville merchants who 
 controlled the trade, if the shipments made did fall 
 short of the demand, as then the fierce competition for 
 the limited supply of luxuries, [and even some of the 
 necessaries, of the Old World, resulted in unusual 
 quantities of bullion being offered in exchange for them. 
 Silver the colonists could obtain in plenty again as 
 soon as they got home ; oil and wine, silks and linens, 
 they must have now, or go without for a whole year. 
 So that twelve months' produce of the mines, whether 
 great or small, was frequently bartered for the 
 merchandise borne by the galleons. 
 
 Everybody, from the king in his palace to the 
 peasant in his hut, regarded the colonies simply as a 
 source of revenue and profit to himself, and when they 
 ceased to be this, they would be useless. The most 
 stringent regulations were adopted, therefore, against 
 trading, or even communicating amongst themselves, 
 or of engaging in any industry, manufacturing or 
 agricultural, which was not indigenous to the country ; 
 indeed, Spain insisted upon supplying everything it 
 could grow or make which would stand the sea voyage, 
 at its own price. The cultivation of neither the olive 
 nor the vine was permitted in the New World, and 
 severe penalties were inflicted upon anyone who had 
 the temerity to disobey. Peru and Chili, however, were 
 specially exempted, owing to their immense distance, 
 and the damaged condition in which liquids generally 
 arrived there, but they were not allowed to export the 
 
RESTRICTION 65 
 
 produce to any neighbouring country, and must consume 
 it themselves. The duties of the colonists were, in fact, 
 strictly limited to obtaining as much gold and silver as 
 they could, while the Spaniards at home were to take 
 care that they retained as little of it as possible. For 
 all that, many fortunes were realised, principally by 
 bullion being smuggled out of the country; and had 
 there not been some such inducement, few men would 
 have cared to expatriate themselves, and live amidst 
 such uncomfortable surroundings. 
 
 The acme of folly was reached in the relationship 
 which existed between the Philippines and the vice- 
 royalty to which it was attached. With a stubbornness 
 worthy of a better cause, Spain declined to hold any 
 direct communication with the islands, long after 
 Portuguese rights and claims in the East had become 
 obsolete ; it was not, indeed, until 1785 that any attempt 
 was made to trade with its Eastern colony, and the last 
 galleon from Acapulco to Manila only sailed in 1815. 
 
 The commerce between the two was for a long 
 period limited to one galleon a year, despatched so as 
 to arrive at Manila somewhere about the month of July. 
 When foreigners began to prey on Spanish commerce, 
 this galleon was carefully watched for, and not in- 
 frequently captured, so that as many as six consecutive 
 seasons passed without the usual intercourse. It took 
 with it regularly two million dollars in bullion, and half 
 a million dollars' worth of consumable stores. The 
 former was to pay for the goods purchased from the 
 Chinese and other traders during the year, and these had 
 always to be packed in fifteen hundred bales of exactly 
 the same size. Whatever room was left in the vessel 
 was allowed to be utilised by private shippers, whose 
 5 
 
66 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 principal excitement was speculating in the documents 
 conferring this privilege upon their possessors. 
 
 The shipments of these merchants were never to 
 exceed 250,000 dollars in value, nor were they allowed 
 to take from Mexico more than 500,000 dollars in pay- 
 ment, a paternal government, considering that one 
 hundred per cent, was ample margin for freight, charges, 
 and profit. As the articles most in demand in 
 Mexico were silk and other manufactures of the 
 Chinese, these were naturally given the preference, until 
 a strong protest was lodged by the Seville merchants 
 against the traffic, which, they maintained, competed 
 with them ; and an edict was actually passed in 1700 
 forbidding the shipment of anything from Manila to 
 Acapulco save wax, spices, and other natural productions 
 which could not be obtained from Spain. Even that 
 did not soothe the ruffled temper of the Spaniard, who 
 maintained that every dollar of bullion sent to the East, 
 for whatever object, was taken out of his pocket. 
 
 Precisely similar principles were observed in all 
 matters relating to government. Every office of profit 
 under the Crown, almost every emolument, however 
 trivial, was reserved for persons of pure Spanish birth. 
 As a consequence, the official class was migratory, 
 and remained in the colonies no longer than was 
 necessary to accumulate a fortune or a competence, 
 according to the taste of each individual member of it. 
 Though there were honest and honourable men to be 
 found among them, notably those filling the most 
 exalted positions, that did not prevent the vast majority 
 from preying on the colonists, many of whom, by virtue 
 of the grants of territory they had received, attained to 
 great influence and wealth. Their descendants were, 
 
RESTRICTION 67 
 
 nevertheless, debarred from all participation in either 
 the legislative or executive functions of government, 
 though they might have nothing but the purest Spanish 
 blood flowing in their veins. Nor could they become 
 dignitaries of the Church without much difficulty. In the 
 days when the Holy See found it politic to be on good 
 terms with the Spanish sovereign, the whole ecclesiastical 
 patronage of the New World was vested in him and his 
 successors ; and though many Popes endeavoured to get 
 this privilege back into their own hands, they always 
 failed, and were compelled to confirm the nominations of 
 the secular ruler. Both Mexico and Peru were rapidly 
 overrun with clergy, secular as well as regular, and 
 monastic establishments sprang up everywhere like 
 mushrooms, yet preferment was always reserved for 
 their brethren in Spain ; and out of nearly four hundred 
 bishops and archbishops consecrated up to the middle 
 of the seventeenth century, scarce a dozen were taken 
 from the Spanish-American community known as 
 Creoles. 
 
 How this policy came to be modified, abandoned it 
 never was, and remains more or less in force in the 
 remnant of the Spanish colonies to-day, we shall have 
 occasion to consider later on: necessity, that stern 
 mother, gradually accomplished what would never have 
 been yielded to any less persuasive influence. 
 
 After the unyielding conservatism of a century and a 
 half, one concession rapidly followed another. In 1746 
 permission was granted to % single ships to make the 
 voyage to America, and to sail round Cape Horn, on 
 condition that they were registered at, and traded only 
 with the port of Cadiz in Europe. In 1764 a packet 
 boat was despatched from Corunna once a month to 
 
68 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 Havana and several other West Indian ports, while in 
 the following year the trade was thrown open to 
 the whole of Spain, with the result that that with Cuba 
 tripled in ten years. 
 
 In 1785 a Philippine Company was instituted to trade 
 direct between Spain and the East, and all restrictions 
 limiting its extent were removed. Holland, which had 
 then attained to great importance in that part of the 
 world, lodged a protest, on the ground that it was an in- 
 fringement of the Papal Bull, which its own merchants 
 had torn into shreds nearly two centuries earlier. Not- 
 withstanding its great capital of 8,000,000 dollars, this 
 company did not long prosper. In 1825 it was in a shaky 
 condition, and appealed for an additional 4,500,000 
 dollars, to enable it to continue operations. In 1830 it 
 entirely collapsed, and a few years later the trade with 
 Manila was involuntarily thrown open to the world. 
 The limit of 2,500,000 dollars, so long imposed, had 
 expanded by 1841 to 3J million dollars of imports, 
 and nearly 4J millions of exports; in 1885 the figures 
 were 19 and 24^ million dollars respectively; and in 
 1893 they had further risen to 25 and 30 millions. 
 Similar results could be shown regarding Cuba; and 
 though Spain still enjoys many privileges in both 
 colonies, not extended to other countries, it has been 
 able to retain only a very moderate percentage of this 
 greatly increased commerce. What further extension 
 it is capable of, if made absolutely free, and the terri- 
 tories and people of all colours and nationalities placed 
 under wise and beneficent rule, is a question that time 
 must be left to answer. 
 
VII 
 OPPOSITION 
 
 FORTUNE favoured Columbus, in so far as the first 
 natives of the New World with whom he came into 
 contact were of a particularly mild and peaceable 
 disposition. His policy might have been considerably 
 modified, had he steered his ships the first voyage over 
 the course he took the second, and met with the 
 irreconcilable man-eating Caribs of the Lesser Antilles. 
 Yet it did not often happen that either Columbus or his 
 contemporary explorers encountered opposition on their 
 first introduction to the different tribes, among most of 
 which there was some family likeness. Means of com- 
 munication between them there was little or none, only 
 on rare occasions was the advent of strangers looked for, 
 generally it was as unexpected as at San Salvador. It 
 is proved, almost beyond possibility of doubt, that the 
 two most civilised peoples of America, the Mexicans 
 and Peruvians, were entirely ignorant of each other's 
 existence. This fact was of material assistance to the 
 Spaniards in their rapid subjugation of the continent, 
 as they were able to take each separate part in detail, 
 without so much as a dream of combination among 
 them. 
 
 Had the wishes of the great navigator been respected, 
 and the Indians treated with humanity and considera- 
 tion, the conflict might have been long delayed. 
 
70 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 Altogether avoided it hardly could have been, as long 
 experience has proved that the coloured races of man- 
 kind can only be convinced of the superiority of the 
 white man by force of arms, the sole argument to which 
 they have ever been accustomed. The misbehaviour of 
 the little colony left at Navidad in Hispaniola, however, 
 at once opened the flood-gates and precipitated the 
 deluge. There were chiefs and tribes in the interior 
 of the island, very different to the gentle cacique 
 Guacanagari and his dependants ; but whether the 
 Spaniards first baited the lion in his den, or the latter 
 was on the prowl for prey, will never be known. 
 
 At anyrate, the second batch of colonists found their 
 work cut out, and those who, like Alonso de Ojeda, loved 
 fighting for fighting's sake, had no reason to complain. 
 The first force of any magnitude they had to encounter 
 consisted of ten thousand naked warriors, led by a 
 cacique named Carnabo, and must have appeared 
 formidable enough to the handful of men entrenched 
 in the little fortress which was the object of attack. 
 But the very fact that they were successful, not only 
 raised the hopes, but afforded a new insight into the 
 sort of warfare they would have to conduct. Whatever 
 arms savages may possess, they always lack something 
 of the accoutrements of the drilled battalion, and that 
 something invariably wins the day against all odds. 
 In this particular instance, it was not the firearms and 
 cold steel, the former of which were contemptible enough 
 and made more noise than havoc, but the horses and 
 bloodhounds, the like of which had never been seen ; 
 for, strangely enough, the great West Continent was 
 entirely devoid of large animals until they were intro- 
 duced from Europe. The horses accomplished their 
 
OPPOSITION 71 
 
 work successfully, just in proportion as they had a dense 
 solid mass to ride into and scatter right and left ; the 
 terrible ferocity of the dogs, as they tore man after man 
 limb from limb, was absolutely irresistible. Thus, in 
 most future encounters, these two branches of the 
 service occupied a foremost place. 
 
 The contests in the islands were all much after the 
 same pattern, and could never have had but one result ; 
 for, as the Spaniards increased in numbers, the natives 
 were diminished by famine and fatigue, as well as by 
 slaughter. The population of Hayti at the advent of 
 Columbus was estimated to have been a million, yet, 
 before many years had elapsed, the colonists were 
 forcibly depopulating the smaller islands to provide a 
 supply of labour sufficient for their limited requirements. 
 It was the people of the mainland who might have been 
 expected, and who actually did offer the stoutest 
 resistance. No more wonderful campaign is recorded 
 in military history than that conducted by Cortes 
 against the Mexicans, and it may be doubted whether 
 there was another man living who could have carried it 
 to a successful issue. 
 
 Conspicuous as a general, he was unmatched as a 
 diplomatist, whether'in dealing with his own soldiers, his 
 allies, or his enemies. Who else in that age would have 
 dreamt, after defeating the Tlascalans against fearful 
 odds, of enlisting them against their deadly foes the 
 Aztecs, and so humouring them that they never swerved 
 in their loyalty? Or who could have traded on the 
 superstition of Montezuma, so as to gain complete con- 
 trol over his mind, and extract his treasures, valued at 
 something like one and a half millions sterling, without 
 a blow ? But Montezuma once removed, the people who 
 
72 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 had long been accustomed to render him an unquestioned 
 obedience, and to submit themselves to his slightest com- 
 mand, were free to follow leaders who evinced more spirit; 
 and the death of that monarch was speedily followed by 
 the noche triste with all its attendant horrors. To be 
 captured alive, as many of the Spanish soldiers were, 
 meant the most terrible of all ends, for they were hurried 
 away to the temples, and their palpitating hearts torn from 
 their living bodies, to be offered as a propitiation to the 
 national deities. Yet even this did not disconcert Cortes 
 and his brave adherents, who began immediately to 
 concert another plan of campaign. The difficulties they 
 had first encountered were as nothing compared to 
 those they had still to face, for they had to deal with a 
 victorious and determined foe, instead of a beaten and 
 depressed one. Every obstacle, however, was overcome ; 
 and with the energetic assistance of allies, who little 
 dreamt they were sealing their own doom and for ever 
 sacrificing their independence, the powerful and rich 
 kingdom of Mexico was finally brought into complete 
 subjection to the Castilian Crown. 
 
 Of totally different and vastly inferior fibre was the 
 conqueror of Peru. Pizarro was without either education 
 or address a rough, ambitious, and avaricious soldier. 
 He, too, was favoured by internal dissensions, of which 
 he could not possibly have known anything when he 
 set forth on his errand. After a long period of peaceful 
 and undisputed sway, the Inca dynasty was split by a 
 feud between two brothers, one of whom, Atahualpa, 
 had just asserted his superiority by force of arms, when 
 the European conquerors appeared on the scene. A 
 word from him, and not a man of them would have 
 escaped alive. But at the critical moment an unaccount- 
 
OPPOSITION 73 
 
 able paralysis overtook him, whether or not arising from 
 a curiosity to see and interview the strangers, it is 
 impossible to say. He realised his danger too late, for 
 Pizarro, imitating Cortes, seized the person of the 
 Inca, and the rest was rendered comparatively easy. 
 Accustomed, like Montezuma, to exact unqualified 
 obedience, he employed his subjects in collecting his 
 ransom instead of fighting for his deliverance ; and when 
 the debt was almost paid, he found himself doomed to 
 death instead of released from captivity. The forces of 
 the empire were then scattered, and without a leader 
 who could assume full authority. Still, many a desperate 
 bid was subsequently made for freedom, but each time 
 with less prospect of success, as the conquerors secured 
 a firmer grip upon the country, until the execution of 
 Tapac Amara, the last direct descendant of the Incas, 
 in 1571, left a solitude which was called peace. 
 
 But after all it was not the opposition of the Indians, 
 whether of the islands, of Mexico, or Peru, that proved 
 the greatest danger to Spanish sovereignty. Enmity 
 to Columbus, who was the accredited representative of 
 the Crown and legal governor of the Indies, did not 
 necessarily infer enmity to the Crown itself; indeed, 
 those who rebelled against him were loud in their 
 protestations of loyalty. Nevertheless, the turbulent 
 factions fought for their own hand, and would have 
 been equally opposed to any other governor who sought 
 to place the necessary restraint upon their license. By 
 permitting, and even compelling many of the discon- 
 tented to return home, as well as by the temporary 
 removal of Columbus himself, something like quiet was 
 restored ; but it is more than probable that had not the 
 colonists been largely dependent upon Spain for many 
 
74 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 necessaries, not excluding food, they would have cut 
 themselves adrift and refused to submit to the exactions 
 upon their industry, or rather upon that of the natives 
 from which they profited. More than once in the early 
 days, the Home Government had to step cautiously, 
 and commissions were despatched to ascertain where 
 the grievances lay, and if possible redress them. They 
 were mostly connected with labour; the majority of the 
 clergy, to their credit be it said, ranging themselves on 
 the side of humanity, and using all their influence to 
 obtain ordinances favourable to the natives. As we 
 have previously noticed, this difficulty! was smoothed 
 away to a great extent by the introduction of the 
 African negro, which began as early as the year 1503. 
 
 The followers of Cortes were remarkably loyal to him 
 in prosperity and adversity alike ; and though for a long 
 time he was unaware how his proceedings would be 
 received at Court, he remained consistent in his devotion 
 to his sovereign. His despatches breathe an almost 
 effusive submission to their will and interests, and only 
 his enemies ever laid any charges against him, while 
 his own actions too obviously refuted them. It was 
 only when some of his officers were removed from his 
 influence and entrusted with commissions of their own, 
 that they thought of kicking over the traces, and then 
 it invariably happened that they were not in situations 
 where any great harm could result. Mexico once 
 subdued, long rendered the most willing obedience of 
 any of the colonies, partly perhaps because under the 
 direct influence of good and great viceroys, who acted 
 both with intelligence and discretion. 
 
 It was far otherwise in Peru, where the duplicity of 
 Pizarro in excluding Almagro from his proper share in 
 
OPPOSITION 75 
 
 the governorship roused the suspicion, then the ire, and 
 finally the opposition of that honest and gallant soldier. 
 When Pizarro returned from his visit to Spain, he was 
 either accompanied or immediately followed by several of 
 his brothers, who among them, formed a family compact 
 for the protection and promotion of their own interests. 
 To rid themselves of the rivalry of Almagro, they 
 obtained for him the governorship of the country which 
 now comprises the Republic of Chili. This, however, 
 had still to be conquered, and the obstacles which 
 presented themselves to the enterprise appeared so 
 insurmountable, that Almagro and his followers aban- 
 doned it and returned to Cuzco, the rich capital of 
 Peru, which the former maintained fell within the 
 latitude of the patent granted to him. This assertion 
 was naturally contested by the Pizarros, and in the 
 civil war that followed, both Francisco Pizarro, the eldest 
 and foremost of the brothers, and Almagro met with 
 violent deaths. The Indians looked on with amaze- 
 ment at this strife between the white men, but failed to 
 profit by it. Had they shown anything like the energy 
 displayed in the warfare among themselves, or that 
 of their Mexican brothers, they must inevitably have 
 recaptured their kingdom, which it would have been 
 extremely difficult to reconquer, but having allowed the 
 golden^opportunity to slip, it never again offered. 
 
 But the most serious menace to the supremacy of 
 Spain in the New World occurred shortly after the 
 promulgation of the edicts of Charles V. in 1542. The 
 clauses guaranteeing the Indians their freedom, and 
 protecting them against undue imposition, either of 
 taxation or forced labour, were so obnoxious to the 
 colonists, that something like a general rising was 
 
76 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 threatened. The tact of the Mexican viceroy pacified 
 those under his rule, but Peru experienced the full force 
 of an armed rebellion with all its ' evil consequences. 
 The leader in this instance was Gonzales Pizarro, who 
 had inherited the immense estates conferred upon the 
 family by a grateful sovereign, and who now un- 
 doubtedly aimed at establishing a separate kingdom 
 with himself its supreme head. Fortunately, the right 
 man was again sent from Spain to deal effectively with 
 this uprising, and though a cleric, Vaca de Castro 
 exhibited the skill of a general and the diplomacy of a 
 statesman. With the execution of Gonzales, the last 
 of the Pizarro brothers, peace was restored ; and by the 
 middle of the sixteenth century the various govern- 
 ments were so effectively consolidated, that not for 
 upwards of a hundred and fifty years did any revolt, 
 Indian or Creole, meet with more than temporary 
 success. 
 
 It was far otherwise with the Philippines, which have 
 never been free for any length of time from disturbances 
 of some kind. No effort indeed has ever been made 
 to thoroughly subdue the turbulent natives ; and there 
 is no similar extent of territory under the control of a 
 European government, about which so little is known 
 regarding its natural resources and mineral wealth as 
 the important islands of Luzon and Mindanao, which 
 embrace half the total area of the archipelago. The 
 principal ports have been strongly fortified, and reliance 
 placed upon them to retain possession. The im- 
 munities enjoyed by the natives would, under ordinary 
 circumstances, offer little inducement to revolt, but 
 unfortunately the Philippines have from the very first 
 been particularly subject to ecclesiastical influence and 
 
OPPOSITION 77 
 
 jurisdiction, and in its missionary and persecuting zeal 
 the priesthood has made itself thoroughly obnoxious. 
 The religious orders were the special object of animosity 
 in the latest rising, and unless they are either suppressed, 
 or placed under more effective political control, there 
 will be little prospect of peace while Spain clings to the 
 ownership of the islands. 
 
 In an epoch when most of the nations of Europe are 
 struggling to add to their territories in the remotest 
 corners of the earth, it seems almost incredible that 
 four centuries ago a single one of them should have 
 been permitted to annex a whole continent unchallenged. 
 It was not so much the Pope's Bull that frightened 
 competitors away, as the fact that they were too deeply 
 absorbed in their own affairs. The importunity of 
 Columbus had to wear itself nearly out before the 
 fortunate completion of the Moorish conquest won 
 it a more ready ear ; and most other countries were 
 about the same time either engaged in, or just recovering 
 from, some similar internecine strife. Moreover, it was 
 the energy of private adventurers rather than of the 
 Spanish Crown which won for the latter a vast empire 
 beyond the seas ; nor was it until its value became plainly 
 apparent that it was thought worth while to go to any 
 great amount of trouble or expense in its development. 
 
 Similarly, the first external enemies the Spanish 
 colonies had to encounter, were private and unattached 
 adventurers. Piracy was an institution which had 
 already flourished for many centuries. The Barbary 
 corsairs were far more feared by the merchants of 
 Venice and Genoa than the fiercest storms that ever 
 visited the Mediterranean ; and they had their counter- 
 part in the Baltic, where the Hanseatic League carried 
 
78 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 on so extensive a commerce. It was only to be expected 
 that they would sally forth from their inland seas when 
 so much more valuable spoil was to be secured on the 
 open ocean beyond, but strange to say, with the rapid 
 decline of the trade which they had so long harried, 
 their activity slackened, and their principles and pro- 
 fession were largely inherited by more civilised races. 
 Some excuse was offered for this by the almost constant 
 warfare that prevailed during the reign of Charles V., 
 when France and Spain were at perpetual enmity, and 
 England was found, first on one side, then on the other. 
 The first important loss that befel Spain was the capture 
 of the vessel conveying home the royal share of the 
 treasures of Mexico by a French privateer, or pirate, 
 as the Spaniards always preferred to call the ships which 
 despoiled their fleets, a designation that was more often 
 than not amply justified. 
 
 To begin with, these pirate ships were content to 
 hang about the Azores, on the chance of meeting a 
 caravel laden with treasure homeward bound. They 
 gradually ventured farther west, until they actually 
 arrived among the West Indian Islands, where they were 
 surprised to find that altogether undreamt-of facilities 
 awaited them for the pursuit of their nefarious trade. 
 Though the entire Archipelago belonged nominally to 
 Spain, only the larger islands were actually occupied, 
 the smaller not being regarded as worthy of attention, 
 until the Indian population of Hispaniola, Cuba, and 
 Porto Rico, began to fail, and then they were raided for 
 their inhabitants to supply the vacant places. With a 
 scanty Spanish population, it would have been utterly im- 
 possible to fortify and inhabit all, even had colonists been 
 found so self-denying as to banish themselves to places 
 
OPPOSITION 79 
 
 where the only chance of accumulating wealth was by 
 hard work and steady application to agricultural pursuits. 
 
 For a long time these scattered islands were merely 
 places of call, where fresh water and fruit could be 
 obtained. No attempt was made .at annexation in the 
 name of any foreign power, and it would have been 
 folly for any ship's company, even had they been 
 disposed to relinquish their buccaneering career, to 
 settle down and defy the Spanish power, whose forces 
 would quickly have been put in motion to expel them. 
 
 Two events, designed by Philip II. to aggrandise the 
 power of Spain at the expense of its neighbours, were 
 eventually the means of arousing enmity against it to 
 such an extent that the opposition of private adventurers 
 was suddenly backed up by the full weight of the most 
 rapidly progressing peoples and governments in the Old 
 World. 
 
 Many previous efforts had been made to unite the 
 Crowns of Spain and Portugal, but hitherto all had 
 failed. The heroic death of Sebastian, however, in 1580, 
 left the throne of Portugal without a direct heir, and 
 among the numerous claimants was Philip, who over- 
 reached all his competitors. He was probably even 
 then meditating that descent upon the liberties of 
 England, which resulted eight years later in the despatch 
 of the renowned Armada, and the writing of one of the 
 most brilliant pages of English history. Success in the 
 one instance, no less than failure in the other, created 
 the most deadly foes that Spain ever had to encounter, 
 until the persistent antagonism of Holland and England 
 reduced it at last to a miserable shadow of its former self. 
 
 Philip's ruling passion was an intense bigotry, and 
 from the moment he assumed sway in Spain and the 
 
8o SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 Low Countries, he sought to exterminate every trace 
 of the Reformed faith. That brought him into conflict 
 with the Dutch, whose principal port and city of 
 Amsterdam was fast concentrating within itself the 
 trade that Bruges and Antwerp had once commanded 
 as the principal marts of the Hanseatic League. As 
 Portugal extended its conquests in the East, Lisbon 
 displaced Venice and Genoa, and became the great 
 emporium of all Eastern produce, whence Amsterdam 
 drew its supplies for distribution throughout Northern 
 Europe. With the object, therefore, of destroying Dutch 
 trade, Philip closed the port of Lisbon to it in 1594, 
 fondly imagining that that would ruin his rebellious 
 subjects, and enforce submission to his will. 
 
 He had entirely mistaken Dutch character, however, 
 for in the following year the services were enlisted of 
 Cornelius Hautmann, who had been a pilot in the 
 Portuguese service; and he conducted the first Dutch 
 expedition round the Cape of Good Hope on its way to 
 open up a direct trade with the Spice Islands and India, 
 which of course had become the property of Spain along 
 with its own Philippines. Thus modestly was laid the 
 foundation of the Dutch Empire in the East Indies, and 
 when Portugal regained its freedom in 1640, under the 
 House of Braganza, it found itself stripped of most of its 
 former colonies, which were never to be restored. 
 
 Not content merely with retaining their former trade, 
 the Dutch sought to extend it in other directions ; and 
 the incorporation of their East India Company in 1602 
 was followed by that of the West India Company in 
 1621, the operations of which were to embrace the west 
 coast of Africa as well as the whole of Spanish America, 
 in which the Brazils had then to be included. They 
 
OPPOSITION 81 
 
 had been preceded many years earlier by the English, 
 who commenced operations in good earnest some 
 time before the date of the Armada; indeed, those 
 two great figures in English naval history, Sir John 
 Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake, had then already 
 performed their greatest exploits. As early as 1572, 
 the latter gave a good account of himself on the Spanish 
 Main, but his most daring feat was accomplished in 
 1578, when he sailed through the Straits of Magellan 
 and appeared off the coast of Peru. Francisco Draques 
 was the terror of Spanish America, and his was the 
 name used to frighten Spanish American children when 
 they were naughty. 
 
 A new danger thus became apparent, as the Spaniards 
 had never dreamt before of reaching their West Coast 
 possessions by the southern route. Lest other foreign 
 adventurers should follow in the wake, an expedition 
 under Pedro Sarmiento was despatched from Chili to 
 explore the Straits and the adjoining territory, with the 
 view, if practicable, of founding a strong colony and 
 erecting substantial fortifications. Sarmiento's zeal 
 outran his discretion, and after accomplishing his task 
 he sailed for Spain, where he gave an exaggerated 
 account, not only of the danger of leaving the Straits 
 unprotected, but of the ease with which they could be 
 rendered impregnable to all unfriendly visitors. A 
 colony consisting of about four hundred souls was 
 actually sent out in 1582, though from the very first it 
 met with nothing but dire misfortune. 
 
 The captain-general commissioned to take charge of 
 
 the undertaking, Diego Flores, disliked the job, and 
 
 began by chartering the worst ships he could find. 
 
 His lieutenant, Sarmiento, was more discreet in the 
 
 6 
 
82 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 choice of the embryo colonists, most of whom were 
 skilled mechanics ; but the fleet had scarcely left San 
 Lucar on the outward voyage, when half of them were 
 shipwrecked and drowned. Though replaced, disaster 
 continued to follow upon disaster, the voyage being 
 very much a repetition of the previous one made by 
 Magellan, only in this instance the commander was him- 
 self the leading obstructionist. Eventually, rather more 
 than two hundred souls sailed from the Rio de la Plata, 
 and forty-five of these were drowned ere the Straits were 
 reached. All but eight of the survivors subsequently 
 perished, and the last of them was taken off in 1589 
 by the Delight, commanded by Sir John Cavendish, 
 who appropriately named the spot where he found him 
 " Port Famine." 
 
 The advent of the English and Dutch, followed half 
 a century later by the French, led to the settlement 
 of some of the unoccupied islands. They rapidly 
 became something more than mere provisioning depots, 
 though several of them, and notably the island of 
 Tortuga, were nothing else than the lairs of desperate 
 crews of pirates, as reckless of their own lives as of 
 those who were unfortunate enough to fall into their 
 clutches. But Barbadoes and St. Christopher, St. 
 Eustatius and Curasao, Martinique and Guadaloupe, 
 became the centre of something more legitimate, if 
 quite as illegal, as sinking galleons and purloining 
 their treasure, though that business was never missed 
 either when the opportunity presented itself ; and the 
 Dutch West India Company alone is said to have been 
 responsible for the capture of between five and six 
 hundred Spanish vessels. 
 
 A great contraband trade sprang up, due almost 
 
OPPOSITION 83 
 
 entirely to the severe restrictions imposed by the Home 
 Government upon the colonists, who retaliated by seizing 
 every chance that offered, not only of smuggling their 
 treasure into Europe, but of exchanging it for those 
 luxuries which their own manufacturers and traders 
 dealt out to them with so parsimonious a hand. The 
 galleons still continued to make their yearly voyages, 
 but each time the profits became smaller, as the demand 
 for the merchandise they carried was found to have been 
 forestalled. This reacted upon Spanish industry at home, 
 until not one-twentieth of the looms of Seville could 
 afford employment to the native population. Even the 
 regular trade that still remained passed into other hands, 
 and though none but Spaniards were permitted to engage 
 in it, it was done in Spanish names on foreign account. 
 The commerce of the galleons, which at one time ex- 
 ceeded 15,000 tons each voyage, fell away until it hardly 
 reached 2000, and represented little more than the 
 royal fifth on such bullion as the owners felt bound 
 to declare. Dutch and English manufacturers supplied 
 the fabrics worn in America ; and though the Spanish 
 shippers through whom they were consigned might 
 easily have refused payment on the ground that they 
 were contraband, they retained their honour, even after 
 they had little else to lose. 
 
 By degrees the Spanish Government was bound to 
 recognise some of the privileges to which others had 
 helped themselves. Under the Treaty of Utrecht, con- 
 cluded in 1713, England was granted the privilege for 
 thirty years of supplying America with 4800 negro slaves 
 annually, and was also permitted to send a ship of 500 
 tons burden to the fair at Porto Bello. It was not long 
 before the biggest 5oo-tonner that ever set sail regularly 
 
84 SPAIN AND ITS, COLONIES 
 
 left an English port, and it was as regularly accom- 
 panied by a fleet of others. The South Sea Company, 
 founded in 1711, knew a good deal about the contents 
 of these vessels, or at anyrate their agents did ; and, as 
 fast as the merchandise was disposed of, it was surrepti- 
 tiously replaced from the holds of the smaller ships, which 
 were either cruising near at hand or anchored at some 
 convenient port in the neighbourhood. Spain, in short, 
 retained the territory and but little else. All that made 
 it really valuable slowly but surely slipped through its 
 grasp ; the occasional capture of the galleons laden with 
 treasure, in the days of Queen Elizabeth was but a 
 trifling loss compared with the almost entire surrender 
 of the commerce, which had taken place soon after the 
 House of Hanover ascended the throne of England. 
 Nor was it ever regained. The foreigner obtained so 
 firm a foothold that nothing could shake him loose ; and 
 whether he carried on the traffic in his own name, or 
 in that of someone else, he invariably managed to pocket 
 the profits. 
 
VIII 
 EXPULSION 
 
 IT rarely happened that an expedition was fitted out 
 in a foreign port for the express purpose of capturing 
 American territory. Trade and treasure were the 
 objects desired, and when it was discovered that the 
 Spanish colonists were ready enough to traffic with all 
 comers, and pay handsomely for what they wanted, no 
 idea was entertained of expelling them from their 
 possessions. In the East, of course, it was different, 
 because there the bulk of the trade was in the hands 
 of the natives and of the Chinese, who came and went 
 all the year round, and it was necessary to establish 
 permanent depots or factories in order to be always 
 ready for them. The tactics pursued in the two hemi- 
 spheres, therefore, were totally different, but the object 
 was the same, namely to get into the closest possible 
 relationship with those who controlled the local 
 commerce. 
 
 Occasionally, some nation with which Spain was 
 at war sought to deal it a blow in the West. Of the 
 West India Islands, Hispaniola continued to be by far 
 the most important, followed by Porto Rico and Cuba, 
 with Jamaica a considerable distance in the rear, and 
 the rest nowhere. By the middle of the seventeenth 
 century, more than one European country was repre- 
 sented in some way or other, and as early as 1621 the 
 
 85 
 
86 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 Dutch inaugurated the incorporation of their West 
 India Company by the capture of the capital of Porto 
 Rico, which however they did not long retain. The 
 special aim of the company was the annexation of the 
 Brazils, and they actually made some conquests there, 
 and sent out a governor. But their most successful 
 operations were conducted farther north, and Guiana 
 became the real centre of Dutch power in the West, 
 and the base from which Dutch traders carried on their 
 illicit traffic with the Spanish possessions. 
 
 The English secured their first foothold in the neigh- 
 bourhood by occupying the Bermudas in 1621, though 
 this hardly brought them into direct contact with the 
 West Indies. This was speedily followed by settle- 
 ments in some of the unoccupied islands farther south. 
 Barbadoes was taken possession of in 1625, and the same 
 year St. Christopher, or St. Kitts as it is now called, 
 was divided between the English and French. The 
 former continued to add to their territory, taking Nevis 
 in 1628, Antigua and Montserrat in 1632; and all these 
 islands are so essentially English, as to prove con- 
 clusively that, although once nominally owned by 
 Spain, Spanish influence was never exerted in them. 
 
 From 1650 until the period of his death, Oliver 
 Cromwell, having established his authority at home, 
 pursued an active foreign policy, and it was only 
 natural that he should find himself in conflict with 
 Spain, whose maxims of government, both civil and 
 religious, were so utterly at variance with his. Thus, 
 in 1654, a somewhat formidable fleet under the com- 
 mand of the admirals Penn and Venables, sailed for 
 Barbadoes, where they would be ready for any emer- 
 gency. Early the following year they made a descent 
 
EXPULSION 87 
 
 upon Hispaniola, selecting the capital, San Domingo, as 
 the object of attack. On the approach of the ships, the 
 inhabitants, white and black alike, fled inland, but the 
 affair was sadly mismanaged and somehow miscarried. 
 Not wishing the expedition to prove a complete failure, 
 the admirals set sail for the adjoining island of Jamaica, 
 which did not then contain at the outside, more than 
 1500 whites, and perhaps as many blacks. This time, 
 no difficulty was experienced, and the island was taken 
 formal possession of, this being the first loss of occupied 
 territory inflicted upon Spain, as well as the most im- 
 portant acquisition ever made in the West Indies by 
 England. In 1658 the Spaniards attempted to drive 
 the intruders out but failed, and in 1670 a treaty was 
 entered into between the two countries, in which Spain 
 recognised the rights of England both in Jamaica and 
 the smaller islands of which possession had been 
 previously taken. 
 
 About this time also, the French West India Company 
 was incorporated, the brilliant finance minister of Louis 
 XIV., Colbert, not liking to be without a hand in the game. 
 He began in a more legitimate fashion than his com- 
 petitors, and in 1664 purchased the rights of the settlers 
 in Martinique, Guadaloupe, St. Lucia, Grenada, and a few 
 other islands for about a million Hvres. Spanish tyranny, 
 however, afforded an excuse for more high-handed pro- 
 ceedings, and the company secured a footing on the 
 western side of Hispaniola, Spanish interests being con- 
 centrated almost entirely on the eastern. The settle- 
 ments so established became little more than a rallying- 
 point and shelter for buccaneers, who, in consequence of 
 their roving habits, were difficult to eject, until eventually 
 this intermittent occupation of a portion of the island 
 
88 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 induced France to lay claim to the whole, but the 
 cession was only formally recognised by Spain more 
 than a century later. Thus the four predominant 
 powers of Europe all had a stake in the Western Hemi- 
 sphere. 
 
 Nearly a hundred and fifty years elapsed without 
 witnessing any further important changes. The very 
 vastness of the Spanish American Empire was its 
 principal protection. Europe was growing thoroughly 
 accustomed to immense armies, but they could only be 
 moved on land, and there was no means for transport- 
 ing them across the sea. What chance was there then 
 of conquering a territory which extended uninter- 
 ruptedly from California to Chili, and from Florida to 
 the Rio de la Plata, even had there been much inclina- 
 tion ? The idea, it is true, occurred more than once, and 
 especially in 1702, when, the death of Charles II. of Spain 
 having brought to an end the Hapsburg dynasty, and 
 the Wars of the Spanish Succession were entered upon, 
 an alliance was formed between England, Holland, and 
 the German Empire for the conquest of the Spanish 
 colonies, but like others it came to nothing. Again, in 
 1739, Spain, alarmed at the growing contraband trade, 
 insisted very justifiably in searching English ships in 
 American waters, but this was resented and led to war, in 
 which Porto Bello was captured, and that had some- 
 thing to do with the permission granted a few years 
 later to trade by the longer, but safer and more con- 
 venient route round Cape Horn. 
 
 Once more, in 1762, what was known as the Family 
 Compact involved the rest of Europe in hostilities 
 against the Bourbon dynasties in France, Spain, and 
 Italy, and the war was carried both to the East and 
 
EXPULSION 89 
 
 West Indies. Havana and Manila were captured by 
 the English, and might have become English posses- 
 sions, had not the Treaty of Paris, concluded in 1763, 
 brought the campaign to an end, and made it a condition 
 that all colonial conquests were to be restored to their 
 original owners. Minor changes were frequent and 
 numerous, but they were generally a mere shuffling 
 of the cards between England, Holland, and France, 
 leaving the Spanish possessions much as they were. 
 
 The eighteenth century, as it drew to its close, found 
 the Spanish occupation of America, almost as it had 
 been in the first half of the seventeenth. Then a 
 mighty upheaval was witnessed both in North America 
 and Europe, and the War of Independence in the 
 United States, together with the French Revolution, 
 provide the sequel for what followed in South America. 
 Scarcely a murmur was heard in the principal Spanish 
 colonies while these great events were changing the 
 destinies of the civilised world, and an onlooker who 
 had time to think must have been astonished at their 
 apparent loyalty to the mother country, oppressed 
 though they had beerf; and still were, while everywhere 
 else the blow for freedom was being struck. Perhaps 
 another conclusion might have been arrived at, namely, 
 that the ancient Spanish stock had so degenerated, and 
 had become such a mean-spirited race, that it dare not 
 act like its neighbours farther north ; but subsequent 
 events disproved this hypothesis. The Girondists and 
 the Mountain rose and fell ; Napoleon became succes- 
 sively director, dictator, emperor still no sign of move- 
 ment. Then the moment arrived for the arch-disturber 
 of Europe to overthrow the ancient monarchy of Spain, 
 and to establish a brand new one with his brother 
 
90 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 Joseph at its head. That was the supreme crisis to 
 make a move, or for ever to remain still. Spain almost 
 to a man resented the affront. Spanish America joined 
 the mother country, and refused to recognise the upstart 
 dynasty. 
 
 Still, in the midst of this death-like calm, some 
 presages of the coming storm were discernible. In the 
 first place, France, by the Treaty of Basle in 1795, 
 secured the cession of the whole of Hispaniola, only, 
 however, in a few years to lose it again by its declaration 
 of independence, and the formation of a black republic. 
 In the naval conflicts so frequent during that disturbed 
 period England both lost and gained. The Dutch and 
 Spanish were both unwilling confederates of Napoleon, 
 but their connection with him, nevertheless exposed 
 their foreign possessions to the attack of his declared 
 enemies ; and England captured Demerara and Essequibo 
 in Guiana from the former, and the island of Trinidad 
 from the latter. All these were trivial acquisitions, 
 compared with the vast extent of Mexico and Central 
 America, Peru, and New Granada, and the eastern 
 province of Buenos Ayres. Brazil had reverted to 
 Portugal with the firm establishment of the Braganza 
 dynasty, and was nearly all there was left of its once 
 great colonial empire. In March 1808 the ill fortune 
 of the royal family drove them from their own kingdom 
 to find refuge beyond the seas, and Brazil became an 
 independent empire under the fugitive Portuguese 
 sovereign, whose descendants remained in peaceable 
 and prosperous possession until the revolution which 
 dethroned the late ill-fated Dom Pedro. 
 
 These changes were due entirely to foreign intervention 
 and not to domestic unrest. The first sign of this was 
 
EXPULSION 91 
 
 when Francisco Miranda, a Spanish American who had 
 fought under Washington, conceived the idea of freeing 
 his fellow-countrymen, and took steps with that object 
 by founding a " Gran Reunion Americana " in London in 
 1806. But so unresponsive were the inhabitants of the 
 Spanish Main, that the first active movement of the 
 league resulted in dead failure. It attracted the 
 sympathy and support, however, of two active and 
 capable men, Bolivar and San Martin, who were destined 
 to do so much for the emancipation of South America 
 from European bondage, and whose advent brought a 
 rapid change in the feeling of indifference with which 
 the movement was regarded. 
 
 Still, the loyalty of the colonists might have been 
 proof against their blandishments had the Government of 
 Ferdinand vii., established at Cadiz in opposition to that 
 of Joseph Buonaparte, shown itself in any way con- 
 ciliatory towards them. Loyal though the Spaniards at 
 home were to the Bourbon dynasty, they were only 
 willing to rally round it, on condition of the carrying out 
 of many important reforms in consonance with the spirit 
 of the age ; and the colonists likewise demanded that, as 
 the price of their adhesion, they should be put upon an 
 equality with Spain, and be accorded perfect liberty in 
 their agricultural and manufacturing industries; that 
 trade should be thrown open between all the countries on 
 the American Continent and with the Philippines ; and 
 that all restrictions and monopolies should be abolished, 
 and fixed duties substituted in their place. Reasonable 
 though these demands now appear, they were indignantly 
 rejected, and with one consent nearly every country in 
 Spanish America was ablaze with revolution. 
 
 One of the earliest outbreaks was in Mexico, the near 
 
92 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 proximity of the United States having perhaps inspired 
 in that country a more intense longing for freedom than 
 elsewhere. A small band of patriots had for some time 
 been watching an opportunity for asserting themselves, 
 and with Hidalgo and Allende at their head, took the 
 extreme step of issuing a declaration of independence 
 on the 1 6th September 1810. Spanish influence was 
 still strong, and in less than a year the outbreak was 
 suppressed, and the leaders executed. Others rose to 
 take their places, and just three years after the declara- 
 tion of independence, the first Mexican Congress was 
 summoned to meet at the town of Chilpantzongo, which 
 was in the hands of the insurgents. Morelos, the 
 principal actor at this stage of the drama, was captured 
 and shot in December 1815; but that only imposed a 
 temporary check on the movement. In the delusive 
 hope of regaining full control, Ferdinand, then firmly 
 re-established on his throne, offered concessions in 
 
 1820, but it was too late, and they failed to effect a 
 pacification. Independence was once more declared in 
 
 1821, but this time at the instigation of a dictator who 
 aimed at founding an empire for himself, and who did 
 for a short period sway the destinies of his country as 
 the Emperor Iturbide I. His reign was brief, and a 
 republic was definitely established on the i6th December 
 1823, the subsequent career of which has been so 
 chequered until quite recent times. Having been 
 recognised by the principal Courts of Europe, Spain 
 itself accredited an ambassador in 1839, and made no 
 further efforts to reassert its former title. 
 
 Elsewhere the struggle was less prolonged, though, 
 while it lasted, quite as exciting. At the instigation of 
 Bolivar, Venezuela proclaimed its independence in July 
 
EXPULSION 93 
 
 1811, and several years later united with New Granada 
 as the Republic of Colombia. Buenos Ayres established 
 a junta in 1810, a constituent assembly was called in 
 January 1813, and entire independence of Spain was 
 declared, July 1816. The insurrection in Chili likewise 
 began in 1810, when a national congress was summoned 
 to meet at Santiago ; but the Spanish interest was 
 strong on the west coast, and it was not until San 
 Martin crossed the Andes from La Plata in 1817 that 
 independence was made good. Material assistance was 
 afforded by the famous Admiral Cochrane (Lord 
 Dundonald), who, driven in disgrace from his native 
 country, placed his services at the disposal of the 
 revolting Chilians, and gave them that naval pre-emin- 
 ence in South America, which they have ever since 
 retained. 
 
 Peru proved an even tougher job, but the combined 
 forces of San Martin and Cochrane proved irresistible, 
 and both Lima and Callao were taken in 1821. Lima, 
 however, was recaptured by the Spaniards in 1823, but 
 Bolivar, marching against it from Colombia, was 
 appointed dictator, and gained so decisive a victory in 
 1824, that the Spanish army was forced to capitulate, 
 and by 1826 the connection with the mother country 
 was completely and finally severed. Spain had vainly 
 striven against these successive misfortunes, and in 1815 
 sent out a considerable force under Marshal Morillo, 
 who gained a few temporary successes, but his cruelties 
 and atrocious conduct only exasperated the colonists, 
 and instigated them to greater exertions. The various 
 countries of Central America were quietly federated into 
 the Republic of Guatemala in 1823, in the absence of 
 any Spanish troops to oppose ; and thus, from the 
 
94 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 northern borders of Mexico to the southern confines of 
 Chili and La Plata, the conquerors of the New World 
 were for ever ejected. England was the first to recognise 
 the South American Republics, and entered into com- 
 mercial treaties with several of them in 1825, after which 
 date Spain can no longer be said to have been able to 
 claim ownership of a single acre on the American 
 Continent. 
 
IX 
 RETENTION 
 
 WHILE the events recorded in the previous chapter 
 were taking place on the Spanish Main, a strange 
 quiescence pervaded those islands of the West Indies 
 which still acknowledged the Spanish dominion. Mexico, 
 Peru, Chili, Buenos Ayres, slipped through the feeble 
 grasp of their nominal owners one after the other ; 
 Cuba, the Pearl of the Antilles, as its inhabitants love to 
 call it, and Porto Rico, still remained out of the wreck 
 of a once vast colonial empire. What were the forces 
 at work which there prevented the assertion of in- 
 dependence made good elsewhere? 
 
 To begin with, the economic conditions were totally 
 different. Negro slavery was the predominant feature 
 in the islands ; it never made much headway on the 
 mainland of the Southern Continent outside Brazil, for 
 reasons already stated. Constitutional independence is 
 the bitterest foe of human bondage, and though both 
 existed side by side in the United States for more than 
 half a century, the day arrived when one or other had 
 to succumb ; and everyone now rejoices to think that the 
 cause of freedom came off triumphant. The wealth of 
 the Spanish American colonist lay principally in his 
 boundless territories and what they were capable of 
 producing ; and the former, at anyrate, if subject to 
 alienation, were at least impossible of removal. The 
 
 95 
 
96 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 Cuban planter reckoned as his most precious possession 
 the flesh and blood attached to his estates, and the very 
 words "freedom" and "independence" stank in his 
 nostrils. Whatever inconvenience, therefore, he suffered 
 from his political connection with an effete monarchy 
 and a decaying or decayed empire, he at least felt that, 
 while he clung to it, it would afford him protection for 
 his property. 
 
 A steady flood of immigration from the mother 
 country has maintained this connection down to the 
 present day. The wealthiest merchants and planters 
 have invariably been of pure Spanish blood, and their 
 contempt for the Cuban Creoles, though many of them 
 are as pure-blooded as themselves, and have no taint 
 whatever of the "tar-brush," has helped to maintain 
 them as a separate class, regarded as intruders by all 
 of Cuban birth, and hated accordingly. They have of 
 necessity invoked Spanish aid and relied on Spanish 
 authority, and have, for nearly a hundred years, pro- 
 vided the basis for Spanish rule in the island. Many 
 of them made their fortunes and returned home, leaving 
 room for others to follow. Some have made Cuba 
 their permanent domicile, but invariably with fatal 
 effects upon their offspring, for Cuban birth is almost 
 synonymous with Cuban sympathies, and in any rising, 
 the father who has been on the side of the Crown, has 
 witnessed his sons throwing in their lot with the rebels. 
 Ever since the emancipation of the Spanish Main, 
 Cuba has been in a state of political unrest. Various 
 secret societies have been constituted, and have received 
 advice and assistance from Mexicans, Chilians, and 
 others who had already succeeded in throwing off their 
 own fetters. In 1823 the Society of Soles struck a 
 
RETENTION 97 
 
 blow for liberty ; six years later it was the Company of 
 the Black Eagle which attempted success where its 
 predecessor had failed. Both were essentially Creole 
 risings, and although those who participated in them 
 freely gave expression to their abhorrence of slavery, 
 no assistance was either asked or received from the 
 negroes. For these unfortunates, however, failure 
 meant the tightening of their bonds; and it is not 
 surprising to find that in 1844, goaded to despair by 
 their sufferings, they tried an insurrection on their own 
 account, though of course it ended disastrously. 
 
 These outbreaks were all more or less localised, and 
 it was not until 1868 that a revolution broke out, 
 destined to involve the entire island, and to occupy long 
 and weary years in suppressing, if, indeed, the smoking 
 embers can be said ever to have been quenched. It 
 was undoubtedly instigated by the American Civil War, 
 which had ended in the uncompromising abolition of 
 slavery, and so raised the hopes of the friends of liberty 
 in Cuba. Though the planters and slave-owners ranged 
 themselves, as was natural, on the side of law and order, 
 their enthusiasm was no longer of the keenest. They 
 realised that the institution to which they clung so 
 tenaciously was doomed, and it became a question with 
 them of doing the best they could for themselves. 
 Emancipation in the British West Indies had for a time 
 added enormously to their prosperity, until the value of 
 slaves underwent so great an appreciation, that it no 
 longer became profitable to purchase them, and only 
 actual owners derived any benefit. For it must be 
 remembered there was a distinct difference between 
 the slave trade and slavery, and long after public 
 opinion revolted against, and prohibited the kidnapping 
 7 
 
98 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 and traffic in human flesh, it continued to tolerate its 
 ownership, and recognised natural increase as legitimate 
 property. That African negroes were smuggled into 
 Cuba is tolerably certain ; nevertheless, the numbers were 
 too small to prevent the gradual increase in value of an 
 able-bodied male slave from 50 to something like 
 "350 or ^400. This was the surest means of eventual 
 abolition ; for while this high price set upon the black 
 made him valuable property, and ensured his better 
 treatment, it tended to make the luxury too costly, and 
 one that could eventually no longer be indulged in, as 
 the point must be reached where free labour would 
 become cheaper. 
 
 About the time of the rebellion, the number of slaves 
 in Cuba was between 350,000 and 400,000, and their 
 value on paper was simply enormous. The ^"20,000,000 
 voted by the British Parliament as compensation to 
 the disinherited slave-owners in the British West Indies, 
 would have been but a drop in the ocean in any scheme 
 for Cuban emancipation by purchase. Indeed, to do the 
 planters justice, they never expected anything of the sort, 
 and all the more practical of them asked, was to be let 
 down gently. This was effected by the proclamation 
 of what was known as the Moret Law in 1870, which 
 at once declared free all slaves over sixty years of age, 
 and decreed that every child born after that year should 
 be free likewise. In the first instance, the planters 
 registered a distinct gain, as they got rid of a number 
 of old and decrepit dependants no longer fit for work ; 
 but this was offset by the compulsory maintenance, 
 until their eighteenth year, of all the free offspring of 
 their slaves. Under this law, the odious institution 
 perished in something like twenty years, because its 
 
RETENTION 99 
 
 burdens gradually outweighed its benefits, until the 
 low wage for which the free negro is willing to work, 
 became the more economical method of production. 
 
 Thus the strongest tie between Spain and Cuba was 
 snapped, and the party of independence gained force, 
 as many planters found no longer any advantage in 
 supporting the authority of the Crown. The rebellion 
 dragged on ; the Spanish troops continually poured in 
 having to encounter the guerilla warfare, with which we 
 have become so well acquainted during the present 
 revolution, and for which the division of the island 
 affords so many opportunities. For, considerable though 
 the population is, two -thirds of it has always been 
 concentrated in the western corner, of which Havana 
 is the capital, the remaining districts being very sparsely 
 peopled. It is in these rebellion has always thriven ; and 
 the policy adopted by General Weyler, when in supreme 
 command, was to make them a desert by destroying all 
 sustenance, and forcibly removing the inhabitants, who, 
 under the name of Reconcentrados, have since roused 
 so much sympathy, not only in the United States, but in 
 other countries as well, owing to the terrible deprivation 
 and suffering they have had to undergo. 
 
 Though the outbreak of 1868 was eventually sup- 
 pressed, it left a legacy of bitter memories and still 
 bitterer exactions. For, true to its policy of four 
 centuries, Spain determined that it at least would not 
 be a loser, and saddled the entire cost of the military 
 operations, and nobody knows what else besides, on the 
 unfortunate island, in the form of a debt amounting to 
 about eighty millions sterling. Even this might have 
 been tolerated had any attempt been made to establish 
 an equitable system of government, because an era of 
 
ioo SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 prosperity set in which culminated in 1891, when the total 
 exports were valued at no less than 20,000,000, and 
 there was ample margin for interest on an inflated 
 debt. But the rapacity of Catalan manufacturers, no 
 less than of government officials, upset everything ; 
 and from the captain-general down to the humblest 
 trader in Barcelona, all expected to pocket something 
 out of the spoils of Cuba. Nor is the plunder limited 
 to Spaniards. Despite the restrictions against trading 
 by foreigners, adventurers of all nationalities manage 
 to get a foothold in Havana, and corruption preys on 
 corruption. No one in fact is expected to be honest,, 
 and a stranger remarking upon the rascality prevailing 
 in high places, would as likely as not be met with a shrug 
 of the shoulders and the reply, Robamos tcdos^ " We are 
 all thieves." Excessive import duties answer the purpose 
 of nearly every merchant and petty trader, because they 
 enable them to exact high prices from customers on 
 goods which have been smuggled and never paid any 
 duties at all, beyond a certain amount of blackmail to 
 the customs officials. Some of the imports must of 
 course pay the full tariff, if only as a blind, but how 
 much of the actual receipts eventually find their way to- 
 the exchequer is quite another matter. 
 
 While fortunes are being thus accumulated, somebody 
 must provide them ; and as a matter of fact they are 
 wrung out of the unfortunate population of the 
 island, which a few years ago numbered nearly ij 
 millions, of whom but a few are among the privi- 
 leged or robber class. That the majority should 
 rise against such exactions, backed as they are by 
 political oppression of the very worst type, is not to be 
 wondered at the marvel indeed would be were there no 
 
'RETENTION 101 
 
 rebellion. The privilege of returning sixteen senators 
 and thirty deputies to the Spanish Cortes is at best an 
 empty one, inasmuch as that body exercises very little 
 authority at home, and none at all abroad. What is 
 wanted is fair and honest government in the island 
 itself, whether under the nominal control of another 
 power or not. That American interference is resented 
 is not unnatural, that this interference is not always 
 disinterested is certain. But beneath all the scheming 
 of trusts and capitalists, and the love of adventure of 
 mere filibusters, there is deep down in the minds and 
 hearts of the American people an utter repugnance for 
 the political system of which Cuba affords an illustration. 
 Whatever may have been the case in the past, it is now 
 impossible for any right-minded man to be free without 
 wishing the same freedom for others, always with the 
 reservation that they know how to use it aright. Cuba 
 may not yet be ripe for a British or an American consti- 
 tution, but Englishmen cannot fail to sympathise with 
 the outburst of humanitarian and political feeling in 
 the United States, which dwarfs every meaner and 
 unworthier motive. 
 
SUCCESSION 
 
 IT is no part of my task to follow the history of the 
 Spanish American States after the severance of the 
 connection with the European country which gave them 
 birth. London financiers, and British investors generally, 
 would probably be the best people to go to for a detailed 
 history of the actions of the South American Republics 
 during the last fifty years, which, so far as the majority 
 of them is concerned, may be summed up in the two 
 words, revolution and repudiation. 
 
 Long before its expulsion, however, Spain had ceased 
 to exercise a predominating influence on the American 
 Continent. Another power had risen in the north ; the 
 people who contributed to its ever-growing strength 
 were not enervated by the prospect of untold wealth,, 
 gathered by the labour of others, but rather were 
 compelled to wring a meagre subsistence out of the 
 iarth by the sweat of their brow. By long usage, 
 succeeding generations of Spanish Americans had be- 
 come accustomed to the severe restrictions and unnatural 
 discipline imposed upon them, and grew listless, only 
 seeking redress by oppressing in turn the unfortunate 
 Indians and negroes subject to them. For all this 
 lethargy they have since made ample amends ; but it 
 would have been better for themselves, and infinitely 
 
 better for their descendants, had they earlier put forth their 
 
 102 
 
SUCCESSION 103 
 
 energies, and won more gradually the liberties, which 
 when attained were so signally abused. Without a tithe 
 of the incentive, the Anglo-Saxon American first re- 
 sented, and then successfully resisted interference with 
 his liberties and his progress ; and, by the blow which 
 he struck for both, attained that manly self-reliance and 
 independence, which has made him the foremost figure 
 on the continent he inhabits, if not in the whole 
 world. 
 
 What were, at the beginning of the present century, 
 the two great powers in America, Spain and the United 
 States, were brought into close contact through the 
 possessions of the former on the northern shores of 
 the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana had been subjected to 
 a series of deals between France and Spain, until, 
 while in possession of the former, Napoleon saw an 
 opportunity of converting a then somewhat useless 
 dependency into that ready cash, which was so 
 necessary for the promotion of his European ambitions. 
 James Monroe, who subsequently became the author 
 of the now famous doctrine which bears his name, was 
 despatched by his Government, as ambassador-extra- 
 ordinary, and negotiated the transfer of the State for 
 sixty millions of francs, much more than was then 
 regarded as its value, but not too high a price to pay 
 when the increase of territorial importance which it 
 gave the purchaser is taken into account. 
 
 Spain still retained Florida, a name at one time 
 given to territory extending as far north as Virginia, 
 and westward to the Mississippi Valley, but then confined 
 to little more than the area at present included in 
 the State. By further negotiation, this was likewise 
 acquired, and the United States became master and 
 
104 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 sole proprietor of the entire territory from the great 
 Lakes to the Gulf. 
 
 Spain having been finally expelled, no further ac- 
 quisitions were possible at its expense. Mexico, when 
 wrenched from its grasp, still included the rich territories 
 of Texas, New Mexico, and California ; and the United 
 States, having reached its utmost limits in one direc- 
 tion, soon sought for extensions in another. North- 
 west there was no other opponent to be faced than the 
 rapidly disappearing Red Indian ; south-west, though 
 Spain had gone, Spanish pride and tenacity remained. 
 Under the guise of colonisation, the Mexican boundaries 
 were gradually encroached upon, until the Rio Grande 
 was tacitly recognised as the separating line. Partly 
 by purchase, and partly by warfare, not it is to be feared 
 always very justly waged by the United States, Texas 
 gradually assumed its present dimensions, which render 
 it well worthy of the designation of the Empire State. 
 California and New Mexico, together with part of Texas, 
 were acquired in 1848 for fifteen million dollars; and 
 almost immediately after, the great rush for gold oc- 
 curred, the discovery of which, in almost simultaneous 
 conjunction with the rich find in Australia, proved such 
 a disturbing element in the economic conditions of the 
 civilised world. Thus the United States became the 
 greatest single inheritor of the vast estate which had 
 once belonged to Spain. 
 
 Though not eager for further extension, the Republic 
 was determined that no other power should obtain 
 territory in the New World. This was expressed in 
 the message sent by President Monroe to Congress in 
 the year 1823, in which referring to the European 
 powers, he said : " We should consider any attempt on 
 
SUCCESSION 105 
 
 their part, to extend their system to any portion of 
 this hemisphere, as dangerous to our peace and safety " ; 
 and this constitutes the basis of the Monroe doctrine. 
 A suspected intention on the part of Spain to reconquer 
 its rebellious colonies, backed by what was known as the 
 Holy Alliance, was the circumstance that gave rise to 
 this important declaration, which has since been either 
 applied or threatened, indiscriminately to every other 
 European power. 
 
 France was the first to be reminded of its existence, 
 and to experience its efficacy, after it had lain dormant 
 for more than forty years. For reasons best known to 
 himself, Napoleon the Third, during the American Civil 
 War, imposed a scion of the House of Austria upon the 
 Mexican Republic, and promised Maximilian, when 
 elected Emperor, ample assistance to consolidate his 
 power. The United States, however, were not so 
 absorbed in their own affairs, as not to know what was 
 taking place among their neighbours ; and a resolution 
 passed by the House of Representatives on the 4th April 
 1864, against the establishment of the monarchical 
 government in Mexico, convinced Napoleon that he had 
 made a mistake. Had the Mexicans themselves proved 
 willing, such interference would have been altogether 
 unjustifiable, but unfortunately for Maximilian, the 
 national feeling against him was intensely strong, and 
 he refused to take the warning acted upon by his 
 more astute instigator, with fatal consequences to him- 
 self, and ruin to his family. 
 
 The Venezuelan dispute with Great Britain is but 
 another phase of the same policy, which has undergone a 
 rapid development during the last few years, so rapid 
 indeed that the world is beginning to wonder where it 
 
io6 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 will eventually lead to. A Papal Bull may have been 
 effective to award an entire hemisphere to a single 
 country in the fifteenth century ; no such bull or edict,, 
 issued by the strongest power that ever existed, would 
 stand any chance of acceptance to-day. 
 
 The question agitating people's minds at present, 
 however, is to whom the succession of the remaining 
 Spanish colonies is eventually to revert. It is becoming 
 more and more improbable that Spain will be able 
 to retain them ; the display of impotency in suppressing 
 the insurrections both in Cuba and the Philippines 
 proving not only that its government of these islands 
 is obnoxious to their inhabitants, but that its methods 
 are out of harmony with modern sentiment. It is too 
 late in the day to subject the interests of any intelligent 
 and moderately progressive community to the necessities 
 and requirements of another people thousands of miles 
 away ; and the financial position of Spain is now so 
 desperate, that unless it can continue to derive a large 
 net revenue from its foreign possessions, it must face 
 insolvency. It has been a matter of surprise how the 
 immense sums necessary to continue the conflict were 
 raised ; and the only solution is to be found in the 
 support accorded by foreign creditors, who were too 
 deeply involved to permit a collapse. While some sort 
 of a hold, no matter how feeble, could be kept on the 
 colonies, they were a more or less valuable asset ; but 
 had the insurgents once succeeded in driving out the 
 Spanish troops, and asserted their independence, they 
 were hardly likely to allow themselves to be burdened 
 with the debts and responsibilities of a defeated foe. 
 The ^"80,000,000 already hanging round the neck of 
 Cuba, mostly expended to bind the island to an effete 
 
SUCCESSION 107 
 
 and reactionary power, handicaps its industries to a 
 frightful extent ; and it is difficult to see how for some 
 years to come, after the great destruction of property that 
 has taken, and may yet take place, it is to meet the 
 ordinary expenses of internal government, much less 
 interest on so large a debt, materially increased were 
 the Spanish connection to continue on its present 
 basis. 
 
 Prior to the actual outbreak of hostilities between 
 the United States and Spain, several possible solutions 
 of the problem offered. Had Spain been willing to 
 sacrifice its pride in the interests of its pocket, or rather 
 of its creditors, an easy way might have been found 
 out of the difficulty. If left to open competition, there 
 would, a year or two ago, have been eager purchasers 
 of the island, had it not been for the risk of political 
 complications. Cuba could be rendered enormously 
 productive by energetic capitalists who felt their tenure 
 secure ; and before the German Kaiser found an outlet 
 for his ambitious projects at Kiaou Chow, he would 
 probably not have grudged the loss of a few years' 
 interest on the 50,000,000 or even 100,000,000 outlay, 
 necessary to acquire so promising a possession as Cuba. 
 But he would hardly have risked another fifty or hundred 
 millions on a war with the United States, in which at the 
 best only a temporary victory could have been secured. 
 
 Acquisition by the United States was another 
 possibility, could terms have been agreed upon. But 
 here the conflicting interests within the United States 
 themselves were far more intense than between that 
 Republic and Spain. Capitalists, representing concerns 
 like the Sugar and Tobacco Trusts, would have been 
 enthusiastically in favour of such a course at the 
 
io8 SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 national expense, because they would, for a time at 
 anyrate, have profited enormously by the deal. The 
 political future, however, is much too uncertain to 
 permit them to risk their own money, and public 
 sentiment is entirely opposed to the admission of a 
 numerically important alien race to the privileges and 
 responsibilities of the Union. The alternative of 
 annexation without representation, would not be tamely 
 submitted to by the Cubans, who yearn for nothing so 
 much as an opportunity to display their talents for 
 self-government. 
 
 Independence, guaranteed by the United States, ap- 
 pears at present the most feasible, but the situation is 
 so kaleidoscopic that a change may take place at any 
 moment, for it looked at one time as though blood 
 might assert its pre-eminence, and Cuban combine with 
 Spaniard to resist the intrusion of the foreigner. That 
 indeed would have been a strange climax, but one that 
 it appears we are not to witness, as friendly relations 
 have been established between insurgents and United 
 States officers. It can only be hoped that this will 
 assist in bringing about, at no distant date, such a settle- 
 ment as will be welcomed by the entire civilised world. 
 
 The Philippines are to a great extent an unknown 
 quantity, and their productiveness is at best a matter 
 of conjecture. There is a far better prospect, however, 
 of concluding a deal with them. But again political 
 complications may ensue. It goes without saying that 
 no European power could acquire them without rousing 
 the jealousy of its neighbours, particularly after recent 
 events in China, though it might not actually lead to 
 hostilities. But Japan is undoubtedly casting covetous 
 glances that way, and would not willingly permit another 
 
SUCCESSION 109 
 
 power to step in. It has already taken possession of 
 the half-way house, the island of Formosa, and is as 
 anxious to further extend its territories as any State in 
 the West. The intervention of Russia has barred it 
 for the present, and probably for all time against 
 expansion on the Asiatic Continent, as Russia ever 
 advances, never recedes. There is still scope, however, 
 for the most aggressive ambition in the Archipelago of 
 the Eastern Seas ; and should Japan secure it, with 
 its lucrative trade, and possible mineral wealth, 
 Russia on the Yellow Sea would be in close contact 
 with a neighbour by no means to be despised. The 
 naval activity of the Japanese Government has been 
 attributed to a desire to pay off old scores against 
 its hitherto too powerful opponent ; it may easily forget 
 the desire for revenge in the opportunities offered else- 
 where for aggrandisement. 
 
 The final collapse of Spain as a colonial power is likely 
 therefore to be attended with some political problems of 
 the first magnitude. When South America revolted and 
 secured its freedom, the European nations were too ex- 
 hausted to dream of grabbing at the spoil. Now every- 
 thing is different. Bloated armaments cry aloud for some 
 excuse for maintenance ; the commercial spirit of the age 
 demands new markets for its enterprise ; and the lust of 
 territory is no longer confined to the rounding ofTa border, 
 or the addition of a trumpery State, but requires for its 
 insatiable maw square miles by the million. A stronger 
 power than Spain would have found it hard to resist 
 such pressure. Nor is the difficulty overcome by the 
 capture of Manila and the virtual control of the islands 
 by the United States fleet It is too soon yet to decide 
 whether the Republic will make an effort to remain in 
 
no SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES 
 
 permanent possession. Should it do so, and thus involve 
 itself in the turmoil of what has become European 
 politics, a new factor will have been introduced into 
 them, the force of which it is utterly impossible to 
 calculate. 
 
PRESS OPINIONS 
 
 ON 
 
 TARIFF AND TRADE." 
 
 Spectator, "Experience has taught us some distrust of a writer on an 
 economical subject who begins by appealing to business experience as 
 against professional theory. We hasten to add that any misgivings we 
 may have conceived on this account from Mr. Root's preface have been 
 effectually dissipated by a further study of his book. We have, in fact, 
 seldom come across a more satisfactory popular statement of the arguments 
 in favour of the well-tried fiscal and commercial policy of this country than 
 is presented in the twelve chapters in which Mr. Root analyses the tariffs 
 of the principal commercial states, and traces their effects on the well- 
 being of the people." 
 
 British Trade Journal. "By far the ablest of the numerous works 
 recently published on the tariff question is that under the above title by 
 Mr. J. W. Root. He writes throughout, not as a doctrinaire, nor even an 
 amateur political economist, but as a practical business man, who can 
 discuss the subject without the drawback of preconceived theories. The 
 scope of the work is very wide, embracing as it does all the questions 
 arising from a nation's fiscal policy." 
 
 Commerce. " One very excellent feature about this book is to be sincerely 
 commended it is quite free from fanaticism. . . . An exceedingly useful 
 and thoughtful book." 
 
 British Australasian. " Mr. Root's treatise is a useful work to colonists 
 in these days of discussions upon imperial Zollvereins and suggested forms 
 of federation of the British Empire. . . . Though a long and exhaustive 
 work, Tariff and Trade is quite up to date as to the subjects and theories 
 handled." 
 
 Antigtia ( W. I. ) Standard. " The free trade and the protective policies, 
 of which we hear so much in connection with our own industries, are fully 
 explained in an attractive style, so that he who runs may read and be 
 delighted in the reading ; and although written in defence of the former, 
 even the most prejudiced reader will find much in Tariff and TraJe to 
 instruct him." 
 
 ill 
 
H2 PRESS OPINIONS 
 
 Liverpool Daily Post. " When a business man takes to the study of 
 economics, and has sufficient power of detachment to.rise above the narrow 
 sphere in which his own interests lie, and to use his special knowledge as 
 a constant check upon theoretical ideas, he has a great advantage over all 
 other people. This is the position Mr. J. W. Root occupies in discussing 
 Tariff and Trade. Mr. Root has a rare faculty for acquiring statisticai 
 and other information as to the trade and taxation of various countries, of 
 subjecting his facts to analytical examination, and of placing his conclusions 
 before the public in the light of the accepted economic theories of the day. 
 . . . Throughout the whole volume, Mr. Root shows himself to be a bold 
 and independent thinker, proceeding on original lines ; and his work will 
 well repay study by all who are interested in national economics, industry,, 
 and commerce." 
 
 Bradford Observer. "We close this interesting and instructive volume 
 witli the thought of the ever-increasing complexity of commercial question* 
 deeply stamped upon the mind. For this book is not the work of a 
 professed student of economics, politics, or history, but of an educated, 
 thoughtful, and observant man, engaged in an active business career. Yet 
 he has found it impossible to discuss his subject adequately without an 
 equipment in these sciences, which would give him honours in any 
 examination upon them. The assumption that mere ' business capacity * 
 is enough warrant to pronounce dogmatically on industrial and economic 
 questions receives a crushing rebuke from such a volume as this." 
 
 Scotsman. "There is much useful matter in the book, which is clearly 
 the work of one who has thought out the questions, and who has gathered 
 together a mass of useful statistics. " 
 
 Glasgow Herald. " Mr. Root is lucid, informing, and suggestive, and 
 his book is well worth reading." 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 MORRISON AND GI38 LIMITED, EDINBURGH. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 BERKELEY 
 
 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
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 MAY 2 8 1959a 
 
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