period fixed upon for the perpetration of this deed was the 28th of September, 1548, the eve of St. Michael, and the missionaries remained wholly unsuspicious of the plot combined against them. It chanced, however, that on the day named for the execution of the murderous project, an Indian child recently baptized came to Father Villalpando to be catechized. But before the catechism began, "Priest," said the boy, "answer me a question which I wish to put to you." "Ask it," replied the Father; and the boy continued: "which is better," he demanded, "to live or to die?" "It is better to live," returned Villalpando, "because to live is our natural state, while death is the inheritance acquired by sin." "Then, Father," said the child, "if you wish to live you must fly hence, for the chiefs amongst our people have determined upon your death, and this very night you will be burnt in the church if you remain in it.' Father Villalpando did not betray any emotion at this intelligence, but thanked the child, telling him that he was in the hands of God, and desiring him to go back to his parents that night, and return to see him on the following day. The child expressed his doubts about finding him alive, but Villalpando dismissed him with his blessing, and then repaired to his coadjutor, to whom he related the terrible news he had just learnt. Father Benavente was greatly moved at hearing it, but Villalpando sustained him with words of comfort, and together they went to the church, where, throwing themselves at the foot of the cross, they petitioned for strength from high to support them in the coming hour of trial. They passed the evening in prayer and religious conference; Father Villalpando, who was the most resigned, 144 RESCUE OF THE MISSIONARIES. [CHAP. IX. omitting no argument to reconcile his companion to the martyrdom which awaited them both. While thus occupied the night drew on, and about the eleventh hour a noise was heard as of a crowd approaching; and, from one of the windows of the building, the Fathers saw a great multitude of Indians, armed with bows, arrows, and darts, and brandishing lighted torches. They drew near the church, and surrounded it, and, for a whole hour, continued to cry out that they meant to burn it to the ground and kill the missionaries, if they attempted to escape. Meanwhile the two Fathers remained perfectly impassive, proffering neither speech nor gesture, but silently engaged in prayer; and the Indians,-awed perhaps by the calm resignation of their intended victims, or repenting of their resolve,—refrained from carrying their threats into execution, though from time to time they assailed them with the most injurious epithets. By degrees however their exclamations abated, their rage evaporated, and, shortly after midnight, the Fathers were left alone in the church, to offer up their matin prayers to Saint Michael for their deliverance. By a providential circumstance, the day had scarcely dawned, when Father Villalpando and his companion were aware of the noise of horses' hoofs, and of words uttered in the Spanish language. These sounds were caused by the accidental arrival of a party of their countrymen, who had been despatched by the Adelantado to a place called Petu, fourteen leagues further to the eastward, to quell a disturbance there, but having missed their way had happened upon the township of Mani, while the missionaries were chanting their matin song. There was great joy on both sides at the meeting which then took place, when the Fathers recounted the danger they had escaped; and the new-comers joined them in singing a Te Deum of thanks and praise. At the accustomed hour of morning service, the bell was rung as usual for assembling the Indians to prayer ; but no one appeared except the child who, on the previous day, had warned Villalpando of the plot against his life. He said that all the Indians, fearing the armed Spaniards, whose arrival they had witnessed, had fled to the mountains, but that he had come to see if Villalpando was still alive. He was fondly caressed by the good Father, who related the story to the Spaniards and their leader Caudillo, and it was by him communicated to the Adelantado at Merida, who in conjunction with Tutul Xiu, the cacique of Mani, immediately adopted measures for punishing the chiefs who had imagined the deaths of the missionaries. Twenty-seven of the principal conspirators were taken, and conducted to Merida, when they confessed the crime of which they were accused, and were sentenced to be burnt. The Adelantado resolved to carry the sentence into effect; the fire was made ready, and the Indians, bound hand and foot, were brought out to undergo their punishment, when Father Villalpando, throwing himself upon his knees before Montejo, earnestly besought him to spare their lives. It was with difficulty that the Governor was brought to listen to the missionary's prayer, but at last he yielded to the eloquent pleadings of Villalpando, and instead of being condemned to the flames, the culprits were transferred to the religious care of the inmates of the convent of Merida. The consequences of this clemency were greatly advantageous to the cause of religion, and when Father Villalpando went back to Mani with the prisoners, L 146 ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY ESTABLISHED. CHAP. IX. whose safe return had never been dreamt of, nothing could exceed the gratitude and affection which the people showed him. Numbers came to be baptized, and amongst them the chief cacique, who took the name and designation of Don Francisco Xiu; a convent also was built at Mani. 66 Shortly after this event the missionary establishment in Yucatan was strengthened by arrivals, not only from Mexico, but from the mother-country; and the first Capitulo Custodial" was held at Merida, on the 29th of September, 1549, under the authority of Father Juan de la Puerta, the Commissary-General for Mexico. Villalpando was elected Custodio of the province, and a number of conventual appointments were made. The religious establishments of Yucatan having now been fixed upon a firm basis, the ecclesiastical authorities applied themselves to the administration of the laws, by which, in their spiritual as well as in their temporal relations, the Indians were henceforward to be governed. But before we trace the further progress of government in the northern division of the peninsula, attention must be directed to the attempts which were being made to effect the conversion of the inhabitants at the southern extremity, which now belongs to Guatemala. 147 CHAPTER X. BARTHOLOMEW DE LAS CASAS.-HIS PROPOSITION FOR CONVERTING TERMS FOR THE INDIANS.-HE UNDERTAKES A MISSION.-THE BUT while the Franciscans of Hispaniola had been endeavouring to establish the Christian religion in the north of Yucatan, the zealous missionaries, who had already extended their labours from Mexico to the confines of Guatemala, were not unmindful of the existence of a barbarous people in the south of that province, on whose idolatrous ignorance they were anxious to shed the light of the true faith. Foremost amongst the energetic and devoted men was the celebrated Bartholomew de las Casas, whose humanity in defending the Indians was no less conspicuous than his zeal for their conversion. In his famous work, De unico Vocationis modo,' he |