should have done. During this passage at arms neither of the antagonists had conducted himself with the dignity to be expected from persons of their exalted position. They vied one with another in selecting untimely hours and unusual places for the exchange of their peculiar courtesies.30

The appeal to the audiencia, however, was never decided; for while it was pending the judges and other persons excommunicated, seeing the obstinacy of the archbishop, on the 20th of December 1623 appeared before the papal delegate at Puebla. The delegate peremptorily ordered the archbishop to remove the ban, which the prelate refused to do, on the ground that because of the appeal to the audiencia the tribunal at Puebla had no jurisdiction, alleging also that the time for appeal on the part of the excommunicated had gone by. Thereupon, on New Year's day, the delegate issued a compulsory mandate, ordering the archbishop to absolve the excommunicated. The execution of this decree he intrusted to a Dominican friar, as his sub-delegate, who personally removed from the church door the obnoxious notices. 3 32

From many of the pulpits of the city the conduct

30 On the feast of the Purísima Concepcion, Tobar, by order of Gelves, noti fied the archbishop of a decree while he stood in all the dignity of his sacred office at the high altar of the cathedral, with the host uncovered, and in the midst of the solemnity of the mass. The outraged prelate, declaring that he would not permit such profanation, nor that the people should be so scandalized, refused to receive the notice. Serna, Representacion, in Doc. Hist. Mex., série ii. tom. ii. 165. The cabildo, in its letter to the king, asserts that the viceroy ordered proclamation made that none should pass by the archiepiscopal palace nor assemble in numbers within one block of it. Mex., Cartas de la ciudad á S. M., in Id., iii. 134. On the other hand the archbishop was 'ciego por el deseo de la venganza que el llamaba celo divino.' Mora, Mex. y sus Rev., iii. 244. He also apresuróla por instantes con diligencia estraordinaria; inandaba hacer á media noche notificaciones esquisitas.' Doc. Hist. Mex., série ii. tom. iii. 64.

31 This office was created by a special bull of Gregory XIII. for the decision of difficult cases of this very nature. The delegate generally resided at Puebla.

32 The Dominican, by order of the viceroy, was accompanied by a guard for the purpose of preventing any opposition that might be offered by partisans of the archbishop. Father Cavo with his usual bias asserts that the sub-delegate was a 'pobre clérigo sacristan de monjas, por no haber querido ningun sugeto de carácter encargarse de semejante comision.' Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 271.

MISSION OF MARTINEZ.

49

of the delegate was reprehended in no unmeasured terms, while, on the streets, knots of heated disputants took one view or the other of the question as their feelings prompted. On his part the archbishop, more than ever exasperated, ordered the spiritual outcasts to be excommunicated anew with all the dramatic accompaniments of bell, book, and candle, and that the list be again posted with the name of the subdelegate added to the rest. On that same night of January 3d, he ordered also that all the churches of the city should announce the threatened interdict. While the ceaseless clamor of the bells, ringing as though for this end only had they been cast, was inspiring in the souls of the people the shadowy fear of some greater ill impending, came the final notification of the delegate commanding the archbishop to remove the ban. The sub-delegate was ordered, in case of the prelate's refusal or neglect, to execute upon him the sentence of fine and banishment. The stubborn archbishop again refused compliance, and the sub-delegate prepared to carry the sentence into effect. He again removed the censures and ordered the ringing of the bells to cease, and now the very silence aroused new fears among the terrified people.

Early on the morning of the 9th of January the archbishop sent Cristóbal Martinez de Recalde, parish priest of the cathedral, accompanied by notaries, to the viceregal palace with a petition addressed to the audiencia. After setting forth the facts of the case in a manner very favorable to his own view of it, the archbishop demanded that the audiencia should decide immediately the pending appeal. In presenting this petition to the oidores Juan Paez de Vallecillo, Juan de Ibarra, and Diego de Avendaño, Martinez said that

33 He stated moreover that it was with difficulty he could find a notary who dared to publish the decree of excommunication; also that in notifying his decrees the viceroy behaved 'con menos decencia de lo que convenia,' and, finally, that the proceedings against Varaez were unwarranted by law, and were undertaken solely for the purpose of causing delay. Serna, Rep., in Doc. Hist. Mex., série ii. tom. ii. 151-72.

HIST. MEX., VOL. III. 4

it was in the power of the audiencia to put an end to all disagreements, thus preventing a possible breach of the peace. Vallecillo, who was senior oidor, replied that they had been ordered by the viceroy to receive no petitions from the archbishop or any clergyman, except through the proper channels. Martinez objecting that such an order took away the prelate's opportunity of attempting to restore harmony, Ibarra replied: "You know that this is the order of our president; what, then, would you have us do?" After some further speech of like import, and an intimation of coming trouble from Martinez, he and his companions withdrew.34

Bent on carrying his point, and learning that the sub-delegate was about to execute sentence upon him, the archbishop resolved upon a last desperate resort. At an early hour on the 11th of January, 1624, he caused himself to be taken to the viceregal palace, in a sedan-chair borrowed for the purpose, and attended only by two pages. That he went in this ostentatiously humble manner, instead of in his coach, with crozier upborne before him and accompanied by the members of his household, was of itself a circumstance sufficiently strange to create attention, and on reaching the palace he was surrounded by a crowd of idlers. The startled oidores asked what he desired.35 The

84 Y el dicho S. Lic. Vallecillo dijo, andad con Dios que ya está proveido y con esto los porteros le dijeron que callase, no embargante lo cual el dicho Lic. Martinez volvió a replicar.' Id., ii. 175. Informed that the audiencia would not receive the petition, the archbishop caused another to be addressed to Pedro de Arévalo Sedeño, fiscal of that body, calling upon him to act as though it had been received, and to take immediate steps for the purpose of preventing any harm which might result from want of action on the part of the audiencia. This was delivered by Aguilar to the fiscal, together with copies of the petition and of the documents in the case of Varaez, and evoked merely an evasive manner. 'Su merced respondió, que yo el notario dijese á S. Sa. Illma. del arzobispo mi señor, que le besaba los manos y...hará todo lo posible, y lo que debe.' Id., 178.

35 In its letter the cabildo asserts that the archbishop remained at the door of the audience-chamber, asking leave to enter, and that receiving no answer, he ventured within, and himself addressed the oidores, telling them his errand. Mex., Carta de la Ciudad á S. M., in Id., iii. 136. This letter is based, not only in this particular but in many others, on the representation of the archbishop. Id., 183.

PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE PRELATE.

51

prelate replied that he sought justice, and that he would not leave the audience-chamber until he had received it. He then desired to read a petition in which it was set forth: That he was obliged to appear thus in person because the president of the audiencia had given orders that no communication brought from him by an ecclesiastic would be received, and no layman dared to aid him by presenting one. Since it was not just that he alone in all New Spain should be denied the right to appeal to the audiencia for protection, he humbly besought that body, in the name of God and the church, to pity the wretched condition of the country as well as of his dignity and jurisdiction, and to receive and hear this petition against the threatened action of the papal delegate; further, to decide the appeal pending in the matter of the guards of Varaez without delay. Were this not done, he was determined to go to Spain, there to appeal to the king in person. This petition the oidores refused to receive; and summoned by the viceroy they left the prelate in the audience-chamber. He immediately placed the petition and the accompanying documents on the table beneath the canopy of state, calling upon the multitude present to bear witness that he did so. There were present about one hundred persons, among them some eight or ten clergymen. Fearful lest there might be a disturbance, the viceroy ordered that all persons having no business before the audiencia should depart at once, and presently the archbishop, his notary Aguilar, and the two pages alone remained.

The prelate was now formally required to return to his palace, there to await the answer to his petitions, which must pass through the usual course. This he refused to do, insisting upon receiving justice and upon the admission of appeals. For this obstinacy he was fined four thousand ducados, and upon his

36 No se iria de allá aun cuando lo hicieran pedazos, hasta que no se le hiciese justicia.' Mex., Rel. Svm., 6.

37

further refusal the sentence of banishment from New Spain was added. It was afternoon when Gelves ordered Lorenzo de Terrones, alcalde del crímen of the audiencia, to execute the sentence by taking the rebellious prelate to San Juan de Ulúa, there to embark for Spain. Accompanied by the alguacil mayor, Martin Ruiz de Zavala, his deputy, Baltasar de Perea, and others, Terrones notified the archbishop of the instructions he had received. The reply of the prelate was that they must remove him forcibly, and Terrones and Perea, taking him each by an arm, but in a respectful manner, led him down to the courtyard, where a hired travelling-carriage drawn by four mules was in waiting. In this the prisoner, having his crozier and the insignia of his rank in the church, and the three officials, seated themselves; some ten or twelve mounted constables under Major Antonio de Campo of the palace guard surrounded the equipage, and the whole cortege departed by the streets leading to the causeway of Guadalupe.

So great was the crowd in the plaza that with dif ficulty a passage was made. On all sides the sobs of the women mingled with the sterner voices of the men, while they asked whither their beloved pastor was being taken, or heaped imprecations on the head of the author of this outrage. Some divested themselves of their mantles in order to throw them in the road of the carriage. The crowd grew by accessions from side streets and from the houses by the wayside, notwith

37 This sentence was based on more than one royal decree. One oidor did not take part in this act, which he chose to regard as executive matter.

38 The order was supplemented by another fuller and more specific in its instructions. In the latter, Terrones was ordered to take the prelate directly to San Juan de Ulúa, there to embark in the first ship sailing for Spain that might suit him. For each day of service, going and coming, Terrones would receive twelve ducados de Castilla, the notary four pesos de oro comun, and the guards their usual pay. All of these expenses, as well as others which might be incurred, were to be met by the archbishop, and the tithe collector of the cathedral was obliged to pay 2,000 pesos at once. Doc. Hist. Mex., série ii. tom. ii. 253-7, 419-21.

39 The viceroy had sent for Captain Diego de Armenteros to command the escort, but the captain apparently having no stomach for the duty kept out of the way.