roamed defiantly. Under conduct of Mendoza's guard, which had often witnessed his honorable entrance, he was marched out of the viceregal palace and lodged in the common prison.[1] Fortune had bestowed upon him her last smile.
His appointed judge lost no time in beginning proceedings, and that there might be no unnecessary protraction of the trial he listened only to the most serious charges. The accusations were the gravest that could be made. The murder of Caltzontzin, the devastations of towns, and the enslavement of natives alike in time of war and peace, were sufficient to condemn a far more popular man. The districts of Pánuco and Nueva Galicia were visited by Torre, and the testimony of witnesses taken relative to Guzman's acts in these regions. Thus time passed by, making the trial long, although it had been so promptly begun.[2] Nor was his life in prison cheered by much
- ↑ Mota Padilla, Cong. N. Gal., 104. Neither the date of Torre's arrival at Vera Cruz nor that of Guzman's arrest can be exactly decided. Herrera, dec. vi. lib. i. cap. ix., states that Torre arrived at Nueva Galicia in 1537, but there is reason to conclude that he reached New Spain near the end of 1536. Guzman while in prison addressed a letter to the India Council, dated February 13, 1537, in which he uses these words: 'Y averme tenido en esta cárcel veinte y cinco dias . . . antes que comience la residencia.'_ And further on: 'En lo de la residencia que aquí se me tomó.' Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xiii. 452-3. As about a month was usually occupied in the preparation of the charge, and three more in conducting it, I am inclined to the opinion that Torre landed at the beginning of November, and that Guzman was imprisoned a few days later. Bernal Diaz implies that Mendoza did not display much inclination to assist Torre in the matter, 'y parece ser no hallo' — i. e., Torre — 'tanta voluntad para ello como quisiera.' Hist. Verdad., 231.
- ↑ Mota Padilla states that he was confined 'en las atarazanas del rey.' Cong. N. Gal., 104. From Guzman's letter, however, already quoted, and from the Auto de Soltura, in Ramirez, Proceso, 273, 215, it appears that it was the 'cárcel pública' in which he was imprisoned. Bernal Diaz says that Torre 'le lleuò a la carcel publica de aquella Ciudad, y estuvo preso ciertos dias, hasta que rogó por el el Uirrey, que le sacaron dela carcel.' Hist. Verdad., 231. This same author tells of a practical joke played on Torre. The new governor was addicted to gambling, and in order to bring him into bad repute, Guzman's late supporters contrived to place a pack of cards in the long sleeves of his tabard. As the juez de residencia was crossing the plaza in company with persons of high rank, the cards kept dropping out unperceived by him until his attention was called to the contents of his sleeve. 'Torre was quite angry and said: 'They do not wish me to do upright justice; but if I die not, it will be done in such a manner that his Majesty shall hear of this outrage.' The historian adds: 'Y dende a pocos dias cayó malo, y de pensamiento dello, ó de otras cosas de calenturas que le ocurrieron, murio.' Id. Torre was alive when Guzman went to Spain in 1538. Ramirez, Proceso, 275.
