, Don
Philip, who was regent during the Emperor's absence, against him. Long
years of championship of an unpopular cause rendered him impervious to
these baseless attacks of his enemies. At a time of life when most men
think to rest, Las Casas prepared himself with undiminished vigour to
continue the struggle in the cause of freedom. Upon his arrival in Spain,
he repaired at once to Valladolid where the court was usually in
residence, only to find that Don Philip had gone to hold a Cortes in the
kingdom of Aragon. With his habitual promptness, the Bishop followed him
thither, and was received with great kindness by the Prince, who, after
listening attentively to all that he had to recount, wrote to the
Dominicans in Chiapa commending their conduct and offering to send more
men of their Order to reinforce them, if they were required.

The Indians were ever uppermost in the mind of Las Casas and he likewise
obtained that the Prince should write letters to the caciques in Chiapa
and Tuzulutlan, who had become Christians, congratulating them on their
conversion, praising their zeal, of which the Bishop had informed him, and
urging them to follow the counsels of their Dominican friends. To
celebrate his pacific victory in the "Land of War," Las Casas also had the
sinister name Tuzulutlan officially changed to that of Vera Paz or True
Peace.

The formal resignation of Las Casas from the diocese of Chiapa was made
known to the Spanish Ambassador in Rome, Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, in
a letter from the Emperor dated September 11, 1550, with instructions to
announce the same to the Pope and to present the name of Fray Tomas
Casillas for the vacant bishopric.

Mention has been made of the _Confesionario_, or book of instructions
written by the Bishop of Chiapa and distributed to the clergy of his
diocese. In this little manual, Las Casas demonstrated that the armed
invasion of America by the Spaniards and the conquest of the various
countries were contrary to all right and justice: he argued that the Bull
of donation given by Alexander VI. charged the Spanish sovereigns with the
right, or rather the duty, of converting the inhabitants of the New World
to Christianity; once their conversion was effected, they might be
induced, if possible, by gentle and pacific means to place themselves
under Spanish rule. Arguing from these premises, the Bishop directed his
clergy to refuse absolution and the sacraments to all who ref