That he is to encourage those who work, and to discourage the idle, as the universal Father does.

That, as regards liberality, he should so conduct himself, that men should not dare to ask him for things which they would know he must deny:  this would be a great restraint upon them, and a great proof of good reputation in a governor.

That, in fine, all that had been said consisted in this, that he was to govern as he would be, governed:  and that “it behoved him to be intent in business, to show courage in difficulties, and management in all things, brevity in executing useful determinations, yet not as if carried away by passion, but always upon good counsel; considering much what a charge was upon him, for this thought would be useful to him at all times:  and above all things he was to take heed (in order that the same thing might not happen to him which had happened to the admiral) that when any occasion for dealing briefly with an offence occurred, he should have swift recourse to punishment, for in such cases the remedy ought to be like a thunderbolt.”

After reading the above, we cannot say that the Catholic monarchs were inattentive to the government of their Indian possessions, nor can the sagacity which directed that attention be for a moment questioned.  Indeed that sagacity is so remarkable, that it may naturally occur to the learned reader to inquire, whether Machiavelli’s “Prince” had yet been published, and whether King Ferdinand could have read that much-abused manual of crafty statesmen.  It was, however, about twelve years after this memorable audience granted by Ferdinand and Isabella to Ovando that “The Prince” is alluded to by Machiavelli, and described as a small unpublished work.

  He arrives at st. Domingo.

Charged with these instructions, then, Nicholas de Ovando left the port of San Lucas on the 13th of February, 1502, to take possession of his new government, having under him a gallant company of two thousand five hundred persons, a large proportion of them being hidalgoes.  On his way he met with a terrible storm, in which one of his largest vessels foundered, and he had some difficulty in reaching St. Domingo at all.  This, however, he succeeded in doing on the 15th of April, and entered at once upon the reforms which he was commissioned to institute.

  Ovando’s administration

He announced the residencia of Bobadilla, and placed Roldan under arrest.  He exerted himself to found settlements along the coast, and at first, no doubt, he endeavoured to carry out the merciful directions which he had received with regard to the Indians.  But, like Bobadilla, he was a knight of a religious order, with a certain narrow way of looking at things incident to his profession, with no especial culture that we know of, and with little originality of character.  In these respects he presented a remarkable contrast