'480
TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
his acts to any one, except to him from whom he derived his appoint- ment. This made him, as a matter of course, subservient to the King, the retention of whose favor depended entirely upon the fidelity with which his will was executed. The judicial proceedings were confided to what was called the Audiencia,- a kind of Chancery Court, whose powers were only one degree inferior to those of the Viceroy. Other :tribunals of inferior jurisdiction were established; such as the Ayun- tamientos, whose powers ,verc municipal merely-the Intendentes, 46 who were charged with the collection of the revenues-and the Alcalde:s -courts, which acted as conservators of the peace, and <lecicled civil •caces of a petty nature-together with various others of more or iless importance-all of which, however were subordinate to the two •great dictatorial powers, already mentioned-the Viceroy and the Au- •diencia. This judicial board not only possessed jurisdiction over all ·classes of cases, civil, criminal and ecclesiastical; but it also acted in the less dignified capacity of Spy and informer to the Crown, which, giving it a direct correspondence with the Sovereign, made it a for- midble tribunal, whose influence was to be dreaded and courted.- Its -authority, howeyer, in the last resort, was subordinate to that of the Viceroy, whose decision in all cases of direct collision '':as the para- -mount law. For any abuse of his prerogatives, he was ameniable to 'the council of the Indies; but could not be arreigned or punished until ·after the expiration of his commission; and then only with the consent ·of the King. Thus we perceive that, inspite of all the machinery of ·government, the absolute authority abided in the hands of one man; ·and be virtual1y irre~ponsible for his administration so long as this was not injurious to the special· interest of the Crown.- Intimately connected with the government of the Colonies was an- other tribunal, residing in the capitol of Spain, known as the Council of the Indies. At the head of this Council was the King himself. It was established in 1511 by :B'erdinand the Second;-remoddled by Charles the fifth, in 1524, and was always the exclusive medium through which the transactions between the mother country and the Colonies were conducted. The object 47 of its organization was to relieve the :Sovereign from personal attention to the multifarious affairs of his foreign possessions. The Americas were regarded as belonging ex- •clusively to the Spanish Monarchs, and subject alone to their control, ;by virtue of a bull of Pope Alexander the fourth, granting to Ferdi- ·nand and Isabela an absolute right to all the newly discovered regions. Tenacious of this right, and always jealous of their power, the Spanish c'},fonarchs retained in their own bands the government of those domin- 'ions; and it was for the purpose of assisting them in such government, ·that the board a1luded to was first created and subsequently continued. Its jurisdiction extended to every branch of business pertaining to the ,,.Colonies. It was the soul medium of communication between the ~Ion- arch and his trans-atlantic subjects. All nominations to office had to he transmitted through it to the Colonies-by the King, ordinances and royal decrees-without which they possessed no val\(}ity. 48 It not only
..[Note in document:] See Ward, 100. "[Note in document:] See Zavala. page 11. "[Note in document:] See Ward, !l!l.
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