wars, conquests, and acts of cruelty. Those officials who have pretended to act by royal authority in such wars and acts have lied, and the warrants they have shown are forgeries. 26.26. It follows that all the wars, invasions, and conquests that have been made, have been tyrannical, contrary to justice and authority, and hence, in fact, null and void: this is proven by the record of the proceedings in Council against all such tyrants and usurpers who have been found guilty. 27.27. It is the duty of the Spanish sovereigns to maintain and re-establish all laws and usages amongst the Indians which are good, and that is to say the most of them; those which are bad should be abolished, and the preaching and application of the Gospel is the best means for effecting this. 28.28. The Devil himself could not have worked greater harm than have the Spaniards, by their tyranny and cruel greed; they have treated the Indians like beasts, worked them to death, and persecuted those who have wished to learn from the friars, even more than others. 29.29. The system of giving the Indians in encomienda and repartimiento is absolutely contrary to the royal commands issued by Queen Isabella to Columbus and his successors during her reign. The Queen ordered all Indians who had been brought to Spain as slaves, to be sent back and set free. What would she think could she but witness the present state of things? The present sovereign has been kept in ignorance of the true condition, and his long journeys and absences have prevented him from informing himself. 30.30. It follows, therefore, from these propositions that all the conquests, acquisitions of territory, invasions, and usurpations, whether by the Crown officials or by the colonists and individuals, are illegal, because all have been accomplished contrary to the orders of the Spanish sovereigns and in defiance of their authority. (68)