The arrival of this unwelcome news from Panamá caused no slight annoyance. A council of officers was summoned; the principal inhabitants of Lima were invited to attend; the letters were read in public; and all were invited to express their opinion. Gasca's despatch provoked much merriment[XV‑48] and many a threat, but they knew not the man they had to deal with. Some declared for killing him outright; others for sending him back to Spain; and only a voice here and there was heard in favor of admitting him to Peru. After long discussion it was finally determined to send an embassy to Spain and lay the matter before the emperor, and that a resolution, signed by seventy of the leading cavaliers in the city, should be forwarded to the envoy, stating that, civil dissensions having now terminated, the nation was enjoying the blessings of peace under the rule of Gonzalo Pizarro, and that the presence of his Majesty's representative would not only tend to distract the province but might cost him his life. Aldana, one of Gonzalo's lieutenants, though secretly a traitor to the revolutionary cause, was despatched to Panamá with the missive. Arriving in that city on the 13th of November, he repaired to Hinojosa's house before calling on the president. There being allowed to read the governor's private despatches he threw them into the flames. Proceeding thence to the president's quarters he offered him his services, and it was agreed that Hinojosa should be openly invited to join the royalist party. Fernando Mejía also tried his powers of persuasion, arguing that as the emperor's will had been made known it was their duty to obey the president without awaiting the result of the appeal to the throne, that matters were now in a fair way for settlement, and that if this opportunity should pass unheeded they might wait long for another chance of escaping the consequences of their treason. Hinojosa was unwilling to accept this view of the case. He believed that the action of the revolutionary party was so far justifiable. He therefore replied that he had already informed the envoy of his intentions, that if his Majesty should not be pleased to grant the petition of Gonzalo Pizarro he would at once render his obedience to the crown. But Hinojosa was at length entangled in the net of the wily priest and in company with his lieutenant called at the president's house, meekly swore allegiance to his cause, placed his fleet at his disposal, and hoisted the royal banner of Spain from the mainmast of his flag-ship. [Sidenote: GASCA'S SUCCESS.]