Judged by his works Las Casas was the greatest philanthropist of his age. Like all vigorous reformers, he was treated as a visionary by most of his contemporaries, a conclusion which they deemed warranted by the unflinching courage and tenacity with which he maintained his opinions. His compassion for the natives, and his abhorrence for their oppressors, were increased from year to year by his failure to alleviate their sufferings, until it had become the all-absorbing idea which colored his every act and word. In pursuit of this ambition no obstacle could intimidate him. To resolve was to act. He hesitated not in the advocacy of his cause to brave the anger of an emperor, or that of an excited populace, and for this cause he endured persecution, insult, loss of friends, the enmity of countrymen. It must be admitted that he was resentful, and even bitter against his opponents, and to this reason may also be attributed his frequent exaggeration, his misrepresentation, the readiness with which his judgment was biassed, his unfitness for dealing practically with the condition of affairs then existing in the New World. By his contemporaries he is accused of harshness, arrogance, uncharitableness, but it must not be forgotten that this was probably due to the intolerant religious and scholastic spirit of his times. The purity of his motives none can doubt, and while no defence can vindicate the name of his adversaries from the charge of injustice and cruelty, the errors of Bartolomé de Las Casas are forgotten, and his spirit of noble self-devotion and high-souled philanthropy will make him known to all posterity as one of the greatest benefactors of his race. * * * * * The establishment of the audiencia of the Confines and the attempted enforcement of the new laws produced the same excitement in Chiapas as in other territories, but the transfer of this province to the jurisdiction of the new audiencia caused no change in its local government. The alcalde mayor, however, still the chief authority, ruled with greater rigor, and by the appointment of deputies in all of the native towns greatly increased the burden of their inhabitants.[XIX‑23] Through the solicitation of Las Casas, Diego Ramirez, of whom mention has been made in connection with the history of Mexico,[XIX‑24] was sent to investigate the alleged oppression of the natives and their opposition to their Dominican teachers. He appears to have been an upright judge, and favorable to the Indians, but even his efforts, supported as they were by various decrees in their favor, did not accomplish the desired object.[XIX‑25] After the departure of Ramirez, matters relapsed into their former condition. Within less than a year, however, Cerrato having taken charge of the audiencia determined to remedy these abuses, declaring that the natives continued to be destroyed without pity, the previous official visits having accomplished nothing.[XIX‑26]