*24
[Footnote 24: Caravantes has transcribed from the original act a
full catalogue of the pensioners, with the amount of the sums set
against each of their names.]
The effect produced by the document, on men whose minds were
filled with the most indefinite expectations, was just such as
had been anticipated by the president. It was received with a
general murmur of disapprobation. Even those who had got more
than they expected were discontented, on comparing their
condition with that of their comrades, whom they thought still
better remunerated in proportion to their deserts. They
especially inveighed against the preference shown to the old
partisans of Gonzalo Pizarro - as Hinojosa, Centeno, and Aldana -
over those who had always remained loyal to the Crown. There was
some ground for such a preference; for none had rendered so
essential services in crushing the rebellion; and it was these
services that Gasca proposed to recompense. To reward every man
who had proved himself loyal, simply for his loyalty, would have
frittered away the donative into fractions that would be of
little value to any. *25
[Footnote 25: The president found an ingenious way of
remunerating several of his followers, by bestowing on them the
hands of the rich widows of the cavaliers who had perished in the
war. The inclinations of the ladies do not seem to have been
always consulted in this politic arrangement. See Garci lasen,
Com. Real., Parte 2 lib.
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