1 files changed, 7094 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/32490-8.txt b/32490-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2597f56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/32490-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7094 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hernando Cortez, by John S. C. Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Hernando Cortez
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: John S. C. Abbott
+
+Release Date: May 23, 2010 [EBook #32490]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERNANDO CORTEZ ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Makers of History
+
+ Hernando Cortez
+
+ BY
+
+ JOHN S. C. ABBOTT
+
+ WITH ENGRAVINGS
+
+ NEW YORK AND LONDON
+ HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+ 1901
+
+
+
+
+ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
+ eight hundred and fifty-six, by
+
+ HARPER & BROTHERS
+
+ in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District
+ of New York.
+
+ Copyright, 1884, by SUSAN ABBOT MEAD.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The career of Hernando Cortez is one of the most wild and adventurous
+recorded in the annals of fact or fiction, and yet all the prominent
+events in his wondrous history are well authenticated. All _truth_
+carries with itself an important moral. The writer, in this narrative,
+has simply attempted to give a vivid idea of the adventures of
+Cortez and his companions in the Conquest of Mexico. There are many
+inferences of vast moment to which the recital leads. These are so
+obvious that they need not be pointed out by the writer.
+
+A small portion of this volume has appeared in Harper's Magazine, in
+an article furnished by the writer upon the Conquest of Mexico.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ Chapter                                                    Page
+
+    I. THE DISCOVERY OF MEXICO                               13
+
+   II. EARLY LIFE OF CORTEZ                                  28
+
+  III. THE VOYAGE TO MEXICO                                  57
+
+   IV. FOUNDING A COLONY                                     84
+
+    V. THE TLASCALANS SUBJUGATED                            117
+
+   VI. THE MARCH TO MEXICO                                  150
+
+  VII. THE METROPOLIS INVADED                               184
+
+ VIII. BATTLE OF THE DISMAL NIGHT                           214
+
+   IX. THE CAPITAL BESIEGED AND CAPTURED                    246
+
+    X. THE CONQUEST CONSUMMATED                             281
+
+   XI. THE EXPEDITION TO HONDURAS                           305
+
+  XII. THE LAST DAYS OF CORTEZ                              330
+
+
+
+
+ENGRAVINGS.
+
+
+                                                            Page
+
+ AMERICA DISCOVERED                                          16
+
+ CORTEZ TAKING LEAVE OF THE GOVERNOR                         47
+
+ CUBA                                                        52
+
+ THE FIRST MASS IN THE TEMPLES OF YUCATAN                    61
+
+ FIRST CAVALRY CHARGE HEADED BY CORTEZ                       73
+
+ INTERVIEW BETWEEN CORTEZ AND THE EMBASSADORS
+ OF MONTEZUMA                                                94
+
+ ROUTE OF CORTEZ                                            105
+
+ DESTROYING THE IDOLS AT ZEMPOALLA                          120
+
+ MASSACRE IN CHOLULA                                        161
+
+ FIRST VIEW OF THE MEXICAN CAPITAL                          168
+
+ THE MEETING OF CORTEZ AND MONTEZUMA                        177
+
+ THE CITY OF MEXICO                                         190
+
+ THE FALL OF MONTEZUMA                                      222
+
+ THE BATTLE UPON THE CAUSEWAY                               232
+
+ THE CAPTURE OF GUATEMOZIN                                  260
+
+
+
+
+HERNANDO CORTEZ.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
+
+The shore of America in 1492.--Doubt and alarm.--A light appears.--He
+watches the light.--The shore is seen.--The Spaniards land and are
+hospitably received.--Mexico is discovered.--Arts and sciences of the
+Mexicans.--The mines of precious metals.--Code of laws.--Punishments.
+--Slavery.--Military glory.--Mexican mythology.--The three states of
+existence.--Infant baptism.--Worship.--The temples and altars.--Mode
+of offering sacrifice.--City of Mexico.--Montezuma.--Civilization of
+the inhabitants.--The Governor of Cuba resolves to subjugate the
+country.--Motives for carrying on conquests.--Hernando Cortez.
+
+
+Three hundred and fifty years ago the ocean which washes the shores of
+America was one vast and silent solitude. No ship plowed its waves; no
+sail whitened its surface. On the 11th of October, 1492, three small
+vessels might have been seen invading, for the first time, these
+hitherto unknown waters. They were as specks on the bosom of infinity.
+The sky above, the ocean beneath, gave no promise of any land. Three
+hundred adventurers were in these ships. Ten weeks had already passed
+since they saw the hills of the Old World sink beneath the horizon.
+
+For weary days and weeks they had strained their eyes looking toward
+the west, hoping to see the mountains of the New World rising in the
+distance. The illustrious adventurer, Christopher Columbus, who guided
+these frail barks, inspired by science and by faith, doubted not that
+a world would ere long emerge before him from the apparently boundless
+waters. But the blue sky still overarched them, and the heaving ocean
+still extended in all directions its unbroken and interminable
+expanse.
+
+Discouragement and alarm now pervaded nearly all hearts, and there was
+a general clamor for return to the shores of Europe. Christopher
+Columbus, sublime in the confidence with which his exalted nature
+inspired him, was still firm and undaunted in his purpose.
+
+[Illustration: AMERICA DISCOVERED.]
+
+The night of the 11th of October darkened over these lonely
+adventurers. The stars came out in all the brilliance of tropical
+splendor. A fresh breeze drove the ships with increasing speed over
+the billows, and cooled, as with balmy zephyrs, brows heated through
+the day by the blaze of a meridian sun. Columbus could not sleep.
+He stood upon the deck of his ship, silent and sad, yet indomitable
+in energy, gazing with intense and unintermitted watch into the
+dusky distance. It was near midnight. Suddenly he saw a light, as
+of a torch, far off in the horizon. His heart throbbed with an
+irrepressible tumult of excitement. Was it a meteor, or was it a light
+from the long-wished-for land? It disappeared, and all again was
+dark. But suddenly again it gleamed forth, feeble and dim in the
+distance, yet distinct. Soon again the exciting ray was quenched, and
+nothing disturbed the dark and sombre outline of the sea. The long
+hours of the night to Columbus seemed interminable as he waited
+impatiently for the dawn. But even before any light was seen in the
+east, the dim outline of land appeared in indisputable distinctness
+before the eyes of the entranced, the now immortalized navigator. A
+cannon--the signal of the discovery--rolled its peal over the ocean,
+announcing to the two vessels in the rear the joyful tidings. A shout,
+excited by the heart's intensest emotions, rose over the waves, and
+with tears, with prayers, and embraces, these enthusiastic men
+accepted the discovery of the New World.
+
+The bright autumnal morning dawned in richest glory, presenting to
+them a scene as of a celestial paradise. The luxuriance of tropical
+vegetation bloomed in all its novelty around them. The inhabitants,
+many of them in the simple and innocent costume of Eden before
+the fall, crowded the shore, gazing with attitude and gesture of
+astonishment upon the strange phenomena of the ships. The adventurers
+landed, and were received upon the island of San Salvador as angels
+from heaven by the peaceful and friendly natives. Bitterly has the
+hospitality been requited. After cruising around for some time among
+the beautiful islands of the New World, Columbus returned to Spain to
+astonish Europe with the tidings of his discovery. He had been absent
+but seven months.
+
+A quarter of a century passed away, during which all the adventurers
+of Europe were busy exploring these newly-discovered islands and
+continents. Various colonies were established in the fertile valleys
+of these sunny climes, and upon the hill-sides which emerged, in the
+utmost magnificence of vegetation, from the bosom of the Caribbean
+Sea. The eastern coast of North America had been during this time
+surveyed from Labrador to Florida. The bark of the navigator had
+discovered nearly all the islands of the West Indies, and had crept
+along the winding shores of the Isthmus of Darien, and of the South
+American continent as far as the River La Plata. Bold explorers,
+guided by intelligence received from the Indians, had even penetrated
+the interior of the isthmus, and from the summit of the central
+mountain barrier had gazed with delight upon the placid waves of the
+Pacific. But the vast indentation of the Mexican Gulf, sweeping far
+away in an apparently interminable circuit to the west, had not yet
+been penetrated. The field for romantic adventure which these
+unexplored realms presented could not, however, long escape the eye of
+that chivalrous age.
+
+Some exploring expeditions were soon fitted out from Cuba, and the
+shores of Mexico were discovered. Here every thing exhibited the
+traces of a far higher civilization than had hitherto been witnessed
+in the New World. There were villages, and even large cities, thickly
+planted throughout the country. Temples and other buildings, imposing
+in massive architecture, were reared of stone and lime. Armies, laws,
+and a symbolical form of writing indicated a very considerable advance
+in the arts and the energies of civilization. Many of the arts were
+cultivated. Cloth was made of cotton, and of skins nicely prepared.
+Astronomy was sufficiently understood for the accurate measurement of
+time in the divisions of the solar year. It is indeed a wonder, as yet
+unexplained, where these children of the New World acquired so
+philosophical an acquaintance with the movements of the heavenly
+bodies. Agriculture was practiced with much scientific skill, and a
+system of irrigation introduced, from which many a New England farmer
+might learn many a profitable lesson. Mines of gold, silver, lead, and
+copper were worked. Many articles of utility and of exquisite beauty
+were fabricated from these metals. Iron, the ore of which must pass
+through so many processes before it is prepared for use, was unknown
+to them. The Spanish goldsmiths, admiring the exquisite workmanship of
+the gold and silver ornaments of the Mexicans, bowed to their
+superiority.
+
+Fairs were held in the great market-places of the principal cities
+every fifth day, where buyers and sellers in vast numbers thronged.
+They had public schools, courts of justice, a class of nobles, and a
+powerful monarch. The territory embraced by this wonderful kingdom was
+twice as large as the whole of New England.
+
+The code of laws adopted by this strange people was very severe. They
+seemed to cherish but little regard for human life, and the almost
+universal punishment for crime was death. This bloody code secured a
+very effective police. Adultery, thieving, removing landmarks,
+altering measures, defrauding a ward of property, intemperance, and
+even idleness, with spendthrift habits, were punished pitilessly with
+death. The public mind was so accustomed to this, that death lost a
+portion of its solemnity. The rites of marriage were very formally
+enacted, and very rigidly adhered to.
+
+Prisoners taken in war were invariably slain upon their religious
+altars in sacrifice to their gods. Slavery existed among them, but not
+hereditary. No one could be born a slave. The poor sometimes sold
+their children. The system existed in its mildest possible form, as
+there was no distinction of race between the master and the slave.
+
+Military glory was held in high repute. Fanaticism lent all its
+allurements to inspire the soldier. Large armies were trained to very
+considerable military discipline. Death upon the battle-field was a
+sure passport to the most sunny and brilliant realms of the heavenly
+world. The soldiers wore coats of mail of wadded cotton, which neither
+arrow nor javelin could easily penetrate. The chiefs wore over these
+burnished plates of silver and of gold. Silver helmets, also, often
+glittered upon the head. Hospitals were established for the sick and
+the wounded.
+
+Their religious system was an incongruous compound of beauty and of
+deformity--of gentleness and of ferocity. They believed in one supreme
+God, the Great Spirit, with several hundred inferior deities. The god
+of war was a very demon. The god of the air was a refined deity, whose
+altars were embellished with fruits and flowers, and upon whose ear
+the warbling of birds and the most plaintive strains of vocal melody
+vibrated sweetly.
+
+There were, in their imaginations, three states of existence in the
+future world. The good, and especially those, of whatever character,
+who fell upon the field of battle, soared to the sun, and floated in
+aerial grace and beauty among the clouds, in peace and joy, never to
+be disturbed. The worthless, indifferent sort of people, neither good
+nor bad, found perhaps a congenial home in the monotony of a listless
+and almost lifeless immortality, devoid of joy or grief. The wicked
+were imprisoned in everlasting darkness, where they could do no
+farther harm.
+
+It is an extraordinary fact that the rite of infant baptism existed
+among them. This fact is attested by the Spanish historians, who
+witnessed it with their own eyes, and who have recorded the truly
+Christian prayers offered on the occasion. As the infants were
+sprinkled with water, God was implored to wash them from original sin,
+and to create them anew. Many of their prayers dimly reflected those
+pure and ennobling sentiments which shine so brilliantly in the word
+of God.
+
+Their worship must have been a costly one, as the most majestic
+temples were reared, and an army of priests was supported. One single
+temple in the metropolis had five thousand priests attached to its
+service. The whole business of youthful instruction was confided to
+the priests. They received confession, and possessed the power of
+absolution.
+
+The temples were generally pyramidal structures of enormous magnitude.
+Upon the broad area of their summits an altar was erected, where human
+victims, usually prisoners taken in war, were offered in sacrifice.
+These awful ceremonies were conducted with the most imposing pomp of
+music, banners, and military and ecclesiastical processions. The
+victim offered in sacrifice was bound immovably to the stone altar.
+The officiating priest, with a sharp instrument constructed of
+flint-like lava, cut open his breast, and tore out the warm and
+palpitating heart. This bloody sacrifice was presented in devout
+offering to the god. At times, in the case of prisoners taken in war,
+the most horrid tortures were practiced before the bloody rite was
+terminated. When the gods seemed to frown, in dearth, or pestilence,
+or famine, large numbers of children were frequently offered in
+sacrifice. Thus the temples of Mexico were ever clotted with blood.
+Still more revolting is the well-authenticated fact that the body of
+the wretched victim thus sacrificed was often served up as a banquet,
+and was eaten with every accompaniment of festive rejoicing. It is
+estimated that from thirty to fifty thousand thus perished every year
+upon the altars of ancient Mexico. One of the great objects of their
+wars was to obtain victims for their gods.
+
+The population of this vast empire is not known. It must have
+consisted, however, of several millions. The city of Mexico, situated
+on islands in the bosom of a lake in the centre of a spacious and
+magnificent valley of the interior, about two hundred miles from the
+coast, was the metropolis of the realm.
+
+Montezuma was king--an aristocratic king, surrounded by nobles, upon
+whom he conferred all the honors and emoluments of the state. His
+palace was very magnificent. He was served from plates and goblets of
+silver and gold. Six hundred feudatory nobles composed his daily
+retinue, paying him the most obsequious homage, and expecting the same
+from those beneath themselves. Montezuma claimed to be lord of the
+whole world, and exacted tribute from all whom his arm could reach.
+His triumphant legions had invaded and subjugated many adjacent
+states, as this _Roman empire_ of the New World extended in all
+directions its powerful sway.
+
+It will thus be seen that the kingdom of Mexico, in point of
+civilization, was about on an equality with the Chinese empire of the
+present day. Its inhabitants were very decidedly elevated above the
+wandering hordes of North America.
+
+Montezuma had heard of the arrival, in the islands of the Caribbean
+Sea, of the strangers from another hemisphere. He had heard of their
+appalling power, their aggressions, and their pitiless cruelty. Wisely
+he resolved to exclude these dangerous visitors from his shores. As
+exploring expeditions entered his bays and rivers, they were fiercely
+attacked and driven away. These expeditions, however, brought back to
+Cuba most alluring accounts of the rich empire of Mexico and of its
+golden opulence.
+
+The Governor of Cuba now resolved to fit out an expedition
+sufficiently powerful to subjugate their country, and make it one of
+the vassals of Spain. It was a dark period of the world. Human rights
+were but feebly discerned. Superstition reigned over hearts and
+consciences with a fearfully despotic sway. Acts, upon which would now
+fall the reproach of unmitigated villainy, were then performed with
+prayers and thanksgivings honestly offered. We shall but tell the
+impartial story of the wondrous career of Cortez in the subjugation of
+this empire. God, the searcher of all hearts, can alone unravel the
+mazes of conscientiousness and depravity, and award the just meed of
+approval and condemnation.
+
+Many good motives were certainly united with those more questionable
+which inspired this enterprise. It was a matter of national ambition
+to promote geographical discoveries, to enlarge the realms of
+commerce, and to extend the boundaries of human knowledge by
+investigating the arts and the sciences of other nations. The
+Christian religion--Heaven's greatest boon to man--was destined, by
+the clear announcements of prophecy, to fill the world; and it was
+deemed the duty of the Church to extend these triumphs in all possible
+ways. The importance of the end to be attained, it was thought, would
+sanctify even the instrumentality of violence and blood. Wealth and
+honors were among the earthly rewards promised to the faithful.
+
+Allowances must be made for the darkness of the age. It is by very
+slow and painful steps that the human mind has attained to even its
+present unsteady position in regard to civil and religious rights.
+
+The Governor of Cuba, Velasquez, looked earnestly for a man to head
+this important enterprise. He found just the man for the occasion in
+Hernando Cortez--a fearless, energetic Spanish adventurer, then
+residing upon the island of Cuba. His early life will be found in the
+next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+EARLY LIFE OF CORTEZ.
+
+Village of Medellin.--Early character of Cortez.--Hernando sent to
+Salamanca.--Life at the university.--He turns soldier.--Expedition to
+Hispaniola.--His early love, and unfortunate consequences attending
+it.--He arrives at Hispaniola.--Patronage of the governor.--Life at
+Hispaniola.--Cortez's courage.--The island of Cuba.--The new governor.
+--The filibustering expedition.--Resistance.--Hatuey condemned to
+death.--His conversation.--The colony.--The conspiracy.--Cortez
+imprisoned.--He flees to a church.--Arrest and escape.--Cortez is
+pardoned.--His marriage.--Voyage of discovery.--Discoveries.--
+Disasters.--Reports from Yucatan.--Another expedition.--It arrives
+at Mexico.--Accounts from Montezuma.--The golden hatchets.--Reports
+carried to Spain.--Cortez obtains a commission.--His enthusiasm.--
+Mission and means.--The governor alarmed.--Attempt to deprive Cortez
+of the command.--The squadron sails.--Cortez and the governor.--St.
+Jago and Trinidad.--The standard.--Providential gifts.--Orders to
+arrest Cortez.--His speech.--The result.--Cortez writes to Velasquez.
+--The squadron proceeds to Cape Antonio.--The armament.--Personal
+appearance of Cortez.--The eve of departure.--The harangue.--Result
+of the speech.--The squadron sails.
+
+
+In the interior of Spain, in the midst of the sombre mountains whose
+confluent streams compose the waters of the Guadiana, there reposes
+the little village or hamlet of Medellin. A more secluded spot it
+would be difficult to find. Three hundred and seventy years ago, in
+the year 1485, Hernando Cortez was born in this place. His ancestors
+had enjoyed wealth and rank. The family was now poor, but proud of the
+Castilian blood which flowed in their veins. The father of Hernando
+was a captain in the army--a man of honorable character. Of his mother
+but little is known.
+
+Not much has been transmitted to our day respecting the childhood
+of this extraordinary man. It is reported that he early developed
+a passion for wild adventure; that he was idle and wayward; frank,
+fearless, and generous; that he loved to explore the streams and
+to climb the cliffs of his mountainous home, and that he ever
+appeared reckless of danger. He was popular with his companions, for
+warm-heartedness and magnanimity were prominent in his character.
+
+His father, though struggling with poverty, cherished ambitious views
+for his son, and sent him to the celebrated university of Salamanca
+for an education. He wished Hernando to avoid the perils and
+temptations of the camp, and to enter the honorable profession of the
+law. Hernando reluctantly obeyed the wishes of his father, and went
+to the university. But he scorned restraint. He despised all the
+employments of industry, and study was his especial abhorrence. Two
+years were worse than wasted in the university. Young Cortez was both
+indolent and dissipated. In all the feats of mischief he was the
+ringleader, and his books were entirely neglected. He received
+many censures, and was on the point of being expelled, when his
+disappointed father withdrew the wayward boy from the halls of the
+university, and took him home.
+
+Hernando was now sixteen years of age. There was nothing for him to do
+in the seclusion of his native village but to indulge in idleness.
+This he did with great diligence. He rode horses; he hunted and
+fished; he learned the art of the swordsman and played the soldier.
+Hot blood glowed in his veins, and he became genteelly dissolute; his
+pride would never allow him to stoop to vulgarity. The father was
+grief-stricken by the misconduct of his son, and at last consented to
+gratify the passion which inspired him to become a soldier.
+
+At seventeen years of age the martial boy enlisted in an expedition,
+under Gonsalvo de Cordova, to assist the Italians against the French.
+Young Cortez, to his bitter disappointment, just as the expedition
+started, was taken seriously sick, and was obliged to be left behind.
+Soon after this, one of his relatives was appointed, by the Spanish
+crown, governor of St. Domingo, now called Hayti, but then called
+Hispaniola, or Little Spain. This opening to scenes and adventures in
+the New World was attractive to the young cavalier in the highest
+possible degree. It was, indeed, an enterprise which might worthily
+arouse the enthusiasm of any mind. A large fleet was equipped to
+convey nearly three thousand settlers to found a colony beneath the
+sunny skies and under the orange groves of the tropics. Life there
+seemed the elysium of the indolent man. Young Cortez now rejoiced
+heartily over his previous disappointment. His whole soul was
+engrossed in the contemplation of the wild and romantic adventures in
+which he expected to luxuriate. It is not to be supposed that a lad of
+such a temperament should, at the age of seventeen, be a stranger to
+the passion of love. There was a young lady in his native village for
+whom he had formed a strong youthful attachment. He resolved, with his
+accustomed ardor and recklessness, to secure an interview with his
+lady-love, where parting words and pledges should not be witnessed by
+prudent relatives.
+
+One dark night, just before the squadron sailed, the ardent lover
+climbed a mouldering wall to reach the window of the young lady's
+chamber. In the obscurity he slipped and fell, and some heavy stones
+from the crumbling wall fell upon him. He was conveyed to his bed,
+severely wounded and helpless. The fleet sailed, and the young man,
+almost insane with disappointment and chagrin, was left upon his bed
+of pain.
+
+At length he recovered. His father secured for him a passage to join
+the colonists in another ship. He, with exultation, left Medellin,
+hastened to the sea-shore, where he embarked, and after an unusually
+adventurous and perilous voyage, he gazed with delight upon the
+tropical vegetation and the new scenes of life of Hispaniola. It was
+the year 1504. Cortez was then nineteen years of age.
+
+The young adventurer, immediately upon landing, proceeded to the house
+of his relative, Governor Ovando. The governor happened to be absent,
+but his secretary received the young man very cordially.
+
+"I have no doubt," said he to Hernando, "that you will receive a
+liberal grant of land to cultivate."
+
+"I come to get gold," Hernando replied, haughtily, "not to till the
+soil like a peasant."
+
+Ovando, on his return, took his young relative under his patronage,
+and assigned to him posts of profit and honor. Still Cortez was very
+restless. His impatient spirit wearied of the routine of daily duty,
+and his imagination was ever busy in the domain of wild adventure.
+
+Two Spaniards upon the island of Hispaniola about this time planned an
+expedition for exploring the main land, to make discoveries and to
+select spots for future settlements. Cortez eagerly joined the
+enterprise, but again was he doomed to disappointment. Just before the
+vessels sailed he was seized by a fever, and laid prostrate upon his
+bed. Probably his life was thus saved. Nearly all who embarked on this
+enterprise perished by storm, disease, and the poisoned arrows of the
+natives.
+
+Seven years passed away, during which Cortez led an idle and
+voluptuous life, ever ready for any daring adventure which might
+offer, and miserably attempting to beguile the weariness of provincial
+life with guilty amours. He accepted a plantation from the governor,
+which was cultivated by slaves. His purse was thus ever well filled.
+Not unfrequently he became involved in duels, and he bore upon his
+body until death many scars received in these encounters. Military
+expeditions were not unfrequently sent out to quell the insurrections
+to which the natives of the island were goaded by the injustice and
+the cruelty of the Spaniards.
+
+Cortez was always an eager volunteer for such service. His courage and
+imperturbable self-possession made him an invaluable co-operator in
+every enterprise of danger. He thus became acquainted with all the
+artifices of Indian warfare, and inured himself to the toil and
+privations of forest life.
+
+In the year 1492 the magnificent island of Cuba, but a few leagues
+from Hispaniola, had been discovered by Columbus. As he approached the
+land, the grandeur of the mountains, the wide sweep of the valleys,
+the stately forests, the noble rivers, the bold promontories and
+headlands, melting away in the blue of the hazy distance, impressed
+him with unbounded admiration. As he sailed up one of the beautiful
+rivers of crystal clearness, fringed with flowers, and aromatic
+shrubs, and tropical fruits, while the overhanging trees were vocal
+with the melody of birds of every variety of song and plumage,
+enraptured he exclaimed,
+
+"Cuba! It is the most beautiful island that eyes ever beheld. It is an
+elysium. One could live there forever."
+
+The natives of the favored land were amiable and friendly. The
+Spaniards did not for several years encroach upon their rights, and no
+Spanish colony was established upon their enchanting shores. It was
+now the year 1511. Nineteen years had elapsed since the discovery of
+the island. Ovando had been recalled, and Diego Columbus, the son of
+Christopher, had been appointed, in his stead, governor of Hispaniola.
+He took the title of Viceroy, and assumed all the splendors of
+royalty. Diego Columbus devoutly decided that it was manifest destiny
+that Cuba should belong to Spain. He organized a _filibustering_
+expedition to wrest from the natives their beautiful island. The
+command of the expedition was intrusted to Don Velasquez, a bold
+adventurer, of much notoriety, from Spain, who had been residing for
+many years at Hispaniola, and who had been lieutenant under Governor
+Ovando. A foray of this kind would, of course, excite the patriotic
+zeal of every vagabond. Cortez was one of the first to hasten to the
+standard of Velasquez. The natives of the island, unarmed and
+voluptuous, made hardly the shadow of resistance, and three hundred
+Spanish adventurers, with but a slight struggle, took possession of
+this magnificent domain. The reputation and ability of Cortez gave him
+a prominent position in this adventure.
+
+One brave and patriotic Indian chief, who had fled from the outrages
+perpetrated at Hispaniola, urged the Cubans to repel the invaders.
+Though unable to rouse in a mass the peace-loving islanders, he
+gathered a small band around him, and valiantly contended to resist
+the landing. His efforts were quite unavailing. Gunpowder soon
+triumphed. The Indians were speedily put to flight, and the chieftain
+Hatuey was taken prisoner.
+
+Velasquez ignobly and cruelly condemned the heroic patriot to be
+burned alive; but religiously the fanatic invader wished, though he
+burned the body, to save the soul. A priest was appointed to labor for
+the conversion of the victim.
+
+"If you will embrace our religion," said the priest, "as soon as the
+fire has consumed your body, you will enter heaven, and be happy there
+forever."
+
+"Are there Spaniards," inquired Hatuey, "in that happy place of which
+you speak?"
+
+"Yes," replied the priest; "such as are holy."
+
+"Then I will not go there!" Hatuey energetically rejoined. "I will
+never go to a place where I shall meet one of that cruel people."
+
+The poor Indian was burned to ashes. The natives gazed upon the
+spectacle with horror. They were appalled, and ventured to make no
+farther resistance to their terrible conquerors.
+
+Such is Spain's title-deed to the island of Cuba. God has not smiled
+upon regions thus infamously won. May the United States take warning
+that all her possessions may be honorably acquired. "God helps," says
+blind unbelief, "the heavy battalions;" but experience has fully
+proved that "the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to
+the strong."
+
+One or two colonies were soon established upon the conquered island.
+They grew very rapidly. Velasquez was appointed governor; Cortez was
+his secretary.
+
+Many families were enticed from Spain by the charms of this most
+beautiful of the isles of the ocean. A gentleman came from old Castile
+with four beautiful daughters. Velasquez became attached to one;
+Cortez trifled grievously with the affections of another. The governor
+reproached him for his infamous conduct. The proud spirit of Cortez
+could not brook reproof, and he entered into a conspiracy to proffer
+complaints against the governor, and to secure his removal. It was a
+bold and a perilous undertaking.
+
+Cortez prepared to embark in an open boat, and push out fearlessly but
+secretly into the open sea, to make a voyage of nearly sixty miles to
+Hispaniola. There he was to enter his complaints to Diego Columbus.
+The conspiracy was detected upon the eve of its execution. Cortez was
+arrested, manacled, thrown into prison, and was, after trial,
+sentenced to death for treason. He, however, succeeded in breaking
+his fetters, forced open his prison window, and dropped himself down,
+in the darkness of the night, from the second story, and escaped to
+the sanctuary of a neighboring church. Such a sanctuary, in that day,
+could not be violated.
+
+A guard was secreted to watch him. He remained in the church for
+several days. But at length impatience triumphed over prudence, and,
+as he attempted one night to escape, he was again arrested, more
+strongly chained, and was placed on board a ship to be sent to
+Hispaniola for execution.
+
+The code of Spanish law was in that day a bloody one. Spanish
+governors were almost unlimited despots. Cortez was not willing to go
+to Hispaniola with the cord of a convicted traitor about his neck.
+With extraordinary fortitude, he drew his feet, mangling them sadly,
+through the irons which shackled them. Creeping cautiously upon deck,
+he let himself down softly into the water, swam to the shore, and,
+half dead with pain and exhaustion, attained again the sanctuary of
+the church.
+
+He now consented to marry the young lady with whose affections and
+reputation he had so cruelly trifled. The family, of course, espoused
+his cause. The governor, who was the lover of her sister, regarded
+this as the _amende honorable_, and again received the hot-blooded
+cavalier to his confidence. Thus this black and threatening cloud
+suddenly disappeared, and sunshine and calm succeeded the storm.
+Cortez returned to his estates with his bride a wiser, and perhaps a
+better man, from the severe discipline through which he had passed.
+Catalina Suarez, whom he married, was an amiable and beautiful lady of
+very estimable character. She eventually quite won the love of her
+wayward and fickle husband.
+
+"I lived as happily with her," said the haughty Castilian, "as if she
+had been the daughter of a duchess."
+
+Velasquez, like every other Spanish governor at that time, was
+ambitious of extending his dominions. In the year 1517, a number of
+restless spirits, under his patronage, resolved to sail upon a voyage
+of discovery and conquest.
+
+Three vessels were fitted out for this adventure. One hundred and ten
+men embarked in the enterprise, under the command of Francisco
+Hernandez, of Cordova. Velasquez directed them to land upon some
+neighboring islands, and seize a number of inhabitants, and make
+slaves of them, to pay the cost of the expedition. "But when the
+proposal," says one of the party, "was made known to the soldiers, we
+to a man refused it, saying that it was not just, nor did God or the
+king permit that free men should be made slaves. That our expedition,"
+the same writer continues, "might be conducted on proper principles,
+we persuaded a clergyman to accompany us." In fervent prayer,
+commending themselves to God and the Virgin, they unfurled their
+sails, and steered resolutely toward the setting sun. They discovered
+the island of Cozumel and the vast promontory of Yucatan.[A] The
+expedition, however, encountered many disasters. The natives assailed
+them fiercely. At length the shattered ships returned, having lost
+seventy men, and bringing with them quite a number bleeding and dying.
+Cordova died of his wounds ten days after arriving at Havana.
+
+[Footnote A: _Yuca_ is the Indian name of the plant used for bread.
+The heap of earth in which it is planted is called _tule_. The two
+words repeated together made Yucatul, or Yucatan as it was expressed
+by the Spaniards.--_Bernal Diaz_, p. 10.]
+
+The tidings, however, of the magnificent discovery, and the fabulous
+report that the country was rich in gold, incited Velasquez to fit
+out a second expedition of four ships, under the command of Juan
+de Grijalva. Two hundred and forty adventurers embarked in the
+enterprise. On the 5th day of April, 1518, after having devoutly
+partaken of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the anchors were
+lifted, and the little squadron sailed from the port of Matanzas.
+Eight days brought them to Cozumel. They then passed over to the
+continent, and coasted along the shore for many leagues to the north
+and west. They made frequent attempts to land and open intercourse
+with the natives, but they were invariably attacked with the utmost
+determination. Though the Spaniards were generally victorious in these
+conflicts, they lost several men, and very many were sorely wounded.
+At length they arrived upon the coast of Mexico, and landed at the
+point now called St. Juan de Ulua. Here they were kindly received by
+the natives, and acquired considerable gold in exchange for glass
+beads. They also obtained vague information of the great monarch
+Montezuma, and of the extent and power of his realms. Greatly elated
+with this success, Grijalva sent one of his vessels back to Cuba with
+specimens of the gold, and with most glowing accounts of the grandeur,
+wealth, and power of the newly-discovered empire of Mexico. To their
+extreme delight, the voyagers found that the natives had hatchets
+apparently of solid burnished gold. The excitement was intense on
+board the ships. Six hundred of these hatchets were eagerly bought.
+At length the expedition returned to Cuba. The six hundred golden
+hatchets were triumphantly displayed, when, to the unutterable chagrin
+of their possessors, they proved to be but copper. The disappointed
+adventurers were overwhelmed with ridicule. "There was much laughter,"
+says Diaz, who accompanied the expedition, "when the six hundred
+hatchets were produced and assayed."
+
+The tidings of the discovery of Mexico spread, however, like wildfire
+over the island of Cuba. Every bosom which could be moved by avarice
+or by the love of adventure was intensely excited. Velasquez promptly
+dispatched the welcome intelligence to Spain, and immediately
+commenced fitting out another expedition upon a scale of grandeur
+hitherto unattempted. No one heard these tidings with such a thrill
+of emotion as Hernando Cortez. Though enjoying a rich estate, his
+extravagance had involved him in debt and distress. To retrieve his
+ruined fortunes, and to gratify his insatiable love of adventure, he
+resolved to leave no efforts untried to secure for himself the command
+of the expedition.
+
+He bribed some of the powerful friends of the governor to advocate
+his cause, promising them a rich share of the booty which he hoped to
+obtain. He also offered to contribute largely of his own wealth to fit
+out the naval armament.
+
+It was manifest to all that there could not be a man better adapted
+to fill such a post than Hernando Cortez. The governor was well
+instructed in his energy, capacity, and courage. But he feared these
+traits of character. He wished for a man who would act as his agent,
+who would be submissive to his authority, and who would transfer the
+glory of successful achievement to his name. But Cortez was a man to
+lead, not to be led. The governor hesitated. At last he yielded to
+the powerful considerations which were pressed upon him, and publicly
+announced Cortez as captain general of the armada.
+
+As soon as Cortez received this commission, all the glowing enthusiasm
+and tremendous energy of his nature were roused and concentrated upon
+this one magnificent object. His whole character seemed suddenly to
+experience a total change. He became serious, earnest, thoughtful.
+Mighty destinies were in his hands. Deeds were to be accomplished at
+which the world was to marvel. Strange as it may seem, for the heart
+of man is an inexplicable enigma, religion, perhaps we should say
+religious fanaticism, mingled the elements of her mystic power in the
+motives which inspired the soul of this extraordinary man. He was to
+march the apostle of Christianity to overthrow the idols in the halls
+of Montezuma, and there to rear the cross of Christ. It was his
+heavenly mission to convert the benighted Indians to the religion of
+Jesus. With the energies of fire and sword, misery and blood, horses
+rushing to the charge and death-dealing artillery, he was to lead back
+the wandering victims of darkness and sin to those paths of piety
+which guide to heaven.
+
+Such was Hernando Cortez. Let Philosophy explain the enigma as she
+may, no intelligent man will venture the assertion that Cortez was
+a hypocrite. He was a frank, fearless, deluded enthusiast.
+
+Governor Velasquez soon became alarmed in view of the independent
+energy with which Cortez pressed forward the enterprise. It was quite
+evident that the bold adventurer would regard no instructions, and
+that, having acquired wealth and fame, he would, with his commanding
+genius, become a formidable rival. Velasquez therefore determined,
+before it should be too late, to deprive Cortez of the command. But it
+was already too late. The energetic captain received from a friend an
+intimation of his peril. With the decision which marked his character,
+he that very night, though the vessels were not prepared for sea, and
+the complement of men was not yet mustered, resolved secretly to weigh
+anchor.
+
+The moment the sun went down he called upon his officers and informed
+them of his purpose. Every man was instantly and silently in motion.
+At midnight the little squadron, with all on board, dropped down the
+bay. Intelligence was promptly conveyed to the governor of this sudden
+and unexpected departure. Mounting his horse, he galloped to a point
+of the shore which commanded a view of the fleet at anchor in the
+roadstead. Cortez, from the deck of his ship, saw the governor upon
+the beach surrounded by his retinue. He entered a boat and was rowed
+near to the shore. The governor reproached Cortez bitterly for his
+conduct.
+
+"Pardon me," said the captain, courteously; "time presses, and there
+are some things which should be done before they are even thought of."
+
+Then, with Castilian grace, waving an adieu to the governor, he
+returned to his ship. The anchors were immediately raised, the sails
+spread, and the little fleet, the renown of whose extraordinary
+achievements was to fill the world, was wafted from the harbor of St.
+Jago, and soon disappeared in the distant horizon of the sea.
+
+St. Jago was then the capital of Cuba. Cortez directed his course to
+Mocaca, about thirty miles distant. Hastily collecting such additional
+stores as the place would afford, he again weighed anchor and
+proceeded to Trinidad. This was an important town on the southern
+shore of the island. Here he landed, raised his banner, and, with
+alluring promises, invited volunteers to join the expedition. He
+marshaled and drilled his men, collected military supplies, and, more
+than all, by the charms of his daily intercourse secured the
+enthusiastic devotion of his followers.
+
+[Illustration: CORTEZ TAKING LEAVE OF THE GOVERNOR.]
+
+His men were armed with cross-bows and muskets, and he had several
+small cannon. Jackets, thickly wadded with cotton, were provided as
+coats of mail for the soldiers, which were a great protection against
+the missiles of the natives. Neither arrow nor javelin could pierce
+them. A black velvet banner, embroidered with gold, and emblazoned
+with a cross, bore the characteristic device,
+
+     "Let us follow the cross. Under this sign, with faith, we
+     conquer."
+
+Beneath such a standard did these stern men march upon an expedition
+of wanton aggression, crime, and woe.
+
+A trading vessel appeared off the coast, laden with provisions and
+valuable merchandise. It was a providential gift of exactly that which
+the adventurers needed. Cortez, with gratitude to God, seized both
+ship and cargo, and by his peculiar powers of moral suasion induced
+the captain and most of the crew to enlist in his service. Another
+ship made its appearance; it was a renewed token of God's kindness to
+his servants; it was received with alacrity. Whatever remonstrances
+the owners might raise were drowned in thanksgivings and praises.
+Every movement of the expedition was inspired by the fanatical spirit
+of the Crusades.
+
+Cortez now, with his force much strengthened, sailed around the
+western point of the island to Havana. With renewed diligence, he here
+resumed his labor of beating up recruits and of augmenting his stores.
+Governor Velasquez, informed of his arrival at this port, dispatched
+orders to Pedro Barba, commander at Havana, to arrest Cortez and seize
+the fleet. But it was much easier to issue this order than to execute
+it. Cortez was now too strong to be apprehended by any force which
+Barba had at his command. Cortez received from a friend an intimation
+of the order for his arrest which had been received from the governor.
+
+He assembled his bold followers around him; made a rousing speech,
+full of eloquence and of the peculiar piety then in vogue; painted in
+glowing colors the wealth and the renown opening before them in the
+vast realms of Mexico; and then portrayed, with biting sarcasm, the
+jealousy and the meanness of Velasquez, who wished to deprive him of
+the command of the enterprise.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF CUBA.]
+
+The speech was convincing. His tumultuary followers threw up their
+hats and filled the air with acclamations. They declared that they
+would acknowledge Cortez, and Cortez only, as their leader; that
+they would follow him wherever he might guide; that they would defend
+him with their lives, and that they would wreak unsparing vengeance
+upon any enemies who should attempt to molest him in his glorious
+career. This was the efficient reply which Cortez made to the order
+for his arrest.
+
+The reply was not lost upon Barba. He perceived that it would be folly
+to attempt to execute the command of the governor. He wrote to him
+accordingly, stating the impracticability of the attempt. In fact,
+Barba had no disposition to arrest Cortez. He had become strongly
+attached to the bold and earnest captain. Cortez himself also wrote
+a very courteous letter to the governor, with studied politeness
+informing him that, with the blessing of God, he should sail the next
+day, and assuring the governor of eternal devotion to his interest. As
+there was some danger that Velasquez might send from St. Jago a force
+sufficiently strong to cause some embarrassment, the little squadron
+the next morning weighed anchor and proceeded to Cape Antonio, an
+appointed place of rendezvous on the extreme western termination of
+the island.
+
+Here Cortez completed his preparations and collected all the force he
+desired. He had now eleven vessels. The largest was of but one hundred
+tons. Three were of but seventy tons, and the rest were open barks.
+His whole force consisted of one hundred and ten seamen, five hundred
+and fifty-three soldiers, two hundred Indians, and a few Indian
+women for menial service. His regular soldiers consisted of sixteen
+horsemen, thirty musketeers, and thirty-two cross-bowmen. He had also,
+as the most formidable part of his armament, fourteen pieces of
+artillery, with an ample supply of ammunition. All the soldiers,
+excepting the musketeers and the bowmen, were armed simply with swords
+and spears. Sixteen horses formed also an exceedingly important part
+of the physical force of the army. This noble animal had never yet
+been seen on the continent of America. With great difficulty, a few
+had been transported across the ocean from Spain. With such a force
+this enthusiastic adventurer undertook the subjugation of a nation of
+many millions.
+
+Cortez was now thirty-three years of age. He was a handsome,
+well-formed man, of medium stature, of pale, intellectual features,
+with a piercing, dark eye, and frank and winning manners. He was
+temperate, indifferent respecting all personal comforts, and reckless
+of hardship and peril. He fully appreciated the influence of dress,
+and ever appeared in the rich garb of a Spanish gentleman. He was
+courtly yet frank in his manners, and possessed a peculiar power of
+attracting to his person all who approached him.
+
+On the eve of his departure from Cape Antonio, he again assembled his
+followers around him, and thus harangued them:
+
+"The enterprise in which you are engaged will fill the world with your
+renown. I am leading you to countries more vast and opulent than
+European eyes have ever yet beheld. It is a glorious prize which I
+present to you. But this prize can only be won by hardship and toil.
+Great deeds are only achieved by great exertions. Glory is never
+the reward of sloth. I have labored hard and staked my all on this
+undertaking, for I love that renown which is the noblest recompense
+of man.
+
+"Do you covet riches more? Be true to me, and I will make you masters
+of wealth of which you have never dreamed. You are few in numbers, but
+be strong in resolution, and doubt not that the Almighty, who has
+never deserted the Spaniard in his contest with the infidel, will
+shield you, though encompassed by enemies. Your cause is just. You are
+to fight under the banner of the cross. Onward, then, with alacrity.
+Gloriously terminate the work so auspiciously begun."
+
+This speech was received with tumultuous cheers. Mass was then
+celebrated by the ecclesiastics who accompanied the fleet, and with
+many religious ceremonies the squadron was placed under the protection
+of St. Peter. The anchors were raised, the sails were spread, and a
+favoring breeze pressed them rapidly over the waves toward the setting
+sun. It was the 18th of February, 1519.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE VOYAGE TO MEXICO.
+
+The voyage.--They reach the island of Cozumel.--Treasures seized.--The
+island and its inhabitants.--Exploring parties to the main land.--
+Missionary labors.--The first mass.--Miraculous conversions.--Return
+of the exploring party.--Arrival of Aguilar.--History of Aguilar's
+life at Yucatan.--Escape and capture.--Guerrero takes to savage
+life.--Escape.--Guerrero remains with the savages.--Squadron again
+sails.--They enter the Tabasco.--They ascend the river.--Landing
+postponed.--Encampment.--Preparation for the conflict.--The reception.
+--The battle.--The charge.--Victory.--March to Tabasco.--Possession
+taken of the town.--Gathering of the natives.--The two armies
+meet.--The conflict.--The cavalry charge.--Terror of the natives.--The
+fight.--Estimates of the number killed.--The declaration.--The natives
+submissive.--The new religion.--St. Mary of Victory.--Motives which
+actuated the adventurers.--Christian instruction.--Principle and
+practice.--The altar.--Devotions.--Baptism.--The presents.--Marina.
+--Indulgences.--Character of Marina.--Her career.--Her devotion to
+Cortez.--Departure from Tabasco.--Blessings left behind.--They coast
+along the shore.--Arrival at San Juan de Ulua.
+
+
+Light and variable winds retarded the progress of the squadron as it
+was headed in a southwesterly direction toward the shores of Yucatan.
+A terrible tempest succeeded, and the ships were driven wildly before
+the storm. But after the lapse of about a week, as the storm abated,
+they were cheered by the sight of land. The mountains of the island of
+Cozumel rose towering before them. This large island is separated from
+the main land of Yucatan by a channel of from twelve to thirty miles
+in width.
+
+When the natives saw the ships approaching, they fled from the shores
+in terror. Such a fleet must have, indeed, presented to the artless
+inhabitants an appalling spectacle. The squadron cast anchor in a
+spacious bay, and those who first arrived were the first to land. The
+captain of one of the vessels, with some of his crew, entered one of
+the native temples, and, seeing the idol decorated with gold, seized
+the treasure promptly as lawful prize, and also captured two or three
+of the natives. Cortez was indignant at conduct so rash and impolitic.
+He severely rebuked the over-zealous captain, ordered the ornaments to
+be replaced, and liberated the captives and loaded them with presents.
+He thus appeased the fears of the natives, and induced them to return
+to their dwellings. They soon became quite reconciled to the
+strangers, and opened with them a lucrative traffic. The island was
+not very fertile, and was thinly inhabited; but the natives had large
+and comfortable houses, built of stone cemented with mortar. There
+were several spacious temples, with lofty towers, constructed of the
+same durable materials. The adventurers were also exceedingly
+surprised to find in the court-yard of one of the temples an idol in
+the form of a massive stone cross. It was erected in honor of the god
+of rain. It is, indeed, a curious question, and one which probably
+will never be answered, how the natives of this new world obtained
+those apparently shadowy ideas of Christianity. They certainly
+performed the rite of baptism. The cross was one of their idols. They
+also believed in original sin, which was to be in some way removed by
+sprinkling an infant with water.
+
+Cortez remained upon this island about a fortnight. During this time
+all his energies were engrossed in accomplishing the great object of
+his mission. He sent two vessels to the main land to make inquiries
+about some Spaniards, who, it was reported, had been shipwrecked upon
+the coast, and were still lingering in captivity. The captain in
+command of this expedition was instructed to return within eight days.
+Several parties were also sent in various directions to explore the
+island thoroughly and ascertain its resources.
+
+But one of the most important objects, in the estimation of Cortez, to
+be accomplished, was the conversion of the natives to the Catholic
+religion. He had with him several ecclesiastics--men whose sincerity
+no candid man can doubt. The Indians were assembled, and urged,
+through an interpreter, to abandon their idols and turn to the living
+God. The simple natives understood but little of the harangue, except
+the injunction to destroy their idols. At this suggestion they were
+horror-stricken. They assured Cortez that were they to harm or insult
+their gods, destruction in every awful form would immediately
+overwhelm them.
+
+The bold warrior wielded bold arguments. His logic was truly
+military. With his mailed cavaliers he made a prompt onslaught upon
+the idols, hewed them down, smashed them to pieces, and tumbled the
+dishonored and mutilated fragments into the streets. He then
+constructed a Christian altar, reared a cross and an image of the holy
+Virgin and the holy child, and mass, with all its pomp of robes, and
+chants, and incense, was for the first time performed in the temples
+of Yucatan.
+
+[Illustration: THE FIRST MASS IN THE TEMPLES OF YUCATAN.]
+
+The natives were at first overwhelmed with grief and terror as they
+gazed upon their prostrate deities. But no earthquake shook the
+island; no lightning sped its angry bolt; no thunder broke down the
+skies. The sun still shone tranquilly, and ocean, earth, and sky
+smiled untroubled. The natives ceased to fear gods who could not
+protect themselves, and without farther argument consented to exchange
+their ungainly idols for the far prettier idols of the strangers. The
+heart of Cortez throbbed with enthusiasm and pride as he contemplated
+his great and glorious achievement--an achievement, in his view,
+unparalleled by the miracles of Peter or of Paul. In one short
+fortnight he had converted these islanders from the service of Satan,
+and had won them to that faith which would secure their eternal
+salvation. The fanatic sincerity with which this deed was accomplished
+does not redeem it from the sublimity of absurdity. Faith, said these
+mailed theologians, saves the soul; and these pagans have now turned
+from their idols to the living God. It is true that man is saved by
+faith, but it is that faith which _works by love_.
+
+In the mean time the parties returned from the exploration of the
+island, and Orday brought back his two ships from the main land. He
+was unsuccessful in his attempts to find the shipwrecked Spaniards.
+Cortez had now been at Cozumel a fortnight. As he was on the point of
+taking his departure, a frail canoe was seen crossing the strait, with
+three men in it, apparently Indians, and entirely naked. As soon as
+the canoe landed, one of the men ran frantically to the Spaniards and
+informed them that he was a Christian and a countryman. His name was
+Aguilar.
+
+Seven years ago, the vessel in which he was sailing from Darien to
+Hispaniola foundered in a gale. The ship's company, twenty in number,
+took to the boats. For thirteen days they were driven about at the
+mercy of the winds and currents. Seven perished miserably from hunger
+and thirst. The rest reached the barbarian shores of Yucatan. The
+natives seized them as captives, guarded them carefully, but fed them
+abundantly with the choicest food, and inflicted upon them no
+sufferings, and required of them no toil. Their treatment was an
+enigma which was soon dreadfully explained.
+
+One day four of these captives who were in the best condition were
+selected, sacrificed upon the bloody altars of the idols, and their
+cooked flesh served up for a cannibal repast. The howlings of the
+savages over the midnight orgies of this horrible entertainment fell
+dismally upon the ears of the miserable survivors. In their despair
+they succeeded in escaping, and fled to the mountain forests. Here
+they wandered for a time in the endurance of awful sufferings. At
+length they were again taken captive by the cacique or chief of
+another province. He spared their lives, but made them menial slaves.
+Their masters were merciless and exacting in the extreme. Under this
+rigorous treatment all died but two--Aguilar, a priest, and Guerrero,
+a sailor. The sailor, having no scruples of any kind, and being ready
+to conform himself to all customs, gradually acquired the good will
+of the savages. He obtained renown as a warrior; identified himself
+entirely with the natives; tattooed his face; slit his ears, his lips,
+and his nose, for those dangling ornaments which ever accompany a
+barbarian taste, and took to him a native wife.
+
+Aguilar, however, was a man of more cultivation and refinement. He
+cherished his self-respect, and, resisting all enticements to marry an
+Indian maiden, was true to the vows of celibacy which his priestly
+profession imposed. Curious stories are related of the temptations to
+which the natives exposed him. Weary years lingered along, presenting
+no opportunity for escape. Cortez at last arrived at Cozumel. Some
+Indians carried the tidings into the interior. Aguilar received this
+intelligence with transport, and yet with trembling. He, however,
+succeeded in reaching the coast, accompanied by two friendly natives.
+He found upon the beach a stranded canoe, half buried in the sand.
+Embarking in this with his two companions, they paddled themselves
+across the strait, at that place twelve miles wide, to the island. The
+frail boat was seen by the party of Cortez upon the surface of the
+sea. As soon as Aguilar landed he dropped upon his knees, and with
+streaming eyes gave thanks to God for his escape.
+
+His companion in captivity refused to accompany him. "Brother
+Aguilar," said he, after a moment's thought, "I am married. I have
+three sons, and am a cacique and captain in the wars. My face is
+tattooed and my ears bored. What would the Spaniards think of me
+should I now go among them?" All Aguilar's entreaties for him to leave
+were unavailing.
+
+Aguilar appears to have been truly a good man. As he had acquired a
+perfect acquaintance with the language of the natives, and with their
+manners and customs, Cortez received him as a heaven-sent acquisition
+to his enterprise.
+
+On the 4th of March the squadron again set sail, and, crossing the
+narrow strait, approached the shores of the continent. Sailing
+directly north some hundred miles, hugging the coast of Yucatan,
+Cortez doubled Cape Catoche, and turning his prow to the west, boldly
+pressed forward into those unknown waters which seemed to extend
+interminably before him. The shores were densely covered with the
+luxuriant foliage of the tropics, and in many a bay and on many a
+headland could be discerned the thronged dwellings of the natives.
+
+After sailing west about two hundred miles, they found the coast again
+turning abruptly to the south. Following the line of the land some
+three hundred miles farther, they came to the broad mouth of the River
+Tabasco, which Grijalva had entered, and which Cortez was seeking. A
+sand-bar at the mouth of the river prevented the heavily-loaded
+vessels from passing. Cortez, therefore, cast anchor, and taking a
+strong and well-armed party in the boats, ascended the shallow stream.
+
+A forest of majestic trees, with underwood dense and impervious, lined
+the banks. The naked forms of the natives were seen gliding among the
+foliage, following, in rapidly-accumulating numbers, the advance of
+the boats, and evincing, by tone and gesture, any thing but a friendly
+spirit. At last, arriving at an opening in the forest, where a smooth
+and grassy meadow extended with gradual ascent from the stream, the
+boats drew near the shore, and Cortez, through his interpreter
+Aguilar, asked permission to land, avowing his friendly intentions.
+The prompt answer was the clash of weapons and shouts of defiance.
+
+Upon this Cortez decided to postpone a forcible landing until the
+morning, and retired to a small island in the river which was
+uninhabited. He here encamped for the night, establishing a vigilant
+line of sentinels to guard against surprise.
+
+In the early dawn of the next morning the party were assembled for
+prayers and for the celebration of mass. They then, with new zeal and
+courage, entered their boats, and ascended the glassy, forest-fringed
+stream, upon which the morning sun shone brightly. Bird-songs filled
+the air, and hardly a breath of wind moved the leaves, glittering in
+the brilliant sunlight, as these bronzed men of iron sinews moved
+sternly on to the demoniac deeds of war. The natives, in preparation
+for the conflict, had been all the night rallying their forces. The
+shore was lined with their war-canoes, and the banks were covered with
+Indian troops drawn up in martial array. Gorgeous plumes decorated
+their persons, and the rays of the sun were reflected from their
+polished weapons. As soon as the Spanish boats appeared, the vast army
+of the natives raised shouts of defiance, and the ear was almost
+deafened with the clangor of their trumpets and drums.
+
+The battle soon commenced. The sky was almost darkened by the shower
+of arrows thrown by those upon the land. The warriors in the canoes
+fought fiercely with their javelins. The conflict was bloody, but
+short. Native valor could avail but little against European discipline
+and art. The spears, stones, and arrows of the natives fell almost
+harmless upon the helmets and shields of the Spaniards; but the
+bullets from the guns of the invaders swept like hail-stones through
+the crowded ranks of the natives, unimpeded by their frail weapons of
+defense. Cortez himself headed a charge which broke resistlessly into
+the hostile ranks. Appalled by the terrific thunder and lightning of
+the musketry, the Indians soon scattered and fled, leaving the ground
+covered with their slain.
+
+Cortez now reviewed his troops in triumph upon the shore. He found
+that fourteen were wounded, but none slain. To attend to the wounded
+and to rest his exhausted men, he again encamped. The bloodstained
+banner of the cross, which they had so signally dishonored, floated
+proudly over their intrenchments. Prayers were offered and mass
+celebrated in honor of the victory achieved by Christian arms against
+idolaters. The next morning the Spaniards marched unresisted to
+Tabasco, the capital of the province, a large town upon the river,
+but a few miles above the place where the invaders had effected a
+landing. The inhabitants, men, women, and children, fled from the
+place in dismay.
+
+Cortez took possession of the town in the name of the King of Spain.
+But the whole surrounding region was now aroused. The natives, in
+numbers which could not be counted, gathered in the vicinity of
+Tabasco, and organized their forces anew, to repel, if possible, the
+terrible foe. They were assembled on the great plain of Ceutla. Cortez
+had anticipated this, and was also gathering his strength for a
+decisive battle. He sent to the ships for six pieces of cannon, his
+whole cavalry of sixteen horses, and every available man. A few only
+were left to guard the vessels. This powerful re-enforcement soon
+arrived. Thus strengthened, his whole army was called together to
+celebrate the solemnities of mass, and to implore the blessing of God
+in extending the triumphs of the cross over the kingdom of Satan. Thus
+they marched forth, with powder, and ball, and neighing steeds, to the
+merciless slaughter of those brave men who were fighting for their
+country and their homes.
+
+The Spaniards now advanced to meet their foes. It was a lovely
+morning, the 25th of March. The natives, in point of civilization,
+raised far above the condition of savages, had large fields in a high
+state of cultivation, waving with the rich vegetation of the tropics.
+After a march of three or four miles through a country cultivated like
+a garden, they arrived at the ground occupied by the native army. The
+lines of their encampments were so extended and yet so crowded that
+the Spaniards estimated their numbers at over forty thousand. To meet
+them in the strife Cortez had but six hundred men. But his terrible
+engines of destruction made his force more powerful than theirs. The
+natives were ready for the battle. They greeted their assailants with
+a war-whoop, which rose in thunder tones over the plain, and showered
+upon them volleys of arrows, sling-stones, and javelins. At this first
+discharge, seventy Spaniards were wounded and one was slain. The
+conflict soon raged with all imaginable horrors. The natives fought
+with the courage of desperation. They seemed even regardless of the
+death-dealing muskets. And when the terrible cannon, with its awful
+roar, opened huge gaps in their ranks, manfully they closed up, and
+with new vigor pressed the onset. The odds were so fearful that for
+some time it seemed quite doubtful on which side victory would rest.
+
+Cortez, heading his cavalry, swept around the plain, and, by a
+circuitous route, came unperceived upon the rear of the tumultuous
+foe. The sixteen horsemen, clad in steel, urging their horses to their
+utmost speed, with loud shouts and sabres gleaming in the air, plunged
+into the midst of the throng. Their keen-edged swords fell on the
+right hand and on the left upon the almost naked bodies of the
+natives. At the same moment, the energies of musketry and artillery
+were plied with murderous carnage.
+
+[Illustration: FIRST CAVALRY CHARGE HEADED BY CORTEZ.]
+
+The natives had never seen a horse before. They thought the rider and
+the steed one animal. As these terrific monsters, half human, half
+beast, came bounding into their midst, cutting down and trampling
+beneath iron hoofs all who stood in the way, while at the same time
+the appalling roar of the cannonade seemed to shake the very hills,
+the scene became too awful for mortal courage to endure. The whole
+mighty mass, in uncontrollable dismay, fled from the presence of foes
+of such demoniac aspect and energy. The slaughter of these poor
+Indians was so awful that some of the Spaniards extravagantly
+estimated the number left dead upon the field at thirty thousand.
+Though many of the Spaniards were wounded, but two were killed.
+
+Cortez immediately assembled his army under a grove upon the field of
+battle to give thanks to God for the victory. The pomp and pageantry
+of war gave place to the pomp and pageantry of the Church. Canonical
+robes and banners fluttered in the breeze, processions marched, the
+smoke of incense floated in the air, and mass, with all its imposing
+solemnities, was celebrated in the midst of prayers and thanksgivings.
+
+    "Then," says Diaz, "after dressing our wounds with the fat of
+    Indians whom we found dead thereabout, and having placed good
+    guards round our post, we ate our supper and went to our
+    repose."
+
+Under the placable influence of these devotions, the conqueror sent
+word to the vanquished that he would now _forgive them_ if they would
+submit unconditionally to his authority. But he declared that if they
+refused this, he would ride over the land, and put every thing in it,
+man, woman, and child, to the sword.
+
+The spirit of resistance was utterly crushed. The natives immediately
+sent a delegation to him laden with presents. To impress these
+embassadors still more deeply with a sense of his power, he exhibited
+before them the martial evolutions of his cavalry, and showed them the
+effects of his artillery as the balls were sped crashing through the
+trees of the forest. The natives were now effectually conquered, and
+looked upon the Spaniards as beings of supernatural powers, wielding
+the terrors of thunder and lightning, and whom no mortal energies
+could resist.
+
+They had become as little children. This Cortez thought a very
+suitable frame of mind to secure their conversion. He recommended that
+they should cast down their idols, and accept instead the gods of
+papal Rome. The recommendation of Cortez was potent over the now
+pliant natives. They made no opposition while the soldiers, whose
+hands were hardly yet washed of the blood of their relatives, hewed
+down their images. With very imposing ceremonies, the religion of the
+conquerors was instituted in the temples of Yucatan, and, in honor of
+the Virgin Mary, the name of Tabasco was changed into St. Mary of
+Victory.
+
+In all this tremendous crime there was apparently no hypocrisy. Human
+motives will seldom bear rigid scrutiny. Man's best deeds are tainted.
+Cortez was very sincere in his desire to overthrow the abominable
+system of idolatry prevailing among the natives. He perhaps truly
+thought that these violent measures were necessary to accomplish this
+object, and that Christianity, thus introduced, would prove an
+inestimable blessing. We may abhor his conduct, while we can still
+make generous allowances for the darkness of his mind and of the age
+in which he lived. It requires infinite wisdom to adjust the balance
+of human deeds.
+
+Two of the Catholic ecclesiastics, Olmedo and Diaz, were probably
+unaffected Christians, truly desiring the spiritual renovation of the
+Indians. They felt deeply the worth of the soul, and did all they
+could rightly to instruct these unhappy and deeply-wronged natives.
+They sincerely pitied their sufferings, but deemed it wise that the
+right eye should be plucked out, and that the right arm should be cut
+off, rather than that the soul should perish. It is a consoling
+thought, that "like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord
+pitieth them that fear Him; for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth
+that we are dust." The natives were assembled in their temples; they
+came together in immense multitudes. The priests, through their
+interpreter, Aguilar, endeavored to instruct them in the pure
+doctrines and the sublime mysteries of Christianity. If the natives
+perceived a marked difference between these precepts and the awful
+carnage on the field of Ceutla, it was not the first time that
+principles and practice have been found discordant.
+
+A grand religious ceremony was instituted to commemorate the
+conversion of the nation. The whole army took a part in the
+solemnities of the occasion, with all the martial and ecclesiastical
+pomp which their situation could furnish. The natives in countless
+multitudes joined the procession, and gazed with astonishment upon the
+scene. Advancing to the principal pyramidal temple of Tabasco, which
+was an enormous structure, with a vast area upon its summit, they
+wound around its sides in the ascent. Upon this lofty platform,
+beneath the unclouded sun, with thousands of Indians crowding the
+region around to witness the strange spectacle, a Christian altar was
+reared, the images of the Savior and of the Virgin were erected, and
+mass was celebrated. Clouds of incense rose into the still air, and
+the rich voices of the Spanish soldiers swelled the solemn chant. It
+must have been an impressive scene. There must have been some there
+into whose eye the tear of devotion gushed. If there were in that
+throng--all of whom have long since gone to judgment--one single
+broken and contrite heart, that was an offering which God could
+accept. Father Olmedo preached upon the occasion "many good things
+touching our holy faith." Twenty Indian girls who had been given to
+the Spanish captains for wives were baptized.
+
+Cortez having thus, in the course of a week, annexed the whole of
+these new provinces of unknown extent to Spain, and having converted
+the natives to Christianity, prepared for his departure. The natives,
+among their propitiatory offerings, had presented to Cortez, as we
+have mentioned, twenty young and beautiful females whom they had
+captured from hostile tribes, or who in other ways had become their
+slaves. Cortez distributed these unenlightened maidens among his
+captains, having first selected one of the youngest and most beautiful
+of them, Marina, for his wife. Cortez had a worthy spouse upon his
+plantation at Cuba. No civil or religious rites sanctioned this
+unhallowed union; and he was sufficiently instructed to know that he
+was sinning against the laws of both God and man; but the conscience
+of this extraordinary adventurer had become involved in labyrinths
+utterly inexplicable. He seemed to judge that he was doing so much for
+the cause of Holy Mother Church that his own private sins were of
+little comparative moment. His many good deeds, he appeared to think,
+purchased ample indulgence.
+
+But Marina was a noble woman. The relation which she sustained to
+Cortez did no violence to her instincts or to her conscience. She
+had never been instructed in the school of Christ. Polygamy was the
+religion of her land. She deemed herself the honored wife of Cortez,
+and dreamed not of wrong. Marina was in all respects an extraordinary
+woman. Nature had done much for her. In person she was exceedingly
+beautiful. She had winning manners, and a warm and loving heart.
+Her mind was of a superior order. She very quickly mastered the
+difficulties of the Castilian tongue, and thus spoke three languages
+with native fluency--the Mexican, the Yucatanese, and the Spanish. "I
+am more happy," said she one day, "in being the wife of my lord and
+master Cortez, and of having a son by him, than if I had been
+sovereign of all of New Spain."
+
+Her career had been eventful in the extreme. She was the daughter of a
+rich and powerful cacique, who was tributary to the Emperor of Mexico.
+Her father died during her infancy, and her mother married again. A
+son by her new husband gradually estranged the affections of the
+unnatural mother from her daughter. These feelings increased, till
+she regarded the child with deep dislike, and secretly gave her away
+to some slave-drivers, circulating the report that the child was dead.
+The slave-merchants brought her from her distant home, where the
+language of Mexico was her native tongue, and sold her to one of the
+chiefs of Tabasco. Here she acquired the language of Yucatan.
+
+There was much in the energy, magnanimity, fearlessness, and glowing
+temperament of Cortez to rouse a woman's love. Marina became devotedly
+attached to him. She watched over his interests with a zeal which
+never slumbered; and when she became the mother of his son, still more
+tender ties bound her to the conqueror of her race. In subsequent
+scenes of difficulty and danger, her acquaintance with the native
+language, manners, and customs made her an invaluable acquisition to
+the expedition.
+
+After a few days spent at Tabasco, the hour for departure came. The
+boats, decorated with the banner of the cross, and with palm leaves,
+the symbols of happiness and peace, floated down the beautiful river
+to the squadron riding at anchor at its mouth. Again spreading the
+sails, and catching a favorable breeze, the adventurers were wafted
+rejoicingly on toward the shores of Mexico. The newly-converted
+natives were left to meditate upon the instructions which they had
+received--to count the graves of the slain--to heal, as they could,
+the gory wounds and splintered bones of their friends, still writhing
+in anguish, and to wail the funeral dirge in the desolate homes of the
+widow and the orphan. Seldom, in the history of the world, has such a
+whirlwind of woe so suddenly burst upon any people. How long they
+continued to cherish a religion introduced by such harbingers we are
+not informed.
+
+The sun shone brightly on the broad Mexican Gulf, and zephyrs laden
+with fragrance from the luxuriant shores swelled the flowing sheets.
+As the fleet crept along the land, the temples and houses of the
+natives, and their waving fields of grain, were distinctly visible
+from the decks. Many a promontory and headland was covered with
+multitudes of tawny figures, decorated with all the attractions of
+barbarian splendor, gazing upon the fearful phenomena of the passing
+ships. Cortez continued his course several hundred miles, sweeping
+around the shores of this magnificent gulf, until he arrived at the
+island of San Juan de Ulua. He was seeking this spot, which Grijalva
+had visited, and here he dropped his anchors in one of the harbors of
+the empire of Mexico.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FOUNDING A COLONY.
+
+The fleet anchors.--Arrival of the canoes.--The two chiefs.--The
+legend.--The presents.--The interview.--The government of the
+empire.--Cortez lands.--Scene on the shore.--Visit of Governor
+Teutile.--Cortez's speech.--Teutile's uneasiness.--His reply.--
+Embassadors to be sent to Montezuma.--Picture writing.--Military
+review.--The manoeuvres.--Terror of the natives.--Departure of the
+runners.--Police regulations.--Kindness of the natives.--Arrival
+of the embassy.--Message from Montezuma.--Chagrin of Cortez.--
+Disaffection in the camp.--Second message from Montezuma.--The
+Ave Maria.--Curiosity of the natives.--The sermon.--Presentation
+of the crucifix.--Desertion of the huts.--The mutiny.--Shrewdness.
+--The mutineers outwitted.--Success of the scheme.--Enthusiasm.--
+Council elected for the new colony.--Appearance of Cortez before
+the assembly.--The address.--Cortez lays down his commission.--He
+is induced to take it up again.--Remonstrance.--Mode of reasoning.
+--Envoys of Zempoalla.--Prospect of civil war.--Resolve to establish
+a colony at Quiabislan.--Beauties of the country, and refinement of
+the inhabitants.--Reception at Zempoalla.--Cortez offers his
+services.--Wrongs of the Totonacs.--Help implored.--Applause of the
+natives.--Erection of fortifications.--Building the town.--The lords
+from Montezuma.--Consternation of the Totonacs.--The penalty.--
+Cortez's orders.--Power of Montezuma.--The Mexican lords arrested.
+--Perfidy of Cortez.--The lords are liberated.--Villa Rica de la
+Vera Cruz.--Embassy from Montezuma.--He adopts a conciliatory
+policy.--Amazement of the Totonacs.
+
+
+It was a beautiful afternoon in April when the fleet sailed
+majestically into the Mexican bay. Earth, sea, and sky smiled
+serenely, and all the elements of trouble were lulled into repose. As
+the ships glided over the smooth waters to their sheltered anchorage,
+a scene, as of enchantment, opened around the voyagers. In the
+distance, on grassy slopes, and in the midst of luxuriant groves, the
+villages and rural dwellings of the natives were thickly scattered.
+The shores were covered with an eager multitude, contemplating with
+wonder and awe the sublime spectacle of the fleet.
+
+Hardly were the anchors dropped ere two canoes shot from the shore,
+filled with natives. The ship in which Cortez sailed was more imposing
+than the rest, and the banner of Spain floated proudly from its
+topmast. The Mexicans steered promptly for this vessel, and, with the
+most confiding frankness, ascended its sides. Two of the persons in
+these boats were men of high distinction in the Mexican empire. As
+Marina understood their language perfectly, and the liberated Spanish
+captive Aguilar was thoroughly acquainted with the language of the
+Tabascans, there was no difficulty in the interchange of ideas. One of
+these men was the governor of the province in which Cortez had landed;
+the other was commander-in-chief of all the military forces in that
+province. It has been mentioned that Grijalva had previously landed at
+this spot, and given it the name of San Juan de Ulua. The Mexicans had
+thus some knowledge of the formidable strangers who were invading the
+New World, and in various ways tidings, for now the quarter of a
+century, had been reaching their ears of the appalling power of this
+new race.
+
+Perhaps to this fact is to be attributed the general and discouraging
+impression which then prevailed, that a fearful calamity which nothing
+could avert was impending over the nation; that it was the decree of
+destiny that a strange race, coming from the rising of the sun, should
+overwhelm and desolate their country.
+
+The two chiefs brought Cortez a present of bread, fruit, fowls,
+flowers, and golden ornaments. The interview was conducted by the
+interchange of the most formal social ceremonies of Mexico and of
+Spain. Cortez invited his guests to remain and dine. The communication
+between them was necessarily slow, as Marina interpreted their speech
+to Aguilar, and Aguilar to Cortez. The Spanish commander, however,
+thus ascertained the most important facts which he wished to know
+respecting the great empire of Mexico. He learned that two hundred
+miles in the interior was situated the capital of the empire, and
+that a monarch named Montezuma, beloved and revered by his subjects,
+reigned over the extended realm. The country was divided into
+provinces, over each of which a governor presided. The province in
+which Cortez had landed was under the sway of Governor Teutile, who
+resided about twenty miles in the interior.
+
+Cortez, though uninvited, immediately, with great energy and boldness,
+landed his whole force upon the beach. He constructed a fortified
+camp, and planted his heavy artillery upon the surrounding hillocks
+to sweep all the approaches. Characteristically it is recorded that,
+having posted their artillery, they _raised an altar_, and not till
+after that was done did they erect barracks for themselves. The
+friendly natives aided the Spaniards in building huts, brought them
+presents of flowers and food, and entered into an active traffic, in
+which both parties exulted in the great bargains which they made. Thus
+the Mexicans warmed the vipers who were fatally to sting them.
+
+It was indeed a novel scene, worthy of the pencil of the painter,
+which that beach presented day after day. Men, women, and children,
+boys and girls, in all the variety of barbaric costume, thronged the
+encampment. Mexicans and Spaniards mingled merrily in all the peaceful
+and joyful confusion of a fair. The rumor of the strange visitors
+spread far and wide, and each day increasing multitudes were
+assembled.
+
+The intelligence was speedily communicated to Governor Teutile. With
+a numerous retinue, he set out from his palace to visit his uninvited
+guests, and to ascertain their object and purposes. The governor
+entered the Spanish camp accompanied by the commander-in-chief of all
+the provincial forces. Each party vied in the external demonstrations
+of respect and friendship. The eyes of the Spaniards glistened with
+avarice as Teutile spread before Cortez many valuable ornaments of
+massive silver and gold, wrought in exquisite workmanship. The sight
+inflamed them with more intense desires to penetrate a country where
+such treasures could be obtained. After a splendid repast given by the
+Spaniards, Cortez said to his visitors,
+
+"I am the subject of Charles V., the most powerful monarch in the
+world. My sovereign has heard of the greatness and the glory of
+Montezuma, the Emperor of Mexico. I am sent to his court to convey the
+respects of my sovereign, to offer suitable presents, and to confer
+with him upon matters of great moment. It is therefore my desire to
+proceed immediately to the capital, to accomplish the purposes of my
+mission."
+
+Teutile could not conceal the uneasiness with which he heard this
+avowal. He knew that Montezuma and all the most intelligent men of the
+nation contemplated with dread the power and the encroachments of the
+Europeans, now so firmly established on the islands of the Caribbean
+Sea. With embarrassment he replied,
+
+"I hear with pleasure of the magnificence of your sovereign. Our
+monarch is not less glorious. No earthly king can surpass him in
+wealth or goodness. You have been but a few days in these realms,
+and yet you are impatient to be admitted, without delay, into the
+presence of Montezuma. Our king will doubtless hear with pleasure from
+your sovereign, and receive his embassador honorably. But it will be
+first necessary to inform him of your arrival, that he may communicate
+to you his royal pleasure."
+
+Cortez was exceedingly annoyed by this delay. Deeming it, however,
+important to secure the friendship of the Mexicans, he consented to
+wait until the return of the couriers who were immediately to be sent
+to Montezuma. The natives were not acquainted with the alphabet, but
+they had in use a sort of _picture writing_, delineating upon fine
+cotton cloth pictures of scenes which they wished to represent.
+Teutile requested that his painters might be permitted to take a
+sketch of the Spaniards and their equipage. Consent being obtained,
+the painters commenced their work, which they executed with remarkable
+rapidity and skill. The fleet in the harbor, the encampment upon the
+shore, the muskets, the artillery, the horses, all were delineated
+true to life. They were so accurate in the figures and portraits of
+Cortez and his leading companions that the Spaniards immediately
+recognized them.
+
+When Cortez observed this remarkable skill, that he might impress
+Montezuma the more deeply with a sense of his power, he ordered his
+whole force to be assembled for a military review. The trumpets pealed
+forth the martial summons which the well-drilled bands so perfectly
+understood. The troops instantly formed in order of battle. Infantry,
+artillery, cavalry, all were at their posts. The most intricate and
+beautiful manoeuvres were performed. Martial music contributed its
+thrilling charms; banners floated in the breeze; helmets, cuirasses,
+swords, and polished muskets gleamed in the rays of the unclouded sun.
+Mounted horsemen bounded over the plain in the terrific charge, and
+the artillerymen, with rapid evolutions, moved to and fro, dragging
+over the sands their lumbering yet mysterious engines of destruction,
+whose awful roar and terrific power the Mexicans had not yet
+witnessed. It was a gorgeous spectacle even to eyes accustomed to
+such scenes. The Mexicans, in countless thousands, gazed upon it in
+silent amazement. But when, at the close, Cortez placed his cannon
+in battery, and ordered a simultaneous discharge, aiming the
+heavily-shotted guns into the dense forest, the bewilderment of the
+poor natives passed away into unspeakable terror. They saw the
+lightning flash, they heard the roar, louder than the heaviest
+thunders. As the iron storm was shot through the forest, the limbs
+of the gigantic trees came crashing to the ground. Dense volumes of
+sulphurous smoke enveloped them. Even the boldest turned pale, and
+the timid shrieked and fled.
+
+Cortez was much pleased in seeing how deeply he had impressed his
+visitors with a sense of his power. The painters made a very accurate
+delineation of the whole scene to be transmitted to Montezuma. They
+then, with much ceremony, departed.
+
+The police regulations of Mexico were in some respects in advance of
+that which then prevailed in Europe. For the rapid transmission of
+intelligence from the remotest bounds of the empire to the capital,
+well-trained runners were posted, at suitable stations, all along the
+principal roads. Each man had a short stage, which he passed over with
+great rapidity, and communicated his message, verbal or written in the
+picture language, to a fresh runner. Burdens and governmental officers
+were also rapidly transmitted, in a sort of palanquin, in the same
+way, from post to post, by relays of men.
+
+A week passed while Cortez remained impatiently in his encampment
+awaiting an answer to the message sent to Montezuma. The friendly
+natives, in the mean time, supplied the Spaniards with every thing
+they could need. By the command of the governor, Teutile, more than a
+thousand huts of branches of trees and of cotton matting were reared
+in the vicinity of the encampment for the accommodation of the
+Mexicans, who, without recompense, were abundantly supplying the table
+of Cortez and of his troops.
+
+[Illustration: INTERVIEW BETWEEN CORTEZ AND THE EMBASSADORS OF
+MONTEZUMA.]
+
+On the eighth day an embassy arrived at the camp from the Mexican
+capital. Two nobles of the court, accompanied by a retinue of a
+hundred _men of burden_, laden with magnificent gifts from Montezuma,
+presented themselves before the pavilion of Cortez. The embassadors
+saluted the Spanish chieftain with the greatest reverence, bowing
+before him, and surrounding him with clouds of incense, which arose
+from waving censers borne by their attendants. The presents which they
+brought, in silver, in gold, in works of art, utility, and beauty,
+excited the rapture and the amazement of the Spaniards. There were
+specimens of workmanship in the precious metals which no artists in
+Europe could rival. A Spanish helmet which had been sent to Montezuma
+was returned filled with grains of pure gold. These costly gifts were
+opened before Cortez in lavish abundance, and they gave indications of
+opulence hitherto undreamed of. After they had been sufficiently
+examined and admired, one of the embassadors very courteously said,
+
+"Our master is happy to send these tokens of his respect to the King
+of Spain. He regrets that he can not enjoy an interview with the
+Spaniards. But the distance of his capital is too great, and the
+perils of the journey are too imminent to allow of this pleasure. The
+strangers are therefore requested to return to their own homes with
+these proofs of the friendly feelings of Montezuma."
+
+Cortez was much chagrined. He earnestly, however, renewed his
+application for permission to visit the emperor. But the embassadors,
+as they retired, assured him that another application would be
+unavailing. They, however, took a few meagre presents of shirts and
+toys, which alone remained to Cortez, and departed on their journey
+of two hundred miles, with the reiterated and still more earnest
+application from Cortez for permission to visit the emperor. It was
+now evident that the Mexicans had received instructions from the
+court, and that all were anxious that the Spaniards should leave the
+country. Though the natives manifested no hostility, they immediately
+became cold and reserved, and ceased to supply the camp with food.
+With the Spaniards the charm of novelty was over. Insects annoyed
+them. They were blistered by the rays of a meridian sun, reflected
+from the burning sands of the beach. Sickness entered the camp, and
+thirty died. Disaffection began to manifest itself, and some were
+anxious to return to Cuba.
+
+But the treasures which had been received from Montezuma, so rich and
+so abundant, inspired Cortez and his gold-loving companions with the
+most intense desire to penetrate an empire of so much opulence. They,
+however, waited patiently ten days, when the embassadors again
+returned. As before, they came laden with truly imperial gifts. The
+gold alone of the ornaments which they brought was valued by the
+Spaniards at more than fifty thousand dollars. The message from
+Montezuma was, however, still more peremptory than the first. He
+declared that he could not permit the Spaniards to approach his
+capital. Cortez, though excessively vexed, endeavored to smother the
+outward expression of his irritation. He gave the embassadors a
+courteous response, but, turning to his officers, he said,
+
+"This is truly a rich and a powerful prince. Yet it shall go hard but
+we will one day pay him a visit in his capital."
+
+    "At this moment," says Diaz, "the bell tolled for the Ave
+    Maria, and all of us fell upon our knees before the holy
+    cross. The Mexican noblemen being very inquisitive to know
+    the meaning of this, Cortez hinted to the reverend father
+    Olmedo the propriety of a sermon, such as should convey to
+    them the truths of our holy faith. Father Olmedo accordingly
+    preached, like an excellent theologian which he was,
+    explaining the mysteries of the cross, at the sight of which
+    the evil beings they worshiped as gods fled away. These
+    subjects, and much more, he dilated upon. It was perfectly
+    explained to the Mexicans and understood by them, and they
+    promised to relate all they had seen and heard to their
+    sovereign. He also declared to them that among the principal
+    objects of our mission thither were those of putting a stop
+    to human sacrifices, injustices, and idolatrous worship; and
+    then, presenting them with an image of our Holy Virgin, with
+    her son in her arms, he desired them to take it with them, to
+    venerate it, and to plant crosses similar to that before them
+    in their temples."
+
+The embassadors again retired with dignity and with courtesy, yet with
+reserve indicative of deep displeasure at the pertinacity of the
+Spaniards. That night every hut of the natives was abandoned. When the
+morning sun arose, silence and solitude reigned upon the spot which
+had so recently witnessed the life and the clamor of an innumerable
+multitude. Cortez and his companions were left alone. The long hours
+of the tropical day passed slowly, and no native approached the
+encampment. No food was to be obtained. Not only was all friendly
+intercourse thus suspended, but the Spaniards had much reason to fear
+that preparations were making for an assault. The murmuring in the
+camp increased. Two parties were formed: one party were in favor of
+returning to Cuba, affirming that it was madness to think of the
+subjugation by force of arms of so mighty an empire with so feeble an
+armament. One of the generals, Diego de Ordaz, was deputed by the
+disaffected to communicate these sentiments to Cortez, and to assure
+him that it was the general voice of the army.
+
+The shrewdness of this extraordinary man was peculiarly conspicuous
+in this crisis. He promptly, and apparently with cordiality, assented
+to their views, and began to make arrangements to relinquish the
+enterprise. Orders were issued to commence the re-embarkation.
+
+While thus dissimulating, he roused his friends to effort, and
+secretly employed all his powers to excite a mutiny in the camp
+against a return. Every motive was plied to stimulate the bold and the
+avaricious to persevere in an undertaking where glory and wealth held
+out such attractions. His emissaries were completely successful. The
+whole camp was in a ferment. Before the sun went down, a large party
+of the soldiers surrounded his tent, as in open mutiny. They declared
+that, having entered upon a majestic enterprise, it was poltroonery to
+abandon it upon the first aspect of danger; that they were determined
+to persevere, and that, if Cortez wished to return with the cowards to
+Cuba, they would instantly choose another general to guide them in the
+career of glory upon which they had entered.
+
+Cortez was delighted with the success of his stratagem. He, however,
+affected surprise, and declared that his orders for re-embarking were
+issued from the persuasion that the troops wished to return; that,
+to gratify them, he had been willing to sacrifice his own private
+judgment. He assured the mutineers that it afforded him the highest
+gratification to find that they were true Castilians, with minds
+elevated to the accomplishment of heroic deeds. He affirmed that
+before such strong arms and bold hearts all peril would vanish.
+The applause with which this speech was greeted was so long and
+enthusiastic that even the murmurers were soon induced to join the
+acclamations. Thus adroitly Cortez again enthroned himself as the
+undisputed chieftain of an enthusiastic band.
+
+He decided immediately to establish a settlement on the sea-coast as
+the nucleus of a colony. From that point as the basis of operations,
+he would, with the terrors of artillery and cavalry, boldly penetrate
+the interior. He assembled the principal officers of the army, and by
+their suffrages elected the magistrates and a council for the new
+colony. He skillfully so arranged it that all the magistrates chosen
+were his warm partisans.
+
+The council assembled for the organization of the government. As soon
+as the assembly was convened, Cortez asked permission to enter it.
+Bowing with the most profound respect before the new government thus
+organized, that he might set an example of the most humble and
+submissive obedience, he addressed them in the following terms:
+
+"By the establishment of the colony and the organization of the
+colonial government, this august tribunal is henceforth invested
+with supreme jurisdiction, and is clothed with the authority, and
+represents the person of the sovereign. I accordingly present myself
+before you with the same dutiful fidelity as if I were addressing my
+royal master. The safety of this colony, threatened by the hostility
+of a mighty empire, depends upon the subordination and discipline
+preserved among the troops. But my right to command is derived from a
+commission granted by the Governor of Cuba. As that commission has
+been long since revoked, my right to command may well be questioned.
+It is of the utmost importance, in the present condition of affairs,
+that the commander-in-chief should not act upon a dubious title. There
+is now required the most implicit obedience to orders, and the army
+can not act with efficiency if it has any occasion to dispute the
+powers of its general.
+
+"Moved by these considerations, I now resign into your hands, as the
+representatives of the sovereign, all my authority. As you alone have
+the right to choose, and the power to confer full jurisdiction, upon
+you it devolves to choose some one, in the king's name, to guide the
+army in its future operations. For my own part, such is my zeal in the
+service in which we are engaged, that I would most cheerfully take up
+a pike with the same hand which lays down the general's truncheon, and
+convince my fellow-soldiers that, though accustomed to command, I have
+not forgotten how to obey."
+
+Thus saying, he laid his commission from Velasquez upon the table, and
+after kissing his truncheon, delivered it to the chief magistrate and
+withdrew. This was consummate acting. The succeeding steps were all
+previously arranged. He was immediately elected, by unanimous
+suffrage, chief justice of the colony, and captain general of the
+army. His commission was ordered to be made out in the name of Charles
+V. of Spain, and was to continue in force until the royal pleasure
+should be farther known. The troops were immediately assembled and
+informed of the resolve. They ratified it with unbounded applause.
+The air resounded with acclamations, and all vowed obedience, even to
+death, to the authority of Cortez. Thus adroitly this bold adventurer
+shook off his dependence upon Velasquez, and assumed the dignity of an
+independent governor, responsible only to his sovereign.
+
+There were a few adherents of Velasquez who remonstrated against these
+unprecedented measures. Cortez, with characteristic energy, seized
+them and placed them in imprisonment, loaded with chains, on board one
+of the ships. This rigor overawed and silenced the rest. Cortez,
+however, soon succeeded, by flattering attentions and by gifts, in
+securing a cordial reconciliation with his opponents. He was now
+strong in undisputed authority.
+
+In the midst of these events, one day five Indians of rank came, in
+rather a mysterious manner, to the camp, and solicited an interview
+with Cortez. They represented themselves as envoys from the chief of
+Zempoalla, a large town at no great distance. This chief reigned over
+the powerful nation of Totonacs. His people had been conquered by
+Montezuma, and annexed to the Mexican empire. They were restive under
+the yoke, and would gladly avail themselves of an alliance with the
+Spaniards to regain their independence.
+
+Cortez listened eagerly to this statement. It presented just the
+opportunity which he desired. He saw at once that by exciting civil
+war, and arraying one portion of the empire against another, he might
+accomplish his ends. He also judged that, in an empire so vast, there
+must be other provinces where disaffection could be excited. He
+therefore received these envoys most graciously, and promised very
+soon to visit their metropolis.
+
+The spot where Cortez had landed was not a good location for the
+establishment of a city. A party was sent along the coast to seek a
+better harbor for the ships and a more eligible site for the city. At
+the expiration of twelve days the party returned, having discovered a
+fine harbor and fertile soil at a little village called Quiabislan,
+about forty miles to the northward. This village was fortunately but
+a few miles distant from Zempoalla. Most of the heavy guns were
+re-embarked, and the fleet was ordered to coast along the shore to the
+appointed rendezvous at Quiabislan. Then, heading his troops, he set
+out on a bold march across the country to meet his fleet, arranging to
+pass through Zempoalla by the way.
+
+[Illustration: MAP _SHOWING THE_ ROUTE OF CORTEZ from Cozumel I. to
+Mexico.]
+
+The beauty of the country through which they marched entranced the
+hearts even of these stern warriors. They were never weary of
+expressing their delight in view of the terrestrial paradise which
+they had discovered. When the Spaniards had arrived within three miles
+of Zempoalla, a delegation met them from the city, accompanied by a
+vast concourse of men and women. The adventurers were greeted with
+courteous words, and gifts of gold, and fruits, and flowers. The
+natives possessed many attractions of person, and their frank and
+friendly manners were peculiarly winning. A singular degree of mental
+refinement was to be seen in their passionate love of flowers, with
+which they adorned their persons, and which bloomed, in the utmost
+profusion, around their dwellings. Cortez and his steed were almost
+covered with wreaths and garlands of roses, woven by the fair hands
+of his newly-found friends.
+
+The Spaniards were quite amazed in entering the city of Zempoalla.
+They found a beautiful town, with streets perfectly clean--for they
+had no beasts of burden--lined with spacious stone houses, and shaded
+with ornamental trees. These paved streets were kept almost as
+free from litter as a parlor floor, and they were thronged with,
+apparently, a refined and happy people. A tropical sun, whose rays
+were tempered by the ocean breeze, fell warmly upon them during all
+the months of the year. Soil of astonishing fertility supplied them
+abundantly with food, while a genial climate invited them to
+indulgence and repose. At first glance it would seem that the doom of
+Adam's fall had not yet reached the dwellings of Zempoalla. A few
+hours' residence in the city, however, conclusively proved that here,
+as elsewhere, man is born to mourn.
+
+As Cortez entered the gates of the city, he was met and welcomed with
+great pomp by the cacique of Zempoalla. He was excessively corpulent,
+but very polite and highly polished in his manners. Marina and Aguilar
+acted as interpreters.
+
+"I am come," said Cortez, "from the ends of the earth. I serve a
+monarch who is powerful, and whose goodness equals his power. He has
+sent me hither, that I may give some account of the inhabitants of
+this part of the world. He has commanded me to do good to all men, and
+particularly to aid the oppressed and to punish their oppressors. To
+you, Lord of Zempoalla, I offer my services. Whatever you may command,
+I and my troops will cheerfully perform."
+
+The cacique of Zempoalla replied,
+
+"Gracious stranger, I can not sufficiently commend your benevolence,
+and none can stand more in need of it. You see before you a man
+wearied out with unmerited wrongs. I and my people are crushed and
+trodden under foot by the most tyrannical power upon earth. We were
+once an independent and a happy people, but the prosperity of the
+Totonacs is now destroyed. The power of our nobles is gone. We are
+robbed of the produce of our fields. Our sons are torn from us for
+sacrifices, and our daughters for slaves.
+
+"The Mexicans are our conquerors and oppressors. They heap these
+calamities upon us, robbing us of our substance, and despoiling us
+of our children. In the pride of aggression, they have marched from
+conquest to conquest, till they gather tribute from every land. And
+now, mighty warrior, we implore of thy strength and kindness that thou
+wouldst enable us to resist these tyrants, and deliver us from their
+exactions."
+
+Cortez warily replied: "I will gladly aid you, but let us not be rash.
+I will dwell with you a while, and whenever I shall see a suitable
+occasion to punish your enemies and to relieve you from their
+impositions, you may rely upon my aid to humble their pride and
+power."
+
+The rugged army of Cortez then advanced through the streets of
+Zempoalla to the spacious court-yard of the temple assigned for their
+accommodation. As in solid column, with floating banners and bugle
+notes, they paraded the streets, headed by the cavalry of sixteen
+horses, animals the Totonacs had never seen before, and followed by
+the lumbering artillery--instruments, in the eyes of the Totonacs, of
+supernatural power--which, with thunder roar, sped lightning bolts,
+the natives gazed with admiration upon the imposing spectacle, and the
+air resounded with their applause.
+
+The next morning Cortez, with most of his army, continued his march
+some twelve miles farther to meet his fleet at Quiabislan. The cacique
+hospitably sent with him four hundred _men of burden_ to convey his
+baggage. The spot which had been selected as the site of the new town,
+which was to be the capital of the Spanish colony, met the approbation
+of Cortez. He immediately commenced erecting huts and surrounding the
+town with fortifications of sufficient strength to resist any assault
+from the natives. Every man in the army, the officers as well as the
+soldiers, engaged laboriously in this work. No one toiled in this
+enterprise with more patient endurance than the extraordinary
+commander of this extraordinary band. The Totonacs from Zempoalla and
+Quiabislan, encouraged by their caciques, also lent their aid to the
+enterprise with hearty good will. Thousands of hands were thus
+employed; provisions flowed into the camp in all abundance, and the
+works proceeded with great rapidity. The vicinity was densely
+populated, and large numbers of the listless natives, women and
+children, were attracted to the spot to witness the busy scene, so
+novel and so exciting.
+
+But such proceedings could not escape the vigilance of the officers of
+Montezuma. In the midst of this state of things, suddenly one day a
+strange commotion was witnessed in the crowd, and the natives, both
+people and chiefs, gave indications of great terror. Five strangers
+appeared--tall, imposing men, with bouquets of flowers in their hands,
+and followed by obsequious attendants. Haughtily these strangers
+passed through the place, looking sternly upon the Spaniards, without
+deigning to address them either by a word or a gesture. They were
+lords from the court of Montezuma. Their power was invincible and
+terrible. They had witnessed with their own eyes these rebellious
+indications of the subjects of Mexico. The chiefs of the Totonacs
+turned pale with consternation. All this was explained to Cortez by
+Marina.
+
+The Totonac chiefs were imperiously summoned to appear immediately
+before the lords of Montezuma. Like terrified children they obeyed.
+Soon they returned, trembling, to Cortez, and informed him that the
+Mexican lords were indignant at the support which they had afforded
+the Spaniards, contrary to the express will of their emperor, and that
+they demanded as the penalty twenty young men and twenty young women
+of the Totonacs, to be offered in sacrifice to their gods.
+
+Cortez assumed an air of indignation and of authority as he eagerly
+availed himself of this opportunity of promoting an open rupture
+between the Totonacs and the Mexicans. He declared that he would never
+consent to any such abominable practices of heathenism. He haughtily
+commanded the Totonac chiefs immediately to arrest the lords of
+Montezuma, and throw them into prison. The poor chiefs were appalled
+beyond measure at the very idea of an act so irrevocable and so
+unpardonable. They had long been accustomed to consider Montezuma as
+possessing power which nothing on earth could resist. Montezuma swayed
+the sceptre of a Cæsar, and bold indeed must he be who would venture
+to brave his wrath.
+
+But, on the other hand, they had already offended beyond hope of
+pardon by entertaining the intruders contrary to the positive command
+of their sovereign. Twenty of their sons and daughters were to bleed
+upon the altars of sacrifice. Their only hope was now in Cortez.
+Should he abandon them, they were ruined hopelessly. They deemed it
+possible that, with the thunder and the lightning at his command, he
+might be able to set at defiance that mighty Mexican power which had
+hitherto been found invincible.
+
+In this dreadful dilemma, they yielded to the inexorable demand of
+Cortez, and tremblingly arrested the Mexican lords. The Rubicon was
+now passed. The Totonacs were from that moment the abject slaves of
+Cortez. Their only protection from the most awful doom was in his
+strong arm, and their persons, their property, their all, were
+entirely at his disposal.
+
+Cortez then condescended to perform a deed of cunning and of perfidy
+which has left a stain upon his character which never can be washed
+away. In the night he ordered one of his people secretly to assist two
+of the Mexican lords in their escape. They were privately brought into
+his presence. With guileful words, which ought to have blistered his
+tongue, he declared that they, by their arrest, had received insult
+and outrage from the Totonacs, which he sincerely regretted, and would
+gladly have prevented. He assured them of the great pleasure which it
+afforded him to aid them in their escape. He promised to do every
+thing in his power to secure the release of the others, and wished
+them to return to the court of their monarch, and assure him of the
+friendly spirit of the Spaniards, of which this act was to be a
+conspicuous proof. He then sent six strong rowers to convey them
+secretly in a boat beyond the reach of pursuit. The next morning, in
+the same guileful way, all the rest were liberated, and sent with a
+similar message to the court of Montezuma.
+
+Such was the treachery with which Cortez rewarded his faithful allies.
+With perfidy so detestable, he endeavored to foment civil discord in
+the empire of Montezuma, pretending to be himself the friend of each
+of the parties whose hostility he had excited, and ready to espouse
+either side which might appear most available for the promotion of his
+ambitious plans. History has no language too severe to condemn an
+action so utterly abominable. It is treason to virtue to speak mildly
+of atrocious crime.
+
+Cortez named the infant city he was erecting The Rich City of the True
+Cross, _Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz_. "The two principles of avarice
+and enthusiasm," says Robertson, "which prompted the Spaniards in all
+their enterprises in the New World, seem to have concurred in
+suggesting the name which Cortez bestowed on his infant settlement."
+This city was a few miles north of the present city of Vera Cruz.
+
+While Cortez was busily employed in laying the foundations of his
+colony, and gathering around him native aid in preparation for a march
+into the interior, another embassy from the court of Montezuma
+appeared in the busy streets of Vera Cruz. The Mexican emperor,
+alarmed by the tidings he received of the persistent boldness of the
+Spaniards, and of their appalling and supernatural power, deemed it
+wise to accept the courtesy which had been offered him in the
+liberation of his imprisoned lords, and to adopt a conciliatory
+policy. The Totonacs were amazed by this evidence that even the mighty
+Montezuma was overawed by the power of the Spaniards. This greatly
+increased their veneration for their European allies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE TLASCALANS SUBJUGATED.
+
+Exultation of the Totonacs.--The eight maidens and their baptism.
+--Endeavors to induce the acceptance of Christianity.--The result.
+--Fanaticism of the Spaniards.--Destruction of the idols.--Dismay
+of the Indians.--Celebration of mass.--The harangue.--The change.
+--Emotions of the natives.--They accept the new idols.--Cortez's
+embarrassment respecting his commission.--The letter.--Anticipations
+of wealth.--Presents.--Embassadors sent to the king.--Punishment of
+the conspirators.--Disturbing developments.--Destruction of the
+fleet.--Indignation of the soldiers.--Cortez wins the approval of his
+men.--Preparations for the journey.--The departure and march to
+Mexico.--Arrival of a strange vessel.--Capture of prisoners.--The
+stratagem.--The re-enforcement.--They arrive at Jalapa.--Naulinco.
+--Erection of the cross.--Ascent of the Cordilleras.--The city of
+Tlatlanquitepec.--Indications of idolatry.--A cold reception.--
+Cortez's mission.--His commands, and their refusal to obey.--Advice
+of Father Olmedo.--Arrival at Xalacingo.--Friendly treatment.--
+Embassadors to the Tlascalan capital.--They are seized, but escape.
+--The Spaniards determine to force a passage.--The attack.--The
+Tlascalans forced to retire.--Destruction of the provisions.--The
+sacrament.--Chivalry of the barbarians.--A supply of provisions.--
+Encounter the enemy.--Confession.--Release of the captive chiefs.
+--Tlascalan mode of making peace.--Cortez prepares for battle.--The
+battle.--Courage of the enemy.--The natives vanquished.--Surprise
+at the small losses of the Spaniards.--Courage of the Spaniards
+accounted for.--The midnight foray.--The Tlascalans sue for peace.
+--Cruel treatment of the embassadors.--The Tlascalans subdued.--Speech
+of the commander-in-chief.--They march to the city of Tlascala.--
+Appearance of the city.--Treatment of the vanquished natives.--Peril
+of Cortez's army.--Murmurs dispelled.--Population of the city.
+
+
+The Totonacs were now exceedingly exultant. They were unwearied in
+extolling their allies, and in proclaiming their future independence
+of their Mexican conquerors. They urged other neighboring provinces to
+join them, and become the vassals of the omnipotent Spaniards. They
+raised a strong army, which they placed under the command of Cortez to
+obey his bidding. To strengthen the bonds of alliance, the cacique of
+Zempoalla selected eight of the most beautiful maidens of his country,
+all of the first families, to be united in marriage to the Spanish
+generals. Cortez courteously but decisively informed the chief that,
+before such union could be consummated, these maidens must all
+renounce idolatry and be baptized. The Totonacs, without much apparent
+reluctance, yielded. Emboldened by this success, Cortez now made very
+strenuous efforts to induce the chief and all the tribe to abandon
+their idols and the cruel rites of heathenism, and to accept in their
+stead the symbols of Christianity.
+
+But upon this point the cacique was inflexible. "We honor your
+friendship, noble Cortez," he firmly replied, "and we are grateful to
+you for the generous interest you take in our welfare; but the gods
+are greater than man. Earthly benefactors are but the ministers of
+their favor. Gratitude to the gods is our first duty. Health, plenty,
+all blessings are from their bounty. We dread their anger more than
+the displeasure of the mightiest of men. Should we offend them,
+inevitable destruction will overwhelm me and my people."
+
+Cortez was provoked by such obstinacy. He was incapable of
+appreciating the nobility of these sentiments, and of perceiving that
+such minds needed but instruction to lead them to reverence the true
+God. The sincere idolater, who worships according to the little
+knowledge he has, is immeasurably elevated, in dignity of character,
+above the mere nominal Christian, who knows the true God, and yet
+disregards him. But Cortez, inspired by fanatic zeal, treated these
+men, who deserved tender consideration, with insult and contempt.
+He resolved recklessly to demolish their idols, and to compel the
+Totonacs to receive in exchange the images of Rome.
+
+[Illustration: DESTROYING THE IDOLS AT ZEMPOALLA.]
+
+He immediately assembled his soldiers, and thus addressed them:
+"Soldiers! We are Spaniards. We inherit from our ancestors the love of
+our holy faith. Let us prostrate these vile images. Let us plant the
+cross, and call the heathen to the feet of that holy symbol. Heaven
+will never smile upon our enterprise if we countenance the atrocities
+of heathenism. For my part, I am resolved that these pagan idols shall
+be destroyed this very hour, even if it cost me my life."
+
+The fanaticism of the Spaniards was now effectually roused. In solid
+column, a strong division marched toward one of the most imposing of
+the Totonac temples. The alarm spread wildly through the thronged
+streets of Zempoalla. The whole population seized their arms to defend
+their gods. A scene of fearful confusion ensued. Firmly the inflexible
+Spaniards strode on. Fifty men ascended the winding stairs to the
+summit of the pyramidal temple, tore down the massive wooden idols,
+and tumbled them into the streets. They then collected the mutilated
+fragments, and burned them to ashes. The Indians looked on in dismay,
+with tears and groans.
+
+The heathen temple was then emptied, swept, and garnished. The Totonac
+chiefs, and the priests clotted with the blood of their brutal
+sacrifices, now docile as children, obeyed obsequiously the demands of
+the haughty reformer. He ordered these unenlightened pagan priests to
+have their heads shorn, to be dressed in the white robes of the
+Catholic priesthood, and, with lighted candles in their hands, they
+were constrained to assist in performing the rites of the papal
+Church. An image of the Virgin was installed in the shrine which had
+been polluted by all the horrid orgies of pagan abominations. Mass was
+celebrated upon the altar where human hearts, gory and quivering, had
+for ages been offered in awful sacrifice. The prayers and the chants
+of Christianity ascended from the spot where idolaters had slain their
+victims and implored vengeance upon their foes.
+
+Cortez then himself earnestly and eloquently harangued the people,
+assuring them that henceforth the Spaniards and the Totonacs were
+Christian brothers, and that under the protection of the Holy Virgin,
+the mother of Christ, they would both certainly be blessed.
+
+Violent as were these deeds, it is undeniable that they ushered in a
+blessed change. The very lowest and most corrupt form of Christianity
+is infinitely superior to the most refined creations of paganism.
+The natives gradually recovered from their terror. They gazed
+with admiration upon the pageant of the mass, with its gorgeous
+accompaniments of incense, music, embroidered robes, and solemn
+processions. The Spanish historians who witnessed the scene record
+that many of the Indians were so overcome with pious emotion, in thus
+beholding, for the first time, the mysteries of Christianity, that
+they freely wept. No more resistance was made. The Totonacs, thus
+easily converted, apparently with cheerfulness exchanged the bloody
+and hideous idols of Mexico for the more attractive and more merciful
+idols of Rome. Let not this remark be attributed to want of candor;
+for no one can deny that, to these uninstructed natives, it was merely
+an exchange of idols.
+
+Cortez had now been in Mexico nearly three months. Every moment
+had been occupied in the accomplishment of objects which he deemed
+of fundamental importance. He was, however, evidently somewhat
+embarrassed respecting the validity of his title to command. It was
+at least doubtful whether the king would recognize the authority of a
+colony established in so novel a manner. Cortez also well knew that
+Velasquez would apply to his sovereign for redress for the injuries
+which he had received. The danger was by no means small that, by the
+command of the king, Cortez would be degraded and punished as a
+usurper of power.
+
+Before commencing his march into the interior, he deemed it of the
+utmost importance to take every possible precaution against this
+danger. He influenced the magistrates of Vera Cruz to address a letter
+to the Spanish sovereign in justification of the course which had been
+pursued, and to implore the king to ratify what had been done in his
+name, and to confirm Cortez in the supreme command. Cortez also wrote
+himself a long and labored letter to the Emperor Charles V., full of
+protestations of loyalty and of zeal for the wealth and the renown of
+the Spanish court. To add weight to his letter, it was accompanied by
+as rich treasures from the New World as he had thus far been able to
+accumulate. Such was the ascendency which this extraordinary man had
+attained over the minds of his associates, and so confident were they
+in their anticipations of boundless wealth, that all the soldiers,
+without a murmur, at the suggestion of Cortez, relinquished their part
+of the public treasure, that the whole might be sent to the king. Two
+of the chief magistrates of the colony, Portocarrero and Montejo, were
+sent in one of the two vessels which were fitted out to Spain to
+convey these letters and presents. They were directed not to stop at
+the island of Cuba, lest they should be detained by Velasquez. Ere
+they embarked, mass was celebrated and prayers were offered for a
+prosperous voyage. It was now the month of July, 1519.
+
+Just after the vessels had sailed, Cortez was much disturbed by
+a dangerous conspiracy which broke out in the camp. Some of the
+disaffected, who had been silenced, but not reconciled, with great
+secresy matured a plan for seizing one of the brigantines and making
+their escape to Cuba. The conspirators had actually gone on board the
+vessel, and were ready to weigh the anchor and spread the sails, when
+one of the number repented of his treachery, and disclosed the plot to
+Cortez.
+
+The stern chieftain immediately went himself on board the vessel. The
+crime was too palpable to be denied. He ordered all to be seized and
+brought on shore. Cortez resolved to punish with a severity which
+should intimidate against any renewal of a similar attempt. The two
+ringleaders were immediately put to death. The pilot had one of his
+feet cut off. Two of the sailors received two hundred lashes. The rest
+were spared.
+
+It is recorded that Cortez, as he was ratifying this sentence, gave a
+deep sigh, and exclaimed,
+
+"How happy is he who is not able to write, and is thereby prevented
+from signing the death-warrants of men!"
+
+But this development of disaffection disturbed Cortez exceedingly. He
+was about to march two hundred miles into the interior. It would be
+necessary to leave a garrison at Vera Cruz. The fleet would be lying
+idly at anchor in the harbor. A more successful attempt might be made
+during his absence; and Velasquez, informed thus of his position,
+might easily send, from the powerful colony of Cuba, a force
+sufficient to take possession of Vera Cruz, and thus leave Cortez in
+the interior but a desperate adventurer, wandering in the midst of
+hostile nations. In this emergence, he came to the decision, of
+almost unparalleled boldness, to _destroy the fleet_! He would thus
+place himself in a distant land, with but five hundred men, hopelessly
+cut off from all retreat, and exposed to assault from exasperated
+nations numbering many millions.
+
+This plan was no sooner conceived than executed. He assembled his
+principal friends privately, and informed them of his determination.
+
+"We shall thus," said he, "gain all the sailors for soldiers, and the
+men, having no possibility of escape, must either conquer or die."
+
+While most of the soldiers were employed at Zempoalla, the ships were
+dismantled of every movable article, and they were then scuttled
+and sunk. In a few hours the majestic ocean rose and fell in silent
+solitude where the fleet had so proudly floated. One small vessel
+only was left.
+
+When the soldiers heard of this desperate deed, they were struck with
+consternation. They were apparently now forever separated from friends
+and home. In case of disaster, escape was impossible and destruction
+sure. Murmurs of indignation, loud and deep, began to rise against
+Cortez. He immediately gathered his troops around him, and, by his
+peculiar tact, soothed their anger, and won them to approval of his
+course. They at once saw that murmurs would now be of no avail; that
+their destiny was henceforth entirely dependent upon their obedience
+to their leader. It was evident to all that the least insubordination,
+in the position of peril in which they were placed, would lead to
+inevitable ruin. Cortez closed his speech with the following forcible
+words:
+
+"As for me, I have chosen my part. I will remain here while there is
+one to bear me company. If there be any so craven as to shrink from
+sharing the danger of our glorious enterprise, let them go home. There
+is still one vessel left. Let them take that and return to Cuba. They
+can tell there how they have deserted their commander and their
+comrades, and can wait patiently till we return, loaded with the
+treasures of the Mexicans."
+
+These excitable men were roused to enthusiasm by this speech. One
+general shout arose, "To Mexico! to Mexico!" Cortez now made vigorous
+preparations for his march, uninvited and even forbidden, to the
+capital of Montezuma. All was alacrity in the camp, and the Totonac
+allies were as zealous in their preparations as were the Spaniards.
+
+On the 15th of August, 1519, commenced this ever-memorable march. The
+force of Cortez consisted of four hundred Spaniards, fifteen horses,
+and seven pieces of artillery. The small remainder of his troops, some
+being sick or otherwise disabled, were left in garrison at Vera Cruz.
+The cacique of the Totonacs also furnished him with an army of two
+thousand three hundred men. Of these, two hundred were what were
+called _men of burden_, trained to carry heavy loads and to perform
+all arduous labor. These men were invaluable in carrying the luggage
+and in dragging the heavy artillery. Cortez assembled his forces at
+Zempoalla. At the moment of their departure, he called all the
+Spaniards around him, and addressed them in a devout speech.
+
+"The blessed Savior," said he, "will give us victory. We have now no
+other security than the favor of God and our own stout hearts."
+
+The morning was serene and cloudless when the army commenced its
+march, which led to scenes of unparalleled cruelty and of blood. Just
+as the advance guard was leaving, a messenger brought the intelligence
+that a strange vessel was seen cruising off the coast near Vera Cruz.
+Cortez was alarmed, being apprehensive that it was some ship
+belonging to a fleet sent against him by Velasquez. He immediately set
+off with a small party of horse toward the shore. A boat left the
+vessel and landed four men. Cortez seized them, and learned that this
+ship was sent with two others, conveying two hundred and seventy
+soldiers. The Governor of Jamaica having learned of the expedition of
+Cortez, had sent this embassy to take possession of the country, and
+to inform Cortez that, by a royal commission from the sovereign, the
+Governor of Jamaica was entitled to have authority over the whole
+coast. Cortez impressed the men as soldiers, and sent them to be added
+to his army. Hoping to get a few more, he hid, with his guard, for
+a whole night behind some sand-hills, expecting that others might
+land to look for their lost comrades. Being disappointed in this
+expectation, he resorted to a stratagem to lure others on shore. Four
+of his men were dressed in the clothes of the prisoners, and sent to
+the coast to make signals. A boat was soon seen making for the shore;
+but, as soon as three had landed, some suspicion excited the fears of
+the rest, and they pushed off from the beach. The three were, however,
+instantly secured, and were immediately sent to join their companions
+in the ranks. Cortez thus obtained an important re-enforcement of
+seven Spaniards.
+
+Delaying no longer, the whole army was speedily on the march. For two
+days they moved gayly along through an enchanting country of luxuriant
+foliage, waving grain, flowers, and perfume. They encountered no
+opposition. Indian villages were thickly scattered around, and scenery
+of surpassing magnificence and loveliness was continually opening
+before their eyes. On the evening of the second day they arrived
+at the beautiful town of Jalapa, which was filled with the rural
+residences of the wealthy natives, and whose elevated site commanded a
+prospect in which the beautiful and the sublime were most lavishly
+blended.
+
+Still continuing their march through a well-settled country, as they
+ascended the gradual slope of the Cordilleras, on the fourth day they
+arrived at Naulinco. This was a large and populous town, containing
+many massive temples, whose altars were ever crimsoned with human
+gore. The adventurers were received here, however, with great
+kindness. The sight of these heathen temples inspired Cortez, as
+usual, with intense zeal to convert the natives to Christianity. Time
+pressed, and it was not safe to indulge in delay. The Indians were
+bewildered rather than instructed by the exhortations of the Spanish
+priests. They, however, consented that Cortez should rear a large
+cross in the centre of their market-place as a memorial of his visit.
+The enthusiastic Spaniard devoutly hoped that the sight of the cross
+alone would excite the devotion of the natives.
+
+They had now ascended far up the gentle ascent of the Cordilleras, and
+were entering the defiles of the mountains. Here they encountered
+rugged paths, and fierce storms of wind and sleet. A weary march
+of three days brought them to the high and extended table-land so
+characteristic of this country, seven thousand feet above the level
+of the sea. Here they found a fertile and flowery savanna extending
+before them for many leagues. The country was highly cultivated, and
+luxuriantly adorned with hedges, with groves, with waving fields of
+maize, and with picturesque towns and villages. God did indeed seem to
+smile upon these reckless adventurers. Thus far their march had been
+as a delightful holiday excursion.
+
+They soon arrived at Tlatlanquitepec. It was even more populous and
+improving in its architecture than Zempoalla. The stone houses were
+spacious and comfortable. Thirteen massive temples testified to the
+religious fervor of the people. But here they witnessed the most
+appalling indications of the horrid atrocities of pagan idolatry. They
+found, piled in order, as they judged, one hundred thousand skulls of
+human victims who had been offered in sacrifice to their gods.[B]
+There was a Mexican garrison stationed in this place, but not
+sufficiently strong to resist the invaders. They, however, gave Cortez
+a very cold reception, and endeavored to discourage him from advancing
+by glowing descriptions of the wealth and power of the monarch whose
+displeasure he was incurring. These developments, however, rather
+incited anew the zeal of the Spaniards. Cortez, with commendable zeal,
+again made vigorous but unavailing efforts to induce these benighted
+pagans to renounce their cruel and bloodstained idols, and accept the
+religion of Jesus. Poorly as Cortez was instructed in the doctrines
+and the precepts of the Gospel, Christianity, even as darkly
+discerned by his mind, was infinitely superior to the sanguinary
+religious rites of these idolaters.
+
+[Footnote B: "Near some temples were laid numbers of human skeletons,
+so arranged that they could be counted with ease and certainty. I am
+convinced, from my own observation, that there were above a hundred
+thousand. I repeat it, I am sure that there were more than a hundred
+thousand."--_Bernal Diaz_, p. 91.]
+
+"We come," said he, firmly, to the chiefs and the principal personages
+of the town, "from a distant country, to warn the great Montezuma to
+desist from human sacrifices, and all outrages upon his own vassals or
+his neighbors, and to require from him submission to our monarch; and
+I now require you, all who hear me, to renounce your human sacrifices,
+cannibal feasts, and other abominable practices, for such is the
+command of our Lord God, whom we adore, who gives us life and death,
+and who is to raise us up to heaven."
+
+The natives, however, clung to the debasing faith of their fathers.
+The zeal of Cortez was roused. He regarded the hideous idols as
+representatives of devils, whom it was right, with any violence, to
+overthrow. He was just about ordering an onslaught upon the temples
+with sword and hatchet, when the prudent Father Olmedo dissuaded him.
+
+"By introducing our religion thus violently," said this truly good
+man, "we shall but expose the sacred symbol of the cross and the image
+of the Blessed Virgin to insult as soon as we shall have departed. We
+must wait till we can instruct their dark minds, so that from the
+heart they may embrace our faith."
+
+And here let us record the full and the cordial admission, that the
+Roman Catholic Church, notwithstanding its corruptions, has sent out
+into the wilds of heathenism as devoted Christians as the world has
+ever seen.
+
+After a rest in this city of five days, the route was again commenced.
+The road wound picturesquely along the banks of a broad and tranquil
+stream, fringed with an unbroken line of Indian villages. Some twenty
+leagues of travel brought them to the large town of Xalacingo. Here
+they met with friendly treatment. They were now on the frontiers of a
+very powerful nation, called the Tlascalans, who, by their fierce and
+warlike habits, had thus far succeeded in resisting the aggressions of
+the Mexicans. The whole nation was organized into a camp, and thus,
+though many bloody battles had been fought, the Tlascalans maintained
+their independence.
+
+Cortez was quite sanguine that he should be able to form an alliance
+with this people. He therefore decided to rest his army for a few
+days, while an embassy should be sent to the Tlascalan capital to
+solicit permission to pass through their country, and gently to
+intimate an alliance. Four Zempoallans of lofty rank were selected as
+embassadors. In accordance with the custom of the country, they were
+dressed in official costume, with flowing mantles, and each bearing
+arrows tipped with _white_ feathers, the symbol of peace.
+
+But the Tlascalans had heard of the arrival of the Spaniards upon the
+coast, of their ships, "armed with thunder and clad with wings," of
+their fearful war-horses, and of their weapons of destruction of
+almost supernatural power. They had also heard of the violence with
+which they had assailed the gods of the country. The principal lords
+had already assembled in debate to decide upon the course to be
+pursued should these formidable strangers approach their territory. It
+was determined to oppose them with all the energies of artifice and of
+force. The embassadors were accordingly seized and imprisoned, and
+preparations were made to sacrifice them to their gods. They, however,
+fortunately made their escape and returned to Cortez.
+
+The Spanish chieftain, disappointed but not intimidated by this
+result, made prompt arrangements to force his way through the
+Tlascalan territory. Waving the sacred banner of the Church before his
+troops, he exclaimed,
+
+"Spaniards! follow boldly the standard of the Holy Cross. Through this
+we shall conquer."
+
+"On! on!" was the enthusiastic response of the soldiers. "In God alone
+we place our trust."
+
+The march of a few miles brought them to an extended wall of solid
+masonry, built, like the great wall of China, to protect the territory
+of the Tlascalans from invasion. Though the entrance gate was so
+constructed that a small army stationed there might have made very
+powerful resistance, for some reason the Tlascalan force had been
+withdrawn. The army boldly pressed in, and advanced rapidly, yet using
+all caution to guard against an ambuscade. They had not proceeded far,
+however, before they met a large force of the Indians, who attacked
+them with the utmost fury, and with a degree of military skill and
+discipline which greatly surprised the Spaniards. Two of the horses
+were killed, and several of the Spaniards wounded. For a time the
+situation of the invaders was very precarious; but Cortez soon
+brought up the artillery, and opened a destructive fire upon the
+unprotected foe. The thunder of the guns, which the Tlascalans had
+never heard before, and the horrid carnage of the grape-shot sweeping
+through their ranks, compelled the warlike natives at last, though
+slowly and sullenly, to retire. There was, however, no confusion in
+their retreat. They retired in good order, ever presenting a bold
+front to their pursuers. Cortez estimated the number of the enemy
+engaged in this battle at six thousand.
+
+The retiring Tlascalans took with them or destroyed all the provisions
+which the country afforded; but, notwithstanding this, "their dogs,"
+one of the historians of the expedition records, "which we caught when
+they returned to their habitations at night, afforded us a very good
+supper."
+
+It was now the end of September. The army of Cortez had been gradually
+increased by recruits from among the natives to three thousand.
+Immediately after this first battle with the Tlascalans, the whole
+army was assembled to offer thanks to God for the victory, and to
+implore his continued protection. The soldiers, with the fresh blood
+of the Tlascalans hardly washed from their hands, partook of the
+sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Roman
+Catholic Church.
+
+The army now marched in close order. The Totonac allies, as well
+as the Spaniards, were drilled to perfect discipline, and all were
+inspired with intense zeal. With characteristic caution Cortez
+chose every night his place of halting, and with great vigilance
+fortified his encampment. There was something truly chivalrous in
+the magnanimity displayed by these barbarians. They seemed to scorn
+the idea of taking their enemies by surprise, but always sent them
+fair warning when they intended to make an attack. They had now the
+impression that the Spaniards had left their own country because it
+did not furnish sufficient food for them. They therefore sent to their
+camp an abundant supply of poultry and corn, saying, "Eat plentifully.
+We disdain to attack a foe enfeebled by hunger. It would be an insult
+to our gods to offer them starved victims; neither do we wish to feed
+on emaciated bodies." We have before mentioned that it was the horrid
+custom of this people to offer as sacrifices to their gods prisoners
+taken in war, and then to banquet in savage orgies over the remains.
+
+As Cortez moved cautiously on, adopting every precaution to guard
+against surprise, he suddenly emerged from a valley upon a widespread
+plain. Here he again encountered the enemy, drawn up in battle array,
+in numbers apparently overwhelming. It was now evening. As it was
+understood that the Tlascalans never attacked by night, considering it
+dishonorable warfare, the Spaniards pitched their tents, having posted
+sentinels to watch the foe with the utmost vigilance. The morning was
+to usher in a dreadful battle, with fearful odds against the invaders.
+Two chiefs who had been taken prisoners in the late battle stated that
+the force of the Tlascalans consisted of five divisions of ten
+thousand men each. Each division had its own uniform and banner, and
+was under the command of its appropriate chief. It was a solemn hour
+in the Spanish camp. "When all this was communicated to us," says
+Diaz, "being but mortal, and, like all others, fearing death, we
+prepared for battle by confessing to our reverend fathers, who were
+occupied during that whole night in that holy office."
+
+Cortez released his captive chiefs, and sent them with an amicable
+message to their countrymen, stating that he asked only an unmolested
+passage through their country to Mexico, but sternly declaring, "If
+this proposition be refused, I will enter your capital as a conqueror.
+I will turn every house. I will put every inhabitant to the sword." An
+answer was returned of the most implacable defiance. "We will make
+peace," said the Tlascalans, "by devouring your bodies, and offering
+your hearts and your blood in sacrifice to our gods."
+
+The morning of the 5th of September dawned cloudless and brilliant
+upon the two armies encamped upon the high table-lands of the
+Cordilleras. At an early hour the Spanish bugles roused the sleeping
+host. The wounded men, even, resumed their place in the ranks, so
+great was the peril. Cortez addressed a few inspiriting words to the
+troops, and placed himself at their head. Just as the sun was rising
+he put his army in motion. Soon they arrived in sight of the
+Tlascalans. The interminable host filled a vast plain, six miles
+square, with their thronging multitudes. The native warriors, in bands
+skillfully posted, were decorated with the highest appliances of
+barbaric pomp. As the experienced eye of Cortez ranged over their
+dense ranks, he estimated their numbers at more than one hundred
+thousand. Their weapons were slings, arrows, javelins, clubs, and rude
+wooden swords, sharpened with teeth of flint.
+
+The moment the Spaniards appeared, the Tlascalans, uttering hideous
+yells, and filling the air with all the inconceivable clamor of their
+military bands, rushed upon them like the on-rolling surges of the
+ocean. The first discharge from the native army of stones, arrows, and
+darts was so tremendous as to darken the sky like a thick cloud.
+Notwithstanding the armor worn by the Spaniards was impervious to
+arrow or javelin, many were wounded.
+
+But soon the cannon was unmasked, and opened its terrific roar. Ball
+and grape-shot swept through the dense ranks of the natives, mowing
+down, in hideous mutilation, whole platoons at a discharge. The
+courage displayed by the Tlascalans was amazing. It has never been
+surpassed. Though hardly able, with their feeble weapons, to injure
+their adversaries, regardless of death, they filled up the gaps which
+the cannon opened in their ranks, and all the day long continued the
+unequal fight.
+
+Immense multitudes of the dead now covered the field, and many of the
+chiefs were slain. Every horse was wounded; seventy Spaniards were
+severely injured; one was dead, and nearly all were more or less
+bruised. But the artillery and the musketry were still plied with
+awful carnage. The commander-in-chief of the native army, finding
+it in vain to contend against these new and apparently unearthly
+weapons, at last ordered a retreat. The natives retired in as highly
+disciplined array as would have been displayed by French or Austrian
+troops. The victors, exhausted and bleeding, were glad to throw
+themselves upon the gory grass of the battle-field for repose. The
+cold wind at night, from the mountain glaciers, swept the bleak plain,
+and the soldiers shivered in their houseless beds. They did not sleep,
+however, until, in a body, they had returned thanks to the God of
+peace and love for their glorious victory. "It truly seemed," said
+Cortez, devoutly, "that God fought on our side."
+
+It appears almost incredible that, in such a conflict, the Spanish
+army should have received so little injury. But Cortez made no account
+of any amount of loss on the part of his native allies. The Spaniards
+only he thought of, and they were protected with the utmost care.
+Their artillery and musketry kept the natives at a distance, and
+their helmets and coats of mail no native weapon could easily
+penetrate. Their danger was consequently so small that we can not
+give them credit for quite so much heroism as they have claimed. The
+enterprise, in its commencement, was bold in the extreme; but it is
+easy to be fearless when experience proves that there is but little
+peril to be encountered. They fought one hundred thousand men for a
+whole day, and lost _one man_!
+
+As night enveloped in its folds the bloodstained hosts, the untiring
+Cortez, having buried his dead, that his loss might not be perceived
+by the enemy, sallied forth with the horse and a hundred foot, and
+four hundred of the native allies, and with fire and sword devastated
+six villages of a hundred houses each, taking four hundred prisoners,
+including men and women. Before daybreak he returned from this wild
+foray to the camp.
+
+During the night the Tlascalans had been receiving re-enforcements,
+and when the first dawn of morning appeared, more than one hundred and
+forty-nine thousand natives, according to the estimate of Cortez, made
+a rush upon the camp. After a battle of four hours they were again
+compelled to retreat. "As we carried the banner of the cross," says
+Cortez, "and fought for our faith, God, in his glorious providence,
+gave us a great victory."
+
+Night again came. Again this indomitable man of iron sinews marched
+forth in the darkness, with his horse, one hundred Spanish infantry,
+and a large party of his allies, and set three thousand houses in
+flames, encountering no opposition, burning out only the women and
+children and the unarmed inhabitants. Cortez treated all the prisoners
+he took very kindly, and liberated them with presents. This humanity
+amazed the natives, who were accustomed to a procedure so very
+different.
+
+The Tlascalans were now much disheartened, and were inclined to peace.
+But they were quite at a loss to know how to approach the terrible
+foe. After much deliberation, they sent an embassage, composed of
+fifty of their most prominent men, bearing rich presents. Cortez
+suspected them of being spies. With cruelty, which will ever be an
+ineffaceable stigma upon his name, he ordered them all to be arrested,
+and their hands to be cut off. Thus awfully mutilated, these unhappy
+men were sent back to the Tlascalan camp with the defiant message,
+
+"The Tlascalans may come by day or by night; the Spaniards are ready
+for them."
+
+Cortez himself relates this act of atrocious cruelty. Nothing can be
+said in its extenuation. There was even no _proof_, but only suspicion
+that they were spies. It is, indeed, not at all probable that, if such
+were the intention, fifty of the most prominent men of the nation
+would have been selected. It is, however, certain, that after this all
+farther idea of resistance was abandoned. The commander-in-chief of
+the Tlascalan army, with a numerous retinue, entered the Spanish camp
+with proffers of submission. This brave and proud chieftain, subdued
+by the terrors of the resistless engines of war worked by the
+Spaniards, addressed Cortez in the following language, which will
+command universal respect and sympathy.
+
+"I loved my country," said he, "and wished to preserve its
+independence. We have been beaten. I hope that you will use your
+victory with moderation, and not trample upon our liberties. In the
+name of the nation, I now tender obedience to the Spaniards. We will
+be as faithful in peace as we have been bold in war."
+
+Cortez received this submission with great secret satisfaction, for
+his men, worn down with fatigue, were beginning loudly to murmur. A
+cordial peace was soon concluded. The Tlascalans were the inveterate
+foes of the Mexicans, and had long been fighting against them. They
+yielded themselves as vassals to the King of Spain, and engaged to
+assist Cortez in all his enterprises. The two armies, which had
+recently met in such fierce and terrible encounter, now mingled
+together as friends and brothers. In one vast united band they marched
+toward the great city of Tlascala, and entered the capital in triumph.
+
+It was, indeed, a large and magnificent city; more populous, and
+of more imposing architecture, Cortez asserts, than the celebrated
+Moorish capital, Granada, in old Spain. An immense throng flocked from
+the gates of the city to meet the troops. The roofs of the houses were
+covered with spectators. Wild music, from semi-barbarian voices and
+bands, filled the air. Plumed warriors hurried to and fro, and shouts
+of welcome seemed to rend the skies, as these hardy adventurers slowly
+defiled through the crowded gates and streets of the city. The police
+regulations were extraordinarily effective, repressing all disorder.
+The Spaniards were surprised to find barbers' shops, and also baths
+both for hot and cold water.
+
+The submission of the Tlascalans was sincere and entire. They were
+convinced that the Spaniards were beings of a superior order whom it
+was in vain to resist. Cortez treated the vanquished natives with
+great courtesy and kindness. He took the Tlascalan republic under his
+protection, and promised to defend them from every foe.
+
+The peril of Cortez at this juncture had been very great. The
+difficulty of obtaining sufficient food for his army, while ever on
+the march, called into requisition his utmost sagacity and exertions.
+No man of ordinary character could have surmounted this difficulty.
+Fatigue and exposure had placed many on the sick-list, and there were
+no hospital wagons to convey them along. Fifty-five Spaniards had died
+on the way. Cortez himself was seriously indisposed. Every night one
+half of the army kept up a vigilant watch, while all the rest slept on
+their arms. And Diaz records that they had no salve to dress their
+wounds but what was composed of the fat of the Indians whom they had
+slain. Whenever the enemy was defeated, he retired only to reappear in
+increasing numbers. Under these circumstances, it is not strange that
+many of the soldiers had thought of their homes, and that loud murmurs
+had been uttered. But this sudden peace dispelled all discontent. In
+the abundance and the repose of the great city of Tlascala, all past
+toil and hardship were forgotten.
+
+Cortez, in his letter to the emperor, stated that so populous was
+Tlascala, that he presumed as many as thirty thousand persons appeared
+daily in the market-place of the city buying and selling. The
+population of the province he estimated at five hundred thousand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE MARCH TO MEXICO.
+
+Prudence of Cortez.--Enthusiasm of the natives.--Alarm of Montezuma.
+--The embassy to Cortez.--Cortez's answer.--Conversion of the
+natives.--The five maidens.--Cortez declines the gift.--Presentation
+of the image.--The compromise.--Indignation on both sides.--Father
+Olmedo dissuades him from his purpose.--The protest.--The prisons
+emptied of the victims.--Baptism of the brides.--Montezuma invites
+Cortez to his capital.--Zeal of the Tlascalans.--The city of Cholula.
+--Arrival.--They decline admitting the Tlascalans.--Rumors of
+treachery.--Marina discovers a plot.--Cortez resents the treachery
+of the natives.--The massacre.--Destruction of Cholula.--Proclamation
+offering pardon.--Appointment of the new cacique.--Public thanksgivings.
+--Statement of Mr. Thompson.--Cortez resumes his march toward Mexico.
+--Terror of Montezuma.--Cortez's message to the monarch.--His
+answer.--Appearance of discontent.--Arrival at Ithualco.--View from
+the heights.--Cortez resolves to continue his march.--Description of
+the valley of Mexico.--Vacillation of Montezuma.--Offers from
+Montezuma.--Satisfaction of Cortez.--His answer.--Arrival at
+Amaquemecan.--Profuse hospitality.--Ayotzingo.--Lake Chalco.--
+Cuitlahuac.--Immense crowd.--They enter Iztapalapan.--Appearance
+of the city.--Reception of Cortez.--The procession.--The causeway.
+--Arrival of the Emperor.--Appearance of Montezuma.--Meeting of the
+emperor and the marauder.--Cortez conducted to his quarters.--His
+accommodations.--Size and comfort of the mansion.--Vigilance of
+Cortez.--Presents to Cortez.--The conference.--The tradition.
+--Montezuma urged to accept the Christian faith.--The argument.
+--Achievements of the Spaniards.
+
+
+Cortez remained in Tlascala twenty days, to refresh his troops, and
+to cement his alliance with his new friends. He was all this time
+very diligent in making the most minute inquiries respecting the
+condition of the Mexican empire, and in preparing for every emergence
+which could arise in the continuance of his march. Bold as he was,
+his prudence equaled his boldness, and he left nothing willingly to
+the decisions of chance. The Tlascalans hated virulently their
+ancient foes the Mexicans, and with that fickleness of character,
+ever conspicuous in the uninformed multitude, became fond even to
+adulation of the Spaniards. With great enthusiasm they embarked in the
+enterprise of joining the expedition against Montezuma. All the forces
+of the republic were promptly raised, and placed under the command of
+Cortez.
+
+Montezuma was informed of all these proceedings, and was greatly
+alarmed. He feared that a prophetic doom was about to descend upon
+him, and this apprehension wilted all his wonted energies. Thus
+influenced, he sent an embassy, consisting of five of the most
+conspicuous nobles of his empire, accompanied by a retinue of two
+hundred attendants, to visit the Spanish camp. _Men of burden_ were
+laden down with rich presents for Cortez. The gold alone of the gifts
+was estimated at over fifty thousand dollars. Montezuma weakly hoped
+by these gifts to induce Cortez to arrest his steps. The embassadors
+were instructed to urge him, by all possible considerations, not to
+attempt to approach the Mexican capital.
+
+Cortez returned an answer replete with expressions of Castilian
+courtesy, but declaring that he must obey the commands of his
+sovereign, which required him to visit the metropolis of the great
+empire.
+
+But, in the midst of all these cares, Cortez did not forget his great
+mission of converting the natives to Christianity. This subject was
+ever prominent in his mind, and immediately upon his entrance into the
+city he commenced, through his interpreters, urging the chiefs to
+abandon their cruel idolatry. He argued with them himself, and called
+into requisition all the persuasive eloquence of good Father Olmedo.
+
+The chiefs brought five maidens, all noble born, and of selected
+beauty. These girls were beautifully dressed, and each attended by
+a slave. Xicotenga, the cacique of the nation, presented his own
+daughter to Cortez, and requested him to assign the rest to his
+officers. Cortez firmly, yet courteously declined the gift, saying,
+
+"If you wish that we should intermarry with you, you must first
+renounce your idolatrous worship and adore our God. He will then bless
+you in this life, and after death he will receive you to heaven to
+enjoy eternal happiness; but if you persist in the worship of your
+idols, which are devils, you will be drawn by them to their infernal
+pit, there to burn eternally in flames of fire."
+
+He then presented to them "a beauteous image of Our Lady, with her
+precious Son in her arms," and attempted to explain to them the
+mystery of the incarnation, and the potency of the mediatorship of
+the Virgin.
+
+"The God of the Christians," the Tlascalans replied, "must be great
+and good. We will give him a place with our gods, who are also great
+and good. Our god grants us victory over our enemies. Our goddess
+preserves us from inundations of the river. Should we forsake their
+worship, the most dreadful punishment would overwhelm us."
+
+Cortez could admit of no such compromise; and he urged the destruction
+of the idols with so much zeal and importunity, that at last the
+Tlascalans became angry, and declared that on no account whatever
+would they abandon the gods of their fathers. Cortez now, in his turn,
+was roused to virtuous indignation, and he resolved that, happen what
+might, the true God should be honored by the swift destruction of
+these idols of the heathen. Encouraged by the success of his violent
+measures at Zempoalla, he was on the point of ordering the soldiers to
+make an onslaught on the gods of the Tlascalans, which would probably
+have so roused the warlike and exasperated natives as to have led to
+the entire destruction of his army in the narrow streets of the
+thronged capital, when the judicious and kind-hearted Father
+Olmedo dissuaded him from the rash enterprise. With true Christian
+philosophy, he plead that forced conversion was no conversion at all;
+that God's reign was only over willing minds and in the heart.
+"Religion," said this truly good man, "can not be propagated by the
+sword. Patient instruction must enlighten the understanding, and
+pious example captivate the affections, before men can be induced to
+abandon error and embrace the truth." It is truly refreshing to meet
+with these noble ideas of toleration spoken by a Spanish monk in that
+dark age. Let such a fact promote, not indifference to true and
+undefiled religion, but a generous charity.[C]
+
+[Footnote C: "When Reverend Father Olmedo, who was a wise and
+good theologian, heard this, being averse to forced conversions,
+notwithstanding it had been done in Zempoalla, he advised Cortez to
+urge it no farther at present. He also observed that the destruction
+of their idols was a fruitless violence if the principle was not
+eradicated from their minds by arguments, as they would find other
+idols to continue their worship to elsewhere."]
+
+Cortez reluctantly yielded to these remonstrances of an ecclesiastic
+whose wisdom and virtue he was compelled to respect. The manifest
+pressure of circumstances also undoubtedly had their influence. But
+this ardent reformer could not yield without entering his protest.
+
+"We can not," he said, "I admit, change the heart, but we can demolish
+these abominable idols, clamoring for their hecatombs of human
+victims, and we can introduce in their stead the blessed Virgin and
+her blessed child. Will not this be a humane change? And, because we
+can not do the whole, shall we refuse to do a part?"
+
+Upon one point, however, Cortez was inflexible, and to this the
+Tlascalans, by way of compromise, assented. He insisted that the
+prisons should be entirely emptied of victims destined for sacrifice.
+There were in the temples many poor wretches fattening for these
+horrid orgies. A promise was also exacted from the Tlascalans that
+they would hereafter desist from these heathen practices; but no
+sooner had the tramp of the Spaniards ceased to echo through the
+streets of Tlascala, than the prisons were again filled with victims,
+and human blood, in new torrents, crimsoned their altars.
+
+One of the temples was also cleared out, and an altar being erected,
+it was converted into a Christian church. Here the young ladies
+destined as brides for the Spanish soldiers were baptized, their
+friends presenting no objections. The daughter of Xicotenga received
+the Christian name of Louisa. Cortez took her by the hand, and
+gracefully presented her to one of his captains, Alvarado, telling her
+father that that officer was his brother. The cacique expressed entire
+satisfaction at this arrangement. All were baptized and received
+Christian names. Many of the descendants of this beautiful and amiable
+Indian maiden may now be found among the grandees of Spain.
+
+Montezuma, on the return of his embassadors, finding that no argument
+could dissuade Cortez, and fearing by opposition to provoke the
+hostility of an enemy who wielded such supernatural thunders, now
+decided to change his policy, and by cordiality to endeavor to win his
+friendship. He accordingly sent another embassy, with still richer
+presents, inviting Cortez to his capital, and assuring him of a warm
+welcome. He entreated him, however, not to enter into any alliance
+with the Tlascalans, the most fierce and unrelenting foes of the
+Mexican empire.
+
+The time had now arrived for Cortez to resume his march. The zeal of
+the Tlascalans to accompany him was so great that, according to his
+representation, he might have taken with him one hundred thousand
+volunteers. He, however, considered this force too unwieldy, and
+accepted of but six thousand picked troops. This, however, was a
+strong re-enforcement, and Cortez now rode proudly at the head of a
+regular army which could bid defiance to all opposition.
+
+Eighteen miles from Tlascala was situated the city of Cholula, and
+this city was but sixty-four miles east of the renowned Mexican
+metropolis. Cholula was a city whose population was estimated at one
+hundred thousand. As it belonged to Mexico, the bitterest animosity
+existed between its inhabitants and those of Tlascala. Cortez was
+warned by his new allies not to enter the city, as he might depend
+upon encountering treachery there; but the Spanish general considered
+himself now too strong to turn aside from any danger.
+
+As the Spanish army approached the city, a procession came out to meet
+them, with banners, and bands of music, and censers smoking with
+incense. Numerous nobles and priests headed the procession. They
+received Cortez and the Zempoallans with every demonstration of
+friendship, but declined admitting their inveterate enemies, the
+Tlascalans, within their walls. Cortez accordingly ordered these
+allies to encamp upon the plain before the city, while he, with
+the rest of the army, marched with great military pomp into the
+metropolis, which was resounding with acclamations.
+
+He found a beautiful city, with wide, neatly-arranged streets and
+handsome dwellings. It was the sacred city of the Mexicans. Many
+gorgeous temples lined the streets, and one of extraordinary grandeur
+was the most renowned sanctuary of the empire. It is alleged by some,
+and denied by others, that the Mexicans had invited the Spaniards into
+the holy city, hoping by the aid of the gods to effect their entire
+destruction. The Tlascalans, who were encamped outside of the city,
+affirmed that the women and children of the principal inhabitants were
+leaving the city by night. They also declared that a large body of
+Mexican troops were concealed near the town. Two of the Tlascalans,
+who had entered the city in disguise, declared that some of the
+streets were barricaded, and that others were undermined, and but
+slightly covered over, as traps for the horses. They also reported
+that six children had recently been sacrificed in the chief temple,
+which was a certain indication that some great military enterprise was
+on foot. Cortez, however, did not place much reliance upon this
+testimony from the Tlascalans. He was well aware that they would be
+glad, in any way, to bring down destruction on Cholula.
+
+But more reliable testimony came from the amiable Marina. She had won
+the love of one of the noble ladies of the city. This woman, wishing
+to save Marina from destruction, informed her that a plot was in
+progress for the inevitable ruin of her friends. According to her
+account, deep pits were dug and concealed in the streets, stones
+carried to the tops of the houses and the temples, and that Mexican
+troops were secretly drawing near. The fatal hour was at hand, and
+escape impossible.
+
+The energy of Cortez was now roused. Quietly he drew up the Spanish
+and Zempoallan troops, armed to the teeth, in the heart of the city.
+He sent a secret order to the Tlascalans to approach, and, at a given
+signal, to fall upon the surprised and unarmed Cholulans, and cut them
+down without mercy. He then, upon a friendly pretext, sent for the
+magistrates of the city and all the principal nobles. They were
+immediately assembled, and the signal for massacre was given.
+
+The poor natives, taken entirely by surprise, rushed in dismay this
+way and that, encountering death at every corner. The Tlascalans, like
+hungry wolves, swept through the streets, glutting themselves with
+blood. It was with them the carnival of insatiable revenge. The
+dwellings were sacked piteously, and the city every where kindled
+into flame. Women and children were seized by the merciless Tlascalans
+to grace their triumph, and to bleed upon their altars of human
+sacrifice. For two days this horrid scene continued. At last, from
+exhaustion, the carnage ceased. The city was reduced to smouldering
+ruins, and pools of blood and mutilated carcases polluted the streets.
+The wail of the wretched survivors, homeless and friendless, rose to
+the ear of Heaven more dismal than the piercing shriek of anguish
+which is silenced by death. The argument with which Cortez defends
+this outrage is very laconic:
+
+"Had I not done this to them, they would have done the same to me."
+
+[Illustration: MASSACRE IN CHOLULA.]
+
+Such is war--congenial employment only for fiends. It is Satan's work,
+and can be efficiently prosecuted only by Satan's instruments. Six
+thousand Cholulans were slain in this awful massacre. The Spaniards
+were now sufficiently avenged. Cortez issued a proclamation offering
+pardon to all who had escaped the massacre, and inviting them to
+return to their smouldering homes. Slowly they returned, women and
+children, from the mountains where they had fled; some, who had
+feigned death, crept from beneath the bodies of the slain, and
+others emerged from hiding-places in their devastated dwellings. The
+cacique of the Cholulans had been killed in the general slaughter.
+Cortez appointed a brother of the late cacique to rule over the city,
+and, in apparently a sincere proclamation, informed the bereaved and
+miserable survivors that it was with the greatest sorrow that he
+had found himself compelled by their treachery to this terrible
+punishment. The Tlascalans, glutted with the blood of their ancient
+foes, were compelled to surrender all their prisoners, for Cortez
+would allow of no human sacrifices.
+
+Cortez thought that the natives were now in a very suitable frame of
+mind for his peculiar kind of conversion. They were truly very pliant.
+No resistance was offered to the Spanish soldiers as they tumbled the
+idols out of the temples, and reared in their stead the cross and the
+image of the Virgin. Public thanksgivings were then offered to God in
+the purified temples of the heathen for the victory he had vouchsafed,
+and mass was celebrated by the whole army.
+
+In the year 1842, Hon. Waddy Thompson passed over the plain where once
+stood the city of Cholula. He thus describes it:
+
+     "The great city of Cholula was situated about six miles from
+     the present city of Puebla. It was here the terrible
+     slaughter was committed which has left the deepest stain
+     upon the otherwise glorious and wonderful character of
+     Cortez. Not a vestige--literally none--not a brick or a
+     stone standing upon another, remains of this immense city
+     except the great pyramid, which still stands in gloomy and
+     solitary grandeur in the vast plain which surrounds it, and
+     there it will stand forever. This pyramid is built of
+     unburned bricks. Its dimensions, as given by Humboldt, are,
+     base, 1440 feet; present height, 177; area on the summit,
+     45,210 square feet. A Catholic chapel now crowns the summit
+     of this immense mound, the sides of which are covered with
+     grass and small trees. As seen for miles along the road, an
+     artificial mountain, standing in the solitude of a vast
+     plain, it is a most imposing and beautiful object."
+
+After the delay of a fortnight, Cortez resumed his march toward
+the capital of Mexico, which was now distant from him but twenty
+leagues. It was now the 29th of October. The tidings of the horrible
+retribution which had fallen upon Cholula spread far and wide, and
+it accomplished its end in preventing any farther manifestations
+of hostility. City after city, appalled by this exhibition of the
+vengeance of those foes who wielded the thunder and the lightning
+of heaven, and who, with the dreadful war-horse, could overtake the
+swiftest foe, sent in the most humble messages of submission, with
+accompanying presents, to propitiate the favor of the terrible
+invaders.
+
+Montezuma, as he was informed of the fate of Cholula, turned pale upon
+his throne, and trembled in every fibre. He dreaded unspeakably to
+have the Spaniards enter his capital, and yet he dared not undertake
+to oppose them. Cortez sent embassadors before him to the capital with
+the following message to Montezuma:
+
+"The Cholulans have asserted that Montezuma instigated their
+treachery. I will not believe it. Montezuma is a great and a powerful
+sovereign; he would make war in the open field, and not by cowardly
+stratagem. The Spaniards, however, are ready for any warfare, secret
+or open."
+
+This was bold defiance. Montezuma superstitiously read in it the
+decree of fate announcing his doom. He returned an answer solemnly
+declaring that he had no part in the guilt of the Cholulans, and
+renewedly inviting Cortez to visit his city.
+
+The country through which the adventurers passed became increasingly
+populous, luxuriant, and beautiful. They were continually met
+by embassies from the different cities on or near their route,
+endeavoring to propitiate their favor by protestations of allegiance
+and gifts of gold. They also perceived many indications of discontent
+with the reign of Montezuma, which encouraged Cortez greatly in his
+expectation of being able to overturn the empire, by availing himself
+of the alienation existing in its constituent parts. Multitudes of the
+disaffected joined the army of Cortez, where they were all warmly
+welcomed. "Thus," says Clavigero, "the farther the Spaniards advanced
+into the country, the more they continued to increase their forces;
+like a rivulet which, by the accession of other streams, swells in its
+course into a large river."
+
+[Illustration: FIRST VIEW OF THE MEXICAN CAPITAL.]
+
+For several days they toiled resolutely along, "recommending," says
+Diaz, "our souls to the Lord Jesus Christ, who had brought us through
+our past dangers," until, from the heights of Ithualco, they looked
+down over the majestic, the enchanting valley of Mexico. A more
+perfectly lovely scene has rarely greeted human eyes. In the far
+distance could be discerned, through the transparent atmosphere,
+the dim blue outline of the mountains by which the almost boundless
+basin of Mexico was girdled. Forests and rivers, orchards and lakes,
+cultivated fields and beautiful villages adorned the landscape. The
+magnificent city of Mexico was situated, in queenly splendor, upon
+islands in the bosom of a series of lakes more than a hundred miles
+in length. Innumerable towns, with their lofty temples, and white,
+picturesque dwellings, fringed the margin of the crystal waters. The
+circumference of the valley girdled by the mountains was nearly two
+hundred miles.
+
+The Spaniards gazed upon the enchanting scene with amazement, and many
+of them with alarm. They saw indications of civilization and of power
+far beyond what they had anticipated. Cortez, however, relying upon
+the efficiency of gunpowder, and also deeming himself invincible while
+the sacred banner of the cross waved over his army, marched boldly on.
+The love of plunder was a latent motive omnipotent in his soul, and he
+saw undreamed of wealth lavishly spread before him. Though Cortez was,
+at this period of his life, a stranger to the sordid vice of avarice,
+he coveted intensely boundless wealth, to be profusely distributed in
+advancing his great plans.[D]
+
+[Footnote D: Hon. Waddy Thompson thus describes the appearance of the
+great valley of Mexico at the present time. "The road passes within
+about twenty miles of the mountain of Pococatapetl, the highest point
+of the territory of Mexico; but the brightness of the atmosphere, and
+a tropical sun shining upon the snow with which it is always covered,
+makes the distance seem very much shorter--not, indeed, more than one
+or two miles. In descending the mountain, at about the distance of
+twenty-five miles the first glimpse is caught of the city and valley
+of Mexico. No description can convey to the reader any adequate
+idea of the effect upon one who, for the first time, beholds that
+magnificent prospect. With what feelings must Cortez have regarded
+it when he first saw it from the top of the mountain between the
+snow-covered volcanoes of Pococatapetl and Iztaccihuatl, a short
+distance to the left of where the road now runs! The valley was not
+then, as it is now, for the greater part a barren waste, but was
+studded all over with the homes of men, containing more than forty
+cities, besides towns and villages without number. Never has such a
+vision burst upon the eyes of mortal man since that upon which the
+seer of old looked down from Pisgah."]
+
+Montezuma was continually vacillating as to the course to be pursued.
+At one hour he would resolve to marshal his armies, and fall, if fall
+he must, gloriously, amid the ruins of his empire. The next hour
+timidity would be in the ascendant, and a new embassy would be sent
+to Cortez, with courteous speeches and costly gifts. The unhappy
+monarch, in his despair, had gone to one of the most sacred of the
+sanctuaries of the empire to mourn and to pray. Here he passed eight
+days in the performance of all the humiliating and penitential rites
+of his religion. But each day Cortez drew nearer, and the crowds
+accumulating around him increased.
+
+The spirit of Montezuma was now so crushed that he sent an embassy to
+Cortez offering him four loads of gold for himself, and one for each
+of his captains, and he also promised to pay a yearly tribute to
+the King of Spain, if the dreaded conqueror would turn back. This
+messenger met the Spanish army upon the heights of Ithualco, as they
+were gazing with admiration upon the goodly land spread out before
+them. Cortez listened with much secret satisfaction to this messenger,
+as an indication of the weakness and the fear of the great monarch.
+Returning the laconic answer, "I must see Montezuma, and deliver to
+him personally the message of the emperor my master," he more eagerly
+pressed on his way.
+
+Montezuma received this response as the doom decreed to him by fate.
+"Of what avail," the unhappy monarch is reported to have said, "is
+resistance, when the gods have declared themselves against us? Yet I
+mourn most for the old and infirm, the women and children, too feeble
+to fight or to fly. For myself and the brave men around me, we must
+bare our breasts to the storm, and meet it as we may."
+
+The Spaniards had now arrived at the city of Amaquemecan. They
+were received by the principal inhabitants of the place with an
+ostentatious display of courtesy and friendship. Two very large
+stone buildings were provided for their accommodation. This profuse
+hospitality was excited by terror. After resting here two days, Cortez
+resumed his march. Their path still led through smiling villages and
+fields of maize, and through gardens blooming with gorgeous flowers,
+which the natives cultivated with religious and almost passionate
+devotion.
+
+At last they arrived at Ayotzingo--the Venice of the New World--an
+important town, built on wooden piles in the waters of Lake Chalco.
+Gondolas of every variety of color, and of graceful structure, glided
+through the liquid streets. The main body of the Spanish army encamped
+outside of the city. A vast concourse of the natives flocked to
+the camp. Cortez became suspicious of premeditated treachery, and
+fifteen or twenty of the natives were heartlessly shot down, as an
+intimidation. The terrified Indians did not venture to resent this
+cruel requital of their hospitality.
+
+After remaining here two days, the march was again resumed along the
+southern shores of Lake Chalco. Clusters of villages, embowered in
+luxuriant foliage, and crimson with flowers, fringed the lake. The
+waters were covered with the light boats of the natives, gliding in
+every direction. At last they came to a narrow dike or causeway, five
+miles long, and so narrow that but two or three horsemen could ride
+abreast. In the middle of this causeway, which separated Lake Chalco
+from Lake Xochicalco, was built the town of Cuitlahuac, which Cortez
+described as the most beautiful he had yet seen. Before the mansions
+of the principal inhabitants there were lawns ornamented with trees
+and shrubbery. Temples and lofty towers rose in much majesty of
+architecture. Floating gardens were constructed on the lake, and
+innumerable boats, plied by the strong arms of the native rowers,
+almost covered the placid waters. As the Spaniards marched along this
+narrow causeway, the crowd became so immense that Cortez was obliged
+to resort to threats of violence to force his way. The place was so
+very favorable for the natives to make an assault, that Cortez
+conducted the march with the utmost possible vigilance, and commanded
+the Indians not to come near his ranks unless they chose to be
+regarded as enemies. The adventurers were, however, received in
+Cuitlahuac with the utmost kindness, and all their wants were
+abundantly supplied.
+
+When they had crossed the narrow causeway, and had arrived on the
+other side of the lake, they entered the city of Iztapalapan, which
+contained, according to their estimate, about fifteen thousand houses.
+The city was in the near vicinity of the capital. The natives, with
+refinement and taste not yet equaled by the money-making millions of
+North America, had allotted land in the centre of the city for a vast
+public garden, blooming with flowers of every variety of splendor. A
+large aviary was filled with birds of gorgeous plumage and sweet song.
+A stone reservoir, of ample dimensions, contained water to irrigate
+the grounds, and it was also abundantly stored with fish. Many of the
+chiefs of the neighboring cities had assembled here to meet Cortez.
+They received him with courtesy, with hospitality, but with reserve.
+He was now but a few miles from the renowned metropolis of Montezuma,
+and the turrets of the lofty temples of idolatry which embellished the
+capital glittered in the sunlight before him.
+
+Another night passed away, and, as another morning dawned, the Spanish
+army was again on the march. It was the 8th of November, 1519. When
+they drew near the city, they were first met by a procession of a
+thousand of the principal inhabitants, adorned with waving plumes, and
+clad in finely-embroidered mantles. They announced that their renowned
+Emperor Montezuma was advancing to welcome the strangers. They were
+now upon the causeway which led from the main land to the island city.
+The long and narrow way was thronged with crowds which could not be
+numbered, while on each side the lake was darkened with boats. Soon
+the glittering train of the emperor appeared in the distance.
+
+Montezuma was accompanied by the highest possible pomp of
+semi-barbarian etiquette and splendor. He was seated in a gorgeous
+palanquin, waving with plumes and glittering with gold, and was borne
+on the shoulders of four noblemen. Three officers, each holding a
+golden rod, walked before him. Others supported over his head, by
+four posts, to shelter him from the sun, a canopy of beautiful
+workmanship, richly embellished with green feathers, and gold,
+and precious gems. The monarch wore upon his head a golden crown,
+surmounted by a rich head-dress of plumes. A mantle, richly
+embroidered with the most costly ornaments, was folded gracefully upon
+his shoulders. Buskins, fringed with gold, fitted closely to his legs,
+and the soles of his shoes were of gold. He was tall, well formed, and
+a peculiarly handsome man.
+
+As the monarch drew near, Cortez dismounted, and advanced on foot to
+meet him. At the same time Montezuma alighted from his palanquin, and,
+leaning upon the arms of two of the highest members of his court, with
+great dignity approached his dreaded guest. His attendants in the mean
+time spread before their monarch rich carpets, that his sacred feet
+might not come in contact with the ground. An expression of anxiety
+and of deep melancholy overspread the countenance of the sovereign.
+
+[Illustration: THE MEETING OF CORTEZ AND MONTEZUMA.]
+
+The Mexican emperor and the Spanish marauder met in the interchange of
+all Mexican and Castilian courtesies. After the exchange of a few
+words, the whole blended cortège marched through the immense crowd,
+which opened before them, and entered the imperial city. "Who,"
+exclaims Diaz, "could count the number of men, women, and children
+which thronged the streets, the canals, and terraces on the tops of
+the houses on that day? The whole of what I saw on this occasion is
+so strongly imprinted on my memory that it appears to me as if it had
+happened only yesterday. Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave us
+courage to venture upon such dangers, and brought us safely through
+them."
+
+Montezuma himself conducted Cortez to the quarters which he had
+prepared for his reception in the heart of the metropolis. With
+refinement of politeness which would have done honor to the court
+of Louis XIV., he said, on retiring,
+
+"You are now, with your brothers, in your own house. Refresh
+yourselves after your fatigue, and be happy until I return."
+
+The spot assigned to the Spaniards was an immense palace, or, rather,
+range of mansions, in the very centre of the metropolis, erected by
+the father of Montezuma. The buildings inclosed an immense court-yard.
+The whole was surrounded by a strong stone wall, surmounted with
+towers for defense and ornament. Cortez could not have constructed
+for himself a more admirable citadel for the accomplishment of his
+ambitious and violent purposes. The apartment assigned to the Spanish
+chieftain was tapestried with the finest embroidered cotton. The rooms
+and courts were so large as to afford ample accommodations for the
+whole Spanish army.
+
+    "This edifice was so large," writes one of the historians of
+    that day, "that both the Spaniards and their allies, who,
+    together with the women and the servants whom they brought
+    with them, exceeded seven thousand in number, were lodged
+    in it. Every where there was the greatest cleanliness and
+    neatness. Almost all the chambers had beds of mats, of
+    rushes, and of palm, according to the custom of the people,
+    and other mats, in a round form, for pillows. They had
+    coverlets of fine cotton, and chairs made of single pieces of
+    wood. Some of the chambers were also carpeted with mats, and
+    the walls were hung with tapestry beautifully colored."
+
+Cortez, with vigilance which never slept, immediately fortified his
+quarters, so as to guard against any possible surprise. Artillery was
+planted to sweep every avenue. Sentinels were posted at important
+points, with orders to observe the same diligence by night and by day
+as if they were in the midst of hostile armies. A large division of
+the troops was always on guard, prepared for every possible emergency.
+
+In the evening, Montezuma returned, with great pomp, to visit his
+terrible guests, and to inquire if they were provided with every thing
+which could promote their comfort. He brought with him presents of
+great value for Cortez and his officers, and also for each one of the
+privates in the Spanish camp. A long conference ensued, during which
+Montezuma betrayed his apprehension that the Spaniards were the
+conquerors indicated by tradition and prophecy as decreed to overthrow
+the Mexican power. Cortez artfully endeavored to frame his reply so as
+to encourage this illusion. He expatiated at great length upon the
+wealth and the resistless power of the emperor whom he served. "My
+master wishes," said he, "to alter certain laws and customs in this
+kingdom, and particularly to present to you a religion far superior to
+the bloody creed of Mexico." He then, with great earnestness, unfolded
+to the respectful monarch the principal doctrines of Christianity--the
+one living and true God--the advent of the Savior, his atonement, and
+salvation through faith in him--the rites of baptism and of the Lord's
+Supper--the eternal rewards of the righteous, and the unending woes of
+the wicked. To these remarks Cortez added an indignant remonstrance
+against the abomination of human sacrifices, and of eating the flesh
+of the wretched victims. By way of application to this sermon, which
+was truthful in its main sentiments, and unquestionably sincere, this
+most singular of missionaries called out the artillery. We would
+not speak lightly of sacred things in stating the fact that Cortez
+considered gunpowder as one of the most important of the means of
+grace. He judged that the thunder of his cannon, reverberating through
+the streets of the astounded capital, would exert a salutary influence
+upon the minds of the natives, and produce that pliancy of spirit,
+that child-like humility, so essential both to voluntary and
+involuntary conversion. The most important truth and the most
+revolting falsehood here bewilderingly meet and blend.
+
+The sun had now gone down, and the short twilight was fading away
+into the darkness of the night, when, at a given signal, every cannon
+was discharged. The awful roar rolled through the streets of the
+metropolis, and froze the hearts of the people with terror. Were these
+strange beings, they inquired among themselves, who thus wielded the
+heaviest thunders of heaven, gods or demons? Volley after volley, in
+appalling peals, burst from the city, and resounded over the silent
+lake. Dense volumes of suffocating smoke, scarcely moved by the
+tranquil air, settled down upon the streets. Silence ensued. The voice
+of Cortez had been heard in tones never to be forgotten. The stars
+came out in the serene sky, and a brilliant tropical night enveloped
+in its folds the fearless Spaniard and the trembling Mexican.
+
+It was the night of the 8th of November. But seven months had elapsed
+since the Spaniards landed in the country. The whole Spanish force,
+exclusive of the natives whom they had induced to join them, consisted
+of but four hundred and fifty men. They were now two hundred miles
+from the coast, in the very heart of an empire numbering many
+millions, and by sagacity, courage, and cruelty, they had succeeded in
+bringing both monarch and people into almost entire submission to
+their sway. The genius of romance can narrate few tales more
+marvelous.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE METROPOLIS INVADED.
+
+The ride through Tenochtitlan.--Visit to the market-place.--The
+pyramidal temple.--View from the summit.--The gong.--Indignation of
+Cortez.--The chapel.--General appearance of the city.--Apprehension
+from the natives.--The Tlascalans anxious for war.--The trap.--
+Situation of the city.--Cortez determines to seize Montezuma.--The
+pretext.--Engagement at Vera Cruz.--Cortez demands atonement.--
+Montezuma declares his innocence.--Montezuma called upon to surrender
+himself a prisoner.--Montezuma conveyed to the Spanish quarters.--The
+body-guard.--Qualpopoca arrested.--Condemned to be burned alive.--
+Atrocious insult to Montezuma.--Execution of the victims.--Cortez the
+emperor.--The Spanish commission.--Contributions exacted.--Discontent
+of the soldiers.--Building of the brigantines.--Indignation of
+Cacamatzin.--His arrest and imprisonment.--Acknowledgment of
+vassalage.--Indignation of the nobles.--Cortez determines to overthrow
+the system of idolatry.--Opposition.--Indications of trouble.--
+Hardships endured.--Alarming intelligence.--An armament sent after
+Cortez.--Surrender of Vera Cruz demanded.--The envoy sent to Cortez.
+--Montezuma elated.--Preparations for war.--Terms of accommodation.
+--Cortez marches on Narvaez.--The storm.--Narvaez's army seeks
+shelter.--The harangue and the attack.--Narvaez made prisoner.--The
+surrender.--Artfulness of Cortez.--The insurrection in the metropolis.
+--Disaffection of the inhabitants.--They arrive at the causeway.--
+Cause of the insurrection.--Displeasure of Cortez.--His insolent
+manner.--Diaz's record.--Motives for the attack.--The massacre
+intended to prevent insurrection.
+
+
+The next morning, Cortez, with a showy retinue of horsemen, prancing
+through streets upon which hoof had never before trodden, called upon
+the emperor. The streets were lined, and the roofs of the houses
+crowded with multitudes gazing upon the amazing spectacle. The Spanish
+chieftain was kindly received by the emperor, and three days were
+appointed to introduce him to all the objects of interest in the
+capital. Tenochtitlan was the native name by which the imperial city
+was then known.
+
+They first visited the great public square or market-place. An
+immense concourse was here assembled, engaged in peaceful traffic.
+Three judges sat in state at the end of the square, to settle all
+difficulties. A numerous body of police, ever moving through the
+crowd, prevented all riot or confusion. Though there were many other
+minor market-places scattered through the city, this was the principal
+one.
+
+Cortez then expressed the wish that he might be conducted to the great
+pyramidal temple, which reared its lofty structure from the heart of
+the city. The summit of the pyramid was an extended plain, where
+several hundred priests could officiate in sacrifice. The corners of
+the area were ornamented with towers. One hundred and fourteen steps
+led to the summit of the temple. Several large altars stood here,
+besmeared with the blood of human sacrifices, and there was also a
+hideous image of a dragon polluted with gore.
+
+From this towering eminence the whole adjacent country lay spread out
+before the eye of Cortez in surpassing loveliness. Gardens, groves,
+villages, waving fields of grain, and the wide expanse of the placid
+lakes, covered with boats gliding rapidly over the mirrored waters,
+presented a scene of beauty which excited the enthusiasm of Cortez to
+the highest pitch. They then entered the sanctuaries of the temple,
+where human hearts were smoking, and almost throbbing, upon the altars
+before the revolting images of their gods. On the summit of the
+temple there was an enormous drum or gong, which was struck when the
+miserable victim was shrieking beneath the knife of sacrifice. Its
+doleful tones, it was said, floating over the still waters of the
+lake, could be heard at the distance of many miles.
+
+From these sickening scenes Cortez turned away in disgust, and
+exclaimed indignantly to Montezuma,
+
+"How can you, wise and powerful as you are, put trust in such
+representatives of the devil? Why do you allow your people to be
+butchered before these abominable idols? Let me place here the cross,
+and the image of the blessed Virgin and of her Son, and the influence
+of these detestable idols will soon vanish."
+
+Montezuma, shocked by words which he deemed so blasphemous, and
+dreading the swift vengeance of the gods, hurried his irreverent guest
+away.
+
+"Go," said he, "go hence, I entreat you, while I remain to appease, if
+possible, the wrath of the gods whom you have so dreadfully provoked."
+
+But these scenes aroused anew the religious zeal of Cortez and his
+companions. As they returned to their lodgings, they immediately
+converted one of the halls of their residence into a Christian chapel.
+Here the rites of the Roman Catholic Church were introduced, and the
+whole army of Cortez, with soldierly devotion, attended mass every
+day. Good Father Olmedo, with perhaps a clouded intellect, but with
+that recognition of the universal brotherhood of man which sincere
+piety ever confers, prayed fervently for God's blessing upon his frail
+children of every name and nation.
+
+The Spaniards estimated the population of the city at about five
+hundred thousand. The streets were very regularly laid out at right
+angles. Many of them were wide, and lined with shade-trees. The houses
+of the common people were small but comfortable cottages, built of
+reeds or of bricks baked in the sun. The dwellings of the nobles and
+of the more wealthy inhabitants were strongly-built mansions of stone,
+very extensive on the ground floor, though generally but one story
+high. They were inclosed in gardens blooming with flowers. Fountains
+of cool water, conveyed through earthen pipes, played in the
+court-yards. The police regulations were unsurpassed by those of any
+city in Europe. A thousand persons were continually employed in
+sweeping and watering the streets. So clean were the well-cemented
+pavements kept, that "a man could walk through the streets," says one
+of the Spanish historians, "with as little danger of soiling his feet
+as his hands."
+
+Day after day was passed in the interchange of visits, and in the
+careful examination by Cortez of the strength and the resources of
+the city. He had now been a week in the capital, and the question
+naturally arose, What is next to be done? He was, indeed, perplexed to
+decide this question. Montezuma treated him with such extraordinary
+hospitality, supplying all his wants, and leaving him at perfect
+liberty, that it was difficult for one, who laid any claim whatever to
+a conscience, to find occasion to pick a quarrel. To remain inactive,
+merely enjoying the luxury of a most hospitable entertainment, was not
+only accomplishing nothing, but was also enervating the army. It was
+also to be apprehended that the Mexicans would gradually regain their
+courage as they counted the small number of the invaders, and fall
+upon them with resistless power.
+
+The Tlascalans, who had rioted in blood at Cholula, seemed anxious for
+a renewal of that scene of awful butchery in the streets of Mexico.
+They assured Cortez that he had every thing to fear from the treachery
+of Montezuma; that he had lured them into the city but to inclose
+them in a trap; that the drawbridges of the causeways need but be
+removed, and escape for the Spaniards would be impossible. They
+assured him that the Mexican priests had counseled Montezuma, in the
+name of the gods, to admit the strangers into the capital that he
+might cut them off at a blow. It was obvious, even to the meanest
+soldier, that all this might be true, and that they were in reality
+in a trap from which it would be exceedingly difficult to extricate
+themselves, should the Mexicans manifest any resolute hostility.
+
+On the east the island city had no connection with the main land, and
+could only be approached over the broad waters of the lake by canoes.
+On the west the city was entered by an artificial causeway, built of
+earth and stone, a mile and a half in length, and but thirty feet
+in breadth. A similar causeway on the northwest, three miles long,
+connected the city with the main land. There was another causeway on
+the south, six miles long. There were many openings along these
+causeways, through which the waters of the lake flowed unimpeded.
+These openings were bridged over by means of timber. The destruction
+of these bridges, which might be accomplished at any hour, would
+render an escape for the Spaniards almost impossible.
+
+[Illustration: CITY OF MEXICO.]
+
+In this dilemma, the bold Spaniard adopted the audacious yet
+characteristic plan of seizing Montezuma, who was regarded with almost
+religious adoration by his subjects, and holding him as a hostage. The
+following occurrence furnished Cortez with a plausible pretext to pick
+a quarrel.
+
+We have before mentioned that the Totonacs, wishing to escape from
+the subjection of the Mexicans, had acknowledged themselves vassals of
+the King of Spain. When the officers of Montezuma attempted, as usual,
+to collect the taxes, the Totonacs refused payment. Force was resorted
+to, and a conflict arose. The colony at Vera Cruz immediately sent
+some soldiers to aid their allies, headed by Escalente, the commander
+of the Spanish garrison. In the engagement which ensued, Escalente and
+seven of his men were mortally wounded, one horse was killed, and one
+Spaniard taken captive, who soon, however, died of his wounds. Still
+the Spaniards, with their Totonac allies, were victorious, and
+repelled the Mexicans with much slaughter. The vanquished party cut
+off the head of their unfortunate prisoner, and carried it in triumph
+to several cities, to show that their foes were not invulnerable.
+
+With alacrity Cortez availed himself of this event. He immediately
+repaired to the palace of Montezuma, and, with bitter reproaches,
+accused him of treacherously ordering an assault upon the Spaniards
+who had been left at Vera Cruz. Sternly the pitiless Spaniard demanded
+reparation for the loss, and atonement for the insult. Montezuma,
+confounded at this unexpected accusation, earnestly declared that the
+order had not been issued by him, but that the distant officer had
+acted on his own responsibility, without consulting the sovereign.
+Ungenerously he added that, in proof of his innocence, he would
+immediately command the offending officer, Qualpopoca, and his
+accomplices, to be brought prisoners to Mexico, and to be delivered
+to Cortez for any punishment which the Spaniards might decree.
+
+Cortez now feigned a relenting mood, and declared that he could not
+himself doubt the word of the emperor, but that something more was
+requisite to appease the rage of his followers. "Nothing," said he,
+"can satisfy them of your sincerity and of your honorable intentions,
+unless you will leave your palace, and take up your abode in the
+Spanish quarters. This will pacify my men, and they will honor you
+there as becomes a great monarch."
+
+When Marina interpreted this strange proposal, Montezuma was for a
+moment so struck with amazement as to be almost bereft of speech. His
+cheek was flushed with shame and rage, and then the hectic glow passed
+away into deadly paleness. His ancient spirit was for a moment
+revived, and he exclaimed, indignantly,
+
+"When did ever a monarch suffer himself to be tamely led to a prison?
+Even were I willing to debase myself in so vile a manner, would not my
+people immediately arm themselves to set me free?"
+
+One of the impetuous attendants of Cortez, as the altercation
+continued, exclaimed, grasping his sword,
+
+"Why waste time in vain? Let us either seize him instantly or stab him
+to the heart."
+
+Montezuma, though he did not understand his words, observed the
+threatening voice and the fierce gesture, and, turning to the amiable
+interpretress, Marina, inquired what he said.
+
+"Sire," she replied, with her characteristic mildness and tact, "as
+your subject, I desire your happiness; but as the confidante of those
+men, I know their secrets, and am acquainted with their character. If
+you yield to their wishes, you will be treated with all the honor due
+to your royal person; but if you persist in your refusal, your life
+will be in danger."
+
+Montezuma, reading in these events, as he supposed, but the decrees of
+fate, now yielded. He called his officers, and informed them of his
+decision. Though they were plunged into utter consternation by the
+intelligence, they did not venture to question his will. The imperial
+palanquin was brought, and the humiliated emperor was conveyed,
+followed by a mourning crowd, to the Spanish quarters. Montezuma
+endeavored to appease them, and to prevent any act of violence, by
+assuring the people that it was his own pleasure to go and reside with
+his friends. He was now so thoroughly convinced of the resistless
+power of the Spaniards, and that he was swept along by the decrees of
+fate, that he dreaded any movement of resistance on the part of his
+people.[E]
+
+[Footnote E: Bernal Diaz says, "It having been decided that we should
+seize the person of the king, we passed the whole of the preceding
+night in praying to our Lord that he would be pleased to guide us, so
+that what we were going to do should redound to his holy service."]
+
+He was magnificently imprisoned. His own servants were permitted to
+attend him, and he continued to administer the government as if he
+had been in his own palace. All the forms of courtly etiquette were
+scrupulously observed in approaching his person. Ostensibly to confer
+upon him greater honor, a body-guard of stern Spanish veterans was
+appointed for his protection. This body-guard, with all external
+demonstrations of obsequiousness, watched him by night and by day,
+rendering escape impossible.
+
+This violence, however, was but the beginning of the humiliation and
+anguish imposed upon the unhappy monarch. The governor, Qualpopoca,
+who had ventured to resist the Spaniards, was brought a captive to the
+capital, with his son and fifteen of the principal officers who had
+served under him. They were immediately surrendered to Cortez, that he
+might determine their crime and their punishment. Qualpopoca was put
+to the torture. He avowed, in his intolerable agony, that he had only
+obeyed the orders of his sovereign. Cortez, who wished to impress the
+Mexicans with the idea that it was the greatest of all conceivable
+crimes to cause the death of a Spaniard, determined to inflict upon
+them a punishment which should appal every beholder. They were all
+doomed to be burned alive in the great market-place of the city.
+To allow no time for any resistance to be organized, they were
+immediately led out for execution. In the royal arsenals there was an
+immense amount of arrows, spears, javelins, and other wooden martial
+weapons, which had been collected for the defense of the city. These
+the soldiers gathered, thus disarming the population, and heaped them
+up in an immense funeral pile.
+
+While these atrocities were in preparation, Cortez entered the
+presence of his captive, Montezuma, and sternly accused him of being
+an accomplice in the death of the Spaniards. He then pitilessly
+ordered the soldiers who accompanied him to bind upon the hands and
+the feet of the monarch the iron manacles of a felon. It was one
+of the most cruel insults which could have been inflicted upon
+fallen majesty. Montezuma was speechless with horror, and his
+attendants, who regarded the person of their sovereign with religious
+veneration, wailed and wept. The shackles being adjusted, Cortez
+turned abruptly upon his heel, leaving the monarch in the endurance
+of this ignominious punishment, and went out to attend to the
+execution of the victims, who were already bound to the stake.
+
+The cruel fires were then kindled. The flames crackled, and rose in
+fierce, devouring billows around the sufferers. The stern soldiery
+stood, with musketry and artillery loaded and primed, ready to repel
+any attempts at rescue. Thousands of Mexicans, with no time for
+consideration, gazed with awe upon the appalling spectacle; and the
+Indian chieftains, without a struggle or an audible groan, were burned
+to ashes. The dreadful execution being terminated, and the blood of
+the Spaniards being thus avenged by the degradation of the sovereign
+and the death of his officers, Cortez returned to Montezuma, and
+ordered the fetters to be struck from his limbs.
+
+Step after step of violence succeeded, until Montezuma was humbled to
+the dust. The fearful rigor with which Cortez had punished even the
+slightest attempt to resist the Spaniards overawed the nation. Cortez
+was now virtually the Emperor of Mexico. The general laws and customs
+of the nation remained unchanged; but Cortez issued his commands
+through Montezuma, and the mandates of the imprisoned sovereign were
+submissively obeyed. With great skill, the Spanish adventurer availed
+himself of these new powers. He sent a Spanish commission, by the
+authority and under the protection of Montezuma, to explore the
+empire--to ascertain its strength and its weakness, its wealth and its
+resources. These officers went to nearly all the provinces, and, by
+their arrogant display of power, endeavored to intimidate the natives,
+and to prepare them for entire subjection to Spain.
+
+Mexican officers, whose fidelity Cortez suspected, were degraded, and
+their places supplied by others whose influence he had secured. A
+general contribution of gold was exacted throughout the whole Mexican
+territories for the benefit of the conquerors.
+
+A large sum was thus collected. One fifth of this was laid aside
+for his majesty, the King of Spain. Another fifth was claimed by
+Cortez. The remaining portion was so greatly absorbed to defray the
+innumerable expenses of the expedition, that only about one hundred
+crowns fell to the lot of each soldier. This excited discontent so
+deep and loud that Cortez was compelled to attempt to pacify his men
+by a public address.
+
+"He called us together," says Diaz, "and in a long set speech, gave us
+a great many honeyed words, which he had an extraordinary facility of
+doing, wondering how we could be so solicitous about a little paltry
+gold when the whole country would soon be ours, with all its rich
+mines, wherewith there was enough to make us great lords and princes,
+and I know not what."
+
+Cortez was cautious as well as bold. To prepare for a retreat in case
+of necessity, should the Mexicans seize their arms and break down
+their bridges, he wished, without exciting the suspicions of the
+natives, to build some vessels which would command the lake. He
+accomplished this with his usual address. In conversation with
+Montezuma, he gave the monarch such glowing accounts of floating
+palaces, which would glide rapidly over the water without oars, as to
+excite the intense curiosity of his captive. Montezuma expressed a
+strong desire to see these wonderful fabrics. Cortez, under the
+pretext of gratifying this desire, very obligingly consented to build
+two brigantines. The resources of the empire were immediately placed
+at the disposal of Cortez. A multitude of men were sent to the forest
+to cut down ship-timber and draw it to the lake. Several hundred _men
+of burden_ were dispatched to Vera Cruz to transport naval stores from
+that place to Mexico. Aided by so many strong arms, the Spanish
+carpenters soon succeeded in constructing two vessels, which amused
+the monarch and his people, and which afforded the Spaniards an
+invaluable resource in the hour of danger.
+
+But the insolent bearing of the Spaniards had now become to many quite
+unendurable. Cacamatzin, the chief of the powerful city of Tezcuco,
+at the farther extremity of the lake, was a nephew of Montezuma. He
+was a bold man, and his indignation, in view of the pusillanimity of
+his uncle, at last overleaped his prudence. He began to assemble an
+army to make war upon the Spaniards. The Mexicans began to rally
+around their new leader. The indications were alarming to Cortez, and
+even Montezuma became apprehensive that he might lose his crown, for
+it was reported that Cacamatzin, regarding his uncle as degraded
+and a captive, intended to seize the reins of empire. Under these
+circumstances, Cortez and Montezuma acted in perfect harmony against
+their common foe. After several unsuccessful stratagems to get
+possession of the person of the bold chieftain, Montezuma sent some of
+his nobles, who secretly seized him, and brought him a prisoner to the
+capital, where he was thrust into prison. A partisan of Cortez was
+sent to take the place of Cacamatzin as governor of the province of
+Tezcuco. Thus this danger was averted.
+
+Cortez still felt much solicitude concerning the judgment of the King
+of Spain respecting his bold assumption of authority. He well knew
+that Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, whose dominion he had so
+recklessly renounced, would report the proceedings to the court at
+Madrid, sustained by all the influence he could command. To conciliate
+his sovereign, and to bribe him to indulgence, he extorted from the
+weeping, spirit-crushed sovereign of Mexico an acknowledgment of
+vassalage to the King of Spain. This humiliating deed was invested
+with much imposing pomp. All the nobles and lords were assembled in a
+large hall in the Spanish quarters. The poor monarch wept bitterly,
+and his voice often broke with emotion as he tremblingly said,
+
+"I speak as the gods direct. Our prophets have told us that a new race
+is to come to supplant our own. The hour has arrived. The sceptre
+passes from my hands by the decrees of fate which no one can resist. I
+now surrender to the King of the East my power and allegiance, and
+promise to pay to him an annual tribute."
+
+A general outburst of amazement and indignation from the nobles
+followed this address. Cortez, apprehensive that he might have
+proceeded a little too far, endeavored to appease the rising agitation
+by the assurance that his master had no intention to deprive Montezuma
+of his regal power, or to make any innovations upon the manners and
+the laws of the Mexicans. The act of submission and homage was,
+however, executed with all the formalities which Cortez saw fit to
+prescribe. The nobles retired, exasperated to the highest degree, and
+burning with desires for vengeance.
+
+Encouraged by these wonderful successes, and by the tame submission of
+the monarch, Cortez resolved upon the entire overthrow, by violence if
+necessary, of the whole system of idolatry, and to introduce Catholic
+Christianity in its stead. He had often, with the most importunate
+zeal, urged Montezuma to renounce his false gods and to embrace the
+Christian faith. But superstition was too firmly enthroned in the
+heart of the Mexican monarch to be easily supplanted. To every thing
+but this the monarch was ready to yield; but every proposition to
+renounce his gods he rejected with horror. Cortez at length firmly
+ordered his soldiers to march to the temples and sweep them clean of
+every vestige of paganism. This roused the priests. They seized their
+arms, and the alarm was spread rapidly through the streets of the
+city. Vast multitudes, grasping such weapons as they could get,
+assembled around the temples, resolved to brave every peril in defense
+of their religion. Matters assumed an aspect so threatening, that,
+for the first time, Cortez found it necessary to draw back. He
+contented himself with simply ejecting the gods from one of the
+shrines, and in erecting in their stead an image of the Virgin.
+
+There were now many indications of approaching trouble. The natives
+were greatly provoked, and it was evident that they were watching
+for a favorable opportunity to rise against their invaders. Cortez
+practiced the most sleepless vigilance. Diaz speaks thus of the
+hardships he and his comrades endured:
+
+    "During the nine months that we remained in Mexico, every
+    man, without any distinction between officers and soldiers,
+    slept on his arms, in his quilted jacket and gorget. They lay
+    on mats or straw spread on the floor, and each was obliged to
+    hold himself as alert as if he had been on guard. This became
+    so habitual to me, that even now, in my advanced age, I
+    always sleep in my clothes, and never in any bed."
+
+Just in this crisis alarming intelligence was received from the
+commander of the garrison at Vera Cruz. One of the ships of the
+delegation sent to Spain, of which we have previously spoken, had,
+contrary to the orders of Cortez, stopped at Cuba. In this way the
+indignant governor, Velasquez, learned that Cortez had renounced all
+connection with him, and had set up an independent colony. His anger
+was roused to the utmost, and he resolved upon summary vengeance. It
+so happened that Velasquez had just received from his sovereign the
+appointment of governor _for life_, and was authorized to prosecute
+discoveries in Mexico with very extensive and exclusive privileges and
+powers.
+
+He immediately fitted out an armament consisting of nineteen ships,
+with eighty horsemen, fourteen hundred soldiers, and twenty pieces of
+cannon. This was, in that day, a formidable force. The commandant,
+Narvaez, was ordered to seize Cortez and his principal officers, and
+send them in chains to Cuba. He was then, in the name of Velasquez,
+to prosecute the discovery and the conquest of the country.
+
+After a prosperous voyage, the fleet cast anchor in the Bay of St.
+Juan de Ulua, and the soldiers were landed. Narvaez then sent a
+summons to the governor of Vera Cruz to surrender. Sandoval, the
+commandant, however, being zealously attached to Cortez, seized the
+envoy and his attendants, and sent them in chains to the capital,
+with intelligence of the impending peril. Cortez, with his wonted
+sagacity, received them as friends, ordered their chains to be struck
+off, condemned the severity of Sandoval, and loaded them with caresses
+and presents. He thus won their confidence, and drew from them all the
+particulars of the force, and the intentions of the expedition. Cortez
+had great cause for alarm when he learned that Narvaez was instructed
+to espouse the cause of Montezuma; to assure the Mexican monarch that
+the violence which he had suffered was unauthorized by the King of
+Spain, and that he was ready to assist Montezuma and his subjects in
+repelling the invaders from the capital. From peril so imminent no
+ordinary man could have extricated himself. Narvaez was already on the
+march, and the natives, enraged against Cortez, were in great numbers
+joining the standard of the new-comers. Already emissaries from the
+camp of Narvaez had reached the capital, and had communicated to
+Montezuma, through the nobles, intelligence that Narvaez was marching
+to his relief. Montezuma was overjoyed, and his nobles were elated
+with hope, as they secretly collected arms and marshaled their forces
+for battle.
+
+Cortez immediately dispatched Father Olmedo to meet Narvaez to propose
+terms of accommodation. He was fully aware that no such terms as he
+proposed could be acceded to; but Olmedo and his attendants were
+enjoined, as the main but secret object of their mission, to do every
+thing they could, by presents, caresses, promises, and glowing
+descriptions of the greatness of Cortez, his power, and the glory
+opening before him, to induce the officers and soldiers of Narvaez to
+abandon his standard, and range themselves under the banner of Cortez.
+
+At the same time, Cortez, leaving one hundred and fifty men, under
+Alvarado, to guard the fortified camp in the metropolis, set out by
+forced marches, with the rest of his force, to fall unexpectedly upon
+Narvaez. His strength did not exceed two hundred and fifty men. In a
+great emergency like this, the natives could not be trusted. As Cortez
+drew near his foe, he found that Narvaez was encamped upon a great
+plain in the vicinity of Zempoalla. A terrible tempest arose. Black
+clouds darkened the sky, and the rain fell in floods. The soldiers of
+Narvaez, drenched through and through by the unceasing torrents,
+demanded to be led to the shelter of the houses in Zempoalla. They
+deemed it impossible that any foe could approach in such a storm; but
+the storm, in all its pitiless fury, was the very re-enforcement which
+Cortez and his men desired. Black midnight came, and the careering
+tempest swept the deluged streets of Zempoalla, driving even the
+sentinels to seek shelter.
+
+Cortez gathered his little band around him, and roused them, by a
+vigorous harangue, for an immediate attack. The odds were fearful.
+Cortez had but two hundred and fifty men. Narvaez had fifteen hundred,
+with nineteen pieces of artillery and eighty horsemen. Giving the
+soldiers for their countersign the inspiring words, "The Holy Spirit,"
+they rushed through the darkness and the raging storm upon the
+unsuspecting foe. They first directed their energies for the capture
+of the artillery. The party who made this attack was headed by
+Pizarro, "an active lad," says Diaz, "whose name, however, was at that
+time as little known as that of Peru." The guns were seized, after
+a short and not a very sanguinary struggle. They then, without a
+moment's delay, turned upon the horsemen. But the sleeping foe was now
+effectually aroused. A short scene of consternation, clamor, horror,
+and blood ensued. The companions of Cortez fought with the energies of
+despair. To them, defeat was certain death. The soldiers of Narvaez
+were bewildered. Many of them, even before the battle, were half
+disposed to abandon Narvaez and join the standard of Cortez, of whose
+renown they had heard such glowing accounts. Taken by a midnight
+surprise, they fought manfully for a time. But at length, in the hot
+and tumultuary fight, a spear pierced the cheek of Narvaez, and tore
+out one of his eyes. He was struck down and made a prisoner. This led
+to an immediate surrender. The genius of Cortez had most signally
+triumphed. Though many were wounded in this conflict, but two men on
+the side of Cortez were killed, and fifteen of the party of Narvaez.
+
+The artful conqueror loaded the vanquished with favors, and soon
+succeeded in winning nearly all of them to engage in his service. With
+enthusiasm these new recruits, thus singularly gained, rallied around
+him, eager to march in the paths of glory to which such a leader could
+guide them.
+
+This achievement was hardly accomplished ere a new peril menaced the
+victorious Spaniard. An express arrived from the Mexican metropolis
+with the intelligence that the Mexicans had risen in arms; that they
+had attacked the Spaniards in their quarters, and had killed several,
+and had wounded more; that they had also seized the two brigantines,
+destroyed the magazine of provisions, and that the whole garrison was
+in imminent danger of destruction.
+
+Immediately collecting his whole force, now greatly augmented by the
+accession of the vanquished troops of Narvaez, with their cavalry and
+artillery, Cortez hastened back from Zempoalla to the rescue of
+his beleaguered camp. His army now, with his strangely acquired
+re-enforcement, amounted to over a thousand infantry and a hundred
+cavalry, besides several thousands of the natives, whom he recruited
+from his allies, the Totonacs.
+
+The danger was so imminent that his troops were urged to the utmost
+possible rapidity of march. At Tlascala, two thousand of those fierce
+warriors joined him; but as he advanced into the territory of
+Montezuma, he met every where the evidences of strong disaffection to
+his cause. The nobles avoided his camp. The inhabitants of cities and
+villages retired at his approach. No food was brought to him. The
+natives made no attempt to oppose a force so resistless, but they left
+before him a path of silence and solitude.
+
+When the Spaniards arrived at the causeway which led to the city, they
+found, to their surprise, that the Mexicans had not destroyed the
+bridges, but throughout the whole length of this narrow passage no
+person was to be seen. No one welcomed or opposed. Fiercely those
+stern men strode on, over the causeway and through the now deserted
+streets, till they entered into the encampment of their comrades.
+
+The insurrection had been suddenly excited by an atrocious massacre
+on the part of Alvarado. This leader, a brave soldier, but destitute
+either of tact or judgment, suspected, or pretended to suspect, that
+the Mexican nobles were conspiring to attack him. One of their
+religious festivals was at hand, when all the principal nobles of the
+empire were to be assembled in the performance of the rites of their
+religion, in the court-yard of the great temple. Suddenly Alvarado
+came upon them, when they were thus unarmed and unsuspicious,
+and, cutting them off from every avenue of escape, with musketry,
+artillery, and the keen sabres of his horsemen, mercilessly hewed
+them down. Nearly six hundred of the flower of the Mexican nobility
+were massacred. Though Cortez was very indignant with his lieutenant
+when he heard this story from his lips, and exclaimed, "Your conduct
+has been that of a madman," he was still enraged with the Mexicans for
+venturing to attack his garrison, and declared that they should feel
+the weight of Spanish vengeance.
+
+In his displeasure, he refused to call upon Montezuma. Elated by the
+success with which he had thus far triumphed over all obstacles, and
+deeming the forces he now had under his command sufficient to sweep,
+like chaff before the whirlwind, any armies which the natives could
+raise, he gave free utterance to expressions of contempt for both
+prince and people. There had been a tacit truce between the two
+parties for a few days, and had Cortez disavowed the conduct of his
+subaltern, and pursued conciliatory measures, it is possible that the
+natives might again have been appeased. The insolent tone he assumed,
+and his loud menace of vengeance, aroused the natives anew, and they
+grasped their arms with a degree of determination and ferocity never
+manifested before.
+
+Bernal Diaz in the following terms records this event:
+
+     "Cortez asked Alvarado for what reason he fell upon the
+     natives while they were dancing and holding a festival in
+     honor of their gods. To this Alvarado replied that it was in
+     order to be beforehand with them, having had intelligence of
+     their hostile intentions toward him from two of their own
+     nobility and a priest. Cortez then asked of him if it was
+     true that they had requested of him permission to hold their
+     festival. The other replied that it was so, and that it was
+     in order to take them by surprise, and to punish and terrify
+     them, so as to prevent their making war upon the Spaniards,
+     that he had determined to fall on them by anticipation. At
+     hearing this avowal, Cortez was highly enraged. He censured
+     the conduct of Alvarado in the strongest terms, and in this
+     temper left him.
+
+     "Some say that it was avarice which tempted Alvarado to make
+     this attack, in order to pillage the Indians of the golden
+     ornaments which they wore at their festival. I never heard
+     any just reason for the assertion; nor do I believe any such
+     thing, although it is so represented by Bartholome de las
+     Casas. For my part, I am convinced that his intention in
+     falling on them at that time was in order to strike terror
+     into them, and prevent their insurrection, according to the
+     saying that the first attack is half the battle."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+BATTLE OF THE DISMAL NIGHT.
+
+Augmented forces of Cortez.--The reconnaissance.--Success of the
+Mexicans.--The conflict continued.--Troops of Narvaez begin to
+murmur.--The sally.--Cortez obliged to retreat.--The conflagration.
+--The desperate situation.--The appeal to Montezuma.--He is induced
+to interpose.--The dawn of the morning.--Attention of the natives.
+--Address of Montezuma.--He is wounded.--He refuses nourishment.
+--His death.--Raging of the battle.--The two Mexican nobles.--Escape
+of Cortez.--Night and its scenes.--Endeavors to intimidate the
+natives.--Their heroism.--Defiance.--Cortez resolves to leave the
+city.--The moving towers.--The retreat.--The onset.--Arrival at the
+canal.--Imminent peril.--Filling the breach.--Slow advance.--The
+storm.--The causeway.--Multitude of the enemy.--Fury of the attack.
+--Noche triste.--Separation of the Spaniards.--March to the rescue.
+--Destruction of a part of the army.--Sorrow of Cortez.--They flee
+to a temple.--Condition of the party.--March over the mountains.
+--Value of the horses.--Courage of Cortez.--Shouts of defiance.--
+Appearance of the enemy.--Apprehensions of Cortez.--The attack.--
+Superstition of the Mexicans.--The capture of the standard.--The
+natives flee.--Arrival at Tlascala.--Enmity of the Tlascalans against
+the Mexicans.--New disasters.--New designs of Cortez.--Efforts to
+collect recruits.--Preparations for building ships.--Remonstrance of
+his companions.--The foray.--Plunder.--The Governor of Cuba sends
+ships to Vera Cruz.--Expedition from the Governor of Jamaica.--
+Collection of arms.--Equipping the fleet.--The vessels baptized.
+
+
+The force which Cortez now had under his command, if we take into
+consideration the efficiency of European discipline and of European
+weapons of warfare, was truly formidable. In the stone buildings which
+protected and encircled his encampment, he could marshal, in battle
+array, twelve hundred Spaniards and eight thousand native allies; but
+they were nearly destitute of provisions, and the natives were rapidly
+assembling from all quarters in countless numbers. Cortez sent four
+hundred men out into the streets to reconnoitre. They had hardly
+emerged from the walls of their fortress before they were assailed
+with shouts of vengeance, and a storm of arrows and javelins fell upon
+them. Phrenzied multitudes thronged the streets and the house-tops,
+and from the roofs and the summits of the temples, stones and all
+similar missiles were poured down upon the heads of the Spaniards.
+With great difficulty this strong detachment fought their way back to
+their fortified quarters, having lost twenty-three in killed, and a
+large number being wounded.
+
+This success greatly emboldened the Mexicans, and in locust legions
+they pressed upon the Spanish quarters, rending the air with their
+unearthly shouts, and darkening the sky with their missiles. The
+artillery was immediately brought to bear upon them, and every volley
+opened immense gaps in their ranks; but the places of the dead were
+instantly occupied by others, and there seemed to be no end to their
+numbers. Never did mortal men display more bravery than these
+exasperated Mexicans exhibited, struggling for their homes and their
+rights. Twice they came very near forcing an entrance over the walls
+into the Spanish quarters. Had they succeeded, in a hand to hand fight
+numbers must have triumphed, and the Spaniards must have been
+inevitably destroyed; but the batteries of the Spaniards mowed down
+the assailants like grass before the scythe, and the Mexicans were
+driven from the walls. All the day long the conflict was continued,
+and late into the night. The ground was covered with the dead when
+darkness stopped the carnage.
+
+The soldiers of Narvaez, unaccustomed to such scenes, and appalled by
+the fury and the number of their enemies, began to murmur loudly. They
+had been promised the spoils of an empire which they were assured was
+already conquered; instead of this, they found themselves in the
+utmost peril, exposed to a conflict with a vigorous and exasperated
+enemy, surrounding them with numbers which could not be counted.
+Bitterly they execrated their own folly in allowing themselves to be
+thus deluded; but their murmurs could now be of no avail. The only
+hope for the Spaniards was in united and indomitable courage.
+
+The energies of Cortez increased with the difficulties which
+surrounded him. During the night he selected a strong force of picked
+men to make a vigorous sally in the morning. To nerve them to higher
+daring, he resolved to head the perilous enterprise himself. He
+availed himself of all his knowledge of Indian warfare, and of all the
+advantages which European military art could furnish. In the early
+dawn, these troops, in solid column, rushed from the gates of their
+fortress; but the foe, greatly augmented by the fresh troops which had
+been pouring in during the night, were ready to receive him. Both
+parties fought with ferocity which has never been surpassed. Cortez,
+to his inexpressible chagrin, found himself compelled to retire before
+the natives, who, in numbers perfectly amazing, were crowding upon
+him.
+
+Most of the streets were traversed by canals. The bridges were broken
+down, and the Spaniards, thus arrested in their progress and crowded
+together, were overwhelmed with stones and arrows from the house-tops.
+Cortez set fire to the houses every where along his line of march.
+Though the walls of many of these buildings were of stone, the flames
+ran eagerly through the dry and combustible interior, and leaped from
+roof to roof. A wide and wasting conflagration soon swept horribly
+through the doomed city, adding to the misery of the bloody strife.
+All the day long the battle raged. The streets were strewn with the
+bodies of the dead, and crimsoned with gore. The natives cheerfully
+sacrificed a hundred of their own lives to take the life of one of
+their foes. The Spaniards were, however, at length driven back behind
+their walls, leaving twelve of their number dead in the streets, and
+having sixty severely wounded.
+
+Another night darkened over the bloodstained and smouldering city.
+The Spaniards, exhausted by the interminable conflict, still stood
+fiercely behind their ramparts. The natives, in continually increasing
+numbers, surrounded them, filling the night air with shrieks
+of defiance and rage. Cortez had displayed personally the most
+extraordinary heroism during the protracted strife. His situation now
+seemed desperate. Though many thousands of the Mexicans had been
+slaughtered during the day, recruits flocked in so rapidly that their
+numbers remained undiminished. Cortez had received a severe wound in
+his hand which caused him intense anguish. His soldiers could hardly
+stand from their exhaustion. Many had been slain, and nearly all were
+wounded. The maddened roar of countless thousands of the fiercest
+warriors surging around their bulwarks almost deafened the ear. Every
+moment it was apprehended that the walls would be scaled, and the
+inundation pour in resistlessly upon them.
+
+In this extremity Cortez decided to appeal to his captive Montezuma,
+and try the effect of his interposition to soothe or overawe his
+subjects. Assuming the tone of humanity, he affected to deplore the
+awful carnage which had taken place. He affirmed that the city must
+inevitably be destroyed entirely, and the inhabitants generally
+slaughtered, unless they could be induced to lay down their arms.
+Montezuma, from one of the towers of the Spanish fortress, had
+watched, with a throbbing heart and flooded eyes, the progress of the
+fight as the flames swept through the streets, and destruction, like
+a scythe, mowed down his subjects. The amiable, beloved, perplexed
+sovereign was thus induced, though with much hesitation, to interpose.
+He was adored by his people; but he believed that the Spaniards were
+enthroned by the voice of destiny, and that resistance would but
+involve the nation in a more bloody ruin.
+
+Another morning dawned upon the combatants. In its earliest light the
+battle was again renewed with increasing fury. No pen can describe
+the tumult of this wild war. The yell of countless thousands of
+assailants, the clang of their trumpets, gongs, and drums, the clash
+of arms, the rattle of musketry, and the roar of artillery, presented
+a scene which had never before found a parallel in the New World.
+
+Suddenly all the tumult was hushed as the venerated emperor, dressed
+in his imperial robes, appeared upon the walls, and waved his hand to
+command the attention of his subjects. At the sight of their beloved
+sovereign silence almost instantaneously prevailed, all bowed their
+heads in reverence, and many prostrated themselves upon the ground.
+Montezuma earnestly entreated them to cease from the conflict,
+assuring them that the Spaniards would retire from the city if the
+Mexicans would lay down their arms.
+
+"The war will soon be over," a Mexican shouted from the crowd, "for we
+have all sworn that not a Spaniard shall leave the city alive."
+
+[Illustration: THE FALL OF MONTEZUMA.]
+
+As Montezuma continued his urgency, pleading for the detested
+Spaniards, the natives for a few moments longer continued to listen
+patiently. But gradually a sullen murmur, like a rising breeze,
+began to spread through the ranks. Reproaches and threats succeeded.
+Indignation now overtopped all barriers, and a shower of stones and
+arrows suddenly fell upon the unhappy monarch. Cortez had taken the
+precaution to send a body-guard upon the wall with Montezuma, with
+bucklers for his protection; but so sudden and unexpected was the
+assault, that two arrows pierced his body, and a stone, striking him
+on the temple, felled him senseless to the ground before they could
+raise their shields. This was the last drop in the cup of bitterness
+which Montezuma was doomed to drain. The wounded monarch was conveyed
+to his apartment, crushed in spirit, and utterly broken-hearted.
+Finally, resolved no longer to live, he tore the bandages from his
+wounds, and refused all nourishment. Silent, and brooding over his
+terrible calamities, he lingered, the picture of dejection and woe,
+for a few days, until he died.
+
+In the mean time the battle was resumed with all its fury. Throughout
+the day it raged with the most intense ferocity. The Mexicans took
+possession of a high tower which commanded the Spanish quarters. It
+was necessary to dislodge them at any sacrifice. A detachment of
+chosen men was three times repulsed in its desperate assault. Cortez,
+aware that the safety of the army depended upon the result, ordered a
+buckler to be bound to his arm, as he could not grasp it with his
+wounded hand, and placed himself at the head of the attacking column.
+Animated by his voice and example, the Spaniards forced their way up
+the steps of the temple, driving the Mexicans before them. Having
+reached the spacious platform on the summit, a terrible strife
+ensued. Two young Mexican nobles resolved to effect the destruction of
+Cortez by the sacrifice of their own lives. They seized him, dragged
+him to the battlements, and threw themselves over while clinging to
+his person, that they might thus dash him also upon the pavement
+beneath. But Cortez, by his wonderful strength and agility, shook them
+off, and thus broke from their grasp, though they both perished. The
+victorious Spaniards then set fire to the tower. Other sorties were
+made during the day, and the wretched city was as the crater of a
+volcano of flame and blood. The energies of both parties seemed to
+redouble with despair.
+
+At last another night spread its veil over the infuriated combatants.
+In its darkest watches, the indomitable Cortez made a sortie at the
+head of a strong band, and set three hundred buildings in flames. The
+lurid fire, crackling to the skies, illumined the tranquil lake, and
+gleamed portentously upon the most distant villages in the vast
+mountain-girdled valley. The tumult of the midnight assault, the
+shrieks of the women and children, and the groans of the wounded and
+the dying, blended dismally with the roar of the conflagration.
+
+Cortez now summoned the Mexican chiefs to a parley. He stood upon the
+wall. The beautiful Marina, as interpreter, stood at his side. The
+native chiefs were upon the ground before him. The inflexible Spanish
+commander endeavored to intimidate his determined foes by threats.
+
+"If you do not immediately submit," said he, "I will lay the whole
+city in ashes, and every man, woman, and child shall be put to the
+sword."
+
+They answered defiantly,
+
+"The bridges are broken down, and you can not escape. You have better
+weapons of war than we, but we have greater numbers. If we offer a
+thousand lives for one, we will continue the battle till you are all
+destroyed."
+
+Saying this, they gave a signal, and a storm of arrows and
+javelins pierced the air, and fell into the beleaguered fortress.
+Notwithstanding the bold tone assumed by Cortez, the Spaniards were
+in great dismay. It was manifest to all that their destruction was
+certain unless they could cut their way through the enemy, and escape
+from the city. The extraordinary energies of this iron fanatic still
+remained unshaken. Calmly he reflected upon his position, examined
+his resources, and formed his plans. The Mexicans had barricaded the
+streets, and had broken down the causeways, to prevent, if possible,
+the escape of their foes. But there was no longer any alternative for
+Cortez. Destruction was certain unless he could effect his escape. He
+decided to make the desperate attempt at midnight. He immediately
+constructed moving towers, to be pushed through the streets on wheels,
+at the head of his columns, under the protection of which his soldiers
+could force their way, and make every bullet accomplish its mission. A
+platform on the top could be let down, affording a bridge to the roofs
+of the houses, thus placing the Spaniards on a level with their
+assailants. The sides of the towers were amply strong to repel darts
+and arrows. Thus protected from all harm, the sharpshooters could
+sweep the streets and the house-tops.
+
+At midnight the retreat was commenced in three divisions. Sandoval led
+the van, Alvarado the rear. Cortez took command of the centre, where
+he placed the distinguished prisoners, among whom were a son and
+daughter of Montezuma, and several of the high nobles. He also carried
+with his division the artillery, the baggage, and a portable bridge,
+ingeniously constructed of timber, to be laid over the breaches in the
+causeway. In profound silence the army issued from their quarters, and
+marched firmly along through the smouldering and gory streets.
+
+For a little time they advanced unmolested; but the Mexicans were
+watching their movements, and were silently making dispositions for a
+tremendous onset. Suddenly the shout of an innumerable multitude and
+the clash of arms rose fearfully in the dark night air, and from every
+quarter the natives came rushing on, and stones, javelins, darts, and
+arrows rattled like hail-stones upon helmet and buckler. Every inch of
+the way was now contested. The progress of the Spaniards, though slow,
+was resistless, the cannon and the musketry sweeping down all
+obstacles.
+
+At last they arrived at one of the numerous canals which every where
+intersected the city. The bridge was destroyed, and the deep waters
+flowing from the lake cut off all retreat. The wooden bridge, prepared
+for such an emergence, was thrown across the chasm. The head of the
+Spanish column fought its way over successfully; but, unfortunately,
+the weight of the artillery and of the dense throng wedged the
+timbers so fast into the stones that all their efforts could not
+again remove them. Their peril was growing every moment more imminent,
+as the roused natives were thronging to every point where the retiring
+foe could be assailed. They were thus compelled to leave the bridge
+behind them.
+
+Advancing precipitately, the Spaniards soon arrived at a second
+breach. Here they found themselves hemmed in on all sides, and they
+had no means of bridging the gap; but, planting their cannon so as to
+hold the natives at bay, every available hand was employed in filling
+the chasm with stones and timbers torn from the demolished and
+smouldering dwellings. The labor was difficult and perilous, for they
+were incessantly assailed by the most pelting storm of the missiles of
+destruction.
+
+For two days this terrific conflict raged. Seven breaches in the
+canals they were compelled thus to bridge with stones and timbers torn
+from the adjacent streets; but the Spaniards still slowly advanced,
+triumphing with difficulty over every obstacle which the natives could
+interpose. Though they thus sternly fought their way along, trampling
+beneath them the mutilated bodies of the dying and of the dead, at
+the close of the second day they found their foes more numerous and
+their situation more desperate than ever.
+
+As the gloom of night again descended, a deeper, heavier gloom rested
+upon all in the heart of the Spanish camp. A wailing storm arose of
+wind and rain, and nature mourned and wept as if in sympathy with the
+woes of man. Availing themselves of the darkness and of the uproar of
+the midnight tempest, though weary, faint, and bleeding, they urged
+their steps along the war-scathed streets, for a time strangely
+encountering no opposition. But when they reached the long causeway,
+nearly two miles in length and but thirty feet wide, by which alone
+they could reach the land, a yell of exultation suddenly rose from the
+black and storm-lashed waters of the lake, loud as the heaviest
+thunders. The whole lake, on both sides of the causeway, seemed alive
+with the boats of the natives, and the Spaniards were immediately
+assailed by the swarming multitudes, who, in the fierce and maddened
+strife, set all danger at defiance.
+
+War never exhibited a more demoniac aspect. The natives opposed their
+advance, crowded their rear, and clambered up the sides of the
+causeway, attacking the foe on each flank with indescribable fury.
+Fresh warriors instantly rushed into the place where their comrades
+had fallen, and those in the rear of the tumultuous mass crowded their
+companions in the front ranks resistlessly upon the compact enemy.
+
+There were three chasms in the causeway broken by the Mexicans which
+the Spaniards were compelled to bridge in the darkness and the storm,
+and while assailed by an innumerable and almost an invisible foe.
+Imagination can not compass the horrors of that night. _Noche
+triste_, dismal night, is the name by which it has ever since been
+distinguished. In the awful confusion, military skill and discipline
+were of but little avail. The Spaniards could with difficulty
+distinguish friend from foe, and ere long they were nearly all quite
+swept away by the torrent rushing so resistlessly upon them.
+
+[Illustration: THE BATTLE UPON THE CAUSEWAY.]
+
+Cortez succeeded in keeping about a hundred men around him, and, using
+the bodies of the dead to aid him in bridging two chasms, he at length
+reached the main land. The horrid clamor still rose from the darkness
+of the causeway as his companions, left behind, were struggling in
+desperation with the multitudes who inclosed them. Cortez heroically,
+with every man in his little band still able to fight, marched back
+to their rescue. A few succeeded in breaking through the enemy, and
+joined him. Multitudes were struck down or hurled into the lake; but
+dreadful was the anguish of Cortez as he heard, piercing through the
+clamor, the cries for help of his companions who were seized by the
+natives as captives, and who were being borne away to be offered in
+sacrifice to their gods. The few who escaped, exhausted and bleeding,
+clung together for the remainder of the night near the village of
+Tacuba, where the causeway reached the main land.
+
+When the first gray of the lurid morning dawned, the whole length of
+the causeway was seen covered with the bodies of the slain. The chasms
+were clogged up with fragments of artillery, baggage-wagons, dead
+horses, and the corpses of Spaniards and natives. The features of the
+dead were distorted by all the hateful passions of the strife. A few
+only had escaped. Nearly all the horses, all the cannon, all the
+plundered treasure, and all the baggage-wagons, were either sunk in
+the lake, or were floating in fragments upon its surface. The storm
+had passed away, and the placid waters were blackened with the
+war-canoes of the natives. Not even a musket remained to the
+Spaniards. Bernal Diaz records that in this bloody night eight hundred
+and seventy of the Spaniards perished. More than four thousand of
+their allies were also slain.
+
+As Cortez gazed upon the feeble band of mangled and bleeding soldiers
+which now alone remained to him, even his stern heart was moved, and
+he bowed his head and wept bitterly. We can not regret that some drops
+of retributive woe were wrung from the heart of that guilty conqueror.
+He had overwhelmed a benighted nation with misery. Under the divine
+government, such a crime can not go unpunished, and the penalty must
+descend either in this life or in that which is to come.
+
+But this was no time to indulge in grief. It was necessary immediately
+to find some shelter for the wearied troops. The Mexicans were
+preparing to renew the attack, and the inhabitants of Tacuba were
+assembling in arms. At a little distance, on a rising ground, Cortez
+discovered a large stone temple. He immediately took possession
+of it, and here found not only temporary shelter, but, fortunately,
+provisions for his almost famished troops. Here, for a day, the
+Spaniards beat off the foe who incessantly assailed them.
+
+"And God only knows," says Cortez, "the toil and fatigue with which it
+was accomplished; for of twenty-four horses that remained to us, there
+was not one that could move briskly, nor a horseman able to raise his
+arm, nor a foot-soldier unhurt who could make any effort."
+
+They were now on the western side of the lake. It was necessary to
+pass around the northern shore of this vast expanse of water, as the
+country was there thinly populated, and they would be consequently
+less liable to attack. The road led a distance of nearly a hundred
+miles over mountains and through marshes to the eastern shore. From
+there, a march of more than sixty-four miles was necessary before they
+could reach the territory of Tlascala, which was the first point where
+they could hope for any relief.
+
+Under the guidance of a Tlascalan soldier, the despairing band
+commenced its march. They advanced the first day and night but nine
+miles, fighting incessantly all the way. For six days, with hardly any
+respite, they continued their retreat. Their only food they gathered
+as they hurried along, of berries, roots, and green corn. They were
+continually assailed by the indefatigable foe; but with their few
+remaining horses, their steel swords, and the energies which European
+civilization confers, they beat off their assailants and continued
+their flight. As the horses were needed to beat off the swarming foe,
+the sick and wounded were compelled to hobble along, as they could, on
+crutches. "Next to God," says Cortez, "our greatest security was in
+our horses." One horse was killed. The Spaniards eagerly devoured his
+flesh, "not leaving," says Cortez, "even his skin, or any other part
+of him, so great were our necessities."
+
+Cortez, who promptly recovered from his momentary weakness, manifested
+the utmost sereneness and imperturbability of spirit, shared every
+hardship of the soldiers, and maintained their confidence in him by
+surpassing all in the gallantry and the magnanimity of his courage.
+
+Exhausted and wounded as they were, it required the toilsome journey
+of a week to reach the mountain summits which encircle the great
+valley of Mexico. As they approached the defiles of these mountains,
+parties of the enemy were seen here and there in increasing numbers.
+The natives shouted to them from a distance insults, defiance, and
+threats. Marina, who fortunately escaped the massacre of the _dismal
+night_, remarked that they often, in exultant tones, exclaimed,
+
+"Hurry along, robbers, hurry along; you will soon meet with the
+vengeance due to your crimes."
+
+The significance of this threat was soon made manifest. As the
+Spaniards were emerging from a narrow pass among the cliffs of the
+mountains, they came suddenly upon an extended plain. Here, to their
+amazement, they found an enormous army of the natives filling the
+whole expanse, and apparently cutting off all possibility of farther
+retreat. The sight was sufficient to appal the most dauntless heart.
+The whole plain, as far as the eye could extend, seemed as a living
+ocean of armed men, with its crested billows of banners, and gleaming
+spears, and helmets, and plumes. Even the heart of Cortez for a moment
+sank within him as his practiced eye told him that there were two
+hundred thousand warriors there in battle array, through whose serried
+ranks he must cut his bloody path or perish. To all the Spaniards it
+seemed certain that their last hour had now tolled; but each man
+resolved to sell his life as dearly as possible.
+
+Cortez immediately assembled his band around him, and invigorated
+them with a forcible harangue. He assured them that there was no
+possible hope but in the energies of despair; but that, with those
+energies, they might confidently expect God's blessing, for they were
+his servants, his missionaries, endeavoring to overthrow the idols of
+the heathen, and to introduce the religion of the cross. In solid
+column, with their long spears bristling in all directions, and clad
+in coats of mail which protected a great part of their bodies from
+both arrow and spear, they plunged desperately into the dense masses
+of the enemy. Wherever this solid body of iron men directed its
+course, the tumultuous throng of the foe was pierced and dashed aside,
+as the stormy billows of the ocean yield to the careering steamer. The
+marvelous incidents of this fight would occupy pages. The onset of the
+Spaniards was so fierce that the natives could present no effectual
+resistance; but as the Indians were compelled to retire from the front
+of the assailing column, they closed up with shouts of vengeance and
+with redoubled fury upon the flanks and the rear. Cortez had heard
+that the superstition of the Mexicans was such that the fate of a
+battle depended upon the imperial banner, which was most carefully
+guarded in the centre of the army. If that were taken, the natives
+deemed themselves forsaken by their gods, and in dismay would break
+and fly. In the distance, for there was no smoke of artillery to
+darken this field of battle, he saw this standard proudly waving in
+the breeze. With impetuosity which crushed down all opposition, he
+pushed toward it. The standard-bearers were stricken down and pinned
+to the earth with lances. Cortez, with his own hand, seized the sacred
+banner, and as he waved it aloft his soldiers raised a simultaneous
+shout of triumph.
+
+The natives, with cries of rage, grief, and despair, in the wildest
+tumult, broke and fled to the mountains. Their gods had abandoned
+them. The victory of the Spaniards was complete. They record, though
+doubtless with exaggeration, for they had no leisure to stop and count
+the slain, that twenty thousand of their enemies were left dead upon
+that bloody field. With new alacrity the victors now pressed on, and
+the next day entered the territory of the Tlascalans.
+
+Here they were received with the greatest kindness. The enmity of the
+Tlascalans against the Mexicans was so inveterate, and their desire
+to avenge the death of their countrymen so intense, that they still
+clung tenaciously to the Spanish alliance, with the hope that new
+resources might arrive which would enable the Spaniards to retrieve
+their fallen fortunes.
+
+In the hospitable city of Tlascala Cortez allowed his shattered
+battalions that repose which was now so indispensable. Nearly all his
+men were suffering severely from sickness, fatigue, and wounds. But
+here the Spanish chieftain learned of new disasters which had befallen
+him. A detachment of Spanish soldiers, who were marching from
+Zempoalla to the capital as a re-enforcement, had been cut off by the
+natives and entirely destroyed. A small party, who had been sent to
+convey some treasures from Tlascala to Vera Cruz, had also been
+surprised and destroyed among the mountains. When the life of every
+Spaniard was of so much importance, these were, indeed, terrible
+additional calamities.
+
+The companions of Cortez were now thoroughly disheartened, and were
+anxious to return to Vera Cruz, send a vessel to Cuba for some
+transports, and abandon the enterprise; but the indomitable warrior,
+though lying upon the bed in a raging fever, and while a surgeon was
+cutting off two of his mutilated and inflamed fingers, and raising a
+portion of the bone of his skull, which had been splintered by the
+club of a native, was forming his plans to return to Mexico and
+reconquer what he had lost. The resources at his command still
+appeared to him sufficient to form a nucleus around which to assemble
+a new army. The garrison at Vera Cruz, with its artillery and military
+stores, still remained unimpaired; the Tlascalans and Zempoallans
+continued firm in their alliance; and he still could assemble,
+notwithstanding his losses, as large a force as accompanied him in his
+first march into Mexico. He therefore resolved to make vigorous and
+prompt preparations to prosecute his enterprise anew. He wrote to his
+sovereign an account of the disasters he had encountered, saying, "I
+can not believe that the good and merciful God will thus suffer his
+cause to perish among the heathen."
+
+With great energy and sagacity he aroused himself for this new effort.
+He made special exertions to secure the cordial co-operation of the
+Tlascalan chiefs, by distributing among them the rich spoil taken in
+his last battle. He dispatched four ships, selected from the fleet
+captured from Narvaez, to Hispaniola and Jamaica, to collect recruits
+and supplies. That he might secure the command of the lake, he
+prepared, with the ready aid of the Tlascalans, materials for building
+twelve vessels, to be conveyed in pieces by the _men of burden_ to the
+lake, there to be put together and launched upon the waters.
+
+The companions of Cortez had, however, by far too vivid a recollection
+of the horrors of the _dismal night_ to participate in the zeal of
+their commander. Murmurs against the enterprise grew louder and
+louder, until the camp was almost in a state of mutiny. They
+assembled, and appointed a delegation to wait upon their commander,
+and remonstrate against another attempt, with his broken battalions,
+to subjugate so powerful an empire. Respectfully, but firmly, they
+demanded to be taken back to Cuba. All the arguments and entreaties of
+Cortez were of no avail to change their minds or to allay their
+anxieties.
+
+We have before mentioned that a detachment of soldiers from Vera Cruz
+had been cut off by the natives. The assailing force was from one of
+the Mexican provinces in the vicinity of Tlascala, called Tepeaca. The
+soldiers, without much unwillingness, consented to march to their
+region, and chastise them for the deed. The enterprise would be
+attended with but little danger, and promised a large amount of booty.
+It was now the month of August. Cortez headed the expedition, and in
+the foray of a few weeks, after an enormous slaughter of the
+Tepeacans, reduced the province to subjection, and returned to
+Tlascala laden with plunder. Another foray was soon undertaken, and
+then another. Thus, for five months, while he was collecting recruits
+and accumulating supplies, he adroitly kept his men employed in
+various military expeditions till they again became accustomed to
+victory, and were ready to enter upon a wider field of glory, which
+should open before them more brilliant prospects for wealth. Fortune,
+it is said, helps those who help themselves. This inflexibility of
+purpose and untiring energy on the part of Cortez, was accompanied by
+what is usually termed the gifts of peculiarly good fortune.
+
+The Governor of Cuba, unaware of the disaster which had befallen
+Narvaez, sent two ships after him with a supply of men and military
+stores. These vessels were decoyed into the harbor of Vera Cruz, the
+stores seized, and the men were easily induced to enter into the
+service of Cortez.
+
+The Governor of Jamaica fitted out an expedition of three ships to
+prosecute an expedition of discovery and conquest. They were very
+unfortunate, and, after many disasters, these ships, their crews being
+almost in a famishing state, cast anchor at Vera Cruz. They listened
+eagerly to the brilliant prospects which Cortez held out to them, and
+enlisted under his banner. At the same time, it also happened that a
+ship arrived from Spain, fitted out by some private merchants with
+military stores, and other articles for traffic among the natives.
+Cortez immediately purchased the cargo, and induced the crew to follow
+the example of the others, and join his army. At last, the agents he
+sent to Hispaniola and Jamaica returned, with two hundred soldiers,
+eighty horses, two battering-cannon, and a considerable supply of
+ammunition and muskets. Cortez had in these various ways now collected
+about him eight hundred and eighteen foot-soldiers, eighty-six
+horsemen, three battering-cannon, and fifteen field-pieces.
+
+He established his head-quarters at Tepeaca, on a small river which
+ran into the lake. The iron, the planks, the timber, the masts, the
+cordage, and the materials necessary to construct and equip a fleet
+of thirteen brigantines, were to be carried a distance of sixty miles,
+over rough roads, on the shoulders of men. Eight thousand _men of
+burden_ were furnished by the Tlascalans for this work. Tepeaca was
+two miles from the shore of the lake, and the rivulet upon which it
+was situated was shallow. A large number of natives were employed for
+two months in deepening the channel, that the vessels might be floated
+down. Though the Mexicans made many attacks while the brigantines were
+being built, they were invariably repulsed. At length the fleet was
+finished, and the whole army was drawn up to witness, with all the
+accompaniments of religious and military pomp, the launching of the
+ships. Each vessel received a baptismal name and a blessing from
+Father Olmedo. They glided smoothly down the river, and were wafted
+out upon the lake, a fleet amply strong to set all the power of the
+Mexicans at defiance. A general shout of joy burst from the lips of
+the Spaniards and Tlascalans as they observed the triumphant success
+of this measure. All despondency now disappeared, and, sanguine of
+success, the whole army was eager again to march to the assault of the
+capital.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE CAPITAL BESIEGED AND CAPTURED.
+
+Preparations for defense.--Cuitlahua.--Pestilence.--Guatemozin.--The
+brigantines.--The fleet is attacked.--The Spanish victorious.--Dismay
+of the Mexicans.--Cortez's skill.--The siege continued.--Obstinate
+resistance.--Sortie by the Mexicans.--Preparations for sacrifice.
+--Torturing the captives.--The sacrifice.--The Mexicans are elated
+by their victory.--Shrewdness of Cortez.--His allies.--Progress of
+the siege.--The allies in the city.--Sufferings of the Mexicans.--The
+public square.--Affairs in the Mexican camp.--A desperate resolve.
+--Pursuit.--The monarch captured.--His dignity.--Guatemozin's
+fortitude.--Pretended magnanimity of Cortez.--The Mexicans surrender.
+--Loss of the Spanish.--Appearance of the captured city.--Piety of
+Cortez.--Searching for the treasures.--The native allies.--Their
+carousals.--Spanish revelries and religious celebrations.--An
+entertainment.--The plant of Noah.--Father Olmedo.--Religious
+ceremonies.--Discontent.--Clamors of the army.--Cortez yields.--
+Guatemozin's tortures.--Cortez rescues him.--The divers.--Nature
+of the Mexican empire.--The various Mexican governments yield to
+Cortez.--Perplexity of Cortez.--His treason.--Velasquez.--Cortez's
+labors.--His dispatches.--An extract.--Cortez's address to the
+nobles.--Ciquacoacin's reply.--He departs.--Loss of the Mexicans.
+--Fifty thousand killed.--Cannonading the city.--The musketry.--
+Capture of Guatemozin.--His behavior.--Anniversary of the capture
+of Mexico.
+
+
+While Cortez was thus vigorously preparing to renew the assault
+upon the city of Mexico, the Mexicans were no less busy in their
+preparations for defense. Upon the death of Montezuma, the crown
+passed to his more warlike brother Cuitlahua. By his energies the
+Spaniards had been driven from the metropolis, and he immediately,
+with great vigor, fortified the city anew, and recruited and drilled
+his armies, now familiar with the weapons of European warfare. He sent
+an embassy to the Tlascalans, urging alliance against a common foe,
+and endeavoring to incite them to rise and crush the Spaniards,
+who, without their alliance, would have been entirely helpless. The
+sagacity of Cortez, however, baffled these efforts, and he succeeded
+in binding the Tlascalans to him by still stronger ties.
+
+Among other woes, the Spaniards had introduced the small-pox into
+Mexico. The terrible curse now swept like a blast of destruction
+through the land. The natives perished by thousands. Many cities and
+villages were almost depopulated. The fearful pestilence reached the
+Mexican capital, and the emperor, Cuitlahua, soon fell a victim to its
+ravages.
+
+Guatemozin, the son-in-law of Montezuma, was then, by the unanimous
+acclaim of his countrymen, placed upon the throne. He was a young man
+of high reputation for ability and force of character, and proved
+himself the worthy leader of his nation in this dreadful crisis of
+its fate. Guatemozin assembled all his forces in the capital, as the
+strongest point upon which they could stand upon their defense.
+
+Cortez decided to make the assault by three divisions of the army,
+each marching over one of the causeways. Sandoval was to command
+on the north, Alvarado on the west, and Olid on the south. Cortez
+reserved to himself the command of the brigantines, which were to
+sweep the lakes, and drive the war-canoes of the natives from the
+causeways. Each brigantine was manned with twenty-five Spaniards,
+and armed with a cannon, whose shot would make fearful havoc among
+the frail and crowded canoes of the Mexicans.
+
+Guatemozin immediately foresaw how much he had to dread from this
+fleet, and decided that, at every hazard, he must attempt its
+destruction. He accordingly assembled an enormous mass of canoes,
+hoping by numbers to overpower the enemy. The day was calm; not a
+ripple disturbed the glassy surface of the water, when a fleet of
+canoes, in numbers which could not be counted, pushed out boldly
+into the lake to assail the brigantines lying at anchor.
+
+But just then, to the great joy of the Spaniards and to the dismay of
+the Mexicans, a fresh and favorable breeze arose, which would drive
+the brigantines resistlessly through the swarm of fragile boats which
+were approaching them. The sails were instantly spread, the cannon
+were loaded almost to the muzzle, and the work of death began. The
+heavy vessels crushed the canoes, overturned them, drove them one upon
+another in indescribable confusion, while the merciless shot pierced
+bones, and nerves, and sinews, and the surface of the lake was covered
+with the mutilated bodies of the dying and of the dead. The water was
+red with blood, and in a short time the fleet was destroyed; but few
+of the boats escaped. The Mexicans, from their house-tops, gazed with
+dismay upon this awful scene of carnage, and were oppressed with
+fearful forebodings that no degree of courage and no superiority of
+numbers could avail them against the terrible engines of destruction
+which European skill had framed.
+
+Cortez was now completely master of the lake. He formed his
+brigantines into three divisions, to cover the assailants on the three
+causeways and to protect them from any attack by canoes. He thus also
+preserved communication, prompt and effective, between the different
+divisions of his army. The military skill displayed by Cortez in all
+these arrangements is of the highest kind. The conquest of Mexico was
+not achieved by accident, but by sagacity, persevering energy, and
+patient toil almost unparalleled.
+
+The siege was now prosecuted with the most determined vigor. The
+approaches were made along the three causeways. The natives had broken
+down the bridges and reared a succession of formidable barricades, and
+as they were driven from one by the irresistible force of artillery,
+they retired, with firmness worthy of admiration, to the next, there
+to maintain their post to the last possible moment. The brigantines
+approached the sides of the causeways and opened a destructive fire
+upon the valiant defenders, where the Spaniards were exposed to no
+danger in return. Thus for nearly three months, by day and by night,
+on the land and on the water, the bloody strife was continued.
+
+Cortez was astonished at the obstinacy and efficiency of the
+resistance effected by the besieged. Gradually, however, the besiegers
+advanced, carefully filling up behind them the gaps in the causeway,
+that they might easily, if necessary, effect a retreat. They were
+taught the necessity of this precaution by a terrible repulse which
+they at one time encountered. Guatemozin, with a quick military eye,
+perceiving that the causeway occupied by one of the divisions of the
+Spaniards was impassable behind the Spaniards from trenches unfilled,
+and broken bridges, and the ruins of barricades, ordered the Mexican
+troops to retire, to lure the Spaniards forward. He then collected an
+enormous force, dispatching some in canoes along shallows which the
+brigantines could not approach, and then, at a signal from the great
+alarm drum on the summit of the temple, whose doleful tones could be
+heard for miles, the whole mass, with frantic rage, stimulated by
+hope, rushed upon the foe. The sudden assault, so impetuous, and
+sustained by such vast numbers, was quite successful. The Spaniards
+were driven back in confusion, horsemen and infantry crowding upon
+each other, till multitudes were forced, pell-mell, horses, and
+cannon, and men, into the chasms. Here the natives, in their light
+canoes, fell furiously upon them. More than twenty Spaniards were
+killed outright, and forty, mangled and bleeding, fell alive into the
+hands of the victors. There was no possible escape for the captives
+from their doom. They were to be sacrificed to the gods.
+
+This was an awful reverse, and the Spaniards were horror-stricken in
+contemplating the fate of their captured comrades. The capital was
+that night illuminated with great brilliance, and the splendor of the
+great pyramidal temple, blazing with innumerable torches, gleamed far
+and wide over the lake. It was an awful spectacle to the Spaniards,
+for they well knew the scenes which were transpiring on that lofty
+altar of idolatry. The preparations for the sacrifice could be
+distinctly seen, and the movements of the sacrificial priests. The
+white bodies of the victims could also be clearly discerned as they
+were stripped naked for the torture and the knife; and when the awful
+torture was applied, the shrieks of the wretched sufferers pierced the
+still night air, and penetrated the camp of the Spaniards. They
+listened appalled to those cries of agony, imagining that they could
+distinguish each victim by the sound of his voice.
+
+This awful scene is thus described by Diaz:
+
+    "On a sudden, our ears were struck by the horrific sound of
+    the great drum, the timbrels, horns, and trumpets on the
+    temple. We all directed our eyes thither, and, shocking to
+    relate, saw our unfortunate countrymen driven by blows to the
+    place where they were to be sacrificed, which bloody ceremony
+    was accompanied by the dismal sound of all the instruments
+    of the temple. We perceived that when they had brought the
+    wretched victims to the flat summit of the body of the
+    temple, they put plumes upon their heads, and made them dance
+    before their accursed idols. When they had done this, they
+    laid them upon their backs on the stone used for the purpose,
+    where they cut out their hearts alive, and having presented
+    them, yet palpitating, to their gods, they drew the bodies
+    down the steps by the feet, where they were taken by others
+    of their priests. Let the reader think what were our
+    sensations on this occasion. O heavenly God! said we to
+    ourselves, do not suffer us to be sacrificed by these
+    wretches. Do not suffer us to die so cruel a death. And then,
+    how shocking a reflection, that we were unable to relieve our
+    poor friends, who were thus murdered before our eyes."
+
+This victory elated the Mexicans exceedingly. They cut off the heads
+of the sacrificed Spaniards, and sent them to the adjacent provinces,
+to prove that their gods, now appeased by this signal offering of
+blood, had abandoned the enemy. The priests sent the assurance far
+and wide that victory was now certain, as the oracles had returned
+the response that in eight days the detested enemy should be
+entirely destroyed. This prediction exerted a great influence upon
+a superstitious people. Many of the natives who had joined Cortez
+deserted his cause, and even the Tlascalans began to waver. The
+prudence and shrewdness of Cortez again met the danger and averted it.
+For eight days he made no advance, but merely stood on the defensive.
+The predicted time having expired, he said, "You see that the gods
+have deceived the Mexicans. They have espoused our cause."
+
+The fickle people immediately returned to their stations, and others
+joined them, so that Cortez, according to his own account, now found
+himself at the head of one hundred and fifty thousand Indians. Gomara
+and Herrera assert that there were not less than two hundred thousand.
+The number of defenders in the Mexican capital can not with accuracy
+be ascertained. It is estimated, however, from various considerations,
+that there must have been at least two hundred thousand.
+
+The Spaniards, in this sanguinary and protracted siege, often suffered
+severely for want of food. With apparent reluctance, the historians
+of the expedition record that their Indian auxiliaries found quite an
+abundant supply for themselves in the bodies of their enemies. Some of
+them were rather ashamed to acknowledge that their auxiliaries were
+inveterate cannibals. Cortez, however, alludes to their horrible
+repasts quite in a tone of indifference.
+
+With greater caution the Spaniards now advanced, fortifying every
+point they gained, and preparing a smooth and unobstructed road in
+their rear. Their progress was exceedingly slow, and it was necessary
+to adopt every possible precaution against an enemy who had manifested
+such unexpected audacity and skill. As the Spaniards pushed forward,
+the Mexicans, contesting every inch of the way, sullenly retired,
+rearing barricade after barricade, and digging ditch behind ditch. But
+artillery and European science were sure, in the end, to triumph.
+Gradually the three divisions of the army forced their way across the
+causeways, and entered the streets of the city. But here the defense
+was, if possible, still more determined and sanguinary. Every street
+was a guarded defile, where every obstacle was interposed which
+Mexican military skill could devise. Every house was a fortress, from
+whose battlemented roof and loop-holed windows a shower of stones,
+arrows, and javelins fell upon the besiegers. As the Spaniards gained
+ground, step by step, they leveled every house, and left entire ruin
+and desolation behind them.
+
+Day after day and week after week of this unparalleled siege lingered
+along, every hour of which almost was a battle. The Mexicans fell in
+incredible numbers. The horrors of pestilence and famine in the
+pent-up city were soon added to the awful carnage and misery of war.
+
+The brigantines swept the lake, cutting off nearly all supplies by
+water for the valiant yet starving defenders, while the armies on the
+causeways completely invested the city by land. Wan and haggard,
+these unhappy victims of European aggression, even when all hope of
+successful resistance had expired, heroically resolved to perish to
+the last man, and to bury themselves beneath the ruins of their city.
+
+Even the heart of Cortez was touched with the almost unearthly misery
+he was inflicting upon an unoffending people. Again and again he sent
+to Guatemozin demanding capitulation; but the proud Mexican monarch
+rejected every overture with indignation and scorn. At length the
+three divisions of the army, from their three different points of
+attack, penetrated the city so far as to meet at the great public
+square. The whole western portion of the city was now in the power of
+the besiegers. The starving and dying defenders were shut up in a
+small section of less than one fourth of the capital.
+
+The Spaniards, now sure of success, pressed the siege with new ardor.
+Their forces had met, and were combined in the great square. The
+avenues connecting with the country were all open before them, so that
+they could freely go and come. The lake was swept by the brigantines,
+and, though a swift canoe could occasionally shoot along the shore,
+the natives could not venture, in the face of such a force, to cross
+the wide expanse of water. Affairs in the Mexican camp were now in the
+very darkest state of misery and gloom.
+
+The Mexicans regarded their monarch with superstitious veneration.
+Upon his life all their destinies were suspended. His voice was
+omnipotent with the people. After long deliberation, the desperate
+resolve was adopted to send Guatemozin in a canoe across the broad
+waters of the lake, which like an ocean swept around the city, to the
+eastern shore. But Cortez, ever on the alert, anticipated this
+movement, and ordered the brigantines to maintain the most vigilant
+watch. The Mexicans, to deceive Cortez, sent an embassy to him to
+confer upon terms of capitulation. They hoped thus to engage his
+attention so that Guatemozin could escape unperceived, and, having
+roused all the distant provinces, who would spring to arms at his
+voice, could make an assault upon the rear of the foe.
+
+Sandoval was now placed in command of the brigantines. He observed one
+morning several canoes, crowded with people and plied by strong
+rowers, shoot from the city, and direct their course across the lake
+toward the eastern shore. The signal was instantly given for pursuit.
+Unfortunately for the Mexicans, a favorable breeze sprang up, and one
+of the brigantines soon drew near the largest boat. The cannon was
+loaded, and heavily shotted and aimed. The gunner stood ready with
+his lighted torch. In another moment the fatal discharge would have
+strewed the lake with the fragments of the boat and the mangled bodies
+of the slain. The Mexicans, regardless of their own lives, but
+intensely anxious for the safety of their sovereign, dropped their
+oars, and holding up their hands beseechingly, with cries and tears,
+besought the Spaniards not to fire, exclaiming that the emperor was
+there.
+
+[Illustration: THE CAPTURE OF GUATEMOZIN.]
+
+Eagerly the precious prize was seized. The heroic Guatemozin with
+dignity surrendered himself into the hands of his victors, asking
+no favor for himself, but simply requesting that no insult might be
+offered to the empress or his children, who were in the boat with him.
+With much exultation, the captive monarch, who was but twenty-four
+years of age, was conveyed to the shore, and conducted into the
+presence of Cortez. Guatemozin retained his fortitude unshaken.
+Looking firmly upon his conqueror, he said, loftily,
+
+"I have done what became a monarch. I have defended my people to the
+last extremity. Nothing now remains for me but to die. Take this
+dagger," he continued, placing his hand upon the one which Cortez wore
+at his side, "and plunge it into my bosom, and thus end a life which
+is henceforth useless."
+
+Cortez well knew how to act the part of magnanimity. He was by
+instinct a man of princely manners. Castilian grace and dignity ever
+shone pre-eminent in his movements. He endeavored to console his
+vanquished foe, whose bold defense commanded his respect.
+
+"You are not my captive," said he, "but the prisoner of the greatest
+monarch of Europe. From his great clemency, you may hope not only that
+you may be restored to liberty, but that you may again be placed upon
+the throne which you have so valiantly defended."
+
+Guatemozin had no confidence in the word of Cortez. He knew well the
+perfidy and the treachery which had marked every step of the invader's
+march thus far. Proudly disdaining to manifest any concern for his own
+fate, he plead only that Cortez would be merciful to his suffering
+people. The conqueror promised compassion if Guatemozin would command
+their instant surrender. This was promptly done, and the command was
+instantly obeyed. The Mexicans lost all heart as soon as they learned
+that their monarch was a prisoner. Cortez immediately took possession
+of the small portion of the city which still remained undestroyed.
+
+Thus terminated this memorable siege, one of the most remarkable which
+has been recorded in the horrid annals of war. It had continued for
+seventy-five days of almost incessant conflict. Almost every hour the
+fiercest battle raged, as step by step the assailants, with the utmost
+effort and difficulty, crowded back the valiant defenders. No less
+than one hundred and fifty thousand Mexicans perished in this awful
+and atrocious siege. The Spaniards, who wished to make their loss
+appear as small as possible, admit that one hundred of the Spanish
+soldiers fell, and many thousands of their allies.
+
+Nearly the whole capital was now but a mass of blackened and
+smouldering ruins. Its numerous squares, streets, and courts, but
+recently so beautiful in their neat order, and their embellishments
+of shrubbery and flowers, were now clotted with blood and covered
+with the mangled bodies of the slain. The sight was hideous even to
+those accustomed to all the revolting scenes which demoniac war ever
+brings in its train.
+
+The ground was covered with the dead. Among the putrefying heaps some
+wretches were seen, wounded, bleeding, and crawling about in advanced
+stages of those loathsome diseases produced by famine and misery.
+
+The air was so polluted with the masses of the dead, decaying beneath
+the rays of a tropical sun, that Cortez was compelled to withdraw his
+army from the city that the dead might be removed and the streets
+purified. For three days and three nights the causeways were thronged
+by endless processions of the natives bearing the mouldering corpses
+from the city. But the Spaniards were insensible to the woes which
+they had inflicted upon others in their exultation over their great
+victory. They had conquered the enemy. The capital was in their hands,
+and they had now but to collect the boundless treasures which they
+supposed were accumulated in the halls of Montezuma. It was on
+Tuesday, the 13th of August, 1521, that the conflict ceased. The
+mighty empire of Mexico on that day perished, and there remained in
+its stead but a colony of Spain.
+
+On the very day of the capture Cortez searched every spot where
+treasure could be found, and having collected every thing of value,
+returned to his camp, "giving thanks," he says, "to our Lord for so
+signal a reward and so desirable a victory as he has granted us." He
+continued for three or four days searching eagerly for spoils, amid
+all the scenes of horror presented by the devastated city. All the
+gold and silver which were found were melted down, and one fifth was
+set apart for the King of Spain, while the rest was divided among the
+Spaniards according to their rank and services.
+
+"Among the spoils obtained in the city," says Cortez, in his dispatch
+to Charles V., "were many shields of gold, plumes, panaches, and other
+articles of so wonderful a character, that language will not convey an
+idea of them, nor could a correct conception be formed of their rare
+excellence without seeing them."
+
+Still the booty which was gained fell far short of the expectation
+of the victors. The heroic Guatemozin, when the hope of successful
+defense had expired, determined that the conquerors should not
+be enriched by the treasures of the empire. A vast amount was
+consequently sent out in boats, and sunk to the bottom of the lake.
+For a short time, however, exultation in view of their great
+victory caused both the commander and his soldiers to forget their
+disappointment; love of glory for a moment triumphed over avarice.
+
+The native allies had been but tools in the hand of Cortez to
+subjugate the Mexicans. The deluded natives had thus also subjugated
+themselves. They were now powerless, and the bond-servants of the
+Spaniards. Cortez allowed them to sack the few remaining dwellings
+of the smouldering capital, and to load themselves with such articles
+as might seem valuable to semi-barbarian eyes, but which would have
+no cash value in Spain. With this share of the plunder they were
+satisfied, and their camp resounded with revelry as those fierce
+warriors, with songs and dances, exulted over the downfall of their
+ancient foes. Cortez thanked them for their assistance, praised them
+for their valor, and told them that they might now go home. They went
+home, soon to find that it was to them home no more. The stranger
+possessed their country, and they and their children were his slaves.
+
+In the Spanish camp the victory was honored by a double celebration.
+The first was purely worldly, and religion was held entirely in
+abeyance. Bonfires blazed. Deep into the night the drunken revelry
+resounded over the lake, until Father Olmedo remonstrated against such
+godless wassail.
+
+The next day was appropriated to the religious celebration. The whole
+army was formed into a procession. The image of the peaceful Virgin
+was decorated with tattered, blackened, and bloodstained banners,
+beneath which the Christians had so successfully struggled against the
+heathen. With hymns and chants, and in the repetition of creeds and
+prayers, this piratic band of fanatics, crimson with the blood of
+the innocent, moved to an appointed sanctuary, where Father Olmedo
+preached an impressive sermon, and solemnized the ordinance of the
+mass. The sacrament was administered to Cortez and his captains, and,
+with the imposing accompaniments of martial music and pealing
+artillery, thanksgivings were offered to God.
+
+Bernal Diaz gives the following quaint and graphic account of these
+festivities:
+
+    "After having returned thanks to God, Cortez determined to
+    celebrate his success by a festival in Cuyoacan. A vessel had
+    arrived at Villa Rica with a cargo of wine, and hogs had been
+    provided from the island of Cuba. To this entertainment he
+    invited all the officers of his army, and also the soldiers
+    of estimation. All things being prepared, on the day
+    appointed we waited on our general.
+
+     "When we came to sit down to dinner, there were not tables
+     for one half of us. This brought on great confusion among
+     the company, and, indeed, for many reasons, it would have
+     been much better let alone. The _plant of Noah_ was the
+     cause of many fooleries and worse things. It made some leap
+     over the tables who afterward could not go out at the doors,
+     and many rolled down the steps. The private soldiers swore
+     they would buy horses with golden harness. The cross-bowmen
+     would use none but golden arrows. All were to have their
+     fortunes made.
+
+     "When the tables were taken away, the soldiers danced in
+     their armor with the ladies, as many of them as there were,
+     but the disproportion in numbers was very great. This scene
+     was truly ridiculous. I will not mention the names; suffice
+     it to say, a fair field was open for satire. Father Olmedo
+     thought what he observed at the feast and in the dances too
+     scandalous, and complained to Sandoval. The latter directly
+     told Cortez how the reverend father was scolding and
+     grumbling.
+
+     "Cortez, discreet in all his actions, immediately went to
+     Father Olmedo, and, affecting to disapprove of the whole
+     affair, requested that he would order a solemn mass and
+     thanksgiving, and preach a sermon to the soldiers of the
+     moral and religious duties. Father Olmedo was highly pleased
+     at this, thinking it had originated spontaneously from
+     Cortez, and not knowing that the hint had been given him
+     by Sandoval. Accordingly, the crucifixes and the image of
+     Our Lady were borne in solemn procession, with drums and
+     standards. The Litany was sung during the ceremony. Father
+     Olmedo preached and administered the sacrament, and we
+     returned thanks to God for our victory."
+
+But now came the hour for discontent and murmuring. The excitement was
+over, the din of arms was hushed, the beautiful city was entirely
+destroyed, and two hundred thousand of the wretched inhabitants, whose
+only crime against the Spaniards was that they defended their wives,
+their children, and their homes, were festering in the grave. In
+counting up their gains, these guilty men found that the whole sum
+amounted to but about one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Their
+grievous disappointment vented itself in loud complainings, and was
+soon turned into rage. They accused Guatemozin of having secreted the
+treasure which had been hoarded up, and demanded that he should be put
+to the torture to compel him to disclose the place of concealment.
+Cortez, for a time, firmly refused to yield to this atrocious demand;
+but the clamor of the disaffected grew louder and louder, until at
+last Cortez was accused of being in agreement with Guatemozin, that he
+might appropriate to his own use the secreted treasure.
+
+Thus goaded, Cortez infamously consented that the unhappy captive
+monarch should be put to the torture. The cacique of Tacuba, the
+companion of Guatemozin, and his highest officer, was put to the
+torture with him. A hot fire was kindled, and the feet of the wretched
+victims, drenched in oil, were exposed to the burning coals.
+Guatemozin had nothing to reveal. He could merely assert that the
+treasures of the city were thrown into the lake. With extraordinary
+fortitude he endured the agony, adding additional lustre to a name
+already ennobled by the heroism with which he conducted the defense.
+His companion died upon this bed of agony. In the extremity of his
+torment, he turned an imploring eye toward the king. Guatemozin, it is
+recorded, observing his look, replied, "Am I, then, reposing upon a
+bed of flowers?" Cortez, who had reluctantly yielded to this atrocity,
+at last interposed, and rescued the imperial sufferer. Cortez has much
+to answer for before the bar of this world's judgment. For many of
+his criminal acts some apology may be framed, but for the torture of
+Guatemozin he stands condemned without excuse. No voice will plead his
+cause. Cortez seemed to be fully aware that it was not a creditable
+story for him to tell, and in his dispatches to the King of Spain he
+made no allusion to the event.
+
+It was a grievous disappointment to Cortez that so little treasure was
+obtained, for his ambition was roused to send immense sums to the
+Spanish court, that he might purchase high favor with his monarch by
+thus proving the wealth and grandeur of the kingdom he had subjugated.
+Cortez himself accompanied a party of practiced divers upon the lake,
+and long and anxiously conducted the search; but the divers invariably
+returned from the oozy bottom of the lake empty-handed: no treasure
+could be found.
+
+It has before been mentioned that the empire of Mexico consisted of a
+conglomeration of once independent nations, which had been in various
+ways annexed to the mammoth empire. It was somewhat like Austria,
+having many Hungarys and Polands ripe for revolt. Cortez had adroitly
+availed himself of these disaffections in accomplishing his wonderful
+conquest. The Zempoallans and Tlascalans augmented his ranks with
+fierce warriors nearly two hundred thousand in number. There were many
+provinces of the empire on the north and the west which as yet no
+European foot had ever entered. It was a question whether these remote
+provinces would band together in hostility to the Spaniards, and thus
+indefinitely protract the conflict, or whether, seeing the capital in
+ruins and their monarch a captive, they would admit the hopelessness
+of the strife, and yield to their conquerors.
+
+Far and wide, through the valleys and over the mountains, the tidings
+of the annihilation of the Mexican army was borne by the Indian
+runners, awakening consternation every where in view of the resistless
+power of the victors. Some, however, who were restive under the
+Mexican yoke, were not unwilling to exchange masters. To the
+great relief and joy of Cortez, day after day, envoys flocked
+to his presence from powerful nations to proffer allegiance and
+implore clemency. Cortez received them all with great courtesy
+and hospitality, and took not a little pleasure in witnessing the
+amazement with which these embassadors contemplated the power, to
+them supernatural, which the Spaniards wielded. The brigantines
+spread their sails and plowed their way, with speed which no canoe
+could equal, over the foamy waters of the lake. The cavalry wheeled
+and charged in all those prompt and orderly evolutions to which
+the war-horse can be trained. And when the heavy artillery uttered
+its roar, and shivered the distant rock with its thunder-bolt, the
+envoys, amazed, bewildered, and appalled, were prepared to make any
+concessions rather than incur the displeasure of such fearful foes.
+
+The power of Cortez was now unquestioned, and Mexico was in the dust
+before him. Still, the conqueror was in great perplexity respecting
+the light in which his conduct was viewed in the court of his stern
+monarch, Charles V. While engaged in the slaughter of two or three
+hundred thousand people, while overrunning nations and establishing
+new governments, he was acting not only without authority from his
+government, but in direct opposition to its commands. Velasquez, the
+governor of Cuba, was invested with authority by the voice of the
+emperor, and yet Cortez had set his power at defiance. By the
+command of the emperor, expeditions had been fitted out to prosecute
+discoveries and to acquire dominion in Mexico, and yet Cortez had
+audaciously made war upon these bands marching under the banner of
+Spain. He had slain many, taken the rest prisoners, and constrained
+them, by bribes and menaces, to join his marauding army. Cortez well
+knew that this was treason, and that he was liable to answer for it
+with his life. He well knew that Velasquez, mortified and exasperated,
+had made bitter complaints against him at court, and that there was
+no one there effectually to plead his cause.
+
+Under these circumstances, Cortez awaited with much solicitude the
+next arrival from Spain. In the mean time, he made every possible
+effort to transmit gold and silver to the Spanish monarch, and with
+untiring zeal urged his discoveries, that he might ennoble himself and
+win the gratitude of his sovereign by adding to the wealth, the
+dominion, and the fame of his native kingdom. Wishing to assume that
+he was acting humbly as the servant of his king, he sent him, in the
+form of dispatches, a minute account of all his movements.
+
+As a specimen of these dispatches, the reader will peruse with
+interest the following account of the last two days of the siege. This
+dispatch is dated from the _City of Cuyoacan_ (_Mexico_), _May 15th,
+1522_. This city was on the main land, at the end of one of the
+causeways which led to the island capital. The letter is thus humbly
+addressed:
+
+     "Most high and potent Prince; most catholic and invincible
+     Emperor, King, and Lord."
+
+This narrative of the siege is so minute as to occupy one hundred and
+fifty closely-printed octavo pages, and gives a circumstantial account
+of the proceedings of each day. The closing paragraphs only are here
+extracted. The narrative which Cortez gives sometimes differs, in
+unimportant particulars, from that recorded by other historians of
+the campaign, who were eyewitnesses of the scenes which they
+described.
+
+     "As soon as it was day, I caused our whole force to be in
+     readiness, and the heavy guns to be brought out. The day
+     before, I had ordered Pedro de Alvarado to wait for me in
+     the square of the market-place, and not to attack the enemy
+     until I arrived. Being all assembled, and the brigantines
+     drawn up ready for action on the right of the houses
+     situated on the water, where the enemy were stationed, I
+     directed that when they heard the discharge of a musket, the
+     land force should enter the small part of the city that
+     remained to be taken, and drive the enemy toward the water,
+     where the brigantines lay. I enjoined much upon them to look
+     for Guatemozin, and endeavor to take him alive, as in that
+     case the war would cease. I then ascended a terrace, and,
+     before the combat began, addressed some of the nobles whom I
+     knew, asking them for what reason their sovereign refused to
+     come to me when they were reduced to such extremities,
+     adding that there was no good cause why they should all
+     perish, and that they should go and call him, and have no
+     fears.
+
+     "Two of the principal nobles then went to call the emperor.
+     After a short time they returned, accompanied by one of the
+     most considerable of their personages, Ciquacoacin, a
+     captain and governor over them all, by whose counsels the
+     whole affairs of the war were conducted. I received him with
+     great kindness, that he might feel perfectly secure and free
+     from apprehensions. At last he said that 'the emperor would
+     by no means come into my presence, preferring rather to die;
+     that his determination grieved him much, but that I must do
+     whatever I desired.' When I saw that this was his settled
+     purpose, I told the noble messenger to return to his
+     friends, and prepare for the renewal of the war, which I was
+     resolved to continue until their destruction was complete.
+     So he departed.
+
+     "More than five hours had been spent in these conferences,
+     during which time many of the inhabitants were crowded
+     together upon piles of the dead; some were on the water, and
+     others were seen swimming about or drowning in the part of
+     the lake where the canoes were lying, which was of
+     considerable extent. Indeed, so excessive were the
+     sufferings of the people, that no one could imagine how they
+     were able to sustain them; and an immense multitude of men,
+     women, and children were compelled to seek refuge with us,
+     many of whom, in their eagerness to reach us, threw
+     themselves into the water, and were drowned among the mass
+     of dead bodies. It appeared that the number of persons who
+     had perished, either from drinking salt water, from famine
+     or pestilence, amounted altogether to more than fifty
+     thousand souls.
+
+     "In order to conceal their necessitous condition from our
+     knowledge, the bodies of the dead were not thrown into the
+     water, lest the brigantines should come in contact with
+     them, nor were they taken away from the places where they
+     had died, lest we should see them about the city; but in
+     those streets where they had perished we found heaps of dead
+     bodies so frequent, that a person passing could not avoid
+     stepping upon them; and when the people of the city flocked
+     toward us, I caused Spaniards to be stationed through all
+     the streets to prevent our allies from destroying the
+     wretched persons who came out in such multitudes. I also
+     charged the captains of our allies to forbid, by all means
+     in their power, the slaughter of these fugitives; yet all my
+     precautions were insufficient to prevent it, and that day
+     more than fifteen thousand lost their lives. At the same
+     time, the better classes and the warriors of the city were
+     pent up within narrow limits, confined to a few terraces and
+     houses, or sought refuge on the water; but no concealment
+     prevented our seeing their miserable condition and weakness
+     with sufficient clearness.
+
+     "As the evening approached and no sign of their surrender
+     appeared, I ordered the two pieces of ordnance to be leveled
+     toward the enemy, to try their effect in causing them to
+     yield; but they suffered greater injury when full license
+     was given to the allies to attack them than from the cannon,
+     although the latter did them some mischief. As this was of
+     little avail, I ordered the musketry to be fired. When a
+     certain angular space, where they were crowded together, was
+     gained, and some of the people thrown into the water, those
+     that remained there yielded themselves prisoners without a
+     struggle.
+
+     "In the mean time, the brigantines suddenly entered that
+     part of the lake, and broke through the midst of the fleet
+     of canoes, the warriors who were in them not daring to make
+     any resistance. It pleased God that the captain of a
+     brigantine, named Garci Holguin, came up behind a canoe in
+     which there seemed to be persons of distinction; and when
+     the archers, who were stationed in the bow of the
+     brigantine, took aim at those in the canoe, they made a
+     signal that the emperor was there, that the men might not
+     discharge their arrows. Instantly our people leaped into the
+     canoe, and seized in it Guatemozin and the Lord of Tacuba,
+     together with other distinguished persons who accompanied
+     the emperor.
+
+     "Immediately after this occurrence, Garci Holguin, the
+     captain, delivered to me, on a terrace adjoining the lake,
+     where I was standing, Guatemozin, with other noble
+     prisoners. As I, without showing any asperity of manner,
+     bade him sit down, he came up to me and said, in his own
+     tongue,
+
+     "'That he had done all that was incumbent on him in defense
+     of himself and his people, until he was reduced to his
+     present condition; that now I might do with him as I
+     pleased.' He then laid his hand on a poniard that I wore,
+     telling me to strike him to the heart.
+
+     "I spoke encouragingly to him, and bade him have no fears.
+     Thus, the emperor being taken a prisoner, the war ceased at
+     this point, which it pleased God our Lord to bring to a
+     conclusion on Tuesday, St. Hippolytus's day, the thirteenth
+     of August, 1521; so that from the day in which the city was
+     first invested, the 3d of May in that year, until it was
+     taken, seventy-five days had elapsed, during which time your
+     majesty will see what labors, dangers, and calamities your
+     subjects endured, and their deeds afford the best evidence
+     how much they exposed their lives."
+
+For three hundred years, while Mexico remained under Spanish rule, the
+anniversary of this victory was regularly celebrated with all the
+accompaniments of national rejoicing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE CONQUEST CONSUMMATED.
+
+Discovery of the Pacific.--Cortez's elation.--Cortez's dispatch.--He
+sends to take possession of the coast.--The exploring parties.--
+Release of the captives.--Rebuilding the city.--Power of Cortez.
+--Progress of affairs in Spain.--Warrant against Cortez.--The
+commissioner.--His reception.--Tapia's weak points.--His return.--
+Cortez's dispatch.--Cortez's account of the arrival of Tapia.--Cortez
+unable to visit Tapia.--Father Urrea dispatched to Vera Cruz.--Cortez
+prepares to go to Vera Cruz, but is dissuaded.--Embassadors to Tapia.
+--Delay asked.--Departure of Tapia.--Advice respecting Tapia.--Reasons
+for not sending letters by him.--Insurrection.--Punishment.--Severe
+chastisement.--Nuno de Guzman.--Influence at court.--Charges against
+Cortez.--Cortez's defense to the charges against him.--Defense
+triumphant.--Cortez appointed governor.--His powers.--Letter from the
+emperor.--Depression of his enemies.--Unfair dealings.--Escape from
+remonstrants.--Expedition to Zapoteca.--Great peril.--They abandon the
+scheme.--Progress of the new city.--Cortez's palace.--Religious
+zeal.--Catholic priests.--Approach to the metropolis.--Reception by
+Cortez.--Success of the missionaries.--Colonies.--Arrival of Donna
+Catalina.--Death of Catalina.--Suspicions of murder.
+
+
+With zeal and energy which never slept, Cortez fitted out several
+expeditions to explore the country, to study its geography, and to
+ascertain its resources. One party, ascending the heights of the
+Cordilleras, gazed with delight upon the placid expanse of the Pacific
+Ocean, and, descending the western declivity, planted the cross upon
+the sandy shores of that hitherto unknown sea. Cortez was exceedingly
+elated with this discovery, for he considered it another bribe with
+which to purchase the favor of his sovereign. He immediately made
+arrangements for establishing a colony on the Pacific shores, and
+ordered four vessels to be built to prosecute farther discoveries. He
+lost no time in transmitting to the emperor the tidings of this great
+achievement.
+
+     "I have received, most powerful sire," he wrote, "some
+     account of another sea to the south, and learned that at two
+     or three points it was twelve, thirteen, and fourteen days'
+     journey from this city. The information gave me much
+     pleasure, for it appeared to me that the discovery would
+     prove a great and signal service to your majesty, especially
+     as all who possess any knowledge or experience in navigation
+     to the Indies have considered it certain that the discovery
+     of the South Sea in these parts would bring to light many
+     islands rich in gold, pearls, precious stones, and
+     spiceries, together with many other unknown and choice
+     productions. The same has been affirmed also by persons
+     versed in learning and skilled in the science of
+     cosmography. With such views, and a desire that I might
+     render your majesty a distinguished and memorable service in
+     this matter, I dispatched four Spaniards, two by one route
+     and two by another, who, having obtained the necessary
+     information as to the course they were to take, set out,
+     accompanied by several of our allies as guides and
+     companions. I ordered them not to stop until they had
+     reached the sea, and when they had discovered it, to take
+     actual and corporal possession in the name of your majesty.
+
+     "One of these parties traveled about one hundred and thirty
+     leagues, through many fine provinces, without encountering
+     any obstacles, and arrived at the sea, of which they took
+     possession, and, in token thereof, set up crosses along the
+     coast. After some days they returned with an account of
+     their discovery, and informed me very particularly
+     concerning it. They brought with them several of the natives
+     from that quarter, together with good specimens of gold from
+     the mines found in the provinces through which they passed,
+     which, with other specimens, I now send to your majesty.
+
+     "The other party were absent somewhat longer, for they took
+     a different course, and traveled one hundred and fifty
+     leagues before they reached the sea, of which they also took
+     possession, and brought me a full account of the coast, with
+     some of the natives of the country. I received the strangers
+     in both parties graciously, and having informed them of the
+     great power of your majesty, and made them some presents, I
+     suffered them to depart on their return to their own
+     country, and they went away much gratified.
+
+     "In my former relation, most catholic sire, I informed your
+     majesty that, at the time when the Indians defeated me, and
+     first drove us out of the city of Tenochtitlan, all the
+     provinces subject to that city rebelled against your majesty
+     and made war upon us; and your majesty will see, by this
+     relation, how we have reduced to your royal service most of
+     the provinces that proved rebellious.
+
+     "As the city," he continues, "of Tenochtitlan was a place of
+     great celebrity and distinction, and ever memorable, it
+     appeared to me that it would be well to build another town
+     upon its ruins. I therefore distributed the ground among the
+     proposed inhabitants, and appointed alcaldes and regidores
+     in the name of your majesty, according to the custom of your
+     realms; and while the houses were going up, we determined to
+     abide in the city of Cuyoacan, where we at present are. It
+     is now four or five months since the rebuilding of the city
+     was commenced, and it is already very handsome. Your majesty
+     may be assured that it will go on increasing to such a
+     degree that, as it was formerly the capital and mistress of
+     all these provinces, it will still be so hereafter. It is
+     built so far and will be completed in such a manner as to
+     render the Spaniards strong and secure, greatly superior to
+     the natives, and wholly unassailable by them."
+
+The power of Cortez was now unlimited. The whole native population
+were virtually his slaves. He had the address to secure the friendly
+co-operation of the principal chiefs, and the Indians, in any numbers
+which he required, were driven by them to their reluctant toil. The
+Spaniards assumed the office of overseers, while the natives performed
+all the menial and painful labor. Timber was cut and dragged by the
+_men of burden_ from the adjacent forests, and from the ruins of
+Tenochtitlan the new and beautiful city of Mexico rose as by magic.
+
+Charles V., King of Spain and Emperor of Germany, was overwhelmed by
+the cares of his enormous empire. The scenes transpiring far away in
+the wilderness of the New World, important as they were, could claim
+but a small share of his attention. Velasquez succeeded in gaining
+very influential friends at court, and plied all his energies, with
+untiring diligence, to secure the disgrace of Cortez. Pride, ambition,
+and revenge alike inspired him to work, if possible, the ruin of the
+bold adventurer who had set his power at defiance. The sovereign was
+at this time in Germany, and the reins of government in Spain were
+temporarily placed in the hands of Adrian, who had been private tutor
+of the emperor.
+
+Influenced by the coadjutors of Velasquez, Adrian issued a warrant,
+signed at Burgos on the 11th of April, 1521, which, after
+recapitulating the offenses of which Cortez had been guilty against
+the majesty of the Spanish government, appointed a commissioner to
+repair to Mexico, seize the person of Cortez, suspend him from his
+functions, sequestrate his property, and bring him to trial upon the
+weighty charges contained in the indictment.
+
+The accomplishment of a task so difficult required a man of consummate
+tact and energy; but, unfortunately, the agent selected was totally
+unqualified for his task. Christoval de Tapia, the appointed
+commissioner, was a feeble, fussy old man, a government inspector of
+metals in Saint Domingo. He landed at Vera Cruz in December, with
+his commission in his hand. The authorities there, quite devoted to
+Cortez, and fully aware that in his fall their fortunes must also
+decay, threw every obstacle in their power in the path of Tapia.
+They disputed his credentials, and, by innumerable embarrassments,
+prevented him from entering the interior.
+
+Cortez, on the other hand, while cordially accepting this important
+co-operation on the part of his friends, the more valuable since it
+did not involve him in any responsibility, wrote to Tapia a letter
+full of expressions of courtesy, and of veneration for the authority
+of the emperor. The imbecile old man soon became entangled in a
+labyrinth of diplomacy from which he knew not how to extricate
+himself. He had not sufficient force of character to cut the tangled
+threads. It is said that every one has his weak point. Love of money
+was the great frailty of Tapia. United with this there was great
+timidity of character. Cortez, with his accustomed tact, discovered
+the peculiarities of the man, and, with his habitual adroitness,
+assailed him where his armor was weak. The old man's fears were
+assailed with threats, and his avarice was approached by bribes, and
+he very soon capitulated. Re-embarking in his ship, he returned to
+Hispaniola, leaving Cortez in undisputed authority.
+
+This affair alarmed Cortez exceedingly. The account which he himself
+gives of it in his dispatch to the emperor is so curious and
+characteristic of the man, that we must give it in his own words. The
+dispatch itself will be more interesting and valuable than any
+narrative we might give of the event. Upon the departure of Tapia,
+Cortez immediately sent deputies to the emperor with a glowing
+account of his new discoveries and conquests, with many rich gifts,
+and the promise of immense future contributions. He gave, as it were
+incidentally, an account of the mission of Tapia, explained with great
+naïveté the reasons of its failure, and implored anew that he might be
+intrusted with the government of the wide realms which his skill and
+the valor of his followers had attached to the Spanish crown.
+
+     "While engaged in this business," he writes, "I received
+     accounts from Vera Cruz of the arrival at that port of a
+     ship, in which came Christoval de Tapia, smelting inspector
+     in the island of Hispaniola. The next day I had a letter
+     from him, informing me that the object of his coming to the
+     country was to assume the government of it by your majesty's
+     command, and that he had brought with him his royal
+     commission, which he should nowhere exhibit until he saw us,
+     but hoped this would be soon. As, however, the horses he had
+     brought were affected by the voyage, he was not able to set
+     out immediately, and begged that we would direct how the
+     interview should take place, whether by his coming here, or
+     by my going to the sea-coast.
+
+     "As soon as I had received his letter, I answered it, saying
+     that I was much pleased with his arrival; that no one could
+     come provided with an order from his majesty to assume the
+     government of these parts with whom I should be better
+     pleased, both on account of the acquaintance that existed
+     between us, and the neighborly intercourse we had enjoyed
+     together in the island of Hispaniola.
+
+     "Tranquillity not being firmly established in this quarter,
+     and any novelty being likely to estrange the natives, I
+     begged Father Urrea, who has been present in all my labors,
+     and who knew well the situation of affairs to the present
+     moment, and by whose coming your majesty's service has been
+     promoted, and ourselves benefited by his spiritual teachings
+     and counsels, to undertake the task of meeting the said
+     Tapia, and of examining the orders of your majesty. Since he
+     knew better than any one what the royal interests, as well
+     as those of this country, required, I requested that he
+     would give such directions to the said Tapia as he deemed
+     most proper, from which he knew I would not deviate in the
+     least degree.
+
+     "I made this request in the presence of your majesty's
+     treasurer, who joined his solicitations to mine. He
+     accordingly departed for the town of Vera Cruz, where the
+     said Tapia was; and in order that suitable attentions might
+     be paid to the inspector, either in the town or wherever
+     they should meet, I dispatched with the father two or three
+     respectable persons from my companions, and when they had
+     gone I waited the issue. In the mean time, I employed myself
+     in regulating the affairs of my command, and in such a way
+     as best to promote your majesty's interests, and the peace
+     and security of these parts.
+
+     "In ten or twelve days after, the magistrate and municipal
+     authority of Vera Cruz wrote me that the said Tapia had
+     exhibited the orders of your majesty, and of your governors
+     acting in the royal name, which they had treated with all
+     suitable reverence; but that as to the execution of the
+     orders, they had answered that, since the most of the
+     government were with me, having been concerned in the siege
+     of the city, they should be informed of them, and in the
+     mean time they would do whatever the service of your majesty
+     and the good of the country required. This answer, they
+     added, was received by the said Tapia with great
+     displeasure, and he had since attempted some scandalous
+     things.
+
+     "Although this answer occasioned me some regret, I answered
+     them, and begged and entreated that they would look chiefly
+     to the service of your majesty, and endeavor to content the
+     said Tapia, giving him no occasion for making a disturbance;
+     and that I was about going to meet him, and to comply with
+     whatever your majesty commanded, and the most your service
+     required.
+
+     "As I was now preparing to depart, the members of the
+     council entreated me, with many protestations, not to go, as
+     all this province of Mexico, having been but a short time
+     reduced, might revolt in my absence, whence much injury
+     would be done to your majesty's service, and great
+     disturbance caused in the country. They also urged many
+     other arguments and reasons why it was inexpedient for me to
+     leave the city at present; and added that they, with the
+     authority of the council, would go to Vera Cruz, where the
+     said Tapia resided, examine the orders of your majesty, and
+     perform all that the royal service demanded. As it seemed so
+     essential to our safety that the said councilors should go,
+     I wrote by them to Tapia informing him of what had passed,
+     and that I had authorized Gonsalvo de Sandoval, Diego de
+     Soto, and Diego de Valdenebro, who were then in the town of
+     Vera Cruz, jointly with the council of Vera Cruz and the
+     members of the other town councils, to see and perform
+     whatever the service of your majesty and the good of the
+     country required.
+
+     "When they reached the place where the said Tapia was, who
+     had already set out on his journey to this city, accompanied
+     by Father Pedro, they requested him to return, and all went
+     together to the city of Zempoalla, where Christoval de Tapia
+     presented your majesty's orders, which all received with the
+     respect due to your majesty. In regard to their execution,
+     they said that they asked some delay of your majesty as
+     demanded by the royal interests, for causes and reasons
+     contained in their petition, and more fully set forth
+     therein. After some other acts and proceedings between the
+     inspector Tapia and the deputies, he embarked in his own
+     ship, as he had been requested to do, since from his
+     remaining, and having published that he had come as governor
+     and captain of these parts, there would have been
+     disturbances.
+
+     "The coming of the said Tapia, and his want of knowledge
+     respecting the country and its inhabitants, had already
+     excited sedition, and his stay would have led to serious
+     evils if God had not interposed to prevent it. Much greater
+     service would have been rendered to your majesty if, while
+     he was in the island of Hispaniola, instead of coming
+     hither, he had first advised with your majesty. The said
+     Tapia had been often advised by the admiral, judges, and
+     other officials of your majesty residing in the island of
+     Hispaniola not to come into these parts until your majesty
+     had first been informed of all that had taken place here,
+     and on this account they had prohibited his coming under
+     certain penalties, which prohibition, however, by means in
+     his power, looking more at his individual interest than the
+     service of your majesty, he had succeeded in getting
+     removed.
+
+     "I have prepared this account of every thing in relation to
+     this matter for your majesty, because, when the said Tapia
+     departed, neither the deputies nor myself drew up any
+     statement, as he would not have been a suitable bearer of
+     our letters; and also that your majesty may see and believe
+     that, by not receiving the said Tapia, your majesty was well
+     served, as will be more fully established whenever it shall
+     be necessary."
+
+While thus engaged, Cortez received intelligence that the province of
+Panuco was in a state of insurrection. As most of his captains were
+absent on various expeditions, he promptly placed himself at the head
+of a force of one hundred and thirty horsemen, two hundred and fifty
+infantry, and ten thousand Mexicans, and marched to inflict such
+punishment upon the rebels as should intimidate all others from a
+similar attempt.
+
+The two hostile bodies soon met. According to the estimate of the
+Spaniards, the number of the enemy amounted to above seventy thousand
+warriors. "But it was God's will," the historian records, "that we
+should obtain a victory, with such a slaughter of the rebels as
+deprived them of all thought of making any head for the present."
+Cortez ravaged the country, mercilessly crushing all who offered the
+slightest resistance. Having thus quenched in blood the flickering
+flame of independence, he returned victorious to the metropolis.
+
+Here he was informed that some of the inhabitants of the neighboring
+mountains had manifested a restive spirit, and had caused disturbance
+in other peaceable districts. Sternly he marched to chastise them. The
+punishment was prompt and severe; thousands were shot down, and their
+chiefs were hanged. "They were punished," says Diaz, "with fire and
+sword; and greater misfortunes befell them when Nuno de Guzman came to
+be their governor, for he made them all slaves, and sold them in the
+islands."
+
+The father of Cortez, who was in Spain, and who was a man of much
+elevation of character, now came forward to aid his son with his
+influence at court. Implacable enemies were intriguing against the
+bold Spanish adventurer in the court of Charles V., who had returned
+from his long absence in Germany, and was now at Madrid. Don Martin
+Cortez had secured the co-operation of a powerful nobleman, the Duke
+of Bejar. The young monarch, bewildered by the accusations which were
+brought against Cortez on the one hand, and by the defense which was
+urged upon the other, referred the whole matter to a commission
+specially appointed to investigate the subject. The charges which were
+brought against him were serious and very strongly sustained by
+evidence.
+
+     1. He had seized rebelliously, and finally destroyed, the
+     fleet intrusted to him by Governor Velasquez, whose
+     authority he was bound to obey.
+
+     2. He had usurped powers in contempt of the authority of his
+     lawful sovereign.
+
+     3. He had made war upon Narvaez, who had been sent with full
+     authority to supersede him, and had slain many of his
+     companions. He had also refused to receive Tapia, though he
+     was invested with the authority of the crown.
+
+     4. He had cruelly, and in dishonor of the Spanish name, put
+     Guatemozin to the torture.
+
+     5. He had remitted but a small part of the treasures
+     obtained to the crown, squandering vast sums in schemes to
+     promote his own aggrandizement.
+
+     6. His whole system of procedure was one of violence,
+     extortion, and cruelty.
+
+It was urged in defense,
+
+     1. Two thirds of the cost of the expedition, nominally
+     fitted out by Velasquez, were defrayed by Cortez.
+
+     2. The interests of the crown required that colonies should
+     be established in Mexico. Velasquez was invested with power
+     to traffic only, not to found colonies; consequently,
+     Cortez, in the discharge of his duty, was bound to establish
+     colonies, and to send to the crown for the ratification of
+     the deed, as he had done.
+
+     3. It was the wish of Cortez to meet Narvaez amicably; but
+     that commander, assuming a hostile attitude, had compelled
+     Cortez to do the same. The treatment of Tapia was defended
+     as in the dispatch which Cortez had transmitted to the
+     emperor.
+
+     4. The torture of Guatemozin was declared to have been, not
+     the act of Cortez, but of one of his officers, who was
+     driven to it by the clamors of the soldiers.
+
+     5. It was clearly proved that Cortez had transmitted more
+     than one fifth of the treasure obtained to the crown. It was
+     also pretty conclusively proved that his administration was,
+     in general, characterized by far-reaching sagacity.
+
+The defense was triumphant. Cortez was acquitted, his acts were
+confirmed, and he was appointed _governor_, _captain-general_, _and
+chief justice_ of the immense empire which he had subjugated. The
+power with which he was invested was vast--almost unlimited. He was
+authorized to appoint to all offices, civil and military. He could
+also banish from the country any persons whose conduct should be
+displeasing to him. A large salary was conferred upon him, that he
+might maintain the splendor becoming his rank. His officers were
+richly rewarded. The emperor even condescended to write a letter to
+the little army in Mexico with his own hand, applauding the heroism of
+the soldiers and the grandeur of their chieftain. This was one of the
+greatest of the victories of Cortez. The depression of his enemies was
+equal to his own elation. Velasquez was crushed by the blow. He
+survived the tidings through a few months of gloom, and then sank into
+the grave, the only refuge for those weary of the world.
+
+When the envoys arrived in Mexico with the decision of the court, they
+were received with universal rejoicing. Every soldier of Cortez felt
+that his fortune was now made. But their intrepid commander was not
+the man for repose. New discoveries were to be urged, new tribes
+subjugated, and far-distant regions explored. Murmurs loud and deep
+soon ascended from the disaffected, who now wished to repose from toil
+in the enjoyment of their wealth and honors. Here is a specimen of
+their complaints:
+
+     "I will now relate," says Diaz, "what Cortez did, which I
+     call very unfair. All those who were the dependents of great
+     men, who flattered him and told him pleasing things, he
+     loaded with favors. Not that I blame him for being
+     generous, for there was enough for all; but I say that he
+     ought to have first considered those who served his majesty,
+     and whose valor and blood made him what he was. But it is
+     useless detailing our misfortunes, and how he treated us
+     like vassals, and how we were obliged to take to our old
+     trade of expeditions and battles; for, though he forgot us
+     in his distribution of property, he never failed to call
+     upon us when he wanted our assistance. When we went to the
+     general with the request that he would give us some part of
+     the property which his majesty had ordered that we should
+     receive, he told us, and swore to it, that he would provide
+     for us all, and not do as he had done, for which he was very
+     sorry. As if we were to be satisfied with promises and
+     smooth words!"
+
+Cortez had a very effectual way of escaping from such remonstrants. He
+immediately dispatched such men as were troublesome on some important
+expedition, where all their energies of mind and body would be
+engrossed in surmounting the difficulties which they would be called
+to encounter. A man by the name of Rangel, who had some considerable
+influence, was complaining bitterly. Cortez immediately decided that
+the distant province of the Zapotecans was in a threatening attitude,
+and needed looking after. They were a fierce people, dwelling among
+almost inaccessible cliffs, where no horse could climb and no
+artillery be dragged. From such an enterprise it was little probable
+that the troublesome man would ever return. He was consequently
+honored with the command of the expedition. For apparently the same
+reason, Bernal Diaz, whose complaints we have just read, was appointed
+to accompany the detachment.
+
+The forlorn party entered boldly the defiles of the mountains, and
+wading through marshes, and struggling through ravines, and clambering
+over rocks, with the utmost difficulty and peril penetrated the savage
+region. The natives, nimble as the chamois, leaped from crag to crag,
+whistling an insulting defiance with a peculiarly shrill note, with
+which every rock seemed vocal. Stones were showered down upon them,
+and immense rocks, torn from their beds, leaped crashing over their
+path. Their peril soon became great, and it was so evidently
+impossible to accomplish any important result, that they abandoned the
+expedition, nearly all wounded, and many having been killed.
+
+During the period of four years Cortez devoted himself with untiring
+zeal to the promotion of the interests of the colony. The new city of
+Mexico rose rapidly, with widened streets and with many buildings of
+much architectural beauty. Where the massive temple once stood,
+dedicated to the war-god of the Aztecs, and whose altars were ever
+polluted with human sacrifices, a majestic temple was reared for the
+worship of the true God. Cortez erected for himself a gorgeous palace
+fronting on the great square. It was built of hewn stone. All the
+houses constructed for the Spaniards were massive stone buildings, so
+built as to answer the double purpose of dwellings and fortresses.
+
+The zeal of Cortez for the conversion of the natives continued
+unabated. In addition to the spacious cathedral, where the imposing
+rites of the Catholic Church were invested with all conceivable
+splendor, thirty other churches were provided for the natives, who had
+now become exceedingly pliant to the wishes of the conqueror. Father
+Olmedo watched over the interests of religion with great purity of
+purpose and with unwearied devotion until his death. Twelve Catholic
+priests were sent from Spain. Benighted as they were in that dark age,
+the piety of many of these men can hardly be questioned. Cortez
+received them with great distinction. Immediately upon being informed
+of their arrival at Vera Cruz, he ordered the road to Mexico to be put
+in order, to render their journey easy, and houses to be furnished, at
+proper distances, with refreshments for their accommodation. The
+inhabitants of all the towns along their route were ordered to meet
+them with processions and music, and all demonstrations of reverence
+and joy. As they approached the metropolis, Cortez, at the head of a
+brilliant cavalcade, which was followed by a vast procession bearing
+crucifixes and lighted tapers, set out to receive them. The Catholic
+missionaries appeared with bare feet and in the most humble garb.
+Cortez dismounted, and, advancing to the principal father of the
+fraternity, bent one knee to the ground in token of reverence, and
+kissed his coarse and threadbare robe. The natives gazed with
+amazement upon this act of humiliation on the part of their haughty
+conqueror, and ever after regarded the priests with almost religious
+adoration.
+
+When conversion consists in merely inducing men to conform to some
+external ceremony, while the heart remains unchanged, it is easily
+accomplished. The missionaries, with great zeal, embarked in the
+enterprise of establishing the Catholic religion in every village of
+the subjugated empire. They were eminently successful, and in a few
+years almost every vestige of the ancient idolatry had disappeared
+from Mexico.
+
+Cortez did every thing in his power to induce the natives to return to
+the capital. He introduced the mechanic arts of Europe, and all the
+industrial implements of that higher civilization. The streets were
+soon again thronged with a busy population, and the Indian and the
+Spaniard, oblivious of past scenes of deadly strife, mingled together
+promiscuously in peaceful and picturesque confusion.
+
+Many colonies were established in different parts of the country, and
+settlers were invited over from Old Spain by liberal grants of land,
+and by many municipal privileges.
+
+In the midst of these important transactions, while Cortez was living
+quietly with the amiable Marina, who had borne him a son, a ship
+arrived at Vera Cruz bringing Donna Catalina, the wife of the wayward
+adventurer. This lady, accompanied by her brother, weary of the
+solitude of her plantation, where she had now been left for many
+years, came in search of her unfaithful spouse. Cortez made great
+pretensions to religion. It was his crowning glory that he was the
+defender of the faith. It would have been altogether too great a
+scandal to have repudiated his faithful wife.
+
+"Cortez," says Bernal Diaz, "was very sorry for their coming, but he
+put the best face upon it, and received them with great pomp and
+rejoicing." In three months from this time the unhappy Donna Catalina
+died of an asthma. Her death was so evidently a relief to Cortez, and
+so manifestly in accordance with his wishes, that many suspicions were
+excited that she had fallen by the hand of violence. Though Cortez had
+many enemies to accuse him of the murder of his wife, there is no
+evidence whatever that he was guilty. Cortez had many and great
+faults, but a crime of this nature seems to be quite foreign to his
+character. The verdict of history in reference to this charge has been
+very cordially _Not proven_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE EXPEDITION TO HONDURAS.
+
+The natives reduced to slavery.--Laws and institutions.--Colony
+at Honduras.--Olid wrecked and taken prisoner.--Cortez starts for
+Honduras.--Diaz's account.--The two captives.--Difficulties to
+be encountered.--Marina married to Xamarillo.--Don Martin Cortez.
+--Demonstrations of homage.--Complaints of Diaz.--Scarcity of
+provisions.--Energy and forethought.--Construction of canoes.--The
+slough.--Foraging parties.--The tangled wilderness.--The Indian
+path.--The cannibal chiefs.--Their punishment.--Hostile attitude.
+--The soldiers ravenous.--Influence of the priests.--Care for the
+officers.--Plot against two chiefs.--The chiefs executed.--Their
+heroism.--Opinions of the Spaniards.--Night wanderings.--Plenty and
+want.--The terrible march.--New embarrassments.--Famine.--They reach
+Taica.--Humility of Diaz.--Cortez finds there is no insurrection to
+be quelled.--Exploring tour.--The brigantines.--Submission.--Present
+to the king.--Disappointment of Cortez.--The dispatches.--Bad news.
+--Reports of the death of Cortez.--Troubles in Spain.--The attempted
+voyage.--Fruitless endeavors to recall his friends.--Commissions.--The
+usurpers imprisoned.--Poor health of Cortez.--His return to Mexico.
+
+
+The great object of the Spanish adventurers was to extort gold from
+the natives. The proud cavaliers would not work, and the natives
+were not willing to surrender the fruits of their toil to support
+their haughty conquerors in splendor. Cortez consequently, though
+reluctantly, doomed them to slavery. They were driven by the lash
+to unpaid toil. It was an outrage defended only by the despotic
+assumptions of avarice. The Tlascalans, however, in acknowledgment
+of their services as allies of the Spaniards, were exempt from this
+degradation. In all other parts the wretched natives toiled under
+their task-masters, in the fields and in the mines, urged by the
+sole stimulus of the lash. The country thus became impoverished
+and beggared, and masters and slaves sank together.
+
+Cortez had now reduced, in subjection to the crown of Spain, an extent
+of country reaching along the Atlantic coast twelve hundred miles,
+and extending fifteen hundred miles on the Pacific shore. With
+energetic genius which has rarely been surpassed, the conqueror
+established laws and institutions, many of them eminently wise, for
+this vast realm.
+
+Cortez had sent one of his captains, Christoval de Olid, to Honduras,
+to found a Spanish colony there. This intrepid man, giddy with the
+possession of vast power, and encouraged by the success with which
+Cortez had thrown off his dependence upon Velasquez, determined to
+imitate his example, and assert independence of all authority save
+that of the Spanish crown. But Cortez was the last man to allow _his_
+authority to be thus trifled with. He immediately sent an expedition
+under Francisco Las Casas, with five ships and a hundred veteran
+Spanish soldiers, to arrest the disobedient officer. With pennants
+flying, Las Casas sailed from Vera Cruz, and was rapidly borne by
+prosperous gales around the immense promontory of Yucatan, a voyage of
+nearly two thousand miles, to the bay in Honduras named the Triumph
+of the Cross, where Olid had established his post. Olid opposed his
+landing, but, as many of his soldiers chanced to be absent in the
+interior he could present no effectual resistance.
+
+After a short battle, Olid, hoping for the speedy return of his absent
+forces, applied for a truce. Las Casas weakly consented; but that same
+night a tempest arose which wrecked all his ships, and thirty of the
+crew perished in the waves. Las Casas and all of the remainder of his
+party, drenched and exhausted, were taken prisoners. Olid exulted
+greatly in this unanticipated good fortune; and, considering his foe
+utterly powerless, released the men upon their taking the oath of
+allegiance to him, and retained Las Casas surrounded with the
+courtesies of friendly and hospitable captivity. After a time,
+however, Las Casas succeeded in forming a conspiracy, and Olid was
+seized and beheaded.
+
+Cortez had heard of the wreck of the ships. No other tidings reached
+him. But disaster ever added strength to his energies. Vigorously he
+fitted out another expedition, and headed it himself. Leaving a strong
+garrison to guard the city of Mexico, and appointing two confidential
+officers to act as deputies during his absence, he prepared to march
+across the country, a perilous journey of five hundred leagues,
+through a wilderness of mountains, rivers, lakes, and forests. Unknown
+and doubtless hostile tribes peopled the whole region. It was one of
+the boldest of the many bold adventures of this extraordinary man. He
+has given a minute narrative of the march in a dispatch to Charles V.
+Bernal Diaz also, who accompanied the expedition, has given an
+interesting yet gossiping recital of all its wild adventures.
+
+It was on the 12th of October, 1524, that Cortez commenced his march
+almost due south from the city of Mexico. His force consisted, when he
+started from Mexico, of about one hundred Spanish horsemen and fifty
+infantry, together with about three thousand Mexican soldiers.
+Apprehending that Guatemozin and the cacique of Tacuba, from their
+strong influence over the natives, might excite disturbance during his
+absence, he took them as captives with him. Several Catholic priests
+were taken to conduct the services of religion, and to convert the
+heathen tribes. The imperial retinue, for Cortez now moved with the
+pomp of an emperor, was conducted on the grandest scale the time and
+the occasion would admit. A large herd of swine followed the army a
+day's journey in the rear. Most of the food, however, was to be
+collected by the way.
+
+By the aid of a rude map and Indian guides, Cortez designed to direct
+his steps across the neck of the broad peninsula of Yucatan to the
+head of the Bay of Honduras. For many days their path conducted along
+a low and marshy country intersected by innumerable streams. Some
+they were able to ford; over others their ingenious architects would
+speedily throw a bridge. Occasionally they would arrive upon the banks
+of a stream so wide and deep that many days would be employed in
+rearing a structure over which they could pass. Cortez, in his letter
+to Charles V., enumerating the difficulties encountered, states that
+in a distance of one hundred miles he found it necessary to construct
+no less than fifty bridges.
+
+The amiable Marina accompanied Cortez on this expedition, since her
+services were very essential as interpreter. But Cortez now, having
+buried his lawful wife, and probably looking forward to some more
+illustrious Spanish alliance which might strengthen his influence at
+court, regarded Marina as an embarrassment. He therefore secured her
+marriage with a Castilian knight, Don Juan Xamarillo. A handsome
+estate was assigned to the newly-married couple in the native province
+of Marina, through which the expedition passed on its way to Honduras.
+We hear of Marina no more. Her son, Don Martin Cortez, aided by the
+patronage of his powerful father, became one of the most prominent of
+the grandees of his native land. He filled many posts of opulence
+and honor. At last he was suspected of treason against the home
+government, and was shamefully put to the torture in the Mexican
+capital.
+
+As Cortez and his army advanced day after day through provinces where
+his renown was known, and where Spanish adventurers were established,
+he was received with every possible demonstration of homage. Triumphal
+arches crossed his path. Processions advanced to greet him. Provisions
+were brought to him in abundance. Bonfires, with their brilliant
+blaze, cheered the night, and festivities, arranged with all the
+possible accompaniments of barbaric pomp, amused him by day. He
+arrived at the banks of a wide, deep, and rapid river. To his great
+gratification, he found that the natives had collected three hundred
+canoes, fastened two and two, to ferry his army across. At this place
+Bernal Diaz joined the expedition. Weary of the hardships of war, he
+complains bitterly that he was compelled again to undergo the fatigues
+of an arduous campaign.
+
+     "The general ordered," he says, "all the settlers of
+     Guacacualco who were fit for service to join his expedition.
+     I have already mentioned how this colony was formed out of
+     the most respectable hidalgos and ancient conquerors of the
+     country, and now that we had reason to expect to be left in
+     quiet possession of our hard-earned properties, our houses
+     and farms, we were obliged to undertake a hostile expedition
+     to the distance of fifteen hundred miles, and which took up
+     the time of two and a half years; but we dared not say no,
+     neither would it avail us. We therefore armed ourselves,
+     and, mounting our horses, joined the expedition, making, in
+     the whole, above two hundred and fifty veterans, of whom one
+     hundred and thirty were cavalry, besides many Spaniards
+     newly arrived from Europe."
+
+But as they marched resolutely along, week after week, over mountains,
+through morasses, and across rivers, the country became more wild and
+savage, the natives more shy, and provisions less abundant. Several
+days were often occupied in constructing a bridge to cross a river.
+Scouts were sent out upon either wing of the army foraging for food.
+The natives fled often from their villages, carrying their food with
+them. Famine began to stare them in the face. Sickness diminished the
+ranks, and emaciate men, haggard and way-worn, tottered painfully
+along the rugged ways.
+
+But the indefatigable energy and wonderful foresight of Cortez saved
+the army. He seemed to have provided for every emergency which mortal
+sagacity could anticipate. One day the starving army, almost in
+despair, came to the banks of a large river. The broad current rolled
+many leagues through a pathless wilderness, and emptied into the Gulf
+of Mexico. The army, to its great surprise, found fifty large canoes
+in a little sheltered bay, laden with provisions, and awaiting its
+arrival. The river was the Tabasco. At its mouth there was an
+important Spanish colony. Cortez had foreseen the want at that point,
+and provided the timely supply.
+
+After resting here for a few days to recruit, the army continued its
+march, and soon came to a river so wide and deep that they could not
+bridge it. Here they remained four days, while every skillful hand was
+employed constructing canoes. It then required four days more for the
+immense host to be paddled across in these frail barks. The horses
+swam after the boats, led by halters. Upon the other side of the
+river they entered upon a vast swamp, extending for many leagues,
+and tangled by the dense growth of the tropics. They were three days
+floundering through this dismal slough, the horses being most of the
+time up to their girths in the morass.
+
+From this gloomy region of reptiles, tormenting insects, and mire,
+they emerged upon a fertile country, where they found an abundance of
+Indian corn or maize. But the terrified inhabitants fled at their
+approach. Foraging parties were, however, sent out to plunder the
+villages of their stores. They did this efficiently, and the
+encampment was again filled with plenty. After a halt of three days,
+the soldiers, having replenished their knapsacks with parched corn,
+again took up their line of march. Each man carried food for three
+days. Some of the native chiefs, who had been enticed into the camp,
+deceived them with the assurance that in three days they would arrive
+at a large city, where they would find every needful supply. They soon
+reached the banks of a broad river, deep and rapid. It required three
+days to construct a bridge to cross it. The knapsacks were now empty.
+They were hungry and faint, and there was no food to be obtained.
+Painfully the famishing men toiled along another day, eating the
+leaves of the trees, and digging up roots for food. Some poisonous
+quality in this innutritious diet parched their lips and blistered
+their tongues. To add to their despair, there was no longer any path,
+and the dense underbrush, with tough vines and sharp thorns, impeded
+their march and lacerated their flesh. The trees towered above them
+with foliage impenetrable by the rays of the sun. They were wandering
+through a dark and dismal wilderness, from which there was no apparent
+outlet, compelled with sword and hatchet to cut every step of their
+way through tangled shrubs.
+
+Cortez, guided only by the compass and a rude Indian map, now
+manifested for the first time deep concern. He could not conceal from
+his companions the anxiety which oppressed him, for his army was
+literally starving. He was overheard to say, "If we are left to
+struggle another day through this wilderness, I know not what will
+become of us."
+
+Suddenly, to their great joy, they came upon an Indian path. This
+soon conducted them to a village. The inhabitants had fled, but the
+Spaniards found some granaries well supplied with corn. During this
+terrible march of seven days, many perished by fatigue and hunger.
+It was also discovered that some of the Mexican chiefs, in their
+extremity, had seized some of the natives whom they encountered, and
+had killed and eaten them. The bodies were baked, in accordance with
+their cannibal customs, in ovens of heated stones under the ground.
+
+     "Cortez," says Bernal Diaz, "severely reprehended all those
+     concerned, and one of the reverend father Franciscans
+     preached a holy and wise sermon on the occasion; after
+     which, by way of example, the general caused one to be
+     burned. Though all were equally guilty, yet, in the present
+     circumstances, one example was judged sufficient."
+
+After a few days' rest the army again resumed its march, but pioneers
+were sent in advance to mark out the way. Their course now lay for
+many leagues through a low country, abounding in lakes, and miasmatic
+marshes, and sluggish rivers. The bayous and lagoons were so numerous
+that most of the communication from city to city was by canoes. The
+people at first assumed a hostile attitude, but soon, overawed by the
+magnitude of the force of Cortez, they with great obsequiousness
+furnished him with all required supplies. Still, it was an exceedingly
+difficult region for the army to traverse. Many days were laboriously
+employed in bridging the innumerable streams. One wide one delayed
+them four days, and their provisions were entirely exhausted. Diaz, a
+man of tact and energy, was sent with a strong party to forage for the
+famished camp. He returned in the night with a hundred and thirty _men
+of burden_ heavily laden with corn and fruit. The starving soldiers,
+watching their return, rushed upon them like wolves; in a few moments,
+every particle of food which they had brought was devoured. Cortez and
+his officers came eagerly from their tents, but there was nothing left
+for them.
+
+But even in this strait, when the soldiers forgot entirely their
+generals, and even refused to save any for them, they did not forget
+their spiritual guides. Every soldier was anxious to share his portion
+with the reverend fathers. It speaks well for these holy men that they
+had secured such a hold upon the affections of these wild adventurers.
+Though superstition doubtless had its influence, there must also have
+been, on the part of the priests, much self-denial and devotion to
+their duties. Diaz, apprehensive of the scene of plunder, had
+concealed at a short distance in the rear a few loads for the
+officers, which, he says, they went and got, with great gratitude,
+when the soldiers were all asleep.
+
+For eight weary days the army now toiled along, struggling against
+hardships and hunger. Many were sick, many died, and not a few, in
+despair, deserted their ranks, and endeavored to find their way back
+to Mexico. Cortez, knowing full well the heroism of his two captives,
+Guatemozin and the cacique of Tacuba, was now very apprehensive that
+they might take advantage of his weakness, incite the natives to
+revolt, and thus secure his destruction. The peril was so obvious
+that it must have occurred to every mind. The Mexicans knew that the
+Spaniards were now in their power, and the Spaniards could not deny
+it.
+
+Under these circumstances, Guatemozin was accused of having entered
+into a plot to assassinate the Spaniards, and then to return to Mexico
+and rouse the whole native population to arms, and drive the invaders
+from the country. There seems to have been but little proof to
+substantiate the charge; but the undeniable fact that Guatemozin
+could now do this, excited to the highest degree the anxiety of the
+ever-wary Cortez. The stern conqueror, acting upon the principle that
+the end justifies the means, resolved to escape from this peril by the
+death of his imperial captive and the Tacuban lord. Cortez accused
+them of the crime, and, notwithstanding their protestations of
+innocence, ordered them both to be hung. A scaffold was immediately
+erected, and the victims, attended by priests, were led out to their
+execution. Both of these heroic men met their fate with dignity. As
+the monarch stood upon the scaffold, at the moment of his doom he
+turned to Cortez and said,
+
+"I now find in what your false promises have ended. It would have been
+better that I had fallen by my own hands than to have intrusted myself
+in your power. Why do you thus unjustly take my life? May God demand
+of you this innocent blood."
+
+The Prince of Tacuba simply said, "I am happy to die by the side of my
+lawful sovereign."
+
+They were then both swung into the air, suspended from the branches of
+a lofty tree by the road-side. There are many stains resting upon the
+character of Cortez, and this is not among the least. Diaz records,
+"Thus ended the lives of these two great men; and I also declare that
+they suffered their deaths most undeservingly; and so it appeared to
+us all, among whom there was but one opinion upon the subject, that it
+was a most unjust and cruel sentence."
+
+The march was now continued, but the gloom which ever accompanies
+crime weighed heavily upon all minds. The Mexicans were indignant and
+morose at the ignominious execution of their chiefs. The Spaniards
+were in constant fear that they would rise against them. Even Cortez
+looked haggard and wretched, and his companions thought that he was
+tortured by the self-accusation that he was a murderer. Difficulties
+were multiplied in his path. Famine stared his murmuring army in the
+face. Sleep forsook his pillow. One night, bewildered and distracted,
+he rose, and wandering in one of the heathen temples, fell over a
+wall, a distance of twelve feet, bruising himself severely, and
+cutting a deep gash in his head. Still they toiled along, occasionally
+coming to towns where there were granaries and abundance, and again,
+in a few days, as they could carry but few provisions with them,
+finding themselves in a starving condition. Every variety of suffering
+seemed to be allotted them. At one time they arrived upon a vast
+plain, spreading out for leagues, as far as the eye could extend,
+without a bush or shrub to intercept the sight. A tropical sun blazed
+down upon the panting troops with blistering heat. Many deer, quite
+tame, ranged these immense prairies. At another time they approached a
+large lake of shallow water, and upon an island in its centre found a
+populous town. The soldiers waded to the island through the clear
+waters of the lake. They found fishes very abundant, and again had a
+plentiful supply of food.
+
+Thus far the weather had been fair; but now it changed, and a season
+of drenching rains commenced. Still, the band, impelled by their
+indomitable leader, pressed on. They now entered upon a very
+extraordinary region, where for leagues they toiled through dismal
+ravines, frowned upon by barren and craggy rocks. The ground was
+covered with innumerable flint-stones, peculiarly hard and sharp,
+which, like knives, pierced the feet of the men and the horses. In
+this frightful march nearly every horse was wounded and lamed,
+and eight perished. Many of the men also suffered severely. The
+difficulty and suffering were so great, that upon emerging from this
+rocky desert the army was assembled to return solemn thanks to God
+for their escape.
+
+But now they encountered new embarrassments. The streams, swollen
+by the rains, came roaring in impetuous torrents from the mountains,
+and the intervales and the wide-spreading meadows were flooded. One
+stream, foaming through enormous precipices, emitted a roar which was
+heard at the distance of six miles. It required three days to throw a
+bridge across this raging mountain torrent. The natives took advantage
+of this delay to flee from their homes, carrying with them all their
+provisions. Again famine threatened the camp. This was, perhaps,
+the darkest hour of the march. The horses were lame. The men were
+bleeding, and way-worn, and gaunt. Death by starvation seemed
+inevitable. "I own," says Diaz, "I never in my life felt my heart so
+depressed as when I found nothing to be had for myself or my people."
+
+Cortez, however, sent out some very efficient foraging parties in all
+directions. Impelled by the energies of despair, the detachment
+succeeded in obtaining food. This strengthened them until they
+reached a large town called Taica, where they again rejoiced in
+abundance. The rain still continued to fall in torrents, and the
+soldiers, drenched by night and by day, toiled along through the mire.
+Even Cortez lost his habitual placidity of temper and began to
+complain. The vain and gossiping Diaz would not have his readers
+unmindful of the eminent services he rendered in these emergencies.
+With much affected humility he narrates his exploits.
+
+     "Cortez," says he, "returned me thanks for my conduct. But I
+     will drop this subject; for what is praise but emptiness and
+     unprofitableness, and what advantage is it to me that people
+     in Mexico should tell me what we endured, or that Cortez
+     should say, when he wanted me to go on this last expedition,
+     that, next to God, it was me on whom he placed his
+     reliance?"
+
+They now arrived upon the banks of a river which led to the sea-coast.
+At the mouth of this river Olid had established one of his important
+settlements. A march of four days was required to reach the coast.
+Cortez, who was entirely ignorant of the death of Olid, and of the
+overthrow of his power, sent forward scouts to ascertain the state
+of things, as it was his intention to fall upon Olid by surprise at
+night. The army moved slowly down the stream, feeding miserably upon
+nuts and roots. The scouts returned with the intelligence that there
+were no enemies to be met; that the insurrection was entirely quelled,
+and the colony, consisting of several scattered settlements, was in
+perfect subjection to the authority of Cortez. It is difficult to
+imagine the feelings with which this intelligence was received. Cortez
+must have felt, at least for a few moments, exceedingly foolish. The
+Herculean enterprise of a march of eighteen hundred miles through a
+pathless wilderness, peopled with savage foes, where many hundreds of
+his army had perished from fatigue and famine, and all had endured
+inconceivable hardships, had been utterly fruitless. It had been what
+is sometimes called a wild-goose chase, upon a scale of grandeur
+rarely paralleled.
+
+They soon arrived at a half-starved colony at the mouth of the river,
+consisting of forty men and six women. The energies of Cortez were,
+however, unabated. Foraging parties were sent out to plunder the
+natives, which was done pitilessly, without any apparent compunctions
+of conscience, as the hunters of wild honey destroy the bees and rob
+the hives. Cortez himself set out with a strong party on an exploring
+tour, and returned after an absence of twenty-six days, sorely wounded
+in the face from a conflict which he had with the natives. If the
+natives assumed any attitude of resistance, they were shot like
+panthers and bears.
+
+Here Cortez built two brigantines, and sailed along the coast some
+three hundred miles to Truxillo. He established on the way, at Port
+Cavallo, a colony, to which place he ordered a division of his army to
+march. Others of the troops were to assemble at Naco, quite an
+important town, where Olid had been executed. Cortez, upon his arrival
+at Truxillo, which was the principal establishment of the colony in
+Honduras, was received by the colonists with great distinction. The
+Indians in the neighborhood were immediately assembled, and were urged
+to acknowledge submission to the King of Spain, and to adopt the
+Christian religion. With wonderful pliancy, they acceded to both
+propositions. "The reverend fathers," says Diaz, "also preached to the
+Indians many holy things very edifying to hear." From this place
+Cortez sent a dispatch to the King of Spain, and also a valuable
+present of gold, "taken," says Diaz, "in reality from his sideboard,
+but in such a manner that it should appear to be the produce of this
+settlement."
+
+Cortez, to his extreme disappointment, found the country poor. There
+was no gold, and but little food. Worn down by anxiety and fatigue, he
+was emaciated in the extreme, and was so exceedingly feeble that his
+friends despaired of his life. Indeed, to Cortez, death seemed so
+near, that, with forethought characteristic of this enthusiast, he had
+made preparations for his burial.
+
+One day, as Cortez, in the deepest dejection, was conversing with his
+friends, a vessel was discerned in the distant horizon of the sea. The
+ship had sailed from Havana, and brought to Cortez dispatches from
+Mexico. He retired to his apartment to read them. As he intently
+perused the documents, his friends in the antechamber heard him groan
+aloud in anguish. The tidings were indeed appalling, and sufficient to
+crush even the spirit of Cortez. For a whole day his distress was so
+great that he did not leave his room. The next morning he called for
+an ecclesiastic, confessed his sins, and ordered a mass. He then,
+somewhat calmed by devotion, read to his friends the intelligence he
+had received.
+
+It was reported in Mexico that the whole party which had entered upon
+the expedition to Honduras had perished. Consequently, all the
+property of the adventurers had been sold at public auction. The
+funeral service of Cortez had been celebrated with great pomp, a
+large part of his immense property having been devoted to defray
+the expenses. The deputies whom Cortez had left in charge of the
+government had quarreled among themselves, and two strong parties
+rising up, the colony had been distracted by civil war and bloodshed.
+Every day there was fighting. The natives, encouraged by these
+disorders, had revolted in three provinces. A force which had been
+sent to quell the insurrection had been attacked and defeated.
+
+The same dispatches also contained a letter from the father of Cortez,
+informing him that his enemies were busy, and successful in their
+intrigues in the court at Madrid, and that two very important colonies
+in Mexico had been wrested from his command, and placed, by order of
+the king, under the government of others.
+
+Cortez decided to return immediately, but privately, to Mexico. His
+enemies, who had usurped the government, had given out that he was
+dead. Cortez was apprehensive that, were his return anticipated, he
+would be waylaid and assassinated. He therefore made arrangements for
+his friends to return by land, while he privately embarked for Vera
+Cruz. A violent storm arose, with head winds, and the vessel, after
+struggling a few days against the gale, was compelled, with shattered
+rigging, to return to Truxillo. Again, after a few days, the vessel
+weighed anchor, and again it was compelled to return. Cortez now,
+in extreme debility of body and dejection of mind, was exceedingly
+perplexed respecting his duty. "He ordered a solemn mass," says Diaz,
+"and prayed fervently to the Holy Ghost to enlighten him as to his
+future proceedings."
+
+He now decided to remain in Truxillo, and to unite Honduras and
+Nicaragua into a colony which, in extent and resources, would be
+worthy of him. He dispatched messengers with all speed to overtake his
+friends, who had undertaken to return by land, and recall them to
+Truxillo. They, however, refused to return. Again another messenger
+was dispatched to them by Cortez, with still more urgent entreaties.
+To this they replied by a letter, stating very firmly that they had
+suffered misfortunes enough already in following him, and that they
+were determined to go back to Mexico. Sandoval, with a small retinue
+on horseback, took this answer to Cortez. He was also commissioned to
+do every thing in his power to persuade Cortez also to embark again
+for Mexico.
+
+Though thus forsaken, he still refused to leave Honduras. Weakened by
+bodily sickness, which plunged him into the deepest melancholy, his
+usual energies were dormant. He, however, sent a confidential servant,
+named Orantes, with a commission to Generals Alvarado and Las Casas,
+who had returned from Honduras to Mexico, to take charge of the
+government and punish the usurpers. Orantes performed his mission
+successfully. The people, hearing with joy that Cortez was safe,
+rallied around the newly-appointed deputies, and the prominent
+usurpers were seized and imprisoned in a timber cage. Cortez remained
+in Honduras until he received intelligence that the disturbances in
+Mexico were quelled. He now decided to leave the government of
+Honduras in the hands of a lieutenant, and to return to Mexico. His
+health, however, was so very feeble that he hardly expected to
+survive the voyage. He therefore, before embarking, confessed his
+sins, partook of the sacrament, and settled all his worldly affairs.
+
+It was on the 25th of April, 1526, that the pale and emaciate
+adventurer, accompanied by a few followers, embarked on board a
+brigantine in the anchorage at Truxillo. The morning was serene and
+cloudless, and a fresh breeze filled the unfurled sails. Rapidly the
+low line of the shores of Honduras sank below the horizon, and Cortez
+bade them adieu forever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE LAST DAYS OF CORTEZ.
+
+The party are obliged to put into Havana for repairs.--Triumphal march
+to the capital.--Reception at Tezcuco.--Enemies at work.--Serious
+charges.--The commissioner.--Offers of courtesy.--The banquet.--
+Unfortunate effects.--Notice for complainants.--Leon's sudden death.
+--Its cause.--Aguilar's administration.--He determines to return to
+Spain.--Reception of the emperor.--Marquis of the Valley.--Captain
+General.--Cortez's marriage.--Envy of the queen.--He embarks for
+New Spain.--Effects of displeasing a queen.--Cortez's abode.--The
+contrast.--He goes to Cuarnavaca.--Devotes himself to industrial
+interests.--The expeditions and failures.--Cortez heads another
+party.--Arrival at Santa Cruz.--The fleet returns.--Disasters.
+--Discontent.--Search for the vessels.--The colonists eat too
+voraciously.--Cortez resolves to replenish his resources.--Departure
+for Spain.--Neglect and disappointment.--Letter to the emperor.--
+Unavailing appeal.--The will.--His bequests.--An uneasy conscience.
+--Removal to Castilleja.--Cortez's death.--His funeral.--The removal
+of his remains.--Solemnities.--The monument erected over his remains.
+
+
+For a few days a fair wind bore the voyagers rapidly forward over a
+sunny sea. They had arrived nearly within sight of the Mexican shore,
+when clouds blackened the sky, and a tropical tempest came howling
+fiercely upon them. The light brigantine was driven before the gale
+like a bubble, and, after being tossed for several days upon the angry
+deep, the voyagers found themselves near the island of Cuba, and were
+compelled to enter the harbor of Havana for repairs and supplies.
+
+It was not until the 16th of May that they were enabled again to set
+sail. After a voyage of eight days, Cortez landed near St. Juan de
+Ulua. Here he assumed an incognito, and proceeded on foot fifteen
+miles to Medellin. His aspect was so changed by sickness and dejection
+that no one recognized him. Here he made himself known, and was
+immediately received with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of joy.
+He now pressed forward to the capital in truly a triumphal march. The
+whole country was aroused, and processions, triumphal arches,
+bonfires, and music, with the ringing of bells and the roaring of
+cannon, greeted him all the way. The natives vied with the Spaniards
+in the cordiality of their welcome and in the splendor of their
+pageants.
+
+Arrangements were made to receive him at the capital with a triumphant
+fête. He arrived at Tezcuco, on the borders of the lake, in the
+evening, and there passed the night. It was now the lovely month of
+June. The sun the next morning rose cloudless, and smiled upon a scene
+of marvelous beauty, embellished by all the attractions of hills, and
+valleys, and placid waters. The lake was alive with the decorated
+boats of the natives, and the air was filled with the hum of peace and
+joy. Smiles again flitted over the wan and pallid cheeks of Cortez as
+the shouts of the multitude, blending with the clarion peals of the
+trumpet, the chime of bells, and the thunders of artillery fell upon
+his ear. He immediately repaired to the church publicly to return
+thanks to God for all his mercies. He then retired to his magnificent
+palace, and again assumed the responsibilities of government.
+
+The enemies of Cortez were still indefatigable in the court of
+Charles V., and they so multiplied and reiterated their charges that
+the emperor deemed it expedient to order an investigation. He was
+charged with withholding gold which belonged to the crown, of
+secreting the treasures of Guatemozin, of defrauding the revenues by
+false reports, and of surrounding himself with grandeur and power that
+he might assert independence of Spain, and establish himself in
+unlimited sovereignty.
+
+A commissioner, Luis Ponce de Leon, was accordingly sent by the
+emperor to assume the government of Mexico temporarily, and to bring
+Cortez to trial. But a few weeks had passed after Cortez returned to
+the capital before this messenger arrived. Cortez, surprised by his
+sudden appearance, was greatly perplexed as to the course he should
+pursue. The intelligence was communicated to him as he was performing
+his devotions in the church of St. Francis. "He earnestly," says Diaz,
+"prayed to the Lord to guide him as seemed best to his holy wisdom,
+and, on coming out of the church, sent an express to bring him
+information of all particulars."
+
+After much painful deliberation, Cortez decided to receive the royal
+commissioner with apparent courtesy and submission. He sent to him a
+friendly message, wishing to know which of two roads he intended to
+take on his approach to the capital, that he might be met and greeted
+with suitable honors. The friends of Leon cautioned him to be on his
+guard, for they assured him that Cortez would, if possible, secure his
+assassination. Leon warily sent word that, fatigued by his voyage, he
+should not immediately visit the capital, but should rest for a time.
+Having dispatched this message, he immediately mounted his horse, and,
+with his retinue, commenced his journey. The vigilant officers of
+Cortez, however, met him at Iztapalapan. A sumptuous banquet was
+prepared, and some delicious cheese-cakes were placed upon the table.
+All who ate of the cheese-cakes were taken sick, and it was reported
+far and wide that Cortez had attempted to poison Leon with arsenic.
+There is no proof that Cortez was guilty. The circumstances alone, as
+we have stated them, awakened suspicion. These suspicions were
+fearfully increased by unfortunate events, to which we shall soon
+allude.
+
+Leon arrived in the city of Mexico, and in the presence of all the
+civil and military officers produced his authority from the emperor,
+Charles V., to assume the governorship of the colony, and to bring
+Cortez to trial. The humbled and wretched conqueror kissed the
+document in token of submission.
+
+Leon now issued public notice that all who had complaints to bring
+against the administration of Cortez should produce them. A host of
+enemies--for all men in power must have enemies--immediately arose.
+The court was flooded with accusations without number. Just as Leon
+was opening the court to give a hearing to these charges, he was
+seized with a sudden and a mysterious sickness. After lying in a state
+of lethargy for four days, he died. In a lucid moment, he appointed an
+officer named Aguilar, who had accompanied him from Castile, as his
+successor. "What malignities and slanders," exclaims Diaz, "were now
+circulated against Cortez by his enemies in Mexico!" The faithful
+historian, however, affirms that Leon died of what is now called the
+ship fever. Notwithstanding all these unfortunate appearances, it is
+generally believed that Cortez was not abetting in his death.
+
+Aguilar was a weak and infirm old man, so infirm that "he was obliged
+to drink goat's milk, and to be suckled by a Castilian woman to keep
+him alive." This decrepit septuagenarian could accomplish nothing, and
+after a vacillating and utterly powerless administration of eight
+months, during which time the influence of Cortez was continually
+increasing, he died. The treasurer, Estrada, by the governor's
+testament, was appointed his successor. The affairs of the colony were
+now in a state of great confusion. These new governors were imbecile
+men, totally incapable of command. The popular voice, in this
+emergence, loudly called upon Cortez to assume the helm. Estrada,
+alarmed by this, issued a decree ordering the instant expulsion of
+Cortez from the city of Mexico. Cortez, thus persecuted, resolved to
+return to Spain, and to plead for justice in the court of his
+sovereign. At the same time, he received letters informing him of the
+death of his father, and of the renewed activity of his enemies at
+court.
+
+Purchasing two ships, he stored them with a great abundance of
+provisions, and by a proclamation offered a free passage to any
+Spaniard who could obtain permission from the governor to return to
+Spain. After a voyage of forty days he landed on the shores of his
+country, at the little port of Palos, in the month of December, 1527.
+Cortez immediately sent an express to his majesty, informing him of
+his arrival. In much state he traveled through Seville and Guadeloupe
+to Madrid, winning golden opinions all the way by his courtly manners
+and his profuse liberality.
+
+Upon his arrival at Madrid, he was received by the emperor with great
+courtesy. Cortez threw himself at the feet of his majesty, enumerated
+the services he had performed, and vindicated himself from the
+aspersions of his enemies. The monarch seemed satisfied, ordered him
+to rise, and immediately conferred upon him the title of Marquis of
+the Valley, with a rich estate to support the dignity. Cortez fell
+sick, and the emperor honored him with a visit in person. Many other
+marks of the royal favor Cortez received, which so encouraged him that
+he began to assume haughty airs, and applied to the emperor that he
+might be appointed governor of New Spain. The emperor was displeased,
+declined giving him the appointment, and a coldness ensued. Cortez,
+however, at length regained some favor, and obtained the title of
+Captain General of New Spain, with permission to fit out two ships on
+voyages of discovery to the south seas. He was also entitled to
+receive, as proprietor, one twelfth of the lands he should discover,
+and to rule over the countries he might colonize.
+
+Cortez was now a man of wealth and renown. His manners were highly
+imposing, his conversation was rich and impressive, and his favor at
+court gave him a vast influence. His income amounted to about one
+hundred and twenty thousand dollars a year. There was no family in
+Spain which would not have felt honored by his alliance, and when he
+sought the hand of the young, beautiful, and accomplished niece of the
+Duke of Bejar, his addresses were eagerly accepted. The storm-worn yet
+still handsome cavalier led to the altar his blushing bride so
+glittering with brilliant jewels, cut by the exquisite workmanship of
+the Aztecs, as to excite the envy even of the queen of Charles V.
+
+Cortez soon became weary of a life of idleness and luxury, and longed
+again for the stirring adventures of the New World. Early in the
+spring of 1530, he again embarked, with his wife and mother, for New
+Spain. With his characteristic zeal for the conversion of the natives,
+he took with him twelve reverend fathers of the Church. After a short
+tarry at Hispaniola, he landed at Vera Cruz on the 15th of July. As
+it was feared that Cortez might interfere with the government of the
+country, the Queen of Spain, who was quite displeased that the wife of
+Cortez wore more brilliant jewels than she possessed, had issued an
+edict prohibiting Cortez from approaching within thirty miles of the
+Mexican capital. He accordingly established himself at one of his
+country estates, on the eastern shores of the lake. His renown gave
+him vast influence. From all parts of the country crowds flocked to
+greet him. With regal pomp he received his multitudinous guests, and
+his princely residence exhibited all the splendors of a court. Most of
+the distinguished men of the city of Mexico crossed the lake to
+Tezcuco to pay homage to the conqueror of Mexico. The governor was so
+annoyed by the mortifying contrast presented by his own deserted
+court, that he despotically imposed a fine upon such of the natives of
+the city as should be found in Tezcuco, and, affecting to apprehend a
+treasonable attack from Cortez, made ostentatious preparations for the
+defense of the capital.
+
+For a long time there was an incessant and petty conflict going on
+between Cortez and the jealous government of the colony. At last,
+Cortez became so annoyed by indignities which his haughty spirit
+keenly felt, that he withdrew still farther from the capital, to the
+city of Cuarnavaca, which was situated upon the southern slope of the
+Cordilleras. This was the most beautiful and opulent portion of that
+wide domain which the energy of Cortez had annexed to the Spanish
+crown. Here the conqueror had erected for himself a magnificent palace
+in the midst of his vast estates. The ruins of the princely mansion
+still remain upon an eminence which commands a wide extent of
+landscape of surpassing loveliness. Cortez devoted himself with
+characteristic energy to promoting the agricultural and industrial
+interests of the country. Thousands of hands were guided to the
+culture of hemp and flax. Sugar-mills were reared, and gold and silver
+mines were worked with great success. Cortez thus became greatly
+enriched, but his adventurous spirit soon grew weary of these peaceful
+labors.
+
+In the year 1532, Cortez, at a large expense, fitted out an
+expedition, consisting of two ships, to explore the Pacific Ocean in
+search of new lands. The ships sailed from the port of Acapulco, but,
+to the bitter disappointment of Cortez, the enterprise was entirely
+unsuccessful. The crew mutinied, and took possession of one of the
+ships, and the other probably foundered at sea, for it was never again
+heard from.
+
+But the Marquis of the Valley, with his indomitable spirit of energy
+and perseverance, fitted out another expedition of two ships. This
+adventure was as disastrous as the other. The two captains quarreled,
+and took occasion of a storm to separate, and did not again join
+company. The southern extremity of the great peninsula of California
+was, however, discovered by one of the ships. Here, at a point which
+they called Santa Cruz, a large part of the ship's company were
+massacred by the savages. The storm-battered ships eventually
+returned, having accomplished nothing.
+
+Cortez, still undismayed, prepared for another attempt. He now,
+however, resolved to take command of the ships himself. His celebrity
+induced adventurers from all quarters to seek to join the expedition.
+Three ships were launched upon the bay of Tehuantepec. Many men
+crowded on board, with their families, to colonize the new lands which
+should be discovered. More than twice as many adventurers as the ships
+could carry thronged the port, eager to embark in the enterprise. In
+the month of May, 1537, the squadron set sail upon the calm surface
+of the Pacific, the decks being crowded with four hundred Spaniards
+and three hundred slaves. About an equal number were left behind, to
+be sent for as soon as the first party should be landed at the port of
+their destination.
+
+Sailing in a northwesterly direction, favorable winds drove them
+rapidly across the vast Gulf of California until they arrived at Santa
+Cruz, on the southern extremity of that majestic peninsula. A landing
+was immediately effected, and the ships were sent back to Mexico to
+bring the remaining colonists. Cortez did not take his wife with him,
+but she was left in their princely mansion on the southern slope of
+the Cordilleras. But disasters seemed to accumulate whenever Cortez
+was not personally present. The ships were delayed by head winds and
+by storms. The colonists at Santa Cruz, in consequence of this delay,
+nearly perished of famine. Twenty-three died of privation and hunger.
+At length, in the midst of general murmurings and despair, one of the
+ships returned. It brought, however, but little relief, as the ships
+which were loaded with provisions for the supply of the colonists were
+still missing.
+
+The discontent in the starving colony became so loud, that Cortez
+himself took fifty soldiers and embarked in search of the missing
+ships. With great care he cruised along the Mexican shore, and at last
+found one stranded on the coast of Jalisco, and the other partially
+wrecked upon some rocks. He, however, got them both off, repaired
+them, and brought them, laden with provisions, to the half-famished
+colony at Santa Cruz.
+
+The imprudent colonists ate so voraciously that a fatal disease broke
+out among them, which raged with the utmost virulence. Many died.
+Cortez became weary of these scenes of woe. The expedition, in a
+pecuniary point of view, had been a total failure, and it had secured
+for the conqueror no additional renown. The Marchioness of the Valley,
+the wife of Cortez, became so anxious at the long absence of her
+husband, that she fitted out two ships to go in search of him. Ulloa,
+who commanded these ships, was so fortunate as to trace Cortez to his
+colony. Cortez not unwillingly yielded to the solicitations of his
+wife and returned to Mexico. He was soon followed by the rest of the
+wretched colonists, and thus disastrously terminated this expedition.
+
+In these various enterprises, Cortez had expended from his private
+property over three hundred thousand crowns, and had received nothing
+in return. As he considered himself the servant of his sovereign, and
+regarded these efforts as undertaken to promote the glory and the
+opulence of Spain, he resolved to return to Castile, to replenish,
+if possible, his exhausted resources from the treasury of the crown.
+He had also sundry disputes with the authorities in Mexico which
+he wished to refer to the arbitration of the emperor. He was a
+disappointed and a melancholy man. His career had been one of violence
+and of blood, and "his ill fortune," says Diaz, "is ascribed to the
+curses with which he was loaded."
+
+Taking with him his eldest son and heir, Don Martin, the child of
+Donna Marina, then but eight years of age, and leaving behind him the
+rest of his family, he embarked in 1540 again to return to his native
+land. The emperor was absent, but Cortez was received by the court and
+by the nation with the highest testimonials of respect. Courtesy was
+lavished upon him, but he could obtain nothing more. For a year the
+unhappy old man pleaded his cause, while daily the victim of hope
+deferred. He might truly have said with Cardinal Wolsey,
+
+     "Had I but served my God with half the zeal
+     I served my king, he would not in mine age
+     Have left me naked to mine enemies."
+
+Cortez soon found himself neglected and avoided. His importunities
+became irksome. Two or three years of disappointment and gloom passed
+heavily away, when, in 1544, Cortez addressed a last and a touching
+letter to the emperor.
+
+"I had hoped," writes the world-weary old man, "that the toils of my
+youth would have secured me repose in my old age. For forty years I
+have lived with but little sleep, with bad food, and with weapons of
+war continually at my side. I have endured all peril, and spent my
+substance in exploring distant and unknown regions, that I might
+spread abroad the name of my sovereign, and extend his sway over
+powerful nations. This I have done without aid from home, and in
+the face of those who thirsted for my blood. I am now aged, infirm,
+and overwhelmed with debt." He concluded this affecting epistle by
+beseeching the emperor to "order the Council of the Indies, with
+the other tribunals which had cognizance of his suits, to come to a
+decision, since I am too old to wander about like a vagrant, but ought
+rather, during the brief remainder of my life, to remain at home and
+settle my account with heaven, occupied with the concerns of my soul
+rather than with my substance."
+
+His appeal was unavailing. For three more weary years he lingered
+about the court, hoping, in the midst of disappointments and
+intermittent despair, to attain his ends. But at last all hope
+expired, and the poor old man, with shattered health and a crushed
+spirit, prepared to return to Mexico in gloom and obscurity to
+die. He had proceeded as far as Seville, when, overcome by debility
+and dejection, he could go no farther. It was soon apparent to all
+that his last hour was at hand. The dying man, with mind still
+vigorous, immediately executed his will. This long document is quite
+characteristic of its author. He left nine children, five of whom were
+born out of wedlock. He remembered them all affectionately in his
+paternal bequests.
+
+He founded a theological seminary at Cojuhacan, in one of the
+provinces of Mexico, for the education of missionaries to preach the
+Gospel among the natives. A convent of nuns he also established in the
+same place, in the chapel of which he wished his remains to be
+deposited. He also founded a hospital in the city of Mexico, to be
+dedicated to Our Lady of the Conception.
+
+In these solemn hours of approaching death, his conscience does not
+appear to have disturbed him at all in reference to his wars of
+invasion and conquest, and the enormous slaughter which they had
+caused, but he was troubled in view of the _slavery_ to which they had
+doomed the poor Mexicans. With dying hand he inscribes the following
+remarkable lines:
+
+     "It has long been a question whether one can conscientiously
+     hold property in Indian slaves. Since this point has not yet
+     been determined, I enjoin it on my son Martin and his heirs
+     that they spare no pains to come to an exact knowledge of
+     the truth, as a matter which concerns the conscience of each
+     one of them no less than mine."
+
+As the noise of the city disturbed the dying man, he was removed to
+the neighboring village of Castilleja. His son, then but fifteen years
+of age, watched over his venerated father, and nursed him with filial
+affection. On the second day of December, fifteen hundred and
+forty-seven, Cortez died, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was
+buried with great pomp in the tomb of the Duke of Medina Sidonia at
+Seville. A vast concourse of the inhabitants of the whole surrounding
+country attended his funeral. Five years after his death, in
+1562, his son Martin removed his remains to Mexico, and deposited
+them, not at Cojuhacan, as Cortez had requested, but in a family vault
+in the monastery at Tezcuco. Here the remains of Cortez reposed for
+sixty-seven years. In 1629 the Mexican authorities decided to transfer
+them to Mexico, to be deposited beneath the church of St. Francis. The
+occasion was celebrated with all the accompaniments of religious and
+military pomp. The bells tolled the funeral knell, and from muffled
+drums and martial bands sublime requiems floated forth over the still
+waters of the lake, as the mortal remains of Cortez were borne over
+the long causeway, where he had displayed such superhuman energy
+during the horrors of the _dismal night_.
+
+Here the ashes of Cortez reposed undisturbed for one hundred and
+sixty-five years, when the mouldering relics were again removed in
+1794, and were more conspicuously enshrined in the Hospital of Our
+Lady of the Conception, which Cortez had founded and endowed. A
+crystal coffin, secured with bars of iron, inclosed the relics, over
+which a costly and beautiful monument was reared.
+
+                         THE END.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:
+
+1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to
+ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this e-text; otherwise,
+every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.
+
+2. The chapter summaries in this text were originally published as
+banners in the page headers, and have been moved to beginning of the
+chapter for the reader's convenience.
+
+3. The title page in the scans used to create this e-text incorrectly
+attributed authorship to Jacob Abbott; all earlier editions and the
+Library of Congress catalog cite John S. C. Abbott as author.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hernando Cortez, by John S. C. Abbott
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERNANDO CORTEZ ***
+
+***** This file should be named 32490-8.txt or 32490-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/9/32490/
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.