Hernando Cortez Part 4

On the eighth day an emba.s.sy arrived at the camp from the Mexican capital. Two n.o.bles 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 emba.s.sadors 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 emba.s.sadors 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 emba.s.sadors, as they retired, a.s.sured 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 emba.s.sadors 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 emba.s.sadors 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 n.o.blemen 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 G.o.ds 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 princ.i.p.al 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 emba.s.sadors 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 mult.i.tude. Cortez and his companions were left alone. The long hours of the tropical day pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sault. 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 a.s.sure 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, a.s.sented 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 a.s.sured 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 a.s.sembled the princ.i.p.al 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 a.s.sembled for the organization of the government. As soon as the a.s.sembly 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 t.i.tle. 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 a.s.sembled 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 a.s.sumed 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 sh.o.r.e 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 pa.s.s through Zempoalla by the way.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 pa.s.sionate 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 s.p.a.cious 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 n.o.bles 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 s.p.a.cious court-yard of the temple a.s.signed 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 a.s.sault 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 pa.s.sed 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 G.o.ds.

Cortez a.s.sumed 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 Caesar, 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 pa.s.sed. 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 a.s.sist 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 a.s.sured 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 a.s.sure 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 emba.s.sy 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 ma.s.s.--The harangue.--The change.