menu_book Chapter 50

CHAPTER V. Cortes revisits Mexico, retires to his estates, his voyages of discovery, final return to Castile, cold reception, death of Cortes, his character. Early in the spring of 1530 Cortes embarked for New Spain. He was accompanied by the marchioness, his wife, together with his aged mother, who had the good fortune to live to see her son's elevation, and by a magnificent retinue of pages and attendants, such as belonged to the

household of a powerful noble. How different from the forlorn condition in which, twenty-six years before he had been cast loose as a wild adventurer to seek his bread upon the waters. The first point of his destination was Hispaniola, where he was to remain until he received tidings of the organization of the new government that was to take charge of Mexico. In the preceding chapter it was stated that the administration of the country had been entrusted to a body called

the Royal Audience, one of whose first duties it was to investigate the charges brought against Cortés. Núñez de Guzmán, his avowed enemy, was placed at the head of this board, and the investigation was conducted with all the rancour of personal hostility. A remarkable document still exists, called the Pesquisa Secreta, or Secret Inquiry, which contains a record of the proceedings against Cortes. The charges are eight in number, involving, among other crimes, that of a deliberate

design to cast off his allegiance to the crown, that of the murder of two of the commissioners who had been sent out to supersede him, of the murder of his own wife, Catalina Juarez, of extortion and of licentious practices, of offences in short which, from their private nature would seem to have little to do with his conduct as a public man. The testimony is vague and often contradictory. The witnesses are for the most part obscure individuals, and the few

persons of consideration among them appear to have been taken from the ranks of his decided enemies. When it is considered that the inquiry was conducted in the absence of Cortes before a court, the members of which were personally unfriendly to him, and that he was furnished with no specification of the charges, and had no opportunity of disproving them, it is impossible at this distance of time to attach any importance to this paper as a legal document. When it is

added that no action was taken on it by the government to whom it was sent, we may be disposed to regard it as a monument of the malice of his enemies. The high-handed measures of the audience, and the oppressive conduct of Guzman, especially towards the Indians, excited general indignation in the colony, and led to serious apprehensions of an insurrection. It became necessary to supersede an administration so reckless and unprincipled, but Cortés was detained

two months at the island by the slow movements of the Castilian court, before the tidings reached him of the appointment of a new audience for the government of the country. The person selected to preside over it was the Bishop of San Domingo, a prelate whose acknowledged wisdom and virtue gave favourable augury for the conduct of his administration. After this Cortes resumed his voyage, and landed at Villarica on the 15th of July, 1530. An edict issued by the Empress during

her husband's absence had interdicted Cortes from approaching within ten leagues of the Mexican capital, while the present authorities were there. The Empress was afraid of a collision between the parties. Cortes, however, took up his residence on the opposite side of the lake, at Tezcuco. no sooner was his arrival there known in the metropolis than multitudes both of spaniards and natives crossed the lake to pay their respects to their old commander to offer him their services and to complain of their manifold grievances it seemed as if the whole population of the capital was pouring into the neighbouring city where the marquis maintained the state of an independent potentate

the members of the audience indignant at the mortifying contrast which their own diminished court presented imposed heavy penalties on such of the natives as should be found in tezkuko and affecting to consider themselves in danger made preparations for the defence of the city but these belligerent movements were terminated by the arrival of the new audience though guzman had the address to maintain his hold on a northern province where he earned a reputation for cruelty and extortion unrivalled even in the annals of the new world everything seemed now to assure a tranquil residence to cortez the new magistrates treated him with marked respect and took his advice on the most important measures of government unhappily this state of things did not long continue and a misunderstanding arose between the parties in respect to the enumeration of the vassals assigned by the crown to cortez which the marquis thought was made on principles prejudicial to his interests and repugnant to the intentions of the grant he was still further displeased by finding that the audience were entrusted by their commission with a concurrent jurisdiction with himself in military affairs

this led occasionally to an interference which the proud spirit of cortes so long accustomed to independent rule could ill brook after submitting to it for a time he left the capital in disgust no more to return there and took up his residence in the city of cuernavaca it was the place won by his own sword from the aztecs previous to the siege of mexico it stood on the southern slope of the cordilleras and overlooked a wide expanse of country the fairest and most flourishing portion of his own domain he had erected a stately palace on the spot and henceforth made this city his favourite residence it was well situated for superintending his vast estates and he now devoted himself to bringing them into proper cultivation he introduced the sugar-cane from cuba and it grew luxuriantly in the rich soil of the neighbouring lowlands he imported large numbers of merino sheep and other cattle which found abundant pastures in the country around tehuantipec His lands were thickly sprinkled with groves of mulberry trees, which furnished nourishment for the silkworm.

He encouraged the cultivation of hemp and flax, and by his judicious and enterprising husbandry showed the capacity of the soil for the culture of valuable products before unknown in the land. And he turned these products to the best account by the erection of sugar mills and other works for the manufacture of the raw material. He thus laid the foundation of an opulence for his family as substantial if not as speedy as that derived from the mines. Yet this latter source of wealth was not neglected by him, and he drew gold from the region of Tehuantepec and silver from that of Zacatecas.

the amount derived from these mines was not so abundant as at a later day but the expense of working them was much less in the earlier stages of the operation when the metal lay so much nearer the surface but this tranquil way of life did not long content his restless and adventurous spirit and it sought a vent by availing itself of his new charter of discovery to explore the mysteries of the great southern ocean in fifteen twenty seven two years before his return to spain he had sent a little squadron to the moluccas cortez was preparing to send another squadron of four vessels in the same direction when his plans were interrupted by his visit to spain and his unfinished little navy owing to the malice of the royal audience who drew off the hands employed in building it went to pieces on the stocks two other squadrons were now fitted out by cortez in the years fifteen thirty two and fifteen thirty three and sent on a voyage of discovery to the north-west they were unfortunate though in the latter expedition the californian peninsula was reached and a landing effected on its southern extremity at santa cruz probably the modern port la

one of the vessels thrown on the coast of new galicia was seized by guzman the old enemy of cortes who ruled over that territory the crew were plundered and the ship was detained as a lawful prize cortez indignant at the outrage demanded justice from the royal audience and as that body was too feeble to enforce its own decrees in his favour he took redress into his own hands he made a rapid but difficult march on chiametla the scene of guzman's spoliation and as the latter did not care to face his incensed antagonist cortez recovered his vessel though not the cargo he was then joined by the little squadron which he had fitted out from his own port of tajuantepec a port which in the sixteenth century promised to hold the place since occupied by that of acapulco the vessels were provided with everything requisite for planting a colony in the newly discovered region and transported four hundred spaniards and three hundred negro slaves which cortes had assembled for that purpose

with this intention he crossed the gulf the adriatic to which an old writer compares it of the western world our limits will not allow us to go into the details of this disastrous expedition which was attended with no important results either to its projector or to science It may suffice to say that in the prosecution of it, Cortes and his followers were driven to the last extremity by famine, that he again crossed the gulf, was tossed about by terrible tempests, without a pilot to guide him, was thrown upon the rocks, where his shattered vessel nearly went to pieces, and after a succession of dangers and disasters as formidable as any which he had ever encountered on land,

succeeded, by means of his indomitable energy, in bringing his crazy bark safe into the same port of Santa Cruz from which he had started. While these occurrences were passing, the new royal audience, after a faithful discharge of its commission, had been superseded by the arrival of a viceroy, the first ever sent to New Spain. Cortes, though invested with similar powers, had the title only of governor. This was the commencement of the system afterwards pursued by the Crown, of entrusting the colonial administration to some individual whose high rank and personal consideration might make him the fitting representative of Majesty.

The jealousy of the court did not allow the subject, clothed with such ample authority, to remain long enough in the same station to form dangerous schemes of ambition, but at the expiration of a few years he was usually recalled, or transferred to some other province of the vast colonial empire. the person now sent to mexico was don antonio de mendoza a man of moderation and practical good sense and one of that illustrious family who in the preceding reign furnished so many distinguished ornaments to the church to the camp and to letters the long absence of cortez had caused the deepest anxiety in the mind of his wife the marchioness of the valley she wrote to the viceroy immediately on his arrival beseeching him to ascertain if possible the fate of her husband and if he could be found to urge his return the viceroy in consequence despatched two ships in search of cortes but whether they reached him before his departure from santa cruz is doubtful it is certain that he returned safe after his long absence to acapulco and was soon followed by the survivors of his wretched colony undismayed by these repeated reverses cortez still bent on some discovery worthy of his reputation fitted out three more vessels and placed them under the command of an officer named ulloa

this expedition which took its departure in july fifteen thirty nine was attended with more important results ulloa penetrated to the head of the gulf then returning and winding round the coast of the peninsula doubled its southern point and ascended as high as the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth degree of north latitude on its western borders. After this, sending home one of the squadron, the bold navigator held on his course to the north, but was never more heard of. Thus ended the maritime enterprises of Cortes, sufficiently disastrous in a pecuniary point of view, since they cost him three hundred thousand castellanos of gold, without the return of a ducat.

he was even obliged to borrow money and to pawn his wife's jewels to procure funds for the last enterprise thus incurring a debt which increased by the great charges of his princely establishment hung about him during the remainder of his life but though disastrous in an economical view his generous efforts added important contributions to science in the course of these expeditions and those undertaken by cortes previous to his visit to spain the pacific had been coasted from the bay of panama to the rio colorado the great peninsula of california had been circumnavigated as far as to the isle of cedros or ceros into which the name has since been corrupted this vast tract which had been supposed to be an archipelago of islands was now discovered to be a part of the continent and its general outline as appears from the maps of the time was nearly as well understood as at the present day lastly the navigator had explored the recesses of the californian gulf or sea of cortez as in honour of the great discoverer it is with more propriety named by the spaniards

and he had ascertained that instead of the outlet before supposed to exist towards the north this unknown ocean was locked up within the arms of the mighty continent these were the results that might have made the glory and satisfied the ambition of a common man but they are lost in the brilliant renown of the former achievements of cortez notwithstanding the embarrassments of the marquis of the valley he still made new efforts to enlarge the limits of discovery and prepared to fit out another squadron of five vessels which he proposed to place under the command of a natural son don luis but the viceroy mendoza whose imagination had been inflamed by the reports of an itinerant monk respecting an el dorado in the north claimed the right of discovery in that direction Cortes protested against this as an unwarrantable interference with his own powers.

Other subjects of collision arose between them, till the Marquis, disgusted with this perpetual check on his authority and his enterprises, applied for redress to Castile. He finally determined to go there to support his claims in person, and to obtain, if possible, remuneration for the heavy charges he had incurred by his maritime expeditions, as well as for the spoliation of his property by the royal audience, during his absence from the country, and lastly to procure an assignment of his vassals on principles more comfortable to the original intentions of the grant. With these objects in view, he bade adieu to his family, and taking with him his eldest son and heir, Don Martin, then only eight years of age, he embarked from Mexico in 1540, and, after a favorable voyage, again set foot on the shores of his native land. The Emperor was absent from the country, but Cortes was honourably received in the capital, where ample accommodations were provided for him and his retinue. When he attended the Royal Council of the Indies to urge his suit, he was distinguished by uncommon marks of respect.

The President went to the door of the hall to receive him, and a seat was provided for him among the members of the Council. But all evaporated in this barren show of courtesy. justice proverbially slow in spain did not mend her gate for cortes and at the expiration of a year he found himself no nearer the attainment of his object than on the first week after his arrival in the capital in the following year fifteen forty one we find the marquis of the valley embarked as a volunteer in the memorable expedition against algiers charles v on his return to his dominions laid siege to that stronghold of the mediterranean corsairs cortez accompanied the forces destined to meet the emperor and embarked on board the vessel of the admiral of castile but a furious tempest scattered the navy and the admiral's ship was driven a wreck upon the coast

cortez and his son escaped by swimming but the former in the confusion of the scene lost the inestimable set of jewels noticed in the preceding chapter on arriving in castile cortez lost no time in laying his suit before the emperor his applications were received by the monarch with civility a cold civility which carried no conviction of its sincerity His position was materially changed since his former visit to the country. More than ten years had elapsed, and he was now too well advanced in years to give promise of serviceable enterprise in future. Indeed, his undertakings of late had been singularly unfortunate.

Even his former successes suffered the disparagement natural to a man of declining fortunes. They were already eclipsed by the magnificent achievements in Peru, which had poured a golden tide into the country, that formed a striking contrast to the streams of wealth that, as yet, had flowed in but scantily from the silver mines of Mexico. Cortes had to learn that the gratitude of a court has reference to the future much more than to the past. He stood in the position of an importunate suitor, whose claims, however just, are too large to be readily allowed. He found, like Columbus, that it was possible to deserve too greatly.

In the month of February 1544 he addressed a letter to the Emperor. It was the last he ever wrote him, soliciting his attention to his suit. He begins by proudly alluding to his past services to the crown, and beseeching his sovereign to order the Council of the Indies, with the other tribunals which had cognizance of his suits, to come to a decision,

since he was too old to wander about like a vagrant, but ought rather, during the brief remainder of his life, to stay at home and settle his account with heaven, occupied with the concerns of his soul rather than with his substance. This appeal to his sovereign, which has something in it touching from a man of the haughty spirit of Cortes, had not the effect

to quicken the determination of his suit. He still lingered at the court from week to week, and from month to month, beguiled by the deceitful hopes of the litigant, tasting all that bitterness of the soul which arises from hope deferred. After three years more passed in this unprofitable and humiliating occupation, he resolved to leave his ungrateful country and return to Mexico. He had proceeded as far as Seville, accompanied by his son, when he fell ill of an indigestion

caused probably by irritation and trouble of mind. This terminated in dysentery, and his strength sank so rapidly under the disease that it was apparent his mortal career was drawing towards its close. He prepared for it by making the necessary arrangements for the settlement of his affairs. He had made his will some time before, and he now executed it. It is a very long document, and in some respects a remarkable one. The bulk of his property was entailed to his son Don Martin,

then fifteen years of age. In the testament he fixes his majority at twenty-five, but at twenty his guardians were to allow him his full income, to maintain the state becoming his rank. In a paper accompanying the will, Cortes specified the names of the agents to whom he had committed the management of his vast estates scattered over many different provinces, and he requests his executors to confirm the nomination, as these agents have been selected by him from a knowledge

of their peculiar qualifications. Nothing can better show the thorough supervision which, in the midst of pressing public concerns, he had given to the details of his widely extended property. He makes a liberal provision for his other children, and a generous allowance to several old domestics and retainers in his household. By another clause he gives away considerable sums in charity, and he applies the revenues of his estates in the city of Mexico

to establish and permanently endow three public institutions, a hospital in the capital, which was to be dedicated to Our Lady of the Conception, a college in Coahuacan for the education of missionaries to preach the gospel among the natives, and a convent in the same place for nuns. To the chapel of this convent, situated in his favourite town, he orders that his own body shall be transported for burial, in whatever quarter of the world he may happen to die.

After declaring that he has taken all possible care to ascertain the amounts of tributes formerly paid by his Indian vassals to their native sovereigns, he enjoins on his heir that, in case those which they have hitherto paid shall be found to exceed the right valuation, he shall restore them a full equivalent. In another clause he expresses a doubt whether it is right to exact personal service from the natives,

and commands that strict inquiry shall be made into the nature and value of such services as he had received, and that in all cases a fair compensation shall be allowed for them lastly he makes this remarkable declaration 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 deeply concerns the conscience of each of them no less than mine cortes names as his executors and as guardians of his children the duke of medina sidonia the marquis of astorga and the count of aguilar for his executors in mexico he appoints his wife the marchioness the archbishop of toledo and two other prelates the will was executed at seville eleventh of october fifteen forty seven

finding himself much incommoded as he grew weaker by the presence of visitors to which he was necessarily exposed at seville he withdrew to the neighbouring village of castilleja de la cuesta attended by his son who watched over his dying parent with filial solicitude cortez seems to have contemplated his approaching end with the composure not always to be found in those who have faced death with indifference on the field of battle at length having devoutly confessed his sins and received the sacrament he expired on the second of december fifteen forty seven in the sixty-third year of his age the inhabitants of the neighbouring country were desirous to show every mark of respect to the memory of cortes his funeral obsequies were celebrated with due solemnity by a long train of andalusian nobles and of the citizens of seville and his body was transported to the chapel of the monastery san ysidro in that city where it was laid in the family vault of the duke of medina sidonia

in the year fifteen sixty two it was removed by order of his son don martin to new spain not as directed by his will to cojoacan but to the monastery of st francis in tezcuco where it was laid by the side of a daughter and of his mother doa catalina pizarro in sixteen twenty nine the remains of cortes were again removed and on the death of don pedro fourth marquis of the valley it was decided by the authorities of mexico to transfer them to the church of st francis in that capital yet his bones were not permitted to rest here undisturbed and in seventeen ninety four they were removed to the hospital of jesus of nazareth it was a more fitting place since it was the same institution which under the name of our lady of the conception had been founded and endowed by cortes and which with a fate not too frequent in similar charities has been administered to this day on the noble principles of its foundation the mouldering relics of the warrior now deposited in a crystal coffin secured by bars and plates of silver were laid in the chapel and over them was raised a simple monument displaying the arms of the family and surmounted by a bust of the conqueror

executed in bronze by tulsa a sculptor worthy of the best period of the arts unfortunately for mexico the tale does not stop here in eighteen twenty three the patriot mob of the capital in their zeal to commemorate the era of the national independence and their detestation of the old spaniards prepared to break open the tomb which held the ashes of cortez and to scatter them to the winds the authorities declined to interfere on the occasion but the friends of the family as is commonly reported entered the vault by night and secretly removing the relics prevented the commission of a sacrilege which must have left a stain not easy to be effaced on the scutcheon of the fair city of mexico cortez had no children by his first marriage by his second he left four a son don martin the heir of his honours and three daughters who formed splendid alliances he left also several natural children whom he particularly mentions in his testament and honourably provides for two of these don martin the son of marina and don luis cortes

attained considerable distinction and were created comendadores of the order of s iago the male line of the marquis of the valley became extinct in the fourth generation the title and estates descended to a female and by her marriage were united with those of the house of terra nova descendants of the great captain consalvo de cordova by a subsequent marriage they were carried into the family of the duke of monteleone a neapolitan noble the present proprietor of these princely honours and of vast domains both in the old and the new world dwells in sicily and boasts a descent such as few princes can boast from two of the most illustrious commanders of the sixteenth century the great captain and the conqueror of mexico the personal history of cortez has been so minutely detailed in the preceding narrative that it will be only necessary to touch on the more prominent features of his character indeed the history of the conquest as i have already had occasion to remark is necessarily that of cortez who is if i may so say not merely the soul but the body of the enterprise present everywhere in person

in the thick of the fight or in the building of the works with his sword or with his musket sometimes leading his soldiers and sometimes directing his little navy the negotiations intrigues correspondence are all conducted by him and like caesar he wrote his own commentaries in the heat of the stirring scenes which form the subject of them his character is marked with the most opposite traits embracing qualities apparently the most incompatible he was avaricious yet liberal bold to desperation yet cautious and calculating in his plans magnanimous yet very cunning courteous and affable in his deportment yet inexorably stern lax in his notions of morality yet not uncommon a sad bigot the great feature in his character was constancy of purpose a constancy not to be daunted by danger nor baffled by disappointment nor wearied out by impediments and delays

he was a knight errant in the literal sense of the word of all the band of adventurous cavaliers whom spain in the sixteenth century sent forth on the career of discovery and conquest there was none more deeply filled with the spirit of romantic enterprise than hernando cortes dangers and difficulties instead of deterring seemed to have a charm in his eyes they were necessary to rouse him to a full consciousness of his powers he grappled with them at the outset and if i may so express myself seemed to prefer to take his enterprises by the most difficult side he conceived at the first moment of his landing in mexico the design of its conquest when he saw the strength of its civilization he was not turned from his purpose when he was assailed by the superior force of narvaith he still persisted in it and when he was driven in ruin from the capital he still cherished his original idea how successfully he carried it into execution we have seen after the few years of repose which succeeded the conquest his adventurous spirit impelled him to that dreary march across the marshes of chiapa

and after another interval to seek his fortunes on the stormy californian gulf when he found that no other continent remained for him to conquer he made serious proposals to the emperor to equip a fleet at his own expense with which he would sail to the moluccas and subdue the spice islands for the crown of castile this spirit of knight-errantry might lead us to undervalue his talents as a general and to regard him merely in the light of a lucky adventurer but this would be doing him an injustice for cortes was certainly a great general if that man be one who performs great achievements with the resources which his own genius has created There is probably no instance in history where so vast an enterprise has been achieved by means apparently so inadequate. He may be truly said to have effected the conquest by his own resources.

If he was indebted for his success to the cooperation of the Indian tribes, it was the force of his genius that obtained command of such materials. He arrested the arm that was lifted to smite him, and made it do battle in his behalf. he beat the tlascalans and made them his staunch allies he beat the soldiers of narvaez and doubled his effective force by it when his own men deserted him he did not desert himself He drew them back by degrees, and compelled them to act by his will, till they were all as one man.

He brought together the most miscellaneous collection of mercenaries who ever fought under one standard. Adventurers from Cuba and the Isles craving for gold. Hidalgos, who came from the old country to win laurels. Broken-down cavaliers, who hoped to mend their fortunes in the new world. vagabonds flying from justice the grasping followers of narvaith and his own reckless veterans men with hardly a common tie and burning with the spirit of jealousy and faction

wild tribes of the natives from all parts of the country who had been sworn enemies from their cradles and who had met only to cut one another's throats and to procure victims for sacrifice men in short differing in race in language and in interests with scarcely anything in common among them yet this motley congregation was assembled in one camp compelled to bend to the will of one man to consort together in harmony to breathe as it were one spirit and to move on a common principle of action it is in this wonderful power over the discordant masses thus gathered under his banner that we recognise the genius of the great commander no less than in the skill of his military operations cortes was not a vulgar conqueror he did not conquer from the mere ambition of conquest if he destroyed the ancient capital of the aztecs it was to build up a more magnificent capital on its ruins if he desolated the land and broke up its existing institutions he employed the short period of his administration in digesting schemes for introducing there a more improved culture and a higher civilization

in all his expeditions he was careful to study the resources of the country its social organization and its physical capacities he enjoined it on his captains to attend particularly to these objects if he was greedy of gold like most of the spanish cavaliers in the new world it was not to hoard it nor merely to lavish it in the support of a princely establishment but to secure funds for prosecuting his glorious discoveries witness his costly expeditions to the gulf of california his enterprises were not undertaken solely for mercenary objects as is shown by the various expeditions he set on foot for the discovery of a communication between the atlantic and the pacific in his schemes of ambition he showed a respect for the interests of science to be referred partly to the natural superiority of his mind but partly no doubt to the influence of early education it is indeed hardly possible that a person of his wayward and mercurial temper should have improved his advantages at the university but he brought away from it a tincture of scholarship seldom found among the cavaliers of the period and which had its influence in enlarging his own conceptions

his celebrated letters are written with a simple elegance that as i have already had occasion to remark have caused them to be compared to the military narrative of csar it will not be easy to find in the chronicles of the period a more concise yet comprehensive statement not only of the events of his campaigns but of the circumstances most worthy of notice in the character of the conquered countries In private life he seems to have had the power of attaching to himself warmly those who are near his person. The influence of this attachment is shown in every page of Bernal Diaz, though his work was written to vindicate the claims of the soldiers in opposition to those of the general.

He seems to have led a happy life with his first wife in their humble retirement in Cuba, and regarded the second, to judge from the expressions in his testament, with confidence and love. yet he cannot be acquitted of the charge of those licentious gallantries which entered too generally into the character of the military adventurer of that day he would seem also by the frequent suits in which he was involved to have been of an irritable and contentious spirit but much allowance must be made for the irritability of a man who had been too long accustomed to independent sway patiently to endure the checks and controls of the petty spirits who were incapable of comprehending the noble character of his enterprises he thought says an eminent writer to silence his enemies by the brilliancy of the new career on which he had entered he did not reflect that these enemies had been raised by the very grandeur and rapidity of his success

he was rewarded for his efforts by the misinterpretation of his motives by the calumnious charges of squandering the public revenues and of aspiring to independent sovereignty but although we may admit the foundation of many of the grievances alleged by cortez yet when we consider the querulous tone of his correspondence and the frequency of his litigation we may feel a natural suspicion that his proud spirit was too sensitive to petty slights and too jealous of imaginary wrongs in the earlier part of the history i have given a description of the person of cortes it may be well to close this review of his character by the account of his manners and personal habits left us by bernal diaz the old chronicler who has accompanied us through the whole course of our narrative and who may now fitly furnish the conclusion of it no man knew his commander better and if the avowed object of his work might naturally lead to a disparagement of cortez this is more than counterbalanced by the warmth of his personal attachment and by that esprit de corps which leads him to take a pride in the renown of his general in his whole appearance and presence says

in his discourse his table his dress in everything in short he had the air of a great lord his clothes were in the fashion of the time he set little value on silk damask or velvet but dressed plainly and exceedingly neat nor did he wear massy chains of gold but simply a fine one of exquisite workmanship from which was suspended a jewel having the figure of our lady the virgin and her precious son with a latin motto cut upon it on his finger he wore a splendid diamond ring and from his cap which according to the fashion of that day was of velvet hung a medal the device of which i do not remember he was magnificently attended as became a man of his rank with chamberlains and majordomos and many pages and the service of his table was splendid with a quantity of both gold and silver plate at noon he dined heartily drinking about a pint of wine mixed with water he supped well though he was not dainty in regard to his food caring little for the delicacies of the table unless indeed on such occasions as made attention to these matters of some consequence

he was acquainted with latin and as i have understood was made bachelor of laws and when he conversed with learned men who addressed him in latin he answered them in the same language he was also something of a poet his conversation was agreeable and he had a pleasant elocution in his attendance on the services of the church he was most punctual devout in his manner and charitable to the poor when he swore he used to say on my conscience and when he was vexed with any one evil betide you with his men he was very patient and they were sometimes impertinent and even insolent when very angry the veins in his throat and forehead would swell but he uttered no reproaches against either officer or soldier he was fond of cards and dice and when he played was always in good humour indulging freely in jests and repartees he was affable with his followers especially with those who came over with him from cuba in his campaigns he paid strict attention to discipline frequently going the rounds himself during the night and seeing that the sentinels did their duty

he entered the quarters of his soldiers without ceremony and chided those whom he found without their arms and accoutrements saying it was a bad sheep that could not carry its own wool on the expedition to honduras he acquired the habit of sleeping after his meals feeling unwell if he omitted it and however sultry or stormy the weather he caused a carpet or his cloak to be thrown under a tree and slept soundly for some time he was frank and exceedingly liberal in his disposition until the last few years of his life when he was accused of parsimony but we should consider that his funds were employed on great and costly enterprises and that none of these after the conquest neither his expedition to honduras nor his voyages to california were crowned with success it was perhaps intended that he should receive his recompense in a better world and i fully believe it for he was a good cavalier most true in his devotions to the virgin to the apostle st peter and to all the other saints such is the portrait which has been left to us by the faithful hand most competent to trace it

of hernando cortes the conqueror of mexico and of book seven and of history of the conquest of mexico