disturbances in mexico—return of cortés—distrust of the court—cortés returns to spain—death of sandoval—brilliant reception of cortés—honors conferred on him

1526-1530

the intelligence alluded to in the preceding chapter was conveyed in a letter to cortés from the licentiate zuazo, one of the functionaries to whom the general had committed the administration of the country during his absence. it contained full particulars of the tumultuous proceedings in the capital. no sooner had cortés quitted it, than dissensions broke out among the different members of the provisional government. the misrule increased as his absence was prolonged. at length tidings were received that cortés with his whole army had perished in the morasses of chiapa. the members of the government showed no reluctance to credit this story. they now openly paraded their own authority; proclaimed the general’s death; caused funeral ceremonies to be performed in his honor; took possession of his property wherever they could meet with it, piously devoting a small part of the proceeds to purchasing{200} masses for his soul, while the remainder was appropriated to pay off what was called his debt to the state. they seized, in like manner, the property of other individuals engaged in the expedition. from these outrages they proceeded to others against the spanish residents in the city, until the franciscan missionaries left the capital in disgust, while the indian population were so sorely oppressed that great apprehensions were entertained of a general rising. zuazo, who communicated these tidings, implored cortés to quicken his return. he was a temperate man, and the opposition which he had made to the tyrannical measures of his comrades had been rewarded with exile.[230]

the general, greatly alarmed by this account, saw that no alternative was left but to abandon all further schemes of conquest, and to return at once, if he would secure the preservation of the empire which he had won. he accordingly made the necessary arrangements for settling the administration of the colonies at honduras, and embarked with a small number of followers for mexico.

he had not been long at sea when he encountered such a terrible tempest as seriously damaged his vessel and compelled him to return to port and refit. a second attempt proved equally unsuccessful; and cortés, feeling that his good star had deserted him, saw in this repeated disaster an intimation from heaven that he was not to return.[231] he contented himself, therefore, with sending a trusty{201} messenger to advise his friends of his personal safety in honduras. he then instituted processions and public prayers to ascertain the will of heaven and to deprecate its anger. his health now showed the effects of his recent sufferings, and declined under a wasting fever. his spirits sank with it, and he fell into a state of gloomy despondency. bernal diaz, speaking of him at this time, says that nothing could be more wan and emaciated than his person, and that so strongly was he possessed with the idea of his approaching end that he procured a franciscan habit,—for it was common to be laid out in the habit of some one or other of the monastic orders,—in which to be carried to the grave.[232]

from this deplorable apathy cortés was roused by fresh advices urging his presence in mexico, and by the judicious efforts of his good friend sandoval, who had lately returned, himself, from an excursion into the interior. by his persuasion, the general again consented to try his fortunes on the seas. he embarked on board of a brigantine, with a few followers, and bade adieu to the disastrous shores of honduras, april 25, 1526. he had nearly made the coast of new spain, when a heavy gale threw him off his course and drove him to the island of cuba. after staying there some time to recruit his exhausted strength, he again put to sea, on the 16th of may, and in eight days landed near san juan de ulua, whence he proceeded about five leagues on foot to medellin.{202}

cortés was so much changed by disease that his person was not easily recognized. but no sooner was it known that the general had returned than crowds of people, white men and natives, thronged from all the neighboring country to welcome him. the tidings spread far and wide on the wings of the wind, and his progress to the capital was a triumphal procession. the inhabitants came from the distance of eighty leagues to have a sight of him; and they congratulated one another on the presence of the only man who could rescue the country from its state of anarchy. it was a resurrection of the dead,—so industriously had the reports of his death been circulated, and so generally believed.[233]

at all the great towns where he halted he was sumptuously entertained. triumphal arches were thrown across the road, and the streets were strewed with flowers as he passed. after a night’s repose at tezcuco, he made his entrance in great state into the capital. the municipality came out to welcome him, and a brilliant cavalcade of armed citizens formed his escort; while the lake was covered with barges of the indians, all fancifully decorated with their gala dresses, as on the day of his first arrival among them. the streets echoed to music, and dancing, and sounds of jubilee, as the procession held on its way to the great convent of st. francis, where thanksgivings were offered up for the safe return of the general, who then pro{203}ceeded to take up his quarters once more in his own princely residence.[234] it was in june, 1526, when cortés re-entered mexico; nearly two years had elapsed since he had left it, on his difficult march to honduras,—a march which led to no important results, but which consumed nearly as much time, and was attended with sufferings quite as severe, as the conquest of mexico itself.[235]

cortés did not abuse his present advantage. he, indeed, instituted proceedings against his enemies; but he followed them up so languidly as to incur the imputation of weakness. it is the only instance in which he has been accused of weakness; and, since it was shown in redressing his own injuries, it may be thought to reflect no discredit on his character.[236]

he was not permitted long to enjoy the sweets of triumph. in the month of july he received ad{204}vices of the arrival of a juez de residencia on the coast, sent by the court of madrid to supersede him temporarily in the government. the crown of castile, as its colonial empire extended, became less and less capable of watching over its administration. it was therefore obliged to place vast powers in the hands of its viceroys; and, as suspicion naturally accompanies weakness, it was ever prompt to listen to accusations against these powerful vassals. in such cases the government adopted the expedient of sending out a commissioner, or juez de residencia, with authority to investigate the conduct of the accused, to suspend him in the meanwhile from his office, and, after a judicial examination, to reinstate him in it or to remove him altogether, according to the issue of the trial. the enemies of cortés had been for a long time busy in undermining his influence at court, and in infusing suspicions of his loyalty in the bosom of the emperor. since his elevation to the government of the country they had redoubled their mischievous activity, and they assailed his character with the foulest imputations. they charged him with appropriating to his own use the gold which belonged to the crown, and especially with secreting the treasures of montezuma. he was said to have made false reports of the provinces he had conquered, that he might defraud the exchequer of its lawful revenues. he had distributed the principal offices among his own creatures, and had acquired an unbounded influence, not only over the spaniards, but the natives, who were all ready to do his bidding. he had expended large sums in fortify{205}ing both the capital and his own palace; and it was evident, from the magnitude of his schemes and his preparations, that he designed to shake off his allegiance and to establish an independent sovereignty in new spain.[237]

the government, greatly alarmed by these formidable charges, the probability of which they could not estimate, appointed a commissioner with full power to investigate the matter. the person selected for this delicate office was luis ponce de leon, a man of high family, young for such a post, but of a mature judgment and distinguished for his moderation and equity. the nomination of such a minister gave assurance that the crown meant to do justly by cortés.

the emperor wrote at the same time with his own hand to the general, advising him of this step, and assuring him that it was taken, not from distrust of his integrity, but to afford him the opportunity of placing that integrity in a clear light before the world.[238]

ponce de leon reached mexico in july, 1526. he was received with all respect by cortés and the municipality of the capital; and the two parties interchanged those courtesies with each other which gave augury that the future proceedings would be conducted in a spirit of harmony. unfortunately, this fair beginning was blasted by the death of the commissioner in a few weeks after his arrival, a circumstance which did not fail to afford another item{206} in the loathsome mass of accusation heaped upon cortés. the commissioner fell the victim of a malignant fever, which carried off a number of those who had come over in the vessel with him.[239]

on his death-bed, ponce de leon delegated his authority to an infirm old man, who survived but a few months,{*} and transmitted the reins of govern{207}ment to a person named estrada, or strada, the royal treasurer, one of the officers sent from spain{208} to take charge of the finances, and who was personally hostile to cortés. the spanish residents would have persuaded cortés to assert for himself at least an equal share of the authority, to which they considered estrada as having no sufficient title. but the general, with singular moderation, declined a competition in this matter, and determined to abide a more decided expression of his sovereign’s will. to his mortification, the nomination of estrada was confirmed; and this dignitary soon contrived to inflict on his rival all those annoyances by which a little mind in possession of unexpected power endeavors to assert superiority over a great one. the recommendations of cortés were disregarded, his friends mortified and insulted, his attendants outraged by injuries. one of the domestics of his friend sandoval, for some slight offence, was sentenced to lose his hand; and when the general remonstrated against these acts of violence he was peremptorily commanded to leave the city! the spaniards, indignant at this outrage, would have taken up arms in his defence; but cortés would allow no resistance, and, simply remarking{209} “that it was well that those who at the price of their blood had won the capital should not be allowed a footing in it,” withdrew to his favorite villa of cojohuacan, a few miles distant, to await there the result of these strange proceedings.[240]

{*} [this person, the licentiate marcos de aguilar, showed, during his short tenure of office, much greater zeal and activity than would be inferred from the slight mention of him by historians. prescott has omitted to state that a principal point in the instructions given to ponce de leon related to the question of the repartimientos and other methods of treating the indians, in regard to which he was to obtain the opinions of the authorities and other principal persons and of the dominican and franciscan friars. sir arthur helps, who notices this fact, adds that it “led to no result,” the instructions on this subject to ponce de leon being on his death “forgotten or laid aside.” but a series of documents published by se?or icazbalceta (col. de doc. para la hist. de méxico, tom. ii.) shows, on the contrary, that they were promptly and fully carried out by aguilar, who considered this to be the principal business of the commission, and one, as he wrote to the emperor, requiring despatch, since the very existence of the native population depended on immediate action. he accordingly consulted all the officials, cortés himself included, the other chief residents of the city, such as alvarado and sandoval, and the members of the two religious orders, obtaining written opinions, individual as well as collective, which he transmitted with his own report to the emperor. the great majority of the persons consulted, including all the monks, while differing on some matters of detail, concurred in urging the necessity of the repartimientos and in recommending that they should be made hereditary.

the same result followed an inquiry instituted in 1532 and the following years. among the opinions delivered on that occasion is one deserving of particular notice, both for the manner in which it is enforced and the character of the writer,—fray domingo de batanzos, whose career has been agreeably sketched, though his views on the present matter have been misapprehended, by sir arthur helps. the three objects to be kept in view, he begins by remarking, are the good treatment and preservation of the natives, the establishment and security of the spanish settlers, and the augmentation of the royal revenues. the proper means to be adopted are also threefold: the repartimientos extended and perpetuated, the abandonment of the idea of reserving certain pueblos to be held by the crown and managed by its officers, and the appointment of good governors, since the best measures are of no avail if not ably administered. the objections to the crown’s reserving any pueblos for itself are, that the officers will be employed solely in collecting the tribute, the indians will receive no protection or religious instruction, and the cultivation of the soil will be always degenerating, since no one will have an interest in maintaining or improving its condition. the repartimientos, on the contrary, by giving the holders a direct interest in the better cultivation of the soil and the increase of the people, will insure both these results; and though under this system the royal revenues may be diminished for a time, they will in the end be greatly augmented through the general improvement of the country. the great misfortune has been that the authorities at home pursue a policy which directly contravenes their own intentions: wishing to benefit, they destroy; wishing to enrich, they impoverish; wishing to save the indians, they exterminate them. there is needed a man with the mind and resolution of charlemagne or c?sar, to adopt a plan and carry it out. instead of this, the course pursued is that of endless changes and experiments like a perpetual litigation. it is a sure sign that god intends destruction when men are unable to find a remedy. in the present case, well-meaning and holy men have sought one in vain. in his opinion, which he knows will be unheeded, the system which has in it the least evil and the most good is that of hereditary repartimientos, which should be established once for all. in a later letter he says, “the person least deceived about the affairs of this country is i, who know its fate as if i saw it with my eyes and touched it with my hands.” he predicts the extermination of the indians within fifty years. he has always believed and asserted that they would perish, and the laws and measures founded on any other supposition have all been bad. the wonderful thing is, he remarks, with an apparent allusion to las casas, that the men of greatest sanctity and zeal for good are those who have done the most harm. (icazbalceta, col. de doc. para la hist. de méxico, tom. ii.) that the prediction of batanzos has been falsified by the event may be attributed to a variety of causes: the vastness of the country and the comparative density of the native population; the social and industrial habits of the latter, so different from those of more northern tribes; the decline of the spanish power and of that spirit of conquest which, by keeping up a constant stream of emigration and ardor of enterprise, might have led to a conflict of races; and the sedulous protection afforded to the indians by the government and the church. their welfare was the object of constant investigation and a long series of enactments. slavery was in their case entirely abolished. the repartimientos were made hereditary, but the rights and power of the encomenderos were carefully restricted, and the personal services at first exacted were ultimately commuted for a fixed tribute. living together in communities which resembled so many small republics, governed by their own laws and chiefs, guided and protected by the priests, exempt from military service and all the burdens imposed by the state on the rest of the population, the indians constituted, down to the period of independence, a separate and privileged class, despised, it is true, but not oppressed, by the superior race.—k.]

the suspicions of the court of madrid, meanwhile, fanned by the breath of calumny, had reached the most preposterous height. one might have supposed that it fancied the general was organizing a revolt throughout the colonies and meditated nothing less than an invasion of the mother country. intelligence having been received that a vessel might speedily be expected from new spain, orders were sent to the different ports of the kingdom, and even to portugal, to sequestrate the cargo, under the expectation that it contained remittances to the general’s family which belonged to the crown; while his letters, affording the most luminous account of all his proceedings and discoveries, were forbidden to be printed. fortunately, however, three letters, constituting the most important part of the conqueror’s correspondence, had been given to the public, some years previous, by the indefatigable press of seville.

the court, moreover, made aware of the incompetency of the treasurer, estrada, to the present delicate conjuncture, now intrusted the whole affair of the inquiry to a commission dignified with the title of the royal audience of new spain. this body was clothed with full powers to examine into the charges against cortés, with instructions{210} to send him back, as a preliminary measure, to castile,—peacefully if they could, but forcibly if necessary. still afraid that its belligerent vassal might defy the authority of this tribunal, the government resorted to artifice to effect his return. the president of the indian council was commanded to write to him, urging his presence in spain to vindicate himself from the charges of his enemies, and offering his personal co-operation in his defence. the emperor further wrote a letter to the audience, containing his commands for cortés to return, as the government wished to consult him on matters relating to the indies, and to bestow on him a recompense suited to his high deserts. this letter was intended to be shown to cortés.[241]

but it was superfluous to put in motion all this complicated machinery to effect a measure on which cortés was himself resolved. proudly conscious of his own unswerving loyalty, and of the benefits he had rendered to his country, he was deeply sensible to this unworthy requital of them, especially on the very theatre of his achievements. he determined to abide no longer where he was exposed to such indignities, but to proceed at once to spain, present himself before his sovereign, boldly assert his innocence, and claim redress for his wrongs and a just reward for his services. in the close of his letter to the emperor, detailing the painful expedition to honduras, after enlarging on the magnificent schemes he had entertained of discovery in the south sea, and vindicating himself from the charge of a too lavish expenditure, he{211} concludes with the lofty yet touching declaration “that he trusts his majesty will in time acknowledge his deserts; but, if that unhappily shall not be, the world at least will be assured of his loyalty, and he himself shall have the conviction of having done his duty; and no better inheritance than this shall he ask for his children.”[242]

no sooner was the intention of cortés made known, than it excited a general sensation through the country. even estrada relented; he felt that he had gone too far, and that it was not his policy to drive his noble enemy to take refuge in his own land. negotiations were opened, and an attempt at a reconciliation was made, through the bishop of tlascala. cortés received these overtures in a courteous spirit, but his resolution was unshaken. having made the necessary arrangements, therefore, in mexico, he left the valley, and proceeded at once to the coast. had he entertained the criminal ambition imputed to him by his enemies, he might have been sorely tempted by the repeated offers of support which were made to him, whether in good or in bad faith, on the journey, if he would but reassume the government and assert his independence of castile. but these disloyal advances he rejected with the scorn they merited.[243]{212}

on his arrival at villa rica he received the painful tidings of the death of his father, don martin cortés, whom he had hoped so soon to embrace after his long and eventful absence. having celebrated his obsequies with every mark of filial respect, he made preparations for his speedy departure. two of the best vessels in the port were got ready and provided with everything requisite for a long voyage. he was attended by his friend the faithful sandoval, by tápia, and some other cavaliers most attached to his person. he also took with him several aztec and tlascalan chiefs, and among them a son of montezuma, and another of maxixca, the friendly old tlascalan lord, both of whom were desirous to accompany the general to castile.{*} he carried home a large collection of plants and minerals, as specimens of the natural resources of the country; several wild animals, and birds of gaudy plumage; various fabrics of delicate workmanship, especially the gorgeous feather-work; and a number of jugglers, dancers, and buffoons, who greatly astonished the europeans by the marvellous facility of their performances, and were thought a suitable present for his holiness the pope.[244] lastly, cortés displayed his magnificence in a rich treasure of jewels, among which{213} were emeralds of extraordinary size and lustre, gold to the amount of two hundred thousand pesos de oro, and fifteen hundred marks of silver. “in fine,” says herrera, “he came in all the state of a great lord.”[245]

{*} [in order to increase the number of his retinue, and thereby to impress the people of spain with a sense of his importance, cortés offered free passage and maintenance to all who wished to accompany him to the court of his sovereign.—m.]

after a brief and prosperous voyage, cortés came in sight once more of his native shores, and, crossing the bar of saltes, entered the little port of palos in may, 1528,{*}—the same spot where columbus had landed five-and-thirty years before, on his return from the discovery of the western world. cortés was not greeted with the enthusiasm and public rejoicings which welcomed the great navigator; and, indeed, the inhabitants were not prepared for his arrival. from palos he soon proceeded to the convent of la rabida, the same place, also, within the hospitable walls of which columbus had found a shelter. an interesting circumstance is mentioned by historians, connected with his short stay at palos. francisco pizarro, the conqueror of peru, had arrived there, having come to spain to solicit aid for his great enterprise.[246] he was then in the commencement of his brilliant career, as cortés might be said to be at the{214} close of his. he was an old acquaintance, and a kinsman, as is affirmed, of the general, whose mother was a pizarro.[247] the meeting of these two extraordinary men, the conquerors of the north and of the south in the new world, as they set foot, after their eventful absence, on the shores of their native land, and that, too, on the spot consecrated by the presence of columbus, has something in it striking to the imagination. it has accordingly attracted the attention of one of the most illustrious of living poets, who, in a brief but beautiful sketch, has depicted the scene in the genuine coloring of the age.[248]

{*} [sandoval (carlos v. i. 895) and gomara (hist. mexico, p. 283) make cortés to have landed in the latter part of the year 1528.—m.]

while reposing from the fatigues of his voyage, at la rabida, an event occurred which afflicted cortés deeply and which threw a dark cloud over his return. this was the death of gonzalo de sandoval, his trusty friend, and so long the companion of his fortunes. he was taken ill in a wretched inn at palos, soon after landing;{*} and his malady gained ground so rapidly that it was evident his constitution, impaired, probably, by the extraordinary fatigues he had of late years undergone, would be unable to resist it. cortés was instantly sent for, and arrived in time to administer the last consolations of friendship to the dying cavalier.{215} sandoval met his approaching end with composure, and, having given the attention which the short interval allowed to the settlement of both his temporal and spiritual concerns, he breathed his last in the arms of his commander.

{*} [while sandoval was lying helpless upon his bed his host entered the room and, supposing him to be asleep, proceeded to examine his luggage. as the sick man feigned sleep in order to escape murder, the other broke open the treasure-box, took therefrom the bars of gold, and fled with his booty to portugal. no trace of him could afterward be found.—m.]

sandoval died at the premature age of thirty-one.[249] he was in many respects the most eminent of the great captains formed under the eye of cortés. he was of good family, and a native of medellin, also the birthplace of the general, for whom he had the warmest personal regard. cortés soon discerned his uncommon qualities, and proved it by uniformly selecting the young officer for the most difficult commissions. his conduct on these occasions fully justified the preference. he was a decided favorite with the soldiers; for, though strict in enforcing discipline, he was careful of their comforts and little mindful of his own. he had nothing of the avarice so common in the castilian cavalier, and seemed to have no other ambition than that of faithfully discharging the duties of his profession. he was a plain man, affecting neither the showy manners nor the bravery in costume which distinguished alvarado, the aztec tonatiuh. the expression of his countenance was open and manly; his chestnut hair curled close to his head; his frame was strong and sinewy. he had a lisp in his utterance, which made his voice somewhat indistinct. indeed, he was no speaker; but, if slow of speech, he was prompt and energetic in action. he had precisely the qualities which fitted him for{216} the perilous enterprise in which he had embarked. he had accomplished his task; and, after having escaped death, which lay waiting for him in every step of his path, had come home, as it would seem, to his native land, only to meet it there.

his obsequies were performed with all solemnity by the franciscan friars of la rabida, and his remains were followed to their final resting-place by the comrades who had so often stood by his side in battle. they were laid in the cemetery of the convent, which, shrouded in its forest of pines, stood, and may yet stand, on the bold eminence that overlooks the waste of waters so lately traversed by the adventurous soldier.[250]

it was not long after this melancholy event that cortés and his suite began their journey into the interior. the general stayed a few days at the castle of the duke of medina sidonia, the most powerful of the andalusian lords, who hospitably entertained him, and, at his departure, presented him with several noble arabian horses. cortés first directed his steps towards guadalupe, where he passed nine days, offering up prayers and causing masses to be performed at our lady’s shrine for the soul of his departed friend.

before his departure from la rabida, he had written to the court, informing it of his arrival in the country. great was the sensation caused there by the intelligence; the greater, that the late reports of his treasonable practices had made it wholly unexpected. his arrival produced an immediate change of feeling. all cause of jealousy{217} was now removed; and, as the clouds which had so long settled over the royal mind were dispelled, the emperor seemed only anxious to show his sense of the distinguished services of his so dreaded vassal. orders were sent to different places on the route to provide him with suitable accommodations, and preparations were made to give him a brilliant reception in the capital.

meanwhile, cortés had formed the acquaintance at guadalupe of several persons of distinction, and among them of the family of the comendador of leon, a nobleman of the highest consideration at court. the general’s conversation, enriched with the stores of a life of adventure, and his manners, in which the authority of habitual command was tempered by the frank and careless freedom of the soldier, made a most favorable impression on his new friends; and their letters to the court, where he was yet unknown, heightened the interest already felt in this remarkable man. the tidings of his arrival had by this time spread far and wide throughout the country; and, as he resumed his journey, the roads presented a spectacle such as had not been seen since the return of columbus. cortés did not usually affect an ostentation of dress, though he loved to display the pomp of a great lord in the number and magnificence of his retainers. his train was now swelled by the indian chieftains, who by the splendors of their barbaric finery gave additional brilliancy, as well as novelty, to the pageant. but his own person was the object of general curiosity. the houses and the streets of the great towns and villages were thronged with{218} spectators, eager to look on the hero who with his single arm, as it were, had won an empire for castile, and who, to borrow the language of an old historian, “came in the pomp and glory, not so much of a great vassal, as of an independent monarch.”[251]

as he approached toledo, then the rival of madrid, the press of the multitude increased till he was met by the duke de bejar, the count de aguilar, and others of his steady friends, who, at the head of a large body of the principal nobility and cavaliers of the city, came out to receive him, and attended him to the quarters prepared for his residence. it was a proud moment for cortés; and distrusting, as he well might, his reception by his countrymen, it afforded him a greater satisfaction than the brilliant entrance which, a few years previous, he had made into the capital of mexico.

the following day he was admitted to an audience by the emperor, and cortés, gracefully kneeling to kiss the hand of his sovereign, presented to him a memorial which succinctly recounted his services and the requital he had received for them. the emperor graciously raised him, and put many questions to him respecting the countries he had conquered. charles was pleased with the general’s answers, and his intelligent mind took great satisfaction in inspecting the curious specimens of indian ingenuity which his vassal had brought with him from new spain. in subsequent conversa{219}tions the emperor repeatedly consulted cortés on the best mode of administering the government of the colonies, and by his advice introduced some important regulations, especially for ameliorating the condition of the natives and for encouraging domestic industry.

the monarch took frequent opportunity to show the confidence which he now reposed in cortés. on all public occasions he appeared with him by his side; and once, when the general lay ill of a fever, charles paid him a visit in person, and remained some time in the apartment of the invalid. this was an extraordinary mark of condescension in the haughty court of castile; and it is dwelt upon with becoming emphasis by the historians of the time, who seem to regard it as an ample compensation for all the sufferings and services of cortés.[252]

the latter had now fairly triumphed over opposition. the courtiers, with that ready instinct which belongs to the tribe, imitated the example of their master; and even envy was silent, amidst the general homage that was paid to the man who had so lately been a mark for the most envenomed calumny. cortés, without a title, without a name but what he had created for himself, was at once, as it were, raised to a level with the proudest nobles in the land.

he was so still more effectually by the substantial honors which were accorded to him by his sovereign in the course of the following year. by an instrument dated july 6th, 1529, the emperor{220} raised him to the dignity of the marquis of the valley of oaxaca;[253] and the title of “marquis,” when used without the name of the individual, has been always appropriated in the colonies, in an especial manner, to cortés, as the title of “admiral” was to columbus.[254]

two other instruments, dated in the same month of july, assigned to cortés a vast tract of land in the rich province of oaxaca, together with large estates in the city of mexico, and other places in the valley.[255] the princely domain thus granted comprehended more than twenty large towns and villages, and twenty-three thousand vassals. the language in which the gift was made greatly enhanced its value. the preamble of the instrument, after enlarging on the “good services rendered by cortés in the conquest, and the great benefits resulting therefrom, both in respect to the increase of the castilian empire and the advancement of the holy catholic faith,” acknowledges the “sufferings he had undergone in accomplishing this glorious work, and the fidelity and obedience with which, as a good and trusty vassal, he had ever served the crown.”[256] it declares, in conclusion,

[image unavailable.]

fac-simile of the signature of cortés.

{221}

that it grants this recompense of his deserts because it is “the duty of princes to honor and reward those who serve them well and loyally, in order that the memory of their great deeds should be perpetuated, and others be incited by their example to the performance of the like illustrious exploits.” the unequivocal testimony thus borne by his sovereign to his unwavering loyalty was most gratifying to cortés,—how gratifying, every generous soul who has been the subject of suspicion undeserved will readily estimate. the language of the general in after-time shows how deeply he was touched by it.[257]

yet there was one degree in the scale, above which the royal gratitude would not rise. neither the solicitations of cortés, nor those of the duke de bejar and his other powerful friends, could prevail on the emperor to reinstate him in the government of mexico. the country, reduced to tranquillity, had no longer need of his commanding genius to control it; and charles did not care to place again his formidable vassal in a situation which might revive the dormant spark of jealousy and distrust. it was the policy of the crown to employ one class{222} of its subjects to effect its conquests, and another class to rule over them. for the latter it selected men in whom the fire of ambition was tempered by a cooler judgment naturally, or by the sober influence of age. even columbus, notwithstanding the terms of his original “capitulation” with the crown, had not been permitted to preside over the colonies; and still less likely would it be to concede this power to one possessed of the aspiring temper of cortés.

but, although the emperor refused to commit the civil government of the colony into his hands, he reinstated him in military command. by a royal ordinance, dated also in july, 1529, the marquis of the valley was named captain-general of new spain and of the coasts of the south sea. he was empowered to make discoveries in the southern ocean, with the right to rule over such lands as he should colonize,[258] and by a subsequent grant he was to become proprietor of one-twelfth of all his discoveries.[259] the government had no design to relinquish the services of so able a commander. but it warily endeavored to withdraw him from the scene of his former triumphs, and to throw open a new career of ambition, that might stimulate him still further to enlarge the dominions of the crown.

thus gilded by the sunshine of royal favor, “rivalling,” to borrow the homely comparison of an old chronicler, “alexander in the fame of his ex{223}ploits, and crassus in that of his riches,”[260] with brilliant manners, and a person which, although it showed the effects of hard service, had not yet lost all the attractions of youth, cortés might now be regarded as offering an enviable alliance for the best houses in castile. it was not long before he paid his addresses, which were favorably received, to a member of that noble house which had so steadily supported him in the dark hour of his fortunes. the lady’s name was do?a juana de zu?iga, daughter of the second count de aguilar, and niece of the duke de bejar.[261] she was much younger than himself, beautiful, and, as events showed, not without spirit. one of his presents to his youthful bride excited the admiration and envy of the fairer part of the court. this was five emeralds, of wonderful size and brilliancy. these jewels had been cut by the aztecs into the shapes of flowers, fishes, and into other fanciful forms, with an exquisite style of workmanship which enhanced their original value.[262] they were, not im{224}probably, part of the treasure of the unfortunate montezuma, and, being easily portable, may have escaped the general wreck of the noche triste. the queen of charles the fifth, it is said,—it may be the idle gossip of a court,—had intimated a willingness to become proprietor of some of these magnificent baubles; and the preference which cortés gave to his fair bride caused some feelings of estrangement in the royal bosom, which had an unfavorable influence on the future fortunes of the marquis.

late in the summer of 1529, charles the fifth left his spanish dominions for italy. cortés accompanied him on his way, probably to the place of embarkation; and in the capital of aragon we find him, according to the national historian, exciting the same general interest and admiration among the people as he had done in castile. on his return, there seemed no occasion for him to protract his stay longer in the country. he was weary of the life of idle luxury which he had been leading for the last year, and which was so foreign to his active habits and the stirring scenes to which he had been accustomed. he determined, therefore, to return to mexico, where his extensive property required his presence, and where a new field was now opened to him for honorable enterprise.