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$Title{History Of The Conquest Of Mexico
Chapter V. Montezuma Swears Allegiance To Spain.}
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$Author{Prescott, William H.}
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Title:       History Of The Conquest Of Mexico
Book:        Book IV. Residence In Mexico.
Author:      Prescott, William H.

Chapter V. Montezuma Swears Allegiance To Spain.

Royal Treasures. - Their Division. - Christian Worship In The Teocalli. -
Discontents of The Aztecs. (1520.)

     Cortes now felt his authority sufficiently assured to demand from
Montezuma a formal recognition of the supremacy of the Spanish emperor.  The
Indian monarch had intimated his willingness to acquiesce in this, on their
very first interview.  He did not object, therefore, to call together his
principal caciques for the purpose.  When they were assembled, he made them
an address, briefly stating the object of the meeting.  They were all
acquainted, he said, with the ancient tradition that the great Being who had
once ruled over the land had declared, on his departure, that he should
return at some future time and resume his sway.  That time had now arrived.
The white men had come from the quarter where the sun rises, beyond the
ocean, to which the good deity had withdrawn.  They were sent by their master
to reclaim the obedience of his ancient subjects.  For himself, he was ready
to acknowledge his authority.  "You have been faithful vassals of mine,"
continued Montezuma, "during the many years that I have sat on the throne of
my fathers.  I now expect that you will show me this last act of obedience by
acknowledging the great king beyond the waters to be your lord, also, and
that you will pay him tribute in the same manner as you have hitherto done to
me." ^1  As he concluded, his voice was nearly stifled by his emotion, and the
tears fell fast down his cheeks.

[Footnote 1: "Y mucho os ruego, pues a todos os es notorio todo esto, que
assi como hasta aqui a mi me habeis tenido, y obedecido por Senor vuestro, de
aqui adelante tengais, y obedescais a este Gran Rey, pues el es vuestro
natural Senor, y en su lugar tengais a este su Capital: y todos los Tributos,
y Servicios, que fasta aqui a mi me haciades, los haced, y dad a el, porque
yo assimismo tengo de contribuir, y servir con todo lo que me mandare."  Rel.
Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 97.]

     His nobles, many of whom, coming from a distance, had not kept pace with
the changes which had been going on in the capital, were filled with
astonishment as they listened to his words and beheld the voluntary abasement
of their master, whom they had hitherto reverenced as the omnipotent lord of
Anahuac.  They were the more affected, therefore, by the sight of his
distress. ^2  His will, they told him, had always been their law.  It should
be so now; and, if he thought the sovereign of the strangers was the ancient
lord of their country, they were willing to acknowledge him as such still.
The oaths of allegiance were then administered with all due solemnity,
attested by the Spaniards present, and a full record of the proceedings was
drawn up by the royal notary, to be sent to Spain. ^1  There was something
deeply touching in the ceremony by which an independent and absolute monarch,
in obedience less to the dictates of fear than of conscience, thus
relinquished his hereditary rights in favour of an unknown and mysterious
power.  It even moved those hard men who were thus unscrupulously availing
themselves of the confiding ignorance of the natives; and, though "it was in
the regular way of their own business,"  says an old chronicler, "there was
not a Spaniard who could look on the spectacle with a dry eye"! ^2

[Footnote 2: "Lo qual todo les dijo llorando, con las mayores lagrimas, y
suspiros, que un hombre podia manifestar; e assimismo todos aquellos Senores,
que le estaban oiendo, lloraban tanto, que en gran rato no le pudieron
responder."  Ibid., loc. cit.]

[Footnote 1: Solis regards this ceremony as supplying what was before
defective in the title of the Spaniards to the country.  The remarks are
curious, even from a professed casuist: "Y siendo una como insinuacion
misteriosa del titulo que se debio despues al derecho de las armas, sobre
justa provocacion, como lo veremos en su lugar: circunstancia particular, que
concurrio en la conquista de Mejico para mayor justificacion de aquel dominio,
sobre las demas consideraciones generales que no solo hicieron licita la
guerra en otras partes, sino legitima y razonable siempre que se puso en
terminos de medio necesario para la introduccion del Evangelio."  Conquista,
lib. 4, cap. 3.]

[Footnote 2: Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 101. - Solis,
Conquista, loc. cit. - Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 9, cap. 4. -
Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 87. - Oviedo considers the grief of
Montezuma as sufficient proof that his homage, far from being voluntary, was
extorted by necessity.  The historian appears to have seen the drift of
events more clearly than some of the actors in them.  "Y en la verdad si como
Cortes lo dice, o escrivio, passo en efecto, mui gran cosa me parece la
conciencia y liberalidad de Montezuma en esta su restitucion e obediencia al
Rey de Castilla, por la simple o cautelosa informacion de Cortes, que le
podia hacer para ello; Mas aquellas lagrimas con que dice, que Montezuma hizo
su oracion, e amonestamiento, despojandose de su senorio, e las de aquellos
con que les respondieron aceptando lo que les mandaba, y exortaba, y a mi
parecer su llanto queria decir, o ensenar otra cosa de lo que el, y ellos
dixeron; porque las obediencias que se suelen dar a los Principes con riza, e
con camaras; e diversidad de Musica, e leticia, ensenales de placer, se suele
hacer; e no con lucto ni lagrimas, e sollozos, ni estando preso quien
obedece; porque como dice Marco Varron: Lo que por fuerza se da no es
servicio sino robo."  Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 9.]

     The rumour of these strange proceedings was soon circulated through the
capital and the country.  Men read in them the finger of Providence.  The
ancient tradition of Quetzalcoatl was familiar to all; and where it had slept
scarcely noticed in the memory, it was now revived with many exaggerated
circumstances.  It was said to be part of the tradition that the royal line
of the Aztecs was to end with Montezuma; and his name, the literal
signification of which is "sad" or "angry lord," was construed into an omen
of his evil destiny. ^3

[Footnote 3: Gomara, Cronica, cap. 92. - Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom.
ii. p. 256.]

     Having thus secured this great feudatory to the crown of Castile, Cortes
suggested that it would be well for the Aztec chiefs to send his sovereign
such a gratuity as would conciliate his goodwill by convincing him of the
loyalty of his new vassals. ^4  Montezuma consented that his collectors should
visit the principal cities and provinces, attended by a number of Spaniards,
to receive the customary tributes, in the name of the Castilian sovereign.
In a few weeks most of them returned, bringing back large quantities of gold
and silver plate, rich stuffs, and the various commodities in which the taxes
were usually paid.

[Footnote 4: "Pareceria que ellos comenzaban a servir, y Vuestra Alteza
tendria mas concepto de las voluntades, que a su servicio mostraban."  Rel.
Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 98.]

     To this store Montezuma added, on his own account, the treasure of
Axayacatl, previously noticed, some part of which had been already given to
the Spaniards.  It was the fruit of long and careful hoarding, - of
extortion, it may be, - by a prince who little dreamed of its final
destination.  When brought into the quarters, the gold alone was sufficient
to make three great heaps.  It consisted partly of native grains; part had
been melted into bars; but the greatest portion was in utensils, and various
kinds of ornaments and curious toys, together with imitations of birds,
insects, or flowers, executed with uncommon truth and delicacy.  There were,
also, quantities of collars, bracelets, wands, fans, and other trinkets, in
which the gold and feather-work were richly powdered with pearls and precious
stones.  Many of the articles were even more admirable for the workmanship
than for the value of the materials; ^1 such, indeed, - if we may take the
report of Cortes to one who would himself have soon an opportunity to judge
of its veracity, and whom it would not be safe to trifle with, - as no
monarch in Europe could boast in his dominions! ^2

[Footnote 1: Peter Martyr, distrusting some extravagance in this statement of
Cortes, found it fully confirmed by the testimony of others.  "Referunt non
credenda.  Credenda tamen, quando vir talis ad Caesarem et nostri collegii
Indici senatores audeat exscribere.  Addes insuper se multa praetermittere,
ne tanta recensendo sit molestus.  Idem affirmant qui ad nos inae
regrediuntur."  De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.]

[Footnote 2: "Las quales, demas de su valor, eran tales, y tan maravillosas,
que consideradas por su novedad, y estraneza, no tenian precio, ni es de
creer, que alguno de todo los Principes del Mundo de quien se tiene noticia,
las pudiesse tener tales, y de tal calidad."  Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap.
Lorenzana, p. 99. - See, also, Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap.
9, - Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 104.]

     Magnificent as it was, Montezuma expressed his regret that the treasure
was no larger.  But he had diminished it, he said, by his former gifts to the
white men.  "Take it," he added, "Malinche, and let it be recorded in your
annals that Montezuma sent this present to your master." ^3

[Footnote 3: "Dezilde en vuestros anales y cartas: Esto os embia vuestro buen
vassallo Montecuma."  Bernal Diaz, ubi supra.]

     The Spaniards gazed with greedy eyes on the display of riches, ^4 now
their own, which far exceeded all hitherto seen in the New World, and fell
nothing short of the El Dorado which their glowing imaginations had depicted.
It may be that they felt somewhat rebuked by the contrast which their own
avarice presented to the princely munificence of the barbarian chief.  At
least, they seemed to testify their sense of his superiority by the respectful
homage which they rendered him, as they poured forth the fulness of their
gratitude. ^5 They were not so scrupulous, however, as to manifest any
delicacy in appropriating to themselves the donative, a small part of which
was to find its way into the royal coffers.  They clamoured loudly for an
immediate division of the spoil, which the general would have postponed till
the tributes from the remoter provinces had been gathered in. The goldsmiths
of Azcapozalco were sent for to take in pieces the larger and coarser
ornaments, leaving untouched those of more delicate workmanship. Three days
were consumed in this labour, when the heaps of gold were cast into ingots and
stamped with the royal arms.

[Footnote 4:   "Fluctibus auri
               Expleri calor ille nequit."]

[Footnote 5: "Y quado aquello le oyo Cortes, y todos nosotros, estuvimos
espantados de la gran bondad, y liberalidad del gran Montecuma, y con mucho
acato le quitamos todos las gorras de armas, y le diximos, que se lo teniamos
en merced, y con palabras de mucho amor," etc.  Bernal Diaz, ubi supra.]

     Some difficulty occurred in the division of the treasure, from the want
of weights, which, strange as it appears, considering their advancement in the
arts, were, as already observed, unknown to the Aztecs.  The deficiency was
soon supplied by the Spaniards, however, with scales and weights of their own
manufacture, probably not the most exact.  With the aid of these they
ascertained the value of the royal fifth to be thirty-two thousand and four
hundred pesos de oro. ^1 Diaz swells it to nearly four times that amount. ^2
But their desire of securing the emperor's favour makes it improbable that the
Spaniards should have defrauded the exchequer of any part of its due; while,
as Cortes was responsible for the sum admitted in his letter, he would be
still less likely to overstate it.  His estimate may be received as the true
one.

[Footnote 1: Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana p. 99. - This estimate of the
royal fifth is confirmed (with the exception of the four hundred ounces) by
the affidavits of a number of witnesses cited on behalf of Cortes to show the
amount of the treasure.  Among these witnesses we find some of the most
respectable names in the army, as Olid, Ordaz, Avila, the priests Olmedo and
Diaz, - the last, it may be added, not too friendly to the general.  The
instrument, which is without date, is in the collection of Vargas Ponce.
Probanza fecha a pedimento de Juan de Lexalde, MS.]

[Footnote 2: "Eran tres montones de oro, y pesado huvo en ellos sobre
seis cientos mil pesos, como adelante dire, sin la plata, e otras muchas
riquezas."  Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 104.]

     The whole amounted, therefore, to one hundred and sixty-two thousand
pesos de oro, independently of the fine ornaments and jewellery, the value of
which Cortes computes at five hundred thousand ducats more.  There were,
besides, five hundred marks of silver, chiefly in plate, drinking-cups, and
other articles of luxury.  The inconsiderable quantity of the silver, as
compared with the gold, forms a singular contrast to the relative proportions
of the two metals since the occupation of the country by the Europeans. ^3
The whole amount of the treasure, reduced to our own currency, and making
allowance for the change in the value of gold since the beginning of the
sixteenth century, was about six million three hundred thousand dollars, or
one million four hundred and seventeen thousand pounds sterling; a sum large
enough to show the incorrectness of the popular notion that little or no
wealth was found in Mexico. ^4  It was, indeed, small in comparison with that
obtained by the conquerors of Peru.  But few European monarchs of that day
could boast a larger treasure in their coffers. ^5

[Footnote 3: The quantity of silver taken from the American mines has exceeded
that of gold in the ratio of forty-six to one.  (Humboldt, Essai politique,
tom. iii. p. 401.)  The value of the latter metal, says Clemencin, which on
the discovery of the New World was only eleven times greater than that of the
former, has now come to be sixteen times.  (Memorias de la Real Acad. de
Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 20.)  This does not vary materially from Smith's
estimate made after the middle of the last century.  (Wealth of Nations, book
I, chap. II.)  The difference would have been much more considerable, but for
the greater demand for silver for objects of ornament and use.]

[Footnote 4: Dr. Robertson, preferring the authority, it seems, of Diaz,
speaks of the value of the treasure as 600,000 pesos.  (History of America,
vol. ii. pp. 296, 298.)  The value of the peso is an ounce of silver, or
dollar, which, making allowance for the depreciation of silver, represented,
in the time of Cortes, nearly four times its value at the present day.  But
that of the peso de oro was nearly three time that sum, or eleven dollars
sixty-seven cents.  (See ante, p. 152, note 2.)  Robertson makes his own
estimate, so much reduced below that of his original, an argument for
doubting the existence, in any great quantity, of either gold or silver in
the country.  In accounting for the scarcity of the former metal in this
argument, he falls into an error in stating that gold was not one of the
standards by which the value of other commodities in Mexico was estimated
Comp. ante, p. 69.]

[Footnote 5: Many of them, indeed, could boast little on nothing in their
coffers.  Maximilian of Germany, and the more prudent Ferdinand of Spain,
left scarcely enough to defray their funeral expenses.  Even as late as the
beginning of the next century we find Henry IV. of France embracing his
minister, Sully, with rapture when he informed him that, by dint of great
economy, he had 36,000,000 livres - about 1,500,000 pounds sterling - in his
treasury.  See Memoires, du Duc de Sully, tom. iii liv. 27.]

     The division of the spoil was a work of some difficulty.  A perfectly
equal division of it among the Conquerors would have given them more than
three thousand pounds sterling apiece; a magnificent booty!  But one-fifth was
to be deducted for the crown.  An equal portion was reserved for the general,
pursuant to the tenor of his commission.  A large sum was then allowed to
indemnify him and the governor of Cuba for the charges of the expedition and
the loss of the fleet.  The garrison of Vera Cruz was also to be provided for.
Ample compensation was made to the principal cavaliers. The cavalry,
arquebusiers, and cross-bowmen each received double pay.  So that when the
turn of the common soldiers came there remained not more than a hundred pesos
de oro for each; a sum so insignificant, in comparison with their
expectations, that several refused to accept it. ^1

[Footnote 1: "Por ser tan poco, muchos soldados huuo que no lo quisieron
recebir."  Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 105.]

     Loud murmurs now rose among the men.  "Was it for this," they said,
"that we left our homes and families, perilled our lives, submitted to
fatigue and famine, and all for so contemptible a pittance?  Better to have
stayed in Cuba and contented ourselves with the gains of a safe and easy
traffic.  When we gave up our share of the gold at Vera Cruz, it was on the
assurance that we should be amply requited in Mexico We have, indeed, found
the riches we expected; but no sooner seen, than they are snatched from us by
the very men who pledged us their faith!"  The malcontents even went so far
as to accuse their leaders of appropriating to themselves several of the
richest ornaments before the partition had been made; an accusation that
receives some countenance from a dispute which arose between Mexia, the
treasurer for the crown, and Velasquez de Leon, a relation of the governor,
and a favourite of Cortes.  The treasurer accused this cavalier of purloining
certain pieces of plate before they were submitted to the royal stamp.  From
words the parties came to blows.  They were good swordsmen; several wounds
were given on both sides, and the affair might have ended fatally, but for
the interference of Cortes, who placed both under arrest.

     He then used all his authority and insinuating eloquence to calm the
passions of his men.  It was a delicate crisis.  He was sorry, he said, to
see them so unmindful of the duty of loyal soldiers and cavaliers of the
Cross, as to brawl like common banditti over their booty.  The division, he
assured them, had been made on perfectly fair and equitable principles.  As
to his own share, it was no more than was warranted by his commission.  Yet,
if they thought it too much, he was willing to forego his just claims and
divide with the poorest soldier.  Gold, however welcome, was not the chief
object of his ambition.  If it were theirs, they should still reflect that
the present treasure was little in comparison with what awaited them
hereafter; for had they not the whole country and its mines at their
disposal?  It was only necessary that they should not give an opening to the
enemy, by their discord, to circumvent and to crush them.  With these honeyed
words, of which he had good store for all fitting occasions, says an old
soldier, ^1 for whose benefit, in part, they were intended, he succeeded in
calming the storm for the present; while in private he took more effectual
means, by presents judiciously administered, to mitigate the discontents of
the importunate and refractory.  And, although there were a few of more
tenacious temper, who treasured this in their memories against a future day,
the troops soon returned to their usual subordination.  This was one of those
critical conjunctures which taxed all the address and personal authority of
Cortes.  He never shrunk from them, but on such occasions was true to
himself.  At Vera Cruz he had persuaded his followers to give up what was but
the earnest of future gains.  Here he persuaded them to relinquish these
gains themselves.  It was snatching the prey from the very jaws of the lion.
Why did he not turn and rend him?

[Footnote 1: "Palabras muy melifluas; . . . azones mui bien dichas, que las
sabia bien proponer."  Bernal Diaz, ubi supra.]

     To many of the soldiers, indeed, it mattered little whether their share
of the booty were more or less.  Gaming is a deep-rooted passion in the
Spaniard, and the sudden acquisition of riches furnished both the means and
the motive for its indulgence.  Cards were easily made out of old parchment
drum-heads, and in a few days most of the prize-money, obtained with so much
toil and suffering, had changed hands, and many of the improvident soldiers
closed the campaign as poor as they had commenced it.  Others, it is true,
more prudent, followed the example of their officers, who, with the aid of
the royal jewellers, converted their gold into chains, services of plate, and
other portable articles of ornament or use. ^2

[Footnote 2: Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 105, 106. - Gomara,
Cronica, cap. 93. - Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 5.]

     Cortes seemed now to have accomplished the great objects of the
expedition.  The Indian monarch had declared himself the feudatory of the
Spanish.  His authority, his revenues, were at the disposal of the general.
The conquest of Mexico seemed to be achieved, and that without a blow.  But
it was far from being achieved.  One important step yet remained to be taken,
towards which the Spaniards had hitherto made little progress, - the
conversion of the natives.  With all the exertions of Father Olmedo, backed
by the polemic talents of the general, ^3 neither Montezuma nor his subjects
showed any disposition to abjure the faith of their fathers. ^4  The bloody
exercises of their religion, on the contrary, were celebrated with all the
usual circumstance and pomp of sacrifice before the eyes of the
Spaniards.

[Footnote 3: "Ex jureconsulto Cortesius theologus effectus," says
Martyr, in his pithy manner.  De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 4.]

[Footnote 4: According to Ixtlilxochitl, Montezuma got as far on the road to
conversion as the Credo and the Ave Maria, both of which he could repeat; but
his baptism was postponed, and he died before receiving it.  That he ever
consented to receive it is highly improbable.  I quote the historian's words,
in which he further notices the general's unsuccessful labours among the
Indians: "Cortes comenzo a dar orden de la conversion de los Naturales,
diciendoles, que pues eran vasallos del Rey de Espana que se tornasen
Cristianos como el lo era, y asi se comenzaron a Bautizar algunos aunque
fueron muy pocos, y Motecuhzoma aunque pidio el Bautismo, y sabia algunas de
las oraciones como eran el Ave Maria, y el Credo, se dilato por la Pasqua
siguiente, que era la de Resurrection, y fue tan desdichado que nunca alcanzo
tanto bien, y los Nuestros con la dilacion y aprieto en que se vieron, se
descuidaron de que peso a todos mucho muriese sin Bautismo."  Hist. Chich.,
MS., cap. 87.]

     Unable further to endure these abominations, Cortes, attended by several
of his cavaliers, waited on Montezuma.  He told the emperor that the
Christians could no longer consent to have the services of their religion
shut up within the narrow walls of the garrison.  They wished to spread its
light far abroad, and to open to the people a full participation in the
blessings of Christianity.  For this purpose they requested that the great
teocalli should be delivered up, as a fit place where their worship might be
conducted in the presence of the whole city.

     Montezuma listened to the proposal with visible consternation.  Amidst
all his troubles he had leaned for support on his own faith, and, indeed, it
was in obedience to it that he had shown such deference to the Spaniards as
the mysterious messengers predicted by the oracles.  "Why," said he,
"Malinche, why will you urge matters to an extremity, that must surely bring
down the vengeance of our gods, and stir up an insurrection among my people,
who will never endure this profanation of their temples?" ^1

[Footnote 1: "O Malinche, y como nos quereis echar a perder a toda esta
ciudad, porque estaran mui enojados nuestros Dioses contra nosotros, y aun
vuestras vidas no se en que pararan."  Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista,
cap. 107.]

     Cortes, seeing how greatly he was moved, made a sign to his officers to
withdraw.  When left alone with the interpreters, he told the emperor that he
would use his influence to moderate the zeal of his followers, and persuade
them to be contented with one of the sanctuaries of the teocalli.  If that
were not granted, they should be obliged to take it by force, and to roll
down the images of his false deities in the face of the city.  "We fear not
for our lives," he added, "for, though our numbers are few, the arm of the
true God is over us."  Montezuma, much agitated, told him that he would
confer with the priests.

     The result of the conference was favourable to the Spaniards, who were
allowed to occupy one of the  sanctuaries as a place of worship.  The tidings
spread great joy throughout the camp.  They might now go forth in open day
and publish their religion to the assembled capital.  No time was lost in
availing themselves of the permission.  The sanctuary was cleansed of its
disgusting impurities.  An altar was raised, surmounted by a crucifix and the
image of the Virgin.  Instead of the gold and jewels which blazed on the
neighbouring pagan shrine, its walls were decorated with fresh garlands of
flowers; and an old soldier was stationed to watch over the chapel and guard
it from intrusion.

     When these arrangements were completed, the whole army moved in solemn
procession up the winding ascent of the pyramid.  Entering the sanctuary, and
clustering round its portals, they listened reverentially to the service of
the mass, as it was performed by the fathers Olmedo and Diaz.  And, as the
beautiful Te Deum rose towards heaven, Cortes and his soldiers, kneeling on
the ground, with tears streaming from their eyes, poured forth their
gratitude to the Almighty for this glorious triumph of the Cross. ^1

[Footnote 1: This transaction is told with more discrepancy than usual by the
different writers.  Cortes assures the emperor that he occupied the temple,
and turned out the false gods by force, in spite of the menaces of the
Mexicans.  (Rel. eg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 106.)  The improbability of this
Quixotic feat startles Oviedo, who nevertheless reports it.  (Hist. de las
Ind., MS., lib. 3, cap. 10.)  It looks, indeed, very much as if the general
was somewhat too eager to set off his militant zeal to advantage in the eyes
of his master.  The statements of Diaz, and of other chroniclers, conformably
to that in the text, seem far the most probable.  Comp. Diaz, Hist. de la
Conquista, ubi supra. - Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 6. -
Argensola, Anales, lib. 1, cap. 88.]

     It was a striking spectacle, - that of these rude warriors lifting up
their orisons on the summit of this mountain temple, in the very capital of
heathendom, on the spot especially dedicated to its unhallowed mysteries.
Side by side the Spaniard and the Aztec knelt down in prayer; and the
Christian hymn mingled its sweet tones of love and mercy with the wild chant
raised by the Indian priest in honour of the war-god of Anahuac!  It was an
unnatural union, and could not long abide.

     A nation will endure any outrage sooner than that on its religion.  This
is an outrage both on its principles and its prejudices; on the ideas
instilled into it from childhood, which have strengthened with its growth,
until they become a part of its nature, - which have to do with its highest
interests here and with the dread hereafter.  Any violence to the religious
sentiment touches all alike, the old and the young, the rich and the poor,
the noble and the plebeian.  Above all, it touches the priests, whose
personal consideration rests on that of their religion, and who, in a semi
civilized state of society, usually hold an unbounded authority.  Thus it was
with the Brahmins of India, the Magi of Persia, the Roman Catholic clergy in
the Dark Ages, the priests of Ancient Egypt and Mexico.

     The people had borne with patience all the injuries and affronts
hitherto put on them by the Spaniards.  They had seen their sovereign dragged
as a captive from his own palace, his ministers butchered before his eyes,
his treasure seized and appropriated, himself in a manner deposed from his
royal supremacy.  All this they had seen, without a struggle to prevent it.
But the profanation of their temples touched a deeper feeling, of which the
priesthood were not slow to take advantage. ^2

[Footnote 2: "Para mi yo tengo por marabilla, e grande, la mucha paciencia de
Montezuma, y de los Indios principales, que assi vieron tratar sus Templos, e
Idolos: Mas su disimulacion adelante se mostro ser otra cosa viendo, que vna
Gente Extrangera, e de tan poco numero, les prendio su Senor e porque formas
los hacia tributarios, e se castigaban e quemaban los principales, e se
aniquilaban y disipaban sus templos, e hasta en aquellos y sus antecesores
estaban.  Recia cosa me parece soportarla contanta quietud; pero adelante,
como lo dira la Historia, mostro el tiempo lo que en el pecho estaba oculto
en todos los Indios generalmente."  Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
cap. 10.]

     The first intimation of this change of feeling was gathered from
Montezuma himself.  Instead of his usual cheerfulness, he appeared grave and
abstracted, and instead of seeking, as he was wont, the society of the
Spaniards, seemed rather to shun it.  It was noticed, too, that conferences
were more frequent between him and the nobles, and especially the priests.
His little page, Orteguilla, who had now picked up a tolerable acquaintance
with the Aztec, contrary to Montezuma's usual practice, was not allowed to
attend him at these meetings.  These circumstances could not fail to awaken
most uncomfortable apprehensions in the Spaniards.

     Not many days elapsed, however, before Cortes received an invitation, or
rather a summons, from the emperor to attend him in his apartment.  The
general went with some feelings of anxiety and distrust, taking with him
Olid, captain of the guard, and two or three other trusty cavaliers.
Montezuma received them with cold civility, and, turning to the general, told
him that all his predictions had come to pass.  The gods of his country had
been offended by the violation of their temples.  They had threatened the
priests that they would forsake the city if the sacrilegious strangers were
not driven from it, or rather sacrificed on the altars in expiation of their
crimes. ^1  The monarch assured the Christians it was from regard for their
safety that he communicated this; and, "if you have any regard for it
yourselves," he concluded, "you will leave the country without delay.  I have
only to raise my finger, and every Aztec in the land will rise in arms
against you."  There was no reason to doubt his sincerity.  For Montezuma,
whatever evils had been brought on him by the white men, held them in
reverence as a race more highly gifted than his own, while for several, as we
have seen, he had conceived an attachment, flowing, no doubt, from their
personal attentions and deference to himself.

[Footnote 1: According to Herrera, it was the Devil himself who communicated
this to Montezuma, and he reports the substance of the dialogue between the
parties.  (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 9, cap. 6.)  Indeed, the apparition of
Satan in his own bodily presence, on this occasion, is stoutly maintained by
most historians of the time.  Oviedo, a man of enlarged ideas on most
subjects, speaks with a little more qualifications on this: "Porque la Misa y
Evangelio, que predicaban y decian los christianos, le [al Diablo] daban gran
tormento; y debese pensar, si verdad es, que esas gentes tienen tanta
conversacion y comunicacion con nuestro adversario, como se tiene por cierto
en estas Indias, que no le podia a nuestro enemigo placer con los misterios y
sacramentos de la sagrada religion christiana."  Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib.
33, cap. 47.]

     Cortes was too much master of his feelings to show how far he was
startled by this intelligence.  He replied, with admirable coolness, that he
should regret much to leave the capital so precipitately, when he had no
vessels to take him from the country.  If it were not for this, there could
be no obstacle to his leaving it at once.  He should also regret another step
to which he should be driven, if he quitted it under these circumstances, -
that of taking the emperor along with him.

     Montezuma was evidently troubled by this last suggestion.  He inquired
how long it would take to build the vessels, and finally consented to send a
sufficient number of workmen to the coast, to act under the orders of the
Spaniards; meanwhile, he would use his authority to restrain the impatience
of the people, under the assurance that the white men would leave the land
when the means for it were provided.  He kept his word.  A large body of
Aztec artisans left the capital with the most experienced Castilian
shipbuilders, and, descending to Vera Cruz, began at once to fell the timber
and build a sufficient number of ships to transport the Spaniards back to
their own country.  The work went forward with apparent alacrity.  But those
who had the direction of it, it is said, received private instructions from
the general to interpose as many delays as possible, in hopes of receiving
in the meantime such reinforcements from Europe as would enable him to
maintain his ground. ^1

[Footnote 1: "E Cortes proveio de maestros e personas que entendiesen en la
labor de los Navios, e dixo despues a los Espanoles desta manera: Senores y
hermanos, este Senor Montezuma quiere que nos vamos de la tierra, y conviene
que se hagan Navios.  Id con estos Indios e cortese la madera; e entretanto
Dios nos provehera de gente e socorro; por tanto, poned tal dilacion que
parezca que haceis algo y se haga con ella lo que nos conviene; e siempre me
escrivid e avisad que tales estais en la Montana, e que no sientan los Indios
nuestra disimulacion.  E asi se puso por obra."  (Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind.,
MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.)  So, also, Gomara, (Cronica, cap. 95.)  Diaz denies
any such secret orders, alleging that Martin Lopez, the principal builder,
assured him they made all the expedition possible in getting three ships on
the stocks.  Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 108.]

     The whole aspect of things was now changed in the Castilian quarters.
Instead of the security and repose in which the troops had of late indulged,
they felt a gloomy apprehension of danger, not the less oppressive to the
spirits that it was scarcely visible to the eye; - like the faint speck just
descried above the horizon by the voyager in the tropics, to the common gaze
seeming only a summer cloud, but which to the experienced mariner bodes the
coming of the hurricane.  Every precaution that prudence could devise was
taken to meet it.  The soldier, as he threw himself on his mats for repose,
kept on his armour.  He ate, drank, slept, with his weapons by his side.  His
horse stood ready caparisoned, day and night, with the bridle hanging at the
saddle-bow.  The guns were carefully planted so as to command the great
avenues.  The sentinels were doubled, and every man, of whatever rank, took
his turn in mounting guard.  The garrison was in a state of siege. ^2  Such
was the uncomfortable position of the army when, in the beginning of May
1520, six months after their arrival in the capital, tidings came from the
coast which gave greater alarm to Cortes than even the menaced insurrection
of the Aztecs.

[Footnote 2: "I may say without vaunting," observes our stout-hearted old
chronicler, Bernal Diaz, "that I was so accustomed to this way of life, that
since the conquest of the country I have never been able to lie down
undressed, or in a bed; yet I sleep as sound as if I were on the softest
down.  Even when I make the rounds of my encomienda, I never take a bed with
me, unless, indeed, I go in the company of other cavaliers, who might impute
this to parsimony.  But even then I throw myself on it with my clothes on.
Another thing I must add, that I cannot sleep long in the night without
getting up to look at the heavens and the stars, and stay a while in the open
air, and this without a bonnet or covering of any sort on my head.  And,
thanks to God, I have received no harm from it.  I mention these things,
that the world may understand of what stuff we, the true Conquerors, were
made, and how well drilled we were to arms and watching.  "Hist. de la
Conquista, cap. 108.]