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Show BODKVIII. '-",....,.• - SscT. XV. Letters of Cortes and the armament to the catholick king• H I S T 0 R Y 0 F .1\1 E X I C 0. to cleanfe the wnlls of the temples of thofe difguil:ful ftains of human. blood, which they prcferv ed there as trophies of their religion, and to poli01 and whiten them. He cau.fed an ~l tar to be made after the mode of Chriil:ians, and pla ed the 1mage ot the mofl: holy Mary there. He committed the care of this fanCluary to four Chempoallefe priefis .._ provided they {hould go always drefi(;d in white, in!l:ead of that b.lack melancholy habit which they wore in virtue of their former office. In order that they might never want lights before that fac rcd image, he taught them the ufe of wax, which the bees wrought in their mountains; and that they might not in his abfence replace the idols, or otherwife profane that fanCl:uary, he left .one of his fol die rs, n:uued Juan Torres, behind, who, on account of his age, was of little fervice in war. The eight virgins, as foon as they were fu fficiently in .. il:rutted, received holy baptifm. From Chempoalla Cortes returned to the new colony of Vera-Cru~~ where he had the good fortune to recruit his little army with two other officers and ten foldiers, who had landed there from Cuba; and a little time after he was joined by fix other men, who had been taken by a veifel belonging to Jamaica. Cortes, before he undertook the journey to Mexico, thought proper to tranfmit to his fovereign an account of all that h~d happened to him; and that the news might be more welcome, he tent at the fame time all the gold which had been acquired by the armament, inducing all the foldiers and officers to yield up their {hares for that purpofc. In this letter Cortes aimed at prepofieffing the king againil: the reprefentations which might be made by the governor of· Cltba. Two other letters were alfo written to the king, one fubfcribed by the magi{hates of the new colony, the other by the principal officers of the expedition, in which they requefic:d hjs acceptance and approbation of what they had done for him, and to confirm the offices of General and chief judge, already conferred by their fuffrages, on Cortos, whom they recommended with the moft warm praifes. Thofe two letters,. with the prefent of gold, were fent to Spain by the two captains. A~onfo Hernandez de Portocarrero atld Francifco de Montejo, who fet fall on the 16th of July, 1519. · The • H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. The two commiffioncrs above mentioned were l.11rdly dcpa.rte4 when Cortes, who was continually revolving fome great def1gn in his mind, put a plan in execution, which alone would have been fufficient to have proved his magnanimity of foul, and immortalifed his name. In. order to deprive his foldicrs of every means, and coniequently of every hope of return to Cuba, and to reinforce his lit tle army with all the· failors, after puni{hing two foldiers with death, who had trta<.:heroufly confpired to fly off in one of the veffels, and infliCl:cd a lefs rigorous chafiifement on three of their accomplices, he prevailed by argument and entreaty on fomo of his confidents, and one of the pilots, in whom he placed the utmoil: tru!l:, to pierce one or two of the vdfels fecretly,. to perfuade every one that they had foundered from being worm-eaten, and to make a report to him that the others were no longer fit for fervice on the fame account, having lain three months clafe in port. Cortes availed himfelf of this deceit that his people might not confpire againft him, finding himfelf reduced to the hard neceffity to conquer or die. Every thing was done according to his command, and with the confent of all his peopl~, after having brought the fails, cordage, and every thing elfe which could be of u[e, on iliore. " Thus," fays Robertfon, " by an effort of magnanimity, to which there is nothing " equal in hifiory, :five hundred men agreed of their own free-will to " lhut themtClves up in an enemy's country, full of powerful and un(" known nations, deprived of every means of cfcape, having no u other refource lt£t than their perfcverance and valour." We do not doubt, that nnlefs Cortes had ~xccutcd this defign, the bold undertaking which he was then meditating would have been impoffible ; for the foldiers would have been led to lhun the obfl:acles of danger which every way encounter d them, by flight, and the general himfelf muft have been compelled to follow them. His mind being relieved from this anxiety, having ratified the alliance with the Totonacas, and given proper orders for the fccurity and advancement of the new colony, he prepared for his journ ·y to Mexico. He left fifty tnen in Vera-Cruz under the command of Juan d'Efca} antc, one of the heft officers of the armament, charged the Chempoallefe to affift the Spaniards to complete the building of the fortrefs, and to fupply them with all the provifions they required. He fet out himfelf on the 16th of Augufi: with four hundred and fifteen Spaniili infan- BOOK VIII. ~ S!CT.XVI. Celebrated aetion of Cortea. SrcT. XVII. March of the Spaniards to the country of the Tlaf· c:1lans. • • |