5. When threatened with siege or battle, before commencing we will put to the sword the numerous Europeans in our hands and will then abide the fortunes of war.
6. The American who defends a European with arms will be put to the sword.
Thus was justified the execution of Hidalgo and his chiefs. Whatever sympathy we may feel for the cause, we must admit that the cruelty marking the strife was equally shared and that the fate of Maximilian was foreshadowed.
[539] In estimating the veracity of this curious tale, we must bear in mind that both Fernando VII and Pius VII were at the time prisoners of Napoleon. There was, it is true, a Spanish Regency and the Córtes of Cádiz which used the royal name, but it is inconceivable that, even if it had access to the pope, it would have taken such a precaution at a time when there was no anticipation of rebellion in the colonies.
[540] Medina, pp. 456-61.
[541] Ibidem, pp. 461, 463.
[542] Coleccion de Cédulas etc. de Fernando VII, pp. 8, 85 (Valencia, 1814).
[543] Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libros 877, 890.
[544] Medina, pp. 467-9.
[545] Medina, pp. 469-70.