The second letter was by the ayuntamiento of Villa Rica, dated July 10, 1519,[240] covering not only the same ground, but giving an account of the voyages of discovery by Córdoba and Grijalva, the reasons for founding a colony, and for Cortés’ appointment. The features of the country, its resources and inhabitants, were touched upon, and the belief expressed that of gold, silver, and precious stones “there is in the land as much as in that where it is said Solomon took the gold for the temple.” Velazquez was exposed as a cruel, dishonest, and incompetent governor, and as such most dangerous to be intrusted with the control of these vast and rich territories. They asked for an investigation to prove the charges, as well as the propriety of their own acts; and concluded by recommending that Cortés, whose character and conduct stamped him a loyal subject and an able leader, be confirmed in his offices, till the conquest of the country, at least, should have been achieved.[241]
The third letter, even longer than this, though of similar tenor, was signed by the representative men in the army,[242] and concluded by praying that their services and hardships be rewarded with grants, and that Cortés be confirmed in the government till the king might be pleased to appoint an infante or a grandee of the highest class, for so large and rich a country ought to be ruled by none else. Should the designing bishop of Búrgos of his accord “send us a governor or captain, before we obey him we shall inform your royal person.” This sentence, which Las Casas characterizes as a “great though sweetened piece of impudence,” and several others not in harmony with Cortés’ own calculated report, were probably the cause for the disappearance of the letter before it reached the emperor.[243]
The messengers or procuradores left the port July 16,[244] and although ordered not to touch Cuba, lest Velazquez should learn of the mission, Montejo could not resist the temptation of taking a peep at his estates at Mariel de Cuba, a port close to Habana. Here they entered August 23, and took supplies and water. This could not of course be done in secret, and swelling with rumor the report reached Velazquez that his flag-ship had come ballasted with gold, to the value of two hundred and seventy thousand pesos. No less alarmed than furious at this proof of the perfidy he had so long feared, he despatched a fast sailing vessel with a strong force under Gonzalo de Guzman, the royal treasurer, to capture her; but she had stayed only three days at Mariel, and then passed safely through the Bahamas Channel, the first to make that passage.[245]
The arrival of the messengers at Seville, in October, created no small stir, and aided by their treasures and reports they became the heroes of the hour. But their triumph was of short duration; for Benito Martin, the chaplain of Velazquez, happened to be at the port. This man at once laid claim to the vessel for his master, denounced the persons on board as traitors, and prevailed upon the Casa de Contratacion to seize the ship, together with the private funds of the commission, as well as certain money sent by Cortés for his father. A still stronger opponent appeared in the person of Fonseca, bishop of Búrgos, whose interest in Velazquez, fostered by a long interchange of favors, was strengthened by a projected marriage of the governor with his niece.[246] Detaining the messengers and their papers by deferred promises and other measures,[247] he filled the royal ear with the most damaging charges against them and their party in behalf of his protégé.
Velazquez had meanwhile been taking testimony against Cortés, and had sent treasurer Guzman to Spain with documents and instructions to join Martin in pressing his suit before the bishop.[248]
Charles V. had been elected emperor, and was busy in Spain raising supplies and making preparations on a vast scale for presenting an appearance in Germany befitting so high a dignity. Previous to embarking for Flanders he was to meet the cortes at Compostela. The messengers from New Spain could afford to lose no more time, and so with the aid of Puertocarrero’s friends and the men opposed to Fonseca, among them the Licenciado Nuñez, relator of the royal council and related to Cortés, they slipped away, and in company with Alaminos and Martin Cortés, managed to be presented to the monarch at Tordesillas, in the beginning of March.[249] The king was not a little pleased with the reports, gilded as they were with the richest presents that had as yet reached him from his American possessions,[250] but he was unfortunately too absorbed with the imperial crown and the preparations for departure to give more than a passing attention to the subject, and still less would he enter into the merits of the claims presented. Finding, however, that Fonseca had not been impartial in the matter, he was prevailed on to refer it to Cardinal Adrian, and the junta of prelates and ministers governing the kingdom during the royal absence, before whom the Council of the Indies had also to lay its reports. The messengers were meanwhile allowed under bond to receive from the seized funds what was needed for their support.[251] The powerful Fonseca managed, however, by misrepresentation and other means, to delay the case, and for about two years it dragged its weary length. And yet, where a man is strong enough to carve out his own fortune, particularly where the administration of strict justice might send his neck to the halter, the law’s delay and its susceptibility to perversion may be most fortunate.
FOOTNOTES
[219] Villa Rica is the name appearing in the first royal charter of 1523, but with later foundations Vera Cruz became the title. Panes, Extension Veracruz, MS., 1 et seq. The municipal council, however, distinctly calls it la Rica Villa de la Veracruz and ought to be the proper authority for the form of name first applied. Carta del Ayunt., in Cortés, Cartas, 1 et seq. ‘Y luego ordenamos de hazer, y fundar, è poblar vna Villa, que se nombró la Villa Rica de la Vera-Cruz; porque llegamos Jueves de la Cena, y desembarcamos en Uiernes Santo de la Cruz, é rica por aquel Cauallero que ... dixo que mirasse las tierras ricas.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 29. ‘Llamola Villa Rica a la nueua poblaciõ, y de la Veracruz, por auer desembarcado el Viernes Sãto, y Rica, por la riqueza que se auia descubierto.’ Herrera, dec. ii. lib. v. cap. vii. Although nominally founded adjacent to San Juan de Ulua, there was no intention to build the town on that unhealthy and dreary spot. The first actual foundation took place at the harbor of Bernal. Nearly five years later the town rose anew on the present Rio de la Antigua, where it became known alone as Vera Cruz. In 1599 the actual or new Vera Cruz found itself finally planted on the very site of the first nominal foundation. The chief reason for this change was probably the need for the better protection against filibusters afforded by the island of San Juan de Ulua, whose batteries commanded the harbor. See Albornoz, Carta al Emperador, Dec., 1525, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 495. The charter for la Nueva Ciudad de la Vera-Cruz was granted July 19, 1615. Calle, Mem. y Not., 68; Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 30; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, i. 27; Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 276-7. Alegre, Hist. Comp. de Jesus, i. 149-50, has some excellent remarks hereon. Few authors, however, are free from blunders with regard to the different sites, even Lorenzana committing more than one. Cortés, Hist. N. España, 381.
[220] ‘Los Hombres mas Poderosos entendian en buscar Lugares en los Montes, y partes mas remotas, para conservar sus Mugeres, Hijos, y Hacienda.’ Torquemada, i. 403.
[221] Inconsolable at the prospect of the strangers acquiring a footing in the country, Montezuma, after vainly searching for admission into the Hades of Cicalco, retired to the abode occupied by him ere he became emperor. Sahagun, Hist. Conq., i. 15-16. One reason for this is said to have been the result of the embassy to the oracle at Achiuhtla, in Miztecapan, which brought back the announcement that the Aztec empire must yield to strangers. Burgoa, Geog. Descrip. Oajaca, pt. ii. 129.