THE · PLIMPTON · PRESS
[W · D · O]
NORWOOD · MASS · U · S · A
Translator’s Preface
The story of the career of Hernando Cortes during his conquest of Mexico is a story of extraordinary courage, undaunted resolution, and hideous cruelty. It is a story of the subjection of a “little people,” overcome and enslaved by a superior nation, which, in its lust for gold and territorial aggrandizement, left no methods of stratagem, cunning, military science, and barbarous cruelty untried to achieve its purpose. Granted that the early Emperors of Mexico were tyrannical in their treatment of the natives and that their religious rites were accompanied by human sacrifices and cannibalism, Mexican cruelty pales before the horrible scenes enacted by so-called civilized Spain in this dreadful Mexican drama. The three principal figures are Hernando Cortes, Montezuma, and Guatemozin—Cortes, the conqueror; Montezuma, the weak-spirited Emperor, victim of his own people’s fury; Guatemozin, the patriot. Cortes was a born adventurer, and in his youth possessed of skill in all military exercises. He was a man of consummate cunning and captivating address, of soaring ambition and marked ability as an administrator and general. Apparently he never knew what it was to fear, and consequently no danger was great enough to appall him. He was so skilled in stratagem that no situation was devious enough to prevent its solution. He had the same greed of gold as all Spaniards of his day had, and no means of obtaining it were considered dishonorable as long as they were successful. But courageous, resolute, and ambitious as Cortes was, he will go down through the ages branded with infamy for his treatment of Montezuma, for the frightful massacres at Cholula and Otumba, for his execution of Guatemozin, last of the Aztec Emperors, for the burning of caciques and chiefs which he ordered, and for the countless atrocities of his men which he permitted. In his old age, like Columbus, he suffered from the neglect of an ungrateful Court, but, while we can sympathize with Columbus in that situation, we can feel no sympathy for Cortes as we recall the black chapters of his career.
G. P. U.
Chicago, July, 1911.
Contents
Chapter Page I [Velasquez in Cuba—Hernandez de Cordova Discovers Yucatan—The Natives on the Mainland are Hostile—Grijalva Advances from Yucatan farther Northward—He is the First European to Step upon Mexican Soil] 11 II [The Youth of Cortes—His Voyage to San Domingo and Settlement There—Cortes under Velasquez in Cuba—He Fits Out a Fleet for the Conquest of Mexico] 20 III [Cortes is Regarded as an Enemy by the Natives of Tabasco, and is Forced into a Battle with them—He is Victorious, and they Submit] 30 IV [Cortes Reaches San Juan de Ulloa—His Negotiations for an Understanding with Montezuma, Emperor of Mexico—Disquiet in the Army] 42 V [Founding of the City of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz—Disaffected Caciques Join Cortes—Destruction of a Heathen Temple because of Human Sacrifices—Introduction of Christianity—Cortes Sinks his Fleet after Sending a Vessel to Spain] 55 VI [Cortes’ March to Tlaxcala—Battle and Defeat of the Tlaxcalans—Montezuma’s Messengers] 71 VII [March to the Sacred City of Cholula—The Natives Plot the Destruction of the Spaniards—Cortes Discovers their Treachery and Slaughters Several Thousand Indians—March to Mexico—Montezuma Meets the Strangers and Escorts them to the Capital] 85 VIII [Religious Rites of the Mexicans—Human Sacrifices—The Natives Discover that the Spaniards are not Divine but Human] 96 IX [Montezuma is made a Prisoner—Quauhpopoka and His Leaders Burned—The Mexicans Swear Allegiance to the King of Spain] 104 X [Division of the Spoils—Cortes Attempts to Introduce Christianity—Narvaez is Sent by Velasquez to Depose Cortes—Cortes Advances against Him] 112 XI [Cortes Defeats Narvaez—Meanwhile the Mexicans, Outraged by Alvarado, Rise in Revolt—Cortes Returns] 119 XII [The Mexicans Rise against the Spaniards and Fight with Desperate Courage—Montezuma is Killed—Cortes Struggles Bravely and is in Danger of his Life] 127 XIII [Cortes, about to Retreat, Finds the Causeways Cut—The Spaniards Escape with Heavy Loss—The Tlaxcalans Remain True—Guatemozin is Elected Emperor of Mexico] 136 XIV [Cortes Builds Vessels for a Land and Water Attack—A Conspiracy against his Life is Discovered—The Capital is Attacked] 144 XV [The Spaniards Lose Heavily in Battle—The Prisoners are Sacrificed—Some of Cortes’ Allies Desert but soon Return—The City of Mexico Captured—Guatemozin Attempts Flight but is taken] 153 XVI [Tapia, Commissioned to Depose Cortes, is Induced to Return to Cuba—Cortes is Confirmed as Governor of New Spain—He Goes to Spain and is Ennobled—A Second Visit to Spain Discloses the Fickleness of the Court—He Vainly Begs the Emperor’s Favor—His Death] 162 [Appendix] 168
Illustrations
Page [Cortes and Montezuma]Frontispiece [The Engagement between the Spaniards and the People of Tabasco]32 [Mexican Caciques before Cortes]60 [Meeting of Cortes and Montezuma]94 [Montezuma the Captive of the Spaniards]106 [The Entry of Cortes into Mexico City]158