Rebuilding the city.
"As the city," he continues, "of Tenochtitlan was a place of great celebrity and distinction, and ever memorable, it appeared to me that it would be well to build another town upon its ruins. I therefore distributed the ground among the proposed inhabitants, and appointed alcaldes and regidores in the name of your majesty, according to the custom of your realms; and while the houses were going up, we determined to abide in the city of Cuyoacan, where we at present are. It is now four or five months since the rebuilding of the city was commenced, and it is already very handsome. Your majesty may be assured that it will go on increasing to such a degree that, as it was formerly the capital and mistress of all these provinces, it will still be so hereafter. It is built so far and will be completed in such a manner as to render the Spaniards strong and secure, greatly superior to the natives, and wholly unassailable by them."
Power of Cortez.
The power of Cortez was now unlimited. The whole native population were virtually his slaves. He had the address to secure the friendly co-operation of the principal chiefs, and the Indians, in any numbers which he required, were driven by them to their reluctant toil. The Spaniards assumed the office of overseers, while the natives performed all the menial and painful labor. Timber was cut and dragged by the men of burden from the adjacent forests, and from the ruins of Tenochtitlan the new and beautiful city of Mexico rose as by magic.
Progress of affairs in Spain.
Charles V., King of Spain and Emperor of Germany, was overwhelmed by the cares of his enormous empire. The scenes transpiring far away in the wilderness of the New World, important as they were, could claim but a small share of his attention. Velasquez succeeded in gaining very influential friends at court, and plied all his energies, with untiring diligence, to secure the disgrace of Cortez. Pride, ambition, and revenge alike inspired him to work, if possible, the ruin of the bold adventurer who had set his power at defiance. The sovereign was at this time in Germany, and the reins of government in Spain were temporarily placed in the hands of Adrian, who had been private tutor of the emperor.
Warrant against Cortez.
Influenced by the coadjutors of Velasquez, Adrian issued a warrant, signed at Burgos on the 11th of April, 1521, which, after recapitulating the offenses of which Cortez had been guilty against the majesty of the Spanish government, appointed a commissioner to repair to Mexico, seize the person of Cortez, suspend him from his functions, sequestrate his property, and bring him to trial upon the weighty charges contained in the indictment.
The commissioner.
His reception.
The accomplishment of a task so difficult required a man of consummate tact and energy; but, unfortunately, the agent selected was totally unqualified for his task. Christoval de Tapia, the appointed commissioner, was a feeble, fussy old man, a government inspector of metals in Saint Domingo. He landed at Vera Cruz in December, with his commission in his hand. The authorities there, quite devoted to Cortez, and fully aware that in his fall their fortunes must also decay, threw every obstacle in their power in the path of Tapia. They disputed his credentials, and, by innumerable embarrassments, prevented him from entering the interior.