Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors]

adversely to his fortunes. But, let not the brave mind tremble in adversity. Great men are strengthened by trials, as muscle is made by toil. It is the pressure upon the soul, that makes it speak and work, and bound and glow, in the consciousness of the resources that might else rest in inglorious repose within. The mind of Cortés rose above its difficulties. His good star was not to be baffled. "Fortune," says he, in a letter to Charles the Fifth, "favors the brave. The Spaniards are the followers of the cross. Trusting in the mercy of God, I cannot believe that He will suffer them and His own good cause to perish among them. I am resolved not to descend to the coast, but, at all hazards, to retrace my steps, and once more beard the foe in his capital." How admirably does ambition deceive itself with the words of piety. If Cortés was not a Christian, he certainly believed that he was doing the work of one. And who shall say that he was not? Who shall say that a less determined warrior, a less sanguinary people, could have succeeded in the overthrow of those bloody superstitions which daily im. molated thousands of God-made men, on the shrines of the horrid Moloch of Aztec superstition !

We pass over subordinate events, including his conquest over certain of the Aztec allies and tributaries, in which his followers regained their former confidence in the superiority of their arms. The details are replete with proofs of the wonderful sagacity and resource of their leader. It is not the least remarkable feature in the history of a great conqueror, that the tribes which submit to his arms, are always made faithful by his moderation and justice. His men were recovered from their wounds. They had regained their courage. Fortune had brought unlooked for reinforcements to their strength, and, confident of support from the Tlascalan and other neighboring people, and taught by experience, in what manner to avoid former errors, Cortés prepared to resume his design against Mexico. But the boldest conception of purpose, as essential to his object, was that of framing vessels at Tlascala, to be taken, in pieces, on the shoulders of the tamanes, to the lakes of Mexico. A fleet was to be borne on the shoulders of naked men, across forest and mountain, for a distance of sixty miles, before it could be launched upon its destined waters. The conception was worthy of the genius of a great captain. It is not surpassed in history. Yet, what proof of the prescience of Cortés, that he should,

when commanding the destruction of the fleet at Vera Cruz, have insisted upon the preservation of the iron, the bolts, the sails and cordage. Without this fleet, he could not have succeeded against the capital. While his workmen were busy in its preparation, he commenced his march. His force of Spaniards fell little short of six hundred men. He had been fortunate in adding to his strength, by the acquisition of more than one small body of adventurers, who, cast upon the shores at Vera Cruz, readily agreed to follow his superior fortunes. Forty of his men were horse, eighty arquebusiers and crossbow men-the rest were armed with sword and target, and with a long copper-headed pike which Cortés had borrowed from the people of Chinantla. He had nine pieces of cannon, but his supply of powder was small. To this force was added a multitude of native warriors, from Tlascala, Cholula, Tepeaca, and other territories. Before setting out on his expedition, he published a code of ordinances for his army which remarkably display his character. These insist upon order as the great law, equally divine and human-upon the conversion of the heathen as the great object of the expedition-prohibit blasphemy and gambling, brawls, and private combats, with other laws of a like nature equally calculated to promote discipline, general propriety, temperance and honesty, and to elevate the character of the common soldiery. The ordinances, we may add, were enforced with undeviating severity. The march took place in December. It was tedious and painful, rather than dangerous. Clouds of dusky warriors hung upon his footsteps, but afforded no serious obstacle. His cavalry brushed them from his path, in a few resolute charges. The policy of the Mexicans does not seem to have designed meeting their powerful enemies in open field. Their present sovereign was Guatemozin, a nephew to the last monarch, but very much his superior. His superstitions did not maim his courage. He was young, not more than twenty-five, "elegant," says Bernal Diaz, "in his person, for an Indian, valiant, and so terrible, that his followers trembled in his presence." He had considerable military genius, great sagacity, and if any Aztec could have retrieved the fortunes of his country, and remedied the disasters of the preceding reign, he was the man. He had distinguished himself in battle, and, hating the Spaniards with the sort of religious hate which Hannibal is said to have had against Rome, he

accepted the sovereignty of his country, at a time when its perilous honours might well have discouraged the ambition of the common spirit. He was not unworthy to oppose the genius and the arms of Cortés.

On the 31st December, 1520, the Spaniards once more entered the venerable city of Tezeuco, the once rival capital to Mexico, eminent upon one of the lakes which occupy the basin of Tenochtitlan. The place was comparatively deserted. Its lord had fled, and Cortés elevated another to the throne. His next movement was upon the city of Iztapalapan, which he took after a desperate resistance. But the fierce resolve of the savages, almost converted his victory into a defeat. While the soldiers were engaged in the sack and destruction of the city, the Aztecs had broken down the mole which fenced out the waters of Lake Tezeuco. The country was laid under inundation, and the Spaniards, loaded with booty, and struggling waist deep in the water, were assailed by their enemies, who, swarming the lake with their canoes, assailed them with deadly missiles. Their escape was difficult, and their Indian allies suffered prodigious loss. It was evident to Cortés, not only that the Aztecs were counselled by captains of great character and spirit, but that they had come into the field with that self-sacrificing spirit of patriotism, from which it is scarcely possible to expect too much. It was equally necessary that he should be wary as well as brave.

The fate of Iztapalapan helped his progress. It struck terror to the hearts of the other cities, and gained him allies among the contiguous tribes. Other battles followed, and the town of Chalco was added to his conquests. The war had no respite, and the progress of the Spaniards was continual. Every day gave them new victories and new allies. The policy of Cortés conciliated friends quite as rapidly as his arms overthrew enemies. He extinguished the hereditary feuds of ages, and united tribes in a common object, which had been at variance a thousand years. In the full tide of his successes, he sent an embassy of captive nobles to Mexico, proposing favorable terms for its surrender,proposing the confirmation of Guatemozin in his authority, if the city would return to its allegiance. To this the brave Aztec deigned no answer. His determination was made to defend the empire to the last.

With the arrival of the brigantines from Tlascala, Cortés prepared to prosecute the conquest. There were thirteen vessels of different sizes. They were yet to be put together, rigged, equipped and made ready for service. A canal was to be dug for the purpose,-a work of immense labor; and, while thousands of the allies, and a select body of Spaniards, were assigned these duties at Tezcuco, Cortés resolved on reconnoitering the capital. Early in the spring, he left Tezcuco, with three hundred and fifty Spaniards, and the main strength of his allies. He had advanced but a few leagues, when he was compelled to skirmish with a considerable body of Mexicans. These he drove before him. At the insular town of Xaltocan, a fierce battle took place, in which he was again successful. Other towns were abandoned at his approach,-the enemy hovering in dark masses in sight of his advance. After two fierce conflicts, he occupied the town of Tacuba, a portion of which was burnt by his wild allies. Every day, during his halt in this place, was employed in fighting with the unwearied Aztecs. In one of these combats, which almost uniformly terminated in favor of the Spaniards, the courage of Cortés had nearly led to his destruction. Heated with the ardor of pursuit, he followed the flying foe upon the great causeway which had once been so fatal to his army. He was led into an ambuscade. When far advanced, the Aztecs, strengthened by fresh troops, turned upon him, and swarms of boats suddenly covered the waters on either hand. A storm of missiles, from lake and causeway, rained upon the Spaniards. Nothing but their coolness and indomitable courage, saved them in the retreat. Cortés received, in this affair, another intimation of the superior military conduct of the Aztec warriors. While at Tacuba, he made a second attempt at accommodation with the Indian emperor, but without avail. He was told by the chiefs that Mexico was not now governed by Montezuma! That city was now in a good state of defence. The havoc which had swept its streets was not apparent,-its injuries had been repaired, and the taunts of their warriors invited him once more to penetrate its dangerous passages. He needed no exhortation on this subject. But the time for his battle was not come, and, constantly busy in coercing the towns around, and controlling the avenues to the capital, he waited, with the patience of resolve, the launching of his brigantines. His deeds, meanwhile,

were securing him all the results of fame. His name, and the reputation of his armies, had penetrated the whole country. Ambassadors from Indian States on the remotest shores of the Gulf of Mexico, tendered their allegiance, and sought his protection; and reinforcements of Spaniards-a more important acquisition-reached him from Vera Cruz. Cortés employed himself and men in a second reconnoitering expedition, marked by constant conflicts with the savages, in most of which he was successful. These conflicts were no child's play. They were marked by indomitable courage on the part of the enemy, and dangers to the Spaniards, which tasked all their own courage and the genius of their leader. But their march was onward, and conquest followed their footsteps. Cuernavaca, a mountain city, was taken, after great labor and a sanguinary conflict. A battle followed at Xochimilco, or "the field of flowers," in which Cortés made another narrow escape. In the thick of battle his horse lost footing and fell. Before he could rise, he received a severe blow on his head. It was with difficulty, assisted by a Tlascalan and two of his servants, that he could regain his feet, shake off his enemies, recover his saddle, and brandish his lance in the face of his enemy. But for the desire of the Aztecs to make him prisoner, he could not have escaped. His life was in their hands. The result of the affair was, as usual, a victory to the Spaniards.

This battle was followed by others. Guatemozin made strenuous efforts to recover Xochimilco from the conqueror. His policy was to send detachment after detachment against the Spaniards, so that, even though victorious, they might be wearied out by the war. But he gained nothing by this policy. The successive defeats only served to dispirit his warriors, and confirm them in their belief of Spanish invincibility. Not caring to continue this warfare, Cortés set fire to the captured city, and returned, though not without frequent fighting, to Tacuba, where he found the canal completed, and his brigantines rigged and equipped, and ready to descend upon the lake. But, before this event could take place, another, of less grateful character, was in progress. Cortés returned to Tacuba to discover conspiracy in his army. A dangerous design was set on foot, menacing his authority and life. It was headed by one Villafana, a common soldier. We need not ask his motives. They may be conjectured. The good star of Cortés prevailed for his safety.

« AnteriorContinuar »