Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/178

158 receiving from us the oath in the name of Your Royal Highnesses, with the solemnity customary in such cases; after which we assembled the next day in our council and assembly chamber, and, being thus assembled, we sent to summon the Captain Fernando Cortes, and we asked him in the name of Your Royal Highnesses to show us the powers and instructions, which the said Diego Velasquez had given him for coming to these parts. He immediately sent for these, and showed them to us, and, having been seen and read by us, and well examined according to the best of our understanding, it seemed to us that, by those powers and instructions, the said Captain Fernando Cortes, had no longer any authority, and that, they having expired, he could no longer exercise the office of justice, or of captain. It seemed to us, Very Excellent Princes, that, for the sake of peace and concord amongst us, and in order to govern us well, it was necessary to install a person for