Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/51

Rh off the supremacy of fear, his plan to unite all the discontented elements in the land under his standard, and to overthrow Montezuma by the very instrument his own cruelties and extortions had created, took shape. His first move was to persuade the Cacique of Cempoal to refuse the tribute of twenty men for sacrifice, and to imprison the collectors sent by Montezuma; by this act of open rebellion the Totonac tribes exposed themselves to the summary vengeance of the Aztecs, and were left with the sole hope of alliance with the Spaniards to save themselves from the consequences of their insubordination This much accomplished, the next step was to win the gratitude of the tax collectors, and put Montezuma under obligations. This was done by opposing the Cempoalans' wish to sacrifice the collectors forthwith, and by later arranging for the escape by night of two of them, and sending them to Montezuma with his expressions of regret at the indignities they had suffered, and his assurance to the Emperor that he would also effect the escape of the remaining three. These he held as hostages, for when the escape of the two became known the next day, Cortes feigned great wrath at the negligence of the guards and, in order to secure the remaining prisoners, he put them in irons and sent them on board one of his own caravels. The news of these events spread quickly, and the Totanacs, convinced that the hour of successful revolt against Aztec oppression was at hand, rose as one man against Montezuma, and committed their lives and fortunes to the Spaniards. This result was a diplomatic victory of no mean value.

He next beat the Tlascalans, not into submission but into an alliance, and this pact he cemented by every art of which he was master. The astonishment, which many have lightly expressed, that a mighty state should be so easily invaded and overthrown by a handful of adventurers is considerably lessened when the political and racial