Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/74

54 plain, and the next day the Emperor received him with every mark of favour, raising him up when he would have knelt in the royal presence, and seating him by his side. The moment was an auspicious one, for influences had been at work in his favour. Since the appointment of the new commission of residencia, presided over by the infamous Nuñez de Guzman, which had already left Spain, the Emperor's information as to the real state of things in Mexico and the respective merits of the contending parties, had been much extended and perfected. He consulted Cortes during his stay at Court upon everything pertaining to the new realm; its resources, the natives, their customs, the Spanish colonists, and especially concerning the best means for establishing a stable government, and developing industries and agriculture.

Besides full power to continue his explorations, and the confirmation of his rank of Captain-General, the title of Marques del Valle de Oaxaca was conferred upon Cortes and his descendants, by patents dated July 6, 1529, to which was joined avast grant of lands, comprising twenty-eight towns and villages; one twelfth of all his future discoveries was to be his own. He received the knighthood and habit of Santiago, and when he was confined to his lodgings by illness, the Emperor visited him in person, this latter being such a singular honour, that, as Prescott caustically observes, the Spanish writers of the time seemed to regard it as ample recompense for all he had done and suffered. It does not seem certain that he accepted the knighthood of Santiago, though Herrera says that he had already possessed it since 1525. His reason for his alleged refusal was that no commenda was attached to the dignity, and Alaman (Dissertazione V.) says that while his name is on the rolls of the order, the insignia do not appear either in his arms or his portraits, nor is any mention found of his possession of this grade in the list of his honours.