Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/90

70 the winds, of which profanation the authorities were said to be aware, but either unwilling or unable to prevent it. Others contrived to forestall the threatened violation, and from 1823 the body of Cortes disappeared. Señor Garcia Icazbalceta wrote to Mr. Henry Harrisse upon the subject saying:

The place of the present sepulture of Cortes is wrapped in mystery. Don Lucas Alaman has told the history of the remains of this great man. Without positively saying so, he lets it be understood that they were taken to Italy.

It is generally believed that the bones of Cortes are in Palermo. But some persons insist that they are still in Mexico, hidden in some place absolutely unknown. Notwithstanding the friendship with which Senor Alaman has honoured me, I never could obtain from him a positive explanation; he would always find some pretext to change the conversation.

Señor Alaman's description of what occurred in 1823 is substantially as follows:

Early in the year 1822 discussions began in the Mexican Congress, in which the project of destroying the monument in the hospital (of Jesus) chapel was mooted; in the month of August of that year, Father Mier, in the hope of forestalling the intended desecration, proposed that the monument should be transferred to the National Museum. The following year, 1823, was marked by the transport to the capital of the remains of the patriots who had proclaimed the independence of 1810, and certain newspapers published violent articles, inciting the people to celebrate this event by rifling the tomb of the Conqueror, and burning his body at St. Lazaro. Fearing the execution of this threat, which would have left an indelible stain on the national honour, the Vicar General directed the chaplain of the hospital to conceal the body in a secure place, and both Señor Alaman himself and Count Fernando Lucchesi, who represented the Duke of Terranova's interests in