Page:The Conquest of Mexico Volume 2.djvu/435

 Page 91 (1).—Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 135.—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 106. Dr. Bird, in his picturesque romance of Calavar, had made good use of these mantas, better, indeed, than can be permitted to the historian. He claims the privilege of the romancer; though it must be owned he does not abuse this privilege, for he has studied with great care the costume, manners, and military usages of the natives. He has done for them what Cooper has done for the wild tribes of the North,—touched their rude features with the bright colouring of a poetic fancy. He has been equally fortunate in his delineation of the picturesque scenery of the land. If he has been less so in attempting to revive the antique dialogue of the Spanish cavalier, we must not be surprised. Nothing is more difficult than the skilful execution of a modern antique. It requires all the genius and learning of Scott to execute it so that the connoisseur shall not detect the counterfeit.

Page 92 (1).—Carta del Exército, MS.—Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 140.—Gomara, Cr6mca, cap. 109.

Page 92 (2).—Clavigero is mistaken in calling this the street of Iztapalapan. (Stor. del Messico, tom. iii., p. 129.) It was not the street by which the Spaniards entered, but by which they finally left the city, and is correctly indicated by Lorenzana, as that of Tlacopan,—or rather, Tacuba, into which the Spaniards corrupted the name.

Page 93 (1).—It is Oviedo who finds a parallel for his hero in the Roman warrior; the same, to quote the spirit-stirring legend of Macaulay, "who kept the bridge so well In the brave days of old."

"Worthy indeed is Cortés that his deeds of that day should be compared with that of Horatius Cocles, sung of yore; for by his sole efforts and with his single lance he kept open a passage for the horsemen, brought about the restoration of the bridge, and escaped, despite all the work of his enemies, although with much labour."—Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.

Page 93 (2).—It was a fair leap for a knight and horse in armour. But the general's own assertion to the Emperor (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 142) is fully confirmed by Oviedo, who tells us he had it from several who were present. "According to what I have learned from some who were present, in addition to overcoming the resistance of his foes, he had to jump his horse from one point to another, amidst a continual shower of stones and blows. And though, since both he and his horse were in armour, they received no wound, he was grievously hampered by the blows which they aimed at him."—Hist, de las Ind., MS., ubi supra.

Page 94 (1).—Truly, "dignus vindice nodus! "The intervention of the celestial chivalry on these occasions is testified in the most unqualified manner by many respectable authorities. It is edifying to observe the combat going on in Oviedo's mind between the dictates of strong sense and superior learning, and those of the superstition of the age. It was an unequal combat, with odds sorely against the former, in the sixteenth century.

Page 94 (2).—Camargo, the Tlascalan convert, says, he was told by several of the Conquerors, that Montezuma was baptised at his own desire in his last moments, and that Cortés and Alvarado stood sponsors on the occasion. "Many of the conquistadores whom I knew have told me that, being at the point of death, he asked to receive the baptismal water, and that he was baptised and died a Christian: but there are many opinions and serious doubts concerning this. But, as I say, many credible persons from among the foremost of the conquerors of this land have informed us, and we have learnt from them, that he died a baptised Christian, and that his godfathers were Fernando Cortés and Don Pedro de Alvarado." (Hist, de Tlascala, MS.) According to Gomara, the Mexican monarch desired to be baptised before the arrival of Narvaez. The ceremony was deferred till Easter, that it might be performed with greater effect. But in the hurry and bustle of the subsequent scenes it was forgotten, and he died without the stain of infidelity having been washed away from him. (Crónica, cap. 107.) Torquemada, not often a Pyrrhonist where the