Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/430

310 voluntary rather than an enforced visit. To his more intimate lords and subjects, however, who knew better his condition, and who sometimes urged him to return to his palace, the poor captive would say, "Ah, no! it is the will of the gods that I remain with these men and be guided by their counsel." But on no account must the imperial influence be allowed for the present to decline before the people. The deception must be continued, and the dignity of the sovereign upheld by a deferential attention as profound as that which was shown before his imprisonment. Daily, after prayers, the Spanish general came to pay his respects, attended by several of his captains, more frequently Alvarado, Velazquez, and Ordaz, and to receive the imperial commands with respect to his comforts, pleasures, and duties. On these occasions, and indeed whenever he appeared before the emperor, says Bernal Diaz, Cortés set the example to his followers by doffing his hat and bowing low, and never did he presume to sit in the royal presence until requested to do so.

Yet a most unpleasant reminder to the monarch of his circumscribed authority was the ever present guard in and around his apartments. This was under the command of Juan Velazquez de Leon, who enforced the strictest watch, particularly when it became known that Montezuma's courtiers lost no opportunity to urge escape, and that he lent them a not unwilling ear, despite the professed desire to remain with the Spaniards. Among the several schemes with this object are mentioned bored walls, tunnels beneath the palace, and an attempt by the emperor himself to leap from the summit of the building into a safe receptacle prepared for him.