Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/270

250 of July. The body was deposited with great pomp in the church of St Joseph. Cortés donned deep mourning, as for a father, and most of his followers shared his sincere grief; for the geniality, clear judgment, and impartiality of the deceased had filled them all with the hope of obtaining justice and the desired reward for their services. Cortés in particular had longed for the disprovement of the charges against him, and for a public vindication of his loyalty and good services. He reveals his bitter dissapointmentdisappointment [sic] to the king. For seventeen days, he declared, the residencia had been proclaimed, without bringing forth a single demand against him. This was on account of intimidation, his enemies saId. The charges against him were chiefly rumor. Cortés took the opportunity, however, to review them in a letter to the king, and demonstrate the absurdity of some of them. Whatever the riches acquired by him, he had expended far more for the advancement of the royal interests, so much so that he was now in debt to the extent of half a million of pesos de oro. The domains he had gained for the king were greater in wealth and extent than any so far conquered by others. As a proof of his comparative disinterestedness, he offered to surrender all he possessed, including the rumored two hundred rent-rolls, for a score — ay, half a score — of moderate rentals in Spain.