CHAPTER VII. UNPRINCIPLED SCHEME OF CORTES.-HIS TREACHEROUS CIIIEFS. OUTRAGE ON THE EMPEROR'S PERSON. CROWN. AFFECTING SCENE. GREAT TRIBUTE OF TREASURE.-RAPACITY OF CORTES. A chapel was erected in the palace of Axayacatl, and mass was daily performed, with unusual decorum and solemnity of deport ment, for the edification of the Aztecs. These, though little moved by the mysterious spectacle, continued to pay the most assiduous and hospitable attention to the thousands of strangers, both Spaniards and hostile Tlascalans, who, uninvited, had thrust themselves within the walls of the capital. But the ambitious mind of the Spanish leader, aiming at the immediate subjugation of the country, as the only means of attaining the countenance of his sovereign and eluding the vengeance of the incensed Velasquez, was ill at ease, and darkly revolved a plot, "the most daring, politic, and utterly unprincipled, which the mind of man could devise." This was to seize the person of his host, the generous and hospitable Montezuma, and thus gain instant possession of his realm. Solemn prayer and religious service, as usual in any case of extreme audacity or villany, was maintained by the Spaniards all the night previous to the attempt; and Cortes, during the same time, was heard pacing his room unquietly like one unable to rest from anxiety. In the morning, after mass and benediction, the general, with Alvarado, Sandoval, Lujo, Leon, and Avila, five of his bravest captains, repaired to the palace. The emperor was in a joyous mood, and, with his usual liberality, bestowed rich presents on his guests. A number of soldiers, by instruction, had gradually assembled in the court-yard, and Cortes (to use his own words), "after conversing with him in a sportive manner on agreeable topics, and receiving at his hand some jewels of gold, and one of his own daughters," abruptly changed his tone, and accused his host of the murder of two Span iards, lately killed by one Quaupopoca, an Aztec chief, in the neigh. bourhood of Vera Cruz. Montezuma, with every appearance of surprise, declared that he would examine the case, and pulling off his signet, dispatched orders that all concerned in the affair should be transmitted for trial to the capital. His design of a quarrel thus foiled, Cortes at last, with what civility he could, broached his insidious project, inviting the emperor, as a mark of confidence, to take up his abode in the Spanish quarters. Perceiving his danger, the unhappy sovereign turned pale, but pres ently, with a haughty flush on his face, replied, "When was it ever heard that a great prince, like myself, voluntarily left his palace to become a prisoner in the hands of strangers? If I should consent to such a degradation," he continued, in answer to their arguments, "my subjects never would." For two hours he resisted their vile importunity, but at length, threatened with assassination by the fierce Velasquez de Leon, was compelled to yield. Escorted amid the dense ranks of the Spaniards, he quitted his palace, never to return; and the people, who would have rescued him, were quieted by the assurance (which, to preserve some shadow of his dignity, he gave them) that the Spaniards were his friends, and that he was going with them of his own accord. In justice to Cortes, his end attained, he omitted no attention or show of deference to his captive. Much of the royal establishment was removed to the fortified palace of Axayacatl, where he held his court, and governed his empire nearly as usual. The nobleness, generosity, and affability of his demeanour, appear to have inspired the highest admiration and affection in his captors; but they guarded him with the utmost strictness, well knowing that if their imperial hostage were once free, the whole Aztec population would rise in arms against them. The accused cacique, Quaupopoca, ere long arrived at court, with fifteen other chiefs, all participant in the act of hostility. Their fate was committed to Cortes, or rather usurped by him, and practising a cruelty, the continually repeated disgrace of the Spanish name, he caused them all to be burned alive in front of the palace. Their funeral pyres were composed of a vast quantity of arrows and javelins, taken from the royal arsenal, to diminish the danger of an attack from the citizens. While this atrocious sentence, which the victims underwent with true Indian fortitude, was carried into execution, Cortes, with an attendant, bearing fetters, entered the chamber of the unfortunate Montezuma. With harsh reproaches, VOL. III.-9 he ordered them to be fastened to the feet of his captive, and then abruptly quitted him. That unhappy prince, for the first time really awakened to the terrific nature of his fall, uttered low and half-sup. pressed moans, while his attendants, weeping, held his feet in their arms, and tried, by inserting their mantles, to mitigate the harsh contact of the naked iron. The chiefs reduced to ashes, Cortes rëentered the apartment, and took off the chains with his own hands. The spirit of his captive was completely broken, and he thencefor ward submitted like a child to nearly every requirement of his conqueror. * * * "There is, perhaps, hardly a passage in history more curious than this transaction in the capital of the Aztecs-and could the damning accompaniments of treachery, ingratitude, and cruelty be left out, it might stand as the most splendid example of policy, boldness, and success that ever was recorded. Its effect, for a time, was certainly to put the Spaniards in complete possession of the government of all Mexico. Little compunction seems to have been felt by the actors, exultant in success. Diaz, fifty years afterwards, writes: 'Now that I am old, I frequently revolve and reflect on the events of that day, which appear to me as fresh as if they had just passed, such is the impression they have made upon my mind. I say, it was not we who did these things, but that all was guided by the hand of God. There is much food for meditation in this,""&c. The caciques and princes of Mexico, unprepared to prevent the unexpected seizure of their lord, and still uncertain of his exact relations with the Spaniards, though deeply concerned at his detention, continued, for the most part, to pay him the most loyal obedience. Chief among the few who felt the true degradation of the empire, and resolved on attempting its deliverance, was his young nephew Cacama, the prince of Tezcuco. Next to Montezuma, he was the most powerful lord in Mexico, his capital (Tezcuco) containing an hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, and though by the ambition of his brother Ixtlilxochitl, despoiled of a portion of his territory, was an enemy by no means to be despised. With the brother of the emperor and a few other great lords, he now conspired to restore the imprisoned monarch to liberty, and drive the wizard Spaniards and the hated Tlascalans from the land. To the demands of Cortes that he should give in his allegiance to the king, and to his treacherous invitations to visit the capital, this high-spir ited prince replied that "he knew nothing of the Spanish sovereign |