tient to have it divided; and Cortes complied with their desire. A fifth part was set apart for the king, another fifth was allotted to Cortes, as commander in chief. The sums advanced by Velasquez, by Cortes, and by some of the officers, towards defraying the expense of fitting out the armament, were then deducted. The remainder was divided among the army in proportion to their different ranks. After all the defalcations, the share of a private man did not exceed twenty pounds ; a sum so much below their expectations, that several of the soldiers rejected it with scorn, and others murmured so loudly at this cruel disappointment of their hopes, that it required all the address of Cortes to appease them.

Cortes had frequently urged Montezuma to renounce his false gods and to embrace Christianity; which he rejected with indignation. The Mexicans adhered tenaciously to their mode of worship, which was ever accompanied with such order and solemnity as to render it an object of the highest veneration. Cortes, finding all his attempts ineffectual to shake the constancy of Montezuma, was so much enraged at his obstinacy, that in a transport of zeal he led out his soldiers to throw down the idols in the temple by force. But the priests taking arms in defence of their altars, and the people crowding with great ardour to support them, Cortes's prudence overruled his zeal, and induced him to desist from his rash attempt, after dislodging the idols from one of the shrines, and placing in their stead an image of the Virgin Mary.

From that time the Mexicans began to meditate how they might expel or destroy the Spaniards, and thought themselves called upon to avenge their insulted deities. The priests and

leading men held frequent consultations with Montezuma for this purpose. But as it might prove fatal to the captive monarch to attempt either the one or the other by violence, he was willing to try more gentle means. Having called Cortes into his presence, he observed, that now, as all the purposes of his embassy were fully accomplished, the gods had declared their will, and the people signified their desire, that he and his followers should instantly depart out of the empire. With this he required them to comply, or unavoidable destruction would fall suddenly on their heads. Cortes,

A. D.

perceiving that avowed opposition might ruin him, replied with seeming composure, that he had already begun to prepare for returning to his own country, but that time was necessary for building other ships. This appeared reasonable, and the Mexicans afforded them assistance in cutting down timber for the purpose. Cortes flattered himself that during this interval he might either find means to avert the threatened danger, or receive such reinforcements as would enable him to despise it. Nine months had elapsed since he had 1520. dispatched messengers to Spain; and he daily expected their return with a confirmation of his authority from the king. While he was reflecting on the danger to which he was exposed, a fleet arrived; but it was what he least wished for: it was from Velasquez, who had given the command of it to Narvaez, with instructions to seize Cortes and his principal officers; to send them prisoners to him, and then complete the discovery and conquest of the country in his name. Cortes, aware of the dangers which presented themselves on all sides, endeavoured to accommodate matters with Narvaez; who treated his overtures with contempt, holding it impossible

that Cortes should be able to resist his power. Presumption always leads to mischievous consequences; in the present instance it gave Cortes a complete victory over his enemies. Narvaez was wounded, made prisoner, and thrown into fetters; his army capitulated, and quietly submitted to their conquerors.

This signal victory proved more acceptable, as it was gained almost without bloodshed; only two soldiers were killed on the side of Cortes. He treated the vanquished not like enemies, but as countrymen and friends, and offered either to send them back to Cuba, or to take them into his service as partners in his fortune, on equal terms with his own soldiers. This latter proposition they almost all closed with, and seemed to vie with each other in professions of fidelity and attachment to a general, whose recent success had given them such a striking proof of his abilities for command. Thus, by a series of events no less fortunate than uncommon, Cortes not only escaped from perdition, which seemed inevitable, but when he least of all expected it, was placed at the head of a thouand Spaniards, ready to follow wherever he should lead them.

This seasonable addition to his army had but just time to enrol themselves under their new leader, before the Mexicans, wearied of their oppressors, attacked them in all quarters. Several times, indeed, were they beaten with prodigious slaughter, but fresh men rushed forward to occupy the places of the slain, who meeting with the same fate were succeeded by others no less intrepid and eager for vengeance. The utmost effort of Cortes's abilities and experience, seconded by the disciplined valour of his troops, was scarcely sufficient to defend the fortifications that surrounded the post where the

Spaniards were stationed, into which the enemy were more than once on the point of forcing their way.

Cortes beheld with wonder the implacable ferocity of a people who seemed at first to submit tamely to the yoke, and had continued so long passive under it. The force of the Mexicans was greatly augmented by fresh troops which poured in continually from the country, and their animo. sity was in no degree abated. They were led by their nobles, inflamed by the exhortations of their priests, and fought in defence of their temples and families, under the eye of their gods, and in presence of their wives and children. After a day of incessant exertion, though vast numbers of the Mexicans were killed, and part of the city burnt, the Spaniards were obliged to retire, with the mortification of having accomplished nothing so decisive as to compensate the unusual calamity of having twelve soldiers killed and above sixty wounded. Another sally made with greater force, was not more effectual, and in it the general himself was wounded in the hand.

Cortes now perceived, too late, the fatal error into which he had been betrayed by his own contempt of the Mexicans, and was satisfied that he' could neither maintain his present station in the centre of an hostile city, nor retire from it without the most imminent danger. One resource still remained, to try what effect the interposition of Montezuma might have to sooth or overawe his subjects. When the Mexicans approached next morning to renew the assault, that unfortunate prince, at the mercy of the Spaniards, and reduced to the sad necessity of becoming the instrument of his own disgrace and of the slavery of his people, adVOL. XXIV. N

vanced to the battlements in his royal robes, and with all the pomp in which he used to appear on solemn occasions. At the sight of their sovereign, whom they had been accustomed to revere as a god, the weapons dropped from their hands, every tongue was silent, all bowed their heads, and many prostrated themselves on the ground. Montezuma addressed them with every argument that could mitigate their rage, or persuade them to cease from hostilities. When he had ended his discourse, a sullen murmur of disapprobation ran through the ranks to this succeeded reproaches and threats: and the fury of the multitude rising in a moment above every restraint of decency or respect, flights of arrows and volleys of stones poured in so violently upon the ramparts, that before the Spanish soldiers, appointed to cover Montezuma with their bucklers, had time to lift them in his defence, two arrows wounded the unhappy monarch, and a blow of a stone on his temple struck him to the ground.

On seeing him fall, the Mexicans passed in a moment from one extreme to the other; remorse succeeded to insult, and they fled with horror, as if the vengeance of heaven were pursuing the crime which they had committed. The Spaniards without molestation, carried Montezuma to his apartment, and Cortes hastened thither to console him under his misfortune: but he indignantly refused. the comfort which was ministered; he scorned to survive his last humiliation, and to protract an ignominious life. In a transport of rage he tore the bandage from his wounds, and refused with such obstinacy to take any nourishment, that he soon ended his days, rejecting with disdain all the solicitations of the Spaniards to embrace the Christian faith.