Selections from "Ferdinand and Isbella," "The Conquest of Mexico" and "The Conquest of Peru."Street and Smith, 1902 - 205 pages |
Common terms and phrases
accused admiral adventure Almagro ample ancient Andalusia arms army Atahuallpa attended authority auto da fé Aztecs body capital Castile Castilian cavaliers ceremony character Christian Christopher Columbus civilization color Columbus command conduct confidence conquerors conquest conspirators conviction Cortés court crown crown of Castile Cuzco dark death deity discovery displayed dressed emperor enemies entered enterprise ered expedition eyes faith favor Felipillo Ferdinand and Isabella forms fortune glorious glory gold and silver Granada hand heart Hispaniola holy office honors iards Inca Indian island king land latter manner ment Mexican Mexico mind monarch Montezuma nation natives natural nobles ornaments palace person Peru Peruvian Pizarro Prescott prince principal probably queen Rada rank received regarded reign religion respect royal says seemed Seville soldiers sovereigns Spain Span Spaniards Spanish spirit square stone subjects success superstition temple Tezcuco tion Tlacopan Torquemada voyage western whole
Popular passages
Page 51 - ... inferred less from the specimens actually obtained than from the uniform testimony of the natives to their abundance in the unexplored regions of the interior. Lastly, he pointed out the wide scope afforded to Christian zeal in the illumination of a race of men whose minds, far from being wedded to any system of idolatry, were prepared by their extreme simplicity for the reception of pure and uncorrupted doctrine.
Page 178 - Do you not see that while we stand here wasting our breath in talking with this dog, full of pride as he is, the fields are filling with Indians ? Set on, at once : I absolve you.
Page 156 - The bodies, clothed in the princely attire which they had been accustomed to wear, were placed on chairs of gold, and sat with their heads inclined downward, their hands placidly crossed over their bosoms...
Page 89 - Quetzalcoatl incurred the wrath of one of the principal gods and was compelled to abandon the country. On his way he stopped at the city of Cholula, where a temple was dedicated to his worship, the massy ruins of which still form one of the most interesting relics of antiquity in Mexico. When he reached the shores of the Mexican Gulf, he took leave of his followers, promising that he and his descendants would revisit them hereafter, and then, entering his wizard skiff, made of serpents' skins, embarked...
Page 181 - The struggle now became fiercer than ever round the royal litter. It reeled more and more, and at length, several of the nobles who supported it having been slain, it was overturned, and the Indian prince would have come with violence to the ground, had not his fall been broken by the efforts of Pizarro and some other of the cavaliers, who caught him in their arms. The imperial borla was instantly snatched from his temples by a soldier named Estete, and the unhappy monarch, strongly secured, was...
Page 179 - ... commoners, — all were trampled down under the fierce charge of the cavalry, who dealt their blows, right and left, without sparing; while their swords, flashing through the thick gloom, carried dismay into the hearts of the wretched natives, who now, for the first time, saw the horse and his rider in all their terrors. They made no resistance, — as, indeed, they had no weapons with which to make it. Every avenue to escape was closed, for the entrance to the square was choked up with the dead...
Page 73 - Whatever were the defects of his mental constitution, the finger of the historian will find it difficult to point to a single blemish in his moral character. His correspondence breathes the sentiment of devoted loyalty to his sovereigns. His conduct habitually displayed the utmost solicitude for the interests of his followers. He expended almost his last maravedi in restoring his unfortunate crew to their native land. His dealings were regulated by the nicest principles of honor and justice.
Page 180 - The litter on which he rode heaved to and fro, as the mighty press swayed backward and forward; and he gazed on the overwhelming ruin like some forlorn mariner, who, tossed about in his bark by the furious elements, sees the lightning's flash and hears the thunder bursting around him, with the consciousness that he can do nothing to avert his fate. At length, weary with...
Page 48 - Great was the agitation in the little community of Palos, as they beheld the wellknown vessel of the admiral re-entering their harbor. Their desponding imaginations had long since consigned him to a watery grave ; for, in addition to the preternatural horrors which hung over the voy47 age, they had experienced the most stormy and disastrous winter within the recollection of the oldest mariners. Most of them had relatives or friends on board.
Page 81 - ... symmetrical edifice, loses in appearance somewhat of its actual grandeur from the perfect harmony of its proportions. The circumstances of their deaths, which were somewhat similar, displayed the great dissimilarity of their characters. Both pined amidst their royal state, a prey to incurable despondency, rather than any marked bodily distemper. In Elizabeth it sprung from wounded vanity, a sullen conviction that she had outlived the admiration on which she had so long fed — and even the solace...