Chapter XIII: Introduction

Having now given at considerable length the authentic histories of the discovery and conquest of the two greatest of the European colonies in the New World, Mexico and Peru, from original and contemporary authors whose works had not before appeared in any English Collection of Voyages and Travels, we now propose to give, as a kind of supplement or appendix to the excellent history of Zarate, an abridged deduction of the principal events in Peru for some time after the departure of the president De la Gasca from that kingdom, extracted from the conclusion of the Royal Commentaries of Peru by Garcilasso de la Vega Inca, Part II. Book VI. VII. and VIII. Having formerly given some account of that work, not very favourable to the character of that descendant of the Incas as a historian, it may only be here mentioned that the events to be now related on his authority all occurred in his own time, and that the relation of them which he has left would have been greatly more valuable if he had been pleased to favour us more frequently with their dates.

In the present eventful period, while Spain, once the terror of Europe, seems in danger of sinking under the tyrannical grasp of the usurper of France, a vast revolution appears about to elevate the Spanish American colonies into extensive independent states; if the jealous collision of rights, interests, and pretensions between the various races of their inhabitants do not plunge them into all the horrors of civil war and anarchy. The crisis is peculiarly interesting to all the friends of humanity, and it is to be wished that the present commotions may soon subside into a permanent state of peace and good government, advantageous to all the best interests of the colonists, and beneficial to the commerce and industry of the rest of the world.

Before proceeding to the abridged history of events in Peru, subsequent to the departure of the president De la Gasca, the following reflections on the state of manners among the early Spanish settlers in that opulent region, during the period of which we have already given the history, as drawn by the eloquent pen of the illustrious Historian of America, have appeared most worthy of insertion[43].

[Footnote 43: Hist of America, II. p. 393.]

"Though the Spaniards who first invaded Peru were of the lowest order in society, and the greater part of those who afterwards joined them were persons of desperate fortune, yet in all the bodies of troops brought into the field by the different leaders who contended for superiority, not one acted as a hired soldier or followed his standard for pay. Every adventurer in Peru considered himself as a conqueror, entitled by his services to an establishment in that country which had been acquired by his valour. In the contests between the rival chiefs, each chose his side as he was directed by his own judgment or affections. He joined his commander as a companion of his fortune, and disdained to degrade himself by receiving the wages of a mercenary. It was to their sword, not to pre-eminence in office or nobility of birth that most of the leaders whom they followed were indebted for their elevation; and each of their adherents hoped, by the same means, to open a way for himself to the possession of power and wealth."

"But though the troops in Peru served without, any regular pay, they were raised at an immense expence. Among men accustomed to divide the spoil of an opulent country, the desire of obtaining wealth acquired incredible force. The ardour of pursuit augmented in proportion to the hope of success. Where all were intent on the same object, and under the dominion of the same passion, there was but one mode of gaining men, or of securing their attachment. Officers of name and influence, besides the promise of future establishments, received large gratuities in hand from the chief with whom they engaged. Gonzalo Pizarro, in order to raise a thousand men, advanced five hundred thousand pesos. Gasca expended in levying the troops which he led against Pizarro nine hundred thousand pesos. The distributions of property, bestowed as the reward of services, were still more exorbitant. Cepeda as the reward of his perfidy, in persuading the court of royal audience to give the sanction of its authority to the usurped jurisdiction of Pizarro, received a grant of lands which yielded an annual income of an hundred and fifty thousand pesos. Hinojosa, who, by his early defection from Pizarro, and surrender of the feet to Gasca, decided the fate of Peru, obtained a district of country affording two hundred thousand pesos of yearly value. While such rewards were dealt out to the principal officers, with more than royal munificence, proportional shares were conferred on those of inferior rank."

"Such a rapid change of fortune produced its natural effects. It gave birth to new wants, and new desires. Veterans, long accustomed to hardship and toil, acquired of a sudden a taste for profuse and inconsiderate dissipation and indulged in all the excesses of military licentiousness. The riot of low debauchery occupied some; a relish for expensive luxuries spread among others. The meanest soldier in Peru would have thought himself degraded by marching on foot; and, at a time when the price of horses in that country was exorbitant, each individual insisted on being furnished with one before he would take the field. But, though less patient under the fatigues and hardships of service, they were ready to face danger and death with as much intrepidity as ever; and, animated by the hope of new rewards, they never failed, on the day of battle, to display all their ancient valour."

"Together with their courage, they retained all the ferocity by which they were originally distinguished. Civil discord never raged with a more fell spirit than among the Spaniards in Peru. To all the passions which usually envenom contests among countrymen, avarice was added, and rendered their enmity more rancorous. Eagerness to seize the valuable forfeitures expected upon the death of every opponent, shut the door against mercy. To be wealthy was, of itself, sufficient to expose a man to accusation, or to subject him to punishment. On the slightest suspicions, Pizarro condemned many of the most opulent inhabitants of Peru to death. Carvajal, without searching for any pretext to justify his cruelty, cut off many more. The number of those who suffered by the hand of the executioner, was not much inferior to what fell in the field; and the greater part was condemned without the formality of any legal trial."

"The violence with which the contending parties treated their opponents was not accompanied by its usual attendants, attachment and fidelity to those with whom they acted. The ties of honour, which ought to be held sacred among men, and the principle of integrity, interwoven as thoroughly in the Spanish character as in that of any nation, seem to have been equally forgotten. Even regard for decency, and the sense of shame, were totally abandoned. During these dissensions, there was hardly a Spaniard in Peru who did not abandon the party which he had originally espoused, betray the associates with whom he had united, and violate the engagements under which he had come. The viceroy Nunnez Vela was ruined by the treachery of Cepeda and the other judges of the royal audience, who were bound to have supported his authority. The chief advisers and companions of Gonzalo Pizarro in his revolt were the first to forsake him, and submit to his enemies. His fleet was given up to Gasca, by the man whom he had singled out among his officers to entrust with that important command. On the day that was to decide his fate, an army of veterans, in sight of the enemy, threw down their arms without striking a blow, and deserted a leader who had often conducted them to victory. Instances of such general and avowed contempt of the principles and obligations which attach man to man, and bind them in social union, rarely occur in history. It is only where men are far removed from the seat of government, where the restraints of law and order are little felt, where the prospect of gain is unbounded, and where immense wealth may cover the crimes by which it is acquired, that we can find any parallel to the levity, the rapaciousness, the perfidy, and corruption prevalent among the Spaniards in Peru."