82 INTRIGUES AGAINST CORTEZ FONSECA NARVA EZ TAPIA. 



Adrian, who was Regent whilst the Emperor resided in Germany, 

 an order for the seizure of Cortez and the sequestration of his 

 property until the will of the court should be finally made known. 



But, the avaricious Velasquez, the vindictive Fonseca, and the 

 Veedor Cristoval de Tapia, whom they employed to execute so 

 delicate and dangerous a commission against a man who at that 

 moment, was surrounded by faithful soldiers and whose troops had 

 been augmented by recent arrivals at Vera Cruz, — reasoned with 

 but little judgment when they planned their unjust and ungrateful 

 measures against Cortez. The commissioner, himself, seems to 

 have soon arrived at the same conclusion, for, scarcely had he 

 landed, before the danger of the enterprise and the gold of the 

 conquerer, persuaded him prudently to decline penetrating into the 

 heart of the country as the bearer of so ungrateful a reply to the 

 wishes of a hero whose genius and sword had given an empire, 

 and almost a world, to Spain. 



Thus, at last, was Cortez, for a time, freed from the active hos- 

 tility of the Spanish Court, whilst he retained his authority over 

 his conquest merely by military right and power of forcible occu- 

 pation. But he did not remain idly contented with what, he had 

 already done. His restless heart craved to compass the whole 

 continent, and to discover, visit, explore, whatever lay within the 

 reach of his small forces and of all who chose to swell them. He 

 continually pressed his Indian visiters for information concerning 

 the empire of the Montezumas and the adjacent territories of inde- 

 pendent kings or tributaries. Wherever discontent lifted its head, 

 or rebellious manifestations were made, he despatched sufficient 

 forces to whip the mutineers into contrite submission. The new 

 capital progressed apace, and stately edifices rose on the solid land 

 which his soldiers had formed out of the fragments of ancient 

 Mexico. 



Whilst thus engaged in his newly-acquired domain, Narvaez, 

 his old enemy, and Tapia, his more recent foe, had reached the 

 Spanish Court, where, aided by Fonseca, they once more be- 

 stirred themselves in the foul labor of blasting the fame of Cortez, 

 and wresting from his grasp the splendid fruits of his valor. 

 Luckily, however, the Emperor returned, about this period, from 

 eastern Europe, and, from this moment the tide of intrigue seems 

 to have been stayed if not altogether turned. Reviled as he had 

 hitherto been in the purlieus of the court, Cortez was not without 

 staunch kinsmen and warm friends who stood up valiantly in his 



