Chap. III. for the ReduBion E w S P A 1 , 113 
Diftance from thence, which commanded the whole Plain •, 
iiDon the I'op of that Eminence was a Building which 
appeared like a Fortrefs, or at leaft the Exigence in which 
he found himfelf made him fancy it fiich : He refolved to 
poffds himfelf of that Poft, for the Advantage of its 
Situation, and, detaching a Party of Men to reconnoitre it, 
lie moved with the Army to gain it, which he did not find 
could be effecled without Difficulty, being obliged to face 
the Enemy ail the while afcending the Elill, and to place 
fome Companies of Harquebuffiers, to detend the Ave- 
nues i but he happily compaffed his Defign, poffeffing 
himfelf of the Tower without RehfLance, and in that 
found all the Convenience which at that time he could de- 
fire. It was a Temple •, but the Priefts and Servants who 
attended the Worffiip of that Place had quitted it, flying 
from the Neighbourhood of War, as People of a different 
Profeffion ; the Court of this Temple was encompaffed 
with a Wall after their Manner of building, which^ toge- 
' ther with the Towers wherewith it was flanked, rendered it 
tolerably defenfible ; and under the Shelter of thofe W orks 
the Spaniards began to breathe. 
The Enemy did not dare to fcale the Hill, nor did 
they give any Signs of their intending an Aflault, but they 
approached v/ithin Mulket- fliot, furrounded the Eminence 
on all Parts, and made fome Advances to fhoot theirArrows. 
In the mean time nothing was to be heard but barbarous 
Shouts and Menaces, which ferved only to difcover their 
Weaknefs. They were kept off till Evening began to 
approach, at which time they all retired •, whether to com- 
ply with the Obfervation of their Cuftom, of retiring 
with the Sun, or that they found themfelves fatigued v/ith 
having been in a mariner continually engaged, is un- 
certain. difpofed every thing in his, Qiiarters with 
all the Care and Circumfpcblion that a Poll fo threatened 
obliged him •, he ordered the Guards and Sentinels to be 
fooner relieved than ordinary j that all might have their 
equal Share of Reft : They iPiade fome Fires, as well be- 
caiife of the Coldnefs of the Seafon, as to confume the 
Arrows of the Mexicans^ to deprive the Enemies of their 
Ammunition. He gave fome Refrefhment to the People 
out of the Provifions found in the Temple, and what the 
Indians had faved with the Baggage ; particular Care was 
taken of the Wounded, which was attended with no fmall 
Difficulty in a Place where all Neceffaries were wanting. 
Cortes attended in Perfon to all, but ftill without for- 
getting the Danger to which he lay expofed ; and before 
he would retire to Repofe he affembled his Officers, to con- 
fult with them v/hat was to be done in this Junbture : He 
• had already formed his Refolution, but he always declined 
pofitively deciding in fuch Matters ; and he was a 
great Mailer in bringing People over to what was rea- 
fonable, without ihewing his own Opinion, or making Ufe 
of his Authority ; Fie propofed different Methods which 
might be taken, v/ith the feveral Inconveniencies attend- 
ing each of them ; leaving them to judge which Expe- 
dient was moft advifeable ; but that which he judged beft 
was, to continue the March fo as to be out oi Reach of 
the Enemy before they renewed the Attack : In fupport 
of which Advice he advanced many Reafons. He had 
fcarce finiftied his Difcourfe when all the Captains agreed 
that no other Refolution Was pra6licable •, and it was de- 
termined to begin their March at Midnight. Cortes con- 
formed to what was really his own Opinion, though he 
, treated it as the Opinion of others, a Policy which he was 
accuftomed to make Ufe of, in order to prevent Difputes 
.when the Affair was urgent and admitted of no Delay, 
and which only thofe can prablife who underftand the Art 
of deciding by aflcing Advice, and of making a Propofal 
in fuch a manner as to leave no room for Objeflion. As. 
we have now conduCced Cortes and his Army out of 
Mexico^ and have feeri wnth how much Prudence and. 
Difcretion he managed every thing when Fortune feemed 
to defert him, it feems but reafonable to put an End here 
to this Seftion, and to referve the Reftoration of his For- 
tunes and the Recovery of his Conquefts, to the next. 
15. But; that we may not proceed too liaftily, ' jet us 
paufe a Moment, in order to confider the great Events 
we have been reading, and from thence form a true 
Judgment of the Merit of this illuftrious Conqueror. We 
have in the former Seftion ffiewn, that with a meet hafid- 
ful of Men, he undertook to conquer one of the moft 
extenfive Empires the World ever faw; and to which 
no Power, now fiibfifting, can be efteemed equal. We 
have feen, that this could not be called a rafli or improvi- 
dent Addon, though it was, certainly; one of the boideft 
and moft daring, that ever entered the Treaft of Man^ 
As a Perfon Ikilled in Mechanics, may, with good Senfe 
and great Reafon, undertake to perform, with an incon- 
fiderable Force, what, to a Perfon unacquainted with 
that Science, would be efteemed beyond the Pleach of 
Nature ; fo the Vigour oj'this Man’s Underftanding, his 
incomparable Sagacity, and wonderful Penetration, ena- 
bled him to forefee moft of the Events that did fall out ; 
and to contrive the proper Means for converting them 
to his Purpofe, as his Fortitude, Prefence of Mind; and 
happy Equality of Temper, put it always in his Power 
to exert his fuperior Abilities upon all Occafions, and fet 
him above the reach of Accident or Danger, however 
great or unexpedled. We have feen him in this Sedlion, 
performing things almoft incredible , and fome of them 
aifo, particularly the feizing and imprifoning Motezuma^ 
not altogether juftinable. But this is fo far from being 
a new" Thing in a Hero, that I believe it may be fairly 
faid, there is fcarce a Charadler of this kind in ancient or 
iTiodern Fliftory, in which more immoral and more out- 
rageous Ablions do not frequently occur. 
One Thing more I fhall remark before I proceed iii 
this Fliftory, becaufe it feems to do more Flonour to, the 
Courage and Condu6l of Cortes^ than any thing elfe ; and 
in few Words it is this .* The only Shadow of an Ob- 
jeflion that can be raifed againft the Praifes that have been 
beftowed upon this illuftrious Perfon, arifes from the 
Suggeftion that he afted with regular and well difciplined 
Troops, againft a barbarous and uncivilized People, un- 
fldlled in the Arts of Policy or War But the Meafures- 
taken by the Indians^ to drive him out of Mexico^ and 
the Manner in which they acted in the Execution of 
thofe Meafures, very plainly prove that this Suggeftion 
was ill grounded. Since, from thence, we plainly fee 
that they neither wanted Skill as Politicians, nor were 
deftitute of Difcipline as Soldiers. The Succefs likewife 
that they met with in the Condud of their Scheme, plain- 
ly demonftrates. That if they had been to deal with a' 
Man of lefs Abilities than Cortes^ they would effediially 
have carried their Point, and have driven the Spaniards^ 
not only out of Mexico^ but out of all their Dominions,- 
and have preferved their Empire, perhaps, till this time j 
for, had they once acquired a thorough Knowledge of 
the Artillery and Powder, they were certainly ingeni- 
ous enough to have acquired the Ufe of them ; which 
if they had done, there is no Reafon to doubt that they 
w"ould have kept, their Ground, and have preferved, at 
leaft, the interior Part of their Country; though, by 
dint of their Naval Power, the Spaniards had made them- 
felves Mafters of their Coafts.- 
,■■■-' SEC T I 0 M 
Yot. IF Numb. LXXVIF 
