Chap. III. for the ReduBion 
“to complain of him, and indeed with good Reafon, if 
v/hat he fays be true, that in the Space of twelve Years 
he deftroyed upwards of 4,000,000 of People ; but 
though, without doubt, the Defign of this Prelate was 
very laudable, and he was in himfelf a Perfon of a true 
Chriftian Spirit •, yet there want not many Objeftions 
capable of deftroying, or at leaff of weakening, to a very 
great Degree, the Accufations he has brought againft this 
noble Perfon. In the firft Place, we ought to confider 
the wide Difference there was between thefe Peoples 
Charafters ; and that a Monk is not, by any Means, a 
fit Perfon to decide on the Behaviour of a Statefman and 
a General. The Principles he maintains are not more 
<leftru6tive of the Charader of Cortes^ than theCharaders 
of all the great Men, who have attempted Difcoveries or 
made Conqudfs in thefe Parts of the World ; and there- 
fore if we admit his Judgment in its full Extent, we 
muft not only give up the Caufe of this great Captain, 
but of almoft all the great Captains in every Age and 
Country which will perhaps be thought too great a Sa- 
crifice. In the next Place, we ought to remember that 
from the very Beginning of his Expedition, our Con- 
queror was oppofed and perfecuted by the Bifhop of 
Burgos and his Party, not from any Chriftian Spirit of 
Moderation and Charity towards the Indians, but be- 
caufe he had embraced the Party of Velaf(iuez, who cer- 
tainly meant to do all that Cortes did, by Means not at 
all milder than thofe which Cortes employed ; and the 
Bifhop of Chia.fa, who was of the fame Party, may be, 
in fome Meafure, fufpeded of condemning in a Perfon 
he difliked, what perhaps he would have excufed in one 
for whom he had a greater Efteem. 
We may farther obferve, that though this Prelate 
takes a great deal of Pains to juftify the Indians, and to 
lay a heavy Load upon his Countrymen, by alledging, 
that for one Man facrificed by the former to their falfe 
Gods, the latter offered a thoufand Vidtims to their 
Goddefs Avarice *, yet, inafmuch as he allows that they 
did offer human Sacrifices, he, in fome Meafure, al- 
lows the Truth of this General’s Relations, and indeed it 
cannot well be fuppofed, that a Perfon of the Spirit and 
Temper of Cortes would write long Letters full only of 
Lies to the Emperor, his Mafter ; and therefore we 
ought to make fome Allowances for the Provocations he 
received, and for the Circumftances he was in at a Time 
he cut off (o vmny Indians. What feems to juftify our 
Sufpicion that this good Bifhop exaggerated, either wil- 
fully or by Miftake, the Cruelty of Cortes, is his charging 
Jiim exprefly \yith maffacring in cold Blood all the In- 
habitants of the City of Chulula, notwithftanding they 
had given him a very kind Reception. 
The Reader has already feen an Account of that whole 
Tranfadtion, as it is related by the beft Hiftorians •, and 
from thence it appears, that Cortes inflidted upon that 
City no greater Cruelties than they meant to have exer- 
cifed upon him and his Soldiers, and that by a moft 
. treacherous Contrivance •, and, if this had not been the 
Truth, one can hardly conceive that the Indians that were 
-Confederates with Cortes, would have adhered to him fo 
clofely as they did, on that and all other Occafions. If 
he had been really fo bafe and bloody a Perfon, he could 
fcarce have gained the Affedfions of fo many Nations, or 
granting that by his artificial Behaviour he might have 
done this, it would have been impoffible for him to have 
preferved their Affedtions, as it is evident he did from 
the very Commencement to the End of theWar : Befides, 
if the Ambition and Barbarity of Cortes deferved, in the 
Bifhop’ s Opinion, no Sort of Favour or Excufe, why 
fliould we have more' Indulgence for the Pride and Ty- 
ranny of Moteztma, who certainly had no better Title 
than he to trample upon the Rights of Mankind, and to 
make fo many Millions miferable as he did. 
Thefe are Things that deferve to be very particularly 
confidered, becaufe they enable us to judge truly and 
decifively of the Subjedt under our Confideration, with- 
■ out hefitating in our Opinion, or being doubtful whe- 
ther when delivered it can be fuftained. To launch out in 
the Prafes of Cortes, as a Man in whofe Charadfer 
there was nothing amifs, and all whofe Adfions may be 
of "N EW S P A I N.' 13s 
reconciled to the ftridteft Rules of Religion and Moralityi 
would be undoubtedly carrying the Thing too far, and 
fhewing fuch a PrepoffelTion in his Favour, as nei- 
ther Fadts nor Reafon could fupport. But we are not to 
confider him in that Light y we are to look upon him as 
an Officer fent to extend the Power of the King, his 
Mafter, in that Part of the World ■, and though Felaf- 
quez deprived him of his Commifiion,’ yet^ as he adted 
upon Principles of Honour, and took all due Care of 
the Royal Intereft, as far as he underftood it, we can- 
not refufe him that Applaufe which is due to his Wif- 
dom and Courage, without adting againft Reafon; As 
to Religion he feems to have been as zealous for it as the 
Priefts themfelves j and if that Zeal was intemperate, or 
ill placed, it was not fo much his Fault as theirs, who 
taught him no better. He feems, as a Chriftian, to 
have had a great Abhorrence of Idolatry ; and as an ho- 
neft Man a hearty DeteftatiOn of human Sacrifices fo 
that if his Adtions were in any Degree wrong, yet the 
Motives to them, fo far as we can perceive, might be very 
right. As to his Ambition and Avarice they are not to 
be excufed, fuppofing them to have been his Vices. 
But then we ought to refledf how difficult a Thing it is 
to diftinguifh between a laudable Defire to ferve one’s 
Prince and Country, and what is called Ambition y as 
well as between a criminal Love for Money,’ and com- 
plying with the Neceffities of Times, by fending over to 
Spain what he knew v/as requifite to maintain his Credit, 
and to fupport him againft his Enemies; Taking there- 
fore all things together, and making the fame Allow- 
ances for Cortes, that are ufually made for Men in his 
Station, we may venture to affirm, that he behaved as 
well, and performed as great Things, if not greater, thari 
any of the Spanijh Captains that bore Command in this 
Part of the World fo that if we meafure his Merit by 
the Importance of the Conquefts he made •, by the fmall 
Forces he made them with *, and the Difficulties he met 
with and furmounted, which are the ufual Meafures of 
fuch Adlions, there is no reafon to apprehend, that we 
err in the Commendations we beftow upon him; 
At the fame Time, however, we muft allow that he 
fired a great deal of Blood ; that he introduced a new 
Government to this Part of the World j and did many 
other Things, that, however great they may appear, yet^ 
in the Judgment of fuch as are Friends to a rigid Mo- 
rality, fubjedt him to Cenfure. But as every Man 
has Faults, and every Man’s Faults, who moves in a 
fuperior Sphere, have very extenfive.Confequences ; fa 
even in this.Refpedf, we ought not to have a worfe Opi- 
nion of Cortes, than of his Mafter, the Emperor Charles V.’ 
or any other great Captain, that purfues a Syftem which, 
for any Thing we know, may be more agreeable to the 
Views and Defigns of Providence, than fuch a Condudl: 
as might have pleafed us better. I have infifted the 
longer upon this, that I might not be under the Neceffity 
of making Refledtions of the fame Kind in other Places 5 
for what I have faid upon this Occafion will ferve to 
fiiew my Sentiments upon all other like Occafions ; and 
therefore there will be no Need of repeating them. 
I am very fenfible that Writers frequently Value 
themfelves upon deftroying great Charadters, by fet- 
ting them in this difadvantageous Light ; and arro- 
gate to themfelves a Power of judging in the laft 
Refort of Mens Adlions and Motives. But this I 
think is very unfair, and I can fee no Reafon^ 
why the having this Opportunity of raifing or fink- 
ing the Reputation of fo illuftrious a Perfon, fhould 
tempt me to endeavour raifing in the Reader an high 
Idea of my Penetration or Probity, at the Expence 
of one who is already in Pofteffion of Fame, from the 
Approbation of his Behaviour by thofe who ought to 
be, and as far as I can judge from their Writings really 
were, better Judges of it than I am. All the Merit I pre- 
tend to is, the having ftated his Adtions fairly from the 
beft Authorities, and faid of them freely what I thought, 
which, whether it be right or not, I moft readily fubmit 
to the judicious Reader, and fo return to my Talk of 
purfuing the Conquefts mads by the Spaniards in America^ 
SECTION 
