1^,2 The Difcov cries of the SpaniaPs^ds^ Book X 
other. Fedr arias made war upon him for five Years 
together, and in that Space of time deftroyed a great 
Number of his Subjefts, yet was never able to fubdue or 
render him tributary. On the contrary, this Indian 
Prince was frequently too hard for the Spaniards *, his 
Sub] efts were ftout and warlike, the Situation of his Do- 
minions gave him great Advantages ; for the Spaniards 
could never aft againft him with Horfe, and with all this 
he was himfelf a Prince of great good Senfe, extreamly 
brave and enterprizing, one who forefaw Advantages as 
foon as any Man, and there were very few who could 
manage them better. This the Reader will eafily believe, 
when heps told that Pedr arias loft more Men in the 
Courfe of this War, than Cortes in the Conqueft of Mex- 
ico y without getting a Foot of Land, or an Ounce of 
Gold by the Bargain. But he made himfelf fome amends 
by his grievous Extortions, upon fuch of the Caziques as 
had fubmitted to the Spaniards ; and, with the Gold he 
forced from them, maintained fo great an Intereft at 
Court, that notwithftanding every Enterprize of his was 
attended with Lofs, yet every new Projeft he fent over, 
was approved and applauded. 
This will appear the more extraordinary, when it is 
confidered that never any Man met with more Oppofi- 
tion than he did •, for, on the one Hand, he was hated to 
the laft Degree by the Indians^ for whofe Sake the Bifliop 
of Chiapa went in Perfon to Madrid, to follicit Relief. 
The Spanijh Officers were likewife uneafy, and wrote 
home a true Reprefentation of his Conduft, which was 
fuch as would have ruined the Fortune of any other Man. 
Befides all this, he was upon very bad terms with the 
Royal Audience at St. Domingo, which was then, what it 
ftill is, the fupreme Tribunal in the Wefl-Indies \ and the 
chief Reafon for his removing the Seat of his Government 
from Santa Maria to Panama was, that he might be farther 
out of their Reach. Thus it plainly appears, that this Man’s 
felfifti, haughty, and overbearing Temper, was very near 
as fatal to himfelf and his Dependents, as to others that he 
had to deal with *, and that he might have been infinitely 
more happy, as well as made others fo, if he had behaved 
better •, which might prove an ufeful Leftbn to other Go- 
vernors, if they were a Sort of People capable of learn- 
ing any Good from the Examples of their PredecefTors, 
or of liftening to fuch Truths as they might always learn 
from the Voice of the People. 
14. We ffiall have occafion to mention this Man fome- 
times in the following Pages •, but as we ffiall have no 
Opportunity of continuing the Hiftory of his Adminif- 
tration to its Clofe, we will take leave of him here, by 
relating another extraordinary Exploit of his, while he 
continued in full Poffeffion of Power. He was informed, 
about the Beginning of the Year 1526, that the Court of 
Spain, wearied with continual Complaints againft him, 
was at length refolved to fend him a Siicceflbr. As he 
knew no Means of avoiding this, and yet had no Mind 
to part with his Power, he began to caft about in his 
own Mind, where to find another Eftabliffiment. There 
was only one Expedition which had met with any kind 
of Siiccefs under any of his Creatures, and that was the 
Conqueft of Nicaragua, by Francis Hernandez, who adted 
under his Licence, and he had alfo been at fome Expence 
in fitting him out. 
He refolved therefore to retire into this Country, for 
two Reafons : Firft, that he might fecure it for himfelf, 
though of right it belonged to him who had fubdued it ; 
< and next, that he might avoid delivering up his Province 
to his Succeifor in Perfon, for fear he ffiould treat him 
as he had done Balboa. One would have imagined, that 
when his Affairs were in fuch a Situation, he ffiould 
have abated fomcwhat of his Pride, or at leaft of his 
Cruelty ; but whether it was that he had no Power over 
his Temper, or, that he knew he had ftill Intereft enough 
with the Minifters to prevent his being called to an Ac- 
count for fo fmall a Matter as a Murder, fo it was, that 
he committed one more bafe and barbarous, if poffible, 
than that of Nunez de Balboa. 
The thing happened thus: He pretended, as foon as he 
came into the new Province, that he had Information , 
his Deputy had a mind to revolt, he therefore fent for 
him to anfwer to this Charge. Francis Hernandez, who 
knew there was not a Word of Truth in it, came with 
that Boldnefs that is natural to Innocence ; and Pedrarias 
had him no fooner in his Power, than he caufed his Head 
to be ftruck off, alledging that there was no other Way 
for a Government to be fafe againft Perfons in Power, 
when their Fidelity was once fufpedted. As black and 
heinous as this Faft was, he efcaped being queftioned for 
it ; and was confirmed in his Government of Nicaragua, 
as if the gratifying his own unjuft Refentments had been 
an indifputable Proof of his Attachment to the Crown of 
Spain, and Zeal for its Service. 
15. I ffiall clofe this Section v/ith remarking that there 
never was an Obfervation more true than that which was 
laid before the Reader when we opened this Hiftory of 
the Spanijh Conquefts in America, which was, that they , 
were entirely owing to the Abilities of particular and pri- 
vate Perfons, called forth by Accidents, and never to the 
Wifdom or Forefight of the Spanijh Minifters ; who, on 
the contrary, were fo ready to cramp fuch as they ought 
to have encouraged, that they really made the Difobe- 
dience neceffary, which they pretended to corredl, and 
gave Birth by their ill Management to thofe Inconveni- 
encies they endeavoured to avoid. 
I am not at all afraid of owning that I firft made, and 
now repeat, this Obfervation with a View of ffiewing how 
weak and fooliffi a thing it is for Men who want Genius 
to think of limiting and circumfcribing fuch as are en- 
dowed with it. It is a Sort of Policy not much unlike 
erefting Banks to ftop a Torrent, which is the fureft 
Way to increafe the Mifchief. That natural Fire, which 
a warmer Writer perhaps would have ftiled Divine, and wc 
call Genius, is a noble and generous Flame, that, like the 
Rays of the Sun, cheriffies and enlivens all within their 
Reach, and which becomes dangerous only when artifi- 
cially contrafted. We have feen what Cortes did, and 
how he was treated. In the next Seftion, which is the laft 
that regards the Spaniards, we ffiall fee feveral Inftances 
of the fame kind, all which prove that it is infinitely 
more advifeable for Statefmen to ufe fair and gentle Me- 
thods, with Perfons of fuch extraofdinary Abilities, and 
rather lead them by propofing the juft Rewards of Glory, 
than pretend to compel them by little Arts which are 
equally vain and fatal, either to thofe by whom they are 
ufed, or the Nation in whofe Service fuch Talents are ex- 
erted. Had Velajquez and the Biffiop of Burgos been 
able to circumvent Cortes, the Mexican Empire had ftood, 
and the Spaniards had loft thofe Treafures which it has 
fmce yielded. Had Nunez de Balboa efcaped the Snares 
that were laid for him, Peru had been fooner fubdued ; 
and if Francis Pizarro had not been wife enough to take 
Warning by his Example, it had very probably never 
been fubdued at all. 
Heroes, like other Men, have their Faults, but, per- 
haps, their Faults merit more Indulgence ; Thofe who 
have none of their Excellencies, have frequently more 
Faults and blacker Vices. Envy is not the Produce of 
a rank, but of a barren. Soil ; and Malice is a Weed 
that fprings in dirty Minds, as the moft poifonous Plants 
are found in Marffies. Whoever reflefts on the pitiful 
Creatures that extinguiffied fo great a Genius as our Sir 
JValter Raleigh, will pardon this DigTeffion, and forgive 
a Man for indulging his Defire of fecuring future Merit 
from thofe Mifchances which have been fatal to it in 
former times. It is all that lies in the Power of one who 
is immerfed in Books ; it is the utmoft Service his Pen can 
render to thofe whom his Mind adores ; and if by cele- 
brating the Memory of great Men, who are gone, he 
can contribute to excite others to an Imitation of their 
Aftions, and recommend Virtue to the Praftice, as well 
as the Praife, of Pofterity, it is the utmoft Extent of his 
Wiffi, and it is the only Way he knows to be ufeful 
to Mankind and his Country. 
2 
SECTION 
