Chap. III. 0/ P E R U and CHI L I. 
Man went away they Iliould have ten conie in his 
Place ^ and having given this Reafon there was no farther 
Difpute about it. 
■ As Ferdinand Pizarro was the Perfon made choice of 
to go over to Spain with thefe Men, and this vaft Mafs 
of Treafure, he went to take his Leave of Atahuallpa^ 
with whom he was in much greater Efteem than any of 
the Spanijh Officers. The Emperor received the News 
with great Sorrow and Concern, and could not help 
fpeaking his Sentiments freely. My Lord, faid he, you 
are going home, which is certainly matter of Joy to 
you, though tis matter of Grief to me •, for I already ap- 
prehend, that before your Return, that Fellow with one 
Eye, meaning Almagro, and that other Fellow with the 
great Belly, which was the King’s Treafurer, will fend 
me to my long home, and therefore let us take our 
laft farewel. 
He made a very right Judgment in this ; for when 
the Spaniards, who had been fent for the reft of Ata- 
huallpa\ Ranfom, made a Report of the prodigious 
Quantities of Gold they had feen, and the Reafons 
they had to believe that much greater C^antities were 
concealed, Alfsiagro gave it as his Opinion, that they 
ftiould wait no longer, but get red of the Inca as foon as 
they could ; and then make as much hafte as poffible to 
get Pofteffion of all the Gold in Peru. A bafe and 
bloody Refolution, which, though Francis Pizarro at' 
this time rejefted with Horror, yet it was not long be- 
fore he approved and agreed to it. 
1 5. The Fate of Atahuallpa is undoubtedly one of the 
moft memorable things that falls within the Compafs of 
this Seftion, and therefore it is requifite that we ffiould 
give a clear and diftind Account of the Faft, tho’ 
in as few Words as poffible ; and this is what we ffiall 
labour to perform with the ftrifteft Impartiality, and 
the greateft Regard to Truth. There were various Rea- 
fons why Francis Pizarro, though a very brave and gal- 
lant Man, had not that Tendernefs for this Indian Mo- 
narch, that Co 7 'tes had for Motezuma \ but that which 
governed him principally was, a fort of Contempt with 
which Atahuallpa treated him, and the vifible Prefer- 
rence he gave in point of Efteem and Regard to other 
Officers in the SpaniJJo Army. The Caufe of this Beha- 
viour is one of the moft fingular Paffages that occurs in 
all the Spanijh Hiftories of the Conqueft of Peru, and 
cannot fail of giving great Pleafure to the judicious 
Reader. 
Atahuallpa, however cruel to his own Family, appear- 
ed to be a Prince of great Wifdom and Penetration j and 
one who laboured to inform himfelf as thoroughly as it 
was poffible, v/ith refpefl; to the Manners, Cuftoms, fu- 
perior and inferior Qualities of the Spaniards, that he 
might be the better able to deal with them, if upon the 
Payment of the Sum propofed for his Ranfom they 
ffiould aflually reftore him to his Liberty. That which 
moft of all perplexed his Enquiries arid difturbed his Me- 
ditations, was their Art of Writing and Reading, as to 
which he could not comprehend whether it was a natural 
"Endowment, or whether it was acquired by Labour and 
Application. In order to fatisfy himfelf in this Point, 
he afked one of the Spanijh Soldiers whether he could ex- 
prefs the Name of God upon his Thumb-nail. The 
Man readily faid he could, and did accordingly ; after 
this the Inca went about to feveral of the Captains and 
Soldiers, and fhewing them his Thumb-nail, affied them 
if they knew what that Mark fignified ^ and from their 
Anfwers, he began to entertain an Opinion that reading 
and writing were natural to this Nation, which he thought 
a very great Advantage : But unfortunately he aflced the 
fame Queftion of the General, who, not being able to 
read it, was put greatly to the Bluffi, which not only 
changed Atahuallpa! Opinion, with refpebt to reading 
and writing, which he nov/ faw plainly were the Fruits 
of Education, but gave him likewife a very low Opi- 
nion of the General, fuppofmg that he muft have been 
of a very mean Original, ftnce he was lefs knowing 
in this Refpecft than many of his Soldiers. i 
This Contempt that he ffiewed for Pizarro, begat a 
Prejudice in him, which very foon turned to the Dif- 
advantage, and in the End proved the Ruin, of the Irica„> 
It fell out that Philippillo, or Philip the Interpreter, felHrt 
love with one of Atahuallpa*^ Wives, which incenfed 
that Monarch fo much, that he fignified to Pizarro^ 
that he ought not only to puniffi fuch a Fellow^ but even 
to put him to Death j which the General was fo far from 
doing, that he only made a Jeft of the whole' Affair j 
in which without doubt he ffiewed as little Regard to his 
own Charadler, as to that of the Emperor’s. Philippillo 
took the Jealoufy of Atahuallpa much to Heart and as 
all fuch low Fellows fufter Plate and Fear to compound 
their Refentments, fo he determined in himfelf to deftroy 
that Monarch immediately out of the Way, as the foie 
Means of providing for his own Safety. It was with this 
View that the Villain infinuated to Pizarro that he ought 
to be very watchful of the Inca’s Motions, becaufe he 
was adlually contriving the Deftrudtion of the Spaniardsi 
This wild and ridiculous Story was digefted into a for- 
mal Accufation, by the Direction of the General and his 
Favourites, who appointed Commifiiorters to try Atahu-^ 
allpa •, directing Sancho de Cuellar to take upon him 
the Office of Attorney General, to exhibit a Charge againft 
the Inca, which he did and it confifted of the following 
Particulars, viz. That Huefcar, Inca,' being his eldeft 
Brother and lawful Sovereign, and himfelf a Baftard, he 
had caufed Huefcar to be depofed and imprifoned, and 
afterwards ufurped his Throne : That he had caufed his 
faid Brother to be msurdered, fince he became a Prifoneit 
to the Spaniards : That Atahuallpa was an Idolater : 
That he caufed his Subjects to facrifice Men and Chil- 
dren ; That he had raifed unjuft Wars, and been guilty 
of the Blood of many People : That he kept a great 
many Concubines : That he expedted Taxes and Tribute 
of the Peruvians, fince the Spaniards poffeffed his Coun- 
try, and confumed and embezzled the public Treafure J 
That he had incited the Indians to rebel and make War 
againft the Spaniards, fince he had been their Prifoner. 
The very reading thefe Articles fufficiently proves that 
they were not calculated to bring a bad Man to Jufticci 
but to giv^ the Colour of Law, and the Form of a fair 
Tryal, to one of the wickedeft and vileft Contrivances 
that ever entered the Heart of Man. Yet black and 
villanous as this Affair was, it is very doubtful to fay 
whether it refiedls more Honour or more Infamy upon 
the Spanijh Nation. For no fooner was this dark De^ 
fign fet on Foot, than almoft all the Perfons of Fami- 
ly and Diftindtion that ferved in the Army, declared 
againft it ^ and declared in Terms that fpoke them equal- 
ly Men of Senfe and Men of Honour ; They declared 
that they, knew no right the Spanijh Nation had to make 
themfelves Judges of an Indian Prince, or of his Title to 
his Dominions ; that with regard to the Spaniards, he had 
behaved fo well, and done them fo many KindneffeS;? that 
to treat him in this Manner, was not only the higheft 
Barbarity, but the moft flagrant Ingratitude ; that if after 
all they were refolved to be rid of him, the beft thing 
they could do was, to fend him into Spain, together 
with their Charge, and leave the Caufe to be decided by 
the Emperor. But Pizarro and his Council were deter- 
mined to go on, and though the other Party delivered a 
Proteft in Writing againft all their Proceedings, and 
appointed one John de Herreda Protedtor of the Empe- 
ror’s Perfon, yet they perfifted in trying him, and affign- 
ed him one of their Party for an Advocate ; who to be 
fure made fuch a Defence as did no great Service to hi-s 
Client. 
The Iffue of this Bufinefs was, that after a mock Shew 
of Juftice, they condemned the Inca to fuffer Deaths 
which at firft they refolved ffiould be by burning-, and 
to this Sentence, to give it a fairer Appearance in Spain^^ 
where it might very Weil be expefted that it would be 
reviewed, they procured the Approbation of Father Vin-^ 
cent, who proftituted his Gharadler as an Ecclefiaftic in- 
this bloody Affair j and, which was much worfe,* profti- 
tuted, as far as in him lay, the Chriftiari Faith, and the 
Credit of the Gofpcl which his Memory ought to- 
be infamous in every Country where the People call them- 
felves Chriftians. Yet this cruel and blood- thirfty Friar,, 
after being, fo great an Inftrument in his Sufferings, im-i* 
dertook 
