First Letter
157
aside everything else, he was glad and satisfied to do whatever we had asked him to do, inasmuch as it was advantageous to the service of Your Royal Highnesses. Immediately, therefore, he began with great
Foundation
of
Vera Cruz
diligence to found and people a town, to which the name was given of Rica Villa de la Vera Cruz.[1] He named those of us who will sign at the endas alcaldes and municipal officers of the said town
- ↑ The legal formalities so scrupulously observed, were a trifle farcical in this particular instance, and Cortes doubtless listened to the reading of the "requirements" with a solemn exterior, but with his "tongue in his cheek." The narrative here is clear. He resigned the authority he had received from Velasquez, the royal governor of Cuba, into the hands of the municipal authorities he had himself appointed in response to the popular demand, and who thereby likewise became royal officials. They in their turn exercised their powers to appoint him Captain-General, and Chief Justice, of the new colony, and thus, by due form of law, Cortes found himself, within twenty-four hours after his abdication, installed as the recognised dispenser of civil justice, and as military commander. He showed a becoming reluctance to accept the nomination, and finally had all the appearance of yielding to an irresistible expression of the popular will. Bernal Diaz quotes to the point an old Spanish proverb: Tu mi lo ruegas y yo mi lo quiero. The partisans of Cortes, led by the Alvarados, Olid, Avila, Escalante, and Puertocarrero, secretly formed a party among the men and propounded the new plan of colonisation for the crown, in substitution for that of merely trading in the interest of Diego Velasquez, arguing that he, Velasquez would get the lion's share of the profits, on their return to Cuba, while they would be about as poor as when they started. This idea won adherents, but was not slow in reaching the knowledge of the friends of Velasquez, who protested vigorously against such a betrayal of confidence, and insisted that they should return to Cuba with the treasure, and make their report to the governor. Cortes feigned to accede to their view, and perplexed them greatly by giving immediate orders to embark the next day. No sooner were these orders given, than the "imperialist" group, to describe them by a modern term, held a second meeting, in which it was resolved that their allegiance and duty were to the crown, that being already in practical possession of a rich strip of coast, and well received by the Indians, since they had proved their superiority, they should rather consider the conversion of the natives, and the extension of His Majesty's dominions, than the mere trading profits of the governor of Cuba, and hence that they should found there a port and city in the name of the sovereigns, who would certainly approve,
