Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/187

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been done in Your Majesties' service, in sending this gift of gold and silver, and valuables, which we have obtained here in this country, and now send, would not have been approved by him. This clearly appears through four of his servants who have come here, and who, when they perceived our wish to send all to Your Royal Highnesses, as we do, declared that it would be better to send it to Diego Velasquez, and otherwise opposed their being sent to Your Majesties. For this we ordered them to be imprisoned, and they will remain prisoners until justice decides, after which we shall relate to Your Majesties what we have done with them.^[1] So, because we have seen what the said Diego Velasquez has done, and our experience of it, we fear that, if he should come to this country with any commission, he would treat us ill, as he has done in the Island of Fernandina, during the time that he had charge of its government, doing justice to none except as he pleased, and punishing those whom he chose, from anger or passion, but not from justice or reason. He has thus destroyed many good subjects by reducing them to great poverty, in refusing to give them any Indians, and taking them all

↑ Bernaldino de Coria, one of the conspirators, weakened at the last moment, and betrayed the plot to seize a boat, with provisions, and to put off to Cuba, for the purpose of warning Diego Velasquez of the sailing of the envoys, so that he might intercept them. Cortes did not mince matters; he promptly hanged Diego Cermeño, and Juan Escudero. The latter was the same alguacil who had captured him before the church in Santiago, where he had taken sanctuary during his quarrel with Velasquez, and had imprisoned him on the ship in the harbour. Gonzalo de Umbria had his feet cut off, and two hundred lashes were administered to each of the others, except the priest, Juan Diaz, whose cloth protected him. Gomara suppresses the amputation of Umbria's feet, and says he was whipped with the others. Bernal Diaz reports that Cortes exclaimed, when he signed the warrant for these punishments, "who would not rather be unable to write, than to have to sign away the lives of men!" but the old soldier shrewdly adds, that he believes most judges from the days of Nero down have expressed the same sentiment (Orozco y Berra, vol. iv., cap. viii.).

[1] Bernaldino de Coria, one of the conspirators, weakened at the last moment, and betrayed the plot to seize a boat, with provisions, and to put off to Cuba, for the purpose of warning Diego Velasquez of the sailing of the envoys, so that he might intercept them. Cortes did not mince matters; he promptly hanged Diego Cermeño, and Juan Escudero. The latter was the same alguacil who had captured him before the church in Santiago, where he had taken sanctuary during his quarrel with Velasquez, and had imprisoned him on the ship in the harbour. Gonzalo de Umbria had his feet cut off, and two hundred lashes were administered to each of the others, except the priest, Juan Diaz, whose cloth protected him. Gomara suppresses the amputation of Umbria's feet, and says he was whipped with the others. Bernal Diaz reports that Cortes exclaimed, when he signed the warrant for these punishments, "who would not rather be unable to write, than to have to sign away the lives of men!" but the old soldier shrewdly adds, that he believes most judges from the days of Nero down have expressed the same sentiment (Orozco y Berra, vol. iv., cap. viii.).

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