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HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF PERU
HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF PERU WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT "Congestae cumulantur opes orbisque rapinas Accipit."
Claudian In Ruf. lib. i. v. 194.
"So color de religion
Van a buscar plata y oro
Del encubierto tesoro."
Lope De Vega El Nuevo Mundo Jorn. 1.
Preface
The most brilliant passages in the history of Spanish adventure in the
New World are undoubtedly afforded by the conquests of Mexico and
Peru--the two states which combined with the largest extent of empire a
refined social polity and considerable progress in the arts of civilization.
Indeed so prominently do they stand out on the great canvas of history
that the name of the one notwithstanding the contrast they exhibit in
their respective institutions most naturally suggests that of the other; and
when I sent to Spain to collect materials for an account of the Conquest
of Mexico I included in my researches those relating to the Conquest of
Peru.
The larger part of the documents in both cases was obtained from the
same great repository--the archives of the Royal Academy of History at
Madrid; a body specially intrusted with the preservation of whatever may
serve to illustrate the Spanish colonial annals. The richest portion of its
collection is probably that furnished by the papers of Munoz. This
eminent scholar historiographer of the Indies employed nearly fifty
years of his life in amassing materials for a history of Spanish discovery
and conquest in America. For this as he acted under the authority of the
government every facility was afforded him; and public offices and
private depositories in all the principal cities of the empire both at home
and throughout the wide extent of its colonial possessions were freely
opened to his inspection. The result was a magnificent collection of
manuscripts many of which he patiently transscribed with his own hand.
But he did not live to reap the fruits of his persevering industry. The
first volume relative to the voyages of Columbus were scarcely finished
when he died; and his manuscripts at least that portion of them which
have reference to Mexico and Peru were destined to serve the uses of
another an inhabitant of that New World to which they related.
Another scholar to whose literary stores I am largely indebted is Don
Martin Fernandez de Navarrette late Director of the Royal Academy of
History. Through the greater part of his long life he was employed in
assembling original documents to illustrate the colonial annals. Many of
these have been incorporated in his great work "Coleccion de los Viages
y Descubrimientos" which although far from being completed after the
original plan of its author is of inestimable service to the historian. In
following down the track of discovery Navarrete turned aside from the
conquests of Mexico and Peru to exhibit the voyages of his countrymen
in the Indian seas. His manuscripts relating to the two former countries
he courteously allowed to be copied for me. Some of them have since
appeared in print under the auspices of his learned coadjutors Salva and
Baranda associated with him in the Academy; but the documents placed
in my hands form a most important contribution to my materials for the
present history.
The death of this illustrious man which occurred some time after the
present work was begun has left a void in his country not easy to be
filled; for he was zealously devoted to letters and few have done more to
extend the knowledge of her colonial history. Far from an exclusive
solicitude for his own literary projects he was ever ready to extend his
sympathy and assistance to those of others. His reputation as a scholar
was enhanced by the higher qualities which he possessed as a man--by
his benevolence his simplicity of manners and unsullied moral worth.
My own obligations to him are large; for from the publication of my first
historical work down to the last week of his life I have constantly
received proofs from him of his hearty and most efficient interest in the
prosecution of my historical labors; and I now the more willingly pay
this well-merited tribute to his deserts that it must be exempt from all
suspicion of flattery.
In the list of those to whom I have been indebted for materials I must
also include the name of M. Ternaux-Compans so well known by his
faithful and elegant French versions of the Munoz manuscripts; and that
of my friend Don Pascual de Gayangos who under the modest dress of
translation has furnished a most acute and learned commentary on
Spanish Arabian history--securing for himself the foremost rank in that
difficult department of letters which has been illumined by the labors of
a Masdeu a Casiri and a Conde.
To the materials derived from these sources I have added some
manuscripts of an important character from the library of the Escurial.
These which chiefly relate to the ancient institutions of Peru formed
part of the splendid collection of Lord Kingsborough which has
unfortunately shared the lot of most literary collections and been
dispersed since the death of its noble author. For these I am indebted to
that industrious bibliographer Mr. O. Rich now resident in London.
Lastly I must not omit to mention my obligations in another way to my
friend Charles Folsom Esq. the learned librarian of the Boston
Athenaeum; whose minute acquaintance with the grammatical structure
and the true idiom of our English tongue has enabled me to correct many
inaccuracies into which I had fallen in the composition both of this and
of my former works.
From these different sources I have accumulated a large amount of
manuscripts of the most various character and from the most authentic
sources; royal grants and ordinances instructions of the Court letters of
the Emperor to the great colonial officers municipal records personal
diaries and memoranda and a mass of private correspondence of the
principal actors in this turbulent drama. Perhaps it was the turbulent
state of the country which led to a more frequent correspondence
between the government at home and the colonial officers. But
whatever be the cause the collection of manuscript materials in reference
to Peru is fuller and more complete than that which relates to Mexico; so
that there is scarcely a nook or corner so obscure in the path of the
adventurer that some light has not been thrown on it by the written
correspondence of the period. The historian has rather had occasion to
complain of the embarras des richesses; for in the multiplicity of
contradictory testimony it is not always easy to detect the truth as the
multiplicity of cross-lights is apt to dazzle and bewilder the eye of the
spectator.
The present History has been conducted on the same general plan with
that of the Conquest of Mexico. In an Introductory Book I have
endeavored to portray the institutions of the Incas that the reader may be
acquainted with the character and condition of that extraordinary race
before he enters on the story of their subjugation. The remaining books
are occupied with the narrative of the Conquest. And here the subject it
must be allowed notwithstanding the opportunities it presents for the
display of character strange romantic incident and picturesque scenery
does not afford so obvious advantages to the historian as the Conquest
of Mexico. Indeed few subjects can present a parallel with that for the
purposes either of the historian or the poet. The natural development of
the story there is precisely what would be prescribed by the severest
rules of art. The conquest of the country is the great end always in the
view of the reader. From the first landing of the Spaniards on the soil
their subsequent adventures their battles and negotiations their ruinous
retreat their rally and final siege all tend to this grand result till the
long series is closed by the downfall of the capital. In the march of
events all moves steadily forward to this consummation. It is a
magnificent epic in which the unity of interest is complete.
In the "Conquest of Peru" the action so far as it is founded on the
subversion of the Incas terminates long before the close of the narrative.
The remaining portion is taken up with the fierce feuds of the
Conquerors which would seem from their very nature to be incapable
of being gathered round a central point of interest. To secure this we
must look beyond the immediate overthrow of the Indian empire. The
conquest of the natives is but the first step to be followed by the
conquest of the Spaniards--the rebel Spaniards themselves--till the
supremacy of the Crown is permanently established over the country. It
is not till this period that the acquisition of this Transatlantic empire can
be said to be completed; and by fixing the eye on this remoter point the
successive steps of the narrative will be found leading to one great result
and that unity of interest preserved which is scarcely less essential to
historic than dramatic composition. How far this has been effected in
the present work must be left to the judgment of the reader.
No history of the conquest of Peru founded on original documents and
aspiring to the credit of a classic composition like the "Conquest of
Mexico" by Solis has been attempted as far as I am aware by the
Spaniards. The English possess one of high value from the pen of
Robertson whose masterly sketch occupies its due space in his great
work on America. It has been my object to exhibit this same story in all
its romantic details; not merely to portray the characteristic features of
the Conquest but to fill up the outline with the coloring of life so as to
present a minute and faithful picture of the times. For this purpose I
have in the composition of the work availed myself freely of my
manuscript materials allowed the actors to speak as much as possible for
themselves and especially made frequent use of their letters; for
nowhere is the heart more likely to disclose itself than in the freedom of
private correspondence. I have made liberal extracts from these
authorities in the notes both to sustain the text and to put in a printed
form those productions of the eminent captains and statesmen of the
time which are not very accessible to Spaniards themselves.
M. Amedee Pichot in the Preface to the French translation of the
"Conquest of Mexico" infers from the plan of the composition that I
must have carefully studied the writings of his countryman M. de
Barante. The acute critic does me but justice in supposing me familiar
with the principles of that writer's historical theory so ably developed in
the Preface to his "Ducs de Bourgogne." And I have had occasion to
admire the skilful manner in which he illustrates this theory himself by
constructing out of the rude materials of a distant time a monument of
genius that transports us at once into the midst of the Feudal Ages-and
this without the incongruity which usually attaches to a modernantique.
In like manner I have attempted to seize the characteristic expression of
a distant age and to exhibit it in the freshness of life. But in an essential
particular I have deviated from the plan of the French historian. I have
suffered the scaffolding to remain after the building has been completed.
In other words I have shown to the reader the steps of the process by
which I have come to my conclusions. Instead of requiring him to take
my version of the story on trust I have endeavored to give him a reason
for my faith. By copious citations from the original authorities and by
such critical notices of them as would explain to him the influences to
which they were subjected I have endeavored to put him in a position
for judging for himself and thus for revising and if need be reversing
the judgments of the historian. He will at any rate by this means be
enabled to estimate the difficulty of arriving at truth amidst the conflict
of testimony; and he will learn to place little reliance on those writers
who pronounce on the mysterious past with what Fontenelle calls "a
frightful degree of certainty"--a spirit the most opposite to that of the
true philosophy of history.
Yet it must be admitted that the chronicler who records the events of an
earlier age has some obvious advantages in the store of manuscript
materials at his command--the statements of friends rivals and enemies
furnishing a wholesome counterpoise to each other; and also in the
general course of events as they actually occurred affording the best
commentary on the true motives of the parties. The actor engaged in the
heat of the strife finds his view bounded by the circle around him and
his vision blinded by the smoke and dust of the conflict: while the
spectator whose eye ranges over the ground from a more distant and
elevated point though the individual objects may lose somewhat of their
vividness takes in at a glance all the operations of the field. Paradoxical
as it may appear truth rounded on contemporary testimony would seem
after all as likely to be attained by the writer of a later day as by
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