sentiments, and unquestionably sincere, this
most singular of missionaries called out the artillery. We would
not speak lightly of sacred things in stating the fact that Cortez
considered gunpowder as one of the most important of the means of
grace. He judged that the thunder of his cannon, reverberating through
the streets of the astounded capital, would exert a salutary influence
upon the minds of the natives, and produce that pliancy of spirit,
that child-like humility, so essential both to voluntary and
involuntary conversion. The most important truth and the most
revolting falsehood here bewilderingly meet and blend.

The sun had now gone down, and the short twilight was fading away
into the darkness of the night, when, at a given signal, every cannon
was discharged. The awful roar rolled through the streets of the
metropolis, and froze the hearts of the people with terror. Were these
strange beings, they inquired among themselves, who thus wielded the
heaviest thunders of heaven, gods or demons? Volley after volley, in
appalling peals, burst from the city, and resounded over the silent
lake. Dense volumes of suffocating smoke, scarcely moved by the
tranquil air, settled down upon the streets. Silence ensued. The voice
of Cortez had been heard in tones never to be forgotten. The stars
came out in the serene sky, and a brilliant tropical night enveloped
in its folds the fearless Spaniard and the trembling Mexican.

It was the night of the 8th of November. But seven months had elapsed
since the Spaniards landed in the country. The whole Spanish force,
exclusive of the natives whom they had induced to join them, consisted
of but four hundred and fifty men. They were now two hundred miles
from the coast, in the very heart of an empire numbering many
millions, and by sagacity, courage, and cruelty, they had succeeded in
bringing both monarch and people into almost entire submission to
their sway. The genius of romance can narrate few tales more
marvelous.

CHAPTER VII.

THE METROPOLIS INVADED.

The ride through Tenochtitlan.--Visit to the market-place.--The
pyramidal temple.--View from the summit.--The gong.--Indignation of
Cortez.--The chapel.--General appearance of the city.--Apprehension
from the natives.--The Tlascalans anxious for war.--The trap.--
Situation of the city.--Cortez determines to seize Montezuma.--The
pretext.--Engagement at Vera Cruz.--Cortez demands atonement.--
Montezuma declares his in