Gold, however welcome, was not the chief object of
his ambition. If it were theirs, they should still reflect, that the
present treasure was little in comparison with what awaited them
hereafter; for had they not the whole country and its mines at their
disposal? It was only necessary that they should not give an opening
to the enemy, by their discord, to circumvent and to crush them.
With these honeyed words, of which he had good store for all fitting
occasions, says an old soldier, for whose benefit, in part, they
were intended, he succeeded in calming the storm for the present;
while in private he took more effectual means, by presents judiciously
administered, to mitigate the discontents of the importunate and
refractory. And, although there were a few of more tenacious temper,
who treasured this in their memories against a future day, the
troops soon returned to their usual subordination. This was one of
those critical conjunctures which taxed all the address and personal
authority of Cortes. He never shrunk from them, but on such
occasions was true to himself. At Vera Cruz, he had persuaded his
followers to give up what was but the earnest of future gains. Here he
persuaded them to relinquish these gains themselves. It was
snatching the prey from the very jaws of the lion. Why did he not turn
and rend him?
To many of the soldiers, indeed, it mattered little whether
their share of the booty were more or less.
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