In an Introductory Book, I
have endeavoured 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.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25