*17 But he came forth an aged man, bent down with
infirmities and broken in spirit, - an object of pity, rather
than indignation. Rarely has retributive justice been meted out
in fuller measure to offenders so high in authority, - most
rarely in Castile. *18
[Footnote 17: This date is established by Quintana, from a legal
process instituted by Hernando's grandson, in vindication of the
title of Marquess, in the year 1625.]
[Footnote 18: Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Pizarro y
Orellana, Varones Ilustres p 341. - Montesinos, Annales, M., ano
1539. - Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 142.]
Yet Hernando bore this long imprisonment with an equanimity
which, had it been founded on principle, might command our
respect. He saw brothers and kindred, all on whom he leaned for
support cut off one after another; his fortune, in part,
confiscated, while he was involved in expensive litigation for
the remainder; *19 his fame blighted, his career closed in an
untimely hour, himself an exile in the heart of his own country;
- yet he bore it all with the constancy of a courageous spirit.
Though very old when released, he still survived several years,
and continued to the extraordinary age of a hundred. *20 He lived
long enough to see friends, rivals, and foes all called away to
their account before him.
[Footnote 19: Caro de Torres gives a royal cedula in reference to
the working of the silver mines of Porco, still owned by Hernando
Pizarro, in 1555; and another document of nearly the same date,
noticing his receipt of ten thousand ducats by the fleet from
Peru.
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