"Porque aunque
era astuto, i recatado, por la maior parte fue de animo suspenso,
i no mui resoluto." Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 7, cap. 13.]
[Footnote 31: "Tenia por costumbre de quando algo le pedian dezir
siempre de no. esto dezia el que hazia por no faltar su palabra,
y no obstante que dezia no, correspondia con hazer lo que le
pedian no aviendo inconvenimente. . . . . . Don Diego de Almagro
hera a la contra que a todos dezia si, y con pocos lo cumplia."
Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
It is hardly necessary to speak of the courage of a man pledged
to such a career as that of Pizarro. Courage, indeed, was a
cheap quality among the Spanish adventurers, for danger was their
element. But he possessed something higher than mere animal
courage, in that constancy of purpose which was rooted too deeply
in his nature to be shaken by the wildest storms of fortune. It
was this inflexible constancy which formed the key to his
character, and constituted the secret of his success. A
remarkable evidence of it was given in his first expedition,
among the mangroves and dreary marshes of Choco. He saw his
followers pining around him under the blighting malaria, wasting
before an invisible enemy, and unable to strike a stroke in their
own defence. Yet his spirit did not yield, nor did he falter in
his enterprise.
There is something oppressive to the imagination in this war
against nature. In the struggle of man against man, the spirits
are raised by a contest conducted on equal terms; but in a war
with the elements, we feel, that, however bravely we may contend,
we can have no power to control.
Pages:
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782