It was doubtless in imitation of the same captivating model, that
Pizarro planned the seizure of Atahuallpa. But the situations of
the two Spanish captains were as dissimilar as the manner in
which their acts of violence were conducted. The wanton massacre
of the Peruvians resembled that perpetrated by Alvarado in
Mexico, and might have been attended with consequences as
disastrous, if the Peruvian character had been as fierce as that
of the Aztecs. *32 But the blow which roused the latter to
madness broke the tamer spirits of the Peruvians. It was a bold
stroke, which left so much to chance, that it scarcely merits the
name of policy.
[Footnote 32: See Conquest of Mexico, Book 4, chap 8.]
When Pizarro landed in the country, he found it distracted by a
contest for the crown. It would seem to have been for his
interest to play off one party against the other, throwing his
own weight into the scale that suited him. Instead of this, he
resorted to an act of audacious violence which crushed them both
at a blow. His subsequent career afforded no scope for the
profound policy displayed by Cortes, when he gathered conflicting
nations under his banner, and directed them against a common foe.
Still less did he have the opportunity of displaying the tactics
and admirable strategy of his rival. Cortes conducted his
military operations on the scientific principles of a great
captain at the head of a powerful host. Pizarro appears only as
an adventurer, a fortunate knight-errant.
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