*23
[Footnote 23: Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap.
32.]
Amidst this burst of adulation, the cup of joy commended to
Pizarro's lips had one drop of bitterness in it that gave its
flavor to all the rest; for, notwithstanding his show of
confidence, he looked with unceasing anxiety to the arrival of
tidings that might assure him in what light his conduct was
regarded by the government at home. This was proved by his
jealous precautions to guard the approaches to the coast, and to
detain the persons of the royal emissaries. He learned,
therefore, with no little uneasiness, from Hinojosa, the landing
of President Gasca, and the purport of his mission. But his
discontent was mitigated, when he understood that the new envoy
had come without military array, without any of the ostentatious
trappings of office to impose on the minds of the vulgar, but
alone, as it were, in the plain garb of an humble missionary. *24
Pizarro could not discern, that under this modest exterior lay a
moral power, stronger than his own steel-clad battalions, which,
operating silently on public opinion, - the more sure that it was
silent, - was even now undermining his strength, like a
subterraneous channel eating away the foundations of some stately
edifice, that stands secure in its pride of place!
[Footnote 24: Gonzalo, in his letter to Valdivia, speaks of Gasca
as a clergyman of a godly reputation, who, without recompense, in
the true spirit of a missionary, had come over to settle the
affairs of the country.
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