506 / 1060
Royal
Commentaries.
BooK
I.
de
Mora,
Francifco Mofcofo, Hernando de
Haro,
Pedro de -Mendofa, (uan de
Herrm:la
and
Alonfo de Avila,
and
BIM
de
Ariem;a,
with many others; all which were ofopi:
nion, that it was not lawfull to put a King to death, who had treated
chem
kind–
ly,
and had never done them any Injury ; and if in cafe he were guilty of any
Crime, they fhould tranfport
him
into
Spain,
there
to
be tried
by
the Emperour
and not by thernfelves, who had no Power or
J
urifdiction over Kings. That
they
fhould confider the Honour of the
Spanijh
Nation, which mufr greatly fuffer in
the Reputation of the World, and be branded with Tyranny and Cruelty, when–
foever it ibould be objetted againfl: them, that they had put a King to death, du–
ring the time
that
they had given their Parole to the contrary, and were
under
Obligations ofTreacy, and Articles, for his Ranfome, of which they
had
already
received the greatefi part. That they iliould be cautious how, and
in
what man–
ner they fiained their great Atchievement5
with
ah Act: fo foul and inhumane as
this;
that the fear of
God
fhould
refirain them,
who, after
fo
barbarous
anAetion,
could
not
expea:
Bleffings,
or
Succeffes agreeable
to
their happy beginnings,
bur,
on the conrracy, Misfortunes, and Ruines, and an unhappy end ro all thofe who
had a hand
ih
this WickednefS. That it was not lawfull to put any Man to
death,
without
heating
what
he could
fay
in his own Defence; that they
appea–
led
from their Sentence to the Emperour
Char/es
the 5th. and in the
mean
time
confi:icuted
T:uan de He-rrada
Protetl:our of
the
Perfon of King
Atahualpa.
Thefi
and many other particulars of
this
nature, they uttered not onely in Words, but
alfo
in
Writing, folemnly protefiing before the Judges againR: this Fatt, and
againft all the evils which might
be
the confequences thereof. Nor
were
thofe
on the
other
fide
lefs
bitter and violent againfi chafe who favoured
Atah11alp11,
calling
them
Traitors to the Royal Crown of
Caftile ..
and
the
Emperour
rneir
Sovereign, the
augmentatio~
and enlargement of whofe Dominion, they had
endeavoured to prevent. That
by
the death of this Tyrant they might fecure
their
own
Lives, and
the entire Dominion of that whole Empire, all which
by
the contrary would run great danger and hazard. Of all
which,
and of the Mu–
tinies which thefe Di1fenters caufed, they
would
inform His Majefiy,
that
fo
he
might
diftin~ilh
between fuch who, were his loyal
Subje&,
and
faithfull
to his
Setvice, and thofe who were Traitors, and mutinous; and ob!l:ructive to the en–
largement of his Dominions. Thus were the Difcords enflamed
to
fuch a
degree,
that they
had
broken out
into
a
Civil
War, had not fome
more
moderate
Mpn,
and lefs paffionate, inrerpofed between both Parties , and reprefented how
de–
firuetive and fatal fuch Differences might prove to both fides, and
to
che
foccefs of
the Defign
in
hand, in cafe that Chriflians, on the fcore of Infidels, fhould en–
ter into a Civil War.
They
moreover
reprefented
to
thofe
who
maintained
the Caufe of
Atahualpa,
that they {hould confider how
they
"ere no more than
fifty
in
number,
and
inferiour
to the contrary
arcy,
which
confifi:ed
of three
hun–
dred and
fifty;
fo that in cafe they
iliould
pretend to decide the coocrm erfie
by
Arms, the Hfue would be their own defirutl:ion, and the lofS
of
that rich
King–
dom, which now they might
fecure
by the
Death
of this
King.
Thefe Reafons
and
Confiderations
abated the Spirits of rhofe
who
proteeted
Atahuafp~
fo
that
they concurred with the ochers in his Sentence of
Death,
\Yhith
\~ as
accordingly
executed..
CH
AP.