511 / 1070
BooK
l.
Royal
Commentáriú.
C H A P.
XXXV-III;
Of the Wit anl
Subtilty
of
Atahualpa ;
anJ of the lrea:-_
Jure which was co/Jefled towards his Ranfome.
479
A
T11hualpt1i
(as we have
fa.id)was
0f
a q_,_uick and ready Uñderfiat1ding, an ln~
fiance whereof we have
m
this paífage,
which
indee€! t1aíl:ned.bis Deach ;
for
he obferving che
Sp.tnim-ds
to-
read and
wi:icl~
did believe chat it was
a
Gift
natural m-them, anµ born with them~to try wnich be dtfn:ed a-
Spaniard,
who
carne to viíit him, or that was.one of
his.
Guard,' that he would wrice che Namé
ofGod oo che Nail of
bis
Thurnh; che Souldi~r baving vvroce, as he defired, he
asked tbree or four Souldiers-, one after anoth~r., vvh~c-that W0rd meam, ihey
all told hirn, chat
it
vvas the narne ofGod.
At
fength,
Drr,1, Fumcifco Pira¡¡ro
carne,
in, vvich vvhom after he had difcouríed a .vvhile,.
he
ask€:d,
bini
the rn~ning
of
chofe Lette!s vvhkh,vvere VVFote on his
Natil : .
Novv
Piftirro
~0t .{mo;vving ~i–
ther to vvnce or read, anfvvered
that
he could,
not
tell,
hy
vvhu:h he
co:lleétea;·
that che knovvledge ofLetters vvas acquired
1 .
atiq n9t na~ q.l;. and from thit
time ever after he conceiv~d a
meaner
efüiem-of._ the G0v~r,qo~r.t'han before ;;,
fo11·
_that. (as vve have faid) ehe
lnoM,
in
their M~r~l, Philofop]iy, were
taugfic~
~l]ai¡
the Royal
Farnily,
Nobles and Gentkrnen,: ought
to
exceed
tfa:u
foferioµFs
in
knovvledge and Vertues, as appeais
in
th€
TriaI-of Novitianes, ( as vve bave ·
forme¡:ly
related} vvho vvere to_ ran througl!l
aH
Exeuófes aixd Hatdíhips, vvhidi
might;try and approve them
1
(o-vvhen
Atr1hJ._qlp'a;.
bad .di(c9veEed-1 the lgn0rane~
of
Pifarro,
vyho being t~e Gov~rnour,. and \..~1ief., vvas,,_according to,
hí:5i Rul~,
t-0 have excelleq
all
bis
Ioferiours in-Learping-af}~
"'N
~nues , ~e c0~ceived .\
$J~.r-
11€r
Opit1ion,ofhim, which when
the
Goveq19\:]r,bad obf(lrV€~
h€
grewangry a-r-id
offended with
Mm~
which haílened the Death
o[Atahúalpa~
··
Tqi&-
pa~gel
)l.av~
ñeand from thofe.
who
were theo-prnfent,.
whi€h
may
oo
a-cai;tqkm,
!ªºª
an.
~ver,–
tifement
to
Noble Perfons in
th€
Education of
thei-r
Son~; fot tbat far
want
of
Reading, and
Writing,
1
and
a
little
Latin,
they xnay
fa11
1nm
Difgraces, and
b~
fubjeét to Affroncs; ~hough incleéd
in
th0fe ;imes ignoram:€ _yvas r1ore,ex9ufabl~
\han in chis pre[enc age, .which affords man
y
M:i;ilers
in
Spai11,
w
n~re all Sdem:es
and Learningflourifh, and whete N<;>ble-rnen value themfelves nQt mor,~
on,
rhi:ir
horn;mrable
Bircb;
than on thejr vercuous Edl)<;:arion, whicl1i y¡efds-- a Lufüe
Hk~
pretiousStones encfaa[ed with Gold: ,
·
,
·
Another thing
is
n;ported of
Atahualpa,
for an Iníl:ance of bis. Wit and goog
. ..- Underíl:and, whi<i:h was. this, tpat amongft m?nY otber things, which th(;
SJJanfr
ards
brought to truck and barter with the
Jndians,
or, as fome .fay, wherewith
tQ
ch(lat them, rh~Fe wás one who had
a Ghifs:Cu¡¡i,
ot
the
íineíl:
fort of Metal,
which was made at
Venice.
'fhe M@rchamof
it
hoping for a good Reward, .pre.
fented it to che King
Atahualpa,
who i-eceived ;it_
(o
kindly, tbat (though he was
then a Prifoner) he otdered ten
of
his
Cups ofGold, anq ~il:ver,-
t9
be given
the
Spaniard
in return thereof. The
Inca
looking and admiring .rnll~h che curiofity of
the Workrna11fhip, asked
ona
that fiood by,
if.
any oth€1.;
~,eµd~
the Kings
OÍ
Caftile
were ferved in füch Veíkls ;· t9 which he,that made the Anfwer~
fuppofmg
that 'he mea:nt the Glaís, and B9t che Workmj nfhip, r~~lifd
y
that
not onely
Kings andNobles; but the Commonalcy of
Spain,
made ufe.o~thofe Gfaífes: which
when
Atahualpa
heard , he lec it
fall
from
bis
Hands, (aying
1 _
thac
things
fo
com–
mon, were nor worthy che eíleern of
a
King.
At
which
W
ords of
<1n
Jndian
_all
Perfons then preíenc <lid much. admire. .
,
_
.
Thus was
Arahualpa
put
to
Death
~y
formal prpce[s of Juníce, (as is rdated)
and befare che quamicy of Gold and Si1v€r which he had prnmi[ed for his Ran–
fo!ne was fully completed,
beca
ufe time wa~ not giveµ him
to -
¡:na~€_due com–
phance; though fome reporc, chat they
put
h1m
to
deach after
he
had'.paid the en~
tire quamicy :
bue
whatfoev(lr rha-t was; che-
S¡aniard,
divid~d to
ev€ry
Man his
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