was fatal to the confederacy. The city of Toledo alone, animated by Donna Maria, who sought to revenge her husband's death, yet held out. Respect, admiration, and sympathy, secured to her that ascendancy over the people, which he had possessed; and the prudence and vigour with which she acted justified this confidence. She wrote to the French general in Navarre, encouraging him to invade Castile; she endeavoured by her letters and emissaries, to revive the hopes and spirits of other Castilian cities; raised soldiers, and by keeping the death of their beloved general fresh in the minds of the people, by processions, &c., she prevented fear or despondency from acting on their minds. Her enemies in vain tried to undermine her popularity; and when the city was invested, she defended it with vigour, her troops frequently repulsed the royalists, and no progress was made in reducing the place, till the clergy, whose property she had been forced to invade, ceased to support her. They soon openly deserted her; and persuaded the credulous multitude, impatient of a long blockade, that she had acquired such influence over them by enchantment, and that she was assisted by a familiar demon, in the form of a negro maid. Incensed by these suggestions, they themselves took up arms against her, drove her out of the city, and surrendered it to the royalists. She then retired to the citadel, which she defended with amazing fortitude four months longer; and, when reduced to the last extremity, made her escape in disguise, and fled into Portugal, where she had many relations.

PHILIP I., king of Spain, and archduke of Austria, son of the emperor Maximilian I., was born in 1478. A marriage between him and the Infanta Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile, took place in 1496. The death of her only brother, Don Juan, left Joanna the sole heiress of their vast dominions; and in 1502 the archduke and his spouse, visited Spain, where they were acknowledged by the cortes the lawful successors to the crown of that kingdom. In passing through France, Philip had done homage to the king, Lewis XII., for the earldom of Flanders, which he inherited in right of his mother Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. The temper of Philip however, which was easy, gay, and affable, was ill suited to the solemn stateliness of the Spanish court, and notwithstanding the entreaties of his wife, who doated on him with idiot fondness, he hastily returned to the Low Countries. In passing through France he signed a treaty with Lewis, by which he hoped all differences between the crowns might be adjusted; but his father-in-law, Ferdinand, finding his affairs prosperous in Italy, paid no regard to it. Isabella died in 1504, and left the regency of Castile to Ferdinand, till her grandson Charles should arrive of age. He

obtained, though not without difficulty, the consent of the cortes to the assumption of that office, but it was not long before Philip took measures to secure it to himself. By the desertion of the Castilian nobles, who were not satisfied with his government, Ferdinand at length resigned the regency, and retired to Arragon; and Philip again visiting Spain, with Joanna, was put in possession of the royal authority. As Joanna had sunk into a state of derangement, which entirely unfitted her for government, it was Philip's aim to be declared sole sovereign till the majority of his son; but the Castilians, partially attached to their native prince, would not abandon her, and Philip and Joanna, in 1506, were declared joint king and queen of Castile. Philip's dislike of the Inquisition, and the preference he gave to his Flemish favourites, began to produce alarming discontents, when his death, in consequence of a fever, finished a reign of less than three months, in his 28th year. His chief historical distinction, is that of being father to Charles V.

JOHN V., count of Armagnac, was son of John IV. of Navarre. He disgraced himself by an incestuous commerce with his sister Isabella, and finally was banished from his dominions by the French king. He was slain in his palace at Lecture in a siege, 1473.

ATABALIPA or ATAHUALPA, the last of the incas. On the death of his father he succeeded to the throne of Quito, while his brother Huascar obtained the kingdom of Peru. Not long after a disagreement took place, and hostilities commenced between them, in which Huascar was defeated. The Spaniards taking advantage of these disturbances, with Pizarro as their leader, invaded Peru, where they were entertained with no little hospitality by the king and the people, but instead of making any return for his kindness, they, with their usual treachery, held him in captivity. The inca, as a ransom, offered to give the Spaniards a room full of gold, and when they had got the treasure in their possession, they, with the utmost baseness, burnt the unhappy monarch at the stake in 1533.

His

FERDINAND CORTES, the conqueror of Mexico, was born in 1485, at Medellino, a town of Estremadura. father, Martin Cortes, was a gentleman of family, but of small fortune. Ferdinand was destined to the profession of the law, and was sent to study at the university of Salamanca; but his disposition was little suited to an academic and literary life. He quitted the university, and employed himself solely in active sports, and martial exercises; at the same time he was so dissipated and unmanageable, that his father was glad to comply with his desire of entering into the military profession. His first intention was to serve in Italy, under Gonsalvo, the

great captain; but an indisposition having prevented him from embarking with a reinforcement sent to Naples, he turned his thoughts to the new world. Ovando, governor of Hispaniola, was his kinsman, and the young Cortes intended to have accompanied him to his government in 1502, but was detained by an accident which shows the character he then supported. As he was attempting one night to climb up to the bed-chamber window of a lady with whom he had an intrigue, an old wall which he had scaled gave way, and he was severely bruised by the fall. In 1504, he landed at St. Domingo, and was favourably received by Ovando, who employed him in several honourable and lucrative posts. His enterprising spirit, however, induced him, in 1511, to accompany Diego Velasquez in his expedition to Cuba. Under that leader he displayed so much courage, prudence, and military skill, that he obtained a general reputation among the Spanish adventurers, and was rewarded by Velasquez with a large grant of land. He married Frances Suarez Pacheco, and was made alcade of the town of San Jago. When it was determined to attempt the conquest of the newly-discovered country of Mexico, Cortes was the person fixed upon to conduct the enterprise. He entered into it with all the ardour of his character, and staked all his private fortune upon its success. He left St. Jago in November, 1518, and proceeded first to Trinadad and then to the Havannah, in order to raise more levies, and complete the equipment of his fleet. In the mean time, that demon of jealousy, which seems, like an avenging spirit, to have pursued the Spaniards through all their new acquisitions, took possession of the breast of Velasquez, and induced him to make attempts to deprive Cortes of his command. But this leader, forewarned, defeated his schemes; and by the influence he had acquired over his followers, together with their thirst for plunder, effectually engaged them to support his authority. On Feb. 10, 1519, he set sail for the Havannah, and landed on the island of Cozumel on the coast of Yucatan. Here he mustered his army, which amounted to 508 soldiers, 16 horsemen, and 109 mechanics, pilots and mariners. Having encouraged his men by a proper speech, and released, by means of some Indian ambassadors, a Spaniard named Jerom d' Aguilar, who had been detained a prisoner for eight years, he proceeded to the river Tabasco, where he hoped to be received in a friendly manner, but, instead of this, he was violently attacked: however, the superiority of the Spanish arms soon decided the victory, and the inhabitants were obliged to acknowledge the king of Castile as their sovereign. The Spaniards then continued their course westward, to the harbour of St. Juan de Ullua; where they were met by two Mexican canoes, who carried two ambassadors from the emperor of that country,

and showed the greatest signs of peace and amity. Their language was unknown to Aguilar; but a female prisoner understood it, and translated it into the Yucatan tongue, after which Aguilar interpreted it in Spanish. This slave was afterwards named Donna Marina, and proved very useful in their conferences with the natives. By means of his two interpreters, Cortes learned that the two ambassadors were deputies from Pilpatoe and Tuetile; the one governor of the provinces under the emperor, and the other the commander of all his forces in that province; the object of their embassy was to inquire what his intentions were in visiting their coast, and to offer him what assistance he might need to continue his voyage. Cortes, in his turn, also professed great friendship; and told the ambassadors, that he came to propose matters of the utmost consequence to the welfare of the prince and his kingdom; which he would more fully unfold in person to the governor and the general. Next morning he landed his troops, horses, and artillery, began to erect huts, and to fortify his camp. The next day the ambassadors had a formal audience; at which Cortes acquainted them, that he came from Don Carlos of Austria, king of Castile, the greatest monarch of the east, and was intrusted with propositions of such moment, that he would impart them to none but the emperor himself, and therefore required to be conducted immediately to the capital. The ambassadors did all in their power to dissuade Cortes from his design, endeavouring to conciliate his good will by the presents sent him by Montezuma, These were introduced with great parade, and consisted of fine cotton cloth, of plumes of various colours, and of ornaments of gold and silver to a considerable value; the workmanship of which, was as curious as the materials were rich. But Cortes still insisted on a personal interview with their sovereign. During this conversation, some painters in the retinue of the Mexican chiefs had been delineating upon white cotton cloths, figures of the ships, horses, artillery, soldiers, and whatever else attracted their eyes as singular. When Cortes observed this, and was informed that these pictures were to be sent to Montezuma, he resolved to render the representation still more striking. The trumpets, by his orders, sounded an alarm, the troops formed in order of battle, and displayed their agility and strength; while the artillery was pointed against the neighbouring trees, among which it made dreadful havoc. The Indians for some time looked on each other with astonishment; but at the explosion of the cannon, some fled, others fell to the ground, and all were so confounded, that Cortes found it difficult to compose their minds. When the painters had exerted their utmost efforts in representing all these wonderful things, messengers were despatched to Montezuma with the pictures, and

a full account of every thing that had passed since the arrival of the Spaniards, together with some European curiosities to Montezuma. Though the city in which Montezuma resided was above 180 miles from St. Juan de Ullua, Cortes's presents were carried thither, and an answer returned to his demands in a few days. As the answer was unfavourable, Montezuma endeavoured to mollify the Spanish general by the richness of his presents. These consisted of the manufactures of the country; cotton stuffs so fine, and of such delicate texture, as to resemble silk; pictures of animals, trees, and other natural objects, formed with feathers of different colours, disposed and mingled with such skill and elegance, as to rival the works of the pencil, in truth and beauty of imitation. But what chiefly attracted their attention, were two large plates of a circular form; one of massive gold representing the sun, the other of silver, representing the moon. These were accompanied with bracelets, collars, rings, and other trinkets of gold; boxes filled with pearls; precious stones, and grains of gold unwrought, as they had been found in the mines or rivers. Cortes received all with an appearance of the most profound respect for Montezuma; but when the Mexicans told him that their master, though he desired him to accept of what he had sent as a token of his regard for the prince whom he represented, would not give his consent that foreign troops should approach nearer his capital, or even allow them to continue longer in his dominions, Cortes declared, in a manner more resolute than formerly, that he could not, without dishonour, return to his own sovereign, until he was admitted into the presence of the prince whom he was appointed to visit in his name. The Mexicans were astonished at the sight of a man who dared to oppose the will of their emperor; but they prevailed upon Cortes to promise that he would not move from his camp until the return of a messenger, whom they sent to Montezuma for further instructions. In a short time Tuetile arrived with another present from Montezuma, and his ultimate orders to depart instantly out of his dominions. When Cortes, instead of complying with his demands, renewed his request of audience, the Mexicans immediately left the camp with strong marks of surprise and resentment. Next morning none of the natives appeared, and all friendly correspondence seemed to be at an end. To give a beginning to a colony, Cortes assembled the principal persons in his army, and by their suffrages elected a council and magistrates, in whom the government was to be vested. The persons chosen were all firmly attached to Cortes; and the new settlement had the name of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Before this court of his own making, Cortes resigned his authority, and was immediately re-elected chief justice of the colony, and captain-general of his army, with an