as we are assured by one of Pizarro's own secretaries, "took place in respect to the probable good or evil that would result from the death of Atahuallpa." 25 It was a question of expediency. He was found guilty, -whether of all the crimes alleged we are not informed, -and he was sentenced to be burnt alive in the great square of Caxamalca. The sentence was to be carried into execution that very night. They were not even to wait for the return of De Soto, when the information he would bring would go far to establish the truth or the falsehood of the reports respecting the insurrection of the natives. It was desirable to obtain the countenance of Father Valverde to these proceedings, and a copy of the judgment was submitted to the friar for his signature, which he gave without hesitation, declaring that, "in his opinion, the Inca, at all events, deserved death.'

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Yet there were some few in that martial conclave who resisted these high-handed measures. They considered them as a poor requital of all the favors bestowed on them by the Inca, who hitherto had received at their hands nothing but wrong. They objected to

25" Doppo l'essersi molto disputato, et ragionato del danno et vtile che saria potuto auuenire per il viuere o morire di Atabalipa, fu risoluto che si facesse giustitia di lui." (Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 400.) It is the language of a writer who may be taken as the mouthpiece of Pizarro himself. According to him, the conclave which agitated this "question of expediency" consisted of the "officers of the crown and those of the army, a certain doctor learned in the law, that chanced to be with them, and the reverend Father Vicente de Valverde."

26" Respondió, que firmaria, que era bastante para que el Inga fuese condenado á muerte, porque aun en lo exterior quisieron justificar su intento." Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 5, lib. 3, cap. 4.

the evidence as wholly insufficient; and they denied the authority of such a tribunal to sit in judgment on a sovereign prince in the heart of his own dominions. If he were to be tried, he should be sent to Spain, and his cause brought before the emperor, who alone had power to determine it.

But the great majority—and they were ten to one— overruled these objections, by declaring there was no doubt of Atahuallpa's guilt, and they were willing to assume the responsibility of his punishment. A full account of the proceedings would be sent to Castile, and the emperor should be informed who were the loyal servants of the crown, and who were its enemies. The dispute ran so high that for a time it menaced an open and violent rupture; till, at length, convinced that resistance was fruitless, the weaker party, silenced, but not satisfied, contented themselves with entering a written protest against these proceedings, which would leave an indelible stain on the names of all concerned in them.27

When the sentence was communicated to the Inca, he was greatly overcome by it. He had, indeed, for some time, looked to such an issue as probable, and had been heard to intimate as much to those about him. But the probability of such an event is very different

27 Garcilasso has preserved the names of some of those who so courageously, though ineffectually, resisted the popular cry for the Inca's blood. (Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 1, cap. 37.) They were doubtless correct in denying the right of such a tribunal to sit in judgment on an independent prince like the Inca of Peru, but not so correct in supposing that their master the emperor had a better right. Vattel (book ii. ch. 4) especially animadverts on this pretended trial of Atahuallpa, as a manifest outrage on the law of nations.

from its certainty,-and that, too, so sudden and speedy. For a moment, the overwhelming conviction of it unmanned him, and he exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, "What have I done, or my children, that I should meet such a fate? And from your hands, too," said he, addressing Pizarro; "you, who have met with friendship and kindness from my people, with whom I have shared my treasures, who have received nothing but benefits from my hands!" In the most piteous tones, he then implored that his life might be spared, promising any guarantee that might be required for the safety of every Spaniard in the army,-promising double the ransom he had already paid, if time were only given him to obtain it. 28

An eye-witness assures us that Pizarro was visibly affected, as he turned away from the Inca, to whose appeal he had no power to listen in opposition to the voice of the army and to his own sense of what was due to the security of the country." Atahuallpa, finding he had no power to turn his Conqueror from his purpose, recovered his habitual self-possession, and from that moment submitted himself to his fate with the courage of an Indian warrior.

The doom of the Inca was proclaimed by sound of trumpet in the great square of Caxamalca; and, two hours after sunset, the Spanish soldiery assembled by torch-light in the plaza to witness the execution of

28 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.-Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 5, lib. 3, cap. 4.—Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 2, cap. 7.

29 "I myself," says Pedro Pizarro, "saw the general weep." "Yo vide llorar al marques de pesar por no podelle dar la vida porque cierto temio los requirimientos y el rriezgo que avia en la tierra si se soltava." Descub. y Conq., MS.

the sentence.

It was on the twenty-ninth of August, 1533. Atahuallpa was led out chained hand and foot, -for he had been kept in irons ever since the great excitement had prevailed in the army respecting an assault. Father Vicente de Valverde was at his side, striving to administer consolation, and, if possible, to persuade him at this last hour to abjure his superstition and embrace the religion of his Conquerors. He was willing to save the soul of his victim from the terrible expiation in the next world to which he had so cheerfully consigned his mortal part in this.

During Atahuallpa's confinement, the friar had repeatedly expounded to him the Christian doctrines, and the Indian monarch discovered much acuteness in apprehending the discourse of his teacher. But it had not carried conviction to his mind, and, though he listened with patience, he had shown no disposition to renounce the faith of his fathers. The Dominican made a last appeal to him in this solemn hour; and, when Atahuallpa was bound to the stake, with the fagots that were to kindle his funeral pile lying around him, Valverde, holding up the cross, besought him to embrace it and be baptized, promising that, by so doing, the painful death to which he had been sentenced should be commuted for the milder form of the garrote, a mode of punishment by strangulation, used for criminals in Spain.30

30 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 234.-Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.-Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.-Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 400.—The garrote is a mode of execution by means of a noose drawn round the criminal's neck, to the back part of which a stick is attached. By twisting this stick

The unhappy monarch asked if this were really so, and, on its being confirmed by Pizarro, he consented to abjure his own religion and receive baptism. The ceremony was performed by Father Valverde, and the new convert received the name of Juan de Atahuallpa, -the name of Juan being conferred in honor of John the Baptist, on whose day the event took place.31

Atahuallpa expressed a desire that his remains might be transported to Quito, the place of his birth, to be preserved with those of his maternal ancestors. Then, turning to Pizarro, as a last request, he implored him to take compassion on his young children and receive them under his protection. Was there no other one in that dark company who stood grimly around him, to whom he could look for the protection of his offspring? Perhaps he thought there was no other so competent to afford it, and that the wishes so solemnly expressed in that hour might meet with respect even from his Conqueror. Then, recovering his stoical bearing, which for a moment had been shaken, he submitted himself calmly to his fate, while the Spaniards, gathering around, muttered their credos for the salvation of his soul ! 32 Thus by the death of a vile malefactor perished the last of the Incas !

the noose is tightened and suffocation is produced. This was the mode, probably, of Atahuallpa's execution. In Spain, instead of the cord, an iron collar is substituted, which, by means of a screw, is compressed round the throat of the sufferer.

31 Velasco, Hist. de Quito, tom. i. p. 372.

32" Ma quando se lo vidde appressare per douer esser morto, disse che raccomandaua al Gouernatore i suoi piccioli figliuoli che volesse tenersegli appresso, & con queste ultime parole, & dicendo per l'anima sua li Spagnuoli che erano all' intorno il Credo, fu subito affogato."