Note 498 — Chapter XVII · CAPTURE OF THE EMPEROR. November, 1519.
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According to Bernal Diaz the members of this council suggested not only the seizure but the reasons for it. Cortés responded that he had not been oblivious of the danger, but saw not how the seizure could be effected. The captains proposed to beguile the prince to their quarter and detain him. If Cortés hesitated they were willing to undertake the task. The old soldier is evidently misled, as he was in the scuttling affair, to assume too much credit for himself and his fellow-soldiers. Cortés had no doubt adopted his common tactics, so frequently admitted by Bernal Diaz himself, of inspiring his comrades to suggest what he had resolved on. This is proved by the promise made to the emperor in his first letter, four months before, to capture Montezuma.