Note 568 — Chapter XIX · POLITICS AND RELIGION. 1520.

Gomara, Hist. Mex., 133. Yet Bernal Diaz assumes that Montezuma examined him and the other prisoners, ‘y supo Monteçuma de los conciertos en que andaua, que era alçarse por señor.’ Hist. Verdad., 80. ‘Y à cabo de pocos dias le dieron Garrote secretamente,’ adds Torquemada, i. 470, erroneously. Had Cortés fallen into his hands, the stone of sacrifice would speedily have received him, and the captive must accordingly have regarded himself as mercifully treated. The general knew the value of such prominent hostages. The leniency gained him besides great credit, as Solis rightly assumes. Hist. Mex., ii. 21-2.