The History of the Conquest of Peru | Page 4

filled; for he was zealously devoted to letters, and few have done more
to extend the knowledge of her colonial history. Far from an exclusive
solicitude for his own literary projects, he was ever ready to extend his
sympathy and assistance to those of others. His reputation as a scholar
was enhanced by the higher qualities which he possessed as a man,--by
his benevolence, his simplicity of manners, and unsullied moral worth.
My own obligations to him are large; for from the publication of my
first historical work, down to the last week of his life, I have constantly
received proofs from him of his hearty and most efficient interest in the
prosecution of my historical labors; and I now the more willingly pay
this well-merited tribute to his deserts, that it must be exempt from all
suspicion of flattery.
In the list of those to whom I have been indebted for materials, I must,
also, include the name of M. Ternaux-Compans, so well known by his
faithful and elegant French versions of the Munoz manuscripts; and
that of my friend Don Pascual de Gayangos, who, under the modest
dress of translation, has furnished a most acute and learned
commentary on Spanish Arabian history,--securing for himself the
foremost rank in that difficult department of letters, which has been
illumined by the labors of a Masdeu, a Casiri, and a Conde.
To the materials derived from these sources, I have added some
manuscripts of an important character from the library of the Escurial.
These, which chiefly relate to the ancient institutions of Peru, formed

part of the splendid collection of Lord Kingsborough, which has
unfortunately shared the lot of most literary collections, and been
dispersed since the death of its noble author. For these I am indebted to
that industrious bibliographer, Mr. O. Rich, now resident in London.
Lastly, I must not omit to mention my obligations, in another way, to
my friend Charles Folsom, Esq., the learned librarian of the Boston
Athenaeum; whose minute acquaintance with the grammatical structure
and the true idiom of our English tongue has enabled me to correct
many inaccuracies into which I had fallen in the composition both of
this and of my former works.
From these different sources I have accumulated a large amount of
manuscripts, of the most various character, and from the most authentic
sources; royal grants and ordinances, instructions of the Court, letters
of the Emperor to the great colonial officers, municipal records,
personal diaries and memoranda, and a mass of private correspondence
of the principal actors in this turbulent drama. Perhaps it was the
turbulent state of the country which led to a more frequent
correspondence between the government at home and the colonial
officers. But, whatever be the cause, the collection of manuscript
materials in reference to Peru is fuller and more complete than that
which relates to Mexico; so that there is scarcely a nook or corner so
obscure, in the path of the adventurer, that some light has not been
thrown on it by the written correspondence of the period. The historian
has rather had occasion to complain of the embarras des richesses; for,
in the multiplicity of contradictory testimony, it is not always easy to
detect the truth, as the multiplicity of cross-lights is apt to dazzle and
bewilder the eye of the spectator.
The present History has been conducted on the same general plan with
that of the Conquest of Mexico. In an Introductory Book, I have
endeavored to portray the institutions of the Incas, that the reader may
be acquainted with the character and condition of that extraordinary
race, before he enters on the story of their subjugation. The remaining
books are occupied with the narrative of the Conquest. And here, the
subject, it must be allowed, notwithstanding the opportunities it
presents for the display of character, strange, romantic incident, and
picturesque scenery, does not afford so obvious advantages to the
historian, as the Conquest of Mexico. Indeed, few subjects can present

a parallel with that, for the purposes either of the historian or the poet.
The natural development of the story, there, is precisely what would be
prescribed by the severest rules of art. The conquest of the country is
the great end always in the view of the reader. From the first landing of
the Spaniards on the soil, their subsequent adventures, their battles and
negotiations, their ruinous retreat, their rally and final siege, all tend to
this grand result, till the long series is closed by the downfall of the
capital. In the march of events, all moves steadily forward to this
consummation. It is a magnificent epic, in which the unity of interest is
complete.
In the "Conquest of Peru," the action, so far as it is founded on the
subversion of