city which he had rendered famous;-and his name became for ever illustrious in the annais of the great and good.

There are two facts in connection with the life of Columbus which it is important we should observe. First, that the indomitable energy of his character led him to remain steadfast to the one purpose of his life, through circumstances of the most distressing and adverse nature; he persevered and triumphed; he discovered the New World. And the second fact is, that great and good men are seldom rewarded as they ought to be. The Continent which Columbus discovered is called by the name of a man who was but a follower and imitator of the famous Genoese. The claims of Americus Vespucius are not to be compared with those of Columbus; but the New World has been christened by his name. The value of the discovery which Columbus made was underrated. “If Columbus had not crossed the Western Main and found the New World, somebody else would:" so said detractors. "After all it was an easy matter." It was then that Columbus asked his critics to stand an egg on its apex; and they tried and tried, and failed, and said it was impossible, until, with a smile, the old sailor slightly broke and compressed the shell at the apex, and lo! the egg stood erect before their astounded gaze. It was very simple-very easy-but not one of their wise heads had hit upon it till they saw it done. And thus, when America was found, it was easy to find America.

Among the group of hardy adventurers who extended the boundaries of geographic discovery, and overturned all the systems of the ancient map-makers, we notice next to Columbus, an athletic, well-made man, swarthy of face, with dark hair and gleaming eyes, glowing like coals in their cavernous sockets. His costume is military, offering a good specimen of the armour of the early part of the sixteenth century.

This man is Francis Pizarro. He was the son of a gentleman of Truxillo. He was of wild, adventurous spirit, not over scrupulous as to others' rights. He embarked for America as a soldier, and, in 1524, joined

with Diego de Almagro and Hernandez Lucque, a priest, in an enterprise to make discoveries. In their voyage they fell in with the coast of Peru, South America; but being too few to make any attempt at a settlement, Pizarro returned to Spain, where he was fully empowered to act as he thought fit, and was sent to Peru as a sort of colonizing governor.

On arriving in Peru, Pizarro learned that a certain part of the country-the richest and best by all accountswas governed by the Incas. The Incas were regarded not only as kings, but as gods; and, according to the Peruvian tradition, they were the offspring of the sun. Now, Pizarro-unlike the zealous Genoese of whom we have been speaking-was determined to enrich himself at all cost. The only law he chose to recognize was that of the strong hand.

was the maxim he chose to adopt as his rule of life, if we suppose he had any rule of life at all. Without the slightest provocation on the part of the inoffensive natives, Pizarro attacked many small villages, stripped them of all they contained, burnt the houses, killed the people, and made merry over the desolation. Now the Inca, or Peruvian monarch, dwelt in a city called Caxamarca; and towards this place Pizarro directed his march. Everywhere the tokens of great wealth met the greedy eyes of the Spanish adventurers; and, in order to possess themselves of the gleaming gold, they committed cruelties too terrible to mention, and made their march one scene of borror from beginning to end.

The city of Caxamarca was beautifully situated. Backed by a wood of dark old trees, and seen from distant mountain tops, it sparkled in the sunbeams like a monarch's signet ring-it seemed a city of gold. The Inca sent a message to Pizarro, inquiring his intentions, and demanding to know whether he came as a friend or an enemy. The wily Spaniard answered that he came as a friend, with

good news from a far country. Atahualpa, the untaught Inca of Peru, believed it all; so a solemn meeting was appointed to take place on a fixed day. Pizarro had made up his mind how to act: he would betray the confidence of the monarch, seize him as the vassal of Spain, and make him bleed gold freely. Saturday the 16th of November, 1532, was a bright and beautiful day. The shrill trumpet called the Spaniards to the place of meeting. The soldiers were concealed so as to rush forth at a moment's notice. Then a feast was spread, and mass prepared; for, strange to say, these men mixed up religion with their unholy deeds; and to hear them sing the saintly song:

'Rise, O Lord, and judge Thinc own cause,”

one might have thought them a company of martyrs, instead of a lawless band of men whose god was gold.

When the Peruvians advanced towards them, they were struck with the extraordinary magnificence of all they beheld. The procession was one such as they even in stately Spain had never witnessed. In front there came a large body of attendants. sweeping every particle of dust from the road; then came the Inca, sitting on a throne, and borne on the shoulders of his principal nobles. His throne was covered with plates of gold and silver, and enriched with precious stones, while the royal robe was studded with jewels that blazed like the sun. Thirty thousand soldiers and followers spread themselves over the fields; and the utmost grandeur was exhibited by them all. The Spaniards had not expected that the Inca would come so well attended, and were almost ready to give up their scheme; but before they could decide on any course of conduct, Pizarro received notice that the meeting was to be deferred for a time, and he was rejoiced at the news -it gave him the opportunity of re-arranging his plans, by which he was not slow to profit.

"His

As evening fell, the Inca entered the city. slaves sang songs of triumph, which in our ears," says one of those who were present, "sounded like the songs of hell!" As the leading lines of the procession entered the

great square, they opened to the right and left for the royal retinue to pass. But not a Spaniard was to be seen. Atahualpa was clothed like a king. A crown rested on his head; his hair was decorated with golden ornaments; a collar of emeralds was around his neck. As he glanced over the square, and perceived only his own people, he asked "where were the strangers ?" At this, Pizarro's chaplain stepped forth with a crucifix in one hand and a book in the other, and advancing towards the Inca, told him that he came to explain to him the nature of the true faith. He made a very long speech, or preached a very long sermon, which went to show that the Inca was a miserable idolator, and that he must submit himself at once to the authority of Spain, as his spiritual and temporal teacher. Atahualpa knew but little of what was really said. He could not understand a word that the priest spoke; and the man who acted as interpreter, and translated the Spanish into Peruvian, probably did his work so inefficiently, that the priest himself would have been puzzled as to doctrines and practices, had the words been translated back into Spanish. One thing, however, the Inca saw very plainly, and this made his eyes flash and his lips quiver; he understood that he was required to be the vassal of a foreign prince. This made his dark brow grow darker.

"I will be no man's tributary," he said; "I am greater than any prince upon earth. Your emperor may be a great prince; I do not doubt it, when 1 see that he has sent his subjects so far across the waters; and I am willing to hold him as a brother. As for the pope, of whom you speak, he must be crazy to talk of giving away ́ countries which do not belong to him."

The priest again alluded to the new faith.

"For my faith," said the Inca, "I will not change it. Your own God, as you say, was put to death by the very men whom he created. But mine," he continued, pointing to the sun,-"My god still lives in the heavens, and looks down on his children now!"

He then demanded to know by what authority the priest had spoken of a new faith.

"In the book," said the chaplain.

The Inca took the proffered Bible, but the letters were a mystery to him; his eye wandered in vain for some familiar sign.

"This," said he, "is silent, it tells me nothing;” and with that he cast it down on the ground.

The enraged monk lifted up the book, and ran down the centre of the square crying:

"The word of God is mocked at. To arms! to arms!" Pizarro ran from the house and met the priest. He too raised the cry to arms," and waved a white silk scarf: then with the old Spanish rallying charge,-"I juyo! I juyo!" he rushed into the square. Spaniards appeared on every side; they poured forth from every avenue; from fields, and hedges, and houses. It seemed as if the very stones were alive and every stone a Spaniard. They fell upon the panic stricken Peruvians and butchered them like sheep in the shambles. He was

The Inca was seized and taken prisoner. greatly dejected, as may readily be supposed; but he soon discovered the ruling passion of his tyrants-GOLD. He offered as a ransom a sum which astonished the Spaniards beyond measure. The room in which he was imprisoned was twenty-two feet in length, and sixteen in breadth, and he undertook to fill it with vessels of gold as high as he could reach. So a line was drawn upon the walls of the chamber to mark the stipulated height.

In due time the enormous mass of gold was accumulated; and after setting aside one fifth as due to the sovereign of Spain, and a large sum to the soldiers who had first arrived, there remained 1,528,500 pesos, equal to a like number of pounds in our English money, to be divided among Pizarro and his followers. The festival of St. James, the patron Saint of Spain, was the day chosen for the partition of this enormous wealth. Before it was divided, God was thanked, and solemn prayer offered. What a shameful mockery it seems, this worship of God and mammon of the old Spanish adventurers!

When the enormous ransom had been paid, the Inca demanded his liberty, which was refused. Various reasons