Gonzalez

“ Defend thyself, ere I commit a murder. Gonzalez
With thee I'll not contend: thy arm is nerveless. The odds are too unequal. De Lerma
Then I rush upon thee as thou art. ( As De Lerma rushes upon him, Gonzalez wrests away his sword, and throws it upon the ground. )
Gonzalez
I spare thy life. De Lerma
Oh! spare it not, if mercy thou wouldst show. Thou givest me back only what thou hast made a misery, a burthen, a disgrace! It is a gift, for which I cannot thank thee. Gonzalez
Keep it, my lord: and let this lesson teach, what thy gray hairs have fail'd to bring thee---prudence. ”

“ Count Fernan Gonzalez was restless, daring, and impetuous; he seldom suffered lance to rest on wall or steed in stable, and no Moorish commander could sleep in quiet who held town or tower in his neighborhood. King Alonzo the Great became emulous of sharing in his achievements, and they made a campaign together against the Moors. The count brought a splendid array of Castilian chivalry into the field, together with a host of Montaneses, hardy and vigorous troops from the Asturias, excellent for marauding warfare. The King of Leon brought his veteran bands, seasoned to battle. ”

“ The Count of Castile did not repose long in his palace. One day a Moorish herald magnificently dressed, rode into the city of Burgos, bringing Fernan Gonzalez a cartel of defiance. It was from a vaunting Moor named Acefali, who had entered the territories of Castile with a powerful force of horse and foot, giving out that he had come to measure strength and prowess with the count in battle. Don Fernan Gonzalez replied to the defiance with weapon in hand at the head of his warriors. A pitched battle ensued, which lasted from early morn until evening twilight. ”

“ Two gallant figures they made as they galloped across the plain, the wind blowing up the wide brims of their hats, the grace and freedom of strength and skill in every movement of body and limb. Lariats were at their saddle horns, and Curtis carried a six-shooter in his belt, but Gonzalez had only his knife, thrust into his boot leg. They circled and headed off the steers, which eluded and dashed past them again and again, until presently Conrad noticed that the largest of the three acted as a sort of leader. “Rope him, José,” he called, “and then we can manage the others.” ”

“ The Moors were retiring from an extensive ravage, laden with booty and driving before them an immense cavalgada, when they descried a squadron of cavaliers, armed all in steel, emerging from a great cloud of dust, and bearing aloft the silver cross, the well-known standard of Count Fernan Gonzalez. That veteran warrior came on, as usual, leading the way, sword in hand. ”

“ Gonzalez translated into Bagobo. For long minutes the headman sat quietly, then he rose to his full height and looked the officer in the eye.
"I am caught between a knife and a spear," Dr. Gonzalez translated. "There is death either way. It is true, the Americans came. We made them welcome. For one evening they stayed. We gave them and their Moro a house to sleep in. Then, after it was dark and we slept, men came. The Americans and the Moro fought, but the men tied them up and carried them away. ”

“ Gonzalez having now a considerable revenue at his command, raised a respectable military force of 1000 Portuguese, 2000 well armed natives, and 200 horse, with above 80 sail of small vessels well provided with cannon. He erected a custom-house, and encouraged the resort of merchants to his dominions, and became so formidable that the neighbouring princes courted his alliance. ”

“ Exasperated against Gonzalez for his treachery, the king ordered the nephew of that lawless ruffian, who was in his power as a hostage, to be be impaled. But Gonzalez, being a person utterly devoid of honour, cared not at whose cost he advanced his own interests; yet the guilt of so many villanies began to prey upon his conscience, and he became apprehensive of some heavy punishment falling upon him, which he had little means to avert, as all men considered him a traitor unworthy of favour; those of Aracan, because he had betrayed them to the Moguls ”

“ The fight was obstinate and the Castilians were hardly pressed, being so inferior in number. Don Fernan Gonzalez galloped along the front of the enemy. “Where is the Count of Toulouse?” cried he; “let him come forth and face me,—me, Fernan Gonzalez of Castile, who defy him to single combat!” The count answered promptly to the defiance. No one from either side presumed to interfere while the two counts encountered, man to man and horse to horse, like honorable and generous cavaliers. They rushed upon each other with the full speed of their horses ”

“ Much good you dissidents would do if it were not for him."
On this Ramon recovered the use of his tongue, and to such good purpose, that he poured out above a thousand words in the course of a few minutes, with fierce vehemence, foaming and sputtering with rage. He rebuked with indignation the monstrous comparison of himself with a puppet, and fully explained the precise position held by Gonzalez in the city council and that which he himself occupied. But he did it with such frenzied excitement and gesticulation that the ladies looked at him in amused surprise. ”

“ Altera poscit opem res et conjurat amicè. 13. Page 64. “Iglesias and Gonzalez.”
Diego Gonzalez was born at Ciudad Rodrigo in 1733, and died at Madrid, 1794. Josè Iglesias de la Casa was born at Salamanca in 1753, and died there in 1791. His poems were first published seven years after his death, and have been several times reprinted. The best edition is that of Barcelona, 1820, from which the one of Paris, 1821, was taken. The poems of Gonzalez also were first published after his death, and have been several times reprinted. Both wrote very pleasing verses, and are deservedly popular in Spain. ”

“ All this harmony and happiness continued uninterrupted for several years; but, at length, an element of discord, at first slight, seemed to arise from the appearance on the scene of a certain Count Ruy Gonzalez, who came here with the father and daughter after one of their annual excursions into Catalonia. He was an extremely handsome, noble-looking Spaniard, of about thirty years of age, and said to be rich; but there was an air of haughty, inflexible sternness about him, that repelled most people, more than his good looks and polished manners attracted them. ”

“ It is necessary to kill a Valencian to conquer him.
Gonzalez, the scar-faced banderillero, seemed astounded for the moment, and then his face took on an expression of malignant satisfaction and triumph.
“So the revolutionist has returned to Madrid!” he sneered. “Did he come back to see Señorita Zuera? or did he come to arouse the people against the government?”
Esparto regarded the fellow with a look of deep contempt.
“It is nothing to you why I returned,” he declared. “You have neither the courage to become a revolutionist or to support the government. Gonzalez, you are a cur.” ”

“ How far Echeandía was influenced by the fact that Gonzalez was the friend and father-in-law of Herrera, [14] we have no means of knowing. [15] It would appear that Gonzalez did not accompany Echeandía to the south in December, or that he returned immediately; for in February 1828 he was suspended from his command and put under arrest at Monterey by Estrada, at the governor's order, after some investigations had been conducted by Lieutenant Pacheco. At the end of the year he was ordered to leave the country on the María Ester, in accordance with instructions of May 31st from Mexico ”

“ Mexican and Californian officers were inclined to look down, each upon the other, from a height of superiority; but the revolution gave commissions to many ruffians, and there is no special reason to doubt that Gonzalez was one of them. In February 1827 he wrote long and somewhat incoherent complaints to Echeandía, asking to be relieved of his command, but refusing to be subordinate in any way to Estrada or Argüello. ”

“ The arch of Fernan Gonzalez, if not speedily restored, (which is not to be expected,) runs the risk, from its elevation and want of solidity, of being the first of the two monuments to crumble to dust; a circumstance which, although not destitute of an appearance of justice,—from the fact of the hero it records having figured on an earlier page of Castilian annals,—would nevertheless occasion regret to those who prefer history to romance, and who estimate essential services rendered to the state, as superior to mere individual éclat, however brilliant. ”

“ Continuing on this course Gil Gonzalez in due time approached the territory of Nicaragua, but only to encounter Hernando de Soto, sent by Córdoba to ascertain who were the rival settlers. Gil Gonzalez first learned of the presence of Córdoba in that quarter while passing through the valley of Olancho. There was but one way to settle rival claims under such circumstances, the old brutal way, practised by both savage and civilized from the beginning, and in vogue to-day among our most Christian and cultured nations—the weaker must give way to the stronger. ”

“ Does the Pope never die; and is the great king of Spain a mortal; and why do the Christians so love gold?" These and other questions of like import the savage asked, and Gil Gonzalez answered them. There was no question that brave and pious Gil Gonzalez could not answer. And Peter Martyr says that "Cereceda, the king's treasurer, witnessed the manner in which Gonzalez answered the questions of Nicaragua." Strange to say, the savage was not satisfied. Doubtless Gil Gonzalez could have made himself better understood by a Christian. "Came these men hither from heaven?" ”

“ Various wars were carried on during this time by Gonzalez, and alliances formed and dissolved. Several more or less successful campaigns are recorded against the Moors of Saragoza, and of other neighbouring states. The alliance with Navarre had not been durable. In 959 Don Garcia, King of that country, fought a battle with Fernan Gonzalez, by whom he was taken prisoner, and detained in Burgos thirteen months. The conquest of the independence of Castile is related in the following manner. ”

“ Gonzalez looked up with a confiding smile.
“The patron wishes it; and why not? If I kill a man he gets me off if he can, and then that is all right. If he can’t, I pay for it in prison—and that is fair.”
“Huh!” grunted the superintendent as he walked away. “So you think you are going to pay for me that way, do you? Well, I guess not!”
The same train that carried Conrad northward to Santa Fe carried also a brief and hurried letter to Dellmey Baxter which José Gonzalez had found time to write before he and the rest started for Adobe Springs, mailing it as they passed White Rock station. ”

“ On hearing of the impending danger, Count Fernan Gonzalez summoned all men of Castile capable of bearing arms to repair to his standard at Muñon. His force when assembled was but small, but composed of the bravest chivalry of Castile, any one knight of which he esteemed equal to ten Moors. One of the most eminent of his cavaliers was Don Gonzalo Gustios, of Lara, who brought seven valiant sons to the field—the same afterwards renowned in Spanish story as the seven princes of Lara. With Don Gonzalo came also his wife’s brother, Ruy or Rodrigo Velasquez, a cavalier of great prowess. ”

“ As Gonzalez mounted his horse at the corral gate he looked back and saw Conrad standing beside his mare, making her hunt through his pockets for sugar. “A brave man is Don [Pg 351] Curtis,” his thoughts ran. “He is so brave it does not seem right that he must die. But—” and he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who says, “What would you?”
When José was well out of sight Conrad started after him, at first at a slower pace than usual. ”

“ In the camp of the Moors was found vast booty in gold and silver, and other precious things, with sumptuous armor and weapons. [Pg 342] When the spoil was divided and the troops were refreshed, Don Fernan Gonzalez went with his cavaliers in pious procession to the hermitage of San Pedro. Here he gave much silver and gold to the worthy Fray Pelayo, to be expended in masses for the souls of the Christian warriors who had fallen in battle, and in prayers for further victories over the infidels; after which he returned in triumph to his capital of Burgos. ”

“ I will petition the King, Sir, to have thy guardianship cancelled; and have my inheritance, which thou engrossest solely to thyself, turned over to my own hands. Come, good Amina,” she added to her governante, “let us retire.”
“Aha! would you go plot again?” cried Gonzalez. “No, no! we’ll no more on’t to-night. Get thee to thy chamber alone for once; and, harkye, thou old hag [210] !” he added to the duenna, “get thee to thine, or I will have thee made do penance in the public streets. Petition the King, eh?”
“Remember, thou hast been warned!” said Inez. ”

“ As the Moors drew near, while there was yet a large space between them and the Christians, this fiery cavalier could no longer contain himself, but giving reins to his steed set off headlong to encounter the foe; when suddenly the earth opened, man and horse rushed downward into an abyss, and the earth closed as before.
A cry of horror ran through the Christian ranks, and a panic was like to seize upon them, but Don Fernan Gonzalez rode in front of them, exclaiming, “This is the promised sign of victory. ”

“ And this meant they ate heartily, as travellers can, who can go without a breakfast or eat two; and those who dwell in cities can do neither.
And while the plump dame did them honour they spoke no word of the forest, for they knew not what place her husband's early years had in her imagination.
They had barely finished their meal when the sound of hooves on cobbles was heard and Gonzalez beat on the door. They all went to the door and found him there with two horses. The horses were saddled and bridled. They fixed the stirrups to please them, then the travellers mounted at once. ”