Juan de Zumárraga

“ This person was a philosopher and a poet, but the writings of the period—the picture-writings—were perversely destroyed by Zumarraga, the first Archbishop of Mexico after the Conquest—an irremediable loss.
Hear also the Inca prayer to the Creator, as chanted by the priests and nobles of Peru:
Oh Creator: Thou art without equal unto the ends of the earth! Thou who givest life and [61] strength to mankind, saying, let this be a man and let this be a woman. And as thou sayest, so thou givest life, and vouchsafest that man shall live in health and peace, and free from danger. ”

“ On his becoming an adult, the thread of his life disappears in an intricate labyrinth of bouts and broils among the people of the surrounding region. Sometimes lying hid, always pursued, he passed his time in gambling, working as a common laborer, domineering over everybody around him, and distributing his stabs among them.
On the Godoy farm in San Juan are shown to this day mud-walls of Quiroga's treading; there are others in Fiambola, in La Rioja, made by him. ”

“ An unwise imitation of European strategy; an error in tactics in part, and in part an Argentine prejudice, caused the shameful loss of this battle. Videla Castillo knew that Quiroga was approaching, but did not believe, as no other general would have believed, that he would attack Mendoza; he therefore sent to the Lakes his veteran troops, who, with some other detachments from San Juan under the command of Major Castro, formed a force strong enough to resist an attack, and to force Quiroga to take the road to the Llanos. ”

“ It was useless to try to drive him from Mendoza; terror and the prestige of victory gave him means of resistance, while defeat had left his enemies discouraged. He would only have hastened to San Juan, where arms and money were to be had, and commenced a useless and interminable war. The generals, therefore, went to Cordova, and the infantry and officers of Mendoza came to terms the next day. The Unitarios of San Juan emigrated to Coquimbo, to the number of two hundred, and Quiroga remained in peaceful possession of Cuyo and Rioja. ”

“ Mezzomorto, who spoke the Spanish language tolerably well, then questioned him as to the customs of Spain, and particularly as to the conduct observed by those of its cavaliers who would render themselves agreeable to their ladies;—to all of which Don Juan replied in such a manner as to greatly please the Dey.
"Alvaro," said he to him at last, "you appear to be intelligent; and I judge you to have been a man of rank in your own country: but, however that may be, you are fortunate enough to please me, and I will honour you with my confidence." ”

“ C.F.P. Masson, in his Mémoires Secrets, etc., 1880, i. 150-178, gives a list of twelve favourites, and in this Canto, Don Juan takes upon himself the characteristics of at least three, Lanskoï, Zoritch (or Zovitch) , and Plato Zoubof. For example (p. 167) , "Zoritch ... est le seul étranger qu'elle ait osé créer son favori pendant son regne. C'étoit un Servien échappé du bagne de Constantinople où il étoit prisonnier: il parut, pour la première fois, en habit de hussard à la cour. Il éblouit tout le monde par sa beauté, et les vielles dames en parlent encore comme d'un Adonis." ”

“ William Archer himself might not be reluctant to admit the essential originality of the Spanish play. The truth is that “El Hijo de Don Juan” is a sombre and relentless satire upon the real national hero of Spain, the being immortalised by Molière and Mozart, and more or less caricatured in the cruder imagination of José Zorilla. Don Juan, the gamester, the libertine, the duellist, the bully, has been transported from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth. He is in entirely new surroundings and has become in a measure reformed. ”

“ The vacancy in the see of Mexico caused by the death of Zumárraga was, on the 13th of June, 1551, filled by the appointment of Alonso de Montúfar as archbishop. [1] He was a prominent Dominican, twice prior of the convent of Santa Cruz de Granada; likewise a doctor of the university there and a censor of the inquisition. [2] It is said that his acceptance of this see was solely with the view to benefit the native races, and to that end he brought out with him ten Franciscan friars and as many of his own order, among whom two were eminent. ”

“ The young poet, on his part, had found an audience ready to welcome him, and he was at once launched forth into that “tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune.”
The history of the new aspirant for fame was now an object of interest, and the public learned that he was the son of Don Josè Zorrilla, a person well known as an eminent lawyer who had held several judicial offices with credit in Spain. It was while holding one of those offices, in Valladolid, that his son, the subject of this narrative, was born there, the 21st of February, 1817. ”

“ There were the houses which the bishop possessed in Mexico and Vera Cruz; the encomienda of Ocuituco; numerous personal male and female slaves, held contrary to law; horses and mules; with important money donations and many minor matters, directions for the distribution of which were fully set forth. [50]
According to this document it is manifest that Zumárraga was a prosperous citizen as well as an honored prelate ”

“ Zamora belongs to the days when towns, like men, always wore armour. To-day{87} she is broken and war-worn and old; but if her sword is rusted and her shield broken, she may well boast it was in the service of Spain.
As we jolt over the old bridge, above the weirs of the Duero, and climb the steep street that leads into the town, we need no consultation of the records to tell us that we are here in the old Castile of the knightly days, that we shall find few memories of artists and poets, few of statesmen and great rulers, but many of hard fighters and holy priests. ”

“ On leaving the Seminary, Zorrilla had to go to his father at his estate in the province of Castille, where he now lived in retirement, having lost the favour of the government. There soon a discordance rose between them as to his future course in life. The father wished him to graduate in the profession of the law, in which he had acquired wealth and fame, and sent him, notwithstanding his repugnance, to Toledo, to study in the university of that city. He passed accordingly a year there, but with only sufficient application to go through the ordinary routine respectably. ”

“ Friars could hold no encomiendas, and exactions by them should be redressed and punished. [14]
The nuns sent to teach native girls should be protected and favored both by the audiencia and the bishops. The care of the natives was particularly enjoined, and Bishop Zumárraga received praise for his energetic defence of them. There must be no more branding, and traffic in slaves must be reformed or abolished. Wrongfully enslaved natives were to be liberated. Conversion being a main object, churches should be erected, religious education promoted, and exemplary life set forth. ”

“ This letter Zumárraga had read to other prominent clergymen who signed it jointly with him. In it were given details of the audiencia's misrule, and the statement was made that, to secure the prosperity of the people and the propagation of the faith, there was needed an upright man both able and willing to comprehend the condition of the country and shape aright its destinies. It was shown that New Spain was given over to disorder; that the hatred of the president and oidores, displayed on all occasions toward Cortés and those who sustained him, resulted from envy and avarice alone ”

“ If Juan could slip up to him it would soon be done: the knife to his heart, and in open conflict, this time, not in a cowardly ambush. Ah! so Zucarraga's blood was worth a fortune? Father Chegaray should have his two thousand douros—and so much the worse for the Carlists!
"It was a plucky fight that was fought that night. Garrido's troops were in earnest, they came up to the assault of the intrenchments with bayonets fixed and struck up against the Carlists, whom they thought to surprise, but who were on the alert. The murdering, the killing went on under the cover of the darkness of night. ”

“ It is much to be regretted that Zorrilla has in all his works allowed carelessnesses to prevail, which too often mar the effect of his verses, and still more that he has often inserted some that were of very inferior merit compared with the rest. It is not to be supposed that an author can be equally sustained in all his productions, but it is somewhat extraordinary in his volumes to find some poems of such transcendent merit, and others so inferior. ”

“ Now when it was the Three Hundred and Eighteenth Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth Kurdish Jawan to his mother, “Keep thou watch over her till I come back to thee at first dawn of day,” and went his ways. Now Zumurrud said to herself, “Why am I so heedless about saving my life and wherefore await till these forty men come?: they will take their turns to board me, till they make me like a water-logged ship at sea.” ”

“ The king, thy brother, bids me speak thus: he needs this city Zamora for a defence against his enemies. Nor should so great a stronghold be in the hands of a woman. He will give thee for it money or lands or another city. But if thou dost refuse, he will, without delay, take Zamora from thee by force of arms." Then tears of indignation and rage came into the eyes of the princess.
"I call on God," she cried, "and all these noble knights here present to bear witness that Sancho again seeks to make naught our father's will! ”

“ He is one Don Diego Vega, an aristocrat of Spanish California, who seems content to loaf through life in fancy clothes and rich surroundings, but is really so moved by the tyranny of his country's rulers that he originates for himself another role, that of Senor Zorro, an alert and mysterious avenger of the people's wrongs, who appears suddenly when least expected by the authorities, and disappears as suddenly when most desired by them, always in black mask and costume, with a sure sword, a swift horse and a sense of humor. ”

“ Then said Donya Urraca, Vellido, I do not bid thee commit any evil thing, if such thou hast in thy thought; but I say unto you, that there is not a man in the world to whom if he should relieve Zamora, and make the king my brother raise the siege, I would not grant whatsoever he might require. ”

“ Gonzales replied.
Don Audre Ruiz had turned the señorita over to Fray Felipe. The old fray knew better than to make an attempt to prevent the duel. He belonged to the times, and he understood such things.
“On guard, señor!” Zorro warned again. “I do not like to pollute my blade with your blood, yet must it be done! On guard, renegade! Must I cut down a man who will not defend himself?”
Señor Zorro advanced a step. Captain Ramón, his face white, started to raise his [96] sword. He did not believe, could not force himself to believe, that he would be a victor. ”

“ So they went without the cavern, and Zumurrud combed out her head hair and killed the lice on her locks, till the tickling soothed her and she fell asleep; whereupon Zumurrud arose and, donning the clothes of the murdered trooper, girt her waist with his sword and covered her head with his turband, so that she became as she were a man. Then, mounting the horse after she had taken the saddle-bags full of gold, she breathed a prayer, "O good Protector, protect me I adjure thee by the glory of Mohammed (whom Allah bless and preserve!) ”

“ Now, in spite of his friendship for Urraca, the Cid continued the siege of Zamora with great vigor and zeal, for loyalty to his king compelled hostility to the princess, and the memory of her bitter scorn rankled in his heart. ”

“ Barbados cried. “I can arrange a trap myself, and not in the cañon!”
He rushed away, shrieking more orders. Don Audre Ruiz, fastened to the stake, was forgotten for the moment. Fray Felipe approached him.
“It was the only way, caballero,” the gentle fray said. “It would have been far better to have let the traitor wipe out these rogues entirely, but I had to save your life. And the soldiers will triumph when they come. Right is on their side and fights with them. Also Señor Zorro is at liberty!” ”

“ Should the Caribs follow the custom of the strangers who have come among us, and torn away our most fruitful countries, and own a king, who should it be but Cuanaboa? for who has slain so many enemies and drunk their blood as I have? or who can shew a longer string of teeth than I have here?” and he played with the one which ornamented his neck. “If Zulmiera will be queen, it must be as my wife; and truly she would serve to swell a richer triumph than I even expect to have. But as for the youth, his race is almost run ”

“ All the rancor which until then had possessed him seemed to sink down peacefully into an unknown and ineffable emotion of pity and forgetfulness. The poor convict once more examined his conscience, and felt astonished that he could no longer find any poison there. May it not be, after all, that liberty reforms a man?
At Játiva a man got into the car, a man already old, whose face seemed to the former engineer to bear some traces of a friendly appearance. The new-comer also, on his side, looked at Zureda as if he remembered him. ”

“ On the morrow, Zumurrud summoned all the troops and the grandees of the realm and said to them, 'I am minded to journey to this man's country; so choose a deputy, who shall rule over you, till I return to you.' And they answered, 'We hear and obey.' Then she applied herself to making ready for the journey and furnished herself with victual and treasure and camels and mules and so forth; after which she set out with Ali Shar, and they fared on, till they arrived at his native place, where he entered his house and gave alms and largesse. ”