Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. III, No. XVII, October 1851Various
History
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. III, No. XVII, October 1851
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
He repeatedly made the declaration, that he
wished only for peace; and in every case, even when states, by the right
of conquest, were entirely in his power, he made peace, upon the most
lenient terms for them, simply upon condition that they should cease
their warfare against France. "Such a rapid succession of brilliant
victories," said Las Cases to Napoleon at St. Helena, "filling the world
with your fame, must have been a source of great delight to you." "By no
means," Napoleon replied. "They who think so know nothing of the peril
of our situation. The victory of to-day was instantly forgotten in
preparation for the battle which was to be fought on the morrow. The
aspect of danger was continually before me. I enjoyed not one moment of
repose."
We must now leave Napoleon and his army, until our next Number, encamped
before the walls of Mantua.
LIMA AND THE LIMANIANS.
When Pizarro had completed the conquest of Peru, one of his first cares
was to select a site for the capital of his new empire. The situation of
Cuzco, far withdrawn in the depths of the Cordilleras, which admirably
adapted it for the metropolis under the centralizing system of the
Incas, rendered it unsuited for the capital of a commercial people, who
were to be bound to another nation by the strict ties of colonial
dependency. All the requisites of a central position, a good harbor, a
fertile soil, and a delightful climate were found combined in the valley
of Lurigancho, through which, emptying into the Bay of Callao, flowed
the river Rimac, affording abundant facilities for irrigation, and
producing exuberant fertility. Here, on the 6th day of January, 1535,
the festival of the Epiphany, the conqueror of the Incas resolved to
establish his capital city. He gave to it the name of _La Ciudad de los
Reyes_--"The City of the Kings," in honor of the "wise men from the
east," whom Catholic tradition has invested with regal dignity, who on
that day, more than fifteen centuries before, had followed the star till
it "stood over where the young child was." Twelve days afterward, the
Spaniards having been gathered to the valley, the work was solemnly
inaugurated by Pizarro laying with his own hand the foundation of the
cathedral, which was dedicated to _Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion_--"Our
Lady of the Assumption." The work of building was pushed on with an
energy characteristic of Pizarro. From an hundred miles around the
Indians were collected, and forced to build the hated city. The stern
soldiers of the conquest laid aside their armor, and assumed the
character of laborious artisans. The foundations of the public edifices
were laid with a solidity capable of defying the attacks of time; and
almost sufficient to resist the shocks of the earthquake, which at
length taught the successors of the first builders that security was
only to be attained by the use of slighter materials, and a more humble
and fragile mode of erection.
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