His action now was the expression of new intuitions. Always under the influence of turbulent emotions, his ambition had suddenly become more aggressive. In pure impulses, in refined feelings, in noble instincts, he was essentially defective. He harbored no ideal of duty, such as we have seen in the mind of Grijalva. His code of ethics was neither broad nor catholic. And notwithstanding his great respect for religion, so great indeed as to excite suspicion that he cared very little for it; notwithstanding his outward piety, and his devotion to the church, the lighter immoralities fitted him with an ease and grace that hampered his movements not in the least.
Yet for all this the alcalde of Santiago suddenly became a great man, not in name only, but actually; wellnigh revolutionizing the society of which he himself was the product.
To him, and to others, his commission was a match applied to explosive material, letting loose the latent force.
The leaders of the first gulf-shore expeditions, Córdoba, Grijalva, and Cortés, present themselves before us in relatively increasing proportions.
- Córdoba, the first, was least, though a most gentlemanly and kind-hearted pirate.
- Grijalva, though second to Cortés in talents and fame, was far before him in honesty.
During the preparations which quickly followed the appointment of Cortés, the inherent qualities of the man developed to a degree alarming alike to friends and enemies, and astonishing to himself. He found his nature a strong one, with magnetic attractions, and an affinity with danger. He found himself possessed of that higher courage of the mind which begets self-confidence, breeds the hero, and ends in the achievement of the uttermost.