of leaders, and the greed and brutality of rank and file. But even among the common soldiers, in fairness we cannot disregard the echo of noble sentiment, the aspiration toward high emprise there present. It is the leader, however, who with all his selfish cruelties and unprincipled trickeries must ever remain the central figure of our admiration. If ever there was a hero, a genius of war worthy the adoration of war worshippers, if ever there were grand conception and achievement, all were vividly displayed in the mind and person of Hernan Cortés.
An able French writer, comparing the siege of Mexico with that of Troy, depicts Cortés as an Achilles in whom were combined the talents of Agamemnon and Ulysses.44
In some respects, and as compared with his companions, he indeed approached the deity the Mexicans thought him. Behold him out upon this venture, throwing life to the winds that waft him from Cuba, sinking his ships behind him, plunging into the heart of a hostile country, and