{"product_id":"2940013289116","title":"By Right of Conquest","description":"Contents\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e            Preface.\u003cbr\u003eChapter  1: A Startling Proposal.\u003cbr\u003eChapter  2: Bound To Unknown Parts.\u003cbr\u003eChapter  3: The Voyage.\u003cbr\u003eChapter  4: Among The Islands.\u003cbr\u003eChapter  5: Shipwrecked.\u003cbr\u003eChapter  6: Anahuac.\u003cbr\u003eChapter  7: A Wonderful Country.\u003cbr\u003eChapter  8: At Tezcuco.\u003cbr\u003eChapter  9: Life In A Palace.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 10: News From The Coast.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 11: Cortez.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 12: The Fugitives.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 13: The Massacre Of Cholula.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 14: In Mexico.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 15: Again At Tezcuco.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 16: A Treasure Room.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 17: The Insurrection.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 18: The Rising In Mexico.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 19: The Passage Of The Causeway.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 20: At Tlascala.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 21: A Victim For The Gods.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 22: Home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePreface.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe conquest of Mexico, an extensive empire with a numerous and\u003cbr\u003ewarlike population, by a mere handful of Spaniards, is one of the\u003cbr\u003eromances of history. Indeed, a writer of fiction would scarcely\u003cbr\u003ehave dared to invent so improbable a story. Even the bravery of the\u003cbr\u003eSpaniards, and the advantage of superior arms would not have\u003cbr\u003esufficed to give them the victory, had it not been that Mexico was\u003cbr\u003eripe for disruption. The Aztecs, instead of conciliating by wise\u003cbr\u003eand gentle government the peoples they had conquered, treated them\u003cbr\u003ewith such despotic harshness that they were ready to ally\u003cbr\u003ethemselves with the invaders, and to join with them heartily\u003cbr\u003eagainst the central power; so that instead of battling against an\u003cbr\u003eempire single-handed, the Spaniards had really only to war with a\u003cbr\u003egreat city, and were assisted by a vast army of auxiliaries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFortunately, the details of the extraordinary expedition of Cortez\u003cbr\u003ewere fully related by contemporary writers, several of whom were\u003cbr\u003eeyewitnesses of the scenes they described. It was not necessary for\u003cbr\u003eme, however, to revert to these; as Prescott, in his admirable work\u003cbr\u003eon the conquest of Mexico, has given a summary of them; and has\u003cbr\u003edrawn a most vivid picture of the events of the campaign. The book\u003cbr\u003efar surpasses in interest any volume of fiction, and I should\u003cbr\u003estrongly recommend my readers to take the first opportunity that\u003cbr\u003eoccurs of perusing the whole story, of which I have only been able\u003cbr\u003eto touch upon the principal events.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile history is silent as to the voyage of the Swan, it is\u003cbr\u003erecorded by the Spaniards that an English ship did, in 1517 or\u003cbr\u003e1518, appear off the port of San Domingo, and was fired at by them,\u003cbr\u003eand chased from the islands; but it was not until some twenty or\u003cbr\u003ethirty years later that the English buccaneers openly sailed to\u003cbr\u003echallenge the supremacy of the Spaniards among the Western Islands,\u003cbr\u003eand to dispute their pretensions to exclude all other flags but\u003cbr\u003etheir own from those waters. It may, however, be well believed that\u003cbr\u003ethe ship spoken of was not the only English craft that entered the\u003cbr\u003eSpanish main; and that the adventurous traders of the West country,\u003cbr\u003emore than once, dispatched ships to carry on an illicit trade\u003cbr\u003ethere. Such enterprises would necessarily be conducted with great\u003cbr\u003esecrecy, until the relations between Spain and England changed, and\u003cbr\u003ereligious differences broke up the alliance that existed between\u003cbr\u003ethem during the early days of Henry the 8th.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eG. A. Henty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter 1: A Startling Proposal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn March 3rd, 1516, the trading vessel the Swan dropped anchor at\u003cbr\u003ePlymouth. She would in our days be considered a tiny craft indeed,\u003cbr\u003ebut she was then looked upon as a large vessel, and one of which\u003cbr\u003eher owner, Master Diggory Beggs, had good reason to be proud. She\u003cbr\u003ewas only of some eighty tons burden, but there were few ships that\u003cbr\u003esailed out from Plymouth of much larger size; and Plymouth was even\u003cbr\u003ethen rising into importance as a seaport, having flourished\u003cbr\u003emightily since the downfall of its once successful rival--Fowey.\u003cbr\u003eLarge ships were not needed in those days, for the only cargoes\u003cbr\u003esent across the sea were costly and precious goods, which occupied\u003cbr\u003ebut small space. The cloths of the Flemings, the silks and satins\u003cbr\u003eof Italy, the produce of the East, which passed first through the\u003cbr\u003ehands of the Venetian and Genoese merchants, and the wines of\u003cbr\u003eFrance and Spain were the chief articles of commerce. Thus the\u003cbr\u003efreight for a vessel of eighty tons was a heavy venture, and none\u003cbr\u003ebut merchants of wealth and position would think of employing\u003cbr\u003elarger ships. In this respect the Spaniards and the Italian\u003cbr\u003eRepublics were far ahead of us, and the commerce of England was a\u003cbr\u003esmall thing, indeed, in comparison with that of Flanders.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47180810060016,"sku":"2940013289116","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013289116_p0.jpg?v=1763579345","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013289116","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}