s ago; but the
Tlaxcalans refuse to part with it at any price. Despite the lapse of so
many years and its having passed through so many vicissitudes, the flag
is nearly perfect at this writing. It is eight or nine feet long and six
broad, cut in swallow-tail fashion. The iron spearhead bears the
monogram of the sovereigns of Spain, and the original staff, now broken,
is still preserved with the flag. Here one is also shown the arms of
Tlaxcala illuminated on parchment and bearing the signature of Charles
V., together with the standard presented to the local chiefs by Cortez;
the robes which they wore when baptized, and a collection of idols which
have been unearthed from time to time in this immediate neighborhood,
are also shown in the municipal palace. In the corridor stands the great
treasure chest, with departments for silver and gold. This was locked
with four different keys, one being held by each of four officers who
were unitedly responsible for the treasures, the chest thus requiring
the presence of the four when there was occasion to open it.

There are many personal relics of Cortez shown to the visitors at the
municipal palace; but the intelligent observer, aided by the light of
history, finds it difficult to accord much admiration to this man. He is
represented to have been handsome, commanding in person, brave, but far
from reckless, and to have possessed strong magnetic power over his
associates and those whom he desired to influence. He was eloquent and
persuasive, exercising an irresistible control over the half savage
people whom he came to conquer. Another secret of his influence with the
authorities at home, in Spain, was his never-failing fidelity to the
legitimate sovereign, and the shrewd despatch of rich presents and much
gold to his royal master. We know him to have been ambitious, cruel,
heartless, avaricious, and false. He deserted his faithful wife in
Spain, a second in Cuba (whom tradition accuses him of murdering), and
was shamefully unfaithful to the devoted Marina, mother of his
acknowledged son, she who was his native interpreter, and who more than
once saved his life from immediate peril, finally guiding his footsteps
to a victorious consummation of his most ambitious designs. Cortez owed
more of his success to her than to his scanty battalions. If nothing
else would serve to stamp his name with lasting infamy, the infernal
torture which he inflicted upon the ill-fated Guatemozin, for th