ence?

Of the projects discussed at this interview we are not precisely
informed. The English version, intended for the meridian of the French
court, and to lull the suspicions of Francis, is the only account we
possess. If any credit be due to a statement prepared under such
circumstances and calculated to alienate the French King irrecoverably
from the Emperor, we are to believe that the imperial ambassadors had
already proposed to Henry to break off his matrimonial engagement with
France, and transfer the hand of the princess Mary to the Emperor. As an
inducement for the King to coincide in this arrangement, the Emperor
undertook to make war on France by sea and land, and not desist until
Henry "had recovered his right and title in the same." The King,
according to the same document, rejected such a treacherous overture
with the utmost horror, vehemently protesting against its immorality and
perfidiousness. That such a proposal was made, though probably not by
Chievres, to whom it is attributed--that it was accepted by England, but
with none of the indignation described in the document--is clear beyond
dispute. Long before any interruption had occurred in the amicable
relations between the two countries, before even the landing of Charles
at Canterbury, or in the interview in the valley of Ardres, it had been
secretly proposed that the French engagement should be set aside, and
the hand of Mary be transferred to the Emperor. The King's horror at
this act of faithlessness--if it had any existence beyond the paper on
which it was written--must have been tardy and gratuitous, seeing that
the chief purpose of the meeting at Calais was to settle the basis of
this matrimonial alliance, and obtain the solemn ratification of the
Emperor.

CORTES CAPTURES THE CITY OF MEXICO

A.D. 1521

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT

Spain had already begun to conquer and colonize the New
World when in 1519 Hernando Cortes, with about 700 men,
landed in Mexico, having previously served in Espanola
(Haiti) and Cuba. He was born in Medellin, Estremadura,
Spain, in 1485, and was therefore now about thirty-four
years of age. To make the retreat of his force impossible,
he destroyed his ships and marched into the interior and
established himself in the capital city, Tenochtitlan, on
the site of the present city of Mexico.

Cortes found Southern Mexico under the rule of the Aztecs
(more cor