To boldly go where no man has gone before! An Invitation to Venture with G.A. Henty
By Right of Conquest: Or, With Cortez in Mexico is the first book I just finished reading by the prolific Victorian author and war correspondent, George Alfred Henty. Not only has it become my favorite novel, it also catapulted Henty towards the top of my favorite authors. It’s disappointing that Henty is not as popular today as he should be, especially amongst Christians, though some homeschooling circles and publishers have caught on to his amazing, vast body of work. For those not familiar with him, a historical novel by Lew Wallace (who shares a similar background with Henty) that resembles Henty’s style happens to be “the most influential Christian book written in the nineteenth century,” Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, similar to Henty’s Beric the Briton: A Story of the Roman Invasion and For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem—except that Henty authored over 120 of them, spanning multiple continents, times, cultures, societies, and places, from the shimmering sands and conquests of ancient Egypt; to Rome during the Punic Wars with Hannibal, as well as the time of Christ and fall of Jerusalem; to the Middle Ages with barbarians, knights and crusaders; to the times of Reformation and Renaissance with Protestants (including the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of the Huguenots), explorers, and conquistadors; to wars of religion, rebellion, restoration, and succession; to the French Revolution and American wars of independence and slavery; and to the countless exploits of the British empire throughout the world!
In By Right of Conquest, Henty brilliantly weaves fictional English characters with proto-Protestant sympathies to Wycliffe into the colliding worlds of the Aztecs and of Hernán Cortés and the Catholic Spaniards. He does so in a believable and historically accurate manner, requiring no suspension of disbelief: “Indeed, a writer of fiction would scarcely have dared to invent so improbable a story” (Preface). This story has it all—adventure, survival, success, failure, controversy, true religion, false religion, conquest, treachery, deception, intrigue, espionage, love, hate, honor, bravery, courage, war. Henty’s storytelling is so immersive that it thrusts the reader right into the situations that the characters encounter, challenging him to think—What would you do? Would you conceal your religious conviction for the one triune God to avoid becoming a human sacrifice, or do you allow the Aztecs to think you’re a god, and consequently offer human sacrifices on your behalf? Do you join the Aztecs in buffeting the abusive foreign invaders, or the ambitious Spanish conquistadors against all odds to overpower the despotic Aztec nation, in hopes of one day sailing back home?
Henty also presents lively discussions about the Papacy’s megalomaniacal claim to owning undiscovered territories:
"I do not say nay to that," Roger assented; "but I do not see why Spain and Portugal should claim all the Indies, East and West, and keep all others from going there."
"But the pope has given the Indies to them," Dorothy said.
"I don't see that they were the pope's to give," Roger replied. "That might do for the king, and his minister Wolsey, and the bishops; but when in time all the people have read, as we do, Master Wycliffe's Bible, they will come to see that there is no warrant for the authority the pope claims; and then we may, perhaps, take our share of these new discoveries."
"Hush, Roger! You should not speak so loud about the Bible. You know that though there are many who read it, it is not a thing to be spoken of openly; and that it would bring us all into sore trouble, were anyone to hear us speak so freely as you have done. There has been burning of Lollards, and they say that Wolsey is determined to root out all the followers of Wycliffe."
It is an ingenious way of presenting fact in fiction from a Protestant perspective, for, as historian William Prescott recounts,
It should be remembered that religious infidelity, at this period, and till a much later, was regarded—no matter whether founded on ignorance or education, whether hereditary or acquired, heretical or pagan—as a sin to be punished with fire and fagot in this world, and eternal suffering in the next. This doctrine, monstrous as it is, was the creed of the Romish, in other words, of the Christian Church,—the basis of the Inquisition, and of those other species of religious persecutions which have stained the annals, at some time or other, of nearly every nation in Christendom.[216] Under this code, the territory of the heathen, wherever found, was regarded as a sort of religious waif, which, in default of a legal proprietor, was claimed and taken possession of by the Holy See, and as such was freely given away by the head of the Church, to any temporal potentate whom he pleased, that would assume the burden of conquest.[217] Thus, [pope] Alexander the Sixth generously granted a large portion of the Western hemisphere to the Spaniards, and of the Eastern to the Portuguese. These lofty pretensions of the successors of the humble fisherman of Galilee, far from being nominal, were acknowledged and appealed to as conclusive in controversies between nations.[218] (History of the Conquest of Mexico, Vol. 2, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59820/59820-h/59820-h.htm#FNanchor_215_215)
Henty moreover mentions a great temple that a monarch of Tezcuco had erected to the “Unknown God”:
Thus Tezcuco became the center of the education, science, and art of Anahuac, and was at this time the head of the three allied kingdoms. Nezahualcoyotl greatly encouraged agriculture, as well as all the productive arts. The royal palace and the edifices of the nobles were magnificent buildings, and were upon an enormous scale, the Spaniards acknowledging that they surpassed any buildings in their own country.
Not satisfied with receiving the reports of his numerous officers, the monarch went frequently in disguise among his people, listening to their complaints, and severely punishing wrongdoers. Being filled with deep religious feeling, he openly confessed his faith in a God far greater than the idols of wood and stone worshiped by his subjects, and built a great temple which he dedicated to the Unknown God.
……..
“I believe,” Roger said, “that your Majesty's grandfather erected a temple here to the Unknown God. It is the Unknown God—unknown to you, but known to us—that the white peoples across the sea worship. He is a good and gentle and loving God, and would abhor sacrifices of blood.”
In many ways, this parallels the account of the altar dedicated to the “unknown god” which Paul the Apostle had addressed to the “men of Athens” on the Areopagus in Acts 17:
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (vv. 22ff., ESV)
This made me wonder: Did Henty embellish the story of the unknown god as a literary device, or is it historically authentic? According to William Prescott, the historian that Henty primarily drew from, the truth really is stranger than fiction:
It would be incredible that a man of the enlarged mind and endowments of Nezahualcoyotl should acquiesce in the sordid superstitions of his countrymen, and still more in the sanguinary rites borrowed by them from the Aztecs. In truth, his humane temper shrunk from these cruel ceremonies, and he strenuously endeavored to recall his people to the more pure and simple worship of the ancient Toltecs. A circumstance produced a temporary change in his conduct.
He had been married some years to the wife he had so unrighteously obtained, but was not blessed with issue. The priests represented that it was owing to his neglect of the gods of his country, and that his only remedy was to propitiate them by human sacrifice. The king reluctantly consented, and the altars once more smoked with the blood of slaughtered captives. But it was all in vain; and he indignantly exclaimed, “These idols of wood and stone can neither hear nor feel; much less could they make the heavens, and the earth, and man, the lord of it. These must be the work of the all-powerful, unknown God, Creator of the universe, on whom alone I must rely for consolation and support.”[325]
He then withdrew to his rural palace of Tezcotzinco, where he remained forty days, fasting and praying at stated hours, and offering up no other sacrifice than the sweet incense of copal, and aromatic herbs and gums. At the expiration of this time, he is said to have been comforted by a vision assuring him of the success of his petition. At all events, such proved to be the fact; and this was followed by the cheering intelligence of the triumph of his arms in a quarter where he had lately experienced some humiliating reverses.[326]
Greatly strengthened in his former religious convictions, he now openly professed his faith, and was more earnest to wean his subjects from their degrading superstitions and to substitute nobler and more spiritual conceptions of the Deity. He built a temple in the usual pyramidal form, and on the summit a tower nine stories high, to represent the nine heavens; a tenth was surmounted by a roof painted black, and profusely gilded with stars, on the outside, and incrusted with metals and precious stones within. He dedicated this to “the unknown God, the Cause of causes”[327] It seems probable, from the emblem on the tower, as well as from the complexion of his verses, as we shall see, that he mingled with his reverence for the Supreme the astral worship which existed among the Toltecs.[328] Various musical instruments were placed on the top of the tower, and the sound of them, accompanied by the ringing of a sonorous metal struck by a mallet, summoned the worshippers to prayers, at regular seasons.[329] No image was allowed in the edifice, as unsuited to the “invisible God;” and the people were expressly prohibited from profaning the altars with blood, or any other sacrifices than that of the perfume of flowers and sweet-scented gums. (History of the Conquest of Mexico, Vol. 1, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59755/59755-h/59755-h.htm#page_208)
Reading Henty therefore is a great way to learn history; but more than that, it’s a great way to learn Christian virtue—especially manliness—exemplified and applied in virtually every society and circumstance. His stories are a fine remedy for the lack of manhood that plagues modern society.
Because Henty’s novels are in the public domain, most of them are freely available in ebook and audio formats. I started listening to the LibriVox version of By Right of Conquest, but it became difficult to follow along due to the narrator’s insipid voice. About halfway through I switched to Jim Hodges’ narration, which was more animated and better overall, but didn’t like his pronunciations of Mexican and Aztec names and places (the LibriVox pronunciations were better). An additional frustration was that Hodges made Cortez’s voice sound like a wimpy English butler rather than a bold and daring Spanish conquistador; something like Antonio Banderas would seem more appropriate. And yet, even with these annoyances, the story was nevertheless captivating to the finis.
And while Henty’s novels are enthralling, it may be difficult for younger children to follow along with 300- to 400-page tomes. Heirloom Audio, however, revised and condensed a handful of Henty’s historical adventures into roughly two-hour theatrical audio presentations that are wildly entertaining for younger audiences. They are nice introductions, like elaborate trailers or commercials, to the unabridged novels, which are still far superior. (See reviews of Beric the Briton, Under Drake’s Flag, In the Reign of Terror.)
Henty’s stories both delight and instruct readers in history and manly virtue, and make excellent additions to any library, history study, homeschool curriculum, and personal enrichment. Tolle, lege!