Allusion in Peter Martyr

Mr. Prescott, in his *History of the Conquest of Mexico* vol. i. p. 389. (ed. 8vo. 1843), quotes from Peter Martyr, *De Orbe Novo*, dec. 1. c. l., the words, "Una illis fuit spes salutis, desperasse de salute," applied to the Spanish invaders of Mexico; and he remarks that "it is said with the classic energy of Tacitus." The expression is classical, but is not derived from Tacitus. The allusion is to the verse of Virgil:— "Una salus victis nullam sperare salutem." *Æn.* ii. 354.