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Show . II ·1 s T o R y () F. M E X I C 0. ' 19~ } s · d The ~llies returned to their native diftritls, joyful be- •._ BOO•K X~ ty oten d pmaema~1ru res . wa. tl the•'r prey and gratified in extreme to have lhaken 1 , · d lfc d tl1at Court whofe dominion they never could brook, and ~n convu e · · h w h of ce arms k ep t them in .rn erpetual uneafine(s ; never p. erce1v.m g, t at with their own hands they had been forming ~h~ c~ams wh1ch were to fetter their liberty, and that when that emp1re was Jallen, all the other nations of the region mull: be degraded and en.Oaved. . The plunder was greatly inferior to the hopes and expet):at10ns of the conquerors. The garments and apparel which they found in the capital were divided among the allies : thofe ~orks of ~old, filver, ~~d feathers which, on account of the fing~l;mty of the1r workmanllup were preferved entire, were fent as prefents to t~e emperor Charles. V. all the rcfi of the gold, which was melted, hardly amounted to nmetcen thouf~nd two hundred ounces (s); not only becaufe the Mexican$ threw the greater part into the lake'(t), but alfo becaufe individuals both Spaniards and allies, endeavoured in plundering, to re~0mpenfe themfelves fecretly for their hard!hips and toils. The taking of that cap· ~~l . happened on the thirteenth of Auguft, .1 521, one hundred and ninety- fix years after the foundation of i~ by the Aztecas, one hundred and fixty-nine }.'ears after it ~as ereCted mto a monarchy, which was governed by eleven kings. The fiege of Mexico, fomething refembling in the difafters and flaughters with which it was attended that of Jerufalem, 'lafied feventy-five days; during which time, of two hundred ·thoufand and more allies, fome thoufands periG1ed; and of nine hundred. Spaniards, more than one hundred were killed and facrificed, The number · of the Mexicans killed is not known ; but according to the account of Cortes and Bernal Diaz, and what other ·hiil:oriahs fay on that fubjett, it appears that (s) ~o,itr-a, f~tys; hat .th~ gold which was melted do~n weighed one hundr~d and hirty :tnoufa11~ f.aJ1tlla11oJ, equal to nineteen th9ufand two hundred ounces. There were among the fp oils fenf 'o ~ h ~rlep V; pearls of an enormous be, moll valuable, gemt, and fome curious works of gold. The fiup In which they were carr{ed was taken by I. Florin, a famous French pirate, and the treafure wu fent to the court of France ; which authorifed fuch depredations, \lnder the not lefa f~tmed than fnvoloua pretence, that the• moil Chriftian king was.. a fon of Adam aa well Rathe Catholic king. · · •(t} Be1'n~tl Din1. f~tys, thit he faw fome thl,.gs of gold got' u'p out of the •take, lln'd amongll others, a fun fimilar to that which Montc:t.uma fcnt to Cortes when he was on· the' con'ft of <:balchiuhcuecan. · 8 tho • ... H I S T 0 ~'t Y 0 F M E X I C Q. : · the flain exceeded one hundred thoufand in ~umbe r. ' Vith rcfpeB: to thofe who died by famine, or fickn efs occafioned by the brackitb. water which they drank and the infection of the air, Cortes h i~1fc l f affirms they were more than fi fty thoufmd. The city appeared one complete ruin. The king of Mexico, in fpitc of the magnificent promifes of the Spaninl general, was in a few days put ignominioufly to the tor ture, which he bore with unlhaken firmnefs, that he might declare where the immenfe riches of the court and temples were depoiited (u); and, in three years after, was hanged, togeth ... r with the kings of T czcuco and Tlacopan, on account of fome fufpicious circumllances in their conduCt ('w ). The Mexicans, and all tho nations that contributed to their ruin, notwithfl:anding the humane and benevolent -difpofitions of the Catholic kings, remained abandoned to mifery and oppreffion, and the contempt not only of the Spaniards, but even of the lowell: African flaves and their infamous defcendants. Thus, it has been fi1id, in condutling the Spaniards, a polia1cd nation of Europe, to overturn the rude monarchy of the Mexicans, in America, did Providence punilh the latter for the injufl:ice, cruelty, and, fupedl:ition of their ancefl:ors. But there the viCtors, in one year of mercilefs malfacre, Ltcrificed more human victims to avarice and am .. bitio,n, than the Indians during the exifl:ence of their empire devoted (u) The torture given to ki ng Quauhtemotzin, was burning his feet flowly after they wcr• anointed with oil. An intimate fri end of the king vo lunta rily !harcd his fuftcri ngs, and died undet· the to rment. Bema! Diar. alfo adds, that the king of Tlacopan wns tortured along wi t !~ him. Cortes, in fpi te of hi s abhorrence ot' this aCt 1 was driven to it by the fu<>gc:lions and infinuations of fome a:varicious Spaniard s, who fufpc '1cd that he had in tended ~ut to put the king to the torture in order to pofll:fs himfc lf lcc rctly of a ll the royal trcafurc. (1••) ~a uht c m o tz in king of M ~!x i co, Co:macot1.in king of Aculh ~t :tca n, and T ctlcpanc1uct· r.altr.in king of 'J lacopan, WCI'C hanged upon a tree il1 h ancanac, the cupi tal of the p ro ~in cc of Acallan, on one of th e three days preceding Lent of the year 15 z 5. The occ~tiio n of th eir death was , fume difco lll'lc they had among thcmt'elves rd ati vc to thei r mi sfortunes, in which they infinuatcd how cafy it would be fo r them if they incl ined to kill Cortes and the Spaniar,la ~nd to r~c ovc r their liberty anJ their crowns. A Mexican t raito r, in order to gain the favour o( rhe Spanifh gene ral, c .. mmunicatcd what had been faid, but altered the fcnfe of the wo rd ~, and reprc fen ted the ca l'u al remarks of cnnverf:ltion as a f<rrm ed confpiracy againfi him. Co rt e~ , who was then on his journey towards the province of Comajahua, with a few Spani:ll'(l, almotl exhauficd by fatigue:, and upwards of th1 cc thou tilml Mex icans whom he carried :don"' with him, was pcrfuadcd there was no way of !hunning the dan~c r which thn::ttt•ncd him, but i;tltt i1w the three kings I ll death. " T his ti.·ntcrH:r, ·• fays Hemal Oi t\7., "wns CXrt'C'IllC iy unju tf, anll "much blamed by all who were t ravelling with him that d;~y .'' lt occafioncd tim1c w:ttching11 and melancholy to Corte~. VoL. II. C c ll\ . 193 BOOK X • 1...--v-,J |