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Show HlSTORY OF ME X I C 0. '94- n <!> 0 K. H. :among the Chechemecas; nor does it feem p~obable, th~t they ~ould • • • 1have been permitted to enter the kingdom, without hav:lllg p~·~vtO~fly gtven information of their condition, and the motives of tbe1r v1fi~. The king was a,t this time in Tezcuco, where he had removed h1s court, either being tired of Tenayuca, or allured by the advantageous :fituation of that new place. Here the three princes arrived, and being prefcnted to the king~ after a profound bow, and that ceremony. of refpect fo familiar to thefe nations of kiO'ing the hand after havwg touched the earth wi-th it, they addreffcd him in words to this purpofe. " We are come, mighty kihg, from the kingdom of Teoacol" huacan, a little di!tance only from your native country: we are all " three brothers, and fons of a gt·eat lord; but being acquainted with " the happine[s which the Chechcmecas enj.oy under the rule of a " prince fo humane, we have preferred t.o the advantages which we " ·had in our native country, the honour of becoming your CubjeCI:s. " We pray you, therefore, to give us pb.ce in your happy limd, where " we may live dependent on your authority and fubject to your com .. " mand." The Chechemecan fovereign was plc:1fed with the lordly air nnd courtly manners of thefe noble youths, but fl:ill more with the flattering vanity of feeing humbled, iH his prefcnce, three princes aliured from fuch di!tant countries by the fame of his clemency and his power. He replied with complaifance to their addrcfs, and offered to omply with their defircs; but while he was deliberatillg in what manner he !hould do it, he ordered his fon to lodge them, and take care of their entertainment. "The king had ·two daughters who were marriageable, whom, from the fir!t he had thought of marrying with the two cldefl: princes ; but he was unwilling to difcover this intention, until he fhould be acquainted. with their difpofition, and (hould be fure of the confent of his fubjec.ts. When he was 1atisfied in mind of both thcfe points, he called the prir.~ces to him, who rem::~ined anxious about th eir fate, at ~ cl opened his refolution to them, not only to grant them e!tablilhmcnts iA his kingdom, but :Mo to marry two of them with his daughtt.:r , lamenting that he had no other, to avoid leaving any one exch.ttkd fi·om the ntw alliance. The princes thanked him with warm exp;·c.!lions of _£r.ltitudc, .and proffered to ferve him with the utmo!t fidelity. · 'When H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C G>. Wh~n the dny ~ppointed for the nuptials arrived,. fuch a concourfc of people flocked to Tenayuca, the place deil:ined for the folemnization, the city being unable to receive them, many remained in the €ountry. Acolhun.tzin marri~d tht:: cldefl: of the princcifes, Hamed Cuetlaxochitl, a1 d Chico~quautli the other. · The third prince had Coatetl, a. virgin born in Chalco of moD: noble parents, in whom the Toltecan and Che h emecan blood were both mixed. The public rejoicings lafred fixty days, and the entertainments confifl:ed of wre!tling, mnning, and combats with wild bcafis,. exerci[es which were agreeable to th.e g<mius of the Chechemecas, and i~ all of them the prince , Nopaltz.i.p diftinguifhed himft:Jf. A.ft(tr the example of thcfe royal CJ,S BOOK m . ......__v--J 1 perfonages, the two nations· continued to increa[c their alliance by inter- man:iages until they became one,. which taking its name from the moO: noble party,. was called Acolhua,. ar~d the kingdom Acolhuacan ;. the name of Chechemecas being. left to thofe who, preferring the ex.ercife of the chace to the toil of agricultur-e, or grown impatient of fubordination, went off to the mountains, which are towards the· north and the north-weft of the vale of Mexico, where yielding tbemfelves up to the impuJfe of their bar.barous liberty, without a chief,. without laws, without a fixed dwelling, or the other advantages of· fociety,. they employed the day in purfuit Gf animals for prey, and when fatigued funk down to ileep wherever night overtook them. Thefe barbarians mingled with the Otomics, a nation which was attached to the .G,\me courfe of life, occupied a tratl: of more than three Rundred. miles o£ ountry, and the Spaniards were harrafied by their defcendants for many years after the conque!t of Mexico. When the nuptial fefl:ivities were at an end·, Xolotl divided his kingdom into feveral dift.i.nct ftates,. and aO'igned the poifeffion of them to his fons in law,. and the other nobles of each nation.. He granted to prince Acolhuatzin the ftate of Azcapozalco, eig_hteen miles to tho weft of Tezcuco, and from him defcended the kings under whofe go~ vernment the Mexicans continued more than fifty years. On Chiconquauhtli he conferred the ftate of Xaltocan ; and on TzontecomatJ~ that of Coatlichan. SacT,• vn~ . Divifion of the fiatc3: antll rcbelliona. The population daily encreafed, and with it the civilization of tHe people; but at the fame 'time ambition and' other paffions 'which liad\ lai!\. |