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Show 11:0 11·0 0 K II. .. , - .. H I S T 0 R y 0 F M E X I C 0. h. co Tl1e former travellitlg round the great volcano Popocate-c man · h · f ()" h ue ec throu h Tetella and Tochimilco, founded t e City o ~~u q . - ~h;llan, i; the neighbourhood of Atrifco ;. and fome, proceedmg !hll farther' founded Amaliuhcan, and other vJllages! and. thus exten~ed t h em1re.t ves as f:a r as Po;;v au. btecatl or the mountam Onzaba· , to1 w hl 1h they probably gave r. 1 me in memory of the place m t le va e 1UC 1 a na . . of Mexico which they had qmtted. . . But the moft numerous and refpeCl:able part of th~ tnbe, dlre~ed their way by Cholula to the borders of the great mountam Matl~lcucye, :£1· . whence they drove the Olmecas and Xicallanca ' the ar:clent m~:~~: ants of that country, and flew their king Colopechtb. Her~ the eftabli!hed tbemfelves under a chief, named ColhuatateuCflt, co~riving to fortify themfelves alfo, to be the more able to re!i!l: the J::eighbouring people if they fhould incline to attack them. ln fad: it was not long before the Huexozincas and other people, w~o knew of the bravery and n~1mber of their new neighbours, feanng they would, in time-7 become troublcfome, levied a great army to expel them wholly from the country. The att<lCk was fo fudden, that .th~ Tlafcalans were forced to retreat to the top of that great mountam · finding themfelves there in the greatefi pe~·plexit~, they fent a~1baff"~~ors to implore the proteCtion of the Cb.echemecan ~mg, and obta.med fwm him a large body of troops. The Huexozm.cas not hav1ng forces {uflicient to contend with the royal army, applied for affi!bnce to the Tepanecas, who they believed would not l.ct pafs fo fair an opportt~ nity of revenging themfelves; but the tragic event of Pofauhtlan was ftill in their memories, and although they fent troops, thefe were enjoined not to do hurt to the Tlafcalans; and. the Tlafcalans themfel ves were advifed not .to eilcem them as enem1es, but to reO: confident that that nation was not fcnt for any other purpofe tha11 to dece·iv~ the Hucxozincas, and not to dii1:urb the harmony which f.t.lb~ftcd between them and the Tep:mecas. By the aid of the Tezc.ucmas, and the perfidious inaCtion of the Tepanecas, the Huexozincas were defc11t~d, and obli~ed to return to their fi:ate in difgrace. The Tlafcala.ns b~tng freed from fo great a danger, and having made peace with the1r ncJghbours, rcturn~d to their firft ei1ablifhment, to continue their fcttlcmcnt and population, Su h H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. Such was the origin of the famous city and republic of Tlafcala, the .perpetual rival of the Mexicans, and occafion of their ruin. At fir!l: they all obeyed one chief; but afterwards when their population was confiderably advanced, the city was parted into four divifions, called Tepeticpac, Ocote/olco, ff<Jti'ahuiztlan, and Tizatlan. E very divifion had its lord, to whom all the places dependent on fu ch diviiion were likewife fubjeet; fo that the whole ftate was compofed of four fmall monarchies; but thefe four lords, together with other nobles of the fidl: rank, formed a kind of ari!l:ocracy for the general il:ate. This diet or fennte was the umpire of war and peace. It prefcribed the number of troops which were to be raifed, and the generals who were to command them. In the ftate, although it was circumfcribed, there were many cities and large villages, in which, in 1520, there were more than one hundred and .fifty thoufand houfes, and more than five hundred thoufand inhabitants. The diftritt of the republic was fortified on the weftern quarter with ditches and en trenchments, and on the eaft with a wall fix miles in length; towards the f< urh it was, by nature) defended by the mountain Matlalcueye, and by other mountains, on the north. The Tlafcalans were warlike, courageous, and jealous of their honour and their liberty. They preferved, for a long time, the fplcndor of their republic, in fpite of the oppo.fi tion they fuffercd from theiJ.: enemies; until at length, being in confederacy with the Spaniards again!l: their ancient rivals the Mexicans, they were involved in the common ruin. They were idolatrous, and as fuperi1:itious and cruel in their form of wodhip as the Mexicans . Their £wourite deity was Camaxtle, the fame which was woril'1ipped by the Mexicans, under the name of Huitzilopochtli. Their arts were the fame as thofe of other neighbouring nations. Their commerce confifted principally in maize and cochineal. From the abundance of maize the name of '17ajcallan was given to the capital, ~hich means the place of bread. Their cochineal was ei1:eemed above any other, and, after the conqueil:, brought yearly to the capital a revenue of two hundred thoufimd crowns; but they entirely abandoned this commerce, for rcafons we ihall mention elfewhere. The lii |