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Show ·r 3-2 BOOK IIJ, ~ SECT. v. Techotlaln, king of Acollntacan ,.1 H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. "lips, and waiting only your fignals to obey. We befeech you, with " the mofr profound refpeCt, to take compaffion upon our mafrer and " your fervant Huitzilihuitl, confined among the thick ru!he~ of the " lake. He is without a wife, and we without a queen. Vouchfafe,. " fir, to part with one of your jewels. or moll: precious feathers. " Give us one of your daughters, who may come to reign over us in " a country which belongs to you." Thcfe expreffions, which are peculiarly elegant in the Mexican Ian.. guage, fo foftcned the mind of Tezozomoc (for that was the king's. name), that he infl:antly granted his daughter ./.ljauhcihuatl, to the great joy of the Mexicans, who condut:l:ed her in triumph to Mexico,. where the much wifhcd-for marriage was celebrated, with the ufual ceremony of tying together the f1 irts of the garments of the hufband and wife. By this princefs the king had a fon the firft year, who was. named Aco!nahuacatl; but being defirous to ftrengthen his kingdom by new alliances, he fought and obtained from the prince of .~auhna .... huac, one of his daughters called Miabuaxochitl, by whom he had Motczuma 1/huicamtiza, the mofi: celebrated of the Mexican kings. At that time, in Acolhuacan, reigned Techot!ala, fonofking ~imatzin. The fidl: thirty years of his reign were peaceful; but afterwards Tzompan, prince of Xaltocan, revolted~ and finding his own force infufficient to oppofe his fovereign, he called to his afiifiance the fl:ates of Otompan, Meztitlan,~ahuacan, Tecomic,~auhtitlan, andTepozotlan. The king promifed him pardon, provided he would lay down his arms and fubmit; which clemency probably proceeded from refpect to the noble extraction of the rebel, who was the laft defcendant of Chiconquauhtli, one of the three Acolhuan princes. But Tzompan confiding in the number of his troops, rejected the offer with contempt; when the king fent an army againft him, which was joined by the Mexicans and Tepanecas, whofe fervice he had demanded. The war was obftinate, and lafted for two months: but at length, victory declaring for the king, Tzornpan, with all the chiefs of the revolted cities, was put to· death, and in him was extinguiilied the illuftrious race of Chiconquauhtli. This war, in whith the Mexicans ferved as auxiliaries to the king of Acolhuacan againfr Xaltocan and the other confederated ftates, is reprefented in the third picture of Mendoza's collec- J tion : H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. tion : but the interpreter of thofe pit:l:ures was miftaken when he ima· gined that thofe cities w~re fubjected to the Mexican crown. After the end of the war the l\1exicans returned to their city with glory; and Techotlala, in order to prevent other rebellions in future, divided his kingdom into fcventy-five fl:ates, giving each a chief to govern them in fubordination to the crown. In ea<;h of them he like~ wife placed a certain number of the inhabitants of fome other il:ate J expecting that the natives wottld be more eafily kept in fubjection by means of {hangers who depended upon a foreign power; a policy which might, indeed, be ufeful in preventing rebellion, but which was very oppreffive to the innocent fubjects, and created much trouble to the chiefs who were entrufted with the government. At the fame time, he conferred honourable offices upon many of the nobles. He made Tetfato general of his armies, .lo!qu£ entertainer and introducer of ambaifadors, T!amt' major-domo of the royal palace, Amechichi overfcer of the cleaning of the royal houfes, and Co!Juat/ director of the gold workers of Ocolco. No perfon worked in gold or filver, for the ufe of the king, except the directors own children, who had learnt the art for that purpofe. The entertainer of ambaffadors had many olhuan officers under him; the major-domo had a certain number of Chechemecas; and the fupe.t:intendant of the cleaning of the hqufes, an equal number of Tepanecas. By fuch regulations he incrcafcd the fplcqdor of his cqurt, and fi:rengthcned the throne of Acolhuacan; although he could not hinder thofe revolutions which we iball foon have occafion to mention. Thefe and other fuch infl:ances of wife policy, which will appear in the fequel of this hifrory, evidently fhew the injuilice done to the Americans by thofe who have confidered them as animals of a dif .. ferent fpecies, or as incapable of civilization or improvement. The new alliance forme~ by the king of Mexico with the king of Azcapozalco, and the glory acquired by his fubj ecls in the war of Xal.., tocan, ferved both to frrengthen their little ft~te ati.d to make themfelves more refpectable in the eyes o£ their neighbours. Being enabled, therefore, to extend their trade and carry it on with greater freedom, they began, now, to wear cloaths made of cotton, which they had been en.tirely without, in their former frate of indigence, when they h~d nos. hmg but coarfe ftuffs made of the threads of t~1e wild palin. But they 133 BOOK 111. ~. |