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Show !4-0 BOOK III. o..--v-J Sec T. XI. Tra~ical neath of b:tli .·ncbitl. • H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. Cihuacuecuenotzin, at firft, faced his enemies,. but feeing hitnfelf Qver,powered by numbers, and endeavouring to fave himfelf by, flig~t, was: killed by a 01owcr of il:ones. A characrer intitled t~ a bette!! fate I an. example of fidelity mo!l: worthy to be recorded, wluch .had the her() been Grecian or Roman, in place of Amet•ican, would have been· tl'o fubjett of praife of both hiftorians and poets. ":(he Tepanecas became vain-glorious, of an: aCt eqt:tally contt'aTy. tohumanity and the rights of nations; and, proJefted to the multitude the great pleafure they would• have in being able to inform their chief, from being eye-witneiics, of the inviolable fidelity of the Otompanefe. They alfo declared, they had been fent exprefsly to inllimate all! G>rdeL· not to give affiftancc to the king of Tezcuco, under pain of profcription, and to exhort them to take arms againft that king, and in defence of their liberty. The lord of Otompan, and the h11ads of the nobility replied, they would willingly obey the order of the king of Azcapozalco, and offered to do evety thing in. their po,wer to fecond his intentions. They gave fpeedy intelligence of this event to the IOTd of Acolinan,. who was the fon of Tezozomoc, and communicated it to his father:. he believing it now time to put his defigns in execution, fent fol" the lords of Otompan and Chalco,. on whofe fidelity he chiefly relied, and whofe fbte.s were mofi: conveniently fituated for his purpofe,. and charged them to levy, with all poffible fecrecy, a fufficient army, and ' lay themfelves in ambufcade in a mountain near to the camp of the Tefcucan king;. that from thence they lhould fend two of the moil: brave and able captains to the royal camp, who, under pretence of imparting fome very important fecret to the king,. £hould artfully lead him to as great a diftancc as poffible from his people,. and then without' delay or hcfitation to m.urder him. Every thing happened as the wicked prince had d~Ggned. The king then chanced to be in the neighbourhood of T lafcala, and entertaining no fufpicion of the two captains who came to him, fell unwarily into the ft1are. The deed was done at fome little difiance, but yet in fight of the royal army. They ran up immediately to chaftife the temerity of thofe two defpcrate captains,. but the army of the confpirators advancing, which was more numerous., they were 11uickly defeated. T·he royal corpfe was with difriculty fa.ved,. to pay' it ' ... H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C O. it funeral honours, and the heir of tne crown, who was a witnefs of the tragic end of his f.ather, was obliged to hide h.imfelf in the bullies to efcape the fury of his enemies. Thus did the unfortunate king. Ixtlilxoch. itl end his life in 1410, after a reign of {even years. He left feveral fons, and among them Ne:t.ahua!cojoti, heir to the thl'one,. whom he had by Matlalcihuatzin, daughter of Acamapitzin, king. of Mexico (t ). This prince was endued with a great genius, and an u'roparalleled magnanimity, and pre-eminently deferving of the thl'one of Acolhuacan; but he was not able from the fuperiority of Tezozomoc, to put himfelf in pofieffion of th6 throne which was duo to him by{~ many titles, until many years had elapfed, and many dangers and ob .. ' fracles to it were furmounted. The perfidious Tezozomoc had prepared great bodies of troops, that when the premeditated blbw on the perfon of the king fhould fucceed, they might pour down upon the cities of 'Iiezcuco, Huexotla, oatlichan, Coatepec, and lztapallocan, which had been the moft faithful to their lord, and reduce them to alhes. The inhabitants of thofe cities who were able to fave themfelves by flight, took £helter on the other fide of the mountains, among the Huexotzincas and Tlafcalans; a1l the reft died in defence of their country; but they fold their lives dearly, as the infinite blood fpilt on both fides attefted. If we i11ould be difpofcd to trace the fource of fo many calamities, we fhould difcover no other than the ambition of a prince. Heaven grant the facri. fices to the paffions were more infrequent in the world and lefs violent r How calamitous is it that the avarice or ambition of a prince or his miniil:er is fufficient to cover the plains with human blood, to defiroy cities, to overturn kingdoms, and fptead confufion over this globe I The cruelty of the tyrai1t being appeafed by the opprcffion of his enemies, the king of Acolhuacan was made to take an oath in the city of Tezcuco, to grant to all thofe who had taken up arms againft him, general pardon, and liberty to return to their habitations. The city of: ' (t) Torquimada makes Matlalcihuatzin, daughter of Huitzilihuitl; but how? lie f:tyq, that this king when he mount ed the throne, was only fcventcen yea rs of ngc, nor yet 1narri('(l: :md that he reigned twenty-two, or at mofl: twet1ty-Jix years. On the 11thcr ha nd, he rcp rc· fents Nczahualcojotl, ·at the death of his pretended grandfath er, of an ·age able to rro ro war, and make negotiations to fccure himfclf the crown: from whence he wou ld m a~e out thut Huit7.ilihuitl1 before he was twenty·fix yC'ars married, IH1d gTandfous at Jc a!1 twellly year~ oh!. 1 141 BdOK fi t ~ II |