The history of Mexico : Collected from Spanish and Mexican historians, from manuscripts and ancient paintings of the Indians. Illustrated by Charts and other copper plates. To which are added, critical dissertations on the land, the animals, and inhabitants of Mexico: Volume 1

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142 nooK 111. ~ II I s T o R y o F M E X I C 0. Tczcuco was gt·v en •n fief to Chim:llj)Opoc~t king of Mexicb, and that 1 ' . fi . 1 of Huexotla to Tlacatcotl, king of Tlatelolco, as a rewatd o_r t 1c fervices which they had rend red dur~ng the war. He placed f:ut~ful governors in other places, and proclauned Azcapozalco the royal tefi-dence and capital of all the kingdom of ~col~:ta:an. . . . At this folemnity were preft:nt, thou gh 111 dt(gUife, ft.:veta~ petfons of difl:inction enemies of the tyrant, and among!l: thefe the pnuce N za­hualcojotl ~ The grief and rage which filled him aided_ by the. ardoL~r of youth, was like to have urged him to a ~·a(h _actiOn agamfl: _Ius enemies, if a confidential friend, who accompamcd hun, had n~t With­held him, by rcprefenting the fatal confcqucnccs of fuch tementy~ at:d making him fenfiblc how much more prudent it would be t~ watt t1ll time prefentcd him a fitter opportunity for the recovery of hts cro':n , and revenge of his enemies ; that the tyrant was alre~dy worn out W1th nge, and that his d~,;ath, which could not be very ddl:ant, would en­tire] y change the fiate of affairs ; that the people themf~l ves would come willinaly to fubmit themfelves to their lawful foverctgn, from a fenft: of the i~1ju!l:ice and cruelty of the u[urper. U pen this fame occa­fion, a Mexican officer of refj)ect, (probably It~coatl, the brother of the king, and general of the Mexican forces), either of his own ac­cord, or by order of the king Chimalpopoca, afcended the temple, which the Toltecas h::td at th::tt court, and addrcifed the multitude a­round him, " Hear, hcchemecas, hear A olhuas, and all ye who arc " prefent. Let no one dare to ofier any hurt to our fon Nezahuaco­H jot), nor permit others to hurt him, if he is not willing to fubjeCl: him­" felf to fevere chafiifement." This proclamation contributed mpch to the prince's fecurity, no body wiiliing to draw upon himfelf tbe ~nger of a nation which began now to make itfelf refpected. A little time after, many of thofe nobles who had taken 'refuge in Huexotzinco and Tlafcala, to avoid the fury of the Tepanecan troop , afiembled at Pnpalot!a, a place near to Tezcuco, to deliberate on the conduct they !l1ould purfue in the prefent circumil:ances ·; and they all agreed to fubmit themfelves to the new lords whom the uf~,.trj~er had appointed to their cities, that they might be free from farther hof­tilities, and attend 10 peace to the care of their families and habi­l, ations, After H 1 S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. After having fatisfied his ambition with the ufurpation of the king­dom of Acolhuacan, and his cruelty with the Jlaughter he had com­mitted, the tyrant was delirous of gratifying his avarice by layin new taxes on his fubjects. ~efides the tribute which they had hitherto paid their king of provifions, and a robe to array him, he enjoined them to pay him another tribute of gold and precious !l:onc:s, without adv e rt-~ ing h0w much fuch burdens would tend to cxa!p rate the minds of his fubjects, which he D1ould rather have endeavoured to gain by modera­tion and lenity, to give himfelf more fecurity in the poffeiTion of a throne founded on cruelty and inju!tice. The Toltecan and Chcchc­mecan nobles anfwered the proclamation by defiring to pr fent them­felves in perfon before the king, to be heard on the fubjcCl:. The arro­gance of the tyrant appeared to them unbound cJ, and his conduct wiJeJy different from the moderation of the ancient kings of whom he was defcended. They agreed to fend to him two eloquent deputies the mofl: learned among them, one a Tolteca, the other a Chechemeca, that each in the name of his nation might remonfl:rate with energy and forc e~ They both went to Azcapozalco, when being admitted to an audience of the tyrant, the Toltecan orator in refpeCl: to the greater antiquity of his nation in that country began firft, and reprefented to him the hnm­, ble beginning of the Toltecas, the neceffities they endur.ed before they rofe to that fplendour and glory which they had for fome time en­joyed, and the mifery to which they were reduced fince their revolu­tion; he defcribed the deplorable difperfion in which they were found by Xolqtl, when he firfi arrived in that country, and taking a review of the two lafi centuries, he made a pathetic enumeration of the hard­ibips they had f~ffered, to move the tyrant to compaffion, and get his nation exempted from the new grievances. , The Tolteca had hardly finia1ed his harangue when the Chechemeca. began his~ " I, my lord, may fpeak to you with greater confidence u and liberty ; as I am a Chechemeca, and addrefs myfelf to a prince " of my own nation, who is a defcendant of the great kings Xolotl, " Nopaltzin, and Tlotzin. You are not ignorant ~hat thofe divine " Chechemec'as, your anceftors, fet no value on gold or precious fiones. " They wore no other crown on their heads than a garland of !1erbs u and flowers of the field, nor adorned themfelves with any other brace- '' lets 143 BOOK nr. '----., ,.-.-.J s. CT . XII. New Taxes impofcd by the tyrant.