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Show ' 24-4 BOOK VI. ' ... - S £ C To II, 'l'hc goda of J>rovidence and of Hea· 'f(llo H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E. X I C 0. The Mexicans, with all other civilized nations, had a clear tradition, •hough fomewhat corrupted by fable, of the creation of the wor~~· of the univerfal deluge, of the confufion of tongues, and of the dJ!perfion ·0f the people; a:1d had actually all thefe events repre[cnted in their piCtures (d)~ They f1id, th,tt when mankind were overwhelmed with the deluge, none were preferved but a man cal~~d Coxcox ( t~ whom others give the name of 'l'eocipaffli), and a wom~n called Xochzquetzal, who faved them!elves in a little bark, and havmg afterwards got to land upon a mountain called by them Colhuacan, had there. a great manv children : that thefe children were all born dumb~ unt1l a dove fro~ a lofty tree imparted to them languages, but differing fo much that they could not underJl:and one another. The Tlafcalans pretended that the men who furvived the deluge were transformed into apes, but recovered fpeech and reafon by degrees (e). Among all the deities wor!hipped by the Mexicans, and which were very numerous, although not near fo much fo as thofe of the Romans, there were thirteen principal and greater ~ods, in honour of whom they confecrated that number. We fhall give an account of what we have found in the Mexican mythology with refpeet to thefe and the ()ther gods, without regard to the pompous conjectures and abfurd fyf., tern of Cav. Boturini. 'tezcatlipoca. This was the greateil: god adored in the(e countries, after the invifible God, or fupreme Being, whom we have already mentioned. His name means Shining Mirror, from one that was affixed to his image. He was the god of providence, the foul of the world, the creator of heaven and earth, an~ mal1:er of ~\ll tnings. They reprefented · him always young, to denote that no length of years ever dimini!hed his power; they believed that he rewarded with various ,benefits the juft, and puni!hed the wicked with difeafes and .other af-fliCtions. 1 hey placed Jl:one feats in the corners of the fireets, for that god to ret~ upon when he cbofe it, and upon which no perfon was ever allowed to fit down. Some tlid, that he had defcended from (J) Their idea of the deluge appears from the rcprefcntntion in the phtte annexed, which ia copied from an original painting of the Mexican •• · (t) For an account of the opinions of the Miztec ~ s nnd other m1tions of America, with JtfpcCl: to the creation of the \Yorld, I rnu£t rcfet· the reader to Father Gregorio Garcia, n Do• minican, in his work entitled, 'ihe Origi11 D/ the Indians. heave~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. heaven by a rope made of fpiders webs, and had perfecuted and driven from thefe countries, the grand prieft of Tula ~etzd/coatl, who was afterwards confecrated as a god. His principal image was of teotetl (divine ftone) which is a black fhining Jl:one like black marble, and was richly dreffed. It had golden ear-rings, and from the under lip hung a cryfial tube, within which was a green feather, or a turquoife fione, which at firft fight appeared to be: a gem. His hair was tied with a golden firing, from the end of which hung an ear of the fame metal, with the appearance of afcending fmoke painted on it, by which they intended to reprefent the prayers of the difhefied. The whole breaft was covered with maffy gold. He had bracelets of gold-upon both his arms, an emerald in the navel, and in his left hand a golden fan, fet round with beautiful feathers, and polifhed like a mirror, in which they imagined he faw every thing that happened in the world. At other times to denote his j uil:ice, they reprefented him fitting on a bench covered with a red cloth, upon which were drawn the £gures of fkulls, and other bones of the dead: upon his left arm a !hield with four arrows, and his right lifted in the attitude of throwing a fpear: his body dye.d black, alld his head crowned with quail-feathers. OmeteuCI/t' a~d Omecihuatl (/). The former·was a god, and the Iat:ter a goddefs, who they pretended dwelt in a magnificent city in heaven, abounding with delights, and there watched over the world, and gave to mortals their wifhes: OmeteuCIIi to men, and Omecihuatl to women. They had a tradition that this goddefs having had many children in heaven, was delivered of a knife of flint; upon which her children in a rage threw it to the earth, from which when it fe11, fprung fixteen hundred heroes, who, knowing their high origin, and having no fervants, all mankind having perin1ed in a general calamity, (g) agreed to fend ·an emba!Ty to their mother, to intreat her to grant them power to crente men to fervc them. The mother anfwered, that if they had had more exalted Centiments, they would have made them- (f) They Jikewifc gave thcfc gods the names of CiJ!a!latDiut.c, and Citlnlir11t1 upon account of th~ Oars. · (g) Thr.fc people, as we fhnll mention in another pl~cc, believed thnt the earth had fufi'crcd throe great univerfal calnmitic& by which nll mankinu had been dcllroyed, , felves 245 BOOI V~. ~ ,. |