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Show 44 B OKVIII. ~ • S G C T, XXIV. Entry nf the Sp:1mardn in· to ·r l alc:d ~. • H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. wounded and difpirit d; and fuch di(c:ontent and. apprehenfions bega.~ to fci ze th foldi rs, that tb:y not only fpoh~ dtfrcfpetl:fully of theu chief in private, but al!o co11jure l him to return to Vera C~uz; bt~t Cortes encourage l them, anc\ by powerfttl arguments t~uc1ung th 1r honour, and h·s own example of i(H titude and firmnds 111 dangers and fati crne he rekindled in them frcih zeal for his undertakings. At length tl1c; ali feemed to onccive hopes of fu cccfs, from the confederacies they had made, to the projett!.i of their general. . . . 'fhe Mexican amb:10adors whom Cortes fiill detamed wtth htm, refufctl to accon1pany him to Tbf ala; but he perfuaded them to go along with hirn, promifing them, that they !hould be perfectly fcc:UJ:c under his proteCtion. Having removed their doubts, he march~~ h1s _a:·~,y in good order and preparation for every event. In the CitieS of 1 c ~ compantzinco and Atlihuctzian, they were received with all pofiible courtely, though not in a fl:y le equal to the mag11 ificen t en try they made into the capital, from whi.ch the four lords of the republic came out to meet the Spaniards with a numerous concourfe of the nobility, and fo great a croud of inhabitants, that fome have affirmed they amounted to a hundred thoufand people; a calculation, by no means improbable, conlidering the populonfnefs of Tlafcala, and the furprifing novelty of tho!e extraordinary ftran gers, who awakened the curiofity of all that exteniive region. In all the {hcets of th~ city wen: formed, according to the u1age of thofe nations, arches of flowers .and branches, and a confufcd mufic of infirum nts and ac bmations refounded from all ildes, accompanied with fuch jubilee and rejoicing,, that it· appeared to be rather the celebration of the triumph of the republic than of that of its enemies. This rlay, fiiU commemorated: in Tlafcala, was the 23d of September, 1519. That city was then one of the moft confidcr.1ble in the country of. Anahuac. Cortes, in his letters to Charles V. affirms, that in grandeur, populoufnefs, buildings, and abundance of the neceffaries of life"' it exceeded Granada when that was taken from the Moors; anq, that at the market, of which he gives a defcription, there d.,ily a 1~n1-. bled about thir ty thoufimd mcrclunts and people of bulincfs . Thq fame conqueror attdl:s, that having obtained an order of the fe n ~tte to make the houfes and inhabitants be numbered which werc.in the city.~ the • ., II I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. . the vilbg s, and l11mlets of the republic, there were found upwards of fifty t wuland houfc ', and mor(; than five hundred thoufand inbabi t:-tn ts. The Tlafcalans had prepared, for the Spaniards and all their allies, a handtome and comn1odious dwelling. Cortes defired that the Mexican an1ba.fEtdors might be loJgcd in apartments ne;tr. to his own, not only in refp<:Cl to them, but allo to banifh from their minds any diftrufi of the T la[cahns. The chiefs of the republic, in order to give the Spaniards a new proof of the fincerity of their friendfh ip, prefented to Cortes thirty bt:autiful young women . Cortes refufcd them at firl1:, alledgi ng, that the Chrifl:ian law forbid polygamy; but afterwards, to avoid' giv i·ng offence, he accepted fome of th mas companions to Marina. In fpite of this refu C:d , th ey pr<:fcntcd him foon after .fiv.e virgins of the .firfi nobility, whom Cortes accepted for the fake of firengthening his friencHhip with the republic. E ncburaged by this fuccc fsful beginning, Cortes became defirous of pcrfuading the chiefs of the republic and the nobles, to abandon their ·1i..tperfiitio.us rite , and acknowledge the only true divinity; but although his reafons were perfuafive, and they confeffed the power of that God whom the Spaniards adored, they could not, however, be induced tor nounce their abfurd ddties, be nufe they believed them difpenfers of human felicity. "Our god Camaxtlt:," they [aid, '' grants us " viCtory over our enemies; om goddefs Matlalcucje fends rain to our " fields, and defends us from the inu odation of Zahuapan (b). To each ., of our gods we are indebted for a part of the happine(s of our li ves, " and their nngcr, if provoked, might draw down upon the fiate the " mofi: fcvere pu nifhmcnt." Cortes, fi:imnlatcd by a zeal too.ardent and violent, was defi rous of treating the idols of 'flafcala in the fame . manncr as h<: had fuc:ce(sfu lly done thofe of Chemp.oallan; but Olmedo, and other pcrfons 0f rc1pett, difiuaded him from fo rafh an attempt, rcprefc.:nting to him, that [uch an aa of violence, bcfidcs. not being conducive to the promulgation of the gofpel, might prove the ruin of the paniards in a city fo populous, and aHached to fupedl:i tion . Ncverthelefs, he did not e' fe, during twenty day~ which he ftoppcd (a) A 1 ivc ,· of TlJft.:ala. there 45 BOOK VliT. 1.--"y--..J |