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Show .. BOOKVJII, ~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. they were to bring upon him. The amba!Tadors joined Cortes at lthualco; the prefent they brought him conlifted of feveral works of gold, which were valued at fifteen hundred fe<luins. Cortes {h~v;ed them every poffiblc refpcCl: and attention, and an.fwcred by re~urnmg thanks to the king for the prefent ancl his magmficent prom1fes, to which he would be able to return good fervices ; but at the fame time declaring, that he could not return ~ack without ~~aking himfelf blameable for difobediencc to his foverctgn, and promdtng not to be the means on his part of the fmallefl: injury to the ftate; and that, if after having explained. to hrs maje~y the emba!Ty which he bore, and which he could not truO: with any other perfon, he £honld not approve of the longer fiay of the Spaniards in his dominions, he would without delay fet out on his return to his native country. .. Montezuma's uneafinefs was increafed by the fuggeftions of the priefts, and particularly by the account which they gave of fome fayings of their fa}fe oracles, and fome terrible vifions which they .£tid they had during this time. He was at lafi thrown into fuch alarm and confternation, that, without waiting for the i!Tue of the lafi embaffy to the Spaniards, he held a new council with the king of, Tezcuco, his brother Cuitlahuatzin, and fome other perfons whom he ufed to advife with, all of whom maintained their former opinions ; Cuitlahuatzin, that of not admitting the Spaniards to enter the court, and· to make them by gcntlenefs or force to quit the kingdom; while Cacamatzin was for receiving them as amba!Tadors, as the king had ftrength enough to cruili them, if they iliould militate either againfl: his royal perfon or the ftate. Montezuma, who had hitherto contl: antly adhered to the opinion of his brother, now embraced that of the king of Tezcuco, but at the fame time he charged this fame king. to go to meet the Spaniards, and to endeavour to di!Tuade the general from his journey to the court; Cuitlahual-zin then turning to the king his brother, f.tid, " The gods defire, 0 king, that you do not receive " .into your houfe thofe who will drive you from it, and that you. " would remedy the evil while you fiill have time and means to do it." " Wha~ £hall we do," returned the 'king, " if Qllr friends, and what " is more our gods, infiead of favouring us,. profpei· our enemies ? · I u am refolvcd, and wiili that all would be refolute, no.t to fly nor· £hew r ' ' H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. u ihew any cowardice, happen what will-but I pity the aged and " the young, wh have 110 firength and can r.nake no defence I" Cortes hnving difmiifed the Mexican amballadors} moved with his troops from Ithualco, and proceeded through Amaquemecan and Tlalmanalco, two cities about nine miles di!tant from each other, and fituated near the bafe of thofe mountains. Amaquemecan, with its adjacent hamlets, contained two thou£md .inhabitants (k). At thofc places the Spaniards were well received, and feveral chiefs of that province vilited Cortes, and prefented him gold and fome flaves; they complained bitterly of the opprcOlon they fuffered from the king of Mexico and his minill:ers, in the fame terms made ufe of by thofe of ChcmpoaJia and Chiahuitztla, and at' the fuggefl:ion of the Chempoallefe and Tlafcalans, who accompanied Cortes, entered into a confederacy with the Spaniards for the recovery of their liberty. In £hort, the farther the Spaniards advanced into the country, the more they continued to incrcafe their forces; like a rivulet, which, by the acceffion of other fl:ream s, fwells in its courfc by degrees into a large river. From Tlalmanalco the army marched to Ajotzinco, a village fttuated upon the fonthcrn bank of the lake of Chalco (1), where there was a harbour for the vcilcls of merchants who trafE(;ked with the countries to the fouthward of Mexico. Curiofity to view the quarters of the Spaniards cofl: very Jcar to fome of the Mexicans, for the Spanifl1 centinels imagining them to be fpics, from the apprehenlions they were conftantly under of fome treachery, fl1ot about fifteen of them that night. . The following day, jufl: as they were r~ady to march, fome Mexican nobles arrived with intdligence, that the king of Tezcuco W.lS come to vifit the Spani!h general in the name of the king of Mexico his uncle: It was not long before the king himfelf joined them, borne in a litter, adorned with fine fe.lthers, on the nloulders of four of his dom~fiics, and accompanied by a numerous and brilliant U) Amaqucmccnn, cnllcd by the Spaniards Mccamcca, is at prcfcnt a village no othcrwifc notc<lthan for having been the binh-placc of the celebrated nun Joan Agnes of the Crofs, a woman of wonderful genius and uncommon learning. (/) Solis.confounds Amaqucmecan with Ajotzinco ; Am ~ qucmccan was never fituntetl, as l1e f.,ys, on the border of the lake, but ~t twelve miles dil1;1nce from it, upon the lide of n moun· tain, . . I 2 retinue 59 BOOK Vll1r. ~ ' S E C To XXXII. Vi fit of the . king of Te:r.cuco to Cot·· tes. .. .. |