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Show 100 BOOK IX. ~ .H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. petuate the memory of it among their defcendants, they compofed dirges and elegies on the {ubj ecl:, which they preferved for man~ yea~·s after the conqueft. When the horrid tragedy was ended, the Spaniards ftripped the dead bodie'S of all the riches with which they were adorned. The motive is not kn,own which indllced Alvarado to coq1mit an ac-tion fo abomin~tb1y inhuman. Some have C1id he was influenced alone by his infatiable thirfi: for gold (c). Others affirm, and which is more probable, that it having been whifpered that the Mexicans defigned at this fell:ival to !trike a decifive {l:roke on the Spaniards, to deliver themfdves from opprefiion, and fet their lord and king again at liberty whom the Spaniards had imprifoned, he prevented them, thinking, according to the vulgar adage, he who attncks, conquers. However the cafe was, his conduCt cannot be defended neither from the charge of imprudence nor cruelty (d). The common people were irritated by a blow which touched them fo deeply, and treated 'the Spaniards ever after as the mortal enemies of their country. Some Mexican troops alfaulted their quarters with fuch impetuofity, that they broke down a part of the wall, undermined t\l~ palace in different places, and burned their ammunition, but they were repelled by the fire of the artillery and muiketry, by which the Spaniards had an opportunity of repairing the wall. That night the Spaniards repofed purely from the fatigues of the day, but the day after the affault was fo furious, that they thought they mufi: have perit'hed, and certainly not one of them would have remained alive, five or fix (c) The Mexican hillorians, Sallagun, in his hitlory, Las Cafas, in his formidable acco( lnt of the de!lruetion of the Indica, and Gomara, in hi s Chronicle, affirm, that the avaJ: ice of Alv~rad~ w~s the caufe of the flnnghter committed on the Mexican nobility; but we cannot ,believe '.t Wlt~10ut.11.ror.ger proofs. Gomara and Las Cafas have unqueflionnhly fvl~ lowe~ Sahagun m th~s opm10n, and he mull have received it from the Mexican:;, who, being the oncmtes of the Spamarda, arc not to be n·ullcd in this matte t·. ( d ) J t i~ altogether i.ncredible that the Mexicans fhould ltpon oc afion of the dance, have plotted aga1n!l the Span1ards, th at trenfon which fame hitlodans have fnppofcd, and ilill more th at they had aCl ually prepared the vefi'ch in whkh they were to boil the f!dh of the Spaniards, as Torquema?a fays • . There a~e fab les in vented to ju!lify Alv arado. What npJ ,us the moll probable f~lut10n ~f t!m event 1s, that the Tlafcalans out of the great hatred which th ey h~ll'e to the Mex1cans, 1nfpu:ed Alvnr:1do with fufpici on~ of this p1·eteudcd treachery. The lu !lo~y of the C?n'l ucll: furrufl1cs us Wlth many cx.:~mplcs of fuch kinJ of art.fu l dcfi g·ning undu ft. 111 the llafc;t!ans. ) ) ,• ) ) ,• ~~ \'j 'l H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0 . ' .' ... . .. ' ' ) ) ) JOI of them being already killed, had not the king lhewn himielf to the croud of afEJ.Ulters, and by his authority reftrained their fury. R efpeet to the prefence of their fovereign checked the multitude from con- BOOK IX. "--y--..J • 0 tinuing the attack upon the Spanifh quarters; but it did not make them dcfift from other hoitilitics ; they burned the four brigantines which Cortes had ordered to be built, in order to fave himfelf in them provided he could not at any time make his efcape by the roads made upon the lake, and refolved to defi:roy the Spaniards by famine denying them provifions, and contriving to hinder the introduCtion of nny to them, by drawing a ditch all round their quarters .. In this fituation the Spaniards found themfelves in Mexico, when~ Alvarado fent advice to Cortes, requefi:ing him by two different meffages, carried by the Tlafcalans,. to hafi:en his retlJlrn, unlefs he chofe to. let them all perifh. The fame thing was delired by Montezuma, who acquainted him how diftrelfed he was at the infurrecrion of his valfals, which, however, had been occafioned by the ralh and bloody attempt of the captain Tonatuih. Cortes after having given orders to tranfpbnt the colony of Ver:i ' Cruz to a more convenient fituation, near the port of Chalchuihcuecan (although this. was not then executed), marched with his people by long joUJmeys towards the ccrpitaJ. In Tlafcala, he was magnificently lodged in the palace of the prince Maxixcatzin~ There he made a review of his troops,. and fou.nd them conliQ: of ninety-fix horfes, and thirteen hundred Spanifh in fc'mtry, to which two thoufand T lafca]ans were added by the republic. With this army he marched into Mexico on the 24th of June. He met with no· oppofition to his entry, but very foon he was fenfiblc of a ferment among the people,. not only from feeing few or none of them in the il:reets, bllt al[o by their having raifed fome bridges from the canals. When he entered in-to the quarters with the rejoicing which is eafy to be imagined on both. fides, Montezuma came to meet him in the court with the moil: obfequious demonfi:rati ·ns of friendt'hip; but Cortes, either grown infolent from the vi Cl:ory obtained over Narvaez, the number of people· ttndcr his command, or bcin rr perfua ed that it was. necclfary to· aft(:Cl: to. believe the king bl.tn:cauk for the di {l:urbance made by l;is vailals,.. 8 pa!IC. , • |