308 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



God loves thee, though thou knowest it not. He then 

 " led me along by the river-fide, upon the borders of 



which I faw a great number of human fkulls and bones, 

 " and heard mofl: lamentable groans that waked my ut- 



moft pity. Turning my eyes afterwards upon the ri- 

 " ver, I faw fome large velTels upon it filled with men of 

 " a complexion and drefs quite different from ours. They 

 " were fair and bearded, and carried ftandards in their 

 " hands, and helmets on their heads. The youth then 

 *' faid to me, // is the will of God that thou Jhalt live to 



he a witnefs of the revolutions which are to happen to 



thefe kingdoms* The groans which thou hast heard 

 " among thefe bones ^ are from the fouls of your ancestors^ 

 " which are ever and will he tormented for their crimes, 

 " The men whom you fee coming in thefe veffels^ are thofe 

 " who by their arms will make themf elves masters of all 



thefe kingdoms^ and with them will he introduced the 

 " knowledge of the true God^ the creator of heaven and 

 " earth. As foon as the war fhall he at an end^ and the 

 " hath puhlifhed and made known which will wafh away 

 Jin^ he thou the first to receive ity and guide hy thy ex- 

 " ample the natives of thy country. Having fpoke this 



the youth difappeared, and I found myfelf recalled to 

 " life ; I rofe from the place where I lay, raifed up the 

 " fton.e of my fepulchre, and came out to the garden 

 " where I was found by my domeflics." 



Montezuma was ftruck with aftonifliment at the re- 

 cital of fo ftrange an adventure, and feeling his mind dif- 

 tra^led with a variety of apprehenfions, rofe and retired 

 to one of his palaces which was deftined for occafions of 

 grief, without taking leave of his fifter, the king of Ta- 

 cuba, or any one of thofe who accompanied him, although 

 fome of his flatterers, in order to confole him, endea- 

 voured 



