HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



383 



been entertained by Montezuma in his palace from the 

 time that, in order to avoid the perfecutions of his bro- 

 ther Cacamatzin, he had taken refuge in Mexico and put 

 himfelf under his protection. This election did great 

 wrong to the princes Coanacotzin and Ixtlilxochitl, who, 

 by having been born of the queen Xocotzin, had a bet- 

 ter right to the crown. The motive does not appear 

 which made Montezuma refufe Coanacotzin, although 

 with refpect to Ixtlilxochitl it is certain that he was 

 afraid of increafing the power of fo troublefome an ene- 

 my. However it was, Montezuma made Cuicuitzcatzin 

 be acknowledged king by the nobles of Tezcuco, and ac- 

 companied him, along with Cortes, to the veflel in which 

 he was to crofs the lake, and recommended to him the 

 conftant friendfhip of the Mexicans and the Spaniards, 

 as he was indebted to them both for his crown. 



Cuicuitzcatzin repaired to Tezcuco, accompanied by 

 many nobles of each court, and was received there with 

 acclamations, triumphal arches, and dances, the nobility 

 tranfporting him in a litter from the veffel to the royal 

 palace, where the eldeft noble made him a long difcourfe 

 in the name of the whole nation, congratulating him 

 and exhorting him to love all his vaflals, and promifmg 

 to treat him as a father and to revere him as their fo- 

 vereign. It is impoflible to exprefs the grief which this 

 event occafioned to Cacamatzin, who found himfelf in 

 the flower of youth, being flill no more than twenty-five 

 years of age, deprived of the crown which three years 

 before he had inherited from his father, and reduced to 

 the confinement and folitude of a prifon by the very 

 king whom he had purpofed to make free, and thofe 

 ftrangers whom he had defigned to drive out of the king- 

 dom. 



Cortes 



