282 M E X 
guilty, he inflidled fevere penalties. He was an implaca¬ 
ble enemy to idlenefs, every fpecies of which he rettrained 
or corrected. On the other hand he kept up, as far as 
was poffible, an extravagant appearance of dignity. His 
table-cloths and napkins were of the fined: cotton ; but 
none of tbefe ever lerved the emperor more than once, 
being immediately made a prefent of to fome nobleman. 
The veffels in which his chocolate and other drinks from 
cocoa were prepared, were all of gold, or fome beautiful 
fea-lhell, or naturally-formed veffels, curioufly varnillied. 
He had alfo gold plate ; but it was ufed only on particu¬ 
lar occafions in the temple. The number and variety of 
his dillies alloniffied the Spaniards. He bathed regularly 
every day, and had baths in all his palaces. Every day 
he wore four drelfes, never ufing again thofe which he 
had put off, but referving them as prefents for the nobi¬ 
lity, or thole w v ho had dillinguiffied themfelves in war. 
The expenfe of all this rendered him very dilkgreeahle to 
a great number of his fubje&s; though others were plealed 
with the readinefs he Ihowed to relieve the necedities of 
individuals, and his generofity in rewarding his generals 
and minifters who deferved it. Among other actions 
worthy of imitation, he appointed the city of Colhuacan 
as an hofpital for all invalids, who, after having faithfully 
ferved the crown either in the civil or military line, re¬ 
quired a provifion on account of their age.and infirmities. 
In this place they were maintained and attended at the 
expenfe of the king. 
The reign of Montezuma, even before the arrival of 
the Spaniards, was far from being & glorious with regard 
to his fucceffes in war as thofe of his predecelfors had been. 
He reduced indeed one rebellious province, and con¬ 
quered another which had never before been fubjugated ; 
but in his war with Tlafcala he was by no means l'uccefs- 
ful. This was but a linall republic at no great diltance 
from the capital; but the inhabitants were remarkable for 
their bravery and independent fpirit. The neighbouring 
hates, however, who had been reduced by the Mexicans, 
envious of their liberty and profperity, exafperated the 
Mexicans, againft them, by reprefenting that the Tlafcalans 
were deliraus of making themfelves mailers of the mari¬ 
time provinces on the Mexican gulf; and that, by their 
commerce with thefe provinces, they were increafing their 
wealth and power, and gaining the hearts of the people 
with whom they were to traffic. In confequence of this 
reprefentation, ltrong garrifons were placed on the fron¬ 
tiers of Tlafcala, to obftrudt the commerce of the inhabi¬ 
tants, and thus to deprive them of the means of obtaining 
fome of the neceffaries of life. The Tlafcalans com¬ 
plained ; but received no other anfwer than that “ the 
king of Mexico was lord of all the world, and that the 
.Tlafcalans mull fubmit and pay tribute to him.” The 
Tlafcalans returned a fpirited anfwer to this infolent 
fpeech, and began to fortify their frontier. They had 
already encloied all the lands of the republic with in- 
trenchments ; and to thefe they now added a wall of fix 
miles in length on the well fide, where an invafion was 
mod to be apprehended; and fo well did they defend 
themfelves, that, though they were frequently attacked 
by the neighbouring Hates in alliance with Mexico, or 
l'ubjedl to it, not one of them w'as able to wrell a foot of 
ground from them. Thus a .continual feries of wars and 
engagements took place between the Hates of Mexico and 
this republic, which continued till the arrival of the 
Spaniards. 
During the remainder of Montezuma’s reign the em¬ 
pire W'as dillurbed by various rebellions, of which the ac¬ 
counts are not lufficiently interefiing to merit a particular 
detail; but in the year 1508, Montezuma began to en¬ 
tertain apprehenjGons of that fatal event which at length 
overtook him. An expedition having been undertaken 
againfi a very difiant region named Amatla, the army, in 
marching over a lofty mountain, were attacked by a fu¬ 
rious north wind, accompanied with fno.w ; which made 
great havock, many of the foldiers perilhing with cold, 
ICO. 
and others being killed by the trees thrown down by 
the wind. The remains of the army continued their 
march to Amatla, w'here they were almolt all killed in 
battle. By this and other calamities, together with the 
appearance of a comet, the Mexicans w'ere thrown into 
the utmoH conHernation. Montezuma w'as fo terrified 
by thefe omens, that, having in vain confulted his attro- 
logers, he applied to the king of Acolhuacan, who was 
reported to be very Ikilful in divination. That king told 
Montezuma, that the comet prefaged fome calamity which 
was about to befal their kingdoms by the arrival of a new 
people; but, this being unfatisfaflory to the emperor, he 
applied to a celebrated ailrologer, whom it feems he had 
not yet confulted ; but he confirmed the interpretation of 
Nezahualpilli; for which the emperor caufed his houfe to 
be pulled down, and himfelf buried in the ruins. 
But the time was now arrived when this great and mag¬ 
nificent kingdom or empire was to be fubdued and de- 
Hroyed by a handful of Spaniards under the command of 
a defperate adventurer. It is laid that the Mexican ter¬ 
ritories extended at this time as far as the boundaries of 
Nicargua ; and we are affured that the Hate of civilization 
among the Mexicans, when they were firH known to the 
Spaniards, was much fuperior to that of the Spaniards 
themfelves when they were firH known to the Phoenicians, 
that of the Gauls when firH known to the Greeks, or 
that of the Germans and Britons when firH known to the 
Romans; and is fpoken of in terms of high commenda¬ 
tion by Clavigero. The ancient Mexicans, he adds, ma- 
nifefled more fire, and were more fenfible to the imprefi- 
fions of honour ; they were more intrepid, more nimble, 
more adlive, more induHrious, than thofe of modern 
times ; but they were, at the fame time, more fuperlli- 
tious and cruel. Authors, however, have differed much 
in their opinion with refpedt to the talents, cultivation, 
and character, of the ancient Mexicans. Whilff they 
have been extravagantly extolled by fome, they have been 
unduly depreciated by others. Dr. Robertfon has en¬ 
deavoured to fleer a mean courfe in his defeription of thefe 
people ; neither extravagantly commending them with 
Clavigero, nor finking them below their proper level with 
De Pauw and others. After their fubjedtion to the Spanilh 
crown, thole who firft became acquainted with them were 
not competent judges of their talents and charadlers. 
The rapacious adventurers who formed the train of Cortes, 
their conqueror, were incapable of judging or pronounc¬ 
ing juffly concerning either their mental or moral endow¬ 
ments. But we mull no longer detain our readers from 
a luminary account of the Conouest of Mexico. 
Mexico itfelf was firll dilcovered, though imperfedlly, 
by a Spaniard named Nunez de Balboa ; but in 1518 the 
conquell of it was undertaken by a celebrated adventurer 
named Ferdinando Cortes. (See vol. v. p. 234..) On 
the 10th of February, 1519, he fet fail from the Havannah 
in Cuba; and loon landed on the ifland of Cozumel, on 
the coall of Yucatan, dilcovered the preceding year. Here 
he joined one of his officers, named Pedro d’Alvaredo, 
who had arrived fome days before, and collected lome 
booty and taken a few prifoners. But the general fe- 
verely cenlured his conduct; and the prifoners were dif- 
mified, after they had been informed by an Indian inter¬ 
preter, named Melchior, that fuch injuries were entirely 
diiagreeable to the intentions and willies of Cortes. Here 
he muttered his army, and found that it amounted to 508 
foldiers, 16 horfemen, and 109 mechanics, pilots, and ma¬ 
riners. Having encouraged his men by a proper fpeech, 
and releafed, by means of fome Indian ambaffadors, a 
Spaniard named Jerome de Aguilar, who had been de¬ 
tained a prifoner for eight years, he proceeded to the river 
Tabafco, where he hoped to be received in a friendly man¬ 
ner, as Gne Grijalva had been a lliort time before; but, 
from fome unknown caule, he was violently attacked by 
them ; however, the fuperiority of the Spanilh arms loon 
decided the vidlory, and the inhabitants were obliged to 
own the king of Caftile as their fovereign. 
The 
