conqueror's will, not even Ixtlixochitl venturing to remonstrate.[1]
Fernando was accordingly brought from Tlascala soon after and installed with great ceremony, receiving a Spanish dress with arms.[2] He proved kind and faithful, particularly to his patrons, yet Cortés never relaxed his caution, and in order to keep him under safe surveillance Antonio de Villareal was appointed his tutor, and Bachiller Escobar captain of Tezcuco, while Pedro Sanchez Farfan and his brave wife María de Estrada also remained there. This recognition of an esteemed descendant of the beloved Nezahualpilli, and the just and moderate conduct of the Spaniards, served to reconcile the people, who speedily returned to their homes and avocations. The caciques of Coatlichan, Huexotla, and Atenco tendered allegiance within three days of the Spanish entry, protesting that their hostility had been wholly compulsory.
This ready submission was by no means palatable to Quauhtemotzin, who sent messengers to stir anew the spirit of revolt, while preparing to strike a blow. But the emissaries were promptly surrendered to the Spaniards, before whom they pretended to be merely peace mediators. It pleased Cortés to accept the explanation, and after treating the captives with great kindness he sent them back to Mexico to carry peace proposals. Those who had been the chief promoters of the late uprising were now dead, and it was better the past should be forgotten, and friendship established. To this no answer was vouchsafed.
- ↑ Ixtlilxochitl states not wrongly that Tecocoltzin was chosen by general request, but he adds that while the political horizon was so cloudy the electors preferred that a legitimate heir like Ixtlilxochitl should not fill so dangerous a position; nor did the latter care to rule while the elder brother lived. Hist. Chich., 307; Hor. Crueldades, 11-13. Pretty good excuse for a prince who forcibly wrested half the domain from Cacama. Brasseur de Bourbourg assumes that he feared to be suspected of seeking a Spanish alliance merely to obtain the crown. Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 409. But this design he had long harbored, as even the abbé intimates at times. He no doubt stood, with his strong character, as one of the powers behind the throne. Cohuanacoch does not appear to have had much influence.
- ↑ Solis takes this opportunity to elaborate a few of his specimen speeches. Hist. Mex., ii. 315-16. 'Fue el primero que en publico en Tezcuco se casò, y velò.' Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 152.
