tune fell upon
them as the centuries went on. Soon after the beginning of the
fifteenth century they were attacked and overwhelmed by the Tepanecas,
another of the seven kindred tribes: their city reduced and their
monarch assassinated. But there arose a picturesque figure, the saviour
of his country--Prince Nezahualcoyotl, son of the dead king. The prince
passed years in disguise, as a fugitive, but at length was permitted to
return to the capital, where he led a life of study. But his talents
aroused the jealousy of the Tepanec usurper, who saw a danger of the
people acclaiming him as their rightful lord and throwing off the yoke
of the strangers. Nezahualcoyotl again became a fugitive, having
escaped with his life by a stratagem, disappearing through a cloud of
incense into a secret passage. But as the years went on the Texcocans,
goaded to revolt by grievous taxation, arose: and seizing the moment,
the outlawed prince put himself at the head of his people and regained
his rightful position, largely with the assistance of the neighbouring
Mexicans of Tenochtitlan.

Then followed what has been termed the golden age of Texcoco. Its art,
poets, and historians became renowned throughout Anahuac, and its
collected literature was the centre of historical lore. Indeed, this it
was that was so perversely destroyed by the first Archbishop of Mexico,
Zumarraga, after the Conquest--an irremediable loss. The prince or
emperor was a philosopher and a poet, and he has left some remarkable
examples of his philosophical prayers to the "Unknown God," in whom he
believed, abhorring the human sacrifices of his neighbours the Aztecs.
He has been termed the "Solomon of Anahuac," although the severe code
of laws he instituted have earned him a harsher name in addition.

Under this _regime_ agriculture prospered exceedingly, and a large
population cultivated all the available ground, just as under the Incas
of Peru the Andine slopes were terraced and cultivated. Splendid
buildings were erected, and a style of luxurious living inaugurated
somewhat after the fashion of Oriental history, and the descriptions of
the magnificence of the royal appurtenances fill pages of the
historians' accounts. Most of this history was written by the famous
Ixtlilxochitl, son of this great emperor, who occupied the throne at
the time of the Conquest and became an ally of the Spaniards against
the Aztec. It is upon the writings of this prince-historian that mu