To us the most wonderful part of it is, not the wonders themselves, but that it should so happen, if indeed it did, that these fearful forebodings, running back for generations, should all converge toward the coming of the brethren of Quetzalcoatl at the very time the Spaniards appeared, and that the latter should be in so many respects as the good gods themselves were to have been. The prophecies of Isaiah are dim indeed and unfathomable as compared with these.
To what end are signs that cannot be interpreted until after the occurrence, as is generally the case, when their interpretation is not needed, sages do not say.
But in this instance the testimony is abundant and explicit that many of these prodigies were at the time received, not only by Montezuma and his people, but by the neighboring nations, as the distinct announcement of the coming of the gods, who did in good truth appear at the proper time in the person of the Spaniards. And what should be their doom, those stupid and profane men of Potonchan and Tabasco, who had raised their hands against these heavenly messengers!
We are further assured that, prior to the arrival of any Spaniard, some of the subjected provinces assumed an air of independence, encouraged by the fear which these occurrences produced