31 (Barcelona, 1591).] A parallel instance is presented in Aztec annals.

Nezahualcoyotzin, an enlightened ruler of Tezcuco, about 1450, was both a philosopher and a poet, and the songs which he left, seventy in number, some of which are still preserved, breathe a spirit of emancipation from the idolatrous superstition of his day.

He announced that there was one only god, who sustained and created all things, and who dwelt above the ninth heaven, out of sight of man.

No image was fitting for this divinity, nor did he ever appear bodily to the eyes of men.

But he listened to their prayers and received their souls.[1] [Footnote 1: See Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, _Historica Chichimeca_, cap.