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Show B...O_O__K,. _Il_f , H I S T 0 R Y 0 F ¥ E X I C 0. ~eprefenting thofe four cities fubdued by the Mexicans, .~u~ be under~ ftood to apply to the Mexicans, only as they were auxi11anes to other flares, in the .tune manner, as a a1ort time afterwards they ferved th king of Tezcuco againft the Xalto ca!1e~e . . A little before his death, Acamap1tzm called together the great meu of the city; when after exhorting them to mainta~n th~ir zeal for t.he public good, recommending. to .them the .care of ~1s w1ves and. children; and declaring the pam 1t gave hun at h1s death, to tlunk of leaving his people tributary to the T epanecas, he faid, that, having received the crown from their hands, he put it into their hands again, in order that they might bc!l:ow it upon him who they thought would do the ftate moft fervice. His death, which happened in the year 1 389. was greatly lamented by the Mexicans, and his funeral was celebrated with as much magnificence as the poverty of the nation wou-ld admit. From the death of Acamapitzin, until the election of a new king, ·as we are informed by Siguenza, an interregnum took place, of four months ; a 'circumftance which never happened again, as from that time forward the new king was always chofen a very few days after the death of the preceding. Perhaps the eleCl:ion,. at this time, might be retarded, by the nobles being employed in regulatiryg the number of the electors, and in fet_tling the ceremony of the coronation which was then beginning to be obferved. The eleetors then,. chofen by the nobles, being aifembled together,. the oldefl: man among them addrefied them in this manner. " My age " emboldens me to fp~eak firfr. The misfortune, 0 Mexican nobles,. " which we have fuffered by the death of our king, is very g reat; and " none ought to feel it more than we who· were the feathers of his " wings, and the eye-lids of his eyes. Such a misfortune is fii11 in" creafed, by the unhappy condition of dependence u pen the power of " the Tepanecas, under which we live, to the reproach of the Mexi" can name. Do you, then,. whom it fo much concerns to :find a re" medy for our prefent diftrefi'es, do you refolve .to choofe a king who " iliall be zealous for the honour of our mighty god H uitzilopochtli, " who iliall avenge, with his arm, the injuries done to our nation; " a11d who ihall take the aged, the widow, and the orphan under the " iliade / H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C o-. " ·{hade of his clemency." At the conclufion . of this fpeech the electors gave their votes, and their choice fell upon Huitzilihuitl, fen of the deceafed king Acamapitzin. Then they proceeded, in regular order, to the houfe of the eleCted perfon, whom they placed in the middle of them, and conduCted t? the Tlatocaicj>alli, that is the royal feat or throne; upon which they feated him; and after anointing him in the mnnner we ihall defcribe in another place, they then placed upon his head the Copilli or crown, and made him their fubmiffions one by one. 'Phen one of the moil: confiderable perfons raiCed his voice, and thus addrelfed the king. " Be not difcouraged, excellent youth, at receiv ~ " ing that new employment, to which you are called, of reigning over " a nation which is inclofed among the reeds and ruilies of this lake. " It is, indeed, unfortunate to poifefs fo fmall a kingdom within an" other's territory, and to be the chief of a people, who, originally free, " have now become tributary to the Tepanccas ; but be comforted, " and remember that we are under the proteCtion of the great god " Huitzilopochtli, whofe image you are, and whofe place you fill. " The dignity to which you have been raifed by him, a1ould fervc, " not as an excufe for indolence and efteminacy, but as a fpur to exer" tion. Have ever before your eyes the illuflrious example of your " great fath er, who fpareJ no ]al>our in the fervice of the public. We " lhoulJ wi01, fi r, to rmke you pre(ents worthy of your fiation; but " fince our fituation wm not admit of it, be pleafed to accept our pro" miCes of the moil: inviolable attachment and :fidelity." I uit zilihuitl was not yet married when he afcendcd the throne : but it was thought proper that he fhould take a wife, and the nobles wifhec! for a daughter of the king of Azcnpozalco. T o avoid~ however, fo ignominious a detri,1l as rhey met with in the time of Acam41pitzin, they rdohrcd to make the requefl:, upon this occafion, with the greatefl demon{hations of humil ity and refpetl:. Some of the nobles, therefore, went to Azcapozalco, and falling on their knees, when they were prefent d to the k ing, they decbred their wiihes, in the following words, " Behold, g n~a t lord, the poor Mexicans at your feet, humbly " expeCting from 'your goodne(s, a fa v.our wbid1 is g.reatly beyond H their merit; but to whom ought we to hnve recourfe, except to you , 1 ' who m,e our father atHl our lord. Behold ll S hanging upon your S z. " lips, • 131 .BOOK Ill. "----v---" SecT. IV. Huitzilihui tl fccond king of Mexico. |