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Show 341 .lOOK. VII. ~ Sr.cT . rx. R i!(IHS of the king. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. plates of gold, fometimes wove with golden thread, and .figured with beautiful feathers. The drefs which he ufually wore in the palace was the x£uhtilmatli, which was a mantle of a blue and white mixture .. When he went to the temple he put on a white habit. That which he wore to affill: at councils, and other public functions, varied according to the· nature and circumftanccs of the occafion; one was appropriated for civil caufes, and another for criminal caufes ; one fot· aCts ofjuil:ice, and another for times of rejoicing: upon all thefe occafions he regularly wore his crown. Every time he went abroad, he was attt:nded by a great retinue of nobility, and preceded by a noble, who held up three rods made of gold and odorous wood, by which he intimated to the people the prefence of their fovereign. The power and authority of the kings of Mexico was different at different periods. In the beginning of the monarchy their power was much circumfcribed, and their authority truly paternal, their conduCt more humane, and the prerog.uives which they claimed from their fuu jeCl: s extremely moderate. With the enlargement of their territory they gradually increafed their riches, their magnificence, and pomp, and in proportion to their wealth were likewife multiplied, as generally happens, the burthens on their fubjeCl:s. Their pcide occafioncd them to trefpnfs upon the limits, which the confent of the nation had allowed to their authority, until they arrived at that pitch of odious defpoti!in which appears to have markd the reign of Montezuma IL but notwithftanding their tyranny, the Mexicans always pre[erved the refj:>eEt which was due to the royal charaCter, except that in the lafl year but one of the monarchy, as will be related hereafter, when they were no longer able to endure the me.mnefs of their king Montezuma, his excefllve cowardice, and low fubmiHion to his enemies, they treated him with contempt, and wounded him with arrows and ftones. The pageantry and oftentatious grandeur of the laft Mexican kings may be onceived from what we have {aid of the reign of Montezuma, and what we fball farther fay in our account of the conquefl:. 'J'he kings of Mexico were rivalled in magnificence by the kings of Acolhuacan, as the latter were by the former in politics. The government of the Acolhuan nation was almoft the fame with that of the Mexicans; but with refpeCl; to the right of [uccefiion to the crown they H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. ' 343 they were totally difft:rent; for in the kingdom of Acolhuacan, and BOOK r • ~ the f:1me is to be underfl:ood of Tacuba, the fons fucceeded to their fathe rs, not according to their birth, but according to their rank; the fons which were born of the queen, or principal wife, having been always preferred to the rell:. This rule was obferved from the time of Xo-lotl, the .firft Chec.:hemecan king, until the time of Cac.:amatzin, who was fucceeded by his brother Cuicuitzcatzin, through the intrigues of Montezuma and the conqueror Cortes. The king of Mexico, as well as the king of Acolhuacan, l1ad three s x II C To , fupreme councils, compofed of perfons of the .firft nobility, in which· The ~oyal h d l.b d a: · 1 · h f h counctl and t ey e 1 erate upon auatrs re atmg to t e government o t e p,ro- officersofthe, vinces, the revenues of the king, and to war, and in general the king court. refolvecl upon no meafure of importance without having firil: heard the opinion of his counfellors. In the hiftory of the conqueft we fhall ·find Montezuma in frequent deliberation with his co.uncil on the pre tenfions of the Spaniards. We do not know tbe number of members of each council, nor do hiftorians furni01 us with the lights ne:ceilary to illuftrate fu ch a fubjecr. They have only pre{( rved to us the n:1mes of fom.e counfellors, particularly thofe of Montezuma II. In the fixty-firfl: painting of the colleCtion of Mendoza, are reprefented the council - h all s ~ and fome of the lords who compofed them. Amongft the different. minifters and officers of the court there was a treafurer-general,. whom they called Hut!icalpixqui, or great maj or .. domo, who received all the tributes which were colleCted by the oHioers of the revenue in the provinces, and kept an account of his receipts and diiliur[ements in paintings, agreeable to the teftimonyJof Bernal Di:1z. who faw them. There was another treafurer for the gem and articles .of go1d, who was, at the fame time, direCtor of the artiil:s who wrought them; and ano ther for the works which wen: made of feathers, the artifts of which laft. e111ployment had their work-lhops in . the royal palace of .birds. There was befides a provider .. general of animals, whom they called Huejaminqzd; he had the cho.rg<1 of the roy:1.l woods, and took care that game was never wanting there; and that the royal palaces were nevt:r unprovided with every fort of animal. Concerning the other royal mini!l:ers and officers, we ha w: mentioned enough when we treated of the magnificence. of Monte-zuma. |