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Show BOOK VII. '---v--1 H I S 1 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. admonilhed their children to beware of it : the} bnrned the h air of a bawd in the market-place with pine torches, and iineared her head with the relin of the fame wood. The more refpectablc the perfons were to whom !he fc rved in this capacity, fo much the greater was the puni!hment. According to the bws, the man who dreffed himfe]f like a wom~n, or the woman who dr ... flcd herfelf like a man, was hanged. The thief of things of fmall value met with no puniilirnent, excepting that of being obliged to reftore what he had ilolen ; if the thing :were of great valne, he was made the !lave of the perfon whom he had robbed. If the thing ilolen did no longer ·cxifl:, nor the robber h;ld any goods by which he could repay his robbery, he was Honed to death. If he had ftolen gold or gems, after being conducted through all the fheets of the city, he was facrifired at the feftival which the gold- 1i1liths held in honour of their god Xipe. He who ftole a certain number of ears of maize, or pulled up from another's field a certain number of ufeful trees, was made a .!lave of the owner of that fi eld (y) ; but C\'ery poor traveller was permitted to take of the maize, or the fruitbearing trees, which were planted by the fide of the highway, as much as was fufiicient to fatisfy immediate hun get·. He who robbed in the market, was immediately put to death by the bafl:inado, in the market-place. He ~lfo was condemned to death, who in the army robbed ano:hcr of his arms or badges. Whoever upon finding a ftrayed child, made it a !lave, and fold it to another, as if it were his own, forfeited by that crime hi liberty and his goods, one half of which was appropriated to the fnpport of the child, and the other half was paid to the purchafer that he might fet the child at liberty. Whatever number of perfons were concerned in the crime, all of them were liab]e to the f.1me punifhment. To the f.1me punifhment of fervitude, and to the lofs of his goods, was every perfon liable who fold the po!feffions of ·another, whkh he only had in farm. . (x) '~he anonymous conqueror fays, that ftcaling of three or four ears of maize was fullicJcn~ to lllCt~l' the penalty. Torqucmada ndds, that the penalty was death : but this was the law 111 the k•ngdom of Acolhuacan only, not in the renlm of Mexico, · & Tuto~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. Tutors who did not give a good account of the eftates of their pl,l• pils, were hanged without pardon. The C.1me puni(hment W<l.S inflicted on fans who fquandered their patrimony in vices; for they faid it was a great crime not to fet a higher value on the labours of their fathers. He who practifed forcery was facrificed to the gods. Drunkennefs in youth was a capital offence; young men were put to death by the bafl:inado in prifon, and young women were ftoned to death. In men advanced in years, although it was not made capital, it was puniil1ed with fcverity. If he was a nobleman, he was ftripped of his office and his rank, and rendered infamous ; if a plebeian, they il1aved him (a puniil1ment ·very fenfibly felt by them), and demolilhed his houfe, faying, that he who could voluntarily bereave himfelf of his fenfes, was not worthy of a habitation amongil: men. This law did not forbid conviviality at nuptials, or at any other times of feftivity: on fuch occafions it being lawful, in private houfes, to drink more than ufual; nor did the law affeCl: old men of feventy years, who, on account of their age, were al1owed to drink as much as they pleafed; which appears reprefented in the 'forty-third painting of_. the collection made by Mendoza. He who told a lie to the particular prejudice of another, had a part of his lip cut off, and fometimes his ears. Of the Mexican laws concerning !laves it is to be obfcrved, that there were three forts of flaves among them. The firfl: were prifoncrs of war; t}lc fecond were thofe whom they purchafed for a valuable confideration; and the third were malef2.ctors, who were deprived of their liberty in punifhmen t of their'Crimes. The prifoners of war were generally facrificed to their gods. He who in war took another's prifoner from him, or fet him at liberty~ was punifhed with death-. The [ale of a !lave was not valid, unlefs it was made in the prcfencc of four lawful witneiles. ln general, they affembled in greater numbers, and celebr·ated contraCts of that nature with great folcmnity. Among the Mexicans a !lave was allowed to have cattle, to acqui~·e property, and even to purchafc !laves who fervcd him ; nor could rus owner hinder him, nor have fervice from fuch flaves; for ilavery was only 359 BOOK VII. ~ sEcT. xvnr. L:nvs con· cerning o,tv es. |