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Show 394 BOOK VH. ~ SP.c r. XJ.,II. E\llC]liCllCC nnd l:'ocrry. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X 1 C 0. they do it with more reconomy than the Greeks did; for the Greeks made ufe of the entire words in compofltion, whereas the Mexican cut off fyllables, or at leaft iome letters from them. 'rlazot/i, fignifies valued· or loved; ]\{abuitztic, honou1·ed or revered; "i'fj)nxqui, prir:JI ; a word itfelf too compofed of "Feotl, god; and the verb Pia, which fi gnifies to bolt/, guard, or keep; Tatli is .father, as we have already faid. To unite thofc five words in one, they take away eight conf<Jnants and four vowels, and fay for inil:ance Notlazomalmit:'l'.teojJT:·mttalziu, that is, my very worthy fath er, or revered priefl ; prefixing the no, which correfponds to the pronoun my, and adding t zin, which is a particle cxprcffive of reverence. A word of this kil'lu is extremc.ly common with the Indians when they addrefs, and particularly when· they confefs themfelves, which although it is complex, is not, however one .of the longefl:; for there are fome compounded of fo many terms as to have fifteen or fixteen fyllables. Such compounds were made ufe of in order to give the definition, or defcription, of a thing, whatever it was, in one word .. This may be difcovered in the· names of animals a:nd plants, which arc to be found in the Natural Hi!l:ory of Hernandez, and in the names of places which occur frequently in this hifl:ory. A lmo!l: all the names which they gave to places of the Mexican empire aPe compounds, and fignify the fituation or properties of the places, and that fome memorable action happened there. Many of their expreilions are fo il:rong, that the ideas of them cannot be heightened, particularly on the fubjetl: of love: In ibort, all thoie who have learned this language, and can judge of its copioufnefs, regularity, and beautiful modes of fpeech, are of opinion, that fuch a language cannot have been fpoken by a barbarous people. A nation po!feifed of fo powerful a hngu~tge, could not want poets and orators. Thofe two arts were much cxercifed by the Mexicans) although they were very f.'tr from knowing all their excellencies: Thofe who were deftined to be orators, were inftrutl:ed from their infancy in fpeaking properly, and learned to repeat by memory he moO: celebrated orations of their ancefl:ors that had been handed down from fathe r to fun . Their eloquence was employed prin cipally in delivering cmbaffies, in councils, and congratulatory addreffes, which they made to new.' kings .. I H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. kings . . Although their moO: celebrJ.tcd fpe.lkers are not to be com-pared WJth the orators of the poli01cd nations of Eu ·o 't · • • . 1 pe, 1 1s not to be demed tha.t the1r d1fconrfcs \vere found , J'ud1'c w' u 5 , an d e1 e ga·nt, as n~ay be perce1ved from thofe fpecimens of their eloquence which are ihll :~ta~1t. Even at yrefent, when they are reduced to a fiate of great hun11hat1. 0n, an. d re.t am .n ot their ancient infl:i tutions , t1.1 e y rna 1<. .c 11 a-ra_': gues m th tr .ailembltes, . wl:ich are fo full of good fenfe and prop! lety, as to exCite the admtratJOn of all thofe who hear them . The numbe1~ of th eir public fpeakers was exceeded by that of th e;ir poets. In the11· verfcs they were attentive to the cadence and meafurc. .A mohn. g I the remains which we have of their f10etry ' are fome v e .r. llCS 111 w 1C 1. between words. that are fignificative, in~ezjeCl: ion s , or i)'lla-bles, are mterpofed~ devozd of any meaning, and only made ufe of by what appears .to a~Juft the meafure; but this praCtice was, probably, o.nly a v1ce of their bad poets. The language of their poetry wns bril· hant, p_ure, and agreeable, figurative, and embellifhed with frequent compar~fo n s to the mofi pleafing objeCts in nature, fuch as flo· . vcrs, trees, 1:1vers, &c. It was in poetry chieAy where they made uic of words 111 compofition, which became often fo very long, that a fingle one made a verfc: of the longefi me.lfure. The fubj etl: of their poetical compofitions was various. They compofed hymns in praife of their gods, to obtain from them thofe favours they fiood in need of, which were fqng in the temples and at their f 1_ cred dances. Some were hifl:o rical poems, reciting the evc11ts of the nation and the glorious aCtion of their heroes, which were fung at profane dances . Some were odes, containizw fame moral or Jeffun ufeful . h b m t e conduCt of life. Lafily, iome were po ms on love, or fame ' ~ther _ p~e~tl.ng fubj ecl, fuch as the chace, which were fung at the publtc n!JOJcmgs of the [eventh month. The pridh were tl1c chief comp~ fcrs ·Of tho1i.; pieces, and taught them to young boys, that they m1ght fing them when they were grown np. \Ve have alre1dy mentionecl the celebrated compofitions of king 1\!czahnalcojotl. 1 he ofl:eem in which poetry was held by that king, excited his fubjcets to · cultivate that art, nnd multiplied the nu mbl::r of po ts of his court. I~ is related of one of thof.c poets, that hn.\' ing bceu COiJdcmncd to i.he for fame crime, he made a cotnpofition in prifon, in which he E e e 2 took 3?5 BOOK VJI. '--.,..--J |