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Show . . :DJSSERT: v.i . '--"'v'--1 ·H r S T. 0 R 'y o· F ·~ M E X I C o: taking~ n: A. Zurita bne of the principal judges of Mexico, learnetl on the fubjcc1: of the law, and acquainted with thofe countries, m<1de diligent enquiry, by order· of the catholic; king, into their government ami compofed that very ufeful work, which we have mentioned in our , 0 • catalogue of writers of the ancient hill:ory of Mexico . . Thus the laws of the Mexicans came·to be known although they were never wri tt<.:n. But what f01't of laws? " Many of them worthy," fays Aco.fb, " of our admiration, and according to which thofe nations {hould ilill ~' be governed in their Chrifiianity." The confiitution of th ~.: ir !late, with refpeCt, to the fucccfilon to the crown, could not have lx:cn. better framed, as by means ofit they not only avoided the inconveniencies o, f hereditary fucceffi.o n, but tho(c of eleCtion a1(o. An indi-vidual of the royal family was always chofen king, both to prefervc the dignity and fplendour of the crown, and to hinder the throne from ever being OC'cupied by 1 man of low birth. As a fan did npt fucceed bllt a brother, there was no danger of fo high ahd important n charge beit1g expo(ed to the indifcretion of a youth,. or the firatagems. of an ambitious regent. If the brothers had fllcceeded according to the order of their birth,. the crown would ncce{\arily have fometimes fallen to a perfon unfit to govern; nnd it could hnve happened befides, that the prefumptive heir might plot ag~inO: the 1ife of the fovereign. Both thofe inconveniencies were obviated by the eleCtion. The eleCtors chafe firfl: among· rhe brothers of the deceafed kings; and on £tHure of-brothers, among the fons of former kings, the fitteft perfon for the command of the. nafion. If ~t ·had been in the powet· of the king to have .lllamed th~ eleetc5rs, he could have chofen thofe who would have been moft f.wonrab1e to his defigns, and proctJred their votes in favour of that. brother who was · moll: dear to him,· or perhaps in favour of a ioo, without adhering to the fundamental laws of the fi:ate; bnt it was otherwife, for the eleCtors themfelves were eleCted by the body of the. ~'iobi1ity, which• ineluded the iuffl:ages of the whole nation. If the ffice of the eleClors had betn perpetuat, they. might, by an abufe of their authority, have become the patrons .Of themonarchy; but as. their elcClora1 p~wer :finilhed with the firft election., and 0ther new electors wer~ ti-~1ofet\ fdr the nex-t ekx..qion; i~ was not aafy for ambition to ufur t f I ' 2 aut1 w ,n•t y. H I S'T 0 R Y 0 F M·E .X, L_C 0 -atithority. Lafily, ~o avoid other inconvenienc~s, thy repl elcCl.ors Jwcrc n.~t monnhan four m n~mber, men of the fir.{l: qobility, of known probity and prudence. lt JS true, that after all thofe precautions, di[( rde~ s Odllld not always be avoided :1 but w.h;l~1 go Cfl .fllel t!i p ngfi; n 11 has· not been expofdd to greater evils ? , • , , 1 1 • ·, • • The Mexican natioh was warlike! ·aJ.ld requjrG"p a chi.cf who ,~as \ntrepid, -:-thd experienced in the art of war; what,· cu!l:~-:n, therefore: CO\tld be rnorc•conducjve to fuch end, th;m th.at of not electin r a'1Y one king who had no~, by ihi-s n~erits, · ~l>J-ain!;~ t)ly '.barge 9f ge1~e7-al pf th ·l army; an.d'of not qowning him w~1Qr:had J ~ <)fter h"s f, etlion /t,~l c;1 himelf th~ viCbirhs which, acabrdtbg ~to r~J~r ~~y(l:er ~ ci rpJjgion,', were to be ftcnficeJ ·at. the fefi:ival of hi'S !C(I),ronatJion , ' 1 1 . '1", Tho fpced with which the Mexicans' th·t~w, off.rhe Tep:mecan yoke, 3.1\d the glory they acquired .byt thei: "afm.!Lil1 ,t)!e~C'O; we4. of ft_t;c;:apozako, ' natu~·a11y excite~ the rivaliliip ::U1d j~al,o,ufy ofcJJ1eir ncighbou1;s, ,.and particularly the ku1g of Acolhuacan, . ·who l1ad 1beeiJm a~}d. wa at that time, the greatefi: king-of alt that land;' but the thr~)lle· pf Mexico being fiill in a tottering Condition, rcq uir<td a finn prop. to fu ppqrt it: The king of Acolhuacan, .who had reoe;)tly re~qv,er~d, jJy .the aid oT the Mexicans, that ·cunv:ln rwhich ha-d b fi!rllL l}iil ·_wh~ by 1 the, tyrant Tezozomoc, had reafon t:oapprchend fome p<;Hperfl\,1 .lj1bjcA, f0llowiug the fieps of that tyrant; might excite a reb.ellion in his ,kingdom, and deprive'him; like .his father, ,of his crown and his Jife. Ths king of Tlacopan, who W(lS on a newly eitabJiiheci tbroljle not very p<;>werful, had !1:ill more to fear. Each of th.ofe kings by himfelf was il) no fi:ate of fecurity, and had renfon to be diiliden t of the Qther two ;. but by uniting together, . they could form an invincible power. TJ1ey therefore rnade a tri plc alliance, which. rendered .each of them fccure with refpe~ to the other two, and all three fo with regard to their fubjects·. This was the alliance which fortified the thrones of Acol. huacan :-tnd Tacuba, and paved the way for the c.onqucl1s of the Mexicans; ·an alliance fo firm and· well concerted, that it bfh:d 'until the ar~·ival of the Spaniards. This fingle political arrangement is fuf- .fiC:ient to evince the di[(crnment and f.1gacity of thofe nations. , The judicial forms of the Mexicans and TezcllCtl~s ... affqrd many ~feful p·aliti(;aHeJ1ons. Tho div~r[lty. of rank in .the ,magj.flra~)S c }'I ' · Fff2 rriburetl 4°3 DlS1' EJt J • VII ~ - |