CHAPTER XIV- 



1521. 



DIFFICULTY OF ESTIMATING THE CIVILIZATION OF THE AZTECS. 



NATIONS IN YUCATAN. VALUE OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY. — - 



THE AZTEC MONARCHY ELECTIVE. ROYAL STYLE IN TE- 



NOCHTITLAN. MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE. DESPOTIC POWER 



OF THE EMPEROR OVER LIFE AND LAW. THEFT INTEM- 

 PERANCE MARRIAGE SLAVERY WAR. MILITARY SYSTEM 



AND HOSPITALS COIN REVENUES. AZTEC MYTHOLOGY. 



IMAGE OF TEOYAOMIQUI. TEOCALLI TWO KINDS OF SACRI- 

 FICE. WHY THE AZTECS SACRIFICED THEIR PRISONERS. 



COMMON SACRIFICE GLADIATORIAL SACRIFICE SACRIFICIAL 



STONE. AZTEC CALENDAR WEEK, MONTH, YEAR, CYCLE. 



PROCESSION OF THE NEW FIRE ASTRONOMICAL SCIENCE. 



AZTEC CALENDAR. TABLES. 



It is perhaps altogether impossible to judge, at this remote day, 

 of the absolute degree of civilization, enjoyed at the period of the 

 conquest, by the inhabitants not only of the valley of Mexico and 

 Tezcoco, but also of Oaxaca, Tlascala, Michoacan, Yucatan, and 

 their various dependencies. In studying this subject carefully, even 

 in the classical pages of Mr. Prescott, and in the laborious criti- 

 cisms of Mr. Gallatin, we find ourselves frequently bewildered in 

 the labyrinth of historical details and picturesque legends, which 

 have been carefully gathered and grouped to form a romantic pic- 

 ture of the Aztec nation. Yet facts enough have survived, not only 

 the wreck of the conquest, but also the comparative stagnation of 

 the viceroyalty, to satisfy us that there was a large class of people, 

 at least in the capitals and their vicinity, whose tastes, habits, and 

 social principles, were nearly equal to the civilization of the Old 

 World at that time. There were strange inconsistences in the 

 principles and conduct of the Mexicans, and strange blendings of 

 softness and brutality, for the savage was as yet but rudely grafted 

 on the citizen and the wandering or predatory habits of a tribe 

 were scarcely tamed by the needful restraints of municipal law. 



It is probable that the Aztec refinement existed chiefly in the 

 city of Tenochtitlan or Mexico ; or, that the capital of the em- 

 pire, like the capital of France, absorbed the greater share of the 

 genius and cultivation of the whole country. Our knowledge of 

 Yucatan, and of the wonderful cities which have been revealed in 

 its forests by the industry of Mr. Stephens, is altogether too 

 limited to allow any conjectures, at this period, in regard to their 



