104 DESPOTIC POWER OF THE EMPEROR OVER LIFE AND LAW. 



" The meal of the monarch ended, all his guards and domestics 

 sat down to dinner ; and, as near as I could judge, above a thou- 

 sand plates of those eatables that I have mentioned, were laid 

 before them, with vessels of foaming chocolate and fruit in 

 immense quantity. For his women, and various inferior servants, 

 his establishment was of a prodigious expense ; and we were 

 astonished, amid such a profusion, at the vast regularity that 

 prevailed. 



" His major domo kept the accounts of Montezuma's rents in 

 books which occupied an entire house. 



" Montezuma had two buildings filled with every kind of arms, 

 richly ornamented with gold and jewels ; such as shields, large and 

 small clubs like two-handed swords, and lances much larger than 

 ours, with blades six feet in length, so strong that if they fix in a 

 shield they do not break ; and sharp enough to use as razors. 



" There was also an immense quantity of. bows and arrows, and 

 darts, together with slings, and shields which roll up into a small 

 compass and in action are let fall, and thereby cover the whole 

 body. He had also much defensive armor of quilted cotton, 

 ornamented with feathers in different devices, and casques for the 

 head, made of wood and bone, with plumes of feathers, and many 

 other articles too tedious to mention." 1 



Besides this sumptuous residence in the city, the Emperor is 

 supposed to have had others at Chapultepec, Tezcoco and else- 

 where, which will be spoken of when we describe the ancient 

 remains of Mexico in the valley of Mexico. 



If the sovereign lived, thus, in state befitting the ruler of such 

 an empire, it may be supposed that his courtiers were not less 

 sumptuous in their style of domestic arrangements. The great 

 body of the nobles and caciques, possessed extensive estates, the 

 tenures of which were chiefly of a military character ; — and, upon 

 these large possessions, surrounded by warlike natives and numerous 

 slaves, they lived, doubtless, like many of the independent, power- 

 ful chieftains in Europe, who, in the middle ages, maintained their 

 feudal splendor, both in private life and in active service whenever 

 summoned by their sovereigns to give aid in war. 



The power of the Emperor over the laws of the country as well 

 as over the lives of the people, was perfectly despotic. There 

 were supreme judges in the chief towns, appointed by the Emperor 

 who possessed final jurisdiction in civil and criminal causes ; and 

 there were, besides, minor courts in each province, as well as 



1 Bernal Diaz Del Castillo's Hist. Conq. Mexico. 



