HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



173 



gulatlng the number of the electors, and in fettling the 

 ceremony of the coronation which was then beginning to 

 be obferved. 



The elcvftors then, chofen by the nobles, being affem- 

 bled together, the oldefl: man among them addrelTed 

 them in this manner. " My age emboldens me to fpeak 



firft. The misfortune, O Mexican nobles, which we 



have fulFered by the death of our king, is very great ; 



and none ou<'ht to feel it more than we who were the 



o 



feathers of his wings, and the eye-lids of his eyes, 

 " Such a misfortune is flill increafed, by the unhappy 



condition of dependence upon thepovv^erof theTepa- 

 " necas, under which we live, to the reproach of the Mex- 



ican name. Do you, then, whom it fo much concerns 



to find a remedy for our prefent diftrelTes, do you re- 

 " folve to choofe a king who fliall be zealous for the 

 " honour of our mighty god Huitzilopochtli, who fliall 

 " avenge, with his arm, the injuries done to our nation ; 

 " and who fliall take the aged, the widow, and the or- 

 " phan under the fliade of his clemency." At the con- 

 clulion of this fpeech the dehors gave their votes, and 

 their choice fell upon HuitzilihuitI, fon of the deceafed 

 king Acamapitzin. Then they proceeded, in regular 

 order, to the houfe of the ele6i:ed perfon, whom they 

 placed in the middle of them, and conducted to the Tla- 

 tocalcpaUi^ that is the royal feat or throne ; upon which 

 they feated him ; and after anointing him in the manner 

 we fliall defcribe in another place, they then placed upon 

 his head the CopiUiox crown, and made him their fubmif- 

 fions one by one. Then one of the moft conflderable 

 perfons raifed his voice, and thus addrefled the king, 

 " Be not difcouraged, excellent youth, at receiving that 



new employment, to which you are called, of reigning 



" over 



