M E 5 
led by him to the hall or chamber prepared for the nup¬ 
tials. They were then feated on a mat, and a priell tied 
a point of the gown of the bride to the mantle of the 
bridegroom, and in this ceremony the matrimonial con¬ 
trail chiefly confided. They then offered copal to their 
gods, and exchanged prefents with each other. This 
ceremony was followed with a repaft, at which the bride 
and bridegroom gave fome food to each other, and to 
their guefts; and, after the exhilaration occalioned by 
drinking, a dance took place. The married pair re¬ 
mained in the chamber, and continued there four days ; 
which were palled in prayer and fading, being drefled in 
new habits, and adorned with certain enfigns of the gods 
of their nation. The marriage-bed was adjufted by the 
priell, and the confummation of the marriage did not 
take place till the fourth night. On the enluing morn¬ 
ing they bathed and put on new drelfes ; and thole who 
had been invited adorned their heads with white, and 
their hands and feet with red, feathers. The ceremony 
was concluded with making prefents of drelfes to the 
guells; and on that day the mats, canes, &c. were carried 
to the temple. In the Mexican empire, polygamy was 
allowed. 
The funeral rites were more fuperllitious than any 
others; and certain perfons of advanced years were ap¬ 
pointed for the conducing of them. Having clothed the 
body of the deceafed in a habit appropriate to his former 
profeflion or bufinefs, they gave him a jug of water, and 
pieces of paper with inftrudlions adapted to his journey 
into the other world. They alfo killed a domeltic qua¬ 
druped, which was to be his companion. This they bu¬ 
ried or burned together with the body of his mailer. 
The allies were collected and depolited in a pot, together 
with a valuable gem ; the earthen pot was depoflted in a 
ditch, and, at the interval of fourfcore days, they made 
oblations of bread and wine over it: at the death of 
kings, lords, or perfons of high rank, other ceremonies 
were pra&ifed, for the detail of which we mull refer to 
Clavigero ; merely obferving, that the bodies of the de¬ 
ceafed were generally burned, and that the allies of kings 
and lords were ufually depoflted in the towers of the 
temples. 
Thehighelt military dignity among the Mexicans, was 
that of a general of the army; and, in order to encourage 
a military fpirit, they rewarded the l'ervices of warriors 
with one of the three orders, called by names which de¬ 
noted princes, eagles, and tigers. The defenfive arms 
were Ihields of different forms; breall-plates of cotton, 
arrow-proof, and other armour for the defence of other 
parts of their bodies ; the ofiiceTs and nobles had a beau¬ 
tiful plume of feathers on their heads; but the common 
foldiers were entirely naked, except a girdle round the 
middle. The ollenfive arms were arrows, flings, clubs, 
Ipears, pikes, fwords, and darts. They had alfo llandards 
and mufical inliruments proper for war. The king, or 
the general, gave the flgnal for ailion by the beat of a 
drum ; and the firlt onfet was furious; but their great 
aim was not to kill, but to make prifoners for facrifices 
when the battle was terminated. Before any fiege was 
begun, the citizens removed their children, women, and 
lick perlons, to a place of fecurity in the mountains. For 
the defence of their cities, they ufed various kinds of for¬ 
tification, luch as walls and ramparts, breaft-works, pali- 
fadoes, ditches, and entrenchments ; but the moll lingu¬ 
lar fortifications of Mexico in particular were its temples, 
andefpecially the greater temple, which refembled a citadel. 
The Mexicans, though fond of war, are faid to have 
addicted themfelves to the arts of peace, and particularly 
to the cultivation of the earth. Although they had no 
ploughs nor oxen, nor any other animals proper to be 
employed in agriculture, they fupplied the want of them 
by labour and indultry. In the operations of the field, 
the men were aflilted by the women ; the former being 
employed in occupations that required the greatell exer¬ 
tion, and the latter in the lighter and more eafv employ- 
: I C O. 299 
ments. In their farm-yards they had threfhing-floors and 
granaries ; and of the latter fome were fo large as to con¬ 
tain five or fix thoufand, or fometimes more, faiiegas of 
maize. The Mexicans were aUb well ikiiled in the culti¬ 
vation of gardens, both lor ufe and for pleal'ure.' They 
werelikewile attentive to the prefervation of their woods, 
which ierved for fuel, for building, and for the diverlion 
of their king in the purftiit of game. They alfo paid 
particular attention to the breeding of animals. Fiihing, 
hunting, agriculture, and the arts, furnilhed the Mex¬ 
icans with leveral branches of commerce. Merchandifes 
were fold in their fairs and markets by number and mea- 
fure; but they are faid not to have ufed weights. Their 
markets were, fubjeil to various regulations for the pre¬ 
vention of frauds, and for fecuring to the king his re¬ 
venue. For the convenience of merchants, Clavigero 
fays, that they had public roads, bridges for eroding their 
rivers, and houfes of accommodation in the mountains 
and uninhabited places. Their faiiing-veflels were guided 
merely by oars, and were of various fizes ; and many of 
them were made of a Angle trunk of a tree. Some an¬ 
cient hiftorians, probably inclined to exaggerate, fay, that 
the number of thofe which continually, traverfed the 
Mexican lake exceeded 50,000. They had alfo, for the 
convenience of navigating their lakes and rivers, plat¬ 
forms or floats of folid canes, which were tied firmly.on 
large, hard, and empty, gourds ; but the maritime com¬ 
merce of the Mexicans was very inconliderable. 
The general commerce of the Mexicans,itislaid, was little 
embarrafled or impeded by the variety of languages which 
were Ipoken in thofe countries ; for the Mexican tongue 
was the moll prevalent,.and was every-where underllood. 
This language, fays Clavigero, is entirely dellitute of the 
confonents B, D, F, G, R, and S, and abounds with L, 
X, T, Z, Tl, and Tz ; but, although the letter L is fo fa¬ 
miliar to this language, there is not a Angle word that be¬ 
gins with this conlonaVit; nor is there a word of an acute 
termination, except fome vocatives. Almoll all the words 
have the penult fyllable long. Its afpirates are moderate 
and foft, and no occafion occurs for making the leaf: na- 
lal found in pronunciation. This language, notwith- 
ilanding its want of the above-mentioned confonants, is 
faid to be very copious, tolerably poliflied, and remark¬ 
ably expreflive. The Mexican language, like the Hebrew 
and French, wants the fuperlative term, and, like the He¬ 
brew, and fome other living languages of Europe, the 
comparative term, which are fupplied by certain parti¬ 
cles equivalent to thole which are ufed in other fuch lan¬ 
guages. It abounds in diminutives and augmentatiyes ; 
and alfo in verbal and abflradt terms ; for there is hardly 
a verb from which there are not many verbals formed, 
and Icarcely a fubltantive or adjeftive from which there 
are not fome abllracts formed. The Mexicans, like the 
Greeks, have the advantage of making.compounds of two, 
three, or four, Ample words. 
The arts of poetry and oratory were much exercifed by 
the Mexicans. Dramatic as well as lyric poetry was held 
in high ellimation among thefe people ; and they had the¬ 
atres in which thele kinds of compolitions were rehearfed. 
Their mufic was more imperfect than their poetry; and 
it is laid, that they had no itringed inliruments. But, im¬ 
perfect as was their mufic, their dances, to which they 
were much addicted from their youth, were eminently 
graceful. Thefe dances, which were of various kinds, 
were almoll always accompanied with finging, which, 
like the dances, was always adjufted by pulfatile inllru- 
ments. The amulements of the Mexicans were not con¬ 
fined to the theatre and dancing; they had various games, 
not only for public occalions, but for the relaxation and 
diverlion of private individuals. 
The progrels of the Mexicans in various arts is alleged 
as a decifive proof of their luperior refinement; but on 
this lubject fome Spanilh authors have been charged with 
exaggeration. The Mexican paintings, which fome have 
extravagantly extolled, are reprefented by others as un¬ 
couth 
