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120 the whole seems to have been fairly assessed, and was remitted in years of famine.

While the first step in the evolution of the Mexican constitution is marked by the election of Acamapitzin as king, in place of the old tribal council under a president, yet it was the overthrow of Azcapotzalco which gave the hegemony of the valley to Mexico, and compelled it to provide for the administration of dependent cities. A number of officials bearing titles similar to those at home were sent to Coyoacan, and definite arrangements were made with the allied states of Texcoco and Tlacopan in accordance with which the rulers of these cities became, at least nominally, electors of the Mexican kings, and placed the direction of their military policy in the hands of the latter. It was only in military matters that the two confederate states deferred to Mexico; they had their own sovereigns, their own laws and provinces, and we are told that Tezcoco exercised dominion over no less than fifteen of the last-named in the direction of the Atlantic coast. Each ruler confirmed the election of their sub-chiefs, and they of their dependents. Of the booty won by the united armies, two-fifths was taken by Mexico, two-fifths by Tezcoco, and one-fifth by the small state of Tlacopan.

The final stage in the development of the Mexican constitution was marked by the conquest of Tlaltelolco by Axayacatl, and the appointment of a governor for this suburb in place of an independent sovereign. The military basis of Mexican hegemony coloured the whole of its domestic economy, and resulted in the formation and rise of a military aristocracy in the hands of which lay practically all the executive offices in the city.

As commander-in-chief the king was of course the head of the fighting-men, and in some cases actually took the field himself, immediately after his installation, for instance, in order to procure the necessary