Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/251

 up his load, with happiness he laid it down. To Thee he should be thankful, thou King of kings, Master of the stars, who has lifted from his shoulders so great a burden, and from his brow this crown of woes, paying him peace for war and rest for labour. . . . Who now shall bid the drum and the flute to sound and gather together the men mighty in battle? Our Lord and our defence! wilt Thou, in Thy wisdom, elect one who shall be worthy to sit on the throne of Thy kingdom, who shall not fear nor falter, who shall comfort and cherish Thy people even as a mother cherisheth her children?" Then in a loud voice cried the chief of the four electors, "Guatemoc, in the name of God and with the voice of the people of Anahuac, we summon you to the throne of Anahuac. Long may you live, and justly may you rule, and may the glory be yours of beating back into the sea those foes who would destroy us. Hail to you, Guatemoc, emperor of the Aztecs and of their vassal tribes!" And the three hundred nobles of Mexico echoed the ringing words, "Hail to you, Guatemoc, emperor of the Aztecs!"

Young for his great and difficult position, the new emperor was not only brave and resolute, but wise and skilful far beyond his years. He loved his country with an all-consuming passion, and his dearest wish was to free Mexico from the yoke of the stranger. Bernal Diaz describes him as "elegant in his person for an Indian, very valiant, and so terrible that his subjects trembled in his presence." On the day of his coronation Guatemozin married 215