Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/92

 choice fell on a nephew of the last emperor, also a Montezuma. Both soldier and priest, he seemed a ruler who would be to his people, in the words of the electors, a "steady column of support." When the news of his election was brought to him he was humbly sweeping the pavement of the great temple, and as he listened to the eloquent good wishes of his subjects, thoughts of his own unworthiness moved him to tears.

To bring home captives to grace his coronation was ever the first duty of an Aztec monarch, and Montezuma II., who led his armies at once against a rebel tribe, returned in triumph with a goodly throng of victims for the gods. Never had Tenochtitlan known so brilliant a scene. With music and games and dances, and the awful pomp of priestly ceremonies, the exultant Aztecs celebrated the coronation of their emperor. From far and near the people flocked to see the magnificent sight, and even some noble Tlascalans, the hereditary enemies of the Aztecs, were present in disguise. They were recognised, but amidst the general joy the new emperor deigned to forgive these daring intruders.

In the very heart of Montezuma's dominions lay this little independent republic of Tlascala, fenced in by its mountains and impassable gorges, a constant menace and source of weakness to the Aztec. In vain did the allied armies of the empire march against the hardy mountaineers. No Indian force could wrest from them the liberty they had so passionately maintained for over two hundred years.

Victorious on every other hand, Montezuma 70