Page:The Conquest of Mexico Volume 1.djvu/488

 Page 87 (2).—Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 8.—Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 14, cap. 11. The Mexican nobles entertained minstrels in their houses, who composed ballads suited to the times, or the achievements of their lord, which they chanted to the accompaniment of instruments at the festivals and dances. Indeed, there was more or less dancing at most of the festivals, and it was performed in the courtyards of the houses, or in the open squares of the city (Ibid., ubi supra.) The principal men had also buffoons and jugglers in their service, who amused them, and astonished the Spaniards by their feats of dexterity and strength (Acosta, lib. 6, cap. 28); also Clavigero (Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. pp. 179-186), who has designed several representations of their exploits, truly surprising. It is natural that a people of limited refinement should find their enjoyment in material, rather than intellectual pleasures, and, consequently, should excel in them. The Asiatic nations, as the Hindoos and Chinese, for example, surpass the more polished Europeans in displays of agility and legerdemain.

Page 90 (1).—For a criticism on this writer, see the Postscript to this Chapter.

Page 90 (2).—See Chapter First of this Introduction, p. 15.

Page 91 (1).—Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, MS., No. 9.—Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 19.

Page 91 (2).—The adventures of the former hero are told with his usual spirit by Sismondi (Républiques Italiennes, chap. 79). It is hardly necessary, for the latter, to refer the English reader to Chambers's History of the Rebellion of 1745; a work which proves how thin is the partition in human life which divides romance from reality.

Page 91 (3).—Idem, Relaciones, MS., No. 10.—Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 20-24.

Page 91 (4).—Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 25. The contrivance was effected by means of an extraordinary personal resemblance of the parties; a fruitful source of comic,—as every reader of the drama knows,—though rarely of tragic interest.

Page 92 (1).—It is customary, on entering the presence of a great lord, to throw aromatics into the censer. "Incense and copal was cast into the brazier, which was their usage and custom in the presence of kings and lords; each time that servants entered their presence with great respect and reverence, they sprinkled incense upon the brazier, whereby the room became clouded with smoke."—Ixthlxochitl, Relaciones, MS., No. 11.

Page 92 (2).—Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 26.—Relaciones, MS., No. 11.—Veytia, Hist. Antig., lib. 2, cap. 47.

Page 94 (1).—See page 15.

Page 94 (2).—See Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. i. p. 247. Nezahualcoyotl's code consisted of eighty laws, of which thirty-four only have come down to us, according to Veytia. (Hist. Antig., tom. iii. p. 224, nota.) Ixtlilxochitl enumerates several of them.—Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 38, and Relaciones, MS., Ordenanzas.

Page 94 (3).—Nowhere are these principles kept more steadily in view than in the various writings of our adopted countryman. Dr. Lieber, having more or less to do with the theory of legislation. Such works could not have been produced before the nineteenth century.

Page 95 (1).—Ixtliliochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 36.—Veytia, Hist. Antig., lib. 3, cap. 7. According to Zurita, the principal judges, at their general meetings every four months, constituted also a sort of parliament or córtes, for advising the king on matters of state.—See his Rapport, p. 106; also ante, p. 20.