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and adorned with beautiful feathers.[19] Accounts of the particular ceremonies used at the coronation are wanting, but all agree that they were of unparalleled splendor. The new king entertained most sumptuously at his own palace all the great nobles of his realm; honors were conferred with a lavish hand, and gifts were made in profusion both by and to the king. Splendid banquets were given in which all the nobility of the kingdom participated, and the lower classes were feasted and entertained with the greatest liberality. The fondness of the Aztecs for all kinds of public games and festivals is evidenced in the frequency of their feasts, and in no way could a newly elected monarch better secure a place in the affections of his subjects than by inaugurating his reign with a series of splendid entertainments. The strange fascination which this species of enjoyment possessed for them is shown by the fact that strangers and foreigners came from afar to witness the coronation feasts, and it is related that members of hostile nations were frequently discovered disguised among the crowd, and were not only allowed by the clemency of the king to pass unmolested, but were provided with seats, from which they could obtain a good view of the proceedings and where they would be secure from insult.[20] One of the principal

features of the day was the congratulatory speech of one monarch to another, which was courteous and flattering and filled with good advice; the following address of Nezahualpilli, king of Tezcuco, to Montezuma II., on the occasion of the accession of the latter to the throne of Mexico, will illustrate.