Surrounded by fawning ministers, whose existence depended on his favor, he was encouraged in the extravagant habits of a magnificent court, which promoted their schemes at the expense of a tax-ridden people. The ambition to extend his fame and power required the maintenance of immense armies, of numerous garrisons, and of costly campaigns, which proved another drain on the people. This was augmented in subjected provinces by the extortions of imperial officers, who found means to prevent the cry of the oppressed from reaching the throne. Perhaps the most terrible infliction was the levy on the youth of both sexes for slaves, and for sacrificial victims to appease the bloody appetite of Aztec gods—an appetite which had increased in horror with the abject superstition of this otherwise enlightened monarch. Enlightened he undoubtedly was, for as high-priest he had become versed in the higher learning of the priesthood. The study of mythology came naturally to him, while astronomy and natural history were favorite subjects with the lords of the lake peoples, the former connected with myths and divinations, the latter illustrated by specimens from different regions, and collected in the botanic and zoologic gardens of Mexico and other cities. The studies of his youth had gained for him a well merited respect from his priestly confrères, and the prudence and sagacity which controlled the well stored mind commanded attention in the council.[803] While yet a young man there seemed to develop qualities which fitted him for the position of high-priest, also as counsellor, to which his princely rank paved an easy way. Besides this he had shown himself possessed of great courage, and had established his fame as a general by many victories.
It was with this reputation, as zealous and learned priest, prudent statesman, and brave soldier, that he ascended the throne in 1503, while only twenty-three years of age. It is in such terms that his colleague Nezahualpilli in his coronation address refers to the hopes entertained of the youthful ruler.[804] Though ever a devout servant of the gods, the effeminate pleasures of the court weakened the nerves and energy of the soldier, till his warlike ardor survived only in a taste for military reviews and for the chase. The caution of the general remained, but timidity saves few leaders from disaster. Vanity and designing ministers overruled too often the dictates of wisdom in the administration of affairs.[805] His path had been prepared by able predecessors, and answered well for the policy of aggrandizement which became the leading feature of his reign. In this his natural liberality and talent for intrigue, fostered by priestly training, served him well and procured blindly devoted instruments for his plans. Thus, by fair means and foul, the empire was raised to the pinnacle of its glory, but not being of a natural or healthy growth it proved unstable, and crumbling under the strong commotion created by the approach of Castilians, it revived only for a moment in the present uprising like the mental illumination preceding death. Montezuma could not have failed to recognize the insecurity of the bonds which held it, and influenced by the predictions of its downfall he readily fell beneath the spell of the superior intellects which were to assume control. It was his misfortune to have lost the sanguine energy of his youth, which might have enabled him to rise above the weaknesses of himself and his age. Duty and honor were overcome by superstition and absorbing love of power, of life, and he reaped the natural fruit of puerile and misdirected efforts by losing both. Resistance might not long have delayed the inevitable, but it would at least have procured for him an end worthy of his grandeur.
Of his many wives may be named the princesses Teitlalco, Acatlan, and Miahuaxochitl, of whom the first named appears to have been the only legitimate consort.[806] By her he left a son, Asupacaci, who fell during the noche triste, and a daughter, Tecuichpo, baptized as Isabel, married consecutively to Quauhtemotzin, the last Mexican sovereign, to visitador general Alonso Grado, to Pedro Andrade Gallego, and to Juan Cano de Saavedra. She had children by the latter two, from whom descend the illustrious families of Andrade-Montezuma and Cano-Montezuma.
By the Princess Acatlan were left two daughters, baptized as María and Mariana. The latter alone left offspring, from whom descends the Sotelo-Montezuma family. By the third wife came to the emperor the son Tlacahuepantzin, known after baptism as Pedro Yohualicahuacatzin Montezuma, whose descendants, the condes de Montezuma y de Tula, intermarried with the noblest families of Spain, and connected the name with the highest offices of state, and with the title of grandee.[807]
FOOTNOTES
[793] In Manuscrit de 1528, Aubin Col., Cihuacohuatl and Tzihuacpopocatzin, brothers of Montezuma, are named as the leaders of the opposition party, connected also with the followers of Quetzalcoatl, who abhorred the cruel rites of the Aztecs. They succeeded, it is said, in introducing provisions for the besieged. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 317-18. But this is doubtful.
[794] This is probably the sally which Herrera intrusts to Salcedo. dec. ii. lib. x. cap. viii.
[795] ‘Por importunidad de muchos ... acordó de salir della.’ Carta del Ejército, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 429. ‘El ... capitan dilataba de cada dia la dicha salida,’ but the officers insisted that he should leave. Segunda Probanza de Lejalde, in Id., 423.
[796] Clavigero directs the operation against the Iztapalapan road, which would have been a useless manœuvre. Cortés is explicit enough on the point.
[797] In a privilegio in favor of the daughter Isabel, Cortés refers to this interview, saying that three daughters were intrusted to him. No allusion is made to any son. The affectionate terms in which he herein speaks of Montezuma must be due to political reasons, and perhaps to a regard for the princesses. Panes, Vireyes, in Monumentos Domin. Esp., MS., 67-8. Ramirez ridicules the idea of an appeal by the emperor to Cortés, who was on unfriendly terms with him. Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, x. 359 et seq. But the effort of Montezuma to save the Spaniards shows that intercourse had been reëstablished; and was not Cortés, as the husband of one or more of his daughters, the proper person to protect their sisters?