Chapter XIV: Nahua Laws and Law Courts (2)

Carnal connection with mother, sister, step-mother or step-sister, was punished by hanging; Torquemada says the same penalty was incurred by him who had connection with his mother-in-law, because they considered it a sin for a man to have access to both mother and daughter. Intercourse between brother-in-law and sister-in-law was, however, not criminal, and, indeed, it was customary for a man to raise up seed to his deceased brother by marrying his widow.[567] He who attempted to ravish a maiden, whether in the field, or in her father's house, suffered death.[568] In Michoacan, the ravisher's mouth was split from ear to ear with a flint knife, and he was afterwards impaled.[569] In Mexico, those who committed sodomy were hanged; in Tezcuco, the punishment for unnatural crime was characteristically brutal. The active agent was bound to a stake, completely covered with ashes and so left to die; the entrails of the passive agent were drawn out through his anus, he also was then covered with ashes, and, wood being added, the pile was ignited.[570] In Tlascala, the sodomite was not punished by law, but was scouted by society, and treated with scorn and contempt by all who knew him.[571] From the extreme severity of the laws enacted by the later sovereigns for the suppression of this revolting vice, and from the fact that persons were especially appointed by the judicial authorities to search the provinces for offenders of this class, it is evident that unnatural love had attained a frightful popularity among the Aztecs. Father Pierre de Gand, or, as he is sometimes known, de Mura, bears terrible testimony to this; he writes: "Un certain nombre de prêtres n'avaient point de femmes, _sed eorum loco pueros quibus abutebantur_. Ce péché était si commun dans ce pays, que, jeunes ou vieux, tous en étaient infectés; ils y étaient si adonnés, que mêmes des enfants de six ans s'y livraient."[572]

Las Casas relates that in several of the more remote provinces of Mexico unnatural vice was tolerated, if not actually permitted,[573] and it is not improbable that in earlier times this was the case in the entire empire. Inexpressibly revolting as the sin must appear to a modern mind, yet we know that pederasty has obtained among peoples possessed of a more advanced civilization than the Aztecs. In ancient Greece this unnatural passion prevailed to such an extent that it was regarded as heroic to resist it. Plutarch, in his _Life of Agesilaus_, cannot praise too highly the self-control manifested by that great man in refraining from gratifying a passion he had conceived for a boy named Megabates, which Maximus Tyrius says deserves greater praise than the heroism of Leonidas; Diogenes Laertius, in his _Life of Zeno_, the founder of stoicism, the most austere of all ancient sects, praises that philosopher for being but little addicted to this vice; Sophocles, the Tragic Homer, and the Attic Bee, is said by Athenæus to have been especially addicted to it. Moralists were known to praise it as the bond of friendship, and it was spoken of as inspiring the enthusiasm of the heroic legion of Epaminondas. The defeat of the Romans by Hannibal at Cannæ was said to be caused by the jealousy of Juno, because a beautiful boy had been introduced into the temple of Jupiter. Las Casas tells us that pederasty was tolerated because they believed that their gods practiced it.[574] In precisely the same manner did the ancient Greeks make the popular religion bend to the new vice, and, by substituting Ganymede for Hebe as heavenly cup-bearer, make the head of all Olympus set an example of unnatural love.

[Sidenote: LAWS RESPECTING CHASTITY.]

The priest who violated his vow of chastity was banished; his house was demolished and his property confiscated.[575] Pimps were publicly disgraced in the market-place, by having their hair burnt off so close to the head that the drops of resin falling from the burning pitch-pine chips fell upon and seared the scalp; if the persons for whom the panderage was committed were of high rank, a greater penalty was inflicted upon the pander.[576] This was the law in Mexico; in Tezcuco, according to the historian of the Chichimecs, the pimp suffered death in all cases.[577]

Simple fornication was not punished, unless it was committed by a noble lady, or with a maiden consecrated to the service of the gods, in which cases it was death. Fornication with the concubine of another also went unpunished, unless they had been living a long time together, and were in consequence, according to custom, considered man and wife. If any one had connection with a slave, and the woman died during her pregnancy, or in giving birth to the child, then the offender became a slave; but if she was safely delivered, the child was free and was taken care of by the father.[578] The woman who took any drug to procure an abortion, and she who furnished the drug, both suffered death.[579] If one woman sinned carnally with another, both died for it.[580] The man who went about the streets dressed as a woman, or the woman who dressed as a man, was slain.[581]

In this account are comprised nearly all the special laws of the Aztecs which have been preserved, with the exception of those relating to military matters, marriage, divorce, and slavery, all of which I have already had occasion to consider.

That the Aztec code was a severe and brutal one there can be no denial, but that it was more severe and brutal than was necessary, is, as I have before remarked, doubtful. We have already seen that a horrible death was the inevitable fate of those detected stealing in the market-place, yet we are told that did the owner of a stall but turn away his head for a moment, his wares would be pilfered. A people accustomed almost daily to see human blood poured out like water in sacrifice to their gods, must of necessity have been hardened to the sight of suffering, and upon such none but an execution of the most revolting description could create an impression of awe or fear. It appears remarkable that punishments involving only disgrace should have been adopted by such a people, yet it is doubtful whether slavery was not considered a lighter punishment than having the hair burned off in the public market. Some of the Aztec monarchs evinced a desire to be as lenient as the stubborn nature of their subjects would allow, but the yoke upon the people, if it were in any degree to control them, must at best be a heavy one; in short, despotism of the harshest was necessary and indispensable to them in their stage of civilization.

[Sidenote: NEZAHUALCOYOTL AND THE BOY.]

Nezahualcoyotl, king of Tezcuco, was especially merciful and considerate towards his subjects. For instance, he ordered that corn should be planted, at the expense of government, by the roadside, in order that none who were guilty of stealing from the fields, might excuse themselves on the ground of hunger.[582] It is related that this monarch went frequently among his people in disguise, for the purpose of discovering their grievances and general condition, and some of the adventures he met with on these occasions are as entertaining as any told by Sheherezade of the Good Caliph. I select one, not because it is the best, but because it points more particularly to Nezahualcoyotl's benevolence and love of justice. During the reign of this monarch, owing to the immense consumption of wood, the use of oil and tallow being then unknown, the forests began to grow thin, and the king foreseeing that unless some precautions were taken, there would soon be a scarcity of wood in the kingdom, ordered that within certain limits no wood should be touched. Now it happened one day, when the king was abroad in disguise, and accompanied only by his brother Quauhtlehuanitzin, that they passed by the skirts of a forest wherein it was prohibited to cut or gather wood. Here they found a boy who was engaged in picking up the light chips and twigs that had been carried by the wind outside of the enclosure, because in this locality the inhabitants were very numerous, and had exhausted all the timber that was not reserved by law. Nezahualcoyotl, seeing that under the trees of the forest there lay a great quantity of fallen wood, asked the boy why he contented himself with dry leaves and scattered twigs when so great an abundance of fuel lay close at hand. The boy answered that the king had forbidden the people to gather wood in the forest, and therefore he was obliged to take whatever he could get. The king told him to go, nevertheless, into the forest and help himself to fuel, and none would be the wiser, for that he and his companion would say nothing of the matter. But the boy rebuked them, saying that they must be traitors to the king who would persuade him to do this thing, or that they sought to avenge themselves upon his parents by bringing misfortune upon their son, and he refused to enter the forbidden ground. Then was the king much pleased with the boy's loyalty, and seeing the distress to which the people were reduced by the severity of the forest laws, he afterwards had them altered.[583]

FOOTNOTES:

[476] 'El govierno y las leyes quasi no diferian, por manera que por lo que de unas partes dijeremos, y adonde tuvimos mayor noticia, se podra entender, y quiza sera mejor, decirlo en comun y generalmente.' _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii. It is also stated that many Mexican cases, presenting more than ordinary difficulty, were tried in the Tezcucan law-courts; see _Zurita_, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., p. 95; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 354. Speaking of Mexico, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan, Zurita says: 'Les lois et la procédure étaient les mêmes dans ces trois états, de sorte qu'en exposant les usages établis dans l'un d'eux, on fera connaître ce qui se passait dans les autres.' _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., pp. 93-4.

[477] The title cihuacoatl, meaning 'serpent-woman,' appears incomprehensible as applied to a judge, but M. l'Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 579-80, sees reason to believe that the Mexicans, when they succeeded to the rights of the Toltec kings of Culhuacan, adopted also the titles of the court, and that the name cihuacoatl had been given to the prime minister in memory of Cihuacoatl, the sister of Camaxtli, who cared for the infancy of Quetzalcoatl. The learned Abbé translates cihuacoatl, _serpent femelle_, which is literally a serpent of the female sex. Molina, however, in his _Vocabulario_, gives 'ciua' as a substantive, meaning 'women' (mugeres), and 'coatl' as another substantive, meaning 'serpent' (culebra), the two as a compound he does not give. I translate the word 'serpent-woman,' because the sister of Camaxtli would more probably be thus distinguished among women, than among serpents as the 'woman-serpent.'

[478] Although all other historians agree that the judgment of the cihuacoatl was final, the interpreter of Mendoza's collection states that an appeal lay from the judges (he does not state which) to the king. _Explicacion de la Coleccion de Mendoza_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 109. _Prescott_, _Mex._, vol. i., p. 29, attributes this to the changes made during Montezuma's reign, the period which the Mendoza paintings represent, and Leon Carbajal, _Discurso_, p. 98, totally denies the truth of the statement.

[479] 'Dalle sentenze da lui pronunziate o nel civile, o nel criminale, non si poteva appellare ad un altro tribunale,' &c. _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 127.

[480] _Mex._, vol. i., p. 29.

[481] _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 580.

[482] _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 593.

[483] _Discurso_, p. 97.

[484] 'Oìa de causas, que se debolvian, y remitian à èl, por apelacion; _y estas eran solas las criminales, porque de las civiles no se apelaba de sus Justicias ordinarias_.' _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 352. It is possible that Señor Carbajal may have read only a subsequent passage in the same chapter, where Torquemada, speaking of the tribunal of the tlacatecatl, says: 'De este se apelaba, para el Tribunal, y Audiencia del Cihuacohuatl, que era Juez Supremo, despues del Rei.' From what has gone before, it is, however, evident that the author here refers only to the criminal cases that were appealed from the court of the tlacatecatl.

[485] _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii.

[486] _Mex._, vol. i., p. 29. _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 127-8, also affirms, indirectly, that cases were sometimes laid in the first instance before the supreme judge, inasmuch as he first says that the cihuacoatl took cognizance of both civil and criminal cases, and afterwards, when speaking of the court of the tlacatecatl, he writes: 'Se la causa era puramente civile, non v'era appellazione.' The same applies to Brasseur de Bourbourg. _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 580.

[487] Herein lies the only difference between Las Casas and Torquemada on the subject of the Cihuacoatl. The former writes: 'Qualquiera que este oficio para si usurpara, ó lo concediera á otro, avia de morir por ello, _y sus padres y deudos eran desnaturados del pueblo donde acaeciese hasta lo quarta generación_. Allende que todos los bienes avian de ser confiscados, y aplicados para la republica.' _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii. Torquemada says: 'era tan autoriçado este oficio, que el que lo vsurpara para si, ò lo comunicàra à otro en alguna parte del Reino, muriera por ello, _y sus Hijos, y Muger fueran vendidos, por perpetuos esclavos_, y confiscados sus bienes por Lei, que para esto havia.' _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 352. Notwithstanding all other historians distinctly affirm that the cihuacoatl was, in the exercise of his functions perfectly independent of the king, Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 580, makes the following extraordinary statement: 'Il jugeait en dernier ressort et donnait des ordres _en lieu et place du souverain, chaque fois que celui-ci ne le faisait pas directement et par lui-même_.' This must be from one of the original manuscripts in the possession of M. l'Abbé.

[488] Las Casas, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii., spells these names tacatecatl, acoahunotl, and tlaylotlat; Torquemada, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 352, tlacateccatl, quauhnuchtli, and tlaylotlac; and Clavigero, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 127, tlacatecatl, quauhnochtli, and tlanótlac, or tlaiíotlac, a defect in the impression makes it difficult to tell which. Scarcely two of the old writers follow the same system of orthography, and in future I shall follow the style which appears simplest, endeavoring only to be consistent with myself.

[489] Clavigero, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 128, writes 'Egiornalmente si portava al Cihuacoatl, od al Tlacatecatl per avvertirlo di tutto ciò, che occorreva, e ricever gli ordini da lui;' but it would probably be only in cases of great importance that the reports of the tecuhtli would be carried to the cihuacoatl.

[490] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 355; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 127-8.

[491] Torquemada, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 354, says that there were fifteen provinces subject to the king of Tezcuco.

[492] The English edition of Clavigero reads: 'the judicial power was divided amongst _seven_ principal cities,' p. 354; but the original agrees with the other authorities: 'nel Regno d'Acolhuacan era la giurisdizione compartita tra _sei_ Città principali.' _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 128.

[493] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii. Torquemada, however, asserts that there were 'en la Ciudad de Tetzcuco (que era la Corte) dentro de la Casa Real dos Salas de Consejo ... y en cada Sala dos Jueces. Havia diferencia entre los dichos Jueces; porque los de la vna Sala eran de mas autoridad, que los de la otra; estos se llamaban Jueces maiores, y esotros menores; los maiores oìan de causas graves, y que pertenecian à la determinacion del Rei; los segundos, de otras, no tan graves, sino mas leves, y livianas.' _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 354. The lower of these two probably either formed one of the six superior courts above mentioned, or corresponded with them in jurisdiction. According to Zurita, 'chacune des nombreuses provinces soumises à ces souverains entretenait à Mexico, à Tezcuco et à Tlacopan, qui étaient les trois capitales, deux juges, personnes de sens choisies à cet effet, et qui quelquefois étaient parents des souverains,' and adds: 'les appels étaient portés devant _douze autres juges supérieurs_ qui prononçaient d'après l'avis du souverain.' _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., pp. 95, 100.

[494] Torquemada, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 355, writes: 'Tenia cada Sala de estas dichas otro Ministro, que hacia oficio de Alguacil Maior,' &c., while other writers assign one to each judge, of whom there were two in each court.

[495] Clavigero differs on this point from other writers, in making this meeting occur every Mexican month of twenty days. Zurita, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., p. 101, writes: 'Tous les douze jours il y avait une assemblée générale des juges présidée par le prince;' to this the editor attaches the following note: 'il est évident, comme on le verra page 106, qu'il y a ici une erreur, et que ces assemblées, dont les sessions duraient douze jours, ne se tenaient que tous les quatre-vingts jours.' It is, however, the learned editor who is mistaken, because, as we have seen above, there were two distinct meetings of the judges; a lesser one every ten or twelve days, and a greater every eighty days, and it is of the latter that Zurita speaks on p. 106.

[496] 'Al que él sentenciava le arrojava una flecha de aquellas.' _Tezozomoc_, _Crónica Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, tom. ix., p. 57. 'A capital sentence was indicated by a line traced with an arrow across the portrait of the accused.' _Prescott's Mex._, vol. i., p. 33.

[497] It is probable that as matters of government, as well as legal affairs, were discussed at their Eighty-Day Council, it was not exclusively composed of judges, but that nobles and statesmen were admitted to membership. Torquemada is, however, the only writer who distinctly states this: 'tenian Audiencia General, que la llamaban Napualtlatolli, como decir, Palabra ochentena, que era Dia, en el qual se juntaban todos los de la Ciudad, y los Asistentes de todas las Provincias, con todo el Pueblo, asi nobles, como Comunes, y Plebeios,' &c. _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 168; Ixtlilxochitl, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 244-5, says that the king was accompanied by all his sons and relatives, with their tutors and suites.

[498] Concerning this judicial system of Tezcuco, see: _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 168, tom. ii., pp. 351-5; _Zurita_, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., pp. 96, et seq.; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 128-9; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, pp. 134-6; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. viii., pp. 302-5; _Pimentel_, _Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena_, pp. 28-9; _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 595.

[499] This sentence reads as follows in the original: 'Á los lados serbian de alfombras unas pieles de tigres y leones, y mantas hechas de plumas de águila real, en donde asimismo estaban por su orden cantidad de braceletes, y grevas de oro.' _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 243. It is difficult to imagine why 'braceletes, y grevas de oro' should be placed upon the floor, but certainly the historian gives us to understand as much. Prescott, who affects to give Ixtlilxochitl's description 'in his own words,' and who, furthermore, encloses the extract in quotation marks, gets over this difficulty by omitting the above-quoted sentence entirely. _Mex._, vol. i., p, 34; and Veytia, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 205, adopts the same convenient but somewhat unsatisfactory course. This latter author's version of the whole matter is, however, like much other of his work, inextricably confused, when compared with the original.

[500] 'Las paredes estaban entapizadas y adornadas de unos paños hechos de pelo de conejo, de todos colores, con figuras de diversas aves, animales y flores.' This is rendered by Prescott: 'The walls were hung with tapestry, made of the hair of different wild animals, of rich and various colors, _festooned by gold rings_, and embroidered with figures of birds and flowers.' A few lines above, 'la silla y espaldar era de oro,' is construed into 'a throne of pure gold.' It seems scarcely fair to style the ancient Chichimec's description one 'of rather a poetical cast,' at the same time making such additions as these.

[501] Ixtlilxochitl, _ubi supra_, writes: 'En los primeros puestos ocho jueces que eran nobles y caballeros, y los otros cuatro eran de los ciudadanos.' Veytia says: 'Los cuatro primeros eran caballeros de la nobleza de primer órden, los cuatro siguientes ciudadanos de Tezcuco.' _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 199.

[502] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix. p. 242-3. The whole of the above description is very difficult to translate literally, owing to the confused style in which it is written; and if in places it is somewhat unintelligible, the reader will recollect that I translate merely what Ixtlilxochitl says, and not what he may, or may not, have _meant_ to say.

[503] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 354; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii.; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 199; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 128; _Zurita_, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., p. 100; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 134.

[504] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 129.

[505] Prescott, _Mex._, vol. i., p. 33, says: 'The paintings were executed with so much accuracy, that, in all suits respecting real property, they were allowed to be produced as good authority in the Spanish tribunals, very long after the Conquest; and a chair for their study and interpretation was established at Mexico in 1553, which has long since shared the fate of most other provisions for learning in that unfortunate country.' Boturini thus describes the paper used by the Aztecs: 'El Papel Indiano se componìa de las pencas del _Maguèy_, que en lengua Nacional se llama _Mètl_, y en Castellano _Pita_. Las echaban à podrir, y lavaban el hilo de ellas, el que haviendose ablandado estendian, para componer su papel gruesso, ò delgado, que despues bruñian para pintar en èl. Tambien hacian papel de las hojas de Palma, y Yo tengo algunos de estos delgados, y blandos tanto como la seda.' _Catálogo_, in _Id._, _Idea_, pp. 95-6.

[506] Veytia writes very positively on this point: 'Habia tambien abogados y procuradores; á los primeros llamaban tepantlatoani, que quiere decir _el que habla por otro_, y á los segundos _tlanemiliani_, que en lo sustancial ejercian sus ministerios casi del mismo modo que en nuestros tribunales.... Daban términos á las partes para que sus abogados hablasen por ellas, y estos lo hacian del mismo modo que en nuestros tribunales.' _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 207-8. Sahagun relates the qualities which were supposed by the Aztecs to constitute a good or bad _procurador_ or _solicitador_, and describes their duties: 'El procurador favorece à una banda de los pleyteantes, por quien en su negocio vuelve mucho y apela, teniendo poder, y llevando salario por ello. El buen procurador es vivo y solícito, osado, diligente, constante, y perseverante en los negocios, en los cuales no se deja vencer; sino que alega de su derecho, apela, tacha los testigos, ni se cansa hasta vencer á la parte contraria y triunfar de ella. El mal procurador es interesable, gran pedigüeño, y de malicia suele dilatar los negocios: hace alharacas, es muy negligente y descuidado en el pleito, y fraudulento de tal modo, que de entrambas partes lleva salario. El solicitador nunca para, anda siempre solícito y listo. El buen solicitador es muy cuidadoso, determinado, y solícito en todo, y por hacer bien su oficio, muchas veces deja de comer y de dormir, y anda de casa en casa solicitando los negocios, los cuales trata de buena tinta, y con temor ó recelo, de que por su descuido no tengan mal suceso los negocios. El mal solicitador es flojo y descuidado, lerdo, y encandilador para sacar dineros, y facilmente se deja cohechar, porque no hable mal el negocio ó que mienta, y así suele echar á perder los pleitos.' _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 23-4. Clavigero takes the opposite side of the question: 'Nei giudizj dei Messicani facevano la parti da per se stesse le loro allegazioni: almeno non sappiamo, che vi fossero Avvocati.' _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 129. 'No counsel was employed; the parties stated their own case, and supported it by their witnesses.' _Prescott's Mex._, vol. i., p. 32. 'L'office d'avocat était inconnu; les parties établissaient elles-mêmes leur cause, en se faisant accompagner de leurs témoins.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 581.

[507] The reader will have remarked in a previous note that Veytia assigns more judges to each court than any other writer.

[508] _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 208.

[509] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 355-6; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 135; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 128-9.

[510] _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 200.

[511] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv., ccxii.; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. viii., pp. 304, 313; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 135; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 423; _Zurita_, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., pp. 101-2. Torquemada says the unjust judge was warned twice, and shaved at the third offense. _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 356. See also _Id._, p. 385.

[512] _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcix., p. 136.

[513] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 165.

[514] Torquemada translates tlacatecatl, Captain General, (Capitan General). We have already seen that it was the title of the presiding judge of the second Mexican court of justice, but it was probably in this case a military title, both because military promotion would be more likely to be conferred upon a renowned warrior than a judgeship, and because the prince is spoken of as a young man, while only men of mature years and great experience were entrusted with the higher judicial offices.

[515] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 189-90.

[516] _Tezozomoc_, _Crónica Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, tom. ix., p. 146.

[517] These names are spelled _tlelpiloia_ and _quahucalco_ by Las Casas, and _teïlpiloyan_ and _quauhcalli_, by Brasseur de Bourbourg.

[518] Las Casas, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii., says that the jails called quahucalco resembled the stocks; the other writers do not notice this difference.

[519] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 138.

[520] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 138-9; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 353; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxii.; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 138.

[521] _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 138.

[522] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 137.

[523] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 166, tom. ii., p. 381; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 225; _Boturini_, _Idea_, p. 27. The number of ears of corn varies according to the different writers from three or four to seven, except Las Casas, who makes the number twenty-one or over, stating, however, that this and some other laws that he gives are possibly not authentic. _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv. The Anonymous Conqueror writes: 'quando altri entrauano nelle possessioni altrui per rubbare frutti, ò il grano che essi hanno, che per entrar in vn campo, e rubbare tre ò quattro mazzocche ò spighe de quel loro grano, lo faceuano schiauo del patrone di quel campo rubbato.' _Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese_, in _Ramusio_, _Navigationi_, tom. iii., fol. 306. Clavigero agrees with the Anonymous Conqueror, that the thief of corn became the slave of the owner of the field from which he had stolen, and adds in a foot-note: 'Torquemada aggiunge, che avea pena di morte; ma ciò fu nel Regno d'Acolhuacan, non già in quello di Messico.' _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 133.

[524] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii.; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 138.

[525] Ortega's statement reads: 'Casi siempre se castigaba con pena de muerte, á ménos de que la parte ofendida conviniese en ser indemnizada por el ladron, en cuyo caso pagaba este al fisco una cantidad igual á la robada.' _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 225.

[526] _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p. 33; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 166.

[527] _Explicacion de la Coleccion de Mendoza_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 112.

[528] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, tom. ix., p. 246.

[529] _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 138; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 225; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 381. Las Casas, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii., says that he who stole in the market-place was hanged there and then by order of the judges of the place, and in cap. cxv., he writes: 'El que en el mercado algo hurtava, era ley que luego publicamente alli en el mismo mercado lo matasen á palos.' Again in the same chapter he gives a law, for the authenticity of which he does not vouch, however, which reads as follows: 'el que en el mercado hurtava algo, los mismos del mercado tenian licencia para lo matar á pedradas.'

[530] _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 225.

[531] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv.

[532] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 381; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv.

[533] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. x.; _Beaumont_, _Crón. Mechoacan_, MS., p. 51.

[534] 'L'omicida pagava colla propria vita il suo delitto, quantunque l'ucciso fosse uno schiavo.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 130. The manner of putting the murderer to death is differently stated: 'El homicidio, bien fuese ejecutado por noble ó plebeyo, bien por hombre ó muger, se castigaba con pena de muerte, depedazando al homicida.' _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 226. 'Al que mataba à otro, hacian degollar.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 166. 'Al matador lo degollaban.' _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p. 33. Other writers merely say that the murderer suffered death, without stating the manner of execution. See, _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii.; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 387; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 136. Diego Duran, in his inedited 'History of New Spain,' asserts that the murderer did not suffer death, but became the slave for life of the wife or relatives of the deceased. _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., pp. 240-1.

[535] _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. x.

[536] _Beaumont_, _Crón. Mechoacan_, MS., pp. 51-2.

[537] _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 136; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 226; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii. In cap. ccxv., among his unauthenticated laws, we read that if the victim of poison was a slave, the person who caused his death was made a slave, in the place of suffering the extreme penalty, but the opposite to this is expressly stated by Clavigero and implied by Ortega.

[538] _Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese_, in _Ramusio_, _Navigationi_, tom. iii., fol. 307; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii.; _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p. 33; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 106; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 138; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 421. Ixtlilxochitl writes that the children and relations of the traitor were enslaved till the _fifth_ generation, and that salt was scattered upon his lands. _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, tom. ix., p. 245. 'Il traditore del Re, o dello Stato, era sbranato, ed i suoi parenti, che consapevoli del tradimento non lo aveano per tempo scoperto, erano privati della libertà.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 130.

[539] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 387; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 382; Las Casas, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv., among the collection of unauthenticated laws so frequently mentioned heretofore, gives the following: 'Si algunos vendieron algun niño por esclavo, y despues se sabe, todos los que entendieron en ello eran esclavos, y dellos davan uno al que lo compró, y los otros repartian entre la madre del niño y entre él que lo descubrió.' In the same chapter, among another list of laws which, says Las Casas, 'son tenidas todas por autenticas y verdaderas,' we read: 'Era ley, y con rigor guardada, que si alguno vendia por esclavo algun niño perdido, que se hiciese esclavo al que lo vendia, y su hacienda se partiese en dos partes, la una era para el niño, y la otra al que lo havia comprado, y si quizas lo avian vendido y eran muchos, á todos hacian esclavos.'

[540] Zurita writes: 'ils n'avaient droit d'en prendre que trois petites tasses à chaque repas.' _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., p. 110; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. xvi.

[541] _Codex Mendoza_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. i., pl. 72; _Esplicacion_, in _Id._, vol. v., pp. 112-13; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. xvi.; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 134.

[542] 'Dans les noces publiques et les fêtes, les hommes âgés de plus de trente ans étaient ordinairement autorisés à en boire deux tasses.' _Zurita_, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., p. 110; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 134; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. xvi.

[543] Ortega says that the privilege was also extended to private soldiers. _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 227. Zurita, however, writes 'les guerriers regardaient comme un déshonneur d'en boire.' _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., p. 111.

[544] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii., ccxv.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 166, tom. ii., p. 386; _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, pt ii, p. 33; _Codex Mendoza_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. i., pl. 72; _Esplicacion_, in _Id._, vol. v., pp. 112-13; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Id._, vol. ix., p. 246; _Id._, _Relaciones_, p. 387; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 226-7; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 134; _Zurita_, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. i., pp. 110-11; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. xvi.

[545] See this vol. pp. 360-1.

[546] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 386; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 387; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 226.

[547] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 246; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 130.

[548] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 130.

[549] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 387; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 226.

[550] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv.

[551] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 388.

[552] Las Casas, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv., gives two laws on this point. To the first, which is among the collection of unauthenticated laws, adds: 'Y si era plebeyo ó de baja suerte hacian lo esclavo.' Ixtlilxochitl also gives two laws: 'A los hijos de los señores si malbarataban sus riquezas, ó bien muebles que sus padres tenian, les daban garrote.' _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 246. 'Si algun principal mayorazgo fuese desbaratado, ó travieso, ó si entre dos de estos tales hubiese alguna diferencia sobre tierras ú otras cosas, el que no quisiese estarse quedo con la averiguacion que entre ellos se hiciese por ser soberbio y mal mirado, le fuesen quitados sus bienes y mayorazgo, y fuese puesto en depósito en alguna persona que diese cuenta de ello para el tiempo que le fuese pedido, de cual mayorazgo estubiese desposeido todo el tiempo que la voluntad del señor fuese.' _Relaciones_, in _Id._, p. 387; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 385; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 134.

[553] _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 423.

[554] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 386; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 387.

[555] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii.

[556] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 387; _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 604; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 134; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 227-9; _Chaves_, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. v., p. 313; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 165.

[557] _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., p. 502; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv.

[558] Concerning adultery see: _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii., ccxv.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 166, tom. ii., pp. 378, 380; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 246; _Relaciones_, in _Id._, p. 387; _Codex Mendoza_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. i., pl. 72; _Esplicacion_, in _Id._, vol. v., p. 112; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 423; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, pp. 136-7; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 130-1; _Bologne_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., p. 211; _Zurita_, _Rapport_, in _Id._, série ii., tom. i., pp. 107-10; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 224; _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p. 33; _Duran_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, tom. viii., pp. 242-3; _Valades_, _Rhetorica Christiana_, in _Id._, p. 129, note.

[559] _Las Casas_ and _Mendieta_, as in preceding note.

[560] 'Para la justificacion fuese bastante la denuncia del marido.' _Ibid._

[561] Las Casas writes: 'A ninguna muger ni hombre castigavan por adulterio, si solo el marido della los acusaba, sino que havia de haver testigos y confesion dellos.' _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv. Torquemada uses almost the same words.

[562] Father Francisco de Bologne says that this mode of punishment was only resorted to in the case of the man, and that the female adulterer was impaled. _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., p. 211.

[563] This statement is made by Ixtlilxochitl and Veytia, _ubi sup._

[564] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii.; _Mendieta_, _ubi sup._

[565] _Ibidem._ Among the Miztecs, when extenuating circumstances could be proved, the punishment of death was commuted to mutilation of ears, nose, and lips. _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. xii.

[566] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 380; _Clavigero_, _ubi sup._

[567] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii., ccxv.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 377-8, 380; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 224.

[568] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii.; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 136.

[569] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. x.; _Beaumont_, _Crón. Mechoacan_, MS., p. 51.

[570] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 166, tom. ii., p. 380; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv.; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 423; _Ortega_, in _Id._, p. 224; _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p. 33; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 137; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 245. Carbajal Espinosa differs from these in saying: 'al pasivo le arrancaban las entrañas, se llenaba su vientre de ceniza y el cadáver era quemado.' _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 603.

[571] _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 193. Carli is therefore mistaken in saying this crime was punished with death. _Cartas_, p. 122.

[572] _Lettre_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., p. 197.

[573] _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii. Clavigero writes: 'Appresso tutte le Nazioni di Anahuac, fuorchè appresso i Panuchesi, era in abbominazione sì fatto delitto, e da tutte si puniva con rigore.' This writer is very bitter against M. de Pauw for stating that this pederasty was common among the Mexicans, and adds: 'ma della falsità di tal calunnia, che con troppa, ed assai biasimevole facilità addottarono parecchj Autori Europei, ci consta per la testimonianza di molti altri Autori imparziarli, e meglio informati.' Clavigero does not, however, state who these 'more impartial and better informed writers' are. That the crime of sodomy was prevalent in Tabasco, we have the testimony of Oviedo, who writes that among the idols that the Christians saw there 'dixeron que avian hallado entre aquellos çemís ó yolos, dos personas hechas de copey (que es un árbol assi llamado), el uno caballero ó cabalgando sobre el otro, en figura de aquel abominable y nefando pecado de sodomia, é otro de barro que tenia la natura asida con ambas manos, la qual tenia como çircunçiso ... y no es este pecado entre aquellas mal aventuradas gentes despresçiado, ni sumariamente averiguado: antes es mucha verdad quanto dellos se puede deçir é culpar en tal caso.' _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., p. 533. Zuazo, speaking of the Mexicans, says: 'estas gentes tienen la _tria peccatela_ que decia el Italiano: no creen en Dios; _son casi todos sodomitas_: comen carne humana.' _Carta_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 365.

[574] _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii.

[575] Las Casas, among his unauthentic laws has one which prescribes death in this case, but in another list, which he says is composed of authentic laws, banishment and confiscation of property is given as the penalty. _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 380; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 423.

[576] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 380; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii.; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 137. Ortega adds that their heads were rubbed with ashes; 'se les untaba con ceniza caliente.' _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 225.

[577] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 246; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, p. 224.

[578] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 387; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 423; _Duran_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., pp. 243-4; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 380; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxv.; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 224-5.

[579] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. ccxiii., ccxv.; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 136.

[580] _Las Casas_, _Ibid._; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 380-1.

[581] _Las Casas_, _Ibid._; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 380; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, pp. 137-8; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 133.

[582] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 381; _Ortega_, in _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 225-6; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 133.

[583] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 165. In the following works more or less mention is made of the system of jurisprudence that existed among the Nahua peoples. _Pimentel_, _Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena_, pp. 31-5; _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 593-605; _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 153; _Klemm_, _Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., pp. 35-6, 53-4, 69-75, 96-7, 105, 205; _Cortés_, _Aven. y Conq._, pref., p. 13; _Delaporte_, _Reisen_, tom. x., pp. 264-7; _Incidents and Sketches_, pp. 60-1; _Simon's Ten Tribes_, pp. 263-70; _Bussierre_, _L'Empire Mex._, pp. 150-8; _Chambers' Jour._, 1835, vol. iv., p. 253; _Baril_, _Mexique_, pp. 205-7; _Touron_, _Hist. Gén._, tom. iii., pp. 29-31; _Soden_, _Spanier in Peru_, tom. ii., p. 14.