Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 May 1881 — A DEAD EMPIRE. [ARTICLE]

A DEAD EMPIRE.

BometklMg Ab»w< 014 Mexleo and the Aztec Mobility. » [H. 8. Jacobo, in the Chicago Times.] t The more powerful chiefs lived like* King* almost in their own domains, but the jealotis Emperor of Mexico required, in lieu of their own residence at the capital, valuable hostages, such as sons or nephews, similarly to the recent custom in Japan, where the Damios or feudal Princes were the source of so much disquiet to the central authority. It must be inferred that the power of these Princes was formidable, when such a safeguard for their loyalty was required. The legislative body rested entirely with the Emperor. This • despotic feature was modified by the constitution of the more important judicial tribunals. Over each city, with its dependant territory, was placed a Supreme Judge, appointed by the Crown, with original and final jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases. There was no appeal to any other tribunal, nor even to the Emperor. He held Jiis authority daring life, and every one who usurped his insignia was punished with death.

The royal revenues were derived from various sources. In the first place the crown lands, which appear to have been extensive, yielded large returns. Towns near the capital were obliged to furnish material and labor for building the royal palaces and to keep them in repair. They also contributed fuel, provisions and whatever was necessary for ordinary domestic uses, which certainly were on no limited scale. Taxes were levied on all agricultural produce, also upon manufactures, such as cotton dresses, mantles of featherwork, ornamental armor, vases and plates of gold, gold dust, bands and bracelets, crystals, gilt and varnished jars and goblets, bells, arms, utensils of copper, reams of paper, grain, fruits, copal, amber, cochineal, cocoa, wild animals and birds, timber, lime, etc. A map of the empire existed, with minute specifications of the imposts assessed on every part of it. These imposts, moderate under the reigns of the earlier rulers, became very burdensome at last; and, under the closing reign of the Montezuma dynasty, the oppressiveness of the burden became so great, owing to the tyrannical harshness of the methods of collection, that the discontent rife everywhere throughout the Aztec empire prepared the way for the Spaniards, who, as is well known, were shrewd in reinforcing the power of their arms by fomenting internal jealousy and dissension. Communications were maintained with every part of the realm, even the remotest, by means of couriers. Post houses were established about two leagues apart, the courier bearing his dispatch in the form of a hieroglyphic paiutiug. He ran with his message at full speed to the first station, where he delivered it to the second courier, who transmitted it to the third, and so od to the end of the journey. These couriers, trained from childhood, ran with incredible swiftness, not merely four or five leagues an hour, as the old chroniclers assert, but with such rapidity that dispatches were sometimes transmitted 200 miles a day. Fresh fish were frequently served at the Emperor’s table twentyfour hours from the time they were taken out of the Gulf of Mexico, 200 miles from the capital. By this system intelligence of the movements of the Aztec armies in the field were rapidly brought to court, and the dress of the me&senger, denoting by its color the nature of his tidings, spread joy or consternation in the towns through which he passed. Aztec civilization may be compared with that of our English ancestors under Alfred, or perhaps a better illustration would be that of the Egyptians, more especially as regards social relations and culture, in which the resemblance to the inhabitants of the ancient Nile valley is yet more palpable.