archy, the king was elected by vote of the whole people, who were guided in their choice by their leaders; even the women appear to have had a voice in the
Voy.t aerie ii., torn, i., pp. 12-18. M. VAbb^ Brasseur de Bourbourg, tak- ing his information from Zurita, and, indeed, almost quoting literally from the French translation of that autlior, agrees that the direct line of succes- sion obtained in Tlacopan and Tezcuco, but asserts, regarding Mexico, that the sovereign was elected by the five principal ministers of the state, who were, however, restricted in their choice to the brothers, nephews, or sons of the deceased monarcli. HmL Nat. Cip., tonL iii., pp. 57(5-7. Pimentol also follows Zurita. Alemoria, p. 26. Prescott affirms that 'the sovereign was selected from the brothers of the deceased prince, or, in default of them, from his nephews.' Alex., vol. 1, p. 93. Sahagun merely says: 'Escq- gian uno de h)s mas nobles de la linea de los sefiores antepasadoe, ' who should he a valiant, wise, and accomplished man. HmI. Gen., torn, ii., lib. viii., p. 318. 'Per non lasciar troppa libertli a^li Elettori, e per impedire quanto fosse possibile, gl'inconvenienti de* partiti, o fausioni, fissarono la co- rona nella casa d*Acamapitzin; e poi stabihrono per Icgjre, die al Ro morto dovesse succedere uno de'suoi fratelli, e mancando i iratelli, uno de'suoi nipoti, e se mai non ve ne fossero ncppur di questi, uno de'suoi cueini res- tando in balia degli Elettori lo scegliere tra i fratolli, o tra i nipoti del Re morto colui, che riconoscessero piii idoneo pel govcmo, schivando con si fatta legge parecchj inconvenicnti oa noi altrove accennati.* Clamgero, Stoha Ant. del Measico, tom. ii., p. 112. Leon Carbajal quotes this almost literally. Discurso, pp. 54-5. That the eldest son could put forward no claim to the crown by right of primogeniture, is evident from the following:
- Quaiido algun SeAor moria y dexava inuchos hijos, si alguno se alzava en
palacio y se queria preferir & los otros, aunque fuese el mayor, no lo con- sentia el Seilor d quien pertcnecia la confirmacion, y menos el pueblo. Antes dexavan pasar un aflo, 6 mas de otro, cu el qual consideravan bien que era mcjor para recir 6 govemar el estado, y aquel permanecia por seilor.' Lan C(u<(M, IJifit. ApolofjetiCdf M8., cap. ccxiii. Scflor Carbajal Espiuosa sava tiiat from the election of Chimalpopoca, who succeeded his brother Hmt- zilihuitl, and was the third king ot Mexico, 'quedd estabiecida la ley de clegir uuo de los hermanos del rcy difunto, y 4 falta de estos un so- brino, cuya prdctica se obscrvd constantemente, como lo haremos ver, hasta la ruina del imperio mexicano.* Htst. de Jdex., tom. i., p. 334. 'El Impcrio era mondrquico, pero no hereditario. Muricndo el Ehnperador lo3 gefes del Impcrio aiitiguameiito se juntaban y elcgian entre sf mismos al (|iie creian mas di^no, y por el cual la intriga, cl manejo, la super- sticion, eran mas felizmente reconociilas.' Carli, CartfiK, pt i., p. 114.
- Tainbiea auia succssioa por sangrc, sucedia el hijo mayor, siendo para
ello, y sino el otro: en defcto de los hijos sucedian nietos, y en defeto tlellos yua por elecioQ.' Jierrerat Hmt. Oen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. xv. As the order in which the Mexican kings actually did follow each otiier should be stronger proof of what was the law than any other evidence, I take from the C otlex Mundosa the following list: Acamapichtli, who is usually spoken of as the first king, succeeded Tunuch, although it is not stated that he was related to him in any way; then came Huicilyhuitl, son of Acamapich- tli; Chinialpupuca, sou of Huicilyhuitl; Yzcoaci, son of Acamapichtli; Hue- huemoteccuina, sou of Huicilyhuitl; Axayacaci, son of Tccocomochtli, and graiulson of Yzcoaci; Tiyo^'icatzi, son of Axayacaci; Ahui909in, brother of Tivo^*icatzi; ^loutec^uma, son of Axayacaci; thus, according to this author, we see, out of nine nioiiarehs, three succeeded directly by their sons, and three by their brothers. KiipUcacion^ in KwfjsltorowjICs Mex. AfUiq., vol. v., pp. 42-53. See further, Veytia^ 1 1 int. Ant. JleJ., and BroMCur de Bour* lour*/ J Hint. Nat. Civ. These writers differ slightly from the collection above li^iioted, but II) no important respect.
