Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1846-06-09
VOL Who, so.
THE HALLS OF TIE MON EZU-
MAS

Mon,ezuma II. assembled the Mexican
throne a. ID. 1902, al the age OF twenty
three before Mexico had been discovered
by Europeans. He died 3j,h June, 1920,
in the forty second year Of his age of
wounds inflicted by the Spanish discover
er,whom he had invited to his royal palace.
Historians agree in admirlng his charac-
/ ter.
! On ascending the throne, not content
with the spacious residence cf his father,
he erected another, much more magnfi-
cient, fronting on the place mayor of the
present CITY of Mexico. So vas, was his
great structure, that as one OF lie hiso.
torians informs us, The space covered by
its terraced roof mi ght have afforded am
pie room for thirty KIN ghts TO run their
coulse i'll regular tourney. HIS fathers
palace, although not SO h gh,was so ex,en
sive thatthe visitors were too much IA
tigued in wandering through The apr,
ments, everto see the whole Of it. The
palaces are built Of red stone, ornamenied
with marble, the aims of Mon,ezumas
family an eagle bearing tiger in his al>
onsJ being scuptured over the main en-
trance. Crystal fountains, fed by grea,
Reservoirs on the neghboring h!la, played
in the vas, halls and gardens, and supplied
water 10 hundreds of marble baths in The
interior Of the palaces. Crowds Of mobiles
and tributary chief,ains were continually
saun,sring through the halls, or lettering
away their hours in attendance on the
court. Rich carvings in wood adorned The
ceilings, beautiful mats OF palm leaf GOV.
cred the floors The walls were hung
with cotton richly stained, the skins Of
wild animals, or gorgeous draperies o.
feather work wrought in INIT ton of birds.
insects and flowers, in G lowing radiance
Of colors. Clouds of incense from golden
censors diffused intoxiating odors through
splendid apartments occupied by the nine
handred and eighty wives ind five thou
sand slaves of Mon,ezuma.
He encouraged science and learning,
and public schools were established lhr'o
out the greater part Of his empire. The
city of Mexico in his day, numbered twice
as many inhabita Is as at present, and one
thousand men were daily employed in wa
tering and sweeping lis streets. keeping
them so clsan that man, could traverse
| feet and his ~hands. A careful police
guarded the city. En,ensve arsenals,
graneres. warehouses, an aviary for the
most beautiful birds, menageries, houses fer
reptiles and serpents, q collection oil hu
man monsters, fsh.ponls, built Of marble,
and museums and public Libraries. all on the
most extensive scale, added their atrac
lions to the great city Of the Azlecs. Cor.
geous tempes-in which human victims
were sacrificed. and their blood baked il
bread, or their bodies dressed for food to b.
devoured by the people at religious fes
tvals-reared their Pyramidll affairs fa'
above the highest edl6ces. Thousands o
their brother men were thus sacr feed an
nually. The temple of Maxtill, the
war god, was so cons ructed that is grea
alarm gong, sounding to ba,lle. reused thu
valley three leagues around aud lied
r. three hundred thousand armed Aztecs Il
the aid and serv ce Of Their monarch. Sc
vast was the collect on Of birds of prey, in
a building devoted 20 them, III / 5uJ tar
keys the cheapest meat in Mexico, we e
allowed for their daily consumption. -
Suce were the Halls Of Of the Monlezu
masw The summer residence OF the
monarch, on the hill, Of Chapotcpec, o.
verlooklng the city, was surrounded bv
gardens of several mil, s in extent, and
here were prese we'd until the middle Of the
last century. two statutes of tie Emperor
and his f Their The great cypress tees,
under which the Az'ec sovereign and his
associates once held their moon light revits
still shade The loyal gardens. Some OF
them, fifty fee: in circumference, and sew.
eral thousand years old, but are yet as
in the days of Mon,ezuma whose ashes,
or those of his ances ors, render sacred, in
the eye Of the native Mexicaus, the bi II Of
ChaPoltepec. Natural decay and n waning
population now mark the seat Of power OF
the great Mon,ezu,nas.