There was not an officer
in it but what held his office by election. This, to some, may seem
improbable, because the Spaniards have described a different state of
things. We have already mentioned one reason why they should do so--that
was their ignorance of Indian institutions. We must also consider the
natural bias of their minds. The rule of Charles the V was any thing but
liberal. It was a part of their education to believe that a monarchical
form of government was just the thing; they were accordingly prepared to
see monarchical institutions, whether they existed or not.

Then there was the perfectly natural disposition to exaggerate their
achievements. To spread in Europe the report that they had subverted a
powerfully organized monarchy, having an emperor, a full line of nobles,
orders of chivalry, and a standing army, certainly sounded much better
than the plain statement that they had succeeded in disjointing a
loosely connected confederacy, captured and put to death the head war
chief of the principal tribe, and destroyed the communal buildings of
their pueblo.

We must not forget that, from an Indian point of view, the confederacy
was composed of rich and powerful tribes. This is especially true of the
Mexicans. The position they held, from a defensive standpoint, was one
of the strongest ever held by Indians. They received a large amount of
tribute from subject tribes, along with the hearty hatred of the same.
From the time Cortez landed on the shore he had heard accounts of the
wealth, power, and cruelty of the Mexicans. When he arrived before
Mexico the "Chief-of-men," Montezuma, as representative of tribal
hospitality, went forth to meet him, extending "unusual courtesies to
unusual, mysterious, and therefore dreaded, guests." We may well imagine
that he was decked out in all the finery his office could raise, and
that he put on as much style and "court etiquette" as their knowledge
and manner of life would stand.

The Spaniards immediately concluded that he was king, and so he was
given undue prominence. They subsequently learned of the council, and
recognized the fact that it was really the supreme power. They learned
of the office of "Snake-woman," and acknowledged that his power was
equal to that of the "Chief-of-men." They even had some ideas of
phratries and gentes. But, having once made up their minds that this was
a monarchy, and Montezuma the monarch, they were loath to change their
views, or,