brutish superstitions, and impart to them the blessings of a well-regulated
government. This, in the favorite phrase of our day, was the "mission"
of the Inca. It was also the mission of the Christian conqueror who
invaded the empire of this same Indian potentate. Which of the two
executed his mission most faithfully, history must decide.

Yet the Peruvian monarchs did not show a childish impatience in the
acquisition of empire. They paused after a campaign, and allowed time
for the settlement of one conquest before they undertook another; and, in
this interval, occupied themselves with the quiet administration of their
kingdom, and with the long progresses, which brought them into nearer
intercourse with their people. During this interval, also, their new
vassals had begun to accommodate themselves to the strange institutions
of their masters. They learned to appreciate the value of a government
which raised them above the physical evils of a state of barbarism,
secured them protection of person, and a full participation in all the
privileges enjoyed by their conquerors; and, as they became more
familiar with the peculiar institutions of the country, habit, that second
nature, attached them the more strongly to these institutions, from their
very peculiarity. Thus, by degrees, and without violence, arose the great
fabric of the Peruvian empire, composed of numerous independent and
even hostile tribes, yet, under the influence of a common religion,
common language, and common government, knit together as one nation,
animated by a spirit of love for its institutions and devoted loyalty to its
sovereign. What a contrast to the condition of the Aztec monarchy, on
the neighboring continent, which, composed of the like heterogeneous
materials, without any internal principle of cohesion, was only held
together by the stern pressure, from without, of physical force !--Why the
Peruvian monarchy should have fared no better than its rival, in its
conflict with European civilization, will appear in the following pages.