The news of Magellan's great exploit and the stories that came to Europe of the riches beyond the sea, resulted soon in an idea coming to the mind of Hernando Cortez, the development of that idea into a concrete plan, and the making of a complete invention. This was a plan by which he should head an expedition to a certain part of the New World, and "convert" the heathen dwelling there; doing whatever killing and impoverishing and general maltreatment might be found to be convenient or desirable. The invention worked perfectly; some half-savage Indians of what we now call Mexico were "converted," many were killed, and untold treasure was forcibly obtained. The success of this invention was so great that Francisco Pizarro was inspired to copy it, and to try it on some Indians in a country that now we call Peru. Whether Pizarro improved on Cortez's scheme, or whether the conditions of success were better need not concern us now: the main fact seems to be that Pizarro was able to convert and kill and impoverish and generally ruin more effectively than Cortez. Following Cortez and Pizarro, many expeditions sailed from Spain to the West Indies, Central America and South America, and carried out similar programs. The two principal results were that those parts of the world were soon dominated by Spain, and that the people of Spain received large amounts of gold and treasure. The main result to them was that they succumbed under the enervating influence of the artificial prosperity produced, and rapidly deteriorated. By the end of the hundred years' period after Columbus discovered America, Spain was clearly following the downward path, and at high speed. One of the early results of the invention of printing was an increased ability of people separated by considerable distances to interchange their views; and a still greater though allied result was an increased ability of men of thought and courage to impress their thoughts upon great numbers of people. At the time when printing was invented, the Church of Rome had ceased to dominate European nations as wholly as it had done before; but it exercised a vast power in each country. This was because of its prestige, its hold on the clergy and the Church property, and its authority in many questions connected with marriage, wills, appointments, etc. This was resented, but impotently, by the various sovereigns.