The office of the Inquisition was established in Lima during the sixteenth century and its victims included all ranks and classes of society, though the Indians were exempt from its terrors. In the present day, such an institution as the Inquisition seems a blot on religion; but centuries ago, it was regarded as an instrument of great power in keeping the Church free from the contamination of evil beliefs. Its most earnest and relentless supporters were not hypocrites, bent on revenge, but enthusiasts, who believed they were justified in taking even the cruellest measures to protect the faith. The seventeenth century was an intolerant age, and at the same time that the Inquisition was holding the _auto de fé_ with fatal frequency, the Salem Puritans were burning witches, and the Kirk of Scotland was banishing one of its members for having travelled through a Catholic country. The viceroy Abascal received the order from the Cortes of Spain to abolish the Inquisition in the year 1811; and the hall in which so many judgments had been pronounced contrary to the best laws of human liberty, was abandoned by the Holy Office, to be occupied in years to come by the representative authorities of a government pledged to recognize the right of every man to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The same year that witnessed the abolition of the _Santo Oficio_, saw the first military gathering of the patriots of Tacna, led by a Limeño, preparing to join the forces of their fellow colonists on the tableland of Alto Peru, where they were to encounter the royalist army. [Illustration: CHURCH OF THE COMPAÑIA AT PISCO.] [Illustration: PLAZA DE ARMAS, THE PRINCIPAL PUBLIC SQUARE OF LIMA.] CHAPTER VIII THE OVERTHROW OF SPANISH AUTHORITY [Illustration: STATUE OF BOLIVAR, LIMA.]