While the native element of the population at the time of the Conquest was represented by a race apparently very old and lacking resistant vitality, the conquerors and their followers, who constituted the Spanish element, represented a strong and independent people, who were still enjoying the noontide of their vigor, having recently won supremacy against the most powerful enemies by the might of their swords and in defence of the sovereignty of their faith; the Spanish monarch of those times received the homage of his people chiefly because he represented in his person the majesty and glory of the national religion. The Spaniards were more fervid in the faith than their rulers themselves; and in the controversies that arose between the ecclesiastical and secular authorities during the period of the viceroyalty, the Church could always count on the sympathy of the masses. As the number of American-born priests increased in the colonial dioceses, the character of their teaching fostered a sentiment in favor of the land of their birth, and encouraged the development of a new nationality, the population of which was composed not only of the Indian and the Spaniard but of the _mestizo_, of mixed Spanish and Indian blood, who possessed the predominating characteristics of both parents, and had a double right to the title of patriot. In the war of Independence, the _mestizo_ did noble service; and if the _Criollos_, as the Peruvians of pure Spanish descent are called, proved themselves splendid generals, there were no better fighters in the ranks than the _mestizos_, many of whom became distinguished in the history of the revolution for their courage and endurance, while a few rose to glorious heights of soldierly valor and left their names engraved on the heart of a grateful nation. Of the minor elements, the negroes and the _zambos_ (the latter of mixed Indian and negro origin) were the most important, though it is said the number of negroes brought into Peru did not exceed fifty thousand altogether. The only common ground on which conqueror and conquered in Peru could meet was a reverence for religion and a recognition of the sanctity of caste. From time immemorial the Indians had lived under this spell, and the Castilian knew no law above the will of the Church and the aristocracy, which, in Spain, were long synonymous. It has been said that caste, more than anything else was responsible for the wonderful hold Spain had on her colonies. Caste ruled in everything—in religion, the army, and society—and the masses bowed in willing submission to an aristocracy, which, if it did not claim celestial origin, at least became the interpreter of the divine will to a listening nation. It was this spirit of reverence which made Peru send its shiploads of gold to Spain, though receiving nothing in return. [Illustration: PLAZA OF THE INQUISITION, LIMA.]