As the capital of the republic, Lima is the chief centre of political as well as social progress. The president of the republic, his ministers, and the high officials of the various administrative offices reside in Lima, in which are located the national treasury, the mint, and the post office. The mint is an interesting institution, and visitors find its archives both instructive and entertaining. The first money coined in Lima consisted of silver disks, marked on both sides with a cross made by means of a hammer; later, it was stamped with the royal arms on one side and the bust of the reigning monarch on the other. Since the inauguration of the republic, the mint has been entirely reorganized, and provided with modern machinery, constructed in England. It occupies the same site as the original building, erected in 1565. The records of the establishment show that four hundred million silver coins have been turned out in that time, besides gold pieces. At present both gold and silver money is coined, the gold pieces being the _libra_ and the _media libra_ (pound and half pound), equivalent to the English sovereign and the half sovereign; the silver coins are the _sol_, equivalent to half a dollar gold, and the smaller pieces, the one-half _sol_, the one-fifth _sol_, the _real_ (worth five cents, gold), and the one-half _real_. Copper coins are used, equivalent in value to the English half-penny and farthing. The Lima Mint is to-day one of the best establishments of its kind in South America. [Illustration: SAN PEDRO, THE FASHIONABLE CHURCH OF LIMA.] Lima is the seat of Congress, of the Supreme Court, and of the general staff of the army, the buildings in which these branches of the government are conducted belonging, not to the municipality, but to the nation. The construction of a new house of Congress is now occupying the attention of the administration. The metropolitan dignitaries of the Church also reside in Lima, His Grace Archbishop Garcia Naranjo, having his palace next to the Cathedral. As Lima is not only the national capital but also the capital of a department and of a judicial district, it is the residence of the prefect and the seat of the superior courts. It is, furthermore, the chief city of the province of Lima and the headquarters of the sub-prefect, as well as of the staff of the six police districts into which that service is divided. The provincial council, or municipality, with all its dependencies, constitutes the local government.