[Illustration: THE PRESENT STANDARD OF LIMA, AS MODIFIED IN 1808.] [Illustration: A PICTURESQUE SUBURBAN DRIVEWAY, LIMA.] CHAPTER XIII PERUVIAN HOSPITALITY AND CULTURE [Illustration: A MODERN PRIVATE RESIDENCE OF LIMA.] If the Spanish-Americans have inherited from their European ancestors too much of the aristocratic pride and military arrogance that distinguished Peninsular crusaders, they have also fallen heir to the courtly grace and admirable _savoir faire_ which made the Knights of Santiago and Alcantara famous among the first gentlemen of Europe four centuries ago, and which, descending to their children’s children, have become characteristic of the Spanish-speaking people all over the world. In America, and more particularly in Peru, the influence of New World conditions fostered a relaxation of austere exclusiveness and a softening of military severity; the lavish opulence that reigned in the viceroyalty, with its attendant pleasures, led colonial society to assume a gayety and freedom which would have been impossible in the atmosphere of rigorous etiquette that dominated Madrid, and Lima gradually became more renowned for its sociability than for the strictness of its court. Both influences may be seen, however, in the development of the Peruvian society of to-day, which is reserved and dignified in manner, clever, hospitable, and kind. Although the national traits vary according to locality and inherited tendencies, the inhabitants of the coast possessing characteristics which are not so clearly defined in the people of the sierra, while these again differ in their customs from their neighbors of the Amazon valleys, yet, everywhere and at all times, the Peruvian’s _Mi casa es á Và_—“My house is yours”—is a spontaneous word of welcome. The Limeños, as natives of the capital are called, are noted for their _esprit_ and imagination, and are especially gifted in the social qualities for which their ancestors were celebrated a hundred years ago; while they are, happily, outgrowing the heritage of less admirable tendencies, bequeathed by the luxurious and extravagant society of the viceregal court. The progress of the nation within the past half a century shows that the race is strong, full of purpose, and capable of working out a noble destiny. During the first twenty years of the republic, the social life of Lima did not change greatly from what it had been in the pleasure-loving court of the viceroyalty. Visitors to Peru in those early times tell us that the propensity for card playing was one of the greatest evils the new government had to combat, and that ministers, envoys, and officers of all ranks fell under its spell. It is said that the celebrated Baquijano once had to send for a bullock cart to take home his winnings, amounting to more than thirty thousand dollars. The chroniclers do not state whether the game resembled our modern poker or