Seeing that the head-quarters of the Colonial Government was vested in
Peru, it would be as well to deal with this portion of the Continent
first. Peru constituted in the first place the sole Viceroyalty, and
subsequently the senior Viceroyalty, of Spanish South America. Lima, its
capital and the seat of government, took care to distinguish itself
from any other colonial city of the Continent. Certainly no other town
possessed such buildings and architectural decorations as those of which
Lima could boast. The home of the Viceroy, it was a city of pomp,
processions, and stately movements. These, as a matter of fact, were by
no means out of place, when the great importance of the spot from a
governmental point of view is considered. Every matter of consequence,
in whatever province it may have had its origin, was referred for
settlement to Lima, and it was here that the Viceroy and his Court gave
judgments, the effects of which were echoed thousands of miles away.
Of all the Viceroyalties in the world, that of Peru was undoubtedly the
proudest during the earlier Spanish colonial period, for the holder of
the high office governed not merely a country, but the greater half of a
vast Continent.
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