peditions was to establish the claims of Spain to an immense
territory; and it was not until 1565 that the Spaniards founded, at St.
Augustine in Florida, the first permanent European settlement north of
the Gulf of Mexico.

"To the south, to the South," cried Peter Martyr, "for the riches of
the Aequinoctiall they that seek riches must go, not into the cold and
frozen north." It was a judgment justified in the event. Francisco
Pizarro, having verified the report of rich kingdoms to the south,
received in 1528 from the Emperor Charles V a commission to conquer the
country of the Incas in Peru. With reckless daring equaled only by
cunning treachery and unspeakable cruelty, the little band of
adventurers that followed Pizarro made its way to the city of Cuzaco.
The Incas were more civilized than the Aztecs, their defense less
resolute, their wealth more abounding. The ransom of Atahucellpa and the
plunder of the capital, when melted down into ingots, measured nearly
two million _pesos_ of gold. And to the south of the capital city were
the inexhaustible silver deposits of the Andes. In 1545 the Government
registered the mines of Potosi, the main source of the treasure which,
flowing in ever-increasing volume into Spain, so profoundly influenced
the history of Europe and America.

It is said of the Emperor Charles V that his eyes "sparkled with
delight" when he gazed upon the vases and ornaments wrought in solid
gold which Hernando Pizarro, returning from Peru in 1534 with the royal
fifth of the first fruits of plunder, displayed before him. Yet the
profit and the burden of the empire which Charles established in America
fell mainly to his son, Philip II. And a great revenue was as essential
to Philip as to Charles; for, although he did not succeed to the
imperial title, he aspired no less than his father to the mastery of
Europe. Circumstances seemed not unfavorable. With the close of the
Council of Trent in 1563, the policy of conciliation was at an end, the
Jesuits were in the ascendant, and the forces of the Counter-Reformation
were prepared to do battle with the heresies that disrupted Christendom.
In this death struggle the King of Spain was well suited to be the
leader of Catholicism. Crafty in method and persistent in purpose,
sincerely devout, unwavering in his loyalty to the true faith, never
doubting that God in his wisdom had singled him out as the champion of
the Church, Philip identified his will with truth