The crown of the Spanish King is the orbit of the sun.

BALTASAR GRACIAN

Has Heaven reserved, in pity to the poor,
No pathless waste or undiscovered shore?
No secret island in the boundless main?
No peaceful desert yet unclaimed by Spain?

SAMUEL JOHNSON

A T the mid-sixteenth century, within sixty years of
Columbus' first voyage, the wave of Spanish con-
quest in America had in the main spent itself. The
Spanish empire, extending through sixty-seven degrees
of latitude, had attained form and cohesion. Two vice-
royalties had been set up holding sway over wide
dominions: the lesser kingdoms and provinces were
ruled by Captains-General and Governors subordinate
to the Viceroys; and all the provinces were divide
into districts under magistrates entitled Corregidor
or Alcalde Mayor. Audiencias, which were at once
judicial tribunals and administrative councils, held
their sessions in the principal capitals; a chain of muni-
cipalities, each having a territorial jurisdiction extend-
ing to that of its neighbours, formed the basis of the
whole fabric, and the course of trade between Spain
and the Spanish kingdoms beyond the Ocean had been
regulated for purposes of security and of fiscal control.

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