CIVIUZATIOi^ OF THE INCAS. (booti,

not to hsfe been framed widi r eferen ce to Aem j and
tbe pec^le, investing the whole onler with a portion of die
•acred character whidi belonged to the aoverdgn, held that an
Inca noble was incapable of crime.**

The other order of nobility was the Ckracas, the cadquea
of the conquered nations, €X their descendants. They were
ORiatty amtinned by the govermnent in their places, though
diey were recpmred to risit the capital occasionally, and to al-
bw thai sons to be educated there as the pledges of their loy*
dty. It is not easy to define the nature or extent of dieir
privil^^es. They were possessed oi more or leas power, accord*
ing to the extent of dieir patrimony and the number of Aeir
vassals. Their authority was usually transmitted from frither
to son, though sometimes the successor was chosen by the
people.*' They did not occupy the highest posts of state, or
those nearest the person of the sovereign, like the noises of tte
Uood. Their authority seems to have been usuaHy local, and
always in subordination to the territorial jurisdiction of the
great provincial governors, who were taken frcnn the Incas.**

It was Ae Inca nobility, indeed, who constituted the real
strength <rf the Peruvian monarchy. Attached to tiieir prince
by ties of consanguinity, they had common sympathies and, to
a considerabfe extent, commcm interests with him. Distin-
guished by a peculiar dress and inagnia, as well as by language
and blood, from the rest of the community, they w^e never
confounded with the other tribes and nations w1k> were incor-
porated into the great Peruvian monarchy. After the lapse of
centuries they still retained their individuality as a peculiar
people. They were to the conquered races of the country what
tbe Romans were to the barbarous hordes of the Empire, or the

^Oasci!atso» Cooi. ReaL, Pute x, lib. n, cap. 15.
