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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
February 1926
, F I N E G O L D THE PEARL OF G R E A T JOSEPHINE HOPE WESTERVELT
OR
was provided with a simple house and land. Upon the birth of every child, parents were given additional land so they might provide for increasing needs of their growing family. “ Lands were set apart for the Sun, and the people were all required to work on these lands a certain portion of their time. The proceeds of this labor were used in elab orate systems of worship, the building of palaces and mon asteries, and in providing the needs of the government and its head. Also the people were required to work a certain portion of their time for the sick, the aged, the orphaned
' (Continued from last month) CHAPTER 18 THE SUBJUGATION OF PERU
|0 their great Joy they found a number of believers who had faithfully gone on in their Christian life and these were overjoyed to welcome the mission aries. A little church was organized, a school was started and William at once began to instruct young men in Bible classes, that they might, as soon as possible, go out and teach their own people. Almost daily two or
and the widows, so that in all the kingdom there was no poverty» nor were there any excessive riches except that in possession of the government. As the people had no great needs, the gold and other valuable metals and precious stones were used in elaborating the places of worship. “ The people were never idle, therefore they had no time to be selfish and vicious; they were taught truth and uprightness, and had removed far from them many of the temptations- of modern grades of society. But this did not make them secure, but rather proved their downfall. They allowed their ruler and his agents to do all the thinking and planning, and had the'rulers not been wise and noble their lives would have been wretched. When those wise, kindly rulers were gone, these
thi$e of them went ’about selling tracts and portions of the Scripture, and doing per sonal work. Rose threw herself into the work for the children, for the pltiftilness of the child life in Peru made a strong appeal to her, |who had been so sheltered, and guarded in her happy childhood. One day when will and the others Jour neyed to the heights above the ancient capital, they sought to bring into their minds a picture of what Cuzco must have been in the days before the Spanish con querors devastated the country. Turning to William, Rose asked him to tell her the history of that conquest. William looked out over the city silently, and in his mind there rose again that feel ing that he must do what he could to help these descendants of those old time peo
The story in this chap ter illustrates in a forcible manner the truth that “ Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build i t ! except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” Educa tion,' civilization and brilliancy will never save a nation.^
simple people, robbed for generations of initiative and thought, fell easily a helpless prey to the conquerors, Vho first took from them their leaders. And' in such a way! A “ Pizarro, the Spaniard, in search of fabulous riches, after many perilous adventures reached this land with a handful of followers. They were almost destitute, and their only alternative was to conquer or die. Incredible as it may seem, they conquered this great nation, and the subjects of those proud Incas became subjects of Spain and of the Cath olic Church, for it was a priest that led on to the most ter rible deeds of that conquest. “ Eight years after first leaving Panama, the Spaniards were marching across terraced, fruitful lands toward the town where they supposed the ruling Inca to be. In 1632, on the evening of Nov. 15, Pizarro with a hundred follow ers was entertained in the town of Cajamarea, one of the strongholds of the Incas, and passed a pleasant time with the apparently friendly ruler. “ The next morning the ruling Inca, escorted by throngs of Indians, was on his way to make a visit to the strangers from beyond the sea, whom he had entertained so pleasantly the evening before. The grandeur of the furnishing of the sedan which carried the Inca Atahualpa must have dazzled the eyes of the Spaniards. On the sedan was a throne of massive gold, the furnishings of the carriage were of gold (Continued on page 108)
ples. He felt it as a boy and that impression had never left him; again and again he longed to undertake this quest of God, and,succor these people that had fallen into hard places. “ It is a long story, but one full of keen interest to me,, and I can only give you the briefest outline now. Some day you must read it all yourself,” said William, as a dreamy far-away look came Into his eyes. "Legend tells us that Manco Capac and his wife, children of the Sun, were commanded to go forth and to found a nation at that place where a golden wedge given to them should miraculously sink into the ground. This happened at the present site of Cuzeo, and here the legendary pair took up their royal abode. This story does not differ mater ially from other ancient sun myths of Greek or Aryan origin, and whether this signifies that this legendary Inca gained as ascendency over neighboring tribes, or was actually known as a foreigner Just coming into the country and con quering it, is not actually known. “ Many noted rulers followed, educational, military and civil giants in their intellects, each adding their contribution to the making of a mighty nation. The empire was divided into four parts, with a viceroy over each part, these vice roys living for at least a part of the year in the capital, and in close counsel with the ruling Inca. Laws compelled the subjects to marry at a certain age, and each young couple
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