The above quote would seem at first to be only one of many such expressions of Romantic populism that can be found in Ricardo Palma's works, as well as in virtually all writers of the Romantic period in Europe and America. But in Palma's case, such expressions are justified by his undeniable popularity as an author, both in Peru and in the rest of the Spanish-speaking world. Supported by an immense readership, by a “people” who had “taken a liking” to his Tradiciones peruanas, Palma felt he could faithfully voice their concerns and speak for them, in their name. It should be remembered, however, that the “people” to whom Palma refers in the quote above were not the same ones who read the Tradiciones; Palma's texts were refined literary products, destined to be read by members of the Peruvian elite, and altogether inaccessible to the majority of the Spanish American populace who, then as now, were illiterate. José Carlos Mariátegui's observations on Palma's class origins, and its effect on the writing of his Tradiciones, are still valid: