=Mitre= (=Bartolomé=) was born in Buenos Aires in 1821. In 1838, when hardly seventeen years old, he became known as a soldier and poet by taking part in the siege of Montevideo as a captain, and by publishing a collection of poems. In the second siege of Montevideo he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. When the campaign in Uruguay was ended, he went first to Bolivia and then to Chile, where he was editor of _El Mercurio_. This was not his first experience in journalism, for he had already been the director of _La Nueva Era_ and _El Nacional_ in Montevideo, and _La Época_ in Bolivia. His articles in _El Mercurio_ were a bitter attack against the government, and he was forced to leave the country, living in Peru for a time. In 1852 he returned to Chile, but, hearing of the revolt against the tyrant Rosas, he hastened back to his native country, and took an active part in the battle of Caseros, being in command of the Uruguayan artillery. From that time dates the rise of his political power in Argentina. As we have seen, he was defeated at Cepeda (1859) in his fight against Urquiza, but in 1861, at Pavón, he led the force of Buenos Aire to victory, becoming president of Argentina from 1862 to 1868. The rapid strides Argentina has made in the last fifty years date from Mitre's presidency. He encouraged the construction of railroads, the establishment of telegraphic communication throughout the republic, and the founding of schools. During the war against Paraguay (1865-1870), which rendered difficult the carrying out of Mitre's beneficial plans to the fullest measure, he distinguished himself as the commander-in-chief of the allied armies, that is, those of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. He was editor of _La Nación_, which shares with the famous _La Prensa_ the distinction of being the leading newspaper of South America. When we consider the political and military events in Mitre's life, the quantity and quality of his literary work are really astonishing. We wonder where he found time to write his remarkable histories of San Martín and Belgrano (in nine octavo volumes), his various volumes of poems, his translations from Longfellow and Dante, and his extensive correspondence. As a poet and orator, he ranks among the first in Argentina; and, as an historian, he remains to this day the great fountain source to which all those who desire to know the history of Argentina must turn. He is perhaps the greatest man of letters Argentina has produced. As versatile as Sarmiento, though not so voluminous, he displays in general a juster appreciation of facts and a greater equipoise and a more even excellence in literary form. =Goyena= (=Pedro=), an Argentine lawyer and publicist, was born in Buenos Aires in 1841. He was the editor of _La Revista Argentina_ and professor of Roman law at the University of Buenos Aires. His style, both as writer and orator, is known for its purity and brilliancy.