His Ancestry--A Soldier From His Youth--He Succeeds General Campos--A Master of Diplomacy--A Slave of Spain--His Personal Appearance--His Interview With a Woman--His Definition of War-- His Resignation. Early in 1896, when the Spanish government began to realize that the insurrection was assuming serious proportions, arrangements were made for the recall of General Campos, then Governor-General of the island, and General Weyler was sent to assume the duties of the office. It was the opinion in Spain that Campos was too mild in his treatment of the rebels, and as Weyler was known to have no lamb-like qualities, he was regarded as the ideal man for the position. That he did not succeed in putting down the rebellion was certainly not due to any lack of extreme measures on his part. He is known as the "Butcher," and his management of affairs in Cuba certainly gives him every right to the title. Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, to give him his full name, is only half a Spaniard. His father was a Prussian, though Weyler himself was born in Cadiz in 1839. His parents were in very moderate circumstances and not of noble birth. What Weyler has won he has acquired through his own efforts. He has made his way single-handed. He graduated from the infantry school at Toledo in 1857 and was at once sent to Cuba as a subaltern. He was quickly made a captain and his first work was to subdue a small revolt in San Domingo. He rose rapidly in rank, and during the first Cuban revolt he was in command in the province of Santiago, where he earned the title that has since made him famous in the eyes of his supporters, but infamous from a civilized point of view. But he put down the revolt. He was rewarded with the appointment of captain general of the Canary islands. His administration was so successful that he was created Marquis of Tenerife. He was then barely thirty-nine years old. He distinguished himself in the Carlist war and at its conclusion he was made captain general of the Philippines, where he quelled an insurrection and admittedly gave the islands the best administration they had ever known. He returned to Spain in 1889 and was in command at Barcelona until the present Cuban revolution began. Here is a mental photograph of him by a newspaper correspondent: "Most men resemble their reputations, and if a life famously spent is in the mind of one who visits a character of world-wide repute, he quite naturally discovers peculiarities, of facial expression and physique which appear to account for the individuality of the man, fighter, philosopher, criminal, reformer or whatever he may be.