The dictator, Don Mariano Prado, was elected constitutional president to succeed President Pardo in 1876, the latter being called to the Senate, of which he became president the following year. On the 16th of November, 1878, while passing through the ante-room to the Senate Chamber, the illustrious statesman met his death at the hand of an assassin. An ignorant sergeant committed the deed which robbed Peru of one of her noblest and devoted patriots, and plunged the whole nation into grief. By what strange fatality the defender of the masses and their most sincere protector should have been murdered by one of their number is no more to be explained than that Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley should have been similarly sacrificed while laboring in behalf of the sacred principles of human liberty. In the year 1879 the war of the Pacific was inaugurated by Chile, whose government claimed that its interests were threatened in consequence of a treaty of alliance made six years earlier between Peru and Bolivia, which Chile denominated a secret compact. The treaty was known to the Chilean Minister in Bolivia in 1874, however, and was officially announced to Argentina in 1876. According to some authorities, Chile sought a pretext for war, hoping to gain possession of the nitrate beds of Tarapacá. In any case, its government was well prepared for war, having just reorganized its navy and purchased the new ironclads _Almirante Cochrane_ and _Blanco Encalada_, which were superior to the Peruvian ironclads _Huascar_ and _Independencia_, purchased ten years earlier. The first attack was made on Bolivia, but that country was in no condition to resist a powerful enemy, and the war soon became a trial of strength between Chile and Peru. The first naval engagement occurred off the coast of Iquique, Rear-Admiral Miguel Grau commanding the _Huascar_, and Captain Moore the _Independencia_, against the Chilean corvette _Esmeralda_, commanded by Captain Arthur Prat, and the gunboat _Covadonga_, commanded by Captain Condell. The _Esmeralda_ was sunk by the guns of the _Huascar_ and Captain Prat lost his life in the engagement, though fighting with great heroism. A letter from Admiral (then Captain) Grau of the _Huascar_ to the widow of the Chilean hero, reveals the noble character and gentle heart of the victorious commander, who was soon to meet his own death fighting against greater odds. “Captain Prat died,” he wrote, “a victim to his excessive intrepidity in the defence and for the glory of the flag of his country. I sincerely deplore this mournful event, and in expressing my sympathy, I take the opportunity of forwarding the precious relics that he carried on his person when he fell, believing that they may afford some slight consolation in the midst of your great sorrow.” Such thoughtful tenderness inspires the greatest admiration for this brave man. Meantime the _Independencia_ in pursuit of the _Covadonga_, and drawing much more