in an alliance against the administration, who only two years before had been fighting in the field, and who now professed the most radically divergent political opinions. Fierce parliamentary struggles ensued, but they were confined to the floor of congress and to changes in the ministry. The country had now recovered from the commercial panic of the fifties and from the devastations of the brief civil war, and proceeded again on the even tenor of its prosperous commercial way. The railroad from Valparaiso to Santiago was completed in 1863; lines were extended up and down the great central valleys; the telegraph system was enlarged; Chilean capitalists began to push up the desert northern coast to engage in the guano business; the German immigration to southern Chile continued and European colonisation was fostered. Indeed, no South American country has incorporated such a large proportion of North European blood; and British, German, and French names are common not only in commerce and industry, but also in the political, naval, and military services--witness Mackenna, O'Higgins, Beauchef, Godoy, Montt, Walker, Edwards, MacIver, Tupper, Prat, Larrain, MacClure, Koenig, Mathieu, Stuven, Ross, Marchant, Cumming, Day, Stephan, and a hundred others. In 1865 a war with Spain interrupted domestic progress, political as well as commercial. Engaged in a dispute with Peru, the Spanish government had sent an overwhelming fleet to enforce its demands, and seized the Chincha Islands. The Spanish admiral was reported to have justified this high-handed act upon the ground that Peru was still subject to Spain. If this was true of the one country it was of the other, and the Chileans believed their territorial integrity and even their independence menaced. Government and people manifested an active sympathy with Peru; Peruvian vessels were allowed to coal; newspapers were filled with abuse of Spain; and a riot occurred in front of the Spanish legation. In September, 1865, the Spanish fleet sailed into Valparaiso Bay and its admiral presented an ultimatum. Four days were given for a satisfactory explanation, an apology, and a salute to the Spanish flag. Failing this he would blockade the coast and procure indemnification by force. The Chilean government rejected the humiliating proposition; the blockade was established, and the administration, backed by the enthusiastic approval of the whole country, refused to make any concessions, though Chile's fleet consisted of one small vessel and her ports were at the enemy's mercy. The single Chilean steamer succeeded in capturing a Spanish gunboat, which so humiliated the admiral that he committed suicide, and when, in March, 1866, Chile refused even to disclaim an intention of insulting Spain, or to exchange salutes, the Spaniards proceeded to bombard Valparaiso. The town was totally without defences and open to cannon fire; ten millions of property were destroyed in the three hours and a half that the