Then the boy earned a small sum by teaching, which he spent in acquiring Latin grammar, logic, and philosophy. He found the tenets of the Church unacceptable. Mexico was at that time seething with revolution. Troops were continually passing through Oaxaca. The youth used to slip off in the evening to join the camp fires and listen to tales of valour and strife that made the blood tingle in his veins. The call of the bugle fired his soul. One has only to look at the man to see he was a born soldier beneath the guise of the politician of to-day. His life is one long story of romance and adventure, of serious difficulties ably overcome. In the course of fifty-five years there had been sixty-eight dictators, presidents, and rulers in Mexico. This all ended in 1876, when General Diaz, then but a rough soldier, rode up to the City of Mexico at the head of the revolutionary army and declared himself President. With the exception of four years he has reigned ever since. He fought hand to hand for Mexico and liberty. He saw the overthrow of the Church. He lived to see his beloved country rise from the lowest to one of the highest rungs of the world’s ladder. It is impossible here even to hint at the narrow escapes from death he had as a soldier, to mention the strange and sad story of the Emperor Maxmilian and his misguided and beautiful wife Carlotta. It is not possible to dwell on the courtly manners and charming grace of the elder Diaz as compared with the rough soldier of sixty years ago. One cannot even mention his ideally happy home life, his love of sport, or his interest in science and the great questions of this great world. Diaz can only be summed up here as a man of many parts and many interests. AN ERA OF PROSPERITY What have been the results of General Diaz’s long administrations? That terrible poverty which sapped the life’s blood from the country during three-fourths of last century has turned to affluence. Peace is the outcome of revolution. The country, jibed and jeered at abroad, now holds a position among the leading nations. Lawlessness has given place to wise jurisdiction. The Mexicans are better governed, they can afford to pay the taxes imposed for the benefits they receive, and are yet more wealthy. Instead of money pouring out to repay old debts, foreign capital is pouring into the country, so secure has Mexican credit become in the world’s markets.