adventurer, who was moved less by principle than by a desire for power and plunder. His treachery to his friends, his seizure of the property of the Central American Transit Company, his wanton destruction of Granada, and many other excesses, all go to justify this view of his character. It is true that the destruction of Granada was actually accomplished by one of his lieutenants, an Englishman named Henningsen, who, in a spirit of unbridled malignancy, caused to be inscribed on one of the ruined walls: "Here was Granada." But there is little room for doubt that the destruction was sanctioned if not planned by Walker. Walker was finally driven out of Nicaragua by a coalition of the Central American republics. Subsequently he attempted to return to the country, but was intercepted by a United States war vessel, and turned over to the Honduran authorities, by whom he was shot.

After the expulsion of Walker, differences with Costa Rica arose, which delayed the withdrawal of the troops of that republic from Nicaraguan territory. A settlement of these was effected, however, in 1858, and the country was

really at peace for the first time in nearly twenty years. A new

constitution

was

adopted and permanent government established, with the election of a president in 1859. From that time to the spring of 1893, with the exception of a promptly quelled insurrection in 1869, the country enjoyed uninterrupted peace, in which respect it enjoys an honorable distinction from every other Central and South American State. The first president elected under the new constitution was General Martinez, who served two terms, and was succeeded in 1867 by Fernando Guzman. The subsequent presidents were: Quadra, 1871-5; Chamorro, 1875-9; Zavala, 1879-83; Cardenas, 1883-7; Carazo, 1887-90. President Carazo died before serving his full term, which would have expired in 1891. He was succeeded by Dr. Roberto Sacasa, under the prescribed form referred to at the beginning of this chapter. Sacasa was elected for a full term in 1891, in spite of a good deal of opposition, based on the fact that an amendment to the constitution adopted since the time of Martinez, disqualifies a man from serving more than one term. His

opponents claimed that this provision applied equally to the incumbent of an unexpired term as to the incumbent of a full term.

The dissatisfaction with Sacasa, which was very evident and outspoken at the time of my visit in the spring of 1891, culminated in a revolution in April, 1893, by which he was deposed, and General Joaquin Zavala, of Granada, the leader of the conservative party, installed in his place. However, the new government was very short-lived, for in July of the same year Zavala was overthrown by the Leonenses, under Zelaya and Ortiz, who proclaimed themselves respectively president and vice-president. Zelaya has held office ever since, having been elected (?) for a full term in 1897. In the fall of 1894 he violated the treaty with Great Britain, above referred to, and took forcible possession of the Mosquito coast, deposing the so-called king.

Meanwhile a movement was seton foot in Nicaragua and the adjoining republics of Honduras and Salvador for the formation of a greater republic of Central America. This resulted on June 20, 1895, in the signing of a treaty at

Amapala, in Salvador, by representatives of the three first-named republics, as well as of Guatemala and Costa Rica, by which the five states were consolidated into one government, to be presided over alternately for a year at a time by the president of each of the constituent republics. Costa Rica and Guatemala, however, afterward declined to enter the union, but a semblance of federation was kept up for a time by delegates of the other three countries, who resided for awhile at San Salvador and afterward at Managua. These delegates, who constituted what was called a diet were Fiallas of Honduras; E. Mendoza, of Nicaragua, and Dr. J. Castellanos, of Salvador. Under their auspices a constitution was drafted, looking to a more coherent union, and the confederation was called the United States of Central America. That constitution was proclaimed at Amapala on November 1, 1898, and Dr. Salvador Callego, of Salvador; Miguel Agnelugarte, of Honduras; and Dr. Manuel Corrolel Matus, of Nicaragua, were named to exercise the governing power until March 14, 1899, when they were to elect a president. Within a few days, however, a revo

lution broke out in Salvador, and on November 30th the union was formally dissolved.

In spite of her internal troubles Nicaragua appears to have prospered, for President Zelaya, in his message to congress, January 1, 1896, announced that the foreign debt of $379,379.20 had been paid off, while $2,157,446.63 had been paid on the domestic debt, of which only $1,425,000 remained. That, he calculated, would be liquidated in three years more.