tle for mere matters of pomp and ceremony. Money and possessions,
curiously enough, affected him little. Messrs. Rengger and Longchamps
vouch for it that, having once discovered that he was the possessor of
800 piastres, he thought this sum a great deal too much for a single
person, and he spent it. A remedy such as this seems simple enough for
an unusual complaint!

By the year 1813 all but the most powerful elements of the Junta had
been weeded out. The power was now confined to the two remaining
members--Dr. Francia and his colleague, Fulgencio Yegros. These were now
endowed with the titles of Consul. Two curule chairs were specially
manufactured for them. These classical seats were covered with leather.
On one was the name of Caesar, on the other that of Pompey. It is
possible that Francia had some faint smattering of Latin and of Roman
history; at all events, he is said to have pounced on the first and
eagerly to have taken possession of it. The two Consuls began their
reign by employing a vast amount of ceremony and form in order to
accomplish a few quite arbitrary acts. The majority of these were
directed against the Spaniards, who, suffering now from the swing of the
pendulum of fate, were as much oppressed as they had formerly oppressed.
Indeed, the situation of those Spaniards who still remained in Paraguay
was now pitiable in the extreme. Persecuted on all sides by the high
officials, they could expect, in the face of an example such as this,
scant consideration from the populace.

In the year 1814 Francia determined that the time had come when he could
dispense with the services of his colleague, Yegros. By means of a _coup
d'etat_ he packed the Congress, and succeeded in intimidating his
adversaries. As a result, he was named Dictator of Paraguay for a period
of three years, notwithstanding a counter-move on the part of the
military followers of Yegros. This was calmed by Yegros himself. In a
moment of considerable generosity this latter pacified the officers and
the troops, and thus left the way clear for Dr. Francia.

At this period the new Dictator again gave evidence of his curiously
complex character. Congress, anxious to please the new ruler, whose
power of domination had already become so evident, had allotted to His
Excellency the Dictator an annual allowance of 9,000 piastres. Francia
definitely refused to accept more than one-third of this, and, moreover,
continued firm in his refusal, alleging