ht of a barrel before a door, the owner of
the cask was made to suffer severely on account of the nerves of the
Dictator's steed!

Paraguay gradually became more and more a hermit State under the rule of
this despot. It was difficult in the extreme to enter the country, but,
having once passed its frontiers, it was harder still to return. Forts
were established along the borders, and the rivers were strictly
policed. A strict watch was kept on all travellers, and none might move
from spot to spot without being in possession of a passport especially
granted by the Dictator. Some there were who attempted to make their way
from the now dreaded country through the vast swamps of the Chaco, but
death at the hands of the Indians or the teeth of the wild beasts was
the usual result.

It was inevitable that stagnation of commerce should have ensued, but
the traders by this time no longer dared to complain openly. Francia
himself, so long as he had the State to govern, cared little whether its
people were rich or poor. As for the unfortunate Spaniards in Paraguay,
the enactments against them became more and more severe. As evidence of
his supreme contempt for these Europeans, Francia issued a decree by
which they were forbidden to intermarry with a white woman. This
extraordinary measure shows the length to which this strange man carried
his tyranny, and how deeply was the hatred of the Spaniard implanted in
his queer and grim mind.

It is impossible, however, to go fully into the details of Francia's
autocratic reign, incredible as many of these are. The destruction of
the Church, the secularization of the monks, wholesale executions and
torturings, the suppression of the Post Office, and a hundred other acts
of irresponsible and childish tyranny--these are only some of the
episodes which characterized the days of his rule.

During all this while the power of the army grew until militarism became
rampant--militarism, that is to say, instigated by Francia, since no
officer or man of his troops dared move hand or finger unless commanded
by the Dictator himself. His title was now "Supremo Dictator Perpetuo de
la Republica del Paraguay" (Supreme and Perpetual Dictator of the
Republic of Paraguay).

This he retained until the day of his death, no man daring to dispute
for a single instant his perfect right to the title. Grim and
implacable, he continued his career unchallenged to the last.
Considering the circumstances, his vi