Cradled in revolution and nurtured with difficulty under the most adverse conditions, the intellectual life of Bolivia has, in spite of all obstacles, developed in both strength and beauty. In literature, oratory, art, and music the nation has given proof of surprising activity. Under Spanish rule, books were almost an unknown luxury, and with the exception of the few that were brought into the country surreptitiously from time to time, prayer books and the lives of the saints constituted all the literature to be obtained. One of the earliest influences in bringing about the War of Independence in South America was the secret distribution among the educated classes, and particularly among the students of the University of Chuquisaca, of the books written by Voltaire and the Encyclopædists, and brought over to America by wealthy people of Chuquisaca and Potosí, who, while visiting the French capital,—then, as now, the Mecca of wealthy South Americans,—had imbibed the liberal ideas so popular in France in the latter half of the eighteenth century, ideas which lighted the first spark in the mighty social conflagration that wrecked the aristocratic institutions of France, and illumined the political skies of two continents in the reflection of its blaze. But the majority of the people had little opportunity and less training for the appreciation of literature, and all efforts toward literary expression were confined to religious writers. Then, for half a century after the establishment of the republic, the unsettled political and social conditions were not favorable to intellectual development, so that it is only within a quarter of a century, or less, that Bolivian literature, art, and music have received uninterrupted encouragement.

But at every period of the nation’s history there have been writers of talent, orators who have thrilled by the grace and fluency of their magnetic speech, and earnest students of art and music. Poets have sung their sweet carols amid the smoke of the battlefield and under the harsh discipline of poverty and neglect. Indeed it seems that adversity is often the friend of poetic inspiration, and that the poet was right who said:

If art and letters flourish best among the nations which enjoy peace and prosperity, the genius that inspires them does not always develop under the same conditions in the individual. The muse is oftener wooed by the sorrowful than the gay, and her kindest smile is not for the palace of pleasure and mirth, but for the soul that is lonely. The merriest stanzas are written with heartache or in bitterness of spirit, and the world is charmed by epigrams that have blossomed out of mental and moral anguish. Probably the time of peace and plenty is more propitious for poetry, because it comes after a period filled with events and marked by conditions that make poets and philosophers out of all available mentality.

Don Ricardo Bustamente, who, according to a distinguished Spanish critic, was the chief of Bolivian poets, wrote the best of his inspired verses just after the most unsettled period of the republic. He wrote only as a pastime or a distraction from the duties of a busy statesman and diplomat, for he filled important offices of the government, both at home and abroad, at one time occupying the office of Cabinet minister. One of his later poems, regarded by some as his masterpiece, is an epic entitled Hispano-America Libertada, which he published in 1883, on the occasion of the centenary of Bolivar, in homage to the memory of the great liberator. Don Mariano Ricardo Terrazas, author of The Siege of Paris and Mysteries of the Heart, and Manuel José Cortés, contemporaries of Bustamente, wrote better prose than poetry, but the unhappy poet Galindo, the poet Tovar, and Luis Vila are remembered among the noted writers of verse. The same period gave to posterity the poet Don Mariano Ramallo, who like Bustamente, wrote only in rare intervals of leisure, his duties as minister of the Supreme Court occupying most of his time. He was devoted to literature and founded a society, La Colmena, to which the aspirants to literary fame were proud to belong. He was a journalist of considerable talent, the editor of the Official Gazette during the administration of General Ballivian, and later editor-in-chief of La Epoca, the first and one of the most important dailies of Bolivia. Don Felix Reyes Ortiz, a contemporary of Bustamente and Ramallo, was not only a graceful writer of poetry, but a brilliant orator, a journalist, and a literary critic of distinguished ability, and one of the ablest jurists of his time. His versatility was remarkable. Like Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna, of Chile, he seemed to possess the gift of prolific genius, and his writings include political essays, poetical compositions, and books on religion, law, and education, besides editorial articles on an infinite variety of subjects published in numerous newspapers of which he was the founder and editor. He also published several statistical works, and was president of the Circulo Literario of La Paz, one of the many societies organized by the littérateurs of Bolivia. Don Serapio Reyes Ortiz, a brother of Don Felix, is also to be counted among the intellectual leaders of his country, though noted more particularly as a diplomatist and jurist than as a writer. Few Bolivians have contributed in a greater degree to the intellectual advancement of their country, and none has been more constantly identified with its history in the past thirty years, during which he has held office as minister of foreign affairs, president of the council of state, minister plenipotentiary to Peru, and vice-president of the republic.

Prominent among those who have rendered important services to the state as well as to literature, Don José Rosendo Gutierrez is remembered as a lawyer of great talent, a diplomat and one of the best known Bolivian writers. Having acquired a large fortune in the practice of law, Señor Gutierrez was able, in his later years, to gratify a long-cherished desire to collect a library of Bolivian literature, and at his death he left as a bequest to his daughter, Señora Doña Hortensia Gutierrez de Pinilla, one of the most complete collections extant of books on Bolivia. The work to which he devoted the last years of his life was the compilation of a Bolivian bibliography, for which he secured a list of two thousand books and pamphlets, about seventy-five per cent being pamphlets, nearly all of them written by Bolivians. Political literature predominates, then follow, in the order of production, novels, legends, and miscellany, there being comparatively little of a historical or scientific character. The immense service rendered to the intellectual interests of the country by this collection and tabulation of the national literature can hardly be estimated. The plan of the work is divided into three parts, the first of which embraces all books and pamphlets published in Bolivia, or on subjects relating to Bolivia from the year 1825 to the present day; the second comprises all periodicals, with notices as to their duration, objects, contributions, etc.; and the third includes all South American publications written by South Americans which require to be consulted in a study of the races, customs, and institutions of the country. During a career of unusual activity, Señor Gutierrez still found time to write verse, and his Songs at the Foot of Illimani are gems of sentiment. He was senator for La Paz during the last years of his life. He had the honor to receive more foreign decorations and titles than any other Bolivian, being Commendador of the Order of the Rose, Chevalier of the Order of Leopold, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and a member of many historic and geographic societies. He was a self-made man, having begun life amid the most adverse circumstances, and achieving by his own efforts the highest honors paid to intellect and moral character.

Another noted bibliophilist, Don Vicente Ballivian y Rojas, has rendered invaluable service to his country by the collection and publication of manuscripts written on the history of colonial times and of the earlier years of the republic. Owing to blindness, the enthusiastic scholar was obliged to give up his work after finishing the first volume of the Archivo Boliviano, which was published in Paris in 1872. Señor Ballivian y Rojas was the first of his countrymen to undertake this kind of work, in which he has been succeeded by many others. The present minister of colonization and agriculture, Don Manuel Vicente Ballivian, is, like his illustrious father, a bibliophilist. He has collected everything written on the subject of his country that is of value for reference and general reading, and the Geographic Society of La Paz, of which he is president, has a complete library of information on Bolivia, whose most important works are those written by himself.

Don Gabriel Réné Moreno, a native of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, who has been for many years a resident of Santiago, Chile, where he is librarian of the Instituto Nacional, and Don Samuel Velasco Flor, of Potosí, who resided in Sucre for a long time before his death, each in his own way collected books on Bolivia or of Bolivian authorship, and accumulated large and useful libraries. Señor Velasco Flor was not only a bibliophilist, but a linguist, and had a perfect knowledge of the Quichua language, a rare accomplishment even in Peru and Bolivia. Few scholars have devoted special attention to the primitive languages of the country, and those who have undertaken this task deserve great credit. The illustrious Bishop of La Paz, Dr. Nicolás Armentia, possesses probably a more extensive knowledge of the languages and dialects of the various Indian tribes in Bolivia than any of his fellow countrymen. He has travelled through the wilds of the interior, between the Beni and the Madre de Dios rivers, having made the navigation of the Beni to its source, “with his bundle of clothes, his food, and his sextant strapped on his shoulders, his breviary in one hand and compass in the other,” says his biographer, Carlos Bravo. The many years which he devoted to missionary work in the Acre region, and to establishing missions in the most remote districts, also afforded great opportunity for study. As the fruit of his journeys he has written several important books, of which Lenguas Americanas is one of especial value to students of philology and ethnology. The Church has among her most illustrious dignitaries several writers and orators of extraordinary talent. The late Archbishop of La Plata, Dr. Miguel Taborga, was a classical scholar and a member of the Spanish Royal Academy; he was a noted polemist, and had no rival in the press or in public debate. As Archbishop of La Plata and senator for the department of Potosí, he was a power in ecclesiastical and political circles; and when his learned predecessor, Archbishop Puch, who, like himself, was a native of Sucre and one of the brilliant orators and writers of Bolivia, was called to Rome to attend the Council of the Vatican in 1869, the then Canon Taborga accompanied him, receiving many honors in Italy, Spain, and France, where his intellectual talent had become known. He wrote articles for the chief Catholic reviews of Europe, in addition to editing El Cruzado, the principal organ of the Church in his own country.

Potosí has the honor of giving to the nation several of her most gifted writers, orators, and politicians, among them Don Tomás Frias, the Jefferson of Bolivian democracy, whose memory is treasured with great affection by his countrymen. Twice he was called to the office of chief executive, though he never coveted the honor; he was noted for his integrity and industry, as well as for his intellectual genius. A contemporary of the grand-marshal of Ayacucho, having been born in 1804, he lived to battle for the best principles of republican government through a long lifetime, closing his distinguished career in exile, after the coup d’état of General Daza, which, as previously stated, deprived Bolivia’s “Grand Old Man” of the supreme magistracy in 1876, his death following, in Florence, Italy, in 1884. As soldier, financier, diplomatist, minister of state, and president of the republic, his arduous duties afforded him little leisure. Yet he constantly wrote articles and pamphlets on political subjects, his style being clear and concise, as it was in speaking. He was an orator who convinced as much by the force of his logic as by the vigor of his diction.

It is often said of the Latin-American that he is a born orator, to whom the demand for a speech is as easily complied with as a request for the time of day; given the inspiration of an attentive audience, whether on the floor of Congress, in the balcony overlooking the plaza, or at the much-favored banquete, his native gift of language leads him away into realms of oratorical imagery, far beyond the “ken” of the stuttering Saxon, through which admiring listeners follow until a particularly well-rounded period brings a picturesque or startling climax and the spell is broken by an enthusiastic Viva! or a more dramatic demonstration. The middle of the last century produced in Bolivia some of the most brilliant diplomats and orators in the history of Spanish America. Casimiro Olañeta, who is regarded as having been among the best public speakers of his day, and Evaristo Valle, whose eloquence was the pride of his friends and the despair of his enemies, were but two of a brilliant galaxy of polemists who made the forum largely responsible for the kaleidoscopic changes which affected Bolivian politics during the first twenty-five or thirty years of the republic.

Not less distinguished as an orator, and regarded by many of his countrymen as entitled to the highest place among the statesmen and diplomats of the republic, Don Rafael Bustillo belonged to the group of leaders in politics who contributed to the strength and stability of the government during the most trying period of its history. First appointed minister in the cabinet of President Belzu, he was afterward minister in the cabinets of Presidents Achá and Adolfo Ballivian, his place in Ballivian’s cabinet being filled after his death, in 1873, by Pantaleón Dalence, Bolivia’s most famous finance minister, who was later made president of the Supreme Court. Rafael Bustillo was not only an orator of remarkable talent, but a writer also, as were many of the public men of his time. Don Lucas Mendoza de La Tapia, also an orator, was, like Bustillo, a prominent participant in the events of the troublous period preceding the government of President Adolfo Ballivian; he was associated with the revolutionary movement which finally overthrew President Melgarejo, and later he advocated in Congress, with the eloquent oratory of which he was master, the system of federal government for Bolivia. He was opposed by Evaristo Valle, and the clash of these two brilliant wits made the sessions particularly interesting. It would be impossible to indicate, among many really gifted orators, those to whom the nation is most indebted for political reforms. Eloquence is confined to no party or clique, and in every administration there have been leaders, both in the government and in the opposition, who have held their audiences in thrall. Julio Mendez, Juan Crisostomo Carillo, Jorge Oblitas, Casimiro Corral, Mariano Reyes Cardona, Antonio Quijarro, and others, through the force of brilliant intellect and patriotic sentiment, have rendered invaluable services to their country. Julio Mendez, not only as an orator, but as a diplomat of superior talent and a skilful journalist, has contributed to bring about notable political reforms.

Conspicuous among these fiery controversialists, but rather because of the contrast which marked his style in debate, Don Mariano Baptista has been compared to Castelar as an orator, brilliant, calm, and persuasive. Beginning his career in the early fifties, he has lived to see the development of a sound political system out of the warring elements, which at one time threatened the stability of the republic. A statesman and diplomat, he has served his country as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, as senator, minister plenipotentiary, member of the Cabinet, vice-president and president of the republic. A staunch conservative in politics, he became the leader of his party and has never wavered from the principles adopted at the outset of his career, when, as the political supporter and faithful friend of the dictator Linares, he accompanied his beloved chief into exile and closed his eyes in the last sleep. One of the most distinguished figures among the intellectual leaders of his country, he possesses rare gifts of mind and heart, and is noted for decision of character and loyalty to his principles. He has visited most of the countries of the Old and New World, where he had an opportunity of studying society and politics under all forms.

Don Nataniel Aguirre was one of the leading statesmen and orators of his day, and quite the greatest historical novelist of Bolivia. He was born in Cochabamba in 1843, and, like his father, Miguel Maria de Aguirre, who was a famous political leader, he began his public career at an early age. While still in his teens he took his degree in the university and began the practice of law. Ten years later he was elected a deputy to the national Congress, where he became a central figure in the debates, his advanced ideas, enthusiasm, and eloquence distinguishing him as a man of mark. He belonged to the federalist party of which La Tapia was the chief, and which found its strongest supporters in Cochabamba and La Paz. When the War of the Pacific began he was called from the prefecture of Cochabamba to the ministry of war, and he directed the organization of the army sent to repel the Chilean invasion. He was president of the national convention of 1880, which proclaimed the national constitution as it now stands. After a career of extraordinary brilliancy, he died at the early age of forty-five, while on his way to Brazil to represent his government at the imperial court of the Emperor Dom Pedro II. As a writer, and particularly as a novelist, Nataniel Aguirre ranks among the best, not only in Bolivia, but throughout South America, and the celebrated Argentine statesman and critic, Bartolomé Mitre wrote of his novel Juan de la Rosa, a romance of the Independence, that it is “the most beautiful production of talent and good taste in romance that South America can claim.” It is remarkable that no copy of this novel can be found in the book stores of Bolivia, so pronounced is the preference here as in all South American countries for French literature before even the best Spanish productions. The “prophet without honor in his own country” seems a universal example of at least one shortcoming of humanity. Nataniel Aguirre is the author of other charming books, chiefly histories and historical novels, all of which are out of print, only a few copies remaining in the possession of friends and literary admirers. One feels tempted to make a severe criticism of this failure to popularize the works of native authors; but it must be remembered that the best North American writers received their first recognition in England, and one of the most popular of English novels, Trilby, won fame for the author in America before it was counted among the successes in London book shops. Another temptation to criticism is excited by the fact that although there are many able and entertaining writers on historical subjects, no adequate history of Bolivia has yet been written. In some cases the modesty of the author has forbidden him to claim even as much honor for his work as it deserves; and excellent histories of certain periods have been published as Studies, Compendiums, Essays, and merely Notes. Apparently, however, few have been able to write without strong prejudices. Nearly all the principal historical works give evidence of marked talent for description. J. M. Cortés, the author of an Essay on the History of Bolivia, and L. M. Guzmán, author of an Elementary History of Bolivia, are among the most important writers on general events. José Maria Camacho and José Macedonio Urquidi have written school histories of considerable value. The government is trying to stimulate ambition in this direction by offering an important premium for the best history of Bolivia. Several historical writers have devoted their attention to some particular period and have produced biographical and political essays of real merit.

Dr. José Maria Santiváñez, in common with most of the noted writers of his country, was a politician and a diplomat, as well as a historian of distinction. Born in 1815, he belonged to the “turbulent period” of Bolivian politics. He was a deputy to Congress during the administration of General José Ballivian and, later, during that of President Córdova. President Linares appointed him Prefect of Sucre and, later, Prefect of La Paz. Recognizing his gifts as a diplomatist, President Linares soon afterward sent him as chargé d’affaires to Chile, where he remained only until the downfall of Linares and the election of General Achá to the presidency. He opposed the tyrannical government of Melgarejo, and, being defeated, left the country, and remained away two years. He was a candidate for the presidency at the close of Tomás Frias’s term, and would have been elected but for the revolution which gave its leader, General Daza, the opportunity to seize the executive power. In the celebrated convention of 1880 he was a leading participant, as the representative from Cochabamba. His biographies of General José Ballivian and Don Adolfo Ballivian are among the most important historical works of his time. He wrote also on boundary questions, public instruction, finance, and other subjects. He died in Cochabamba in 1898, aged eighty-three years.

Belisario Salinas, a contemporary of Dr. Santiváñez, and a candidate at the same time for the presidency, is another brilliant statesman who has contributed to the national literature. Although defeated by Daza, he was vice-president, and acting president for a time, during General Campero’s administration. The government of General Daza allowed little freedom of opinion to writers, and two authors, Jenaro Sanjinés and Nicolás Acosta, were imprisoned for ardently defending municipal rights. Don Jenaro Sanjinés, a statesman of distinction, like José Maria Santiváñez, has also written important biographies. His most valuable works are Notes on the History of Bolivia during the Administration of General Agustin Morales and Notes on the History of Bolivia during the Administrations of Don Adolfo Ballivian and Don Tomás Frias. The Sanjinés family, of which there are branches in Sucre, Cochabamba, and La Paz, is one of the most gifted in Bolivia. Ignacio de Sanjinés wrote the words of the national hymn during the administration of General Santa Cruz; General Ildefonso Sanjinés was minister of war under President Morales, and a leading politician; Saturnino Sanjinés, who died in Sucre in 1893, was president of the Supreme Court of the republic, and a learned writer on jurisprudence; Bernardo Sanjinés has written important works on industrial development; Victor Sanjinés, postmaster-general, and Abigail Sanjinés, eldest son of the historian, the Bolivian consul-general in New York since May, 1906, are among the leading politicians and journalists. The government of the dictator Linares is the subject of an interesting biography by Antonio Quijarro, a Potosino. Quijarro belonged to the period of the great Olañeta, with whom he was associated in the publication of El Siglo, in company with the poets Daniel Calvo and Ricardo Mujia, to whom Bolivia owes many inspired verses; Ricardo Mujia is held by some critics as the best Bolivian poet.

The city of Potosí has been the centre of numerous important political events, from the time when the Vascongados and the Vicuñas fought their battles there until the present day. A history of the city has been written in charming style by J. L. Jaimes, who, as “Brocha Gorda,” contributes to the best literary periodicals of South America. His work on Potosí contains historical anecdotes, traditions, and legends of the Imperial City, and is a valuable acquisition to the bibliography of the country. Potosí furnishes a fertile field for romance and legend, and many important writings of this character have been collected and published by Modesto Omiste, of Potosí, himself a clever author. With the title of Cronicas Potosinas, he has put into four volumes the best stories of the Villa Imperial, written by South Americans. Ricardo Palma, the Peruvian writer, the most celebrated of Latin-Americans in this class of literature, contributes more than a dozen traditions. Vicente G. Quesada, Nataniel Aguirre, Benjamin and Fidel Rivas, Benjamin Blanco, Manuel J. Cortés, J. M. Camacho, Julio César Valdez, “Brocha Gorda,” Luis Manzano, José David Berrios, Pedro Calderón, Emilio Fernandez, Angel Diez de Medina, have written gems for the collection. José Manuel Aponte, in addition to writing several of the Potosí legends, has devoted his talent to historical description, and published recently an interesting account of the Acre revolution. Juan W. Chacon, a Potosino who knows his Cerro as the Londoner knows his Strand, adds greatly to the value of the Cronicas Potosinas, by numerous contributions, sentimental and satirical, among them a clever commentary on feminine vanity and its punishment in the tradition Lo que puede una mujer—“What a woman can do.” La Paz, as well as Potosí, has been the subject of historical and romantic essays and sketches, the best of these being the Monografia de la Ciudad de La Paz, by Luis Crespo, who gives an entertaining history of the chief events which have occurred in the city from the conquest to the present day. Nicolás Acosta’s Guide to La Paz is a useful book of reference. Eufronio Viscarra is the author of an interesting history of Cochabamba.

The history of Sucre has been entertainingly and carefully written by Dr. Valentin Abecia, the second vice-president of the republic, with the title of Historia de Chuquisaca, under which it first appeared in the bulletin of the Geographical Society of Sucre, preparatory to publication in book form. It is a complete and authentic history of the capital of the Audiencia of Charcas, and as such is probably the most important historical work published on Bolivia in recent years. Dr. Abecia is a leader in the intellectual progress of his country, and has contributed to its advancement in science as well as in literature and politics. He is a medical authority of the first rank and has written important treatises on this subject; other noted writers on medical science are Drs. Julio La Faye, Andrés Muñoz, Isaac Aranibar, Cuellar, Quiroga, and Julio Rodriguez. The study of medical science has been greatly stimulated within recent years, though it shows less progress than might be expected. Dr. Rodriguez, who is now senator for the department of Cochabamba, has been conspicuous not only in medical but political circles for the past thirty years or more. He was recently named minister plenipotentiary to Argentina, but was obliged to return and resign his post on account of illness. He was educated in the Medical College of Sucre, and has been professor of pathology and a member of the University Council of Cochabamba for many years.

A study of the biographies of Bolivia’s leading men in all branches of learning reveals the fact that they have at some period of their careers filled government positions. Politics may be regarded as the great highway of intellectual progress, into which have thronged poets, orators, journalists, historians, scientists, and lawyers, in search of fame and fortune. Patriotism has been the keynote of poetry, oratory, and journalism; the historian has written for his party rather than for posterity; science has made slow progress chiefly because it is not easily associated with party politics, except in an impersonal way; though it is true that some of the best literature of Bolivia is that which relates to the science of government. Law, philosophy, and political economy have been treated by the best scholars of Bolivia, and of these a few may be named who rank as high in their profession as the best of their South American colleagues. The late Don Samuel Oropeza, by whose recent death in Sucre the nation lost one of her greatest jurists and most devoted patriots, was the author of important works, of which Studies of Modern Science and Political Economy are the best known. He wrote also on Bolivian Finances and a multitude of other subjects, and possessed that rare gift of versatility which always affords a wide range for the expression of intellectual genius. Federico Diez de Medina has written a work, International Law, which the best European critics commend; and Agustin Aspiazu is the author of Dogmas of International Law, a production of considerable importance, published in New York in 1872. José S. Quinteros, the present minister of war, is one of the best writers on jurisprudence, and his Administrative Law is regarded as a work of great merit. José Manuel Gutierrez, author and journalist, wrote Public Law. Macario Pinilla, one of the foremost leaders of the government, and a lawyer of distinguished talents, who has the honor to be a member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence, of Madrid, is the author of several works on jurisprudence. Angel Moscoso is the author of a dictionary of jurisprudence; and Bautista Saavedra has published, among other scientific books, an interesting study of criminology. Melchor Urquidi writes on penal law, and Daniel Sanchez Bustamente, on Principles of Law. Antonio Loaiza, Rafael Canedo, Luis Arce, and others have contributed meritorious works on jurisprudence. Nearly all of the best works on scientific subjects have been written within the past twenty years, and the younger lawyers and politicians appear ambitious to raise the standard of national literature pertaining to law.

The vital question of boundaries, which has been an insistent and sometimes absorbing one in the history of Bolivia, has been the means of calling out especial talent, not only among the country’s diplomatic representatives, but among the writers as well. The “literature of limits” is almost a complete library in itself, touching upon law, history, geography, science, and a multitude of kindred subjects. It serves as a valuable reference library for posterity. Some of the most noted explorers have been the leading statesmen of the republic. Ex-President General José Manuel Pando has written an extremely entertaining and instructive description of his voyage to the rubber region, and is the author of many works of interest on the geography of the Territorio de Colonias, of which he is the present chief authority. Manuel Vicente Ballivian, the minister of immigration and agriculture, has written extensive reports of his journey to the Acre region. Don Felix Avelino Aramayo, Bolivia’s most noted “captain of industry,” and one of the leading diplomats, is the author of several works on Bolivian industries. For six years Señor Aramayo represented his country at the Court of Saint James, from 1897 to 1903, rendering important services to his government during that period. Previously he had been identified with politics as deputy to Congress; and in the famous Congress of 1880, which was convened by President Campero to reconstitute the Bolivian government in the face of the war with Chile, he took an active part in framing the new constitution. While minister in London, Señor Aramayo had on his staff as secretaries and attachés the brilliant and promising young diplomats, Ignacio Gutierrez Ponce, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor; Adolfo Ballivian, the son of the late president; Pedro Suarez, a plucky explorer of the Amazon tributaries; and Ramon Pando, the son of ex-President Pando. There is probably no writer on industrial conditions in Bolivia who has contributed valuable and comprehensive information in a more readable style.

Federico Blanco has written a charming book, which gives the biographies of the various naturalists and other explorers who have visited the Amazon region. The Blanco family have been identified with Bolivian literature, geography, and history from the time of the Independence, contributing greatly to intellectual advancement. Federico, Pedro, Benjamin, and Cleómedes will be held in honored remembrance for their superior gifts. Among the native explorers who have written on boundary questions, Francisco Iraizós is a recognized authority, as well as Daniel Campos, who in 1883 led an expedition to the Gran Chaco and founded colonies on the banks of the Paraguay River. Ernesto O. Ruck, the author of a general guide to Bolivia, has accumulated and compiled valuable material for general reference. Pedro Kramer, a clever author and scientist who lost his life while exploring the Amazon region, left the first volume of a work on Industry in Bolivia, and the first volume of a history of Bolivia, which it is lamented that he did not live to complete. Octavio Moscoso is the author of a geography of Bolivia, and J. A. Palacios has given to posterity a most entertaining description of explorations made sixty years ago in the territory of the Beni, Mamoré, and Madeira Rivers. The latest edition of his works contains also those of his grandson, Abel Iturralde, with a scientific study of the waterways of northwest Bolivia. Santiago Vaca-Guzmán, the author of many books on a variety of subjects, writes also of the Chaco Oriental. Don José Aguirre Achá, who accompanied General Pando on his expedition to the Acre, is the author of a description of the journey in a book entitled From the Andes to the Amazon. He is not only a rising young politician, being oficial mayor in the ministerio of government and promotion, and a prose writer of distinguished talent, but is also a poet of great promise, inheriting the versatile genius of his father, the immortal Nataniel Aguirre. Nearly all Bolivian writers have contributed verse to the national literature, and have also been identified with political life. That politics and letters go nearly always hand in hand is not to be wondered at in a country of limited population, with only a small leisure class to encourage the development of purely intellectual talent. The pursuit of literature, even in the more remunerative highways, is a precarious career, unless supported by ample fortune or an assured income from some other source. This is true not only of Bolivia, but, more or less, of all countries.

Journalism has been, and still is, a popular stepping-stone to young politicians, and the most brilliant statesmen and diplomats of Bolivia have, with few exceptions, been connected with newspaper work at some period of their career. The Bolivian newspaper is still a political organ rather than a purveyor of news, in this respect resembling the majority of South American journals. On the other hand, it is free from the abhorrent features of a press over zealous to give to the public the minute details of every occurrence in society, however loathsome they may be. On the whole, the Bolivian newspaper with its brief paragraphs of cable news, its more or less limited account of the day’s events at home, and its predominating political features, with, perhaps, a poem or two to give it literary flavor, is to be preferred by the normal mind to the sensational columns, glaring headlines, inartistic and altogether absurd illustrations, and bulky advertising pages of the extreme type of metropolitan dailies in North America.

Although the printing press was prohibited in the colonies during Spanish rule, except for the use of the Church in promoting Christian propaganda, the patriots succeeded in establishing a periodical during the War of the Independence, El Telégrafo being founded in 1822. The first daily paper published in the republic was La Epoca, of La Paz, which was founded soon after the war, and counted among its editors at one time the brilliant Argentine writer Bartolomé Mitre. During the administration of General José Ballivian it was edited by A. Quintela, Domingo Oro, and Mitre. Later, the famous journalist and diplomat Felix Reyes Ortiz took the editorial management. This gifted writer was the founder and editor of at least half a dozen newspapers, among others, El Constitucional, La Voz de Bolivia, El Consejero del Pueblo, and a humorous journal, El Padre Cobo. He edited La Reforma, of La Paz, and was president of the Circulo Literario, a society founded in La Paz for the promotion of literature. The leading writers of Sucre had also their literary society, called La Colmena, meaning “the beehive,” to which the poets and journalists of the day belonged. It was organized in the house of the poet Mariano Ramallo, and counted among its members the most prominent men of the capital. The literary organ of the society was named La Colmena de Sucre, in which the best prose and poetry was published and reviewed. Among the earliest periodicals of Bolivia was La Estrella, of Sucre, founded during the first years of the republic, and edited for a long time by Don Domingo Delgadillo, who began his public career during the administration of President Sucre, and was a member of President José Ballivian’s Cabinet, in company with Don Tomás Frias, Don Basilio Cuellar, General Perez de Urdininea, all prominent in the politics of that time. El Siglo was the name of another periodical of Sucre, founded in the early fifties, and in 1863 La Aurora Literaria was added to the list of Sucre’s literary journals. Don Jorge Delgadillo founded the last-named journal, and associated with him in its publication were Don Belisario Loza Santa Cruz, afterward editor of La Estrella, Don Mariano Ramallo, the poet, and Don Luis Pablo Rosquellas, one of the brilliant writers, who was also a statesman of distinction as minister of the Supreme Court of the republic. Jorge Delgadillo was the founder of La Juventud, La Abeja, and La Floresta. In 1857 the Boletin Republicano was founded by Don Daniel Calvo to support the government of the dictator Linares. Daniel Calvo has been called the Lamartine of his country. He was not only a poet and journalist, but a clever statesman, having been a minister in the Cabinet of President Adolfo Ballivian and his successor, Tomás Frias, a deputy to several Congresses, a leader in the national convention of 1880. He was the author of a beautiful legend in verse, Ana Dorset, and of many graceful sonnets. Another poet, Dr. Luis Zalles, president of the Superior Court of La Paz, was the founder of several periodicals, and is greatly esteemed as a writer of both prose and verse.

La Revista and La Razon, of Cochabamba, were among the best periodicals of the day, twenty years ago. Nataniel Aguirre and other leading writers contributed to their columns. General Camacho founded El Cazador in the same city. El Heraldo, of Cochabamba, founded in 1877 by Don Juan Francisco Velarde, is still published by him, and has a general circulation in the department. The founder and editor is one of the best-known journalists of Bolivia. A native of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, he has occupied important posts in the service of his country at home and abroad. He was minister of foreign affairs in President Pacheco’s Cabinet, and minister to Brazil during President Arce’s government. He has been to the United States several times in a diplomatic capacity. El Tiempo, of Potosí, founded by Modesto Omiste some years ago, is still in existence, though most of the newspapers and periodicals named in the preceding list have given place to others. El Cruzado, the Church paper, which was founded many years ago by Dr. Miguel Taborga, and edited by him until his death, is among the few which have survived and increased in circulation and prestige.

The history of Bolivian literature was written some years ago by Santiago Vaca-Guzmán, one of Bolivia’s best poets and novelists; but like so many other literary productions of Bolivian authors, the book is out of print, and not a copy is to be had, unless, by rare chance, some friend of the author may have preserved one. The greatest difficulty is experienced in Bolivia in securing copies of even the best books, as only very limited editions have been printed, and these seem to have vanished in an amazing manner; it is true that books are published at the author’s expense, and few authors care to assume the responsibility of disposing of a large stock.

New literary societies have succeeded La Colmena, and its journal no longer exists. Sucre now has a Centro Literario and an excellent literary review, Vida Nueva, printed in colors and handsomely illustrated, which is one of the most creditable productions of periodical literature in South America. It is edited by a group of young poets who have contributed gems of prose and verse to the national literature. Adolfo Guardia Berdecio, Armando D. Alvarez, Claudio Peñaranda, and José A. de Jáuregui are the editors, and among the contributors are writers of note from all parts of the republic. Chief of these is the poet Tomás O’Connor d’Arlach, senator from Tarija, who himself founded and edited at least two periodicals; one of them, La Estrella de Tarija, is still in existence, though the other, El Independiente, of Sucre, suspended publication some years ago. He has been a contributor to the literature of his country for thirty years or more, during which he has written history, biography, and poetry with prolific pen. His style is graceful, though his poetic composition is delicate rather than vigorous, and is suggestive, in its sadness, of “the throne where sorrow sits.”

Vida Nueva is distinctly a modern periodical, and the outlook is bright for its permanent success. Prominent among the collaborators is Mariano Enrique Calvo, regarded by many as the best prose writer of Bolivia. Julio Zamora, deputy from Chuquisaca to the national Congress, who is also one of the principal collaborators, has written articles for the best periodicals during the past ten years, and, though a young man, has made his influence felt in literary circles as well as in politics. El Eco Moderno, La Revista de Bolivia, La Nacion, and other journals have published essays and poems from his pen. Angel Diez de Medina, Andrés Torrico, Jorge Mendieta, Benjamin Guzmán, C. Guillermo Loaiza, Réné Calvo Arana, José Raña, Alfredo Jáuregui Rosquellas, Juan Manuel Sainz, and the editors of Vida Nueva, previously mentioned, are among the nation’s writers of prose and poetry. There are more than fifty writers of verse in Bolivia, of whose genius a Spanish critic says: “Generally, the Bolivian muse is incorrect; but she has inspiration and brilliancy, and is sincerely impassioned.” The most recent novel of note written by a Bolivian author is Vida Criolla, by Alcides Arguedas.

The oldest newspaper now published in La Paz is El Comercio, though there are, in all, twenty-five periodicals issued regularly in that city, the principal dailies being El Comercio, El Comercio de Bolivia, El Diario, and El Estado. As La Paz is the centre of political interest, being the seat of government, journalism is even more flavored with politics here than elsewhere, and the leading journalists are frequently politicians. Dr. Luis Salinas Vega, a familiar figure in social and political circles, was the founder of El Comercio de Bolivia, and may be regarded as the Nestor of the Bolivian press. Don Alfredo Ascarrunz, editor of El Comercio, is a diplomatist and an orator of distinguished ability. Don Carlos Villegas, editor of El Comercio de Bolivia, and Don Abel Alarcon, editor of El Diario and director of the National Library, are prominent in public affairs. The Circulo Literario no longer exists, and La Revista, which ten years ago was the flourishing organ of the Centro de Estudios, under the editorial management of Don Hiram Loaiza and Don Juan Mas, has been suspended; but a clever little bibelot is published, called Tentativas, which keeps alive literary sentiment in the City of Peace. Oruro has two daily papers, El Tribuno and La Tarde; Cochabamba has several, El Dia, edited by Don Bráulio Pinto, being one of the most important; La Capital, La Industria and La Mañana are the chief dailies of Sucre; El Tiempo of Potosí, La Ley of Santa Cruz, and La Estrella of Tarija, complete the list.