GENERAL PORFIRIO DIAZ
Of all the great men of the Mexico of to-day none has done more than
her present Chief Magistrate, perhaps none have done so much, to
advance her with giant strides but true in the paths of prosperity and
peace.
Porfirio Diaz was born September 15, 1830, in the City of Oaxaca, in
the state of the same name--the _vispera_ or evening before the
glorious anniversary of the national independence. His parents were
Don José Faustino Diaz and Doña Petrona Mory. Oaxaca has been styled
“the dwelling place of heroes in the garden of the gods,” “the Eden
of America,” “tomb of the conquerors and the cradle of patriots.”
The state, although mountainous, is rich in agricultural and mineral
productions.
Its scenery is grand, both temperate and tropical climates are found
there, and it is well adapted to be the cradle of sons who should be
the hope of the nation and who should raise aloft the standard of
liberty.
The ancestors of Porfirio Diaz were Spaniards who left their mother
country in the first years of the conquest. His father possessed in a
high degree all the natural qualities necessary to make him a patriot,
a soldier or statesman. He was tall, symmetrical, muscular and active
and carried himself in a manner indicating him to be a man of great
resolution. The son resembled his father and is most affable in his
manners, of a good heart and extremely generous, yet if an injury or
injustice is done him he resents it with the greatest determination and
energy. This quality exists in all great men who, while ever ready to
have justice done, are also prompt to punish evil. One who enters into
combat, whether physical or moral, will never come off conqueror unless
possessed of force and perseverance.
President Diaz’s mother, of the family of Morys, came from Asturias,
whose strong and valiant sons were noted for their independent spirit
and their ancient lineage, possessing the impetuosity of the Celts and
the frankness and integrity of the Goths. Her grandfather, a Spaniard,
married an Indian woman, who was General Diaz’s great-grandmother,
so that in the veins of Porfirio is mixed the blood of the proudest
provinces of Spain with that of the highest nations of America, as the
Miztecas were fully as advanced in civilization as were the Aztecas.
His father rented in Oaxaca the property known as the Meson de la
Soledad, where Porfirio was born. There were six other children, two
of whom died in infancy. In 1833, the Asiatic cholera invaded Mexico
and among its victims was Captain Diaz. This was a great blow to the
family, as the mother’s health was delicate and her children young,
but she had all the energy of her race, and at her husband’s death
she continued with the inn (_meson_) and showed in every way
great firmness and intelligence, maintaining with vigor in all her
acts her integrity as wife and mother. She possessed fine feelings,
was industrious and hospitable, courteous and dignified. With all her
modesty and delicate instincts she was brave, and in those tumultuous
times, if necessary, could use arms in defence of herself and children.
Her great desire was that her children should receive such intellectual
development as should fit them for any place which they should be
called to occupy.
Porfirio was in a primary school until he was seven years old.
At fourteen he entered the seminary directed by Roman Catholic
ecclesiastics. There were several reasons for his entering this
seminary rather than the Government institution of arts and sciences.
Business matters had not been prosperous with his mother, and little by
little, she was obliged to sell her belongings to maintain and educate
her family. In the seminary aid was rendered bright students. The
father had desired that his sons be educated for the church.
After studying for a time to prepare himself, he felt that he should
do something to aid his mother, whose means had become exhausted, and
he commenced to give lessons in his leisure hours. While doing this
he came in contact with Don Marcos Pérez, Judge of the Supreme Court
of the State and Professor in the Government Institute of Arts and
Sciences. He became very fond of Porfirio, whom he often took to the
institute, discussing with him the tendency of extending civil and
religious liberty.
One day Pérez invited him to be present at the distribution of prizes
in the Civil College of the State. The Governor, Benito Juarez, was
present and Porfirio was presented to him. Juarez had known Porfirio’s
father slightly, and had heard of the many efforts which the son
was making to get an education so as to be his mother’s staff and
comfort. The Governor spoke encouragingly and young Diaz found therein
the fountain of ambition and a source of desires, hopes and noble
aspirations.
As he realized the condition of his country he saw nothing but
perdition, the curse of Spain and the pernicious results of ill
directed efforts to force upon the Mexican people religion and European
civilization, and he resolved to consecrate his life to his country.
As a little boy in his play he had ever been a soldier, and had
always been made the leader or general by the other boys, so that his
inclinations to and capacity for a military life were early seen by his
friends.
When the war with the United States commenced in 1847, Porfirio’s heart
was filled with enthusiasm to fight for his country, and, with several
of his college mates, he petitioned the Governor to send them to the
front that they might help fight the enemy. Governor Guerque placed
their names on his list, and the youths were inscribed upon the roll
of the national guard, which consisted of one battalion, and which, by
reason of the extreme youth of those composing it, received the epithet
“Better than nothing.”
When Porfirio was nineteen and had finished his preparatory studies,
the Bishop offered to confer on him in the following year the lesser
orders, and to give him a scholarship. Diaz then declared his intention
of studying jurisprudence in the institute. The prelate was surprised
at a young man in needy circumstances disregarding such valuable aid.
It was considered a mad decision. His uncle, the Bishop, withdrew his
help and forbade him his house.
Maternal tears affected the heart of the affectionate son, and although
insensible to the counsels of the Bishop as also to his threats, he
promised to do as his mother desired. Although a pious and devoted
churchwoman, with great desires for his spiritual and temporal
prosperity, she did not wish to go contrary to his will and to oblige
or persuade him to follow a calling that would be disagreeable to him.
She left him free to follow his inclinations.
She lived long enough to see the practical wisdom of her son’s
determination, as after a few years came that blow which destroyed the
power of the Church and placed a limit upon its influence, while men of
intelligence and position found free scope in the profession of the law.
Porfirio Diaz entered the institute and commenced in a systematic
manner the study of jurisprudence, helping himself by teaching. Juarez,
who had not forgotten him, gave him the position of librarian. After
four years of study, having been elected assistant professor of Roman
law even before graduating, he had, in compliance with the law, to
enter a law office and practise two years, as the course of study
required.
[Illustration: SEÑORA DOÑA CARMEN ROMERO RUBIO DE DIAZ.]
During this time--1853--Santa Anna, who was made Dictator, improved
every opportunity to destroy his opponents, and Juarez was arrested
and taken to Vera Cruz, whence after receiving most cruel treatment
in prison, he embarked for Havana, going eventually to New Orleans to
live. His business affairs were passed over to his associate, Señor
Pérez, but the latter having been imprisoned shortly after for holding
correspondence with some of the opponents of Santa Anna, Porfirio Diaz
took sole charge. He gave proof of his honesty and activity and showed
great skill in the exercise of his profession.
Seeing the injustice exercised in voting for the Dictator, he and other
students were indignant at the unjustifiable display of power. However,
when he saw the frauds committed, the young patriot could support it no
longer, and he and one other went to the table where the negative list
was to be voted. An order was soon out for their arrest and they were
obliged to flee.
Shortly after Diaz was called to put into practice what he had learned
in his military drill, and, although only twenty-five, he was found
fully competent to direct soldiers, and in the mountains of the Mizteca
joined a small company of patriots, two or three hundred in number,
commanded by Captain Herrera, who opposed the Dictator. Herrera,
recognized his competency and took his advice. Soon after, though but
few in number and having but few arms and being but poorly disciplined,
they gained a victory at Scotongo over the large and well-disciplined
forces of Santa Anna.
When Santa Anna was overthrown and the Liberal Government was
established, Porfirio returned and was rewarded by being made Chief of
Police in the District of Ixtlan.
In 1857, he went out under Lieutenant-Colonel Velasco to put down an
uprising in Jamiltepec. In Ixcapax he was badly wounded, but seeing
that one of the lines was in great danger, with blood streaming from
his wounds, without heeding them, he went forward and with rare
military courage so diverted the enemy as to defeat them.
His mother died about the end of 1858, while he was in Tehuantepec.
Through all his vicissitudes he had ever been an affectionate and
obedient son, and her death caused him great sorrow.
It was in that year he went to Tehuantepec under General Ignacio Mexia
to fight Cobos, who was defeated at Jalapa, and while there he was left
as military commander of that district. He maintained the Government
in that region, contending against an enemy superior in strength,
without receiving aid from the General Government, and counting only
upon the resources that he himself knew how to obtain. He remained in
Tehuantepec two years, fighting almost every day against large odds.
Again he was wounded, but the victory was complete.
Discretion and prudence united to patriotism and noble aspirations have
ever been the base of his military character.
The extraction by a surgeon from the United States of a ball that he
had carried in his body for years, relieved him from the acute physical
suffering that he had so long endured. Soon after he received his
commission as lieutenant-colonel for a victory obtained in June, 1859,
in Mixtequilla. For another one gained in Tehuantepec in November,
1859, the Government rewarded him with the rank of colonel. On the 5th
of August, 1860, Diaz won another victory over Cobos in Oaxaca.
[Illustration: ESCORTING THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATIONAL
PALACE, 5TH OF MAY.]
Diaz loved above all things a military life, and could not bear the
thought of separating himself from the army. On the battlefield,
surrounded by his faithful companions, he experienced more than
anywhere else the pleasure of satisfied ambition. There he could
open up for himself a way without so greatly contending against the
jealousies and envy which might be encountered in legislative halls.
The hardships of war had been until now his sweets of life, and the
noise of battle still resounded in his ears like harmonious music. But
he had to submit to his lot and repair to the Capital of the Republic,
there to work as a legislator, having gained another step in the ladder
of fame.
Although virtually the Conservative forces were destroyed, some chiefs,
who could find no better occupation than to live by war, were aided
by the church and the prospects of booty. Leonardo Márquez, one of
the most prominent of these revolutionary chiefs, on June 24, 1861,
attempted an attack on the Capital. Congress was in session when the
unexpected news reached them of his arrival. Diaz, “a soldier first of
all,” asked permission to retire and hastened to the scene of danger.
The forces from Oaxaca, which were quartered in the convent of San
Fernando under General Mejia, resisted Márquez’s attack, and Colonel
Diaz’s arrival was celebrated with cheers from his old companions in
arms, whose enthusiasm he served to revive. Mejia gladly accepted his
aid, and the victory was theirs.
The importance of the support that Diaz here gave can be better
understood by the reward that the Government conferred on him by
giving the command of the brigade of Oaxaca to him with the order to
join Ortega’s division, and to march on and destroy the rest of the
Conservative forces.
[Illustration: THE TRIBUNAL, 5TH OF MAY.]
On the 13th of August, 1861, the fourth anniversary of one of his
first triumphs, Diaz, with his few soldiers, gained another victory
over Márquez and his four thousand men. In his attack upon Márquez
he had disobeyed General Ortega. It was not pleasant to this brave
soldier to feel that all the glory of that campaign belonged to a
subordinate. The victory was remarkable, Diaz had less than three
hundred men and Márquez four thousand. In this encounter Diaz’s life
was in peril. He had entered the ranks of the enemy unattended, as he
led the attack, but the instinct of his charger seemed to realize the
danger and he carried him back safely to his own troops. The command
on this occasion had been given to Diaz, Mejia being ill and gladly
accepting his aid. For his great service Diaz was promoted to the rank
of brigadier-general.
Marquez, with the remnant of his broken army fled in haste but made a
stand at Pachuca and Real del Monte, but suffered signal defeat on the
20th of October. With these events, the Conservative force was broken
and the War of Reform practically closed.
A new stage in the career of Diaz was about to open. The French
intervention was aimed against the true nationalization of Mexico.
Here the Mexicans were traitorously engaged with the foreign invader
in an effort to overthrow the republic. Juarez, who had been elected
constitutional president, sent the army against the enemy, who had
broken the convention of La Soledad. Diaz was ordered to lead his
brigade to the Pass of Acultzingo to aid in its defense. He first
engaged the enemy at Escamela between Orizaba and Cordova and reaching
Puente Colorado he strongly established his force and then did valorous
and effective work in holding back the vanguard of the enemy, affording
saving help to the vanquished and by his marked skill and bravery
giving much-needed confidence to the national troops, whose lack of
organization and means of defense were the crucial tests that proved
the quality of generalship. The great victory of Acultzingo on April
28th, proved that Diaz was a master of strategy and alertness coupled
with the most remarkable measure of audacity and bravery.
The Mexicans retired to Puebla and reached there May 3d. On the next
day, General Zaragoza addressed his officers urging his army “to
fight to the last, so that even though it were not possible to be
victorious.” The battle on the 5th proved a victory for the patriots,
the record of which is enshrined in the hearts of the people and serves
to thrill them and their children with patriotic fervor. The part that
Diaz took in this memorable victory was a most decisive one and none
knew the service he rendered in that “forlorn hope” better than the
great general who was in chief command. Diaz again met the French at
Orizaba on June 14th.
Civil and military duties now devolved on Diaz, to whom was confided
the administration of the State of Vera Cruz. The French had been
reinforced and again Puebla was invested. The Mexican army was now
under the chief command of General Ortega, the gallant Zaragoza having
died. Puebla had been besieged for two months since the 6th of March
1863. Its defense evoked most thrilling deeds of heroism which mark the
siege as among the memorable events in history. General Diaz earned
proud laurels for his personal bravery and wonderful resources. His
defense of the Mesón de San Marcos was a brilliant deed and the general
and the man demonstrated the highest qualities. But the vain struggle
ended by surrender on May 16th. Diaz, with a noble inspiration, refused
to burn his flags; instead, he buried them, assured that he would some
day return and recover them to float in advance of a victorious army.
[Illustration: LIEUTENANT-COLONEL PORFIRIO DIAZ.]
A prisoner to the foreign invader, Diaz with other Mexican officers
refused to sign an agreement not to take up arms for his country, or
endeavor to escape. The large number of prisoners, eleven thousand
soldiers and fifteen hundred civil officials, proved too many for
complete vigilance, so adopting a bold ruse, Diaz soon escaped as did
Berriozábal and, later, many others. He made his way at once to Mexico
City and placed himself at the disposal of President Juarez who desired
him to become Secretary of War. This Diaz refused believing that such
an office should be conferred on a senior or ranking officer. He
assented to the alternative proposal of taking command of a division.
When Juarez determined to abandon the City of Mexico, Diaz went to
Oaxaca to organize the army of the East and for some time maintained
a desperate fight in that State and in Guerrero and Puebla, relieved
by the assault and capture of Taxco on October 28, 1863, a feat
accomplished against great odds and due only to the tactics and valor
of Diaz. Discouragement and defeat seemed to be no force against him,
and treachery seemed but to feed his valor and love of independence.
The promise of honor and emolument at the hand of his country’s foe,
as the price of abandoning the struggle for independence only aroused
his scorn. Not long after the victory of Taxco he was promoted to the
rank of major-general.
Slowly and with difficulty had Diaz created an army when Marshal
Bazaine took command of the Imperial army, a force of eighteen thousand
men with forty-eight guns, and laid siege to Oaxaca. Diaz, governor as
well as commander, maintained a most stubborn defence during several
weeks, but he could not, in spite of his brilliant efforts, fight
starvation and, lacking ammunition, surrender was inevitable. Without
a flag of truce or other safeguard, and under the fire of the enemy,
this intrepid general sought the headquarters of the French commander,
accompanied only by Colonels Angulo and Echegaray, and surrendered on
February 9, 1865. To the greeting of Bazaine “that he had returned to
his promise and would not again take up arms against his sovereign,”
Diaz replied unhesitatingly that he owed allegiance only to the
Mexican nation and no other would he serve or recognize. Bazaine
believing that Diaz had been liberated earlier on _parole_, severely
reproached him for his breach of faith, but finding on reference to
the register that Diaz had not signed any document, he gave orders for
his imprisonment. First, he was confined in San Loreto, then in Santa
Clara, and finally in the convent of La Compania. While in the first
named prison strong efforts were made to induce the prisoners to take
the oath of allegiance to Maximilian, many officers succumbed to the
temptation, and to intimidate the others, several officers were led
forth and shot at midnight. Four at least, including Diaz, could not
be shaken in their allegiance. In the convent of Santa Catarina, Diaz
worked for nearly five months digging a tunnel to lead to the street.
Before it was completed, he was removed to the convent of La Compania.
The story of his escape from this convent so strikingly illustrates the
determination and resourceful character of the hero, that in spite of
frequent telling, it should be repeated here.
Diaz had secured ropes, which were smuggled into the bath room under
his clean clothes. He wound these around his body under his clothes,
to avoid their being discovered. He had a well-sharpened dagger. In
preparation for his attempt, he rolled three of the ropes, which, with
a third in reserve, and his dagger he hid under the bed clothes on
the afternoon of September 20th. When the signal sounded at night for
retirement of the prisoners, he stepped out on an open balcony close
to the roofs which overlooked an inner courtyard. The three ropes
he carried concealed in a cloth and not being observed cast them on
a neighboring roof. The remaining rope was then tied to a projecting
stone gutter that promised sufficient strength. This was not easily
or very quickly accomplished as it was very dark, but it was done and
after testing its strength carefully, by this Diaz climbed to the roof.
He then tied his four ropes together.
[Illustration: CORRIDOR AT CHAPULTEPEC.]
To reach the point from which the captive would descend was very
hazardous, the convent being overlooked by a neighboring church,
where a sentinel was always on guard. Cautiously crossing the roof,
frequently on hands and knees, the general passed along two sides of
the courtyard, exposed to the danger of discovery by the flashes of
lightning that frequently lighted up the sky and also by the danger
of betraying himself through the noise he might cause by treading on
fragments of broken tile and glass scattered over the roof. He then
proceeded erect and seeking to ascertain if an alarm had been given,
his foot slipped on the wet masonry and he was almost precipitated
through a window. A very hazardous part of the roof had yet to be
crossed before the point of descent could be reached, namely the side
where the chaplain dwelt. This chaplain had denounced some time before
several political prisoners who had cut their way through his rooms
and on his evidence they were shot. Almost breathless, Diaz let himself
down to the chaplain’s roof at a point opposite the place where he had
ascended and finally reached the San Roque corner where he had planned
to descend. At this corner was a statue of San Vincent Ferrer about
which he intended to fasten his rope, but on touching it, it appeared
ready to fall and although he supposed it might have an iron support,
he deemed it safer to tie the rope around the base of its pedestal,
which seemed strong enough to bear his weight.
[Illustration: STAIRWAY TO THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC.]
It occurred to Diaz that he might be seen if he descended at the corner
of the street, so he decided to lower himself by the side of the
building away from the corner and in the shadow. On reaching the second
story his foot slipped and he fell quite a distance into a pigsty. At
the same time his dagger slipped from its sheath and falling on one
of the pigs probably wounded it, and when he stumbled among them they
squealed loudly. Fortunately, no one was passing at the moment and his
discovery was avoided. He waited till the animals quieted down and then
leaped over a low garden fence into the street, only to beat a quick
retreat on seeing a policeman making his round. The man soon passed and
Diaz, much relieved, but almost exhausted from fatigue, hastened to
a house where he knew a horse, a servant and a guide would be found.
Arrived there, the three, with loaded pistols, leaped into the saddle
and after evading a mounted patrol reached the outskirts of Puebla.
Contrary to his expectation he was not stopped at the city gates by the
sentinels, on the contrary, the gate was open and unguarded and at full
trot the party passed through and then galloped off along the road.
He gathered together a small force, and here and there would have
engagements, with varying success. But the brilliant triumphs of
Miahuatlán and La Carbonera over the Austrians brought back to General
Diaz all the lustre and fame that he had gained as the most prominent
General of the country. While the battles in themselves were eclipsed
by many of his previous victories, they were most notable for the
indisputable establishment of republican supremacy in all the vast
region of the South--the result of more than a year of untold and
persevering efforts.
He again organized new troops and defeated Visoza in Tulcingo, State of
Puebla, on the 1st of October, 1865. He then went to La Providencia,
and General Juan Alvarez gave him some two hundred arms, and he
again defeated Visoza at Comitlipa, State of Guerrero, on the 4th of
December, 1865.
[Illustration: RECEPTION AT THE PALACE ON THE EIGHTIETH
BIRTHDAY OF GENERAL DIAZ.]
From Miahautlan, he marched to the City of Oaxaca, and while besieging
the capital learned that the Imperial government had sent a column
under command of Baron Luker, an Austrian officer, to relieve the
besieged garrison of Oaxaca. General Diaz decided at once to march on
the approaching relief column, which he met at La Carbonera on the
18th of October, 1866, and after routing it completely he returned to
Oaxaca, when the garrison surrendered on the 31st of the same month. He
thus obtained forty-two pieces of artillery, two thousand five hundred
muskets and all the garrison provisions and stores.
The 1st of November, 1866, General Diaz entered his natal city to
be crowned with laurel as its liberator. On April 2d, 1867, he won
in Puebla another most glorious victory which made the walls of the
empire totter, as this was one of the invader’s three strongholds.
Among the prisoners were eleven generals and three bishops. By law
all the officers taken prisoners were to be shot as traitors, and
even foreigners were to receive the same fate after the French armies
had been withdrawn. Presenting himself before the eleven generals,
Diaz politely invited them to follow him, without being guarded, to
the episcopal palace, where were six hundred officials, many of them
occupied with confession and making their final arrangements, as they
knew the fate that had befallen other prisoners. “Gentlemen,” said
Diaz, “it is impossible for me to execute the punishment which the
law imposes, and there is no other alternative for me but to make you
prisoners; but I remember well my own sufferings while a prisoner in
this same place, and I wish to avoid your being put to such straits.
Go, then, you are free. All that I ask of you is that you promise me
to put yourselves at the disposition of the Supreme Government if you
are so ordered. The nation will pronounce its sentence upon the empire,
but it will be indulgent to its misguided sons.” This general amnesty,
which later found its parallel at Appomattox, caused on all sides a
great tumult of satisfaction. Men who had before been enemies pledged
themselves hereafter to be friends. Many turned away to hide their
tears. General Diaz himself was profoundly moved. Among the prisoners
was a colonel who was ashamed and fearful at the same time, and could
not believe that he was free; as when the Count Von Thun had fixed
the price of ten thousand dollars for the head of General Diaz when
he escaped from Puebla this Colonel Escamilla (then Chief of Police
of Izucar) offered another thousand from his own pocket. The General
understood well his captive’s fear and shame, and said: “Colonel, that
imprudent action was suggested by blind duty; let us forget it.” From
that time Escamilla was one of his most loyal partisans.
The tempering with magnanimity the rigor of the law, avoiding the
baptism of blood, had its influence in the fall of the City of Mexico,
procuring for Diaz great praise among friends and enemies. General
Tamariz, who died shortly afterward, said with emotion: “Twice Diaz
has conquered me by his military talent and once by his generosity;
with pleasure I would serve such a man, although it were as a common
soldier.”
After the capture of Puebla, General Diaz went to meet the Imperial
General Márquez, who had left Querétaro to relieve Mexico, and who was
marching against Puebla. On the 5th of April, General Diaz overtook
Márquez at San Diego Notario, where a battle was fought, ending in the
defeat of Márquez. General Diaz followed up his victory and met Márquez
again at San Lorenzo on the 10th of April, defeating him completely.
[Illustration: CORRIDOR AT CHAPULTEPEC, OVERLOOKING THE
VALLEY OF MEXICO.]
Diaz then marched to Mexico, establishing himself in Tacubaya, and
commenced operations to put the City in a state of siege. On the 14th
of May, General Escobedo took Querétaro. Maximilian was tried by
court-martial and was condemned to death by his own decree of the 3d of
October, 1865, that all officers taken prisoners should be shot.
Diaz had continued with great vigor the siege of the capital, and on
the 20th of June the Conservatives yielded and he entered the city
quietly and took a small house in the suburbs, having his office in the
School of Mines. No banner of any sort was raised on the palace until
the 15th of July, when Juarez himself hoisted the flag.
The day following the surrender of Mexico, Diaz presented his
resignation as commander of the line and Army of the East, and after a
few months returned to his native city, Oaxaca, which with open arms
welcomed the hero home again. It was one triumphal march from the
capital to his home. He was given by the Legislature of Oaxaca the
Hacienda de la Noria, to which he retired, living there quietly for two
years, resting from his labors and fatiguing marches.
He had formed, even when quite young, an attachment for Delfina
Ortega y Reyes and on the day of the surrender of Puebla, the 2d of
April--that memorable day in which he gave liberty to the captives--he
was joined in matrimony to the woman of his choice. Señora de Diaz
possessed great sweetness of character and kindness of heart, and her
greatest pleasure was in works of charity and in aiding the elevation
and education of her sex--taking upon herself the care of a college for
girls which her husband had founded.
Benito Juarez was now president, and Diaz was elected as Deputy to
Congress for his state. On July 18, 1872, Juarez died and Sebastián
Lerdo de Tejada succeeded him. Lerdo was afterward elected to the
presidency, but there being much dissatisfaction by reason of his
attitude against the church party and of a feeling among the soldiers
that General Diaz should be the president, the revolutions continued
throughout the country. He went to the United States, but the siren
voice of Adventure called him back to his native land. He took passage
on an American vessel but was recognized by some passengers. Fearing
arrest at Vera Cruz, he attempted to escape by jumping overboard, but
was rescued by the sailors. He invoked the aid of the friendly purser,
who hid him in a locker and smuggled him ashore at Vera Cruz.
Diaz passed through many vicissitudes, and at last, on November 16,
1876, with an armed force gained a victory over the Lerdistas at Tecoac.
Lerdo, hearing of the loss to his party and of the brilliant victory
of Diaz, started with some of the faithful members of his Cabinet and
with what money he could lay his hands on, on November 20, 1876, for
Acapulco, there taking passage for the United States. General Diaz
entered Mexico on the 23d of the same month and five days afterward
assumed the executive power. He formed his Cabinet, raised a loan of
five hundred thousand dollars to commence the new administration, and,
leaving General Méndez as president ad interim, went out to finish up
with the revolutionary element.
There were then really three presidents of Mexico: Lerdo, who had
abandoned the country; Iglesias, who had been Chief justice, or
Vice-President under the Lerdo government, and Diaz. Iglesias, seeing
the desperate condition in which he was placed, followed Lerdo’s
example, embarking at Manzanillo for San Francisco, Cal., the 17th of
January, 1877. For two months General Diaz marched from the central
States toward Guadalajara, capturing all the Lerdist troops without
firing a single shot. At the end of the two months he relieved General
Méndez and assumed the actual presidency of the republic.
After having served his term as president, General Manuel González,
who had distinguished himself as a military man by the side of General
Diaz, was elected to succeed him.
For a time under González, General Diaz was _Ministro de Fomento_,
but retired in May, 1881. Soon after he was elected Senator from
the State of Morelos and Governor of Oaxaca, which position he took
November 30, 1881. Two years after the death of his wife he married
Carmen, a notably beautiful brunette, eldest daughter of Señor Don
Manuel Romero Rubio. They harmonized well--he the personification of
strength, she of beauty and purity. Simple, without affectation, she
unites to a kindly heart a most admirable presence of mind and dignity.
She speaks with facility English and French. Everyone is delighted
with her affability and the sweetness and melody of her voice. They
spent part of their honeymoon in the United States, where they were
everywhere received with ovation, special trains being put at their
disposal and great courtesy shown them by all.
[Illustration: PORFIRIO DIAZ, THE THIRD.]
On December 1, 1884, the second presidential period of General Diaz
was inaugurated. The ceremony took place in Congress Hall, which was
formerly the Iturbide Theatre. The Diplomatic Corps were in full dress,
while General Diaz had on a simple black suit. In five minutes after he
took the chair he had taken the oath of office and retired as quietly
as he came, to the palace, there to receive welcome and congratulations
from General González, and to appoint his Cabinet.
Under President Diaz’s administration many reforms in the constitution
and laws of the country have been made, and the result is that there
reigns under him a security which was never before known in the
republic. His liberal ideas, his enthusiasm for the development of the
country and his previous honest administration enabled him to begin his
second term under much better conditions than existed during his first;
and again the confidence of the public was not misplaced, since during
this second administration Mexico progressed more than ever.
Diaz’s life has been identified with that of the Mexican Republic for
the last forty years. The life of this really wonderful man presents
many points and lessons for future generations to study. He is to-day,
as he has been for many years, the first soldier of the Republic, and
what is better, its first citizen. From the very bottom of the ladder,
from a young lieutenant at the age of twenty-three, to the highest
commission in the army as its General-in-Chief, his career is spotless
and brilliant.
But it is not most as a soldier that he has won the admiration and
fame which he enjoys to-day, at home as well as abroad. It is as a
statesman, in his civil duties, in the many political, financial and
diplomatic questions which he has so successfully solved, that the
greatness of Porfirio Diaz must be considered.
He has been the savior of the republic, the creator of the real nation,
the defender of the people; whose success was possible only because of
his inflexible integrity and singleness of purpose, his goal was never
obscured by the shadow of personal advantage and ambition; whose hand
was never palsied by questionable intrigues. Friend or foe were such to
him only because for or against the unification of the nation. Among
the names of the wonder-workers of the world the name of Porfirio Diaz
will shine and remain imperishable.
[Illustration: SOLDIERS IN PARADE, 16TH OF SEPTEMBER.]
[Illustration: THE CORBIAN PALACE.]
[Illustration: PATIO OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.]