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Rh democracy are mostly to be traced to the machinations of the Church party in its struggles for power, now throwing its weight on one side of the scale and now on the other with the dominant idea of securing the control of the nation. In 1873-74 the liberal constitution framed in 1867 was so amended and improved as to be in several respects superior to its model, the Constitution of the United States. It is now the organic law of Mexico.

Juarez, the unswerving friend of republican institutions, died in office in 1872, after having been for fourteen years president of the republic. His pure character, his fidelity to trust and his lofty patriotism have given him the title of "the Washington of Mexico." In 1880, Manuel Gonzales, another Indian, was elected to the presidential chair, being the first man who has taken that seat without bloodshed.

Mexico is now a confederation of twenty-seven States, one Territory and a federal district. The legislative power is vested in a Congress composed of a House of Representatives and a Senate. All respectable male adults are voters, sending one member to Congress for every twenty thousand inhabitants; these members hold their places two years. The president holds office for four years, and cannot be re-elected without an interval of four years after his term has expired. The present executive is General Diaz, who took the chair December 1, 1884. "Except the immortal Juarez," says a missionary observer, "no man was ever more generally beloved and honored than General Diaz, a tall, dark, half-Indian hero." The members of his cabinet are nominal liberals, "but Romanists have taken fresh courage since his inauguration, and are openly