"In every work regard the writer\'s End, Since none can compass more than they intend; And if the means be just, the conduct true, Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due."

I make no claim in this volume to having written anything startlingly new, nor yet to have made any particularly valuable contribution to the history of the world; but what I have endeavoured to effect, and what I trust I have accomplished at least in part, is to put before my readers what I know to be facts concerning a very interesting country which has hitherto received but scant attention at the hands of financial writers. Bulwer Lytton has said that no author ever drew a character, consistent to human nature, but what he was forced to ascribe to it many inconsistencies. So it is with a book which purports to be a true description of a country; for in portraying its attractions one must of a necessity expose its drawbacks and deficiencies.

It must be remembered that the Republic of Salvador has yet to celebrate its centenary, being one of the youngest of the Latin-American States; but considering the different troubles and tribulations which this country—in common with all of the Latin-American Republics without exception—has gone through, the present condition of her civilization, of her arts and her commerce, is eminently encouraging.[318] The great advance made by this State has been achieved in spite of the many obstacles which it has encountered. If the permanency of a Republic mainly depends upon the general intelligence and morality of the people constituting it, I look for a continued and even an increased prosperity for the Salvadoreans, since they are indubitably among the Central American nations the most developed and the most intellectual.

No longer subject to and borne down by an immoral and corrupt Government, and freed from the exactions of hungry office-seekers, this naturally richly-endowed little State should pursue an even and enviable road to prosperity, upon which foreigners will be heartily welcome to journey.

In 1895, when Mr. Joseph Chamberlain was Colonial Secretary, a circular letter was addressed to all British Consuls of the British Empire, asking for information regarding the effect of foreign competition upon British trade abroad. In the answers received, and subsequently published in the form of a bulky Blue Book, some critics professed to see much comfort; but to the minds of others, who looked more deeply into matters and judged more from what was likely to occur than what had actually happened, the future appeared gloomy in the extreme. To enact the role of Cassandra is never an agreeable nor a profitable occupation; but upon occasions it becomes necessary to sound the alarum, if only to awaken the slumberer from his too-long repose, and remind him that the world is marching onwards and ever onwards. At no time has this been more imperative than the present, when British trade and commerce, British influence and British prestige, in Central America, at one time[319] predominant, are threatened, not alone with supersession, but wit............