THE "WAR OF REFORM."
The party of the "old regime" was not recognized outside the capital, and again we see the States arrayed against a central, dictatorial power. Juarez was promptly recognized as the president of the people, and, during the long years of strife that followed, he nobly sustained the trust imposed upon him at their hands. The army was mainly against him, the Church—with all its money and influence—was against him; but the people, brushing from their eyes the cobweb of superstition, rallied in increasing numbers about the banner of reform.
At first the national guards were defeated. In March, Juarez and his cabinet were captured and on the point of being shot by a rebel chief; rescued by a noble patriot leader, they retreated to Colima, in great danger all the way. In April Juarez embarked at Colima for Vera Cruz, to reach which port he was obliged to cross the Isthmus of Panama, sail for New Orleans, and thence take passage for the ancient seaport, where he arrived in May.
The "Three Years' War of Reform" lasted from 1858 through 1861. In the year 1860 the people elected Juarez constitutional president by an overwhelming number of votes. In July, 1859, he decreed the "Laws of Reform," by which the property of the Church was confiscated and declared to belong to the nation. The forces on both sides were incited anew to fresh conflict, and many and sanguinary battles ensued. Among the heroes who aided Juarez in the defence of the constitution were: Doblado, Gonzalez Ortega, Santos Degollado, Zaragoza, Arteaga, and many others, equally worthy of mention, but whom space precludes. Against them, in the interests of the Church and oppression, fought Generals Zuloaga, Miramon, Osollo, Robles, Taboada, and Marquez. Death, in the
