four men of letters competent to the task that is, not wishing any one to examine his acts or enlighten public opinion, sent me word that the second number of 'La Zonda' was worth twelve dollars. I ordered the printer to draw so many dollars, and 'La Zonda' died of that suffocation."
One day he received a summons to appear before the governor, who asked him if he had obeyed the order to pay twenty-six dollars for the last number of "La Zonda." He replied that it was an illegal demand, and that he had had no official notice to pay it, for the messenger by whom it was sent, the printer, was not a legal messenger, and the law provided that no money should be required of writers, the publishers having the benefit of sales, in order to encourage publications. Finding him resolute in his refusal, Benavides threw him into prison. His friends visited him and advised him to yield the point, in order to save the college of which he was director. The aide-de-camp came to receive the money, and received a warrant against a merchant, accompanied by his own signature, by which Sarmiento was to recover in due time, in view of the law which was violated to his injury, the sum of which he was despoiled, with damages. Thus ended this affair, but he says,—
"My situation in San Juan became more and more thorny every day, as the political horizon became more and more charged with threatening clouds. Without any plan of life, without influence, repelling the idea of conspiracy, in coffee-houses, and assemblies, as well as in the presence of Benavides, I spoke my convictions with all the sincerity of my nature, and the suspicions of the government closed
