"Rosas is the murderer of Quiroga!"

Soon after this tragedy was performed at Buenos Ayres, Gov. Rodriguez shared a similar fate at Cordova. His intercession on behalf of the Ranafes had been sufficient to excite the doubts and fears of Rosas; and his hesitation to execute an order without questioning its propriety, was no less than an evidence of treason. He was, therefore, taken outside the town, out of respect to the feelings of the people of Cordova, who were not yet used to these scenes, and disposed of in the usual manner.

With such precedents before their eyes, few men, who were honored with an appointment, had the hardihood to resist, or put forth any measure that was calculated to thwart the dictator in his designs; and to have declined an appointment would have laid them equally open to his suspicion, and consequent hatred. The reader will thus perceive how Rosas, with minions of bloody mould scattered through the country, and with an army constantly at his back, was enabled to hold so terrible a power.

On the removal of Rodriguez from the government of Cordova, Don Manuel Lopez was appointed by Rosas in his stead. Quiet was again restored to the town, and Lopez, I believe, holds his office to the present time.

CHAPTER XX.

Rosas' Interference with the Banda Oriental-Tyrannical Demonstration of Oribe-Resistance of the People, and arming of the Militia under Generals Lavalia, and Rivera-French Protest-Rosas' Oppression of the Unitarians-Reign of Terror at Buenos Ayres-The Massorca Club -Rebellion in the Southern part of the Province-Crasey returned after five years Imprisonment in Paraguay-Gov. Francia-Rosas issues Government Scrip-His Breach of Faith with the Merchants-French Blockade

SOON after this, viz. in 1835, my business called me to Europe; and after visiting successively, England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Prussian territories on the Rhine, Belgium, and Holland, I returned to England, and thence to Buenos Ayres, where I arrived in the early part of the year 1836.

I now found Rosas quarrelling with the French minister, respecting the Banda Oriental, or Uruguay, the capital of which is Montevideo. At the time when the people of that country succeeded, by the assistance of the armies of the Argentine Republic, in securing their independence of the Brazilian government, that independence was acknowledged and guarantied both by England and France; and the country had continued from that time in a state of prosperity and happiness, under its republican form of government. But the (then) present President Oribe, who had just been elected, was not content that things should remain in so peaceful an attitude; he had witnessed the unrestrained power of his neighbor on the other side of the Rio La Plata, and felt an instinctive ambitious yearning to follow the example that had

been there set before him. To accomplish this object, he had set on foot a series of measures that had drawn down upon him the indignation of his people, for they too had witnessed the terrible condition of their neighbors, and certainly felt no desire to place themselves in a similar state of serfdom and terror. By employing his military power, however, the governor had succeeded in keeping his place; and having ensconced himself in Montevideo, opened a communication with Rosas, while at the same time Gen. Lavalia and Fructuoso Rivera were busily engaged in recruiting an army of militia, for the purpose of deposing the would-be tyrant.

The precise character of the correspondence between Oribe and Rosas was not known, but it was supposed to be no less than a negotiation to place Uruguay under the government of the latter, as a province of the Argentine Republic; but be that, as it may, Oribe received large accessions to his means of defence, in the shape of munitions, arms, and even troops, from Buenos Ayres, whereupon the French minister, as in duty bound, for the good faith of his government, had entered his protest against such interference. This was disregarded by Rosas, who continued to send troops and arms, levying the cost, as heretofore, upon those who were opposed to his own tyrannical government His hatred to the Unitarians increased at every step, and this hatred was manifested by a corresponding oppression. The accursed Massorca club, which was composed of from three to four hundred desperadoes, who were sworn to do the bidding of Rosas, even to the murder of their own relatives, were the most prominent instruments of his terrible policy. Goaded with the opposition of the foreign powers, he wreaked his vengeance upon the helpless of his own people. Violence succeeded violence, bloodshed followed bloodshed, until the era might justly have been denominated a second " reign of ter

ror."

He had gone so far in blood, that he dreaded assassination

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on every hand; and so jealous and vindictive had he become,
that no man, who did not openly avow an attachment to the
dictator, was safe, either in person or property.
So sure as

a Unitarian, by a word or action, became once obnoxious to
his fears, he was a marked man; then he would say to his
hirelings of the Mass orca, "Let him be arrested? If arrested,
death was almost sure to follow, and the property of the vic-
tim was confiscated; for, "ills but thought by him, were half
performed;" or, if the individual succeeded in avoiding the
arrest and fled the city, confiscation followed as a matter of
course. could name numerous instances in proof of this,
but one may suffice,—it is that of Don Pedro Boque, and may
be thus related:

Boque was a Unitarian of wealth, residing in the Calle Cavildo; and having heard, through a friend, that Rosas' officers had been making inquiries respecting him, determined as a measure of precaution to leave town for a short time, or until he should learn the object of the inquiry. His departure proved a timely one, as on the following day a number of the Massorca paid a visit to his house, and searched it in every part; not finding their object, they directed his wife and family to leave the premises. The order was obeyed, but without the privilege of carrying with them the slightest thing, save the clothes upon their persons. A little boy about twelve years of age was subsequently sent, by the Señora Boque, from the house of a friend where she had taken refuge, for the purpose of soliciting the privilege of bringing away a change of clothing for the now destitute family; but as he came to the house he grew timid, and when he told his errand, some of the villains who had been left in charge, declared him a spy, and threatened to shoot him; this so frightened the poor child that he attempted to escape, but not being able to reach the street, he fled to the yard, and actually sprang into the privy to avoid his pursuers. The attempt to escape, fully satisfied the wretches that he must be a

constantly liable to fall. The eyes of Argus will not suffice to reveal the points of danger that must encompass him; and though he continue to pile error upon error, the foundation of his fabric must eventually give way, and whelm him with destruction/

In the wild and mountainous province of Rioja, the birthplace of Quiroga, a feeling of sympathy for their stern general had naturally grown up among the kindred spirits of the region; and after his murder, the murmurs of the people, as to the manner of his death, became distinctly audible. At first they knew not precisely where to fix their suspicions and complaints, but ere long they were turned towards Rosas as the instigator, and our own governor, Ranafe, as the instrument. Suspicion was rapidly succeeded by, complaint, complaint by threats, and threats by a demonstration. The people of Rioja demanded the murderers, and swore to be revenged. That province was peopled with perhaps as rude and ungovernable a populace, as that of any province in the Argentine ; knowing little of, and caring less for, the etiquette of refined life-almost cut off by the mountain ranges from the more enlightened of their own country, and governed almost solely by their own local and unrestrained impulses, they acknowledged no law but that which might be suggested by their own wrongs, real or imaginary, and knew no arbiter save that of physical power. The blood of their favorite general had been shed in the province of Cordova, and, right or wrong, to that province they looked for restitution; some victims must be sacrificed to appease them, or the province should itself be held accountable.

Visiting the governor often, I spoke of these matters, and the probability that trouble would grow out of them; but he only shrugged his shoulders, and, with a smile of self-complacency, said

"There is no danger, they can do nothing."

Soon after this I made a second visit to Buenos Ayres,