five-year period of Uruguayan independence agreed upon by Argentina and
Brazil had come to an end when Rosas came into power. Argentina was free
to solicit the incorporation of Uruguay into the Argentine
Confederation. Oribe, whom we remember as one of Artigas' lieutenants,
had become president of Uruguay after Rivera, and allied himself to
Rosas against the Rivera faction, which had the support of the Argentine
unitarian exiles. Oribe had to abandon Montevideo, which fell into
Rivera's hands only to be besieged by Rosas and Oribe. The war that
ensued has been called the Great War. It lasted for eight years, from
1843 to 1851, and the entire burden of the struggle centered around the
siege of Montevideo, one of the longest in history. During this long
eight-year siege, Montevideo received the help of many adventurers and
lovers of liberty, as Rosas and Oribe were regarded as oppressors who
sought to dominate a weaker country. Garibaldi, famous in Italian
history, played a prominent part in the defense of the beleaguered city
as leader of a famous foreign legion composed of Italians and Frenchmen.
Eventually Rosas brought about his own downfall. Although a federalist,
he slowly centralized all power in himself, thereby gaining the distrust
of the other _caudillos_. Urquiza, the _caudillo_ from Entre Ríos, led
the revolt against Rosas, and at the battle of Caseros, in 1851,
completely routed the forces of the tyrant. Flight was Rosas' only
resource, and he took refuge, with his daughter Manuela, on board the
English frigate _Centaur_. He ended his days in England.
But not yet were discords at an end. The victor of Caseros convened a
constituent congress at Santa Fé, to which Buenos Aires failed to send
delegates, remaining a sovereign state in the same manner that Rhode
Island did when she refused to become a party to the Constitution of
the United States. Naturally, Urquiza became president, and the
provinces prospered under his administration. Such a situation, however,
could not endure for long.
Buenos Aires chafed under certain customs restrictions on her exports to
the rest of the nation, and in 1859, under the leadership of Mitre,
Buenos Aires attacked the confederation of provinces established by the
congress at Santa Fé. As in 1820, Cepeda again marked the defeat of
Buenos Aires at the hands of the federalists, although Mitre managed to
save the army of Buenos Aires. With the mediation of Paraguay, a peace
was patched up between the warring elements. Buenos Aires became a
member of the Confederation, and her customs houses were put in the
control of the federal government, and in 1860, Derqui succeeded Urquiza
as president. In the meanwhile, troubles in the province of San Luis led
to friction once more between Buenos Aires and the federalists. The
rupture became open when Buenos Aires sent deputies elected according to
local law and not according to the Constitution, and sent them to the
congress convened by Derqui. Buenos Aires was declared in state of
siege, and at Pavón, in 1861, Mitre led the forces of the capital to
victory. The many wars had tired the nation, and all the provinces
willingly gave Mitre the power to convoke a congress to settle all
differences. This congress met on the 2d of May, 1862, and it was agreed
that the city of Buenos Aires should be the seat of the federal
government, as well as of the province of Buenos Aires itself. The
election of Mitre to the presidency marked the beginning of a period of
prosperity and solidarity for the country.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
=López y Planes= (=Vicente=), an Argentine poet, was born in Buenos Aires in
1784. He served as a volunteer during the English invasions and wrote a
rhymed chronicle of the events of that stirring period. In 1810 he was
attached to the Army of the North as secretary to its general, Ortiz de
Ocampo, and took an active part in all the great movements of the
Revolutionary Era. At the foundation of the University of Buenos Aires,
he became the organizer and director of classical studies. He was the
founder of the Bureau of Statistics and President of the Republic in
1827. Until 1852 he was the president of the Supreme Court. After the
battle of Caseros, General Urquiza intrusted to him the organization of
a provisional government, and he became governor of the province of
Buenos Aires. Though he is best known as the author of the Argentine
National Hymn, he is hardly less to be remembered for the many services
he rendered his country in various official capacities from the time of
the founding of the Republic to his death in 1856.
=López= (=Vicente Fidel=), Argentine jurisconsult, writer, and orator, was
born in Buenos Aires in 1814. He was the son of the famous author of the
Argentine National Hymn, López y Planes. Like many other Argentineans,
he left his country during Rosas' reign, returning in 1852 to devote
himself untiringly to the work of regeneration. Among his works are to
be found both purely literary and historical writings, such as: _La
Novia del Hereje o la Inquisición_, his monumental work on the
_Conquista_, an erudite and scientific work, and his _Tratado del
Derecho Romano_. He also wrote a series of articles on the Argentine
Revolution for the _Revista del Río de la Plata_. In 1874 he succeeded
Gutiérrez as president of the University of Buenos Aires. He died in
1903 after a life devoted to the service of his country.
=Sarmiento= (=Domingo F.=) was born in San Juan in 1811 of humble parents.
His father fought under San Martín in Chile. From early childhood he was
left to his own resources, and has very often been called the Lincoln of
Argentina. His love of books, his keen habits of observation, and a
brilliant mind raised him from the humble position of clerk in a country
store to the presidency of the Republic. During Rosas' rule, he joined
the great army of Argentine refugees in Chile, founding schools there
and taking an active part in the political life of the country as the
editor of _El Mercurio_ and _El Nacional_, two important organs of the
press. His first book was a primer, and his _El Monitor de las Escuelas_
was the first educational periodical in South America. In 1842 he
founded the first normal school on the Pacific coast, directing it for
three years. Through the pages of _El Progreso_ and _El Heraldo
Argentino_ he carried on a tireless campaign against the tyrant Rosas.
His impetuous character and the violence of his attacks made him many
enemies, and, on the advice of President Montt of Chile, he undertook a
series of travels through Europe, northern Africa, and the United
States. He became a great admirer of the institutions and government of
the United States, and particularly of the educational ideas of Horace
Mann, with whom he came into close contact. Together with Mitre he
returned to Argentina on the eve of the battle of Caseros, in which he
fought under the orders of Urquiza. During the years that Buenos Aires
was separated from the rest of the Confederation, he was director of
public instruction. After the battle of Pavón, he was ambassador to
Chile and Peru, and later to the United States, where he wrote _Las
Escuelas, base de la prosperidad de los Estados Unidos_, and published
an educational review entitled _Ambas Américas_. Upon the completion of
Mitre's term of office in 1868, and while still an ambassador to the
United States, he was elected to the presidency of Argentina. His
administration was free from civil discord, and he carried out great
reforms that made for the prosperity and progress of Argentina. He is
especially remembered for the great impetus he gave to public education
in Argentina. It can be said of him that he is one of Argentina's
greatest writers, and South America's greatest educator. Among his most
important works are: _Facundo o Civilización y Barbarie_, _Recuerdos de
Provincia_, _Ambas Américas_, and _Viajes en Europa, África y América_.
His death in 1888 was mourned all over South America, and was felt as a
distinct loss among intellectual circles the world over.
=Bunge= (=Carlos Octavio=) is a very modern Argentine writer. Among his
works may be mentioned: _Nuestra América_, _Ensayo de Psicología
Individual y Social_, _La Novela de la Sangre_, _La Poesía Popular
Argentina_, and _Nuestra Patria_, an anthology for use in the Argentine
schools, containing, besides extracts from other Argentine authors,
many episodes written by Bunge himself. Of him, Blasco Ibáñez, in his
_La Argentina y sus grandezas_, says: "_Carlos Octavio Bunge es el más
fecundo de los escritores jóvenes. Tiene un talento proteico que se
ejercita con facilidad en todos los géneros.... Ha escrito un cuento, =La
Sirena=, de una originalidad sólo comparable a la de Poë, y que basta
para la reputación de un autor_." Bunge died May 22, 1918.
=Gorriti= (=Manuela=), an Argentine writer of note, was born in Salta in
1819. She was married to General Manuel Isidro Belzú, one time president
of Bolivia. Her life was full of misfortunes, but she never ceased to
write. She displays in her writings unusual power of imagination. In
1865 her complete works appeared in Buenos Aires in two volumes,
entitled _Sueños y Realidades_. In the later years of her life until
1874, the date of her death, she devoted herself to education, being
directress of a college in Lima.
=Sastre= (=Marcos=), an Argentine educator and didactic author, was born in
Montevideo in 1809. Among his more important works are _Anagnosia_,
_Guía del Preceptor_, and specially, _El Temple Argentino_, a vivid and
graphic description of the enchanting islands of the Paraná, their
scenery, flora, and fauna.
=Gutiérrez= (=Juan María=) was born in Buenos Aires. He was a lawyer by
profession, but is best known for his writings. Like Sarmiento, he fled
to Chile to escape the tyranny of Rosas, and devoted himself to
journalism, public education, and the publication of didactic works. In
1846 he was appointed director of the Naval Academy of Valparaíso,
introducing during his term very important reforms. From 1845 to 1849 he
edited a collection of poems by José Joaquín Olmedo, another
collection, entitled _América Poética, El Arauco Domado_ by Pedro de
Ona, and textbooks such as _El Lector Americano_, _La Vida de Franklin_,
_Elementos de Geometría_. He returned to Argentina in 1852, after Rosas'
defeat at the battle of Caseros, lending his efforts to the advancement
of education, as he had done in Chile. He was appointed president of the
University of Buenos Aires, and entirely revised its obsolete curriculum
and faculty. In addition to being one of Argentina's foremost educators,
he has the distinction of being her first literary critic of note. Among
his works on literary criticism may be mentioned the following:
_Artículos Críticos y Literarios_ (1860); _Estudios Biográficos y
Críticos sobre Algunos Poetas Sur Americanos Anteriores al Siglo XIX_
(1865); _Apuntes Biográficos de Escritores, Oradores, y Hombres de
Estado de la República Argentina_. His style is characterized by
correctness and precision. In 1873 he was made president emeritus of the
University of Buenos Aires. He died the following year.
=Lacasa= (=Pedro=) was born in Buenos Aires in 1810. Early in life he gave
up his studies to devote himself to agriculture. When the revolution of
1839 broke out, he took part in it, and rose to the rank of colonel. In
1865 he took part in the war against Paraguay. He died in Jujuy in 1869.
His son, Pedro Lacasa, published in 1870 a volume containing his poems,
a biography of General Lavalle, and one of General Miguel Soler.
=Mitre= (=Bartolomé=) was born in Buenos Aires in 1821. In 1838, when hardly
seventeen years old, he became known as a soldier and poet by taking
part in the siege of Montevideo as a captain, and by publishing a
collection of poems. In the second siege of Montevideo he rose to the
rank of lieutenant-colonel. When the campaign in Uruguay was ended, he
went first to Bolivia and then to Chile, where he was editor of _El
Mercurio_. This was not his first experience in journalism, for he had
already been the director of _La Nueva Era_ and _El Nacional_ in
Montevideo, and _La Época_ in Bolivia. His articles in _El Mercurio_
were a bitter attack against the government, and he was forced to leave
the country, living in Peru for a time. In 1852 he returned to Chile,
but, hearing of the revolt against the tyrant Rosas, he hastened back to
his native country, and took an active part in the battle of Caseros,
being in command of the Uruguayan artillery. From that time dates the
rise of his political power in Argentina. As we have seen, he was
defeated at Cepeda (1859) in his fight against Urquiza, but in 1861, at
Pavón, he led the force of Buenos Aire to victory, becoming president of
Argentina from 1862 to 1868. The rapid strides Argentina has made in the
last fifty years date from Mitre's presidency. He encouraged the
construction of railroads, the establishment of telegraphic
communication throughout the republic, and the founding of schools.
During the war against Paraguay (1865-1870), which rendered difficult
the carrying out of Mitre's beneficial plans to the fullest measure, he
distinguished himself as the commander-in-chief of the allied armies,
that is, those of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. He was editor of _La
Nación_, which shares with the famous _La Prensa_ the distinction of
being the leading newspaper of South America.
When we consider the political and military events in Mitre's life, the
quantity and quality of his literary work are really astonishing. We
wonder where he found time to write his remarkable histories of San
Martín and Belgrano (in nine octavo volumes), his various volumes of
poems, his translations from Longfellow and Dante, and his extensive
correspondence. As a poet and orator, he ranks among the first in
Argentina; and, as an historian, he remains to this day the great
fountain source to which all those who desire to know the history of
Argentina must turn. He is perhaps the greatest man of letters Argentina
has produced. As versatile as Sarmiento, though not so voluminous, he
displays in general a juster appreciation of facts and a greater
equipoise and a more even excellence in literary form.
=Goyena= (=Pedro=), an Argentine lawyer and publicist, was born in Buenos
Aires in 1841. He was the editor of _La Revista Argentina_ and professor
of Roman law at the University of Buenos Aires. His style, both as
writer and orator, is known for its purity and brilliancy.
=Nelson= (=Ernesto=) is a man well known in Argentina in educational
circles. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1875 and was educated there. He
has spent ten years in this country studying educational movements. He
was recently _Director General de Enseñanza Secundaria y Especial_ in
Argentina. Among his publications are _Recopilaciones de Correspondencia
de la Nación_, _Hacia la Universidad Futura_, and numerous articles. He
represented his country at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904; took his
doctor's degree at Columbia University, after four years of residence;
and was a member of the Argentine Commission at the Panama-Pacific
Exposition, San Francisco, in 1915, and a delegate to the Second
Pan-American Scientific Congress in Washington in 1915-16. He has
edited for use in this country a _Spanish-American Reader_, the first
book of its kind, dealing, as it does, with all phases of South American
life and customs.
=López= (=Lucio V.=), the son of Vicente Fidel López, is a contemporary
Argentine political writer and critic. He was born in 1857, and was
professor of political law in the University of Buenos Aires in 1890,
when President Juárez Celmán was turned out of office. He was among the
leaders of that movement. He enjoys a great reputation as a keen
observer and writer on political events in Argentina.
=Blasco Ibáñez= (=Vicente=) was born in Valencia in 1867. He is one of the
leaders among contemporary Spanish novelists. Prior to the recent war,
he resided in Argentina, where he received a tract of land from the
Argentine government as a compensation, in part, for his book, written
at the request of the Argentine government, _La Argentina y sus
grandezas_. At present (1919), he is in France, occupied in writing a
history of the war. His book _Los Cuatro Jinetes del Apocalipsis_,
published during the recent war, deals in the first part with life on
the Pampas, in the last with the war. It is considered one of the best
books brought out by the war in any language. Among his works, these are
best known: _La Barraca_, _Cañas y Barro_, _La Horda_, _Sangre y Arena_,
_Los Muertos Mandan_, and _El Intruso_. His works have been translated
into practically every European language.
=Drago= (=Luis María=) is a contemporary Argentine jurist and writer on
international affairs. He has given his name to the _Drago_ doctrine, a
corollary to the Monroe doctrine. One of his earliest works, _Hombres de
Presa_, a study on criminology, was translated into Italian by
Lombroso, the famous Italian criminologist. In 1902 he was elected to
the Argentine Congress, and shortly after he was appointed minister of
foreign affairs by the then President of the Republic, Julio Roca. In
December of that year he sent his famous note to the government of the
United States, protesting against the use of force on the part of
England, Germany, and Italy for the collection of debts the Venezuelan
government had incurred with private subjects of those nations. He was
the Argentine delegate to the Second Peace Conference, and is a member
of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. In 1912, Columbia
University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws, _honoris
causa_. That he is interested not only in legal matters is shown by his
publication _La Literatura del =Slang=_.
ARGENTINA
LEGEND AND HISTORY
ARGENTINA
LEGEND AND HISTORY
HIMNO NACIONAL ARGENTINO
VICENTE LÓPEZ Y PLANES
_Coro_
Sean eternos los laureles
que supimos conseguir:
coronados de gloria vivamos
o juremos con gloria morir.
I. Oíd mortales el grito sagrado:
¡Libertad! ¡Libertad! ¡Libertad!
¡Oíd el ruido de rotas cadenas!...
Ved en trono a la noble Igualdad.
Se levanta a la faz de la tierra
una nueva y gloriosa Nación,
coronada su sien de laureles
y a sus plantas rendido un León.[1]
2. De los nuevos campeones los rostros
Marte mismo parece animar:
la grandeza se anida en sus pechos;
a su marcha[2] todo hace temblar.[3]
Se conmueven del Inca las tumbas[4]
y en sus huesos revive el ardor,[5]
lo que ve renovando a sus hijos[6]
de la Patria el antiguo esplendor.
3. Pero sierras y muros se sienten[7]
retumbar con horrible fragor:
todo el país se conturba por gritos
de venganza de guerra y furor.
En los fieros tiranos la envidia
escupió su pestífera hiel;
su estandarte sangriento levantan
provocando a la lid más cruel.
4. ¿No los veis sobre Méjico[8] y Quito[9]
arrojarse con saña tenaz,
y cuál lloran bañados en sangre[10]
Potosí, Cochabamba y la Paz?[11]
¿No los veis sobre el triste Caracas[12]
luto, llantos y muerte esparcir?
¿No los veis devorando cual fieras[13]
todo pueblo que logran rendir?
5. A vosotros se atreve, argentinos,[14]
el orgullo del vil invasor:
vuestro campos ya pisa contando
tantas glorias hollar vencedor.[15]
Mas los bravos que unidos juraron
su feliz libertad sostener,
a esos tigres sedientos de sangre
fuertes pechos sabrán oponer.
6. ¡El valiente argentino a las armas
corre ardiendo con brío y valor!
El clarín de la guerra cual trueno,
en los campos del Sud resonó.
Buenos Aires se pone a la frente
de los pueblos de la inclita unión,
y con brazos robustos desgarran
al íberico altivo león.
7. San José, San Lorenzo, Suipacha,[16]
ambas Piedras, Salta y Tucumán,
La Colonia y las mismas murallas
del tirano en la Banda Oriental,[17]
son letreros eternos que dicen:
"Aquí, el brazo argentino triunfó:
aquí, el fiero opresor de la Patria
su cerviz orgullosa dobló."
8. La Victoria al guerrero argentino
con sus alas brillantes cubrió,
y azorado a su vista el tirano[18]
con infamia a la fuga se dió.
Sus banderas, sus armas, se rinden[19]
por trofeos a la libertad,[20]
y sobre alas de gloria alza el pueblo
trono digno a su gran majestad.[21]
9. Desde un polo hasta el otro resuena
de la fama el sonoro clarín,
y de América el nombre enseñando
les repite: "¡Mortales, oíd![22]
Ya su trono dignísimo alzaron[23]
las Provincias Unidas del Sud."
Y los libres del mundo responden:
"¡Al gran pueblo argentino, salud!"[24]
EL GAUCHO ARGENTINO
VICENTE FIDEL LÓPEZ
A uno y otro lado del Uruguay, desde el delta del Paraná a las fronteras
del Brasil, y desde el Paraguay a las riberas del Atlántico, se
extendían campañas de una belleza incomparable, de una fertilidad
exuberante, y de un clima que, aunque templado, no relaja el vigor de
los temperamentos. Esas campañas estaban incultas en manos de la España.
Arroyos innumerables y muchos ríos caudalosos, acompañados en una y otra
ribera de selvas tupidísimas, distribuían por todas partes una masa
enorme de aguas puras y saludables, que alimentaban pastizales inmensos,
donde los ganados y el hombre crecían y se multiplicaban libres y
salvajes. El hombre tenía allí la carne, el fuego y el agua, sin ningún
trabajo, con un cielo espléndido de luz y de transparencia. El atraso
moral de la metrópoli, la incuria de su gobierno, su absoluta falta de
industria, su impotencia caduca para educar y para llevar la vida civil
al seno de los desiertos americanos, habían extenuado todas las
facultades de la España, rindiéndola en una indolente holgazanería a
mediados del Siglo XVII. Era imposible, pues, que el aliento creador de
los intereses económicos, que sólo se levantan en la vida urbana,
hubiese podido penetrar en nuestros campos. Así es que la población
errante que se había apoderado de ellos, había crecido desparramada,
inculta y vagabunda. La extensión indefinida que ocupaba, hacía que el
derecho de la propiedad raíz fuese inútil para sus habitantes, y hasta
se puede decir que era desconocido. Donde cada hombre podía obtener el
derecho nominal de llamarse dueño de cincuenta o más leguas de terreno,
sin otro trabajo que denunciarlo, abonando veinte o cincuenta pesos a la
tesorería del Rey, era imposible que la posesión fuese verdadera delante
de la ley, para[25] responder al título de la propiedad. De modo que el
gaucho argentino no necesitaba de semejante título para tener tierras y
para satisfacer sus necesidades; y en un estado semejante, era natural
que no le fuese fácil concebir que los demás hombres tuviesen razón y
justicia para privarle de la facultad de ocupar el desierto, como cosa
suya, y de poner su rancho donde mejor le conviniera. Sin peligro del
hombre, sin miedo del aislamiento, porque la rápida carrera de su
caballo lo trasportaba en un momento a las aldeas de la costa, y dueño
de los ganados que pacían por los campos, era claro que no tenía
necesidad ninguna de pedir a la tierra ese fruto sabroso de la
agricultura, que civiliza por el trabajo y por la influencia de las
leyes que rigen las producciones del suelo. El hombre civilizado de
nuestros campos había retrogradado verdaderamente, a un estado
semibárbaro, por causa de su aislamiento relativo. Pero estaba muy lejos
de haber perdido las tradiciones de la civilización de que había tomado
origen, como algunos observadores poco discretos lo han dicho; y sus
condiciones no eran las de un estado pastoril, análogo al de los
patriarcas del Asia. Éstos necesitaban, por lo menos, de la propiedad de
los rebaños, gobernaban como patricios la tribu numerosa de sus
parientes, y vagaban por las áridas sequedades del África,[26] buscando
un pozo de agua y un poco de hierba para ellos y para sus bestias.