Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/386

350 of Rosas, Mitre was elected deputy to the legislative assembly of Buenos Ayres, where he attacked energetically the vote of the governor, Dr. Lopez, in favor of the presidency of Urquiza. and, notwithstanding the persecution of the authorities, continued his violent opposition in the columns of "Los Debates" till Dr. Lopez resigned, on 23 June, 1852. Urquiza now declared himself dictator ; but Buenos Ayres. instigated by Mitre, who had been elected general in command of the militia, refused to sanction his government, and on 11 Sept. declared its independence of the other provinces. Valentin Alsina was elected governor, and appointed Mitre minister of the interior and foreign relations. He then founded the journal "La Nacion," of which he is still (1888) the editor, and as commander of the militia continued to prepare for a possible conflict with the rest of the confedera- tion. When this took place, in 1859, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces of Buenos Ayres, but was defeated by Urquiza at Cepeda on 23 Oct. In consequence "Alsina resigned and Buenos Ayres was forced to re-enter the confederacy. Mitre was elected governor, and when in 1861 Urquiza marched against Buenos Ayres, Mitre met and totally defeated him at Pavon on 17 Sept. President Derqui fled, and Mitre was chosen provisional president of the confederation. In the elections of 1862 he was proclaimed constitutional president for the term of six years, and during his administration the public welfare made rapid progress and railroads, telegraphic lines, and public schools were established. The Argentine Re- public joined the triple alliance in 1865, and Mitre marched against Paraguay at the head of the Argentine contingent, leaving Vice-President Marcos Paz in charge of the executive. He was commander-in-chief of the allied forces, and served in the Paraguayan war till 1870. On 12 Oct., 1868, he delivered the executive to the new president. Sarmiento, and after the war he resumed the direction of "La Nacion." In 1873 he was appointed minister to Brazil and Paraguay. In 1874 he was again a candidate for the presidency, and, being unsuccessful in the election, headed a revolution, but was defeated at La Verde and Santa Rosa and left the country. In 1875 he was included in an amnesty and returned to Buenos Ayres, where he continues as editor of "La Nacion." A collection of his poems appeared under the title "Rimas y Poesias " (Buenos Ayres, 1879), and he has also written "La vida de lielgrano " (1880); "Comprobacion historica acerea de algunos puntos de Historia Argentina segun nuevos documentos " (1882) ; and " La vida de San Martin " (1884).

'''MOAK. Nathaniel Clereland,''' author, b. in Sharon, N. Y., 3 Oct., 1833 ; d. in Albany, K. Y., 17 Sept., 1892. He was educated in Cherry Valley and Cooperstown, X. Y., studied law, and was admitted to the bar, and in 1872-4 was district attorney for Albany county, N. Y. He has published "Clarke's Chancery Reports," with notes (Albany, 1869); "Moak's English Reports " (35 vols., 1872-84); "Moak's English Digest" (2 vols., 1872); "Moak's edition of Van Santvoord's Pleadings " (1873); and legal articles in periodicals.

MOCIÑO, José (mo-theen'-yo), Mexican naturalist, b. in Temascaltepec about 1760; d. in Barcelona, Spain, 12 June, 1819. He studied in the Seminary Tridentino of Mexico, devoting himself especially to physics, mathematics, botany, and chemistry. In 1791 he accompanied Sesse on a scientific expedition to California and Nootka, and from 1795 till 1804, by order of Charles IV., they made several journeys to examine the natural

of Mexico. They travelled more than 3,000 leagues and formed a valuable collection, including a considerable herbarium and a great number of sketches, which they carried to Spain. After the death of Sesse, on account of the political disturbances, Mociño was obliged to take refuge in Montpellier. There he met Decandolle, director of the botanical garden, showed him his collection of manuscripts for a &ldquo;Flora Mexicana,&rdquo; and intrusted them to him, fearing that he himself would never return to his own country. Afterward he returned to Spain, and in April, 1817, asked Decandolle, then in Geneva, to return his collection, which was copied by the latter. Mociño's manuscript is in the botanical garden of Madrid, as well as a &ldquo;Flora de Guatemala.&rdquo; He also wrote &ldquo;Descripción del Volcan Jorullo en versos latinos&rdquo; (Mexico, 1801), and &ldquo;Observaciones sobre la resina del hule,&rdquo; published in the &ldquo;Anales de Ciencias Naturales&rdquo; (Madrid, 1804).

MODJESKA, Helena (mod-yes'-ka), actress, b. in Cracow, Poland, 12 Oct., 1844. She is the daughter of Michael Opido, a man of fine musical culture, who gave instruction in that branch in Cracow, where his home was the meeting-place of all musicians and artists that came to the old capital. Her early aspirations were toward the stage, but that career seemed impossible on account of family opposition. Finally, after her marriage with Modrzejewski (abbreviated in English to Modjeska), she made her first appearance in September, 1861, in an amateur performance in the little town of Bochnia, Austrian Poland. Her success was such that her husband organized a small company with which she travelled through all the towns of Galicia, and during the latter part of 1862 she was engaged at the government theatre in Lemberg for three months. She then managed a theatre of her own in Czernowice, playing prominent parts herself and assisted by her two half-brothers and her younger sister. In 1865 she returned to Cracow and there became the leading lady in the local theatre. Her fame soon extended throughout Poland and into France and Germany. She received proposals to act from European managers, and the younger Dumas invited her to come to Paris and play Marguerite Gautier in his &ldquo;Dame aux Camélias.&rdquo; These offers she steadily refused, determining to remain true to the Polish stage. After her first husband's death she married, in September, 1868, Charles Bozenta Chlapowski, now (1888) a naturalized citizen of the United States, and a year later settled in Warsaw, where she played the principal female parts in the standard pieces of Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller, and Molière, and also new plays of Polish origin. For seven years she continued in Warsaw, and her repertory in her native language includes 284 parts. Failing health, worry over the Russian censorship, and other difficulties induced her to leave the stage in 1876 and come to the United States, where she settled on a ranch near Los Angeles, Cal., hoping to