Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/340

314 application for a colonelcy was subsequently re- fused. He succeeded in entering the Pennsylvania artillery with the commission of captain in F ebul- ary. 1776. and with his regiment invaded Canada. In May of the same year he was tried for various alleged offences. but was acquitted. and remained in the Continental service till 1779. when he was captured by the British and taken to England. Although his exchange was refused. he pursued his profession there with great success. He set out to return to this country in 1784. but is sup- posed to have been murdered at .sea for a large sum of money which he carried with him. In a diary of the principal part of his life. Romans claims to have been the ﬁrst. surveyor in Florida. He was a mathematician. an artist. and an author. In 1771 he became a member of the American philosophi- cal society. to which he contributed various papers. lIis publications include " A Concise Natural His- tory of East and West Florida." which. though it contains curious typographical errors. such as print- ing the pronoun I as asmall letter. and is composed in a grandiloquent style. is full of minute and well- arranged information. illustrated with t\velve cop- per-plates and twu whole—sheet maps. and is rare and valuable (New York. 1775). II" other works are “ Map of the Seat of \Valr" (1775): “ Annals of the Troubles in the Netherlands " (English trans- lation. :3 vols.. Hartford. 1778): and " L'ompleat Pilot of the Gulf Pasage" (1779).

'''ROMAY. Tomas''' (ro—mi'). Cuban physician. b. in Havana in 17059: d. there in 1849. He studied in his native city. was graduated in medicine in 1791. and soon afterward was appointed to a profes- sorship iu the University of Ilavana. In 1798 he published an interesting memoir on the yellow fever. which was soon translated into English and French and is still one of the best essays on the subject. The Madrid academy of medicine made him one of its honorary members. In 1802 he pub- lished a memoir against the custom of burying the (lead in churches and cities. and advocated the es- tablishment of a public cemetery outside of I la- vana. which was carried into effect soon afterward. In 1804 he published another memoir advocating the introduction of vaccine virus in the island of Cuba. The members of his family were the ﬁrst that were vaccinated. and during forty-ﬁve years he was one of the most constant advocates of vac- cination. In 1808 he published also an extensive memoir on the culture and propagation of apiaries, contributing in great part to the development of this industry in the island. Duringr the first chol- era epidemic in Ilavana. in 1833. Itomay devoted all his time and energy to restraining the disease, and published several pamphlets upon the subject. The Madrid government rewarded his services by appointing him honorary physician of the ro_'a.l chamber. a distinction that Was very seldom coil- fcrred in those times. He was also elected director of thc Royal economical society of Havana. and in this capacity gave his attention to the promotion of public education by the foundation of public schools. Besides the publications noticed above, he was the author of “ (.‘onjuracién de Bonaparte " (1808). and his complete works were published after his death (Ilavana. 13-38).

'''RRMERO. Matias''' (ro-may’-ro). Mexican states- man. b. in Uaxaca. 24 l"eb.. 1837: d. in Washington. D. (1.3" [)cc.. 1898. He was educated at the insti- tute in his native town. whcrc he studied philoso- phy and then law. Ile settled in the city of Mexico. and through the inﬂuence of Benito Juarez was en~ ablcd to cnter the foreign oflice. Meanwhile he con- finucd his legal studies at the Academy of theoreti- cal and practical law. and was admitted to the bar in 1857. In the revolution of that year he sided with the government. and alter the abandonment of Mexico he retired to Guadalajara. where Juarez appointed him to an ofﬁce in the department of foreign affairs. He continued to follow the fortunes of the constitutional gov- ermueut in its mi- grations. and at Vera Cruz served as secre- taryto Mclehort )cam- po (q. 1:). and chief clerk of the several de- partments under that statesniau's charge. In December. 1859. he was appointed sec- retaryof the Mexican legation in Washing- ton. and he was subse- quently chargé d'af— f'aires until April. 1863. The period during which he was in office at the legation was probably the most dif- ﬁcult in the annals of Mexican diplomacy. involving grave and complicated questions f1" Iln the capture of the Spanish vessel “ Maria (‘oncepcion" down to the French intervention in Mexico. On his re- turn to Mexico in 1863 he resigned his diplomatic post. and. soliciting an appointment. in the army. was commissioned colonel. and became chief of staff to his college friend. Gen. Porﬁrio Diaz. He was employed on several military missions of a dipln. matic nature. and in September returned to Wash- ington as minister to the United States. This place he then held until July. 18138. and negotiated several important treaties with this country after the downfall of' the empire. in Mexico. IIe accept- ed the trcasury portfolio in J uarez's cabinet in August. 1868. and for ﬁve years administered the ﬁnances of his native country with skill and judg- ment. Ills health failing. he retired to the Soco- nusco district and engaged in agricultural pursuits. also serving as a member of congress from that part of Mexico. In 1876 he was a member of the senate. and on the election of Gen. Diaz to the presidency he returned to his post in the treasury department, which he then held until 1 April. 1879. He was appointed postmaster-general in February, 1-5-50. but on the inauguration of Gen. Manuel Gon- zalez was retired from that office. In the spring of 1881 he became interested in the Mexican Southern railway company. and accompanied Gen. Grant on his tour of inspection through Mexico. From May. 1881. till February. 1882. he was general superin- tendent of the company in Mexico. During Presi- dent Garfield's administration the boundary ques- tion between the United States and Mexico became a matter of public consideration. and also that be- tween Mexico and Guatemala. and he was again sent as minister frqu Mexico. Both difficulties were adjusted by him and a treaty of reciprocity between the United States and Mexico was signed. Ile resigned his post. at Washington on the expira- tion of Gonzalez's presidcntial term. but was re- appointh by Gen. Iliaz in 1884. and continued to fill the oflice. Romero published upward of fifty volumes. but thcy arc chieﬂy official reports. Among the more important are “('ircnlars and other Publications made by the Mexicali la-gation at Washington during the French Intervention." 1863—"7 (2 vols.. Mexico. 1868); " Coffee-Culture on