Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/491

Rh entered public life in 1801, when he was appointed (Miiiml>-i'>ii( j r df bankruptcy by Thomas Jefferson, was a member of the legislature in 1808-'10, and of congress in 1815-'23, 1827-9, and 1837-'4','. In 1820 he was active in securing the passage of the Missouri compromise. He was appointed one of the two envoys in 1826 to the Panama congress, was president of the Pennsylvania constitutional con- vention in 1830, and Whig candidate for the vice- presidency on the ticket with Henry Clay in 1832. He declined the mission to England in 1841, and his last public service was that of arbitrator to de- termine a long-pending controversy. The question at issue concerned the title to Pea Patch island as derived by the United States from the state of Dela- ware, and by James Humphrey claiming through Henry Gale from the state of New Jersey. This involved the question of the boundary between the two states, or, in other words, the claim to Delaware river, and the decision in favor of the United States incidentally decided the boundary dispute in favor of Delaware. Another son of Jonathan Dickinson, Thomas, jurist, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 14 Jan., 17S2; d. there, 8 May. 1860, was graduated at Princeton in 1798, studied law under Jared Inger- soll, and was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia in 1802. He was in the legislature in 1812-'14, in the latter year was appointed associate justice of the district court of Philadelphia, and was secretary of the commonwealth in 1817-'19. While holding that office he began the formation of the state law library at Harrisburg. He was attorney-general in 1819-'20, postmaster of Philadelphia in"l828-'32, and in February, 1834, became associate-justice of the state supreme court, which office he held till his resignation in 1846. His judicial decisions were esteemed for their brevity, clearness, and accuracy, and it is said that he was the only judge that e' r er sat on the Pennsylvania bench not one of whose decisions was reversed. He was the chief expounder of the limited equity jurisdiction of the court, and was of service in bringing this into an intelligible and convenient shape. He returned to the bar in 1847, and successfully practised until the failure of his health compelled his gradual abandonment of professional labor. He was provost of the law- academy of Philadelphia in 1844-'5o. for many years president of the Pennsylvania historical so- ciety, a member of the American philosophical society, and a trustee of the University of Pennsyl- vania. He married, on 14 Sept., 1812, Sarah Bache, a granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin. His publications include " Treatise upon the Law of Pennsylvania relative to the Proceedings by For- eign Attachment " (Philadelphia, 1811); "Report of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Penn- sylvania," with William Rawle, Jr. (17 vols., 1814-'29); "Constitutional Law " (1822) ; "Sketch of the National Judiciary Powers exercised in the United States Prior to the Adoption of the Present Federal Constitution " (1824) ; and " View of the Land Laws of Pennsylvania " (1838).

SERNA, José de la (sair-nah). last viceroy of Peru, b. in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, in 1770; d. in Cadiz in 1832. At an early age he entered the army, seeing his first service as a cadet in the de- fence of Ceuta against the Moors in 1784. He served afterward against the French in Catalonia in 1795, under Admiral Mazarredo against the British in 1797, and in the second siege of Sara- gossa in 1809, where he was captured and carried to France as a prisoner. Soon he escaped, and, after travelling for some time in Switzerland and the Orient, returned in 1811 to Spain, and served under Wellington till the expulsion of the French in 1813. In 1816 he held the rank of major-gen- eral and was appointed to take command in Peru. He arrived on 22 Sept. in Callao, and, proceeding at once to upper Peru, took charge of the army in Cotagaita on 12 Nov. The viceroy urged Serna to begin offensive operations against the province of Tucuman, which was occupied by the Argentine patriots. Serna objected to the' insufficiency of his forces, but Pezuela insisted, when suddenly they were surprised by the victorious march of San Martin across the Andes and the reconquest of Chili. The army of upper Peru was henceforth reduced to a defensive warfare against the insur- rectionary movements in several parts of the coun- try. Serna's opposition to the viceroy increased, and at last he asked for permission to retire to Spain. His leave of absence arrived in May, 1819, and in September he resigned the command of the army to Gen. Canterac. On his arrival in Lima in December, his partisans made a demonstration in favor of not allowing Serna to leave Peru on the eve of a threatened invasion from Chili, and the viceroy, to avoid disagreement, promoted him lieu- tenant-general and appointed him president of a consulting council of war. After the landing of San Martin in Pisco, 8 Sept., 1820, Serna, through secret machinations, obtained an appointment as Commander-in-chief of the army that was gathered at Aznapuquio, to protect the capital against the advance of San Martin, and was ordered by the viceroy to march to Chancay. On 29 Jan., "1821. the principal officers of the camp, partisans of Serna, presented a petition to the viceroy, request- ing him to resign in favor of the latter.' Pezuela refused, and ordered Serna to subdue the mutiny ; but the latter pretended to be unable to do so, and. after vain resistance, the viceroy delivered to him the executive on the evening of the same day. When San Martin threatened the capital, a Spanish commissioner, Capt. Manuel Abreu, arrived from Europe with orders to negotiate for a pacific arrangement, and Serna sent him to make propo- sals to San Martin. The negotiations lasted from } May till 24 June, but produced no result, and on the next day hostilities began again. As the situ- ation became daily more dangerous, Serna aban- doned the capital on 6 July, 1821, and retired to Jauja, where he reorganized his army, sending Gen. Canterac on 24 Aug. with a force of 4.000 men to relieve Callao. Afterward Serna established his headquarters at Cuzco, but after a campaign of variable success there were dissensions in the army, and Gen. Olafieta refused obedience and maintained an independent position in upper Peru. Canterac was defeated on 6 Aug., 1824, by Bolivar, at Junin. The viceroy now resolved to crush the patriot army by a supreme effort, and left Cuzco in October with a well-disciplined army of 10.000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry. He met the patriot army in the mountain plain of Ayacucho on 8 Dec., and on the next day was totally defeated by Gen. Sucre and wounded and taken prisoner. The Spanish army lost 2.000 wounded and dead and 3,000 prisoners, and as the rest was entirely dis- persed, Gen. Canterac, the second in command, signed an honorable capitulation the next dav. and the viceroy, who on the date of the battle had been created by the king Count de los Andes, was soon afterward permitted to sail for Europe. He was honorably received at court, his administration was approved, and he was appointed captain-general of several provinces.

SERRA, Angel (sair -rah). Mexican linguist, b. in Zitacuaro, Michoacan, about 1640; d. in t^ueretaro about 1700. He entered the Franciscan order