Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/717

 JUAREZ G97 harbors, and promoted the efficiency of the Spanish navy. He wrote the scientific part of Ulloa's Relation of the expedition to South America and of the measurement at the equa- tor (see ULLOA, ANTONIO DE), and jointly with him published a historical and geographical dissertation on the Spanish-Portuguese me- ridian boundary line (Madrid, 1749; French, Paris, 1776). His other works include a man- ual of navigation (Madrid, 1757), and a work relating to the application of technology to ship building (2 vols., Madrid, 17G1-77), which has been translated into English and French. JUAREZ, Benito Pablo, president of Mexico, born in the village of San Pablo Guetatao, near Tixtlan, in the state of Oajaca, March 21, 1806, died in Mexico, July 18, 1872. When very young he lost his parents, who were In- dians in humble circumstances ; and at the age of 12, when he was still unable to speak Span- ish, an uncloistered friar of Oajaca took him into the service of his family, and gave him his first education, placing him afterward at the seminary of that city. Young Juarez soon abandoned theology for the law ; and having graduated with honors at the new college of Oajaca, where in addition to his legal studies he held the chair of natural philosophy from 1829 to 1831, he was admitted to the bar in 1834. In 1836 he was imprisoned by the con- servatives; but in 1842 he became chief judge of the republic, which post he held till 1845, when a partial triumph of his party led to his appointment as secretary of the state govern- ment of Oajaca under Gen. Leon. He was, however, soon obliged to give up this office, and he acted as chief justice of the superior court till the end of the same year. When the revolution headed by Salas triumphed in Au- gust, 1846, the state of Oajaca resumed its sovereignty, and established a junta, vesting the executive power in a triumvirate composed of Fernandez del Campo, Arteaga, and Juarez. The junta immediately after its organization restored the constitution of 1824; and Ar- teaga was elected governor, while Juarez was sent as deputy to the general constituent con- gress of 1846, where he gave a vigorous sup- port to the policy of the acting president Farias in negotiating a loan of $14,000,000 on church property, to defrtiy the expenses of the war against the United States. Arteaga hav- ing resigned in 1847, Juarez was elected in his stead, and remained governor till August, 1852. During this period he introduced many useful reforms, and managed the finances so well that, after over-paying all the contributions to the national government and liquidating the state debt, he left on retiring a surplus of $50,- 000 in the treasury. One of the first acts of his implacable enemy Santa Anna, on seizing the reins of government soon afterward, was the arrest and exile of Juarez, who, almost destitute of resources, sojourned two years in New Orleans. In July, 1855, he returned to Mexico by way of Panama, and landed at Aca- pulco, where he joined Gen. Alvarez, then commanding the revolutionary troops against Santa. Anna. Alvarez was proclaimed presi- dent on Oct. 4, and he at once appointed Juarez minister of justice and religion. Immediately after the inauguration of the new administra- tion, Juarez proposed a bill for the abolition of the special clerical and military courts, un- der which these two classes had long enjoyed immunity from the laws of the nation. The measure received the unanimous sanction of the constituent congress. When Comonfort succeeded Alvarez in the presidency (Dec. 11, 1855), he at once appointed Juarez governor of Oajaca, in order to remove him from the cabinet. Juarez was received with joy in his native state, and his second administration was marked by still more happy results than the first. He was reflected as constitutional governor in September, 1857, at the same time that the general elections resulted in his elevation to the post of president of the supreme court of justice, which in Mexico is equivalent to the vice presidency of the nation. In October Comon- fort, in obedience to the voice of the whole liberal press, created him minister of the inte- rior. On the downfall of the Comonfort ad- ministration, Juarez repaired to Guanajuato, issued a manifesto, formed a cabinet, and, in virtue of his office of chief justice, was recog- nized as president by all the states in January, 1858 ; but, unable to oppose the reactionary forces, he was obliged to transfer his govern- ment first to Guadalajara, afterward to Colima, and ultimately by way of the isthmus of Pan- ama and New Orleans to Vera Cruz, where he arrived on May 4. In April, 1859, he was rec- ognized as president by the United States. On Jan. 11, 1861, after having defeated Miramon, he entered the city of Mexico ; and in the fol- lowing March he was confirmed in the presi- dential functions by a general election, in which Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada was the opposing candidate. Three important acts of the Juarez administration deserve special mention : the suppression of religious orders, the confisca- tion of the church property (June, 1861), and the suspension for two years of payments on account of the foreign debt and of all national liabilities. The decree for this last measure, issued by congress, on the recommendation of Juarez, July 17, led to the formation of an alliance of intervention (London, Oct. 31) be- tween England, France, and Spain, and the in- vasion of the republic by the allied forces, which reached Vera Cruz on Dec. 8. Juarez, however, promised to protect the interests of the creditors, and in consequence England and Spain declined to commence hostilities, and prepared to evacuate the country ; but France insisted upon the necessity of active measures, ostensibly for the protection of the French residents, but really for the purpose of estab- lishing an empire in Mexico, and accordingly declared war against Juarez on April 16, 1862. The president, after the capture of Puebla by