Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/291

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RIVADAVIA
RIVERA

Agiiero re-enforced his army and organized a navy, lnii tlic disagreements 1 " -Hveen the chiefs caused general discontent. He began negotiations itli i In Spanish authorities, and on 19 Aug. was de- po-ed by congress. By order of Bolivar he was ar- roteil mi '"> Xnv., sent to Guayaquil and exiled to Kur.'pi', whence he began to write hostile pam- phlets against Bolivar. In 1831 congress revoked his sentence of exile, and he returned in 1833, was elected in 1834 deputy to congress for Lima, and reinstated in his military rank, but did not appear again in politics.


RITADAVIA, Bernardino (re-vah-dah'-ve-ah), president of the Argentine Republic, b. in Buenos Ayivs in 1780; d. in Cadiz, Spain, 2 Sept., 1845. After acquiring his primary education he entered the College of San Carlos, and during his studies the first English invasion took place. After the reconquest of Buenos Ayres he took part as a lieu- tenant in the defence of the city during the sec- ond English invasion under Whitelock. In 1811 he was appointed secretary of war and the treas- ury, in which place he subdued two revolts against the government. In 1812 the government to which he belonged was deposed, and he retired to private life till 1814, when he was appointed envoy to sev- eral European courts, and commissioned to solicit a protectorate from England, France, Austria, the United States, or in case of need from a prince of the house of Bourbon, in order to found a South American monarchy, as the conservative element did not believe that the country was ready for a republic. After his negotiations for a protectorate had failed he returned in 1820 to Buenos Ayres. In 1821 Gov. Rodriguez appointed him secretary of the interior, in which place he accomplished many reforms and established the university. Rodriguez's successor, Las Heras, offered him the same place, but he refused and went as minister to Great Britain. On 18 Feb., 1826, he was elected president of the Argentine Republic, in which place he greatly aided the material progress of the re- public and sustained the war against the Brazilian invader of Uruguay, contributing to the independ- ence of that republic. When the Federal party began to oppose him, and several provinces rose in arms, Rivadavia resigned on 29 June, 1827, retir- ing into private life. After the fall of Dorrego and Lavalle, he went to Europe in 1829, but returned in 1834. to answer his impeachment, was exiled to Montevideo, and went in 1842 to Europe.


RIVA PALACIO, Mariano (re'-vah-pah-lah'- the-o), Mexican statesman, b. in the city of Mexi- co, 4 Nov., 1803 ; d. there. 20 Feb., 1880. He studied in the seminary of his native city, and, although lie was graduated with honors,never sought admission to the bar, but entered politics. He was chosen deputy to con- gress for the term of 1833-'4, and from that time

was almost continually either

deputy or senator. In 1849 he was elected governor of the state of Mexico, where he introduced many important reforms, includ- ing a new system of direct taxation, which soon put the state treasury in a flourishing condition, and redeemed the credit of the state, by paying all its accumulated debts. He built the public market of Toluca. the prison, the court-house, and the city sewers, established a savings-bank, and began the penitentiary in Real del Monte. He was re-elected, and with the greatest difficulty obtained permission from the legislature to re- sign, when, in August, 1851, he was called by Gen. Arista to form a ministry, in which he took the portfolio of the treasury. After the fall of Santa-Anna's administration Gen. Martin Car- rera called Riva Palacio to form a ministry on 16 Aug., 1855 ; but the latter declined and frankly told Carrera that as provisional president he ought not to appoint ministers. In December of that year, together with Luis de la Rosa, he accepted from Gen. Alvarez a commission to form a cabinet, but would not take the portfolio, and retired to private life. In 1857 he was again elected govern- or of the state of Mexico, established a mounted police to suppress the increasing brigandage, be- gan to drain the lagoon of Lerma, and projected a railroad to connect Toluca with the city of Mexico. Afterward he was president of the municipal coun- cil of Mexico, where he introduced gas-lights, con- structed new public markets, and established many other reforms. When the Republican government abandoned the capital, 31 May, 1863, before the French invasion, Riva Palacio was prevented by sickness from following, but refused to form part of the " junta de notables " that was formed in July of that year. In July, 1864, the emperor Maximil- ian invited him by a special commissioner to ac- cept the portfolio of the interior ; but he declared that as a republican he could never take part in a monarchical and foreign administration. After the fall of Queretaro, in May, 1867, Maximilian ap- pointed Riva Palacio, with Martinez de la Torre, to defend him before the council of war. Without a moment's hesitation, Riva Palacio hurried to Quere- taro, and, after consultation with the prisoner, went to San Luis Potosi to see Juarez : but, notwithstand- ing his brilliant defence, he could not save his un- fortunate client. Later he received from the im- perial family a silver table-service. After the re- turn of the national government to Mexico, Riva Palacio was elected president of the municipal council, and in 1868 he became deputy to congress, being permitted by a special law to retain his place in the municipality. In August, 1869, he was elect- ed president of congress, and in October of that year he was made governor of the state of Mexico, but returned, in December, 1871, to his seat in con- gress. In 1876, after the triumph of the revolution of Tuxtepec, he was appointed director of the na- tional Monte de Piedad. He was one of the few public men of Mexico that had no enemy in either of the political parties.


RIVERA, Antonio de (re-vay'-rah), Spanish soldier, b. in Soria about the end of the 15th century; d. in Los Angeles, Peru, about 1560. He took part in the conquest of Cartagena in 1532 with Pedro de Heredia (q. v.), and in the several expeditions to the interior achieved great renown. In 1538 he went to Peru with the expedition that was commanded by the magistrate Juan de Badillo, and in 1540 he accompanied Gonzalo Pizarro as his lieutenant in the expedition to discover the country of the cinnamon-tree. Rivera was a partisan of Gonzalo Pizarro against the viceroy Nunez Vela, but, when Pedro de la Gasca arrived in 1547. he served under the latter's orders in the battle of Xaquixaguana, and till the country was pacified,