his elevation to the parliamentary chamber and the press of the opposition party, and he would never have destroyed the powers which had defeated the former presidency; but all were overthrown when the gaucho of the pampas came into power, who understood little, and cared less for liberty and individual rights. It was his way to accomplish his ends by cutting men's throats; and on this principle the Republic is now governed.
The 1st of December, 1828, and the fatal victory of Navarro, taught the Caudillos their own power, and one and all prepared for the struggle—the Aldaos in Mendoza, and Facundo in the Llanos. A regiment of auxiliaries was put in training at Mendoza under command of the monk-colonel, whose fame was not yet so great as that of his brothers. As soldiers of the War of Independence, they knew what discipline can accomplish, and the auxiliaries, thoroughly equipped and trained, occupied the right wing in the famous battle of Tablada, in which eight hundred veterans of the national army, commanded by the able General Paz, left three thousand enemies dead, after a two days' fight. Of the regiment of auxiliaries, sixty-five survived, with their colonel, who was wounded in the side.
While this monk-colonel was confined at San Luis, by his wound, he amused himself by reading atheistical books,—an apparently insignificant fact, yet it would seem to prove that there was a struggle still going on in his conscience, of which he would fain have relieved himself. Quiroga, after the defeat, fled to the Llanos; Aldao naturally went back to his brothers. But many changes had taken place in his absence: a
