Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-06-05
MI6CI;L.L AINEOsiS.
From tire Monthly Magazine.
DR. FRANCIA, THE DICTATOR OF PA
RAGUAY.
L'otat c'est moi.-NaroLroN.

historian OF our own island, that our estimate OF
personal merit is relative to tho common faculties
of mankind. The aspiring efforts of genius and
virtue, either in active speculative life mea-
surcd not much by their real elevation, as by
the height To which they ascend above the level of
their 0ge and country.
! OF the various distinguished characters whom
the South American Revolution has dragged forth
| from tho bosom of obScurity, TO enact splendid
part in the great drama of their country's ndcpcn
dencc, appositcy illustrates tho profound
observation of Gibbon the subject of this paper
DIR. Jose Gaspard Rodriguez do Fronca, the
present ruler of Paraguay.
While the attention of the European world has
been fixed with concentrated gaze on the splendid
deeds of Bolivar-on tho melancholy fato of an
lturbide--or, more recently on tho contemplate
career of Pedro-it has remained in singular ig.
norancc of the history of this extraordinary man.
The faint glimmerings of light that have from
time to time, broken through the imponctrabie
veil or more than Chinese policy with which Inc has
| onshro udcd his empire, have been treated as the
ampihcations of travellers, the wild fctions of
| romance. The scepticism of Europe, however,
ought not to excite SURPRISE when we consider
that, in South America itself, in those countries
| even situated the very threshold of his domn-
| ons, the most contradictory and conflicting no.
tons entertained relative to this mysterious
parsonage. BY some he is looked upon philo-
sophcr who, anxious to guard his fellow country
men from the miscrieS of revolution, and to intro
duce civilization among them, had resolved on this
system of isolation as the only cfectua means of
preserving them from the civil war to which all
the neighboring States have boon successfully
prey; others, again, regarded him usurper,
whose object to aggrandizc himself by the
IN OF his country; tho third party, remembering the
revival of tho order of Loyola in Europc-the
narno of which is so intimately connected with
that OF Paraguay-thought that they discovered
| i'll Francia agent of the Jcsuits while the enc
mics of South American independence were pleas
cd at the prospect of finding in the Dictator sup
porter of the fallen power, and vindcator of its
disasters. AT one time he was holding the Govern
mcnt in the name of the queen -dowager of Portu-
gal; and at another, negotiating with Don Pedro,
with Il view to the coalition of Paraguay with
Brazil In fact, the days of Prcster John, and the
Old Man of the Mountains, wore revived again in
South America.
Amid this host of fabulous and contradictory
ports, the work of NJ NJ. Reugger and Lonchamp
appeared. They the first Europeans who have
revealed the secrets of this mysterious country, de-
scribcd the actual condition of this China,
and lifted the veil that has long cnshrouded the
modern Dionysius Confined fer several years
within the lair of the Dictator they had ample OPP
portunitics of studying the character and habits of
an animal, of more interest than any that the a.
tGral history of Paraguay presented; and tho best
security that can be offered of the truth and fidc-
lny OF the coloring of the picture, is simply the
statement, that it might have them their heads
TO have suffered themselves to be deceived to
the character of DIR. Frauca. at is thus" says
NJ. Reugger, THAT selt-prcservation obligcs one
who traverses the wilds of vast continents to stu
dy even though they be not naturasts, the habits
of the tiger and the jaguar"
Tho history OF the revolution of Paraguay is SO
intimately identified with this extraordinary man,
that 1T will be necessary, i'll order to fully under
stand it, to briefly advert to his previous life and
character. Francia born in the year 1763; his
father was a Frenchman, who, after residing seve-
raj years at Lisbon, finally emigratcd to Paraguay
where he married creole lady, by whom he had
several children The only professions open to the
native youth of South America previous TO the
revolution, were the church and the law. Fran
cha was destined by his father for the former, and
accordingly received he first ruIi of obi
cation at monkiSh seminary at Assumption. He
subsequently repaired to the university of Cordo.
va de Tucuman, the Salamanca of the New World,
where he studied with considerable success, and
was admitted doctor of theology; but this appli-
cation TO the canon law having given him n taste
for Jurisprudence, he resolved not to take tho ton
sure and became advocate.
On his return to his country from the uni
versity, he entered with ardour his profession,
and distinguished himself by extraordinary
combination of moral courage and integrity. Ne
yer did he sully his function by undertaking an
unjust cause. He readily defended the weak
against the strong-thc poor against the rch.-
He ted large fees from those only who could
pay, and especially from those who disposed
to litigation; but he extremely disint crest ed
in dealing with those clients who either in
humble circumstances, reluctantly forced
into the courts by the injustice of others. His
patrimony was moderate, and he not ambitious
of increasing it. The half of town house, and
"a small estancia in the country, constituted his
: whole fortune; and singular his temper,
that finding himself possessed of 800 doars--a
sum too great, in his opinion, for a single indvdu-
aI-be Immediately proceeded to the gaming table
and at one throw lost the whole.
unSocIal IN his disposition, passonately fond Of
study, and protested libertne, he was never
known to yield to either the soft emotions of love-
or the more chastened pleasures of friendship
Surrounded by ignorance, destitute of literary re-
sources, his knowledge of the world of the
most circumscribcd order. He had, farther, the
misfortune to be subject to fits of hypochondria
an hereditary disease in his family; for his father
was man remarkable for his ecccntrictics; his
brother and sister, lunatics. Franca became sue
cessively member of the Cabildo and an Alcaldc
In this capacity he displayed the fearless in
tegrty that had distinguished him as an advocate
Devoted 10 object the protection of his native
country from the tyrannical pIetensions of Spain,
his conduct won him the attachment and esteem of
all classes Of his countryrnen.
In the year 1911, the people of Paraguay i'm
/ PEELED by the example of the ncighborinp states
and by the remembrance of former wrongs de-
! clarcd their political independence. A congress
was Immediately assembled, who depesed the Spa
nish governor, erecting in his stead iunta, com
posed OF president, two assessors and a secrota-
ry with deliberate voice; DR.. Jose Gaspard Rod
rlguez de Franca was appointed to the Latter office.
This appointment was the stepping stone to his
future greatness; and he in a very short time
became the soul of The government. Even at
this carly period of his career he appears to have
conceived his great plan of isolation, which he
mas since so ettcctually Accomplishment for he not
only broke oft all communications with tho Argen.
tine Republic, but he refused to furnish a SINGLE
solder to the armies struggling against tho tyranny
OF SPAN, or to send u deputy TO any of the con
crosses assembled, at different intervals of time
during the revolutionary contest. The character
oil ms colleagues were, it must be confessed adj.
Inrably calculated to facilitate his ambitious pro
Jec's. Men, the maximum of whose requirements