The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1872-08-03
BenitO IUareX.

From the New Orleans Times July o.
The death of BenitO JuareZ, President
| of the Republic of Mexico, is an impOr-
tant event in the history of that revOlu-
tiOnary country. Juarez is said to be a
descendant of the Indian race of the Ia
petecos, and being born i'll the year 1902,
had reached, at the time Of his death
the full term of three score years and
ten. This, though by no means an unu-
sual age in Europe and this country, is
Il rare old age in the city Of the Monte
ZumaS, not one Ill a thousand reaching
it.
Juarez graduated in the College of
OaXaca in 1880, and i'll 1888 was elected
a member Of the State Legislature. Soon
after lie became Secretary Of the Su-
preme Tribunal of Justice, and subSe-
Quently occupied more than one high
judicial position. In 1846 he was elec-
ted a deputy to Congress, in which ca
pacity he strongly urged the seculariza-
ton of church property, in order to meet
the demands on the treasury caused by
the wal with the United States. Be
tween 1848 and 1859 he served as Gov
ernOr of his native State, giving great
satisfaction. IN 1853, when Santa Anna
was a second time raised to the Dictator
ship, Juarez and other Liberals were
banished, and for nearly two years he
resided in this city, the intimate friend
and companion of our fellow-citizen,
Emile La Sere. In 1865 he connected
himself with the Alvarez inSurrcctiOn
against Santa Anna, and on its success
became Minister of Justice. Under the
succeeding Presidency Of COmOnfOrt he
was Secretary of State and President of
the High Court of Justice, and on the
overthrow Of COmOnfOrt III 1858 he took
his position, eX-OfficiO, as President of
the Republic. His authority was QueS-
toned by LulOaga and afterwards by
MiramOn and it was with difficulty that
he obtained a recognition of his govern
ment by the United States. The Strug-
gle for supremacy was continued for
some time with varying fortunes, but at
length, after a series of defeats, toward
the close of 1860, MiramOn was cOmpell-
ed to flee the country. The Congress
which assembled in the City of Mexico
in 1861 elected Juarez President, and his
first act after being installed, was to
decree the dissolution of religious or
derS and the seculaTiZatiOn of church
property, and his second, the decree by
which payments to creditors Ofthe State
was suspended for two years.
T~hiscaused difficulty with Great Bri-
tain, France and Spain, and intervention
for the enforcement of the claims of
their respective subjects. The cOnven-
ton at SOledad, in january, 1862, led to
the withdrawal of the British and Span
ish forces, while the French army re-
manned to support the project of placing
the Austrian Archduke, Ferdinand
Macmillan, on the throne of Mexico.
With the unfortunate result Our readers
are already familiar, Macmillan, after
a vain but heroic attempt to sustain
himself, eventually fell into the hands
Of Juarez, and was condemned and shot
in June, 1867. This act, andOthers which
followed, excited an Outburst of indigna-
tiOn throughout the civilized world. But
JuareZ, regarding Maximilian as a law
less usurper, and his followers as ban
diff, was determined to show no mer-
cY. Since then he has maintained his
authority, thOughnOt without difficulty,
and on the 18th inst, according to last
Mexican dispatches. he died of apo
pleXy. His life was a stirring and, on
the whole, a successful one. Strong in
his hates and ardent in his friendship,
he had devoted followers and most bit
ter enemies. He" maintained himself
longer at the head of the Mexican Gov
eminent than any other man since the
days OF the Empire under Iturbide in
1892, Dr. the commencement of the Re-
public under Guadalupe Victoria, in
1924, With all his faults and errors he
was certainly anxious to advance the in
terests OF his native land.