[XXIII-56] He was a man about 55 years of age, of small stature, gray-haired, and wearing spectacles. His sharp, intelligent eyes showed the man of culture and shrewdness.
[XXIII-57] He organized his cabinet with the following ministers: Teodoro Delgadillo, of justice and religion; Francisco Castellon, of foreign affairs and pub. instruction; Jose Chamorro, of pub. works; Joaquin Elizondo, of war and marine. Nic., Mem. Min. Rel., 1884, 8; Pan. Star and Herald, Oct. 20, Dec. 1, 1882; March 20, Apr. 17, 1883.
[XXIII-58] Vicente Navas, Enrique Guzman, Gilberto Larios, and Ladislao Argüello were appointed to represent Nic. at the conference of delegates of the five republics.
[XXIII-59] Small-pox and dysentery broke out in several districts, destroying many lives. The town of San Cárlos was burned down; and the eruption of Ometepe volcano drove the inhabitants of that island from their homes. The govt afforded relief to the sufferers. Other places have been lately injured by earthquakes. Nic., Mensaje Pres. Cárdenas, Jan. 15, 1885; Costa R., Gaceta, Feb. 3, 4, 1885.
[XXIII-60] On the 13th and 14th of March they issued manifestos to Central Americans in general, as well as to their own people, inviting them to resist Barrios, who, as they said, claiming to seek the reconstruction of the old union, really was bent on conquest for his own aggrandizement. Costa R., Boletin Ofic., March 13, 23, 29, Apr. 2, 1885; U. S. Gov. Doc., Sen Jour., 1884-5, 568-71; S. F. Call, March 13, 1885; S. F. Chronicle, March 13, 1885.
[XXIII-61] Costa R., Gaceta, June 2, 1885.
[XXIII-62] They fled in disorder on the approach of govt troops. Costa R. and Hond. had placed forces on the frontiers to secure their neutrality. Id., Nov. 4, 8, 10, Dec. 4, 1885; Pan. Star and Herald, Dec. 29, 1885.
[XXIV-1] Urbina was made a brigadier a few months after he became governor, and died Feb. 22, 1805, on which day the teniente rey Mata took the govt. Pan. Star and Herald, Oct. 3, 1868.
[XXIV-2] Each province was ruled by a governor and comandante de armas, and the partidos by alcaldes mayores, all being, however, under the governor at the capital, in whose hands were the superior civil government, the real patronato, and the superintendency of the treasury. Pan. Docs., in Pan., Col. Docs., MS., no. 36, 6; Arosemena, Apunt. Hist., 3-4; Id., in Pan. Bol. Ofic., Feb. 25, 1868; Arosemena, Mariano, Apuntamientos Históricos con relacion al Istmo de Panamá, Pan., 1868, 8vo, 48 pp. The author, one of the prominent citizens who took an active part in the affairs related by him, and was one of the signers of the independence, kept a diary of events occurring on the Isthmus during many years, and in 1868, as he tells us, purposed the publication of his memoranda from 1801 to 1840. I have succeeded in obtaining a portion of his writings, and find them important for the period embraced. Mariano Arosemena died at Panamá on the 31st of May, 1868. He had several sons and daughters, one of the former being the distinguished Colombian statesman, Justo Arosemena, who has held high diplomatic positions in Europe, the United States, and South American republics, besides some of the most important offices in his own country.
[XXIV-3] Arosemena, Apunt., 5; Bol. Of. (1868), 32. For the district of Panamá proper, there was, moreover, a high justice, 'justicia mayor de cruces,' who on entering the city had power to take cognizance of all affairs laid before the alcaldes.