Urquiza was received by the inhabitants of Buenos Aires with delirious joy as the deliverer of the Republic.  By means of the proclamations which he showered upon the populace he endeavoured to make it clear that he would continue in that capacity.  It was not long, however, before his actions aroused the suspicions of the townsfolk.  In fact, after a while it became fairly evident that Urquiza, having once found himself in the full enjoyment of power, was by no means indisposed to follow the example so grimly set by Rosas—­although this possibly in a minor degree.  It is true that the new chief of the Republic passed some progressive measures, including one which opened the waters of the River Plate (closed during the rule of Rosas) to foreign commerce; but the general tendency of his government was popularly held to be of the reactionary order.

Revolutions against his authority broke out, and in July of 1853, some eighteen months after the Battle of Caseros, General Urquiza was conveyed from Buenos Aires in a United States man-of-war to his head-quarters in his own province of Entre Rios, where he remained, leading a semi-private life in the enjoyment of his vast estates.

With the retirement of Urquiza we come practically to the modern conditions of the great Republic of Argentina, for General Bartolome Mitre now came into power, and with the advent of the famous Argentine President the Republic began to assume something of its present importance.  It was, however, not until thirty years later that the final differences between Buenos Aires and the other provinces were completely adjusted.

The effect of this settlement was remarkable and immediate, for simultaneously with the removal of the jealousies which had hitherto reigned between the great province of Buenos Aires and its neighbours the last impediment in the path of progress vanished, and the Republic advanced with an almost startling rapidity to the importance of its present position in the world’s affairs.

During all this while the small Republic of Uruguay, which had cut itself adrift from Argentina in the course of the War of Independence, had continued on a somewhat chequered and stormy career.  After innumerable struggles, the dauntless little State succeeded in freeing itself from the aggressions of its powerful neighbours to the north and south.  This did not suffice to put an end to internal unrest, and the rival parties—­the Colorados and the Blancos—­made a battle-ground of the Republic for generation after generation.  Notwithstanding this, the intellectual progress of the Uruguayans has continued throughout, and the development of the national industries on a fitting scale is now proceeding.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE NORTHERN REPUBLICS