CENTRAL AMERICA. 



CIIAMPLIN, STEPHEN. 



81 





i. resting as they illustrate the character 

 i.f m.t of the Central American revolution-,: 



.'ithivak commenced at the artillery bar- 

 tiii the morning of the 27th of April. At 

 nine o'clock the gate was opened to give 



nee to tlio cart that usually brought !'"!- 



r- the horse* and mules of the corps; but 

 on that day two carts camo instead of one. 

 'l'lii< la^t oiio h.-ul nine men, armed with re- 

 \ol\crs, under the grass, who, as soon as the 



entered, at a signal given by the cartman, 

 jumped out, rushed upon the guard, killed the 

 otlicer and every man that opposed them. 

 Tin-nee they repaired to the quarters of the 

 commandant of the barracks, Biscubi, who shot 

 the first man who entered, but the latter re- 

 turned the fire and blew Biscubi's brains out. 

 The nine assailants were immediately joined 

 by a largo body of men, and they made them- 

 selves masters, first of the artillery barracks, 

 and later of those of the infantry, after the firing 

 of a few shots only. They next secured the 



ti of Soflor Jesus Jimenez, the President 

 of the republic. In the afternoon of the same 

 day, Santiago Millet, with 400 men, came from 

 Cartago to the relief of the Government, but 

 he was notified that, if he attacked the city, 

 President Jimenez would be immediately put 

 to death. Jimenez then ordered Millet and 

 his force to lay down their arms, which they 

 did, and on the following day he and all the 

 other prisoners were set at liberty. No one 

 was persecuted or banished. The chief of the 

 movement was Tomas Guardia ; he had the 

 assistance of several young men belonging to 

 San Jose, among them Hjoracio Carranza and 

 Victor Guardia. The Provisional President 

 appointed Tomas Guardia commander-in-chief 

 of the military forces, and Dr. Lorenzo Montu- 

 far Secretary of Foreign Relations. On July 

 30th, a decree was issued by President Carranza, 

 suspending friendly relations with Guatemala : 



ARTICLE. The treaty of peace, friendship, and com- 

 merce, between the Republics of Costa Rica and Gua- 

 temala, signed on the 10th of March, 1848, cannot bo 

 considered to exist from the time that Guatemala 

 suspended her relations with this republic. 



A Constituent Assembly, to be composed of 

 thirty-two members, and to meet on the loth 

 of August, was elected, the object of which 

 was: 1. To give the republic a new constitu- 

 tion more suitable to the actual state of the 

 country, and which will better guarantee re- 

 publican institutions and be more in harmony 

 with the desires of the people ; 2. To fix a 

 term for the ex-President (Jimenez) and his 

 secretaries to give an account of their respon- 

 sibilities. The Provisional President, Carran- 

 za, fearing his enemies would be too powerful 

 in the Assembly, convened that body on the 

 8th, instead of the 15th, as announced, think- 

 ing in this way to have his friends in the ma- 

 jority. The opposition, however, hearing of 

 the move, marshalled their numbers in full 

 force, and the consequence was that, when 

 Carranza rose to address the Assembly en the 

 VOL. x. 6 A 



8th, he was hUsod down and had to resign. In 

 his place, the Minister of War, Tomas Guurdin, 

 was elected Provisional President. Guardia 

 was believed to be the tool of Julian Volio, 

 formerly Minister of State under President 

 Castro, and one of the ablest statesmen of 

 Central America, who for years past has as- 

 pired to the presidency, and who would, in duo 

 time, supersede Guardia. The Constituent As- 

 sembly showed itself, however, hostile to Guar- 

 dia, and systematically opposed each and all of 

 his official acts, so much so as to oblige him to 

 retire to Alajuola with the intention of resign- 

 ing his position. But at the latter place the 

 populace rose en mease and annulled the pow- 

 er of the convention on October 7th. On the 

 following day the movement was seconded by 

 Cartago and a portion of the district Herredia, 

 with the exception of the capital, and Guardia 

 assumed dictatorial power. 



CHAMPLIN, STEPHEN", a Commodore in the 

 United States Navy, and one of the largest con- 

 tributors to Commodore Perry's victory on 

 Lake Erie, in 1813 ; born at South Kingstown, 

 R. I., November 17, 1789; died in Buffalo, 

 N. Y., February 20. 1870. He was a cousin 

 of Commodore Perry. "When he was about 

 five years old, his parents removed to Lebanon, 

 Conn., and ho was employed on his father's 

 farm, with only the ordinary district-school ad- 

 vantages of the time for obtaining an education. 

 At the age of sixteen he ran away from home 

 to become a sailor, and, on his return to New 

 London from a voyage to Deraeraro, his father 

 requested him to return home, promising that 

 he might follow a seafaring life if he wished. 

 He went to Lebanon, but he was still bent on 

 following the sea, and made such progress that 

 at the age of twenty-two he was captain of a 

 fine brig in the "West-India trade. The war of 

 1812 having commenced, he was appointed a 

 sailing-master in the U. S. Navy, and was 

 placed in command of a gunboat under Com- 

 modore Perry at Newport, and soon after or- 

 dered to Sackett's Harbor, N. Y. He soon 

 attracted the attention of his superior officers 

 by his remarkable promptness and celerity in 

 all his movements, transporting his men and 

 obtaining supplies in less than half the time 

 which other officers required for the same 

 movements. He was sent on the 17th July, 

 1813, by Commodore Chauncey from Sackett's 

 Harbor to Utica with a draft for $36,000, a 

 part of which was to be paid out there and the 

 remainder to bo returned to the commodore. 

 On his return the next evening, he was ordered 

 to take charge of seventy-four officers and 

 men and report to Commodore Perry, at Erie, 

 Pa., going by way of Lakes Ontario and Erie, 

 and marching across the country from Niagara 

 to Schlosser, and from Black Rock to Buffalo. 

 He made the entire distance, using- only setting- 

 poles and oars for propulsion, in five days. 

 The next day, July 25th, he was ordered to 

 take command of the Scorpion and prepare her 

 for battle. lie engage:! with that vessel, in 



