122 



COLOMBIA, UNITED STATES OF. 



it was his habit to make annual visits of sev- 

 eral weeks to attached friends living in New 

 York. While his physical strength gradually 

 failed, his intellectual remained undirainished, 

 and his sparkling commensalia was as interest- 

 ing as in earlier years. lie had, in his fre- 

 quent visits to Europe, met many of the most 

 distinguished men of the nineteenth century, 

 including Goethe, HumboJdt, Beranger, Byron, 

 Scott, Jeffrey, and the brilliant circle that 

 thronged Gore House in Lady Blessington's 

 palmy days. Dr. Cogswell left, of his moderate 

 fortune, four thousand dollars to a school in his 

 native place, where he was buried by the side 

 of his mother's grave, and where a handsome 

 monument will be erected by his Round Hill 

 pupils, no one of whom ever left the school 

 without carrying away with him a strong af- 

 fection for the faithful friend and teacher. 



COLOMBIA,* UNITED STATES OF, a republic 

 in South America. President for two years 

 from April 1, 1870, General E. Salgar; Secre- 

 tary of State and of Foreign Affairs, Dr. E. 

 Zapata ; Secretary of Finances, Dr. S. C. Rol- 

 dan ; Secretary of the Treasury and of National 

 Credit, General J. Trujillo ; Secretary of War, 

 Dr. R. Nunez. The republic consists of the 

 nine States of Antioquia, Bolivar, Boyaca, 

 Cauca, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Panama, 

 Santander, and Tolima. President of the State 

 of Panama, General B. Correoso. Area, vari- 

 ously estimated at from 357,000 to 513,000 

 square miles. Revenue, 1866-'67, $2,417,370, 

 gold ; expenditure, 1865-'66, $2,020,000, gold. 

 Public debt, in 1867, 49,646,000 pesos. 



A new census was taken in 1870, but we 

 have thus far only the results in a few States. 

 The population, according to the census of 

 1864, and so far as ascertained of 1870, is as 

 follows : 



The railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, 

 48 miles long, was, until 1870, the only one in 

 operation. On December 3, 1870, the road 

 from Port Sabanilla at the mouth of the Mag- 

 dalen River to Baranquilla was opened in the 

 State of Bolivar. It is 18.4 miles long. 



At the close of the year 1870 considerable 

 excitement was produced by a letter from the 

 President of Ecuador, Garcia Morena, to Gen- 

 eral Mosquera, who was then preparing to 

 return home from Peru, threatening to shoot 



* See t AMERICAN ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA of 1870, for in- 

 formation on the revenue, debt, army, and commerce of 



the republic. 



him should he attempt to land at Guayaquil 

 on his way. When the English steamer from 

 the south coast touched at Guayaquil, she was 

 boarded by a squad of officers, who looked 

 about the ship and satisfied themselves that Mos- 

 quera was not on board. The State Assembly 

 of Panama, on December 31st, passed a reso- 

 lution, asking the General Government to look 

 upon the boarding of the steamship as an in- 

 sult to Colombia, and to demand an apology 

 from Ecuador. General Mosquera made a 

 protest to the Government of Ecuador against 

 the letter of President Moreno, and the Gov- 

 ernment of Colombia demanded an explana- 

 tion. 



The Constitutional State Convention, of 

 Panama, after being in session from December 

 1, 1870, finished, in January, 1871, revising the 

 constitution of the State. The reforms made 

 relate chiefly to elections, the term of the State 

 presidency, and the meetings of the Legislative 

 Assembly the former to be for four years 

 instead of two, and the latter to meet only 

 every two years instead of yearly. 



In the city of Panama the commercial tax 

 for 1871 again gave general dissatisfaction on 

 account of its partiality. The tax for the year 

 is put down at $50,000, which is only one-sixth 

 less than in past years, although business has 

 fallen away to almost nothing, and many of the 

 leading houses have been closed. The mer- 

 chants, as usual, announced that they would 

 seek redress from this onerous imposition, but 

 there was little hope that they would find any. 

 The alternative, as in former years, would be 

 that they must either pay the tax or close their 

 stores. The burdens fall heaviest on the for- 

 eign firms, whom the Government considers 

 itself at liberty to bleed to any extent. 



In January, 1871, a new revolution broke 

 out in the State of Boyaca against the admin- 

 istration of President Perez. Martial law was 

 proclaimed in three departments, and the in- 

 surgents were preparing to invade Tunja, the 

 capital. The Mosquera party was believed to 

 be implicated in this movement. In the first 

 encounter, President Perez was defeated, when 

 the insurrection spread through the entire 

 State. In February a severe fight took place 

 at Saruca, between 500 Government troops 

 under Reyes, and 800 under Chaparros. The 

 State troops were defeated with the loss of 

 100, 50 being killed. Perez escaped to San- 

 tander, and Reyes was made prisoner. Peace 

 was then restored. Perez resigned the presi- 

 dency of the State as well as the appointment 

 as Senator by the Assembly. In May the 

 State was again the scene of serious disturb- 

 ances. An engagement took place at Tilpa, 

 between the Government troops and the in- 

 surgents, in which the former were victorious, 

 driving the latter on all sides, and inflicting 

 great slaughter. The Government troops num- 

 bered 1,000, and the insurgents, 800. The 

 latter were disbanded, and the Government 

 party was again secure in power. 



