369 



ARTIGAS, FERNANDO JOSE. 



ARUNDEL, THOMAS. 



370 



and Irish, than of the Saxons; more traces of Arthur's presence iu 

 the north than in the south of the island, though the southern districts 

 may be supposed to have been most familiar to the Breton bards. This 

 is also noticeable in the romances founded on those tales, ' Merlin,' 

 'Morte Arthur,' 'Lancelot,' and others. The fabulous history of 

 Arthur long retained its popularity in France, as well as in England, 

 and was among the earliest books printed in both countries. A French 

 version by Rusticien de Pise was printed at Rouen in 1488 ; and one 

 of the Roman du Roi, entitled ' Livre du Vaillant et Preux Chevalier 

 Arthur' appeared at Paris in 1493. The first English translation of 

 the story printed was from the press of Caxton in 1485. A list of the 

 principal romances about Arthur will be found in the Appendix to 

 Sharon Turner's ' History of the Anglo-Saxons.' The work of Geoffry, 

 and the earlier romances which relate to Arthur, are fully treated of 

 in Warton's ' History of English Poetry,' vol. i. ; Ellis's 'Specimens of 

 Early English Metrical Romances,' and Dunlop's ' History of Fiction.' 

 See also Whitaker, ' History of Manchester ; ' Owen, ' Cambrian 

 Biography ; ' Ritson, ' Life of King Arthur ; ' and De la Villemarque", 

 ' Contes Populaires des Anciens Bretons." 



ARTI'GAS, FERNANDO JOSE, descended from a respectable 

 family, originally of Spain, was born at Monte Video, about the year 

 1760. He appears to have received little or no education ; to have 

 quitted his native town wheu very young, and to have joined the 

 gauchos, or shepherds, for whose roving life he had conceived a very 

 strong inclination. At the head of a band of the most resolute of 

 these men he carried on the trade of a contrabandists, or smuggler, 

 and every effort of the governor of Monte Video to put him down 

 proved unavailing. At length, on the intercession of his father and 

 family, the governor granted Artigas his pardon, and conferred on him 

 the rank of captain in the corps of Blendingues, a kind of irregular 

 light cavalry, whicB had been established with a view of checking the 

 excesses of the gauchos. 



Artigas remained faithful to his trust until the breaking out of the 

 Revolution, when he placed himself again at the head of the gauchos, 

 over whom his boldness, sagacity, and unrivalled skill in all athletic 

 exercises had procured him unbounded influence. Having obtained 

 from the revolutionists of Buenos Ayres arms and ammunition, he 

 swept the country of the Spaniards, plundered their villages, and, 

 uniting his forces with those of General Jose" Rondeau, obtained several 

 advantages over the regular troops, captured the towns of Minaa, San 

 Carlos, and Maldonado, and, in the month of May, 1811, gained a 

 complete victory at Las Piedras over 1200 men of the army of Elio, 

 the Spanish viceroy, with a far inferior force. In this action the 

 general-in-chief of the Spanish forces fell into the hands of Artigas. 

 Siege was now laid to Monte Video, but towards the end of the year 

 the approach of the Portuguese led to a suspension of hostilities, which 

 however recommenced in 1812. The siege of Monte Video was 

 resumed, and Artigas, with bis irregular forces, again co-operated with 

 Rondeau. Disunion however soon took place between the two leaders. 

 Artigas insisted upon directing the siege as chief of the provincials, 

 Monte Video being situated in the Banda Oriental, while the general 

 of Buenos Ayres, as commander of the auxiliaries, should act under 

 his orders. By way of obviating this difficulty a member of the 

 supreme government was appointed commander-in-chief. General 

 Rondeau on his part convened an Oriental congress for the purpose of 

 nominating deputies for a national congress, and appointing a provin- 

 cial governor. Artigas could not brook this inteference upon what he 

 considered his own territory. As chief of the Banda Oriental, he com- 

 manded the electors, in the name of the general government, to receive 

 their instruction:) from him at his head-quarters, and annulled the 

 congress. The electors however assembled, the election of deputies 

 and a governor was proclaimed with military pomp in all the encamp- 

 ments, and the governor began to exercise his functions. Artigas, 

 deeply incensed, withdrew silently in the night with his men ; and 

 Posadas, the supreme director, issued a decree against him, by which 

 he declared him infamous, deprived of his offices, and an outlaw. 

 He further set a price upon his head of six thousand dollars. Artigas, 

 when he left the camp before Monte Video, took with him about eight 

 hundred men ; as he advanced in the direction of the Entre Rios, the 

 gaucho population flocked to his standard, and he soon found his forces 

 increased to between two and three thousand. After several successes 

 in the field, Artigas occupied Monte Video ; invaded the province of 

 Buenos Ayres ; made himself master of Santa Fc5 ; and compelled the 

 junta to acknowledge him as independent chief of the Banda Oriental, 

 to which dignity he added the title of Protector of Entre Rios and of 

 Santa F<5. 



In January 1815, Posadas resigned his office of supreme director, 

 and was succeeded by Colonel Alvear, who after a succession of 

 reverses, was deposed and banished. On the expulsion of Alvear, the 

 proclamation against Artigas was publicly burnt by the cabildo, and 

 overtures for a reconciliation made by the people of Buenos Ayres and 

 PueyrredoD, the new director. They were at first well received by 

 Artigas, but eventually proved fruitless. Towards the end of the year 

 1816 he was obliged to turn hia attention towards the Banda Oriental, 

 over which district he had long exercised absolute authority. The 

 Brazilian government which had been called upon to interpose in order 

 to put an end to the long protracted civil war, now despatched General 

 Lecor with 10,000 men, to occupy the Banda Oriental. Artigas at 

 . mv. vol.. i. 



first repulsed the attack, and was on many occasions victorious; but 

 the advantage, upon the whole, was oil tbe side of the Brazilians, who, 

 on the 20th of January, 1817, surprised Monte Video, and retained 

 possession of it. In 1818 Artigas experienced still greater reverses, 

 and was forced to treat with the general government. The news of 

 the revolution in Spain caused a new outburst of hostilities in the La 

 Plata provinces. The federalists turned to Artigas as their chief, and 

 availed themselves of the excitement to gain over a great number of 

 the officers and soldiers of Rondeau's army, who united themselves to 

 that of Artigas, and then marched upon Buenos Ayres in order to 

 complete the projected revolution. Pueyrredou and his party were 

 compelled to fly, and Juan Pedro de Aguira was named provisional 

 governor in his place. But the centralists soon again made head, and 

 the supreme power once more fell into the hands of the enemies of 

 Artigas. He again took the field ; but his career was now drawing to 

 a close. Towards the end of the summer of 1820, a lieutenant named 

 Ramirez, who was in command of a post in the Entre Rios, with 

 800 men, suddenly fell upon him, dispersed his troops, and seized on 

 the government of the province. Artigas took refuge iu the destroyed 

 Missiones, with about one thousand followers ; and soon after made a 

 formal request of Francia, the Dictator of Paraguay, for an asylum for 

 himself and his followers in that district. The request was complied 

 with ; but Francia, distrusting the men, dispersed them in various 

 parts ; while refusing an interview with Artigas, he assigned to the 

 fallen chieftain a house with lands, with a pension, in the village of 

 Curuguaty, eighty-five leagues north-east of Assumption. The governor 

 of the circuit was ordered to treat him with respect, and to furnish 

 him with whatever accommodation he might require. He cultivated 

 his farm with his own hands became the father of the poor of Curu- 

 guaty, distributing among them the greater part of his produce, and 

 rendering all the assistance in his power to such as were disabled by 

 sickness. In these acts of peace and benevolence he closed a life of 

 violence, disorder, and political strife, in the commencement of 1826. 

 Some writers have sought to elevate Artiijas into a hero, and to attri- 

 bute to him many of the qualities of a statesman as well as a general. 

 But he was in truth just one of those bold unscrupulous semi- 

 barbarous soldiers of fortune, who have been called into existence 

 by the state of chronic hostility in which the Argentine provinces have 

 for so many years unfortunately been struggling. He was perhaps 

 one of the most skilful, and notwithstanding his original calling, one 

 of the most honest. But he was essentially one of a class whose 

 existence has been a constant blight on that fine but unhappy country. 



(Abridged from the Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the 

 Difftaian of Uteful Knowledge.) 



ARUNDEL, THOMAS, Archbishop of Canterbury in the reigns of 

 Richard II., Henry IV., and Henry V., was the second son of Richard 

 Fitz-Alan, earl of Arundel, and was born at Arundel Castle in Sussex, 

 in 1353. His high birth and powerful connections obtained for him, 

 at a very early age, extraordinary preferments in the church. When 

 scarcely of age he was archdeacon of Taunton ; and before he had 

 completed his twenty-second year, he was promoted to the see of Ely 

 by the pope, who set aside the election of another bishop, whom the 

 chapter had chosen. He was consecrated at Otford in Kent, April 6, 

 1375, but not installed at Ely until two years afterwards : he is 

 believed to have been the youngest bishop ever consecrated in England. 

 He was a liberal benefactor to the diocese of Ely, gave many rich 

 presents to the church, and nearly rebuilt the episcopal palace in 

 Holborn. In 1386, when Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, wa* 

 removed from the office of lord high chancellor by the pressing 

 remonstrances of the Parliament, the seals were given to Arundel. 

 In 1388 he was translated to the archbishopric of York by a papal 

 bull. In the following year he resigned his office as chancellor, but 

 was reappointed in 1391. In the execution of this office he incurred 

 much unpopularity by the temporary removal of the courts of justice 

 from London to York, on the plea of the turbulence of the inhabitants 

 of London. 



In 1396 Arundel was translated to the see of Canterbury, by the 

 pope's provision a proceeding at that time at variance with the 

 statute law (of 1350). This was the first instance of a translation 

 from the see of York to that of Canterbury. Soon after his pro- 

 motion to the archiepiscopal see, Arundel accompanied King Richard 

 to France to meet Charles VI. between Calais and Ardres ; and there, 

 on the 1st of November, 1396, he celebrated the king's marriage with 

 Isabella, the daughter of the French king. 



The king had been for a long time at variance with his uncle the 

 Duke of Gloucester ; and iu 1397 he resolved to destroy him and the 

 heads of his party. The blow fell severely upon the archbishop and 

 upon his family. While the Duke of Gloucester was in confinement 

 at Calais, the king seized the primate's brother, the Earl of Arundel, 

 and sent him to Carisbrook Castle, in the Isle of Wight, whence he 

 was removed to London, impeached of treason, and beheaded. On 

 the 20th of September the primate himself was also impeached by 

 the Commons of high treason. The charges preferred against him 

 were, that he had aided the Duke of Gloucester and the carls of 

 Arundel and Warwick, to obtain the commission of regency in 1386, 

 and procured himself to be named one of the number ; tbat he had 

 advised the arrest and execution of Sir Simon Burley and Sir James 

 Berners, contrary to the will of the king ; and had committed these 



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