Having to attend congress at Santa Fe, he had hardly left the capital when (Sept. 11, 1852) a revolution broke out, and Valentine Alsina was chosen governor of Buenos Ayres. The province of Buenos Ayres, with this government, determined to maintain itself as a state independent of the confederation, and another revolution in December, which temporarily changed the governor, did not alter this purpose. The congress of the confederation did not assemble till Nov. 20, all the states being then represented except Buenos Ayres, and Urquiza was instructed to suppress the rebellion in that state. It again met Jan. 22, 1853, and went on with the work of forming a constitution. It also recommended the president to take all means to stop the civil war and bring Buenos Ayres back to the confederacy. The new constitution of the confederation, which is still in force, was promulgated May 1, 1853. It was framed in the apparent expectation that Buenos Ayres, the richest and most important, as the only maritime state of the confederacy, might he induced to return to it, and accordingly fixed that city as the capital. The constitution, with some slight modification, was copied from that of the United States of North America, as being a federal government of independent states.

It guarantees the free navigation of the rivers, and provides that there shall he no duties on goods carried from province to province; grants to foreigners all civil rights; provides for their naturalization after ten years' residence, which term may be abridged at the discretion of congress; and makes other provisions for the encouragement of immigration. It went into effect at the end of the year. Urquiza was chosen president for six years from March 5, 1854. The seat of government was established at Bajada del Parana, in the province of Entre-Rios. Meantime, in Buenos Ayres a new constitution had also been formed in January of the same year, but not without a hope expressed and provision made for a future return to the confederation, which soon after seemed probable. That province was invaded by a party of filibusters under one Costa, and Urquiza was suspected, or at least accused, of having fostered the movement. This he promptly denied, and sent his forces to help to repel them; which friendly act failed to bring about an entire reconciliation, but resulted in good will between the parties, and two treaties of peace signed at Buenos Ayres, Dec. 20, 1854, and Parana, Jan. 8, 1855. They provided for independent governments, but contained stipulations for much mutual assistance.

Urquiza continued president of the Argentine Confederation, and Pastor Obligado was reelected governor of Buenos Ayres for a term of years. Upon the unanimous request of the congress of the confederation, negotiations were reopened on the subject of reunion, Oct. 10, 1855, and Juan Bautista Pena was sent to Parana for the purpose. But the discovery that his authority did not extend to merging the two sovereignties, produced much irritation in the confederation, at the same time that another event occasioned discontent at Buenos Ayres. On Dec. 24, 1855, some Argentine refugees from Montevideo, under Gen. Flores, disembarked at Santa Fe to invade the province of Buenos Ayres. | Gen. Bartolome Mitre repulsed them, and in his turn invaded the province of Santa Fe, in which step he was sustained by his government. Upon this, not only was the mission of Pena closed, but the Argentine government signified to him (March 18, 1856) that the treaties of Dec. 20. 1854. and Jan. 8, 1855. were annulled. Differential duties levied by Urquiza upon all; vessels from Buenos Ayres bound up the Plata and its tributaries gave rise to serious hos- tilities, which were renewed at intervals dur- ing four years, until Nov. 11, 1859, when Bue- nos Ayres was reunited to the republic.

In 1860 Urquiza was succeeded in the presi-; dency by Dr. Santiago Derqui; and in the following year the exclusion of the deputies of Buenos Ayres from congress, on the ground of unconstitutional election, led to the renewal of hostilities. Gen. Bartolome Mitre of Buenos Ayres defeated the Argentine troops at Pavon (Sept. 17, 1801), and was provisionally intrusted with the government, Derqui having abdicated. A convention appointed to revise the old constitution adopted a new one, appointing Buenos Ayres provisional capital of the republic, being at the same time the state capital. In October, 1802, Mitre was elected president of the Argentine Republic. Urquiza in the mean time remained on the defensive in Entre-Rios, but was soon induced to accept the government of that province, which had entered into the newly constituted republic. An insurrection headed by Gen. Penalosa, who for nearly two years held the provinces of Ca-tamarca, San Juan, and Cordoba, terminated in his capture and execution (1803). In 1804 N. Aguirre was elected president of the Banda Oriental del Uruguay, from the ranks of the blancos (whites) or reactionary party; and Ve-nancio Flores, the chief of the Colorados (reds) or liberal party and the unsuccessful candidate for the presidency, placed himself at the head of an insurrection and readily obtained the aid of Brazil, in spite of the repeated protest of Lopez, president of Paraguay, to the government of Rio de Janeiro. Lopez now ordered the capture of a Brazilian steamer on its passage up the river to the province of Matto Grosso, and the detention of the crew and passengers as prisoners of war, Nov. 11, 1864. In the following month a Paraguayan army invaded Matto Grosso, sacked Cuyaba, the capital, and five other towns, and took possession of the diamond mines.

Aguirre had applied to Lopez for aid, which was at once promised; but the Paraguayan troops could only reach Uruguay by passing through the Argentine province of Corrientes, and Mitre refused them permission of transit. In 1864 Flores was elected and in 1805 assumed the functions of president, the city of Montevideo being occupied by Brazilian troops. Fearing now from the attitude of the Argentine Republic that it would join the alliance against him, Lopez seized two Argentine war vessels in the bay of Corrientes, April 13, 1805, and the next day that city was occupied by Paraguayan forces, who formed a provisional government composed of three Argentine citizens, and declared the provinces of Corrientes and Entre-Rios to be annexed to Paraguay. War was declared by the Argentine Republic against Paraguay April 10, a like declaration having been issued by the na-tional congress of Paraguay against the Argentine Republic on the 18th of March. On May 1 an offensive and defensive alliance was secretly entered into between the Argentine Republic, Uruguay, and Brazil, against Paraguay, the allies "solemnly binding themselves not to lay down arms until the existing government of Paraguay should be overthrown." In June the city of Corrientes was recaptured by the Argentines, but was soon after again invested by the invaders.