This Quiroga was one of the most noted chieftains of the interior of the
distraught Republic. He had swept the western provinces with fire and
sword, executing, burning, and plundering wherever he went. Had he not
fallen foul of Rosas, he might have continued his grim career unchecked
for years. As it was, he came in contact with a master-mind, and, as was
inevitable, perished.
There are many Argentines even to-day who claim that, for all the
tyranny of the Dictator, the country was none the worse for his rule,
and that the regime which he introduced, however bloodthirsty and
horrible, was at all events one of discipline such as the distracted
collection of provinces had never known since the days of the Spanish
rule. There is no doubt whatever concerning the existence of this
discipline. So severe was the phase, and so vague was the slender amount
of liberty left to the private citizens, that many of these latter lived
at periods immured within their houses, lest by sallying forth into the
street they should unwittingly offend the powers and pay the penalty.
The relations of Rosas with the foreign Powers soon grew strained. He
fell foul of the French and British nations, and as a result the allied
fleets arrived off the mouth of the River Plate and blockaded Buenos
Aires.
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