Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/421

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EYZAGUIRRE
EZEKIEL
397

to water the barren plain surrounding Santiago, which had been begun some time before, but was abandoned. The Spanish government approved the plan, and in 1802 made Eyzaguirre director. He pushed the work with energy until it was in- terrupted by the revolution of 1810, and notwith- standing he sympathized with the patriotic cause, he abstained from any participation. Ilis prestige as an honorable and impartial man was so great that, even when his brothers were exiled, he suf- fered no persecution from the Spanish authorities, and was enabled to alleviate the suflferings of his compatriots. When the independence of Chili was finally established in 1817, he resumed his favorite work," and in 1830, amid great festivities, the canal of Maipo was opened. This, with many smaller lateral canals, soon converted the arid plain into a fertile garden. It was placed by the government under the administration of a board, of which Ey- zaguirre was appointed president. In 182B he was commissioned to reorganize the charitable institu- tions, and undertook the task of building a home for wayfarers and needy persons. Within a few years he had collected the necessary means, and a new and commodious building was erected. In 1885 he was appointed first governor of the de- partment of Victoria, the capital of which he had founded and spent a good part of his fortune in improving. He established the agricultnral so- ciety in 1838, and was elected its president. He was several times deputy to the National congress, where he soon became noted for his honesty. In 1845 he attempted to establish a socialistic colony in the country, where the labor and produce should be shared by all, but soon dissensions broke out, and the project failed. A few years later he un- dertook to establish a large cloth-factory, with the object of improving the condition of the poor and giving occupation to women and children. In this enterprise he invested the greater part of his for- tune, but before the factory was finished he died. The Maipo canal board erected a statue to his memory. — Jose Alejo, clergyman, b. in Santiago in 1783 ; d. there in 1850, studied in the semi- nary of his native city, and in the University of San Felipe, where he was graduated in law in 1803. He began the practice of his profession, and at the same time was made professor of canonical law in the iiniversity. In 1805 he accompanied his brother Miguel to Lima, but decided to enter the church, and in 1807 was consecrated priest. He returned in 1815 to Chili, and was appointed at- torney of the ecclesiastical court of the archdiocese of Santiago, and afterward rector of the parish of Sagrario, where he became known as the most emi- nent pulpit orator of South America. In 1822 he was banished by the dictator O'lliggins to Mendo- za, where he was well received by the clergy, and for two years directed an educational institute that was founded by him. Then he returned to Chili, and by the government of Preire was ap- pointed on several important commissions. The archbishop made him his vicar, and afterward canon of the cathedral. He was elected three times to congress, and as such signed the consti- tution of 1828, and later was councillor of state. Some years later he was elected dean of the cathe- dral, and when the new bishopric of Serena was founded he was offered the seat, but declined it. In 1843, on the death of Archbishop Vicuna, he was appointed capitular vicar, and soon elected to the archbishopric, in which dignity he continued his simple, unostentatious life. Toward the end of 1845, on account of declining health, he resigned the archiepiscopal seat, and lived in privacy at Santiago till his death. — Jose Iguacio, senator, b. in Santiago about 1787; d. there about 1850, took a prominent part in the Chilian struggle for lib- erty, was banished with his brother Augustin to Juan Fernandez, and returned in 1817. In 1823 he was appointed secretary of the treasury, and in 1884 senator of the republic, which place he held until his death. In 1837 he wrote a history of the Chilian revolution. — His son, Jose Ignacio Victor, clergvman, b. in Santiago de Chili, 20 March, 1824^(1. in Alexandria, Egypt. 8 Oct., 1875, studied in the seminary of Santiago, was early consecrated priest, and soon became famous as an orator. In 1854 he was elected to congress, and in 1856 became vice-president of the lower house. At the same time he was a member of several be- nevolent societies, and received high credit for promoting public instruction and protecting the poor. He was also professor of the humanities, theology, and sacred science. He travelled exten- sively in Palestine, Europe, and the United States, and published a work descriptive of that country. In 1871 he founded in Rome a South American seminary, and was appointed a monsignor. Eyza- guirre was elected member of several scientific so- cieties in Italy and France, and honorary member of the Spanish academy. Returning from one of his trips to Palestine, he died on board a steamer in the port of Alexandria. His most important publications are '• La historia eclesiastica, politica y literaria de Chile " ; " El catolicismo en presencia de sus disidentes " ; and '* Los intereses catolicos en America"; all of which were published in Chili, and translated into French (Paris, 1874).


EZEKIEL, Moses Jacob, sculptor, b. in Rich- mond, Va., 28 Oct., 1844. fle is of Hebrew parent- age, and at an early age manifested his talent by painting panoramas. He entered the Virginia mili- tary institute, at Lexington, in 1861, and was gradu- ated tiiere in 1866, after serving in the Confeder- ate army in 1864r-"5. He then served in his father's dry-goods store, but devoted a portion of each day to his art, and executed some creditable paintings, among which was " The Prisoner's Wife." Soon afterward he gave his attention to sculpture, and produced " Cain, or the Offering Rejected," an ideal bust that showed dranuitic talent. After study- ing anatomy in the Medical college of Virginia, he removed to Cincinnati in 1868, and in the follow- ing year went to Berlin, Germany. In 1872 he modelled the colossal bust of Washington, now in Cincinnati, which gained him admission into the Society of artists of Berlin. In 1873 he won the Michael Beer prize, which had never before been awarded to a foreigner. In 1874 the Jewish se- cret order Sons of the Covenant commissioned him to execute a group entitled Religious Liberty " for the Centennial exhibition. This was unveiled in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, 30 Nov., 1876, and now stands in front of Horticultural Hall. He was afterward commissioned to execute statues for the outside niches of the Corcoran art -gallery, Washington, D. C. Since 1886 his subjects have been mainly ideal. Among his works are busts of Liszt and Cardinal Hohenlohe ; a statuette of " In- dustry " (1868) ; reliefs of Schiller 9,nd Goethe (1870) ; bas-relief portraits of Farragut (1872) and Robert E. Lee (1873) : " Pan and Amor," a bas- relief (1875) ; " Fountain of Neptune," Netturno, Italy (1884); a bronze medallion of William W. Corcoran for his gallery in Washington (1886) ; and a group entitled '• Art and Nature," in Frank- fort, Germany (1887). He received the cavalier's cross of merit for art and science, with a diploma from the grand-duke of Saxe-Meiningen, in 1887.