Events in Europe produced yet further delays in the settlement of this question, so important to the portion of South America which was concerned in its solution. By the death of the Spanish King and Queen, the friendly feeling which had united the two courts of Spain and Portugal was at an end, and it was succeeded by one of mistrust. Both courts, however, and both Governments, were heartily weary of the question of demarcation; and, in order to put an end to it, at any rate for the meantime, they agreed to annul the Treaty of Limits—the treaties which had been superseded by it again coming into force. The Portuguese were, on the whole, satisfied with this result, because they believed that Colonia, which they now retained, was of greater importance to them than the proposed increase of territory in the interior. The Spaniards were likewise pleased, because they imagined that their neighbours had stolen a march upon them in the Treaty of Limits, through the influence of their Portuguese Queen.
The actual result of the inglorious and wasteful war of the Seven Reductions was that the Jesuits, who had been falsely accused of fomenting the resistance of the Guaranís, had now imposed upon them the task of collecting the scattered remnants of that people, and of encouraging them to repair their ruined towns and recultivate their devastated country.
CHAPTER XV.
BRAZIL; EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM PORTUGAL AND BRAZIL.
1759-1767.
The reign of Jesuitism in Europe was drawing towards its close. For two hundred years the Society had exercised unbounded influence over kings and courts. Its machinery for governing was so perfect, and its system was so subtle that it began to appear to statesmen that unless this ambitious order were speedily and effectually opposed, it must soon dominate Christendom. The alternative to its suppression was that European civilization must be assimilated to that which the Jesuits had introduced in China and in Paraguay. The doctrines of Ignatius Loyola admitted of nothing short of an absolute obedience of Papal authority. Kings were afraid to act without the approbation of an Order whose system of espionage was so complete as even to baffle all secret confidential intercourse between sovereigns and statesmen.
No one Catholic monarch felt himself strong enough single-handed to throw off the humiliating yoke; and, on the other hand, a combination of powers, with this object in view, was rendered doubly difficult by the fact that whatever instructions should be issued and whatever negotiations should take place, were sure to be known to the ubiquitous Order, so soon as issued or held. But the yoke was so galling that a remedy was sure to be found; and at length a man arose whose qualities fitted him for the occasion. This was Senhor Carvalho, afterwards the Marquis of Pombal, destined to hold the place in history as the most prominent statesman of his time. Pombal had represented his country in London and at Vienna, two diplomatic centres where he could not but become acquainted with the spirit then prevailing in Europe in respect to the all-powerful Order. He had altogether resided ten years in England in a diplomatic capacity.
The object of Pombal’s worthy ambition was to restore his country to the former state of plenty and prosperity from which it had fallen. With this view the statesman sought to combat ignorance, superstition, and intolerance, whose main support was the clergy. He had, therefore, to count upon clerical opposition to his measures. But he took action with a full view of this fact, and availed himself of the situation of his opponents. There still existed the old jealousy between the regulars and the seculars; but on one point, if on no other, all Orders but one were agreed. That one point was envy and hatred of the Jesuits. In this feeling they had a powerful ally in Pombal. Should he succeed in crushing that one Order, he need not fear any other obstacle in the way of the realization of his views.
Pombal had himself been brought up in the school of the Jesuits, who had recognized in him great talent and force of character, and had urged for him promotion under a Government over which they ruled. In the early part of his career they had no cause to regret this course; but, unfortunately for them, their protegé, when in England, began to see things through his own eyes rather than through Jesuitical spectacles. Afterwards, comparing England with countries to which he was subsequently sent in the course of his diplomatic career, he made the observation that the prosperity and intelligence of the people seemed to be in inverse ratio to the influence exercised by the Jesuits. On his return to Portugal he found his own country, where they ruled supreme, the poorest and most backward of all. From these facts his powerful and intelligent mind drew the unavoidable inference that the way to elevate Portugal was to crush and expel the Jesuits.
The Portuguese minister was well aware that in dealing with such subtle opponents half measures would be worse than useless; he therefore awaited his opportunity when he might deal them a crushing blow with decisive effect. The opportunity now seemed to be afforded by the question of the Jesuit missions with reference to the Treaty of Limits. Pombal was at this time more than fifty years of age. Circumstances soon afforded an opportunity for the development of his extraordinary talents, and he obtained over the King an influence which enabled him to carry into effect with absolute authority his schemes for the renovation of the kingdom. Seeing the miserable condition into which Portugal had sunk, he felt the necessity of great changes; whilst his temper led him to bold and sweeping measures—measures for the justification of which must be pleaded his zeal for the service of his King and his intense love of his country.
The first step taken by the statesman in declaring war against the Jesuits was a letter addressed by his master to Pope Clement XIII. in 1759, in which he informed His Holiness that his Government had determined to make over to his care all the Jesuits in Portugal. Without waiting for a reply, and before time had elapsed to admit of hurling the thunderbolts of Rome, Pombal ordered all the Jesuits to be seized and shipped for the States of the Church. His next step was to endeavour to induce other Catholic governments to follow his example; and the Jesuits were soon afterwards expelled from France through the influence of Madame de Pompadour.
In Spain the Jesuits had a firmer hold, but there too they had ere long to give way. A royal decree was issued banishing them from all the Spanish dominions, and forbidding them to return or to hold any intercourse with Spanish subjects. The issue of this order was followed by instant measures to put it into execution. The colleges were surrounded and the bells taken possession of; whilst the Fathers were escorted to the sea-coast and placed on board of ships for Italy. But by this time the Pope had on his hands more than a sufficient number of Jesuit refugees from Portugal and from France; he determined, therefore, to refuse permission to land at Civita Vecchia to those coming from Spain. From Civita Vecchia the unhappy Jesuits proceeded in turn to Leghorn and Genoa, but at each place they were refused permission to disembark. They were, however, at last received at Corsica.
A month after the Jesuits had left Spain the King wrote to the Pope in justification of their expulsion, stating that it was the first duty of a sovereign to watch over the peace and good government of his subjects, and that the step he had taken had been one dictated by imperious necessity. The Pope, however, was greatly affected; and he addressed to the King a severe remonstrance in reply. The decision, however, of the Spanish Government had been taken and was not to be altered.
The brother of the Marquis of Pombal, who had been sent out as Captain-General of Maranham and Pará, was no less hostile to the Jesuits than was that minister himself. He either could not see their proceedings fairly, or he was determined to misconstrue their acts. The Fathers were accordingly accused of obstructing the settlement of the border-line in the north as they had been in the south. In consequence of the reports of the governor, two regiments were sent out from Portugal, and the feeling against the Order ran very high; all the old grievances against them being now revived, since it was known that they had such a powerful enemy as well at Pará as at Lisbon. Orders were sent to the governor to deprive all the missionaries of their temporal authority, and to form the most flourishing Aldeas into towns and the smaller ones into villages.
It was the desire of Pombal to emancipate the Indians and to blend them with the Portuguese of Brazil. With this view, a law was promulgated, abrogating all edicts whatsoever which permitted Indian slavery under any plea, and declaring all Indians in Pará and Maranham to be free, and that henceforth the price of labour should be regulated by the governor and the judicial authorities of Pará and S. Luiz. At the date of these edicts there were within the State of Maranham and Pará threescore Indian Aldeas, of which five were administered by the Mercenarios, twelve by the Carmelites, fifteen by the Capuchins, and twenty-eight by the Jesuits.
Not content with seeing the Jesuits deprived of their temporal power in Northern Brazil, the Captain-General played into the hands of his brother by stirring up, or listening to, a series of charges against them, to answer which a number of the most able of the Fathers were sent home as State prisoners. The whole body, as indeed were likewise the other Orders interested, were reduced almost to penury by the edict which deprived them of their means of support; and the governor of Pará turned a deaf ear to their reasonable application for assistance from the Treasury. Nothing therefore remained for them but to depart, their places being supplied by secular clergy. With a view the more thoroughly to blend the Indians with the Brazilians, the Captain-General was required to appoint a director for each Indian settlement, taking care that he was versed in the Indian tongue. This director was to act independently as a government agent to see that the authorities carried out the laws, and he was to report to the governor and the Minister of Justice. The King’s chief desire was to Christianize and civilize the people, and to effect this must be the main object of the directors, who were especially charged to establish the use of the Portuguese language. It may be added that in this last respect they were successful, the Tupi language being suppressed.
The same decree in accordance with which the Jesuits had been expelled from Portugal affected in like manner their brethren in Brazil. The order for their expulsion is said to have been carried out with much brutality. One hundred and fifteen Jesuits were deported in one vessel from S. Luiz, being confined like slaves between decks; four of them died on the voyage to Lisbon. The brethren from Ceará and Paraïba were conveyed to Recife, and were embarked with the Pernambucan Jesuits, fifty-three in number. Of these, five died during the passage.
It should be stated, however, that while for the most part all those employed in the service of the Government made themselves too willing instruments to carry out the wishes of the all-powerful minister, and to strike the fallen when they were powerless to resist, yet there were some honourable exceptions to this rule. For instance, the Archbishop of Bahia, D. Jose de Mattos, in reporting his visitation of the Jesuits, sent home an attestation that he had found them blameless on the point of which they were accused, of carrying on an extensive commerce contrary to the canons, and in all other points highly useful and meritorious. This attestation was subscribed by eighty of the most respectable persons in Bahia. The aged archbishop had to pay the penalty of being fearless and upright. Five years before this time he had requested permission to resign the primacy, begging that half of his appointments might be continued to him. This request had not been acceded to; but, on the receipt of his report, he was relieved of the primacy, without any pension being granted to him. One hundred and sixty-eight Jesuits were deported from Bahia; whilst one hundred and forty-five from the southern provinces of Brazil were embarked at Rio de Janeiro, stowed in one vessel, below decks. The unfortunate Jesuits of the north on reaching Lisbon were cast into prison for no other crime than that of belonging to their Order; and it was not until after the lapse of eighteen years that the King’s death and the disgrace of Pombal restored to them their liberty. Those from the south were not permitted to set foot in Portugal, but were conveyed to the Papal States.
Amongst the measures inaugurated by the Marquis of Pombal was the establishment of an exclusive company for the trade of Maranham and Pará, and of another for that of Pernambuco and Paraïba. The Brazil company, which had been promoted by Vieyra, and which had rendered such essential service in the Dutch war, had been abolished after an existence of seventy years. The establishment of a new company was now protested against by the Board of Public Good; but in forwarding this protest to the King, that body unsuspectingly signed its own death-warrant, for it was immediately thereafter abolished, and its members were banished for different terms of years.
These new institutions materially affected the British Factory at Lisbon. At that period Brazil was supplied, almost exclusively, with English manufactures through the Portuguese merchants of the capital, who obtained long credit from the Factory in consequence of the length of time which they took to obtain returns, there being but one fleet sent to Brazil each year. Thus the Brazilian trade was carried on by means of English capital, the sudden stagnation of which would be seriously felt. Great Britain had at the time the right by treaty of trading directly with Brazil; but her ambassador at Lisbon was of opinion that it would be inexpedient to assert the right in question, as he considered that the newly-established monopoly, being erroneous in principle, would shortly be abandoned.
Pombal was too despotic in his views to be much concerned as to the degree in which his measures might affect individual interests; and it is but right to add that his grant of a monopoly to companies for the trade with Maranham and Pernambuco were productive of considerable good to those provinces, since the employment of so large a capital gave an impulse both to agriculture and to commerce. In particular, many negroes were imported into Maranham, and their labour made it more easy to carry out the laws in respect to the Indians, one species of slavery being exchanged for another. It is stated, however, that the impulse now given to industry and trade in Maranham soon produced a most civilizing effect upon the people of that province. Another measure of the same minister was the establishment of a company with the exclusive right to the whale-fishing, and which likewise obtained a contract for supplying the greater part of Brazil with salt—a monopoly which was attended with disastrous results to the country.
But it was not by such measures as the grants of monopolies, whether their results were good or the reverse, that Pombal obtained his reputation as a statesman. He did not scruple to attack prejudices, however rooted; whilst he made the law respected amongst populations who, before his time, had been notoriously lawless. In short, his system was that of a benevolent despotism; for no one denies his enlarged views and good intentions. At a period long gone by, when Brazil was a wide and unexplored world, it had been found convenient to make vast grants to such persons as should undertake the settlement of different captaincies. As, however, colonization advanced, the claims of the representatives of the donatories were found to be not unfrequently antagonistic with the public good, and the Government had, from time to time, purchased them in exchange for the grant of honours and wealth. It being represented to the Minister at Lisbon that the existing system was productive of much evil in Brazil, he, by one somewhat arbitrary but beneficial act, extinguished the remaining donatories, and purchased their rights for the Crown.
Pombal, too, made his absolute power felt where a display of it was most needed, namely, in the lawless captaincy of Goyaz. As usual in all newly-formed settlements, more especially where there are mines, there were there in large numbers the dregs of other populations. And it was the same recurrence of crime which had previously existed in S. Paulo, Minas Geraes, and Cuyabá. In some instances the inhabitants even thought it advisable to go armed to mass; and it is said that the priests were in no way behind the rest of the people in profligacy and contempt of authority. By the orders of the Minister a Board of Justice was now created, from whose authority there was no appeal. Examples were from this time regularly made of criminals, with the result that there was a speedy amendment in public manners.
The Portuguese Minister had, however, now to provide for more important interests than the police of a province; he had to take measures for the protection of the whole colonial empire of Portugal from foreign aggression. France and Spain were at this time engaged in an alliance against England; and as Portugal sided with her ancient ally, it was agreed between her two powerful neighbours that the nearest should annex the mother country, whilst France should possess herself of Brazil. Pombal, however, relying upon England, was not alarmed for the safety of Portugal; nor, indeed, did he much fear the execution of the wholesale project as regarded Brazil. The result of the Pernambucan war was still sufficiently recent to prevent alarm on this account. He thought, however, that there might probably be an attempt on the provinces north of the Amazons from the direction of Cayenne. He was not prepared for the blow which actually fell from a wholly unexpected quarter.
The Governor of Buenos Ayres, who had foreseen the rupture between Spain and Portugal, was prepared to take advantage of it so soon as it occurred. Zeballos, having raised a force of militia, and brought Guaranís from the “Reductions,” declared war before Colonia, and immediately laid siege to that settlement. On the second day a breach was made; but it was not until after a siege of four weeks that the garrison capitulated. The Spanish commander was ere long roused by the arrival of an English squadron of eleven sail, bent upon recovering Colonia. But the waters of the Plate have not been fortunate for English arms. After a close fight of four hours, the “Lord Clive” took fire, and was quickly enveloped in flames; the other ships were obliged to get off with all haste, and many men were drowned in endeavouring to reach the shore. Some eighty prisoners were sent to Cordova, where they settled, and where they are said to have introduced improvements in agriculture and in arts. The remains of the squadron, having partially refitted, effected their passage to Rio de Janeiro.
Cheered by this event, Zeballos lost no time in pursuing his success, and marched with a thousand men against Fort Sta. Teresa, which place capitulated; whereupon the Spanish general pushed forward his troops to Rio Grande, the short passage by which the waters of the Lagoa dos Patos—the largest lake in Brazil—discharge themselves into the sea. It may be of interest to observe that the great lake in question, which is one hundred and eighty miles in length, owes its name of “lake of ducks” to the fact of some Spanish vessels being driven into the Rio Grande by stress of weather in 1554, and leaving there some ducks, which spread in enormous numbers. Zeballos directed his arms against the town of S. Pedro, the inhabitants and garrison of which place fled with precipitation.
When the news of these proceedings reached Portugal, the far-seeing Pombal became alarmed for the safety of Minas Geraes. As his imagination was filled, day and night, with the thought of the Jesuits, he conjured up the notion that by their aid the enterprising Zeballos might obtain a powerful army from the “Reductions.” Had time permitted, there is no doubt that such a force would have been brought into the field. Indeed the Jesuits on the Moxo frontier were now in arms, and the Spaniards and Portuguese were in conflict in the very centre of the continent. As, however, the operations which they undertook resulted in the status quo ante being reverted to by the Peace of Paris, it is unnecessary to recount them in detail. By this treaty, however, the question of demarcation was left in the same condition. Zeballos was required to restore Colonia, but he did not think it necessary to give up Rio Grande.
At this period the important step was taken of transferring the capital of Brazil to Rio de Janeiro, the chief reasons of this decision being its vicinity to the mines and likewise to the Plata, the importance of which latter region was daily becoming more manifest. Rio de Janeiro likewise presented greater facilities for being fortified than did Bahia. The vigour which Pombal had infused into the administration at Lisbon was extended to the colonies; and Brazil felt the benefit of his enlarged views. One of his prudent measures in regard to this country was to put a stop to the highly unsuitable institution of nunneries. It had not been possible for ministers entirely to put down silly prejudices which were the growth of centuries; and we are told of a wealthy inhabitant of Bahia who, there being no more nunneries in Brazil, thought fit to send over his six daughters, each with a portion of six thousand cruzados, to be incarcerated for life in the convent of Esperanza, where none but persons of the first condition were admitted. Under Pombal the Brazilians were prohibited from sending their children to Portugal for such a purpose without the special permission of the King,—a measure so evidently beneficial that it won for the minister the approbation even of his enemies.
Another measure of the same statesman was even more to be commended. Happily for Brazil, that country never boasted an establishment of the Inquisition. Nevertheless, some of the agents of the Holy Office had found a field for their energies on the other side of the Atlantic. These agents had arrested and sent to Lisbon a large number of new Christians,—persons fulfilling every duty of citizenship, but whose crime it was to be wealthy. These unfortunate people, having confessed to being Jews, escaped with their lives at the expense of all their property, which of course went to the informers. In consequence of this profitable practice many engenhos had to be stopped, and widespread ruin ensued. Even Pombal did not venture to proclaim toleration for the Jewish faith, but he made it penal for any person to reproach another for his Jewish origin, whilst he removed all disabilities attaching to Jewish blood, even if their ancestors had suffered at the hands of the Inquisition. He likewise published an edict decreeing severe chastisement against such persons as should retain lists of persons of Jewish origin.
At this period Portugal was deprived by the Moors of the last remnant of her possessions on the Mediterranean. The inhabitants of Mazagam, who had defended their city in a manner not unworthy of their race, were transported to the province of Pará, where, in honour of their gallant defence, the name of Mazagam was given to the place where they settled, on the western bank of the Matuaca, a tributary of the Amazons. These eighteen hundred colonists, though adding to the military strength of the empire, were but ill-fitted for purposes of colonizing. The situation chosen for their settlement was unfavourable, and many of them perished from the climate. Near this position a strong fort was erected at Macapá. In his desire to strengthen Brazil, the minister despatched many families from the Western Islands to be settled at Macapá and Mazagam. He likewise did something to foment the trade of Brazil by withdrawing the prohibition which had hitherto prevailed against single trading ships, apart from the annual fleet.
As the Portuguese islands could not afford colonists in sufficient number to satisfy the aspirations of the minister, their complement was made up from the dregs of the mother country. But this measure was not followed by the good results for which no doubt its originator looked. Crime became so frequent in Matto-Grosso, Minas Geraes, and elsewhere, that orders had to be sent out from Portugal, compelling all persons without any settled abode to live in civilized communities, and to divide amongst them the surrounding lands. All persons who should evade this regulation, with the exception of three classes, were to be proceeded against as robbers,—the classes exempted from this rule being agriculturists with their slaves and servants on isolated farms; rancheros, or persons established on the public roads to facilitate communication or to entertain travellers; and bandeiras, that is to say, bands of respectable persons employed in making discoveries. The above three classes of citizens were empowered to arrest and imprison vagrants.
It is now necessary to review what had been going on during the last few years in the mining districts. The experience of fifteen years having according to general opinion proved the injurious nature of the capitation tax, the offer was accepted of the people of Minas Geraes to make up the annual assessment to one hundred arrobas, should the royal fifths be less than that amount. In the year 1753, the fleet from Rio de Janeiro was believed to bring home gold, silver, and goods to the amount of three millions sterling. In that year the fifths from Minas Geraes amounted to nearly £400,000. The bullion and jewels which were sent to Lisbon in the following year were estimated at a million moidores. On an average of sixteen years the royal fifths exceeded one hundred arrobas; but when the trade had been opened to single ships, the average production of gold was found to decrease,—probably from the conviction or experience that trade was on the whole more profitable than mining.
The temptation to evade the payment of the royal proportion was so strong that not even the severe laws in force were sufficient to overcome it. Gold might circulate within the captaincy before it had been stamped and before the royal fifth had been taken; but it was unlawful to carry it beyond the border until it should have paid the duty and passed through the mint. Gold-dust, which was the only circulating medium in Minas Geraes, was found to be so debased by the traders before it reached the mint that there was usually a loss upon it of 10 or 12 per cent. in addition to the 20 per cent. duty, a desire to avoid which loss, even more than to avoid the duty, led to the frequent practice of endeavouring to smuggle it across the frontier. When it had once reached the cities, goldsmiths were readily found either to convert it into bars or to work it into jewellery. The knowledge of these practices naturally led to a law against jewellers, whose presence had long been forbidden in Minas Geraes, and was now no longer tolerated in the sea-ports.
The less productive province of Goyaz yielded in some years a capitation tax of forty arrobas. This advanced province had to bear the burden of a war with a brave tribe, called the Cayapos. The province of Minas Geraes was likewise exposed to incursions from other native tribes; but, notwithstanding occasional disturbances, the interior of Brazil continued on the whole to make steady progress towards civilization.
The government, however, was still disturbed by the retention by Spain of her conquests in the province of Rio Grande. Portugal appealed to Great Britain to procure the execution of the Treaty of Paris in accordance with the intentions of the contracting parties, of which England had been one. It had certainly not been her intention that the Spaniards should retain their conquests in Brazil. It was to the Brazilians themselves, however, that they were to owe the recovery of the Spanish posts in Rio Grande. Aware that the Spaniards of the Plata were sufficiently occupied elsewhere, they secretly collected a force of eight hundred men, with which they took their enemies by surprise, thus regaining by arms that which Great Britain was engaged in endeavouring to obtain for them by diplomatic means.
CHAPTER XVI.
PARAGUAY; EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM BUENOS AYRES AND PARAGUAY.
1649-1805.
From the date of the removal of Bishop Cárdenas as governor of Paraguay [1648], that province had enjoyed freedom from internal dissensions; until, in 1717, Don Diego Balmaceda was named governor by the Viceroy of Peru. His nomination was unpopular, and, after two years, serious charges were preferred against him before the Audience of Charcas, which that body were occupied during the three succeeding years in investigating. Meanwhile Don Jose de Antiquera had obtained the provisional succession to the post of governor; and he hastened to Paraguay to assume power. Balmaceda was, however, reinstated in authority, and he ordered the usurper to resign his pretensions. But meanwhile Antiquera had organized a considerable force, and he refused to submit to the orders of the Viceroy, and sent a party to Corrientes, who brought Balmaceda a prisoner to Asuncion.
On learning this rebellion against the Crown, the Viceroy sent instructions to the military commander of La Plata to dispossess Antiquera of his authority, and to reinstate Balmaceda. On reaching the river Tebicuari, General Garcia de Ros found Antiquera too strong to be opposed. On his retiring, Antiquera, with a view to conciliating Zavala, the governor of Buenos Ayres, sent six hundred troops to assist him in the defence of Monte Video against the Portuguese. This manœuvre, however, did not avail him, and Ros was sent a second time to assert the royal authority, with two hundred Spanish troops, backed by the forces of the Jesuit missions. The Jesuits had been expelled by Antiquera from Asuncion. On reaching the Tebicuari, Ros was encountered by Antiquera, with a force of three thousand men, and, being defeated, was compelled to return to Buenos Ayres.
The rebellion had now assumed such proportions that it could no longer be trifled with, and Zavala received peremptory orders from the Viceroy to hasten to Paraguay in person, and to send Antiquera to Lima for trial. The latter, now aware of his desperate situation, prepared to defend himself. His followers, however, began to desert him, and in March 1725 he fled from Paraguay, and took refuge in a convent at Cordova. Thence he proceeded to Bolivia, intending to throw himself on the protection of the Audience of Charcas. But he was looked upon as a public enemy, and was arrested at Chaquisaca, and sent to be tried at Lima. He was brought before the Audience, but, although his guilt was patent from the first, it was not until the trial had lasted for several years that he was condemned to be executed. The 5th of July 1731 was the day fixed for his execution. By this time the public feeling had completely veered round in his favour, and, as it was feared a rescue would be attempted, the Viceroy gave orders to fire upon the prisoner. The order was answered by a volley of musketry, and the condemned man and two friars near him fell dead from their horses.
After the flight of Antiquera from Paraguay, the Jesuits had been permitted to return to Asuncion. They were met at the distance of twelve miles from the capital by a procession headed by the governor, the bishop, and the chief civil and military functionaries. But the return of the Jesuits was displeasing to many, more especially to those who had been the partisans of Antiquera. When the governor resigned, the people claimed the right of choosing his successor—a right which in certain emergencies had been granted them by Charles V. When the news of Antiquera’s execution reached Asuncion, the indignation of the people manifested itself by their falling on the Jesuits, and expelling them from the city.
There were now two declared parties in Paraguay. That which was against longer submission to royal authority took the name of Comuneros; whilst those who were for the King were called Contrabandistas. On the resignation of Governor Barua, the Comuneros improvised a government composed of a junta, with a president as the executive head. A hostile collision was now to be feared between the dominant party at Asuncion and the nearest Jesuit “Reductions.” It was averted by the arrival of a new governor, Don Manoel de Ruiloba. Reaching the missions, he sent forward overtures to the insurgents, which so far satisfied them that he was permitted to take possession of the government. One of his first acts was to attempt to disband the Comuneros; but this was vehemently resisted; and he found himself in open opposition to the most numerous party in the state. The rebels defied him, and civil war was commenced. In the first action the governor fell.
The Bishop of Buenos Ayres, who happened to be at that time at Asuncion, was now elected governor; but he was a mere instrument in the hands of the junta, and was compelled to sign sweeping acts of confiscation against the Jesuits and the Royalists. Realizing his false position, he thought fit to embark for Buenos Ayres to resume his episcopal duties. The rebels in Paraguay had again to deal with Zavala, who had recently been appointed President of the Audience of Charcas, and who now blockaded Paraguay on all sides. Taking with him six thousand trained troops from the missions, he advanced to the Tebicuri, and, meeting with no opposition, proceeded to Asuncion, where he was received with acclamations.
As Zavala’s rapid success had been gained by means of the Jesuits’ troops, it was but natural that the Fathers should follow in their wake. They were now more powerful and arrogant than ever, and it became pretty clear that it was their intention to reduce Asuncion and all Paraguay to the same state of blind obedience to their sway in which they held their missions. To contend against them so long as they retained the ear of the King was hopeless; and the Spanish colonists now undertook to enlighten their sovereign by exposing the false pretensions of the Fathers. The Jesuits were accused of a design of founding an empire, and they were shown to have created in South America a more absolute despotism than Europe had ever known.
The reign of the Jesuits, however, was then drawing to its close. Their expulsion from the Portuguese dominions has already been recorded, and it was not long before the Jesuits of Spain shared the fate which had befallen their brethren of Portugal and of France. We have here to review the circumstances of their expulsion from South America. Zeballas had been recalled from his high post on account of his sympathies with the devoted order.
However strong may have been the reasons for the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain, their suppression in South America, although it may have been a necessary sequence of the first measure, had certainly an air of gross ingratitude, and seemed likely considerably to diminish the Spanish power in its colonies. The Jesuits had been the means of greatly extending the Spanish territories in the interior, and had thereby prevented the Portuguese from securing to themselves a still larger portion of the centre of the continent. They had raised many thousands of native troops who had often done good service in Paraguay, and who had fought successfully against the Portuguese both on the Guaypore and at Colonia. They had likewise delivered the Spaniards of La Plata, Paraguay, and Tucuman from their formidable native enemies, whom they had been able to conciliate. The very latest Spanish successes in Rio Grande had been due in a great measure to their assistance.
But the expulsion of the Jesuits from their headquarters of Paraguay had been included in the plan of the King of Spain and his counsellors, and four days after the issue of the royal decree banishing the order from the mother country, a ship of war was despatched to the Plata, with orders to the Viceroy to take immediate measures for the simultaneous seizure of all the Jesuits within his jurisdiction. The Viceroy, Bucareli, who received his orders on the 7th of June 1767, lost no time in carrying them into execution. Without delay he despatched sealed instructions to the governors and local authorities within his Viceroyalty, which were not to be opened until the 21st of July. On the following day all Jesuits were to be seized in the name of the King and sent to Buenos Ayres.
It may here be of interest to give a short account of the condition in which the royal order found the “Reductions.” They were now beginning to recover from the evils which had fallen upon them owing to the Treaty of Limits. But on account of that blind measure, together with illness and a subsequent war, their numbers were now reduced from one hundred and forty-four thousand to one hundred thousand. The Fathers possessed large estates and many negro slaves, who are said to have been treated with every consideration. Whatever civilization penetrated into the interior of the country was through the Jesuits. For example, one Father Schmid instructed the Chiquitos not only in the common arts of life, but in working metals and making clocks. It is said that the Moxo and Paure missions displayed more civilization than did the important Spanish city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra; whilst to the Jesuits Cordova owes its press. The Jesuits of the Guaranís printed books in one of the “Reductions” before there was any printing press either in Cordova or in Buenos Ayres.
The news of the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain became public in Buenos Ayres on the 3rd of July, being eighteen days before the time fixed upon for their arrest. Orders were therefore sent to the provinces to anticipate this measure; whilst the Fathers in the college at Buenos were made prisoners on the same night. Those nearest to that city soon shared the same fate; and in the following month the college at Cordova was likewise taken possession of, and its inmates sent to the capital, whilst their invaluable library was destroyed. Nowhere did the Viceroy’s troops meet with any resistance; and the captured Jesuits were transmitted to Spain in groups of some forty individuals, being thence sent on to the Papal States.
The Fathers of the Paraguayan missions, however, had still to be dealt with. Their first move was to cause an address to be signed by their Guaraní foremen, and to present it to the governor, praying that the Jesuits might continue to live with them. That this petition came from the Jesuits themselves, and not from the Indians, was apparent. Bucareli, accordingly, taking it as an indication that they did not mean to surrender without a struggle, took energetic measures to compel them to submit. Occupying the pass of Tebicuari, and sending a force to S. Miguel, he ascended the Uruguay at the head of a further force. By way of proving the worthlessness of the Guaraní petition on behalf of the Jesuits, he caused another document to be prepared and signed by the Indian judges and caciques of some thirty towns, expressing thankfulness to the King for having relieved them from their former arduous life. Whatever else these respective petitions may show, they certainly prove how thoroughly the Guaranís had learnt the lesson of implicit obedience to whatsoever instructions they might receive, irrespective of their convictions, if they had sufficient individuality left to possess any.
But by this time it was evident that resistance was hopeless. Many of the missions had fallen into the hands of the governor, and the Fathers did not venture to bring their disciples into the field. They were sent to Buenos Ayres, and shared the fate of their brethren who had preceded them. There was indeed no discretion left to the authorities in executing the measures for the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish dominions. One of the most able and conscientious of the number, the aged Father Chomé, being confined to his bed by illness, was carried from the Chiquito missions in a hammock to Oruro, where he died from the effects of the journey. Another missionary, Father Mesner, an old and infirm man, who had laboured for thirty years in the Chiquito “Reductions,” was sent on a journey of four hundred and fifty miles to Santa Cruz. After remaining there for five months, until the season for crossing the Andes had come, he was placed upon a mule, whilst riding upon which he died. It is right to add that the Spanish Minister, on learning these facts and others of a similar nature, indignantly reproved the South-American authorities for their inhumanity. In all one hundred and fifty-five Jesuits were expelled from La Plata, Tucuman, and Paraguay.
The suffering in the “Reductions” did not fall alone or chiefly on the Jesuits. Their system of government had been so absolute, and their disciples had been reduced to such a condition of being merely thoughtless animals or machines, that, when the guidance of the Fathers was withdrawn, the whole system established by them suddenly and absolutely collapsed. No plan of government suitable to the altered condition of affairs was devised by the Spanish authorities. Priests of the mendicant orders replaced the missionaries, but without their temporal authority. The missions were formed provisionally into two governments, and an administrator was appointed to superintend each “Reduction,” with which last measure the prosperity of these communities ceased. The administrators, ignorant of the Guaraní tongue, made their commands obeyed by the lash; and before a year had elapsed the Viceroy had the mortification to learn that the Guaranís, in order to escape from the intolerable oppression of their new masters, were making their escape in numbers to seek the protection of their old enemies, the Portuguese.
On learning this unexpected occurrence, Bucareli displaced the administrators and appointed others in their stead, but with no better result as regarded the Guaranís. As the governor and the priests disputed regarding their respective powers, the Viceroy decreed that the former was to reside at Candelaria, where he was to be assisted by a staff of administrators, under whom the Guaranís were to labour as of old for the benefit of the community. The end was that cruel and compulsory work made the Indians miserable or drove them into the woods. The arts introduced by the Jesuits were neglected; their gardens and fields lay uncultivated, and their once flourishing villages, which had contained the evidences of a civilization of a century and a half, were almost deserted.
From the date of the rebellion of the Comuneros in 1735 until the close of last century, Paraguay enjoyed uninterrupted peace and quiet. In the year 1796, Ribera Espinosa was appointed governor, who, by the aid of his agents, constituted himself a general exporter, monopolizing the whole trade of the country; so that the producers realized for their goods about a tenth of what these were worth in the markets of Buenos Ayres. This state of things naturally produced such grave complaints against Ribera’s government as to provoke the intervention of the Crown. He was recalled, and was replaced by a man of a very different character, Don Bernardo Velasco, who was destined to be the last Spanish governor of Paraguay.
In the year 1803 the King of Spain issued a decree constituting the country lying between the Paraná and the Uruguay, which included all the missions, a separate province, which was called Misiones, of which Velasco was appointed governor. In 1805, the same officer was appointed governor of Paraguay, another of the same name being instructed by him as his lieutenant in Misiones.