vices of the Europeans should diminish the ardour of their proselytes,
or even remove them farther from Christianity; and likewise lest the
Spanish haughtiness should render a yoke, already too heavy,
insupportable to them. The court of Spain, approving of these reasons,
ordered that the missionaries should not be controuled by the governor’s
authority, and that they should get sixty thousand piastres a year from
the royal treasure, for the expences of cultivation, on condition that
as the colonies should be formed, and the lands be cultivated, the
Indians should annually pay a piastre per head to the king, from the age
of eighteen to sixty. It was likewise stipulated, that the missionaries
should teach the Indians the Spanish language; but this clause it seems
has not been executed.
[Sidenote: Zeal and success of the missionaries.]
The Jesuits entered upon this career with the courage of martyrs, and
the patience of angels. Both these qualifications were requisite to
attract, retain, and use to obedience and labour, a race of savage,
inconstant men, who were attached to their indolence and independence.
The obstacles were infinite, the difficulties encreased at each step;
but zeal got the better of every thing, and the kindness of the
missionaries at last brought these wild, diffident inhabitants of the
woods, to their feet. They collected them into fixed habitations, gave
them laws, introduced useful and polite arts among them; and, in short,
of a barbarous nation, without civilized manners, and without religious
principles, they made a good-natured well governed people, who strictly
observed the Christian ceremonies. These Indians, charmed with the
persuasive eloquence of their apostles, willingly obeyed a set of men,
who, they saw would sacrifice themselves for their happiness;
accordingly, when they wanted to form an idea of the king of Spain, they
represented him to themselves in the habit of the order of St. Ignatius.
[Sidenote: Revolt of the Indians against the Spaniards.]
However, there was a momentary revolt against his authority in the year
1757. The catholic king had exchanged the colonies on the left shore of
the Uraguay against the colony of Santo Sacramento with the Portuguese.
The desire of destroying the smuggling trade, which we have mentioned
several times, had engaged the court of Madrid to this exchange. Thus
the Uraguay became the boundary of the respective possessions of the two
crowns. The Indians of the colonies, which had been ceded, were
transported to the right hand shore, and they made them amends in money
for their lost labour and transposition. [Sidenote: Causes of their
discontent.] But these men, accustomed to their habitations, could not
bear the thought of being obliged to leave the grounds, which were
highly cultivated, in order to clear new ones. They took up arms: for
long ago they had been allowed the use of them, to defend themselves
from the incursions of the Paulists, a band of robbers, descended from
Brasilians, and who had formed themselves into a republic towards the
end of the sixteenth century. They revolted without any Jesuits ever
heading them. It is however said, they were really kept in the revolted
villages, to exercise their sacerdotal functions.
[Sidenote: They take up arms and are defeated.]
The governor-general of the province de la Plata, Don Joseph Andonaighi,
marched against the rebels, and was followed by Don Joachim de Viana,
governor of Montevideo. He defeated them in a battle, wherein upwards of
two thousand Indians were slain. He then proceeded to conquer the
country; and Don Joachim seeing what terror their first defeat had
spread amongst them, resolved to subdue them entirely with six hundred
men. He attacked the first colony, took possession of it without meeting
any resistance; and that being taken, all the others submitted.
[Sidenote: The disturbances are appeased.]
At this time the court of Spain recalled Don Joseph Andonaighi, and Don
Pedro Cevallos arrived at Buenos Ayres to replace him. Viana received
orders at the same time to leave the missions, and bring back his
troops. The intended exchange was now no longer thought of, and the
Portuguese, who had marched against the Indians with the Spaniards,
returned with them likewise. At the time of this expedition, the noise
was spread in Europe of the election of king Nicholas, an Indian, whom
indeed the rebels set up as a phantom of royalty.
Don Joachim de Viana told me, that when he received orders to leave the
missions, a great number of Indians, discontented with the life they
led, were willing to follow him. [Sidenote: The Indians appear disgusted
with the administration of the Jesuits.] He opposed it, but could not
hinder seven families from accompanying him; he settled them at the
Maldonados, where, at present, they are patterns of industry and labour.
I was surprised at what he told me concerning this discontent of the
Indians. How is it possible to make it agree with all I had read of the
manner in which they are governed? I should have quoted the laws of the
missions as a pattern of an administration instituted with a view to
distribute happiness and wisdom among men.
Indeed, if one casts a general view at a distance upon this magic
government, founded by spiritual arms only, and united only by the
charms of persuasion, what institution can be more honourable to human
nature? It is a society which inhabits a fertile land, in a happy
climate, of which, all the members are laborious, and none works for
himself; the produce of the common cultivation is faithfully conveyed
into public storehouses, from whence every one receives what he wants
for his nourishment, dress, and house-keeping; the man who is in full
vigour, feeds, by his labour, the new-born infant; and when time has
consumed his strength, his fellow-citizens render him the same services
which he did them before. The private houses are convenient, the public
buildings fine; the worship uniform and scrupulously attended: this
happy people knows neither the distinction of rank, nor of nobility, and
is equally sheltered against super-abundance and wants.
The great distance and the illusion of perspective made the missions
bear this aspect in my eyes, and must have appeared the same to every
one else. But the theory is widely different from the execution of this
plan of government. Of this I was convinced by the following accounts,
which above a hundred ocular witnesses have unanimously given me.
[Sidenote: Accounts of the interior government.]
The extent of country in which the missions are situated, contains about
two hundred leagues north and south, and about one hundred and fifty
east and west, and the number of inhabitants is about three hundred
thousand; the immense forests afford wood of all sorts; the vast
pastures there, contain at least two millions of cattle; fine rivers
enliven the interior parts of this country, and promote circulation and
commerce throughout it. This is the situation of the country, but the
question now is, how did the people live there? The country was, as has
been told, divided into parishes, and each parish was directed by two
Jesuits, of which, one was rector, and the other his curate. The whole
expence for the maintenance of the colonies was but small, the Indians
being fed, dressed, and lodged, by the labour of their own hands; the
greatest costs were those of keeping the churches in repair, all which
were built and adorned magnificently. The other products of the ground,
and all the cattle, belonged to the Jesuits, who, on their part, sent
for the instruments of various trades, for glass, knives, needles,
images, chaplets of beads, gun-powder and muskets. Their annual revenues
consisted in cotton, tallow, leather, honey, and above all, in _maté_, a
plant better known by the name of Paraguay tea, or South-Sea tea, of
which that company had the exclusive commerce, and of which likewise the
consumption is immense in the Spanish possessions in America, where it
is used instead of tea.
The Indians shewed so servile a submission to their rectors, that not
only both men and women suffered the punishment of flagellation, after
the manner of the college, for public offences, but they likewise came
of themselves to sollicit this chastisement for mental faults. In every
parish the fathers annually elected _corrégidors_, and their assistants,
to take care of the minutiæ of the government. The ceremony of their
election was performed on new year’s day, with great pomp, in the court
before the church, and was announced by ringing of bells, and the
playing of a band of music. The newly elected persons came to the feet
of the father rector to receive the marks of their dignity, which
however did not exempt them from being whipped like the others. Their
greatest distinction was that of wearing habits, whereas, a shirt of
cotton stuff was the only dress of the other Indians of both sexes. The
feasts of the parish, and that of the rector, were likewise celebrated
by public rejoicings, and even by comedies, which probably resembled
those ancient pieces of ours, called _mystéres_ or mysteries.
The rector lived in a great house near the church; adjoining to it were
two buildings, in one of which were the schools for music, painting,
sculpture, and architecture; and likewise, work-houses of different
trades; Italy furnished them with masters to teach the arts, and the
Indians, it is said, learn with facility: the other building contained a
great number of young girls at work in several occupations, under the
inspection of old women: this was named the _guatiguasu_, or the
seminary. The apartment of the rector communicated internally with these
two buildings.
This rector got up at five o’clock in the morning, employed an hour in
holy meditation, and said his mass at half past six o’clock; they kissed
his hands at seven o’clock, and then he publicly distributed an ounce of
_maté_ to every family. After mass, the rector breakfasted, said his
breviary, conferred with the corregidors, four of whom were his
ministers, and visited the seminary, the schools, and the work-shops.
Whenever he went out, it was on horseback, and attended by a great
retinue; he dined alone with his curate at eleven of the clock, then
chatted till noon, and after that, made a _siesta_ till two in the
afternoon; he kept close in his interior appartments till it was prayer
time, after which, he continued in conversation till seven in the
evening; then the rector supped, and at eight he was supposed to be gone
to bed.
From eight of the clock in the morning, the time of the people was taken
up either in cultivating the ground, or in their work-shops, and the
corregidors took care to see them employ their time well; the women spun
cotton; they got a quantity of it every Monday, which they were obliged
to bring back converted into spun yarn at the end of the week; at half
an hour past five in the evening they came together to say the prayers
of their rosary, and to kiss the hands of their rector once more, then
came on the distribution of an ounce of _maté_ and four pounds of beef
for each family, which was supposed to consist of eight persons; at the
same time they likewise got some maize. On Sundays they did no work; the
divine worship took up more time; they were after that allowed to amuse
themselves with plays as dull as the rest of their whole life.
[Sidenote: Consequences drawn from it.]
From this exact detail it appears that the Indians had in some manner no
property, and that they were subject to a miserable, tedious uniformity
of labour and repose. This tiresomeness, which may with great reason be
called deadly or extreme, is sufficient to explain what has been told to
us, that they quitted life without regret, and died without having ever
lived or enjoyed life. When once they fell sick, it seldom happened that
they recovered, and being then asked whether they were sorry to be
obliged to die, they answered, no; and spoke it as people whose real
sentiments coincide with their words. We can no longer be surprised,
that when the Spaniards penetrated into the missions, this great people,
which was governed like a convent, should shew an ardent desire of
forcing the walls which confined them. The Jesuits represented the
Indians, upon the whole, as men incapable of attaining a higher degree
of knowledge than that of children; but the life they led, prevented
these grown children from having the liveliness of little ones.
[Sidenote: Expulsion of the Jesuits from the province of Plata.]
The society were occupied with the care of extending their missions,
when the unfortunate events happened in Europe, which overturned the
work of so many years, and of so unwearied patience in the new world.
The court of Spain having resolved upon the expulsion of the Jesuits,
was desirous that this might be done at the same time throughout all its
vast dominions. Cevallos was recalled from Buenos Ayres, and Don
Francisco Buccarelli appointed to succeed him. [Sidenote: Measures taken
at the court of Spain for this purpose.] He set out, being instructed in
the business which he was intended for, and with orders to defer the
execution of it till he received fresh orders, which would soon be sent
him. The king’s confessor, the count d’Aranda, and some ministers, were
the only persons to whom this secret affair was entrusted. Buccarelli
made his entry at Buenos Ayres in the beginning of 1767.
[Sidenote: Measures taken by the governor-general of the province.]
When Don Pedro de Cevallos was arrived in Spain, a packet was dispatched
to the marquis of Buccarelli, with orders both for that province, and
for Chili, whither he was to send them over land. This vessel arrived in
Rio de la Plata in June, 1767, and the governor instantly dispatched two
officers, one to Peru, and the other to Chili, with the dispatches from
court, directed to them. He then sent his orders into the various parts
of his province, where there were any Jesuits, viz. to Cordoua, Mendoza,
Corrientes, Santa-Fé, Salta, Montevideo, and Paraguay. As he feared,
that among the commanders of these several places, some might not act
with the dispatch, secrecy, and exactness which the court required, he
enjoined, by sending his orders to them, that they should not open them
till on a certain day, which he had fixed for the execution, and to do
it only in the presence of some persons, whom he named, and who served
in the highest ecclesiastical and civil offices, at the above-mentioned
places. Cordoua, above all, interested his attention. In that province
was the principal house of the Jesuits, and the general residence of
their provincial. There they prepared and instructed in the Indian
language and customs, those who were destined to go to the missions, and
to become heads of colonies; there their most important papers were
expected to be found. M. de Buccarelli resolved to send an officer of
trust there, whom he appointed the king’s lieutenant of that place, and
on whom, under this pretext, he sent a detachment of soldiers to attend.
It now remained to provide for the execution of the king’s orders in the
missions, and this was the most critical point. It was dubious whether
the Indians would suffer the Jesuits to be arrested in the midst of the
colonies, and this violent step must at all events have been supported
by a numerous body of troops. Besides this, it was necessary, before
they thought of removing the Jesuits, to have another form of government
ready to substitute in their stead, and by that means to prevent
confusion and anarchy. The governor resolved to temporize, and was
contented at that time to write to the missions, that a corregidor and a
cacique from each colony should be sent to him immediately, in order to
communicate the king’s letters to them. He dispatched this order with
the greatest quickness, that the Indians might already be on the road,
and beyond the missions, before the news of the expulsion of the Jesuits
could reach thither. By this he had two aims in view; the one, that of
getting hostages of the fidelity of the colonies, when the Jesuits would
be taken from thence; the other, that of gaining the affection of the
principal Indians, by the good treatment he intended for them at Buenos
Ayres, and of instructing them in the new situation upon which they
would enter; for, as soon as the restraint would be taken away, they
were to enjoy the same privileges, and have the same property as the
king’s other subjects.
[Sidenote: The secret is near being divulged by an unforeseen accident.]
Every measure was concerted with the greatest secrecy, and though people
wondered that a vessel should arrive from Spain without any other
letters than those for the general, yet they were very far from
suspecting the cause of it. The moment of the general execution was
fixed to the day when all the couriers were supposed to have arrived at
their different destinations, and the governor waited for that moment
with impatience, when the arrival of the two xebecs[56] of the king from
Cadiz, the Andaluz and the Adventurero, was near making all these
precautions useless. The governor-general had ordered the governor of
Montevideo, that in case any vessels should arrive from Europe, he
should not allow them to speak with any person whatsoever, before he had
sent him word of it; but one of the two xebecs being in the forlorn
situation we have before mentioned, at the entrance of the river, it was
very necessary to save the crew of it, and give her all the assistance
which her situation required.
[Sidenote: Conduct of the governor-general.]
The two xebecs had sailed from Spain, after the Jesuits had been
arrested there, and this piece of news could by no means be prevented
from spreading. An officer of these ships was immediately sent to M. de
Buccarelli, and arrived at Buenos Ayres the 9th of July, at ten in the
evening. The governor did not lose time, he instantly dispatched orders
to all the commanders of the places, to open their former packets of
dispatches, and execute their contents with the utmost celerity. At two
of the clock after midnight, all the couriers were gone, and the two
houses of the Jesuits at Buenos Ayres invested, to the great
astonishment of those fathers, who thought they were dreaming, when
roused from their sleep in order to be imprisoned, and to have their
papers seized. The next morning an order was published in the town,
which forbade, by pain of death, to keep up any intercourse with the
Jesuits, and five merchants were arrested, who intended, it is said, to
send advices to them at Cordoua.
[Sidenote: The Jesuits are arrested in all the Spanish towns.]
The king’s orders were executed with the same facility in all the towns.
The Jesuits were surprised every where, without having the least notice,
and their papers were seized. They were immediately sent from their
houses, guarded by detachments of soldiers, who were ordered to fire
upon those that should endeavour to escape. But there was no occasion to
come to this extremity. They shewed the greatest resignation, humbling
themselves under the hand that smote them, and acknowledging, as they
said, that their sins had deserved the punishment which God inflicted on
them. The Jesuits of Cordoua, in number above a hundred, arrived towards
the end of August, at the Encenada, whither those from Corrientes,
Buenos Ayres, and Montevideo, came soon after. They were immediately
embarked, and the first convoy sailed, as I have already said, at the
end of September. The others, during that time, were on the road to
Buenos Ayres, where they should wait for another opportunity.
[Sidenote: Arrival of the caciques and corregidors at Buenos Ayres from
the missions.]
On the 13th of September arrived all the corregidors, and a cacique of
each colony, with some Indians of their retinue. They had left the
missions before any one guessed at the reason of their journey there.
The news which they received of it on the road had made some impression
on them, but did not prevent their continuing the journey. The only
instruction which the rectors gave their dear proselytes at parting,
was, to believe nothing of what the governor-general should tell them:
“Prepare, my children,” did every one tell them, “to hear many
untruths.” At their arrival, they were immediately sent to the governor,
where I was present at their reception. They entered on horseback to the
number of a hundred and twenty, and formed a crescent in two lines; a
Spaniard understanding the language of the _Guaranis_, served them as an
interpreter. [Sidenote: They appear before the governor-general.] The
governor appeared in a balcony; he told them, that they were welcome;
that they should go to rest themselves, and that he would send them
notice of the day which he should fix in order to let them know the
king’s intentions. He added, in general, that he was come to release
them from slavery, and put them in possession of their property, which
they had not hitherto enjoyed. They answered by a general cry, lifting
up their right hands to heaven, and wishing all prosperity to the king
and governor. They did not seem discontented, but it was easy to
discover more surprize than joy in their countenance. On leaving the
governor’s palace, they were brought to one of the houses of the
Jesuits, where they were lodged, fed, and kept at the king’s expence.
The governor, when he sent for them, expressly mentioned the famous
Cacique Nicholas, but they wrote him word, that his great age and his
infirmities did not allow him to come out.
At my departure from Buenos Ayres, the Indians had not yet been called
to an audience of the general. He was willing to give them time to learn
something of the language, and to become acquainted with the Spanish
customs. I have been several times to see them. They appeared to me of
an indolent temper, and seemed to have that stupid air so common in
creatures caught in a trap. Some of them were pointed out to me as very
intelligent, but as they spoke no other language but that of the
Guaranis, I was not able to make any estimate of the degree of their
knowledge; I only heard a cacique play upon the violin, who, I was told,
was a great musician; he played a sonata, and I thought I heard the
strained founds of a serinette. Soon after the arrival of these Indians
at Buenos Ayres, the news of the expulsion of the Jesuits having reached
the missions, the marquis de Buccarelli received a letter from the
provincial, who was there at that time, in which he assured him of his
submission, and of that of all the colonies to the king’s orders.
[Sidenote: Extent of the missions.]
These missions of the Guaranis and Tapes, upon the Uruguay, were not the
only ones which the Jesuits founded in South America. Somewhat more
northward they had collected and submitted to the same laws, the Mojos,
Chiquitos, and the Avipones. They likewise were making progresses in the
south of Chili, towards the isle of Chiloé; and a few years since, they
have opened themselves a road from that province to Peru, passing
through the country of the Chiquitos, which is a shorter way than that
which was followed till then. In all the countries into which they
penetrated, they erected posts, on which they placed their motto; and on
the map of their colonies, which they have settled, the latter are
placed under the denomination of _Oppida Christianorum_.
It was expected, that in seizing the effects of the Jesuits in this
province, very considerable sums of money would be found: however, what
was obtained that way, amounted to a mere trifle. Their magazines indeed
were furnished with merchandizes of all sorts, both of the products of
the country, and of goods imported from Europe. There were even many
sorts which could not have a sale in these provinces. The number of
their slaves was considerable, and in their house at Cordoua alone, they
reckoned three thousand five hundred.