_BRAZIL; JESUIT MISSIONS IN NORTHERN BRAZIL._
1652-1662.
Mention has more than once been made in the preceding chapter of Antonio
Vieyra, the Jesuit, a man of singular ability, who was destined to play
a distinguished part in the history of his time, both as a statesman and
as an ecclesiastic, and who has left behind him one of the foremost
names in the splendid literature of his country. Before proceeding to
relate the part which he took in the affairs of _Brazil_, it may be well
to give a sketch of his remarkable career up to this time.
Vieyra was born at Lisbon in the year 1608, but when in his eighth year
he emigrated with his parents to _Bahia_, where he was brought up at the
Jesuits’ school. In his early youth it is said that his intellect was
clouded. Being aware of this fact, he earnestly prayed to the Virgin to
remove the cause, and he himself records that something seemed to give
way in his head, causing him violent pain, from which hour his intellect
shone out in all its exceptional clearness. When in his fifteenth year,
a sermon which he heard on the glory of the Beatific Vision determined
him to select a religious life. The provincial of the Jesuits in
_Brazil_ was a frequent visitor at his father’s house; and the youth,
knowing it to be in vain to seek his parents’ consent, fled to the
Jesuits’ College, the doors of which were gladly opened to receive him.
His parents remonstrated, but without effect; and, at the age of sixteen
he was permitted to take the vows which bound him to the Order for
life. A year later he was employed to write the yearly letter from the
province to the general at Rome, and in the following year he lectured
on rhetoric at _Olinda_.
Vieyra’s tastes inclined him to abandon his studies and to devote
himself entirely to the Indians; but his far-seeing superiors discerned
too well his remarkable talents to permit them to be devoted entirely to
such a purpose. After some years spent in ministering amongst Indians
and negroes, and in the acquisition of the _Tupi_ language, for the
benefit of the former, and of that of _Angola_, for the benefit of the
latter, he was, in 1635, ordained a priest. He now lectured on theology
at _Bahia_, and, sometime later, he accompanied the agent sent to
Portugal to congratulate the King on the recovery of his rights.
Arriving at Peniche in company of _Dom_ Fernando Mascarenhas, whose
brother had adhered to the king of Castile, he was arrested by the
people and narrowly escaped being put to death. The populace were,
however, persuaded to deliver him over to justice. Reaching Lisbon as a
supposed criminal, he obtained an audience of the King, upon whom his
remarkable talents produced an instant effect. He was appointed preacher
to Joam IV., who continued ever afterwards to regard him with the
affection of a father to a son. In his sermons he expressed himself with
such freedom as well as eloquence that he was at one time brought under
the notice of the Inquisition.
[Sidenote: 1652.]
The favour which Vieyra enjoyed at court created the jealousy even of
his own order, and it was once feared that they were about to expel him.
In anticipation of this, he was offered by the King a bishopric, which
offer, however, was declined. The jealousy of Vieyra’s superiors was at
length, happily, removed, and he was employed during several years in
the most important diplomatic service, including a mission to the Hague
at a critical period. About the year 1652, after the _Brazil_ Company
had been established owing to his representations, the fleet of which
Company was the means used by Fernandes to complete the reduction of
_Recife_, the thoughts of the Jesuit Father began to be powerfully
attracted towards the land of his early education. From the possession
of his special gifts, more particularly his knowledge of the Indian and
_Angola_ languages, he probably felt that there was work to be done
which he was likely to perform better than any living man. But there was
a strong obstacle in the way. This was the favour with which he was
regarded both by King Joam and by his son, Prince Theodosio, from both
of whom he felt it would be useless to solicit permission to depart on
his proposed voyage.
This being the case, as it was a matter of conscience, Vieyra determined
to set out clandestinely, that is to say, without the royal permission.
A strong succession of circumstances now occurred. Vieyra had made up
his mind to set out for _Maranham_, and there was but one vessel in the
_Brazil_ fleet which was bound for that State. It was arranged that
Vieyra and his companion, Ribeiro, should accompany the last Jesuits on
board, as if to take leave of them. As they were on the way, they
learned that the ship was detained for a royal officer. Vieyra therefore
returned to the King, and obtained permission for the vessel to depart
without this person. But now the captain was compelled to wait for the
morning tide, and Vieyra and his companion returned on shore for the
night. Their purpose being now suspected, the captain of the ship
received notice that he would be hanged were he to convey Vieyra away;
and notice was likewise given to the masters of all the other ships in
the river forbidding them to give the two Jesuits a passage, Vieyra
being at the same time summoned to the palace.
Upon this Vieyra went to the Prince, and told him that he must go to
_Maranham_; but he was answered that nothing would induce the King to
consent to his going. The Jesuit then endeavoured to escape in a vessel
bound to _Madeira_, from which place he hoped eventually to be able to
proceed to _Brazil_; but this vessel, too, lost the tide, and as Vieyra
had been seen to go on board, he was again commanded to return. He was
cordially received by the King and Prince, with whom, however, he argued
as to the superior authority under which he was prompted to proceed to
South America. The Prince was in ill-health, and it was probably owing
to this circumstance that the royal consent to Vieyra’s departure was
now obtained. The King having once yielded, now entrusted Vieyra, as
Superior of the Mission, to found such churches and missions in the
interior as he might think fit, and enjoining all persons in authority
to render him every assistance for this purpose.
It was arranged that Vieyra and a brother missionary should proceed in a
_caravel_ to their destination; but whilst they were waiting the King
and the Prince, with whom Vieyra was now living in daily intercourse,
repented of the permission which they had given. Vieyra, too, felt more
than ever reluctant to quit his royal master, to whom he was bound not
alone by ties of the deepest loyalty, but likewise by those of the
utmost personal affection. The services, too, which he might render to
his country in Europe at that critical time were suggested to him; and
the result was that his missionary projects were abandoned. So much
publicity had, however, been given to them, that both the King and
Vieyra were somewhat afraid of ridicule on the announcement of their
relinquishment. It was therefore determined for the present that nothing
should be given out on the subject, and that when the time should come
for his departure he should be summoned back from on board ship as if on
a sudden impulse from the King. When the time came, however, for the
Jesuit’s departure, and he had gone through the form of going on board
ship, owing to some accident the royal mandate for his return never
reached him; and thus it happened that after all he unintentionally
sailed, and touched at the _Cape de Verde_ Islands, where his vessel
remained for four days.
Vieyra must have been a very Chrysostom; for we read that he preached
twice at _Porto Praya_ with such effect that the people first petitioned
him and his companions to remain with them, and then offered a large
bribe to the master of the vessel to sail without them. At _Maranham_
Vieyra was welcomed by his brother, when he lost no time in setting
about the duties of his mission. It is almost needless to say that he
was greatly shocked at the low moral and religious condition in which he
found the community. It was in fact Christian in name alone, and was
destitute even of the elements by which Christian instruction might be
imparted. The zealous missionary lost no time in communicating his
impressions to the King and to the Prince, whom he implored to send out
suitable assistance. The harvest he said was great, but the labourers
were few.
_Maranham_ was in truth in a far worse condition than that of the older
captaincies, the inhabitants of which had by this time acquired the
customs of civilized life. In them had long been established the forms
of municipal government. They were likewise communities which subsisted
by regularly-established commerce; whilst they enjoyed regular
intercourse with the mother country, and were presided over by men of
position and character. But _Maranham_ and _Pará_ were, so to speak,
back-settlements. It was exile for a governor of position to go to them,
and they were consequently ruled either by men who went thither for a
short time on promotion or who accepted the post of governor in order to
make money in the only way by which it could be made--that is to say, by
slave-dealing. It is to be remembered, too, that at this period
_Maranham_ and _Pará_ were separated from the Portuguese settlements in
Southern _Brazil_ by the presence of the Dutch in the intervening
provinces adjoining _Pernambuco_.
In the older presidencies the supply of Indians available for slaves was
by this time so exhausted that the slave market had to be stocked from
_Angola_; but at _Maranham_ the native population, being newly brought
into contact with the Portuguese, afforded an ample field for the energy
of the slave-hunter and those who were interested in his operations, in
which latter category were included officials of every rank. In fact,
Vieyra found _Maranham_ a huge Augean-stable, the proportions of which
would have made a man of less energy stand aghast in despair.
The Portuguese race has unquestionably filled a most distinguished part
in the world. At the period of which we write it had gloriously
recovered its national independence, and was renowned alike for its
splendid literature, its famous geographical discoveries,--more
especially those of Bartholomew Diaz, Vasco de Gama, Cabral, and
Magalhaens,--and its magnificent colonial possessions in the east as
well as in the west; and that the race has not lost all its energy is
proved by such exploits of the present day as those of Serpa Pinto and
others. But in two respects, as well to-day as two centuries ago, the
same race is less honourably remarkable, namely, in addiction to the
more superstitious adjuncts of Catholicism, such as worship of images,
belief in everyday miracles, etc., and in addiction to every form of the
slave-trade. The former may be considered an indication of puerile
ignorance; the latter is a national disgrace.
There seems indeed something peculiarly ingrained in the Portuguese race
which makes them take to slave-dealing and slave-hunting as naturally as
greyhounds take to chasing hares; and this observation applies not to
one section of the race alone, but to Portuguese wherever they are to be
found beyond the reach of European law. No modern race can be cited as
slave-hunters within measurable distance of the Portuguese. Their
exploits in this respect are written in the annals not only of the whole
coast of _Brazil_ from _Pará_ to _Uruguay_ and along the _Misiones_ of
_Paraguay_, not only on the coast of _Angola_, but throughout the
interior of Africa. We may take up the journals of one traveller after
another, of Burton, of Livingstone, of Stanley, or of Cameron, and, in
whatever respect their accounts and opinions may differ, on one point
they are one and all entirely agreed, namely, as to the pestilent and
remorseless activity of the ubiquitous Portuguese slave-catcher.
Nor does the eminence of the Portuguese race as purveyors to the
slave-market end at the dark continent. In India, it is true, their
activity in this respect is restrained by the presence of a paramount
power; but further east their national character has found ample scope
for its development. In the nineteenth century a Christian country of
Europe has shown an example to such nations as China and Japan by
maintaining at _Macao_ an emporium of coolies destined for _Peru_ and
elsewhere, and sent out under conditions differing from those of slavery
in name alone, and the records of which traffic are a _pendant_ to those
of “the middle passage.” Finally, a branch of the Portuguese race has at
this moment the unenviable distinction of possessing the only civilized
country in which slavery is acknowledged by law.
To return to _Brazil_: the kings of Portugal had, it is true, been
individually ever desirous of mitigating the conditions of slavery to
which their Indian subjects in South America were subjected; but
circumstances were ever too strong for them. The wealth of _Brazil_ was
only to be obtained by agricultural labour; and so long as Indians were
to be captured or reared for the purpose, the cupidity of the colonists
devoted their Indian fellow-subjects to this end. The native races,
however, were not used to such hard labour as was imposed upon them, and
they gradually sank and died away beneath it. They were then replaced by
Africans, whose descendants are now the means of producing the
sugar-wealth, coffee-wealth, and tobacco-wealth of _Brazil_. Various
enactments were from time to time passed by the Government at Lisbon to
restrain their colonial subjects in their dealings with the natives;
but all were of no avail. In the first instance the colonists were
permitted to enslave them without control; but a law was passed by King
Sebastian, declaring that no Indians should be considered slaves,
excepting such as should be taken in war made by command of the King or
Governor, or such as were aggressive cannibals; but this regulation was
invariably made to suit every individual occasion.
By a second law, it was provided that the Indians who worked for the
Portuguese should not be regarded as slaves, but as free labourers. King
Phillip II. decreed that none should be considered slaves excepting
those taken in hostilities for which he should have issued orders.
Philip III. forbade that any Indians should be made slaves; but the evil
had gone too far for his edict to be attended with any good result, and
he was induced to revoke it, and to permit the enslavement of Indians
taken in war. In short, so general was the interest amongst all classes
of the Portuguese in _Brazil_ in encouraging slavery, that every
well-meant edict and regulation of the Portuguese Crown was evaded. The
same law provided that in each village of the “reduced” Indians there
was to be a captain, who should hold office for three years. The Indians
were to be settled in villages of about three hundred houses. Lands were
to be allotted for their use and a church built in each village. These
Indians were to be considered free, and were paid for their labour.
Joam IV. renewed the law of Philip III., and Sousa Pereira, going out as
governor of _Maranham_, took with him orders emancipating all Indians
then enslaved. These orders produced an insurrection, which was only
quelled by a promise of the Governor that the law should not be
enforced, pending an appeal to the King. The same occurrence took place
likewise at _Pará_ when the law was announced at that place. Such was
the state of things in Northern _Brazil_ at the date of Vieyra’s coming.
Much as the Jesuit Father had been shocked on his arrival at _Maranham_
by the low religious and moral condition of that dependency, his
convictions on the subject were much intensified as his opportunities of
observation increased. Many of the colonists troubled themselves neither
with mass nor with church throughout the year, and it was a common thing
amongst them to die without confession. In the whole captaincy there
were but two churches with resident priests; the one on the island, the
other on the mainland. The Portuguese of _Maranham_ and _Pará_ were
pursuing the same course towards the Indians which had resulted in their
extermination along the sea-coast of the other captaincies. The law
permitted that Indians taken in war should be made slaves, and likewise
that such prisoners as were rescued by the Portuguese from other tribes,
and who were thus saved from being eaten, should be devoted to slavery.
These two regulations were made to cover the most iniquitous
transactions. Every captain of a fort could at any time provoke his
Indian neighbours into war; whilst Indian captives were habitually
threatened or tortured into the confession that they had been rescued or
purchased by the Portuguese from other Indians.
In the general system of oppression the Indians who had voluntarily
submitted to the Portuguese bore their full share. Indeed they were
perhaps, if possible, in a worse position than their brethren. The
captain for the time being, holding his office merely for three years,
looked upon them in the light of so many animals out of whom he was to
extract as much benefit for himself as he could during that period. They
were chiefly employed in raising and preparing tobacco; whilst their
families were left to starve. Some Indians thought it better to quit
this “free” condition and voluntarily to become domestic slaves. Others
preferred to die.
It is not surprising that such a state of things should have worked up
Vieyra’s indignation to the boiling point. He had soon an opportunity of
venting his most righteous wrath from the pulpit. It was the season of
Lent, and as his reputation for eloquence had preceded him, the church
was, for once at least, filled to overflowing. In a discourse which has
been preserved, he acted on the command given to the Prophet Isaiah,
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my
people their transgressions.” In a passage which might perhaps be
addressed from the pulpit to the Brazilians of to-day, he observes, “But
you will say to me this State cannot be supported without Indians. Who
is to plant our mandioc? Must our wives do it? Must our children do it?
If necessity and conscience require it, I reply, ‘Yes;’ for better it is
to be supported by the sweat of one’s own brow than by another’s blood.”
He had no difficulty in touching by his impassioned eloquence the
consciences, if not the hearts, even of the hardened congregation whom
he addressed; and on the same afternoon a meeting was held, in which it
was agreed to go into the history of each individual Indian who was
detained in a state of slavery, and to leave each case to be decided by
the Senate. A deed expressing the consent of the people to this
arrangement was immediately drawn up and signed by all the chief persons
of the place.
Vieyra now undertook the task of instructing the Indians each Sunday;
and after a time he made plans for a missionary expedition amongst the
tribes. In this project, however, he had to encounter the selfishness of
the governor, who could not spare from his own plantations the Indians
whom Vieyra required to accompany him. Disappointed in this quarter he
turned to another, only to meet with a like repulse. The results of his
efforts convinced him that it was impossible to proceed with the
conversion and civilization of the Indians, so long as the civil
authorities should have any power over them. He accordingly wrote to the
King his opinion that the governors and chief-captains should possess no
authority over the Indians excepting in time of war, when a certain
number should be allotted for military service; that the Indians should
have an advocate in each captaincy, annually elected, and independent of
the governor; that the natives should be governed by religioners; that
at the beginning of each year lists should be made of the Indians in
each captaincy, and likewise of the settlers, and that the former should
then be divided amongst the latter by their own advocate and by the
superior of the religious order; that no Indian should work for a
settler for more than four months in a year, in terms of two months,
their wages being deposited in advance. He added other excellent
suggestions; but so urgent was the case that it was thought better that
he should himself proceed to Europe vividly in order to plead in person.
On his homeward voyage Vieyra encountered a tempest near the _Azores_,
from which he owed his deliverance to the crew of a Dutch privateer, who
took him from his ship after its masts had been cut away. He and his
companions, after having been plundered of all they possessed, were
landed on the island of _Graciosa_. Vieyra’s credit, however, was
sufficient to procure for himself and his forty companions the means of
subsistence during two months, and likewise a passage to Lisbon, which
he thus vividly describes:--
“The ship belonged to heretic owners, and the pilot and the sailors were
heretics; we passengers were some religioners of different orders, and a
great quantity of those musical islanders who come here to compose a
choir of four voices with their nightingales and goldfinches,
canary-birds and blackbirds. The weather was worse than ordinary, and
the effects which I observed in it were truly admirable. We religioners
were all employed in prayers and litanies, making vows to Heaven and
exorcisms to the waves, throwing relics into the sea, and above all in
acts of contrition, confessing many times, as if at the point of death.
The sailors, like the heretics, when the hatches were lying at the feet
of the masts, ate and drank more merrily than ever, and mocked at what
they called our ceremonies. The little birds at the same time, at the
sound which the wind made in the rigging, as if those cords had been the
string of some musical instrument, exerted their strength in singing.
God, help me! if labour and fear had not taken off all attention, who
would not in this situation have admired effects so various and so
opposite, the cause being the same? What, ... all in the same ship, all
in the same storm, all in the same danger, and some singing, some
mocking, some praying and lamenting?” It is interesting to see this
great man, who in following his duty shrank neither from labour nor from
any kind of danger, ingenuously confessing the effect which a storm at
sea had upon him in common with other bad sailors.
It is needless to add that the Portuguese Government were now faithfully
and fully informed of the condition of things in the northern provinces
of _Brazil_; but although the King was most desirous to do what was
right and just, his power in the matter was limited. Deputies from
_Maranham_ and _Pará_ were in Lisbon, and neither gold nor falsehood was
spared on behalf of the slaveholders.
The King ordered that a _junta_ should be convened of theologians and
lawyers under the guidance of the President of the Palace. After eight
days’ discussion, Vieyra having pleaded his own cause, the _junta_ gave
their opinion in favour of his system being adopted. This step was
followed by a direction from the heads of the other orders established
in _Maranham_ and _Pará_ that the members of their respective
communities should act in conformity with the decisions of the _junta_.
Vieyra’s next object was to establish a missionary board, which should
at all times supervise the interests of the missions. A decree was
issued declaring that all the Indian settlements in the State of
_Maranham_ should be under the direction of the Jesuits; that Vieyra,
as superior of the mission, should direct all expeditions into the
interior, and settle the “reduced” Indians as he might think fit; that
the chief of every ransoming party should be approved by the Jesuits,
who should have a vote upon the examination of the ransomed Indians; and
that these should not be slaves for longer than five years. The free
Indians were not to work for the Portuguese for more than six months in
the year.
[Sidenote: 1655.]
_Recife_ being now once more in the hands of the Portuguese, the
services of Vidal were at the disposal of the King, and were suitably
employed in the government of _Maranham_. His Majesty would have
prevented Vieyra from returning; but, as he was unwilling to decide so
important a point on his own judgment, he referred to the triennial
meeting of the Jesuits of the province the question whether a man whose
services were so important at home ought to be sent as a missionary
among savages. Vieyra demanded to be heard before them. It may well be
conceived that he had many reasons to urge why he should not abandon the
mission he had chosen. He pointed out the scoffs that would be uttered
were he who had incited others to go to _Maranham_ to prefer for himself
the rest of Europe. What would the Indians say as to his having left
them to seek relief, and forgetting his promise of speedily returning?
What an example would his turning aside from the path of difficulty
present to the youth now growing up in the colonies? Some of the
Fathers, being in despair that the Company should lose the advantage of
Vieyra’s talents at headquarters, nobly kneeling at the Provincial’s
feet, offered to take Vieyra’s place abroad, provided he might remain at
home. The votes were given secretly; but the majority agreed that Vieyra
ought to go upon the mission. The King submitted to this decision; and,
after a residence of only four months in Portugal, Vieyra again embarked
for _Maranham_.
When the terms of the new law became known, such discontent was
occasioned that a popular tumult sprung up; but it was sternly repressed
by Vidal. The new governor soon afterwards proceeded to _Belem_,
accompanied by Vieyra, in order to give effect to the King’s decrees in
the province of _Pará_. The utter contempt of law displayed by the
condition of that province was startling. It was known that the
slave-dealers had brought down with them not less than sixteen hundred
Indians; yet, after every person had made oath that he had presented all
whom he had brought or received, the whole number fell short of eight
hundred, the rest having been concealed. One man presented
eight-and-twenty Indians, who, being examined, replied individually that
they had been rescued from other tribes. They were accordingly passed as
lawful slaves. A week later, the chiefs of some allied Indians arrived
at _Belem_ to request that the governor would release some of their
people, whom the Portuguese had stolen. On being told to point them out,
they selected the twenty-eight above-mentioned. The poor wretches, who
were subjects of the King of Portugal, had been threatened to be flogged
to death, unless they should answer that they were rescued prisoners of
war. The above are mere samples of the wholesale villany which was
practised.
The ecclesiastics who were members of the board upon whom it devolved to
determine the lawfulness of the capture of Indians, were too anxious on
all occasions to bring them by any means within the pale of Christianity
to be at all scrupulous in deciding in favour of the slave-dealers when
there was the least opening for doing so. Vieyra, too, was most anxious
to bring within the King’s protection, and within the fold of the
Church, as many Indians as might be induced by fair means to come, but
this without violence or injustice. He insisted that, before Indians
were brought from their own country, provision should be made that they
might not perish from want, as so many had already perished. One
governor coolly replied, when the probability of a great mortality was
pointed out to him, that the death of such people was of no consequence;
but it was better for them to die amongst the Portuguese, as they would
then be baptized.
Wherever Vidal had the power to do so he acted in the spirit as well as
according to the letter of the King’s instructions; and under his
protection Vieyra diligently pursued his schemes. The chief settlements
of the “reduced” Indians were to the north of _Maranham_, where fifty
villages were established along the coast. Vieyra’s desire was to form a
line of stations in like manner towards the south, as far as _Ceará_,
thus connecting the Jesuit stations of _Maranham_ with those of Southern
_Brazil_. He desired likewise to continue the same connecting system up
the great rivers. With the latter object in view, two Jesuits, with a
Portuguese surgeon and a hundred Indian boatmen, went for a distance of
three hundred leagues up the river to the _Tocantins_. The Fathers were
successful in persuading about a thousand persons to follow them on
their return down to _Belem_, where they were received by Vidal and
Vieyra. Many Indians were likewise brought from other quarters, and for
some time the success of the missionary work, aided as it was by the
strong arm of the civil authority, was all that could be desired.
[Sidenote: 1657.]
But a period came to this prosperity. In the year 1657, Vidal was
promoted to be Governor of _Pernambuco_. About the same time, Vieyra
sustained a severe, and indeed an irreparable, loss by the death of the
Prince of _Brazil_, which was soon followed by that of King Joam. He had
still, however, a powerful and steady friend in the Bishop of _Japan_,
who was the Queen’s confessor; and he was appointed Visitor and Superior
in that part of America. The new Governor, _Don_ Pedro de Mello,
however, who succeeded Vidal, displayed a great falling-off from his
predecessor. He lost no time in engaging in a serious war with the
inhabitants of the islands at the mouth of the _Amazons_. He had brought
out with him the news that Holland and Portugal were then at war; and it
was apprehended that the Dutch might renew their operations in this
quarter. The new Governor, therefore, was urged to attack the Indians
with all his force before the Dutch could arrive to help them. Vieyra
alone advised that conciliatory measures should at first be used; and he
offered to undertake the task of negotiating. Being permitted to try
what he could do, he wrote to the tribes, informing them that the new
laws which he had gone to Portugal to procure had put an end to the
wrongs and grievances of which they complained. He pledged his word that
the old unjust system was prohibited, and said that he was ready either
to receive them or to go amongst them. His messengers could give them
full information of the actual state of things.
The messengers departed, fearing the worst, and telling Vieyra that
should they not return by the next moon he might give them up as being
dead or in slavery. The next moon came, and all had given them up for
lost; but, to the surprise of every one, the messengers returned,
bringing with them a party of Indians with seven chiefs. They said that
they had come simply on the faith of the paper from the Great Father,
who for their sakes had crossed the deep and obtained for them so many
benefits. Vieyra would have returned with them to the island; but they
preferred that they should first have an opportunity of making
preparations for his reception, when they should come for him with a
larger escort. They accordingly came at the date appointed, arriving in
seventeen canoes. They found Vieyra so ill that he was then unable to
accompany them; but he followed them as soon afterwards as his health
permitted, taking with him another Father, the chiefs of all the
“reduced” Indians, and only ten Portuguese.
On the fifth day of their voyage they were met by the chiefs of a tribe
who had promised to make a settlement, and the Fathers were led to a
church which had been constructed in anticipation of their visit. A
house had likewise been prepared for them close by. The neighbouring
hordes had been summoned by their chiefs to assemble, when they took the
oath of obedience, which was administered by the missionaries with much
ceremony. On the right of the church stood the chiefs of the converted
Indians, in their best attire. On the left were the savage chiefs, naked
and feather-adorned, and with bows in hand. Vieyra performed mass, after
which he addressed them through an interpreter; when they submitted
themselves to the King of Portugal, and accepted the true faith. The
chiefs approached the altar one by one, laid down their weapons, and
took an oath of obedience. It is estimated that the number of islanders
who submitted to the Portuguese on this occasion was not less than forty
thousand.
Vieyra’s next task was to regulate the mission amongst the tribes of
_Ibiapaba_, which place he reached, footsore and weary, after a painful
journey of three weeks from _Maranham_. Having arranged the affairs of
this mission, he returned to _Belem_ by sea.
Hitherto no open opposition had been attempted to the laws under which
the missions were making such progress; but the jealousy of the settlers
against the Jesuits was gaining head. The Chamber of _Belem_ now wrote
to that of _St. Luiz_, proposing that they should unite with the object
of depriving the Jesuits of their temporal power over the Indians; and,
the proposal having been acceded to, the Chamber actually addressed a
remonstrance to Vieyra, representing the distress to which the State was
subjected in consequence of the restrictions on slavery. The King’s
tenths, they said, were so diminished that no person would farm them.
Men of noble lineage could not bring their children to the city,
because they had no slaves to row their canoes; their daughters could
not appear at mass for want of fit clothing; many persons in _Belem_ had
no one to fetch them wood or water, and were perishing for want of
slaves to cultivate their land. In his reply, Vieyra observed that the
evils imputed to the want of slaves arose from other causes,--from the
nature of the country, from the scarcity of grain, and from the want of
combination amongst the people. As for slaves, he said, experience had
shown that however great was the supply, the mortality was in excess
thereof.
The discontented party received encouragement from _Don_ Pedro de Mallo,
the governor of _Maranham_, to whom they sent deputies with copies of
the correspondence. That functionary, being afraid of the people, had
secretly fomented their feeling against the Jesuits. He had, however,
been kept in restraint, as were the colonists, by the consideration that
Vieyra’s patron, the Bishop of _Japan_, possessed supreme influence with
the Queen-Regent. This restraining motive was removed by the news which
now arrived of the bishop’s death. Some letters, which had been written
by Vieyra to the bishop, had fallen into the hands of the mendicant
friars, who now gratified their jealousy of Vieyra by making them
public. Not being meant for publicity, they were in Vieyra’s usual
graphic style; and the picture which they exhibited of colonial morality
now raised a storm against him and his order. A tumult occurred. The mob
dragged the Jesuits from their cells, and compelled their superior to
resign his authority over the Indians into the hands of the Chamber. He
and his brethren were then forced on board ship, there to await the
arrival of the Jesuits from other quarters, prior to their all being
deported.
Vieyra was at this time on his way from _Belem_ to _Maranham_. On
hearing of the tumult, he returned to the former place, when he
addressed a memorial to the Chamber, requiring them to continue in
obedience to the laws, reminding them of the services which the Jesuits
had recently rendered to the State, and pointing out the evils which
would ensue were public faith broken with the Indians. His reasoning,
however, produced no effect. When the news of the insurrection at _St.
Luiz_ was made public, the people of _Belem_ arose and surrounded the
college. Vieyra himself was seized and insulted, and was imprisoned in
the chapel of St. John the Baptist, where he was supplied with food by
the devotion of an Indian woman. He was sent to _St. Luiz_, where he was
closely confined, his despatches to Lisbon being taken possession of.
The dwelling-house and church of the Jesuits were destroyed, and their
property sequestrated. Of the two vessels in which the Jesuits were
deported, one was seized by a privateer; the other, with Vieyra on
board, reached Lisbon in safety.
[Sidenote: 1662.]
The Queen-Regent received the news of the rising with indignation. A new
Governor was on the point of setting out for _Maranham_, who was
directed to restore, if possible, the authority which had been set
aside, without an appeal to force. Sequeira ably fulfilled his
instructions. He first exerted himself to re-establish municipal
government and to win the soldiers to his confidence. When he felt his
power sufficiently firm, he prohibited all persons from having Indians
of the villages in their service. He gradually influenced the minds of
the people in favour of the Jesuits, and at length he called a meeting
to take into consideration the question of their being restored. Strange
to say, a large majority voted in the affirmative; upon which Sequeira
gave orders to ring the bells and fire a salute; after which the
Governor proclaimed a general pardon.