538 SPANISH AMERICA. 



of the most savage nations, fixed the most rambling, and subdued 

 those to their government who had long disdained to submit to the 

 arms of the Spaniards and Portuguese. They prevailed upon thou- 

 sands of various dispersed tribes to embrace their religion ; and these 

 soon induced others to follow their example, magnifying the peace 

 and tranquillity they enjoyed under the direction of the fathers. 



Our limits do not permit us to trace, with precision, all the steps 

 which were taken in the accomplishment of so extraordinary a con- 

 quest over the bodies and mincls of so many people. The Jesuits 

 left nothing undone that could confirm their subjection or increase 

 their numbers ; and it is said, that above 340,000 families were sub- 

 ject to them ; living in obedience, and an awe bordering upon adora- 

 tion, yet procured without any violence or constraint ; that the Indians 

 were instructed in the military art with the most exact discipline, 

 and could raise 60,000 men well armed; that they lived in towns;. 

 they were regularly clad ; they laboured in agriculture ; they exer- 

 cised manufactures ; some even aspired to the elegant arts ; and that 

 nothing could equal the obedience of the people of these missions, 

 except their contentment under it. Some writers have treated the 

 character of these Jesuits with great severity, accusing them of 

 ambition, pride, and of carrying their authority to such an excess, 

 as to cause not only persons of both sexes, but even the magistrates, 

 who were always chosen from among the Indians, to be corrected 

 before them with stripes, and to suffer persons of the highest distinc- 

 tion within their jurisdiction, to kiss the hem of their garments, as 

 the greatest honour, The priests themselves possessed large pro- 

 perty ; all manufactures were theirs ; the natural produce of the 

 country was brought to them ; and the treasures, annually remitted to 

 the superior of the order, seemed to evince that zeal for religion was 

 not the only motive of their forming these missions. The fathers 

 would not permit any of the inhabitants of Peru, whether Spaniards, 

 Mestizos, or even Indians, to come within their missions in Paraguay. 

 In the year 1757, when part of the territory was ceded by Spain to 

 the court of Portugal, in exchange for Santo Sacramento, to make 

 the Oragua the boundary of their possessions, the Jesuits refused to 

 comply with this division, or to suffer themselves to be transferred 

 from one hand to another, like cattle, without their own consent, and 

 the Indians actually took up arms ; but, notwithstanding the exact- 

 ness of their discipline, they were easily, and with considerable 

 slaughter, defeated by the European troops who were sent to quell 

 them. In 1767, the Jesuits were sent out of America by royal au- 

 thority, and their late subjects were put upon the same footing with 

 the rest of the inhabitants of the country. 



