224 MONTANEZ VICEROY JESUITS IN CALIFORNIA. 



ritual which was sent from the Spanish court, and, whilst the 

 people were thinking of the festivities which were to signalize 

 Philip's accession to the throne, the Conde de Montezuma returned 

 to Spain after four years of uneventful rule. 



Don Juan de Ortega Montanez, 

 Archbishop of Mexico, 

 His Second Viceroyalty. 

 XXXIII. Viceroy of Mexico. 

 1701 — 1702. 



The brief period during which the archiepiscopal viceroy exer- 

 cised his functions in Mexico for the second time, is chiefly, and 

 perhaps, only, memorable, for the additional efforts made by the 

 worthy Jesuits in California to subdue and settle that distant 

 province. The colonists and clergymen who had already gone 

 thither complained incessantly of their sufferings in consequence of 

 the sterility of the coasts. But Salvatierra remained firm in his 

 resolution to spread the power of Spain and of his church among 

 the wild tribes at the feet of the western sierra along the Pacific 

 coast. His labors and those of his diligent coadjutors were slow 

 but incessant. Trusting confidently in Providence, they maintained 

 their post at the Presidio of Loreto, and gathered around them, by 

 their persuasive eloquence and gentle demeanor, large numbers of 

 natives, until the success of their teachings threatened them with 

 starvation in consequence of the abundance of their converts, all of 

 whom relied upon the fathers for maintenance as soon as they 

 abandoned their savage life. Yet there was no other means of 

 attaching the Indians to the Spanish government. The authorities 

 in Mexico had refused and continued obstinate in their denial of 

 men or money to conquer or hold the country ; so that, after 

 various efforts to obtain the aid of the government, the pious 

 mendicants resolved to return again to their remote missions with 

 no other reliance than honest zeal and the support of God. At 

 this juncture Philip V., and a number of influential people in the 

 capital, volunteered to aid the cause of Christianity and Spain, by 

 supplies which would ensure the final success of the Jesuits. 



