incessantly taught the natives religion in its true spirit, as well as the mode of earning an honest living. Among the most notable instances, in support of this last assertion, are those of Nayarit, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Lower California, where their efforts in the conversion of the natives were marked by perseverance and disinterestedness, united with love for humanity and progress.[1] Had the Jesuits been left alone, it is doubtful whether the Spanish American provinces had revolted so soon, for they were devoted servants of the crown, and had great influence with all classes—too great to suit royalty, but such as after all might have saved royalty in this quarter.
Never was the king's absolute power made so manifest as upon this occasion, when he determined to crush at one blow the most powerful association in his dominions. The conde de Aranda, clothed with royal authority,[2] on the 20th of March circulated his orders, which contained minute instructions prepared by Campomanes, the fiscal of the royal council. Everything had been foreseen, time and distances calculated, so that the society should be stricken without fail at one and the same moment, on the night between the 2d and 3d of April. A later order of March 28th hastened the execution by two days in Madrid and neighboring places, and it was carried out on the night of the 31st of March. When the inhabitants awoke the next morning they learned with astonishment that the Jesuits were already several leagues
- ↑ Two distinguished officers of rank in the Spanish royal navy, Jorge Juan and Antonio Ulloa, in a secret report to the crown upon affairs of South America, equally applicable to Mexico, had nothing but words of commendation of the Jesuits and their work. Juan and Ulloa, Not. Secretas, in Quart. Rev., XXXV. 333-4. Azara, an adversary of the Jesuits, admits that they used their supreme authority over the missions with admirable moderation and mildness. Magarinos Cervantes, a liberal and judicious Spaniard, says that under Jesuit influence the administration of missions rose to the highest grade of prosperity, and as soon as it fell into other hands they were ruined. Art. Ducrue, in Dice. Univ. Hist. Geog., ix. 240-1. Such statements are borne out by those of many other writers; Brigadier Diego Albear, Gonzalo de Dobás, lieutenant-governor of Buenos Ayres, the traveller Pagés, who were eye-witnesses, Robertson, Raynal, Chateaubriand, Humboldt, etc.
- ↑ Beleña, Recop., ii. 387-8.
