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.
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.
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.
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.
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. |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[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.