Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 2 of 2

by Robert Grant Watson

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.

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.

CHAPTER VI.
BRAZIL; ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN SOUTH AMERICA.
1657-1696.

1657.

On the termination of the war which liberated Pernambuco, Barreto, who it will be remembered shared with Fernandes and Vidal the command of the Portuguese troops, was rewarded with the post of Governor-General of Brazil; and upon him fell the task of raising the proportion of the annual sum which, according to the treaty, was to be paid to the Dutch. The amount which was to be levied on Brazil for this purpose was 120,000 cruzados[4] yearly, for sixteen years, being nearly half of the whole contribution. For this purpose Barreto convoked the Senators, who replied that they would propose the matter to the Chamber, which body readily consented to the assessment. Of the amount to be raised, the province of Bahia took more than one-half upon itself.