THE PAMPAS.
The Gaucho is as hospitable as the Arab of the desert, and, like him, has the sense of humour and the frank, bold courtesy which is generally found in the desert-ranger. The modesty of his dwelling—a mud hut with a few boards for furniture—contrasts with the bravery of his equipment, for besides wearing gay colours he favours silver stirrups and as much of the precious metal as he can obtain for the adornment of his bridle, and though he seldom employs money, he always is able to satisfy his simple wants. It is inevitable that as settlements extend the Gauchos will dwindle, but it would be sad if they disappeared from the Pampas altogether. The greater part of Argentina has been won from the Indians by their efforts; they have borne the burden and heat of the day in making the nation, and they will still be the mainstay of their country when she encounters trouble. The luxuries of town life are already too attractive to the young Argentine, and the Gaucho gives a valuable example of the simple and strenuous life.
CHAPTER XIV
RELIGION—EDUCATION—JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE
Very few writers upon Argentina refer to the subject of religion at all, and those who do give very scanty information. There are in existence several good-sized works which make not the faintest allusion to the Church. And yet one would have thought that the subject possessed some general importance, or, at any rate, that in a daughter State of Spain and one of the great fields of Jesuit labour there was room for a few remarks upon the relations of the Church to the State and people, and also upon the general religious and moral conditions of Argentina.
The Spanish conquerors of South America were zealous crusaders, as eager to add subjects to the Kingdom of Christ as to add territory to the estates of their earthly sovereign. During the process of conquest they displayed few Christian virtues, but in the Plate districts, where they were not demoralised by lust of gold, their proceedings were relatively good, and, in general, when Spanish America was settled, the masters were anxious to do their duty by their servants according to their lights and if they were negligent in attending to the religious and material welfare of the Indians, their negligence was speedily rebuked by the home authorities. One of the conditions of holding land was an undertaking to educate the Indians and teach them Christianity. The wise and good Las Casas laid down on the subject of the conversion and treatment of the Indians Thirty Propositions,[82] two of which may be given in substance: "The means for establishing the Faith in the Indies should be the same as those by which Christ introduced His religion into the world—mild, peaceable, and charitable; humility; good examples of a holy and regular way of living, especially over such docile and easy subjects; and presents bestowed to win them. Attempts by force of arms are impious, like those of Mahometans, Romans, Turks, and Moors; they are tyrannical, and unworthy of Christians, calling out blasphemies; and they have already made the Indians believe that our God is the most unmerciful and cruel of all gods."
The rough Spanish soldiers of fortune, as might have been expected, recked little of such principles, and some of the priests were little better than their flock, for Father Valverde is said to have instigated Pizarro to the treacherous and cruel arrest of Atahuallpa. But the principles adopted both by spiritual and temporal powers were those of justice and mercy, as far as the circumstances permitted, and thus there was implanted in the new settlements something of the crusading spirit which was engendered in Spain by the struggle with the Moors. The pioneer in forest or plain was not merely amassing land and wealth for himself; there was a spiritual harvest, and as he received new lands, he had new duties in religious administration and protection. Thus the Spanish religious fervour was nourished in the overseas dominions.
The religious spirit was handed down unimpaired from father to son until the time of the Revolution. The question as to whether the power of the Church was beneficial or not is a matter of controversy, and travellers have uttered the most various opinions, but few candid men will deny that the Jesuits performed a noble task which could have been carried out by no other human power, and the disparaging remarks which are found in many notebooks are usually due to the cant of irreligion that was common among the Englishmen of the time between the French Revolution and the Oxford Movement. On a subject which does not interest them they say, without having troubled to make inquiries, what they would say about any Roman Catholic country or what some freethinking acquaintance in Buenos Aires has told them.
With the Revolution came a great shock to the faith of the people, and the same principles that undermined their faith undermined their loyalty. The philosophers of France ever urged that the Church must be overthrown before there could be any progress, and the priests ever fought against their doctrines as destructive to all religion. Consequently the male population of Buenos Aires formed habits of mind[83] which they have by no means entirely shaken off at the present day. Apathy towards religion or even absolute hostility is by no means uncommon, and perhaps in well-to-do houses it is generally true that the women go to church and the men stay away. And yet it would not be true to describe the nation as irreligious on the whole. Materialism has, no doubt, to some extent corrupted the upper classes; they devote themselves to business and pleasure and ignore the things of the spirit. But the churches are crowded with men as well as women, and it is certain that the poor love the Church and doubtless find the priests their best friends. Cordoba and Mendoza are looked upon as the cities where the Church is strongest, but its general hold upon the masses is possibly almost as strong as ever. Intellectually it is weak; few of the better-class Argentines will take priests' orders, and nearly all the prelates are foreigners. Beyond a doubt, in Spanish America there is an unexampled field for a devout missionary; the foe is merely apathy, and if a warmer spirit were breathed into the Church in Argentina, and if the clergy paid more attention to the intellectual side of their calling, the results would be remarkable. But if the religious indifference spreads downwards, Argentina, like France, may see her population dwindle, and her army decay, and may be prevented from taking a high position among world Powers.
Statistically, there can be no doubt that Argentina belongs unreservedly to Rome; only the merest fraction, perhaps forty thousand, of the population is outside that Church. In 1895 there were sixty-eight Reformed Churches, but of these twenty-five belonged to the Welsh colonists at Chubut. There were 1,019 Roman Catholic churches, or one to every four thousand inhabitants. The prevailing religion is also the State religion, but all others are tolerated. There is an archbishop at Buenos Aires and eight suffragan bishops, including one for Paraguay.