Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/776

 REDUCTIONS

696

REDUCTIONS

Bouls in order and discipline, surely speaks very stronglj' in favour of the system and proves the un- truth of the accusation of Jesuit despotism.

J. The Care of the Sick was well organized in all the Reductions {Peramas, loc. cit., 110; Cardiel, 248). In eacli village there were four to eight nurses, well- instructed in the use of medicines, and devoted abso- lutely to their profession; they were called curuzuya, or cros.s-bearers, from the shape of their staffs which terminated in a cross at the top. They made a round of the village each day, and were obliged to give the Fathers an exact report of the condition of the sick, so that, as a consequence scarcely an Indian died without the last sacraments. The remedies prin- cipally used were the indigenous medicinal herbs. In addition, each "college" had a pharmacy. Some Fathers and IVothers who possessed a knowledge of nu'dii-ine compiled special medicinal haiulbooks fur use in the Kecluctions. Several German Fathers and a few lay-brothers, the latter having been apothecaries before entering the order, deserved particularly well of the Reductions in this respect; pre-eminent in this regard was the Tyrolese Father Sigismund Aperger (Huonder, "Die deutschen Jesuiten-missionare", p. SO). Usually a healthy race, the GuaranI showed absolutely no power of resistance to certain contagious diseases, such as measles and smallpox. Repeated se\ ere epidemics of these diseases, such as occurred in lOlS, 1019, lOar), 1636, 1692, 171S, 1733, 1739, and 1764, decimated the population of the Retluctions in a frightful manner. Thus in the one year 1735 nu'aslcs brought ileath to IS, 773 persons, and in 1737 sinallpiix chiiined more tlian 3,0l) victims. In 1733 12,933 cluldri'M died of smallpox. Were it not for these epidemics, the ])oi)ulation of the Guarani missions would have been twice or three times as large (Feranuus, loc. cit .). These epidemics demanded heroic elTorts on the part of the Fathers.

K. Riliilionx between the Reduclions and the Spanish Govcrniiicnl. — Nothing can be more absurd than the myth of the "independent Jesuit State of Paraguay", mendaciously const ructed l>y Ibanez and other writers. The entire foundation and development of the Re- ductions took place with the consent of the Spanish kings and on the strength of the royal decrees and privileges, which were siunmarized, confirmed and en- larged in till' famous decree of Philip V of 28 Dec, 1743 (Charlevoix, loc. cit., VI, 331). As late as 1774 the Uieronymite P. Cevallos could truly maintain that all that the Jesuits had done in Paraguay "era todo probado por reales cedulas 6 procedia de ordenes exprcfsjis" (Cunninghame Graham, loc. cit., 192). The territory covered by the Reductions was under the direct jinisdiction of the crown, in such a manner, howexcr, that ])art of the sovereign rights were exer- cised by the governor in the name of the king (from 1736 onwards all the Reductions were under the authority of the Governor of Buenos Aires), All royal commands and decrees were announced and executed in the Reductions also, imless the latter were expressly excepted. The governors confirmed the new officials in the Reductions after the animal elei'tions, as also the newly appointed aims belonging to the Society of Jesus; they made regular oll'icial visits to the Reductions, and sent reports to the king regarding their visitations. The Ri»ductions were ready for war at the call of the governors, and the latter eovild always depend absolutely upon their loyalty, a fact which they acknowledged frequently and in glowing terms in their reports to the king (Charlevoix, loc. cit., and "Pi^ces justificatives"). Further, the Reductions paid the taxes impo.sed and tithes laid upon them, faitlifully and punctually, and moulded their conduct in accordance with all the laws of the Spanish crown, inasmuch as the\' were not sus- pended or modifieil in their application to that ter- ritory by special royal privileges (Deer. Phil. \.,

art. 5, in Charlevoix, loc. cit.). Controversies with the governors arising in consequence of unjust encroach- ment were always adjusted through the royal audiencia in Charcas, bj' roj'al inspectors or by investigating committees, especially named and appointed by the king himself.

Loyalty to the king and enthusiasm for his cause and person were instilled deeply by the fathers in the hearts of the Reduction Indians, Philip V himself declaring in his famous decree of 28 Dec., 1743 (Char- levoix, loc. cit., 379) that in his entire colonial posses- sions in America he had no more faithful subjects. On all patronal feasts the royal standard was borne to the church with great ceremony, and the nlferez real, who carried it, received with regal honours at the church door. Thcreuiion the banner was planted on the plaza, with a picture of the king, and the entire militia with their officers renewed their oath of homage before it in a solemn manner amid shouts of: " MbuTu bicha guazu: tot cobcngatu nande Rey marangaiu: loi cnbengalu nande Rey N." (Long live our King, the great Cacique! Long live our good King; long live our King N.). The Reduction In- dians took pride in calling themselves "Soldiers of the King" (Cardiel, loc. cit., 239). How they risked and sacrificed life and property on many occasions, under the leadership of the Fathers, for the cause of the crown, has been told already. The loyalty of these Indians to the king is characterized by their conduct during the time of the Anteciuera disorders, and the so-called Comuncros revolt, that troublesome period (1721-173.5) which comprised the first attempt, on a large scale, of the colony to secede from Spain. The usurper Antequera as well as llie Cnniiineros vented their rage first and alio\c all on the Jesuits and the Reduction Indians, who proved themselves the strong- est bulwark of the Spanisli rule (Lozaiio, "Ilistoria de las Revol. de la Prov. del Paraguay", 1721-35, 2 vols., Buenos Aires, 1905). Their destruction waa consequently soon followed by the revolution and secession from Spain.

L. Exclusion of the Spaniards from the Territory of the Reductions. — The isolation of the Indians and the exclusion of the Spaniards from the territory of the Reductions, prompted by reasons of princiijle and strictly enforced, have given the opponents of the Jesuits ample material for sinister insinuations. These measures, however, were sanctioned by royal decrees and were necessary for the attainment of the purpose of the mission. "Nothing can justify this procedure better," writes Ulloa (loc. cit., I, 550), "than the sad example of the decline of the doctrinas in Peru." It is surely a significant fact that even Governor Bucareli after the exjiulsion of the Jesuits strongly urged the continuance of this system of isolation in the interest of the Indians in his instructions to his successor, written in 1768 (Brabo, loc. cit., 320). Moreover, ofhcials of the crown always had free access to the Reductions, and where no danger was to be feared, friendly relations were maintained with the neigh- bouring Spanish colonists, and the latter were fre- ciuently invited to festivities, asked to act as sponsors in baptism etc. Further, the villages nearest to AsiHuiiin: Santa Maria, San Ignacio Guazu, Santa Rosa, Santiago, San Cosme, and Itapua were at the king's request opened on certain days of each month to Spanish merchants for the purpose of selling their gooils, A number of trustworthy Spaniards in the service of the missions li\ed in the Reductions, and each Reduction had a sejiarate lodging-house for travelling strangers (Cardiel, 213; Peramsis, 93).

M. Relations of the Reductions to Ecclesiastical Au- thorities. — A portion of the Guarani Reductions was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Asunci6n (erected 1.547'), another under the authority of the Bishop of Buenos Aires (1.582), while the Reductions of the Chiquitos belonged to the Diocese of Santa