Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/459

Rh for that purpose. At the very moment of such arrest you will cause to be sealed the records of said houses, and the papers of such persons, without allowing them to remove anything but their prayer-books, and such garments as are absolutely necessary for the journey. If after the embarkation there should be found in that district a single Jesuit, even if ill or dying, you shall suffer the penalty of death. Yo el Rey," these last words being the sovereign's autograph signature, and meaning I, the king.

Pursuant to this command the viceroy gave his orders; and on the 25t “ of June, a little before daybreak, the Jesuits were arrested in their residences, and their papers and effects seized. In the casa profesa the notification was made by José Areche, fiscal of the audiencia, to the father praepositus, the provincial, Salvador Gándara, being then absent in Querétaro, and the other members, all of whom humbly submitted, knelt down, and prayed.