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

Wherever Vidal had the power to do so he acted in the spirit as well as according to the letter of the King’s instructions; and under his protection Vieyra diligently pursued his schemes. The chief settlements of the “reduced” Indians were to the north of Maranham, where fifty villages were established along the coast. Vieyra’s desire was to form a line of stations in like manner towards the south, as far as Ceará, thus connecting the Jesuit stations of Maranham with those of Southern Brazil. He desired likewise to continue the same connecting system up the great rivers. With the latter object in view, two Jesuits, with a Portuguese surgeon and a hundred Indian boatmen, went for a distance of three hundred leagues up the river to the Tocantins. The Fathers were successful in persuading about a thousand persons to follow them on their return down to Belem, where they were received by Vidal and Vieyra. Many Indians were likewise brought from other quarters, and for some time the success of the missionary work, aided as it was by the strong arm of the civil authority, was all that could be desired.

1657.

But a period came to this prosperity. In the year 1657, Vidal was promoted to be Governor of Pernambuco. About the same time, Vieyra sustained a severe, and indeed an irreparable, loss by the death of the Prince of Brazil, which was soon followed by that of King Joam. He had still, however, a powerful and steady friend in the Bishop of Japan, who was the Queen’s confessor; and he was appointed Visitor and Superior in that part of America. The new Governor, Don Pedro de Mello, however, who succeeded Vidal, displayed a great falling-off from his predecessor. He lost no time in engaging in a serious war with the inhabitants of the islands at the mouth of the Amazons. He had brought out with him the news that Holland and Portugal were then at war; and it was apprehended that the Dutch might renew their operations in this quarter. The new Governor, therefore, was urged to attack the Indians with all his force before the Dutch could arrive to help them. Vieyra alone advised that conciliatory measures should at first be used; and he offered to undertake the task of negotiating. Being permitted to try what he could do, he wrote to the tribes, informing them that the new laws which he had gone to Portugal to procure had put an end to the wrongs and grievances of which they complained. He pledged his word that the old unjust system was prohibited, and said that he was ready either to receive them or to go amongst them. His messengers could give them full information of the actual state of things.

The messengers departed, fearing the worst, and telling Vieyra that should they not return by the next moon he might give them up as being dead or in slavery. The next moon came, and all had given them up for lost; but, to the surprise of every one, the messengers returned, bringing with them a party of Indians with seven chiefs. They said that they had come simply on the faith of the paper from the Great Father, who for their sakes had crossed the deep and obtained for them so many benefits. Vieyra would have returned with them to the island; but they preferred that they should first have an opportunity of making preparations for his reception, when they should come for him with a larger escort. They accordingly came at the date appointed, arriving in seventeen canoes. They found Vieyra so ill that he was then unable to accompany them; but he followed them as soon afterwards as his health permitted, taking with him another Father, the chiefs of all the “reduced” Indians, and only ten Portuguese.

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 cruzados4 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.

1660.

About this time Rio de Janeiro, together with the provinces to the south of that city, was separated, as was Maranham, from the general government, and was confided to Salvador Correa, who had recovered Angola from the Dutch. He was member of the distinguished family through whose means the French had been expelled from the city which is now the capital of Brazil. Correa was, from family associations, attached to the Jesuits, and thus became an object of dislike to the inhabitants of Santos and of St. Paulo, from which communities the Jesuit Fathers were expelled. Having exerted himself successfully in re-establishing them, his conduct was so strongly resented by the Paulistas that, when he had set out on an expedition in search of mines, an insurrection was raised during his absence.

Correa received whilst at Santos the news of the arbitrary proceedings of his enemies; whereupon he issued a proclamation, containing offers of pardon on the one hand, and threats of punishment on the other. He then proceeded to St. Paulo, where in a short time he so won the good-will of the people that he had soon sufficient force at his command to enable him to regain his government.

1665.

After a term of office of six years, Barreto was succeeded by the Count of Obedos, in whose time the Carmelites of Sta. Teresa came to establish themselves in Brazil, where, in the province of Bahia, they ere long erected one of the most sumptuous convents in the possession of their order. The term of office of the same Governor was likewise noted for the occurrence of a dreadful outbreak of small-pox along the coast, from Pernambuco to Rio de Janeiro, which gave occasion for the display of the most heroic devotion on the part of the members of the Church of Rome, amongst whom are especially mentioned the Brethren of the Misericordia. So dire was the mortality that there were not sufficient hands left for agriculture; and thus the pestilence was followed by famine.

It has been mentioned that Vidal, formerly the colleague of Joam Fernandes, had been promoted from the government of Maranham to that of Pernambuco; in which post, however, he had the disadvantage of not being independent, being under the orders of the Governor-General at Bahia. His straightforward, impartial conduct procured him many enemies, who were not unsuccessful in prejudicing the mind of Barreto against him. He was thus placed under arrest, but was subsequently permitted to retain his government until its expiry. The inhabitants of Pernambuco, however, had no reason to congratulate themselves upon the governor who was sent to replace him, and whose grasping disposition made him so intolerable that he was at length seized by stratagem and sent prisoner to Lisbon, where, on his arrival, he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment in a fortress in India.

1668.

1673.

The struggle with Spain was now terminated by a treaty which recognised the independence of Portugal; but Brazil, though having nothing to fear from external enemies, was troubled with foes from within its own borders, who attacked the interior settlements of Bahia and the islands. Whole families were cut off before succour could reach them; whilst many slaves were killed at their field-work. As a remedy, guards of troops were assigned to the outlying colonists; but, whilst the soldiers were often transfixed by arrows coming from invisible enemies, they for years never once had an opportunity of returning the injury. Such settlers as did not take refuge in the islands were compelled to convert their settlements into small forts. At length the death at the hands of the savages of Manoel Barbosa, who was in command of the garrison at Cayru, induced the governor of Bahia to complete the conquest of the country in the interior, a task which was confided to a body of Paulistas under Joam Amaro.

This war having been pronounced just and lawful, all prisoners taken in its course became slaves. The expedition under Amaro is said to have been composed of such a body of experienced man-hunters as, happily, no other locality in the world could supply, many of his men being trained Indians. They proceeded westward to the San Francisco river, turning then to the northward. The prisoners captured were sent to the capital in such numbers that their price fell to twenty cruzados each;5 but the greater number were so short-lived that they were considered dear even at that price. Amaro did his work thoroughly, exploring the country in all parts, and so clearing it of savages that they were not again heard of for many years. He was rewarded with the lordship of a town which he founded, and which took his name.

It was at this time that the fertile province of Piauhi first became known. Its discovery was due to the possessor of a grazing estate to the north of the San Francisco, called after Domingos Affonso. As the interior of Pernambuco is subject to droughts, this settler sent out his people to explore more desirable grazing regions inland. In Piauhi he found a territory abounding in the richest pasture, and not subject to a like visitation. Whilst exploring the interior, Affonso met with a party of Paulistas, who engaged with him in completing the conquest of the country, which was of so inviting a nature that it was soon covered with settlers.

16676.

The growing importance of Brazil was now shown by the elevation of Bahia to the rank of a Metropolitan See, which should comprise the three bishoprics of Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, and Maranham. A Franciscan convent was, in the following year, established at Bahia, a movement which did not fail to elicit the disapprobation of the thinking portion of the community; since it is evident that in a new country of such immense extent any institution calculated to diminish the spread of the ruling race was opposed to the first principles of political economy. An establishment of Italian Capuchin monks at Bahia likewise dates from this period.

1682.

The city of Bahia was in the year 1682 thrown into a violent state of commotion by the assassination of Francisco Telles de Menezes, the Alcaide Mar, who had used his position in so tyrannical a manner as to incur general odium. The assassin, Brito de Castro, who had to avenge an attempt upon his own life, took refuge in the Jesuits’ College. The governor, enraged at what had occurred, ordered the Secretary of State, Bernardo de Vieyra, brother to the celebrated missionary, to be thrown into prison. In vain his venerable relative pleaded for his release. The Jesuits’ College was, by the governor’s orders, surrounded by a cordon of soldiers; and so intolerable was the state of things that one of the chief inhabitants of Bahia was deputed to proceed to Portugal to make representations to the Crown, the result of which was that the Marquez Das Minas was sent out to supersede the aged governor. The Secretary of State was declared innocent, and his brother, who was now between seventy and eighty years of age, was appointed Visitor of the province.

1686.

Bahia was in this year visited by a fearful pestilence, of so virulent a nature that of two hundred persons attacked in one day only two recovered. It is remarked that the ravages of this disease were exclusively amongst the Portuguese, the natives escaping unharmed. It gave an opportunity for the display of much benevolence, one opulent widow, Donna Francisca de Saude, opening her house as a hospital when the Misericordia could no longer contain the sick, and providing for the patients at her own expense. All medicine having proved unavailing, recourse was had to the mediation of a saint, and to Francis Xavier is ascribed the staying of the plague.

To turn to the north:—The Jesuits had indeed been once more admitted to Maranham, but merely to the performance of their spiritual functions. The slave-party and the clergy who sided with them had influence enough to cause the Jesuits to be deprived of temporal authority over the Indians, whilst their spiritual management was to be divided amongst the different orders. Vieyra was expressly prohibited from residing in the province. Slave-hunting again ran riot, and was even carried on under the auspices of the governor, under the disguise of missionary expeditions. The Paulistas being at this time unable to pursue their attacks on the “Reductions” in Paraguay, in consequence of the latter being in a state of defence, turned their attention to the north, obliging the tribes upon the Tocantins to apply to Belem for protection. The officer sent for this purpose received from the Paulista leader a reply stating that, if any one should oppose him in his plans, he would meet with armed resistance, upon which the officer thought it better to return to Belem.

The proportions to which the slave-trade became developed, and the utter disregard which was paid to the restrictions on the subject, did not escape notice at Lisbon; and in the year 1680 some new edicts were promulgated on the subject. By one of these, governors were prohibited from engaging in trade, and from raising produce; nor were their servants to be permitted to do so. Another decree abolished Indian slavery, which experience had proved could not be modified or restricted by regulations, and the cruelties connected with which were so notorious. It was enacted that any person thenceforward transgressing this law should be sent home by the first vessel, thrown into prison, and proceeded against. The superintendence of the Aldeas, or Indian communities, should be again transferred to the Jesuits.

These laws, it is needless to say, were most unpopular. It was represented that the term of labour of the free Indians in the Aldeas, which was to be restricted to two months at a time, was so short as to be useless; and the Chamber of Belem sent a procurator to Lisbon to solicit an amendment of this law in particular, and to do his best to procure the repeal of the others. The Portuguese Ministry had granted to some merchants of Lisbon the exclusive privilege of trading with Maranham and Pará for a term of twenty years—a measure which was strongly resented by the inhabitants of Belem. Amongst the stipulations to which the contractors were bound was one requiring them to import five hundred negroes yearly; but during the first year no negroes were imported. Great discontent resulted both at Belem and at Maranham.

1684.

The Portuguese in Brazil, although they preferred to depute their labour to slaves, showed themselves eager to engage in the pursuits of trade—the governors of provinces, and even many of the clergy, embarking in such operations. It naturally followed that there was a great outcry against the monopoly which had been issued, all parties being interested in fanning the flame. The malcontents found a leader and exponent of their wrongs in one Manoel Beckman, a native of Lisbon, but of foreign extraction. The cry was against the monopoly and against the Jesuits, whose restoration had coincided with it in point of time. Beckman, inviting some kindred spirits to his Engenho, pointed out to them that, if they would obtain their rights, they must act in defiance of the Governor. A conspiracy was formed, of which Beckman was appointed chief, and he was aided by a friar who preached in the cathedral against the monopoly. The conspirators soon numbered sixty, and the people were summoned to a secret meeting within the premises of the Franciscan convent at S. Luiz. They were harangued by Beckman, who pointed out that two things were necessary for the good of the State—namely, the abolition of the monopoly and the expulsion of the Jesuits, and he added, that if those present would consult their own safety, not to mention their interests, they would carry out those measures forthwith.

One of the leading conspirators drew his sword and convinced his audience that their only safety was to proceed in their enterprise. The assembly accordingly hastened to the town, where some murders and other outrages were naturally committed, the authorities being unable to stem the torrent of violence. The Capitam Mor was told to consider himself a prisoner in his house; whilst the soldiers submitted themselves to the orders of Beckman, who thereupon convoked a junta of the three estates, namely, clergy, nobles, and people. Resolutions were passed deposing the Governor and the Capitam Mor, abolishing the monopoly, and expelling the Jesuits. The Chamber ratified the resolutions which had been taken. The late authorities having been confined, Beckman now notified to the Jesuits their banishment from the State, and that until means for transporting them were provided they must remain prisoners in their college. The multitude, under their self-constituted leader, next proceeded to the cathedral, where Te Deum was performed in honour of their exploits.

Three persons were appointed to administer the government, pending a reference to Lisbon. The next step was to despatch agents to Belem, to invite the people of that place to join the insurrectionary movement; but the only person who could be induced to accept this service was a friar. He was received at Belem in a manner which fully justified the reluctance of his colleagues to accompany him. The Chamber carried his papers to the governor, offering their service to inflict chastisement upon the rebels. Francisco de Sa was at a loss how to act, not knowing how far he might depend upon his own people, and yet feeling it incumbent upon him to take some measures for suppressing the insurrection. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Belem sent a reply to the insurrectionary leaders, exhorting them to submission. Beckman, however, showed no inclination to recede from the position he had taken; and Palm Sunday was distinguished by the expulsion of the Jesuits from their college; each of them, bearing the emblem of the festival, embarked under a guard in two vessels. One of the two reached Pernambuco; the other fell into the hands of pirates.