The missions of the Jesuits form an important part of the history of their society. The first attempts by Xavier were premature. He had more zeal than information, and the accounta of his numerous conver sions ought to be received with caution. The arms of the Portuguese effected more conversions by force in India than Xavier'a persuasion, who himself confesses that he could not understand nor be understood by the natives, though he could baptize them. Iu Japan, where he went unprotected by a Portuguese force, he failed; but he served as a pioneer to prepare the way for others better qualified for the task, and the Jesuits formed in time numerous Christian congregations in Japan. The history of the Japanese Christians, and their extermina tion in 1637, is found in Bartoli, 'Historia della Compagnia di Geau,' '11 Giappone, aeconda parte dell' Asia; and it forms a narrative of considerable interest, written apparently with great simplicity. The author does not disguise tho faults committed by the Christians, which contributed to their ruin.
In China the Jesuits were likewise successful, and their establish ment there has been more durable. Barton, in another part of the same work, La Cina, terza parts dell' Asia,' gives an account of their settlement in that empire, and of their progress; and further informa tion is found in the Lettres Ediflantes et Curicuses.' [Harm, Du.] Between the years 1581 and 1681, one hundred and twenty-six Euro pean Jesuits were employed In the missions of China, many of them I men of intelligence, to whom Europe is indebted for the first authentic information respecting the internal condition of that vast empire.
The generals of the society chose men acquainted with mathematical and mechanical sciences, which they knew were in request at Pekin, and thus they obtained a footing and an influence at the emperor's court which no other Europeans have ever acquired. Although perse cutions burst out against the Christians of China, yet the Jesuits never entirely lost their hold there. and their house at Pekin has continued to exist till our own times. [Amiens Josarn.) From India Jesuit missionaries found their way into Abyssioia, where Portuguese travellers had penetrated many years before [Atve nes], but the Jesuits went farther into the country, especially in its southern parts, than any other Europeans, either before or after them. Pees and Lobo visited the sources of tho Bahr-el-Aerek, or Abysainian Nile, and Father Fernandez proceeded as far as Narea, about 8° N. lat. [Tessess.) In Paraguay the Jesuits had an open field for the display of their abilities and principles. Their missionaries went to South America after the country bad been devastated by the Spanish conquerors, who hunted the Indians like wild beasts. The Jesuits judged that the poor
natives might be converted by milder means, and be made Christians and happy at the same time. They obtained from the court of Spain a declaration that all their Indian proselyte. should be considered free men, and that the Jesuita should have the government of the communities of converts which they should form in the interior of the country. And the Jesuits did form a flourishing community of Indian converts on the banks of the Paraguay and the Parana, who are said to have amounted to between one and two hundred thousand, and they governed them for a century and a half, keepiug them in the condition of docile but contented pupils, directing their labours, and instructing them in the useful arts, but not in the refinements or luxuries of Europe. There were no taxes or lawsuits in Paraguay ; each able-bodied man had a moderate task to perform, and the produce of their common labour provided for the wants of all. Writers of very different opinions, Rayne], Montesquieu, Robertson, Muratori, Southey, and others, has-c done justice to the paternal administration of the Jesuits in Paraguay. In 1750, Spain, by a treaty with Portugal, gave up seven districts of Paraguay to the latter power, iu exchange for a territory which the Portuguese bad occupied on the left bank of the river La Plata, and the Spanish government ordered the Jesuits and their Indian pupils to abandon their homes and remove to some other part of the Spanish territories. The fathers in vain remonstrated against the injustice and cruelty of expelling men from the fields which they had by their labour reclaimed from the wilderness; the harsh mandate was repeated, and the Jesuits were prepared to obey. But the native, refused to submit, and resisted the Portuguepe and Spanish forces which were Beet against them, and although a subsequent change iu the diplomatic relations of the two countries left the Indians in possession of their country, yet the Jesuits were falsely accused of having encouraged what was styled the rebellion. The Spanish govern ment, after mature investigation, acquitted them, but it was otherwise with the Portuguese. An attempt by some noblemen to murder the king, Joseph of Portugal, was charged upon the Jesuits, because Father Malagrida, one of the society, was the confessor of some of the guilty. As proof however could not be obtained against him, Father Mslagrida was accueed of heresy, on account of some ascetic visionary works which be had published, was condemned by the Inquisition, and executed ; and in September 1759 the minister Porabal, in the king's name, gave an order for the expulsion of the society from the Portuguese territories and for the confiscation of their property.