The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-04-21
SOUTH AMERICAN HISTORY

pOSG VI ScCulluo SOOu llVlHSs ant
on the other, that English aggression
very often disturbed clerical pursuits
What We Should Know.
We should know that during the
first part of the eighteenth century
the time dealt with by the 'Noticias,
the accession of the BoUrbons to the
Spanish throne gave England a new
chance for open war with Spain; that
after the treaty of Utrecht, in 171c
England secured from Spain the asi
ento giving her the exclusive right tC
The slave trade with the Spanish col
Onies; that the presence of slave ships
gave rise to contraban trade
which imperilled Spain's commercial
monopoly; that English pirates preyed
on Spanish trade with the colonies
and rendered communication with
Europe more difficult: that the clergy
of Peru were in 1909 drafted into
the army for the unclerical occupa-
tion of checking piracy; that several
times during this period political
necessities made the Bishops and
Archbishops of Peru assume the vice
regal office, to the detriment Of their
purely spiritual functions.
We should know that the first ac-
curate map of the Amazon was pub
lished at this time by the indefatiga-
BILE Bohemian Jesuit, Padre Fritz;
that earnest zeal for learning had just
secured the University Of Caracas; !;
that if the University Of Lima had
suffered a temporary decline, the Jes.
uit Colleges had more than made up
for the dimming of it's prestige-and
this at the very time 1740) when
George Whitefelds journal" said,
in comparing Harvard College with
oxford and Cambridge: ''lt is not
far superior to our universities in
piety and true godliness. Tutors neg
lect to pray with and examine the
hearts OF thefT 7T Us Discipline is
at low ebb oks are becom-
ing fashionable among them"
We should know that there is no
more glowing tribute to the high char
acter OF the Jesuits and their work
anywhere than is contained in the
"Noticias Secretas" in the very chap
ter (part ch. viii) which denounces
clerical abuses most vehemently;
that their missions at this time
among the Maynas were doing as sig
nal a service as were their better
known reductions of Paraguay; that
if these latter were suffering it was
not from lack Of zeal, but from the
treacherous onslaughts of the usurper
Antequara 1720-3D, who was deter.
mined to wreck the reductions and
have the Jesuits expelled. We
should know that the sacrilegious
theft of a ciborium from a Church in
Lima (January 171D caused intense
indignation ''in this period of increas
ing religious DEVOTION" as it is called
by a modern writer, who, neglecting
his science Of chronology, in another
chapter describes religion at its very
lowest ebb at this very time. If the
Gospels related nothing but the
treason of Judas, we would hardly be
expected to have a high opinion OF
the College of Apostles.
Need Reliable History in English.
These are a few random facts anC
not at all the most striking which {
study of South American history re
veals There is no lack of materia
for that study. There are hundreds
even thousands, of books accessible
to students here in the United State!
who wish to learn the truth abou
South America. Spain has been gen
erous, just and intelligent, in her pres
ervation and publication Of these
sources, and many of the South Amer
lean countries have ably seconded
| her efforts to arrive at a true histor.
| of South America We owe it to tn,
cause of truth to weave these mate
rials into history, in English of thu
| Church in South America, and stud
| of it should be a feature of the his
tory work in our Catholic colleges
For colonial South America, sue
studies should treat Of the eccles
astical system; the Royal Patronage
A.! the erection of Sees; the appoint
ment of prelates; the parishes an
pastors; the sources and amount c
revenues; the missionaries and thei
activities; the monasteries; the litel
ary and scientific work of the friars
the hospitals, asylums and othe
works of charity; the development {
printing and other useful arts; tn
means of education-universi co
leges and primary schools; the rel;
ton of the Church to the various sy
tens of Indian serfdom; the Inquis
tion. Under the Republics, the hi
tory Of the Church presents ne
set Of problems and requires
separate study.