No. 9.
Mr. Osborn
to Mr. Fish.
Buenos Ayres, March 1, 1875. (Received April 22.)
Sir: Yesterday, Sunday, February 28, the palace of the archbishop was sacked, and the magnificent Jesuit College San Salvador, of this city, was burned to the ground by a mob variously estimated at twenty to thirty thousand, incensed and exasperated against the order of Jesuits by a recent pastoral letter of the archbishop, and his demand on the provincial government to return to the Jesuits the property taken from them by Rosas.
To-day the national government declared this province to be in a state of siege for thirty days, and called out two regiments of guardia nationales; and, while rumors are afloat of the burning of churches, the destroying of property, and the killing of the Jesuit priests, yet all is now quiet, and I believe the government is master of the situation.
The order of the Jesuits has in the last past ten years been tolerated but not recognized by this government. The first settlement in this portion of South America was made by the Jesuits in 1557. They were expelled by Charles the Third, King of Spain, in 1767. General Rosas, dictator of the Argentine Confederation, recalled them in 1836, putting [Page 23] them in possession of St. Ignatius Church and the university, (originally built by the Jesuits;) but, upon their refusal to comply with his order to place the picture of himself, Rosas, on the altars of all their churches, he expelled them again, in 1842. In 1852, General Rosas was defeated by General Urquiza, leaving the affairs of the country in an unsettled state until 1802, when General Urquiza was defeated by General Mitre, who was elected President with the approval, seemingly, of all parties. In 1863, two batches of Jesuits made their appearance in the Rio de la Plata, one settling in Rosario, province of Santa Fe, the other in this city, and established two important colleges, without, however, demanding the recognition of the order by the government, which doubtless would have been refused. But they went to work quietly, and in the past ten years they have filled Buenos Ayres with converts and schools, having now under their control thirteen or fourteen establishments of great importance, and certainly monopolizing education to a very great extent.
It is generally believed that the present troubles are the results of the warm zeal of the archbishop in behalf of the Jesuits.
During the last session of congress, the archbishop, who is a member of the lower house, claimed, on behalf of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius church, the adjoining buildings of the National College, and the university. As soon as the fact became known, the press, echoing public sentiment, raised a clamor against it. The archbishop, in defense, published a pastoral letter, couched in harsh language, calling his opponents impious unbelievers and wicked.
Dr. Verala, a deputy to the provincial chambers, took up the matter and published an anti-pastoral, accusing the archbishop and deputy of double perjury as a dignitary of the church and as a representative of the people.
The next move was an indignation meeting against the archbishop and Jesuits, called by the “University Club” for the 21st ult., but was not realized on account of the police. Yesterday the meeting at the Variedades Theater, on the Plaza Victoria, was so immense that the police could not control it.
After speeches by the president of the National College and others, and issuing a protest, in the shape of an address to congress, against the claims of the archbishop and Jesuits, the cry was raised, “Down with the Jesuits;” “Free church and state;” “To the palace of the archbishop and Salvador College;” and the crowd rushed out of the , theater, being joined by thousands of people by the time it reached the palace and college. Eight are reported killed and many wounded, but it is hardly possible to obtain the facts.
I have, &c.,