In these places the buildings that
had been devoted to the objects of the Order were ransacked, and,
unfortunately, many valuable collections of books and similar objects
were destroyed.
The authorities regarded with more hesitation the carrying out of the
orders from Spain in the province of Paraguay. Many tens of thousands
of Indians formed part of the Jesuit settlements, and the influence of
the Company was supreme throughout all the territories which now
constitute North-West Uruguay, South-East Paraguay, and South-West
Brazil.
Don Francisco de Paula Bucareli y Ursua, the Governor of Buenos Aires,
marched north in order to effect the eviction. Bucareli's few companies
of troops would, of course, in actual warfare have stood no chance
whatever against the numerous Indian regiments which the Jesuit missions
now possessed. Bucareli relied on his gifts of tact and diplomacy, of
which he gave no small evidence during the negotiations which ensued. As
it turned out, the employment of neither of these qualities, nor of the
troops which he brought with him, proved necessary, for the Jesuits
expressed themselves ready and willing to comply with the order, and,
having obeyed it, they were escorted to Buenos Aires.
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