PAR£TONinM
470
PARAGUAY
1788); this work is both an encyclopedia of physics
and a philosophy of the sciences; "Principes du cal-
cul" (1st ed., I'aris, 1773; 2nd ed., 1783); "Thferie
des nouvolles d(5couvertes en physique et en chimie";
"Th^orie des etrcs insensibles" (3 vols., Paris, 1779).
Para's eclecticism is not always too happy. He sides
with Clarke in the hitter's discussion with Leibniz as
to the nature of absolute space. He keeps too close to
Condillac's theory of the origin of ideas, and is deeply
influenced by ilalcliranrhe's occasionalism. His
works, " Les principes de la sainc philosophic concilia
avec ceux de la philosophic, ou la philosophic de la re-
ligion", and "Tableau historique et philosophique de
la religion", proved very useful to the apologists of
the succeeding generation. The general treatment is
marked by ingenuity in answering objections and the
judicious use of his erudition.
SoMMERVOQEL, Bibl. de la C. de J., VI, 192; Qu^rard, La France litUraire; Rochas, Biographie du Dauphin^, II, 213; Ch^rias. Aper^u sur les illuslTations gapensaises (1849); Feller, Jounml (1780), 507-23.
P. SCHETJER.
Paxaetonium, a titular see of Lybia Secunda or In- ferior (i. e. Marmarica), suffragan of Darnis. This city, which some claim should be called Ammonia, owed its celebrity to its port, whence Alexander visited the oracle of Amun (Ammon). Mark Antony stopped there before Actium. Justinian fortified it to protect Egypt on the west. It has since disappeared and the port is partially covered with sand; the site, long called by the Arabs, Baretoun, to-day bears the name Mirsa Berek, in the vilayet of Benghazi (Tripol- itana) . Mention is made of three bishops : Titus, pres- ent at the Council of Nicaea, 32.5; Siras, an Arian; and his successor Gains, who assisted at the Council of Alexandria, 362 (Le Quien, "Oriens christ." II, 631).
Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geog., a. v. ; Pacho, Voy- age dans la Marmarique (Paris, 1829), 28.
S. P^TRinfes.
Paraguay, one of the inland republics of South America, separated from Spain and constituted as an independent state in 1811.
Etymology. — Historians disagree as to the true ori- gin of the word "Paraguay", one of the most com- mon versions being that it is a corruption of the term "Payagua", the name of an Indian tribe, and"i", the Guarani for water or river, thus "Paragua-i", or "river of the Payaguas". Another version, which is accepted as more correct, is that which construes the word as meaning "crowned river", from "Para- gua" (palm-crown) and "i" (water or river).
Geography. — The Republic of Paraguay, with an area of about 196,000 square miles, occupies the cen- tral part of South America, bounded by Brazil to the north and east, by the Argentine Republic to the south-east and south-west, and by Bolivia to the west and north-west. It lies between 22° 4' and 27° 30' S. lat., and 54° 32' and 61° 20' W. long. The Paraguay River divides its territory into two great regions, viz.: the Oriental, which is Paraguay proper, and the Occi- dental, commonly known as the Chaco.
Population. — 'The population of Paraguay is com- posed of Indians, white Europeans, a very small num- ber of negroes, and the offspring of the mixture of the various races, among whom the Spanish-Indian pre- dominates. According to the last census (1908) the total number of inhabitants is 805,000, of which nearly 700,000 are Catholics. Most of the Indian tribes which are still uncivilized are scattered throughout the immense territory of the Chaco, the principal ones being the Guaranls, the Payaguas, and the Agaces.
Languages. — The official and predominating lan- guage is Spanish, and of the Indian dialects the one most in use is Guarani.
History. — Originally, Paraguay comprised the en- tire basin of the River Plate, and it was discovered in 1525 by Sebastian Cabot during his explorations along
the Upper Parand and Paraguay Rivers. He was
followed by Juan de Ayolas and Domingo Martinez
de Irala (1536-38). It was during the hrst adminis-
tration of the latter (1538-42) that Christianity was
first preached, by the Franciscan Fathers, who, as in
almost every instance, were the priests accompanying
the first conquerors. In 1542 Irala was superseded
by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, famous for his ex-
plorations in North America, who had been appointed
governor of the River Plate, and received among other
instructions from the king that of "propagating the
Christian religion with the greatest zeal". This task
was, however, beset with many difficulties. In the
first place the priests, although picked and of high
moral character, were few in number; then they had
to preach through interpreters; and worst of all,
the cruel treatment of the Indians by the soldiers
was itself sufficient to engender in the hearts of the
natives a keen antipathy towards the religion that
their new masters professed. Furthermore, the cor-
rupt morals of the conquerors, their insatiable thirst
for riches, their quarrels in the struggle for power, and
their own discords and controversies could not but
render their religion suspicious to the Indians. The
new governor was well aware of all this; so his first
official act upon reaching Asunci6n (11 March, 1.542)
was to call the missionaries together to convey to
them the wishes of his sovereign, impressing upon
them the kindness with which the Indians should be
treated as the necessary means of facilitating their con-
version; he made them responsible for the success of
the undertaking. He then convoked the Indians of
the surrounding country and exliorted them to receive
the Faith. The administration of Alvar Nunez was
characterized by his wisdom, tact, and spirit of
justice, no less than by his courage, energy, and per-
severance. He succeeded in subduing the Indians,
tribe after tribe, mainly through a policy of conciha-
tion, and by force when necessary. It was thus that
the march of Christianity in Paraguay was greatly
facilitated during his short regime (1542-44). His
achievements, however, only served to increase the
jealousies of Martinez de Irala, who, never forgetting
his relegation to a subordinate post, finally succeeded
in turning most of the officers and soldiers against the
governor. As a result of this rebellion, Nunez was
made a prisoner and sent to Spain, where he was ac-
quitted after a trial that lasted eight years.
Irala was then left in full command of the province (1542) until his death in 1557. His second adminis- tration was noted for the many improvements he introduced, such as the establishment of schools, the construction of the Cathedral of Asunci6n and other public buildings, the promotion of local industries, etc. He was succeeded by Gonzalo de Mendoza, upon whose death (1559) Francisco Ortiz de Vergara was made governor, ruling until 1565, when he was deposed. Juan Ortiz de Zarate was then appointed, but, having sailed for Spain immediately thereafter in order to obtain the con- firmation of the king, Felipe de Cilceres was left in charge of the government. Although Zarate se- cured the confirmation, he did not assume command, for he died in the same year. Juan de Garay then took the reins of government, and upon his assassina- tion by the Indians in 1580, he was followed by Alonso de Vera y Aragon, who resigned in 1587 leaving Juan Torres de Vera in command.
Torres de Vera was still governing the province when S. Francis Solanus, a Spanish Franciscan mis- sionary, made his celebrated journey through the Chaco to Paraguay, coming from Peru. In the course of that expedition he preached to the natives in their own tongues and converted thousands and thousands of them (1588-89). When Torres de Vera resigned his post, Hernando Arias de Saavedra, a native of ABUnci6n, was elected governor, ruling until 1593,
