PARAGUAY 67 ($70,500), rents of state property, licenses, &c. The estimated expenditures for 1874 were $341,805. Previous to 1865 Paraguay had no national debt, but a large surplus income ; but she is now almost hopelessly bankrupt, being indebted, by virtue of stipulations arising out of the late disastrous war, in the sum of $150,000,000 to Brazil, $26,250,000 to the Ar- gentine Republic, and $750,000 to Uruguay, a total of $177,000,000 ; besides $14,518,500, principal and interest of a loan contracted in England in 1871. There is also a large home debt, the amount of which has not been reported. In 1861 Paraguay had as many public primary schools in proportion to her population as the most advanced Spanish American states; instruction was made com- pulsory and gratuitous, and the justices of the peace were ordered to aid in carrying out that measure; but the instruction was not made secular, and the result was unsatisfactory. Grammar schools were few ; of higher instruc- tion there was very little, and that confined to a single establishment at the capital. Since 1870, however, well directed and determined efforts have been adopted for the extension of primary instruction, and in the budget for 1874 figured an appropriation of $84,860 for schools. Books were meagrely supplied and mostly limited to religious subjects. The total value of the books imported in the ten years immediately preceding the war was but $3,299. Lopez had four newspapers, all edited under his supervision. The Roman Catholic is the reli- gion of the state, but all others are tolerated. By the terms of the new constitution of Nov. 25, 1870, mainly based upon that of the Argentine Republic, the legislative authority is vested in a congress composed of a senate and a chamber of deputies ; and the executive in a president elected for a term of six years, with a non-active vice president, and a cabinet of five ministers, viz., of the interior, foreign affairs, finance, public worship and public in- struction, and war and the navy. The present strength of the army is about 2,000 men, com- prised in two battalions, two regiments of cavalry, and a regiment of artillery. The esti- mated expenditure of the war department for 1874 was put down at $98,918. Paraguay was discovered in 1530 by Sebastian Cabot; and the first Spanish colony was established under the auspices and direction of Pedro de Mendoza, whose lieutenant, Juan de Ayolas, founded Asuncion on Aug. 15, 1536 or 1537. The town was erected into a bishopric in 1555. The country called Paraguay, which at first comprised the entire basin of the Plata, was governed till 1620 by adelantados subject to the viceroyalty of Peru; but in that year two distinct governments, Paraguay and Bue- nos Ayres, were formed by royal decree, ad- ministered by intendants likewise under the jurisdiction of Peru. This state of things con- tinued till 1776, when the two provinces were again united under the separate viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres. The Spaniards on their first arrival found the country in the possession of Guarani tribes, an intelligent and industrious people, readily amenable to the civilization of the new settlers. The first missionaries, Field and Ortega, reached Paraguay in 1557, and met with astonishing success in winning the confidence of the natives. They were soon followed by others; missions were established between the rivers Uruguay and Parana, ex- tending across the latter river to within the present limits of Paraguay ; the disciples were collected by thousands into villages, where splendid churches were built; and finally, by a mandate which the Jesuits obtained about 1690, forbidding all other Spaniards to enter their. territory without their permission, they were enabled to establish an almost indepen- dent theocratic government. Before the middle of the 17th century 30 missions had been found- ed ; and in 1740 the number of civilized In- dians was ascertained to be upward of 140,000. Each mission was built in a uniform style, with a great plaza in the centre, and here were erected the church, college, arsenal, stores, and workshops of carpenters, smiths, and weav- ers, all under the immediate care of the priests. Once a week the male inhabitants went through military drill, prizes being given to the best marksmen. Church ceremonies were performed every day, the children beginning with morning prater, followed at sunrise by mass, at which the whole population attended. Baptisms took place in the afternoon ; vespers were sung every evening ; and holidays or fes- tivals were chosen for the celebration of mar- riages. The Indians were excellent musicians and singers. The dress of both sexes was of native cotton cloth, the men wearing shirts and short trousers, the women caps and loose gowns. The schools and workshops were ad- mirably managed, and the wood carving of the artisans still elicits admiration. The Spanish language was prohibited, and from the print- ing offices established at Santa Maria and San Javier in the 17th and 18th centuries were issued many works in Guarani, the following being still extant: "Temporal and Eternal," by P. Meremberg (1705); "Jesuits' Manual for Paraguay" (1724); "Guarani Dictionary" (1724); "Guarani Catechism" (1724); and " Sermons and Examples," by Tapaguay (prob- ably a native Jesuit). In 1767 the Spanish gov- ernment decreed the expulsion of the priests, who offered not the least resistance. In 1801 Soria estimated the survivors of the 30 missions at somewhat less than 44,000, two thirds of their population having disappeared in the space of 34 years. As early as 1628 descents were made upon the missions from Sao Paulo in Brazil, and according to Page 60,000 of the Indians were carried off in that and the two 'following years, and sold as slaves in the market of Rio de Janeiro. After the expul- sion of the Jesuits the converts were soon dis- persed; many took to the woods; the planta-
