Note XX-40 — Chapter XX · DEMOCRACY RESTORED IN GUATEMALA. 1865-1873.

Decree no. 59, in Boletin Ofic., no. 52. The order had been removed from Guat. by command of King Cárlos III., in 1767, its members leaving the capital on the 1st of July for the coast, and being embarked for Spain. Hist. of Mex., iii. 432-3, this series. But a law of June 7, 1851, sanctioned by the assembly Nov. 5th, authorized their permanent reëstablishment, revoking all other laws or decrees to the contrary, notably one of 1845, notwithstanding the many protests made against the measure. The most plausible pretext for the restoration of the jesuits had been the alleged scarcity of competent priests for the work of spreading the gospel; which was equivalent to saying that the 300 priests living in the republic were both insufficient and incapable. The real object of the hasty reintroduction of the order was said to be the aggrandizement of the house of Canon Juan José Aycinena, closely connected by family ties with Manuel F. Pavon and Luis Batres. Aycinena had pledged himself to bring the order in, and in exchange for this service it was to influence his appointment as archbishop of Guatemala. It was a well-understood bargain. Guat., Carta al Ilmo. Sr. Arzob. por un Catól. Apostól. romano, Guat., Aug. 20, 1851, in Cent. Am. Pamph., v. no. 12.