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diff --git a/old/34384.txt b/old/34384.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..228f3e4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/34384.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8950 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 + Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the + islands and their peoples, their history and records of + the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books + and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial + and religious conditions of those islands from their + earliest relations with European nations to the close of + the nineteenth century, Volume XLII, 1670-1700 + +Author: Various + +Editor: E. H. Blair + +Release Date: November 20, 2010 [EBook #34384] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, 1493-1898 *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project +Gutenberg. + + + + + + + + + + The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 + + Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and + their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, + as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the + political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those + islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the + close of the nineteenth century, + + Volume XLII, 1670-1700 + + + + Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson + with historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord + Bourne. + + + + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME XLII + + + Preface 9 + + Miscellaneous Documents, 1670-1700 + + The Camacho ecclesiastical controversy. [Andres + Gonzalez, O.P.] and others; 1697-1700 25 + + The Augustinians in the Philippines, 1670-1694. Casimiro + Diaz, O.S.A.; Manila, 1718. [From his Conquistas.] 117 + + Bibliographical Data 313 + + + + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + Chart of Manila Bay; photographic facsimile from Valentyn's + Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien (Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1724), i, + p. 152; from copy in library of Wisconsin Historical Society 147 + + Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in + Coronelli's Atlante Veneto (Venetia, 1696), ii, part 2, + p. 122; from original copy in Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris 181 + + View of Strait of Manila; photographic facsimile from Recueil + des voiages Comp. Indes orientales (Amsterdam, 1725), iv, + p. 512; from copy in library of Wisconsin Historical Society 227 + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +The tone of this volume is mainly ecclesiastical, although many +sidelights on the civil government and social life are incidentally +shown. All the intense bitterness that generally accompanies contests +between the regulars and seculars is seen in the Camacho controversy, +in which the former recognize that they are fighting for life and +existence in the Philippines, and hence spare no effort to gain +their ends. As will be seen later this fight between regulars and +seculars is quieted only for the moment, to break out with greater +force under Archbishop Santa Justa y Rufina; while in our own day, +the friar memorial of 1898 (never presented), resorts to the same +threat of the regulars to resign their curacies. This struggle, +as well as the history of the Augustinian order in the latter part +of the seventeenth century (which occupies the greater part of the +volume), forms a rich commentary on the life of the times, and one +can reconstruct easily the Manila of that period, and recognize the +hopes and fears of its various classes. + +The noted ecclesiastical controversy between Archbishop Camacho and +the religious orders, which began with the arrival of that prelate in +the islands (1697), was hardly second in bitterness and importance to +that between his predecessor Pardo with the secular government. As +in the latter case, we furnish accounts of this episode by persons +actually concerned therein; but all these are written by members +of the orders, who therefore are opposed to Camacho, no defense of +his side being at present available. The first of these (unsigned) +is apparently the usual record of events by the Manila Jesuits. Soon +after Camacho's arrival, the regulars appeal to him for aid in a +dispute which they have with the secular government regarding their +lands; but he makes such aid conditional on their submitting to +episcopal visitation in those curacies which they serve as parish +priests. They refuse to do so, and appeal from the archbishop to the +papal delegate; then a controversy ensues between the two prelates over +the exemptions claimed by the regulars, each wielding the thunderbolts +of the Church--censures, fines, and excommunications--against the +other, a warfare imitated by some of the ecclesiastical rank and +file with their fists and stones as weapons, all to the scandal of +the commonwealth. Finally the governor interposes, and the affair +is settled for the time, the two prelates absolving each other in +turn. The Audiencia compel the religious orders to pay tithes for the +support of the church, from the incomes of their large estates. This +account is followed by a letter (June 2, 1698) from the delegate above +mentioned to the pope, giving a detailed report of his proceedings +in the affair, and complaining that the archbishop has defied his +authority as delegate, and therefore that of the supreme pontiff +himself. The writer, Fray Andres Gonzalez, advises that new safeguards +be given to the office of delegate in the islands. + +In attempting to enforce his visitation of the regulars who act +as curas, Camacho makes such official visits in some of the Indian +villages near Manila, and issues decrees affecting such parishes; two +specimens of these are given. After censuring the prevalent ignorance +of Christian doctrine among the native parishioners, the archbishop +strictly charges the ministers who are over them to give their people +regular and thorough instruction in the faith; to exact no fees for +confession and penance; to keep the registers of births, marriages +and deaths, and records of fees received thereat, more carefully; to +make no distinction between rich and poor in certain functions; and to +keep an itemized record of the church incomes and expenditures. Annexed +thereto is a copy of the revised tariff of fees which may be demanded +by the curas, singers, and sacristans for their respective functions. + +In 1700, the five religious orders in the Philippines present to the +king, through their representatives at Madrid, a statement of their +controversy with Archbishop Camacho over his attempt to subject +the regular curas to episcopal visitation; and they make formal +renunciation of the mission curacies which they hold in the islands, +declaring that they cannot longer hold these under Camacho and the +irksome restrictions which he is attempting to impose upon the regular +curas. Their reasons for this procedure are stated at length. They did +not choose service as curas for their calling and profession, yet they +are willing to fill those positions so long as they can do so under the +supervision of their own provincials; but subjection to the archbishop +so changes their estate in life that they cannot endure the additional +burdens and danger thus imposed. Moreover, justice requires that they +should, as parish priests, share the privileges and advantages allowed +to the secular priests, which is not the case. The subjection which +Camacho claims would destroy the rightful liberty of the religious +orders, and render them dependent on the wills of the archbishop and +governor. In case a regular cura shall commit immoral acts, a conflict +of authority will necessarily arise between his provincial and the +ecclesiastical authorities; and the difficulties that ensue therefrom +react to the oppression and vexation of the entire colony. Moreover, +such controversies can seldom be settled by the home government, +on account of the great distance of the Philippines from Spain. In +such case of transgression by a religious another difficulty arises, +that the necessity of referring the case to the public authorities +causes undue disgrace to both the offender and his order. The regulars +are better qualified to save souls than are the secular priests, +but if they are subjected to the ordinary it will be much harder +for them--the authority of their provincials over them being thus +weakened--to observe their priestly vows with due strictness; also, +some would thus be encouraged to undue self-will, to worldliness, +and to intrigues for securing worldly advantages--especially by the +perpetual tenure of ecclesiastical benefices. These arguments are +supported, too, by both history and experience. The orders then +refute certain arguments advanced by the archbishop. Their pious +labors for the benefit of souls, in all ranks and conditions of men, +are recounted; and many of these, especially in Manila, would never +be accomplished if they depended on the secular priests. The conduct +of Camacho in opposing the papal delegate, and in refusing to give +the orders copies of his decrees concerning them, is censured, his +own arguments being dexterously turned against him--as is the case +also with his complaints to the court that his authority, functions, +and usefulness are restricted by the fact that the regular curas +are not subjected to him; and his request to be permitted to resign +his see and return to Europe. The writers support their position by +reference to what the orders have accomplished in the islands, and +by the exemptions and privileges granted to them by the Holy See. In +view of all these things, the orders make formal renunciation of +their mission curacies--especially as the remoteness of the islands +gives them little prospect of relief from Spain in these difficulties; +and even if royal decrees are sent to the islands, the archbishop is +likely to refuse obedience to them. They make complaint of various +acts of the bishop against them, especially of the reprimand given +them by the Audiencia through his influence, and his disregard of +the immunity of their property. The orders are working in Filipinas +in entire harmony and amity, but this does not suit the archbishop; +and they feel that they cannot hope for peace or safety so long +as they act as curas there with Camacho as archbishop. A decree by +Carlos II (May 20, 1700) approves the proceedings of the archbishop, +promises royal aid in adjusting his difficulties with the orders, +and authorizes him to reform and correct the religious when necessary. + +The history of the Augustinian order in Filipinas in the latter part of +the seventeenth century is recounted by Casimiro Diaz of that order, +in book iv of his Conquistas (much of which has already appeared in +our series, and which is here concluded); this final part contains +an unusual amount of secular history, for which reason we omit but +little of Diaz's narrative. Beginning with 1671, he gives an account of +each Augustinian provincial chapter-session, and the officers elected +therein, up to 1689; and relates various matters concerning his order +and religious interests generally, with which he interweaves the +secular annals of that time. The troublous times which the Philippine +colony has experienced since the days of Corcuera are turned into +peace under Manuel de Leon (1669-76). He extends the commerce of +the islands to China, India, and Java, and thus enables the citizens +of Manila to attain unusual wealth and prosperity. He sends Jesuit +missionaries to Siao, but they are afterward seized by the Dutch, +who conquer that island. Unfortunately, the governor interferes with +the election of officers in the Augustinian chapter-session of 1671, +and prevents the election of the father who is desired by the chapter +as provincial. In this year the new cathedral edifice of Manila is +dedicated. Reports are circulated of a coming attack on the city by +Chinese corsairs; due precautions are taken, but no enemy appears. A +French bishop who stops at Manila on his way to China is detained by +the authorities and finally sent to Spain; his representations there +cause the issue of royal decrees which prove troublesome and annoying +to Philippine ecclesiastics, and afterward the ordination of Indian +natives as priests--a practice which Diaz disapproves. A controversy +arises between Archbishop Lopez and Jeronimo de Herrera, chaplain of +the royal military chapel; this and other troubles, with his old age, +cause the death of the archbishop (April, 1674). + +The chapter-session of 1674 marks the cessation of various troubles +within the order, occurring within the provincialate of Fray Jeronimo +de Leon, and the beginning of a great increase in the observance +of the rules of the order. Jose Duque is elected provincial at this +time; he sends a procurator to Europe for more missionaries, a band of +whom arrive in 1679. Diaz enlarges on the prosperity of Manila during +this period; caused by its foreign trade, especially that with China +and India; pleasure and luxury prevail in that city, and fortunes are +spent therein. He describes the people and industries of the Coromandel +coast and the Madras settlements of the English and the Portuguese; +in the former, entire religious toleration prevails, and Christians, +Jews, Mahometans and heathens live together in entire harmony. In 1676 +occurs the death of Governor Manuel de Leon, from excessive obesity; +he leaves all his property for charitable purposes. The election +of provincial in 1677 falls on Fray Juan de Jerez; in that year +also the Dominican Fray Felipe Pardo becomes archbishop of Manila, +and Auditor Coloma, the acting governor, dies; he is succeeded by +Auditor Mansilla. The majority of Carlos II of Spain is celebrated +at Manila with magnificent fiestas, December 4-7, 1677. At the close +of these gayeties occurs a severe earthquake, which inflicts much +damage--fortunately, with very little loss of life. In 1678 comes +the new governor, Juan de Vargas Hurtado. His government begins well, +but after a time he tires of its burdens, and falls under the sway of +a relative, Francisco Guerrero, who is crafty and selfish, and gains +an influence over the governor which enables him to turn everything to +his own advantage, and to be "the power behind the throne;" afterward, +in time of need, he escapes to Nueva Espana, and leaves Vargas to +bear the penalties for both of them. During Vargas's term of office +the rich trade with India and other foreign lands is well maintained, +and the prosperity and wealth of Manila are greatly increased. In 1679 +arrive two bands of new missionaries, who are Jesuits and Augustinians; +they come (especially the latter) in good time, since the members of +the order are so few that they cannot fill the ministries allotted +to them--which is the condition of the other orders, and even of +the secular clergy. In this galleon comes a political prisoner, +Fernando de Valenzuela, the disgraced favorite of Queen Mariana of +Spain, who is exiled to the Philippines for ten years. The government +of Vargas is successful, and the prosperity of Manila continues. An +embassy comes from the ruler of Borneo to ask for the establishment of +commerce between that island and Manila, and to adjust some disputes +over the relations between the Spaniards and Borneans. + +The Augustinians prosper during Jerez's term as provincial. Just +before the chapter-session of 1680 convenes, some of the friars +who were born in the Indias lay claim to the offices in the order, +and attempt to enforce this pretension by legal proceedings; the +archbishop decides against them, and they are punished for their +rebellion. Fray Diego de Jesus is elected provincial. A bishop for +the diocese of Cebu arrives this year, the only consecrated bishop +whom the islands have had for several years; this prelate confers +holy orders on many who had been waiting for that privilege, and +reconciles several persons with the governor--which official has by +this time become highly unpopular with the citizens, on account of +his greed for gain and his harsh and disagreeable behavior. Charges +against him are sent to Madrid, which later cause his removal from +office. In November, 1680, a wonderful comet appears, which in the +superstitious belief of that time, causes much evil. An envoy is sent +from Manila to make arrangements with the Portuguese of Macao for the +regulation of commerce and "the entrance of Spanish missionaries into +China by that door." With this envoy come to Manila (in 1681) some +clerics to receive ordination; returning to Macao, with some Jesuits, +the vessel is lost and never heard from. In this year arrive at Manila +two assistant bishops, three royal auditors, and a large reenforcement +of Spanish troops. The galleon which sails this year for Acapulco is +driven back to the islands by contrary winds, thus causing great loss +to the citizens. (In each year Diaz relates the departure or arrival +of the galleons, failure in which is a calamity for Manila.) The +provincialate of Fray Diego de Jesus is tranquil, and great progress +is made by the religious in his care; his personal character and piety +are eulogized by our historian. In 1683 Fray Jose Duque is elected +in his place, for a second term. Some of the brethren go to China as +missionaries; they encounter much annoyance from the requirement there +made that they must be subject to the apostolic vicars of Rome. This +subjection, however, is afterward greatly modified and lessened by +decrees secured (1688) by the procurator of the province at Rome, +Fray Alvaro de Benavente. In 1683 an envoy from Siam comes to Manila, +partly to secure permission for the prime minister of that country +to settle in Manila: this favorite, who was a Greek, intrigues with +the French to surrender Siam to them, but the enterprise fails, and +the Greek loses his wealth and his life. The envoy (an Augustinian +friar named Sousa) encounters shipwreck on another journey, and +spends the rest of his life as a hermit in Siam. The Portuguese +governor of Timor and Solor on his way thither halts at Manila, +ill; Governor Vargas gives him hospitality and medical treatment, +and some Spaniards as an escort; but Ontunez finds on reaching his +islands that a usurper is holding them with armed men, and is obliged +to return to Manila. In that city, during the exile of the archbishop +(account of which has been here omitted, to avoid repetition), the +ecclesiastical cabildo punish his chief supporters with banishment. + +In 1684 Governor Curuzelaegui comes to the islands, and with him +Juan de Zalaeta to take the residencias of Vargas and his favorite +Guerrero; but the latter escapes from the islands in time to avoid +this ordeal. A large band of Augustinian religious also arrive. The +new governor restores the banished archbishop to his see. In 1685 a +terrible epidemic of smallpox ravages not only the islands but China +and India, and millions of people die from it; then follows a cruel +famine, and still more deaths. + +At this time begins the decline of Manila's commerce with Nueva +Espana, partly because more European goods are being sent thither, +partly through the heavy taxes and imposts levied on the galleons. The +bishop of Nueva Segovia dies, and that diocese remains sede vacante +until 1704. In the Augustinian chapter of 1686 Juan de Jerez is again +chosen provincial; he dies within two years, being worn out by overwork +in the visitation of all the houses of his order in the islands. Fray +Alvaro de Benavente is sent to Rome as procurator of the province. The +galleon for Acapulco does not sail this year, for, on the report of +pirates cruising around the Embocadero, it is equipped as a war-vessel +to attack them and drive them away; but it does not find them, and +returns to Manila. In this year of 1686 occurs an abortive insurrection +among the Chinese in the Parian; it is undertaken by Sangleys who are +fugitive criminals from China, but the ringleaders are put to death, +and quiet ensues. Diaz enlarges upon the injurious effects on the +Spanish colony of allowing its business and industries to fall into +the hands of the Chinese. They are unscrupulous in their dealings with +Spaniards; they become Christians through mercenary motives; and they +undermine the faith of the Christian Filipinos. They should not be +allowed to live among the natives. In this same year occur excessive +rains, which ruin the crops and cause great scarcity and suffering; +and for two years no galleons can sail to Acapulco. A large part of +the Chinese settlement near Manila is consumed by fire (March 28, +1688); and the people are harassed by a fearful plague of locusts, +many earthquakes, and a fatal epidemic of influenza. Diaz relates the +way in which the persons most prominent in the Pardo controversy ended +their lives. An expedition is sent to chastise the murderous attacks +made by the Zambals and Negritos; this is partly accomplished, but +the troops are attacked by influenza and so weakened that they are +compelled to return to Manila. + +The Audiencia having been broken up by the death or the exile of the +auditors, a new Audiencia arrives in 1688; also a special commissioner +to investigate the proceedings of Vargas and other officials. Vargas +is exiled to the provinces, and afterward sent to Spain, but dies on +the voyage thither; Diaz characterizes his official character. The +exiled favorite Valenzuela is set at liberty, but is accidentally +killed at Mexico. While attending to the despatch of the Acapulco +galleon, Governor Curucelaegui dies (April 27, 1689); he is praised +by Diaz as an excellent ruler. In the chapter of 1689 Fray Francisco +de Zamora is elected provincial. Auditor Abella acts as governor +ad interim, with much prudence and ability. Archbishop Pardo dies +in 1689; the cabildo rule the diocese in his place for a time, but +afterward cede this authority to Barrientos, bishop of Troya. This +leads to much dissension and trouble for a time, Barrientos claiming +supreme authority; but he is induced to yield this claim, and peace +is restored. + +In 1690 arrives a new governor, Fausto Cruzat y Gongora. With him +come a band of Augustinian religious, in charge of Fray Alvaro de +Benavente; his adventures and the concessions that he obtains are +recounted. Brief sketches are given of the twenty-seven missionaries +who come this year. Diaz closes his work with some account of Cruzat's +government. He is an upright and honorable man, but very harsh and +severe in collecting the sums due to the government, directing "all +his efforts to the increase of the royal revenues." He has a new +galleon built, the largest ever made; but on its first voyage it is +wrecked on the coast of Luban--a terrible loss to the islands, since +it was laden with more and richer merchandise than usual. Another +galleon is also lost at sea (1693). A patache is sent from Acapulco, +and on its return trip (1694) encounters an "isle of birds," where +the crew secure enough provisions and water to complete their voyage +to Acapulco. Cruzat's wife dies in this same year; Diaz pays high +tribute to this lady's beauty, goodness, and virtue, which render +her beloved by all the people. + + + The Editors + August, 1906. + + + + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS, 1670-1700 + + + The Camacho ecclesiastical controversy. [Andres Gonzalez, O.P.], + and others; 1697-1700. + The Augustinians in the Philippines, 1670-1694. Casimiro Diaz, + O.S.A.; 1718. [From his Conquistas.] + + + +Sources: The first of these documents is composed of several parts--the +first, second, fourth, and fifth of which are obtained from the +Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library), iv, pp. 107-115, 119-133, v, +pp. 231-296, and iv, pp. 201-206, respectively; and the third from a +contemporary MS. belonging to Edward E. Ayer. The second document is +from Diaz's Conquistas (Manila, 1890), pp. 440-444, 689-817; from a +copy in the possession of James A. Robertson. + +Translations: These are by Emma Helen Blair. + + + + + + + +THE CAMACHO ECCLESIASTICAL CONTROVERSY, 1697-1700 + + +News from Filipinas since July, 1697 + +With the arrival of his illustrious Lordship the archbishop, Doctor +Don Diego Camacho y Avila, [1] were renewed the former claims for +the subjection of the regulars to the visitation. He commenced at +Tondo and Binondo, mission villages of the fathers of St. Dominic +and St. Augustine, in which places he caused edicts to be read, +and appointed secular priests as curas. They broke open the doors of +the said two churches with axes; and on seeing this the provincials, +all agreeing, presented their renunciation [of those mission fields], +and ordered all their subordinates to withdraw from the doctrinas +of these districts, Tagalos, Pampanga, Laguna, and Balayan. When it +was so quickly seen that they were coming into retirement at Manila, +[the ecclesiastical authorities] were obliged to desist from their +purpose, after [having caused the religious] many annoyances. + +Claim was made to the [right of] visitation of the hospitals of San +Gabriel and San Lazaro, and the royal hospital. The Franciscans and +the Dominicans concealed the keys, and the bishop had to desist, +as greatly vexed as before. Auditor Don Juan de Sierra, in virtue +of his commission for the adjustment of lands royal and unassigned, +[2] cited the regulars to appear before him. He insisted on legal +proceedings; but they, fortifying themselves with the censures of the +bull De la Cena, [3] decrees 15 and 17, declined his jurisdiction. The +judge proceeded to seize the possessions of the regulars; and they +had recourse to the bishop, in order that he should declare that the +auditor had incurred censure--asking him to defend the immunity of the +said property of the regulars. His illustrious Lordship replied that +first the regulars must submit to his visitation; they would not do +this, and therefore, when they repeated their request, his illustrious +Lordship declared that the secular judge was not committing fuerza. + +In virtue of the decree of Gregory XIII, [issued] at the instance of +Felipe II, relative to appeals from the Indians, [4] the regulars +appealed to the delegate of Camarines, who sent letters to the +archbishop requiring the latter to send him the documents [in the +case], with [threats of] censures, and of deprivation ab ingresu +eclesiae [i.e., "of entrance into the church"]. Seeing that these +orders were not obeyed, the regulars again appealed to the delegate, +Don Fray Andres Gonzalez, who came in person. He demanded aid from +the governor, and, meeting delays, proceeded to make the necessary +notifications; then, not being able to obtain from the archbishop +the acts from which appeal had been taken, the delegate posted him as +having incurred excommunication, and added the threat that he would +impose an interdict. + +At the same time, the archbishop officiated publicly, and published the +delegate as excommunicate. But, seeing that various scandals ensued, +and that contests, not only with their hands but with stones and +weapons, occurred between some clerics and regulars--some attempting +to protect, and others to tear down, the writings and censures posted +on the [church] doors by the delegate--the governor and other persons +finally interposed, and an agreement was reached by the parties. The +two prelates absolved each other ad invicem [i.e., in turn], in the +presence of the governor; and, as Auditor Sierra desisted from his +proceedings, the two prelates and the regulars continued to maintain +harmony among themselves. In this condition, therefore, affairs +remained; and, without proceeding to new acts or investigations, +each party sent to Espana an account of what had been thus far done, +in order to await the decision and sentence from the other side [of +the world]. This was the attitude of the delegate and the superiors of +the regulars; the archbishop, nevertheless, continued to bring suits +against some regulars, whom he censured as agitators. Investigations +in these cases were made, penalties of censure being imposed on the +witnesses to secure their secrecy. The fact of this proceeding was, +however, guessed; and the regulars, aided by the delegate, brought +forward counter-information of their innocence. But as the case was +not one for appeal, and did not belong to the delegate, it did not +admit any recourse to him; so the delegate only caused his notary to +give an official statement of this [attempt at] recourse, in order that +the regulars might repair with it to Espana and Roma, and the generals +of their orders, to relate these occurrences and the innocence of the +religious--and, not least, to complain of the opposition and hindrances +which had been employed here by the tribunals, both ecclesiastical and +secular, against his use and exercise of the power delegated to him. + +Even before the arrival of the said delegate, various other +investigations had been secretly made in the archiepiscopal court--not +only against the regulars at large (de vita et moribus [i.e., +"in regard to their lives and morals"], and as to their trading and +trafficking, etc.), but against certain individual religious. In these +cases, the provincials had, according to their rights, demanded from +the archbishop that he refrain from further proceedings and surrender +to them the documents therein, since the said provincials were the +legitimate superiors and judges of those religious; but this received +scant attention. It had also previously occurred that the father +minister of the hospital of San Gabriel (who is a Dominican) refused +to allow the episcopal visitation, and the [arch]bishop had declared +him incontinent, and posted him as excommunicate, without paying any +attention to the appeal which that father immediately made. The said +father minister amended his conduct, in time; but his name was left +on the list of excommunicates until, upon the arrival of the delegate, +the matter was settled and the censure laid on him was raised. + +Upon the origin of so many storms in so short a space as eight +months there was much gossip, with a variety [of opinions]. Some +attributed the trouble to the influence of the bishop of La Puebla, +[5] in whose palace the archbishop was a guest for several months; +others to the promise that the latter had given, on leaving Nueva +Espana, to various personages with whom he was intimate in La Puebla +and Mexico, that he was coming to reduce the regulars of these islands +to submission or else destroy them. Others blamed the bishop of La +Puebla; for he had warned the archbishop, in order to render him firm, +of the disparity of what had been accomplished there by Don Juan de +Palafox--who met less resistance there because most of the regulars +in Nueva Espana were natives of that country, while in Filipinas +nearly all of them were born in other countries. Others (and these +were the majority) blamed the senior auditor, Don Geronimo Barredo, +because with little gratitude for the many thousands [of pesos obtained +from the orders] as loans and gifts (although he had been so greatly +benefited thereby), he had repaid the regulars by abandoning [them] +to the two recently-arrived auditors, Don Francisco Guerruela and +Don Jose Pabon. On the one hand, the Audiencia being inclined to +the opposing side, the regulars were deprived of the recourse which +they, as vassals, ought to have in the royal tribunal; and on the +other, it was reported that the said senior auditor made exceedingly +frequent visits, at unseasonable hours, to the archbishop's palace, +which were returned by that prelate at the auditor's house. As the +gossip ran, the auditor directed all the acts and proceedings of the +archbishop's court. + +Still others, reflecting upon the governor and the limits of his term +of office, regarded him as timorous, considering that, since the +[commission to take the governor's] residencia [6] had come to the +said senior auditor in the year 97, the fear of the governor was +occasioned by the apprehension that the auditor might do him some +harm in his residencia. Some others (but only a few) attributed these +many disturbances to the cousin of his illustrious Lordship, named +Don Juan Camacho, for the sake of his own advantage; and on this +account, knowing his disposition, people said that Master-of-camp +Don Francisco Guerrero de Ardila had made strenuous efforts, and had +even offered to his illustrious Lordship in Mexico considerable sums +of money, to procure that, by sending this cousin [7] to Badajoz, +his Lordship should not come to these islands with a companion who +could not render his government peaceable. + +Nor must I pass over in silence the fact that on the sixteenth day +of May the royal Audiencia cited to appear in its hall all the five +provincials, to whom--without the courteous observances and respectful +address which his Majesty himself observes in his decrees--the +Audiencia gave a severe reprimand, throwing on them the blame for the +late disturbances, and treating them as violators of the peace. The +most remarkable thing about this censure was, that it proceeded from +the lips of that very senior auditor who, in especial, was regarded +as the entire source of the disturbances; and, without permitting +the provincials to speak, they were, with the same lack of respect, +dismissed by this same official--who some day will have to give an +account, before the tribunal of truth, of all these unjust acts. + +By the end of the said month, under the compulsion of the threat +made against the provincials, by the first, second, and third royal +decrees, of banishment and [privation of their] secular incomes, +the old-time writ of execution regarding the tithes was enforced, +and the religious were obliged to obey. No hearing was given to their +repeated protests, or the petitions interposed for the royal Council; +nor to their allegations of their rights of prescription in these +islands, of their apostolic privileges, of the fact that nearly all +who minister here are regulars, and that they have come to these +islands not at his Majesty's expense only, but with the greater part +of those expenses paid by the religious themselves. + +The regulars petitioned for, and took measures to push, a demand upon +the royal treasury for more than 300,000 pesos, the amount spent by +the religious since the conquest; and another, for another 300,000, +the amount which was due to them on account of stipends as religious +teachers, which the government had failed to allow them for a period +of more than a century--declaring that if these accounts were paid, +they would pay the tithes which were claimed from them; but no hearing +was given them. In hatred to the regulars, the tenants on their estates +were compelled to pay tithes, the amount of these being deducted from +the value of the rent-money. + + + +Letter from Andres Gonzalez to the Pope + +Most Holy Father: + +After kissing with due submission the feet of your Holiness (whom +may God preserve, for the prosperous government of His Church), in +fulfilment of the obligations of my office as pastor I set forth to +your Holiness a very serious controversy in regard to jurisdiction, +which at this time has arisen between me and the very reverend +archbishop of this city of Manila in these Filipinas Islands, Doctor +Don Diego Camacho y Avila. I do so in order that your Holiness, +as the person who is most interested in the peace and tranquillity +of this church, may apply suitable remedy, and fix an end and limit +to this controversy--the origin and course of which I will relate as +briefly as possible, in all matters referring to the authentic copy +of the acts which I send you with this. + +To Licentiate Don Juan de Sierra Osorio, former auditor of this royal +Audiencia, and at present judge of criminal cases in the Audiencia of +Mejico, was subdelegated the cognizance and settlement of [questions +relating to] the lands and possessions which, by sale or gift, +have been alienated from the royal patrimony and dominion of our +Catholic king and sovereign. In a proclamation which he issued he +cited and summoned, with the rest of the holders of the said lands +and possessions, the holy religious orders of these islands, ordering +them to present, within the limit of one year, the titles, documents, +and credentials which they hold for these lands--with the warning that +if these papers were not presented by the end of that period the lands +would be reunited to the crown. The superiors of the said religious +orders, mindful of the immunity and exemption of their persons and +worldly possessions, did not present their documents at the said +time; therefore the said auditor actually proceeded to appropriate +the said property. The said superiors had recourse to the said very +reverend archbishop, asking him to forbid to the said auditor the +cognizance of the said cause, and to protect the said property as being +ecclesiastical. The said very reverend archbishop took up the matter, +and, having drawn up acts, by his definitive sentence (which is found +in the said authentic copy) refused ecclesiastical immunity to the said +property. The said superiors appealed twice from the said sentence +to me, as being the delegate of your Holiness in cases of appeal +from this archbishopric, in virtue of a brief by his Holiness Gregory +XIII--issued at the instance of our Catholic king Felipe II (whom may +God keep). He denied them both these appeals; and, in order to place +some limit to these proceedings, they presented themselves before me, +with only the authentic official statement of this denial of the said +appeals, in course of appeal from that sentence. Having admitted +this appeal, in order to proceed to the trial of it I addressed to +the said very reverend archbishop, from my episcopal see and city +of Nueva Caceres, a compulsatory act in which, as the delegate of +your Holiness with apostolic authority, I commanded him to order his +secretary (before whom the said cause took place) within twenty-four +hours to send me his original acts, or else to begin the copying of +them and send it to me when completed. Considering the great distance +which lies between this city of Nueva Caceres and that of Manila, the +danger and expense of the journeys, the delay of the suit, and the +injury to the party therein, I laid these commands on the said very +reverend archbishop under the penalty of suspension from the priestly +office, latae sententiae, and warned him of heavier and still heavier +censures and penalties in case of his opposition and contumacy. He +was notified of this act on the twentieth day of last March, by a +religious of the Society of Jesus, to whom I gave commission for this +office; for I had learned that no secular priest would dare to make +this notification. The said very reverend archbishop, having heard the +[reading of the] act, replied that the said father could not perform +judicial acts in his archdiocese without presenting a warrant from +his notary; and, even supposing that the father could thus act, he +appealed from the said command--for which he implored the royal aid +against fuerza, and demanded that an official statement be given him, +and that meanwhile no detriment be caused him. When the statement +was refused to him he again appealed, and threatened [to procure] +royal aid against this fuerza; and this alone he gave as his reply, +before the said notary--without giving any reason for his appeal, +or reducing it to writing, or arguing it in the superior court [8] +in legal form, or asking for apostolic letters, up to the present +time. Nevertheless, he then had, and for twenty-three days had +kept, the acts in his archives, as appears from a sworn statement +by Lerma, the secretary of the royal Audiencia, which is sent with +the documents. On that same day (March 20) and the following, he +caused to be published and posted on the doors of the churches in +this city two edicts against my authority as delegate--in which, +with penalty of major excommunication, latae sententiae, he commanded +(in the first edict) that no one, whether secular or regular, in his +churches should permit the reading, publication, or posting of any +edicts, or of any other kind of letters or bills whatsoever, except +those of his provisor, or of the tribunals of the Holy Inquisition +and the Crusade--as if my tribunal, jurisdiction, and authority, +which is that of the supreme head of the Church, and resides in me, +were inferior to those of the said provisor and the said tribunals. In +the second edict, increasing the penalty of major excommunication with +the reservation to himself [of absolution], he commanded that no one in +his archiepiscopal territory should exercise any jurisdiction--whether +ordinary, delegate, or subdelegate--even if it were from your Holiness, +unless the originals of the bulls or despatches that he carried be +first presented to his Lordship, in order that he might give them the +license and fulfilment which by right they should have. But he does +not consider that my bull and brief is, and has been for more than 140 +[9] years since the foundation of the bishoprics of these islands, +current and put into practice in them, as also has been its free and +independent exercise in this archiepiscopal territory. And I have +exercised this freedom, on the only two occasions which have been +presented to me--the first time, while the very reverend archbishop +Don Fray Felipe Pardo was alive, and the second in the year 91--with +the knowledge and approbation of the cabildo close by, sede vacante, +both which are proved by authentic documents. These I do not send at +this time, as they are in my archives in the city of Nueva Caceres, +which is distant from this city of Manila sixty leguas; but I +promise to send them at the first opportunity, which will be next +year. Notwithstanding all this, the said very reverend archbishop +published the said two edicts, endeavoring to impede and embarrass, +by all possible measures, means, and ways, the said my jurisdiction as +delegate, and to subordinate it to his own, in order that I should +not exercise or avail myself of it, either in person or through +intermediate persons. On account of this, the superiors of the said +religious orders found themselves obliged to resort again to me; +and they entreated me to come in person to this city of Manila, +to defend my jurisdiction, and with it the ecclesiastical immunity +of their property. I did so, notwithstanding my advanced age [10] +and the painful infirmities that I suffer, since both these causes +are so important a part of my responsibility and obligation. I came +to this city on the twelfth day of the past month, May, and with my +secretary went to a house on the river where the said very reverend +archbishop was residing. After a short conversation, I begged him +to be pleased to listen peaceably to an act of which I had come, +as delegate of his Holiness, to notify him. I told him that this +business should not be conducted more castrorum [i.e., in hostile +manner], but that we should listen to each other, and each should +state his rights. He agreed to this, and my secretary read the said +act, which contains three points. In the first, I declared the +said very reverend archbishop to be disobedient, rebellious, and +contumacious, considering that he had not obeyed as he should the +said my compulsory act, sent to him from the city of Nueva Caceres; +likewise, I declared that he had incurred the penalty of suspension +from the priestly office latae sententiae, under which I had commanded +him to order his secretary within twenty-four hours to surrender the +acts for which I had asked, or to make an authentic copy of them. And +because he had exercised the said priestly office on Holy Thursday, +consecrating the sacred oils; and on Holy Saturday, in conferring +the higher orders of the ministry; [11] and likewise on other days, +in saying mass while he was under suspension: I declared that he was +under censure as irregular. In the second part of the said act, I again +commanded him, under penalty of major excommunication, latae sententiae, +and of a fine of two thousand pesos to be applied according to law, +to order his secretary within six days to deliver up the papers as +aforesaid, or make an authentic copy of them. And in the third part, +under penalty of being considered rebellious and contumacious, in +order to place him under greater obligation, I prohibited to him +in the interim the cognizance of this cause and legal proceeding +therein. After the said very reverend archbishop had heard the act, +he appealed from it, in writing, and on the following day brought this +appeal into court. I did not on this account defer the declaration +of the said censures, since the appeal was frivolous and useless; +and I yielded in the matter of the copy of the documents only for +the reason that he alleged, that the originals of these were in the +Audiencia. After he had interposed the said appeal, he immediately +ordered his secretary to notify me of an act by himself, in which he +commanded me, under penalty of major excommunication, latae sententiae, +and a fine of 4,000 pesos, to depart instantly and without delay +from this archdiocese, to go to reside in my own bishopric, and +not to meddle with his jurisdiction. To this I replied that I had +received this notification, and asked him to give me a copy of the +said document, solely for the purpose of showing in what consisted his +illegal and unwarranted act; and I took leave of him and returned to my +house. On the following day, the thirteenth of the said month of May, +the said very reverend archbishop sent his secretary to notify me of +another act, in which also he again commanded me, under penalty of +major excommunication, latae sententiae, and of another 4,000 pesos, +to depart within two days from the archdiocese. To this I replied +that I had come [to Manila] on account of the appeal [made to me]; +that I was a delegate of your Holiness, and moreover superior to the +said very reverend archbishop, and as such I did not listen to his +acts or censures. On the next day, the fourteenth of the said month +of May, he sent to me notification of another act; and as I refused +to listen to it, for the same reason as before, about two o'clock in +the afternoon he posted on the doors of the churches, and in other +public places, notices in which he declared me, to the great scandal +of all this community, to be publicly excommunicated. + +On the said thirteenth day of May, in the morning, immediately +after I had been notified of the second act of the said very +reverend archbishop, I sent my secretary to his house on the river +to notify him of another act of mine, in which I commanded him, +under penalty of major excommunication and another 2,000 pesos, +to withdraw within twenty-four hours the said edicts which on the +twentieth and twenty-first days of March he had ordered posted and +published against my apostolic authority as delegate; and, besides, +to withdraw the two acts in which, with the said penalties of major +excommunication and 8,000 pesos, he had commanded me to depart from +the archdiocese. The said my secretary was told by the servants that +he was not at home; and I, as this seemed to me only an excuse, and not +the truth, went in person to the said house. They told me that he had, +that very morning, gone back to Manila. I came to the city after him, +and remained at his house, waiting for him, until twelve o'clock; +and seeing that he had not come by that time (although he came in +afterward), I went away, leaving a message for him, that he might +expect me in the afternoon. I returned a little before sunset, but did +not find him at home this time. My secretary began to read the said +act in the main room of the archbishop's house; but such disorderly +yelling and clamorous talk was raised by his servants that my secretary +could not make himself heard. I therefore determined to wait for him, +and finally he came--making loud complaints that I was injuring the +respect and observance due to his house, person, and dignity. I replied +that his illustrious Lordship had showed greater incivilities to me; +and that he could and ought to do [what I had done], if I had gone +about all day, avoiding him [huyendo el cuerpo]. In conclusion, we +agreed that my secretary should go again, alone, to notify him of the +act; but, when he went to the house, his illustrious Lordship refused +to give him entrance. As I was now weary of so much artfulness and +craft, unworthy of such a station and dignity, I put aside this act, +and despatched another of like tenor. In this, I summoned him, from +that hour, under penalty of major excommunication, latae sententiae, +and its publication, to withdraw within half an hour the said two +acts and two edicts. Notification of this act was made by a Dominican +religious, my notary, in the archbishop's hall, in the presence of +many persons, because the said very reverend archbishop had refused +to listen to it. When the said half-hour had expired, a little while +after this was told to me I declared and posted him also as publicly +excommunicated. On the fifteenth of the said month of May, I ordered +that he be notified, and he was notified in his archiepiscopal hall, +of another act, in which I repeated the command contained in the +preceding one--and, still more, that he should take down the notices +posted against me, under penalty of a general interdict throughout +his archiepiscopal diocese, latae sententiae, giving him a limit of +twenty-four hours' time; and, in case of his opposition and contumacy, +I would proceed to the cessation of all divine worship. But, as I +reflected that it was very near the feast of Corpus Christi, and +that all the religious orders of this city and a great number of +secular priests, who were on my side, would not take part in the said +festival and in the procession, in order not to have communication +in sacris with the said very reverend archbishop; and on account of +the commiseration which I felt for this commonwealth; and finally, +because the governor and captain-general of these islands, and some +of the auditors of this royal Audiencia interfered in the matter, with +the stipulations which I will send with the acts: I absolved the said +very reverend archbishop from the excommunication and suspension which +he had incurred; and he did the same, without my consent, absolving +me from his excommunication. I dispensed him from the censure that he +had incurred as irregular, and, finally, I suspended the declaration +of the interdict. The whole matter was then left as it was, for the +time being, until information of all could be given to your Holiness, +in order that you may take suitable measures in this case. These +are as follows: That the archbishop (or the cabildo, sede vacante) +who at the time shall officiate and rule in this archbishopric of +Manila shall not hinder, restrain, or limit the delegate of your +Holiness; that, likewise, he who shall be at the time delegate shall, +in cases of appeal to be taken from the said archbishopric, have the +free use and exercise of his apostolic authority as delegate in this +archiepiscopal territory; and that he shall not need, in order to +enter the said territory or to perform judicial acts in it, whether in +person or through intermediate persons appointed by him, any license, +consent, or approbation from the said archbishop or from the cabildo, +sede vacante. [These things should be done] in order that thus the +like controversies may be avoided in the future. And I entreat your +Holiness to be pleased and to deign to command that consideration be +given to a legal opinion by the reverend father master Fray Juan de +Paz, of the Order of Preachers, which I send with this; for it may +be of service for the point at issue, and for your rights. I also +inform your Holiness that from the day when the said very reverend +archbishop set foot in these islands--that is, from last September +to the present time--this entire commonwealth has been a perplexing +labyrinth of contentions and acts of violence which he has performed +against the holy religious orders of these islands. For his disposition +and nature is very hasty, quarrelsome, and bold; and he is, finally, +a man who does not care for or defend the ecclesiastical immunity--as +appears from the authentic copy of the acts which I send. May God +our Lord grant him better judgment; and may He guard and prosper +your Holiness, as I entreat in my sacrifices and prayers, and as the +universal Church has need. Manila, June 2 of the year 1698. + + +[Andres Gonzalez, of the Order of Preachers]. + + + + +[This letter is followed by the following memoranda, apparently notes +by Ventura del Arco of other letters found in the Jesuit papers in +the Academia Real de la Historia:] + +On the fourth day of June in the same year of 1698 the bishop of Nueva +Caceres, Don Fray Andres Gonzalez, addressed to the king an explanation +similar to the preceding one which is addressed to his Holiness. On +the eleventh of June in the same year, he sent to his Holiness another +account, in the same form; and on the twenty-first of June of the +same year he wrote another to his Holiness, and another to the king. + +The provincials of St. Dominic and St. Augustine, and those of the +Jesuits and Recollects in Manila drew up [to send] to his Majesty the +king a statement, dated June 25, 1698, complaining of the defenseless +condition in which they found themselves against the proceedings +of the archbishop, who neither heeded nor allowed their appeal; and +they requested that the Council examine the documents which they sent +for that purpose, relating to various suits against their religious +orders--which continued or were renewed, in spite of the agreement +made with the delegate of his Holiness, the bishop of Camarines. For +this purpose they sent a copy of the documents. + +[On pp. 207, 208 of the same volume is the following abstract:] In +a letter dated June 9, 1700 the Jesuit Luis de Morales wrote from +Manla to Father Antonio Jaramillo, procurator-general at Madrid, +that in the year 1698 the bishop of Troya and Auditor Don Juan de +Sierra died, on the voyage from Manila to Acapulco. The governor not +only showed little favor to the missions in the Marianas Islands, +but in the year 98 he did not send a patache there with succor; +in 99 he sent the vessel late, and it was driven by storms first +to China and then to Manila, with damage to its cargo; and he had +ordered that the ship from Acapulco should not touch at those +islands. The governor had claimed that the conciliar seminary +[12] should be placed next to the college of San Jose, to which +the superior of the Society had answered that there was no room for +it. All the provincials [of the religious orders] had been commanded to +present to the archbishop all their bulls and privileges for granting +dispensation in case of impediments to marriage, for the purpose of +ascertaining whether these were perpetual or temporary; they presented +the documents extra-judicially. It seems that the viceroy of Mexico, +Conde Montezuma, [13] had undertaken that the regulars who were going +to Filipinas should first take an oath of obedience to the bishops, +[when the said regulars should act as curas] in the Indian villages; +in which case, he [i.e., Morales] said, it was preferable to abandon +the missions. The bishop of Cebu, Don Fray Miguel Bayot, [14] had +commanded that no layman should possess a slave girl eleven years old +or upward; and that if such slave were not liberated he declared her +free--in regard to which some persons had complained [to the] alcalde. + + + +Preamble of the decree [15] which it has been commanded to place in +the books of San Pedro Tunasan. + + +In the village of San Juan de Calamba in the province of Bay, on +the sixteenth day of the month of November in the year one thousand +six hundred and ninety-eight: I, Licentiate Don Francisco Sanctos de +Oliveros, secretary in matters [secretario del Govierno y gracia] of +this archbishopric, and a racionero of the holy metropolitan church of +Manila, in obedience to the decree of his most illustrious Lordship +below mentioned, do certify and attest that his most illustrious +Lordship, having come to make the visitation of this district of +Tabuco, issued the decree of the following tenor: + +Decree: In the village of Calambo in the province of Bay, on the +sixteenth day of the month of November in the year one thousand +six hundred and ninety-eight, the most illustrious lord Doctor Don +Diego Camacho y Avila, archbishop of Manila and metropolitan of these +Philippinas Islands, and ruler of the suffragan bishopric of Nueva +Segovia, now vacant, and member of the Council of his royal Majesty +and my master, having come here in conformity to the regulations +of the holy [Church] councils (and especially of the holy general +Council of Trent), and for the enforcement thereof, to visit this +district of Tabuco and the places connected with it (which are the +two villages of San Pedro Tunasan), and its churches, ministers, +and parishioners, has observed in them a great deal of ignorance of +the Christian doctrine, even of the doctrines most essential for +salvation--through the agency of Licentiate Don Juan Melendez, a +priest whom his most illustrious Lordship the archbishop, my master, +has brought with him as his assistant for the sole purpose of giving +examinations and instruction in the Tagalog language (in which the +said licentiate is very expert) to the Indians of both sexes, to the +old people as well as to the children, of the villages and districts +through which his most illustrious Lordship will be passing. This duty +he has performed and fulfilled in the presence of a great many people, +assembled in the above-mentioned churches of San Pedro Tunasan and +Binan. After the questions which he has asked regarding the principal +mysteries of the faith, and the explanation which he has made of each +separately--some in the morning, and some in the afternoon, according +to the opportunity afforded him by the time--he has preached to them, +and continues to preach, exhorting them to the love of the virtues +and to horror for sins. He also gives to all individual instruction, +and an accurate knowledge of the mysteries of the holy sacrifice of +mass, and of the virtues and graces which it communicates, as also +of those which are required in order to resist the temptations of +the devil; and how to secure, with great ease and confidence, the +divine aid, by fulfilling and observing the precepts of the Decalogue, +and the ordinances of our holy Mother Church in the holy sacrament +of confirmation, which his most illustrious Lordship has solemnly +conferred and is conferring. Therefore he said that he must command, +and he did command, the master Licentiate Don Manuel de Leon, cura +in his own right of the village of Tabuco; and his coadjutor Bachelor +Nicolas Godino, who administers the holy sacraments in the village of +Binan; and Father Miguel de Salas, a religious of the Society of Jesus, +who likewise administers the holy sacraments in the village and estate +of San Pedro Tunasan, which is part of the territory and a visita of +the cura of the said village of Tabuco; and the curas and ministers +who shall hereafter officiate in the said villages, and in that of +Sancto Thomas (which is being administered ad interim by the said +master Licentiate Don Manuel de Leon): that on all the prescribed +feast-days--especially on Sundays, on which all the parishioners +assemble in their churches to hear the holy sacrifice of mass--they +shall question the people, and explain to them the Christian doctrine, +conformably and pursuant to the Tagalog catechism which is accepted and +approved in this archbishopric; and that in no form or manner, and for +no cause or pretext, shall they omit this on any of the above-mentioned +days, especially Sundays. They shall make the explanations of the +Christian doctrine to their parishioners before saying mass (which +all must hear)--not employing the fiscal or any other person for the +performance of this duty, but doing it themselves--explaining certain +mysteries of the faith on some Sundays, and others at other times; in +everything accommodating their speech to the limited capacity of their +parishioners, in order that these may be more readily instructed, and +sooner become capable of receiving all the mysteries of our holy faith. + +Moreover, considering the great abuses which his most illustrious +Lordship has known from actual observation, and of which he has been +informed with all certitude and proof, and the still worse losses, +both temporal and spiritual, which have resulted to the persons of the +unhappy Indians, with very great injury to their consciences and almost +certain peril to the salvation of their souls, his most illustrious +Lordship must command, and he did command, that the above-mentioned +persons who are now the curas and ministers of the said villages, +and those who shall officiate in them hereafter, shall not oblige +their parishioners, for any cause or pretext, either personally or +by any agent, to offer them anything for the administration of the +holy sacrament of penance, especially throughout the season of Lent, +in which the Indians ordinarily make their confessions in order +to comply with the precept of the Church. And the said persons who +now are, or shall hereafter be, curas of the said districts shall +observe and fulfil all the above commands, under penalty of major +excommunication, latae sententiae, ipso facto incurrenda, and of legal +proceedings against their persons and goods with the fullest rigor +of justice, in future visitations. + +And his most illustrious Lordship, employing his pastoral kindness +and clemency, and desiring to secure the salvation of his flock and +the service of God our Lord, and the greater honor and glory of His +Divine Majesty, granted and did grant forty days of indulgence to all +the parishioners of the said villages; who, with devotion and desire +to profit thereby, attend the explanation of the Christian doctrine in +their parish churches. And in order that this may be made known to all +the people, his most illustrious Lordship commanded and did command +that the above persons who now are, and those who hereafter shall be, +curas of the said districts shall make publication of the grant of +the said forty days of indulgence, on every Sunday of the month, +before or after the explanation of the Christian doctrine, always +making known to their parishioners the great riches and strength +contained therein, so that they may obtain and enjoy the indulgence +with profitable results--in regard to which his most illustrious +Lordship lays strict charge upon their consciences. + +And considering that the visitas of the villages of San Pedro +Tunasan and Binan pertain to the cura of the said village of +Tabuco, his most illustrious Lordship commanded and did command +that the master Licentiate Don Manuel de Leon, proprietary cura of +that village, cause this decree to be observed by his coadjutor, +Bachelor Nicolas Godino, in the said church and village of Binan; +and by Father Miguel de Salas, the present minister of the village of +San Pedro Tunasan--sending each a copy, signed with his name, of this +decree by his illustrious Lordship, which will be left, certified +and authorized, in the book of burials, baptisms, and marriages of +the said village of Tabuco. This being done, the said ministers, +Bachelor Nicolas Godino and Father Miguel de Salas, will also make in +the books in their charge a certified copy of the decree--which is to +be sent immediately, with autograph signature copied at the foot of +the letter--so that it may be made known to all persons who hereafter +shall be ministers and curas of the said districts, San Pedro Tunasan, +Binan, and Sancto Thomas. And by this decree, accordingly, the above +is ordained and commanded, and it is signed by his most illustrious +Lordship the archbishop, my master, as I attest. + + +Diego, archbishop of Manila. + +Before me: +Francisco Sanctos de Oliveros, secretary. + + +The above, a copy from the original decree issued by his most +illustrious Lordship the archbishop, my master, which is one of +the acts of the visitation of the village of Tabuco--which are +in my charge, and to which I refer--is a faithful, accurate, and +truthful copy, corrected and compared. The witnesses to the copying, +correction, and comparison were Licentiate Don Diego Martin de la +Sierra and Bachelor Ignacio Gregorio Manasay, a cleric in minor orders; +and this document is signed in this village of Calamba, on the said +day and month and year. In attestation of its correctness, I sign it: + + +Francisco Sanctos de Oliveros, secretary. +Licentiate Don Manuel de Leon + + +[Another decree, dated December 7, 1698, concerns the curacy of +Balayan, with its visitas the village of Nazugbu and the ranch of Lian; +the curate there was Bachelor Don Juan de Llamas, with proprietary +appointment. After a preamble like that of the former decree, this +one continues thus, relative to the registers of the parish:] + +He declared that he must command, and he did command, that the practice +be continued, as hitherto, of the separation and division [of the +records] in three different books: one for recording the baptisms and +confirmations only, another for the marriages and nuptial benedictions, +[16] and a third for the deaths; and that in no case should these be +recorded in one book only; and that in the book of baptisms the names +of the parents and the sponsors of the person baptized must always +be set down, and whether he were a legitimate child; and note must +be made of a child of unknown parents, or of the Church. [17] At the +same time, they must never fail to set down in the margin the names +of those who are baptized, and of the villages to which they belong, +so that it may be easier to search for and find them. In no case +shall men be allowed to stand as sponsors [saquen de pila] for women, +or women for men, on account of the grave difficulties which have +been experienced from this cause, especially among Indians. Moreover, +in the records of weddings and burials must be set down the fees of +the minister, so that in future visits it may be easy to compute the +eighths [18] which belong to the churches, in consideration of having +a new tariff to which their fees must conform. With this, in the said +records must be noted in the margin the names of both deceased and +married persons; and in every instance it must be explained whether +the deceased person received the sacraments at the hour of death, +and, if he did not receive them, the reasons therefor. Likewise, in +the records of marriages not only must the names of the contracting +parties be set down, and those of their parents, and those of their +former consorts, if the parties are widowed; but also those of the +witnesses who made affidavits in the investigations which always ought +to precede a marriage--whether these be verbal, in the case of ordinary +Indians; or in writing, when practice [in that art] enables this to +be done. Thus, if at any time [a legal] impediment should remain, +those persons can be found and punished as perjurers. Also it must be +specified whether the three publications of the banns [19] preceded, +which the law ordains. + +Moreover, in the ministries of this province of Balayan his most +illustrious Lordship has found another abuse introduced therein, that +the curas and ministers of the Indian villages are accustomed to keep, +for baptisms and burials, two crosses assigned for this use--one of +wood, and the other of silver. The wooden one they take out for common +baptisms and burials, and those of poor persons; and that of silver for +the baptisms and burials of the rich--as if both crosses ought not to +have the same value, veneration, and efficacy for the object to which +they are directed; or as if the silver cross, on account of being of +richer material, ought to be esteemed more highly than that of wood, +on which died Christ our Redeemer (a thing which is disgraceful to +be said or thought among Christians). Therefore his most illustrious +Lordship, mindful of uprooting thoroughly this almost superstitious +abuse, commanded and did command the persons who now are, or who shall +hereafter be, curas in all the districts of this archbishopric that +in no case and on no pretext shall they practice such a distinction; +nor are they allowed to require or ask any fee on account of carrying +the silver cross, whether at baptisms or burials: under penalty of +major excommunication, latae sententiae, ipso facto incurrenda; and +at any time when information is lodged of violation of this decree, +proceedings will be instituted against the disobedient person with +the fullest rigor of justice, without any excuse being allowed to +shield him. + +[Here follow the same commands and penalties as in the preceding +decree, relative to the proper instruction of the people in +Christian doctrine, and the prohibition of fees to the cura for the +administration of the sacrament of penance. The decree continues:] +Moreover, inasmuch as it is commanded, by a general decree of +visitation, now obeyed and practiced by all the secular curas of +this archbishopric, in fulfilment of a royal decree by his Majesty +(whom may God keep), that the viaticum shall be carried to sick +Indians in their own houses, and that they shall on no account be +carried from their houses to the churches to receive it: therefore +his most illustrious Lordship commanded and did command that the said +decree shall be observed, fulfilled, and executed in this curacy of +Balayan, and in its visita of Nazugbu and Lian. And, for its proper +fulfilment, it is commanded that a reliquary be made of silver or gold, +in order that when on any occasion there shall not be mode or form +of the customary external pomp, the viaticum may be carried therein, +as is commanded, to the sick; and warning is given that, on receiving +notice of any violation of this decree, proceedings will be instituted +against the disobedient person against whom there shall be legal cause. + +All the above, contained and expressed in the present decree, his most +illustrious Lordship commanded, and did command, must be observed, +fulfilled, and executed by Bachelor Don Juan de Llamas, proprietary +cura of this district of Balayan, and he must cause it to be observed, +fulfilled, and executed by him who shall in the said cura's place +administer the holy sacraments in the villages of Nazugbu and Lian; +and of his punctual obedience the said curate shall notify his most +illustrious Lordship, at the first opportunity that shall occur, so +that, in case what is here commanded shall not be duly and effectually +carried out, his most illustrious Lordship may decide and ordain what +may be expedient. + +Moreover, notwithstanding his most illustrious Lordship has been +informed of the exterior adornment of the church of the said villages +of Nazugbu and Lian, yet, inasmuch as the books of receipts and +expenses of the said church have not been shown, and are not clear, +his most illustrious Lordship therefore commanded and did command that +in that church shall be kept a book, in the first half of which shall +be set down the following, beginning at the first page, with all the +items clear, separate, and distinct, and with mention of the day, +month, and year: the eighths of the fees for marriages and burials +which shall be received from this time forward; and the legacies, and +donations for pious works, which are made to the said church. Then, +beginning at the middle of the book, must be set down in the second +half of it, with the same details, the expenditures which shall be +made for the church, in order that thus no confusion may arise, and +that the accounts may be promptly settled in the future visit. By this +act, therefore, his most illustrious Lordship decreed and commanded +the above, and signed this paper, which I certify. + + +Diego, archbishop of Manila. + +Before me: + +Francisco Sanctos de Oliveros, secretary. + +[Here follow certificates, written in the registers of burials and +marriages respectively, that they have been duly inspected, and +referring to the decree itself, which is written in the register +of baptisms.] + + + +Tariff + +We, Doctor Don Diego Camacho y Avila, by the grace of God and of +the holy Apostolic See, metropolitan archbishop of these Philippinas +Islands, and ruler of the suffragan bishopric of Nueva Segovia, now +vacant, and member of the Council of his royal Majesty. Desiring to +fulfil the obligations of our ministry and pastoral office, and that by +the government which is in our charge, especially in the administration +of the holy sacraments, God our Lord may be followed and the faithful +edified; and that every one of our curas and ministers who instruct +the natives--not only in this city, but those of the other parishes +outside its walls--and their sacristans, shall observe the integrity +which is fitting in demanding the fees which shall belong to them on +account of the functions of their ministries and offices, relieving +their consciences as we do ours; and having examined the tariffs which +our predecessors have fixed, and seeing the condition of these islands, +we have decided to issue anew our mandate regarding the said statutes +and tariffs; and we ordain that from this time forth, in demanding +the said fees, the following order shall be observed: + +Baptisms: For the baptisms the cura shall demand the candle or candles +which those who can give them may furnish, not obliging them to pay +a fee [capillo], or to give an offering of money or other things; +but, if they voluntarily give any free offering, [20] the cura is +authorized to take it. + +Marriages: For publishing the banns, the fiscal shall ask for each +one real, and he may not demand anything because the parties do not +rise to their feet at the time when the banns are published. As for +the natives and Morenos [21] who marry without receiving the nuptial +benedictions, and shall come to the church or to the cura's house, +he shall not ask anything from them; but if the cura shall go, +or send, or give permission for the marriage to be solemnized at +their own homes, or in some other place, he shall ask three tostones +for the effort and time spent in going to marry them in a place to +which he is not obliged to go. If the cura shall go to their house, +or to some other place where he is not under obligation to go, in +order to marry any Japanese or Sangley, he shall ask two pesos, and, +if it shall be outside of the parish, he shall ask three pesos. + +Nuptial benedictions: He [i.e., the cura] shall ask thirteen reals +from the dowry; [22] but if the parties are poor, they may commute +this for four reals--and [the same] if the woman is a widow and +has no dowry, provided she received the nuptial benedictions from +the Church in the first marriage; but if she did not [thus] receive +them, and have a dowry [she shall pay thirteen]. If several persons +receive the benedictions at one mass, the cura shall ask from those +who are blessed a peso from every one of them; and he shall be under +obligation to say as many masses as there were persons blessed, during +the following days, for their intention, because this [obligation to +say mass] for two, or three, or more married pairs who receive the +benedictions cannot be fulfilled by one mass. + +Burials: For burials of children, with prayers read, when the cura goes +to the house for this purpose he shall ask one peso and four tomins; +but if the corpse is carried to the door of the church he shall ask +only one peso. For every burial of children with prayers chanted, +when the cura goes to the house for this purpose he shall ask only +three pesos; and if the corpse be received with prayers chanted at +the door of the church [23]--whether it be an Indian chief, a timagua, +a Sangley, a Japanese, or a free negro, whom his friends desire to be +interred with pomp and escort--and the cura shall go for the corpse to +the house, he shall ask ten pesos; but if he shall receive it at the +door of the church, and prayers be chanted, he shall ask two pesos. For +every burial accompanied with prayers, of an Indian chief, a timagua, +a Sangley, a Japanese, or a free negro, if the cura goes for it to +the house he shall ask one peso and four tomins; and if he receives +it at the door of the church he shall ask one peso. If the deceased +were a slave to Spaniards, the cura shall ask one peso for his fee, +and exactly six reals as a voluntary offering [limosna] for a mass; +but if he were a slave to an Indian, the cura shall ask six reals as +a fee, and four reals for the said offering. We charge it upon the +consciences of the curas to say these masses for the slaves, and thus +acquit our own conscience. For the cope which the cura may wear at +burials he may receive one peso as an offering; but he shall not wear +the cope when the parties do not ask for it. And for the halts [24] +the cura, if he shall have chanted the prayers, shall ask a toston +for each one, if the relatives of the deceased ask for them; but in no +other way shall he obtain these fees. Item, for the mass sung on the +day of the funeral, or funeral honors with responses, the cura may ask +two and one-half pesos; and for chanting the office for the dead, two +pesos and two reals. And for the novenary masses [25] which are said, +with a response in each one, on account of the burial of the deceased, +the cura may receive for each one a peso as offering; and the wax +candles which remain at the end of the novenary for the burial belong +to the cura. For masses provided for by will [missas de testamento], +the cura may receive six reals each, and for those which are ordered +to be said outside of the testamentary provision four reals each, +as offerings. The curas must not consent to accept the candles that +are carried by the persons who accompany the funeral, unless these +persons leave the candles of their own accord, and present them as +an offering; and if they do not thus give them up, the curas shall +not ask anything from them. To each one of those who may assist the +cura at any burial shall be given, if he is in holy orders, six reals +and a candle; if he is not yet ordained, four reals and a candle. For +any peal of the bells [repique] at the burials of children, or the +tolling of the passing bell [doble], the cura shall ask four reals +for the eighths [de octava], for the sacristy or the church. + +Fees of the sacristans: For aiding at nuptial masses and the +benediction, [26] the sacristan shall ask for each two reals. The +sacristan may ask for carrying the processional cross with its veil, +[27] for any burial, ten reals; and if afterward solemn mass be sung, +he shall ask eighteen reals for the burial, and a peso for assisting +at the mass; and if the cross be placed on the grave on the day of the +funeral, he shall ask a peso. For the small cross carried, without +its casing, and made of silver, he shall ask six reals; and for the +ordinary cross of wood he shall ask two; and, if the deceased were +the slave of an Indian, he shall ask one real. For burning incense +at the funerals, when the parties ask for it, the sacristan shall +ask two reals; and at the solemn masses he shall ask another two +reals. For assisting at each anniversary mass founded in this church, +which the cura says, the sacristan shall ask one peso. The sacristan +is under obligation to assist the cura in the administration of the +holy sacraments, and in the other matters pertaining to the ministry, +as being his assistant; and if he fail in rendering such aid he shall +ask only the half [of the usual fees], and the other half the cura +shall divide between the person who shall assist in the sacristan's +place and the church fund for its sacristy. Either the sacristan or +in his place some person not yet ordained, is under obligation to +carry the cross at burials. + +Singers: When the entire choir shall be summoned to any burial, +they shall ask ten pesos for attending it; and if all the said choir +assist at mass and the office for the dead [vigilia], they shall ask +another ten pesos. When the [individual] singers shall go on call to +any funeral, no more of them shall go than those who are asked for by +the parties; and each singer shall ask one real. This is understood +when they go not as a full choir, but in a group of three; and they +shall not oblige the parties to give them candles, but may take these +when the parties choose to give them. If only three singers assist +at mass and the office for the dead, they shall ask three pesos for +the mass, but not for the office. + +We command that all these tariffs and statutes shall be observed and +fulfilled to the letter by the said our curas for natives, in this +city and in the rest of the parishes that are outside its walls, and by +their sacristans, without transgressing them in any way--under penalty +of four times the amount involved, incurred for every infraction, +and of being punished in accordance with the law. And no other person, +whatever his rank may be, shall dare to transgress these our mandates, +under penalty of legal proceedings against him, under the penalties +due to those who are disobedient. We command that the curas shall +keep these said tariffs displayed and posted in some public place, +where they can be read and understood by all persons. And that this +may be evident for all time, we command to be issued and we do issue +the present, signed with our name, and countersigned by our secretary, +as undersigned. In our archiepiscopal palace at Manila, on the fifth +day of the month of November in the year one thousand, six hundred +and ninety-eight. + + +Diego, archbishop of Manila. + +By command of his most illustrious Lordship the archbishop, my master: + +Francisco Sanctos de Oliveros, secretary. + +[Here follow several notarial attestations.] + + + +Memorial by the religious orders + +The lecturer Fray Jaime Mimbela, of the Order of Preachers, and +definitor-general of the province of Santo Rosario; Fray Juan Antonio +de San Agustin, an Augustinian Recollect; and Antonio Xaramillo, of the +Society of Jesus--procurators-general of their provinces of Filipinas +and holding powers of attorney for the holy orders of St. Dominic, +St. Francis, St. Augustine, the Society of Jesus, and the Recollect +Augustinians who live in the said islands for the conversion of the +infidels and the maintenance [in the faith] of those who are already +converted therein--conforming to the new orders from their provincials +which they have received (dated February 13 of the past year 1699), +in regard to what has thus far been alleged and represented, make +the following declaration: + +[Sire:] + +The reverend archbishop, Doctor Don Diego Camacho y Avila, having +arrived at Manila in the month of September in the past year of 97, +undertook, in officio officiando [i.e., "in fulfilling the functions of +his office"], to visit the regulars who exercise the duties of parish +priests, desiring that they do so by title of law, [28] subject to +his jurisdiction. The said holy religious orders, having declined, +on repeated occasions, to take upon themselves such a burden, making +this known to the said reverend archbishop with all submission, were +resolved to abandon all the Indian villages and districts [assigned +to them], rather than to administer them in that manner. [They asked +him], in order to preserve the tranquillity which had existed in those +islands, that at least he would desist from his intention until the +pope and your Majesty, being informed of the matter, should decide +it: and represented to him that, taking everything into account, +irreparable losses of souls would ensue from his persevering in his +undertaking if the religious orders, in consequence of his violent +acts, should retire [from the curacies]--since there were not +secular priests to take the place of the religious in preaching and +the administration of the sacraments, but it was not possible for +the said reverend archbishop to yield to [even] these so serious +representations, nor was he willing to wait for the decisions of +[even] those so preeminent; on the contrary, he actually began +the visitation. When the religious answered that now they were not +parish priests, since they had resigned the Indian villages into +the hands of their provincials, who had notified your vice-patron of +it, the reverend archbishop took away two churches from the orders +of St. Dominic and St. Augustine; and soon the commonwealth found +itself in a storm, with confusion and affliction such as had never +before been experienced in those islands. For within a week fifty +religious who had acted as curas had retired to Manila, and orders +had been given for the retirement of the others--which they would +actually have done, if the courage of the reverend archbishop himself +had not been taught by this experience, so costly and unnecessary, +the truth of what had been often before represented to him, with so +much humility and entreaty, by the religious. + +From that time, troubles continued to crowd together until in all +those islands the Catholic faith, as concerns God, and the vassalage +of the Indians to your Majesty, were at the point of destruction; +for in that country all the villages are inhabited by Indians alone, +nor is there in them any Spaniard except the religious who is their +minister--except here and there a village where resides some secular +priest and the alcaldes-mayor of the provinces. Thus, the villages +without the religious minister remain as dead, for divine worship and +for vassalage, as the body without a soul is dead for vital functions. + +This truth being so well known--as also is this other, that in the +religious provinces of those islands there have been and are now many +religious of distinguished virtues and learning, and very zealous +for the salvation of souls--affairs have arrived at such a state, +as is known by the said letters of February, 699, that the regulars +refuse not only to be ordinaries [parrocos de justicia] and subject +to the jurisdiction of the reverend archbishop, but also to act in +that capacity in the manner which has been hitherto in vogue. They +ask your Majesty, with the utmost possible reverence, to be pleased to +regard them as exonerated from the responsibility which they hitherto +have held of ministering as parish priests to the Indians, and to take +measures that other persons may look after the Indians in the manner +which the reverend archbishop desires; and that the religious for whom +there is no room in the few convents and colleges which the religious +orders possess in those islands may return to their own provinces--in +accordance with what your Majesty commands, in one of his laws, +for the consolation of the distressed religious in those kingdoms. + +And since actions so grave in themselves and in their consequences as +are these--the refusal of the regulars to be parish priests subject to +the jurisdiction of the reverend archbishop, and their renunciation +before your Majesty of the assignment of the territories allotted +to them for ministrations--appear not to have originated only from +disinclination, but to have sprung from [their claim to] liberty alone, +their representatives set forth to your Majesty in this document the +reasons and very weighty arguments by which they are constrained to +act in both those proceedings. They also offer to present another, +more copious, in which will be related in sequence and order all the +occurrences and the exceedingly grievous injuries which the religious +orders have suffered and still sustain, occasioned by the visitation +of the curas. [It will also recount] the lands that they possess; +the tithes [29] that the reverend archbishop has established; the +testimonies and appeals that he has denied; the arrests that he has +attempted; the banishments that he has urged [upon the Audiencia]; +the very sharp reprimand that on account of him was given by your +Audiencia to all the provincials together, with other religious of high +standing, without permitting them to open their lips--and all with a +method of procedure so unlike that which the pope, your Majesty, and +your supreme Council employ on occasions like these, even in cases +when there is certainty of guilt; and finally, the investigations +which he makes to obtain information against them which he can use to +carry out his purposes, and disturb them at Madrid and Roma, in this +imposing [threats of] excommunication on the witnesses in order that +everything may remain a secret, and the reputation of the religious +orders be left more exposed to attack. + +The reasons, then, which influence the religious not to be parish +priests by title in Filipinas, subject to the jurisdiction of +the reverend archbishop, are the following: First, because it is +unquestionable, and cannot be in any way denied, that the office of +parish priest, even with such exemption from [the jurisdiction of] +the ordinary, is entirely accessory, and, besides, a heavy additional +burden, to the religious estate--not only to that of monks, but even to +that of the mendicant regulars; for, in order that they may minister +in the said office, it has been necessary to obtain a pontifical +dispensation or arrangement, which is founded on important reasons. And +this [is a fact], if we consider only what the religious state demands +of its followers, as is made plain by the general exemption and the +teaching of holy men. If this mode of administering [the curacies] +be changed, and the regular who is a parish priest must remain, in +what concerns that office, under the jurisdiction of the ordinary, +subject to his correction and visitation, and in the other matters +subject to the superior of his religious order, it would be a change +and condition of affairs so remarkable that, in regard to his estate +and his profession of life, the religious would change his nature--for +he would be like one cleft in twain, if subject in some cases to one +superior and in others to another, the two of differing ecclesiastical +rank; and the consequences would be perilous, as will be considered +later. In view, then, of a change which would so seriously affect +their estate, all the regulars of Filipinas declare that, just as +one's state of life is chosen so as to lead to salvation only when +it is chosen through the influence and vocation of God, who calls +and inclines one to it, and that one's choice goes astray when it +is made through other motives, so, when after choice has been made +of the state and profession of life some other circumstance arises +which not only oppresses that state, but changes its very nature--with +new responsibilities, new obligations, new superiors, and new modes +of government full of dangers and difficulties--and, above all, the +rule which he professes, no one can safely add to his mode of life a +condition so unusual, if God do not incline and call him to it. The +religious of Filipinas declare that they have no such vocation or +inclination for being parish priests by title, subject to the ordinary; +and that without it they cannot expose themselves to so many dangers, +with evident risk of being ruined thereby. They say that neither when +they entered the religious life nor when they made their confession +did they read among the obligations to which they submitted that of +being parish priests, and much less that of being such by title, and +subject to the ordinaries; on the other hand, they understood that +the Apostolic See had exempted them from it. They assert also that +on going from Europa to the Filipinas they knew that the regulars +never had ministered to the Indians, nor were they then doing so, as +being dependent upon the ordinaries, but with pontifical jurisdiction, +remaining in all matters subject to the visitation and correction of +their provincials; therefore they must necessarily censure and refuse +now this new administration and attempted subjection, which they did +not profess and to which God did not call them. + +Nor do the precedents [brought forward] from America militate against +this argument when it is said that there is but one and the same +rule, and one and the same form of government, in essentials, for +the religious order or orders whose sons find themselves in America +and in Filipinas; for those who are in those islands say, with all +esteem and reverence, that there are some things more suitable to +be admired than imitated, and that, while they admire the courage +[of those in America], they confess that they do not possess courage +to imitate them in this matter. They add that, if in America and +Filipinas a religious order is one and the same, likewise throughout +the world the faith and the church of Jesus Christ is one and the +same; and nevertheless, if a Catholic, simply because he had chosen +an estate of life, should exhort all others to embrace the same, it +would not be judicious counsel, or in conformity to the spirit of God; +for that Spirit inspires, influences, and calls whomsoever He will, +choosing some for an occupation, and dissuading others from that same +employ. And thus it is evident, likewise, that in the one religious +order some have a vocation for going from Europa to the Indias, and +others have not. Then why cannot the same occur in regard to being +or not being parish priests subject to the ordinary? + +The reverend archbishop of Manila himself has given and still gives +to the religious orders of Filipinas a very striking and conclusive +example in this regard: for before he left Espana he knew very well +in what way the regulars acted as curas in those islands, but he +neither renounced the archbishopric in Espana, nor gave up going to +the islands. He knew also that the being united as a spouse to the +church of Manila is not an accessory matter, but is wholly essential +to the state of being its archbishop; and that other prelates have +gone thither without attempting what he claims. Nevertheless, he +has asked in the royal Audiencia permission to return to Espana; and +now he writes resigning the archbishopric, and asking that he may be +allowed to come here to live and die in retreat in a cell. If it is +because the religious who are parish priests are not subject to his +jurisdiction that he offers this resignation--by which he abandons +all that belongs to his position, and the state of life that he +chose--how much greater reason the religious will have to imitate +him, since even when they give up the curacies they remain wholly +in the estate of religious which they professed. If he makes this +renunciation in order to avoid controversies, and aspires to live +and die in a cell, much more natural is this desire of the religious +to live and die peacefully therein, without obliging themselves to +endure those controversies; for they do not accept under compulsion a +new estate to which God does not call them. Likewise, [they decline] +if, in order to adopt such a model of life, their rule must be the +pleasure of the archbishop, and not the inspiration of God. + +As little is this first argument overcome by [the assertion] that +the civil law provides that the regular who is a parish priest is +immediately subject, in what pertains to that office, to the visitation +and correction of the ordinary. For, laying aside the fact that such +a law can be abrogated by the supreme pontiff--as actually was done +by Pius V after the holy Council of Trent, and afterward confirmed +by Urban VIII; and this very procedure is supported by various +declarations of the most eminent cardinals--when there is a lack of +secular priests (as is the case in Filipinas, where for eight hundred +parishes, the approximate number of those in existence, there are +hardly sixty seculars in number, and still fewer who have abilities +for giving instruction and learning languages): laying all this aside, +the religious assert that the civil law which commands such subjection +must be understood in the case that the religious who are administering +curacies, without being subordinate to the ordinary, desire to +continue thus, being parish priests; but it does not order that they +be compelled by violence and force to enter that relation. And if a +secular cleric, to whom with canonical and rigorous institution is +given a perpetual curacy, can, notwithstanding this, renounce such +curacy, nor on that account be disqualified by the law as long as he +lives in immediate subjection to one superior only, who is his bishop: +how or for what reason can the reverend archbishop of Manila claim that +the religious cannot peaceably make the same renunciation, in order +to avoid the risk of having so many superiors? As the religious hold +the Indian villages not as proprietaries, but removable ad nutum, +other persons could, for no better reason than their own wishes, +deprive the religious of those ministries, even though the latter +live therein with the sanctity of their holy founders; and is it +possible that, when only the will of another person is sufficient to +prevent them from being curas, the divine inspiration and their own +self-reproach will not be sufficient for them? + +The second reason that the religious in Filipinas have for refusing +to be parish priests by title, subject to the ordinary, is that no +exact idea of this virtue of justice has been formed in considering +the method in which efforts have been made to constrain the religious +by it. For either they are or they are not capable of being really +parish priests, like the secular clerics. If they are, they do not +accept the parish under any obligation of justice; and even when this +is conferred on them with canonical institution, they nevertheless do +not remain ordinaries, as are the secular clerics; for in the latter, +in order to secure a proprietary benefice, the only points considered +are the ability to serve as cura, the obligation of law [justicia] +to which they submit, and the canonical collation with which they are +inducted into the parish. Including all this in the said supposition, +the religious cannot well understand why, after all that, they do +not remain proprietary parish priests. As little do they understand +how the said ability, obligation of law, and canonical institution +can make a secular priest a perpetual cura--so that if his conduct +does not render him unworthy the curacy cannot be taken from him, +either by ordinary or vice-patron alone, or by both together; while +a religious who enters the curacy with the same formalities is not +competent for the same perpetuity, but only for such tenure, even +in his own territory, that even if he conduct himself as a saint the +ordinary and vice-patron can, if agreed, deprive him of his benefice +and give it to another; that is, even after that obligation and +solemnity he is a parish priest removable ad nutum. + +The religious also consider that although the virtue of justice is one +for all, and alike for all, and the efficacy of canonical institution +is also one for persons who are qualified for the same office, to the +secular cleric with the onerous duty of parish priest is given all that +can favor him; but to the religious, while the entire burden is laid +upon him, all his energy is checked on account of not giving him all +which can relieve that burden. This is all placed upon the religious, +for his responsibility for the feeding of his sheep confines him to +a district in such a way that his own provincial cannot, by his own +agency alone, change his district without first resorting to the +ordinary and the vice-patron, to secure their consent. In this way +there is a notable decrease of obedience, and the regular observance of +the rule which he professed is greatly disturbed; and many, continual, +and insupportable annoyances are heaped upon the provincials. The +religious loses in great part the privilege of his exemption; +he remains subject, in so far as he is a cura, to investigations, +complaints, visitations, and penalties from the ordinary; and with all +these burdens he has not the comfort of being secure in his parish, +even if his conduct do not render him unworthy of it, because he does +not hold it in perpetuity, as the secular does. He is not master of the +emoluments which the curacy yields, nor are they in justice due to him +as to the secular, unless he pretends that he is dispensed from the +essential vow of poverty. Then, if the religious is capable of being +a parish priest, and that by title of law, as is the secular, who +has given to justice and to canonical collation such efficacy as with +them to furnish to the secular what is honorable [30] and favorable, +yet has so divided it as to impart to the regular what is detestable, +while yet denying him what may console him? + +[Even] if it be granted that the regular is not competent, on account +of his estate, for being a proprietary parish priest, why is it so +strictly required of him to enter the curacy with the same formalities +and ceremony as those with which the clerics enter? Such incompetency +will be the best justification for the repugnance which the religious +feel for being curas in the manner which the archbishop insists on. + +The third reason is, that if the convents and colleges which the +religious maintain in Manila be broken up, it can be said with truth +that there are no other houses of religious community [in the colony]; +for although there are seven other houses besides--in Cavite, Cebu, +Oton, and Yloilo--divided among the religious orders of St. Dominic, +St. Augustine, the Society of Jesus, and the Recollects, yet these +convents and colleges are so small that in each of them there are +only two or three residents. All the rest of the said provinces is +composed of Indian villages, [each] served by one minister only; and +these are such as can be gathered from their respective bishoprics, the +cathedrals of which neither have nor are capable of having dignities, +canonries, and other prebends. This being admitted, if the ministers +in Indian villages remain subject to the ordinary, as the provinces +are composed almost wholly of such ministers alone, and for their +removal would then be necessary the agreement of the ordinary and the +vice-patron, some provinces would come to be dependent, in the name +of religious government and in the exercise of secular government, +on the wills of those two persons, to whom the religious did not in +their profession promise obedience or subjection. + +Then if either of the two, whether the bishop or the governor, +were displeased with any religious order, or with any minister--and +especially if it were the governor, whose power in those islands +cannot be explained, except by their remoteness--in such case they +could on very specious pretexts either maintain or remove the minister +against the will of his provincial; and even they could, if necessary, +threaten the latter with either censures or banishment, to make that +religious order conform to their authority. How fruitful a source +this may be of perdition and total ruin for the religious orders, +all can recognize; but only those who have had experience in those +islands can fully comprehend it. + +The fourth reason: for we have already taken for granted their +subjection and canonical institution. If a religious who is a minister +commit a transgression, and his offense apparently belongs on the +one side to morals and life, and on the other to the office of cura, +the poor minister remains in the condition of those goods which we +call mostrencos, on account of their belonging to the first person +who takes possession of them--and even in a much worse condition, +on account of the controversies which must naturally ensue. For if +the provincial begins legal proceedings in the matter, and afterward +information of it is given to the reverend archbishop, the latter +issues a decree--and, if it be necessary, a censure--commanding +the said provincial to revoke all of his proceedings, surrender the +case to him, and abandon it; that is to say, the right of judicature +belongs to him alone. The provincial appeals to the judge-delegate +of his Holiness, who, in order to obtain full information about the +case, commands the reverend archbishop, with the threat of censure, +to desist from the cause, and surrender the documents. If the latter +do not obey, the affair may reach the point where two ecclesiastical +prelates mutually excommunicate each other, and [the colony] is +menaced with an interdict and the cessation of divine worship. This +is not discussing an imaginary thing, but is relating that which has +just occurred in Manila in a like case--where, in order to prevent the +regulars from withdrawing from their curacies, [the archbishop] imposed +on the provincials the penalties of excommunication and a fine of +2,000 pesos; and conversely, the reverend archbishop and the delegate +of his Holiness likewise excommunicated each other. The commonwealth +was disquieted by these occurrences, not knowing where these things +would end if the interdict which the delegate threatened were carried +out, since he was followed by the religious orders; for nearly all the +laymen lean on the orders--making their confessions to the religious, +receiving instruction from their teaching and example, and with their +counsels calming the scruples of their consciences. In consequence, it +would necessarily follow that in case of an interdict and cessation +of divine services the entire archdiocese would be left in most +lamentable condition; and without doubt this would have occurred, if +it had not been for the kindly nature of the delegate and the urgent +importunities to desist from this purpose that were addressed to him +by the religious. For, since at the cost of innumerable martyrdoms +and other hardships they had established the faith in those islands, +they sought to avert the danger that it would be impaired, even though +this should be at the cost of contempt for themselves. + +It must be added to all the above that if these contentions and +troubles which are suffered in those islands could be promptly ended +without going outside of them, toleration in enduring them would be +less difficult. But this is not so; but these troubles leave behind +them their consequences, and chains that are very long and heavy, +which are only fit to drag along those who choose to become slaves +to the curacies in Filipinas. For in such cases letters are written +by the governor, the archbishop, the Audiencia, and the religious +orders to Madrid, and by some of these to Roma also; and terrible +controversies take shape, with public scandal in both courts. The +parties are in every way exhausted, and the judges are harassed until +the [royal] decree in the case is provided: first, because such decree +is provided for regions so remote, and after it is issued arrives +there [so late], that those evils are throwing out many roots, and +these produce anew other discords and evils worse than the first. And +since it is a fact that, although according to the divine oracles, +it is not fitting either for the bishop to be contentious, or for the +minister of souls to preach the gospel in any other way than that of +peace, the religious orders, in place of experiencing in Filipinas, +as it were, peace with the fruit of tranquillity, do not find this at +the present time; but they are burning in a glowing forge, which only +throws out sparks of discord and dissension. The religious orders, +Sire, had already made peace among themselves, and are at this day +maintaining and always will maintain it; for they trust in God that it +will be so, and the bitter experience of past years has pointed this +out as a great blessing. Thus, when the reverend archbishop arrived +here all was quiet and peaceful, but within little more than two months +after his arrival there was nothing but unrest and disorder--and this +because the religious had told him, with all courtesy and humility, +that they would sooner give up the ministries of instruction than hold +them in the manner that he desired. Herein, which side proceeded most +comformably to reason? the religious who peaceably leave the curacies, +in order to avoid disputes; or the reverend archbishop who causes these +contentions, and who sends to Madrid and Roma in order to obtain that +the regulars shall be by force and violence parish priests subject to +his own jurisdiction? In view, then, of disadvantages so serious, what +religious is there, devoted to his profession, who will consent to be +a parish priest in Filipinas? Who will leave his province in Europa, +the retirement and peace of his community, to go, with the perils +of two ocean voyages, in search of controversies so wearisome and +noisy over a calling which he did not profess? Herein the religious +of Filipinas admit that they have taken warning by what has occurred +in America, that they ought to learn a lesson from it and be cautious +about having another head. + +The fifth reason: If a regular who is a parish priest transgresses, +and on account of secret faults becomes unworthy of continuing in +his ministry, yet if he remains in it his salvation may incur a very +special peril. The provincial has secret knowledge of the case. Here +justice demands two things: one, the punishment of the fault; the +other, that the delinquent shall not be rendered infamous. Charity, +(and even justice itself) demands also that the provincial shall, +because of his office, remove his subordinate from that risk. If this +regular who acts as parish priest were administering his functions +without canonical institution or subjection to the ordinary, as is done +in the Filipinas Islands, the provincial could with the greatest ease +settle the whole matter, and justice and charity be satisfied, without +disgrace to the delinquent and without a stigma on the religious +order. But when the regular who is a parish priest is subject to +the ordinary, the provincial cannot remove him by his own authority +alone; and it is necessary for him to resort to that very ordinary +and to the vice-patron, and that the two agree on the removal of the +offender. And, in such case, what has the provincial to say to them? If +it be answered that by keeping the case entirely secret the provincial +becomes a sharer in the guilt of his subordinate, he and the superiors +of the religious orders declare, with all submission and humility, +that they refuse to put in practice such a form of theology. Can the +ordinary acting alone, can the governor, the father, and the master, +each alone, punish and correct the fault--of a priest, of a citizen or +a soldier, of children, of servants--without the least injury to the +culprit's honor; and a provincial, who can in innumerable ways do the +same with any subordinate of his, be obliged to leave the offender +in disgrace with the heads of the community, ecclesiastical and +secular? The religious orders would sooner remove [from the islands], +to transplant themselves to Europa, than submit to so heavy a burden. + +If it be said that the provincial need not state the offense, but +in general terms assert only that he has cause for removing the +cura, even that would not avoid the difficulty: First, because the +authorities may think that the provincial says so, in order to carry +a point for a custom of long standing. Second, even though the cause +for removing him is not a fault, it will be readily said [that it was +one]; and if the person himself does not make further explanation, +in such case the result will be that the fault will be made public +by his silence. And finally, one's honor is a very delicate thing, +and is usually much injured by rumors and suspicions alone. And +since God renders the religious exempt from the secular judges, and +the Apostolic See from the ordinaries, the regulars represent that, +as they have not professed to be curas, they do not feel courage to +fill that office with so many risks and burdens. + +The sixth reason: The object for which the religious are in the +curacies is the salvation of souls; and there is no room for doubt +that for such a purpose the religious will be all the more fit and +competent an instrument the more he shall unite with the office +of cura the regular observance. This greater union, it is certain, +lies in the method of being curas which has hitherto prevailed, and +not in that which the archbishop is attempting; for with subjection +to him the cura does not depend so much on the regular superior, nor +can the latter freely command him as before, and thus the obedience +[of the religious] is greatly diminished and injured, without which no +one deserves the name of religious. [Also the observance of] poverty +is at great risk; for since the cura ministers through the obligation +of justice and canonical institution, and this is not given to him +by the religious order but by the ordinary, some of the curas might +argue that since the order permits this to them, it also permits +them to be masters, in whole or in part, of all the emoluments; and +that with entire freedom, without subjection to or permission from +their superiors, they can spend or dispose of these revenues as they +please. This is a danger which is most prolific of innumerable others, +and in all lines. Their chastity also is much less secure, because +it is attacked by solitude, by the license which this occasions, by +the natural compliance of the Indians, and by that almost perpetual +tenure which in many ministries in America is experienced through the +obligation of justice and canonical institution under which they are +administered; and on account of the difficulty which thus arises in +securing removals, sensuality does not find that remedy of flight +which St. Paul lays down so prompt and easy as it would be if the +parish priest depended only on his provincial. + +And, finally, the religious do not, by assuming the habit as such, +strip themselves of the passions of men. There might be one or more +for whom the subjection and mode of life in a religious community +becomes wearisome; and such men, knowing that a cura cannot be removed +from the mission parish without the agreement of the ordinary and the +vice-patron, undertake to gain the good-will of those authorities by +letters and other means, and for the same object to win the friendship +of officials and dependents, so that these may exert influence in +order to preserve them in the curacies. And thus gradually they become +rooted in their liking for a life that is solitary and independent, +and will reach a state in which they give up the mission parish with +grief, because they hold it through love for the conveniences of life, +and more as very secular men of the world than as religious or as +ministers to souls. In that case the religious orders could say that +they had lost fervent sons, and the ordinaries that they had not made +zealous curates. + +All this is avoided when the regulars serve as parish priests in +the same manner as they do now in the Filipinas; for they are wholly +dependent on their superiors, and cannot dispose of anything without +their permission. If it be expedient for them to go to some other +place, there is no difficulty in changing their residence; and as +they have not that security of perpetual tenure, their only care is +for their ministries, the door being closed to unworthy measures and +claims. Hence it follows that this mode of holding curacies is more +in accordance with the three vows and the other statutes that aim at +the perfection that is proper for the regulars, and consequently at +the salvation of the souls [31] for whom they care. + +The seventh and last reason--omitting others, either because they +are included in those already mentioned, or because they may readily +be deduced from those--is supported by authority. Let the histories +of the Indias be read, and the laymen and ecclesiastics who have +written about them; all agree in raising very serious doubts whether +the regulars should be parish priests or not, and much more whether +they should be so with title. [These writers] noted many decisions, +in which entire provinces--composed of religious who were influential, +experienced, learned, and zealous--resolved in their chapter-meetings +that the mission curacies should be given up; many [opinions by] +generals of those same orders, who approved that proceeding; and +others, by various distinguished men, who expostulated against the +acceptance of such an encumbrance by their religious order. [They have +also noted] faults which they contemplated with tears--interminable +discords, which banished all tranquillity and peace; and innumerable +other damages, which, even the secular writers on the Indias admit, +have made the regulars tremble. + +If he who sees from [a safe place on] land a fierce hurricane on +the sea, and that in it are wrecked galleons of great size--some of +the men on board being drowned, others crying for help, and those +who by swimming have emerged on the shore taking warning [from this +misfortune], and causing great fear in those who hear them--trembles +at [the thought of] venturing upon the sea: what marvel is it that +the regulars of Filipinas, who have not thus far been inducted into +this new form of parish tenure which the archbishop is attempting +[to establish], seeing as if from the solid land so much tempest and +shipwreck which are occasioned by that form, and which the histories, +like accurate charts, place before them, tremble, and refuse to embark +on that sea? When the witnesses are so truthful, and the experiences +so injurious, it would be a mistake of the utmost importance not to +believe them, or to expect that [in] trouble one may remedy it by +regret, or not to avoid it beforehand by prudent measures. + +With these reasons, three arguments of which the reverend archbishop +entertains a high opinion lose their force. One is, to argue [thus] +in this dilemma: Either the regulars who are parish priests conduct +themselves well and fulfil their obligations as such, or they do +not. If this last, it is not right that it be permitted, nor that +there be any failure to reform with the visitation which he is trying +to enforce. If in all respects they fulfil their obligations, what +matters it if he visits them, approves their proceedings, and praises +them in his report to the king? And with this mode of argument he +casts suspicion on the regulars, as if they had faults or failings +as parish priests to conceal. + +Answer is made, first: that the religious who are curas conduct +themselves well in their ministries, and strive so far as their powers +extend, for the salvation of their parishioners; and that what holds +them back from being parish priests subject to the reverend archbishop +is not the fear caused by [the question of] behavior, but dread of +the inconveniences and dangers above recounted, which it is not easy +to explain. + +Answer is made, second: that in Manila and Cavite--which is distant +two leguas from this city, and where only the secular priests are +curas--the reverend archbishop has precedents very effectual for +ascertaining the consequences of the way in which the religious +behave in their curacies. For in those two places, where they have +no obligations as curas, they are the ones who carry the burden +of the day and of the summer's heat; they alone (or almost alone) +are the ones who administer throughout the year the sacraments of +penance and communion--to Spaniards, Indians (Tagalogs, Pampangos, +and Visayans), mestizos, Cafres, and other peoples who resort thither; +they alone keep laborers set aside for this task; they alone preach +frequently. It is they who carry on missions; they who dispense the +divine word and explain the Christian doctrine in the guard-rooms of +the soldiers and [among those stationed] at the gates of the city; +they to whom the slaves from the foundry resort; [they who minister +to] the prisoners in the jail, and the poor in the hospitals, and the +seminaries of La Misericordia and Sancta Potenciana. It is they who in +their churches have separate sermons for the Spaniards, for negroes, +and for Indians; it is they who are almost continually going forth, +by day and by night, to the sick and the dying, whatever the weather +may be. Then who can imagine that where the religious, without being +curas, have the inclination and zeal to aid the secular curas and the +reverend archbishop themselves, relieving so greatly the burden of +their obligations, they will neglect their duties in the villages, +where the souls have been entrusted to their care alone? + +Answer is made, third: that just as the reverend archbishop by his +arguments strives at Madrid and Roma to subject the regulars to +his visitation in what concerns them as parish priests, he may also +plan to subject them in all that concerns morals and life. "For if +they behave ill, it is not right to permit such conduct; and if +their conduct is exemplary, what matter is it if he visits them, +and approves them, in order to report on them with praises?" The +reply which the reverend archbishop will make to this argument can +with more reason be applied as the reply and solution to his own. The +religious orders add that, even though the praises of the reverend +archbishop are and always will be worthy of the utmost appreciation, +yet they set a much greater value on following the counsel of the +apostle about each man abiding in his own calling [32]--which was not +to be curas--than to be curas and obtain those praises with the risk +of the troubles that have been considered. + +Nor is it right, by the same mode of argument as that of the reverend +archbishop, that the religious orders should not further make evident +the importance of their justice and of their labors. This prelate +greatly resented that the reverend bishop, the delegate and judge of +his Holiness for cases of appeals, should go to Manila and exercise +his functions, issuing various acts; and the said reverend archbishop +also took steps to have the delegate depart immediately from his +archbishopric, and said (and wrote to Europa) that the religious orders +were trying to keep the delegate there as their judge-conservator. It +is here where his own argument presses: either the procedure of +the reverend archbishop was just, or it was not. If it were just, +what did it matter that he had before him a judge with authority +from the pope, and must deliver to this judge the documents which +he demanded, so that as a judge so superior he might confirm them, +and make a report on them with commendations? If the archbishop's +conduct were not just, as little just was it that he should go beyond +his obligation, in order to obstruct rightful jurisdiction. + +The reverend archbishop also refused to the religious orders all the +copies of documents and the attested statements which they asked +from him in regard to the visitation which he planned and began, +but from which he desisted. If what the reverend archbishop did and +decreed was just, what mattered it that he should command the said +copies and statements to be given to parties so eminent and worthy +of respect as were five religious provinces? If it were not just, +why were these decrees made and executed? + +Another argument of which the reverend archbishop avails himself is, +to say that if the regulars who are parish priests do not submit to +his visitation and jurisdiction, he will finally be a [mere] bishop +de anillo. [33] Answer is made, first, that even if this were the +case (which, however, it is not), the reverend archbishop would not +have any reason to complain in this particular, as, according to the +law, no wrong is done to him who, before entering on any negotiation, +acquaints himself with it and determines it beforehand. [34] For while +he was yet in Espana he knew that the regulars in Filipinas were +not parish priests by title, nor subject as such to the ordinary; +and if with this knowledge he decided to go to Manila in order to +be its metropolitan archbishop he ought to take for granted what +has been proved by experience, and not wonder that the regulars, +convinced by so effective arguments, are, constrained by these, giving +up the native curacies, in order not to be ministers of instruction +at so much risk. Nor will any one grant that reason countenances the +reverend archbishop more in trying to secure the extension of his +authority than it does the religious in maintaining themselves as +much as possible in what they had professed. + +Answer is made, second: that, not by commission but by his own proper +jurisdiction, the reverend archbishop can administer confirmations +throughout his archbishopric; act as judge of all matrimonial cases +among the Indians, and those affecting the rest of his flock, in the +same manner and the same cases as he could if secular priests were the +curas over them; and ordain priests and consecrate oils--with many +other things. The exemption of the regulars does not hinder these, +nor can a bishop who is only titular exercise these functions merely +through his own choice; and thus the reverend archbishop does not +come to be such a prelate. + +And, finally, according to Christian maxims the religious ought +to measure the choice of a new form of life, not by the question +whether the reverend archbishop has or has not more or less under +his jurisdiction, but by other and loftier principles, which concern +salvation and the means [to attain it], which they have already chosen, +by rule and vows, in order to attain with these that final end. And +the religious of Filipinas declare that if his Reverence the archbishop +refuses to live [in those islands] and be their prelate, because he has +not all the authority that he desires, they refuse the said form of +[serving as] parish priests, in order to avoid the controversies and +perils here stated, so as to live in the quiet of their profession +and by means of it to secure more peaceably their eternal salvation. + +If the reverend archbishop shall urge the precedents of some religious +orders in America in regard to the said matter, the religious orders +of Filipinas state further, besides what is said above, that those +who gave up the mission villages in America furnish a more effective +example than do those who remained in those posts subject to the +ordinary. They also add that for this case more to the purpose +are the precedents of all the reverend archbishops and bishops of +Filipinas--of no one of whom it is known, it should be said, that he +was an archbishop or bishop de anillo. Many of them were entirely +satisfied at seeing the good work that was wrought in their flocks +by the religious orders, and thanked them and greatly honored them; +and even though some few of them desired what the present reverend +archbishop is attempting to secure, yet on hearing the arguments of +the regulars the prelates contented themselves with informing the +Council--without that body changing the former mode, or the prelates +breaking forth in violence as has been seen in this present time. Then, +even if the reverend archbishop is somewhat influenced by precedents +of certain religious orders in America, it seems as if he ought to +be convinced by those of his predecessors and the others who were +suffragan bishops in those islands. + +The third argument is, that as the regulars who are parish priests are +not under his jurisdiction, he cannot feed his sheep as it behooves +him to do, or give account of them to God, with due certainty; +accordingly he claims that the regulars of Filipinas should be +compelled not to leave their flocks, and should be forced under his +jurisdiction. Answer is made, first, that the reverend archbishop can, +whenever it shall please him, apply himself to an inspection of the +Indian villages, even those that are furthest from Manila, and view +the aspect of his flock--who will be greatly edified to see that an +archbishop undergoes the inconveniences of small boats, and traverses +dangerous tracts of sea and land, for their spiritual good, as the +provincials do. Then if he will have taken the trouble to learn some +languages, as the religious have done, in order to dispense to them +the divine word, to hear their confessions, give them communion, and +the sacrament of confirmation, and the rest that they require: then he +can obtain information about the religious and the spiritual state of +the villages, give such commands to the Indians as he shall please, +and confer with the ministers on all that concerns the salvation of +souls; and not only can he, but he has the right to do so. It cannot +be doubted that this would be a rich nourishment [to his flock], +and that these actions of an archbishop are compatible with his not +having jurisdiction over the regulars; and it would be a great pity +if all this, which is so proper for a prelate, should fail simply +because the regular in his curacy remains with the exemption which +the Apostolic See has granted to him. + +In view of these actions which he can perform, the reverend archbishop +will attach less importance to his not visiting judicially the regular +who is a parish priest because the latter remains outside of his +jurisdiction; but it may well be believed that the regular keeps the +sacrament, the holy oils, and the baptismal font in decent condition; +that there are registers of baptisms, burials, and marriages; that +the Christian doctrine is explained to all the people together, and +to the children separately, as also to the larger boys and girls, +and all at different times; that not only in times of sickness and +of danger of death, but in health and safety, the sacraments are +administered to those who ask for them; and that other things are done +which are proper for the ministers who are curas. These functions, +as they have a public interest in themselves for the whole village, +are known throughout it; and even if any detail should be neglected, +the reverend archbishop may well believe that neither the provincial +nor the other responsible officials of the provinces who are designated +to watch, make decisions, punish, or reward, for the general good, +will wish to be censured for it. + +The reverend archbishop does not doubt that in the church of God the +holy religious orders form a very numerous assembly, and that their +sons, every one, are the sheep of the supreme shepherd, the pope, +who has exempted them from the [jurisdiction of the] ordinaries, +unburdening his own conscience, and trusting to the vigilance of the +generals, and other superiors--to whom, as to the guardians of souls, +he has handed over those of the individuals [who form] the rest +[of the order]. It has not occurred to any one that on account of +this exemption the popes cannot feed the universal flock, or appear +with safety before the tribunal of God; and experience has shown the +extraordinary benefits which have resulted from it to the church and +to the religious orders themselves. Why, then, where the vicars of +Christ are secure, will not an archbishop be so too? + +On account of merely the expectation of a great harvest in the +Indias many popes conferred on the regulars the authority to be +parish priests, with complete independence from the ordinaries, +rendering null and void whatever the latter might do in opposition +to this privilege. No one has said that by this the supreme pontiffs +placed the ordinaries in danger of rendering their accounts to God +unsatisfactorily, or hindered them from feeding and edifying their +flocks; and the result itself has given testimony, with the great +success of the propagation of the gospel, how successful has been +that method of having the regulars as curas, seeing that the hope of +a harvest has now grown to be its actual possession, and realms so +extensive have been conquered. And therefore the reverend archbishop of +Manila might have had confidence in commands so sovereign--especially +in that of Pius V, whose brief is now in full force in Filipinas, as on +the first day when it was issued; and even the motive therefor, since +there is so great a deficiency of secular priests that, if the regulars +should be lacking, the faith would perish in islands so widespread, +and the people would be as much heathens and idolaters as before. + +Answer is made, second: that the generals, the provincials, and the +main body of the provinces say the same in regard to the religious +who have professed their rule, that the latter are sheep also of the +flocks that God has placed in their charge, so long as the government +remains in their hands; and whatever care and attention the reverend +archbishop of Manila may give to his sheep the Indians, the regular +prelates will give to their subordinates in regard to the same account +which they will have to render for these to God. + +But with a very important difference: for the Indians who are not +converted are under the most serious obligations to join the assembly +of those who are already converted, and for this object can be forced +to hear the divine word; and those who have heard and believed it +[can be obliged] not to forsake what they believed, or depart from +the bosom of the Church, for it is not possible to be saved in any +other manner. And when for the attainment of two objects so great as +these there are no secular priests, and there are only religious, +who have attained those ends and are still doing so while they are +exempt curas, it would seem to be also the greatest obligation of +the ordinary to reconcile himself with such curas, in order not to +deprive the Church or defraud the blood of Christ of so much fruit. + +The religious cannot be forced in the manner which has been stated +to be curas subject to the ordinary, for besides the estate of the +Christian they have already professed that of the religious order; +and therein, without this force and violence, it is quite compatible +that the religious should be thoroughly subject and obedient to +their orders, and under their visitation and correction, and at the +same time as parish priests through charity only, as temporary curas +[interinos], and as assistants and coadjutors of the ordinaries, may +render them great service, minister to the Indians, attract others +who are infidels who thus may receive ministrations, and approve +themselves to all--just as if they were parish priests by title, +without the risks and difficulties that have been considered. + +For the reverend archbishop, then, to ask now--when without any force +all this great and well-known benefit to the church in Filipinas may +be restored--that the religious be threatened and compelled not to +leave those islands, and accept in them another and new calling, +so full of peril, and that other religious shall go thither from +Europa to the same life--and all in order that he may have greater +authority--this is a great deal to ask, and is not at all in his +favor before the tribunal of God. Who shall give account to His Divine +Majesty of the spiritual detriment that must ensue to fifty parishes, +abandoned for [even] a week--without mass, without instruction, +and without sacraments for little ones and adults, for the sick +and the dying? Over and over, before the affair reached this point, +the religious set forth all these injurious effects, and protested +against them to the reverend archbishop; and that they were not under +obligation [to do this], to the peril and [even] ruin of their own +souls, and that of their profession, [which was] to attend to the +souls of others. Nevertheless, the reverend archbishop pursued his +undertaking, and the religious retired [from their curacies]; the +former was done merely to have [his own] will, the latter through +necessity based on all that has been stated. Whose part, then, will +it be to render account of such a result, and to fear to do so? It +is certain that, according to the apostle, power and jurisdiction is +not for destruction but for edification. + +The reverend archbishop is not ignorant of the necessity for baptism; +nevertheless, no adult can be forced to receive it. The profession +of a religious is null, if any notable force intervened to bring it +about; and marriage is of no validity if a person wholly free were +in like manner compelled to marry. For these estates demand liberty, +and, no less, inspiration from God; and there is nothing of this where +there is only force and violence, for then the estate which was to be +a means for salvation is converted by such compulsion into a snare and +destruction. For one who is not a parish priest by title to become +one is a change of no less importance than for a bachelor to marry, +or a layman to become a religious; and for the reverend archbishop +to claim that, where others are free, the religious should be forced +into a mode of life full of risk, and for an object which can be +secured without that compulsion, is to extend his claims further +than perhaps he is aware, and to accumulate more material for the +account that he so greatly fears. For one thing, [his idea] that, +even supposing that the regulars are willing to be curas, they can +be forced into subjection, and this would be more tolerable; and, for +another, that if they do not choose, for all the reasons here stated, +to be curas, ecclesiastical and secular authorities may use violence +to make them enter the office of curas by title--and this is very far +from what Holy Writ, the general councils, and the holy fathers teach, +upon which there is ample material for volumes. + +The religious orders are greatly surprised that the reverend +archbishop, occupied with zealous cares for feeding his sheep, and +by holy fear regarding his account to God, should break out with +acts of violence against the religious only--and not do so in order +that secular priests should go from Europa or from Nueva Espana to +be parish priests in Filipinas; and that his Majesty may give to the +said seculars, for their travels and voyages, the aid that he grants +for the same purpose to the religious. If they should constrain the +reverend archbishop to state why he does not ask or seek this for +the seculars, the world would know what the religious orders have +accomplished and merited in the Filipinas, and what they are still +doing; and it would also know that, although in the words of Christ +the laborer is worthy of wages and recompense, in place of any new +remuneration to the said religious orders the reverend archbishop +is attempting by his claims to introduce them into a labyrinth of +entanglements, discords, and dissensions. + +Granted, now, the fundamental reasons why the regulars have refused +to be parish priests subject to the ordinary, and [preferred] to +leave the mission villages rather than serve them in such a manner, +the greatest affliction of the religious orders in Filipinas goes +further. Their provincials, in the last conference which they held +(as they notify us by letters of February in the past year of 699), +resolved that these petitioners should, as their attorneys and in +the names of them all, offer before your Council of the Indias an +absolute renunciation of the allotment of all the territories which +your Majesty gave to them in order that they might, with pontifical +jurisdiction, serve therein as parish priests. + +The religious are influenced to this action, first: because, even +though your Majesty command that no change be made in this regard in +the Filipinas, the religious orders do not now entertain a substantial +hope that entire obedience would be rendered to this law for peace, +without which it is intolerable to remain in those islands. The reason +for this fear and lack of confidence is, that this very thing was +commanded by your Majesty in a decree issued at Madrid, on November +27, 1687 (which is in the [book of] ordinances, at folios 8 and 9), +and the reverend archbishop did the opposite of what was ordained +therein, in the sight of your governor and Audiencia. If such was the +heed and observance given to a decree for making no change, even when +the reverend archbishop was not at variance with the religious orders, +what can they expect when he is now so exasperated against them? + +This argument gains more force when attention is paid to the immense +distance [from Espana] of those islands, where this is a current +saying, or almost a proverb, among those who are in power, "Let them +write to Madrid and Roma whatever fairy-tale they please at the time; +no one will be disturbed by it while the letters are on the way, or +while the decision is being made and until the ordinances arrive." And +therefore it results that although the reverend archbishop arrived +at Manila in the year 97, it is now the year 700 when the clamors and +disturbances which with his arrival were experienced [in the islands] +find an echo in your Council of the Indias--troubles which still are +endured, because it is necessary to wait a considerable time for the +arrival at the islands themselves of your royal provisions. And when +the decree already mentioned of the year 87, and another previous one +of the same tenor by the queen-mother our sovereign (who is now with +God), were not obeyed, there is little or no ground for the religious +to hope that other decrees of that sort will be obeyed. In both cases, +the mission curacies were resigned, and in this last one much more +has been suffered; and as it is not well that these occurrences and +disputes be repeated, and as it is intolerable to live in controversies +for the sake of curacies, to any one who is not wedded to them, the +religious orders intend, by the said resignation, to make an end, +once for all, of all this contention. + +The second reason: In Filipinas today the religious orders see +themselves dragged along and reduced to a most abject condition, in +which their ministers can, according to the divine oracles and the +teaching of holy men, gain little esteem or fruit while they exercise +these under so much reproach. If the edict of visitation which the +reverend archbishop commanded to be posted in the village of Tondo (a +mission village which is in charge of the Order of St. Augustine) be +read, among innumerable other questions will be found these: "Whether +the minister in charge goes without the ecclesiastical garb, or without +suitable clothing? Whether he goes without cutting his beard? Whether +by day or by night he carries weapons, or is indecently clothed?" + +If attention is given to the manner in which the archbishop took away +the two mission villages of Tondo and Binondo [from the orders], it +was done by forcibly breaking open the doors of those two churches, +and surrounding them with soldiers and secular officials, who +carried with them fetters, as if they went to arrest criminals or +highwaymen. Similarly, on account of a fit of anger which he felt +because two of these petitioners had embarked to come to seek redress +from the Council, the reverend archbishop demanded and obtained a +vessel, in which both ecclesiastical and secular officials set out to +arrest the said religious. But as they could not reach the religious, +as the ship had gained so much headway, the archbishop summoned the +Portuguese captain of another ship, and commanded him, under penalty +of major excommunication and a pecuniary fine, to secure the arrest +of the said two religious at Batavia; and told him that if it should +be necessary, he must demand aid from the governor there, who is a +Dutch heretic--although afterward, it is said, the archbishop advised +him not to do so. + +Consider the manner in which the religious had to apply to his +tribunal; in no case would he accept a document save through the +hand of the ecclesiastical procurator of his secular court. On one +occasion he allowed so short a time-limit that the holy religious +orders were forced to go between twelve and one o'clock at night, +knocking at the doors of several procurators, because one had excused +himself on account of the stormy weather--and all this when there was +no need of or risk in delay; and the reverend archbishop thus gave +ground for even the laymen to say that he was abusing his authority +in order to annoy the religious. And it is no wonder that laymen say +this when the reverend archbishop himself writes (as it were, praising +himself) that the regulars are almost exhausted and beside themselves +at seeing how in so short a time he has, if not conquered them all, +at least broken their courage to a great extent. But the religious +orders desire for this prelate in the remembrance of posterity more +praiseworthy sayings than this one which calls them exhausted by +such means. + +The reverend archbishop also writes to individuals who can have no +voice in these matters, either of justice or government, in such manner +that the religious find themselves compared to soldiers on horseback, +and characterized as disobedient to both pontifical and royal laws; +and of so bad lives and morals that, he says, if he had to make +informatory reports regarding them there would not be enough paper +in all China. If he writes thus to Europa, how will he talk there [in +the islands] with his servants, intimate friends, and acquaintances? + +Notice should be taken of the reprimand which through the influence +of the reverend archbishop was given to the religious orders by your +royal court of Manila, composed of four officials who are young men; +it is perhaps the most angry and contemptuous which has been offered +to religious in a Catholic tribunal. In regard to the decrees which +were issued regarding this particular, by the bishop the delegate of +his Holiness, it appears that by a royal decree the five provincials, +the rectors of the colleges of Santo Tomas and San Jose, and two other +religious, all grave persons, were summoned; and, having made them +enter the hall, where your ministers were seated on their platforms, +Licentiate Don Geronimo Barredo began to speak, as being the senior +auditor; he talked to them, using vos, and impersonal terms that were +very rude, although the royal sovereignty of your Majesty deigns to +honor the provincials with the title of "very devout and venerable +fathers." He called them disturbers of the peace--as it were, the +causes and authors of the disquieted condition of the commonwealth; +he blamed them for aiding the reverend bishop the delegate of his +Holiness, and for some of their subordinates performing the service +of notaries to him. He threatened them, saying that even though +they were exempt, yet your ministers could, with the administrative +power which they hold from your Majesty, banish the religious +from the islands. When he had ended his censure, he said, "Get +out!" [Despejad]. The provincial of St. Augustine, with all courtesy +and submission, asked from his Highness permission to say a word, +but the said Don Geronimo Barredo refused it, repeating the words, +"Get out!" Again the provincial urged, with all humility, that they +hear him; and the reply of that same auditor was to ring his little +bell, saying in a loud voice, "Get out! Get out!" Accordingly they +made the religious go away, full of embarrassment, and without any +further consolation than that of patience. + +Such, Sire, was the civility with which that royal court treated all +that assembly of religious, among them superiors so eminent, ignominy +being offered to them where they should have encountered the honor +which your Majesty, by a special law for the Indias, charges upon your +officials and presidents, in order that the religious may thereby be +encouraged to labor for the propagation of the faith. In order to stir +up the community, a royal Audiencia takes action in appeals in obvious +cases of which the Church, by law, disposes. To furnish notaries to +a delegate of the pope (which was the same as to furnish them to the +supreme pontiff) in those islands--when, as the secular priests were +intimidated by the public decrees of the reverend archbishop, there was +not one who would aid the delegate--this was an unseemly act of the +religious orders, and cause why Catholic officials should reprimand +them! And, finally, the hearing which justice does not deny to the +worst criminals, was entirely barred to five holy religious orders, +the anger of striplings foaming over on those so venerable gray hairs. + +Your governor knew very well the unsuitableness of this action, and, +either not liking the matter, or pretending to be ignorant of it, he +was not present at that session; and with this sort of connivance the +reverend archbishop succeeded with his designs, and the Audiencia with +theirs, the religious orders paying for it all. Then if all that is +mentioned in this second reason ends in the depreciation and public +ridicule of the religious orders, left defenseless and wounded by +the heads of the commonwealth, what idea will be formed of them by +the Indians, mestizos, mulattoes, Cafres, and even those Spaniards +who have little sense? Such people mould their opinion not by what +they reason out, but by what they see; and when their eyes record +so much contempt for the ministers of religion, the consequence is a +low estimate of their teaching. On this account the religious offer +their resignation of the mission villages, so that they may with +better results care for others. + +The third reason: Although the immunity of their property which the +religious possess is a sacred thing, the reverend archbishop regards +it in such a light, on account of their not having been subjected +to his visitation, that they dread in the future greater losses and +difficulties. The regulars had applied to the said reverend archbishop +to forbid Licentiate Don Juan de Sierra, your auditor, from having +judicial cognizance in regard to the lands of the religious orders, and +from molesting them about this matter so much as he was doing--without +any necessity, as he was merely a lay judge. That prelate issued a +first and a second inhibitory letter, and, as the said Don Juan did not +conform to them, the regulars again applied to the reverend archbishop +to defend them. The latter had already explained his intentions with +the religious orders, in order that the religious who were parish +priests might allow themselves to be visited; and therefore he stated +that, before his issuing the third command regarding their application, +the religious orders must first answer whether or not they would submit +to the said visitation. They replied, in the most peaceable manner, +sometimes verbally, sometimes in writing, that they were resolved to +give up the mission curacies rather than serve them in that manner; +and they actually offered their resignations of those offices. + +So much did the reverend archbishop resent this that the lands +belonging to the religious orders, which thus far were privileged, +on account of being ecclesiastical property, thereafter were not +exempt. Those which on account of their immunity had deserved two +inhibitory letters now deserved a decree revoking the said letters, +the property remaining lay and profane, and subject to the secular +jurisdiction. The religious were in the said decree canonized as +rebels, contumacious, disobedient to the Church and to the reverend +archbishop, and unworthy of his clemency. In this declaration the +reverend archbishop excepted the lands of the nuns of Santa Clara, and +those of the colleges of Santo Tomas and San Jose--the former, because +they belonged to a convent of the utmost poverty; and the latter on +account of the benefit to the public which their teaching caused. + +From this it may be inferred, Sire, that the immunity and exemption of +property which the religious possess must be, in the apprehension of +the reverend archbishop, a quality removable ad nutum of his will +and pleasure, but not permanent, [as it should be] according to +the direction of the Apostolic See. It will follow that while this +question is pending whether or not the religious will be parish +priests by title, some of those very holdings possess sufficient +spirituality of character for [the issue of] two inhibitory letters +to the secular judge; and that when the religious refuse this mode +of life that spiritual character becomes, by a sudden metamorphosis, +profane secularity. It will follow that the crime of rebellion, +disobedience to the Church, and ill-desert of kindness is incurred +by the religious orders for not assuming a state and profession of +life to which God does not call them, simply because the reverend +archbishop desires that it be chosen. It will follow that to renounce +the curacies is not to recognize the jurisdiction of the reverend +archbishop, and accordingly this is not to recognize that of the +pope or the authority of your Majesty, since he offers to resign his +archbishopric. It will follow that, although your Majesty had made +the assignment of the territories which with pontifical jurisdiction +the religious administer and have thus far administered, for them +to offer before your vice-patron their resignation of the said +curacies--solely for the purpose that he who there represents your +royal person may be acquainted with the fact of their renunciation of +the said assignment--is, in the thought of the reverend archbishop, to +grant spiritual jurisdiction to the secular governor, and consequently +for the said religious to become heretics in many and important points. + +And since the lands of the nuns of Santa Clara retain their immunity +and are ranked as spiritual goods, on account of the extreme poverty +of those servants of God, does the reverend archbishop regard that +only as a physical lack of riches on their part, and no more? or +as evangelical poverty which springs from the vow, institute, and +profession of the life which they have chosen for Christ, and which +the Apostolic See has approved? If the former, the religious frankly +state that it is very alien to the ecclesiastical rules, by which the +exemption and immunity ought to be measured. Otherwise, innumerable +poor people, of those who are commonly called beggars [35] through +the streets, would secure, on account of being equally destitute of +goods with the said nuns of Santa Clara, or perhaps even more so, +ecclesiastical exemption from secular judges for their furniture and +petty possessions. If the reverend archbishop answers, "the second," +the religious also say, with entire confidence: "What authority is +that of this prelate, that he should decide in an official utterance +that there is evangelical poverty in the convent of Santa Clara, +and not in the other mendicant religious orders? and that the lands +of the said convent of Santa Clara enjoy exemption on account of +their evangelical poverty and religious institute, while it may not +be enjoyed for the same reason by the lands of the other religious +orders, which are so distinguished, and are approved by the Church?" + +Lastly, it follows that the instruction in grammar, philosophy, +and theology in the colleges of Santo Tomas and San Jose renders +their lands spiritual property, and exempts them from the secular +judge. Yet the preaching of the word of God, the instruction in +Christian doctrine, the administration of the sacraments of penance +and communion, the consolation [of the faithful] with the mass, +the visiting of the sick and dying, the ministrations in jails and +hospitals, in order that no one may die without the sacraments: +these and other spiritual works, which the holy religious orders of +the city of Manila habitually perform with all classes of people, +are not sufficient [in the archbishop's opinion] to exempt their +lands from being profane. + +If then, Sire, the reverend archbishop has thus conducted himself, +in matters so delicate and of the highest importance, simply because +the regulars excused themselves from being parish priests subject to +his visitation, what may not be feared hereafter? What privileges, +exemptions, or decrees will be sufficient, so that he may not explain +them as he pleases, and continually open new doors to dissensions? If +with such ease he pronounces sentence on the regulars as rebellious, +contumacious, and disobedient to the Church, what difficulty will he +find in treating them as such--sometimes alone, and sometimes resorting +to the royal court for the sake of more forcible demonstrations of +his displeasure? + +The fourth reason: Your Majesty, in dealing with the religious in your +laws of the Indias, has two especial statutes which not only show your +desire for peace and your Catholic piety, but most strictly command +that efforts be made to secure union and concord among the religious +orders, on account of the many and admirable results which ensue +therefrom. This union and concord had been established by all the +religious orders of Filipinas, and its fruits applauded, long before +the reverend archbishop arrived in Manila; and by it those islands were +made a paradise for what pertains to the religious orders. The reverend +archbishop was the only one who was not pleased with this concord; +and therefore he characterizes it in his letters as a conventicle, [36] +and of evil tendency and inconsiderate. [37] He not only resented it, +but displayed and made known his resentment; he tried to disparage it, +through a third person; he had the idea, and repeated it many times, +that there was a league against himself; and it is for this reason +that he secretly obtained information against it, imposing the penalty +of excommunication on the witnesses to maintain secrecy. So far can +go the desire of commanding and judging the religious, and grief at +not accomplishing it. + +In so lamentable a condition [are affairs there], when the religious +desire not only to see themselves free from the charge of the mission +villages, but, if it be possible, away from those islands, and far +from a prelate who feels so annoyed at the union and brotherhood of +the religious orders--a union dictated by the natural light of reason, +prescribed in their general chapters, inculcated by the generals of +the orders as being their supreme heads, ordained by your Majesty, +suggested by the vicars of Christ, promulgated in the sacred writings, +and bequeathed as in His last will by Christ himself to His disciples; +and they without it would not have reaped a harvest in the world, nor +would He have retained them as His missionaries. The religious admit +that the great horror of this prelate at their concord and union gives +them much cause for serious reflection; and that when this concord is +so persecuted on account of the mission curacies, there is no safer +way to maintain it than to separate themselves from those curacies. + +The fifth and last reason: By letters of February in the year 699 it +is learned that the reverend archbishop has been sending information +not only against the said concord [of the orders], but against even +the reverend bishop, the delegate of his Holiness--and all with [the +threat of] excommunication in order to maintain secrecy. If a bishop +and delegate of the pope is not secure, how will a religious who is a +parish priest be so? It seems as if the reverend archbishop now falls +back from lands to persons, regarding those holdings as property merely +profane, and the religious as persons without any privilege. At the +outset he claimed that the regulars, as parish priests, must be subject +to his investigations and visitation; and now, extending his claims +further, he invents against them, as religious, a new visitation, +made up from secret inquiries by dint of censures. How is it possible +now not only to have but even to imagine peace in the Filipinas? If +the religious orders do not defend themselves, he endangers their +reputation in the places where he will send the said information--and +all the more if those reports go forth authorized by the secretary +and notary who attest the official documents of the archbishop; +for the notary, according to popular report, is a relative of his, +or passes as such; and the secretary is his cousin-german. And it +appears from the acts (on folio 3) that the notary-public, Master +Joaquin Ramirez, testified that on November 27 of 697 he had given +a paper with a letter from the archbishop to Fray Jose del Rosario, +provincial of the Augustinian Recollects--not casually, but delivered +into the said provincial's own hands--when the fact is, that this +provincial had died four years before, as is well-known in Manila, +and as is evident from the registers of deaths in that province, +and will also be here. Such were his impetuosity and his mode of +procedure, without instructing the notary, or the latter knowing, +of whom he was talking, and confounding times and persons, and the +living with the dead. And if by such testimonies a man is introduced +in the documents as alive, when in reality he was dead, what wonder +will it be if, for the greater disparagement of the regulars, the +virtues are introduced as dead among them which are alive in them? + +But if the religious, invaded in so many ways, look after their +defense, how will they be to blame in this? And if, in order to defend +themselves, they so dispose matters that they can have recourse +and appeal to the delegate, and if the latter ordain something +and the reverend archbishop will not conform to it, and on both +sides censures are launched forth--as occurred in the case of the +lands--who will have been the mover of all this [trouble]? For the +religious to abandon their reputation wholly is not safe; to defend +themselves there occasions inconvenience; to let the matter take its +course, notwithstanding this behavior of the reverend archbishop, is +an intolerable yoke; and for the regulars to be curas subject to him +all that is here alleged will not permit. These are the afflictions +that are now being suffered in Filipinas. The religious there are +summoned to be mocked; those here, aware of what is going on, are +reluctant [to take their places]. And since the whole matter takes +its rise from the curacies and mission villages, and the foregoing +decrees are rendered null, and our expectations from others in the +future are dashed: for these reasons and the others here adduced, +and insisting upon the said order from the provincials to renounce +the mission curacies, the petitioners, prostrate at the royal feet +of your Majesty, ask in the name of the said five provinces that +you will be pleased to consider them as free and exonerated from the +charge which hitherto they have held in serving as parish priests the +mission villages that they hold in Filipinas; and for this purpose +they renounce absolutely the allotment of territories which your +Majesty had committed to them, in order that others may from this +time forth administer them, with secure peace and stable tranquillity, +which they expect from your Majesty's magnificence. [38] + + +Royal decree, May 20, 1700 + +The King. To my reverend father in Christ, Doctor Don Diego Camacho +y Avila, archbishop of the metropolitan church of Manila in the +Filipinas Islands, and member of my Council: In letters of January +19 and February 20, 1698, you report your arrival in those islands, +and what you are doing to quell the hatred and enmities which exist +among your subjects, reclaiming them to a new life by the measures +which you are applying, and obtaining the peace and tranquillity +which you were desiring. You also wrote that you had undertaken to +continue work on the church building there, and had gone to visit +the secular clergy, in which you had met no hindrance; and that in +endeavoring to make the visitations in the mission churches served +by regulars--according to the regulations of the Council of Trent, +the apostolic letters, and the royal decrees--you were influencing the +religious by gentle methods to accept such visitation, for this purpose +drawing up a manifesto, but that these methods were not sufficient to +induce them to do so voluntarily. For this reason, in fulfilment of +the obligations of your office you had published an edict for carrying +out this visitation, and had actually gone to put it into execution +in the mission stations of regulars at Tondo, Binondoc, Santa Cruz, +Dilao, and Parian, since you were denied diocesan jurisdiction over +the ministers who serve in these places--while at the same time, +in those of Tondo and Binondoc (which are served by religious of +St. Dominic and St. Augustine) those ministers were abandoning their +churches, consuming [39] the holy sacrament, and carrying away with +them the holy oils and ornaments. Consequently you found it necessary +to place secular priests ad interim in those villages, from which it +resulted that the religious orders went to offer their renunciation +of those missions before my governor, without going to you; and in +this condition of affairs it seemed best to the Audiencia to furnish +aid so that the religious orders should not abandon these missions, +and that their renunciation of them should not be accepted. But +this was not sufficient to prevent the religious from withdrawing +from those missions, for which reason you found yourself compelled +to retire to your own church, and to desist from these visitations, +removing the temporary ministers whom you had appointed, and lifting +the censures and penalties which you had imposed, without prejudice to +your dignity and jurisdiction. And finally you recount the very harmful +results which must follow from the form and method of administration +which prevails in these mission stations, and the illegal acts which +are committed by the ministers in charge of them, of which you send a +summary, stating how impossible you find it to remedy this condition +of affairs, on account of the reasons which you point out, and asking +that the necessary measures be taken, and that you be assured of it, +so that you can visit as you should that archbishopric, in fulfilment +of your ministry as its pastor. This matter has been considered in +my Council of the Indias, with the attested copies sent by you of the +documents therein, with the representations made in your name and in +those of the religious orders who reside in those islands and hold +mission posts there. Having fully informed myself on both sides, and +given the subject special consideration, I have resolved to approve, +and herewith do approve, all that you have accomplished in this affair, +and especially your course in having ceased from further action +therein until you could report it to me and await the measures which +may be applied to the difficulty, assuring you of my full gratitude +for your very judicious proceedings and the good management which you +have showed in the conduct of this important affair. Your procedure +with the superiors of the religious orders is very suitable to your +prudence, and quite in accordance with the opinion that I have of your +zeal and great discretion; and the special service which you have +rendered to me is strongly commended to my remembrance, that I may +bear it in mind and favor and honor you on all occasions that shall +arise. And in view of the grave considerations that are involved in +this matter, and of your request that the regulations and provisions of +the sacred canons, councils, and apostolic constitutions, and the laws +of the Indias be put into execution, in order that the diocesans may, +as you say, visit the regulars who hold office as curas, in matters +which pertain to the care of souls, I am undertaking with all the +attention of my Catholic and pious zeal to furnish the remedies that +are most suitable and effectual for this object, and for preventing +any disturbances which may arise in the future, leaving settled and +established the right of prescription, both canonical and legal. And +as concerns what is contained in the summary which you have drawn up +of the illegal acts of the religious who serve the missions, except +in the question of visitation you shall always have authority to +receive information, and to demand from the superiors of the orders +that they reform and correct the religious. And if when they are +admonished the first and the second time they do not thus act, I +command that you carry out the said reform with your jurisdiction as +ordinary. For the better success of this, I decree, by despatches sent +this day to the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia there, +that they assist you with their aid on all occasions when you shall +demand it and shall need it. Of this you are [herewith] notified, +and you shall inform me of your action in this matter, and of any +further occurrences. At Aranjuez, May 20 in the year 1700. + + +I the King + +By command of the king our sovereign: + +Don Manuel de Aperregui + + +[Six rubrics are added at the foot of this document, which appear to +be those of the members of the Council.] + + + + + + + +THE AUGUSTINIANS IN THE PHILIPPINES, 1670-94 + + +[The remainder of Diaz's Conquistas--comprising the fourth hook of +that work, as found in pp. 689-817--is here presented, partly in full +translation, partly in synopsis. Numerous extracts have already been +made from this book, notably as regards the Pardo controversy and some +insurrections among the natives; these will of course be omitted here.] + + + +CHAPTER I + +[Diaz mentions the calamitous times experienced in the islands +during the rule of most of the governors from Corcuera to Salcedo, +which at last are succeeded, in the plan of Providence, by peace and +comfort.] The peacemaker [iris] whom divine Providence seems to have +selected for this general benefit was Governor Don Manuel de Leon y +Sarabia; for his taking possession of his government was the shifting +of the scenes in this melancholy theater, the calming of the tempests, +and the succession of rest after fatigue, and peace after war. The +former lines of commerce were renewed, and other and new ones opened +up--such as that of the coast of Malabar and Santo Tome, called +the Coromandel coast; and those of Suratte, Macan and Batavia. All +these improvements were facilitated by the wholesome purposes and the +kindly disposition of Don Manuel de Leon, and especially by his great +disinterestedness; this last would, if it had not been accompanied by +the rest, have failed of success, as did the lofty and incomparable +[disinterestedness] of Don Diego Fajardo, since it was obscured by +his coldness and excessive severity--which, although accompanied by +justice, was, being excessive, known as injustice. + +As soon as the new governor commenced his fortunate rule, he sent +to Macan General Don Juan Enrique de Losada, accompanied by Father +Francisco Mecinas, [40] of the Society of Jesus, in order to further +the interests of that commerce, and to endeavor to open up the richer +trade of Canton. This was accomplished by the said envoys with so +much ability that in the following year the Chinese began to come +[to Manila], with barks from Macan and somas from Canton, with great +wealth of silks, damasks, and other stuffs. Trade was opened with +Ningpu, a port of the province of Che-Kian in the empire of China, +where is cultivated the greater part of the silk which supplies +the world, a commodity which greatly advanced the commerce of Nueva +Espana. The governor maintained courteous intercourse with Sipuan, +the son of Kuesing, and from this originated the frequent visits of +so many champans from China and somas (which are larger champans) +from Canton, which every year engage in the commerce with Manila; +for in some years are counted thirty barks, and nearly as many from +other regions, which supply merchandise to Manila, and contribute to +the royal revenues great sums with their customs duties. [41] + +The flagship "Buen Socorro," which had made the voyage to Nueva Espana +in charge of General Diego de Arevalo, had a fortunate arrival at the +islands--although not at the port of Cavite, but at that of Palapag +in the province of Leyte, outside of the Embocadero. It brought an +auditor, Licentiate Don Fernando Escano, a native of Ecija; he was a +great jurisconsult, as is evident from the learned books which he had +printed in Espana--De testamento imperfecto, and the history of the +Order of St. John of Malta, which he wrote in the Latin language, +by order of his most serene Highness Don Juan of Austria, grand +prior of Castilla and Leon. He came with his wife, Dona Leonor de +Cordoba, a native of Sevilla, and four [six] children: Don Fernando, +who was a captain, and lived but a few years; Don Juan de Escano, +an alferez who reached the age of fifty years, an unmarried man, +very virtuous, and an example for laymen; Don Jose and Don Manuel, +afterward religious of St. Dominic; Don Alonso, who was an Augustinian +religious, and at his death a minister in Pampanga; and a daughter, +Dona Maria, who married the sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya y +Torres, alguazil-mayor of the Holy Office of the Inquisition. The +auditor's wife was a professed member of our tertiary order; and all +of them were people of great virtue. + +With appointment as bishop of Nueva Segovia came the dean of Manila, +Master Don Jose Millan de Poblete, a priest of much virtue and +discretion, and nephew of the archbishop Doctor Don Miguel Millan de +Poblete, of honored memory. The vigorous age at which this dignity +came to him (for he was not yet fifty) did not enable him to enjoy it +[long]; for he lived very few years in the government of that church, +not long enough to reach his consecration--with general regret in these +islands at having lost a grand prelate, heir to the many virtues of +his uncle.... + +Auditor Don Fernando de Escano began to fill his office with +great rectitude and disinterestedness, for he was a learned man, +and stood in fear of God, which is the true wisdom. But, influenced +by his desires for good, yet lacking in judgment and experience, he +proceeded to enter the labyrinth of trying to reform more than what +is in need of reform--being counseled by persons who aimed only at +gaining by calumny what they could not prove in law. From this he +undertook to follow the opinions of Auditor Don Salvador Gomez de +Espinosa, of whom we have already written, and to subscribe to his +manifestoes, as the Parenetico; and without further investigation than +the depositions of persons who were prejudiced against the clergy and +the religious orders, he made attacks on them in letters written to +his Majesty. Afterward, he recognized that the evidence did not agree +with what had been told him; and he came to repentance when the shot +was already fired and much damage done thereby. These false notions, +and others like them, as well as his considering the little or nothing +that can be accomplished in these islands by the ministers of his +Majesty, who never goes beyond what the governors desire, wore him +out in a few years; and he died as the excellent Christian that he +was, and so indifferent to worldly advantages that he had not money +enough for his burial, and was buried in our convent at Manila. All +his family inherited his virtue, and were the only children of an +auditor who came out so well, for all strove to grow in virtue to the +standard of their honored father; they were therefore highly esteemed, +and their lives came to a holy end. Don Juan de Escano, who attained +the rank of general, was an example of virtue in Manila, and died +with the reputation of unbroken chastity [con opinion de virgen]; +and his property, which was large and justly gained, he left, well +invested as it was, for the building and maintenance of the beaterio +of Santa Catalina de Sena [i.e., St. Catherine of Sienna], of the +tertiary Order of St. Dominic in Manila, in which foundation he had +much share and influence. + +About this time came to Manila the prince of Siao, [42] son of the +king Don Ventura Pinto de Morales, to ask the governor for religious +of the Society of Jesus to instruct the natives of his little kingdom, +where there were many Christians--although the majority of that people +were infected with the errors of the cursed Mahoma. These islands +are in five and one-half degrees of latitude north, and one hundred +and forty-nine degrees of longitude from the meridian of Tenerife; +the seas about them are difficult of navigation, on account of being +in the midst of a large and widespread bank [placer] of shoals which +lie on all sides. They share the reputation of Maluco, not only for the +warlike nature of their inhabitants, but for many spice-bearing trees, +of clove and nutmeg; but in other means of support that country is +very poor. This prince was received by the governor with much honor; +he gave him the use of his own coach, and lodged him at the college of +San Jose, in charge of the religious of the Society; and he took much +pains to forward the business of the prince, since it was for so holy +a purpose, the propagation of our holy faith. The prince returned to +his own country, with the satisfactory result which he could desire; +with him went four religious of the Society of Jesus--Father Juan de +Miedes, [43] a native of Alcala de Henares; Father Jeronimo Cebreros, +a native of Acapulco; and Fathers Esquibel [44] and Espanol--all well +fitted for so holy a ministry. The governor gave him twenty Spaniards +and some Pampangos, to serve as an escort for the religious; and for +their commander Captain Andres Serrano--a veteran soldier, who had +just finished a term as alcalde-mayor of Panay (a province in our +spiritual charge)--as he was a very devout Christian and well suited +for that occupation, so much to the service of God. + +These religious remained a long time in the islands of Siao, increasing +that Christian church; but the enemy of mankind, who resented their +driving him out after he had so long possessed the souls of those +unfortunate people, influenced the Dutch heretics of Nueva Batavia, in +the island of Jacatra, to destroy them by a secular persecution. For, +as they are lords of all the islands where grows the clove of the +spice-trade, in Maluco--Amboyno, Tidore, Ternate, Montiel, and many +others--and this is the commerce which has returned most profits +to their company they have always endeavored that this aromatic +merchandise be not transported by any other hands than their own, in +order to assure their gains. They knew that some Spaniards had settled +in the islands of Siao, and that by them was carried away the clove +product of that region, and that it might eventually diminish their own +commerce. For that astute nation has so perseveringly maintained that +the Dutch alone shall be absolute masters of the cloves and cinnamon; +and so skilfully do they manage these commodities that in any year +when there is an abundant product of cloves they burn such quantity +of it as they consider superfluous, according to the computation +that they have made of that crop (which is sufficient for the supply +of the whole world), in order that their price may not be lowered, +and that the commodity may not fall in value by becoming common and +abundant. So great is the wisdom of these children of the world, +in which they greatly exceed the children of the light. + +They manned two ships with three hundred men-at-arms; and when our +people in Siao were least on their guard the Dutch arrived, and landed +their men, which the Spaniards were unable to prevent, as they were +so inferior in numbers. [45] The Dutch committed no other hostility +than to carry away as prisoners the religious of the Society, and +Andres Serrano and his soldiers--together with their standard, which +our men could neither hide nor destroy--all of whom they conveyed +to Batavia. But before they left the islands of Siao they rooted out +and cut down all the cinnamon trees that grew there, until no roots +or other trace of them were left--all which they did quite at their +leisure, without any one saying a word to them. Andres Serrano died +in Batavia of grief, although the Dutch treated him and his soldiers +well, as also the fathers. The religious afterward came to Manila, +some in the time of this governor, and others during the term of his +successor, Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado. + +All the triennial during which our provincial father Fray Dionisio +Suarez ruled was very propitious for this province--not only because +he was a religious very observant, kind, and lovable, but because this +province possessed so many members of virtue and learning that they +restored it to its first luster. The ministries in the doctrinas were +well served, by one or two religious, according to their needs. The +erection of many new convents was begun, some having been ruined by +the earthquakes, and others torn down by military orders, when we +were threatened with the coming of Kuesing Pompoan; but there was so +much to restore that it kept us busy for more than three succeeding +trienniums. Our provincial applied himself closely to the repairs on +the magnificent convent at Manila, which greatly needed them, on the +plan which he had made in the preceding triennium, when he was prior +of that house; [and he accomplished] so much that to the diligence +and zeal of that devout religious may be attributed its preservation. + +While he was engaged in these occupations, the time came for him +to finish the task of his government, so peaceful and prosperous, +and for holding another chapter-session--to the great regret of all, +for it seemed as if they divined that it would result less happily; +but never did they expect that it would be so calamitous as it proved +to be. For, just as the condition of the commonwealth had experienced +its change from calamities and miseries to peace and happiness, so this +our province changed from tranquillity to sudden fear. Tempus pacis, +tempus belli. [46] And the most remarkable thing is that, just as +the governor Don Manuel de Leon was the main cause of the peace and +prosperity of Manila, so this same excellent gentleman was the prime +cause of many troubles and disturbances, which occurred not only at +the time of this chapter but throughout the triennium. I do not throw +all the blame on him, because he was a great governor, very pious +and of sincere intentions; but all disturbance has another cause, and +the vulgar and common Spanish adage is very true which says: "He who +is burning the woods is he who comes out of them." [47] No sensible +person will admire seeing among religious the activity of flesh and +blood and the passion of ambition, which they cannot leave behind in +the world when they take refuge in the asylum of the cloister. [48]... + +The fourth definitor, Fray Francisco de Medina Basco, who was +associate and secretary of the provincial Fray Dionisio Suarez, had +displayed so much ability and good intention in administering his +office--for he was an angel of peace, following the advice of our +holy constitutions--that all desired that he should succeed to the +office of him to whom he had been so capable an associate. This was +desired by the provincial most of all; for, as he was of so peaceable +a disposition, he wished to leave the province in the hands of one +who could maintain it in the tranquillity which it was enjoying. But +the malign father of discord was not pleased at seeing the great +peace and concord which this province had enjoyed for so many years; +he therefore strove with his arts to disturb and disunite it. The +time for holding the chapter-session arrived apparently as peaceful +as usual; and so the religious who were its members assembled, quite +unconscious of what was to occur. + +The chapter was convened on April 23, 1671, in the convent of San +Pablo at Manila; and its president was father Fray Bernardino Marquez, +by commission from our very reverend father the general of all the +order of our father St. Augustine, Master Fray Pedro Lafranconio, +a native of Ancona; and the other affairs which precede the election +were transacted that afternoon with great peace and concord. But +on Saturday, the day for the election of provincial, Governor Don +Manuel de Leon sent to notify them that he would be present at +the election, and sent over his official chair. This caused great +uneasiness, for they recognized that this was an effort to prevent +the election of the father definitor Fray Francisco de Medina Basco, +on which thirty-one of the voting fathers were agreed. The father +president of the chapter was one of the eight who were opposed to +this election, and these were favored by the governor--which in +these islands means, to have whatever one may desire. Accordingly, +the first thing that he did that afternoon was to make charges +in virtue of which he deprived father Fray Francisco de Medina +Basco of the right to vote or to be elected [voz activa y pasiva], +and commanded him to leave the chapter-meeting--which he did with +great humility and resignation, saying only those words of Jonah, +Si propter me orta est haec tempestas, projicite me in mare, [49] +and went to his convent of Tongdo. On the following day the governor +came to the convent, accompanied by the senior auditor, Don Francisco +de Coloma, Sargento-mayor Don Juan de Robles, and Captain Don Pedro +de Tortesa, with their [military] company, as if it were to invest +a fort of enemies. The religious were astonished at seeing such a +military display, but with much decorum and gravity they proceeded +with the transactions of the chapter; and at the first ballot father +Fray Francisco de Medina Basco was elected by thirty-one votes, and +the remaining eight fathers voted for father Fray Juan Caballero +[50]--a religious who had come to this province two years before, +as I have already stated, and whose merits deserved such a mark of +esteem. The governor would not allow them to sing the Te Deum laudamus, +and the president declared that he would not confirm the election, +on account of its being inhibited by the suit which Father Francisco +had brought when Licentiate Don Juan de Rosales was counselor; and one +heard only protests on both sides, although the voters recognized that +they would be overpowered by the side which the governor supported. + +The latter went out from the hall, leaving the capitulars within +under the guard of the soldiers, so that these should prevent the +fathers from going out of the room until they should elect another +provincial who should not be father Fray Francisco de Medina Basco; +for father Fray Juan Caballero was not canonically elected, for +lack of one more than half of the ballots of the voters. All that +day, until evening, they remained shut up in the chapter-hall, +experiencing great harshness; for the guards would not allow even +a pitcher of water to be given to them, a cruelty very unlike the +kindly nature of Don Manuel de Leon. The provisor and vicar-general +of the vacant see, Doctor Don Francisco Pizarro Orellana, came out +in defense of the ecclesiastical immunity, which had been violated +by that compulsion; and it resulted in the religious being allowed +to go to their cells, weak from hunger and thirst. But the governor +ordered that two soldiers should be stationed at the door of each cell, +so that the fathers could not leave their cells or communicate with +one another. In these disturbances passed that Saturday until sunset, +the limit peremptorily allotted by our holy constitutions within which +the chapter can proceed to the election of a prior provincial; and, +when that time was spent, the authority for such election devolved upon +our very reverend general [of the order]. But as this adjustment of +the limit was made by violence, this prescription of the limit was, +in a case so irregular as this, invalid. What I can assert, on the +best information, is the great patience and humility which all the +fathers of the chapter displayed in these tribulations, enduring great +privations in this imprisonment, which lasted through Saturday and +Sunday. Finally, recognizing that their strength was very inferior +to that which was opposing them, and that further effort was only +to struggle against the current of a freshet, they, acting on the +advice of the said provisor, again assembled in the chapter-room +on the following Monday, and made a new choice, that of father +Fray Jeronimo de Leon--a native of Mexico, a son of the convent of +Manila, quite advanced in years; he was an excellent minister in the +province of Tagalos, and formerly prior of the convent of Bulacan, +and was much beloved by all for his devout religious spirit and +peaceable conduct. They appointed as definitors Master Fray Jose de +Mendoza, father Fray Isidoro Rodriguez, father Fray Luis de Montufar, +and father Fray Juan Bautista Bover; and for visitors father Fray +Carlos Bautista and father Fray Jose Duque. [51] As for father Fray +Francisco de Medina Basco, they appointed him prior of the convent +at Cebu and vicar-provincial of that island, which he accepted with +much resignation and humility. The tempest in the chapter ceased, +and the province again enjoyed its former tranquillity for some time. + +Father Fray Francisco de Medina Basco lived but a short time in Cebu, +for while officiating there human weakness, resulting from melancholy +and grief at what had occurred, prostrated him with a long illness; +this time he knew how to improve to good purpose, seeking the +welfare of his soul. His confessor, director, and teacher was the +bishop of Cebu, Don Fray Juan Lopez, a prelate of great wisdom and +virtue, who took such personal interest in the spiritual welfare of +this afflicted religious that he spent most of his time with him, +until in his care the sick man gave up his soul to the Lord, with +great consolation to the holy bishop and to all who were present at +his death. [The proceedings of] this chapter went to Rome, to our +very reverend father general; he confirmed father Fray Francisco de +Medina Basco as provincial, and annulled the second election, that of +father Fray Jeronimo de Leon, commanding the chapter to guard their +prerogatives; otherwise, it would have been a legitimate election, +on account of his having conducted himself as merely passive in his +election, and it appeared that he had not taken part in the tumults +of the chapter-session.... + + + +CHAPTER II + +[Chapter ii opens with an account of the rebellion in Oton, already +told in VOL. XXXIX.] In September of 1671 was celebrated in Manila +the festival of the dedication of the cathedral, which the holy +archbishop Don Miguel Millan de Poblete had not been able to attain; +but this was done by his nephew the dean, Don Jose Millan de Poblete, +the bishop-elect, of Nueva Segovia. A solemn feast of one week was +solemnized, beginning with the day of the Nativity of our Lady, and +there were other demonstrations of public rejoicing; for Don Manuel +de Leon's term of office produced many of these diversions, through +the agency of his secretary, Don Jose Sanchez de Castellar--who had +a very brilliant and versatile mind, and a flowery imagination; he +had a great propensity for poetry, music, and studies in language, +and was very liberal, so that he did not hesitate on account of the +expenses which such festivities demand for their brilliant display. + +On one of the nights of this celebration occurred at the port of Cavite +the destruction by fire, without its being possible to prevent it, +of the galleon "Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion," one of the largest +and finest which had been built in these islands; it had served, with +prosperous voyages, on the trade-route to Nueva Espana. In the year +1672 also the commonwealth of Manila experienced a great calamity; +the galleon "San Telmo," which had sailed for Nueva Espana in charge +of General Antonio Nieto, had to return to Cavite--a misfortune which +was keenly felt. But very soon afterward the galleon "San Antonio" +was launched, in order to make a voyage under the command of General +Don Juan Duran, nephew of the General Pedro Duran de Monforte, who has +been so often named [in these pages]. The general remained in Nueva +Espana with his wife, Dona Maria Jimenez, widow of Doctor Don Diego +de Corbera, his Majesty's fiscal, who died in Luban in the year 1668. + +About this time arrived a patache from Macan, in which came a nobleman +belonging to the Order of Christ, named Don N. de Tabora, who came +as an envoy from that city on affairs belonging to the commerce of +both cities. This knight was very hospitably received, and made a +brilliant figure on all festal occasions (which were many), displaying +his liberality and magnificence; and he added much to the credit of +his nation, although it does not need the reputation of individuals. + +Among so many gayeties and rejoicings the fear of wars was not +lacking; for news had come that the son of Kuesing, named Kinsie +or Sipoan, intended, following his father's example, to fall upon +the Filipinas. But this was false, for he was of a very different +opinion--harassed by the Tartars and cornered in Hermosa Island; +lacking followers and champans for so extensive an undertaking; and, +besides, very inferior to his father Kuesing in courage and military +training. + +Notwithstanding that all this was well known in Manila, these reports +came so plausibly fabricated that Don Manuel de Leon thought that +he ought not to neglect or leave in uncertainty a matter which could +occasion us irreparable injury; he therefore decided that it was less +of an evil to seem credulous and over-cautious than to fail in his +duties as commander through heedlessness and lack of foresight. He +endeavored to take all precautions for such a contingency, warning +the Pampangan and Cagayan peoples (who are the most warlike ones) to +be ready in due time. He regulated the Manila garrison, which needed +much reformation; and appointed experienced leaders. He commanded +the armed fleets of the Pintados to be made ready; those of Panay +and Ogton were taken by Captain Don Jose de San Miguel to be united +with those of Cebu and Caraga, and all together formed a fleet of +more than a hundred joangas--which, if occasion arose, would be under +the command of Don Fernando de Bobadilla. All this armada arrived at +Manila at a time when it was quite certainly known that Kinsie was +not undertaking any such attacks, and was quite destitute of forces +to do so. And as I shall not have occasion to speak of him again, I +consider it excusable to relate here the condition in which he found +his affairs after the death of his father Kuesing. [Here follows a +long account of this matter, which has no further relevance to our +subject, and is therefore omitted.] + +In the ship which came in the year 1672 arrived Doctor Diego Calderon +y Serrano, a native of Granada--a student in the collegiate school +[52] of Master Rodrigo at Sevilla, and professor of canon law [53] +at the university there--who came as auditor of the royal Audiencia +of Manila; he entered that body to fill the office of fiscal, which +is customary for the most recent auditor to do, when there is no +proprietary fiscal. He was married to Dona Catalina Ansaldo, a very +honorable and virtuous woman, who died soon after her arrival. He +was one of the excellent, and even of the best, official judges +that Manila has had--very conscientious, with much fear of God, and +very disinterested, which is a great virtue in one who is a judge; +and therefore he always remained poor, contenting himself with the +income which he received from the royal treasury (which is three +thousand pesos), and even from that he gave much in alms. He lived +until the year 1688, and had a very pious death; he humbled himself +to ask absolution from the censures which he, with his associates, +had incurred in the banishment and exile of the archbishop Don Fray +Felipe Pardo, who refused it to the others--as we shall see in the +proper place, if by God's favor we reach the discussion of those times! + + + +CHAPTER III + +[Most of chapter iii is devoted to the coming to Manila of a +French bishop, Francois de Palu, titular bishop of Heliopolis and +vicar-apostolic for China, accompanied by several other Frenchmen, +both priests and laymen; he is one of three envoys sent to promote +the missions in Siam, Camboja, and other provinces, and in China, and +to endeavor to reopen those of Japan. They make their headquarters at +Ayudia, the Siamese capital, but their efforts to convert the Siamese +fail, on account of the obstinacy with which they hold to their false +religion and idol-worship--in which they surpass all other nations, +whether heathen or Mahometan, "for it is not known that any Siamese +has abandoned his idolatry and professed the law of Christ." Moreover, +the Frenchmen get into a controversy with the Portuguese ecclesiastics +of Malacca, who claim all the above-named regions as being under their +spiritual jurisdiction, since they are still classed as missions, not +having a formal ecclesiastical hierarchy, as do the churches of Manila, +America, and Goa. Palu's coming to Manila stirs up much commotion in +official circles. It is reported that he had set out for China, and +was driven back by unfavorable weather to this port; and the Audiencia +consider that it will not answer to allow him to go to that country, +as, having been sent by authority of Alexander VII and the Propaganda, +his entrance into China on such a mission would be an infringement of +the royal patronage, since a large part of China is included in the +demarcation of Castilla laid out by Alexander VI; and ecclesiastical +appointments and jurisdiction therein belong to the jealously-guarded +prerogatives of the Spanish crown. The royal officials at Manila +therefore detain Palu, lodging him at the Jesuit college, where he +is very hospitably entertained. When the Acapulco galleon is ready to +sail, these French ecclesiastics are all placed aboard it and sent to +Nueva Espana, and thence to Madrid. There Palu is well received, and +has "much communication with the Conde de Medellin, the president of +the supreme Council of Indias, an able minister and a man of great +virtue."] The bishop filled him with strange notions, basing his +information on the little which he could have comprehended of the +mode of government of these islands, and their religious conditions; +for his retirement in the college of the Society of Jesus was for a +short time, and his knowledge came not from ocular experience, but +only from information by secular persons who visited him--who must +have been only corrupt alcaldes-mayor who were trying to get rid of +the gospel ministers, with whom those officials could not be on very +good terms since the ministers had restrained them in their illegal +and oppressive acts; this [conflict with the officials] is the greatest +hardship that is experienced in the ministries. The president, desiring +to do what was right, listened attentively to the information furnished +by so reverend a person, not considering that the prejudice of a person +from a nation so opposed to us, and who had not found at Manila what +he was expecting, rendered his account unreliable. From these reports +ensued many royal decrees, which came [to Manila] years afterward, +with mandates which were very difficult to carry out; because, as +all the peoples [here] are different, they need different laws and +rules. From this also originated the ordination of Indians as priests, +of which there had been no previous example [here]--a wise precaution +against the inconveniences which the Portuguese had experienced in +Eastern India from ordaining canerines [54] under the pressure of +necessity. This is a usage which even the Dutch heretics abominate, +saying that it is one of the three causes through which India has been +ruined. And as in Filipinas that necessity does not exist, because +of the admirable arrangements which the Catholic monarchs of Espana +have made for sending, at the cost of their royal exchequer, religious +from their kingdoms as missionaries, there was no need of resorting +to the extreme measure of ordaining the Indians as priests--as the +Portuguese of India had done, and as now do the bishops sent out on +the part of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide in their missions of +Eastern India; and the latter do so because of their urgent necessity, +since the said holy Congregation has not the funds for the support of +European priests. On the contrary, the few whom they have in China, +Tunquin, and other regions are supported by the alms which the citizens +of Manila send them--except the bishops and priests of Siam, who have +more means of support from fixed incomes in France. + +This is a subject on which there is much to be said on both sides; +but this is not the place for it, nor do I feel under obligation to +continue it. I suppose that many Indians will be more worthy than +are many Europeans to attain so high a dignity; but since the former +usually do not enter the priesthood through the gate of a vocation, +and only strive to attain it for the sake of advantage to themselves +and their relatives, the danger is evident that the result will seldom +be satisfactory. They cite the example of the primitive Church, which +made bishops and ordained priests among the recently converted--like +St. Paul in Ephesus and Athens, and in other parts of Greece, and +the holy apostles for all the world; but there is a great difference +[between that case and this], in the needs of those times and the +nobility of those nations. These and many other changes resulted +from the information given in Madrid by the bishop Don Francisco +Palu, who went to Roma, where also his information caused changes. I +suppose that the intentions of this holy prelate were good; but he was +lacking in experience. His representations also affected the governor +Manuel de Leon and the auditors; for, although the royal Council of +the Indias approved the caution with which they had acted in this +so delicate matter, at Roma the result was very different. For his +Holiness Clement X excommunicated them, and declared that they had +incurred the censures of the bull In Caena Domini, by a brief which, +printed and authorized in Roma and Paris in the year 1675, was sent to +Manila from China and Siam. [Here follows a sketch of Palu's further +career, his death, and some matters relating to the Chinese missions.] + +This year the galleon "San Telmo," which was going to Nueva Espana, +in command of General Antonio Nieto, was driven back to port, which +caused great losses in the property of the citizens of Manila. + +Not less were the troubles which the archbishop of Manila, Don Fray +Juan Lopez, encountered from the time when he began to govern his +church. He was a prelate of great virtue and learning, and of a pacific +nature, disinclined to quarrels and discords; but as he was very firm +in the defense of his jurisdiction and dignity, he greatly regretted +that occasion should arise for disturbing the peace which he so +loved. During his time, there were many occasions for recourse to the +royal Audiencia, and controversies over jurisdiction; but that which +most exercised the patience of this great prelate was the audacious +conduct of Master Don Jeronimo de Herrera y Figueroa, who filled +the post of chief chaplain of the royal chapel of the Incarnation; +this was founded by Governor Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, +for the cemetery of Manila, for the burial of his soldiers, as we +stated in its place. The said chief chaplain attempted to arrogate +to himself the privileges and exemptions which the army chaplains +enjoy when they are actually in the field; and thus he sought to be +exempted from obedience to the archbishop and from his jurisdiction, +although he was only the chaplain of a chapel in a presidio. He had +on his side the favor of the governor, Don Manuel de Leon--which in +Filipinas is to have the lawsuit already gained and all one's efforts +successful. Made confident and daring by this, he opposed his prelate, +not only refusing to obey him, but even being so insolent as to post +the archbishop as excommunicate, to the scandal of all the heathen +peoples who resort to Manila; and these abominable disputes lasted a +long time. A long manifesto was written and printed in favor of Don +Jeronimo de Herrera by Licentiate Don Juan de Rosales, an advocate +in the royal Audiencia, proceeding on the false assumption of the +privileges and exemptions of the chaplains who go with the armies +in their campaigns; and reply to him was made, with very superior +arguments, by the cura of the Spaniards in Manila, Bachelor Don Jose +de Carrion. But, although the archbishop had justice on his side, +the opposite side had a hold on the governor, and thus they did not +care much for the lack of equity. This controversy was so bitter that +the judges would not decide it, on account of the strained relations +between them; and so it was necessary to refer the case to Espana, +to the royal and supreme Council of Indias. They, as unprejudiced +judges, rendered sentence in favor of the archbishop; but when this +decision arrived he was already dead. Then the chaplains of the said +royal chapel learned that they were not exempt from the jurisdiction +of the ordinary, as the army chaplains are exempt for other and +reasonable causes. + +These and other troubles, together with those of old age, hastened +the death of the archbishop, Don Fray Juan Lopez; this was as holy as +his life, and occurred in April of the year 1674. He was buried in the +convent of Santo Domingo, among his brethren. He was a native of Martin +Munoz de las Posadas, and came to this province of Santo Rosario in +the year 1647. He taught theology in the convent of Santo Tomas in +Manila, and went to Espana and Roma as procurator of the province, +returning as consecrated bishop of Cebu in the year 1666. In 1672 he +began to govern the archbishopric of Manila, with great reputation +as a vigilant pastor, although that church enjoyed only two years +of his prudent government. The regret for his loss was increased by +the fact that a general vacancy in the office of consecrated bishop +ensued in all the islands; this lasted until the year 1680, when +the bishop of Cebu, Don Fray Diego de Aguilar arrived here--great +affliction being caused in all that long period, by the lack of any +one to confer holy orders on men who might assist the ministers who +gave instruction. Many, both clerics and regulars, were obliged to +journey to the kingdom of Siam, where they were ordained by Don Luis +de Lanoy Faces, bishop of Metelopolis and vicar-apostolic of that +kingdom; and others went to Nueva Espana to be ordained, for even the +city of Macan was without a bishop. Don Fray Payo de Ribera, [55] the +archbishop and viceroy of Mexico, was careful to send them the holy +oils every year; he belonged to the order of our father St. Augustine, +and was a prelate worthy of eternal remembrance on account of his great +virtues--on which he placed the seal by renouncing the bishopric of +Cuenca and retiring to the convent of our Lady of El Risco. He died +there, with a great reputation for sanctity, being an example for +prelates and for very austere religious. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +The triennial of our father Fray Jeronimo de Leon passed with some +disturbances, which did not fail to cause considerable disquiet in +the minds of the religious, and disturb the peace of the order. The +reason was, that after the first year of his term, he began to doubt +whether he was lawfully elected, as it seemed to him that the real +provincial was father Fray Francisco de Medina Basco; and indeed +this was the case, as affirmed by our very reverend father general, +Fray Nicolas de Oliva, of Sienna. Father Fray Francisco de Medina +Basco had met a holy death in Zebu; and therefore our father Fray +Dionisio Suarez, as provincial of the preceding chapter, began to +govern [the province] as rector-provincial. Then Fray Jeronimo de +Leon had recourse to the royal Audiencia [56] on a plea of fuerza, +alleging this spoliation. And inasmuch as such proceeding acts as +a stay, since it is a principle in law that Spoliatus debet ante +omnia restitui, omni alio casu postposito, [57] they ordered that +the government be restored to Fray Jeronimo, and that the question +of title should be acted on later. But as judicial procedure is so +slow, and of such bounds that they usually make a lawsuit eternal, +our father Fray Dionisio Suarez was not inclined to secure his right +at the cost of so much vexation; and therefore the triennial was +completed in great peace; for father Fray Jeronimo de Leon was a +religious very affable and worthy of being loved, and he deserved +that his election should not be hampered by so notable a defect. + +The time arrived for holding the session of the provincial chapter--the +time in which the troubles which so many difficulties had caused to +this province were to cease, and when not only the former peace and +concord were to return, but great gains were to be secured in religious +observance; for from the time of this chapter-meeting this province +began to grow more strict, and to grow in all that conduces to its +greater splendor, every chapter-session increasing in strictness of +observance, to the greater glory of our regular institute. Such are +usually the benefits that arise from the judicious choice of a good +superior, who undertakes to fulfil the obligations of his office. The +chapter was convened in the convent of Manila on April 14, 1674; its +president was the father definitor Fray Luis de Montuyar, on account +of the deaths of the two senior definitors, Master Fray Jose de +Mendoza and Fray Isidro Rodriguez. By general agreement the election +for provincial fell on our father Fray Jose Duque, commissary of the +Holy Office. He was a native of Oropesa, and was fifty-six years old; +a son of the convent of San Felipe at Madrid, and a very near relative +of the glorious saint Teresa de Jesus; and an able minister in the +province of Pampanga, besides having much to do with its pacification +in the disturbances in that province which we have already related. He +came over to this province of Filipinas in the year 1645, and always +had the reputation of being a religious of very strict observance, +with great ability as a ruler; and this province found him to be +such during an experience of many years in his four terms of office +therein--three as provincial, and one as rector-provincial--being +always reverenced as the father of it. As definitors were elected +fathers Fray Enrique de Castro, Fray Jose Gutierrez, Fray Bernardino +Marquez, and Fray Bartolome de la Torre; and as visitors fathers Fray +Antonio de Villela and the reader Fray Jose Rubio. Ordinances and +regulations very suitable for the good government of the province +were enacted, not many in number but useful and judicious. + +At that period, this province was found very deficient in religious, +on account of the many vacancies caused by death; on this account the +ministries lacked the service which their extent and the arduous nature +of some rendered necessary. Accordingly, as soon as the chapter-session +adjourned the first care to which the new provincial devoted himself +was to choose a well-qualified religious who might go as procurator +to the two courts of Roma and Madrid, where the discords of the +troubled chapter of the year 1671 had made a strong impression. For +this purpose a private chapter-session was assembled, and therein +a very judicious choice was made for this position, that of father +Fray Juan Garcia--a native of Las Encartaciones, and a minister in +the province of Ilocos. The necessary despatches were given to him, +and he embarked in the same year for Nueva Espana, in the galleon "San +Telmo;" it was commanded by General Tomas de Endaya, a most successful +man in these islands, where he died as his Majesty's master-of-camp +for them, in the year 1745. This religious had a prosperous voyage, +and arrived at Nueva Espana and Roma; he successfully fulfilled his +commission in all respects, and afterward returned to this province +with a mission of religious, in the year 1679, so long was he detained +in the negotiations at Roma and Madrid. + +Through the peaceful rule of Don Manuel de Leon, in which term all +was prosperous and fortunate, the Filipinas Islands began to take +breath after the troubles of so many preceding years; and in a short +time they were gathering new strength and vigor. Don Manuel de Leon +was a man of very good intentions, and had the excellent virtue of +being very disinterested--which is very important in these regions, +where the vice opposite to that has temptations so ready to make one +fall headlong into the abyss of greed, which causes so many wrecks, +as the root of all evils. Trading vessels came frequently from +China, of which country the Tartars had gained entire possession; +the Chinese, therefore, having laid aside their defensive arms, +strove to accommodate themselves to the times, being anxious to +repair the losses caused by war with the gains from trading--which +is more adapted to their disposition than is war, Mars giving place +to Mercury. The Chinese trade is the mainstay of the maintenance +of Filipinas, by means of the silver which comes from Nueva Espana, +which is the blood that gives life to this land; for from China come +the stuffs necessary for clothing, from the shirt in their delicate +fabrics to the needle and thread. Thence comes the fine earthenware +which is, with reason, so celebrated throughout the world as choice +and inimitable, because the material and clay of which it is made are +found in no other place. Thence come drugs, and very rich coloring +stuffs--especially vermilion, which is the best in the world. Finally, +one cannot imagine any exquisite article for the equipment of a house +which does not come from China, both cheap and excellent--especially +the wares that come from Japon, with which country the Chinese have +free commerce, just as it is totally prohibited to us. In some of the +years of that fortunate governor thirty champans would land at Manila, +and many from the province of Canton, where is the city of Macan, +a Portuguese colony--which is so rich in silks that it has enough +of that noble commodity to supply nearly all of the whole world; +it is conveyed in ships belonging to the Dutch, English, French, +and Portuguese, and that which is carried to Manila and thence to +Nueva Espana is the smallest part of it. The great city of Canton (or +Kuang-tung, as they call it) is far greater than the great Cairo or +Babilonia of Egypt, for those who are most moderate in estimating its +population allow it four millions of inhabitants; but although it is +so great it is not the largest city in the extensive empire of China, +for that of Nanking has eight millions, according to Father Martino +Martinez in his Chinese atlas. [58] It is very commonly said in Manila +that the city of Canton has sixty thousand silk-looms, on which are +made various fabrics of cloth and damask; and thus in one month enough +is woven to lade many ships. By this some idea can be formed of the +other industries of that city--or rather, that little world. + +Commerce was also opened with the Portuguese of Macan, a trade which +had been quite forgotten with the disturbances in China; and from +that time it has continued, in varying degree, until this day. This +trade, moreover, had been prohibited since the year 1640, on account +of the wars with Portugal; but through the negotiations carried on +at the court of Madrid by Don Fray Alvaro de Benavente, when he was +procurator of this province--asserting that this was the best and +safest means for the entrance into China for the missionaries who were +going to Filipinas--the trade with Macan was opened and authorized, +as was accordingly published in Manila by a royal decree; and it was +made known to the Portuguese at Macan by another from their king, +Don Pedro II. The pretext which was given for opening this commerce +was the entrance of the missionaries into China, and its results have +been various, according to what the Portuguese have found expedient +for their own interests, on account of the pretensions which they +make to the [ecclesiastical] patronage of China--in accordance with +the line of demarcation [between the dominions] of the two crowns, +by the celebrated bull of Alexander VI, a question which is not yet +decided by a competent judge; and therefore our missionaries enter +China when the Portuguese choose to let them do so. But the latter +come every year to Manila with one or two shiploads of goods, which is +the most profitable trade that they have, on account of its nearness +and of their securing in barter the silver that is so esteemed by the +Chinese. But as the Portuguese are so courtly and liberal a people, +and inclined to boast of the obligations of nobility, some Portuguese +gentlemen usually return quite destitute of funds--as occurred this +year to Juan Tabora, a cavalier of the Order of Christ. He spent the +wealth which he brought here, which was much, in elegant gallantries +and in bull-fights; for he arrived here at a time when these and +other sports were very frequent in Manila--not only on account of the +prosperity and peace which were experienced during the entire term of +office of Don Manuel de Leon, but through the jovial disposition of +his favorite and secretary, Don Jose Castellar, who was a very witty +and courtly man, and very fond of such pastimes. In these he spent +whatever he was able to acquire, and when he came to die he was so +poor that he was buried, through charity, in a chapel of St. Roque +in the village of Mambong, belonging to the doctrina of Malolos in +the province of Bulacan, which is in our charge. + +Not only was the commerce with China, Canton, and Macan set free in +the time of the fortunate governor Don Manuel de Leon, but another was +begun--indeed, almost discovered--which was very large and profitable, +which has greatly increased the wealth of the citizens of Manila. This +is the trade and traffic of the coast of Coromandel or Malabar [59] +in Eastern India. This is the coast which extends from the mouths of +the river Ganges, at the beginning of the large kingdom of Bengal, +as far as the cape of Comorin; it is inhabited by Malabars, a people +very shrewd and intelligent, and fond of work, and so crafty that +when it is worth their while they deceive [even] the Chinese, who +excel in the ability to cheat. The Malabar and Bengal people are +unsurpassed in the art of spinning and weaving cotton cloth; for they +weave pieces more delicate than the finest cambrics and Dutch linens, +and gauzes so fine that when they are spread upon a table, the thread +can hardly be discerned, it is so thin and delicate. But that in which +they most excel, and have been alone and inimitable, is in their very +fine cotton cloth dyed exquisitely with the finest colors; and this +has another quality most excellent and admirable, which is that the +more it is washed, the finer and more lustrous the colors appear, +and they never are washed out or become dull. Without doubt these so +rare colors are those which Job mentions in the twenty-eighth chapter, +when making comparisons with Wisdom, he says: Non conferetur tinctis +Indiae coloribus. [60] On this coast of Coromandel the English, Dutch, +French, and Danes maintain their factories, and possess an extensive +commerce in cotton cloth, which is consumed throughout Europa--and +much more in the regions of the north, because cotton is so good +for protecting them [from the cold]. But the largest settlement, +and the one most frequented for commerce, is that which the English +have, named Madrastapan, or Fort St. George; [61] it is peopled +with innumerable dwellers of all nationalities, not only those of +India but Europeans. This is greatly favored by the policy that is +in use in this great town, very different from that which obtains in +Inglaterra, which is to permit the exercise not only of the apostolic +Roman Catholic faith, but of all the heathen doctrines and ceremonies; +and thus the Catholics have their churches, and so do the schismatic +Armenians, with schismatic Basilian monks. [62] The heretics have +their meeting-houses, [63] according to their sects; the Moors [i.e., +Mahometans] their mosques, and the heathen their pagodas; nor even is +their synagogue denied to the Jews; and all live peaceably, exercising +the occupations of trade, as harmoniously as if they all had but one +faith and religion. About two leguas distant is the city of Santo +Tome, a noted colony of the Portuguese, which in former times enjoyed +[the distinction of] being the emporium of all Eastern India; and +the cause of its destruction was its enormous wealth and the lack of +harmony among the Portuguese, a people who are naturally inclined to +disagree. On a lofty height near the city there is an ancient church, +in which is venerated an image of Our Lady, which is said to have been +painted by St. Luke and deposited in that place (called Meliapor) by +the apostle St. Thomas, who preached to the Malabars our holy faith +and suffered martyrdom in this place--where is guarded a stone cross +near which he was put to death; and the lance with which they pierced +him, stained with his holy blood, is displayed, with other memorials +of this glorious apostle. [Diaz here mentions the great probability, +fortified by citations from Juan de Barros, that the remains of the +apostle repose there.] [64] + +This commerce with the coast of Coromandel had remained quite neglected +by the Spaniards of Filipinas--who never had maintained any other trade +and commerce than that with China, Japon, and Macan--until this year of +1674. Then a citizen of Manila, a Catalan, named Juan Ventura Sarra, +a courageous man, having first made with a fragata which he owned +a voyage to the kingdom of Siam, from which he gained some wealth, +extended his navigation to this coast of Malabar, where he left trade +established; and in the following year Don Luis de Matienzo went +thither, with much silver, and gained enough profit to persuade the +citizens of Manila to engage in this traffic. The principal commodity +which is brought from the Coromandel coast is certain webs of cotton, +many of them forty varas long, which they call "elephants," which are +highly valued in Nueva Espana; accordingly, it is this merchandise +which is chiefly shipped to those regions. + +The governor placed on the stocks the frame of the galleon "Santa +Rosa," the work of that accredited master of this important and +useful art, Juan Bautista Nicola; and it came from them one of +the finest and largest galleons that had been built in the port of +Cavite and made very successful voyages, sometimes being driven back +to port. The governor commanded Juan Canosa Raguses, a very able +builder of vessels with lateen sails, to build two galleys; these +proved to be very suitable and swift, and rendered much service in +driving away the Camucones, very crafty and troublesome pirates, +who almost every year infest the Pintados Islands, plundering and +taking captive. This is a barbarous people, cruel, and cowardly; +indeed, they could not be the one without being also the other. They +inhabit a chain of small islands, which extends from Paragua to +Borney; some of them are Mahometans, and others heathen. But they +[all] cause much damage to the Bisayan Islands, which they ravage +without opposition--going so far as to carry away, in the year 1672, +the alcalde-mayor Don Jose de San Miguel, as we have related in another +place. They have a great advantage in the exceeding swiftness of their +vessels, which enables them to find their defense in flight. Their +confidence and boldness reached such a height that they even dared to +infest the coasts of the island of Manila. The provincial of that time +(of whom this chapter treats), Fray Jose Duque, while on his way to +visit the islands of Pintados, came very near being made a captive, +with his companion Fray Alvaro de Benavente; for they were attacked +by a squadron of these pirates near the island of Marinduque, where +they would have been a prey to their cruelty if they had not been +protected by divine kindness, through the valor of Captain Francisco +Ponce--a veteran soldier, who killed the captain and another of the +pirates--and also the coming of a high wind, which gave wings to the +champan to place itself in safety. + +At this time, in the year 1675, Governor Don Manuel de Leon was in +great danger of dying, on account of having placed himself under +medical treatment, without being actually sick, solely for the sake +of improving his health--a proof that it might have cost him his +life. Don Manuel was a corpulent man, and had grown so fleshy that he +was almost unable to move about without aid, at which he grieved much +because he could not attend to many functions which belonged to the +obligations of his office. In view of this hindrance and his desires, +Juan Ventura Sarra (whom I have already mentioned in the voyages to +Siam and the coast of Coromandel) bound himself to cure Don Manuel and +remove from him that great encumbrance [of flesh]--confident because he +was a very expert surgeon, and the governor a man of great courage and +reared in and accustomed to the perils of war. The governor accordingly +accepted this treatment; and the skilful surgeon opened his abdomen +in many places and removed from him many lumps of fat, and then sewed +up and treated the wounds. In a few weeks the governor became well, +and his flesh was much reduced, to the wonder of those who saw how the +surgeon cut the flesh from his body, and the courage which the governor +displayed--and what caused most dread [of the result] was his being an +aged man, but little less than seventy years old. The king of Leon, +Don Sancho I, was cured about the year 920 of a similar infirmity of +excessive obesity, by the physicians of the Moorish king of Cordoba, +Abderramen; but their treatment was not so harsh and sanguinary. It +is certain that Juan Ventura Sarra was a great surgeon, and showed +that he was such not only with this governor, but also in the year +1682 with his successor, Master-of-camp Don Juan Vargas Hurtado. There +was no hope for Don Juan's life, on account of a large abscess in the +hip, which was not understood to be such by the physicians; but Juan +Ventura knew what it was, and opened the abscess with a large lancet +which he made from a dagger, more than a tercia [65] long, since the +cavity was very deep. In this operation he showed his skill as much +as Don Juan de Vargas displayed his great bravery and endurance, +which aroused admiration. + +Although the cure of Don Manuel de Leon was so marvelous, he did not, +since that inordinate obesity was now a disease and a corruption of +nature, long enjoy the agility and lightness of body that the medical +treatment had obtained for him; and so he gradually fell back into that +unusual infirmity, and again found himself, as before, without the use +of his limbs. He had many wounds in his body, which he had received +in more than fifty years of military life in Flandes, Alemania, and +Galicia, where he had taken part in battles more celebrated than were +known in those times [i.e., of which Diaz was writing]. He had been so +courageous in not fearing dangers that they called Don Manuel de Leon +"Ironhead." Among these he had one deep wound, which must have been +imperfectly or only apparently healed; and this in course of time, +and with the pressure on it that would be caused by the increase of +flesh, opened, a great flow of blood issuing from it. This occurred +so inopportunely that he was present in the church of Santo Domingo, +clothed in mourning garb, assisting in the funeral rites for Dona Maria +Cuellar, wife of Auditor Don Francisco de Coloma. [66] His blood flowed +very copiously, but those near him could not see it on account of the +mourning garments, and because the chair and cushion were of black, +until he began to swoon, and sank into the chair. They carried him in +their arms to his coach, and thence he was conveyed to his palace, +where all the care due to the cure of such a personage as he was +furnished. The above-mentioned Juan Ventura Sarra treated him, applying +all means which the art of surgery imparts to those who are so +skilful as was Juan Ventura, who within four months brought him to +what seemed a state of convalescence. But as his age was so great, and +could not give much aid to the medicine (which only assists nature), +Don Manuel could never regain sound health. The physicians ordered him +to go to one of the houses that stand by the river opposite Manila, +where he spent a long time--until, on the night of April 8, 1676, +they found him dead in his bed, although he had retired without any +indications of such danger. They found a power of attorney authorizing +the father provincial of St. Dominic, Master Fray Diego de San Roman, +to make a will in his name, and directions that he be interred in the +royal chapel of the Incarnation belonging to the soldiers of Manila, +where he lies in a little chapel which stands on the gospel side. He +was one of the best governors who has ruled these Filipinas Islands, +very disinterested, pious, affable, and clement; and his death was +therefore regretted by all classes. The estate that he left was +the only property belonging to a governor that was put to good use, +[67] the religious who acted as administrator applying it to pious +works which the governor had named to him--such as the holy Bureau +of La Misericordia, so that for years many orphan girls were given +in marriage by means of that part [of the governor's donation] which +belonged to their dowries, until, with the successive wrecks of the +two galleons "Santo Cristo de Burgos" and "San Jose," in the years +1693 and 1695, the principal of that great endowment was entirely +consumed. He also left directions to found a well-endowed chaplaincy +in his native place--Paredes de Nava, in the district of Campos--and +many other good works, worthy of his piety. + +On account of his death the senior auditor, Don Francisco de Coloma, +took charge of the government, in company with auditors Don Francisco +de Mansilla and Don Diego Calderon y Serrano for civil affairs--for +already had come the decision, in the controversy between the two +auditors, by the royal and supreme Council of the Indias in favor of +Don Francisco de Coloma, although his government lasted but a short +time, on account of his death. During the time while they governed, +however, they were very well agreed. The new governor despatched the +ship "Santa Rosa" (which had just been completed) for Nueva Espana, +in charge of General Don Francisco de Teja, a Navarrese gentleman; +and it had a very prosperous voyage, as we shall see in due time. + + + +CHAPTER V + +All the triennial during which our father Fray Jose Duque ruled was +a very prosperous time for this province, on account of the great +improvement which was accomplished by his assiduity in reforming it, +with both zeal and discretion; for he was as respected as beloved +by all. The religious greatly regretted that the end of his term of +office was approaching, and to see themselves deprived of so excellent +a prelate, who had so built up the edifice of strict observance of our +rules, and had much better regulated the administration of the mission +villages and ministries in our charge--his excellent management making +up for the great deficiency of laborers which existed, which made it +necessary, in many respects, to burden each minister with the work of +two. Not his least care was that he had found the common property of +not only the province but the convent of Manila greatly diminished, +and everything reduced to the utmost necessity of restoration; for +this is usually the greatest hindrance and impediment to the superiors +in promoting with energy the regular observance, which requires many +means for its preservation. But all was supplied by the diligence of +that discreet prelate, making easier the removal of the most serious +hindrances. + +The time came for holding the provincial chapter, which assembled +on May 8 in the year 1677, and, according to custom, in the convent +of Manila. It was presided over--by commission of our very reverend +father general, Master Fray Nicolas de Oliva, of Sienna--by the father +reader Fray Miguel Rubio; and the election for provincial fell, by the +general consent of all the voting fathers, and with the approval of +all who were outside of the order, on our father Fray Juan de Jerez, a +religious excelling in virtue. He was a native of Banos in Extremadura, +bishopric of Plasencia--a place belonging to the Duke de Bejar and the +Marques de Montemayor--and was a son of the convent of Valladolid and +fifty years of age. He had been for many years master of novices in +the convents of Salamanca and Burgos, which is a sufficient proof of +his religious devotion and virtue. He left Espana for these islands +in the year 1669, and had been a minister in Pampanga; and in this +chapter he cast his first vote as visitor of the province. [68] +As definitors were elected the fathers Fray Pedro de Mesa, Fray +Juan Labao, Fray Francisco de Albear, and Fray Pedro Canales; and +as visitors the fathers Fray Domingo de San Miguel and Fray Juan +Guedeja. They enacted statutes very useful for the government of the +province, and for the stricter observance of our religious estate, +many of which were reproduced in various following chapters, having +been found by experience to be well-chosen and advantageous. + +The acting governor despatched the galleon "San Telmo" for Nueva +Espana, in charge of General Don Tomas de Endaya, a regidor of the +city of Manila; and it encountered so many storms before doubling +the point of Santiago that fears were entertained that it would not +have time to make the voyage before the vendavals. But the bravery +of the commander and of his pilot, Leandro Cuello, over-came great +difficulties, and they succeeded in reaching their destination. + +The galleon "Santa Rosa," which had sailed for Nueva Espana the year +before, had also experienced storms, from the time when it reached the +Embocadero of San Bernardino. For this reason Sargento-mayor Alfonso +Fernandez Pacheco came to Manila, bringing the despatches from his +Majesty and information of the ship's arrival on the thirtieth of +August. This galleon brought the news that Don Carlos II had begun, +at the age of fifteen years, to rule the monarchy of Espana in person, +freed from the guardianship of the queen-mother, Dona Mariana of +Austria; and commands were issued that his royal name and seal be +used in the despatches, and that royal fiestas proper to so important +an event be celebrated--which took place afterward, in the month of +December, as we shall soon relate. + +[At this time] came the despatches for the presentation made by +his Majesty for the archbishopric of Manila, of the person of +the very reverend father master Fray Felipe Pardo, of the Order of +Preachers; he accepted this dignity, and began to govern his church, +the ecclesiastical cabildo yielding up the government to him. This +appointment found him at the time engaged in the duties of commissary +of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; his place therein was taken by +father Fray Juan de los Angeles, a man who was worthy of such a name on +account of his virtue and mild disposition. Also came the presentation +of the reverend father Fray Andres Gonzalez for bishop of Nueva Caceres +or Camarines; he also accepted, and was consecrated, and ruled that +church creditably, as he was a devoted religious, and very charitable; +and he left behind him, when he died, a great reputation for sanctity. + +On September 27, the acting governor, Auditor Don Francisco Coloma y +Maceda, died at the age of sixty years, from an intestinal hemorrhage; +he was an official of much integrity and uprightness, and was +buried in the convent of Santo Domingo with his wife, Dona Maria +de Cuellar. The government was assumed by Auditor Don Francisco de +Mansilla, a native of Ceniceros in Rioja, who was no less upright than +his predecessor. His term of office was short, because a proprietary +governor came in the following year; but even in the short time while +his rule lasted he showed that he deserved that it should continue +during his life, on account of the very peaceable and equitable manner +in which he exercised his office. The first thing which he did was +to look for all those who had been opposed to him in the year 1668, +when he was exiled to Iloylo by Don Juan Manuel Bonifaz; and he +honored all of them, more than some deserved, displaying a generous +spirit, and that of a Christian ruler, which aroused the admiration +of those who saw his prudence and moderation. These islands were much +grieved that he must so soon have a successor, for the people loved +and reverenced him. He was of corpulent figure and venerable aspect; +and his hair (which was scanty) and his mustache (which was large) +were white as snow--all which conciliated respect. Two years afterward, +promotion came to him, the post of alcalde for criminal cases in [the +Audiencia of] Mejico; but he died at the height of the voyage. [69] He +had two sons: Don Felipe Mansilla, a knight of the Order of Santiago, +who lives in Mejico; and Father Antonio Mansilla, of the Society of +Jesus, in these islands. + +The city and municipality of Manila having determined to celebrate +the festivities due to the great rejoicing which was caused in the +Spanish domains by the assumption of sovereignty over them by their +king Don Carlos II, decided that these should be actually held in +December, from the fourth to the seventh day of that month. This was +done with great pomp and brilliancy. In the morning three sermons +were preached: one by the dean of the cathedral, Master Don Miguel +Ortiz de Covarrubias; another by father Fray Alvaro de Benavente of +the order of our father St. Augustine (the secretary of our province, +and often named in this history; he died in China, as bishop of Ascalon +and vicar apostolic of Kiengsi); and the third by the reverend Father +Jeronimo de Ortega, of the Society of Jesus. For the afternoons there +were various bull-fights and comedies. On the last day, December 7, +after the bull-fights and comedies, there were demonstrations of +rejoicing; and for a climax to the festivities there was, at six +o'clock in the afternoon, a beautiful and splendid masquerade, with +magnificent costumes, and parades of servants in costly liveries. The +most distinguished citizens of Manila went therein, two by two, +representing the realms of the monarchy of Espana, with shields and +mottoes proper for each kingdom; those who came last were the two +alcaldes-in-ordinary of Manila, General Francisco Rayo Doria and +Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya, representing the kingdoms of +Castilla and Leon. They rode in pairs on handsomely-caparisoned horses, +to the destination which was prepared for this purpose with palisades, +and with so much splendor from wax tapers that the night had no cause +to envy the brighter day. With this brilliant and elegant masquerade +these royal festivities came to an end, the city remaining in the +quiet and silence proper to that hour, which was about seven at night. + +Quite ignorant were all those who had celebrated and enjoyed this gay +festival of the sad and melancholy catastrophe which was to follow +on this so joyous scene; all were forgetful of the uncertainty of the +pleasures of this world, which suddenly shifts its scenes, passing from +gayety to mourning. Hardly had the people time to shelter themselves +in their houses--some fatigued with the exercises of the masquerade, +and others sad that the royal festivities had come to an end--when +at half-past seven in the evening the earth began to tremble with +horrible vibrations, changing their recent gayety into fear, horror, +and lamentable perplexity. This first earthquake lasted a long time, +so that it was feared that the last and fatal day for the sad city +of Manila had arrived. The continuous and unequal vibrations of the +ground; the frightful cracking of timbers; the [falling of] tiles +from the roofs, and of stones which, loosened from the walls, came +to the ground, raising great clouds of dust: all these made a most +gloomy night, the image of death. Some hastened to seek confessors, +and not finding them soon, published aloud their own sins. This first +motion of the earth ceased, which people affirm to have been more +violent than that of August 20, 1658, but it did not last so long; +if it had been equal in duration to that one, it would have caused +a large amount of havoc in the city of Manila. + +It was worth much to the city that the earthquake found it greatly +improved over former times in regard to the height of its buildings; +for now they were reduced to more humble stature, and without the +projections which would cause its greatest destruction, as has been +experienced in previous earthquakes. The use of the harigues or wooden +pillars on which the heavy timber-work of the roofs leans and rests was +recognized to be a sure protection and defense from such disasters; +and therefore, although the earthquake demolished many buildings, +breaking open the solid mass of masonry, they did not suffer entire +ruin by being thrown down to the ground. Some few were destroyed +through being old and in bad condition; but only one or two persons +perished, and they of little account in the world. The kind-hearted +governor went out with many followers to visit the [military] posts of +the city, and aid, if he could, those who were in need; and the same +was done by the alcaldes-in-ordinary and the regidors, accompanied +by many citizens. The religious orders were well occupied in the +ministries of their profession--some preaching from tables placed +in the streets, others hastening to hear the confessions of those +who asked for this sacrament, that is, of all. While all these were +occupied in exercises so holy and pious, the trembling of the earth +was again repeated many times; but, through the divine kindness, +these vibrations were much slighter, continually diminishing--so +that it seemed as if the divine anger were gradually being appeased, +just as men were continually showing themselves more penitent. All +that night until daybreak the earthquake shocks continued; for there +were so many of them that one man counted forty, although to me it +seemed as if there were many more. Many came out [from this calamity] +crippled and lame; but all recognized that it was a miracle that the +city had not been utterly destroyed with so repeated shocks. Later, +it was ascertained that some chasms and air-vents in the earth had +opened, and which is surely the cause of these disturbances. One +chasm opened in the bounds of the village of Bauang, in the province +of Balayan; and another in the mountains of Gapang, in Pampanga. Those +who arrived here after navigating the seas of these islands recounted +the horrible perils in which they had found themselves, tossed by +great billows and almost submerged in the swell which was caused in +the sea by the earthquake; the sea even rose until, in many places, +it swept over the land, occasioning great damage. With this slight +mention I will close the sad account of the melancholy termination +of these royal festivities. + +The master-of-camp of these islands died, Don Agustin de Cepeda +y Carracedo; he was a native of Talavera de la Reina, a relative +of the glorious saint Teresa de Jesus, and more than eighty years +of age. He was one of the most valiant soldiers who has belonged to +these regions, and with that reputation he has been mentioned in this +history in the greatest military exploits of his time, and in the +government of Zamboanga and Ternate; and, what is his greatest glory, +he was an excellent Christian, devout and charitable, and died with +strong indications that he had been very earnestly such. For acting +master-of-camp the governor appointed General Alonso Lopez, a soldier +of long standing, and also very aged; and therefore he did not long +serve in that office. + +Governor Don Francisco de Mansilla despatched the galleon for Nueva +Espana, appointing as its commander his son, Don Felipe de Mansilla +y Prado, a young man of much courage and ability, who at the time was +serving in the post of sargento-mayor of the Manila army, which is the +second, in the esteem of military men, after that of master-of-camp. As +sargento-mayor of the galleon he appointed Juan Ventura Sarra (the +Catalan so famous for his successful surgical operations), on account +of his being a man of much valor, and experienced in military service +in Flandes and Cataluna. This galleon made a very prosperous voyage, +both going and returning, as we shall see in the following chapter. + +About the end of July in this year of 1678 came news that the galleon +"San Telmo" had sighted these islands; it was under the command +of General Don Tomas de Endaya, and had sailed for the port of +Acapulco in the preceding year. It brought the proprietary governor, +Master-of-camp Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado, a knight of the Order of +Santiago; he was a native of Toledo, and nephew of the venerable mother +Jeronima de la Asuncion, foundress of the convent of Santa Clara in +Manila--whose admirable life has been written by the father reader Fray +Antonio de Leytona, [70] of the Observantine Order of St. Francis; +and the investigations preliminary to her beatification have been +begun. This knight had served many years in Flandes, Cataluna, and +Extremadura, always with great commendation for his valor, which +was as great as his nobility. He came with his wife, Dona Isabel de +Ardila, a native of Badajoz; and brought in his company her uncle, +a captain of cuirassiers, Don Francisco Guerrero y Ardila--a man +of lofty stature, who, like another Saul, surpassed by the head and +shoulders the tallest man in the Manila garrison--who showed that he +possessed great valor. The new governor brought with him a numerous and +brilliant retinue, and those who afterward attained most note were: +his secretary, Miguel Sanchez Villanueva y Tejada, a man of great +virtue, who came with his wife and three children, and afterward, +having lost his wife, was ordained as a priest, and lived a long time +an example for ecclesiastics, as before he had been one for laymen; +Captains Don Juan Gallardo, Don Pedro Oriosolo, Don Jacinto Loban, +Don Tomas Martinez de Trillanes, Don Diego Vivien, Don Felipe Ceballos, +Don Jose Armijo, Don Francisco Fabra, Don Antonio de Tabora, Don Juan +Castel, Don Juan de Tricaldir, Don Manuel Alvarado; and others, all +of whom served long in these islands. As fiscal for his Majesty came +Licentiate Don Diego de Viga, a native of Bejar; he was afterward +an auditor for many years, and was a very upright and disinterested +official. The governor also brought some reenforcements of troops. The +appointment of commandant of the castle of Santiago came to General +Fernando de Bobadilla, who afterward was master-of-camp. + +On the day of our Lady's nativity Don Juan de Vargas entered Manila, +being received with great festivities; there were two ingenious +triumphal arches, which were erected by the religious orders of our +father St. Augustine and the Society, because both had their houses +on the principal street through which the procession would pass. Don +Juan began to govern with much prudence and desire to do well; +he was very punctual in fulfilling his duties, and never failed in +his daily attendance on the sessions of the Audiencia (in which some +governors had displayed much negligence); and therefore in his time the +court business was despatched more promptly, for he found many suits +unsettled and delayed. This is an insuperable difficulty in these +islands, where the lawsuits are eternal and constitute a perpetual +source of income for court reporters, secretaries, and commissioners +[71]--who, with the slow steps of judicial procedure, are continually +plundering the litigants, until, impoverished or exhausted, they give +up the suit, which is incorporated into a great mass of documents, +which they call "Proceedings in lawsuits" [autos] in the archives of +the court. Don Juan de Vargas was more fit for a soldier than for a +governor; and gradually he looked with distaste on the duties of so +arduous a post, and turned his attention to the means for securing his +own advantage. The uncle of his wife, Don Francisco Guerrero de Ardila, +became so much the master of Don Juan that, by his craftiness and great +ability, he came to be the arbiter of the government. Accordingly, it +was he who was governor, and he was the drayman who guided Don Juan +de Vargas, while the latter, like a wagon, was carrying the weight +of the government. Yet later Don Francisco Guerrero left him alone, +and went to Nueva Espana, at so important a juncture that he met in +the Embocadero the succeeding governor, Don Gabriel Crucelaegui, +and Don Juan de Vargas in the residencia was laden with his own +transgressions and those of others, as we shall see in due time. He +had a great advantage for thus making himself arbiter of everything, +in having more affability and more shrewdness than the governor, who +was naturally harsh and unamiable and easily fretted. Accordingly, +every one set on foot his claims with more confidence by the hand +of the uncle, who, as all knew, was the fly-wheel for the movements +of the government; and thus in a short time he secured following +and applause, [although] without the formal marks of respect which +belong to the dignity of a ruler; and he came to direct the entire +government, with authority and without opposition. The authority of +Don Francisco Guerrero was greatly increased because the governor +had made him master-of-camp, because of the death of Alonso Lopez, +who died within a short time [after his appointment], at an advanced +age; this increased Don Francisco's authority, and strengthened his +influence over the governor. The servants [of the governor] made more +effort to secure their own advantage than that of their master, and +therefore Don Juan de Vargas found himself alone in everything that +was not to the profit of the uncle and his familiars. He appointed as +castellan and governor of Cavite Don Juan Gallardo; this is the most +influential and profitable position that the governors of Filipinas +have at their disposal--although at the present time his Majesty +fills this office from Madrid; and in this way it was held more +than twenty-eight years by Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Atienza y +Banes, who died while holding the post of master-of-camp, in the year +1718. Another servant, Don Francisco Fabra, he appointed chief guard of +the Parian, an office which affords great opportunities and facilities +for securing the best goods; and thus in this occupation he was, so +to speak, the governor's agent, for which employ he had much ability. + +Don Juan de Vargas, during his entire term of office, maintained +trade and commerce with foreign nations, as those of the Coromandel +coast, Bengal, and Surrate--which is the greatest emporium of Eastern +India and of all the kingdoms subject to the emperor the Great Mogor +[i.e., Mogul], a monarch more powerful than the Great Turk, and +without doubt more wealthy. From this emporium of Surrate almost +every year come one or two ships of great burden, like those that +are called "ships of the line," laden with many and varied wares of +Eastern India. Within the last few years these traders are Mahometans, +although before they were heathens; this is because they were obliged +to accept the cursed doctrine of Mahoma by the former Great Mogor, +Payxa Ali Ramastican--who, trained up in his early years (when he +was a fugitive from his family) by the house of Meca, was the cause +of the total perdition of so many souls; for it is easier to convert +to our holy faith a thousand heathens than one Mahometan. Trade and +commerce were also very freely carried on with the Portuguese of +Macan, and through their agency in Nueva Batavia in the island of +Jacatra, the capital of the rich factories which the Dutch possess +throughout India--where of the former Portuguese dominion only +their language is left, since with that they trade and traffic; for +they have been deprived of the fortified posts, which promised some +advantage and profit, leaving to them only Goa (for the interment of +Portuguese), and some posts to the north, such as Chaud, Dama, Diu, +and Bassain. Only one who has seen it, as I have, can describe the +great extent of every kind of trade which Manila enjoyed in the time +of Don Juan de Vargas de Hurtado; and in that time, therefore, great +fortunes were accumulated, and the city was adorned with magnificent +edifices--the old ones being rebuilt, and new ones being erected, +thus repairing the late havoc and destruction. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +[This is occupied with an account of the attempt made by the +Augustinian Fray Juan de Rivera to go to the forbidden mission-field of +Japan; it proved unsuccessful, and he was obliged to return to Manila.] + + + +CHAPTER VII + +On the day of the apostle James news came to Manila [in 1679] +of the safe arrival of the galleon "San Telmo" at these islands, +and of its being outside of the Embocadero; this news was brought, +with the royal mails, by Sargento-mayor Juan Ventura Sarra. In this +galleon came two large and well-selected mission bands of religious; +one was composed of thirty-one from our order, conducted by father +Fray Juan de Garcia, who had been sent for this purpose in the year +1674. The other mission was composed of religious belonging to the +Society of Jesus, who were brought by Father Francisco Salgado, +[72] a religious of great learning and virtue. This mission [of +ours] arrived at the most opportune time that could be imagined, +for our province found itself in extreme necessity, on account of the +scarcity of religious; for in ten years it had not received even the +smallest reenforcement with which to replace them in the extensive +and numerous ministries in its charge. So great was this lack that +our province was already taking measures to give up some of those +ministries; but all the religious orders and the secular clergy were +suffering from the same need as was our province, on account of not +having a consecrated bishop who might confer the holy orders. The +ship "San Telmo" could not enter the Embocadero of San Bernardino, +for it was hindered by the vendavals; and therefore it made port, +after many hardships, in Palapag, in the province of Leyte--a very +safe harbor, but outside of the Embocadero, and more than a hundred +and twenty leguas distant from Manila. The religious of the mission +came hither through the provinces of Camarines and Laguna de Bay; +the roads were bad, for it was the rainy season, but the hardships +of their journey were alleviated by the charitable hospitality which +was given to them by the religious of St. Francis--who, heirs of +that saint's seraphic love, vied with each other, on such occasions, +in showing themselves true sons of so holy a father. + +They arrived at Manila, where they were received by the community +as sons beloved by their affectionate mother, who was so eagerly +expecting them; and on September 18--the day of the father of the poor, +St. Thomas of Villanova--a private meeting of the definitors was held, +and they were received by this province as her sons. + +In this private session father Fray Juan Garcia declared under oath, +in verbo sacerdotis, that, having kissed the feet of our most holy +father Innocent XI on September 20, 1677, among other favors which his +Holiness had granted him the latter had told him that by his apostolic +authority he made good all the defects which might have occurred in +the elections of this province, from its foundation until the said +day. His Holiness granted him several jubilees for certain convents, +and eleven thousand ordinary indulgences, in the new form which his +Holiness has promulgated; and gave him two notable relics, a bone of +St. Venturino the Martyr [73]--the first for the hospice at Mejico, +and the other for the convent of San Pablo at Manila. Father Fray +Juan Garcia also obtained from his Holiness, on petition by this +province, a bull in which he granted that all the procurators who +may go to Rome and bring hither missions of religious shall enjoy +the same exemptions which those possess who have been provincials +(who are called absolutos); this was accepted [by the Council of +Indias], and father Fray Juan Garcia was the first who enjoyed this +privilege, all his life. But he, as the devout religious that he +was, would not allow the religious to address him as "Our Father," +as is the custom with the provincials, both active and retired; +and, retiring to the province of Ilocos, where he was minister, +he devoted himself to leading an exemplary life, abandoning himself +entirely to meditation, mortification, and prayer until his death, +and leaving behind a noble example as a sincere religious. + +[The rest of this chapter is occupied with the coming (in the "San +Telmo") to Manila of Fernando de Valenzuela, the disgraced favorite +of the queen-mother, and a sketch of his career in Spain. The last +paragraph reads thus:] Don Juan de Vargas, learning of his arrival, +and that he was already coming by land through the province of +Camarines, sent to escort him General Don Francisco Enriquez +de Losada and Captain Alfonso de Castillo; they conveyed him to +the port of Cavite and the fortress of San Felipe. In that place a +house was built for him, of timber, according to his taste and plan, +with all possible conveniences; and there he lived--at the beginning, +with much strictness, watched by sentinels, and receiving few visits; +but afterward with more freedom, and visited by everyone, but always +in the presence of Captain Juan de Herrera, the warden's deputy. In +this seclusion Don Fernando made use of his great mental ability, +employing for his recreation the many talents which he possessed, +especially in music and poetry; for in both these arts he had no +equal in Espana. With the news which came by way of the coast of +the death of Don Juan of Austria, the severities which, while he +lived, had been employed toward Don Ferdinand were mitigated; and +the prisoner enjoyed so much diversion and company that in these +regions he could not have had more. Every month he was allowed a +thousand pesos from the royal treasury, which was sufficient for his +support and comforts, and for the expenses of the amusements which +his cleverness and ingenuity devised for his recreation. I have taken +more time than I should in this narration (which might pass for a mere +ornament of my proper task), because this gentleman was much devoted +to us--although he had received from us and from the Society of Jesus +(to whom he acknowledged his obligations) much assistance in his +seclusion and in certain difficulties which he had experienced. The +rest of his fortunes I will relate in the proper place, when we +reach the termination of the ten years of his retirement, his return +to Nueva Espana, and finally his death. The author of the additions +to Father Juan de Mariana's Historie general de Espana, [74] at the +end of the second volume, speaks very sharply and indignantly of this +gentleman, and as he might speak of a wicked highwayman or of a cruel +Nero. He certainly was wrong, for Don Fernando de Valenzuela was very +zealous in the service of his king, and his power and influence in the +government were very beneficial to the monarchy, as after his fall +was recognized by all, even his greatest enemies. But flattery [75] +must have mended the pen for him, so that in this matter he might show +himself very prejudiced. Let the name of that writer be his apology, +for it was Don So-and-so. [Fulano] Malo. The posthumous fame of Don +Fernando de Valenzuela, however, will not be obscured by his errors. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +The government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado proceeded with prosperous +results, on account of the favorable seasons and the great abundance +of the crops which were experienced in the years 1679 and 1680; and +through the success and extent of the commerce which was maintained +with China and the Coromandel coast, Surrate, and other ports of +Oriental India and the kingdoms of the Great Mogor--which formerly +were more than fifteen in number, and furnished much income to the +royal treasury with the customs duties [derecho de a nojarifazgo]. Not +only from the Coromandel coast--on which the Manila trade had founded +populous settlements, as Portonovo and Cololu--but from the city of +Goa came ships almost every year, commerce little known [to Manila] +before, and very remote. The governor devoted much attention to the +sessions of the Audiencia and the obligations of his office, and +thus the legal business which devolved upon that court was expedited, +through the uprightness and integrity of the auditors, Don Francisco +Mansilla, Don Diego Calderon, and Don Diego de Viga; the last named +filled the office of fiscal acceptably to all. + +About this time there came to the general a solemn embassy from the +principal ruler of Borney, whom those people revere as an emperor. This +is the largest island of all Asia, and, according to the best +cosmographers, has as great an area as all Espana and the kingdom of +Portugal. It is thinly populated, as its surface is very mountainous; +and therefore it is only on the shores of the sea and a few leguas +inland that there are settlements of civilized people, if that name +can be given to those barbarous nations. Borney has much wax, and in +its seas are pearl-fisheries; it abounds in amber, camphor, and gold; +and in its mountains are found large elephants, although smaller than +those of Siam. Its inhabitants are partly Mahometans, partly heathens; +but in color and disposition they resemble the natives of Filipinas, +who say that they had their origin in these islands of Borney [and] +the coast of Malayo. The ambassador was received with more ostentation +than his person seemed to merit. Although he was corpulent and robust, +he and all his retinue (which was not a small one) came barefooted +and half-naked; he wore a broad bahaque, which tired him more than it +covered him, and some wore a loose jacket, short and without a shirt +(which is not known among these peoples); but all were well armed with +lances and crises--which are swords as short as daggers, with which +they are well able to defend themselves or attack, for usually they +have these weapons dipped in poison. He made his entry [into the city] +with great pomp, in the coach and with the halberdiers of the governor, +and accompanied by the sargento-mayor of the garrison, Don Jose de +Robles; and the governor received him under a canopy, as being he who +represented the royal person. The ambassador's credentials came in the +Malayan language, written in Arabic characters; these were interpreted +by the Borneans themselves, and by a Ternatan named Pedro Machado. The +object of the embassy, they said, was to establish trade and commerce +on both sides, and to adjust some disputes over the limits of the +island of Paragua and in regard to some hostile acts which had been +committed in the lands of Borney by Alcalde-mayor Don Jose de Somonte, +in vengeance for the injuries which the Camucones had inflicted in our +islands. Everything was settled to the satisfaction of both parties, +and the ambassador returned well content and handsomely entertained, +with a valuable present for his king in return for another (and very +ordinary) one which he had brought. In the following year, the governor +sent in turn an ambassador, General Don Juan de Morales Valenzuela, +a man of gallant nature and tall stature, with a very goodly escort of +Spaniards. He was very hospitably received by the king of Borney, in +a large pavilion of bamboo and nipa, which was erected for this solemn +function; and the king allowed himself to be seen by all his vassals, +a favor which, they say, is very rare in that royalty. Don Juan de +Morales returned very successful, the king ceding to the Spaniards +dominion over all the island of Paragua, and making satisfaction for +the ravages by the Camucones; and since then we have remained very +good friends [with the Borneans]. + +All the three years' term of our father provincial Fray Juan de +Jerez was very peaceable, our order and the observance of our rules +nourishing in this province, which continually increased in prosperity +through the opportune measures which this judicious and devout prelate +employed; for certainly he was one of the most observant superiors +it had had, and it made great advancement in every way during the +time of his government. + +At last the time for the chapter-session arrived, and when the voting +fathers from the four provinces were assembling, with great peace +and harmony, suddenly a storm arose, which they feared would occasion +the destruction of peace within the order, and produce divisions and +contentions very difficult to adjust; and from which might originate +great losses to the religious and their ministries. The trouble was +this: some of the religious who were born in Nueva Espana, and others +born in these islands, where they had assumed the habit of our order, +attempted to renew the old controversy over the alternate elections +[76]--which arose in the year 1637, as we have related in book ii, +chapter 26--incited to this by having found a copy of the first +bull of Gregory XV, and the royal decree for its passage by the +supreme Council of the Indias, attested by Don Diego Nunez Crespo, +at that time court secretary of the royal Audiencia. With this slight +foundation, without heeding that the matter had already been decided +by apostolic authority--by the legate of his Holiness, that is, the +archbishop of Manila who was then in office--according to the bull +of his Holiness Urban VIII, issued "at Castel Gandolfo, diocese of +Albano, May 18, 1634" (of which they probably were not aware), [they +made this claim]. They had on their side many citizens of Manila, +and employed as their leader Doctor Don Jose Cervantes Altamirano, +a cleric in minor orders--who afterward was married, and at his death +was alcalde-mayor of the Parian of the Sangleys, and chief clerk of +the cabildo and municipality of Manila; he had a very keen mind, and +with that he would, if he had been master and disciple of himself, +have made a great jurisconsult. + +They appointed as judge-executor Master Jeronimo Fernandez Caravallo, +cura of the village of Quiapo, a priest of little ability and easily +influenced. This man accepted the commission with much pleasure, +believing that it would bring him honor and profit; and he therefore +set up his tribunal, and appointed as his secretary Bachelor Martin +Diaz, cura of the natives and Morenos in Manila. At once he sent this +man to notify the provincial, Fray Juan de Jerez, of the said bull of +Gregory XV; but the provincial would not accept the notification, not +recognizing Master Caravallo as a judge until he should establish his +right as such before a competent tribunal, and because this proceeding +found him unprepared, and with little knowledge of this controversy, +because neither official documents nor information about it were +found in the archives of the province. Investigations were made, and +the original documents were found in the archiepiscopal tribunal; +and an authentic transcript of these was found in a writing-desk +which stood in the cell of the provincials, of which the key could +not be found, and it served only as an ornament. In the said desk +was also found the above-mentioned bull of Urban VIII, with which and +the acts issued in the year 1657 the procurator-general (who was the +writer of this history) presented himself before his Lordship Don +Fray Felipe Pardo of the Order of Preachers, the archbishop-elect +and ruler of this archbishopric, as being the legate appointed by +his Holiness Urban VIII to render decision and sentence in this +question. He looked at the bull and declared himself judge, and as +such examined the documents, with the assistance of his counselor +the father presentado Fray Raimundo Verart of the same order, a +doctor in both branches of law from the university of Lerida. They +found that this controversy was already authoritatively decided, +[77] and with the lapse of forty-three years had become established +as a matter of law; that there was not the least room for the claim +made by the fathers of the Indias; and that the province possessed +the same right as before of making its choice [of officers] freely, +without respect of persons. Upon the litigant religious--who had taken +refuge in, and by order of the royal Audiencia were committed to, the +college of the Society of Jesus and the convent of San Francisco--was +imposed perpetual silence; and with censures they were commanded to +return to their convents, and to follow what obedience should direct to +them. They did so, and there was no farther discussion of this matter; +for in the following chapter-meeting attention was given to consoling +them. Those who made amends for all were the judge-executor, Master +Jeronimo Caravallo, and Bachelor Martin Diaz, whom the archbishop +punished with pecuniary fines for not having first appeared before +him with their commission, and for having erected a tribunal without +his permission. But intercession was made for them on the part of +our province, and their fines were diminished. Information of the +affair was given to our very reverend father general, Fray Domingo +Valvasorio, of Milan, who commanded that the religious who had been +the movers of this innovation (which might so greatly have disturbed +the peace of this province) be punished; and again imposed silence +regarding the claim to alternation; but the whole matter was adjusted, +for at the end the order, like a mother, must regard them as her sons. + +The time for the chapter-session arrived, which was May 11, 1680, at +the convent in Manila; its president, by commission from our father +general already named, was our father Fray Jose Duque; and father Fray +Diego de Jesus, prior of the convent of Pasig, was elected provincial, +to the satisfaction of all, by the unanimous vote of all the fathers in +the chapter. He was a zealous religious, very observant, and enamored +of poverty; and had great learning, prudence, and discretion. He was +fifty-eight years of age, a native of Pejar in Extremadura, and a +son of the convent at Salamanca--where, and in that of San Felipe at +Madrid, he had been for many years master of the novices. He came to +this province in the year 1669, as has already been said, influenced +[to come] at so great an age by scruples at having excused himself in +the year 1660 from coming as commissary for the mission which reached +this province in the year of 1663, by the appointment given to him by +our very reverend father general Master Fray Pablo Luquino, who was +then visiting the provinces of Espana. The definitors appointed were +fathers Fray Juan Ponce, Fray Carlos Bautista, Fray Pedro Martinez, +and Fray Alvaro de Benavente. Father Fray Jose Camello and the father +reader Fray Juan Martinez were present as visitors from the previous +triennium; and for the present one were appointed father Fray Juan +Guedeja and the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio. As procurator for +going to Espana was appointed father Fray Manuel de la Cruz, a native +of Toledo, and a son of the convent of Badaya; and they elected him +definitor of this province for the next general chapter to be held, +and agreed upon [78] the choice of a discreet for the said general +chapter. [79] This choice was so judicious that to it is due the +conservation and advancement of this province, for he fulfilled +so carefully the obligation of his commission that he conducted to +Nueva Espana three mission bands--the largest and most distinguished +that this province has gained, for in all they contained over fifty +religious--the first in the year 1684, the second in 1699 and 1700, +and the third in 1712. [80] He himself remained in Mexico, where he +died with the reputation of great virtue, at the age of seventy-four +years, in 1712. + +It was decided in this chapter to ask our very reverend father +general to extinguish the votes of the discreet of the convent at +Manila, and those of the priors of the convents of Hagonoy and San +Pablo de los Montes in the provinces of Tagalos, Mexico in Pampanga, +Narvacan in Ilocos, and Dumarao in the province of Panay--on account +of the usual scarcity of religious, and the deficiency which might be +caused, by their absence while at the chapter, in Ilocos and Bisayas, +provinces which are so remote. The other arrangements and ordinances +which were made in this chapter publish its great zeal for promoting +the regular observance, and the nourishing condition of that observance +in this province. + +Governor Don Juan de Vargas despatched for Nueva Espana the galleon +"San Antonio," under command of General Don Francisco Enriquez de +Losada, then accountant of the royal exchequer; and in this galleon +went the father procurator Fray Manuel Losada, and in his company +father Fray Miguel de Negrea--a son of the convent of San Felipe, +and native of that city [i.e., Madrid]; he was going back to his own +province, and died on the voyage, in the high northern latitude. The +voyage was a very distressing one, on account of the severe tempests +which suddenly came upon them; and many of those on board died, not +only seamen but passengers. A better voyage was that of the galleon +"Santa Rosa," which had sailed the preceding year by the same route +from Nueva Espana, in charge of General Antonio Nieto; for on the +morning of the day of St. John the Baptist it entered the bay of +Manila, to the great joy of those who were watching it, and anchored +at the port of Cavite--a good fortune which seldom has been enjoyed +in these islands since the banishment of Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, +in the year 1635, as we have with sadness related. In this galleon +came Don Fray Diego de Aguilar, of the Order of Preachers, a native +of Rioseco, as consecrated bishop of Zebu; for several years he had +been detained in Nueva Espana. He brought in his company father Fray +Manuel de Olivares, of the same order, who afterward was provincial +of the province of Mejico; his nephew, Captain Don Juan de Urias; +and other Spaniards. His arrival occasioned great rejoicing, on +account of these islands having remained so many years destitute of +a consecrated bishop, and many clerics and regulars were waiting to +receive holy orders. + +In this galleon arrived three religious belonging to the mission of +father Fray Juan Garcia; they were choristers, and had been left +in Nueva Espana, to be ordained as priests, and their names are +as follows: father Fray Francisco Castrillon, a native of Madrid, +and son of the convent of San Felipe; he was twenty-four years +old, and had spent nine in the order. He was a minister in Tagalos +until the year 1690, when he returned to Mejico, where he died soon +afterward. Father Fray Dionisio Navarro, a native of Leganes, and a +son of the same convent of San Felipe; he was twenty-four years old, +and had spent seven in the order. He was a good preacher, and well +versed in the dialects of the province of Tagalos. He went to Espana +and returned hither, and died in the convent of Manila from a long and +painful infirmity, on November 2, 1714. Father Fray Antonio Gutierrez, +a native of Medina Sidonia, and a son of the province of Andalucia. For +only a short time he was a minister in Tagalos, because he soon fell +ill with a contraction of the tendons [tullimiento], which lasted +until his death; this occurred at Manila, in the year 1693. + +The arrival of this bishop of Zebu served as a great spiritual +consolation for these islands; for he repeatedly performed pontifical +functions, conferring holy orders on a great number of religious and +clerics. He interceded with the governor, in order to reconcile with +him those who had taken refuge in the churches through fear of some +oppression from the absolute power of the governor--which can not +be compared with any other power in the universe; and the worst is, +that no means can be thought of for moderating and tempering it within +the bounds of reason, because the distance of five thousand leguas +which lies between the royal court of Madrid and Filipinas cannot +be diminished. The swiftest post, therefore, requires three years, +and most of them four; and if it happens that the galleon is obliged +to put back to port, the mail is delayed to five or six years. At +the end of so protracted a term as this, the most peremptory royal +rescript is exposed to the danger of being withheld by the governor, +according to his pleasure. The lord bishop with his intercession +withdrew from asylum in the house of the Society of Jesus the secretary +of Don Juan de Vargas, Captain Miguel Sanchez de Villanueva y Tejada, +and restored him to favor with his master--although soon afterward +the governor removed him from his service, making him alcalde-mayor +of Laguna de Bay. + +About this time the convent of Angat in the mountains of the province +of Bulacan was received, with the title of our mother St. Monica, and +father Fray Juan de Morelos was appointed its prior. It was composed +of the visitas of the convent of Quingua--Tabuquillo, Abarungco, +Catalonan, Guinapusan, and Santa Lucia--which, on account of being +very distant from Quingua, were administered with much difficulty; +and therefore the ministry of Angat was founded, more than three +leguas distant from [the convent of] Sandago at Quingua. It has +ordinarily two hundred and fifty tributes, with a church and convent +of wood. The district is very healthful and pleasant, because the +land is fertilized by a river of the best water that is known in +these islands; it is the river celebrated by the name of Quingua, the +waters of which, compared with many others, have been found to weigh +less. This mission is bounded on every side by very fertile meadows, +on which abundant harvests of excellent tobacco are gathered; for this +reason it is thickly settled with people who cultivate this plant, +which is so esteemed throughout the world, and which now has made +its way to the chief personages therein. This district has forests, +although they are scattered, of heavy and valuable timber; for they +are very dense, and so extensive that they join those of Balete and +San Mateo, at a distance of more than eight leguas. In the district of +this ministry the religious of St. John of God possess a fine ranch +stocked with cattle and horses, which is the most that they have for +the support of their convent and hospital at Manila, where they aid +the sick poor with their usual charity. The convent of Angat has no +vote in the chapter-meetings, and therefore is counted in the number +of the vicariates of this province. + +Although the citizens of Manila are not easy to please, no matter +how good their governors are, it appears that in the time of which +we write they had much reason to be discontented with the government +of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado; for not only did he devote himself +excessively to his own personal interests, to the detriment of the +commonwealth, but he was of a harsh and unpleasant nature, and gave +sharp answers. Besides this he spoke in a treble voice, and people +heard him with difficulty. He kept every one angered at his harsh +behavior, and disgusted by his being engrossed with, the pursuit of +gain. This was recognized in the lading of the galleons, which is the +net of the merchants; and in this year [of 1680] the galleon "San +Antonio" was in danger of not making the voyage, on account of its +being so overloaded by his henchman Don Juan Gallardo, the castellan +of Cavite--not only with his own goods, but with those of his master +the governor--that its commander, Don Tomas de Endaya, was compelled +to unload the vessel and return to lade it anew, accommodating the +entire cargo to the vessel's capacity. On account of these and other +well-known animosities against the governor and his retainers, the +citizens this year determined to inform his Majesty against him; and +they did so, the auditors and the city uniting for this purpose and +making charges against him. They sent letters, with great caution, +in this galleon; and these papers caused his removal in the year 1684. + +About October of this year the governor sent to Macan General +Antonio Nieto, in order to settle some disputes relative to commerce; +he accomplished this with much discretion, his excellent procedure +reflecting credit on the Castilian nation. He also, with great charity, +relieved many cases of necessity, which in the said city are very +numerous; but this was done without injuring one iota of the Portuguese +tenacity and pride, in which that people exceed all others in Europa. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +[This chapter describes a remarkable comet which was visible in the +islands from the middle of November, 1680, to February 14, 1681; +and relates at much length the condition of the Chinese empire at +that time, and the founding of Augustinian missions therein. Of this +matter, we retain only the description of the comet and its course.] + +The frightful comet [was] so large that it extended, like a very +wide belt, from one side of the horizon to the other, with but +little difference [in its breadth], causing in the darkness of +the night nearly as much light as the moon in her quadrature. The +course of this comet was, like those of the planets, a rapid one from +east to west, so that every day it disappeared and was hidden. The +other movement was a retrograde one, so that it moved from west to +east three or four degrees, and sometimes more than five, each day, +at times less. This movement lasted from November 20 until February +14, 1681, in which time it passed through the signs of Virgo, Libra, +Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries--passing +the equator from the south, from the handle of Libra and Ophiuchus +[Serpentario]. It crossed the ecliptic and southern solstice, and +through the constellation Antinous to the tail of the Dolphin, to the +tail of the Little Horse [i.e., Equellus], and the breast of Pegasus, +and thence to the head of Andromeda; and it passed over the equator +at 310 deg. from the point of Aries. Its magnitude was frightful, for +its circumference and head [i.e., of the coma and nucleus] was two +thousand one hundred and four leguas; and its magnitude was equal to +that of Mercury, which is nineteen times larger than the earth. Its +tail reached, on January 8, an extent of seventy-five degrees, which at +its distance made 1,437,919 leguas. It was a celestial comet, and not +elemental; [81] and according to its parallax it was in the celestial +quarter distant from us 1,150 semidiameters or halves of the line +which we regard as crossing the center [82]--which, according to the +measurement of Father Jose Zaragoza, a distinguished mathematician of +the Society of Jesus, are 1,153,000 leguas, which was its apogee. Its +movement was 7,458 times as swift as the velocity of a cannon-ball +weighing twelve libras, which, according to those who are curious, +travels in each minute, or sixtieth part of an hour, two-thirds of +a legua. This comet was visible throughout the world, giving rise +to much discussion over its effects, which in truth were generally +very evil. On the second of January it passed the parallel of our +zenith. These observations were made by Father Eusebius Kino, [83] +a German, of the Society of Jesus--a mathematician of the university +of Ingolstad, a missionary in California--while he was in Mejico; +and he printed them, with a dedication to our Lady of Guadalupe. + + + +CHAPTER X + +General Antonio Nieto returned from Macan, leaving the affairs of +the commerce with these islands regulated, as well as the entrance +of missionaries into China by that door--although it never has been +assured, because the Portuguese allege that such entrance is opposed +to the right of patronage of their king, with other absurdities which +only excite a smile; for it is a fact that many of the more southern +provinces of China fall within the demarcation of Castilla, in proof of +which not much mathematics is needed. Moreover, the Portuguese do not +hold a palmo of conquered land on which they have erected churches, or +founded bishoprics, with the right of patronage; for in that very city +of Macan the emperor of China possesses as much authority as in Canton, +and they pay him customs, duties and other royal tributes. And within +that same city, while General Antonio Nieto was there, an incident +occurred which would cause shame [even] to a nation less Catholic +than the Portuguese, whom no other people outdo in that respect. + +In that city the Chinese make their idolatrous processions, and +commit other abominations, as they do in every other part of their +lands. It happened that in one of these processions, at that time, +they carried an idol, a figure of a beautiful woman with a child in +her arms, whom they call Sanpuerstsa; this is the idol to which they +pay most devotion, for they call her "Mother of Mercy." This confirms +what is told by the traditions in China, which declare that our holy +faith was preached in that country; and that when it was forgotten some +images of saints remained which were made idols. Captain Nicolas Perez +looked closely at the idols, and asked a Chinaman in the procession +what image that was; and the Chinaman replied, "Here, like St. Mary +at Manila." Nicolas Perez, hearing this, raised his hand, and gave +the Chinaman a heavy blow in the face. The procession was thrown +into confusion, and the Chinese and the whole city disturbed; the +aggressor was seized; and it cost Nicolas Perez and General Nieto +many pesos and much effort to leave the Chinese satisfied, and the +Portuguese free from their fear that their city and all their royal +patronage would be destroyed. + +When Antonio Nieto returned to Manila, he was accompanied by three +clerics, who came to be ordained as priests, as at that time they had +no bishop in Macan. One was Antonio Melo, the son of a rich Portuguese +of much repute in Macan named Basco Barbosa; and the others were people +of the country, that is, mestizos of Portuguese and Chinese blood. They +were ordained by the bishop of Zebu, Don Fray Diego de Aguilar; +and soon afterward they returned to Macan in a patache belonging +to that city, accompanied by two priests of the Society of Jesus, +mathematicians, who had come in the year 1679 with Father Francisco +Salgado, assigned by their general to the mission of China. This +vessel sailed about October, which is the time of the monsoon that +is unfavorable to this voyage; and no information whatever has been +received about it, or how or where it was lost, although great efforts +have been made for this by the citizens of Macan. + +[Here follows an account of a punitive expedition against the Zambals, +which we have already given; see VOL. XXXVIII, pp. 226-228.] + +The galleon "San Antonio," which had sailed in the previous year in +charge of General Don Francisco Enrique de Losada, reached Acapulco, +although it encountered heavy gales in the high latitudes, and returned +prosperously to these islands. It had not the good-fortune to come in +as far as the point of Cavite (a piece of luck which seldom occurs), +on account of the vendavals having set in steadily; and therefore it +made port in Solsogon. In this galleon came the following persons: The +father master Don Fray Gines Barrientos, of the Order of Preachers, +and preacher to his Majesty, consecrated as bishop of Troya, to +be assistant for the archbishopric of Manila. He was a son of the +convent of Pena de Francia, and native of a place in Sayago called +Barroco Pardo; he was a very learned scholastic, a great preacher, +and a very observant religious. The father master Don Fray Juan Duran, +of the Order of Mercy, and a native of Lima; he came as consecrated +bishop of Sinopolis, and assistant to the bishop of Zebu; he was very +learned, and of very handsome figure and lofty stature. The entreaties +of his Majesty had obtained from his Holiness these two auxiliary +bishops, with two thousand pesos of income from his royal treasury, +and with the right of future succession to assume the government +of the vacant sees as they might occur. They brought the bulls and +pallium for the archbishop Don Fray Felipe Pardo, who in virtue of +these was consecrated on October 28; this was performed by the bishop +of Zebu, Don Fray Diego de Aguilar and the bishop of Troya, with +the assistance of the dean, Master Don Miguel Ortiz de Covarrubias, +who carried the mitre. + +Presentation came as bishop of Nueva Segovia to Doctor Don Francisco +Pizarro de Orellana, the archdeacon of Manila, and a native of that +city; [the see was vacant] by the death of Master Don Lucas de Arqueros +de Robles, a native of Vigan in Ilocos; and a son of Lorenzo Arqueros, +so renowned in the revolt of the Zambals and in their destructive +raid into Ilocos. [The said archdeacon] was a priest of lofty virtue, +the fame of which had secured for him this dignity--which he did not +enjoy, as he lived but a short time, and died before the bulls for +his consecration arrived. + +[Others also] arrived: Doctor Don Cristobal Herrera Grimaldos, +a native of Mejico--who was a professor in the university there, and +dean of the faculty of law, and had been counselor of the archbishop of +Mejico, the viceroy of Nueva Espana, Don Fray Payo de Rivera, of the +order of our father St. Augustine--who came as auditor of this royal +Audiencia of Manila. Doctor Don Pedro Sebastian de Bolivar y Mena, +a native of Mejico--a son of Licentiate Don Juan de Bolivar y Cruz, +a former auditor of Manila [sic] and Clementina [84] professor--also +an auditor of this royal Audiencia. Also Doctor Don Lorenzo Esteban +de la Fuente Alanis, a native of Murcia--a professor in Granada and +Sevilla, and competitor for positions in Salamanca--as fiscal of the +Audiencia. All were able lawyers, and the fiscal not only surpassed +the rest, but was very skilful in music; and he excelled all who had +been here in the rare art of playing well the guitar [vihuela], [85] +an instrument handled by many, but understood only by him. Besides +these came Licentiate Don Miguel de Lanama Altamirano, an advocate of +this royal Audiencia; he was a married man, as also were the auditors, +and they brought their wives with them. Don Miguel was a lawyer of much +ability, and held important positions in his profession. An appointment +came for Don Francisco Montemayor y Mansilla as alcalde for criminal +cases in Mejico; he sailed for that country in the second year, with +his son, Don Felipe Mansilla Prado, and died on the voyage. His son +is still living--a knight of the Order of Santiago--as also is Father +Antonio Mansilla, of the Society of Jesus. + +The bishop of Troya was accompanied by father Fray Alonso Garcia, +a native of Tamanes in Sayago, a religious of the order of our father +St. Augustine, who had been left in Mexico, belonging to the mission +of the year 1679; he was a son of the convent at Ciudad Rodrigo, +and was twenty-five years old; he was a minister in Tagalos, and +died in the convent at Bulacan, in the year 1704. [With him was] +also father Fray Jose de Andrada, a Portuguese, a native of Lisboa, +and a son of the congregation of Eastern India. Having spent several +years in this province, and desiring to be adopted into it, but +not being able to secure that privilege for lack of the consent +and permission of his Majesty and of our very reverend general, +he went by land to Roma and Madrid--going to Surrate, and thence to +Alepo and Venecia--and obtained a warrant from our father general, +and a decree from his Majesty, ordaining that he be received into +this province, but with a clause which stated that this should not +be regarded as a precedent. This religious was an excellent minister +in the province of Ilocos, where he died at an advanced age in the +year 1705. He deserves that record be made of him, since his adoption +into this province cost him so many peregrinations and hardships; +for to obtain it he made the entire circuit of the terraqueous globe. + +This galleon brought one of the best and most copious reenforcements +of soldiers that had been received here; for they numbered more +than three hundred Europeans, and came from Nueva Espana, without +the stigma of being convicts or men taken from the jails. [86] +This accession was very timely for filling up the military forces +in Manila, which was accomplished by removing many colored men and +replacing them by Spaniards; for in this Don Juan de Vargas took +great pains, showing himself an able soldier. Thus in the time of no +governor since Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera was the garrison of +Manila in so fine a condition as in that of Don Juan de Vargas. The +baton of master-of-camp was given to General Don Fernando de Bobadilla +(who was castellan of Santiago), in place of Don Francisco de Ardilla +[sic], who held it ad interim. The scene began to change with the +coming of so many bishops and of auditors and lawyers--an event +which, it seems, tended rather to augment the forces so that the +shock of battle might be more violent and fierce for both sides, +the winds again returning for the fearful commotions which were to +disturb the peace and tranquillity which the commonwealth of Manila +had enjoyed. For although the government of Don Juan de Vargas did +not prove to be what the citizens of Manila desired, on account of +his natural harshness and his excessive devotion to his own private +interests, nevertheless, as he did not rob any one of anything, and +was only a hindrance to the merchants gaining the profits of the trade +more to their own satisfaction; and as, on the other hand, the islands +were in a Nourishing condition, the commerce with China and India was +very firmly established, and wealth was not diminishing, there was +[something] for all if their desires were not excessive, and for the +governor more than all together. But, as covetousness is the root of +all evils, ... from this resulted the greatest troubles and Calamities. + +Time had passed agreeably for the people with some festivities that +were celebrated at the dedication of the church of Santa Potenciana, +on May 19, which were very diverting and ingenious. There were +poetical competitions, which were arranged for that celebration by +the cleverness of Don Jose de Castellar, who had been the secretary +of Governor Don Manuel de Leon--at whose posthumous expense had +been rebuilt that church and royal seminary. In these exercises the +geniuses that are in Filipinas showed that in that remotest corner +of the world is hidden much that could shine in the principal courts +of Europa; for the poems that were presented therein, both Latin and +Castilian, might have been a credit to the leading universities. And +certainly there was verified the saying and opinion of some critics +who assert that Filipinas is composed of quintessences, [87] for many +of these are found there, not only of good but of evil; and therefore +in the pulpits as well as in theology (both scholastic and moral) +there never lack stars of the first magnitude; and in all the rest +"a hair is cut in the air," [88] as the common saying goes. + +The first misfortune which was felt was the return to port of the +galleon "Santa Rosa," in command of General Tomas de Endaya; it is +these losses which are most deeply felt, since all are interested in +the prosperous voyages of the galleons; and it is one of the greatest +troubles of these islands, if not the worst, that all are dependent +on two bits of wood, [89] and those entrusted to the fickleness +of the sea--the one that goes [to Acapulco], and the other that +is expected. The sad news of its return came late in December, +about Christmas, and caused general sorrow. The year 1682 began +with the melancholy feeling which was inspired by seeing that we +were deprived for that year of having a galleon from Nueva Espana, +which is the artery that communicates the blood and the life for the +preservation of these isolated islands--that is, the silver which, +like a lodestone, attracts the most remote nations to the commerce and +trade; and by the lack of the silver [which comes] with the galleon +commercial transactions are greatly retarded. + +Now, it seems, the two camps had made ready their opposing forces for +one of the most sanguinary battles which for many generations had been +waged in these islands; and its consequences lasted many years, and +its echo was a scandal to the universe. The auditors began the duties +of their office with great care and attention, for they were all very +erudite men, who had filled chairs in the universities of Espana; +but, as the true wisdom is the fear of God, when this is lacking +all human knowledge is useless.... In the Indias a great source of +disputes is the desire which some ministers have for extending the +royal privileges [regalias], expecting through this channel greater +advancement--as if kings, and especially those who are so Catholic +and pious as are ours of Espana, would be willing to do anything +else than to render to God that which is God's, content with what is +rendered to them, which is Caesar's. The great privileges of the royal +patronage are not opposed to the integrity of the episcopal dignity and +ecclesiastical hierarchy; rather, they are in accord with each other, +and both use their powers to promote the greater prosperity of the +faith.... And, since the greatest privileges of the patronage of the +Indias are pontifical concessions, how can they be used against the +power of him who concedes them, who necessarily must be relatively +greater?... Therefore, there neither is nor can be wrong in such +privileges, which are founded in justice and right, and there is no +opposition between those which are pontifical and those which are +royal, as there is not and cannot be any between the virtues. The +fault is in those who interpret these privileges as they do the laws, +for they say that they give their mind to them, as if they no longer +had any mind, and were now mente captas. [90]... Excellent and learned +officials were all the auditors who at that time were members of +the Audiencia of Manila; but, to judge by results, self-will greatly +blinded their good understandings, and therefore occurred to them the +lot of those whom our father St. Augustine mentions (treatise 4 on +[the gospel of] John): Temporalia perdere timuerunt, et vitam aeternam +non cogitaverunt; ac sic utrumque amisserunt. [91] The infinite mercy +of God probably did not permit that, although all met very painful and +some very sudden deaths--except Doctor Don Diego Calderon y Serrano, +who died as a good Christian, who did not choose to entrust the safety +of his soul to opinions. But at the least we saw them lose temporal +prosperity, when they were confidently expecting even more. [Here +follows (pp. 751-766) Diaz's account of the Pardo controversy, +which we omit, since it has been sufficiently used for annotation of +other documents relating to that subject, for which see VOL. XXXIX, +pp. 149-275.] + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +During all the three years' term of the provincial Fray Diego de Jesus +this province enjoyed great tranquillity, and made great progress +in strict observance, and in care and watchfulness in the mission +villages in our charge. All regarded the provincial as a mirror, +and seeing him they corrected their own negligence, on account of the +great virtues that shone in him. His poverty and disregard of earthly +things was of heroic degree. Of many of his surpassing virtues I can +be a witness, for I had much to do with him during this triennium, +on account of having duties near his person. It cost much urging to +make him lay aside a habit, very old and worn, which he had used many +years; and to induce him to change a hat which was so old that it +appeared unsuitable and ludicrous. On many occasions he had no water +even in his cell; and when he needed it, for visitors or for himself, +he asked for it from others. [92] So close was his attendance in +the choir that it seemed as if he had no other occupation. He never +handled money during his term as provincial, to which I can testify, +since I was his depositary and almoner (for he possessed the virtue +of charity in a very high degree). He was frequent in prayer, and +so severely did he mortify the flesh that after death there were +found on him the marks of the cilices [93] of copper, even to the +soles of his feet; a little before he died, these had been taken +from him by father Fray Jose de Orense, of the Order of St. Francis, +a religious of great ardor, to whom Fray Diego had communicated his +own. Although I have not reached the time at which his holy death +occurred, I am not willing to pass over in silence what happened on +that occasion to this noble religious Fray Jose de Orense. The death +of our father Fray Diego de Jesus was hastened by his infirmities, +and by his age, which was seventy-four years. They rang the bell +for giving him the holy sacraments, and at the same time father Fray +Jose de Orense came in at the convent door. They told him that his +dear friend was in danger of death, and he replied with a serene +face that he already knew this, and had come to the convent on that +account; for the two had agreed that, whoever should die first, the +other would assist him at death. The wonderful thing is, that the +brethren had not informed Fray Jose of it, nor had there been time +for that. He remained with our father Fray Diego until the latter +expired in his arms. Our father had completed his term as provincial, +to the great regret of all, and then retired to a cell, which, during +the thirteen years while he lived, he did not leave except for the +choir-services; nor did he go outside [the convent] except with the +body of religious. In no chapter-meeting which followed would he vote, +although he was past provincial; and in order to carry this out better +he endeavored to secure that his brother, Fray Buenaventura de Bejar, +should obtain the function of voting. If in the year 1686 he presided +in the chapter-meeting, it was by commission of our very reverend +father general, and because some persons had magnified it as a charge +on his conscience that it was important for him to accept that post; +and therefore he did so, although with evident reluctance. They +desired to elect him provincial for six years before [his death], +but they never were able to attain this. + +The chapter-session was held in the convent at Manila on May 8, +1683; and it was presided over by father Fray Juan Ponce, the first +definitor for the past triennium, as we had not a special appointment +for that duty from our very reverend father, the general of the whole +order. The election for provincial fell on our father Fray Jose Duque, +for the second time, with the unanimous consent of all the voting +fathers and the general satisfaction of the whole province--who +knew from long experience his great talent for governing, and his +great devoutness and prudence; on account of these qualifications +he was afterward commissary of the Holy Office. As definitors were +elected our father Fray Juan de Jerez, the father reader Fray Juan +Bautista Bover, and fathers Fray Alonso de Escos and Fray Francisco de +Zamora. The visitors for the past triennium were present, the father +reader Fray Miguel Rubio and father Fray Juan Guedeja; and the new +visitors appointed for this triennium were fathers Fray Jose de la +Cruz and Fray Alonso de Arnillas. The mandates and statutes of this +chapter-session, although not many, were exceedingly useful for the +proper government of the province. + +Strong recommendations were made that they should send to the +mission of China religious who might aid fathers Fray Alvaro de +Benavente and Fray Juan de Rivera; and for this holy employ, after +a few months, the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio offered himself, +and, renouncing the office of prior of the convent of Cebu and the +responsibility of vicar-provincial for that island, he embarked for +China; and afterward he was followed by fathers Fray Jose Gil and +Fray Francisco Patino, who rendered excellent service for several +years in those missions--although finally they withdrew on account +of impaired health, and returned to these islands. + +When the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio arrived at Canton, it was but +a short time after the entrance into China, by way of Hermosa Island, +of the bishop of Heliopolis, Don Francisco Palu, on a journey from +Roma; he resided in the city of Moyang, from which place he sent to the +regulars who were ministers notifications of the decrees of the holy +Congregation of the Propaganda upon the subjection of the regulars to +the apostolic vicars. This occasioned great disquiet, and hindered the +preaching of the gospel; and from it originated bitter controversies, +which began in that time, and are not ended up to the present; may +it please God to bring them to an end in future days. Nevertheless, +at the visit to Roma of father Fray Alvaro de Benavente some relief +was given by the decree which he obtained from the holy Congregation +of the Propaganda, which suspended the subjection, and left only the +visitation of the vicars-apostolic and some other and lesser duties +of obedience, in other matters leaving the regulars subject to their +own regular superiors--which is the same as to leave them subject +to two masters. But this is impossible, by the saying of Christ +our Lord, according to chap. xvii of St. Luke: Nemo potest duobus +Dominis servire [94]--which is what was attempted in Filipinas +by the archbishop Don Diego Camacho y Avila. [95] Bishop Palu, +who styled himself vicar apostolic for the entire empire of China, +sent to Canton a notification of the bull of his Holiness Clement X +and the subjection of the regulars, to a French priest named Filibert +Leblanc--who is still living, a very old man, and is vicar apostolic +of a province. His coming occasioned much grief to the fathers of +St. Francis, and to father Fray Miguel Rubio, who made such answer +as at that time seemed expedient. The bishop of Heliopolis lived but +a short time in China, dying in the city of Moyang. + +This year the governor despatched to Nueva Espana two galleons, with +a considerable interval between, thus providing a remedy against +the returns to port which had been experienced in preceding years; +for it was very possible that, in case one ship were driven back, +the other could make its voyage--which had been known to occur +many times, since they could not keep together in that dangerous +navigation, and might follow very different courses; and one will +suffer from a storm, and the tempest not reach the region where the +other vessel is sailing. Accordingly, he sent the galleon "Santa Rosa" +as flagship, in charge of General Antonio Nieto; and as almiranta the +galleon "San Telmo," under his follower Admiral Don Francisco Fabra, +a very sagacious and active man. These two galleons made a prosperous +voyage and reached the port of Acapulco, where General Antonio Nieto +remained as castellan of the castle there (until his Majesty should +give him a proprietary appointment), because he who held this office +was dead, and the viceroy of Nueva Espana, Marques de Laguna and +Conde de Paredes de Nava, [96] appointed ad interim General Antonio +Nieto. [This resulted] to the great improvement of that fort, for he +strengthened and repaired it, and provided it with military supplies, +in which it was very deficient--most of this at his own cost, because +he had a generous disposition. + +Governor Don Juan de Vargas also placed on the stocks, at the port of +Cavite, a galleon to which he gave the name "Santo Nino Jesus de Cebu," +one of the largest ships ever built in these islands; its builder was +Juan Sanchez, a man well skilled in the art of such construction, +on account of having practiced it many years in Yucatan. So much +diligence was used in constructing the ship that it made a voyage to +Acapulco in the year 1684, as we shall relate in its place. + +In this year of 1683 there came to Don Juan de Vargas an envoy +extraordinary from the king of Siam, and from his barcalon (or prime +minister in all the kingdom), who was a Greek and very Catholic, +named Constantius Falcon. The envoy was a religious of the order of +our father St. Augustine, a native of Lisboa, named Fray Esteban +Sousa; [he was formerly] a lecturer on theology in the convent of +Evora, and had been rector at Goa and visitor for Macan, and was a +religious of great learning and greater virtue. It seems that one +of the things solicited by the barcalon Constantius Falcon was, +to retire to Manila with his family and all his wealth, which was +great, on account of his being the royal favorite and having great +influence with the king of Siam--who, although a barbarian and very +superstitious, as are all that people, had a very amiable disposition +and much esteem for Europeans. Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya, +with whom Constantius was on very intimate terms, dissuaded him from +this purpose; and certainly the arguments which he brought forward +were reasonable, based on the extreme and incredible power of the +governors of Manila, which is very unfriendly to the possessor of +much wealth, as has been confirmed by experience. I could set down +here many instances of this which have occurred in my own time; +but I omit this, as being a matter that is both delicate and offensive. + +It would have been very prudent on the part of Constantius to have +retired from Siam; for within a few years the king died, and his +successor was not so kind and well-intentioned. This king inflicted on +Constantius a most cruel death, and appropriated his enormous wealth, +which, according to report, was counted by millions. It is true that +Constantius was very guilty, for he had formed an alliance with the +French, and was planning to surrender to them the kingdom of Siam; +and for this purpose he had corresponded with the king of France, +who sent many Frenchmen for this enterprise--which ended very badly, +and cost most of them their lives; and the missionary bishops suffered +very great privations. The intention of Constantius was a good one; +it was, to establish the Catholic faith in Siam, for which he had +built some churches. For the adornment of these, he sent [orders] +through the said Don Francisco de Moya for many chalices, monstrances, +and vessels of silver covered with gold, to be wrought in Nueva Espana; +on account of his death, these were sold in Manila, and now they are +in many churches of these islands. Only his wife escaped--a Japanese +woman, a very good Christian--and a son of his, who went to Francia, +where the most Christian king conferred honors on him, and gave him +an income and the title of count. + +Father Fray Esteban de Sousa, having concluded the business which +he had to transact in Manila, returned to Siam; and the king of that +country sent him as his ambassador to the king of Portugal, accompanied +by two Siamese nobles [mandarines] who carried a rich present. With +them he went to Goa, where the viceroy of India sent him on his way +to Lisboa with the best ship that he had. But when they arrived at +the Cape of Good Hope the ship was dashed to pieces, at the place +which is called "the false cape," and most of its people perished, +including one of the Siamese nobles. Father Fray Esteban and another +religious of Ours--a Portuguese named Fray Jose de Gracia, who had +spent several years in Filipinas--with a very few others, saved their +lives. They traveled by land more than forty leguas, through those +desert shores of Africa, where they encountered only lions of fearful +size; they saved themselves from the lions at night by surrounding +themselves with fires, on account of the antipathy which those fierce +beasts have for fire. They ate some herbs of the field, and, weakened +by hunger and fatigue, they fell dead along the way; more than forty +Portuguese perished, among them two religious of the Society of Jesus, +for they were old men and unable to travel so far, or to suffer such +privations. After many days, having endured incredible sufferings, +they reached a city which the Dutch have at the Cape of Good Hope, +called Santa Elena; they were received there with much kindness, and +the Dutch treated them very well, and relieved their many necessities. + +Father Fray Esteban returned to Goa, and by order of his provincial +went back to Siam, where in the Bandel [97] of the Portuguese he +made a hermitage; and there, allowing his beard to grow, he devoted +himself wholly to prayer and mortification, being an example for +all the Europeans in that kingdom. He had his grave always open, +in which he often placed himself, and there meditated on the end of +the glories of this world. In the year 1698 he returned to Manila, +in order to procure a bell for his hermitage and some other articles +for its adornment, and to collect some alms. In the following year +he went back to Siam, to continue that mode of life, [which he did] +until the year 1709, when they found him dead in his hermitage, on his +knees; they buried him in the grave which he had always kept open. The +spirit of this religious was approved in Manila by men consummate +in virtue--especially by fathers Fray Francisco de la Concepcion +and Fray Jose Orense, Franciscans, who were very spiritual men, +and well qualified to decide on souls truly mystical. He practiced +great mortification in his food, for he never ate flesh or fish, +but only fruits (and those without any additional relish), roasted +sweet potatoes and bananas, and a little boiled rice. + +In a vessel from the Coromandel coast came Juan Antunez de Portugal, +a knight of the Order of Christ, and a son of the celebrated Portuguese +jurist Domingo de Antunez de Portugal (of the same order), who wrote +the very learned book, De regalibus. He came with an appointment from +his king as governor of the islands of Timor and Solor, and, having +fallen dangerously ill at Malaca, he feared, as a good Catholic, +to die among those Calvinistic heretics; and therefore embarked in a +coasting vessel which was coming to Manila with merchandise. He was +received by Governor Don Juan de Vargas with the hospitality which +his person and noble rank merited, and medical treatment was provided +for him with great care. As soon as he became well and was ready to +continue his voyage to Timor, the governor sent him, well provided, +in a very good vessel belonging to some Portuguese traders, and gave +him some Spaniards to accompany him. + +The islands of Timor and Solor are the last of which we have knowledge +toward the south beyond the island of Jacatra, where the Dutch have +founded the city of Nueva Batavia, the capital of all the colonies +and factories that they possess in Eastern India from the Cape of +Good Hope, which are numerous and rich. The islands of Timor and +Solor abound with gold, and in them alone grows the sandalwood, +a very fragrant and esteemed wood, and a great article of trade +for China--although the transportation of it is very unbecoming for +Christians, because it is the incense and timiama which the Chinese use +most in the sacrifices to their idols; and therefore the Portuguese +have found by experience that wealth gained by this wretched traffic +never is profitable. These islands are under the Portuguese dominion +and are relics of its ancient colonies, although they are but little +subject to it on account of being more than twelve hundred leguas +from Goa. At that time the rule over them had been usurped by a +Dutch mestizo (although he feigned to be a Catholic), named Antonio +de Ornay, a very sagacious man and an able politician, who governed +them more as a king than as a vassal (as he said he was) of the king +of Portugal--whom he recognized so far as it seemed good to him, and +made contributions to his revenues with part of the great and almost +incredible riches which it was said he possessed, especially in gold; +but most of his wealth was hidden and buried in the ground. The king +of Portugal and the viceroy of India, knowing that they could do no +more, allowed him to remain in that power, and sent him [the insignia +of] the Order of Christ, and other titles of honor. It seems that +the cabinet at Lisboa were displeased at the limited power that the +Portuguese crown possessed in Timor, and decided to send Juan Antunez +to replace Antonio de Ornay, but armed and escorted only by the royal +warrant, which is more than enough for Portuguese loyalty. Juan Antunez +arrived at the principal port of Timor, and found it in hostile array +and garrisoned by soldiers of all nations, sent by Antonio de Ornay, +who already had information (by way of Batavia) of his new successor; +these soldiers had orders from him not to allow Juan Antunez or any +other person to land from the vessel, and not to accept from him any +despatch or letter. The new governor spent many days there, waiting to +see if he could at least write a letter to Antonio de Ornay; but seeing +that he had no remedy except to return to Manila, he did so, with much +difficulty and lack of provisions. From Manila he set out for India, +where he was afterward governor of Mozambique and other places in +Africa. Antonio de Ornay remained absolute master of Timor and Solor, +until he died suddenly, of old age; and without the assistance of +a priest, because the influence [aires] of the neighboring Batavia +had so weakened his scruples. At his death was present a citizen +of Macan, Antonio de Vasconcelos, of the same Order of Christ, who +told us in these islands that all the wealth of Antonio de Ornay, a +great quantity of gold, had been lost; for, as he had buried all his +treasures and died suddenly, they remained for the court of Pluto, +the imaginary god of riches and also of hell. + +About the end of the year, Auditor Doctor Don Cristobal Herrera +Grimaldos died, aged more than seventy years. The cause of his +death--which came rapidly, in an illness of a few weeks--was that +a running sore that he had in his right arm became cancerous. It +is said that it was this arm that he stretched out to seize the +archbishop when he ordered [the soldiers] to carry out the prelate +in the chair on which he was sitting; such is the story, but it +is not confirmed.... What is certainly known is, that he made no +effort to secure absolution from the excommunication. He publicly +received the holy viaticum, which was administered to him by the +dean, Don Miguel Ortiz de Covarrubias; and they buried him in the +church of the Society of Jesus at Manila. Afterward the archbishop, +having returned from his exile (as we shall soon relate), by sentence +and demand from his attorney-general ordered that the auditor's body +be disinterred; but this proved ineffectual, because it was alleged +that the body had been buried in a general sepulchre, in which were +the bones of others of the faithful, and those of the auditor could +not be recognized. At this, the ecclesiastical officials desisted +from their attempt; but there was no other declaration to the contrary. + +While the archbishop was enduring his exile in Lingayen--or, to speak +more correctly, his imprisonment, since he had not the liberty that +exiled persons enjoy--in Manila the tempest continued against the +religious of St. Dominic, who, as being his brethren in the order, +had great share in his troubles. The usurping provisor, Dean Don +Miguel de Covarrubias, and the cabildo, successful in maintaining the +vacant see [sede vacante], arrested and harassed all those who, as it +seemed to them, did not agree with their opinion. And as it seemed to +them that all the force in this opposition came from the religious of +St. Dominic--especially from the provincial, Fray Antonio Calderon; +father Fray Cristobal Pedroche, commissary of the Holy Office and +vicar-provincial; father Fray Bartolome Marron, rector of the college +of Santo Tomas; and the two lecturers in theology, father Fray Juan +Ibanez and Fray Francisco de Vargas--they demanded aid from the +governor, Don Juan de Vargas, to banish those religious. The governor +issued a royal decree, signed only with his own name, directing the +provincial to send the five religious above mentioned to the village of +Lalo, the capital of the bishopric of Nueva Segovia, distant a hundred +leguas from Manila, on the pretext that some of them were preaching, +and others teaching, erroneous doctrines in the community. The said +provincial replied to this that if the errors consisted in saying +that the cabildo and their provisor had usurped the ecclesiastical +jurisdiction, and that the persons who had banished the archbishop +and arrested the ecclesiastics deserved the censures [of the church], +it was himself who had most influence [in forming that opinion in +them], and who with most firmness maintained it; and that as his +subordinates were not to blame in the matter, since they obeyed the +commands laid on them, he could not fulfil the orders given by the +royal decree. The said master-of-camp issued a second decree in the +same form as the first, repeating its commands, and ordering that +the provincial with the five religious be brought to this capital. + +To the end that this order might be executed, he gave commission to +Licentiate Don Diego Antonio de Viga, auditor of that Audiencia--who, +accompanied by several companies of arquebusiers and other soldiers +under the command of the said governor, went to the convent of San +Domingo; and, leaving it surrounded with many of the soldiers, with +others he entered it to make known the said royal decree. He actually +notified the provincial and Fray Cristobal Pedroche, commissary of the +Holy Office and vicar-provincial of Manila; and the soldiers looked +through the entire convent in search for the rector, Fray Bartolome +Marron. Not finding him, they went on to the college of Santo Tomas, +and, after making the same efforts to find the said rector, but +in vain, notified the two professors of the same decree. They made +substantially the same reply as the provincial--all of them saying +that they could not voluntarily leave their offices and province; but +that they were ready to endure any violence for the sake of God and +His cause. The news of this was sent to the said master-of-camp Don +Juan de Vargas, and he was told how in the convent and the college +all the doors and offices had been opened to the soldiers, without +resistance; he gave orders that the soldiers should remain round +about the convent and college, and should not permit the entrance +of any provision of food or water for the religious until the six +should be surrendered, and should go alone to the places designated +in the said royal decree. This blockade, with this rigor, lasted four +days, and on the last day, which was the day next following Corpus +[Christi], the same auditor went to the convent; and, having made +various protestations and requisitions, ordered the usurping provisor +(who was present) to remove those religious. After some questions +and replies the provisor commanded the soldiers to carry in chairs, +in their arms, to the place of embarkation of the provincial and his +vicar-provincial; this was actually done, carrying them until they +placed the religious in the vessel which had been made ready for this +purpose. This having been accomplished at the convent, they went to +the college of Santo Tomas, and the same thing was done to the two +professors of theology; and, all being placed together in the same +vessel, they were conveyed to the port of Cavite. From that place +the two professors were transported in another vessel to the island +of Mariveles; and the provincial and vicar-provincial were detained +there until the time for the sailing of the ship for Nueva Espana, +in which they were embarked. The said provincial reached the kingdom +of Espana, where he died a few months after his arrival. + +At the same time, by order of the said master-of-camp, Doctor Don +Diego Calderon went to the convent of the Parian (which is the +village of the heathen Chinese), with the same display of arms +and soldiers, in quest of the said vicar-provincial, and searched +the entire convent--where he could not be found, since he was, +as has been stated, in the convent of Manila, in company with the +provincial. With the same commission Captain Don Luis de Morales +Camacho, alcalde-in-ordinary, went with armed soldiers to a ranch +named Binan, distant eight leguas from Manila, and belonging to the +said college, to seize the rector, thinking that they would find him +there; and General Antonio Vasquez went, with the same accompaniment +of soldiers, to the convent of Abucay, a ministry for the Indians, +distant eight leguas from Manila by sea, to look for Fray Raimundo +Verart; but, as they could not find those two religious, they could +not in their case put into execution the [sentence for their] removal +from the islands. Strenuous efforts were made in Manila to look for +the father rector, Fray Bartolome Marron, but they could not find him; +for he was safely hidden in the house of a person who was strongly +attached to the order; so they desisted from their search for him. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +The two galleons which had sailed for Nueva Espana in the preceding +year arrived safely at Filipinas [1684], although they did not make +port at Cavite, but at Solsogon, within the Embocadero. The flagship +"Santa Rosa," which had gone out in charge of Antonio Nieto (who had +remained as warden of the castle at Capulco), brought back as its +commander Don Juan de Zalaeta, a native of Vizcaya, and a knight of +the Order of Santiago. He had spent many years in these islands, and +had been a soldier in Ternate; and, having returned to [Nueva?] Espana, +had held several honorable offices--as, being alcalde-mayor of Hicayan +and Puebla de los Angeles, and warden of Acapulco. In this galleon +came the governor who was to succeed Don Juan de Vargas; this was +the admiral of galleons, Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui y Arriola, a +knight of the Order of Santiago, and a member of the "twenty-four" +of Sevilla and of the supreme Council of War. He had been commander +of the Windward fleet, [98] and had held other responsible positions +on sea and land; and he was a Vizcayan, a native of Elgoibar. Don +Juan de Zalaeta carried the commission for taking the residencia of +Don Juan de Vargas, and other warrants; but the most important person +among those whose residencias he must take was the master-of-camp Don +Francisco Guerrero de Ardila, uncle of Don Juan de Vargas's wife. It +was this man who had enjoyed the profits of the office of government, +and this year he was returning to Espana as commander of the galleon +"Santo Nino." That vessel met within the Embocadero the galleon +"Santa Rosa," and, learning that in the latter had come a successor +to Don Juan de Vargas, he hoisted the anchors without waiting for +further information, whether opportune or not [con tiempo o sin +el], and sailed into the sea outside; and he was not ill-advised +in this step, since in the residencia he would have been the chief +personage. When Don Juan de Zalaeta learned that the best of the hunt +had escaped from him, he was much grieved that he could not catch him; +although it would have grieved Don Francisco Guerrero more if they +had seized him. That gentleman knew how to enjoy the advantages of +Filipinas quite alone, and to go away laughing at the citizens and +every one else; but Don Juan de Vargas remained behind, in custody, +to make amends for his own faults and those of others. + +In company with the above-mentioned governor came very distinguished +officers, all Vizcayans; there were Don Jose de Escorta, Don Pedro +Uriosolo, Don Francisco Alvarez, Don Bernardo de Endaya (who carried +the despatches from his Majesty), Don Pedro de Avendano, Don Matias +de Mugortegui, Don Francisco de Leon y Leal, Don Juan Bautista +Curucelaegui, Don Andres de Mirafuentes, Don Jose de Herrera, Don +Manuel Gonzalez, Don Lorenzo Mesala, Don Francisco Carsiga (who +died a priest), Don Jose Arriola, Don Martin Martinez de Tejada, +and Don Lucas Vais; all of them were generals and sargentos-mayor, +whom we know as captains, and rendered much service and honor to +these islands. In this galleon came Don Mateo Lucas de Urquiza; +also Captain Lorenzo Lazaro, a noted pilot; Captain Don Francisco +Cortes, boatswain; and for ship's storekeeper Juan de Aramburu, +a brave Vizcayan who served in many important exploits. + +In the almiranta "San Telmo," in which returned the admiral Don +Francisco Manuel de Fabra, came a numerous and excellent mission of +religious of our father St. Augustine; it was sent by father Fray +Manuel de la Cruz, who left these islands in the year 1680; he himself +had been left in our hospice of Santo Tomas de Villanueva, outside +the city of Mejico. This galleon "San Telmo" was in great danger of +not being able to return hither, for, having set sail several days +after the flagship, on leaving the port the rudder-irons broke, and +the ship was almost unmanageable--a defect very difficult to repair in +that place, on account of the scarcity of artisans at Acapulco. If it +had not been for the diligence and energy of the warden Antonio Nieto, +who sent to a great distance to get workmen, and made the repairs at +his own cost and with his personal attention, this loss would have +been irremediable; but his zeal and good judgment enabled the ship to +pursue its voyage with but a few days' loss of time, and to succeed +in making port at these islands. + +On the eve of St. Bartholomew's day, August 23, in the afternoon, +the distinguished mission of our religious entered Manila; in numbers +it was the largest that had entered this province, [99] and in quality +unequaled. This province received them with great tokens of rejoicing; +and the land welcomed them with an earthquake, and not a slight one, +which occurred that night. On August 29 the private session of the +definitory was held, to draw up the formal statement of receiving +and incorporating them [into the province]. + +On the day following the entry of our religious into Manila, that +is, the day of St. Bartholomew, the new governor, Don Miguel de +Curucelaegui y Arriola, made his entry into the city; this was done +with great pomp, and two triumphal arches were erected for him, by the +college of the Society of Jesus and our convent, with very ingenious +emblematic allusions in Latin and Castilian verse, and very expressive +laudations. At this entry occurred a disaster which might have served +to the heathen as a bad omen. Hardly had the governor entered through +the Puerta Real, which they call Puerta de Bagumbayan, when a balcony +that was on the side within the city wall above the said gate gave +way, and fell, with great injury to those who were within it; so that +many were left cripples, and among these a Recollect religious named +Fray Luis. The fiscal of the royal Audiencia, Doctor Don Esteban de +la Fuente Alanis, escaped the danger, the falling balcony striking +his horse's tail; and Captain Don Francisco de Arcocha, the equerry +of the new governor, was hurt. But, although many were injured, +the life of no person was endangered. + +The religious of this mission brought with them an image for devotion, +a painting of the holy Christ of Burgos, touched up to accord with +the original. This was received in Manila with great solemnity, +in a procession, the new governor taking part therein on account of +being much given to that devotion, and with him the most distinguished +persons in the city. The image was deposited in the main chapel, with +an altar and retable which were very suitable for it, until the Conde +de Lizarraga, Don Martin de Ursua y Arismendi, provided that which the +image has at the present time. The governor went to mass every Friday, +and there was a large attendance of citizens of Manila--I know not +whether out of complaisance with him; for at the death of Don Gabriel +de Curucelaegui, who was buried at the foot of the aforesaid altar, +at the same time was buried with him the devotion of the citizens +of Manila. The same occurred in the government of the said Conde de +Lizarraga, who again revived this devotion; for it was likewise buried +with him, in the same place. So much influence has the example of the +governors in these islands, and so great is their power, that even +devotion seems to need their aid. The religious also brought a brief +from his Holiness Innocent XI for the erection of a confraternity of +the holy Christ of Burgos; this undertaking was carried out, and its +first director [100] was this devout governor. In his time it had a +large membership, but today it has very few confriers; but they are +most devout and sincere when they are least influenced by vain and +worldly considerations, and most please the Lord when they are anxious +to please not princes--men in whom there is no real prosperity--but +the King of kings, who always repays them in money of infinite value. + +Much did the Catholic governor grieve over entering upon his office +without the benediction of the archbishop, and at finding the people of +the city as a flock without a shepherd, their consciences loaded with +scruples over matters of so much importance, and all of them perplexed +and entangled in these dissensions; and therefore he resolved, with +firm purpose and heroic determination, to cause the archbishop to +be restored to his church. The opposition which he encountered among +the auditors in his efforts to secure this cannot be expressed; but +he firmly maintained his resolution, even to the extent of saying +that he would restore the archbishop, even if it should cost him his +head. He consulted the religious orders, asking them to give him their +opinions, on the basis of law, both civil and canonical. I have not +seen what the other corporations replied, which I suppose must have +been what the governor desired; but I know well that the Order of +St. Augustine adduced many and very substantial arguments in favor +of the restitution of the archbishop to his church, and this with +many citations from the authors on whom the auditors had taken their +stand--who, as the royal Council of the Indias afterward declared, +were greatly at error in their method, according to what the royal +laws ordain in case it should be necessary to enforce the penalty of +banishment against any prelate. The same error was committed by the +capitulars of the ecclesiastical cabildo in declaring and proclaiming a +vacant see, through their misunderstanding of the chapter Si Episcopus, +"De supplenda negligentia praelatorum," in VI [101]--an error which +afterward cost them all so dear, especially the dean, Don Miguel +Ortiz de Cobarrubias. + +The governor, Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui, determined to restore +the archbishop to Manila, sent to Lingayen as his agent for +accomplishing this, General Don Tomas de Endaya; and the city of +Manila sent a regidor, Sargento-mayor Don Gonzalo de Samaniego, and +some citizens. With them went the past provincial of Santo Domingo, +Fray Baltasar de Santa Cruz, commissary of the Holy Office, and many +others, with an escort of soldiers. On November 16 the archbishop +came back from his exile, to the general rejoicing of the entire city, +which had been so long a time afflicted by the absence of its pastor +and prelate. The artillery was fired [as a salute], from the castle, +and from the wall adjoining the gate of Santo Domingo, by which the +archbishop made his entrance; and after he had visited the church he +went to the palace, to see his liberator, the Catholic governor--who +said that, in case his proceeding should displease his Majesty and +the royal and supreme Council of the Indias, he would regard it as a +great glory to have a punishment, even were it capital, imposed upon +him. This may be believed of him, as he was a man of a great soul, +although small in body; Major in exiguo regnavit corpore virtus. [102] +What we saw in him was, that he was one of the best governors that +these islands have had--affable, pious, magnanimous, and in the highest +degree disinterested, and with this very liberal. And therefore he +was wont to say that he had come to Filipinas to be poor, where other +governors had come to be rich. This he said with truth, because in +Espana and the Indias he had possessed much wealth, gained in the +many voyages that he had made in command of the fleet and galleons +to Peru and Nueva Espana, which had been consumed by his ostentation +and liberality. We may therefore regard it as a punishment of God +upon these islands that He removed him from us in the fifth year of +his term of government--in which time he was severe with those only +to whom he could not in justice be kind--unless it were that divine +justice chose him for the punishment of those who had deserved it +before his time. [103] + +Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui began his government with great +acceptability and satisfaction to all, and taking the measures +necessary for the maintenance of these islands. The year of 1685 was +a hard one on account of the general epidemic of smallpox which raged, +not only in these islands but in all the kingdoms of China and Eastern +India--especially on the Coromandel coast, where many millions of +Malabars died. In Filipinas the ravages of the epidemic were great, +principally among the infants; but the place where, it is affirmed, +the pest caused incredible loss was in the mountains of Manila where +the insurgent blacks [i.e., Negritos] dwell, so many dying that those +mountain districts were left almost uninhabited. But it was not only +among them that the disease wrought such destruction, but also among +the deer and wild swine, of which there is an innumerable multitude +in these mountains, even after they have contributed with their flesh +to the support of so great a number of blacks. The reason why so many +die with this contagion is, first, their weak physique; and second, +the custom that they have of abandoning those who are attacked by the +disease, on account of which they die much sooner--and, what is worse, +in their heathen blindness. In China many millions of people died, +so that there was no one to cultivate the fields; from this resulted +great famine and mortality, after the epidemic of smallpox. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +The first vessel that the governor despatched for Nueva Espana was +the galleon "Santa Rosa;" and he appointed as its commander Don +Francisco Zorrilla, a native of Granada; as its chief pilot, Admiral +Don Lorenzo Lazcano; and as sargento-mayor, Don Bernardo de Endaya. The +voyage of this galleon caused great damage to the citizens of Manila, +on account of the difficulty in disposing of their property caused +by the poor market [104] that they found at the port of Acapulco, +because a fleet of many vessels, laden with merchandise, had arrived +at Vera Cruz. From the time of this voyage, the shipments which +were sent from these islands to the commerce of Nueva Espana began +to decrease--not only on account of the above-mentioned fleets, but +through the numerous imposts and contributions which were levied on the +galleons of Filipinas, which continually increased; [105] consequently, +seldom was a voyage made from which the citizens obtained any profits +beyond their principal from the goods which they shipped. + +During the time which the archbishop spent in his exile at Lingayen +occurred the death of the bishop of Nueva Segovia--Doctor Don +Francisco Pizarro de Orellana, a native of Manila--at the village of +Vigan, the capital of the province of Ilocos, a few months after his +consecration. He was very learned, and greatly beloved for his very +affable manners and his angelic gentleness. He had been for many +years provisor and archdeacon, and commissary of the Holy Crusade; +[106] he was therefore greatly esteemed by all, and his loss was +keenly felt. His death caused a long vacancy in the said church +[of Nueva Segovia], which lasted until the year 1704, when his +successor arrived; this was Master Don Fray Diego Gorospe e Irala, +of the Order of Preachers, a native of Puebla de los Angeles. This +prelate made strenuous endeavors to establish the visitation of the +regulars in charge of missions, and gave much occasion for patience +to the religious of St. Dominic and St. Augustine as long as he lived, +which was until May 20, 1715. On account of the death of Don Francisco +Pizarro, the cabildo of Manila named for governor of that bishopric +Don Diego de Navas, who had been expelled from the Society of Jesus, +a man of impetuous disposition; this was one of the charges afterward +made by the archbishop against the cabildo. That prelate, after he +was restored to his church, sent his assistant the bishop of Troya, +Don Fray Gines de Barrientos, to rule that bishopric. [Here follows +an account of Pardo's dealings with the ecclesiastical cabildo and +other persons who had been excommunicated on account of their share +in his banishment, which is here omitted, as having been sufficiently +recounted in "The Pardo Controversy," VOL. XXXIX, q.v.] + +This year the galleon "Santo Nino" arrived from Acapulco, and +Master-of-camp Don Francisco Guerrero remained behind in Nueva Espana, +thus escaping from the numerous lawsuits of the residencia, with all +of which Don Juan de Vargas was laden. It would have been of great +assistance to him to have had the aforesaid Don Francisco at his side, +since the latter was very crafty and sagacious, and not so easily +perplexed in matters that concerned him as was Don Juan de Vargas; +for the governors in that country need to be very liberal in the +residencia, and to have much patience and courage. + +As commander [of the galleon] in place of Don Francisco Guerrero came +General Antonio Nieto, because a proprietary appointee had succeeded +him in the castle of Acapulco. There also came in his company three +religious, sent by father Fray Manuel de la Cruz--two who had remained +[in Nueva Espana] sick from the last mission; and the other because +he had enlisted for this province, a son of Mechoacan. [The next +two paragraphs relate to the residencia of Vargas; part of this has +already been used for annotations in the account of that trial in +VOL. XXXIX, q.v.] + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +The peace and pious tranquillity which this province enjoyed throughout +the three years' government of our father Fray Jose Duque was like that +which it had enjoyed during the three years of his former term, and was +what this province had expected from him on account of the knowledge +and experience which all had of his piety, great discretion, and +sagacity in making way through the greatest difficulties. Accordingly, +they bade farewell to his paternal government with much regret, and +determined to reelect him for a third term--which they did afterward +at the proper time, opportunity being afforded for this by the long +span of his life and the robust constitution with which he was endowed, +which were astonishing. + +The time arrived which our Constitutions assign for holding the +provincial chapter, and it assembled in the convent of Manila; over +it presided, with letters from our very reverend father general +Fray Antonio Paccino, our father Fray Diego de Jesus. Our father +Fray Juan de Jerez was elected provincial for the second time, with +great satisfaction to all; and as definitors were chosen the fathers +Fray Luis Diaz, Fray Juan Garcia, Fray Felipe de Jaurigue, and Fray +Diego de Alday. The visitors of the past triennium were present, +Fray Jose de la Cruz and Fray Alonso de Arniellos; and as visitors +for this triennium were appointed father Fray Ignacio de Rearcado and +the father reader Fray Francisco de Ugarte. Very judicious ordinances +were enacted for the proper government of the province, and for the +maintenance of the strict regular observance which in those times +flourished therein--in which the new provincial had taken a prominent +part in his first triennium (which was from 1677 to 1680), and in +the past one, in which he had been prior of [the convent in] Manila. + +The provincial began to govern with so much zeal and industry that it +would be tedious for me to tell how much he accomplished in one year +only--the least being that he had visited all the provinces, even +to those of Ilocos and Bisayas, without omitting in one point his +exercises of prayer and mortification. Of this I can give reliable +testimony, as one who was his secretary and companion during the +twenty-two months while he governed, his death being caused by the +great labors of this visitation, in which with holy zeal and activity +he performed incredible labors in promoting the religious observance, +and in securing the cleansing and adornment of the altars and the +ornaments, in which he was exceedingly careful and assiduous. He +suffered much from the continual harassment of the scruples which +tormented him, so much that it caused one grief to see the so heavy +cross which the Lord placed on the shoulders of this His creature, +which he bore with great fortitude and courage.... + +Among the excellent arrangements made by this chapter was the chief +one, which was that father Fray Alvaro de Benavente should go to Espana +as procurator; he had a few months before returned from China, where +he left our missions very well established in the kingdom of Canton, +with houses at Xaoquinfu and Nanhiunfu, and two others in other +places of less note. At the same time he was appointed definitor for +the general chapter which was to meet in Roma, to which father Fray +Alvaro was very desirous of going on account of the affairs of the +missions conducted by the regulars in China, from whom he carried +letters and authority to act in regard to the remission of the oath +of subjection to the apostolic vicars. They gave him the necessary +despatches, and he determined to make the voyage by way of the Cape +of Good Hope, because that year there was no galleon going to Nueva +Espana, the cause of which will be told later. He embarked for Batavia +on a Portuguese vessel, and as his companion was assigned the brother +Fray Juan Verganzo, who had come with the mission of the year 1684. He +arrived at Batavia, where he encountered great difficulties in making +the voyage to Amsterdam; but all these were overcome by a Dutchman, +a Calvinist preacher named Teodoro Zas--a very benevolent and courteous +man, and very fond of doing good to others; this caused grief in those +who knew him, at seeing him misled by the false doctrines of Calvin, +when he was so eminent in the moral virtues. + +Father Fray Alvaro carried with him the first part of this History, +which after a long time came from the press, although only as far as +the year 1616--while I had given it to him complete up to the year +1647--because at that time this province had not funds at Madrid +sufficient to print it all. That first division of the history was +printed at the said court in the year 1698, by Manuel Ruiz de Murga; +and it was dedicated to her Ladyship the Duquesa de Aveiro, although +it was my intention that it be dedicated to the king our sovereign, +in his royal and supreme Council of the Indias. The rest of the said +first part remained laid aside and forgotten in the convent of San +Felipe at Madrid, until I determined to write it again and complete +it, by means of the rough drafts that had remained here. [107] + +About April of 1687, father Fray Alvaro sailed from Batavia in +[one of the] galleons of the Company of Holanda, and after many and +fearful tempests it reached the Cape of Good Hope, where the Dutch +made a halt of two months at the great colony and settlement which +that nation maintain there for this purpose; it is a very populous +city, and well supplied with all that is necessary to human life, +for it possesses a very healthful climate, at the latitude of 36 deg. +[on the side] of the tropic of Capricorn. In this city they have a +large hospital for treating the sick, with very skilful physicians +and surgeons, and with all the comfort that could be found in any +other part of the world. Among the magnificent and delightful things +which are in that city is a garden, the largest that is known, which, +according to report, is only second to the earthly Paradise. It is +many leguas in circumference, and is divided, like the world, into +four parts. In the part called Europa, there are trees of all the +fruits that grow in our Europa; in that called Asia, all those from +Asia; and the same in those of Africa and America. This garden has +a river, opened by hand-labor, which waters all the four divisions; +and for its cultivation many Dutch gardeners and more than two thousand +Cafres are kept there. In this place is produced very rich wine, which +they call "Cape wine;" for the climate is the same as in Andalucia and +Extremadura, although in the opposite zone [tropico], and is different +only in having summer at Christmas and winter at St. John's day. [108] + +Father Fray Alvaro left this pleasant town and pursued his voyage +to Holanda, and landed at Roterdan, the native place of Desiderius +Erasmus; [109] and thence he went to Amsterdam, where he remained some +time. There he made inquiries to ascertain whether he could print the +history that he carried in that great city, on account of the beautiful +work done by its famous printers; but he gave up this intention, on +account of the numerous errors which they made, being ignorant of our +language. Thence he embarked for Bilbao, where he and his companion +resumed wearing their habits, which they had laid aside in order to go +on shore at Batavia. The rest of the tedious peregrinations of father +Fray Alvaro will be related, if we can reach the time when he returned +[to Manila] with a mission in the year 1690, when we shall observe +his entrance into Madrid and his voyage to Roma, and his negotiations +at that court in behalf of the regulars of the China missions. + +For these missions the chapter designated the father reader Fray Juan +de Aguilar, who remained in them several years, and afterward retired +on account of failing health; but the chapter sent in his place father +Fray Juan Gomez, who continued there until his death. Afterward a +large reenforcement of religious was sent to China for the aforesaid +missions, which have increased and become very large; and they would +have prospered much more, if they had not been so hindered by the +claim of subjection to the vicars-apostolic, who made so strenuous +efforts to introduce it. + +The governor, Don Gabriel Curucelaegui, had determined to send this +year [1686] to Nueva Espana the galleon "Santo Nino," in charge of +General Lucas Mateo de Urquiza; but his efforts to despatch it were +ineffectual, because information was received that seven vessels of +corsairs or pirates were sailing outside of the Embocadero, and it was +feared that their principal intention was to seize the galleon "San +Telmo," which was expected on the return trip from Nueva Espana. Two +fragatas of theirs had been in the Babuyanes Islands, between Cagayan +and Hermosa Island, and had slain two religious of [the Order of] +St. Dominic; these were father Fray Jacinto de Samper, a native of +Caspe, an able minister to the Chinese in the Parian, and father +Fray Jose Seijas, a nephew of the archbishop of Mejico, Don Francisco +Seijas, both of them being religious of great virtue. [110] Moreover, +the pirates had committed other acts of hostility in Cagayan and +Ilocos. The governor determined to suspend the voyage of the galleon +for Nueva Espana, and gave orders to equip it for war--cutting in +it many portholes, in order to furnish it with more than a hundred +pieces of artillery of large calibre (all of bronze); and placing +aboard it a thousand soldiers, Spaniards, Pampangos, Merdicas, +Malays, and Zambal Indian bowmen. In its company went two pataches, +which had just come for trade with the Coromandel coast, well armed +and furnished with soldiers; and for commander of this enterprise +the governor appointed Don Tomas de Endaya, with the title of deputy +captain-general. To his valor could be entrusted any undertaking, +however perilous it might be; for he was valiant, and had great skill +in navigation, and had gone three times to Espana as commander [of the +galleons]. This splendid armada set out, small in number [of ships], +but having great strength. Having escorted through the Embocadero and +secured the galleon "San Telmo" (which reached these islands safely), +the armada reconnoitered all the places where the piratical enemy might +be, but did not find them, but learned that there had been no more +than the two vessels which had been in Babuyanes. Thereupon the armada +returned to Cavite, without accomplishing anything more than the great +expenses which the royal treasury had incurred, and having weakened +the great strength of the galleon "Santo Nino," with the numerous +portholes which had been cut in it for mounting the artillery; for it +was necessary for this purpose to cut through the ribs of the ship's +sides, in the preservation of which consisted its greatest strength. + +The two pataches proceeded in search of the pirates to the locality +of the Babuyanes; and the commander, Don Tomas de Endaya, went with +a strong force of men by land to the province of Ilocos to look for +them--where, it was said, the said corsairs had arrived, although +the news did not prove to be accurate. He went as far as the capital +town of Vigan, where his encomienda was; and after having spent some +time there, not receiving information of the enemy, he returned to +Manila. He left there established a village of the blacks from the +mountains, called Santo Tomas, between Tarlac and Magalan, headed +by a notable chief of theirs named Don Juan Valiga. A few months +after Don Tomas de Endaya had arrived at Manila, he succeeded in the +office of master-of-camp to Don Fernando de Bobadilla (who held it +by proprietary appointment from his Majesty), who died about this +time. The latter was a great soldier, and the governor of Zamboanga, +and is often named in the history; he was a native of Sevilla, and +a son of one of the "twenty-four" of that city. The ships that went +by sea, after having searched many ports where they thought to find +the corsairs, and having no further news of them, returned to Manila +without having accomplished anything remarkable. Don Tomas de Endaya +was confirmed in the post of master-of-camp, and held it twenty-eight +years; and then he died from old age. + +In this year of 1686, about June, occurred the revolt of the Sangleys +of the Parian of Manila, which I related in book ii, chapter 21, as I +did not suppose that I would reach these times with the thread of the +narrative; and therefore I do not repeat it [here], as it was written +with sufficient fulness, and the curious reader can find it in the +place I have cited. [This citation is incorrect, in the arrangement of +the chapters as given in Fray Lopez's edition of Diaz; the number of +the chapter should be xxxiv. Diaz's account, as there given (pp. 440, +441), we transfer to this place, adding his comments on the question +of allowing the Chinese to reside at Manila; it is as follows:] + +While these islands were governed by the admiral of the galleons, +Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui y Arriola, of the Order of Santiago and +one of the "twenty-four" of Sevilla, in the year 1686 [misprinted +1636] there occurred a tumult in the Parian which it was feared would +become a general uprising [--which was planned,] according to the +investigations afterward made. In the said market there were many +recently-arrived Sangleys, of so bad reputation that the Sangley +merchants themselves had no confidence in these men, and said that +they were disguised thieves and highwaymen who had come from China +that year, having fled from a mandarin who was a very severe judge, +whom the emperor had sent from the court to drive out so mischievous +a sort of folk from the province of Fo-Kien, which at that time was +infested by criminals of that sort. The said mandarin had executed +his commission with such severity that those who were put to death +numbered more than sixty thousand--which in China is a small number, +because that country abounds in robbers--and for this reason many +had made their escape to Manila and other regions, fleeing from the +harshness of that judge. These people did all the harm that they +could, robbing inside the Parian the Chinese themselves, when they +could not rob outsiders. + +About this time there came out of the public prison at Manila a Sangley +named Tingco, who had been imprisoned for the unnatural crime, and +had been there so long that in prison he had learned to read and write +our language, and had come to be a sufficiently competent scrivener to +write petitions and other papers for the rest of the prisoners, for he +was very clever and had a keen mind. He went about [the prison] freely, +as being a prisoner of so long standing, and aided the jailer greatly +by acting as guard to the other prisoners; and he supported himself +very comfortably on what he gained by his pen. Finally, after many +years of confinement he succeeded in gaining his full liberty; and, +as he had a restless disposition and evil inclinations, he associated +himself with other Chinese criminals, of those who were fugitives +from the province of Fo-Kien, and they lived on what they could +plunder from other Sangleys and from the Indians and Spaniards. As +they regarded this occupation of petty thieving as too disagreeable, +and it could not extricate them from their wretchedly poor condition, +they planned to assemble together three hundred of these vagabonds, +and to undertake some exploit which should better their fortunes so +that they could return to China free from danger. It seems certain +that this resolve was talked about with the multitude of the Parian +who were least supplied with funds, and these were on the watch to aid +the bold attempt of those promoters if the result had corresponded +to their plans; and what is most surprising is the secrecy with +which they kept these from the rich Sangleys--who not only would not +have entered into the plot, but would have revealed it for their own +safety; for they were going to lose much and gain little, and with +very evident risk. The day and hour of the conspiracy having been +settled--a day in the month of August, at daylight--they assembled in +a disorderly crowd, armed with such weapons as they could procure by +stealth, their leader being one who had newly come, that same year, +from China. In a mob, and without order, they attacked the house of +the alguacil-mayor, Pedro de Ortega; and they killed him and another +Spaniard, named Nicolas de Ballena. With this beginning they went to +the house of the alcalde-mayor of the Parian, Captain Don Diego Vivien, +and entered it to do the same to him; but, having heard the noise, +he escaped without clothing, and reached a safe place in the little +fort which defends the entrance to the great bridge, where there +is always a garrison of soldiers. The insurgents entered his house, +and their greed satisfied itself on what they found nearest to their +hands, although they had not the luck to find three thousand pesos +in silver which the alcalde possessed. While they halted for this +pillage there was time to bring up soldiers and other armed men, +and they easily arrested many of the Sangleys, although most of them +escaped; and the rest of the Parian remained tranquil. It was made +known that this conspiracy was plotted in the bakery of Manila, and +[it was said] that they intended to place pounded glass in the bread, +in order to kill the Spaniards. This was not positively ascertained, +but the management of that business was taken from the Chinese--to +which, however, they afterward returned, at the urgent request of our +people. This was because, during the time while the Sangleys did not +carry on this trade, they were replaced by Spaniards who in their own +country had been bakers, but in Manila they did not succeed in doing +anything to advantage; the Sangleys therefore again took charge of +the bakery, after they had been asked by many to furnish the supply +of bread, of which great quantities are consumed in Manila. + +The Sangley Tingco was captured, and in company with ten others +was hanged and quartered; and the bodies were placed along the +river of Manila and the estuary of Tondo, as far as Point Tanon in +Tambobong. The conversion of those who were heathens (as were most +of them) was secured, and for this conversion labored earnestly +father Fray Alvaro de Benavente, an Augustinian, and Father Jose de +Irigoyen of the Society of Jesus, both of whom knew the dialects +of the provinces from which the criminals came; and for those of +Fo-Kien the fathers of St. Dominic [ministered]. News came that many +of the insurgents had taken refuge at Pasay, and General Don Tomas +de Endaya went out against them with soldiers and Merdicas (who are +very brave Malay Indians); they came back with eleven heads of those +whom they could kill, and the disturbance was quieted, nor has any +other occurred up to the present time. + +In this danger Manila maintains her existence, clinging to it as +the means of her preservation even though she grieves over what is +the cause of her greatest decline. The shrewdness of the Chinese +in business dealings and their skill in carrying on the mechanical +trades turn us from these callings so entirely that Spaniards who in +their own country practiced them here consider it foolish to do so; +accordingly they allow the Chinese to conduct and manage the crafts, +believing that the latter are serving us when they are most imposing +upon us. And as the Chinese recognize this weakness of ours, and +see that it is without remedy, on account of the Spanish vanity, they +treat us with contempt in their acts, although with great submission in +their words. Whatever they make is defective and does not wear well, +in order that they may have more work to do. The unnecessary expense +that Manila suffers on account of the frauds that they practice in +the trades of baker, candle-maker, and silversmith is very great; +we recognize this, and endure it through necessity, and the matter is +not set right, through reluctance to apply the remedy. Many persons +understand the injury which the Chinese cause here, but much more +numerous are those who defend them, since this peril is dear to those +who regard it as an advantage [to have the Chinese here.] + +In the year 1678 there reached our hands a very judicious opinion, +printed at Madrid by a devout person who had had experience in dealing +with that nation, and was well aware of their acts of guile. It was +presented before the royal and supreme Council of the Indias, its +president being the Conde de Medellin; and when the arguments adduced +therein made a very strong impression, another pamphlet appeared in +print at the same court, against the former one and in favor of the +Sangleys; this delayed the decision, so that it seems as if they have +in all quarters those who defend them. And so we go on, enduring this +incurable disease--although today the number of the Sangleys is less +than ever; for it is supposed that the number does not reach the six +thousand whom the royal decrees allow, and judging by the poverty +to which the commonwealth of Manila is steadily being reduced, each +year there will be fewer Chinese here through the lack of profits; +for that is the craving which draws them from their own country. + +I am aware that I have expatiated on a matter which seems to be an +affair of state, rather than of history, although history, as a teacher +of truth and a witness of the times, should include all events. I much +regret that I cannot enlarge my account by saying something of the +much which I could tell about the great indifference with which the +Sangleys who are baptized attend to their obligations as Christians; +most of them do so for worldly objects, such as being married and +living as lords of the country; but this subject is one for tears +rather than for the pen. Many lamentations have been made by many +Jeremiahs zealous for the honor of God; but no results have followed +beyond the reward which will be given to them in glory for this so holy +labor. A very learned apologue is kept in the ecclesiastical archives, +written by the reverend father Fray Alberto Collares of the Order +of Preachers, at the request of the archbishop of Manila, Doctor Don +Miguel Millan de Poblete, which causes horror to those who read it; +and the worst is, that it tells but little, according to the opinion +of other religious of the said order, who, as ministers to the Parian +mission, know the Chinese best. And still more is this occasion for +censure to some of the religious of that order who have been in China, +and know how much superior the Christians of that empire are to these; +and therefore they take great care to prevent those who come from +China (who are few) from holding intercourse with the Christians of +the Parian, in order that these may not corrupt them. Thus do they +look upon the matter; and when in our convent at Manila was lodged +Don Fray Gregorio Lopez, a Basilitan [111] bishop of the Order of +Preachers, a Chinese by nationality--who was a phoenix among that +people, on account of his virtue and sanctity--he prevented from +going to the Parian, whenever he could, two good Chinese Christians +whom he brought hither in his company. + +Many (and most) persons are greatly deceived in imagining that the +Sangleys who live among the Indian natives outside of Manila do no +harm to the faith, saying that the Chinese are more atheists than +idolaters, and that they only seek worldly advantages. But this is +not always the rule, for some teach sects and doctrines that are very +evil, as experience shows. In the year 1706, father Fray Antolin de +Alzaga, one of the apostolic missionaries whom we have in the remote +mountains of the province of Pampanga, converting and instructing the +warlike peoples called Italones, Ituries, and Abacas--whose wonderful +conversions present notable material to him whose duty it is to write +the history of those times--this apostolic missionary came to Manila, +making light of the hardships of [travel by] those roads so long +and rough, in order to ask the governor, Don Domingo de Zabalburu, +to take measures for banishing from these mountains two infidel +Sangleys, who with greed for the trade in wax had penetrated even +those unexplored hills, where they taught false dogmas and perverse +opinions, such as palingenesis, or transmigration of souls--a dogma +which Pythagoras taught, and which was propagated much among heathen +peoples. At the present time it is accepted by all nations of Asia, +and in China and Japon with the greatest tenacity; they believe +that when a man dies his soul goes to animate another body, either +rational or brute, according to the deserts of him who is dead, +and for either punishment or reward; and thus they allot an infinite +succession of transmigrations. This diabolical dogma was taught by +these Sangleys to the Italon Indians, with other evil doctrines, +such as polygamy (which permits a man to have many wives), idolatry, +and others which ensue from it. That accursed doctrine spread rapidly +among those simple mountaineers, so much so that it became necessary +to have recourse to the said governor--who, being so zealous for +the increase of the Christian faith, sent to the alcalde-mayor of +Pampanga a very urgent command to expel from those missions the two +Sangleys, and to be very careful to prevent the entrance of others +therein; and this order was carried out, to the great tranquillity +of the new Christian church. Experience has shown the same thing in +other villages where Sangleys have fixed abodes. I will not delay +longer over a matter on which there is an endless amount to be said, +since I have sufficiently exceeded the limits of my obligation; and +I refer to many persons who have officially discussed these matters, +although they have obtained no results from their earnest efforts. + +The natives regard them with contempt, having no further inclination +toward them than that of self-interest; consequently, neither +affection nor fear draws either toward the other. And ordinarily +selfishness courts the Sangleys, while aversion urges the natives +to make complaints against them--except that the bond of matrimony +is a check on the women; for, as is usually the case, if a native +leads a bad life, he is on the watch for the acts of the Sangleys, +in order to make the evil-doing of another serve as an excuse for +greater freedom in his own wrong mode of life. Accordingly, they are +in more danger from testimony arising from the malice of the accusers +than from facts brought forward in zeal for their correction--as is +seen by the few complaints or accusations that are decided against +them, and how still more rarely do these bring them to punishment. Nor +can this be attributed to the negligence of the judges, for they are +delighted to receive the lawsuits of the Sangleys, our covetousness +selling to them even justice very dear; and when harshness finds +an object, it makes their punishments (since their wealth offers so +much to avarice), although less bloody, more keenly felt, since in +the estimation of the Sangley money is his very heart's blood. + +The precedents set by the sovereign kings Don Fernando the Catholic and +Don Felipe II are examples of their piety, and of their successful +policy in separating from their Catholic vassals those who are +perfidious, who if mingled with the others might pervert them, through +the passion which the Indians and Moros have for propagating their +[false] sects--a danger much to be feared among the simple people of +the villages and the common herd. + +No doubt, intercourse with these infidels is very necessary, on account +of the merchandise which they furnish to us from their kingdom; but +this could, in my opinion, be accomplished without danger to us--for +one thing, by permitting to remain in these islands [only the] six +thousand Sangleys, as his Majesty decrees; and for another, by not +permitting them to trade in the provinces, or to live in the villages +mingled with the Indians. But they should be kept in subjection, as +Joshua kept down the Gaboanites, and as now Roma, Florencia, Venecia, +and Oran hold the Jews in subjection, and our people in Ternate kept +the Moros in his Majesty's galleys, the rabble of that sort. It is an +obvious disadvantage to live subjected to such peoples, because the +law of subjection, the adulation offered to rulers, and ambition to +secure their favor are powerful to subject religion to their pleasure, +as has been found by experience in all the countries where this +misfortune has been suffered--such as Mesopotamia, both the Arabias, +Egipto, and Africa, and that one which was the supporter of religion, +Constantinopla, with all of Grecia. And for the same reason heresy has +so prevailed and lorded it in Inglaterra, Irlanda, Dinamarca, Suecia, +Sajonia,[i.e., Saxony], the Palatinate, and many other provinces and +free cities--the most fatal poison that attacks the faith being the +sovereignty of infidel princes, their grandeur and power being the +sure ruin of religion. I consider that I have used more space than +is required by my obligations, in treating of so pernicious a nation, +which is allowed here in greater number than our needs demand--I know +not whether through our fault or our misfortune--and maintained in +the subjection which experience has shown [to be necessary] at times +when too great confidence has relaxed the rein of caution. + +[Here we resume the regular narrative of this period by Diaz, +at p. 786:] This revolt caused great anxiety to the governor, Don +Gabriel Curucelaegui, on account of the many champans which had come +that year from China; but in the course of time the danger disappeared. + +Among the great hardships which in this year were suffered in Manila, +one was that the rains were heavier than any known to living men. Not +only were they very heavy, but they lasted many months, and were +the cause of many fields and crops being ruined, which caused a +great scarcity of provisions; and, as it was impossible to work the +salt-beds, the price of salt rose so high that it came to be worth +twelve pesos for half a fanega, although its ordinary price was two +or three reals--and some years even less, depending on the [height +of the] water and on the heat of the sun, on which conditions this +so necessary industry depends. + +The most memorable event of this year, and one which may be counted +among the most important which have occurred in these islands since +their conquest, is the imprisonment of the auditors, Don Diego Antonio +de Viga and Don Pedro Sebastian de Bolivar, by the governor. It is an +event to cause astonishment--and more, as it came so soon after the +imprisonment and exile of the archbishop, Don Fray Felipe Pardo--at +seeing in so short a time Doctor Don Cristobal de Herrera Grimaldos +dead, and two auditors deprived forever of their togas (since never +again could they put these on), and their families ruined and almost +destroyed. It is not my intention to interpret the inscrutable secrets +of divine justice, but only to set down the times and occasions in +which so notable events occurred. [Diaz's account of the imprisonment +and deaths of the auditors is here omitted, as it has already been +sufficiently related in VOL. XXXIX.] + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +The governor, seeing the Audiencia broken up (since it consisted +of only one individual, the auditor Don Diego Calderon), named two +associates to assist the auditor in despatching the business of +this supreme tribunal; these were Licentiate Don Jose de Herrera, +an advocate of the royal Audiencia, and the doctor and captain whom +I have already mentioned, Don Jose de Cervantes Altamirano; and +they issued royal decrees, Doctor Don Esteban de la Fuente filling +his office of fiscal. They alleged that there had been a precedent +for this in the time of Governor Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, +when there was no other auditor than Don Marcos Zapata, by whose aid +was carried out the banishment and imprisonment of Don Fray Fernando +Guerrero--and this proceeding had been an example to be repeated in +these times. Afterward, on account of the sickness and death of Don +Diego Calderon, the governor continued to form an Audiencia with the +two associates, which the royal Council of the Indias condemned. + +Under this kind of government two years passed by, until, in the year +1688, a new Audiencia arrived, as we shall soon see. The year 1687 +was no less grievous than the preceding one, for various misfortunes +followed each other, which were generally felt by all the citizens, +in order that they might share in the punishment merited by their +offenses, since always proves true the proverb, Delirant reges, semper +plectuntur Achivi. [112] The first was the failure of the galleon +from Nueva Espana, for it could not come that year because none had +been despatched [from Manila] the year before; this was because of +the armada sent against the pirates, which only served to cause great +expenses to the royal treasury, the wreck of the galleon "Santo Nino," +and the failure of the galleon in this and the following years--which, +as we have often said, is the life of the poor colony of Manila and +of all these Filipinas Islands. + +The governor, having determined to send to Nueva Espana the galleon +"Santo Nino," ordered that it be repaired as well as it could be; +but even then it was not very strong, because most of its strength +had been taken from it by the windows which had been opened in it for +the artillery. But there was no other ship to depend upon, for the +construction of the "Santo Cristo de Burgos," which they had placed +on the stocks, was only begun. The governor appointed as its commander +Lucas Mateo Urquina, who sailed for Nueva Espana with but slight hope +on the part of those who understood the situation for the success of +the voyage. The worst was, that their fears were realized; for the +galleon not being able to endure the fierce storms that attacked it +in high latitudes, it was compelled to put back to port. This it did, +about the month of November, causing great affliction to all; for it +came only to aggravate the sufferings that were already experienced +through the failure to receive a galleon that year. + +At night of Holy Thursday, March 28, at the time when in the village +of Binondo arrangements were being made for the procession which the +mestizo Sangleys make on the occasion of the "holy burial," (which is +one of the most brilliant and magnificent of the processions that are +made in Holy Week), one of the greatest disasters that have ever been +seen in these islands occurred. Fire caught in the first house on the +point of land which is called Punta de la Estacada, and the crowd +of people who had made ready for this devout function were unable +to extinguish the fire; and the devouring flames made such havoc +that they destroyed the great number of houses that stood in all the +territory of the said Estacada, Baybay, and Tondo, finally consuming +the entire barrio of Bancusay, in which this so widespread settlement +[of Sangleys] finds its limit. It was no small good-fortune that +the fire passed by the other side of the river, where lies the great +town of Binondoc, Tondo, Santa Cruz, and Quiapo--which, as contiguous +villages, together constitute one body--for [if the fire had reached +them] the loss would have been irreparable; for many splendid houses +of wealthy Spaniards and mestizos would have been consumed, and those +of many Portuguese and Armenian traders who live in those places as +being more convenient [for their business]. There were no deaths of +persons from the flames; but great was the loss of the many people +who saw their poor houses and property disappear. + +The gates of Manila were opened, and the governor, in person hastened +to give aid, with a great number of people, who could check the +fire so that it should not cross over to the other part of Binondoc +and Tondo. What was more, he prevented the robberies which in such +emergencies are committed by some soldiers and wicked people, who on +such occasions are worse than the fire, as has been found by experience +at various times; for in times of drouth fires are very frequent in +the suburbs of Manila, most of them being occasioned by fire set by +these soulless incendiaries, who find their profit in such destruction. + +To this local calamity at La Estacada succeeded another affliction, +which was general through the greater part of these islands; this was +a plague of locusts, one of the worst which has been seen in them, for +the locusts were so many that in dense and opaque clouds they darkened +the sun, and covered the ground on which they settled. These insects +ravaged the grain-fields, and left the meadows scorched; and even the +trees and canebrakes they stripped of the green leaves. These locusts +were so voracious that they not only laid waste every kind of herbage +and verdure, but they entered the houses, and gnawed and pierced with +holes every kind of cloth; and those who flapped sheets and coverlets +at the locusts to drive them away--as is usually done at other times +in the invasions of this pest, with some effect--on this occasion +found that the only result was to ruin those articles, for the locusts +ate them, and destroyed them with their poisonous jaws. Thereupon the +people began to feel the loss which ensued from this calamity, in the +great scarcity and want of provisions--so great that a caban of rice +(which is half a fanega) came to be worth two pesos and a half, and in +some places three pesos. (Nor has the poverty been less which is being +experienced while I am writing this, on account of the great plague +of locusts which occurred in the past year of 1717 and the present +one.) And it can be said that the poor died in great numbers, not +so much because the rice (which is the general food of the regions) +cost so much, as through their lack of forethought, and of money +with which to buy rice; and because there was so excessive a number +of beggars--some through necessity, and others through laziness and +dislike for work--that it was impossible to relieve them; for when +there is but little to give it is not possible to divide it so that +all shall be sufficiently cared for. + +To these great troubles was added another; that in that year +occurred many earthquakes, which although they did not cause the total +destruction of buildings, left many houses and churches damaged. In the +province of Cagayan, in the bishopric of Nueva Segovia, heavier shocks +were experienced, for in the mountainous districts of that province +chasms and vent-holes were opened, a phenomenon which usually results +from such tremblings of the earth. From this it may be proved that a +cause of these tremblings and earthquakes is the air which is shut in +within the caverns of the globe, drawn into them through the crevices +and openings which the heat causes in the soil, which afterward are +closed by the rains; a great volume of air being thus gathered, it +becomes rarefied, and, increasing in quantity or volume, it seeks an +outlet, directing its force toward its center and causing so terrible +a commotion. But the safe and useful way of maintaining ourselves +faithful in the fulfilment of our obligations is to regard these +earthquakes as tokens of the wrath of God against our transgressions, +Qui respicit terram et facit eam tremere (Psalm ciii, v. 32). + +Not long before these events, the death occurred in Cagayan of the +auditor Licentiate Don Diego Antonio de Viga, a prisoner and exile in +that province. [Here Diaz relates the circumstances of the deaths of +Viga and other persons who had been concerned in the Pardo controversy, +which have already been mentioned in previous documents. He cites a +letter from Pardo to Curucelaegui, dated December 2, 1687, to show +that Viga died impenitent; he was buried in the cathedral of Lalo, +and Pardo connects with this circumstance the calamities which soon +afterward afflicted the islands. He orders the remains of Viga to be +disinterred and removed from the cathedral; Diaz thinks that this was +done, but is not quite certain. He positively asserts, however, that +Viga was a very upright official, and wholly disinterested; and thinks +that he perhaps went too far in upholding the royal privileges, through +misunderstanding their scope. Dona Josefa Bolivar also dies impenitent, +and Pardo sends Bachelor Don Juan de Cazorla to investigate the matter, +to know whether she may be buried in consecrated ground; he has her +buried "in the plaza of the said village of Oriong." Her husband meets +"a better end;" he is reconciled to the Church, and dies after having +"devoted himself to exercises of austere penance, fasts and scourgings +and other mortifications." Auditor Calderon dies at Manila in like +exemplary manner (July 18, 1687); "this auditor was a very upright +and disinterested official, a good Christian, pious, and much given to +good works, and therefore was beloved by the entire community." Master +Jeronimo de Herrera is sentenced by the archbishop (March 16, 1687) +to be deprived of all ecclesiastical benefices and offices, and is +sent to Spain, but dies during the voyage. At this time, Barrientos, +the bishop of Troya, is absent on official duties in the bishopric +of Nueva Segovia. He had "issued a decree of excommunication against +the alcaldes-mayor of Cagayan, Ilocos, and Pangasinan, prohibiting to +them trade and traffic in those provinces, in virtue of the oath which +those officials take in the royal Audiencia when they go to exercise +their offices. This excommunication was the cause of many lawsuits, for +Captain Don Francisco de Alzaga Voitia, alcalde-mayor of Pangasinan, +defended them all, and appeared before the royal Audiencia with a +plea of fuerza, complaining that the bishop of Troya was usurping +the royal jurisdiction by taking cognizance of the oath taken in +that court.... On this question royal decrees were issued, and the +controversy lasted a long time, but the excommunication then laid has +remained until this day; and the alcaldes-mayor continue with their +trade and traffic as before, without the least scruple." Returning +to Manila, Barrientos declines the bishopric of Nueva Segovia, to +which he is entitled as Pardo's assistant; the archbishop therefore +despatches to take charge of that diocese Doctor Nicolas de la Vega +Caballero, then cura of Cavite.] + +This province assumed charge of the ministry in the territory of +Mariquina and Jesus de la Pena, which in times past was a dependency +of the mission station of Pasig. It had been administered by the +religious of the Society, by commission of Don Fray Pedro Arce, bishop +of Cebu and ruler of the archbishopric of Manila, and by approval of +Governor Don Juan Nino de Tabora, since the year 1630; and now it was +restored to the ministry of Pasig by sentence of the archbishop, May +16, 1687, and this province added to that territory the convent of San +Mateo--establishing the headquarters and residence of the minister at +Mariquina, whose titular saint is our Lady of Protection; its first +minister was father Fray Simon Martinez. The aforesaid archbishop +also added to the said village of Pasig the mission village of San +Andres Apostol de Cainta, also administered by the said religious of +the Society, by decree of March 16, 1688--with the approbation, not +only of this, but of the separation of Mariquina, by the vice-patron, +Governor Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui. Its first minister was father +Fray Jose del Valle, and it was preserved as a separate convent with +the title of vicariate. [113] + +We held these ministries, with great labor and inconvenience, until +the year 1696, when there arrived a royal decree that they should +again be administered by the fathers of the Society of Jesus, and we +therefore surrendered them to those fathers. In order to show further +our good-will and friendly relations with so holy a religious order, +we exchanged the ministry of San Mateo for that of Binangonan--called +"Binangonan of the dogs," to distinguish it from the other town of +the same name, which is on the opposite coast [of the island]; it +has for its titular St. Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins her +companions, in a church in Laguna de Bay. This was accomplished by the +aid of the consent and approbation of the governor, Don Fausto Cruzat +y Gongora. This village of Binangonan is very small, and had been at +first administered by the religious of St. Francis, who had exchanged +it for the ministry of Baras, which also belonged to the religious of +the Society; and because it was so poor a living a visita was added +to it from the ministry of Pasig, which is called Angono--its patron +saint being St. Clement, pope and martyr--of a few tribute-payers. To +this ministry were added fifty pesos more for its support, but it is +so forlorn a one that even with all these aids the minister suffers a +great lack of means for his support; and therefore on many occasions +there has been talk of abandoning this charge, for it is not good for +any other profit, either spiritual or temporal--not only on account of +its poverty, but because of the intractable disposition of its people. + +On February 19 of this year of 1688, our then father provincial, Fray +Juan de Jerez, died in the convent of Manila; his illness was caused by +the great hardships of his visitation of the entire province, and the +eagerness with which he undertook to perform this task in one year, +while it was a task for two years, especially since he was sixty-two +years old, and had many attacks of illness. At last he ended the +visitation, but it put an end to him. He was one of the most exact +in fulfilling obligations of all the religious who have been in this +province, and great was his zeal for the religious observance. His +solicitude and care for adornment in the things belonging to the divine +worship was continual, using his utmost endeavors that the altars and +ornaments should be the best that were possible, and spending on them +all that he could obtain. The first indication of his [approaching] +death was that he was freed from the scruples of conscience which had +been throughout his life a continual torment; but at that time the +Lord, who had given him these scruples in order to exercise his soul, +imperavit ventis et mari, et facta est tranquillitas (Matthew viii, +v. 26). His death was deeply regretted by all; for this province +loved him as a father, and the people venerated him as a saint. In +consequence of his death, the government was assumed by our father +Fray Jose Duque, as being next to the provincial, with the title +of rector-provincial; for in this province could not be observed +the same rule as in those of Espana, where our very reverend father +general makes appointments for the vacancies caused by the deaths of +provincials, until the time appointed for convening the provincial +chapter. + +Among the troubles and calamities of this year a very great one +was that occasioned by a pestilential epidemic of influenza, which +had begun in the preceding year and continued in this year of 1688, +with great ravages. Many died of this disease, especially children +and old persons; and by this year the epidemic had so increased that +many grain-fields could not be cultivated, for lack of people to +do the work. This caused a great lack of provisions in this and the +following years, just as the locusts had occasioned like loss in the +preceding year. So prevalent was the disease that in the province of +Pampanga, where I was serving in the village of Guagua, as secretary +and assistant of the rector-provincial, the Indians were not seen in +the streets, on account of most of them being prostrated by the cruel +influenza, and the rest of them caring for the sick ones. Accordingly +the deputies and officials of the confraternities went through the +streets with jars of [cooked] rice, and went up into the houses and +provided those who were in need with food; for most of the people +were without it, and others could not cook it and had no one who was +able to do so. These influenzas are very frequent in this country, +but that in this year was the worst that the old men have seen; and +since then, up to the present time, no other like it has been known. + +The governor, Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui, desired to put a stop to +the outrages which were being committed by the rebellious blacks of the +mountains and the Zambals of the Playa Honda and the uninhabited places +of the Puntalon (a route in the province of Pangasinan)--killing many +travelers and cutting off their heads (which is the greatest trophy +and desire of those people), and daring to approach the villages +near Tarlac--Magalan, Telban, and Malunguey. The governor therefore +prepared to make a vigorous invasion, not only with Spaniards, +but with Pampangos, friendly Zambals, and Merdicas from Maluco; +and he appointed as their leader Sargento-mayor Martin de Leon, +and gave him [for officers], as being men experienced in that sort +of war, Captain Alonso Martin Franco and Captain Bartolome Prieto; +the master-of-camp of the Merdicas, Cachil-Duco, the prince of +Tidori; and Sargento-mayor Pedro Machado. He sent orders to the +alcaldes-mayor of Cagayan and Pangasinan that they, with the best +troops that they had, should scout through the mountains from north +to south, so that they might go on until they should meet Martin de +Leon and his companions, up to a locality and settlement of blacks +that is called Culianan. Both parties carried out this plan, although +with great difficulty, on account of those forests being very dense; +they killed many insurgent blacks and Zambals; but before joining their +troops they found themselves obliged to retreat, because the epidemic +of pestilential influenza made great havoc among them, and many died +from that disease. But the injury which our people could not inflict +upon the enemy was wrought on them by the pest of the influenza, +which caused as great ravages among them as the smallpox had made in +previous years. Martin de Leon, Alonso Martin Franco, and Bartolome +Prieto came to Guagua in very bad condition; from there they sent word +to the governor, who commanded them to withdraw [from the enterprise]. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +The Conde de Mondova, [114] viceroy of Nueva Espana, seeing that +for two successive years there had been no galleons from Filipinas, +[influenced] not only by the order which the royal Council has given +for such emergencies, but by finding that he was responsible for +the despatch of the investigating judge and the new royal Audiencia +who were on their way to these islands to replace and depose the +auditors (whom either death or exile had already deposed), ordered +that a Peruvian patache be made ready which was then at Acapulco, the +owner of which was Felipe Vertis, a citizen of Callao. The viceroy +appointed as its commander the then admiral of the Windward fleet, +Antonio de Astina, a native of San Sebastian; and for seamen the +best who were found in the said armada. In this patache embarked +the following persons: The investigating judge, who was Licentiate +Don Francisco Campos Valdivia, then alcalde de casa y corte [115] of +Madrid, and royal deputy provincial notary at the said court. The new +auditors, of whom the senior was Licentiate Don Alonso Abellafuertes, +a knight of the Order of Alcantara, a native of Oviedo, who had +recently finished his term as corregidor of the city of Burgos; +[the others were] Licentiate Don Juan de Sierra y Osorio, a knight of +the Order of Calatrava, an Asturian, and Doctor Don Lorenzo de Acina +y Havalria, a native of Sevilla--who is still living as a religious +and priest, a professed of the fourth vow in the Society of Jesus, +who is an example of virtue and truly exemplary. The auditor second +in seniority, Licentiate Don Juan de Ozaeta y Oro, a native of Lima, +failed to embark on this occasion, on account of being married and +having a large family, but did so in the following year. As fiscal +for his Majesty came Licentiate Don Jeronimo de Barredo Valdes, also +an Asturian. All these four auditors carried appointments as criminal +auditors for Mejico at the expiration of six years which they were +to spend in Filipinas, exercising the functions of auditor; and this +went into force afterward with Auditors Alonso de Abellafuertes and Don +Juan de Ozaeta, who, after the six years, went to Mexico. Don Juan de +Sierra also returned, having completed his term as auditor, and died +at Acapulco, where he found letters promoting him to be auditor at +Granada; for it must have been of some service to him to be a nephew +of Don Lope de Sierra, a member of the supreme Council of the Indias. + +With the new auditors also embarked very distinguished persons of +their kindred and households, such as Don Manuel de Argueelles, an +Asturian, who is still alive, and a general; Don Juan Infanzon, and +Don Francisco Gimenez de Valerio; the owner of the patache, Felipe +de Vertis; and others. On this occasion also came father Fray Juan de +Alarcon, a native of Valladolid and a son of the [Augustinian] house +there; he had been left in Nueva Espana, and was now very old. He +retired to this province (for which he had enlisted in 1679), and +served only a few years on account of poor health; and, while he was +procurator-general, died in the convent of Manila, in the year 1695. + +This patache made its voyage very prosperously, and passed the +Embocadero without any difficulty, reaching the port of Cavite, where +it remained until Mateo de Urquiza sailed with the galleon "Santo +Christo de Burgos" for Nueva Espana. This privilege of entering the +port of Cavite is, it seems, enjoyed as their own by all the pataches +which come from Acapulco, which are not built in these islands; as it +were, they are free from the sin which they contract in the acts of +oppression and tyranny which are committed, not only in the cutting +of the timber for them, but in their construction; and, either for +this or for other and hidden causes, hardly a galleon built in these +islands succeeds in making the entrance of the port of Cavite. + +The auditors on reaching Manila took possession of their offices +in the hall of the Audiencia, which they found empty of their +predecessors--some being dead, and another in banishment--and the +only one they found living was the fiscal, Don Esteban de la Fuente +Alanis. The investigating judge likewise found the greater part of his +commission accomplished, which was the deposition of the auditors. He +sent for Don Pedro Bolivar, who was a prisoner in Cagayan, in the fort +of Tuao; but he died while on the way, at one of the first villages +of the province of Ilocos; God gave him a very good end, in return +for the many excellent traits that he displayed in his life, such as +being very courteous and very charitable to the poor. + +To Governor Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui came very favorable decrees +from his Majesty--who thanked him for what he had done in the +restitution of the archbishop, in which his Majesty considered himself +well served. To the archbishop came others, also very favorable, +which I do not insert here, in order to avoid being tedious, and +because that is not in my obligation; and I only repeat here a letter +or bull which his Holiness Pope Innocent XI sent to the archbishop, +since that is a very unusual favor, and because he was a pontiff +so greatly to be venerated by posterity, on account of his great +sanctity of life. [The letter is given in both Latin and Spanish; +it simply expresses the approval of the pope for Pardo's course, and +encouragement to persevere if he shall encounter other like trials.] + +The news of what had been done in the banishment and confinement +of the archbishop produced great disturbance in the royal mind of +his Majesty and in his ministers of the supreme Council of the +Indias, as may be imagined from the punishment which by their +orders was inflicted on Don Juan de Vargas and on the auditors +and the other persons inculpated therein. It is not denied by this +atonement and punishment that many cases can occur in which it may +be lawful to banish bishops and ecclesiastical superiors; and this +matter is treated at length [lato modo] and very judiciously by many +writers--Don Cristobal Crespi de Valduura, vice-chancellor of Aragon, +in his learned Observaciones, obs. iii, illat. iii, no. 19; Solorzano, +De jure Indico, tom. ii, lib. iii, chap. 29, no. 71; Salgado, De regia +potestate, part i, chap. 2, no. 276; and others. But this is executed +by legitimate procedure, and with much circumspection and moderation, +without touching or impeding the exercise of the episcopal power +(the opposite seems to be an Anglican dogma, and one of Marsilius +de Padua), as was done with Don Fray Felipe Pardo--confining his +person in the village of Lingayen, and suspending his spiritual +jurisdiction; commanding the cabildo to exercise the right of sede +vacante; and not accepting the appointment which the archbishop had +made of the bishop of Troya to govern in his absence--because this +does not concern the temporal revenues, which the prelates who incur +the penalty of banishment lose. What causes no little wonder is, that +all the auditors were very learned, and they four, with the fiscal, +had held chairs in [the universities of] Mejico, Sevilla, and Granada; +but when one lacks the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, +one cannot gain real success in matters in which his will prevails over +his judgment. How useful it would be to the governors and auditors of +Filipinas to have these words written as a reminder in the hall where +they transact business, the words of the Holy Ghost in chapter vi, +no. 3 of Wisdom. [116] + +The first step made by the investigating judge was to imprison in +his own house the fiscal, Doctor Don Esteban de la Fuente Alanis, +and to bring charges against him, in accordance with the orders that +he carried from the royal Council of the Indias; he did the same +with the other auditors, [although they were] dead, through their +executors. He proceeded with the residencia of Don Juan de Vargas, +which had been delayed by the challenging of the associate judges; +and he sent Governor Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado into exile in the +village of Lingayen, Where the archbishop had been, and he was taken +away by an escort of soldiers, under the command of Sargento-mayor +Martinez Leon. He went hither as excommunicated, and unable to have +any intercourse with any person save those allowed by law. Upon his +arrival at the said village, he built in it a house of bamboo and nipa, +where he lived a long time in company with his spirited wife, Dona +Isabel de Ardila, enduring much loneliness and lack of respect, until +they recalled him, after two years, in order to send him to Espana; +and he died during this first voyage [i.e., on the Pacific Ocean]. + +This gentleman was truly unfortunate, for although he had not been a +bad governor, his lack of courtesy and his harsh disposition gained +for him many enemies. The time of his rule was very prosperous, +and the ample commerce with the neighboring kingdoms engaged many +persons and brought great gains. He was very diligent in keeping the +Manila garrison strengthened with capable soldiers, and took much +pains to have the men well fed and clothed, and military discipline +strictly maintained--and in this he was surpassed only by Don Sebastian +Hurtado de Corcuera. His covetousness was not so great as appearances +indicated, and with it he did not injure the commonwealth, for those +times furnished [profit] for all. He was very punctual in fulfilling +the duties of a Christian governor, and also in attending, almost +without missing a day, all the sessions of the Audiencia and royal +court; and therefore the lawsuits were not so interminable as we find +them at the present time. + +In his time came a royal decree that investigation should be made of +the lawfulness of the slavery in which any were held, and that those +persons whose condition of servitude was not well grounded should +be set free. This action seems somewhat harsh; for so many persons +of different nationality were liberated that both the Spaniards +and the natives were left destitute of servants, and the city and +the villages were full of beggars--and, what is worse, of thieves +and incendiaries. This dispossession would have caused the utmost +distress if General Cristobal Romero, the castellan of Santiago, +had not resolved to write to the king our sovereign about it, with +arguments so forcible that a royal decree came directing that the +execution of the other be suspended. + +The new fiscal of his Majesty, Don Jeronimo Barredo y Valdes, a young +man of suitable age [for this lady?] married the widow of Auditor +Don Cristobal Grimaldos, Dona Maria Manuela Carrillo y Barrientos--a +woman in whom, although great was her beauty, virtue was still greater, +and she furnished an excellent example in the time of her widowhood, +suffering continually the siege and attacks made against her chastity +by influential persons. But God recompensed her by giving her a +numerous offspring and long life, both in these islands and in the +city of Mejico--from which place no news has come of her death, but +we have heard that she has remained the widow of Don Jeronimo Barredo, +who was many years the senior auditor of this royal Audiencia. + +The investigating judge, Don Francisco Campos de Valdivia, brought [an +order for] the liberation of the Marques de Villasierra, Don Fernando +de Valuenzuela, because the term of ten years since his removal from +the monastery of the Escorial was now completed. The judge went in +person to Cavite, to notify him of the order and set him at liberty, +as he did. The marques left the port of Cavite and came to Manila, but +he took up his residence in a country-house which our Manila convent +possesses, on a sugar-plantation called Pasay. This house is on the +sea-shore, in a very convenient location for trips back and forth +from Manila; and one can easily enjoy visits there, as it is only +one legua distant from the city. Here the marques lived during all +the time while he had to wait and make preparations for his journey, +in order to sail in the first galleon which should return to Nueva +Espana; for such was the command given to him, until his Majesty +should decide whether or not he should go to Espana. + +He embarked in this year of 1689 and arrived at Mejico, where he found +as viceroy the Conde de Galves, [117] who, as the son of the Duke de +Infantado, in whose service Don Fernando de Valuenzuela had begun his +career of fortune, received him very hospitably, as lords are wont +to receive persons who have a claim upon such considerations. It +seems as if the patient endurance of this gentleman had conquered +the influences of fortune, so various and inconstant in his rise and +fall; for it was said with good ground that he would be viceroy of +Nueva Espana; but his death closed the term of his life, which was +an astonishing one, and an example for the study of admonitions. His +death was occasioned by the kick of a horse, and on the ninth day a +fever attacked him from which he died in a few days. He had previously +fulfilled all the obligations of a Christian, and ordered that his +body be deposited in the hospice of this province, outside the walls +of Mejico, where it remained until the marquesa his wife sent orders +to convey it for burial to the city of Talavera. [Diaz here inserts +a Latin epitaph on this cavalier, written by some person in Filipinas.] + +The investigating judge with his notary managed so well that in +ten months he had completed all the commissions which he brought +with him; for he was a man of great activity and energy, and very +skilful in judicial practice. He brought to an end the residencia +of Don Juan de Vargas, which was much entangled, and had overstepped +the peremptory limits of such judgments. He also tried those who were +accomplices in the imprisonment of Master-of-camp Don Diego de Salcedo, +of whom now few remained alive, and those were the least guilty; but +these paid for all the rest, which usually is the purse from which +[such acts] are paid. He was not as scrupulous as other ministers, +and as he ought to be, although he affected to be very upright and +just; and neither he nor his notary went back with empty hands, +as was proved at Acapulco by some chests of his which were searched, +notwithstanding the protests that he made that these were the documents +belonging to his commission. In them were found very valuable goods, +and very few documents; these would certainly aid him to pass his +old age in the honorable post which was given to him as soon as he +arrived at court, that of member of the Treasury Council, which he +enjoyed for several years. + +The archbishop brought to an end the suits which he had begun against +the principal members of the [cathedral] chapter, of whom only one +had remained alive, the dean, Don Miguel Ortiz de Covarrubias; for the +archdeacon, Don Francisco Deza, had died in an epidemic of influenza, +and soon afterward Don Francisco Gutierrez Briceno died suddenly in +the village of Betis. Accordingly the dean, as head of the chapter +and vicar-general, and the one who had been leader in the arrests of +Master Juan Gonzalez, the father provincial Fray Antonio Calderon, +and the father professors Fray Juan Ibanez and Fray Francisco de +Vargas, on account of these and other occurrences made amends for all +the chapter-members, and ended by going to Madrid. There he secured +permission to return to Mejico, his native country, with half the +income of a dean (which is very small), and with this spent the few +years of life that remained to him, dying as a good priest. + +While Governor Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui was most occupied in +making ready the galleon in which were to return the investigating +judge, Don Fernando de Valuenzuela, Fiscal Don Esteban de la Fuente +Alanis and the admiral of the Windward fleet, Don Antonio de Astina, +with many other persons who were going to embark--such as the dean +and father Fray Raimundo Verart, who was going as the archbishop's +attorney--while busily engaged in these preparations he was assailed +by death, by means of a painful suppression of urine, which in a few +days ended his life, after he had received all the holy sacraments. He +died at ten o'clock at night, on April 27, of this year 1689, at the +age of more than sixty years. They buried him in our church at Manila, +at the foot of the altar of the holy Christ of Burgos, to whom he +had been very devoted, and had gone punctually every Friday to hear +his mass sung. With him were buried also the devotion and concourse +to this sacred image, until they were revived twenty years later, +during the term of government of the Conde de Lizarraga, Don Martin +de Ursua y Arismendi; this is the usual condition of devotions in +these islands, for they do not last long, and have their seasons, +and these are not wont to be very long. + +The death of this governor was much regretted by every one; he was +worthy of being counted among the best whom these islands have had, +because in him were united the highest qualities which are required to +constitute an accomplished governor. He was very pacific, and so plain +in his manners that he was censured for not maintaining his authority; +he was very charitable, and magnanimous of heart, although small in +body. He had the noble quality of being exceedingly disinterested, +and of placing little value on riches--which in these regions, +where covetousness has so many opportunities to tempt and conquer, +is the greatest virtue; and it is such even throughout the world, +since it is almost a miracle.... These islands did not keep him long, +it may be because they did not deserve him.... For in these regions +there is little regret for governors who are not good, and little +esteem for those who are not bad; but he who rules can never find +himself free from malcontents, because it is not his function to +please every one. But, since goodness is better recognized after +it is lost, the governor's death caused much regret. He left as +his executor Master-of-camp Don Tomas de Endaya, and so small was +his estate which they found that there was not even enough for the +expenses of his burial or for the mourning garb of his servants. + +On account of his death, the military government was assumed by the +senior auditor, Licentiate Don Alonso de Abella Fuertes, knight of the +Order of Alcantara; and together with the royal Audiencia [he governed] +also in civil affairs, as is decreed by royal commands. During the time +while Don Alonso de Abella governed, which was sixteen months (for it +was that length of time before Don Fausto Cruzat y Gongora arrived), +this commonwealth enjoyed great peace and tranquillity. If there were +any dissensions in the ecclesiastical state, he took no part in them; +and if it had not been for his great forethought those differences +would have been greater, as will be related in the proper place. + +With the death of the governor, and the excellent intentions of +the temporary ruler, the affairs of Don Juan de Zalaeta assumed +another shape. He had suffered great hardships and privations in +his imprisonment and banishment, and all his property, even to his +clothing, had been sold at auction; for before his departure from +these islands the authorities had taken his residencia for the time +when he was alcalde-mayor of Calamianes, and some charges against him +resulted. The acting governor ordered that he be released from prison, +and that both he and Don Miguel de Lezama should come to Manila, +where their causes were settled with less harshness. Don Juan de +Zalaeta returned to Espana, thoroughly warned by the bad outcome +of the residencia of Don Juan de Vargas, which he had so eagerly +desired, imagining that it would be of great honor and profit to +him. He reached Madrid very poor, and ill provided with supplies, +and died there suddenly.... + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +During the fourteen months which remained in the term of office of our +father provincial Fray Juan de Jerez after his death, the province was +governed by the experienced prelate our father Fray Jose Duque--so +successfully and peaceably, and with so much tranquillity in the +order, that he was able to moderate the great sorrow which all felt +at the loss of the deceased provincial. In this peaceful condition +the time came for holding the chapter-session which took place in +the convent at Manila, on April 30 of this year of 1689; father Fray +Luis Diaz presided therein, as the eldest definitor of the preceding +chapter. There was not much discussion among the fathers in their +effort to find a person whom they might elect as provincial, because +for a long time all had fixed their attention on father Fray Francisco +de Zamora, who was then prior of the convent at Manila. He was a +native of Medina del Campo, and a son of the convent at Valladolid, +who had come to this province in the year 1669; a religious of great +prudence, and unusual ability for governing; and for many years they +had only delayed electing him until he should reach the age of forty +years, since that is the time fixed in our Constitutions. They found +that he lacked six months of that age, which, as he alleged, exempted +him from election for so heavy a burden; but having investigated the +matter, and basing their action on many previous precedents which had +occurred not only in this province but in others, in which there had +been dispensations [from the rule], the father who presided granted +one in this case, as he was vicar-general, and father Fray Francisco +was elected provincial on the said date, April 30. + +The definitors who were elected were fathers Fray Julian Zapata, +Fray Juan de San Nicolas, Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, and Fray Simon +Martinez. The visitors for the preceding triennium were present, +fathers Fray Ignacio de Mercado and the reader Fray Francisco de +Ugarte; and as new visitors were appointed father Fray Eusebio de +Porras and the father reader Fray Jose Lopez. Ordinances were enacted +that were very useful for the better government of the province, +and for the administration of the missions in our charge; this is the +greatest responsibility of the chapters, because the system in this +province is so different from that in the European provinces, which +needs very different corporate laws for the preservation of each, +and for enabling the individuals therein to fulfil the obligations +of the religious without failing in those of parish priest--which in +this province is the function of all its members, while in Peru and +Nueva Espana it is the occupation of but few. + +The governor ad interim, Don Alonso de Abella Fuertes, began to govern +with so much prudence and ability that it seemed as if he had the +benefit of long experience, although he had hardly known a few months +of such responsibility. The principal cause of this was the concord +in which he lived with all, as well as the aid which he received from +his associates, Doctor Don Lorenzo de Acina and Don Juan de Sierra, +who vied with each other in cooperating with their colleague in +discharging the duties of his office. It is in this direction that +the ad interim governments of auditors in these islands are weak and +fail of success; for, peevish because the precedence of seniority +is not theirs, they try to obscure the credit of him who wields the +rod of authority, and often show themselves as his worst enemies, +and thus aristocratic rule is converted into democratic confusion. + +His first care was the despatch of the galleon "Santo Nino" to Nueva +Espana, in charge of General Don Antonio de Astina; for as this +commander had left the office of admiral of the Windward fleet (for +which he had a proprietary appointment from his Majesty the king), +it was not just that a personage of so great merits should return +as passenger--for the patache "San Fernando," in which he had come, +was not fit for the return trip of so severe a navigation; and +it had been laid aside, not only on this account, but because its +owner, Felipe Vertis, had died suddenly. The investigating judge, +the alcalde of court Don Francisco Campos de Valdivia, embarked with +his notary; all the commissions which he carried from the supreme +Council having been concluded, he carried [the documents concerning] +them with him, as also the copious evidence in the residencia of Don +Juan de Vargas--who remained for an indefinite time in banishment +in the village of Lingayen, suffering the hardships and miseries of +being an excommunicate, denounced as such on the church-doors, and +with no consolation save his own courage and that of his wife, Dona +Isabel de Ardila. Don Juan de Zalaeta embarked, under the obligation +of presenting himself at Madrid with the proceedings in his case. The +dean, Don Miguel Ortiz, was bound on the same errand; and father +Fray Raimundo Verart went aboard with powers of attorney from the +archbishop, in whose favor he printed a long and learned manifesto. The +galleon had a very prosperous voyage, duly arriving at Acapulco; +and on the return trip it brought us the new proprietary governor. + +In this year of 1689, came the end of the long and troubled life of +the archbishop, Don Fray Felipe Pardo, who was sixty-eight years old, +an age attained by few persons in these regions; and these years +were rendered more painful by the many troubles and annoyances +that had resisted his courage--which was very great, [although] +in a small body. For many months he had been well prepared for this +inevitable and impending event, as the devout religious that he was; +and from his archiepiscopal palace he watched over and promoted the +rigorous observance of the province of the Holy Rosary of the Order +of Preachers. A Benjamin of the great patriarch St. Dominic, [118] he +came to this province in the year 1647, after having taught arts and +theology in the famous college of San Gregorio at Valladolid; and he +was therefore regarded as the greatest theological professor who had +been in these islands. He was provincial during two quadrenniums, +and prior of Manila for two more; and he was commissary of the +Holy Office when the appointment as archbishop reached him. We have +already seen his constancy in defending the episcopal authority. His +charity was great, for he spent whatever was left from his income +(which did not exceed five thousand pesos), in aiding the poor; +and with it he assisted the missionaries of Tungkin. A nephew of his +came to visit him, but he would not consent that the governor should +give this man any office or position, and made him go back with very +little outfit. His death would have been considered, in another man, +sudden and unexpected; for he was found dead at midnight on the day +of St. Sylvester, ending [his life] with the year, so that it could +be said, Et dies pleni inveniuntur in eis (Ps. xii, v. 10). But this +great prelate awaited the end of his days with full preparation, and +had just given orders for the making of a red pontifical vestment in +which he was to be buried; his body, embalmed, was deposited in the +church of Santo Domingo at Manila. + +The see being declared vacant, the cabildo assumed its government; +and they could have ruled with great peace if they themselves had not +hunted up discord where they had thought to find greater peace. The +vacant see was ruled by Master Juan Gonzalez de Guzman, who was now +dean on account of the absence of Don Miguel Ortiz, and at the same +time was provisor and vicar-general of the cabildo; and as it seemed +to them that it would be expedient, for the greater authority of +the diocese, to cede the government to the bishop of Troya, Don Fray +Gines Barrientos, they named him as its head. From this ensued great +dissensions, for the bishop-governor thought that he was superior to +the cabildo, and that they had transferred their authority to him, +leaving themselves entirely stripped of it; this is contrary to +all the teachings of the sacred canons, which in one precept of law +declare: Privilegio, quod habes propter me, non potes uti contra me; +and the established principle which states: Propter quod unumquodque +tale, illud magis. [119] They tried to persuade him, by very learned +manifestoes, that the cabildo alone could have constituted him its +vicar-general, with authority removable at the pleasure of the same +cabildo; and that they could therefore revoke the appointment which +they had conferred upon him, whenever they pleased. But the bishop of +Troya resolved not to yield, but to act as superior to and independent +of the cabildo. There were bitter disputes, proceeding from both sides, +so much so that, in order to avoid greater scandals, two members of +the cabildo--the dean, Master Juan Gonzalez de Guzman, and the cantor, +Don Esteban de Olmedo Gabaldon, a native of Campo de Critana in La +Mancha--took refuge in our convent of San Pablo at Manila, from which +the bishop of Troya would have taken them, if the prudent governor, +Don Alonso de Abella Fuertes, had not refused to give him the aid +which he asked for that exploit. + +The bishop of Troya was very learned, a great theologian and preacher, +but in this matter he erred as a man, for it seemed to him that +the rank and consecration of a bishop rendered him superior on that +occasion to the authority which the cabildo possessed by law in the +vacant see. Among many other manifestoes which were published in +defense of the cabildo, one came out which was very well grounded, +the motto or inscription of which, as being ingenious and apropos, +is worthy of being noted here; it said, Non licet tibi habere uxorem +fratris tui Philippi (Mark vi, v. 18), [120] alluding to the name +of the deceased archbishop, and to their both belonging to the same +order. But the bishop of Troya, notwithstanding he was so learned +and so holy, was very hard to dissuade from his opinion, although on +the present occasion he had every one against him; and although he +withdrew his claims, on account of the urgent representations made +by the acting governor and the other auditors and all the religious +orders, he yielded through constraint and not from conviction. The +cabildo continued its government, with much peace, during the vacancy +of the see. + +During this interval the year 1690 came in, and the acting governor +despatched the galleon "Nuestra Senora del Rosario" to Nueva +Espana, in command of General Don Jose Madrazo; and in it embarked +Master-of-camp Don Juan de Vargas. In order to do this he had left +his place of banishment at Lingayen, after having suffered great +hardships; and the end of these was to die on this voyage, in the +higher latitude. [This occurred] at a place which people call Dona +Maria de la Jara, of considerable note on account of the many deaths +which have occurred in that place; for among those who have died +there are four proprietary governors, and some acting governors, and +some auditors, and the above-mentioned bishop of Troya. Accordingly +this place is the dread of those who sail in that navigation, and +especially for persons of so high degree; for the poor seamen go and +come past it with greater security. + +After this galleon had been despatched, news came about June of the +landing of the galleon "Santo Nino," which in the preceding year had +sailed for Acapulco, in charge of Don Antonio de Astina; in it came, as +its commander, Don Juan de Garaycoechea--a Navarrese, from the valley +of Baztan--who was married in Manila, and had spent several years in +Nueva Espana. In the galleon came the new governor, Don Fausto Cruzat +[y] Gongora, a knight of the Order of Santiago; he was a Navarrese, +a native of Pamplona, of the illustrious lineage of Cruzat--well known +in that kingdom, since from it have proceeded men so distinguished as +Don Martin de Redin y Cruzat, grand master of Malta; and his brother +Don Tiburcio de Redin, well known for his courage and still more for +his virtue, for, having entered the Capuchin order, he merited that his +biography should be printed with the title, The Spanish Capuchin, as +an example for his successors. An illustrious shoot from this house of +Cruzat is also the glorious St. Francis Javier, the apostle of India. + +This gentleman brought his wife, Dona Beatriz de Arostegui y Aguirre, +a native of Cadiz, a matron of great beauty and still greater virtue; +three sons, Don Martin, Don Fausto, and Don Juan; and two daughters, +Dona Ignacia and Dona Teresa. He also brought a sister, named Dona +Teresa de Arostegui, who afterward married the aforesaid Don Juan de +Garaycoechea, then a knight of the Order of Santiago, who later died +in Mejico. Don Fausto had been waiting in that city three years, until +the term allowed to Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui in the government +here should be completed; and he would have waited much longer if +Don Gabriel's death had not dispensed him from a longer detention, +for with him was begun the practice of sending successors who may be +on the watch for the governor's [term of] life--I know not whether +it be to wish him well. Much could be said of this, and of the great +difficulties which can result from such a precaution--such as the +sale of offices, as has been done for many years; but it is not my +obligation to give an opinion on matters of state, but to relate +facts without contesting the laws. + +Governor Don Fausto brought here many persons of good family: +Don Juan Lingurin, a man of great virtue, who died in Manila with +the reputation of being a great servant of God; for he was greatly +addicted to meditation, prayer, and mortification. Sargento-mayor +Don Fernando Iglesias Montanes, his secretary, who afterward married +Dona Maria Morante, who came in the suite of the governor's wife. Don +Juan de Rivas, a native of Galicia, and a general in the army; he +married another lady of Dona Beatriz's household, named Dona Juana de +Aragon. Captain Don Miguel de Salazar, of Toledo, who was grievously +slain in the year 1709. Don Angel Liano, Captain Don Frutos Delgado, +Don Pedro de Subira, Don Francisco Valdes, Don Jose de Veroluca, +and many others. [Among these were] General Don Pedro de Lucena +and Captain Don Lucas de Lucena, brothers, who are still living; +Captain Don Jose de Luzarrondo, a Navarrese; Captain de Iriarte, +who afterward returned to Espana; and Master Don Juan Aguilar, the +governor's chaplain, who had spent some time in these islands, being +one of the household of the bishop of Sinopolis, Don Fray Juan Duran, +assistant of the bishop of Cebu. In this galleon came Captain Don +Patricio de Aguila--an Irishman, brother of the pilot Guillermo de +Aguila--and Captain Pedro Quijada, both married; and other officers +who are still living, with an excellent reenforcement of men for the +Manila garrison. + +What is most important for our history is, that a numerous and choice +mission of religious for this province came, in charge of father Fray +Alvaro de Benavente, who in 1686 had been sent [to Europa] for this +purpose, and made his voyage by way of Batavia and Holanda, as we have +briefly related. That navigation was very difficult, because when the +Dutch ships with which he was going approached the English Channel they +learned that at its entrance was a French fleet. For this reason they +changed their route, doubling Cape Clare, a promontory of Ireland; +and they went as far as 63 deg. of [north] latitude, so that they could +sail around the northern extremity of Scotland, and therefore they +suffered great cold and hardship. As soon as father Fray Alvaro de +Benavente arrived at Bilbao with his companion Fray Juan Verganzo, he +set out on his journey to the court, where he presented his despatches, +and explained the reasons why he had made his voyage by way of Batavia; +for this route was strictly prohibited by his Majesty, and might cause +much hindrance to the procurators. Having secured the approval of the +Duke de Medinaceli and the lords of the royal Council of the Indias, +he departed for the Roman court, to ask for the relaxation of the +oaths which the missionaries in China were commanded to take, of +obedience to the apostolic vicars sent out by the holy Congregation +of the Propaganda. [Diaz relates with some detail the progress and +success of this embassy by Benavente, because the question at issue +therein has an important place in the controversy over the line of +demarcation between the domains of Spain and Portugal in the East; +but we omit this part, as it is unimportant for our narrative.] + +[Father Fray Alvaro] also had to obtain from our very reverend general +Fray Fulgencio Travalloni various statutes and corporate laws for +the government of this province; and these were [in the form of] +fifty-eight decrees, given in the convent of San Martin at Sena [i.e., +Sienna], on May 28, 1688, [while the father general was engaged] +in the general visitation of Italia; father Fray Alvaro brought them +in printed form, with a Roman imprint. But with the course of time +it was found by experience that these laws were unduly rigorous, +and not very satisfactory for the government of this province; +and it was continually asking for dispensations from them, until our +father general Fray Adeodato Nuzzi, of Altimira, sent orders that this +province should change and correct them as it should find expedient; +and this was done in the intermediate chapter of the year 1710. Father +Fray Alvaro brought many favors and jubilees from his Holiness for +many convents of this province, and a bull to the effect that the +religious who, knowing any language of the provinces under our charge, +should explain [the Christian doctrine] in the convent of Manila for +a period of eight years should bear the title of "Master," with the +exemptions belonging to that dignity, and that he might exercise a +perpetual vote in the provincial chapters; but up to the present time +there has been no religious who has devoted himself to that occupation, +or attracted much importance to this so unusual concession. + +For the missionaries in China he gained the subsidy and stipend which +his Majesty gives to the missionaries of the other religious orders, +that is, a hundred pesos to each one for a year's support. He obtained +a royal decree that the trade and commerce with the Portuguese of +Macan, which until that time had been forbidden and full of risk, +should be free; and this dispensation was obtained only by the +information given by father Fray Alvaro de Benavente that this was +the safest door by which the missionaries could gain entrance into +China. But the Portuguese, although they enjoy greatly to their +profit the commerce of Manila, which is the chief means of their +preservation, carry out very poorly the arrangement, as regards +giving passage to the missionaries; for not only do they not give +them entrance, but they inflict many annoyances on the religious, +as they did with this very father Fray Alvaro, in both his first and +his second visit to China. What keeps them in this attitude is the +incorrectly understood patronage of their king of Portugal; for they +can claim the same things in Mogol, Persia, Turquia and Constantinopla, +and in the empire of Trapisonda, as included in the hemisphere of their +demarcation. Father Fray Alvaro returned to Espana with a commission +of vicar-general (which had been granted to him very fully by our own +reverend father general); and he busied himself in calling together +the religious who were to come in the mission [to Filipinas]. Since +he had passed through the province of Aragon on his return from Roma, +some religious offered themselves to him there, not only from Aragon +but from Valencia; and there some others who afterward were enlisted +by father Fray Pedro Cerro--to whom father Fray Alvaro had delegated +his own powers, since father Fray Pedro was a religious who was very +friendly to this province, and zealous for the good of souls. + +Before father Fray Alvaro reached Manila with his religious, Governor +Don Fausto Cruzat y Gongora made his entry into the city; this was +done on St. James's day, in the afternoon. Two magnificent and very +beautiful triumphal arches were erected for him, with large emblematic +representations and ingenious allegories. One was made at the cost and +by the care of the Society of Jesus; and the other by the care of our +Augustinian fathers, at the place where the governor would pass our +convent of San Pablo, with the idea of the history of Janus--with +ingenious Latin inscriptions and epigrams, explained in Castilian +eight-line stanzas; and to these were added, in all these places, +praises [of the governor]. This was the last reception of this sort +that was given to the governors, its disuse being begun with the next +governor, Don Domingo de Zabalburu--who, as he came wearing mourning +for the death of our king Don Carlos II, would not allow this festal +mode of reception. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +On the third day after the solemn entry of the governor, the religious +of the mission here by father Fray Alvaro de Benavente made their +entrance into the convent of Manila; and on July 28 a private session +of the definitory was held in order to admit and adopt them into this +province. The following is a list of them: + +1. Father Fray Diego Banales, a native of Coruna, and a son of the +convent at Santiago; aged forty years, and twenty-three in the order; +a preacher and confessor. He came as confessor to the governor's wife; +was prior of Guadalupe, a definitor, and president of the chapter; +and died at Manila, on January 29, 1706. + +2. The father reader Fray Carlos Terrazas, a son of the house at +Valencia, thirty-two years old and having professed sixteen years +before; he was minister in the Pintados or Bisayas provinces, and +of very great virtue; he died in the convent of Dumarao, on October +18, 1694. + +3. The father reader Fray Nicolas Bernet, a native of the town of +Epila, and son of the convent at Zaragoza; twenty-seven years old, +and a professed for ten years; he was prior of Cebu; and died at +Manila, on May 1, 1701. + +4. The father preacher Fray Jose de Ribera, a native of Madrid, and +son of the convent of San Felipe; forty years of age, and twenty-three +in the order; was minister in the provinces of Tagalos; and died at +Pasig on May 21, 1706. + +5. The father preacher Fray Gelasio Gimenez, a son of the convent at +Valencia; twenty-seven years of age, and ten and a half in the order; +was minister in the province of Ilocos; and died there on August +12, 1694. + +6. The father reader Fray Jose Carbonel, son of the convent at +Valencia, and master of the students therein; twenty-five years old, +and nine in the order; was minister in the province of Ilocos; and +died at the village of Candong, on March 19, 1711. + +7. The father preacher Fray Martin Fuentes, a son of the convent at +Zaragoza; twenty-seven years old, and nine years and four months +in the order; has been a minister in the province of Pampanga, +and a definitor; and is still [121] living, a minister in Bisayas, +and examiner of literature for the Holy Office. + +8. The father preacher Fray Nicolas Servent, a native of Valencia, +son of the house at Alcoy; aged twenty-eight years, and ten in the +order. He is still living, a minister in the province of Pampanga, +the prior of Macabebe. + +9. The father preacher Fray Jose de Aranda, a native of Estella, +and son of the convent at Zaragoza; aged thirty-one years, and five +in the order; was minister in the provinces of Tagalos; and died at +Manila, on October 11, 1698. + +10. The father reader Fray Blas Diaz, son of the convent at Zaragoza; +aged twenty-three years, and seven and a half in the order; he was +minister in the provinces of Tagalos, and returned to Espana. + +11. The father preacher Fray Pedro Beltran, a native of Valencia, +and son of the house at Alcira; aged thirty-two years, and six in +the order; he is now living, a minister in the provinces of Bisayas. + +12. Father Fray Pedro Baldo, son of the convent at Valencia; aged +twenty-six years, and nine in the order; was minister in Bisayas, +where he died on April 27, 1716, while prior of the convent at Dumarao. + +13. The father preacher Fray Juan Barruelo, a native of Candelario, +in the bishopric of Plasencia, and son of the convent at Salamanca; +aged twenty-four years, and six in the order; was minister in China +for several years, and at the present time is definitor and prior of +the convent of Apalit in Pampanga. + +14. The brother chorister Fray Tomas Ortiz, a native of Duenas, and +son of the convent at Valladolid; aged twenty-two years, and three in +the order; was minister in China eighteen years, and vicar-provincial +of that mission; afterward he was prior of the convent at Manila, +and still lives, the present provincial of this province. + +15. The brother chorister Fray Diego Megia, a native of Madrid, and +son of the convent of San Felipe; twenty-one years of age, and three +and a half in the order; was minister in the provinces of Tagalos, +where he died as prior of the convent of Tanauan, on October 4, 1699. + +16. The brother chorister Fray Jose Ruiz, son of the convent at Burgos, +and native of that city; aged twenty-two years; is minister of the +province of Ilocos, and has been visitor of this province. + +17. The brother [chorister?] Fray Jose de Echebel, son of the +convent at Zaragoza; aged twenty-two years, and six in the order; +was a minister in Bisayas; and died about March, 1706. + +18. The brother chorister Fray Facundo Trepat, a native of Caspe, +son of the convent at Zaragoza; aged twenty years, and three and a +half in the order; has been definitor, and is now a minister in the +provinces of Bisayas. + +19. The brother chorister Fray Jose Bosquet, a native of Valencia, +and son of the house at Epila; twenty years of age, and two in the +order; is a minister in the provinces of Bisayas, and now definitor +of this province. + +20. The brother chorister Fray Guillermo Sebastian, a son of the house +at Vinaroz; aged nineteen years, and two and a half in the order; +was a minister in the province of Ilocos, and died as prior of Bantay, +on December 13, 1698. + +21. The brother chorister Fray Eugenio Costales, a son of the convent +of Sevilla; aged twenty-one years, and three in the order; is now a +minister in the province of Ilocos. + +22. The brother novice Fray Juan Hidalgo Lopez, a native of +Extremadura; aged twenty-eight years; is a minister in the province +of Pampanga. + +23. The brother novice Fray Juan Nunez, a native of Medina del Campo; +aged twenty-three years; was a minister in China for many years; +and at present is a minister in the province of Ilocos, and its +vicar-provincial. + +24. The brother novice Fray Fernando Ricote, a native of Asturias; +aged twenty-eight years; was a minister in Bisayas; and died at Cebu +in the year 1698. + +25. The brother novice Fray Isidro Lopez, a native of Madrid; aged +seventeen years; was a minister in the provinces of Pampanga and +Tagalos; and died while he was visitor, and prior of Guiguinto, +on February 21, 1716. + +26. The lay brother Fray Francisco de Sevilla, a son of the convent at +Jativa; aged thirty-one years, and five in the order; he was eminent +in virtue, prayer, and mortification, and rendered much service to +the convent of Manila, where he met a pious death on March 31, 1711. + +27. The lay brother Fray Nicolas Codura, a son of the convent at Epila; +aged thirty years, and seven in the order; he lives in the convent +at Manila, where he has rendered good service, and still does so. + +All these religious have been very useful to this province in its +ministries and instruction, and in the missions of China--the progress +of which from their foundation will be set down separately and all +together, by way of recapitulation, [122] ending this history with this +chapter. For if I were to continue it further it would be necessary to +speak of the living, and [personal] considerations might render the +truth liable to suspicion; and although truth is the essential form +and the soul of history it cannot become the instructor of the times, +or be a [reliable] witness about them, when suspicion can challenge +it. I will, however, record in this chapter some of the acts of Don +Fausto in his government [123]--which, although they were just, were +rendered intolerable by the violence and harshness with which they +were executed; for the body politic of the Manila colony is not fit +for so strong cathartic remedies, since its weakness can only endure +anodynes and emollients. + +This gentleman commenced the course of his government with great +integrity and rectitude, and very clean hands--grand qualities from +which to expect a good government, although not well liked by all. All +his desire, assiduity, and effort were directed to the increase of the +royal revenues; and this he kept up to the end of his government, with +such extreme application that what appeared to the governor justice +seemed [to the people] cruelty. But here Justice used only the edges +of the sword, without weighing with the balances that she held in +the other hand the difficulties of time and occasion. Don Gabriel de +Curucelaegui had not pushed this matter very far before troubles which +gave him greater anxiety diverted his mind from this occupation. In +a short time Don Fausto acquired great comprehension of the conduct +of government and of all the measures which could increase the royal +revenues; and he found that a very considerable amount was due to +the exchequer, not only from the living but from the dead, from the +collections of the royal tributes and from other sources. Don Fausto +applied himself to the collection, with excessive rigor, of what the +citizens of Manila owed to the royal treasury, without considering that +most of the debtors were bankrupt, and almost destitute through lack +of means; others were now dead, and search was made for their heirs and +executors, in order to compel them to satisfy these claims. [124] While +these investigations were being made, the prisons and fortifications +were filled with debtors, more fit to ask alms than to pay their debts; +others took refuge in the churches, where they remained a long time +without being able to look for means of support. In every direction +there were seizures and auctions, exactions and investigations. By +this assiduity Don Fausto placed much silver in the royal treasury; +but his Majesty does not choose to flay thus his vassals, but rather, +as a good shepherd, to shear off the wool without cutting away the skin +in which it has its roots. This inflexibility in collecting the debts +owed to the royal exchequer, and his great eagerness to increase it, +have caused great expenses, some superfluous and others necessary; +and these traits in Don Fausto continued throughout the period of his +government--which was the longest that has occurred in these islands, +since it reached eleven years. [125] + +Considering that in these islands there is no equipment of iron-works +for making anchors, and that the Dutch of Batavia, as they are so +ingenious, have abundance of all that pertains to navigation, he +sent Don Pedro de Ariosolo with title of ambassador, accompanied by +some Spaniards--Don Martin de Tejada, Don Jose Pestano de Cueva, +Don Juan de Tejada, and others, among the prominent citizens of +Manila. These envoys were very well received in Batavia, and so well +did they succeed in their errand that they brought back many and +excellent anchors, which were used for many years. This transaction +was repeated afterward by Governor Don Domingo de Zabalburu, who sent +for the same purpose General Miguel Martinez, Don Gregorio Escalante, +Don Juan de San Pedro, and others, whose errand was as successful +as that of the former envoys, through the good management and great +liberality of the ambassador. Such endeavors have not always had the +desired effect; for in the past year of 1717 the present governor, +Mariscal Don Fernando Bustillo Bustamente y Rueda, sent General Don +Fernando de Angulo as ambassador to Batavia to procure some anchors, +but he returned without them. + +The first galleon that Don Fausto despatched for Nueva Espana was +the "Santo Cristo de Burgos," in charge of General Don Francisco de +Arcocha, his pilot being Lazcano; the voyage was a prosperous one, +and the galleon returned in the following year of 1692, in charge +of the captain of mounted cuirassiers Don Bernardo de Bayo, who was +sent by the viceroy Conde de Galves, who took away that office from +Don Francisco de Arcocha. It is said that the cause of this change +was resentment on the part of the said Conde because he had in the +year 1689 sent Don Gabriel de Arnedo y Escudero, a gentleman of his +household, as commander of the galleon--because the commander who had +come with the ship, Lucas Mateo de Urquiza, had remained at Acapulco +sick (not being willing to follow the second route, which Don Pedro +de Ariosolo was taking)--and Don Gabriel de Arnedo y Escudero had +returned in the said galleon "Santo Cristo" as a passenger and not +as a commander (although he died on the way); and, annoyed at this, +the viceroy had taken the office from Don Francisco de Arcocha and +given it to Don Bernardo de Bayo. It would have been better if the +galleon had not come at all, for it was wrecked on the return trip, +as we shall see later. + +With Don Gabriel de Arnedo came the auditor Licentiate Don Juan de +Ozaeta y Oro, a native of Lima, with his wife and children, who the +preceding year had not been able to embark on account of the lack +of accommodations in the patache "San Fernando," in which came the +investigating judge and the three auditors. Licentiate Don Juan de +Ozaeta was highly esteemed for his learning, and for having been +an official of great integrity and uprightness. He completed his +six years' term as auditor of Filipinas, and embarked for Mejico, +where he was for many years alcalde of criminal cases for that city, +with the same reputation for integrity and rectitude. The new auditors +brought orders from his Majesty that two of them should go first to +visit the provinces [126] of these islands, and draw up an enumeration +of the royal tributes, their two associates remaining [at Manila] to +serve in the royal Audiencia. For this task two auditors set out--Don +Alonso de Abella Fuertes to visit the provinces of Cagayan, Ilocos, +and Pampanga; and Don Juan de Sierra to visit those of Cebu, Ogton, +and Panay, although he visited only the last two. After Don Alonso +Fuertes had returned from his commission, Licentiate Don Juan de Ozaeta +went to visit the provinces of Tagalos, and made the enumeration of +the tributes. + +Don Fausto placed on the stocks the largest galleon that had ever +been built; for it was three codos longer than the largest that +had been built in the world. This enterprise was carried on by +Master-of-camp Don Tomas de Endaya, who by application had become +very skilful in this art, and he was therefore the superintendent of +this construction; which was completed in less than nine months, to +the astonishment of everyone--although with some cause for scandal, +since the men worked on it even on the most important feast-days, not +stopping even on Holy Thursday. He gave it the name of "San Jose," +and appointed Don Jose Madrazo its commander; and it was launched +very successfully. It sailed from this headland of Cavite on the day +of Sts. Peter and Paul in 1694; [127] and on July 3, in the night, +it was dashed to pieces on the coast of Luban, and more than four +hundred persons were drowned. It was reckoned that if the men had +not worked on the feast-days the vessel would have been completed +more slowly, and would have sailed many days later, and the furious +hurricane that was the cause of its wreck would not have caught it on +the sea, with the deaths of so many persons and the loss of the great +amount of merchandise that it carried; for it is considered certain +that no larger or richer galleon had plowed the waters of the sea, +for the wealth that it carried was incredible. + +While this loss was so great, one of the most grievous losses that +these islands have suffered, it was made worse by the non-arrival of +the galleon that was expected that year, the "Santo Cristo de Burgos," +in charge of General Don Bernardo Ignacio del Bayo--who, as we have +said, was sent by the viceroy Conde de Galves in the year of 1691, and +returned in the same ship the following year; and it put back to the +port of Solsogon, after having endured great tempests. It remained at +Solsogon in order to continue its voyage the year of 1693, as it did; +but it not only failed to reach port, but was wrecked, without our +gaining the least knowledge of the place where that occurred. There +were some suspicions that it was destroyed by fire (a danger for which +there is on the sea no help), for at one of the Marianas Islands were +found fragments of burned wood, which were sent [here] by the governor +of Filipinas, Don Jose Madrazo, and were recognized to be of woods that +are found in these islands only. Careful search was made for many years +along the coasts of South America, and in other regions; but not the +least news of this ship has been received. Among the persons who were +lost in this galleon was a religious who was most highly esteemed by +this province for his great virtue and learning; this was the father +reader Fray Francisco de Ugarte, a Vizcayan, a native of Marquina, +who came as superior of the mission which reached this province in the +year 1684; he had been sent in this galleon to Espana, as procurator +of the province, to ask for a new reenforcement of missionaries. Much +could be said of the great virtue of this religious, of his frequent +prayer and mortification, his poverty, his extraordinary humility +and affability--which I omit, in order not to seem too partial to +him, or expose myself to the censure which I have seen incurred by +many historians among the regulars, who have indulged in so excessive +praises of this sort that they expose themselves to the charge of being +too partial, because the persons eulogized are of their own houses. + +By these so calamitous events the islands were reduced to a miserable +condition, on account of the loss of two good galleons and of so much +wealth, belonging to so many that one might say it was the wealth +of all [the citizens of Manila]. There was a little alleviation of +our affliction that year, but it was so little that it could hardly +be regarded as succor--that before the great galleon left Cavite a +small patache entered that port which the viceroy of Nueva Espana +had sent with some slight assistance, in charge of Don Andres de +Arriola, a Sevillan gentleman of great courage and renown. He +returned to Nueva Espana in a small vessel which was purchased +for 6,000 pesos from a Portuguese merchant named Juan de Abreu; it +was so small that the authorities ordered, under heavy penalties, +that no citizen should send in this vessel anything except letters, +a rule which was enforced most rigorously. This patache made a very +prosperous voyage; for, having passed the Marianas Islands, which is +the most difficult part of this navigation, and finding that their +provisions were nearly gone, and that it was almost impossible to +pursue their voyage, divine Providence aided them by revealing to +them an unknown island, not set down on any navigation chart. They +found it uninhabited by men, but abounding in certain birds, large +and heavy, and little inclined to fly, and so easy to catch that +the men gave them the name of "fool birds" [128] either because of +their stupidity, or as being the same as those birds which are found +in Brasil and some islands of India which the Portuguese call dodos, +which is the same as tontos [i.e., "stupid"]. The flesh of these birds +is very good, and so, by killing many of them and drying their flesh +in the wind, the sailors made a very good provision of food. They +also found very good water and firewood, so that they were able to +continue their voyage to Acapulco. What they most regretted was, +that they could not fix the latitude and situation of this island, +for lack of seeing the sun; and thus the island became again unknown, +and inaccessible for another like emergency. [If its location were +known], it would be a great assistance in making easier this arduous +and severe navigation from Filipinas to Acapulco. + +Don Andres de Arriola was afterward a knight of the Order of Santiago, +commander of the Windward fleet, and governor of Vera Cruz and of +Pancacola, where he rendered great services to his Majesty King Don +Felipe V--his great courage enabling him to furnish large supplies of +silver [to the king], despite the perils of the sea and the enemies of +the crown, in the time when the armed fleets of Inglaterra and Holanda +were infesting the seas and obstructing the commerce with America. + +Among the losses which Governor Don Fausto experienced in the time +of his government, the greatest in his estimation was the death of +his spouse Dona Beatriz de Arostegui, in 1694; he loved her dearly, +an affection deserved by her beauty, the many children that she had +borne him, her great virtues, and sweet disposition--for which all the +people loved her as the rainbow of peace, as she greatly moderated the +choleric disposition of her husband. She died, this Rachel in beauty +and Leah in fruitfulness, in the second year of the government of +Don Fausto. [129] She was given a burial with honors in our church +at Manila, and in the following year her remains were transferred +to a beautiful chapel in the chancel, erected and adorned for this +purpose. [This chapel contains the sculptured figure of the lady, +with some Latin inscriptions, which are here omitted.] Well was this +monument merited by a matron so virtuous, loved and reverenced by all +for her great virtues; and her death was all the more regretted on +account of her youth. The funeral honors which were solemnized for +her were the most splendid ever seen in these islands (and it would +be difficult to equal them in any other country, even with great +expenditures); for the great abundance in these islands of wax and +of the other materials for pomp which can increase the magnificence +of functions of this kind, render them very easy. But this abuse is +at present greatly moderated, as a result of the recent royal decree +which was published that these vain parades be diminished. + + + + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA + + +The sources of the documents in this volume are as follows: + +1. Camacho ecclesiastical controversy.--From the Ventura del Arco +MSS. (Ayer library), iv, pp. 107-115, and 119-133; a contemporaneous +MS., belonging to Edward E. Ayer; Ventura del Arco MSS., v, +pp. 231-296, and iv, pp. 201-206. + +2. Augustinians in the Philippines.--From Casimiro Diaz's Conquistas +(Manila, 1890), pp. 440-444, and 689-817; from a copy in the possession +of James A. Robertson. + + + + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] At the end of this document appear the following memoranda +relative to the archbishop's voyage to the islands: "Archbishop Camacho +embarked at Acapulco for Manila on March 30, 1697. The lading of the +ship was made in great haste, because there was in Acapulco a fearful +pestilence. Several died from this pest on the ship, within a few +days--among whom were the fiscal of his Majesty, and a Jesuit and +a Dominican. On the 19th of July they encountered a terrible storm, +from which they escaped only through the intercession of St. Francisco +Javier, a Jesuit, casting into the water an order of the saint in which +he promised that they should have no [cause for] fear. On July 24, at +three o'clock in the afternoon, they anchored in the port of Palapag, +where they suffered from a baguio. On the eighth day of September, +the archbishop made his public entry into Manila." + +[2] Spanish, realengos; "applied to the villages which are not held +by seigniors or by the religious orders, and to lands belonging to +the state" (Barcia). + +Auditor Sierra held a commission from the court for legalizing +the ownership of lands in Filipinas; and in the fulfilment of this +charge he demanded from the friars the documents which justified their +right to the magnificent estates of which they called themselves the +owners." (Montero y Vidal, Hist. de Filipinas, p. 385.) + +[3] This bull was a papal sentence of excommunication formerly +published against heretics every Holy (or Maundy) Thursday; for ages +it was publicly read on that day, otherwise known as the feria quinta +in Coena Domini; hence its common title, as given in the text. The +latest form which this bull assumed was given to it by Urban VIII in +1627; it is entitled, Pastoralis Romani pontificis vigilantia, and is +divided into twenty sections or decrees. Of these, no. 15 censures +such as usurp jurisdiction; it was, then, issued in the interests +of liberty in court trials. No. 17 censures those who usurp church +revenues, incomes, and the like; and it thus upheld the rights of +ownership. This bull is no longer used; its periodical publication was +discontinued after 1773, and it was suppressed by Pius IX (October 12, +1869), in force of his constitution, Apostolicae Sedis, issued on that +date.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[4] The decree here mentioned is dated May 15, 1572, and begins, +Exposcit debitum pastoralis officii. In it provision is made for +"appeals from the West Indias, and the islands of the Ocean Sea, +subject to the king of Spain." It orders that appeals be carried, +first, from the bishop to the metropolitan; second, from the +metropolitan to the next neighboring ordinary--that thus justice might +be secured without delay or so heavy expense. Philip II had petitioned +to this effect, that cases might be decided by two courts, and no +appeal be admitted therefrom; hence the bull of Gregory to the king. + +In this case, the appeal was from the metropolitan to the bishop +of Camarines--who probably had been commissioned by the pope to act +as delegate from an early period in his episcopal career, since he +himself mentions (post) his having acted in that capacity in the +time of Archbishop Pardo. In case of the nearest see being vacant, +the official who acted as its head would be delegate for the time +being, i.e. would be a vice-ordinary. Also, as those islands were +too remote for sending thither delegates from Europe, except in +extraordinary cases, the metropolitan of Manila might send a delegate +to Camarines. The authority possessed by the delegate in appeal cases +(as results from the bull of Gregory) would be definitive and final; +he might overrule and even supersede the metropolitan, as being the +judge in final appeal.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[5] Probably Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz, as he was bishop of +Puebla in 1696 (Bancroft's Mexico, iii, p. 256). + +[6] Cruzat y Gongora's term of office was lengthened by the failure +of his successor to go to the islands. This was Domingo Zabalburu de +Echevarri, who was appointed September 18, 1694, but did not reach +Manila until 1701. + +[7] Spanish, sobrino, which may be applied not only to a brother's +or sister's child, but to that of a cousin-german. + +[8] Spanish, ni mejorarla [apelacion]; a legal phrase, meaning "to +support the appeal before the superior court, after having appealed +before it, by setting forth the injury that is experienced from any +act issued by the lower court" (Barcia). + +[9] So in Ventura del Arco's transcription; but it would seem to +be an error for 120--perhaps a copyist's conjecture of an illegible +character--since it apparently refers to Gregory XIII's decree of 1572 +(ante, p. 27). + +[10] He was almost seventy years old, according to Concepcion (Hist. de +Philipinas, viii, p. 229). + +[11] In the Latin Church the ecclesiastical orders are those of +bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, exorcists, readers, +and ostiarii, or doorkeepers. Many theologians reckon the number +at seven, regarding the episcopate as merely the extension of the +priesthood (Addis and Arnold, p. 621). + +[12] Spanish, seminario conciliar; "the house assigned for the +education of the young men who devote themselves to the ecclesiastical +career" (Barcia). + +[13] Jose Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de Montezuma, was the successor, +in the viceroyalty of Nueva Espana, of Gaspar de la Cerda, Conde +de Galve (whose term of office was November 20, 1688 to May, +1696). Valladares obtained his title by his marriage with Geronima +Maria, a lineal descendant of the Mexican emperor, and third countess +of Montezuma. He took possession of the office on December 18, 1696, +and held it until November 4, 1701. He was an able and efficient +governor, and did much to repress crime, improve social conditions, aid +the Indians in times of distress, and render the City of Mexico more +strongly fortified. (Bancroft, Mexico, iii, pp. 222, 259, 264, 265.) + +[14] Miguel Bayot was a discalced Franciscan, an Aragonese, who came to +the Philippines in 1669; he was employed in ministries to the Indians, +and was long at the head of the hospice of the order in Mexico City. In +1695 he was appointed bishop of Cebu, when he was 52 years old, being +then in Mexico, and took possession of his office in September, 1696; +he died there on August 28, 1700. When he died, only the sum of five +reals was found in his possession. (San Antonio, Chronicas, i, p. 212.) + +[15] The first page of this MS. is occupied by official attestations +showing that on January 22, 1699, officially certified copies of +these decrees by the archbishop were demanded by Antonio de Borja, +procurator-general of the Jesuit province, from one of the alcaldes +of Manila, Antonio Basarte, who ordered these copies to be made. + +[16] Spanish, casamientos y velaciones; the former the general term +for marriages, the latter also used thus, but referring especially +to the nuptial mass or nuptial benedictions (which, however, were +and are given only at mass). The parties might be married outside +of mass--as if it were a private marriage, or if they were too poor +to pay for the mass--and then did not receive the benedictions. But +if at mass, they were velados--a term recalling an ancient ceremony +when both parties were veiled at the marriage; i.e., the priest threw +a veil over their heads. Thus Moroni in his Diccionario, who also +states that "this custom is still in vogue in some places" (in his +own day, about thirty years ago). La velacion was another term for +the marriage ceremony at mass, and was part of the ceremony. Every +woman (of good standing) is entitled to church marriage--with nuptial +mass and benediction--but once only: this may be on the occasion of a +second or third marriage, provided the former marriages were outside +of mass; but if the first marriage were with the nuptial mass, she +is barred from enjoying this privilege at subsequent marriages. These +are the casamientos; the nuptial mass, or marriage accompanied by it, +the velacion.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[17] Hijo de la Iglesia; a term applied to a foundling or abandoned +infant; cf., the Italian appellation, "a child of the Madonna." + +[18] Spanish, octavas. None of the standard dictionaries give a meaning +to cover this use of octavas. Dominguez's Diccionario (Supplement) +states that the word is a term in Roman law, designating an ancient +form of tribute consisting of one part in eight. Probably it was +carried over into ecclesiastical law, and here means that the cura +was expected to pay one-eighth of his fees into the church fund. + +[19] Spanish, canonicas monitoriales. In law books, banns (in Latin) +are styled proclamationes monitoriae.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[20] Spanish, limosna. The fees (derechos) of the cura were determined, +fixed sums, as in the tariff lists, nor could he change them. The +limosna--a free offering, and wholly optional with the parties for whom +he officiated--was over and above the tariff charge. The cura could do +with this offering what he wished--if he chose, spending it in alms; +but it was given to him personally, and was for his own use. Cf. the +gratificacion voluntaria in the following list of fees to be paid +the parish priest in Cuba, taken from the Manual de la Isla de Cuba, +by Jose Garcia y Arboleya (2nd ed., Havana, 1859), pp. 316, 317: + + +For baptism: a voluntary offering [gratificacion voluntaria], +the minimum of which is 6 reals for the cura and 2 for the +acolyte $ 1. +For burial: of free adult 7.50 + of free child 6.50 + of slave adult 5.50 + of slave child 5. +For prayers--responso with cope, sacristan, and processional cross +[cruz alta], at the house of the deceased 7. +For prayers, with cope, at the burial 4. +For office (of three lections) 5. +For mass chanted (body present) 6. +For each halt [posa] 12.50 +For processional cross at the grave (without cross, .50) 2. +For each censer .50 +For each attendant in surplice 1. +For remaining till end [of interment] 1.50 +For four [church] bells [tolled] 2. +For three [church] bells [tolled] 1.50 +For two [church] bells [tolled] 1. +For low mass [without chant] 1. +For a fiesta [feast-day celebration] with vespers and mass chanted 12. +For a fiesta with procession 14. +For votive mass chanted 6.50 +For marriage 7.25 +For cura at the house [of the parties] 4. +For foreigners 25. to 30. +For record of baptism 1. + + --Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[21] The term Morenos, as has appeared from former documents, was +applied generally to persons of swarthy complexion--mulattoes, some +negroes, and Malabar natives, indiscriminately. + +[22] Spanish, arraz (arras); a very old term, of Hebrew origin; +hence the Latin law term of arrha, i.e., anticipated payment of +part. Arras also means "thirteen pieces of money given to the bride +by the bridegroom;" this or similar dowry was required by a very old +and very rigorous law.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +Barcia gives arras the general meaning of "that which is given as a +pledge or token of any agreement. It was extended also to the marriage +contract. Also, the thirteen pieces of money which in weddings serve +for the formality of that function, passing from the hands of the +bridegroom to those of the bride. In law, the amount which the man +promises to the woman on account of his marriage to her; it cannot +exceed, according to law, the tenth part of his possessions." He +defines arrha (French, arrhes) as "a pledge or token given to secure +and confirm a contract." + +[23] The context would seem to require here the amount of the fee for +burial of a child; this has apparently been omitted in the MS. by +a clerical error. The general appearance of the MS., and various +memoranda on the back, suggest the probability that this was one of +the copies furnished to the Jesuit Borja. + +[24] Spanish, possas. At funerals, prayers were read at different +points on the way to the cemetery; for instance, at the church door, +midway on the route, and at the cemetery gate--if not oftener. Of +course the procession halted while prayers were being read or chanted; +so for each halt (posa) a fee was due.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[25] Spanish, missas de nouenario; the novenary is a nine days' +condolence for the deceased. The same term is also applied to a nine +days' devotion offered to some saint. + +[26] Spanish, el velo; literally, the "veil," or the "veiling;" +evidently referring to the old-time usage of placing a veil over the +married pair (see note 16, ante), as a part of the ceremonies at the +nuptial mass. I am told by one of our fathers here at Villanova, +who lived in Spain years ago, that at marriages in that country +the bride wears the usual wedding-veil, and continues to wear it +in public for one week after the marriage; it is white, sometimes +plain, sometimes adorned with ribbons or flowers of various +colors.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[27] Spanish, cruz alta con su manga. The processional cross was +carried on a staff, as used in the United States in processions; at +funerals the crucifix was covered with black, this funeral trapping +(manga) covering or veiling the cross as a sign of grief. Sometimes +the sacristan bore only a small cross, without staff; this depended +wholly on his fee. In all Catholic churches in the United States, we +use the crucifixes covered in Holy Week; but we do not veil crosses +at funerals.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[28] Spanish, por titulo de justicia. Parroco de justicia, so +frequently used in this document, is the Spanish rendering of the +technical Latin phrase, parochus de jure--words which show that +the cura had a right to his office, had been instituted according +to the canons, and was canonically and legally in office. It is +practically the same as the English phrase "by right and title." Other +equivalents are: "by title of law," "by right," and "ordinary." The +parish priest, whether secular or regular, was an official of the +Church.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[29] See account of the allotment of diocesan titles in VOL. I, p. 244, +note 188. Baluffi, there cited, adds: "Relative to the two ninths that +were given to the king, the first bishop of Mechoacan [in Mexico], +Mons. Vasco de Quiroga, when organizing his cathedral [clergy] in 1554, +speaking of the two shares of the tithes that were given to the king, +remarked that they were thus awarded to his most serene Majesty in +token of his lordship (superioritalis) and right of patronage." + +[30] In text, oneroso, but evidently a transcriber's error for onrroso. + +[31] In the text, projimos, "neighbors"--in allusion to the Scriptural +injunction, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," a duty strictly +inculcated in the training of candidates for ordination, especially +in the Jesuit order. + +[32] Alluding to Paul's precept in I Corinthians, vii, v. 20. + +[33] That is, a non-resident or merely titular prelate; see VOL. XVIII, +p. 339, note 101. + +[34] The whole sentence, divested of technicalities, simply means that +one must "look before he leaps;" or that, when one has his eyes open, +he is supposed to have used them; or that the bishop, should he be +merely titular, would have no one to blame but himself, and should +be the last to complain.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[35] Spanish, pordioseros; that is, those who ask alms "for God's +sake." + +[36] Spanish, conciliabulo; like English "conventicle," used to +designate an unauthorized or illegal assembly. + +[37] Spanish, mal sonante y temeraria--literally, "of evil sound and +reckless." This is part of a legal phrase, taken from Latin forms used +by the Roman courts when characterizing books, teachings, statements, +etc., of unorthodox or schismatic bearing.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, +O.S.A. + +[38] This memorial seems to have been written by the Dominican Fray +Raimundo Berart (see Resena biografica, ii, p. 203); and it was +printed by Fray Mimbela. + +[39] Spanish, consumiendo; "the reception or eating by the priest +of the body and blood of Christ, in the elements of bread and wine" +(Dominguez). + +[40] Francisco de Mesina was born in Messina, Sicily, in 1614; at +the age of fifteen he became a Jesuit novice, and in 1643 came to the +Philippines. He acted as minister at the college of Manila during one +year, and then went to Camboja with a Spanish expedition who built a +ship there, ministering to the Spaniards, and to the natives of the +country. For two years he was rector of Silang, and more than twenty +years minister to the Chinese at Santa Cruz, near Manila, becoming +very proficient in their language. He was three years provincial, +and was sent to Macan and Camboja by the governor "on affairs of the +royal service;" and he died at Santa Cruz, October 12, 1682. (Murillo +Velarde, Hist. Philipinas, fol. 354.) + +[41] Spanish, almojarifazgo: export and import duties, as our modern +officials would call them. This tax was first collected by the Moors +in the cities and coasts of Andalucia, and afterward--in the times of +St. Fernando, according to various authors--came to be introduced among +the Christians; and they, on accepting or establishing this impost, +adopted the name by which the Arabs designated it.--Fray Tirso Lopez +(editor of Diaz). + +[42] Don Francisco Xavier, in the year 1670 (Murillo Velarde, Hist. de +Philipinas, fol. 300). + +[43] Francisco Miedes was a native of Madrid, born about 1621; +he entered the Jesuit order about 1643, and in 1643 came to the +islands. During the first year he was an instructor at the college +of Manila; the rest of his life was spent in the missions of Ternate +and Siao. He compiled grammars and vocabularies of the dialects +spoken in those islands, and performed his missionary labors with +great self-sacrifice and devotion, suffering much from poverty and +lack of the usual comforts of life. The hardships of this career, +and his frequent austerities, broke down his strength, and he finally +died at Iloilo, on June 21, 1674. (Murillo Velarde, ut supra, fol. 352 +b, 353.) + +Geronimo Cebreros was born in Mexico on May 30, 1626, and at the age +of twenty-three entered the Jesuit novitiate, and four years later +came to the islands. He was a missionary in Ternate and Siao, and for +six years the superior of those missions; afterward he labored among +the Spaniards and Tagals in Luzon, and died on August 15, 1713. (Ut +supra, fol. 400 b.) + +[44] Diaz does not give the Christian name of this missionary, +but Murillo Velarde says (ut supra, fol. 300 b), that it was Juan +de Esquivel; this name, however, is not again mentioned by that +author. On fol. 284 he gives the following account of Diego de +Esquivel (of whom Juan may have been a brother): "On the sixth of +June, 1665, died at Manila Father Diego de Esquivel, at the age of +forty-two years, after seventeen years as a member of the Society; +he was a native of the said city, and it was there that he entered +the Society, in the year 1648. He finished his studies there, and, +having been ordained as a priest, was sent to Ternate--where he +learned perfectly the language of the natives, of which he wrote a +grammar and a vocabulary. Thence he went to Tydore, and afterward +to Siao, where the natives were living more as barbarians than as +Christians; and he suffered greatly in that island, on account of +the poverty of the country. He had his heart set on planting the +faith and good morals among that people, by means of preaching, the +good example of his life as a religious, and the charity with which +he ministered to all; and he gained thereby the great affection of +the people of Siao. This was known by Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara, +and therefore after the death of Don Bentura, the king of that island +(who left a young son), the governor commissioned Father Esquivel with +the government of that kingdom, as it was under the royal protection, +to the great satisfaction of the chiefs of its villages; and the +superiors [of the order] gave him permission, in so far as it was in +accordance with the sacred canons, to act as counselor of the said +kingdom. This caused the preservation in our holy faith of the many +and glorious missions which this province has in the Orient--which +are the island and kingdom of Siao, and the provinces of Manados +or Cauripa (which are in the great island of Celebes, or Macazar), +with other islands and missions, which he frequently visited, by +which he gained many souls to God. He was sent to Ternate as rector, +but, moved by affectionate desire for the salvation of his Siaos, +he left a father as vice-rector of the college [at Ternate], and +returned to Siao. At this time, orders were given to withdraw the +garrison from Ternate, and Father Esquivel returned to Manila, and +many of those natives accompanied him--in order not to lose the faith, +nobly abandoning their native land. They settled in Maragondong, La +Estacada, and other places, with the name of Mardicas, and I knew +in Maragondong some of them who had been born in Ternate. Through +the hardships of this voyage Father Esquivel contracted an illness, +which lasted during the remainder of his life. He spent some time as +minister at Baras, where his sickness became worse; they carried him +to Manila, where he died with great peace and resignation." + +Manuel Espanol was born in Aren, May 11, 1639, and entered the +Jesuit order on November 21, 1656. Seven years later he came to the +Philippine Islands. He was minister at the college of Manila two +years, and afterward labored in the missions of Siao and Ternate for +many years. He died in Manila, on March 10, 1684. (Murillo Velarde, +ut supra, fol. 356.) + +[45] Murillo Velarde says (ut supra, fol. 302): "On the first of +November, 1677, the Dutch seized Siao, called thither by Don Geronimo +Daras, a rival and enemy of the king Don Francisco (who was a good +Catholic, and a friend of the Spaniards); they went to conquer it, +and left as governor of the island Robert Paagbrugue. They carried +away to Malayo the fathers who were ministering there. They cut +down the clove trees, and established several small forts with some +artillery; and left there about two hundred men, with a preacher, +who instructed the natives in regard to their errors. At first some +of the Siaos resisted; but now they are most obstinate heretics, and +very bitter enemies of the Catholic religion--as I found in some who +strayed to Manila in those days; although some were finally converted, +and I baptized a boy of fourteen years who learned the [Christian] +doctrine readily." + +[46] i.e., "a time of peace, a time of war." + +[47] Spanish, Del monte sale, quien al monte quema, "indicating +that the losses we suffer usually proceed from persons allied to us, +or who live near us" (Dominguez). + +[48] Here, as in several other places in our text, we omit various +pious reflections and citations from Scripture or the fathers of the +church, simply through the pressure of valuable historical matter +upon our limited space. + +[49] i.e., "If for my sake this tempest has arisen, cast me into the +sea," paraphrasing rather than quoting the prophet's words (Jonah, +i, v. 12). + +[50] Juan Caballero was born in Cordoba in 1629, and made his +profession in the Augustinian order at Sevilla (by a typographical +error in Perez's Catalogo, in 1637; probably, 1657). He came to Manila +in the mission of 1669; three years later, was elected prior of Cebu, +and in 1674 prior of Manila, where he died in 1685. + +[51] Biographical notices of these friars, and of others mentioned +by Diaz in like connection, may be found in Perez's Catalogo. + +[52] Spanish, colegial del mayor. A colegio mayor is defined +by Dominguez as "a community of youths, laymen of distinguished +families, who devote themselves to various studies, living in a +certain seclusion, and under a collegiate rector, whom they appoint, +usually each year." + +[53] Spanish, catedratico de decreto. The Decreto was the book compiled +by Gratianus which forms the first part of the canon law. + +[54] "More properly Konkanis; the modern division of North Canara +is part of the territory properly known as the Konkan, and the old +Portuguese called the natives of their territory, both those of Goa +and the North (properly the Konkanis), and also those to the southward, +indiscriminately Canarins." "The Canarins (who are heathen), are of two +sorts, for such as are engaged in trade and other honorable callings +are held in much greater respect than those who engage in fishing, +or practice mechanical crafts." Canarin is the Portuguese form of +the name applied to the natives of the coast, and interior north of +Malabar, as far as and including Goa district; another form of the +name is Karnatic, although it is now applied to the Tamil country on +the eastern side of the Indian peninsula.--See Voyage of Pyrard de +Laval (Hakluyt Society Publications, London, 1887-88) and notes by +Gray and Bell, i, pp. 375-376, ii, pp. 35, 405-406. + +[55] Payo Enriquez de Rivera was a native of Sevilla, and son of +the Duke de Alcala, viceroy of Naples. In 1628 he made profession in +the Augustinian order, and after obtaining his degrees in theology +and philosophy held various important offices in Spain. In 1657 he +was presented to the see of Guatemala, and ten years later to that +of Michoacan; soon afterward he was made archbishop of Mexico, +which office he assumed in June 1668. The viceroyalty of Mexico +becoming vacant by the death of Pedro Nuno Colon, Duke de Veraguas, +a few days after taking possession of that government (December, +1673), he was immediately succeeded, by a royal order anticipating +this event, by Fray Payo de Rivera, who ruled Nueva Espana for seven +years. Rivera was distinguished by his ability as a ruler, not only +in matters ecclesiastical, but in civil and military affairs--to all +of which he attended with zeal and prudence; and he was beloved by +the people. In July, 1681, he set out for Spain, where he had two +important appointments from the government; but he declined these, +and retired to the convent of Santa Maria del Risco. He died on April +8, 1684, honored in both life and death by the government and by his +people. (Bancroft's Mexico, iii, pp. 182-187.) + +[56] Our Constitutions inhibit such procedure, the applying to +courts outside the order. For us, appeals lie only to the Pontiff, +who, being the common father of the faithful, is not considered an +outsider.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[57] i.e., "The party dispossessed must first of all be restored, +any other proceeding being deferred." + +[58] Referring to a work by the Jesuit writer Martin Martini (1614-61), +who for many years was a prominent missionary in China. This was his +Novus atlas Sinensis (Vienna, 1655), which formed part 10 of the great +atlas published by Joannis Blaeu at Amsterdam (1656). Diaz hispanicizes +Martini's name, and rather curiously uses the Italian word atlante for +"atlas" instead of the Spanish atlas. + +[59] More strictly the name Coromandel is applied to the eastern +coast of India north of Cape Comorin, and Malabar to the western coast. + +[60] i.e., "It shall not be compared with the dyed colors of India" +(Job, xxviii, v. 16). + +[61] See plan of Madras, and maps of Coromandel coast, in Bellin's +Atlas maritime, iii, fol. 37-39. + +[62] The Basilian order was founded by St. Basil, bishop of Caesarea +in Cappadocia. His rule became so popular in the East as to supplant +all others; and at this day it alone is recognized and followed by +the monks of the Greek Church. This order also made its way into +southern Italy, Poland, Hungary, and Russia. Nearly all the convents +of Basilian nuns (founded by St. Macrina, sister of Basil), like those +of the monks, have embraced the Eastern schism. (Addis and Arnold's +Catholic Dictionary, citing Helyot's Ordres monastiques.) + +[63] Spanish, crescas, a word not given in the lexicons, but evidently, +from the context, to be thus rendered. + +[64] See Linschoten's account of this story of St. Thomas's preaching +in India, and A. C. Burnell's notes thereon, in Voyage of Linschoten +(Hakluyt Society Publications, London, 1885), i, pp. 83-89. Burnell +says that this story is unknown to the natives of India, and evidently +originated in Syria. The inscription on the alleged tomb of St. Thomas +near Madras is now known to be Nestorian, of about the ninth century +A. D. + +[65] Tercia: the third part of a vara (33.38+ inches), therefore a +little more than 11 inches; generally used as a measure of length. + +[66] Concepcion's account of this occurrence (Hist. de Philipinas, +vii, pp. 258, 259) contains an explanation somewhat remarkable for a +period when sanitary science had made little progress, even in Europe. + +"Governor Don Manuel de Leon was sick from excessive corpulency; and +Don Juan de Sarra treated him by making cruel cuts in the flesh of his +body. He attended, when these incisions were not yet quite healed, +the funeral of Dona Maria del Cuellar, the deceased wife of Auditor +Don Francisco Coloma; and in the church the vapors which exhale +from buried corpses--which, experience proves, cost those so dear, +who enter the church with sores or wounds, as these are poisoned +and corrupted by those vapors--had the effect on the governor of +opening his wounds, and bringing on a hemorrhage which exhausted him, +[and he died. April 11, 1667]." + +[67] Salazar relates the disposition of the governor's estate +(Hist. Sant. Rosario, pp. 114, 115), saying that, besides the +provincial, Fray Balthasar de Santa Cruz and General Marcos Quintero +Ramos were named by Leon as his executors; referring to the prohibition +(see his p. 43) of such administration to the Dominican friars, +he adds: "The said fathers could not refuse to accept this onerous +charge as executors, not only on account of what our order owed to +the deceased, but because of other circumstances which stood in the +way and concerned the peace of the community." He states that Fray +San Roman's death (less than a year after the governor's) did not +prevent the administration of Leon's estate and the disposal of his +property, which Santa Cruz carried out, the handling of the money +being left entirely to Quintero. The governor's fortune amounted to +250,000 pesos, of which the Dominican order appropriated nothing to +itself, the money being almost entirely spent in pious foundations +and charitable works. To the Misericordia was given 50,000 pesos, +part of which was set aside for the dowries of orphan girls; to Leon's +native place, 33,000 pesos to found chaplaincies, for the benefit of +his soul; 12,000 to rebuild the hospital of San Lazaro at Manila, +and a like sum for rebuilding the seminary of Santa Potenciana; +and the remainder was spent in various works of piety and charity, +for the benefit of the community. + +[68] Every province was entitled to choose four definitors +and two visitors. In chapters the voting list is published +prior to the elections; it contains the name of every person +entitled to vote therein, with the position entitling him to +vote.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[69] Spanish, altura; here meaning the most northern part of the +ship's course, as the ships sailing from Manila took a route far +northward to avail themselves of the trade-winds. + +[70] This should be Antonio de Letona; his book is entitled Perfecta +religiosa (Puebla, Mexico, 1662). See our VOL. XXXVI, p. 189. + +[71] In text, rectores; but, as there is no meaning of that word that +properly applies here, we conjecture it to be a typographical error +for receptores. + +[72] Francisco Salgado was a native of Galicia, born April 2, +1629. In 1648 he entered the Jesuit order, and in 1662, came to +the Philippines. For several years he was teacher in the college +of Manila; and afterward rector at Silang. He went to Europe (about +1675?), and returned in 1679 with a mission band; he was rector of +the Manila college and twice provincial. He died at Manila on July 14, +1689. (Murillo Velarde, Hist. de Philipinas, fol. 357.) + +[73] The MS. does not state what the other relic was, nor is it easy to +ascertain; for the English in the latter part of the eighteenth century +profaned the church of San Agustin at Manila, and took from it all the +relics, in order to avail themselves of the silver of the reliquaries, +and of the gold in which many of them were set.--Fray Tirso Lopez. + +[74] Juan de Mariana (1536-1624) was one of the most noted writers +among the Spanish Jesuits. The work here referred to is that which he +published originally in Latin, Historiae de rebus Hispaniae libri XXV +(Toleti, 1592), which carried the history of the Spanish monarchy down +to 1516. His own Spanish version of this work, enlarged and corrected, +appeared at Toledo, 1601. Other writers continued this history to 1649 +and 1669; and the last of these was extended to 1678 by Felix Lucio +de Espinosa y Malo (Madrid, 1678). This work has had many editions, +translations, and criticisms--for which see Sommervogel's Bibliotheque +Comp. de Jesus. One of Mariana's works, De rege et regis institutione +(Toleti, 1599), was censured by the Parliament of Paris and publicly +burned by the executioner in 1610; and the French court asked the +Spanish government to suppress it, which request was refused. + +[75] That is, the writer's desire to flatter some influential persons +who were enemies of Valenzuela. + +[76] The alternation [alternativa] of the elections consisted in this, +that during one triennium the offices were held by natives of Spain, +and during the next one by those born in the Indias.--Fray Tirso Lopez. + +[77] Spanish, pasado en authoridad de cosa juzgada (equivalent to +the Latin res adjudicata). + +[78] Spanish, se comprometio. With us elections sometimes go by +compromissum; that is, where no result is secured as usual by close +ballot the chapter designate a committee to nominate some person, +usually with the pledge that the chapter will afterward elect him, +and thus ratify the committee's choice.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[79] Among the voters at provincial and general chapters are two +classes especially designated by provinces or convents to represent +the entire community; these are the definitors and the discreets +(VOL. XXXIV, p. 419). The conventual discreet is chosen for the +provincial chapter, and is elected by all the voters of a house in +chapter assembled. The discreet-general is chosen for the general +chapter, by the provincial chapter. At the general chapter every +province is entitled to representation by three voters--the provincial, +the definitor, and the discreet. At provincial chapter every large +house, or convent, is entitled similarly to representation by two +voters, the priors and the discreet (there is no definitor for a +house).--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[80] There must be some error in the text--probably made in the +transcriptions of Diaz's manuscript for publication--for Perez says +(Catalogo, p. 140) that these missions contained 160 religious. The +father here named is mentioned a little below as Manuel Losada, +which name (although it does not appear in Perez) was probably his +baptismal and family name, the other being that assumed by him on +entering the order. + +[81] No elemental; that is, it was not nebulous--as our astronomers +at this time say, arrogating to themselves this discovery, which +evidently was not unknown to those of earlier times.--Fray Tirso Lopez. + +[82] Roughly estimating from the date here given, it seems +probable that the line here mentioned refers to the diameter of the +earth. Although that diameter had not been exactly measured at that +time, a long step toward this had been taken by Picard of France, +who in 1671 made the first really valuable measure of the arc of a +meridian, a measure which Isaac Newton used in verifying his idea of +gravitation. The ambiguous manner in which the line is mentioned by +the writer (supposedly Kino, as cited by Diaz) was probably due to +cautious dread lest ecclesiastical penalties be visited on the too +definite statement of scientific discoveries; for at that time Mexico +was dominated by the Inquisition, by which tribunal the great Galileo +had been imprisoned less than fifty years before Kino made these +observations. The course of this comet can easily be verified, after +making due allowance for the precession of the equinoxes, on any map +of the constellations. Information for this note is furnished by Albert +S. Flint, astronomer of Washburn Observatory, University of Wisconsin. + +[83] Eusebius Kino (or Chino) was a noted mathematician and +explorer. Born near Trent in 1644, he entered the Jesuit order at +the age of twenty-one, and in 1678 came to America. He soon devoted +himself to the California missions, and explored and mapped a large +extent of country in Mexico and Lower California. He died at Magdalena, +March 15, 1711. + +[84] One of the collections of canon law is called "Clementinas" +(see VOL. XXV, p. 226): they were compiled out of the canons of the +Council of Vienne (1316) and some of his own constitutions. (Addis +and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, p. 106.) The father of Bolivar had +apparently held the clementina chair of canon law in a university. + +[85] The vihuela (or viguela) was the ancient form of the guitar, +or something between it and the violin. It is mentioned as in use, +in a poem of the fourteenth century. There were vihuelas de penoia and +vihuelas de arco--the former played with a plectrum, the latter with a +bow. Later, the vihuela merged entirely into the guitar. (H. E. Watts, +in note on his edition of Don Quixote [London, 1895], iv, p. 85.) + +[86] "Much difficulty was found in raising the required force for the +Philippine Islands. Many of the soldiers dreading the climate would +desert before reaching Acapulco, and new schemes had to be devised +for raising recruits. Thus in 1677 all criminals willing to enlist +were pardoned, and 125 pesos a year given them as pay. Still, only +a small number could be induced to accept this offer." (Bancroft, +Mexico, iii, p. 185.) + +[87] Spanish, quintas esencias (English, "quintessences"); referring +to the notion in alchemy of a fifth or last and highest essence or +power in a natural body. + +[88] Spanish, se parte un pelo en el aire; an idiomatic expression +(also written cortar or hender un cabello), signifying the possession +of great penetration, keenness, dexterity; quick perception, much +perspicacity. Cf. the common phrases, "to fish for things in the air," +"to catch them while flying," etc. (Dominguez). The saying perhaps +originated in the ability of a good swordsman to cut a hair in two +instantly with his sword. + +[89] Spanish, dos palos; meaning the two wooden ships used for the +Acapulco trade, which was the sole support of the colony. + +[90] That is, "mindless, or silly, or without sense;" a neat and keen +play on words. The meaning evidently is, that knowledge of law does +not consist in mere remembrance of law terms, but in discerning their +force and power.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[91] "They feared to lose temporal goods, and did not reflect on the +life eternal; and thus they lost both." + +[92] This form of bodily mortification can be understood only by those +who live in hot countries. In Europa it is no mortification at all, and +there is no religious who does not practice it, as being a precept of +the rules, which command that neither food nor drink be taken outside +of fixed hours. But in intertropical countries, with the suffocating +heat and the continual perspiration it is a necessity to drink water +and quench one's thirst with great frequency; and on this account +the superiors have to grant dispensations from some prescribed usages +that are, if not impossible, exceedingly difficult to fulfil in those +countries. As a compensation, there are other forms of mortification +which in cold countries are difficult to practice, such as sleeping +on the ground, which in the regions that are mentioned above do not +merit even the name of mortification.--Fray Tirso Lopez. + +[93] Spanish, cilicios: a term originally derived from the name +Cilicia, from which country was brought in ancient times a cloth woven +of hair, called therefore cilicium; applied to a belt or girdle of +haircloth, or of metallic wires woven together, often with projecting +points of metal, worn next to the skin by way of mortifying the flesh. + +[94] "No one can serve two masters;" in verse 13 of the sixteenth +(not seventeenth, as in our text) chapter of Luke's gospel. + +[95] Although difficulties arise in obeying two superiors, it is +not impossible, and much less when the respective jurisdiction of +each is over different activities--as occurs in the missions and +villages directed by religious, in which the superior of the order is +responsible for his subordinates conducting themselves as they should +in their private lives, and the vicar or bishop watches to see that +they are punctual in the discharge of their ministry as missionaries +or parish priests. In such cases the gospel text, which speaks of +those who command opposite things, does not properly apply.--Fray +Tirso Lopez. + +[96] Tomas Antonio de la Cerda, Conde de Paredes and Marques de la +Laguna, succeeded Archbishop Rivera as viceroy of Nueva Espana on +November 30, 1680; he held this office six years. During this time +the shores of Nueva Espana were continually harassed by pirates and +buccaneers--the most notable event being their capture and sack of +Vera Cruz in May, 1683. + +[97] This word cannot be found in the Spanish lexicons, and is probably +a Siamese word, since on old maps of Siam are numerous place-names +which begin with the syllable Ban. Bandel may be a place-name, but +more probably designates the trading-post occupied by the Portuguese. + +[98] The Windward fleet (armada de Barlovento) was maintained +to protect Spanish commerce in the Atlantic between Spain and +America. In 1689 it was composed of six ships of the line and a +frigate. (Bancroft's Mexico, iii, p. 224.) + +[99] Perez's Catalogo enumerates forty-five in this mission band. Among +them was a priest, Diego Higinio, who for many years ministered to +the lepers in Bisayas. + +[100] Spanish, hermano mayor, that is, the brother at the head of +the association. + +[101] The reference is to a passage in canon law, in the Corpus Juris, +which runs thus: Si Episcopus a Paganis aut Schismaticis capiatur, +non Archiepiscopus, sed Capitulum ... ministrare debebit:... The full +citation is: Si Episcopus, "De supplenda negligentia Praelatorum," +lib. i, cap. iii, in Sexto. The Sextus, or sixth book, from which the +above is taken, is entitled, Sexti Decretalium Liber, of Pope Boniface +VIII; and is described in Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, +p. 106.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[102] i.e., "Courage holds greater sway in a small body." + +[103] That is, who had deserved it before his coming, but thus far +had managed to escape punishment. + +[104] Spanish, mala feria, "a bad fair;" referring to the annual +gathering of buyers at Acapulco on the arrival of the Manila galleon. + +[105] "So closely did the government guard against possible +independence of the colonists in trade that ships' companies were +prohibited from purchasing goods of the country, and factors and +traders on the fleets were not allowed to remain longer than three +years in America. No foreigner could trade with the colonies, +nor was one permitted to enter a port without special license. In +fact the prices of both imports and exports of New Spain, with the +exception of the precious metals, were under the arbitrary control of +the merchants of Seville, and later of Cadiz. What further increased +the drainage of wealth from America was the decadence of manufacturing +industries in Spain, owing to the immense influx into the Peninsula of +precious metals. The riches poured into the mother country made labor +almost unnecessary; hence a general decline in all kinds of industry, +and Spain had to resort to foreign markets, not only to supply home +consumption but also the demands of her colonies. Merchandise thus +procured could only be exported to the American settlements at rates +increased by additional duties and merchants' profits." Besides +the commercial restrictions imposed on the colonies by the home +government, other influences depressed trade--forced loans to the +king, debased coinage, interference by the church, arbitrary action +by civil authorities, contraband trade, the ravages of war, and the +depredations of corsairs. "In time of war commerce with the mother +country was reduced to the lowest ebb; European goods were poured +into the Spanish colonies by neutrals, and the contraband trade was +almost openly carried on." (Bancroft's Mexico, iii, pp. 628-630.) + +[106] Regarding the bulls of the Crusade (for which see +VOL. XXVIII, pp. 113-115), the following information is furnished +by Rev. Dr. William A. Jones, O.S.A., president of the college of +San Agustin, Havana: "So far as I know, there was no special decree +suppressing the privileges of the Bula Cruzada. As I understand it from +those who are well informed, the original privileges contained in the +Bula Cruzada were exclusively bestowed upon Spanish subjects, and as +a consequence, followed the Spanish flag. The moment the sovereignty +of Spain ceased over this island [Cuba], so ceased also the meaning of +the Bula Cruzada for these rebels to the old dynasty. But some Cubans +continued to adopt the privileges of the Latin American Council which +had recently been held in Rome (about five years ago), in virtue +of which the privileges regarding fasts and abstinence are almost +identical with the old Bula; those privileges were afterward confirmed, +and we follow the rules of the Council. As for the Philippines, I infer +that the Bula ceased there as soon as the Spanish sovereignty ended." + +An Augustinian father who has recently come to Villanova +from the Philippines states that in those islands they have +dispensations for fasts and abstinence, the same as before the +revolution; but he could not state the precise date of those +dispensations.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +A decree of Leo XIII, April 22, 1899, grants the Cuban bishops +authority for ten years to grant dispensations from fasting and +abstinence. + +[107] Diaz's statement throws an interesting light on the preparation +and publication of the Conquistas of Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, +which is the work here referred to. At the beginning are various +approbations, licenses, etc. The dedication, very flowery and somewhat +perfunctory, is made to Dona Maria de Guadalupe, Duquesa de Avero +(with many other titles), as "the learned Minerva, not only of our +Espana but of the new worlds;" it is signed by Fray Manuel de la Cruz, +but is undated. The first approbation is signed by Fray Diego de Jesus +and other Augustinian officials, at Manila, September 2, 1686; and the +license for its publication is signed by the provincial of the order, +Juan de Jerez, four days later. The commissary of the Inquisition at +Manila, Fray Baltasar de Santa Cruz, O.P., approves it on November +28 following; and the archbishop of Manila, Phelipe Pardo, licenses +the publication, on December 2. Nothing was done toward printing it +until 1697; for the next document is the approbation of the work, +furnished by Alonso Sandin, O.P., who has examined it in obedience +to the command of Alonso Portillo de Cardos, vicar-general of the +archdiocese of Toledo; this is dated at Madrid, August 8, 1697. Nine +days later, Portillo issues the license for printing the book. Next +follows the approbation of Fray Diego Florez, past provincial of the +Augustinian province of Castilla, dated at Madrid, September 5. Then +follow a list of "Erratas," thirteen in number, signed by Martin de +Ascarza, "corrector-general for his Majesty," dated May 5, 1698; and a +certificate (dated May 10) that the price at which the said book may be +sold has been fixed by decree of the royal Council at eight maravedis +for each printed sheet (pliego). A note at the foot of this page states +that the book contains 146 pliegos, including unnumbered pages. Nothing +is said in any of these documents of Diaz's connection with the work. + +[108] The first Dutch settlement at the present site of Cape Town was +made in 1652; it grew very slowly for a long time, for at the end of +that century it contained only some eighty private houses. In 1658 +negro slaves were carried thither, and later the Dutch sent to Cape +Town Javanese criminals who had been sentenced at Batavia to penal +servitude, and political prisoners of rank from India, some of whom +preferred to remain there for life. With these elements of population +and the aboriginal Hottentots arose innumerable mixtures of blood, and +the utmost diversity of color and features among the inhabitants. The +castle of Good Hope (still standing) was built in 1666-74, as a +defense for the colony; and in 1672 a formal purchase of land was +made from the Hottentots by the East India Company. The great garden +of the Company was partly converted into a nursery for foreign plants +and trees by Simon van der Stel, commander of the colony from 1680 to +1699. See Theal's South Africa (New York and London, 1894), pp. 20-57. + +In 1688-90 nearly 200 Huguenot refugees from France arrived at the +Cape, and formed settlements near Cape Town. See Worsfold's South +Africa (London, 1895), p. 15. + +[109] Desiderius Erasmus was born at Rotterdam October 28, 1467. When +a boy, he was sent to a convent; and in 1492 was ordained a priest, +at Utrecht. He afterward devoted himself to the study of the classics +and of divinity, and to literary work; he resided successively in +Paris, England, and Basle. His Colloquies offended zealous Catholics, +by attacking the superstitions and abuses in the Church; but he was +not a supporter of Luther. Erasmus died on July 12, 1536. + +[110] They took Father Samper to the island of Paragua, and abandoned +him there. When this event was learned in Manila, they sent for him; +but on the way he fell into the hands of the Camucon pirates, who +took his life.--Fray Tirso Lopez. + +[111] Basilitano obviously refers to some suppressed or extinct see in +pagandom, and Fray Lopez would now be styled a "titular bishop." The +word cannot be found in the lexicons or gazetteers of classical, +mediaeval, and early Christian geographical terms; and it is evidently +an adjective of local meaning.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[112] See the Epodes of Horatius, i, 2, l. 14; at first referring +to the Greeks before Troy, but afterward becoming a general +proverb--"Whatever errors the great may commit, the people must +atone for." + +[113] Father Fray Joaquin Martinez de Zuniga, in his Historia de +Filipinas (pp. 384 et seq.), relates the foundation of the curacy of +Mariquina, its separation from that of Pasig, and the means by which +this was effected, as also the incorporation [that is, again with +Pasig] which is here mentioned, and their final separation. And as his +account differs considerably from that of Father Diaz, and we lack +the data for deciding which of them is correct, we refer the reader +to that work that he may examine, compare, and decide. Father Diaz, +however, may have remained silent on the vexed questions to which +that establishment gave rise, through consideration of prudence and +of respect to the living; and in that case there is no contradiction, +but justifiable omissions.--Fray Tirso Lopez. + +The Jesuit account of this controversy is presented by Murillo Velarde +in Hist. de Philipinas, fol. 344 b, 345. + +[114] Melchor Portocarrero, Lasso de la Vega, Conde de Monclove +(misprinted in our text Mondova), succeeded the Marques de la Laguna +as viceroy of Mexico, on November 30, 1686; his administration lasted +nearly two years, and he was an upright and vigilant ruler. He failed, +however, to protect the Indian natives from cruel oppressions by the +Spaniards. He was commonly known as Brazo de la Plata, or "Silver +Arm," on account of wearing a false arm, his own having been lost in +battle. (Bancroft, Mexico, iii, p. 221.) + +[115] "An antiquated term, signifying a togated judge, one of those +who in the court composed what was called "the tribunal of alcaldes," +who, together, constituted the fifth tribunal of the famous Council of +Castilla. These alcaldes no longer exist, nor does the tribunal which +they formed; because an Audiencia has been established at Madrid, +according to a decree of January 20, 1834." (Dominguez.) + +[116] Reference is here made to the Book of Wisdom, which is found +in the Douay Bible next after Solomon's "Canticle of Canticles" +("Song of Songs," in the Protestant Bible); it does not, however, +occur in the Vulgate. The passage here cited (in Latin, in Diaz's +text) reads thus in the Douay (English) version: "Learn, ye that are +judges of the ends of the earth. Give ear, you that rule the people, +and that please yourselves in multitudes of nations. For power is given +you by the Lord, and strength by the Most High, who will examine your +works, and search out your thoughts: because being ministers of his +kingdom, you have not judged rightly, nor kept the law of justice, +nor walked according to the will of God. Horribly and speedily will +he appear to you: for a most severe judgment shall be for them that +bear rule." These words are found in verses 2-6 of chapter vi. + +[117] Gaspar de la Cerda Sandoval Silva y Mendoza, Conde de Galve, +assumed the office of viceroy of Nueva Espana on November 20, +1688. The coasts were infested with corsairs up to 1692, but Galve's +preparations to exterminate them seem to have frightened them away. In +1690 and 1695 he sent expeditions against the French in Santo Domingo; +in 1689, one to search for La Salle's Texas colony; and in 1693-94, +to establish the town of Pensacola, Florida. At his own request, he +was relieved from the office of viceroy, which he left February 27, +1696. He then returned to Spain, where he died soon afterward. + +[118] Perhaps referring to the fact that Pardo was but fifteen years +old when he entered the Dominican order, and to his high rank as a +theologian and a prelate. + +[119] The first of these citations reads in English: "The privilege +that you enjoy through my favor you may not employ to my distress." The +second is a school axiom, derived from Aristotle, to be encountered +in higher philosophy and metaphysics; it may be found in glossaries +or expositions of terms used by schoolmen, but its explanation +therein is usually somewhat prolix and even obscure. It may be +translated thus: "Whenever any thing (or cause) is of such or such +a character (or kind), it possesses that characteristic in higher +degree than that which derives therefrom (i.e., than its effect or +result)."--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +[120] This doctrine of the Manila cabildo and of the author might at +that time be quite current; but since then, by the Concordat of 1851, +and especially by the bull of his Holiness Pius IX, the Roman pontiff, +issued on August 28, 1873, the church has sanctioned the opposite +opinion.--Fray Tirso Lopez. + +[121] It should be remembered that this part of the Conquistas was +written in 1718.--Fray Tirso Lopez. + +[122] This recapitulation or resume of the labors of our missionaries +in China was either not written by Father Diaz, or he wrote it in a +separate book which we do not possess.--Fray Tirso Lopez. + +[123] One of the most important acts of this governor was the +publication (October 1, 1696) of a revision of the "Ordinances of +good government" which Corcuera had enacted in 1642; some account of +these will be given in a later volume. + +[124] "He devoted himself to the recovery of the immense sums which +were due to the king from the citizens of Manila; and with these he +rebuilt the governor's palace, added to it the halls for the royal +Audiencia, and in the lower story offices for the bureau of accounts, +established the jail for the court, and began the royal storehouses. By +various expedients he contrived the saving of thousands of pesos to the +royal treasury, sums which now are deducted from the situado--although +this was partly done by greatly curtailing the pay of both officers and +soldiers, for which he deserves little praise. To the royal treasury +of Mexico he saved more than five hundred thousand pesos which it was +owing to that of Philipinas in situados." (Zuniga's Historia, p. 394.) + +[125] The sentence pronounced in the residencia of Governor Cruzat y +Gongora (published June 6, 1602) is given in full in the Ventura del +Arco MSS. (Ayer library), iv, pp. 209-234. Some forty charges were +made against him; some were sustained, making him liable to judgments +of about 31,000 pesos; others were referred to the home government; +but on the majority he was acquitted. + +[126] In the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library), iv, pp. 235-244, +is a summary of a long document, a "Vindication of the official acts +performed in the visitation of Camarines by Licentiate Don Francisco +Gueruela, member of his Majesty's Council and alcalde of court in +the royal Audiencia of these islands, and visitor for the Audiencia +in that province in the past year, 1702." The summary reads as follows: + +It is divided into three parts: the first contains, besides the +preface, a brief summary of all the edicts which were published in +those villages, and which are being brought out by his order. The +second comprises a more than succinct relation of the false charges +which the said visitation had encountered, and edicts about which with +Christian impiety they had dissembled to him. The third is reduced to a +brief legal demonstration of the authority which the visitor possesses +to institute summary legal proceedings against the religious who are +in charge of doctrinas, without danger from the bull In caena or any +other censure whatever. + +In the preface--which is crammed with citations from the holy +fathers, the Scriptures, and [various other] writers--the zealous +[flamante] auditor Gueruela says that he spent a month in obtaining +information about the condition of the villages in the province +of Camarines, before he began the visitation; and in that time, +through the investigations which he made, he learned that the evils +which the religious teachers cause to the Indians were deeply rooted, +and required an effective remedy. He says that as he was uncertain +by what means to carry out his purposes, he undertook first, to +induce the religious, through persuasion and careful consideration, +to agree to a reform of the abuses with which they were oppressing +the Indians; but that, as they paid no attention to this, he had no +other recourse than to carry out the visitation, in spite of his fear +that the religious in the doctrinas would oppose him, and that they +might as a last resort renounce their charges and entirely abandon the +villages, which was or would be a misfortune demanding very careful +consideration. But [he felt] that justice and right had greater power +[than these considerations], in order to liberate from slavery the +30,000 souls of that province, whose ruin was being brought about by +the sixteen religious who were administering those villages, who were +receiving more than 19,000 pesos. + + +Part first + +(In which is contained the summary of all the edicts published in +the visitation, and the attestation of them separately.) + +1. That the natives shall not contribute to the curas of the doctrinas +any food supplies without pay for the value of these. + +2. That they shall not perform any labor or personal services for +the said religious without pay. + +3. That the same be understood for the plain sewing, the spinning, +and the embroidery for the churches and the sacristies, for the inside +garments of the religious and their servants. + +4. That the young girls [dalagas] shall not sweep the churches and +their courts; and that, in their place, twenty young men [baguntaos] +and the boys in the schools shall assist. + +5. The said girls shall not pound rice as a repartimiento for the +religious, or for their treasurers or agents [sindicos o fiscales]; +nor shall they go to the convent for the unthreshed rice [palay], +nor deliver that which has been cleaned. All this shall be in the +charge of the gobernadorcillos, their constables, and other officials, +who shall transport the said produce, see that the rice is pounded, +and deliver it, to the satisfaction of the religious. + +6. Food, wax, candles, etc., shall not be collected from the natives +under any pretext of usage, custom, or devotion; nor shall they be +obliged to [render] personal services without pay. + +7. They shall not be domestics, cooks, mananguetes, fishermen, +gardeners, or [act in] other personal employ for the religious, +without pay. + +8. Each entire tribute shall pay three reals a year as a contribution +to the festivities of the Monument [on Holy Thursday], the Sanctorum +[i.e., a tax paid by the natives above sixteen years, to the church], +and the Pintacasi; and four gantas of palay rice besides, for the +Defunctorum [i.e., masses for the dead?]. + +9. At the feast of St. Francis the natives shall not work without pay, +or at their own cost, in the palas-palas [i.e., cutting of?] bamboo +frames and bejucos, except when they fail to pay the real for the +Pintacasi. [This word is defined in Noceda and Sanlucar's Tagal +Vocabulario, "to aid another in seedtime, gratuitously."] + +10. The support or pacaen of the religious shall not be contributed +gratis in the large villages; and in the small ones the obligations +which the Indians may have formed shall be fulfilled; but if they have +not done so, as they have no obligations they shall not contribute +without pay. + +11. There shall be no fiscals appointed in the villages by the +religious, but only guardians, without rods; nor shall there be +constables; and they shall not be authorized to arrest, flog, or +punish the natives. + +12. The father ministers have no temporal jurisdiction over their +parishioners; and as little have they ecclesiastical jurisdiction, +except in the tribunal of conscience, and for admonishing and +instructing the people, administering the sacraments, saying mass, +and teaching the [Christian] doctrine, etc. + +13. For the same reason the civil government of the villages is not in +their keeping; nor shall the [local] authorities ask permission from +the religious to execute the orders of their alcaldes-mayor, or to +entertain travelers and furnish them what they need for its just value. + +14. The wills, contracts, and obligations of the Indians which +shall hereafter be made, must be sent to the record-office of the +alcalde-mayor, without registering them in the convents. + +15. The religious in charge of doctrinas have no authority to arrest, +flog, or punish the natives, either in person or through intervening +agencies; and the Indians, both men and women, must not allow +themselves to be arrested or flogged by the religious. If this is +done by order of the syndics and fiscals, let them defend themselves +against the judges in what way they can. + +16. Nothing shall be collected from the natives for burials, baptisms, +and marriages. + + + +Then follow comments on these regulations, and in vindication of +them--exceedingly prolix on account of being full of citations, +some timely and others the opposite. He states therein that for +the service of the parish churches he ordered that the following +should render assistance: Four servants for the parochial house; one +doorkeeper for each convent; and people enough to carry the hammocks +and litters [talabones] when the minister shall go forth to administer +the sacraments. Two sacristans; and the acolytes and the singers for +the services in the churches. Twenty young men [baguntaos], to sweep +the churches and their courts every week or every day. Two laundresses, +for keeping clean the cloths and vestments in the sacristies. All the +young girls [dalagas], but outside of the convents, to embroider and +sew all the articles of cloth that are necessary for divine worship. A +guardian who shall notify the religious of matters pertaining to +their obligations. A syndic, who shall attend to collecting what +belongs to them. + + + +[He says] that the oppressions which are caused by the service which +was compulsory in furnishing the dalagas consisted in the following: +Under the pretext of needlework and embroidery, the religious +compelled the dalagas to be in continual attendance in the houses of +the syndics and mistresses, where they not only sewed and embroidered +the articles for the sacristy, but also the inner garments of the +religious and the outer garments of their servants. Besides, they +must do whatever was commanded them by the mistresses themselves, +and their fiscals and syndics, and the fields of all these were +sown with grain, without pay, by the wretched dalagas. At the same +time, assessments were levied annually in each village for [church] +ornaments; and this sum, in the village of Caramuan alone, amounted to +800 pesos the year before. It must be considered that, besides these +things, the villages were burdened by the maintenance (at their own +cost) of two or three pavilions [camarines; for temporary churches], +for extra supplies of timber of all sizes, and also limestone, for +the repairs and adornment of the churches. + +After presenting various considerations, he proceeds to refute the +false charges which the Franciscan religious published against him, +who said that he had treated them as if they were criminals; that he +had falsified the edicts, varying them from the original process; +and that all the declarations of the witnesses were false, as also +the remonstrances of the villages. + +[127] In the text, misprinted 1684. Occasional typographical errors +are found in the printed edition of Diaz, which we correct in our text. + +[128] Spanish, pajaros bobos; evidently referring to the bird commonly +known as "booby" (VOL. XVII, p. 130). + +[129] Governor Cruzat y Gongora died at sea, on the voyage from +Manila to Acapulco, on November 5, 1702; and his youngest daughter +on December 12 of the same year. (Ventura del Arco MSS., iv, p. 245.) + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, 1493-1898 *** + +***** This file should be named 34384.txt or 34384.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/3/8/34384/ + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project +Gutenberg. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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