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diff --git a/39054.txt b/39054.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2f8538 --- /dev/null +++ b/39054.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8905 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume +30 of 55, by Antonio Alvarez de Abreu and Diego Aduarte + +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, Volume 30 of 55 + 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 XXX, 1640 + +Author: Antonio Alvarez de Abreu + Diego Aduarte + +Editor: Emma Helen Blair + James Alexander Robertson + +Release Date: March 4, 2012 [EBook #39054] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, 1493-1898, VOL 30 *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://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 XXX, 1640 + + + + Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson + with historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord + Bourne. + + + The Arthur H. Clark Company + Cleveland, Ohio + MCMV + + + + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXX + + + Preface 9 + + Commerce between the Philippines and Nueva Espana. Antonio + Alvarez de Abreu; Madrid, 1736. [From his Extracto + historial.] 23 + + Historia de la provincia del Sancto Rosario de la Orden + de Predicadores (to be continued). Diego Aduarte, O.P.; + Manila, 1640 115 + + Bibliographical Data 323 + + + + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + Title-page of Extracto historial (Madrid, 1736); + photographic facsimile from copy in library of Harvard + University 21 + + Map of the eastern islands; photographic facsimile from + Mercator's Atlas minor (Amsterdam, 1633); from copy of + original map in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris 83 + + Title-page of Historia de la provincia del Sancto Rosario + ... en Philippinas, by Diego Aduarte, O.P. (Manila, 1640); + photographic facsimile from copy in library of Edward + E. Ayer, Chicago 113 + + Governor Luis Perez Dasmarinas; from painting exhibited at + St. Louis, 1904, in the Philippine exhibit of the Louisiana + Purchase Exposition 227 + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +The present volume contains no record of events in the year 1640; +but its two documents are retrospective from that date. The first, +an historical survey of Philippine commerce with Nueva Espana, +from its beginning until 1640, is taken from the Extracto historial +(Madrid, 1736), a work devoted to that subject and compiled by order +of the Spanish government. The second is Aduarte's noted history of +the Dominican missions in the Philippines; although much of it is +briefly synopsized, its great length permits us only to begin it here, +two more volumes being necessary to complete it. + +Valuable information regarding the trade between the Philippines and +Nueva Espana is furnished by the Extracto historial (Madrid, 1736), +from which we take such matter as pertains to that commerce up to +1640. A brief summary of royal ordinances thereon is followed by a +memorial sent (1640) to the royal visitor for Mexico, Juan Palafox +y Mendoza, by Juan Grau y Monfalcon, agent at the Spanish court for +the Philippine Islands. As Palafox is commissioned to investigate +the condition, needs, and commerce of the islands, Grau sends him +this memorial by way of information thereon, and as a brief for the +islands in their controversy over the grievous restrictions placed on +their commerce with Nueva Espana (which is mainly their export thither +of Chinese silk fabrics). Grau's argument is carefully divided and +subdivided; it is not always ingenuous, and sometimes he overshoots +his mark, or uses the same premises for different and at times +incongruous results; but it is on the whole a forcible presentation +of the difficulties and embarrassments under which that commerce is +laboring, and even the colony striving for existence. He constantly +urges the great importance of the Philippines to the Spanish crown, +not only as a center of missionary effort in the Orient, but for +the defense of the Moluccas and the spice trade, the maintenance +of Eastern India, and the diversion from that region and from the +American coasts of the Dutch enemy, on whom the Philippine colony +is a continual and effective check; all these considerations are +discussed at length. He lauds the bravery, loyalty, and piety of the +Spaniards in those islands, and their great services to the crown. He +computes the expenditures necessary to sustain the Philippine colony, +and the revenues which it yields, and shows that its actual expense +is but moderate, and far less than is supposed. From even this should +properly be deducted the expenses of sustaining Moluco, a burden which +falls on the Philippines, although the Spice Islands and their trade +are the property of Portugal; such computation leaves but 26,000 +pesos annually as the actual cost of maintaining the Philippines, +Grau proposes two plans for securing this end: one, to pay all the +expenses of the islands directly from the royal treasury; the other, to +grant them a sufficient amount of commerce--the latter being the most +expedient and desirable method. Granting this, it remains to consider +the character, amount, and form of such commerce; Grau expatiates on +the third of these in especial, recounting the annoyances and injuries +inflicted at Acapulco on Philippine merchants and their goods. + +Grau notices the accusations that have been made against the Philippine +commerce, of infractions of the ordinances regulating it; while not +denying these, he claims that they are not more extensive or serious +than those that are committed in the India trade, and do not deserve +the severity which has been employed against them. In behalf of the +islands, Grau asks for an increase in the amount of trade permitted to +them; for the restrictions on their commerce have greatly reduced their +wealth, on which heavier burdens are constantly laid by the necessity +of defending themselves from so many and so powerful enemies. The +population of Manila is also much larger than when the trade was +first limited, and needs more for its support; moreover, much of +the amount permitted is granted to convents and other institutions, +and to certain privileged persons, and various deductions are made +from its total, thus diminishing its actual value. Grau argues that +a sufficient increase in the trade of the islands would put a stop +to illegal shipments of goods; and that the exporters cannot make any +reasonable profits unless they are more liberally treated. He suggests +that they be allowed to export goods freely, a limitation being placed +only on the returns of silver therefor; and urges that the products +of the islands be free from all restrictions, and not included in +the amount permitted--which latter should apply only to Chinese +goods--for which he adduces various forcible arguments. Discussing +then the commerce between Nueva Espana and Peru, he shows that the +suspension of this trade during 1635-40 has been very injurious to +the Philippines, for various reasons; it has also hurt both Peru +and Mexico, especially by checking the latter's silk industry, which +found a market in Peru. He defends the Peruvian merchants from the +accusations made against them of transgressing the trade permission +that had been accorded to them, and urges that, for the sake of all +the western colonies, this permission be restored to Peru. + +This memorial by Grau is followed by several royal decrees +(dated February 14, 1640) addressed to Palafox; these are mainly +"informatory," and lay before that official the representations +made by the citizens of the islands regarding their distressed +condition--ordering him to investigate the affairs of Philipinas +carefully and thoroughly, and report thereon to the home government. In +later volumes of this series will be presented a considerable part of +the Extracto historial--a work which, as we understand, has not before +been Englished--on account of the importance attached not only to the +book as an official report, but to the commerce of the Philippines +as a factor in the history and development of that Spanish colony in +the Far East. + +Aduarte's Historia de la provincia del Sancto Rosario (Manila, 1640) +is here presented for the first time in English dress--partly in +full translation and partly in synopsis, because this work, besides +being voluminous, contains much about Japan and other countries, and +other matter outside our scope. The earlier chapters (i-ix) of book i, +here briefly summarized, describe the foundation of the province and +the voyage of the first Dominican missionaries to Manila; also the +unsuccessful effort at the same time to open a mission in China. In +chapter x is described their entrance into Manila, their affectionate +reception by all, and their establishment there as a religious +community. The new arrivals are initiated into missionary labor at +Bataan, and soon afterward are placed in charge of the Pangasinan +natives, and of the Chinese at Manila. With the aid of Bishop Salazar, +the Dominicans secure a piece of land for their convent and church; +and they receive many gifts and alms from pious citizens. They labor +for the good of the Spanish residents of Manila, and soon effect a +great change in their morals and religious life. They prosper, and are +able to erect a new and handsome stone church and the other buildings +necessary for their establishment; but the noted fire of 1603 destroys +all this great work. It is afterward rebuilt, even more solidly than +before, and all by the alms of the faithful. Chapters xii-xv are +devoted to an account of an image of our Lady of the Rosary possessed +by this Dominican convent, and of the miracles wrought through its +agency. Some of the friars had complained of the severity of their +mode of life and of the rules imposed upon them; but all finally agree +thereto, with great self-forgetfulness and devotion. Aduarte proceeds +to recount the great advantages arising to the province from this +procedure, and the holiness displayed by the Dominican religious in +Luzon--statements confirmed by various letters written to Spain by +trustworthy persons, not only within but without that order. + +Chapter xix is devoted to an account of the Dominicans' first +mission-field, that of Bataan, and their labors therein. This field +had been transiently occupied by other missionaries, but was so hard +and barren that none of them had persevered in its cultivation. But +the Dominicans "licked their fingers over the hardships," and devote +themselves most heroically to the care of these poor souls, and to +learning their language--a difficult task for old men. One of them, +Pedro de Bolanos, is overcome by the labors and privations of this +sort of life, and is compelled to return to Manila, where he finally +dies; and the others suffer much from illness. As soon as the fathers +learn the language of those natives, they acquire great influence over +the natives, especially through the confessional. They greatly abate +drunkenness, the worst vice of the Indians, by "sending to Coventry" +every intoxicated person; and they persuade the heathen to abandon +their idols and superstitious practices, and even (perhaps the greatest +triumph of all) to set free many slaves, and restore what they had +taken from others in usury and by other unjust means. All this is +accomplished within one year; and Bataan acquires a wide reputation +for the religious and peaceful life which its natives lead. Various +marvelous works are wrought for the fathers by divine power; "on +the other hand, the devil played some tricks on them." They have to +encounter witches and devils, but the Lord gives them the victory +over these evil beings. + +Pangasinan is another mission-field assigned to the Dominicans, +which also had been barren of gospel fruit through the obstinate +hostility of its natives to the Christian faith. At first, they +try to drive away the Dominicans also, but the holy lives of those +fathers work a miracle in their hard hearts, and convert them to the +faith. This is told in a letter from Bishop Benavides to the pope, +written in 1598. He relates their hardships, patience, and devotion, +in the face of the hatred and hostility of the natives--so bitter +that the missionaries are entreated, not only by Spanish officers +but by Bishop Salazar, to leave Pangasinan. But they refuse to go, +and finally their persistent and unwearied kindness to the Indians, +and their consistent Christian characters, soften those hard hearts; +and, after three years of patient waiting, the fathers gather a rich +harvest of souls. Those Indians are excellent Christians, and show most +edifying devotion and piety, a statement thoroughly confirmed by later +reports. The early persecution of the missionaries is explained by the +fact that after their arrival the oracles of the native idols became +silent, and by false accusations which the devil and his emissaries +concoct against the religious. The conversions and pious acts of two +prominent chiefs are related, as well as various miracles which occur +in this mission. + +The leading events and persons of the next mission (1588-89) +are described. Amid the greatest difficulties and dangers, those +religious make the perilous voyage to Manila. The first provincial +chapter-meeting is held in that city, on June 12, 1588; on this +occasion the new province is organized, and officers regularly +elected. Some progress is made this year in Pangasinan; but some of +the natives are obstinately hostile, and the missionaries are often +ill-treated, and sometimes in danger of death. Their acts of charity to +the Indians, and especially their success in curing some sick persons, +gradually win the affection of the natives; and the fathers are able +to do much to improve the condition of those people--above all, in +furnishing them hospitals and medical care for the sick, thus saving +many lives. + +Soon after reaching the islands the Dominicans also undertake to +minister to the Chinese who come to Manila. In this field, as among +the Indians, they obtain a foothold by their generous and unwearied +care for the sick; and soon they erect a hospital for the care +of poor Chinese sick persons, which rapidly increases in size and +in the aid bestowed upon it, and where nearly all the patients are +converted before they leave it. One of their converts devotes himself +to the service of the hospital for many years, and greatly aids the +fathers in charge of it. New buildings are erected, and the number +of converts is greatly increased. The village of Binondo is enlarged, +and a large and beautiful church is erected, for this Chinese Christian +population. The pious works of several of these converts are related. + +The harvest of souls continues to increase, and in 1589 a small +but helpful reenforcement of missionaries arrives at the islands. A +full account is given of their labors in Pangasinan and Bataan, the +marvels wrought for them, the renunciation of idols by the heathen, +the devotion and piety displayed by the converts. Fathers Castro and +Benavides go to China (1590) to attempt the establishment of a mission +there; but their enterprise is a failure, on account of the Chinese +hostility to foreigners. Juan Cobo, acting provincial during Castro's +absence, visits the missions and makes some arrangements for their +more advantageous management. Excellent crops for several years, +and the advice and aid of the missionaries, increase the temporal +prosperity of the Indians; and they become more friendly to the +religious, and more inclined to receive religious instruction. + +Gomez Perez Dasmarinas arrives at Manila in 1590, as governor of +the islands. Dissensions soon arise between him and Bishop Salazar, +and the latter departs for Spain (in June, 1591), accompanied +by Benavides. The governor is afterward slain by his own Chinese +oarsmen. In April, 1592, Fray Alonso Ximenes is chosen provincial; +the various missions are apportioned, and certain ordinances for their +conduct and the better government of the province are enacted. Fray +Juan de Castro and Fray Juan Cobo die soon afterward, of whom Aduarte +presents full biographical accounts. A special assembly of the +religious is convened in December, 1594, at which additional rules +for their conduct are adopted. They are also asked to send religious +to Nueva Segovia, for which mission two fathers are allotted. Aduarte +describes that province, and its conquest (1581) by the Spaniards, +to prevent it from becoming a Japanese possession. The Indians of +that province are so warlike that for a long time the Spaniards can +keep but a precarious hold upon it; and the friars find that they +can accomplish nothing there with either Spaniards or Indians. The +Dominicans, therefore, enter (1595) upon a hard and sterile field; +but a considerable reenforcement of missionaries opportunely arrive +to aid them, although many die while en route from Espana. Aduarte +recounts the superstitious beliefs and observances current among the +Cagayan Indians, notions which shape or modify nearly all of their +social customs; they are, from his standpoint, slaves to the devil +in all things. The Dominican missionaries, now eight in number, plan +and begin the spiritual conquest of Cagayan. For nearly a year they +endure, on account of the hostility of the natives, great sufferings +from hunger, exposure, and apparently vain efforts; but gradually +they subdue the natives by their unwearied self-denial, patience, +and love. Their first-fruits consist in eight converted chiefs, +who are baptized at Easter (1597), and these are the beginning of a +rich harvest--at first, mainly of children baptized before they die +from the prevalent epidemic of smallpox. Gradually, they are able to +build churches in the respective villages, and to introduce among +the Indians a civilized and Christian mode of life. At the time of +Aduarte's writing (ca. 1637), those people have become very fond +of their religious, and ask for them to come to teach them--even +changing their own residences, when necessary for their obtaining +religious instruction. The supply of missionaries for that region is +very inadequate, and should be promptly increased. + + + The Editors + + July, 1905. + + + + + + + +COMMERCE BETWEEN THE PHILIPPINES AND NUEVA ESPANA + +By Antonio Alvarez de Abreu; Madrid, 1736. + + Source: Translated from Abreu's Extracto historial (Madrid, 1736), + fol. 1-28; from a copy in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, + Chicago. + + Translation: This is made by Emma Helen Blair. + + + + + +COMMERCE BETWEEN THE PHILIPPINES AND NUEVA ESPANA + +[From Extracto historial. [1]] + + + + + +PERIOD I + +Of what has been ordained by royal decrees, now compiled, in regard +to the commerce of Philipinas. + + +1-15. [This "period" consists of a very brief summary of the laws +regarding the above commerce, issued from 1593 to 1635; this matter, +in fuller form, has been already given in VOLS. XVII of this series, +pp. 27-50, and XXV, pp. 48-73, with which this document should +be read.] + + + + + +PERIOD II + +Of the debates on this commerce which occurred in the royal Council +of the Indias up to the year 1640, and the commissions which on that +account were entrusted to Senor Don Juan de Palafox, who, being an +official of the [India] House, went as bishop of Puebla de los Angeles. + + +Although in the collection of documents which was furnished to us by +the Council, for the compilation of this Extracto, nothing appears +relative to the controversies which occurred during the greater part +of the last century in regard to the commerce of Philipinas, in order +that the long silence on this matter--from the earliest decrees up +to the year 1684, of which an account is given us by the papers in +the Secretary's office (with which "Period III" begins, and which +the Extracto will follow)--may not seem irreparable, it has seemed to +us desirable to form the present "Period" from a printed quarto book +which was placed in the hands of Senor Palafox (who is now in Nueva +Espana) by the deputy of those islands, and has reached us among +other interesting documents. In this book are enumerated, for the +purpose of furnishing information to that prelate--who was charged +by the royal orders to inform [the government] regarding that affair +[of the commerce]--the arguments which during the years 1638-40 were +presented in behalf of the maintenance of the commerce of Philipinas, +and the enlargement of the amount of trade allowed to that colony. We +have not been able by any search to obtain the "Memorial" of one +hundred and thirty-six sections which is said, in this printed book, +to have been presented to the Council on this subject, in behalf of +the city of Manila; but the insertion of the present document will +not be unwelcome--not only because it contains substantially the same +arguments which in following years up to the present time have been +adduced, and which, it may reasonably be believed, those same islands +will reproduce in the future whenever this subject is discussed; +but because at the same time it presents certain information which +is of no little value for better understanding the importance of that +remote domain. + + + + + +Justification of the maintenance of the Philipinas Islands and their +commerce + + +To the very illustrious and reverend Senor Don Juan de Palafox y +Mendoza, member of his Majesty's Council, in the royal Council of +the Indias, and bishop of Puebla de los Angeles: by Don Juan Grau y +Monfalcon, procurator-general of the Philipinas Islands, agent for +the principality of Catuluna, and syndic of the city of Barcelona. + + +Very illustrious and reverend sir: + +Although I wrote for the city of Manila, the capital of the Philipinas +islands, a memorial of one hundred and thirty-six sections--at the +examination and discussion of which in the Council your illustrious +Lordship was present--in regard to eighty-five petitions, to which +can be reduced all the more important matters which may be presented +concerning those islands and their trade-route and their maintenance; +and that memorial with its petitions your illustrious Lordship is +carrying with you, as it is printed, so that it seems as if there +were no need of further information--and even these were superfluous +to one who is so well informed on all the matters which he has in his +keeping, and is so quick to understand those which may come before him: +nevertheless, in order that I may to some extent relieve and set free +your illustrious Lordship from the burdens imposed upon your memory, +as I know the number and importance of the commissions that you +must execute and the matters that you must decide in Nueva Espana +(all which will be successfully accomplished, as we are assured by +your wide experience in affairs), I have determined to comprise in +this single treatise the matters which concern the city of Manila, +and which it can present to you. It relates to the four leading +points which were entrusted by his Majesty and the royal Council of +the Indias, by royal decrees, to the judicious decision and accurate +information of your Lordship, as follows: + +First, to what extent and in what manner shall the commerce of those +islands be tarried on? + +Second, whether it will be expedient to increase and extend the +permission which they at present enjoy, both in the export of +merchandise and in the returns of money. + +Third, whether in the amount of merchandise allowed to them shall be +included the products of the islands, or only those of China shall +be understood. + +Fourth, whether the commerce which Peru was accustomed to hold with +Nueva Espana shall be resumed, on account of the loss which results +to the Philipinas and Nueva Espana from its suspension. + + + + + +Point first + +As for the first decree, which is so general as to include all, for +treating of the commerce of the islands, which is essential to their +preservation: this point, which in the memorial that I have cited is +argued at length, can be reduced to an argument of three infallible +propositions, of which, when two are proved, the third cannot be +denied; and they are in this form. + +The Philipinas Islands are absolutely necessary: first, to increase the +preaching of the gospel; second, to maintain the authority, grandeur, +and reputation of this crown; third, to defend the Moluco Islands and +their trade; fourth, to support Eastern India; fifth, to relieve the +Western Indias from their enemies; sixth, to aid the two crowns of +Castilla and Portugal [2] in breaking down the power of the Dutch; +seventh, to protect for both crowns the commerce of China. In order +to support the islands, the commerce with Nueva Espana is requisite +and necessary; for by no other means can their defense, or means for +supporting it, be provided. It immediately follows that it is also +requisite and necessary to grant this commerce to the islands, or, +by abandoning them, to lose all the advantages which result from +their preservation, as here represented. + +The first proposition of this argument consists of eight fundamental +reasons, which are stated therein; but it seems as if they ought +to be proved, in order that their force and cogency may be fully +understood. Accordingly, I will run through them as briefly as +possible. + +The first one is the increase of the preaching and promulgation of +the holy gospel. This was the principal object which the Catholic +sovereigns of Castilla had in carrying on the discovery of the Western +Indias, and in colonizing and supporting them--and, consequently, +in doing the same for all the islands adjacent to them, among the +number of which are the Philipinas; and although the richness of +those provinces greatly aided their efforts, this was a secondary +object with the sovereigns, and a fulfilment of what is promised in +the gospel, that we must seek first the kingdom of God, and that all +the rest which the world possesses and esteems shall be gathered and +added to us. Therefore, since their intention was the conversion of +all the infidels who inhabit that opposite hemisphere, He who became +flesh in order to redeem them chose that this undertaking should +gain, as a secondary result, the infinite riches which the Indias +have given and are giving to Espana. Such a reason is not lacking +in the Philipinas Islands. Their first discovery and settlement +were solely for extending the Catholic faith; for then it was not +known that those islands would be rich--as indeed they are not of +themselves--nor that there could be any further result than the +conversion of their natives to the gospel law, and the opening of a +gate by which the preaching of the gospel could be carried to other +provinces and kingdoms of Asia. That enterprise was prosecuted very +successfully, as is publicly known; and it is now very evident that all +those islands are today in the bosom of the Church--for they contain +an archbishopric and three episcopal sees, and very many convents +and hospitals; and there may be seen the Christian religion as pure, +as valued, and as venerated as it is in Espana. And this rouses all +the more admiration because the location of the colony is so remote, +and so surrounded by heathens, Moors, and heretics; and that, in spite +of all, the power and revenues of this crown are able to maintain +it. But for this result, which was the main one, what was the second, +and in what was seen fulfilled the promise of the gospel? It was, that +God has placed in those seas a firm column, on which He could found, +and by which they could support themselves, Eastern India, the Molucas +Islands, their commerce, and that of China; and which shall prove for +the enemies of this crown--heretics, Moors, and heathens--a check +upon their advance, a resistance to their intentions, and a strong +rock on which they shall be broken, or at least their success may +be checked and their machinations prevented. Such are the Philipinas +Islands, and this rank they acquired after the preaching of the gospel +entered them; and it seems as if it were a providence of Heaven to +make them so necessary from the human standpoint, in order that the +divine influences might not be lacking in them. For if sometimes the +attainment of the first result might not be sufficient for maintaining +them (which the piety of the kings of Castilla renders incredible), +that of the second result would suffice, because even the divine needs +to be maintained in the world by human protection. This is an axiom +which, in lands newly converted, is generally accepted in the Indias; +and it has been thoroughly proved by experience that the gospel is more +effective among the barbarians when it is under the royal banners and +standards than when it goes without them. Accordingly, it pleased God +to ordain that these standards should be necessary in the Philipinas, +in order that the preaching of the gospel, which was the motive +for their going thither, might be established in their shelter. It +is therefore established by a well-grounded proposition that, even +if no more is looked for than this aim of converting the heathen, +it is now impossible to give up the preservation of the Philipinas, +as being so important a part of the Catholic church. And if the kings +of Castilla, in order not to permit liberty of conscience in Flandes, +have during more than seventy years maintained in those states +(and, through them, in all Europa) the most tedious and costly war +that any monarchy in the world has waged: how can it be denied that +by abandoning so vast a number of Catholics as there are in those +islands, who have been instructed by the Christian zeal of Spaniards, +there will, if we leave them now, be introduced among them liberty of +conscience? not to mention a mingling of schismatic heretics, Moors, +Jews, and heathens of various sects, as is seen in Bantan (which is +the Oriental Ginebra [i.e., Geneva]), and in all other places where +the Dutch find entrance; and they would soon enter those islands [if +we abandon them]. Even if they caused great expenses to this crown +(which they do not), they ought to be supported and preserved. + +The second reason is, that in these islands are involved the authority, +grandeur, and reputation of this crown. [My statement in regard to] +the authority is proved by various methods, which may be found in the +memorial that I have cited--of which I will only notice here the power +which is exercised by the governor who rules the islands in the name +of his Majesty. So great is this that it may be affirmed with truth +that in all his kingdoms and seigniories (although the viceroyalties +are classed as superior to that government) the king does not appoint +to an office of greater authority. If this is not evident, let it +be noticed how many crowned kings render homage to that governor, +and recognize him as their superior; how they respect him and fear +his arms; how they desire his friendship, and, if they violate it, +receive punishment. The king of Ternate died a prisoner in Manila; +and he of Sian made, by force of arms, satisfaction for a reprisal +which he had committed. Those of Siao and Tidore are our subjects, and +that of Camboxa is our ally. The ruler of Great China is our friend, +and the emperor of Japon was such until the Dutch alienated him; and +although the failure of the Japanese trade causes us loss, we have not +feared to declare that ruler our enemy--as are those of Champa, Sian, +and Mindanao; and, more than all, the Dutch, who keep those seas so +infested. And it ought to be considered that the governor of Philipinas +sends ambassadors to all those kings, with gifts to present to them, +and receives those that they send to him in return; he makes peace and +declares war, and does whatever seems to him expedient; and all this on +his own responsibility, without waiting for a decision of the matter +from Espana, because the excessive distance renders him the entire +master in these acts. This is a preeminence of so great authority that +no governor or viceroy in Europe exercises it. The grandeur which this +monarchy preserves in those islands is widely known. In its material +aspect, that domain extends through a circuit of 1,400 leguas, in +which are included the two archipelagos of San Lazaro and Moluco: +the latter composed of five especially important islands, which their +own kings govern, with more than seventy others adjacent; the latter, +of those which are properly called Philipinas, forty in number--some +of them larger than all Espana, some as large as this country, and +others somewhat smaller. This does not mention the islands that are +small and uninhabited, which are without number. Among all these is +[foremost] the island of Luzon, in which is the distinguished and ever +loyal city of Manila, which is the precious stone of this setting, +and which alone is enough to prove the grandeur of Espana--by its +location, its splendor, its buildings, its sky, and its soil. In its +citizens are resplendent the religious faith, the loyalty, and the +courage which gave origin to that colony. Since Manila is, as some +say, the antipodes of Sevilla, it seems as if it tried to imitate +that city in its characteristics, and in being a military center and +an emporium of commerce for that hemisphere. If one considers higher +things, the power of the islands cannot be reduced to the region just +mentioned. Manila may be compared to the city of Goa, the capital +of Eastern India; and it is she who reduces to subjection all the +coasts from the Straits of Sincapura to Japon, and the islands of +the Ladrones and the Papuas; for her fleets sail through all those +seas with the never conquered and always victorious royal standards +of Espana. Her ships are admitted into many maritime kingdoms of Asia, +and into numberless islands adjacent to them; they make voyages so long +that no others equal to these are known. They go to China and Japon, +and by the Southern Sea to Nueva Espana; and by way of the Northern +Sea--coasting all the Oriental kingdoms, emerging [from the China Sea] +through Sincapura, and doubling the great Stormy Cape, that of Buena +Esperanza--they have reached the bar of San Lucar, with these two +voyages making almost the entire circuit of the world. And if commerce +is regarded as the greatest splendor of kingdoms (as it certainly is), +this greatness is not lacking to the Philipinas; for they have so +rich a commerce that, if they could enjoy it free, there is no city +known to the world that would surpass, or even equal, Manila. That +in that colony resides and is preserved the reputation of this crown, +is evident, if it be noted that the maintenance of that reputation by +the arms of Espana in Fuente-Rabia, in Salsas, in Italia, in Flandes, +in Alemania, and in other parts of Europa is not to be wondered at; +for if Espana is the heart which inspires strength in the mystical +body of this monarchy, it is not much that the members which are +nearest and so closely connected should share most effectively in +this influx of energy. And if his Majesty (whom God preserve!) is +the soul or vital breath of this heart, it cannot be denied that +the closer proximity will cause the greater effect. Besides, the +great number of the troops who go out from the adjoining [European] +states prevents the enemy from seizing any one of those states; +but the greatest cause of reputation for this crown is that, at a +distance of three thousand leguas from the royal person and Espana, +three thousand three hundred and thirty-six Spaniards, all of them +occupied in those islands in war and in peace, on sea and on land, +[accomplish what they do]. It is the citizens of Manila who are +the substance of that diamond, where the adjoining states are all +enemies--barbarians, heretics, Moors, and heathens. Those Spaniards +are without hope of succor in emergencies, without safety for the +unfortunate in the retreat, and even without the reward due them +for their achievements; they are always inferior in numbers, and +continually attacked by Dutch, Mindanaos, Japanese, Jaos, and other +peoples. They are always in anxiety about the Chinese, or Sangleys, +who number more than 30,000 in Manila; and about the natives, of +whom there are more than 80,000. In that land of many islands they +maintain fortified posts, and on the sea armed fleets of galleons, +galleys, and champans--one for the defense of Manila, another for +conveying troops and supplies to Terrenate, and another for the fort +on the island of Hermosa. In this last island and in those of Moluco, +our military posts confront the Dutch; our people are continually +fighting on sea and on land, while they wage on the frontier a fierce +war with the most wary people that is known, and with tribes who are +as cruel as they can be. Yet, although their soldiers are so few, they +meet innumerable obligations, acquit themselves of all, and cause the +Spanish name to emerge from all gloriously, and the standards of the +king our lord victoriously. Therefore, it is the Philipinas Islands +that preserve the reputation of this crown with the most valor and +the least reward, with the greatest hazard, and with most glory. + +The third fundamental reason is, that the Philipinas defend the +islands of Moluco, and the commerce in the cloves that are obtained +from them. The importance of these islands is everywhere known, +because in all the world there are no other islands nor any other +region in which grows this spice or drug, so highly valued. For +their discovery alone Hernando de Magallanes made, by order of the +emperor Carlos Fifth, that celebrated voyage in which he found the +strait to which he gave his name, and passed through it into the +Southern Sea; and, although he was slain while making his claims, his +ship sailed around the world. The lordship of those islands caused +troublesome hostilities between the Castilians and Portuguese, +which were ended by this crown giving them to that of Portugal, +in fulfilment of a contract; for it seemed (and indeed was evident) +that Castilla would have much difficulty in maintaining them when they +were so separated from all its kingdoms and states, while Portugal, +by possessing Eastern India, was less distant from and could better +support them. The course of time showed that even India was very +remote from them; for when the Dutch power entered the Orient and +established a military post in Bantan [3]--a port nearer to Moluco, +and more advantageously located than was India--it was so obviously +impossible to defend them that in the end they were lost to us, +the enemy getting possession of them all and of their commerce. But +as the Philipinas were by that time quite populous, and so near to +the Molucas that they were superior to Bantan [as a trading post], +the task of restoring the Molucas [to Spanish control] was laid upon +the governor, Don Diego de Acuna--who with his courage and energy, +and the convenience of being so near, regained them and restored them +to this crown. When both Castilla and Portugal recognized the great +expense that India would have to incur in maintaining the Molucas, +and that even with excessive expenditures it would be impossible to +do so, on account of the injury being nearer than the remedy, and the +enemy than the succor, those islands were, by the mutual agreement of +the two crowns, united to the government of the Philipinas as regards +their defense and support. The clove-trade was left to the Portuguese, +because it was so important that, if it were taken from them, India +would perish, or become greatly weakened. It is thus sufficiently +proved that the Philipinas contributed to the restoration of all the +forts in the Orient; and that in their preservation was and still is +involved that of the Molucas, and consequently of all India. Thus +they have been maintained since the year 1603, defending them by +force of arms against the Dutch, who never cease their endeavors to +expel the Castilians from those islands; this has been the cause of +many naval encounters and battles, in which the arms of Espana have +always remained victorious. Nevertheless, since the military force +of Philipinas is small, the territory that they must defend large, +and the aid which is given to them for this purpose very limited, +it has not been possible to prevent the treachery and persistence of +the Dutch from having some effect; nor to put a stop to their sharing +in the clove trade at some forts which they keep in the Molucas, +though at the cost of many men, armed vessels, and expenses. From all +of these islands are produced each year 2,816,000 libras of cloves, +of which the Dutch secure 1,098,000 libras, and the Portuguese and +Castilians 1,718,000--and this latter supply is due to the protection +of the Philipinas; while it is computed that the cloves which the +Dutch carry away amount to three times as much as it will cost them +to be absolute lords of the Molucas, even with the large garrisons and +armed fleets which they keep and maintain for purchasing the spice and +transporting it to Bantan. From this it obviously follows that without +the Philipinas the Molucas would be lost, and their commerce and trade +in cloves would cease--from which would follow two pernicious results, +which would cause the loss of whatever his Majesty possesses in the +Orient. One is, that India would be greatly weakened, for lack of that +commerce; for if that country languishes on account of not having all +of that trade, it may well be understood that she will perish if it be +taken from her. The other is, that the Dutch in that case would have +the entire benefit of the trade, and without much expense; for if +[Holanda] with less than half the trade--and that at the cost of so +many garrisons and fleets--gains such profits that they are enough +to maintain whatever she has in India; if she were to secure all the +cloves and, on account of the less cost, thus gain a profit of more +than a thousand per cent upon her investments, while the gross amount +would be doubled: it is very plain that India would not remain safe, +the Western Indias would be more effectively harassed, the rebel states +in Flandes would be strengthened, the coasts of Espana would experience +their invasions, and everywhere the treasure that could be obtained +from the Molucas alone would cause most injurious effects--as may +be seen, with more detailed arguments, in the memorial that I have +cited in behalf of the Philipinas, to which [colony] we owe the only +compensation [that we receive] for all these losses. + +The fourth reason is almost the sequence of what has been said in the +third, although it is more general, since it takes notice that the +Dutch fleets have entered the Orient with so strong a force that they +have often placed India in risk of being lost to us; for if they were +aided by the Moorish and heathen kings and the rulers of Persa and +Mogor [4]--and sometimes the Dutch are leagued with the English, who +also navigate those seas--their invasion would be irresistible. What +has prevented this danger has been the diversion furnished by the +Philipinas--not only by diminishing their trade and profits in Moluco +(as has been seen), in China, and in other regions, but by compelling +them to divide their forces, and to maintain in some places very +large ones. India is divided into two parts--[one], from the Cape +of Buena Esperanza to the Straits of Sincapura; the other, from the +straits to China and Japon. The first is defended by the Portuguese +fleets of India, which seldom go thither through the straits; the +second, by the Castilians of Philipinas, who never come here by way +of the straits. For both these, it is necessary that the Dutch send +thither and maintain squadrons; and therefore it is proved, at this +very beginning, that if the fleets of this crown are deficient in +either of those regions, and the enemy can transfer all of his naval +force to the one that remains [without defense] because there is no +diversion [of his forces] in the other, it will be difficult if not +impossible to defend [the one to which he goes]--an argument which +admits no debate in the naval as well as in the military world. From +this it follows that if now the Philipinas fail us Eastern India +will remain without aid, and consequently in evident danger of being +lost [to us]. This is further confirmed by the fact that, of the two +parts into which India is divided, the enemy expends much more of his +energy in the second than in the first. In the latter he is content +with factories and barter, without keeping any fortified posts; in +the former, he maintains the forts of Malayo, Toloco, Tacubo, Malaca, +Tacome, Marieco, Motir, Nofagia, Tafacen, Tabelole, Bermevelt, Tabori, +Gilolo, Amboino, Lagu, Maruco, Mozovia, Belgio, Bantan, and Hermosa +Island. In these nineteen presidios there were, in the year 1616, +3,000 soldiers; 193 pieces of bronze artillery and 310 of iron, and +300 stone-mortars [pedreros]; and thirty war galleons. And all this +is solely to defend themselves from the Philipinas, and to attack +the islands so that the armed fleets of India shall not sail to that +region--or, if they should go thither, it would be easy to stop them +at the Strait of Sincapura. If then, the Philipinas were unable to +act, and the Dutch should abandon those nineteen forts (which now are +many more), as being no longer necessary to them, they would proceed +to the coasts of India, and their galleons to those seas. If even +when their energies are diverted, their forces divided, and their +gains diminished as they are now, they cause so much anxiety, what +would it be if, with little if any opposition, their forces united, +and their profits increased, they should harass India? It is easy to +see that they would occasion that region the utmost distress, and that +consequently the Philipinas are an absolutely necessary defense for it. + +The fifth reason has the same ground as the fourth; for, on account of +the diversion of forces and the expense which the enemy now encounters +in the Orient and in the forts of Moluco, he is compelled to refrain +from annoying the Western Indias, and must devote less attention, +military force, and money to that object. And since what he spends +or fails to gain in India enables the Philipinas to oppose or to +embarrass him, it follows that if he there shall gain more and spend +less, he will here take possession of both [the Indias]. And if the +Indias, even with so effective a diversion [of the enemy's force as +they have now], need the Windward Fleet which is being built there, +and for which a subsidy of 600,000 ducados is granted annually: in +order to dispense with the garrisons, fleets, and expenditures in +India everything would have to be increased, so that in the Indias +more expense would be incurred for their defense than is consumed in +the Philipinas. + +The sixth is a reason of honor and profit, for these two admirable +results follow from the victories which the inhabitants of Philipinas +have gained over the Dutch: honor, on account of the glory which the +Catholic arms acquire in those seas, which gains for them the esteem +of the Japanese, Chinese, Sianese, Mindanaos, and innumerable other +peoples, who serve as spectators in the theatre for such exploits; +and profit, since, if the enemy's forces are weakened it follows that, +besides those that he loses in being conquered, he is compelled to +expend still greater ones in order to keep his foothold. This is the +most notable reason for maintaining powerful squadrons on the sea, +in order that if the pirate undertakes to plunder successfully, he +will have to do it with so great a force that either he will abandon +the prize because he cannot hold it, or he will let it alone because +the profits do not make it worth his while. Of the victories which +the Spaniards have gained in those seas there are extant histories +and accounts; and in the large memorial some of these are mentioned. + +The seventh is, that [by the islands] are aided the two crowns +of Castilla and Portugal, who are so united and in so fraternal +relations in the Orient, each possessing its share of the two parts +into which that region is, as we have said, divided. If we are to base +our opinion on experience, the facts are evident in the restoration +of Moluco; for in the time of Governor Don Juan de Sylva the forces +of both crowns were joined, and it is regarded as certain that, +if death had not intercepted his designs, he would have driven from +those seas the arms of Holanda and of Inglaterra, and awakened fear +and dread in many kings who were awaiting the result of so powerful +a combination; and, even though success is not always so immediate, +it suffices that it should be possible to make the enemy fear, and to +lead them to believe that what has occurred sometimes may occur often. + +The eighth reason is to protect and preserve the commerce of China +for both crowns. For this argument it is taken for granted that this +commerce is one of the most beneficial and lucrative of those in +the entire Orient; and we can say that there is no other in all the +world that equals it. The Oriental traffic of ancient times, which +the Romans so highly valued, originated in China and in the drugs, +fabrics, and curiosities of that country--although, as they were +ignorant of its real origin, they called it the India trade, since +they received it from that country. In the larger memorial I have +already discoursed upon this at length. Now all the nations in those +[Oriental] kingdoms take part in this commerce, but it is conducted +most extensively and steadily by the Portuguese of India and the +Castilians of Manila; we shall soon relate how important it is to the +latter. Of the Portuguese it suffices to say that they possess in China +the city of Macan, and the privilege of entering that of Canton; and +the commerce of these two cities they maintain through the Strait of +Sincapura, though always in danger from the Dutch. But as the profits +are so great, they sail by that route; it adds much to their safety +that they cross through the seas of Philipinas, and that Macan can +find succor in Manila. But if this should be lacking, Macan could not +remain many years without ruin, nor could India enjoy the commerce +with China, which is one of those which most benefit her; and if the +Chinese trade is cut off from India and Manila, the Dutch alone will +be strong enough to carry it on. Although they are at present shut +out from it by the robberies that they have committed on the Sangleys, +they would not find it difficult to bring the latter to friendship with +them; for it is already known that when money is lacking in Philipinas +the Sangleys carry their merchandise to the Dutch. Therefore, on the +preservation of those islands depends that of the Chinese trade. + +These eight fundamental reasons are sufficient to prove the importance +and necessity that exist for maintaining, preserving, and favoring +those islands; for if they were lost the resulting damage would be +great and excessive beyond any possible comparison or proportion to +what the islands now cost us. And because there is seen in this an +error of misapprehension, I will make a statement regarding it that +is worthy of much attention and notice. This is, that it costs the +royal exchequer more to support the island of San Martin [5]--which +is of no use, and has no more effect than to remove an obstacle to +the navigation of the Indias, and take away a landing-place from the +pirates (who already have numberless others)--than to maintain the +Philipinas Islands, which have the utility and effectiveness which +I have stated. + +For the proof of this, I avail myself of a summary of the +detailed statements in the larger memorial, regarding the cost +of the Philipinas. For the officials of justice, who govern them, +37,077 pesos; for the entire ecclesiastical estate, 37,277 pesos. In +maintaining friendly relations with neighboring kings, 1,500 pesos. In +the administration of the royal exchequer, 11,550 pesos. For the land +forces at Manila, and in the military posts of all the islands, 229,696 +pesos. For wars on land, and the forts in Moluco, 97,128 pesos. For +naval war, shipbuilding, and navy-yards, 283,184 pesos. For supplies +and provisions for all the soldiers and seamen, 153,302 pesos. These +sums amount to 850,734 pesos, which is the expenditure made each +year for the islands--not omitting to reckon wages and salaries, +scanty though they be. This, therefore, is all the charge for their +cost which can be made. + +On the credit side of the account, the tributes from the crown +encomiendas are worth each year 53,715 pesos; and the two reals which +are paid to the king by each Indian in the private encomiendas amount +to 21,107 pesos. The licenses which are given to the Sangleys come to +112,000 pesos; and the tributes from these Sangleys, to 8,250. The +fifth and the tenth of gold, 750 pesos. The ecclesiastical tithes, +which are collected by the royal exchequer for the support of the +prelates and clergy, 2,750 pesos. The freight charges in his Majesty's +ships, 350 pesos. The court fines, 1,000 pesos. The customs duties, +38,000 pesos. The mesada and half-annats, 6,000. From these ten sources +the income amounts to 243,922 pesos; to this must be added the imposts, +freight dues, and customs duties which are collected in Nueva Espana +on the merchandise that comes from the islands--all which amount to +300,000 pesos, and this is income that results and proceeds from the +islands; accordingly, by a decree of February 19, 1606, it is commanded +that these charges, adding to their amount each year, be remitted to +Manila, and that so much less be sent from the royal exchequer of +Mexico. And if all these goods are sold and traded in Nueva Espana +once, or two or more times, and pay the customary charges of alcabala, +[6] if the rate of two [per cent] which they usually pay was moderated +to 30,000 pesos in the larger memorial, the rate on the said [sales] +will certainly amount to 60,000 pesos. With this, the islands now +have 593,922 pesos to their credit; so that their [actual] expense +cannot be estimated at more than 256,812 pesos--[and that] without +counting the proceeds of the Crusade, those from intestate property, +or the monopoly of playing-cards. + +Another item ought to be placed with these, which is the expense for +the islands of Moluco. These were possessions of the crown of Portugal, +which consumed in supporting and defending them great sums of ducados +and many soldiers; but finally it lost them, and the Dutch gained +them. By agreement of the two crowns, Governor Don Pedro de Acuna +regained possession of them (as I have related); and as it was evident +that the crown of Portugal could not defend them on account of the +great expense required therefor, those islands were committed, in the +year 1607, to the governor of Philipinas. In this must be considered +several things. First, that these islands of Moluco do not belong +to those which are called Philipinas, nor are they included in that +group. Second, that at present they are the property of the Portuguese +crown, but are in possession of the Castilian crown for the purpose +of protecting, maintaining, and defending them; on this account, the +commerce in cloves is left to India, as it was before. Third, that +the Philipinas and the citizens of Manila do not obtain or possess +any advantage or benefit from Moluco, or anything else besides the +continual trouble of succoring and provisioning its forts; for the +clove-trade belongs to the Portuguese, and there is no other commerce +in those islands. Fourth, that since the day when the governor of +Philipinas and the crown of Castile took charge of Moluco, the crown +of Portugal has saved more than 400,000 pesos, the cost which it would +have incurred in maintaining Moluco, estimated on the basis of what +it now costs Castilla for that--although Manila, which is the place +where provision is made for those islands, is so near them. Fifth, +that for these reasons it is evident and plain that what is spent for +the islands of Moluco should not be charged to the Philipinas; nor +even should the crown of Castilla pay it, but rather that of Portugal, +which is the proprietary owner of Moluco, and has the benefit of the +clove-trade. Consequently, whatever is received from that trade must +be placed to the credit and acquittance of the Philipinas, against +the amount charged to them. Sixth, and last, notice the [items of] +the annual expenses of the Moluco Islands: for salaries, 97,128 pesos; +provisions, considering the total number of people, will average +30,000 pesos a year; for the ecclesiastical ministrations and the +management of the royal treasury, the expense will reach 4,000 pesos; +and for naval affairs and shipyards, 100,000 pesos--since in order +to send every year the usual supplies, and to furnish extraordinary +aid when occasion demands, the armed ships are necessary which are +always kept at Manila. Thus the cost of the islands of Moluco comes +to more than 230,000 pesos each year; deducting this from the 256,000 +which remain charged to the Philipinas, only 26,000 pesos. This is +an amount unworthy of consideration, even if the islands were of no +more use than to augment the grandeur of this crown; but granting +that they possess the advantages that I have mentioned, the loss, +cost, and expense is nothing; and it remains abundantly proved how +necessary, just, expedient, and requisite it is to maintain them. + +If the Philipinas are to be maintained, it now remains to ascertain +how and in what manner this shall be done, in order to secure their +preservation, and [at the same time] to avoid any considerable injury +to the royal exchequer and to the other kingdoms of this crown. For +this there are but two methods, and these alone; no other can be found +which is adequate and efficacious. The first one is, the method which +is adopted for the island of San Martin, and for all the military posts +which his Majesty maintains in the Indias and in other regions, and +for his fleets and armies; this is, to furnish from the royal treasury +all that shall be necessary for this purpose. Granting that the islands +cost annually 850,000 pesos and furnish revenues of 244,000 pesos, his +Majesty will have to supply 606,000 pesos. Although this is a great +sum of money, the preservation of those islands is so desirable, and +so much more will have to be lost and spent if the islands are lost, +that, in case there shall be no other way, it will be necessary and +compulsory to accept and carry out the above method--although even that +would not be enough, for the islands now cost 850,000 pesos [only] +because the citizens of Manila give much aid, and render service +with their persons and property. In one year they have thus given +more than 200,000 pesos, as is made evident in the larger memorial, +nos. 59 and 60. Accordingly, this method is exceedingly costly, +and even more so than it would seem, for the reason that I have stated. + +There remains, then, the second method, the only one [available]; +this consists in granting commerce to those islands, which would +suffice to secure three results. The first of these is, to preserve +the present revenue of 244,000 pesos that they yield; for that sum, +or the greater part of it, is based on the wealth which the islands +obtain from their commerce, and if this fails them they will produce +much less, and therefore much more will have to be supplied [from +without]. The second, to give the royal treasury the benefit of the +606,000 pesos which (or the greater part of that sum) are deficient +for the usual expense account, as has been shown. The third, to +furnish the citizens with means by which they can, in emergencies, +aid the extraordinary expenses--as they always have done, and still +do--by having a commerce to support them; but without this it will be +necessary, as they would lack the means to render such aid, that the +king should bear these expenses. These three results being granted, +the preservation of those islands readily follows. + +The question then remains as to the character, amount, and form of +this commerce, which are three principal topics. As for the character +of this commerce, it is noted in the larger memorial (no. 15) that +the islands have a domestic and a foreign commerce. It has been shown +that this is scanty, except what proceeds from Moluco; but that this +might be very rich, since it is the trade in cloves (as may be seen +in nos. 28, 30, 34, and 36 of the said memorial). But, as this trade +is reserved for the Portuguese and prohibited to the Castilians, +it is useless to consider it for this purpose--although it is worth +notice that whatever advantage the crown of Portugal derives from that +trade is due to the Philipinas, and results from their preservation. I +shall soon make some observations on the remaining portion of this +domestic commerce, and what can be obtained from it. + +Their foreign commerce is with many regions of the Orient, as is +stated in the said memorial, from no. 20 on; and in no. 37 it is +shown that only the inhabitants of the Philipinas can carry on the +commerce with China, because they have means for this only--exporting +that merchandise to Nueva Espana, and obtaining the returns from +it in silver, with which to maintain it; for they have no other +commodity which the Chinese crave, as is proved in the said memorial, +no. 70. From this the conclusion is drawn that the islands cannot +be preserved without commerce, and that this must necessarily be +conducted with Nueva Espana in Chinese merchandise, and in some of +their own products. + +As for the second point, the amount of the commerce, this was formerly +without any limitation; and during the time (which was short) while +that condition lasted the islands acquired what strength and wealth +and grandeur they now possess. After a time certain difficulties +arose--which are discussed in the said memorial, nos. 80, 81, 94, 117, +and 118--all being to the prejudice of Espana's commerce; on account +of these it became expedient to limit the commerce of the islands, +reducing it to a fixed amount of 250,000 pesos' worth of merchandise +and 500,000 pesos in returns. Although the citizens resented this, +and saw that if it were successful they could [only] preserve their +wealth without being able to increase it much, they went on under +this decree from the time when it began to be executed (in 1605) +until 1635--when Don Pedro de Quiroga went [to Mexico], and by his +rigorous measures reduced this permission to terms so restricted that +it was rather taking away the permission entirely than carrying out +its intent. This falling upon the necessity of the islands that the +stated amount of their merchandise be increased, on account of the many +shipwrecks, misfortunes, and expenses which they had experienced--of +which I have made a brief relation in the said memorial, no. 107--to +take away the permission that they had without granting them a more +liberal one, was more than they could endure; it may readily be +seen what results this would cause. And as divine Providence did not +cause these troubles to cease with the death of him who caused them, +it may well be believed that the islands are today in so miserable a +condition that they will either be ruined or can no longer be reached +by the remedy which the kind attention of the council has begun to +furnish them--entrusting its final application to the inquiry to be +made by your illustrious Lordship, who is well informed of the losses, +advantages and disadvantages, and all the circumstances of which +knowledge is necessary for your decision in a matter so serious as +this, on which depends the preservation of the Philipinas and of all +that depends upon them. Their citizens hope that your decision will +be what is expedient and necessary for those vassals, always so loyal, +but always harassed by enemies, and even by friends. + +There remains, then, the third point of the three that I have stated; +that is, the form which must be adopted and followed in this commerce +of the islands with Nueva Espana. Don Pedro de Quiroga proceeded +in this matter with measures so rigorous and unusual that he tried +to establish regulations different from those which are respected +and observed in all the ports of Espana, of the Indias, and of +the world. He undertook to open and weigh the bundles and chests, +and to count, weigh, and measure the commodities and wares, without +any preceding denunciation, information, or [even] indication that +these exceeded the registration. He laid an embargo on all, without +there being any guilt on the part of the owners, or prohibition of the +articles; and for only raising this so unjust embargo he extorted from +the commerce 300,000 pesos--excluding from composition 600,000 pesos' +worth besides, which are included in the [right of] composition by +express, clear, and plain provisos [of the ordinances]. He collected +the dues on whatever appraisement of the goods it suited him to make, +although it was evident to him that they were being sold at half +that rate in Acapulco, and even in Mexico. He hindered the return +of the proceeds from the merchandise, which is allowed by the royal +decree; and it cannot be denied that he who carries his goods to sell, +[even though] with permission, may not exact the price that he shall +obtain for them. For granting that permission, he demanded new dues and +imposed new burdens; compelled the shippers to do whatever he wished, +and harassed the mariners on that trade-route until he made them leave +it--when it is known (and the islands are making representations to +that effect) that it is for what is most needed in those islands that +the governors in Manila make concessions to their citizens when the +latter ask for these, in order to constrain them by kindness to what +could not be obtained by severity; and the Council is conferring upon +those citizens privileges and distinctions, in order that many may +be encouraged to become mariners and artillerists. All this was done +by Don Pedro de Quiroga under pretext of serving his Majesty; but it +caused his royal exchequer the great loss which has been experienced +in the failure, for two years, of ships to arrive from Philipinas. By +this has been lost, in dues alone, 660,000 pesos, and as much more +through the suspension of commerce; and still greater were the losses +to the vassals of his Majesty, to say nothing of the danger in which +those islands were left, and to which they are still exposed. To +speak of the plan which should be established in this commerce, +it seems as if it were sufficient to place before your illustrious +Lordship what Don Pedro de Quiroga did, and what resulted from that, +in order to understand that if by his proceedings he destroyed and +ruined the commerce it is not expedient to follow his example. Rather +should be followed those of Sevilla, Cartagena, Portovelo, Vera Cruz, +and the other ports of the Indias and of these kingdoms, in which royal +laws, decrees, and ordinances have ordained what shall be observed in +these matters; and since these regulations are not annulled or broken +in favor of the islands, it will not be just if they are broken or +annulled to the loss or injury of that colony. For neither do those +vassals merit less than this, nor is their commerce of different +character from the other commerce that belongs to this crown. + +Although representations have been made, with more exaggeration +and less in accordance [with the facts] than would be desirable, +of serious infractions of law that have been committed in this +commerce--which representations I have answered at length and +in detail in the said memorial, from no. 94 to no. 99--it may be +observed that, if there are any (which, if I do not admit, I do not +deny), they are not of greater extent nor of different character than +those which are every year experienced in the fleets and galleons +on the India trade-route. These infractions consist in shipping more +merchandise than what is registered, and different commodities from +what are declared, and in carrying back more silver than is shown +by the registers; and there are not and cannot be on the ships of +Philipinas other infractions than the shipment of more goods and +the return of more silver than appear on the registers. Let, then, +the remedy be ascertained which is applied at Sevilla, Cadiz, and +San Lucar, at Cartagena, Portovelo, Vera Cruz, and Habana, and let +the same be applied at Manila and Acapulco. [7] Let guards be placed, +and informers allowed, and goods declared--with rewards to encourage, +and punishments to warn; but it would be a chance success to ascertain +in detail what would be shipped at Sevilla and unloaded in the ports +of the Indias. This would be to establish not order but disorder in +that commerce, as I state in the said memorial, no. 95; and soon the +same thing would be noticed in that of the islands. + +And although it may be represented that the infractions in the +Philipinas trade, considering their amount, cause more loss than +those in the commerce of Espana, especially in the exportation of the +silver--since that which is brought in the galleons outside of the +kingdom finally comes to Castilla; and that which is carried in the +ships of Philipinas soon finds its way to China, and thus is lost, +and the commerce is taken away from the vassals of this crown--reply +may thus be made. The illegal shipments on the Philipinas route cause +much less loss than do those on the India route, as is incurred when +a galleon laden with silver is lost at sea, as compared with one that +is captured by enemies; in the former case there is only our own loss, +but in the latter is the same loss, and an advantage to our enemies. It +cannot be denied that the silver which goes unregistered in the ships +of Philipinas is lost, but no enemy of this crown benefits thereby; +for that silver comes to a halt in China, from which country it never +emerges--as is stated in the said memorial, no. 72--nor does it work +any harm there, whether it be more or less; for neither do we wage +war with China, nor do the Chinese aid any other nation which wages +war with us. As for the silver which comes [to Espana] unregistered +in the galleons, those who best understand the subject consider +that it would cause less damage if it remained in the Indias (and +even some extend this idea to its being lost in the sea); because, +under the pretext of its coming concealed, it either does not come +into Sevilla, or, if it does come in, soon goes out again. In both +these cases, it remains in the hands of the French, English, Flemish, +and Portuguese, and most of it is anchored in their ships, by which +Inglaterra, Francia, and Holanda are enriched; while that which goes +to Portugal is carried to India, and there it is shared by the Dutch, +Persians, Arabs, Mogous, and other hostile nations, until it reaches +China, which is its center [of equilibrium]. It may be judged, then, +which is the greater injury; and since the loss caused by the illegal +shipments on the vessels of Philipinas is less, let that be done +with those ships that is done with the galleons. But let it not be +proposed that the commerce be taken from them, or its amount limited, +or that unusual methods and severity be employed in dealing with +them, since these are not used in the commerce of the Indias, and, +comparing them together, one is no less necessary than the other. + +From these considerations we draw the final conclusion that if the +Philipinas Islands are, as has been proved, absolutely necessary to +this crown on account of the eminent advantages and benefits which +result to it from them, and that, in order to preserve them, there +are but two methods: one, for his Majesty to support them; the other, +to grant them commerce by which they can sustain themselves--the first +costly and difficult, the second easy and obvious--the latter ought +to be accepted and carried out. [This can be done] by giving them +the commerce which they have hitherto enjoyed with Nueva Espana, +to the amount that is expedient, and in the usual manner, without +adding conditions that will diminish or render it difficult; for +that will be to withdraw and consequently to destroy and end it, +and with it those islands, which are so important to this Catholic +monarchy. Your illustrious Lordship will make such report on this +point and argument as [his Majesty's] vassals there expect and desire +from your great ability and zeal. + + + + + +Point second + +As for the permission [to trade] which the islands have enjoyed since +1604--which is to the amount of 250,000 pesos that may be carried +in merchandise, and 500,000 pesos which may be sent back in silver, +on the two ships which are allotted for that trade--the islands +have petitioned his Majesty that he would graciously increase the +250,000 pesos' worth of merchandise to 500,000, and the 500,000 +pesos of silver to 800,000; this is referred to the inquiry of +your illustrious Lordship. And although I have in the said memorial +discussed the main arguments for this request, I will, since these +are related to the entire subject of those islands, here reduce them +to six or seven principles. + +First: because, as I have stated and proved, this commerce began +in the year 1565, and was carried on without any restriction of its +amount until 1604, when it was limited to the amount above stated. The +islands could endure this limitation because they then possessed three +attributes which they now lack. The first was, that the citizens were +rich and strong through having enjoyed free trade almost forty years; +and therefore they possessed, and have had thus far, the means to bear +expense and losses. But since, from their trade being reduced to so +small an amount, it resulted that their profits were diminished and +their obligations increased; their fortunes have so steadily declined +that, if the trade permitted to them is not increased, they cannot +improve their fortunes, nor even preserve the remnants of these. The +second was, that those islands had few enemies, and were less infested +and harried by them [than now]; for until the year 1600 neither did +the Dutch cause any anxiety in those seas, nor was there any other +nation which visited them with hostile acts or fleets. Since that +year the profits obtained from the cloves, the plunder of the ships +from China, and friendly relations with the Japanese, have all been +such inducements to the Dutch to frequent the seas in that region that +they have kept the [Philipinas] Islands continually in arms, rendering +them an active military frontier. Hardly a year has passed without +a sea-fight; and, moreover, the Dutch have incited the Mindanaos, +the Japanese, and other barbarians also to make war on us. The result +has been that the citizens [of the islands] have spent their fortunes +in serving his Majesty, which they have done with their property and +persons--as is described in the said memorial, nos. 59 and 60. And as +the profits from their commerce have become less, and the expenses for +war greater and more continual, their poverty has become so great that +they are in need of more favor than they have thus far enjoyed; for if +(as has been proved) their commerce only is adequate to support those +islands, and that which they have hitherto carried on is steadily +declining, it must necessarily be increased, in order that they may +not perish and be destroyed. This is confirmed by the third of the +circumstances mentioned above, the excessive and enormous losses +of property which the citizens of Manila have suffered since the +year 1575--which are mentioned, in due order, in the said memorial, +no. 107. Some of these misfortunes occurred before the year 1604, +and, as until then the commerce was free, they had some reparation +for their losses; but those which have occurred since then have had, +on account of the limitation of trade, but little relief and scanty +reparation. The result has been that, although the injurious effects +and great loss have not been noticed every year, they are in the course +of all those years so keenly felt that a special means of restoration +is needed; and there can be no other save that of increasing their +commerce, for their relief must come from the same quarter as that +whence their losses came. + +Second: [This relief should be given] because when the permit for +250,000 pesos was granted there were in Manila fewer citizens and +soldiers; and now the number of these and the [size of the] city +have increased, and more aid has become necessary, not only with the +course of the thirty-six years which have elapsed, but because there +is more war. It appears that those who are occupied in his Majesty's +service on pay, including those who have been sent to the islands and +those who are born there, number 3,338 Spaniards, and 2,540 Indians +of various nationalities--not counting the citizens, or the traders, +or other persons who are pursuing various crafts (as is stated in +the said memorial, no. 55)--which is twice the number employed in the +year 1604. And as it is requisite that all participate in the commerce, +and that--although it must be through the medium of the citizens, among +whom the amount allowed is distributed--all persons may have some share +in it, it becomes necessary, since there are twice as many people as +there formerly were, that the amount of trade permitted should also +be doubled; for if this be not done, and that which formerly belonged +to few be shared among many, no one will have enough for his needs. + +Third: this argument being sufficient for the increase and enlargement +of the amount permitted, it is asserted that this amount is less than +what was first granted; for, as concerns the distribution (which is +made by toneladas), the governors have introduced the practice of +giving these to hospitals and convents, and often to the mariners and +artillerists, to those who go on expeditions and embassies, and to +other persons. Thus is consumed a large part of this permitted amount, +and consequently of the 500,000 pesos' worth of returns--from which +are deducted the legacies, donations, contributions for charitable +purposes, wages of the seamen and soldiers, wrought silver, and +all the rest that is shipped (as is ordained by the decree of 1606, +cited in the said memorial, no. 90), by which, it is at once evident, +the amount granted by the permission is diminished to just that extent. + +Fourth: even if it be granted that some illegalities have been +committed in that trade, these must have been in exporting more +merchandise and bringing back more silver than what the permission +decreed; and the cause must have been the pressing need of the +inhabitants. For since their numbers are greater, and the amount of +trade allowed them is less in quantity, and the share of each one is +less because there are more persons concerned in it, the amount that +some receive will be so little that it will compel them to infringe the +permission, and to export or bring back more than is allotted to them, +in order that they may be able to support themselves and meet their +obligations. These illegal acts will cease when the amount permitted +shall be increased and extended; for, as each person will have a share +sufficient to employ his capital, he will not expose it to risk, or +carry goods without registry. With this, not only will the inhabitants +be enriched, but the illegalities will cease; and, as the royal dues +will increase, his Majesty will not have to supply anything for the +maintenance of the islands, but instead will be much profited by them. + +Fifth: because the main reason for having limited this commerce was +the injury which has resulted from it to Sevilla, not only with the +merchandise which it carries to Nueva Espana, but with the silver +which it drains thence--as has been noticed in the said memorial, +nos. 71-79 and 116-119. And although this difficulty is there solved, +and this concession is thus made easier--because when the cause ceases, +the effect ceases also--another argument is here adduced; this is as +follows. The [accusations of] illegal acts in that commerce which are +made public are either true or false; if they are false, our object is +attained. But, if they are true and those things are done, how can it +be said that, in place of the 250,000 pesos [allowed], four millions' +worth of merchandise come to Nueva Espana; and that for the 500,000 +pesos of returns they carry ten millions in silver? What difficulty +is there in [allowing that for] the four millions that are shipped, +a half-million should come under registry, and one out of the ten +millions that are returned should go registered, and that on this +million and a half the royal dues be collected, since actually more +than 750,000 pesos are carried each way without paying these? And +even if those illegal acts be checked, and it be granted that for +the 250,000 pesos are shipped 500,000, and for the 500,000 pesos +of returns a million be carried: if the excess [now] goes and comes +without registry, how much more certain is it that the goods will be +registered and the royal dues paid? But this argument is made even +stronger by the great probability that the excess over the amounts +allowed only extends or can extend to the investments of the shippers; +and since these actually are only citizens of Philipinas, the citizens +neither have four millions to export, nor can they get ten millions +in returns; for in this way they would be, in four years, at the +rate of six millions of profits a year, the wealthiest in the world, +while they are at this time the poorest. And if that result is not +evident, how can the cause [assigned] be regarded as infallible? Let +us grant, then, that they will infringe the rule if besides the amount +permitted as much more be carried; and even that is much. But if this +permission were ample enough to include the funds of all those who +lade goods, it is evident that the infractions of law would cease, +and that it would not be possible to have them, or means to commit +them; and this becomes more credible, if the urgency with which this +increase of the permission is requested be noted. And how is it to +be supposed that those who are carrying their goods without registry +(which is more profitable) prefer to carry them registered, except +in order not to exceed the privilege that is given to them? And thus +it is certain that if a more extensive permission be granted to them, +there will not be illegal shipments, nor will the injury [to Spanish +trade] be greater, nor as much as is now assumed. + +The sixth and last argument is reduced to what was proved in the +said memorial, nos. 101-106: that the profits of this commerce, on +account of the many burdens imposed upon it, are more limited than +has been understood; and that in order for the exporters to make any +gain, they need more liberal concessions. For [even] if the gain be +thirty to forty per cent, it is consumed in costs and management, +if the amount laden be small; and the increase of the principal must +incur almost the same costs, for they will only be greater in [paying] +the duties. The exporters demand with justice that they be authorized +to ship twice as much merchandise, since the benefit that they will +experience is evident, and no injury will result, as has been proved. + +I observe that it would seem a very proper measure to place a limit to +the permission only on the returns in silver, and that the shipment of +merchandise be free, under the direction of the governor. One reason +is, that by this means the amount of merchandise would remain limited; +since it is plain that the citizens will not leave their funds in +Nueva Espana, and that therefore they will not carry back more than +they are entitled to in the returns [for their goods]. The other, +because in this no innovation arises, but it accords with the usage +which has hitherto prevailed, the lading being regulated more by the +burden of the ships, their capacity in toneladas, and the bulk of +the commodities, than by its actual and intrinsic value; and giving +opportunity for the registration of the products of the country itself, +even outside of the permission, as will soon be discussed. And if +no difficulty has been found in this practice, and if the governors +and the viceroys have overlooked this, and if Don Pedro de Quiroga, +with all his severity, never paid any attention to the merchandise +being in excess of the 250,000 pesos that were allowed, unless the +goods were shipped unregistered, or incorrectly appraised: it is +not a new or injurious arrangement that such a method be continued, +and that the limitation of the amount allowed be imposed only on the +silver that is carried as returns. + + + + + +Point third + +In case the amount permitted to the islands is increased to 500,000 +pesos, or the limitation be placed only on the returns in silver +(as is asked and argued in the second question), the declaration +of this third topic is not necessary; but if the permission is not +enlarged to that extent, and the quantity of merchandise is limited, +the petition which the city of Manila has made finds place. In regard +to that, moreover, your illustrious Lordship must be informed that +the city declares that the commodities which are peculiar to those +islands ought not to be included in the amount permitted, but that +these should be registered outside of that amount--which should be and +is understood to apply to the merchandise from China, and to no other. + +Suppose, then, that besides the commodities of China, there are +sent in the ships of this commerce some which are produced and +manufactured in the Philipinas Islands themselves, and are gathered +by their natives and inhabitants--such as wax, white and yellow; +talingas, [8] table-covers, and lampotes [9] (which are pieces of +cotton canvas); blankets from Ilocos, Moro, and Bombon; and some +civet. Of these products a hundred toneladas are usually shipped, +for, as they are bulky, they occupy more space than they are worth; +but it is actually worthwhile for the citizens to ship these to Nueva +Espana, even though it be to sell them at no more than their cost, +because they have no other market for these goods. + +The usage which has hitherto been followed in regard to these goods +is to ship them registered, and value them, and pay the royal dues, +like the rest, without paying any attention to their being included +or not in the 250,000 pesos of the amount permitted, although the +returns for them have always been included in the 500,000 pesos of +money; and in some years when the citizens have not had the cloth +from China to fill up the amount of 250,000 pesos, they have done so +with these goods--not because they supposed that such shipments were +prohibited in other circumstances, but to supply the deficiency with +such goods as they could send. + +They ask, then, that to avoid uncertainties declaration be made +that these goods, when satisfactory proof is given that they +are the products of the islands, may be carried to Nueva Espana +without limitation of their quantity, or obligation to include them +in the amount permitted. This [request] is based on the fact that +the prohibition was expressly imposed for the merchandise of China, +which on account of being silk goods injured [the sale of] those which +are shipped from Espana. This is gathered from all the decrees that +have been issued in regard to this matter--all of which distinctly +state the cloth of China as being the goods which damage [the Spanish +commerce]--not that of the islands, which is not of that character. + +Another reason is, that no province has ever been forbidden to export +to others its own products, for this would be to close to them the +intercourse with others which is their right by natural law; and even +if its commerce be limited to certain provinces it ought not to be +deprived of trade with all the others, but the exportation which it +finds least inconvenient should be left to it. From Philipinas the +commodities which those islands produce cannot be carried to other +parts of the Orient, which have abundance of the same, and even +better. As the only consumption of these goods is in the Indias, the +citizens had begun to send them to Peru, Tierra Firme, Goathemala, +and Nueva Espana; but of these four trade-routes three are prohibited, +because with these goods are shipped those from China, so only the +trade with Nueva Espana remains to them. It immediately follows that +for this latter trade the transportation of goods must be free. + +Another reason: because there is not a province in this [kingdom] +which has not tacit or express permission to export its products +to any place where these may have value and be sold, and with their +proceeds are sent in return other products which are lacking in that +land; for if they could not do this they would be shut in, and not +having communication with adjoining lands, the result would be that +both would perish, or would come to such poverty that they could not +support themselves. + +Another reason: because--as is proved in the said memorial, nos. 115, +116, and 117--these commodities from the islands do not interfere with +those that are shipped from Espana, because they are so different in +quality. If the people have the former, they consume them; if not, +they cannot supply the lack with the goods from these kingdoms, +for these are of much value, and those from the islands are worth +but little. Nor does it follow that the poor Indian or negro who +buys a vara of canvas from the islands for a real and a half will, +if he cannot obtain it, buy the same goods from Ruan for six or eight +reals; since it is more probable that he will dispense with the goods, +even if he go without a shirt, than possible that he can buy it when +he has not enough money to pay for it. + +Another reason: because permission is not asked to carry back the +returns for these goods in silver, since their proceeds, as being of +small value, will be part of the returns allowed for the merchandise +of China; and because, in case there is not room for these proceeds, +the inhabitants of the islands will sooner cease to ship cloth from +China, which costs them their wealth, than cloth of their own country, +since they possess it for the gathering, or their Indians pay tributes +in it. And for these and other reasons which might be presented, +and which will be very evident to your illustrious Lordship in Nueva +Espana as soon as you undertake and investigate the matter, may be +inferred the just cause, the readiness, and the need with which the +Philipinas ask for the above declaration. + + + + + +Point fourth + +Although the commerce from Peru to Nueva Espana does not apparently +concern Manila, and accordingly it will be deemed that Manila is +not interested in the question whether the suspension laid thereon +be continued or removed: proof will first be adduced of the injury +which the Philipinas Islands experience from that suspension, and then +will be presented some arguments, from the many which exist, for the +granting of the permission which was formerly current in that commerce. + +It is taken for granted (as is mentioned in the said memorial, no. 80) +that at the beginning the commerce of the islands and of Nueva Espana +was free to Peru and to all its ports and provinces, in which two +kinds of merchandise were trafficked--that from China, and that from +Nueva Espana. The commerce in the goods from China was prohibited, and +consequently that in the commodities of Nueva Espana has been checked; +because, as it was decreed that no ships should go, neither commerce +could be carried on. A definite form and limitations were imposed upon +the commerce in Chinese goods to Nueva Espana; but the provinces of +that country and of Peru remonstrated against the complete interdiction +of the commerce that they had carried on together--representing that, +even if the trade in Chinese goods were taken away from them, as +being foreign, that in their own products ought not to be forbidden to +them. The reasons for this petition being considered just and proper, +permission was granted for one ship each year, which should sail from +the port of Callao de Lima, and go to that of Acapulco; and this ship +was allowed to carry goods to the amount of 200,000 ducados in silver, +which should return to Peru invested in the products and commodities +peculiar to Nueva Espana--whether in agriculture, stock-raising, or +manufactures--and in no others, even if they were the exports of these +kingdoms; while the prohibition of Chinese cloth remained in force, +under greater and more severe penalties. The trade thus permitted, +continued uninterruptedly from 1604 until, on account of certain +malicious reports, and less attention being paid to that trade than +should have been, it was suspended for a period of five years by +a royal decree of November 23, 1634. This decree is, for greater +clearness, copied here exactly; it is as follows: + +"The King. To Marques de Cerralvo, my kinsman, member of my Council of +War, and my viceroy, governor, and captain-general of the provinces of +Nueva Espana. For just causes and considerations which have influenced +me thereto, and because I have understood that this measure is +expedient for my service, I have decided that, for a period of five +years, the ship for which permission was granted to the provinces of +Peru to go every year with two hundred thousand ducados for their trade +shall not go to those provinces [of Nueva Espana]. For the execution +of this decree I have sent to the Conde de Chinchon, the viceroy of +those provinces, the orders proper for this, of which I have thought +it best to inform you so that, having understood this matter, you +will on your side aid, in what concerns you. I charge you to do so, +in fulfilment of the aforesaid command, exercising special and vigilant +care that there shall be no infraction of the law, so far as concerns +that country; and that no merchandise from China shall be carried from +Nueva Espana to Peru, which is the principal object aimed at. For +it is certain that, if in this matter proper care and vigilance be +not exercised, whatever is gained by watchfulness and precaution on +one road will be diverted by another. At every opportunity that may +present itself you shall, without omitting anything, always advise me, +with especial care and entire secrecy, how this measure is received by +the merchants and trading people of that country; and what advantages +or disadvantages result from its execution, in order that, knowing +this, I may take such steps and issue such orders in the matter as +are most suitable. From Madrid, on the twenty-third day of November +in the year one thousand six hundred and thirty-four. + + + I the King + + "By command of the king our sovereign: + + Don Fernando Ruiz de Contreras + + "Signed by the Council." + + +That this suspension of the commerce of Peru is injurious to the +Philipinas is notorious. First: because when the ships from Peru do not +sail to Acapulco the islands are left exposed to the failure of their +[usual] succor in any year when their ships do not make the voyage +(as often happens), either by having to take shelter in some port, +or being wrecked, or by their late arrival [at Acapulco]--three +contingencies which are quite possible, and even usual, as the +islands have found by experience. Since in these cases the failure of +these ships was formerly made up by those which went from Peru--the +necessary supplies of men and money being sent in those vessels--it +follows that if they do not go thither, and the former do not come, +there will be no ships for this purpose; and in one year alone, if +the islands fail to receive the aid which supports them, they run the +risk of being ruined--and this may even occur on an occasion of such +exigency and danger that afterward they cannot be relieved at all. [10] + +Second: because the silk that is produced in Nueva Espana (both woven +and in skeins) [11] was exported to Peru, since it was the principal +commodity included in this permission, and in order to [help meet] +the expenses of the country; and Nueva Espana, not being as rich as +Peru, prefers the fabrics from China, which remain at a lower price, +so that all those that come from Philipinas find consumption. If, +then, the market that they formerly had fails, it is necessary that +this [home-grown silk] remain in Nueva Espana, as being their own +product. It follows that so much less will be the use of the silks from +China, which were substituted in the place of the Mexican goods when +those went out of the country with the trade permitted to Peru. On +this account, the commerce of Philipinas has been and is steadily +diminishing--to how great an extent may be easily understood by +finding the country full of silks and its own fabrics, which are no +longer consumed except within it, although foreign goods are brought +in. Even if these last are cheaper, they are a hindrance and obstacle +to those which are or can be called original [in the country]--an +injury which has been already experienced with the last ships from +the islands, which as they failed to come in the preceding year, +did not find an outlet for their wares; nor could they sell even +enough to pay the freight charges and the duties, as is stated in +letters from Nueva Espana, where your illustrious Lordship can learn +the facts in the case. + +Third: because, although Nueva Espana has mines of silver--and that +metal is obtained from them in the quantity that is known, since +the greater part of it all is locked up in the royal treasuries for +shipment to Espana--since much goes out for the ordinary trade of +Goathemala, Yucatan, the Windward Islands, and the coasts of Cartagena +and Venezuela, while the bulk of it is laden for these kingdoms, +and even is not sufficient for their trade, it necessarily results +that silver is lacking for that of Philipinas, and that the islands +feel the loss of the 200,000 ducados that Peru was sending, which make +almost 300,000 pesos of silver. This amount is not so small as to be +undeserving of attention, and is sufficiently large to explain why, for +this and the preceding reasons, the islands have experienced so great +a decline in their commerce; and for all those reasons have so much +difficulty in supporting themselves, that it obliges them to demand +relief by all possible and suitable means. Since one of these is, +that the trade permitted to Peru be carried on as it formerly was, +the islands urge that its prohibition, or suspension, shall cease +and be removed. + +And since, besides the advantages which have been mentioned, there are +others which support this decision--some on the part of Nueva Espana, +and others on that of Peru--and accordingly it is demanded by both +kingdoms, it must be observed that it seems just and necessary that +there should be intercourse between them; and that, as they are united +naturally and morally, being continuous by the land, subject to one +crown, included under the government of one Council, having the same +laws, and being of the same nationality (that is, the Castilian), +trade and commerce should [not] be totally prohibited to them. Nor, +[on the same grounds, should the amount of trade] permitted to them +be so limited, as it was, to 200,000 ducados--which, considering the +richness of those countries, was very little; indeed, their intercourse +is so restricted that it is less difficult to send a letter from +Lima to Mexico by way of Spain than by the route on which it is now +carried. And when it has been ordained by royal decrees and by the +customary instructions [to royal officials] that the two viceroys +of those countries should aid and favor each other when occasions +therefor arise, and when they so frequently encounter enemies by sea +and disturbances by land, it does not seem consistent that those who +should aid and succor each other cannot hold mutual communication. + +Another reason: because with this prohibition opportunity is given +for greater infractions of the law, or that merchandise which went +with registry may go without it; for hardly is there a year when there +are not voyages of prelates and ministers from Peru to Nueva Espana, +and from Nueva Espana to Peru. Very recently Archbishop Don Feliciano +de Vega and Auditor Don Antonio de Ulloa went from Lima to Mexico, +and the bishop of Nueva Vizcaya (who went to fill the see of La Paz) +from Mexico to Lima, as well as the auditors who were transferred +from the Audiencia of Mexico to that of Lima. All these have to go +by the Southern Sea; and it is quite possible that, by undertaking +to sail at different times--and, because each one [of those prelates] +prefers to go as a superior in his own ship, different vessels convey +them--two ships would go from Lima to Acapulco, and three or four +from Acapulco to Lima, without either of the viceroys being able to +prevent the shipment of much silver in the ships from Peru, and much +merchandise in those from Nueva Espana. Moreover, these four or five +ships are double that number, because all of them are chartered by the +voyage, going or returning; so neither does the Peruvian ship care +to remain in Nueva Espana, nor that from Nueva Espana in Peru; thus +there will be ten ships, five from each country. And all these were +rendered superfluous by the ship that belonged to the permitted trade; +for since the latter sailed regularly and provided registry, there was +sufficient cause for ordaining that the prelates and auditors should +journey in it. This is a reason so evident that, even if there were no +other, it would be enough for granting and facilitating this commerce. + +On behalf of Nueva Espana, it is mentioned in the said memorial +(no. 92) that more than fourteen thousand persons are occupied in the +culture of silk, who, if that should fail them, would perish. This +industry has two factors: one is, that there be silk from China as +raw material [para labrar] and a market for that of the country. If +the commerce with Peru fail them, that market (which is their +principal one) is cut off; and thus that industry will cease, and +the country will lose the wealth that it has which is based on that +industry. Moreover, since the trade of the provinces is so closely +connected and bound together, that of Espana will experience the +same or a greater deficiency. For, if those who in Nueva Espana +deal in silks, and are engaged in the silk culture and industry, +sustained and enriched themselves with the commerce of Peru, and +whatever they gained in that direction converted into the commerce +of Castilla--consuming, as they necessarily would, the commodities +in which that trade consists--it follows that if the people of Nueva +Espana lack capital, and if that of the 200,000 ducados from Peru +fails them, the wealth of Castilla will be thus diminished. + +On behalf of Peru it is also represented that, when that permission +for one ship each year was granted, this matter was examined +and discussed, with reports from the viceroys and audiencias, +and the more intelligent of the officials, and the advantages and +disadvantages on both sides were carefully considered. Moreover, +no new causes have arisen, nor have illegalities occurred [in the +commerce] which compel the suspension of a decision so suitable, +just, and beneficial. And there have only been the proceedings of +Francisco de Victoria, [12] who, without caring for anything except to +make himself singular and conspicuous, and to show himself capable of +what he least understood--with the desire which many have to improve +the government, even though it be by ruining the countries--in affairs +belonging to the commerce of Philipinas and that of Peru strayed so far +from what was fundamental and requisite in them, as may be seen in the +arguments in the said memorial, nos. 1 and 2, and from 93 to 119. And, +granting for the sake of argument that this [course of action] might +have had some foundation: if the suspension of this permission was +for five years, either for the punishment of illegal acts, or for +reasons at the time expedient, when these requirements are fulfilled, +it seems just that those commerces should again continue as before. + +Another: because this becomes more expedient in the present +emergencies, in which those kingdoms desire to help meet the new +impositions which have been levied in all of them since the year 1630: +the union of the armies, the windward armada, the sale of new offices, +the half-annat, the stamped paper, the increase of the averia on +both seas, the incorporation and reduction of encomiendas in both +kingdoms, and other matters, which are well known to your illustrious +Lordship. And if [his Majesty's] vassals are not favored in these +exigencies by facilitating their commerce, it will be impossible for +them, even though they desire it (as they all do), to aid in bearing +so great a load. [13] + +Another: because this permission was granted to Peru in recompense for +what was taken away from that country in the goods from China. That +trade was free, as I have said, and those stuffs were shipped +from Nueva Espana in abundance; and thus the provinces of Peru +experienced great relief, as the Chinese goods were so cheap that +those of Castilla were estimated at three times their price. It was +expedient to prohibit the Chinese goods, in order that the commerce +of Espana might not diminish for lack of the wealth of Peru. And, +since the welfare of some vassals is not to be gained by destroying +the others, in order to repair the loss which was caused by this +prohibition to the vassals of Peru permission was granted to them for +200,000 ducados in goods from Nueva Espana, which are not so cheap +as those of China, nor so dear as those of Castilla. This is stated +in the royal decrees for the concession, and is inferred from their +being of the same year and date as those for the prohibition. If +this was the cause, and now it does not cease to operate, but rather +is still more active--on account of the commodities which go from +Espana having greatly increased in price, the land being poorer, +and the impositions, expenses, and losses being heavier--it may be +easily understood that this permission ought not to be refused. + +Again: because the principal argument which gave cause for the +suspension of this permission was the representation of glaring +infractions of law therein. Sufficient refutations to these were +made in the said memorial, from no. 94 to 117; but as there they are +mingled with those in the commerce of the islands, answer is [here] +made to the former more than to the latter (although the one depends +on the other). The exaggerated statement is made that the ship which +goes every year from Peru to Acapulco carries, instead of the 200,000 +ducados of the permission, three millions--an enlargement which is an +act of audacity deserving punishment rather than complaisance. [This is +preposterous:] first, because even in transgressions of this character +there is usually some moderation; and never before has it been seen, +heard, or supposed that where two [pesos' worth] were permitted the +amount concealed would reach thirty. Second, this ship which went to +Acapulco was one of 200 toneladas. The galleons on the India route, +which go only to carry silver, and are of 600 to 800 toneladas, +do not carry more than one million each year; and the capitana and +the almiranta, which are larger, carry a little more. Therefore, +if a galleon of 800 toneladas does not carry a million and a half, +how could a ship of 200 toneladas carry three millions? Third, it may +be asked why all that money went to Nueva Espana. Reply will be made, +"with the royal decree for the permission," and with the argument +(which is very evident) that the money went thither for investment +in merchandise, and not to be left there, or to come by that route +to Espana; for the one would be folly for its owners, and the other +a blunder, since it would involve greater costs and risks. Then if +(as is evident) the money must return invested, and in the same ship, +or in another of equal burden, who ever said or imagined that that +ship, with a burden of 200 toneladas, can carry the investments of +three millions? If this sum be in silver, it is impossible to do so, +as is proved; but the same is true if it be in merchandise. The ships +which come from Eastern India to Lisboa are of 1,500 toneladas, and +some of 2,000; and whatever goes beyond a million in the entire lading +is very profitable, and is largely composed of diamonds, rubies, civet, +and musk, commodities which are not bulky. Then how could a ship of +200 toneladas carry a cargo of taffetas, velvets, silk in skeins, +coverlets, beds, tents, cabinets, and other like articles, to the +extent of three millions of investment, which in Peru would be four +or five millions? Fourth, because it cannot be said that the ship, +since it does not carry three millions of silver, will carry two +millions, or one--which also is a great transgression of the limit +set. It is proved by experience that neither three nor two millions, +nor one, nor [even] half a million can be invested in [the cargo +of] a ship of 200 toneladas--which with 200,000 ducados of silver +converted into merchandise (which in Peru will be worth 300,000), +and with the people, and supplies for three months (the time spent in +going from Acapulco to Callao de Lima) will sail so well laden that no +considerable quantity can be carried outside of the registry. Fifth, +and last, because if this ship carried three millions, we must find a +source for this silver, and a halting-place for it. There is no source +[for that amount], because the silver produced from the mines of +Peru, whether computed at a little more or less, is shipped to Espana +every year, without an error of three millions. But if Peru retained +so much silver, if from the year 1636 no ship has gone to Acapulco +(and it is not to be supposed that the merchants keep their funds +idle) from that time the exports from Peru would be heavier; but if +we abide by experience (which is in this matter the best proof), the +opposite is well-known. As little is a halting-place found for that +silver, since [what there is] remains in Peru, on account of not having +permission. Finally, we say, and it is known, that no more silver comes +[from Peru] than did formerly, nor even as much. When it was going to +Nueva Espana, the necessary effect of carrying three millions would +have been to engross both the commerce of that country with Castilla +and that with Philipinas; that those two should share the greater +part of the silver; and that, when it ceased, both should feel the +lack. The trade of Philipinas has had less return than formerly, not +for lack of silver, but because Don Pedro de Quiroga did not give them +permission to ship the returns for two years, and therefore the silver +remained in Nueva Espana for that reason. As little has the commerce +of Castilla experienced a considerable reduction, and not one in +proportion to the lack of Peru's millions; and thus is proved that this +permission for Peru never had the infringements that are represented, +either in the quantity that is stated, or in any other considerable +amount. [It is clear] that it ought to be decreed that, since the +[term of the] suspension imposed upon that commerce is completed, +it shall again proceed as is demanded in behalf of Philipinas, and +has been requested on behalf of Mexico and Lima--the matter being +referred to the investigation of your illustrious Lordship, who, +after considering the reasons here mentioned, will decide it with +the perspicuity and equity that the matter demands. + +His Majesty has also given commission to your illustrious Lordship +that, having heard the citizens in regard to the claim which they +make of not being included in the two compositions of 630,000 pesos, +the share of it which was levied upon them may be returned to them; +since his Majesty says in his royal decree that he does not wish +them to pay what they do not owe. Since all the considerations and +arguments are fully stated in the said decree, I will, in order not +to weary your illustrious Lordship, refer you to it, which also is +very convenient, as will be seen, in serving to throw much light upon +the affairs which your illustrious Lordship has to arrange and settle. + + + + + +Informatory decree regarding the question to what extent and on what +plan shall the commerce of the islands with Nueva Espana hereafter +proceed. + + +The King. To the reverend father in Christ, Don Juan de Palafox y +Mendoza, bishop of the cathedral church of the city of Puebla de +los Angeles, member of my royal Council of the Indias, to whom I +have entrusted the visitation of my royal Audiencia of the City of +Mexico in Nueva Espana, and of its tribunals, and that of the port of +Acapulco: on the part of Don Juan Grau y Monfalcon, procurator-general +of the distinguished and ever loyal city of Manila, the capital of +the Philipinas Islands, he has in the name of that city presented to +me a statement that, having set forth to me in another memorial the +wretched condition in which those islands are, and offered various +petitions regarding it, which have been examined in the said my +royal Council of the Indias, they failed to come to a decision in +the principal points, not only on account of their importance, but +in order to wait for the despatches which they were expecting to +come in the trading fleet. And among those which arrived with the +fleet from Nueva Espana there were letters from the city of Manila +and the governor of Philipinas, and from certain intelligent persons, +all of which agree--in which, to judge from the condition of affairs, +those islands were in evident risk of being ruined unless the relief +which they needed were sent to them with the utmost promptness, +by helping to give form to their commerce, on which is based their +preservation and defense, in the returns of silver, in the succors +[that they receive] in fighting men, and in aid from the seamen [who +go there]. The said city of Manila and the governor, as men who so +carefully bear in mind the losses [that the commerce has experienced] +mention them in their letters; and the commissaries of the city (who +reside in Mexico), with even more information of what the people of +the said city did not know, have considered and noted these letters, +since the remonstrances which the citizens have made were caused only +by having received some information in general of the cruel acts of +Don Pedro de Quiroga [y Moya], and that he had prohibited 600,000 +pesos to the commerce. And when they knew that, besides the previous +acts of oppression, others had been so recently committed against +them, and such as had never before been known, and another sum of +300,000 pesos taken from them, it can be judged what they suffered, +and the affliction that they experienced. And [I desire] that always, +and in whatever event, it may be seen and known that the said Don Juan +Grau gave information of and proposed to me all that he considered +expedient for preventing the loss of the said islands, which with +so plain indications is menacing them, and ought to be feared--as it +is feared, not only by their citizens, but by all who recognize the +difficulty of preserving them without commerce, or money, or soldiers, +or seamen--continuing in his obligation, which is to communicate what +shall be written to him, to present such requests as the said city +shall order him to make, and to urge forward the decision of the most +important matters. And he regards as settled that the commerce of the +said islands with Nueva Espana is permanent, which is the only way in +which they can be maintained, as he has proved in the said memorial; +and that, if it ceases, they will be ruined and the Dutch enemy will +take possession of them, since for so many years they have with this +desire harassed the islands. [He makes the following statements:] +If they should succeed therein (which may God not permit) all Eastern +India would perish--since, if the enemy should be master of the Straits +of Sincapura, and of the archipelagos of Moluco and Luzon (which +have for their defense only that which Manila and its armed fleets +give them), all the commerce of China would necessarily be hindered, +not only for the Castilians but for the Portuguese; and the factories +which (without other power than that of the commerce and advantage +of many nations which resort to them), I possess in those coasts and +kingdoms, with which I have preserved and sustained them, would come to +an end. And the commerce of the said islands is at present suspended, +if not cut off, as appears from the letters of the city of Manila and +the governor. It must be noted that three-fourths of the merchandise +which the citizens are accustomed to trade is pledged to the Sangleys, +since the commerce has hitherto been sustained on credit alone; and as +in the past year of 1636-37 no money went from Nueva Espana from the +goods which the citizens sent, which the Sangleys had sold on credit, +they have not been able to satisfy these claims. For this reason the +Sangleys have gone away, and say that they are not willing to lose +more than what they have lost; and the Portuguese of Macan have done +the same--who, like the Chinese, have returned to their own country, +ruined. And the citizens having refused, in the past year of 1636, +to lade their goods in the two ships which were ready to sail, +fearing (and with good cause) the severity of Don Pedro de Quiroga, +the governor urged them to lade their goods, and those which they +had procured on credit--assuring them in my name that these would be +expedited at Acapulco in the same manner as formerly, for which purpose +he ordered that all the goods should be registered with the utmost +possible exactness and equity. The effect of this was, that Don Pedro +de Quiroga paid no attention to what the governor had promised in my +name; instead, his harsh nature being thereby irritated, he displayed +greater severity, and, not content with detaining whatever the ships +carried, he weighed and opened registered bales and chests--contrary to +the usage at all the ports, against the regulations provided by royal +decrees; and the appraisement that he made of the merchandise was so +increased and exorbitant that what was at its just price in Mexico +worth 800,000 pesos he rated at four millions. For the commodities +which in Manila cost at the rate of nine pesos, the said Don Pedro +appraised at twenty-two; and much of the cloth was sold in Acapulco, +in his very sight, at six pesos, while he had collected the full amount +of the royal dues, on the basis of twenty-two, at which he had valued +the goods. By this one may judge how considerable a loss the citizens +experienced, not only in paying the dues on so increased a valuation, +but in the loss of the money they had invested. It may easily be judged +that, by making this valuation so contrary to justice and reason, the +registers transgressed the permitted amount; and with this appraisement +he began to inflict new and hitherto unknown injuries on the commerce, +with the sole intent of obtaining another composition, and demanded +for it 500,000 ducados. God permitted that he should die; but, on +account of his death, what he had begun was continued by the marques +de Cadereyta, and continued with no less severity. For he forcibly +extorted from the commerce 300,000 pesos, which the citizens did not +owe according to the document that they signed at the time of their +first agreement; and he made them draw up a document regarding the +commerce, with declarations at the start that they had not entered +protest against signing the document for the 300,000 pesos, by which +act they left themselves no recourse. In order to relieve themselves +from these annoyances they signed the said obligation, although they +knew that it was the utter ruin of the commerce; but with this, and the +damages and losses that their property suffered--for, besides opening +the packages, they remained several days on the beach, with guards, +and other expenses--not only their profit but their principal was +consumed. Another factor in this loss was the necessity of securing +what belonged to the islands out of the 600,000 pesos of the first +composition; and for this, and the composition of 300,000 pesos, +with the half-annat (which is charged to them), they were obliged to +take moneys at a loss, and to sell very cheaply the goods that had +remained. The result was, that of all the investment for the said year +of 1636, when the entire capital of the citizens of the islands was +sent, there remained no considerable amount that could be returned +to them--as they were informed by the commissary through whose hand +the returns were sent. On account of this--even before the second +condemnation of the 300,000 pesos, or all the unfortunate outcome of +their investments, was known in Manila--the citizens who had some +estates in the country, seeing their extreme necessity, asked the +governor's permission to go out [of the city] to live on their lands, +with the little money that remained to them, by cultivating the soil +to support themselves. The rest, who are poor, have asked permission +to enlist in the army as soldiers, and to join expeditions, or go +to Terrenate, as they can find no other means of support; and the +majority of the citizens were discussing whether to entreat me that +I will be pleased to grant them permission so that they can return to +these kingdoms, to die in their own countries, as they can no longer +support themselves in the Philipinas--but the governor, having notice +of this, persuaded them to ask me for relief in this their afflicted +condition, which they have done. Accordingly, they assembled in an +open session of cabildo, and agreed that, until I should be pleased +to form and establish a definite plan for the said commerce, no one +of them should lade or send to Nueva Espana any merchandise, whether +in great or small quantity--with which the said commerce has entirely +ceased and been suspended, and will remain in that condition until a +decision shall be sent them in regard to its plan. [They say] that, +if this be delayed, it may arrive at a time when already no remedy +will avail; that, although the citizens of Manila know that this +course may ruin themselves and their islands, they consider it less +injurious to them to spend their funds in maintaining what they may +hereafter acquire, than in sending them to Nueva Espana in order to +complete the loss of these in one year. They have acted accordingly, +since in a patache which the governor despatched in the year 1637, +with information of these necessities and of others contained in +their letters, there came no merchandise, nor was there any person +who was willing to ship goods; and the same occurred with the two +ships which were despatched in the past year of 1638. And although +the governor made all possible efforts to constrain the citizens to +lade the two ships, he could not succeed in this, which now causes +them to feel their loss still more keenly. It is evident that the +foregoing alone will cause a greater loss of duties to my royal +exchequer in Nueva Espana, besides the licenses of the Sangleys, and +other things in Manila and Nueva Espana, than what has been gained for +it by the 900,000 pesos of the said two compositions--not to mention +the evident risk in which the islands remain; for, if they are lost, +four millions will not be enough to recover them if the Dutch take +possession of them, which is the principal object at which they aim. It +is represented to me that, if that commerce flourishes, my duties in +Nueva Espana on the merchandise will amount to about 300,000 pesos, +with which was provided the amount which I ordered to be sent back as +returns to Manila, for the purposes and preservation of those islands; +and that now all that source of income has fallen at a blow, and the +loss has recoiled upon my royal exchequer, since it is necessary that +the amount of money which is conveyed every year for the succor of +those islands be supplied from my royal treasury of Mexico to that +of Manila, out of the silver and the fifths from the mines. And not +only is this loss occasioned, but all the capital with which commerce +was carried on from Mexico to Philipinas (to which the duties gave +rise) has ceased to exist; for in the year 1638, when no ships save +one patache came [to Acapulco] the dues from it amounted to [only] +4,000 pesos, and in 1639 another 4,000 pesos were collected from the +almiranta which arrived at Acapulco. As the citizens of Manila had no +means to lade merchandise, not only the patache but the almiranta came +without registers--as also did the capitana, which had to go back to +port. According to what the governor writes, he will not send ships +in the year 1640; with this, in three years I shall have lost 900,000 +pesos in duties--the same amount which was extorted as composition, +against all reason and justice, by Don Pedro de Quiroga; and it is +he who has caused, by his severe measures, these so irreparable +losses, not only to my royal exchequer but to the commerce. [Don +Juan Grau] entreated me that, since all the above matters are worthy +of such careful attention, I would be pleased, in order to place a +speedy check on these losses--which recoil upon my royal exchequer, +as he represented to me--to furnish a plan for the said commerce, +without entrusting the matter to any judge or official visitor, or +waiting for reports on a matter which is so thoroughly explained and +well understood, in which even one year's delay is enough to render +relief impossible, to judge by the condition in which those islands +now are. [He asks that,] in case this is impracticable, I command +that for six or eight years the usage that has prevailed in regard to +the registration and the appraisement and all the rest be followed, +without making changes in anything, punishing those who transgress the +regulations and orders that have been established by royal decrees; +and that this may and shall be understood without prejudice to what +must and shall be decreed after the documents, reports, and other +papers which shall be demanded or sent have been examined. [He asks +that] I immediately despatch a decree to this effect, since, if a +decision on this point be not at once sent, the commerce will be +ruined in one year more--which, added to what has been already lost, +will be the total destruction of the said islands. This subject has +been discussed in my royal Council of the Indias, and I have taken +into consideration all that has been represented to me, and that it +is just to reward the loyalty, fidelity, and services of vassals who +are continually serving me, arms in hand--defending my crown in lands +so widespread, with so great reputation for my arms; and I desire +in everything their prosperity, comfort, and preservation. By my +decree of September 30 last I thought best to command that in the +appraisements and registrations, and in not opening the bales or +weighing the chests from the ships of the said Philipinas Islands +which arrive at Acapulco--unless such act shall be preceded by the +informations and other requisites that are ordained by decrees that +have been issued on this subject--the custom and usage which were in +vogue before Don Pedro de Quiroga went [there] should be observed, +without infringing the decrees and orders which were issued regarding +these matters; and that this be for the present, and meanwhile nothing +else be ordained by the said my Council until you shall have informed +me (as you will do) about the affairs of Philipinas, since I have +entrusted to you the settlement and enforcement of matters concerning +the commerce of the said islands. I request and charge you, [for all +these reasons,] to inform me about all that I have here mentioned, +with great distinctness and thoroughness, with your opinion and +any suggestions that you can offer regarding the advantages and the +preservation of the said Philipinas Islands--in order that, after +the matter has been examined in the said my Council, I may take such +measures as are most expedient. Done at Madrid, February 14, 1640. + + + I the King + + By command of the king our sovereign: + + Don Gabriel de Ocana y Alarcon + + + + + +Informatory decree upon the augmentation of the amount permitted to +the Philipinas Islands, in both silver and merchandise; and that the +products of the islands shall not be included in the permission for +250,000 pesos. + + +The King. To the reverend father in Christ Don Juan de Palafox y +Mendoza, bishop of the cathedral church of the city of Puebla de los +Angeles, member of my royal Council of the Indias, to whom I have +committed the visitation of my royal Audiencia of the City of Mexico +in Nueva Espana and of its tribunals, and the visitation of the port +of Acapulco: [Here follows a preamble which is identical with that in +the first of these decrees, as far as the words, "and to urge forward +the decision of the most important matters." This decree then continues +(evidently stating Grau's arguments) as follows:] And as for the lack +of money, this cannot be avoided when the commerce in merchandise +fails, since, if that is not sent, there will be no returns from it; +and the main thing to be considered is that as little can the duties +be collected, which (as is proved in the said larger memorial) on the +said commerce amount to the sum which is sent every year for the aid +of the said islands. If these duties fail, it will be necessary that +all this succor come out of my royal exchequer, and it may be needful +to send much more there; for in the past, when the citizens found +themselves without means to aid (as they do aid) in the support of +the said islands, the deficiency had to be made good from my royal +exchequer, as has been proved by experience. The governor of those +islands, seeing the pressing necessities of the citizens, in the year +1637 lent them from my royal treasury 76,765 pesos, besides what he +lent them in the year 1638, when in the same condition--when formerly +the citizens loaned so great sums, as is known, to my royal treasury; +and this is ascertained, with convincing arguments, that in order +to lessen the occasion [for such loans] it is necessary to aid and +favor the citizens and the commerce, since whatever it has of wealth +[for them] I shall be spared from expending in the maintenance of +continual war in those archipelagos. For it can be understood that if +this does not cease, and those who are supporting it have no means for +doing that, either I must support it or I shall be defeated; and that +it is of the utmost importance to maintain the war. I have already +recognized the great difficulties that result from the cessation of +sending money to those islands; for, on account of the fact that in the +year 1637 not more than 150,000 pesos of the amount in the Count-Duke's +permission was carried [to Mexico], and that the citizens failed to +receive the returns therefrom through the harsh measures and blunders +of Don Pedro de Quiroga, the Chinese merchants have gone from Manila, +and carried away their merchandise, because there is no one who can +buy their goods; and it is known with certainty, according to letters +from the city, that the silk sold by the said Chinese to the Dutch, +since they knew that there was no money in Manila, amounted to more +than 5,000 picos. If the commerce with China is cut off from that +city, it will be impossible again to introduce it, and whatever is +collected there from the licenses given to the said Chinese (which +is a very large item) will be lost; and finally the whole colony +will reach so exhausted a condition that it will be impossible, +[14] even with a million [pesos] of aid a year, to maintain the said +islands. [Don Juan Grau] has entreated that I would be pleased to +command that in the first ships which sail from Acapulco for the said +islands--or, in default of these, in whatever ships shall go to the +islands--shall be transported, besides the usual succor that I send, +all the residues of permissions which there may be in Nueva Espana +belonging to citizens of those islands, and all the money which may +be still due as returns from the permissions, so that in this first +voyage may be made up whatever shall have been deficient in past +ones, according to the amount permitted, and nothing shall remain +to fill out the entire amount of the returns in any year. Moreover, +in order to mitigate somewhat the great injuries and losses for eight +or ten years, [he has asked] that an increase be allowed them in the +permission for the silver, up to the amount of 800,000 pesos instead +of the 500,000 for which they have permission--or such quantity as I +shall be pleased [to grant]; and that I give them permission to carry +to Nueva Espana, besides the 250,000 pesos' worth of cloth from China +which is already allowed to them, all the products of the country--as +they have requested by a special petition in the large memorial, which +Don Juan Grau asks shall be again examined, with the strong arguments +which they present for asking this favor; and he says that at present +there are [even] more reasons for granting it. This matter has been +considered in my royal Council of the Indias, notwithstanding that +I commanded the viceroy and the Audiencia of Mexico, by my decree of +December 8, 1638, to inform me what permission the Philipinas Islands +have, and that which was granted to the Count-Duke; and whether +it would be expedient to enlarge further that of the said islands, +considering their needs and other circumstances. By another decree +of mine, of the same date, I also commanded the said my viceroy +and Audiencia of Mexico, and the governor and Audiencia of Manila, +to inform me regarding the representations made to me, on the part +of the said city of Manila, that all the provinces of the Indias +are permitted to export the products that in them are gathered and +cultivated, without limitation of quantity. Those of the islands, +the proceeds of their collections and labors, are: wax, lampotes, +coverlets, tarlingas, blankets from Ilocos, musk, civet, and other +commodities which are peculiar to the said islands; and it has been +the custom for many years past to ship these products to Nueva Espana +(which is their only market), registered, but not included in the +250,000 pesos of the permission, as it seemed that the citizens did not +need it for these commodities, and that it was granted only for those +from China--which are the ones expressly stated in the royal decrees, +and on which fall the prohibitions and penalties. And [Don Juan Grau] +petitioned that I would command that a declaration be made to this +effect, and that these commodities, coming registered, and paying +my royal duties at their departure from the islands and entrance at +Acapulco, as do the other goods from China, should be (even though +their value and quantity did not come included, and be not included, +in the permission) passed by the customs officers without incurring +penalty of confiscation, or any other. I request and charge you that, +after having thoroughly informed yourself of all that I have mentioned, +you report to me very fully thereon, in order that, when the matter +shall have been discussed in the said my Council, I may take such +measures as shall be most expedient for the relief and preservation +of my vassals in those islands. Done at Madrid, February 14, in the +year 1640. + + + I the King + + By command of the king our sovereign: + + Don Gabriel de Ocana y Alarcon + + + + + +Informatory decree, in regard to opening the commerce between the +kingdoms of Peru and Nueva Espana. + + +The King. To the reverend father in Christ, Don Juan de Palafox y +Mendoza, bishop of the cathedral church of the city of Puebla de los +Angeles, [etc. Here follows a preamble identical with that of the +first decree, as explained in the second one. This decree continues:] + +Both Peru and Nueva Espana oppose the method followed in the commerce +of the said Philipinas Islands, and complain of the above prohibitions, +setting forth certain difficulties which result from closing to them +the commerce which those two most opulent states have maintained +(as it were, by nature) between themselves; the chief of these +is their being entirely deprived of the mutual intercourse and +relations which ought to prevail between them. On this account, +another permission of two ships has been granted to them. One of +these shall sail every year from the port of Callao de Lima, and may +carry to that of Acapulco silver to the amount of 200,000 ducados, +for investment in the products peculiar to Nueva Espana--whether of +agriculture, stock-raising, or manufacture--and no others, even those +sent from these kingdoms. The other ship shall return from Acapulco +to Callao with these proceeds [of the investment], the prohibition +of cloth from China remaining in force; and the decree declares that +none of that cloth may be sent in return for the 200,000 ducados, nor +outside of that amount, enforcing its execution by heavy penalties +[imposed] by the decrees of December 31, 1604, and March 8 and June +20, 1620. By these decrees final shape was given to this permission +which now is suspended; and it was ordered to cease by a decree of +November 23, 1634, without the reason which had given cause for this +act being known--further than the measures which had been proposed +for ruining the islands, and this, that the ships of Peru might not +sail to Acapulco, to the so great harm of the Philipinas Islands, +as this alone would be enough to ruin them. For if ships do not go +from Peru, the islands remain exposed to the failure of their aid, +in the year when their ships do not make the voyage, by having been +wrecked, or forced to put back to port, or having arrived late. As +in such cases, it is usual to make good their deficiency with the +ships from Peru, sending in them the usual succor of men and money, +if the latter do not go, and the others do not come [to Acapulco], +there will not be ships for that purpose, and the islands might +remain for several years without the succor that supports them, at +the evident risk of being ruined. To this may be added, that there +are, as will be stated, in Nueva Espana more than fourteen thousand +persons who sustain themselves with the industry of silk-raising and +silk manufacture, by express permission, and the order that this +industry be preserved. It cannot be maintained with only the silk +that is produced in that country, the total amount of which is very +small, and it therefore employs the silk that comes from Manila, +as being suitable for delicate fabrics. The silk fabrics of Nueva +Espana have always been exported to Peru, as commodities included in +the trade permitted to those countries, which was mainly composed +of these stuffs; while the fabrics of China remained for meeting +the expenses of the country, which regularly consumed all that came +thence. Since the exportation of what formerly went to Peru has ceased, +the necessary result is that these goods remain and are consumed in +Nueva Espana, as being its own product, and that just so much less of +the Chinese silk is required--which is substituted in place of the home +product when the former goods are imported through the permission--and +necessarily less of the other is produced. Besides taking away their +occupation from the people who are engaged in the silk industry, +this will cause an evident diminution in the commerce of Philipinas, +the bulk of which consists in silks; for just so much less of what +the islands export is consumed [in Nueva Espana] as cannot be sold +out of what is produced there--which will be an amount so noticeable +that with this reduction alone that commerce will become excessively +weakened. This has been already proved in regard to the last ships +which came from those islands--for, as they failed to come the previous +year, they found no market for their goods, and could not sell enough +of these even to pay the freight charges and the duties, according to +letters from Nueva Espana and authentic documents; it is, therefore, +very expedient that the permission given to Peru should be revived, +else, by not conceding it, a great reduction is feared in that of +Philipinas. If, when that permission was granted, the matter was +discussed with adequate information, and the advantages which there +might be on either side were considered, and now if no new reasons +or circumstances arise which compel the decision to be suspended +beyond the fact that Francisco de Victoria contrived such expedients, +without heeding other objects, so that it seems as if he cared only +for the abandonment and ruin of the islands, no opportunity should be +given for that suspension. Even if the memorials which [Don Juan Grau] +has furnished on the other topics prove to be sufficiently answered, +and their arguments are shown to be weak or false, it must not be +understood that there are better ones for what concerns the permission +given to Peru; but no answer is made here, save in what pertains to +the Philipinas, for the rest concerns Nueva Espana and Peru, who will +give fuller explanations. And, considering the evident injury and risk +to which the islands are exposed by the lack of freight ships that +can sail thither, since in case the ships belonging to the commerce +are wrecked, or forced to take refuge in other ports, or arrive late, +the islands will perish if there are no other ships in which to send +the usual succor of men and money: and since freight vessels are +not built, which is necessary in all the coasts of Nueva Espana, +this deficiency must be supplied some years by the ships from Peru that +go to Acapulco--which do not sail now, on account of the permission +which was given for that purpose being suspended--from which also +result to the islands the losses which have been set forth in the said +memorial, which are stated anew in this petition, because it is so +expedient that the traffic between Nueva Espana and Peru be restored: +[Don Juan Grau] has petitioned me to consent to raise the suspension, +or prohibition, which is laid or imposed on the said permission of +Peru and Nueva Espana, even though, for its fulfilment and better +observance, the penalties be increased so far as is expedient. This +matter having been considered in my royal Council of the Indias, +as I desire to ascertain the advantages or disadvantages which may +result from the aforesaid measure, whether to my greater service, to +the increase or diminution of my royal dues, to the preservation of my +vassals of the said Philipinas Islands, or to their relief or injury: +I request and charge you to inform me very thoroughly of all that you +shall ascertain and understand to be most expedient, in order that +when I have considered all the reliable information in your report, +I may take such measures as may be most fitting. Done at Madrid, +February 14, in the year 1640. + + + I the King + + By command of the king our sovereign: + + Don Gabriel de Ocana y Alarcon + + + + + +Decree in which his Majesty commands that a hearing be given in a +court of justice to the citizens of the city of Manila, regarding their +claim that they be not included in the condemnations and compositions +of the 900,000 pesos; and [it is declared] that it is his Majesty's +intention that they should not pay what they do not owe. + + +The King. To the reverend father in Christ, Don Juan de Palafox y +Mendoza, bishop of the cathedral church of Tlaxcala, [15] member of +my royal Council of the Indias, to whom I have entrusted the general +visitation of my royal Audiencia of the City of Mexico in Nueva Espana +and of its tribunals, and the visitation of the port of Acapulco, +and other affairs very important for my service. [Most of this decree +is omitted, as being only a repetition, in the main, of statements +in Grau's memorial preceding. The king rehearses the injuries done +to Philippine commerce, the arguments pro and con an increase of +duties, and the representations by the citizens of Manila in behalf +of their petition for relief; and continues:] What they entreat with +the humility belonging to my vassals, and set forth with arguments of +expediency and good government, subject in everything to what shall +be for my greater service, is that what is past be punished, but not +so as to inflict the same penalty on those whose guilt is unequal; +for if there shall prove to be guilt, it must be because they were +induced to it more by their need and hardships than by the profits on +their investments; and it is the fact that whatever they have acquired +by these is known to be but a small part of the means which they have +at present, and they have spent it and intend to spend it in serving +me and in preserving those islands at the cost of their blood and +property. They ask that for the present attention be given to what +is hidden and concealed, and that this be diminished and reduced to +the amount permitted and regulated; and that, until they know in the +islands what they ought to do, and what new decrees shall be issued, +those penalties be not carried out against the citizens, and that +they shall not be punished for what they have committed through +ignorance. They ask that for the future the duties be not increased +on what shall be found within the amount permitted, whether in silver +or merchandise; that no innovations be made in the appraisement of +the goods, nor by opening the packages or measuring them, through +any different method from that which has been [hitherto] observed and +followed, since (as is very evident) they pay more than they are able +to; and they state that the despatch of the two ships was included +and is still contained in the composition of the 600,000 pesos for +the year 1635--a proposition very plain and undisputed, which does +not admit of doubt, since it is expressly, clearly, and distinctly +stipulated, noted, and agreed in the document which was executed +regarding this matter, the first section of which reads as follows: +"First: that in this agreement shall be set down and included the +two ships which are expected to come from the Philipinas Islands +this present year, or early in this coming year of 1636, to this +Nueva Espana with registry; and if one or both of them shall not have +sailed, or shall not sail, from the said islands, or if they be forced +to put back to port, this agreement shall hold good regarding those +which shall come in the following year, at whatever time therein; +and the ship which shall not sail this year may do so next year, +so that there will be two vessels; and they may land at the port of +Acapulco in this Nueva Espana the goods that they carry, paying to his +Majesty his customary royal dues, without those goods being seized; +nor can anything be confiscated thereon in case each person declares +what he shall carry, in conformity with the proclamation which will +be issued. [This goes] with declaration that if (which may God not +permit) the ship be wrecked at sea, or plundered by enemies, no other +shipment be allowed." It does not seem as if the persons who drew up +and signed this contract could state more contingencies regarding +the voyage of these ships, in order that these might be included +in the document, since they set down the following: sailing in the +year 1635; being obliged to put back to port, and being shipwrecked; +sailing not in that year, but in the following one, that of 1636; +arriving at Acapulco in that year, or in 1637 at whatever time therein; +one ship arriving, and the other being obliged to go back to port, or +not sailing at all; and finally, settling beforehand the account and +despatch of two ships which would arrive after the date of the contract +and agreement, up to the completion of the said year 1637. Moreover, +the necessary declarations were made as to the cargo of the ships: +that it must pay the customary dues, all goods being declared; +and that, if this alone were done, they could not be confiscated, +even though they should come outside of the registry, for this is +meant by declaring them. The facts of the case were, in all these +matters, that the ships did not sail in the year 1635, but in 1636, +and reached Acapulco at the beginning of 1637--a voyage included +and expressly stated in the [aforesaid] document. In this case, +conformably to the section which is here copied, it could not and +cannot be doubted that these two ships were the first to arrive after +the agreement, within the limit set therein, and with the permitted +amount of goods registered--not only as that amount had always come, +but with more rigorous and orderly [inspection]. As for the landing +of the goods, this was done as the above section directed; for Don +Pedro de Quiroga, when the ships cast anchor, caused proclamation +to be made that all should declare whatever goods they carried; with +this, and the severity which he exercised in permitting the goods to +be removed from the ships, not a bale was concealed, or considered as +such, nor was anything seized as contraband. [The king then mentions +Quiroga's rigorous and oppressive measures, almost in Grau's own words, +and continues:] + +But it is a fact that, according to that agreement, what had to be done +was to appraise all that came registered--as had been done during the +six years before, to which the commission extended without making any +kind of innovation, since the contract was that they had to collect the +customary dues; and if anything came outside the registry, its owners, +by declaring it in accordance with the proclamation (as they did +declare it), had to pay the same dues, freight charges, and alcavala as +did the registered merchandise--which is the same practice as that in +Sevilla when, at the arrival of the galleons, my royal decree regarding +declarations is issued and proclaimed. And this the proclamation of +Don Pedro de Quiroga could not exceed, because it was of the same +character, not only on account of his own official position, but by +the obligation of the contract. Such was the proper course of action, +according to justice and reason, and conformably to the contract +approved by the viceroy and the visitor and by me; and since, in virtue +of his document, [16] the 400,000 pesos of the two thirds of 1636 and +1637 were already collected. What he did was to contravene all this, +the same as if such usage had not been current; [but in that case] +such a composition would not have been made, nor such a contract +drawn up. For, as if the ships were not included in the agreement, +whatever they carried was immediately seized (as has been stated), +saying that it was confiscated--not for coming outside of registry, +since of this sort there was nothing belonging to the citizens of +the islands; but because the permitted amount came registered, [17] +as it always has come and ought to come, in order to fulfil therein the +condition of the document, which was that each chest be carried as one +pico of silk, to which is introduced the addition of a quarter, from +which Manila has made petition. For if it were not with the express +condition that these ships should be thus despatched, there would +have been no reason for mentioning them in the agreement. Besides, +they conformed to the order of which Don Pedro de Quiroga notified the +islands, as appeared by a section of his letter, inserted in a document +which the governor wrote to the city of Manila, which reads thus: +"We have been expecting the ships which thus far have not arrived, +by which we deem it certain that they have been obliged to take refuge +in port; and in order that the service of his Majesty, to which your +Lordship is always so attentive, may be furthered, it is necessary for +me to express my opinion (as you commanded me, in your instructions) +that all the goods which go registered in the ships, even if there be +more of them than the 250,000 pesos of the permission, should remain +free, by paying the dues at the port of Acapulco; and the same should +be done with those that are not registered, if they are declared in the +said port within twenty-four hours after the vessel casts anchor." This +was the proclamation which I ordered to be made; and that if the said +ships should sail from that city, or after sailing should put back +into port, they might come freely the following year with the said +merchandise; and this was the order that the visitor sent to Manila, +and which the governor executed to the letter. In accordance with it, +the ships sailed, according to the agreement and its first condition; +from this is positively known the notorious injury and injustice which +has been done to all those engaged in this commerce who took part in +the first composition--compelling them by severe measures to enter +upon the second one, and to pay or be obliged to pay for it the said +300,000 pesos, endeavoring to deprive them of having recourse to my +clemency with a protest. For even if there had been (as was not the +case) the same or greater infractions of law in those two ships than +in all the preceding years, as these cannot be of different character +from those of the past, and from those included in the commissions +of Don Pedro de Quiroga, they should in justice, and by obligation +and legitimate contract, agreed to and executed, be included and +contained in the composition of the 600,000 pesos; and in virtue of +that agreement ought to have been despatched as usual, without making +accusation or fixing blame for what they carried registered, or was +declared at Acapulco. The islands therefore claim that they ought +not to be included in the first composition, and that what they have +paid ought to be restored to them and is imposed upon them when they +do not owe it, on account of the said composition. They also claim +that the second composition, to which those who signed the document +were compelled, ought to be declared null and void; that all who were +involved therein be set free from their obligation; and that what +they shall have paid or contributed for its fulfilment and execution +be returned and restored to them. [The king here enumerates (again in +Grau's language) the losses which these rigorous measures have caused +to his royal exchequer, the injuries and dangers thus occasioned +to the Philippines, and the services rendered to the crown by its +citizens;] notwithstanding that in a letter of September 2, 1638, I +thought best to inform the said city of Manila that in regard to the +citizens of those islands being included in the former compositions +made by the said Don Pedro de Quiroga, my royal intention was that +they should not pay what they did not owe. And since this depended +on the acts and the general decision which Don Pedro de Quiroga made +regarding these compositions, in which the citizens of the islands +claim they were not included, the judge was notified to proceed in +those commissions, in order that he might hear them and administer +justice as was fitting, affording redress to those who had been +injured. In conformity therewith, I have considered it well to issue +the present, by which I commission you, and give you all the power and +authority that is required by law in order that, after hearing them, +you may administer justice, and furnish redress to those who shall +have been wronged in whatever has been represented to me; for such +is my will. Done at Madrid, February 14, 1640. + + + I the King + + By command of the king our sovereign: + + Don Gabriel de Ocana y Alarcon + + + + + + + + HISTORIA DE LA PROVINCIA DEL + SANCTO ROSARIO DE LA ORDEN + DE PREDICADORES + +By Diego Aduarte, O.P.; Manila, 1640. + +Source: Translated from a copy of the above work in the possession +of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago. This volume comprises pp. 1-167. + +Translation: This is made by Henry B. Lathrop, of the University +of Wisconsin; it is partly in synopsis. This work will continue in +VOLS. XXXI and XXXII; this volume comprises chaps. i-xxxvii of book i. + + + + [Translation of title-page: The History of the Province of the + Holy Rosary, of the Order of Preachers, in Philippinas, Japon, + and China. By the Right Reverend Don Fray Diego Aduarte, Bishop + of Nueva Segovia, with additions by the Very Reverend Father + Fray Domingo Goncalez, Commissary of the Holy Office, and Regent + of the College of Sancto Thomas in the same province. With + license, at Manila, in the College of Sancto Thomas, by Luis + Beltran, printer. In the year 1640.] + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE DOMINICAN PROVINCE OF THE HOLY ROSARY + +By Fray Diego Aduarte, O.P. + +[Aduarte's work [18] is here presented, partly in full translation, +partly in synopsis--the latter portions being, as usual, printed +within brackets.] + + + + + +BOOK I + + +CHAPTER I + +How the establishment of the Dominican order in the Philipinas Islands +was undertaken + + +[Though the Dominican order did not accompany the discovery of these +islands, it was not late in entering them; for it found many entire +provinces still in the night of heathenism, because the preachers, +though good ones, had been few, and because the inhabitants differed +so in their language and were spread over so vast an extent of +territory. The reports which were sent back of the intelligence of the +people, the fertility of the soil, and the amount of the population +moved some religious to come to these regions, in grief that so +many souls should be lost for lack of some one to rescue them from +their errors. The question of establishing the Dominican order was +discussed among the grave and holy fathers of the Province of Mexico; +and to them it seemed unbecoming to our profession that no religious +of our order should be engaged in this new conversion. The first man +to put these pious desires into effect was that noble man of God, Fray +Domingo Betancos, who refused the bishopric of Guatimala, preferring +to be a preacher of the gospel in these islands. By his efforts he +persuaded the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoca, to give command that +he should have a vessel and sailors to take him to Philippinas, for +which he had permission of his bishop. But the time determined upon by +our Lord for this had not yet come, and accordingly it was not carried +out. However, he did not give up his desire; and began again in 1580 +to discuss the journey. In order that the expedition might be better +supported, he talked over with some fathers the plan of sending some +one to Espana and Roma to obtain the necessary documents. Fray Juan +Chrisostomo was chosen as leader of the expedition, and was sent to +Espana and Roma to obtain the usual licenses for the foundation of +a new province of this order in Philippinas, Japon, and China. Fray +Juan set out in 1581 with letters from various ecclesiastics, among +them the first bishop of the Philippinas, Don Fray Domingo de Salazar, +a religious of the same order, who happened to be in Nueva Espana at +the time, on the way to his new bishopric. The bishop was greatly +pleased with this determination, as he hoped to find through it +reparation for his own unfortunate voyage, in which he had brought +religious from Espana for the same purpose, but had lost so many from +death or sickness that he had remaining only father Fray Christoval de +Salvatierra. The mission of Fray Juan Chrisostomo was successful. [19] +He obtained from the general of the order, the Most Reverend Fray Pablo +Constable de Ferrara, a charter giving him authority to establish +a congregation of thirty brethren of the order for the Philippinas +Islands and the kingdom of China, and directing him to follow the +usages of the province of Santiago of Mexico. The privileges of the +province of Mexico were granted to the new province. The date of this +charter is the fourteenth of July, 1582. The general also gave him +a circular letter to the members of the order, confirming his powers.] + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Negotiations of Fray Juan Chrisostomo at Roma + + +[At Roma Fray Juan Chrisostomo obtained a brief from Pope Gregory XIII, +granting to the Dominican province of Philippinas and China powers of +absolution from sins, excommunications, and other sentences, censures +and pains, even in cases reserved for the Apostolic See, in foro +conscientia. This brief bears date of September 15, 1582. The pope +also gave Fray Juan Chrisostomo many precious relics for the order, +granting many indulgences to those who visited them.] + + + + + +CHAPTER III + +The experience of Fray Juan Chrisostomo in Espana until the +establishment of the new province was completed. + + +[Though father Fray Juan had supposed, because of the ease with which +he carried out his business at Roma, that he was likely to obtain +even greater favor in Espana, he found the conditions entirely +contrary. During his absence in Rome, the bishop of Philippinas +had sent to Espana Father Alonso Sanchez as his commissioner. The +bishop met with great difficulties in Philippinas, because of the +long period which had passed during which there had been no bishop +there. He had sent Father Alonso to obtain support from Espana, +giving him especial directions to further the establishment of the +order, as he expected to receive great assistance from it. But Father +Alonso acted in a contrary manner, maintaining both in Mexico and in +Espana that there was no further need of clergy in the islands, and +especially no need of the establishment of a new order there. Being +accredited with letters from the ecclesiastical dignitaries, and +speaking as an eyewitness, he persuaded the Spaniards of whatever he +pleased; he had special influence with the Council of the Indias and +with the king's confessor. [20] Father Juan was accordingly obliged +to retire to his convent of San Pablo at Sevilla, entrusting this +work to the Lord. So completely did he abandon the enterprise that +he made use of some of the relics which had been given him by the +pope for the establishment of the new province, to the advantage of +his old convent. At last, by an inspiration of God, Father Juan was +again moved to set about the establishment of this province. Among the +religious who offered themselves for the work was father Fray Juan de +Castro, [21] who, after filling important administrative offices in +the order, had retired to his convent of San Pablo at Burgos. Though +an old man, he was fired with religious zeal for the work on which +Father Juan had entered. From the convent of San Pablo at Valladolid +there volunteered two lecturers in theology, father Fray Miguel de +Venavides (afterward bishop of Nueva Segovia and archbishop of Manila), +and father Fray Antonio Arcediano; Fray Juan de Ormaca, lecturer in +arts, afterward provincial; Fray Juan Maldonado, likewise lecturer +in arts, and afterward a holy martyr; and Fray Pedro de Soto, Fray +Miguel Berreaca and Fray Juan de Ojeda, who all were priests. [22] +Fray Domingo Nieva, deacon, who also volunteered, was afterward of +great importance, because of the great ease and skill with which he +learned languages, whether Indian or Chinese. From the college of +San Gregorio in the same city, came to join them father Fray Andres +Almaguer. From the convent of San Estevan at Salamanca there offered +themselves for the expedition father Fray Alonso Ximenez (afterward +provincial), father Fray Bartolome Lopez, and father Fray Juan de +Hurutria [Urrutia, in Resena]. From San Vicente at Plasencia came +father Fray Francisco de Toro; from the royal convent of Sancto Thomas +at Avila, father Fray Juan Cobo, [23] a master in the college there; +from the college of Sancto Thomas de Alcala, father Fray Bernardo +Navarro--who was twice provincial, and for many years commissary of +the holy Inquisition--father Fray Diego de Soria (afterward bishop +of Nueva Segovia), and the lay brother Fray Pedro Rodriguez. From the +convent of Nuestra Senora de la Pena de Francia [24] came father Fray +Alonso Delgado, who was sub-prior, and father Fray Pedro Bolanos, +[25] master of novices. From the convent of San Pablo de Sevilla +volunteered father Fray Juan de la Cruz, [26] and the fathers Fray +Francisco de la Cruz and Fray Pedro Flores. Father Juan succeeded in +obtaining a letter from the king to the governor of the Philippinas +Islands, dated September 20, 1585, endorsing his enterprise. + +The religious set out from Castilla in May, 1586. Father Fray Juan +Chrisostomo, being too humble in spirit to undertake the leadership +of the company, resigned his position in favor of father Fray Juan +de Castro.] + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +The experience of these first fathers up to the time of embarcation + + +[The fathers met with great difficulty in preparing for the +embarcation. After making arrangements for their passage, they found +the vessel so ill-suited for their purpose, that they were obliged +to annul the contract. They were left behind by the fleet with which +they were to sail, and endeavored to follow it with a small vessel; +but put back and finally obtained passage in a ship of fair size. As +this vessel was sailing alone, it was exposed to danger from the Moors +and the English. While the fathers were hesitating, the adelantado +of Castilla offered them a munificent support if they would remain +and give their attention to the spiritual good of his vassals. But +overcoming all these alarms and enticements, which were wiles of the +devil, the fathers courageously set sail.] + + + + + +CHAPTER V + +The voyage of the fathers + + +[On Friday, July 17, 1586, the day of St. Alexis, they began the +voyage. Since the vessel already had its complement of passengers, +and a full cargo, there was no place for the religious or for their +goods. To the old and the infirm the captain granted the cabin in the +poop; the others slept where they could. They spent their time in the +occupations which they would have followed in the convent. Reaching +the Canarias they found that the fleet had already gone ahead. The +captain set sail again, without giving them opportunity to say more +than one mass. A fire, which threatened the safety of the ship, was put +out by the holy and courageous Fray Juan Cobo and a Spaniard. Seeing +four vessels which did not seem to belong to the fleets, the people +aboard prepared for battle; but they discovered that these were +friends. They suffered greatly for want of water, but finally readied +port on St. Michael's day in September; from the port they went on +to Vera Cruz, and thence to Mexico. Their hard experience and the +badness of the climate had made a number of them ill. The first to +die was father Fray Miguel Berreaza, a religious of most holy life, a +Basque by nation; he died of a malignant fever. He was soon followed by +father Fray Francisco Navarro, who also died of fever. There also died +father Fray Pedro Flores, in the flower of his age. Many others were +afflicted with illness, but all were kindly received and treated by +the religious at Mexico. The Indians likewise received the religious +with feasts, bouquets, and dances--greatly delighting the newcomers +when they saw these races so marvelously converted from barbarism and +cruelty to peace, kindness, and devotion. The Indians of Cuitlabac +received Father Juan Chrisostomo with special tokens of love, as +their father and former instructor.] + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +New difficulties met by the expedition, and the result + + +[The common enemy of souls strove with all his might to keep the +religious in Mexico. He represented that Mexico was in need of +religious, and that the voyage from Mexico to the Philippinas is +longer than that from Espana to Mexico. He employed a religious +person who had returned from the Philippinas [27] to assure them that +they would not be admitted to the kingdom of China; while, as for the +Philippinas, he declared that the country was small, thinly populated, +and sufficiently provided with religious. The viceroy [28] strove to +retain them. Some remained; but the most valiant and virtuous, like +the army of Gideon against the Midianites, pushed on. The names of +the eighteen who founded the province are: father Fray Juan de Castro, +vicar-general; father Fray Alonso Ximenez, Fray Miguel de Benavides, +Fray Pedro Bolanos, Fray Bernardo Navarro, Fray Diego de Soria, Fray +Juan de Castro (who had the same name as the vicar-general, and was +his nephew), [29] Fray Marcos de San Antonio, Fray Juan Maldonado, +Fray Juan de Ormaca, Fray Pedro de Soto, Fray Juan de la Cruz, Fray +Gregorio de Ochoa, Fray Domingo de Nieva (deacon), and Fray Pedro +Rodriguez, a lay brother. Fifteen of these took their way to Manila; +for father Fray Juan Chrisostomo was unable to go because of illness, +and father Fray Juan Cobo left the company, on business of importance +which could not be finished before the embarcation. By way of Macan +there went to China father Fray Antonio de Arcediano, father Fray +Alonso Delgado, and father Fray Bartholome Lopez, as members of the +same province and subjects of the father vicar-general Fray Juan de +Castro. "Though there went eighteen, there should have gone a thousand; +from which may appear how far from the truth in his information was +he who disturbed this holy company with what he said in Mexico. His +intention was good, but in fact he greatly aided the Devil, and kept +from these islands many and very good subjects. I trust that the Lord +has already pardoned him."] + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Of the ordinances made by the vicar-general for the foundation of +the new province + + +[The vicar-general, with the advice of the eldest, most learned, +and most devout of the religious, made ordinances for the foundation +of the new province. He followed the customs of the provinces of +Mexico and Guatemala. The name given to the province was that of +"the Most Holy Rosary of Mary the Mother of God, ever virgin." In the +preamble, the father vicar-general declares that they who were to guide +others in the way of perfection should first travel it themselves, +doing virtuous works that they might teach others. He fortified his +assertion by quoting Scripture and several fathers. + +In the first place, the rules of the order are to be followed not +only in essential but in accidental matters, the relaxation of rigor +in the latter having caused some to say that the true religious life +[30] was at an end. Hence the members of the province were to follow +the constitutions with literal exactness--fasting, dressing in woolen +garments, eating fish, being humbly clad, maintaining silence, and +going on foot. This general statement includes everything, but some +things are specially insisted upon. + +Uniformity is to be maintained in everything--in dress, religious +ceremonies, and the celebration of mass; in churches, opinions, +and doctrines. The hours are to be kept, however small the number of +religious may be, prayers being said at midnight and at every other +time enjoined. For every deceased religious all the priests shall +say each six masses, applied in olidum; and those who are not priests +shall say the psalms and double rosaries. + +In our conversation we shall avoid secular matters as much as +possible, and speak of the things of God. We shall read the fathers, +ecclesiastical histories, and comments on the Scripture, the superior +putting questions and a religious answering. In entering a diocese +we shall call upon the bishop, receive his blessing, and follow his +counsel as to our preaching. Our obedience is to be perfect. Secular +visits are not to be made except for charity, and those under +direction of the superior. If any go to ask alms, it must be by +appointment of the superiors. Poverty is to be maintained. Temporal +responsibilities are to rest solely on the superiors. Convents are +to be modest. Books and other things acquired by the friars are to +belong to the congregation. Individual religious houses are to have +no separate property; but all things in them or possessed by them are +to be subject to the disposition of the provincial, except in so far +as license to hold separate property is obtained from the general of +the order. In such case a religious house shall have no share in the +property of the province as a whole. No religious shall have anything +laid up or shall receive anything, except in the name of the community; +nor shall any be granted an exclusive right to use books. + +Two hours a day are appointed for mental prayer and divine +contemplation, which must never be omitted, either in convent or on +journeys; and every day except Sundays, feast-days, or solemn octaves, +every religious shall take a discipline (i.e., scourge himself) with +his own hands. Though mattresses are allowed by the constitutions this +privilege is renounced, and we are to content ourselves with a board +or a poor platform and a bed of skins, except in case of sickness +or for guests. On every day when there is no office of our Lady, +the psalms and antiphons corresponding to the letters of her most +holy name are to be recited. [31] + +These ordinances are dated from the convent of Sancto Domingo at +Mexico, December 17, 1586. Twenty religious vowed to keep them, +and to go on to the newly-founded province.] + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +The voyage of the fathers from Mexico to the Philippines + + +[The three brethren destined for China set sail from the port of +Acapulco for Macan, in a vessel called the "San Martin." The other +fifteen religious began their voyage on the Sunday called Quasimodo, +the Sunday after Easter, April 6, in the year 1587. It was very late +in the year, so that there was danger of storms; for the time of +the vendabals had come--stormy and contrary winds, which are feared +greatly by the best pilots. They had the misfortune to lose their +ship-stores by fire, and were obliged to live on beans and chick-peas +(garbanzos) for all the rest of the voyage, which lasted three months +and a half. But a much more severe affliction was the narrowness of +their quarters in the ship; for two factions broke out among the crew, +one party fortifying itself in the forecastle, the other in the poop; +and they were about to give battle to each other, as if the one party +had been Moors and the other Christians. Fortunately, the fathers +succeeded in reconciling them. The carelessness of the navigators +almost caused the ship to be lost on one occasion; on another, the +vessel was almost lost on some islands inhabited by cannibals. On +the eve of St. Magdalen's day they reached port; and they took this +saint to be patron of that province.] + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The voyage and experience of the brethren who went to Macau + + +[As it was the principal intention, in establishing this new province, +to promulgate the holy gospel in the great kingdom of China, the +fathers who were sent thither were distinguished for sanctity and +learning. Of the voyage we know only that the vessel was wrecked on the +coast of China, and that they escaped to land as if by miracle. They +were not treated with the severity usually shown to foreigners who +come to or are lost on the coast of China; but were kindly received +by one of the chief men, who had observed their devotion. They did +not obtain permission to carry on the work of evangelization in China, +but went on to Macan and were thence carried to India. Father Antonio +Arcediano taught theology, and was highly regarded in Goa. At different +times he sent his two companions to Espana and to Roma to plead the +cause of Macan, and to do what they could to establish the preaching +of the gospel in China. At the end of six years, seeing no hope of +what he desired, he returned to Espana, and there became a teacher of +theology in the University of Salamanca. He afterwards went to Avila, +and died there. The order did not succeed at this time in entering +China by way of Macan; but finally, the desired entry to China was +obtained by way of Hermosa.] + + + + + +CHAPTER X + +Of the entry of the religious into the city of Manila, and of their +occupations there until they went on their various missions. + + +The previous chapter has caused some digression; but it was necessary, +in order to give an account of the voyage, and of the career of +these important religious. We now return to those on the other ship, +which we left at the port of Cavite--whence the news was immediately +carried to Manila, which is two leguas from that port. The bishop of +this city, Don Fray Domingo Salazar, was, as has already been said, +a religious of this order. He was greatly delighted when he learned +that religious of his own order had come to found a province, which +was the thing that he most desired in this life. He sent immediately +to a nephew of his to ask him to welcome them and to bring them to +the city, which they entered on the day of the apostle St. James. This +was a happy omen for those who came with so great a desire to imitate +the great zeal of this holy apostle, by which he was so distinguished +among the other apostles that the enemies of the gospel opposed him +more than the others, and that he was the first among the apostles +to lose his life. When they entered the city there came out to meet +them Doctor Sanctiago de Vera, governor and captain-general of these +islands, together with the most noble and illustrious of the city, +showing in the joy of their faces and their loving words the delight +that they felt at the arrival of the brethren--of whose sanctity +they had already been informed and felt assured by the modesty of +their appearance, faithful witness to the heart. Accompanied by +these friends, they went to the chief church, where the bishop was +waiting for them; and he gave them his benediction, full of tears +of joy. Here they offered to the Lord the thanks they owed to Him +for having brought them to the destination which they had so long +desired; and for the great honor which, as to His servants and for +His sake, had been shown them. Immediately after, the holy bishop +took them to his house, and, making them welcome to everything in it, +entertained them as well as he could; for he desired for occasions +such as this and for giving to the poor, that his episcopate should +be rich. Since this day was wholly given up to visits, it was not +very pleasant for him; but when he was alone with his brethren he +lifted up his voice with tears, like another Joseph, and said to them: +"Is it possible that I have seen the order of my father St. Dominic +established in this country? Is it possible that my eyes have seen +the thing which I so much desired?" After he had said these words, he +remained for a long time unable to speak, his words being followed by +an abundance of tears, which he shed from tenderness and the emotion of +his soul. Everything else that followed was conformable to this, both +in his conversation and his acts, which were those of an affectionate +father. He gave them all their sustenance in his house, without growing +weary of such guests. They, however, were not seeking comfort such as +the good bishop provided them, but labors for themselves and souls for +God; and after resting a few days they begged the bishop to put them +in the way of attaining what they had come to find, as his bishopric +was so rich in it. The festival of our father St. Dominic was at +hand; and they resolved to celebrate it before separating, asking the +blessing of the Great Father on that important act. Having no convent, +they celebrated the festival in church, with the utmost solemnity and +devotion; and in the evening they had some theological discussions, +father Fray Pedro de Soto maintaining several positions, in which +he displayed his admirable ability and great learning. Father Fray +Miguel de Venavides presided, a man who surpassed those who in that +period were of mark in virtue and scholarship, by the shoulders and +more, like Saul in bodily presence among his subjects. The purpose +of the discussions was to show that preaching the gospel (which was +to be their occupation), even to the simple race of Indians, does +not interfere with scholarship, but requires it, and much study; +the contrary is a manifest error, for the smaller the capacity of +the Indian, the greater should be the capacity of the minister. He is +called on to make the Indian capable of the loftiest mysteries taught +by the faith; and we see by daily experience among Indians cases and +matters which cannot be solved except by a man of great knowledge, +learning, and ability. Since all cannot be so highly endowed, it is +essential to have some ministers of superior attainments to whom the +others may resort with their difficulties, and whose responses they +may safely follow. The good bishop took particular pleasure in being +present at and encouraging the discussions, and in perceiving that +those who sustained theses and the others (who likewise exhibited their +abilities) might aid him in weighty matters in the difficult duties +of his office. This was afterward proved to be true in this province +and in Espana, where he who presided accompanied the bishop and was +of great assistance to him, as we shall see. After the festival was +over, it was determined that father Fray Christoval de Salvatierra, +who was the bishop's companion--and who was of the same pattern in +virtue, prudence, and zeal for the common good and especially for the +good of souls (as will hereafter be recounted)--should take some of +these fathers to some villages of Indians who had no one to instruct +them, and whom he therefore had taken under his own charge. He went +to visit and teach them when he had leisure from his heavy labors as +vicar-general. The labor of his office, being in a new country, full of +entanglements with regard to the conquistadors and new encomiendas and +the collection of tributes, would have been intolerable for others; yet +he took his vacation by working at other kinds of labor, teaching new +Indians, working with them, and introducing among them Christian policy +and civilization so far as they were capable of receiving them. This +avocation of his would have sufficed most men for their full duty, +but he did it in addition to his regular work as vicar-general. The +villages were at such a distance from Manila that it took more than +a day to go there by sea, and much more by the rivers. [32] In order +to teach the new fathers the manner of working with the Indians, and +to begin to acquaint them with the language of the natives, which he +knew very well, he went with them to the villages commonly known as +Bataan. Those who had the fortune to go with father Fray Christoval +were very well pleased, inasmuch as they were beginning to obtain +that which they had followed with such desire from Espana. The rest of +them, desiring greater convenience for living according to the custom +of friars than could be afforded them in the house of the bishop +(although he was a holy man), went to the convent of St. Francis, +where they were received and entertained as might have been expected +of fathers so religious and so zealous in following the rules of their +great father and ours, which we accepted exactly as if we were of the +same habit. Nothing less could have been expected, since those fathers +then had as custodian the holy Fray Pedro Baptista, afterwards the +most glorious martyr in Iapon, and as guardian father Fray Vicente +Valero--another Nathaniel in guilelessness of soul, joined with a +most solid virtue and devotion to his vows, which caused him to be +esteemed and venerated among lay and religious. Some days afterward +the Indians of Pangasinan were entrusted to our religious. They lived +forty leguas distant, and, being all heathen, had need of someone to +labor among them. The order likewise took charge of the Indians of +Bataan, to whom, as has been said, the father provisor ministered +because he had no one to send; as also of the Chinese or Sangleys, +who up to that time had had no ministry. Many thousands of them +had come and were still coming every year from their own country, +on account of their trade and commerce in this colony, which is very +great. Many of them were traders, and many were mechanics. No one +desired to undertake the ministry to them, because of the great labor +and the little fruit; but since the new laborers had come fresh, and +were eager for work, this claim of itself was sufficient for them to +regard it as a great favor to be permitted to occupy themselves where +the toil was greatest. The father vicar-general sent for the absent +brethren, and gathered all together in the convent of St. Francis; +and there offered a long prayer for them, asking for the grace of the +Holy Spirit. He then made them a spiritual and devout address. After +it was concluded, he who in lesser things had never been accustomed +to proceed without consultation, now, without further consultation +than that which he had had with God, assigned and distributed them +after the following manner. To the district of Bataan he sent as +vicar father Fray Juan de Sancto Thomas (or de Ormaca), with three +associates: father Fray Alonso Ximenez and Fray Pedro Bolanos, and +Fray Domingo de Nieva. To the province of Pangasinan he assigned, +as vicar, father Fray Bernardo Navarro (or de Sancta Cathalina), +with five associates: fathers Fray Gregorio de Ochoa, Fray Juan +de Castro (nephew of the vicar-general), Fray Pedro de Soto, Fray +Marcos de San Antonio, and father Fray Juan de la Cruz. The father +vicar-general remained with the others in the convent which was to +be established in Manila, and was intended for the conversion of the +Chinese. It was only necessary for him to give the directions and to +arrange all things, every man doing that which fell to his lot. The +reason was not only their great virtue of obedience, but the fact +that the holy old man had held this chapter in a manner so spirited +and so extraordinary as to convince them that in his address he had +said to them that which it was their duty to do, and that it was +God who had thus given them their commands. The father vicar-general +immediately began to give his attention to the convent which was to +be established in Manila; but when he looked for a situation he did +not find a suitable one. That part of the city that was submerged at +high tide did not seem desirable; but that which was not submerged was +so taken up by the cathedral and the other convents that the matter +was a very difficult one. Being such, the good bishop laid it before +the Lord in his prayers; and having earnestly besought His help, +he arose from prayer with great happiness, and went, though it was +late at night, to his sub-chaplain and steward, Francisco Zerbantes, +telling him that he had the site for the friars, and directing him +to see if he could obtain three hundred pesos, which the owner asked +for the place; for the bishop had not even one peso with him. The +steward--whose accounts were always indicating a deficit, because +every third of their yearly income [33] scarcely fell due before the +poor took it away from the bishop--frankly responded that he did not +dare attempt to get that sum and did not see how he could, because even +for their ordinary subsistence the means were frequently insufficient, +so that he was embarrassed. The bishop was not disconcerted by this, +but (though it is not known how or where) he quickly procured the +three hundred pesos; and he told the steward to give the money to a +Spaniard called Gaspar de Isla, who was diking a small place which +was all flooded, and much more the land about it. For this reason, +though many had looked at it, no one had regarded it as good for a +convent. But the bishop, with great insistence, directed the steward to +take the next morning a stole, some holy water, and two sticks to make +a cross; and he embarked in a banca, or little canoe, and went to the +place (for it was overflowed to that extent), and blessed it. He took +possession on August 16, 1587, and set up a cross in token that the +convent should be built there, as it was; and the site has turned out +to be very healthful, with very pleasant views. It has been surrounded +by very good houses, and has had other advantages. The bishop gave +for the building two thousand pesos--a thing apparently impossible, +because of his poverty, but worthy of his great soul, and of the +great affection which he felt toward the friars. They immediately +began to build a house there and a poor little wooden church. They +finished soon, and the religious began to occupy it on the first day +of the following year, 1588, to the great joy of themselves and of +the whole city. The first superior of the convent, with the title of +vicar, was father Fray Diego de Soria, a great preacher, and a very +devout man, so that he immediately made many persons greatly devoted +to him. The new convent began to be very much frequented, and to be +so well assisted by alms that for many years there was no occasion +to cook food; because every day the amount of cooked food which was +provided was too great rather than too small. There were many who came +to its assistance with alms, some one day, some another; but Captain +Francisco Rodriguez sent every day, so that the religious were as +sure of this supply of food as if they cooked it at home. The Lord +paid His accounts, as He is accustomed to, promptly. The captain had +lived for ten years in marriage without any children, for whom both +husband and wife were most desirous, and they had some in payment +for these alms; for there is nothing that the Lord denies to those +who have mercy on the poor. As the number of the religious increased, +it became necessary to do the cooking in the convent; but the devotion +of the city and the contribution of alms has always continued and still +continues. Thus the convent has been and is maintained solely by them, +having been unwilling always to accept an endowment, though many have +been offered to it. Thus without endowment or possessions they get +what they need, with greater certainty than if they had these. For, +however certain such things may be imagined to be, they may fail, +as many others have failed; but the word of God, in whom the fathers +trust, cannot fail. This has been so clearly observed that when our +lord the king commanded that this convent, like the others in the city, +should receive as a contribution to its support four hundred pesos +a year and four hundred fanegas of rice (which takes the place of +wheat in this country), they for a long time declined to collect it, +since it seemed to them that it was in the nature of an endowment, as +being something sure and certain; yet afterward, when they saw that it +was pure charity, and that he who gave it could take it away when he +chose, they accepted it--on condition, however, that if the ministers +of the king take it from us, even unjustly, we shall not ask for it as +a right. At this time this has been done, the allowance having been +taken away; but the Lord in return has given much more than that. In +these first years Dona Ana de Vera, wife of the master-of-camp Pedro +de Chaves, and Dona Marina de Cespedes were great benefactors of the +religious; and to them the convent, in gratitude, has given chapels in +the church for their interment. In general, both poor and rich have +given alms to the convent out of good-will; and the religious have +paid them all very fully, not only by commending them to the Lord +in all their masses and prayers, but by earnestly laboring for the +good of their souls with sermons, advice, and exhortation, as well as +other spiritual exercises. This was soon evident in the reformation +that began to be seen in their habits, and in the improvement in +their life. Accordingly, one of the citizens wrote to Captain Chacon +(who was at that time governor of the province of Nueva Segovia) +telling him as news that the Dominican friars had come to Manila; +and that the city was turned into a monastery in the reformation of +the lives and morals of the inhabitants, and, in particular, in the +abstraction of the women from worldly concerns. This was indeed the +case; one reason was, that the example given by the religious was of +great influence, and, though they were few in number, they effected +as much as if they were many. They acted in harmony, and devoted +themselves to the divine offices as systematically as in great and +well-ordered convents. They were all men of education (some of very +superior education), all virtuous men, all given to prayer, all very +penitent, very harmonious, very zealous for the salvation of souls, +very poor, and disengaged from the things of this world. Therefore, +all esteemed them and desired them as guides of their souls; and +they performed this office with so much care and diligence that the +reformation of the aforesaid city resulted. For those who confessed to +them were either obliged to reform, or were dismissed by them; for in +the conduct of the penitents they refused to consent to deceit, in the +collection of tributes they would not allow extortion, in women they +would not suffer frivolity or impropriety of manners. As learned men, +they revealed the evils in such acts, and could make these understood +by their penitents; and as men without any personal motive they held +themselves ready to dismiss those who with vain and plausible reasons, +with the pretext of evil customs, or with other like cloaks strove to +cover their acts of injustice, and to justify the wrongs which they +committed through evil desires. Hence those persons who confessed in +the Dominican convent came to be known and esteemed, as they still are; +and there came to exist in the city more light in regard to things +to which previously no attention had been given, and more care was +taken of conduct. This was the reason why they said that the city +had become a monastery; and in truth, in many cases the conduct of +those who confessed there deserved that name--for example, that of +Dona Ana de Vera, Dona Marina de Cespedes, Catalina de Villegas, +and many other women very well known and esteemed in the city on +account of their virtue. In this they all owed no little to the aid of +their holy confessors, who with great care, much teaching, and their +own examples, did the work of God, and succeeded in attracting many +people to the knowledge of Him and to His service. Many, in health, +did not follow their counsels, regarding them as too severe, and +sought for confessors who feared to lose their penitents, and who, +by making their theology liberal, unburdened the consciences of those +who confessed to them. Yet even these persons in the hour of death, +when their desires had lost some of their force, called for the +Dominicans and gave to them the charge of their souls, fearing to +lose them by following the road which they had taken in health. And +this freedom and courage has always been maintained in this convent; +and they have used it without respect of persons--with rich and poor, +with governors and other officials. Hence it is necessary for them +to live in such a manner that no reproach can be cast upon them, +and to be content with but little for their sustenance, since that +little cannot fail them. Withal they have no regard to pleasing men, +for to Saint Paul it seemed that with that desire it was impossible to +unite the service of God--mankind being in general greater lovers of +themselves than of God, and hence he who is very desirous to please men +being necessarily at enmity with God. Therefore, these religious were +very careful in this respect, and strove so to conduct themselves +toward men that the supreme place should always be held by God; +and on this account they had the reputation of rigor--though they +were not rigorous, except to those who through their own desires or +selfishness tried to cast aside their duties to God. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +Some marvels wrought by the Lord in the convent of Manila, and the +rebuilding of the same + + +[Though the first church and convent were but small and poor buildings, +made of wood, they were very precious in the sight of the Lord, +who manifested therein many miracles. The candles in the chapel of +our Lady burned without wasting. The site being clayey and not firm, +and the church poor and built in haste, it was not two years before +the larger chapel fell to the ground, warning of the fall having been +given to one of the novices in a dream. In response to his prayers, the +Lord granted that the church should fall without harming any person, +injuring the sanctuary, or damaging the image of our Lady of the +Rosary. This image was thereafter regarded with such reverence that, +when a new image with a marble face was set up above the altar, the +people demanded their old image again. Although the convent was poor, +and had no income or funds for the rebuilding of the church and the +other edifices, they went on with confidence in the Lord to erect a +convent and a church of stone. By the favor of God, they received +a number of bequests and other gifts, which enabled them to build +a handsome stone church, large and strong, two large dormitories, +a sacristy, a chapter-house, a refectory, a porter's lodge, and such +other offices as a convent has need of. The enterprise went on so +rapidly that, though the wooden church had fallen toward the end of +the year 1589, the new one was finished on the ninth of April, 1592, +by the generous alms of the faithful, and the diligence of father +Fray Alonso Ximenez. It seemed that the work was to stand for many +years, but it was not to be. In the year 1603, toward the end of April, +exactly thirteen years after the building of the church [34] fire broke +out in the town, at a great distance from the convent; and in a short +time it consumed a third part of the city, including our convent, the +hospital of the Spaniards, and that of the Indians. They succeeded in +rescuing only the most holy sacrament and a beautiful statue of our +Lady of the Rosary. There were lost seventy-two buildings, fourteen +Spaniards, and many more Indians and negroes, of whom the number is not +known. The property destroyed amounted to a million. The fire respected +many precious and sacred things, and had for our convent the effect of +requiring us to rebuild. It was determined that the church should be +a vaulted building, which required stronger foundations for the whole +church. It was also decided to raise and strengthen the large chapel, +and to build a cloister and a super-cloister, and these buildings are +in good condition still. The work was paid for by the alms of the +faithful, as they were received from time to time. There was never +either any lack or any superfluity.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A revered image of our Lady of the Rosary possessed by this convent, +and the marvels which the Lord has wrought and still works by it. + + +[This image was given to the convent by Don Luis Perez das Marinas, +formerly the governor of these islands. It was made by a Chinaman, +under the direction of Captain Hernando de los Rios Coronel, who +afterward became a very devout priest. The Chinaman was afterward +converted by the miracles performed by this holy image. She sits on a +very beautiful throne, and has a large, rich, and well-gilded retable, +given by Antonio Xuarez de Puga, who was many years her steward. The +chapel has been enriched and adorned by many gifts. Miracles wrought by +this image are very numerous, the most notable of them being one which +happened in 1613. The clothes of the mother and child showed signs +of travel, for which it was impossible to account. At this time an +expedition had been sent out to reenforce Terrenate, consisting of two +galleys and five other vessels, under the leadership of Don Fernando de +Ayala. The five smaller vessels and one of the galleys were driven on +shore at a point called Calabite, on the coast of Mindoro. The Indians +who had been forced to row instantly fled to the mountains, taking +refuge among some high rocks. The Spaniards ran in pursuit of them, +but the Indians taking advantage of the superiority of the situation +hurled stones at the Spaniards, killing them miserably. One of the +Spaniards, Francisco Lopez, though desperately wounded, was kept alive +for thirteen days, in response to his prayers to the Virgin, until +he had an opportunity of making his confession. The coincidence of +time makes it probable that the journey of the holy image was taken +in response to these prayers.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Other miracles wrought by this holy image + + +[The accounts of this extraordinary miracle moved the whole city and +aroused its devotion. The sick crowded to the chapel for healing, +and so many miracles were wrought that it seemed ungrateful not +to make a record and a verification of them. Pains of all kinds, +fevers, difficult births, were cured; in one case a child which +was almost drowned, and had turned black in the face, was brought +back to life. The records of individual cases are given in detail, +with the dates, the names of the afflicted persons, and the names of +the witnesses.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +Other marvels wrought by the same image + + +[Several rescues from drowning are recorded, and further cures.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +Further marvels wrought by the same holy image + + +[In 1617 some vessels made by the governor Don Juan de Silva, for +service against the Dutch heretics, were being taken to a shipyard +for overhauling. By a sudden storm they were all wrecked, so that the +best ships that these islands ever had, or will have, were lost. In +the flagship, called the "San Salvador" (a very large, swift ship), +was a sailor named Barnabe de Castaneda, who committed himself to +the Virgin and was rescued. This chapter gives the accounts of four +other extraordinary rescues from drowning.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +The manner in which the religious lived when they entered their +ministry to the Indians + + +Before the religious separated to go on the missions to the Indians to +which they were severally appointed, there were given to them those +general ordinances which had been so well established for this work, +with much thought, prayer, and consideration in Mexico, and which will +be found stated in chapter vii of this history. All are based upon +the instruction of the apostle to his disciple Timothy: Attende tibi, +et doctrinae, whence he directly infers, hoc faciens, et te ipsum +salvum facies, et eos qui te audiunt. [35] Thus the whole foundation +of the ministry rests upon every man's first taking heed to himself, +and doing what he ought to do; while he who has to do good to many, +drawing them forth from the condition of idolatrous heathen and great +enemies of God to making them His servants and the keepers of His law, +will never be able to do so unless he is himself very careful to keep +that law. Those religious can never do this who do not very carefully +observe their own laws; therefore, the first ordinance established in +the province was that our constitutions should be literally observed, +just as they were written, without perverse interpretations, usages +to the contrary, or irregular dispensations--a most holy ordinance, +and one which is sufficient to make men saints. Though in it all +the rest are, as it were, included, still, for greater clearness, +they made the statement that this included a prohibition to ride, +and directed that the fathers should go on foot. This appeared, +to some of little spirit, impossible in this country because of the +great heat. They declared that if our father [St. Dominic] had come +to these regions he would not have commanded his friars to do thus; +but they deceived themselves; for the founders of the province of +Mexico were much inferior to our father, but they kept this rule, +and found it possible and easy. It is also declared that we should not +accept money, or take any for our journeys--a stroke which cuts off at +the root a thousand cares that the contrary practice brings with it, +and which, when observed, brings the greatest freedom from care; for +thus it becomes possible for me to live without anxiety for anything, +being certain that the head of the convent is obliged to give me all +that I need in health, and more in sickness, as to one who has the +greater necessity. The rule was given that we should use no linen +in either health or sickness, even though the latter were to death, +as the constitution ordains and as appears from our histories; for +all who have investigated this point sincerely have followed this +rule, as did the holy Pius the Fifth, St. Luis Beltran, and many +more. Meat was not to be eaten without permission, and in that case +of necessity that is determined by the constitutions, which is a very +great one. The friars were always to meditate upon God, within and +without the convent; and to wear habits poor and mean, and of the form +provided by our constitutions. They were to follow the same opinions, +and the same custom of administering the sacraments, and the ceremonies +of the mass, and the same mode of intoning. They were all to go to +matins at midnight, as to the other hours, however few the religious +might be, even where was no more than one in the convent; since for +even this one it is no less necessary to glorify God, and the service +is no more laborious to Him. Thus St. Paul and his disciple Silas, +though in chains and in prison, at midnight extolled the Lord; and +the royal prophet did the same, though he was alone. Secular visits +were entirely forbidden, except such as were required by charity; and +these, it was ordained, should be made only as the superior directed, +and in no other case. As for poverty, it was ordered that no one should +have for any purpose any thing except his breviary and one other book +of devotion, and his memorandum-book; all were to be content with the +books which are possessed in common in all convents--of which they +might make use, with permission, and under the obligation to return +them. In cells only one image was permitted, and that a poor one, +without other instruments of devotion. The superiors were in this, +as in all other things, to be equal with those under them; there +was to be no more in the cell of the provincial than in that of any +brother. This equality, and the leading of the way by the superiors, +makes the road easy for the others. Such poverty as this was not +only to be established and maintained with regard to individuals, +but everything that the separate convents possessed was the common +property of the province; and the provincial might take it from one +convent which had little need of it, and give it to another that needed +it more--whether it were money, or books, or ornaments, or anything +else that the latter required. The license of the general of the order +was required for authority to receive anything that should not belong +to the whole province after the aforesaid manner; and the licenses +of subordinates and superiors for that purpose were forbidden. It was +necessary to follow this course, for every day new missions were to be +sent out, now to Japon, now to China, now to minister in the service +of the Indians; it would not be possible to undertake them without +taking from the convents what they had to give, so that the fathers +might not enter on a mission under the necessity of begging for their +sustenance from the heathen to whom they were just beginning to preach, +which would have been hard indeed for them. Above all this--even, +as it were the foundation of the whole--two hours were appointed for +daily mental prayer, one after matins and the other by day, ordinarily +between one and two, before vespers. This was a truly holy counsel; for +as a man of himself has but little strength, he could not accomplish +so much as has been recounted if he were not constantly asking for the +favor of the Lord, which is the office of prayer. For the food of the +soul, the castigation of the body serves well, of which, indeed, there +is more need than of food; therefore it was ordered that every day, +after the matin prayer, they should all together take a discipline, +lasting the time of a Miserere and other short prayers said after +it. This is to be done on all the days that are not double, [36] +excepting the solemn octaves. On those days on which there is no +lesser office of our Lady, they were to recite the devotion of her +holy name, offering this little service to her who constantly favors +us with special benefits. The mattresses on the beds, permitted by +the constitution as a matter of grace, they renounced--contenting +themselves with sleeping on a board, with a mat, large or small, +and two blankets. Everything which had been ordained in Mexico was +accepted and confirmed by all; and they repeated it now, as they +were about to separate, that they might have it as a general rule to +which they were obliged to conform, and by which they were to regulate +their lives. If they accepted the rules in Mexico with a good will, +they now ratified them in the islands with a better; and every day it +was more and more plain to see of how great importance they were for +our advantage, and for the advantage of those who heard the gospel +from our mouths. This, then (which was their last arrangement before +departing), and the promptitude with which they offered to obey all +that has been here mentioned, was as much as if the Lord had poured +out upon them His benediction; and therewith had given them the light +of knowledge, and fervor, and strength of will, for the ministry upon +which they were to enter. In it they acted not like new ministers, +but as if they had had many years of experience, that being verified +in them which the wise man has said: "Easy is it in the sight of +the Lord"--that is to say, with a single glance--"suddenly to make +honorable and to enrich the poor"--that is to say, the humble. And +this is especially true when his humility is accompanied by obedience, +detestation of himself, and love of God, zeal for His honor, and desire +to save souls for Him. All this shines forth in those who with so +great zeal accepted such ordinances, and proposed to live according to +them; and it is continued in those who have followed them. Therefore, +in all provincial chapters they have always been confirmed and laid +down with much rigor; and they have been confirmed by many generals +of the order, and the original confirmations remain in the archives +of the convent of Manila. The principal care of the provincials in +their journeys of inspection--which they make every year, personally, +going to each and every one of the convents of this province--is to +assure themselves how these general ordinances are obeyed; for if they +are obeyed there is nothing more to ask, and where they are not obeyed +no confidence can be placed. They are, as it were, a wall around the +garden of our soul; so long as they are unbroken, though our adversary +is always going about, as says St. Peter, moving around us again and +again, and seeking to do us evil, he cannot succeed; but if we make a +breach in the wall it is easy for him to enter and destroy us. It is +certainly true that this has often been verified with regard to our +constitutions, taken by themselves, without additions; for without +doubt they are a marvelous wall for the virtue of the soul, and when +they are observed the soul is safe. Yet there can be no doubt that the +observance of the constitutions is much assisted and fortified by the +two hours of prayer added in these ordinances. The daily discipline +contributes to the same effect, as does also the restriction to a +greater poverty, and the rule requiring corporal mortification and a +more strictly retired life. All these things are added, over and above +the ordinary rules of the Society and its regular constitutions. In +the Indias--which, as experience shows, are in all states of life +most exposed to laxity of morals and to luxury--such rules are not +only desirable, but necessary. In this country it is necessary to +give greater care to strengthening the wall of the soul, since perhaps +that which in Europe would be sufficient to maintain the religious in +the perfect observance of their constitutions is insufficient in the +Indias, where causes and occasions for the decay of this wall are +well known to be greater. Hence it was a safe and holy counsel to +add in these regions to the wall of our constitutions the aforesaid +buttresses of prayer and mortification; for if in all countries that +is true which the wise man said--"He who observes the law multiplies +prayer"--much more necessary will that be where the observance of +the law meets with greater difficulties and more obstacles. + +These added observances had also another very important effect: being, +as they are, easy and very light for devout religious, and for those +who are careful to fulfil their obligations, they are intolerable and +annoying for those who are not very devout and who have little care for +the business that is of so much importance. Hence the obstacle which +they feel first, and that which gives them the greatest annoyance, +is the obligation to spend two hours in prayer daily. This is, as it +were, the touchstone by which are discriminated those religious whose +metal is sufficiently pure for them to live in a reformed province +with benefit to themselves and to the Indians. In the case of those +who alone are suited to this province, it fastens and keeps them in +it; the others it shuts out, and makes them strive with all their +hearts--sometimes unlawfully--to return to Espana, where they may +live in the convents with greater security and pleasure. If there +is need of any test for a religious to determine whether or not he +is suited to the province, it is best for it to be in a matter of +supererogation, as are these added rules; and before one tries himself +in matters of obligation he would better give himself this safeguard, +and, without failing in that which is obligatory, test himself by his +own comfort and necessity. The reason is that it is impossible to keep +up a province, or even a convent, in a state of strict observance with +discontented religious. Hence in our order, as in others, in convents +of especial severity much attention is paid to having all the members +volunteer; and if one grows weary and asks some reasonable license, +let it be given; for a single discontented religious does more +harm than good. When all are volunteers, all serve the Lord as He +desires, with delight and joy; one stimulates another, and urges him +on to surpass him in virtue and in profitable exercises. Under these +circumstances, all are kept firmly attached to the convent; while a +single discontented member is sufficient to cause the discontent of +many; for this is a very contagious sickness, as this province has +proved by a large experience. Yet it is true that there are some good +and devout religious who, as men, grow restless on some occasions; +and to these should not be granted immediately the license for which +they ask, until an effort has been made to quiet and console them, +and to take from them so far as possible the cause of their discomfort, +so that they may carry forward that which they have laudably begun. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +Of the great advantage derived by this province from the observance +of the aforesaid rules + + +[These holy ordinances have without doubt been inspired by God; and +the religious followed them with such exactitude that it was impossible +for them not to obtain marvelous results and extraordinary successes, +as in the work of God unimpeded by the imperfect obedience of His +servants. The one great advantage was the profit of their own souls; +the other was the salvation of an innumerable multitude of heathen, +brought into the church by those who observed these ordinances. As for +the first point, the sanctity of these great servants of the Lord has +spread its fragrance throughout all the world. In proof hereof, many +letters have been collected, written by the religious of this province +to that of Espana, in which they recount with high praise what they +have seen in it. It should be noticed that, as these countries are +very far from Espana, the narratives received differ widely; for here +more than elsewhere is verified the Castilian proverb, that every man +gives his account of the day as he has acted in it. Those who have +been aided by the Lord, and who have embraced the ministry among the +Indians, and the holy ordinances of this province, out of the desire +to serve Him, praise it highly, being compelled to do so by the truth, +and by the finger of God which they have seen in it. Those who from +sloth or from self-love have not been able or have not been willing +to persevere in this mission, and have returned to Espana, wish to +gild over this return, and tell everything about the province that +their little affection for it suggests to their minds. As the latter +are present and the former are not, the words of the latter have the +greater force. It is a great proof of the virtue of the province that +its good name is not blackened. Frequently when good religious set out +hither, they are asked to send back a plain statement of the truth +of affairs in the province. From these letters, religious of great +ability have collected a number of extracts containing statements +sent back to Espana with regard to the virtue and religion here to be +found. The testimony of these letters from many thoroughly qualified +witnesses, who write at the desire of their friends in Espana, and who +have come purposely to investigate the condition of this province, +is certainly sufficient evidence without calling in any other. They +all testify, without having known the one what the other had written, +to the high state of virtue in this province. Upon this testimony +we might rely with much security; but since we have evidence from +others of greater rank and of higher standing, and who are not members +of the province, we may take it, not as more true, but as meriting +greater credit. The testimony of the bishop of China, Don Fray Juan +Pinto, or de la Piedad, who came to this city of Manila on his way +to Espana and who spent many months here, is to the following effect: +"Words cannot exaggerate the devotion, the noble poverty, and profound +humility of these grave and holy fathers, who live together in the +greatest harmony and brotherly affection. Their life is not merely +a miracle, but many miracles. Having no income, they receive more +than enough; for all of them in common, and each one in particular, +need nothing. The older and graver they are, the more humble; and +the weakest in corporal powers zealously follows the rigor of his +religious order. They always eat fish, without any sort of dainties; +their chanting and their prayers are continual; their charity toward +the poor, the roughness of their habit, and their humility are like +those of the most perfect in the primitive days of religion. They are +zealous for the salvation of souls, and spend their time in learning +not only the many languages of the Philippinas, but likewise those +of the Chinese. They win more souls to God than any of the other +orders. I die with sorrow when I think I must go on to Macan. There +is only one way in which I can be comforted, and for that I rely +upon your Reverence"--he is writing to the general of the order--"I +trust that your Reverence will restore to these Spanish fathers the +convent established in Macan by their predecessors, and that it will +be subject to this province of Manila, in order that it may share +in its reformed constitution and may reach its perfection. There are +fathers here who understand the Chinese language thoroughly, and who +have made many converts among the Chinese in that province." Later +in the letter he says: "I beg of your Reverence that you will hear +the prayer of this your poor son. Let a new convent be established +for these holy religious, if the country will support them; and no +scandal will follow from having two convents of one order in the +province." This letter is dated at Manila, June 25, 1610. + +This great prelate went to Espana, reaching the court in the year +1617. The report that he gave was such that in virtue thereof, +and because of other reasons stated in the general chapter held by +our order at Paris, 1611 [sic] the following ordinance was passed, +among those which pertained to this province: "It is with great joy +that we learn, by certain report, that the Philippine province of the +Holy Rosary has been most successful in the conversion of the tribes +of that region. It goes on daily advancing; in it the observance of +the rule flourishes in the highest degree. Though the number of the +brethren is small, and they are widely scattered among those tribes, +yet they have recently stretched out their branches to the kingdom of +Japon. The harvest reaped there can be learned from the fact that some +of the Japanese who were taught by them, though but recently converted +to the holy faith, have advanced to such a pitch of devotion that they +gave up their lives for their belief, as we learn from a trustworthy +printed report. Not contented even yet, they gird up their loins to +send on some of their number to the very populous kingdom of China, +whither they are called by the most illustrious Don Fray Juan de +Piedad, bishop of Macan a Portuguese member of our order." Immediately +afterward follows the case of our convent in Macan, and the direction +to restore it to this province--although, on account of the opposition +of the Portuguese, the order has not been carried into execution. + +A third piece of testimony is a letter written to the king our +sovereign by the cabildo of the city of Manila. This letter thanks the +king for sending so many religious of all orders to the Philippinas, +but in particular for those in the Dominican order, as being men +already formed by their studies, and therefore prepared to be of +immediate use as soon as they have learned the language. The letter +represents that, as they live without income and entirely upon alms, +whatever his Majesty should see fit to give them would be very +acceptable to the Lord. This letter bears date July 7, 1607. + +A report from Manila to the royal Council of the Indias is also +cited. In it the testimony of the most distinguished ecclesiastics +of the cabildo is given, of their head the archbishop, at that time +Vazquez de Marcado, and of the majority of the secular clergy, and +they all bear witness to the virtue and devotion of the members of +the province. In 1636 the accusation was brought that all the orders +carried on trade with Japan; but this province brought evidence +to the contrary, so far as it was concerned. The testimony of one +witness may be cited here, the chief captain, who had in that year +come from Macan. This was Captain Francisco de Abreo, of the Order +of Santiago. He testified on oath that he had known the religious of +the province of the Rosary for sixteen years; and that he had been +acquainted with them in the realm of Japon, in Camboxa, and in other +places where these holy religious had settled with no other object +or purpose than the service of God and of his Majesty our lord the +king. He went on to declare that they were occupied with nothing +else than the conversion of souls--as is evident of itself, from the +fact that the religious of these provinces have kept and still keep, +with the greatest devotion, their vow of poverty and the other vows +which they have professed. It is evident to all that they depend for +their living upon the alms given by his Majesty, and by other faithful +in this city. Another evidence of this fact is that they share with +those who are settled in the kingdom of Japon, whither they have gone +to suffer martyrdom and convert souls to God. The religious of the +Philippinas send to them what they can, that in the midst of all the +suffering which those fathers endure in the said kingdoms they may +not lack sustenance, small though it be--as indeed it must be small, +considering the amount which is sent them. It never surpasses four +hundred or five hundred pesos; and the manner of sending it is well +known to this witness. It was to ask the captains, or some other +persons who went in the ships belonging to the city of Macan, to +carry to the fathers in Japan their support every year, since many +of these persons, as soon as they went from here, made the voyage +to the kingdom of Iapon. The testimony ends with the most emphatic +affirmation of the exemplary life of the members of the order, and +of their high reputation.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +The same subject is continued with testimony taken from regions and +persons at a greater distance + + +[The greater the virtue, the more widely it spreads its fragrance; +and so it was with the founders of this province. "Father Fray Thomas +de Jesus speaks thus of them in his book Stimulus Missionum, part iv, +chap, vii: 'At this day among the brethren of St. Dominic--who are +making their way throughout the whole world, and especially throughout +the Philippine Islands, to preach the gospel to the heathen--we have +found that in no other place does the observance of the rule of the +order flourish as it does in those islands; for the vesture that they +wear is rougher, their food is more sparing, and their devotion to +prayer is greater, and they voluntarily exercise themselves in all +the practices of a life of greater severity and perfection.' In the +same way speaks of this province the master Fray Domingo Gravina in +the book entitled, Vox Turturis, part ii, chap. xxiii, ad fin., where +he says: 'The province of the Rosary, which includes the Philippine +Islands and the empires of Japan and of the Chinas and other kingdoms, +is most celebrated for its sanctity. So accurately does it observe the +constitutions of the order that the primitive fervor of the order seems +to glow in it, as it did in the days of our father St. Dominic. And +hence it results that not only by their word but by their example, +the people of Pangasinan, Gayan, and other places in the islands of +Luzon have been aroused, and have enlisted under the banner of Christ; +while in the extensive empire of Japan, the kingdoms of Satzuma, +Figen, and Fingo have been, through their preaching and their works, +glorified with the water of holy baptism.' Thus far Gravina." The most +complete and accurate statement of our entire purpose has been made by +the father master Fray Baltasar Nabarrete. He writes to this province +a letter of eulogy and religious congratulation. He rejoices that the +Dominican order, transplanted to a sterile and mountainous country, +begins to bear most glorious fruit of celestial life. He celebrates +the spirit and fervor of the few brethren who undertook this honorable +enterprise at the beginning, and who put in the field an army in +which every soldier was fit to be a captain. He congratulates them +that the heathen Indian should have recognized their divine power; +he bears witness to the impression produced by the letters sent back +home. He praises the frequency of their prayers. He compares their +delight in their spiritual children to that which God may have in +His own son. He glorifies their devotion in going forth to a life +of affliction in distant countries; and declares that their love of +God should shine forth, however efforts might be made to hide it; +and that, in the power of their devotion, they will be able to do all +things. He glorifies the martyrdoms that they have suffered, assuring +them that for every martyr there will be a hundred more. He feels +that dark clouds are arising over the order in Europe; and expresses +the hope that the virtue of the Dominican order shall not leave its +home to go to China and the Philippinas. He prays that they may go on +as they have begun; and that they will offer their petitions to the +Lord that he may have a good departure from this life. The letter is +written from S. Pablo de Valladolid, April 25, 1625.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +The foundation of the vicariate of Bataan, and the +early history thereof + + +Being now armed with the general ordinances and animated by the +fervent address of the vicar-general, whom they regarded as inspired +by the Lord, those who had received assignment went directly to the +duties to which he assigned them. Since that of Bataan was the first +in the neighborhood of Manila which was founded, not fifteen days +passed after the arrival of the brethren in those regions before +some of them were there, to whet the steel of their ardor on some of +those rough stones. Within two months after their arrival they were +regularly settled, and in charge of it, and were given exclusive +right to it by September 15, 1587. It was a post of much labor; and +on this account, and because there were many others where with less +effort greater results could be obtained and more souls converted, +it had been abandoned by the clergy who had previously had it. Secular +clergy, and members of the orders of St. Francis and of St. Augustine, +all had tried it, but none had persevered. It was no marvel that they +left it, because the few Indians who dwelt there, about seven hundred +inhabitants in all, were scattered in thirty villages situated at the +foot of some mountains toward the sea--in a land subject to overflow, +with many creeks or little rivers, to cross which the Indians did not +take the trouble to build bridges. There was no open road from one +village to another, and it was necessary for all of them to keep in +continual movement, in order to baptize, to confess, and to administer +the other sacraments to all. More ordinarily, however, they were called +on to go to the sick, to whom the ministers, when they were called, +could not excuse themselves. Since to attend to so many villages a +single man would not have had enough strength, while on account of +the lack of ministers not many could occupy themselves with so small +an Indian population, the labor came to be intolerable; and when this +region was compared with others in as great a need of service, but +requiring less labor, and giving a greater spiritual harvest, within +a few months those missionaries left this desert place, and went away +where they could reap a greater harvest with less effort. This is the +reason why the Indians in this district never had a settled ministry +before our religious entered it. Accordingly the ministers who went +there, being merely transient, had not been able to give it the care +and devotion required for new conversions; because the newly baptized, +being so new in the faith, are likely to fall away, and to return +to the vomit of the idolatrous devices which they had laid aside +for their baptism--if indeed they had laid these aside. For in the +case of one baptized so casually, the idolatries and superstitions +in which one has been educated all his life, are not laid aside but +are only concealed, unless he have help from without. This is still +more the case among those who live all their lives in the midst of +heathen and who know that the priest who baptizes them today will have +to go away tomorrow, as has happened to these poor Indians. There +was even one priest who was so slothful in this duty that without +teaching them what they were to believe, he baptized them by force, +making them bring all the boys and girls together, though they had +already reached adolescence, and gave them in writing the Christian +names which they were to have. With no further preparation than this, +he baptized on the second day those whom he had not scared away. These +were not a few; for since the baptism was not voluntary, but by force, +they ran away, because no great care was taken to keep them. To keep +themselves from being annoyed in this way again, they kept their names +and said they were Christians, so that in this way they might avoid +baptism and those who baptized them. They had the idea that baptism +was a curse poured out upon them; and they scarcely got out of the +hands of the baptizer before they bathed, and carefully washed off +the chrism and the holy oils, in which they believed the curses of +baptism consisted. Both classes returned to their idolatries, their +superstitions, and their sins, as if they had never been baptized; +and the priest went away well satisfied, leaving written on a piece +of wood the names of those whom he had baptized, and supposing that +he had done a great service to the Lord. Then he went on to perform as +many other baptisms, or sacrileges, in another village. In a district +so remote and so new, all this could easily and did happen. It was +this that afterward gave the religious the greatest trouble and the +most anxiety. On the one hand, in the first years there were many who, +without being baptized, acted as if they were Christians, confessing, +communicating, and receiving the other sacraments as if they were so +indeed; on the other hand, many of those who were baptized concealed +their baptisms, and acted in all things like heathens; and, since +the religious did not understand the language, it was very easy to +deceive them until in time they had learned it. Then by preaching +and talking with the Indians, they came little by little to learn of +these things; and though it took a great deal of effort, with the aid +of the Lord, they finally brought everything to the right order. When +they discovered the root of these maladies, they immediately applied +to them the proper remedy--declaring in their frequent sermons and +their private conversations the evil condition in which those were +who, without being Christians, acted as such; and likewise those, +on the contrary, who really were Christians and concealed the fact, +living as if they were not. They offered to both of these classes to +unburden their consciences without any penalty, and without affronting +or disgracing them in any way; because they promised to come to the +cure of their souls with perfect secrecy, without causing them to +lose their good reputation in any respect on this account. It was +this last that the natives feared, and that made them keep secret and +concealed. In this way our fathers helped many; for it was necessary +to baptize those who for many years had been receiving the holy +sacraments without being Christians, except in the superficial view +of the common people; while those who, though they were Christians, +concealed the fact, likewise profited by this kindness and gentle +management of their ministers, and found their remedy. As for the +others whose Christianity had really had a beginning, but without any +preparation or catechism, they were greatly improved. By all this it is +easy to see how great an amount of labor would be necessary to convert +a tribe so rude and so scattered, who lived in so rough a country, +and who positively loathed the faith, regarding baptism as a deadly +curse. And all this labor of the ministers was carried on entirely +without worldly comfort, or any sort of temporal support. But none +of these things discouraged them, or made them take a backward step, +not even the labor required of old and gray-haired religious in having +to learn the Indian language--and how difficult that is of itself, +he only knows who has tried it. But as they had come eager to suffer +for God, they licked their fingers over the hardships [comianse las +manos tras los trabaxos]. And, as the native language is absolutely +necessary to preach the gospel, they set about learning it with great +spirit, though the two eldest fathers went but a little way with it, +because they had already got beyond the time of learning; while the +father vicar, Fray Juan de Sancto Thomas, got on very slowly with it, +because he was much of the time sick. Only father Fray Domingo de Nieva +(who was then a deacon) learned it rapidly and well, and soon began +to preach to the Indians in it--to the great delight of himself and +of the fathers, and to the notable satisfaction of the Indians, who +in this way began to feel a great affection for all the religious. To +be sure, the deacon alone preached; but the rest of them accompanied +him, and by their example and good works constrained the Indians to +love them. The good deacon did not give over doing his duty by day +or by night, now in one village, now in another; and the holy old +men accompanied him, regarding themselves as very blessed in doing +so. They felt that, after all, they were thus rendering assistance +in the salvation of souls, which was what they desired. To the sick +who were to be baptized--who were then the majority, as they were +practically all heathen--the deacon did his office as a minister; +those who had to confess, he served as an interpreter. Sometimes +they went from one village to another by sea, in tiny boats; but +for much of the time it was necessary to go by land, through an +overflowed and muddy country, so that they thought it best to walk +barefooted and barelegged. After they arrived where they were going, +they prepared themselves to hear confession or to baptize, all wet +and muddy as they were, as indeed necessity compelled them to do. They +had no other food than a little rice, boiled with nothing but water, +and sometimes a little bit of fish to eat, if the Indians happened +to have any. They had the floor of an Indian hut for bed, and for +covers their wet apparel, and nothing else. They lived and labored +thus, in order to make these Indians understand that for all their +efforts they expected no other return than a harvest of souls for +God; and when the Indians saw them so disinterested, and perceived +that when they called upon the fathers on any account, whether by +day or by night, whether in rain or in thunder, their request never +was considered nor seemed to the fathers unreasonable, so that +they should put off coming to them, many began to desire baptism, +and others were eager to confess, in health or in sickness. Thus, +though the labor increased, it seemed lighter and even pleasanter; +and after they had tasted this refreshment they were not unready to +reach out further than their strength would permit. Hence they all +fell sick, one of them to death. This was father Fray Pedro Bolanos, +a man more than sixty years of age--who, at a time when others are +accustomed to take their ease, undertook these excessive labors with +more courage than strength. His efforts were such as would have been +very arduous even if they had only occasionally been made; but as the +work of every day they were mortal, as they turned out for father +Fray Pedro. This father was living in the very devout and strict +convent of Nuestra Senora de la Pena de Francia, when he heard with +great interest the mere rumor that religious were being collected to +establish a new province in the Philippinas and China, which was to +be placed by the founders on a footing of most strict observance, +as being undertaken by persons who were proposing to convert whole +nations of heathen. This came to father Fray Pedro as a voice from +heaven; and he consulted with the Virgin, to whom he was devoted, +and became more settled in the purpose of undertaking this pious +enterprise himself. But because he did not wish to be deceived he +talked the matter over with the wisest and most devout of the fathers +of that house. They dissuaded him from the undertaking because of +his great age, and because he would be obliged to undertake two long +sea-voyages on his way to the islands--efforts greater than at his +age, after he had spent his energies for the sake of his order, he +would be able to make. They went on to say that even after he had +completed the sea-voyage he would suffer so from the infirmities +of his years that when he reached the Philippinas he would not be +able to learn the language of the natives, or to be anything but a +hindrance. These arguments would have made him lay aside his purpose, +if devotion to that holy image had not at that time brought to that +country father Fray Antonio de Arcediano, one of the most useful +of those who had enlisted on this enterprise, who did not wish to +undertake it without having first received the blessing of this +Lady. On account of the learning and well-known virtue and prudence +of father Fray Antonio, father Fray Pedro consulted with him, telling +him the state of affairs with reference to his being called to this +mission, and the arguments which caused him to refrain, or by which +the other fathers kept him back. Father Fray Antonio listened to the +arguments and considered them, and answered as follows: "If we were +going to a province already established and formed, these would be +good arguments, but since it is still to be founded, they are not. It +is certain that it will be ill-established if it be entirely composed +of youths, however able and religious." He accordingly judged that it +would be very necessary to have among the pioneers of the order there +some gray-haired men, men well experienced in the practice of virtue; +since for the foundation of the province which was, as they asserted, +to have the rigor of the first fathers of our order, it was clear +that old religious, careful observers of the rules, men of tried +virtue, were of greater value than youths of good principles. Hence +he regarded his going as settled, and took great pleasure that it +was so. Hereupon the good old man determined to go, and did so; and +both on the voyages and in the islands he served his companions as +a great example of religious devotion, sedateness, and patience. He +was always firm under the difficulties to which we have referred, +and on the first mission to the heathen he was one of those sent to +Bataan. Here his kindness and gentleness were such as to gain the +good-will of the Indians. To attract the older ones, he began with the +children, established a school of reading and writing, and taught both +to the little ones. Those who were a little older he taught to sing, +that, performing the office of angels, they might praise the Lord in +the church. He was so desirous of the salvation of souls that when +the deacon went to catechize, or to baptize the sick, he went also +and accompanied him--choosing this labor for himself to relieve his +companions of it, for he regarded them as more useful than he, because +they learned the language better. His age was so great and the labor +so heavy that walking through the water produced an affection of the +bowels. The severity of the disease was such that, unable longer to +withstand it, he was day and night in continual pain. They took him +to Manila to the Franciscan convent (ours being not yet built), where +they took care of him with great devotion and attention. He recovered, +and returned to his laborious duties, but the same infirmity attacked +him with such violence that he died in the same convent, whither they +had taken him the second time; and here he was interred, leaving his +companions very sad on account of his absence. Yet they were very +confident that he who had carried for the Lord so heavy a cross up to +death, would likewise follow Him in His glory, which according to His +word is granted therewith. He was prepared with the holy sacraments, +and confessed very minutely and with great frequency; and singing he +invited death, praying God to take him away in peace, now that he had +beheld this holy province established as a light for so many tribes, +whom he had seen already coming to the church and being baptized. He +bade farewell to the Franciscan fathers, thanking them for their great +kindness and the hospitality which they had shown him; he encouraged +his companions to proceed with that which they had begun assuring +them that, however great the difficulty and labor, even to those in +health, there was still greater consolation, and confirmation of the +hope of reward, in the perils of sickness and death in which he was; +and declaring to them that the confidence in which he departed was a +most sufficient reward for having left, in his last years, his quiet +and his cell for this and for other greater sufferings. + +After the death of this father the labor to be done fell more heavily +upon his companions, because it had to be divided among a smaller +number. It might be said that almost the whole burden fell upon +the deacon, who was, as it were, the whole of this ministry. From +this it may easily be inferred that though young friars are of less +dignity in such missions, they are more useful for them--that is, +in cases where the sufficiency of virtue and learning makes up for +the lack of age. This is what happened not only on this occasion, +but on many others, as this province has learned by experience. For +the labors of new conversions are very great, so great indeed as to +surpass the power of youth; so that few or no such conversions have +been made without costing the death of some religious. When the father +vicar observed this, and found himself, though he had poor health, +provided with some command of the language, he began to relieve his +companions--unraveling the entanglements (which are many among the +heathen Indians) in matters of matrimony, usury, and the oppression +which the chief men employ toward their inferiors, making them slaves +without reason or justice. He gave to this matter very great care and +no less labor, being present at the investigation of such things by +day and by night, and thus greatly reducing the amount of labor of +his companions, because when they met with a case of this kind, they +referred it to him as a matter of his jurisdiction. In the confessions +they had greater labor during this first year; because in the whole +year the priests were not able to make themselves masters of the +Indian language so as to be able to hear confession independently, +and to understand the Indians as they ought. To be sure, the deacon, if +he had been a priest, would have been very well able to confess them; +and the vicar-general had authority to dispense with the required age +in a case of such necessity, so that he might be ordained priest. His +great virtue and indefatigable industry deserved this favor; but the +vicar-general could never bring himself to the point of granting +it, because he did not wish the province which was to be founded +with such strictness to begin by having a dispensation in so grave +a matter. Accordingly the deacon was obliged to wait until he had +attained the required age, which was in September of the following +year, 1588, and then he was ordained priest. By this means, and by +the help of another priest called Fray Juan de la Cruz, who came to +join their company--and who, being young, succeeded very well with +the language--this district improved greatly. They both began to hear +confessions, and immediately there were manifested by experience +the great efficacy and the excellent results of this sacrament--a +remedy for souls that are sick, and even for those that are dead. In +all regions where it is systematically followed the most valuable +results are obtained; but its effects are principally seen among +Indians, who are simple and have no duplicity. To such its secrecy +is very edifying, and it strongly affects their souls. This it is, +particularly, that directs and teaches them; hence at the beginning +of the Christian training of this tribe the general amendment was +sensibly perceived. It was possible to read on their very faces the +great efficacy of this most beneficial medicine for their souls. Only +in the case of the vice of drunkenness was it impossible to find a +remedy that would suffice for the great excesses produced by it; for +although all the Indians are very faulty in this particular, those +of this region surpassed those of the rest of the country, and were +famous for this vice among their neighbors. It seemed impossible to +remedy the fault, because it was the hereditary vice of their fathers +and their grand-fathers before them; and they had, as it were, grown +into it by continual use. Still God revealed to the father vicar a +remedy for this, so gentle that without blood or violence it brought +them to reason, and so efficaciously that in a short time it achieved +what was intended. This was to give orders, under light penalties, +that any man who became intoxicated was not to be received in any +house, and was not to be visited in his own house; that no one was +to communicate to him or talk to him, or have any dealings with him. + +He caused to be proclaimed in church those who were most guilty of +this vice, commanding all others to avoid them, as has been said, +regarding them as enemies of God and despisers of His doctrine, +and of the teaching of the fathers; and this way of depriving them +of intercourse with the rest was sufficient to make them ashamed of +themselves. The result was that they renounced their custom and evil +habit, and strove so to make themselves fit for the sacrament that, +in order to avoid drunkenness, they gave up wine as an ordinary +beverage. If they drank it occasionally, either because of need or +desire, they drank by rule and measure. So far did they depart from +their old excess that they not only blotted out their former evil +reputation, but obtained for themselves a good one--which up to today +they maintain, to the great joy of their ministers. The same thing is +true of the other vices that they had, not only when they were heathen, +but even after they were baptized, on account of the bad system of +which we have given an account. For lack of teaching they had remained +in their idolatries as before, without giving up usury, oppression, +false swearing, and the feuds in which they had been brought up to +have perpetual enmities. But soon after these religious learned their +language, and began to give them instruction, the change which was to +be seen in them was extraordinary; for the root of all these vices +was plucked up, and that so completely that they themselves aided +in their own reformation--for they gave the ministers information +in regard to sins and idolatries by showing them who they were that +committed them, and where they were committed. Thus it was easy to +find some little idols that they kept hidden, which were handed over +to the Christian boys to drag about through the whole village, and +at last were burned. By this means and by the punishment of a few +old women who acted as priestesses, and who were called catalonans, +the idolatry of the whole region was brought to an end. In the +matters of restitution of usury, and maltreatment of slaves, and +other oppressions, there was some difficulty; for, as the evil had +been converted into the flesh and blood of the wrongful holders of +the property, it was the same as to strip off their flesh and drain +their blood to talk about their returning that which they unjustly +held. Still so great was the power that the teaching of the religious +had over them, and so deep root had it taken in their hearts, that +they broke through everything, and by the aid of the Lord brought +themselves to the point. Thus at the beginning of their Christian +life they did something which would hardly have been done by those +grown old in Christianity, who had sucked it in with their mother's +milk. They gave liberty to many slaves deprived thereof unjustly, they +restored the usury they had taken, and everything that they unjustly +held. And this they did with so good a grace that it was enough for +the father to propose it, after having verified the case. There was +one man who gave up everything that he had, because he found that it +was all unjustly held; and who did this without anything more having +been done to influence him than the mere speaking of the word. Such +a marvel as this God alone can work, who knows how to give so great +an efficacy to such gentle means as have been described. Though +in some cases no owners were known, to whom restitution could be +made, they did not fail to make restitution on that account; but, +collecting all the debts of this kind, they made a common deposit +of them for common needs, and for the poor. There were many who +could not be found to receive the satisfaction made in this way, +and the application of the amount was made to the common necessity, +as has been said. The great force that brought about this result was +the obvious disinterestedness of the religious, who did not desire to +apply anything to the benefit of the churches, on the ground that they +were of common importance, but regarded these as being their special +charge, so that in this way they might assure the Indians that in +all this there was no other purpose than their own good, and might +avoid every occasion for their imagining the contrary. That district +reached this happy point in less than one year from the time when +these ministers took charge of it, though it had been in the wretched +state which we have described for the lack of some one systematically +and regularly to care for the souls of the inhabitants. These people, +who were always bringing suits and forming factions, have from that +time lived so peaceably that they undertake few or no lawsuits. They +prefer coming to an agreement before their minister (who takes no +fees or bribes from them), to appearing before the courts, where +they consume their property, and usually spend more than the case +is worth. This is so true that when the alcalde-mayor came there to +make his visit, he and his company were fain to hasten away from that +district, for where there are no fees there are no profits; and they +arranged to go on to a place where their profits would be certain, +because the population were not so peaceable as in this region. + + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +The same continued, and some miracles that +afterwards followed + + +[The mighty work described, being beyond human power, must have been of +God; and, to make this clear, God showed His power in this region. At +one time the father vicar was going to hear confessions in one of +those villages, and was met by a leading Indian already converted, +by name Don Pablo Taclanmanoc, who asked where he was going. When +he said: "To hear the confessions of the people in this village," +the Indian replied, "Well then, Father, you have inquired about their +debts, so that they may be able to confess?" "I cannot know them," +answered the father, "if they do not tell me them; and for that reason +I have taken care to instruct them in my sermons that those who owe +debts must pay them." "More than that is necessary," said Don Pablo; +"give me the charge of investigating the debts in this village, +so that they may make a good confession." The religious thanked him +and put off the confessions that he might see what would come of this +undertaking. Don Pablo made his investigation with much care. He made +inquiry throughout the village, and he ascertained that there were +much usury and many other unjust and wrongful acts which had been +committed in it. He took this all, written down in a memorandum-book, +to the minister, who governed himself by it and made his inquiries in +the confessions as it suggested. The confessions were very accurate, +and in this way many wrongs were undone without any further pressure or +force than this. When he saw how useful and necessary this undertaking +had been, he had it done in all the villages, making use of the idea of +the Indian Don Pablo--whom the Lord had given to these missionaries in +this region as a teacher; and by whose instruction they might dig out +many evil roots, which had grown strong with age, and were certain to +be a great hindrance to the growth of the good seed of the gospel. This +result these ministers at that time could not attain, because they +were then new; nor would they have been able to attain them later, +if the Indians had been silent with regard to them, and had followed +the bad habit of confessing the rest while being silent on this point, +which to them is the hardest thing in our law. But as they were at that +time at the very beginning, and as this course was followed with all, +and as it agreed with the truth and with all the evidence obtained +by Don Pablo, they all accepted it very well. The results were most +beneficial to this district. The Indians of it came to have such a +reputation for devotion, for frequenting the holy sacraments, for +obedience to their ministers, and for peace and brotherly love among +themselves--being free from the vanities and excesses to which these +Indians are naturally inclined--that when the ecclesiastical judges +desired to bring to order any persons in other regions, they used to +send them to Bataan, because of the good example set there. The Lord +cared for these Indians with a very loving providence, as He showed by +the special works that He wrought to rescue them from their course of +perdition. Though we must be silent in regard to the greater number, +we cannot pass over some. An old Indian woman who was preparing +for baptism was one day absent from the class, and the father under +whose care she was, sent a boy to call her. He came back saying she +was dying; and the father, running with all his might to her side, +found her still breathing. He was just in time to baptize her. The +preservation of her life just up to that moment astonished all, and +especially the bishop Don Fray Domingo de Salacar. Several instances +are recorded, in which persons were barely kept alive up to the time +of their baptism. Several cases are also preserved in which insane +persons were allowed a lucid interval in which to receive the holy +sacrament of baptism. On the other hand, the devil played some tricks +upon the fathers. One of the most important was to deceive them as to +the character of some Indian women accused of witchcraft. They were so +ingenious in concealing their wickedness that the fathers refused to +listen to charges against them. Their daring reached so high a point +that, at the command of one of them, the devil appeared before one +of the chiefs of the village, by voice but not by sight, bidding him +go thence. This was told the father. The devil answered, and said to +the father: "Thou shalt believe only what thou seest." At last the +Lord was pleased to reveal the deceit, by the means of a sick woman +in a hospital, who declares that one of these witches had punished +her with this illness because of her refusing to give the witch the +small fruit that she had asked for. An investigation followed, and +it was discovered that they were most subtle witches; that they had +wrought great evils, and had two accomplices in their work. They were +punished with banishment, and therewith this country was freed of this +evil remnant of its heathen condition; and, though there have been +more of this sort since then, their punishment has required some less +severe penalty. There have been a number of notable miracles by which +the Lord gave authority to His gospel and His ministers among these +Indians--though, on account of the care which the former have taken to +conceal them, the particulars are not known. Still there is one miracle +that is almost universal in all these regions; this is, that when the +devil torments some Indian, under the influence of witches with whom +he has made an agreement to torment those whom they desire to harm, +he loses his power before the command of the religious. The Indians +fear the witchcraft so that they do not dare deny the witches anything +they ask; and thus they become masters of the property, the food, +and the persons of all the Indians. The devil is driven out by the +very presence of the religious, while in their absence he is kept away +by merely having the sick hold a scapular. All this is accomplished +without exorcisms, except the command in the name of the Lord that +they shall cease their tormenting. In many cases miracles of healing +have been wrought by baptism, or by confession.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +The entry of the religious into Pangasinan + + +When the order of our father St. Dominic reached these islands the +Indians of Pangasinan were given over to idolatry, and so detested +the gospel that, though the ministry of some religious was brought to +the Indians on both sides of them (who are those of the provinces of +Panpanga and of Ylocos), these Indians always refused to admit them; +and they treated those fathers so badly that, though there were some +clergy and some Franciscan religious who desired and endeavored to +convert them, these had no success with them on account of their +determined resistance. On the contrary, the Indians were wretchedly +victorious, obliging the ministers, by their perversity, to go away +and leave them in the darkness which they so loved and delighted +in. There was only one place--the principal village, called Lingayen, +where the alcalde-mayor resided--in which some of the religious +of our father St. Augustine had been able to persevere. They were +protected and defended by the law, and by the Spaniards who lived +there, who by their presence were able to compel the Indians to treat +the fathers properly--not as they had been in the other villages, +where they were not only treated discourteously, but came near to +being killed. This treatment resulted in bringing the fathers to the +conclusion that it was best to leave them, which was what the Indians +desired, and even what the devil whom they served had commanded them, +on occasions when he had spoken with them. One of these occasions +occurred while some Indians were on their way from the villages below +to the mountains of the Ygolotes, on their ordinary business. As they +were going through a thicket [arcabuco] full of bushes and briars, +they heard a very loud and dreadful voice lamenting and complaining +pitifully. The Indians retreated with great alarm at hearing this +voice in so rough and so lonely a place; but, as they were many, they +ventured to follow it to see who had uttered it, and in this way they +came near to the place where it had sounded. Though they kept on going +up the mountain, they saw nobody, and came no nearer to the voice they +heard. Their alarm greatly increased, and one of them, exerting his +breath and voice as much as he could, asked: "Who art thou that thus +lamentest and utterest such groans?" and they heard this answer: "I am +Apolaqui"--who among them takes the place of Mars among the heathen +Romans--who might be called their god of war, and to whom they also +pray when they go on a voyage, or on any journey for business. And when +they heard it was their revered and highly beloved Apolaqui that was +complaining, their alarm increased so greatly that they were almost +out of their senses, until one of the most courageous of them said: +"Apolaqui, our anito," for thus they are accustomed to call those +whom they reverence as God, "for whom we celebrate feasts, what cause +have we given thee now that thou shouldest complain thus? Wherefore +hast thou thundered upon these mountains, putting us in such fear, +though we have done nothing to offend thee?" Apolaqui answered: +"I am weeping to see fulfilled that which for years I have dreaded: +that ye should receive among you strangers with white teeth, wearing +cowls, and that they should place in your houses some sticks of wood +laid across each other to torment me," for thus he spoke of the +crosses. "And now I am going from among you, seeking to find some +one to follow me, since ye have abandoned me for strangers, though +I am your ancient lord." To this day the Indians give to the place +where the demon spoke, this name (which in their language means "at +the cross"), Pinabuenlagan. Is it strange that he who would do such +things when he merely knew that the preachers of truth were near him, +and who would thus alarm the Indians who followed him, should cause +them to treat the ministers of the gospel as badly as they always +did? It was to these Indians then, so ill disposed to receiving the +faith, that father Fray Bernardo de Sancta Catalina was sent with five +associates, all priests, who arrived there in the month of September, +1587. A Spanish encomendero of that country, called Ximenez del Pino, +gave them a little bit of a house, for it was not to be hoped of +the Indians that they would offer any hospitality to the friars; +on the contrary, they hated them above all things. There was one +man that offered them, if they would go away, a chinanta of gold, +which is the weight of half an arroba--so far were they from offering +hospitality to our fathers and doing them any kindness. The religious +knew all this, and went on with patience, which was very necessary; +for so determined were the Indians to receive them badly that the +friars were, so to speak, in a desert, so far as anything that human +society could do for them was concerned. They suffered greatly from +hunger and from hardships. The Indians refused to provide them with the +necessities of life, for payment or for anything else. Many times the +religious had to carry on their backs their wood and water, and even +their poor little beds, when they went from one village to another; +for in this way the Indians strove to force them to go away, as the +religious had been in the habit of doing. But the virtues of these +fathers overcame everything. The hardships that they had to suffer, +however severe, did not attain the height of the sufferings which they +desired to bear for the Lord; nor did the difficulties which they met, +which were not few, discourage them; nor could the little hope that +the Indians gave of being converted take away the hope that the Lord +gave; for He was certain to pity these tribes, for whom He had shed +His blood. That which happened was very strange, and it should not +therefore be reported without evidence worthy of it, which is that +of the first bishop of these tribes, Don Fray Miguel de Venavides--a +religious of very superior virtue, as we shall tell in due time, +who made a report from his bishopric to Clement VIII, at that time +head of the church. This report, because of the person who wrote it, +because it was written to the sovereign pontiff, and because it was +written in fulfilment of the oath which he had taken, as bishop of +this holy see, to obey and to report the condition of his church +and bishopric to his Holiness, must be free from all suspicion. I +know not in what way, but somehow it was printed; and there are many +copies in our convent in Valencia. The report is as follows. "It is +about eleven years since the Dominican fathers entered the province of +Pangasinan. That which has happened in the conversion of the province, +which at the present time is composed of Christians--there being, of +course, a heathen here and there--is such that we must give thanks to +God for it. The miracles by which these tribes have been converted have +been the lives of the ministers, though there have not been lacking +other miracles, for the Lord has now and then shown the power of His +hand. There were at first six religious of this order; and when the +Indians saw them, they immediately asked the fathers when they were +going away. The natives saw no opportunity to drive them away from +their country; and so much did they detest them that there was no means +by which they could be induced to give the fathers anything to eat, +even for money. Thus for the space of three years they suffered many +hardships; but their rebelliousness could not outstrip the patience of +the fathers. Besides all this, five of the fathers fell sick at once, +and were in that condition for five months; but at the end of that +time, God was pleased to give them their health without physician, +or medicine, or comforts. Such was the treatment accorded them by +the Indians, to say nothing of the fact that no one was converted +to our holy faith. The bishop of these islands, Don Fray Domingo +de Salazar, noticing this fact, begged the religious to leave the +Indians and depart from their country. This he did at the request +of many Spanish captains. It was true that these Indians were of +all the tribes in the country the worst, the fiercest, and the most +cruel--an unconquered tribe who celebrated their feasts by cutting +off one another's heads. But the superior who was then at the head +of the province was unwilling to take this step; on the contrary, +he said, 'These bad Indians are the ones whom I wish my friars to +convert.' After three years, during which they only baptized a few boys +(for the natives were unwilling to give the girls), the Indians began +to believe in the religious; and the beginning that the Lord chose +for this was the following. When the Indians perceived the way in +which the friars lived, the fasts and penances which they performed, +their patience amid hardships, and the fact that the fathers not +only did them no harm, but came to their aid in their necessities, +they began to be mollified, and to believe what the friars said. The +story is told that an Indian chief went one night to a religious +and said to him: 'Father, you must know that I have been watching +you for two years, and have carefully noted everything that you do; +and I see that you all have one way of living. If one of you does not +eat, no more do the others; if one of you rises at midnight to pray, +so do the rest; if one of you avoids women, all the rest of you do +so too. You all of you follow one rule and one road; you strive to +obtain neither gold nor silver; you are ill-treated and yet patient; +you do all things for our good. Hence I have resolved to believe you, +since I am persuaded people who act like you will not deceive.' So +high did the good opinion of these Dominican religious rise among +those people (God having ordained it thus in His goodness and +providence), that the Indians actually regarded those of this habit +as sinless; so much so that if the devil sometimes suggested to an +Indian woman an improper dream with reference to a friar, when the +woman afterwards came to confess she did not say: 'I accuse myself +of having dreamed this about a friar,' but, 'about a devil in the +shape of a friar.' When the leading men of the tribe began to consider +becoming Christians--their headmen being already so, as well as some +others--they came to the religious, and persuaded them that, in order +that all of them might be converted together, they should first of +all give up in a single day everything which they held in commission +for the devil; these things were the instruments which they used for +their sacrifices. The fathers accordingly did as they wished, and, +with the assistance of these same governors of the country there were +given up an infinite number of pieces of earthen ware and a great +deal of very old wine--for this is regarded as the thing consecrated +to the devil; and no one dares touch or go near it except at the time +of the sacrifice, and then only the minister who performs it. They +are accustomed to keep this wine at the head of the bed in a little +earthen jar, like holy water. When they had given all this up (which +they did with very good will), they all proposed immediately to become +Christians, and to know and learn the things of our holy Catholic +religion. After they had learned them and been instructed in them, +they were directed to fast for forty days, or one month; and general +baptisms took place on the eve of the feasts of the Resurrection +and Pentecost. [Long before this a marvel had happened in which an +Indian had been cured of a frightful rupture after his baptism. This +made the Indians regard the baptism as something medicinal, and they +wished to be baptized whenever they were sick, in order to be cured; +but the fathers undeceived them. They made the same mistake about the +sign of the cross, and in regard to the cross itself. Visions were +seen. At one time, when some of the brethren were desirous of leaving +this region and of going to China to preach the gospel, one of them +laid the matter before the Lord in prayer. He dreamed that night that +he saw the good man of a household, clad in a long robe, and sending +men out to reap his harvest. When they came to one sterile place where +there was only a spike of grain here and there, they did not wish to +reap it, but to go to another field where the harvest was rich; but +the good man said to them: 'Will you not reap here? then you shall reap +neither here nor there.' Finally, God was pleased that by the patience +and sufferings of these ministers this tribe should be converted and +baptized. They are now very good Christians, insomuch that some of +them can conduct prayer like religious who most closely follow the +rules of their order. They are people of very good intelligence, and +often put very clever questions and propose intelligent doubts. At +one time when a religious was preaching of the mercy of God in dying +for men, an Indian woman rose in the midst of his sermon, and said: +'Wait, Father. How can you say that Christ died? You have said that +Christ was God; but God cannot die.' At another time, a sick Indian put +the question whether God did not concur in all things that happened in +the earth and was not thus responsible for the evil of it. They even +go beyond things required, in order to do works of supererogation, +many of them rising at midnight to pray when the matin bell rings; +they follow the fasts of the Dominican order; when they rise, the +first thing they do at dawn is to make an offering of themselves and +all that they have to our Lord; whenever they begin an undertaking, +they first offer it to God, with their minds, their hearts, and their +hands in the work. Though poor, they give alms frequently. Some of +them, whenever they eat, put aside a portion as 'Christ's food,' +and send it to some sick person. Some of them fast during the whole +Advent, in preparation for the feast of the Nativity. It is said of +one Indian woman that St. Mary and St. Joseph visited and ate with her +one Advent. All the Spaniards and religious of other orders are amazed +at this conversion, and especially at seeing them give up vices so +enticing as drunkenness, which used to be very common among them--up +to the point of making them unable to keep their feet--but which they +have now given up so completely that some do not even taste wine. They +greatly delight in the devotion of the rosary. The very friars who +are their ministers are amazed to see such a conversion in a tribe so +barbarous, so cruel, and so completely given over to vice. Their minds +are set upon preparing themselves for death, so that they regard all +besides--houses, property, and children, and all temporal things--as +merely accessory. Those who can afford it have masses said for their +souls while they are still alive, as if they were already dead; +and give much alms to this end. Those who have not the means for +this, fast and mortify themselves. In this province the ministers +have begun to give the most holy sacrament of the communion to the +natives, as being adult in the faith. They prepare themselves for the +communion with great devotion. As there are no masses except on the +great feasts, some prepare themselves as if they were to communicate +every month, being contented with spiritual communion. The hand +of the Lord hath wrought this; for the ministers had this success, +with a race speaking a foreign language, one which the missionaries +did not know as thoroughly as their own, while when these same men +preached to those of our own nation and language, their words have +had no such effect. The fault is in the hearers, who are unwilling +to profit by the good which God has sent them." Here the report of +Venavides ends. Other reports have been sent to Espana of the perfect +devotion of these people. One of these tells how the Indians crowd the +churches at the time of confession, fast, and communicate regularly; +how many of the married ones live a great part of the time not as +man and wife but as brother and sister--in particular, during Lent, +and for some days before communicating; how there would be no end +to the good that might be said about these people; and how some of +them are of very good intelligence, and ingenious in asking questions +which make the ministers reflect. This report is by father Fray Juan +de Sancto Domingo, afterward a holy martyr in Japon. [37] It is dated +at Magaldan, a village of Pangasinan, November 8, 1618. Father Fray +Bernardo de Santa Catalina or Navarro, the apostle to this tribe, one +of whose reports bears date of Manila, the twenty-fourth of [sic] one +thousand six hundred and twelve, says that the great care manifested +by our religious in following the rules of the order has given them +power to overcome these unconquerable tribes. He reports that the +number of persons baptized in the province of Pangasinan has grown +from a few new-born boys to ten thousand, and that the number of those +in this region who are prepared for heaven is constantly increasing.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Of the persecution of the religious by the Indians, at the beginning; +and of their later heartfelt conversion. + + +The principal reason that these Indians had for persecuting these +first fathers who came to their villages was that, as soon as they +came thither, they built a convent in a few days, and a very tiny +church, in front of which they set up a large wooden cross; and that +thereupon their greatest idol, who was called Ana Gaoley, ceased to +give the responses and oracles which it had been wont to give them, +in the shrines or temples which they had made, which were called +anitoan. The priestesses had been accustomed to invoke these oracles, +for the ministry of idols among them was given over to women. These +women, called managanito, were dressed in certain vestments dedicated +to this sole use, and employed certain vessels esteemed among them, +containing oils, unguents, odors, and perfumes. With all this they +placed themselves in a retreat where they used to conjure the devil; +and there the devil spoke to them, giving them answers with regard +to their wars, their sicknesses, and their undertakings. Whatever +thing the devil asked by the mouths of these women, however costly +it might be, the Indians brought immediately; and if through them he +commanded the Indians to kill any one, they instantly put the command +into execution without a word. But from the moment of the building +of the church the oracle was silent. The Indians felt this very much, +and made many sacrifices to placate him, supposing he had grown silent +from anger; but they could not succeed in drawing a single word from +him. He revealed himself on a mountain at some distance from the +village, where there were some Indians cutting wood for their houses, +and said to them that they should not wear themselves out by asking +anything more from him, because two things had banished him from his +village. One of them was that straight stick set up in the village, +with another across it, like a body with two arms. The other was those +men with hair on their heads who were among them in his village; +for so long as they were there he could not go back to it. [This +ought to have been enough to convert them, like the priest of the +idol whom St. Gregory Thaumaturgus put to silence by his presence; +but these people had not intelligence enough for that, and grew very +indignant against the religious, especially after the father of lies +told them that the friars meant to kill their children. Their wrath +against the innocent religious grew so great that, if they had not +feared the Spaniards, they would have killed them. The enemy of God +found means still more to inflame the wrath of the Indians against +the friars.] One of the Indian women of the highest rank being found +pregnant when she was about to be married, her parents intended to +execute upon her their ancient law, which was to bury her alive, +together with the malefactor. They seized her, and tortured her to +make her reveal who he was. She, at the instigation of the devil, +declared that it was father Fray Bernardo de Sancta Catalina, +the superior of all those religious, and the one against whom the +devil and the Indians felt most bitter, because he was the principal +minister of the gospel. Thereupon, without further investigation, she +was immediately believed: and they came upon him like bloodthirsty +wolves, with the purpose of carrying out that penalty. He was not +disturbed or alarmed, but made them go with him to the Indian woman, +and asked her some questions; and when the time was ascertained at +which she had conceived, it was plain that the father had not been at +that time, or for many days before or after, in that village. Thus +they believed him firmly, while they and he who had stirred them up +were ashamed and confused. Still the woman's artifice was of use to +her; for the father repaid her for the false witness she had given, +by delivering her from the death which they were going to inflict +upon her--searching for devices to bring this about, just as the devil +had searched for them to do evil; for kindness is no less subtle than +malice. Later will be seen what was the life and death of this holy +religious, whom the devil strove to discredit by other means, but +without success. [The devil was finally banished from these villages, +in which he had kept all the Indians in wretched slavery; for if he +gave them some liberty to vice he demanded from them a much greater +return.] In addition to the sacrifices that he required of them--which +as has been said were costly, and which sometimes extended even to the +death of men, he required them to do most painful things in their times +of bereavement. For the first three days they did not have a mouthful +to eat; for three more days they had only a little fruit; after this, +for a long time, they had only boiled herbs or roots, without wine to +drink, and with nothing savory to eat. During all this time they wore +around the neck a little gold chain, which was a mark of mourning; +and this they were not allowed to put off during all this period, +unless they killed some one. As soon as they committed a homicide, +there was an end of the mourning and the fast; and they made up by +eating and drinking without limit or measure. Every little thing +that happened to them caused them a thousand superstitions, painful, +and sometimes expensive. + +The worst of all was the wars that they were constantly waging among +themselves, and the great oppressions inflicted upon the people of +the lower class by those who are above them in rank. These took away +their possessions from them and made them slaves at their mere whims, +under the law that "might makes right." One of these bravo chiefs +(a very tyrannical one, and therefore the more esteemed, feared, +and respected by the rest), by name Cabanday, would never hear of +being converted to Christianity--the more so because he would have +been required to restore everything which he had taken by injustice, +usury, extortion, and wrong; for thus he had gained all he had, and he +was very rich. [God one day heard the prayers of the friars for him; +and at night he told the Indian who was his closest friend that he felt +so strong an impulse to turn to God that he could not resist it. He +ordered his slaves to take the chest in which he kept all his gold and +riches, to carry it to the church, and to open it immediately. They +broke it open. The fathers went down from the choir where they were, +being mistrustful of some ill. They found him with his chest; he +opened it; placed at the feet of father Fray Bernardo all that was +in it, and afterwards threw himself at these too--praying, with much +feeling and with many tears, to be baptized, and telling them that +there was the whole of his fortune and the fortune of his children; +let them do with it what they would, though they should send him away +poorer than the lowest of his vassals, if only they would do what he +asked. The religious gave a thousand thanks to God, comforted him, +promised him baptism, and began to prepare him for it. Being very old, +he could not learn the prayers by heart; but he was very intelligent, +and very well understood the mysteries of the faith they taught +him. They accordingly baptized him, to his own great joy and to the +comfort of the fathers. They called him in baptism Don Pablo. Though +he could not learn the prayers by memory, he was not deprived of them; +for when he recited the rosary, in place of the pater-noster he said +in his own language: "Oh, Lord my God, have pity upon me, a sinner," +and in place of the Ave Maria he said the same to our Lady. And, +when he came to confess, in place of the general confession he +said: "Father, I come to your feet to reveal my sins, and to obtain +pardon therefor from God our Lord." He made his confession with much +clearness and contriteness, educated his children in the fear of God, +strove to have all the people of his country baptized, and lived an +exemplary life. He lived eighteen years a Christian. His death took +place under the following circumstances. While father Fray Bernardo +was confessing the Indians, one Lent, in the church of Binalatongan, +Don Pablo came on foot and said: "Father, confess me, for I am going +to die today." He asked the father to come and say mass, and to give +him the viaticum. On the same day he died. + +No less remarkable was the conversion of another great chief of the +village of Magaldan, called Casipit, who had been on the point of +killing a Franciscan, so opposed was he to the faith. This Indian +had already thrown him on the ground to kill him with a cruel dagger +which they use, when the others hindered him. When now our order +came to his country, he took it so ill that he went to Manila to +arrange to have the friars withdrawn from his village; and to carry +out the negotiation he offered his encomendero half his property, +which was considerable. His wife, named Lalo, was first converted +by the preaching of father Fray Pedro de Soto. She was baptized Dona +Gracia. By her efforts the husband was converted and baptized, with +the whole of his family and his large retinue. He used to gather the +people of his village near the church, and to address them, urging them +to works of mercy with plain and sensible words; but with such fervor +and devotion that he made them all weep, even the religious who had +concealed himself to overhear. He led a very religious life, directing +his household in habits of devotion. So also did his wife; and the +good people directed their slaves to pay as much attention to their +religious duties as to the work they did for them. On one occasion, +when one of his slaves died, and it was impossible to bury him in the +churchyard, because of the floods, the old man determined to carry +the slave to another village, which on account of its higher situation +had not been flooded, and to bury him in the church there. The river +was full of trees and logs which might overturn his boat, the current +was very strong, and there were many whirlpools in it. There was also +danger from the caymans, which at that period of the year are most +dangerous, and most frequently attack small boats. Don Pedro was not +ignorant of the risks for an old man like him, for he was more than a +hundred years old, though he had lost none of his strength. In spite +of the petitions of all of his family he made the effort, carrying the +slave to the village of San Jacintho. The old man, when he got there, +was all wet, and was chilled with the cold of the rain that had fallen +and of the winds that had blown on him. He buried the slave and went +home, happy in having fulfilled his duty so nobly. When one of his +slaves died by accident, without having been able to confess, the +good Don Pedro took it to heart as if it had been his own sin. From +this instance may be seen how devoted Christians those Indians became +whose conversion had been so difficult.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +Some miracles wrought by God in Pangasinan at the beginning of the +preaching in this province + + +[Though the Lord did not work so many miracles in this province as in +the primitive church, since that was the foundation of all the churches +since, He still gave authority to the preaching of His gospel in these +regions by many marvelous works. Father Fray Alonso Montero, [38] +a son of the province of Mexico, and a native of Castilla la Vieja, +tells us that, in two years during which he was in this province, no +day passed without a miracle. After a year, during which no conversions +had been made among the Indians, because of their hardness of heart, +it seemed to father Fray Bernardo that it was time to break the silence +which they had kept up to that time. By the favor of an Indian chief +who had been converted in Manila, Don Juan de Vera by name, and of his +brother, who was headman of that village, they visited all the houses, +asking the people to let them have the children to baptize them. In +one house they had a child and hid it. When father Fray Bernardo asked +for it, they told him they had no child. In affliction he turned to +his companion, father Fray Luis Gandullo, and said: "There was a child +here, and they will not let me have him. Ask for him, your Reverence, +perhaps they will give him to you." After they had refused him, too, +the child put up its head, and when father Fray Luis opened his arms +and said to him in the Castilian language, "Come to me, child of my +heart, that knowest not the good that thou losest in being hidden +from holy baptism; come to us. I promise thee to take care of thee, +and to do thee good," the child, as if it had understood Castilian +(of which it did not know a word), and as if it had had the sense to +know what was for its advantage, left its mother and its kinsfolk to +go to the religious, keeping its eyes fixed upon him as if thanking +him for the good counsel they had been giving it. It went with the +religious and was baptized, and turned out to be a very perfect +Christian, as having been made one by miracle. An old man annoyed +them by speaking against them in his own language, and following them +about everywhere. When father Fray Luis took him by the arm and kindly +remonstrated with him, the Indian, who did not understand the language, +began to scream and said, "Let go, Father; I do not wish to become a +Christian." They kept this up for some time till the father let him +go. Some days afterward, the two fathers saw him again; and father Fray +Luis, who had prayed much for him in the interval, pointed him out +to father Fray Bernardo, and said: "Let us ask him now if he wishes +to be a Christian." He accepted, and was baptized. A girl was born +blind, and her parents were so afflicted that, as cruel barbarians, +they planned to kill her. The religious knew of this, and prayed to +God that He would be pleased to provide relief. Father Fray Marcos de +Sant Antonio undertook the business of gaining this soul. He spoke to +the parents of the child; but they were unwilling to give the child, +and offered to sell her. They came to an agreement for eight reals; +and the religious took the child and baptized her. At her baptism, +the Lord was pleased to give her not only the light of His grace, but +also that of corporal sight; and her eyes became miraculously clear +and beautiful. With this the eyes of the parents were also opened, +and they began to give their children for baptism, especially as this +was not the only miracle wrought among the baptized children. That they +might not suppose that the virtue of this most necessary sacrament had +an effect upon children only, an Indian who was wounded in the abdomen, +so that his entrails protruded in great quantity and he seemed to be +near death, was implored by the religious to be baptized. He, however, +refused, and was not even influenced when they once said that this holy +sacrament had sometimes cured bodies as well as souls. The religious +came and did what they could to keep away the ants which came to feed +upon his entrails. He already had the smell of death upon him; and, +when he felt that death was near, he begged for baptism. When he was +baptized, his entrails drew in again, the wound was closed, and he was +as sound as if such a thing had never happened. A number of similar +miracles of healing were wrought. The Indians were surprised to see +the religious come among them unarmed and alone, while the other +Spaniards always came in numbers and with firearms--even then not +regarding themselves as safe, but proceeding with much caution. The +religious, however, went about carelessly. When the Indians consulted +the devil, according to their custom before doing away with any one, +he responded to them that the religious did not go unprotected; that +they were accompanied by an armed angel, with a cross on his brow, +and another on his shield. The Indians had never seen such a thing, +and could not have made up a fiction because they had never seen a +painting or heard mention of any such matter. Thus they learned that +the devil was not so strong as they had supposed, since he was obliged +to admit that there was one stronger than he. Another heathen Indian, +who had permitted his child to be baptized, was rewarded by a vision, +by which he was converted. He put away all his wives but the first, +though he loved another and better one. He built in his village, +called Gabon, a monastery and a church for the religious, more +capacious than those they had. Devils were driven away by the holy +sacrament of baptism, and children were restored to life. When the +heathen jeered at some Christians for going to church on Sunday and +neglecting their fields, God was pleased to send a plague of locusts, +which spared the fields of the Christians. Many more miracles might +be put down here, of which we have reports from religious of great +virtue; and there is a still greater number which they have passed +over and failed to mention.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +The coming to this province of father Fray Juan Cobo and other +religious + + +Though father Fray Juan Cobo and other fathers did not come on the +first voyage, for the reasons given, they were always thinking of +and longing for this province. So when father Fray Juan Chrisostomo +felt a little better, though he was not well, they began to think +immediately of resuming the journey which his severe infirmity had +necessarily interrupted. Father Fray Juan Cobo had the same idea; +and, even if he had not done so, affairs went on in such a way that +he would have been obliged to give up all the business that kept him +in Nueva Espana and go to the Philippinas. His well-known learning, +his great virtue, and his zeal for the honor of the Lord, together +with his great prudence and lofty courage, and all the other qualities +requisite in a consummate preacher, were well known, and the order +required him to preach in Mexico. He declaimed against the great +scandals which were occurring at that time, so that the viceroy (who +was the most guilty person) ordered his banishment to the Philippinas, +where the authorities of Nueva Espana generally send the criminals whom +they wish to punish. Father Fray Juan accepted his banishment with +great joy, partly because of the desire he had to make the journey, +partly because of the gratification that he felt in coming hither as +an exile for doing his duty as a preacher, as God had commanded. This +is a most delicious, though a hidden manna, the sweetness of which +those only know who find themselves in such condition as this; for +it is suffering for God, who is a most generous rewarder of services +performed for Him--much more of sufferings undertaken for His honor. On +the same ground--namely, having preached on this occasion against +the doer of those scandalous deeds--the viceroy sent into banishment +father Fray Luis Gandullo, a person of very superior virtue, of +whom it will be necessary later to give a very full account. When +he heard the sentence of banishment, he fell on his knees and gave +many thanks to the Lord for the kindness that He had shown him, +in honoring him by permitting him to suffer banishment for love of +Him. The two banished religious joined each other, and took no little +pleasure in each other's company. They had much reason therefor, +for they were both setting out for the same end; and God led them by +the same means. Father Fray Juan Chrisostomo was joined by several: +father Fray Juan Garcia, [39] a distinguished religious and minister to +the Indians in Nueva Espana, who was afterwards of the very greatest +importance in this province; father Fray Thomas Castellar, a very +religious friar; a brother, better known in this country by the name of +"the Holy Friar" than by his own name, which was Fray Pedro Martinez; +and the brother Fray Juan Deca, who had come to take care of father +Fray Juan Chrisostomo in his illness. [40] These all had gathered +together because of the fame of the province, which was spreading +abroad--that it was beginning with so great a reformation within +itself, and with zeal for the conversion of so many tribes. These were +seven religious in all; and, as they were on the point of departing, +father Fray Juan Cobo wished to bid farewell to one of his friends, +a cleric of much virtue called Juan Fernandez de Leon, who lived in +a very exemplary manner in Guastepec. When they reached there they +found the house where he lived tightly closed. They shouted to him +many times, but the good clergyman who was within made no answer, +so carefully did he protect his retirement. It was necessary to get +a ladder and climb in by a window. The virtuous cleric rejoiced much +to see father Fray Juan, and, when he knew where they were all on +the point of going, the enterprise pleased him also so well that he +immediately determined to go with the religious to the Philippinas. He +carried out his plan, set a very noble example in life, and after his +death was and is venerated as a saint, our Lord proving his sainthood +with miracles. A layman of much virtue called Juan de Soria, when +he saw people of such virtue making this journey, made the same +journey in their company, being desirous of assuming the habit in +that province, as he did when he reached the islands. With these two +good associates the company increased greatly in virtue, though it +was not very great in numbers. They resolved to make their voyage +immediately; and reaching Tisla [i.e., Tixtla], which is near the +port of Acapulco, they were informed that there was being prepared +for the Philippinas a vessel, small, old, and in ill condition, and +so loaded with people, soldiers, and sailors--since they had doubled +the number of those needed for the navigation of the vessel because +sailors were required in Manila--that it was impossible for them +to embark. The news grieved them greatly, and to be assured of the +truth of it they sent to the port father Fray Juan Garcia and brother +Fray Juan Deza, who found all true that had been said of the vessel, +and more. It was so heavily laden that it was in the water above the +scupper-holes, without having taken on board the people who were to +go as passengers, who were of no small number. The religious went +back with this report, and repeated what they had been told in the +port--namely, that it was impossible to put on board more, at most, +than one or two priests, whom they might have with them in case of +danger, in order to confess to them; and that if there had to be only +two, they would better be the banished ones. They were all deeply +grieved--those who remained, because they had to give up their holy +enterprise; and those who were to undertake it, because they were to +be separated from such a company. As they were so near the port, they +thought that they would all go down and bid farewell to those who were +about to sail. Father Fray Juan Chrisostomo alone, being so infirm, +remained in Tisla. When they reached the port, they saw that according +to human reason no more could be put aboard than what they had been +told; but as they were taught to direct themselves by other and higher +motives, they were not discomfited, but were very instant with the +Lord in prayer, the priests all saying mass and begging His aid. Then +with new confidence they went to talk with those who had charge of +the despatch of the vessel, to persuade them to give the religious +a place in it. While they were busy with this, they saw the vessel +putting out to sea and beginning its voyage--being in greater haste, +perhaps, in order that these new passengers might not be admitted in +addition to the great (and indeed excessive) number who were already +going. When they saw that they were being left behind, they found a +very small boat; and without further stores or other equipment they +got on board. Once there, they pleaded so well--and what is more, +the Lord so greatly aided them and gave them so great favor with the +persons on board--that they admitted the six: Fray Juan Cobo, Fray +Luis Gandullo, Fray Juan Garcia, Fray Juan Deca, four religious; +and Father Juan Fernandez de Leon, and Juan de Soria. Instantly, +without waiting longer, they set sail with a fair wind, on Shrove +Tuesday, 1588. They were without stores or clothes or provisions, +being dependent solely upon the providence of the Lord and upon the +alms which they might receive from the people on the ship; these were +small, in any case, on such a voyage--and the more so upon this one, +for they had set out from a port where the population was so small +that they could not provide themselves so well with ship-stores as +they could at other places. The vessel had hardly put to sea before +it was found to be leaking and to be making much water. The pilot, +who was very skilful and very courageous, went straight to the fathers, +and bade them commend the ship to God; for, if the prayers of good men +did not save it, it would be certain to founder in the first little +storm, and they would be drowned. They undertook to do as he asked, +and it was well that they did so. One night a great storm arose, +with a great massing of clouds and with furious winds; and though +the wind was not favorable, the pilot ordered sails to be set on +the poop--letting the ship drive before the wind, because the vessel +would not sail close-hauled. The storm was such that, though the pilot +strove to hide his anxiety, and gave his commands in a very low tone, +so as not to excite the passengers and bring them on deck to see their +own death and to hinder the sailors; yet, in spite of all this care, +the religious perceived his fear. Being in alarm at the fury of the +winds and the roaring of the sea, and perceiving the danger, they +gave themselves to prayer; and with outward silence they uttered the +voices of their souls to the Lord, begging His pity. At midnight they +heard the pilot say, though in a low voice, that he wished axes to be +brought, which is a preliminary to cutting away the masts. Thereupon, +father Fray Luis Gandullo left the rest praying, and climbed up into +the waist of the ship. He looked upon the sea in silence; its fury +terrified him; he lifted his eyes to the heavens, and saw them all +cloaked with the deepest blackness. Therewithal, the sea was white +with the waves which roared and dashed against one another, sending up +spray; it seemed to him that all of the Spaniards must soon be buried +in them, so mighty were they, and the vessel so weak. At this point +there overcame him a strange consciousness of his sins, which gave +him no opportunity to think of those of others, and assured him that +his own transgressions only were the cause of this frightful storm. + +[He went back to his post and fell on his knees before a Christ that +was there, prayed to the Lord until he felt assured that He heard +him, and turned to the Virgin of the Rosary. She appeared to him in +a vision and promised her aid. When the pilot came in, calling out, +"Fathers! cast some relics into the sea, for the love of God! Recite +some litanies, that the Lord may have compassion upon us! I promise +them a lighted lantern," Father Luis replied that they should all +be safe. They cast into the sea a relic of Saint Mary Magdalen and +an Agnus Dei, and began their litany. The stars began to appear and +soon the storm had passed. The report of the vision and the miracle +turned the hearts of the seamen and the passengers, for a time, to +the good of their souls; but after Easter, as is usual among worldly +people, they fell back into their lax way of living, and particularly +into gambling, with all the evils that ordinarily accompany it. One +frightful sacrilege was committed by a gambler, who mutilated an +image of Christ and of the Virgin, to punish them for his losses; +but who repented under the ministration of father Fray Luis. At last +they all reached Manila safely.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +The election of the first provincial, and the first provincial chapter + + +[Though the religious had come in the previous year, and though +the second Sunday after Easter of the year 1588 had gone by +(which is the usual day on which provincial chapters are held), +the fathers, being so few, had waited for the arrival of those +who came from Mexico. Accordingly, the chapter was convoked by the +father vicar-general on the twelfth of June, and there were chosen +as definitors father Fray Diego de Soria, vicar of the convent at +Manila, where the chapter was held; Fray Juan Cobo; Fray Juan de San +Thomas, vicar of Bataan; and Fray Bernardo de Sancta Catalina, vicar +of Pangasinan. They and the rest elected, as the first provincial of +the new province, father Fray Juan de Castro. The first act passed +in this chapter was to accept the general ordinances made for the +foundation of this province when the founders were in Mexico. The +chapter provided that special care was to be taken that no ministerial +duties were to be accepted as curacies, but merely as charity--with +liberty of removal, due notice being given to the bishops. It also +determined that these ordinances should be read and declared to the +religious who were to be brought over from Espana, so that if they +approved of them they might come, while if they did not venture to +undertake them they might remain; and no one might complain that he +had been deceived, if he should find himself obliged to keep them. In +this chapter the province was given the glorious name of our Lady of +the Rosary, to whom all the religious desired especially to belong; +they also chose as special advocate and patroness her who was the +apostle [41] to the apostles, Saint Mary Magdalen, on whose day they +had reached port in these islands, and by whose aid (which they had +a thousand times experienced in the order) they hoped for the most +complete and glorious success in that which they were undertaking. The +religious were warned to treat the Indians with great charity and +a spirit of kindness, as beloved sons, showing them the love that +we feel for them not only by words but by deeds, and striving to +attract them by love. If punishment should at any time be necessary, +it was not to be by our hands, that it might not happen to us, as +Saint Gregory said, that corrections should be converted to arms +of wrath. To the convent of Manila they gave the title of priory, +and appointed as the first prior father Fray Diego de Soria. They +accepted the vicariate of our Lady of the Rosary of Macan, and named +as vicar thereof father Fray Antonio de Arcediano. They likewise +accepted the vicariate of our father Saint Dominic of Binalatongan, +appointing as vicar thereof father Fray Bernardo de Sancta Catalina; +likewise the vicariate of our father Saint Dominic of Bataan, the +vicar whereof was father Fray Juan de Sancto Thomas; likewise the +vicariate of Gabon, the vicar whereof was father Fray Juan de San +Pedro Martyr. They appointed as preacher-general father Fray Miguel +de Venavides; and as lecturer [42] of the convent the same person, +on account of his great ability and talent. This father and father +Fray Juan Cobo were very successful in learning the Chinese language, +and assumed responsibility for the mission to the Chinese, to which, +on account of its great difficulty, no one before these fathers had +devoted himself. Father Fray Juan Cobo preached the first sermon to +the Chinese. Finally, at this chapter the father provincial and the +definitors sent a full report to the most reverend general of the +order--who responded, confirming the new province, and most nobly +congratulating the founders thereof. The translation of this letter +into Spanish is given at length. The substance of it is as follows: +"Very Reverend Fathers: Your letters from the Philippinas Islands, +dated June 22, 1588, have been received and read with great pleasure +in the general chapter of the order, held in this year, 1592, at the +convent of San Juan and San Pablo in Venecia. We rejoice that your +fervor and zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith are about +to restore the order from the ruin which we here see and experience +every day, because of the great pest of the heresies. Ye go down in +ships to the sea, and see the great wonders of God. Ye are like the +mystic animals whose wings are joined between themselves, which make +others fly aloft while they walk upon the ground. We approve your +erection of a province in the Philippinas Islands, confirming it in +the graces and privileges enjoyed by the other provinces of the same +order; we also confirm as provincial of the said province the very +reverend father Fray Juan de Castro. All this would have been inserted +in the acts of the general chapter, except for the carelessness of the +printer." The letter is dated Milan, November 3, 1592, and is signed by +Fray Hipolyto Maria Vicaria, master-general of the Order of Preachers; +and master Fray Pablo Castrucio, provincial of the Holy Land. + +Soon after the election of the first provincial, father Fray Gregorio +de Ochoa died. He lived a holy, scrupulous, and devout life. He was +one of those assigned to the conversion of the province of Pangasinan, +where the exposure and hardship and the lack of necessities brought +sickness upon all of the brethren except father Fray Bernardo de +Sancta Catalina. Father Fray Gregorio suffered more than any of the +rest. They had no physician, medicines, or comforts. They wished +to make a broth with which to take the quilites [43] they used as +purgatives, but the Indians, desiring to drive them away, refused +them the game that they needed to make the broth; and father Fray +Gregorio grew so ill that he had to be sent back to Manila to be +cured. Here he grew somewhat better, and undertook for the order the +work of instruction in grammar; but was taken ill again, and died.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +The foundation of another church in Pangasinan, and the first +visitation of the father provincial + + +[After the chapter, father Fray Bernardo de Santa Catalina and +the new vicar of Gabon set out for Pangasinan, taking with them as +their associates father Fray Luis Gandullo and brother Fray Juan de +Soria, a novice in the order. These recruits were greatly needed, +and lightened the work of those who were there. In Pangasinan, +being unable to attract to baptism those who were of full age, +they gave their energies to obtaining children--generally failing +but succeeding sometimes. At the feast of our Lady of August [44] +they baptized sixty, all they could get together. The Indians who +promised their children often failed to let the religious have them, +thus getting rid of the importunity of the fathers; or they would be +perverted by heathen Indians, who abhor baptism. The fathers prayed +to the Lord that they might not lose any of their number; He heard +them, and a sufficient number of children were voluntarily offered +to make up the total of sixty. The people came together to see what +the religious would do to the children; and father Fray Pedro de +Soto preached to them upon the workings of this holy sacrament, +and miracles were afterward wrought in support of his words. + +The Lord softened these hard hearts, and in Binalatongan and some other +villages, where none of the adults were converted, they did not look +upon the religious with such hatred as at first. Only those of Gabon +were as obstinate as ever, and were unwilling to admit to the village +the new vicar, Fray San Pedro Martyr, and his companion. They could +get for their habitation only one small hut, where they could hardly +put up an altar and build a fire. Accordingly they decided to go to +a hamlet near there, called Calasiao, where the Spaniard to whom the +Indians gave tribute bought a hut for them, for four reals. When they +had added a shed, it did not make so bad a lodging as the other, and +they could inhabit it with less peril to their lives; for in Gabon the +Indians had planned to kill them. When the fathers heard this news, it +was midnight. The people in the town were drinking, and, as the friars +were told, were planning their death. The news was totally unexpected +to the friars, and they could not have made their escape because they +did not know the country. They waited that night, offering themselves +to the Lord, for whom their lives would have been well expended in +preaching His gospel. The next day they went to Calasiao. The Indians +are extremely jealous, and though they were pleased that the religious +had left their village, they were vexed that the fathers had gone to +Calasiao--a village smaller than their own, where they thought they +would have to carry for burial those who died in the Christian faith; +so they held a council, and determined that no one, whether in health +or sickness, should be baptized, and that no sick person should dare +to have a father come to see him. If the fathers had known of this +decision and its cause, they would have remedied it by going back to +live or die at Gabon. So they remained in this other little village, +though they went daily to Gabon and the other villages near there, to +render aid in the necessities of the Indians, and especially to visit +the sick. On one of these visits father Fray Luis Gandullo and Father +Marcos de San Antonio saw a man who was very sick. When they urged him +to be baptized, he responded with abuse and insult. The fathers asked +the people in the house with what illness he was afflicted, and they +said that he was troubled with a very great swelling, and would not +let them treat it. The fathers then examined him carefully, and found +a dreadful abscess extending from the thigh across the abdomen; they +opened it by force, and let out a great quantity of matter. Those in +the house, when they saw this rotten and offensive matter, fled away +from the religious, while the man himself abused them. They answered +him humbly, telling him that they had given him his life. "Even though +I should die," he said, "never come back again." The man recovered, and +in course of time was converted. This and other works of charity, and +in especial the cure of a woman afflicted with a disgusting leprosy, +who had been abandoned by her relatives, won for the fathers the love +of these Indians. At last even the chief of those who had planned to +kill the religious gave his child to be baptized, and finally offered +himself for baptism. Baptisms in the church were begun in the month of +October, 1588. When the perversity of this region was overcome, many +other churches were built in the neighboring villages, the mildness +of the sheep sent forth by the Lord prevailing, as it always has +prevailed, against the bloodthirsty wolves of heathendom. About the +same time the new provincial--if he can be called new who had already +held the position of provincial twice before--undertook a visitation +of his new province. This was the second year since he had come, and +the province had greatly increased; while at the same time his sons +and brothers were suffering great hardships, in living among a race +without God or law or justice. To participate in their discomforts, +and to aid them in their difficulties, he set out to visit them. At +Bataan he found all things in as good order as if the new converts +had sucked in Christianity with their mothers' milk. The Lord began +to show these Indians great mercy, both spiritual and temporal. He +gave them a succession of fertile years, which, being farmers, they +estimate more highly than anything else. They also saw the land +visited by a great plague of locusts, which attacked the fields of +the heathen but left those of the Christians untouched. From this +time on there were also fewer sicknesses and deaths than when they +were heathens. To this improvement in health the diligence of the +missionaries contributed, who ordered houses to be built in all the +villages to serve as hospitals. Here they caused the sick poor to be +carried, devoting themselves with diligence to the care of their bodies +and souls, and taking the food out of their own mouths to give it to +them. By this devotion and piety they prevented many deaths, and many +most horrible deaths; for, since this is an agricultural tribe, the +sick suffer much, and often even die without the sacrament, because +their kinsmen are obliged to go out to their fields and leave no one +to care for the sick person. So they had in these hospitals and still +have, all that was needed, for the hospitals are still in existence; +and the sick are cared for in them, bodily and spiritually, better +than in their own houses. The value of these hospitals was experienced +during an epidemic, in which few of those who were in the hospitals +died, while in the neighboring villages where they had no hospitals +there were numberless burials. + +When the holy provincial reached Pangasinan, he saw his religious +persecuted by the Indians, upon whom they were heaping benefits--not +only to their souls but to their bodies, which were the only things the +savages understood and esteemed. He saw them without the necessaries +of life, lacking even food in sickness as well as in health; he saw +their dwellings so small that four reals was too much to pay for +them. Yet with all this he saw them happy and active, traveling from +one village to another as if there was nothing that they lacked. Still +there was nothing to be wondered at in all this, for God's mercy to +them was so clear that not only they but the heathen Indians were +obliged to recognize it. Thus, against their wills, their hearts +were softened by the good that the fathers did to them. The good old +man saw with tears of delight the many miracles which the Lord had +wrought to give authority to His preachers and His gospel among these +tribes; the flight of the devil from those villages where before he +had quietly reigned, the baptisms which began to be performed, the +devotion of the newly baptized. He saw the many new churches built +in the villages, poor as buildings, but rich in the fruits for God +to be gathered from them.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +The province takes charge of the missions of the Chinese, and the +results which follow + + +Although the zeal for the good of souls with which the religious +came to these regions was universal in its scope, and included all +those races who were ignorant of their God and served the devil, they +were always most especially influenced by everything that concerned +the conversion of the great kingdom of China. This is incomparably +greater in population and higher in the character of its people, +who have greater intelligence and more civilization. It is therefore +the greater grief to see them so blind in what most concerns them, +and so devoted to their blindness that of nothing do they take +such heed as to close the doors of their souls against the light; +for they believe that there is no truth of which they are ignorant, +and no race that is further advanced than they. Perhaps this pride +and presumption is the cause why the Lord has left them so long in +their errors, a suitable punishment for those who, puffed up by the +benefits of nature, despise those of grace--imitating in this the +Father of Pride, who in this way lost all his good and made himself +incapable of regaining it. But since this race, being men, are capable +of recognizing their error, there is always hope that by the aid of +the Lord they will bethink themselves. The desire of converting them +was the greatest and most important motive that the founders of this +province had for coming to it; and when they arrived they set about +with all their hearts learning the language, without being too much +afraid of it. Up to that time, though many had desired to learn it, +no one had yet been able to conquer its great difficulty; thus it +had been impossible to minister to the Chinese or to teach them in +their own language. The Lord favored the friars' designs, seeing +that, although these designs were in so uncommon a matter, they did +not spring from presumption but from fervent wishes for the good of +those souls, and from perfect confidence that, since the Lord required +these people to be baptized, He would provide the language in which +they might be ministered to. It was in this faith, without hesitating +at any labor, that on the first Epiphany, which was in 1588, father +Fray Miguel de Venavides was able to baptize solemnly three Chinese, +though he had already baptized many others who asked for baptism at +the point of death. This was within six months of the time when the +religious set foot on this land. The bishop was greatly delighted, +because he had greatly desired and striven for this end, without being +able to attain it before, and now saw his desires accomplished. Still, +he did not even then assign to them the ministry to the Chinese +without having first invited to undertake it each one of the three +religious orders that were in the country when our order came; and +without having received the response from all of them that they were +unable to supply religious to learn that language, and to minister to +this race in it. He then, with all this justification, gave to them +the said ministry, and granted them a license to build a new church +for those who were already Christians, or who should later become +such. They received the same license from the governor, Sanctiago de +Vera; and in fulfilment of this mandate they took possession of this +ministry, and built a new church near the village of Tondo, in another +new village called Baybay. The church was dedicated to our Lady of the +Purification, and there were assigned to it the excellent colleagues +Fray Miguel de Venavides and Fray Juan Cobo, who struggled manfully +with the new language, and conquered its difficulties marvelously, +although these were so great. They preached and taught in it, not +only in the church to the Christians, but also to the rest of them, +the heathen, in their Parian--as a large town is called, formed +by those who come every year from China to this city of Manila on +business. They were greatly pleased and delighted by the marvelous +conversion of some Chinese. These conversions were effected not only +in the case of those who came with frequency and devotion to hear +the sermons and addresses made for this purpose, but even in one case +when a man merely heard them repeated by others. The convert spoken +of lived in the Parian, where all were heathen; and he understood +nothing of what they had heard but that there were religious who +taught the law of God in the Chinese language. This man lay sick, +and was seized with a great desire to speak with these fathers, +wishing to accept the law that they preached. The religious went to +see him; and, when he came in, the sick man exhibited such fervent +desire to become a Christian that the religious in wonder asked him +the reason. [He replied that he had seen in a vision a most beautiful +lady, who had told him that he must become a Christian in order to see +the glory of heaven. When the father questioned him, he already showed +considerable knowledge of the mysteries of the faith. He was baptized +immediately, and died soon after. A number of similar cases followed, +some Chinese being converted by happy visions, some by dreadful ones.] + +Soon after the building of the church already mentioned in the +village of Baybay, the religious thought they ought to go nearer the +principal town of the Chinese, called the Parian, where there are +ordinarily from eight to ten thousand Chinese, and often more than +fifteen thousand. Accordingly, half-way between this large town and +the city of Manila they built a tiny hut of nipa, which here fills the +place taken by straw in Castilla; and from this they went, by day or +by night, to take advantage of the opportunities offered for preaching +to those who were in good health, and teaching and baptizing those who +were sick. Many of the sick were in the greatest poverty, and lacked +the necessaries of life; for the Chinese in Manila show each other +very little charity, being heathens, and, like all the rest of their +nation, extremely avaricious--a quality not very consistent with caring +for the sick poor. Thus the religious were obliged to show compassion +upon the sick, and to put the poorest ones in their little hut and in +their own beds, for they had no others; and, because they could not +get bed-clothing, the cloaks of the poor friars served as blankets +for the sick. The friars reckoned it a profitable exchange, a most +profitable exchange, to give their cloaks of serge or sackcloth for +that of charity, which affords a much better and much more honorable +covering. Chinese and Spaniards both greatly admired this deed, the +more so when they saw religious of such endowments as fathers Fray +Miguel de Venavides and Fray Juan Cobo not only putting these poor +heathen and strangers in their own beds and cloaks, but serving them +in all the low and humble offices required for the sick, applying +themselves to all things in their own proper persons--washing their +feet and bathing them and caring for them, although their maladies +were very disgusting, as they usually are with this race. Thus these +people began to feel a very great affection not only for these fathers, +but for all of their habit, seeing in them so rare and disinterested +a virtue. The food for the sick was taken from that sent to the +fathers from the convent of Manila, for in this little hut there was +nothing to eat, and no kitchen in which to prepare it. The result was +that they had all the more for the poor, for those who lived in the +convent of Manila were unwilling to lose the merit of so good a work, +and therefore gave up a good part of what they had to eat and sent +it to the poor. Since these poor were at first few in number, it was +possible to serve them carefully; and when their numbers afterward +increased, there likewise increased the piety of many Spaniards and +Chinese Christians, who aided with alms to enlarge the lodgings, to +buy food and medicines, and to get the other things needed by the sick, +so that there was never any lack of these, and it was never necessary +to send away anyone that came. On the contrary, the religious went out +and looked for people, and at times forced them to come and receive the +good that they did to them. Some heathen wished to give contributions +to this good work done for their people; but the fathers at that time +thought it well not to accept these offers, so that they might make +it still more clear that they were giving their services purely for +charity. The governor of Manila saw the good results attained by the +hospital, and the great need in which it was; and in the name of his +Majesty he made it a present of a hundred blankets from the country +known as Ylocos, which are large and are made of cotton cloth. These +were for the sick to be covered with, and this gift was a very useful +one. This was a work which the Lord would not fail to aid, as He has +so many times commended to us compassionate treatment of the poor; +and as the religious in this case attended to all the needs, spiritual +and temporal, of those whom they had in their care. Hence the number +of the poor whom they cared for was constantly multiplied, as were +the alms which gave the fathers the ability to care for them. Very +soon the religious who accepted no income or possessions for their +own, and who gave all their attention to seeking for these for the +poor--had the courage to build a regular hospital of stone. In fact +they drew the foundations around the little hut of nipa that they +had between the Parian and the city of Manila, and built a large room +accommodating twenty beds. But the inhabitants would not permit them +to complete it, for they thought that it would be an injury to the +city to have a stone building so near, as, in case of an earthquake +(such as happened some years afterward), it might do damage. On this +account the friars crossed to the other side of the river which washes +the walls of the city, and built a temporary building entirely of wood, +but large, with a capacity for eighty beds, which were ordinarily +occupied. At the present time it is built with pillars of stone, +and accommodates more than one hundred and fifty beds in three large +wards. There are many who die in the hospital, and practically all +are baptized when they are at the point of death; so there are very +few who die in their unbelief, for they are influenced by the great +charity with which they are cared for there. They receive all that +they require, and even all the food allowed by the physician. Thus +their wills are made gentle, and there is fixed in them that pious +affection needed by the faith, so that they will make no perverse +resistance. Since great care is taken to teach them the Catholic +truths, they understand these very well; for they have good minds; +and they not only embrace them with great willingness when they are +at the point of death and have lost their other purposes and desires, +which previously kept them from being baptized, but usually when +they leave the hospital, cured of their infirmities, they also leave +their errors. Then, after they have been well educated in the faith, +they are made Christians. Thus on both accounts this hospital is one +of the most illustrious in the world; for if others are illustrious on +account of their splendid buildings, their great incomes, the excellent +diet they provide, and the neatness with which the sick are cared for, +this one, though it has of all these things even more than enough, +exceeds all the rest in the fact that practically all those who enter +it are heathen, and practically all are baptized. Since this occurs +at the point of death, they generally pass from the bed to heaven +without being obliged to pass through purgatory--the proper effect of +baptism being that it not only pardons all faults, but releases from +all penalties. When this hospital was moved from a situation close +to Manila, as has been said, to the place which it now occupies, it +was named for St. Peter the martyr--whom the religious took as their +patron, inasmuch as he was so in matters of faith, for the propagation +of which everything carried on in that hospital was and is done. Hence +some of them desired to have the first name retained in the newly-built +hospital, while others had other ideas. Finally they settled the +matter by lot, begging the Lord to give this spiritual patronage to +that saint to whom He should please to assign it. For this they put +in many lots, among the rest that of the archangel St. Gabriel, which +was the first to come out. Some were not satisfied, and for a second +time the names of the saints were gathered and whirled round; when one +was drawn out for the second time it was the same St. Gabriel. Then, +when they tried drawing lots again, as they had done twice before, +for a third time the same saint came out, and all were persuaded +that the Lord was pleased to have the patronage belong to this holy +archangel. So the hospital was named for St. Gabriel and became his +house, so that he might arrange with God for the spiritual healing of +those who were cared for there--since to him, as one so zealous for +salvation, the same Lord had made him His ambassador to the Virgin, +to confer with her on the means necessary to the universal salvation +of the world. As the hospital increased in size, the number of those +cared for likewise increased, its reputation spread, and it was a +continual preacher of the truth of our holy faith. For the superior +intelligence of the Chinese forced them to the conviction that the +virtue of these religious was real, because without any worldly motives +they took care with such devotion of the sick of another nation, +another faith, and another law, without being under any obligation to +them and without expecting from them any pay or reward. If they were +truly virtuous, their law must be good; and they would not be able to +attempt to deceive the Chinese in a matter of so much importance as +their salvation. Accordingly they listened with profit and many were +converted, believing that one who lives a good life would tell the +truth in his preaching. Not only those who were converted, but all +the rest, made these matters the subject of familiar conversation; +then, when they went back to their own country, they told about them +to those who were there; and by this hospital the order was made famous +in China. To this end it was a great assistance that when the sick man +first came in, and his sickness gave an opportunity for it, they did +not immediately discuss spiritual matters with him, until by experience +he saw the truth of what the religious ordinarily said to him, and had +learned with what solicitude and care they attended to his health and +his diet. Upon this good foundation, and the confidence which they had +created among them by such works, they built up, little by little, +the preaching of the faith, and the consistency of its mysteries, +confuting the errors of his infidelity. Now when all this rests upon +a basis of so much beneficence which is not his due, but which he +has received out of kindness alone, he is very willing to accept it; +and he earnestly begs for baptism, receiving that sacrament with +great joy. Sometimes, when some with great obstinacy have resisted +the light, the Lord has amazed their ears, and has forced them to be +eager for baptism, as happened to one who had a severe disease of the +head. He was very perverse, and one day--the day of St. Nicholas the +bishop--when he had been asleep for some time and had not spoken, +he aroused a little, calling upon them to baptize him, because he +wished to become a Christian. When the religious wondered at this, +as did all the rest who had seen him a short time before in so contrary +a mood, they asked him the reason for the change. He answered that he +had seen a venerable old man, whom he described as the saint to whom +that day is sacred is represented; the vision had commanded him to be +baptized. In another case, one of two sick men was baptized; and the +other saw a vision of that man rescued from demons as a result of the +baptism. In still another case two impenitent sick persons refused +to be baptized. One of them died, and the other saw him in a vision +tortured by frightful demons, and prayed to be baptized.] The result +is, that few who enter the hospital are not baptized, while all tell +of the good done in it for the people of their nation. Years ago, a +Chinese heathen came from his own country, and the first thing that +he did when he reached this country was to ask for this hospital, +of which he had heard so much good in his own land. When they showed +it to him, he went straight to it, and told the fathers that in China +he had heard how the fathers in this hospital cared for and fed those +who were not their kinsmen or their acquaintances; and that the glory +of so noble a thing and so pious a work had caused him to come to keep +them company and aid them. The religious received him lovingly, and, +finding that he had unusual intelligence, they taught him not only +what was required for baptism, which he received, but enough for him +to teach those of his own nation all they required for baptism. This +he did marvelously, and greatly diminished the labor which fell on +the religious. He was named Bartholome Tamban; and he lived with the +religious many years, being as one of them in prayer, discipline, +and their other penances. He frequented often, and with much purity, +the holy sacraments of penance and the eucharist. When he had served +in the hospital for eighteen years, he married; and he lived a very +exemplary life in the state of marriage, heard mass every day with +great devotion, and, after coming to the first mass did not leave +the church until he had heard all that was said, in the church at +his village of Minondoc. In the year 1612 he died, leaving behind him +the name not only of a good Christian, but of a very devoted servant +of God. The hospital was afterward built with large stone pillars, +but, as the number of the sick constantly increased, and as there +was not room enough for them in that house, they erected another +building, very large and handsome, which was finished in 1625; and +both are still used. Since at some times they cannot accommodate the +sick because of their number, another one is now being built, still +larger and finer. The Lord always supplies it with great abundance, +as a house that continually furnishes Him people for heaven--those +who, if they had died out of the hospital, would necessarily have +died in their unbelief, and would have gone to people hell. + +As a result of the continued preaching to the Chinese, the number +of them converted and baptized increased from year to year. Since +after this they were not permitted to return to their own country, +they married and settled down in this one, so that the population of +Christians in Baybay belonging to this nation was greatly increased. It +accordingly became necessary to buy another large site, in order to +extend this village--which, though it is immediately contiguous to the +other, has a separate name, and is somewhat divided from it by a river +which passes between them. This village is called Minondoc. This site +was bought to be given to the new Christians, as in fact it was given, +by Don Luis Perez das Marinas, [45] knight of the Habit of Alcantara, +and former governor of these islands, a man of superior virtue, who +lived in this same village among the Chinese, setting them an admirable +example as a man who had the name and did the works of sainthood. In +this location of Minondoc it was necessary to build another church, +much larger than the one they had at Baybay (which was very small, +and did not accommodate all the congregation). From time to time it +has been increased in size and is now a most beautiful church, very +capacious, very well lighted, very pleasant, very strong, and very +attractive. It is built wholly of stone, being thirty-eight brazas in +length, and more than eight in width, and eight and one-half high. It +has fifty large windows, which add much to its beauty. Its size is +now so great that it is the largest church in the village; and since +it will not accommodate all the congregation at one time, they go +to it twice on every Sunday and feast-day. Sermons are delivered at +each of the masses, in two languages--one in Chinese, and the other +in the language of the natives of this country, for the wives of +the Chinamen and other Indians who live in this town. There are then +four sermons delivered every Sunday, two in Chinese, and two in the +language of these Indians; although, that they may not be too heavy +a burden, each address lasts not more than half an hour. The Chinese +have always given this church of theirs the name of St. Gabriel, after +that of their hospital, in admiration of the miracle of his lot having +been drawn out three times in succession as patron of the hospital, +as has been said. They desire not to fail to deserve the favor of +this most holy archangel, whom the Lord has given them with His own +hand as their especial advocate; and they therefore celebrate in his +honor every year very joyful and devout feasts. Throughout the year +the divine offices are performed in this church with great solemnity +and grandeur, many of these Chinese affording their assistance, with +very large contributions toward everything necessary for the adornment +of the church and the divine services. There have been in this town +many Chinese of very exemplary lives. Juan de Vera was not only a +very devout man, and one much given to prayer, but a man who caused +all those of his household to be the same. He always heard mass, and +was very regular in his attendance at church. He adorned the church +most handsomely with hangings and paintings, because he understood +this art. He also, thinking only of the great results to be attained +by means of holy and devout books, gave himself to the great labor +necessary to establish printing in this country, where there was +no journeyman who could show him the way, or give him an account of +the manner of printing in Europe, which is very different from the +manner of printing followed in his country of China. The Lord aided +his pious intention, and he himself gave to this undertaking not only +continued and excessive labor, but all the forces of his mind, which +were great. In spite of the difficulties, he attained that which he +desired, and was the first printer in these islands; [46] and this not +from avarice--for he gained much more in his business as a merchant, +and readily gave up his profit--but merely to do this service to the +Lord and this good to the souls of the natives. For they could not +profit by holy books printed in other countries, because of their +ignorance of the foreign language; nor could they have books in their +own language, because there was no printing in this country, no one who +made a business of it, and not even anyone who understood it. Hence +this labor was very meritorious before the Lord and of great profit +to these peoples. As a reward the Lord gave him a most happy death, +with such joy and devotion that he began to sing praises to the Lord +in a very loud voice--at one time in his Chinese language, at another +in that of the Indians, at another in Spanish; for he knew them all +well. There were about his bed many religious, who loved him much +for his devoutness. One of them said, in a low voice, to him who was +next to him, "It seems that the severity of his disease has affected +his mind;" and as if this had been said aloud the sick man heard it, +and answered, "Has he not lost his reason, fathers, who on any such +occasion as this should think it well to do anything but what I am +doing--sing praises to the Lord and give Him many thanks for having +made me a Christian?" He longed for a thousand languages that he might +praise Him in all; and in this devotion and fervor of spirit he died, +leaving the religious not only greatly comforted but very envious of +such a death. Juan de Vera had a brother somewhat younger than he; +and when Juan saw that he was about to die he called him and said +to him: "Brother, there is one thing which I wish to ask you to do +for me, that I may die in comfort; and that is, that you will carry +on this business of printing, so that the great service done by it +to God may not come to an end. I know well that you are certain in +this way to lose much gain; but it is of much greater importance to +you to obtain a spiritual profit by printing devout books for the +Indians. You may well afford to lose this temporal gain in return for +that eternal one." The brother promised, and much more than fulfilled +his word; for, greatly influenced by the aforesaid holy death, the +brother greatly improved his own manner of life, and began a career +of especial devotion, which lasted until his death. He was made +steward of our Lady, and served her with great diligence. From his +own fortune he provided many rich adornments, giving to the church +a large cross and silver candlesticks for the procession, besides a +silver lamp for the most holy sacrament. He also contributed largely +to the building of the church. He gave all these things to our Lady, +in return for what he gained in his business; and he agreed with +this Lady to give her a certain portion of his profits, obliging +himself to this with a special vow. In return for this devotion, +his merits and his gains increased, and he felt himself daily more +and more under obligation; and he more and more devoutly fulfilled +his office, in which he died, leaving behind him a very good name, +as such a life deserved. A still greater advance in spirituality was +made by Antonio Lopez, a Chinese of superior ability and judgment, +very devout and charitable, and a liberal benefactor of his church. To +the building of the church he gave many thousand pesos in life, and +after his death left a perpetual endowment of considerable amount +for its ornaments, repairs, and other needs. Because of his probity, +rectitude, and disinterestedness--a rare virtue among the Chinese, +who are naturally avaricious, and one which is never found by itself, +but is always accompanied by all the rest in a high degree, since +it is the most difficult for them--because of these good qualities, +he was frequently obliged to hold the office of governor of his +people. This gave them great delight, because they knew he was just and +pious. Though this office is usually sought for, and even ordinarily +bought for many thousand pesos, he did not desire it, even free of +cost; and it was necessary to force it upon him. When finally he +accepted it, being unable to resist longer, he desired to avoid all +temptations to avarice; and therefore, from the very beginning, he +made an offering to the church of all the profits obtained from the +office. He left for himself only the labor, so that good-will to the +party affected by his decisions might not make him swerve a single +point from justice. When he died he left a will very Christian and +very prudent, providing for many masses immediately and a perpetual +chaplaincy, bestowing much alms, giving three slaves to his church, +and doing many other things worthy of his Christian spirit and his +advanced intelligence. There have been in this town many other persons +of very great virtue, particularly women. A reference to their devotion +at this point will cause a similar spirit in the readers; but, being a +matter not directly connected with this history, we are obliged to omit +it, that we may pass on to matters more germane to our subject. It +will be sufficient to refer to one special case which happened to +one woman, a Japanese by nation, married to a Chinaman. [Poor in +the things of this world, they were rich in those of heaven. Each +of them had the characteristics opposite to those of their race; +she was without the duplicity and choleric spirit of the Japanese, +and he was destitute of the avarice and loquacity of the Chinese. She +in particular amazed and humiliated her confessor. Her virtue was +such that she was rewarded by a vision of our Lady, who comforted +her with the promise that her confessor, father Fray Thomas Mayor, +[47] who had expected to return to his native province of Aragon, +would not leave his post in the islands.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +The coming of some religious, and the second visitation of father +Fray Juan de Castro + + +As has been seen, the conversions that had been begun proceeded with +great prosperity, affording even at the very beginning marvelous +fruits. The Lord at the very outset favored them, as being matters +peculiarly under His own care, with supernatural marvels--manifest +proofs of the truths preached in them, proofs which the heathen could +not resist; and hence more and more of them embraced the faith and +abandoned their errors with the greatest marks of devotion. This they +did with such rapidity that the few missionaries there were could +not serve so many converts, scattered in so many villages. Therefore +the Lord had compassion upon them, and in the year 1589 sent them +reenforcements of religious, few but excellent. As their superior +came father Fray Juan Chrisostomo, the man who had labored most in +the establishment of this province, and who therefore greatly loved +it. But the Lord had kept him in desire for it, that he might obtain +the greater merit; and therefore in his first year he was not able to +come, having been so infirm and weak that he could not even use his +arms and hands to carry the food to his mouth, and had to depend upon +others. In the second year, although he had not completely recovered, +he set out on the road and almost reached the port, desiring to take +ship; but was unable to do so, for lack of a vessel. These were reasons +enough why a man who had been of old a missionary in Nueva Espana, +who had great command of the language, and who was much beloved by +religious and Indians, as father Fray Juan Chrisostomo was, should +remain among them. Still, this result did not follow in his case, +because of the great desire that he felt to do a greater service +under greater difficulties in this new province, where with the +utmost fervor the missionaries devoted themselves to their labor +for the benefit of souls, drawing them from the darkness of their +unbelief. Therefore in this year he sought for an opportunity and +for some associates, and embarked for this province--although, +on account of his many and severe infirmities and his great age, +and on account of the fact that his life had been spent with great +praise in the ministry to the Mexican Indians, he might justly have +taken his ease in a country where it would have been so natural to +do it as Mexico. He was joined by father Fray Francisco de la Mina, +[48] who had been a missionary in Nueva Espana for forty years, +setting a noble example, and exhibiting the most finished virtue; +by Fray Thomas Castellar, likewise a very devoted religious, who had +been a missionary there and had labored notably in that office and in +other laudable exercises, for which he received great commendation +in that province; and by Fray Alonso Montero, who, though younger, +had likewise been a missionary to those Indians. These two fathers +were sent directly to the province of Pangasinan, where they learned +the language well, and labored much and with notable results. Father +Fray Francisco de la Mina went to the district of Bataan. He was so +old that he could not learn the language of these Indians very well; +but the good example of his life, his great virtue, and his strictness +of life, qualities which were eminent in this gray-haired and venerable +man, were of great profit to the natives, and gave opportunity for +permitting father Fray Juan Garcia to leave this mission and go to that +of Pangasinan. This was the vocation indicated for him by the Lord; +and hence, by His aid, he was most useful in this tribe, and one of +those who labored most and best in it. He was greatly beloved by the +Indians, among whom his memory still remains; and they speak of him +with great affection, which he deserved by his exemplary life and by +the great devotion with which he labored for them, as will be told when +his happy death is related. Father Fray Juan Chrisostomo was occupied +in the conversion of the Chinese, not only because that was what was +most desired by the religious, but also because his many infirmities +would not permit him to go very far from the physician, and there was +none in the other districts. When the father provincial had divided +the new workers, as has been said, he himself would not be idle; +and accordingly he set about a second visitation of his province, +desiring to see that of which reports were sent to him--the favor +shown by the Lord to these new conversions, in softening the hard +hearts of the heathen, and in firmly rooting the faith and virtuous +habits in those already converted. He received consolation enough in +seeing the great things wrought by the Lord in the conversion of the +Chinese--the church and the teaching that they had in Baibai, and +the continual conversions in the Parian, as a result of the sermons +assiduously delivered to them. But what most of all delighted his +spirit was what he saw daily in the hospital of the Chinese, where he +dwelt with great comfort to his soul. It delighted him greatly to hear +these sick persons--who had previously not known to whom to turn in +their troubles, except to their idols and devils, but who now despised +these, and called in their sorrows and wretchedness upon God--invoking +the most comforting name of Jesus and of His most holy mother Mary, +our Lady. To her all these peoples feel such loving devotion that +some of them more quickly remember this our Lady and call upon her +in their necessities than God Himself--in which our Lord delights, +for the honor of His most holy mother. It took from the holy old +man a thousand gray hairs to see the many persons who, recovering +from their sickness, asked for baptism--and much more to see those +who died baptized. He was not displeased but delighted when he heard +them ask for food and dainties, which he provided for them with great +charity and kindness, giving them whatever they asked so long as it +was not dangerous to their health. He regarded his provincialship +as a happy one when he went among those who were serving the sick, +not as their needy neighbors, but as taking the place of Christ, +our good, who regards as a kindness to His own person everything +that is done in His name to those who are so poor. Hence the good +provincial went on, in happiness and devotion, serving the sick as +if he were their nurse; he provided them with good beds, shared with +them his robe, and as well as he could, though he did not know their +language, encouraged them to patience. Lifting his eyes to heaven, he +thanked the Redeemer of the world that He had so changed the hearts +of this race, who in their heathen state seemed to have no heart or +understanding for anything except the gaining of money, in which they +seemed to place all their happiness and all their desires. Afterward, +when he saw some miraculous conversions here, which have already been +partly described, it was a wonderful thing to see the devout superior +breaking out in lively and fervent wishes that he might see similar +mercies of the Lord enjoyed by the great kingdom of China; and that +the doctrine of the Catholic church, carried thither by apostolic men, +might succeed in conquering in that same country those able minds by +the force of its truth, and by the constant aid which truth has always +received from the divine Goodness. He was sure that among the people +of that kingdom, as they are more polite, having a superior political +organization, and are more highly cultivated by learning, the faith +would accomplish very extraordinary results. To this belief he was the +more inclined because it had already wrought so much among those poor +Chinese who came to the Philippinas Islands; for they are ordinarily +of the lower class of their kingdom, and as such come to serve and +labor for foreigners. On this account there followed in his mind a +great desire to send to China religious from the number of those who +understood the language, and even to accompany them, though he could +not see the way to carry out his plan. He could not venture to take +them thither, because of his fear of the great hardships that those +would have to endure who ventured upon this undertaking. So he felt the +desire only, with no further results than to commend it constantly to +the Lord, to whom there is nothing impossible or difficult. He visited +the district of Bataan and found it greatly improved as a result of the +useful spiritual exercise introduced by the fathers. They had set up +crosses at the intersections of the roads, and here the people of the +neighborhood gathered every evening as they came in from their fields, +which they have very near their villages. Here they recited all of the +doctrine [that they had received], in order that they might be more +thoroughly acquainted with it; and from day to day they became more +tractable and devout, as being more fully instructed in the faith. It +was for the father provincial a most delicious morsel to hear them +recite not only all the prayers, but afterward all the questions which +are ordinarily put in regard to the teaching of Christianity--some +asking the questions and others answering them; and even offering +difficulties to each other, about which they asked questions, and to +which many old Christians would not know what to say. What pleased him +more than anything else was the happy beginning of confessions that +had been made. By these confessions, given with clearness and truth, +the missionaries came to the knowledge of the great errors which had +been committed by those who had previously been concerned with this +mission. By this time, as a result of the great amount of teaching +which had been given to this district, the Indians came to bethink +themselves, and gave information to their confessors; and thus many +things which needed remedying were set right, in cases which were of +no less importance than salvation itself. The provincial was with +great reason pleased; for all the faults which are committed, not +only against the commandment of God and of His church, but against +the other sacraments, are corrected and blotted out, if only this +one is properly received, for our Lord has placed reparation for +all of them in this sacrament of penance. But if confession is not +such as it ought to be, there is no remedy; and hence everything is +irredeemably lost. This truth, which holds for the whole church of +God, has greater force among Indians, in whose way the devil strives +to place a thousand difficulties, and fears of this sacrament. Since +they do not know as much or have as much capacity as old Christians, +they are more easily deceived, and it is not so easy to deliver them +from such temptations. Only continual instruction by the ministers +can help them to escape from these snares, as the Christians of this +region escaped. With great clearness and distinctness they stated what +troubled their consciences, and many evils were remedied, to the great +comfort both of the penitents and of their confessors, who gave an +account of this matter to their superior, and he rendered many thanks +to the Lord for it. Continuing his visitation, the provincial went +on to Pangasinan, where he saw and heard even greater things--since, +as the obstinacy of this tribe had been greater, it was proper that God +should work in it greater marvels. These had been such as to overcome +nearly all their perversity, and much has been said with regard to +them already. Much more is omitted; but they all wrought upon these +untamed Indians marvelous effects. Not that they subjected themselves +wholly to the easy yoke of the faith; rather, the Christians there +were very few, but they were very good ones; and all the rest were +almost convinced, by the things which they saw and heard, in favor +of the gospel and its ministers. Even though they did not wholly +accept the missionaries, they were not so much opposed to them +as they had been in the two previous years. They were influenced +by the many evident miracles wrought daily for their benefit and +that of their children--so many indeed that one of the ministers, +in some remarks which he made upon the events which occurred there +in these first years, affirms that during the time that he spent in +this province not one day passed in which the Lord did not work some +miracles or new marvels. Sometimes these took the form of the healing +of incurable diseases--a cure at times so sudden and unexpected that +the Indians could not deny or fail to perceive it. The result was that +more and more asked to be baptized, and received baptism with much +faith and devotion. A good evidence of the truth of their conversion +was the coming of these same new Christians to the fathers, saying: +"You teach us that the vessel which is full of one liquid cannot +contain another if the first is not poured out--so that if a man +persists in pouring another upon that which is within, it will all +go outside and be lost. This is true; we cannot deny this truth, +of which we have daily experience. It follows from this that though +you pour upon us baptism and the good teaching which you give us, it +all comes to nothing so long as we are still full of the appliances +and the vessels with which we offer sacrifices to our idols; because +these things keep in our memory that which we used to do with them, +so that as they are the customs in which we were born and bred, they +do us much harm. Command, fathers, that all shall show where these +things are; take them from the possession of those who have them, so +that with all our hearts we may be Christians." The fathers listened +with great pleasure to the things said--things which had been said so +many ages before by the prophet Samuel, in the spirit of God, to his +own city. But considering that those who kept these objects hidden, +and esteemed them highly, would not display them immediately, even +though they were commanded to do so, they said to these chiefs: "The +example of your leaders is that which overcomes all the difficulties +there may be in the rest of the village. Do you begin, and the common +people will follow you. Even if your example is not sufficient, that +which you do will be a service pleasing to God; and you will render +a benefit to the souls of your neighbors, if you will declare to +us who they are that make use of these things or hide them. If you +do not do this, your zeal and Christian resolution which you have +shown to us will be useless; and the doctrine of the Lord will not +be advanced among your kinsmen, much to your blame." These arguments +had so much weight that these chiefs were immediately the very first +to cause to be brought thither the vessels of quila (this is a wine +which they make of sugar-cane, and when it has aged for some years +it has the color of our amber wine). This they esteem very highly +and keep with great care, using it at their feasts in honor of +their idols. They also brought a great amount of fine earthenware, +which they employ only in their superstitions; with a great heap of +various kinds of apparatus, as it were, consecrated and employed +for their idolatries. After the consecration of these articles, +they were used only by the ministers of their idols, who among them +were old women--as it were, priestesses. All this they poured out, +or broke, by the common consent of the village. This was on Shrove +Tuesday, in Pangasinan. And thus they cast from them the remnants +of their idolatry, to the great confusion of the devils, to whom all +this had been dedicated. This example was followed in other villages, +but not in all; for up to that time they were still almost all not yet +baptized, and, as heathen, they could not bring themselves to give up +their superstitions. It was therefore necessary that father Fray Pedro +de Soto should spend great diligence on such things in the district +of Magaldan, where he was settled; for the people there were more +given to superstition than were those in the rest of the island. He +instructed the persons who enjoyed the greatest influence what zeal +they ought to have for the honor of the Lord; and to move them more, +as they were only taking on for the first time the office of agents of +virtue, he offered payment to anyone who would give him information +with regard to these things, assuring the informers that the matter +would never be revealed by him. As a result of this assurance and of +the payment of the money, and, above all, the Lord lending His aid +to this holy purpose, but few idolatries were concealed. To all those +of which he knew the father strove to bring a healing remedy, without +hesitating before any labor or danger for this end in venturing among +this race which was so barbarous, untamed, and idolatrous, and which +so hated the gospel. In this region there was one Indian chief named +Lomboy. This man had fled from his villages three years, for fear of +the alcalde-mayor, as the officer intended to punish him for having +taken the life of his own sister, whom he had detected in sin, and +for failing to consult his tribesfolk or kinsmen in the matter. This +Lomboy used often to visit the churches and convents of the religious; +and, simulating carelessness, looked on with great curiosity to see +how they lived. He beheld their great innocence, their penitence, +their continual prayer, their frequent scourging; he saw that they +ate but little, labored much, went afoot from one village to another +to give aid to all, without fear of the great heats and the no less +dreadful storms of rain which follow each other in this country, +according to the seasons; above all, he was impressed by the great +uniformity displayed by the life of the fathers in all these holy +exercises. He saw them so poor and so completely without covetousness +that they not only did not strive for temporal gain, but shared freely +the little which they had with the poor. He saw them so patient that +they paid with good works for the bad deeds and the worse words which +the heathen Indian did and said to them. He saw them so chaste that +they did not seem to be made of flesh and blood, and seemed to be +sinless in this respect. When this Indian saw and thought of all +these things he said: "You know me, fathers, and you see that I am +exiled for my sins. I too have noted the manner in which you live in +your convents, and the way in which you treat each other. So good are +your ways in all things that I cannot help seeing that the law which +you preach is a good one; and therefore I have determined to bring my +evil life to an end and to seek for God. Therefore I beg of you the +training that is needed by my faults and my wretched conditions of my +life, and I put my will wholly in yours." The religious encouraged +him to go on as he had begun, taught him, and baptized him; and his +conversion was of great value, since it resulted in the baptism of many +who heard him tell all these things as a witness at first hand from +within the convent, from whom nothing could be concealed if anything +to the contrary had existed. It kept the good provincial from many +gray hairs to hear and see all these things; and he gave thanks to the +Lord for the fortitude and perseverance which His grace had inspired +within him in previous years, when not only the well-affected Spaniards +and the religious of other orders, but even the bishop himself, had +advised him to withdraw the religious from that province, where there +was nothing but immeasurable labor to be done, to the great danger +of their lives, while the Indians gave no hope that they would be +converted. Rather, they strove with all their might to dismiss the +religious from their country, offering a great quantity of gold for +that purpose, so great was their obstinacy and their opposition to +the gospel. To this the good superior had answered: "Then it is these +bad Indians whom I wish my friars to strive to convert." Indeed, he +had even commanded them to persevere in that which they had begun, +urging them on to the labor and the suffering with most efficacious +arguments, full of spirit and truth. Therefore, though this conversion +was a matter of great delight to all, it was so particularly to the +father provincial, for it was he who had had the greatest part in it. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +The journey of the father provincial, Fray Juan de Castro, and of +father Fray Miguel de Venavides to the kingdom of China. + + +[The unexpected success of the mission to the province of Pangasinan +encouraged the father provincial to undertake the mission to China +which had been the principal object of their departure from Espana. He +was the more desirous to carry out his purpose of undertaking the +conversion of this kingdom, because of the superior intelligence of +the people, and the readiness to accept the faith which had been shown +by the Chinese in Manila. His determination was confirmed by visions +seen by father Fray Luis Gandullo. In April, 1590, the provincial +laid his plans before the religious of the province and with their +consent undertook his journey. He appointed father Fray Diego de +Soria as procurator of the province, to represent it in Espana and +at Roma. He designated as superior of the province, with all his own +authority in his absence, father Fray Juan Cobo. To take the place +of this father in the mission to the Chinese in Manila he designated +father Fray Juan de San Pedro Martyr. After making these arrangements, +he selected as his own companion father Fray Miguel de Venavides; +and, with the approval of the bishop and the governor of the islands, +he began to make arrangements for his voyage. This was very difficult +to do, because of the strict and severe laws of the Chinese empire +against admitting foreigners. Finally, however, two courageous Chinese, +Don Thomas Seiguan, a ship-captain who had been converted at Manila, +and another Chinese known as Don Francisco, agreed to run the risk +of taking the fathers to China. At the very outset, the miraculous +nature of the voyage was shown by the fact that the devil whom the +sailors consulted with regard to the success of the voyage would not +give his ordinary responses, being frightened away by the presence +of the servants of the true God. As soon as they reached the coast +of China, the two religious were arrested by officers who searched +the ship, manacled, and taken to the city of Hayteng, the chief +port of China. The venerable age of Fray Miguel de Venavides, and +his ability to speak the Chinese language, caused him to be treated +with kindness and respect; but the provincial received much abuse +and violence. After being in prison for a time in a temple of the +goddess of the sea, whom they called Neoma, they were taken before +the tribunal. The judge was a man of great dignity and gravity, and +around him stood twelve grave personages in ample robes with flowing +sleeves, their rank being distinguished by a certain difference in +their hats. Father Fray Miguel answered the question why they had come +to that country with great boldness and frankness, declaring that they +had come to teach and to preach the true religion of the Christians in +that kingdom, and that in it only and in no other was salvation to be +found. When they said "teach," the judge without waiting for another +word replied, Bo ly, which in their language means, "You are wrong;" +and without further delay they were remanded to prison. The temple +being flooded, they were removed to a hut near the wall of the city, +where they suffered from want and were exposed to rain and wind. The +provincial was taken ill, and twice almost died. The Lord, however, +moved the heart of a rich and noble captain, who had been twice at +Manila, to give them a refuge in his house. Here they set up an altar +where they celebrated mass, the sacramental wine being miraculously +preserved. The two Chinamen who had brought them over were severely +punished. Don Thomas was about to be flogged, but at the intercession +of the religious, who begged that they might receive the punishment +in his place, he was spared this part of his chastisement, being +condemned for life to serve in the army--which is regarded in China as +a great dishonor, and brings with it much hardship. False charges were +brought against the religious, that they had come as Spanish spies; +and these charges were supported by false testimony and by forged +papers. Father Miguel, by the help of God, was enabled to write his +petitions in the court language of that country, to the great surprise +of the officials. Finally the judges set the religious free, commanding +them to depart from the realm, as foreigners. This they were obliged +to do after some days, feeling that their presence there would do +no good. The father provincial was greatly impressed by the dignity, +composure, sound judgment, and superior intelligence of the Chinese +magistrate. As he had seen the leading personages of both Espanas, +and had been acquainted with the court of the prudent King Felipe, +he was qualified to form an opinion of the merits of this judge.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +Events in the province during the absence of the provincial in China + + +[Great was the loneliness felt by the province during the absence of +the provincial, because of his holy life and the love they felt for +him. Father Fray Juan Cobo, though not wholly equal to the provincial, +was a man of great ability and great devotion. His first act was to +strengthen the ministry to the Chinese, by appointing to it father +Fray Domingo de Nieva, an able and virtuous religious, and a perfect +master of both the Chinese and the Indian languages. He labored and +wrote much in both of them, to the great advantage of the ministers who +succeeded him and of his own disciples. He suffered all his life long +with a severe headache, which began to afflict him in youth and never +left him till his death. Father Fray Juan Cobo also appointed to the +hospital of the Chinese brother Fray Pedro Rodriguez, a lay religious +of much charity, who found his delight and his spiritual profit in +serving the sick. Though he was not the founder of the hospital, he +was the cause of its great increase. He restored and rebuilt it two +or three times, as was necessary, because it had been built at first +very poorly, and hence was very frail and not durable. At this time +a fire broke out in the village of Baybay. A wooden cross fastened +in the gable of a house was miraculously preserved from burning. The +power of God was exhibited in marvelous incidents connected with the +baptism of several children.] + +Father Fray Juan Cobo went on a visitation of the province, and +found the religious in the district of Bataan suffering no little +discomfort, because they could not visit the Indians who were in it +without great hardship and risk to their health. The reason was that +the Indians lived in hamlets so distant one from another that it was +often necessary to travel six leguas when they were called to confess +a sick person. As the number of Christians kept increasing, they were +called more and more often. The roads were very bad and marshy, which +increased the difficulty and made it more certain that the ministers +would suffer from disease. He planned to arrange them in such a manner +that the ministers could visit them better and with less hardship; +and gathered several little villages into others somewhat larger, +placing in the midst of all the two chief villages, Aboucay and +Samal, which were the places where the ministers resided, and from +which they went out to serve the neighboring places. There was some +difficulty in carrying out the plan, but God our Lord showed that He +was pleased with it, not only by making easy for them that which they +asked from Him so much to their own good, but by giving them several +very fertile years, those that had preceded having been so barren +that they scarcely yielded enough for the tribute. The crops were +now very abundant, giving the Indians enough to eat and something to +sell; and they began to lift up their heads, having hitherto lived in +great poverty. The health of the district was also greatly improved, +and many more of their sick were cured than before the religious +came. Both of these results came from the better years which the +Lord had given them, because as a result of these they had better +sustenance and fewer sicknesses. To this happy result the hospitals +also contributed, which had been established by the religious, as +did also the care which the religious took that the sick should not +lack anything needed for their care and sustenance--of which there had +previously been a very great want, so that fewer had recovered. As they +experienced these benefits which had come to them with the religious, +they came to love the latter very much; and with their love for them +they came afterwards easily to a change of heart, which at first +they had greatly opposed. The religious were a great help to them, +not only in spiritual matters (which was the principal thing), but +also in everything else, providing seed every year for those who +had none, and greatly increasing the arable land above what they had +had previously. The result was, that not only did those Indians who +were there live better, but many came to them from other districts, +drawn by the report of their prosperity. Accordingly, though in the +country at large the Indian districts exhibited a decreased population, +the population here has constantly increased, and so steadily that +there are today twice as many Indians there as there were when the +religious came to it. When these villages in Bataan were provided for, +the father vicar of the province went to Pangasinan, where he found +those Indians somewhat more nearly tamed than they had been, though +there were still many of them in their ancient hardness of heart. He +was greatly delighted at seeing how much the religious had achieved, +and at perceiving their great labors. He was still more delighted at +seeing the many miracles wrought by our Lord by the means of father +Fray Luis Gandullo and by other religious, in order to give credit +to His gospel. Thus the Indians had formed a high idea of the law of +God, the heathen were being converted, and the Christians were being +perfected in the faith which they had received a short time before. Of +all this matter a fuller account will be given in the lives of these +religious. They were certainly very holy men, as was demanded by the +hardness of heart of this tribe, whose hearts had to be softened and +who had to be brought into the bosom of the church much more by the +example of a good life than by sermons and words. + +[At this time died at Manila father Fray Juan Chrisostomo, the founder +of the province, who had sacrificed his health to the establishment of +it. He had twice labored in this foundation, twice at Roma obtained +for it the sanction of the sovereign pontiffs and generals of the +order, and in Spain had twice obtained the royal approval. For a third +time he saw his work practically brought to an end in Mexico, to his +great sorrow. He had then been obliged to suffer the unhappiness of +remaining in Mexico without being able to visit the province which +he had established, until at the end of two years the Lord rewarded +him by permitting him to spend his last days in the province which he +had done so much to establish, and which he so much loved. He was a +remarkable preacher, having a fine voice, a good command of language, +and natural energy; and there was much substance in what he said. He +made such an impression in Spain that the king appointed him to be +one of four bishops who were to be consecrated if China should open +its doors to the preaching of the gospel. He lived a life of great +asceticism, in spite of his bodily infirmities. He took upon himself +the painful and laborious work of the office of vicar, giving the +honorable duty to father Fray Juan de Castro. In order to keep up +his health for his work, he continued to apply remedies against his +old sickness, until part of one side became as black as a coal. His +death was holy and devout.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +The journey of the bishop of these islands to Espana in company with +father Fray Miguel de Venavides, and the death of two religious. + + +In the month of June in this same year, 1590, there came to these +islands as governor Gomez Perez das Marinas, knight of the Habit of +Sanctiago, an able governor, indefatigable in labor, who did many +useful things for the benefit of the city of Manila, one of them +being to surround it with a wall of stone. Some years afterward, +in an uprising of the Chinese, this was the only defense of the +Spaniards. He was extraordinarily diligent, very zealous for the +common weal, a great soldier, and very chaste; yet in spite of these +and other good qualities, he failed of success because he was beyond +measure choleric. Of this imperfection the devil took advantage to sow +discord between him and the bishop, Don Fray Domingo de Salacar--who, +as a holy man, though he would suffer wrath and evil treatment +affecting him personally, was not able to endure in the same way +those which were opposed to his official undertakings and his official +dignity. Accordingly, as he endeavored to protect these or defend his +subordinates, the encounters between him and the governor were very +unpleasant, and grave scandals followed. Our religious under these +circumstances found themselves in a position of great difficulty, +because the evils from one side were intolerable, while from the other +even greater evils threatened them if they broke with the governor +in order to stand by the holiness and justice of the bishop. So they +were for some time in suspense, and did what they could to settle +affairs without a rupture; but, being unable to succeed in this way, +they determined to follow the opinion of St. Gregory, and rather to +suffer the hardships and scandals that might result, than to leave +truth and justice without a defense on an occasion when there was so +great need of aid. Compelled by this necessity, they began, without +exceeding the limits of modesty and courtesy even in the opinion of +this same governor, to preach upon this subject. The governor resented +this much, and when he was angry affirmed that he had been insulted; +but when his wrath had given way to good sense, his intelligence could +not but be convinced. He then spoke very well of our friars; constantly +gave them alms; and above all, in his will (made in health, when he was +about to set out on a journey), he directed that he should be buried in +our convent. This was a thing that amazed the whole country and gave +our religious no little credit; for, though he had regarded them as +opposed to him, he recognized that they had been influenced by reason, +and had been compelled by truth and justice to do what they did. Thus +he regarded it as very proper to entrust to them in his death soul +and body, though when he was vexed, and wrath left no room in his +soul for good counsel, he gave them enough cause for merits. But the +Lord was not pleased that he should receive ecclesiastical burial; +for, in the very royal galley in which he went on this journey, the +Chinese whom he had taken against their will, instead of volunteers, +and forced to row, rose against him and killed him and the others who +accompanied him--God permitting this, to punish him for his irreverence +in losing respect for a bishop who was known to be a holy man and who +was his [spiritual] shepherd. The bishop, before this happened, had +gone to Spain, being unable to bring the governor to do justice. He +had felt himself forced to this by the evils in that community, +which he could not remedy there, and by the hardships suffered by +his church. He was even influenced to some extent by the desire to +avoid scandals by absenting himself. When he began to plan for going, +he wished to take along as his associate father Fray Diego de Soria, +who, as has been said, was appointed by the father provincial, Fray +Juan de Castro, to go to Espana when he went to China. On account +of this, the bishop, who loved him and esteemed him highly, wished +to take him in his company, while the order could not refuse, and +indeed would gain much thereby. But the governor would not permit it, +fearing the harm that might be done to him in Espana; for because of +the clearness and vigor with which the father had boldly corrected +and blamed him to his face, he felt very sure, and with reason, +that he would do the same in the court--the more so from having gone +in company with the bishop, as they would be certain to discuss and +plan this very thing on the voyage. On this account he preferred to +listen to the father's corrections made in his own presence which, +as he saw, proceeded from good-will and were regulated by discretion +and prudence--rather than give him an opportunity to spread abroad +in Espana an account of the improper manner in which he treated the +bishop. For this cause father Fray Miguel de Venavides was obliged +to take his place as companion of the bishop, and as procurator of +the province in Espana. In this way, without the knowledge of men, +the plan of divine Providence, which in all things chooses the better +part, was being carried out. It was of advantage to the province, +in that father Fray Diego de Soria was given to it; for he was +extremely useful in Pangasinan and was afterward necessary at Nueva +Segovia, in which places father Fray Miguel could not have rendered +any assistance. On the other hand, the going of father Fray Miguel +de Venavides to Espana was of the very greatest importance, because +he was able to speak as an eye-witness in regard to Chinese affairs, +which in Espana they desired much to learn about with certainty from +some person of credit--as was father Fray Miguel, who did not speak +from hearsay but from sight. The acquaintance of the grave fathers +of Spain with father Fray Miguel, and their esteem for him, gave them +much more confidence in his report of the remarkable things which had +happened in the province, than if they had heard them from someone +of less standing. In that case they might have doubted; but, when he +gave this report, they could have no doubt at all. In fact, occasions +presented themselves in which all the scholarship and ability of Fray +Miguel were required, as will later be shown. For all these reasons +his departure to Espana was of great importance at that time. The +Lord giving them a good journey, they reached there in health; and +what happened to them will be told later. + +A shorter but more dangerous journey was taken at this time by two +religious of Pangasinan; but so clearly did they perceive their danger +that their fear was changed to comfort--which was likewise felt by +all who saw them depart, since all regarded it as certain that they +were entering upon the road to heaven in striving for the salvation +of that people; for there were still many who were hard-hearted and +rebellious to the gospel. One of these friars was Fray Pedro Martinez, +a lay religious, a man of God, of plain and simple character. He had +been brought by father Fray Juan Cobo from Nueva Espana in eighty +eight, his holiness and virtue being well recognized by those who +had had to do with him in that country. [Fray Pedro was a native of +Segovia in Old Castilla, the child of poor but very devout parents. He +grew up in gravity and devotion, being blessed by the particular favor +of the Holy Virgin, to whom he showed great devotion. She appeared to +him in a vision, directing him to enter her order, which she declared +to be that of St. Dominic. His life brought him the name of "the Holy +Friar." Fray Pedro first had the office of porter in the convent at +Manila. Seeming not to be fitted for it, he was made sacristan, but +soon showed that he was less fitted for this post, and resumed his +former one. He was sent by the provincial to Pangasinan, and was soon +seized by a severe fever, of which he died. In the utmost severity +of his sickness he followed the constitutions of the order with the +greatest closeness. On the day of his death he received extreme unction +in the morning. They then placed in his hands a blessed candle, which +they could not draw from his hands until the hour of the Ave Marias, +when he died. + +At the same time the Lord took to himself father Fray Marcos de San +Antonino, whom the provincial, finding him very ill with asthma, +had ordered to return from his post at Pangasinan to Manila, to be +cared for. In spite of his sufferings from this disease father Fray +Marcos had continued his labors, not only without complaints, but with +cheerfulness, walking about among these little villages and fields in +order to learn the language, seeking everywhere for someone to whom +he might do good, sometimes carrying the poor bed on which he had to +sleep. So devoted was he to his labor that the superior had to compel +him to consider his health. At Manila they placed him in the hospital +of the Sangleys, that he might have meat to eat, as his illness +required, for no meat is eaten in the convent. His asthma greatly +increased, and he was attacked by a burning fever which made him so +weak that he could not turn himself in bed. He died a devout death.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +The election of father Fray Alonso Ximenez as provincial + + +On the ninth of April, 1592, the Sunday Deus qui errantibus--which is +the third after Easter, and the customary day for holding provincial +chapters--the electors assembled in the convent of Manila to elect a +provincial; and they unanimously elected as second provincial of this +province father Fray Alonso Ximenez, who was at that time prior. He was +a very devout friar, an aged man and venerable, whose fervor of spirit +caused him to work like a youth at a time when his great age and the +many hardships which he had endured justly required rest. There were +chosen as definitors fathers Fray Francisco de la Mina, Fray Juan de +Castro (nephew of him who had just filled the office of provincial), +Fray Thomas Castellar, and Fray Juan de San Pedro Martyr. The vicariate +of Binalatongan was entrusted to father Fray Luis Gandullo, that of +Calasiao to father Fray Pedro de Soto, and that of Bataan to father +Fray Juan de San Pedro Martyr. As prior of the convent of Manila was +elected father Fray Francisco de la Mina, being compelled to undertake +it by his obedience, after he had accommodated himself to the ministry +of Bataan, and had learned the language with great effort. He had +begun to learn it when he was almost seventy years of age, and had +been greatly pleased with these Indians because he had found in them +greater ability than in those of Nueva Espana, to whom he had been +a missionary for forty years. Although this long term of service +would have justified him in resting when he was relieved from labor, +he was so far from this that he spent nearly the whole day with his +Indians in Bataan, hearing them confess, teaching them, and showing +them the way to salvation, because of the great love which he felt +for them. So he much regretted leaving them, to take the position of +prior at Manila--although they needed in the convent a man of his +endowments, and the duties in the convent were less laborious than +those of the ministry that he then had. But this was the very thing +that grieved him, because he had not come to that province to rest +but to labor--insomuch that he feared those who were taking away his +labors were depriving him of his merit. But the order of his superior +made everything plain, and assured him that he would not lose but gain +merit in this way, since his good-will was worth as much with God as +many labors; and, besides this, he would gain in addition that merit +which the position of prior could give him, which, for those who are +such priors as this father was, is not a small but a great increase. + +Excellent ordinances were enacted in this chapter. The first was, that +those confessors who had not been examined in the province should +be examined before they received confessions. For this examiners +were appointed--not because the few who were in the province were +not of known competency and had not been examined in other provinces +before, but to establish a matter of such importance firmly at the very +beginning; and to have the medicine anticipate and prevent the disease, +as the Holy Spirit counseled, and as was very wise. They established +in the convent lectures in theology, and appointed as lecturer father +Fray Juan Cobo. Anyone who will consider how few the religious were, +and how much they had to do, one performing the work of many, will +see the esteem which these fathers felt for the exercises of sacred +theology (which are so appropriate to our order), and will think +very highly of this care. It was ordained that the preachers to the +Indians should follow in their sermons the form of the Roman catechism, +teaching them the virtue and necessity of the holy sacraments, and +the reverence and devotion with which they must be treated. Since by +the mercy of God the Indians have given signs of approaching them in +the spirit necessary to receive them, and since they were every day +increasing in works of charity and mercy, and exhibiting their faith, +it was ordained that they should be instructed thoroughly in regard +to this matter; and that those sufficiently instructed should be +admitted to the most holy sacrament of the altar, and in time to +extreme unction. They repeatedly impressed upon their own memory +the ordinance passed in the first chapter, namely, that they should +treat the Indians with great love and charity, not only in words, +but in works--aiding them in their necessities with alms, as much +as might be possible for them, and in all things treating them with +the spirit of mildness. This ordinance further provided that if at +any time there should be necessity for punishment [of the Indians], +it should be performed by the hands of others, in order that from our +hands they might receive nothing but benefit and might thus become +devoted to the law which we preached. The chapter was held with +great solemnity and joy, as the church was then used for the first +time. It was now very beautiful, and was built wholly of stone. To +crown the feast they held some theological discussions, certain +moral difficulties being therein vindicated and explained. These +difficulties had to do with that which at that time was of the +greatest importance; in particular they discussed questions of great +weight with regard to the collection of the tributes, [49] and the +justice with which encomiendas and other places of profit ought to +be distributed; and with regard to slavery in this country, since, +because it does not follow the laws of Espana, but conforms to the +customs of the Indians, it presents peculiar difficulties. But the +point which they discussed most, and with the greatest profit, was the +obligation of the ministers to the Indians to remain among them and +preach the gospel to them, and to keep them in the law which those +who were already Christians had received. It was shown with great +clearness that, in the condition in which affairs were, the priests +who were in these islands could not leave them without being guilty +of mortal sin against the charity which we owe to these Indians our +neighbors--who are placed in the most extreme need of ministers to +teach them, and to administer the sacraments to them, without which +it is impossible for them to be saved. Since the Indians who were in +this state of necessity were so many, and the priests so few that, +even though their number were many times increased, there would not be +enough, it was inferred with clearness that those who went away were +guilty of most grievous sin. It was concluded that they were obliged +to give an account to the Lord of the souls which should be lost on +account of their absence, the number of whom must of necessity be very +great. This teaching was of great importance and usefulness in calming +some priests and religious whom the love of their own country was +drawing back to Espana; and thus there resulted much consolation and +improvement to the Indians. [At this time there occurred an incident +which very greatly impressed the Chinese Christians, and caused them +to respect the directions of their confessors. The incident might be +called a punishment, but it was the punishment of a kindly father, as +the punishments of the Lord often are; and it resulted in the entire +salvation of a soul. In 1590 a Chinese Christian bookseller called +Pablo Hechiu desired to return in the vessels which left Manila for +China. He did not dare tell any of the fathers, because he knew that +they would interfere with his departure; but he was unable to keep +the matter secret from father Fray Juan Cobo. The father did what he +could to keep him from going away, because of the danger which he ran +of relapsing into idolatry; but the Chinese succeeded in eluding him, +and departed for China. The vessel in which he took passage was cast +upon the mountainous coast of Bolinao. [50] Though the people on board +escaped to land, they lost their lives, because the Indians of this +country, the Zambales or mountaineers, are ferocious, and find their +greatest delight in slaying men and cutting off their heads, for no +other reason than their own wicked disposition. They are trained up in +this from childhood. When they saw the wretched Chinese cast on shore, +they fell upon them, robbed them of everything they had saved from the +wreck, and killed as many as they could; these were nearly all--some +few escaping, and hiding themselves in the most thickly overgrown parts +of the mountain. Among those who thus escaped was Pablo Hechiu. He +remained there hidden for a fortnight, without daring to come out +from the place where he had concealed himself; and, having no food, +he died, leaving on two crosses made of bamboo a written account of +what had happened to him. This came to light in the following way. The +governor of Manila sent a strong expedition against these Zambales, +which sought for them all through those mountains. Some of the scouts +came upon Pablo Hechiu, his body, entire and dried, leaning against +the foot of a tree. The preservation of the body was an extraordinary +thing; and still more extraordinary was it that Christians should go +through a region which had probably never been trodden by the feet +of Catholics since the world was created, because the country was +mountainous and visited by the Zambales alone, and the place was +hidden even from them by the thickness of the undergrowth. + +At this time died the venerable father Fray Juan de Castro, first +vicar-general and provincial of this province. It was he who had +established and kept it in the happy state in which it was. He was +born in Burgos, of noble race; and his father, being left a widower, +had entered our convent of San Pablo at Burgos. He had left his +son in the world, but was followed by him into the religious life +when the son reached maturity. The son was scholarly and well read +in the saints. Against his father's wishes he went to the province +of Guatimala, where he became twice provincial. The prudent king +Felipe II appointed him to the bishopric of Vera Paz [sc., Cruz], and +sent him the royal letter of presentation to the said bishopric. The +father not only desired to be excused from accepting, but concealed the +matter until he desired to go to China. When the fathers endeavored to +obstruct his purpose he threatened, if they would not let him make this +journey, to make the other to his bishopric, which was further away and +from which he would never come back. This was only a threat, because he +had taken a vow not to accept the bishopric, and was resolved to keep +it. He was a kindly man, and very easy of access. He was given to the +use of old proverbs. He had great skill in extricating himself quickly +from useless business. He was much given to the reading of the [lives +of the] saints, which in dead letters contain living thoughts. When +he said mass he used to water the altar with his tears, though he +strove greatly to control himself. His addresses to the order had +such fervor, devotion, tenderness, and gentleness that those who +heard them regarded them as words from heaven, and went forth from +them with new spirit. This was especially true of his address at the +first chapter, when he assigned the fathers to their duties. It then +seemed as if it was not he that spoke, but the Holy Spirit. There +is much that goes to show that this is true. Father Juan himself was +accustomed to say that he was certain that he had made no mistake in +this assignment--something which those who know him and who know his +humility would attribute to nothing else than divine revelation. Those +who were in this chapter accepted, without a single word, the duties +assigned to each one, although these were such things as might cause +trembling in the souls of giants in virtue, being no less than driving +the devil out of his own house and his ancient abiding-place. At +times the father seems to have shown the spirit of prophecy. In one +case he declared that there were those before him who, as he knew, +had never lost their baptismal innocence. This is proof of itself +that he spoke not without some inspiration from without his own +mind. Second, he declared that all those who were before him should +go through life without falling into mortal sin. Those who listened to +him understood that he was speaking of the sin of the flesh, which is +that from which those are least safe who accept the ministry of souls, +[even] with humility and in the fear of God. This is especially true +before they learn by experience how much God helps those who fulfil +this office in loving obedience to Him. On several other occasions +father Fray Juan showed that he had the spirit of prophecy. He told +Fray Juan de Soria that he would leave the order, but not to his own +blame, rather to the glory of God and the happiness of the provincial, +as was fulfilled. By anointing a brother who suffered from scrofula, +he cured him; but when he was about to anoint Fray Domingo de Nieva, +who suffered from headache, he stopped and withdrew the holy oil, +saying that it was not God's will. Father Fray Juan had special +grace and power to arouse devotion in those with whom he talked, in +confession or in private conversation. The infirmities with which he +was afflicted as a result of the exposure and the hardships which he +suffered in China never entirely left him. He held the chapter which +elected as his successor father Fray Alonso Ximenez, and immediately +afterward went to the hospital of the Chinese, asking to be cared for +as a poor man--preferring to die there rather than in the convent, +not only because he might die there with greater humility and poverty, +but because he would be less disturbed by visits, and would have more +opportunity to be alone with God. In his last days he was afflicted +with fears of the judgment of God. To his last moment he observed +the rigorous rules of the order. When at last he died, he left the +religious edified and consoled by his example, but most sad to lose +him, for merely to see him had comforted them.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +Father Fray Juan Cobo, his virtues and death + + +[Father Fray Juan Cobo was born in Consuegra, in the kingdom of +Toledo, and took the habit of the order and made his profession in +the convent of the town of Ocana. After studying in that of Avila, +he entered the college of Sancto Thomas at Alcala. He distinguished +himself in his studies, and, after he had read the arts, he became +master in the royal convent of Sancto Thomas at Avila. His remarkable +abilities were early recognized, and exhibited themselves wherever +he went. Taking upon himself the lowliest duties, he desired to +be steward on the ship--a most disagreeable position, because of +the intolerable heat in the lower part of the ship, and because the +provisions frequently spoil as a result of that heat. He was a tall, +handsome man, of red and white complexion, and very active. His +conversation was agreeable, and his mind keen and quick. He was well +acquainted not only with the liberal arts, but with many mechanical +occupations. His knowledge of the Chinese language has already been +mentioned. He was the first man to preach publicly to the Chinese, +and his sermon attracted the governor and nearly all the good people +of the city; they were greatly astonished, as were also the Chinese, +who would never have believed that any one of another nation could +advance so far in the command of their language. It was to this father +that principally was due the establishment of the hospital for the +Chinese, where so many souls were saved, and in which the Lord often +worked miracles by multiplying the rice which Father Juan kept as +food for the sick persons. He knew three thousand Chinese characters, +each different from all the rest, for the Chinese have no alphabetical +letters. He translated a number of Chinese books; for, like those of +Seneca, they contain many profound sayings, though they are the work +of heathens. He taught astrology to some of the Chinese, whom he found +capable of learning; and also taught them trades that are necessary +among the Spaniards but are not employed among the Chinese--such as +painting images, binding books, cutting and sewing clothes, and such +things--doing all things to win all men to God. At this time there +came to Manila a letter from the emperor of Japon, Taicosama, in which +he asked the governor of Manila and the Spaniards of these islands +to send him tribute every year and an acknowledgment of vassalage, +that he might not come and destroy them with a mighty fleet, which +he had already prepared for this purpose. This caused much alarm +in the city, because the emperor of Japon was very powerful, and of +warlike disposition; and as a result of his victories he had become +very proud and vain. The city of Manila had no defenses, no walls, +no protections against so strong an enemy; and the Spaniards in it, +being very few in number, were called on to die rather than accept +that which he asked of them so much to their dishonor. It seemed to +all necessary to send a special embassy to Japan with an answer. Father +Fray Juan Cobo was chosen by the governor as the most suitable person +to represent Espana who could be found in the island, both because +of his natural gifts and because of his acquirements. He acquitted +himself marvelously well in this occupation, greatly amazing and +pleasing the emperor of Japon. The emperor went so far as to permit +the churches of the Society of Jesus to be rebuilt, and to allow the +fathers publicly to prosecute the conversion of the Japanese. The +emperor requested father Fray Juan to remain in his kingdom; but +he declined, as having no order to do so. At his return, they set +sail in a tempestuous season, which cost them very dear, because +the vessel in which father Fray Juan was carried was cast on shore +in a country of barbarous Indians, namely, that which is known as the +island of Hermosa. Escaping to the shore to avoid the furious sea, they +fell into the hands of those ferocious people, who killed them all, +to a man. After the death of father Fray Juan, father Fray Pedro de +Soto had a vision of the father, who was in purgatory, being purified +for the sin of having hastened his departure too greatly. Afterward, +father Fray Luis Gandullo had a vision of him in paradise.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +The death of father Fray Francisco de la Mina, and the council which +was held in place of the intermediate provincial chapter. + + +[Father Fray Francisco de la Mina was a native of Andalucia, where he +assumed the habit of the order. He afterward went to Mexico, preaching +there both in Spanish and in the Indian language. He was one of those +who formed the plan of sending from that province some religious +to ask for the approval of the most reverend general of the order +for the foundation of the new province in the Philipinas. He served +in the mission to the Indians of Bataan, learning their language; +and was afterward appointed prior of Manila, the second post in the +province. He lost his health after his return to Manila, and soon died. + +In the month of December, 1594, the father provincial Fray Alonso +Ximenez assembled a council of the religious in the neighborhood of +Manila, to serve in place of an intermediate provincial chapter. The +rules which they adopted were of much importance. It was determined +that on visitations the hours should be kept as in convents. It was +also ordained that the convents should be visited in order, as might +best be done. It was also provided that no business should be done +with Indians or Spaniards, except in case of the necessity of sick +persons, before prime or after the Ave Maria, or for one hour after +meals. Also that no religious should have any peculiar mark on the +table, or on his cup or on his spoon, or should carry either with him, +that there might be absolute uniformity. This order was made because +the father provincial Fray Alonso Ximenez used a marked spoon, not +because it was any better than the others, but that he might neither +receive nor give others anything to cause disgust; and, though it +was so trifling a thing, they would not permit it to the provincial, +but discussed the matter, and placed their resolution in their public +formal acts--so precise were they and so closely did they follow +the rule that the superior shall have nothing more than the rest, +and that all things shall be uniform. + +While the religious were in council, the governor, Don Luis Perez +das Marinas, appeared before them, and called their attention to the +great need, for the Spaniards in the city and the province of Nueva +Segovia, of a priest to confess them; and to the still greater need of +someone to teach and preach the holy gospel to the native Indians in +that province--who, though they had now been many years subjects of +his Majesty, and had paid tribute to his encomenderos, had never had +anyone to preach the faith to them, and were as blind and as heathen +as if they had never accepted as king a Catholic prince. The petition +of the governor made such an impression that, in spite of the small +number and the heavy duties of the religious, they assigned two to +this mission. The need was indeed very great, for the Spaniards who +lived there had been more than six months in constant danger of death, +without having any priest. The Indians were enemies of the Spaniards, +very valiant, and very numerous considering the small number and +the discord of the Spaniards who were in that province. As superior, +father Fray Diego de Soria (who afterward became bishop of that region) +was appointed, the ecclesiastical chapter giving him full power in +spiritual matters, and the governor in temporal matters. His associate +was father Fray Thomas Castellar. They found that they needed all the +authority which they had received, to bring to some order the great +laxity which prevailed among the Spaniards. It was this, and their +great perversity and pertinacity in dissensions, which had caused +the priests whom they had had to leave them. After those priests went +away, their hatreds and their sins increased even more. The importance +of this province, which includes the major part of the territory in +charge of this order in the Philipinas, makes it desirable to give +some very brief notice of it.] It is a hundred and fifty leguas from +Manila, and constitutes a part of the island of Lucon. The climate +is one of the best in the islands, being refreshing, mild, and not +so excessively hot as that of most of the other provinces which are +comprised in this island. It is for this reason that it was called +Nueva Segovia, after Segovia in Espana, which is a cool region. It +is in nineteen degrees of latitude and is only sixty leguas, or a +little over, from China. It accordingly resembles China somewhat +in its good qualities--the abundance of fish in its rivers, of rice +and other produce of the soil, of animals of the chase, and of wild +boars and buffaloes in the mountains; while of Spanish plants which +have been introduced here the crops obtained have been very large. In +the colder regions pines and live-oaks grow naturally. The occasion +which obliged the Spaniards to conquer it was an attack made upon it +in 1581 by a Japanese fleet, the Japanese desiring to have control +of this region because of the abundance of products which it yields +that are lacking in Japon. The Spaniards who were in Manila were +informed of this project, and they did not think it best that the +Japanese should come so near to them, when they were so few and the +Japanese were so many and so audacious; they accordingly determined +to go and prevent them from entering this country. With this purpose +they armed a galley and other small vessels, the expedition including +only forty Spaniards. Their leader and chief was Captain Carrion, +and their chaplain father Fray Christoval de Salvatierra of our order, +who was the associate of the bishop, Don Fray Domingo de Salazar; he +was a man of great prudence, much courage, and very superior virtue, +as will be declared later. They set out from Manila on the voyage to +that province; and in the bight of the cape called Cabo del Bojeador +(which is close to Nueva Segovia) they found a Japanese vessel, +which was prowling along the coast and pillaging it. The galley made +an attack upon the Japanese ship, and with the mid-ship gun brought +down its mainmast; and immediately the Spaniards, with more boldness +than was expedient, bore down upon the enemy, and thrust their iron +beak through his side. But they were not slow in finding out their +mistake, much to their own cost; for the Japanese leaped aboard, +doing much execution with their cutlasses (some of which are shaped +like our cutlasses and others like broadswords), and they attacked +our vessel so furiously that they got control of the deck, back to +the mainmast. The Spaniards found themselves obliged to retreat to +the poop, and cut the halyard of the mainsail. The sail fell down, +with the yard, and served them as an intrenchment so that they could +fire their arquebuses, doing great execution and driving off the +enemy. The Spaniards continued their voyage, and entered the river +of Nueva Segovia [i.e., Rio Grande de Cagayan], which may compete +in size and in the excellence of its water with the finest rivers +of Spain. Here they found the enemy's fleet concealed. In order to +attack it they went up the river and intrenched themselves on land, +working hard all night and making their breastworks of turf and +fascines between stakes. They took out of the galley a paterero and +two culverins, placing them under cover, and aiming them toward the +land-side, as there would be the place where the Japanese, if they +came, would attack them. Thus prepared, they all waited on their +arms, having their weapons at hand even when they were obliged to +rest awhile. Since they had learned by experience that Japanese who +are wounded by pikes grasp hold of the pikes in order to kill those +who have wounded them, the captain had the pikes greased on the upper +half, in order that our men might be able to draw them from the bodies +and the hands of the Japanese, if the latter should pull by the pikes; +and this device was of great use in the conflict which ensued. [51] The +Japanese were not idle, for they landed two hours before day, coming +well armed and in good order, and protected by the darkness of the +night. They advanced upon our soldiers very silently, intending to take +them by surprise; however, they did not succeed, but were discovered +by the sentinels. Our men put themselves in good order, to wait for +them while they advanced. Although they perceived that the Spaniards +had detected them, they made a very spirited and courageous assault, +but were beaten back with even greater courage once, twice, and three +times. After a short rest, they attacked again with wonderful spirit, +though the arquebuses and muskets brought many to the ground. Finally, +the whole force of Japanese attacked our fort on the side where the +cannon were, without knowing what awaited them there. The cannon were +filled to the muzzle with ammunition, and were fired so seasonably that +they did great execution among the Japanese. Those who were left alive, +seeing what had happened, retreated, leaving their camp full of dead +and mangled men. Their captain had lost so many men, who were left +lying on the shore, that he set sail; and they were so thoroughly +punished that they never again thought of coming to conquer this +country. In this way the Spaniards found themselves in this region, +but against the will of its inhabitants, who as little wished to see +them there as to see the Japanese. This was immediately manifested +by their retreating into the interior, leaving the Spaniards alone +with nothing to eat, so that the latter consumed all the provisions +that they had brought with them. The natives even made some assaults +upon them, attacking them when it seemed that they could do so with +safety. The Spaniards accordingly suffered much hardship, want, and +hunger, because supplies from Manila came very insufficiently and +slowly, while they had in that country nothing but cruel war. At the +same time, they were much aided in their purpose to remain in it by +the many factions and wars among the Indians, who could not live in +peace and were constantly slaying one another, following no law but +"Let the conqueror live." [52] On this large river a valorous Indian +by the name of Guiab had raised himself above the others. He was at the +head of only three hundred followers (since he did not wish to lead any +more); he was in a fair way to make himself lord of the province, and +would soon have been such if the Spaniards had not come. This Indian +was so determined that he had no hesitation in attacking anything with +the few courageous Indians who followed him. He was so choleric that, +whenever he wished to make any address to them, he could not speak to +them at first, out of sheer fury--until, little by little, he cooled +down and went on with his speech. He ruled his people like a great +captain, rewarding them with largesse, which was at other people's cost +and was obtained from the great wealth which he procured by robbery; +and he punished them with rigor for any sort of liberty taken with him, +or disrespect shown to him, or for disobedience to his orders. They +carried to him the news of the Spaniards, and told him that they +were very courageous men who had come there from far countries; +that they had beards and handsome faces, and that they did not wear +the hair of their head long, as the Indians were accustomed to; they +reported that the strangers went dressed in iron, and that they carried +sticks with which they slew from a distance anyone whom they pleased, +without its being visible by what means they did so (referring to +the arquebuses). Guiab was greatly delighted with these reports, +and, as a valiant man, he immediately felt an affection for these +others who were so valiant. He strove to procure their friendship +by sending them a great present of rice, chickens, large fat hogs, +and other products of the land, all of them coming very opportunely +because the Spaniards were in such a state of need. Doubtless, if +the Spaniards had joined with him, they would have subjected the +province without more war. But as Guiab had oppressed many of the +people in the land and frightened all, they went to the Spaniards, +begging them not to ally themselves with Guiab, and did nothing but +speak evil of him. On this account the Spaniards, purposing to gain +the good will of so many, caught Guiab and hanged him on a tree. The +event was altogether opposite to what they had expected; for all the +Indians retreated from the Spaniards and began to make open war upon +them, often challenging them to lay aside their arquebuses and to +come out into the field, man to man, with all the other weapons they +pleased, so courageous are these people. Though the Spaniards lost +this opportunity, they soon had another. In the maritime part of that +region there were two of the ablest chiefs in the province--brothers, +but at variance with each other--who were constantly making war against +each other with the greatest cruelty. Tuliao, one of them, at last +got the other in his hands, put him in a cage, and kept him there +for a long time. The brother in prison begged the other to kill him, +because death would be better and more easily borne than the painful +and disgraceful imprisonment in which he was. The other answered that +he did not do that, because he was his brother. "Then let me go," +answered the prisoner, "since you wish me well because I am your +brother." The other one refused to do this, because he knew perfectly +that he would be obliged to make war again, as in fact happened; +and they were at war as long as they lived, until our troops reached +that region. Then one of them, finding himself very hard pressed by +the other, went to beg the favor of the Spaniards; and the Spaniards +put an end to their strife by taking from them the lands about which +they had been quarreling. This was a great benefit to that province, +not only because the light of the true and divine faith was brought +to it, but because they were so continually engaged in civil war +that, if the Spaniards had delayed their coming, they would have +been likely to destroy each other. The life which they led did not +deserve the name of life, because of the daily alarms to which they +were exposed. Brother was unable to trust brother, and no man left +his house unarmed, or without great danger. He who had the greatest +power made as many slaves as possible, on any ground, no matter how +slight--even for taking a single stalk of sugar-cane, when the poor +people were dying of hunger because they could not cultivate their +fields on account of the wars. Many of them went, of their own will, +to eat in the houses of the chiefs, in order to save their lives, +and in this way became their slaves. From all these evils the faith +which was brought by the Spaniards freed them. The latter, by the aid +of some of the Indians against the others, conquered many of their +villages though at the cost of many deaths; and established the city +which they called Nueva Segovia, a name which was also given to the +whole province. The priest who accompanied the Spaniards in these first +events was, as has been said, father Fray Christobal de Salvatierra, +of the order of our father St. Dominic. He was the first priest whom +these Indians had seen; and although, on account of his ignorance +of the language, he did not occupy himself with their conversion, +he did not fail to do much for them by accompanying the soldiers, +in order that they might not do as many wrongs to the Indians as they +would otherwise have committed--for entirely to prevent outrages was +impossible. He soon returned to Manila, where his personal presence +was necessary. There went to that province religious of our father +St. Augustine, who lived in the new town with the Spaniards, but who +undertook no ministry to the Indians. They even felt that a mission to +them was impossible because of the excitement of the Indians resulting +from the many homicides committed among them by the Spaniards, as the +latter have done in the other parts of the Indias. Besides this, these +Indians were so warlike that not even a religious went out of the town +except in a company of soldiers and with arms; nor did the encomenderos +go to collect their tributes without an escort of many soldiers, +coming back immediately with anything that the Indians were pleased +to give them, for they feared the danger incurred by remaining. The +conduct of the soldiers and of the colonists who lived there at that +time was so little Christian, and the exhortations of the religious +had so little effect upon them, that the friars regarded it as wise +to leave them in their dissensions, since they did not wish for the +peace to which the religious persuaded them. Accordingly, one night, +without being perceived, the fathers left them and went away. For +a long time they lived without a priest, without sacraments, or +Christian teaching, so careless of God and of their souls that they +let the cattle feast in the church; and a picture of our Lady which +had been left in it was covered with spider-webs, there being no one to +keep it in order, so forgetful were they of their souls. Such was the +needy condition of that province when the noble and devout governor +Don Luis Perez das Marinas came to the council above mentioned, +and asked them to send religious, who might at least administer the +sacraments to the Spaniards. On account of the great need, the two +religious mentioned went to the province, receiving orders that, if no +religious came from Espana in the ships for which they were waiting, +they should return. The number of the religious was, indeed, so small +that they could not even attend to what they had in their charge, much +less assume the additional charge of that province, which was so far +from the missions which the order had in those regions. The religious +did their duty with great care and diligence; and that Lent they made +great efforts with sermons and addresses, planning and delivering them +with the object of inducing the inhabitants to settle their differences +and confess themselves during Lent. To this end public documents were +drawn up before a notary, with the purpose of adjusting debts and +settling dangerous controversies. All this was a necessary and most +holy work; and when it was concluded and they had left the consciences +of the Spaniards at rest, the time had come when the vessels from +Mexico might have arrived. Since they had no news that religious +were coming, these two friars, in fulfilment of the order given them, +set out for Manila again, at the time when six others, who had newly +come from Espana, reached the province. All eight met in the town of +Pata, which is at the entrance to that province. Here those who were +going away received with joy those who came; and together they gave +many thanks to the Lord. They then began upon the conversion of the +province, as will be told. We shall begin with what happened to these +religious on their journey from Spain, and with the deaths of some +who died on the way, with great manifestations of the highest virtue. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +The second expedition of religious from Castilla to the Philippinas, +and the deaths of some on the voyage. + + +[Father Fray Alonso Delgado had been sent to Roma by father Fray +Antonio de Arcediano, but had failed in his endeavors there on account +of the opposition made by a religious of another order. He had then +returned to Spain, and appeared to be giving himself up wholly to the +care of his own soul; but in his inmost heart he had never forgotten +the conversion of the Philippinas and of China. The Lord also had +not forgotten it, so that, though the mission of father Fray Alonso +seemed to be dead, it was really alive. Animated by the presence of +Don Fray Domingo de Salacar, bishop of the Philippinas, and of father +Fray Miguel de Venavides, who had come to Madrid, he immediately set +about taking religious to this province by way of Nueva Espana. They +both urged him on and praised him, knowing the need of religious in +this region. The most reverend general of the order, Fray Hipolito +Maria Vecaria, gave father Fray Alonso letters-patent permitting him to +take religious of virtue and learning from the provinces of Espana to +the Philippinas, and appointing father Fray Alonso his vicar-general +for this purpose. The need of immediate assistance caused him to +hasten his preparation, and with as many religious as he could get +together in a short time, fifteen in all, he set sail in July, 1694 +[sic; sc. 1594], on the feast of our Lady of the Rosary. They reached +the port of Nueva Espana in safety, but as soon as they set foot on +land they were afflicted by disease; and so many died that it seemed +as if death had spread a drag-net for them. In Puebla de los Angeles, +there were four religious lying sick, and placed one next to the other, +in as many cells in the infirmary. Death began with the one that was +in the first cell and carried him off, and next to him put an end +to the life of the one in the second cell, and when he was buried, +attacked the third. While the religious were performing the last rites +of the church for the third, the noise which they made reached the +fourth cell, which was the next one, where father Fray Diego Aduarte +was lying. He had been the first one to be taken ill, and that he +might not be annoyed they carried him to another cell. It seemed that +death in his progress, failing to find anyone in the fourth cell, +desisted from searching further, so that Father Diego was left to do +a marvelous work, as will be recorded in time at the end of this his +history. One of those who died in the convent was Fray Pedro Batrez, +son of the convent of Sancto Domingo at Piedrahita, and an adopted +son of that of Sant Esteban at Salamanca, where he was chief sacristan +when he set out for these regions. + +Two brothers also died on the same day and at the same hour. The +elder was a priest named Fray Antonino de Sancta Maria, who had come +to this province from the college of Sancto Thomas at Sevilla, of +which he had been made a member on account of his profound knowledge +of theology. The younger was a deacon and lived in the convent of +Xerez de la Frontera, where, on account of his skill in singing, he +had been made cantor. They distinguished themselves much on the voyage +by prayer, silence, and abstinence. On Fridays and Saturdays they ate +a little fish, which was provided for all. On the other days--since, +on account of the length of the voyage, it was not possible to have +fish every day--they satisfied themselves with biscuit, some raisins, +and a little broth, without touching anything made of flesh. They +would not let anything else be prepared for them, that they might +not fare unlike the rest and that they might not cause any trouble +to others. The younger died in the convent at Puebla de los Angeles; +the elder expired at the same hour in the convent at Mexico. After +his death it was found that he wore a rough shirt of metal; and that, +because he never left it off even in sickness it was as if it had grown +to his flesh. These two brethren had died most joyful deaths. No less +so was the death of a lay religious called Fray Goncalo de San Pedro, +a son of the convent of San Pablo at Sevilla. His life had been a very +holy one; and, at his general confession made before his death, the +purity of his life was so clearly shown that the father who received +the confession declared that Fray Goncalo had never lost his baptismal +innocence by committing mortal sin. + +Death also carried away the superior who led these religious from +Spain, father Fray Alonso Delgado. After he had lost so many of the +subordinates whom he led, there was but little reason for his wishing +to remain behind them. By his death the whole company was practically +broken up, many of them having died and others being scattered among +the convents of Nueva Espana. The rift was mended by the selection +as superior of father Fray Miguel de San Jacintho, who displayed such +diligence that, with the aid of the Lord, he succeeded in filling up +the number of fifteen religious who had set out from Espana. They +then set out from Mexico; and so great was their desire of serving +the Lord after the manner followed by the religious of the province +to which they were going (which, as has been said, is stricter than +in the other provinces of the order), that when they reached the +port of Acapulco they took the character of Philippine friars--gave +up mattresses, and began to sleep on boards; rose at midnight to say +matins, going from the convent where they were guests, to the church +to say them; kept the hour of prayer immediately after; and performed +the discipline observed in the islands. They embarked March 23, +1595. On board ship they followed the customs of the order as closely +as possible under the circumstances. They reached the port of Manila +June 12. By their coming the province felt enabled to undertake the +conversion of the province of Nueva Segovia. This province alone is +larger, and has more villages and a larger population than the order +had previously taken under its charge in Manila and Pangasinan. Six +of the religious, as has been said, were sent to Nueva Segovia, and +with the others the missions to Bataan and Pangasinan were reenforced, +where death had made inroads upon the number of missionaries. When +these six reached Nueva Segovia, father Fray Diego de Soria and his +associate were greatly delighted, having desired to enter upon the +conversion of this province, but having been unable to do so because +of their ignorance of the language and the fact that there were but +two of them. They had hesitated the more because of the order which +they had received to return to Manila if no religious came out from +Espana, feeling that it would be unwise to begin a conversion which +could not be followed up by regular instruction.] + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +The condition in which the religious found the Indians in the province + + +This land was not only ruined by the continual wars which the +villages all waged with one another, but still more by the settled +peace which they all had made with the devil. They obeyed to the full +his diabolical will, though it was such that there never was a tyrant +who treated those whom he had conquered, and who were subject to him, +as the devil treated these wretched Indians. He had led their minds +into such a state of confusion that they could not refuse anything +which he commanded them--though his demands were so great and so +grievous that they could not put their hands on anything from which +he did not take tribute, and with which he had not commanded that +they should do him honor by means of some superstition, threatening +them with death if they failed therein. They were accustomed to call +whomsoever they adored anito; and they said that they had a good +anito, to whom they attributed all the good fortune that happened +to them, and a had anito, who caused all their hardships, poverty, +temporal evils, maladies, and deaths. They served the latter that +he might not do them harm, and the former that he might do them +good. They employed more priestesses, or aniteras, than priests, +though they had some of the latter--a wretched class of people, and +with reason despised on account of their foul manner of life. The +devil entered these aniteras or sorceresses, and through them, and by +their agency, he gave his answers. By these priestesses the Indians +performed their superstitious rites and sacrifices, when they wished +to placate their anitos or obtain anything from them. If anyone fell +sick, the aniteras immediately came, and with oils and a thousand +performances they persuaded him that, if he would believe in what +they did, they would cure him. Then in his sight they performed and +displayed a thousand fantastic things; and the devil so earnestly +strove to give them credit that at times he made the people believe +that the soul had left the body, and that the anitera had restored it +by the power of her prayers and her medicines. Whenever the sick man +recovered, they attributed the recovery to their own efforts; while, +if he died, they were plentifully supplied with excuses and reasons to +avoid the blame and to throw the responsibility upon someone else. This +is an old trick of the devil, with which he betrayed the heathens of +antiquity, and likewise betrays this deluded and foolish people. Before +sowing their fields they used to celebrate three solemn feast-days, +during which all the men gave themselves up to dancing, eating, and +drinking until they were unable to stand; and after this came that +which commonly follows--namely, giving loose rein to the flesh. The +women did not drink, for this was very contrary to their customs as +they are very laborious; but they made up for it as well as they could, +and in the dances and all the rest they did as well as the men. If the +Indians left their houses, and happened to meet anyone who sneezed, +they went back home again even though they had gone a day's journey, +as if the sneeze had been something in the road. Sometimes they went +on, and returned without delay from their destination. If the same +thing happened when they began to work, they immediately desisted from +their labor. If on any similar occasion they heard the singing of a +certain bird which they regarded as a bad omen, they did not go on +at all with what they had undertaken, even though they had traveled +for many days, and even in the case of an entire army in war. They +acted in the same manner if the bird came or flew toward their left +hand, or if it turned its bill in such or such a direction. It was +the same way with other signs which they regarded as evil omens. On +the contrary, they were very much encouraged and very joyful when +the augury was a good one; and although a thousand times the event +was opposite to what the augury, as it seemed, had threatened or +promised, they never lacked an excuse for remaining in their error, +and for continuing forever in this harmful ignorance. When they +began a voyage by sea or by the rivers, they threw into the water +a certain quantity of their food out of reverence for the devil, +in order to placate him so that he might give them success. If they +built a house, they had to perform their rites before entering it; +and if the bird of augury entered it they either tore it down, or +performed a thousand sacrifices and superstitious rites in order to +fit it for habitation. When they bought anything, they did the same +before they would put it in the house; and whenever they went out on +any little business, those who went and those who stayed at home did +nothing but perform superstitious acts that they might have good luck +in it. It was the same with everything they did or thought of doing, +in life and in death, in sickness and in health; and for this purpose +they had their houses full of devices and apparatus. As the devil never +turns back from the evil thought and purpose of being as God, which he +had in the beginning, he taught them a thousand superstitious rites to +adore and revere him, very like those which the church uses in honor +of our true God. Hence they had regular feast-days, and days assigned +for their worship, and three-day feasts, like our great ecclesiastical +feasts. [53] They carried on their wrists blessed beads, which the +sorceresses gave them with threats of death if they took them off. They +had their sort of holy water; and in one village named Masi, which +was much given to all sorts of superstition, they had a certain water +with which they washed the arms, the legs and the foreheads of all the +children, especially the children of the chiefs. As a result of this, +they promised them a long and fortunate life. They had receptacles like +charity-boxes, in which they put what they offered the anito. These +boxes were set out in dark places, hidden in ravines, or in thickets, +or in cane-brakes. Even when they were in plain and open places, +and even (as sometimes happened) when things of great value were +placed in them, no one dared to take anything out of them, even gold, +or stones regarded by them as precious. They also had some places of +devotion where the sick went to pray for health, and ate food. When +they went home again they were obliged to cast into these places the +jars and other utensils with which they prepared their food, as being +consecrated to their anito by being used at this meal, which was a kind +of sacrifice. There were different places for different infirmities, +while for the chiefs only there were separate places. They had so much +reverence for these things that even when they had become Christians +they did not dare to go and destroy the things in these places which +had been dedicated to the devil. The religious themselves had to go +there, and with their own hands break and demolish all these things, +and burn them before the eyes of the Indians, and cast the ashes into +the river. They kept back nothing, not even precious things which +might have been applied to holy works; for in this way only was it +possible to undeceive the Indians, and to avoid the impression of +avarice. There were dedicated to the devil certain trees, flowers, +and mountains, which no one dared to touch except in the service and +honor of their owner, the devil. In a word, they had not the right to +put their hands on anything without turning to him and consulting him +as their God. He often spoke to them in their own language, in such +a way that they heard and knew that he was present, although they did +not see him. Even at this day they tell what he said to them. One of +these aniteras, who afterward became a very good Christian, told how +the devil played a thousand tricks upon her. At one time she begged him +earnestly to give her gold, a thing which at other times she had often +asked of him. He promised it to her; and when she awoke in the night +she found her wrists covered with gold bracelets, and many strings +of stones highly valued among the Indians. She fell asleep again; and +when she awoke the second time she did not find even one ornament, for +everything had disappeared like fairy wealth. The sorrow in which the +trick had left her was greater than the satisfaction which she felt +when she believed that she was rich. In this manner he treated them +like children, promising them riches by these deceits, and assuring +them of other things of the same sort. He told them besides that he +knew their ancestors must come back to life again; for they believed +that their deceased fathers and ancestors must return to life in +this world. In this way he deceived them; and even when the religious +came the natives represented to them that they would incur ignominy +if their ancestors, when they came back to this world, should find +them professing a different religion and law from that which they +themselves had followed. They sometimes asked the devil that he +would permit them to see him; but he answered that his body was so +subtile that they could not see it. At one time, when some Indians +begged him very earnestly that he would come down on top of the house +where they dwelt and talk with them, he immediately came among them; +for they had there a stone, highly esteemed among them, which they +called maxin. He remained for some time moving about on the ground, +and from that stone spoke with a very small and fine voice. Finally +stone and devil disappeared, leaving them greatly pleased, and more +deceived than before. When Don Luis Perez das Marinas was at Tuy, +in Nueva Segovia, before the religious were there, he spent one night +near the sea on the shore, by the mouth of a river which passes the +village of Pata, at the foot of a little hill which was dedicated to +the devil, and where they offered sacrifices and celebrated festivals +in his honor. On this account no one dared to cut a stick or anything +else on it, except for the service of the devil; because the sea would +instantly grow wrathful, the winds would arise, and their houses would +be thrown down. When the soldiers reached there, the alcalde-mayor of +that province (who was Captain Mercado) directed the Indians to cut +some stakes, reeds, and branches to build huts for the soldiers. The +Indians refused, and offered to bring it all from other places, even +though that would require more labor of them. But the Spaniards would +not wait so long, and compelled them by force to cut what they needed +from this little hill. That very night a frightful wind arose, stirred +up the sea, drove the waves up on the shore, and carried them to the +camp--which, as it seemed, was very safe from such an accident. The +soldiers and Don Luis himself were obliged to flee from the danger, +losing many things (some of them of great value), which were carried +away by the sea, or by the devil in return for what they had cut +from that hill of his. Even after the religious had come there, +when they needed some wild palms which were on that little hill, +there was not an Indian that dared cut these, because they were +still heathen. The religious sent two Christian boys whom they had +brought from Pangasinan, and some others who were being instructed in +preparation for baptism. In course of time they cut everything off the +hill, without the devil's daring to do as he had been accustomed. The +Indians were all struck with wonder, not only those in this village, +but those in all the others. But what was the marvel? For when the +religious came to establish themselves in this village the devil +complained to its natives, saying that he was going away and that they +should never see him again--because, as he said, from that day forth +there was someone else who would deal with them. However, he did not +tell them who it was. "One thing only," he said, "I tell you; take +care not to believe what you hear from these men in long clothes who +have come here, for I am certain that the dead will rise again." He +said this to them with regard to their ancestors, as he wished them +to believe that the dead would be much grieved if they were to come +back to life and find their descendants far from that which they had +followed during their own lives. The devil had inculcated in them a +belief that, when a man died, his soul was obliged to pass a river +or lake where there was a boat rowed by an old boatman; and to pay +his passage they fastened some money on the arm of the dead man. They +believed that no woman could pass whose hands were not tattooed with +black in accordance with their custom. They were in the habit also +of burying with the dead food for the journey, oil with which he +might anoint himself, a robe for his clothing, and some gold for +the contingencies which might arise. If the dead man was a chief, +they used to bury with him one or two slaves to serve him there in +some very flowery and pleasant fields, where the devil had taught +them that they were to live a delightful life, eating, drinking, +and enjoying themselves until they should return a second time to +this world. There are still living many Indians who tell about all +these things, and there are even heathen who believe them, because +they have had no religious to whom they might go for teaching. They +also tell of some very mischievous tricks which the devil has played +upon them. It happened sometimes that when a man was alone in the +field he came upon some creatures resembling little women. They +would deceive him, and either by alluring words or by force would +place him within a thicket, and there toss him in the air as if he +had been a ball; they then left him there, half-dead. If he ventured +to go away from there and make his way to the village he remained for +many days beside himself, as it were, and half stupid; if he did not, +he died there miserably. At one time an Indian chief went to sea, +with many people in his vessel. They were drowned, and perished in +the sea without leaving anyone to carry the news. As they did not +return, their relatives consulted the devil to know where they were; +and he answered them that they were suffering no pain because they +had reached port in a very rich and fertile country known as Mexico, +where they were very happy. The others believed him, although they did +not know that there was any such land until afterward, when they heard +the religious speak of Mexico. They then asked many questions as to +their judgment with reference to this chief and those who accompanied +him. The fathers undeceived them, and corrected the falsehood which the +devil had told them--as if their tiny boats could have passed over so +great and so terrible an ocean, or carried sufficient provisions for +such a length of time as is necessary to go from there to Mexico! In +addition, the devil showed in his dealings with them how tyrannical +and cruel he is, and how addicted to the destruction of men, by +causing them to kill some in his service. This was not only made +evident by their law requiring the burial of the living with the +dead, as has been narrated, but also by other laws. For instance, +when the son, the wife, or the brother of any chief died, he mourned; +and during this mourning he fasted, not even eating rice, which is +the ordinary bread of that country, or drinking wine--a deprivation +which, for a race so fond of wine as this is, must have been a +great hardship. During all this time he did not touch flesh or fish, +but ate only roots and products of the soil, and drank water. This +mourning lasted sometimes for years, sometimes less, in proportion to +the love and esteem which was felt for the deceased. When it seemed +to the people of the village that the time of mourning had lasted +long enough, and that it would be well for their chieftain and head +to treat himself more kindly--perhaps because during this time they +drank less themselves, to show their sympathy with their lord--they +discussed it among themselves and afterward with him. If he agreed +with them, they all contributed to buy a slave, whom they handed over +to him; and before them all the chief cut off the slave's head. With +this the mourning came to an end, and he immediately began to drink +with them like a man dying from abstinence. There was an Indian who, +when the religious came to this country, confessed that he had killed +twelve slaves in this manner on various occasions when he had been in +mourning. This, however, was not the most honorable manner of bringing +the mourning to an end; for those who could slay any one belonging +to their enemies did so, even though it was a woman, a child, or +an old person whom they killed. This was the best way of concluding +the mourning, and was accordingly followed most by those who were in +mourning. They also had another cruel custom like this, which they +followed in their wars, which one village waged with another on the +slightest occasion. If at any time they came to an agreement instead +of a quarrel, it had to be done not without shedding human blood; and +the side which in their opinion was in the wrong, or was the weaker +party, bought a slave and delivered him to the other side. Then all +these others killed him, not one failing to give him a wound even +if he was already dead. They cut him in pieces; and with this they +rested satisfied, as if this vengeance had been taken against all +their opponents. Since their wars and outbreaks were so frequent, +deaths which occurred in this manner must have been very many, although +the number of those whom they slew in the wars was much greater. In +general they took their enemies by surprise, and killed them all, +not excepting women and children and old men. Such was their cruelty +and their madness in this region that to slay any one of these was a +great honor among them; and it sufficed to give the slayer the name +of a valiant man, and to grant him the privilege of using certain +marks of honor reserved for the valiant. These no one could assume +who had not slain a human being, no matter whom. They had received the +command to do thus from the devil, under penalty of death to whoever +should assume these marks of honor without having slain another. In +this way he incited them to that which he most desired, which is to +shed human blood, to slay the body, and to carry off the soul to +hell. In fine, their vices were such as may be inferred from what +has been said. They were a people abandoned by the hand of God and +governed by the devil in accordance with his laws--without judgment, +or reason, or sense, because their minds had been wholly taken away by +him who had governed them. In particular they were extremely vengeful, +proud, envious, extraordinarily avaricious, and given to shameless and +unbridled lewdness. Above all, they were drunkards from the greatest +to the least, and each of their drunken feasts surpassed all the +others. From this vice all the other vices followed in a troop, as +if they were leagued with it; and this drunkenness was continuous, +and excessive. They were a heathen race, with no supernatural light, +though it was at hand; and their natural light was so darkened and +falsified by the devil that they regarded that person as happiest +who could indulge the most in these vices. All of them took pleasure +therein, and were grieved when, as happened at times, they could not +commit them; they envied him who had gone furthest in them, for they +regarded him as the most powerful--as indeed it was generally true that +the man who had the greatest power was the most vicious. As for their +marriages, they came to an end as soon as the husband was vexed with +his wife, or the wife with her husband. This was all that was needed +on either side, to cause them to separate and to make a new marriage, +unless they had children; for they loved their children so much that +this tie was sufficient to keep them from separating, and to make +them bear with each other. The reason that influenced them was their +desire not to be parted from their children, or to grieve them. As +wives, the men were allowed to have those to whom they could give a +dowry, for it is the husband that gives the dowry. But if the first +wife belonged to a chief's family she would not consent to have her +husband marry anyone of a rank below her own; and if the first wife +was not of this rank the husband could not find any woman of high +birth who would afterward marry him--except in some very unusual case, +as when he was very powerful or very valiant. To their equals in rank +the husbands gave large dowries, which were practically in the power +of the fathers and kinsfolk of the woman. On the other hand, if they +married women below them in rank, they did not endow them. Further, +if, as has been said, equals separated from each other as a result +of any quarrel or dislike, and afterward the man wished the woman to +return to his house, they asked a new dowry from him, just as if it +were a new marriage. Hence, if once they separated they were seldom +reunited. So common was a separation that there was almost no man or +woman who had not been divorced from a legitimate wife or husband. This +was a thing which caused much trouble when they were to be baptized, +since they were living in improper relations of marriage, because of +having dismissed, men their first wives and women their first husbands, +and having married others while the first were still alive. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +The beginning of the conversion of these Indians of Nueva Segovia + + +These Indians were in this wretched state when the six new religious +came to this province. They were received by father Fray Diego de +Soria and his associate with great joy; and the two fathers gave many +thanks to the Lord for remembering these souls and sending preachers +to them. Father Fray Diego immediately said that he had very much at +heart the gathering into the church of these tribes, whom up to that +time he had not tried to convert, on account of the order to return if +no religious came from Espana that year. He had felt that it would be +a bad plan to baptize any while he was in this doubt, because of the +danger of leaving the newly baptized without any teacher in the midst +of so many heathen; for it was morally certain that they would go +back to their diabolical worship if they were left alone. They would +have been compelled to do so, not only by force, which the heathen +about them would have been sure to apply in a matter of this kind; +but by their own weakness, being new-born in the faith, and their +scant possession not only of spiritual but even of natural energy, +having been depraved by so many and so evil customs, in which they +had been born and had spent all their lives. But now that there were +religious to sustain, strengthen, and maintain in the faith those +who might be converted, father Fray Diego was greatly encouraged, +and immediately began to lay out the plan to be followed in this +spiritual conquest. The first thing determined upon for this purpose +was that all should commend themselves with all their hearts to the +Lord, to whom all this work belonged. Hence, the religious who had +arrived on the first of August, 1595, were gathered in the convent +of the city up to the middle of September, spending all this time by +day and night in constant prayer, begging the Lord to direct all their +actions as should be most suitable for a work so peculiarly His own as +was the conversion of these Indians. To this end they prayed Him first +of all that He would convert them themselves, by giving them purity +of life, and a knowledge of this language which they had never heard, +and which they had no masters to teach them; and finally that he would +give them patience, courage, and virtue to live and dwell in the midst +of this barbarous and bloodthirsty race, with no other defense than +the divine aid. So barbarous and bloodthirsty were they that, as has +been said, the Spaniards dared not go out of their city unless they +were well armed and went in numbers; while the friars were obliged +to go, as indeed they did go, into the Indian villages unarmed and +alone, except for the divine companionship. The devil, the captain +of the enemy's troops, was not heedless, when he saw that war had +been declared against him; and the Spanish sentinels that made their +rounds about the city at night saw a mastiff of extraordinary size +going round and round the church and the convent. Since there was no +such mastiff in the house of any of the Spaniards, much less among the +Indians, and as they saw no such animal either before or afterwards, +they could not doubt who it was. It was a very particular favor of +the Lord to show the devil in visible form, that the religious might +strengthen their prayers and turn with greater urgency to Him who +surely favored them, for they now had in view their enemy, who desired +to swallow them whole. They also perceived that he was very active +among his Indians; for the religious frequently heard them (sometimes +by day but ordinarily by night) in the villages about the city, named +Daludu and Tocolana, and in the houses in the fields in that vicinity, +making a great noise with their voices and their gasas--which are +their bells, though they are not formed like our bells. Father Fray +Diego de Soria said to the other religious, with a tone of certainty: +"Fathers, this noise that we hear is the Indians making sacrifices to +the demons; for, induced by their diabolical industry, they are now +offering special services to the devil, and are striving to appease him +by feasts, that he may keep and preserve them in their ancient rites +and customs. Pray then, reverend fathers, to the Lord for His grace, +that He may expel from the land the Prince of Darkness, who holds it +under his tyranny. Prepare yourselves, for we are soon to come into +conflict with him. Within a few days you will be scattered among the +villages of these heathen, and will be exposed to great dangers. You +will find that you will have to do with him, for he it is who is +the strong army guarding this his dwelling-place. Therefore he will +strive to defend it, and to attack those who seek him, and who are +endeavoring to drive him forth from it. But be of good courage, for we +have on our side Him who conquered the devil, and who every day causes +His followers to conquer him." This was not spoken to deaf persons, +but to those who knew very well the truth of what was said. Though +they felt confident that they would conquer with the divine aid, +they made themselves ready, with prayer and fasting and suffering, +for the dangers and hardships without which there is never conflict, +and much less victory. While this was taking place in the city, +father Fray Diego strove to have churches erected in Pata, Abulug, +and Camalaniugan [54]--as was easily done, because the churches +were very small and poor. Then father Fray Diego held a council of +the religious and said to them: "It would be well to cast lots, to +see to which of each of these four villages your Reverences are to +go." They answered: "There is no reason for depending on uncertain +lots, for he is always sure of a happy lot who is under the rule of +obedience. Dispose of us, your Reverence, as seems best to you; for +without any reply we will each of us go very contentedly wherever the +direction of our superior bids us go." Father Fray Diego was pleased to +hear so wise a response, and one so proper from vowed religious; and +named father Fray Miguel de San Jacintho [55] and father Fray Gaspar +Zarfate to the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Pata; and father Fray +Ambrosio de la Madre de Dios to Abulug, with brother Fray Domingo de +San Blas as his companion, directing them to build or to finish the +church in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas, doctor of the church. Father +Fray Antonio de Soria, with another brother, went to Camalaniugan. In +the city remained father Fray Diego de Soria and father Fray Thomas +Castellar, who had picked up a little of the language. In addition +to this, father Fray Diego went out to visit all the villages, to +the great spiritual and temporal profit of the Indians. + +The first church of the Indians erected in this province was in the +village of Pata. There was a chief in it, named Yringan, who was +devoted to the Spaniards and who attached himself to the religious, +being on very intimate terms with them. He was accordingly very glad +to receive them in his village, which they reached on the day of the +Holy Cross in September. They were overjoyed to find a cross set +up in it, three bracas and a half in height. When they asked the +Indians how they got it, they answered that before the religious +came to this province a contagious disease attacked the Indians, +of which many died. It happened that at that time there was in this +village a Spaniard, Juan Fernandez de Najara, a peaceful man, much +beloved by the Indians. Many of them went to him to ask for a remedy +for their sick. He, pitying their need, answered them, "Friends, I +cannot cure you. It is God who can cure these ills. Let us trust in +Him and in His only Son, who was made man and died on a cross. Let +us believe that by His sign he will heal you. For this is a thing +that we Christians reverence and esteem highly; and it may be that +for this devotion God will pity you. Bring two pieces of wood and let +us make it." He made the cross and the Indians put it up. Najara and +his companions fell on their knees and celebrated the setting up of +the cross by shooting off their arquebuses with the utmost devotion +and reverence. The Indians, imitating them, reverenced it in their +own manner. The result was miraculous, for this contagious disease +immediately began so plainly to abate that the Indians could not +fail to see this result, barbarians though they were. One of them, +the one who received the fathers, made a small cross and fastened +it to his bed, that it might protect him from this sickness, and in +this way he attained his desire. When the religious entered this and +the other villages of the Indians, they had absolutely no knowledge +of the language; and there was in all the villages not a single +person who desired to receive the faith, since it had never been +preached to them. They had never heard a thing of it in all their +lives; on the contrary, the devil had kept them prejudiced against +it--by the threats which he uttered, and by telling them that their +ancestors would return, and would be greatly grieved to find them +under a different law from that which they had followed. Moreover, +the works which they saw done by the Christian Spaniards whom they +knew there were not such as to cause them to be converted, or to +make them esteem the Christian way of living. At that time they knew +no religious, though they had heard of them, but very confusedly +and uncertainly, by reports brought from Pangasinan. Accordingly +they felt distrustful of religious, and believed that they followed +the customs of the soldiers, because they belonged to the nation of +the latter. At first, therefore, they put no confidence in them and +could not understand what their purposes were in coming to live in +the Indian villages. They feared that the religious would be like the +other Christians whom they had seen, who came to try to get away from +them their gold and everything that they prized. Being suspicious +of this, some of the villages refused to admit them, for instance, +that of Masi. But in the village of Pata they were kindly received, +and built their poor church and tiny dwelling-place, made of nothing +but cane and nipa or straw, and of very slender stakes. Even for +this they had to pay the Indians much more than the materials were +worth, as also for the labor of those who built it. However, the +fathers thought nothing of the expense, but it seemed to them very +good; and to this very day they praise that house, and regard it as +very well built. As the religious did not understand the language, +and did not even have any translators or interpreters [naguatatos] +by whom they might communicate with the Indians, and explain the law +of God which they came to preach to them, they labored much with very +small results. The Indians, who were greatly displeased to see them +in their villages, gave them nothing to eat; and the need and hunger +which they suffered were very great. Although they suffered joyfully +for love of God, still these things had their natural effect on their +bodies; and father Fray Miguel de San Jacintho was afflicted by a +severe pain in the stomach, and his companion by giddiness of the +head. Both of these maladies were due to their lack of food, for as +soon as they had anything to eat they recovered. But it was not often +that they had sufficient food, sustaining themselves generally with +nothing but herbs, and those purgative ones, which rather diminished +their strength than afforded them sustenance. At meal-time one of them +read a chapter from holy Scripture, and when this was finished they +began upon their short meal. The one who completed his meal first +read another chapter of the scripture, and then they gave thanks to +God, having satisfied their souls rather than their stomachs. [On +one St. Dominic's day the religious found themselves with nothing +to eat but rice boiled in water (which takes the place of bread in +this country); and just at meal-time an Indian came in and gave them +a very good fish of the kind called bobo. This is the best kind of +fish known in this country, and this was the best fish of the sort +that the fathers had ever eaten. It was caught in a river where it +had never before been seen, and at a time of year when this fish is +not generally found, even in the rivers which it enters to spawn. The +fathers accordingly accepted this as a miracle, granted them that they +might duly celebrate the day of the founder of their order. Soon after, +the fathers found the man who had given them the fish, given over for +dead, but still living. By their care he was cured, and afterwards was +baptized. The fathers to whom this happened were father Fray Ambrosio +de la Madre de Dios and Fray Domingo de San Blas. This was in August, +and, as the fathers had entered upon their work in September in the +preceding year, their sufferings had lasted almost a year. At this +time it happened that an Augustinian friar came to the village of Pata, +and, beholding the sufferings of these religious, was greatly shocked, +and rebuked the Indian chiefs for the treatment that they had offered +to the friars. The religious had been unwilling to ask the Indians +even for a little fish, although there were a great many in the +river that flowed by the village. The words of the Augustinian had +some effect, and the Indians brought them some fish, though not very +much. The custom of father Fray Luis de Granada was to read a little +after grace had been said, and then to discuss the reading and to +talk over what they had learned of the language of the Indians. They +then took a brief rest and afterwards conferred upon some point in +theology, finally returning to the language, for they thought more +of discovering a new word than of finding a rich pearl. In course of +time the Lord was pleased to reward their diligence by giving them +the use of the language, so that they could understand the Indians and +instruct them in the law of God. They translated the Christian doctrine +into their language, and had the children recite it. They succeeded +in obtaining many of the children for baptism. The devil's oracles +ceased in this village of Pata, where they had been delivered to a +sorceress named Fulangan.] At this time there was in the village near +this one, called Cabacungan, a famous Indian anitera, or priestess, +with whom the devil frequently spoke, and by whose mouth in those +days he uttered most dreadful things. By her means the enemy caused +a great repugnance to the faith among the people there. The religious +endeavored to frighten her, and several times threatened her that if +she did not cease they would have her punished in the Spanish city, +or would send her to Manila; but she, egged on by him who inspired +her, pretended that she did not understand, and continued in +her wickedness. The religious, as a last resort, thought it best +to send an Indian chief who had become a good Christian to talk +with her. His name was Don Francisco Yringan. They hoped that he +would be able to bring her over, or at least to prevent her from +perverting the people. If they failed in this, they determined to +bring her to justice. Yringan did not dare to carry this message +to this she-devil without stronger weapons than hers, and asked the +fathers for a cross. The religious, who had nothing better at hand, +painted one on a cloth that Yringan had tied on his head, and used +nothing but pen and ink. This was so easy that he made or painted not +one only, but several. This one thing terrified the devil so greatly +that, without daring to stand before the Indian armed with crosses, +he caught up his priestess, and she disappeared. Neither he nor she +ever appeared again, nor was it ever known where he took her or what +he did with her. As a result of this miracle and many others with +which the Lord gave credit to His gospel, the Indians began to feel +respect for the law that the religious preached to them. The latter +were much encouraged when they saw that the Lord favored them; and +father Fray Diego de Soria determined to undertake a very difficult and +dangerous enterprise, which, if successful, would greatly aid in this +conversion. It happened that the lord of this village of Pata, of Masi, +and of others, named Siriban, a very noble and valiant Indian, had at +this time withdrawn to the mountains, fleeing from the alcalde-mayor, +before whom some of his rivals had brought against him charges that +he had many wives. In fact, he had no more than two--one of them +his equal in rank; and the other of lower rank but more beloved, +because he had a daughter by her whom he tenderly loved, as the child +deserved. The alcalde-mayor had these two women arrested; and he +ordered them to be flogged, though one of them was pregnant. Partly +from resentment for this, and partly for fear that the alcalde-mayor +would capture him (as he meant to), Siriban withdrew to the mountains, +attended by a heavily-armed guard. His purpose was not to make war +against the Spaniards, for he never undertook anything of that kind, +but merely to defend himself if they tried to capture him, as his +enemies desired. However, he always kept his person safe, being an +Indian of great courage and much ingenuity; a man of noble birth, good +motives, and a kind disposition. He was accordingly much beloved by +his subjects, who accompanied and guarded him with great fidelity. All +this had happened before the religious came to the province, for if +father Fray Diego had been in it the alcalde-mayor would not have +done what he did. Father Fray Diego saw that if he could convert +this Indian many more would be sure to follow him to the church, and +determined to attempt his conversion. For this purpose he prepared +himself with many prayers and masses, and the tears of himself and +the other religious, in return for which the Lord caused the Indians +to appoint a place where father Fray Diego might come and speak with +him. Father Fray Diego gave him the assurance that no other Spaniard +would come there, and that there would be no Indians in ambush and +no trickery. They conversed with each other, and father Fray Diego +was able to give Siriban such assurances that he came down with +his following to the village of Pata, put himself like a lamb in +the hands of father Fray Diego, and began like a child to learn the +Christian prayers and doctrine, desiring to receive the law which the +religious taught. He was occupied in this up to the end of Lent; and +at Easter was baptized in the city of the Spaniards with seven other +chiefs. These were the first adult Christians of this province of +Nueva Segovia. Don Diego, as Siriban was named, had as his godfathers +the alcalde-mayor and some other leading Spaniards. This was a day of +great joy for the villages; and Don Diego Siriban and his associates +became very friendly to the Spaniards. Don Diego was very grateful +and was a great aid to Christianity; he attracted many to the faith, +not only by his example, but by his words. Many adults now began to +be baptized; but the greatest and most certain harvest was that of the +children, because the Lord at this time sent a great plague of epidemic +smallpox throughout the province. It was so malignant that it did not +leave a child alive; and that the children might have eternal life the +Lord enabled the religious to baptize them throughout the time of the +epidemic. The result was a great harvest of souls for heaven, sent from +a land which always before had supplied a harvest for hell. The new +preachers of the gospel kept constantly baptizing children; and, as +this activity was so sure and certain in its results, they took great +delight in it. They already forgot and despised all the hardships which +they had suffered in their long voyages, their dangerous infirmities, +and their exhausting journeys, being pleased with the taste of +fruits which were so plentiful, which came so early, and which were +so agreeable to God. God also showed himself to be pleased with the +good services of the religious, in receiving from their hands such +abundance and such gracious first-fruits. The religious also promised +themselves marvelous results from their labor, which had commenced +so wonderfully. Not only here, but in all the churches which have +been established, the ministers of this province have observed that +the first bodies which have been interred in them have been those of +baptized infants, in order that possession of them may be taken first +by the bodies of those who, as we certainly know, have gone to glorify +and to people heaven. [The Lord also showed himself very kind to the +adults at times. On one occasion, in response to the prayers of an +Indian Christian He protected his fields from a plague of locusts, +which devastated the fields of all his Indian neighbors.] + +After the church of Pata had been founded, it was planned to erect +another as large in Abulug, a more populous town, the people of which +were very proud and esteemed themselves highly. The Indians came to +help in building it, not because of the payment they received--for +as they very soon showed, they would have given much more to keep the +religious out of their village, for the devil kept prejudiced against +the fathers--but because they were afraid of the alcalde-mayor, +who ordered them to do this. Even while they were at work on it, +they held a council in which they agreed to do what they could to +interfere with it and to drive away the religious. The chiefs made up +a plan that some of them should go to the city of Manila, and there +bring it about that the religious should be compelled to leave their +village, and to give them over to their barbarous and heathen manner of +living. The charge of this matter was put in the hands of two chiefs, +who were uncle and nephew, one being named Cafugao and the other +Tuliau. They got ready a vessel, and gave their ambassadors a great +quantity of gold to carry out their object; and the latter actually +set sail, in order to bring this about. The storms and dangers of +the sea which they suffered on this voyage were many; because the +sea of these coasts is very violent and stormy. However, making +their way against the wind, they reached Bigan, the principal town +of the province of Ylocos. Here they talked with the chiefs there, +telling their intentions and designs, and the purpose which took +them to Manila. The people of Ylocos told them that they were making +a mistake, and that, now they had Spaniards in their land, to oppose +having priests there was to strive in vain. But Cafugao, who held the +highest rank among them all, was so obstinate that he urged his nephew +Tuliau to prosecute their journey to Manila, because they could reach +it by six days' sailing. They set sail, and though the weather was good +and the sea was quiet, they could not manage to get a step in advance, +and accomplished nothing but to advance and then come back again. In +this way they spent many days even in reaching a port called Purau, +which was little more than a day's voyage distant. This was the more +marvelous because they plainly saw other vessels making their way to +the same place to which they wished to go. All the rest passed them by, +while they only remained in that place without being able to advance +as the others did. They did not know to what they might attribute +this, when they saw that for all the others that were making the same +voyage the wind was fair, while for them it was contrary. At last, +forced by necessity, they were obliged to return to Bigan, where +the chiefs of the town again tried to persuade them to receive the +religious. To influence them the more, they said: "Look, and see that +the religious whom you have are not going to do you any harm. On the +contrary, they will do you much good by helping to protect you from +the Spaniards. The people of Pangasinan, our neighbors, are very well +pleased with them; for they eat no chickens, but only a little fish, +and if that is not given to them they get along with herbs. They +do not travel on the backs of men, or of Indians, but on their own +feet. If there is no one to carry their bed for them, they carry it +on their own shoulders. They do not seek for gold, they do not ask for +silver; on the contrary, they give of what they have to their Indians, +they maintain the poor, and they cure the sick." Influenced by these +words, and disgusted and wearied by the unfavorable weather which +they experienced, they determined to return to their village, after +having spent four months on a journey which was usually performed in +a week, and after having been many times in danger of being wrecked +and drowned. By this may be seen the rebelliousness of their hearts, +and the mercy of the Lord, who carried them from one place to the +other, and, placing before their eyes the death that they deserved, +hindered the evil purpose upon which they had entered, and drew them +to His holy law. They did not understand it then, but came to see +it afterward; and to this day they tell the story with great wonder, +as of a manifestly miraculous and marvelous event. When they reached +their own village, they had become changed and gentle, beyond all the +hope that the fathers had of them. They began with all their hearts to +learn how to pray, to hear the catechism, and to frequent the church; +and, urging the others to do the same, they accepted baptism. They +and the rest in that house became very good Christians, and were the +support of Christianity in that region. They gave alms freely, and +were devoted to the divine worship. God has given them His blessing; +and that household is the best ordered and most highly esteemed +among all the Indians in that province. In the meantime, the chiefs +of this village and their neighbors were waiting for news from Manila +that the negotiations of those who had sailed there had succeeded in +causing the dismissal of the religious. While waiting, they tricked and +deceived them by sending half a dozen boys to listen to the prayers, +having agreed among themselves that none of the grown people should +enter the church or the fathers' dwelling-place, or should have any +dealings with them, or go to see them. This plan displeased the boys, +and one of them, a son of the most prominent chief, said: "So the grown +people are pleased and satisfied to send me to endure this praying, +and to stay in the church; but they ought not to do so." Thus every +day he quarreled with them, and they with him. He began to cry and +whimper, and threatened them that he would run away if they made him +go to church. This was the state of perversity in which they then were; +but when the voyagers came and told them what had happened, their minds +were all changed, and they began to think well of the law which was +preached to them. Thus they set about becoming Christians, and good +Christians, being much aided by the virtue of the religious--which +was so great that, though they were heathen and barbarous, they +recognized and respected it. It happened at this time that there +came to this village on business some Indians who had already been +converted to Christianity, natives of the province of Ylocos, which, +as has been said, is next to that of Nueva Segovia. One of them fell +sick, and was left without shelter or food. No one took pity upon him, +because those in the village were all still heathen and pitiless, as +was he whom they adored as God. Father Fray Ambrosio de la Madre de +Dios went to the sick man, and, pitying him, took him to the convent, +entrusting him to brother Fray Domingo de San Blas, his associate, +a very devout friar. He directed him to provide the sick man with +what he needed as well as he could, though this was but poorly. The +brother did this with great delight, for his whole mind was set upon +serving God and his neighbor. At last the sick man was about to die; +and the fathers summoned the chief of the village--who was a heathen, +like all the rest of them--that he might see how they attended upon the +dying person, and might thus be edified and come to feel kindly toward +the faith. [While the chief was there the father cast holy water upon +the dying man, whom he took for dead. The sick man revived, and the +result of this occurrence was to make the hearts of the chief and of +the other inhabitants of the village very well disposed to the fathers +and to their teaching, because they saw them act so disinterestedly +and so charitably toward a stranger, from whom they could expect +no reward. The recovery of the sick person when the holy water was +sprinkled upon him caused the Indians to believe in the virtue of +this water, and hence to be willing to be baptized. An Indian woman +who seemed to be mortally wounded also recovered after being baptized; +and the Indians believed that this healing was much aided by the great +virtue of the missionary, father Fray Ambrosio de la Madre de Dios. + +The first church was built as poorly as might have been expected of +religious who came into the country as Christ our Lord in His gospel +directed His apostles to go, without money, or bag, or treasure. In +the course of time, when necessity required the building of larger +churches, because the town was large and the population had almost all +become Christian, they were all of wood and unfortunately burned. The +religious afterward undertook to build one of brick or stone; and +for this purpose they built a kiln in which to burn lime. When it +was already full of stone and of the wood necessary to make a fire, +there was a religious standing at the top of the arch over it, and +there were some men and women at work on the side. The arch suddenly +fell in, and all the stone was carried inward. One woman was buried +in the stone, to twice her own height. The religious offered prayers +for her to the Virgin; and when they uncovered her, which they did as +quickly as possible, she came out, of her own accord, quite uninjured.] + +When the first church in this village had been finished, the religious, +seeing the manifest favor of the Lord in everything that had happened, +undertook to build another in Camalaniugan, a village about a legua +from the city. The Indians there are among the most intelligent in +those provinces. They were very friendly with the Spaniards, and +gave them great help in pacifying the whole country, by their great +fidelity and continued assistance in the wars which took place. No +falsehood or double-dealing was ever discovered in them; and they +have always preserved this affection for the Spaniards, serving +them much--as they were able to do, because of their proximity to +the city. The chief and lord of this village was so rich that, if we +are to believe his vassals, or even some of the old soldiers who were +there at that time, he weighed the gold that he had with a steelyard, +as iron is commonly weighed. Afterward, however, he suffered from the +vicissitudes of fortune, and lost the greater part of his property. To +this village father Fray Antonio de Soria went, with a brother of +the order, to establish and erect a church. Though they were received +without opposition, the Indians showed so little pleasure at having +them in their village that no one visited them or spoke to them, +except to ask when they were going to depart. Their answer was, that +they would go as soon as the river ran dry. Now this river is so large +that, because of its resemblance, the Spaniards called it Tajo [i.e., +"Tagus"]. At this answer the Indians gave up putting that question, +but they did not give up their wonder at seeing the religious among +them, making a thousand guesses about the plans and purposes that the +religious might have in maintaining a house and dwelling in their +village. The women, though out of curiosity they tried to look at +the religious, did so by stealth, glancing over their shoulders. If +a religious happened to turn his head, they ran away like so many +fallow-deer. If one suddenly came upon them when they were carrying +water (which they drew from the river), they put it on the ground in +order that they might better run away from him and from being seen by +him. This was the way in which the religious were generally received +in that and the other villages. However, as the story of the way in +which they lived at Pata and Abulug had reached there, the Indians +did not find the missionaries quite so strange, or treat them quite +so badly, as they did at those places. What they wondered at most was +their habits, which for such a hot country were very heavy, and which +were very different from anything that they had seen on Spaniards, +or on religious who had up to that time been in the city. A church +was afterward built there--like the rest, poor and small, and with +a roof of thatch. But it was built with great devotion on the part +of the religious, and with great acceptance to our Lord, for whose +glory it was built. Immediately afterward, they likewise built a +church in Buguey, which was near that village and was closely allied +to it. The church of Camalaniugan had the name of St. Hyacinth, and +was dedicated to him. That of Buguei was dedicated to St. Vincent +Ferrer; but afterward the name was changed, and it is now named for +St. Anne. These churches were for the time annexed to the convent in +the city, as its benefices, and as dependent upon it. The religious +found much to occupy them while they were dwelling in those villages, +as they were the first who preached there the law of the gospel; and +as they had deeply at heart the purpose of overthrowing and casting +to the ground the deceits which the Father of Lies had inculcated upon +these tribes, and the diabolical customs in which they had been brought +up. These evil ways of living had been sucked in by them with their +mothers' milk, and, having been continued by them all their lives, they +had become second nature. As the Indians had inherited them from their +ancestors, they observed them with the greatest accuracy, and took +the greater pleasure in them because they were so closely conformed to +their wicked inclinations and their evil training. Therefore to draw +them forth from this condition, which was so contrary even to the law +of nature, was a most difficult matter, and one in which success was +not to be expected from natural forces. Hence the religious strove +with all their hearts to obtain divine strength by means of prayer, +fasting, and tears. By the aid of the Lord, which is never denied +to those who thus seek for it, they went on and conquered all these +difficulties; and in a short time they saw and tasted, to the great +comfort of their souls, wonderful fruits from their labors. These +had been accomplished by the help of God, to whose omnipotence there +is nothing difficult. The Indians--who, because they did not know +the religious, received them at first with so much disgust--soon +came to see in what an error they had been, and how unfounded their +fears were; for with the religious God sent to them light, teaching, +true belief, healing for their souls, comfort in their sorrow, a +wise rule of conduct, order and system in their manner of living, +protection against those who wronged them, and, in a word, true +fathers, not only in spiritual, but also in temporal matters. Hence +within a few years, when the voluntary offer of their allegiance was +asked for from them on the part of his Majesty King Felipe II, [56] +to satisfy a scruple which he had felt with regard to the conquest of +that province, one of the leading chiefs of the province, Don Diego +Siriban, responded for himself and for his subjects that he gave his +allegiance to the king our lord with a very good will, because of the +great blessing which he had given them by sending religious to them. He +went on to say "If we had known earlier the good that was coming to +us with them, we would have gone to their countries to seek for it, +even if we had been sure that half of us were certain to perish in +the quest." The same thing was said by the whole village. Another +village declared that they very readily offered their allegiance +to his Majesty for having sent them Spaniards to deliver them from +the tyranny of their chiefs, and religious to deliver them from the +tyranny of some Spaniards. In general, the love that they feel for the +religious is very great. Those who can have them in their villages +are greatly pleased; while those who cannot be supplied, on account +of the insufficient number, long for them. An evidence of this may +be seen in the case of a great Indian chief named Bacani. Some years +ago this man, who had no religious in his district, went to see the +father provincial, and, falling on his knees, begged him with tears +that he might receive some fathers. He offered in his own name, and +in that of the other chiefs of his tribe, to gather in one village +more than a thousand inhabitants, and for this purpose to leave his +own villages and estates. The reason for this was that the villages +were so small and scattered that it was difficult to give instruction +among them; and hence the offer was made that many of them would +assemble together in a new village, in some cases one or two days' +travel distant from where they had been living. The inhabitants of +another region, called Malagueg, who had no ministers, and to whom +none could be given, built a house for them and bought a boat in which +they might travel--for people generally travel by the rivers--planning +thus to make it easier for religious to be given them, as soon as +there should be any. In the interim they did not cease to ask for +them very humbly, and left no stone unturned to bring it about that +the religious might be sent. They did all sorts of things to get +ministers to live among them, offering to abandon their vices, and +manifesting the greatest desire to become Christians (as at this time, +by the grace of God, they are). The same desire was displayed by the +Indians of the estuary of Yogan; but the father provincial did not dare +to give them religious. A marvel followed, for while they were very +urgently pleading for missionaries, two of the religious fell sick, +and were so near to death that they were already despaired of. At that +time a religious came in, who was much moved to pity when he saw the +heathen asking for preachers with so much urgency. He told the father +provincial, Fray Miguel de San Jacintho, that he ought to make a vow +to send missionaries to the people of Yogan if the Lord healed the +sick men; for, if the Lord did heal them, it was the same as to give +him anew two missionaries, the number necessary for these Indians, +for they were already mourning the religious as dead. The provincial +made no vow, but promised to do so; and the Lord straightway fulfilled +that condition by healing those whose life was despaired of, and the +provincial sent religious to Yogan. Many other Indians of that same +country have felt this same desire, wishing to enjoy the presence of +the religious, because of the high regard that they feel for them and +the great advantage which they receive from their presence. And the +hearts of the religious have been not a little grieved at seeing the +heathen coming to ask for preachers (which is the same as for them +to come to preach to us), and themselves unable to help them. Since +there are not religious enough for so many villages and districts, +the religious have done all they could, and at times have done more +than they could; so that, as a result of their excessive labor, they +have lost their lives. Even so, there are many to whose succor it has +not been possible to go; and they have failed to become Christians +for lack of missionaries to teach them, baptize them, and keep them +in the divine law. + + +(To be continued.) + + + + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA + + +The first document is obtained from Antonio Alvarez de Abreu's Extracto +historial (Madrid, 1736), fol. 1-28; from a copy of that work in the +possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago. + +The second document is part of Diego Aduarte's Historia de la provincia +del Sancto Rosario (Manila, 1640), pp. 1-167; from a copy of that +work in the possession of Edward E. Ayer. It will be continued in +the next two volumes of this series. + + + + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] The present document is taken from the Extracto historial, a +work compiled (Madrid, 1736) by order of the Spanish government, for +its information and guidance in the discussions then pending in the +royal Council of the Indias upon the subject of the trade in Chinese +silks between the Philippine Islands and Nueva Espana. The book is +an historical resume of that commerce, and of legislation thereon, +from its beginning to 1736; it is composed mainly of important +documents--decrees, memorials, etc.--from the original sources, and +is divided into ten tiempos, or periods, of which the second (which +covers the time from 1603 to 1640) is here presented, and the others +will receive due attention in later volumes. + +The title-page of the Extracto (of which a facsimile precedes the +present document) reads thus in English: "Historical summary of the +measures now under discussion in the royal and supreme Council of +the Indias, at the instance of the city of Manila and the Philipinas +Islands, in regard to the form in which the commerce and trade in +Chinese fabrics with Nueva Espana shall be conducted and continued. And +for the better understanding of the subject, the important events in +that commerce are noted (distinguishing and separating the periods of +time), from the discovery of the Philipinas Islands and the concession +of commerce to them, with whatever has occurred up to the present in +the operation and at the instance of the commerce of Espana and its +tribunal [consulado]. Compiled and arranged by order of the king +and the advice of the above-named Council, and at his Majesty's +expense, by an official of the [India] House, from the papers and +documents furnished by the office of the Secretary for Nueva Espana, +and [including] other special memoirs, which the said official has +here set down for the greater completeness of the work, and to throw +more light on the subject. At Madrid: in the printing-house of Juan +de Ariztia, in the year 1736." + +The official there mentioned was Don Antonio Alvarez de Abreu; at the +beginning of the work he mentions in a prefatory article the reasons +for its compilation, and the plan he has followed; he claims to have +reproduced accurately the documents presented therein, and to have +regarded the interests of both sides in the controversy then being +waged over the Philippine commerce. One hundred copies of the Extracto +were printed. + +[2] Thus in the original; but in the following expansion of these +points eight of them are enumerated, indicating an oversight on +the part of the compiler. The sixth is there stated as the renown +and profit accruing to the crown from the victories gained by its +Philippine subjects; the seventh, the aid given by them to both crowns; +the eighth, their protection of Chinese commerce. + +[3] According to Crawfurd (Dict. Ind. Islands, p. 38) this is the form, +in the native languages, of the name that Europeans write Bantam, +applied to the extreme western province of Java, and to an important +seaport town in its northwest extremity. Most of the inhabitants of +this province are Sundas, but along the coasts there is considerable +intermixture with Javanese and other Malayan peoples. The port of +Bantan was an important commercial center long before the arrival +there of Europeans. + +[4] i.e., Hindostan (see VOL. XVII, p. 252). The grave accent is here +used in the word Mogor, simply as following the usage of the Extracto, +which throughout prints the grave instead of the acute accent. + +[5] St. Martin, one of the Antilles, was a resort for French +pirates and Dutch smugglers until 1638, when it was captured by +the Spaniards. It was afterward recovered from them, and in 1648 +was formally divided between the French and Dutch--a status that +still prevails. + +[6] The alcabala, an excise duty collected on all sales of commodities, +was derived from the Moors, and was more or less imposed in Spain +from the year 1342 on. It was introduced in the American colonies +in 1574, and for more than two centuries was a rich source of income +for the Spanish crown and a heavy tax on the colonists. The rate was +at first two per cent, but afterward this was doubled and trebled; +and it was levied on every transfer of goods, taxing property over and +over again. See Bancroft's Mexico, iii, pp. 658, 659; and Recopilacion +leyes de Indias, lib. viii, tit. xiii, and lib. ix, tit. xlv, ley lxvi. + +[7] Raynal thus describes Acapulco, in his History of Settlements +and Trade in Indies (Justamond's translation, London, 1783), iii, +pp. 378, 379: "The port of Acapulco where the vessel arrives, hath +two inlets, separated from each other by a small island: the entrance +into them in the day is by means of a sea-breeze, and the sailing +out in the night-time is effected by a land-breeze. It is defended +only by a bad fort, fifty soldiers, forty-two pieces of cannon, +and thirty-two of the corps of artillery. It is equally extensive, +safe, and commodious. The bason which forms this beautiful harbor is +surrounded by lofty mountains, which are so dry, that they are even +destitute of water. Four hundred families of Chinese, Mulattoes, +and Negroes, which compose three companies of militia, are the only +persons accustomed to breathe the air of this place, which is burning, +heavy, and unwholesome. The number of inhabitants in this feeble +and miserable colony is considerably increased upon the arrival of +the galleons, by the merchants from all the provinces of Mexico, who +come to exchange their silver and their cochineal, for the spices, +muslins, china, printed linens, silks, perfumes, and gold works of +Asia. At this market, the fraud impudently begun in the Old World, +is as impudently completed in the New. The statutes have limited +the sale to 2,700,000 livres, and it exceeds 10,800,000 livres. All +the money produced by these exchanges should give ten per cent. to +the government: but they are deprived of three-fourths of the revenue +which they ought to collect from their customs, by false entries." This +passage is appropriated bodily--with a few changes, and an important +omission--in Malo de Luque's Establecimientos ultramarinos (Madrid, +1790), v, p. 220; and no credit is given by him to Raynal. + +On the map of Acapulco in Bellin's Atlas maritime (Paris, 1764), t. ii, +p. 86, appears the following naive item in the legend at the side: +"Two trees, to which the galleon from Manila attaches a cable;" +these trees are located directly in front of the tiny "city," and +between two redoubts. + +[8] Talinga is defined by Noceda and Sanlucar (Vocab. lengua Tagala, +third ed., Manila, 1860) as manta de Ilocos ("Ilocos blanket"). It +is apparently the same as terlinga, used by Mallat and Malo de Luque; +and tarlinga, later in this document. + +[9] Encarnacion (Dicc. Bisaya-Espanol, Manila, 1885) says, after +defining the word as here: "The word lompot eminently signifies +'piece;' and the pieces in which the native women weave all their +fabrics are regularly eight varas long and one wide." + +[10] "An indiscreet or ill-directed zeal distracted from labors and +persistent effort those colonists, who themselves were inclined to +inactivity. Their exceedingly lucrative commerce and intercourse with +America accustomed them to regard as intolerable and even disgraceful +the most honorable occupations. If through any misfortune the rich +Acapulco galleon could not be despatched, or was wrecked, the greater +part of the inhabitants lapsed into fearful misery. Many became +beggars, thieves, or assassins; it was customary for them to enlist +as soldiers; and the courts were unable to check or correct the many +crimes committed." (Malo de Luque, Establecimientos ultramarinos, v, +pp. 211-212.) Cf. this with Raynal's Settlements and Trade in Indies, +iii, p. 78, from which Malo de Luque has again borrowed without giving +Raynal credit (see note 7, ante). + +[11] Silkworms and the cultivation of the mulberry tree, for both of +which the country is naturally adapted, were introduced into Mexico +by Cortes, and for a time the production and manufacture of silk +there promised to become a source of wealth to the country; but it +was practically ruined by the restrictive and unfriendly policy of +the Spanish government and the competition of the Chinese silks sent +to Nueva Espana from Manila. Mexico has several native species of +silkworms, and trees on which they feed--not only of mulberry, but +of other genera; and their product was used by the natives before +the conquest, especially in Mizteca in Oajaca. For accounts of this +product and industry, see Acosta's Hist. Indies (Hakluyt Society's +publications, London, 1880), i, p. 269; Humboldt's New Spain (Black's +translation), iii, pp. 57-60, 465; and Bancroft's Hist. Mexico, ii, +p. 292; v, pp. 612, 613; vi, pp. 524, 576. + +[12] On fol. 24 verso of the Extracto, the surname Barahona is added +to this man's name as here given. + +[13] Under the rule of Felipe III and Felipe IV, the economic +and financial affairs of Spain fell into a ruinous condition. The +indolence and incompetency of those monarchs, the influence exercised +over them by unscrupulous favorites, the rapid increase of absolutism +and bureaucracy, the undue privileges accorded to the nobility and +clergy, costly and useless wars, the extravagance and corruption which +prevailed in the court and in the administration of the entire kingdom +and the expulsion of the Moriscos--all these causes quickly brought on +an enormous national debt, the impoverishment of the common people, +depopulation of large districts, almost the ruin of manufacture and +the like industries, the oppression of the poor, the trampling down +of the national liberties, the decline of Spain's naval and military +power, and many other evils. The treasures of the Indias did not +suffice to maintain the nation, and even caused some of its woes; and +the reckless mismanagement of its revenues caused enormous deficits, +which its rulers attempted to meet by imposing more and heavier taxes, +duties, and contributions upon a people already staggering under +their grievous burdens. The impositions named in the text are but a +few of those levied at that time; and the colonies were compelled to +bear their share of the burden carried by the mother-country. See the +excellent survey of this period in Spanish history, and of conditions +political, administrative, social, and economic, with bibliography +of the subject, in Lavisse and Rambaud's Histoire generale (Paris, +1893-1901), v, pp. 649-682. + +[14] Marginal note: "It stands thus in the original"--referring to a +doublet of three and a half (printed) lines, which the Extracto has +reproduced from the text which it followed, presumably a manuscript +copy of the decree. + +[15] A variation in Palafox's title, apparently due to some clerical +oversight. It is not, however, incorrect, since Tlascala was the +earlier seat of that bishopric, and gave name to it--the bishop's +residence being afterward removed to the new city of Puebla, five +leguas distant from Tlascala. + +[16] Apparently referring to the paper recording the composition of +1635; and the wording of this sentence in the decree would imply that +the 600,000 pesos of that composition were at first levied in three +annual installments, but afterward collected in advance. + +[17] Thus in the Extracto; but the statement appears to be a non +sequitur, and suggests the probability of some words being omitted. + +[18] The various approbations at the beginning of the book are not +here translated, as not being sufficiently important to justify +such use of our space. The first of these is furnished by Governor +Hurtado de Corcuera, and is dated at Manila, March 21, 1639--in which +he states that Fray Goncalez has added matter which brings down +Aduarte's history to 1637, thus covering a period of fifty years +from the foundation of that Dominican province. The request for +permission to print the book is made by Fray Carlos Clemente Gant, +prior-provincial of that order; and it is granted (for six years) +by the governor, after favorable report on the book has been made +by Fray Theofilo Mascaros, an Augustinian--this report, by the way, +being dated at the Augustinian convent of Sancta Ana de Agonoy, +August 29, 1638. Archbishop Guerrero also approves this publication +(July 7, 1638); and, four days earlier, the Franciscan, Fray Juan +Pina de San Antonio, at Sampaloc, does the same. + +[19] See account (mainly derived from Aduarte) of the foundation +of the Dominican province of Filipinas, in Resena biografica, i, +pp. 1-29. Fray Juan Crisostomo was one of the Dominican friars in +Mexico, and was sent to Spain and Rome in 1581 to make arrangements for +the opening of the new Filipinas mission; no information is available +regarding previous events in his life. Having assembled the members +of his mission at Sevilla, he set out with them for Nueva Espana +(July 17, 1586); but the hardships of the voyage made him so ill that +he was obliged to remain a long time in Mexico, not being able to +reach Manila until 1589. There he was so affected by age and broken +health that he could do little; and finally disease carried him away, +and he died probably late in 1590 or early in 1591. + +[20] The mission of the Jesuit Sanchez to Spain, and its results, +are described in VOLS. VI and VII of this series. + +[21] Juan de Castro, a native of Burgos, entered the Dominican order +at that place, and soon after his ordination went to Nueva Espana, +where he spent most of his life in Guatemala. Being sent to Madrid +on business of his order, he encountered there Fray Juan Crisostomo +(1585-86), through whom he became so interested in the projected +mission to Filipinas that for its sake he declined proffered honors +and dignities. He conducted to Manila the mission of 1587, and was +elected provincial at the first chapter-meeting (June 10, 1588). In +May, 1590, Castro and Benavides went to China to preach the gospel, +returning to Manila in March, 1591. The suffering and hardship which +they endured in China broke down the health of Castro, who was already +an old man; and he died in 1592. + +[22] Juan Ormaza de Santo Tomas was born at Medina del Campo, +in September, 1548. His studies were pursued at Salamanca; after +graduation he spent several years in teaching and was engaged in +this occupation at Valladolid when Crisostomo went thither to secure +missionaries for Filipinas. Ormaza enlisted in this new field, +and, after arriving at Manila, he was assigned to the district of +Bataan. Here he "reduced to two villages, with some visitas annexed, +the thirty-one hamlets among which the Indians were dispersed; +made bridges over the rivers; hindered with palisades (which those +people call tabones) the inroads of the sea, which had ruined their +grain-fields; and adorned the churches with altars, sacred images, and +paintings." During 1610-14 he was engaged in the missions of Japan; +the rest of his life, except 1619-21 and 1623-25, when he ministered +to the Chinese in the Parian and in Binondoc respectively, was spent +at the Manila convent--where he died on September 7, 1638. (Resena +biografica, i, pp. 86-91.) + +Pedro de Soto was a native of Burgos, and pursued his priestly studies +at Valladolid; soon after his graduation he joined the Filipinas +mission. His first charge was in Pangasinan, where he labored +zealously, amid great opposition and hostility from the natives. A +serious illness at last compelled him to return (1599) to Manila, +where he died. + +[23] Juan Cobo, a native of Castilla, joined the Dominican order at +Ocana, and was a student at Avila and Alcala de Henares. He came +to Nueva Espana with the mission of 1587; during his stay there +(prolonged another year, on account of certain business of the order) +he rebuked the viceroy of Mexico so boldly that the latter ordered +Cobo to be exiled to the Philippines. Arriving at the islands in May, +1588, he began his labors among the Chinese of the Manila Parian, and +later went among those of Tondo. In 1592, Cobo was sent by Dasmarinas +as ambassador to Japan; having fulfilled his commission he set out on +the return to Manila, and is supposed to have perished by shipwreck, +as nothing more was ever known of him or his ship. + +[24] "Pena de Francia is a lofty mountain in the province and +diocese of Salamanca, twelve leguas from this city and seven +from Ciudad-Rodrigo. On its rugged summit is the celebrated +convent-sanctuary of this name, where the community resided from Easter +until November 2, at which time they went down to another house, on the +slope of the same mountain, only two or three brethren remaining above +for the care of the sanctuary." (Resena biografica, i, p. 95, note 1.) + +[25] Pedro Bolanos was master of novices in the convent of Pena +de Francia when he decided to enter the Filipinas mission, and was +then sixty years of age. He labored among the natives of Bataan for a +little while; but the responsibilities of this work, the hardships of +missionary life, and his advanced years, were too much for him, and +he died before he had spent a year in Filipinas. (Resena biografica, +i, pp. 95-97.) + +[26] Juan de la Cruz, labored first among the natives of Pangasinan, +and was afterward sent among those of Bataan, where he became very +proficient in the Tagal language. He was provisor of the archdiocese +under Benavides, until the latter's death; then he returned to Bataan, +where he died, probably near the end of 1605. (Resena biografica, i, +pp. 100, 101.) + +[27] Apparently meaning the Jesuit Alonso Sanchez, who was then in +Nueva Espana, on his way to Spain. + +[28] At that time, the marques de Villamanrique (VOL. VI, p. 282). + +[29] The younger Juan de Castro was a priest in the Dominican convent +at Barcelona when the Filipinas mission enterprise was begun. Arrived +in the islands, he was sent to Pangasinan; and, at the end of 1593, +accompanied Fray Luis Gandullo on an embassy to China. On their return, +they were shipwrecked off the coast of Pangasinan; and the exposure +and suffering incident to this misfortune brought on a serious illness, +from which Castro died early in 1594. + +Marcos Soria de San Antonio was also assigned to the Pangasinan field, +where his life was at first in danger from the fierce heathen; but +afterward he won their affection by his gentleness and kindness to +them. The sufferings and hardships of missionary life broke down his +health, and he was compelled to seek medical care in Manila; but it +was too late, and he died there in 1591. + +Gregorio Ochoa de San Vicente, then a Dominican friar in Valladolid, +joined the Filipinas mission; and, like his associates in Pangasinan, +was broken down by hardships--but even earlier than they, since his +death occurred on November 25, 1588. + +The lay brother Pedro Rodriguez spent twenty years in the hospital +maintained by the Dominicans for the Chinese, which was later removed +to Binondo. He died in that place, in 1609. + +[30] Religious life (religion): Religion, as used by Aduarte, +means solely the rule of life followed by a religious order, the +order itself, or the ideal of the order; and derivative words have +corresponding significations. For instance: "at the expense of the +order (la religion)," book ii, p. 77; "to the no small credit of +our religious community (nuestra religion), with the members of +which (cuyos religiosos) they generally have most to do," book ii, +p. 83; "the act which he was performing because of his duty as a +religious (acto religioso)," book ii, p. 104; "sufficient to give +glory to an entire religious order (una religion entera);" "all the +religious orders (las religiones) in the Indias." As an adjective, +a "very religious" friar (religiosissimo padre, book ii, p. 376) +means one who remarkably approaches the ideal of the order. In this +sense religioso has generally been rendered by "devoted" in this +translation. The noun "religious," in the sense of "a member of an +order," and the adjective in such phrases as "a religious house," +"the religious life," are still not rare in English.--Henry B. Lathrop. + +[31] The full text of these ordinances may be found in Resena +biografica, i, pp. 18-30; it is in Latin, accompanied by a Spanish +translation, which differs considerably from Aduarte's, following the +Latin more closely than his. The devotion to the Virgin Mary which +is here mentioned (also known as the coronilla, or "little crown") is +given ut supra, p. 29. The initial letters of the first words in the +psalms selected for this purpose form the name "Maria," as do those +of the corresponding antiphons--thus producing a double acrostic on +her name. Gregory XIII granted an indulgence of one hundred days for +those reciting this devotion. + +[32] The present province of Bataan is on the western shore of Manila +Bay, being the peninsula formed between that bay and the sea. But the +description in the text, together with other mention of Bataan (or +Batan) in old documents, makes it evident that the name was applied +in Aduarte's time to at least the western part of the delta at the +mouth of the Rio Grande de Pampanga, in the southwest part of the +present Pampanga province. + +[33] Salaries were paid from the royal treasury in installments thrice +a year, hence in thirds (tercios). + +[34] So in the text, but evidently referring to the beginning only +of constructing the new church. + +[35] i.e., "Take heed to thyself and to doctrine;" and, "in doing +this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee"--both +quoted from 1 Timothy, iv, v. 16. + +[36] Dias que no son dobles: in church terminology, feast days +whereof the canonical offices are observed according to double +rite--or duplex feasts, as sometimes styled in English liturgical +works. In church calendars, the rite to be followed every day of +the year is determined (according to fixed rules) with a view to its +greater or less solemnity. The various designations thus employed are: +simple, or simplex; semi-double, or semi-duplex; double, or duplex, +and these may be minor or major; major double of the second class; +and major double of the first class. Of this last sort are the most +solemn feasts, as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost; while a feast day of +simple rite is of the lowest class.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A. + +Cf. Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, art. "Feasts" and "Feria," +where full details, and the origin and application of the terms, +are given. + +[37] Juan de Santo Domingo assumed the Dominican habit in the convent +at Salamanca, and later came to the Philippines. He spent two years +(1610-12) in the missions of Bataan and Pangasinan, and six years +in Manila and Binondo; and in 1618 undertook, but unsuccessfully, to +start a mission in Korea. He then remained a little while in Japan, +where he was arrested (December 13, 1618) and imprisoned. Condemned +to suffer death by torture, he was carried away by a sickness instead +(March 19, 1619). He was beatified on July 7, 1867. (Resena biografica, +i, pp. 207, 208.) + +[38] Little is known of Alonso Montero, save that he belonged to +the province of Mexico, where he spent several years, and afterward +labored two years in the Pangasinan mission. His name does not appear +in the records after 1592. (Resena biografica, p. 146.) + +[39] Juan Garcia was for some time a minister to the Indians in Nueva +Espana; he came to the islands in 1588, and labored in the missions +of Bataan and Pangasinan. He died about 1603. (Resena biografica, i, +p. 138.) + +[40] Tomas Castellar, from the Dominican convent at Barcelona, went +to Mexico, where he filled various high positions in his order. He +came to Manila in 1589, where he remained three years; in 1592 he +was sent to Pangasinan, and, two years later, aided in founding the +Cagayan mission. Returning to his former field, he labored with those +natives until his death (1607). + +Pedro Martinez came to the islands in 1588, and was placed in various +posts in the Manila convent, for which he proved to be unfit from +his habit of being absorbed in contemplation. He was then sent to +Pangasinan, where he died (1592) from the effects of the climate. + +Juan Bautista Deza remained some time in Pangasinan; then, as +he had some knowledge of surgery, accompanied an expedition to +Camboja. Nothing is known of him after 1600. + +(See Resena biografica, i, pp. 138, 145.) + +[41] Spanish, apostola de los apostoles. One of the word-plays of which +the old religious writers were so fond. No literal translation conveys +the meaning here implied; but apostola is used (as also in English) +with the primitive meaning of "apostle," as one who first introduces +the gospel--in this particular instance, one who first announces the +good tidings, i.e., of Christ's resurrection. + +[42] Spanish, lector, literally, "reader;" applied to one who gave +lectures in theology, especially moral theology. + +[43] Amaranthus; see Delgado's Hist. Filipinas, pp. 724, 725; and +Blanco's Flora, p. 491. Cf. VOL. XV, p. 111. + +[44] Probably referring to the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, +which fell on August 15. + +[45] See portrait of Dasmarinas here presented; it is a photographic +facsimile of an old painting (possibly a later copy of an authentic +original) which was displayed in the Manila house in the Philippine +exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis, 1904). The +inscription on the scroll held by the page reads thus, in English: +"Don Luis Perez Dasmarinas, knight of the Order of Alcantara, governor +and captain-general of these Filipinas Islands for the king our lord, +and founder and owner of this village of Binondo. He obtained this +land by purchase, March 28, 1594, from Don Antonio Velada, husband +of Dona Sebastiana del Valle, for the sum of $200. This sale was +authorized by the certificate of Gabriel Quintanilla, a notary-public, +one of the number allotted to this very illustrious and loyal city; +and the grant of feudal rights over the Sangleys and mestizos of this +said village, on May 29, 1594." + +[46] See account of the first printing in the islands (1593), in +vol. ix, p. 68; and that of printing in China, in vol. iii, p. 206. + +[47] Tomas Mayor came to Manila with the Dominican mission of 1602, +and spent several years in their residence of San Gabriel among the +Chinese; he composed a useful catechism in that language. In 1612 +he went to Macao, at the summons of the bishop there; but finding +it impossible then to found a Dominican house at Macao, he departed +thence for Europe--dying, however, in that same year, before reaching +his destination. + +[48] Francisco de la Mina, an Andalusian, was a missionary among +the Mexican Indians during forty years. Coming to Manila in 1589, +he labored in Bataan for a time; and was afterward made prior of the +Dominican convent in Manila, where he died in 1592. + +[49] A topic then of special interest to the Dominicans, since Bishop +Salazar (who belonged to their order) had but recently been involved +in a hot controversy with Dasmarinas over the collection of tributes +from the Indians (see correspondence between them at end of VOL. VII +and beginning of VOL. VIII). All the missionaries in the islands had +opposed slavery, whether among the Indians or the Spaniards; and the +latter had adopted this practice to such an extent that Gregory XIV +commanded them in 1591 to cease it entirely (VOL. VIII, pp 70-72). + +[50] A cape (now known as Piedra Point) at northwest extremity of +Zambales peninsula, Luzon; name also applied to the narrow channel +between that cape and Purra Island. + +[51] Cf. with this the description in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte +d'Arthur (book xxi, chap. iv) of the last and fatal combat between King +Arthur and Sir Mordred: "And when Sir Mordred felt that he had his +death-wound, he thrust himself unto the bur of King Arthur's spear," +and with this final effort dealt a mortal blow on the king's head. + +[52] Spanish, viva quien vence; equivalent to the English saying, +"Might makes right." + +[53] Spanish, pascuas. Certain great church festivals last three days +or more in Spain. + +[54] All these are towns on or near the northern coast of Cagayan. + +[55] Miguel Martin de San Jacinto made his profession at Salamanca, +in 1586. He seems to have spent his life after coming to the islands +(1595) in the Cagayan missions, in which he was a prominent worker. He +died there, at Abulug, April 26, 1625. + +Gaspar Zarfate was a native of Mexico. He spent some time in Cagayan, +and afterward in Manila, where he filled various important offices +in his order. He died at Manila, March 9, 1621; and was the first +who systematized the grammar of the Ibanag dialect. + +Ambrosio Martinez de la Madre de Dios, a native of Guatemala, made +his profession at Mexico in 1589. Reaching the Philippines in 1595, +he spent the rest of his days in the Cagayan missions, where he died +in April, 1626. + +Domingo de San Blas came to the islands from the Dominican convent +at Sevilla, and spent several years in the Cagayan missions; he died +at Manila, in 1601. + +Antonio de Soria came from the convent at Puebla de los Angeles, +Mexico. He labored so earnestly in the Cagayan missions that he soon +wore out his strength; and died at Lal-lo about the beginning of 1599. + +See Resena biografica, i, pp. 181-184. + +[56] The instructions given in this matter to the Spanish officials +and missionaries, and the manner in which they carried out these, +may be found in VOL. X, pp. 277-288. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, +Volume 30 of 55, by Antonio Alvarez de Abreu and Diego Aduarte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, 1493-1898, VOL 30 *** + +***** This file should be named 39054.txt or 39054.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/5/39054/ + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://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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