Being asked whether he knows the gravity of the offense which he commits who breaks any military order, this deponent declared that he knew it; but that he kept the said order to the utmost, and no more, because the emergency that he has related occurred. This is his response.

Being asked whether he knows and recognizes that the said religious were aided by any secular persons in getting the said Don Pedro de Monroy inside the gate, he declared that he had not seen or recognized any secular persons except the said soldiers, his companions, who aided him, and the said religious. This is his response.

Other questions were asked and brought forward touching the matter; but to all he answered that which he has declared as above, under obligation of the oath that he has sworn. He affixed his signature, together with the auditor-general.

Licentiate Manuel Suarez de Olivera Don Francisco de Rivera y Oseguera

Before me: Juan Soriano, notary-public.

[The following is contained in the documents enclosed, in another letter of like date with the above letter (also by Corcuera to the king, and which will be given, post), and gives details omitted by the present document.]

Act. In the city of Manila, November twenty-two, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, Licentiate Manuel Suarez de Olivera, auditor-general of the war department of this royal camp, declared that it is advisable, for the greater justification of this complaint, to make investigation among the persons who were about the guardhouse at the gate of Santo Domingo of this city, in order to ascertain and find out more fully what happened last night at the said gate, by examining more of the witnesses who were present or who knew something of the aforesaid; and that the present notary should record the results as a testimony in this cause, so that it might be apparent for all time. Thus did he enact and order, and he signed the same.

Licentiate Manuel Suarez de Olivera

Before me: Juan Soriano

Testimony. In fulfilment of the above act, I, Juan Soriano, notary-public, one of the registered notaries of this city of Manila, in the Filipinas Islands, for the king our lord, attest and assert truthfully to those who may see these presents that on this day of the above date, at the hour of ten in the morning or thereabout, I, in company with the said auditor-general, went to the gate of Santo Domingo of this said city, where there is generally a guardhouse of soldiers. I made an investigation among the persons near the said gate, and asked them whether any of them were present at what is contained in these records, and which happened at this gate last night, which is reckoned the twenty-first of this month. No one was found who could tell me anything about the aforesaid; and I gave the present because of what is contained in the commandment of the said auditor-general. Given in the city of Manila, November twenty-two, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five. Witness, the said constable, Francisco Gutierrez. I seal it in testimony of the truth,

Juan Soriano, notary-public.



Act of accusation and proof. In the city of Manila, November twenty-two, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, [14] Licentiate Manuel Suarez de Olivera, auditor-general of the war department of this royal camp, declared that having examined this complaint and the verbal process and investigation of it, he would charge—and he did charge—the said alferez Don Francisco de Rivera with what has resulted against him from the said verbal process; and that he would immediately receive—and he did receive—this suit and complaint and the parties to it, for proof within the time-limit of the two days next following, common to the said parties, with all responsibility of publication and direction, and all the rest, with citation. Within that time, they may prove and investigate whatever is expedient for them, and be cited in due form for sentence. Thus did he enact and order, and he signed the same; and the witnesses of the verbal process shall be notified before the said auditor-general, etc.

Licentiate Manuel Suarez de Olivera

Before me: Juan Soriano, notary-public.



Notification. In the city of Manila, November twenty-two, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, I gave notice of the above act of proof, according to its contents, to Alferez Don Francisco de Rivera, in his own person. He declared that he has no more proof to give than what he has given already; for, when the affair occurred, there were no other witnesses than the soldiers his companions, who have told and sworn the truth of what occurred. He gave the above as his reply, and I attest the same.

Juan Soriano, notary-public.



Ratification. In the city of Manila, November twenty-two, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, the said auditor of war caused Pedro Gutierrez, a soldier of the company of the master-of-camp, to appear before himself. I, the present notary, received an oath from him in due form of law, before God our Lord and with the sign of the cross. He promised to tell the truth, and, under that obligation, his testimony and the deposition that he made last night, the twenty-first of this month, before Licentiate Manuel Suarez de Olivera, auditor-general of war, and before me, the present notary, having been read and shown to him, he, having understood and read it word for word, declared that all therein contained, exactly as it is written and testified, was declared and asserted by him; and that the signature at the foot is in the hand and writing of this witness, and he recognizes it as such. If necessary, he again declares it in this plenary act, and he affirms and ratifies it in every point. He affixes his signature, and declares that he is forty years old, and competent to act as a witness. It is signed by the said auditor,

Licentiate Suarez Pedro Gutierrez

Before me: Juan Soriano

[A like declaration is received from the soldier Martin de Campos.]

Act. In the city of Manila, November twenty-five, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, Licentiate Manuel Suarez de Olivera, auditor-general of the war department of this royal camp, having examined this complaint which he made officially, for the royal justice of war, against Alferez Don Francisco de Rivera, in regard to his allowing Don Pedro de Monrroy to enter the gate of Santo Domingo of this city, while he was corporal at it, in violation of his orders from the governor and captain-general, Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, to the effect that he was not to allow him to enter this city, etc., said that in consideration of what had been recounted by the investigation of this cause, the said alferez was not guilty in regard to the said entrance. On the contrary, he had done everything in accordance with his obligation to keep the said order. The auditor said that he declared—and he did so declare—the said alferez to be free and acquitted from the said charge; and said that he had done what his duty demanded in the fulfilment of his order, as a faithful soldier. By this act so did he enact, and he signed the same.

Licentiate Manuel Suarez de Olivera

Before me: Juan Soriano, notary-public.

Remission in testimony of truth. Juan Soriano, notary-public.

Fees gratis.

[An attestation of the authenticity of all matters that pass before Juan Soriano, dated November 29, 1635, [15] and signed by three notaries, follows.]

Sire:

Justice in this country was in the worst [possible] condition, because no one looked to your Majesty for it, and some of your vassals were committing outrages on others without fear of God or respect for your Majesty's officials. There was great license and looseness of life, in both men and women. That has been corrected by exiling some of the men, and arresting others; and by rebuking and threatening the women of quality, and sheltering others of less standing, in the seminary of Santa Potenciana, until they are sought in marriage from that house. I have done that with despatch, considering only the service of God and of your Majesty. By that means many of the laymen have been restrained, as well as many of the ecclesiastical estate and regulars, who likewise have caused scandal in this direction. Two men have been punished by hanging—one for having stolen the monstrance of the most holy sacrament; and the other for the murder of a slave girl whom he had owned, and whom the archbishop had caused to be sold because he was living with her in illicit relations. In order that he might not be deprived of her, he declared that he would marry her, although he had said the year before that he had been married in Nueva Espana. The slave girl said that she preferred to belong to another than to be his wife. The slave girl going carelessly behind her mistress's carriage, that man, deliberately and very securely, approached her by stealth; and, embracing her from behind, he stabbed and killed her treacherously. He took refuge in the convent of St. Augustine, where neither the master-of-camp nor the sargento-mayor could find him. But a few days after that, when the affair had died down somewhat, because of the reward offered to my adjutant of the camp, the latter found him and took him from the convent. I referred the cause to the general of artillery, as the man was his subordinate, so that he might try it in the first instance. The general condemned him to death. He appealed to his commander-in-chief; but the auditor-general returned the cause, saying that it had no appeal, as he was convinced of the man's treachery and perfidy. Thereupon the general of artillery set about the execution of the sentence of death. The archbishop of this church excommunicated the general of artillery; and his provisor, one Don Pedro de Monrroy, a restless man, and a friend of revolution, sent twice to excommunicate me. But I gave them no opportunity to notify me at all. They declared interdicts and the cessation of divine services. The sentence was executed, and the dead man was returned to the door of the church. I wrote to the archbishop with all courtesy, entreating him to be pleased to have the churches opened and not to leave this community without mass and consolation on a day such as the nativity of our Lady; and that, as justice was already done, there was nothing else to do. The archbishop called a meeting of the religious of all the orders. They thinking in this way to avenge themselves for insults that they imagined they had received—the fathers of St. Dominic because I did not allow them to place benches in the principal chapel of their church when the royal Audiencia was present, for other persons, and on matters touching the communal funds [of the Sangleys]; those of St. Francis, because of the hospitals; and those of St. Augustine, because of what I had already written—carried the torch into that meeting, making a political argument from the fact that the archbishop and I were at swords' points. Accordingly, they were of the opinion that the censures should be raised under no circumstances, and they talked very unbecomingly of my person. Only the fathers of the Society defended the royal jurisdiction, being followed by one of the Franciscans. They showed clearly that the execution that had been performed was a good thing, as the murder had clearly been a treacherous one. Therefore the other religious gave them cause for merit by uttering insults toward them; and from that instant took so great an aversion to them that it was the beginning of the disturbances that happened afterward. I went twice and thrice to request the archbishop to raise the interdict and the cessation of mass, but he was so far from doing it that he even refused to answer my letters. So I left him; but afterward, for certain reasons or at the request of others, he raised the censures and interdict, and absolved the general of artillery ad cautelam—for the latter did not consider himself as excommunicated, nor did learned men even consider him as such. That was very evident; for, having appealed to the bishop of Camarines, the sentence was in his favor, and he was absolved from the pecuniary fines imposed by the archbishop.

Thereupon that tempest was quieted. The principal instigator of it had been the provisor, Don Pedro de Monrroy, and its fomentors were the religious of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Augustine. I, recognizing the naturally turbulent spirit of the said provisor, thought that we would be involved in other storms soon, unless something were done to prevent it, and some scheme found so that he might not be provisor. For that purpose, I wrote the archbishop to observe a decree of your Majesty in which you order, in the time of Don Juan Nino de Tabora, that provisors be lettered, and that, since this man was not so, the office be given to another who was, thereby obeying your Majesty's orders. He did not answer me, but called a meeting of the religious of the three orders. All decided not to remove the provisor, and, in good Romance, not to obey the royal decree, but to oppose it—as they said, even to the death, if necessary. In order that your Majesty may see for whom the archbishop and religious made so great a pledge, Don Pedro de Monrroy is a secular priest, who does not possess, as your Majesty orders, the education that provisors must necessarily have (since he possesses no degree in any faculty); still more, it is apparent to this whole community that his house is a public gaming-house for all this city, where the gambling is so extravagant, and men lose their possessions so recklessly and preposterously that I am obliged to correct it efficaciously by forbidding all persons, under penalty of fines, from going to play in his house. He is a secular priest who says mass throughout the year, except now and then; and is, finally, a restless fellow and one who likes [to stir up] revolutions. In the time of Governor Don Alonso Faxardo, he was the cause of a great disturbance in the community, by excommunicating the auditors. He was sentenced to exile from the kingdoms for that reason and the temporalities were taken from him, as your Majesty will see by the enclosed testimony of the royal decree that was despatched for that purpose. But since justice in these islands is in the charge of protectors, the said decree, at the request of certain persons, was not executed. Although I might execute it, in order to cut the root of the disturbances, I did not do so, in order to obviate difficulties and murmurs in a community so small. Therefore, seeing that there was no other way that was milder, I offered the said provisor the chaplaincy-in-chief and vicariate of the island of Hermosa—as will appear by my letter and his reply, which I enclose herewith for your Majesty. [16] That was with the intent of getting him away from Manila, so that he might not embroil us. But that offer which I made to the said provisor aroused innumerable disputes. The archbishop declared that I was the violator of the ecclesiastical immunity. He immediately convoked a meeting of the religious, the ecclesiastical cabildo, and other seculars. The seculars, and the bishop of Nueva Segovia, Don Fray Diego Duarte, excused themselves—the fathers of the Society of Jesus, in very courteous terms, also begging to be excused from attending meetings where nothing else was discussed save opposition to the government. The archbishop and the members of the orders were so angry because the fathers of the Society did not attend that meeting (not taking into consideration at all that the bishop of Nueva Segovia and the ecclesiastical cabildo did not attend, either), that they turned against the said fathers of the Society. The first thing done in the said meeting was to enact an act which I enclose herewith. [17] In it they are separated from the other orders, and the latter were prohibited from admitting the Jesuits into their convents for feasts or other ceremonies. The other orders were not to go to the convent of the Society for public ceremonies or for feasts; while those fathers could not preach in the cathedral, or in any other churches outside of their house, throughout this archbishopric—which was equal to exiling them from its territories. To such a height did passion—not to say the hate of the archbishop and orders—rise against the Society of Jesus, that one must pass by what was determined against them in the said meeting, in which all that was done was to discuss the government and royal jurisdiction.

The archbishop and the religious seeing that the fathers of the Society were not disturbed—for which object the former were striving—because of the resolution made in the said meeting, the archbishop, twenty days later, sent a notary with a notification to the superiors of the Society, ordering that they should not preach outside their house, not even in the plazas and the guardhouses, under penalty of major excommunication, late sentencie, and a fine of four thousand ducados for the Holy Crusade—a thing which greatly scandalized all this community. The fathers of the Society answered with moderation that they would obey whatever was not contrary to the privileges and immunities given them by the Roman pontiffs; but that, since the tenor of this act was hostile to those rights, and manifest injuries were being caused to the Society—first, because all of them had been deprived of the preaching, without other fault than having defended the royal jurisdiction, and the truth; second, in ordering this with [penalty of] excommunication and pecuniary fines; third, by prohibiting them from giving instruction, even in the plazas and guardhouses—they were obliged to appoint a judge-conservator; for although they had tried all means of peace they had succeeded in none, or in finding any method by which peace could be secured. On the contrary, they were notified of another act on the part of the archbishop, on the third day after, ordering them not to instruct certain Indians, of whom they had legitimate control by provisions of two former prelates and of the royal patronage. From that they feared new notifications and insults, and therefore they appointed their judge-conservator on the second of November, of the past year 1635. He was a dignitary of this holy church, one Don Fabian de Santillan y Gavilanes, a qualified person of this country, and son of a treasurer of the royal exchequer. The judge-conservator ordered the archbishop to take back the acts made against the Society of Jesus, as they were a manifest injury. The archbishop had recourse to the royal Audiencia with a plea of fuerza. The acts were requested, and the fathers of the Society went to maintain their just claims, as did those of the other orders on the part of the archbishop. For, although what the Society was defending was in favor of all the other orders, they did not think of that. On the contrary, they preferred to lose two eyes, in order as the saying is, to tear one from the Society—against whom the fear and aversion which they cherish is remarkable, as they show by word and deed. They do the Society ill turns whenever possible. After the secretary had made a report of the cause, those of the Society brought forward the arguments in favor of their side; they proved also that a manifest injury had been done them in the decrees of the archbishop, and that the judge-conservator was legally appointed. The religious, who had gone on the archbishop's behalf, had nothing to say, and asked for another day in which to state their case. The following day was granted them. They summoned many more religious, and six of them were heard in the archbishop's behalf. Those of the Society replied to what the others opposed to them, but those of the opposing side did not satisfactorily answer those of the Society. Thereupon, the royal Audiencia declared that the judge-conservator had not employed fuerza, and that he was legally appointed. Therefore, the latter continued to press the archbishop with censures, in order to make him withdraw the acts issued against the Society. The archbishop did so; but, when the matter was in a condition to be disposed of and finished in a few days, it was discovered that the archbishop and some of the three said orders of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Augustine, had held a conference, and had drawn up a defamatory libel under the title of a protest. They had included in it, according to public report, not only those of the Society, but also the judge-conservator himself, and the royal Audiencia, because they had passed judgment contrary to their will. That protest or libel was authenticated by a royal notary named Diego de Rueda, who is also a familiar of the Holy Office. The judge-conservator arrested him, and with the aid that he requested, the commissary of the Holy Office—who here is a Dominican father, named Fray Francisco de Herrera—went to ask the said judge-conservator for his familiar, the said notary. The judge-conservator answered that he had already taken his deposition, and had no further need of him; but that they should demand him from me, for he had been arrested by my order. I answered that he had been delinquent in the exercise of his duty, for having authenticated, as royal notary, a defamatory libel; and that the punishment therefor pertained to the royal jurisdiction.

The father commissary sent two young and impudent friars to me, to notify me of the act which I enclose herewith for your Majesty, and laid his orders on me as imperiously as if he were the supreme tribunal of the Inquisition. I, on the contrary, before the completion of the notification, took the act from the hands of his agent with mildness, and sent him to the port of Cavite, charging his superior there to keep him in that place and treat him well. This I did purposely, because it is not proper for a youthful friar to talk with so great freedom to the representative of your Majesty—especially in a cause which is so peculiar to the royal jurisdiction as is this offense, which concerns the office of a notary.

On that account, the fathers of St. Domingo took occasion to utter blasphemies against me. They declared that I was excommunicated for hindering the service of the Inquisition; that I was deposed, that I was not governor; that I could not act as governor; that the senior auditor was to assume the government immediately; that he was to imprison me and lock me up in a fort. In confirmation of what they were saying throughout the city, they brought a friar from Cavite, named Fray Francisco Pinelo, whom, being bold, eloquent, and satirical in the pulpit (as is well known in this community), they caused to preach the second Sunday in Advent. He read a bull in the pulpit, which was said to be by Pius Fifth, and which was in Romance. Therein the pontiff orders that he who should prevent the exercise of the Holy Office should be infamous and incapacitated from office, etc. That he declared in such a tone and manner that it was clearly seen that it was all for the governor, and that he was censuring me as infamous. In order that your Majesty may see the license of the friars in this country, and how they treat those who exercise this office—and this under protection of the Inquisition, hiding under the authority of so holy a tribunal, to avenge their passions in things which, truly, neither belong to the Inquisition nor are at all connected with it—in that same sermon, innumerable other things and satires were uttered against me and against the royal Audiencia for having declared, contrary to the pleasure of the friars, that the judge-conservator was not employing fuerza against the fathers of the Society, censuring them as heretics; and against the judge-conservator himself, calling him a canon of London. They have made use of this style of preaching in many sermons throughout this time. The Recollect fathers of St. Augustine imitated him, and I am told that this is no new thing; for whatever the governors do that is displeasing to them they immediately take into the pulpits, thus making the pulpit the professorship of vengeance, while it is the seat of Christ for the preaching of His holy word. The disorder that has always existed in this regard is very great, and the matter demands an efficacious remedy. What occurs to me is, for your Majesty to send a decree to the governor, ordering that, when the said orders preach in this manner, he shall advise their provincial, so that the latter may deprive them of the privilege of preaching, and exile them from Manila to whatever place shall be deemed best; and that, if the provincial shall not do so, then your Majesty should immediately take away the temporalities from all of such order, and should order the royal officials not to pay them anything, not even the stipends for the instruction. For that nothing more should be necessary than for the governor to order it. That decree should be sent, but with restrictions, so that it may be a check on them; for your Majesty has sent many decrees to the provincials, charging them not to preach whatever they please against the governors, but they do not obey them. Your Majesty will see the importance of this matter, because those friars stir up and disquiet the country by these actions and sermons, and arouse hatred toward the governors.

The fathers of St. Dominic left no stone unturned. They drew up a paper, in which they spoke very discourteously of my person; and with it they presented a petition to the dean of this cathedral church—who, inasmuch as the archbishop had been excommunicated by the judge-conservator, was acting as provisor and vicar-general in it—asking him to declare and publish me in the lists as excommunicated. The dean, who is a prudent and aged man, was very far from doing so. Of a truth, Sire, I cannot fail to represent to your Majesty, in regard to this point, how great is the resulting inconvenience that any ordinary at all can declare your Majesty's governors and viceroys excommunicated. And that would be a great embarrassment and cause for disturbance for a community; for, if the governor were declared excommunicated, the discontented would take the opportunity to release themselves from his obedience, and to excite a revolt against their legitimate king and lord. There is not lacking one who says that the bishops and ordinaries cannot do this, since the viceroys and governors enjoy the royal privileges, and that no other than the pope himself can excommunicate kings. If this is so, will your Majesty be pleased to declare it, for such a declaration would be very advisable; or order what should be done in this particular.

Among these things there occurred another very regrettable incident. Don Pedro de Monroy, who was now no longer provisor, left the city; and fearing that, if he returned hither, he would embroil the matter more, as was his custom, I gave orders at the gates of the city that, if he attempted to enter it, he was not to be allowed to do so. But on the twenty-first of last November, the said Don Pedro de Monroy, clad as a Franciscan friar, in the company of two other Franciscan friars, attempted to enter by a gate near the convent of Santo Domingo. A number of religious came out of the convent to receive him. He who was stationed at the gate as commander recognized him, seized him, and cried out to his soldiers to take their weapons and prevent his entrance. But there were so many Dominican friars who attacked the soldiers, and defended Don Pedro with their fists, that the soldiers could not use their weapons or prevent the entrance. Thus, by forcing their way into the guardhouse, the friars, brought him into the city. I felt the resentment in this matter that was natural, and I ordered the corporal and the soldiers to be arrested. Being about to punish them for not having obeyed their orders, they exculpated themselves very thoroughly in the investigation made by the auditor-general, but the violence of the religious gave the soldiers no opportunity to do more. Consider, your Majesty, what liberties these are to be taken from religious; and who can endure them? I wrote to their vicar-provincial, but he answered coolly that his religious had not done any such thing, as they are obedient, and that he had information to the contrary. The father vicar-provincial adds that Don Pedro [de] Monrroy entered the city in response to the summons of the Inquisition. This word "Inquisition" is the motto and cry of the fathers of the Order of St. Dominic in these islands, for whatever they wish to do. Your Majesty will have seen from the aforesaid what ill use they make of the authority of the Inquisition—so much so, that I assert that with it they disturb and excite the community, which would not be safe if your Majesty did not have so many soldiers here. Therefore, since it is advisable to preserve peace here, will your Majesty be pleased to order the supreme tribunal of the Inquisition to order the tribunal of Mexico to appoint, as commissaries, not friars but seculars, since there are so many seculars who are able to act in that capacity, and since it is an office that properly belongs to the ecclesiastical estate. Affairs will then run more smoothly, and there will be more harmony; and I do not expect peace until that be done, and until these lawless acts be checked.

The judge-conservator went on with his commission, urging the archbishop with censures in order to make him hand over the protest or libel which had been made; but the religious gained possession, by force, of the will of the archbishop, and although he desired to surrender the paper, they did not allow him to do so. He gave it to Fray Diego Collado, of the Order of St. Dominic, who secured such possession of that paper that afterward the archbishop himself was unable to obtain it, notwithstanding his efforts.

All was now confusion in the community, and the friars made innumerable evil and vile reports against the fathers of the Society (who bore these attacks in silence), whenever they had an opportunity. They preached innumerable satires against the same fathers of the Society, and against the judge-conservator, saying that these were bringing in innumerable innovations—all for the purpose of causing a disturbance. As the preservation of peace pertains to me, I one day summoned the superiors of the orders of St. Dominic, St. Francis, St. Augustine, and of the Recollects, and the father commissary of the Holy Office, in your Majesty's name, and by a duly-executed decree of the royal Audiencia. The father commissary refused to come, and sent no excuse. The superiors were told that they were to keep their friars still, so that they might not go about disquieting the community. In regard to those who were most to blame in this—namely, Fray Francisco de Paula and Fray Sebastian de Oquendo of the Order of St. Dominic, and Fray Alonso de Carvajal and Fray Alonso de Ochoa, of the Order of St. Augustine—their superiors were ordered, in your Majesty's name, to cause them to leave the city for some time. But they would by no means obey, for at this time the friars do not recognize your Majesty; and, in order to avoid other troubles, I had to overlook this, and let things go.

At that time I was attending to the despatch to Maluco of the galleons which were to go with the reenforcements. The religious of St. Dominic even allured a pilot whom I had honored and favored, and whom I had chosen to go in the almiranta, so that he should desert with some of them by way of India. I learned of it, and was obliged to arrest him, and to leave orders at the gates not to allow either of the two religious of the Order of St. Dominic, namely, Fray Francisco Pinello and Fray Diego Collado, who were the two implicated in this flight, to leave the city. Therefore, because of this order, they began to assert that I was incurring innumerable excommunications. They do not stop to consider that I have this city and these islands in charge, and that, accordingly, I must conserve them, and look out for them, and issue the advisable military orders that I esteem necessary; and that I could not prevent that damage except by not permitting those religious to leave the walls. In another manner, some other religious incited a goodly number of sailors, who, having received their pay to go to Maluco, fled in a boat called "champan," and laid their course toward India. With them was a secular named Don Francisco Montero, who had been expelled from the religious estate—a restless man, who had been deprived some few months before of the chaplaincy of the seminary of Santa Potenciana, as he was not suitable for that post and served it ill. There was also a Recollect Franciscan friar, named Fray Nicolas de Tolentino, who was angered because his order had not elected him provincial, as he wished; and there was also a friar of St. Dominic. They are said to be about to go to Espana, with the intention of complaining of me to the supreme Inquisition. But the road followed is apt to take them into the hands of the Dutch, or to shipwreck. But in case any such complaint should be carried to Espana, I am informing your Majesty of everything. I also do so that your Majesty may see to what lengths these friars go, and how necessary it is to check them, so that they may not cause similar desertions—which appear outrages, and which are so, to the disservice of your Majesty, as it takes from us the men who should attend to the royal service in the royal fleet.

While affairs were in this condition, and the archbishop refused to give me the protest or libel which was asked from him, and the judge-conservator would not desist from requesting it, as I judged that it was of service to our Lord and to your Majesty for me to interpose my authority and settle affairs, I called a meeting of the four best lawyers in Manila, among whom was the fiscal of this royal Audiencia. To that meeting I summoned the father provincial and father rector of the Society, and the judge-conservator himself. The lawyers read the opinions, over which they had studied for several days. All agreed that the judge-conservator could remove a suspension that he had imposed on the archbishop as a means of getting the said protest or libel from him; as they said that such suspension was condemnatory. [18] For the same reason they said that he could moderate or completely abrogate the pecuniary fines. The fathers of the Society, although they were the ones offended, charitably took the archbishop's part, and favored the opinion of the lawyers, and desired that the archbishop come safely out of the affair. The judge-conservator alone was somewhat harsh, and appeared to agree to nothing of this. But I asked, entreated, and persuaded him, so that he had to agree to it and absolve the archbishop from everything. Thus was the affair completely ended, on January twenty-eight. I went in my coach and took the archbishop to his cathedral. A huge crowd of people assembled there, and there was much rejoicing in the community because of the conclusion of those suits, and because it is believed that your Majesty will consider it well done and to your royal service. However, I am ever on the watch for new disturbances, as the archbishop is naturally inclined to such. Sire, I do not know that the prelates who are clamoring at Madrid are the ones needed here in these islands. Not even for this archbishopric is it advisable that the archbishop be a religious; but he should be some learned secular of exemplary life—one of the many whom your Majesty has in your kingdoms. And I say the same also even for the other bishopries, in so far as that might be possible. For the harmony that should reign in these islands, it is of the highest importance that the prelates be seculars instead of friars; for these latter side with the others and throw everything into confusion, and oppose the governor to the best of their ability. With secular prelates, things will go better, and great harmony will reign. I have reported these litigations so minutely that your Majesty may know the exact truth—if any of the parties should write or go there, and try to deviate from the truth in their relation. May our Lord preserve your Majesty's royal person, as is necessary to Christendom. Manila, the last of June, 1636. Sire, your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera

[The present document is accompanied by the following documents:]

[The act enacted against the Society of Jesus by the archbishop and orders on October 9, 1635, q.v. Vol. XXV, pp. 216-219 (and the notarial attestations, ante, pp. 72, 73); the letter from the governor to Pedro de Monroy, of October 8, 1635, q.v., Vol. XXV, pp. 207-208; the reply of the provisor, q.v., ut supra, pp. 209-210; the letter from the archbishop to the governor, October 9, 1635, q.v., ut supra, p. 221; the governor's reply to the archbishop, q.v., ut supra, pp. 221-223 (followed here by notarial attestation of the present copy, made at Cavite, June 26, 1636).]

Don Felipe, by the grace of God, king of Castilla, Leon, Aragon, the two Cicilias, Jerusalem, Portugal, Navarra, Granada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, Mallorca, Sevilla, Cerdena, Cordoba, Corcega, Murcia, Jaen, the Algarbes, Algeciras, Gibraltar, the Canarias Islands, the East and West Indias, the islands and mainland of the Ocean Sea; archduke of Austria: duke of Borgona, Bramonte, and Milan; count of Axpurg, Flandes, Tirol, Barcelona, Vizcaya, and Molina, etc.: Inasmuch as Don Pedro de Monrroy proceeded, when provisor of the archbishopric of Manila, against Licentiate Don Francisco de Saavedra Valderrama, auditor of my royal Audiencia and Chancilleria established in the city of Manila, of my Filipinas Islands, on the ground that he had taken the notary, De Vega [i.e., Diego?] Soto from the church, where he had taken refuge because of the criminal suit that was being prosecuted against him for the falsehoods and theft with which he is charged in regard to the silver lacking in the wreck of the ship "Sant Nicolas de Tolentino" (he being the notary of that ship), it was ordered that he be restored to the church under penalty of certain fines and censures. Notwithstanding that he appealed in due time and form, and threatened the royal aid against fuerza, and Licentiate Marcos Zapata de Galvez, my fiscal in the said Audiencia (who took part in the cause because of what pertains to my royal jurisdiction), did the same, the person aforesaid [i.e., Pedro de Monroy] continued to prosecute the said suit, with greater penalties and censures. Therefore, the said my fiscal presented himself in the said my Audiencia in the said appeal from fuerza. Having examined the acts in the matter, it was decreed by an act, on the seventh of the present month and year of the date of this my letter, that the said provisor was declared to have employed fuerza, and he was ordered to recall and repeal his acts; and the aforesaid [provisor] must freely allow the said appeals before the superior judge, who should annul all that had been done and enacted in prejudice of those appeals. He was to raise and remove the censures and interdicts which had been laid, and absolve those who had been excommunicated. Although he ought, in accordance with law, to obey and observe the tenor of the aforesaid decree, not only did he not do so, but on the contrary, adding fuerza to fuerza, he excommunicated Auditor Don Alvaro de Mesa y Lugo, auditor of the said my Audiencia, with new fines and censures. Therefore, at the petition of the said my fiscal, my first and second letters were issued and despatched by the said my Audiencia as royal decrees, ordering that the tenor of the said act should be observed and kept, under penalty of a fine of two thousand Castilian ducados and deprivation of the temporalities, and of being exiled from my kingdoms. Although he was notified, he always remained rebellious and obstinate against fulfilling it. Therefore, it was declared by a third letter and royal decree, which was issued and despatched on the eighth of the said month and year, that he had incurred the said fine of the two thousand Castilian ducados, exile from my kingdoms, deprivation from all the temporalities that he possesses and enjoys, and exclusion from them. As the said Don Pedro de Monrroy has absented and hidden himself, its execution has not been entirely carried out in regard to expelling him from the country. It is advisable to make the necessary efforts, both that the aforesaid decree may be made public in the said city, and that what has been enacted may be executed. Therefore, the matter having been examined by the president and auditors in the said my royal Audiencia, it was resolved that I ought to order this my letter and royal decree to be issued. By it I order and command that it be proclaimed publicly in the city of Manila, in its public places, that all its citizens, residents, and inhabitants shall consider the said Don Pedro de Monrroy as exiled from my kingdoms; and, as such, that they treat him both in regard to any offices or dignities in which he may be serving, and in all other things regulated by law, as a rebel to my royal mandates; and they shall not receive or conceal him in their houses, or in any other place, nor shall they aid or protect him, so that he may be hidden—under penalty of a fine of two thousand Castilian ducados for my royal-exchequer, to which I shall consider as immediately condemned whomsoever shall do the contrary. Further, they shall be proceeded against by the whole rigor of the law, as against receivers and concealers of persons exiled from my kingdoms, and declared as such. I request and charge the superiors of the orders of this city, and outside the city, and other ecclesiastical person not to admit him into the city under any consideration, with warning that I shall consider myself disserved if such be done, and if more can be done in law, it is ordered to be provided as the most advisable remedy, inasmuch as it is thus fitting for my service, and my authority, protection, defense, and the conservation of my royal jurisdiction. Given at Manila, September twenty-five, one thousand six hundred and twenty-three.

Don Alonso Faxardo de Tenza Doctor Don Alvaro de Mesa y Lugo Licentiate Don Juan de Saavedra Valderrama

I, Pedro Munoz de Herrera, who exercise the office of notary of the assembly of the royal Audiencia and Chancilleria of these Filipinas Islands, caused this to be written by order of the king our sovereign, by the resolution of the president and auditors of that body.

Don Juan Sarmiento Chancellor of Don Juan Sarmiento [19]

This copy is collated with the original royal decree, which is in the possession of Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, governor and captain-general of these Philipinas Islands. By order of his Lordship, I drew this copy at Manila, October seventeen, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five. Witnesses, Simon Delgado and the accountant, Juan Bautista de Zubiaga. In testimony of truth, I sealed and signed it.

Andres Martin de Arroyo, notary of the royal crown.

We, the undersigned notaries of the king our sovereign, attest that Andres Martin del Arroyo, by whom this copy appears to be sealed and signed, is such royal notary as he has called himself therein. To the writings and acts that have passed, and pass, before him, entire credit has been and is given, in and out of court. So that this may appear, we affix our signatures. Given at Manila, June eighteen, one thousand six hundred and thirty-six.

Augustin de Valenzuela, notary-public. Francisco de Rueda, royal notary. Sebastian Damas, notary of the assembly.

[The act of the commissary of the Inquisition, dated November 26, 1635, presented to the governor and concerning the libelous protest issued by the archbishop and religious (q.v., Vol. XXV, pp. 243-244); and the records of the trial and acquittal of Francisco de Rivera q.v., ante, pp. 73-86, taken in part from the present document) follow.]

Act, and head of the process for Captain Juan Dominguez, the pilot. In the port of Cavite, December twenty-two, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, General Don Andres Pacheco de Tholedo, lieutenant-governor and captain-general, castellan and chief justice in this said fort for his Majesty, declared that inasmuch as it has come to his notice that Captain Juan Dominguez, who is captain of a company of marine infantry and pilot-in-chief of these islands, has attempted to absent himself from them, and to go in a champan to the kingdoms of Castilla by way of Yndia, without permission of the governor, of all which the said judge has been advised by certain papers without signature that were given to him, and by other circumstantial evidence that he has had: In order that the said crime may be punished, in accordance with the military ordinances, he ordered that an official investigation be made by the department of royal justice, according to military usage and procedure, and that the witnesses be examined in accordance with the tenor of this act and head of the process. Thus did he enact, and he affixed his signature.

Don Andres Pacheco de Tholedo

Before me: Agustin de Balencuela, notary-public.

Testimony. In the port of Cavite, December twenty-two, one thousand six-hundred and thirty-five, the said judge summoned before him, for the said investigation, the chief gunner, Daniel Alvarez, an inhabitant of this said port. The oath was taken from him in due form of law, before God our Lord and with the sign of the cross, under which obligation he promised to tell the truth. Being questioned according to the tenor of the act and the head of the process, of this other part, this witness declared that he knows Captain Juan Dominguez, and that what he knows and what occurred is as follows: About twenty days or so ago, Bartolome Martin, an artilleryman, and both a countryman and a friend of this witness, said that Captain Juan Dominguez had communicated with him, and asked him whether he would like to go to Espana by way of Yndia; and, if so, that he would take him also; for he, together with ten or twelve others who were sailors, was going to take a friar of St. Dominic to Yndia. The latter was going to take papers and despatches from the archbishop and the orders in the city of Manila; and they were giving the said Juan Dominguez four thousand pesos for this enterprise. The said Bartolome Martin replied to him: "Captain Juan Dominguez, I am equipped to go to Terrenate, to serve in my post as artilleryman under General Don Guillermo Somante. On my return from the voyage, I think that I shall go to Espana, the same way by which I came. Therefore, I do not care to go." This is what this witness knows, and what he has heard. It is the truth, under obligation of the oath that he has taken, by which he affirmed and ratified it. He declared that he was competent to act as a witness, and that he is forty years old. He affixed his signature, and the said judge signed it.

Daniel Alvarez

[A rubric, apparently that of the said judge, is at the foot.]

Before me: Agustin de Valencuela, notary-public.

Then the said judge immediately summoned Bartolome Martin, an artilleryman, to appear before him for the said investigation, on the said day, month, and year. From him was taken an oath in due form of law before God and with the sign of the cross, under which obligation he promised to tell the truth. Being questioned in accordance with the said act and head of the process, this witness declared that he knows Captain Juan Dominguez; and that about twenty days or so ago, he called to this witness and told him to come to see him, as he had some business to talk over with him. Thereupon this witness went to his house that night, and found him there with Christobal Romero and other persons. This witness waited until they had gone, and then asked the said captain what he wished from him. He replied that he had made arrangements with the fathers of St. Domingo and some other persons (whose names he did not declare) to go in a champan from here to Malaca, and from Malaca to Goa, in order to take some letters from the archbishop and orders of the city of Manila to Espana, written against the governor and captain-general of these islands about the affairs of the judge-conservator. He was to take two friars of St. Domingo in the said champan, who were giving him more than four thousand pesos for that enterprise. He asked the witness whether he did not wish to leave so wretched a country, since the governor was acting so harshly toward the men of his calling, whose wages he had cut down. This witness answered that he did not wish to go with him; and that he was not a deserter, nor in debt, nor was there anything else that should lead him to absent himself. He said that he was now about to go to Terrenate, and that opportunity would not be lacking for him to go to Espana on his return; and then he would not have to go secretly and at such a risk, which might cost him dear. And he went to recount the occurrence, just as it had happened, to the chief gunner Daniel Alvarez (who cites him in his deposition), as they are friends. This is what occurred and is the truth, on the oath that he has taken, on which he affirmed and ratified it. He said that he was competent to act as a witness, and that he is thirty-one years old. He affixed his signature, and the said judge signed it.

Bartolome Martin

[The rubric of the said judge appears at the foot.]

Before me: Agustin de Valencuela, notary-public.

Then immediately on the said day, month, and year, the said judge summoned Jose Martin de Barcelona before him for the said investigation. An oath was received from him in due form of law, before God our Lord and with the sign of the cross, under which obligation he promised to tell the truth. Being questioned in accordance with the tenor of the said act, he declared that he knows the said captain Juan Dominguez; and although it is true that this witness stated that the said captain Juan Dominguez was not to go to Terrenate, he did not say that because he thought that he was going to Yndia, but because it was reported that the royal officials were going to arrest him for a sum of pesos which he owes to the royal treasury. He understands or knows nothing else than what he has declared, and that is the truth, on his oath, on which he affirmed and ratified his statements. He declared that he is competent to act as a witness, and that he is forty-four years old. He affixed his signature to the same, and the said judge signed it.

Jose Martin de Barcelona

[A rubric is seen at the bottom, which is that generally used by the said judge.]

Before me: Agustin de Valencuela, notary-public.

Thereupon, immediately on the said day, month, and year, the said judge summoned Cosme Chacon, an artilleryman, before him for the said investigation. An oath was taken from him in due form of law, before God our Lord and with the sign of the cross, under which obligation he promised to tell the truth. Being questioned according to the tenor of the said act and the head of the process, he declared that what he knows is, that it was said publicly and openly in that port, four or five days ago, or thereabout, that certain persons of the port had told the said judge that Captain Juan Dominguez was trying to absent himself and go to Espana by way of Yndia, for which they had given the judge a letter. This witness has spoken about this same matter, and has no further information than what he has given. He was asked by the said judge whether, some four or five days ago, when the chief gunner of the fort at this port arrested him because he would not attend to the duties of his post, the witness said that the chief gunner's command over him would soon end. He declared that the words contained in the above question are true, but that his meaning in saying them was that his post of artilleryman would soon be exchanged for that of soldier (which is the employment that this witness professes), and that he made the aforesaid remark with no other meaning. This is his answer, and he declared that it is entirely true, on his oath, by which he affirmed and ratified his statement. He declared that he is competent to act as a witness; that he is twenty-seven years old; and that he does not know how to sign the above. The said judge signed it. [At the foot appears the rubric of the judge.]

Agustin de Valencuela, notary-public.

Collated with the original, which is in the archives of my office, and I refer to it. At the order of General Don Andres Pacheco de Toledo, lieutenant-governor and captain-general, castellan, commandant and justice of this port, I give the present in Cavite, April twenty-five, one thousand six hundred and thirty-six. Witnesses, Agustin de Carranca, Christobal de Molina, and Captain Juan Despinosa. In testimony of the truth, I seal it.

Agustin de Valencuela, notary-public.



Letter written by Bartolome Dominguez to Juan Romero

Dear comrade:

I trust that this letter will find your Grace in the enjoyment of as good health as I wish for myself. Mine is good, and at your Grace's service. In regard to my return, your Grace must know that, when I parted from your Grace in Manila, I did not have any such thought; nor did I know of it until I reached Cavite, when Estacio talked with me. Seeing myself so out of favor and my brother dead, I resolved to return, on account of those changes. We went in a small champan—ten men and one friar—to a distance eight leguas from Maribeles. There we found a large champan and two religious. We all embarked, and went to a district belonging to the fathers, to deck the champan over. We have provisions for two years; powder and balls, muskets, and two small pieces of bronze artillery [esmeriles]. They give each of us three hundred pesos and our expenses to Espana. Esteves has your Grace's new doublet; and your Grace can get it [from him]. Francisco Cachata owes [me] three pesos and Bartolo two—all to be used in saying masses for my brother. Juan de Palacios owes me four pesos, which he may spend in his mess; and my silver spoon and mirror. Will your Grace get them? and they are to be used in saying masses for my brother. Will your Grace tell him that if he shall bring any cloth, he must do his best for his soul. The three mantas of Pedro Castaneda must be paid for, according to what is right. Tell Senora Juana that I beg her pardon for not having gone to say goodbye to her uncle and aunt, and give her my regards. And will your Grace tell Captain Juan Dominguez, when he comes from Terrenate, that I send him my regards. Now I shall say nothing further except that may God preserve your Grace for many years, and take you to your home; and, if I reach there first, I shall say that you are well. Given on this new year's. From your Grace's comrade,

Bartolome Dominguez

The address of this letter reads: "To my comrade, Juan Romero (may our Lord preserve him!) at the house of Juana Munoz, next to the Society, Cavite."

Collated with the copy of the report and letter which are in possession of Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera y Mendoca. At the order of his Lordship I drew this copy, which is a true and faithful copy. Witnesses at its copying, correction, and collation were the accountant Juan Bautista de Cubiaga, Agustin de Reguen, and Juan de Palma, who were present. In testimony of truth, I sealed and signed it.

Andres Martin de Arroyo, royal notary.

[The notarial attestation of the validity of documents drawn up before the above notary, dated Manila, May 8, 1636, and signed by Agustin de Valencuela, Alfonso Baeza del Rio, and Francisco de la Torre, follows.] [20]

[In the margin: "That during the eleven months while he has been in that government he has done no other thing than to establish the royal jurisdiction and patronage, and subdue the religious to [understand] that his Majesty is their natural seignior and the seignior of those islands; and he relates the mischievous proceedings of the religious of St. Francis, St. Augustine, and St. Dominic."]

Sire:

One would believe that your Majesty (may God preserve you) has sent me not to govern your Filipinas Islands, but to conquer them from the religious of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Augustine; for in the eleven months since my arrival here, I have had no other thing to do than to establish the jurisdiction of your Majesty and your royal patronage, and to subdue the said religious to the understanding that your Majesty alone is their natural seignior, as well as the seignior of the said islands. And hitherto they have succeeded in and obtained whatever they desired, either because they have governed the governors, or the governor through fear of their so insolent preaching, or on account of their demands and threats, has never refused them anything. And if, in the course of the year, they have resorted to these measures at the time of the despatch of the galleons to Nueva Espana, the governors have granted their petitions, just or unjust—either that the religious might write well of their government, or so that they might not write ill of it. I am convinced that they will always write ill of me, because I am ever striving to regulate the service of God and that of your Majesty. As that is a labor in which both services may be free from self-interest and worldly ends, I shall not resent that they write to your Majesty whatever they like; for, since you are so just and so Catholic a sovereign, I cannot believe or expect that you will condemn me without a hearing. Therefore I petition your Majesty to be pleased to have your secretaries send a copy of my letters to your vassals, both regular ecclesiastics and seculars, of what I shall write concerning them; for they will find therein no deceit or falsehood (and it is impossible to deceive God and one's natural sovereign). Also they will find neither hate, love, nor passion, but only kind desires for correcting the faults of my neighbors, and those of the subjects of your Majesty whom you have given to me by your favor, so that I might maintain peace and justice among them, and keep them in the fear of God and that of your royal person. I also petition your Majesty to be pleased to have the said secretaries send me the letters, or copies of the letters, that they shall write, so that we may, on both sides, verify the truth here, and, having verified it, advise your Majesty.

[In the margin: "That the Order of St. Dominic generally opposes the government, while that of St. Francis has given great scandal to those islands, by the provincial chapter that was held."]

The Order of St. Dominic has grown old in opposing the government for many years. The Order of St. Francis has opposed it from the time of the provincial chapter held by a commissary, Fray Juan de Gabiria, an Observantine, in which he deprived the discalced fathers of all the definitorships, elected Observantine provincial and guardians, and removed the discalced provincial; and against the will of your Majesty and your royal decrees tried to convert the discalced fathers into Observantines, under the protection of Don Juan Cereco Salamanca. Because he removed a guardian of Manila, Fray Jose Forte, for causes which the ex-provincial ought to have discovered, this order caused the greatest scandal in the community that has been seen here. As it did not happen in my time, I am only obliged to inform your Majesty of it, but not of the disorders committed. [Decreed in the margin: "In the Council, December 12, 1637. That the secretary request the commissary-general of the Indias to report what happened in this matter. Let examination be made to discover whether there are any papers or letters that concern this matter."]

[In the margin: "The provincials of St. Francis, past and present, are coming to relate what they have done."]

I have decreed that the provincials, past and present, and the commissary himself, go to report to your Majesty and to their superiors what they have done; and your Majesty will there give orders as to which they must be—discalced, as hitherto, or Observantines. [Decreed in the margin: "See above. If these religious come, have this section brought."]

[In the margin: "That the Order of St. Augustine is in need of reform; he mentions the causes for it."]

The Order of St. Augustine—of the Recollects, in particular (although they came here, Sire, to reform the others), it is seen and understood, have as great need of reformation as the first—refused to obey his Holiness or your Majesty's decrees. In regard to the alternation [21] that the creoles asked, various remarks are made on this matter, and the blame is cast on Don Juan Cereco de Salamanca. This order recognize the injury and injustice that they are doing to the creoles, and they know that I am not ignorant of any defects and imperfections, however serious. They have recognized in me that I shall not distort justice for anyone, and they have consequently composed themselves—quite early desisting from counseling the archbishop as the others did, and being reconciled, and returning to unite with the Order of the Society, withdrawing from the union which they and the other orders had formed against those fathers. Their present provincial is a discreet, honorable, and upright man, so that the order is better regulated. The most efficient remedy that your Majesty can adopt is, not to grant them any more religious for eight years, or permission to them to travel; for besides the fact that there are many of them here, and so many do not die as are reported to your Majesty, last year there came with your Majesty's permission sixteen or eighteen of the Order of St. Augustine, and thus was spent by your Majesty as many thousands of pesos. They brought still more, as many as twenty-eight—either with the money that was left over (for your Majesty gives them too large a sum), or with the money sent them by their order from here. And, as they are contented with nothing, where one religious formerly served there are now two or three; and where two served, there are now four or five. I will tell your Majesty the troubles and disadvantages arising from this condition of affairs: the first is, to oppose the alcalde-mayor and your Majesty's justice in every way; the second, to cause more instruction, so that your Majesty may spend more in stipends, which they have obtained from the government, by the requests and presents that they have made to my predecessors; the third, to make greater slaves of the poor Indians by being the merchants of their rice and cloth, taking by force from them, at the price that they choose, whatever the Indians possess; and fourth, when an assessment [repartimiento] of rice, linen, wine, and other things is made for your Majesty's magazines, and for your royal service, they offer opposition not only to the alcalde-mayor, but also to the government, bewailing the poverty of the Indians—so that the latter may have more left of which these religious can skin and deprive them. These missionaries, Sire, do not undertake only the teaching of the doctrines and the administration of the sacraments; but they are attempting to rule everything. They tell the Indians, publicly and privately, that there is no other king or pope than themselves; and they make their fiscals give to an Indian, and even to his wife, fifty lashes for any childish or foolish act. I shall be satisfied if your Majesty's name has the fourth part of the sovereignty and lordship that these fathers have among these Indians. Sometimes they tell the alcaldes-mayor that their provincials in Manila, and they in the missions, ought to be obeyed. The above and many other lawless acts which I have discovered here among these orders have made me disconsolate; and I confess to your Majesty that I would serve you more willingly in any of your armies as a soldier than here as governor. If your Majesty do not have the goodness to have this effectively remedied, this colony will go to ruin, because of the multitude of allied friars. The ecclesiastical cabildo and the Society of Jesus recognize your Majesty as sovereign, and obey you, and at the same time prove by all their actions their love for your service—for all of which your Majesty can honor them and show them favor, if you are so minded. [Decreed in the margin: "Let the governor cause to be exactly observed, the alternation which does not allow that there be more religious in any mission district than those who shall be necessary for it according to the royal patronage. Let the others occupy themselves in instruction and in preaching, for which they were sent. Let no more religious be given them for the period mentioned by the governor. If they are asked for, let a report of this letter be made."]

[In the margin: "That bishops should be sent to those islands who are secular priests, but not friars, because of the troubles that arise from their uniting with the orders and opposing the governor; and he asks that the presiding archbishop be sent a coadjutor, as he is now very old and incapacitated."]

Most of the ministers of instruction think only of acquiring and amassing money, in order thereby to solicit your Majesty in that court to give them these bishoprics. Surely, your Majesty is not well served thereby; and you should send a secular bishop, or at least an archbishop, so that the religious should not unite with him to oppose your Majesty's governors. And, if it please you, will you send a coadjutor for Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, archbishop of these islands, who is now so old that he is past eighty years of age, and his hands and head shake. Leaving his lack of learning out of the question, your Majesty can consider what the [ecclesiastical] government will be by having peace. In order that your Majesty may establish a thing so to your service, I will give that coadjutor two thousand pesos annually from my own salary. If he should assume the archbishopric during my term, I shall arrange so as to leave that sum to him as an income, besides the four thousand pesos that the archbishop receives—so that the two thousand may not be paid from your Majesty's royal treasury, from your royal incomes, or from those of your vassals. By that means the archbishopric will have an income of more than six thousand pesos, and its incumbent can get along excellently on that. Will your Majesty kindly send such a coadjutor for the succor of these islands and the consolation and protection of the clergy, from among the so many virtuous and erudite and moral seculars in that royal court. Should such an archbishop have a bishop in partibus, in order to go to confirm and to visit, your Majesty can very well dispense with the three other bishops of Cibu, Nueva Segovia, and Camarines, for they are in fact of but little use and service in their bishoprics. [Decreed in the margin: "Touching the matter that the archbishopric be given to a secular, when that post falls vacant, let this section be referred to. In regard to giving a coadjutor to the archbishop, have his letters collected, and what other letters treat of his health, age, capacity, and method of procedure. The secretary, Don Gabriel de Ocana y Alarcon, shall make a secret investigation of what occurs in this matter. In regard to the offer of the two thousand pesos which the governor offers from his salary, no steps will be taken at present; but have the governor notified to explain the means by which the sum that he mentions can be obtained without detriment to the royal treasury or to his Majesty's vassals, so that if it be a measure proper to adopt, it may be carried out. In regard to abolishing those bishoprics, let there be brought, for the better settlement of the matter, a report of the data concerning their erection, their respective distances [from Manila], and whatever else concerns this matter, and of what shall be found in the secretary's office."]

[In the margin: "That the orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis have sent more religious than those granted to them."]

The Order of St. Dominic having been granted sixteen religious by your Majesty, at a cost of a like number of thousands of pesos, brought twenty-six in all, at a cost of as many thousands of pesos. The Order of St. Francis brought sixteen, although your Majesty granted them twelve. Thus, Sire, your Majesty spent forty-eight thousand pesos in bringing those seventy religious, and established nearly as many rivals to your governor, in order that they might oppose him in everything. The diocesan authorities of Camarines have given me a memorandum, to the effect that in that bishopric alone six stipends can be saved, and a like number of guardianias, as they are very near one another, and two can be administered as one. The religious do not deserve this, but, although there may be thirty Indians in one district, and another district lies but one-half or three-quarters of a legua away, they want another mission; and as I say, they are rarely willing to live alone. Their prelates foster such ideas by saying that the lax conduct of one is avoided by giving him an associate. Happy would I count myself, Sire, if I could see myself at your Majesty's feet, informing you of part of what takes place here, since I could not do so entirely. [Decreed in the margin: "In regard to this section and the following ones, let the governor be answered not to consent to the erection of new missions that are not according to the royal patronage; and let him try, with the consent of the archbishop, to unite some with others. In those which shall be newly established, he shall also endeavor to introduce secular clergy, if he find them capable and sufficient. And whenever anyone shall again discuss the question whether it is advisable to deprive the religious of the missions and appoint seculars to them, reference shall be made to this section."]

[In the margin: "That the orders can obtain religious from those in Mexico, or creoles, without going to so great expense as to convey them from Espana."]

It also appears that these orders can obtain religious from Mexico, without causing so great expense to your Majesty's treasury—creoles, or at least those who have gone thither from Espana, who are more habituated to a hot climate, and will not enter suddenly so great a change of climate as that of these islands; and even were there none of this change, it would be well for them. Your Majesty ought also, in justice, to favor the ecclesiastical estate, so that, if there are benefices and missions, these may be given to it. For almost all such are in the possession of the religious; and the seculars who are now studying in the colleges, from whose number some very good candidates graduate, have nothing to which to aspire. It is a shame that there is nothing in which to occupy them. They do not cause any expense to your Majesty in a journey hither, nor in their studies, and are more easily reduced to reason; while the friar is one with his community, and no one denies that the religious outside his convent would die as a fish out of water. I entreat your Majesty to be pleased to believe me that I do not inform you of all these things from hate, passion, or ill-will; but only from my desire that your Majesty's service may be uppermost. Your Majesty will never have a true report concerning these islands, if your disinterested governors do not give it—for which reason, since this country is so far away, no relief can he furnished in matters that need it so greatly. For my part, I shall ever endeavor to comply with the obligations under which your Majesty has placed me, together with those which I have as a Christian, and those which I owe to my lineage. I shall do my uttermost, and that will be something; but if your Majesty will aid me by means of some ordinances and mandates, there will remain nothing for me to do. May our Lord preserve your Majesty's Catholic person, as is necessary to Christendom. Manila, the last of June, 1636. Sire, your Majesty's vassal kisses your feet,

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera [22]

[Endorsed: "Read and decreed within. December 12, 637."]

Sire:

The Order of St. Dominic and the other orders having so disturbed me and the community with the affairs of the archbishop, Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, as I have related to your Majesty in other letters, Fray Diego Collado, who brought twenty-six religious of the said Order of St. Dominic last year with your Majesty's order and permission, presented to me certain letters from his general. He says that he presented them in the royal Council of the Indias, who ordered that these be returned to him, granting him the said permission to bring the religious; although it appears that it was under the leadership of another, the nephew of the said Fray Diego Collado, as the latter was sick. I consulted as to the matter with the Audiencia, and with other learned men. In accordance with their opinions (which I have in writing), although I have no decree from your Majesty ordering me to help him, I did aid him, at his petition, so that the provincial of this province should obey the letters of his general. In those letters the general orders, under penalty of major excommunication, that the provincial should deliver the government of five houses and one hospital of the Chinese to the said Fray Diego Collado, without making any excuse or delay, so that he might form therewith a separate congregation for the purpose of the propagation of the faith. [23] Having, as I declare to your Majesty, consulted on and examined the matter, and as this division cannot harm your Majesty or the royal patronage, I deemed it advisable to grant him the aid in accordance with the opinions aforesaid. Those fathers, therefore, divided into two bodies, and the moods and restlessness in which they were keeping the said archbishop subsided, and in fact have died away; and they are allowing me to live and govern in peace. Until now, I have been unable to have peace during these ten months, by whatever means I have sought and striven. May God grant that it last, and that those fathers content themselves with governing within their gates, and do not endeavor to govern and manage your Majesty's governors—which they attempted to do the second or third day after I was received as such in these islands. One Fray Sebastian de Oquendo, a restless and impudent friar, and extravagant in his speech, came to give me his opinion, and to counsel me as to what persons were suitable for alcaldes-mayor and captains of the districts where those religious have their missions—praising some, and speaking evil of others; and endeavoring to make me believe that what he told me was the only thing that was advisable for your Majesty's service. He continued to do that twice more within one week, until I asked him who had told him that I needed his counsel and opinion to execute and carry out your Majesty's service, which was in my charge. Thereupon, he talked no more to me, but he has spoken evil things of the government in the pulpit at various times—and so scandalously that it obliged the Audiencia and its president to request his superior to cause him to leave the city for a season, together with Fray Francisco de Paula, another restless preacher, and a disturber of the peace and quiet and of the minds of your Majesty's vassals. The superior refused to accede to this request; accordingly, those fathers are always overbold and impudent in the pulpits. Unless your Majesty have the goodness to command that this be corrected, those of the province and those of this new congregation will have recourse to your Majesty, in order to lodge their complaints—those of the province declaring that your Majesty's patronage is not being observed, and that the aid given to Fray Diego de Collado is contrary to the royal patronage. This is the first time that has been seen in these islands, that the friars have defended the royal patronage, for they are through and through opposed to the said royal patronage. If your Majesty would be pleased to see it quite plainly, the royal patronage rules that the provincials shall propose two or three persons as priors and guardians, and that the government, representing your Majesty, shall appoint one of these. By decrees sent to my predecessor, Don Juan Nino de Tabora, in the year twenty-nine, your Majesty once more ordered that this be ordained by your royal Council of the Indias. But, notwithstanding what pertains to the patronage and what your Majesty orders, the religious have refused to do this, or to obey you. They offer certain cool excuses, and, although they see that that decree is executed in Piru and Nueva Espana, they refuse to obey in anything which pertains to the patronage, and which your Majesty orders by a special decree, unless it suits them very well to obey it. And since your Majesty has now sent an obedient governor, and one who does what he is ordered, he is the most evil man in all the world; and they parade him in their pulpits, attempting to ascertain and publish what belongs to God alone alone—[asking] whether the continence of the governor and his endeavor not to furnish a bad example, is the virtue of chastity, or the fault of nature. These things, Sire, are taught here in the pulpits by the Dominican friars. The guardian of St. Francis said publicly in the pulpit of the cathedral church (because the computer of accounts had presented an account against him) that he would show a balance due against the king of Espana—talking in this so discourteous manner of his natural lord, as if he were English, French, or of any other nation; and charging your Majesty with the fact that Fray Francisco Jimenez had gained Oran for you, and that another Franciscan friar had quieted and pacified Nueva Espana. From these things, he drew up results against your Majesty in the pulpit. He said of the accountant, Juan Bautista de Cubiaga, a Vizcayan (who is so well known that no one can be ignorant of his birth, and of the great fidelity and disinterestedness with which he serves your Majesty), that he was a Gascon devil, besides other very insolent words—although the said friar is a Mallorcan or a native of Cerdena [i.e., Sardinia], which one could presume to be a more barbarous place than Espana. This is preached in the pulpits, and is winked at; for these religious are exciting and stirring up the community at any opportunity, and in order to avoid scandals, the mildest course possible is being taken. These religious, Sire, are very numerous, and must be trying to excite all these islands. They show humility only when the hostile Indians go to sack their missions; and then they come to ask for soldiers, and to set forth many things in favor of the honor of God, and the service of your Majesty. For both, with all humility I entreat your Majesty to be pleased to order these excesses to be corrected, or to give me orders for what I am to do in like cases.

Will your Majesty command that the question be considered whether it will suit your Majesty to order the approval of what has been done, or to take such action as may be most expedient for your royal service—on account of the advantages arising from the separation of this Order of St. Dominic into two factions, and for that reason, their becoming subject to your Majesty's orders. I shall obey you with my breast to the earth, as I ought to do, and as I have done for twenty-six years past. May our Lord preserve your Majesty's Catholic person, as is necessary to Christendom. Manila, the last of June, 1636. Sire, your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera

Sire:

Six months before my arrival here, the fathers of St. Francis had held a chapter. It was illegal, without question. Fray Francisco de Gabiria, an Observantine friar, came to them as visitor. He began his commission and visit by depriving all the definitors of the province of their offices, and appointed new definitors from the Observantine friars and others who took the habit in this country and belong to the Observantine faction. He continued [this course] by removing the guardians and appointing others who belonged to his following, until they had more than sufficient votes to hold a chapter. The commissary-visitor took the opportunity to do all this, because the legitimate definitors had deprived a friar, one Jose Fonte, of his guardiania. That religious was guardian of the convent of Manila, and a prime favorite of Don Juan Cereco, former governor ad interim. The legal definitors deprived him of the guardiania. Upon the coming of the father commissary, Fray Jose Fonte complained and requested his guardiania, although the matter had no appeal. The said Don Juan Cereco also lodged a complaint, because his favorite and adviser had been deprived of his guardiania. The commissary, who saw that the occasion was so opportune for his purposes, overrode the province and body of definitors, and on account of the above, deprived the high officials [of his order] of their offices. Sire, nothing is hidden from us in this land. In this case, one might tell your Majesty many things, but I shall relate only two. First, the father commissary offered to the father provincial and his definitors one of the greatest insults that have been known in your Majesty's kingdoms. For Fray Jose Fonte, as is the general opinion of the community, is a rather free-and-easy religious; and the reason why the father provincial deprived him of his guardiania—although he had, as was true, the said Don Juan Cereco so strongly on his side—was doubtless because his mode of life and his government of the convent were such that he could under no consideration be endured. Your Majesty can have no doubt of this, for it is proved beyond question by the loud murmuring of the community at the lack of devotion displayed by that religious. Therefore, your Majesty will reflect whether the removal of a provincial and the whole body of definitors, in order to reinstate this man, is an affront worthy of consideration. Second, I assert that his chapter was illegal, and that beyond question; for the father commissary-general, Fray Francisco de Ocana, sent a very necessary letter of obedience throughout the provinces of the Indias, which has, among its other sections, one of the following tenor:

"Item: We ordain that the fathers commissaries-general and the fathers commissaries-visitors shall render sentences in the causes and processes that shall be brought to trial [i.e., in the tribunals of the order], one week before the provincial chapters; and on the actual day of the chapter-meeting these shall be pronounced and made known, in the manner generally used by the order—so that the matter may be apparent to those members capable of voting who assemble from the said province; and so that the electors in the chapter may enjoy the liberty that is proper. Whatever shall be done in any other manner, now and henceforth, we annul and revoke it."

The father commissary-visitor sentenced and deprived of their offices the father provincial and his definitors immediately, in the first month of his visit, and five months before the week assigned by the father commissary-general, Fray Francisco de Ocana. Therefore, since the law is so clear, and in the Romance tongue, there is scant need of lawyers to judge that the manner in which Father Gabiria performed his commission is null and void. I was informed of these things, upon my arrival at the islands, by fathers of all the orders as well as by other persons of the city. I ordered the ex-provincial to come privately and talk with me. I asked him why these orders were issued and such things done, and promised to aid him in your Majesty's name if he wished to demand his justice. He replied to me that he saw that all things were in a very lamentable condition, but that he did not dare plead anything; for very great scandals would arise, and the superiors of his order would take it ill, and severely punish those who had written and reported it Therefore, he had resolved to be patient and to await their reply. The chief end of all this [scheming] was the capitular election, and because the father-commissary was trying to obtain the government of the province; and although it was founded and continued by discalced friars, to make it Observantine. Your Majesty has ordered that no Observantine friars may come to this country, but that all who come be discalced. Beyond question, it is not at all fitting for Observantines to come; for so long as there shall be Observantine and discalced friars, there can be no peace; and most serious troubles will result, both to the order itself and to the natives under its charge. Will your Majesty be pleased to order the father commissary-general to check these proceedings, and to prevent these scandals which have occurred so often among his friars; and that he obey your Majesty's decree not to send Observantine friars. For, notwithstanding your Majesty's order, they come here clad in the habit of discalced friars; and on their arrival at the province, their sole aim is to turn it topsy-turvy.

Thinking that the troubles of this order could be obviated, I requested the provincial to send that friar, Fray Jose Fonte, to Terrenate to take charge of your Majesty's hospital there (a post so honorable that the provincial himself exercised it before being provincial)—in order to get him away from here, and prevent the discalced religious from being ill treated and from being afflicted in mind; and so that the provincial could better discharge the duties of his government and denounce the invalid acts that had been committed. Although I told the provincial that it was advisable for your Majesty's service to have that religious leave here, for which I would be answerable to him, he refused to do so, excusing him as being a definitor. And although I told the provincial that, since he could not obey what was suggested to him in your Majesty's name as fitting to your service, no other religious nor any supplies of his would go to Terrenate in your Majesty's galleons, he gave himself no concern about it. Those friars, as I have written your Majesty in other letters, do not reckon themselves your vassals, and do not think that they have to obey you as such. Consequently, it is advisable, as your Majesty can do so, to have the matter examined, so that a suitable remedy may be applied. May our Lord preserve your Majesty's Catholic person, as is necessary to Christendom. Manila, the last of June, 1636. Sire, your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera

[Endorsed: "December 22, 637. Have the father commissary-general investigate the points of this letter, and file what he reports with the letters treating of this matter and the orders of the Council, and take all to the fiscal."

"The fiscal declares that the decrees and orders issued in regard to this matter must, as was ordered by the Council, be filed with this letter and the report of the father commissary-general. That done, let it all be delivered to him, so that he may answer. Madrid, July first, 638."

"No other papers than those which are brought are found in the secretary's office treating of this matter, or of what the governor says."

"The fiscal declares that the royal decrees and orders concerning this matter should be commanded to be observed, and that the father provincial of this order be commanded to apply the necessary correction so that these scandals may cease, and that information must be given to the Council of what shall be done—endeavoring to see to it that there are no scandals or excesses, which are a great injury to souls. Madrid, December 9, 1638."

"December 10, 638. Let the decrees that have been issued regarding this matter be observed. Write to the father commissary-general that it is expected from his care and attention that he will so manage that all things may have the desirable harmony and suitable regulation. He shall advise the Council of what occurs, and of the information that is expected. Write to the governor that he have all manner of care in this matter, so that the harmony and quiet of those religious may be attained."]

Commerce

[In the margin: "[He asks] that, in addition to the permission given for the embarcation of cloth and silver, permission be given for two hundred and fifty thousand pesos more; for if they are prevented from sending more than the amount conceded, the royal treasury is defrauded out of a great sum, through the smuggling that takes place."]

Sire:

Your Majesty's orders are not obeyed strictly in the Indias, either for want of honest officials, or because your vassals would be ruined if your orders were executed strictly and to the letter. One of the most essential ordinances is that of the permission that your Majesty has been pleased to give to your vassals of these Filipinas Islands for [exporting] two hundred and fifty thousand pesos in cloth, and the provision that the proceeds therefrom shall not amount to more than five hundred thousand pesos of silver. It neither has been nor is observed; for if the officials were strict in not allowing more to be exported than your Majesty's ordinance states, then the merchants would do it privately, and as they could find means, and outside of the town; and there would be no remedy for it. The same takes place at the return of the [investment in] silver; and after that the truth could not be ascertained. This trouble can be obviated if your Majesty would be pleased to grant the vassals of these islands the favor to permit them to [send exports] of two hundred and fifty thousand pesos more. For as the people are increasing in number, and are becoming richer, they cannot be maintained, because of the very heavy expenses that vanity causes, unless they can export a greater quantity of merchandise than your Majesty has permitted them to. By that means they cheat your royal duties, and also by not paying the freight-charges in your galleons, although those payments are the backbone of your Majesty's treasury. By those funds the said islands are sustained, as are also the soldiers and sailors, and the galleons and other ordinary expenses—a great sum. I petition your Majesty to be pleased to have this matter examined in your royal Council; and to order me to execute what is most fitting for your service, as far as may be possible. But since I am but one man in this region, I have no one to aid me, and I shall not be able to carry out my wishes. Another means occurs to me, namely, for your Majesty to be pleased to grant tacit permission to your governor that, for all the goods exported over and above the amount permitted, he may strike a bargain with the said inhabitants, and oblige them to pay here all the duties and freight-charges that they would pay if such cloth were registered. This measure has one great drawback—namely, whether your Majesty can find vassals who will serve you as governors, whose consciences are so well regulated that they will serve you as is just. Therefore, Sire, I think it better, in order to obviate so great a loss as your Majesty suffers in your royal treasury, for you to be pleased to grant permission for the two hundred and fifty thousand pesos, whether to ecclesiastics or to laymen; and to order, under severe penalties of life or of loss of office in your royal service, that it be executed or observed inviolate. Account must also be rendered to your Majesty in this matter, in which there is so much corruption in all the Indias and in these islands—with flagrant violation of law, since it has obliged me to go in person to perform the duty of a royal official by lading the vessels myself, and not permitting any consignment outside the register. The governors cannot always do that personally, because of the many occupations and responsibilities imposed by government. In consequence, they are forced to entrust it to your Majesty's vassals, on whom the same penalties are laid and executed as are laid by your Majesty on your said governors. I discharge my conscience, and am awaiting the resolution that your Majesty may be pleased to take in this matter. May our Lord preserve your Catholic person in its greatness, as is necessary to Christendom. Manila, June last, one thousand six hundred and thirty-six. Sire, your Majesty's vassal kisses your feet.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera

[Endorsed: "June 17, 1638. Let there be no innovation."]

Chinese

[In the margin: "He says that the pagan Indians pay annually, for the general license given them, permitting them to live in those islands, nine pesos less one real; and that they live in a place called the Parian, from which they went out. And having brought them back to it, they asked permission to go to live in other places; and it was given them, by their paying ten pesos."]

Sire:

The heathen Chinese who live in these islands and come to trade with the vassals of your Majesty, pay annually nine pesos less one real for the general license which is given them for permission to live in your Majesty's lands, and by way of recognition. They live in a place which has been built for them near the Manila walls, called in their language "the Parian." Many of them have gone to live outside in the stock-farms and gardens of the inhabitants, and in other parts, because of their convenience, without permission of the government. At petition of the city, I ordered an edict to be issued, ordering that all of these Chinese should return to live in their Parian, and most of them did so. Afterward, they asked with many requests and petitions to be allowed to return to live at their posts. That favor was permitted them, on condition of the payment of ten pesos two reals in place of the nine pesos less one real for their general licenses, and, in addition to this, the half-annats for the favor—the even ten pesos being for your Majesty's treasury, and the two reals for the printing of the said licenses, and for the judge, notary, chief constable, and other officials in the matter of the licenses, who issue them and collect the silver, in which your Majesty has a profit of nine reals from each one of those licenses. Those people have no room in their own land; and when they come in their ships to bring their merchandise to this city, many come who remain. In order that that number may not increase so much, it is ordered that they be returned in the same ships, after giving them the good usage and treatment that is shown them at present. They are so contented that, with but a message sent them by their alcalde-mayor [requesting] that they aid his Majesty with [a grant of] four thousand pesos for the erection of a bulwark which has been begun, to be built in the port of Cavite, they gave that sum very willingly, without making any opposition, and offered whatever else remained in their [communal] fund. For these reasons and for others, especially for the favors and kind treatment that are accorded them, I am obliged to petition your Majesty to be pleased to grant me permission, so that, setting before them skilfully and discreetly the necessities of your Majesty for maintaining the fortifications of the port and of this city, all the remainder of the said licenses may be paid at the rate of ten pesos two reals apiece. This will increase your Majesty's revenues by eighteen or twenty thousand pesos, and this additional income will remain in your royal treasury. I will assure to your Majesty, with the signatures of many theologians and the opinions of learned jurists, your [peace of] conscience and mine; and also by managing it with so much mildness that they themselves will ask it. That has been done by the four or five thousand Chinese who now pay it. By means of this aid and others which are being arranged, I preserve the authority of your Majesty, and free your conscience; and, provided that no one steals anything from your royal revenues, the support of these islands will be arranged for, without any help from Nueva Espana beyond the proceeds of the merchandise carried by the galleons. But by following this plan I have no need of anything else except that your Majesty be pleased to grant me permission to do this. May our Lord preserve your Majesty's Catholic person, as is necessary to Christendom. Manila, the last of June, one thousand six hundred and thirty-six. Your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet.