[32] Francisco Vaez was born at Segovia in 1543, and received into the Jesuit order in 1566. After his ordination he was sent to Mexico, where he filled various responsible offices, among them that of provincial. He died at Mexico, July 14, 1619. Sommervogel does not mention his presence in the Philippine Islands. The letter by Vaez is translated from the Latin version published by John Hay (1546-1607—a Jesuit of Scotch birth, noted for his disputes with Protestants), under the title De rebus Iaponicis, Indicis, etc., as seen in the title-page herewith reproduced (Antverpiae, M. DC. v). But the letter had already been printed, two years earlier, in the Relatione breve of Diego de Torres, S.J. (Milano, MDCIII), the title-page of which is also given here. Torres held various high official positions in his order in Peru, Paraguay, and other South American countries; and Sommervogel says (Bibliotheque Comp. Jesus, viii, col. 132): "Father Torres, having been sent to Rome as procurator of his province, profited by his sojourn in Rome to have his relation printed; it is dated at Rome, February 25, 1603." It is not certain whether either of these versions is the original production of Vaez; but as he was a Spaniard, and writing to the general of his order, it seems probable that he wrote in Latin, and that the Latin version which we follow is Vaez's own composition, rather than the Italian—which latter may have been Torres's translation from the Latin original, to suit better his own account written in Italian.

The Latin title-page reads thus in English: "Recent letters on affairs in Japan, India, and Peru; collected in one volume by John Hay, a Scot, of Dalgatty, of the Society of Jesus. Antwerp; from the printing-house of Martin Nutius, at the sign of the two storks; in the year 1605."

The Italian title-page is thus translated: "A brief relation by Father Diego de Torres, of the Society of Jesus, procurator of the province of Peru, regarding the fruit which is being gathered among the Indians of that realm; for the consolation of the religious of that Society in Europe. At the end is added the annual letter from the Philippine Islands for 1600. At Milan; by the heirs of the late Pacifico Pontio, and Giovanni Battista Piccaglia, partners; 1603. By permission of the superiors."

[33] Pedro Lopez de la Parra was a native of Salamanca; entering the Jesuit order, he completed his studies and was ordained at Mexico—where for some years he was both an instructor and preacher, being regarded as an unusually eloquent orator. Desiring to be a missionary in the Philippines, he came to the islands, but found that he could not master the language of the natives; discouraged by this, and finding that no other employment was available, he obtained permission from the visitor Garcia to return to Mexico; and on the voyage perished by shipwreck, as here related. (La Concepcion, Hist. de Philipinas, iii, pp. 391, 392.)

[34] The word collegium, as used here, means rather "residence" than "college;" but we retain the latter rendering because the Jesuits were then actually conducting an educational institution at Manila, in which they gave instruction to the Spaniards and to some natives. This was the college of San Jose, for which provision had been made as early as 1585; but for various reasons it was not opened until 1600. Its first rector was Pedro Chirino; among its first students (thirteen in all) were Pedro Tello, a nephew of the governor, and Antonio de Morga, a son of the auditor. See La Concepcion's detailed account, in Hist. de Philipinas, iii, pp. 403-409.

[35] La Concepcion states (Hist. de Philipinas, iii, pp. 386-387) that St. Polycarp was chosen by lot, in a solemn and public assembly as the especial patron of the city of Manila, for its protection against earthquakes, as Santa Potenciana was its patron in hurricanes and tempests.

[36] Antipolo is a town lying about thirteen miles east of Manila, near the northwest corner of Laguna de Bay.

[37] La Concepcion gives (Hist. de Philipinas, iii, pp. 409-412) an interesting account of the labors of this bishop, Fray Pedro de Agurto, during the year 1600. Assembling the clergy and friars of his diocese, he proposed to them various measures, especially intended to facilitate the instruction and conversion of the natives. The catechism of the church had been already translated into the Visayan speech; but this version was now entrusted to a committee of six (equally divided between the Jesuits, Augustinians, and regular clergy) for revision. This assembly resolved to attempt the suppression of polygamy among the heathen Indians subject to the Spaniards, and to check the easy divorces prevalent among them. Agurto undertook a visitation in Leyte and Samar, but could not complete it on account of those islands being invaded by pirates from Mindanao.

[38] Miguel Gomez entered the Jesuit order at Alcala in 1582; after his ordination was sent to the Philippines; during his stay there was for some time an instructor in the college at Manila; and died there December 28, 1622.

[39] Ledesma was born in 1556, and became a novice in the Jesuit order at the age of sixteen. In 1596 he came to the Philippines, where he filled high positions in his order—rector at Zebu, rector at Manila, and provincial of the islands. He died at Manila, May 15, 1639.

[40] Christoval Ximenes was born in 1573, and entered the Jesuit order in 1588. Coming to the Philippines in 1596, he spent thirty-two years in the Visayan missions; he died at Alangatang, in Leyte, December 3, 1628. He was noted as a linguist, and composed various works, religious or poetical, in the Visayan tongue; one of these was a translation of Bellarmino's Doctrina Christiana (Manila, 1610).

Gabriel Sanchez is not mentioned by Sommervogel.

[41] See La Concepcion's account of the work of the Jesuits in Bohol (Hist. de Philipinas, iii, pp. 356-362). Gabriel Sanchez and Juan de Torres were the first of their missionaries there. The Boholans did not, like the other natives of those islands, practice polygamy; thus their conversion was greatly facilitated. The fathers gathered many of the natives into a reduction; and they healed many sick persons with holy water. Among their converts was Catunao, a chief one hundred and twenty years old, who had guided Legazpi to Cebu.

[42] Apparently the same as the present Tubigon, a considerable town on the western coast of Bohol.

[43] Dulag is a town on the eastern coast of Leyte; and Alangalang (named in the last section of this letter) is in the northern part of that island, some twenty miles up the Cabayong River.

[44] "Go ye, swift angels, to a people wrenched up and torn, a fearful people, after whom is none other."

[45] In MS., treze (thirteen)—apparently an error in transcription (probably arising from almost illegible writing in the original), since Vaez, in the document preceding this, makes the number of Jesuit priests in the islands to be thirty (treinta).

[46] La Concepcion relates (Hist. de Philipinas, iii, pp. 380-382) the labors accomplished in less than a year by Garcia as visitor. Collecting over one thousand pesos of contributions, he restored the Jesuit church at Manila, which had been ruined by earthquakes; and appointed Pedro Chirino as rector of the college. He reorganized the missions of the Society, and their administration, and presented a more liberal interpretation of the rule and constitution of the order. He visited the various missions; and the missionaries who had been stationed in different villages were gathered by Garcia into a few central residences, from which they made journeys to carry on their labors. La Concepcion writes in a critical tone, regarding Garcia as an innovator, and as doing more harm than good by some of his too radical measures. Sommervogel does not mention Diego Garcia.

[47] For interesting accounts, descriptive and historical, of early ships, see article by Admiral George H. Preble on "Ships of the Sixteenth Century," and similar papers on those of the next three centuries, in The United Service, November, 1883-June, 1884. See also Edward Shippen's account of galleys and the life of the galley-slaves ("Galleys of the Sixteenth Century"), in the same periodical, September, 1884. On galleons, cf. note in The Spanish War, 1585-87 (published by Navy Records Society; London, 1898), pp. 337-341.

[48] The document here referred to (dated January 15-June 12, 1601), and another recording a similar investigation made by Morga (July 6-9, 1602), are in the Sevilla archives, bearing the same pressmark as the fiscal's letter in our text. Both are too long and unimportant to be here presented.

[49] On June 13, 1597, Felipe II issued a commission to Antonio de Morga to investigate charges of peculation which had been made against this man, as factor of the royal exchequer in the Philippines.

[50] See La Concepcion's account of the loss of this ship (Hist. de Philipinas, iii, pp. 428-435).

[51] Spanish, colegio; see note 32, ante.

[52] A fund, the interest of which is required by the Spanish laws for the support of an ecclesiastic.

[53] Mauban is a town and anchorage in the northeast corner of Tayabas province, Luzon; it lies on the Pacific coast of the island, and southeast from Manila.

[54] In a squadron, the galley next in rank to the flagship or capitana.

[55] These names appear thus in the text; but they evidently refer to the same persons who are previously mentioned as Liguana and Ssapay.

[56] Sangir (or Sanguir) is a small island midway between Mindanao and Celebes; Tagolanda is another one, south of Sangir, about fifty miles northeast of Celebes.

[57] At the beginning of this letter is a brief summary of its contents.

[58] In 1601 the capital of Spain was removed from Madrid to Valladolid; but this measure proved so disastrous that Felipe III found it necessary to return to Madrid in 1606.

[59] Diego Cerrabe entered the Augustinian order at Burgos in 1584. He came to the Philippines in 1595, and after various official services there, and two years' ministry at Pasig, he went to Spain with messages from his chapter at Manila; apparently he did not return to the islands. (Perez's Catalogo, p. 47.)

[60] The MS. is worn or mutilated at the places marked by leaders; the words in brackets are the translator's conjectural readings.

[61] See definition of fuerza in Vol. V, p. 292. The reference here indicates that Tello or his friends, in order to oppose the fiscal's proceedings, secured the interference of some ecclesiastical judge, who thus committed fuerza.

THE END