After the aforesaid, Father Valdemoro took part in a procession, in which the image of our Lady of Guidance was carried to the city, so that the Lord might be pleased, through her intervention, to bring safely to port the ships that were to anchor that year in Cavite from Acapulco. The ecclesiastical fiscal was informed of it, and he informed the provisor and vicar-general of it. At that time the latter was the canon and treasurer, Don Juan Cevicos. He ordered the father to leave the procession, and by the archbishop's order he opened an official inquiry, in order to investigate the offense, and to punish it according to law, "as the said father is a parish priest and minister for souls in the said mission of Dilao, and the said offense is dependent on the visit which his said Excellency is making on him as such minister, inasmuch as he is, in that regard, under his Lordship's jurisdiction and subject to him...."

The investigation ended on June 26 of the said year. In it the depositions were taken of Licentiate Juan de Arguijo, ecclesiastical fiscal of the archbishop; Don Alonso Garcia de Leon, canon; Licentiate Jeronimo Rodriguez Lujan, presbyter; Miguel Calderon, presbyter; and Alferez Francisco del Castillo, chief constable of the archbishop. The archbishop ordered that the father minister of Dilao be arrested, "and placed as a prisoner in one of the convents—that of St. Dominic, or St. Augustine, or the Society of Jesus, or St. Nicolas of the Recollects of this city—the one which the said father should select. That convent the archbishop assigns to him as a prison and place of confinement; and he is ordered not to break it under penalty of greater excommunication, latae senteniae ipso facto incurrenda, and suspension from active and passive vote for three years. And in order that the said imprisonment might be effective, and not be hindered by the religious of the said order, the royal aid shall be petitioned through this royal Audiencia, to whom it rightly belongs to give that aid, in order that they may fulfil the decrees of the holy council of Trent, and a royal decree given for this purpose, under date of San Lorenzo, November fourteen, six hundred and three, directed to this royal Audiencia, and another royal decree of the same date directed to the archbishop of these islands, in which they are ordered to make effectual the said visit, as such is advisable for the relief of the consciences of his Majesty and of the said archbishop...."

The Audiencia having been asked for aid on June 27, declared on July 4, that "there was no occasion at the present time for imparting to the archbishop of these islands the royal aid asked in his name...."

While the above was happening, one Sunday, June 26, papers were seen to be posted on the doors of the cathedral and convents of Manila. They were signed by father Fray Pedro de Muriel, by order of the judge conservator appointed to prevent the said visit. He was father Fray Tomas Villar, rector of the college of St. Dominic, by virtue of two briefs of Pius V: the first given March 24, 1567; and the second September 23, 1571 Universis et singulis venerabilibus fratribus. He had accepted his charge one day before the said posters were put up. In those posters, Don Juan Cevicos was declared to have incurred the excommunication of the canon si quis suadente diabolo, for having taken Father Valdemoro from the procession the twenty-fourth of the same month.

The matter being communicated to the archbishop, "he summoned the said conservator to immediately refrain from proceeding in the said causes, under penalty of incurring the penalties established by law; besides which he would proceed to punish the scandal caused in this community by his having affixed decrees in which the said provisor was said to be excommunicated."

Father Villar replied, declaring his charge as apostolic judge conservator, and that, as such, "he must proceed in the said cause. Accordingly, he petitions and requests his Lordship to cease to proceed in the said visit, that he has intended to make in the said mission of Dilao; and that he send all that has been written and done to the said judge conservator; and if not, the latter will proceed to what is advisable, in accordance with law. In respect to the provisor, through his having incurred that contained in the said canon, si quis suadente, he ordered that he be proclaimed in the public parts of this city as excommunicated, so that all may know of it, and that no person remove, or cause to be removed, the said posters, under penalty of greater excommunication, ipso facto incurrenda ... "

In view of the aforesaid, and considering that the Audiencia gave no support to the archbishop, so that he might prosecute the said visit that he had begun, he insisted no further on it. But "so that the aforesaid might be apparent to his Majesty, and that the latter might provide what relief he pleased, the archbishop ordered—and he did so order—a testimony to be sent to the royal Council of the Yndias of all that had been done, and that the briefs mentioned in this act be sent also ... "

At the same time he wrote the following letter to his Majesty:]

Sire.

Finding myself obliged, both by the holy council of Trent and a brief of his Holiness Gregory Fourteenth, and by the restraining decrees of your Majesty, in regard to the visiting of the religious missionaries by the bishops—respecting curacies, and that they do not exercise such office without being examined beforehand in the language of the natives that they administer—I determined to carry out so holy mandates, from which so many blessings must result to the service of God and that of your Majesty. Accordingly, having declared my purpose to the superiors of the said orders, three months before beginning the said visit, by means of a letter or notification which I gave them, in which I cited the passages of the said holy council, the brief of his Holiness, and the decrees of your Majesty, they responded to me orally, saying that they had an indult from his Holiness, Pius Fifth, in order that they might not be visited in matters touching curas and ministers of souls; and that the bishops had no jurisdiction over their ministries. I began, in fulfilment of the aforesaid, the visitation on the twenty-fourth of the past month of June, at a ministry in charge of the Order of St. Francis, in the suburbs of Manila. Proceeding to the visit, I found so much resistance from the religious missionaries, both on reading the edict, and when I happened to request them to open the sacristy in order to inspect the casket of the most holy sacrament, that it was necessary to order that under censure, and that was not sufficient to make them agree to my request. Accordingly, I declared and announced that the minister of that mission was excommunicated. For the time being I contented myself with that effort, with which, in order to avoid scandal, I returned home, with the intention of asking aid from this royal Audiencia.

But the said minister regarded the ecclesiastical censures and his prelate as of so little moment, that his subsequent action was just as if he had not been excommunicated and denounced. In a general procession that this cathedral made to the chapel of Nuestra Senora de Guia, for the happy arrival of the ships that we were awaiting from Nueva Espana, in which were the royal Audiencia, cabildo, city, and orders—all aware of the event of the previous day, for even the most secret thing is known in a city so small—all were universally scandalized. Consequently, my provisor, in order to avoid that scandal, was obliged to order the said minister to leave the procession, and not to furnish the bad example that he was setting by showing contempt for ecclesiastical censures. As he refused to leave, the provisor removed him from the procession, ordering the fiscal of this archbishopric to follow him until he ejected him from the procession. As it was a matter that concerns, and is dependent on, the visit, all the orders were so angry over it that, speaking through the mouth of the Order of St. Francis, they elected as judge conservator a friar of St. Dominic, the rector of this college of Manila, in order to avoid any further attempts in the said visit to the ministries of the orders. The judge conservator, without informing me of any apostolic letter or brief of his Holiness pertaining to the said conservatorship, posted decrees next day in the churches and public places, declaring the said provisor as excommunicated and as fallen into the penalties of the clause si quis suadente Diabolo ... I continued to prosecute the cause of the visit, and, having found the said minister guilty, I requested aid in order to proceed against him, and, until he should become obedient, to keep him confined in one of these convents of Manila.

The royal Audiencia voted that there was at present no occasion for the said aid. Thereupon I issued an act, in which I abandoned the visit until I could give an account to your Majesty—to whom I enclose a testimony of everything with this letter, and with it another testimony of the act of the royal Audiencia in regard to the case against my provisor, whom the judge conservator tried to arrest, and for which he requested aid, which the auditors refused him.

I have written your Majesty this relation in order to comply with your orders to inform you of what should be done in this, and so that you may see the freedom with which the religious proceed in this country, confident that they are the greatest part of the community; and that having, as they do, so great influence in all these provinces which they administer, they must succeed with whatever they undertake, even creating a judge conservator, contrary to the ruling of the holy council and the royal will of your Majesty. That is so true that they proclaimed in Manila that if the archbishop proceeded with the visit, they would place him on the list as excommunicated, and would not absolve him until he should go to their convent of St. Dominic to beg absolution. I might easily have proceeded with the visit, Sire, but I preferred to be chidden as remiss, than not to have those great scandals muzzled which were represented to me to be inevitable if I went to law with these religious. And speaking with all truth, it seems to them a case of less value than that any Indian or Spaniard should imagine that there is any power in these kingdoms greater than their own. May God preserve the very Catholic person of your Majesty, with the increase of new kingdoms and the happiness of those that you possess, as Christendom has need, and as we your Majesty's humble vassals and chaplains desire.

Manila, August first, one thousand six hundred and twenty-two. [20]

Fray Miguel Garcia Serrano, archbishop of Manila.

Regulations concerning the visits of religious

The King. Inasmuch as I have considered it advisable to order to be given, and gave, one of my decrees of the following tenor:

"The King. Inasmuch as there have been many differences in regard to the manner in which the religious of the mendicant orders who have missions of Indians in their charge in Nueva Espana, are to be visited by their prelates, and whether it is advisable that they possess missions; and inasmuch as various decrees have been despatched, some of which have been carried out, but others, because of finding some trouble in the execution, have not been observed; and desiring to end those quarrels and establish the form most advisable for the service of God and for mine: I ordered that, the papers that treat of that matter having been collected, what had been done in that matter be examined in an assembly of ministers and other experienced and educated persons. The assembly having conferred on the matter, and advised me of their opinion, I have considered it best to determine and order, as I do by this present, that, for the present, and until I order otherwise, the said missions remain to, and be continued by, the religious as hitherto; and there shall under no consideration be any innovation in that matter; and the assignment and removal of the religious who are curas, whenever it may be necessary, shall be made by my viceroy of those provinces, in my name, the latter observing in those appointments and promotions the form, together with the conditions and circumstances, with which it is done in the kingdoms of Piru; and it is my will that the religious be not admitted to the exercise or to the service of the said missions, or that they receive the emoluments of them in any other manner. I also order that the archbishop of those provinces may visit the said religious in what refers to the ministry of curas and to nothing else—inspecting the churches, the sacraments, the chrism, the confraternities, their alms, and everything pertaining to the mere administration of the holy sacraments and the said ministry of curas. He shall go to make the visit in his own person, or shall assign or send for this duty such persons as he shall choose and find satisfactory, to those districts where he cannot go in person, or where there is no occasion for his aid. He shall employ correction and punishment whenever necessary, strictly within the limits and exercise of curas as above stated, and nothing further. In respect to personal transgressions in the morals and lives of such religious curas, the latter shall not remain subject to the said archbishops and bishops, so that these may punish them through the visits, even though under pretext that they are curas; but, on having notice of such matters, they shall, without writing or drawing up processes, secretly advise their regular superiors of such persons, so that the latter may correct the wrong. In case that the latter should not do this, then the former might make use of the authority given them by the holy council of Trent, in the manner and in the cases when they can and ought to act in regard to religious who are not curas. In this instance I order that they have recourse to the said my viceroy, who shall appoint them and who can remove them, to represent to him the causes, so that it may be done as has been and is done in Piru. And inasmuch as the said religious, in regard to the jurisdiction, are not endeavoring to acquire any right for the perpetuity of the said missions; and since by the aforesaid the ordinary jurisdiction is not annulled in cases that conform to law and to the holy council of Trent: it pertains to the superiors to try the causes of the religious. That must and shall be understood, without any prejudice to the ordinary jurisdiction and the right of my patronage. I order all the above to be thus observed and executed inviolably by my viceroy, archbishop, bishops of Nueva Espana and all other persons whom its fulfilment concerns, notwithstanding any other orders whatever that may exist to the contrary. Such I revoke and declare null and void. Given in Madrid, June twenty-two, one thousand six hundred and twenty-four.

I The King

Juan Ruiz de Contreras"

And in behalf of the archbishop of the metropolitan church of the city of Manila in the Philipinas Islands, I have been requested to be pleased to declare whether the decree of November fourteen of the former year six hundred and three is to be observed in those islands, in regard to the manner in which the said religious missionaries are to be visited; or whether the visit is to be exercised with the limitation and in the form contained in the new decree which was given to Nueva Espana. The matter having been examined in my royal Council of the Indias, I have considered it fitting to give the present. By it I order that everything contained in the decree herein inserted be observed and obeyed by my governor, archbishop, and bishops of those islands, and by all other persons whom it concerns, exactly as is contained in it, for such is my will. Given in Madrid, August fourteen, one thousand six hundred and twenty-four. [21]

I The King

By order of the king our sovereign:

Juan Ruiz de Contreras



CONFLICT BETWEEN CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES

Case that happened in Manila in the year 1623, in regard to a fugitive who was taken from the church

Juan Soto de Vega, whom justice was prosecuting for having stolen a large sum of money from the ship which was coming from Mejico to Filipinas, had taken refuge in the asylum [sagrado] of the cathedral of Manila. Desirous of escaping from the prosecution of the secular tribunal, he tried to get to Eastern or Portuguese Yndia in the month of December. He begged permission from the provisor and vicar-general, Don Pedro Monrroy, that he might be taken from the cathedral and kept in the ecclesiastical prison; and they actually kept him there, but with guards and in confinement, until the Portuguese boats left for Yndia. Then they returned him to the cathedral, where he remained for the space of eight months, until an auditor took him violently from the church on the fifth of September, 1623, and took him to the public prison. There he, in company with another auditor, tortured Juan de la Vega until they broke his arm, which caused a great public scandal.

The provisor began to take steps in defense of the ecclesiastical immunity. He demanded the criminal, and publicly declared the auditors to be excommunicated, threatening to place them under interdict, unless they would return the prisoner to the church. After the time-limit had expired, the interdict was imposed. The auditors, on the other hand, despatched a letter and a second letter to the provisor charging him to lift the censures and interdict, under penalty of banishment and a fine of 2,000 ducados, unless he did that in the time-limit that they assigned him. As he did not fulfil the command, they despatched the court constable, with soldiers, to look for the provisor in order to arrest him. They registered all the house of the archbishop, and the house of the provisor himself, sequestered his goods, broke off the locks of the cupboards and writing-desks, and ransacked his papers, but did not find him, for he had hidden in the convent of the Augustinians.

The archbishop (against whom the proceedings were directed), seconded by the public opinion, which was contrary to the auditors, summoned Doctor Don Juan de Renteria, bishop of Nueva Segovia (who was then in Manila), and various religious, prebendaries, and lawyers, and assembled or formed a council to discuss what ought to be done in such a case. The opinion of all was that the auditors were legitimately excommunicated, and the interdict rightly imposed; and that the ecclesiastical immunity ought to be sustained, and satisfaction demanded for the scandal by returning the fugitive to the church.

While that meeting was being held, the auditors despatched a royal mandate, which they said was given by Don Felipe, to the archbishop, ordering him not to retain Don Pedro de Monrroy as provisor, as he was exiled from the kingdoms, to absolve the excommunicated, and lift the interdict—under penalty, if he did not do so, of banishment and a fine of 2,000 ducados. The archbishop replied, demanding a testimony of the cause and the corresponding acts [of the Audiencia], in order to determine what he should do. But the auditors sent him another royal decree, warning him that he would be considered to have incurred the said penalties if he did not immediately lift the censures and interdict. Since the archbishop held firm, the auditors sent the chief court constable, together with the actuary of the Audiencia and thirty pikemen under command of an adjutant, at four in the afternoon on that same day, in order to take charge of the episcopal residence, with orders not to permit any one to leave it or anything to be taken from it.

At this juncture, the rector of the Jesuit college and others advised the archbishop to raise the censures ad reincidentiam [i.e., "until a repetition of the offense"], and the interdict for one week, since they thought that the auditors would return the prisoner. That was done, and the archbishop requested the opinion in writing of the orders and learned persons, which they gave him—with the exception of the Dominicans, who excused themselves. The archbishop, seeing that the auditors not only did not do what was promised, but even issued another decree to arrest and expel the provisor, called another meeting, at which the Dominicans had no part. In that meeting it was decided to defend the ecclesiastical immunity, and that two individuals of the assembly should go to talk with the auditors in the name of the assembly, and notify them that the prisoner must be returned, or else the archbishop could not raise the censures or interdict. Two Jesuits went, and the auditors replied to them that they would not desist or turn back. The interdict was immediately imposed again, and the auditors were publicly declared to be excommunicated.

A Jesuit, who was a friend to the governor, advised him to take a hand in the matter in order to cut short such scandals. The result was that the governor decided to see the archbishop at the residence of the Society, in order to discuss the most suitable method. The interview was held, but without result. Another interview had the same result. Meanwhile it was decided to appoint two arbitrators, one from each side. Doctor Jolo was appointed for the auditors, and Father Juan de Bueras, [22] rector of the residence of the Society of Jesus, for the archbishop. They agreed that the prisoner should be returned to the episcopal prison, and that each side should desist from their claim in what was accomplished.

When the time came to execute the agreement of the arbitrators, the auditors put difficulties in the way. But, since at the same time it happened that the provisor, as commissary of the holy crusade, had drawn up acts against the auditors for the violation of his house and tribunal, against which there was no recourse by force in these islands; and since, on the other hand, the governor demanded from them the record of all that had been done (separating himself from them, as not being a lawyer) in order to inform the king: they resolved to form an assembly without the governor, and voted that the prisoner should be returned to the ecclesiastical prison, while the ecclesiastical judge was investigating whether the church was protecting him, which was what the archbishop claimed.

The victorious provisor left the residence of the Society, and with great pomp, and, accompanied by a mass of people and by his ministers, drew the prisoner from the public prison and took him to his own. The interdict was raised, to the chime of the bells of all the churches.

The auditors begged to be absolved in their houses, but the archbishop refused, saying that since the scandal had been public, the absolution also must be so. However, absolution was given in his house to one who was sick and who was less culpable; as well as to another by the influence of the Dominicans, who obtained that it be given him by the parish priest.



SEMINARY FOR JAPANESE MISSIONARIES

In the city of Manila, on the twenty-third day of July in the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-four, the honorable president and auditors of the royal Audiencia and Chancilleria of these Philipinas Islands, in whose charge is the government thereof, declared that [they have resolved upon this measure] in view of the fact that Senor Don Alonso Faxardo de Tenga, formerly governor and captain-general of these said islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, undertook to found a seminary [and] college where Japanese should be educated, instructed in religion, and taught, so that when they had received holy orders they might go to the kingdom of Japan and preach and instruct there in our holy faith, after the manner and likeness of the English colleges in the kingdoms of Espana, and other Christian countries—for which purpose he designated space and locations for a church, house, and garden in the unoccupied land outside the walls of the said city; and for the income and maintenance of the said seminary [and] college he designated and applied the income from the passage and navigation from this city to the port of Cavite, and the monopoly of buyo, bonga, [23] and tobacco, which he ordered to be established by a royal decree, which, to this purpose, was despatched in the name of his Majesty on the twenty-ninth of January of this present year. By this it was commanded that no person should make use of the said passage, nor of the carriage and sale of the said buyo, bonga, and tobacco, excepting those who hold it in lease for the said college and its administrators, or those named by them for this purpose, under the penalties which are imposed upon them by the magistrates. From this have resulted great discontent and scandal in all ranks of this commonwealth, and particularly among serious persons therein, both ecclesiastical and lay—who, being moved by zeal for the service of God our Lord, and of his Majesty, and for the prosperity and preservation of these islands and the citizens and natives thereof, have made representations of the many difficulties resulting from the aforesaid grant, not only in sermons which have many times been preached in regard to this, but likewise by information and declaration to the judges and ministers of his Majesty, that they might aid in procuring relief therein, as it is a thing so important for the royal service. For the establishment of the said college and seminary was accomplished at a time when the king of Japon so rigorously prohibited the preaching of the holy gospel in his kingdom, as is explained in the said royal decree; and [his resentment] had reached such an extreme that, when ambassadors were despatched in the past year to negotiate on behalf of these islands for friendship and good understanding with the said king, he showed himself to be so ill disposed against them that he did not allow the said ambassadors to enter his court during the eight months and more which they passed in his kingdom, seeking an audience in order to give their message and embassy. According to the letters and relations received, his resentment was the result of having found certain religious in his kingdom in secular clothes, and of having learned that they had been brought from these islands to his land in disguise and secretly. On this account, and in order to prevent them from entering Japon, he has ordered all Spaniards who are in his said kingdom to leave it, and has forbidden and discontinued traffic, and he will not consent that Japanese ships come to these islands, as they used to come, to bring provisions and other military stores for the royal warehouses; this can only result in the ruin of this country, on account of the lack which this may cause in its armament, trade, and maintenance. If the king of Japon, who has already ordered that religious cannot dwell in his kingdom, by not consenting to allow Spaniards in it, as has been said, should get word that Japanese are being educated and instructed in the said seminary, to go and continue the said preaching, it is certain that he must experience even greater displeasure and annoyance, and adopt more strenuous measures to stop all communication and passage from these islands to his said kingdom. As a result, the Spaniards will suffer the greatest need through the want of provision which is brought to these islands from there. It might even be the cause that he would unite with the Dutch enemy, whom he admits peacefully into his said kingdom, and that they would come with a great number of troops and vessels against these islands, and cause great losses to them, as we have no forces sufficient to resist them successfully. On this account it is expedient to use prudent measures and acts, and not to continue this, which in all certainty, and evidently, as is generally known by all the religious orders and serious persons of this city, must result in harm to the service of God and of his Majesty, and in notable loss to this commonwealth—both because the said seminary cannot bring about the good results claimed for it, on account of the little inclination of the Japanese for it, and the different objects which it is presumed have been aimed at by it; and because in this case the argument does not exist that holds good in other kingdoms and parts where there are colleges of the English and other foreign nations. For, if those peoples are irritated by the religious instruction and teaching of the persons who are gathered in the said colleges, there are forces to resist them; but through this seminary they might cause greater injury than the said nations are doing without it. As for the location which was designated for the said seminary, although it was, as has been said, in the unoccupied land outside the walls of this city, it appears to have been selected and set aside in the Plaza de Armas here, close by the village of Laguio, where they have commenced to erect a building and pillars of stone, contrary to what his Majesty directed by his royal decree of the sixth of March of the year one thousand six hundred and eight, which is as follows:

"The King. In consideration of the fact that a relation has been made to me on behalf of Hernando de los Rios Coronel, procurator-general of the Philipinas Islands, to the effect that when the uprising of the Chinese Sangleys occurred there, there were, about the walls of the city of Manila, many buildings from which the Sangleys did much damage to the walls thereof, until they were destroyed; and to prevent this difficulty for the future, Don Pedro de Acuna, my former governor and captain-general of those islands, commanded that no buildings should be erected within three hundred paces from the wall of the said city, in its entire circuit, and begged me, considering that this was so expedient as he had given me to understand, in order that the said city should be provided with the necessary defense, and protected from the past dangers, that I should be pleased to have this confirmed, or do as might be according to my pleasure. Having examined it in my royal Council of the Yndias, the said order which the said Don Pedro issued has appeared to me to be very effective, as is said. Accordingly it is my will that this be observed and fulfilled, as exactly and punctually as if it were issued by myself; and, in fulfilment thereof, I order that neither now nor at any time shall any building be erected within the said three hundred paces about the said wall of the said city of Manila, since this is expedient for my service and for the security and defense of the said city. Done at Madrid, on the sixth of March of the year one thousand six hundred and eight.

I The King

By order of the king, our lord: Juan de Civiza"

All the aforesaid procedure is contrary to this decree. Besides, the district and place where the said seminary building has been commenced are the lots which have been seized and taken away from the owners who possessed them, the houses which they had built upon them being removed or torn down, in order to make the said Plaza de Armas; nor have they thus far been paid for, nor has any satisfaction been given to the owners. Accordingly, if the said lots were not necessary for the purpose for which they were taken, they should be returned to their owners as land and property which pertain and belong to them, and no work or edifice should be erected thereon until they be paid and satisfied. As for the income which is appropriated for the work, its maintenance, and the prosecution of the building for the said seminary, it was contrary to the rules of justice and to the laws of the kingdom, and greatly to the prejudice of this whole commonwealth and the Indian villages in its neighborhood; for the voyage and navigation from this city to the port of Cavite—as it is not a river passage, but a bay and an arm of the sea, which may be crossed with all sorts of vessels, both large and small—cannot be reduced to the status of a private route and profit, on account of the loss which this would cause to so great a number of persons as possess the said vessels, and use them to carry and convey merchandise and other sorts of articles from this city to the said port. And especially it will cause this loss to the native Indians of this city and of the villages of Laguio, Mahar, Meytubi, Dongalo and others of this coast, who will be deprived and prevented from using the vessels which they ordinarily possess to carry and convey to the said port persons, merchandise, and other things; and if this profit be hindered they will have nothing wherewith to sustain themselves, and will not be able to pay his Majesty the royal tributes, nor aid in other impositions and personal services. The same losses will be increased by granting a monopoly of the said buyo, bonga, and tobacco—not only for the neighboring villages but even for provinces where it is collected and brought to this city; for their natives have no other source of income which would be to them so important and profitable as the gathering, carrying, and sale of buyo, bonga, and tobacco, and if this were stopped they would be reduced to the greatest poverty and want. That would make it impossible for them to succeed in paying the royal tributes, impositions, repartimientos, and other consequences of the service of his Majesty; and to the citizens and the people of various nationalities who dwell here, for whom the said commodities serve as food and sustenance, there would be caused expense and inconvenience, as has already been seen by experience, for even without the said monopoly being erected, but merely projected and intended, the said buyo, bonga, and tobacco have risen and increased in price, so much that the cost at present is twice what it was before, and at the time when it was decided to erect the said monopoly—which not only is of the fruits of the land, and articles which the said peoples use for their sustenance, but likewise is prohibited by equity and the laws. Consequently, looking for the greatest service to God and his Majesty, the growth and preservation of these islands, and the welfare and comfort of the citizens and natives thereof, they [i.e., the president and auditors] declared that they would revoke, and they did revoke, the said grant with everything therein contained; and that they would declare it, and they did declare it, to be null and of no force and effect. And they declared that they would notify, and they did notify, each and every magistrate of his Majesty, that each one of them, in his jurisdiction, in so far as may concern him, shall not consent to the use of the said monopolies, or of any one of them, on the part of either the said seminary or of any other person with a lease-title therefrom, or in any other manner, who may employ and make use of the said grant; but on the contrary they shall proceed to the punishment of such, who shall be in their jurisdiction, as against persons making use of a title and right not pertaining to them. And as for the said edifice and its demolition, it shall be entrusted to the captain-general, so that he, when he has examined it, and found that it is within the said three hundred paces about the walls, shall have it demolished and razed, until it be put in the state in which the said Plaza de Armas had been before, and at the time when the said edifice was commenced, in such manner that the purpose of the command of his Majesty in the said royal decree shall be complied with. A royal decree in conformity with this act shall be despatched, and shall be cried publicly in the customary districts and places, so that knowledge thereof may come to all. And, by this their act, they decree and command accordingly, and have signed their names.

Doctor Don Alvaro de Messa y Lugo Licentiate Don Juan de Saavedra Valderrama Licentiate Don Mathias Delgado y Flores Before me: Pedro Alvarez



Don Phelipe, by the grace of God king of Castilla, of Leon, of Aragon, of the two Cicilias, of Hierusalem, of Portugal, of Navarra, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Mayorca, of Sevilla, of Cerdena, of Cordova, of Corcega, of Murcia, of Jaen, of the Algarves, of Algeciras, of Gibraltar, and of the Canaria Islands, and of the Eastern and Western Yndias, islands and mainland, of the Ocean Sea; Archduke of Austria, Duke of Borgona, of Bramante, and Milan; Count of Arpspug [i.e., Hapsburg] and of Flandez, of Tirol, and of Barcelona; Seignior of Viscaya and of Molina, etc. [Here the royal decree quotes in full the foregoing act of the royal Audiencia beginning: "In consideration of the fact that Don Alonso Faxardo de Tenca," etc., down to "but likewise is prohibited by equity and law."]

Wherefore, looking for the greatest service to God and myself, the increase and preservation of the said islands, and the welfare and comfort of the citizens and dwellers therein, after examination by my president and auditors of the royal Audiencia and Chancilleria of my said Philipinas Islands, in whose charge is the government thereof, through the death of my governor, Don Alonso Fajardo de Tenca, it was agreed that I should revoke, as by these presents I do revoke, the said grant and everything therein contained, and I declare it null and of no force and effect. And I command all my justices and ministers that each one of them in his jurisdiction, in so far as concerns him, shall not consent to the use of the said monopolies or any one of them, on the part either of the said seminary or of any other person with a lease-title therefrom, or in any other manner, who may employ and make use of the said grant; but on the other hand they shall proceed to the punishment of such, who may be in their jurisdiction, as against persons making use of a title and right not pertaining to them. And as for the said edifice and its demolition, it shall be entrusted to the master-of-camp, Don Geronimo de Silva, captain-general, likewise of the artillery of my said islands, so that when he has examined it, and found that it is within the said three hundred paces about the walls of the city of Manila, he shall have it demolished and razed until it be put in the state in which the said Plaza de Armas had been before, at the time when the said edifice was commenced, in such manner that the purpose of my royal command in my royal decree shall be complied with. And this, my letter and royal edict, shall be publicly cried in the customary districts and places, so that it may come to the knowledge of all. Given in the city of Manila, on the twenty-fourth of July of the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-four.

Doctor Don Alvaro de Messa y Luga Licentiate Don Juan de Saavedra Valderrama Licentiate Don Matthias Delgado y Flores

I, Captain Pedro Alvarez, chief secretary of the government and department of war of these Philipinas Islands for the king our lord, have had this written by his command with the decision of his president and auditors.

Registered by Don Juan Sarmiento. Chancillor Don Juan Sarmiento

In the city of Manila, on the twenty-fourth of Jury of the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-four, was published this decree in conformity with the provision therein, in loud and intelligible words, by the voice of Augusto de Navarrete, public crier, in front of the gate of the Audiencia hall, and on the corner where resides Captain Antonio de Xerez Montoro, and on the site of Bagun Bay, outside the walls—Captain Martin de Esquival, sargento-mayor, Geronimo Enrriquez Sotelo, and many other persons being witnesses. To this I certify:

Pedro Alvarez

I, Captain Pedro Alvarez, sargento-mayor of the government and department of war of these Philipinas Islands, at the command of Senor Doctor Don Alvaro de Messa y Lugo of the council of his Majesty, and his auditor in the royal Audiencia in these islands—who, as the senior auditor, fills the office of president thereof—have ordered to be drawn, and have drawn, this copy of the act and royal decree, the originals whereof remain in my possession; and this is certain and true, corrected and compared with the said original, to which I refer. Witnesses at its correction and comparison were: Captain Lopez de Olaiz, Sargento Pedro Delgado, and Martin de la Rroca, citizens and residents of this city of Manila, where this is dated, on the fifth day of the month of August of the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-four.

Pedro Alvarez

[Endorsed: "Copy of the act and royal decree which were published revoking the grant which was made to the seminary [and] college for Japanese, of a monopoly of buyo, bonga, and tobacco, and the passage to the fort of Cavite."]



EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THE ARCHBISHOP TO FELIPE IV

10. The chief argument that induced his Majesty Philippo Second, our sovereign, to reestablish in these islands, during the term of Don Francisco Tello's government, the royal Audiencia which he had suppressed some years before, was in order that the governors might not be so absolute in regions so remote and so far separated from his royal presence, but that there might be a superior arm to restrain them, without allowing extortions on the innocent. That is a most pious act, and one experienced by all this community during the time of that sovereignty and superintendency in all things pertaining to justice, government, and war. If your Majesty be pleased to have it restored and reestablished with the majesty and power with which it was founded, it will be of great service to God and your Majesty, and the consolation and relief of your vassals. For it is certain that three or four men view a cause which does not concern them with more impartial eyes than does one man who is sole and absolute, who is at times governed by passion, and consequently blind in what he orders executed. Although it be said that demands for justice may be made in the residencia—as if the poor man who suffers in person, property, honor, and at times in his life, would appear at the residencia; and, even if he were alive, could go to obtain satisfaction at that court [i.e., of Mexico], or have method or means to do so, even though his grievances were enormous and cried out to the heavens—well do I know that there are testimonies in that royal Council (since they have been sent from here) that say the contrary. But I equally affirm this to be the truth, as, to my positive knowledge, it actually occurs—more true than I would indeed wish, for it would be well if these things did not happen. And since this royal Audiencia has no more authority than at present, to suppress it will be of great service for your Majesty, and even necessary, as the poor auditors are as much annoyed and molested as are other private persons. What is worse, your Majesty's authority has been seen humbled by so many nations who know that this Audiencia immediately represents your royal person. It will be less troublesome for us private persons to suffer than that so great authority be seen in such decay. I petition your Majesty to be pleased to have the importance of a matter of so great moment considered, as may be most fitting to your royal service.

It is a fact that this city of Manila, both at the instance of the governor and by its own action, has caused representations to be made in that royal Council, that this royal Audiencia should refrain from making appointments in which the children and relatives of the auditors occupy the best offices of war, without ever having fired an arquebus in their lives. These men become captains at one stroke, to the grievance of the old soldiers who have served, just as if your Majesty had not provided for this by making such men incapable of offices—in which intention, I consider, enter the offices of justice and war. However, even though it is not agreeable to them, it should be so understood; and if your Majesty be pleased to order this to be declared, and that favors and rewards for services can be expected only from your royal hands, this difficulty would be remedied. For I avow that it is vastly prejudicial, since, when a man has an auditor to defend his causes, and those inclined to him favor those causes, his negligence comes to be rewarded. In a matter of war, the present condition of things very often is wont to be of irreparable damage, as we in these islands have experienced on various occasions. [August 15, 1624.]



ROYAL ORDERS REGARDING THE RELIGIOUS

Regulating their privileges

The King. Inasmuch as the king my sovereign and father (whom may holy Paradise keep) was informed that the religious who resided in the Philipinas Islands, busied in the instruction and conversion of the Indians, were meddling in things that did not concern them, he ordered Gomez Perez das Marinas, then governor and captain-general of the Philipinas Islands, or the person in whose charge the government might be—by his decree, dated June eleven, of the former year five hundred and ninety-four—not to allow the religious to have prisons or jails, or to make arrests or condemn, unless they have commission from the bishop for the things in which he can give it in accordance with law; or not to appoint as fiscals others than those whom the bishop might assign them, together with other declarations contained in the said decree. Afterward the king my sovereign and father, who is in glory, by another decree dated May six, six hundred and fourteen, ordered the aforesaid to be obeyed and observed, according to its contents, without violating or exceeding its tenor and form, as is contained more at length in the said decree and its reissue, which are of the following tenor:

"The King. To Don Juan de Silva, my governor and captain-general of the Philipinas Islands and president of my royal Audiencia of them, or the person or persons in whose charge may be their government: The king my sovereign and father, who is in heaven, ordered to be issued and gave the decree of the following tenor:

"'The King. To Gomez Perez das Marinas, my governor and captain-general in the Philippinas Islands, or the person in whose charge may be the government of them: Inasmuch as I have been informed that the religious who reside in those islands, busied in the instruction and conversion of the Indians, meddle in matters that do not concern them, I order you not to allow them to have prisons or jails, or to arrest or condemn, unless they be those who have commission from the bishop for those things in which he can give commission in accordance with law; that they do not appoint or have other fiscals than those assigned them by the said bishop; and that they take no fees for burials, marriages, or baptisms, other than according to the appraisement and declaration of the said bishop. And inasmuch as I have been informed that they have proceeded in the exercise of their privileges, with an excess prejudicial to the suitable progress of the instruction, and that it would be advisable to declare what privileges be conserved and what revoked, in order to remove confusions and doubts—for they confess the Indians without the bishop's authorization, and, although not curas, perform marriages, which is in direct violation of the ordinance in the holy council of Trent, incurring risk that the confessions and marriages are invalid: I order you likewise that you shall communicate with the superiors of the orders, and command them to examine the said privileges; and, unless they have such privileges, not to proceed in the matters here specified, because of the doubts and scandals that may result. Given in Madrid, June eleven, one thousand five hundred and ninety-four.

I The King By order of the king our sovereign: Juan de Ibarra'

"And now it has been represented to me on the part of the archbishop of that city that none of the contents of the said decree are observed or obeyed with the exactness that would be fitting and expedient to the service of God and to my service. He petitioned me to order that it be strictly observed, as a remedy for the troubles that arise from it. Inasmuch as it is my will that this be done, I order you to observe, and to cause the said decree above inserted of the king my sovereign and father to be obeyed and observed, exactly according to its contents and declarations, without violating or exceeding in any part of it. This I shall regard with approbation; but by the contrary I shall consider myself as disserved. Given in Madrid, May six, one thousand six hundred and fourteen.

I The King By order of the king our sovereign: Don Juan Ruiz de Contreras"

And now Don Juan Cevicos, treasurer of the metropolitan church of the city of Manila of the said Philipinas Islands, has informed me in the name of the archbishop of the city that, petition having been made in behalf of Licentiate Don Diego Barquez de Mercado, while archbishop of the said church, and of the suffragan bishops, in my royal Audiencia of the said city, for the execution of the said decree, because it was not observed by the religious of the Order of St. Francis, and an edict to that effect having been despatched, the provincial of the said order was notified. He—under pretext of two other decrees of the sixteenth of March of the said year six hundred and fourteen, despatched at the petition of the said religious because they had represented that the said archbishop had tried to make innovations in the missions by appointing fiscals in them (as in fact he did do, so that information should be made of what had been done in this), and that in the meanwhile no innovation or change should be made in what had been the usual practice at the time when he entered the said archbishopric—opposed the said edict, and petitioned that the said decree of the sixteenth of March, six hundred and fourteen, be observed. The same was done by the other orders in the said islands. After the cause had been prosecuted in the said Audiencia, after some questions and answers, it was ordered by an act lately issued, on the first of August the past year, six hundred and twenty-two, that the said decrees be observed and obeyed, and that notice be given to the president, governor and captain-general of the said islands and to the said archbishop, as was done, so that they might investigate on what was ordered and charged to them. The determination in the said cause was sent to my royal Council of the Indias. Until other provision should be made, there was to be no innovation and the execution of the said edict was to be suspended, as was evident and appeared by the testimony of the records, which was, in accordance with the above said, presented and examined in the said my Council. I was petitioned to order that the commands of the said decree of June eleven, five hundred and ninety-four, and its reissue of May six, six hundred and fourteen, above inserted, be executed; and that, in accordance with them, the said archbishop and bishops should appoint and name the said fiscals—as pertains to them, in accordance with law—and try judicially the crimes and causes of the said Indians; and that the said religious, who arrest and punish them, as appears, [should not do this]. Having been examined by the members of the said my Council of the Indias, it was agreed that I ought to order this my decree to be given. Therefore I desire, and it is my will, that the above decrees, above inserted (of June eleven of the said year five hundred and ninety-four, and May six, six hundred and fourteen), be observed, obeyed, and executed exactly according to their contents and declarations, notwithstanding the contents of the said decrees of March sixteen of the said year six hundred and fourteen, ordering that the said archbishop make no change in the usual practice in the appointment of fiscals, and that the said governor investigate. And, since this is necessary, I render those decrees to be null and void, and without effect. I order the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia of the said islands not to violate or exceed the contents of this my decree, or consent that they be violated or exceeded, now or henceforth, and in no manner. On the contrary, they shall give the protection and aid that may be necessary for its execution and observance. This I shall regard with approbation. Given in Madrid, August thirty, one thousand six hundred and twenty-four.

I The King By order of the king our sovereign: Juan Ruiz de Contreras Signed by the members of the Council.

[Endorsed: "In order that the decrees above inserted, ordering that the missionaries of the Filipinas Islands have no prisons or jails; that they may not condemn, except those who have commission from the archbishop; and that they appoint no other fiscals than those whom he shall assign them; notwithstanding the decrees that were given ordering no innovation in the former practice, be followed in the appointment of the said fiscals."]

Letter to the archbishop

The King. Very reverend father in Christ, archbishop of the metropolitan church of the city of Manila in the Filipinas Islands. The letter which you wrote me on the thirteenth of August of last year, 1623, has been received and considered in my royal Council of the Indias. In regard to your statement that, on account of the haste in which were sent from Mexico the ships which arrived that year at those islands with assistance, the archbishop did not send you the papers for convening the council, and that you therefore did not carry out your plan for doing so, but that the necessary measures for it would be taken this year: I command you, on receiving the despatches, to execute the orders contained therein with the care and punctuality that is desirable, and that I expect from you.

I appreciate the diligence which you exerted in preventing the attempt to nominate for provincial of the Order of St. Augustine a person who did not possess the qualifications which are necessary and requisite. You should always be on your guard against such things, and attempt to preserve the desirable peace and concord among the orders.

You advised us that it was necessary to have some ecclesiastical person to be charged with the guardianship and the mode of governing the seminary of Santa Potenciana, and to examine the persons who are to live there. It was resolved to order the president of the Audiencia, jointly with you, to inform us of what takes place, and that in the meantime you were both to join in providing the most effective way of administering the said seminary, with regard to both the persons who enter it and those who leave it, with this justification, that it be necessary. Accordingly, you will endeavor, for your own part, to have these orders executed.

Your statements regarding the foundation that was being established so that the youths of those islands might be graduated without going to the university—which foundations were to be under the patronage of the most pure conception of Mary most holy, our Lady—have been considered, and you may proceed.

As to your proposition that my royal exchequer in those islands should be inspected, the necessary provisions have already been made.

You advise us that in the execution of the measures contained in the decree of August 9, 1621, you have warned the heads of the orders that they shall not receive in those islands the religious from Yndia, and that you caused several clerics to embark who arrived at that city from that country. You will continue to do so, fulfilling your orders contained in this memorandum.

The other points mentioned in your letter have been considered, but answers to you are not yet ready. [Madrid, October 3, 1624.]

I The King

Countersigned by Juan Ruiz de Contreras.



Ordering the correction of abuses against the Indians by the Dominicans

Don Phelipe, by the grace of God, king of Castilla, Leon, Aragon, Jerusalem, Portugal, Navarra, and the Indias. To the reverend and devout father-general of the Order of St. Dominic: It has been learned from letters received and examined in my royal Council of the Indias from Don Alonso Faxardo de Tenza, my governor and captain-general of the Philipinas Islands, and president of my royal Audiencia resident therein, that, although the religious of the Order of St. Dominic who reside there are most exemplary and protect their parishioners so well, it generally results that there is anger at their encomenderos, and they do not attend to the affairs of my service as is advisable. On the other hand, the Indians consider the treatment received from the religious as severe, for they do not allow even the women to wear shoes, while they force the men of the province of Nueva Segovia to guard the church in rotation and turn. For whatever annoyance the Indians cause them, they question them with regard to the Christian doctrine, and their questions exceed those that persons with more reason and education can answer. And thereupon, if they fail in the least to meet these requirements, the religious have the chiefs and their wives whipped, and cut off their hair. That has resulted in causing among the Indians so great resentment that the insurrection of the Indians that occurred may be attributed to that. Inasmuch as that is a matter in which it is advisable to apply a remedy; and inasmuch as the harsh treatment practiced by the said religious toward their parishioners has appeared excessive, and not in harmony with what they should do, since their purpose in going to the said islands is to instruct and teach the natives in the articles of our holy faith, and with all love and mildness, because they are, as is a fact, people without reason and so newly converted (for which reason it is so expensive to my royal revenues, from which everything necessary is given): I request and charge you to give what order is advisable so that the aforesaid evils be remedied, as may be most necessary to the religion that they profess. What remedy you shall furnish, you shall send to the said my Council, with all haste, so that it may be remitted to the said islands; for if that be not done with the promptness required by the case, the relief that seems most effective will [not] be applied. Madrid, November twenty-seven, one thousand six hundred and twenty-four.

I The King

Countersigned by Joan Ruiz de Contreras, and signed by the Council.

[Endorsed: "To the father-general of the Order of St. Dominic, directing him to remedy the excesses, committed on the Indians by punishing them, by the religious of that order, who have missions in Philipinas."]



EARLY RECOLLECT MISSIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Extracts from the Following Works, Covering the History of the Missions to 1624:

Historia general de los religiosos descalzos del orden de ... San Avgvstin. Fray Andres de San Nicolas; Madrid, 1664. (pp. 396-510.) Historia general de los religiosos descalzos del orden ... S. Augustin. Fray Lvis de Iesvs; Madrid, 1681. (pp. 1-61.) Historia general de Philipinas. Fray Juan de la Concepcion; Manila, 1788. (Tomo iv, pp. 189-265; v, pp. 32-100.)

Sources: The first and second of these are obtained from copies belonging to Edward E. Ayer, Chicago; the third, from a copy in the possession of the Editors.

Translations: The matter herein presented is translated and synopsized by James A. Robertson.



EARLY RECOLLECT MISSIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DISCALCED AUGUSTINIAN FATHERS, BY FRAY ANDRES DE SAN NICOLAS [24]



Decade II

Chapter V

Now the second provincial Chapter is held. The mission to the Philippinas Islands is effectively discussed. The college of Zaragoca and the convent of Pedroso are founded. Reference to the life of Sister Polonia de los Santos.

Year 1605

[At the second provincial chapter meeting of the Augustinian Recollects, held in April, 1605, at the convent at Madrid, father Fray Joan Baptista de Vera was chosen provincial. At that chapter meeting, the question of the rules of the young order was taken up, with other business. After the conclusion of their business the convention dissolved, "while father Fray Joan de San Geronimo [25] was effecting his passage to the Indias, with his good companions" (pp. 396, 397).]

First mission of our religious to the Philipinas Islands

To his arduous labor in the formation and growth of the poor discalced Augustinians, the first provincial [i.e., Fray Joan de San Geronimo] gave a heroic end by beginning the very observant province of San Nicolas [26] de Tolentino, in the islands adjacent to Asia which we commonly call Philippinas....

[A short narrative of the early discoverers follows, and the beginnings of the Augustinian missions. That order proving inadequate to cope with the immense number of the infidels, the other orders are also given a part in their conversion. But the need of other laborers is still felt, and King Felipe II assents to the petition of Fray San Geronimo "to go to the Indias with twelve associates to preach the gospel, in that part that he should deem best." King Felipe "immediately decreed that he should get ready to go to the Philippinas Islands, and ordered his ministers to give him the despatches immediately. The noted and pious father had the despatches in hand before the celebration of the chapter, where after it was called to order, he presented there the decree, which received prompt obedience."]

The memorial of this circumstance is found in the old register, and is in the following form: "May first, one thousand six hundred and five, while the very reverend fathers were in session, etc. Our father Fray Joan de San Geronimo, outgoing provincial of this province, presented certain royal letters of the king our sovereign, and of his royal Council of the Indias, in which his Majesty gives permission to the said father Fray Joan de San Geronimo to take twelve religious to the Philippinas Islands to preach the holy gospel, and to found monasteries of our holy order in those Philippinas Islands. Having examined and read them, the expedition seemed to us to be one of great service to God, and we, the entire body of definitors, resolved that it should be undertaken accordingly; and that all the documents and authority necessary should be given to him so that he should go as superior and vicar-provincial of the said Philippinas Islands; that he may found monasteries there, and in all parts of the Indias—with the following proviso, namely, that he shall not have more authority than that which this province shall give him; and that those houses that shall be founded there, and the religious in them, shall always be subject to the father provincial who is, or shall be, over this province. He shall always correspond with the latter, and at each chapter held they shall send the elections of vicar-provincial and priors, and the acts that they shall pass, so that the father provincial of this province may confirm them, or refuse to confirm, as he shall deem best. Advice shall be given of all the deceased of those houses, so that the office may be performed for them, at the time when the elections of the vicar-provincials shall be sent, etc." Then, lower in the roll of those elected—or in the catalogue, as we commonly call it—one reads at the end the words that follow: "As vicar provincial of the Indias, we nominate the venerable father, Fray Joannis de Sancto Hieronymo, and assign to him fourteen religious, who shall always be subject to this provincial of this province of Hispania." This arrangement having been made (which was made by the intervention of the royal decrees that were despatched at Valladolid, April three of that year, and which contained, in fact, the permission for such, and general authority to found as many convents there as the new Augustinian Recollect missionaries were able and desired; to which were added other messages touching spiritual matters which the pontiff's legate generously conceded), the father provincial, Fray Joan Baptista, decreed the issue of his warrant, on May two. In this document, after mentioning that he was ordered and commanded by the king, and also by the said legate, to send the said father as superior of the religious, who were about to set out for the help of those who were occupied in the vineyard of the Lord, in the cultivation of those islands, the father provincial entrusted to him all his authority, without reserving anything whatever; but with the conditions that we mention, in the records and other minutes which are generally made on such occasions, the permissions that are despatched.

The father vicar-provincial had already chosen his workers, men like himself. They were among the choicest and best men that the Reform then had in their convents. They were as follows: Fathers Fray Andres de San Nicolas, who was called de Canovas, an apostolic man, and a great preacher in word and deed; Fray Miguel de Santa Maria, a most exemplary man, and devoted to the rigorous life; Fray Geronimo de Christo, [27] very austere and observant; Fray Pedro de San Fulgencio, a capable and very clever man for all things; Fray Diego de la Anunciacion, [28] adorned with very singular virtues, and regarded as a saint; Fray Rodrigo de San Miguel, [29] most keen-witted and erudite in all learning; Fray Francisco Baptista, a penitent to excess, and regulated by conscience; Fray Francisco de la Madre de Dios, most zealous for the discalced, and for the welfare of his brethren; Fray Andres del Espiritu Santo, a religious, although very young, very modest and retiring. [30] The father superintendent also chose four other religious, lay brethren, who were of use and a great credit to the Reform, on the voyage, and at the time when they came, whose names are as follows: Fray Simon de San Joseph; Fray Joan de San Geronimo; Fray Geronimo de la Madre de Dios; and Fray Joan de San Guillermo. They all assembled in Madrid on the fifteenth or sixteenth of May. Thence they left for Sevilla, and from there went later to San Lucar. They were detained there until they could embark in one of the ships of the Nueva Espana trading-fleet, which set sail from the great bay of Cadiz, July twelve, and commenced its voyage happily. The zealous missionaries were going, very full of God, and consequently did not abate one point of their observance, fulfilling their religious obligations as if they were in the most retired house of those which they had left behind in their province, notwithstanding that they were going in the midst of the traffic and excitement that seem to be inevitable in sea-voyages, and more so in so long ones as are those of the Indias. They did not discontinue the two hours' mental prayer or the choral divine office, at their proper times, and the silence, fastings, and discipline. If they were given any moment from those holy exercises, they employed it in preaching, and in caring for the sick. They cared for and served the latter with what they needed, and as well as they could. They did not content themselves only in their own ship, for when good weather and the quiet of the sea permitted, they went in the small boat or lancha to the others, in order to console and confess those in need of it. They gave them wholesome counsels, and encouraged them to serve God our Lord as they ought. By such course they succeeded in gaining great credit and esteem. The commander himself always approached them with his flagship to salute them, and to ask after their health, and whether they needed anything, while he commended himself very earnestly to their petitions and prayers. He visited them in the island of Guadalupe with the great following of his men, charging to them the prosperous outcome of the fleet. Finally they reached the port of San Juan de Lua, September seventeen, with the rejoicing common to those who sail, and especially on those seas. They disembarked and, after having rested for some little time, they took the road; this they moderated by stopping several days in La Puebla de los Angeles, [31] as guests of our calced fathers, where they received the friendly reception and love that that province has shown to the discalced very often because their beginning was in that form.

Since the strictness of that convent was then extreme, it lit up in great measure the devotion and modesty of ours, the will of all going well alongside the rare mildness of their customs. The more serious inmates of the house did not fail to praise the humility, poverty, and circumspect behavior of our fathers; and consequently not a few of them were determined to follow their purpose and accompany them on that holy undertaking, and to enjoy so good examples. They requested this from the father commissary, but he, being so exact in matters of attention and courtesy, excused himself prudently, in order not to anger the prelates of the province; and, besides, because he had no order from the king, nor any subsidy with which to pay the expenses of any more persons than he had brought from Espana, although he esteemed the desire that they showed to aid him. He went immediately to Mexico, leaving the fathers of La Puebla very enamored and sad. They were received in that magnificent city with kindness and extraordinary devotion by the most learned father, Fray Diego de Contreras—to whom was given, after a few years, the church of Santo Domingo, the primatial church of the Indias. He was then professor of rhetoric in the noted university, and rector of the college of San Pablo whose venerating community went out to meet them in solemn procession and with pomp, when they entered their gates. The learned master gave proof of his ardent charity in his hospitality and cordial kindness, making them very happy. He prepared a room for them, in which they remained, where they received all comfort and aid, until the father vicar-provincial rented a comfortable house, into which he and his subordinates, and the brethren whom he had with him moved, in order not to give occasion for so much ceremony and so many compliments; hoping for the near opportunity to depart for the port of Acapulco.

That one—although formerly a secular lodging, now a very strict convent—could rival the most famous monastery in the matter of observance; for, giving themselves to continual prayers, rigorous fastings, harsh mortifications, and severe penances, all of them were opposing themselves to the best of their ability in the war against the flesh. They did not leave the house unless summoned for some work of charity, such as to confess or to preach, which they performed very willingly, and to the profit and good of souls. They voted unanimously not to strive to obtain for themselves or for others, under any pretext, in person or through others, any offices within the order, or out of it—in order to give, as was actually seen, a solid foundation to the province which they afterward erected so humbly. Their rigid mode of life there was bruited through the city, and the most noble and the wealthiest, with simple earnestness, asked them to remain. Some of such persons offered to endow their house, and others to contribute very ample alms. They begged our fathers at least to leave them the number sufficient to give a good beginning to the convent that they desired to establish. The master, Fray Diego de Contreras, whom we mentioned above, was aiding and encouraging those arguments, promising that they would become discalced, and that he would carry forward our Institute, [32] with his great authority and power, in that kingdom. Father Joan de San Geronimo was tempted by those pious offers of generosity, but he did not deceive himself; for many souls would have been lost if he had desisted from that opportune and holy voyage, or if he had lessened the number of the helpers whom he took with him—who were but few for the abundant harvest that they set about gathering, as we shall note with the lapse of years, in the manner in which it occurred. Accordingly, having closed his ears to all the proposed advantages, he undertook to go to the port at the end of that year, where we shall leave him continuing with his observance of rules and pious devotions on the roads, although these were horrible, as if he had been in the most comfortable and most quiet convent of all those which he had lately left well established in Espana.

[The remainder of chapter V is concerned with matter that does not touch the Philippines, namely, the founding of the college of Zaragoza, that of the convent of Pedroso, and the life of Sister Polonia de los Santos.]



Chapter VI

Our religious reach Luzon, after the death of Father Andres de San Nicolas in sight of the islands. They found the convent, which is located outside the walls of Manila, and undertake the conversion of the barbarous Zambales, in which three of their men die from the hardships, and father Fray Alonso de la Anunciacion at the house of Portillo.

We left father Fray Joan de San Geronimo and his twelve associates, anxious to finish their journey, continuing their road from Mexico to the port commonly called Acapulco, because it was necessary to embark once more in order to reach Philippinas, where God our Lord had prepared many souls who, oppressed by the demon, had no ministers to lighten their darkness. There was already in the said port a ship ready to sail, called "Espiritu Santo," and they were accordingly detained but a short time. They finally set sail on the twenty-second of February, that year of one thousand six hundred and six, in all safety, and all being overjoyed at seeing themselves nearer the land that they were seeking. Some incidents happened on that voyage which were afterward regarded as miracles, and all attributed them to the good company of so notable religious whom they carried. The first one was that, the ship being all but sent to the bottom by burning, the fire having approached near some barrels of powder, warning was given in so good time that it could be extinguished, when if there had been but little more delay, this would have been impossible. The second seemed more prodigious; for on a certain very clear and serene night, shouts came from the bow from those who were stationed there, crying, "Land! land!" The pilot and sailors were thunderstruck as soon as they saw themselves upon some shoals or sunken rocks, and already lost beyond all remedy. Thereupon bewailing their misfortune, they tried to seek confession, as quickly as possible. They thought that all efforts were useless; therefore they cared for nothing else. However they tried to cast the line, but uselessly, for their lines were cut, and they the more confounded by their slight hopes of life. The ship went ahead into that chasm [rebentacon]—as it is called—as if it were passing through a strait; and after having sailed a goodly stretch without accident, among so many reefs, they found themselves on the high sea, free from everything.

Father Fray Andres de San Nicolas had preached the previous afternoon with great energy against the great licentiousness and shameless conduct of the passengers and the other people, who had no fear of God. He severely censured their excesses, and the little anxiety that they showed in that time of greatest danger. With burning words, he exhorted them to do better, representing to them their danger and begging them, finally, to confess, since they did not know what was to happen that night. The fruit that proceeded from that sermon was large, for, his audience becoming terrified and contrite, many of them confessed, and others proposed to do the same by having their entangled consciences examined as soon as possible. After a few hours, what is described above was experienced, whereby all thought that the good preacher had had a revelation of that event; and they could not thank our Lord sufficiently for having granted to them the company of so good religious, but more especially the company of him who preached to them of their danger—whom they regarded as a distinguished servant of God, as he was. Some certified afterward that that place through which the boat had passed had been a rocky islet, and that they had seen it on other voyages; and they were astonished at having escaped on that occasion with life, attributing it, beyond doubt, to a manifest miracle, which the Lord wrought at the intercession of those fathers. They desired, therefore, to listen to their teaching daily, and especially to that of the father who announced to them what we have seen. Consequently, not sparing themselves at all, the fathers gave in alternation their inspired discourses, which were the health and medicine of the many who were there—the ship so conforming itself to these that it seemed a reformed convent, where before it had been a house of confusion and bluster, with soldiers, mariners, and seamen.

The same father, Fray Andres, among the continual sermons, preached a very fervent one on a certain day, and gave them to understand that he would live but a short time, and that he was not to reach the land of promise, for his faults and defects. That happened so, for not long after, he fell sick, before sighting the islands called Ladrones. His sickness increasing, when he was told that the islands were in sight, he arose from his bed, and looking at them, through a porthole of his cabin, immediately lay down again, saying, "Nunc moriar laetus." [33] His weakness was already very great, and, as he had already received the holy sacraments, and was in great resignation and joy of soul, and all our fathers were present, he begged father Fray Joan de San Geronimo to have the passion of Jesus Christ our Lord read to him very slowly. That was done, in the manner that he desired. He, holding an image of the same crucified Lord in his hands, broke out into very glowing utterances of love, and shed many tears during those moments. After the passion was finished—which lasted until near dawn, on account of so many pauses—he begged pardon of all for his omissions and neglect. He asked them to remember him in their masses and prayers. They recited the penitential psalms and other prayers, at the end of which, the sick man, very happy, conversed with his brethren with great affability. He charged them to keep their vows and the observance of the rules of the order. He persuaded them to persevere steadfastly in their purpose, and to be mindful of the zeal with which they had been ready to leave their fatherland for the welfare and conservation of many souls. He encouraged them to place their confidence in God, for His Sovereign Majesty had especial providence and care over that small flock. Accordingly, they were not to become disconsolate with the thought that they had no house or convent in Philipinas, for already a lodging suitable for their purposes was being prepared for them. He concluded by urging them to commend their souls to Him, and then became very calm. All obeyed him, surprised, and desirous of such a death; and, at the end of the prayer, that chosen spirit went out in peace and quiet from the waves and shipwrecks of this world, and reached the safe and calm harbor of glory.

Upon beholding his death, one cannot imagine the grief of both religious and laymen; for, venerating him as a father, they bewailed him universally, and, in all truth, there was not one who did not show great affliction. The corpse remained in such manner that it caused gladness to all who looked at it. Various opinions were expressed as to whether they should bury it in the sea or not. The laymen promised that they would deposit it in a fitting place, until they should cast anchor in the islands now near. Father Fray Joan de San Geronimo did not consent to this, in order to avoid innovations—and especially when they were going to countries where they had no home, and where they knew no one. Therefore, placing the body in a closely-sealed wooden box, with an inscription written on a certain sheet of lead, which denoted his name, country, and virtues, amid their lamentations and tears the body was cast into the sea, without having added the weight which is used to draw the body to the bottom of the water. On account of that carelessness the box should have remained on the surface of the water, without being able to sink at all; but on that occasion the Lord permitted that the waves should receive such deceased without any violence. As the ship was in a calm, consequently, all were witnesses that it settled to the bottom very gradually, and easily. Certain violent fevers were raging in that vessel, from which about forty had already died, at the time that the noted Aragonese and observant religious finished the navigation of his life. But from that instant all had health, becoming better and recovering very soon. That was attributed to his prayers in heaven in fulfilment of the word that he gave them, during the last moments of his life, namely, that he would commend them to God in glory, provided that he went there, as he had good hopes of doing. After the conclusion of the services for a death so fortunate and so bewailed, they soon arrived—May tenth—at the islands that they were seeking. Having disembarked first, according to the order that they bore, on the island of Zibu, the discalced were lodged in the convent of our calced fathers, the venerable bishop, and that example of prelates, Don Fray Pedro de Agurto, as we saw in his life, having gone out to receive them in procession. That most illustrious man desired that the new missionaries should not go further, and offered them a foundation and whatever they wished, in order to exercise themselves in the conversion and salvation of the infidels. It was impossible to assent to so many kindnesses, for their immediate passage to Manila was unavoidable, in order that the governor might see the despatches and the decrees from Espana, which it was necessary to present to him. After having given the bishop the thanks due, they had to set out as soon as possible.

Before proceeding with our relation, it will not be out of place to tell our readers, although in few words, something about the island of Luzon and the city of Manila, as it is the metropolis of the kingdoms that the crown of Castilla has there. It was given that name, then, since the Spaniards have owned it, from a chief village so named, distant two leguas from Manavilis, which is corruptly called Marivelez. It was also called Nueva Castilla. It is the largest island in the Philippinas, and extends farthest north of all those islands. It is the most populous in nations and tribes, who exceed the others, both in bravery and in the light of reason, with well-known advantages. Its least altitude is scant thirteen degrees, and its greatest ten or nine and one-half. Its circuit, without taking into account certain bays, comprehends four hundred and twelve leguas. Those who make it three hundred are in error, for they do not consider its position. It is all very fertile, and has many large rivers, that of Cagayan or Nueva Segovia being more swollen than the others. They are all navigable, more or less. Ships enter that of Manila at full tide with one-half their cargo, but the galleys enter it generally without any trouble. It furnishes a location for the aforesaid city, on a certain very pleasant and beautiful site on the shores of the sea. It is a point made by the Pasig River in sight of the bay. That bay is affirmed to be one of the largest and best that men can see in all the world, for it is thirty leguas in circumference, and has an island of six miles at its mouth, where a sentinel is always stationed. It sustains more than one hundred thousand persons daily with fish, counting the Sangleys and Japanese, and the villages that are settled on its shores. When Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legaspi took it by force of arms, May nineteen, one thousand five hundred and seventy, ten thousand houses beautified it, and it was the court of the king, Ladya [sic] Soliman, a follower in part of the religion of Mahomet. The same general rebuilt the city, and left it its former name of Manila—also the proper name of the island—in the following year of seventy-one. He made it the capital of the rest of the archipelago, as it was very suitable for the concourse and commerce of China. Its streets are pleasant and spacious, and without crossways or turns; for they are all straight, and have beautiful buildings of stone, which vie with those of Espana that are considered well made. It is strong by art and by nature, because of the many creeks and swamps that surround it, together with the great wall of stone built according to the style of the moderns, with not a few ramparts. It is well defended with artillery, and has an excellent and important fortress, supplied with all that is necessary, even as the most noted forts that are renowned in Europa. Finally, it is now the finest and richest city of all those of its class that are known in the world. It enjoys a cathedral with its archbishop, a royal Chancilleria, a presidio with numerous soldiers, and in short, all the products that the regions of the Orient yield for the pleasure, health, and comfort of this life, without having to envy anyone for anything. That city alone makes the name of Espana very glorious and formidable there; and what is more, it is that city which maintains the Catholic religion in those very remote and out-of-the-way hemispheres.