A grant was made of 12,000 ducats for the building and ornaments of the Cathedral of Manila, and an immediate advance of 2,000 ducats on account of this grant was made from the funds to be remitted from Mexico.

Forty Austin friars were to be sent at once to the Philippines, to be followed by missionaries from other corporations. The King allowed P500 to be paid against the P1,000 passage money for each priest, the balance to be defrayed out of the common funds of the clergy, derived from their share of the tribute.

Missionaries in great numbers had already flocked to the Philippines and roamed wherever they thought fit, without licence from the Bishop, whose authority they utterly repudiated.

Affirming that they had the direct consent of His Holiness the Pope, they menaced with excommunication whosoever attempted to impede them in their free peregrination. Five years after the foundation of Manila, the city and environs were infested with niggardly mendicant friars, whose slothful habits placed their supercilious countrymen in ridicule before the natives. They were tolerated but a short time in the Islands; not altogether because of the ruin they would have brought to European moral influence on the untutored tribes, but because the Bishop was highly jealous of all competition against the Augustine Order which he assisted. Consequent on the representations of Alonso Sanchez, His Majesty ordained that all priests who went to the Philippines were, in the first place, to resolve never to quit the Islands without the Bishop's sanction, which was to be conceded with great circumspection and only in extreme cases, whilst the Governor was instructed not to afford them means of exit on his sole authority.

Neither did the Bishop regard with satisfaction the presence of the Commissary of the Inquisition, whose secret investigations, shrouded with mystery, curtailed the liberty of the loftiest functionary, sacred or civil. At the instigation of Alonso Sanchez, the junta recommended the King to recall the Commissary and extinguish the office, but he refused to do so. In short, the chief aims of the Bishop were to enhance the power of the friars, raise the dignity of the Colonial mitre, and secure a religious monopoly for the Augustine Order.

Gomez Perez Dasmarinas was the next Governor appointed to these Islands, on the recommendation of Alonso Sanchez. In the Royal Instructions which he brought with him were embodied all the above-mentioned civil, ecclesiastical and military reforms. At the same time, King Philip abolished the Supreme Court. He wished to put an end to the interminable lawsuits so prejudicial to the development of the Colony. Therefore the President and Magistrates were replaced by Justices of the Peace, and the former returned to Mexico in 1591. This measure served only to widen the breach between the Bishop and the Civil Government. Dasmarinas compelled him to keep within the sphere of his sacerdotal functions, and tolerated no rival in State concerns. There was no appeal on the spot against the Governor's authority. This restraint irritated and disgusted the Bishop to such a degree that, at the age of 78 years, he resolved to present himself at the Spanish Court. On his arrival there, he explained to the King the impossibility of one Bishop attending to the spiritual wants of a people dispersed over so many Islands. For seven years after the foundation of Manila as capital of the Archipelago, its principal church was simply a parish church. In 1578 it was raised to the dignity of a Cathedral, at the instance of the King. Three years after this date the Cathedral of Manila was solemnly declared to be a "Suffragan Cathedral of Mexico, under the advocation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception"; Domingo Salazar being the first Bishop consecrated. He now proposed to raise the Manila See to an Archbishopric, with three Suffragan Bishops. The King gave his consent, subject to approval from Rome, and this following in due course, Salazar was appointed first Archbishop of Manila, but he died before the Papal Bull arrived, dated August 14, 1595, officially authorizing his investiture.

In the meantime, Alonso Sanchez had proceeded to Rome in May, 1589. Amongst many other Pontifical favours conceded to him, he obtained the right for himself, or his assigns, to use a die or stamp of any form with one or more images, to be chosen by the holder, and to contain also the figure of Christ, the Very Holy Virgin, or the Saints Peter or Paul. On the reverse was to be engraven a bust portrait of His Holiness, with the following indulgences attached thereto, viz.:—"To him who should convey the word of God to the infidels, or give them notice of the holy mysteries—each time 300 years' indulgence. To him who, by industry, converted any one of these, or brought him to the bosom of the Church—full indulgence for all sins." A number of minor indulgences were conceded for services to be rendered to the Pontificate, and for the praying so many Pater Nosters and Ave Marias. This Bull was dated in Rome July 28, 1591.

Popes Gregory XIV. and Innocent IX. granted other Bulls relating to the rewards for using beads, medals, crosses, pictures, blessed images, etc., with which one could gain nine plenary indulgences every day or rescue nine souls from purgatory; and each day, twice over, all the full indulgences yet given in and out of Rome could be obtained for living and deceased persons.

Sanchez returned to Spain (where he died), bringing with him the body of Saint Policarp, relics of Saint Potenciana, and 157 Marytrs; amongst them, 27 popes, for remission to the Cathedral of Manila.

The Supreme Court was re-established with the same faculties as those of Mexico and Lima in 1598, and since then, on seven occasions, when the Governorship has been vacant, it has acted pro tem. The following interesting account of the pompous ceremonial attending the reception of the Royal Seal, restoring this Court, is given by Concepcion. [27] He says:—"The Royal Seal of office was received from the ship with the accustomed solemnity. It was contained in a chest covered with purple velvet and trimmings of silver and gold, over which hung a cloth of silver and gold. It was escorted by a majestic accompaniment, marching to the sounds of clarions and cymbals and other musical instruments. The cortege passed through the noble city with rich vestments, with leg trimmings and uncovered heads. Behind these followed a horse, gorgeously caparisoned and girthed, upon whose back the President placed the coffer containing the Royal Seal. The streets were beautifully adorned with exquisite drapery. The High Bailiff, magnificently robed, took the reins in hand to lead the horse under a purple velvet pall, bordered with gold. The magistrates walked on either side; the aldermen of the city, richly clad, carried their staves of office in the august procession, which concluded with a military escort, standard bearers, etc., and proceeded to the Cathedral, where it was met by the Dean, holding a Cross. As the company entered the sacred edifice, the Te Deum was intoned by a band of music."

In 1886 a Supreme Court, exactly similar to, and independent of, that of Manila, was established in the City of Cebu. The question of precedence in official acts having been soon after disputed between the President of the Court and the Brigadier-Governor of Visayas, it was decided in favour of the latter, on appeal to the Gov.-General. In the meantime, the advisability of abolishing the Supreme Court of Cebu, was warmly debated by the public.



For many years after the conquest, deep religious sentiment pervaded the State policy, and not a few of the Governors-General acquired fame for their demonstrations of piety. Nevertheless, the conflictive ambition of the State and Church representatives was a powerful hindrance to the progress of the Colony.

The quarrel between Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera (1635-44) and the Archbishop arose from a circumstance of little concern to the Colony. The Archbishop ordered a military officer, who had a slave, either to sell or liberate her. The officer, rather than yield to either condition, wished to marry her, but failing to obtain her consent, he stabbed her to death. He thereupon took asylum in a convent, whence he was forcibly removed, and publicly executed in front of Saint Augustine's Church by order of the Governor. The Archbishop protested against the act, which, in those days, was qualified as a violation of sanctuary.

The churches were closed whilst the dispute lasted. The Jesuits, always opposed to the Austin friars, sided with the Governor. The Archbishop therefore prohibited them to preach outside their churches in any public place, under pain of excommunication and 4,000 ducats fine, whilst the other priests agreed to abstain from attending their religious or literary reunions. Finally, a religious council was called, but a coalition having been formed against the Archbishop, he was excommunicated—his goods distrained—his salary stopped, and he was suspended in his archiepiscopal functions under a penalty of 4,000 ducats fine. At this crisis, he implored mercy and the intervention of the Supreme Court. The magistrates decided against the prelate's appeal, and allowed him twelve hours to comply, under pain of continued excommunication and a further fine of 1,000 ducats. The Archbishop thereupon retired to the Convent of Saint Francis, where the Governor visited him. The Archbishop subsequently made the most abject submission in an archiepiscopal decree which fully sets forth the admission of his guilt. Such a violent settlement of disputes did not long remain undisturbed, and the Archbishop again sought the first opportunity of opposing the lay authority. In this he can only be excused—if excuse it be—as the upholder of the traditions of cordial discord between the two great factions—Church and State. The Supreme Court, under the presidency of the Governor, resolved therefore to banish the Archbishop from Manila. With this object, 50 soldiers were deputed to seize the prelate, who was secretly forewarned of their coming by his co-conspirators. On their approach he held the Host in his hand, and it is related that the sub-lieutenant sent in charge of the troops was so horrified at his mission that he placed the hilt of his sword upon the floor and fell upon the point, but as the sword bent he did not kill himself. The soldiers waited patiently until the Archbishop was tired out and compelled, by fatigue, to replace the Host on the altar. Then they immediately arrested him, conducted him to a boat under a guard of five men, and landed him on the desert Island of Corregidor. The churches were at once reopened; the Jesuits preached where they chose; terms were dictated to the contumacious Archbishop, who accepted everything unconditionally, and was thereupon permitted to resume his office. The acts of Corcuera were inquired into by his successor, who caused him to be imprisoned for five years; but it is to be presumed that Corcuera was justified in what he did, for on his release and return to Spain, the King rewarded him with the Governorship of the Canary Islands.

It is chronicled that Sabiniano Manrique de Lara (1653-63), who arrived in the galleon San Francisco Xavier with the Archbishop Poblete, refused to disembark until this dignitary had blessed the earth he was going to tread. It was he too who had the privilege of witnessing the expurgation of the Islands of the excommunications and admonitions of Rome. The Archbishop brought peace and goodwill to all men, being charged by His Holiness to sanctify the Colony.

The ceremony was performed with great solemnity, from an elevation, in the presence of an immense concourse of people. Later on, the pious Governor Lara was accused of perfidy to his royal master, and was fined P60,000, but on being pardoned, he retired to Spain, where he took holy orders.

His successor, Diego Salcedo (1663-68), was not so fortunate in his relations with Archbishop Poblete, for during five years he warmly contested his intervention in civil affairs. Poblete found it hard to yield the exercise of veto in all matters which, by courtesy, had been conceded to him by the late Governor Lara. The Archbishop refused to obey the Royal Decrees relating to Church appointments under the Royal patronage, such preferments being in the hands of the Gov.-General as vice-royal patron. These decrees were twice notified to the Archbishop, but as he still persisted in his disobedience, Salcedo signed an order for his expulsion to Mariveles. This brought the prelate to his senses, and he remained more submissive in future. It is recorded that the relations between the Governor and the Archbishop became so strained that the latter was compelled to pay a heavy fine—to remain standing whilst awaiting an audience—to submit to contumely during the interviews—and when he died, the Governor ordered royal feasts to celebrate the joyful event, whilst he prohibited the de profundis Mass, on the ground that such would be inconsistent with the secular festivities.

The King, on being apprised of this, permitted the Inquisition to take its course. Diego Salcedo was surprised in his Palace, and imprisoned by the bloodthirsty agents of the Santo Oficio. Some years afterwards, he was shipped on board a galleon as a prisoner to the Inquisitors of Mexico, but the ship had to put back under stress of weather, and Salcedo returned to his dungeon. There he suffered the worst privations, until he was again embarked for Mexico. On this voyage he died of grief and melancholy. The King espoused the cause of the ecclesiastics, and ordered Salcedo's goods, as well as those of his partisans, to be confiscated.

Manuel de Leon (1669-77) managed to preserve a good understanding with the clergy, and, on his decease, he bequeathed all his possessions to the Obras Pias (q.v.).

Troubles with the Archbishop and friars were revived on the Government being assumed by Juan de Nargas (1678-84). In the last year of his rule, the Archbishop was banished from Manila. It is difficult to adequately appreciate the causes of this quarrel, and there is doubt as to which was right—the Governor or the Archbishop. On his restoration to his See, he was one of the few prelates—perhaps the only one—who personally sought to avenge himself. During the dispute, a number of friars had supported the Government, and these he caused to stand on a raised platform in front of a church, and publicly recant their former acts, declaring themselves miscreants. Juan de Nargas had just retired from the Governorship after seven years' service, and the Archbishop called upon him likewise to abjure his past proceedings and perform the following penance:—To wear a penitent's garb—to place a rope around his neck, and carry a lighted candle to the doors of the cathedral and the churches of the Parian, San Gabriel and Binondo, on every feast day during four months. Nargas objected to this degradation, and claimed privilege, arguing that the Archbishop had no jurisdiction over him, as he was a Cavalier of the Military Order of St. James. But the Archbishop only desisted in his pretensions to humiliate Nargas when the new Governor threatened to expel him again.

Fernando Bustamente Bustillo y Rueda (1717-19) adopted very stringent measures to counteract the Archbishop's excessive claims to immunity. Several individuals charged with heinous crimes had taken church asylum and defied the civil power and justice. The Archbishop was appealed to, to hand them over to the civil authorities, or allow them to be taken. He refused to do either, supporting the claim of immunity of sanctuary. At the same time it came to the knowledge of the Governor that a movement had been set on foot against him by those citizens who favoured the Archbishop's views, and that even the friars had so debased themselves as to seek the aid of the Chinese residents against the Governor. Jose Torralba (q.v.), the late acting-Governor, was released from confinement by the Governor, and reinstated by him as judge in the Supreme Court, although he was under an accusation of embezzlement to the extent of P700,000. The Archbishop energetically opposed this act. He notified to Torralba his excommunication and ecclesiastical pains, and, on his own authority, attempted to seize his person in violation of the privileges of the Supreme Court. Torralba, with his sword and shield in hand, expelled the Archbishop's messenger by force. Then, as judge in the Supreme Court, he hastened to avenge himself of his enemies by issuing warrants against them. They fled to Church asylum, and, with the moral support of the Archbishop, laughed at the magistrates. There the refugees provided themselves with arms, and prepared for rebellion. When the Archbishop was officially informed of these facts, he still maintained that nothing could violate their immunity. The Governor then caused the Archbishop to be arrested and confined in a fortress, with all the ecclesiastics who had taken an active part in the conspiracy against the Government.

Open riot ensued, and the priests marched to the Palace, amidst hideous clamourings, collecting the mob and citizens on the way. It was one of the most revolting scenes and remarkable events in Philippine history. Priests of the Sacred Orders of Saint Francis, Saint Dominic, and Saint Augustine joined the Recoletos in shouting "Viva la Iglesia," "Viva nuestro Rey Don Felipe Quinto." [28] The excited rabble rushed to the Palace, and the Guard having fled, they easily forced their way in. One priest who impudently dared to advance towards the Governor, was promptly ordered by him to stand back. The Governor, seeing himself encircled by an armed mob of laymen and servants of Christ clamouring for his downfall, pulled the trigger of his gun, but the flint failed to strike fire. Then the crowd took courage and attacked him, whilst he defended himself bravely with a bayonet, until he was overwhelmed by numbers. From the Palace he was dragged to the common jail, and stabbed and maltreated on the way. His son, hearing of this outrage, arrived on horseback, but was run through by one of the rebels, and fell to the ground. He got up and tried to cut his way through the infuriated rioters, but was soon surrounded and killed, and his body horribly mutilated.

The populace, urged by the clerical party, now fought for the liberty of the Archbishop. The prison doors were broken open, and the Archbishop was amongst the number of offenders liberated. The prelate came in triumph to the Palace, and assumed the Government in October, 1719. The mob, during their excesses, tore down the Royal Standard, and maltreated those whom they met of the unfortunate Governor's faithful friends. A mock inquiry into the circumstances of the riot was made in Manila in apparent judicial form. Another investigation was instituted in Mexico, which led to several of the minor actors in this sad drama being made the scapegoat victims of the more exalted criminals. The Archbishop held the Government for nine years, and was then transferred to the Mexican Bishopric of Mechoacan.

Pedro Manuel de Arandia (1754-59) is said to have expired of melancholy, consequent, in a measure, on his futile endeavours to govern at peace with the friars, who always secured the favour of the King.

On four occasions the Supreme State authority in the Colony has been vested in the prelates. Archbishop Manuel Rojo, acting-Governor at the time of the British occupation of Manila in 1763, is said to have died of grief and shame in prison (1764) through the intrigues of the violent Simon de Anda y Salazar (q.v.).

Jose Raon was Gov.-General in 1768, when the expulsion of the Jesuits was decreed. After the secret determination was made known to him, he was accused of having divulged it, and of having concealed his instructions. He was thereupon placed under guard in his own residence, where he expired (vide Simon de Anda y Salazar).

Domingo Moriones y Murillo (1877-80), it is alleged, had grave altercations with the friars, and found it necessary to remind the Archbishop Payo that the supreme power in the Philippines belonged to the State—not to the Church representative.

From the earliest times of Spanish dominion, it had been the practice of the natives to expose to view the corpses of their relations and friends in the public highways and villages whilst conveying them to the parish churches, where they were again exhibited to the common gaze, pending the pleasure of the parish priest to perform the last obsequies. This outrage on public decorum was proscribed by the Director-General of Civil Administration in a circular dated October, 18, 1887, addressed to the Provincial Governors, enjoining them to prohibit such indecent scenes in future. Thereupon the parish priests simply showed their contempt for the civil authorities by simulating their inability to elucidate to the native petty governors the true intent and meaning of the order. At the same time, the Archbishop of Manila issued instructions on the subject to his subordinates in very equivocal language. The native local authorities then petitioned the Civil Governor of Manila to make the matter clear to them. The Civil Governor forthwith referred the matter back to the Director-General of Civil Administration. This functionary, in a new circular dated November 4, confirmed his previous mandate of October 18, and censured the action of the parish priests, who "in improper language and from the pulpit," had incited the native headmen to set aside his authority. The author of the circular sarcastically added the pregnant remark, that he was penetrated with the conviction that the Archbishop's sense of patriotism and rectitude would deter him from subverting the law. This incident seriously aroused the jealousy of the friars holding vicarages, and did not improve the relations between Church and State.



CHAPTER V

Early Relations With Japan

Two decades of existence in the 16th century was but a short period in which to make known the conditions of this new Colony to its neighbouring States, when its only regular intercourse with them was through the Chinese who came to trade with Manila. Japanese mariners, therefore, appear to have continued to regard the north of Luzon as "no-man's-land"; for years after its nominal annexation by the Spaniards they assembled there, whether as merchants or buccaneers it is difficult to determine. Spanish authority had been asserted by Salcedo along the west coast about as far as lat. 18 deg. N., but in 1591 the north coast was only known to Europeans geographically. So far, the natives there had not made the acquaintance of their new masters.

A large Spanish galley cruising in these waters met a Japanese vessel off Cape Bojeador (N.W. point), and fired a shot which carried away the stranger's mainmast, obliging him to heave-to. Then the galley-men, intending to board the stranger, made fast the sterns, whilst the Spaniards rushed to the bows; but the Japanese came first, boarded the galley, and drove the Spaniards aft, where they would have all perished had they not cut away the mizzenmast and let it fall with all sail set. Behind this barricade they had time to load their arquebuses and drive back the Japanese, over whom they gained a victory. The Spaniards then entered the Rio Grande de Cagayan, where they met a Japanese fleet, between which they passed peacefully. On shore they formed trenches and mounted cannons on earthworks, but the Japanese scaled the fortifications and pulled down the cannons by the mouths.

These were recovered, and the Spanish captain had the cannon mouths greased, so that the Japanese tactics should not be repeated. A battle was fought and the defeated Japanese set sail, whilst the Spaniards remained to obtain the submission of the natives by force or by persuasion.

The Japanese had also come to Manila to trade, and were located in the neighbouring village of Dilao, [29] where the Franciscan friars undertook their conversion to Christianity, whilst the Dominican Order considered the spiritual care of the Chinese their especial charge.

The Portuguese had been in possession of Macao since the year 1557, and traded with various Chinese ports, whilst in the Japanese town of Nagasaki there was a small colony of Portuguese merchants. These were the indirect sources whence the Emperor of Japan learnt that Europeans had founded a colony in Luzon Island; and in 1593 he sent a message to the Governor of the Philippines calling upon him to surrender and become his vassal, threatening invasion in the event of refusal. The Spanish colonies at that date were hardly in a position to treat with haughty scorn the menaces of the Japanese potentate, for they were simultaneously threatened with troubles with the Dutch in the Moluccas, for which they were preparing an armament (vide Chap. vi.). The want of men, ships, and war material obliged them to seek conciliation with dignity. The Japanese Ambassador, Farranda Kiemon, was received with great honours and treated with the utmost deference during his sojourn in Manila.

The Governor replied to the Emperor, that being but a lieger of the King of Spain—a mighty monarch of unlimited resources and power—he was unable to acknowledge the Emperor's suzerainty; for the most important duty imposed upon him by his Sovereign was the defence of his vast domains against foreign aggression; that, on the other hand, he was desirous of entering into amicable and mutually advantageous relations with the Emperor, and solicited his conformity to a treaty of commerce, the terms of which would be elucidated to him by an envoy.

A priest, Juan Cobo, and an infantry captain were thereupon accredited to the Japanese Court as Philippine Ambassadors. On their arrival they were, without delay, admitted in audience by the Emperor; the treaty of commerce was adjusted to the satisfaction of both parties; and the Ambassadors, with some Japanese nobles, set sail for Manila in Japanese ships, which foundered on the voyage, and all perished.

Neither the political nor the clerical party in Manila was, however, dismayed by this first disaster, and the prospect of penetrating Japan was followed up by a second expedition.

Between the friars an animated discussion arose when the Jesuits protested against members of any other Order being sent to Japan. Saint Francis Xavier had, years before, obtained a Papal Bull from Pope Gregory XIII., awarding Japan to his Order, which had been the first to establish missions in Nagasaki. Jesuits were still there in numbers, and the necessity of sending members of rival religious bodies is not made clear in the historical records. The jealous feud between those holy men was referred to the Governor, who naturally decided against the Jesuits, in support of the King's policy of grasping territory under the cloak of piety. A certain Fray Pedro Bautista was chosen as Ambassador, and in his suite were three other priests. These embarked in a Spanish frigate, whilst Farranda Kiemon, who had remained in Manila the honoured guest of the Government, took his leave, and went on board his own vessel. The authorities bade farewell to the two embassies with ostentatious ceremonies, and amidst public rejoicings the two ships started on their journey on May 26, 1593. After 30 days' navigation one ship arrived safely at Nagasaki, and the other at a port 35 miles further along the coast.

Pedro Bautista, introduced by Ferranda Kiemon, was presented to the Emperor Taycosama, who welcomed him as an Ambassador authorized to negotiate a treaty of commerce, and conclude an offensive and defensive alliance for mutual protection. The Protocol was agreed to and signed by both parties, and the relations between the Emperor and Pedro Bautista became more and more cordial. The latter solicited, and obtained, permission to reside indefinitely in the country and send the treaty on by messenger to the Governor of the Philippines; hence the ships in which the envoys had arrived remained about ten months in port. A concession was also granted to build a church at Meaco, near Osaka, and it was opened in 1594, when Mass was publicly celebrated.

In Nagasaki the Jesuits were allowed to reside unmolested and practise their religious rites amongst the Portuguese population of traders and others who might have voluntarily embraced Christianity. Bautista went there to consult with the chief of the Jesuit Mission, who energetically opposed what he held to be an encroachment upon the monopoly rights of his Order, conceded by Pope Gregory XIII. and confirmed by royal decrees. Bautista, however, showed a permission which he had received from the Jesuit General, by virtue of which he was suffered to continue his course pending that dignitary's arrival.

The Portuguese merchants in Nagasaki were not slow to comprehend that Bautista's coming with priests at his command was but a prelude to Spanish territorial conquest, which would naturally retard their hoped-for emancipation from the Spanish yoke. [30] Therefore, in their own interests, they forewarned the Governor of Nagasaki, who prohibited Bautista from continuing his propaganda against the established religion of the country in contravention of the Emperor's commands; but as Bautista took no heed of this injunction, he was expelled from Nagasaki for contumacy.

It was now manifest to the Emperor that he had been basely deceived, and that under the pretext of concluding a commercial and political treaty, Bautista and his party had, in effect, introduced themselves into his realm with the clandestine object of seducing his subjects from their allegiance, of undermining their consciences, perverting them from the religion of their forefathers, and that all this would bring about the dismemberment of his Empire and the overthrow of his dynasty. Not only had Taycosama abstained from persecuting foreigners for the exercise of their religious rites, but he freely licensed the Jesuits to continue their mission in Nagasaki and wherever Catholics happened to congregate. He had permitted the construction of their temples, but he could not tolerate a deliberate propaganda which foreshadowed his own ruin. [31]

Pedro Bautista's designs being prematurely obstructed, he took his passage back to Manila from Nagasaki in a Japanese vessel, leaving behind him his interpreter, Fray Jerome, with the other Franciscan monks. An Imperial Decree was then issued to prohibit foreign priests from interfering with the religion of Japanese subjects; but this law having been set at naught by Bautista's colleagues, one was arrested and imprisoned, and warrants were issued against the others; meanwhile the Jesuits in Nagasaki were in no way restrained.

The Governor of Nagasaki caused the Franciscan propagandists to be conducted on board a Portuguese ship and handed over to the charge of the captain, under severe penalties if he aided or allowed their escape, but they were free to go wherever they chose outside the Japanese Empire. The captain, however, permitted one to return ashore, and for some time he wandered about the country in disguise.

Pedro Bautista had reached Manila, where the ecclesiastical dignitaries prevailed upon the Governor to sanction another expedition to Japan, and Bautista arrived in that country a second time with a number of Franciscan friars. The Emperor now lost all patience, and determined not only to repress these venturesome foreigners, but to stamp out the last vestige of their revolutionary machinations. Therefore, by Imperial Decree, the arrest was ordered of all the Franciscan friars, and all natives who persisted in their adhesion to these missionaries' teachings. Twenty-six of those taken were tried and condemned to ignominious exhibition and death—the Spaniards, because they had come into the country and had received royal favours under false pretences, representing themselves as political ambassadors and suite—the Japanese, because they had forsworn the religion of their ancestors and bid fair to become a constant danger and source of discord in the realm. Amongst these Spaniards was Pedro Bautista. After their ears and noses had been cut off, they were promenaded from town to town in a cart, finally entering Nagasaki on horseback, each bearing the sentence of death on a breast-board.

On a high ground, near the city and the port, in front of the Jesuits' church, these 26 persons were crucified and stabbed to death with lances, in expiation of their political offences. It was a sad fate for men who conscientiously believed that they were justified in violating rights and laws of nations for the propagation of their particular views; but can one complain? Would Buddhist missionaries in Spain have met with milder treatment at the hands of the Inquisitors? [32]

Each Catholic body was supposed to designate the same road to heaven—each professed to teach the same means of obtaining the grace of God; yet, strange to say, each bore the other an implacable hatred—an inextinguishable jealousy! If conversion to Christianity were for the glory of God only, what could it have mattered whether souls of Japanese were saved by Jesuits or by others? For King Philip it was the same whether his political tools were of one denomination or the other, but many of the Jesuits in Japan happened to be Portuguese.

The Jesuits in Manila probably felt that in view of their opposition to the Franciscan missions, public opinion might hold them morally responsible for indirectly contributing to the unfortunate events related; therefore, to justify their acts, they formally declared that Pedro Bautista and his followers died excommunicated, because they had disobeyed the Bull of Pope Gregory XIII.

The general public were much excited when the news spread through the city, and a special Mass was said, followed by a religious procession through the streets. The Governor sent a commission to Japan, under the control of Luis de Navarrete, to ask for the dead bodies and chattels of the executed priests. The Emperor showed no rancour whatsoever; on the contrary, his policy was already carried out; and to welcome the Spanish lay deputies, he gave a magnificent banquet and entertained them sumptuously. Luis de Navarrete having claimed the dead bodies of the priests, the Emperor at once ordered the guards on the execution ground to retire, and told Navarrete that he could dispose as he pleased of the mortal remains. Navarrete therefore hastened to Nagasaki, but before he could reach there, devout Catholics had cut up the bodies, one carrying away a head, another a leg, and so forth. It happened, too, that Navarrete died of disease a few days after his arrival in Nagasaki. His successor, Diego de Losa, recovered the pieces of the deceased priests, which he put into a box and shipped for Manila, but the vessel and box of relics were lost on the way.

Diego de Losa returned to Manila, the bearer of a polite letter and very acceptable presents from the Emperor to the Governor of the Philippines.

The letter fully expatiated on recent events, and set forth a well-reasoned justification of the Emperor's decrees against the priests, in terms which proved that he was neither a tyrant nor a wanton savage, but an astute politician. The letter stated, that under the pretext of being ambassadors, the priests in question had come into the country and had taught a diabolical law belonging to foreign countries, and which aimed at superseding the rites and laws of his own religion, confused his people, and destroyed his Government and kingdom; for which reason he had rigorously proscribed it. Against these prohibitions, the religious men of Luzon preached their law publicly to humble people, such as servants and slaves. Not being able to permit this persistence in law-breaking, he had ordered their death by placing them on crosses; for he was informed that in the kingdom where Spaniards dominated, this teaching of their religious doctrine was but an artifice and stratagem by means of which the civil power was deceitfully gained. He astutely asks the Gov.-General if he would consent to Japanese preaching their laws in his territory, perturbing public peace with such novelties amongst the lower classes?

Certainly it would be severely repressed, argued the Emperor, adding that in the exercise of his absolute power and for the good of his subjects, he had avoided the occurrence in his dominions of what had taken place in those regions where the Spaniards deposed the legitimate kings, and constituted themselves masters by religious fraud.

He explains that the seizure of the cargo of a Spanish ship was only a reprisal for the harm which he had suffered by the tumult raised when the edict was evaded. But as the Spanish Governor had thought fit to send another ambassador from so far, risking the perils of the sea, he was anxious for peace and mutual good-feeling, but only on the precise condition that no more individuals should be sent to teach a law foreign to his realm, and under these unalterable conditions the Governor's subjects were at liberty to trade freely with Japan; that by reason of his former friendship and royal clemency, he had refrained from killing all the Spaniards with the priests and their servants, and had allowed them to return to their country.

As to religion itself, Taycosama is said to have remarked that among so many professed, one more was of little consequence,—hence his toleration in the beginning, and his continued permission to the Jesuits to maintain their doctrines amongst their own sectarians. Moreover, it is said that a map was shown to Taycosama, marking the domains of the King of Spain and Portugal, and that in reply to his inquiry: "How could one man have conquered such vast territory?"—a certain Father Guzman (probably a Portuguese) answered: "By secretly sending religious men to teach their doctrine, and when a sufficient number of persons were so converted, the Spanish soldiery, with their aid, annexed their country and overthrew their kings." Such an avowal naturally impressed Taycosama profoundly. [33]

In Seville there was quite a tumult when the details of the executions in Japan were published.

In the meantime, the lamentable end of the Franciscan missionaries did not deter others from making further attempts to follow their example. During the first 20 years of the 17th century, priests succeeded in entering Japan, under the pretence of trading, in spite of the extreme measures adopted to discover them and the precautions taken to uproot the new doctrine, which it was feared would become the forerunner of sedition. Indeed, many Japanese nobles professing Christianity had already taken up their residence in Manila, and were regarded by the Emperor as a constant danger to his realm, hence he was careful to avoid communication with the Philippines. During the short reigns of Dayfusama and his son Xogusama, new decrees were issued, not against foreign Christians, but against those who made apostates amongst the Japanese; and consequently two more Spanish priests were beheaded.

In September, 1622, a large number of Spanish missionaries and Christian Japanese men and children were executed in Nagasaki. Twenty-five of them were burnt and the rest beheaded, their remains being thrown into the sea to avoid the Christians following their odious custom of preserving parts of corpses as relics. Two days afterwards, four Franciscan and two Dominican friars with five Japanese were burnt in Omura. Then followed an edict stating the pains and penalties, civil deprivations, etc., against all who refused to abandon their apostasy and return to the faith of their forefathers. Another edict was issued imposing death upon those who should conduct priests to Japan, and forfeiture of the ships in which they should arrive and the merchandise with which they should come. To all informers against native apostates the culprits' estates and goods were transferred as a reward.

A Spanish deputation was sent to the Emperor of Japan in 1622, alleging a desire to renew commercial relations, but the Emperor was so exasperated at the recent defiance of his decrees that he refused to accept the deputies' presents from the Philippine Government, and sent them and the deputation away.

Still there were friars in Manila eager to seek martyrdom, but the Philippine traders, in view of the danger of confiscation of their ships and merchandise if they carried missionaries, resolved not to despatch vessels to Japan if ecclesiastics insisted on taking passage. The Government supported this resolution in the interests of trade, and formally prohibited the transport of priests. The Archbishop of Manila, on his part, imposed ecclesiastical penalties on those of his subordinates who should clandestinely violate this prohibition.

Supplicatory letters from Japan reached the religious communities in Manila, entreating them to send more priests to aid in the spread of Christianity; therefore the chiefs of the Orders consulted together, bought a ship, and paid high wages to its officers to carry four Franciscan, four Dominican and two Recoleto priests to Japan. When the Governor, Alonso Fajardo de Tua, heard of the intended expedition, he threatened to prohibit it, affirming that he would not consent to any more victims being sent to Japan. Thereupon representatives of the religious Orders waited upon him, to state that if he persisted in his prohibition, upon his conscience would fall the enormous charge of having lost the souls which they had hoped to save. The Governor therefore retired from the discussion, remitting the question to the Archbishop, who at once permitted the ship to leave, conveying the ten priests disguised as merchants. Several times the vessel was nearly wrecked, but at length arrived safely in a Japanese port. The ten priests landed, and were shortly afterwards burnt by Imperial order.

In Rome a very disputed inquiry had been made into the circumstances of the Franciscan mission; but, in spite of the severe ordeal of the diaboli advocatus, cononization was conceded to Pedro Bautista and his companions.

In 1629 the Papal Bull of Urban VIII., dated September 14, 1627, was published in Manila, amidst public feasts and popular rejoicing. The Bull declared the missionaries of Japan to be Saints and Martyrs and Patron Saints of the second class. Increased animation in favour of missions to Japan became general in consequence. Ten thousand pesos were collected to fit out a ship to carry 12 priests from Manila, besides 24 priests who came from Pangasinan to embark privately. The ship, however, was wrecked off the Ilocos Province coast (Luzon Is.), but the crew and priests were saved.

A large junk was then secretly prepared at a distance from Manila for the purpose of conveying another party of friars to Japan; but, just as they were about to embark, the Governor sent a detachment of soldiers with orders to prevent them doing so, and he definitely prohibited further missionary expeditions.

In 1633 the final extinction of Christians was vigorously commenced by the Emperor To-Kogunsama; and in the following year 79 persons were executed. The same Emperor sent a ship to Manila with a present of 150 lepers, saying that, as he did not permit Christians in his country, and knowing that the priests had specially cared for these unfortunate beings, he remitted them to their care. The first impulse of the Spaniards was to sink the ship with cannon shots, but finally it was agreed to receive the lepers, who were conducted with great pomp through the city and lodged in a large shed at Dilao (now the suburb of Paco). This gave rise to the foundation of the Saint Lazarus' (Lepers') Hospital, existing at the present day. [34] The Governor replied to the Emperor that if any more were sent he would kill them and their conductors.

The Emperor then convoked a great assembly of his vassal kings and nobles, and solemnly imposed upon them the strict obligation to fulfil all the edicts against the entry and permanence of Christians, under severe penalties, forfeiture of property, deprivation of dignities, or death. So intent was this Prince on effectually annihilating Christianity within his Empire, that he thenceforth interdicted all trade with Macao; and when in 1640 his decree was disregarded by four Portuguese traders, who, describing themselves as ambassadors, arrived with a suite of 46 Orientals, they were all executed.

In the same year the Governor of the Philippines called a Congress of local officials and ecclesiastics, amongst whom it was agreed that to send missionaries to Japan was to send them directly to death, and it was thenceforth resolved to abandon Catholic missions in that country.

Secret missions and consequent executions still continued until about the year 1642, when the Dutch took Tanchiu—in Formosa Island—from the Spaniards, and intercepted the passage to Japan of priests and merchants alike. The conquest of Japan was a feat which all the artifice of King Philip IV.'s favourites and their monastic agents could not compass.

In 1862, during the Pontificate of Pius IX., 620 missionaries who had met with martyrdom in Japan, in the 17th century, were canonized with great pomp and appropriate ceremony in Rome.



CHAPTER VI

Conflicts with the Dutch

Consequent on the union of the Crowns of Portugal and Spain (1581-1640), the feuds, as between nations, diplomatically subsided, although the individual antagonism was as rife as ever.

Spanish and Portuguese interests in the Moluccas, as elsewhere, were thenceforth officially mutual. In the Molucca group, the old contests between the once rival kingdoms had estranged the natives from their ancient compulsory alliances. Anti-Portuguese and Philo-Portuguese parties had sprung up amongst the petty sovereignties, but the Portuguese fort and factory established in Ternate Island were held for many years, despite all contentions. But another rivalry, as formidable and more detrimental than that of the Portuguese in days gone by, now menaced Spanish ascendancy.

From the close of the 16th century up to the year of the "Family Compact" Wars (1763), Holland and Spain were relentless foes. To recount the numerous combats between their respective fleets during this period, would itself require a volume. It will suffice here to show the bearing of these political conflicts upon the concerns of the Philippine Colony. The Treaty of Antwerp, which was wrung from the Spaniards in 1609, 28 years after the union of Spain and Portugal, broke the scourge of their tyranny, whilst it failed to assuage the mutual antipathy. One of the consequences of the "Wars of the Flanders," which terminated with this treaty, was that the Dutch were obliged to seek in the Far East the merchandise which had hitherto been supplied to them from the Peninsula. The short-sighted policy of the Spaniards in closing to the Dutch the Portuguese markets, which were now theirs, brought upon themselves the destruction of the monopolies which they had gained by the Union. The Dutch were now free, and their old tyrant's policy induced them to establish independently their own trading headquarters in the Molucca Islands, whence they could obtain directly the produce forbidden to them in the home ports. Hence, from those islands, the ships of a powerful Netherlands Trading Company sallied forth from time to time to meet the Spanish galleons from Mexico laden with silver and manufactured goods. Previous to this, and during the Wars of the Flanders, Dutch corsairs hovered about the waters of the Moluccas, to take reprisals from the Spaniards. These encounters frequently took place at the eastern entrance of the San Bernadino Straits, where the Dutch were accustomed to heave-to in anticipation of the arrival of their prizes. In this manner, constantly roving about the Philippine waters, they enriched themselves at the expense of their detested adversary, and, in a small degree, avenged themselves of the bloodshed and oppression which for over sixty years had desolated the Low Countries.

The Philippine Colony lost immense sums in the seizure of its galleons from Mexico, upon which it almost entirely depended for subsistence. Being a dependency of New Spain, its whole intercourse with the civilized world, its supplies of troops and European manufactured articles, were contingent upon the safe arrival of the galleons. Also the dollars with which they annually purchased cargoes from the Chinese for the galleons came from Mexico. Consequently, the Dutch usually took the aggressive in these sea-battles, although they were not always victorious. When there were no ships to meet, they bombarded the ports where others were being built. The Spaniards, on their part, from time to time fitted out vessels to run down to the Molucca Islands to attack the enemy in his own waters.

During the Governorship of Gomez Perez Dasmarinas (1590-93), the native King of Siao Island—one of the Molucca group—came to Manila to offer homage and vassalage to the representative of the King of Spain and Portugal, in return for protection against the incursions of the Dutch and the raids of the Ternate natives. Dasmarinas received him and the Spanish priests who accompanied him with affability, and, being satisfied with his credentials, he prepared a large expedition to go to the Moluccas to set matters in order. The fleet was composed of several frigates, 1 ship, 6 galleys, and 100 small vessels, all well armed. The fighting men numbered 100 Spaniards, 400 Pampanga and Tagalog arquebusiers, 1,000 Visaya archers and lancers, besides 100 Chinese to row the galleys. This expedition, which was calculated to be amply sufficient to subdue all the Moluccas, sailed from Cavite on October 6, 1593. The sailing ships having got far ahead of the galleys, they hove-to off Punta de Azufre (N. of Maricaban Is.) to wait for them. The galleys arrived; and the next day they were able to start again in company. Meanwhile, a conspiracy was formed by the Chinese galleymen to murder all the Spaniards. Assuming these Chinese to be volunteers, their action would appear to be extremely vile. If, however, as is most probable, they were pressed into this military service to foreigners, it seems quite natural, that being forced to bloodshed without alternative, they should first fight for their own liberty, seeing that they had come to the Islands to trade.

All but the Chinese were asleep, and they fell upon the Spaniards in a body. Eighteen of the troops and four slaves escaped by jumping into the sea. The Governor was sleeping in his cabin, but awoke on hearing the noise. He supposed the ship had grounded, and was coming up the companion en deshabille, when a Chinaman clove his head with a cutlass. The Governor reached his state-room, and taking his Missal and the Image of the Virgin in his hand, he died in six hours. The Chinese did not venture below, where the priests and armed soldiers were hidden. They cleared the decks of all their opponents, made fast the hatches and gangways, and waited three days, when, after putting ashore those who were still alive, they escaped to Cochin China, where the King and Mandarins seized the vessel and all she carried. On board were found 12,000 pesos in coin, some silver, and jewels belonging to the Governor and his suite. Thus the expedition was brought to an untimely end. The King of Siao, and the missionaries accompanying him, had started in advance for Otong (Panay Is.) to wait for the Governor, and there they received the news of the disaster.

Amongst the most notable of the successful expeditions of the Spaniards, was that of Pedro Bravo de Acuna, in 1606, which consisted of 19 frigates, 9 galleys, and 8 small craft, carrying a total of about 2,000 men, and provisions for a prolonged struggle. The result was that they subdued a petty sultan, friendly to the Dutch, and established a fortress on his island.

About the year 1607 the Supreme Court (the Governorship being vacant from 1606 to 1608), hearing that a Dutch vessel was hovering off Ternate, sent a ship against it, commanded by Pedro de Heredia. A combat ensued. The Dutch commander was taken prisoner with several of his men, and lodged in the fort at Ternate, but was ransomed on payment of P50,000 to the Spanish commander. Heredia returned joyfully to Manila, where, much to his surprise, he was prosecuted by the Supreme Court for exceeding his instructions, and expired of melancholy. The ransomed Dutch leader was making his way back to his headquarters in a small ship, peacefully, and without threatening the Spaniards in any way, when the Supreme Court treacherously sent a galley and a frigate after him to make him prisoner a second time. Overwhelmed by numbers and arms, and little expecting such perfidious conduct of the Spaniards, he was at once arrested and brought to Manila. The Dutch returned 22 Spanish prisoners of war to Manila to ransom him, but whilst these were retained, the Dutch commander was nevertheless imprisoned for life.

Some years afterwards a Dutch squadron anchored off the south point of Bataan Province, not far from Punta Mariveles, at the entrance to Manila Bay. Juan de Silva, the Governor (1609-16), was in great straits. Several ships had been lost by storms, others were away, and there was no adequate floating armament with which to meet the enemy. However, the Dutch lay-to for five or six months, waiting to seize the Chinese and Japanese traders' goods on their way to the Manila market. They secured immense booty, and were in no hurry to open hostilities. This delay gave de Silva time to prepare vessels to attack the foe. In the interval he dreamt that Saint Mark had offered to help him defeat the Dutch. On awaking, he called a priest, whom he consulted about the dream, and they agreed that the nocturnal vision was a sign from Heaven denoting a victory. The priest went (from Cavite) to Manila to procure a relic of this glorious intercessor, and returned with his portrait to the Governor, who adored it. In haste the ships and armament were prepared. On Saint Mark's day, therefore, the Spaniards sallied forth from Cavite with six ships, carrying 70 guns, and two galleys and two launches, also well armed, besides a number of small, light vessels to assist in the formation of line of battle.

All the European fighting men in Manila and Cavite embarked—over 1,000 Spaniards—the flower of the Colony, together with a large force of natives, who were taught to believe that the Dutch were infidels. On the issue of this day's events perchance depended the possession of the Colony. Manila and Cavite were garrisoned by volunteers. Orations were offered in the churches. The Miraculous Image of Our Lady of the Guide was taken in procession from the Hermitage, and exposed to public view in the Cathedral. The Saints of the different churches and sanctuaries were adored and exhibited daily. The Governor himself took the supreme command, and dispelled all wavering doubt in his subordinates by proclaiming Saint Mark's promise of intercession. On his ship he hoisted the Royal Standard, on which was embroidered the Image of the Blessed Virgin, with the motto "Mostrate esse Matrem" and over a beautifully calm sea he led the way to battle and to victory.

A shot from the Spanish heavy artillery opened the bloody combat. The Dutch were completely vanquished, after a fierce struggle, which lasted six hours. Their three ships were destroyed, and their flags, artillery, and plundered merchandise, to the value of P300,000, were seized. This famous engagement was thenceforth known as the Battle of Playa Honda.

Again, in 1611, under de Silva, a squadron sailed to the Moluccas and defeated the Dutch off Gilolo Island.

In 1617 the Spaniards had a successful engagement off the Zambales coast with the Dutch, who lost three of their ships.

In July, 1620, three Mexican galleons were met by three Dutch vessels off Cape Espiritu Santo (Samar Is.), at the entrance of the San Bernadino Straits, but managed to escape in the dark. Two ran ashore and broke up; the third reached Manila. After this, the Gov.-General, Alonso Fajardo de Tua, ordered the course of the State ships to be varied on each voyage.

In 1625 the Dutch again appeared off the Zambales coast, and Geronimo de Silva went out against them. The Spaniards, having lost one man, relinquished the pursuit of the enemy, and the Commander was brought to trial by the Supreme Court.

In 1626, at the close of the Governorship of Fernando de Silva, a Spanish Colony was founded on Formosa Island, but no supplies were sent to it, and consequently in 1642 it surrendered to the Dutch, who held it for 20 years, until they were driven out by the Chinese adventurer Koxinga. And thus for over a century and a half the strife continued, until the Dutch concentrated their attention on the development of their Eastern Colonies, which the power of Spain, growing more and more effete, was incompetent to impede.



In the middle of the 17th century the Tartars invaded China and overthrew the Min Dynasty—at that time represented by the Chinese Emperor Yunglic. He was succeeded on the throne by the Tartar Emperor Kungchi, to whose arbitrary power nearly all the Chinese Empire had submitted. Amongst the few Mongol chiefs who held out against Ta-Tsing dominion was a certain Mandarin known by the name of Koxinga, who retired to the Island of Kinmuen, where he asserted his independence and defied his nation's conqueror. Securely established in his stronghold, he invited the Chinese to take refuge in his island and oppose the Tartar's rule. Therefore the Emperor ordered that no man should inhabit China within four leagues of the coast, except in those provinces which were undoubtedly loyal to the new Government. The coast was consequently laid bare; vessels, houses, plantations, and everything useful to man, were destroyed in order to cut off effectually all communications with lands beyond the Tartar Empire. The Chinese from the coast, who for generations had earned a living by fishing, etc., crowded into the interior, and their misery was indescribable.

Koxinga, unable to communicate with the mainland of the Empire, turned his attention to the conquest of Formosa Island, at the time in the possession of the Dutch. According to Dutch accounts the European settlers numbered about 600, with a garrison of 2,200. The Dutch artillery, stores, and merchandise were valued at P8,000,000, and the Chinese, who attacked them under Koxinga, were about 100,000 strong. The settlement surrendered to the invaders' superior numbers, and Koxinga established himself as King of the Island. Koxinga had become acquainted with an Italian Dominican missionary named Vittorio Riccio, whom he created a Mandarin, and sent him as Ambassador to the Governor of the Philippines. Riccio therefore arrived in Manila in 1662, the bearer of Koxinga's despatches calling upon the Governor to pay tribute, under threat of the Colony being attacked by Koxinga if his demand were refused.

The position of Riccio as a European friar and Ambassador of a Mongol adventurer was as awkward as it was novel. He was received with great honour in Manila, where he disembarked, and rode to the Government House in the full uniform of a Chinese envoy, through lines of troops drawn up to salute him as he passed. At the same time, letters from Formosa had also been received by the Chinese in Manila, and the Government at once accused them of conniving at rebellion. All available forces were concentrated in the capital; and to increase the garrison the Governor published a decree, dated May 6, 1662, ordering the demolition of the forts of Zamboanga, Yligan (Mindanao Is.), Calamianes and Ternale [35] (Moluccas).

The only provincial fort preserved was that of Surigao (then called Caraga), consequently in the south the Mahometans became complete masters on land and at sea for half a year.

The troops in Manila numbered 100 cavalry and 8,000 infantry. Fortifications were raised, and redoubts were constructed in which to secrete the Treasury funds. When all the armament was in readiness, the Spaniards incited the Chinese to rebel, in order to afford a pretext for their massacre.

Two junk masters were seized, and the Chinese population was menaced; therefore they prepared for their own defence, and then opened the affray, for which the Government was secretly longing, by killing a Spaniard in the market-place. Suddenly artillery fire was opened on the Parian, and many of the peaceful Chinese traders, in their terror, hanged themselves; many were drowned in the attempt to reach the canoes in which to get away to sea; some few did safely arrive in Formosa Island and joined Koxinga's camp, whilst others took to the mountains. Some 8,000 to 9,000 Chinese remained quiet, but ready for any event, when they were suddenly attacked by Spaniards and natives. The confusion was general, and the Chinese seemed to be gaining ground; therefore the Governor sent the Ambassador Riccio and a certain Fray Joseph de Madrid to parley with them. The Chinese accepted the terms offered by Riccio, who returned to the Governor, leaving Fray Joseph with the rebels; but when Riccio went back with a general pardon and a promise to restore the two junk masters, he found that they had beheaded the priest. A general carnage of the Mongols followed, and Juan de la Concepcion says [36] that the original intention of the Spaniards was to kill every Chinaman, but that they desisted in view of the inconvenience which would have ensued from the want of tradesmen and mechanics. Therefore they made a virtue of a necessity, and graciously pardoned in the name of His Catholic Majesty all who laid down their arms.

Riccio returned to Formosa Island, and found Koxinga preparing for warfare against the Philippines, but before he could carry out his intentions he died of fever. The chiefs successor, of a less bellicose spirit, sent Riccio a second time to Manila, and a treaty was agreed to, re-establishing commercial relations with the Chinese. Shortly after Koxinga's decease a rebellion was raised in Formosa; and the Island, falling at length into the hands of a Tartar party, became annexed to China under the new dynasty. Then Riccio was called upon to relate the part he had taken in Koxinga's affairs, and he was heard in council. Some present were in favour of invading the Philippines in great force because of the cruel and unwarranted general massacre of the Chinese in cold blood; but Riccio took pains to show how powerful Spain was, and how justified was the action of the Spaniards, as a measure of precaution, in view of the threatened invasion of Koxinga. The Chinese party was appeased, but had the Tartars cared to take up the cause of their conquered subjects, the fate of the Philippines would have been doubtful.



The rule of the Governors-General of the Islands was, upon the whole, benignant with respect to the natives who manifested submission. Apart from the unconcealed animosity of the monastic party, the Gov.-General's liberty of action was always very much locally restrained by the Supreme Court and by individual officials. The standing rule was, that in the event of the death or deprivation of office of the Gov.-General, the Civil Government was to be assumed by the Supreme Court, and the military administration by the senior magistrate. Latterly, in the absence of a Gov.-General, from any cause whatsoever, the sub-inspector of the forces became Acting-Gov.-General.

Up to the beginning of the last century the authority of the King's absolute will was always jealously imposed, and the Governors-General were frequently rebuked for having exercised independent action, taking the initiative in what they deemed the best policy. But Royal Decrees could not enforce honesty; the peculations and frauds on the part of the secular authorities, and increasing quarrels and jealousies amongst the several religious bodies, seemed to annihilate all prospect of social and material progress of the Colony. As early as the reign of Philip III. (1598-1621) the procurators of Manila had, during three years, been unsuccessfully soliciting from the mother country financial help for the Philippines to meet official discrepancies. The affairs of the Colony were eventually submitted to a special Royal Commission in Spain, the result being that the King was advised to abandon this possession, which was not only unproductive, but had become a costly centre of disputes and bad feeling. However, Fray Hernando de Moraga, a missionary from the Philippines, happened to be in the Peninsula at the time, and successfully implored the King to withhold his ratification of the recommendation of the Commission. His Majesty avowed that even though the maintenance of this Colony should exhaust his Mexican Treasury, his conscience would not allow him to consent to the perdition of souls which had been saved, nor to relinquish the hope of rescuing yet far more in these distant regions.

During the first two centuries following the foundation of the Colony, it was the custom for a Royal Commission to be appointed to inquire into the official acts of the outgoing Governor before he could leave the Islands—Hacerle la residencia, as it was called.

Whilst on the one hand this measure effectually served as a check upon a Governor who might be inclined to adopt unjustifiable means of coercion, or commit defalcations, it was also attended with many abuses; for against an energetic ruler an antagonistic party was always raised, ready to join in the ultimate ruin of the Governor who had aroused their susceptibilities by refusing to favour their nefarious schemes. Hence when a prima facie case was made out against a Governor, his inexperienced successor was often persuaded to consent to his incarceration whilst the articles of impeachment were being investigated.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera (1635-44) had been Governor of Panama before he was appointed to the Philippines. During his term of office here he had usually sided with the Jesuits on important questions taken up by the friars, and on being succeeded by Diego Fajardo, he was brought to trial, fined P 25,000, and put into prison. After five years' confinement he was released by Royal Order and returned to Spain, where the King partially compensated him with the Government of the Canary Islands.

Juan Vargas (1678-84) had been in office for nearly seven years, and the Royal Commissioner who inquired into his acts took four years to draw up his report. He filled 20 large volumes of a statement of the charges made against the late Governor, some of which were grave, but the majority of them were of a very frivolous character. This is the longest inquiry of the kind on record.

Acting-Governor Jose Torralba (1715-17) was arrested on the termination of his Governorship and confined in the Fortress of Santiago, charged with embezzlement to the amount of P 700,000. He had also to deposit the sum of P 20,000 for the expenses of the inquiry commission. Several other officials were imprisoned with him as accomplices in his crimes. He is said to have sent his son with public funds on trading expeditions around the coasts, and his wife and young children to Mexico with an enormous sum of money defrauded from the Government. Figures at that date show, that when he took the Government, there was a balance in the Treasury of P 238,849, and when he left it in two years and a half, the balance was P 33,226, leaving a deficit of P 205,623, whilst the expenses of the Colony were not extraordinary during that period. Amongst other charges, he was accused of having sold ten Provincial Government licences (encomiendas), many offices of notaries, scriveners, etc., and conceded 27 months' gambling licences to the Chinese in the Parian without accounting to the Treasury. He was finally sentenced to pay a fine of P 100,000, the costs of the trial, the forfeiture of the P 20,000 already deposited, perpetual deprivation of public office, and banishment from the Philippine Islands and Madrid. When the Royal Order reached Manila he was so ill that his banishment was postponed. He lived for a short time nominally under arrest, and was permitted to beg alms for his subsistence within the city until he died in the Hospital of San Juan de Dios in 1736.

The defalcations of some of the Governors caused no inconsiderable anxiety to the Sovereign. Pedro de Arandia, in his dual capacity of Gov.-General and Chief Justice (1754-59), was a corrupt administrator of his country's wealth. He is said to have amassed a fortune of P 25,000 during his five years' term of office, and on his death he left it all to pious works (vide "Obras pias").

Governor Berenguer y Marquina (1788-93) was accused of bribery, but the King absolved him.

In the last century a Governor of Yloilo is said to have absconded in a sailing-ship with a large sum of the public funds. A local Governor was then also ex-officio administrator; and, although the system was afterwards reformed, official extortion was rife throughout the whole Spanish administration of the Colony, up to the last.

A strange drama of the year 1622 well portrays the spirit of the times—the immunity of a Gov.-General in those days, as well as the religious sentiment which accompanied his most questionable acts. Alonso Fajardo de Tua having suspected his wife of infidelity, went to the house where she was accustomed to meet her paramour. Her attire was such as to confirm her husband's surmises. He called a priest and instructed him to confess her, telling him that he intended to take her life. The priest, failing to dissuade Fajardo from inflicting such an extreme penalty, took her confession and proffered her spiritual consolation. Then Fajardo, incensed with jealousy, mortally stabbed her. No inquiry into the occurrence seems to have been made, and he continued to govern for two years after the event, when he died of melancholy. It is recorded that the paramour, who was the son of a Cadiz merchant, had formerly been the accepted fiance of Fajardo's wife, and that he arrived in Manila in their company. The Governor gave him time to confess before he killed him, after which (according to one account) he caused his house to be razed to the ground, and the land on which it stood to be strewn with salt. Juan de la Concepcion, however, says that the house stood for one hundred years after the event as a memorial of the punishment.

In 1640 Olivarez, King Philip IV.'s chief counsellor, had succeeded by his arrogance and unprecedented policy of repression in arousing the latent discontent of the Portuguese. A few years previously they had made an unsuccessful effort to regain their independent nationality under the sovereignty of the Duke of Braganza. At length, when a call was made upon their boldest warriors to support the King of Spain in his protracted struggle with the Catalonians, an insurrection broke out, which only terminated when Portugal had thrown off, for ever, the scourge of Spanish supremacy.

The Duke of Braganza was crowned King of Portugal under the title of John IV., and every Portuguese colony declared in his favour, except Ceuta, on the African coast. The news of the separation of Portugal from Spain reached Manila in the following year. The Gov.-General at that time—Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera—at once sent out an expedition of picked men under Juan Claudio with orders to take Macao,—a Portuguese settlement at the mouth of the Canton River, about 40 miles west of Hongkong. The attempt miserably failed, and the blue-and-white ensign continued to wave unscathed over the little territory. The Governor of Macao, who was willing to yield, was denounced a traitor to Portugal, and killed by the populace. Juan Claudio, who was taken prisoner, was generously liberated by favour of the Portuguese Viceroy of Goa, and returned to Manila to relate his defeat. [37]

The Convent of Santa Clara was founded in Manila in 1621 by Geronima de la Asuncion, who, three years afterwards, was expelled from the management by the friars because she refused to admit reforms in the conventual regulations. The General Council subsequently restored her to the matronship for 20 years. Public opinion was at this time vividly aroused against the superiors of the convents, who, it was alleged, made serious inroads on society by inveigling the marriageable young women into taking the veil and to live unnatural lives. The public demanded that there should be a fixed limit to the number of nuns admitted. An ecclesiastic of high degree made strenuous efforts to rescue three nuns who had just been admitted, but the abbess persistently refused to surrender them until her excommunication was published on the walls of the nunnery.

In 1750 a certain Mother Cecilia, who had been in the nunnery of Santa Catalina since she was 16 years of age, fell in love with a Spaniard who lived opposite, named Francisco Antonio de Figueroa, and begged to be relieved of her vows and have her liberty restored to her. The Archbishop was willing to grant her request, which was, however, stoutly opposed by the Dominican friars. On appeal being made to the Governor, as viceregal patron, he ordered her to be set at liberty. The friars nevertheless defied the Governor, who, to sustain his authority, was compelled to order the troops to be placed under arms, and the commanding officer of the artillery to hold the cannons in readiness to fire when and where necessary. In view of these preparations, the friars allowed the nun to leave her confinement, and she was lodged in the College of Santa Potenciana pending the dispute. Public excitement was intense. The Archbishop ordered the girl to be liberated, but as his subordinates were still contumacious to his bidding, the Bishop of Cebu was invited to arbitrate on the question, but he declined to interfere, therefore an appeal was remitted to the Archbishop of Mexico. In the meantime the girl was married to her lover, and long afterwards a citation arrived from Mexico for the woman to appear at that ecclesiastical court. She went there with her husband, from whom she was separated whilst the case was being tried, but in the end her liberty and marriage were confirmed.

During the Government of Nino de Tabora (1626-32), the High Host and sacred vessels were stolen from the Cathedral of Manila. The Archbishop was in consequence sorely distressed, and walked barefooted to the Jesuits' convent to weep with the priests, and therein find a solace for his mental affliction. It was surmised that the wrath of God at such a crime would assuredly be avenged by calamities on the inhabitants, and confessions were made daily. The friars agreed to appease the anger of the Almighty by making public penance and by public prayer. The Archbishop subjected himself to a most rigid abstinence. He perpetually fasted, ate herbs, drank only water, slept on the floor with a stone for a pillow, and flagellated his own body. On Corpus Christi day a religious procession passed through the public thoroughfares solemnly exhorting the delinquents to restore the body of Our Saviour, but all in vain. The melancholy prelate, weak beyond recovery from his self-imposed privations, came to the window of his retreat as the cortege passed in front of it, and there he breathed his last.

As in all other Spanish colonies, the Inquisition had its secret agents or commissaries in the Philippines. Sometimes a priest would hold powers for several years to inquire into the private lives and acts of individuals, whilst no one knew who the informer was. The Holy Office ordered that its Letter of Anathema, with the names in full of all persons who had incurred pains and penalties for heresy, should be read in public places every three years, but this order was not fulfilled. The Letter of Anathema was so read in 1669, and the only time since then up to the present day was in 1718.



During the minority of the young Spanish King Charles II. the regency was held by his mother, the Queen-Dowager, who was unfortunately influenced by favourites, to the great disgust of the Court and the people. Amongst these sycophants was a man named Valenzuela, of noble birth, who, as a boy, had followed the custom of those days, and entered as page to a nobleman—the Duke del Infantado—to learn manners and Court etiquette.

The Duke went to Italy as Spanish ambassador, and took Valenzuela under his protection. He was a handsome and talented young fellow, learned for those times,—intelligent, well versed in all the generous exercises of chivalry, and a poet by nature. On his return from Italy with the Duke, his patron caused him to be created a Cavalier of the Order of Saint James. The Duke shortly afterwards died, but through the influence of the Dowager-Queen's confessor—the notorious Nitard, also a favourite—young Valenzuela was presented at Court, where he made love to one of the Queen's maids-of-honour—a German—and married her. The Prince, Don Juan de Austria, who headed the party against the Queen, expelled her favourite (Nitard) from Court, and Valenzuela became Her Majesty's sole confidential adviser. Nearly every night, at late hours, the Queen went to Valenzuela's apartment to confer with him, whilst he daily brought her secret news gleaned from the courtiers. The Queen created him Marquis of San Bartolome and of Villa Sierra, a first-class Grandee of Spain, and Prime Minister. He was a most perfect courtier; and it is related of him that when a bull-fight took place, he used to go to the royal box richly adorned in fighting attire, and, with profound reverence, beg Her Majesty's leave to challenge the bull. The Queen, it is said, never refused him the solicited permission, but tenderly begged of him not to expose himself to such dangers. Sometimes he would appear in the ring as a cavalier, in a black costume embroidered with silver and with a large white-and-black plume, in imitation of the Queen's half mourning. It was much remarked that on one occasion he wore a device of the sun with an eagle looking down upon it, and the words, "I alone have licence."

He composed several comedies, and allowed them to be performed at his expense for the free amusement of the people. He also much improved the city of Madrid with fine buildings, bridges, and many public works to sustain his popularity amongst the citizens.

The young King, now a youth, ordered a deer hunt to be prepared in the Escorial grounds; and during the diversion His Majesty happened to shoot Valenzuela in the muscle of his arm, whether intentionally or accidentally is not known. However, the terrified Queen-mother fainted and fell into the arms of her ladies-in-waiting. This circumstance was much commented upon, and contributed in no small degree to the public odium and final downfall of Valenzuela in 1684. At length Don Juan de Austria returned to the Court, when the young King was of an age to appreciate public concerns, and he became more the Court favourite than ever Valenzuela or Nitard had been during the Dowager-Queen's administration. Valenzuela fell at once from the exclusive position he had held in royal circles and retired to the Escorial, where, by order of Don Juan de Austria, a party of young noblemen, including Don Juan's son, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, the Marquis of Valparaiso, and others of rank, accompanied by 200 horsemen, went to seize the disfavoured courtier. He was out walking at the time of their arrival, but he was speedily apprised of the danger by his bosom friend, the Prior of Saint Jerome Monastery. The priest hid him in the roof of the monastery, where, being nearly suffocated for want of ventilation, a surgeon was sent up to bleed him and make him sleep. The search party failed to find the refugee, and were about to return, when the surgeon treacherously betrayed the secret to them, and Valenzuela was discovered sleeping with arms by his side. He was made prisoner, confined in a castle, degraded of all his honours and rank, and finally banished by Don Juan de Austria to the furthermost Spanish possession in the world—the Philippines,—whilst his family was incarcerated in a convent at Talavera in Spain.

When the Pope heard of this violation of Church asylum in the Escorial committed by the nobles, he excommunicated all concerned in it; and in order to purge themselves of their sin and obtain absolution, they were compelled to go to church in their shirts, each with a rope around his neck. They actually performed this penance, and then the Nuncio accredited to the Spanish Court, Cardinal Mellini, relieved them of their ecclesiastical pains and penalties.

Valenzuela was permitted to establish a house within the prison of Cavite, where he lived for several years as a State prisoner and exile. When Don Juan de Austria died, the Dowager-Queen regained in a measure her influence at Court, and one of the first favours she begged of her son, the King, was the return of Valenzuela to Madrid. The King granted her request, and she at once despatched a ship to bring him to Spain, but the Secretary of State interfered and stopped it. Nevertheless, Valenzuela, pardoned and liberated, set out for the Peninsula, and reached Mexico, where he died from the kick of a horse.



In 1703 a vessel arrived in Manila Bay from India, under an Armenian captain, bringing a young man 35 years of age, a native of Turin, who styled himself Monseigneur Charles Thomas Maillard de Tournon, Visitor-General, Bishop of Savoy, Patriarch of Antioch, Apostolic Nuncio and Legate ad latere of the Pope. He was on his way to China to visit the missions, and called at Manila with eight priests and four Italian families.

Following the custom established with foreign ships, the custodian of the Fort of Cavite placed guards on board this vessel. This act seems to have aroused the indignation of the exalted stranger, who assumed a very haughty tone, and arrogantly insisted upon a verbal message being taken to the Governor (Domingo Sabalburco) to announce his arrival. In Manila these circumstances were much debated, and at length the Governor instructed the custodian of Cavite Fort to accompany the stranger to the City of Manila. On his approach a salute was fired from the city battlements, and he took up his residence in the house of the Maestre de Campo. There the Governor went to visit him as the Pope's legate, and was received with great arrogance. However, the Governor showed no resentment; he seemed to be quite dumfounded by the Patriarch's dignified airs, and consulted with the Supreme Court about the irregularity of a legate arriving without exhibiting the regium exequatur. The Court decided that the stranger must be called upon to present his Papal credentials and the royal confirmation of his powers with respect to Spanish dominions, and with this object a magistrate was commissioned to wait upon him. The Patriarch treated the commissioner with undisguised contempt, expressing his indignation and surprise at his position being doubted; he absolutely refused to show any credentials, and turned out the commissioner, raving at him and causing an uproarious scandal. At each stage of the negotiations with him the Patriarch put forward the great authority of the Pope, and his unquestionable right to dispose of realms and peoples at his will, and somehow this ruse seemed to subdue everybody; the Governor, the Archbishop, and all the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, were overawed. The Archbishop, in fact, made an unconditional surrender to the Patriarch, who now declared that all State and religious authority must be subordinate to his will. The Archbishop was ordered by him to set aside his Archiepiscopal Cross, whilst the Patriarch used his own particular cross in the religious ceremonies, and left it in the Cathedral of Manila on his departure. He went so far as to cause his master of the ceremonies to publicly divest the Archbishop of a part of his official robes and insignia, to all which the prelate meekly consented. All the chief authorities visited the Patriarch, who, however, was too dignified to return their calls. Here was, in fact, an extraordinary case of a man unknown to everybody, and refusing to prove his identity, having absolutely brought all the authority of a colony under his sway! He was, as a matter of fact, the legate of Clement XI.

The only person to whom he appears to have extended his friendship was the Maestre de Campo, at the time under ecclesiastical arrest. The Maestre de Campo was visited by the Patriarch, who so ingeniously blinded him with his patronage, that this official squandered about P20,000 in entertaining his strange visitor and making him presents. The Patriarch in return insisted upon the Governor and Archbishop pardoning the Maestre de Campo of all his alleged misdeeds, and when this was conceded he caused the pardon to be proclaimed in a public Act. All the Manila officials were treated by the Patriarch with open disdain, but he created the Armenian captain of the vessel which brought him to Manila a knight of the "Golden Spur," in a public ceremony in the Maestre de Campo's house in which the Gov.-General was ignored.

From Manila the Patriarch went to China, where his meddling with the Catholic missions met with fierce opposition. He so dogmatically asserted his unproved authority, that he caused European missionaries to be cited in the Chinese Courts and sentenced for their disobedience; but he was playing with fire, for at last the Emperor of China, wearied of his importunities, banished him from the country. Thence he went to Macao, where, much to the bewilderment of the Chinese population, he maintained constant disputes with the Catholic missionaries until he died there in 1710 in the Inquisition prison, where he was incarcerated at the instance of the Jesuits.

When King Philip V. became aware of what had occurred in Manila, he was highly incensed, and immediately ordered the Gov.-General to Mexico, declaring him disqualified for life to serve under the Crown. The senior magistrates of the Supreme Court were removed from office. Each priest who had yielded to the legate's authority without previously taking cognisance of the regium exequatur was ordered to pay P1,000 fine. The Archbishop was degraded and transferred from the Archbishopric of Manila to the Bishopric of Guadalajara in Mexico. In spite of this punishment, it came to the knowledge of the King that the ex-Archbishop of Manila, as Bishop of Guadalajara, was still conspiring with the Patriarch to subvert civil and religious authority in his dominions, with which object he had sent him P1,000 from Mexico, and had promised a fixed sum of P1,000 per annum, with whatever further support he could afford to give him. Therefore the King issued an edict to the effect that any legate who should arrive in his domains without royal confirmation of his Papal credentials should thenceforth be treated simply with the charity and courtesy due to any traveller; and in order that this edict should not be forgotten, or evaded, under pretext of its having become obsolete, it was further enacted that it should be read in full on certain days in every year before all the civil and ecclesiastical functionaries.



CHAPTER VII

British Occupation of Manila

In 1761 King George III. had just succeeded to the throne of England, and the protracted contentions with France had been suspended for a while. It was soon evident, however, that efforts were being made to extinguish the power and prestige of Great Britain, and with this object a convention had been entered into between France and Spain known as the "Family Compact." It was so called because it was an alliance made by the three branches of the House of Bourbon, namely, Louis XV. of France, Charles III. of Spain, and his son Ferdinand, who, in accordance with the Treaty of Vienna, had ascended the throne of Naples. Spain engaged to unite her forces with those of France against England on May 1, 1762, if the war still lasted, in which case France would restore Minorca to Spain. Pitt was convinced of the necessity of meeting the coalition by force of arms, but he was unable to secure the support of his Ministry to declare war, and he therefore retired from the premiership. The succeeding Cabinet were, nevertheless, compelled to adopt his policy, and after having lost many advantages by delaying their decision, war was declared against France and Spain.

The British were successful everywhere. In the West Indies the Caribbean Islands and Havana were captured with great booty by Rodney and Monckton, whilst a British Fleet was despatched to the Philippine Islands with orders to take Manila.

On September 14, 1762, a British vessel arrived in the Bay of Manila, refused to admit Spanish officers on board, and after taking soundings she sailed again out of the harbour.

In the evening of September 22 the British squadron, composed of 13 ships, under the command of Admiral Cornish, entered the bay, and the next day two British officers were deputed to demand the surrender of the Citadel, which was refused. Brigadier-General Draper thereupon disembarked his troops, and again called upon the city to yield. This citation being defied, the bombardment commenced the next day. The fleet anchored in front of a powder-magazine, took possession of the churches of Malate, Ermita, San Juan de Bagumbayan, and Santiago. Two picket-guards made an unsuccessful sortie against them. The whole force in Manila, at the time, was the King's regiment, which mustered about 600 men and 80 pieces of artillery. The British forces consisted of 1,500 European troops (one regiment of infantry and two companies of artillery), 3,000 seamen, 800 Sepoy fusileers, and 1,400 Sepoy prisoners, making a total of 6,830 men, including officers. [38]

There was no Gov.-General in the Philippines at the time, and the only person with whom the British Commander could treat was the acting-Governor, the Archbishop Manuel Antonio Rojo, who was willing to yield. His authority was, however, set aside by a rebellious war party, who placed themselves under the leadership of a magistrate of the Supreme Court, named Simon de Anda y Salazar. This individual, instead of leading them to battle, fled to the Province of Bulacan the day before the capture of Manila in a prahu with a few natives, carrying with him some money and half a ream of official stamped paper. [39] He knew perfectly well that he was defying the legal authority of the acting-Governor, and was, in fact, in open rebellion against his mandate. It was necessary, therefore, to give an official colour to his acts by issuing his orders and proclamations on Government-stamped paper, so that their validity might be recognized if he subsequently succeeded in justifying his action at Court.

On September 24 the Spanish batteries of San Diego and San Andres opened fire, but with little effect. A richly laden galleon—the Philipino—was known to be on her way from Mexico to Manila, but the British ships which were sent in quest of her fell in with another galleon—the Trinidad—and brought their prize to Manila. Her treasure amounted to about P2,500,000. [40]

A Frenchman resident in Manila, Monsieur Faller, made an attack on the British, who forced him to retire, and he was then accused by the Spaniards of treason. Artillery fire was kept up on both sides. The Archbishop's nephew was taken prisoner, and an officer was sent with him to hand him over to his uncle. However, a party of natives fell upon them and murdered them. The officer's head having been cut off, it was demanded by General Draper. Excuses were made for not giving it up, and the General determined thenceforth to continue the warfare with vigour and punish this atrocity. The artillery was increased by another battery of three mortars, placed behind the church of Santiago, and the bombardment continued.

Five thousand native recruits arrived from the provinces, and out of this number 2,000 Pampangos were selected. They were divided into three columns, in order to advance by different routes and attack respectively the churches of Santiago, Malate, and Ermita, and the troops on the beach. At each place they were driven back. The leader of the attack on Malate and Ermita—Don Santiago Orendain—was declared a traitor. The two first columns were dispersed with great confusion and loss. The third column retreated before they had sustained or inflicted any loss. The natives fled to their villages in dismay, and on October 5 the British entered the walled city. After a couple of hours' bombardment, the forts of San Andres and San Eugenio were demolished, the artillery overturned, and the defenders' fusileers and sappers were killed.

A council of war was now held by the Spaniards. General Draper sustained the authority of the Archbishop against the war party, composed chiefly of civilians determined to continue the defence in spite of the opinion of the military men, who argued that a capitulation was inevitable. But matters were brought to a crisis by the natives, who refused to repair the fortifications, and the Europeans were unable to perform such hard labour. Great confusion reigned in the city—the clergy fled through the Puerta del Parian, where there was still a native guard. According to Zuniga, the British spent 20,000 cannon balls and 5,000 shells in the bombardment of the city.

Major Fell entered Manila (Oct. 6) at the head of his troops, and General Draper followed, leading his column unopposed, with two field-pieces in the van, whilst a constant musketry fire cleared the Calle Real (the central thoroughfare) as they advanced. The people fled before the enemy. The gates being closed, they scrambled up the walls and got into boats or swam off.

Colonel Monson was sent by Draper to the Archbishop-Governor to say that he expected immediate surrender. This requisition was disputed by the Archbishop, who presented a paper purporting to be terms of capitulation. The Colonel refused to take it, and demanded an unconditional surrender. Then the Archbishop, a Colonel of the Spanish troops, and Colonel Monson went to interview the General, whose quarters were in the Palace. The Archbishop, offering himself as a prisoner, presented the terms of capitulation, which provided for the free exercise of their religion; security of private property; free trade to all the inhabitants of the Islands, and the continuation of the powers of the Supreme Court to keep order amongst the ill-disposed. These terms were granted, but General Draper, on his part, stipulated for an indemnity of four millions of pesos, and it was agreed to pay one half of this sum in specie and valuables and the other half in Treasury bills on Madrid. The capitulation, with these modifications, was signed by Draper and the Archbishop-Governor. The Spanish Colonel took the document to the Fort to have it countersigned by the magistrates, which was at once done; the Fort was delivered up to the British, and the magistrates repaired to the Palace to pay their respects to the conquerors.

When the British flag was seen floating over the Fort of Santiago there was great cheering from the British Fleet. The Archbishop stated that when Draper reviewed the troops, more than 1,000 men were missing, including sixteen officers. Among these officers were a Major fatally wounded by an arrow on the first day of the assault, and the Vice-Admiral, who was drowned whilst coming ashore in a boat.

The natives who had been brought from the provinces to Manila were plundering and committing excesses in the city, so Draper had them all driven out. Guards were placed at the doors of the nunneries and convents to prevent outrages on the women, and then the city was given up to the victorious troops for pillage during three hours. Zuniga, however, remarks that the European troops were moderate, but that the Indian contingents were insatiable. They are said to have committed many atrocities, and, revelling in bloodshed, even murdered the inhabitants. They ransacked the suburbs of Santa Cruz and Binondo, and, acting like savage victorious tribes, they ravished women, and even went into the highways to murder and rob those who fled. The three hours having expired, the troops were called in, but the following day a similar scene was permitted. The Archbishop thereupon besought the General to put a stop to it, and have compassion on the city. The General complied with this request, and immediately restored order under pain of death for disobedience. Some Chinese were in consequence hanged. General Draper himself killed one whom he found in the act of stealing, and he ordered that all Church property should be restored, but only some priests' vestments were recovered.