ANNO DOM. 1721.
The Administration of the Marquis de Torre Campo.
Before the death of the marshal was known at Madrid, the information
which had been received of his extortions and despotism had induced
his Majesty to nominate as Governor Don Torribio Cosio, Marquis de
Torre Campo, late Governor of Guatimala, who took possession of his
government on the 6th day of August, 1721. Many charges were preferred
against the former Governor, and many of his friends were looked
upon as his accomplices. Some of them, however, denied the charge,
and others asserted that they acquiesced in his measures in order to
save themselves from his violence, and to secure their property. Don
Esteban Inigo, among other charges, was accused of monopolizing the
rice, which had been the occasion of a great famine in the islands; but
he replied that he had been compelled to enter into this speculation
by the Governor, and acceded to it as the only means of saving the
rice, as well as the whole of his own property.
When the marshal's death was known in Madrid, a royal order was
forwarded to the Governor to bring to justice those suspected of
being his accomplices. The marquis, on this occasion, consulted the
Franciscan Friar Totanes, his confessor, and the college of Jesuits,
as to the conduct he should observe. After considerable discussion,
it was resolved to suspend all further enquiries, and communicate to
his Majesty the proceedings which had already taken place, and the
advice which he had taken, thus putting an end, for the present, to
these distressing enquiries. The archbishop at this time was removed
from his chair, and translated to the bishopric of Mechoacan, as
a punishment for his having coincided with the marshal's measures,
and for having, without due authority, assumed the baton of office
after his death. He died on the 30th of May, 1724, a few days after
having taken possession of his bishopric.
The islands would have enjoyed peace and tranquillity under the new
Governor, had not the Moors still continued their depredations on the
provinces of the Bisayas, and which the marquis sent a squadron to
repress, but this, like every preceding attempt, had failed of success.
Don Juan Gainza, to whom was imputed the murder of the son of the
Governor, embarked for Acapulco, accompanied by Don Diego Salazar,
who was the companion of Lucea, the supposed assassin of the Marshal
Bustamente. When the relatives of Don Fernando Bustamente heard of the
arrival of these men at Acapulco, they petitioned the Viceroy for their
imprisonment; and on this application an order was forwarded to the
Governor of Acapulco to proceed against them. He accordingly took the
depositions of the people in the ship, and as little could be proved
against them by this means, he sent them prisoners to Mexico. Here a
very circumstantial account of the deaths of the marshal and his son
was produced against them, in which it was urged that these two were
accomplices in the murder. This account was not deemed sufficient
to authenticate further proceedings, although a son of the deceased
Governor swore, that a similar statement of the transaction had been
given in Manila, by the father-in-law of this same Don Diego Salazar,
agreeing in every point with this of Don Alexandro Bustamente; the
nephew of the deceased Governor swore to the truth of his having heard
the same story; and likewise the marshal's confident, Diego Muzarabe,
confirmed it with the declaration, that although in Manila he had
declared against his master, yet that it had been through fear of
his own life, and that he was influenced by that consideration, when
he stated simply, that the refugees in the church of St. Augustine
had only approached the palace in a tumultuous manner, from which
had resulted the fatal catastrophe. Luis Pardo Santizo Pineiro's
declaration was nearly to the same effect; and although the truth of
the majority of these depositions was strongly suspected, yet their
oaths, in the mean time, were admitted as a matter of necessity
against the supposed criminals.
Don Juan Gainza requested that they might be sent back to Manila to
take their trial, and the Viceroy finding the case full of difficulty,
forwarded the whole of the documents to his Majesty, putting Don Juan
Gainza in confinement until the determination of the King should be
known. This in due time arrived, and the Viceroy was instructed to
remand the parties to Manila, to take their trials along with the
others accused of the crime in question.
The council of the Indies, who had taken the account of the
examinations on the murders of the Governor and his son, agreed with
the Royal Audience in remaining apparently satisfied with them; but a
royal order having been forwarded to the Marquis de Torre Campo to sift
the business to the bottom, and punish the offenders, this Governor,
having no desire to enter further into such unavailing processes,
consulted the Friar Totanes and the Jesuits, who had before given
him their assistance. The friar on this occasion exaggerated the loss
of property sustained by the inhabitants of Manila, and by the pious
establishments: he represented the severe pressure arising from the
absolute scarcity of rice, on which account, it was said, many had
died of hunger. He alleged that the marshal had been the cause of all
this; that his violent proceedings had been the means of producing a
strong sensation among all ranks, and converting the conduct of the
citizens into a measure of self-defence, having no other alternative
for alleviating the miseries they were exposed to than by deposing
him from his office. To what tribunal, it was well urged by the friar,
could they cite him to answer for his conduct? The Royal Audience was
abolished; the archbishop and clergy in prison; and the government
of the city had been committed to an ordinary alcalde, who was the
Governor's nephew, and two regidores, his creatures. There being,
therefore, no tribunal to which he was amenable, they had determined
on confining him, as the most eligible mode of terminating their
miseries; and in this justifiable attempt to save their own lives
and properties, his resistance produced a mortal wound. More ought,
therefore, to be attributed to the marshal's violent and imprudent
conduct, than to the inhabitants of Manila.
This language, which in fact amounted nearly to sedition, was
represented to the King as the sentiments of all the clergy of the
Philippines, but it was an attempt to asperse their reputation, as the
Friar Totanes had no authority in this respect; and in fact most of
the clergy, with the Jesuits, had no hesitation in expressing their
disapprobation of the conduct of the citizens of Manila, although
they allowed that the extraordinary circumstances of the case,
rendered them deserving of the royal indulgence.
In this business all the accused remained unpunished except the
archbishop, who had the least share in the disturbances. He, however,
was punished severely; that worthy prelate, who in imitation of Christ,
bore on his shoulders the sins of his people. Senor Torralba, whose
cavillings added fuel to the flame of this tumult, was imprisoned in
the fort of Santiago. The marquis tried him by a special commission,
by the sentence of which he was fined an immense sum, deprived of his
office, and condemned to perpetual banishment from Madrid and Manila,
allowing him, however, to return to Spain, after he had paid the first
one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. During the remaining period
of his imprisonment, he was in a very bad state of health, and when
liberated he was in such misery, that he was reduced to the necessity
of begging, to avoid dying of hunger. After his death, he was interred
as a common pauper in the church of San Juan de Dios. The severity of
this lesson is sufficient to impress on us the necessity of a correct
and upright conduct, and it is hoped it will not, in this respect,
be thrown away.
In the year 1718, his Majesty sent to Manila three professors; the
Senor Velasco, professor of laws, with a salary of eight hundred
dollars per annum, with the rank of Oidor; and at the end of seven
years to be promoted to be Alcalde del Crimen at Mexico. The Senor
Toribio was likewise to have the rank of honorary Oidor, and to
have five hundred dollars per annum, as la Cathedra de Instituto,
and at the end of seven years he was to be promoted to be Oidor of
Guatimala. The professor of canon law was Doctor Osio, who received
eight hundred dollars per annum, and was to be promoted to be
prebendary of Mexico. Senor Velasco being soon after removed to the
Royal Audience of Mexico, the Governor directed that there should be
only two professors, because their stipends were chargeable on the
vacant bishoprics, and had been paid as an advance (by way of loan)
from the treasury at Manila, by which about forty thousand dollars had
been paid to them by way of salary, of rent of houses for their public
lectures and other matters, and only nine thousand had been received in
reimbursement from the Viceroy of Mexico, who had declined remitting
more without a special order from court. Despatches were forwarded to
his Majesty; and in the mean time the Governor placed the professors
in the college of St. Philip, but the other professors opposing it,
the archbishop removed them to that of the Jesuits, where, out of
mere disrespect of Senor Osio, the Friar Murillo taught the canon
law until the year 1730, when a royal mandate arrived, by which the
professors were suspended, and indeed, very little benefit had accrued
to the public from them.
About this time the Emperor of China, who had permitted the exercise
of the Christian religion in his dominions, died. His successor,
however, proscribed it altogether, banishing the missionaries from
the empire, and permitting the residence of a few Jesuits only,
who were teachers of mathematics at Pekin. The Pope, desirous of
propagating the knowledge of our faith throughout all Asia, sent two
barefooted Carmelite friars in quality of ambassadors to the Chinese
court. According to eastern custom, they introduced the object of
their mission by presents to the Emperor; but the only advantage
which resulted from it was, a permission for some missionaries to
remain in China.
Since this period, some of that valuable class have contrived,
clandestinely, to reside in that country, and to this day continue
to preach the gospel; yet their sufferings are frequent and very
severe, being at times thrown into prison and banished the kingdom,
where, however, in a short time they find means to return, by bribing
the mandarins with money, the grand engine which governs this vast
empire. The prohibition above alluded to extended to the tributary
kingdom of Tonquin, where the missionaries suffered still more,
for in escaping from the hands of the Governors of the different
provinces, they fell into those of the freebooters, who robbed and
ill treated them.
The King of Jolo sent a Chinese as ambassador to Manila to treat for
peace; his excellency received him favourably, and Don Miguel Aragon
was in consequence despatched to Jolo with ample powers to establish
a permanent alliance with that prince. An alliance was entered into,
but its duration was very short; the natives of Jolo, naturally
fickle and turbulent, joining with those of Mindanao in the usual
predatory excursions against our islands, in which they were guilty
of the customary excesses.
The inhabitants of Manila, on this occasion, subscribed a handsome
sum to fit out a small squadron for the purpose of repressing
these marauders. It proceeded against the Moors, and eventually
compelled them to sue for peace, but not before they had done us very
considerable injury.
The galleon Santo Christo de Burgos, in her voyage to Acapulco,
was stranded on the island of Ticao; upon which occasion, on the
frivolous pretext of being prevented, by the offensive smell of the
cargo, from opening the hatches, with a view to save the property,
the ship was set fire to with the intention, there was reason to think,
on the part of her commander and merchants, of attempting to embezzle,
for their own use, some of the merchandize during the conflagration;
but finding this impracticable, the ship and her valuable cargo were
totally abandoned to the flames. This stratagem has been frequently
resorted to by the merchants of the Philippines, and it will often
be successful, so long as it remains undecided how the loss ought to
be borne in cases of that nature. The pious establishments are the
assurers, according to the terms of the instruments or deeds, made
between them and the respective adventurers, who borrow money of them
for the purpose of embarking in this trade; but these instruments,
expressing the lender's risk to be total loss only, the borrowers, to
prevent any thing from being saved, so as to leave room for litigation,
as to whether the loss was total or partial, set fire to the vessel,
to place it beyond all dispute. In such cases the loss of the ship,
I conceive, should be borne generally; whatever is saved should be
divided among the parties, according to the property they had on board,
and which might easily be ascertained, by examining the manifest with
the original deeds [2].