_Of the second election as provincial of master Father Lorenzo de León_
With the advent, then, of the year 1605, in the latter days of April,
our fathers assembled in the islands, as is the custom. On the Friday
before the third Sunday after Easter, our father Fray Lorenzo de León
went to take over the presidency by virtue of his letters-patent,
and they were found to be such as were required. In consequence, he
was received as president of that chapter, over which he presided, not
only as president, but as vicar-general. The election resulted in [the
choice of] his person, as above stated. In it, the first definitor was
father Fray Juan Bautista de Montoya; the second, father Fray Estéban
Carrillo; the third, father Fray Pedro de Aguirre; and the fourth,
father Fray Roque de Barrionuevo. Father Fray Miguel de Sigüenza
had the vote for president in this definitorio, and as visitors were
elected father Fray Mateo de Peralta [10] and father Fray Francisco
Serrano. All assembled, they ordained and enacted the acts that they
judged advisable in accordance with that time. All those acts show
the sincerity of those who enacted them, and they provided not only
for the welfare of the order, but for that of the native fathers
under our charge; for surely, under our shadow they increase and
are sheltered. And if religious were lacking, what would become of
them? Beyond doubt they would be like the wretched boat exposed to
the fury of the winds, which has no greater security upon the waters
than where the winds choose to carry it. For this one orders them,
that one petitions them, and another one seizes and knocks them about;
but with the protection of the religious they are free from all these
annoyances. Very conformably with this, religious were established
in the missions in order to teach them and often to protect them.
Our father provincial entered upon the exercise of his office with
the same wisdom and prudence as in his first term, attending to
it with all his might. However, his second term was not apparently
so successful as the first--caused perhaps by various casualties,
which have no place here, and do not affect the matter at all. In
short, the affair was running badly and the body of the province was
becoming laden with humors. I well believe that our father knew it all,
and that he could have been less rigid, and that without dividing
the forces that were forming. He thought that they were religious,
and he the superior; and that all dissent, however violent, would be
only murmur--just like certain huge clouds that predict great storms,
but finally and at the end, the entire storm is expended in clouds
of dust, thunders, and lightnings, so that that storm ends with only
noise. But such did not happen here, but the matter went farther; and
the father definitors, within one and one-half years, after meeting,
deposed our father Fray Lorenzo de León. They sent him to España; but
he remained in the province of Méjico, without wishing more than to
serve our Lord, and ended his days there, as one may understand of so
renowned a religious, leaving his cause in the hands of God. I leave
it likewise; for, if we glance at the definitorio which assembled
there, there is no doubt that it was one of the most sober-minded
councils ever assembled in the province. And even were there none
other in it than our father Fray Pedro de Arce, who presided in it,
he was sufficient to ensure that; but it was much more creditable,
for the others were very erudite. Father Fray Juan Bautista de Montoya
was the most notable man in laws and moral causes that has been in the
islands, and was no less a very great theologue. Father Fray Estéban
Carrillo, as we have said already, was a great orator, and the other
fathers were very learned. On the part of our father provincial,
it was known that he was very devout, very punctual in attending
to his obligations and that his first term was considered as most
successful. Hence, without taking from anyone what belongs to him,
we leave this matter with God, who has already judged it, and He has
been pleased to take all those concerned in it. Bishop Fray Pedro de
Agurto was at his bishopric in Sugbú at this time. He was desirous
of remedying what was already becoming established, and even left
his city for that purpose. But when he reached Manila, he found that
there was no remedy. He sorrowed greatly over this blow at the order,
for, as the true religious that he was, he felt, as keenly as death,
whatever misfortune came upon the order. In the world this proceeding
was discussed with the charity that is exercised in other things;
but, when everything was over, it was also erased from memory--and
more, as the government of our father Fray Pedro de Arce followed
immediately, who exercised the office of rector-provincial for that
one and one-half years, and his fame and well-known virtue filled
everything with fragrance and good-will.
[The order of discalced Augustinians in Spain petition for leave to go
to the islands in 1605. The petition granted, a number of them set out;
and, after waiting at Sevilla for some time for vessels, reach Mexico,
where they are entreated to found a convent. Refusing this request,
however, they continue on their journey, reaching the Philippines,
in 1606, under the leadership of Juan de San Jerónimo. "They were
given a house outside the city in a garden [11] that had belonged
to Don Pedro de Acuña, who governed these islands.... But those who
treated the said fathers most generously were Ours, for we gave them
our best and brightest jewel, namely, San Nicolás, allowing them to
found their convent in his name. This meant wholly to enrich them and
to leave us poor." Further, a layman named Don Bernardino, captain and
castellan of the port of Manila, builds a convent for the new order
"sufficient for forty religious." At death he and his wife also leave
money to continue the work, and the new order begins to multiply.]
Since then those fathers have continued to establish convents here. For
as they were the last, and the islands are in the conditions under
which Miguel López de Legazpi left them, there was not before any place
where they could settle. However, outside Manila, they possess a small
house called Sampaloc, because it has many tamarind trees. There they
minister to a few Tagáls, and one religious lives there generally. [12]
It has a stone church and house. They have a garden with a stone
house and its chapel (where one religious lives), near the walls of
Manila, in the suburbs. Opposite the island of Mariveles, in the same
district of Manila, they have a Tagál mission. It is but small, and,
with its visitas, does not amount to four hundred Indians. But farther
along the coast, they have two Zambal missions of settled Indians,
which are situated nearer here than Ilocos. One is called Masinloc
and the other Bolinao. [13] Each one must have more than five hundred
Indians. They have also extended from here to other islands. They must
have three convents in the islands of Cuyo and Calamianes, more than
sixty leguas from Manila. Those islands are full of people, so that,
if they would come down from the mountains, many missions might be
established; for in that region the islands are innumerable. There
is the large island of Paragua, and thence succeed islands and islets
even to Burney, the largest island known in all this archipelago. But
there is little hope of entering it, for the king and all the coast
Indians are Mahometans. But those living in the upland and mountains
are even pagans. By the above, the ease with which this damnable poison
has extended will be apparent. Had God's mercy been retarded a trifle
longer in hastening the steps of the Spaniards, the latter would have
found no place to settle; for as I have remarked, long experience
shows that the Mahometan will not receive the Christian law which is
so contrary to his hellish customs. The religious suffered many things
in those islands as they were exposed to a thousand temporal dangers,
and to enemies, with whom the whole region swarms. Those missions
had seculars; and although they did their best, yet at present that
region has another luster, for it appears that the religious, being
more in number, are more suitable for this work.
Bishop Don Fray Pedro de Arce gave the fathers another mission in the
island of Negros, opposite the island of Panay. I think it their best
mission, as it is located nearer us. It has two religious, who do very
good work. The bishop gave them also many missions in Caraga, where
they will be able to spread. Later, we shall conclude this subject with
what the fathers have built in Cavite, the port of Manila, in honor
of San Nicolás--namely, a house and church, which is the best there.
[About the time that the Recollects sail Father Master Solier is
preparing also to go to the Philippines. He has been given "equal
power with him whom the province sent as procurator, in case of the
latter's death." The procurator dies at sea, whereupon Father Solier
assumes his office. He sails with twenty-six Augustinian religious,
eight of whom remain in New Spain--where they suffer many things,
for the government of affairs there falls into the hands of the
creole fathers.]
Those who remained were well received in Filipinas, where they were
desired. They were distributed among the convents, as seemed best
to our father Fray Lorenzo de León. But as soon as this contingent
arrived, the discussions that had been aroused increased; so that,
as we have seen, the intermediary chapter deprived him [of his office]
as above stated.