Don Pedro de Acuña, etc. By the hands of Captain Juan San I received
the letter of the lord viceroy in which he informs me that news has
been carried to China that the Sangleys who came to trade with this
realm of Luzon have been put to death by the Spaniards. He states that
after having investigated the cause of their death, and having asked
the king to execute justice upon the author of so great a wrong, he
learned that on account of the lies uttered by Tioguen we had suspected
that the Sangleys were going to make war against us. On this account,
as he was informed, we had put to death more than thirty thousand
Chinese. The king had punished Tiogueng by commanding his head to be
cut off and hung up in a cage, and had ordered Anglion, his companion,
to be executed. He declared that the Chinese who had been slain in
Luzon were not in fault. I reply to this that that which happened
in this case is as stated in the accompanying letter--which I sent
as soon as the event occurred, with a ship and a proper messenger,
by way of Macan to the Portuguese who live there, who are vassals of
our king. It was my intention that they should give it to the viceroy;
and I sent similar letters to the eunuch and to the mandarins who
were there. But the Portuguese were not well disposed to us, solely
on account of their belief that the Chinese were in close friendship
with us because of the trade and the large amount of commerce which
we had with them; and that this is the cause why they are not able
to buy merchandise at very low prices, as they would certainly do
if the trade from here were to come to an end. Hence they brought
it about that these letters were not delivered; and thus the truth
of this matter could not be known in China, nor the fact that the
Sangleys were greatly to blame for the losses which they incurred. If
these things had been known the Chinese, well disposed as they are to
the execution of justice according to law, and desirous that crimes
should be punished, would certainly have regarded the fault of those
people as greater than the punishment which was inflicted on them.
The penalty imposed on the Sangleys who piloted the two Dutch ships
that were on the coast of Chincheo was very just. These Dutch are not
friends of the Castilians, but bitter enemies; for, although they are
vassals of the king of the Hespañas, my sovereign, they and their
country have revolted, and they have become pirates like Liamon in
China. They have no employment, except to plunder as much as they
can. Hence they did not come to Luzon; and, if they should come,
I would try to capture and punish them.
As for the statement that the letter is sent to let me know the
greatness of the king of China and of his realms, and that they are so
great that he governs all upon which the moon and the sun shed their
light; and the other statement that he desires me to be acquainted with
the great wisdom with which that kingdom is governed, vast as it is,
and that no one should dare offend it, and referring to the war in
Corea--to this I answer that the Spaniards have measured by palmos,
and that very exactly, all the countries belonging to all the kings and
lordships in the world. Since the Chinese have no commerce with foreign
nations, it seems to them that there is no other country but their own,
and that there is no higher greatness than theirs; but if he knew the
power of some of the kings with whom my sovereign, the king of the
Hespañas, carries on continual war, the whole of China would seem to
him very small. The king of China would do well to notice that from
here to the court of Hespaña the distance is five thousand leguas; and
that on the voyage thither are two kingdoms, Nueva Hespaña and Peru,
whose teiritory is so great that it is almost equal to that of China,
without mentioning very large islands in those seas. At the same
time I know that the kingdom of China is governed with much wisdom,
and all the people here know, and I know, of the war in Corea.
The Sangleys who were killed here when they revolted were not thirty
thousand, or even half as many.
As for the statement that after the death of the Sangleys was known
in China, many mandarins joined in a concerted petition to the king
that they might be allowed to avenge those deaths--accusing the
Spaniards of being cruel and ungrateful, and charging us that after
the Chinese had aided us to erect our walls and other buildings,
and in our gardens (all to our profit), we ought not to have done
this--to this I reply that the Spaniards are not cruel of heart, and
never make war upon anyone without just reasons. We regard ourselves
as a just people and as having a standing in the world; and we would
be greatly grieved if it could be said of us with truth that we have
done wrongs or injuries to anyone--especially to our friends, and
to those who are sincerely friends to us. Thus in the case of the
Sangleys who were here, we treated them as brothers and sons; and,
without any precaution, we permitted them to enter our houses at all
seasons and at all hours, as if they had been Spaniards. So true was
this that, if God had not delivered us by revealing their treachery,
they might for that very cause have been able to succeed in it.
I have noted the answer given by the king of China to letters written
by the viceroy and others with regard to this matter. I think that he
ought to be fair in all matters, and that he should not be influenced
to make war on Luzón without first knowing whether we are in fault or
not; for if he should do otherwise we could not say, as we have said,
that China is prudently governed.
The viceroy also writes to me that, since the Spaniards are a sensible
and prudent people, we must therefore be grieved for having slain
so many people, and repent thereof. He also informs me that if we
deal justly with the Chinese return the Sangleys who have survived
the war, and pay the money due on the goods taken from the Sangleys,
he will maintain amity with us and will send merchant vessels every
year. If not, the king will not permit ships to come, but will command
a thousand war-vessels to be built, manned with soldiers--both the
relatives of those who are dead, and men from the other nations and
kingdoms who pay tribute to China; and, without mercy on anyone,
they will make war upon us, and afterward the kingdom of Luzón will
be given to that people which pays tribute.
To this I answer that, although in truth we are grieved for the loss
which the Chinese suffered, we have nothing to repent of therein;
since what we did was to put to death those who would have done the
same to us (although we had given them no reason for it), and who would
have done so if we had not anticipated them. When we were living in
great peace they rose in revolt against us, simply because they were
wicked; left their Parián for a fort which they had built without my
knowing anything of it, and sallied out thence against the farms to
kill Spaniards and Indians. This they succeeded in doing by catching
them unawares, and they inflicted very great cruelties even upon the
Spanish women and upon their slaves, both male and female. Since
this is true, as the very Chinese who have survived will declare,
let the viceroy judge what could have been done, and what he would
have done if such a thing had happened in China.
The crime is such that all of them justly deserve to die for it;
but, moved with pity, I permitted some few to serve in the galleys
of the king, which is a punishment inflicted by us upon criminals
to avoid putting them to death. After they had been placed in the
galleys, I get free some of them who, as it afterward appeared,
had not been so much in fault; and others furnished some slaves,
who received the same treatment. It is well known that kingdoms and
provinces where crimes are not punished cannot maintain themselves;
and if this crime were not punished, and the Chinese were to see that
they received their liberty even when they had committed so great
a crime, another day they would do the same thing. Hence I have not
yet set at liberty those Sangleys who are condemned to the galleys,
that they may go to China and even convey to the viceroy knowledge
of what has happened. I am certain that when he knows the facts he
will regard their punishment as very slight in view of their crimes;
but, if he should deem otherwise, let him inform me of his will.
The property which was in existence during the past year, for whom
owners or consignees appeared, was surrendered to them; there was a
great quantity of it, and now they take [_blank space in MS_.]. This
is the amount which I have been able to send from the royal treasury,
where some of the property of the Sangleys was deposited for which
an owner was not to be found; next year I will endeavor to send the
rest. During the past year one ship arrived; and the other, which
was on its way to Castilla, was lost with a very great quantity of
Chinese stuffs and other goods. For this reason it has been impossible
to discharge this obligation in full at the present time. Let the
viceroy notice that this is and will be done because it is just, and
not because he has written that unless the people and the goods are
sent he will make war on Luzón; for I am sure that the king of China
and his ministers, being prudent, politic, and discreet persons,
will not wage war for causes so light. Still, if they desire to do
so, the Castilians are well able to defend their lands from all who
may attempt to take them away; and they even know how to attack their
enemies and to seek them out in their own dwelling-places, when their
opponents suppose that they have them conquered.
As regards the licenses for ships coming from China to trade with
Luzón, it is not so dangerous to grant such permissions that the king
[of China] or other persons there will consent to lose the great
advantage which they possess in the large quantity of silver which is
carried hence every year; for this remains in China, without a single
real leaving there, while the goods which they give us in exchange
are consumed and used up in a very short time. Hence we may say that
in this trade the Chinese have as great an interest as the Castilians
have, or even more.