The faithlessness of Raón, information of which reached the court,
caused his successor, Don Simón de Anda, to receive orders to commence
legal proceedings against Raón, for the purpose of proving this grave
offense and punishing it severely. That upright and severely just
magistrate did so; and nothing will aid more the exact understanding
of one of the most far-reaching events in the history of Filipinas
than to insert here, complete, the summary drawn up by Anda of the
above-mentioned lawsuit, since in it are shown in great detail the
particulars of what was done in these islands in the expulsion of
the Jesuits. Here is the exact copy of this important document:
[Space will not permit us to present this summary in full, but we
make an outline of it sufficient to preserve all the facts of main
importance; it may be found at pp. 187-216 of Montero y Vidal's
account. Charges were brought against Raón and three others; these
were Francisco Henriquez de Villacorta and Domingo Blas de Basaraz,
members of the Audiencia, and Juan Antonio Cosio, the governor's
secretary. Raón was proved guilty on the charge of having given
information to the Jesuits of the measures to be taken against them,
on the next day (May 18) after receiving the royal commands; "and
immediately they began, and continued without ceasing, the concealment
of their wealth and the burning of papers. Circumstantial evidence
shows that it was Raón who told them, and various persons declared
that this 'was worth to him many pesos.'" He made an outward show of
obeying the decree, by sending (at 10 a. m.) troops to surround and
guard the Jesuit college; and also his secretary, to tell the fathers
that the soldiers had gone there for purposes which would afterward
be explained to them by Auditor Galvan. The latter, however, he kept
busy otherwise, until the twenty-first. On May 18 he sent Galvan to the
Jesuit college of San Ildefonso, outside the walls, to carry out the
decree, and Raón waited until he finished these duties before he sent
Galvan to the main colleges within the city; this gave the Jesuits from
three to five days to hide their treasures and burn their papers, [145]
in which they occupied themselves both day and night. Raón failed to
require the superiors of the colleges to call in their absent priests,
and to remove the Jesuits, as soon as they were notified of the decree,
from their colleges to some other place of detention till they could
be sent from the city. They also possessed eleven farms and ranches;
Raón is charged with having left the Jesuits in these undisturbed,
for several months or even more than a year, without any check on their
doings, or inventory of the property, which they stated as they chose;
and even that he sent cavalry to these farms, to be at the orders of
the fathers there. In the provinces outside of Manila, Raón neglected
to carry out his instructions for the expulsion; and in consequence
"there was not a college or a town in which the Jesuits did not
have notice beforehand of their expulsion." Accordingly, they also
concealed their wealth and burned their papers, and they even found
their way into their colleges at Manila; and Raón so neglected his
duties that it was four months after the royal decree was published at
Manila before the first orders for the expulsion from Visayas were sent
thither. [146] In order to shield himself, he had his secretary Cosio
draw up a false statement, duly attested, that the governor had duly
executed the royal commands regarding the Jesuits, in accordance with
his instructions; and this was sent to Aranda, with a letter in which
he threw the blame upon Galvan for any defects which might be found
in the conduct of the expulsion. Other secondary charges were brought
against Raón: he had allowed the Jesuits to prepare their outfits
for their voyage as they chose, and for this to leave the college in
which they were detained, and to have intercourse with various people,
all this contrary to his instructions; he had displayed negligence,
lack of system, and extravagance in the shipment and supplies of
food for the exiles; he neglected to look after the interests of
the obras pías which the Jesuits had administered, thus causing
serious damages to those foundations. He did not make provision,
for two years after the expulsion, for the administration of the
temporalities occupied by the Jesuits; thus the collection of debts
due to them was "absolutely neglected, until measures for this were
taken by the present government; so were the estates, houses, obras
pías, and moneys at interest, and left without any person to call
to account the individuals who were managing them; and from this
ensued the arrears and losses that may be inferred." Raón was also
charged with having conspired with Cosio, Basaraz, and Villacorta
to persecute and harass Galvan, Viana, and Santa Justa--from which
persecution Galvan suffered so much that, worn out and depressed by
it, he finally died; but they, not content with that, tried to defame
his reputation. In most of these charges, Raón tried to make excuses
for his conduct, or to throw the blame on Galvan or Villacorta; but
Anda declares that they were all partly or wholly proved, and that
Raón neglected everything in his official position "which did not
involve the handling of 'Mexican grease [vnto mexicano],'" that is, of
bribes. His secretary Cosio was naturally included in all the charges
made against Raón (in some of which he was declared more to blame than
his master); but he is especially denounced for having drawn up and
attested the false declaration that Raón had obeyed his instructions
and performed his duty faithfully in the expulsion of the Jesuits, and
as having done more than any one else to cause the death of Galvan;
Anda concludes by saying, "he is more subtle and malevolent than can
be expressed." [147] Villacorta was charged with having been more
intimate with the expelled Jesuits than was becoming in an auditor;
with having censured the archbishop for his insistence on episcopal
visitation of the regulars; with having conspired against Galvan
and the others; and with perjury. It was also proved that he had
lived in open immorality, having two illegitimate daughters; that
he engaged in trade, with dummy partners [testas de Ferro]; that he
had, contrary to his obligation of secrecy, informed the friars of
the government's decision in regard to the diocesan visitation of
their curas, before it could be carried out, and had complained of
the archbishop to the king. The charges against Basaraz were similar
to those against Raón, in regard to the expulsion of the Jesuits
and the conspiracy against Galvan, and are not repeated in detail,
especially as he had died before the conclusion of the legal process
against him. He was also an intimate friend of the Jesuits, being a
"third brother" of theirs, that is, affiliated to them through a third
or lay order, like those of other regular corporations; he prevented
the execution of some measures against them, and allowed them to take
whatever they desired from their archives which had been seized; he
was in constant and secret communication with the expelled priests,
and spent money for them as they directed him; he allowed them to
carry money and papers on board the ship; he spoke disparagingly
of the king and his ministers, and their proceedings against the
Jesuits; he falsified records, and compelled the notaries to make
false entries; and, besides all these, he was drunken, licentious,
and extravagant. Raón and Basaraz died soon after the beginning of
proceedings against them; "and Villacorta did not raise his head
after he saw the charges, and that all of them were documentary; and
finally he also showed the bad taste to go to accompany the others,
at the very time when he finished making his defense;" accordingly,
Cosio was the only one left to send to Spain. Anda recounts the
aid and kindness which he showed to all the accused, allowing them
abundance of money, attendance, and liberty, and sending Basaraz to
a hospital, and afterward to one of the best houses in the city, for
the sake of his health; Cosio is the only one who experienced any
severity, being sent to Fort Santiago. Nevertheless, Anda expects
that many will try to make trouble for him, by misrepresenting or
calumniating him, and accusing him of having caused those deaths by
undue severity; he desires, however, that "those malicious acts be
not attributed to him which, as he has known, have been represented
at the court by the friars, and the prisoners, and especially the
blessed [bendito, ironically] Father Serena." Another auditor, Juan
Antonio de Uruñuela, was also accused of voting at Raón's dictation,
and being concerned in the conspiracy against Galvan; he also brought
to the islands 3,000 pesos, which he placed in charge of the friars,
who included it and other property of his with their own money,
as all being "for their missions in China," so that he might not
have to pay duties on it. Cosio and Raón's friends attempted to show
that the archbishop had warned the Jesuits of their expulsion; but
Raón's own testimony had disproved that accusation. Anda was unable
to conclude the proceedings against the accused, for when he reached
Manila he found that the Audiencia contained only Villacorta, Basaraz,
and Uruñuela; "and although two auditors came in company with him,
Don Francisco Ignacio Gonzalez Maldonado and Don Juan Francisco Anda
(his own nephew), the former gave indications of perversity in the
residencia of Villacorta, which he conducted, and it was necessary
to reserve the second to succeed Basaraz in the post of commissioner
of the Jesuit properties--for the governor knew, extra-judicially,
that Uruñuela and Maldonado would decline to accept it, and, in order
to avoid a dispute, he would not propose it to them." Anda mentions
various ways in which the relatives of the accused had endeavored
to hinder the legal proceedings, means which they afterward used
too successfully at court to involve him in trouble with the home
government, although he had faithfully followed the instructions given
him by that very government to bring the guilty parties to justice.]
In execution of the orders of the court, the properties which
the Jesuits possessed in the islands were confiscated, their
administrations being afterward entrusted to a special commission
appointed by the governor-general. In order to give some idea of the
amount of the said property, we will insert here a curious document
written by a person of undeniable veracity, not at all unfriendly to
the Jesuits, who on account of the offices which he held in Manila
had at his disposal the respective expedientes [of the above suit];
he writes thus:
"The possessions of the Jesuits in Filipinas.--I have personally
examined the voluminous expedientes drawn up for their expulsion
from these islands; I have gone through the itemized inventories of
all the colleges, houses, residences, and ministries; I have examined
the appraisement, leases, and sale of the estates, buildings, cattle,
furniture, and valuables, besides [a statement] of what was rendered
useless and of the large remittances made in kind to the Peninsula;
and all this has furnished me official data so accurate that I can
make a statement without fear of being charged with falsehood in the
matter. To enter into details would be exceedingly tedious; but to
the end that all may not remain buried under the dusty cases of the
Government archives, I am going to set down here a résumé which shows,
with only a glance, all that was taken possession of from the Jesuits
at their expulsion from Filipinas.
[Effects] Pesos
In ready money, interest that was collected,
and obras pías 463,882
Produce from the sale of various
estates and houses 721,553
Idem, from furniture and chattels
sold in the various colleges, residences,
and ministries 128,735
A printing-office, adjudged to the
[archiepiscopal] seminary, and valued at 4,035
A drug-store, turned over to the royal
hospital, and valued at 2,660
---------
All these amount to the sum of 1,320,865
"But it should be kept in mind that the articles of merchandise,
provisions, furniture, and other articles amounted to a large sum which
were placed in the royal storehouses without appraisal or valuation,
as appears from their respective appraisements. [148] Also in Marianas
there was adjudged to the royal treasury a drug-store and the estate
of Tachona, eleven leguas in circumference, with cattle, house,
and outbuildings; and the college of San Juan de Letrán, with all
that pertained to it, was handed over to the Recollect fathers with
the same informality. The same thing occurred with two ranches which
the college of Cebú possessed in the island of Bojol, and two others
belonging to the college of Iloilo. Then the estate of Zamboanga alone,
on which there were 2,139 head of cattle, horses, etc., and which
also was applied to the treasury without appraisal, yielded in nine
[sic] years from August, 1768 (when the government took possession
of it) to 1779 the amount of 17,561 pesos, from which the value of
the estate may be calculated. The royal college of nobles of San
José, with its building and everything pertaining to it--including
the three estates of Tunasan, Liang, and Calatagan--was given up
without appraisal to the new rector who was appointed, Don Ignacio de
Salamanca, a magistral canon; it was only known that the said estates,
after deducting all the expenses of administration, repairs, etc.,
yielded a net profit of 27,336 pesos, in the first eight years. Not
only was handed over to the new curas all that belonged to divine
worship in the various ministries which the Society had in its charge,
and in the archbishopric alone were the cathedral and twenty-two poor
churches enriched with the ornaments and sacred utensils which came
from the great college of San Ignacio [149] and other houses; but a
great quantity of valuables, jewels, [150] etc. were sent to España
which had no immediate connection with the holy sacrifice, and which,
according to the instructions sent around by his Majesty, were placed
in the second class--as candelabras, frontals [for the altars], lamps,
etc., of gold and silver, which were used on solemn occasions for
greater magnificence--also of those articles which were classified as
profane. Finally, we must consider the enormous deterioration [of the
valuables placed] in the royal storehouses, and the infinitely greater
amount lost by selling the goods at forced sale, in many different and
remote places, and when there was a scarcity of buyers. Considering
all this, I think that I can affirm that the product of the secular
properties that were seized from the Society of Jesus reached the
amount of 2,000,000 pesos. How much this immense capital has produced
to the royal treasury it is not possible to ascertain. I will say,
however, that the 252,442 pesos alone to which the capital of the
obras pías amounted at the time of the expulsion increased in December,
1796, to the sum of 513,168 pesos--that is to say, they increased in
eighteen years by 260,726 pesos, or more than half of that capital;
and, in this century, from 1820 to 1837 this fund yielded an increase
of 420,849 pesos. It is important to note that as soon as the Jesuit
estates were seized his Majesty reduced those foundations from 45 to
26, abolishing the rest, and leaving a capital of [only] 151,626 pesos;
it is this which has furnished so wonderful results."...
It is fully understood that the Jesuits of Filipinas felt profound
grief at having to abandon a country in which they had gathered
so rich a harvest, considering their excessive regard for worldly
possessions--as is affirmed by the venerable Palafox, the bishops
whose opinions we have cited, and Pope Clement XIV, who suppressed
the Society, and all persons who have been occupied with this special
idiosyncrasy of the Jesuits.
The incidents connected with the expulsion of the Jesuits from
Filipinas were among the most productive of scandal which, in
matters of that sort, the history of that country records. At that
time the Jesuits enjoyed so great a predominance, and realized such
enormous gains throughout the archipelago (with their well-equipped
industrial enterprises, their lucrative trade, and the produce
of their vast estates), and they kept the [Spanish] natives of the
country so thoroughly exploited and so subjected to their domineering
influence--cajoling the vanity of some with the hypocritical deference
with which the fathers treated them, and favoring the notions of
independence in others, giving them to understand that they [the
Jesuits] were not Spaniards, but citizens of the world (which is
the aspect under which they make themselves more congenial to the
islanders than the friars do, for the latter never fail to make it
known that they are Spaniards)--that their wrath was unutterable when
the decree for their expulsion from the islands was made known to
them. They attempted to evade the royal mandate, and to disparage
and criticise the monarch's authority and his acts, unloosing
against these the passions of their fanatical partisans; and with
their infamous conduct they presented a most melancholy spectacle,
in which the royal authority was questioned, religion made light of,
and vices and faults which it would have been expedient for them to
keep secret were displayed to the public.
In 1769 there came to Manila on the frigate "Venus" various printed
books which sharply attacked the Jesuits, and censured their conduct
and teachings, while they extolled the expulsion decreed against that
order by Carlos III. These books began to circulate, and pass from
hand to hand, to the great satisfaction of the Jesuits' enemies and
the furious anger of their partisans; and a magistrate [i.e., Basaraz]
who was a friend to the Jesuits proceeded, without authorization,
charge, or commission from any one, to seize and prohibit the
said books, and arrested the person who was distributing them. [The
archbishop then wrote, besides the edict which follows this résumé, an
indignant letter to Raón, both of which are cited at some length by our
writer.] The fury of the Jesuits' partisans against the archbishop was
extraordinary; and they disseminated reports that he was a heretic,
and that his edict ought to be suppressed, with a thousand other
insults against his person and dignity. A friar theologian wrote a
confidential letter in defense of the Jesuits, and contradicting the
[aforesaid] printed books; the Jesuits had a multitude of copies of
this letter circulated. The archbishop immediately printed a long
answer (or refutation) to the said letter, and likewise circulated it
in profusion through the country. [The next feature of this controversy
was the circulation of a voluminous MS. document, defending the
theologian's letter and the teachings of the Jesuits. [151]