[1] From Murillo Velarde's account of his order in the Philippines we
extract such matter as describes their missions, their general labors
in Manila for both Spaniards and natives, their methods of work,
and some occurrences of special importance to them as an order. The
"edifying instances," and biographies of the Jesuit fathers, and other
devotional reading it is necessary to omit here, as our limited space
forbids its presentation.
[2] The papal concession for this jubilee of fifteen days had come
that summer, and had been announced on November 18, just before the
appearance of the comets.
[3] The word Moreno is used by the earlier writers rather confusedly,
and applied to more than one race, whether pure or mixed; but in later
times it apparently refers chiefly to the swarthy-complexioned people
from the Malabar coast and to their descendants.
[4] The Tagálog word for "bridge."
[5] Spanish, sermones de tabla. The tabla is the list kept in the
church sacristy which designates on what days certain functions
are to be held; it is the tabella of the Italian sacristies, the
church calendar of ours. Cathedrals and even lower grade churches
(as collegiates, nunneries, hospitals, etc.) had their sermons
(d'occasion, as the French say) on certain set days as marked in their
local calendars, or tablas; these were always very grand, and delivered
by renowned preachers and orators; many of these I have heard.
The phrase "endowed feast" (fiesta dotada) is used also in Italian and
French. It was a custom, which I presume still holds, in all those
countries (as I often saw in Italy), that a municipality, society,
confraternity, or indeed any body of persons, had its feasts on
set days in the year--for instance, feasts of their patron saints,
or of thanksgiving, etc. Fairs also were endowed; that is, bequests
(perhaps centuries old) provided that on set days the people were to
have a fiesta, with music, fireworks, games, sermons, etc., with an
alms for the poor--all paid for, as also would be the premiums for the
fairs. These were occurrences always of great festivity and merriment;
and in Italy, at least in the part where I lived, the smallest towns
and hamlets had their fiestas dotadas.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
[6] The Exercitia spiritualia of Inigo de Loyola, founder of the
Jesuit order; it has long been a text-book therein, and a manual of
devotion for persons under direction of the Jesuits. See account of
the examination of conscience prescribed in it, in Jesuit Relations
(Cleveland reissue), lxviii, p. 326.
"In Europe it is customary for persons at particular seasons to retire
for a time from the world, to give themselves up entirely to prayer
and meditation. Some part of the season of Lent is generally selected
for this purpose; and many, for the sake of more entire seclusion,
take up their residence during this time in some religious house. This
is called 'going into retreat.'"--Kip's Jesuits in America, p. 302.
[7] That is, "headland of Bondoc" (or Bondog); a mountain 1,250
feet high, at the southern end of the peninsula of Tayabas,
Luzón. (U. S. Gazetteer of Philippines, p. 397.)
[8] Marinduque is an island off the coast of Tayabas province, Luzón;
it is round in shape, about twenty-three miles in diameter, and has
a population (Tagálog) of about 48,000. It has some good harbors; and
it produces abundance of rice, cocoanuts, and abacá. (U. S. Gazetteer
of Philippines, pp. 643-647.)
[9] Theriacs were held in great estimation during the middle ages. They
were composed of opium flavored with nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon,
and mace--or merely with saffron and ambergris.
[10] Aornis (or Aornos), a lofty rock in India, taken by Alexander
the Great; thus named, as being so high as to be inaccessible even
to birds.
[11] That is, as alternate or substitute for Encinas, in case of the
latter's disability or death.
[12] Interesting information about Lake Lanao is given in the following
letter from the Jesuit Juan Heras to his superior, dated at Tagoloan,
October 6, 1890; it is printed in Cartas de los PP. de la Compañía
de Jesús, cuad. ix (Manila, 1891), pp. 254, 255.
"Desiring to furnish to your Reverence as accurate information as
possible regarding the lake of Malanao, we sent again for some men who
lived there many years as slaves. They are an intelligent family. The
father is a Tagálog, captured when he was a mere youth; he was carried
to the Lake, and later married a girl, also a Tagálog who had been
enslaved. They had three children, and when one of these was ten years
old and another one somewhat older, they made their escape, in the
year 74. The father and mother lived at the Lake more than twenty
years; they settled in Jasaán, and lived there very happily after
their children had been baptised. The father has traveled entirely
around the lake by the highroad, and the second son had gone half-way
round, from the northeastern end to Ganasi. The information, then,
which they had given us--precisely the same both tunes, for they had
been questioned previously, last March--is as follows:
"The length of the lake from north to south--or from the mouth of
the Agus River (which empties near Iligan), to Ganasi, the point
of departure for Lalabúan, which is on Illana Bay--is 24 hours of
straight sailing, with steady rowing and the wind astern. The breadth
from east to west is half the length. It has many promontories, which
form large curves [in the coast]; and the shore is steep and rocky at
Lúgud and Tugua, at which points vessels cannot find anchor. The lake
contains four islets. A good highroad runs around the lake, which is
interrupted only near Taraca, by the extensive mud flats which form
the rice-lands (or basacanes). Taraca is the principal town, and the
sultan lives there. The places which are noted as villages [i.e., on
an accompanying map?] are not really such, but are the jurisdictions
of the dattos. The settlement is one continuous street, with houses
on both sides of the highroad almost all the way round the lake.
"The population is a large one, as several married couples live in
the same house, and there are many dwellings. The people who have
the reputation of being the bravest are those of Unayan, Bundayan,
Ganasi, and Marántao. From Ganasi the highroad goes toward Lalabúan;
it has no steep ascents or descents, nor does it cross large rivers;
and by following this road Lalabúan is reached in one day. Half-way
on this journey is the village of Limudigan, the sultan of Poalas,
the richest of all those in the Lake region. Our informants state that
the cannon are kept in Ganasi, in a large shed, to a considerable
number. The places where the people have most guns are Maraui and
Marántao; the number of firearms cannot be exactly stated, although
these men say three are many of them. From Maraui one can go to
Ganasi in three days, by taking the road to the right, and in four
days by going to the left; it therefore takes seven days to make the
trip around the lake--but the circuit of the lake is probably somewhat
exaggerated. It is said that those people have many mosques. Maraui is
on the Agus River, quite near the lake; these men say that there are
many horses there. As to the exactness of these data, it is evident
that we cannot be altogether certain; but it is certain that each of
our informants has confirmed the other's statements."
In the same volume of Cartas is a valuable appendix by Father Pablo
Pastells, in which he sets forth the importance of the plan formed
by General Valeriano Weyler (governor of the islands during 1889-91)
for completing the subjugation of Mindanao to the Spanish crown,
and presents a brief historical sketch of the Spanish conquests in
that island, and an account of conditions therein and of the natural
resources of the country. He argues that the forcible expulsion of
all its Mahometan tribes would be impossible, and that the proper
way to hispanicize Mindanao must be the slow one--but sure, if
the results of the labors of Jesuit missionaries among the Moros be
considered--of education, the introduction of civilized modes of life
(especially by the cultivation of the soil), a political organization
like that already in vogue among the Tagálogs and other christianized
peoples, the influence of the Christian religion in displacing their
superstitious and false beliefs, governmental protection to the
peaceable natives, and the promotion of migration of Filipinos from
the northern islands to Mindanao, thus gradually colonizing the latter
with industrious, civilized, and Christian inhabitants. Statistics
are added to Father Pastells's memorial, showing that the (Jesuit)
missions of Mindanao contain (in 1892) a total Christian population of
191,493 souls; this number he compares with the list given by Murillo
Velarde (1748; including all the missions of the Jesuits in Filipinas),
which foots up to 209,527 souls. At the end of the Cartas is a map
(dated March 19, 1892) of the "second and fifth districts"--i.e.,
those of Cagayán de Misamis and Cottabato--on a scale of ten kilometers
to an inch; it contains the latest geographic data up to 1892, and is
especially full in the Lanao region and the course of the Pulangi River
or Rio Grande, the headwaters of that great river almost interlocking
with those of the Cagayán and another large stream which empties into
Macajalar Bay. The map also shows the native tribes that occupy the
region which it depicts.
[13] Gabe or gabi is the native name (Tagal, Visayan, and Pampango)
for the roots of Caladium esculentum (also known as Colocasia
antiquorum), which are used considerably as food. This plant is
frequently cultivated in the United States for its foliage, and is
popularly called "elephant's ears," from the shape of the leaves.
[14] A bay or inlet at the southwest angle of Iligan Bay, extending 12
miles southwest, its inmost point lying but 13 miles from the northern
extremity of Illana Bay, which is on the south side of Mindanao. The
fort here mentioned must have been at the mouth of Lintogut River.
[15] Spanish, tierra de S. Pablo; but no information is available
for its identification.
[16] One of the very rare allusions to this mode of conducting
commerce, as used among the Moros, which--although common enough in
all parts of the world from very early times, and practiced by most
peoples who have risen beyond the savage condition--seems to have been
even to the present time undeveloped among the Moros, partly on account
of their fierce natures and the feuds among them, partly because of
their habits of piracy, plunder, and bloodshed. Of especial interest
in this connection is the account published in the New York Outlook,
December 23, 1905, of the "Moro Exchange" established at Zamboanga,
Mindanao (July, 1904), by Captain John P. Finley, governor of Zamboanga
district. Intended from the outset to replace slavery and piracy by
honest labor, it has gradually gained the respect and coöperation
of the Moro chiefs; and by taking advantage of their talent for
trade is exerting a wide and strong influence in the development
of industry and peaceful relations among them. This exchange even
in its first year had a volume of business amounting to $128,000;
and now its daily transactions run from 500 to 800 pesos, while in
the Zamboanga district it has fourteen branches.
[17] Spanish, al reir del alba, literally, "at the smile of the dawn."
[18] Limbo (from Latin, limbus): in scholastic theology, a region
bordering on hell, where souls were detained for a time; hence,
applied to any place of restraint or confinement.
[19] The lists of Augustinian friars in the Philippines record the
names of some thirty members of that order who became insane or
demented; and probably similar lists could be given by the other
orders. Perez's Catálogo (Manila, 1901), and Gaspar Cano's Catálogo
(Manila, 1864) present biographical information regarding all the
members of the order who labored in the islands from 1565 down to
their respective dates of publication; Pérez enumerates 2,467 for
the term of 336 years from 1565 to 1901, and of these 1,992 belong
to Cano's period, ending in 1864. Cano names thirty friars (two of
them being lay brothers) who died in a demented condition; the first
of these was Fray Francisco de Canga Rodriguez (1616), who was 55
years professed. Pérez mentions but twenty-seven of Cano's list, but
adds four others for the years following Cano's record (1865-1901),
a total of thirty-one names. Both these compilers record the facts of
dementia among the friars in varied phrases; and Cano speaks (p. 20)
of "the many things which there are in Filipinas to cause the loss
of one's mind." Zúñiga, in his Estadismo, refers to the liability
of the missionaries in the islands to suffer mental alienation from
homesickness, solitude, and lack of congenial companions, especially
in districts where the natives were of low intellectual calibre. When
I was a student in Rome, Pope Pius IX had a college (the Pio Latino)
opened for Spanish Americans (from Mexico and South America); this
was about 1860. The Italians said that the young students from those
countries seemed to be especially given to excessive homesickness
(nostalgia).--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
[20] That is, "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to
every creature" (Mark xvi, v. 15).
[21] Thus characterized, because this long account of the hardships
and dangers of missionary life is inserted in the midst of a sketch
of Father Francisco Paliola, martyred in Mindanao in 1648.
[22] "And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with
iniquity" (Genesis 6, v. 11).
[23] The Jesuit Diego Luis de San Vitores had just arrived (July,
1662) in Luzón with fourteen companions, in a patache, sent from
Acapulco by Conde de Baños, viceroy of Mexico.
[24] "Through evil report and good report" (II Corinthians vi, v. 8).
[25] Tagálog words, meaning young men and girls of marriageable
age. Barbateca does not appear in the standard lexicons.
[26] See note on the masses, in VOL. XXXIX, p. 246, note 148.
[27] "Saying: 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who wast, who art,
and who art to come.'"
[28] After citing numerous examples from the customs of various
nations, Herbert Spencer concludes--Ceremonial Institutions (New
York, 1880), pp. 128-131: "It seems that removal of the hat among
European peoples, often reduced among ourselves to touching the hat,
is a remnant of that process of unclothing himself by which, in early
times, the captive expressed the yielding up of all that he had."
[29] The provincial of the Society of Jesus in the Filipinas Islands,
in a report to the king dated June 20, 1731, declares that the Society
reckoned 173,938 souls in the 88 principal villages and some visitas
which they were administering. This number, compared with the estimate
for the preceding period of six years, showed an increase of 11,886
Christians; by this may be seen the increase which the population
is steadily gaining--except that of the Marianas Islands, which has
decreased. (Ventura del Arco MSS., iv, p. 307.)
[30] Spanish, azicate; "a long-necked Moorish spur with a rowel at the
end of it" (Appleton's Velázquez's Dictionary). The Latin quotation
means, "He who spares the rod hates his son."
[31] Spanish, lolios y zizañas. Lolio is an old form of joyo; and
both joyo and zizaña (modern, cizaña) refer, according to Appleton's
Velázquez's Dictionary, to the common darnel, or Lolium temulentum.
[32] Spanish, la inata del Pays, la conatural al sexo, y la congenita
entrañada en la Nacion.
[33] That is, to Zabalburu, just one month after his entrance into
office.
[34] Polo: a personal service of forty days in the year.
[35] This was Francisco Gueruela; see summary of his report on this
visitation, in VOL. XLII, p. 120.
[36] "Except the master-of-camp Endaya, who charged him nothing for
the house in which he lived, and spent more than twenty thousand
pesos in maintaining him and all his retinue. Endaya made all these
demonstrations because he had taken refuge in a church, and the
patriarch [i.e., Tournon] condoned all his offences and enabled him
to leave his asylum--without any one saying anything to him; nor
did the judges dare to lay hands on a man whom the legate a latere
had pardoned." Other favors and honors were conferred on Endaya by
Tournon. (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, pp. 412-413.)
[37] Archbishop Camacho was appointed in 1703 bishop of Guadalajara;
and early in July, 1706, he went to take possession of that
see (which he retained until his death in 1712), abandoning his
diocese of Manila. He left as ruler of that see Don Francisco Rayo
(who was not a member of the cabildo), despite the protests of the
chapter-members. On August 19 the cabildo declared the see vacant,
and chose as its provisor the archdeacon Doctor José Altamirano y
Cervantes. At first his title was contested by Rayo; but the latter
was finally induced to give up his pretensions, and by August 28 "the
cabildo remained in peaceable possession of its government and vacant
see." (Ventura del Arco MSS., iv, pp. 247, 248. In the same volume,
pp. 135-206, is a detailed account of Camacho's controversy with the
orders and the papal delegate, with a royal decree on that subject,
dated May 20, 1700.)
[38] "As soon as he took possession of his archbishopric, he began
to busy himself with the building of the seminary of San Phelipe;
and the first error that he committed was, to place the arms of the
cabildo on the front of the edifice together with the arms of the king,
which he placed on one of the stories. He also drew up the instructions
for this collegiate seminary; and when he came to the admission of
students he did not remember the [rights of the] royal patronage, and
arranged for their admission without mentioning the vice-patron. The
king's fiscal, who saw therein one of his Majesty's prerogatives
wounded, strongly opposed the exercise of the archbishop's claims,
and from this ensued some mortifications to his illustrious Lordship;
but the college was completed, and the seminarists were appointed,
as the king commanded." (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, pp. 417, 418.)
[39] "Because of the controversies which Señor Camacho had had with
the regulars about subjecting them to the visitation, the pope issued
a brief, in which that subjection was decreed; it came endorsed by the
[Spanish] Council, and it seemed as if, in virtue of a decision so
clear and explicit, no reply was left for the religious save that
of the submission which Señor Cuesta desired; but their ingenuity
found a mode of escape from this strait. They replied that this
brief was a declaration of the rights of the archbishop, which they
did not deny; and that their only proposition was, that it was not
expedient to execute this decree in these islands (in regard to
which his Holiness ought to have given a hearing to the religious
orders). They asserted that it was, so far as concerned the point at
issue, obtained surreptitiously; for it was staled therein that there
were entire orders who were willing to come to these islands in the
position of subordinates to the bishops--which was false, because
the only authentic thing about it was, that the vicar-general of the
Recollects had promised a hundred religious who should minister in
Philipinas as subject to the visitation and the [royal] patronage;
but when this was known to the general of the calced Augustinians,
he had censured this proposal and compelled its withdrawal. The
orders therefore petitioned that the execution of the papal brief be
suspended, until appeal could be taken to his Majesty. Señor Cuesta,
who was a very peaceable man, and averse to disputes, agreed to this,
and sent a report to the king. The representations of the regulars
were considered in the Council of the Indias, and it was decreed
that the regulars must submit; but his Majesty, being informed by
a member of his Council of the injurious results which might follow
from this visitation, approved the proceedings of Señor Cuesta, and
ordered him not to annoy the religious in this matter until further
orders." (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, pp. 418, 419.)
[40] "He sent away most of the Chinese, and retained only those whom
he deemed necessary for the mechanical offices and the service of
the public; in this matter his reputation suffered somewhat, for it
was reported that he had a share of the proceeds from the licenses of
those Chinamen who remained in the country. However that may be, his
decision was a very sagacious one, and advantageous to this country;
for the Sangleys who come to Manila are more slothful than the Indians
themselves. They remain here [pretending] to cultivate the land, and
on account of this pretext licenses are given to them; but there is
not one in each thousand of the Chinese who applies himself to this
labor. The rest of them are all devoted to trade, a mode of life well
suited to their idle dispositions and to the [social] system of their
nation--where it is a received idea that he who is most deceitful
is most clever. The Sangleys adulterate everything--coins, measures,
sugar, wax, and whatever they can thus handle without the fraud being
known. Every one of them is a monopolist; they all secrete their wares,
even those of prime necessity, and sell them at the price that they
choose to ask. The oddest thing is, that by dint of presents they are
able to gain protectors, who defend them; and even if sometimes a fine
is imposed on them, on that very day they plunder [people] in their
trading, in order to pay for their losses. In this way they become
rich in a short time, and send much money to their relatives in China,
or else go back with it to their own country, defrauding the Philipinas
Islands of this silver." (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, pp. 422, 423.)
[41] Zúñiga says (Hist. de Philipinas, pp. 443-445) that the Moros
of Joló and Mindanao, although their rulers were nominally at peace
with the Spaniards, had frequently ravaged the islands, the sultans
pretending that they could not restrain their subjects; Bustamante
accordingly decided to rebuild the fortress at Zamboanga, but when he
laid this plan before the junta of treasury officials they refused
it by a vote of ten against seven--on the ground that the fort
was of no service against the Moros, and would cause extraordinary
expense. "As a matter of fact, the entire situado of that military
post amounts, in supplies and money, to about 25,000 pesos, which
only serves to enrich the governor, who is sent from Manila every
three years. Against the majority of votes in the junta the governor
gave orders to reëstablish the post, exasperating people's minds, and
giving occasion to the malcontents to exaggerate his despotism. The
Recollect fathers, who had returned to the province of Calamianes
because the secular priests--whom the bishop of Zebú had stationed
there when the Recollects abandoned it--could not maintain themselves
there on account of the Moros, erected with the money of their province
some little forts, hardly deserving that name, which did not shelter
many places in those islands from the pirates; and they requested
the governor to establish a post in the island of Paragua, at Labo,
hoping that thus they would be freed from those annoying enemies. The
governor consented to this, and established a post [there] at much
less cost than that of Zamboanga, but equally useless."
[42] The Jesuit Delgado says of this (Hist. de Filipinas, p. 205):
"I was at that time in Manila, and saw the bodies of those unfortunate
men, dragged along, stripped of their garments, and covered with some
old rags; and I was obliged, in order that I might enter the anteroom
of the palace, to step over the body of the governor, which was lying
across the threshold of the door." The editor of Delgado reproduces
in a footnote Otazo's letter (q.v. in this volume, post), with the
following remark: "Don José Montero y Vidal, in his Historia de la
piratería, t. 1, p. 254, asserts that Don Fernando de Bustamante was
assassinated in a tumult at the head of which the Jesuits placed
themselves. The following document will show that gentleman the
falsity of his assertion."
[43] Archbishop Cuesta surrendered the government of the islands to
Bustamante's successor, the Marqués de Torre Campo, who took possession
of it on August 6, 1721. The home government censured Cuesta for
too little strictness in investigating Bustamante's murder, and
transferred him to the bishopric of Mechoacan, Mexico. He arrived
at Acapulco January 11, 1724, took charge of his see on April 18,
and died on May 30 following.
[44] "The long residencia of the persecuted auditor
Torralba--imprisoned sometimes in Cavite and sometimes in Manila,
and always loaded with taunts and annoyances--was settled by the
Council of Indias, who condemned him to pay a fine of 100,000 pesos,
besides the 20,000 previously imposed, with perpetual deprivation of
office and exile from Madrid, and Filipinas. He was reduced to such
want that he had to beg alms to support himself; and when he died,
in 1736, he was buried as a pauper in [the church of] San Juan de
Dios." (Montero y Vidal, Hist. de Filipinas, i, p. 436.)
[45] According to Zúñiga (Hist. de Philipinas, p. 443), the hatred of
the citizens arose from the fact that Bustamante's harsh collection
of the debts due to the royal treasury, many of those who owed the
king having died, or being in great poverty, obliged the bondsmen to
pay those debts; this was so resented by them that the citizens of
Manila began to hate the governor.
[46] In the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library), iv, pp. 433-435, is
a letter, apparently by one of the Jesuits, describing this attack; it
differs from that of Concepción in some points. The attack was made by
Malanaos, from La Sabanilla, under the chief Balasi; and warning of it
was sent to the governor, Sebastian de Amorena, five days beforehand,
by Prince Radiamura, brother of the sultan of Mindanao. The attack
was made by the "king" of Joló and Buhayen, with 104 joangas, and a
force of 3,000 men by land and sea. In the fort were not more than
200 men--Pampangos, creoles (probably "Morenos," that is, Malabars,
etc.), and a few Spaniards; but they fought so bravely that the enemy
could accomplish nothing in a siege of three months. Finally Radiamura
sent a force of 1,090 men to aid the Spaniards, and at this the enemy
raised the siege and went back to their homes. The above document is
preceded by an account (pp. 409-432) of affairs at Zamboanga from its
rebuilding to 1721, also from a Jesuit hand. The writer says that 3,000
men were sent for this enterprise, who built a town in a few months,
although under the greatest difficulties, the former buildings being
destroyed, and the site overgrown with shrubs and trees. By that
time Bustamante seemed to have forgotten the undertaking, and they
were neglected and left without aid. Of the soldiers, "some had but
small wages, and most of them none; and the workmen were almost all
obliged to serve at their own expense." Desertions ensued, so that
"at the end of six months, hardly 300 men remained; and of these
no small number died and many of them were sick, overcome by labor,
or hunger, or the unusual difficulty of working the hard soil." So
great were their miseries that they talked of abandoning the fort
and returning to Manila; but in the following February several
Jesuits arrived at Zamboanga and brought tidings that a new governor
(Amorena) was to come with reënforcements, and supplies of money and
food. This was accomplished in June, when 200 soldiers arrived from
Manila; while in May the Jesuit José de Zisa had brought from Cebú
supplies of money and food, with 200 Boholans--who, however, "are
very much afraid of the Moros." Governor Cuesta sent orders for the
old soldiers at Zamboanga to return to Manila, and for the Boholans
to go back to their own villages; thus the garrison was left in poor
condition to withstand an enemy, which probably emboldened the Moros
to attack the fort in the following December, as is told above. The
writer here mentioned states that the Jesuits had succeeded in making
a surprising number of conversions, almost 600 persons being baptized
in the Zamboanga district.
[47] Spanish, Instituta, i.e., the compendium of Roman civil law
compiled by the emperor Justinian. The mention of "the university"
in this sentence is presumably of San José, the Jesuit institution.
[48] Thus in Ventura del Arco; but the indicative form in the second
clause seems hardly satisfactory. One would rather expect a subjunctive
with ut, making it read, "Who are they, that we may praise them?"
[49] Cuesta here alludes to the decree ordering the surrender of the
records, and to its encroachment on the ecclesiastical immunity.
[50] In text, malos fundamentos; but malos seems improbable, as applied
to the archbishop's own measures. It may be regarded as probably a
copyist's error for solos.
[51] Miguel Molinos was a Spanish theologian, born at Zaragoza in
1627. He was one of the mystical thinkers, and attracted a considerable
following, not only in Spain but in Rome, where finally he settled. He
there published a book entitled Guia de la piedad, in which was taught
the doctrine called "quietist;" this was condemned by Innocent XI,
who caused him to be placed in the dungeons of the Inquisition,
where he died (1696). An interesting account of him is given in the
historical romance by J. H. Shorthouse, John Inglesant.
[52] When Archbishop Camacho attempted to enforce the episcopal
right of visitation of the regular curas, the superiors of the orders
replied to him "first verbally and afterward in a written statement,
which was composed by the Jesuit Father Avina, who had been an auditor
of the royal Audiencia of Manila." (Zúñiga's Historia, p. 398.)
[53] Spanish, economica potestad; but the word economica is here
applied in an unusual sense, which is not made apparent by the
definitions in the lexicons. It is possible that, as used here, it is
derived from ecónomo, "he who is appointed to administer and collect
the incomes of ecclesiastical posts that are vacant, or are held in
trust" (Barcia)--the governor, as possessing this power, endeavoring
to force a vacancy in the offices of archbishop and others, that he
might use that power. Or, economica may mean "reserve," applied to
powers placed in the governor's hands in reserve, only to be used
in emergencies.
[54] "Never has there been seen a tumult [of the people] in
which ambition was less dominant; all were content with their own
offices, and at seeing themselves free from unjust and violent
imprisonments. Only the archbishop, who had risen to the post of
governor, was disturbed and uneasy; but his mind was somewhat calmed
when he received a royal decree in which his Majesty commissioned
the archbishop to restore the royal Audiencia to the same footing
which it had before, and to set free Señor Velasco; and, in case he
should be hindered by the governor, to suspend the latter from his
office and himself assume the government in person--which was almost
the same as what had just been accomplished, so far as this uprising
concerned him." (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, p. 463.)
[55] Spanish, lo que se llevó la trampa; literally, "what the
trap carried away with it;" a variant of the phrase llevarselo el
demonio. It is translated above in accordance with the definition
in Caballero's Diccionario de modismos (2nd edition, Madrid, 1905),
p. 744.
"Fairs" [ferias] here alludes to the annual sale or fair at Acapulco
which took place at the arrival of the galleon from Manila; in this
case the goods from Filipinas evidently were sold at a loss.
[56] Apparently referring to Juan Ventura de Maturana, who was royal
secretary in the Council of the Indias in 1734-35.
[57] This was Doctor Carlos Bermudez Gonzalez de Castro, a secular
priest, a native of Puebla, Mexico, and a prominent ecclesiastic
at Nueva España. He arrived at Manila on June 29, 1728; displayed
great zeal in his office, kindness to the Indians, and piety and
charity in his personal character; and died on November 13, 1729,
being nearly seventy-two years old. (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas,
x, pp. 167-170, 182-184.)
[58] This house must have been, since it was under the control of this
provincial, the beaterio of Santa Catalina, founded under Dominican
auspices. Its first prioress was Sor Francisca del Espiritu Santo,
who died on August 24, 1711, at the age of sixty-three years.
[59] In the text, a cuya accion tuvieron todos aqui; but evidently
some word is omitted after tuvieron--probably mal, as such a proposal
could not be generally approved.
[60] A sort of coach, with four seats: it was closed with doors;
and the body was supported by heavy straps, and placed between two
wooden shafts (Dominguez).
[61] Espolios: property left by a prelate at his death.
[62] Spanish, decima; possibly meaning a tenth part due to the crown.
[63] Boleta: referring to the assignments of lading-space in the
Acapulco galleon; each ticket giving its owner the right to ship one
pieza of goods. See VOL. I, p. 63.
[64] Spanish, Paysanaje, literally "peasantry;" applied here
somewhat scornfully to the mass of citizens as distinguished from
the nobility and military class, and especially to the merchants of
Manila. Cf. French, bourgeoisie.
[65] Probably referring to Don Joseph Patiño, then one of the ministers
of the Spanish government, through whose hands much of the business
relating to the Philippines seems to have passed (as mentioned in
Extracto historial).
[66] In this document we resume the history of the commerce between
the Philippines and Nueva España which is presented in the Extracto
historial (Madrid, 1736), the first two "periods" of which appeared
in VOL. XXX of this series (q.v., pp. 23-101). The great length of
this work compels us to condense and abridge most of it here; but
"Periods" ii-vi are presented in full (save for the text of some
long decrees), as being of earlier date, and covering a longer space
of time, while they are comparatively brief in statement. In thus
condensing this work, it has been our aim to retain all matter of
vital interest and real value, eliminating only "vain repetitions"
and matters of trifling importance. The first memorials presented by
Manila and Cadiz respectively set forth various facts connected with
the Manila-Acapulco trade, on which are based their main arguments,
each endeavoring to justify its own side of the controversy and
its demands from the Spanish government; the succeeding memorials
largely repeat these statements and arguments, in new combinations,
with wearisome iteration--kaleidoscopic effects produced by the
same old bits of glass--which it seems useless to reproduce in our
translation. But we have carefully preserved all new facts, dates,
and arguments adduced, and whatever will throw additional light on
that commerce, or on the social and economic conditions of Spain, the
mother-country, at that period, since these must naturally affect those
of her colonies. Wherever possible, we have used the exact wording of
the text, and have made full citations from it which are indicated by
quotation-marks; and the numbers of sections are everywhere retained,
thus facilitating easy reference to the original work. The Extracto,
thus made accessible to English and American readers, and all that
is really important in it presented in compact form and accurate
translation, is a valuable addition to the history of commerce, as
well as to that of colonial development and administration. Not are its
psychological aspects less interesting and valuable, although perhaps
not so obvious at first glance; it shows the demoralizing effects on
the Spanish people of their conquests in the New World and of the flood
of wealth poured into Spain in consequence of these, and the results
of too paternal a mode of government in her colonies--in both cases
destructive to ambition, industry, personal initiative, patriotism,
and even common honesty. (Cf. notes in our VOL. XXX, pp. 71, 77.)
[67] Expediente: "the collection of all the papers belonging to a
subject in a transaction," here evidently referring to the documents
pertaining to the Manila trade, which as Abreu says (see VOL. XXX,
p. 24), were placed in his hands by the Council of the Indias (of
which he himself was a member) for use in compiling the Extracto.
[68] Consulado: equivalent to the American phrase "board of trade."
[69] See section 35, post.
[70] The phrase regulacion de derechos apparently means, in reality,
a (special) rule for the payment of duties; that is, if the Manila
merchants would pay the 100,000 pesos which they had offered as an
"adjustment" according to the special rule for the collection of those
duties--a rule going above the duties as prescribed by law--they should
be permitted to do so, and should be excused for the penalties which
had accumulated, or at least for the back dues remaining unpaid during
the time when the "indult" bad been conceded to them of compounding
the duties at 74,000 pesos only. The stress seems to be laid upon the
fact that they must not be permitted to consider their payment as an
"indult," but us an arrangement, and one that was based on a somewhat
higher rate than had previously been granted to them. Even though it
may be considered as a sovereign favor to them, objection is made to
having it specifically stated as an "indult."
The usage of the word indulto in this connection will become more
clear if it is remembered that it means a special favor in one form or
another, a grace of the sovereign, a special exemption from rule or
penalty. Barcia and others define indulto as an impost levied on the
cargoes of the galleons from the Indias; but it seems doubtful if this
be strictly correct, as no impost by that name can be found in Leyes
de Indias or Ordenanzas de Bilbao, even in connection with averías
and almojarifazgos. I take it to mean, rather, the exemption from the
duties on ships' cargoes which would, under other provisions of law,
be owed. There is one interesting instance of the use of indulto to
signify exemption, in Teatro de la legislación universal de España
é Indias (Madrid, 1790-97; 28 vols.), ii, p. 341, under the head,
"Administration of averías," where it is provided by Carlos II that
"the proceeds of certain indultos for gold, silver, and merchandise
unregistered shall be applied to the fund from averías, in order that
it may result to the benefit of those who shall not have transgressed
the laws of registration; and notification shall first be given
to the Council." This seems to confirm my belief that the indulto
was not properly a tax, but the favor of an exemption, in cases,
from the tax; or of exemption (in this case, it would appear) from
the penalty to fall upon him who had evaded the tax by concealment;
it was, then, by derivation a composition of the tax. But the king
here provided that it should not be paid into his coffers, but be
applied to the fund from averías, thus swelling the fund from which
all shippers benefited, and to which they were supposed to contribute
to make the trade possible; see the chapter on "Averías," in Leyes
de Indias. The foregoing statements suggest a reason why the royal
authority was opposed, in this Manila trade controversy, to having the
composition of the duties, and of the penalties which the merchants
had incurred by past violations of the rules, regarded or considered
as an "indult," and not as a "regulation" or rule specifying a lump
sum to be paid as duties. This indult might (by this and other laws)
have had to go into other funds; though I know of no fund for averías
in the Manila trade, yet the Spanish mere desire for uniformity of
legislation and practice might explain this strenuous objection to
considering this regulation as an indult or grace of the sovereign
(in the special sense that had been established for this sort of favor)
in the galleon trade with the West Indies.--James A. LeRoy (now [1906]
U.S. consul at Durango, Mexico).
[71] The Duke de Alburquerque took possession of his office as viceroy
of Nueva España on November 27, 1702; his term of office lasted a
little more than eight years. Little of importance occurred therein
except several raids by pirates (among whom was Captain William
Dampier) in Mexican waters. Alburquerque was succeeded (January 15,
1711) by Fernando de Alancastre, Duke de Linares, who was an able,
vigorous and benevolent ruler, and spent or bequeathed the greater
part of his fortune for the benefit of the poor--whose number and
sufferings were enormous at this time, through unusual calamities of
floods and earthquakes, famine and pestilence. Linares's term of office
expired on August 15, 1716, and he died in June of the next year;
he was succeeded by Baltasar de Zúñiga, Marqués de Valero. (Bancroft,
Hist. Mexico, iii, pp. 278-290.)
[72] Spanish, harrieros, "muleteers;" for goods and silver were
transported across Mexico by pack-trains of mules.
[73] That is, the present attempt by Linares to inquire into and
settle past irregularities; for it gives those who are suspected an
opportunity to compromise the affair.
[74] That is, not only because money can (speaking generally) easily
open the way for a settlement in such case, but because, in this
specific matter, it is a fair supposition that large speculations
cannot be carried on with small capital--and indeed most of these
Mexican transgressors are too poor to pay the penalties incurred by
their past infractions, if these were strictly adjudged against them.
[75] Barracan is a woolen fabric impenetrable to water, about half a
vara wide, of which rain-cloaks and other articles are made; picote
is a coarse, rough fabric made from goat's hair (Dominguez).
[76] At fol. 40 verso of the Extracto, elefantes are defined as
"linen goods of that country [i.e., Filipinas], having no durability,
and but little valued in that kingdom [i.e., Mexico]."
[77] It is apparently a lapsus calami by which the consulate of Cadiz
is mentioned in nos. 61-64, and that of Sevilla in nos. 45-50, here
cited in the text; but the commerce of both cities was included under
the former consulate.
[78] Linens (Spanish, lienzos and lencería) have always been one of the
chief products of China, especially around Canton; and the term "Canton
grass linen" is often used to define the particular kind of linen
most commonly produced there, which very closely resembles the linen
produced from flax. The European languages have always defined these
Chinese textiles as "linen." The term "elephant" must here refer to the
mark or brand of a certain kind of linen goods; the Chinese are greater
devotees of the "trademark" idea than perhaps any other people. The
mark of a kind of goods to which they are accustomed is known today
as the "chop," and it is exceedingly difficult to induce them to try
a new "chop" if the old one has established itself. "Cambayas" are
cotton cloths from Cambaya. "Chitas" (more generally spelled "chites")
mean India calicoes, and sometimes chintzes. The Filipinos knew how to
weave in colors, although not to figure goods (as they do not yet);
and the Spaniards would be apt to designate by the words lienzos and
lienzos pintados (perhaps also by elefantes) the Philippine fabrics
woven from hemp and banana fibers, which have somewhat that texture,
and which have stripes of red, blue, and other colors run through them
more often by far than they are left plain. Strictly speaking, these
are neither linens nor cottons; but they have the feeling of linen
rather than of cotton. The goods thus designated probably included
not only those of Philippine manufacture, but those made in India
and other Eastern countries and traded in at Manila. Sayasaya was the
Spanish name for a kind of Chinese silk; and I would conjecture that
pitiflores meant some kind of Chinese brocade.--James A. LeRoy.
The term "Canton grass linen" mentioned above apparently means
the fabrics made from the so-called "China grass" (see VOL. XXII,
p. 278). Note the statement in sec. 92, post, that the lencería sent
to Acapulco "are all of cotton," evidently being made in imitation
of the real linen goods; cf. the statement in Casa-Fuerte's letter,
in VOL. XLV, sec. 164. The name "chimones" in the text suggests,
especially in view of its context, the Japanese garment called
"kimono," so generally adopted in America for negligé wear.--Eds.
[79] In the text, mantas de hilazos, evidently misprinted for
Hilocos. On fol. 61 a similar list has mantas de Ilocos.
[80] i.e., of the vessel and carge, in case of attack by enemies--whom
the seamen would resist more valiantly if they also had property of
their own to defend.
[81] In all, making 3,500 piezas, as in sec. 79, post; the same
explanation is given on fol. 110 verso of the Extracto.
[82] A marginal note in the text adds to this name "y Ossorio."
[83] Spanish recopiladas, apparently meaning that these decrees have
been included in the official Recopilación de leyes de Indias.
[84] "The censos yield only five per cent." Censo refers to annuities
in some form or other, and especially to "quit-rent;" it also sometimes
means "interest," which is a derivative and special meaning; in a
general sense, it may be rendered "income."--James A. LeRoy.
Dominguez (Diccionario nacional) enumerates several different kinds
of censo (which he defines as "a contract by which one person sells
and another buys the right to receive a certain annual pension");
the statements in our text relative to the status of houses and
lands in and near Manila would indicate the probability that the
censos there mentioned were what Dominguez calls consignativos,
"in which a certain amount is received for which must be given in
return an annual pension, giving security for the said sum or capital
with rent-producing property or real estate." He instances as a
censo reservativo the arrangement made by Joseph with the Egyptians
(Genesis, ch. xlvii), by which, after all the land in that country
had become the property of the crown, the people received back their
fields on condition of their paying to the king the fifth part of
their produce, which constituted an annual pension or quit-rent
(censo). The same word may also mean "census" and "tax-register;"
Dominguez states that when the Spaniards conquered America they found
the tax-register established in Mexico and Peru.--Eds.
[85] A marginal note at the beginning of each of these letters states
its authorship; but that on the Jesuit provincial's letter adds,
"with very well-grounded arguments" (muy fundamentalmente).
[86] Spanish, theatro; that is, the personnel of the Spanish body
of citizens.
[87] Cf. the prices paid somewhat later for the wine monopoly, in
the first document of VOL. XLVI.
[88] Spanish, trage de golilla. The golilla was "a certain ornament
made of pasteboard faced with taffeta or other black fabric, which
surrounded the neck, over which was placed a pleating of gauze or
other white stuff, which was starched. At present this decoration is
used only by the togated officials and others attached to the courts
of justice." (Dominguez.)
[89] For notices of this missionary, see VOL. XXXVI, pp. 218,
219. Calderon's memorial is more fully described post, near the end
of sec. 94 of the Extracto.
[90] See account of Quiroga's proceedings in VOL. XXX, pp. 50-52,
85-88, 91, 105.
[91] Millones: "an excise or duty levied in Spain on wine, vinegar,
oil, meat, soap, and tallow candles, to defray the expenses of the
army" (Velázquez).
[92] These dimensions are equivalent in English or U.S. measure to
41 3/4 inches long, 22 1/4 wide, and 11 1/8 deep; and the allowance
of two dedos, to 1 1/3 inch.