The address of this letter reads: "To my comrade, Juan Romero (may
our Lord preserve him!) at the house of Juana Munoz, next to the
Society, Cavite."
Collated with the copy of the report and letter which are in possession
of Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera y Mendoca. At the order of his
Lordship I drew this copy, which is a true and faithful copy. Witnesses
at its copying, correction, and collation were the accountant Juan
Bautista de Cubiaga, Agustin de Reguen, and Juan de Palma, who were
present. In testimony of truth, I sealed and signed it.
Andres Martin de Arroyo, royal notary.
[The notarial attestation of the validity of documents drawn up before
the above notary, dated Manila, May 8, 1636, and signed by Agustin
de Valencuela, Alfonso Baeza del Rio, and Francisco de la Torre,
follows.] [20]
[_In the margin_: "That during the eleven months while he has been in
that government he has done no other thing than to establish the royal
jurisdiction and patronage, and subdue the religious to [understand]
that his Majesty is their natural seignior and the seignior of those
islands; and he relates the mischievous proceedings of the religious
of St. Francis, St. Augustine, and St. Dominic."]
Sire:
One would believe that your Majesty (may God preserve you) has sent
me not to govern your Filipinas Islands, but to conquer them from
the religious of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Augustine; for
in the eleven months since my arrival here, I have had no other
thing to do than to establish the jurisdiction of your Majesty
and your royal patronage, and to subdue the said religious to the
understanding that your Majesty alone is their natural seignior,
as well as the seignior of the said islands. And hitherto they have
succeeded in and obtained whatever they desired, either because they
have governed the governors, or the governor through fear of their
so insolent preaching, or on account of their demands and threats,
has never refused them anything. And if, in the course of the year,
they have resorted to these measures at the time of the despatch of the
galleons to Nueva Espana, the governors have granted their petitions,
just or unjust--either that the religious might write well of their
government, or so that they might not write ill of it. I am convinced
that they will always write ill of me, because I am ever striving to
regulate the service of God and that of your Majesty. As that is a
labor in which both services may be free from self-interest and worldly
ends, I shall not resent that they write to your Majesty whatever they
like; for, since you are so just and so Catholic a sovereign, I cannot
believe or expect that you will condemn me without a hearing. Therefore
I petition your Majesty to be pleased to have your secretaries send
a copy of my letters to your vassals, both regular ecclesiastics and
seculars, of what I shall write concerning them; for they will find
therein no deceit or falsehood (and it is impossible to deceive God
and one's natural sovereign). Also they will find neither hate, love,
nor passion, but only kind desires for correcting the faults of my
neighbors, and those of the subjects of your Majesty whom you have
given to me by your favor, so that I might maintain peace and justice
among them, and keep them in the fear of God and that of your royal
person. I also petition your Majesty to be pleased to have the said
secretaries send me the letters, or copies of the letters, that they
shall write, so that we may, on both sides, verify the truth here,
and, having verified it, advise your Majesty.
[_In the margin_: "That the Order of St. Dominic generally opposes
the government, while that of St. Francis has given great scandal to
those islands, by the provincial chapter that was held."]
The Order of St. Dominic has grown old in opposing the government for
many years. The Order of St. Francis has opposed it from the time of
the provincial chapter held by a commissary, Fray Juan de Gabiria,
an Observantine, in which he deprived the discalced fathers of all
the definitorships, elected Observantine provincial and guardians,
and removed the discalced provincial; and against the will of
your Majesty and your royal decrees tried to convert the discalced
fathers into Observantines, under the protection of Don Juan Cereco
Salamanca. Because he removed a guardian of Manila, Fray Jose Forte,
for causes which the ex-provincial ought to have discovered, this
order caused the greatest scandal in the community that has been seen
here. As it did not happen in my time, I am only obliged to inform
your Majesty of it, but not of the disorders committed. [_Decreed in
the margin_: "In the Council, December 12, 1637. That the secretary
request the commissary-general of the Indias to report what happened
in this matter. Let examination be made to discover whether there
are any papers or letters that concern this matter."]
[_In the margin_: "The provincials of St. Francis, past and present,
are coming to relate what they have done."]
I have decreed that the provincials, past and present, and the
commissary himself, go to report to your Majesty and to their superiors
what they have done; and your Majesty will there give orders as to
which they must be--discalced, as hitherto, or Observantines. [_Decreed
in the margin_: "See above. If these religious come, have this
section brought."]
[_In the margin_: "That the Order of St. Augustine is in need of
reform; he mentions the causes for it."]
The Order of St. Augustine--of the Recollects, in particular (although
they came here, Sire, to reform the others), it is seen and understood,
have as great need of reformation as the first--refused to obey his
Holiness or your Majesty's decrees. In regard to the alternation [21]
that the creoles asked, various remarks are made on this matter, and
the blame is cast on Don Juan Cereco de Salamanca. This order recognize
the injury and injustice that they are doing to the creoles, and they
know that I am not ignorant of any defects and imperfections, however
serious. They have recognized in me that I shall not distort justice
for anyone, and they have consequently composed themselves--quite
early desisting from counseling the archbishop as the others did,
and being reconciled, and returning to unite with the Order of the
Society, withdrawing from the union which they and the other orders had
formed against those fathers. Their present provincial is a discreet,
honorable, and upright man, so that the order is better regulated. The
most efficient remedy that your Majesty can adopt is, not to grant them
any more religious for eight years, or permission to them to travel;
for besides the fact that there are many of them here, and so many
do not die as are reported to your Majesty, last year there came
with your Majesty's permission sixteen or eighteen of the Order of
St. Augustine, and thus was spent by your Majesty as many thousands
of pesos. They brought still more, as many as twenty-eight--either
with the money that was left over (for your Majesty gives them
too large a sum), or with the money sent them by their order from
here. And, as they are contented with nothing, where one religious
formerly served there are now two or three; and where two served,
there are now four or five. I will tell your Majesty the troubles and
disadvantages arising from this condition of affairs: the first is,
to oppose the alcalde-mayor and your Majesty's justice in every way;
the second, to cause more instruction, so that your Majesty may spend
more in stipends, which they have obtained from the government, by
the requests and presents that they have made to my predecessors;
the third, to make greater slaves of the poor Indians by being
the merchants of their rice and cloth, taking by force from them,
at the price that they choose, whatever the Indians possess; and
fourth, when an assessment [_repartimiento_] of rice, linen, wine,
and other things is made for your Majesty's magazines, and for your
royal service, they offer opposition not only to the alcalde-mayor,
but also to the government, bewailing the poverty of the Indians--so
that the latter may have more left of which these religious can skin
and deprive them. These missionaries, Sire, do not undertake only the
teaching of the doctrines and the administration of the sacraments;
but they are attempting to rule everything. They tell the Indians,
publicly and privately, that there is no other king or pope than
themselves; and they make their fiscals give to an Indian, and even
to his wife, fifty lashes for any childish or foolish act. I shall be
satisfied if your Majesty's name has the fourth part of the sovereignty
and lordship that these fathers have among these Indians. Sometimes
they tell the alcaldes-mayor that their provincials in Manila, and
they in the missions, ought to be obeyed. The above and many other
lawless acts which I have discovered here among these orders have
made me disconsolate; and I confess to your Majesty that I would
serve you more willingly in any of your armies as a soldier than
here as governor. If your Majesty do not have the goodness to have
this effectively remedied, this colony will go to ruin, because
of the multitude of allied friars. The ecclesiastical cabildo and
the Society of Jesus recognize your Majesty as sovereign, and obey
you, and at the same time prove by all their actions their love for
your service--for all of which your Majesty can honor them and show
them favor, if you are so minded. [_Decreed in the margin_: "Let the
governor cause to be exactly observed, the alternation which does not
allow that there be more religious in any mission district than those
who shall be necessary for it according to the royal patronage. Let
the others occupy themselves in instruction and in preaching, for
which they were sent. Let no more religious be given them for the
period mentioned by the governor. If they are asked for, let a report
of this letter be made."]
[_In the margin_: "That bishops should be sent to those islands who
are secular priests, but not friars, because of the troubles that
arise from their uniting with the orders and opposing the governor;
and he asks that the presiding archbishop be sent a coadjutor, as he
is now very old and incapacitated."]
Most of the ministers of instruction think only of acquiring and
amassing money, in order thereby to solicit your Majesty in that
court to give them these bishoprics. Surely, your Majesty is not
well served thereby; and you should send a secular bishop, or at
least an archbishop, so that the religious should not unite with
him to oppose your Majesty's governors. And, if it please you, will
you send a coadjutor for Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, archbishop of
these islands, who is now so old that he is past eighty years of age,
and his hands and head shake. Leaving his lack of learning out of
the question, your Majesty can consider what the [ecclesiastical]
government will be by having peace. In order that your Majesty may
establish a thing so to your service, I will give that coadjutor two
thousand pesos annually from my own salary. If he should assume the
archbishopric during my term, I shall arrange so as to leave that
sum to him as an income, besides the four thousand pesos that the
archbishop receives--so that the two thousand may not be paid from
your Majesty's royal treasury, from your royal incomes, or from
those of your vassals. By that means the archbishopric will have
an income of more than six thousand pesos, and its incumbent can
get along excellently on that. Will your Majesty kindly send such
a coadjutor for the succor of these islands and the consolation and
protection of the clergy, from among the so many virtuous and erudite
and moral seculars in that royal court. Should such an archbishop
have a bishop _in partibus_, in order to go to confirm and to visit,
your Majesty can very well dispense with the three other bishops
of Cibu, Nueva Segovia, and Camarines, for they are in fact of but
little use and service in their bishoprics. [_Decreed in the margin_:
"Touching the matter that the archbishopric be given to a secular,
when that post falls vacant, let this section be referred to. In
regard to giving a coadjutor to the archbishop, have his letters
collected, and what other letters treat of his health, age, capacity,
and method of procedure. The secretary, Don Gabriel de Ocana y Alarcon,
shall make a secret investigation of what occurs in this matter. In
regard to the offer of the two thousand pesos which the governor
offers from his salary, no steps will be taken at present; but have
the governor notified to explain the means by which the sum that he
mentions can be obtained without detriment to the royal treasury or
to his Majesty's vassals, so that if it be a measure proper to adopt,
it may be carried out. In regard to abolishing those bishoprics, let
there be brought, for the better settlement of the matter, a report
of the data concerning their erection, their respective distances
[from Manila], and whatever else concerns this matter, and of what
shall be found in the secretary's office."]
[_In the margin_: "That the orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis
have sent more religious than those granted to them."]
The Order of St. Dominic having been granted sixteen religious by your
Majesty, at a cost of a like number of thousands of pesos, brought
twenty-six in all, at a cost of as many thousands of pesos. The Order
of St. Francis brought sixteen, although your Majesty granted them
twelve. Thus, Sire, your Majesty spent forty-eight thousand pesos
in bringing those seventy religious, and established nearly as many
rivals to your governor, in order that they might oppose him in
everything. The diocesan authorities of Camarines have given me a
memorandum, to the effect that in that bishopric alone six stipends
can be saved, and a like number of guardianias, as they are very
near one another, and two can be administered as one. The religious
do not deserve this, but, although there may be thirty Indians in one
district, and another district lies but one-half or three-quarters of
a legua away, they want another mission; and as I say, they are rarely
willing to live alone. Their prelates foster such ideas by saying that
the lax conduct of one is avoided by giving him an associate. Happy
would I count myself, Sire, if I could see myself at your Majesty's
feet, informing you of part of what takes place here, since I could
not do so entirely. [_Decreed in the margin_: "In regard to this
section and the following ones, let the governor be answered not to
consent to the erection of new missions that are not according to the
royal patronage; and let him try, with the consent of the archbishop,
to unite some with others. In those which shall be newly established,
he shall also endeavor to introduce secular clergy, if he find them
capable and sufficient. And whenever anyone shall again discuss the
question whether it is advisable to deprive the religious of the
missions and appoint seculars to them, reference shall be made to
this section."]
[_In the margin_: "That the orders can obtain religious from those
in Mexico, or creoles, without going to so great expense as to convey
them from Espana."]
It also appears that these orders can obtain religious from Mexico,
without causing so great expense to your Majesty's treasury--creoles,
or at least those who have gone thither from Espana, who are more
habituated to a hot climate, and will not enter suddenly so great a
change of climate as that of these islands; and even were there none
of this change, it would be well for them. Your Majesty ought also,
in justice, to favor the ecclesiastical estate, so that, if there are
benefices and missions, these may be given to it. For almost all such
are in the possession of the religious; and the seculars who are now
studying in the colleges, from whose number some very good candidates
graduate, have nothing to which to aspire. It is a shame that there
is nothing in which to occupy them. They do not cause any expense to
your Majesty in a journey hither, nor in their studies, and are more
easily reduced to reason; while the friar is one with his community,
and no one denies that the religious outside his convent would die as
a fish out of water. I entreat your Majesty to be pleased to believe
me that I do not inform you of all these things from hate, passion,
or ill-will; but only from my desire that your Majesty's service may be
uppermost. Your Majesty will never have a true report concerning these
islands, if your disinterested governors do not give it--for which
reason, since this country is so far away, no relief can he furnished
in matters that need it so greatly. For my part, I shall ever endeavor
to comply with the obligations under which your Majesty has placed me,
together with those which I have as a Christian, and those which I owe
to my lineage. I shall do my uttermost, and that will be something; but
if your Majesty will aid me by means of some ordinances and mandates,
there will remain nothing for me to do. May our Lord preserve your
Majesty's Catholic person, as is necessary to Christendom. Manila,
the last of June, 1636. Sire, your Majesty's vassal kisses your feet,