Sire:
Last year I wrote to your Majesty that I had arrived in this city of
Manila, on the first of June of the year ninety, having been nine
months on the way, counting the time I spent in Mexico recruiting
troops; the total of these was two hundred and seventy soldiers,
including those I brought from Spain. On my arrival here, I ordered
the soldiers whom I had brought, inasmuch as they were drawing pay from
your Majesty, to mount guard and do sentry duty, posting sentinels at
the forts, and excusing those whom I found here, and the townspeople,
from acting as sentinels. Although I understood that they were very
grateful to me, and that they kissed your Majesty's hands, for this;
and as there was, on other accounts, no reason why they should fail to
do their duty; still, some ungrateful rogues counseled the soldiers
that they should resist authority, and that they should not perform
their guard duty, or carry their muskets--all of which, they said,
was only to make trouble for them. Besides, they did other things
well worthy of punishment. Along with this fiction, they instantly
bombarded me with memorials and importunities for rewards for
services. I assure your Majesty truthfully that, even if you had
here three hundred encomiendas and a like number of offices, you
could not recompense them for their services, which they exaggerate
and overestimate beyond what they have actually performed for your
Majesty. The most deserving of them merits very little, unless it be
a reward for having conducted himself with great freedom, and for
having destroyed the property committed to his charge. I do not in
conscience feel that your Majesty is under any obligation in this
country, beyond that of rendering justice for past excesses. I could
easily give your Majesty a detailed account; but, not to be prolix,
I shall leave it until the especial thing that demands reform here has
been somewhat remedied--and this is in regard to the soldiers of this
land. For in their begging for favor they are all in need of reform;
for it is through many sicknesses, and through being dependents of
the members of the Audiencia, and in like manner, that they have been
deprived of their gains.
Likewise, I found here not a ship or a galley, not a libra of iron
or of copper, or any powder except what I brought from Mexico--forty
quintals. Not a braza of rope did I find, nor balls for ten pieces
of artillery which are here. These are very insufficient for the
needs of the place; for four of them are swivel-guns, and another,
a large piece, is neither culverin, cannon, nor sacre; nor do any here
understand how to manage it, except by chance; there is no account of
it, no design, and no name for it. There are no storehouses, with the
exception of a shed where there is a little rice; and an enclosure
where have been put the wood and remains of three rotted galleys,
which were built but never launched. Their timbers are all rotted,
and the oars of the galleys also. The enclosure contains, as well,
a makeshift turret where the little powder that they had was kept,
and where I put what I brought; but unfortunately we had a fire,
and now it is all gone. In order to collect these necessary supplies
from those places where it is not proper to keep them, I resolved to
build storehouses, and have constructed four, where we are placing
what comes--such as iron (for I confiscate it all), rigging (which
is being made, for the sake of having some in reserve), rope, lead,
and rice. Shovels, pickaxes, and spades are being made, because of the
great need for them. Ammunition I planned to obtain in the following
way: I sent to Macan a ship which I found here, and which had been
despatched hither from Mexico by the Marques of Villamanrrique
(bound for Macan, as he said)--after taking from it guarantees to
the amount of fifteen thousand pesos that it should make the voyage
to Macan and return, bringing the ammunition. I sent also a regidor,
Pedro Debrito by name, with a copy of the warrant that your Majesty
gave me, authorizing me to do this; but up to this time he has not
returned. Some Chinese who have come from there say that the ship
has been captured by Portuguese, and sent to India. I can scarcely
maintain my position for the lack of ammunition, which is great--and
greater than ever just at the present time, for twenty-two Chinese
ships have come, without bringing a libra of copper, of saltpeter,
or of powder; and they say that under peril of their lives they had
been forced to dispose of them. They say the same of horses and black
cattle. As for the affairs of this city, the need of thorough equipment
is very great, for it has almost nothing, not even a prison; and that
under an Audiencia, as your Majesty will see by that report. Neither
are there any fortifications, so I have devoted myself to providing
for what is most necessary, namely, safety. I began the walls at the
point, where a fort was being built. I have made it with its curtains
and traverses, placing the traverses symmetrically as regards one
another. It is one and one-half estados from the ground, and the
foundation is of the same depth. It is from sixteen to twelve and
eight feet wide on top, according to the plan. The creek of the sea
stretches up to the fort, in all about one thousand brazas in length;
and while it would not do more, it will serve as a very good trench. On
account of this fort and wall I have increased the import duty here on
all articles from China, such as pepper and other things. Likewise,
playing-cards were seized in your Majesty's name. With this the work
was begun, but was about to stop for lack of funds; and, assuming that
your Majesty does not possess them, and orders me also to fortify
this city and be responsible for order in it, it seemed best to me
to levy a tax for this purpose on the property of all those from
different places who were settled here, and on the inhabitants in
general. This I did, charging two per cent, in consideration of the
many and great profits. Inasmuch as this affected the property of
the president, the auditors, the bishop, the clergy, and those in
benefices, they immediately held secret meetings and declared that
I was incurring the censure of the bull of the Lord's Supper. As is
a very common proceeding for the bishop and the Dominican friars,
because I will not let them go to España to seek many things from
your Majesty "very important to the welfare of these islands," I am
now excommunicated; the Franciscans are now saying the same thing
because I have forbidden them to go to China and Japan, and now to
España. So great is the freedom and assurance of these saintly folk
that they say they will go whether I will or no; that I am the most
ill-tempered man in the world, the most cruel, intolerable, and wicked;
and that it is from fear that I will not let them go. In response to
this, I say that I beseech your Majesty to be pleased to hear them
and peruse their letters, and to appoint a person and time, so that
the truth may be known; for, if the truth be known, for me and for
the vindication of whatever they may say, I am sure that no man in
this country can injure me in the least degree. This is the truth,
and even though other motives unite with malice and evil intention, I
am not concerned a maravedi in my honor or another's honor, or any sign
of it. If this be not so, may neither God nor your Majesty protect me.
What I find here is plenty of debts, which your Majesty owes for
the services of the poor Indians, and for the work and material
on the public buildings, all of which the Audiencia failed to pay;
and for the salaries of chaplain, chancellor, bailiffs, and others,
the total of which must amount to more than thirty thousand pesos;
and there is nothing here with which to pay them.
In order to obviate the discomfort of the soldiers, who are quartered
some in one place, some in another, among the inhabitants; and to
prevent the quarrels into which they get with the people, I have
built for them barracks of stone and brick which are now finished,
and which will accommodate four hundred. They are near the official
buildings and a small fort which I have made, where they may keep
their flags, and where they may be assembled aid at hand, and safe
from the misfortune of fire, when there is need of such safety.
With your Majesty's permission, I must state that I regret the trade
of these Chinese, for it seems to me injurious. It might be forbidden
on the ground of the great sums of money which they take from these
islands to foreign countries. The most of the trade is in cotton
stuffs--the material for which they take from this country in the
first place, and bring it back woven. The natives here could just as
well make these, if they chose, of their own cotton, and even better
than those which come from China. They could export them to Mexico,
and could have a trade worth four hundred thousand pesos. This
would lead to greater care in producing and cultivating the cotton,
because they would not have the Sangleys acting as middlemen. The
rest that they bring is silks, very poor and sleazy, except some
silk which is brought in raw or spun into thread. This last, I fear,
exceeds in quantity that brought from the Spanish kingdoms; and would
interfere with your Majesty's royal revenues from the silks of Granada,
Murcia, and Valencia, which would be most undesirable. Besides this,
there is another point deserving no slight consideration--namely,
that they (the Chinese) come to these islands with freedom to sell
their goods, and even settle here, and frequently marry. They do not
permit us, however, to go to their country, nor may a Spaniard go
thither to invest one real--a custom entirely contrary to freedom
of trade. Therefore, in order to avoid other undesirable results,
I have decreed that Chinese traders shall not live here under the
pretext of being merchants; but that only certain workmen who are
mechanics may remain, and that, when their merchandise is sold,
they shall return home. The bishop and all the friars say that they
cannot thus be deprived of the liberty of coming and settling here,
and that no such commands or decrees can in conscience be made for
them. From the pulpits they say that the governor is going to hell,
because the Chinese have their laws, and we cannot dictate to them
unless we first govern ourselves according to the laws and customs
which we found among the Indians of this country, because it was and
is theirs. In regard to what I have said concerning the trade of these
Chinese, I am doubtful on only one point--namely, if this trade be
abandoned, your Majesty will lose the royal duties which this commerce
brings in, on the arrival and departure of the merchants. These must
amount to thirty or forty thousand pesos yearly, lacking which, your
Majesty would have to supply it from your royal treasury in Mexico,
or elsewhere, in order to maintain the army here, and for other very
pressing expenses. I have set all this before your Majesty, so that,
having considered it on both sides, your Majesty may inform me of
your will.
The bishop is about to go to Spain, [48] and is so wrought up over
what touches his individual interests, and matters connected with
his friars (as are all of the latter), that he declares publicly
that if I would not let him go he would betake himself to a desert,
in order not to look upon injustices. Not the least among these are
the many murders of Indians, very evil in the way in which they were
committed, and worse in their concealment for twelve years past;
and the failure to make restitution of great amounts, received but
not returned. Because I am remedying this, with which neither the
bishop nor his clergy concern themselves, the bishop forces them to
take this attitude because the name of injustice irritates him.
With great eagerness the bishop is making up something to say about
me, taking great pains to get information in regard to my life,
and trying to bring forward someone who could tell him something to
write. About a little amber which I bought a few days ago, for my own
use, and at my own expense, he made many inquiries of the man who sold
it--namely, whether he had been paid for it, and how; besides other
things of which he has managed to get hold. But since I am sure these
charges against me will not be believed, his base intention gives me
no uneasiness. May our Lord guard the Catholic person of your Majesty
for many long years, since Christendom has need of you.
Manila, June 20, 1592.
_Gomez Perez Dasmariñas_
Sire:
By the letters I am writing your Majesty through your royal Council
of the Indias, your Majesty will learn of all affairs here. It is
advisable that your Majesty be able to correct and provide as is most
fitting to your royal service. Although I advise in those letters
concerning the conditions of affairs here, and what I think about each
one, agreeably to the nature of the events and affairs contained in the
letters, I am writing this letter, addressed to your Majesty in person,
so that it may serve merely as a memorandum and reminder of certain
matters that most occupy and busy me. I set them down here in small
compass, in order not to fatigue your Majesty, since I have already
given a detailed account of them by letters, memorials, informations,
and reports which I am sending to the Council, in which your Majesty
can ascertain what you may be pleased to know.
In this land, as being so new, and where affairs have not as yet the
solidity and completeness requisite, are many obstacles and impediments
to its good government. One of them, and not the least, is the power,
authority, and even tyranny, with which the bishop and religious
have insinuated themselves into and domineered over it. Nothing is
attempted or tried that they are not wont to oppose it; and nothing is
ordained or decreed here in which they do not meddle and interfere,
without being summoned or consulted. They assert that they must
pass their edict of approval or disapproval on everything; so that
there are but few or no matters whose execution they do not oppose
and obstruct--saying that such and such cannot be done or ordered,
under penalty of going to hell; and, in conjunction with the bishop,
they immediately excommunicate and terrorize, so that the secular arm
and hand of your Majesty has not here the strength and freedom that
it should have for the execution of affairs. One of the things most
needing reform is that, as the bishop, according to his caprice--and
often in cases outside of his jurisdiction--excommunicates and
proceeds unjustly, doing violence to the law; and as there is no
royal Audiencia here to remove the excommunications: justice and
the despatch of business may suffer greatly, unless your Majesty
entrusts the governor here with power to try such cases, and to lift
and remove the ban, since other recourse is so distant, and so many
wrongs might be perpetrated. For it is certain that, both in this and
in all other matters, the conduct of the bishop and of the religious
with so great power and license is one of the most severe trials of
this government; because the bishop has a title as a saint (so that
some persons imitate him), and a man of upright life. That I do not
take it upon myself either to praise or to censure. I have never
seen a man more peculiar or so inconsiderate and obstinate in his
opinions, who even does not hesitate to oppose the right of patronage,
the jurisdiction, and the royal exchequer of your Majesty. All this
he judges and discusses as injuriously as the most utter foreigner,
and even enemy, would do. I say this with truth, on account of what
I owe to your Majesty's service; and although I warn him of the harm
that he is doing, as it appears to me, and although I am restraining
myself in regard to him with the moderation suitable in a land so
slippery and uncertain, he is wont to answer with monkish liberty,
what the king must do for him; and that, inasmuch as neither pope nor
king can do him good or ill, he is not at all concerned. He says that
your Majesty has no authority here; that to him is due the conquest
and conservation of this land; and that he is not bishop for your
Majesty, but for the pope. What royal patronage he must observe,
the pope declares in his bulls, and not he who praying kept to his
bed. He talks with the same liberty in his theology and judgments,
since in order to prove his opinions, he says that the universities
of Salamanca and Alcala (who do the contrary) are in error, and he
right. He declared also that those who should follow the instruction
of the Theatins here would go to hell; and that the doctrine of Father
Acosta was heretical--beside innumerable other things. And it is quite
certain that, since my arrival here, I have had in him a continual
opposition and obstacle to whatever is ordered and done. If things
are not quite to his taste, he says that he will go into retirement,
and abandon everything. And the friars say the same thing--namely,
that they will abandon their doctrinas [_i.e._, Christian villages]
if their power over the Indians is taken away. This power is such that
the Indians recognize no other king or superior than the father of
the doctrina, and are more attentive to his commands than to those of
the governor. Therefore the friars make use of them by the hundreds,
as slaves, in their rowing, works, services, and in other ways,
without paying them, and whipping them as if they were highwaymen. In
whatever pertains to the fathers there is no grief or pity felt for
the Indians; but as for some service of your Majesty, or a public work,
in which an Indian may be needed, or as for anything ordered from them,
the religious are bound to gainsay it, place it on one's conscience,
hinder it, or disturb everything. Without doubt, if I did not exercise
so much caution and moderation, some mutiny or rebellion might arise,
in a country so new, at less opportunities than those which the bishop
and his friars afford. For they do not content themselves with opposing
our proceedings in the tribunal of conscience [_fuero interior_],
announcing them as sins or cases against conscience; but also, as soon
as they assemble in their councils and enunciate their propositions,
in the latter and in their pulpits they declare these acts to be
unjust, wrong, and worthy of restitution. Thereupon the bishop orders
refusal of absolution in confessions, excommunicates, and proceeds in
the outer court. [49] Thus if it is ordered in accordance with your
Majesty's commands that the citizens alone discuss [any matters],
they say that that is not just, because it must be for the general
welfare. And if, by your Majesty's command, it is ordered that the
Chinese merchandise be bought at one price, theology declares that
no such thing can be ordered. If it is decreed that the Indians, in
order that they may cultivate and weave their cotton, since it is so
abundant in the country, should not wear silks and Chinese stuffs,
nothing could be worse. No sooner is the excise, or the merchant's
peso, or the two per cent duty imposed for the wall, than it is against
conscience and the bull _De cena Domini_ ["of the Lord's supper"]. If
I undertake to appoint magistrates to govern in peace and establish
order among the Indians, they say that I am setting the land on
fire. If I pass any sentence in accordance with the merits of the case,
there is murmuring, and [it is said] that such a thing has never been
seen in these islands; and therefore there is no man more severe or
of more evil disposition than I. They assert also that not a single
arquebus-match should be lighted here, or a single soldier be kept;
and that the pure gospel must be preached. Thus, I behold myself,
Sire, greatly restricted by these obstacles, and even more by the
procedures of the bishop in matters in which he has no jurisdiction,
and which do not concern his office--because those that do pertain to
him, he has most forgotten. For I assure your Majesty as a Christian
that since my arrival here, although the work on the church was no
farther advanced than the raising of the walls a matter of six varas,
and enclosing a court, never did he come to me so that we might give
orders to have even one brick placed in it. On my faith, he has not
been so forgetful of his own house, for he has one so handsome and
well-finished, and from money for the restitutions, which was in his
possession. From these restitutions he gave pensions to whomsoever he
wished, and took such part as he chose for his own house. Nor have I
known him, as long as I have been here, to consult in regard to placing
one minister of instruction where there is none, or to convert one
soul; but he has only opposed those who tried to provide instruction
and to be of service in this matter. This is because he wished, in
all things, to have his clergy preferred, in regard to whom he took
sufficient care to importune me for them; although they are all better
merchants than students of Latin. Consequently, in no other way was
more time wasted than in listening to his complaints on this score,
and regarding the Augustinian fathers--to whom he is very hostile,
because he wished his Dominican friars to have everything good;
and in disposing of the misrepresentations and invented tales with
which he kept coming to me, we lost much time. In short, the bishop is
growing old, as I am informing your Majesty in another letter. But it
is certain that, unless he himself goes away, I see no other remedy
for the obstructions caused by his temper and passion (by which he
has embarrassed the course of business and government here), than the
very journey which he contemplates--namely, to send him to España (as
I would assuredly do, because he would have made this step necessary
for me) in order to tell your Majesty that there will be no deficiency
in his duties here, for he has not busied himself more in them than
to hinder me in mine. May our Lord preserve your Majesty for many
long years, as Christendom needs. Manila, June 20, 1592. [50]
_Gomez Perez Dasmarinas_
[_Endorsed:_ "Manila. To his Majesty. Gomez Perez Dasmarinas. June
20."]
Sire:
In previous letters I have reported to your Majesty the irregularities
and abuses existing here in the marriage of widows of encomenderos and
others who are minors, and I now refer again to the subject. According
to the order of your Majesty, the widow or child of an encomendero
who served in the conquest inherits the encomienda or income. It
happens very often that the widow is young, and rich through her
succession to the encomienda; and, following bad advice or personal
inclination, she makes an unsuitable or improper marriage, giving that
rich reward and appointment to some trader or newcomer, without merit
or claim for service. Thus many honorable and deserving men, who have
rendered services to your Majesty here, and who might, by this means,
be rewarded and established, are deprived of the encomiendas. The
same occurs in the case of minors, who by reason of their youth or
through bad advice on the part of interested guardians or relatives
(who openly sell them in marriage to the highest bidder), contract
many misalliances. In addition to these evils, many quarrels and
lawsuits ensue from this practice.
Only yesterday a woman who had but a month ago buried her husband, one
of the most honorable captains in these islands, married one of her
servants, a man of very short lineage, still fewer years of service,
and poor natural endowments. I think that the same thing will happen in
the case of four or five rich widows and several minor encomenderos,
who are about to be married. All this might be prevented or largely
corrected, if the governor here, by order of your Majesty, should be
empowered to control this matter. Without his consent and approval
no marriages should be allowed, at least of an encomendera, who owes
her position to favor conferred by your Majesty upon her father or
husband, for services rendered, or to special favor on your Majesty's
part. It is not right that some trader or transient resident, who has
rendered no service, but who has rather been unserviceable to your
Majesty, should usurp and enjoy these benefits by unjust means. The
governor should be instructed not to allow, on any account, marriages
to take place with any creditor or servant; but he should have, as
his sole object, reward and honor to worthy persons who have served
your Majesty in the country. God keep your Majesty many years in the
prosperity of which Christendom has need. Manila, July 9, 1592.
_Gomez Perez Dasmariñas_