HISTORY.
A few sketches of the personal history of some of the captains-general
of Manila will be an apt illustration of the general character of the
government, which, with some remarkable exceptions, appears to have
been of a mild and paternal character; while the Indians exhibit,
when not severely dealt with, much meekness and docility, and a
generally willing obedience. The subjugation of the wild tribes of
the interior has not made the progress which might have been fairly
looked for; but the military and naval forces at the disposal of the
captain-general have always been small when the extent of his authority
is considered. In fact, many conquests have had to be abandoned from
inadequacy of strength to maintain them. The ecclesiastical influences,
which have been established among the idolatrous tribes, are weak when
they come in contact with any of the forms of Mahomedanism, as in the
island of Mindanao, where the fanaticism of Mussulman faith is quite
as strong as that among the Catholics themselves. Misunderstandings
between the Church and State could hardly be avoided where each has
asserted a predominant power, and such misunderstandings have often
led to the effusion of blood and the dislocation of government. Mutual
jealousies exist to the present hour, and as the friars, in what
they deem the interests of the people, are sometimes hostile to the
views of the civil authority, that authority has frequently a right
to complain of being thwarted, or feebly aided, by the local clergy.
While shortly recording the names of the captains-general to whom
the government of the Philippines has been confided, I will select
a few episodes from the history of the islands, which will show the
character of the administration, and assist the better understanding
of the position of the people.
Miguel Lope de Legaspi, a Biscayan, upon whom the title of Conqueror
of the Philippines has been conferred, was the first governor, and
was nominated in 1565. He took possession of Manila in 1571, and died,
it is said, of disgust and disappointment the following year. The city
was invaded by Chinese pirates during the government of his successor
Guido de Lavezares, who repulsed them, and received high honours from
his sovereign, Philip II. Francisco de Saude founded in Camarines the
city of Nueva Caceres, to which he gave the name of the place of his
birth. He was a man of great ambition, who deposed one and enthroned
another sultan of Borneo, and modestly asked from the king of Spain
authority to conquer China, but was recommended to be less ambitious,
and to keep peace with surrounding nations. Rinquillo de Peñarosa
rescued Cagayan from a Japanese pirate, and founded New Segovia and
Arévalo in Panay; his nephew succeeded him, and in doing honour to
his memory set the Church of St. Augustin on fire; it spread to the
city, of which a large part was destroyed. In 1589, during the rule of
Santiago de Vera, the only two ships which carried on the trade with
New Spain were destroyed by a hurricane in the port of Cavite. The
next governor, Gomez Perez Dasmariñas, sent to Japan the missionaries
who were afterwards put to death; he headed an expedition to Moluco,
but on leaving the port of Mariveles his galley was separated from the
rest of the fleet; the Chinese crew rose, murdered him, and fled in
his vessel to Cochin China. His son Luis followed him as governor. A
Franciscan friar, who had accompanied the unfortunate expedition of
his father, informed him that he would find, as he did, his patent of
appointment in a box which the Chinese had landed in the province of
Ilocos, and his title was in consequence recognised. Francisco Tello
de Guzman, who entered upon the government in 1596, was unfortunate
in his attempts to subdue the natives of Mindanao, as was one of his
captains, who had been sent to drive away the Dutch from Mariveles.
In the year 1603 three mandarins arrived in Manila from China. They
said that a Chinaman, whom they brought as a prisoner, had assured the
Emperor that the island of Cavite was of gold, that the Chinaman had
staked his life upon his veracity, and that they had come to learn the
truth of his story. They soon after left, having been conducted by the
governor to examine Cavite for themselves. A report speedily spread
that an invasion of the Philippines by a Chinese army of 100,000 was
in contemplation, and a Chinese called Eng Kang, who was supposed to
be a great friend of the Europeans, was charged with a portion of the
defences. A number of Japanese, the avowed enemies of the Chinese,
were admitted to the confidence of the governor, and communicated to
the Chinese the information that the government suspected a plot. A
plot there was, and it was said the Chinese determined on a rising,
and a general massacre of the Spaniards on the vespers of St. Francis'
day. A Philippine woman, who was living with a Chinaman, denounced the
project to the curate of Quiapo, who advised the governor. A number
of the conspirators were assembled at a half-league's distance from
Manila, and Eng Kang was sent with some Spaniards to put down the
movement. The attempt failed, and Eng Kang was afterwards discovered to
have been one of the principal promoters of the insurrection. In the
evening the Chinese attacked Quiapo and Tondo, murdering many of the
natives. They were met by a body of 130 Spaniards, nearly all of whom
perished, and their heads were sent to Parian, which the insurgents
captured, and besieged the city of Manila from Dilao. The danger led
to great exertions on the part of the Spaniards, the ecclesiastics
taking a very active part. The Chinese endeavoured to scale the walls,
but were repulsed. The monks declared that St. Francis had appeared in
person to encourage them. The Chinese withdrew to their positions, but
the Spaniards sallied out from the citadel, burnt and destroyed Parian,
and pursued the flying Chinese to Cabuyao. New reinforcements arrived,
and the flight of the Chinese continued as far as the province of
Batangas, where they were again attacked and dispersed. It is said that
of 24,000 revolted Chinese only one hundred escaped, who were reserved
for the galleys. About 2,000 Chinese were left, who had not involved
themselves in the movement. Eng Kang was decapitated, and his head
exposed in an iron cage. It was three years after this insurrection
that the Court of Madrid had the first knowledge of its existence.
Pedro de Acuña, after the suppression of this revolt, conquered
Ternate, and carried away the king, but died suddenly, in 1606,
after governing four years. Cristobal Tellez, during his short rule,
destroyed a settlement of the Japanese in Dilao. Juan de Silva brought
with him, in 1609, reinforcements of European troops, and in the
seventh year of his government, made great preparations for attacking
the Dutch, but died after a short illness. In 1618, Alonzo Fajardo came
to the Philippines, with conciliatory orders as regarded the natives,
and was popular among them. He punished a revolt in Buhol, sent an
unsuccessful mission to Japan, and in a fit of jealousy killed his
wife. Suspecting her infidelity, he surprised her at night in a house,
where she had been accustomed to give rendezvous to her paramour, and
found her in a dress which left no doubt of her crime. The governor
called in a priest, commanded him to administer the sacrament, and,
spite of the prayers of the ecclesiastic, he put her to death by a stab
from his own dagger. This was in 1622. Melancholy took possession of
him, and he died in 1624. Two interim governors followed. Juan Niño
de Tabera arrived in 1626. He brought with him 600 troops, drove the
Dutch from their holds, and sent Olaso, a soldier, celebrated for his
deeds in Flanders, against the Jolo Indians; but Olaso failed utterly,
and returned to Manila upon his discomfiture.
A strange event took place in 1630. The holy sacrament had been stolen
in a glass vase, from the cathedral. A general supplication (rogativa)
was ordered; the archbishop issued from his palace barefooted, his
head covered with ashes, and a rope round his neck, wandering about
to discover where the vase was concealed. All attempts having failed,
so heavy were the penitences, and so intolerable the grief of the holy
man, that he sank under the calamity, and a fierce contest between
the ecclesiastical and civil functionaries was the consequence of
his death.
In 1635 there was a large arrival of rich converted Japanese,
who fled from the fierce persecutions to which the Christians had
been subjected in Japan; but a great many Catholic missionaries
hastened to that country, in order to be honoured with the crown of
martyrdom. Another remarkable ecclesiastical quarrel took place at this
time. A commissary, lately arrived from Europe, ordered that all the
friars with beards should be charged with the missions to China and
Japan; and all the shorn friars should remain in the Philippines. The
archbishop opposed this, as the Pope's bulls had no regulations about
beards. Fierce debates were also excited by the exercise of the right
of asylum to criminals, having committed offences, either against the
military or the civil authority. The archbishop excommunicated--the
commandant of artillery rebelled. The archbishop fined him--the
vicar apostolic confirmed the sentence. The Audiencia annulled the
proceedings--the Bishop of Camarines was called on as the arbiter,
and absolved the commandant. Appeals followed, and one of the parties
was accused of slandering the Most Holy Father. The Jesuits took part
against the archbishop, who called all the monks together, and they
fined the Jesuits 4,000 dollars. The governor defended the Jesuits,
and required the revocation of the sentence in six hours. The quarrel
did not end here: but there was a final compromise, each party making
some concessions to the other.
The disasters which followed the insurrection of Eng Kang did not
prevent the influx of Chinese into the islands, and especially
into the province of Laguna, where another outbreak, in which it
is said 30,000 Chinese took part, occurred in 1639. They divided
themselves into guerrillas, who devastated the country; but were
subdued in the following year, seven thousand having surrendered at
discretion. Spanish historians say that the hatred of the Indians to
the Chinese awaked them from their habitual apathy, and that in the
destruction of the intruders they exhibited infinite zeal and activity.
In the struggles between the natives and the Spaniards, even the
missionaries were not always safe, and the Spaniards were often
betrayed by those in whom they placed the greatest confidence. The
heavy exactions and gabelles inflicted on the Indians under Fajardo
led to a rising in Palopag, when the Jesuit curate was killed and the
convent and church sacked. The movement spread through several of the
islands, and many of the prisoners were delivered in Caraga to the
keeping of an Indian, called Dabao, who so well fulfilled his mission,
that when the governor came to the fortress, to claim the captives,
Dabao seized and beheaded his Excellency, and, with the aid of the
prisoners, destroyed most of the Spaniards in the neighbourhood,
including the priests; so that only six, among whom was an Augustine
barefooted friar, escaped, and fled to the capital. Reinforcements
having arrived from Manila, the Indians surrendered, being promised
a general pardon. "The promise," says the Spanish historian, "was not
kept; but the leaders of the insurrection were hanged, and multitudes
of the Indians sent to prison." The governor-general "did not approve
of this violation of a promise made in the king's name," but ordered
the punishment of the Spanish chiefs, and the release of such natives
as remained in prison.
In 1645, for two months there was a succession of fearful
earthquakes. In Cagayan a mountain was overturned, and a whole town
engulfed at its foot. Torrents of water and mud burst forth in many
places. All the public buildings in the capital were destroyed,
except the convent and the church of the Augustines, and that of the
Jesuits. Six hundred persons were buried in Manila under the ruins of
their houses, and 3,000 altogether are said to have lost their lives.
De Lara was distinguished for his religious sentiments. On his arrival
in 1653 he refused to land till the archbishop had preceded him
and consecrated the ground on which he was to tread. He celebrated a
jubilee under the authority of the Pope, by which the country was to be
purified from "the crimes, censures, and excommunications" with which,
for so many years, it had been afflicted. The archbishop, from an
elevated platform in Manila, blessed the islands and their inhabitants
in the presence of an immense concourse of people. Reconciliations,
confessions, restitutions followed these "days of sanctity;" but
the benedictions seem to have produced little benefit, as they
were followed by earthquakes, tempests, insurrections, unpunished
piracies, and, in the words of a Spanish writer, "a web of anxieties
and calamities." Missionaries were sent to convert the Mahomedans,
but they were put to death, and many professed converts turned
traitors. Kung Sing, the piratical chief, who had conquered Formosa,
and who had 1,000 junks and 100,000 men under his orders, had sent
an envoy to Manila demanding the subjection of the islands to his
authority or threatening immediate invasion. The threat created a
general alarm: the Chinese were all ordered to quit the country;
they revolted, and almost all were murdered. "It is wonderful," says
De Mas, "that any Chinamen should have come to the Philippines after
the repeated slaughters" of their countrymen at different periods,
though it is certain they have often brought down the thunderbolt
on their own heads. De Lara, having been accused of corruption,
was fined 60,000 dollars, pardoned, and returned to Spain, where he
became an ecclesiastic, and died in Malaga, his native city.
The "religiosity," to use a Spanish word, of De Lara was followed
by a very different temper in his successor, Salcedo, a Belgian
by birth, nominated in 1663. He quarrelled with the priests, fined
and condemned to banishment the archbishop, kept him standing while
waiting for an audience, insulted him when he had obtained it; and on
the death of the archbishop a few months afterwards, there were royal
fiestas, while the services De Profundis, in honour of the dead, were
prohibited as incompatible with the civil festivities. The Inquisition
interfered in the progress of time, and its agents, assisted by an
old woman servant, who held the keys, entered the palace, found the
Governor asleep, put irons upon him, and carried him a prisoner to the
Augustine convent. They next shipped him off to be tried by the Holy
Office in Mexico, but he died on his way thither. The King of Spain
cancelled and condemned the proceedings, confiscated the property of
those who had been concerned in them, and directed all that had been
seized belonging to Salcedo to be restored to his heirs.
Manuel de Leon, in 1669, obtained great reputation among the
ecclesiastics. He governed for eight years and left all his property
to obras pias. His predecessor, Manuel de la Peña Bonifaz (nominated
provisionally), had refused to surrender his authority. He was declared
an intruder, his goods were confiscated, and his arrest was ordered,
but he sought refuge in the convent of the Recoletos, where he died. A
quarrel took place between the competitors for the provisional
government--the one appointed enjoyed his authority only for six
months. He was, on his death, succeeded by his competitor, who was
displaced by Juan de Vargas Hurtado in 1678. Great misunderstandings
between the clergy and the civilians took place about this time. The
governor was excommunicated, having been ordered on every holiday to
appear in the cathedral and in the churches of Parcan and Binondo,
barefooted and with a rope round his neck. Refusing to submit to such a
degradation, he lived a solitary life, excluded from all intercourse,
on the banks of the river, until he obtained permission to embark
for New Spain; he died broken-hearted on the voyage.
It must be remembered, in looking over the ancient records of the
Philippines, that the sole historians are the monks, and that their
applause or condemnation can hardly be deemed a disinterested
or equitable judgment. Hurtado is accused by them of many acts
of despotism: they say that, in order to accomplish his objects,
he menaced the friars with starvation, and by guards, prevented
food reaching the convents; that he interfered with the election of
ecclesiastics, persecuted and ordered the imprisonment of Bonifaz, his
immediate predecessor (provisionally appointed), who fled to a convent
of Recoletos (barefooted Augustines), and was protected by them. The
Jesuits denied his claim to protection, but during the controversy
Bonifaz died, and the records remain to exhibit another specimen of
the bitterness of the odium theologicum and of the unity and harmony
of which the Church of Rome sometimes boasts as the results of her
infallibility. The archbishop was at this time quarrelling with the
civil tribunals, to which he addressed his mandamus, and answered
their recalcitrancy by reminding them that all secular authority
was subordinate to ecclesiastical. The archbishop was placed under
arrest and ordered to be banished by the Audiencia. He was conveyed by
force in his pontifical robes to the vessel which transported him to
Pangasinan. The Dominicans, to whose order the archbishop belonged,
launched their excommunications and censures, and troops were sent
to the convent to prevent the ringing of bells and the alarm and
gathering of the people. The provincial, who had taken the active
part in resistance, was, with other friars, ordered to be banished
to Spain. When about to be removed, the dean commanded the soldiers
present to kiss the provincial's feet and do him all honour while he
poured out his benedictions on the recalcitrant friars. In the midst
of all this confusion a new governor (Curuzcalegui) arrived, in 1684,
who took part with the clergy, and declared himself in favour of the
banished archbishop, and condemned his judges to banishment. One of
them fled to the Jesuit's College, a sanctuary, but was seized by
the troops. This by no means settled the quarrel, the following out
of which is too complicated and too uninteresting to invite further
scrutiny here.
In 1687 the King of Spain sent out a commissioner to inquire into the
troubles that reigned in the Philippines. The Pope had taken up the
cause of the more violent of the clergy, and Pardo (the archbishop),
thus encouraged in his intemperance, declared the churches of the
Jesuits desecrated in which the bodies of the civilians had been
buried, who had adjudicated against the monks. Their remains were
disinterred, but most of the judges who had defended the rights of
the State against the ecclesiastical invasions were dead before
the commissioner arrived; and, happily for the public peace, the
turbulent prelate himself died in 1689. Curuzcalegui also died in
1689. After a short provisional interregnum (during which Valenzuela,
the Spanish minister, who had been banished to the Philippines by
Charles II., on his return homeward, was killed by the kick of a
horse in Mexico), Fausto Cruzat y Gongora, was in 1690 invested
with the government. His rule is most remarkable for its financial
prosperity. It lasted for eleven years, for his successor, Domingo
de Zubalburo, though nominated in 1694, did not arrive till 1701. He
improved the harbour, but was dismissed by the King of Spain in
consequence of his having admitted a Papal Legate à latere without
requiring the presentation of his credentials. The Audiencia demanded
them, and the Legate replied he was surprised at their venturing to
question his powers. He frightened the people by this assumption,
and proceeded to found a college in the name of St. Clement. The
king was so exasperated that he ordered the college to be demolished,
fined the Oidores (judges) a thousand dollars, and removed the dean
from his office. Martin de Ursua y Arrimendi arrived in 1709, and died
much regretted in 1715; he checked the influx of the Chinese, and thus
conciliated popular prejudices. The interim governor, Jose Torralba,
was accused of peculation to the amount of 700,000 dollars. He was
called on by royal order to reimburse and find security for 40,000
dollars; but failing was sent to prison in fetters. He was ordered
afterwards to be sent to Spain, but agreed to pay 120,000 dollars. He
had not the money, and died a beggar. Fernando Bustillo (Bustamente)
landed in 1717. He spent large sums in useless embassies, and lived
ostentatiously and expensively. He set about financial reforms, and
imprisoned many persons indebted to the State. He seized some of the
principal inhabitants of the capital, menaced the judges, who fled to
the convents for protection. The governor took Torralba into favour,
releasing him from prison, and using him to undermine the authority
of the Audiencia, by investing him with its powers. He ordered that
on the discharge of a piece of artillery, all the Spaniards should
repair to the palace: he arrested the archbishop, the chapter of the
cathedral, several prelates and ecclesiastics, when a tumult followed;
crowds rushed to the palace; they killed the governor and his son, who
had hurried thither to defend his father. Francisco de la Cuesta was
called upon to take charge of the government. The remaining children
of Bustillo were sent to Mexico, and the Audiencia made a report of
what had taken place to the king, who appointed Toribio José Cosio
y Campo, and directed the punishment of those who had caused the
former governor's death; but under the influence of a Franciscan monk,
Cosio was induced to consent to various delays, so that nothing was
done in the matter, and the government in 1729 was transferred to
Fernando Valdes y Tamon, who reformed the military exercises, sent
an expedition to conquer the island of Palaos, failed in the attempt,
and was succeeded by a Fleming, Gaspar de la Torre, in 1739. He dealt
so severely with the fiscal Arroyo as to cause his death. He was
disliked, became morose and solitary, and died in 1745. The bishop
elect of Ilocos, father John Arrechedera, was the next governor,
and the Sultan of Jolo, who desired to be baptized, visited him in
Manila. The archbishop, to whom the matter was referred, declared
that the Sultan had been received into the bosom of the Church by the
Dominican friars of Panogui. The Marquis of Obando took possession of
the government in 1750. The archbishop, whom he displaced, had received
orders from the Spanish Cabinet to expel the Chinese from the islands;
but whether from the honest conviction that the execution of the order
would be pernicious to the permanent interests of the Philippines--in
which judgment he was perfectly right--or (as the natives avow) from
an unwarrantable affection for the Chinese, he, on various pretexts,
delayed the publication of the royal mandate. Obando involved himself
in quarrels with the Mussulman inhabitants of Mindanao, for which he
had made no adequate preparation. He determined to restore the Sultan
of Jolo, but on reaching Zamboanga he proceeded against the Sultan
for unfaithfulness (infidencia), sent him to Manila, and caused him
to be put into prison. The Mahomedans revolted. Obando desired to
take the command against them. The Audiencia objected to the exposure
of the person of the governor. The expedition failed, and disorders
increased. He left the government in a most unsatisfactory state,
and died on his way homewards. Pedro Manuel de Arandia assumed the
government in 1754. He had some successes against the Mahomedans
(or Moors, as they are generally called by Spanish writers). He
intended to restore the Sultan of Jolo, but he involved himself in
quarrels with the clergy, and his proceedings were disapproved by
the Spanish Court. His unpopularity led to a fixed melancholy, under
whose influences he died in 1759. Though he left his property for
charitable purposes, the fact of its amounting to 250,000 dollars is
urged as evidence of the corrupt character of his administration. The
Bishop of Zebu, followed by the Archbishop of Manila, Manuel Royo,
held the government provisionally on the death of Arandia. It was Royo
who surrendered Manila, and transferred the island to the British
in 1762. [6] He was made a prisoner, and died in prison in 1764,
of grief and shame it was said. Simon de Anda y Salazar, one of the
judges of the Royal Audiencia, was charged with the government during
the possession of the capital by the English, and established his
authority in Pampanga, where he maintained himself till the arrival of
Francisco de la Torre, who was provisionally appointed by the Crown,
and who, through Anda, received back Manila from the British. José
Raon took possession of the government in 1766.
The Sultan of Jolo, replaced on his throne by the English, caused
great molestations to the island of Mindanao, against Raon, who
was unable to protect his countrymen. The expulsion of the Jesuits
having been determined on, the secret purpose was communicated to
the Governor. He was accused of having divulged, and of concealing a
writing-desk supposed to contain important documents. He was ordered
to be imprisoned in his own house, where he died.
One of the monkish historians gives the following account of the
manner in which the rebellious Indians were disposed of:--"Arza, with
the efficacious aid of the Augustin fathers, and of the faithful (who
were many), went to Vigan, and repeated what he had done in Cagallan;
for he hanged more than a hundred, and among them Doña Gabriela,
the wife of Silang, a mestiza of malas mañas (bad tricks), not less
valiant than her husband, the notary, and a great many cabecillas
(heads of groups of families), who fled to the mountains of Alva; as
to the rest of the rabble of this revolted crew, he was satisfied with
giving them each two hundred lashes, while exposed on the pillory. He
sent 3,000 Ilocos triumphant and rich with booty to Pangasinan. This
was in 1763." [7]
After the capture of Manila by the British, they were naturally
suspected and accused of fomenting and encouraging the many
insurrections which followed that event. The impetuous and despotic
character of Anda, who assumed the governorship of the islands, had
made him many enemies, and he seems to have considered all opposition
to his arbitrary measures as evidence of treacherous confederation
with the English. No doubt their presence was welcomed, especially by
the Mussulman population of the southern islands, as affording them
some hopes of relief from Spanish oppression; but even the Philippine
historians do justice to the British authorities, and state that they
punished the piratical acts of their allies, without distinction of
persons. The Spaniards, however, encouraged Tenteng, a Mahomedan dato
(chieftain), to attack the British, whose garrison, in Balambangan,
was reduced by sickness from 400 men to seventy-five infantry and
twenty-eight artillery. But it was, says De Mas, "solely in expectation
of booty." From the woods in the night they stole down on the English
while they were asleep, set fire to the houses, and murdered all
but six of the garrison, who escaped in a boat with the English
commandant; they then hoisted the white flag, and did not spare the
life of a single Englishman left on shore. The Mahomedans seized much
spoil in arms and money. The Sultan of Jolo and the datos, fearing the
vengeance of the English, disclaimed all participation in the affair;
but on Tenteng's reaching Jolo, and delivering up his plunder to the
authorities, they, "thinking there were now arms and money enough to
resist both Spaniards and English," declared Tenteng to be a hero,
and well deserving of his country. A few months afterwards, a British
ship of war appeared, and obtained such reparation as the case allowed.
Anda had won so much credit for resisting the English, that he
was rewarded by his sovereign with many honours, made Councillor of
Castile, and returned as governor to Manila, in 1770. He imprisoned his
predecessor, many of the judges, the government secretary, a colonel,
and other persons. He sent some to Spain, and banished others from the
capital. He involved himself in ecclesiastical quarrels, met with many
vexations, and retired to the estate of the Recoleto friars, where
he died in 1766. De Mas says, in reference to this period:--"For
more than two centuries, the Philippines had been for the crown
of Spain a hotbed of so many disputes, anxieties, and expenses,
that the abandonment of the colony was again and again proposed by
the ministers; but the Catholic monarchs could never consent to the
perdition of all the souls that had been conquered, and which it was
still hoped to conquer, in these regions." After a short interregnum
temporarily filled by Pedro Sarrio, José Basco arrived in 1778. He
established the tobacco monopoly, sent off to Europe three judges,
and compelled other functionaries to quit the capital, but, after two
years' occupation of the gubernatorial seat, he returned to Spain,
and obtained other employment from the crown. Pedro Sarrio was again
invested with the temporary authority. Felix Berenguer de Marquina
arrived in 1788, and ruled six years. He was accused of corruption, but
absolved by the king. Rafael Maria de Aguilar was nominated in 1793.
In 1800 the governor-general having consulted the assessor on
the conduct to be observed towards the Mussulman pirates who had
entered the port of Manila, received a reply which is somewhat
grandiloquent:--"It is time all the royal wishes should be fulfilled,
and that these islands cease to be tributaries to a vile and
despicable Mahomedan. Let him feel the direful visitations of a
nation, whose reputation has been so often offended and outraged,
but which has tolerated and concealed its wrongs the better to
inflict its vengeance; let the crown be cleansed from the tarnish,
which in this port, and in the sight of so many European nations,
it has received from the low rabble (canalla). The repeated disasters
of the Indians appear to have rendered Spaniards insensible; yet is
there a man who, having witnessed the desolation, murders, ruin of
families, has not his soul moved with a desire of revenge against
the desolator and destroyer? Were they our wives, sons, fathers,
brothers, with what clamour should we call on the authorities to
punish the criminal, and to restore our freedom.... Justice, pity,
the obligation of your consciences, upon which the royal conscience
reposes, all plead together.... Eternal memory for him who shall
release us from the yoke which has oppressed us for ages!"
A treaty was concluded between the government of Manila and the Sultan
of Mindanao in 1805. The Sultan's minister of state was a Mexican
deserter; the ambassador of the Spaniards a Mexican convict. He was,
in truth, hardly dealt with, for, after making the treaty, he was
ordered to fulfil the term of his transportation.
In 1811, a conspiracy broke out in Ilocos, where a new god was
proclaimed by the Indians, under the name of Lungao. There was a
hierarchy of priests appointed in his honour. They made their first
attempts to convert the idolaters in Cagayan, and to engage them to
take part against the Spaniards. The Catholic missionaries were the
special object of their dislike, but the information which these
ecclesiastics gave to the authorities enabled them to suppress the
rebellion and to punish the leaders.
The cholera invaded Manila in 1819. A massacre of foreigners and
Chinese was the consequence, who were accused (especially the English)
of poisoning the wells. Robberies and other excesses followed the
murders. The Host was paraded in vain through the streets. The carnage
ceased when no more victims were to be found, but Spanish persons
and property were respected.
Under the government of Martinez, in 1823, a rising took, place,
headed by Novales, a Manilaman in the Spanish service. As many as 800
of the troops joined the movement. They took possession of the palace,
murdered the king's lieutenant, and, according to all appearances,
would have overthrown the government, had there been any organization
or unity of purpose. But a few courageous men gathered around them
numbers faithful to the king and the royalist party. Soldiers arrived;
the insurgents faltered; the inconstant people began to distrust
the revolutionary leaders, and Novales was left with one piece of
artillery, and about 300 to 400 followers. Overpowered, he fled, but
was compelled to surrender. He was brought to a drumhead court-martial,
declared he had no accomplices, but was the sole seducer of the troops,
and was shot with one of his sergeants the same day. Amnesty was
proclaimed, after twenty non-commissioned officers had been executed.
A serious insurrection broke out in Tayabas during the short rule of
Oraa (1841-43). The Spaniards say it was the work of a Tagál called
Apolinano, lay-brother of the convent of Lucban, not twenty years
old, who established a brotherhood (Cofradia) exclusively confined
to the native Indians. The object does not seem to have been known,
but the meetings of the Cofrades excited alarms and suspicions. The
archbishop called on the captain-general to put down the assemblies,
which in some places had sought legalization from the authorities. The
arrest of Apolinano was ordered, upon which he fled to the mountains,
where he was joined by 3,000 Indians, and it was reported in Manila
that he had raised the cry of rebellion in Igsavan. On this the Alcalde
mayor, accompanied by two Franciscan friars, a few troops, and two
small pieces of artillery, marched upon the denounced rebels. They
fired upon the Spaniards and killed the Alcalde. On the news reaching
the capital, a force of about 800 men was collected. It is said the
positions held by Apolinano were impregnable, but he had not kept the
promises he had made to the Indians, that sundry miracles were to be
wrought in their favour. Only a few advanced to meet the Spaniards,
and many of these were killed and the rest took to flight. Almost
without loss on their own side, the Spaniards left above 240 Indians
dead on the field, and shot 200 whom they made prisoners. Apolinano,
in endeavouring to cross a river, was seized by two of his own people,
bound, and delivered over to the authorities. He was accused of
aspiring to be King of the Tagálos. He averred that the objects of
his Cofradia were purely and simply religious. He was shot on the 4th
of November, 1841. De Mas says he knew him, and that he was a quiet,
sober, unobtrusive young man, exhibiting nothing of the hero or the
adventurer. He performed menial services at the convent of Lucban;
and as far as I can discover, the main ground of suspicion was, that
he admitted no Spaniards or Mestizos into his religious fraternity;
but that so many lives should have been sacrificed to a mere suspicion
is a sad story.'
Between 1806 and 1844 no less than fourteen governors followed
one another. Among them Narciso Claveria (1844-49) is entitled
to notice. He added the island of Balanguingui to the Spanish
possessions. One of his declarations obtained for him great
applause--that "he had left Spain torn by civil dissensions, but that
he should make no distinctions between his countrymen on the ground of
political differences, but forget all title except that of Español y
Caballero (Spaniard and gentleman)." Since that time Ramon Montero has
been their Governor ad interim, viz., in 1853, 1854, and 1856. The
Marquis of Novaliches took possession of the government in 1854,
but held it only for about eight months. Don Manuel Crespo arrived
in November, 1854, and the present Governor-General, Don Fernando de
Norzagaray, on the 9th of March, 1857.
It is worthy of note that during the period in which there have been
seventy-eight governors, there have been only twenty-two archbishops;
the average period of the civil holding being four years--that of
the ecclesiastical, eleven and a-half years.