CHAPTER XI

THE PHILIPPINES

THE FIRST JOURNEY ROUND THE WORLD--FERDINAND MAGELLAN--THE MOLUCCAS--THE

ISLANDS OF THE PAINTED FACES--MANILA AND THE CHINESE--THE BRITISH

INVASION--SPANISH RULE

While Spain was actively engaged in exploration and annexation in the

west, Portugal was equally busy in the east. Though the Cape of Good

Hope had been doubled by Diaz in 1486, it was not until 1497, five years

after the discovery of America, that Vasco da Gama proved the

possibility of reaching India by that route. Rapid progress, for those

days at any rate, was made from that time. The actual neighborhood of

the Cape apparently offered no attractions; the advantages of its

situation were left to be realized by the Dutch a century later; and it

was not until Natal was reached on Christmas day, whence its name, that

there were any thoughts of annexation or settlement. It was the East

Coast of Africa which seemed to offer the greatest facilities for

communication and trading with the opposite shores of India, and claimed

attention accordingly; and as numerous pilots were to be found there,

skilled in navigating vessels across the Indian Ocean, it was there

colonies were first established, one of which at least, and the only

important one remaining to Portugal, Lorenzo Marques, has been the

object of envy, and the source of much contention in recent years.

From the Malabar coast in the south to Karachi in the north of India,

Portuguese traders grew active, but, owing to the fierceness and

determination of the natives, it was found impossible for some years to

permanently occupy any territory, until Goa was established in 1510, as

the center of Portuguese interests. A year earlier than this, Malacca

had been subjugated, and the exploration of Sumatra undertaken; while

three years later, Francisco Serrao discovered the Moluccas, the

far-famed islands from which Venice and Genoa had so long drawn their

stores of valuable spices by the overland route through India and

Persia, or by the Red Sea and Isthmus of Suez. To divert this traffic

round the Cape of Good Hope, expeditions were fitted out against Muscat

and Ormuz in the Persian Gulf, and Aden at the entrance to the Red Sea.

While, then, the Spanish colonists were searching for gold in sufficient

quantities to make the enterprise pay, much less realize fortunes, the

Portuguese tapped the source of wealth of the great mercantile

communities of the Middle Ages; and, monopolizing it themselves,

rendered their country for a time the richest in the world.

Of the numerous governors dispatched by Portugal to the east, the Duke

of Albuquerque was the most active, and accomplished the greatest

results. Serving under him in various capacities was Ferrao Magalhaes,

or Maghallanes, a young nobleman who sought on every possible occasion

to distinguish himself. Returning home, he did not receive the reward he

considered his due; and though he continued to agitate at court, and to

urge his claims, on the further ground that since his arrival from the

east he had taken part in an African campaign, and been permanently

lamed, he was either repulsed or put off with some trifling concession.

This rankling in his mind, he determined to divest himself of his

nationality, and offer his services to Spain, the patron of all foreign

adventurers.

By the Papal Bull, Spain was debarred from undertaking any enterprise in

the East. This was, of course, well known to Magalhaes, or Ferdinand

Magellan, as he now chose to call himself, but he had carefully thought

the matter out, and arrived at a conclusion of his own. He had heard

much of the ideas which led to the discovery of America, and though

other and more important matters then engaged the attention of Spain

than the discovery of Japan and China by the western route, he still

considered the plan feasible. He intimated to the Emperor Charles V.,

then king of Spain, his desire to be intrusted with an expedition, with

which he would undertake to reach the Moluccas from the west, and so

prove that they belonged by right to Spain.

News of this treachery reached Portugal, where it was heard with the

greatest indignation, and an angry correspondence passed between the two

courts. Charles’s ambitions, however, lay in European aggrandizement,

for which the demands upon his exchequer were heavier than he well knew

how to meet. His great possessions in the New World had hitherto been a

drain upon his scanty resources, as they had been upon those of his

grandfather before him; and although Ferdinand lived for a quarter of a

century after the discovery of America, he left hardly sufficient money

in his coffers to pay his funeral expenses. Charles, therefore, listened

eagerly to the proposition by which he might acquire the teeming riches

of the Spice Islands, and, notwithstanding protests and warnings alike,

terms were finally agreed to in March, 1518, which placed five ships,

and a full complement of men, at the disposal of Magellan. Failing any

other means of putting an end to the enterprise, a plot was formed for

the assassination of Magellan, but miscarried; and he weighed anchor on

the 10th of August, 1519, though delayed in his actual departure until

the 20th of September following.

Instructions were sent to the Brazils, already occupied by Portugal, to

waylay Magellan, and at all costs prevent the continuance of his voyage;

and in case he eluded the vigilance of the governor of that settlement,

a strict watch was to be kept at the Moluccas, and no quarter given him

if he ever reached there, as he was declared a traitor to the crown of

Portugal. He arrived at the Rio de la Plata unmolested, and entered that

river, of great width at its mouth and for some distance along its

course, with the idea that it offered the long-sought passage to the

West. The increasing freshness of the water convinced him that it was

but a river, and he returned and moved his course southward. And now his

real difficulties began. Winter was setting in with all its rigor, and

the further south he proceeded the more severe became the weather. His

crew was most cosmopolitan in character and nationality, and included a

number of Portuguese, some of whom, it began to be suspected,--had been

bribed to mutiny, if not indeed to murder their commander. Dissensions

broke out among the captains of the different vessels on petty points of

precedence and discipline; and only the most determined stand by

Magellan himself, who did not hesitate to hang several of the crew as an

example to the rest, prevented the total ruin of his hopes and plans.

To make matters worse, scarcity of provisions began to be experienced,

and it was then decided to winter in the shelter of the river St.

Julian. It was in October, 1520, before a fresh start could be made, and

on the 21st of that month a channel was discovered, the careful

navigation of which for thirty-eight days, amid shoals and innumerable

islands, brought them, amid great rejoicing, once more into the open

sea, proving the theory maintained by Columbus to his dying day to be so

far, at any rate, correct.

But Magellan, like all his predecessors, sadly miscalculated the

distance between the remote East and the far West, and after taking in

such supplies of provisions as were obtainable, renewed his voyage with

a light heart, and in full expectation of reaching land in a week or two

at longest. Days grew into weeks, and the weeks passed into months, and

still no break on the monotonous horizon. The sufferings of the crew

were horrible, as food and water became gradually exhausted, and they

had to subsist at last by gnawing anything into which they could get

their teeth. To turn back was certain destruction, as they could not

possibly last out the time necessary to cover the distance already

traversed. To go forward, therefore, was their only chance of salvation;

and after a passage of ninety-eight days land was sighted on March 18,

and the most dreaded of their dangers passed. They had sailed into a

group of islands, not the Moluccas as they had anticipated, but the

Islas de las Pintados; so called from the custom of the natives of

painting or tattooing their naked bodies, and subsequently re-christened

the Philippines, in honor of the heir to the Spanish throne, who

afterward reigned as Philip II.

Magellan was not destined to reap the fruits of his enterprise, nor to

suffer the punishment subsequently inflicted on some of the survivors.

He found the natives among whom he first landed friendly disposed, but

rightly suspected them of treachery. Desirous, however, of conciliating

them as far as possible, he entered into their quarrel with a tribe in a

neighboring island, and, in the attack which he led against it, was

slain.

Disputes arose as to who should succeed to the command; and what was

left of the fleet, after many adventures and the loss of a considerable

number of the crew, arrived at the island of Tidor in the Moluccas on

the 8th of November, 1521. There it was decided that the “Victoria”

should load a cargo of spices and make its way to Spain by the Cape of

Good Hope, in direct defiance of the rights of the Portuguese, while the

“Trinidad” should return the way she came. A valuable cargo, consisting

of about twenty-six tons of cloves, with parcels of cinnamon, sandal

wood, and nutmegs, was shipped, and after being nearly captured by the

Portuguese off the African coast, and again at the Canaries, arrived in

the harbor of San Lucar, as was supposed, on the 6th of September, 1522,

having sailed round the world in three years all but a few days.

Through all their troubles, a careful record of dates had been kept, and

the officers were surprised to find that what they imagined to be the

6th was actually the 7th of September in Seville; and they were at a

loss to know how the one day had been missed, being of course unaware

that this is the invariable result of circumnavigating the world from

East to West.

Of the total number of two hundred and eighty hands originally shipped,

only a remnant remained, of whom seventeen, together with the captain,

Juan Sebastian Elcano, were on board the “Victoria.”

The city of Seville received them with acclamation; but their first act

was to walk barefooted, in procession, holding lighted candles in their

hands, to the church, to give thanks to the Almighty for their safe

deliverance from the hundred dangers which they had encountered.

Clothes, money, and all necessaries were supplied to them by royal

bounty, and Elcano and the most intelligent of his companions were cited

to appear at court to narrate their adventures. His Majesty received

them with marked deference. Elcano was rewarded with a life pension of

five hundred ducats (worth at that date about five hundred and sixty

dollars), and as a lasting remembrance of his unprecedented feat, his

royal master knighted him and conceded to him the right of using on his

escutcheon a globe bearing the motto: “Primus circundedit me.”

Two of Elcano’s officers, Miguel de Rodas and Francisco Alva, were each

awarded a life pension of fifty thousand maravedis (worth at that time

about seventy dollars), while the king ordered one-fourth of that fifth

part of the cargo, which by contract with Maghallanes belonged to the

State Treasury, to be distributed among the crew, including those

imprisoned in Santiago Island.

Meanwhile the “Trinidad” was repaired in Tidor and on her way to Panama,

when continued tempests and the horrible sufferings of the crew

determined them to retrace their course to the Moluccas. In this

interval Portuguese ships had arrived there, and a fort was being

constructed to defend Portuguese interests against the Spaniards, whom

they regarded as interlopers. The “Trinidad” was seized, and the

captain, Espinosa, with the survivors of his crew, were afforded a

passage to Lisbon, which place they reached five years after they had

set out with Maghallanes.

The enthusiasm of King Charles was equal to the importance of the

discoveries which gave renown to his subjects and added glory to his

crown. Notwithstanding a protracted controversy with the Portuguese

court, which claimed the exclusive right of trading with the Spice

Islands, he ordered another squadron of six ships to be fitted out for a

voyage to the Moluccas. The supreme command was confided to Garcia Yofre

de Loaisa, Knight of St. John, while Sebastian Elcano was appointed

captain of one of the vessels. After passing through the Magellan

Straits, the commander, Loaisa, succumbed to the fatigues and privations

of the stormy voyage. Elcano succeeded him, but only for four days, when

he too expired. The expedition, however, arrived safely at the Molucca

Islands, where they found the Portuguese in full possession and strongly

established; but the long series of combats, struggles and altercations

which ensued between the rival powers, in which Captain Andres de

Urdaneta prominently figured, left no decisive advantage to either

nation.

But the king was in no way disheartened. A third expedition--the last

under his auspices--was organized and dispatched from the Pacific coast

of Mexico by the viceroy, by royal mandate. It was composed of two

ships, two transports and one galley, well manned and armed, chosen from

the fleet of Pedro Alvarado, late governor of Guatemala. Under the

leadership of Ruy Lopez do Villalobos it sailed on the 1st of November,

1542; discovered many small islands in the Pacific; lost the galley on

the way, and anchored off an island about twenty miles in circumference,

which was named Antonia. They found its inhabitants very hostile. A

fight ensued, but the natives finally fled, leaving several Spaniards

wounded, of whom six died. Villalobos then announced his intention of

remaining here some time, and ordered his men to plant maize. At first

they demurred, saying that they had come to fight, not to till land, but

at length necessity urged them to obedience, and a small but

insufficient crop was reaped in due season. Hard pressed for food, they

lived principally on cats, rats, lizards, snakes, dogs, roots and wild

fruit, and several died of disease. In this plight a ship was sent to

Mindanao Island, commanded by Bernado de la Torre, to seek provisions.

The voyage was fruitless. The party was opposed by the inhabitants, who

fortified themselves, but were dislodged and slain. Then a vessel was

commissioned to Mexico with news and to solicit re-enforcements. On the

way, Volcano Island (of the Ladrone Islands group) was discovered on the

6th of August, 1543. A most important event followed. A galiot was

built and dispatched to the islands (it is doubtful which), named by

this expedition the Philippine Islands in honor of Philip, Prince of

Asturias, the son of King Charles I., heir apparent to the throne of

Castile, to which he ascended in 1555 under the title of Philip II., on

the abdication of his father.

The craft returned from the Philippine Islands laden with abundance of

provisions, with which the ships were enabled to continue the voyage.

By the royal instructions, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos was strictly enjoined

not to touch at the Molucca Islands, peace having been concluded with

Portugal. Heavy gales forced him, nevertheless, to take refuge at

Gilolo. The Portuguese, suspicious of his intentions in view of the

treaty, arrayed their forces against his, inciting the king of the

island also to discard all Spanish overtures and refuse assistance to

Villalobos. The discord and contentions between the Portuguese and

Spaniards were increasing; nothing was being gained by either party.

Villalobos personally was sorely disheartened in the struggle, fearing

all the while that his opposition to the Portuguese in contravention of

the royal instructions would only excite the king’s displeasure and lead

to his own downfall. Hence he decided to capitulate with his rival and

accepted a safe conduct for himself and party to Europe in Portuguese

ships. They arrived at Amboina Island, where Villalobos, already crushed

by grief, succumbed to disease. The survivors of the expedition, among

whom were several priests, continued the journey home via Malacca,

Cochin-China and Goa, where they embarked for Lisbon, arriving there in

1549.

In 1558, King Charles was no more, but the memory of his ambition

outlived him. His son Philip, equally emulous and unscrupulous, was too

narrow-minded and subtly cautious to initiate an expensive enterprise

encompassed by so many hazards--as materially unproductive as it was

devoid of immediate political importance. Indeed the basis of the first

expedition was merely to discover a western route to the rich Spice

Islands, already known to exist; the second went there to attempt to

establish Spanish empire; and the third to search for and annex to the

Spanish crown lands as wealthy as those claimed by and now yielded to

the Portuguese.

But the value of the Philippine Islands, of which the possession was but

recent and nominal, was thus far a matter of doubt.

One of the most brave and intrepid captains of the Loaisa

expedition--Andres de Urdaneta--returned to Spain in 1536. In former

years he had fought under King Charles I., in his wars in Italy, when

the study of navigation served him as a favorite pastime. Since his

return from the Moluccas his constant attention was given to the project

of a new expedition to the Far West, for which he unremittingly

solicited the royal sanction and assistance. But the king had grown old

and weary of the world, and, while he did not openly discourage

Urdaneta’s pretensions, he gave him no effective aid. At length in 1553,

two years before Charles abdicated, Urdaneta, convinced of the futility

of his importunity at the Spanish court, and equally unsuccessful with

his scheme in other quarters, retired to Mexico, where he took the habit

of an Augustine monk. Ten years afterward, King Philip, inspired by the

religious sentiment which pervaded his whole policy, urged his viceroy

in Mexico to fit out an expedition to conquer and Christianize the

Philippine Islands. Urdaneta, now a priest, was not overlooked.

Accompanied by five priests of his order, he was intrusted with the

spiritual care of the races to be subdued by an expedition composed of

four ships and one frigate well armed, carrying four hundred soldiers

and sailors, commanded by a Basque navigator, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi.

This remarkable man was destined to acquire the fame of having

established Spanish dominion in these islands. He was of noble birth and

a native of the province of Guipuzcoa in Spain. Having settled in the

City of Mexico, of which place he was elected mayor, he there practiced

as a notary. Of undoubted piety, he enjoyed a reputation for his justice

and loyalty, hence he was appointed general of the forces equipped for

the voyage.

The favorite desire to possess the valuable Spice Islands still lurked

in the minds of many Spaniards--among them was Urdaneta, who labored in

vain to persuade the viceroy of the superior advantages to be gained by

annexing New Guinea instead of the Philippines--whence the conquest of

the Moluccas would be but a facile task. However, the viceroy was

inexorable and resolved to fulfill the royal instructions to the letter;

so the expedition set sail from the Mexican port of Navidad for the

Philippine Islands on the 21st of November, 1564.

The Ladrone Islands were passed on the 9th of January, 1565, and on the

13th of the following month the Philippines were sighted. A call for

provisions was made at several small islands, including Camiguin, whence

the expedition sailed to Bojol Island. A boat dispatched to the port of

Butuan returned in a fortnight with the news that there was much gold,

wax and cinnamon in that district. A small vessel was also sent to Cebu,

and on its return reported that the natives showed hostility, having

decapitated one of the crew while he was bathing.

Nevertheless, General Legaspi resolved to put in at Cebu, which was a

safe port; and on the way there the ships anchored off Limasana Island

(to the south of Leyte). Thence, running S.W., the port of Dapitan

(Mindanao Island) was reached.

Prince Pagbuaya, who ruled there, was astonished at the sight of such

formidable ships, and commissioned one of his subjects, specially chosen

for his boldness, to take note of their movements and report to him. His

account was uncommonly interesting. He related that enormous men with

long pointed noses, dressed in fine robes, ate stones (hard biscuits),

drank fire and blew smoke out of their mouths and through their

nostrils. Their power was such that they commanded thunder and lightning

(discharge of artillery), and that at meal times they sat down at a

clothed table. From their lofty port, their bearded faces and rich

attire, they might have been the very gods manifesting themselves to the

natives; so the prince thought it wise to accept the friendly overtures

of such marvelous strangers. Besides obtaining ample provisions in

barter for European wares, Legaspi procured from this chieftain much

useful information respecting the condition of Cebu. He learned that it

was esteemed a powerful kingdom, of which the magnificence was much

vaunted among the neighboring states; that the port was one of great

safety and the most favorably situated among the islands of the painted

faces.

The general resolved therefore to filch it from its native king and

annex it to the crown of Castile.

He landed in Cebu on the 27th of April, 1565, and negotiations were

entered into with the natives of that island. Remembering how

successfully they had rid themselves of Maghallanes’ party, they

naturally opposed this renewed menace to their independence. The

Spaniards occupied the town by force and sacked it, but for months were

so harassed by the surrounding tribes that a council was convened to

discuss the prudence of continuing the occupation. The general decided

to remain, and, little by little, the natives yielded to the new

condition of things, and thus the first step toward the final conquest

was achieved. The natives were declared Spanish subjects, and hopeful

with the success thus far attained, Legaspi determined to send

dispatches to the king by the priest Urdaneta, who safely arrived at

Navidad on the 3d of October, 1565, and proceeded thence to Spain.

The pacification of Cebu and the adjacent islands was steadily and

successfully pursued by Legaspi; the confidence of the natives was

assured, and their dethroned king Tupas accepted Christian baptism,

while his daughter married a Spaniard.

In the midst of the invaders’ felicity, the Portuguese arrived to

dispute the possession, but they were compelled to retire. A fortress

was constructed and plots of land were marked out for the building of

the Spanish settlers’ residences, and finally, in 1570, Cebu was

declared a city, after Legaspi had received from his royal master the

title of governor-general of all the lands which he might be able to

conquer.

In May, 1570, Captain Juan Salcedo, Legaspi’s grandson, was dispatched

to the Island of Luzon to reconnoiter the territory and bring it under

Spanish dominion.

The history of these early times is very confused, and there are many

contradictions in the authors of the Philippine chronicles, none of

which seems to have been written contemporaneously with the first

events. It appears, however, that Martin de Goiti and a few soldiers

accompanied Salcedo to the north. They were well received by the native

chiefs or petty kings Lacandola, rajah of Tondo (known as Rajah Matanda,

which means in native dialect the aged rajah), and his nephew, the young

Rajah Soliman of Manila.

The sight of a body of European troops, armed as was the custom in the

sixteenth century, must have profoundly impressed and overawed these

chieftains, otherwise it seems almost incredible that they should have

consented, without protest, or attempt at resistance, to (forever) give

up their territory, yield their independence, pay tribute,[8] and become

the tools of invading foreigners with which to conquer their own race,

without recompense whatsoever.

A treaty of peace was signed and ratified by an exchange of drops of

blood between the parties thereto. Soliman, however, soon repented of

his poltroonery, and raised the war-cry among some of his tribes. To

save his capital (then called Maynila) falling into the hands of the

invaders he set fire to it. Lacandola remained passively watching the

issue. Soliman was completely routed by Salcedo, and pardoned on his

again swearing fealty to the King of Spain. Goiti remained in the

vicinity of Manila with his troops, while Salcedo fought his way to the

Bombon Lake (Taal) district. The present Batangas Province was subdued

by him and included in the jurisdiction of Mindoro Island. During the

campaign, Salcedo was severely wounded by an arrow and returned to

Manila.

Legaspi was in the Island of Panay when Salcedo (some writers say Goiti)

arrived to advise him of what had occurred in Luzon. They at once

proceeded together to Cavite, where Lacandola visited Legaspi on board,

and, prostrating himself, averred his submission. Then Legaspi continued

his journey to Manila, and was received there with acclamation. He took

formal possession of the surrounding territory, declared Manila to be

the capital of the archipelago, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the

King of Spain over the whole group of islands. Gaspar de San Augustin,

writing of this period, says: “He (Legaspi) ordered them (the natives)

to finish the building of the fort in construction at the mouth of the

river (Pasig), so that his majesty’s artillery might be mounted therein

for the defense of the port and the town. Also he ordered them to build

a large house inside the battlement walls for Legaspi’s own

residence--another large house and church for the priests, etc....

Besides these two large houses he told them to erect one hundred and

fifty dwellings of moderate size for the remainder of the Spaniards to

live in. All this they promptly promised to do, but they did not obey,

for the Spaniards were themselves obliged to terminate the work of the

fortifications.”

The City Council of Manila was constituted on the 24th of June, 1571. On

the 20th of August, 1572, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi succumbed to the

fatigues of his arduous life, leaving behind him a name which will

always maintain a prominent place in Spanish colonial history. He was

buried in Manila in the Augustine Chapel of San Fausto, where hung the

royal standard and the hero’s armorial bearings until the British troops

occupied the city in 1763.

“Death makes no conquest of this conqueror,

For now he lives in fame, though not in life.”

--“Richard III.,” Act 3, Sc. 1.

In the meantime Salcedo continued his task of subjecting the tribes in

the interior The natives of Taytay, and Cainta, in the present military

district of Morong, submitted to him on the 15th of August, 1571. He

returned to the Laguna de Bay to pacify the villagers, and penetrated as

far as Camarines Norte to explore the Bicol River. Bolinao and the

provinces of Pangasinan and Ilocos yielded to his prowess, and in this

last province he had well established himself when the defense of the

capital obliged him to return to Manila.

At the same time, Martin de Goiti was actively employed in overrunning

the Pampanga territory, with the double object of procuring supplies for

the Manila camp and coercing the inhabitants on his way to acknowledge

their now liege lord. It is recorded that in this expedition Goiti was

joined by the rajahs of Tondo and Manila. Yet Lacandola appears to have

been regarded more as a servant of the Spaniards _nolens volens_ than as

a free ally; for, because he absented himself from Goiti’s camp “without

license from the Maestre de Campo,” he was suspected by some writers of

having favored opposition to the Spaniards’ incursions in the Marshes of

Hagonoy (Pampanga coast, northern boundary of Manila Bay).

The district which constituted the ancient province of Taal y Balayan,

subsequently denominated Province of Batangas, was formerly governed by

a number of caciques, the most notable of which were Gatpagil and

Gatjinlintan. They were usually at war with their neighbors.

Gatjinlintan, the cacique of the Batangas River at the time of the

conquest, was famous for his valor. Gatsungayan, who ruled on the other

side of the river, was celebrated as a hunter of deer and wild boar.

These men were half-castes of Borneo and Aeta extraction, who formed a

distinct race called by the natives Daghagang. None of them would

submit to the King of Spain or become Christians, hence their

descendants were offered no privileges.

On the death of General Legaspi, the government of the colony was

assumed by the royal treasurer, Guido de Lavezares, in conformity with

the sealed instructions from the Supreme Court of Mexico, which were now

opened. During this period, the possession of the islands was

unsuccessfully disputed by a rival expedition under the command of a

Chinaman, Li-ma-hong, whom the Spaniards were pleased to term a pirate,

forgetting, perhaps, that they themselves had only recently wrested the

country from its former possessors by virtue of might against right.

On the coasts of his native country he had indeed been a pirate. For the

many depredations committed by him against private traders and property,

the Celestial Emperor, failing to catch him by cajolery, outlawed him.

Born in the port of Tiuchiu, Li-ma-hong at an early age evinced a

martial spirit and joined a band of corsairs, which for a long time had

been the terror of the China coasts. On the demise of his chief he was

unanimously elected leader of the buccaneering cruisers. At length,

pursued in all directions by the imperial ships of war, he determined to

attempt the conquest of the Philippines. Presumably the same incentives

which impelled the Spanish mariners to conquer lands and overthrow

dynasties--the vision of wealth, glory and empire--awakened a like

ambition in the Chinese adventurer. It was the spirit of the age.[9] In

his sea-wanderings he happened to fall in with a Chinese trading-junk

returning from Manila with the proceeds of her cargo sold there. This he

seized, and the captive crew were constrained to pilot his fleet toward

the capital of Luzon. From them he learned how easily the natives had

been plundered by a handful of foreigners--the probable extent of the

opposition he might encounter--the defenses established--the wealth and

resources of the district and the nature of its inhabitants.

His fleet consisted of sixty-two warships or armed junks, well found,

having on board two thousand sailors, two thousand soldiers, one

thousand five hundred women, a number of artisans, and all that could be

conveniently carried with which to gain and organize his new kingdom. On

its way the squadron cast anchor off the province of Ilocos Sur, where a

few troops were sent ashore to get provisions. While returning to the

junks, they sacked the village and set fire to the huts. The news of

this outrage was hastily communicated to Juan Salcedo, who had been

pacifying the northern provinces since July, 1572, and was at the time

in Villa Fernandina (now called Vigan). Li-ma-hong continued his course

until calms compelled his ships to anchor in the roads of Caoayan

(Ilocos coast), where a few Spanish soldiers were stationed under the

orders of Juan Salcedo, who still was in the immediate town of Vigan.

Under his direction, preparations were made to prevent the enemy

entering the river, but such was not Li-ma-hong’s intention. He again

set sail; while Salcedo, naturally supposing his course would be toward

Manila, also started at the same time for the capital with all the

fighting men he could collect, leaving only thirty men to garrison Vigan

and protect the State interests there.

On the 29th of November, 1574, the squadron arrived in the Bay of

Manila, and Li-ma-hong sent forward his lieutenant, Sioco--a

Japanese--at the head of six hundred fighting men, to demand the

surrender of the Spaniards. A strong gale, however, destroyed several of

his junks, in which about two hundred men perished.

With the remainder he reached the coast at Paranaque, a village a few

miles south of Manila. Thence, with towlines, the four hundred soldiers

hauled their junks up to the beach of the capital.

Already at the village of Malate the alarm was raised, but the Spaniards

could not give credit to the reports, and no resistance was offered

until the Chinese were within the gates of the city. Martin de Goiti,

the Maestre de Campo, second in command to the governor, was the first

victim of the attack.

The flames and smoke arising from his burning residence were the first

indications which the governor received of what was going on. The

Spaniards took refuge in the fort of Santiago, which the Chinese were on

the point of taking by storm, when their attention was drawn elsewhere

by the arrival of fresh troops led by a Spanish sub-lieutenant. Under

the mistaken impression that these were the vanguard of a formidable

corps, Sioco sounded the retreat. A bloody hand-to-hand combat

followed, and with great difficulty the Chinese collected their dead and

regained their junks.

In the meantime Li-ma-hong, with the reserved forces, was lying in the

roadstead of Cavite, and Sioco hastened to report to him the result of

the attack, which had cost the invader over one hundred dead and more

than that number wounded. Thereupon Li-ma-hong resolved to rest his

troops and renew the conflict in two days’ time under his personal

supervision. The next day Juan Salcedo arrived by sea with

re-enforcements from Vigan, and preparations were unceasingly made for

the expected encounter. Salcedo having been appointed to the office of

Maestre de Campo, vacant since the death of Goiti, the organization of

the defense was intrusted to his immediate care.

By daybreak on the 3d of December, the enemy’s fleet hove-to off the

capital, where Li-ma-hong harangued his troops, while the cornets and

drums of the Spaniards were sounding the alarm for their fighting men to

assemble in the fort.

Then fifteen hundred chosen men, well armed, were disembarked under the

leadership of Sioco, who swore to take the place or die in the attempt.

Sioco separated his forces into three divisions. The city was set fire

to, and Sioco advanced toward the fort, into which hand-grenades were

thrown, while Li-ma-hong supported the attack with his ships’ cannon.

Sioco, with his division, at length entered the fort, and a hand-to-hand

fight ensued. For a while the issue was doubtful. Salcedo fought like a

lion. Even the aged governor was well at the front to encourage the

deadly struggle for existence. The Spaniards finally gained the

victory; the Chinese were repulsed with great slaughter; and their

leader having been killed, they fled in complete disorder. Salcedo,

profiting by the confusion, now took the offensive and followed up the

enemy, pursuing them along the sea-shore, where they were joined by the

third division, which had remained inactive. The panic of the Chinese

spread rapidly, and Li-ma-hong, in despair, landed another contingent of

about five hundred men, while he still continued afloat; but even with

this re-enforcement the morale of his army could not be regained.

The Chinese troops therefore, harassed on all sides, made a precipitate

retreat on board the fleet, and Li-ma-hong set sail again for the west

coast of the island. Foiled in the attempt to possess himself of Manila,

Li-ma-hong determined to set up his capital in other parts. In a few

days he arrived at the mouth of the Agno River, in the province of

Pangasinan, where he proclaimed to the natives that he had gained a

signal victory over the Spaniards. The inhabitants there, having no

particular choice between two masters, received Li-ma-hong with welcome,

and he thereupon set about the foundation of his new capital some four

miles from the mouth of the river.

Months passed before the Spaniards came in force to dislodge the

invader. Feeling themselves secure in their new abode, the Chinese had

built many dwellings, a small fortress, a pagoda, etc. At length an

expedition was dispatched under the command of Juan Salcedo. This was

composed of about two hundred and fifty Spaniards and one thousand six

hundred natives well equipped with small arms, ammunition and

artillery. The flower of the Spanish colony, accompanied by two priests

and the Rajah of Tondo, set out to expel the formidable foe. Li-ma-hong

made a bold resistance and refused to come to terms with Salcedo. In the

meantime, the Viceroy of Fokien, having heard of Li-ma-hong’s daring

exploits, had commissioned a ship of war to discover the whereabout of

his imperial master’s old enemy. The envoy was received with delight by

the Spaniards, who invited him to accompany them to Manila to interview

the governor.

Li-ma-hong still held out, but perceiving that an irresistible onslaught

was being projected against him by Salcedo’s party, he very cunningly

and quite unexpectedly gave them the slip, and sailed out of the river

with his ships by one of the mouths unknown to his enemies.[10] In order

to divert the attention of the Spaniards, Li-ma-hong ingeniously feigned

an assault in an opposite quarter. Of course, on his escape, he had to

abandon the troops employed in this maneuver. These, losing all hope,

and having, indeed, nothing but their lives to fight for, fled to the

mountains. Hence, it is popularly supposed that from these fugitives

descends the race of people in that province still distinguishable by

their oblique eyes and known by the name of Igorrote-Chinese.

“Aide toi et Dieu t’aidera” is an old French maxim, but the Spaniards

chose to attribute their deliverance from their Chinese rival to the

friendly intervention of Saint Andrew. This saint was declared

thenceforth to be the patron saint of Manila, and in his honor High Mass

is celebrated in the Cathedral at 8 A.M. on the 30th of each November.

It is a public holiday and gala-day, when all the highest civil,

military and religious authorities attend the “Funcion votiva de San

Andrés.” This opportunity to assert the supremacy of ecclesiastical

power was not lost to the Church, and for many years it was the custom,

after hearing Mass, to spread the Spanish national flag on the floor of

the Cathedral for the metropolitan archbishop to walk over it. It has

been asserted, however, that a few years ago the governor-general

refused to witness this antiquated formula, which, in public at least,

no longer obtains. Now it is the practice to carry the royal standard

before the altar. Both before and after the Mass, the bearer (Alférez

Real), wearing his hat and accompanied by the mayor of the city, stands

on the altar-floor, raises his hat three times, and three times dips the

flag before the Image of Christ, then, facing the public, he repeats

this ceremony. On Saint Andrew’s eve, the royal standard is borne in

procession from the Cathedral through the principal streets of the city,

escorted by civil functionaries and followed by a band of music. This

ceremony is known as the “Paseo del Real Pendon.”

According to Juan de la Concepcion, the Rajahs[11] Soliman and Lacandola

took advantage of these troubles to raise a rebellion against the

Spaniards. The natives too of Mindoro Island revolted and maltreated

the priests, but all these disturbances were speedily quelled by a

detachment of soldiers.

The governor willingly accepted the offer of the commander of the

Chinese man-of-war to convey embassadors to his country to visit the

viceroy and make a commercial treaty. Therefore two priests, Martin Rada

and Geronimo Martin, were commissioned to carry a letter of greeting and

presents to this personage, who received them with great distinction,

but objected to their residing in the country.

After the defeat of Li-ma-hong, Juan Salcedo again repaired to the

northern provinces of Luzon Island, to continue his task of reducing the

natives to submission. On the 11th of March, 1576, he died of fever near

Vigan (then called Villa Fernandina), capital of the province of Ilocos

Sur. A year afterward, what could be found of his bones were placed in

the ossuary of his illustrious grandfather, Legaspi, in the Augustine

Chapel of Saint Fausto, Manila. His skull, however, which had been

carried off by the natives of Ilocos, could not be recovered in spite of

all threats and promises. In Vigan there is a small monument raised to

commemorate the deeds of this famous warrior, and there is also a street

bearing his name.

For several years following these events, the question of prestige in

the civil affairs of the colony was acrimoniously contested by the

governor-general, the supreme court and the ecclesiastics.

The governor was censured by his opponents for alleged undue exercise of

arbitrary authority. The supreme court, established on the Mexican

model, was reproached with seeking to overstep the limits of its

functions. Every legal quibble was adjusted by a dilatory process,

impracticable in a colony yet in its infancy, where summary justice was

indispensable for the maintenance of order imperfectly understood by the

masses. But the fault lay less with the justices than with the

constitution of the court itself. Nor was this state of affairs improved

by the growing discontent and immoderate ambition of the clergy, who

unremittingly urged their pretensions to immunity from State control,

affirming the supramundane condition of their office.

An excellent code of laws, called the Leyes de Indias, in force in

Mexico, was adopted here, but modifications in harmony with the special

conditions of this colony were urgently necessary, while all the

branches of government called for reorganization or reform. Under these

circumstances, the bishop of Manila, Domingo Salazar, took the

initiative in commissioning a priest, Fray Alonso Sanchez, to repair

first to the viceroy of Mexico and afterward to the King of Spain, to

expose the grievances of his party.

Alonso Sanchez left the Philippines with his appointment as

procurator-general for the Augustine order of monks. As the execution of

the proposed reforms, which he was charged to lay before his majesty,

would, if conceded, be intrusted to the government of Mexico, his first

care was to seek the partisanship of the viceroy of that colony; and in

this he succeeded. Thence he continued his journey to Seville, where the

court happened to be, arriving there in September, 1587. He was at once

granted an audience by the king, to present his credentials and

memorials relative to Philippine affairs in general; and ecclesiastical

judicial, military and native matters in particular. The king promised

to peruse all the documents, but suffering from gout, and having so many

and distinct State concerns to attend to, the negotiations were greatly

delayed. Finally, Sanchez sought a minister who had easy access to the

royal apartments, and this personage obtained from the king permission

to examine the documents and hand to him a succinct resumé of the whole

for his majesty’s consideration. A commission was then appointed,

including Sanchez, and the deliberations lasted five months.

At this period, public opinion in the Spanish universities was very

divided with respect to Catholic missions in the Indies.

Some maintained that the propaganda of the faith ought to be purely

Apostolic, such as Jesus Christ taught to his disciples, inculcating

doctrines of humility and poverty without arms or violence, and if,

nevertheless, the heathens refused to welcome this mission of peace, the

missionaries should simply abandon them in silence without further

demonstration than that of shaking the dust off their feet.

Others opined, and among them was Sanchez, that such a method was

useless and impracticable, and that it was justifiable to force their

religion upon primitive races at the point of the sword if necessary,

using any violence to enforce its acceptance.

Much ill-feeling was aroused in the discussion of these two and distinct

theories. Juan Volante, a Dominican friar of the Convent of Our Lady of

Atocha, presented a petition against the views of the Sanchez faction,

declaring that the idea of ingrafting religion with the aid of arms was

scandalous. Fray Juan Volante was so importunate, that he had to be

heard in council, but neither party yielded. At length, the intervention

of the bishops of Manila, Macao and Malacca and several captains and

governors in the Indies influenced the king to put an end to the

controversy, on the ground that it would lead to no good.

The king retired to the Monastery of the Escorial, and Sanchez was cited

to meet him there to learn the royal will. About the same time the news

reached the king of the loss of the so-called Invincible Armada, sent

under the command of the incompetent Duke of Medina Sidonia to annex

England. Notwithstanding this severe blow to the vain ambition of

Philip, the affairs of the Philippines were delayed but a short time. On

the basis of the recommendation of the junta, the royal assent was given

to an important decree, of which the most significant articles are the

following, namely:--The tribute was fixed by the king at ten reales per

annum, payable by the natives in gold, silver, or grain, or part in one

commodity and part in the other. Of this tribute, eight reales were to

be paid to the treasury, one half real to the bishop and clergy, and one

real and a half to be applied to the maintenance of the soldiery. Full

tribute was not to be exacted from the natives still unsubjected to the

crown. Until their confidence and loyalty should be gained by friendly

overtures, they were to pay a small recognition of vassalage, and

subsequently the tribute in common with the rest.

Instead of one-fifth value of gold and hidden treasure due to his

majesty (real quinto), he would henceforth receive only one-tenth of

such value, excepting that of gold, which the natives would be permitted

to extract free of rebate.

A customs duty of 3 per cent ad valorem was to be paid on merchandise

sold, and this duty was to be spent on the army.

Export duty was to be paid on goods shipped to New Spain (Mexico), and

this impost was also to be exclusively spent on the armed forces.

The number of European troops in the colony was fixed at four hundred

men-at-arms, divided into six companies, each under a captain, a

sub-lieutenant, a sergeant, and two corporals. Their pay was to be as

follows, namely: Captain thirty-five dollars, sub-lieutenant twenty

dollars, sergeant ten dollars, corporal seven dollars, rank and file six

dollars per month; besides which, an annual gratuity of ten thousand

dollars was to be proportionately distributed to all.

Recruits from Mexico were not to enlist under the age of fifteen years.

The captain-general was to have a body-guard of twenty-four men

(halberdiers), with the pay of those of the line, under the immediate

command of a captain to be paid fifteen dollars per month.

Salaries due to State employés were to be punctually paid when due; and

when funds were wanted for that purpose they were to be supplied from

Mexico.

The king made a donation of twelve thousand dollars, which, with another

like sum to be contributed by the Spaniards themselves, would serve to

liquidate the debts incurred on their first occupation of the islands.

The governor and bishop were recommended to consider the project of a

refuge for young Spanish women arrived from Spain, and to study the

question of dowries for native women married to poor Spaniards.

The offices of secretaries and notaries were no longer to be sold, but

conferred on persons who merited such appointments.

The governors were instructed not to make grants of land to their

relations, servants or friends, but solely to those who should have

resided at least three years in the islands, and have worked the lands

so conceded. Any grants which might have already been made to the

relations of the governors or magistrates were to be canceled.

The rent paid by the Chinese for the land they occupied was to be

applied to the necessities of the capital.

The governor and bishop were to enjoin the judges not to permit costly

lawsuits, but to execute summary justice verbally, and, so far as

possible, fines were not to be inflicted.

The city of Manila was to be fortified in a manner to insure it against

all further attacks or risings.

Four penitentiaries were to be established in the islands in the most

convenient places, with the necessary garrisons, and six to eight

galleys and frigates well armed and ready for defense against the

English corsairs which might come by way of the Moluccas.

In the most remote and unexplored parts of the islands, the governor was

to have unlimited powers to act as he should please, without consulting

his majesty; but projected enterprises of conversion, pacification,

etc., at the expense of the royal treasury, were to be submitted to a

council, comprising the bishop, the captains, etc. The governor was

authorized to capitulate and agree with the captains and others who

might care to undertake conversions and pacifications on their own

account, and to concede the title of Maestre de Campo to such persons,

on condition that such capitulations should be forwarded to his majesty

for ratification.

Only those persons domiciled in the islands would be permitted to trade

with them.

A sum of one thousand dollars was to be taken from the tributes paid

into the royal treasury for the foundation of the hospital for the

Spaniards, and the annual sum of six hundred dollars, appropriated by

the governor for its support, was confirmed. Moreover, the royal

treasury of Mexico was to send clothing to the value of four hundred

ducats for the hospital use.

The hospital for the natives was to receive an annual donation of six

hundred dollars for its support, and an immediate supply of clothing

from Mexico to the value of two hundred dollars.

Slaves held by Spaniards were to be immediately set at liberty. No

native was thenceforth to be enslaved. All new-born natives were

declared free. The bondage of all existing slaves from ten years of age

was to cease on their attaining twenty years of age. Those above twenty

years of age were to serve five years longer, and then become free. At

any time, notwithstanding the foregoing conditions, they would be

entitled to purchase their liberty, the price of which was to be

determined by the governor and the bishop.[12]

There being no tithes payable to the church by Spaniards or natives, the

clergy were to receive for their maintenance the half real above

mentioned in lieu thereof, from the tribute paid by each native

subjected to the crown. When the Spaniards should have crops, they were

to pay tithes to the clergy.

A grant was made of twelve thousand ducats for the building and

ornaments of the Cathedral, and an immediate advance of two thousand

ducats, on account of this grant, was made from the funds to be remitted

from Mexico.

Forty Austin friars were to be sent at once to the Philippines, to be

followed by missionaries from other corporations. The king allowed five

hundred dollars to be paid against the one thousand dollars’ passage

money for each priest, the balance to be defrayed out of the common

funds of the clergy, derived from their share of the tribute.

Missionaries in great numbers had already flocked to the Philippines and

roamed wherever they thought fit, without license from the bishop, whose

authority they utterly repudiated.

Affirming that they had the direct consent of his holiness the Pope,

they menaced with excommunication whosoever attempted to impede them in

their free peregrination. Five years after the foundation of Manila, the

city and environs were infested with niggardly mendicant friars, whose

slothful habits placed their supercilious countrymen in ridicule before

the natives. They were tolerated but a short time in the islands; not

altogether because of the ruin they would have brought to European moral

influence on the untutored tribes, but because the bishop was highly

jealous of all competition against the Augustine order to which he

belonged. Consequent on the representations of Fray Alonso Sanchez, his

majesty ordained that all priests who went to the Philippines were, in

the first place, to resolve never to quit the islands without the

bishop’s sanction, which was to be conceded with great circumspection

and only in extreme cases, while the governor was instructed not to

afford them means of exit on his sole authority.

Neither did the bishop regard with satisfaction the presence of the

commissary of the Inquisition, whose secret investigations, shrouded

with mystery, curtailed the liberty of the loftiest functionary, sacred

or civil. At the instigation of Fray Alonso Sanchez, the junta

recommended the king to recall the commissary and extinguish the office,

but he refused to do so. In short, the chief aims of the bishop were to

enhance the power of the friars, raise the dignity of the colonial

miter, and secure a religious monopoly for the Augustine order.

Gomez Perez Dasmarinas was the next governor appointed to these islands,

on the recommendation of Fray Alonso Sanchez. In the royal instructions

which he brought with him were embodied all the above mentioned civil,

ecclesiastical and military reforms.

At the same time, King Philip abolished the supreme court. He wished to

put an end to the interminable lawsuits so prejudicial to the

development of the colony. Therefore the president and magistrates were

replaced by justices of the peace, and the former returned to Mexico in

1591. This measure served only to widen the breach between the bishop

and the civil government. Dasmarinas compelled him to keep within the

sphere of his sacerdotal functions, and tolerated no rival in State

concerns. There was no appeal on the spot against the governor’s

authority. This restraint irritated and disgusted the bishop to such a

degree, that at the age of seventy-eight years he resolved to present

himself at the Spanish court. On his arrival there, he manifested to the

king the impossibility of one bishop attending to the spiritual wants of

a people dispersed over so many islands. For seven years after the

foundation of Manila, as capital of the archipelago, its principal

church was simply a parish church. In 1578 it was raised to the dignity

of a cathedral, at the instance of the king. Three years after this date

the Cathedral of Manila was solemnly declared to be a “Suffragan

Cathedral of Mexico, under the Advocation of Our Lady of the Immaculate

Conception”; Domingo Salazar being the first bishop consecrated. He now

proposed to raise the Manila see to an archbishopric, with three

suffragan bishops. The king gave his consent, subject to approval from

Rome, and, this following in due course, Salazar was appointed first

archbishop of Manila; but he died before the Papal Bull arrived, dated

the 14th of August, 1595, officially authorizing his investiture.

In the meantime, Alonso Sanchez had proceeded to Rome in May, 1589.

Among many other Pontifical favors conceded to him, he obtained the

right for himself, or his assigns, to use a die or stamp of any form

with one or more images; to be chosen by the holder, and to contain also

the figure of Christ, the Very Holy Virgin, or the Saint--Peter or Paul.

On the reverse was to be engraven a bust portrait of His Holiness with

the following indulgences attached thereto, viz.:-“To him who should

convey the word of God to the infidels, or give them notice of the holy

mysteries--each time 300 years’ indulgence. To him who, by industry,

converted any one of these, or brought him to the bosom of the

Church--full indulgence for all sins.” A number of minor indulgences

were conceded for services to be rendered to the Pontificate, and for

the praying so many Pater Nosters and Ave Marias. This Bull was dated in

Rome the 28th of July, 1591.

Popes Gregory XIV. and Innocent IX. granted other Bulls relating to the

rewards for using beads, medals, crosses, pictures, blessed images,

etc., with which one could gain nine plenary indulgences every day or

rescue nine souls from purgatory; and each day, twice over, all the full

indulgences yet given in and out of Rome could be obtained for living

and deceased persons.

Sanchez returned to Spain (where he died), bringing with him the body of

Saint Policarp, a relic of Saint Potenciana, and one hundred and

fifty-seven martyrs; among them, twenty-seven popes, for remission to

the Cathedral of Manila.

The supreme court was re-established with the same faculties as those of

Mexico and Lima in 1598, and since then, on seven occasions, when the

governorship has been vacant, it has acted pro tem. The following

interesting account of the pompous ceremonial attending the reception of

the Royal Seal, restoring this court, is given by Concepcion.[13] He

says: “The Royal Seal of office was received from the ship with the

accustomed solemnity. It was contained in a chest covered with purple

velvet and trimmings of silver and gold, over which hung a cloth of

purple and gold. It was escorted by a majestic accompaniment, marching

to the sounds of clarions and cymbals and other musical instruments. The

cortege passed through the noble city with rich vestments and leg

trimmings and uncovered heads. Behind these followed a horse, gorgeously

caparisoned and girthed, for the president to place the coffer

containing the Royal Seal upon its back. The streets were beautifully

adorned with exquisite drapery. The high bailiff, magnificently robed,

took the reins in hand to lead the horse under a purple velvet pall

bordered with gold. The magistrates walked on either side; the aldermen

of the city, richly clad, carried their staves of office in the august

procession, which concluded with a military escort, standard-bearers,

etc., and proceeded to the Cathedral, where it was met by the dean,

holding a Cross. As the company entered the sacred edifice, the Te Deum

was intoned by a band of music.”

In 1886 a supreme court, exactly similar to, and independent of, that of

Manila, was established in the city of Cebu. The question of precedence

in official acts having been soon after disputed between the president

of the court and the brigadier-governor of Visayas, it was decided in

favor of the latter, on appeal to the governor-general. In the meantime,

the advisability of abolishing the supreme court of Cebu was debated by

the public.

Consequent on the union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain (1581 to

1640), the feuds, as between nations, diplomatically subsided, although

the individual antagonism was as rife as ever.

Spanish and Portuguese interests in the Moluccas, as elsewhere, were

thenceforth officially mutual. In the Moluccas group, the old contests

between the then rival kingdoms had estranged the natives from their

forced alliances. Anti-Portuguese and Philo-Portuguese parties had

sprung up among the petty sovereignties, but the Portuguese fort and

factory established in Ternate Island were held for many years, despite

all contentions. But another rivalry, as formidable and more detrimental

than that of the Portuguese in days gone by, now menaced Spanish

ascendency.

From the close of the sixteenth century up to the year of the “Family

Compact” wars (1763), Holland and Spain were relentless foes. To recount

the numerous combats between their respective fleets during this period

would itself require a volume. It will suffice here to show the bearing

of these political conflicts upon the concerns of the Philippine

colony. The Treaty of Antwerp, which was wrung from the Spaniards in

1609, twenty-eight years after the union of Spain and Portugal, broke

the scourge of their tyranny, while it failed to assuage the mutual

antipathy. One of the consequences of the “Wars of the Flanders,” which

terminated with this treaty, was that the Dutch were obliged to seek in

the Far East the merchandise which had hitherto been supplied to them

from the Peninsula. The short-sighted policy of the Spaniards in closing

to the Dutch the Portuguese markets, which were now theirs, brought upon

themselves the destruction of the monopolies which they had gained by

the union. The Dutch were now free, and their old tyrant’s policy

induced them to independently establish their own trading headquarters

in the Molucca Islands, whence they could obtain directly the produce

forbidden to them in the home ports. Hence, from those islands, the

ships of a powerful Netherlands Trading Company sallied forth from time

to time to meet the Spanish galleons from Mexico with silver and

manufactured goods.

Previous to this, and during the Wars of the Flanders, Dutch corsairs

hovered about the waters of the Moluccas, to take reprisals from the

Spaniards. These encounters frequently took place at the eastern

entrance of the San Bernadino Straits, where the Dutch were accustomed

to hove-to in anticipation of the arrival of their prizes.

In this manner, constantly roving about the Philippine waters, they

enriched themselves at the expense of their detested adversary, and, in

a small degree, avenged themselves of the bloodshed and oppression

which for over sixty years had desolated the Low Countries.

The Philippine colony lost immense sums in the seizure of its galleons

from Mexico, upon which it almost entirely depended for subsistence.

Being a dependency of New Spain, its whole intercourse with the

civilized world, its supplies of troops and European manufactured

articles, were contingent upon the safe arrival of the galleons. Also

the dollars with which they annually purchased cargoes from the Chinese

for the galleons came from Mexico.

Consequently, the Dutch usually took the aggressive in these

sea-battles, although they were not always victorious. When there were

no ships to meet, they bombarded the ports where others were being

built. The Spaniards, on their part, from time to time fitted out

vessels to run down to the Moluccas to attack the enemy in his own

waters.

During the governorship of Gomez Perez Dasmarinas (1590-1593), the

native king of Siao Island--one of the Moluccas group--came to Manila to

offer homage and vassalage to the representative of the King of Spain

and Portugal, in return for protection against the incursions of the

Dutch and the raids of the Ternate natives. Dasmarinas received him and

the Spanish priests who accompanied him with affability, and, being

satisfied with his credentials, he prepared a large expedition to go to

the Moluccas to set matters in order. The fleet was composed of several

frigates, one ship, six galleys and one hundred small vessels, all well

armed. The fighting men numbered one hundred Spaniards, four hundred

Pampanga and Tagalog arquebusiers, one thousand Visayas archers and

lancers, besides one hundred Chinese to row the galleys. This

expedition, which was calculated to be amply sufficient to subdue all

the Moluccas, sailed from Cavite on the 6th of October, 1593. The

sailing ships having got far ahead of the galleys, they hove-to off

Punta de Azufre (N. of Maricaban Island) to wait for them. The galleys

arrived; and the next day they were able to start again in company.

Meanwhile a conspiracy was formed by the Chinese galleymen to murder all

the Spaniards. Assuming these Chinese to be volunteers, their action

would appear most wanton and base. If, however, as is most probable,

they were pressed into this military service to foreigners, it seems

quite natural that, being forced to bloodshed without alternative, they

should first fight for their own liberty.

All but the Chinese were asleep, and they fell upon the Spaniards in a

body. Eighteen of the troops and four slaves escaped by jumping into the

sea. The governor was sleeping in his cabin, but awoke on hearing the

noise. He supposed the ship had grounded, and was coming up the

companion en deshabille, when a Chinaman cleaved his head with a

cutlass. The governor reached his stateroom, and taking his missal and

the Image of the Virgin in his hand, he died in six hours. The Chinese

did not venture below, where the priests and armed soldiers were hidden.

They cleared the decks of all their opponents, made fast the hatches and

gangways, and waited three days, when, after putting ashore those who

were still alive, they escaped to Cochin-China, where the king and

mandarins seized the vessel and all she carried. On board were found

twelve thousand dollars in coin, some silver, and jewels belonging to

the governor and his suite.

Thus the expedition was brought to an untimely end. The King of Siao,

and the missionaries accompanying him, had started in advance for Otong

(Panay Island) to wait for the governor, and there they received the

news of the disaster.

Among the most notable of the successful expeditions of the Spaniards

was that of Pedro Bravo de Acuna, in 1606, which consisted of nineteen

frigates, nine galleys and eight small craft, carrying a total of about

two thousand men and provisions for a prolonged struggle. The result

was, that they subdued a petty sultan friendly to the Dutch, and

established a fortress on his island.

About the year 1607, the supreme court (the governorship being vacant

from 1606 to 1608) hearing that a Dutch vessel was hovering off Ternate,

sent a ship against it, commanded by Pedro de Heredia. A combat ensued.

The Dutch commander was taken prisoner with several of his men, and

lodged in the fort at Ternate, but was ransomed on payment of fifty

thousand dollars to the Spanish commander. Heredia returned joyfully to

Manila, where, much to his surprise, he was prosecuted by the supreme

court for exceeding his instructions, and expired of melancholy. The

ransomed Dutch leader was making his way back to his headquarters in a

small ship, peacefully, and without hostilizing the Spaniards in any

way, when the supreme court treacherously sent a galley and a frigate

after him to make him prisoner a second time. Overwhelmed by numbers

and arms, and little expecting such perfidious conduct of the Spaniards,

he was at once arrested and brought to Manila. The Dutch returned

twenty-two Spanish prisoners of war to Manila to ransom him; but while

these were retained, the Dutch commander was, nevertheless, imprisoned

for life.

Some years afterward, a Dutch squadron anchored off the south point of

Bataan Province, not far from Punta Marivelez, at the entrance to Manila

Bay. Juan de Silva, the governor (from 1609 to 1616), was in great

straits. Several ships had been lost by storms, others were away, and

there was no adequate floating armament with which to meet the enemy.

However, the Dutch lay-to for five or six months, waiting to seize the

Chinese and Japanese traders’ goods on their way to the Manila market.

They secured immense booty, and were in no hurry to open hostilities.

This delay gave Silva time to prepare vessels to attack the foe. In the

interval, he dreamed that Saint Mark had offered to help him defeat the

Dutch. On awaking, he called a priest, whom he consulted about the

dream, and they agreed that the nocturnal vision was a sign from Heaven

denoting a victory. The priest went (from Cavite) to Manila to procure a

relic of this glorious intercessor, and returned with his portrait to

the governor, who adored it. In haste the ships and armament were

prepared. On Saint Mark’s day, therefore, the Spaniards sallied forth

from Cavite with six ships, carrying seventy guns, and two galleys and

two launches also well armed, besides a number of small light vessels,

to assist in the formation of line of battle.

All the European fighting men in Manila and Cavite embarked--over one

thousand Spaniards--the flower of the colony, together with a large

force of natives, who were taught to believe that the Dutch were

infidels. On the issue of this day’s events perchance depended the

possession of the colony. Manila and Cavite were garrisoned by

volunteers. Orations were offered in the churches. The Miraculous Image

of Our Lady of the Guide was taken in procession from the Hermit, and

exposed to public view in the Cathedral. The saints of the different

churches and sanctuaries were adored and exhibited daily. The governor

himself took the supreme command, and dispelled all wavering doubt in

his subordinates by proclaiming Saint Mark’s promise of intercession. On

his ship he hoisted the royal standard, on which was embroidered the

Image of the Holy Virgin, with the motto: “Mostrate esse Matrem,” and

over a beautifully calm sea he led the way to battle.

A shot from the Spanish heavy artillery opened the bloody combat. The

Dutch were completely vanquished, after a fierce struggle which lasted

six hours. Their three ships were destroyed, and their flags, artillery,

and plundered merchandise to the value of three hundred thousand dollars

were seized. This famous engagement was thenceforth known as the battle

of Playa Honda.

Again in 1611, under Silva, a squadron sailed to the Moluccas and

defeated the Dutch off Giolo Island.

In 1617, the Spaniards had a successful engagement off the Zambales

coast with the Dutch, who lost three of their ships.

In July, 1620, three Mexican galleons were met by three Dutch vessels

off Cape Espiritu Santo (Samar Island), at the entrance of the San

Bernadino Straits, but managed to escape in the dark. Two ran ashore and

broke up; the third reached Manila. After this the governor-general,

Alonzo Fajardo de Tua, ordered the course of the State ships to be

varied on each voyage.

In 1625, the Dutch again appeared off the Zambales coast, and Geronimo

de Silva went out against them. The Spaniards, having lost one man,

relinquished the pursuit of the enemy, and the commander was brought to

trial by the supreme court.

In 1626, at the close of the governorship of Fernando de Silva, a

Spanish colony was founded on Formosa Island, but no supplies were sent

to it, and consequently in 1642 it surrendered to the Dutch, who held it

for twenty years, until they were driven out by the Chinese adventurer

Keuseng. And thus for over a century and a half the strife continued,

until the Dutch concentrated their attention in the development of their

Eastern colonies, which the power of Spain, growing more and more

effete, was incompetent to impede.

In 1761, King George III. had just succeeded to the throne of England,

and the protracted contentions with France had been suspended for a

while. It was soon evident, however, that efforts were being employed to

extinguish the power and prestige of Great Britain, and with this object

a convention had been entered into between France and Spain known as the

“Family Compact.” It was so called because it was an alliance made by

the three branches of the House of Bourbon; namely, Louis XV. of France,

Charles III. of Spain, and his son Ferdinand, who, in accordance with

the Treaty of Vienna, had ascended the throne of Naples. Spain engaged

to unite her forces with those of France against England on the 1st of

May, 1762, if the war still lasted, in which case France would restore

Minorca to Spain. Pitt was convinced of the necessity of meeting the

coalition by force of arms, but he was unable to secure the support of

his Ministry to declare war, and he therefore retired from the

premiership. The succeeding Cabinet was, nevertheless, compelled to

adopt his policy, and, after having lost many advantages by delaying

their decision, war was declared against France and Spain.

The British were successful everywhere. In the West Indies, the

Caribbean Islands and Havana were captured, with great booty, by Rodney

and Monckton, while a British fleet was dispatched to the Philippine

Islands with orders to take Manila.

There are many versions of this event given by different historians, and

among them there is not wanting an author who, following the Spanish

custom, has accounted for defeat by alleging treason.

On the 14th of September, 1762, a British vessel arrived in the Bay of

Manila, refused to admit Spanish officers on board, and after taking

soundings she sailed again out of the harbor.

In the evening of the 22d of September, the British squadron, composed

of thirteen ships, under the command of Admiral Cornish, entered the

bay, and the next day two British officers were deputed to demand the

surrender of the citadel, which was refused.

Brigadier-general Draper thereupon disembarked his troops, and again

called upon the city to yield. This citation being defied, the

bombardment commenced the next day. The fleet anchored in front of a

powder-magazine, took possession of the churches of Malate, Hermita, San

Juan de Bagumbayan and Santiago. Two picket guards made an unsuccessful

sortie against them. The whole force in Manila at the time was the

king’s regiment, which mustered about six hundred men, and eighty pieces

of artillery. The British forces consisted of one thousand five hundred

European troops (one regiment of infantry and two companies of

artillery), three thousand seamen, eight hundred Sepoy fusileers and one

thousand four hundred Sepoy pioneers, making a total of six thousand

eight hundred and thirty men.

There was no governor-general here at the time, and the only person with

whom the British commander could treat was the acting-governor, the

Archbishop Manuel Antonio Rojo, who was willing to yield. His authority

was, however, set aside by a rebellious war party, who placed themselves

under the leadership of a magistrate of the supreme court named Simon de

Anda y Salazar. This individual, instead of leading them to battle, fled

to the province of Bulacan, the day before the capture of Manila, in a

prahu with a few natives, carrying with him some money and half a ream

of official stamped paper. He knew perfectly well that he was defying

the legal authority of the acting-governor, and was, in fact, in open

rebellion against his mandate. It was necessary, therefore, to give an

official color to his acts by issuing his orders and proclamations on

government-stamped paper, so that their validity might be recognized if

he subsequently succeeded in justifying his action at court.

On the 24th of September the Spanish batteries of San Diego and San

Andres opened fire, but with little effect. A richly laden galleon--the

“Philipino”--was known to be on her way from Mexico to Manila, but the

British ships which were sent in quest of her fell in with another

galleon--the “Trinidad”--and brought their prize to Manila. Her treasure

amounted to about two million five hundred thousand dollars.

A Frenchman resident in Manila, Monsieur Faller, made an attack on the

British, who forced him to retire, and he was then accused by the

Spaniards of treason. Artillery fire was kept up on both sides. The

archbishop’s nephew was taken prisoner, and an officer was sent with him

to hand him over to his uncle. However, a party of natives fell upon

them and murdered them all. The officer’s head having been cut off, it

was demanded by General Draper. Excuses were made for not giving it up,

and the general determined thenceforth to continue the warfare with

vigor and punish this atrocity. The artillery was increased by another

battery of three mortars, placed behind the Church of Santiago, and the

bombardment continued.

Five thousand native recruits arrived from the provinces, and out of

this number two thousand Pampangos were selected. They were divided into

three columns, in order to advance by different routes and attack

respectively the Church of Santiago, Malate and Hermita, and the troops

on the beach. At each place they were driven back. The leader of the

attack on Malate and Hermita--Don Santiago Orendain--was declared a

traitor. The first two columns were dispersed with great confusion and

loss. The third column retreated before they had sustained or inflicted

any loss. The natives fled to their villages in dismay, and on the 5th

of October the British entered the walled city. After a couple of hours’

bombardment the forts of San Andres and San Eugenio were demolished, the

artillery overturned, and the enemy’s fusileers and sappers were killed.

A council of war was now held by the Spaniards. General Draper sustained

the authority of the archbishop against the war-party, composed chiefly

of civilians, who determined to continue the defense in spite of the

opinion of the military men, who argued that a capitulation was

inevitable. But matters were brought to a crisis by the natives, who

refused to repair the fortifications, and the Europeans were unable to

perform such hard labor. Great confusion reigned in the city--the clergy

fled through the Puerto del Parian, where there was still a native

guard. According to Zuniga, the British spent twenty thousand cannon

balls and five thousand shells in the bombardment of the city.

Major Fell entered the city at the head of his troops and General Draper

followed, leading his column unopposed, with two field pieces in the

van, while a constant musketry fire cleared the Calle Real as they

advanced. The people fled before the enemy. The gates being closed, they

scrambled up the walls and got into boats or swam off.

Colonel Monson was sent by Draper to the archbishop-governor to say that

he expected immediate surrender. This was disputed by the archbishop,

who presented a paper purporting to be terms of capitulation. The

colonel refused to take it, and demanded an unconditional surrender.

Then the archbishop, a colonel of the Spanish troops and Colonel Monson

went to interview the general, whose quarters were in the palace. The

archbishop, offering himself as a prisoner, presented the terms of

capitulation, which provided for the free exercise of their religion;

security of private property; free trade to all the inhabitants of the

islands, and the continuation of the powers of the supreme court to keep

order among the ill-disposed. These terms were granted, but General

Draper, on his part, stipulated for an indemnity of four millions of

dollars, and it was agreed to pay one-half of this sum in specie and

valuables and the other half in treasury bills on Madrid. The

capitulation, with these modifications, was signed by Draper and the

archbishop-governor. The Spanish colonel took the document to the fort

to have it countersigned by the magistrates, which was at once done; the

fort was delivered up to the British, and the magistrates retired to the

palace to pay their respects to the conqueror.

When the British flag was seen floating from the fort of Santiago there

was great cheering from the British fleet. The archbishop stated that

when Draper reviewed the troops more than one thousand men were missing,

including sixteen officers. Among these officers were a major, fatally

wounded by an arrow on the first day of the assault, and the

vice-admiral, who was drowned while coming ashore in a boat.

The natives who had been brought from the provinces to Manila were

plundering and committing excesses in the city, so Draper had them all

driven out. Guards were placed at the doors of the nunneries and

convents to prevent outrages on the women, and then the city was given

up to the victorious troops for pillage during three hours. Zuniga,

however, remarks that the European troops were moderate, but that the

Indian contingents were insatiable. They are said to have committed many

atrocities, and, reveling in bloodshed, even murdered the inhabitants.

They ransacked the suburbs of Santa Cruz and Binondo, and, acting like

savage victorious tribes, they ravished women, and even went into the

highways to murder and rob those who fled. The three hours expired, and

the following day a similar scene was permitted. The archbishop

thereupon besought the general to put a stop to it, and have compassion

on the city. The general complied with this request, and restored order

under pain of death for disobedience--some Chinese were in consequence

hanged. General Draper himself killed one whom he found in the act of

stealing, and he ordered that all church property should be restored,

but only some priests’ vestments were recovered.

Draper demanded the surrender of Cavite, which was agreed to by the

archbishop and magistrates, but the commanding officer refused to

comply. The major of that garrison was sent with a message to the

commander, but on the way he talked with such freedom about the

surrender to the British, that the natives quitted their posts and

plundered the arsenal. The commander, rather than face humiliation,

retired to a ship, and left all further responsibility to the major.

Measures were now taken to pay the agreed indemnity. Heavy contributions

were levied upon the inhabitants, which, however, together with the

silver from the pious establishments, church ornaments, plate, the

archbishop’s rings and breast-cross, only amounted to five hundred and

forty-six thousand dollars. The British then proposed to accept one

million at once and draw the rest from the cargo of the galleon

“Philipino,” if it resulted that she had not been seized by the British

previous to the day the capitulation was signed--but the one million was

not forthcoming. The day before the capture of Manila, a royal messenger

had been sent off with one hundred and eleven thousand dollars, with

orders to secure it in some place in the Laguna de Bay. The archbishop

now ordered its return to Manila, and issued a requisition to that

effect; but the Franciscan friars were insubordinate, and armed the

natives, whom they virtually ruled, and the treasure was secreted in

Majayjay Convent. Thence, on receipt of the archbishop’s message, it was

carried across country to a place in North Pampanga, bordering on

Cagayan and Pangasinan. The British, convinced that they were being

duped, insisted on their claim. Thomas Backhouse, commanding the troops

stationed at Pasig, went up to the Laguna de Bay with eighty mixed

troops, to intercept the bringing of the “Philipino” treasure. He

attacked Tunasan, Vinan and Santa Rosa, and embarked for Pagsanjan,

which was then the capital of the Lake Province. The inhabitants, after

firing the convent and church, fled. Backhouse returned to Calamba,

entered the Province of Batangas, overran it, and made several Austin

friars prisoners. In Lipa he seized three thousand dollars, and there he

established his quarters, expecting that the “Philipino” treasure would

be carried that way; but on learning that it had been transported by

sea to a Pampanga coast town, Backhouse withdrew to Pasig.

In the capitulation, the whole of the Archipelago was surrendered to the

British, but Simon de Anda determined to appeal to arms. Draper used

stratagem, and issued a proclamation commiserating the fate of the

natives who paid tribute to Spaniards, and assuring them that the King

of England would not exact it. The archbishop, as governor, became

Draper’s tool, sent messages to the Spanish families persuading them to

return, and appointed an Englishman, married in the country, to be

alderman of Tondo. Despite the strenuous opposition of the supreme

court, the archbishop, at the instance of Draper, convened a council of

native headmen and representative families, and proposed to them the

cession of all the islands to the King of England. Draper clearly saw

that the ruling powers in the colony, judging from their energy and

effective measures, were the friars, so he treated them with great

respect. The Frenchman Faller, who unsuccessfully opposed the British

assault, was offered troops to go and take possession of Zamboanga and

accept the government there, but he refused, as did also a Spaniard

named Sandoval.

Draper returned to Europe; Major Fell was left in command of the troops,

while Drake assumed the military government of the city, with Smith and

Brock as council, and Brereton in charge of Cavite. Draper, on leaving,

gave orders for two frigates to go in search of the “Philipino”

treasure. The ships got as far as Capul Island and put into harbor. They

were detained there by a ruse on the part of a half-caste pilot, and

the treasure was got away in the meantime.

Simon de Anda, from his provincial retreat, proclaimed himself

governor-general. He declared that the archbishop and the magistrates,

as prisoners of war, were dead in the eye of the law; and that his

assumption of authority was based upon old laws. None of his countrymen

disputed his authority, and he established himself in Bacolor. The

British council then convened a meeting of the chief inhabitants, at

which Anda was declared a seditious person and deserving of capital

punishment, together with the Marquis of Monte Castro, who had violated

his parole d’honneur, and the provincial of the Austin friars, who had

joined the rebel party. All the Austin friars were declared traitors for

having broken their allegiance to the archbishop’s authority. The

British still pressed for the payment of the one million, while the

Spaniards declared they possessed no more. The Austin friars were

ordered to keep the natives peaceable if they did not wish to provoke

hostilities against themselves. At length, the British, convinced of the

futility of decrees, determined to sally out with their forces; and five

hundred men under Thomas Backhouse went up the Pasig River to secure a

free passage for supplies to the camp. While opposite Maybonga, Bustos,

with his Cagayan troops, fired on them. The British returned the fire,

and Bustos fled to Mariquina. The British passed the river, and sent an

officer with a white flag of truce to summon surrender. Bustos was

insolent, and threatened to hang the officer if he returned. Backhouse’s

troops then opened fire and placed two field pieces which completely

scared the natives, who fled in such great confusion that many were

drowned in the river. Thence the British pursued their enemy “as if they

were a flock of goats,” and reached the Bamban River, where the Sultan

of Sulu resided with his family. The sultan, after a feigned resistance,

fell a prisoner to the British, who fortified his dwelling, and occupied

it during the whole of the operations. There were subsequent skirmishes

on the Pasig River banks with the armed insurgents, who were driven as

far as the Antipolo Mountains.

Meanwhile, Anda collected troops; and Bustos, as his lieutenant-general,

vaunted the power of his chief through the Bulacan and Pampanga

provinces. A Franciscan and an Austin friar, having led troops to

Masilo, about seven miles from Manila, the British went out to dislodge

them, but on their approach most of the natives feigned they were dead,

and the British returned without any loss in arms or men.

The British, believing that the Austin friars were conspiring against

them in connivance with those inside the city, placed these friars in

confinement, and subsequently shipped away eleven of them to Europe. For

the same reason, they at last determined to enter the St. Augustine

Convent, and on ransacking it they found that the priests had been lying

to them all the time. Six thousand dollars in coin were found hidden in

the garden, and large quantities of wrought silver elsewhere. The whole

premises were then searched and all the valuables were seized. A British

expedition went out to Bulacan, sailing across the bay and up the

Hagonoy River, where they disembarked at Malolos on the 19th of January,

1763. The troops, under Captain Eslay, of the Grenadiers, numbered six

hundred men, many of whom were Chinese volunteers. As they advanced from

Malolos, the natives and Spaniards fled. On the way to Bulacan, Bustos

advanced to meet them, but retreated into ambush on seeing they were

superior in numbers. Bulacan Convent was fortified with three small

cannon. As soon as the troops were in sight of the convent, a desultory

fire of case-shot made great havoc in the ranks of the Chinese forming

the British vanguard. At length the British brought their field pieces

into action, and pointing at the enemy’s cannon, the first discharge

carried off the head of their artilleryman Ybarra. The panic-stricken

natives decamped; the convent was taken by assault; there was an

indiscriminate fight and general slaughter. The alcalde and a Franciscan

friar fell in action; one Austin friar escaped, and another was seized

and killed to avenge the death of the British soldiers. The invading

forces occupied the convent, and some of the troops were shortly sent

back to Manila. Bustos reappeared near the Bulacan convent with eight

thousand native troops, of which six hundred were cavalry, but they

dared not attack the British. Bustos then maneuvered in the neighborhood

and made occasional alarms. Small parties were sent out against him with

so little effect that the British commander headed a body in person, and

put the whole of Bustos’ troops to flight like mosquitoes before a gust

of wind, for Bustos feared they would be pursued into Pampanga. After

clearing away the underwood, which served as a covert for the natives,

the British reoccupied the convent; but Bustos returned to his position,

and was a second time as disgracefully routed by the British, who then

withdrew to Manila.

At the same time, it was alleged that a conspiracy was being organized

among the Chinese in the Province of Pampanga with the object of

assassinating Anda and his Spanish followers. The Chinese cut trenches

and raised fortifications, avowing that their bellicose preparations

were only to defend themselves against the possible attack of the

British; while the Spaniards saw in all this a connivance with the

invaders. The latter, no doubt, conjectured rightly. Anda, acting upon

the views of his party, precipitated matters by appearing with fourteen

Spanish soldiers and a crowd of native bowmen to commence the slaughter

in the town of Guagua. The Chinese assembled there in great numbers, and

Anda endeavored in vain to induce them to surrender to him. He then sent

a Spaniard, named Miguel Garces, with a message, offering them pardon in

the name of the King of Spain if they would lay down their arms; but

they killed the emissary, and Anda therefore commenced the attack. The

result was favorable for Anda’s party, and great numbers of the Chinese

were slain. Many fled to the fields, where they were pursued by the

troops, while those who were captured were hanged. Such was the

inveterate hatred which Anda entertained for the Chinese, that he issued

a general decree declaring all the Chinese traitors to the Spanish flag,

and ordered them to be hanged wherever they might be found in the

provinces. Thus thousands of Chinese were executed who had taken no part

whatever in the events of this little war.

Admiral Cornish, having decided to return to Europe, again urged for

the payment of the two millions of dollars. The archbishop was in great

straits; he was willing to do anything, but his colleagues opposed him,

and Cornish was at length obliged to content himself with a bill on the

Madrid treasury. Anda appointed Bustos alcalde of Bulacan, and ordered

him to recruit and train troops, as he still nurtured the hope of

confining the British to Manila--perhaps even of driving them out of the

colony.

The British in the city were compelled to adopt the most rigorous

precautions against a rising of the population within the walls, and

several Spanish residents were arrested for intriguing against them in

concert with those outside.

Several French prisoners from Pondicherry deserted from the British; and

some Spanish regular troops, who had been taken prisoners, effected

their escape. The fiscal of the supreme court and a Senor Villa Corta

were found conspiring. The latter was caught in the act of sending a

letter to Anda, and was sentenced to be hanged and quartered--the

quarters to be exhibited in public places. The archbishop, however,

obtained Villa Corta’s pardon, on the condition that Anda should

evacuate the Pampanga Province; and Villa Corta wrote to Anda, begging

him to accede to this, but Anda absolutely refused to make any sacrifice

to save his friend’s life; and at the same time he wrote a disgraceful

letter to the archbishop, couched in such insulting terms that the

British commander burned it without letting the archbishop see it. Villa

Corta was finally ransomed by the payment of three thousand dollars.

The treasure brought by the “Philipino” served Anda to organize a

respectable force of recruits. Spaniards who were living there in

misery, and a crowd of natives always ready for pay, enlisted. These

forces, under Lieutenant-general Bustos, encamped at Malinta, about five

miles from Manila. The officers lodged in a house belonging to the

Austin friars, around which the troops pitched their tents--the whole

being defended by redoubts and palisades raised under the direction of a

French deserter, who led a company. From this place Bustos constantly

caused alarm to the British troops, who once had to retreat before a

picket guard sent to get the church bells of Quiapo. The British, in

fact, were much molested by Bustos’ Malinta troops, who forced the

invaders to withdraw to Manila and reduce the extension of their

outposts. This measure was followed up by a proclamation, in which the

British commander alluded to Bustos’ troops as “canaille and robbers,”

and offered a reward of five thousand dollars for Anda’s head; declaring

him and his party rebels and traitors to their majesties the kings of

Spain and England. Anda, chafing at his impotence to combat the invading

party by force of arms, gave vent to his feelings of rage and

disappointment by issuing a decree, dated from Bacolor the 19th of May,

1763, of which the translated text reads as follows:

“Royal Government Tribunal of these Islands for His Catholic Majesty:

Whereas the Royal Government Tribunal, Supreme Government and

Captain-Generalship of His Catholic Majesty in these Islands are gravely

offended at the audacity and blindness of those men, who, forgetting all

humanity, have condemned as rebellious and disobedient to both their

Majesties, him, who as a faithful vassal of His Catholic Majesty, and in

conformity with the law, holds the Royal Tribunal, Government and

Captain-Generalship; and having suffered by a reward being offered by

order of the British Governor in council to whomsoever shall deliver me

alive or dead; and by their having placed the arms captured in Bulacan

at the foot of the gallows--seeing that instead of their punishing and

reproaching such execrable proceedings, the spirit of haughtiness and

pride is increasing, as shown in the Proclamation published in Manila on

the 17th instant, in which the troops of His Majesty are infamously

calumniated--treating them as blackguards and disaffected to their

service--charging them with plotting to assassinate the English officers

and soldiers, and with having fled when attacked--the whole of these

accusations being false: Now therefore by these presents, be it known to

all Spaniards and true Englishmen that Messrs. Drake, Smith and Brock,

who signed the Proclamation referred to, must not be considered as

vassals of His Britannic Majesty, but as tyrants and common enemies

unworthy of human society, and therefore, I order that they be

apprehended as such, and I offer ten thousand dollars for each one of

them alive or dead. At the same time, I withdraw the order to treat the

vassals of his Britannic Majesty with all the humanity which the rights

of war will permit, as has been practiced hitherto with respect to the

prisoners and deserters.”

Anda had by this time received the consent of his king to occupy the

position which he had usurped, and the British commander was thus

enabled to communicate officially with, him, if occasion required it;

and Drake replied to this proclamation, recommending Anda to carry on

the war with greater moderation and humanity.

On the 27th of June, 1763, the British made a sortie from the city to

dislodge Bustos, who still occupied Malinta. The attacking party

consisted of three hundred and fifty fusileers, fifty horsemen, a mob of

Chinese, and a number of guns and ammunition. The British took up

quarters on one side of the river, while Bustos remained on the other.

The opposing parties exchanged fire, but neither cared nor dared to

cross the waterway. The British forces retired in good order to Masilo,

and remained there until they heard that Bustos had burned Malinta House

and removed his camp to Meycauayan. Then the British withdrew to Manila

in the evening. On the Spanish side there were two killed, five mortally

wounded and two slightly wounded. The British losses were six mortally

wounded and seven disabled. This was the last encounter in open warfare.

Chinamen occasionally lost their lives through their love of plunder in

the vicinity occupied by the British.

During these operations, the priesthood taught the ignorant natives to

believe that the invading troops were infidels--and a holy war was

preached.

The friars, especially those of the Augustine order,[14] abandoned their

mission of peace for that of the sword, and the British met with a

slight reverse at Masilo, where a religious fanatic of the Austin

friars had put himself at the head of a small hand lying in ambush.

On the 23d of July, 1763, a British frigate brought news from Europe of

an armistice--and the preliminaries of peace, by virtue of which Manila

was to be evacuated (Peace of Paris, 10th of February, 1763), were

received by the British commander on the 27th of August following,

and communicated by him to the archbishop-governor for the

“commander-in-chief” of the Spanish arms. Anda stood on his dignity and

protested that he should be addressed directly, and be styled

captain-general. On this plea he declined to receive the communication.

Drake replied by a manifesto, dated 19th of September, to the effect

that the responsibility of the blood which might be spilled, in

consequence of Anda’s refusal to accept his notification, would rest

with him. Anda published a counter manifesto, dated 28th of September,

in Bacolor (Pampanga), protesting that he had not been treated with

proper courtesy.

Greater latitude was allowed to the prisoners, and Villa Corta effected

his escape dressed as a woman. He fled to Anda--the co-conspirator who

had refused to save his life--and their superficial friendship was

renewed. Villa Corta was left in charge of business in Bacolor during

Anda’s temporary absence. Meanwhile the archbishop fell ill; and it was

discussed who should be his successor in the government in the event of

his death. Villa Corta argued that it fell to him as senior magistrate.

The discussion came to the knowledge of Anda, and seriously aroused his

jealousy. Fearing conspiracy against his ambitious projects, he left his

camp at Polo, and hastened to interrogate Villa Corta, who explained

that he had only made casual remarks in the course of conversation.

Anda, however, was restless on the subject of the succession, and sought

the opinion of all the chief priests and bishops. Various opinions

existed. Some urged that the decision be left to the supreme

court--others were in favor of Anda--while many abstained from

expressing their views. Anda was so nervously anxious about the matter,

that he even begged the opinion of the British commander, and wrote him

on the subject from Bacolor on the 2d of November, 1763.

Major Fell seriously quarreled with Drake about the Frenchman Faller,

whom Admiral Cornish had left under sentence of death for having written

a letter to Java accusing him of being a pirate and a robber. Drake

protected Faller, while Fell demanded the execution of the prisoner; and

the dispute became so heated that Fell was about to slay Drake with a

bayonet, but was prevented by some soldiers. Fell then went to London to

complain of Drake, hence Anda’s letter was addressed to Backhouse, who

took Fell’s place. Anda, who months since had refused to negotiate or

treat with Drake, still insisted upon being styled captain-general.

Backhouse replied that he was ignorant of the Spaniards’ statutes or

laws, but that he knew the governor was the archbishop. Anda thereupon

spread the report that the British commander had forged the

preliminaries of peace because he could no longer hold out in warfare.

The British necessarily had to send to the provinces to purchase

provisions, and Anda caused their forage parties to be attacked, so that

the war really continued, in spite of the news of peace, until the 30th

of January, 1764. On this day the archbishop died, sorely grieved at the

situation, and weighed down with cares. He had engaged to pay four

millions of dollars and surrender the islands, but could he indeed have

refused any terms? The British were in possession; and these conditions

were dictated at the point of the bayonet.

Immediately after the funeral of the archbishop, Anda received

dispatches from the King of Spain, by way of China, confirming the news

of peace to his governor at Manila. Then the British acknowledged Anda

as governor, and proceeded to evacuate the city; but rival factions were

not so easily set aside, and fierce quarrels ensued between the

respective parties of Anda, Villa Corta and Ustariz, as to who should be

governor and receive the city officially from the British. Anda, being

actually in command of the troops, had the game in his hands. The

conflict was happily terminated by the arrival at Marinduque of the

newly appointed governor-general from Spain--Don Francisco de la Torre.

A galley was sent there by Anda to bring his excellency to Luzon, and he

arrived at Bacolor, where Anda resigned the government to him on the

17th of March, 1764.

La Torre sent a message to Backhouse and Brereton--the commanding

officers at Manila and Cavite--stating that he was ready to take over

the city in due form. La Torre thereupon took up his residence in Santa

Cruz, placed a Spanish guard with sentinels from that ward as far as the

Great Bridge (Puente de Barcas, now called Puente de España), where the

British advance guard was, and friendly communication took place.

Governor Drake was indignant at being ignored in all these proceedings,

and ordered the Spanish governor to withdraw his guards, under threat of

appealing to force. Backhouse and Brereton resented this rudeness, and

ordered the troops under arms to arrest Drake, whose hostile action, due

to jealousy, they declared unwarrantable. Drake, being apprised of their

intentions, escaped from the city with his suite, embarked on board a

frigate, and sailed off.

La Torre was said to be indisposed on the day appointed for receiving

the city. Some assert that he feigned his indisposition, as he did not

wish to arouse Anda’s animosity, and desired to afford him an

opportunity of displaying himself as a delegate at least of the highest

local authority by receiving the city from the British, while he

pampered his pride by allowing him to enter triumphantly into it. As the

city exchanged masters, the Spanish flag was hoisted once more on the

fort of Santiago amid the hurrahs of the populace and artillery salutes.

Before embarking, Brereton offered to do justice to any claims which

might be legitimately established against the British authorities. Hence

a sloop loaned to Drake, valued at four thousand dollars, was paid for

to the Jesuits, and the three thousand dollars paid to ransom Villa

Corta’s life was returned; Brereton remarking that, if the sentence

against him were valid, it should have been executed at the time, but it

could not be commuted by money payment. At the instance of the British

authorities, a free pardon was granted and published to the Chinese, few

of whom, however, confided in it, and many left with the retiring army.

Brereton, with his forces, embarked for India, after dispatching a

packet-boat to restore the Sultan of Sulu to his throne.

During this convulsed period, great atrocities were committed.

Unfortunately the common felons were released by the English from their

prisons, and used their liberty to perpetrate murders and robbery in

alliance with those always naturally bent that way. So great did this

evil become, so bold were the marauders, that in time they formed large

parties, infested highways, attacked plantations, and the poor peasantry

had to flee, leaving their cattle and all their belongings in their

power. Several avenged themselves of the friars for old scores, others

settled accounts with those Europeans who had tyrannized them of old.

The Chinese, whether so-called Christians or pagans, declared for and

aided the British.

The proceedings of the choleric Simon de Anda y Salazar were approved by

his sovereign, but his impetuous disposition drove from him his best

counselors, while those who were bold enough to uphold their opinions

against his were accused of connivance with the British. Communications

with Europe were scant indeed in those days, but Anda could not have

been altogether ignorant of the causes of the war, which terminated with

the Treaty of Paris.

On his return to Spain, after the appointment of La Torre as

governor-general, he succeeded in retaining the favor of the king, who

conferred several honors on him, making him Councilor of Castile, etc.

In the meantime Jose Raon, who replaced La Torre, had fallen into

disgrace, and Anda was appointed to the governor-generalship of the

islands.

There is perhaps no imperiousness so intolerant as that of an official

who vaunts his authority by the reflected light of his powerful patron.

Anda on his arrival avenged himself of his opposers in all directions.

He imprisoned his predecessor, several judges, military officials and

others; some he sent back to Spain, others he banished from the capital.

Thus he brought trouble upon himself. From all sides hostile resistance

increased. He quarreled with the clergy; but when his irascible temper

had exhausted itself in the course of six years, he retired to a convent

of the Austin friars, where he expired in 1776, much to the relief of

his numerous adversaries.

Consequent on the troubled state of the colony, a serious rebellion

arose in Ylogan (Cagayan Province), among the Timava natives, who

flogged the commandant, and declared they would no longer pay tribute to

the Spaniards. The revolt spread to Ilocos and Pangasinan, but the

ringleaders were caught, and tranquillity was restored by the gallows.

A rising far more important occurred in Ilocos Sur. The alcalde was

deposed, and escaped after he had been forced to give up his staff of

office. The leader of this revolt was a cunning and cute Manila native,

named Diego de Silan, who persuaded the people to cease paying tribute,

and declare against the Spaniards, who, he pointed out, were unable to

resist the English. The city of Vigan was in great commotion. The

vicar-general parleyed with the natives; and then, collecting his

troops, the rebels were dispersed, while some were taken prisoners; but

the bulk of the rioters rallied and attacked, and burned down part of

the city. The loyal natives fled before the flames. The vicar-general’s

house was taken, and the arms in it were seized. All the Austin friars

within a large surrounding neighborhood had to ransom themselves by

money payments. Silan was then acknowledged as chief over a large

territory north and south of Vigan. He appointed his lieutenants, and

issued a manifesto declaring Jesus of Nazareth to be captain-general of

the place, and that he was his alcalde for the promotion of the Catholic

religion and dominion of the King of Spain. His manifesto was wholly

that of a religious fanatic. He obliged the natives to attend mass, to

confess, and to see that their children went to school. In the midst of

all this pretended piety, he robbed cattle and exacted ransoms for the

lives of all those who could pay them; he levied a tax of one hundred

dollars on each friar. Under the pretense of keeping out the British, he

placed sentinels in all directions to prevent news reaching the terrible

Simon de Anda. But Anda, though fully informed by an Austin friar of

what transpired, had not sufficient troops to march north. He sent a

requisition to Silan to present himself within nine days, under penalty

of arrest as a traitor. While this order was published, vague reports

were intentionally spread that the Spaniards were coming to Ilocos in

great force. Many deserted Silan, but he contrived to deceive even the

clergy and others by his feigned piety. Silan sent presents to Manila

for the British, acknowledging the King of England to be his legitimate

sovereign. The British governor sent, in return, a vessel bearing

dispatches to Silan, appointing him alcalde mayor. Elated with pride,

Silan at once made this public. The natives were undeceived, for they

had counted on him to deliver them from the British; now, to their

dismay, they saw him the authorized magistrate of the invader. He gave

orders to make all the Austin friars prisoners, saying that the British

would send other clergy in their stead. The friars surrendered

themselves without resistance and joined their bishop near Vigan,

awaiting the pleasure of Silan. The bishop excommunicated Silan, and

then he released some of the priests. The Christian natives having

refused to slay the friars, a secret compact was being made, with this

object, with the mountain tribes, when a half-caste named Vicos obtained

the bishop’s benediction to go and kill Silan; and the rebellion, which

had lasted from December 14, 1762, to May 28, 1763, ended.

Not until a score of little battles had been fought were the numerous

riots in the provinces quelled. The loyal troops were divided into

sections, and marched north in several directions, until peace was

restored by March, 1765. Zuniga says that the Spaniards lost in these

riots about seventy Europeans and one hundred and forty natives, while

they cost the rebels quite ten thousand men.

Space will not permit us to cite all the revolutionary protests which

ensued. In the time of Legaspi the submission of the Manila and Tondo

chiefs was of but local and temporary importance. Since then, and in

fact since the very beginning up to the present time, the natives have

only yielded to a force which they have repeatedly tried to overthrow.