Wreck of the galleon "San Diego;" the mission that arrived from
Nueva España; and the feast of the Conception of our Lady.
This province of ours was very deficient in religious to fulfil its
charge of the instruction and teaching of so many villages, which
were commended to our care as the first spiritual conquistadors of
these remote islands. Nine years had already passed since the last
mission had reached this province (in the year 1645), during which
sixty religious had died; and, besides, the procurators who had been
sent to España to get new missions had suffered the same fate. Father
Fray Cristobal Enriquez, although he reached Madrid, and presented
himself before the royal and supreme Council of the Indias for
that purpose, did not obtain a favorable despatch. For, permission
having been given him to conduct thirty religious to these islands,
and trusting to that and having assembled and conducted many from
the provinces of España to Sevilla (in which he had spent the little
that he had for that purpose), a new decree was issued in which he
was ordered to suspend the transportation of the thirty religious
who had been allowed to him, under pretext of inability to equip
them because of the many war expenses of that time. The religious
who were assembled in Andalucía returned to their provinces; and
father Fray Cristobal Enriquez, having spent all his supply money,
died in the city of Cáceres, which was his birthplace.
With these losses the province found itself in the greatest need
because of the lack of workmen for the missions in its charge,
until the arrival in 1654 of the galleon "San Diego" in charge of
the commander Pedro Villarroel de la Cuesta--which was wrecked in
the beginning of June near the harbor and bay of Manila, as it went
aground on an unknown shoal. However, only the hull of the ship
was lost and all the men and the cargo were saved. That galleon
brought fifteen religious, who had been sent by the provincial of
the province of Méjico, by virtue of the authorization given him by
the last procurator of this province, Fray Francisco de Victoria, who
died in Méjico. The said religious were admitted into this province
at a private meeting of the definitors held on June 13 of the said
year 1654. They are as follows:
Father Fray Gerónimo de la Serna, who was in charge of that mission,
forty years old, and twenty-five in the habit. He had been a prior
with vote three times in his province, and died in the year 1668.
Father Fray José Polanco, a theologue. He was an excellent minister
to the Tagálogs and Ilocans, and served in this province for many
years with great credit, for he was an able minister and skilled in
both languages. He died in the year 1681, in a grievous manner; for,
when coming in a champan from the province of Ilocos, where he was
prior of the convent of Bauang, the vessel went to pieces and he was
drowned together with sixteen persons in the same boat.
Father Fray José de la Cruz, minister of the province of Pampanga,
where he rendered much service to the order, and left a lively
remembrance of his zeal in the churches of Candaba, Betis, and México,
which he built from the foundations with great beauty and strength. He
died in the year 1695.
Father Fray Francisco Jordán, an excellent theologue, who was afterward
given the title of lecturer. He was a successful minister to the
Ilocans, and a good preacher. He died in the year 1666.
The father lecturer Fray Lorenzo de Cisneros, who had taken the habit
after he had been a secular priest for many years. He was an able
theologue, and had been one of the household of Don Juan de Palafox,
whom he had served considerably in his litigations with the regulars of
Nueva España. That religious was minister to a Christian village some
time in Ilocos; but afterward his mind failed him, and he lived so for
many years, suffering the troubles and hardships that so troublesome
an infirmity causes. I knew him for many years, and he was never
furious, but very mild and gentle. Consequently, he was always left
unshackled, and gave no other sign of the infirmity from which he was
suffering than his outbursts of greatest nonsense. He was ever very
affable and courteous. A few days before his death, he recovered his
mental faculties; and, after having received all the holy sacraments,
he died in great calm in 1662, at an age of more than seventy.
Father Fray Pedro de la Plaza, fifty-three years old, an excellent
theologue, who had also been a secular priest for many years, and
only had three years of profession. He died in 1665 in the convent
of Manila.
The brother chorister, Fray Antonio de Quesada, twenty-two years old,
a student in the arts. He seems to have been a minister in the province
of Pampanga, and very skilful in that language. He died in 1661.
Brother Fray José de Sotomayor, who was a minister in the province
of Ilocos, and died in the year 1665.
Brother Fray Bartolomé de la Torre, twenty-two years old, who had
completed his studies. Afterward he became lecturer in arts in the
convent of Manila, and was sent to the province of Bisayas, where he
was an able minister, definitor, and vicar-provincial. He died in 1684.
Brother Fray Marcos Zapata, a theological student, twenty-two years
old and five in the habit; he was a minister in the province of Ilocos,
where he died in 1673.
Brother Fray Francisco Flores, of the same age and [length of time in
the] habit, was minister in the province of Tagalos, and died in 1675.
Brother Fray José de Mendoza, twenty years of age, was minister in
the province of Ilocos, and a fine preacher in that language. He died
in the convent of Manila in 1678.
Brother Fray Luis de Montujar [or Montufar: Pérez] twenty years old,
was an excellent minister in the province of Tagalos, definitor,
president of the chapter, and my predecessor in the office of
commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition. He was a very
observant religious, and died in 1690.
Brother Fray Domingo de San Miguel, twenty-four years old, a student in
the arts. He was a fine religious, of much modesty and great virtue. He
served much and well in the province of Ilocos. He became visitor,
and died in the Manila convent in 1677.
Brother Fray Miguel de Quesada, nineteen years old. I can find no
notice of the province in which he was minister, or of his death.
Fray Antonio de Salcedo (or San Nicolás), a lay-brother, of great
virtue and simple humility. He served the Manila convent well, and
died in 1690. [92]
All those religious were natives of Nueva España, and sons of the
province of Santísimo Nombre de Jesús of Méjico. Before admitting them
as sons of this province, many and great difficulties were experienced.
[Continuing, the author discusses these difficulties, with citation
of various authorities. The religious of Nueva España and Peru
administer the sacraments by authority of the ordinary; while in the
Philippines it has been delegated by the popes to the definitors,
who sub-delegate it to the various religious. In order to go to the
Indias, the consent of the general and of the king is necessary, and
is obtained through the royal Council of the Indias. The difficulty
arises, then, because these religious have not been previously
presented in the above Council. Necessity, however, rules the day,
and they are admitted--although the precaution is taken by the heads
of the order in the islands to state their intention of obtaining,
within six years, the consent and approbation of the royal Council
of the Indias to that admission.]
The loss of the galleon "San Diego" was felt keenly, as there was a
great lack of ships in these islands because of the repeated shipwrecks
of preceding years. But all knew that it was apparently permitted
by divine Providence so that they might not have a ship which was
built by so many extortions on the natives. That is an irremediable
difficulty in the shipyards and in the cutting of timber in these
islands, as was seen in the building of that galleon "San Diego,"
which was built in the time of the most disinterested governor, and
one who had the cleanest hands that can be imagined; such was Don
Diego Fajardo, who was a wonder in that way. Also as superintendent
of its building was appointed the commander Don Pedro de Mendiola,
a man as creditable in this particular as the governor. Yet with all
that vigilance, great vexations, wrongs, and expenses were heaped
on the natives. The chief cause was the foreman and master of the
building, who was a Moro named Nadir, who assuredly was the very
opposite [93] from the disinterestedness of Don Pedro Mendiola. This
man, from one thousand two hundred Indians who were drafted monthly
from the provinces of Tondo, Bulacán, Balayán,and Tayabas, occupied
scarcely four hundred in the work, and sometimes five hundred. The
[service of the] remainder he reduced to money, in which they redeemed
their oppression. A curious person, having reckoned the cost of that
galleon, found that it had cost the king sixty thousand pesos, and
the natives more than one hundred and fifty thousand. This is an evil
that has been seen to be irremediable; for it is impossible to build
galleons in any other way, because the cutting of the timber must be
managed by sailors--a class of men who lack pity, and have too much
greed--and because the Indian natives are so weak and so hostile to
work that they prefer their ease to all advantage to themselves. This
has been the cause of the tumults and insurrections, such as that of
Palapag in 1649, and that of the province of Pampanga in 1660; and,
in the time of Governor Don Juan de Silva, that of 1614, because of
the considerable felling of timber which was occasioned by so much
shipbuilding as was caused by the undertaking against the Dutch. Then,
most of the provinces of these islands mutinied and almost rose in
insurrection; and there was danger of a general outbreak, had not
the religious who were ministers in the provinces reduced the minds
of the natives to quiet; for they, overburdened by so heavy a load,
were at the point of desperation.
[In December of 1654 is celebrated the feast of the Immaculate
Conception of the Virgin--which was formally proclaimed as a dogma
of the Roman Catholic Church, December 8, 1854. The celebrations in
Manila extend over a number of days, and all take part in them. The
papal permission for the feast has been obtained from Innocent X by
the entreaty of Felipe IV.]