The peace and pious tranquillity which this province enjoyed throughout
the three years' government of our father Fray José Duque was like that
which it had enjoyed during the three years of his former term, and was
what this province had expected from him on account of the knowledge
and experience which all had of his piety, great discretion, and
sagacity in making way through the greatest difficulties. Accordingly,
they bade farewell to his paternal government with much regret, and
determined to reëlect him for a third term--which they did afterward
at the proper time, opportunity being afforded for this by the long
span of his life and the robust constitution with which he was endowed,
which were astonishing.
The time arrived which our Constitutions assign for holding the
provincial chapter, and it assembled in the convent of Manila; over
it presided, with letters from our very reverend father general
Fray Antonio Paccino, our father Fray Diego de Jesús. Our father
Fray Juan de Jérez was elected provincial for the second time, with
great satisfaction to all; and as definitors were chosen the fathers
Fray Luis Diaz, Fray Juan García, Fray Felipe de Jaurigue, and Fray
Diego de Alday. The visitors of the past triennium were present,
Fray José de la Cruz and Fray Alonso de Arniellos; and as visitors
for this triennium were appointed father Fray Ignacio de Rearcado and
the father reader Fray Francisco de Ugarte. Very judicious ordinances
were enacted for the proper government of the province, and for the
maintenance of the strict regular observance which in those times
flourished therein--in which the new provincial had taken a prominent
part in his first triennium (which was from 1677 to 1680), and in
the past one, in which he had been prior of [the convent in] Manila.
The provincial began to govern with so much zeal and industry that it
would be tedious for me to tell how much he accomplished in one year
only--the least being that he had visited all the provinces, even
to those of Ilocos and Bisayas, without omitting in one point his
exercises of prayer and mortification. Of this I can give reliable
testimony, as one who was his secretary and companion during the
twenty-two months while he governed, his death being caused by the
great labors of this visitation, in which with holy zeal and activity
he performed incredible labors in promoting the religious observance,
and in securing the cleansing and adornment of the altars and the
ornaments, in which he was exceedingly careful and assiduous. He
suffered much from the continual harassment of the scruples which
tormented him, so much that it caused one grief to see the so heavy
cross which the Lord placed on the shoulders of this His creature,
which he bore with great fortitude and courage....
Among the excellent arrangements made by this chapter was the chief
one, which was that father Fray Álvaro de Benavente should go to España
as procurator; he had a few months before returned from China, where
he left our missions very well established in the kingdom of Cantón,
with houses at Xaoquinfú and Nanhiunfú, and two others in other
places of less note. At the same time he was appointed definitor for
the general chapter which was to meet in Roma, to which father Fray
Alvaro was very desirous of going on account of the affairs of the
missions conducted by the regulars in China, from whom he carried
letters and authority to act in regard to the remission of the oath
of subjection to the apostolic vicars. They gave him the necessary
despatches, and he determined to make the voyage by way of the Cape
of Good Hope, because that year there was no galleon going to Nueva
España, the cause of which will be told later. He embarked for Batavia
on a Portuguese vessel, and as his companion was assigned the brother
Fray Juan Verganzo, who had come with the mission of the year 1684. He
arrived at Batavia, where he encountered great difficulties in making
the voyage to Amsterdam; but all these were overcome by a Dutchman,
a Calvinist preacher named Teodoro Zas--a very benevolent and courteous
man, and very fond of doing good to others; this caused grief in those
who knew him, at seeing him misled by the false doctrines of Calvin,
when he was so eminent in the moral virtues.
Father Fray Alvaro carried with him the first part of this History,
which after a long time came from the press, although only as far as
the year 1616--while I had given it to him complete up to the year
1647--because at that time this province had not funds at Madrid
sufficient to print it all. That first division of the history was
printed at the said court in the year 1698, by Manuel Ruiz de Murga;
and it was dedicated to her Ladyship the Duquesa de Aveiro, although
it was my intention that it be dedicated to the king our sovereign,
in his royal and supreme Council of the Indias. The rest of the said
first part remained laid aside and forgotten in the convent of San
Felipe at Madrid, until I determined to write it again and complete
it, by means of the rough drafts that had remained here. [107]
About April of 1687, father Fray Alvaro sailed from Batavia in
[one of the] galleons of the Company of Holanda, and after many and
fearful tempests it reached the Cape of Good Hope, where the Dutch
made a halt of two months at the great colony and settlement which
that nation maintain there for this purpose; it is a very populous
city, and well supplied with all that is necessary to human life,
for it possesses a very healthful climate, at the latitude of 36°
[on the side] of the tropic of Capricorn. In this city they have a
large hospital for treating the sick, with very skilful physicians
and surgeons, and with all the comfort that could be found in any
other part of the world. Among the magnificent and delightful things
which are in that city is a garden, the largest that is known, which,
according to report, is only second to the earthly Paradise. It is
many leguas in circumference, and is divided, like the world, into
four parts. In the part called Europa, there are trees of all the
fruits that grow in our Europa; in that called Asia, all those from
Asia; and the same in those of Africa and America. This garden has
a river, opened by hand-labor, which waters all the four divisions;
and for its cultivation many Dutch gardeners and more than two thousand
Cafres are kept there. In this place is produced very rich wine, which
they call "Cape wine;" for the climate is the same as in Andalucía and
Extremadura, although in the opposite zone [trópico], and is different
only in having summer at Christmas and winter at St. John's day. [108]
Father Fray Alvaro left this pleasant town and pursued his voyage
to Holanda, and landed at Roterdán, the native place of Desiderius
Erasmus; [109] and thence he went to Amsterdam, where he remained some
time. There he made inquiries to ascertain whether he could print the
history that he carried in that great city, on account of the beautiful
work done by its famous printers; but he gave up this intention, on
account of the numerous errors which they made, being ignorant of our
language. Thence he embarked for Bilbao, where he and his companion
resumed wearing their habits, which they had laid aside in order to go
on shore at Batavia. The rest of the tedious peregrinations of father
Fray Alvaro will be related, if we can reach the time when he returned
[to Manila] with a mission in the year 1690, when we shall observe
his entrance into Madrid and his voyage to Roma, and his negotiations
at that court in behalf of the regulars of the China missions.
For these missions the chapter designated the father reader Fray Juan
de Aguilar, who remained in them several years, and afterward retired
on account of failing health; but the chapter sent in his place father
Fray Juan Gómez, who continued there until his death. Afterward a
large reënforcement of religious was sent to China for the aforesaid
missions, which have increased and become very large; and they would
have prospered much more, if they had not been so hindered by the
claim of subjection to the vicars-apostolic, who made so strenuous
efforts to introduce it.
The governor, Don Gabriel Curucelaegui, had determined to send this
year [1686] to Nueva España the galleon "Santo Niño," in charge of
General Lucas Mateo de Urquiza; but his efforts to despatch it were
ineffectual, because information was received that seven vessels of
corsairs or pirates were sailing outside of the Embocadero, and it was
feared that their principal intention was to seize the galleon "San
Telmo," which was expected on the return trip from Nueva España. Two
fragatas of theirs had been in the Babuyanes Islands, between Cagayán
and Hermosa Island, and had slain two religious of [the Order of]
St. Dominic; these were father Fray Jacinto de Samper, a native of
Caspe, an able minister to the Chinese in the Parián, and father
Fray José Seijas, a nephew of the archbishop of Méjico, Don Francisco
Seijas, both of them being religious of great virtue. [110] Moreover,
the pirates had committed other acts of hostility in Cagayán and
Ilocos. The governor determined to suspend the voyage of the galleon
for Nueva España, and gave orders to equip it for war--cutting in
it many portholes, in order to furnish it with more than a hundred
pieces of artillery of large calibre (all of bronze); and placing
aboard it a thousand soldiers, Spaniards, Pampangos, Merdicas,
Malays, and Zambal Indian bowmen. In its company went two pataches,
which had just come for trade with the Coromandel coast, well armed
and furnished with soldiers; and for commander of this enterprise
the governor appointed Don Tomás de Endaya, with the title of deputy
captain-general. To his valor could be entrusted any undertaking,
however perilous it might be; for he was valiant, and had great skill
in navigation, and had gone three times to España as commander [of the
galleons]. This splendid armada set out, small in number [of ships],
but having great strength. Having escorted through the Embocadero and
secured the galleon "San Telmo" (which reached these islands safely),
the armada reconnoitered all the places where the piratical enemy might
be, but did not find them, but learned that there had been no more
than the two vessels which had been in Babuyanes. Thereupon the armada
returned to Cavite, without accomplishing anything more than the great
expenses which the royal treasury had incurred, and having weakened
the great strength of the galleon "Santo Niño," with the numerous
portholes which had been cut in it for mounting the artillery; for it
was necessary for this purpose to cut through the ribs of the ship's
sides, in the preservation of which consisted its greatest strength.
The two pataches proceeded in search of the pirates to the locality
of the Babuyanes; and the commander, Don Tomás de Endaya, went with
a strong force of men by land to the province of Ilocos to look for
them--where, it was said, the said corsairs had arrived, although
the news did not prove to be accurate. He went as far as the capital
town of Vigan, where his encomienda was; and after having spent some
time there, not receiving information of the enemy, he returned to
Manila. He left there established a village of the blacks from the
mountains, called Santo Tomás, between Tarlac and Magalan, headed
by a notable chief of theirs named Don Juan Valiga. A few months
after Don Tomás de Endaya had arrived at Manila, he succeeded in the
office of master-of-camp to Don Fernando de Bobadilla (who held it
by proprietary appointment from his Majesty), who died about this
time. The latter was a great soldier, and the governor of Zamboanga,
and is often named in the history; he was a native of Sevilla, and
a son of one of the "twenty-four" of that city. The ships that went
by sea, after having searched many ports where they thought to find
the corsairs, and having no further news of them, returned to Manila
without having accomplished anything remarkable. Don Tomás de Endaya
was confirmed in the post of master-of-camp, and held it twenty-eight
years; and then he died from old age.
In this year of 1686, about June, occurred the revolt of the Sangleys
of the Parián of Manila, which I related in book ii, chapter 21, as I
did not suppose that I would reach these times with the thread of the
narrative; and therefore I do not repeat it [here], as it was written
with sufficient fulness, and the curious reader can find it in the
place I have cited. [This citation is incorrect, in the arrangement of
the chapters as given in Fray Lopez's edition of Diaz; the number of
the chapter should be xxxiv. Diaz's account, as there given (pp. 440,
441), we transfer to this place, adding his comments on the question
of allowing the Chinese to reside at Manila; it is as follows:]
While these islands were governed by the admiral of the galleons,
Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui y Arriola, of the Order of Santiago and
one of the "twenty-four" of Sevilla, in the year 1686 [misprinted
1636] there occurred a tumult in the Parián which it was feared would
become a general uprising [--which was planned,] according to the
investigations afterward made. In the said market there were many
recently-arrived Sangleys, of so bad reputation that the Sangley
merchants themselves had no confidence in these men, and said that
they were disguised thieves and highwaymen who had come from China
that year, having fled from a mandarin who was a very severe judge,
whom the emperor had sent from the court to drive out so mischievous
a sort of folk from the province of Fo-Kien, which at that time was
infested by criminals of that sort. The said mandarin had executed
his commission with such severity that those who were put to death
numbered more than sixty thousand--which in China is a small number,
because that country abounds in robbers--and for this reason many
had made their escape to Manila and other regions, fleeing from the
harshness of that judge. These people did all the harm that they
could, robbing inside the Parián the Chinese themselves, when they
could not rob outsiders.
About this time there came out of the public prison at Manila a Sangley
named Tingco, who had been imprisoned for the unnatural crime, and
had been there so long that in prison he had learned to read and write
our language, and had come to be a sufficiently competent scrivener to
write petitions and other papers for the rest of the prisoners, for he
was very clever and had a keen mind. He went about [the prison] freely,
as being a prisoner of so long standing, and aided the jailer greatly
by acting as guard to the other prisoners; and he supported himself
very comfortably on what he gained by his pen. Finally, after many
years of confinement he succeeded in gaining his full liberty; and,
as he had a restless disposition and evil inclinations, he associated
himself with other Chinese criminals, of those who were fugitives
from the province of Fo-Kien, and they lived on what they could
plunder from other Sangleys and from the Indians and Spaniards. As
they regarded this occupation of petty thieving as too disagreeable,
and it could not extricate them from their wretchedly poor condition,
they planned to assemble together three hundred of these vagabonds,
and to undertake some exploit which should better their fortunes so
that they could return to China free from danger. It seems certain
that this resolve was talked about with the multitude of the Parián
who were least supplied with funds, and these were on the watch to aid
the bold attempt of those promoters if the result had corresponded
to their plans; and what is most surprising is the secrecy with
which they kept these from the rich Sangleys--who not only would not
have entered into the plot, but would have revealed it for their own
safety; for they were going to lose much and gain little, and with
very evident risk. The day and hour of the conspiracy having been
settled--a day in the month of August, at daylight--they assembled in
a disorderly crowd, armed with such weapons as they could procure by
stealth, their leader being one who had newly come, that same year,
from China. In a mob, and without order, they attacked the house of
the alguacil-mayor, Pedro de Ortega; and they killed him and another
Spaniard, named Nicolás de Ballena. With this beginning they went to
the house of the alcalde-mayor of the Parián, Captain Don Diego Vivién,
and entered it to do the same to him; but, having heard the noise,
he escaped without clothing, and reached a safe place in the little
fort which defends the entrance to the great bridge, where there
is always a garrison of soldiers. The insurgents entered his house,
and their greed satisfied itself on what they found nearest to their
hands, although they had not the luck to find three thousand pesos
in silver which the alcalde possessed. While they halted for this
pillage there was time to bring up soldiers and other armed men,
and they easily arrested many of the Sangleys, although most of them
escaped; and the rest of the Parián remained tranquil. It was made
known that this conspiracy was plotted in the bakery of Manila, and
[it was said] that they intended to place pounded glass in the bread,
in order to kill the Spaniards. This was not positively ascertained,
but the management of that business was taken from the Chinese--to
which, however, they afterward returned, at the urgent request of our
people. This was because, during the time while the Sangleys did not
carry on this trade, they were replaced by Spaniards who in their own
country had been bakers, but in Manila they did not succeed in doing
anything to advantage; the Sangleys therefore again took charge of
the bakery, after they had been asked by many to furnish the supply
of bread, of which great quantities are consumed in Manila.
The Sangley Tingco was captured, and in company with ten others
was hanged and quartered; and the bodies were placed along the
river of Manila and the estuary of Tondo, as far as Point Tañón in
Tambobong. The conversion of those who were heathens (as were most
of them) was secured, and for this conversion labored earnestly
father Fray Álvaro de Benavente, an Augustinian, and Father José de
Irigoyen of the Society of Jesus, both of whom knew the dialects
of the provinces from which the criminals came; and for those of
Fo-Kien the fathers of St. Dominic [ministered]. News came that many
of the insurgents had taken refuge at Pasay, and General Don Tomás
de Endaya went out against them with soldiers and Merdicas (who are
very brave Malay Indians); they came back with eleven heads of those
whom they could kill, and the disturbance was quieted, nor has any
other occurred up to the present time.
In this danger Manila maintains her existence, clinging to it as
the means of her preservation even though she grieves over what is
the cause of her greatest decline. The shrewdness of the Chinese
in business dealings and their skill in carrying on the mechanical
trades turn us from these callings so entirely that Spaniards who in
their own country practiced them here consider it foolish to do so;
accordingly they allow the Chinese to conduct and manage the crafts,
believing that the latter are serving us when they are most imposing
upon us. And as the Chinese recognize this weakness of ours, and
see that it is without remedy, on account of the Spanish vanity, they
treat us with contempt in their acts, although with great submission in
their words. Whatever they make is defective and does not wear well,
in order that they may have more work to do. The unnecessary expense
that Manila suffers on account of the frauds that they practice in
the trades of baker, candle-maker, and silversmith is very great;
we recognize this, and endure it through necessity, and the matter is
not set right, through reluctance to apply the remedy. Many persons
understand the injury which the Chinese cause here, but much more
numerous are those who defend them, since this peril is dear to those
who regard it as an advantage [to have the Chinese here.]
In the year 1678 there reached our hands a very judicious opinion,
printed at Madrid by a devout person who had had experience in dealing
with that nation, and was well aware of their acts of guile. It was
presented before the royal and supreme Council of the Indias, its
president being the Conde de Medellín; and when the arguments adduced
therein made a very strong impression, another pamphlet appeared in
print at the same court, against the former one and in favor of the
Sangleys; this delayed the decision, so that it seems as if they have
in all quarters those who defend them. And so we go on, enduring this
incurable disease--although today the number of the Sangleys is less
than ever; for it is supposed that the number does not reach the six
thousand whom the royal decrees allow, and judging by the poverty
to which the commonwealth of Manila is steadily being reduced, each
year there will be fewer Chinese here through the lack of profits;
for that is the craving which draws them from their own country.
I am aware that I have expatiated on a matter which seems to be an
affair of state, rather than of history, although history, as a teacher
of truth and a witness of the times, should include all events. I much
regret that I cannot enlarge my account by saying something of the
much which I could tell about the great indifference with which the
Sangleys who are baptized attend to their obligations as Christians;
most of them do so for worldly objects, such as being married and
living as lords of the country; but this subject is one for tears
rather than for the pen. Many lamentations have been made by many
Jeremiahs zealous for the honor of God; but no results have followed
beyond the reward which will be given to them in glory for this so holy
labor. A very learned apologue is kept in the ecclesiastical archives,
written by the reverend father Fray Alberto Collares of the Order
of Preachers, at the request of the archbishop of Manila, Doctor Don
Miguel Millán de Poblete, which causes horror to those who read it;
and the worst is, that it tells but little, according to the opinion
of other religious of the said order, who, as ministers to the Parián
mission, know the Chinese best. And still more is this occasion for
censure to some of the religious of that order who have been in China,
and know how much superior the Christians of that empire are to these;
and therefore they take great care to prevent those who come from
China (who are few) from holding intercourse with the Christians of
the Parián, in order that these may not corrupt them. Thus do they
look upon the matter; and when in our convent at Manila was lodged
Don Fray Gregorio López, a Basilitan [111] bishop of the Order of
Preachers, a Chinese by nationality--who was a phoenix among that
people, on account of his virtue and sanctity--he prevented from
going to the Parián, whenever he could, two good Chinese Christians
whom he brought hither in his company.
Many (and most) persons are greatly deceived in imagining that the
Sangleys who live among the Indian natives outside of Manila do no
harm to the faith, saying that the Chinese are more atheists than
idolaters, and that they only seek worldly advantages. But this is
not always the rule, for some teach sects and doctrines that are very
evil, as experience shows. In the year 1706, father Fray Antolín de
Alzaga, one of the apostolic missionaries whom we have in the remote
mountains of the province of Pampanga, converting and instructing the
warlike peoples called Italones, Ituriés, and Abacas--whose wonderful
conversions present notable material to him whose duty it is to write
the history of those times--this apostolic missionary came to Manila,
making light of the hardships of [travel by] those roads so long
and rough, in order to ask the governor, Don Domingo de Zabalburu,
to take measures for banishing from these mountains two infidel
Sangleys, who with greed for the trade in wax had penetrated even
those unexplored hills, where they taught false dogmas and perverse
opinions, such as palingenesis, or transmigration of souls--a dogma
which Pythagoras taught, and which was propagated much among heathen
peoples. At the present time it is accepted by all nations of Asia,
and in China and Japon with the greatest tenacity; they believe
that when a man dies his soul goes to animate another body, either
rational or brute, according to the deserts of him who is dead,
and for either punishment or reward; and thus they allot an infinite
succession of transmigrations. This diabolical dogma was taught by
these Sangleys to the Italon Indians, with other evil doctrines,
such as polygamy (which permits a man to have many wives), idolatry,
and others which ensue from it. That accursed doctrine spread rapidly
among those simple mountaineers, so much so that it became necessary
to have recourse to the said governor--who, being so zealous for
the increase of the Christian faith, sent to the alcalde-mayor of
Pampanga a very urgent command to expel from those missions the two
Sangleys, and to be very careful to prevent the entrance of others
therein; and this order was carried out, to the great tranquillity
of the new Christian church. Experience has shown the same thing in
other villages where Sangleys have fixed abodes. I will not delay
longer over a matter on which there is an endless amount to be said,
since I have sufficiently exceeded the limits of my obligation; and
I refer to many persons who have officially discussed these matters,
although they have obtained no results from their earnest efforts.
The natives regard them with contempt, having no further inclination
toward them than that of self-interest; consequently, neither
affection nor fear draws either toward the other. And ordinarily
selfishness courts the Sangleys, while aversion urges the natives
to make complaints against them--except that the bond of matrimony
is a check on the women; for, as is usually the case, if a native
leads a bad life, he is on the watch for the acts of the Sangleys,
in order to make the evil-doing of another serve as an excuse for
greater freedom in his own wrong mode of life. Accordingly, they are
in more danger from testimony arising from the malice of the accusers
than from facts brought forward in zeal for their correction--as is
seen by the few complaints or accusations that are decided against
them, and how still more rarely do these bring them to punishment. Nor
can this be attributed to the negligence of the judges, for they are
delighted to receive the lawsuits of the Sangleys, our covetousness
selling to them even justice very dear; and when harshness finds
an object, it makes their punishments (since their wealth offers so
much to avarice), although less bloody, more keenly felt, since in
the estimation of the Sangley money is his very heart's blood.
The precedents set by the sovereign kings Don Fernando the Catholic and
Don Felipe II are examples of their piety, and of their successful
policy in separating from their Catholic vassals those who are
perfidious, who if mingled with the others might pervert them, through
the passion which the Indians and Moros have for propagating their
[false] sects--a danger much to be feared among the simple people of
the villages and the common herd.
No doubt, intercourse with these infidels is very necessary, on account
of the merchandise which they furnish to us from their kingdom; but
this could, in my opinion, be accomplished without danger to us--for
one thing, by permitting to remain in these islands [only the] six
thousand Sangleys, as his Majesty decrees; and for another, by not
permitting them to trade in the provinces, or to live in the villages
mingled with the Indians. But they should be kept in subjection, as
Joshua kept down the Gaboanites, and as now Roma, Florencia, Venecia,
and Orán hold the Jews in subjection, and our people in Ternate kept
the Moros in his Majesty's galleys, the rabble of that sort. It is an
obvious disadvantage to live subjected to such peoples, because the
law of subjection, the adulation offered to rulers, and ambition to
secure their favor are powerful to subject religion to their pleasure,
as has been found by experience in all the countries where this
misfortune has been suffered--such as Mesopotamia, both the Arabias,
Egipto, and Africa, and that one which was the supporter of religion,
Constantinopla, with all of Grecia. And for the same reason heresy has
so prevailed and lorded it in Inglaterra, Irlanda, Dinamarca, Suecia,
Sajonia,[i.e., Saxony], the Palatinate, and many other provinces and
free cities--the most fatal poison that attacks the faith being the
sovereignty of infidel princes, their grandeur and power being the
sure ruin of religion. I consider that I have used more space than
is required by my obligations, in treating of so pernicious a nation,
which is allowed here in greater number than our needs demand--I know
not whether through our fault or our misfortune--and maintained in
the subjection which experience has shown [to be necessary] at times
when too great confidence has relaxed the rein of caution.
[Here we resume the regular narrative of this period by Diaz,
at p. 786:] This revolt caused great anxiety to the governor, Don
Gabriel Curucelaegui, on account of the many champans which had come
that year from China; but in the course of time the danger disappeared.
Among the great hardships which in this year were suffered in Manila,
one was that the rains were heavier than any known to living men. Not
only were they very heavy, but they lasted many months, and were
the cause of many fields and crops being ruined, which caused a
great scarcity of provisions; and, as it was impossible to work the
salt-beds, the price of salt rose so high that it came to be worth
twelve pesos for half a fanega, although its ordinary price was two
or three reals--and some years even less, depending on the [height
of the] water and on the heat of the sun, on which conditions this
so necessary industry depends.
The most memorable event of this year, and one which may be counted
among the most important which have occurred in these islands since
their conquest, is the imprisonment of the auditors, Don Diego Antonio
de Viga and Don Pedro Sebastián de Bolivar, by the governor. It is an
event to cause astonishment--and more, as it came so soon after the
imprisonment and exile of the archbishop, Don Fray Felipe Pardo--at
seeing in so short a time Doctor Don Cristóbal de Herrera Grimaldos
dead, and two auditors deprived forever of their togas (since never
again could they put these on), and their families ruined and almost
destroyed. It is not my intention to interpret the inscrutable secrets
of divine justice, but only to set down the times and occasions in
which so notable events occurred. [Diaz's account of the imprisonment
and deaths of the auditors is here omitted, as it has already been
sufficiently related in VOL. XXXIX.]