The beginning of the conversion of these Indians of Nueva Segovia
These Indians were in this wretched state when the six new religious
came to this province. They were received by father Fray Diego de
Soria and his associate with great joy; and the two fathers gave many
thanks to the Lord for remembering these souls and sending preachers
to them. Father Fray Diego immediately said that he had very much at
heart the gathering into the church of these tribes, whom up to that
time he had not tried to convert, on account of the order to return if
no religious came from Espana that year. He had felt that it would be
a bad plan to baptize any while he was in this doubt, because of the
danger of leaving the newly baptized without any teacher in the midst
of so many heathen; for it was morally certain that they would go
back to their diabolical worship if they were left alone. They would
have been compelled to do so, not only by force, which the heathen
about them would have been sure to apply in a matter of this kind;
but by their own weakness, being new-born in the faith, and their
scant possession not only of spiritual but even of natural energy,
having been depraved by so many and so evil customs, in which they
had been born and had spent all their lives. But now that there were
religious to sustain, strengthen, and maintain in the faith those
who might be converted, father Fray Diego was greatly encouraged,
and immediately began to lay out the plan to be followed in this
spiritual conquest. The first thing determined upon for this purpose
was that all should commend themselves with all their hearts to the
Lord, to whom all this work belonged. Hence, the religious who had
arrived on the first of August, 1595, were gathered in the convent
of the city up to the middle of September, spending all this time by
day and night in constant prayer, begging the Lord to direct all their
actions as should be most suitable for a work so peculiarly His own as
was the conversion of these Indians. To this end they prayed Him first
of all that He would convert them themselves, by giving them purity
of life, and a knowledge of this language which they had never heard,
and which they had no masters to teach them; and finally that he would
give them patience, courage, and virtue to live and dwell in the midst
of this barbarous and bloodthirsty race, with no other defense than
the divine aid. So barbarous and bloodthirsty were they that, as has
been said, the Spaniards dared not go out of their city unless they
were well armed and went in numbers; while the friars were obliged
to go, as indeed they did go, into the Indian villages unarmed and
alone, except for the divine companionship. The devil, the captain
of the enemy's troops, was not heedless, when he saw that war had
been declared against him; and the Spanish sentinels that made their
rounds about the city at night saw a mastiff of extraordinary size
going round and round the church and the convent. Since there was no
such mastiff in the house of any of the Spaniards, much less among the
Indians, and as they saw no such animal either before or afterwards,
they could not doubt who it was. It was a very particular favor of
the Lord to show the devil in visible form, that the religious might
strengthen their prayers and turn with greater urgency to Him who
surely favored them, for they now had in view their enemy, who desired
to swallow them whole. They also perceived that he was very active
among his Indians; for the religious frequently heard them (sometimes
by day but ordinarily by night) in the villages about the city, named
Daludu and Tocolana, and in the houses in the fields in that vicinity,
making a great noise with their voices and their gasas--which are
their bells, though they are not formed like our bells. Father Fray
Diego de Soria said to the other religious, with a tone of certainty:
"Fathers, this noise that we hear is the Indians making sacrifices to
the demons; for, induced by their diabolical industry, they are now
offering special services to the devil, and are striving to appease him
by feasts, that he may keep and preserve them in their ancient rites
and customs. Pray then, reverend fathers, to the Lord for His grace,
that He may expel from the land the Prince of Darkness, who holds it
under his tyranny. Prepare yourselves, for we are soon to come into
conflict with him. Within a few days you will be scattered among the
villages of these heathen, and will be exposed to great dangers. You
will find that you will have to do with him, for he it is who is
the strong army guarding this his dwelling-place. Therefore he will
strive to defend it, and to attack those who seek him, and who are
endeavoring to drive him forth from it. But be of good courage, for we
have on our side Him who conquered the devil, and who every day causes
His followers to conquer him." This was not spoken to deaf persons,
but to those who knew very well the truth of what was said. Though
they felt confident that they would conquer with the divine aid,
they made themselves ready, with prayer and fasting and suffering,
for the dangers and hardships without which there is never conflict,
and much less victory. While this was taking place in the city,
father Fray Diego strove to have churches erected in Pata, Abulug,
and Camalaniugan [54]--as was easily done, because the churches
were very small and poor. Then father Fray Diego held a council of
the religious and said to them: "It would be well to cast lots, to
see to which of each of these four villages your Reverences are to
go." They answered: "There is no reason for depending on uncertain
lots, for he is always sure of a happy lot who is under the rule of
obedience. Dispose of us, your Reverence, as seems best to you; for
without any reply we will each of us go very contentedly wherever the
direction of our superior bids us go." Father Fray Diego was pleased to
hear so wise a response, and one so proper from vowed religious; and
named father Fray Miguel de San Jacintho [55] and father Fray Gaspar
Zarfate to the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Pata; and father Fray
Ambrosio de la Madre de Dios to Abulug, with brother Fray Domingo de
San Blas as his companion, directing them to build or to finish the
church in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas, doctor of the church. Father
Fray Antonio de Soria, with another brother, went to Camalaniugan. In
the city remained father Fray Diego de Soria and father Fray Thomas
Castellar, who had picked up a little of the language. In addition
to this, father Fray Diego went out to visit all the villages, to
the great spiritual and temporal profit of the Indians.
The first church of the Indians erected in this province was in the
village of Pata. There was a chief in it, named Yringan, who was
devoted to the Spaniards and who attached himself to the religious,
being on very intimate terms with them. He was accordingly very glad
to receive them in his village, which they reached on the day of the
Holy Cross in September. They were overjoyed to find a cross set
up in it, three bracas and a half in height. When they asked the
Indians how they got it, they answered that before the religious
came to this province a contagious disease attacked the Indians,
of which many died. It happened that at that time there was in this
village a Spaniard, Juan Fernandez de Najara, a peaceful man, much
beloved by the Indians. Many of them went to him to ask for a remedy
for their sick. He, pitying their need, answered them, "Friends, I
cannot cure you. It is God who can cure these ills. Let us trust in
Him and in His only Son, who was made man and died on a cross. Let
us believe that by His sign he will heal you. For this is a thing
that we Christians reverence and esteem highly; and it may be that
for this devotion God will pity you. Bring two pieces of wood and let
us make it." He made the cross and the Indians put it up. Najara and
his companions fell on their knees and celebrated the setting up of
the cross by shooting off their arquebuses with the utmost devotion
and reverence. The Indians, imitating them, reverenced it in their
own manner. The result was miraculous, for this contagious disease
immediately began so plainly to abate that the Indians could not
fail to see this result, barbarians though they were. One of them,
the one who received the fathers, made a small cross and fastened
it to his bed, that it might protect him from this sickness, and in
this way he attained his desire. When the religious entered this and
the other villages of the Indians, they had absolutely no knowledge
of the language; and there was in all the villages not a single
person who desired to receive the faith, since it had never been
preached to them. They had never heard a thing of it in all their
lives; on the contrary, the devil had kept them prejudiced against
it--by the threats which he uttered, and by telling them that their
ancestors would return, and would be greatly grieved to find them
under a different law from that which they had followed. Moreover,
the works which they saw done by the Christian Spaniards whom they
knew there were not such as to cause them to be converted, or to
make them esteem the Christian way of living. At that time they knew
no religious, though they had heard of them, but very confusedly
and uncertainly, by reports brought from Pangasinan. Accordingly
they felt distrustful of religious, and believed that they followed
the customs of the soldiers, because they belonged to the nation of
the latter. At first, therefore, they put no confidence in them and
could not understand what their purposes were in coming to live in
the Indian villages. They feared that the religious would be like the
other Christians whom they had seen, who came to try to get away from
them their gold and everything that they prized. Being suspicious
of this, some of the villages refused to admit them, for instance,
that of Masi. But in the village of Pata they were kindly received,
and built their poor church and tiny dwelling-place, made of nothing
but cane and nipa or straw, and of very slender stakes. Even for
this they had to pay the Indians much more than the materials were
worth, as also for the labor of those who built it. However, the
fathers thought nothing of the expense, but it seemed to them very
good; and to this very day they praise that house, and regard it as
very well built. As the religious did not understand the language,
and did not even have any translators or interpreters [naguatatos]
by whom they might communicate with the Indians, and explain the law
of God which they came to preach to them, they labored much with very
small results. The Indians, who were greatly displeased to see them
in their villages, gave them nothing to eat; and the need and hunger
which they suffered were very great. Although they suffered joyfully
for love of God, still these things had their natural effect on their
bodies; and father Fray Miguel de San Jacintho was afflicted by a
severe pain in the stomach, and his companion by giddiness of the
head. Both of these maladies were due to their lack of food, for as
soon as they had anything to eat they recovered. But it was not often
that they had sufficient food, sustaining themselves generally with
nothing but herbs, and those purgative ones, which rather diminished
their strength than afforded them sustenance. At meal-time one of them
read a chapter from holy Scripture, and when this was finished they
began upon their short meal. The one who completed his meal first
read another chapter of the scripture, and then they gave thanks to
God, having satisfied their souls rather than their stomachs. [On
one St. Dominic's day the religious found themselves with nothing
to eat but rice boiled in water (which takes the place of bread in
this country); and just at meal-time an Indian came in and gave them
a very good fish of the kind called bobo. This is the best kind of
fish known in this country, and this was the best fish of the sort
that the fathers had ever eaten. It was caught in a river where it
had never before been seen, and at a time of year when this fish is
not generally found, even in the rivers which it enters to spawn. The
fathers accordingly accepted this as a miracle, granted them that they
might duly celebrate the day of the founder of their order. Soon after,
the fathers found the man who had given them the fish, given over for
dead, but still living. By their care he was cured, and afterwards was
baptized. The fathers to whom this happened were father Fray Ambrosio
de la Madre de Dios and Fray Domingo de San Blas. This was in August,
and, as the fathers had entered upon their work in September in the
preceding year, their sufferings had lasted almost a year. At this
time it happened that an Augustinian friar came to the village of Pata,
and, beholding the sufferings of these religious, was greatly shocked,
and rebuked the Indian chiefs for the treatment that they had offered
to the friars. The religious had been unwilling to ask the Indians
even for a little fish, although there were a great many in the
river that flowed by the village. The words of the Augustinian had
some effect, and the Indians brought them some fish, though not very
much. The custom of father Fray Luis de Granada was to read a little
after grace had been said, and then to discuss the reading and to
talk over what they had learned of the language of the Indians. They
then took a brief rest and afterwards conferred upon some point in
theology, finally returning to the language, for they thought more
of discovering a new word than of finding a rich pearl. In course of
time the Lord was pleased to reward their diligence by giving them
the use of the language, so that they could understand the Indians and
instruct them in the law of God. They translated the Christian doctrine
into their language, and had the children recite it. They succeeded
in obtaining many of the children for baptism. The devil's oracles
ceased in this village of Pata, where they had been delivered to a
sorceress named Fulangan.] At this time there was in the village near
this one, called Cabacungan, a famous Indian anitera, or priestess,
with whom the devil frequently spoke, and by whose mouth in those
days he uttered most dreadful things. By her means the enemy caused
a great repugnance to the faith among the people there. The religious
endeavored to frighten her, and several times threatened her that if
she did not cease they would have her punished in the Spanish city,
or would send her to Manila; but she, egged on by him who inspired
her, pretended that she did not understand, and continued in
her wickedness. The religious, as a last resort, thought it best
to send an Indian chief who had become a good Christian to talk
with her. His name was Don Francisco Yringan. They hoped that he
would be able to bring her over, or at least to prevent her from
perverting the people. If they failed in this, they determined to
bring her to justice. Yringan did not dare to carry this message
to this she-devil without stronger weapons than hers, and asked the
fathers for a cross. The religious, who had nothing better at hand,
painted one on a cloth that Yringan had tied on his head, and used
nothing but pen and ink. This was so easy that he made or painted not
one only, but several. This one thing terrified the devil so greatly
that, without daring to stand before the Indian armed with crosses,
he caught up his priestess, and she disappeared. Neither he nor she
ever appeared again, nor was it ever known where he took her or what
he did with her. As a result of this miracle and many others with
which the Lord gave credit to His gospel, the Indians began to feel
respect for the law that the religious preached to them. The latter
were much encouraged when they saw that the Lord favored them; and
father Fray Diego de Soria determined to undertake a very difficult and
dangerous enterprise, which, if successful, would greatly aid in this
conversion. It happened that the lord of this village of Pata, of Masi,
and of others, named Siriban, a very noble and valiant Indian, had at
this time withdrawn to the mountains, fleeing from the alcalde-mayor,
before whom some of his rivals had brought against him charges that
he had many wives. In fact, he had no more than two--one of them
his equal in rank; and the other of lower rank but more beloved,
because he had a daughter by her whom he tenderly loved, as the child
deserved. The alcalde-mayor had these two women arrested; and he
ordered them to be flogged, though one of them was pregnant. Partly
from resentment for this, and partly for fear that the alcalde-mayor
would capture him (as he meant to), Siriban withdrew to the mountains,
attended by a heavily-armed guard. His purpose was not to make war
against the Spaniards, for he never undertook anything of that kind,
but merely to defend himself if they tried to capture him, as his
enemies desired. However, he always kept his person safe, being an
Indian of great courage and much ingenuity; a man of noble birth, good
motives, and a kind disposition. He was accordingly much beloved by
his subjects, who accompanied and guarded him with great fidelity. All
this had happened before the religious came to the province, for if
father Fray Diego had been in it the alcalde-mayor would not have
done what he did. Father Fray Diego saw that if he could convert
this Indian many more would be sure to follow him to the church, and
determined to attempt his conversion. For this purpose he prepared
himself with many prayers and masses, and the tears of himself and
the other religious, in return for which the Lord caused the Indians
to appoint a place where father Fray Diego might come and speak with
him. Father Fray Diego gave him the assurance that no other Spaniard
would come there, and that there would be no Indians in ambush and
no trickery. They conversed with each other, and father Fray Diego
was able to give Siriban such assurances that he came down with
his following to the village of Pata, put himself like a lamb in
the hands of father Fray Diego, and began like a child to learn the
Christian prayers and doctrine, desiring to receive the law which the
religious taught. He was occupied in this up to the end of Lent; and
at Easter was baptized in the city of the Spaniards with seven other
chiefs. These were the first adult Christians of this province of
Nueva Segovia. Don Diego, as Siriban was named, had as his godfathers
the alcalde-mayor and some other leading Spaniards. This was a day of
great joy for the villages; and Don Diego Siriban and his associates
became very friendly to the Spaniards. Don Diego was very grateful
and was a great aid to Christianity; he attracted many to the faith,
not only by his example, but by his words. Many adults now began to
be baptized; but the greatest and most certain harvest was that of the
children, because the Lord at this time sent a great plague of epidemic
smallpox throughout the province. It was so malignant that it did not
leave a child alive; and that the children might have eternal life the
Lord enabled the religious to baptize them throughout the time of the
epidemic. The result was a great harvest of souls for heaven, sent from
a land which always before had supplied a harvest for hell. The new
preachers of the gospel kept constantly baptizing children; and, as
this activity was so sure and certain in its results, they took great
delight in it. They already forgot and despised all the hardships which
they had suffered in their long voyages, their dangerous infirmities,
and their exhausting journeys, being pleased with the taste of
fruits which were so plentiful, which came so early, and which were
so agreeable to God. God also showed himself to be pleased with the
good services of the religious, in receiving from their hands such
abundance and such gracious first-fruits. The religious also promised
themselves marvelous results from their labor, which had commenced
so wonderfully. Not only here, but in all the churches which have
been established, the ministers of this province have observed that
the first bodies which have been interred in them have been those of
baptized infants, in order that possession of them may be taken first
by the bodies of those who, as we certainly know, have gone to glorify
and to people heaven. [The Lord also showed himself very kind to the
adults at times. On one occasion, in response to the prayers of an
Indian Christian He protected his fields from a plague of locusts,
which devastated the fields of all his Indian neighbors.]
After the church of Pata had been founded, it was planned to erect
another as large in Abulug, a more populous town, the people of which
were very proud and esteemed themselves highly. The Indians came to
help in building it, not because of the payment they received--for
as they very soon showed, they would have given much more to keep the
religious out of their village, for the devil kept prejudiced against
the fathers--but because they were afraid of the alcalde-mayor,
who ordered them to do this. Even while they were at work on it,
they held a council in which they agreed to do what they could to
interfere with it and to drive away the religious. The chiefs made up
a plan that some of them should go to the city of Manila, and there
bring it about that the religious should be compelled to leave their
village, and to give them over to their barbarous and heathen manner of
living. The charge of this matter was put in the hands of two chiefs,
who were uncle and nephew, one being named Cafugao and the other
Tuliau. They got ready a vessel, and gave their ambassadors a great
quantity of gold to carry out their object; and the latter actually
set sail, in order to bring this about. The storms and dangers of
the sea which they suffered on this voyage were many; because the
sea of these coasts is very violent and stormy. However, making
their way against the wind, they reached Bigan, the principal town
of the province of Ylocos. Here they talked with the chiefs there,
telling their intentions and designs, and the purpose which took
them to Manila. The people of Ylocos told them that they were making
a mistake, and that, now they had Spaniards in their land, to oppose
having priests there was to strive in vain. But Cafugao, who held the
highest rank among them all, was so obstinate that he urged his nephew
Tuliau to prosecute their journey to Manila, because they could reach
it by six days' sailing. They set sail, and though the weather was good
and the sea was quiet, they could not manage to get a step in advance,
and accomplished nothing but to advance and then come back again. In
this way they spent many days even in reaching a port called Purau,
which was little more than a day's voyage distant. This was the more
marvelous because they plainly saw other vessels making their way to
the same place to which they wished to go. All the rest passed them by,
while they only remained in that place without being able to advance
as the others did. They did not know to what they might attribute
this, when they saw that for all the others that were making the same
voyage the wind was fair, while for them it was contrary. At last,
forced by necessity, they were obliged to return to Bigan, where
the chiefs of the town again tried to persuade them to receive the
religious. To influence them the more, they said: "Look, and see that
the religious whom you have are not going to do you any harm. On the
contrary, they will do you much good by helping to protect you from
the Spaniards. The people of Pangasinan, our neighbors, are very well
pleased with them; for they eat no chickens, but only a little fish,
and if that is not given to them they get along with herbs. They
do not travel on the backs of men, or of Indians, but on their own
feet. If there is no one to carry their bed for them, they carry it
on their own shoulders. They do not seek for gold, they do not ask for
silver; on the contrary, they give of what they have to their Indians,
they maintain the poor, and they cure the sick." Influenced by these
words, and disgusted and wearied by the unfavorable weather which
they experienced, they determined to return to their village, after
having spent four months on a journey which was usually performed in
a week, and after having been many times in danger of being wrecked
and drowned. By this may be seen the rebelliousness of their hearts,
and the mercy of the Lord, who carried them from one place to the
other, and, placing before their eyes the death that they deserved,
hindered the evil purpose upon which they had entered, and drew them
to His holy law. They did not understand it then, but came to see
it afterward; and to this day they tell the story with great wonder,
as of a manifestly miraculous and marvelous event. When they reached
their own village, they had become changed and gentle, beyond all the
hope that the fathers had of them. They began with all their hearts to
learn how to pray, to hear the catechism, and to frequent the church;
and, urging the others to do the same, they accepted baptism. They
and the rest in that house became very good Christians, and were the
support of Christianity in that region. They gave alms freely, and
were devoted to the divine worship. God has given them His blessing;
and that household is the best ordered and most highly esteemed
among all the Indians in that province. In the meantime, the chiefs
of this village and their neighbors were waiting for news from Manila
that the negotiations of those who had sailed there had succeeded in
causing the dismissal of the religious. While waiting, they tricked and
deceived them by sending half a dozen boys to listen to the prayers,
having agreed among themselves that none of the grown people should
enter the church or the fathers' dwelling-place, or should have any
dealings with them, or go to see them. This plan displeased the boys,
and one of them, a son of the most prominent chief, said: "So the grown
people are pleased and satisfied to send me to endure this praying,
and to stay in the church; but they ought not to do so." Thus every
day he quarreled with them, and they with him. He began to cry and
whimper, and threatened them that he would run away if they made him
go to church. This was the state of perversity in which they then were;
but when the voyagers came and told them what had happened, their minds
were all changed, and they began to think well of the law which was
preached to them. Thus they set about becoming Christians, and good
Christians, being much aided by the virtue of the religious--which
was so great that, though they were heathen and barbarous, they
recognized and respected it. It happened at this time that there
came to this village on business some Indians who had already been
converted to Christianity, natives of the province of Ylocos, which,
as has been said, is next to that of Nueva Segovia. One of them fell
sick, and was left without shelter or food. No one took pity upon him,
because those in the village were all still heathen and pitiless, as
was he whom they adored as God. Father Fray Ambrosio de la Madre de
Dios went to the sick man, and, pitying him, took him to the convent,
entrusting him to brother Fray Domingo de San Blas, his associate,
a very devout friar. He directed him to provide the sick man with
what he needed as well as he could, though this was but poorly. The
brother did this with great delight, for his whole mind was set upon
serving God and his neighbor. At last the sick man was about to die;
and the fathers summoned the chief of the village--who was a heathen,
like all the rest of them--that he might see how they attended upon the
dying person, and might thus be edified and come to feel kindly toward
the faith. [While the chief was there the father cast holy water upon
the dying man, whom he took for dead. The sick man revived, and the
result of this occurrence was to make the hearts of the chief and of
the other inhabitants of the village very well disposed to the fathers
and to their teaching, because they saw them act so disinterestedly
and so charitably toward a stranger, from whom they could expect
no reward. The recovery of the sick person when the holy water was
sprinkled upon him caused the Indians to believe in the virtue of
this water, and hence to be willing to be baptized. An Indian woman
who seemed to be mortally wounded also recovered after being baptized;
and the Indians believed that this healing was much aided by the great
virtue of the missionary, father Fray Ambrosio de la Madre de Dios.
The first church was built as poorly as might have been expected of
religious who came into the country as Christ our Lord in His gospel
directed His apostles to go, without money, or bag, or treasure. In
the course of time, when necessity required the building of larger
churches, because the town was large and the population had almost all
become Christian, they were all of wood and unfortunately burned. The
religious afterward undertook to build one of brick or stone; and
for this purpose they built a kiln in which to burn lime. When it
was already full of stone and of the wood necessary to make a fire,
there was a religious standing at the top of the arch over it, and
there were some men and women at work on the side. The arch suddenly
fell in, and all the stone was carried inward. One woman was buried
in the stone, to twice her own height. The religious offered prayers
for her to the Virgin; and when they uncovered her, which they did as
quickly as possible, she came out, of her own accord, quite uninjured.]
When the first church in this village had been finished, the religious,
seeing the manifest favor of the Lord in everything that had happened,
undertook to build another in Camalaniugan, a village about a legua
from the city. The Indians there are among the most intelligent in
those provinces. They were very friendly with the Spaniards, and
gave them great help in pacifying the whole country, by their great
fidelity and continued assistance in the wars which took place. No
falsehood or double-dealing was ever discovered in them; and they
have always preserved this affection for the Spaniards, serving
them much--as they were able to do, because of their proximity to
the city. The chief and lord of this village was so rich that, if we
are to believe his vassals, or even some of the old soldiers who were
there at that time, he weighed the gold that he had with a steelyard,
as iron is commonly weighed. Afterward, however, he suffered from the
vicissitudes of fortune, and lost the greater part of his property. To
this village father Fray Antonio de Soria went, with a brother of
the order, to establish and erect a church. Though they were received
without opposition, the Indians showed so little pleasure at having
them in their village that no one visited them or spoke to them,
except to ask when they were going to depart. Their answer was, that
they would go as soon as the river ran dry. Now this river is so large
that, because of its resemblance, the Spaniards called it Tajo [i.e.,
"Tagus"]. At this answer the Indians gave up putting that question,
but they did not give up their wonder at seeing the religious among
them, making a thousand guesses about the plans and purposes that the
religious might have in maintaining a house and dwelling in their
village. The women, though out of curiosity they tried to look at
the religious, did so by stealth, glancing over their shoulders. If
a religious happened to turn his head, they ran away like so many
fallow-deer. If one suddenly came upon them when they were carrying
water (which they drew from the river), they put it on the ground in
order that they might better run away from him and from being seen by
him. This was the way in which the religious were generally received
in that and the other villages. However, as the story of the way in
which they lived at Pata and Abulug had reached there, the Indians
did not find the missionaries quite so strange, or treat them quite
so badly, as they did at those places. What they wondered at most was
their habits, which for such a hot country were very heavy, and which
were very different from anything that they had seen on Spaniards,
or on religious who had up to that time been in the city. A church
was afterward built there--like the rest, poor and small, and with
a roof of thatch. But it was built with great devotion on the part
of the religious, and with great acceptance to our Lord, for whose
glory it was built. Immediately afterward, they likewise built a
church in Buguey, which was near that village and was closely allied
to it. The church of Camalaniugan had the name of St. Hyacinth, and
was dedicated to him. That of Buguei was dedicated to St. Vincent
Ferrer; but afterward the name was changed, and it is now named for
St. Anne. These churches were for the time annexed to the convent in
the city, as its benefices, and as dependent upon it. The religious
found much to occupy them while they were dwelling in those villages,
as they were the first who preached there the law of the gospel; and
as they had deeply at heart the purpose of overthrowing and casting
to the ground the deceits which the Father of Lies had inculcated upon
these tribes, and the diabolical customs in which they had been brought
up. These evil ways of living had been sucked in by them with their
mothers' milk, and, having been continued by them all their lives, they
had become second nature. As the Indians had inherited them from their
ancestors, they observed them with the greatest accuracy, and took
the greater pleasure in them because they were so closely conformed to
their wicked inclinations and their evil training. Therefore to draw
them forth from this condition, which was so contrary even to the law
of nature, was a most difficult matter, and one in which success was
not to be expected from natural forces. Hence the religious strove
with all their hearts to obtain divine strength by means of prayer,
fasting, and tears. By the aid of the Lord, which is never denied
to those who thus seek for it, they went on and conquered all these
difficulties; and in a short time they saw and tasted, to the great
comfort of their souls, wonderful fruits from their labors. These
had been accomplished by the help of God, to whose omnipotence there
is nothing difficult. The Indians--who, because they did not know
the religious, received them at first with so much disgust--soon
came to see in what an error they had been, and how unfounded their
fears were; for with the religious God sent to them light, teaching,
true belief, healing for their souls, comfort in their sorrow, a
wise rule of conduct, order and system in their manner of living,
protection against those who wronged them, and, in a word, true
fathers, not only in spiritual, but also in temporal matters. Hence
within a few years, when the voluntary offer of their allegiance was
asked for from them on the part of his Majesty King Felipe II, [56]
to satisfy a scruple which he had felt with regard to the conquest of
that province, one of the leading chiefs of the province, Don Diego
Siriban, responded for himself and for his subjects that he gave his
allegiance to the king our lord with a very good will, because of the
great blessing which he had given them by sending religious to them. He
went on to say "If we had known earlier the good that was coming to
us with them, we would have gone to their countries to seek for it,
even if we had been sure that half of us were certain to perish in
the quest." The same thing was said by the whole village. Another
village declared that they very readily offered their allegiance
to his Majesty for having sent them Spaniards to deliver them from
the tyranny of their chiefs, and religious to deliver them from the
tyranny of some Spaniards. In general, the love that they feel for the
religious is very great. Those who can have them in their villages
are greatly pleased; while those who cannot be supplied, on account
of the insufficient number, long for them. An evidence of this may
be seen in the case of a great Indian chief named Bacani. Some years
ago this man, who had no religious in his district, went to see the
father provincial, and, falling on his knees, begged him with tears
that he might receive some fathers. He offered in his own name, and
in that of the other chiefs of his tribe, to gather in one village
more than a thousand inhabitants, and for this purpose to leave his
own villages and estates. The reason for this was that the villages
were so small and scattered that it was difficult to give instruction
among them; and hence the offer was made that many of them would
assemble together in a new village, in some cases one or two days'
travel distant from where they had been living. The inhabitants of
another region, called Malagueg, who had no ministers, and to whom
none could be given, built a house for them and bought a boat in which
they might travel--for people generally travel by the rivers--planning
thus to make it easier for religious to be given them, as soon as
there should be any. In the interim they did not cease to ask for
them very humbly, and left no stone unturned to bring it about that
the religious might be sent. They did all sorts of things to get
ministers to live among them, offering to abandon their vices, and
manifesting the greatest desire to become Christians (as at this time,
by the grace of God, they are). The same desire was displayed by the
Indians of the estuary of Yogan; but the father provincial did not dare
to give them religious. A marvel followed, for while they were very
urgently pleading for missionaries, two of the religious fell sick,
and were so near to death that they were already despaired of. At that
time a religious came in, who was much moved to pity when he saw the
heathen asking for preachers with so much urgency. He told the father
provincial, Fray Miguel de San Jacintho, that he ought to make a vow
to send missionaries to the people of Yogan if the Lord healed the
sick men; for, if the Lord did heal them, it was the same as to give
him anew two missionaries, the number necessary for these Indians,
for they were already mourning the religious as dead. The provincial
made no vow, but promised to do so; and the Lord straightway fulfilled
that condition by healing those whose life was despaired of, and the
provincial sent religious to Yogan. Many other Indians of that same
country have felt this same desire, wishing to enjoy the presence of
the religious, because of the high regard that they feel for them and
the great advantage which they receive from their presence. And the
hearts of the religious have been not a little grieved at seeing the
heathen coming to ask for preachers (which is the same as for them
to come to preach to us), and themselves unable to help them. Since
there are not religious enough for so many villages and districts,
the religious have done all they could, and at times have done more
than they could; so that, as a result of their excessive labor, they
have lost their lives. Even so, there are many to whose succor it has
not been possible to go; and they have failed to become Christians
for lack of missionaries to teach them, baptize them, and keep them
in the divine law.
(To be continued.)
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA
The first document is obtained from Antonio Alvarez de Abreu's Extracto
historial (Madrid, 1736), fol. 1-28; from a copy of that work in the
possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago.
The second document is part of Diego Aduarte's Historia de la provincia
del Sancto Rosario (Manila, 1640), pp. 1-167; from a copy of that
work in the possession of Edward E. Ayer. It will be continued in
the next two volumes of this series.
NOTES
[1] The present document is taken from the Extracto historial, a
work compiled (Madrid, 1736) by order of the Spanish government, for
its information and guidance in the discussions then pending in the
royal Council of the Indias upon the subject of the trade in Chinese
silks between the Philippine Islands and Nueva Espana. The book is
an historical resume of that commerce, and of legislation thereon,
from its beginning to 1736; it is composed mainly of important
documents--decrees, memorials, etc.--from the original sources, and
is divided into ten tiempos, or periods, of which the second (which
covers the time from 1603 to 1640) is here presented, and the others
will receive due attention in later volumes.
The title-page of the Extracto (of which a facsimile precedes the
present document) reads thus in English: "Historical summary of the
measures now under discussion in the royal and supreme Council of
the Indias, at the instance of the city of Manila and the Philipinas
Islands, in regard to the form in which the commerce and trade in
Chinese fabrics with Nueva Espana shall be conducted and continued. And
for the better understanding of the subject, the important events in
that commerce are noted (distinguishing and separating the periods of
time), from the discovery of the Philipinas Islands and the concession
of commerce to them, with whatever has occurred up to the present in
the operation and at the instance of the commerce of Espana and its
tribunal [consulado]. Compiled and arranged by order of the king
and the advice of the above-named Council, and at his Majesty's
expense, by an official of the [India] House, from the papers and
documents furnished by the office of the Secretary for Nueva Espana,
and [including] other special memoirs, which the said official has
here set down for the greater completeness of the work, and to throw
more light on the subject. At Madrid: in the printing-house of Juan
de Ariztia, in the year 1736."
The official there mentioned was Don Antonio Alvarez de Abreu; at the
beginning of the work he mentions in a prefatory article the reasons
for its compilation, and the plan he has followed; he claims to have
reproduced accurately the documents presented therein, and to have
regarded the interests of both sides in the controversy then being
waged over the Philippine commerce. One hundred copies of the Extracto
were printed.
[2] Thus in the original; but in the following expansion of these
points eight of them are enumerated, indicating an oversight on
the part of the compiler. The sixth is there stated as the renown
and profit accruing to the crown from the victories gained by its
Philippine subjects; the seventh, the aid given by them to both crowns;
the eighth, their protection of Chinese commerce.
[3] According to Crawfurd (Dict. Ind. Islands, p. 38) this is the form,
in the native languages, of the name that Europeans write Bantam,
applied to the extreme western province of Java, and to an important
seaport town in its northwest extremity. Most of the inhabitants of
this province are Sundas, but along the coasts there is considerable
intermixture with Javanese and other Malayan peoples. The port of
Bantan was an important commercial center long before the arrival
there of Europeans.
[4] i.e., Hindostan (see VOL. XVII, p. 252). The grave accent is here
used in the word Mogor, simply as following the usage of the Extracto,
which throughout prints the grave instead of the acute accent.
[5] St. Martin, one of the Antilles, was a resort for French
pirates and Dutch smugglers until 1638, when it was captured by
the Spaniards. It was afterward recovered from them, and in 1648
was formally divided between the French and Dutch--a status that
still prevails.
[6] The alcabala, an excise duty collected on all sales of commodities,
was derived from the Moors, and was more or less imposed in Spain
from the year 1342 on. It was introduced in the American colonies
in 1574, and for more than two centuries was a rich source of income
for the Spanish crown and a heavy tax on the colonists. The rate was
at first two per cent, but afterward this was doubled and trebled;
and it was levied on every transfer of goods, taxing property over and
over again. See Bancroft's Mexico, iii, pp. 658, 659; and Recopilacion
leyes de Indias, lib. viii, tit. xiii, and lib. ix, tit. xlv, ley lxvi.
[7] Raynal thus describes Acapulco, in his History of Settlements
and Trade in Indies (Justamond's translation, London, 1783), iii,
pp. 378, 379: "The port of Acapulco where the vessel arrives, hath
two inlets, separated from each other by a small island: the entrance
into them in the day is by means of a sea-breeze, and the sailing
out in the night-time is effected by a land-breeze. It is defended
only by a bad fort, fifty soldiers, forty-two pieces of cannon,
and thirty-two of the corps of artillery. It is equally extensive,
safe, and commodious. The bason which forms this beautiful harbor is
surrounded by lofty mountains, which are so dry, that they are even
destitute of water. Four hundred families of Chinese, Mulattoes,
and Negroes, which compose three companies of militia, are the only
persons accustomed to breathe the air of this place, which is burning,
heavy, and unwholesome. The number of inhabitants in this feeble
and miserable colony is considerably increased upon the arrival of
the galleons, by the merchants from all the provinces of Mexico, who
come to exchange their silver and their cochineal, for the spices,
muslins, china, printed linens, silks, perfumes, and gold works of
Asia. At this market, the fraud impudently begun in the Old World,
is as impudently completed in the New. The statutes have limited
the sale to 2,700,000 livres, and it exceeds 10,800,000 livres. All
the money produced by these exchanges should give ten per cent. to
the government: but they are deprived of three-fourths of the revenue
which they ought to collect from their customs, by false entries." This
passage is appropriated bodily--with a few changes, and an important
omission--in Malo de Luque's Establecimientos ultramarinos (Madrid,
1790), v, p. 220; and no credit is given by him to Raynal.
On the map of Acapulco in Bellin's Atlas maritime (Paris, 1764), t. ii,
p. 86, appears the following naive item in the legend at the side:
"Two trees, to which the galleon from Manila attaches a cable;"
these trees are located directly in front of the tiny "city," and
between two redoubts.
[8] Talinga is defined by Noceda and Sanlucar (Vocab. lengua Tagala,
third ed., Manila, 1860) as manta de Ilocos ("Ilocos blanket"). It
is apparently the same as terlinga, used by Mallat and Malo de Luque;
and tarlinga, later in this document.
[9] Encarnacion (Dicc. Bisaya-Espanol, Manila, 1885) says, after
defining the word as here: "The word lompot eminently signifies
'piece;' and the pieces in which the native women weave all their
fabrics are regularly eight varas long and one wide."
[10] "An indiscreet or ill-directed zeal distracted from labors and
persistent effort those colonists, who themselves were inclined to
inactivity. Their exceedingly lucrative commerce and intercourse with
America accustomed them to regard as intolerable and even disgraceful
the most honorable occupations. If through any misfortune the rich
Acapulco galleon could not be despatched, or was wrecked, the greater
part of the inhabitants lapsed into fearful misery. Many became
beggars, thieves, or assassins; it was customary for them to enlist
as soldiers; and the courts were unable to check or correct the many
crimes committed." (Malo de Luque, Establecimientos ultramarinos, v,
pp. 211-212.) Cf. this with Raynal's Settlements and Trade in Indies,
iii, p. 78, from which Malo de Luque has again borrowed without giving
Raynal credit (see note 7, ante).
[11] Silkworms and the cultivation of the mulberry tree, for both of
which the country is naturally adapted, were introduced into Mexico
by Cortes, and for a time the production and manufacture of silk
there promised to become a source of wealth to the country; but it
was practically ruined by the restrictive and unfriendly policy of
the Spanish government and the competition of the Chinese silks sent
to Nueva Espana from Manila. Mexico has several native species of
silkworms, and trees on which they feed--not only of mulberry, but
of other genera; and their product was used by the natives before
the conquest, especially in Mizteca in Oajaca. For accounts of this
product and industry, see Acosta's Hist. Indies (Hakluyt Society's
publications, London, 1880), i, p. 269; Humboldt's New Spain (Black's
translation), iii, pp. 57-60, 465; and Bancroft's Hist. Mexico, ii,
p. 292; v, pp. 612, 613; vi, pp. 524, 576.
[12] On fol. 24 verso of the Extracto, the surname Barahona is added
to this man's name as here given.
[13] Under the rule of Felipe III and Felipe IV, the economic
and financial affairs of Spain fell into a ruinous condition. The
indolence and incompetency of those monarchs, the influence exercised
over them by unscrupulous favorites, the rapid increase of absolutism
and bureaucracy, the undue privileges accorded to the nobility and
clergy, costly and useless wars, the extravagance and corruption which
prevailed in the court and in the administration of the entire kingdom
and the expulsion of the Moriscos--all these causes quickly brought on
an enormous national debt, the impoverishment of the common people,
depopulation of large districts, almost the ruin of manufacture and
the like industries, the oppression of the poor, the trampling down
of the national liberties, the decline of Spain's naval and military
power, and many other evils. The treasures of the Indias did not
suffice to maintain the nation, and even caused some of its woes; and
the reckless mismanagement of its revenues caused enormous deficits,
which its rulers attempted to meet by imposing more and heavier taxes,
duties, and contributions upon a people already staggering under
their grievous burdens. The impositions named in the text are but a
few of those levied at that time; and the colonies were compelled to
bear their share of the burden carried by the mother-country. See the
excellent survey of this period in Spanish history, and of conditions
political, administrative, social, and economic, with bibliography
of the subject, in Lavisse and Rambaud's Histoire generale (Paris,
1893-1901), v, pp. 649-682.
[14] Marginal note: "It stands thus in the original"--referring to a
doublet of three and a half (printed) lines, which the Extracto has
reproduced from the text which it followed, presumably a manuscript
copy of the decree.
[15] A variation in Palafox's title, apparently due to some clerical
oversight. It is not, however, incorrect, since Tlascala was the
earlier seat of that bishopric, and gave name to it--the bishop's
residence being afterward removed to the new city of Puebla, five
leguas distant from Tlascala.
[16] Apparently referring to the paper recording the composition of
1635; and the wording of this sentence in the decree would imply that
the 600,000 pesos of that composition were at first levied in three
annual installments, but afterward collected in advance.
[17] Thus in the Extracto; but the statement appears to be a non
sequitur, and suggests the probability of some words being omitted.
[18] The various approbations at the beginning of the book are not
here translated, as not being sufficiently important to justify
such use of our space. The first of these is furnished by Governor
Hurtado de Corcuera, and is dated at Manila, March 21, 1639--in which
he states that Fray Goncalez has added matter which brings down
Aduarte's history to 1637, thus covering a period of fifty years
from the foundation of that Dominican province. The request for
permission to print the book is made by Fray Carlos Clemente Gant,
prior-provincial of that order; and it is granted (for six years)
by the governor, after favorable report on the book has been made
by Fray Theofilo Mascaros, an Augustinian--this report, by the way,
being dated at the Augustinian convent of Sancta Ana de Agonoy,
August 29, 1638. Archbishop Guerrero also approves this publication
(July 7, 1638); and, four days earlier, the Franciscan, Fray Juan
Pina de San Antonio, at Sampaloc, does the same.
[19] See account (mainly derived from Aduarte) of the foundation
of the Dominican province of Filipinas, in Resena biografica, i,
pp. 1-29. Fray Juan Crisostomo was one of the Dominican friars in
Mexico, and was sent to Spain and Rome in 1581 to make arrangements for
the opening of the new Filipinas mission; no information is available
regarding previous events in his life. Having assembled the members
of his mission at Sevilla, he set out with them for Nueva Espana
(July 17, 1586); but the hardships of the voyage made him so ill that
he was obliged to remain a long time in Mexico, not being able to
reach Manila until 1589. There he was so affected by age and broken
health that he could do little; and finally disease carried him away,
and he died probably late in 1590 or early in 1591.
[20] The mission of the Jesuit Sanchez to Spain, and its results,
are described in VOLS. VI and VII of this series.
[21] Juan de Castro, a native of Burgos, entered the Dominican order
at that place, and soon after his ordination went to Nueva Espana,
where he spent most of his life in Guatemala. Being sent to Madrid
on business of his order, he encountered there Fray Juan Crisostomo
(1585-86), through whom he became so interested in the projected
mission to Filipinas that for its sake he declined proffered honors
and dignities. He conducted to Manila the mission of 1587, and was
elected provincial at the first chapter-meeting (June 10, 1588). In
May, 1590, Castro and Benavides went to China to preach the gospel,
returning to Manila in March, 1591. The suffering and hardship which
they endured in China broke down the health of Castro, who was already
an old man; and he died in 1592.
[22] Juan Ormaza de Santo Tomas was born at Medina del Campo,
in September, 1548. His studies were pursued at Salamanca; after
graduation he spent several years in teaching and was engaged in
this occupation at Valladolid when Crisostomo went thither to secure
missionaries for Filipinas. Ormaza enlisted in this new field,
and, after arriving at Manila, he was assigned to the district of
Bataan. Here he "reduced to two villages, with some visitas annexed,
the thirty-one hamlets among which the Indians were dispersed;
made bridges over the rivers; hindered with palisades (which those
people call tabones) the inroads of the sea, which had ruined their
grain-fields; and adorned the churches with altars, sacred images, and
paintings." During 1610-14 he was engaged in the missions of Japan;
the rest of his life, except 1619-21 and 1623-25, when he ministered
to the Chinese in the Parian and in Binondoc respectively, was spent
at the Manila convent--where he died on September 7, 1638. (Resena
biografica, i, pp. 86-91.)
Pedro de Soto was a native of Burgos, and pursued his priestly studies
at Valladolid; soon after his graduation he joined the Filipinas
mission. His first charge was in Pangasinan, where he labored
zealously, amid great opposition and hostility from the natives. A
serious illness at last compelled him to return (1599) to Manila,
where he died.
[23] Juan Cobo, a native of Castilla, joined the Dominican order at
Ocana, and was a student at Avila and Alcala de Henares. He came
to Nueva Espana with the mission of 1587; during his stay there
(prolonged another year, on account of certain business of the order)
he rebuked the viceroy of Mexico so boldly that the latter ordered
Cobo to be exiled to the Philippines. Arriving at the islands in May,
1588, he began his labors among the Chinese of the Manila Parian, and
later went among those of Tondo. In 1592, Cobo was sent by Dasmarinas
as ambassador to Japan; having fulfilled his commission he set out on
the return to Manila, and is supposed to have perished by shipwreck,
as nothing more was ever known of him or his ship.
[24] "Pena de Francia is a lofty mountain in the province and
diocese of Salamanca, twelve leguas from this city and seven
from Ciudad-Rodrigo. On its rugged summit is the celebrated
convent-sanctuary of this name, where the community resided from Easter
until November 2, at which time they went down to another house, on the
slope of the same mountain, only two or three brethren remaining above
for the care of the sanctuary." (Resena biografica, i, p. 95, note 1.)
[25] Pedro Bolanos was master of novices in the convent of Pena
de Francia when he decided to enter the Filipinas mission, and was
then sixty years of age. He labored among the natives of Bataan for a
little while; but the responsibilities of this work, the hardships of
missionary life, and his advanced years, were too much for him, and
he died before he had spent a year in Filipinas. (Resena biografica,
i, pp. 95-97.)
[26] Juan de la Cruz, labored first among the natives of Pangasinan,
and was afterward sent among those of Bataan, where he became very
proficient in the Tagal language. He was provisor of the archdiocese
under Benavides, until the latter's death; then he returned to Bataan,
where he died, probably near the end of 1605. (Resena biografica, i,
pp. 100, 101.)
[27] Apparently meaning the Jesuit Alonso Sanchez, who was then in
Nueva Espana, on his way to Spain.
[28] At that time, the marques de Villamanrique (VOL. VI, p. 282).
[29] The younger Juan de Castro was a priest in the Dominican convent
at Barcelona when the Filipinas mission enterprise was begun. Arrived
in the islands, he was sent to Pangasinan; and, at the end of 1593,
accompanied Fray Luis Gandullo on an embassy to China. On their return,
they were shipwrecked off the coast of Pangasinan; and the exposure
and suffering incident to this misfortune brought on a serious illness,
from which Castro died early in 1594.
Marcos Soria de San Antonio was also assigned to the Pangasinan field,
where his life was at first in danger from the fierce heathen; but
afterward he won their affection by his gentleness and kindness to
them. The sufferings and hardships of missionary life broke down his
health, and he was compelled to seek medical care in Manila; but it
was too late, and he died there in 1591.
Gregorio Ochoa de San Vicente, then a Dominican friar in Valladolid,
joined the Filipinas mission; and, like his associates in Pangasinan,
was broken down by hardships--but even earlier than they, since his
death occurred on November 25, 1588.
The lay brother Pedro Rodriguez spent twenty years in the hospital
maintained by the Dominicans for the Chinese, which was later removed
to Binondo. He died in that place, in 1609.
[30] Religious life (religion): Religion, as used by Aduarte,
means solely the rule of life followed by a religious order, the
order itself, or the ideal of the order; and derivative words have
corresponding significations. For instance: "at the expense of the
order (la religion)," book ii, p. 77; "to the no small credit of
our religious community (nuestra religion), with the members of
which (cuyos religiosos) they generally have most to do," book ii,
p. 83; "the act which he was performing because of his duty as a
religious (acto religioso)," book ii, p. 104; "sufficient to give
glory to an entire religious order (una religion entera);" "all the
religious orders (las religiones) in the Indias." As an adjective,
a "very religious" friar (religiosissimo padre, book ii, p. 376)
means one who remarkably approaches the ideal of the order. In this
sense religioso has generally been rendered by "devoted" in this
translation. The noun "religious," in the sense of "a member of an
order," and the adjective in such phrases as "a religious house,"
"the religious life," are still not rare in English.--Henry B. Lathrop.
[31] The full text of these ordinances may be found in Resena
biografica, i, pp. 18-30; it is in Latin, accompanied by a Spanish
translation, which differs considerably from Aduarte's, following the
Latin more closely than his. The devotion to the Virgin Mary which
is here mentioned (also known as the coronilla, or "little crown") is
given ut supra, p. 29. The initial letters of the first words in the
psalms selected for this purpose form the name "Maria," as do those
of the corresponding antiphons--thus producing a double acrostic on
her name. Gregory XIII granted an indulgence of one hundred days for
those reciting this devotion.
[32] The present province of Bataan is on the western shore of Manila
Bay, being the peninsula formed between that bay and the sea. But the
description in the text, together with other mention of Bataan (or
Batan) in old documents, makes it evident that the name was applied
in Aduarte's time to at least the western part of the delta at the
mouth of the Rio Grande de Pampanga, in the southwest part of the
present Pampanga province.
[33] Salaries were paid from the royal treasury in installments thrice
a year, hence in thirds (tercios).
[34] So in the text, but evidently referring to the beginning only
of constructing the new church.
[35] i.e., "Take heed to thyself and to doctrine;" and, "in doing
this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee"--both
quoted from 1 Timothy, iv, v. 16.
[36] Dias que no son dobles: in church terminology, feast days
whereof the canonical offices are observed according to double
rite--or duplex feasts, as sometimes styled in English liturgical
works. In church calendars, the rite to be followed every day of
the year is determined (according to fixed rules) with a view to its
greater or less solemnity. The various designations thus employed are:
simple, or simplex; semi-double, or semi-duplex; double, or duplex,
and these may be minor or major; major double of the second class;
and major double of the first class. Of this last sort are the most
solemn feasts, as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost; while a feast day of
simple rite is of the lowest class.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
Cf. Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, art. "Feasts" and "Feria,"
where full details, and the origin and application of the terms,
are given.
[37] Juan de Santo Domingo assumed the Dominican habit in the convent
at Salamanca, and later came to the Philippines. He spent two years
(1610-12) in the missions of Bataan and Pangasinan, and six years
in Manila and Binondo; and in 1618 undertook, but unsuccessfully, to
start a mission in Korea. He then remained a little while in Japan,
where he was arrested (December 13, 1618) and imprisoned. Condemned
to suffer death by torture, he was carried away by a sickness instead
(March 19, 1619). He was beatified on July 7, 1867. (Resena biografica,
i, pp. 207, 208.)
[38] Little is known of Alonso Montero, save that he belonged to
the province of Mexico, where he spent several years, and afterward
labored two years in the Pangasinan mission. His name does not appear
in the records after 1592. (Resena biografica, p. 146.)
[39] Juan Garcia was for some time a minister to the Indians in Nueva
Espana; he came to the islands in 1588, and labored in the missions
of Bataan and Pangasinan. He died about 1603. (Resena biografica, i,
p. 138.)
[40] Tomas Castellar, from the Dominican convent at Barcelona, went
to Mexico, where he filled various high positions in his order. He
came to Manila in 1589, where he remained three years; in 1592 he
was sent to Pangasinan, and, two years later, aided in founding the
Cagayan mission. Returning to his former field, he labored with those
natives until his death (1607).
Pedro Martinez came to the islands in 1588, and was placed in various
posts in the Manila convent, for which he proved to be unfit from
his habit of being absorbed in contemplation. He was then sent to
Pangasinan, where he died (1592) from the effects of the climate.
Juan Bautista Deza remained some time in Pangasinan; then, as
he had some knowledge of surgery, accompanied an expedition to
Camboja. Nothing is known of him after 1600.
(See Resena biografica, i, pp. 138, 145.)
[41] Spanish, apostola de los apostoles. One of the word-plays of which
the old religious writers were so fond. No literal translation conveys
the meaning here implied; but apostola is used (as also in English)
with the primitive meaning of "apostle," as one who first introduces
the gospel--in this particular instance, one who first announces the
good tidings, i.e., of Christ's resurrection.
[42] Spanish, lector, literally, "reader;" applied to one who gave
lectures in theology, especially moral theology.
[43] Amaranthus; see Delgado's Hist. Filipinas, pp. 724, 725; and
Blanco's Flora, p. 491. Cf. VOL. XV, p. 111.
[44] Probably referring to the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin,
which fell on August 15.
[45] See portrait of Dasmarinas here presented; it is a photographic
facsimile of an old painting (possibly a later copy of an authentic
original) which was displayed in the Manila house in the Philippine
exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis, 1904). The
inscription on the scroll held by the page reads thus, in English:
"Don Luis Perez Dasmarinas, knight of the Order of Alcantara, governor
and captain-general of these Filipinas Islands for the king our lord,
and founder and owner of this village of Binondo. He obtained this
land by purchase, March 28, 1594, from Don Antonio Velada, husband
of Dona Sebastiana del Valle, for the sum of $200. This sale was
authorized by the certificate of Gabriel Quintanilla, a notary-public,
one of the number allotted to this very illustrious and loyal city;
and the grant of feudal rights over the Sangleys and mestizos of this
said village, on May 29, 1594."
[46] See account of the first printing in the islands (1593), in
vol. ix, p. 68; and that of printing in China, in vol. iii, p. 206.
[47] Tomas Mayor came to Manila with the Dominican mission of 1602,
and spent several years in their residence of San Gabriel among the
Chinese; he composed a useful catechism in that language. In 1612
he went to Macao, at the summons of the bishop there; but finding
it impossible then to found a Dominican house at Macao, he departed
thence for Europe--dying, however, in that same year, before reaching
his destination.
[48] Francisco de la Mina, an Andalusian, was a missionary among
the Mexican Indians during forty years. Coming to Manila in 1589,
he labored in Bataan for a time; and was afterward made prior of the
Dominican convent in Manila, where he died in 1592.
[49] A topic then of special interest to the Dominicans, since Bishop
Salazar (who belonged to their order) had but recently been involved
in a hot controversy with Dasmarinas over the collection of tributes
from the Indians (see correspondence between them at end of VOL. VII
and beginning of VOL. VIII). All the missionaries in the islands had
opposed slavery, whether among the Indians or the Spaniards; and the
latter had adopted this practice to such an extent that Gregory XIV
commanded them in 1591 to cease it entirely (VOL. VIII, pp 70-72).
[50] A cape (now known as Piedra Point) at northwest extremity of
Zambales peninsula, Luzon; name also applied to the narrow channel
between that cape and Purra Island.
[51] Cf. with this the description in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte
d'Arthur (book xxi, chap. iv) of the last and fatal combat between King
Arthur and Sir Mordred: "And when Sir Mordred felt that he had his
death-wound, he thrust himself unto the bur of King Arthur's spear,"
and with this final effort dealt a mortal blow on the king's head.
[52] Spanish, viva quien vence; equivalent to the English saying,
"Might makes right."
[53] Spanish, pascuas. Certain great church festivals last three days
or more in Spain.
[54] All these are towns on or near the northern coast of Cagayan.
[55] Miguel Martin de San Jacinto made his profession at Salamanca,
in 1586. He seems to have spent his life after coming to the islands
(1595) in the Cagayan missions, in which he was a prominent worker. He
died there, at Abulug, April 26, 1625.
Gaspar Zarfate was a native of Mexico. He spent some time in Cagayan,
and afterward in Manila, where he filled various important offices
in his order. He died at Manila, March 9, 1621; and was the first
who systematized the grammar of the Ibanag dialect.
Ambrosio Martinez de la Madre de Dios, a native of Guatemala, made
his profession at Mexico in 1589. Reaching the Philippines in 1595,
he spent the rest of his days in the Cagayan missions, where he died
in April, 1626.
Domingo de San Blas came to the islands from the Dominican convent
at Sevilla, and spent several years in the Cagayan missions; he died
at Manila, in 1601.
Antonio de Soria came from the convent at Puebla de los Angeles,
Mexico. He labored so earnestly in the Cagayan missions that he soon
wore out his strength; and died at Lal-lo about the beginning of 1599.
See Resena biografica, i, pp. 181-184.
[56] The instructions given in this matter to the Spanish officials
and missionaries, and the manner in which they carried out these,
may be found in VOL. X, pp. 277-288.