Read Ebook: The Philippine Islands 1493-1898: Volume 48 1751-1765 Explorations by early navigators descriptions of the islands and their peoples their history and records of the Catholic missions as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts showing the politic by Bourne Edward Gaylord Contributor Blair Emma Helen Editor Robertson James Alexander Editor

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 274 lines and 82737 words, and 6 pages

Let the first mission, then, to become known to the public be that of Bugasson, in the mountains of the province of Panay, in order that it may be known how great has been the labor in the conversion of those infidels. In the year 1704, father Fray Thom?s Sanchez, a son of this province of Castilla, when he had finished baptizing the Indians who lived on the plains in that region, was assigned by his obedience to the said mountains, with two other fathers, as his associates. They obeyed the orders of their superior, and, after having conquered various difficulties, with a thousand risks of their lives, and having endured a thousand hardships of hunger, want, the fatigues of the wretched roads, and other inclemencies of the weather, amid the terrors of death they were able to secure the baptism of a number of barbarians, enough to establish a foothold in that region and erect a church. They continued in their task, reaping considerable fruit, although in a short time, worn out by fatigues, the said father and one of his companions died. Others were sent in their places by the province, who were able to imitate the zeal of the first missionaries so closely that in the year 1733 they were able to form a village of the recent converts alone, on a most favorable site, of more than two thousand five hundred souls; and, our Lord continuing His favors, so great a number have been added to the flock of Christ, by means of the continual preaching and industry of the missionary religious, that in the original chart of the said village which was sent to his Majesty in the past year of 1760, it is shown to have, counting women, men, and children, six thousand and eighty-nine souls, who are now baptized and reclaimed to civilization.

At the western side of the province of Panay, about twenty-five or thirty leguas out at sea, there are some little islets called the Cagayans; they are so low that they can hardly be seen, except when one is very near, and therefore when the Indians sailed thither they followed a star, by which they had marked the location of these islets. In them were many infidels, and even therein took refuge all the outlaws, and men who committed murders. There is no water in the said islands, but they contain so great an abundance of the palms called "cocoa" that, with the water of the said fruit, they do not feel the need of any other.

The third mission of the Visayas Islands is that of which the reverend father provincial Fray Vicente Ibarra gave a particular and exact account to the governor of the islands in the year 1738, when he had finished his visitation of the missions, having received an urgent request that he should make report of their condition and progress ; and because the said father provincial, as being an eyewitness and well acquainted with the religious who began that mission, can speak with more accuracy, I will set down his very words, as follows: "The third mission which my province maintains is in the mountains of Bosoc in the province of Ogtong, on the further coast of the province of Panay. This mission was established in the year 1728, an entrance being made in the rugged region of those mountains by father Fray Felix de Zu?iga --a religious of the most religious habits and the gentlest demeanor; and so zealous for souls that, without heeding the inclemencies of those wild mountains, he went about on foot, unshod, in sun and in rain, crossing almost by a miracle swollen and rapid rivers, and, despising danger, made his way into the most secluded places, in which there are many apostates and Carib blacks, of which sort are all those who are in the mountains of these islands. Such power had his zeal and constancy that he gained no small number of souls, since from those who were converted he was able to form three small villages; but, while he was praying one day in the little house which he had made for his dwelling, some apostates killed him with their lances. At present the said mission is cared for, on account of the great deficiency of men that we experience, by two religious who are in the village of Bugasson."

DOMINICAN MISSIONS IN PANIQUI AND ITUY

EVENTS IN FILIPINAS, 1739-1762

Se?or Don Gaspar de la Torre made a bad beginning of his government; the violent proceedings which he instituted against the fiscal Arroyo began to make him odious to the community, the misfortunes which occurred during his term of office exasperated the minds of the citizens, and all his conduct was directed more toward pacifying this hatred than to gaining the esteem of the subjects whom he ruled. Seeing that he was disliked in the city, he began to be affected with melancholy, from which resulted a dysentery, a disease from which one seldom recovers in Philipinas. His illness was aggravated by the news which reached him that the village of Balayan in the province of Batangas had revolted; and finally a supposed revolt of the Sangleys ended his life. There was a rumor that the Chinese were going to come into the city, and, notwithstanding his illness, he tried to go out against them; his friends would not permit this, and soon ascertained that it was all a fabrication; but he became so feverish from the shock that he died a few days afterward, September 21, 1745.... In his place began to rule, conformably to the directions given by his Majesty, Se?or Arrechedera of the Order of St. Dominic, the bishop-elect of Ylocos. He made investigations in regard to the uprising of the Chinese, and found that they had no such intention, nor had they given any cause for suspecting them of rebellion; it was therefore believed that this report had been circulated in order to vex the governor. No long time was spent in quelling the uprising in Balayan; for the sargento-mayor went out with a hundred men of the regular troops and many Indians, encountered the insurgents, and, although he could not conquer them, because the Indians who accompanied him all fled immediately, checked the onset of the enemy, without his having suffered any mishap, save that he received a musket-shot from one of his own men, a raw recruit. He asked for aid from Manila, and they sent him two hundred men, with whom he conquered the enemies and punished them as they deserved--shooting some, and banishing others, according to the influence that they had exercised in the sedition, which vanished like smoke. He left behind a small detachment in that province, in order to inspire some respect in the seditious who might remain in hiding; and the rest of the troops were sent to Cavite, because, besides the information which he received that the English were at Batavia with a squadron, the alcalde of Ilocos gave warning that two ships had been seen from that coast, with two smaller vessels, which were believed to be enemies. The most illustrious governor put the town in a condition for defense, erected various works, purchased arms through the agency of foreigners, and cast some cannons. All these preparations were not necessary, for the English did not come, although they resented our having taken from them a brigantine and a balandra.... In Philipinas, Manila found some consolation in the arrival of two ships, which had returned from Acapulco and brought some funds to relieve the necessities of the commonwealth. In one of them came Don Fray Pedro de la Santisima Trinidad, who, while a member of the Council of Indias, had taken the Franciscan habit in the Recollect convent of Pomasque; and his Majesty presented him for the archbishopric of Manila, asking the pope to compel him to accept that dignity. Fray Pedro, not being able to oppose the mandate of his Holiness, was consecrated in Espa?a; he came to Philipinas, and took possession of his office on August 27, 1747. It appeared that he ought to have begun at the same time to rule as governor ; for the king's decree appointed for the vacancies the archbishop of Manila, and in default of him the nearest bishop--through which arrangement the office had been assumed by Se?or Arrechedera, who ought to have surrendered the authority to the archbishop as soon as the latter took possession of his see. His most illustrious Lordship did not choose to stir up this question, and contented himself with reporting the matter to the court; answer was made to him that orders had already been previously despatched that he should take charge of the government ad interim, but this royal order did not arrive until after the arrival of the proprietary governor. also brought a decree in which his Majesty committed to him the expulsion of the Chinese--which had not yet been effected, on account of the personal interests of the governors, although it had been repeatedly commanded; but he thought it well not to make the decree known until a better opportunity, because he found Se?or Arrechedera greatly devoted to the Chinese." This was the only defect that was observed in this most illustrious prelate and governor; in other matters his most illustrious Lordship carried himself with much honor in his government. He quelled the revolt in the island of Bohol, sending Commander Lechuga with a suitable force; this officer punished some of the rebels, and reduced all the fishermen's villages of that island to obedience to the king of Espa?a; but in the hill-country the insurgents remain until this day.

The Jesuits had been urging our Catholic monarch Phelipe V, and constrained him to the inglorious act of writing to the kings of Jol? and Mindanao; the governor sent ambassadors to deliver his letters and make an alliance with the Moros. Those petty kings were greatly delighted at the honor thus done them by a king so great as that of Espa?a, and, in order to gratify him by complying with his requests to them, consented to receive missionaries into their countries. A Jesuit father went to Mindanao, but, seeing that the chiefs were restless and the king had little power to restrain them, he feared that they would take his life, and abandoned his mission; and he fled for refuge to the fort of Zamboanga. In Jol? two Jesuits began to sow the seed of the gospel, but gathered little fruit because the panditas of the Moro religion raised a fierce opposition to them, and the leading men of the kingdom were not willing that the missionaries should preach a different faith from that which they had inherited from their ancestors. In these circumstances the king of Jol?, Mahomad Alimudin, desired to go to visit the governor of Manila; but the Jesuit fathers were displeased at this resolution, because they feared that the king's brother Bantilan, an enemy to the Christians, would be left in command. From this resulted jealousies and disturbances in the court, and the minds of men became so inflamed that some one gave the sultan, or king, a lance-thrust. Affairs were thrown into so bad condition that the fathers of the Society, not considering themselves safe in Jol?, precipitately retreated to Zamboanga. The sultan Alimudin likewise fled from his kingdom in order to go to Manila, to seek aid from the governor in order to punish the rebels who had given him the lance-thrust and conspired against his person. He reached Zamboanga, and there the Spaniards furnished him with means to proceed to Manila; he entered that city with a retinue of seventy persons, with whom he was lodged in a house in the suburb of Binondo, which was kept at his disposal at the cost of the royal treasury. Afterward he made his public entry , and was received with great ostentation; the leading persons in Manila visited him, and presented to him gold chains, robes, diamond rings, sashes, and gold-headed canes--so that he was astonished at so much magnificence, and at the generosity of the Spaniards, for whatever he needed for the support of his household was supplied to him from the royal treasury.

The governor desired that the sultan should become a Christian, and spoke to him about it; and the latter did not delay to pretend to embrace our religion. He was entrusted to two Jesuit fathers for instruction in the faith, and very soon he was instructed in the Christian doctrine, and gave signs of being truly converted, by the urgent requests which he made to the archbishop to baptize him. Nevertheless, his conversion was somewhat uncertain. Some said that he became a Christian only that the Spaniards might place him on the throne from which he saw himself ousted, and that we ought not to trust in his conversion; others were of opinion that in his conforming to the usage of the church we ought to believe that his intention was sincere, and that he should be baptized, so long as he did not in his outward actions give cause for thinking otherwise. In view of this diversity of opinions, his illustrious Lordship thought it expedient to delay the baptism, and to wait until the sultan should give stronger proofs of his resolution. This delay vexed the bishop-governor, who desired to see him a Christian as soon as possible; and, as he could not change the archbishop's mind, he sent Alimudin to the village of Panique, which is the nearest one in his bishopric of Ylocos, in order that he might be baptized there; and he sent a Spaniard to appear in his name as sponsor. Besides the guard of his own people, the sultan was accompanied by another guard of Spaniards; and in all places through which he passed a ceremonious reception was given to him. In Panique he was baptized by a Dominican religious, on April 29, 1750, with great solemnity and the assistance of other religious of the same order. On his return to Manila, the governor received him with a general salvo from the plaza, and ordered that festivities should be celebrated with comedies, dances, fireworks, and bull-fights, in sign of rejoicing.

In Jol? the brother of the sultan, named Bantilan, had continued in the government of the kingdom; it was he who had ordered that his brother be assaulted, and had stirred up the rebellion among the chiefs which compelled his brother to take refuge among the Spaniards. Bantilan was the greatest enemy that the Spaniards and Christians had, and gave orders that many boats should go out to infest our seas. The Joloans--who were rebels against their own king, and pirates by office--equipped many pancos, joined with them other Moros, whom they call Tirones, and began plundering raids through all the islands. The most illustrious governor gave his commands against them, and commanded some small fleets to set sail; this did not fail to cause in the Moros some respect , and to restrain them; but no injury was inflicted on them, nor were their insolent acts punished, because there were in Manila few troops. For this reason it was impossible to restore the throne to the king of Jol?, who was now, since becoming a Christian, named Don Fernando de Alimudin; the proprietary governor, who arrived in the same year when he was baptized, met him in Manila with the greatest ostentation.

Don Francisco Joseph de Obando, a native of Caceres in Extramadura, went with a squadron to the Southern Sea, and was in Lima at the time when that great earthquake occurred in which Callao was submerged. There the favor of the king was extended to him, in appointing him governor of Manila; he went to Mexico, and in that kingdom married Do?a Barbara Ribadeneyra; and, accompanied by his wife, he embarked for Philipinas to render service in the government, of which he took possession in July, 1750. As soon as he arrived, the archbishop presented to him the royal decree in which his Majesty charged him with the expulsion of the Sangleys. The governor held a council for the discussion of this subject, and in it was stirred up a controversy over a seat, which frustrated the excellent intention of his Majesty to expel the Chinese, who are so injurious to these his dominions. The archbishop attempted to seat himself on a chair at the left of the governor, at the head of the table ; the latter would not allow this, nor that the guards should form in ranks when the archbishop entered the palace or passed through the gates of the city; and these points of etiquette were sufficient to prevent the execution of the order to expel the Sangleys from Philipinas. Information of this controversy was sent to the court, and on both points came decisions in favor of the archbishop. The royal Audiencia had a dispute with the governor on another point, because he had by his own authority appointed Don Domingo Nebra temporary warden of Cavite, when he should have conferred this post after consulting the royal Audiencia, as his Majesty had commanded. The governor did not gainsay this royal order, but he said that there was no person competent for the building of the vessels which it was necessary to construct for the commerce of Acapulco and the defense of the islands against the Moros, except Nebra; that the latter was seventy years old, and could not be compelled to take charge of the construction of boats unless he wished; and that in no case would he accept the post under consultation of the royal Audiencia, because in that case he would be subject to residencia. The governor concluded that, in an extraordinary case like this, he ought not to adhere to the usual rules, but decide what was most expedient for the royal service. The royal Audiencia made their remonstrances and protests, but, seeing that the governor was the stronger, they yielded, and appealed to his Majesty. In spite of the knowledge which the governor so highly extolled in Nebra, the fragata "Pilar," which he careened and which was despatched to Acapulco, perished at sea, without any news about her having come here.

The governor of Zamboanga made report to Manila regarding these charges and his arrest of the sultan and his household; and answer was made to him that he should send Alimudin and all his people to Manila as prisoners, and that war should be declared on the Joloans --giving authority to every one who wished to equip his vessel as a privateer, and allowing him to keep for himself whatever he should seize as plunder; and any persons who should thus be seized should remain captives, since the Moros of Jol? had been declared not only enemies to the Spaniards, but pirates, who ought to suffer captivity, just as they imposed this lot on the Christians whom they seized. The extermination of the Moros was undertaken with so much ardor that pardon for their crimes was granted to those who should present themselves to serve against the enemy. The armada which the master-of-camp had at Zamboanga was re?nforced, and a second expedition was made to Jol?, more unfortunate than the first--for the Spaniards attempted to land in that island, and the Moros received them with such valor that they compelled our people to retreat, with heavy loss and great disgrace to the Spanish arms, to the fort of Zamboanga.

The haughty Bantilan, who ruled the kingdom of Jol? in the absence of his brother, undertook to induce, by the victory which he had gained over the Spaniards, the men of Mindanao to break the peace which they were observing with us, and to harry us as much as they could; and he urged all the pirates who were in those islands to take up arms against the Spaniards, whom he represented as conquered, and in fear of their arms. Then the seas of Bisayas were seen covered with little fleets of Moros, who carried desolation everywhere. Nothing was heard of save plundering, the burning of villages, the seizing of vessels, captivities, and acts of violence, which the Moros committed in our territories --so that Se?or Obando wished to go forth in person to restrain them, and to repair the many injuries which they were inflicting on us. His Majesty had commanded that a fortified post should be established in the island of Paragua, in order to shut off the pirates from entrance on that side, just as it was closed on the other side by the post of Zamboanga. In order to proceed in all respects with moderation, the governor sent an ambassador to the king of Borney, in order that the latter should cede to us the territory that he possessed in that island; and when it was ceded he made ready a squadron to build the fortified post, and from that place to follow up the Moros who were plundering our islands. He intended to go out in person at the head of this armada, and consulted the royal Audiencia on this point; but the auditors were of opinion that it was not expedient to hazard his person, and that he could entrust this expedition to another person, who by carrying an engineer to draw plans for the fort which it was necessary to build on the island of Paragua could accomplish all that was expected from the expedition. In accordance with this advice, the governor appointed, as its commander, Don Antonio Fabea, who sailed from Cavite with eleven vessels; he took with him Don Manuel Aguirre, who went with an appointment as commandant of the military post which was to be established, and bore orders to go to Igolote, in the same island , to dislodge the Moros, who usually took refuge in that place. Here his men fell sick, to such an extent that, without doing more than to take possession of that district, they went back to Manila, leaving behind two hundred and seventy dead, and carrying home many sick men in the squadron.

The king of Jol? had already reached Manila, and was imprisoned in the fort of Santiago, to the great satisfaction of those who had been opposed to his baptism and had always doubted his fidelity; but he obtained from the governor permission that his daughter the princess Faatima, who was imprisoned with him, might go to Jol? with letters from him for his brother and other chiefs, in order to make a stable peace with the Spaniards; and for this permission he bound himself to surrender fifty Christian captives. The princess accomplished the return of the captives, and obtained from her uncle Bantilan the despatch of an ambassador to Manila, to attend to her father's affairs. The envoy carried authority to conduct, jointly with Bantilan's brother the king, negotiations for peace with the governor, and to solemnize the treaties which they should regard as expedient, binding themselves to obey whatever the two should sign. It was stipulated with the king and the ambassador that the Moros of Jol? should surrender all the Christian captives who were in their island, and send back all the arms which they had taken from the Spaniards, and the ornaments which they had plundered from the churches; and, in order to make these treaties effective, permission was granted to one of the chiefs who were prisoners with the king to go to Jol? in company with the ambassador whom Bantilan had sent.

The governor had very little confidence in the promises of the Moros or in their treaties, because they had always broken them with the same facility with which they had made them; and he prepared a strong squadron against them, in order to compel them by force to observe the treaties which he did not expect they would keep of their own accord. Nor did his suspicions prove to be groundless, for in that year occurred the worst inroad which those islanders had made into Philipinas. In all districts they made raids with blood and fire, killing religious, Indians, and Spaniards, burning and plundering villages; and taking captive thousands of Christians, not only in the islands near Jol?, but throughout our territories, even in the provinces nearest to the capital Manila. The fleet which the governor had made ready went out against them, but, before they could do anything, his successor came, at the end of his four years' term of office; for this reason, he left the islands in the most deplorable condition that had ever been known, the cause of these evils being either his own misconduct or the unfitness of those to whom he gave appointments, or perhaps his misfortune. What is certain is, that he experienced a very grievous residencia, and many charges against him resulted; and in the following year he embarked in the galleon "Santisima Trinidad" for Acapulco, and died on the way, without reaching Espa?a.

Don Pedro Manuel de Arandia, a native of Ceuta and of Vizcayan ancestry, took possession of his government in July, 1754. As soon as he arrived in Manila, he undertook to organize the troops, and to place the military force on a regular footing and in conformity with the ordinances which are observed in Espa?a. From the royal troops that were in the islands he formed the "king's regiment" of two battalions; he reorganized the body of artillerists, placing it in the condition in which we now see it; and he assigned to both the soldiers and the officers pay with which they could decently support themselves and meet their obligations, without being harassed to seek in some other way what was necessary for life. He was very diligent to put in order the arsenal at Cavite, and whatever depended upon the royal officials--in which he did not fail to suffer annoyances, and to incur the dislike of many persons who did not enjoy so much reform and so great zeal. At the beginning of his government, in the month of December, occurred the terrible eruption of the volcano of Taal, which lies in the middle of Lake Bombon, in the province of Batangas. So heavy was the shower of ashes that it destroyed four villages which were on the shore of the lake, and it was necessary to remove them a legua inland. There were many and severe earthquake shocks, and a noise as of squadrons engaged in battle; and the atmosphere was darkened with the quantities of sand and ashes which issued from the volcano--so that in Manila, which is distant twenty leguas, but little could be seen at noonday; and in Cavite, which is somewhat nearer, that time of day seemed like a dark night. I have ascended with Se?or Alava to the summit of this volcano, and only a lake was seen, about half a legua in diameter; it was very deep, and its waters were dark green.

The armada which Se?or Obando had sent against the Moros met so poor success that the governor was obliged to take away its command from Don Miguel Vald?s, who had been sent as its chief officer; and it was conferred on Father Ducos, a Jesuit, from whom he expected better results. In fact, that father was fitted for the post, and acted with such valor and discretion that he took from the enemies more than a hundred and fifty vessels, destroyed three of their villages, killed their inhabitants, and made captive innumerable people; and he checked the onset of those barbarians, who were devastating everything. These happy tidings arrived at Manila in January, 1755; Se?or Arandia gave orders that the Te Deum should be sung by way of thanksgiving, and confirmed Father Ducos in his command of the naval squadron; he had great esteem for the father because the latter was the son of a colonel who was the governor's intimate friend, and because he seemed to have inherited his father's valor.

Se?or Arandia treated the king of Jol? with much kindness, and allowed him his liberty, although the king voluntarily continued to live in the fort of Santiago; the governor gave him a monthly allowance of fifty pesos and six cavans of rice for his support, and prevailed upon the archbishop to grant him permission to hear mass and receive the sacraments, of which he had been deprived. The king desired to marry as his second wife a woman who had been his concubine but was now a Christian; the archbishop would not permit this, and Se?or Arandia not only smoothed away all the difficulties, but gave the king the use of his palace in order that in it he might celebrate the marriage with more pomp and solemnity. He did not gain these dispensations without some dispute with his most illustrious Lordship, to which was added another, which, although of less importance, was sufficient to alienate feeling and cause resentment in Philipinas. The governor complained of the archbishop because the bells were not rung for the former when he entered or left any church, as ought to be done on account of his being vice-patron, especially when he went as president of the tribunals. His most illustrious Lordship declared that he had no order from the king for doing so; but these formalities, together with the attacks of illness which the most illustrious Se?or Trinidad suffered, caused his death; this occurred on May 29, 1755. Se?or Arandia continued to favor the king of Jol?, for he thought that by this means he could end the war with the Moros. He sent to Jol? all the princes and princesses, the datos, and all the women, who were detained in Manila, leaving the king alone--who acknowledged his vassalage and took the oath of fidelity, until a decision should arrive from the court of Espa?a, which had been informed of his detention. The princes and princesses arrived at Jol? on October 5 of this year; they were graciously received by Bantilan, who, grateful for the generosity of the governor, promised to observe faithfully the treaty of peace which his ambassador and his brother had signed at Manila. It was necessary, in order to extricate ourselves entirely from the war, to make an agreement with the men of Mindanao; the governor undertook this, and sent ambassadors to them; but the petty rulers who are in that island are so numerous and so treacherous that it is impossible to establish a permanent peace with them. Even assuming that all the petty kings of the Moros may desire to observe the peace with the Spaniards, they will never succeed in it, because they possess so little authority over their vassals that they have never been able to restrain them, and they never will prevent them from going out to plunder and to seize captives throughout our islands, for they have given themselves up to this kind of life; and only the spiritual conquest of their provinces is adequate to deliver us from these troublesome enemies.

During this government was undertaken the re?stablishment of the missions in the islands of Batanes, which lie to the north of Cagayan. From early times the Dominican fathers maintained in the islands of Babuyanes religious ministers, who gave instruction to their inhabitants; but in the year 1690 they removed these people to Cagayan. The king having decreed that they should go back to their own land, the religious who directed them established a mission in the islands of the Batanes, distant some thirty leguas from Cagayan; and after his death his companion withdrew, leaving the mission abandoned until the year 1718. It was then re?stablished by another Dominican religious, who fixed his headquarters in the island of Calayan, in which place he attempted to make the Indians in the other islands settle, in order that, brought together there, they might be instructed in the Christian religion. Great as was the desire of the Batanes to enter the bosom of the church, only a hundred and fifty persons took the resolution to change their place of abode; and half of these died in a short time. That island offered few means of comfort, for which reason the father missionary became sick; and, although he had a successor, the mission was entirely abandoned.

In the year 1754, two religious were sent, of whom one died and the other retired to Cagayan, seriously ill; but he returned in the following year with another companion. In order to ameliorate the destitution which they had suffered in the preceding year, they determined to take with them a carpenter, a lay brother of their order, in order that he might, as soon as they reached the place, put together a house, which was to go in the vessel, in pieces. Their zeal did not permit them to wait until the work was finished; and, fearing that the monsoon would pass away, they embarked without their little house. Hardly had they reached Calayan when the two fell sick; other fathers went to succor them, and all became sick; accordingly, they returned one after another, and it was necessary to abandon the mission after the Dominican fathers had incurred large expenses for it. Afterward, this conquest was again undertaken, by Se?or Basco in 1783; and this effort has been successful in maintaining there the Dominican fathers, converting those islanders to the faith. A commandant was stationed there with his garrison, which caused much expense, because it was necessary to send them all their supplies from Philipinas; for in all those islands the only produce is camotes and such other eatable things as grow in the country itself. There is no doubt that other articles would be produced, but so numerous are the rats, which consume everything, and so frequent the baguios or hurricanes, that one may rest assured that these plagues would devastate the fields before the crops could mature. Every year a bark was sent to carry succor to the islands, but, as the baguios are so frequent in those seas, many of these vessels were wrecked; it has therefore been recognized that the maintenance of that post is impossible, and the result is, that only the Dominican fathers remain there with a small guard, who must be succored from Cagayan. For this enterprise Se?or Basco was granted the title of Conde de la Conquista; but I assert that if half of what he spent in Batanes had been expended in placing missionaries in Ylocos, Pangasinan, and Cagayan, he would have gained more vassals for the king of Espa?a, and with less risk.

I am astonished that we should have left the beaten track of the conquest or pacification of the Indians, and taken up another which is more dangerous and more costly, only because it makes more noise and a more showy appearance, that is, by arms, which always has produced bad effects--as occurred at this time, in the hill-country of the Igorrots. In the year of 1740, the Augustinian fathers handed over to the Dominicans the missions of Ytuy, or Ysinay, in order that, these being joined to the missions of Panique which they had established in the preceding year, the provinces of Pangasinan and Cagayan might be united on their southern borders. The Indians, both Christians and unbelievers, resented this change of missionaries, from which resulted a species of civil wars among them; and it was necessary for the auditor Don Ygnacio Arzadun y Rebolledo, who was then making official visitation of the province of Pangasinan, to send troops to silence the malcontents. Our men fought a battle with them, in which the natives were defeated and pacified; but a few years later they again became restless, and finally, in the year 1756, many Christians apostatized; and these, united with the unbelievers, raised a furious tempest. They burned some churches, slew many of the people who remained faithful, and, losing reverence for the missionary fathers, searched for them to take their lives. On account of this, Se?or Arandia despatched an expedition to this mission and to the hill-country of the Ygorrots, which had very little effect; for it accomplished nothing save to frighten the Indians and make them flee to the hills, to come down again as soon as the soldiers should go away.

In order to stop the scandals which resulted from these disputes, the bishop of Coriza assembled a synod in the village of Luctuy; it was the second synod held in Tungquin, and held its first session on June 24, 1753. Among the other points that were settled, action was taken on the "Lovers of the Cross," and on the distribution of districts. As the bishop was a Recollect, and the rest of those who attended the council were his confederates, everything was decided against the Dominicans; Father Hernandez, therefore, who was the only member of his order who attended the synod, protested against all its decrees, appealed to the Apostolic See, and went out of the meeting before it was ended. After the synod closed, the Dominicans, seeing that a Recollect was going to Rome to secure approbation for the acts of the council, sent another envoy, a Dominican, to prevent this. When the whole matter was examined in the holy Congregation, two districts were set aside for the Recollect fathers, and the rest were continued in charge of the Dominicans, the beaterios of the "Lovers of the Cross" were left subject to their respective parish priests. In regard to the second council of Tungquin, it was ordained that they should not be carried into effect until the holy Congregation should, after a thorough examination, agree to confirm them.

Notwithstanding the wisdom of this measure, Se?or Arandia lost much in popular esteem by it; and this, added to others of his actions, brought upon him the hatred of the community. In virtue of the ample powers which he brought from the court, he drew up instructions for the alcaldes-mayor and the government of the provinces, in which he openly declared himself against the regulars. At the beginning, he had treated these religious bodies with respect; but, resenting some acts of disrespect manifested toward him by certain individuals, in these instructions he deprived the orders of the kitchen-boys who had been furnished to them by the king since the conquest, and the servants granted them by the crown for sacristans. Not content with causing them these losses, he made various remonstrances against them to his Majesty, in which he spoke of them with little civility; and in the instructions he spared no means of injuring them, seeking opportunity to speak ill of them even in those sections of that document which have no connection with the religious. The blame for all this was laid on his favorite, Don Santiago Orendain, who was the declared enemy of the ecclesiastics; but this could not excuse Se?or Arandia for issuing directions which the king had the goodness to censure as soon as he saw them, for depriving the ecclesiastics of the groves of nipa palms which they held in La Hermita and Bagunbayan, for stirring up several groundless controversies with them, for imposing taxes on the goods which the religious in the provinces were sending to their convents, and for expressing his opinion of them in public. He had a dispute with the royal Audiencia because he was not willing to render military honors to them when they went in a formal body, on occasions when he did not preside over their sessions. He imprisoned the treasurer and auditor of accounts of the royal exchequer, and caused them great suffering, because they had sent information to the court of some things that was contrary to the explanations given by him in his reports. Unwearied in the government, he conceived many projects which he considered necessary for the proper government of the islands. He talked of removing the arsenal from Cavite to the port of Lampon; and he ordered a ship to be built in the kingdom of Siam, which had such ill-fortune that in bringing it over to Manila it was driven to port in China three times, and once to Batavia, causing enormous expenses to the royal treasury. The governor made reports to the king, and proposed to him various plans for the promotion of the mines of iron and gold. He abolished the corregidorship of Mariveles, annexing Marigondon and the other little villages of that shore to the district of Cavite, and forming from the villages on the opposite shore and from others which belonged to Pampanga the alcald?a which we call Batan. He made regulations for the soldiery, the royal exchequer, and the Acapulco ship --on all occasions giving many proofs of his zeal for the royal service, by which he was aroused to enthusiasm; but this disposition, ill directed by Orendain, was the cause for his being abhorred by every one. It was so wearing upon him that he reached the point of feeling a distaste for every kind of business, and experienced so great a failure of his vital powers that in the night of May 31, 1759, it was known that he was dying; and, after receiving all the sacraments, he expired at two o'clock in the morning of the following day. He left by his will two hundred and fifty thousand pesoty and one cannot guess how he gained them in the less than five years during which his term of office lasted; but at the hour of death he distributed them in a pious and Christian manner.

In such condition was the Orendain affair, when a decree arrived from his Majesty in which he appointed the archbishop as governor ad interim on account of the death of Se?or Arandia. He assumed the authority in the year 1761, and put an end to this clamorous lawsuit by commanding that Orendain should leave the fort, and all his property be returned to him, with security for all that he owed to the Holy Crusade; he also imposed on all persons perpetual silence during the time until his Majesty should make some other decision. His most illustrious Lordship continued to rule the islands in much peace, fulfilling rather the office of father than that of governor, conciliating those who were turbulent, and extending his charity to the king of Jol?, who was living in the fort with much lack of comfort. The governor quartered him in a house in Manila, decently furnished, with a coach and with menials enough for his service. He wished, besides this, to restore him to his kingdom, and after listening to the opinions of the leading persons in Manila, it was decided that the king Don Fernando and his son Israel should be sent back to Jol?, and that they should take with them a guard of Spaniards, in order that the chiefs in that island should not compel him to abjure the Catholic religion which he had embraced. When they were ready to carry out this undertaking the English arrived , the war with whom it is necessary to relate in separate chapters.

MEMORIAL OF 1765

Source: This document is translated from a MS.--apparently a duplicate copy of the first original, and bearing Viana's autograph signature--in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago.

Translation: This is made by Emma Helen Blair.

VIANA'S MEMORIAL OF 1765

Part I

In which is shown the deplorable condition of the Philipinas Islands; the necessity of preserving them, with respectable forces; and the method for attaining this, without the costs which hitherto , and with increase to the royal exchequer.

Part II

Of navigation and commerce: the method for establishing them in these islands, and their great benefits.

May God grant that the effects and results correspond to my good intentions; and for the sake of their best success, the preservation of these islands, the extension of Spanish commerce, and the happy advancement of the monarchy, may He render prosperous for many years the life of our beloved king and sovereign Don Carlos Third Manila, February 10, 1765.

Francisco Leandro de Viana

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA

The documents in the present volume are obtained from the following sources:

NOTES

This document was printed in the Manila newspaper La Democracia , on November 25, 1901; it was furnished to that paper by Hugo Salazar, a young Filipino--a native of Luz?n, educated as a pharmacist, prominent in the Federal party during 1901-04, and in 1903-04 governor of Surigao province, Mindanao--under the pen-name of "Ambut." It was printed with accompanying comments written by him, which here appear as foot-notes, signed "Ambut." We are indebted to the courtesy of James A. LeRoy for a copy of the above issue of La Democracia, and for the above information.

Cf. pp. 141-143, post, note 63.

It results, then, that the friars usurped not only the lands of individuals, but those of the State; this is called "filling both sides of the mouth with food" --which they were doing, receiving salaries from the State and collecting dues from their parishioners.--"Ambut."

This direction to the alcaldes-mayor naturally suggests the query, "How many of the provinces were supplied with printing-offices in 1753?" and reminds one of Dickens's "Circumlocution Office," and its efforts "how not to do it."

The pernicious character of the religious corporations, as an evil to society, is sufficiently proved; for even Catholic France is expelling them from her bosom. It only remains, then, to decide whether the prohibition of their existence is opposed to the principle of the separation of Church and State. To conform to the principle that the welfare of the people is a supreme law, and in virtue of that to deny legal existence to such associations as are hostile to the said principle, is not to fail in the separation of the Church and the State, inasmuch as the prohibition has nothing to do with religious dogmas or ecclesiastical discipline; and, in order to be just and thoroughly impartial, it does not oppose itself to any specified community or sect, for it entirely sets aside the religious character of the corporations, considering them simply as groups of human beings in their relation to the general good. The State, in this case, legislates without passing beyond the bounds of its proper and exclusive jurisdiction, and does not invade the attributes of the ecclesiastical power.

Some will say that by prohibiting the existence of religious corporations liberties are restricted. To this I answer, that that liberty which causes harm to society ought not to be understood as liberty; and, in this sense, the United States would not be disloyal to their Constitution in adopting restrictive measures in regard to the "trust," Chinese immigration, and the association of persons dangerous to peace, order, and the sanctity of the home.

As for the estates of the friars, Se?or Sumulong was quite right, to judge from the facts in this royal decree, in asking for an ample and complete investigation of the legality of the titles to property which the friars could bring forward. It is to be observed that there was no opportunity here for the real right of prescription, for it was impossible to protest against usurpations if one did not wish to be deported or shot as an anti-Spaniard or a filibuster.--"Ambut."

An interesting commentary on the above opinions is found in the recent action of the French government in regard to the Roman Catholic church in France, the separation of Church and State there, and foreign interference with the proceedings of that government.--Eds.

Bolot : an arrow with a hook or barb .

The year 1754 was especially disastrous to the Philippines on account of the Moro raids; thousands of people were slain, and other thousands carried away captive; even the coasts of Luz?n were ravaged, and the population of the Visayas suffered a notable diminution. See account of these losses in Concepci?n's Hist. de Philipinas, xiii, pp. 190-250; and Montero y Vidal's Hist. de pirateria, i, pp. 309-317. In July of that year, Ovando was succeeded in the government of the islands by Arand?a, who at once instituted reforms in the military service, and did what he could to defend the islands from their enemies; he died on May 31, 1759, worn out with the cares and fatigues of government.

Forrest says in describing the pirate raids by the Moros: "The Spaniards not allowing the Bisayans fire-arms, the latter prove less able to defend themselves." Also : "On Celebes, they take, if in Dutch territory, even those of their own religion: a decent musselman, with his wife and four children were brought to Mindanao, by this very prow." "The Sooloos have in their families many Bisayan, some Spanish slaves, whom they purchase from the Illanon and Magindano cruisers. Sometimes they purchase whole cargoes, which they carry to Passir, on Borneo; where, if the females are handsome, they are bought up for the Batavia market. The masters sometimes use their slaves cruelly, assuming the power of life and death over them. Many are put to death for trifling offences, and their bodies left above ground."

The archbishop of Manila, Don Miguel Garcia Serrano, wrote to his Majesty that in the period of thirty years during which there was no fortified post in Mindanao, twenty thousand Christians had been made captive by the Moros.

This relation was evidently written by some one of the Jesuit missionaries in Leyte, and perhaps even an eyewitness to the events related. The villages which he names as having repulsed the enemy seem to have been largely those in charge of the Jesuits. Some mention of the raids made in 1752-53 against the Recollect missions may be found on pp. 163, 164, post, note 88.

Escolapios: regular clergy of the Order of Escuelas P?as , founded early in the seventeenth century by St. Joseph of Calasanz , an Aragonese priest. Besides the usual three vows, they took another one, to consecrate themselves to the instruction of children. They soon attained great reputation, and their order extended to many countries. So highly were their educational services appreciated in Spain that when the religious orders there were secularized that of Escuelas P?as was exempted therefrom by special grant, which was extended also to the Philippines. "Nevertheless, it is argued that they do not accept any salutary innovation or judicious reform, even when it is guaranteed by the experience of accredited instructors; and it is said that they walk on leaden feet, as if tied down to a stale routine."

Echegaray also gives to the word Escolapios the meaning of "students attending the Escuelas P?as," in which sense the word is evidently used here--except that the schools are simply the parish schools conducted by the friars among the Filipino natives.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet