The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 30 of 55

I the King

By command of the king our sovereign:

Don Gabrièl de Ocaña y Alarcòn

Decree in which his Majesty commands that a hearing be given in a court of justice to the citizens of the city of Manila, regarding their claim that they be not included in the condemnations and compositions of the 900,000 pesos; and [it is declared] that it is his Majesty’s intention that they should not pay what they do not owe

The King. To the reverend father in Christ, Don Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, bishop of the cathedral church of Tlaxcala,15 member of my royal Council of the Indias, to whom I have entrusted the general visitation of my royal Audiencia of the City of Mexico in Nueva España and of its tribunals, and the visitation of the port of Acapulco, and other affairs very important for my service. [Most of this decree is omitted, as being only a repetition, in the main, of statements in Grau’s memorial preceding. The king rehearses the injuries done to Philippine commerce, the arguments pro and con an increase of duties, and the representations by the citizens of Manila in behalf of their petition for relief; and continues: ] What they entreat with the humility belonging to my vassals, and set forth with arguments of expediency and good government, subject in everything to what shall be for my greater service, is that what is past be punished, but not so as to inflict the same penalty on those whose guilt is unequal; for if there shall prove to be guilt, it must be because they were induced to it more by their need and hardships than by the profits on their investments; and it is the fact that whatever they have acquired by these is known to be but a small part of the means which they have at present, and they have spent it and intend to spend it in serving me and in preserving those islands at the cost of their blood and property. They ask that for the present attention be given to what is hidden and concealed, and that this be diminished and reduced to the amount permitted and regulated; and that, until they know in the islands what they ought to do, and what new decrees shall be issued, those penalties be not carried out against the citizens, and that they shall not be punished for what they have committed through ignorance. They ask that for the future the duties be not increased on what shall be found within the amount permitted, whether in silver or merchandise; that no innovations be made in the appraisement of the goods, nor by opening the packages or measuring them, through any different method from that which has been [hitherto] observed and followed, since (as is very evident) they pay more than they are able to; and they state that the despatch of the two ships was included and is still contained in the composition of the 600,000 pesos for the year 1635 – a proposition very plain and undisputed, which does not admit of doubt, since it is expressly, clearly, and distinctly stipulated, noted, and agreed in the document which was executed regarding this matter, the first section of which reads as follows: “First: that in this agreement shall be set down and included the two ships which are expected to come from the Philipinas Islands this present year, or early in this coming year of 1636, to this Nueva España with registry; and if one or both of them shall not have sailed, or shall not sail, from the said islands, or if they be forced to put back to port, this agreement shall hold good regarding those which shall come in the following year, at whatever time therein; and the ship which shall not sail this year may do so next year, so that there will be two vessels; and they may land at the port of Acapulco in this Nueva España the goods that they carry, paying to his Majesty his customary royal dues, without those goods being seized; nor can anything be confiscated thereon in case each person declares what he shall carry, in conformity with the proclamation which will be issued. [This goes] with declaration that if (which may God not permit) the ship be wrecked at sea, or plundered by enemies, no other shipment be allowed.” It does not seem as if the persons who drew up and signed this contract could state more contingencies regarding the voyage of these ships, in order that these might be included in the document, since they set down the following: sailing in the year 1635; being obliged to put back to port, and being shipwrecked; sailing not in that year, but in the following one, that of 1636; arriving at Acapulco in that year, or in 1637 at whatever time therein; one ship arriving, and the other being obliged to go back to port, or not sailing at all; and finally, settling beforehand the account and despatch of two ships which would arrive after the date of the contract and agreement, up to the completion of the said year 1637. Moreover, the necessary declarations were made as to the cargo of the ships: that it must pay the customary dues, all goods being declared; and that, if this alone were done, they could not be confiscated, even though they should come outside of the registry, for this is meant by declaring them. The facts of the case were, in all these matters, that the ships did not sail in the year 1635, but in 1636, and reached Acapulco at the beginning of 1637 – a voyage included and expressly stated in the [aforesaid] document. In this case, conformably to the section which is here copied, it could not and cannot be doubted that these two ships were the first to arrive after the agreement, within the limit set therein, and with the permitted amount of goods registered – not only as that amount had always come, but with more rigorous and orderly [inspection]. As for the landing of the goods, this was done as the above section directed; for Don Pedro de Quiroga, when the ships cast anchor, caused proclamation to be made that all should declare whatever goods they carried; with this, and the severity which he exercised in permitting the goods to be removed from the ships, not a bale was concealed, or considered as such, nor was anything seized as contraband. [The king then mentions Quiroga’s rigorous and oppressive measures, almost in Grau’s own words, and continues:]

But it is a fact that, according to that agreement, what had to be done was to appraise all that came registered – as had been done during the six years before, to which the commission extended without making any kind of innovation, since the contract was that they had to collect the customary dues; and if anything came outside the registry, its owners, by declaring it in accordance with the proclamation (as they did declare it), had to pay the same dues, freight charges, and alcavala as did the registered merchandise – which is the same practice as that in Sevilla when, at the arrival of the galleons, my royal decree regarding declarations is issued and proclaimed. And this the proclamation of Don Pedro de Quiroga could not exceed, because it was of the same character, not only on account of his own official position, but by the obligation of the contract. Such was the proper course of action, according to justice and reason, and conformably to the contract approved by the viceroy and the visitor and by me; and since, in virtue of his document,16 the 400,000 pesos of the two thirds of 1636 and 1637 were already collected. What he did was to contravene all this, the same as if such usage had not been current; [but in that case] such a composition would not have been made, nor such a contract drawn up. For, as if the ships were not included in the agreement, whatever they carried was immediately seized (as has been stated), saying that it was confiscated – not for coming outside of registry, since of this sort there was nothing belonging to the citizens of the islands; but because the permitted amount came registered,17 as it always has come and ought to come, in order to fulfil therein the condition of the document, which was that each chest be carried as one pico of silk, to which is introduced the addition of a quarter, from which Manila has made petition. For if it were not with the express condition that these ships should be thus despatched, there would have been no reason for mentioning them in the agreement. Besides, they conformed to the order of which Don Pedro de Quiroga notified the islands, as appeared by a section of his letter, inserted in a document which the governor wrote to the city of Manila, which reads thus: “We have been expecting the ships which thus far have not arrived, by which we deem it certain that they have been obliged to take refuge in port; and in order that the service of his Majesty, to which your Lordship is always so attentive, may be furthered, it is necessary for me to express my opinion (as you commanded me, in your instructions) that all the goods which go registered in the ships, even if there be more of them than the 250,000 pesos of the permission, should remain free, by paying the dues at the port of Acapulco; and the same should be done with those that are not registered, if they are declared in the said port within twenty-four hours after the vessel casts anchor.” This was the proclamation which I ordered to be made; and that if the said ships should sail from that city, or after sailing should put back into port, they might come freely the following year with the said merchandise; and this was the order that the visitor sent to Manila, and which the governor executed to the letter. In accordance with it, the ships sailed, according to the agreement and its first condition; from this is positively known the notorious injury and injustice which has been done to all those engaged in this commerce who took part in the first composition – compelling them by severe measures to enter upon the second one, and to pay or be obliged to pay for it the said 300,000 pesos, endeavoring to deprive them of having recourse to my clemency with a protest. For even if there had been (as was not the case) the same or greater infractions of law in those two ships than in all the preceding years, as these cannot be of different character from those of the past, and from those included in the commissions of Don Pedro de Quiroga, they should in justice, and by obligation and legitimate contract, agreed to and executed, be included and contained in the composition of the 600,000 pesos; and in virtue of that agreement ought to have been despatched as usual, without making accusation or fixing blame for what they carried registered, or was declared at Acapulco. The islands therefore claim that they ought not to be included in the first composition, and that what they have paid ought to be restored to them and is imposed upon them when they do not owe it, on account of the said composition. They also claim that the second composition, to which those who signed the document were compelled, ought to be declared null and void; that all who were involved therein be set free from their obligation; and that what they shall have paid or contributed for its fulfilment and execution be returned and restored to them. [The king here enumerates (again in Grau’s language) the losses which these rigorous measures have caused to his royal exchequer, the injuries and dangers thus occasioned to the Philippines, and the services rendered to the crown by its citizens;] notwithstanding that in a letter of September 2, 1638, I thought best to inform the said city of Manila that in regard to the citizens of those islands being included in the former compositions made by the said Don Pedro de Quiroga, my royal intention was that they should not pay what they did not owe. And since this depended on the acts and the general decision which Don Pedro de Quiroga made regarding these compositions, in which the citizens of the islands claim they were not included, the judge was notified to proceed in those commissions, in order that he might hear them and administer justice as was fitting, affording redress to those who had been injured. In conformity therewith, I have considered it well to issue the present, by which I commission you, and give you all the power and authority that is required by law in order that, after hearing them, you may administer justice, and furnish redress to those who shall have been wronged in whatever has been represented to me; for such is my will. Done at Madrid, February 14, 1640.

I the King

By command of the king our sovereign:

Don Gabrièl de Ocaña y Alarcòn

History of the Dominican Province of the Holy Rosary

By Fray Diego Aduarte, O.P.

[Aduarte’s work18 is here presented, partly in full translation, partly in synopsis – the latter portions being, as usual, printed within brackets.]

Book I

Chapter I

How the establishment of the Dominican order in the Philipinas Islands was undertaken

[Though the Dominican order did not accompany the discovery of these islands, it was not late in entering them; for it found many entire provinces still in the night of heathenism, because the preachers, though good ones, had been few, and because the inhabitants differed so in their language and were spread over so vast an extent of territory. The reports which were sent back of the intelligence of the people, the fertility of the soil, and the amount of the population moved some religious to come to these regions, in grief that so many souls should be lost for lack of some one to rescue them from their errors. The question of establishing the Dominican order was discussed among the grave and holy fathers of the Province of Mexico; and to them it seemed unbecoming to our profession that no religious of our order should be engaged in this new conversion. The first man to put these pious desires into effect was that noble man of God, Fray Domingo Betanços, who refused the bishopric of Guatimala, preferring to be a preacher of the gospel in these islands. By his efforts he persuaded the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoça, to give command that he should have a vessel and sailors to take him to Philippinas, for which he had permission of his bishop. But the time determined upon by our Lord for this had not yet come, and accordingly it was not carried out. However, he did not give up his desire; and began again in 1580 to discuss the journey. In order that the expedition might be better supported, he talked over with some fathers the plan of sending some one to España and Roma to obtain the necessary documents. Fray Juan Chrisóstomo was chosen as leader of the expedition, and was sent to España and Roma to obtain the usual licenses for the foundation of a new province of this order in Philippinas, Japon, and China. Fray Juan set out in 1581 with letters from various ecclesiastics, among them the first bishop of the Philippinas, Don Fray Domingo de Salazar, a religious of the same order, who happened to be in Nueva España at the time, on the way to his new bishopric. The bishop was greatly pleased with this determination, as he hoped to find through it reparation for his own unfortunate voyage, in which he had brought religious from España for the same purpose, but had lost so many from death or sickness that he had remaining only father Fray Christoval de Salvatierra. The mission of Fray Juan Chrisostomo was successful.19 He obtained from the general of the order, the Most Reverend Fray Pablo Constable de Ferrara, a charter giving him authority to establish a congregation of thirty brethren of the order for the Philippinas Islands and the kingdom of China, and directing him to follow the usages of the province of Santiago of Mexico. The privileges of the province of Mexico were granted to the new province. The date of this charter is the fourteenth of July, 1582. The general also gave him a circular letter to the members of the order, confirming his powers.]

Chapter II

Negotiations of Fray Juan Chrisostomo at Roma

[At Roma Fray Juan Chrisostomo obtained a brief from Pope Gregory XIII, granting to the Dominican province of Philippinas and China powers of absolution from sins, excommunications, and other sentences, censures and pains, even in cases reserved for the Apostolic See, in foro conscientia. This brief bears date of September 15, 1582. The pope also gave Fray Juan Chrisostomo many precious relics for the order, granting many indulgences to those who visited them.]

Chapter III

The experience of Fray Juan Chrisostomo in España until the establishment of the new province was completed

[Though father Fray Juan had supposed, because of the ease with which he carried out his business at Roma, that he was likely to obtain even greater favor in España, he found the conditions entirely contrary. During his absence in Rome, the bishop of Philippinas had sent to España Father Alonso Sanchez as his commissioner. The bishop met with great difficulties in Philippinas, because of the long period which had passed during which there had been no bishop there. He had sent Father Alonso to obtain support from España, giving him especial directions to further the establishment of the order, as he expected to receive great assistance from it. But Father Alonso acted in a contrary manner, maintaining both in Mexico and in España that there was no further need of clergy in the islands, and especially no need of the establishment of a new order there. Being accredited with letters from the ecclesiastical dignitaries, and speaking as an eyewitness, he persuaded the Spaniards of whatever he pleased; he had special influence with the Council of the Indias and with the king’s confessor.20 Father Juan was accordingly obliged to retire to his convent of San Pablo at Sevilla, entrusting this work to the Lord. So completely did he abandon the enterprise that he made use of some of the relics which had been given him by the pope for the establishment of the new province, to the advantage of his old convent. At last, by an inspiration of God, Father Juan was again moved to set about the establishment of this province. Among the religious who offered themselves for the work was father Fray Juan de Castro,21 who, after filling important administrative offices in the order, had retired to his convent of San Pablo at Burgos. Though an old man, he was fired with religious zeal for the work on which Father Juan had entered. From the convent of San Pablo at Valladolid there volunteered two lecturers in theology, father Fray Miguel de Venavides (afterward bishop of Nueva Segovia and archbishop of Manila), and father Fray Antonio Arcediano; Fray Juan de Ormaça, lecturer in arts, afterward provincial; Fray Juan Maldonado, likewise lecturer in arts, and afterward a holy martyr; and Fray Pedro de Soto, Fray Miguel Berreaça and Fray Juan de Ojeda, who all were priests.22 Fray Domingo Nieva, deacon, who also volunteered, was afterward of great importance, because of the great ease and skill with which he learned languages, whether Indian or Chinese. From the college of San Gregorio in the same city, came to join them father Fray Andres Almaguer. From the convent of San Estevan at Salamanca there offered themselves for the expedition father Fray Alonso Ximenez (afterward provincial), father Fray Bartolome Lopez, and father Fray Juan de Hurutria [Urrutia, in Reseña]. From San Vicente at Plasencia came father Fray Francisco de Toro; from the royal convent of Sancto Thomas at Avila, father Fray Juan Cobo,23 a master in the college there; from the college of Sancto Thomas de Alcala, father Fray Bernardo Navarro – who was twice provincial, and for many years commissary of the holy Inquisition – father Fray Diego de Soria (afterward bishop of Nueva Segovia), and the lay brother Fray Pedro Rodriguez. From the convent of Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia24 came father Fray Alonso Delgado, who was sub-prior, and father Fray Pedro Bolaños,25 master of novices. From the convent of San Pablo de Sevilla volunteered father Fray Juan de la Cruz,26 and the fathers Fray Francisco de la Cruz and Fray Pedro Flores. Father Juan succeeded in obtaining a letter from the king to the governor of the Philippinas Islands, dated September 20, 1585, endorsing his enterprise.

The religious set out from Castilla in May, 1586. Father Fray Juan Chrisostomo, being too humble in spirit to undertake the leadership of the company, resigned his position in favor of father Fray Juan de Castro.]

Chapter IV

The experience of these first fathers up to the time of embarcation

[The fathers met with great difficulty in preparing for the embarcation. After making arrangements for their passage, they found the vessel so ill-suited for their purpose, that they were obliged to annul the contract. They were left behind by the fleet with which they were to sail, and endeavored to follow it with a small vessel; but put back and finally obtained passage in a ship of fair size. As this vessel was sailing alone, it was exposed to danger from the Moors and the English. While the fathers were hesitating, the adelantado of Castilla offered them a munificent support if they would remain and give their attention to the spiritual good of his vassals. But overcoming all these alarms and enticements, which were wiles of the devil, the fathers courageously set sail.]

Chapter V

The voyage of the fathers

[On Friday, July 17, 1586, the day of St. Alexis, they began the voyage. Since the vessel already had its complement of passengers, and a full cargo, there was no place for the religious or for their goods. To the old and the infirm the captain granted the cabin in the poop; the others slept where they could. They spent their time in the occupations which they would have followed in the convent. Reaching the Canarias they found that the fleet had already gone ahead. The captain set sail again, without giving them opportunity to say more than one mass. A fire, which threatened the safety of the ship, was put out by the holy and courageous Fray Juan Cobo and a Spaniard. Seeing four vessels which did not seem to belong to the fleets, the people aboard prepared for battle; but they discovered that these were friends. They suffered greatly for want of water, but finally readied port on St. Michael’s day in September; from the port they went on to Vera Cruz, and thence to Mexico. Their hard experience and the badness of the climate had made a number of them ill. The first to die was father Fray Miguel Berreaza, a religious of most holy life, a Basque by nation; he died of a malignant fever. He was soon followed by father Fray Francisco Navarro, who also died of fever. There also died father Fray Pedro Flores, in the flower of his age. Many others were afflicted with illness, but all were kindly received and treated by the religious at Mexico. The Indians likewise received the religious with feasts, bouquets, and dances – greatly delighting the newcomers when they saw these races so marvelously converted from barbarism and cruelty to peace, kindness, and devotion. The Indians of Cuitlabac received Father Juan Chrisostomo with special tokens of love, as their father and former instructor.]

Chapter VI

New difficulties met by the expedition, and the result

[The common enemy of souls strove with all his might to keep the religious in Mexico. He represented that Mexico was in need of religious, and that the voyage from Mexico to the Philippinas is longer than that from España to Mexico. He employed a religious person who had returned from the Philippinas27 to assure them that they would not be admitted to the kingdom of China; while, as for the Philippinas, he declared that the country was small, thinly populated, and sufficiently provided with religious. The viceroy28 strove to retain them. Some remained; but the most valiant and virtuous, like the army of Gideon against the Midianites, pushed on. The names of the eighteen who founded the province are: father Fray Juan de Castro, vicar-general; father Fray Alonso Ximenez, Fray Miguel de Benavides, Fray Pedro Bolaños, Fray Bernardo Navarro, Fray Diego de Soria, Fray Juan de Castro (who had the same name as the vicar-general, and was his nephew),29 Fray Marcos de San Antonio, Fray Juan Maldonado, Fray Juan de Ormaça, Fray Pedro de Soto, Fray Juan de la Cruz, Fray Gregorio de Ochoa, Fray Domingo de Nieva (deacon), and Fray Pedro Rodriguez, a lay brother. Fifteen of these took their way to Manila; for father Fray Juan Chrisostomo was unable to go because of illness, and father Fray Juan Cobo left the company, on business of importance which could not be finished before the embarcation. By way of Macan there went to China father Fray Antonio de Arcediano, father Fray Alonso Delgado, and father Fray Bartholome Lopez, as members of the same province and subjects of the father vicar-general Fray Juan de Castro. “Though there went eighteen, there should have gone a thousand; from which may appear how far from the truth in his information was he who disturbed this holy company with what he said in Mexico. His intention was good, but in fact he greatly aided the Devil, and kept from these islands many and very good subjects. I trust that the Lord has already pardoned him.”]