“Death makes no conquest of this conqueror,For now he lives in fame, though not in life.”—“Richard III.,” Act 3, Sc. 1.
“Death makes no conquest of this conqueror,For now he lives in fame, though not in life.”—“Richard III.,” Act 3, Sc. 1.
“Death makes no conquest of this conqueror,For now he lives in fame, though not in life.”—“Richard III.,” Act 3, Sc. 1.
In the meantime Salcedo continued his task of subjecting the tribes in the interior The natives of Taytay, and Cainta, in the present military district of Morong, submitted to him on the 15th of August, 1571. He returned to the Laguna de Bay to pacify the villagers, and penetrated as far as Camarines Norte to explore the Bicol River. Bolinao and the provinces of Pangasinan and Ilocos yielded to his prowess, and in this last province he had well established himself when the defense of the capital obliged him to return to Manila.
At the same time, Martin de Goiti was actively employed in overrunning the Pampanga territory, with the double object of procuring supplies for the Manila camp and coercing the inhabitants on his way to acknowledge their now liege lord. It is recorded that in this expedition Goiti was joined by the rajahs of Tondo and Manila. Yet Lacandola appears to have been regarded more as a servant of the Spaniardsnolens volensthan as a free ally; for, because he absented himself from Goiti’s camp “without license from the Maestre de Campo,” he was suspected by some writers of having favored opposition to the Spaniards’ incursions in the Marshes of Hagonoy (Pampanga coast, northern boundary of Manila Bay).
The district which constituted the ancient province of Taal y Balayan, subsequently denominated Province of Batangas, was formerly governed by a number of caciques, the most notable of which were Gatpagil and Gatjinlintan. They were usually at war with their neighbors. Gatjinlintan, the cacique of the Batangas River at the time of the conquest, was famous for his valor. Gatsungayan, who ruled on the other side of the river, was celebrated as a hunter of deer and wild boar. These men were half-castes of Borneo and Aeta extraction, who formed a distinct race called by the natives Daghagang. None of them would submit to the King of Spain or become Christians, hence their descendants were offered no privileges.
On the death of General Legaspi, the government of the colony was assumed by the royal treasurer, Guido de Lavezares, in conformity with the sealed instructions from the Supreme Court of Mexico, which were now opened. During this period, the possession of the islands was unsuccessfully disputed by a rival expedition under the command of a Chinaman, Li-ma-hong, whom the Spaniards were pleased to term a pirate, forgetting, perhaps, that they themselves had only recently wrested the country from its former possessors by virtue of might against right.
On the coasts of his native country he had indeed been a pirate. For the many depredations committed by him against private traders and property, the Celestial Emperor, failing to catch him by cajolery, outlawed him.
Born in the port of Tiuchiu, Li-ma-hong at an early age evinced a martial spirit and joined a band of corsairs, which for a long time had been the terror of the China coasts. On the demise of his chief he was unanimously elected leader of the buccaneering cruisers. At length, pursued in all directions by the imperial ships of war, he determined to attempt the conquest of the Philippines. Presumably the same incentives which impelled the Spanish mariners to conquer lands and overthrow dynasties—the vision of wealth, glory and empire—awakened a like ambition in the Chinese adventurer. It was the spirit of theage.[9]In his sea-wanderings he happened to fall in with a Chinese trading-junk returning from Manila with the proceeds of her cargo sold there. This he seized, and the captive crew were constrained to pilot his fleet toward the capital of Luzon. From them he learned how easily the natives had been plundered by a handful of foreigners—the probable extent of the opposition he might encounter—the defenses established—the wealth and resources of the district and the nature of its inhabitants.
His fleet consisted of sixty-two warships or armed junks, well found, having on board two thousand sailors, two thousand soldiers, one thousand five hundred women, a number of artisans, and all that could be conveniently carried with which to gain and organize his new kingdom. On its way the squadron cast anchor off the province of Ilocos Sur, where a few troops were sent ashore to get provisions. While returning to the junks, they sacked the village and set fire to the huts. The news of this outrage was hastily communicated to Juan Salcedo, who had been pacifying the northern provinces since July, 1572, and was at the time in Villa Fernandina (now called Vigan). Li-ma-hong continued his course until calms compelled his ships to anchor in the roads of Caoayan (Ilocos coast), where a few Spanish soldiers were stationed under the orders of Juan Salcedo, who still was in the immediate town of Vigan. Under his direction,preparations were made to prevent the enemy entering the river, but such was not Li-ma-hong’s intention. He again set sail; while Salcedo, naturally supposing his course would be toward Manila, also started at the same time for the capital with all the fighting men he could collect, leaving only thirty men to garrison Vigan and protect the State interests there.
On the 29th of November, 1574, the squadron arrived in the Bay of Manila, and Li-ma-hong sent forward his lieutenant, Sioco—a Japanese—at the head of six hundred fighting men, to demand the surrender of the Spaniards. A strong gale, however, destroyed several of his junks, in which about two hundred men perished.
With the remainder he reached the coast at Paranaque, a village a few miles south of Manila. Thence, with towlines, the four hundred soldiers hauled their junks up to the beach of the capital.
Already at the village of Malate the alarm was raised, but the Spaniards could not give credit to the reports, and no resistance was offered until the Chinese were within the gates of the city. Martin de Goiti, the Maestre de Campo, second in command to the governor, was the first victim of the attack.
The flames and smoke arising from his burning residence were the first indications which the governor received of what was going on. The Spaniards took refuge in the fort of Santiago, which the Chinese were on the point of taking by storm, when their attention was drawn elsewhere by the arrival of fresh troops led by a Spanish sub-lieutenant. Under the mistaken impression that these were the vanguard of a formidable corps, Sioco soundedthe retreat. A bloody hand-to-hand combat followed, and with great difficulty the Chinese collected their dead and regained their junks.
In the meantime Li-ma-hong, with the reserved forces, was lying in the roadstead of Cavite, and Sioco hastened to report to him the result of the attack, which had cost the invader over one hundred dead and more than that number wounded. Thereupon Li-ma-hong resolved to rest his troops and renew the conflict in two days’ time under his personal supervision. The next day Juan Salcedo arrived by sea with re-enforcements from Vigan, and preparations were unceasingly made for the expected encounter. Salcedo having been appointed to the office of Maestre de Campo, vacant since the death of Goiti, the organization of the defense was intrusted to his immediate care.
By daybreak on the 3d of December, the enemy’s fleet hove-to off the capital, where Li-ma-hong harangued his troops, while the cornets and drums of the Spaniards were sounding the alarm for their fighting men to assemble in the fort.
Then fifteen hundred chosen men, well armed, were disembarked under the leadership of Sioco, who swore to take the place or die in the attempt. Sioco separated his forces into three divisions. The city was set fire to, and Sioco advanced toward the fort, into which hand-grenades were thrown, while Li-ma-hong supported the attack with his ships’ cannon.
Sioco, with his division, at length entered the fort, and a hand-to-hand fight ensued. For a while the issue was doubtful. Salcedo fought like a lion. Even the aged governor was well at the front to encourage the deadlystruggle for existence. The Spaniards finally gained the victory; the Chinese were repulsed with great slaughter; and their leader having been killed, they fled in complete disorder. Salcedo, profiting by the confusion, now took the offensive and followed up the enemy, pursuing them along the sea-shore, where they were joined by the third division, which had remained inactive. The panic of the Chinese spread rapidly, and Li-ma-hong, in despair, landed another contingent of about five hundred men, while he still continued afloat; but even with this re-enforcement the morale of his army could not be regained.
The Chinese troops therefore, harassed on all sides, made a precipitate retreat on board the fleet, and Li-ma-hong set sail again for the west coast of the island. Foiled in the attempt to possess himself of Manila, Li-ma-hong determined to set up his capital in other parts. In a few days he arrived at the mouth of the Agno River, in the province of Pangasinan, where he proclaimed to the natives that he had gained a signal victory over the Spaniards. The inhabitants there, having no particular choice between two masters, received Li-ma-hong with welcome, and he thereupon set about the foundation of his new capital some four miles from the mouth of the river.
Months passed before the Spaniards came in force to dislodge the invader. Feeling themselves secure in their new abode, the Chinese had built many dwellings, a small fortress, a pagoda, etc. At length an expedition was dispatched under the command of Juan Salcedo. This was composed of about two hundred and fifty Spaniards and one thousand six hundred natives well equippedwith small arms, ammunition and artillery. The flower of the Spanish colony, accompanied by two priests and the Rajah of Tondo, set out to expel the formidable foe. Li-ma-hong made a bold resistance and refused to come to terms with Salcedo. In the meantime, the Viceroy of Fokien, having heard of Li-ma-hong’s daring exploits, had commissioned a ship of war to discover the whereabout of his imperial master’s old enemy. The envoy was received with delight by the Spaniards, who invited him to accompany them to Manila to interview the governor.
Li-ma-hong still held out, but perceiving that an irresistible onslaught was being projected against him by Salcedo’s party, he very cunningly and quite unexpectedly gave them the slip, and sailed out of the river with his ships by one of the mouths unknown to his enemies.[10]In order to divert the attention of the Spaniards, Li-ma-hong ingeniously feigned an assault in an opposite quarter. Of course, on his escape, he had to abandon the troops employed in this maneuver. These, losing all hope, and having, indeed, nothing but their lives to fight for, fled to the mountains. Hence, it is popularly supposed that from these fugitives descends the race of people in that province still distinguishable by their oblique eyes and known by the name of Igorrote-Chinese.
“Aide toi et Dieu t’aidera” is an old French maxim,but the Spaniards chose to attribute their deliverance from their Chinese rival to the friendly intervention of Saint Andrew. This saint was declared thenceforth to be the patron saint of Manila, and in his honor High Mass is celebrated in the Cathedral at 8A.M.on the 30th of each November. It is a public holiday and gala-day, when all the highest civil, military and religious authorities attend the “Funcion votiva de San Andrés.” This opportunity to assert the supremacy of ecclesiastical power was not lost to the Church, and for many years it was the custom, after hearing Mass, to spread the Spanish national flag on the floor of the Cathedral for the metropolitan archbishop to walk over it. It has been asserted, however, that a few years ago the governor-general refused to witness this antiquated formula, which, in public at least, no longer obtains. Now it is the practice to carry the royal standard before the altar. Both before and after the Mass, the bearer (Alférez Real), wearing his hat and accompanied by the mayor of the city, stands on the altar-floor, raises his hat three times, and three times dips the flag before the Image of Christ, then, facing the public, he repeats this ceremony. On Saint Andrew’s eve, the royal standard is borne in procession from the Cathedral through the principal streets of the city, escorted by civil functionaries and followed by a band of music. This ceremony is known as the “Paseo del Real Pendon.”
According to Juan de la Concepcion, the Rajahs[11]Soliman and Lacandola took advantage of these troubles to raise a rebellion against the Spaniards. The natives tooof Mindoro Island revolted and maltreated the priests, but all these disturbances were speedily quelled by a detachment of soldiers.
The governor willingly accepted the offer of the commander of the Chinese man-of-war to convey embassadors to his country to visit the viceroy and make a commercial treaty. Therefore two priests, Martin Rada and Geronimo Martin, were commissioned to carry a letter of greeting and presents to this personage, who received them with great distinction, but objected to their residing in the country.
After the defeat of Li-ma-hong, Juan Salcedo again repaired to the northern provinces of Luzon Island, to continue his task of reducing the natives to submission. On the 11th of March, 1576, he died of fever near Vigan (then called Villa Fernandina), capital of the province of Ilocos Sur. A year afterward, what could be found of his bones were placed in the ossuary of his illustrious grandfather, Legaspi, in the Augustine Chapel of Saint Fausto, Manila. His skull, however, which had been carried off by the natives of Ilocos, could not be recovered in spite of all threats and promises. In Vigan there is a small monument raised to commemorate the deeds of this famous warrior, and there is also a street bearing his name.
For several years following these events, the question of prestige in the civil affairs of the colony was acrimoniously contested by the governor-general, the supreme court and the ecclesiastics.
The governor was censured by his opponents for alleged undue exercise of arbitrary authority. The supreme court,established on the Mexican model, was reproached with seeking to overstep the limits of its functions. Every legal quibble was adjusted by a dilatory process, impracticable in a colony yet in its infancy, where summary justice was indispensable for the maintenance of order imperfectly understood by the masses. But the fault lay less with the justices than with the constitution of the court itself. Nor was this state of affairs improved by the growing discontent and immoderate ambition of the clergy, who unremittingly urged their pretensions to immunity from State control, affirming the supramundane condition of their office.
An excellent code of laws, called the Leyes de Indias, in force in Mexico, was adopted here, but modifications in harmony with the special conditions of this colony were urgently necessary, while all the branches of government called for reorganization or reform. Under these circumstances, the bishop of Manila, Domingo Salazar, took the initiative in commissioning a priest, Fray Alonso Sanchez, to repair first to the viceroy of Mexico and afterward to the King of Spain, to expose the grievances of his party.
Alonso Sanchez left the Philippines with his appointment as procurator-general for the Augustine order of monks. As the execution of the proposed reforms, which he was charged to lay before his majesty, would, if conceded, be intrusted to the government of Mexico, his first care was to seek the partisanship of the viceroy of that colony; and in this he succeeded. Thence he continued his journey to Seville, where the court happened to be, arriving there in September, 1587. He was at once granted an audience by the king, to present his credentials and memorials relative to Philippine affairs in general; and ecclesiastical judicial, military and native matters in particular. The king promised to peruse all the documents, but suffering from gout, and having so many and distinct State concerns to attend to, the negotiations were greatly delayed. Finally, Sanchez sought a minister who had easy access to the royal apartments, and this personage obtained from the king permission to examine the documents and hand to him a succinct resumé of the whole for his majesty’s consideration. A commission was then appointed, including Sanchez, and the deliberations lasted five months.
At this period, public opinion in the Spanish universities was very divided with respect to Catholic missions in the Indies.
Some maintained that the propaganda of the faith ought to be purely Apostolic, such as Jesus Christ taught to his disciples, inculcating doctrines of humility and poverty without arms or violence, and if, nevertheless, the heathens refused to welcome this mission of peace, the missionaries should simply abandon them in silence without further demonstration than that of shaking the dust off their feet.
Others opined, and among them was Sanchez, that such a method was useless and impracticable, and that it was justifiable to force their religion upon primitive races at the point of the sword if necessary, using any violence to enforce its acceptance.
Much ill-feeling was aroused in the discussion of these two and distinct theories. Juan Volante, a Dominican friar of the Convent of Our Lady of Atocha, presenteda petition against the views of the Sanchez faction, declaring that the idea of ingrafting religion with the aid of arms was scandalous. Fray Juan Volante was so importunate, that he had to be heard in council, but neither party yielded. At length, the intervention of the bishops of Manila, Macao and Malacca and several captains and governors in the Indies influenced the king to put an end to the controversy, on the ground that it would lead to no good.
The king retired to the Monastery of the Escorial, and Sanchez was cited to meet him there to learn the royal will. About the same time the news reached the king of the loss of the so-called Invincible Armada, sent under the command of the incompetent Duke of Medina Sidonia to annex England. Notwithstanding this severe blow to the vain ambition of Philip, the affairs of the Philippines were delayed but a short time. On the basis of the recommendation of the junta, the royal assent was given to an important decree, of which the most significant articles are the following, namely:—The tribute was fixed by the king at ten reales per annum, payable by the natives in gold, silver, or grain, or part in one commodity and part in the other. Of this tribute, eight reales were to be paid to the treasury, one half real to the bishop and clergy, and one real and a half to be applied to the maintenance of the soldiery. Full tribute was not to be exacted from the natives still unsubjected to the crown. Until their confidence and loyalty should be gained by friendly overtures, they were to pay a small recognition of vassalage, and subsequently the tribute in common with the rest.
Instead of one-fifth value of gold and hidden treasure due to his majesty (real quinto), he would henceforth receive only one-tenth of such value, excepting that of gold, which the natives would be permitted to extract free of rebate.
A customs duty of 3 per cent ad valorem was to be paid on merchandise sold, and this duty was to be spent on the army.
Export duty was to be paid on goods shipped to New Spain (Mexico), and this impost was also to be exclusively spent on the armed forces.
The number of European troops in the colony was fixed at four hundred men-at-arms, divided into six companies, each under a captain, a sub-lieutenant, a sergeant, and two corporals. Their pay was to be as follows, namely: Captain thirty-five dollars, sub-lieutenant twenty dollars, sergeant ten dollars, corporal seven dollars, rank and file six dollars per month; besides which, an annual gratuity of ten thousand dollars was to be proportionately distributed to all.
Recruits from Mexico were not to enlist under the age of fifteen years.
The captain-general was to have a body-guard of twenty-four men (halberdiers), with the pay of those of the line, under the immediate command of a captain to be paid fifteen dollars per month.
Salaries due to State employés were to be punctually paid when due; and when funds were wanted for that purpose they were to be supplied from Mexico.
The king made a donation of twelve thousand dollars, which, with another like sum to be contributed by theSpaniards themselves, would serve to liquidate the debts incurred on their first occupation of the islands.
The governor and bishop were recommended to consider the project of a refuge for young Spanish women arrived from Spain, and to study the question of dowries for native women married to poor Spaniards.
The offices of secretaries and notaries were no longer to be sold, but conferred on persons who merited such appointments.
The governors were instructed not to make grants of land to their relations, servants or friends, but solely to those who should have resided at least three years in the islands, and have worked the lands so conceded. Any grants which might have already been made to the relations of the governors or magistrates were to be canceled.
The rent paid by the Chinese for the land they occupied was to be applied to the necessities of the capital.
The governor and bishop were to enjoin the judges not to permit costly lawsuits, but to execute summary justice verbally, and, so far as possible, fines were not to be inflicted.
The city of Manila was to be fortified in a manner to insure it against all further attacks or risings.
Four penitentiaries were to be established in the islands in the most convenient places, with the necessary garrisons, and six to eight galleys and frigates well armed and ready for defense against the English corsairs which might come by way of the Moluccas.
In the most remote and unexplored parts of the islands, the governor was to have unlimited powers to actas he should please, without consulting his majesty; but projected enterprises of conversion, pacification, etc., at the expense of the royal treasury, were to be submitted to a council, comprising the bishop, the captains, etc. The governor was authorized to capitulate and agree with the captains and others who might care to undertake conversions and pacifications on their own account, and to concede the title of Maestre de Campo to such persons, on condition that such capitulations should be forwarded to his majesty for ratification.
Only those persons domiciled in the islands would be permitted to trade with them.
A sum of one thousand dollars was to be taken from the tributes paid into the royal treasury for the foundation of the hospital for the Spaniards, and the annual sum of six hundred dollars, appropriated by the governor for its support, was confirmed. Moreover, the royal treasury of Mexico was to send clothing to the value of four hundred ducats for the hospital use.
The hospital for the natives was to receive an annual donation of six hundred dollars for its support, and an immediate supply of clothing from Mexico to the value of two hundred dollars.
Slaves held by Spaniards were to be immediately set at liberty. No native was thenceforth to be enslaved. All new-born natives were declared free. The bondage of all existing slaves from ten years of age was to cease on their attaining twenty years of age. Those above twenty years of age were to serve five years longer, and then become free. At any time, notwithstanding the foregoing conditions, they would be entitled to purchase their liberty, theprice of which was to be determined by the governor and the bishop.[12]
There being no tithes payable to the church by Spaniards or natives, the clergy were to receive for their maintenance the half real above mentioned in lieu thereof, from the tribute paid by each native subjected to the crown. When the Spaniards should have crops, they were to pay tithes to the clergy.
A grant was made of twelve thousand ducats for the building and ornaments of the Cathedral, and an immediate advance of two thousand ducats, on account of this grant, was made from the funds to be remitted from Mexico.
Forty Austin friars were to be sent at once to the Philippines, to be followed by missionaries from other corporations. The king allowed five hundred dollars to be paid against the one thousand dollars’ passage money for each priest, the balance to be defrayed out of the common funds of the clergy, derived from their share of the tribute.
Missionaries in great numbers had already flocked to the Philippines and roamed wherever they thought fit, without license from the bishop, whose authority they utterly repudiated.
Affirming that they had the direct consent of his holiness the Pope, they menaced with excommunication whosoever attempted to impede them in their free peregrination. Five years after the foundation of Manila, the city and environs were infested with niggardly mendicant friars, whose slothful habits placed their supercilious countrymen in ridicule before the natives. They were tolerated but a short time in the islands; not altogether because of the ruin they would have brought to European moral influence on the untutored tribes, but because the bishop was highly jealous of all competition against the Augustine order to which he belonged. Consequent on the representations of Fray Alonso Sanchez, his majesty ordained that all priests who went to the Philippines were, in the first place, to resolve never to quit the islands without the bishop’s sanction, which was to be conceded with great circumspection and only in extreme cases, while the governor was instructed not to afford them means of exit on his sole authority.
Neither did the bishop regard with satisfaction the presence of the commissary of the Inquisition, whose secret investigations, shrouded with mystery, curtailed the liberty of the loftiest functionary, sacred or civil. At the instigation of Fray Alonso Sanchez, the junta recommended the king to recall the commissary and extinguish the office, but he refused to do so. In short, the chief aims of the bishop were to enhance the power of the friars, raise the dignity of the colonial miter, and secure a religious monopoly for the Augustine order.
Gomez Perez Dasmarinas was the next governor appointed to these islands, on the recommendation of FrayAlonso Sanchez. In the royal instructions which he brought with him were embodied all the above mentioned civil, ecclesiastical and military reforms.
At the same time, King Philip abolished the supreme court. He wished to put an end to the interminable lawsuits so prejudicial to the development of the colony. Therefore the president and magistrates were replaced by justices of the peace, and the former returned to Mexico in 1591. This measure served only to widen the breach between the bishop and the civil government. Dasmarinas compelled him to keep within the sphere of his sacerdotal functions, and tolerated no rival in State concerns. There was no appeal on the spot against the governor’s authority. This restraint irritated and disgusted the bishop to such a degree, that at the age of seventy-eight years he resolved to present himself at the Spanish court. On his arrival there, he manifested to the king the impossibility of one bishop attending to the spiritual wants of a people dispersed over so many islands. For seven years after the foundation of Manila, as capital of the archipelago, its principal church was simply a parish church. In 1578 it was raised to the dignity of a cathedral, at the instance of the king. Three years after this date the Cathedral of Manila was solemnly declared to be a “Suffragan Cathedral of Mexico, under the Advocation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception”; Domingo Salazar being the first bishop consecrated. He now proposed to raise the Manila see to an archbishopric, with three suffragan bishops. The king gave his consent, subject to approval from Rome, and, this following in due course, Salazar was appointed first archbishop of Manila;but he died before the Papal Bull arrived, dated the 14th of August, 1595, officially authorizing his investiture.
In the meantime, Alonso Sanchez had proceeded to Rome in May, 1589. Among many other Pontifical favors conceded to him, he obtained the right for himself, or his assigns, to use a die or stamp of any form with one or more images; to be chosen by the holder, and to contain also the figure of Christ, the Very Holy Virgin, or the Saint—Peter or Paul. On the reverse was to be engraven a bust portrait of His Holiness with the following indulgences attached thereto, viz.:-“To him who should convey the word of God to the infidels, or give them notice of the holy mysteries—each time 300 years’ indulgence. To him who, by industry, converted any one of these, or brought him to the bosom of the Church—full indulgence for all sins.” A number of minor indulgences were conceded for services to be rendered to the Pontificate, and for the praying so many Pater Nosters and Ave Marias. This Bull was dated in Rome the 28th of July, 1591.
Popes Gregory XIV. and Innocent IX. granted other Bulls relating to the rewards for using beads, medals, crosses, pictures, blessed images, etc., with which one could gain nine plenary indulgences every day or rescue nine souls from purgatory; and each day, twice over, all the full indulgences yet given in and out of Rome could be obtained for living and deceased persons.
Sanchez returned to Spain (where he died), bringing with him the body of Saint Policarp, a relic of Saint Potenciana, and one hundred and fifty-seven martyrs;among them, twenty-seven popes, for remission to the Cathedral of Manila.
The supreme court was re-established with the same faculties as those of Mexico and Lima in 1598, and since then, on seven occasions, when the governorship has been vacant, it has acted pro tem. The following interesting account of the pompous ceremonial attending the reception of the Royal Seal, restoring this court, is given by Concepcion.[13]He says: “The Royal Seal of office was received from the ship with the accustomed solemnity. It was contained in a chest covered with purple velvet and trimmings of silver and gold, over which hung a cloth of purple and gold. It was escorted by a majestic accompaniment, marching to the sounds of clarions and cymbals and other musical instruments. The cortege passed through the noble city with rich vestments and leg trimmings and uncovered heads. Behind these followed a horse, gorgeously caparisoned and girthed, for the president to place the coffer containing the Royal Seal upon its back. The streets were beautifully adorned with exquisite drapery. The high bailiff, magnificently robed, took the reins in hand to lead the horse under a purple velvet pall bordered with gold. The magistrates walked on either side; the aldermen of the city, richly clad, carried their staves of office in the august procession, which concluded with a military escort, standard-bearers, etc., and proceeded to the Cathedral, where it was met by the dean, holding a Cross. As the company entered thesacred edifice, the Te Deum was intoned by a band of music.”
In 1886 a supreme court, exactly similar to, and independent of, that of Manila, was established in the city of Cebu. The question of precedence in official acts having been soon after disputed between the president of the court and the brigadier-governor of Visayas, it was decided in favor of the latter, on appeal to the governor-general. In the meantime, the advisability of abolishing the supreme court of Cebu was debated by the public.
Consequent on the union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain (1581 to 1640), the feuds, as between nations, diplomatically subsided, although the individual antagonism was as rife as ever.
Spanish and Portuguese interests in the Moluccas, as elsewhere, were thenceforth officially mutual. In the Moluccas group, the old contests between the then rival kingdoms had estranged the natives from their forced alliances. Anti-Portuguese and Philo-Portuguese parties had sprung up among the petty sovereignties, but the Portuguese fort and factory established in Ternate Island were held for many years, despite all contentions. But another rivalry, as formidable and more detrimental than that of the Portuguese in days gone by, now menaced Spanish ascendency.
From the close of the sixteenth century up to the year of the “Family Compact” wars (1763), Holland and Spain were relentless foes. To recount the numerous combats between their respective fleets during this period would itself require a volume. It will suffice here to show the bearing of these political conflicts upon the concerns ofthe Philippine colony. The Treaty of Antwerp, which was wrung from the Spaniards in 1609, twenty-eight years after the union of Spain and Portugal, broke the scourge of their tyranny, while it failed to assuage the mutual antipathy. One of the consequences of the “Wars of the Flanders,” which terminated with this treaty, was that the Dutch were obliged to seek in the Far East the merchandise which had hitherto been supplied to them from the Peninsula. The short-sighted policy of the Spaniards in closing to the Dutch the Portuguese markets, which were now theirs, brought upon themselves the destruction of the monopolies which they had gained by the union. The Dutch were now free, and their old tyrant’s policy induced them to independently establish their own trading headquarters in the Molucca Islands, whence they could obtain directly the produce forbidden to them in the home ports. Hence, from those islands, the ships of a powerful Netherlands Trading Company sallied forth from time to time to meet the Spanish galleons from Mexico with silver and manufactured goods.
Previous to this, and during the Wars of the Flanders, Dutch corsairs hovered about the waters of the Moluccas, to take reprisals from the Spaniards. These encounters frequently took place at the eastern entrance of the San Bernadino Straits, where the Dutch were accustomed to hove-to in anticipation of the arrival of their prizes.
In this manner, constantly roving about the Philippine waters, they enriched themselves at the expense of their detested adversary, and, in a small degree, avenged themselves of the bloodshed and oppression which for over sixty years had desolated the Low Countries.
The Philippine colony lost immense sums in the seizure of its galleons from Mexico, upon which it almost entirely depended for subsistence. Being a dependency of New Spain, its whole intercourse with the civilized world, its supplies of troops and European manufactured articles, were contingent upon the safe arrival of the galleons. Also the dollars with which they annually purchased cargoes from the Chinese for the galleons came from Mexico.
Consequently, the Dutch usually took the aggressive in these sea-battles, although they were not always victorious. When there were no ships to meet, they bombarded the ports where others were being built. The Spaniards, on their part, from time to time fitted out vessels to run down to the Moluccas to attack the enemy in his own waters.
During the governorship of Gomez Perez Dasmarinas (1590-1593), the native king of Siao Island—one of the Moluccas group—came to Manila to offer homage and vassalage to the representative of the King of Spain and Portugal, in return for protection against the incursions of the Dutch and the raids of the Ternate natives. Dasmarinas received him and the Spanish priests who accompanied him with affability, and, being satisfied with his credentials, he prepared a large expedition to go to the Moluccas to set matters in order. The fleet was composed of several frigates, one ship, six galleys and one hundred small vessels, all well armed. The fighting men numbered one hundred Spaniards, four hundred Pampangaand Tagalog arquebusiers, one thousand Visayas archers and lancers, besides one hundred Chinese to row the galleys. This expedition, which was calculated to be amply sufficient to subdue all the Moluccas, sailed from Cavite on the 6th of October, 1593. The sailing ships having got far ahead of the galleys, they hove-to off Punta de Azufre (N. of Maricaban Island) to wait for them. The galleys arrived; and the next day they were able to start again in company. Meanwhile a conspiracy was formed by the Chinese galleymen to murder all the Spaniards. Assuming these Chinese to be volunteers, their action would appear most wanton and base. If, however, as is most probable, they were pressed into this military service to foreigners, it seems quite natural that, being forced to bloodshed without alternative, they should first fight for their own liberty.
All but the Chinese were asleep, and they fell upon the Spaniards in a body. Eighteen of the troops and four slaves escaped by jumping into the sea. The governor was sleeping in his cabin, but awoke on hearing the noise. He supposed the ship had grounded, and was coming up the companion en deshabille, when a Chinaman cleaved his head with a cutlass. The governor reached his stateroom, and taking his missal and the Image of the Virgin in his hand, he died in six hours. The Chinese did not venture below, where the priests and armed soldiers were hidden. They cleared the decks of all their opponents, made fast the hatches and gangways, and waited three days, when, after putting ashore those who were still alive, they escaped to Cochin-China, where the king and mandarins seized the vessel and all she carried. On board were found twelve thousand dollars in coin, some silver, and jewels belonging to the governor and his suite.
Thus the expedition was brought to an untimely end. The King of Siao, and the missionaries accompanying him, had started in advance for Otong (Panay Island) to wait for the governor, and there they received the news of the disaster.
Among the most notable of the successful expeditions of the Spaniards was that of Pedro Bravo de Acuna, in 1606, which consisted of nineteen frigates, nine galleys and eight small craft, carrying a total of about two thousand men and provisions for a prolonged struggle. The result was, that they subdued a petty sultan friendly to the Dutch, and established a fortress on his island.
About the year 1607, the supreme court (the governorship being vacant from 1606 to 1608) hearing that a Dutch vessel was hovering off Ternate, sent a ship against it, commanded by Pedro de Heredia. A combat ensued. The Dutch commander was taken prisoner with several of his men, and lodged in the fort at Ternate, but was ransomed on payment of fifty thousand dollars to the Spanish commander. Heredia returned joyfully to Manila, where, much to his surprise, he was prosecuted by the supreme court for exceeding his instructions, and expired of melancholy. The ransomed Dutch leader was making his way back to his headquarters in a small ship, peacefully, and without hostilizing the Spaniards in any way, when the supreme court treacherously sent a galley and a frigate after him to make him prisoner a second time. Overwhelmed bynumbers and arms, and little expecting such perfidious conduct of the Spaniards, he was at once arrested and brought to Manila. The Dutch returned twenty-two Spanish prisoners of war to Manila to ransom him; but while these were retained, the Dutch commander was, nevertheless, imprisoned for life.
Some years afterward, a Dutch squadron anchored off the south point of Bataan Province, not far from Punta Marivelez, at the entrance to Manila Bay. Juan de Silva, the governor (from 1609 to 1616), was in great straits. Several ships had been lost by storms, others were away, and there was no adequate floating armament with which to meet the enemy. However, the Dutch lay-to for five or six months, waiting to seize the Chinese and Japanese traders’ goods on their way to the Manila market. They secured immense booty, and were in no hurry to open hostilities. This delay gave Silva time to prepare vessels to attack the foe. In the interval, he dreamed that Saint Mark had offered to help him defeat the Dutch. On awaking, he called a priest, whom he consulted about the dream, and they agreed that the nocturnal vision was a sign from Heaven denoting a victory. The priest went (from Cavite) to Manila to procure a relic of this glorious intercessor, and returned with his portrait to the governor, who adored it. In haste the ships and armament were prepared. On Saint Mark’s day, therefore, the Spaniards sallied forth from Cavite with six ships, carrying seventy guns, and two galleys and two launches also well armed, besides a number of small light vessels, to assist in the formation of line of battle.
All the European fighting men in Manila and Caviteembarked—over one thousand Spaniards—the flower of the colony, together with a large force of natives, who were taught to believe that the Dutch were infidels. On the issue of this day’s events perchance depended the possession of the colony. Manila and Cavite were garrisoned by volunteers. Orations were offered in the churches. The Miraculous Image of Our Lady of the Guide was taken in procession from the Hermit, and exposed to public view in the Cathedral. The saints of the different churches and sanctuaries were adored and exhibited daily. The governor himself took the supreme command, and dispelled all wavering doubt in his subordinates by proclaiming Saint Mark’s promise of intercession. On his ship he hoisted the royal standard, on which was embroidered the Image of the Holy Virgin, with the motto: “Mostrate esse Matrem,” and over a beautifully calm sea he led the way to battle.
A shot from the Spanish heavy artillery opened the bloody combat. The Dutch were completely vanquished, after a fierce struggle which lasted six hours. Their three ships were destroyed, and their flags, artillery, and plundered merchandise to the value of three hundred thousand dollars were seized. This famous engagement was thenceforth known as the battle of Playa Honda.
Again in 1611, under Silva, a squadron sailed to the Moluccas and defeated the Dutch off Giolo Island.
In 1617, the Spaniards had a successful engagement off the Zambales coast with the Dutch, who lost three of their ships.
In July, 1620, three Mexican galleons were met by three Dutch vessels off Cape Espiritu Santo (Samar Island), at the entrance of the San Bernadino Straits, but managed to escape in the dark. Two ran ashore and broke up; the third reached Manila. After this the governor-general, Alonzo Fajardo de Tua, ordered the course of the State ships to be varied on each voyage.
In 1625, the Dutch again appeared off the Zambales coast, and Geronimo de Silva went out against them. The Spaniards, having lost one man, relinquished the pursuit of the enemy, and the commander was brought to trial by the supreme court.
In 1626, at the close of the governorship of Fernando de Silva, a Spanish colony was founded on Formosa Island, but no supplies were sent to it, and consequently in 1642 it surrendered to the Dutch, who held it for twenty years, until they were driven out by the Chinese adventurer Keuseng. And thus for over a century and a half the strife continued, until the Dutch concentrated their attention in the development of their Eastern colonies, which the power of Spain, growing more and more effete, was incompetent to impede.
In 1761, King George III. had just succeeded to the throne of England, and the protracted contentions with France had been suspended for a while. It was soon evident, however, that efforts were being employed to extinguish the power and prestige of Great Britain, and with this object a convention had been entered into between France and Spain known as the “Family Compact.” It was so called because it was an alliance made by the three branches of the House of Bourbon; namely, Louis XV. of France, Charles III. of Spain, and his son Ferdinand, who, in accordance with the Treaty of Vienna, hadascended the throne of Naples. Spain engaged to unite her forces with those of France against England on the 1st of May, 1762, if the war still lasted, in which case France would restore Minorca to Spain. Pitt was convinced of the necessity of meeting the coalition by force of arms, but he was unable to secure the support of his Ministry to declare war, and he therefore retired from the premiership. The succeeding Cabinet was, nevertheless, compelled to adopt his policy, and, after having lost many advantages by delaying their decision, war was declared against France and Spain.
The British were successful everywhere. In the West Indies, the Caribbean Islands and Havana were captured, with great booty, by Rodney and Monckton, while a British fleet was dispatched to the Philippine Islands with orders to take Manila.
There are many versions of this event given by different historians, and among them there is not wanting an author who, following the Spanish custom, has accounted for defeat by alleging treason.
On the 14th of September, 1762, a British vessel arrived in the Bay of Manila, refused to admit Spanish officers on board, and after taking soundings she sailed again out of the harbor.
In the evening of the 22d of September, the British squadron, composed of thirteen ships, under the command of Admiral Cornish, entered the bay, and the next day two British officers were deputed to demand the surrender of the citadel, which was refused.
Brigadier-general Draper thereupon disembarked his troops, and again called upon the city to yield. Thiscitation being defied, the bombardment commenced the next day. The fleet anchored in front of a powder-magazine, took possession of the churches of Malate, Hermita, San Juan de Bagumbayan and Santiago. Two picket guards made an unsuccessful sortie against them. The whole force in Manila at the time was the king’s regiment, which mustered about six hundred men, and eighty pieces of artillery. The British forces consisted of one thousand five hundred European troops (one regiment of infantry and two companies of artillery), three thousand seamen, eight hundred Sepoy fusileers and one thousand four hundred Sepoy pioneers, making a total of six thousand eight hundred and thirty men.
There was no governor-general here at the time, and the only person with whom the British commander could treat was the acting-governor, the Archbishop Manuel Antonio Rojo, who was willing to yield. His authority was, however, set aside by a rebellious war party, who placed themselves under the leadership of a magistrate of the supreme court named Simon de Anda y Salazar. This individual, instead of leading them to battle, fled to the province of Bulacan, the day before the capture of Manila, in a prahu with a few natives, carrying with him some money and half a ream of official stamped paper. He knew perfectly well that he was defying the legal authority of the acting-governor, and was, in fact, in open rebellion against his mandate. It was necessary, therefore, to give an official color to his acts by issuing his orders and proclamations on government-stamped paper, so that their validity might be recognized if he subsequently succeeded in justifying his action at court.
On the 24th of September the Spanish batteries of San Diego and San Andres opened fire, but with little effect. A richly laden galleon—the “Philipino”—was known to be on her way from Mexico to Manila, but the British ships which were sent in quest of her fell in with another galleon—the “Trinidad”—and brought their prize to Manila. Her treasure amounted to about two million five hundred thousand dollars.
A Frenchman resident in Manila, Monsieur Faller, made an attack on the British, who forced him to retire, and he was then accused by the Spaniards of treason. Artillery fire was kept up on both sides. The archbishop’s nephew was taken prisoner, and an officer was sent with him to hand him over to his uncle. However, a party of natives fell upon them and murdered them all. The officer’s head having been cut off, it was demanded by General Draper. Excuses were made for not giving it up, and the general determined thenceforth to continue the warfare with vigor and punish this atrocity. The artillery was increased by another battery of three mortars, placed behind the Church of Santiago, and the bombardment continued.
Five thousand native recruits arrived from the provinces, and out of this number two thousand Pampangos were selected. They were divided into three columns, in order to advance by different routes and attack respectively the Church of Santiago, Malate and Hermita, and the troops on the beach. At each place they were driven back. The leader of the attack on Malate and Hermita—Don Santiago Orendain—was declared a traitor. The first two columns were dispersed with great confusion and loss. The third column retreated before they had sustained or inflicted any loss. The natives fled to their villages in dismay, and on the 5th of October the British entered the walled city. After a couple of hours’ bombardment the forts of San Andres and San Eugenio were demolished, the artillery overturned, and the enemy’s fusileers and sappers were killed.
A council of war was now held by the Spaniards. General Draper sustained the authority of the archbishop against the war-party, composed chiefly of civilians, who determined to continue the defense in spite of the opinion of the military men, who argued that a capitulation was inevitable. But matters were brought to a crisis by the natives, who refused to repair the fortifications, and the Europeans were unable to perform such hard labor. Great confusion reigned in the city—the clergy fled through the Puerto del Parian, where there was still a native guard. According to Zuniga, the British spent twenty thousand cannon balls and five thousand shells in the bombardment of the city.
Major Fell entered the city at the head of his troops and General Draper followed, leading his column unopposed, with two field pieces in the van, while a constant musketry fire cleared the Calle Real as they advanced. The people fled before the enemy. The gates being closed, they scrambled up the walls and got into boats or swam off.
Colonel Monson was sent by Draper to the archbishop-governor to say that he expected immediate surrender. This was disputed by the archbishop, who presented a paper purporting to be terms of capitulation. The colonelrefused to take it, and demanded an unconditional surrender. Then the archbishop, a colonel of the Spanish troops and Colonel Monson went to interview the general, whose quarters were in the palace. The archbishop, offering himself as a prisoner, presented the terms of capitulation, which provided for the free exercise of their religion; security of private property; free trade to all the inhabitants of the islands, and the continuation of the powers of the supreme court to keep order among the ill-disposed. These terms were granted, but General Draper, on his part, stipulated for an indemnity of four millions of dollars, and it was agreed to pay one-half of this sum in specie and valuables and the other half in treasury bills on Madrid. The capitulation, with these modifications, was signed by Draper and the archbishop-governor. The Spanish colonel took the document to the fort to have it countersigned by the magistrates, which was at once done; the fort was delivered up to the British, and the magistrates retired to the palace to pay their respects to the conqueror.
When the British flag was seen floating from the fort of Santiago there was great cheering from the British fleet. The archbishop stated that when Draper reviewed the troops more than one thousand men were missing, including sixteen officers. Among these officers were a major, fatally wounded by an arrow on the first day of the assault, and the vice-admiral, who was drowned while coming ashore in a boat.
The natives who had been brought from the provinces to Manila were plundering and committing excesses in the city, so Draper had them all driven out. Guards wereplaced at the doors of the nunneries and convents to prevent outrages on the women, and then the city was given up to the victorious troops for pillage during three hours. Zuniga, however, remarks that the European troops were moderate, but that the Indian contingents were insatiable. They are said to have committed many atrocities, and, reveling in bloodshed, even murdered the inhabitants. They ransacked the suburbs of Santa Cruz and Binondo, and, acting like savage victorious tribes, they ravished women, and even went into the highways to murder and rob those who fled. The three hours expired, and the following day a similar scene was permitted. The archbishop thereupon besought the general to put a stop to it, and have compassion on the city. The general complied with this request, and restored order under pain of death for disobedience—some Chinese were in consequence hanged. General Draper himself killed one whom he found in the act of stealing, and he ordered that all church property should be restored, but only some priests’ vestments were recovered.
Draper demanded the surrender of Cavite, which was agreed to by the archbishop and magistrates, but the commanding officer refused to comply. The major of that garrison was sent with a message to the commander, but on the way he talked with such freedom about the surrender to the British, that the natives quitted their posts and plundered the arsenal. The commander, rather than face humiliation, retired to a ship, and left all further responsibility to the major.
Measures were now taken to pay the agreed indemnity. Heavy contributions were levied upon the inhabitants, which, however, together with the silver from the pious establishments, church ornaments, plate, the archbishop’s rings and breast-cross, only amounted to five hundred and forty-six thousand dollars. The British then proposed to accept one million at once and draw the rest from the cargo of the galleon “Philipino,” if it resulted that she had not been seized by the British previous to the day the capitulation was signed—but the one million was not forthcoming. The day before the capture of Manila, a royal messenger had been sent off with one hundred and eleven thousand dollars, with orders to secure it in some place in the Laguna de Bay. The archbishop now ordered its return to Manila, and issued a requisition to that effect; but the Franciscan friars were insubordinate, and armed the natives, whom they virtually ruled, and the treasure was secreted in Majayjay Convent. Thence, on receipt of the archbishop’s message, it was carried across country to a place in North Pampanga, bordering on Cagayan and Pangasinan. The British, convinced that they were being duped, insisted on their claim. Thomas Backhouse, commanding the troops stationed at Pasig, went up to the Laguna de Bay with eighty mixed troops, to intercept the bringing of the “Philipino” treasure. He attacked Tunasan, Vinan and Santa Rosa, and embarked for Pagsanjan, which was then the capital of the Lake Province. The inhabitants, after firing the convent and church, fled. Backhouse returned to Calamba, entered the Province of Batangas, overran it, and made several Austin friars prisoners. In Lipa he seized three thousand dollars, and there he established his quarters, expecting that the “Philipino” treasure would be carriedthat way; but on learning that it had been transported by sea to a Pampanga coast town, Backhouse withdrew to Pasig.
In the capitulation, the whole of the Archipelago was surrendered to the British, but Simon de Anda determined to appeal to arms. Draper used stratagem, and issued a proclamation commiserating the fate of the natives who paid tribute to Spaniards, and assuring them that the King of England would not exact it. The archbishop, as governor, became Draper’s tool, sent messages to the Spanish families persuading them to return, and appointed an Englishman, married in the country, to be alderman of Tondo. Despite the strenuous opposition of the supreme court, the archbishop, at the instance of Draper, convened a council of native headmen and representative families, and proposed to them the cession of all the islands to the King of England. Draper clearly saw that the ruling powers in the colony, judging from their energy and effective measures, were the friars, so he treated them with great respect. The Frenchman Faller, who unsuccessfully opposed the British assault, was offered troops to go and take possession of Zamboanga and accept the government there, but he refused, as did also a Spaniard named Sandoval.
Draper returned to Europe; Major Fell was left in command of the troops, while Drake assumed the military government of the city, with Smith and Brock as council, and Brereton in charge of Cavite. Draper, on leaving, gave orders for two frigates to go in search of the “Philipino” treasure. The ships got as far as Capul Island and put into harbor. They were detained there bya ruse on the part of a half-caste pilot, and the treasure was got away in the meantime.
Simon de Anda, from his provincial retreat, proclaimed himself governor-general. He declared that the archbishop and the magistrates, as prisoners of war, were dead in the eye of the law; and that his assumption of authority was based upon old laws. None of his countrymen disputed his authority, and he established himself in Bacolor. The British council then convened a meeting of the chief inhabitants, at which Anda was declared a seditious person and deserving of capital punishment, together with the Marquis of Monte Castro, who had violated his parole d’honneur, and the provincial of the Austin friars, who had joined the rebel party. All the Austin friars were declared traitors for having broken their allegiance to the archbishop’s authority. The British still pressed for the payment of the one million, while the Spaniards declared they possessed no more. The Austin friars were ordered to keep the natives peaceable if they did not wish to provoke hostilities against themselves. At length, the British, convinced of the futility of decrees, determined to sally out with their forces; and five hundred men under Thomas Backhouse went up the Pasig River to secure a free passage for supplies to the camp. While opposite Maybonga, Bustos, with his Cagayan troops, fired on them. The British returned the fire, and Bustos fled to Mariquina. The British passed the river, and sent an officer with a white flag of truce to summon surrender. Bustos was insolent, and threatened to hang the officer if he returned. Backhouse’s troops then opened fire and placed two field pieces which completely scared the natives, who fled in such great confusion that many were drowned in the river. Thence the British pursued their enemy “as if they were a flock of goats,” and reached the Bamban River, where the Sultan of Sulu resided with his family. The sultan, after a feigned resistance, fell a prisoner to the British, who fortified his dwelling, and occupied it during the whole of the operations. There were subsequent skirmishes on the Pasig River banks with the armed insurgents, who were driven as far as the Antipolo Mountains.
Meanwhile, Anda collected troops; and Bustos, as his lieutenant-general, vaunted the power of his chief through the Bulacan and Pampanga provinces. A Franciscan and an Austin friar, having led troops to Masilo, about seven miles from Manila, the British went out to dislodge them, but on their approach most of the natives feigned they were dead, and the British returned without any loss in arms or men.
The British, believing that the Austin friars were conspiring against them in connivance with those inside the city, placed these friars in confinement, and subsequently shipped away eleven of them to Europe. For the same reason, they at last determined to enter the St. Augustine Convent, and on ransacking it they found that the priests had been lying to them all the time. Six thousand dollars in coin were found hidden in the garden, and large quantities of wrought silver elsewhere. The whole premises were then searched and all the valuables were seized. A British expedition went out to Bulacan, sailing across the bay and up the Hagonoy River, where they disembarked at Malolos on the 19th of January, 1763. Thetroops, under Captain Eslay, of the Grenadiers, numbered six hundred men, many of whom were Chinese volunteers. As they advanced from Malolos, the natives and Spaniards fled. On the way to Bulacan, Bustos advanced to meet them, but retreated into ambush on seeing they were superior in numbers. Bulacan Convent was fortified with three small cannon. As soon as the troops were in sight of the convent, a desultory fire of case-shot made great havoc in the ranks of the Chinese forming the British vanguard. At length the British brought their field pieces into action, and pointing at the enemy’s cannon, the first discharge carried off the head of their artilleryman Ybarra. The panic-stricken natives decamped; the convent was taken by assault; there was an indiscriminate fight and general slaughter. The alcalde and a Franciscan friar fell in action; one Austin friar escaped, and another was seized and killed to avenge the death of the British soldiers. The invading forces occupied the convent, and some of the troops were shortly sent back to Manila. Bustos reappeared near the Bulacan convent with eight thousand native troops, of which six hundred were cavalry, but they dared not attack the British. Bustos then maneuvered in the neighborhood and made occasional alarms. Small parties were sent out against him with so little effect that the British commander headed a body in person, and put the whole of Bustos’ troops to flight like mosquitoes before a gust of wind, for Bustos feared they would be pursued into Pampanga. After clearing away the underwood, which served as a covert for the natives, the British reoccupied the convent; but Bustos returned to his position, and was a second timeas disgracefully routed by the British, who then withdrew to Manila.
At the same time, it was alleged that a conspiracy was being organized among the Chinese in the Province of Pampanga with the object of assassinating Anda and his Spanish followers. The Chinese cut trenches and raised fortifications, avowing that their bellicose preparations were only to defend themselves against the possible attack of the British; while the Spaniards saw in all this a connivance with the invaders. The latter, no doubt, conjectured rightly. Anda, acting upon the views of his party, precipitated matters by appearing with fourteen Spanish soldiers and a crowd of native bowmen to commence the slaughter in the town of Guagua. The Chinese assembled there in great numbers, and Anda endeavored in vain to induce them to surrender to him. He then sent a Spaniard, named Miguel Garces, with a message, offering them pardon in the name of the King of Spain if they would lay down their arms; but they killed the emissary, and Anda therefore commenced the attack. The result was favorable for Anda’s party, and great numbers of the Chinese were slain. Many fled to the fields, where they were pursued by the troops, while those who were captured were hanged. Such was the inveterate hatred which Anda entertained for the Chinese, that he issued a general decree declaring all the Chinese traitors to the Spanish flag, and ordered them to be hanged wherever they might be found in the provinces. Thus thousands of Chinese were executed who had taken no part whatever in the events of this little war.
Admiral Cornish, having decided to return to Europe,again urged for the payment of the two millions of dollars. The archbishop was in great straits; he was willing to do anything, but his colleagues opposed him, and Cornish was at length obliged to content himself with a bill on the Madrid treasury. Anda appointed Bustos alcalde of Bulacan, and ordered him to recruit and train troops, as he still nurtured the hope of confining the British to Manila—perhaps even of driving them out of the colony.
The British in the city were compelled to adopt the most rigorous precautions against a rising of the population within the walls, and several Spanish residents were arrested for intriguing against them in concert with those outside.
Several French prisoners from Pondicherry deserted from the British; and some Spanish regular troops, who had been taken prisoners, effected their escape. The fiscal of the supreme court and a Senor Villa Corta were found conspiring. The latter was caught in the act of sending a letter to Anda, and was sentenced to be hanged and quartered—the quarters to be exhibited in public places. The archbishop, however, obtained Villa Corta’s pardon, on the condition that Anda should evacuate the Pampanga Province; and Villa Corta wrote to Anda, begging him to accede to this, but Anda absolutely refused to make any sacrifice to save his friend’s life; and at the same time he wrote a disgraceful letter to the archbishop, couched in such insulting terms that the British commander burned it without letting the archbishop see it. Villa Corta was finally ransomed by the payment of three thousand dollars.
The treasure brought by the “Philipino” served Anda to organize a respectable force of recruits. Spaniards who were living there in misery, and a crowd of natives always ready for pay, enlisted. These forces, under Lieutenant-general Bustos, encamped at Malinta, about five miles from Manila. The officers lodged in a house belonging to the Austin friars, around which the troops pitched their tents—the whole being defended by redoubts and palisades raised under the direction of a French deserter, who led a company. From this place Bustos constantly caused alarm to the British troops, who once had to retreat before a picket guard sent to get the church bells of Quiapo. The British, in fact, were much molested by Bustos’ Malinta troops, who forced the invaders to withdraw to Manila and reduce the extension of their outposts. This measure was followed up by a proclamation, in which the British commander alluded to Bustos’ troops as “canaille and robbers,” and offered a reward of five thousand dollars for Anda’s head; declaring him and his party rebels and traitors to their majesties the kings of Spain and England. Anda, chafing at his impotence to combat the invading party by force of arms, gave vent to his feelings of rage and disappointment by issuing a decree, dated from Bacolor the 19th of May, 1763, of which the translated text reads as follows:
“Royal Government Tribunal of these Islands for His Catholic Majesty: Whereas the Royal Government Tribunal, Supreme Government and Captain-Generalship of His Catholic Majesty in these Islands are gravely offended at the audacity and blindness of those men, who, forgetting all humanity, have condemned as rebellious and disobedient to both their Majesties, him, who as a faithful vassal of His Catholic Majesty, and in conformity with the law, holds the Royal Tribunal, Government and Captain-Generalship; and having suffered by a reward being offered by order of the British Governor in council to whomsoever shall deliver me alive or dead; and by their having placed the arms captured in Bulacan at the foot of the gallows—seeing that instead of their punishing and reproaching such execrable proceedings, the spirit of haughtiness and pride is increasing, as shown in the Proclamation published in Manila on the 17th instant, in which the troops of His Majesty are infamously calumniated—treating them as blackguards and disaffected to their service—charging them with plotting to assassinate the English officers and soldiers, and with having fled when attacked—the whole of these accusations being false: Now therefore by these presents, be it known to all Spaniards and true Englishmen that Messrs. Drake, Smith and Brock, who signed the Proclamation referred to, must not be considered as vassals of His Britannic Majesty, but as tyrants and common enemies unworthy of human society, and therefore, I order that they be apprehended as such, and I offer ten thousand dollars for each one of them alive or dead. At the same time, I withdraw the order to treat the vassals of his Britannic Majesty with all the humanity which the rights of war will permit, as has been practiced hitherto with respect to the prisoners and deserters.”
Anda had by this time received the consent of his king to occupy the position which he had usurped, and the British commander was thus enabled to communicate officiallywith, him, if occasion required it; and Drake replied to this proclamation, recommending Anda to carry on the war with greater moderation and humanity.
On the 27th of June, 1763, the British made a sortie from the city to dislodge Bustos, who still occupied Malinta. The attacking party consisted of three hundred and fifty fusileers, fifty horsemen, a mob of Chinese, and a number of guns and ammunition. The British took up quarters on one side of the river, while Bustos remained on the other. The opposing parties exchanged fire, but neither cared nor dared to cross the waterway. The British forces retired in good order to Masilo, and remained there until they heard that Bustos had burned Malinta House and removed his camp to Meycauayan. Then the British withdrew to Manila in the evening. On the Spanish side there were two killed, five mortally wounded and two slightly wounded. The British losses were six mortally wounded and seven disabled. This was the last encounter in open warfare. Chinamen occasionally lost their lives through their love of plunder in the vicinity occupied by the British.
During these operations, the priesthood taught the ignorant natives to believe that the invading troops were infidels—and a holy war was preached.
The friars, especially those of the Augustine order,[14]abandoned their mission of peace for that of the sword, and the British met with a slight reverse at Masilo, wherea religious fanatic of the Austin friars had put himself at the head of a small hand lying in ambush.