Chapter V

Chapter VAll the triennial during which our father Fray José Duque ruled was a very prosperous time for this province, on account of the great improvement which was accomplished by his assiduity in reforming it, with both zeal and discretion; for he was as respected as beloved by all. The religious greatly regretted that the end of his term of office was approaching, and to see themselves deprived of soexcellent a prelate, who had so built up the edifice of strict observance of our rules, and had much better regulated the administration of the mission villages and ministries in our charge—his excellent management making up for the great deficiency of laborers which existed, which made it necessary, in many respects, to burden each minister with the work of two. Not his least care was that he had found the common property of not only the province but the convent of Manila greatly diminished, and everything reduced to the utmost necessity of restoration; for this is usually the greatest hindrance and impediment to the superiors in promoting with energy the regular observance, which requires many means for its preservation. But all was supplied by the diligence of that discreet prelate, making easier the removal of the most serious hindrances.The time came for holding the provincial chapter, which assembled on May 8 in the year 1677, and, according to custom, in the convent of Manila. It was presided over—by commission of our very reverend father general, Master Fray Nicolás de Oliva, of Sienna—by the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio; and the election for provincial fell, by the general consent of all the voting fathers, and with the approval of all who were outside of the order, on our father Fray Juan de Jeréz, a religious excelling in virtue. He was a native of Baños in Extremadura, bishopric of Plasencia—a place belonging to the Duke de Béjar and the Marqués de Montemayor—and was a son of the convent of Valladolid and fifty years of age. He had been for many years master of novices in the convents of Salamanca and Burgos, which is a sufficient proofof his religious devotion and virtue. He left España for these islands in the year 1669, and had been a minister in Pampanga; and in this chapter he cast his first vote as visitor of the province.29As definitors were elected the fathers Fray Pedro de Mesa, Fray Juan Labao, Fray Francisco de Albear, and Fray Pedro Canales; and as visitors the fathers Fray Domingo de San Miguel and Fray Juan Guedeja. They enacted statutes very useful for the government of the province, and for the stricter observance of our religious estate, many of which were reproduced in various following chapters, having been found by experience to be well-chosen and advantageous.The acting governor despatched the galleon “San Telmo” for Nueva España, in charge of General Don Tomás de Endaya, a regidor of the city of Manila; and it encountered so many storms before doubling the point of Santiago that fears were entertained that it would not have time to make the voyage before the vendavals. But the bravery of the commander and of his pilot, Leandro Cuello, over-came great difficulties, and they succeeded in reaching their destination.The galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed for Nueva España the year before, had also experienced storms, from the time when it reached the Embocadero of San Bernardino. For this reason Sargento-mayor Alfonso Fernández Pacheco came to Manila, bringing the despatches from his Majesty and information of the ship’s arrival on the thirtieth ofAugust. This galleon brought the news that Don Carlos II had begun, at the age of fifteen years, to rule the monarchy of España in person, freed from the guardianship of the queen-mother, Doña Mariana of Austria; and commands were issued that his royal name and seal be used in the despatches, and that royal fiestas proper to so important an event be celebrated—which took place afterward, in the month of December, as we shall soon relate.[At this time] came the despatches for the presentation made by his Majesty for the archbishopric of Manila, of the person of the very reverend father master Fray Felipe Pardo, of the Order of Preachers; he accepted this dignity, and began to govern his church, the ecclesiastical cabildo yielding up the government to him. This appointment found him at the time engaged in the duties of commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; his place therein was taken by father Fray Juan de los Angeles, a man who was worthy of such a name on account of his virtue and mild disposition. Also came the presentation of the reverend father Fray Andrés González for bishop of Nueva Cáceres or Camarines; he also accepted, and was consecrated, and ruled that church creditably, as he was a devoted religious, and very charitable; and he left behind him, when he died, a great reputation for sanctity.On September 27, the acting governor, Auditor Don Francisco Coloma y Maceda, died at the age of sixty years, from an intestinal hemorrhage; he was an official of much integrity and uprightness, and was buried in the convent of Santo Domingo with his wife, Doña María de Cuellar. The government was assumed by Auditor Don Francisco de Mansilla,a native of Ceniceros in Rioja, who was no less upright than his predecessor. His term of office was short, because a proprietary governor came in the following year; but even in the short time while his rule lasted he showed that he deserved that it should continue during his life, on account of the very peaceable and equitable manner in which he exercised his office. The first thing which he did was to look for all those who had been opposed to him in the year 1668, when he was exiled to Iloylo by Don Juan Manuel Bonifaz; and he honored all of them, more than some deserved, displaying a generous spirit, and that of a Christian ruler, which aroused the admiration of those who saw his prudence and moderation. These islands were much grieved that he must so soon have a successor, for the people loved and reverenced him. He was of corpulent figure and venerable aspect; and his hair (which was scanty) and his mustache (which was large) were white as snow—all which conciliated respect. Two years afterward, promotion came to him, the post of alcalde for criminal cases in [the Audiencia of] Méjico; but he died at the height of the voyage.30He had two sons: Don Felipe Mansilla, a knight of the Order of Santiago, who lives in Méjico; and Father Antonio Mansilla, of the Society of Jesus, in these islands.The city and municipality of Manila having determined to celebrate the festivities due to the great rejoicing which was caused in the Spanish domains by the assumption of sovereignty over them by theirking Don Carlos II, decided that these should be actually held in December, from the fourth to the seventh day of that month. This was done with great pomp and brilliancy. In the morning three sermons were preached: one by the dean of the cathedral, Master Don Miguel Ortíz de Covarrubias; another by father Fray Álvaro de Benavente of the order of our father St. Augustine (the secretary of our province, and often named in this history; he died in China, as bishop of Ascalon and vicar apostolic of Kiengsi); and the third by the reverend Father Jerónimo de Ortega, of the Society of Jesus. For the afternoons there were various bull-fights and comedies. On the last day, December 7, after the bull-fights and comedies, there were demonstrations of rejoicing; and for a climax to the festivities there was, at six o’clock in the afternoon, a beautiful and splendid masquerade, with magnificent costumes, and parades of servants in costly liveries. The most distinguished citizens of Manila went therein, two by two, representing the realms of the monarchy of España, with shields and mottoes proper for each kingdom; those who came last were the two alcaldes-in-ordinary of Manila, General Francisco Rayo Doria and Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya, representing the kingdoms of Castilla and León. They rode in pairs on handsomely-caparisoned horses, to the destination which was prepared for this purpose with palisades, and with so much splendor from wax tapers that the night had no cause to envy the brighter day. With this brilliant and elegant masquerade these royal festivities came to an end, the city remaining in the quiet and silence proper to that hour, which was about seven at night.Quite ignorant were all those who had celebrated and enjoyed this gay festival of the sad and melancholy catastrophe which was to follow on this so joyous scene; all were forgetful of the uncertainty of the pleasures of this world, which suddenly shifts its scenes, passing from gayety to mourning. Hardly had the people time to shelter themselves in their houses—some fatigued with the exercises of the masquerade, and others sad that the royal festivities had come to an end—when at half-past seven in the evening the earth began to tremble with horrible vibrations, changing their recent gayety into fear, horror, and lamentable perplexity. This first earthquake lasted a long time, so that it was feared that the last and fatal day for the sad city of Manila had arrived. The continuous and unequal vibrations of the ground; the frightful cracking of timbers; the [falling of] tiles from the roofs, and of stones which, loosened from the walls, came to the ground, raising great clouds of dust: all these made a most gloomy night, the image of death. Some hastened to seek confessors, and not finding them soon, published aloud their own sins. This first motion of the earth ceased, which people affirm to have been more violent than that of August 20, 1658, but it did not last so long; if it had been equal in duration to that one, it would have caused a large amount of havoc in the city of Manila.It was worth much to the city that the earthquake found it greatly improved over former times in regard to the height of its buildings; for now they were reduced to more humble stature, and without the projections which would cause its greatest destruction, as has been experienced in previous earthquakes. The use of thehariguesor wooden pillarson which the heavy timber-work of the roofs leans and rests was recognized to be a sure protection and defense from such disasters; and therefore, although the earthquake demolished many buildings, breaking open the solid mass of masonry, they did not suffer entire ruin by being thrown down to the ground. Some few were destroyed through being old and in bad condition; but only one or two persons perished, and they of little account in the world. The kind-hearted governor went out with many followers to visit the [military] posts of the city, and aid, if he could, those who were in need; and the same was done by the alcaldes-in-ordinary and the regidors, accompanied by many citizens. The religious orders were well occupied in the ministries of their profession—some preaching from tables placed in the streets, others hastening to hear the confessions of those who asked for this sacrament, that is, of all. While all these were occupied in exercises so holy and pious, the trembling of the earth was again repeated many times; but, through the divine kindness, these vibrations were much slighter, continually diminishing—so that it seemed as if the divine anger were gradually being appeased, just as men were continually showing themselves more penitent. All that night until daybreak the earthquake shocks continued; for there were so many of them that one man counted forty, although to me it seemed as if there were many more. Many came out [from this calamity] crippled and lame; but all recognized that it was a miracle that the city had not been utterly destroyed with so repeated shocks. Later, it was ascertained that some chasms and air-vents in the earth had opened, and which issurely the cause of these disturbances. One chasm opened in the bounds of the village of Bauang, in the province of Balayán; and another in the mountains of Gapang, in Pampanga. Those who arrived here after navigating the seas of these islands recounted the horrible perils in which they had found themselves, tossed by great billows and almost submerged in the swell which was caused in the sea by the earthquake; the sea even rose until, in many places, it swept over the land, occasioning great damage. With this slight mention I will close the sad account of the melancholy termination of these royal festivities.The master-of-camp of these islands died, Don Agustín de Cepeda y Carracedo; he was a native of Talavera de la Reina, a relative of the glorious saint Teresa de Jesús, and more than eighty years of age. He was one of the most valiant soldiers who has belonged to these regions, and with that reputation he has been mentioned in this history in the greatest military exploits of his time, and in the government of Zamboanga and Ternate; and, what is his greatest glory, he was an excellent Christian, devout and charitable, and died with strong indications that he had been very earnestly such. For acting master-of-camp the governor appointed General Alonso López, a soldier of long standing, and also very aged; and therefore he did not long serve in that office.Governor Don Francisco de Mansilla despatched the galleon for Nueva España, appointing as its commander his son, Don Felipe de Mansilla y Prado, a young man of much courage and ability, who at the time was serving in the post of sargento-mayorof the Manila army, which is the second, in the esteem of military men, after that of master-of-camp. As sargento-mayor of the galleon he appointed Juan Ventura Sarra (the Catalan so famous for his successful surgical operations), on account of his being a man of much valor, and experienced in military service in Flandes and Cataluña. This galleon made a very prosperous voyage, both going and returning, as we shall see in the following chapter.About the end of July in this year of 1678 came news that the galleon “San Telmo” had sighted these islands; it was under the command of General Don Tomás de Endaya, and had sailed for the port of Acapulco in the preceding year. It brought the proprietary governor, Master-of-camp Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado, a knight of the Order of Santiago; he was a native of Toledo, and nephew of the venerable mother Jerónima de la Asunción, foundress of the convent of Santa Clara in Manila—whose admirable life has been written by the father reader Fray Antonio de Leytona,31of the Observantine Order of St. Francis; and the investigations preliminary to her beatification have been begun. This knight had served many years in Flandes, Cataluña, and Extremadura, always with great commendation for his valor, which was as great as his nobility. He came with his wife, Doña Isabel de Ardila, a native of Badajoz; and brought in his company her uncle, a captain of cuirassiers, Don Francisco Guerrero y Ardila—a man of lofty stature, who, like anotherSaul, surpassed by the head and shoulders the tallest man in the Manila garrison—who showed that he possessed great valor. The new governor brought with him a numerous and brilliant retinue, and those who afterward attained most note were: his secretary, Miguel Sánchez Villanueva y Tejada, a man of great virtue, who came with his wife and three children, and afterward, having lost his wife, was ordained as a priest, and lived a long time an example for ecclesiastics, as before he had been one for laymen; Captains Don Juan Gallardo, Don Pedro Oriosolo, Don Jacinto Lobán, Don Tomás Martínez de Trillanes, Don Diego Vivien, Don Felipe Ceballos, Don José Armijo, Don Francisco Fabra, Don Antonio de Tabora, Don Juan Castel, Don Juan de Tricaldir, Don Manuel Alvarado; and others, all of whom served long in these islands. As fiscal for his Majesty came Licentiate Don Diego de Viga, a native of Bejar; he was afterward an auditor for many years, and was a very upright and disinterested official. The governor also brought some reenforcements of troops. The appointment of commandant of the castle of Santiago came to General Fernando de Bobadilla, who afterward was master-of-camp.On the day of our Lady’s nativity Don Juan de Vargas entered Manila, being received with great festivities; there were two ingenious triumphal arches, which were erected by the religious orders of our father St. Augustine and the Society, because both had their houses on the principal street through which the procession would pass. Don Juan began to govern with much prudence and desire to do well; he was very punctual in fulfilling his duties, andnever failed in his daily attendance on the sessions of the Audiencia (in which some governors had displayed much negligence); and therefore in his time the court business was despatched more promptly, for he found many suits unsettled and delayed. This is an insuperable difficulty in these islands, where the lawsuits are eternal and constitute a perpetual source of income for court reporters, secretaries, and commissioners32—who, with the slow steps of judicial procedure, are continually plundering the litigants, until, impoverished or exhausted, they give up the suit, which is incorporated into a great mass of documents, which they call “Proceedings in lawsuits” [autos] in the archives of the court. Don Juan de Vargas was more fit for a soldier than for a governor; and gradually he looked with distaste on the duties of so arduous a post, and turned his attention to the means for securing his own advantage. The uncle of his wife, Don Francisco Guerrero de Ardila, became so much the master of Don Juan that, by his craftiness and great ability, he came to be the arbiter of the government. Accordingly, it was he who was governor, and he was the drayman who guided Don Juan de Vargas, while the latter, like a wagon, was carrying the weight of the government. Yet later Don Francisco Guerrero left him alone, and went to Nueva España, at so important a juncture that he met in the Embocadero the succeeding governor, Don Gabriel Crucelaegui, and Don Juan de Vargas in the residencia was laden with his own transgressions and those of others, as we shallsee in due time. He had a great advantage for thus making himself arbiter of everything, in having more affability and more shrewdness than the governor, who was naturally harsh and unamiable and easily fretted. Accordingly, every one set on foot his claims with more confidence by the hand of the uncle, who, as all knew, was the fly-wheel for the movements of the government; and thus in a short time he secured following and applause, [although] without the formal marks of respect which belong to the dignity of a ruler; and he came to direct the entire government, with authority and without opposition. The authority of Don Francisco Guerrero was greatly increased because the governor had made him master-of-camp, because of the death of Alonso López, who died within a short time [after his appointment], at an advanced age; this increased Don Francisco’s authority, and strengthened his influence over the governor. The servants [of the governor] made more effort to secure their own advantage than that of their master, and therefore Don Juan de Vargas found himself alone in everything that was not to the profit of the uncle and his familiars. He appointed as castellan and governor of Cavite Don Juan Gallardo; this is the most influential and profitable position that the governors of Filipinas have at their disposal—although at the present time his Majesty fills this office from Madrid; and in this way it was held more than twenty-eight years by Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Atienza y Bañes, who died while holding the post of master-of-camp, in the year 1718. Another servant, Don Francisco Fabra, he appointed chief guard of the Parián, an office which affords greatopportunities and facilities for securing the best goods; and thus in this occupation he was, so to speak, the governor’s agent, for which employ he had much ability.Don Juan de Vargas, during his entire term of office, maintained trade and commerce with foreign nations, as those of the Coromandel coast, Bengal, and Surrate—which is the greatest emporium of Eastern India and of all the kingdoms subject to the emperor the Great Mogor [i.e., Mogul], a monarch more powerful than the Great Turk, and without doubt more wealthy. From this emporium of Surrate almost every year come one or two ships of great burden, like those that are called “ships of the line,” laden with many and varied wares of Eastern India. Within the last few years these traders are Mahometans, although before they were heathens; this is because they were obliged to accept the cursed doctrine of Mahoma by the former Great Mogor, Payxa Ali Ramasticán—who, trained up in his early years (when he was a fugitive from his family) by the house of Meca, was the cause of the total perdition of so many souls; for it is easier to convert to our holy faith a thousand heathens than one Mahometan. Trade and commerce were also very freely carried on with the Portuguese of Macán, and through their agency in Nueva Batavia in the island of Jacatra, the capital of the rich factories which the Dutch possess throughout India—where of the former Portuguese dominion only their language is left, since with that they trade and traffic; for they have been deprived of the fortified posts, which promised some advantage and profit, leaving to them only Goa (for the intermentof Portuguese), and some posts to the north, such as Chaud, Dama, Diu, and Bassain. Only one who has seen it, as I have, can describe the great extent of every kind of trade which Manila enjoyed in the time of Don Juan de Vargas de Hurtado; and in that time, therefore, great fortunes were accumulated, and the city was adorned with magnificent edifices—the old ones being rebuilt, and new ones being erected, thus repairing the late havoc and destruction.Chapter VI[This is occupied with an account of the attempt made by the Augustinian Fray Juan de Rivera to go to the forbidden mission-field of Japan; it proved unsuccessful, and he was obliged to return to Manila.]Chapter VIIOn the day of the apostle James news came to Manila [in 1679] of the safe arrival of the galleon “San Telmo” at these islands, and of its being outside of the Embocadero; this news was brought, with the royal mails, by Sargento-mayor Juan Ventura Sarra. In this galleon came two large and well-selected mission bands of religious; one was composed of thirty-one from our order, conducted by father Fray Juan de García, who had been sent for this purpose in the year 1674. The other mission was composed of religious belonging to the Society of Jesus, who were brought by Father Francisco Salgado,33a religious of great learning and virtue.This mission [of ours] arrived at the most opportune time that could be imagined, for our province found itself in extreme necessity, on account of the scarcity of religious; for in ten years it had not received even the smallest reenforcement with which to replace them in the extensive and numerous ministries in its charge. So great was this lack that our province was already taking measures to give up some of those ministries; but all the religious orders and the secular clergy were suffering from the same need as was our province, on account of not having a consecrated bishop who might confer the holy orders. The ship “San Telmo” could not enter the Embocadero of San Bernardino, for it was hindered by the vendavals; and therefore it made port, after many hardships, in Palapag, in the province of Leyte—a very safe harbor, but outside of the Embocadero, and more than a hundred and twenty leguas distant from Manila. The religious of the mission came hither through the provinces of Camarines and Laguna de Bay; the roads were bad, for it was the rainy season, but the hardships of their journey were alleviated by the charitable hospitality which was given to them by the religious of St. Francis—who, heirs of that saint’s seraphic love, vied with each other, on such occasions, in showing themselves true sons of so holy a father.They arrived at Manila, where they were received by the community as sons beloved by their affectionatemother, who was so eagerly expecting them; and on September 18—the day of the father of the poor, St. Thomas of Villanova—a private meeting of the definitors was held, and they were received by this province as her sons.In this private session father Fray Juan García declared under oath,in verbo sacerdotis, that, having kissed the feet of our most holy father Innocent XI on September 20, 1677, among other favors which his Holiness had granted him the latter had told him that by his apostolic authority he made good all the defects which might have occurred in the elections of this province, from its foundation until the said day. His Holiness granted him several jubilees for certain convents, and eleven thousand ordinary indulgences, in the new form which his Holiness has promulgated; and gave him two notable relics, a bone of St. Venturino the Martyr34—the first for the hospice at Méjico, and the other for the convent of San Pablo at Manila. Father Fray Juan García also obtained from his Holiness, on petition by this province, a bull in which he granted that all the procurators who may go to Rome and bring hither missions of religious shall enjoy the same exemptions which those possess who have been provincials (who are calledabsolutos); this was accepted [by the Council of Indias], and father Fray Juan García was the first who enjoyed this privilege, all his life. But he, as the devout religious that he was, wouldnot allow the religious to address him as “Our Father,” as is the custom with the provincials, both active and retired; and, retiring to the province of Ilocos, where he was minister, he devoted himself to leading an exemplary life, abandoning himself entirely to meditation, mortification, and prayer until his death, and leaving behind a noble example as a sincere religious.[The rest of this chapter is occupied with the coming (in the “San Telmo”) to Manila of Fernando de Valenzuela, the disgraced favorite of the queen-mother, and a sketch of his career in Spain. The last paragraph reads thus:] Don Juan de Vargas, learning of his arrival, and that he was already coming by land through the province of Camarines, sent to escort him General Don Francisco Enriquez de Losada and Captain Alfonso de Castillo; they conveyed him to the port of Cavite and the fortress of San Felipe. In that place a house was built for him, of timber, according to his taste and plan, with all possible conveniences; and there he lived—at the beginning, with much strictness, watched by sentinels, and receiving few visits; but afterward with more freedom, and visited by everyone, but always in the presence of Captain Juan de Herrera, the warden’s deputy. In this seclusion Don Fernando made use of his great mental ability, employing for his recreation the many talents which he possessed, especially in music and poetry; for in both these arts he had no equal in España. With the news which came by way of the coast of the death of Don Juan of Austria, the severities which, while he lived, had been employed toward Don Ferdinand were mitigated; and the prisoner enjoyed so muchdiversion and company that in these regions he could not have had more. Every month he was allowed a thousand pesos from the royal treasury, which was sufficient for his support and comforts, and for the expenses of the amusements which his cleverness and ingenuity devised for his recreation. I have taken more time than I should in this narration (which might pass for a mere ornament of my proper task), because this gentleman was much devoted to us—although he had received from us and from the Society of Jesus (to whom he acknowledged his obligations) much assistance in his seclusion and in certain difficulties which he had experienced. The rest of his fortunes I will relate in the proper place, when we reach the termination of the ten years of his retirement, his return to Nueva España, and finally his death. The author of the additions to Father Juan de Mariana’sHistorie general de España,35at the end of the second volume, speaks very sharply and indignantly of this gentleman, and as he might speak of a wicked highwayman or of a cruel Nero. He certainly was wrong, for Don Fernando de Valenzuela was very zealous in theservice of his king, and his power and influence in the government were very beneficial to the monarchy, as after his fall was recognized by all, even his greatest enemies. But flattery36must have mended the pen for him, so that in this matter he might show himself very prejudiced. Let the name of that writer be his apology, for it was Don So-and-so. [Fulano] Malo. The posthumous fame of Don Fernando de Valenzuela, however, will not be obscured by his errors.Chapter VIIIThe government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado proceeded with prosperous results, on account of the favorable seasons and the great abundance of the crops which were experienced in the years 1679 and 1680; and through the success and extent of the commerce which was maintained with China and the Coromandel coast, Surrate, and other ports of Oriental India and the kingdoms of the Great Mogor—which formerly were more than fifteen in number, and furnished much income to the royal treasury with the customs duties [derecho de a nojarifazgo]. Not only from the Coromandel coast—on which the Manila trade had founded populous settlements, as Portonovo and Cololu—but from the city of Goa came ships almost every year, commerce little known [to Manila] before, and very remote. The governor devoted much attention to the sessions of the Audiencia and the obligations of his office, and thus the legal business which devolved upon that court was expedited, through the uprightnessand integrity of the auditors, Don Francisco Mansilla, Don Diego Calderón, and Don Diego de Viga; the last named filled the office of fiscal acceptably to all.Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’s Atlante Veneto (Venetia, 1696)Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’sAtlante Veneto(Venetia, 1696)[from original copy inBibliothèque Nationale, Paris]About this time there came to the general a solemn embassy from the principal ruler of Borney, whom those people revere as an emperor. This is the largest island of all Asia, and, according to the best cosmographers, has as great an area as all España and the kingdom of Portugal. It is thinly populated, as its surface is very mountainous; and therefore it is only on the shores of the sea and a few leguas inland that there are settlements of civilized people, if that name can be given to those barbarous nations. Borney has much wax, and in its seas are pearl-fisheries; it abounds in amber, camphor, and gold; and in its mountains are found large elephants, although smaller than those of Siám. Its inhabitants are partly Mahometans, partly heathens; but in color and disposition they resemble the natives of Filipinas, who say that they had their origin in these islands of Borney [and] the coast of Malayo. The ambassador was received with more ostentation than his person seemed to merit. Although he was corpulent and robust, he and all his retinue (which was not a small one) came barefooted and half-naked; he wore a broadbahaque, which tired him more than it covered him, and some wore a loose jacket, short and without a shirt (which is not known among these peoples); but all were well armed with lances and crises—which are swords as short as daggers, with which they are well able to defend themselves or attack, for usually they have these weapons dipped in poison. He made his entry [into the city] withgreat pomp, in the coach and with the halberdiers of the governor, and accompanied by the sargento-mayor of the garrison, Don José de Robles; and the governor received him under a canopy, as being he who represented the royal person. The ambassador’s credentials came in the Malayan language, written in Arabic characters; these were interpreted by the Borneans themselves, and by a Ternatan named Pedro Machado. The object of the embassy, they said, was to establish trade and commerce on both sides, and to adjust some disputes over the limits of the island of Paragua and in regard to some hostile acts which had been committed in the lands of Borney by Alcalde-mayor Don José de Somonte, in vengeance for the injuries which the Camucones had inflicted in our islands. Everything was settled to the satisfaction of both parties, and the ambassador returned well content and handsomely entertained, with a valuable present for his king in return for another (and very ordinary) one which he had brought. In the following year, the governor sent in turn an ambassador, General Don Juan de Morales Valenzuela, a man of gallant nature and tall stature, with a very goodly escort of Spaniards. He was very hospitably received by the king of Borney, in a large pavilion of bamboo and nipa, which was erected for this solemn function; and the king allowed himself to be seen by all his vassals, a favor which, they say, is very rare in that royalty. Don Juan de Morales returned very successful, the king ceding to the Spaniards dominion over all the island of Paragua, and making satisfaction for the ravages by the Camucones; and since then we have remained very good friends [with the Borneans].All the three years’ term of our father provincial Fray Juan de Jeréz was very peaceable, our order and the observance of our rules nourishing in this province, which continually increased in prosperity through the opportune measures which this judicious and devout prelate employed; for certainly he was one of the most observant superiors it had had, and it made great advancement in every way during the time of his government.At last the time for the chapter-session arrived, and when the voting fathers from the four provinces were assembling, with great peace and harmony, suddenly a storm arose, which they feared would occasion the destruction of peace within the order, and produce divisions and contentions very difficult to adjust; and from which might originate great losses to the religious and their ministries. The trouble was this: some of the religious who were born in Nueva España, and others born in these islands, where they had assumed the habit of our order, attempted to renew the old controversy over the alternate elections37—which arose in the year 1637, as we have related in book ii, chapter 26—incited to this by having found a copy of the first bull of Gregory XV, and the royal decree for its passage by the supreme Council of the Indias, attested by Don Diego Núñez Crespo, at that time court secretary of the royal Audiencia. With this slight foundation, without heeding that the matter had already been decided by apostolic authority—by the legate of his Holiness, that is, the archbishop ofManila who was then in office—according to the bull of his Holiness Urban VIII, issued “at Castel Gandolfo, diocese of Albano, May 18, 1634” (of which they probably were not aware), [they made this claim]. They had on their side many citizens of Manila, and employed as their leader Doctor Don José Cervantes Altamirano, a cleric in minor orders—who afterward was married, and at his death was alcalde-mayor of the Parián of the Sangleys, and chief clerk of the cabildo and municipality of Manila; he had a very keen mind, and with that he would, if he had been master and disciple of himself, have made a great jurisconsult.They appointed as judge-executor Master Jerónimo Fernández Caravallo, cura of the village of Quiapo, a priest of little ability and easily influenced. This man accepted the commission with much pleasure, believing that it would bring him honor and profit; and he therefore set up his tribunal, and appointed as his secretary Bachelor Martín Díaz, cura of the natives and Morenos in Manila. At once he sent this man to notify the provincial, Fray Juan de Jeréz, of the said bull of Gregory XV; but the provincial would not accept the notification, not recognizing Master Caravallo as a judge until he should establish his right as such before a competent tribunal, and because this proceeding found him unprepared, and with little knowledge of this controversy, because neither official documents nor information about it were found in the archives of the province. Investigations were made, and the original documents were found in the archiepiscopal tribunal; and an authentic transcript of these was found in a writing-desk which stood in the cell ofthe provincials, of which the key could not be found, and it served only as an ornament. In the said desk was also found the above-mentioned bull of Urban VIII, with which and the acts issued in the year 1657 the procurator-general (who was the writer of this history) presented himself before his Lordship Don Fray Felipe Pardo of the Order of Preachers, the archbishop-elect and ruler of this archbishopric, as being the legate appointed by his Holiness Urban VIII to render decision and sentence in this question. He looked at the bull and declared himself judge, and as such examined the documents, with the assistance of his counselor the father presentado Fray Raimundo Verart of the same order, a doctor in both branches of law from the university of Lérida. They found that this controversy was already authoritatively decided,38and with the lapse of forty-three years had become established as a matter of law; that there was not the least room for the claim made by the fathers of the Indias; and that the province possessed the same right as before of making its choice [of officers] freely, without respect of persons. Upon the litigant religious—who had taken refuge in, and by order of the royal Audiencia were committed to, the college of the Society of Jesus and the convent of San Francisco—was imposed perpetual silence; and with censures they were commanded to return to their convents, and to follow what obedience should direct to them. They did so, and there was no farther discussion of this matter; for in the following chapter-meeting attention was given to consoling them. Those whomade amends for all were the judge-executor, Master Jerónimo Caravallo, and Bachelor Martín Díaz, whom the archbishop punished with pecuniary fines for not having first appeared before him with their commission, and for having erected a tribunal without his permission. But intercession was made for them on the part of our province, and their fines were diminished. Information of the affair was given to our very reverend father general, Fray Domingo Valvasorio, of Milan, who commanded that the religious who had been the movers of this innovation (which might so greatly have disturbed the peace of this province) be punished; and again imposed silence regarding the claim to alternation; but the whole matter was adjusted, for at the end the order, like a mother, must regard them as her sons.The time for the chapter-session arrived, which was May 11, 1680, at the convent in Manila; its president, by commission from our father general already named, was our father Fray José Duque; and father Fray Diego de Jesús, prior of the convent of Pasig, was elected provincial, to the satisfaction of all, by the unanimous vote of all the fathers in the chapter. He was a zealous religious, very observant, and enamored of poverty; and had great learning, prudence, and discretion. He was fifty-eight years of age, a native of Pejar in Extremadura, and a son of the convent at Salamanca—where, and in that of San Felipe at Madrid, he had been for many years master of the novices. He came to this province in the year 1669, as has already been said, influenced [to come] at so great an age by scruples at having excused himself in the year 1660 from coming as commissary for the mission which reached thisprovince in the year of 1663, by the appointment given to him by our very reverend father general Master Fray Pablo Luquino, who was then visiting the provinces of España. The definitors appointed were fathers Fray Juan Ponce, Fray Carlos Bautista, Fray Pedro Martínez, and Fray Álvaro de Benavente. Father Fray José Camello and the father reader Fray Juan Martínez were present as visitors from the previous triennium; and for the present one were appointed father Fray Juan Guedeja and the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio. As procurator for going to España was appointed father Fray Manuel de la Cruz, a native of Toledo, and a son of the convent of Badaya; and they elected him definitor of this province for the next general chapter to be held, and agreed upon39the choice of a discreet for the said general chapter.40This choice was so judicious that to it is due the conservation and advancement of this province, for he fulfilled so carefully the obligation of his commission that he conducted to Nueva España threemission bands—the largest and most distinguished that this province has gained, for in all they contained over fifty religious—the first in the year 1684, the second in 1699 and 1700, and the third in 1712.41He himself remained in Mexico, where he died with the reputation of great virtue, at the age of seventy-four years, in 1712.It was decided in this chapter to ask our very reverend father general to extinguish the votes of the discreet of the convent at Manila, and those of the priors of the convents of Hagonoy and San Pablo de los Montes in the provinces of Tagalos, Mexico in Pampanga, Narvacán in Ilocos, and Dumarao in the province of Panay—on account of the usual scarcity of religious, and the deficiency which might be caused, by their absence while at the chapter, in Ilocos and Bisayas, provinces which are so remote. The other arrangements and ordinances which were made in this chapter publish its great zeal for promoting the regular observance, and the nourishing condition of that observance in this province.Governor Don Juan de Vargas despatched for Nueva España the galleon “San Antonio,” under command of General Don Francisco Enríquez de Losada, then accountant of the royal exchequer; and in this galleon went the father procurator Fray Manuel Losada, and in his company father Fray Miguel de Negrea—a son of the convent of SanFelipe, and native of that city [i.e., Madrid]; he was going back to his own province, and died on the voyage, in the high northern latitude. The voyage was a very distressing one, on account of the severe tempests which suddenly came upon them; and many of those on board died, not only seamen but passengers. A better voyage was that of the galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed the preceding year by the same route from Nueva España, in charge of General Antonio Nieto; for on the morning of the day of St. John the Baptist it entered the bay of Manila, to the great joy of those who were watching it, and anchored at the port of Cavite—a good fortune which seldom has been enjoyed in these islands since the banishment of Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, in the year 1635, as we have with sadness related. In this galleon came Don Fray Diego de Aguilar, of the Order of Preachers, a native of Rioseco, as consecrated bishop of Zebú; for several years he had been detained in Nueva España. He brought in his company father Fray Manuel de Olivares, of the same order, who afterward was provincial of the province of Méjico; his nephew, Captain Don Juan de Urías; and other Spaniards. His arrival occasioned great rejoicing, on account of these islands having remained so many years destitute of a consecrated bishop, and many clerics and regulars were waiting to receive holy orders.In this galleon arrived three religious belonging to the mission of father Fray Juan García; they were choristers, and had been left in Nueva España, to be ordained as priests, and their names are as follows: father Fray Francisco Castrillón, a native of Madrid, and son of the convent of San Felipe; hewas twenty-four years old, and had spent nine in the order. He was a minister in Tagalos until the year 1690, when he returned to Méjico, where he died soon afterward. Father Fray Dionisio Navarro, a native of Leganés, and a son of the same convent of San Felipe; he was twenty-four years old, and had spent seven in the order. He was a good preacher, and well versed in the dialects of the province of Tagalos. He went to España and returned hither, and died in the convent of Manila from a long and painful infirmity, on November 2, 1714. Father Fray Antonio Gutiérrez, a native of Medina Sidonia, and a son of the province of Andalucía. For only a short time he was a minister in Tagalos, because he soon fell ill with a contraction of the tendons [tullimiento], which lasted until his death; this occurred at Manila, in the year 1693.The arrival of this bishop of Zebú served as a great spiritual consolation for these islands; for he repeatedly performed pontifical functions, conferring holy orders on a great number of religious and clerics. He interceded with the governor, in order to reconcile with him those who had taken refuge in the churches through fear of some oppression from the absolute power of the governor—which can not be compared with any other power in the universe; and the worst is, that no means can be thought of for moderating and tempering it within the bounds of reason, because the distance of five thousand leguas which lies between the royal court of Madrid and Filipinas cannot be diminished. The swiftest post, therefore, requires three years, and most of them four; and if it happens that the galleon is obliged to put back to port, the mail is delayed to five or sixyears. At the end of so protracted a term as this, the most peremptory royal rescript is exposed to the danger of being withheld by the governor, according to his pleasure. The lord bishop with his intercession withdrew from asylum in the house of the Society of Jesus the secretary of Don Juan de Vargas, Captain Miguel Sánchez de Villanueva y Tejada, and restored him to favor with his master—although soon afterward the governor removed him from his service, making him alcalde-mayor of Laguna de Bay.About this time the convent of Angat in the mountains of the province of Bulacán was received, with the title of our mother St. Monica, and father Fray Juan de Morelos was appointed its prior. It was composed of the visitas of the convent of Quingua—Tabuquillo, Abarungco, Catalonan, Guinapusan, and Santa Lucía—which, on account of being very distant from Quingua, were administered with much difficulty; and therefore the ministry of Angat was founded, more than three leguas distant from [the convent of] Sandago at Quingua. It has ordinarily two hundred and fifty tributes, with a church and convent of wood. The district is very healthful and pleasant, because the land is fertilized by a river of the best water that is known in these islands; it is the river celebrated by the name of Quingua, the waters of which, compared with many others, have been found to weigh less. This mission is bounded on every side by very fertile meadows, on which abundant harvests of excellent tobacco are gathered; for this reason it is thickly settled with people who cultivate this plant, which is so esteemed throughout the world, and which now has made its way to thechief personages therein. This district has forests, although they are scattered, of heavy and valuable timber; for they are very dense, and so extensive that they join those of Balete and San Mateo, at a distance of more than eight leguas. In the district of this ministry the religious of St. John of God possess a fine ranch stocked with cattle and horses, which is the most that they have for the support of their convent and hospital at Manila, where they aid the sick poor with their usual charity. The convent of Angat has no vote in the chapter-meetings, and therefore is counted in the number of the vicariates of this province.Although the citizens of Manila are not easy to please, no matter how good their governors are, it appears that in the time of which we write they had much reason to be discontented with the government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado; for not only did he devote himself excessively to his own personal interests, to the detriment of the commonwealth, but he was of a harsh and unpleasant nature, and gave sharp answers. Besides this he spoke in a treble voice, and people heard him with difficulty. He kept every one angered at his harsh behavior, and disgusted by his being engrossed with, the pursuit of gain. This was recognized in the lading of the galleons, which is the net of the merchants; and in this year [of 1680] the galleon “San Antonio” was in danger of not making the voyage, on account of its being so overloaded by his henchman Don Juan Gallardo, the castellan of Cavite—not only with his own goods, but with those of his master the governor—that its commander, Don Tomás de Endaya, was compelled to unload the vessel and return to ladeit anew, accommodating the entire cargo to the vessel’s capacity. On account of these and other well-known animosities against the governor and his retainers, the citizens this year determined to inform his Majesty against him; and they did so, the auditors and the city uniting for this purpose and making charges against him. They sent letters, with great caution, in this galleon; and these papers caused his removal in the year 1684.About October of this year the governor sent to Macán General Antonio Nieto, in order to settle some disputes relative to commerce; he accomplished this with much discretion, his excellent procedure reflecting credit on the Castilian nation. He also, with great charity, relieved many cases of necessity, which in the said city are very numerous; but this was done without injuring one iota of the Portuguese tenacity and pride, in which that people exceed all others in Europa.

Chapter VAll the triennial during which our father Fray José Duque ruled was a very prosperous time for this province, on account of the great improvement which was accomplished by his assiduity in reforming it, with both zeal and discretion; for he was as respected as beloved by all. The religious greatly regretted that the end of his term of office was approaching, and to see themselves deprived of soexcellent a prelate, who had so built up the edifice of strict observance of our rules, and had much better regulated the administration of the mission villages and ministries in our charge—his excellent management making up for the great deficiency of laborers which existed, which made it necessary, in many respects, to burden each minister with the work of two. Not his least care was that he had found the common property of not only the province but the convent of Manila greatly diminished, and everything reduced to the utmost necessity of restoration; for this is usually the greatest hindrance and impediment to the superiors in promoting with energy the regular observance, which requires many means for its preservation. But all was supplied by the diligence of that discreet prelate, making easier the removal of the most serious hindrances.The time came for holding the provincial chapter, which assembled on May 8 in the year 1677, and, according to custom, in the convent of Manila. It was presided over—by commission of our very reverend father general, Master Fray Nicolás de Oliva, of Sienna—by the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio; and the election for provincial fell, by the general consent of all the voting fathers, and with the approval of all who were outside of the order, on our father Fray Juan de Jeréz, a religious excelling in virtue. He was a native of Baños in Extremadura, bishopric of Plasencia—a place belonging to the Duke de Béjar and the Marqués de Montemayor—and was a son of the convent of Valladolid and fifty years of age. He had been for many years master of novices in the convents of Salamanca and Burgos, which is a sufficient proofof his religious devotion and virtue. He left España for these islands in the year 1669, and had been a minister in Pampanga; and in this chapter he cast his first vote as visitor of the province.29As definitors were elected the fathers Fray Pedro de Mesa, Fray Juan Labao, Fray Francisco de Albear, and Fray Pedro Canales; and as visitors the fathers Fray Domingo de San Miguel and Fray Juan Guedeja. They enacted statutes very useful for the government of the province, and for the stricter observance of our religious estate, many of which were reproduced in various following chapters, having been found by experience to be well-chosen and advantageous.The acting governor despatched the galleon “San Telmo” for Nueva España, in charge of General Don Tomás de Endaya, a regidor of the city of Manila; and it encountered so many storms before doubling the point of Santiago that fears were entertained that it would not have time to make the voyage before the vendavals. But the bravery of the commander and of his pilot, Leandro Cuello, over-came great difficulties, and they succeeded in reaching their destination.The galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed for Nueva España the year before, had also experienced storms, from the time when it reached the Embocadero of San Bernardino. For this reason Sargento-mayor Alfonso Fernández Pacheco came to Manila, bringing the despatches from his Majesty and information of the ship’s arrival on the thirtieth ofAugust. This galleon brought the news that Don Carlos II had begun, at the age of fifteen years, to rule the monarchy of España in person, freed from the guardianship of the queen-mother, Doña Mariana of Austria; and commands were issued that his royal name and seal be used in the despatches, and that royal fiestas proper to so important an event be celebrated—which took place afterward, in the month of December, as we shall soon relate.[At this time] came the despatches for the presentation made by his Majesty for the archbishopric of Manila, of the person of the very reverend father master Fray Felipe Pardo, of the Order of Preachers; he accepted this dignity, and began to govern his church, the ecclesiastical cabildo yielding up the government to him. This appointment found him at the time engaged in the duties of commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; his place therein was taken by father Fray Juan de los Angeles, a man who was worthy of such a name on account of his virtue and mild disposition. Also came the presentation of the reverend father Fray Andrés González for bishop of Nueva Cáceres or Camarines; he also accepted, and was consecrated, and ruled that church creditably, as he was a devoted religious, and very charitable; and he left behind him, when he died, a great reputation for sanctity.On September 27, the acting governor, Auditor Don Francisco Coloma y Maceda, died at the age of sixty years, from an intestinal hemorrhage; he was an official of much integrity and uprightness, and was buried in the convent of Santo Domingo with his wife, Doña María de Cuellar. The government was assumed by Auditor Don Francisco de Mansilla,a native of Ceniceros in Rioja, who was no less upright than his predecessor. His term of office was short, because a proprietary governor came in the following year; but even in the short time while his rule lasted he showed that he deserved that it should continue during his life, on account of the very peaceable and equitable manner in which he exercised his office. The first thing which he did was to look for all those who had been opposed to him in the year 1668, when he was exiled to Iloylo by Don Juan Manuel Bonifaz; and he honored all of them, more than some deserved, displaying a generous spirit, and that of a Christian ruler, which aroused the admiration of those who saw his prudence and moderation. These islands were much grieved that he must so soon have a successor, for the people loved and reverenced him. He was of corpulent figure and venerable aspect; and his hair (which was scanty) and his mustache (which was large) were white as snow—all which conciliated respect. Two years afterward, promotion came to him, the post of alcalde for criminal cases in [the Audiencia of] Méjico; but he died at the height of the voyage.30He had two sons: Don Felipe Mansilla, a knight of the Order of Santiago, who lives in Méjico; and Father Antonio Mansilla, of the Society of Jesus, in these islands.The city and municipality of Manila having determined to celebrate the festivities due to the great rejoicing which was caused in the Spanish domains by the assumption of sovereignty over them by theirking Don Carlos II, decided that these should be actually held in December, from the fourth to the seventh day of that month. This was done with great pomp and brilliancy. In the morning three sermons were preached: one by the dean of the cathedral, Master Don Miguel Ortíz de Covarrubias; another by father Fray Álvaro de Benavente of the order of our father St. Augustine (the secretary of our province, and often named in this history; he died in China, as bishop of Ascalon and vicar apostolic of Kiengsi); and the third by the reverend Father Jerónimo de Ortega, of the Society of Jesus. For the afternoons there were various bull-fights and comedies. On the last day, December 7, after the bull-fights and comedies, there were demonstrations of rejoicing; and for a climax to the festivities there was, at six o’clock in the afternoon, a beautiful and splendid masquerade, with magnificent costumes, and parades of servants in costly liveries. The most distinguished citizens of Manila went therein, two by two, representing the realms of the monarchy of España, with shields and mottoes proper for each kingdom; those who came last were the two alcaldes-in-ordinary of Manila, General Francisco Rayo Doria and Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya, representing the kingdoms of Castilla and León. They rode in pairs on handsomely-caparisoned horses, to the destination which was prepared for this purpose with palisades, and with so much splendor from wax tapers that the night had no cause to envy the brighter day. With this brilliant and elegant masquerade these royal festivities came to an end, the city remaining in the quiet and silence proper to that hour, which was about seven at night.Quite ignorant were all those who had celebrated and enjoyed this gay festival of the sad and melancholy catastrophe which was to follow on this so joyous scene; all were forgetful of the uncertainty of the pleasures of this world, which suddenly shifts its scenes, passing from gayety to mourning. Hardly had the people time to shelter themselves in their houses—some fatigued with the exercises of the masquerade, and others sad that the royal festivities had come to an end—when at half-past seven in the evening the earth began to tremble with horrible vibrations, changing their recent gayety into fear, horror, and lamentable perplexity. This first earthquake lasted a long time, so that it was feared that the last and fatal day for the sad city of Manila had arrived. The continuous and unequal vibrations of the ground; the frightful cracking of timbers; the [falling of] tiles from the roofs, and of stones which, loosened from the walls, came to the ground, raising great clouds of dust: all these made a most gloomy night, the image of death. Some hastened to seek confessors, and not finding them soon, published aloud their own sins. This first motion of the earth ceased, which people affirm to have been more violent than that of August 20, 1658, but it did not last so long; if it had been equal in duration to that one, it would have caused a large amount of havoc in the city of Manila.It was worth much to the city that the earthquake found it greatly improved over former times in regard to the height of its buildings; for now they were reduced to more humble stature, and without the projections which would cause its greatest destruction, as has been experienced in previous earthquakes. The use of thehariguesor wooden pillarson which the heavy timber-work of the roofs leans and rests was recognized to be a sure protection and defense from such disasters; and therefore, although the earthquake demolished many buildings, breaking open the solid mass of masonry, they did not suffer entire ruin by being thrown down to the ground. Some few were destroyed through being old and in bad condition; but only one or two persons perished, and they of little account in the world. The kind-hearted governor went out with many followers to visit the [military] posts of the city, and aid, if he could, those who were in need; and the same was done by the alcaldes-in-ordinary and the regidors, accompanied by many citizens. The religious orders were well occupied in the ministries of their profession—some preaching from tables placed in the streets, others hastening to hear the confessions of those who asked for this sacrament, that is, of all. While all these were occupied in exercises so holy and pious, the trembling of the earth was again repeated many times; but, through the divine kindness, these vibrations were much slighter, continually diminishing—so that it seemed as if the divine anger were gradually being appeased, just as men were continually showing themselves more penitent. All that night until daybreak the earthquake shocks continued; for there were so many of them that one man counted forty, although to me it seemed as if there were many more. Many came out [from this calamity] crippled and lame; but all recognized that it was a miracle that the city had not been utterly destroyed with so repeated shocks. Later, it was ascertained that some chasms and air-vents in the earth had opened, and which issurely the cause of these disturbances. One chasm opened in the bounds of the village of Bauang, in the province of Balayán; and another in the mountains of Gapang, in Pampanga. Those who arrived here after navigating the seas of these islands recounted the horrible perils in which they had found themselves, tossed by great billows and almost submerged in the swell which was caused in the sea by the earthquake; the sea even rose until, in many places, it swept over the land, occasioning great damage. With this slight mention I will close the sad account of the melancholy termination of these royal festivities.The master-of-camp of these islands died, Don Agustín de Cepeda y Carracedo; he was a native of Talavera de la Reina, a relative of the glorious saint Teresa de Jesús, and more than eighty years of age. He was one of the most valiant soldiers who has belonged to these regions, and with that reputation he has been mentioned in this history in the greatest military exploits of his time, and in the government of Zamboanga and Ternate; and, what is his greatest glory, he was an excellent Christian, devout and charitable, and died with strong indications that he had been very earnestly such. For acting master-of-camp the governor appointed General Alonso López, a soldier of long standing, and also very aged; and therefore he did not long serve in that office.Governor Don Francisco de Mansilla despatched the galleon for Nueva España, appointing as its commander his son, Don Felipe de Mansilla y Prado, a young man of much courage and ability, who at the time was serving in the post of sargento-mayorof the Manila army, which is the second, in the esteem of military men, after that of master-of-camp. As sargento-mayor of the galleon he appointed Juan Ventura Sarra (the Catalan so famous for his successful surgical operations), on account of his being a man of much valor, and experienced in military service in Flandes and Cataluña. This galleon made a very prosperous voyage, both going and returning, as we shall see in the following chapter.About the end of July in this year of 1678 came news that the galleon “San Telmo” had sighted these islands; it was under the command of General Don Tomás de Endaya, and had sailed for the port of Acapulco in the preceding year. It brought the proprietary governor, Master-of-camp Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado, a knight of the Order of Santiago; he was a native of Toledo, and nephew of the venerable mother Jerónima de la Asunción, foundress of the convent of Santa Clara in Manila—whose admirable life has been written by the father reader Fray Antonio de Leytona,31of the Observantine Order of St. Francis; and the investigations preliminary to her beatification have been begun. This knight had served many years in Flandes, Cataluña, and Extremadura, always with great commendation for his valor, which was as great as his nobility. He came with his wife, Doña Isabel de Ardila, a native of Badajoz; and brought in his company her uncle, a captain of cuirassiers, Don Francisco Guerrero y Ardila—a man of lofty stature, who, like anotherSaul, surpassed by the head and shoulders the tallest man in the Manila garrison—who showed that he possessed great valor. The new governor brought with him a numerous and brilliant retinue, and those who afterward attained most note were: his secretary, Miguel Sánchez Villanueva y Tejada, a man of great virtue, who came with his wife and three children, and afterward, having lost his wife, was ordained as a priest, and lived a long time an example for ecclesiastics, as before he had been one for laymen; Captains Don Juan Gallardo, Don Pedro Oriosolo, Don Jacinto Lobán, Don Tomás Martínez de Trillanes, Don Diego Vivien, Don Felipe Ceballos, Don José Armijo, Don Francisco Fabra, Don Antonio de Tabora, Don Juan Castel, Don Juan de Tricaldir, Don Manuel Alvarado; and others, all of whom served long in these islands. As fiscal for his Majesty came Licentiate Don Diego de Viga, a native of Bejar; he was afterward an auditor for many years, and was a very upright and disinterested official. The governor also brought some reenforcements of troops. The appointment of commandant of the castle of Santiago came to General Fernando de Bobadilla, who afterward was master-of-camp.On the day of our Lady’s nativity Don Juan de Vargas entered Manila, being received with great festivities; there were two ingenious triumphal arches, which were erected by the religious orders of our father St. Augustine and the Society, because both had their houses on the principal street through which the procession would pass. Don Juan began to govern with much prudence and desire to do well; he was very punctual in fulfilling his duties, andnever failed in his daily attendance on the sessions of the Audiencia (in which some governors had displayed much negligence); and therefore in his time the court business was despatched more promptly, for he found many suits unsettled and delayed. This is an insuperable difficulty in these islands, where the lawsuits are eternal and constitute a perpetual source of income for court reporters, secretaries, and commissioners32—who, with the slow steps of judicial procedure, are continually plundering the litigants, until, impoverished or exhausted, they give up the suit, which is incorporated into a great mass of documents, which they call “Proceedings in lawsuits” [autos] in the archives of the court. Don Juan de Vargas was more fit for a soldier than for a governor; and gradually he looked with distaste on the duties of so arduous a post, and turned his attention to the means for securing his own advantage. The uncle of his wife, Don Francisco Guerrero de Ardila, became so much the master of Don Juan that, by his craftiness and great ability, he came to be the arbiter of the government. Accordingly, it was he who was governor, and he was the drayman who guided Don Juan de Vargas, while the latter, like a wagon, was carrying the weight of the government. Yet later Don Francisco Guerrero left him alone, and went to Nueva España, at so important a juncture that he met in the Embocadero the succeeding governor, Don Gabriel Crucelaegui, and Don Juan de Vargas in the residencia was laden with his own transgressions and those of others, as we shallsee in due time. He had a great advantage for thus making himself arbiter of everything, in having more affability and more shrewdness than the governor, who was naturally harsh and unamiable and easily fretted. Accordingly, every one set on foot his claims with more confidence by the hand of the uncle, who, as all knew, was the fly-wheel for the movements of the government; and thus in a short time he secured following and applause, [although] without the formal marks of respect which belong to the dignity of a ruler; and he came to direct the entire government, with authority and without opposition. The authority of Don Francisco Guerrero was greatly increased because the governor had made him master-of-camp, because of the death of Alonso López, who died within a short time [after his appointment], at an advanced age; this increased Don Francisco’s authority, and strengthened his influence over the governor. The servants [of the governor] made more effort to secure their own advantage than that of their master, and therefore Don Juan de Vargas found himself alone in everything that was not to the profit of the uncle and his familiars. He appointed as castellan and governor of Cavite Don Juan Gallardo; this is the most influential and profitable position that the governors of Filipinas have at their disposal—although at the present time his Majesty fills this office from Madrid; and in this way it was held more than twenty-eight years by Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Atienza y Bañes, who died while holding the post of master-of-camp, in the year 1718. Another servant, Don Francisco Fabra, he appointed chief guard of the Parián, an office which affords greatopportunities and facilities for securing the best goods; and thus in this occupation he was, so to speak, the governor’s agent, for which employ he had much ability.Don Juan de Vargas, during his entire term of office, maintained trade and commerce with foreign nations, as those of the Coromandel coast, Bengal, and Surrate—which is the greatest emporium of Eastern India and of all the kingdoms subject to the emperor the Great Mogor [i.e., Mogul], a monarch more powerful than the Great Turk, and without doubt more wealthy. From this emporium of Surrate almost every year come one or two ships of great burden, like those that are called “ships of the line,” laden with many and varied wares of Eastern India. Within the last few years these traders are Mahometans, although before they were heathens; this is because they were obliged to accept the cursed doctrine of Mahoma by the former Great Mogor, Payxa Ali Ramasticán—who, trained up in his early years (when he was a fugitive from his family) by the house of Meca, was the cause of the total perdition of so many souls; for it is easier to convert to our holy faith a thousand heathens than one Mahometan. Trade and commerce were also very freely carried on with the Portuguese of Macán, and through their agency in Nueva Batavia in the island of Jacatra, the capital of the rich factories which the Dutch possess throughout India—where of the former Portuguese dominion only their language is left, since with that they trade and traffic; for they have been deprived of the fortified posts, which promised some advantage and profit, leaving to them only Goa (for the intermentof Portuguese), and some posts to the north, such as Chaud, Dama, Diu, and Bassain. Only one who has seen it, as I have, can describe the great extent of every kind of trade which Manila enjoyed in the time of Don Juan de Vargas de Hurtado; and in that time, therefore, great fortunes were accumulated, and the city was adorned with magnificent edifices—the old ones being rebuilt, and new ones being erected, thus repairing the late havoc and destruction.Chapter VI[This is occupied with an account of the attempt made by the Augustinian Fray Juan de Rivera to go to the forbidden mission-field of Japan; it proved unsuccessful, and he was obliged to return to Manila.]Chapter VIIOn the day of the apostle James news came to Manila [in 1679] of the safe arrival of the galleon “San Telmo” at these islands, and of its being outside of the Embocadero; this news was brought, with the royal mails, by Sargento-mayor Juan Ventura Sarra. In this galleon came two large and well-selected mission bands of religious; one was composed of thirty-one from our order, conducted by father Fray Juan de García, who had been sent for this purpose in the year 1674. The other mission was composed of religious belonging to the Society of Jesus, who were brought by Father Francisco Salgado,33a religious of great learning and virtue.This mission [of ours] arrived at the most opportune time that could be imagined, for our province found itself in extreme necessity, on account of the scarcity of religious; for in ten years it had not received even the smallest reenforcement with which to replace them in the extensive and numerous ministries in its charge. So great was this lack that our province was already taking measures to give up some of those ministries; but all the religious orders and the secular clergy were suffering from the same need as was our province, on account of not having a consecrated bishop who might confer the holy orders. The ship “San Telmo” could not enter the Embocadero of San Bernardino, for it was hindered by the vendavals; and therefore it made port, after many hardships, in Palapag, in the province of Leyte—a very safe harbor, but outside of the Embocadero, and more than a hundred and twenty leguas distant from Manila. The religious of the mission came hither through the provinces of Camarines and Laguna de Bay; the roads were bad, for it was the rainy season, but the hardships of their journey were alleviated by the charitable hospitality which was given to them by the religious of St. Francis—who, heirs of that saint’s seraphic love, vied with each other, on such occasions, in showing themselves true sons of so holy a father.They arrived at Manila, where they were received by the community as sons beloved by their affectionatemother, who was so eagerly expecting them; and on September 18—the day of the father of the poor, St. Thomas of Villanova—a private meeting of the definitors was held, and they were received by this province as her sons.In this private session father Fray Juan García declared under oath,in verbo sacerdotis, that, having kissed the feet of our most holy father Innocent XI on September 20, 1677, among other favors which his Holiness had granted him the latter had told him that by his apostolic authority he made good all the defects which might have occurred in the elections of this province, from its foundation until the said day. His Holiness granted him several jubilees for certain convents, and eleven thousand ordinary indulgences, in the new form which his Holiness has promulgated; and gave him two notable relics, a bone of St. Venturino the Martyr34—the first for the hospice at Méjico, and the other for the convent of San Pablo at Manila. Father Fray Juan García also obtained from his Holiness, on petition by this province, a bull in which he granted that all the procurators who may go to Rome and bring hither missions of religious shall enjoy the same exemptions which those possess who have been provincials (who are calledabsolutos); this was accepted [by the Council of Indias], and father Fray Juan García was the first who enjoyed this privilege, all his life. But he, as the devout religious that he was, wouldnot allow the religious to address him as “Our Father,” as is the custom with the provincials, both active and retired; and, retiring to the province of Ilocos, where he was minister, he devoted himself to leading an exemplary life, abandoning himself entirely to meditation, mortification, and prayer until his death, and leaving behind a noble example as a sincere religious.[The rest of this chapter is occupied with the coming (in the “San Telmo”) to Manila of Fernando de Valenzuela, the disgraced favorite of the queen-mother, and a sketch of his career in Spain. The last paragraph reads thus:] Don Juan de Vargas, learning of his arrival, and that he was already coming by land through the province of Camarines, sent to escort him General Don Francisco Enriquez de Losada and Captain Alfonso de Castillo; they conveyed him to the port of Cavite and the fortress of San Felipe. In that place a house was built for him, of timber, according to his taste and plan, with all possible conveniences; and there he lived—at the beginning, with much strictness, watched by sentinels, and receiving few visits; but afterward with more freedom, and visited by everyone, but always in the presence of Captain Juan de Herrera, the warden’s deputy. In this seclusion Don Fernando made use of his great mental ability, employing for his recreation the many talents which he possessed, especially in music and poetry; for in both these arts he had no equal in España. With the news which came by way of the coast of the death of Don Juan of Austria, the severities which, while he lived, had been employed toward Don Ferdinand were mitigated; and the prisoner enjoyed so muchdiversion and company that in these regions he could not have had more. Every month he was allowed a thousand pesos from the royal treasury, which was sufficient for his support and comforts, and for the expenses of the amusements which his cleverness and ingenuity devised for his recreation. I have taken more time than I should in this narration (which might pass for a mere ornament of my proper task), because this gentleman was much devoted to us—although he had received from us and from the Society of Jesus (to whom he acknowledged his obligations) much assistance in his seclusion and in certain difficulties which he had experienced. The rest of his fortunes I will relate in the proper place, when we reach the termination of the ten years of his retirement, his return to Nueva España, and finally his death. The author of the additions to Father Juan de Mariana’sHistorie general de España,35at the end of the second volume, speaks very sharply and indignantly of this gentleman, and as he might speak of a wicked highwayman or of a cruel Nero. He certainly was wrong, for Don Fernando de Valenzuela was very zealous in theservice of his king, and his power and influence in the government were very beneficial to the monarchy, as after his fall was recognized by all, even his greatest enemies. But flattery36must have mended the pen for him, so that in this matter he might show himself very prejudiced. Let the name of that writer be his apology, for it was Don So-and-so. [Fulano] Malo. The posthumous fame of Don Fernando de Valenzuela, however, will not be obscured by his errors.Chapter VIIIThe government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado proceeded with prosperous results, on account of the favorable seasons and the great abundance of the crops which were experienced in the years 1679 and 1680; and through the success and extent of the commerce which was maintained with China and the Coromandel coast, Surrate, and other ports of Oriental India and the kingdoms of the Great Mogor—which formerly were more than fifteen in number, and furnished much income to the royal treasury with the customs duties [derecho de a nojarifazgo]. Not only from the Coromandel coast—on which the Manila trade had founded populous settlements, as Portonovo and Cololu—but from the city of Goa came ships almost every year, commerce little known [to Manila] before, and very remote. The governor devoted much attention to the sessions of the Audiencia and the obligations of his office, and thus the legal business which devolved upon that court was expedited, through the uprightnessand integrity of the auditors, Don Francisco Mansilla, Don Diego Calderón, and Don Diego de Viga; the last named filled the office of fiscal acceptably to all.Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’s Atlante Veneto (Venetia, 1696)Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’sAtlante Veneto(Venetia, 1696)[from original copy inBibliothèque Nationale, Paris]About this time there came to the general a solemn embassy from the principal ruler of Borney, whom those people revere as an emperor. This is the largest island of all Asia, and, according to the best cosmographers, has as great an area as all España and the kingdom of Portugal. It is thinly populated, as its surface is very mountainous; and therefore it is only on the shores of the sea and a few leguas inland that there are settlements of civilized people, if that name can be given to those barbarous nations. Borney has much wax, and in its seas are pearl-fisheries; it abounds in amber, camphor, and gold; and in its mountains are found large elephants, although smaller than those of Siám. Its inhabitants are partly Mahometans, partly heathens; but in color and disposition they resemble the natives of Filipinas, who say that they had their origin in these islands of Borney [and] the coast of Malayo. The ambassador was received with more ostentation than his person seemed to merit. Although he was corpulent and robust, he and all his retinue (which was not a small one) came barefooted and half-naked; he wore a broadbahaque, which tired him more than it covered him, and some wore a loose jacket, short and without a shirt (which is not known among these peoples); but all were well armed with lances and crises—which are swords as short as daggers, with which they are well able to defend themselves or attack, for usually they have these weapons dipped in poison. He made his entry [into the city] withgreat pomp, in the coach and with the halberdiers of the governor, and accompanied by the sargento-mayor of the garrison, Don José de Robles; and the governor received him under a canopy, as being he who represented the royal person. The ambassador’s credentials came in the Malayan language, written in Arabic characters; these were interpreted by the Borneans themselves, and by a Ternatan named Pedro Machado. The object of the embassy, they said, was to establish trade and commerce on both sides, and to adjust some disputes over the limits of the island of Paragua and in regard to some hostile acts which had been committed in the lands of Borney by Alcalde-mayor Don José de Somonte, in vengeance for the injuries which the Camucones had inflicted in our islands. Everything was settled to the satisfaction of both parties, and the ambassador returned well content and handsomely entertained, with a valuable present for his king in return for another (and very ordinary) one which he had brought. In the following year, the governor sent in turn an ambassador, General Don Juan de Morales Valenzuela, a man of gallant nature and tall stature, with a very goodly escort of Spaniards. He was very hospitably received by the king of Borney, in a large pavilion of bamboo and nipa, which was erected for this solemn function; and the king allowed himself to be seen by all his vassals, a favor which, they say, is very rare in that royalty. Don Juan de Morales returned very successful, the king ceding to the Spaniards dominion over all the island of Paragua, and making satisfaction for the ravages by the Camucones; and since then we have remained very good friends [with the Borneans].All the three years’ term of our father provincial Fray Juan de Jeréz was very peaceable, our order and the observance of our rules nourishing in this province, which continually increased in prosperity through the opportune measures which this judicious and devout prelate employed; for certainly he was one of the most observant superiors it had had, and it made great advancement in every way during the time of his government.At last the time for the chapter-session arrived, and when the voting fathers from the four provinces were assembling, with great peace and harmony, suddenly a storm arose, which they feared would occasion the destruction of peace within the order, and produce divisions and contentions very difficult to adjust; and from which might originate great losses to the religious and their ministries. The trouble was this: some of the religious who were born in Nueva España, and others born in these islands, where they had assumed the habit of our order, attempted to renew the old controversy over the alternate elections37—which arose in the year 1637, as we have related in book ii, chapter 26—incited to this by having found a copy of the first bull of Gregory XV, and the royal decree for its passage by the supreme Council of the Indias, attested by Don Diego Núñez Crespo, at that time court secretary of the royal Audiencia. With this slight foundation, without heeding that the matter had already been decided by apostolic authority—by the legate of his Holiness, that is, the archbishop ofManila who was then in office—according to the bull of his Holiness Urban VIII, issued “at Castel Gandolfo, diocese of Albano, May 18, 1634” (of which they probably were not aware), [they made this claim]. They had on their side many citizens of Manila, and employed as their leader Doctor Don José Cervantes Altamirano, a cleric in minor orders—who afterward was married, and at his death was alcalde-mayor of the Parián of the Sangleys, and chief clerk of the cabildo and municipality of Manila; he had a very keen mind, and with that he would, if he had been master and disciple of himself, have made a great jurisconsult.They appointed as judge-executor Master Jerónimo Fernández Caravallo, cura of the village of Quiapo, a priest of little ability and easily influenced. This man accepted the commission with much pleasure, believing that it would bring him honor and profit; and he therefore set up his tribunal, and appointed as his secretary Bachelor Martín Díaz, cura of the natives and Morenos in Manila. At once he sent this man to notify the provincial, Fray Juan de Jeréz, of the said bull of Gregory XV; but the provincial would not accept the notification, not recognizing Master Caravallo as a judge until he should establish his right as such before a competent tribunal, and because this proceeding found him unprepared, and with little knowledge of this controversy, because neither official documents nor information about it were found in the archives of the province. Investigations were made, and the original documents were found in the archiepiscopal tribunal; and an authentic transcript of these was found in a writing-desk which stood in the cell ofthe provincials, of which the key could not be found, and it served only as an ornament. In the said desk was also found the above-mentioned bull of Urban VIII, with which and the acts issued in the year 1657 the procurator-general (who was the writer of this history) presented himself before his Lordship Don Fray Felipe Pardo of the Order of Preachers, the archbishop-elect and ruler of this archbishopric, as being the legate appointed by his Holiness Urban VIII to render decision and sentence in this question. He looked at the bull and declared himself judge, and as such examined the documents, with the assistance of his counselor the father presentado Fray Raimundo Verart of the same order, a doctor in both branches of law from the university of Lérida. They found that this controversy was already authoritatively decided,38and with the lapse of forty-three years had become established as a matter of law; that there was not the least room for the claim made by the fathers of the Indias; and that the province possessed the same right as before of making its choice [of officers] freely, without respect of persons. Upon the litigant religious—who had taken refuge in, and by order of the royal Audiencia were committed to, the college of the Society of Jesus and the convent of San Francisco—was imposed perpetual silence; and with censures they were commanded to return to their convents, and to follow what obedience should direct to them. They did so, and there was no farther discussion of this matter; for in the following chapter-meeting attention was given to consoling them. Those whomade amends for all were the judge-executor, Master Jerónimo Caravallo, and Bachelor Martín Díaz, whom the archbishop punished with pecuniary fines for not having first appeared before him with their commission, and for having erected a tribunal without his permission. But intercession was made for them on the part of our province, and their fines were diminished. Information of the affair was given to our very reverend father general, Fray Domingo Valvasorio, of Milan, who commanded that the religious who had been the movers of this innovation (which might so greatly have disturbed the peace of this province) be punished; and again imposed silence regarding the claim to alternation; but the whole matter was adjusted, for at the end the order, like a mother, must regard them as her sons.The time for the chapter-session arrived, which was May 11, 1680, at the convent in Manila; its president, by commission from our father general already named, was our father Fray José Duque; and father Fray Diego de Jesús, prior of the convent of Pasig, was elected provincial, to the satisfaction of all, by the unanimous vote of all the fathers in the chapter. He was a zealous religious, very observant, and enamored of poverty; and had great learning, prudence, and discretion. He was fifty-eight years of age, a native of Pejar in Extremadura, and a son of the convent at Salamanca—where, and in that of San Felipe at Madrid, he had been for many years master of the novices. He came to this province in the year 1669, as has already been said, influenced [to come] at so great an age by scruples at having excused himself in the year 1660 from coming as commissary for the mission which reached thisprovince in the year of 1663, by the appointment given to him by our very reverend father general Master Fray Pablo Luquino, who was then visiting the provinces of España. The definitors appointed were fathers Fray Juan Ponce, Fray Carlos Bautista, Fray Pedro Martínez, and Fray Álvaro de Benavente. Father Fray José Camello and the father reader Fray Juan Martínez were present as visitors from the previous triennium; and for the present one were appointed father Fray Juan Guedeja and the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio. As procurator for going to España was appointed father Fray Manuel de la Cruz, a native of Toledo, and a son of the convent of Badaya; and they elected him definitor of this province for the next general chapter to be held, and agreed upon39the choice of a discreet for the said general chapter.40This choice was so judicious that to it is due the conservation and advancement of this province, for he fulfilled so carefully the obligation of his commission that he conducted to Nueva España threemission bands—the largest and most distinguished that this province has gained, for in all they contained over fifty religious—the first in the year 1684, the second in 1699 and 1700, and the third in 1712.41He himself remained in Mexico, where he died with the reputation of great virtue, at the age of seventy-four years, in 1712.It was decided in this chapter to ask our very reverend father general to extinguish the votes of the discreet of the convent at Manila, and those of the priors of the convents of Hagonoy and San Pablo de los Montes in the provinces of Tagalos, Mexico in Pampanga, Narvacán in Ilocos, and Dumarao in the province of Panay—on account of the usual scarcity of religious, and the deficiency which might be caused, by their absence while at the chapter, in Ilocos and Bisayas, provinces which are so remote. The other arrangements and ordinances which were made in this chapter publish its great zeal for promoting the regular observance, and the nourishing condition of that observance in this province.Governor Don Juan de Vargas despatched for Nueva España the galleon “San Antonio,” under command of General Don Francisco Enríquez de Losada, then accountant of the royal exchequer; and in this galleon went the father procurator Fray Manuel Losada, and in his company father Fray Miguel de Negrea—a son of the convent of SanFelipe, and native of that city [i.e., Madrid]; he was going back to his own province, and died on the voyage, in the high northern latitude. The voyage was a very distressing one, on account of the severe tempests which suddenly came upon them; and many of those on board died, not only seamen but passengers. A better voyage was that of the galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed the preceding year by the same route from Nueva España, in charge of General Antonio Nieto; for on the morning of the day of St. John the Baptist it entered the bay of Manila, to the great joy of those who were watching it, and anchored at the port of Cavite—a good fortune which seldom has been enjoyed in these islands since the banishment of Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, in the year 1635, as we have with sadness related. In this galleon came Don Fray Diego de Aguilar, of the Order of Preachers, a native of Rioseco, as consecrated bishop of Zebú; for several years he had been detained in Nueva España. He brought in his company father Fray Manuel de Olivares, of the same order, who afterward was provincial of the province of Méjico; his nephew, Captain Don Juan de Urías; and other Spaniards. His arrival occasioned great rejoicing, on account of these islands having remained so many years destitute of a consecrated bishop, and many clerics and regulars were waiting to receive holy orders.In this galleon arrived three religious belonging to the mission of father Fray Juan García; they were choristers, and had been left in Nueva España, to be ordained as priests, and their names are as follows: father Fray Francisco Castrillón, a native of Madrid, and son of the convent of San Felipe; hewas twenty-four years old, and had spent nine in the order. He was a minister in Tagalos until the year 1690, when he returned to Méjico, where he died soon afterward. Father Fray Dionisio Navarro, a native of Leganés, and a son of the same convent of San Felipe; he was twenty-four years old, and had spent seven in the order. He was a good preacher, and well versed in the dialects of the province of Tagalos. He went to España and returned hither, and died in the convent of Manila from a long and painful infirmity, on November 2, 1714. Father Fray Antonio Gutiérrez, a native of Medina Sidonia, and a son of the province of Andalucía. For only a short time he was a minister in Tagalos, because he soon fell ill with a contraction of the tendons [tullimiento], which lasted until his death; this occurred at Manila, in the year 1693.The arrival of this bishop of Zebú served as a great spiritual consolation for these islands; for he repeatedly performed pontifical functions, conferring holy orders on a great number of religious and clerics. He interceded with the governor, in order to reconcile with him those who had taken refuge in the churches through fear of some oppression from the absolute power of the governor—which can not be compared with any other power in the universe; and the worst is, that no means can be thought of for moderating and tempering it within the bounds of reason, because the distance of five thousand leguas which lies between the royal court of Madrid and Filipinas cannot be diminished. The swiftest post, therefore, requires three years, and most of them four; and if it happens that the galleon is obliged to put back to port, the mail is delayed to five or sixyears. At the end of so protracted a term as this, the most peremptory royal rescript is exposed to the danger of being withheld by the governor, according to his pleasure. The lord bishop with his intercession withdrew from asylum in the house of the Society of Jesus the secretary of Don Juan de Vargas, Captain Miguel Sánchez de Villanueva y Tejada, and restored him to favor with his master—although soon afterward the governor removed him from his service, making him alcalde-mayor of Laguna de Bay.About this time the convent of Angat in the mountains of the province of Bulacán was received, with the title of our mother St. Monica, and father Fray Juan de Morelos was appointed its prior. It was composed of the visitas of the convent of Quingua—Tabuquillo, Abarungco, Catalonan, Guinapusan, and Santa Lucía—which, on account of being very distant from Quingua, were administered with much difficulty; and therefore the ministry of Angat was founded, more than three leguas distant from [the convent of] Sandago at Quingua. It has ordinarily two hundred and fifty tributes, with a church and convent of wood. The district is very healthful and pleasant, because the land is fertilized by a river of the best water that is known in these islands; it is the river celebrated by the name of Quingua, the waters of which, compared with many others, have been found to weigh less. This mission is bounded on every side by very fertile meadows, on which abundant harvests of excellent tobacco are gathered; for this reason it is thickly settled with people who cultivate this plant, which is so esteemed throughout the world, and which now has made its way to thechief personages therein. This district has forests, although they are scattered, of heavy and valuable timber; for they are very dense, and so extensive that they join those of Balete and San Mateo, at a distance of more than eight leguas. In the district of this ministry the religious of St. John of God possess a fine ranch stocked with cattle and horses, which is the most that they have for the support of their convent and hospital at Manila, where they aid the sick poor with their usual charity. The convent of Angat has no vote in the chapter-meetings, and therefore is counted in the number of the vicariates of this province.Although the citizens of Manila are not easy to please, no matter how good their governors are, it appears that in the time of which we write they had much reason to be discontented with the government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado; for not only did he devote himself excessively to his own personal interests, to the detriment of the commonwealth, but he was of a harsh and unpleasant nature, and gave sharp answers. Besides this he spoke in a treble voice, and people heard him with difficulty. He kept every one angered at his harsh behavior, and disgusted by his being engrossed with, the pursuit of gain. This was recognized in the lading of the galleons, which is the net of the merchants; and in this year [of 1680] the galleon “San Antonio” was in danger of not making the voyage, on account of its being so overloaded by his henchman Don Juan Gallardo, the castellan of Cavite—not only with his own goods, but with those of his master the governor—that its commander, Don Tomás de Endaya, was compelled to unload the vessel and return to ladeit anew, accommodating the entire cargo to the vessel’s capacity. On account of these and other well-known animosities against the governor and his retainers, the citizens this year determined to inform his Majesty against him; and they did so, the auditors and the city uniting for this purpose and making charges against him. They sent letters, with great caution, in this galleon; and these papers caused his removal in the year 1684.About October of this year the governor sent to Macán General Antonio Nieto, in order to settle some disputes relative to commerce; he accomplished this with much discretion, his excellent procedure reflecting credit on the Castilian nation. He also, with great charity, relieved many cases of necessity, which in the said city are very numerous; but this was done without injuring one iota of the Portuguese tenacity and pride, in which that people exceed all others in Europa.

Chapter VAll the triennial during which our father Fray José Duque ruled was a very prosperous time for this province, on account of the great improvement which was accomplished by his assiduity in reforming it, with both zeal and discretion; for he was as respected as beloved by all. The religious greatly regretted that the end of his term of office was approaching, and to see themselves deprived of soexcellent a prelate, who had so built up the edifice of strict observance of our rules, and had much better regulated the administration of the mission villages and ministries in our charge—his excellent management making up for the great deficiency of laborers which existed, which made it necessary, in many respects, to burden each minister with the work of two. Not his least care was that he had found the common property of not only the province but the convent of Manila greatly diminished, and everything reduced to the utmost necessity of restoration; for this is usually the greatest hindrance and impediment to the superiors in promoting with energy the regular observance, which requires many means for its preservation. But all was supplied by the diligence of that discreet prelate, making easier the removal of the most serious hindrances.The time came for holding the provincial chapter, which assembled on May 8 in the year 1677, and, according to custom, in the convent of Manila. It was presided over—by commission of our very reverend father general, Master Fray Nicolás de Oliva, of Sienna—by the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio; and the election for provincial fell, by the general consent of all the voting fathers, and with the approval of all who were outside of the order, on our father Fray Juan de Jeréz, a religious excelling in virtue. He was a native of Baños in Extremadura, bishopric of Plasencia—a place belonging to the Duke de Béjar and the Marqués de Montemayor—and was a son of the convent of Valladolid and fifty years of age. He had been for many years master of novices in the convents of Salamanca and Burgos, which is a sufficient proofof his religious devotion and virtue. He left España for these islands in the year 1669, and had been a minister in Pampanga; and in this chapter he cast his first vote as visitor of the province.29As definitors were elected the fathers Fray Pedro de Mesa, Fray Juan Labao, Fray Francisco de Albear, and Fray Pedro Canales; and as visitors the fathers Fray Domingo de San Miguel and Fray Juan Guedeja. They enacted statutes very useful for the government of the province, and for the stricter observance of our religious estate, many of which were reproduced in various following chapters, having been found by experience to be well-chosen and advantageous.The acting governor despatched the galleon “San Telmo” for Nueva España, in charge of General Don Tomás de Endaya, a regidor of the city of Manila; and it encountered so many storms before doubling the point of Santiago that fears were entertained that it would not have time to make the voyage before the vendavals. But the bravery of the commander and of his pilot, Leandro Cuello, over-came great difficulties, and they succeeded in reaching their destination.The galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed for Nueva España the year before, had also experienced storms, from the time when it reached the Embocadero of San Bernardino. For this reason Sargento-mayor Alfonso Fernández Pacheco came to Manila, bringing the despatches from his Majesty and information of the ship’s arrival on the thirtieth ofAugust. This galleon brought the news that Don Carlos II had begun, at the age of fifteen years, to rule the monarchy of España in person, freed from the guardianship of the queen-mother, Doña Mariana of Austria; and commands were issued that his royal name and seal be used in the despatches, and that royal fiestas proper to so important an event be celebrated—which took place afterward, in the month of December, as we shall soon relate.[At this time] came the despatches for the presentation made by his Majesty for the archbishopric of Manila, of the person of the very reverend father master Fray Felipe Pardo, of the Order of Preachers; he accepted this dignity, and began to govern his church, the ecclesiastical cabildo yielding up the government to him. This appointment found him at the time engaged in the duties of commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; his place therein was taken by father Fray Juan de los Angeles, a man who was worthy of such a name on account of his virtue and mild disposition. Also came the presentation of the reverend father Fray Andrés González for bishop of Nueva Cáceres or Camarines; he also accepted, and was consecrated, and ruled that church creditably, as he was a devoted religious, and very charitable; and he left behind him, when he died, a great reputation for sanctity.On September 27, the acting governor, Auditor Don Francisco Coloma y Maceda, died at the age of sixty years, from an intestinal hemorrhage; he was an official of much integrity and uprightness, and was buried in the convent of Santo Domingo with his wife, Doña María de Cuellar. The government was assumed by Auditor Don Francisco de Mansilla,a native of Ceniceros in Rioja, who was no less upright than his predecessor. His term of office was short, because a proprietary governor came in the following year; but even in the short time while his rule lasted he showed that he deserved that it should continue during his life, on account of the very peaceable and equitable manner in which he exercised his office. The first thing which he did was to look for all those who had been opposed to him in the year 1668, when he was exiled to Iloylo by Don Juan Manuel Bonifaz; and he honored all of them, more than some deserved, displaying a generous spirit, and that of a Christian ruler, which aroused the admiration of those who saw his prudence and moderation. These islands were much grieved that he must so soon have a successor, for the people loved and reverenced him. He was of corpulent figure and venerable aspect; and his hair (which was scanty) and his mustache (which was large) were white as snow—all which conciliated respect. Two years afterward, promotion came to him, the post of alcalde for criminal cases in [the Audiencia of] Méjico; but he died at the height of the voyage.30He had two sons: Don Felipe Mansilla, a knight of the Order of Santiago, who lives in Méjico; and Father Antonio Mansilla, of the Society of Jesus, in these islands.The city and municipality of Manila having determined to celebrate the festivities due to the great rejoicing which was caused in the Spanish domains by the assumption of sovereignty over them by theirking Don Carlos II, decided that these should be actually held in December, from the fourth to the seventh day of that month. This was done with great pomp and brilliancy. In the morning three sermons were preached: one by the dean of the cathedral, Master Don Miguel Ortíz de Covarrubias; another by father Fray Álvaro de Benavente of the order of our father St. Augustine (the secretary of our province, and often named in this history; he died in China, as bishop of Ascalon and vicar apostolic of Kiengsi); and the third by the reverend Father Jerónimo de Ortega, of the Society of Jesus. For the afternoons there were various bull-fights and comedies. On the last day, December 7, after the bull-fights and comedies, there were demonstrations of rejoicing; and for a climax to the festivities there was, at six o’clock in the afternoon, a beautiful and splendid masquerade, with magnificent costumes, and parades of servants in costly liveries. The most distinguished citizens of Manila went therein, two by two, representing the realms of the monarchy of España, with shields and mottoes proper for each kingdom; those who came last were the two alcaldes-in-ordinary of Manila, General Francisco Rayo Doria and Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya, representing the kingdoms of Castilla and León. They rode in pairs on handsomely-caparisoned horses, to the destination which was prepared for this purpose with palisades, and with so much splendor from wax tapers that the night had no cause to envy the brighter day. With this brilliant and elegant masquerade these royal festivities came to an end, the city remaining in the quiet and silence proper to that hour, which was about seven at night.Quite ignorant were all those who had celebrated and enjoyed this gay festival of the sad and melancholy catastrophe which was to follow on this so joyous scene; all were forgetful of the uncertainty of the pleasures of this world, which suddenly shifts its scenes, passing from gayety to mourning. Hardly had the people time to shelter themselves in their houses—some fatigued with the exercises of the masquerade, and others sad that the royal festivities had come to an end—when at half-past seven in the evening the earth began to tremble with horrible vibrations, changing their recent gayety into fear, horror, and lamentable perplexity. This first earthquake lasted a long time, so that it was feared that the last and fatal day for the sad city of Manila had arrived. The continuous and unequal vibrations of the ground; the frightful cracking of timbers; the [falling of] tiles from the roofs, and of stones which, loosened from the walls, came to the ground, raising great clouds of dust: all these made a most gloomy night, the image of death. Some hastened to seek confessors, and not finding them soon, published aloud their own sins. This first motion of the earth ceased, which people affirm to have been more violent than that of August 20, 1658, but it did not last so long; if it had been equal in duration to that one, it would have caused a large amount of havoc in the city of Manila.It was worth much to the city that the earthquake found it greatly improved over former times in regard to the height of its buildings; for now they were reduced to more humble stature, and without the projections which would cause its greatest destruction, as has been experienced in previous earthquakes. The use of thehariguesor wooden pillarson which the heavy timber-work of the roofs leans and rests was recognized to be a sure protection and defense from such disasters; and therefore, although the earthquake demolished many buildings, breaking open the solid mass of masonry, they did not suffer entire ruin by being thrown down to the ground. Some few were destroyed through being old and in bad condition; but only one or two persons perished, and they of little account in the world. The kind-hearted governor went out with many followers to visit the [military] posts of the city, and aid, if he could, those who were in need; and the same was done by the alcaldes-in-ordinary and the regidors, accompanied by many citizens. The religious orders were well occupied in the ministries of their profession—some preaching from tables placed in the streets, others hastening to hear the confessions of those who asked for this sacrament, that is, of all. While all these were occupied in exercises so holy and pious, the trembling of the earth was again repeated many times; but, through the divine kindness, these vibrations were much slighter, continually diminishing—so that it seemed as if the divine anger were gradually being appeased, just as men were continually showing themselves more penitent. All that night until daybreak the earthquake shocks continued; for there were so many of them that one man counted forty, although to me it seemed as if there were many more. Many came out [from this calamity] crippled and lame; but all recognized that it was a miracle that the city had not been utterly destroyed with so repeated shocks. Later, it was ascertained that some chasms and air-vents in the earth had opened, and which issurely the cause of these disturbances. One chasm opened in the bounds of the village of Bauang, in the province of Balayán; and another in the mountains of Gapang, in Pampanga. Those who arrived here after navigating the seas of these islands recounted the horrible perils in which they had found themselves, tossed by great billows and almost submerged in the swell which was caused in the sea by the earthquake; the sea even rose until, in many places, it swept over the land, occasioning great damage. With this slight mention I will close the sad account of the melancholy termination of these royal festivities.The master-of-camp of these islands died, Don Agustín de Cepeda y Carracedo; he was a native of Talavera de la Reina, a relative of the glorious saint Teresa de Jesús, and more than eighty years of age. He was one of the most valiant soldiers who has belonged to these regions, and with that reputation he has been mentioned in this history in the greatest military exploits of his time, and in the government of Zamboanga and Ternate; and, what is his greatest glory, he was an excellent Christian, devout and charitable, and died with strong indications that he had been very earnestly such. For acting master-of-camp the governor appointed General Alonso López, a soldier of long standing, and also very aged; and therefore he did not long serve in that office.Governor Don Francisco de Mansilla despatched the galleon for Nueva España, appointing as its commander his son, Don Felipe de Mansilla y Prado, a young man of much courage and ability, who at the time was serving in the post of sargento-mayorof the Manila army, which is the second, in the esteem of military men, after that of master-of-camp. As sargento-mayor of the galleon he appointed Juan Ventura Sarra (the Catalan so famous for his successful surgical operations), on account of his being a man of much valor, and experienced in military service in Flandes and Cataluña. This galleon made a very prosperous voyage, both going and returning, as we shall see in the following chapter.About the end of July in this year of 1678 came news that the galleon “San Telmo” had sighted these islands; it was under the command of General Don Tomás de Endaya, and had sailed for the port of Acapulco in the preceding year. It brought the proprietary governor, Master-of-camp Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado, a knight of the Order of Santiago; he was a native of Toledo, and nephew of the venerable mother Jerónima de la Asunción, foundress of the convent of Santa Clara in Manila—whose admirable life has been written by the father reader Fray Antonio de Leytona,31of the Observantine Order of St. Francis; and the investigations preliminary to her beatification have been begun. This knight had served many years in Flandes, Cataluña, and Extremadura, always with great commendation for his valor, which was as great as his nobility. He came with his wife, Doña Isabel de Ardila, a native of Badajoz; and brought in his company her uncle, a captain of cuirassiers, Don Francisco Guerrero y Ardila—a man of lofty stature, who, like anotherSaul, surpassed by the head and shoulders the tallest man in the Manila garrison—who showed that he possessed great valor. The new governor brought with him a numerous and brilliant retinue, and those who afterward attained most note were: his secretary, Miguel Sánchez Villanueva y Tejada, a man of great virtue, who came with his wife and three children, and afterward, having lost his wife, was ordained as a priest, and lived a long time an example for ecclesiastics, as before he had been one for laymen; Captains Don Juan Gallardo, Don Pedro Oriosolo, Don Jacinto Lobán, Don Tomás Martínez de Trillanes, Don Diego Vivien, Don Felipe Ceballos, Don José Armijo, Don Francisco Fabra, Don Antonio de Tabora, Don Juan Castel, Don Juan de Tricaldir, Don Manuel Alvarado; and others, all of whom served long in these islands. As fiscal for his Majesty came Licentiate Don Diego de Viga, a native of Bejar; he was afterward an auditor for many years, and was a very upright and disinterested official. The governor also brought some reenforcements of troops. The appointment of commandant of the castle of Santiago came to General Fernando de Bobadilla, who afterward was master-of-camp.On the day of our Lady’s nativity Don Juan de Vargas entered Manila, being received with great festivities; there were two ingenious triumphal arches, which were erected by the religious orders of our father St. Augustine and the Society, because both had their houses on the principal street through which the procession would pass. Don Juan began to govern with much prudence and desire to do well; he was very punctual in fulfilling his duties, andnever failed in his daily attendance on the sessions of the Audiencia (in which some governors had displayed much negligence); and therefore in his time the court business was despatched more promptly, for he found many suits unsettled and delayed. This is an insuperable difficulty in these islands, where the lawsuits are eternal and constitute a perpetual source of income for court reporters, secretaries, and commissioners32—who, with the slow steps of judicial procedure, are continually plundering the litigants, until, impoverished or exhausted, they give up the suit, which is incorporated into a great mass of documents, which they call “Proceedings in lawsuits” [autos] in the archives of the court. Don Juan de Vargas was more fit for a soldier than for a governor; and gradually he looked with distaste on the duties of so arduous a post, and turned his attention to the means for securing his own advantage. The uncle of his wife, Don Francisco Guerrero de Ardila, became so much the master of Don Juan that, by his craftiness and great ability, he came to be the arbiter of the government. Accordingly, it was he who was governor, and he was the drayman who guided Don Juan de Vargas, while the latter, like a wagon, was carrying the weight of the government. Yet later Don Francisco Guerrero left him alone, and went to Nueva España, at so important a juncture that he met in the Embocadero the succeeding governor, Don Gabriel Crucelaegui, and Don Juan de Vargas in the residencia was laden with his own transgressions and those of others, as we shallsee in due time. He had a great advantage for thus making himself arbiter of everything, in having more affability and more shrewdness than the governor, who was naturally harsh and unamiable and easily fretted. Accordingly, every one set on foot his claims with more confidence by the hand of the uncle, who, as all knew, was the fly-wheel for the movements of the government; and thus in a short time he secured following and applause, [although] without the formal marks of respect which belong to the dignity of a ruler; and he came to direct the entire government, with authority and without opposition. The authority of Don Francisco Guerrero was greatly increased because the governor had made him master-of-camp, because of the death of Alonso López, who died within a short time [after his appointment], at an advanced age; this increased Don Francisco’s authority, and strengthened his influence over the governor. The servants [of the governor] made more effort to secure their own advantage than that of their master, and therefore Don Juan de Vargas found himself alone in everything that was not to the profit of the uncle and his familiars. He appointed as castellan and governor of Cavite Don Juan Gallardo; this is the most influential and profitable position that the governors of Filipinas have at their disposal—although at the present time his Majesty fills this office from Madrid; and in this way it was held more than twenty-eight years by Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Atienza y Bañes, who died while holding the post of master-of-camp, in the year 1718. Another servant, Don Francisco Fabra, he appointed chief guard of the Parián, an office which affords greatopportunities and facilities for securing the best goods; and thus in this occupation he was, so to speak, the governor’s agent, for which employ he had much ability.Don Juan de Vargas, during his entire term of office, maintained trade and commerce with foreign nations, as those of the Coromandel coast, Bengal, and Surrate—which is the greatest emporium of Eastern India and of all the kingdoms subject to the emperor the Great Mogor [i.e., Mogul], a monarch more powerful than the Great Turk, and without doubt more wealthy. From this emporium of Surrate almost every year come one or two ships of great burden, like those that are called “ships of the line,” laden with many and varied wares of Eastern India. Within the last few years these traders are Mahometans, although before they were heathens; this is because they were obliged to accept the cursed doctrine of Mahoma by the former Great Mogor, Payxa Ali Ramasticán—who, trained up in his early years (when he was a fugitive from his family) by the house of Meca, was the cause of the total perdition of so many souls; for it is easier to convert to our holy faith a thousand heathens than one Mahometan. Trade and commerce were also very freely carried on with the Portuguese of Macán, and through their agency in Nueva Batavia in the island of Jacatra, the capital of the rich factories which the Dutch possess throughout India—where of the former Portuguese dominion only their language is left, since with that they trade and traffic; for they have been deprived of the fortified posts, which promised some advantage and profit, leaving to them only Goa (for the intermentof Portuguese), and some posts to the north, such as Chaud, Dama, Diu, and Bassain. Only one who has seen it, as I have, can describe the great extent of every kind of trade which Manila enjoyed in the time of Don Juan de Vargas de Hurtado; and in that time, therefore, great fortunes were accumulated, and the city was adorned with magnificent edifices—the old ones being rebuilt, and new ones being erected, thus repairing the late havoc and destruction.Chapter VI[This is occupied with an account of the attempt made by the Augustinian Fray Juan de Rivera to go to the forbidden mission-field of Japan; it proved unsuccessful, and he was obliged to return to Manila.]Chapter VIIOn the day of the apostle James news came to Manila [in 1679] of the safe arrival of the galleon “San Telmo” at these islands, and of its being outside of the Embocadero; this news was brought, with the royal mails, by Sargento-mayor Juan Ventura Sarra. In this galleon came two large and well-selected mission bands of religious; one was composed of thirty-one from our order, conducted by father Fray Juan de García, who had been sent for this purpose in the year 1674. The other mission was composed of religious belonging to the Society of Jesus, who were brought by Father Francisco Salgado,33a religious of great learning and virtue.This mission [of ours] arrived at the most opportune time that could be imagined, for our province found itself in extreme necessity, on account of the scarcity of religious; for in ten years it had not received even the smallest reenforcement with which to replace them in the extensive and numerous ministries in its charge. So great was this lack that our province was already taking measures to give up some of those ministries; but all the religious orders and the secular clergy were suffering from the same need as was our province, on account of not having a consecrated bishop who might confer the holy orders. The ship “San Telmo” could not enter the Embocadero of San Bernardino, for it was hindered by the vendavals; and therefore it made port, after many hardships, in Palapag, in the province of Leyte—a very safe harbor, but outside of the Embocadero, and more than a hundred and twenty leguas distant from Manila. The religious of the mission came hither through the provinces of Camarines and Laguna de Bay; the roads were bad, for it was the rainy season, but the hardships of their journey were alleviated by the charitable hospitality which was given to them by the religious of St. Francis—who, heirs of that saint’s seraphic love, vied with each other, on such occasions, in showing themselves true sons of so holy a father.They arrived at Manila, where they were received by the community as sons beloved by their affectionatemother, who was so eagerly expecting them; and on September 18—the day of the father of the poor, St. Thomas of Villanova—a private meeting of the definitors was held, and they were received by this province as her sons.In this private session father Fray Juan García declared under oath,in verbo sacerdotis, that, having kissed the feet of our most holy father Innocent XI on September 20, 1677, among other favors which his Holiness had granted him the latter had told him that by his apostolic authority he made good all the defects which might have occurred in the elections of this province, from its foundation until the said day. His Holiness granted him several jubilees for certain convents, and eleven thousand ordinary indulgences, in the new form which his Holiness has promulgated; and gave him two notable relics, a bone of St. Venturino the Martyr34—the first for the hospice at Méjico, and the other for the convent of San Pablo at Manila. Father Fray Juan García also obtained from his Holiness, on petition by this province, a bull in which he granted that all the procurators who may go to Rome and bring hither missions of religious shall enjoy the same exemptions which those possess who have been provincials (who are calledabsolutos); this was accepted [by the Council of Indias], and father Fray Juan García was the first who enjoyed this privilege, all his life. But he, as the devout religious that he was, wouldnot allow the religious to address him as “Our Father,” as is the custom with the provincials, both active and retired; and, retiring to the province of Ilocos, where he was minister, he devoted himself to leading an exemplary life, abandoning himself entirely to meditation, mortification, and prayer until his death, and leaving behind a noble example as a sincere religious.[The rest of this chapter is occupied with the coming (in the “San Telmo”) to Manila of Fernando de Valenzuela, the disgraced favorite of the queen-mother, and a sketch of his career in Spain. The last paragraph reads thus:] Don Juan de Vargas, learning of his arrival, and that he was already coming by land through the province of Camarines, sent to escort him General Don Francisco Enriquez de Losada and Captain Alfonso de Castillo; they conveyed him to the port of Cavite and the fortress of San Felipe. In that place a house was built for him, of timber, according to his taste and plan, with all possible conveniences; and there he lived—at the beginning, with much strictness, watched by sentinels, and receiving few visits; but afterward with more freedom, and visited by everyone, but always in the presence of Captain Juan de Herrera, the warden’s deputy. In this seclusion Don Fernando made use of his great mental ability, employing for his recreation the many talents which he possessed, especially in music and poetry; for in both these arts he had no equal in España. With the news which came by way of the coast of the death of Don Juan of Austria, the severities which, while he lived, had been employed toward Don Ferdinand were mitigated; and the prisoner enjoyed so muchdiversion and company that in these regions he could not have had more. Every month he was allowed a thousand pesos from the royal treasury, which was sufficient for his support and comforts, and for the expenses of the amusements which his cleverness and ingenuity devised for his recreation. I have taken more time than I should in this narration (which might pass for a mere ornament of my proper task), because this gentleman was much devoted to us—although he had received from us and from the Society of Jesus (to whom he acknowledged his obligations) much assistance in his seclusion and in certain difficulties which he had experienced. The rest of his fortunes I will relate in the proper place, when we reach the termination of the ten years of his retirement, his return to Nueva España, and finally his death. The author of the additions to Father Juan de Mariana’sHistorie general de España,35at the end of the second volume, speaks very sharply and indignantly of this gentleman, and as he might speak of a wicked highwayman or of a cruel Nero. He certainly was wrong, for Don Fernando de Valenzuela was very zealous in theservice of his king, and his power and influence in the government were very beneficial to the monarchy, as after his fall was recognized by all, even his greatest enemies. But flattery36must have mended the pen for him, so that in this matter he might show himself very prejudiced. Let the name of that writer be his apology, for it was Don So-and-so. [Fulano] Malo. The posthumous fame of Don Fernando de Valenzuela, however, will not be obscured by his errors.Chapter VIIIThe government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado proceeded with prosperous results, on account of the favorable seasons and the great abundance of the crops which were experienced in the years 1679 and 1680; and through the success and extent of the commerce which was maintained with China and the Coromandel coast, Surrate, and other ports of Oriental India and the kingdoms of the Great Mogor—which formerly were more than fifteen in number, and furnished much income to the royal treasury with the customs duties [derecho de a nojarifazgo]. Not only from the Coromandel coast—on which the Manila trade had founded populous settlements, as Portonovo and Cololu—but from the city of Goa came ships almost every year, commerce little known [to Manila] before, and very remote. The governor devoted much attention to the sessions of the Audiencia and the obligations of his office, and thus the legal business which devolved upon that court was expedited, through the uprightnessand integrity of the auditors, Don Francisco Mansilla, Don Diego Calderón, and Don Diego de Viga; the last named filled the office of fiscal acceptably to all.Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’s Atlante Veneto (Venetia, 1696)Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’sAtlante Veneto(Venetia, 1696)[from original copy inBibliothèque Nationale, Paris]About this time there came to the general a solemn embassy from the principal ruler of Borney, whom those people revere as an emperor. This is the largest island of all Asia, and, according to the best cosmographers, has as great an area as all España and the kingdom of Portugal. It is thinly populated, as its surface is very mountainous; and therefore it is only on the shores of the sea and a few leguas inland that there are settlements of civilized people, if that name can be given to those barbarous nations. Borney has much wax, and in its seas are pearl-fisheries; it abounds in amber, camphor, and gold; and in its mountains are found large elephants, although smaller than those of Siám. Its inhabitants are partly Mahometans, partly heathens; but in color and disposition they resemble the natives of Filipinas, who say that they had their origin in these islands of Borney [and] the coast of Malayo. The ambassador was received with more ostentation than his person seemed to merit. Although he was corpulent and robust, he and all his retinue (which was not a small one) came barefooted and half-naked; he wore a broadbahaque, which tired him more than it covered him, and some wore a loose jacket, short and without a shirt (which is not known among these peoples); but all were well armed with lances and crises—which are swords as short as daggers, with which they are well able to defend themselves or attack, for usually they have these weapons dipped in poison. He made his entry [into the city] withgreat pomp, in the coach and with the halberdiers of the governor, and accompanied by the sargento-mayor of the garrison, Don José de Robles; and the governor received him under a canopy, as being he who represented the royal person. The ambassador’s credentials came in the Malayan language, written in Arabic characters; these were interpreted by the Borneans themselves, and by a Ternatan named Pedro Machado. The object of the embassy, they said, was to establish trade and commerce on both sides, and to adjust some disputes over the limits of the island of Paragua and in regard to some hostile acts which had been committed in the lands of Borney by Alcalde-mayor Don José de Somonte, in vengeance for the injuries which the Camucones had inflicted in our islands. Everything was settled to the satisfaction of both parties, and the ambassador returned well content and handsomely entertained, with a valuable present for his king in return for another (and very ordinary) one which he had brought. In the following year, the governor sent in turn an ambassador, General Don Juan de Morales Valenzuela, a man of gallant nature and tall stature, with a very goodly escort of Spaniards. He was very hospitably received by the king of Borney, in a large pavilion of bamboo and nipa, which was erected for this solemn function; and the king allowed himself to be seen by all his vassals, a favor which, they say, is very rare in that royalty. Don Juan de Morales returned very successful, the king ceding to the Spaniards dominion over all the island of Paragua, and making satisfaction for the ravages by the Camucones; and since then we have remained very good friends [with the Borneans].All the three years’ term of our father provincial Fray Juan de Jeréz was very peaceable, our order and the observance of our rules nourishing in this province, which continually increased in prosperity through the opportune measures which this judicious and devout prelate employed; for certainly he was one of the most observant superiors it had had, and it made great advancement in every way during the time of his government.At last the time for the chapter-session arrived, and when the voting fathers from the four provinces were assembling, with great peace and harmony, suddenly a storm arose, which they feared would occasion the destruction of peace within the order, and produce divisions and contentions very difficult to adjust; and from which might originate great losses to the religious and their ministries. The trouble was this: some of the religious who were born in Nueva España, and others born in these islands, where they had assumed the habit of our order, attempted to renew the old controversy over the alternate elections37—which arose in the year 1637, as we have related in book ii, chapter 26—incited to this by having found a copy of the first bull of Gregory XV, and the royal decree for its passage by the supreme Council of the Indias, attested by Don Diego Núñez Crespo, at that time court secretary of the royal Audiencia. With this slight foundation, without heeding that the matter had already been decided by apostolic authority—by the legate of his Holiness, that is, the archbishop ofManila who was then in office—according to the bull of his Holiness Urban VIII, issued “at Castel Gandolfo, diocese of Albano, May 18, 1634” (of which they probably were not aware), [they made this claim]. They had on their side many citizens of Manila, and employed as their leader Doctor Don José Cervantes Altamirano, a cleric in minor orders—who afterward was married, and at his death was alcalde-mayor of the Parián of the Sangleys, and chief clerk of the cabildo and municipality of Manila; he had a very keen mind, and with that he would, if he had been master and disciple of himself, have made a great jurisconsult.They appointed as judge-executor Master Jerónimo Fernández Caravallo, cura of the village of Quiapo, a priest of little ability and easily influenced. This man accepted the commission with much pleasure, believing that it would bring him honor and profit; and he therefore set up his tribunal, and appointed as his secretary Bachelor Martín Díaz, cura of the natives and Morenos in Manila. At once he sent this man to notify the provincial, Fray Juan de Jeréz, of the said bull of Gregory XV; but the provincial would not accept the notification, not recognizing Master Caravallo as a judge until he should establish his right as such before a competent tribunal, and because this proceeding found him unprepared, and with little knowledge of this controversy, because neither official documents nor information about it were found in the archives of the province. Investigations were made, and the original documents were found in the archiepiscopal tribunal; and an authentic transcript of these was found in a writing-desk which stood in the cell ofthe provincials, of which the key could not be found, and it served only as an ornament. In the said desk was also found the above-mentioned bull of Urban VIII, with which and the acts issued in the year 1657 the procurator-general (who was the writer of this history) presented himself before his Lordship Don Fray Felipe Pardo of the Order of Preachers, the archbishop-elect and ruler of this archbishopric, as being the legate appointed by his Holiness Urban VIII to render decision and sentence in this question. He looked at the bull and declared himself judge, and as such examined the documents, with the assistance of his counselor the father presentado Fray Raimundo Verart of the same order, a doctor in both branches of law from the university of Lérida. They found that this controversy was already authoritatively decided,38and with the lapse of forty-three years had become established as a matter of law; that there was not the least room for the claim made by the fathers of the Indias; and that the province possessed the same right as before of making its choice [of officers] freely, without respect of persons. Upon the litigant religious—who had taken refuge in, and by order of the royal Audiencia were committed to, the college of the Society of Jesus and the convent of San Francisco—was imposed perpetual silence; and with censures they were commanded to return to their convents, and to follow what obedience should direct to them. They did so, and there was no farther discussion of this matter; for in the following chapter-meeting attention was given to consoling them. Those whomade amends for all were the judge-executor, Master Jerónimo Caravallo, and Bachelor Martín Díaz, whom the archbishop punished with pecuniary fines for not having first appeared before him with their commission, and for having erected a tribunal without his permission. But intercession was made for them on the part of our province, and their fines were diminished. Information of the affair was given to our very reverend father general, Fray Domingo Valvasorio, of Milan, who commanded that the religious who had been the movers of this innovation (which might so greatly have disturbed the peace of this province) be punished; and again imposed silence regarding the claim to alternation; but the whole matter was adjusted, for at the end the order, like a mother, must regard them as her sons.The time for the chapter-session arrived, which was May 11, 1680, at the convent in Manila; its president, by commission from our father general already named, was our father Fray José Duque; and father Fray Diego de Jesús, prior of the convent of Pasig, was elected provincial, to the satisfaction of all, by the unanimous vote of all the fathers in the chapter. He was a zealous religious, very observant, and enamored of poverty; and had great learning, prudence, and discretion. He was fifty-eight years of age, a native of Pejar in Extremadura, and a son of the convent at Salamanca—where, and in that of San Felipe at Madrid, he had been for many years master of the novices. He came to this province in the year 1669, as has already been said, influenced [to come] at so great an age by scruples at having excused himself in the year 1660 from coming as commissary for the mission which reached thisprovince in the year of 1663, by the appointment given to him by our very reverend father general Master Fray Pablo Luquino, who was then visiting the provinces of España. The definitors appointed were fathers Fray Juan Ponce, Fray Carlos Bautista, Fray Pedro Martínez, and Fray Álvaro de Benavente. Father Fray José Camello and the father reader Fray Juan Martínez were present as visitors from the previous triennium; and for the present one were appointed father Fray Juan Guedeja and the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio. As procurator for going to España was appointed father Fray Manuel de la Cruz, a native of Toledo, and a son of the convent of Badaya; and they elected him definitor of this province for the next general chapter to be held, and agreed upon39the choice of a discreet for the said general chapter.40This choice was so judicious that to it is due the conservation and advancement of this province, for he fulfilled so carefully the obligation of his commission that he conducted to Nueva España threemission bands—the largest and most distinguished that this province has gained, for in all they contained over fifty religious—the first in the year 1684, the second in 1699 and 1700, and the third in 1712.41He himself remained in Mexico, where he died with the reputation of great virtue, at the age of seventy-four years, in 1712.It was decided in this chapter to ask our very reverend father general to extinguish the votes of the discreet of the convent at Manila, and those of the priors of the convents of Hagonoy and San Pablo de los Montes in the provinces of Tagalos, Mexico in Pampanga, Narvacán in Ilocos, and Dumarao in the province of Panay—on account of the usual scarcity of religious, and the deficiency which might be caused, by their absence while at the chapter, in Ilocos and Bisayas, provinces which are so remote. The other arrangements and ordinances which were made in this chapter publish its great zeal for promoting the regular observance, and the nourishing condition of that observance in this province.Governor Don Juan de Vargas despatched for Nueva España the galleon “San Antonio,” under command of General Don Francisco Enríquez de Losada, then accountant of the royal exchequer; and in this galleon went the father procurator Fray Manuel Losada, and in his company father Fray Miguel de Negrea—a son of the convent of SanFelipe, and native of that city [i.e., Madrid]; he was going back to his own province, and died on the voyage, in the high northern latitude. The voyage was a very distressing one, on account of the severe tempests which suddenly came upon them; and many of those on board died, not only seamen but passengers. A better voyage was that of the galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed the preceding year by the same route from Nueva España, in charge of General Antonio Nieto; for on the morning of the day of St. John the Baptist it entered the bay of Manila, to the great joy of those who were watching it, and anchored at the port of Cavite—a good fortune which seldom has been enjoyed in these islands since the banishment of Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, in the year 1635, as we have with sadness related. In this galleon came Don Fray Diego de Aguilar, of the Order of Preachers, a native of Rioseco, as consecrated bishop of Zebú; for several years he had been detained in Nueva España. He brought in his company father Fray Manuel de Olivares, of the same order, who afterward was provincial of the province of Méjico; his nephew, Captain Don Juan de Urías; and other Spaniards. His arrival occasioned great rejoicing, on account of these islands having remained so many years destitute of a consecrated bishop, and many clerics and regulars were waiting to receive holy orders.In this galleon arrived three religious belonging to the mission of father Fray Juan García; they were choristers, and had been left in Nueva España, to be ordained as priests, and their names are as follows: father Fray Francisco Castrillón, a native of Madrid, and son of the convent of San Felipe; hewas twenty-four years old, and had spent nine in the order. He was a minister in Tagalos until the year 1690, when he returned to Méjico, where he died soon afterward. Father Fray Dionisio Navarro, a native of Leganés, and a son of the same convent of San Felipe; he was twenty-four years old, and had spent seven in the order. He was a good preacher, and well versed in the dialects of the province of Tagalos. He went to España and returned hither, and died in the convent of Manila from a long and painful infirmity, on November 2, 1714. Father Fray Antonio Gutiérrez, a native of Medina Sidonia, and a son of the province of Andalucía. For only a short time he was a minister in Tagalos, because he soon fell ill with a contraction of the tendons [tullimiento], which lasted until his death; this occurred at Manila, in the year 1693.The arrival of this bishop of Zebú served as a great spiritual consolation for these islands; for he repeatedly performed pontifical functions, conferring holy orders on a great number of religious and clerics. He interceded with the governor, in order to reconcile with him those who had taken refuge in the churches through fear of some oppression from the absolute power of the governor—which can not be compared with any other power in the universe; and the worst is, that no means can be thought of for moderating and tempering it within the bounds of reason, because the distance of five thousand leguas which lies between the royal court of Madrid and Filipinas cannot be diminished. The swiftest post, therefore, requires three years, and most of them four; and if it happens that the galleon is obliged to put back to port, the mail is delayed to five or sixyears. At the end of so protracted a term as this, the most peremptory royal rescript is exposed to the danger of being withheld by the governor, according to his pleasure. The lord bishop with his intercession withdrew from asylum in the house of the Society of Jesus the secretary of Don Juan de Vargas, Captain Miguel Sánchez de Villanueva y Tejada, and restored him to favor with his master—although soon afterward the governor removed him from his service, making him alcalde-mayor of Laguna de Bay.About this time the convent of Angat in the mountains of the province of Bulacán was received, with the title of our mother St. Monica, and father Fray Juan de Morelos was appointed its prior. It was composed of the visitas of the convent of Quingua—Tabuquillo, Abarungco, Catalonan, Guinapusan, and Santa Lucía—which, on account of being very distant from Quingua, were administered with much difficulty; and therefore the ministry of Angat was founded, more than three leguas distant from [the convent of] Sandago at Quingua. It has ordinarily two hundred and fifty tributes, with a church and convent of wood. The district is very healthful and pleasant, because the land is fertilized by a river of the best water that is known in these islands; it is the river celebrated by the name of Quingua, the waters of which, compared with many others, have been found to weigh less. This mission is bounded on every side by very fertile meadows, on which abundant harvests of excellent tobacco are gathered; for this reason it is thickly settled with people who cultivate this plant, which is so esteemed throughout the world, and which now has made its way to thechief personages therein. This district has forests, although they are scattered, of heavy and valuable timber; for they are very dense, and so extensive that they join those of Balete and San Mateo, at a distance of more than eight leguas. In the district of this ministry the religious of St. John of God possess a fine ranch stocked with cattle and horses, which is the most that they have for the support of their convent and hospital at Manila, where they aid the sick poor with their usual charity. The convent of Angat has no vote in the chapter-meetings, and therefore is counted in the number of the vicariates of this province.Although the citizens of Manila are not easy to please, no matter how good their governors are, it appears that in the time of which we write they had much reason to be discontented with the government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado; for not only did he devote himself excessively to his own personal interests, to the detriment of the commonwealth, but he was of a harsh and unpleasant nature, and gave sharp answers. Besides this he spoke in a treble voice, and people heard him with difficulty. He kept every one angered at his harsh behavior, and disgusted by his being engrossed with, the pursuit of gain. This was recognized in the lading of the galleons, which is the net of the merchants; and in this year [of 1680] the galleon “San Antonio” was in danger of not making the voyage, on account of its being so overloaded by his henchman Don Juan Gallardo, the castellan of Cavite—not only with his own goods, but with those of his master the governor—that its commander, Don Tomás de Endaya, was compelled to unload the vessel and return to ladeit anew, accommodating the entire cargo to the vessel’s capacity. On account of these and other well-known animosities against the governor and his retainers, the citizens this year determined to inform his Majesty against him; and they did so, the auditors and the city uniting for this purpose and making charges against him. They sent letters, with great caution, in this galleon; and these papers caused his removal in the year 1684.About October of this year the governor sent to Macán General Antonio Nieto, in order to settle some disputes relative to commerce; he accomplished this with much discretion, his excellent procedure reflecting credit on the Castilian nation. He also, with great charity, relieved many cases of necessity, which in the said city are very numerous; but this was done without injuring one iota of the Portuguese tenacity and pride, in which that people exceed all others in Europa.

Chapter VAll the triennial during which our father Fray José Duque ruled was a very prosperous time for this province, on account of the great improvement which was accomplished by his assiduity in reforming it, with both zeal and discretion; for he was as respected as beloved by all. The religious greatly regretted that the end of his term of office was approaching, and to see themselves deprived of soexcellent a prelate, who had so built up the edifice of strict observance of our rules, and had much better regulated the administration of the mission villages and ministries in our charge—his excellent management making up for the great deficiency of laborers which existed, which made it necessary, in many respects, to burden each minister with the work of two. Not his least care was that he had found the common property of not only the province but the convent of Manila greatly diminished, and everything reduced to the utmost necessity of restoration; for this is usually the greatest hindrance and impediment to the superiors in promoting with energy the regular observance, which requires many means for its preservation. But all was supplied by the diligence of that discreet prelate, making easier the removal of the most serious hindrances.The time came for holding the provincial chapter, which assembled on May 8 in the year 1677, and, according to custom, in the convent of Manila. It was presided over—by commission of our very reverend father general, Master Fray Nicolás de Oliva, of Sienna—by the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio; and the election for provincial fell, by the general consent of all the voting fathers, and with the approval of all who were outside of the order, on our father Fray Juan de Jeréz, a religious excelling in virtue. He was a native of Baños in Extremadura, bishopric of Plasencia—a place belonging to the Duke de Béjar and the Marqués de Montemayor—and was a son of the convent of Valladolid and fifty years of age. He had been for many years master of novices in the convents of Salamanca and Burgos, which is a sufficient proofof his religious devotion and virtue. He left España for these islands in the year 1669, and had been a minister in Pampanga; and in this chapter he cast his first vote as visitor of the province.29As definitors were elected the fathers Fray Pedro de Mesa, Fray Juan Labao, Fray Francisco de Albear, and Fray Pedro Canales; and as visitors the fathers Fray Domingo de San Miguel and Fray Juan Guedeja. They enacted statutes very useful for the government of the province, and for the stricter observance of our religious estate, many of which were reproduced in various following chapters, having been found by experience to be well-chosen and advantageous.The acting governor despatched the galleon “San Telmo” for Nueva España, in charge of General Don Tomás de Endaya, a regidor of the city of Manila; and it encountered so many storms before doubling the point of Santiago that fears were entertained that it would not have time to make the voyage before the vendavals. But the bravery of the commander and of his pilot, Leandro Cuello, over-came great difficulties, and they succeeded in reaching their destination.The galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed for Nueva España the year before, had also experienced storms, from the time when it reached the Embocadero of San Bernardino. For this reason Sargento-mayor Alfonso Fernández Pacheco came to Manila, bringing the despatches from his Majesty and information of the ship’s arrival on the thirtieth ofAugust. This galleon brought the news that Don Carlos II had begun, at the age of fifteen years, to rule the monarchy of España in person, freed from the guardianship of the queen-mother, Doña Mariana of Austria; and commands were issued that his royal name and seal be used in the despatches, and that royal fiestas proper to so important an event be celebrated—which took place afterward, in the month of December, as we shall soon relate.[At this time] came the despatches for the presentation made by his Majesty for the archbishopric of Manila, of the person of the very reverend father master Fray Felipe Pardo, of the Order of Preachers; he accepted this dignity, and began to govern his church, the ecclesiastical cabildo yielding up the government to him. This appointment found him at the time engaged in the duties of commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; his place therein was taken by father Fray Juan de los Angeles, a man who was worthy of such a name on account of his virtue and mild disposition. Also came the presentation of the reverend father Fray Andrés González for bishop of Nueva Cáceres or Camarines; he also accepted, and was consecrated, and ruled that church creditably, as he was a devoted religious, and very charitable; and he left behind him, when he died, a great reputation for sanctity.On September 27, the acting governor, Auditor Don Francisco Coloma y Maceda, died at the age of sixty years, from an intestinal hemorrhage; he was an official of much integrity and uprightness, and was buried in the convent of Santo Domingo with his wife, Doña María de Cuellar. The government was assumed by Auditor Don Francisco de Mansilla,a native of Ceniceros in Rioja, who was no less upright than his predecessor. His term of office was short, because a proprietary governor came in the following year; but even in the short time while his rule lasted he showed that he deserved that it should continue during his life, on account of the very peaceable and equitable manner in which he exercised his office. The first thing which he did was to look for all those who had been opposed to him in the year 1668, when he was exiled to Iloylo by Don Juan Manuel Bonifaz; and he honored all of them, more than some deserved, displaying a generous spirit, and that of a Christian ruler, which aroused the admiration of those who saw his prudence and moderation. These islands were much grieved that he must so soon have a successor, for the people loved and reverenced him. He was of corpulent figure and venerable aspect; and his hair (which was scanty) and his mustache (which was large) were white as snow—all which conciliated respect. Two years afterward, promotion came to him, the post of alcalde for criminal cases in [the Audiencia of] Méjico; but he died at the height of the voyage.30He had two sons: Don Felipe Mansilla, a knight of the Order of Santiago, who lives in Méjico; and Father Antonio Mansilla, of the Society of Jesus, in these islands.The city and municipality of Manila having determined to celebrate the festivities due to the great rejoicing which was caused in the Spanish domains by the assumption of sovereignty over them by theirking Don Carlos II, decided that these should be actually held in December, from the fourth to the seventh day of that month. This was done with great pomp and brilliancy. In the morning three sermons were preached: one by the dean of the cathedral, Master Don Miguel Ortíz de Covarrubias; another by father Fray Álvaro de Benavente of the order of our father St. Augustine (the secretary of our province, and often named in this history; he died in China, as bishop of Ascalon and vicar apostolic of Kiengsi); and the third by the reverend Father Jerónimo de Ortega, of the Society of Jesus. For the afternoons there were various bull-fights and comedies. On the last day, December 7, after the bull-fights and comedies, there were demonstrations of rejoicing; and for a climax to the festivities there was, at six o’clock in the afternoon, a beautiful and splendid masquerade, with magnificent costumes, and parades of servants in costly liveries. The most distinguished citizens of Manila went therein, two by two, representing the realms of the monarchy of España, with shields and mottoes proper for each kingdom; those who came last were the two alcaldes-in-ordinary of Manila, General Francisco Rayo Doria and Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya, representing the kingdoms of Castilla and León. They rode in pairs on handsomely-caparisoned horses, to the destination which was prepared for this purpose with palisades, and with so much splendor from wax tapers that the night had no cause to envy the brighter day. With this brilliant and elegant masquerade these royal festivities came to an end, the city remaining in the quiet and silence proper to that hour, which was about seven at night.Quite ignorant were all those who had celebrated and enjoyed this gay festival of the sad and melancholy catastrophe which was to follow on this so joyous scene; all were forgetful of the uncertainty of the pleasures of this world, which suddenly shifts its scenes, passing from gayety to mourning. Hardly had the people time to shelter themselves in their houses—some fatigued with the exercises of the masquerade, and others sad that the royal festivities had come to an end—when at half-past seven in the evening the earth began to tremble with horrible vibrations, changing their recent gayety into fear, horror, and lamentable perplexity. This first earthquake lasted a long time, so that it was feared that the last and fatal day for the sad city of Manila had arrived. The continuous and unequal vibrations of the ground; the frightful cracking of timbers; the [falling of] tiles from the roofs, and of stones which, loosened from the walls, came to the ground, raising great clouds of dust: all these made a most gloomy night, the image of death. Some hastened to seek confessors, and not finding them soon, published aloud their own sins. This first motion of the earth ceased, which people affirm to have been more violent than that of August 20, 1658, but it did not last so long; if it had been equal in duration to that one, it would have caused a large amount of havoc in the city of Manila.It was worth much to the city that the earthquake found it greatly improved over former times in regard to the height of its buildings; for now they were reduced to more humble stature, and without the projections which would cause its greatest destruction, as has been experienced in previous earthquakes. The use of thehariguesor wooden pillarson which the heavy timber-work of the roofs leans and rests was recognized to be a sure protection and defense from such disasters; and therefore, although the earthquake demolished many buildings, breaking open the solid mass of masonry, they did not suffer entire ruin by being thrown down to the ground. Some few were destroyed through being old and in bad condition; but only one or two persons perished, and they of little account in the world. The kind-hearted governor went out with many followers to visit the [military] posts of the city, and aid, if he could, those who were in need; and the same was done by the alcaldes-in-ordinary and the regidors, accompanied by many citizens. The religious orders were well occupied in the ministries of their profession—some preaching from tables placed in the streets, others hastening to hear the confessions of those who asked for this sacrament, that is, of all. While all these were occupied in exercises so holy and pious, the trembling of the earth was again repeated many times; but, through the divine kindness, these vibrations were much slighter, continually diminishing—so that it seemed as if the divine anger were gradually being appeased, just as men were continually showing themselves more penitent. All that night until daybreak the earthquake shocks continued; for there were so many of them that one man counted forty, although to me it seemed as if there were many more. Many came out [from this calamity] crippled and lame; but all recognized that it was a miracle that the city had not been utterly destroyed with so repeated shocks. Later, it was ascertained that some chasms and air-vents in the earth had opened, and which issurely the cause of these disturbances. One chasm opened in the bounds of the village of Bauang, in the province of Balayán; and another in the mountains of Gapang, in Pampanga. Those who arrived here after navigating the seas of these islands recounted the horrible perils in which they had found themselves, tossed by great billows and almost submerged in the swell which was caused in the sea by the earthquake; the sea even rose until, in many places, it swept over the land, occasioning great damage. With this slight mention I will close the sad account of the melancholy termination of these royal festivities.The master-of-camp of these islands died, Don Agustín de Cepeda y Carracedo; he was a native of Talavera de la Reina, a relative of the glorious saint Teresa de Jesús, and more than eighty years of age. He was one of the most valiant soldiers who has belonged to these regions, and with that reputation he has been mentioned in this history in the greatest military exploits of his time, and in the government of Zamboanga and Ternate; and, what is his greatest glory, he was an excellent Christian, devout and charitable, and died with strong indications that he had been very earnestly such. For acting master-of-camp the governor appointed General Alonso López, a soldier of long standing, and also very aged; and therefore he did not long serve in that office.Governor Don Francisco de Mansilla despatched the galleon for Nueva España, appointing as its commander his son, Don Felipe de Mansilla y Prado, a young man of much courage and ability, who at the time was serving in the post of sargento-mayorof the Manila army, which is the second, in the esteem of military men, after that of master-of-camp. As sargento-mayor of the galleon he appointed Juan Ventura Sarra (the Catalan so famous for his successful surgical operations), on account of his being a man of much valor, and experienced in military service in Flandes and Cataluña. This galleon made a very prosperous voyage, both going and returning, as we shall see in the following chapter.About the end of July in this year of 1678 came news that the galleon “San Telmo” had sighted these islands; it was under the command of General Don Tomás de Endaya, and had sailed for the port of Acapulco in the preceding year. It brought the proprietary governor, Master-of-camp Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado, a knight of the Order of Santiago; he was a native of Toledo, and nephew of the venerable mother Jerónima de la Asunción, foundress of the convent of Santa Clara in Manila—whose admirable life has been written by the father reader Fray Antonio de Leytona,31of the Observantine Order of St. Francis; and the investigations preliminary to her beatification have been begun. This knight had served many years in Flandes, Cataluña, and Extremadura, always with great commendation for his valor, which was as great as his nobility. He came with his wife, Doña Isabel de Ardila, a native of Badajoz; and brought in his company her uncle, a captain of cuirassiers, Don Francisco Guerrero y Ardila—a man of lofty stature, who, like anotherSaul, surpassed by the head and shoulders the tallest man in the Manila garrison—who showed that he possessed great valor. The new governor brought with him a numerous and brilliant retinue, and those who afterward attained most note were: his secretary, Miguel Sánchez Villanueva y Tejada, a man of great virtue, who came with his wife and three children, and afterward, having lost his wife, was ordained as a priest, and lived a long time an example for ecclesiastics, as before he had been one for laymen; Captains Don Juan Gallardo, Don Pedro Oriosolo, Don Jacinto Lobán, Don Tomás Martínez de Trillanes, Don Diego Vivien, Don Felipe Ceballos, Don José Armijo, Don Francisco Fabra, Don Antonio de Tabora, Don Juan Castel, Don Juan de Tricaldir, Don Manuel Alvarado; and others, all of whom served long in these islands. As fiscal for his Majesty came Licentiate Don Diego de Viga, a native of Bejar; he was afterward an auditor for many years, and was a very upright and disinterested official. The governor also brought some reenforcements of troops. The appointment of commandant of the castle of Santiago came to General Fernando de Bobadilla, who afterward was master-of-camp.On the day of our Lady’s nativity Don Juan de Vargas entered Manila, being received with great festivities; there were two ingenious triumphal arches, which were erected by the religious orders of our father St. Augustine and the Society, because both had their houses on the principal street through which the procession would pass. Don Juan began to govern with much prudence and desire to do well; he was very punctual in fulfilling his duties, andnever failed in his daily attendance on the sessions of the Audiencia (in which some governors had displayed much negligence); and therefore in his time the court business was despatched more promptly, for he found many suits unsettled and delayed. This is an insuperable difficulty in these islands, where the lawsuits are eternal and constitute a perpetual source of income for court reporters, secretaries, and commissioners32—who, with the slow steps of judicial procedure, are continually plundering the litigants, until, impoverished or exhausted, they give up the suit, which is incorporated into a great mass of documents, which they call “Proceedings in lawsuits” [autos] in the archives of the court. Don Juan de Vargas was more fit for a soldier than for a governor; and gradually he looked with distaste on the duties of so arduous a post, and turned his attention to the means for securing his own advantage. The uncle of his wife, Don Francisco Guerrero de Ardila, became so much the master of Don Juan that, by his craftiness and great ability, he came to be the arbiter of the government. Accordingly, it was he who was governor, and he was the drayman who guided Don Juan de Vargas, while the latter, like a wagon, was carrying the weight of the government. Yet later Don Francisco Guerrero left him alone, and went to Nueva España, at so important a juncture that he met in the Embocadero the succeeding governor, Don Gabriel Crucelaegui, and Don Juan de Vargas in the residencia was laden with his own transgressions and those of others, as we shallsee in due time. He had a great advantage for thus making himself arbiter of everything, in having more affability and more shrewdness than the governor, who was naturally harsh and unamiable and easily fretted. Accordingly, every one set on foot his claims with more confidence by the hand of the uncle, who, as all knew, was the fly-wheel for the movements of the government; and thus in a short time he secured following and applause, [although] without the formal marks of respect which belong to the dignity of a ruler; and he came to direct the entire government, with authority and without opposition. The authority of Don Francisco Guerrero was greatly increased because the governor had made him master-of-camp, because of the death of Alonso López, who died within a short time [after his appointment], at an advanced age; this increased Don Francisco’s authority, and strengthened his influence over the governor. The servants [of the governor] made more effort to secure their own advantage than that of their master, and therefore Don Juan de Vargas found himself alone in everything that was not to the profit of the uncle and his familiars. He appointed as castellan and governor of Cavite Don Juan Gallardo; this is the most influential and profitable position that the governors of Filipinas have at their disposal—although at the present time his Majesty fills this office from Madrid; and in this way it was held more than twenty-eight years by Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Atienza y Bañes, who died while holding the post of master-of-camp, in the year 1718. Another servant, Don Francisco Fabra, he appointed chief guard of the Parián, an office which affords greatopportunities and facilities for securing the best goods; and thus in this occupation he was, so to speak, the governor’s agent, for which employ he had much ability.Don Juan de Vargas, during his entire term of office, maintained trade and commerce with foreign nations, as those of the Coromandel coast, Bengal, and Surrate—which is the greatest emporium of Eastern India and of all the kingdoms subject to the emperor the Great Mogor [i.e., Mogul], a monarch more powerful than the Great Turk, and without doubt more wealthy. From this emporium of Surrate almost every year come one or two ships of great burden, like those that are called “ships of the line,” laden with many and varied wares of Eastern India. Within the last few years these traders are Mahometans, although before they were heathens; this is because they were obliged to accept the cursed doctrine of Mahoma by the former Great Mogor, Payxa Ali Ramasticán—who, trained up in his early years (when he was a fugitive from his family) by the house of Meca, was the cause of the total perdition of so many souls; for it is easier to convert to our holy faith a thousand heathens than one Mahometan. Trade and commerce were also very freely carried on with the Portuguese of Macán, and through their agency in Nueva Batavia in the island of Jacatra, the capital of the rich factories which the Dutch possess throughout India—where of the former Portuguese dominion only their language is left, since with that they trade and traffic; for they have been deprived of the fortified posts, which promised some advantage and profit, leaving to them only Goa (for the intermentof Portuguese), and some posts to the north, such as Chaud, Dama, Diu, and Bassain. Only one who has seen it, as I have, can describe the great extent of every kind of trade which Manila enjoyed in the time of Don Juan de Vargas de Hurtado; and in that time, therefore, great fortunes were accumulated, and the city was adorned with magnificent edifices—the old ones being rebuilt, and new ones being erected, thus repairing the late havoc and destruction.

All the triennial during which our father Fray José Duque ruled was a very prosperous time for this province, on account of the great improvement which was accomplished by his assiduity in reforming it, with both zeal and discretion; for he was as respected as beloved by all. The religious greatly regretted that the end of his term of office was approaching, and to see themselves deprived of soexcellent a prelate, who had so built up the edifice of strict observance of our rules, and had much better regulated the administration of the mission villages and ministries in our charge—his excellent management making up for the great deficiency of laborers which existed, which made it necessary, in many respects, to burden each minister with the work of two. Not his least care was that he had found the common property of not only the province but the convent of Manila greatly diminished, and everything reduced to the utmost necessity of restoration; for this is usually the greatest hindrance and impediment to the superiors in promoting with energy the regular observance, which requires many means for its preservation. But all was supplied by the diligence of that discreet prelate, making easier the removal of the most serious hindrances.

The time came for holding the provincial chapter, which assembled on May 8 in the year 1677, and, according to custom, in the convent of Manila. It was presided over—by commission of our very reverend father general, Master Fray Nicolás de Oliva, of Sienna—by the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio; and the election for provincial fell, by the general consent of all the voting fathers, and with the approval of all who were outside of the order, on our father Fray Juan de Jeréz, a religious excelling in virtue. He was a native of Baños in Extremadura, bishopric of Plasencia—a place belonging to the Duke de Béjar and the Marqués de Montemayor—and was a son of the convent of Valladolid and fifty years of age. He had been for many years master of novices in the convents of Salamanca and Burgos, which is a sufficient proofof his religious devotion and virtue. He left España for these islands in the year 1669, and had been a minister in Pampanga; and in this chapter he cast his first vote as visitor of the province.29As definitors were elected the fathers Fray Pedro de Mesa, Fray Juan Labao, Fray Francisco de Albear, and Fray Pedro Canales; and as visitors the fathers Fray Domingo de San Miguel and Fray Juan Guedeja. They enacted statutes very useful for the government of the province, and for the stricter observance of our religious estate, many of which were reproduced in various following chapters, having been found by experience to be well-chosen and advantageous.

The acting governor despatched the galleon “San Telmo” for Nueva España, in charge of General Don Tomás de Endaya, a regidor of the city of Manila; and it encountered so many storms before doubling the point of Santiago that fears were entertained that it would not have time to make the voyage before the vendavals. But the bravery of the commander and of his pilot, Leandro Cuello, over-came great difficulties, and they succeeded in reaching their destination.

The galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed for Nueva España the year before, had also experienced storms, from the time when it reached the Embocadero of San Bernardino. For this reason Sargento-mayor Alfonso Fernández Pacheco came to Manila, bringing the despatches from his Majesty and information of the ship’s arrival on the thirtieth ofAugust. This galleon brought the news that Don Carlos II had begun, at the age of fifteen years, to rule the monarchy of España in person, freed from the guardianship of the queen-mother, Doña Mariana of Austria; and commands were issued that his royal name and seal be used in the despatches, and that royal fiestas proper to so important an event be celebrated—which took place afterward, in the month of December, as we shall soon relate.

[At this time] came the despatches for the presentation made by his Majesty for the archbishopric of Manila, of the person of the very reverend father master Fray Felipe Pardo, of the Order of Preachers; he accepted this dignity, and began to govern his church, the ecclesiastical cabildo yielding up the government to him. This appointment found him at the time engaged in the duties of commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; his place therein was taken by father Fray Juan de los Angeles, a man who was worthy of such a name on account of his virtue and mild disposition. Also came the presentation of the reverend father Fray Andrés González for bishop of Nueva Cáceres or Camarines; he also accepted, and was consecrated, and ruled that church creditably, as he was a devoted religious, and very charitable; and he left behind him, when he died, a great reputation for sanctity.

On September 27, the acting governor, Auditor Don Francisco Coloma y Maceda, died at the age of sixty years, from an intestinal hemorrhage; he was an official of much integrity and uprightness, and was buried in the convent of Santo Domingo with his wife, Doña María de Cuellar. The government was assumed by Auditor Don Francisco de Mansilla,a native of Ceniceros in Rioja, who was no less upright than his predecessor. His term of office was short, because a proprietary governor came in the following year; but even in the short time while his rule lasted he showed that he deserved that it should continue during his life, on account of the very peaceable and equitable manner in which he exercised his office. The first thing which he did was to look for all those who had been opposed to him in the year 1668, when he was exiled to Iloylo by Don Juan Manuel Bonifaz; and he honored all of them, more than some deserved, displaying a generous spirit, and that of a Christian ruler, which aroused the admiration of those who saw his prudence and moderation. These islands were much grieved that he must so soon have a successor, for the people loved and reverenced him. He was of corpulent figure and venerable aspect; and his hair (which was scanty) and his mustache (which was large) were white as snow—all which conciliated respect. Two years afterward, promotion came to him, the post of alcalde for criminal cases in [the Audiencia of] Méjico; but he died at the height of the voyage.30He had two sons: Don Felipe Mansilla, a knight of the Order of Santiago, who lives in Méjico; and Father Antonio Mansilla, of the Society of Jesus, in these islands.

The city and municipality of Manila having determined to celebrate the festivities due to the great rejoicing which was caused in the Spanish domains by the assumption of sovereignty over them by theirking Don Carlos II, decided that these should be actually held in December, from the fourth to the seventh day of that month. This was done with great pomp and brilliancy. In the morning three sermons were preached: one by the dean of the cathedral, Master Don Miguel Ortíz de Covarrubias; another by father Fray Álvaro de Benavente of the order of our father St. Augustine (the secretary of our province, and often named in this history; he died in China, as bishop of Ascalon and vicar apostolic of Kiengsi); and the third by the reverend Father Jerónimo de Ortega, of the Society of Jesus. For the afternoons there were various bull-fights and comedies. On the last day, December 7, after the bull-fights and comedies, there were demonstrations of rejoicing; and for a climax to the festivities there was, at six o’clock in the afternoon, a beautiful and splendid masquerade, with magnificent costumes, and parades of servants in costly liveries. The most distinguished citizens of Manila went therein, two by two, representing the realms of the monarchy of España, with shields and mottoes proper for each kingdom; those who came last were the two alcaldes-in-ordinary of Manila, General Francisco Rayo Doria and Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya, representing the kingdoms of Castilla and León. They rode in pairs on handsomely-caparisoned horses, to the destination which was prepared for this purpose with palisades, and with so much splendor from wax tapers that the night had no cause to envy the brighter day. With this brilliant and elegant masquerade these royal festivities came to an end, the city remaining in the quiet and silence proper to that hour, which was about seven at night.

Quite ignorant were all those who had celebrated and enjoyed this gay festival of the sad and melancholy catastrophe which was to follow on this so joyous scene; all were forgetful of the uncertainty of the pleasures of this world, which suddenly shifts its scenes, passing from gayety to mourning. Hardly had the people time to shelter themselves in their houses—some fatigued with the exercises of the masquerade, and others sad that the royal festivities had come to an end—when at half-past seven in the evening the earth began to tremble with horrible vibrations, changing their recent gayety into fear, horror, and lamentable perplexity. This first earthquake lasted a long time, so that it was feared that the last and fatal day for the sad city of Manila had arrived. The continuous and unequal vibrations of the ground; the frightful cracking of timbers; the [falling of] tiles from the roofs, and of stones which, loosened from the walls, came to the ground, raising great clouds of dust: all these made a most gloomy night, the image of death. Some hastened to seek confessors, and not finding them soon, published aloud their own sins. This first motion of the earth ceased, which people affirm to have been more violent than that of August 20, 1658, but it did not last so long; if it had been equal in duration to that one, it would have caused a large amount of havoc in the city of Manila.

It was worth much to the city that the earthquake found it greatly improved over former times in regard to the height of its buildings; for now they were reduced to more humble stature, and without the projections which would cause its greatest destruction, as has been experienced in previous earthquakes. The use of thehariguesor wooden pillarson which the heavy timber-work of the roofs leans and rests was recognized to be a sure protection and defense from such disasters; and therefore, although the earthquake demolished many buildings, breaking open the solid mass of masonry, they did not suffer entire ruin by being thrown down to the ground. Some few were destroyed through being old and in bad condition; but only one or two persons perished, and they of little account in the world. The kind-hearted governor went out with many followers to visit the [military] posts of the city, and aid, if he could, those who were in need; and the same was done by the alcaldes-in-ordinary and the regidors, accompanied by many citizens. The religious orders were well occupied in the ministries of their profession—some preaching from tables placed in the streets, others hastening to hear the confessions of those who asked for this sacrament, that is, of all. While all these were occupied in exercises so holy and pious, the trembling of the earth was again repeated many times; but, through the divine kindness, these vibrations were much slighter, continually diminishing—so that it seemed as if the divine anger were gradually being appeased, just as men were continually showing themselves more penitent. All that night until daybreak the earthquake shocks continued; for there were so many of them that one man counted forty, although to me it seemed as if there were many more. Many came out [from this calamity] crippled and lame; but all recognized that it was a miracle that the city had not been utterly destroyed with so repeated shocks. Later, it was ascertained that some chasms and air-vents in the earth had opened, and which issurely the cause of these disturbances. One chasm opened in the bounds of the village of Bauang, in the province of Balayán; and another in the mountains of Gapang, in Pampanga. Those who arrived here after navigating the seas of these islands recounted the horrible perils in which they had found themselves, tossed by great billows and almost submerged in the swell which was caused in the sea by the earthquake; the sea even rose until, in many places, it swept over the land, occasioning great damage. With this slight mention I will close the sad account of the melancholy termination of these royal festivities.

The master-of-camp of these islands died, Don Agustín de Cepeda y Carracedo; he was a native of Talavera de la Reina, a relative of the glorious saint Teresa de Jesús, and more than eighty years of age. He was one of the most valiant soldiers who has belonged to these regions, and with that reputation he has been mentioned in this history in the greatest military exploits of his time, and in the government of Zamboanga and Ternate; and, what is his greatest glory, he was an excellent Christian, devout and charitable, and died with strong indications that he had been very earnestly such. For acting master-of-camp the governor appointed General Alonso López, a soldier of long standing, and also very aged; and therefore he did not long serve in that office.

Governor Don Francisco de Mansilla despatched the galleon for Nueva España, appointing as its commander his son, Don Felipe de Mansilla y Prado, a young man of much courage and ability, who at the time was serving in the post of sargento-mayorof the Manila army, which is the second, in the esteem of military men, after that of master-of-camp. As sargento-mayor of the galleon he appointed Juan Ventura Sarra (the Catalan so famous for his successful surgical operations), on account of his being a man of much valor, and experienced in military service in Flandes and Cataluña. This galleon made a very prosperous voyage, both going and returning, as we shall see in the following chapter.

About the end of July in this year of 1678 came news that the galleon “San Telmo” had sighted these islands; it was under the command of General Don Tomás de Endaya, and had sailed for the port of Acapulco in the preceding year. It brought the proprietary governor, Master-of-camp Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado, a knight of the Order of Santiago; he was a native of Toledo, and nephew of the venerable mother Jerónima de la Asunción, foundress of the convent of Santa Clara in Manila—whose admirable life has been written by the father reader Fray Antonio de Leytona,31of the Observantine Order of St. Francis; and the investigations preliminary to her beatification have been begun. This knight had served many years in Flandes, Cataluña, and Extremadura, always with great commendation for his valor, which was as great as his nobility. He came with his wife, Doña Isabel de Ardila, a native of Badajoz; and brought in his company her uncle, a captain of cuirassiers, Don Francisco Guerrero y Ardila—a man of lofty stature, who, like anotherSaul, surpassed by the head and shoulders the tallest man in the Manila garrison—who showed that he possessed great valor. The new governor brought with him a numerous and brilliant retinue, and those who afterward attained most note were: his secretary, Miguel Sánchez Villanueva y Tejada, a man of great virtue, who came with his wife and three children, and afterward, having lost his wife, was ordained as a priest, and lived a long time an example for ecclesiastics, as before he had been one for laymen; Captains Don Juan Gallardo, Don Pedro Oriosolo, Don Jacinto Lobán, Don Tomás Martínez de Trillanes, Don Diego Vivien, Don Felipe Ceballos, Don José Armijo, Don Francisco Fabra, Don Antonio de Tabora, Don Juan Castel, Don Juan de Tricaldir, Don Manuel Alvarado; and others, all of whom served long in these islands. As fiscal for his Majesty came Licentiate Don Diego de Viga, a native of Bejar; he was afterward an auditor for many years, and was a very upright and disinterested official. The governor also brought some reenforcements of troops. The appointment of commandant of the castle of Santiago came to General Fernando de Bobadilla, who afterward was master-of-camp.

On the day of our Lady’s nativity Don Juan de Vargas entered Manila, being received with great festivities; there were two ingenious triumphal arches, which were erected by the religious orders of our father St. Augustine and the Society, because both had their houses on the principal street through which the procession would pass. Don Juan began to govern with much prudence and desire to do well; he was very punctual in fulfilling his duties, andnever failed in his daily attendance on the sessions of the Audiencia (in which some governors had displayed much negligence); and therefore in his time the court business was despatched more promptly, for he found many suits unsettled and delayed. This is an insuperable difficulty in these islands, where the lawsuits are eternal and constitute a perpetual source of income for court reporters, secretaries, and commissioners32—who, with the slow steps of judicial procedure, are continually plundering the litigants, until, impoverished or exhausted, they give up the suit, which is incorporated into a great mass of documents, which they call “Proceedings in lawsuits” [autos] in the archives of the court. Don Juan de Vargas was more fit for a soldier than for a governor; and gradually he looked with distaste on the duties of so arduous a post, and turned his attention to the means for securing his own advantage. The uncle of his wife, Don Francisco Guerrero de Ardila, became so much the master of Don Juan that, by his craftiness and great ability, he came to be the arbiter of the government. Accordingly, it was he who was governor, and he was the drayman who guided Don Juan de Vargas, while the latter, like a wagon, was carrying the weight of the government. Yet later Don Francisco Guerrero left him alone, and went to Nueva España, at so important a juncture that he met in the Embocadero the succeeding governor, Don Gabriel Crucelaegui, and Don Juan de Vargas in the residencia was laden with his own transgressions and those of others, as we shallsee in due time. He had a great advantage for thus making himself arbiter of everything, in having more affability and more shrewdness than the governor, who was naturally harsh and unamiable and easily fretted. Accordingly, every one set on foot his claims with more confidence by the hand of the uncle, who, as all knew, was the fly-wheel for the movements of the government; and thus in a short time he secured following and applause, [although] without the formal marks of respect which belong to the dignity of a ruler; and he came to direct the entire government, with authority and without opposition. The authority of Don Francisco Guerrero was greatly increased because the governor had made him master-of-camp, because of the death of Alonso López, who died within a short time [after his appointment], at an advanced age; this increased Don Francisco’s authority, and strengthened his influence over the governor. The servants [of the governor] made more effort to secure their own advantage than that of their master, and therefore Don Juan de Vargas found himself alone in everything that was not to the profit of the uncle and his familiars. He appointed as castellan and governor of Cavite Don Juan Gallardo; this is the most influential and profitable position that the governors of Filipinas have at their disposal—although at the present time his Majesty fills this office from Madrid; and in this way it was held more than twenty-eight years by Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Atienza y Bañes, who died while holding the post of master-of-camp, in the year 1718. Another servant, Don Francisco Fabra, he appointed chief guard of the Parián, an office which affords greatopportunities and facilities for securing the best goods; and thus in this occupation he was, so to speak, the governor’s agent, for which employ he had much ability.

Don Juan de Vargas, during his entire term of office, maintained trade and commerce with foreign nations, as those of the Coromandel coast, Bengal, and Surrate—which is the greatest emporium of Eastern India and of all the kingdoms subject to the emperor the Great Mogor [i.e., Mogul], a monarch more powerful than the Great Turk, and without doubt more wealthy. From this emporium of Surrate almost every year come one or two ships of great burden, like those that are called “ships of the line,” laden with many and varied wares of Eastern India. Within the last few years these traders are Mahometans, although before they were heathens; this is because they were obliged to accept the cursed doctrine of Mahoma by the former Great Mogor, Payxa Ali Ramasticán—who, trained up in his early years (when he was a fugitive from his family) by the house of Meca, was the cause of the total perdition of so many souls; for it is easier to convert to our holy faith a thousand heathens than one Mahometan. Trade and commerce were also very freely carried on with the Portuguese of Macán, and through their agency in Nueva Batavia in the island of Jacatra, the capital of the rich factories which the Dutch possess throughout India—where of the former Portuguese dominion only their language is left, since with that they trade and traffic; for they have been deprived of the fortified posts, which promised some advantage and profit, leaving to them only Goa (for the intermentof Portuguese), and some posts to the north, such as Chaud, Dama, Diu, and Bassain. Only one who has seen it, as I have, can describe the great extent of every kind of trade which Manila enjoyed in the time of Don Juan de Vargas de Hurtado; and in that time, therefore, great fortunes were accumulated, and the city was adorned with magnificent edifices—the old ones being rebuilt, and new ones being erected, thus repairing the late havoc and destruction.

Chapter VI[This is occupied with an account of the attempt made by the Augustinian Fray Juan de Rivera to go to the forbidden mission-field of Japan; it proved unsuccessful, and he was obliged to return to Manila.]

[This is occupied with an account of the attempt made by the Augustinian Fray Juan de Rivera to go to the forbidden mission-field of Japan; it proved unsuccessful, and he was obliged to return to Manila.]

Chapter VIIOn the day of the apostle James news came to Manila [in 1679] of the safe arrival of the galleon “San Telmo” at these islands, and of its being outside of the Embocadero; this news was brought, with the royal mails, by Sargento-mayor Juan Ventura Sarra. In this galleon came two large and well-selected mission bands of religious; one was composed of thirty-one from our order, conducted by father Fray Juan de García, who had been sent for this purpose in the year 1674. The other mission was composed of religious belonging to the Society of Jesus, who were brought by Father Francisco Salgado,33a religious of great learning and virtue.This mission [of ours] arrived at the most opportune time that could be imagined, for our province found itself in extreme necessity, on account of the scarcity of religious; for in ten years it had not received even the smallest reenforcement with which to replace them in the extensive and numerous ministries in its charge. So great was this lack that our province was already taking measures to give up some of those ministries; but all the religious orders and the secular clergy were suffering from the same need as was our province, on account of not having a consecrated bishop who might confer the holy orders. The ship “San Telmo” could not enter the Embocadero of San Bernardino, for it was hindered by the vendavals; and therefore it made port, after many hardships, in Palapag, in the province of Leyte—a very safe harbor, but outside of the Embocadero, and more than a hundred and twenty leguas distant from Manila. The religious of the mission came hither through the provinces of Camarines and Laguna de Bay; the roads were bad, for it was the rainy season, but the hardships of their journey were alleviated by the charitable hospitality which was given to them by the religious of St. Francis—who, heirs of that saint’s seraphic love, vied with each other, on such occasions, in showing themselves true sons of so holy a father.They arrived at Manila, where they were received by the community as sons beloved by their affectionatemother, who was so eagerly expecting them; and on September 18—the day of the father of the poor, St. Thomas of Villanova—a private meeting of the definitors was held, and they were received by this province as her sons.In this private session father Fray Juan García declared under oath,in verbo sacerdotis, that, having kissed the feet of our most holy father Innocent XI on September 20, 1677, among other favors which his Holiness had granted him the latter had told him that by his apostolic authority he made good all the defects which might have occurred in the elections of this province, from its foundation until the said day. His Holiness granted him several jubilees for certain convents, and eleven thousand ordinary indulgences, in the new form which his Holiness has promulgated; and gave him two notable relics, a bone of St. Venturino the Martyr34—the first for the hospice at Méjico, and the other for the convent of San Pablo at Manila. Father Fray Juan García also obtained from his Holiness, on petition by this province, a bull in which he granted that all the procurators who may go to Rome and bring hither missions of religious shall enjoy the same exemptions which those possess who have been provincials (who are calledabsolutos); this was accepted [by the Council of Indias], and father Fray Juan García was the first who enjoyed this privilege, all his life. But he, as the devout religious that he was, wouldnot allow the religious to address him as “Our Father,” as is the custom with the provincials, both active and retired; and, retiring to the province of Ilocos, where he was minister, he devoted himself to leading an exemplary life, abandoning himself entirely to meditation, mortification, and prayer until his death, and leaving behind a noble example as a sincere religious.[The rest of this chapter is occupied with the coming (in the “San Telmo”) to Manila of Fernando de Valenzuela, the disgraced favorite of the queen-mother, and a sketch of his career in Spain. The last paragraph reads thus:] Don Juan de Vargas, learning of his arrival, and that he was already coming by land through the province of Camarines, sent to escort him General Don Francisco Enriquez de Losada and Captain Alfonso de Castillo; they conveyed him to the port of Cavite and the fortress of San Felipe. In that place a house was built for him, of timber, according to his taste and plan, with all possible conveniences; and there he lived—at the beginning, with much strictness, watched by sentinels, and receiving few visits; but afterward with more freedom, and visited by everyone, but always in the presence of Captain Juan de Herrera, the warden’s deputy. In this seclusion Don Fernando made use of his great mental ability, employing for his recreation the many talents which he possessed, especially in music and poetry; for in both these arts he had no equal in España. With the news which came by way of the coast of the death of Don Juan of Austria, the severities which, while he lived, had been employed toward Don Ferdinand were mitigated; and the prisoner enjoyed so muchdiversion and company that in these regions he could not have had more. Every month he was allowed a thousand pesos from the royal treasury, which was sufficient for his support and comforts, and for the expenses of the amusements which his cleverness and ingenuity devised for his recreation. I have taken more time than I should in this narration (which might pass for a mere ornament of my proper task), because this gentleman was much devoted to us—although he had received from us and from the Society of Jesus (to whom he acknowledged his obligations) much assistance in his seclusion and in certain difficulties which he had experienced. The rest of his fortunes I will relate in the proper place, when we reach the termination of the ten years of his retirement, his return to Nueva España, and finally his death. The author of the additions to Father Juan de Mariana’sHistorie general de España,35at the end of the second volume, speaks very sharply and indignantly of this gentleman, and as he might speak of a wicked highwayman or of a cruel Nero. He certainly was wrong, for Don Fernando de Valenzuela was very zealous in theservice of his king, and his power and influence in the government were very beneficial to the monarchy, as after his fall was recognized by all, even his greatest enemies. But flattery36must have mended the pen for him, so that in this matter he might show himself very prejudiced. Let the name of that writer be his apology, for it was Don So-and-so. [Fulano] Malo. The posthumous fame of Don Fernando de Valenzuela, however, will not be obscured by his errors.

On the day of the apostle James news came to Manila [in 1679] of the safe arrival of the galleon “San Telmo” at these islands, and of its being outside of the Embocadero; this news was brought, with the royal mails, by Sargento-mayor Juan Ventura Sarra. In this galleon came two large and well-selected mission bands of religious; one was composed of thirty-one from our order, conducted by father Fray Juan de García, who had been sent for this purpose in the year 1674. The other mission was composed of religious belonging to the Society of Jesus, who were brought by Father Francisco Salgado,33a religious of great learning and virtue.This mission [of ours] arrived at the most opportune time that could be imagined, for our province found itself in extreme necessity, on account of the scarcity of religious; for in ten years it had not received even the smallest reenforcement with which to replace them in the extensive and numerous ministries in its charge. So great was this lack that our province was already taking measures to give up some of those ministries; but all the religious orders and the secular clergy were suffering from the same need as was our province, on account of not having a consecrated bishop who might confer the holy orders. The ship “San Telmo” could not enter the Embocadero of San Bernardino, for it was hindered by the vendavals; and therefore it made port, after many hardships, in Palapag, in the province of Leyte—a very safe harbor, but outside of the Embocadero, and more than a hundred and twenty leguas distant from Manila. The religious of the mission came hither through the provinces of Camarines and Laguna de Bay; the roads were bad, for it was the rainy season, but the hardships of their journey were alleviated by the charitable hospitality which was given to them by the religious of St. Francis—who, heirs of that saint’s seraphic love, vied with each other, on such occasions, in showing themselves true sons of so holy a father.

They arrived at Manila, where they were received by the community as sons beloved by their affectionatemother, who was so eagerly expecting them; and on September 18—the day of the father of the poor, St. Thomas of Villanova—a private meeting of the definitors was held, and they were received by this province as her sons.

In this private session father Fray Juan García declared under oath,in verbo sacerdotis, that, having kissed the feet of our most holy father Innocent XI on September 20, 1677, among other favors which his Holiness had granted him the latter had told him that by his apostolic authority he made good all the defects which might have occurred in the elections of this province, from its foundation until the said day. His Holiness granted him several jubilees for certain convents, and eleven thousand ordinary indulgences, in the new form which his Holiness has promulgated; and gave him two notable relics, a bone of St. Venturino the Martyr34—the first for the hospice at Méjico, and the other for the convent of San Pablo at Manila. Father Fray Juan García also obtained from his Holiness, on petition by this province, a bull in which he granted that all the procurators who may go to Rome and bring hither missions of religious shall enjoy the same exemptions which those possess who have been provincials (who are calledabsolutos); this was accepted [by the Council of Indias], and father Fray Juan García was the first who enjoyed this privilege, all his life. But he, as the devout religious that he was, wouldnot allow the religious to address him as “Our Father,” as is the custom with the provincials, both active and retired; and, retiring to the province of Ilocos, where he was minister, he devoted himself to leading an exemplary life, abandoning himself entirely to meditation, mortification, and prayer until his death, and leaving behind a noble example as a sincere religious.

[The rest of this chapter is occupied with the coming (in the “San Telmo”) to Manila of Fernando de Valenzuela, the disgraced favorite of the queen-mother, and a sketch of his career in Spain. The last paragraph reads thus:] Don Juan de Vargas, learning of his arrival, and that he was already coming by land through the province of Camarines, sent to escort him General Don Francisco Enriquez de Losada and Captain Alfonso de Castillo; they conveyed him to the port of Cavite and the fortress of San Felipe. In that place a house was built for him, of timber, according to his taste and plan, with all possible conveniences; and there he lived—at the beginning, with much strictness, watched by sentinels, and receiving few visits; but afterward with more freedom, and visited by everyone, but always in the presence of Captain Juan de Herrera, the warden’s deputy. In this seclusion Don Fernando made use of his great mental ability, employing for his recreation the many talents which he possessed, especially in music and poetry; for in both these arts he had no equal in España. With the news which came by way of the coast of the death of Don Juan of Austria, the severities which, while he lived, had been employed toward Don Ferdinand were mitigated; and the prisoner enjoyed so muchdiversion and company that in these regions he could not have had more. Every month he was allowed a thousand pesos from the royal treasury, which was sufficient for his support and comforts, and for the expenses of the amusements which his cleverness and ingenuity devised for his recreation. I have taken more time than I should in this narration (which might pass for a mere ornament of my proper task), because this gentleman was much devoted to us—although he had received from us and from the Society of Jesus (to whom he acknowledged his obligations) much assistance in his seclusion and in certain difficulties which he had experienced. The rest of his fortunes I will relate in the proper place, when we reach the termination of the ten years of his retirement, his return to Nueva España, and finally his death. The author of the additions to Father Juan de Mariana’sHistorie general de España,35at the end of the second volume, speaks very sharply and indignantly of this gentleman, and as he might speak of a wicked highwayman or of a cruel Nero. He certainly was wrong, for Don Fernando de Valenzuela was very zealous in theservice of his king, and his power and influence in the government were very beneficial to the monarchy, as after his fall was recognized by all, even his greatest enemies. But flattery36must have mended the pen for him, so that in this matter he might show himself very prejudiced. Let the name of that writer be his apology, for it was Don So-and-so. [Fulano] Malo. The posthumous fame of Don Fernando de Valenzuela, however, will not be obscured by his errors.

Chapter VIIIThe government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado proceeded with prosperous results, on account of the favorable seasons and the great abundance of the crops which were experienced in the years 1679 and 1680; and through the success and extent of the commerce which was maintained with China and the Coromandel coast, Surrate, and other ports of Oriental India and the kingdoms of the Great Mogor—which formerly were more than fifteen in number, and furnished much income to the royal treasury with the customs duties [derecho de a nojarifazgo]. Not only from the Coromandel coast—on which the Manila trade had founded populous settlements, as Portonovo and Cololu—but from the city of Goa came ships almost every year, commerce little known [to Manila] before, and very remote. The governor devoted much attention to the sessions of the Audiencia and the obligations of his office, and thus the legal business which devolved upon that court was expedited, through the uprightnessand integrity of the auditors, Don Francisco Mansilla, Don Diego Calderón, and Don Diego de Viga; the last named filled the office of fiscal acceptably to all.Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’s Atlante Veneto (Venetia, 1696)Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’sAtlante Veneto(Venetia, 1696)[from original copy inBibliothèque Nationale, Paris]About this time there came to the general a solemn embassy from the principal ruler of Borney, whom those people revere as an emperor. This is the largest island of all Asia, and, according to the best cosmographers, has as great an area as all España and the kingdom of Portugal. It is thinly populated, as its surface is very mountainous; and therefore it is only on the shores of the sea and a few leguas inland that there are settlements of civilized people, if that name can be given to those barbarous nations. Borney has much wax, and in its seas are pearl-fisheries; it abounds in amber, camphor, and gold; and in its mountains are found large elephants, although smaller than those of Siám. Its inhabitants are partly Mahometans, partly heathens; but in color and disposition they resemble the natives of Filipinas, who say that they had their origin in these islands of Borney [and] the coast of Malayo. The ambassador was received with more ostentation than his person seemed to merit. Although he was corpulent and robust, he and all his retinue (which was not a small one) came barefooted and half-naked; he wore a broadbahaque, which tired him more than it covered him, and some wore a loose jacket, short and without a shirt (which is not known among these peoples); but all were well armed with lances and crises—which are swords as short as daggers, with which they are well able to defend themselves or attack, for usually they have these weapons dipped in poison. He made his entry [into the city] withgreat pomp, in the coach and with the halberdiers of the governor, and accompanied by the sargento-mayor of the garrison, Don José de Robles; and the governor received him under a canopy, as being he who represented the royal person. The ambassador’s credentials came in the Malayan language, written in Arabic characters; these were interpreted by the Borneans themselves, and by a Ternatan named Pedro Machado. The object of the embassy, they said, was to establish trade and commerce on both sides, and to adjust some disputes over the limits of the island of Paragua and in regard to some hostile acts which had been committed in the lands of Borney by Alcalde-mayor Don José de Somonte, in vengeance for the injuries which the Camucones had inflicted in our islands. Everything was settled to the satisfaction of both parties, and the ambassador returned well content and handsomely entertained, with a valuable present for his king in return for another (and very ordinary) one which he had brought. In the following year, the governor sent in turn an ambassador, General Don Juan de Morales Valenzuela, a man of gallant nature and tall stature, with a very goodly escort of Spaniards. He was very hospitably received by the king of Borney, in a large pavilion of bamboo and nipa, which was erected for this solemn function; and the king allowed himself to be seen by all his vassals, a favor which, they say, is very rare in that royalty. Don Juan de Morales returned very successful, the king ceding to the Spaniards dominion over all the island of Paragua, and making satisfaction for the ravages by the Camucones; and since then we have remained very good friends [with the Borneans].All the three years’ term of our father provincial Fray Juan de Jeréz was very peaceable, our order and the observance of our rules nourishing in this province, which continually increased in prosperity through the opportune measures which this judicious and devout prelate employed; for certainly he was one of the most observant superiors it had had, and it made great advancement in every way during the time of his government.At last the time for the chapter-session arrived, and when the voting fathers from the four provinces were assembling, with great peace and harmony, suddenly a storm arose, which they feared would occasion the destruction of peace within the order, and produce divisions and contentions very difficult to adjust; and from which might originate great losses to the religious and their ministries. The trouble was this: some of the religious who were born in Nueva España, and others born in these islands, where they had assumed the habit of our order, attempted to renew the old controversy over the alternate elections37—which arose in the year 1637, as we have related in book ii, chapter 26—incited to this by having found a copy of the first bull of Gregory XV, and the royal decree for its passage by the supreme Council of the Indias, attested by Don Diego Núñez Crespo, at that time court secretary of the royal Audiencia. With this slight foundation, without heeding that the matter had already been decided by apostolic authority—by the legate of his Holiness, that is, the archbishop ofManila who was then in office—according to the bull of his Holiness Urban VIII, issued “at Castel Gandolfo, diocese of Albano, May 18, 1634” (of which they probably were not aware), [they made this claim]. They had on their side many citizens of Manila, and employed as their leader Doctor Don José Cervantes Altamirano, a cleric in minor orders—who afterward was married, and at his death was alcalde-mayor of the Parián of the Sangleys, and chief clerk of the cabildo and municipality of Manila; he had a very keen mind, and with that he would, if he had been master and disciple of himself, have made a great jurisconsult.They appointed as judge-executor Master Jerónimo Fernández Caravallo, cura of the village of Quiapo, a priest of little ability and easily influenced. This man accepted the commission with much pleasure, believing that it would bring him honor and profit; and he therefore set up his tribunal, and appointed as his secretary Bachelor Martín Díaz, cura of the natives and Morenos in Manila. At once he sent this man to notify the provincial, Fray Juan de Jeréz, of the said bull of Gregory XV; but the provincial would not accept the notification, not recognizing Master Caravallo as a judge until he should establish his right as such before a competent tribunal, and because this proceeding found him unprepared, and with little knowledge of this controversy, because neither official documents nor information about it were found in the archives of the province. Investigations were made, and the original documents were found in the archiepiscopal tribunal; and an authentic transcript of these was found in a writing-desk which stood in the cell ofthe provincials, of which the key could not be found, and it served only as an ornament. In the said desk was also found the above-mentioned bull of Urban VIII, with which and the acts issued in the year 1657 the procurator-general (who was the writer of this history) presented himself before his Lordship Don Fray Felipe Pardo of the Order of Preachers, the archbishop-elect and ruler of this archbishopric, as being the legate appointed by his Holiness Urban VIII to render decision and sentence in this question. He looked at the bull and declared himself judge, and as such examined the documents, with the assistance of his counselor the father presentado Fray Raimundo Verart of the same order, a doctor in both branches of law from the university of Lérida. They found that this controversy was already authoritatively decided,38and with the lapse of forty-three years had become established as a matter of law; that there was not the least room for the claim made by the fathers of the Indias; and that the province possessed the same right as before of making its choice [of officers] freely, without respect of persons. Upon the litigant religious—who had taken refuge in, and by order of the royal Audiencia were committed to, the college of the Society of Jesus and the convent of San Francisco—was imposed perpetual silence; and with censures they were commanded to return to their convents, and to follow what obedience should direct to them. They did so, and there was no farther discussion of this matter; for in the following chapter-meeting attention was given to consoling them. Those whomade amends for all were the judge-executor, Master Jerónimo Caravallo, and Bachelor Martín Díaz, whom the archbishop punished with pecuniary fines for not having first appeared before him with their commission, and for having erected a tribunal without his permission. But intercession was made for them on the part of our province, and their fines were diminished. Information of the affair was given to our very reverend father general, Fray Domingo Valvasorio, of Milan, who commanded that the religious who had been the movers of this innovation (which might so greatly have disturbed the peace of this province) be punished; and again imposed silence regarding the claim to alternation; but the whole matter was adjusted, for at the end the order, like a mother, must regard them as her sons.The time for the chapter-session arrived, which was May 11, 1680, at the convent in Manila; its president, by commission from our father general already named, was our father Fray José Duque; and father Fray Diego de Jesús, prior of the convent of Pasig, was elected provincial, to the satisfaction of all, by the unanimous vote of all the fathers in the chapter. He was a zealous religious, very observant, and enamored of poverty; and had great learning, prudence, and discretion. He was fifty-eight years of age, a native of Pejar in Extremadura, and a son of the convent at Salamanca—where, and in that of San Felipe at Madrid, he had been for many years master of the novices. He came to this province in the year 1669, as has already been said, influenced [to come] at so great an age by scruples at having excused himself in the year 1660 from coming as commissary for the mission which reached thisprovince in the year of 1663, by the appointment given to him by our very reverend father general Master Fray Pablo Luquino, who was then visiting the provinces of España. The definitors appointed were fathers Fray Juan Ponce, Fray Carlos Bautista, Fray Pedro Martínez, and Fray Álvaro de Benavente. Father Fray José Camello and the father reader Fray Juan Martínez were present as visitors from the previous triennium; and for the present one were appointed father Fray Juan Guedeja and the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio. As procurator for going to España was appointed father Fray Manuel de la Cruz, a native of Toledo, and a son of the convent of Badaya; and they elected him definitor of this province for the next general chapter to be held, and agreed upon39the choice of a discreet for the said general chapter.40This choice was so judicious that to it is due the conservation and advancement of this province, for he fulfilled so carefully the obligation of his commission that he conducted to Nueva España threemission bands—the largest and most distinguished that this province has gained, for in all they contained over fifty religious—the first in the year 1684, the second in 1699 and 1700, and the third in 1712.41He himself remained in Mexico, where he died with the reputation of great virtue, at the age of seventy-four years, in 1712.It was decided in this chapter to ask our very reverend father general to extinguish the votes of the discreet of the convent at Manila, and those of the priors of the convents of Hagonoy and San Pablo de los Montes in the provinces of Tagalos, Mexico in Pampanga, Narvacán in Ilocos, and Dumarao in the province of Panay—on account of the usual scarcity of religious, and the deficiency which might be caused, by their absence while at the chapter, in Ilocos and Bisayas, provinces which are so remote. The other arrangements and ordinances which were made in this chapter publish its great zeal for promoting the regular observance, and the nourishing condition of that observance in this province.Governor Don Juan de Vargas despatched for Nueva España the galleon “San Antonio,” under command of General Don Francisco Enríquez de Losada, then accountant of the royal exchequer; and in this galleon went the father procurator Fray Manuel Losada, and in his company father Fray Miguel de Negrea—a son of the convent of SanFelipe, and native of that city [i.e., Madrid]; he was going back to his own province, and died on the voyage, in the high northern latitude. The voyage was a very distressing one, on account of the severe tempests which suddenly came upon them; and many of those on board died, not only seamen but passengers. A better voyage was that of the galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed the preceding year by the same route from Nueva España, in charge of General Antonio Nieto; for on the morning of the day of St. John the Baptist it entered the bay of Manila, to the great joy of those who were watching it, and anchored at the port of Cavite—a good fortune which seldom has been enjoyed in these islands since the banishment of Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, in the year 1635, as we have with sadness related. In this galleon came Don Fray Diego de Aguilar, of the Order of Preachers, a native of Rioseco, as consecrated bishop of Zebú; for several years he had been detained in Nueva España. He brought in his company father Fray Manuel de Olivares, of the same order, who afterward was provincial of the province of Méjico; his nephew, Captain Don Juan de Urías; and other Spaniards. His arrival occasioned great rejoicing, on account of these islands having remained so many years destitute of a consecrated bishop, and many clerics and regulars were waiting to receive holy orders.In this galleon arrived three religious belonging to the mission of father Fray Juan García; they were choristers, and had been left in Nueva España, to be ordained as priests, and their names are as follows: father Fray Francisco Castrillón, a native of Madrid, and son of the convent of San Felipe; hewas twenty-four years old, and had spent nine in the order. He was a minister in Tagalos until the year 1690, when he returned to Méjico, where he died soon afterward. Father Fray Dionisio Navarro, a native of Leganés, and a son of the same convent of San Felipe; he was twenty-four years old, and had spent seven in the order. He was a good preacher, and well versed in the dialects of the province of Tagalos. He went to España and returned hither, and died in the convent of Manila from a long and painful infirmity, on November 2, 1714. Father Fray Antonio Gutiérrez, a native of Medina Sidonia, and a son of the province of Andalucía. For only a short time he was a minister in Tagalos, because he soon fell ill with a contraction of the tendons [tullimiento], which lasted until his death; this occurred at Manila, in the year 1693.The arrival of this bishop of Zebú served as a great spiritual consolation for these islands; for he repeatedly performed pontifical functions, conferring holy orders on a great number of religious and clerics. He interceded with the governor, in order to reconcile with him those who had taken refuge in the churches through fear of some oppression from the absolute power of the governor—which can not be compared with any other power in the universe; and the worst is, that no means can be thought of for moderating and tempering it within the bounds of reason, because the distance of five thousand leguas which lies between the royal court of Madrid and Filipinas cannot be diminished. The swiftest post, therefore, requires three years, and most of them four; and if it happens that the galleon is obliged to put back to port, the mail is delayed to five or sixyears. At the end of so protracted a term as this, the most peremptory royal rescript is exposed to the danger of being withheld by the governor, according to his pleasure. The lord bishop with his intercession withdrew from asylum in the house of the Society of Jesus the secretary of Don Juan de Vargas, Captain Miguel Sánchez de Villanueva y Tejada, and restored him to favor with his master—although soon afterward the governor removed him from his service, making him alcalde-mayor of Laguna de Bay.About this time the convent of Angat in the mountains of the province of Bulacán was received, with the title of our mother St. Monica, and father Fray Juan de Morelos was appointed its prior. It was composed of the visitas of the convent of Quingua—Tabuquillo, Abarungco, Catalonan, Guinapusan, and Santa Lucía—which, on account of being very distant from Quingua, were administered with much difficulty; and therefore the ministry of Angat was founded, more than three leguas distant from [the convent of] Sandago at Quingua. It has ordinarily two hundred and fifty tributes, with a church and convent of wood. The district is very healthful and pleasant, because the land is fertilized by a river of the best water that is known in these islands; it is the river celebrated by the name of Quingua, the waters of which, compared with many others, have been found to weigh less. This mission is bounded on every side by very fertile meadows, on which abundant harvests of excellent tobacco are gathered; for this reason it is thickly settled with people who cultivate this plant, which is so esteemed throughout the world, and which now has made its way to thechief personages therein. This district has forests, although they are scattered, of heavy and valuable timber; for they are very dense, and so extensive that they join those of Balete and San Mateo, at a distance of more than eight leguas. In the district of this ministry the religious of St. John of God possess a fine ranch stocked with cattle and horses, which is the most that they have for the support of their convent and hospital at Manila, where they aid the sick poor with their usual charity. The convent of Angat has no vote in the chapter-meetings, and therefore is counted in the number of the vicariates of this province.Although the citizens of Manila are not easy to please, no matter how good their governors are, it appears that in the time of which we write they had much reason to be discontented with the government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado; for not only did he devote himself excessively to his own personal interests, to the detriment of the commonwealth, but he was of a harsh and unpleasant nature, and gave sharp answers. Besides this he spoke in a treble voice, and people heard him with difficulty. He kept every one angered at his harsh behavior, and disgusted by his being engrossed with, the pursuit of gain. This was recognized in the lading of the galleons, which is the net of the merchants; and in this year [of 1680] the galleon “San Antonio” was in danger of not making the voyage, on account of its being so overloaded by his henchman Don Juan Gallardo, the castellan of Cavite—not only with his own goods, but with those of his master the governor—that its commander, Don Tomás de Endaya, was compelled to unload the vessel and return to ladeit anew, accommodating the entire cargo to the vessel’s capacity. On account of these and other well-known animosities against the governor and his retainers, the citizens this year determined to inform his Majesty against him; and they did so, the auditors and the city uniting for this purpose and making charges against him. They sent letters, with great caution, in this galleon; and these papers caused his removal in the year 1684.About October of this year the governor sent to Macán General Antonio Nieto, in order to settle some disputes relative to commerce; he accomplished this with much discretion, his excellent procedure reflecting credit on the Castilian nation. He also, with great charity, relieved many cases of necessity, which in the said city are very numerous; but this was done without injuring one iota of the Portuguese tenacity and pride, in which that people exceed all others in Europa.

The government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado proceeded with prosperous results, on account of the favorable seasons and the great abundance of the crops which were experienced in the years 1679 and 1680; and through the success and extent of the commerce which was maintained with China and the Coromandel coast, Surrate, and other ports of Oriental India and the kingdoms of the Great Mogor—which formerly were more than fifteen in number, and furnished much income to the royal treasury with the customs duties [derecho de a nojarifazgo]. Not only from the Coromandel coast—on which the Manila trade had founded populous settlements, as Portonovo and Cololu—but from the city of Goa came ships almost every year, commerce little known [to Manila] before, and very remote. The governor devoted much attention to the sessions of the Audiencia and the obligations of his office, and thus the legal business which devolved upon that court was expedited, through the uprightnessand integrity of the auditors, Don Francisco Mansilla, Don Diego Calderón, and Don Diego de Viga; the last named filled the office of fiscal acceptably to all.

Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’s Atlante Veneto (Venetia, 1696)Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’sAtlante Veneto(Venetia, 1696)[from original copy inBibliothèque Nationale, Paris]

Map of Eastern Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Coronelli’sAtlante Veneto(Venetia, 1696)

[from original copy inBibliothèque Nationale, Paris]

About this time there came to the general a solemn embassy from the principal ruler of Borney, whom those people revere as an emperor. This is the largest island of all Asia, and, according to the best cosmographers, has as great an area as all España and the kingdom of Portugal. It is thinly populated, as its surface is very mountainous; and therefore it is only on the shores of the sea and a few leguas inland that there are settlements of civilized people, if that name can be given to those barbarous nations. Borney has much wax, and in its seas are pearl-fisheries; it abounds in amber, camphor, and gold; and in its mountains are found large elephants, although smaller than those of Siám. Its inhabitants are partly Mahometans, partly heathens; but in color and disposition they resemble the natives of Filipinas, who say that they had their origin in these islands of Borney [and] the coast of Malayo. The ambassador was received with more ostentation than his person seemed to merit. Although he was corpulent and robust, he and all his retinue (which was not a small one) came barefooted and half-naked; he wore a broadbahaque, which tired him more than it covered him, and some wore a loose jacket, short and without a shirt (which is not known among these peoples); but all were well armed with lances and crises—which are swords as short as daggers, with which they are well able to defend themselves or attack, for usually they have these weapons dipped in poison. He made his entry [into the city] withgreat pomp, in the coach and with the halberdiers of the governor, and accompanied by the sargento-mayor of the garrison, Don José de Robles; and the governor received him under a canopy, as being he who represented the royal person. The ambassador’s credentials came in the Malayan language, written in Arabic characters; these were interpreted by the Borneans themselves, and by a Ternatan named Pedro Machado. The object of the embassy, they said, was to establish trade and commerce on both sides, and to adjust some disputes over the limits of the island of Paragua and in regard to some hostile acts which had been committed in the lands of Borney by Alcalde-mayor Don José de Somonte, in vengeance for the injuries which the Camucones had inflicted in our islands. Everything was settled to the satisfaction of both parties, and the ambassador returned well content and handsomely entertained, with a valuable present for his king in return for another (and very ordinary) one which he had brought. In the following year, the governor sent in turn an ambassador, General Don Juan de Morales Valenzuela, a man of gallant nature and tall stature, with a very goodly escort of Spaniards. He was very hospitably received by the king of Borney, in a large pavilion of bamboo and nipa, which was erected for this solemn function; and the king allowed himself to be seen by all his vassals, a favor which, they say, is very rare in that royalty. Don Juan de Morales returned very successful, the king ceding to the Spaniards dominion over all the island of Paragua, and making satisfaction for the ravages by the Camucones; and since then we have remained very good friends [with the Borneans].

All the three years’ term of our father provincial Fray Juan de Jeréz was very peaceable, our order and the observance of our rules nourishing in this province, which continually increased in prosperity through the opportune measures which this judicious and devout prelate employed; for certainly he was one of the most observant superiors it had had, and it made great advancement in every way during the time of his government.

At last the time for the chapter-session arrived, and when the voting fathers from the four provinces were assembling, with great peace and harmony, suddenly a storm arose, which they feared would occasion the destruction of peace within the order, and produce divisions and contentions very difficult to adjust; and from which might originate great losses to the religious and their ministries. The trouble was this: some of the religious who were born in Nueva España, and others born in these islands, where they had assumed the habit of our order, attempted to renew the old controversy over the alternate elections37—which arose in the year 1637, as we have related in book ii, chapter 26—incited to this by having found a copy of the first bull of Gregory XV, and the royal decree for its passage by the supreme Council of the Indias, attested by Don Diego Núñez Crespo, at that time court secretary of the royal Audiencia. With this slight foundation, without heeding that the matter had already been decided by apostolic authority—by the legate of his Holiness, that is, the archbishop ofManila who was then in office—according to the bull of his Holiness Urban VIII, issued “at Castel Gandolfo, diocese of Albano, May 18, 1634” (of which they probably were not aware), [they made this claim]. They had on their side many citizens of Manila, and employed as their leader Doctor Don José Cervantes Altamirano, a cleric in minor orders—who afterward was married, and at his death was alcalde-mayor of the Parián of the Sangleys, and chief clerk of the cabildo and municipality of Manila; he had a very keen mind, and with that he would, if he had been master and disciple of himself, have made a great jurisconsult.

They appointed as judge-executor Master Jerónimo Fernández Caravallo, cura of the village of Quiapo, a priest of little ability and easily influenced. This man accepted the commission with much pleasure, believing that it would bring him honor and profit; and he therefore set up his tribunal, and appointed as his secretary Bachelor Martín Díaz, cura of the natives and Morenos in Manila. At once he sent this man to notify the provincial, Fray Juan de Jeréz, of the said bull of Gregory XV; but the provincial would not accept the notification, not recognizing Master Caravallo as a judge until he should establish his right as such before a competent tribunal, and because this proceeding found him unprepared, and with little knowledge of this controversy, because neither official documents nor information about it were found in the archives of the province. Investigations were made, and the original documents were found in the archiepiscopal tribunal; and an authentic transcript of these was found in a writing-desk which stood in the cell ofthe provincials, of which the key could not be found, and it served only as an ornament. In the said desk was also found the above-mentioned bull of Urban VIII, with which and the acts issued in the year 1657 the procurator-general (who was the writer of this history) presented himself before his Lordship Don Fray Felipe Pardo of the Order of Preachers, the archbishop-elect and ruler of this archbishopric, as being the legate appointed by his Holiness Urban VIII to render decision and sentence in this question. He looked at the bull and declared himself judge, and as such examined the documents, with the assistance of his counselor the father presentado Fray Raimundo Verart of the same order, a doctor in both branches of law from the university of Lérida. They found that this controversy was already authoritatively decided,38and with the lapse of forty-three years had become established as a matter of law; that there was not the least room for the claim made by the fathers of the Indias; and that the province possessed the same right as before of making its choice [of officers] freely, without respect of persons. Upon the litigant religious—who had taken refuge in, and by order of the royal Audiencia were committed to, the college of the Society of Jesus and the convent of San Francisco—was imposed perpetual silence; and with censures they were commanded to return to their convents, and to follow what obedience should direct to them. They did so, and there was no farther discussion of this matter; for in the following chapter-meeting attention was given to consoling them. Those whomade amends for all were the judge-executor, Master Jerónimo Caravallo, and Bachelor Martín Díaz, whom the archbishop punished with pecuniary fines for not having first appeared before him with their commission, and for having erected a tribunal without his permission. But intercession was made for them on the part of our province, and their fines were diminished. Information of the affair was given to our very reverend father general, Fray Domingo Valvasorio, of Milan, who commanded that the religious who had been the movers of this innovation (which might so greatly have disturbed the peace of this province) be punished; and again imposed silence regarding the claim to alternation; but the whole matter was adjusted, for at the end the order, like a mother, must regard them as her sons.

The time for the chapter-session arrived, which was May 11, 1680, at the convent in Manila; its president, by commission from our father general already named, was our father Fray José Duque; and father Fray Diego de Jesús, prior of the convent of Pasig, was elected provincial, to the satisfaction of all, by the unanimous vote of all the fathers in the chapter. He was a zealous religious, very observant, and enamored of poverty; and had great learning, prudence, and discretion. He was fifty-eight years of age, a native of Pejar in Extremadura, and a son of the convent at Salamanca—where, and in that of San Felipe at Madrid, he had been for many years master of the novices. He came to this province in the year 1669, as has already been said, influenced [to come] at so great an age by scruples at having excused himself in the year 1660 from coming as commissary for the mission which reached thisprovince in the year of 1663, by the appointment given to him by our very reverend father general Master Fray Pablo Luquino, who was then visiting the provinces of España. The definitors appointed were fathers Fray Juan Ponce, Fray Carlos Bautista, Fray Pedro Martínez, and Fray Álvaro de Benavente. Father Fray José Camello and the father reader Fray Juan Martínez were present as visitors from the previous triennium; and for the present one were appointed father Fray Juan Guedeja and the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio. As procurator for going to España was appointed father Fray Manuel de la Cruz, a native of Toledo, and a son of the convent of Badaya; and they elected him definitor of this province for the next general chapter to be held, and agreed upon39the choice of a discreet for the said general chapter.40This choice was so judicious that to it is due the conservation and advancement of this province, for he fulfilled so carefully the obligation of his commission that he conducted to Nueva España threemission bands—the largest and most distinguished that this province has gained, for in all they contained over fifty religious—the first in the year 1684, the second in 1699 and 1700, and the third in 1712.41He himself remained in Mexico, where he died with the reputation of great virtue, at the age of seventy-four years, in 1712.

It was decided in this chapter to ask our very reverend father general to extinguish the votes of the discreet of the convent at Manila, and those of the priors of the convents of Hagonoy and San Pablo de los Montes in the provinces of Tagalos, Mexico in Pampanga, Narvacán in Ilocos, and Dumarao in the province of Panay—on account of the usual scarcity of religious, and the deficiency which might be caused, by their absence while at the chapter, in Ilocos and Bisayas, provinces which are so remote. The other arrangements and ordinances which were made in this chapter publish its great zeal for promoting the regular observance, and the nourishing condition of that observance in this province.

Governor Don Juan de Vargas despatched for Nueva España the galleon “San Antonio,” under command of General Don Francisco Enríquez de Losada, then accountant of the royal exchequer; and in this galleon went the father procurator Fray Manuel Losada, and in his company father Fray Miguel de Negrea—a son of the convent of SanFelipe, and native of that city [i.e., Madrid]; he was going back to his own province, and died on the voyage, in the high northern latitude. The voyage was a very distressing one, on account of the severe tempests which suddenly came upon them; and many of those on board died, not only seamen but passengers. A better voyage was that of the galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed the preceding year by the same route from Nueva España, in charge of General Antonio Nieto; for on the morning of the day of St. John the Baptist it entered the bay of Manila, to the great joy of those who were watching it, and anchored at the port of Cavite—a good fortune which seldom has been enjoyed in these islands since the banishment of Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, in the year 1635, as we have with sadness related. In this galleon came Don Fray Diego de Aguilar, of the Order of Preachers, a native of Rioseco, as consecrated bishop of Zebú; for several years he had been detained in Nueva España. He brought in his company father Fray Manuel de Olivares, of the same order, who afterward was provincial of the province of Méjico; his nephew, Captain Don Juan de Urías; and other Spaniards. His arrival occasioned great rejoicing, on account of these islands having remained so many years destitute of a consecrated bishop, and many clerics and regulars were waiting to receive holy orders.

In this galleon arrived three religious belonging to the mission of father Fray Juan García; they were choristers, and had been left in Nueva España, to be ordained as priests, and their names are as follows: father Fray Francisco Castrillón, a native of Madrid, and son of the convent of San Felipe; hewas twenty-four years old, and had spent nine in the order. He was a minister in Tagalos until the year 1690, when he returned to Méjico, where he died soon afterward. Father Fray Dionisio Navarro, a native of Leganés, and a son of the same convent of San Felipe; he was twenty-four years old, and had spent seven in the order. He was a good preacher, and well versed in the dialects of the province of Tagalos. He went to España and returned hither, and died in the convent of Manila from a long and painful infirmity, on November 2, 1714. Father Fray Antonio Gutiérrez, a native of Medina Sidonia, and a son of the province of Andalucía. For only a short time he was a minister in Tagalos, because he soon fell ill with a contraction of the tendons [tullimiento], which lasted until his death; this occurred at Manila, in the year 1693.

The arrival of this bishop of Zebú served as a great spiritual consolation for these islands; for he repeatedly performed pontifical functions, conferring holy orders on a great number of religious and clerics. He interceded with the governor, in order to reconcile with him those who had taken refuge in the churches through fear of some oppression from the absolute power of the governor—which can not be compared with any other power in the universe; and the worst is, that no means can be thought of for moderating and tempering it within the bounds of reason, because the distance of five thousand leguas which lies between the royal court of Madrid and Filipinas cannot be diminished. The swiftest post, therefore, requires three years, and most of them four; and if it happens that the galleon is obliged to put back to port, the mail is delayed to five or sixyears. At the end of so protracted a term as this, the most peremptory royal rescript is exposed to the danger of being withheld by the governor, according to his pleasure. The lord bishop with his intercession withdrew from asylum in the house of the Society of Jesus the secretary of Don Juan de Vargas, Captain Miguel Sánchez de Villanueva y Tejada, and restored him to favor with his master—although soon afterward the governor removed him from his service, making him alcalde-mayor of Laguna de Bay.

About this time the convent of Angat in the mountains of the province of Bulacán was received, with the title of our mother St. Monica, and father Fray Juan de Morelos was appointed its prior. It was composed of the visitas of the convent of Quingua—Tabuquillo, Abarungco, Catalonan, Guinapusan, and Santa Lucía—which, on account of being very distant from Quingua, were administered with much difficulty; and therefore the ministry of Angat was founded, more than three leguas distant from [the convent of] Sandago at Quingua. It has ordinarily two hundred and fifty tributes, with a church and convent of wood. The district is very healthful and pleasant, because the land is fertilized by a river of the best water that is known in these islands; it is the river celebrated by the name of Quingua, the waters of which, compared with many others, have been found to weigh less. This mission is bounded on every side by very fertile meadows, on which abundant harvests of excellent tobacco are gathered; for this reason it is thickly settled with people who cultivate this plant, which is so esteemed throughout the world, and which now has made its way to thechief personages therein. This district has forests, although they are scattered, of heavy and valuable timber; for they are very dense, and so extensive that they join those of Balete and San Mateo, at a distance of more than eight leguas. In the district of this ministry the religious of St. John of God possess a fine ranch stocked with cattle and horses, which is the most that they have for the support of their convent and hospital at Manila, where they aid the sick poor with their usual charity. The convent of Angat has no vote in the chapter-meetings, and therefore is counted in the number of the vicariates of this province.

Although the citizens of Manila are not easy to please, no matter how good their governors are, it appears that in the time of which we write they had much reason to be discontented with the government of Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado; for not only did he devote himself excessively to his own personal interests, to the detriment of the commonwealth, but he was of a harsh and unpleasant nature, and gave sharp answers. Besides this he spoke in a treble voice, and people heard him with difficulty. He kept every one angered at his harsh behavior, and disgusted by his being engrossed with, the pursuit of gain. This was recognized in the lading of the galleons, which is the net of the merchants; and in this year [of 1680] the galleon “San Antonio” was in danger of not making the voyage, on account of its being so overloaded by his henchman Don Juan Gallardo, the castellan of Cavite—not only with his own goods, but with those of his master the governor—that its commander, Don Tomás de Endaya, was compelled to unload the vessel and return to ladeit anew, accommodating the entire cargo to the vessel’s capacity. On account of these and other well-known animosities against the governor and his retainers, the citizens this year determined to inform his Majesty against him; and they did so, the auditors and the city uniting for this purpose and making charges against him. They sent letters, with great caution, in this galleon; and these papers caused his removal in the year 1684.

About October of this year the governor sent to Macán General Antonio Nieto, in order to settle some disputes relative to commerce; he accomplished this with much discretion, his excellent procedure reflecting credit on the Castilian nation. He also, with great charity, relieved many cases of necessity, which in the said city are very numerous; but this was done without injuring one iota of the Portuguese tenacity and pride, in which that people exceed all others in Europa.

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