The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Volume 17 of 55. Unknown

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Volume 17 of 55

the work was not printed until 1681. It is the fifth edition (i.e., reprint) of this compilation from which we obtain the laws presented in this document; it was printed in Madrid in 1841.

2

See Vol. VIII, p. 253.

3

“The present state of affairs in that which relates to this titulo is that set forth by the decree of March 10, 1785, establishing the Company of Filipinas. In regard to this law and those following in this titulo, the reader should remember that a royal order of July 20, 1793, permitted the Company of Filipinas to trade directly between those islands and the ports of South America in one or two voyages, to the amount of five hundred thousand pesos apiece, on condition of paying the foreign duty and the 9½ per cent on the silver taken back. This permit, which was limited during the war with France, was, by a new royal order of September 24, 1796, made general for all succeeding wars, if carried on with maritime powers.” The above note is translated from the Recopilación, where it follows law 1. Space permitting, the decree of March 10, 1785, mentioned above, will be given in this series.

4

This law and all those treating of the prohibition of commerce between Perú and Méjico, Tierra-Firme, etc., were completely superseded by a royal decree dated El Pardo, January 20, 1774. That decree was ordered to be kept and observed by the superior government of Lima, August 1, of the same year; and separate copies were ordered to be drawn, so that all might know that his Majesty had repealed and revoked the general prohibition of reciprocal commerce by the South Sea between the four kingdoms of Perú, Nueva España, Nueva Reíno de Granada, and Guatemala.” We transfer this note from law ix, of this título of the Recopilación, an editorial note to law lxviii referring to law ix.

5

Such a citation as this shows the hand of the editors or compilers of the Recopilación. Law lxvii bears as its earlier date March 3, 1617, and refers to the sending of contraband Chinese goods to the House of Trade of the Indias in Sevilla.

6

The governors of the Filipinas grant permission to those who go to those islands under condemnation of crime to return. Inasmuch as on that account many convicts hide away from the judges who exiled them, we order the governors, under no circumstances, to permit them to return to Nueva España or to go to Perú during the period of their exile. And should they be condemned to the galleys or to other services, they shall fulfil the condemnation,—[Felipe III—Aranjuez, April 29, 1605. Felipe IV—Madrid, January 27, 1631. In Recopilación de leyes, lib. vii, tit. viii, ley xxi.]

7

The Recopilación is not clear as to the date of this law and the one immediately following. Law lix bears both dates (as also does law lx), and is designated as clause 11. Laws lxix and lxx bear no date (probably through error of the compiler or printer), but are designated as clauses 16 and 17, and clause 18, of a decree by Felipe III. Hence the above dates with queries have been assigned to these laws.

8

Luis Geronimo de Cabrera, fourth Conde de Chinchon, became viceroy of Peru in 1628, holding that office until 1639. During his term there was made known the efficacy of a medicine—previously in use among the Indians—the so-called “Jesuit’s bark,” or “Peruvian bark,” obtained from a tree found only in Peru and adjoining countries, named Chinchona by Linnæus, in honor of the viceroy’s wife (who, having been cured by this medicine, introduced its use into Spain). From this bark is obtained the drug known at quinine.

9

Whenever any ships sail from the port of Acapulco and other ports of Nueva España to make the voyage to Perú on the opportunities permitted, it is our will and we order our officials of those ports to visit and inspect those ships with complete faithfulness and the advisable rigor. They shall endeavor to ascertain whether such ships are carrying any Chinese silks or merchandise, or any from the Filipinas Islands. They shall seize such, and declare those found as smuggled goods. They shall divide them, and apply them as is contained in the laws of this titulo. [Felipe IV—Madrid, April 9, 1641. In Recopilación de leyes, lib. viii, tit. xvii, ley xv.]

10

See note to law lxviii, p. 33.

11

See Vol. XIV, note 12, p. 99.

12

Latin, Bacchanalia. In Latin countries, the three days before Ash Wednesday are given up to boisterous outdoor merriment, which frequently degenerates into coarse and licentious revelry. Hence, the expression “Bacchanalia” Carnival. In order to counteract these abuses, the Jesuits at Macerata in Italy, introduced, in 1556, some special devotions during the three days. The Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was held in the church, this custom was adopted by St. Charles Borromeo, in Milan; and it gradually extended to other places, and was developed subsequently into “The Devotion of the Forty Hours,” which is not confined to the Carnival season. This is the explanation of the term “Bacchanalia,” in connection with that church ceremony—Rev. E.I. Devitt, S.J.

13

Evidently referring to the capture of van Caerden’s fleet by Heredia (see note 26, post).

14

Flagellation in the Philippines was a custom probably taken from the early Spanish friars, but it has been so discouraged of late years by the church that it is performed only in the smaller villages of the interior and in the outlying barrios of the larger towns, more or less secretly, away from the sight of white men. Especially is it prevalent during Holy Week. Although the Philippine flagellants are called ”penitentes” the flagellation is not done in penance, but as the result of a vow or promise made to the diety in return for the occurrence of some wished-for event, and the ”penitentes” are frequently from the most knavish class. The fulfillment of the vow is a terrible ordeal, and begins back of the small chapel called ”visita” that exists in every village. The ”penitente” wears only a pair of loose thin white cotton trousers, and is beaten on the back by another native first with hands and then with a piece of wood with little metal points in it until the blood flows freely. Thus he walks from visita to visita, with covered face, beating himself with a cord, into the end of which is braided a bunch of sticks about the size of lead pencils. He prostrates himself in the dust and is beaten on the back and soles of his feet with a flail. At every stream he plunges into it, and grovels before every visita. From all the houses as he passes comes the chant of the Passion. (Lieut. Charles Norton Barney, who was an eye-witness of the flagellation—“Circumcision and flagellation among the Filipinos,” in the Journal of the Association of Military Surgeons, September, 1903.)

15

See Vol. IX, note 13. Roberto Bellarmino, born in 1542, entered the Jesuit order in 1560, becoming one of its most famous theological writers. He was long connected with the college at Rome, and later was successively provincial of Naples, a cardinal of the Roman church (from 1599), and archbishop of Capua (1602–05); he died at Rome, September 17, 1621, Perhaps the most widely known of his works is the Doctrina christiana (Rome, 1598); it passed through many editions, abridgments, and translations, having been rendered into more than fifty languages. See account of these in Sommervogel’s Bibliothèque de la Compagnie dé Jésus, art. “Bellarmino.” “He was the first Jesuit who had ever taken part in the election of a pope”—Cretineau-Joly’s Hist. Comp. de Jésus (Paris, 1859), iii, p. 106. This refers to the election of Paul V (1605).

16

In the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library) i, pp. 341–381, is a copy of a letter (dated June 11, 1611) from Father Armano to his provincial, Gregorio Lopez, detailing the achievements of Silva’s expedition to the Moluccas in 1611—on which occasion Silva restored to his throne Zayri, king of Ternate, who had been kept as a prisoner at Manila for five years. Rizal says in his edition of Morga, p. 247, note 1, that this king did not return to his island. He was probably taken back to Manila shortly after this restoration.

17

Pedro Solier was born about 1578; he entered the Augustinian order in 1593 at Salamanca, where he remained five years, and then joined the Philippine mission. In 1603 he

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