The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Volume 19 of 55. Unknown
reasons, sail from Manila during the time when the sun is still in the southern hemisphere, if he has to double the Cape.
The suitable time to sail from Manila to Terrenate is when the winds in those seas are blowing from the north (because Manila lies almost due north of Terrenate), namely, during November and December. The same season is suitable to sail to Malaca, as Manila lies almost due northeast of Malaca. For that voyage the brisas that set in in January are also favorable. The return trips from Maluco and Malaca to Manila are during the season of the winds from the south and the vendavals, which generally begin, the winds from the south by the middle of May on, and the vendavals during June, July, and August, etc.
I petition your Majesty to deign to honor this humble service as such, by the benignity of your royal sight, so that I may gain strength to serve you to the measure of my desires.
[Endorsed: “Juan de Sigura Manrrique. Have each point abstracted, so that it may be attended to in the Council.” In another hand: “Abstracted.” “Examined.”]
Letter from Francisco de Otaço, S.J., to Father Alonso de Escovar
Pax Christi, etc.
I have been urging Father Figueroa about the efforts to be made in regard to that grant of money, and he always replies with regret that other measures must first be taken in Sevilla, as he has written to your Reverence. For my part, I must bring this matter to a head; for I have been much grieved by what your Reverence recently told me to the effect that they will charge to that poor province the four hundred ducados paid for provisioning the fathers. Your Reverence may be assured that I cannot permit the departure in the fleet, if the cost is to be charged in this way. I supposed that the going of Father Bilbao and his companions would be at the expense of his Majesty, as it has always been.
I am now writing to Father Simon Cota that I have received that amount from your Reverence; and although by means of your order I have paid the debt already contracted, and have also funds to defray immediate expenses that cannot be avoided, yet, for the needs that are certain to arise in the future, I shall require help to the amount of more than two thousand reals, because it is better that I should have too much than too little. And things are so expensive in all this country of Spain, that to collect and convey the fathers to Sevilla will cost even more than the sum I estimate. Your Reverence will kindly send the amount to me at the time and in the manner most convenient.
Sad was the news that yesterday came to this court concerning the loss of our fleet,2 and such has been the grief that I do not know how to describe it to your Reverence. The president wept like a child, more especially because, to make this news worse, other bad news came from Flandes at the same time; this information was that the Hollander was setting out, or had already set out, with his twenty-five galleons. The president himself told this. He already considers our possessions in Philippinas and Yndias as lost; for it seems as if courage has deserted these men, and that no means for further aid remain. May God our Lord forbid this, and encourage them, in order that they may take heart in this difficulty, that valor and fortitude may be shown in the cause of God our Lord and of the king, and that the enemy may not prevail. There is no lack of people who are already encouraged, and are seeking remedies and forming plans. Your Reverence will kindly inform me of such plans as may occur to you, for those who are trying to give courage in this emergency desire light on all projects.
The loss of our fleet is known here only in a general way. Your Reverence will please give me all the particulars, and inform me whether our Lord took our fathers unto Himself, which we much fear from the reports. Still, because their death has not been verified or related in detail, the masses which should be said in this province for Father Bilbao, in the other two provinces for their two fathers, and in the province of Philippinas for all three, have not been ordered. I, for my part, have many to say for them if dead—or if alive, in case our Lord has spared them. It has also been said that the cargo of the flagship floated ashore. I hope that our boxes of books which were in it were spared, for, so far as such things are concerned, I feel the loss of them greatly, although their loss is not to be mentioned in connection with that of our fathers. If the Divine Majesty has chosen to inflict this heavy blow upon us, supra modu, sed domini sumos et iustos est et rectu iudiciu eius.3 Such a fleet, and so well adapted for the grand service of God! And those three apostolic men, going with such zeal—if in such a cause, they have already ended in a death resembling martyrdom, blessed be the Lord! From here the authorities sent some person, I know not whom, as comissary to recover what was lost from the flagship which ran ashore. Your Reverence, being near, will know whether any particular measure is necessary for our interests, etc.
When your Reverence remits the money spoken of above, do not send it through our Father Figueroa. For, although he assures me that the last order is good, since it has been acknowledged, yet he asks for forty days’ time, which is very long. I say this because to your Reverence I may speak freely and confidentially, for you know the good father. I have already determined not to trouble Father Figueroa about my own money, because I drew it for my private expenses, and it must be used in this way only, as I told him before I went to Rome. He now charges to me items of expense not conformable to this arrangement, although justified from his standpoint—for the good father is a saint and most faithful in everything, though not very prompt or skilful in accounts and correspondence, as is well known. Because I have written at length, and more especially because I am so disturbed by grief at the news, I close this letter to your Reverence. May God guard your Reverence as I desire.
The [word illegible in MS.] procrastinate here, and indicate that we are bound to have contests and wrangling with our fathers, wherefore there is much to fear lest they delay me, and frustrate my plans to go with a few [religious]. Now, too, with what has befallen the fleet, I think that these lords must perforce undertake the preparation of another large one, to go via the Strait, and that people there will desire us to come. I am prudent and on the lookout, and will promptly inform your Reverence of everything; for to you I always look for advice, light, and strong support in the Father. Madrid, January 14, 1620.
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Decree Ordering Reforms in the Friars’ Treatment of the Indians
The King: To the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia which resides in the city of Manila of the Philipinas Islands. I have been informed of great transgressions committed by certain religious in making repartimientos for their works on the Indians; and that the religious take, for their support, from the natives their fowls and other food at less [than the just] price, and practice on them injuries and annoyances for their own gains. And inasmuch as it is advisable to correct this, by ordering that the religious shall not use the Indians, unless they pay them their just wage; and that, except by license of you my governor, they shall not make repartimientos on the Indians or oblige them to render service: therefore, my royal Council of the Indias having examined the matter, I have considered it fitting to have the present issued, by which I order you to attend to the above matter in the assembly of the Audiencia there. And in what concerns my royal patronage, my royal fiscal of my Audiencia shall prosecute as he may deem best, so that those impositions and injuries may cease. The visitors and corregidors of the districts shall take especial care to prohibit them, and shall reform those who shall be guilty. By virtue of the contents of this my decree, you shall despatch an order to the said religious, so that they shall, under no circumstances, inflict such injuries upon their parishioners. This likewise do I charge upon the archbishop and bishops of those islands, and on the provincials of the orders therein. Issued in Madrid, May twenty-nine, one thousand six hundred and twenty.
Countersigned by Pedro de Ledesma, and signed by the Council.
[Note at beginning of MS.: “Procurator for the Indians of Philipinas. To the Audiencia of Philipinas, in respect to redress for the wrongs committed by the religious on the Indians.”]
Relation of Events in the Philipinas Islands and Neighboring Provinces and Kingdoms, from July, 1619, to July, 1620
In the same style and order in which I last year reported the various events in the Philipinas Islands, and in neighboring
This squadron was sent for the succor of the Philippines, in December, 1619; but soon after its departure it encountered a severe storm, which compelled the ships to take refuge in the port of Cadiz. Learning of this, the royal Council sent imperative orders for the ships to depart on their voyage; the result was that they were driven ashore and lost on the Andalusian coast, January 3, 1620, with the loss of one hundred and fifty lives. Among the dead was Fray Hernando de Moraga, O.S.F., who had come to Spain some time before to ask aid for the Philippine colony and the missions there. A council assembled by the king, after discussing the matter, recommended that Spain abandon the islands as costly and profitless; Moraga’s entreaties induced the king to disregard this advice, and to send a fleet with troops and supplies, in which embarked Moraga with thirty friars of his order. See La Concepción’s account, in
Another letter from Otaço, dated February 18, 1620, says: “There has been a very heated discussion (which still continues) regarding aid for the Philipinas, between the lords of the Council and all the procurators and agents of those islands.”
Translated: ”[This blow upon us], beyond measure, still we are the Lord’s and He is just, and His judgment is upright.”