Chapter 22

[The Franciscans base their opinion upon the right of the king of Spain to impose tribute, as derived from the commission given to that country by the Holy See for the evangelization of the Indians; but this right exists only where the gospel is actually preached. They partially agree with the Augustinians, but hold a radically different view as to the amount of collections to be made when the encomendero does not or cannot provide religious instruction, but does protect and defend the natives, and set them a good example. For these services, as tending to prepare the Indians for receiving the true faith, he may be entitled to collect one-third of the tributes; but considered simply as temporal benefits, they do not give him any right to do so. Even the administration of justice to the Indians confers upon him no right in itself; it does so only as it may aid in or support the preaching of the gospel. This opinion is signed by Fray Pedro Baptista and three of his brethren.]

[The Jesuits regard both religious instruction and the administration of justice as just ground for the imposition and collection of tributes. When the Spaniards take possession of any land without providing these benefits, they are only "establishing divisions of territory between the crowns of Castilla and Portugal," which has nothing to do with levying tributes on the natives of such region. In encomiendas where instruction is not given through lack of ministers, only such part of the tribute may be collected as belongs to the administration of justice; and the part which would be used for the support of religion must be returned to the natives. The fathers cite, in support of their opinion, various learned theologians. They would permit the encomendero who protects his Indians, but is unable to maintain religious teaching, to collect means for the support of himself and family--for which purpose they would allow him three-fourths of the tributes. The other fourth should be returned to the Indians; and, in districts where there is not and will not soon be religious instruction, this should be done without telling them the reason for such action; otherwise, they will not wish to become Christians. They urge that definite and prompt action be taken in regard to this matter. Their opinion is signed by Antonio Sedeño and two other fathers, and is dated February 20.]

[The Jesuits also send to the bishop a long and learned discussion of the question, answering some of the twenty-five "conclusions" which were adopted by the bishop and clergy (_ante_, p. 276 ff.). Their position is the same as that already stated to the governor; but they make a more detailed and full statement of their opinions on certain points mentioned by the bishop. They think that, in encomiendas where both religion and justice are administered, the infidels as well as the Christians should pay tribute; for they also are vassals of the king, and receive from him those benefits, and they alone are to blame if they do not profit by the instruction placed before them. Where justice is administered, without instruction, the tributes should be collected, after deducting the amount needed for the support of religion.] The fundamental reason why your Lordship and we cannot agree in this matter is, that your Lordship measures it by standards of sustenance, and we by those of income and just and due tributes; for since there are so many Christians here, there is no doubt that the king holds these lands by just title, nor can he in conscience abandon them. [In regard to making restitution to the Indians for tributes unjustly collected, the Jesuits would exempt from this the governors and royal officials; but it should be required from the encomenderos. If in these matters, however, the bishop and governor do not agree with them, the fathers will support the position taken by those authorities. They desire that the latter shall make definite decision on such points as can be settled, without unnecessary delay. They oppose the bishop's desire to permit the collection of a larger part of the tributes from small encomiendas than from large ones, because this would be not only unjust, but a dangerous precedent and a source of intolerable confusion and uncertainty. The tributes should be considered not as the means of support for the encomendero, but as the right and revenue of the king--a consideration which must shape all conclusions reached upon this subject. The Indians are not bound to support the encomendero; that is due him for his services to the king, who gives him the encomienda for this purpose, and for means to carry out the obligations of the king to the Indians. If from this some encomenderos grow rich, that concerns only the king; it is well that he should have in his colonies powerful men, "who are the bone and sinew of commonwealths." Besides, the labors and responsibilities of these men increase in proportion to the size of their encomiendas; accordingly, they should be duly recompensed. The services rendered to the natives by the king and the encomenderos are enumerated; even those which are secular help to maintain religious instruction, and are also more costly than that; they should then be well recompensed. The restitution to be made by the encomenderos is a matter to be decided by the secular rather than the religious authorities; and such restitution need be only one-fourth of previous collections. A curious piece of information is here furnished: "It is known that a priest's district, even if it is not very large, yields him eight hundred to one thousand pesos; and besides this he has fees for burials, marriages, etc. There are reports, and even numerous complaints, from both secular and religious sources, that for lack of means to pay the fees, many persons do not marry, but live in concubinage." The Jesuits think that this fee-system is wrong, and that the priest should be content with his stipend, at least among the poor, whether Indians or Spaniards; this applies both to regular clergy and to friars. The bishop is urged to remedy this abuse.]

[This is followed by another paper, which discusses minutely, from the standpoint of the logician and theologian, the question of collecting tribute from infidels who are not provided with religious instruction; it contains abundant citations from the Scriptures and from ecclesiastical writers. As it simply elaborates the opinions they have already stated, we do not here present it.] (_To be concluded_.)

Bibliographical Data

_Relation of 1586-88_.--The text of this document is obtained from _Cartas de Indias_, pp. 637-652; but the location of the original MS. is not indicated by the editor of that work.

_Decree of August 9, 1589_.--This is obtained from the "Cedulario Indico" in the Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid; its pressmark is: "Tomo 7, fº 301, nº 449."

_Customs of the Tagalogs_.--This is one of the appendices to Santa Inés's _Crónica_; see vol. ii, pp. 592-603.

_The Chinese and the Parián_.--This is translated from Retana's _Archivo del bibliófilo filipino_, iii, pp. 47-80.

All the remaining documents presented in this volume, are obtained from the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla, and are translated either from the originals or from transcripts thereof; the pressmark of each is indicated as follows:

1. _Letter by Vera_ (1588).--"Simancas-Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes del gobernador de Filipinas, vistas en el Consejo; años 1567 á 1599; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 6."

2. _Letter by Salazar_ (1588).--"Simancas-Eclesiastico; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y espedientes del arzobispo de Manila vistos en el Consejo; años de 1579 á 1599; est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 32."

3. _Letter by viceroy of India_.--"Simancas-Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y expedientes del presidente y oidores de esta Audiencia vistos en el Consejo; años 1583 á 1599; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 18."

4. _Letter by Vera_ (1589).--The same as No. 3.

5. _Conspiracy against the Spaniards_.--The same as No. 3.

6. _Letter by Ayala_.--The same as No. 3.

7. _Instructions to Dasmariñas_.--"Simancas-Secular; Audiencia de Filipinas; registros de oficio y partes; reales ordenes dirigidas a las autoridades y particulares del distrito de la Audiencia; años 1568 á 1605; est. 105, caj. 2, leg. 11, lib. i, fol. 171b-195a, part 2."

8. _Letter from Portugal_.--The same as No. 3.

9. _Grant to Salazar_.--"Simancas-Audiencia de Filipinas; consultas originales correspondientes á dha Audiencia desde el año 1586 á 1636; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 1."

10. _Letter by Audiencia_.--The same as No. 3.

11. _Letter by Salazar_ (1590).--The same as No. 2.

12. _Decree of July 23_, 1590.--The same as No. 3.

13. _Collection of tributes_ (1591).--The same as No. 2.

NOTES

[1] This document is published in _Cartas de Indias_ (pp. 637-652), under the title, "Letter of petition from the bishop of Manila to the president of the Council of the Indias, giving information of the religious condition and needs of the Filipinas Islands; December, 1585." This date is incorrect, as shown by the internal evidence of the document itself, and probably arises from some error in the transcription from the original; the cabildo's letter was dated Dec. 31, 1586, and the bishop's on June 25, 1588 (incorrectly printed 1585 in _Cartas de Indias_). The allusions in this letter indicate that it was addressed to the king, rather than to the president of the council.

[2] Span., _ynsigne é siempre leal ciudad de Manilla_; see the royal decree conferring this title, in _Vol_. III, pp. 250, 251.

[3] Span., _naguatatos_, originally a Mexican word.

[4] The alcaicería (silk-market) for the Chinese, where their trade was exclusively carried on, was at first located on the Pasig River, opposite Manila, and was established by Peñalosa (1581?). In 1583 it was brought within the city (_Vol_. V, p. 237) by his temporary successor, Diego Ronquillo, and was generally styled "the Parián." An interesting description of it is given by Salazar in a document, dated 1590, which appears in the present volume, _post_. The Parián was long the property of the city; it was destroyed under Governor Basco y Vargas (1778-87), to make room for other edifices, but was rebuilt by him in another location; it was finally destroyed in 1860. See Buzeta and Bravo's _Diccionario_, ii, p. 229; and _Los Chinos en Filipinas_ (Manila, 1886).

[5] Lake Bombón, or Taal (_Vol_. III, p. 82).

[6] We here follow the text as given in _Cartas de Indias (dos mill)_; but this number, if all the Indians in this province were allotted, and the number of those in the royal encomienda is correctly given, should be seven thousand four hundred.

[7] In 1579 Gabriel de Ribera, who had been one of Legazpi's officers, was sent to conquer Mindanao--an undertaking, however, which was unsuccessful. Later, he explored the coasts of Borneo and Patan, and was afterward sent by Peñalosa to Spain, to render an account of the conquests thus far made in the Indian archipelago. As a reward for Ribera's services, Felipe II conferred upon him the title of Mariscal de Bonbon; it is he who is referred to in our text.

[8] According to _U.S. Philippine Gazetteer_ (pp. 9, 10, 286), there are now in the province of Ambos Camarines no active volcanoes, although its mountains form a volcanic chain. The peaks of Labo, Colasi, Isarog, and Iriga are extinct volcanoes, their height ranging from 4,000 to 6,450 feet.

[9] This town was founded by Peñalosa (_Vol_. V, p. 26), and named for his native town, Arevalo in Castilla. The former is located a few miles west of Iloilo.

[10] See Candish's own account of this affair in Hakluyt's _Voyages_ (Goldsmid ed.). xvi, pp. 43-45.

[11] "The licentiate Palacios, alcalde of court in the Audiencia of Mexico, who in 1581 made official visits to the ports of Guatulco and Acapulco, where he had charge of the construction of ships intended for the Philippine archipelago." (_Cartas de Indias_, p. 820.)

[12] The Portuguese admiral Don Duarte de Meneses--who had been present in the negotiations between Legazpi and Pereira in 1569 (_Vol_. II, pp. 295, 298, 310)--was viceroy of India from November, 1584 until his death, May 15, 1588. He was succeeded in that office by Manuel de Sousa Coutinho, the writer of this letter. See Linschoten's _Voyage_ (Hakluyt Society's trans., London, 1885), pp. 174, 200-203.

[13] The following table of Chinese weights is given in Clarke's _Weights, Measures, and Money_ (N.Y., 1888): 10 mace = 1 tael; 16 taels = 1 catty or kan; 2 catties = 1 yin; 50 yin = 1 pecul or tam. The catty = 1 1/3 lbs., or 604.8 grammes. Hence the pecul = 133 1/3 lbs. The shik is a weight of 160 lbs. In China almost everything is sold by weight.

[14] _Orejeras_ was the name of a fine grade of gold used by the Malays; see _Vol_. III, p. 224, and IV, p. 99.

Exile thus inflicted was of two kinds. The Spanish phrase here is _seis años de destierro precisos_--the last word meaning that the culprit's residence was prescribed in a certain place. In the other form of exile, read, for _precisos, voluntarios_ ("at will"), which may be translated "unconditioned"--that is, he might choose his place of residence.

[15] Span., _corte_; a now obsolete use of the word, to signify a district of five leagues around the court. It will be remembered that Sande, in 1577, fixed the boundaries of the city of Manila within this limit. (See _Vol_. IV, p. 107.)

[16] As the names of these notaries do not appear on the MS. from which our transcript was made, it was probably one of the duplicate despatches sent to Spain, rather than the first and original document.

[17] Apparently a reference to the law found in _Recop. leyes Indias_ (ed. 1841), lib. viii, tit. xx, ley i, which enumerates the offices that may be sold in the Indias. Cf. ley i, tit. xxi, which relates to the renunciation of such offices after purchase.

[18] This was a lay brother, Juan Clemente, who came with the first Franciscan mission. (1577). He devoted himself to the care of the sick among the natives, and was in charge of a hospital for them (founded by himself) for many years. For an account of this charity, see Santa Inés's _Crónica_, i, pp. 379-392.

[19] Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas was corregidor of Murcia and Cartagena in Spain when (in 1589) he was appointed governor of the Philippine Islands. Arriving there in May, 1590, he at once began the task of providing suitable fortifications for Manila, and a body of paid troops in place of the irregular and unpaid soldiers who had hitherto been the only dependence of the Spanish colony. In October, 1593, he formed a naval expedition to recover the fortress at Ternate; but on the way thither he was treacherously slain, with nearly all the Spaniards in his galley, by the Chinese rowers thereon. See Morga's account of him in _Sucesos_, cap. v, or in Stanley's translation (Hakluyt Society's publications, no. 39), pp. 32-39; also La Concepcion's _Hist. de Philipinas_, ii, pp. 177-213.

[20] The proceedings of Sanchez at the Spanish court, and the decisions of the government regarding the Philippine colony, are fully recounted by La Concepción in his _Hist. de Philipinas_, ii, pp. 103-148. Sanchez did not return to the Philippines, being assigned by the general of his order to various duties in Spain; his death occurred not long afterward.

[21] For account of Sanchez's embassy, and of his instructions, see the "Memorial" adopted by the junta of 1586, with accompanying documents, in _Vol_. VI.

[22] Regarding the rates thus levied, see _Vol_. V, pp. 29, 30.

[23] This last sentence is literally translated from the MS which we follow; but there is evidently a defect or error in the text--probably arising from some mistake made by the first copyist, as the MS. is not the first original, but a copy made apparently by some government clerk.

[24] For the text of this decree, see p. 137, _ante_.

[25] With this document cf., throughout, the "Relation" by Miguel de Loarca, in _Vol_. V of this series.

[26] Juan de Plasencia, who entered the Franciscan order in early youth, came to the Philippine Islands as one of the first missionaries of that order, in 1577. He was distinguished, in his labors among the natives, for gathering the converts into reductions (villages in which they dwelt apart from the heathen, and under the special care of the missionaries), for establishing numerous primary schools, for his linguistic abilities--being one of the first to form a grammar and vocabulary of the Tagal language--and for the ethnological researches embodied in the memoir which is presented in our text. He died at Lilio, in the province of La Laguna, in 1590. See account of his life in Santa Inés's _Crónica_, i, pp. 512-522; and of his writings, _Id_., ii, pp. 590, 591.

[27] The betel-nut; see _Vol_. IV, p. 222.

[28] The Aetas, or Negritos, were the primitive inhabitants of the Philippine Islands; but their origin is not certainly known. It is perhaps most probable that they came from Papua or New Guinea. For various opinions on this point, see Zúñiga's _Estadismo_ (Retana's ed.), i, pp. 422-429; Delgado's _Historia general_, part i, lib. iii, cap. i; and _Report_ of U.S. Philippine Commission, 1900, iii, pp. 333-335. Invasions of the islands by Indonesian tribes, of superior strength and culture, drove the Negritos into the forest and mountain regions of the islands where they dwelt; they still remain there, in a state of barbarism, but in gradually decreasing numbers. See the _Report_ above cited (pp. 347-351), for habitat and physical characteristics of this race.

[29] For much curious and interesting information regarding these superstitions, beliefs in demons, etc., see Blumentritt's "_Diccionario mitológico_," in Retana's _Archivo_, ii, pp. 345-454.

[30] This paragraph is a quite literal translation of the clause therein mentioned; the latter (in Portuguese) is at the end of the original MS. of this document.

[31] This was the Cardinal Archduke Albert of Austria, nephew of Felipe II, who in 1583 appointed Albert viceroy of Portugal. In that post he remained until 1594, when he was removed to the archiepiscopal see of Toledo.

[32] The above instructions were intended doubtless for this document. They occupy a separate sheet in the collection of documents, but their position warrants this inference.

[33] The first sentence is the official endorsement by the Council; the second, evidently that of the king; and the third, that of the Council's secretary.

[34] The collection of documents of which the above forms a part contains a letter from the licentiate Ayala to the king, under date of June 25, 1590. As in so many letters from royal officials, Ayala narrates his devotion to the king's service, and especially in the Philippines, whither he had been ordered suddenly from the Canaries, his previous post. He begs for a position in Mexico, and means to return to that country. The king orders that one-half his salary be given him.

[35] At that time, Java was supposed to contain two islands; the western part, inhabited by the people of Sunda, was thought to be separated by a river from the other, forming an entire island. Trapobana is a misprint for Taprobana, the ancient name of Sumatra; and Dacheu, for Achen (Achin).

[36] The cahiz is equal to twelve fanégas, or nearly nineteen and one-fifth bushels.

[37] Villamanrique was removed from his post in 1589, and in his stead as viceroy of Nueva España was appointed Luis de Velasco, Conde de Santiago, a son of the second viceroy; he reached Mexico on Jan. 25, 1590. "The country made steady progress in every branch of industry during Velasco's rule; political, commercial, and social conditions were improved, and prosperity prevailed." (Bancroft, _Hist. Mexico_, ii, p. 766.) He held the office until 1595, when he was appointed viceroy of Peru.

[38] Miguel de Benavides was born about 1550, and came to the Philippines as one of the first Dominican missionaries (1587). Soon after his return from China, he sailed (1591) for Spain, where he acted as procurator of his province. Early in 1598, he returned to the Philippines as bishop of Nueva Segovia; but the archbishop Santibañez dying in that same year (Aug. 14), he was succeeded by Benavides. Under his administration was begun the college of Santo Tomás at Manila. He died there July 26, 1605.

[39] Regarding the numbers of Chinese residents at Manila, see Salazar's own statement in his account of the Parián (p. 230 _ante_.)

[40] The English pirate Candish, who plundered the "Santa Ana."

[41] _Fuerça_: as here used, indicates violence to law, done by ecclesiastical judges; _see_ note 46, in _Vol_. V, p. 292.

[42] Reference is here made to the archbishop of Mexico, who had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Philippines until the archbishopric was created there. At the time when Salazar's letter was written, the see of Mexico had no incumbent, the diocese being governed by the dean and chapter.

[43] The MS. from which this document was translated is evidently a copy of a decree prepared in answer to the request of the citizens of the Philippines (see the "Memorial" of the general junta, in _Vol_. VI, p. 166 ff.).

[44] On the back, this document is signed by members of the royal Council of the Indias.

[45] This statement by the bishop, and the twenty-five "conclusions" which follow it are, in the original document from which we copy, misplaced in order of time; we therefore restore them to their proper place, as indicated by their respective dates.

[46] Apparently a metaphorical use of the word, a religious _double entendre_.

[47] The original MS. is in places torn or illegible; and matter enclosed in brackets, with the translator's initial, gives his conjectural readings of lacunæ.