Chapter 15

The Conde de Chinchon said that the preservation of the Indias consisted in this, that, through their need of articles which are not produced there, they always depend upon this country; and it would be the means of losing them if their wants could be supplied elsewhere. To think that if there were trade between Nueva España and the Philipinas there would cease to be any with China would be an evident mistake, and therefore it should be closed. In so far as concerns Macan, order should be given that the decree which has been issued be observed, as the chief comendador of Leon has said. In this state of affairs it has seemed best to him to advise your Majesty that it ought to be carefully considered whether it is expedient that each year there should be carried to Eastern India a million eight-real pieces for articles of so little importance as are those which are brought thence; and what plan could be made to obviate this drain of silver, as we are in such need of it here.

The constable of Castilla said that the reports [from the other councils] discussed only the trade of the Philipinas with Macan; and it seemed to him that the plan which had been followed should be maintained, as it ought to be changed only after having examined and considered well the pros and cons, and there should be very urgent reasons for making such change.

Your Majesty will order this to be examined and such measures to be taken as shall be most satisfactory. Madrid, December 18, 1607.

[_Endorsed, in the king's hand_: "All has been carefully considered, but the remedy is not easy."]

Passage of Missionaries Via the Philippines to Japan

_Report from the Council of the Indias_

Sire:

The Duke de Lerma has written to me, the Conde de Lemos, that your Majesty orders to be immediately examined in this Council the enclosed report from the Council of Portugal concerning the question whether religious from the Philipinas should pass to Japon; and that, with the consideration which the matter demanded, you be advised of his opinion. Complying with what your Majesty orders, it has appeared to us that, in order that the fundamental facts might be understood, it is proper to answer the reasons advanced by the Council of Portugal as a basis for their report, which is in conformity with the decrees issued by their Holinesses Gregory XIII and Clement VIII, and by his Majesty who is in heaven, and by your Majesty: these are to the effect that no religious shall pass to the provinces of Japon from these kingdoms, or from the Western Indias or from the Philipinas, except as they go by way of Yndia, and commanding that if any had passed they should return immediately, and that the governor of the Philipinas should be immediately notified to put this into execution.

The Council of Portugal states--conformably to what the bishop of Japon writes, who is one of the Society [of Jesus]--that Dayfusama, universal lord of those realms, continues in the same suspicion that his predecessor Taycosama had of the Spaniards from the Philipinas Islands, and those who go from Nueva España, that they ate people looking for conquests. He thinks that their principal aim is directed to making themselves lords of the country, as they have done in the Philipinas themselves and in Nueva España; and that what they call preaching the gospel is an artifice, and a means of conquering, as Taicosama wrote to the city of Manila. On this account, also, he had caused the Franciscan religious to be crucified as spies, whose intention was to conquer kingdoms; and therefore no more should be sent there. To make this the stronger, they add an example, in the entrance made there in the year 1602 by sixteen Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian religious, who say that they were not well received by the heathens and Christians who were there.

The second reason is, to cut off the communication of Nueva España with Japon and China, which results in the diversion of a great part of the silver from Nueva España into those kingdoms, on account of the great profit which there is in that trade, to the great prejudice of these kingdoms.

Reply is to be made, presupposing as a certain thing that discalced [_i.e._ Franciscan], Augustinian, and Dominican friars have at various times been readily admitted into Japon, obtaining great results in conversion; and that in the year 1594 there had come a well-known Japanese named Faranda to the city of Manila, who asked for friars. Moreover, Gomez Perez de las Mariñas, governor of the Philipinas, sent in the capacity of ambassador father Fray Pedro Baptista, a discalced Franciscan, with several religious of his order, to whom Dayfusama, universal lord of the Japanese, extended many favors, and whom he permitted to build a convent in Usaca--a very large city near that of Miaco, where his court is--so that he might preach the holy gospel. Afterward, in October of the year 1597, when the Japanese undertook to destroy, in a province of Japon, the galleon "San Phelipe"--which was going from the Philipinas lo Nueva España, laden with merchandise from China of great value, and having more than a hundred Spaniards and other men in the crew--the said Taycosama, to have some excuse for appropriating to himself the contents of the said ship (as he did), gave us to understand that he was suspicious, as has been said, of those Spaniards. It has been learned, however, that a seaman from the said galleon gave occasion for this feeling, when he was asked how the Spaniards had conquered so many countries. Thus far we have not been able to learn with certainty in regard to this, except that it is said that some Portuguese spread this news through the kingdoms of Yndia, for the sake of their own private interests. In confirmation of the suspicion or fear which the tyrant has shown, he has ordered the publication of an edict, in which it is provided that no one should be a Christian; and has crucified the six discalced friars (whom, as before stated, he had treated with favors) and twenty converted Japanese, in the neighborhood of Nangasaqui, to which place the galleon resorts, which ordinarily goes each year from Macao for the Japanese trade. It was there, with one hundred and fifty Portuguese; and the bishop of Japon then officiated publicly, and there were more than twenty thousand Christian Japanese and a principal college of the Society--whence it is supposed that the reason was greed, under color of a reason of state. For if the intention of the tyrant was to exclude at all points Christianity and its ministers from Japon, he would not have permitted so great a number of fathers of the Society as were residing in that country, with their prelate (several of whom were known to him), and hundreds of thousands of Christian Japanese, contenting himself with the persecution of these few. This is especially so as, in the year following this martyrdom, the conversion of more than 60,000 Japanese was affirmed, a greater number than for many years past taken together. It may be believed that God worked this miracle through the blood shed by those martyrs and their intercession. Since that event, on various occasions religious have entered Japon in the ships of the Japanese themselves, who go to the Philipinas to trade, and express a desire that some religious from the orders there should go. The same Dayfusama, who is now reigning, sent an embassy to the Philipinas seeking friars in order that one of the ports of his island, called Quanto, might be settled by Spaniards. To further this claim, he sent later Fray Jeronimo de Jesus,--a discalced friar who had survived his companions the martyrs, for the consolation of the converted, and who had been hidden; accordingly the Audiencia of your Majesty which resides in Manila ordered religious to be sent.

To the second reason, it is answered that thus far it is not known in the Council that there has been any trade from Nueva España or from the Philipinas to Japon, nor does it even appear that those who are occupied in trade have any need thereof; for to the Philipinas Islands themselves there come so great a number of junks and ships belonging to the Chinese from Chincheo, that there is always a superabundance of merchandise, and to limit this trade your Majesty has already decreed what appears most expedient for his service.

What is known is that the fathers of the Society do not desire other orders than their own to enter into Japon, giving as a reason that others would not know the method which must be followed in preaching to those heathen, whose perversity has need of cunning to overcome it. This the fathers say they know, as they have been occupied in this conversion for fifty years; and they say that there would be great occasion for weakening the belief of the natives in the doctrine which is preached to them, if they saw a diversity in the vestments, rules, and ceremonies. Accordingly, with these arguments they obtained by entreaty the above-mentioned briefs; and, having been opposed by the Dominicans and Franciscans before his Holiness, they finally obtained a brief that in case religious of other orders were to go, it must be by way of Yndia. This is the same as prohibiting it altogether; for in the domains of Portugal the missionaries are not supplied with maintenance, including everything that they need on the journey, as they are in Castilian lands. The road, too, is much longer, and strewn with difficulties; and in it care is taken to embarrass them, and not let them pass--as has been seen several times when religious have gone by way of Yndia, several Dominicans and Augustinians having been stopped at Goa, even after part of their sea-stores had been placed on the ship. In the year 1602 the Franciscan friars of Yndia said in response to Fray Pablo de los Martires, who came to seek friars, that they could not send them to Japon. This is answered by saying that the Catholic faith is already old and widely spread in Japon, and it would be a dangerous thing to exclude from its preaching the method which Christ our Lord has left in His gospel, which the mendicant orders observe, and through which have been converted the nations of the greatest power, genius, and learning in the world--among them the Romans, who held dominion over it. And it appears that not without much harm to conscience can obstacles be put in the way of ministers who preach in 66 countries, disposed to receive them, where it is impossible that the fathers of the Society should be sufficient, even to maintain the faithful who are there; for it is understood that [in Japan] they number more than 600,000, and they have not had in past years even 150 fathers, for which reason it was necessary for them to say daily three masses each, and then fail in the service of the sacraments on account of the great number of the faithful and the distance between the places. As for the difference in vestments and rules of the orders, this is answered by the fact that the Japanese have already seen them many times, and now see these in their own country, yet with especial profit. Moreover, those who are continually going to the Philipinas are, it is understood, not only not scandalized by this, but even--considering that in the diversity of religious orders and multitude of religious there is but one confession of faith, one set of sacraments, and one law alone, all submitting to the Supreme Pontiff as the universal head of the Church--draw therefrom a very strong argument for the truth of the gospel law which is preached to them, especially by people of such ability and understanding as the very fathers who direct the Japanese certify that they are. The emulation of holiness and virtues among the religious orders is of great importance for their benefit and that of the public; and this will cease where there is only one order. The persecution against the faithful could not have taken place, if religious from the other orders had gone there; for it is certain that there would have been other and very severe persecutions before this, if the fathers of the Society alone had been preaching in Japon.

The Portuguese of Yndia have great interests at stake, according to their opinion, in this measure; for it seems to them that, as the presence of the fathers has been a means for their trade with Japon (which amounts each year to more than a million and a half), and the religious from Castilla must be favorable to Nueva España and the Philipinas, and as the traders of those provinces pay for the merchandise, on account of the abundance of silver which they have, a third more than is paid by those from India, they must either be shut out from this trade, or buy so dearly that the profit would be very little. Thus far, as has been said to your Majesty, it is not known that this has happened; but in order to provide for this, and at the same time for the principal aim which your Majesty has, the spread of the holy gospel in regions so remote, and where experience has shown that there is so great a disposition to receive it, and for the preservation of the states which your Majesty holds in the Western and Eastern Yndias, it has appeared best to the Council that your Majesty should be pleased to order his ambassador who is present in Rome to represent to his Holiness the reasons which exist for opening the way for preaching in Japon, for such religious as may be approved by their superiors and the Council; and therefore he should ask for the revocation of the briefs which oppose this object, leaving it to the general disposal of all the provinces of the world. They also suggest that your Majesty should order that from no part of his kingdom should religious go to Japon without first making port at the city of Manila in the Philipinas Islands, where the governor of the islands and the superiors of the orders, as those who manage this business, shall ascertain at what time and opportunity, and what religious, it is expedient to send over to preach in Japon; and these and no others shall go. The said governor should command that the religious who are to go to Japon shall go in ships belonging to the Japanese themselves, as it is understood that those who have gone up to the present time have done, without permitting that other ships than those of the crown of Castilla should go, under this pretext, to the provinces and realms of Japon--severely punishing those who violate this order.

Your Majesty will order what shall be most for the royal service. Valladolid, May 30, 1606.

_Report from the Council of the Indias_

Sire:

The Duke de Lerma has written to me, the Conde de Lemos, that your Majesty orders that the enclosed report from the Council of Portugal be examined in this Council, in regard to the order that there should be no passing to Japon by way of the Philipinas, and that your Majesty be advised of what seems best. In this report the principal purpose seems to be that commerce should be prohibited, by your Majesty's command, in order that the Philipinas may not maintain it with China or Japon. This matter depends very much on what the same Council of Portugal has claimed, and now brings forward as foundation for its claim, which is the prohibition of the entrance of Castilian religious into Japon to preach. At your Majesty's command, the Council replied, in the past year, to another report from the Council of Portugal, in which it proposed in detail the arguments on which it founds its claim. Therefore it seemed best to return the report to your Majesty, together with a letter written to your Majesty by Francisco Peña, auditor of Rota, from which it is apparent how this matter is considered in Rome, and how much that opinion is in conformity with what this Council has advised your Majesty, adding what we have learned since the aforesaid report was sent, from letters from the governor and Audiencia, and investigations made before the aforesaid Audiencia and the archbishop of Manila, and other trustworthy papers which came from the Philipinas and Japon. The emperor of Japon sent to the governor of the islands, asking him very earnestly to send religious to settle in the land of Quanto; and some were therefore sent, and they were very kindly received. Land was given them for houses and hospitals; so they have founded two residences, where they are making great headway in the conversion of the Japanese, and the religious are very well treated. As the emperor himself has for three years desired and insisted upon the commerce of the Philipinas with his realms, a ship has accordingly been sent each year from the islands to those of Quanto, with merchandise from China, and various articles of which they have more than enough in the aforesaid [Philippine] islands; and it brought back in return much silver (with which the land of Japon abounds), wheaten flour, dried beef, hemp for cordage, iron, steel, powder, and hafted weapons and other things of great value for the provision and preservation of the aforesaid Philipinas Islands. In those islands it appears of the greatest importance that this commerce be introduced and preserved; because, besides the provision of the aforesaid goods, it is well to keep the king of Japon friendly by this means. For if he were not so he would be the greatest enemy that could be feared, on account of the number and size of his realms, and the valor of the people therein, who are, beyond comparison, the bravest in all India--as has been experienced in the aforesaid islands sometimes, with pirates who have overrun those coasts, doing great harm and hindering the commerce of the other nations. Japon is so anxious to assure and facilitate friendly relations with the said islands that, the king having heard that some Japanese were molesting them with their vessels, he ordered them all to be crucified; and he gave chapas, or decrees, to some religious, in order that with these the ships which went from the islands to Japon might be safe.

Also it was understood that when the bishop of Japon (who belongs to the Society) desired to make known to the religious who were in those lands the last brief of his Holiness, in order for them to depart from the country in fulfilment of it, it was represented what great difficulties would result from the publication and execution of it, in order that he might wait for an appeal to be taken to his Holiness. For the orders of St. Francis, St. Dominic, and St. Augustine have nine convents and four hospitals, where they have achieved great results in the conversion; moreover, they were admitted and called thither by the emperor. They find a great number of people disposed to receive the gospel law, and it would be impossible for the fathers of the Society (who are in some kingdoms of Japon) to be sufficient as workmen in so broad and fertile a vineyard. On this account, it would cause great scandal among the converted and those to be converted, to see the opposition of one order to the others, since previously they held them all to be uniform in the purpose of the spreading of the gospel, and the religious to be vassals of one king and subjects of the one and only head of the church. But in spite of the statements of the friars, the bishop ordered the said brief to be published and made known, with its penalties and censures. Councils were held by the orders in the Philipinas and Japon, and they thought that they ought to appeal from the said brief to his Holiness; this was done before the said bishop, in order that his Holiness might understand the state in which affairs were in those lands, and, being better informed, revoke the brief. It seems important, for the decision of this matter, that it be understood, from the description of Japon and from trustworthy accounts, that the preaching of the fathers of the Society, in the more than fifty years since they entered Japon, has not reached to within a hundred miles of the kingdoms of Quanto, where there are some convents of discalced Franciscan friars, nor has the merchandise of the Portuguese done so; but on the contrary the emperor--having a particular fondness for those kingdoms, as being a patrimony of his--at great cost has caused to be carried by land some of the merchandise which the Portuguese brought from China to Japon. So then, neither is the Society limited in the bounds of its preaching, nor is the crown of Portugal in those of its trade; for even if six ships went there, instead of the single one that now goes from Macao each year, all that they should carry would still easily be consumed in the lands which are more than a hundred leguas distant from those of Quanto. For from the island where Nangaçaqui is, until the ship reaches Quanto, there are more than two hundred and twenty leguas of very thickly settled mainland. Granting the prohibition which your Majesty has made that no merchandise beyond a certain stated amount should go from the Philipinas to Nueva Spaña, on account of the great difficulties which result otherwise, it seems well worthy of consideration that goods bought from China in those islands of your Majesty should be diverted to Japon, from which so much silver is and may be obtained for the benefit of your vassals and the increase of their wealth and of your Majesty's exchequer--at least making unnecessary in the Philipinas that which is and may be brought from the lands of Piru and Nueva Spaña, with benefit to both those colonies and the islands. For the ships which go from the Philipinas to Nueva Spaña it is of the greatest importance to have a safe harbor in Japon, in which to repair and supply themselves with the necessities for so long and dangerous a voyage--because, for not having had it hitherto, great losses have been suffered; and some, such as that of the galleon "San Phelipe," amounted to more than a million. It is more fitting for this purpose and for others that our ships should go to Japon than that theirs should come to the Philipinas, because when they come to those islands they buy from the Chinese, who come there to sell, the merchandise which the Castilians would have bought, enhancing the prices of it, and giving the Chinese for it the silver which they would have given to the subjects of your Majesty; nor is there any remedy therefor, although it has been sought.

As for the entrance of religious, the Council persists in the opinion of their last report, a copy of which is subjoined; but in regard to the prohibition of commerce it changes the opinion which it had reached, on account of the new information. It thinks that for the present your Majesty ought to allow one or two ships to go each year from the Philipinas to the kingdoms of Quanto, at the same time warning the governor that he should manage this matter with the care and prudence necessary, so that your Majesty's purpose may be attained in facilitating and spreading the law of the gospel, and keeping your vassals and realms in peace and quietness, in order that thus they may serve God and your Majesty. Since the Council of Portugal, in its last report, begs your Majesty to discuss this matter jointly with it, that might be done, if it please your Majesty, in order that, the arguments for and against being presented by persons whom your Majesty would choose from both Councils, the decision might be made with greater satisfaction and understanding of the situation, as the magnitude and importance of the matter demand. Your Majesty will command what may serve you best. Madrid, 31st of March, 1607. [Ten signatures follow.]

_Report from the Council of State_

Sire: