Chapter VII: Part 7

The increase of this mission has been very great, although it requires arduous labors on the part of the fathers, who have been obliged to go forth among mountains and rugged cliffs seemingly inaccessible; for they go to seek the people in their huts and grain-fields, where it seems as if the devil, in order to deprive them of instruction and gospel truth, had persuaded them to seek wild and rugged places which can be reached only with the greatest difficulty. In this work the fathers have spent the greater part of their time, and have gathered into settlements (to the consolation of their own souls) a great number of people, of all classes. Old persons who seemed the living and fearful images of death, men, women, and tender little children, of all ages, have in this way become acquainted with gospel truth; and as they see that we act disinterestedly in all things, even aiding them in our poverty, they are attracted to us, and soon are ranked in the number of the faithful.

The fathers have succored them in their sickness; and during a pestilence which was prevalent in one of the places visited from this mission, they went there twice to confess the people, although the distance was great, and the roads so difficult that in the going to that one place one must go through nine or ten precipitous ravines, to pass which, as it was then the rainy season, they must walk barefoot, the mud in many places being knee-deep. The fathers heard the confessions of all the sick, some of whom our Lord soon took to Himself. While returning from this village the father passed through a little hamlet of Christians not dependent on this mission, which lay within some very rugged ravines; and among all its people there was not one who had in all his life made confession. They welcomed the father with great joy, going more than a quarter of a legua out of the village to meet him; and when he departed from the village they accompanied him to a like distance. He heard the confessions of some, and all were desirous of removing to our mission-village; they put this desire into execution, at the end of four months, by breaking up the entire village, and proceeding with their families to Silan. This and other beneficial results from that residence of Silan are well described by Father Gregorio Lopez in a letter written by him for the father-visitor, thus:

"Early in my stay there, the people told me that in Caibabayan was a catalona, or priestess; and in order to cut the thread of evil, and to gain a knowledge of those distant fields and peoples, I went thither, desiring to act toward them as a father rather than as a judge; and the Lord, who is the true Father of all, fulfilled my desire. Finding no present evil, but only the report of past things, I sought to reestablish the reputation of the person whom they defamed. I found in one of the most distant fields, an old man about seventy years of age, who was crippled and had been sick for days. I baptized him, giving him the name of Ignacio, and invited many others who had not even been baptized--encouraging in them the desire for so great a good, helping them to learn what was necessary, to which they commonly give attention. Word was sent from one to another among those mountains and plantations, and those people followed me about with tokens of love and offered to entertain me. Afterward were baptized there many persons of all ages--children, youths, and old men. A few days ago I was informed that in the villages of Malabag, Balete, and Dinglas there were many sick persons who needed help. I set out in the morning after saying mass, thinking to return in the evening; but when I arrived there and saw the needy condition of the people, I changed my plan, for I found in Malabag many sick persons. After I had cared for them I heard the confessions of many who were infirm and old, and those who wished to guard against the malady which was attacking many of them--and perhaps not a few that they might profit, at little cost, by the presence of the new confessor in their village. I passed on to Balete and found that it had become a hospital. I went through all the houses to hear confessions, but could not finish them on that day; so I continued this task on the following day, and then went to Dinglas, where I found the same needs. All, both the sick and those in health, were greatly consoled by my visit; and finally I returned to Silang in the night, with the fiscal and others, who accompanied me. I had occasion to make other and shorter trips among the plantations in the vicinity of Silang, as they contained sick persons who were in need; I also desired to ascertain what houses and persons were in those country districts. Moreover, I thus did something to further my plan of removing them to the village and to have them carry thither their rice and their little possessions, desiring to accomplish what your Reverence so desires, and which is so expedient for the proper instruction of those people. The great activity and solicitude of the father, who is my companion, was of great value to me in this as in all other matters; and the coming of the father rector and Father Diego Sanchez, who assisted us here until Lent, was most valuable, adding more energy and ability to our forces, and consoling and encouraging those people with suitable instruction.

"After Christmas I was summoned back to Manila, but in Lent was sent again to the village of Silang. At that time I found the mission greatly increased by the many natives whom the fathers had recently brought together; they were coming to us each day from other villages (the entire village of Indan had joined us), all of them very needy, and almost half of them unbaptized. On the feast of St. Gregory I baptized twenty-five persons, only one of whom, a sick woman, was of adult age, and on the feast of the Annunciation twenty-one, of whom nineteen were adults; at present another goodly number of them are being prepared. The number of those baptized this year is about two hundred, and the confessions very numerous; and the number of those admitted to communion is about fifty, the choicest of whom are members of the confraternity. We erected our altar of the sepulchre [25] as skilfully as we were able, and celebrated the offices [appropriate to the occasion], by the help of which this new people gained new light upon the services of Holy Week. Those who took the discipline, going forth in a formal procession, were on Holy Monday, the singers, who did this by way of preparation; others desired to march on Holy Tuesday, but, as the day was stormy and the winds violent, I forbade them to do so. They had their procession on Holy Wednesday; and others, in greater number, marched on Holy Thursday. Our most important procession was on Holy Friday, in the evening; two images were carried--one, a small crucifix (for we had no larger one); the other, an image of our Lady--while the choir sang the litanies. When this procession ended, people gathered in sufficient number to form another; this was caused by the lack of [woolen] tunics, which were removed by their wearers and lent [to those in the second procession]. In all the processions except the principal one, the music consisted of the Christian doctrine, sung by the children as they walked.

"I must continue the account which in other letters I have written to your Reverence of the favors which the Lord communicates by means of a print of our blessed Father Ignatius; for He is continually bestowing these favors upon those new Christians, on account of their strong faith in Him. A woman was brought in to us, sick and unable to speak, and was dying before us without our being able to obtain from her a word or sign so that we could give her absolution; the statement of her friends, moreover, that she had asked for confession, was doubtful. I was therefore anxious and grieved, until I brought her an image of our blessed father, and I said mass for the sick woman, and when I returned she was able to speak, and made a good confession; but utterance again failed her, and she died in peace.

"When I returned the second time, I was called in haste to visit a sick woman, great with child, who was suffering violent pains and torment. We went to see her, and it aroused our compassion to behold her in convulsions of pain, both she and the infant (which was entering the ninth month) being in danger of death. I sent for the image of our blessed father, and then left the sick woman with Diego, our good blind man, and his wife, who performs the duties of a midwife. So good service did they render, in conjunction with the intercession of our blessed Father Ignatius (to whom they were greatly devoted), that very soon they sent for me to baptize the child, which was born alive. I baptized it, but it died; and the mother regained her health.

"On Holy Saturday a young man came to me in alarm, saying that a demon was trying to choke his sister. I went to her house and found her suffering from an oppression in her breast and throat, and distressed by fear. I asked for the image, and when it was brought, I heard the sick woman's confession; she was at once relieved from the oppression and anxiety. For her greater consolation I left the image in order that she might have good company.

"On the following day, the Lord accorded us a most joyful Easter Sunday. In the morning there came to me a man, but recently arrived from Indan, who said that his wife was in a very exhausted condition from the pains of childbirth. I sent him with a boy to take the image of our blessed father and carry it to his home. He departed at once, and when the image was carried into the house his wife brought forth her child. It seems that the Lord has chosen to confirm this newly-converted people in their recent coming to Him, and in their faith. A few days ago, a Bilango came to us in haste to ask for the image in behalf of a woman who was in childbirth; and as soon as it was brought to her, she gave birth to a child. In Santiago also the fiscal, remembering what he had heard about our blessed father, entreated his aid, as his wife was in a like critical condition, and her life in great danger. Immediately her infant was born alive, and, while receiving the water of holy baptism, passed on to the bliss of eternal light." Thus far I have cited the letter of Father Gregorio Lopez; he could easily have related therein many other unusual events and marvelous incidents which occurred among those new believers. He omitted them probably for the sake of brevity, and because many of them are quite similar--for which reason I too omit them. But I must not fail to mention one incident which occurred during the absence of Father Gregorio Lopez, at which time his companion, Father Pedro de Segura, remained in Silan. Two Indians came to this father one night, seeking relief for a woman who was the wife of one and a relative of the other. She was suffering violent pangs in childbirth, and was in a most critical state, being unable to expel the child. The two Indians earnestly entreated the father, in their simplicity, for some blessed beads. He gave them his own reliquary, and as they were carrying it away he bethought himself of the image of our blessed Father Ignatius. Immediately he summoned the fiscal (who is always a man of mature years and trustworthy character), and gave him the image to be carried to the sick woman. The Indian woman, when she beheld the image, took it in her hands with devotion and love, and at the same moment gave birth to a child as beautiful as an angel, to her own great joy and the wonder of those who were present. Soon afterward she named the child, on this account, Maliuag, which signifies "difficult;" and again, at the baptism, Ignacio, in memory of so signal a favor. The name which this woman gave her child at its birth gives me occasion to describe the custom of these people in giving names.

The manner in which names are conferred among the Filipinos. Chapter LXXX.

When a child is born, it is the mother's duty to give it a name; and whatever appellation she gives it must remain its name. The names are most often conferred on account of certain circumstances--as, for example, Maliuag, which means "difficult," because the child's birth was such; Malacas, which signifies "a man of strength," because the mother thinks that the child will be strong, or desires that it be so. At other times they name it, without any symbolism or special reason, by the first word which occurs to them--as, for example, Daan, which signifies "road;" Babui, which means "pig;" or Manug, which signifies "fowl." All persons are called by these names from birth, without using surnames until they are married. The first-born son or daughter then gives his or her name to the parents; for until they die they call the father Ama ni Coan, "father of So-and-so," and the mother Ina ni Coan, "mother of So-and-so." The names of the women are distinguished from those of the men by adding "in." Thus, while the name of a man and of a woman may be practically the same, that of the man is left intact, and to the woman's is added the [termination] "in;" for example, Hog (which means "river") being the name of two persons of different sex, the man is called Hog, the woman Hoguin. In naming children they use diminutives, just as we do; but in order not to exceed the limits of my narrative, or to enter those of grammar, I shall not enumerate these, or the other appellations more personal, more intimate, or more elegant, which those people use for nearly all the degrees of relationship. For instance, _ama_ means "father;" thus the son, in speaking of him to a third person calls him _ang amaco_, that is, "my father." But the son in addressing his father directly does not call him _ama_, but _bapa_, which is a more intimate and affectionate term; nor does he address his mother as _ina_, but _bai_. On the other hand, the father and mother in familiar intercourse call their sons, brothers, uncles, and other near relatives, not by the common appellations of such relationship, but by others more intimate and personal, which signify a like connection. This is but another illustration of the fertility, elegance and courtesy of the Tagal language, which we described in chapter 16. The children of those natives were reared in such respect and reverence for the names belonging to their parents that they never called them by these, whether the parents were living or dead; they believed, moreover, that if they uttered these names they would fall dead, or become leprous.

At first, I was much often annoyed at these superstitions, because, as I did not know the secret, I would upon occasions of affability or flattery, or necessity or obligation, inquire of the son for his father; and, as he gave me no answer, I remained confused and abashed. But, with the aid of Divine grace, this and other bad customs and errors were banished and forgotten; and we played a game--our fathers, and the little children, and even the adults--in which each one told the name of his father, I also telling them the name of mine. Not only this, but anyone would name the parents of another--a thing which they consider a great incivility and insult.

It is a general custom among all these nations not to have any special family names, titles, or surnames; using, as I have before said, but one appellation. Now, besides the Christian name, Juan or Pedro, they use as a surname that which the mother gives them at birth--although there are mothers so Christian and civilized that they will not use this latter name, but prefer that both Christian name and surname be conferred in baptism; this we often do. The wretched "Don" has filled both men and women with such vanity that every one of them who has a tolerably good opinion of himself must place this title before his name; accordingly, there are even more Dons among them than among our Spaniards.

The visit which the right reverend bishop of Sebu made to Bohol, and the fervor and growth of those Christians. Chapter LXXXI.

The right reverend bishop of Sebu, in the course of his visits among his flocks, determined to go for this purpose to the island of Bohol--which, as we have said, is about eight leguas to the south of the island of Sebu--taking as his companion Father Francisco Gonzalez of our Society. We learned of the outcome of this visit through that father's account of it in one of his letters, as follows: "I think that your Reverence knows of the visit which his Lordship made to the island of Bohol; but, as it was my lot to accompany him, I shall relate to your Reverence, if only in outline, something of what befell us there. He visited in the island of Bohol eight villages which are instructed by the fathers of the Society, and confirmed therein three thousand Christians, spending about twenty days in the visit. Most remarkable was the fervor which resulted from it, for the Christians made excellent preparation for receiving the sacrament, many of them, in all the villages, making their confessions. Besides this, he had previously trained and examined them, all being assembled in the church, in the catechism, causing them to repeat aloud the principal mysteries of our faith. A sermon was preached them wherein they were exhorted to feel much grief at having offended our Lord. At the conclusion of the sermon, they all fell upon their knees, and offered audible acts of contrition and of love to God. They were next asked if they desired to receive the sacrament of confirmation; and they answered aloud that they desired it, in order that our Lord might pardon their sins and strengthen them in the faith. Then, his Lordship confirmed them, with a short exhortation at the end of the ceremony, by which they were all greatly consoled and fortified in the truth of our holy faith. This result was greatly aided by the love and so paternal affection which the lord bishop manifested to them not only in the church but in their houses--going to visit the sick, and confirming them in their very cabins; giving alms, ransoming slaves, and clothing the poor; and performing many other deeds of mercy. His Lordship was especially delighted at beholding those new flocks of his so well instructed, when they were answering the questions on catechism, which was done in the presence of his Lordship." Such is the brief account given by the father.

All these are but flames of that celestial fire which we said had taken hold of this island, and with which even the little children are ablaze. Thus in each of those villages nearly two hundred children assemble every day, uttering praises to the Divine Majesty, acknowledging His greatness, learning the Christian doctrine, and imparting it to their parents and elders. The confessions cannot be enumerated, for they are as many as there are Christians. No one fails to make his confession during Lent, even though he may have confessed many times during the year; and with like ardor the other exercises of piety and devotion are performed. This was especially evident on Holy Friday of that year, one thousand six hundred and two, during the adoration of the cross, in which they displayed deep emotion; they even removed the rings from their fingers and the jewels from their ears, to make offerings of these. As Father Gabriel Sanchez has been the usual laborer in that island, I shall here set down a part of one of his letters in which, with his usual simplicity, he gives some account of the island and of Christianity therein: "Our Lord has been well served this year in the island of Bohol, with the fruits gathered from the conversion of those pagans, for in this barren waste we have set out a beautiful garden of new plants which our Lord has planted. Many people have been brought together and induced to settle in villages, wherein they are instructed. At the time when I am writing this, we are in a village on the coast, whither there came down to us yesterday two other villages of the Tinguianes, or mountaineers, asking us, of their own accord, to allow them to live here. As an earnest of their desire, they brought as many as forty children that we might baptize them, which we have done. We value this all the more because these two villages have up to this time been the most obstinate and stubborn in all the island: but God has now been pleased to soften their hearts. May He be blessed and praised that, if there had been fathers for all of them, the whole island would now be converted; for, although there are actually in this mission no more than four thousand Christians, its people are so well disposed that on the day when they shall have someone to teach and baptize them they will all be converted. The very villages that we are unable to teach come frequently to ask that we will go to instruct them and unite them into one, and give them baptism. But, as so few fathers have been in this island, we have not been able to succor them; and so they remain until God shall send them a reenforcement of fathers--of whom they themselves are so desirous that they have already built us houses and churches, before a priest has been brought to them, or even mentioned, to my knowledge. May God, whose plantation this is, send workmen hither, since there is harvest enough in all this island; and when they shall undertake to extend their labors further, there are, near by, some little islands in extreme spiritual want, and entirely deprived of any human succor for their conversion. Therein might be held some missions most acceptable to God, all the more so because those people are so forsaken; for, as those are insignificant little islands, no one cares for them. Those people are on the road to hell, if we do not succor them; and we do not aid them for lack of ministers. One of these islands is called Isla de Fuegos ["Island of Fires"], and is a half day's sail distant from here. Several times its chiefs have come to ask that we would go thither. The people already know how to recite the Christian doctrine, and yet not one has been baptized there (although they are calling for that sacrament), for there is no one who may distribute the bread, and thus they are perishing of spiritual hunger.

"But, to return to our island, there is great cause to glorify our Lord in seeing the esteem with which its people regard the Christian religion, and the fervor with which they one and all fulfil their obligations as Christians, in confession and communion, and in their pious and general affection toward the things of God. A week ago, there was in our house a young man, an infidel, who had come from another village to see us. He was laughing and enjoying himself with the others, although quite modestly; yet another lad who was there, a Christian, said to him: 'How is it that thou, who art not a Christian, dost laugh and sport?'" Thus writes the father; he adds that the new baptisms during this past year amounted to four hundred. The number was no larger, because they did not dare to baptize converts in other villages until those people could have fathers to maintain them in the faith and in Christian customs.

The growth of Christianity in Catubig. Chapter LXXXII.

The same want of gospel ministers is felt by other residences (as is plainly evident from what I have thus far said), but especially in the island of Samar, where for that very reason the exercises of Holy Week and Easter were celebrated this year in one village; and there were many confessions and communions together with the feast and procession of the institution of the most blessed sacrament--both of which were conducted with devotion and grandeur, although with some inconvenience, as they were not celebrated at their proper time.

Nevertheless, on account of the extraordinary and crying needs of Catubig--which, as we have said, is in the eastern part of the island of Ibabao, bathed by the South Sea--Father Juan de Torres, accompanied by a brother, was constrained to go thither from Tinagon at the end of the year one thousand six hundred and one. For a year and a half no one had visited Catubig, because there was no one who could go there; and now, although this caused a lack of service at other stations, the greater needs of Catubig compelled us to leave them [for the present]. Well did our Lord exercise them in their journey, so that upon arriving they might enjoy the pleasant fruit which they afterward gathered; for besides the rivers and swamps--through which they journeyed with the water, in some places, and the mud in others, to their knees--the slopes and mountains were so rugged that it was impossible to advance except by using their hands as feet. But consolation was not long delayed; even before they reached Catubig, on their very way, our Lord aided them, as the father himself describes in the following words: "One night three villages met together, rejoicing at our arrival, and, thinking that it would be appropriate, I told them about the things of the other life, the immortality of the soul, and the existence of God; and of the reward for Christians, and the torment for those who are not. I am sure, my father, that among the many people who were there you would not think that there was one who had not faith, to judge by what they said and the questions they asked, and the way in which they encouraged one another to receive baptism. They soon made arrangements to build a large church, and gave me a list of all the inhabitants, including the children, of whom there are an infinite number. God knows what my grief was at seeing them in the arms of their mothers; for they appeared to me like unto the ripe fruit hanging from the bough, which, if the gardener neglects it, is either stolen or decays, and thus is lost."

Refreshed by such consolation, the father continued on his way, crossing the entire island of Ibabao, as far as the river of Catubig, where he found the whole people busied in their grain-fields. Accordingly, he went farther to some small islands lying adjacent in the broad sea, where the people had already gathered in their rice crops. In one of them, called Batac, he made a short stay, and the people from all the neighboring islands assembled there to celebrate the Christmas festivals, and attend to the things pertaining to their salvation. When they were about to return home, advice was given to the women in other matters relating to civilized ways and to modesty--especially in regard to their mode of dress, which, on account of their being a rough and barbarous people, was not quite decent; but after they were taught, they adorned and covered themselves more modestly. They had built, in anticipation of the father's coming, a church and house and even a confessional for the women. After a goodly number had been made Christians, the father returned to the principal station, which is Catubig; and at his departure these poor creatures besought him earnestly not to leave them so forsaken, now that he was going away, but to teach some Christian the form and ceremony, so that he could baptize them in cases of necessity. The father did so, and left them with much grief in his heart. But these pains, which in truth are more intense than those of childbirth, we often suffer there, since the harvest is so great and the laborers are so few. So many were the baptisms in Catubig that the father, fearing lest the blessed oil and chrism would give out, carried the water of baptism from place to place, in order not to prepare it so often. [26]

Among the notable conversions in this mission, which amounted to seven hundred, the most distinguished and remarkable of all was that of a chief some sixty years of age, and highly esteemed in that region. In this case much time was needful to extricate his conscience from the former robberies and tyrannies which we have already described. He gave their freedom to many slaves, and, in order to settle other obligations which were not defined by the church, presented to us a handsome house, so large that, together with the church (a building about fifteen brazas long), it serves us a commodious habitation for our fathers who are there; and finally, after a thorough preparation, baptism was conferred upon him. He was governor of the village, and yet as a catechumen he attended each morning the sermons for the children. There he encouraged all, both children and adults, exhorted them to adopt Christian customs, and rebuked in them anything that seemed to be opposed to these. When the father reminded him that all his household should be baptized, he attended to that matter with surprising energy. He himself conducted them to the church, and with efficacious arguments persuaded them to be baptized. In this way the greater number of his household were baptized, the rest being deferred.

Another conversion no less notable also occurred, which I shall relate. An Indian chief from another island happened to pass through a village where the father was sojourning. He went with the press of people to hear the father speak, and our holy faith so convinced him that he did not for a moment leave our fathers, asking them questions about his salvation. So pleased was he with the instruction that they gave him, that without saying a word, keeping to himself this new secret of his vocation, he went back to his island, where he became a new preacher. He persuaded his wife, children, and relatives, actually carrying away all his kindred; and went to the place where the father was, in order to enjoy the light of the gospel, which had not shone on that country of his. He went in quest of the father, and carried him as a gift a turtle, the shell of which required two men to lift it--so monstrous in size are the turtles in those seas; some of them I have seen and eaten. This chief often made known to the father the state of his soul, and sought spiritual aid in very exact and clear terms; and if he forgot anything therein, he told of it in the same maner on the next day. His preparation continued thus until, having given full evidences of his faith, he entered with all his household--wife, children, sons-in-law, and servants, in all, twelve persons--through the gate of holy baptism, into the flock of the great shepherd of souls, Jesus Christ our Lord. He was a man of great valor, as will be seen from an incident which we learned concerning him. A large crocodile often came to the neighborhood of his house; and the Indian, angered thereat, determined to punish the hardihood of the beast. For this purpose, abandoning the usual means of catching those animals (that is, with a large hook), blinded by rage and trusting to his own valor, he assembled as many as twenty persons; and while they stood watching him, he leaped alone into the water, and swam toward the beast with a knife in his hand. Then, diving beneath the crocodile, like another valiant Eleazar, [27] he gave it several knife-thrusts in the belly and killed the beast. And, as a greater trophy, he was not, as was Eleazar, buried in his triumph, [28] but remained alive and sound--without a wound, or any lesion beyond two insignificant scratches, one on his forehead, and one on his leg. At this instant his followers hastened toward him, and dragging the beast to the shore, were hardly able, with the strength of all, to land it, although it was floating on the water. They saw (and told me of it) a monster of incredible size, the largest that I have ever seen there, or heard of. The animal measured, from its shoulders to the tip of its tail, five brazas, [29] and from the shoulders to the mouth one braza--making its total length six brazas; and across the breast alone measured a full braza.

There was another crocodile, smaller than this one, which inflicted loss on the household of a reputable Spaniard of Manila; and this man came therefore to our house to entreat that Ours would provide him with a father who would make his Indians Christians. The affair occurred thus: This Spaniard was in his encomienda, where his house stood on the shore of a river much infested by these beasts. While he was dining one day, a youth, one of those who waited on the table, went to the river to wash some plates; but he did not finish his task, for a crocodile suddenly sprang upon him and swallowed him. The people [in the house] saw this tragic event, and the good man left the table, grieved that the youth should perish without baptism, and desirous to see if there might be some means of giving him the sacrament before he should die in the belly of the crocodile. He soon decoyed the animal by means of a little dog, a food of which these beasts are very fond; and, having captured the crocodile and landed it on the shore, he cut it open and found the boy within, whole but dead. This man, who measured the beast (which was not a large one) told us that it was fifteen [Spanish] feet in length, but that the capacity of its stomach was extraordinary: for within it were found, besides the corpse of the boy, a great number of eggs of various animals, and fifteen human heads. Grieved by this sad event, he had come to entreat that instruction might be supplied in his villages; but this could not be done, as there was no one to give it.

But to return to Catubig: I shall conclude my account of this mission with the miraculous experiences of two children, which gave us more consolation than did the incident which we have just related. While some Indians were on their way to visit the father, one of those fierce beasts attacked their boat, and seized a boy by the arm, carrying him away before anyone could rescue him. The boy, following the pious custom that those people have of invoking Jesus and Mary, when he found himself in the water in the power of the crocodile, cried aloud: "Jesus and Mary, help me!" and the marvelous thing was that the beast at once let him go practically unharmed, for the few scratches that he had received from the nails hurt him but little. Rejoicing at this, and strengthened in the faith, they drew the child from the water into the boat, praising God for His mercies toward them. One night the same father was summoned in behalf of another child, who was very sick. His parents were very sorrowful, for, although but ten days old, he had not sucked his mother's breast for three days. They were anxious for his recovery, but desired, even more, that he should not die without baptism. The father went, and baptized the child; and the next morning, when he inquired about it, they replied that the infant was already well, for holy baptism had immediately cured it.

Let this suffice concerning that mission, and at the same time conclude my narrative, since I have now related the most notable events, and those which seemed most important and edifying, up to my departure from those islands--which, as I said in the beginning, was in the month of July of the year one thousand six hundred and two. [30] I trust that the progress of events from that time until the present, a period of almost two years, may give no less satisfaction and consolation, and that of the future even more; and I hope that it will have a more able chronicler; indeed, any one in the Society can do it better than I. It is enough for me that I have tried to render some service to the Society by this humble work, which although a small one, has cost me much effort. This, and that other and greater task of undertaking so many and so long voyages (made not for my own pleasure, but in response to the claims of obedience), I think deserve the reward which I desire and claim for them, which is nothing else than the object to which those labors were dedicated--the increase and extension of the holy Catholic faith in those so remote islands, by the conversion of so many souls who are so ready to receive it. May your Paternity and all those who are able to come to their aid take pity upon them, so that ministers of the gospel may distribute to them the bread of heaven, for the hunger from which they are dying. It is a sorrowful thing, more sorrowful than can be told, to see them die without relief. At Roma, March 5, 1604.

_Father Chirino_, of the Society of Jesus.

DOCUMENTS OF 1604

Letters to Felipe III. Pedro de Acuna; July 15 and 19.
Decrees regarding religious orders. Felipe III, and others;
February-July.
Grant to the Jesuit seminary at Cebu. Pedro Chirino; [undated;
1604?].
Decree regulating commerce with Nueva Espana. Felipe III;
December 31.

_Source_: All of these documents are obtained from MSS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla.

_Translations_: These are made by Robert W. Haight--excepting the third, which is by Henry B. Lathrop, of the University of Wisconsin.

LETTERS TO FELIPE III FROM PEDRO DE ACUNA

On the Sangleys

Sire:

The two ships which came this year from Nueva Hespana arrived in sight of these islands on the tenth of last month, and the captain made the port of Cavite on St. John's day. The Almiranta, not being so good a ship, could not follow him, and remained on the shoal of Mindoro until the fifth of the present month, which caused great loss. The viceroy of Nueva Hespana writes me that the cause of these ships leaving Acapulco so late was because they had met this despatch and that of the Conde de Monterey for Peru, and that for the coming year he will see to it that it is earlier. This is necessary, for it has likewise been unavoidable, on this account, that those who were going back to Nueva Hespana should be late in leaving here; for the Sangley merchants, taking warning from the many losses which they have suffered, and the neglect of the Spaniards to pay them during years past, will not give up their cloth without first seeing the silver at hand. Accordingly they waited until the money came before buying the goods and making up the packages and cases, all of which used to run on credit.

I wrote your Majesty by way of Yndia, in November and December past, of the uprising by the Sangleys, and the outcome of it, with what up to that time had occurred to me, which your Majesty will have ordered examined when this arrives. In case my sheets may have been lost, duplicates of them will go with this.

In that despatch I informed your Majesty that I was considering sending a ship to China with information of the event, so that if any ship belonging to the rebels should arrive there and try to place on us the blame for their loss and ours, they might be made aware of the truth. This was done, although with some opposition, and was of so much use that when certain captains learned that this ship was in Macan they determined to come, although with little merchandise--for they came with some hesitation, as they afterward said, as they do not wish vengeance to be executed upon them for the loss which the others had caused by the said uprising. I had the property which was deposited returned to them (which I think amounted to more than [_MS. defective_] pesos), which was to them a strong proof of our innocence; this was done that they might not credit in China what those rebels who arrived there had published, for they said that, in order to seize the property for ourselves, we had taken the lives of those Sangleys. These goods deposited belonged to quiet Chinese merchants, reputable persons, who were not in the uprising--and even for the most part had hanged or suffocated themselves, at seeing what a plight those of their own nation had put them in, and that their own countrymen were robbing and maltreating them, as is told in the relation of this affair. From the said deposited property had been appropriated, by my order and that of the Audiencia and the council on finances, a sum amounting to more than thirty-six thousand pesos, to aid the troops; and when the affair was over I was quite unprovided and embarrassed, as there were likewise other expenses for fortification and for the exigencies of the service of your Majesty, and there was no other place whence it could be supplied. We cannot satisfy the Chinese at present, as we have not the means to do so; this troubles me much, as I should wish to be able to fulfil the offer I made to the viceroys of China by my letters, which was the restitution of this property, which would remain on deposit until it was surrendered to the owners. As the necessities have been so great since then, we could not avoid deferring this; it appeared best to carry out our agreement with these people by giving them the money, since they had the cloth to sell, but it has not been possible. I beseech your Majesty to be pleased to order that the viceroy of Nueva Hespana send us this amount for this purpose, as I doubt much if the obligation can be satisfied here for many years. This commonwealth has been greatly consoled at seeing that the Chinese have chosen to continue the commerce, of which we were much in doubt; but they have actually done so. This was made easier by sending the information, and the entire failure of one year; in many ways this loss cannot be repaired. Nevertheless, the lack of money is felt in the treasury; for the duties on the entry and clearance of the goods from China, the royal officials tell me, amount to forty thousand pesos less this year than the year past. I believe that in the coming year we will have many goods here; for the little which they brought this year has sold very well, and they are content and quite satisfied at the freedom allowed them in their traffic, and that nothing is taken from them without their consent, as they were not before favored in this manner.

I have responded to almost all the points of a paper which your Majesty ordered me to write on the sixteenth of February of the past year 1602--as your Majesty will command to be examined in my answer, to which I refer you, merely saying that there I explain everything which might be said in this.

Christoval de Azqueta, captain and sargento-mayor of this camp, has passed more than twenty-eight years in these islands. During all this time he has been occupied in the service of your Majesty in the affairs of war, and a very good account of him has been given. He is one of the most serviceable men I have for this employment; for, besides being a very good soldier, he has wide experience in all the islands and their ports. Likewise I was very well satisfied with his person on account of his having so well and so industriously attended to his duty as sargento-mayor at the time when the Sangleys had invested this city. It being understood that a great body of them had fortified themselves at San Pablo and another at Batangas, and that they were in a region where much food could be obtained on short notice, as it was near the harvest time in those provinces, it was resolved that some person of tried valor should go to punish them, being provided with a number of Indian arquebusiers, archers, and other soldiers, and a few Japanese, with one hundred and fifty Spaniards, and the necessary munitions for that purpose. I chose for this the said sargento-mayor, Christoval de Azqueta, and he left with his troops. He went about it so skilfully that the undertaking was successful, and all the Sangleys were left dead except a few whom he brought for the galleys. Therefore, considering the condition in which this colony was, and the risk which he ran in this service, it was one of the most important which have ever been performed in these islands for your Majesty. I have desired to give the sargento-mayor some testimonial for his honor and gratification, but I have not done so because I had not the means to do so. I have therefore offered him this, to give him a good encomienda; and accordingly it will be given and allotted to him in the name of your Majesty, at the first opportunity. He has, moreover, earned it by the services which he performed long ago. It is fitting that it should be known that your Majesty favors and honors those who serve him, so that others may be encouraged to do the same. It has seemed best to me to give an account of this to your Majesty and to beseech you, as I do, that you should be pleased to command that the affairs and claims of the sargento-mayor always be favored, and that honor and grace be done him; for in this affair I can assure you, the service which he has done here was greater than appears by this writing.

The punishment of the Sangleys being accomplished, there remains to us another care no less great, which is the suspicion we have that within a short time a great fleet is to come from China to take possession of this country, as I wrote your Majesty last year. This arises from the coming of the mandarins, and from information that some of those Chinese who were punished for their guilt in their uprising were trying to circulate. Accordingly all the people were persuaded that this rebellion depended upon that; and at one time a rumor was current to the effect that seven hundred Chinese ships had been seen not far from here--on which occasion it seemed best to me to put things in order as thoroughly as if I had certain advice that the said fleet was on this coast. Among other precautions which I took, I appointed for the company left vacant by Don Tomas Brabo (my nephew, whom the Sangleys killed in the uprising), Captain Juan de Villacon, as he is a soldier who has spent many years in Flandes, and during that time had been the alferez of Don Luis Brabo de Acuna, my brother; and because he has had experience in the conduct of war in besieged cities--as it was expected this one must be so in a short time, and as we had very few or none to whom we could have recourse in such a case. It was necessary for me to urge and coax him, and he accepted it because it was on such an occasion, and to please me. Although the auditors were in the midst of so many cares, and I was hard at work fortifying the weak places, erecting bulwarks and opening trenches, they issued an act in which they commanded me to make appointments according to the royal ordinances, and that in the meantime there should be no changes--as if that were the time for such offices to be filled by whomsoever the auditors wish and ask to do it, or in which to be considering ordinances, instead of what was most fitting for your Majesty's service and the good of the cause. It was necessary in order to make them understand this, or make them willing to understand it, to use much time and energy; and they finally approved of it as if they were doing me some great honor. By this event your Majesty may see to what tune the affairs of war were going, with demands and responses. God was pleased to bring it about that the information which I sent from Macan caused the Chinese not to collect any fleet in China for the present, and that the merchant ships came; I accordingly dismissed Captain Villacon, giving him his discharge, seeing that the reason for his accepting the said company had ceased; I have thought best to give an acount of this to your Majesty, that you may be informed thereof, and may have given such order as may be expedient in similar cases which may arise in the future.

The decree which your Majesty ordered to be sent to me with the declaration of the places which must be taken in the processions and public acts by the president, auditors, and prelates when they take part therein together, arrived at a very opportune time, and has been necessary to avoid the troubles which have arisen with the archbishop in this regard, as he would not be persuaded that this was the will of your Majesty; but he is satisfied with the decree.

We are on good terms with the emperor of Japon, and likewise with his vassals who come here to trade and to make money on flour, hams, tunny-fish, nails, iron, weapons, and other things which they bring to sell. They go back with loads of deerskins and Chinese merchandise, as they have always done. This year, owing to the loss of the ship from Macan, they brought some money and spent it. I have overlooked this for the present, and allowed it to be done in order not to displease them. But I have warned them not to bring any more, or I shall not give them any chance to employ it.

The accountant Juan de Bustamante, who acts in that capacity for the royal exchequer of your Majesty in these islands, is very old, infirm, and crippled, for which reason the affairs of his office are not so well expedited as they should be. I last year besought your Majesty to order him retired and pensioned, and to appoint a person in his place. At present I shall again make the same suggestion, as it appears to me important for the service of your Majesty.