Chapter I: Preface (1)

The tone of this volume is mainly ecclesiastical, although many sidelights on the civil government and social life are incidentally shown. All the intense bitterness that generally accompanies contests between the regulars and seculars is seen in the Camacho controversy, in which the former recognize that they are fighting for life and existence in the Philippines, and hence spare no effort to gain their ends. As will be seen later this fight between regulars and seculars is quieted only for the moment, to break out with greater force under Archbishop Santa Justa y Rufina; while in our own day, the friar memorial of 1898 (never presented), resorts to the same threat of the regulars to resign their curacies. This struggle, as well as the history of the Augustinian order in the latter part of the seventeenth century (which occupies the greater part of the volume), forms a rich commentary on the life of the times, and one can reconstruct easily the Manila of that period, and recognize the hopes and fears of its various classes.

The noted ecclesiastical controversy between Archbishop Camacho and the religious orders, which began with the arrival of that prelate in the islands (1697), was hardly second in bitterness and importance to that between his predecessor Pardo with the secular government. As in the latter case, we furnish accounts of this episode by persons actually concerned therein; but all these are written by members of the orders, who therefore are opposed to Camacho, no defense of his side being at present available. The first of these (unsigned) is apparently the usual record of events by the Manila Jesuits. Soon after Camacho's arrival, the regulars appeal to him for aid in a dispute which they have with the secular government regarding their lands; but he makes such aid conditional on their submitting to episcopal visitation in those curacies which they serve as parish priests. They refuse to do so, and appeal from the archbishop to the papal delegate; then a controversy ensues between the two prelates over the exemptions claimed by the regulars, each wielding the thunderbolts of the Church--censures, fines, and excommunications--against the other, a warfare imitated by some of the ecclesiastical rank and file with their fists and stones as weapons, all to the scandal of the commonwealth. Finally the governor interposes, and the affair is settled for the time, the two prelates absolving each other in turn. The Audiencia compel the religious orders to pay tithes for the support of the church, from the incomes of their large estates. This account is followed by a letter (June 2, 1698) from the delegate above mentioned to the pope, giving a detailed report of his proceedings in the affair, and complaining that the archbishop has defied his authority as delegate, and therefore that of the supreme pontiff himself. The writer, Fray Andres Gonzalez, advises that new safeguards be given to the office of delegate in the islands.

In attempting to enforce his visitation of the regulars who act as curas, Camacho makes such official visits in some of the Indian villages near Manila, and issues decrees affecting such parishes; two specimens of these are given. After censuring the prevalent ignorance of Christian doctrine among the native parishioners, the archbishop strictly charges the ministers who are over them to give their people regular and thorough instruction in the faith; to exact no fees for confession and penance; to keep the registers of births, marriages and deaths, and records of fees received thereat, more carefully; to make no distinction between rich and poor in certain functions; and to keep an itemized record of the church incomes and expenditures. Annexed thereto is a copy of the revised tariff of fees which may be demanded by the curas, singers, and sacristans for their respective functions.

In 1700, the five religious orders in the Philippines present to the king, through their representatives at Madrid, a statement of their controversy with Archbishop Camacho over his attempt to subject the regular curas to episcopal visitation; and they make formal renunciation of the mission curacies which they hold in the islands, declaring that they cannot longer hold these under Camacho and the irksome restrictions which he is attempting to impose upon the regular curas. Their reasons for this procedure are stated at length. They did not choose service as curas for their calling and profession, yet they are willing to fill those positions so long as they can do so under the supervision of their own provincials; but subjection to the archbishop so changes their estate in life that they cannot endure the additional burdens and danger thus imposed. Moreover, justice requires that they should, as parish priests, share the privileges and advantages allowed to the secular priests, which is not the case. The subjection which Camacho claims would destroy the rightful liberty of the religious orders, and render them dependent on the wills of the archbishop and governor. In case a regular cura shall commit immoral acts, a conflict of authority will necessarily arise between his provincial and the ecclesiastical authorities; and the difficulties that ensue therefrom react to the oppression and vexation of the entire colony. Moreover, such controversies can seldom be settled by the home government, on account of the great distance of the Philippines from Spain. In such case of transgression by a religious another difficulty arises, that the necessity of referring the case to the public authorities causes undue disgrace to both the offender and his order. The regulars are better qualified to save souls than are the secular priests, but if they are subjected to the ordinary it will be much harder for them--the authority of their provincials over them being thus weakened--to observe their priestly vows with due strictness; also, some would thus be encouraged to undue self-will, to worldliness, and to intrigues for securing worldly advantages--especially by the perpetual tenure of ecclesiastical benefices. These arguments are supported, too, by both history and experience. The orders then refute certain arguments advanced by the archbishop. Their pious labors for the benefit of souls, in all ranks and conditions of men, are recounted; and many of these, especially in Manila, would never be accomplished if they depended on the secular priests. The conduct of Camacho in opposing the papal delegate, and in refusing to give the orders copies of his decrees concerning them, is censured, his own arguments being dexterously turned against him--as is the case also with his complaints to the court that his authority, functions, and usefulness are restricted by the fact that the regular curas are not subjected to him; and his request to be permitted to resign his see and return to Europe. The writers support their position by reference to what the orders have accomplished in the islands, and by the exemptions and privileges granted to them by the Holy See. In view of all these things, the orders make formal renunciation of their mission curacies--especially as the remoteness of the islands gives them little prospect of relief from Spain in these difficulties; and even if royal decrees are sent to the islands, the archbishop is likely to refuse obedience to them. They make complaint of various acts of the bishop against them, especially of the reprimand given them by the Audiencia through his influence, and his disregard of the immunity of their property. The orders are working in Filipinas in entire harmony and amity, but this does not suit the archbishop; and they feel that they cannot hope for peace or safety so long as they act as curas there with Camacho as archbishop. A decree by Carlos II (May 20, 1700) approves the proceedings of the archbishop, promises royal aid in adjusting his difficulties with the orders, and authorizes him to reform and correct the religious when necessary.

The history of the Augustinian order in Filipinas in the latter part of the seventeenth century is recounted by Casimiro Diaz of that order, in book iv of his Conquistas (much of which has already appeared in our series, and which is here concluded); this final part contains an unusual amount of secular history, for which reason we omit but little of Diaz's narrative. Beginning with 1671, he gives an account of each Augustinian provincial chapter-session, and the officers elected therein, up to 1689; and relates various matters concerning his order and religious interests generally, with which he interweaves the secular annals of that time. The troublous times which the Philippine colony has experienced since the days of Corcuera are turned into peace under Manuel de León (1669-76). He extends the commerce of the islands to China, India, and Java, and thus enables the citizens of Manila to attain unusual wealth and prosperity. He sends Jesuit missionaries to Siao, but they are afterward seized by the Dutch, who conquer that island. Unfortunately, the governor interferes with the election of officers in the Augustinian chapter-session of 1671, and prevents the election of the father who is desired by the chapter as provincial. In this year the new cathedral edifice of Manila is dedicated. Reports are circulated of a coming attack on the city by Chinese corsairs; due precautions are taken, but no enemy appears. A French bishop who stops at Manila on his way to China is detained by the authorities and finally sent to Spain; his representations there cause the issue of royal decrees which prove troublesome and annoying to Philippine ecclesiastics, and afterward the ordination of Indian natives as priests--a practice which Diaz disapproves. A controversy arises between Archbishop López and Jerónimo de Herrera, chaplain of the royal military chapel; this and other troubles, with his old age, cause the death of the archbishop (April, 1674).

The chapter-session of 1674 marks the cessation of various troubles within the order, occurring within the provincialate of Fray Jerónimo de Leon, and the beginning of a great increase in the observance of the rules of the order. José Duque is elected provincial at this time; he sends a procurator to Europe for more missionaries, a band of whom arrive in 1679. Diaz enlarges on the prosperity of Manila during this period; caused by its foreign trade, especially that with China and India; pleasure and luxury prevail in that city, and fortunes are spent therein. He describes the people and industries of the Coromandel coast and the Madras settlements of the English and the Portuguese; in the former, entire religious toleration prevails, and Christians, Jews, Mahometans and heathens live together in entire harmony. In 1676 occurs the death of Governor Manuel de León, from excessive obesity; he leaves all his property for charitable purposes. The election of provincial in 1677 falls on Fray Juan de Jeréz; in that year also the Dominican Fray Felipe Pardo becomes archbishop of Manila, and Auditor Coloma, the acting governor, dies; he is succeeded by Auditor Mansilla. The majority of Carlos II of Spain is celebrated at Manila with magnificent fiestas, December 4-7, 1677. At the close of these gayeties occurs a severe earthquake, which inflicts much damage--fortunately, with very little loss of life. In 1678 comes the new governor, Juan de Vargas Hurtado. His government begins well, but after a time he tires of its burdens, and falls under the sway of a relative, Francisco Guerrero, who is crafty and selfish, and gains an influence over the governor which enables him to turn everything to his own advantage, and to be "the power behind the throne;" afterward, in time of need, he escapes to Nueva España, and leaves Vargas to bear the penalties for both of them. During Vargas's term of office the rich trade with India and other foreign lands is well maintained, and the prosperity and wealth of Manila are greatly increased. In 1679 arrive two bands of new missionaries, who are Jesuits and Augustinians; they come (especially the latter) in good time, since the members of the order are so few that they cannot fill the ministries allotted to them--which is the condition of the other orders, and even of the secular clergy. In this galleon comes a political prisoner, Fernando de Valenzuela, the disgraced favorite of Queen Mariana of Spain, who is exiled to the Philippines for ten years. The government of Vargas is successful, and the prosperity of Manila continues. An embassy comes from the ruler of Borneo to ask for the establishment of commerce between that island and Manila, and to adjust some disputes over the relations between the Spaniards and Borneans.

The Augustinians prosper during Jeréz's term as provincial. Just before the chapter-session of 1680 convenes, some of the friars who were born in the Indias lay claim to the offices in the order, and attempt to enforce this pretension by legal proceedings; the archbishop decides against them, and they are punished for their rebellion. Fray Diego de Jesús is elected provincial. A bishop for the diocese of Cebú arrives this year, the only consecrated bishop whom the islands have had for several years; this prelate confers holy orders on many who had been waiting for that privilege, and reconciles several persons with the governor--which official has by this time become highly unpopular with the citizens, on account of his greed for gain and his harsh and disagreeable behavior. Charges against him are sent to Madrid, which later cause his removal from office. In November, 1680, a wonderful comet appears, which in the superstitious belief of that time, causes much evil. An envoy is sent from Manila to make arrangements with the Portuguese of Macao for the regulation of commerce and "the entrance of Spanish missionaries into China by that door." With this envoy come to Manila (in 1681) some clerics to receive ordination; returning to Macao, with some Jesuits, the vessel is lost and never heard from. In this year arrive at Manila two assistant bishops, three royal auditors, and a large reënforcement of Spanish troops. The galleon which sails this year for Acapulco is driven back to the islands by contrary winds, thus causing great loss to the citizens. (In each year Diaz relates the departure or arrival of the galleons, failure in which is a calamity for Manila.) The provincialate of Fray Diego de Jesús is tranquil, and great progress is made by the religious in his care; his personal character and piety are eulogized by our historian. In 1683 Fray José Duque is elected in his place, for a second term. Some of the brethren go to China as missionaries; they encounter much annoyance from the requirement there made that they must be subject to the apostolic vicars of Rome. This subjection, however, is afterward greatly modified and lessened by decrees secured (1688) by the procurator of the province at Rome, Fray Álvaro de Benavente. In 1683 an envoy from Siam comes to Manila, partly to secure permission for the prime minister of that country to settle in Manila: this favorite, who was a Greek, intrigues with the French to surrender Siam to them, but the enterprise fails, and the Greek loses his wealth and his life. The envoy (an Augustinian friar named Sousa) encounters shipwreck on another journey, and spends the rest of his life as a hermit in Siam. The Portuguese governor of Timor and Solor on his way thither halts at Manila, ill; Governor Vargas gives him hospitality and medical treatment, and some Spaniards as an escort; but Ontuñez finds on reaching his islands that a usurper is holding them with armed men, and is obliged to return to Manila. In that city, during the exile of the archbishop (account of which has been here omitted, to avoid repetition), the ecclesiastical cabildo punish his chief supporters with banishment.

In 1684 Governor Curuzelaegui comes to the islands, and with him Juan de Zalaeta to take the residencias of Vargas and his favorite Guerrero; but the latter escapes from the islands in time to avoid this ordeal. A large band of Augustinian religious also arrive. The new governor restores the banished archbishop to his see. In 1685 a terrible epidemic of smallpox ravages not only the islands but China and India, and millions of people die from it; then follows a cruel famine, and still more deaths.

At this time begins the decline of Manila's commerce with Nueva España, partly because more European goods are being sent thither, partly through the heavy taxes and imposts levied on the galleons. The bishop of Nueva Segovia dies, and that diocese remains sede vacante until 1704. In the Augustinian chapter of 1686 Juan de Jeréz is again chosen provincial; he dies within two years, being worn out by overwork in the visitation of all the houses of his order in the islands. Fray Alvaro de Benavente is sent to Rome as procurator of the province. The galleon for Acapulco does not sail this year, for, on the report of pirates cruising around the Embocadero, it is equipped as a war-vessel to attack them and drive them away; but it does not find them, and returns to Manila. In this year of 1686 occurs an abortive insurrection among the Chinese in the Parián; it is undertaken by Sangleys who are fugitive criminals from China, but the ringleaders are put to death, and quiet ensues. Diaz enlarges upon the injurious effects on the Spanish colony of allowing its business and industries to fall into the hands of the Chinese. They are unscrupulous in their dealings with Spaniards; they become Christians through mercenary motives; and they undermine the faith of the Christian Filipinos. They should not be allowed to live among the natives. In this same year occur excessive rains, which ruin the crops and cause great scarcity and suffering; and for two years no galleons can sail to Acapulco. A large part of the Chinese settlement near Manila is consumed by fire (March 28, 1688); and the people are harassed by a fearful plague of locusts, many earthquakes, and a fatal epidemic of influenza. Diaz relates the way in which the persons most prominent in the Pardo controversy ended their lives. An expedition is sent to chastise the murderous attacks made by the Zambals and Negritos; this is partly accomplished, but the troops are attacked by influenza and so weakened that they are compelled to return to Manila.

The Audiencia having been broken up by the death or the exile of the auditors, a new Audiencia arrives in 1688; also a special commissioner to investigate the proceedings of Vargas and other officials. Vargas is exiled to the provinces, and afterward sent to Spain, but dies on the voyage thither; Diaz characterizes his official character. The exiled favorite Valenzuela is set at liberty, but is accidentally killed at Mexico. While attending to the despatch of the Acapulco galleon, Governor Curucelaegui dies (April 27, 1689); he is praised by Diaz as an excellent ruler. In the chapter of 1689 Fray Francisco de Zamora is elected provincial. Auditor Abella acts as governor ad interim, with much prudence and ability. Archbishop Pardo dies in 1689; the cabildo rule the diocese in his place for a time, but afterward cede this authority to Barrientos, bishop of Troya. This leads to much dissension and trouble for a time, Barrientos claiming supreme authority; but he is induced to yield this claim, and peace is restored.

In 1690 arrives a new governor, Fausto Cruzat y Góngora. With him come a band of Augustinian religious, in charge of Fray Alvaro de Benavente; his adventures and the concessions that he obtains are recounted. Brief sketches are given of the twenty-seven missionaries who come this year. Diaz closes his work with some account of Cruzat's government. He is an upright and honorable man, but very harsh and severe in collecting the sums due to the government, directing "all his efforts to the increase of the royal revenues." He has a new galleon built, the largest ever made; but on its first voyage it is wrecked on the coast of Lubán--a terrible loss to the islands, since it was laden with more and richer merchandise than usual. Another galleon is also lost at sea (1693). A patache is sent from Acapulco, and on its return trip (1694) encounters an "isle of birds," where the crew secure enough provisions and water to complete their voyage to Acapulco. Cruzat's wife dies in this same year; Diaz pays high tribute to this lady's beauty, goodness, and virtue, which render her beloved by all the people.

The Editors
August, 1906.

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS, 1670-1700

The Camacho ecclesiastical controversy. [Andres Gonzalez, O.P.],
and others; 1697-1700.
The Augustinians in the Philippines, 1670-1694. Casimiro Diaz,
O.S.A.; 1718. [From his Conquistas.]

Sources: The first of these documents is composed of several parts--the first, second, fourth, and fifth of which are obtained from the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library), iv, pp. 107-115, 119-133, v, pp. 231-296, and iv, pp. 201-206, respectively; and the third from a contemporary MS. belonging to Edward E. Ayer. The second document is from Diaz's Conquistas (Manila, 1890), pp. 440-444, 689-817; from a copy in the possession of James A. Robertson.

Translations: These are by Emma Helen Blair.

THE CAMACHO ECCLESIASTICAL CONTROVERSY, 1697-1700

News from Filipinas since July, 1697

With the arrival of his illustrious Lordship the archbishop, Doctor Don Diego Camacho y Avila, [1] were renewed the former claims for the subjection of the regulars to the visitation. He commenced at Tondo and Binondo, mission villages of the fathers of St. Dominic and St. Augustine, in which places he caused edicts to be read, and appointed secular priests as curas. They broke open the doors of the said two churches with axes; and on seeing this the provincials, all agreeing, presented their renunciation [of those mission fields], and ordered all their subordinates to withdraw from the doctrinas of these districts, Tagalos, Pampanga, Laguna, and Balayan. When it was so quickly seen that they were coming into retirement at Manila, [the ecclesiastical authorities] were obliged to desist from their purpose, after [having caused the religious] many annoyances.

Claim was made to the [right of] visitation of the hospitals of San Gabriel and San Lazaro, and the royal hospital. The Franciscans and the Dominicans concealed the keys, and the bishop had to desist, as greatly vexed as before. Auditor Don Juan de Sierra, in virtue of his commission for the adjustment of lands royal and unassigned, [2] cited the regulars to appear before him. He insisted on legal proceedings; but they, fortifying themselves with the censures of the bull De la Cena, [3] decrees 15 and 17, declined his jurisdiction. The judge proceeded to seize the possessions of the regulars; and they had recourse to the bishop, in order that he should declare that the auditor had incurred censure--asking him to defend the immunity of the said property of the regulars. His illustrious Lordship replied that first the regulars must submit to his visitation; they would not do this, and therefore, when they repeated their request, his illustrious Lordship declared that the secular judge was not committing fuerza.

In virtue of the decree of Gregory XIII, [issued] at the instance of Felipe II, relative to appeals from the Indians, [4] the regulars appealed to the delegate of Camarines, who sent letters to the archbishop requiring the latter to send him the documents [in the case], with [threats of] censures, and of deprivation ab ingresu eclesiæ [i.e., "of entrance into the church"]. Seeing that these orders were not obeyed, the regulars again appealed to the delegate, Don Fray Andres Gonzalez, who came in person. He demanded aid from the governor, and, meeting delays, proceeded to make the necessary notifications; then, not being able to obtain from the archbishop the acts from which appeal had been taken, the delegate posted him as having incurred excommunication, and added the threat that he would impose an interdict.

At the same time, the archbishop officiated publicly, and published the delegate as excommunicate. But, seeing that various scandals ensued, and that contests, not only with their hands but with stones and weapons, occurred between some clerics and regulars--some attempting to protect, and others to tear down, the writings and censures posted on the [church] doors by the delegate--the governor and other persons finally interposed, and an agreement was reached by the parties. The two prelates absolved each other ad invicem [i.e., in turn], in the presence of the governor; and, as Auditor Sierra desisted from his proceedings, the two prelates and the regulars continued to maintain harmony among themselves. In this condition, therefore, affairs remained; and, without proceeding to new acts or investigations, each party sent to España an account of what had been thus far done, in order to await the decision and sentence from the other side [of the world]. This was the attitude of the delegate and the superiors of the regulars; the archbishop, nevertheless, continued to bring suits against some regulars, whom he censured as agitators. Investigations in these cases were made, penalties of censure being imposed on the witnesses to secure their secrecy. The fact of this proceeding was, however, guessed; and the regulars, aided by the delegate, brought forward counter-information of their innocence. But as the case was not one for appeal, and did not belong to the delegate, it did not admit any recourse to him; so the delegate only caused his notary to give an official statement of this [attempt at] recourse, in order that the regulars might repair with it to España and Roma, and the generals of their orders, to relate these occurrences and the innocence of the religious--and, not least, to complain of the opposition and hindrances which had been employed here by the tribunals, both ecclesiastical and secular, against his use and exercise of the power delegated to him.

Even before the arrival of the said delegate, various other investigations had been secretly made in the archiepiscopal court--not only against the regulars at large (de vita et moribus [i.e., "in regard to their lives and morals"], and as to their trading and trafficking, etc.), but against certain individual religious. In these cases, the provincials had, according to their rights, demanded from the archbishop that he refrain from further proceedings and surrender to them the documents therein, since the said provincials were the legitimate superiors and judges of those religious; but this received scant attention. It had also previously occurred that the father minister of the hospital of San Gabriel (who is a Dominican) refused to allow the episcopal visitation, and the [arch]bishop had declared him incontinent, and posted him as excommunicate, without paying any attention to the appeal which that father immediately made. The said father minister amended his conduct, in time; but his name was left on the list of excommunicates until, upon the arrival of the delegate, the matter was settled and the censure laid on him was raised.

Upon the origin of so many storms in so short a space as eight months there was much gossip, with a variety [of opinions]. Some attributed the trouble to the influence of the bishop of La Puebla, [5] in whose palace the archbishop was a guest for several months; others to the promise that the latter had given, on leaving Nueva España, to various personages with whom he was intimate in La Puebla and Mexico, that he was coming to reduce the regulars of these islands to submission or else destroy them. Others blamed the bishop of La Puebla; for he had warned the archbishop, in order to render him firm, of the disparity of what had been accomplished there by Don Juan de Palafox--who met less resistance there because most of the regulars in Nueva España were natives of that country, while in Filipinas nearly all of them were born in other countries. Others (and these were the majority) blamed the senior auditor, Don Geronimo Barredo, because with little gratitude for the many thousands [of pesos obtained from the orders] as loans and gifts (although he had been so greatly benefited thereby), he had repaid the regulars by abandoning [them] to the two recently-arrived auditors, Don Francisco Guerruela and Don José Pabon. On the one hand, the Audiencia being inclined to the opposing side, the regulars were deprived of the recourse which they, as vassals, ought to have in the royal tribunal; and on the other, it was reported that the said senior auditor made exceedingly frequent visits, at unseasonable hours, to the archbishop's palace, which were returned by that prelate at the auditor's house. As the gossip ran, the auditor directed all the acts and proceedings of the archbishop's court.

Still others, reflecting upon the governor and the limits of his term of office, regarded him as timorous, considering that, since the [commission to take the governor's] residencia [6] had come to the said senior auditor in the year 97, the fear of the governor was occasioned by the apprehension that the auditor might do him some harm in his residencia. Some others (but only a few) attributed these many disturbances to the cousin of his illustrious Lordship, named Don Juan Camacho, for the sake of his own advantage; and on this account, knowing his disposition, people said that Master-of-camp Don Francisco Guerrero de Ardila had made strenuous efforts, and had even offered to his illustrious Lordship in Mexico considerable sums of money, to procure that, by sending this cousin [7] to Badajoz, his Lordship should not come to these islands with a companion who could not render his government peaceable.

Nor must I pass over in silence the fact that on the sixteenth day of May the royal Audiencia cited to appear in its hall all the five provincials, to whom--without the courteous observances and respectful address which his Majesty himself observes in his decrees--the Audiencia gave a severe reprimand, throwing on them the blame for the late disturbances, and treating them as violators of the peace. The most remarkable thing about this censure was, that it proceeded from the lips of that very senior auditor who, in especial, was regarded as the entire source of the disturbances; and, without permitting the provincials to speak, they were, with the same lack of respect, dismissed by this same official--who some day will have to give an account, before the tribunal of truth, of all these unjust acts.

By the end of the said month, under the compulsion of the threat made against the provincials, by the first, second, and third royal decrees, of banishment and [privation of their] secular incomes, the old-time writ of execution regarding the tithes was enforced, and the religious were obliged to obey. No hearing was given to their repeated protests, or the petitions interposed for the royal Council; nor to their allegations of their rights of prescription in these islands, of their apostolic privileges, of the fact that nearly all who minister here are regulars, and that they have come to these islands not at his Majesty's expense only, but with the greater part of those expenses paid by the religious themselves.

The regulars petitioned for, and took measures to push, a demand upon the royal treasury for more than 300,000 pesos, the amount spent by the religious since the conquest; and another, for another 300,000, the amount which was due to them on account of stipends as religious teachers, which the government had failed to allow them for a period of more than a century--declaring that if these accounts were paid, they would pay the tithes which were claimed from them; but no hearing was given them. In hatred to the regulars, the tenants on their estates were compelled to pay tithes, the amount of these being deducted from the value of the rent-money.

Letter from Andres Gonzalez to the Pope

Most Holy Father:

After kissing with due submission the feet of your Holiness (whom may God preserve, for the prosperous government of His Church), in fulfilment of the obligations of my office as pastor I set forth to your Holiness a very serious controversy in regard to jurisdiction, which at this time has arisen between me and the very reverend archbishop of this city of Manila in these Filipinas Islands, Doctor Don Diego Camacho y Avila. I do so in order that your Holiness, as the person who is most interested in the peace and tranquillity of this church, may apply suitable remedy, and fix an end and limit to this controversy--the origin and course of which I will relate as briefly as possible, in all matters referring to the authentic copy of the acts which I send you with this.

To Licentiate Don Juan de Sierra Osorio, former auditor of this royal Audiencia, and at present judge of criminal cases in the Audiencia of Mejico, was subdelegated the cognizance and settlement of [questions relating to] the lands and possessions which, by sale or gift, have been alienated from the royal patrimony and dominion of our Catholic king and sovereign. In a proclamation which he issued he cited and summoned, with the rest of the holders of the said lands and possessions, the holy religious orders of these islands, ordering them to present, within the limit of one year, the titles, documents, and credentials which they hold for these lands--with the warning that if these papers were not presented by the end of that period the lands would be reunited to the crown. The superiors of the said religious orders, mindful of the immunity and exemption of their persons and worldly possessions, did not present their documents at the said time; therefore the said auditor actually proceeded to appropriate the said property. The said superiors had recourse to the said very reverend archbishop, asking him to forbid to the said auditor the cognizance of the said cause, and to protect the said property as being ecclesiastical. The said very reverend archbishop took up the matter, and, having drawn up acts, by his definitive sentence (which is found in the said authentic copy) refused ecclesiastical immunity to the said property. The said superiors appealed twice from the said sentence to me, as being the delegate of your Holiness in cases of appeal from this archbishopric, in virtue of a brief by his Holiness Gregory XIII--issued at the instance of our Catholic king Felipe II (whom may God keep). He denied them both these appeals; and, in order to place some limit to these proceedings, they presented themselves before me, with only the authentic official statement of this denial of the said appeals, in course of appeal from that sentence. Having admitted this appeal, in order to proceed to the trial of it I addressed to the said very reverend archbishop, from my episcopal see and city of Nueva Caceres, a compulsatory act in which, as the delegate of your Holiness with apostolic authority, I commanded him to order his secretary (before whom the said cause took place) within twenty-four hours to send me his original acts, or else to begin the copying of them and send it to me when completed. Considering the great distance which lies between this city of Nueva Caceres and that of Manila, the danger and expense of the journeys, the delay of the suit, and the injury to the party therein, I laid these commands on the said very reverend archbishop under the penalty of suspension from the priestly office, latæ sententiæ, and warned him of heavier and still heavier censures and penalties in case of his opposition and contumacy. He was notified of this act on the twentieth day of last March, by a religious of the Society of Jesus, to whom I gave commission for this office; for I had learned that no secular priest would dare to make this notification. The said very reverend archbishop, having heard the [reading of the] act, replied that the said father could not perform judicial acts in his archdiocese without presenting a warrant from his notary; and, even supposing that the father could thus act, he appealed from the said command--for which he implored the royal aid against fuerza, and demanded that an official statement be given him, and that meanwhile no detriment be caused him. When the statement was refused to him he again appealed, and threatened [to procure] royal aid against this fuerza; and this alone he gave as his reply, before the said notary--without giving any reason for his appeal, or reducing it to writing, or arguing it in the superior court [8] in legal form, or asking for apostolic letters, up to the present time. Nevertheless, he then had, and for twenty-three days had kept, the acts in his archives, as appears from a sworn statement by Lerma, the secretary of the royal Audiencia, which is sent with the documents. On that same day (March 20) and the following, he caused to be published and posted on the doors of the churches in this city two edicts against my authority as delegate--in which, with penalty of major excommunication, latæ sententiæ, he commanded (in the first edict) that no one, whether secular or regular, in his churches should permit the reading, publication, or posting of any edicts, or of any other kind of letters or bills whatsoever, except those of his provisor, or of the tribunals of the Holy Inquisition and the Crusade--as if my tribunal, jurisdiction, and authority, which is that of the supreme head of the Church, and resides in me, were inferior to those of the said provisor and the said tribunals. In the second edict, increasing the penalty of major excommunication with the reservation to himself [of absolution], he commanded that no one in his archiepiscopal territory should exercise any jurisdiction--whether ordinary, delegate, or subdelegate--even if it were from your Holiness, unless the originals of the bulls or despatches that he carried be first presented to his Lordship, in order that he might give them the license and fulfilment which by right they should have. But he does not consider that my bull and brief is, and has been for more than 140 [9] years since the foundation of the bishoprics of these islands, current and put into practice in them, as also has been its free and independent exercise in this archiepiscopal territory. And I have exercised this freedom, on the only two occasions which have been presented to me--the first time, while the very reverend archbishop Don Fray Felipe Pardo was alive, and the second in the year 91--with the knowledge and approbation of the cabildo close by, sede vacante, both which are proved by authentic documents. These I do not send at this time, as they are in my archives in the city of Nueva Caceres, which is distant from this city of Manila sixty leguas; but I promise to send them at the first opportunity, which will be next year. Notwithstanding all this, the said very reverend archbishop published the said two edicts, endeavoring to impede and embarrass, by all possible measures, means, and ways, the said my jurisdiction as delegate, and to subordinate it to his own, in order that I should not exercise or avail myself of it, either in person or through intermediate persons. On account of this, the superiors of the said religious orders found themselves obliged to resort again to me; and they entreated me to come in person to this city of Manila, to defend my jurisdiction, and with it the ecclesiastical immunity of their property. I did so, notwithstanding my advanced age [10] and the painful infirmities that I suffer, since both these causes are so important a part of my responsibility and obligation. I came to this city on the twelfth day of the past month, May, and with my secretary went to a house on the river where the said very reverend archbishop was residing. After a short conversation, I begged him to be pleased to listen peaceably to an act of which I had come, as delegate of his Holiness, to notify him. I told him that this business should not be conducted more castrorum [i.e., in hostile manner], but that we should listen to each other, and each should state his rights. He agreed to this, and my secretary read the said act, which contains three points. In the first, I declared the said very reverend archbishop to be disobedient, rebellious, and contumacious, considering that he had not obeyed as he should the said my compulsory act, sent to him from the city of Nueva Caceres; likewise, I declared that he had incurred the penalty of suspension from the priestly office latæ sententiæ, under which I had commanded him to order his secretary within twenty-four hours to surrender the acts for which I had asked, or to make an authentic copy of them. And because he had exercised the said priestly office on Holy Thursday, consecrating the sacred oils; and on Holy Saturday, in conferring the higher orders of the ministry; [11] and likewise on other days, in saying mass while he was under suspension: I declared that he was under censure as irregular. In the second part of the said act, I again commanded him, under penalty of major excommunication, latæ sententiæ, and of a fine of two thousand pesos to be applied according to law, to order his secretary within six days to deliver up the papers as aforesaid, or make an authentic copy of them. And in the third part, under penalty of being considered rebellious and contumacious, in order to place him under greater obligation, I prohibited to him in the interim the cognizance of this cause and legal proceeding therein. After the said very reverend archbishop had heard the act, he appealed from it, in writing, and on the following day brought this appeal into court. I did not on this account defer the declaration of the said censures, since the appeal was frivolous and useless; and I yielded in the matter of the copy of the documents only for the reason that he alleged, that the originals of these were in the Audiencia. After he had interposed the said appeal, he immediately ordered his secretary to notify me of an act by himself, in which he commanded me, under penalty of major excommunication, latæ sententiæ, and a fine of 4,000 pesos, to depart instantly and without delay from this archdiocese, to go to reside in my own bishopric, and not to meddle with his jurisdiction. To this I replied that I had received this notification, and asked him to give me a copy of the said document, solely for the purpose of showing in what consisted his illegal and unwarranted act; and I took leave of him and returned to my house. On the following day, the thirteenth of the said month of May, the said very reverend archbishop sent his secretary to notify me of another act, in which also he again commanded me, under penalty of major excommunication, latæ sententiæ, and of another 4,000 pesos, to depart within two days from the archdiocese. To this I replied that I had come [to Manila] on account of the appeal [made to me]; that I was a delegate of your Holiness, and moreover superior to the said very reverend archbishop, and as such I did not listen to his acts or censures. On the next day, the fourteenth of the said month of May, he sent to me notification of another act; and as I refused to listen to it, for the same reason as before, about two o'clock in the afternoon he posted on the doors of the churches, and in other public places, notices in which he declared me, to the great scandal of all this community, to be publicly excommunicated.

On the said thirteenth day of May, in the morning, immediately after I had been notified of the second act of the said very reverend archbishop, I sent my secretary to his house on the river to notify him of another act of mine, in which I commanded him, under penalty of major excommunication and another 2,000 pesos, to withdraw within twenty-four hours the said edicts which on the twentieth and twenty-first days of March he had ordered posted and published against my apostolic authority as delegate; and, besides, to withdraw the two acts in which, with the said penalties of major excommunication and 8,000 pesos, he had commanded me to depart from the archdiocese. The said my secretary was told by the servants that he was not at home; and I, as this seemed to me only an excuse, and not the truth, went in person to the said house. They told me that he had, that very morning, gone back to Manila. I came to the city after him, and remained at his house, waiting for him, until twelve o'clock; and seeing that he had not come by that time (although he came in afterward), I went away, leaving a message for him, that he might expect me in the afternoon. I returned a little before sunset, but did not find him at home this time. My secretary began to read the said act in the main room of the archbishop's house; but such disorderly yelling and clamorous talk was raised by his servants that my secretary could not make himself heard. I therefore determined to wait for him, and finally he came--making loud complaints that I was injuring the respect and observance due to his house, person, and dignity. I replied that his illustrious Lordship had showed greater incivilities to me; and that he could and ought to do [what I had done], if I had gone about all day, avoiding him [huyendo el cuerpo]. In conclusion, we agreed that my secretary should go again, alone, to notify him of the act; but, when he went to the house, his illustrious Lordship refused to give him entrance. As I was now weary of so much artfulness and craft, unworthy of such a station and dignity, I put aside this act, and despatched another of like tenor. In this, I summoned him, from that hour, under penalty of major excommunication, latæ sententiæ, and its publication, to withdraw within half an hour the said two acts and two edicts. Notification of this act was made by a Dominican religious, my notary, in the archbishop's hall, in the presence of many persons, because the said very reverend archbishop had refused to listen to it. When the said half-hour had expired, a little while after this was told to me I declared and posted him also as publicly excommunicated. On the fifteenth of the said month of May, I ordered that he be notified, and he was notified in his archiepiscopal hall, of another act, in which I repeated the command contained in the preceding one--and, still more, that he should take down the notices posted against me, under penalty of a general interdict throughout his archiepiscopal diocese, latæ sententiæ, giving him a limit of twenty-four hours' time; and, in case of his opposition and contumacy, I would proceed to the cessation of all divine worship. But, as I reflected that it was very near the feast of Corpus Christi, and that all the religious orders of this city and a great number of secular priests, who were on my side, would not take part in the said festival and in the procession, in order not to have communication in sacris with the said very reverend archbishop; and on account of the commiseration which I felt for this commonwealth; and finally, because the governor and captain-general of these islands, and some of the auditors of this royal Audiencia interfered in the matter, with the stipulations which I will send with the acts: I absolved the said very reverend archbishop from the excommunication and suspension which he had incurred; and he did the same, without my consent, absolving me from his excommunication. I dispensed him from the censure that he had incurred as irregular, and, finally, I suspended the declaration of the interdict. The whole matter was then left as it was, for the time being, until information of all could be given to your Holiness, in order that you may take suitable measures in this case. These are as follows: That the archbishop (or the cabildo, sede vacante) who at the time shall officiate and rule in this archbishopric of Manila shall not hinder, restrain, or limit the delegate of your Holiness; that, likewise, he who shall be at the time delegate shall, in cases of appeal to be taken from the said archbishopric, have the free use and exercise of his apostolic authority as delegate in this archiepiscopal territory; and that he shall not need, in order to enter the said territory or to perform judicial acts in it, whether in person or through intermediate persons appointed by him, any license, consent, or approbation from the said archbishop or from the cabildo, sede vacante. [These things should be done] in order that thus the like controversies may be avoided in the future. And I entreat your Holiness to be pleased and to deign to command that consideration be given to a legal opinion by the reverend father master Fray Juan de Paz, of the Order of Preachers, which I send with this; for it may be of service for the point at issue, and for your rights. I also inform your Holiness that from the day when the said very reverend archbishop set foot in these islands--that is, from last September to the present time--this entire commonwealth has been a perplexing labyrinth of contentions and acts of violence which he has performed against the holy religious orders of these islands. For his disposition and nature is very hasty, quarrelsome, and bold; and he is, finally, a man who does not care for or defend the ecclesiastical immunity--as appears from the authentic copy of the acts which I send. May God our Lord grant him better judgment; and may He guard and prosper your Holiness, as I entreat in my sacrifices and prayers, and as the universal Church has need. Manila, June 2 of the year 1698.

[Andres Gonzalez, of the Order of Preachers].

[This letter is followed by the following memoranda, apparently notes by Ventura del Arco of other letters found in the Jesuit papers in the Academia Real de la Historia:]

On the fourth day of June in the same year of 1698 the bishop of Nueva Caceres, Don Fray Andres Gonzalez, addressed to the king an explanation similar to the preceding one which is addressed to his Holiness. On the eleventh of June in the same year, he sent to his Holiness another account, in the same form; and on the twenty-first of June of the same year he wrote another to his Holiness, and another to the king.

The provincials of St. Dominic and St. Augustine, and those of the Jesuits and Recollects in Manila drew up [to send] to his Majesty the king a statement, dated June 25, 1698, complaining of the defenseless condition in which they found themselves against the proceedings of the archbishop, who neither heeded nor allowed their appeal; and they requested that the Council examine the documents which they sent for that purpose, relating to various suits against their religious orders--which continued or were renewed, in spite of the agreement made with the delegate of his Holiness, the bishop of Camarines. For this purpose they sent a copy of the documents.

[On pp. 207, 208 of the same volume is the following abstract:] In a letter dated June 9, 1700 the Jesuit Luis de Morales wrote from Manla to Father Antonio Jaramillo, procurator-general at Madrid, that in the year 1698 the bishop of Troya and Auditor Don Juan de Sierra died, on the voyage from Manila to Acapulco. The governor not only showed little favor to the missions in the Marianas Islands, but in the year 98 he did not send a patache there with succor; in 99 he sent the vessel late, and it was driven by storms first to China and then to Manila, with damage to its cargo; and he had ordered that the ship from Acapulco should not touch at those islands. The governor had claimed that the conciliar seminary [12] should be placed next to the college of San Jose, to which the superior of the Society had answered that there was no room for it. All the provincials [of the religious orders] had been commanded to present to the archbishop all their bulls and privileges for granting dispensation in case of impediments to marriage, for the purpose of ascertaining whether these were perpetual or temporary; they presented the documents extra-judicially. It seems that the viceroy of Mexico, Conde Montezuma, [13] had undertaken that the regulars who were going to Filipinas should first take an oath of obedience to the bishops, [when the said regulars should act as curas] in the Indian villages; in which case, he [i.e., Morales] said, it was preferable to abandon the missions. The bishop of Cebu, Don Fray Miguel Bayot, [14] had commanded that no layman should possess a slave girl eleven years old or upward; and that if such slave were not liberated he declared her free--in regard to which some persons had complained [to the] alcalde.

Preamble of the decree [15] which it has been commanded to place in the books of San Pedro Tunasan.