Chapter V: Part 5

[Don Fausto Cruzat y Gongora is succeeded, after eleven years as governor, by Don Domingo de Zabalburú y Echeverri, a knight of the Order of Santiago; he was appointed in 1694, but does not take possession until September 8, 1701. Finding considerable money in the royal treasury, he employs it on important public works. He constructs wharves at Cavite, completes the royal storehouses, and rebuilds the powder-factory lower down from Malate, with suitable fortifications for its defense; and he pays careful attention to the construction of galleons for the Acapulco trade-route. A quarrel arising between the petty kings of Mindanao and Joló, the former (named Curay) is slain, and his successor asks Governor Zabalburú for aid against the Joloans, which the governor prudently declines to furnish. In the year 1705 the Manila galleon "San Xavier" departs from Acapulco, and is never heard from, being lost with all it contains, to the great sorrow and loss of the citizens of Manila. One of the auditors goes (1702) as official visitor to the province of Camarines, [35] and disturbs its affairs with his "scandalous proceedings," especially his accusations against the Franciscan friars who are in charge of the Indian villages there. In consequence, they hasten to Manila to secure the aid of the courts there, leaving their charges without spiritual ministrations; the Franciscan provincial is therefore despatched to that province with orders to station ministers therein. Those missions had previously been for forty-five years in the hands of the Recollects.]

[In September, 1704, arrives at Manila the papal legate Carlos Thomas Tournon, on his way to China for the settlement of various ecclesiastical difficulties there; he treats the governor and other officials [36] with arrogance, refusing to exhibit his credentials, and exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction to such an extent that he antagonizes the religious orders and infringes on the royal prerogatives. These proceedings are tolerated by both governor and archbishop, although manifestly improper and objectionable; but when they are reported at Madrid the king is greatly displeased, and decrees that the governor be removed from office, and disqualified for holding it, and those of the auditors who assented to his acts be punished. Archbishop Camacho also incurs the displeasure of the king, which is increased by his having meddled with the affairs of the royal seminary of San Phelipe, and used at his own pleasure certain ecclesiastical revenues properly in charge of the secular government; and the governor fails to check him, and even to notify the home government of these unwarranted proceedings, which are reported at Madrid by ecclesiastical channels. Camacho is accordingly removed from his see, and transferred to the bishopric of Guadalaxara in Mexico. [37] (He is regarded by Concepción as a very zealous and charitable prelate; he collected from various sources more than 40,000 pesos, which he spent in the adornment and improvement of the cathedral church at Manila, and for this and other pious purposes he incurred debts amounting to over 20,000 pesos more. He promoted the missions of Paynaan and San Isidro, going in person to persuade the Aetas (or Negritos) to be converted.) Zabalburú, having undergone his residencia, leaves Manila in the year 1710, and, after having suffered shipwreck in the Bahama Channel, reaches Spain, where he dies after a few years. In 1707 the Acapulco galleon "Rosario" arrives, "with so much silver that it made that fair [at Acapulco] famous;" it also brings a new archbishop, Fray Francisco de la Cuesta, "a professed religious in the distinguished monastic order of San Geronimo," who wins golden opinions from all. [38] Before long, however, the old question of the right of episcopal visitation of the regular curas again arises; Cuesta tries to enforce this right, but with little result. [39] A full account of this is given by Concepción, with the arguments adduced therein.]

[In 1709 the new governor arrives, Conde de Lizarraga (appointed in 1704); he is equitable, upright, and of affable manners. He finds an undesirable surplus of Chinamen in the islands, and sends back many of them to their own country, although many others buy permission to remain in Luzón. [40] During his term occurs the controversy between some of the friar orders and the bishop of Nueva Segovia, Fray Diego de Gorospe y Irala (himself a Dominican), over the claim of the latter to include the regulars in his official visitations. The matter is carried to the Audiencia, the decision of which is unfavorable to the bishop; he dies soon afterward (early in 1714?), after having occupied his see nine years. Little else appears to mark the official term of Lizarraga, who dies in 1715.]

THE GOVERNMENT AND DEATH OF BUSTAMANTE

[A brief summary of the events antecedent to and connected with the government of Bustamante is here presented, obtained from the very detailed and prolix account in Concepción's Historia de Philipinas, ix, pp. 183-424.]

[The Conde de Lizarraga, who began to govern the islands in August, 1709, dies at Manila on February 4, 1715; and the vacancy in his office is, as usual, temporarily filled by the Audiencia, Auditor José Torralba assuming charge of military affairs. In the Tournon affair of 1704, the senior auditor, José Antonio Pabon, had not resisted Tournon's unwarranted assumption of authority, and had therefore inclined the displeasure of the home government, being deprived of his office and fined. He thereupon petitioned for a reversal of this sentence, and restitution to his office and salary, which was granted by a royal decree of April 15, 1713; this document arrives at Manila during Torralba's rule, who declines, on various pretexts, to reinstate Pabon, and even attempts to obtain evidence damaging to his official character. Pabon therefore is obliged to take refuge in the Augustinian convent at Manila, and remains there until the arrival of Bustamante; the latter brings suit against Torralba to compel him to obey the royal decree in favor of Pabon, and to pay all moneys due to the auditor. Torralba had also instituted proceedings against another auditor, Gregorio Manuel de Villa, and two officers, Santos Perez Tagle and Luis Antonio de Tagle, on the charge of their having aided and abetted the Castilian Recollect religious in their revolt against their superiors in the order. (After the dissensions between the religious orders and Archbishop Camacho, resulting from his attempt to enforce episcopal visitation of the regular curas, the despatch of missionaries to the islands is greatly diminished, partly on account of those dissensions, partly because the "seas are infested with English and Dutch squadrons." All the orders therefore suffer from a scarcity of laborers; but the Recollects are fortunately reënforced by a mission band, conducted by Fray Joseph de Santa Gertrudis, of fifty-seven religious, "among them the flower of the province of Castilla." Later, in the distribution of the ministries and offices of the order in the islands, strife arises; the older members of the province--mostly from Aragón, with some from Valencia and Cataluña--secure all the best offices, as against the Castilians. When the provincial chapter meets, the latter present their claims, but are rebuffed; thereupon they convene a chapter of their own, in the convent at Bagumbayan, and elect a provincial and other officers. This throws all the business of the order into confusion, and Governor Lizarraga persuades the two parties to refer the controversy to the head of the order in Europe and to abide by his decision, which finally recognizes as legal the chapter held at Manila. Various difficulties arise in attempting to enforce this decision, but Lizarraga, who favors the Castilians, induces the provincial to leave them with their students at Bagumbayan. After the governor's death, Torralba aids the provincial by sending troops and bombarding that convent, to bring back the recalcitrants to Manila.) Torralba, having arrested Villa and the Tagles, keeps them in rigorous confinement, and hinders their appeal to the Council of the Indias; both sides send to Madrid statements of their respective claims. By royal decrees of August 18, 1718, all of Torralba's proceedings against them, as well as against Auditor Pabon, are declared null and void, and they are restored to their respective offices. Bustamante assumes the governorship on August 9, 1717; his first proceeding is to investigate the condition of the royal treasury, which he finds in bad condition, with large sums due to it and unpaid by the citizens. He takes severe measures to compel the payment of these debts to the government--among them, laying an embargo on the cargo of the galleon which comes this year from Acapulco, in which large amounts of goods and money have been brought illegally, to avoid payment of duties. A complete investigation of the ownership and registration of this wealth is ordered, the governor placing it in the charge of Andres Fernandez de Arquiju and Esteban Hizguiño. As a consequence of the governor's energetic measures, within the first six months of his government the sum of 220,671 pesos is placed in the royal treasury, besides the situado for that year, which amounts to 74,482 pesos; and the balance of accounts on February 1, 1718, shows that the treasury actually contains 293,444 pesos, besides jewels and other valuables deposited for debts to the crown. Concepción gives the principal items of revenue and expense at that time. An embargo is also laid on the silver which comes in the galleon of 1718, but little advantage therefrom results to the treasury. This financial investigation also shows that Torralba, during his government, and the royal officials had mismanaged the royal revenues, shown great carelessness in the bookkeeping, accounts, and allowed funds to disappear without any satisfactory accounting; Bustamante therefore imprisons them all, and seizes their goods.]

[At various times the Christian natives of the island of Paragua ask the Manila government, through the Recollect missionaries in whose care they are, for a Spanish fort and garrison in their island to protect them from the Moro pirates; but no action is taken on this until 1718, when Bustamante orders a fort to be built at Labo, near the southern point of the island. [41] The Recollect province contributes to this enterprise 500 pesos, which are due to it from the royal treasury. About the same time the fortress at Zamboanga is also rebuilt, Bustamante insisting upon this work, against the advice of many of his counselors. He sends an embassy to Siam, to establish with that king friendly and commercial relations; the Spaniards are received with great pomp and lavish entertainment, and rich presents are exchanged in behalf of the respective monarchs of Spain and Siam; and land is granted to the Spaniards on the bank of the Chow Payah (or Meinam) River, for the erection of a trading factory. "It is the place that formerly was called Campo Japon, and is named Nuestra Señora de el Soto ["Our Lady of the Grove"]; it is sixty-four brazas square, on the east side of the river, and distant from it a hundred brazas." It is also a convenient place at which to make arrangements for the building of ships, and the Siamese will supply them with lumber (including teak wood) and iron for this construction. The Spaniards return to Manila in August, preceded by a Siamese embassy; but Bustamante is so preoccupied with other matters that he pays no attention to the strangers, and they are even badly treated. They return to Siam angry and resentful, and desire no further dealings with the Spaniards.]

[In 1719 the royal Audiencia is broken up by the lack of auditors: Torralba being imprisoned in Fort Santiago, two others--Julian de Velasco and Francisco Fernandez Toribio--being held in confinement, and Pabon being not yet reinstated in office. "Only Don Gregorio Manuel de Villa was in possession [of the auditor's functions], through the death of the fiscal, Don Antonio de Casas y Albarado; but as Señor Villa did not agree with the harsh and violent opinions of the governor, he retired to the convent of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, distant two leguas from the city." At this time Bustamante is told that a general conspiracy is being formed against him, "of all the citizens, and all the religious orders, and the clergy, influential persons being pointed out who were allying themselves with the Sangleys, who were to commit the parricide." Thereupon, Torralba begins to hope for release, and Bustamante talks over the situation with him, asking his advice. The result is, that the governor transfers Torralba to the government buildings, nominally as a prisoner, but rehabilitates him as auditor; with Doctor José Correa as associate judge, and Agustin Guerrero as fiscal; and they contrive various measures against their enemies. Many persons are arrested by this quasi government, and many others through fear take refuge in the churches. Among the latter is a notary-public, Don Antonio de Osejo y Vazquez, who carries his official records to the cathedral, and refuses to surrender them. A decree is therefore issued by the temporary Audiencia requiring the archbishop to see that the records are given up and returned to the proper place; he promises to obey, but delays doing so; upon being ordered a second time to attend to the matter, he answers by presenting the opinions of the two universities, which the prelate has consulted in this emergency, and which support him in declining to allow the right of sanctuary to be infringed, and in regarding the so-called Audiencia as illegally constituted. The governor issues a proclamation ordering all able-bodied male citizens to present themselves, armed, in the palace when a certain signal shall be given. The archbishop excommunicates Torralba for his proceedings against the ecclesiastical immunity; he sends notification of this punishment by Canon Don Manuel de Ossio and Doctor Fuentes, who force their way into Torralba's apartment, late in the evening of October 10, and force him to listen to the reading of the censure; but he contrives to get hold of a sword, and drives them out of the room. The next morning the governor calls the citizens to arms, and causes the arrest (in virtue of decrees made by his Audiencia in the night) of the archbishop, his messengers to Torralba, the superiors of the religious orders, and many other ecclesiastics. At this, a tumult arises among the people; an interdict is laid on the city; and a conspiracy is formed against the governor. "The religious of St. Francis, St. Dominic, and St. Augustine (both calced and discalced) came out from their convents, each as a body, carrying in their hands crucifixes and shouting, 'Long live [Viva] the Faith! long live the Church! long live our king Don Phelipe V!' Perhaps also resounded such utterances as in these cases are peculiar to the common people and to a tumultuous populace. These religious were joined by those who had taken refuge in the churches, and by a great number of people of all classes, and they went in this array to [the church of] San Agustin. Those who had taken refuge there, who were among the most distinguished citizens, filled with fear lest they should be taken from their asylum and put to death, joined the crowd, and promoted the sedition, all providing themselves with arms. A page of the governor, hearing the confusion and yells, entered his master's apartment, and in alarm gave him the news that various religious were coming toward the palace, conducting a mission. The governor, greatly disturbed, sprang up, and ordered the guards to keep back the crowd; he went to a window, and heard that from the corner of the cathedral tower thirty men were asked for to check the people, who were marching through that street. He despatched an order to the fort to discharge the artillery at the crowd; but he was so little obeyed that, although they applied the match to two cannons, these were aimed so low that the balls were buried in the middle of the esplanade of the fort. Without opposition this multitude arrived at the doors of the palace, the Jesuits following at a short distance, with many of the common people and many boys, the entire crowd, with deafening yells, repeating the vivas of the religious. As for the soldiers of the guard, some retreated in fear, and others in terror laid down their arms. The mob climbed up by ladders, and entered the first hall, the halberdiers not firing the swivel-guns that had been provided, although the governor commanded them to do so; he now went forward to meet them, with a gun, its bayonet fixed, and gave confused orders to his retainers to seize the weapons which by his order had been taken from them. One of the religious presented himself to the governor, and tried to set forth to him the misfortunes into which he was rushing headlong; but at the first words that he uttered, the governor, already furious, said to him, 'Go away, Father!' He attempted to discharge his gun at a citizen standing near, and it missed fire; then the governor drew his sabre and wounded the citizen; the latter, and with him all the rest at once, attacked the governor. They broke his right arm, and a blow on his head from a sabre caused him to fall like one dead. His son the sargento-mayor, who was in command at the fort, seeing the great throng of people who were entering the palace, mounted his horse to go to his father's aid. Entering the guard-room, sabre in hand, he wounded several persons; but as he was not sufficient for so many, he was attacked by them and fell from his horse in a dying condition, and they left him there. Some life still remained in the governor, but he gave no sign of it; and, supposing that he was dead, the people occupied themselves with imprisoning some and releasing others." Concepción mentions the ministrations of the Jesuit Otazo (whose account of the affair follows this), to Bustamante, and states that the dying man suffered many indignities at the hands of the mob; they even dragged him along, in a hammock, to thrust him into a dungeon, and while doing so a slave stabbed Bustamante twice near the heart. Finally they leave him stretched on a couch in the chapel of the royal prison, and without any medical care; the dean of the cathedral (who has just been freed from Bustamante's prison) summons a surgeon to attend the dying governor and his son, but he is destitute of bandages and other appliances, and when he returns with these the governor is dead. [42] Concepción describes this episode indignantly, as "an abominable crime," which was discredited by the upright and honorable citizens, and relates the excesses committed by the mob, who broke open the prisons, and set free the worst criminals. At the beginning, they had liberated the imprisoned ecclesiastics; and now they insist that the archbishop, Fray Francisco de la Cuesta, shall act as governor ad interim. With great reluctance, and yielding only to the clamors of the people, the need that some one who can quiet them shall assume authority in this disturbed condition of affairs, and the advice of the leading ecclesiastics in all the orders, Cuesta accepts this charge, and takes the usual oath of office as governor until the king shall make another appointment. He forms an audiencia with the legal auditors still remaining--Velasco, Toribio, and Villa; and they together organize the temporary government, Pabon also being reinstated, later. A public funeral is given to the two Bustamantes, for which a thousand pesos are taken from the goods of the deceased, the other four thousand being allowed by the royal officials for the maintenance and the passage to Mexico of the governor's six remaining children (their mother having died soon after reaching the islands--according to Torralba, through Bustamante's neglect of her in a serious illness); the funeral is so ostentatious that in it are consumed seven and a half quintals (or hundredweights) of wax.]

[The archbishop [43] sets on foot an investigation into the riot and the murder of the governor and his son; the substance of many of the depositions made in this matter is related by our author, but little information of value is obtained from them; no one will admit that he knows who dealt the fatal blows. Torralba [44] testifies against the governor, condemning his fierce disposition, tyrannical acts, and "diabolical craftiness." According to this witness, Bustamante was carried away by greed, and appropriated to himself the goods of many persons whom he imprisoned; resentment at this was general throughout the islands, [45] and caused a revolt in Cagayán, from which resulted another in Pangasinán, in which the alcalde-mayor, Antonio de el Valle, and other persons were killed. The auditors propose to investigate also the persons who had taken refuge in the convent of San Agustin, and afterward joined the mob; but they are advised by Doctor Ossio that this proceeding will too greatly disturb the community; that to proceed against these persons will be to cast odium on and grieve nearly all the citizens, since the commotion was so general; that all those who went out on that occasion did so "in defense of the ecclesiastical immunity, the preservation of this city, the self-defense of its inhabitants, and the reputation of the [Spanish] nation;" and that to carry out this plan would be likely to cause some disturbance of the public peace. The officials accordingly suspend the execution of the decrees that they had issued, and send to the Madrid government a report of all their proceedings in the matter, with copies of all the documents. In Mexico, however, the affair is viewed differently. The guardian of Bustamante's children, Balthasar de Castañeda Vizente de Alhambra, brings criminal suit before the viceroy, Marqués de Valero, against four of the citizens of Manila for the murder of the Bustamantes. Two of these men--Juan Fausto Gaicoechea y Gainza, and Diego de Salazar--are consequently arrested at Acapulco (March, 1721) and imprisoned, their goods being seized. The inquiry at Acapulco is equally fruitless, but Castañeda presses it before the viceroy, making definite accusations regarding the murder, and claiming that the authorities at Manila have slurred over the investigation of the murders, through undue influence of interested parties, and have made only enough effort to find the culprits to preserve their own reputation at Madrid; and he brings forward various evidence in support of his claims. The viceroy finally refers the case to the new governor of Filipinas, Marqués de Torre Campo, sending to him the accused persons, and Gregorio de Bustamante, nephew of the late governor. In January, 1720, the fort at Labo in the island of Paragua is abandoned, notwithstanding the entreaties of the Recollect missionaries there that it be maintained and reënforced--a measure for which Concepción accounts by the hatred felt toward Bustamante, who had established that post; and by the readiness of the Manila government to keep up the fort of Zamboanga, under the pressure exercised by the Jesuits, whose "astute policy" secured votes for that action, desired by them for the protection of their missions in Mindanao--an influence which the Recollects lacked. As soon as Labo is abandoned, the Moro pirates begin their raids on the northern islands, even going to the vicinity of Manila; and they undertake to form a general conspiracy against the Spanish power in the archipelago. The kings of Joló and Mindanao, however, profess to decline to enter this, finding their interest in an alliance with the Spaniards. On December 8, 1720, an attack is made by Moros against the fort at Zamboanga, but it is repulsed; those from Joló and Mindanao then come, professing friendship, but treacherously turn against the Spaniards and attack the fort; after a two months' siege, they are finally driven away, with considerable loss. [46] The Moros afterward ravage the Calamianes and other islands, carrying away many captives, and killing a Recollect missionary, Fray Manuel de Jesús María.]

Letter from Diego de Otazo, S.J.

I will not omit sending a relation to Madrid, on this occasion when letters are sent from Manila to that court, of the tumultuous changes [here], of which your Reverence probably knows--if perchance (even though my influence be little and my authority less) my letter, when communicated to the father confessors of his Majesty and Highness, may contribute to the greater glory of God, and the welfare of these islands and of the souls who are converted in them, and those who may yet be converted when this community is established in tranquillity and order; it is this alone which I regard as the only object for which I can and ought to strive, since this alone has brought me to these islands.

Father Procurator: Don Fernando Bustillos y Bustamante (whom may God have forgiven) began his government of these islands with so much violence that, as he carried it to the extreme, this very thing deprived him of life. Blinded by the two mighty passions, greed and pride, and exercising the absolute power that the government of these islands confers on him, and taking advantage of the great distance from his sovereign master, [the result was that] all the citizens had to follow him and comply with his purposes, which were directed to his own interests, and measured only by his own desires. The dungeons of the jails and castles came to be filled with those persons who opposed or might oppose him; and the churches and convents were full of those who had sought refuge there, dreading lest they too might be imprisoned. The few Spaniards (and they were very few) who were outside went about--let us say, by way of explanation--with one foot on the street and the other in the church; and with the fear that if they lay down at night in their homes they would awake in a dungeon.

The archbishop, impelled by his conscience, undertook to employ some means--advising the governor like a father, and with the utmost possible circumspection, and after having consulted others--to see if he could check what was already dreaded; but, when he gave the governor his first paternal warning, the latter had become entirely blind, and determined to expel from Manila his illustrious Lordship, the superiors and professors in the religious orders, and the secular priests in the cathedral who had high positions and learning.

This fatal controversy began to find expression on the ninth or tenth of October, his illustrious Lordship desiring the governor to cease his intimacy with [quitarle de su lado] the auditor whom he held a prisoner [i.e., Torralba]--with whom, while thus a prisoner, he was drawing up, at his own pleasure, and without any possibility of objection, the royal decrees which he judged necessary to his purpose. The archbishop sent the doctoral canon of the church and another prebend in order that, after the canonical warnings, they might notify [the auditor] of the excommunication which he had incurred by complying with so exceedingly illegal a proceeding. What occurred there when the doctoral canon carried this message I am unable to say; but the result was that they treated the canon and the other prebend badly, confining them as prisoners, and this was the answer that the archbishop received; the fact itself is known, but nothing else.

At daybreak on the eleventh his illustrious Lordship, in much anxiety, sent out to summon to his palace the superiors of the religious orders and other learned ecclesiastical persons, in order to hold counsel with them; but hardly had they assembled with him when they found that the archiepiscopal palace was besieged by armed soldiers, who had orders not to allow any one to depart, or any others to enter. One of the officers, entering the apartments of his illustrious Lordship, informed him that he must immediately go with him, by order of the king, the royal assembly, etc.; and thus, surrounded by soldiers, they carried the prelate to the fort on the plaza. In the same way they proceeded with the rest, his lambs, and, separating them from their shepherd and from one another, led them away and confined them in different divisions of the prison and the house of the Audiencia.

The interdict was published, and the bells began to toll, which disquieted all the people--religious, ecclesiastics, and laymen. Those who had taken refuge in the sacred buildings thought that they were ruined, and those outside felt deprived of the asylum of the church. This disturbance lasted from eight to twelve o'clock; at the latter hour the turbulent crowd proceeded, without order or concert, to the palace of the governor, and entered it without opposition from either the outposts or the soldiers of the guard. Shouting, "Long live the Faith and the Church!" they rushed upstairs, and at that same hour fell upon the governor with weapons, until he fell on the floor with wounds, and demanding confession, and they left him for dead. Then his eldest son arriving--who had been going about the city arresting the priests, and busy with other orders of that sort--the mob killed him also, which occasioned the death of a poor Indian. All these events occurred in about a quarter of an hour, so that by a quarter past twelve even the boys were in the plaza, celebrating the event [cantando la victoria]; the misfortunes [of the people] were at an end.

At the news of the tumult the father minister [of the Jesuit residence] sent several fathers from the house, that they might help to pacify the minds of the people and be ready to hear confessions, according to what necessity demanded; among those assigned to this duty I was one. On the way I met several persons, who told me that the governor was already lying dead; and as one who had gone out only to assist those on whom misfortune might have fallen--which, it was thought, would include many, as is usually the case in such tumults--I hastened my steps to the palace. Finally I found him whom they had considered as dead; he was lying in an apartment, the blood dripping from his wounds, and surrounded with people; and at his side was a religious who had attended him in order to give him absolution. I asked the latter what [had occurred], and whether in his opinion that poor man was in full possession of his senses; he answered that he did not know, but that he had absolved him sub conditione [i.e., conditionally]. When the religious asked me to try to find out in what state he was, I began to say to the dying man what the Lord inspired in me, in order to prepare him for being again absolved--which was done several times by the religious, with full absolution, and without any condition; for such were the tokens [of penitence] afforded by the expression of his face, and his sobs and sighs, and even tears, and his pressing to his lips the crucifix which I placed at his mouth, and so tightly did he press my hand when I asked him to, that he spoke to me more clearly thus than if he had answered with cries.

It was my opinion that he could speak; and, availing myself of an opportunity when I saw the people about him somewhat removed [from his side], I made no little exertion to secure an utterance from him. I spoke close to his ear, in a low voice; and he, recognizing my intention, answered me, saying: "Alas! my father, all this is little compared with what I deserve for my sins, which I confess are infinite; and this which is happening to me is the kindness of God. I do not complain of any one, and I will kiss the feet of every one. I only ask your Grace that you will not leave me until I die, and that you will be my companion until death; and that, if it be possible--so that I may die far away from this noise, and be able to pass in quiet the little time that may remain for me to live--they will carry me to the hospital; that of St. John of God would be the best. But in any case, do not leave me, your Grace, for the Virgin's sake; and care for my soul, that it be not lost." This was what he said to me, in substance, and even literally, the first time when he was able to speak.

Hardly had he said this to me when the people again came around us, in a clamorous crowd, and I turned to contend with them. I made every possible effort to provide for him what comfort I could, but I could only secure this, that they carried him, with me, to a room farther within the house; and there, now trying to restrain the tumult, and now assisting him, I found him always in the same excellent frame of mind. Sometimes I began to hear his confession, in coherent and detailed form; sometimes the confession would be interrupted because the doors at times were opened--until I could, by the aid of some persons whom I knew to be influenced by the fear of God, keep the doors closed for a time. I spent the time thus until about six o'clock, when he died. In that time extreme unction was given to him; and Doctor Rayo, who held delegate authority from the archbishop, absolved him etiam in foro externo [i.e., "also in the outer court"] from the excommunication. I omitted no effort in order that he might use well the time for the benefit of his salvation, regarding which I can state two things. [Here follow long pious reflections, which may be left to the reader's imagination.] Finally, God punished him there for the violence which he had employed with others--not allowing them even the comfort and consolation of communication with their confessors, as some desired; and it was not permitted to them except only to make them comply with the [requirements of the] Church; for when he desired to prepare himself at leisure, and to pass quietly the time which remained to him, with the confessor who was aiding him there, there was no way of securing this. On this account it is my opinion that God chose to punish him in this life in order to pardon him in the other one. This is my opinion; oh, that it might agree with that which God has! for then the salvation of this poor man would be certain.

It has seemed best to me, Father Procurator, to relate this in order that it may be known that this man, however much people undertake to say against him (much of which will be false), met a Christian and Catholic death. And I say further that, although his passions hurried him on to do such outrageous and reckless things, they never separated him from the [Christian] faith or the Catholic religion; and therefore, whatever your Reverence can do to prevent those in Madrid from believing what will be reported in this matter, do it, for God's sake--in regard to the former [i.e., Bustamante's Christian death], acquainting the father confessors with these facts. Moreover, it is not right that such things [as are said against him] should have influence, when the only result will be infamy for him and for the six or seven children whom he has left behind.

On the other hand, it would seem to me desirable that his Majesty command that in the residencia which will be taken of this poor man's government there be no discussion of his personal character, or of his proceedings which have not been injurious to others; and that those which are such be considered only in so far as is necessary to satisfy, so far as is possible, the injured party--or even, putting all this aside, that action be taken only in regard to the goods which at the time of his death might be found to be in his name, secretly and through the agency of others, like those which he has in the ship and patache which this year went to Nueva España. These are going in the name of other persons, but on his account, and amount to a great deal--so much, that if in Mejico the just, prompt, and honest measures were taken to have these goods sold at the ordinary fair, like the rest, and if the proceeds were safely deposited, and his Majesty and the judge of his residencia here were notified of the amount thus realized, I believe that with this alone the king, the bondsmen, and the private persons who should prove themselves to be his legitimate creditors could satisfy their claims against him. [Add to this] the goods that may be found in his house, and those which may be on his account from the coastwise commerce, in order that, when these are converted into money, their just value may be distributed equitably, according to the plan which is prescribed in matters of restitution when there are many creditors.

This precaution will be very necessary in order to prevent many difficulties which must follow from other charges [against him], some being involved in others; and from these will result no greater gain than disturbances in the community, mutual hatreds, the rise of many falsehoods founded in malice, endless delay in ascertaining the truth, relics of quarrels left for the future, the disappearance and destruction of the aforesaid goods of the deceased which can be obtained, and finally the destruction of the wealth of some persons without any benefit to others. This is what I feel in Domino, having considered matters coram ipso [i.e., "in His presence"], and near at hand. Therefore, my fathers, there is nothing more expedient for the service of the two Majesties and of souls than the measure of burying in oblivion [hecharle tierra] all the rest concerning him, especially the suits that he brought against others--since he cannot have authority distinct from that which he must assume on account of his office, as representing the king, and it was not for himself that he demanded justice against the subjects whom he prosecuted, for the good man proceeded against all who opposed him, as seditious traitors--and this it is necessary to lay aside, for it is an intricate affair and will become more so.

Also [I recommend] the approval of what was done in the formation of the government and Audiencia that were organized after the fatal event; for it did not seem that anything else could be done, either as a matter of policy or in conscience, or that would be more agreeable to the wishes of the king, in such circumstances, to do what was right and prudent, without being declared presumptuous.

And who doubts, after reflecting on the event and its antecedent circumstances (and, when one considers what human nature is, it seems as if the event were the natural result of those circumstances)--or, to speak more correctly, on the especial providence of God, and His justice--that also it would be most expedient for the tranquillity of this colony to bury in oblivion likewise the tumult and what occurred in it; and that attention be paid only to taking such measures as will be proper to prevent, so far as that shall be possible, the occurrence of such troubles in the future--or at least not to leave the future so exposed to peril from them?

But what [a task] will that be? Oh, holy God! there is no doubt that it is very difficult. For, as the principal root of these tumultuous excesses and quarrels--inextricable entanglements, which it is impossible to clear up from Filipinas--[is the enormous distance] at which the islands are from the court of their sovereign (who is the one who must supply suitable and timely measures), and this it is impossible to get rid of; it consequently seems also impossible that these regions can ever be protected from difficulties of this sort. The only thing, then, that seems possible is, that these be prevented by a method which will in some way supply the nearness of the sovereign which is necessary for preventing check, in order that they may not occur with such them in time; or that will establish some sort of facility.

But what can this be? I suppose that the politicians will plan the matter much better; but I say in the Lord that I do not find any more convenient way than to establish at this very time an ordinance which, with the royal authority, shall serve to prevent in time the principal difficulties, those which bring on the rest.

Here, my father, the governor takes away and establishes, gives, commands, unmakes and makes, more despotically than does the king himself; and more, in himself he would join in one the royal and the pontifical authority. Royal decrees are not sufficient; for either he hides them, or he does not fulfil them as he ought. The Audiencia does not serve [as a check] on him, for he suppresses and he establishes it, when and how he pleases; nor do other bodies, whether chapters or [religious] communities, whether military or civil; for he does the same thing [with them]. And never do there lack pretexts for doing thus, even though such bodies are appointed by the king; and with the pretext that account of the matter has already been rendered to Madrid, what he has begun remains permanently done, or else he proceeds to change it, as seems good to him.

Assuming this, [it would be best] to maintain here a council, which would be stable and permanent, and to whom, as being supreme, all the decrees and despatches of the king should come addressed, the council distributing these as might be required. No failure in the entire fulfilment of the despatches and decrees of the king should be allowed, save with the agreement of this council; and the governor should not be authorized to appoint or remove officials, or hinder them in the performance of their duties, whether civil or military; they should be appointed by the king, as now are the chief and principal ones, the auditors and fiscal. For the citizens there should be six or eight perpetual regidors, from whom should be elected, according to custom, their alcaldes-in-ordinary. [The king should also appoint] the royal officials who belong to the royal treasury; and, of military officers, the two wardens of the castle in this city and that at Cavite de la Punta, the master-of-camp of the Manila garrison, the sargento-mayor of the plaza, and the lieutenant-general or the general of the artillery. Even if the cause were, in the opinion of the governor, so pressing and evident that he demanded the arrest or suspension of any one of these whom I have mentioned, without waiting for the decision from Madrid, he should not do so without giving account to the said council, or without its consent; and if the case were so urgent that it should be necessary to arrest any one of those persons before giving account to the said council, such account should be furnished immediately afterward--by the governor, or, if he cannot do it, by the fiscal of his Majesty; and, if neither of them do it, the president of the said council, when he learns of the facts (in whatever manner he may obtain such knowledge), shall demand that he be given the motive and cause for the decision reached with the official who is imprisoned or banished, or deprived of the exercise of his office, in order that his council, when informed of the case, may take action. If the decision of the council is contrary to the resolution made by the governor, the official shall continue in the exercise of his functions until the final decision shall come from Madrid. And if perchance the governor disobey this rule, and do not render account of the motive and cause which has influenced him to take that course with the officer whom he is treating as a criminal, the president of the council, with its advice, is authorized to replace, and shall do so, the said official in the exercise of his office. In this particular, all the other officials of the king, and his soldiers, must obey this president, and not the governor, under such penalties as his Majesty shall see fit to impose upon them.

Item: If any one of these persons appointed by the king fail to act, by either death or any other accident, another person shall not be appointed in his place by the governor alone, but he shall do so jointly with the auditors and military officers above mentioned, if the ad interim appointment is to a military post; and if it is municipal, the electors shall be the governor, the auditors, and the other regidors. If the appointment is that of a royal treasury official, [he shall be chosen] by the remaining members of that body, with the governor and the auditors--among whom I include, for all the elections, the fiscal of his Majesty--and the person who receives the most votes shall be chosen; and in case the votes are divided among two or more, the lot shall decide. He who is thus elected shall remain as a substitute in the vacant post until the king shall appoint a proprietary incumbent, and shall possess the same privileges as the others have, besides that of continuing under the protection of the said royal council.

As for those who might compose this council, I cannot find any who would be better--in order that it might be durable, and most free from prejudice; and that its proceedings might be most prudent and reasonable, judicious and learned--than the following: for president, the archbishop of Manila, and in his absence the dean of the holy cathedral church of Manila; for its members, the dean, in case he is not president--and, if he act in that post, in his place shall come in the senior prebend, by vote of those in the council; and besides these, the doctoral prebend of the same church, and the rectors and prefects (or the regents) of the two universities, Santo Domingo and that of the Society, or those who shall take the place of all these. Those who occupy the chairs of Institutes [47] and laws in the university (which have been recently established) shall not have place in this council, for I do not know whether they will be permanent; and because, even if they are so, these professors must be included in the number of those who are under the protection of the said council, as being officials appointed by the king and subjects of the government here. The decision of the members of this council must go out in the name of the whole body, and will be that which shall receive the most votes from the six councilors; and in case of disagreement among them the decision will be that to which their president shall agree, out of those proposed in the council--each one of these councilors giving his opinion in writing, which opinion must be a decisive vote, and not merely consultory.

And because the chief mate [capitan maestre] of the galleon is the one who has charge of the royal mails, it would seem desirable, in order to make sure that this official conducts himself with entire fidelity in surrendering them to the said council, that he who is chosen for that post shall [not] be selected altogether by the governor, but must be approved by the council, as protector of the royal decrees and officials of Filipinas, which is the sole employment that the said council will have. Thus that official, once he is chosen and approved, must remain under the protection and jurisdiction of the said council until he has fulfilled his commission.

And because this council will remain entirely free from the possibility of being disturbed by the governor, and because the most scandalous controversies which have occurred in these islands have proceeded from the abuse of the royal prerogatives, the governor with the Audiencia seeking by force to deprive the archbishop and the ecclesiastical judges of the secular revenues--for sometimes they overstep the bounds in the essential part, and in other cases exceed the limits immoderately in their mode of procedure--it would be expedient and even necessary for his Majesty to forbid them to do so, and deprive them of authority to enforce that. They should be allowed only to ask for it, and, having given information of it to his Majesty, await his royal decision in order that that may be accomplished, in reality and in the mode of procedure, which always will be just and reasonable, and carried out to the letter, as his Majesty shall ordain for the service of God and for his own.

In this manner my poor mind has planned, having considered these matters in the Lord, in order that some means may be employed to make up for the distance [from Madrid], and to place some check on the despotic sway which, on account of the distance, the governors of these islands possess; for, as I said above, not only do they act more despotically than could the king and the pope if those rulers were at the same time united in one being, but also they are the whole [government] and all the offices, since every one must do and does only what the governor desires, with reference to the offices which the king entrusts to him.

It is clear that, for the object that is desired, that which will contribute most of all is the judicious choice of the governor and the other officials, [who should be] worthy, upright, unprejudiced, disinterested, having the fear of God, and zealous for His honor and the service of the king--as well as for their own honor, which is established by this very effort. But qui sunt hi, et laudavimus eos? [48] I see it, forsooth. On this I will only say that the governor in any case should be a soldier, honorable and experienced, to whom the government is given on account of his merits; and not one who may be a merchant or trader. Still less should he be one who has secured the post of governor with money, and not with merits. [In order to secure] for the other officials men worthy by their merits, fitted for their positions, having the fear of Cod, and honorable, an important means, without doubt, is care in their selection.

I see that your Reverences will tell me that I am tiring myself uselessly, and that nothing of this concerns me. This may all be true, but I believe that in the presence of God this my labor will have, if not reward, at least excuse, since I have undertaken it With an aim to the welfare of the souls in these islands, and to the progress in them of our holy faith, [objects] which are hindered by misgovernment here.

In regard to the other matters [here], I know that every one is sending in accounts of them, and I am sure that each one will give such information as he feels is true; as for all those who are doing this officially, who shall say that they will not report according to what is right, and with weighty arguments? I, at least, cannot persuade myself to think otherwise; for all the said persons I regard as truthful and God-fearing men. The one with whom I am better acquainted than with any of the others is Don Francisco Fernandez Toribio, an auditor, and now fiscal, and a [university] professor of the Institutes; and I can at once inform you that what he may say can be believed, that it is his own opinion, and that in saying it he will be governed more by reason than by prejudice. He is a man indeed, since he is so good, upright, disinterested, God-fearing, and truly honorable; and although he and others like him would be good for these places, yet they are not good for men of this sort. God preserve your Reverence for many years, as I desire. Manila, November 19, 1719. The humble servant of your Reverence, etc.,

Diego de Otazo

I.H.S.

Letter from the archbishop of Manila

I had given to your Paternity account [of affairs] last year, by way of Mejico, of the wretched condition in which this commonwealth and these islands were, and of the unspeakable grief with which I was living at seeing the lawlessness, tyranny, misgovernment, and insatiable greed of the new governor, Field-Marshal Don Fernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda; and afterward in the same year, by the Eastern [India] route, I also sent to your Paternity an account of the commotion [here] and the violent death of the said gentleman, who perished on the eleventh day of October in the same year. Nevertheless, as the latter route is so irregular, and it may have happened that the said letter of mine has not reached your hands, it has seemed to me prudent to repeat my last letter, and send it by the galleon which is now sailing for Acapulco, in order that your Paternity may be fully informed about that event (although summarily), on account of what may yet occur.