Chapter VIII: Part 8

I confess to being the least and most useless of your vassals, but in fidelity, zeal, and disinterestedness to your Majesty's service, I do not yield to the highest. Consequently, so far as it concerns me, I would have kept quiet about the ugly stigma of traitor, simply in order not to reveal the omissions of a prelate, recognizing its nullity because of the defects of jurisdiction in this one and in the English; and that I cannot be a rebel to your Majesty when defending your states, nor to the English since I am not nor have any desire of being an English vassal. Hence said sentence well understood becomes a new proof of my nobility and loyalty. It is a shame to the truth of the nation that it has had a vassal of so extraordinary thought, and that he could take example from the very enemy. For although it is true that these followed the rules, because of their utility and convenience in this matter, of the reverend archbishop, notwithstanding that they gave me the title of general and commander-in-chief of the troops of your Majesty in the provinces, and finally recognized me as your Audiencia, governor, and captain-general. However, the reverend archbishop, although your vassal, and so honored, passed to the other life, without doing it. It is a fact that the English declared me a rebel and traitor; confiscated and sold my property as such; declared your troops in public edicts to be canaille and robbers; and your artillery captured in the foundry of Bulacan for more contempt, was placed under the gallows of this city. Barbarous and unheard of are these acts of disrespect against the supreme honor of your Majesty, to whom it alone belongs to ask for the fitting satisfaction, and to me to report it. But surely the English would not have incurred them, had the reverend archbishop borne himself as he ought to have done as a prisoner and had he not treated me as an insurgent. But since the reverend archbishop and his partisans and many traitors of both estates whom your Majesty has had, forced the title of rebel and insurgent against me; and although I was unworthy, I was the only one in whom your royal name was conserved which since it was becoming utterly despised in these islands, it appeared absolutely necessary to me, because of the vassalage which I owe to your Majesty, to defend your name, although opposed by so many dangers to my life, surrounded by traitors and assassins, who came from Manila to attack my person, which without a soldier or the slightest war equipment, during the first six months it was conserved, I believe, by divine Providence alone for defending a cause so just as the side of your Majesty. [180] On the day when they captured the fort, the enemy had more friends in it than your Majesty, but much of it was in imitation of a prelate who had just been governor, whose persuasions and threats were alone directed to surrendering everything to the English.

Even if I had understood the law badly, and I had no right by it to be the governing Audiencia, it was sufficient to have hoisted your royal standard, so that every loyal vassal might follow it, and with greater reason, those of character, distinguished and honored by your Majesty.

I received a letter from the governor of Zamboanga, Don Ygnacio Andrade, which an English captain left him for the reverend archbishop, written in the port of San Jorge, June 7, 1762, and signed by Jorge Pigot, Governor of Madrast. By its expressions one can see the close and previous correspondence which the reverend archbishop had with the English. It must be noted that the said captain, Darrimple [i.e., Dalrymple] whom it cites later as having sounded all these islands, of which repeated advices were given to the reverend archbishop, came to cast anchor in this bay, in the year 61, without allowing aboard his vessel the guard which the fort sent to him. And instead of securing him, he showed him many courtesies. That captain dined at the palace, examined all the walls, its strength, the beach, even the powder factory, sounded the entire bay, and information having been given to the fort of this innovation, by a sentinel, yet he was allowed to go out freely when he pleased. For those special favors, the said governor of Madrás gives him [i.e., the archbishop] many thanks, and although it is not expressed in the letters, the head of the staff which he sends him. The said governor of Zamboanga sent it as a gift from the English to the reverend archbishop, who did not care to have his name mixed up in a matter so delicate.

Lastly, I add for the more complete conviction of your reverend archbishop, the fact that he refused to send the seal to this your royal Audiencia, which existed as long as it cared in the barrio of Santa Cruz; and that rice growers lived outside the walls of this city, where trade and commerce with the provinces was both free and continuous, and whence I got the one hundred thousand pesos of said effects, and most of the war supplies which were the greatest danger, but not the royal seal.

May God preserve the Catholic royal person of your Majesty for the protection of these fields of Christendom. Manila, July 23, 764. [181]

Don Simon de Anda y Salazar

LETTER FROM VELA TO GONZALEZ

My brother, Antonio Gonzalez:

The letter which you wrote from Madrid arrived together with that of this place, but no other has arrived. By the same boat also came [news of] the peace, whereupon the English again delivered the place to our governor. [182] It was almost bare of cannon, as the English had taken them. For eighteen months were we under the rule of the heretic, with sufferings greater than can be imagined there. They acted toward us worse than do the victorious Turks toward those whom they conquer. However, Manila well deserved it, not indeed, because of its total lack of all Christian procedure, but singularly because of its cursed neglect of politics, as if the whole world had to respect and fear us because of our boasting that we are Spaniards.

Manila is a place, which, by its fortification, by its swampy site, by its location surrounded by a river larger than the Tajo at Toledo, and by a low sea, and because the only time at which it can be attacked is at the time of the fierce winds and heavy and almost continuous rains--it is, I say--for all these reasons, almost invincible, with less than a medium defense of true militia. For no power can place here fifteen or twenty thousand well drilled men. All that would be necessary, in order to oppose a moderate defense by one thousand or one thousand five hundred well-drilled men, established in Manila, and aided by the inhabitants and volunteer Indians. But on the present occasion, when the sole sinews of the English were about one thousand five hundred Europeans, and the rest [of their men] about five thousand, whom they said were ragamuffins from Asia, with the carriages and horses of Manila driven along its beach, the English could not have effected a landing. But our archiepiscopal government, counseled by worthless hearts and by traitors, allowed the English to disembark without opposition. The fifteen ships cannonaded to no purpose; and because a cannon caused the greatest ship to retire, order was given not to fire from the fort without orders, and that it was to be used for the attack by land. Some commanded, others countermanded, because they asserted that they would anger the English more. A reënforcement of drilled Indians came, but they were not allowed to make a sally, for the archbishop-governor said that it was better to seize the enemy without grievously vexing him. In a sally, the Indians reached quite to the artillery abandoned by the English. The enemy rallied, and the Indians not having any disciplined reënforcement, fell back. Four days of heavy rains, and boisterous winds, which God sent, and by which one ship was driven ashore, and the others endeavored only to look out for themselves, gained nothing for the obstruction of the English, neither toward the sea, nor toward [land]. Their powder was used up, and they dead with hunger and with cold, could not resist. It was thus that the traitors arranged it with the worthy archbishop, who would listen to no one but to those who had the boldness to introduce English officers who had been invited to dine, into Manila. There it was agreed that the assault was to be made October 5, and that all would be defenseless and open. So it happened. At seven or eight o'clock, it was ordered that the garrison of the attacked bastion and of its lateral, should retire to breakfast. Some loyal men refused, as they were fearful of the outcome. Thereupon, the English attacked the bastion, which did not even have any breach, but some holes which [occur] in the soft stone of this region. And climbing from hole to hole, and those from below aiding those who were climbing, they mounted the bastion. The lateral, although it did not have more than three men, fired a cannon contrary to orders, and others also captured the highest officer of the attack. It was enough to make all the rest of the English retire; but encouraged by seeing their men in the attacked bastion, and that the lateral was now firing no more, for the three alone could not manage their cannons, the crowd mounted the bastion, and then a traitor guided them. There was no reserve in the fort for such a blow. They reached the square of the palace, where only the Indians resisted them. But they yielded to the instances of some Spaniards who saw that resistance was already dangerous. The archbishop-governor left the citadel where he could have defended himself very easily: and he could even have easily recovered the fort and chapter house; but neither one nor the others did that. The citadel was to be surrendered, as well as Cavite, but our ship which was coming was to be left alone, if they had not already captured it before the fifth of October. A few days after, all the islands were likewise to be delivered up, and four millions [of pesos].

Auditor Anda departed one day before with authority from the governor and Audiencia, to maintain royal jurisdiction in the islands. He did so as by a miracle, having retired to Pampanga. The English wished to first conquer Pasig, which was guarded by Indians. They attained their end after a short bombardment, and opened a passage to the provisions of Laguna. They thought it best also to go to Pampanga to destroy Señor Anda, but having been attacked about one legua or so from Manila by Señor Anda's men, they were completely routed, and left many slain. The survivors fled to Manila as best they could, notwithstanding that a third part of our men, deceived by the traitors of Manila, did not attack, contrary to the order of Señor Anda. The English and their allies, our traitors, seeing that it was difficult by force, devoted their energies to trickery. First, they tried to induce the Chinese to kill Señor Anda, as he was now cried by heralds as a traitor to the king and a reward of two or four thousand pesos promised to whomever should kill and deliver him up. The Chinese had agreed upon the fitting night to kill him and all the Spaniards of his faction. A few days before, having some suspicion, he seized a letter from a Chinese written in Chinese characters to another Chinese of Manila. He summoned a Chinese mestizo to interpret it. But either for malice or through ignorance, the latter said whatever came into his head. Thereupon, he made use of a Dominican Chinese, who declared the treason of the letter. Days before the arrival of this declaration, everything was already known, because a Chinese fired a blunderbuss at Señor Anda which only damaged his coat. Thereupon, he seized as many Chinese as he could with his small troop of Spaniards and Indians, and after taking their depositions had them hanged. There were more than two hundred [of them]. Many others who escaped informed the English and Chinese of Manila, and the latter petitioned the English to kill all the Spaniards of Manila, while they would do the same with those outside, without excepting the ecclesiastics. The English would not consent, but determined to attack Pampanga, encouraged more by the treason of the Indians of Laguna who treacherously killed their alcalde and other Spaniards, and set another ambush for those who escaped on the following day, though the latter also escaped that. The cause for this attempt was that the alcalde punished the captain of a village because he had invited all the province to welcome the English with a hundred maidens so that they might have their aid in killing all the Spaniards. The hardships that the Spaniards, who fled from the English, suffered in all the villages of Laguna, are unspeakable.

With these results the English were emboldened to besiege Bulacan, in order to open a road to Pampanga. Aided by the Sangleys, and much more by the Spanish traitors of Manila, who gave them the method of being able to attain it, and secretly perverted many chiefs of the village, the English set out on the roads shown them by the traitors. Although it cost them many people, they seized the church, for the Spaniards ran short of powder, as the Indians, induced by the Spaniards of Manila, had hidden it. But the loyal Spaniards of Bulacan, by means of stratagem and trickery, held the English besieged in the same church. Three times did the latter receive reënforcements of supplies and men from Manila, but they were never able to pass. Finally, those who were left returned to Manila with great loss. And not even one would have returned had it not been that continually, because of the treachery of the Indians, they found the few Spaniards without powder.

The English tried, finally, to drive out the rest, so that they could seize the silver of our ship, and attacked our advance troop with great secrecy. They reached the troop at dawn. The fire was heavy, and caused the English to retire completely routed; and had we not lacked carriages to our cannons, not a single Englishman would have returned to Manila, where they arrived scattered, and with many of the chief officers wounded. Our killed did not reach the number of ten, while theirs, counting the Chinese, exceeded one thousand. Next night they endeavored to prevent our troops from taking the bells of Quiapo for cannons, and without succeeding against only fifteen Spaniards, they lost more than fifty English and more than two hundred Chinese. They attempted to enter Pampanga by sea with one ship and small boats, but they left many dead on the beach and some of their boats, while the ship and those who could get back to it fled to Cavite. In fine, we have found them cowardly; and had they not been aided by traitors and Chinese they would not have captured Manila, nor after capturing it could they have retained it two months. The losses which have been incurred because of them exceed four millions. Father Joaquin Mezquida and Father Patricio del Barrio are going [to Spain] as procurators, and they can tell much, although not all.

Father Mezquida is taking one hundred pesos so that my brother, your uncle, Manuel, may divide them equally among your mother, my sister Ana, my brother Lucas, and my sister Juana; the children also of my brother Joseph sharing equally--not each one a part, but one part among them all. I do not know whether this will reach the ship, and I am making the greatest efforts in writing, for I am secretary to the provincial Pazuengos whom you knew there.

My brother will tell my brother Manuel that I wrote him quite at length by the ship captured by the English, thanking him for the aid which he extended to Ana's two children; and that in regard to the other matter between him and his wife, it is better for him to do it alone, and it will be better for his nephews, and that he should forget the wrongs that come to his mind. Tell him also to send me by Father Patricio two pairs of gray worsted stockings because my legs get cold, some pairs of scissors of good temper, and some boxwood combs. I tell you this in case I can not write it to him. And since my [brother] lives in Madrid, let him get from the fathers the Mercurios [183] and interesting papers that are published and send them to me. Little by little, my brother can get many of them, for after some months, people do not care for them, and do not object to giving them.

Tell your mother, when you see her, to pray God for me often, and that I hope that my desires of seeing her in heaven soon will be answered, for now my health is not what it was before. Manila, July 24, 1764. My brother's humble servant,

Baltasar Vela (rubric)

[Addressed: "To Brother Antonio Gonzalez, of the Society of Jesus, and if he be dead, to his superior. Madrid."]

SYNOPSIS OF COMMUNICATIONS BY ANDA TO CARLOS III

Substantial extract of the result and purpose of forty-six representations made to his Majesty by Don Simon de Anda Salazar, informing him of what he has done as Audiencia, governor, and captain-general of Filipinas during all the time that the English occupied the city of Manila and its port of Cavite, under terms of the capitulation which was made between the English general and the reverend archbishop who was governing those islands at that time.

All the representations are dated June and July, of last year 1764. Among them some relate that the archbishop-governor and the other auditors of that Audiencia having been made prisoners of war in Manila, Don Simon not having been included among them because of being in the village of Bulacan at that time, attending to the general inspection of all the provinces of the district of that Audiencia, in accordance with the order and prescription of law clxxx of título xv, book ii of the laws of the Yndias, by which it is ordered that if the auditors of the Audiencia are absent and only one of them remain, the Audiencia is to be conserved and continued in him as said governor and captain-general, in accordance with other determining laws.

Under this character, he proceeded immediately to enact measures according as his spirit dictated to him, both for the military, and in order to restrict the English to the vicinity of Manila, causing himself to be obeyed, assembling troops, furnishing arms, getting ammunition, and doing in this line whatever he could, the most experienced and practical general making sallies, holding functions, remaining glorious in his expeditions, and the enemy conquered and intimidated.

In regard to what concerns the representation of the Audiencia, he exercised all the jurisdiction which belonged to it, administering justice to the parties at law, punishing criminals, and fulminating causes against those under suspicion of disloyalty.

As governor he attended to all economic matters. In order that provisions might not fail, or be sold at a dearer price than they had before the siege of Manila in those provinces, for that purpose he made regulations, published edicts, imposing severe penalties on those who transgressed them. By this method he obtained the end which he desired. He also succeeded in getting the royal official treasurer who had removed the treasury from Manila as soon as the squadron of the enemy entered that bay, to transfer it from the province of Laguna to that of Bulacan, where the above-mentioned Don Simon was stationed in order that he might have some means to meet the needs that might arise. He forbade anyone to dare to go to the city of Manila, or under any pretext, to carry food, or arms [thither]. Neither was permission given to give entrance, lodging, aid, or help to the English. Those vassals obeyed that as well as the calced religious of St. Augustine, who had the province of Bulacan in charge. The Augustinians attended the several meetings which he called, all of them showing love and zeal for the service of their king and sovereign, and a blind obedience to Don Simon de Anda, whom they recognized as Audiencia, governor, and captain-general. They succeeded in preventing the blotting out of the name of his Majesty from those provinces, and observed a steadfast obedience to him. [184]

There result also the various measures which he enacted in order to assure the patache "Filipino" and its wealth, which came from Acapulco and had arrived at the province of Leite, and which was thought to be exposed to surprise and capture by the enemy. Those attempts succeeded so happily that they were landed and taken overland to the province of Pampanga.

The treasure carried by said patache belonging to his Majesty, the ecclesiastical estate, and the trade of those islands, reached the sum of two million two hundred and fifty-three thousand one hundred and eleven pesos. To that sum was added fifty-six thousand pesos which were collected from various private persons, in obedience to the order despatched for that purpose. And with previous proof that they, the interested persons, were faithful vassals, and by virtue of the reports of two arbitrators of the commerce, he delivered them some sums so that they could support themselves. He also caused the wine casks, chests, and other articles of volume, which the said patache carried to be kept until he placed all in safety with the exception of the cargo of a champan which was lost in the province of Batangas. Among those effects was the stamped [i.e., official] paper. As soon as Manila was surrendered and the English dislodged, Don Simon placed in the hands of his successor, Don Francisco de la Torre, the testimony of the acts which he had drawn up in this particular for its convoy, and asserts that from the saving of the wealth of said patache has resulted the conservation of the islands, and that the English did not leave them completely desolate, since without this aid, the subsistence of the state would have been impossible.

He also gives information that the English declared him a rebel and offered a reward for his head, having made two embassies to him through Father Bernardo Pazuengos, provincial of the Society of Jesus, and Fray Pedro Luis de Sierra, of the Order of Preachers. The first one having gone without any credentials or authorization, but only as referring to the British governor, and having refused to make a deposition before a notary who might attest it, saying that he was to treat alone and in secret with Don Simon in regard to the matter for which he went, therefore audience was refused him, and he was despatched with a warning.

At the second embassy, inasmuch as letters were taken from the archbishop and from the auditor Don Francisco Enrriquez de Villacorta and from the above-mentioned father provincial in which they intimated to him that they would admit means of peace, in order to free the said auditor from the sentence of death, passed upon him by the council of war of the British nation, because some letters which he had written had been intercepted, he would not consent to it, and despatched the religious and ordered edicts to be published in opposition to theirs, offering ten thousand pesos to whomever would deliver alive or dead each one who had signed the edict [against him]. Finally, there was a suspension of hostilities until the evacuation of the fort. During this interim, the province of Ylocos revolted and rendered homage to the king of Gran Bretaña. At its head was Diego Silan, a Pangasinan Indian, a plebeian, who, according to public report, had been a coachman in Manila. He succeeded in getting the English to appoint him alcalde-mayor for life of that jurisdiction, and he accomplished many atrocities and acts of sacrilege. They seized the alcalde-mayor and his family; took possession of the arms and effects belonging to his Majesty; and the recognition of paying him tribute and of assisting with the polos and personal services; obliged the reverend bishop, Don Fray Bernardo Ustariz, to retire and take to flight, because he tried to reduce them to reason; committed many thefts and extortions in the estates; and burned many houses, proceeding with inhuman cruelty. An expedition was made against them, in which they were almost defeated, but since the loyal people of Ylocos were cowardly, and as they were not accustomed to fight, the tyrant was allowed to reform his forces and to continue with greater violence to further his prowess and to increase his troops.

Having been informed of such fatal occurrences, and treating for the common relief, he gave commission to said bishop and to the vicar-provincial of that province to pacify it. He communicated to them all his own powers, and wrote various letters to the villages which remained loyal, exhorting them to continue so. But not having been able to obtain any results by this method, he drew up a cause, and gave it in review to the fiscal. The latter petitioned that the most severe punishments be meted out to Diego Silang and the insurgents. As a result he ordered that a peremptory order of imprisonment and an edict of citation be issued, entrusting the measure of its publication to Fray Francisco Antonio Maldonado, an Augustinian religious, and promising a reward to whomever would communicate it to Diego Silang, and a greater one if he should obtain his reply. Don Diego Aldais, a Spanish mestizo, moved by his good zeal, determined to do this. He passing through the village of Santa Lucia, was seized by the partisans of the traitor and his letters intercepted. They deprived the religious ministers of the right to communicate [with one another] and imprisoned their diocesan prelate. By various letters which he received, he discovered the alliance which the Ilocans had made with the Pangasinans, [185] Sangleys, and the English enemy, to whom the province had been delivered, the go-between in so execrable an outrage being Don Santiago Orendain, as was proved also by a rough draft of another letter which he made and sent to Diego Silang, which was intercepted in his state by Don Manuel Alvarez and presented to him [i.e., to Anda].

Informed that the Ilocan Indians were committing disorders in this state, some following steadfastly the party of his Majesty, and others that of Diego Silang, [186] he determined with the advice of experienced persons, to appoint a chief justice and a master-of-camp as generalisimo, a sargento-mayor of the Catholic villages, and another master-of-camp and a sargento-mayor in the name of the Monteses infidels. He despatched them their titles in the name of his Majesty, granting them the fitting powers for the pacification. That provision resulted in happy successes, the most happy being that Don Miguel Vicos killed Diego Silang, at the very time that said tyrant had resolved to kill the reverend bishop and other religious ministers whom he had seized. Therefore, that province began to settle down until it became quiet and restored to the obedience of his Majesty, said prelate having promised (and Don Simon confirmed it in his Majesty's name) a general pardon to the natives of that province and exemption from tribute during the whole time of the war on the necessary condition that they furnish their ministers of the doctrine with the necessary stipends for their support. He declared as faithful and noble the villages of Santa Catalina, Vigan, Bantay, and San Vicente, as they were the ones which chiefly took part in the enterprise, and opposed the mutiny; and he gave them the arms which were taken from the leader of the sedition.

He also gives information of another insurrection which was stirred up in the province of Pangasinan, and which originated in the village of Binalatongan, which was under the spiritual charge of the religious of St. Dominic. Those natives, also instigated by the English, taking as their leader Juan de la Cruz Palaris, an unworthy man, who had also been a coachman in Manila in the employ of Auditor Don Francisco Enrriquez de Villacorta, revolted, under the pretext of various unjust, extravagant, and malicious demands: such as that the sum of money which they had paid on the account of their tributes was to be restored, since they could not have any trade with Manila, as the English were in power there, and if the latter were to make them pay tribute, they would be paying a double tribute; that four men, whom they gave as a guard of the prisoners of the prison were to be relieved from the polos; that the dignity of cacique was to be taken from two heads of barangay; that the boys schoolmaster was to be changed as he was a flatterer; that the badge of general master-of-camp of that province was not to be given outside the village of Binalatongan; that the alcalde, the father ministers, and their convents were to be removed if they did not aid them in the attainment of their attempt, and they would build new churches and would establish new fathers. Finally they petitioned that no one who did not originate from his village should hold the staff of office in the tribunal.

This insurrection, after various incidents in which it was necessary to give the fitting authorizations to various religious, and appoint Don Juan Antonio Panelo, a person of great merit and conduct as his lieutenant, in order that they might pacify and reduce that province, and that some Spaniards might accompany the latter, giving them the necessary instructions; yet they could do nothing, since, fearful of the death which the insurgents wished to inflict on them, they fled the province. Consequently, he gave commission to other religious; prepared soldiers so that they might go to reduce the province, under command of Don Fernando Arayat. The latter's troop departed on the expedition, and the Pampangos advancing on their march, took position in front of the enemy. Having sent an embassy to them, so that they might submit, they answered that they did not wish it, since, if his Majesty had muskets, they had cannons and muskets. Notwithstanding that they had them, the commandant, having summoned them in writing, and inviting them to make peace, and seeing the contempt that they showed of his proposition, was compelled to make war upon them, attacking them in the trenches which they had made with thirty-four muskets and five hundred natives, counting Pampangos and Cagayans, after summoning them to peace five times. They replied to his summons from the trench that they had flung their banner to the breeze, with a shot from a cannon of the caliber of four, and two shots from falconets. Thereupon, Don Pedro Hernani, lieutenant of Spanish infantry, with one sergeant, one corporal, and twenty soldiers, began to cross the river in pursuit of the Cagayans, leaving Alférez Don Jose Solorzano as a reserve. Don Pedro Hernani invested the trenches with so great courage, that he succeeded in taking the banner from them, although he suffered the misfortune of being run through the breast with a lance and fell dead. But Don Pedro Fagle substituted him, and picked up the flag, which he delivered to his commandant. The latter afterward presented it to Don Simon de Anda. It was two varas long and a trifle more narrow. At each corner it had a two-headed eagle, and in the center an escutcheon with its border, and within it the arms of the Order of St. Dominic. They also wounded a Spanish soldier with a poisoned arrow from which he died raving. Since the number of the enemy was vast, their position advantageous, and the river which they had in front, not being able [to be crossed] as it had swollen, obliged them to retire. But desiring to avoid all confusion of blood, and manifesting to them the love of his Majesty for his vassals, he [i.e., the Spanish commander] forbore to attack them again, reiterating that he would act mildly, entrusting the matter to another Dominican religious and the practical business to the master-of-camp Manalartay.

Finally, the bishop of Nueva Segovia, Don Fray Bernardo Ustariz, having taken upon himself the obligation of pacifying them, set about various measures and succeeded in reducing them. A few days afterward they sent a deputation to Don Simon, asking mercy, bearing recommendations from the abovesaid bishop, and manifesting their repentance. They recognized his Majesty as their only sovereign and asked for an alcalde-mayor to govern them. He condescended to this, pardoning them with warning that he would proceed against them in case they repeated their error. Juan Palaris and Domingo Magalog, his brother, were included in the pardon. He ordered Don Joaquin Gamboa to be restored to his office as alcalde-mayor, but the latter resigned. Consequently, the office of alcalde-mayor was given to Don Jose Acevedo. Various measures were taken so that the families who had retired to Pampanga and fled the insurrection, might be restored to Pangasinan.

He also recommends the religious orders for the good services which they have rendered, especially that of the calced Augustinians, who have suffered total ruin, as have those who have most shown their love and fidelity during the invasion of the English.

He also manifests the distrust which he recognized in some religious of St. John of God, as they had opposed a government measure conducive to the royal service. But since this was a prohibition to taking from an estate, which they had, food for their hospital of Manila, it is to be noted that this is a complaint or accusation more befitting an indiscreet zeal, namely, of the charity with which the religious must have worked, in order that their sick might not perish, without one being able for this reason to attribute it to disloyalty.

Lastly, he gives account of the measures which he took in order to continue the aid which had been established on his Majesty's account in honor of Fernando I, king of Joló. He states that, at the beginning of the expedition, the king showed himself loyal to his Majesty, and recognized Don Simon as Audiencia, and governor, asking him to assign him to those provinces or to send him to his country, whence he would send him the aid, which he asked of him. Having advised him that he would transfer him to Pampanga, he promptly arranged his voyage, and having arrived at the village of Pasig, he was overtaken by an accident which impeded him for six days. During that interim, the enemy made him a prisoner. The English, taking advantage of the occasion, sent him to Joló. Afterward when the English evacuated Manila, they took the prince Ysrael and all those of his kingdom. It was presumed that the English had made some agreement with him, so that they might establish themselves in Joló. That would be to the great prejudice of the Visayan provinces and their trade both because of the English and the Moros.

In a separate measure, both Don Simon de Anda, in his representations, and the royal lieutenant, Don Francisco de la Torre, governor ad interim of Filipinas, discuss the receipt of a royal decree, despatched July 18, 1762, by which a fine of two thousand pesos was declared against the auditor Don Francisco de Villacorta, and the fiscal, Don Francisco Leandro de Viana, because of the irregularity of the process which they prosecuted against Doctor Don Santiago Orendain, which they have not made manifest because of having produced various exceptions which appear from the records which he remits. In regard to this affair, he has not wished to make any innovation until his Majesty decide as to the matter what he considers just. He encloses a report of the royal officials in favor of the conduct of the above-mentioned fiscal Viana.

He also reports with records, the summary investigation of the crime of disloyalty, which was incurred by Doctor Don Santiago Orendain as being partial to and director of the British government. Don Simon delivered that matter to his successor, so that he might continue it. This man and his family went with the English when they evacuated the fort of Manila, to the city of Madras.

The royal lieutenant also discusses, when advising of the receipt of a royal decree, dated July 23, 762, the question of not forbidding Sangley converts from going to the house of the catechumens, and gives information of the league which the Christian Sangleys made with the English, and the atrocities which they committed. He publicly ordered their rites, and concluded with petitioning the total expulsion of the Sangleys who have kept the title of Christian, as was done with the infidels; in which Don Simon and the ecclesiastical estate also coöperate with convincing and practical reasons.

From all the above, it results from this extract that measures could have been taken in regard to only the two matters: one in regard to the absolute expulsion of the Christian Sangleys from those islands; and the other ordering that a rule be given as to what ought to be done in the future in a like case, when one single minister remains as governor as happened to Don Simon, and restitution [of the government] having been made, if the governor has acted with ignominy, whether the staff of office is or is not to be given to him by the minister who has held the command. These two measures look toward the future; for what was done by Don Simon is approved by his Majesty and whatever said Don Simon has done ought to be approved--the posts which he has given, the expenses which he has incurred, and which he has made on the account of the royal treasury. In a word he has become worthy, not only of the reward which he has now obtained from the royal magnificence, but also of eternal memory.

DRAPER'S DEFENSE

A PLAIN NARRATIVE [187]

The Conquest of Manila, Cavita, and the whole Phillipine Islands, having been of late the Topic of Conversation, from the Crown of Spain's Refusal to pay the Bills drawn by its Archbishop and Captain-General, in Consequence of the Capitulation; [188] and having Reason to apprehend, that the Public are as ignorant of the Nature and Importance of that Acquisition, as they seem to be unacquainted with the Particulars relative to the Capitulation, and its Consequences; I think it a Duty incumbent on me to set the material Transactions of that Expedition in a proper Point of View, as well as in Justice to my own Conduct and Character, as to the Officers and Men serving under me: and for the particular Information of the Representatives of the Nation, who have condescended to think our Services deserving their public Approbation of our Conduct, in the particular Honour of their Thanks conveyed to us by their Speaker.

Manila is the Metropolis of the Phillipine Islands, situated in a large Bay on the Island of Luconia, in the Latitude 14, 40 North, Longitude 118 East, from London, in Possession of the Spaniards, and maintained by the Crown of Spain, at the Request of the Church for propagating the Christian Faith among the Indians, for which they have a large annual Allowance from Mexico, for the Maintenance of their public Officers and Clergy, and for the support of their Convents: They are also indulged with Ships, built and navigated at the King's Expence, to bring the said Allowance in Money: These Ships go laden with Merchandize belonging to the Inhabitants (a still further Indulgence allowed them) from Manila to Acapulca, and return with Money: The King's is registered; and the Remainder (about as much more) a smuggling Trade, and connived at.

This trade is so very prejudicial to Old Spain, the Cargoes they send being China Silks, India Cottons, Spices, &c., for the Use of the People in America, that the Cadiz and Bayone Companies have frequently presented the strongest Memorials and Remonstrances to the King, setting forth the Damage sustained by it, but without any Success, the Church always getting the better of them.

In Consequence of Orders from Europe to attack Manila on the War with Spain, the Squadron and Troops sailed from Madrass the First of August, 1762, and arrived in the Bay of Manila the 24th of September following; and after summoning the Town to surrender, and receiving for Answer their Resolution to defend it, the Troops were immediately landed, and began the Siege. A breach being made the 6th of October, we stormed and took the City, on which the principal Inhabitants retired into the Citadel, but sensible they could not hold it long, sent out a Flag of Truce, desiring to capitulate. The Terms offered were, on paying "Four Millions of Dollars, they were to have their Churches, Convents, Palaces, and other public Buildings, with the Town preserved, the Plundering stopped, with the free exercise of their Religion, and other Liberties; otherwise to be Prisoners of War, and put on Board the Squadron, and sent to the Coast of India as such."

These Terms they accepted; and whilst the Articles were settling, they pleaded their Inability to raise immediately the Sum demanded, unless we would admit the Phillipina (which was arrived ¡n the Port of Pallapa, on the Island of Semar from Acapulca) into the Capitulation, and the Vice Roy to send Letters to the General that commanded her, to deliver her up to our Ships, which had been sent after her; to which we assented, on Condition that the said Phillipina was actually in the Port of Pallapa, and delivered up to our Ships in Consequence of the said Letter. This is the only Ship ever admitted into the Capitulation (and that Conditionally) and which, instead of being delivered up, or ordered to proceed to Manila, agreeable to the promised Letter of the Vice Roy, was, by other Letters, privately sent unknown to us, directed not to comply with the Vice Roy's Letter, but to land the Money on the Island where they were, and secure it in the best Manner they could until they should receive further Directions from Manila. [189]

All things being thus agreed upon, the plundering the Town was immediately Stopped [190] and the City restored to Order, an Account taken of the Ordnance and military Stores, and the Garrison established, which took up the whole of the Troops of the Expedition; and the Place (in Obedience to his Majesty's Instructions) delivered up to the East India Company's Agent for their Use and Benefit, until his further Pleasure should be known. During these Transactions the Treasure remaining in the Town (a great deal being conveyed out during the Siege) was collected together, and the principal Inhabitants voluntarily taxed themselves to pay the Remainder as far as two Millions; and if the Phillipina was not to be got at, we were to take Bills on the King of Spain for the other two Millions, which the Captain General, or Viceroy, (who was also Archbishop) declared he had Authority to draw, and would be duly honoured.

As soon as the Place was in Possession of the East India Company, the Spaniards perceived the King's Officers had no further Power over them, and therefore stopped any further Collections toward the Payment; and from the Excess of Lenity hitherto shown them, soon grew insolent, broke every Part of the Capitulation by retiring into the Country and joining Anda, one of the Royal Audience, who had taken up Arms, and proclaimed himself Captain General, while their Priests and Friars publicly exhorted Rebellion, and preached it meritorious to take up Arms and destroy us.

As several of the principal Men of the Place were likewise concerned with him, the Captors were justly apprehensive that little or nothing more was to be got by fair Means, and were willing to secure what was still in their Power; and therefore ordered their Agents to bring into the City what Merchandize was belonging to the said Men in the Suburbs, as a Security till they made good their Ransom. But were greatly surprized to find the East India Company's Governor had placed Guards, and would not suffer the Agents to remove any one Thing, by which the Captors lost upwards of 200,000 Dollars. The Captors therefore to secure what little yet remained in their Power, gave Directions to seize, and dispose of a Ship, named the Santo Nino, [191] that lay in the Port of Cavita at the Time of the Town being taken, and placed her Produce to the Account of the four Million (altho' she was not mentioned or included in the Capitulation). This was the only Ship taken in the Port, and sold for only 16,000 Dollars, and which the Spaniards have since artfully and jesuitically endeavored to propagate to be the Santissima Trinidad; tis therefore in this Place necessary to make known, that the Santissima Trinidad sailed from Manila on the 1st of August, which was upwards of seven Weeks before the Squadron arrived there, and had proceeded several hundred Leagues on her Voyage to Acapulca; when meeting with a Storm she was dismasted, and endeavouring to put back to refit was met with off the Island of Capul by two of our Ships, the Panther and Argo (the two Ships that were detached after the Phillipina) and after an Engagement taken by them, above two hundred Miles from the Port of Manila, and which Ships knew nothing at that Time of the Surrender or Capitulation of Manila. These two Ships that were sent after the Phillipina (in Consequence of Intelligence obtained by a Gally we took in the Bay soon after our Arrival) had got as far as the Island of Capul, in their Way to Palapa, when they met with the Trinidad, and she being much disabled, and having a great Number of Men on Board, they were obliged to return to the Bay of Manila with her; on which, as soon as possible, two Frigates were dispatched again after the Phillipina, but before they could reach the Streights of St. Bernardino, the North-East Monsoon was set in, and the Weather too stormy to pass the Streights, and after ten Weeks fruitlessly attempting it, were obliged to return.

The Squadron being obliged (by Instructions on that Head) to return to the Coast of India for the Protection of the East India Company's Settlements, before the North-East Monsoon was expired, sailed from the Bay of Manila the beginning of March, leaving orders with the Commanding Officer of the Ships left for the Protection of the Place, so soon as the South-West Monsoon prevailed, to proceed to Palapa, in order to take Possession of the Phillipina, who, on his Arrival, found only the Ship, the Treasure having been carried in small Vessels to the Island of Luconia by Orders from the Inhabitants of Manila, who had all this Time amused us with the Promise of the Money of this Ship for Payment, and even sent Men as Hostages [192] in our Ships to get it, notwithstanding they themselves well knew it was removed from that Place. Through the whole of the above Transactions, the Spaniards by Evasions avoided complying with the Capitulation in every one Respect, except in the bringing in the Money from the Misericordia and Ordentercara, which was out of their Power to secrete. They basely and ungratefully took up Arms against us, after having their Lives given them. They preached publicly in their Churches Rebellion, and meritorious to destroy us.

And these people have still furthermore the Impudence to charge us with an Infringment of the Capitulation, and the Effrontery to claim the Santissima Trinidad, which was taken above 200 Miles from Manila by two of his Majesty's Ships, who knew nothing of the Surrender of the Place, nor was in any Shape mentioned or included in the Capitulation, having sailed on her Voyage seven Weeks previous to our Arrival, as may be seen by the Capitulation annexed hereto.

It is true they have given Bills on the King their Master for Part of the Ransom, which he does not acknowledge they had a Right to draw, and therefore refuses Payment of. But surely I may with Equity be permitted to add, that as he allows them a very large Sum annually for their Support, and has again put the Place into their Possession, is he not bound in Honour and strict Justice to oblige his Subjects to make good their solemn Covenant and Capitulation, having the Means so fully in his Power?

The Account of Ransom stands correctly thus:

dollars r. d. dollars r. d. Ransom agreeable to Capitulation 4,000,000 0 0 Received from the public Funds and Collections 515,802 3 10 Plunder taken from the Seamen and Soldiers 26,623 0 0 542,425 3 10 --------------- Remains due to the Captors 3,457 574 4 2

One third of which is the Proportion belonging to the East India Company.

The King's Instructions were, if we succeeded in the Conquest of Manila, to deliver up the Fortifications, with the Cannon, Stores and Ammunition, to the East India Company, until his Majesty's Pleasure should be signified with Regard to the future Dispositions of the said Conquests, &c.

Upon the Peace, when the Place was delivered up to the Spaniards, the East India Company applied to the Secretary of State for Leave to carry the Artillery and Stores to Madrass, but received for Answer, That they must remain for the Defence of the Place; but were afterward told, That if the Spaniards would give Security for the Payment of the Value of them, they were to be left; if they would not, the East India Company might remove them to Madrass. This last Answer did not arrive in India till after Orders had been sent to deliver it up, and the Season too late to send that Year. [193]

[Here follow the "Conditions" and "Proposals," q.v., ante, pp. 75-80.]

[At the end of the copy of this book from which we publish is written by hand: "with Admiral Cornish's Compliments."]

COLONEL DRAPER'S ANSWER TO THE SPANISH ARGUMENTS

To the Earl of Halifax, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State For the Southern Department. [194]

My Lord,

Armed with that Boldness which Innocence inspires, and the Consciousness of having done my Duty, both as an Officer, and a Man of Honour and Humanity; I presume again to lay before your Lordship my Answer to the Spanish Ambassador's Memorial.

This Reply is something more copious than the former, which I had the Honour of presenting to your Lordship in March last: The new Arguments that have been urged to evade Payment, requiring fresh Reasons to endeavour to enforce it.

I was in great Hopes, that the good Faith, Honour, and Punctuality of the Spanish Nation, would have made this Publication unnecessary. But finding, that they have absolutely refused Payment of the Ransom Bills, drawn upon their Treasury by the Governor of Manila, and do now claim the Restitution of the Galeon, I am constrained, for the Sake of those brave Men, to whom I am obliged and indebted for my Success, to assert their Rights, in the best Manner I am able.

Many of them, my Lord, from the too usual and sanguine Hopes of their Profession, have already anticipated their supposed Profits, and may live to repent their fatal Success in a Jail; unless the powerful Intercession of the Government will rescue them from impending Misery or Destruction. They vainly look up to me for that Protection, which in their Names, I again request from your Lordship's good Offices.

I must add, that the calumnious and envenomed Attack upon my own Character, demands the most public Justification: Being described both at Home and Abroad, as a Man void of all Faith, Principle, or common Honesty; and so, indeed, I should be most deservedly thought, were I guilty even of the smallest Part of what the Spanish Memorial accuses me. A Dey of Tunis, or Algiers, would blush to make use of so black an Instrument of Perfidy and Piracy. I owe, therefore, this open Vindication of my Conduct, both to my Sovereign, and to my Country, whose Representatives were pleased to honour me with their public Thanks, the greatest of all Rewards, and indeed, the only one I have received for my late Services.--Sed mihi facti fama sat est. [195]

My Silence, perhaps, may be misconstrued; it may be suspected that I have sacrificed the deluded Partners of my Expedition, to private and base Considerations; (for something of a dark and private Treaty has been whispered about) but, I thank Heaven! my Behaviour has been such as will bear the Light of Day; and the all-searching Eye of Truth.