Part 10
_Oath of Doctor Antonio de Morga_. "Do you swear by God our Lord, and upon the holy gospel, that as auditor and judge you will obey the commands which publicly or privately the king our lord may give you, and will observe his royal ordinances, both those which are given by the royal Audiencia and chancillería, and those which may be given in the future; and that you will maintain the sovereignty, the territory, and the provinces of the king our lord in every way; and that you will not reveal the secrets of the royal judgments, or others which are to be kept; and that you will avoid in all ways and by all means any losses which might occur to the king our lord; and that likewise you will faithfully expedite and decide the pleas which may come before you in this royal Audiencia and out of it, conformably to the laws of these realms; and that you will not leave the path of truth and right either for love, hatred, ill-feeling, fear, gift, promise, or any other cause, nor receive favors or stipends from any grand council or corporation, for any plea which may be brought before you to determine?" He answered, "I do so swear." "If you act thus, may God aid you; but if otherwise may He require account from you." He answered, "Amen."
When this was done the above-mentioned lieutenant-governor arose, and seated himself in the said halls of court.
In the said order the other honorable auditors and the fiscal of his Majesty were called, received, and put under oath, and likewise the other officials of the said royal Audiencia, each one taking the oath conformably to each of the offices. And when this was finished, in the form above stated, the said lord president gave a general instruction in the presence of all, in which he charged the said honorable auditors to strive for peace and harmony, and the increase of the royal exchequer, and to take care to attend punctually to their duties, and to keep the secrets of this royal Audiencia, whereby his Majesty would be served. In his name he thanked them, as well as the citizens and others present. He charged them with the respect which is due to the said royal seal, and to the commands of the said royal Audiencia; and asked me, the present clerk of court, to give a testimonial thereof. Forthwith he commanded the articles establishing the royal Audiencia to be read. As they were not new (for some of them had been read), he ordered that this cease; whereupon the said Audiencia rose from session for this day. To all which I bear witness.
_Pedro Hurtado Desquibel_, clerk of the court.
[_Attestation_]
This copy is certain and truthful, having been corrected and compared with the said book from which it was copied. In order that this may appear, I have made the present copy at the request and command of Don Francisco Tello, knight of the Order of Santiago, governor and captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia here, in the city of Manila, on the twenty-eighth of June of the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight, being witnesses
_Alonso de Saavedra_ _Pedro Muñoz de Herrera_
citizens of Manila, in witness of the truth whereof I have affixed my seal.
_Pedro Hurtado Desquibel_, clerk of the court.
[_Endorsed_: "Testimonial concerning the reception of the seal and the establishment of the royal Audiencia."]
Letters from the Archbishop of Manila to Felipe II
Sire:
It pleased our Lord that three years after the time when I left Madrid I should arrive at these islands, where I came at the command of your Majesty, with many hardships and so broken in health and strength that I hardly had the vigor to undertake such arduous duties as confront me, which are worthy of much remedy. I shall try to gather up my strength until such time as your Majesty can appoint such a person as is fitted for this place.
I remember, Sire, that at my departure your Majesty said you were confident that I would take a load off your royal conscience. Surely, Sire, if, as I wish, I should find affairs in favorable condition, I would, sparing no labor to myself, strive to serve your Majesty so heartily that none of your Majesty's servants would have the better of me. But everything here is so run down that many years of life and very strong arms are necessary to put affairs into even a reasonable condition. It is only a month since I came to this city of Manila, and so I cannot give your Majesty an account in detail of the many things which must be remedied. But there are going to your court father Fray Diego de Soria, a Dominican, and a man of much holiness, learning, and very exemplary life, who has had much experience for many years in the affairs of this country, and to whom your Majesty should listen; and likewise father Fray Marcello [11] of the Order of our Father St. Francis, who will give a full account of everything; for it is zeal for the honor of God and the service of your Majesty, and the desire for the remedy of these islands, which alone bring them through so many dangers by land and by sea. But all I have been able to learn in this little time is that everything is like a clock out of order, and even in such condition that nothing will go into its right place unless the powerful hand of your Majesty be placed upon it.
In the first place your Majesty has here a cathedral and metropolitan church, and there is not a village church in Castilla so ill served, so lacking in ornament as this--to such an extent that although the quality of the ornaments is inferior, there are so few that they have not even the necessary colors for the feast-days, although they are in a place where silks are so cheap, as they are here. [12] Thus it is with all the rest, and it seems as if ecclesiastics had never lived in this country. It is served by four secular clergy alone, to whom your Majesty orders a salary paid. The rest, although they have the title of canons and canonates, do not serve at all, except in their allotments and curacies. Accordingly, even on an apostle's day there is no one in vestments at the altar for the epistle and the gospel, which is highly discreditable. I have asked the governor, conformably with what your Majesty charges him in the third clause of his original instructions, to provide for this matter. But either he is unwilling to listen to me, or, if he listens to me, he does not wish to do so. Your Majesty will know what is fitting, but it would be expedient to add four other salaries to the four which your Majesty pays--namely two canonries and two half canonries, the incumbents of which could be vested before the altar for ministration. I must inform your Majesty that no one will be found to take them if your Majesty does not increase the stipend; for this country is not now, as it used to be, a cheap place to live, but the most expensive in all the Indias, on account of the irregularity in its government. Everything has been left in the hands of infidel Sangleys, who rob the country and sell us things at their own price, without there being any one to check them or keep them in bounds; in return for this, they are able to gratify and keep content those who ought to provide for it. I do not wish to complain of my grievances to your Majesty, but to leave them in your royal hands. But, although our house is so small that we have only fourteen persons, it is impossible to live for half a year and provide for the rest, with the salary which your Majesty orders to be given to me. Your Majesty will be informed of this by those who are going there. If your Majesty desires that I should go about seeking money as alms, I shall do so, so far as that would not be derogatory to the pontifical dignity among these heathen. Again I say then, Sire, that your Majesty's church is so ill provided, that, in place of edifying the infidels and heathen who are here, it is a cause of scoffing among them. They say that, as they see the monasteries so richly adorned with ornaments that they have chalices of fine gold, their God must be greater than that of the secular clergy and of the friars; and they say other ridiculous things. And nevertheless there is no one to look after it, nor any one who is grieved over it except myself, who cannot remedy it. When I succeeded in discussing it with the governor and the officials of your Majesty's royal treasury, they shrugged their shoulders and said that, although your Majesty says in the instructions in general terms that this should be remedied, your Majesty does not point out how, or with what funds.
Besides this there is the little interest in spiritual things and Christianity among the laity. Sire, I wish, that I were in the presence of your Majesty to tell you by word of mouth of this matter, which is the most pitiable thing which has ever occurred or ever will occur to so Catholic and Christian a prince, and one on whom our Lord has showered such singular favors as to allow in his day the opening of the gate through these islands, for the bringing of the gospel to realms so great, and so far removed from all that is good. This I say, then, Sire, that it is a most pitiable thing that there is not a man in all these Philipinas Islands--Spaniard, or of any other nation--saving some religious, who make their principal aim and intent the conversion of these heathen, or the increase of the Christian faith; but they are only moved by their own interests and seek to enrich themselves, and if it happened that the welfare of the natives was an obstacle to this they would not hesitate, if they could, to kill them all in exchange for their own temporal profit. And since this is so, what can your Majesty expect will happen if this continues? From this inordinate greed arises the violation of your Majesty's decrees and mandates, as everyone is a merchant and trader--and none more so than the governor, who has this year brought ruin upon the country. There comes each year from Nueba España a million in money, contrary to the mandate of your Majesty, all of which passes on to the heathen of China. From here, in violation of your Majesty's decrees, cargoes are loaded for the Peruvians and the merchants of Mexico, without leaving room for those of this country--especially the poor, who are unable to secure any interest therein except for a wretched bundle which is allowed them as cargo. If I were to go into the multitude of evils which are connected with this, I should have to proceed _ad infinitum_. There are going to your court those who have themselves experienced them; and one of them even, for having preached with Christian zeal, was persecuted by the governor, who was the cause of this and of other great evils. His vices are so many and so low and obscene that if one were to seek faithfully over all España for a man of most debauched conscience, even the vilest and most vicious, to come to this country and corrupt it with his example, there could not be found one more so than he. A priest told me yesterday--Sunday, the twenty-first of June--that it was public talk that no woman had escaped from him with her honor, when he could accomplish her ruin; and that further, through his great and scandalous incontinence, he twice ordered the priest to marry him to his own niece, and used every means with the priest and Father Soria to secure a dispensation, although the latter showed him how little that measure profited. He has so tyrannized over this colony by his
## actions that, in order that nothing should be lacking, he has taken
away the offices of regidor from honorable men who held them; and put his kinsmen, whom he brougnt with him from España, into the regimiento, so that information of his evil ways cannot be given to your Majesty in the name of the city; nor can they write to ask your Majesty that you should send a successor to him. Likewise he asked his regimiento, and also me (but may God deliver me from such treason!), to write to your Majesty that it was expedient that he should remain in this country, on account of the experience which he has here. Nevertheless, if such a letter should go, your Majesty would consider it suspicious; because it would be signed by some who would wish to see him undone, only because they do not dare to do otherwise; for he treats them like negro slaves when they swerve a point from his desires. About eight days ago he had called to his house all the honorable people, even to the master-of-camp and all the captains; and when they were before him, standing bareheaded, he treated them worse than he would his cobbler, speaking in these terms: "You don't realize that I can have all your heads cut off, and you think that I don't know that you have written to the king against me." And this language, with the "vosotros," [13] he used for half an hour to the most respectable people in this country. In short, all his conversation and words are those of a vicious and tyrannical Heliogabalus. What I say now is nothing to what remains to be said, and which your Majesty can learn from those who are going there--who, as good Christians, will relate the truth. It would appear best that your Majesty should write to Nueba España, so that all the goods may be put on board there which are to be carried this year. Your Majesty would then see the shameful results which he has caused in this country. He sends therewith one of his servants even, who is called Juan de la Guardia, and also Diego de Montoro, a native of this country. And if by chance your Majesty's letter should arrive after the property had already been despatched, the said persons should be seized, and obliged to confess the truth. It is possible that in this way, and with the cargo for next year (when he says that he must enrich himself), a large quantity may be taken, to supply the various matters for which your Majesty must provide. Your Majesty may rest assured that during all the time that the governor may be in this post your Majesty's conscience cannot be at ease, but that it must be heavily loaded to bear with him. It would be very advisable to appoint a governor, not like the poor men who have been here thus far and who come to enrich themselves, but a man who will enrich the land with holiness and virtue. It should be a man whom your Majesty would choose among thousands--one of those who is not attempting to make your Majesty appoint him; but, on the contrary, one of those whom, so to speak, your Majesty asks. Your Majesty should not consider whether or not he is a knight or a captain, as there are plenty of experienced captains in the country, who, in case of war, would be better in leading an army than a number who could come from there. If it is possible, he should be a man of education and conscience. I should desire one of these men who would serve your Majesty without private interests, for whom, when the man had served your Majesty in this charge, you could appoint a church, one of the largest of España; as this post is most honorable and of greater importance for the spread of the gospel than is the Turkish frontier for its defense. On this account a person should be chosen who has no claim to private interests, for the gain which he would secure from the growth of the teaching of the gospel here is large enough. It is not fitting that your Majesty should entrust the residencia of the governor here to the Audiencia, or to any member thereof; but it should be made by the person who is to succeed him, if he be a person such as I have described. For there are many serious matters for which a Christian and impartial judge is necessary, to clear the conscience of your Majesty.
It would be very important for your Majesty to renew the mandate forbidding the governors and auditors to trade, with heavier penalties; for it is not observed, and from its violation there result great inconveniences. But, as it appears that the salaries appointed by your Majesty are not sufficient recompense for coming to such distant lands, your Majesty might decree that when the governors were such as they should be, and have abstained during their whole term from trade, at the time of their departure your Majesty would permit to be given them as large a cargo as they wish, and even an entire ship, so that they might be made prosperous. The auditors might be given, every six years, to each one the liberty of a cargo, so that in this way they would have what is needed to marry their children and maintain their households. For otherwise they are the causes of great losses; and, as they are involved in the same misdeed, they are not urgent in having the mandates and decrees of your Majesty complied with.
It is a great hindrance to the growth of the faith and morals of the natives that there is a continual communication with the infidel Chinese. Since they are coming to trade, it would be well that when they finish selling their wares they should leave the country; for from their remaining in these islands result many great inconveniences. In the first place, on account of their greed, they have taken to the cultivation of gardens and other real estate; whence it follows that all the native Indians live idle and vicious lives, without anyone urging them to labor. The Chinese have risen, by buying and selling and bringing provisions to the community, to be the retailers of supplies. From this it results that this country is so expensive to live in that where a fowl used to be worth half a real, or at the most one real, it is now worth four. Formerly a ganta of rice could be obtained for a quartillo or less. Now it is worth two reals, or at least one, and the same with other things; and, beside being retailers and hucksters, one Chinaman uses more food and wine than do four natives. What is worse than this is, that the crime against nature is as prevalent among them as in Sodoma; and they practice it with the natives, both men and women. As the latter are poor wretches and lovers of gain, and the Chinese are generous in paying for their pleasures, this calamity is spreading wide without any public manifestation. They tell me that during the last few years the Chinese have spread over all the islands. I saw them when I came into the channel. Formerly they were only in Manilla. If your Majesty does not command that this people must absolutely leave the country I fear that God must visit some great punishment upon it. Those who govern here deceive in regard to their status. Some of them are kept because the fathers of the Society say thai they need five hundred to cultivate the gardens which they have here, close by the city. They give each Sangley, for the portion of garden which he works, one peso and one fowl each month. Others are kept for other reasons; but all the work could be done by the natives if the Chinese were driven out, and the idle and vagabond were compelled to work.
In another letter I wrote to your Majesty of the necessity which obtained in this country of establishing the Inquisition, and today the reasons for this are stronger than then, as shown by experience and our inconveniences. Thus we have seen, within a few years, that two prisoners who were going to Mexico escaped from the ship "Sanct Philipe." In the ships of last year, of three persons who went thither, two died. A negro who was being taken along as a witness for an accused man of this city died at sea. If it is thought best not to have salaries, the matter can be remedied by appointing two religious or ecclesiastic persons, and one of the auditors of the Audiencia--who, as they are advisers, can likewise carry on the suits. These, as they conduct the office of commissary (which is here the same thing as an inquisitor), would be able to hear the cases and would do so as a work of charity, and with zeal for the honor of God, until they could obtain, from the confiscated property, salaries for the inquisitors whom your Majesty may appoint. For it is easy to see that there is a great inconvenience in denouncing a person in Manilla and being obliged to send his case to Mexico, or to come from there with a decision as to whether to arrest him or not; and to confiscate here the property of heirs and send it to the Inquisition of Nueba España, with so great a risk of loss.
This is all at present that occurs to me to send to your Majesty. I fear I have tired your Majesty with so prolix and unpleasant a narration. I beg of your Majesty to pardon me and accept my wish, which is to succeed in the service of your Majesty. If there is a man in the world who has this desire, unmixed with interest, it is myself, who am desirous to be of some use so that your Majesty may learn by experience that I am more anxious to be the most insignificant servant of your Majesty, merely because your Majesty is who you are, than to possess all the treasures of the world. May your Majesty enjoy those of heaven after the many years of life which are necessary for his realms. Manilla, June 24, 1598. Sire, I kiss the feet of your Majesty, your humble chaplain,
_Fray Ygnacio_, Archbishop of Manilla.
Sire:
Although I wrote another letter to your Majesty in which I give an account of the affairs in this country, I am obliged to write this one to give your Majesty an account of my own affairs, which cannot be successful unless regulated by your royal hand, from which I would receive death, if I deserved it, more willingly than life from another. It has come to my knowledge that the governor of these islands is writing to your Majesty and complaining of me. As everything which I shall say now is true, I beseech your Majesty to give it credit. If your Majesty should find that I do not tell the truth to the last word, I charge your Majesty to visit upon me a heavy punishment.