Part 13

The King: To the very reverend father in Christ, the archbishop of the city of Manila, of the Philipinas Islands, a member of my Council. As the information of which a copy is sent you with this has been examined in my Council of the Indias, which inquiry was made by the order of the governor of that archbishopric, concerning certain excesses of the teaching religious of the Order of St. Augustine in those islands, I have decided to send it to you; so that, in so far as concerns your jurisdiction over the occupations of the priests in the missions, you may correct the excesses mentioned in the said information, and whatever others there may be. You will remedy them in the form which most furthers the service of God our Lord, and myself. As to the other matters contained in the said information concerning the said religious--that it is understood that they are in league with the governor of those islands and the provincial of the said Order of St. Augustine, or he who may be in his place--you will discuss the remedy which is made necessary by events, as well in this particular as in general. Accordingly I charge and command you to do this, and to advise me of what you shall have done therein. Valencia, on the first of March, of 1599.

_I The King_

Countersigned by _Joan de Ybarra_

Signed by the Council.

Letter from the Bishop of Nueva Segovia to the King

I have no doubt that by other ways your Majesty [23] will learn of the affairs of Manila. Even to seek correction for them I would be unwilling to recall them to mind, were I not obliged to do so by the service of God and the welfare of my afflicted fellow men. With the fidelity which I owe to your Majesty, I must proclaim aloud before God and your Majesty everything in Manila outside of the monasteries, and declare what thing or what person is offensive to God, to your Majesty, and to his fellow man. God is severely punishing that city by poverty and losses of property. Such is the chastisement in spiritual affairs, that, after so many years had passed without a prelate or father to sympathize with and help the people, the archbishop who came last year fell into a profound melancholy; and when he had been here two months and a half God called him to Himself. He was removed from many misfortunes which could not be relieved; and before he had preached a single time, or given one call to his flock, the Lord took him. It was said, however, that he died of a poisonous herb which was given him; and they say that his symptoms proved it. Whether that is true or not, this land is such that it could be suspected and said that in so short a time they took the life of their prelate. In the temporal government, the death of the good licentiate, Alvaro de Çambrano, was very unfortunate for the poor and for persons of little influence. He was a pious man and one of noble purposes, and he died of grief, as may be deduced from a letter which he wrote me before his death. There is no doubt that the reason we do not die is because we have not grieved over matters with the charity and good zeal which were his.

Something has been done by the governor of these islands, Don Francisco Tello, in which the auditors also must have been concerned. A ship was sent from these islands to China, and, as I understand--your Majesty will learn the facts by other means--it sailed to a port very near to the town of the Portuguese. If God and your Majesty provide no remedy, this expedition will be the total destruction of what is held here by the crowns of Castilla and Portogal, with great offense to the faith, or the destruction of preaching and conversion. It is most difficult of correction, for there are interested in this matter first, the governor; secondly, the auditors; and thirdly, their followers and ministers. I hope, God helping, that all the good works which have been commenced here will not be abandoned for aught but the interest and profit of those who, according to right, should not regard their private welfare, but the common good, and the service of God and their king. In this I do not refer to the present auditors and governor, for I do not know what they have done of good or of bad in this despatch to China, but I speak of what is their custom and what is infallibly done by governors and auditors, unless they are people very much devoted to God's service. There are few if any persons that come who do not destroy this land, by sending much money to China. Of this there is no doubt, and every day more light is shed upon the subject. From this vessel sent to China is resulting the total destruction of the Portuguese town called Macan. Its sole support consists of the trade carried on there with the Chinese, exporting goods thence to Japon and elsewhere. By means of the friendly relations between the Portuguese and the Chinese, they succeed in buying the stuffs very cheaply, and by the little which is afterward gained in Japon and other places, these people are supported. Even should we go there, we have not that success in business, that concord among ourselves, or that patience and phlegm, and we seek greater profits. Necessarily, we must greatly increase the price of the goods--more especially as the Chinese are very shrewd traders; and on seeing our ship there laden with money, and knowing that it could not return empty, they may raise the prices at their pleasure. As the profits of the Portuguese are not so great that they can afford to suffer this, they must therefore give up that trade, and abandon that town, which has no other means of support, thus leaving the Christian Chinese to return to their idolatries and mingle again with the heathen.

From this great and evident wrong, follow others even greater; for whatever of Christianity there is in Japon, and the beginning which your Majesty has there is supported solely by the traffic of the Portuguese of Macan with Japon. When Macan is lost, Japon is destroyed. The other parts of India which have traffic in Chinese goods, and in goods which are carried to España--such as porcelains, silks, and chests--must lose very materially. The royal income of your Majesty must be greatly diminished, because all the duties from Chinese merchandise are collected in India. Then in conveying them to Portogal and from thence to Castilla you must also lose, for all these affairs are moved by but one wheel, namely, Macan. Not the slightest doubt can be entertained of the destruction of Macan, if ships from the Philipinas go to that port or to any other of China, unless it be very far away from Macan. Even in the latter case, Macan must receive serious damage. It will also be necessary for the Portuguese to fit out ships and try to capture what vessel or vessels go there from the Philipinas. That there will be war between us is not doubtful, but certain.

If the Portuguese must receive these serious damages, greater injuries must be suffered by the Philipinas and the unfortunate Castilians who have settled them, sustained them with their blood, maintained in them the faith of Jesus Christ, and fulfilled their duty to your Majesty by means of the continual labors of themselves and their descendants. If this is continued, the governor, the auditors, and their followers will send their property to China, and have the ship brought back full of merchandise for themselves alone; and consequently will supply the cargoes for the ships which sail hence to Mexico. Thus the poor vassals of your Majesty, who have nothing whereby to support themselves or their poor children except in this traffic with Mexico, must be left like poor Indians, only because the devilish avarice of those persons sent by your Majesty to govern and care for this land leads them to take for themselves all the profits thereof. At present--with much honor to your Majesty's royal crown and to the Spanish nation--the Chinese come with their goods to the Philipinas, and each Spaniard may buy and export goods; although even of this traffic, it is said commonly that there is nothing to be expected except thunderbolts from heaven to punish what is done, if report be true. But at last shame must check these injustices sometime, and not permit them to be done so openly. But if vessels are sent from here to China, the Chinese merchants will not come here, nor will goods from China be brought here; and should such goods come, the governor and auditors will export their own goods, depriving of space those to whom all the exportation is granted, according to the just and holy will of your Majesty.

Even were it only for the sake of not seeing the Spanish nation so defamed as it must be in China, and hated and scorned in these regions even by the school-children, the governor and auditors should not be willing to enter into a traffic so costly to the honor and reputation of our nation. Here we have no large armies to sustain us, nothing but reputation alone, and if they treat us as avaricious persons, there will not be an Indian who will not be insolent to the Spaniards on account of this, and more in proportion as we are always blinded by avarice. What must be lost by the holy gospel and the Christian law is evident; for sailors and soldiers will go hence in the ship--an ungodly people, guilty of sins of the flesh as well as other offenses, who know naught except to commit offenses against those with whom they deal. Moreover, the heathen cannot receive a very good example from the wars and enmity which will exist between the Castilians and the Portuguese. The Chinese who come here to Manila have some poor examples; but they also receive very good lessons from the religious, and in the churches, the holy ceremonies of the church, and in the life of several very good Spaniards, and even of some Indians. But when the ship of the governor and auditors, or any others, is sent there, the Chinese can have but the examples of soldiers, sailors, and impious people.

God knows what the import and export duties and incomes of your Majesty would profit and gain by the bringing of goods from China and exporting them to Nueva España, because everything has to pass through the hands of avarice, and of ministers who can do as they please here.

I do not know what can have been the reason for sending this ship to China and beginning an enterprise so prejudicial. In a general clause, however, of an instruction to the governor, your Majesty ordains that the governor may send to Japon, Macan, or other pagan countries, also to ports of the heathen and of the Portuguese in order to ascertain if they would like trade with us. But China is not mentioned by name in said clause; and the law of justice is that what is not conceded in

## particular is not understood to be granted in a general statement. The

point under discussion was not only not particularly conceded by your Majesty, but had been expressly prohibited by a special decree. Not only did your Majesty ordain that no ship whatever should go from other Spanish possessions to China, but it is even decreed that the Chinese merchants coming here shall not take back Spanish money to China; and that merchandise shall not be exported from China on account of the Spaniards, but on account of the Chinese themselves. Even in the same instruction, in the two clauses immediately preceding the one to which I refer, your Majesty commands a thing incompatible with the sending of a vessel to China, which has been undertaken this year. Your Majesty decrees that all the goods coming from China should be sold at the pancada and that nothing should be bought on private account until after the pancada. The aforesaid decree would be futile if license were then to be given to send money to China, and also ships, to buy there the stuffs and merchandise for the Spaniards. It may be that there are those who represent that this has been done for the sake of opening a door to the evangelization of China; but such persons do not have as a profession the preaching of the gospel. The evident truth is what I state.

The sole correction for these evils, and for all the misfortunes of this land, is for your Majesty to send--besides a holy and learned archbishop, zealous in honoring God, your Majesty, and the common welfare--a disinterested and God-fearing governor, such as Don Luis Perez Dasmariñas, and, according to my information, Don Pedro Brabo de Acuña, who has been governor for some years in Cartagena in the Indias. But I understand that, at the receipt of these letters and other things, your Majesty will have ordered Don Francisco Tello to return [to España] and another governor will be provided. May God have granted light to your Majesty, and continue to give you light always, in order that your Majesty may be guided aright in a government so far away from the royal eyes as this, where the governors have so many opportunities to cause the destruction of the poor vassals of your Majesty. Tulac, May 17, 1599.

_Fray Miguel de Benavides_,

Bishop of Nueva Segovia.

Letter from Bishop Benavides to Joan de Ibarra

May it please our Lord that this letter shall find your Grace and Señora Doña Catalina and your children enjoying all the grace of God and the health and contentment that I wish them, and which I every day beseech for them in my poor masses and prayers. I cannot write now in regard to the news which should come this year, because I am far from Manila, and the ships depart hence for Mexico when those from Mexico come, and sometimes earlier. I am writing what has occurred here to the Council, and as one who knows your Grace's zeal, I have no need to urge the necessity here of having a man come as governor who is known to fear God. Oh, my lord secretary, if your Grace could see some of this, and if I could cause the eyes of those lords to perceive the need of this unfortunate country, and the mighty things which depend on it, for the glory of God and the faith, and for the honor of the crown of Castilla! The king cannot settle a matter of such importance in the Yndias--and certainly I shall not err in expatiating upon it. There is need here of a man so moderate and disinterested, and so staunch a friend of the general weal--and in a word, so fearful of God and His judgment--as is fitting for the government of the Philipinas. But, as I say, by his discretion in matters concerning his Majesty, and his zeal for the service of God and the king, there is one who is qualified for it--that is, Don Luis Perez Das Mariñas; for it is necessary that the governor of this country be even more a preacher of the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord, and of His law, than are the preachers themselves. His life is an example of effort to conciliate to Christianity, or to keep at a distance the Chinese, Japanese, Sianese, Cambojans, and numberless other nations whom God has placed here. I have heard much good of Don Pedro Bravo de Acuña, formerly governor of Cartagena; and it seems to me that he, too, would be very fit for this country. Gomez Perez Dasmariñas brought with him a nephew named Don Fernando de Castro, of as good family as was his uncle, or even better. I have often conversed with him, and know much about him that is good. I know that he is a very moderate man, and has much fear of God; and he is well inclined to take advice when occasion arises. These islands and the king's exchequer would also gain much if this man were governor. He likewise has much experience on these lands and seas, as he has been several times commander on the voyage to Mexico, and went to China on the occasion of the death of his uncle, Gomez Perez.

I do not care to write concerning Don Francisco Tello, as when this arrives another will already have been appointed, and he will go to his home; may God guide him, and give him good fortune and penitence for his misdeeds. What I write concerning the great evil of having a ship go to China from these islands to trade--at any rate near where the Portuguese are, and even in all parts of China--is at present so true that, if this evil be not remedied, these islands must be ruined, and the Portuguese will be destroyed. The Catholic faith must lose much; and I hold it certain that there will be a war between us and the Portuguese, for they have sought to take up arms with less cause than this, or even have taken them up, against the Castilians there in Macan. In short, they will not allow themselves to be ruined, and that so evidently for merely the interest of the Castilians; but it is not for the interest of the Castilians, but that of the governor and auditors, and their retainers. The Portuguese know well, and so do we all, that this is not the will of the king nor of the Council.

I write also that it is necessary to correct the freedom, ignorance, and boldness of certain religious. I am still of the opinion which we all had at that time, that the brief which Father Alonso Sanchez secured from Gregory XIV, giving the bishop power to make visitations, in person or by any clergyman, of the religious and their mission villages, is certainly a most damaging one. Although no doubt some superiors of the religious orders deserve to have this put in execution at times, yet the religious orders are the walls of the church, and it is not well to treat them thus. But likewise it is necessary that the pope establish some order in the irregularity which your Grace will see described in my letter for the Council. Let the bishop keep his place, and the religious theirs; and let this divine work of preaching the gospel be continued, which is our greatest desire. If the captain of infantry tries to take up the duties of the master-of-camp, and the soldier those of the captain or of the general, it will go ill with the war. I am sending the Council the letter which I am writing to the pope--first, because I wish that the Council should see first what I have to say to the pope, that they should place it before the pope, and that everything may be done by his order. In this way everything will be regular, and, God willing, we shall achieve the desired result. In the second place I have not and do not desire any agent, because through the mercy of God, I solicit nothing for my private interests, but only for the service of God and that of my king. It seems to me sufficient to write what I think, to the Council, so that those lords may attend to it, since that is their affair; and they and their consciences will be excellent solicitors for the adjustment of the matters that I write about, and the zeal of your Grace will make up for my shortcomings and remedy matters here, for I promise you there are many.

Concerning myself I may say that I am well, thanks to God. Those who manage the royal exchequer have treated me according to my deserts. It is impossible for me to live unless this be remedied, for in this misery which has been decreed for me, they have through a whole year accorded me no more than one third, amounting to six hundred and some odd pesos of eight reals. The expense which I undergo is excessive, although I brought with me only one boy, and at most two persons. I have not even anyone to help me at mass, although in so new and unsettled a country. I am forced to go from one part to another; and, as there are no beasts of burden and everything has to be borne on men's shoulders, even if one is only bringing the articles necessary to say mass, it costs a great deal of money. I am in such a condition that I have not even a chasuble in which to say the ordinary mass. I have even worn shoes with holes, which showed the bare flesh, and perhaps there was nothing with which to buy others. I do not ask for more income; I only ask that the decree of his Majesty be obeyed in my behalf--that instruction shall be paid for in the same place with the tributes from that place. I would be satisfied if only that which was ordered to be given me were paid me in my bishopric, from the tributes and the treasury thereof, in the province of Ilocos; for that of Cagaian has nothing, and there are no established tributes there. For if the money goes to Manila, as the governor and auditors and royal officials are there, I too must go there; and it certainly is an indignity to the position of a bishop that they should thus treat him. What is done for a lay priest and a religious is not much to do for a bishop; and as the religious and the secular clergymen are paid where they labor and where the pay is needed, the bishop should also be paid where he labors and where he needs it. Beside this, as he is obliged to go there and return, he undergoes during the journey (which is on the king's account) danger from sea and from many enemies on land; and on the return, which is on my account, there are the same dangers and risks to be run, and I must pay money to bring it from a great distance, and through dangerous routes. All this would be obviated if only the said decree of his Majesty were observed in my case. But, as they say in Castilla, the gallows was made for the unfortunate.

There is some more money which the royal officials have not collected from me, which I owed, although they were informed of it by the bulls. They failed to collect from me other money--that which was lent me in España in the House of Trade at Sevilla, for my aid and outfit. I say that concerning this I am writing to the Council, asking them to remit me this debt, as it is certainly necessary. If those lords should consent to have this favor done me, well and good; if not, patience.