The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898

Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century,

Volume XXVII, 1636–37

Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson with historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne.

Contents of Volume XXVII

1. [Preface] 9
2. [Documents of 1636]
   1. [Letter to Felipe IV]. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera; Cavite, June 30 21
   2. [Letter to Corcuera]. Felipe IV; Madrid, October 11 36
   3. [Royal decrees]. Felipe IV; Madrid, August–November 45
3. [Informatory memorial addressed to the king]. Juan Grau y Monfalcon; Madrid, 1637 55
4. [Documents of 1637]
   1. [Defeat of Moro pirates]. [Unsigned; but probably written by Pedro Gutierrez, S.J., from Dapitan, in 1637.] 215
   2. [Auditorship of accounts in Manila, 1595–1637]. [Unsigned; probably written at Madrid, in February, 1637.] 227
   3. [Conquest of Mindanao]. Marcelo Francisco Mastrilli, S.J.; Taytay, June 2 253
   4. [Events in Filipinas, 1636–37]. Juan Lopez, S.J.; Cavite, July 23 306
   5. [Corcuera’s triumphant entry into Manila]. Juan Lopez, Manila, May–July 330
   6. [Royal aid requested by the Jesuits at Manila]. Francisco Colin, S.J., and others; Manila, July–August 341
   7. [Letters to Felipe IV]. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera; Manila, August 20 346
5. [Bibliographical Data] 365

Illustrations

1. Les Isles Philippines, Molucques, et de la Sonde (map of Indian archipelago); photographic facsimile of map by Sanson d’Abbeville (Paris, 1654); from original in Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. 74, 75
2. View of Acapulco Harbor, in Mexico; photographic facsimile of engraving in Valentyn’s Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien (Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1724), i, p. 160; from copy in library of Wisconsin State Historical Society. 163
3. Weapons of the Moros; photograph of weapons in the Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar, Madrid 223
4. Map of Borneo; photographic facsimile of engraving in Valentyn’s Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien (Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1726), iii, between pages 236 and 237; from copy in library of Wisconsin State Historical Society. 317

Preface

The principal topics treated in this volume (1636–37) are the commerce of the Philippine Islands (especially with Nueva España) and the punishment inflicted by Corcuera on the Moro pirates of Mindanao. The former is fully discussed by Juan Grau y Monfalcón, procurator of Filipinas at the Spanish court; the latter is related in various documents, written mainly by participants in the Mindanao campaign. Certain minor documents relate to the administration of the islands and to the religious orders there.

A letter from Corcuera (June 30, 1636) gives a brief account of the great ecclesiastical controversy of that year; we present it here, not so much for the new information contained in it (which is not extensive) as for its being evidently the direct expression of the governor’s own opinions, and not (like some others of his reports) dictated more or less by other persons. Corcuera says that “the friars are lawless people, and he would rather fight the Dutch in Flandes than deal with them.” He asks that the king will adjust these matters, or else send another governor to the islands, so that one of them may attend to ecclesiastical affairs and the other to temporal. Part of Cerezo’s letter of August 10, 1634, to the king is answered by the latter (October 10, 1636) in his despatches to Corcuera; it relates to military affairs—approving Cerezo’s action, and giving some directions to Corcuera.

A royal decree of August 14, 1636, commands the municipality of Manila to reimburse their procurator-general, Juan Grau y Monfalcón, for the time and money that he has spent in attending to their business at the Spanish court. Another document of this sort (November 6, 1636) gives Corcuera orders regarding certain matters which his predecessor Cerezo had laid before the Spanish government. A third document (of the same date) approves the proceedings of Pedro de Heredia as governor of Terrenate, and promises reënforcements for the Spanish fort there.

The noted Memorial informatorio (Madrid, 1637) of Juan Grau y Monfalcón, procurator-general for Manila and the Philippines at the Spanish court, is here presented; it concerns the important and long-debated question of the restrictions imposed on the trade of the Philippine Islands with Nueva España. Certain measures have been proposed to the Spanish government which the procurator regards as dangerous to the interests of the Philippines, and he hastens to urge against these proposals numerous forcible arguments. He claims that the adoption of the former must result in the ruin of the citizens. And thus the crown must either support the entire expense of the islands, or abandon its hold on them—the former a heavy tax on its means, the latter most damaging to its power and prestige. A royal commissioner has been sent to Acapulco to investigate the revenue frauds alleged there, which greatly disturbs those who are engaged in trade, both in Nueva España and in the islands. The proposal to abandon the islands has been revived; the procurator rehearses the arguments advanced for this, and vigorously attacks them, urging that the possession of Filipinas be maintained by the crown as is that of Flanders. He proceeds to represent the importance of the islands, adducing many arguments to show this: the dependence of the Malucos on Filipinas, the size and number of those islands, the greatness and importance of Manila, the mineral resources of the islands, and, above all, their commerce.

The procurator describes this commerce, both domestic and foreign. Under the former head he enumerates the chief products of the islands, the diverse peoples who inhabit them, and the number of Indians and foreigners paying tribute to the crown and to private persons. He emphasizes the importance of the central location of the islands, and the restraint and hindrance that they constitute to the schemes of the Dutch for gaining control of the Oriental trade. Considering next the foreign trade of Filipinas, he represents it as far the most valuable part of that commerce, and gives a historical sketch of Oriental trade in general, with an enumeration of the commodities and products obtained therein, and much valuable information regarding the origin, quality, and prices of many goods. He relates how the Dutch were driven from Maluco, but afterward regained much of the spice region, notwithstanding the efforts of the Philippine Spaniards to prevent this. A list of the Dutch forts and factories in the archipelago is presented. From these data the procurator draws forcible arguments for the retention and support of the Philippine colony by the crown. This is fully justified by the importance of the clove trade, which otherwise would be lost to Spain; and by that of the Chinese trade, of which Filipinas enjoys the greater part. The maintenance of the Philippines will result in preserving the missionary conquests in the Far East, securing the safety of India, depriving the Dutch of their trade, relieving the expenses needed to preserve the American Spanish colonies, and maintaining the prestige of the Spanish crown. The royal treasury alone cannot meet all the expenses of the islands, nor is it wise to allow them too much commerce with Nueva España; the king is therefore advised to combine these two methods of relief. For his guidance in this matter, valuable information is submitted by the procurator, regarding the expenses of maintaining and governing the Philippines (under eight different headings—civil, religious, and military—sufficiently itemized to give a clear outline of expenditures under each, and summarized at the end), the revenues of the colonial treasury, and the real nature of the deficit therein. He claims that the islands contribute more than what they cost, since they have to bear the great expenses of maintaining and defending Maluco against the Dutch (which includes more than one-third of all the expenses of Filipinas), and aid all public needs with their time, property, and lives, as volunteers—thus saving to the crown an enormous expense. The procurator asks that these services be duly rewarded by the crown, and recommends that for this purpose the magistracies in the islands be kept for rewarding such worthy citizens, and not sold, as heretofore, at auction. But chiefly he urges the importance to them of the trade with Nueva España which is chiefly based on that which Manila carries on with China and India. Efforts have been made in Spain to suppress the former commerce, as being detrimental to that of Spain and the Indias. He admits that this last is decreasing, but claims that Filipinas is not responsible therefor. The causes of that decline are, rather, the greatly lessened yield of the precious metals in America, the enormous decrease of the Indian population in the colonies, the smaller consumption of goods among the Spaniards therein, and the exorbitant imposts and duties levied on the merchants. To deprive Filipinas of its commerce would be a measure both unjust and useless. The writer briefly reviews the history of that commerce, which at present is in a declining and feeble condition, owing to the many restrictions that have been laid upon it; and discusses certain misrepresentations that are current regarding supposed violations of the royal ordinances in the trade of Filipinas and Peru. Some of these acts are greatly exaggerated, and others, being inevitable in all trade, must be overlooked. Several instances are cited to show that even in Sevilla violations of the royal ordinances are taken for granted, and sometimes condoned even when discovered; and the procurator urges that the Filipinas be not more severely treated than other parts of the royal domain. He admits that their cargoes, like those from other colonies, contain some unregistered goods; but declares that the amount of this has been greatly exaggerated, for which he adduces various arguments. He also explains that the products of the islands themselves go to Nueva España outside of the amount permitted, which has been incorrectly represented. He again presents for consideration the additional two per cent duty imposed on Philippine shipments, and with forcible arguments urges that it be abolished. The procurator even declares that the commerce of Filipinas pays higher duties than does any other, and that the citizens of Manila have lost in it more than they have gained—in proof of which he submits a list of shipwrecks, wars and military expeditions, insurrections, conflagrations, and other occasions of loss and damage since the foundation of Manila. He then enumerates the goods sent to Nueva España from Filipinas, which are necessary to the former country for supplying the needs of its people; compares these goods with those sent from Spain; and discusses the effect of this Chinese merchandise on the Spanish silks. The memorial closes with a brief summary of the considerations and arguments therein contained, and a request for leniency in the imposition of duties on goods from Filipinas.

During the summer and autumn of 1636, a Mindanao chief named Tagal harries the coasts of Cuyo and Calamianes. Returning homeward laden with booty and captives, these pirates are attacked (December 21) by a hastily-gathered Spanish force of ships and men, and in this battle Tagal and many of his followers are slain, and most of their plunder recovered. This victory is a great gain to the Spaniards in maintaining their stand against the hostile Moros, and many of the latter are rendered submissive for the time being. An account of these events is given in a letter unsigned and undated, but evidently written early in 1637, and probably by the Jesuit Pedro Gutierrez.

By order of the royal Council a compilation is made (February, 1637?) of all information in the government records pertaining to the office of auditor of accounts at Manila. The writer (some clerk in the government employ) gives a brief historical sketch of this office, its relations with the royal officials, the advantages and disadvantages connected with it, and the proceedings of the council regarding this office, up to 1637.

The Moro raids of 1636 arouse the Spaniards to the urgent necessity of subduing those fierce and treacherous pirates; and Corcuera organizes an expedition to Mindanao, led by himself, for their punishment. Several accounts of this campaign (which had far-reaching consequences) are presented—largely from Jesuit sources, since members of that order accompany the governor, and it is their missions which are most endangered by the hostility of the Moros in Mindanao.

One of these is a letter (June 2, 1637) from the celebrated martyr in the Japanese missions, Marcelo Francisco Mastrilli, who went to Mindanao with Corcuera. He relates with much detail the events of the expedition, which the devil strives from the start to hinder. The Spaniards capture the Moro forts at the mouth of the Rio Grande, killing several of Corralat’s best officers, and seizing many vessels and military supplies; then they destroy many villages belonging to him. On March 18, the Spaniards storm a fortified height back of the port where they first entered. Corralat is driven from it, and flees to a little village in his territory; and in the conflict his wife and many of his followers are slain. Some Recollect fathers, held captive by the Moros, also perish—one of them slain by them, in anger at their defeat. Corralat’s treasure is seized, and divided among the soldiers; and much booty obtained by the Moros in plundering the churches in their raids is recovered. After destroying all that can be found, Corcuera returns to Zamboanga, leaving troops behind to subdue another Moro ruler, named Moncay. The wounded Spaniards—many of whom were injured by poisoned arrows—are cared for at Zamboanga, so successfully that only two men out of eighty die, and these “because they would not let themselves be cured.” Mastrilli ascribes this success not so much to the antidotes that had been furnished from Manila as to the virtues of a relic that he had, of St. Francis Xavier, and to the patients’ faith therein. In due time, the detachment sent against Moncay return, bringing that chief’s brother as envoy to offer his submission, and a promise to aid the Spaniards against Corralat, and to receive among his people Jesuit missionaries. Corcuera returns to Manila, after sending an expedition to reduce the villages on the western coast of the island, and arranging for opening a mission on the island of Basilan and securing for its people (who desire to maintain friendship with the Spaniards) the protection of the Spanish fort at Zamboanga. Other Moros along the southern coast offer to become the vassals of Spain, and the Joloans hasten to secure peace with the conqueror. All this opens a broad field for gospel work, and Mastrilli urges that Jesuit missionaries hasten to till it.

The usual Jesuit annals are continued by Juan Lopez (1636–1637). The archbishop is now on very friendly terms with the Jesuits. The noted martyr Mastrilli comes to the islands, and is regarded with much veneration by the people on account of certain miracles vouchsafed him; he departs from Manila on his way to Japan. Certain Dutchmen, prisoners at Manila, are converted; some of these, and some discontented Spaniards, undertake to escape from the islands, but most of the fugitives come to grief. The Dutch are at swords’ points with the natives of Java and Amboyna. The Spanish relief ships sent to Ternate encounter the Dutch and gain some advantage over them. A chief in Celebes and another in Siao have sent their sons to be educated in the Jesuit college at Manila; and to the former have been sent some soldiers and a missionary. The Camucones pirates were unusually daring in the year 1636, and carried away many captives from Samar; but on their return to their own country many of them perished by storms or by enemies. The Mindanao raid of the same year, and Corcuera’s Mindanao campaign, are briefly described. The ruler of Jolo is hostile, and Corcuera is going thither to humble the Moro’s pride. In Japan, all persons having Portuguese or Castilian blood have been exiled to Macao.

Returning victorious from the Mindanao expedition, Corcuera makes a triumphant entry into Manila (May 24, 1637), which is described by the Jesuit Juan Lopez. The festivities, secular and religious, last during several weeks, and include processions, masquerades, illuminations, masses, music, and dancing—and, finally, a dramatic representation of the conquest of Mindanao. The Manila Jesuits appeal (in August of that year) to the king, through the governor of the islands, for a further grant, to aid in erecting their buildings. This request is endorsed by Archbishop Guerrero.

On August 20, Corcuera sends the king his own account of his recent campaigns against the Moros of Mindanao; he promises to undertake next year expeditions to Jolo and Borneo. He asks the king to confirm his grant of extra pay to wounded soldiers; he also complains of the illegal acts of Pedro de Heredia, who has long been governor at Terrenate, and asks that an official be sent from Spain to take Heredia’s residencia.

The Editors

June, 1905.

Documents of 1636

1. [Letter to Felipe IV]. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera; June 30.
2. [Letter to Corcuera]. Felipe IV; October 11.
3. [Royal decrees]. Felipe IV; August–November.

Sources: The first document, and the first of the three decrees, are obtained from MSS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla; the rest, from the “Cedulario Indico,” in the Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid.

Translations: The first document is translated by Emma Helen Blair; the second, by Robert W. Haight; the third, by James A. Robertson.

Letter from Corcuera to Felipe IV

Sire:

Your Majesty was pleased to present for archbishop of this city Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, formerly bishop of Nueba Segobia. I avow to your Majesty, in all truth, that, [even] if I did not feel under obligation to give you an account of what is going on in these your islands, which are in my charge, I would not dare to inform any other person than my natural lord of the archbishop’s harsh, unbending, and irritable disposition. By the galleons which arrived last year came his bulls, which, with the decrees of your Majesty, he presented in the royal Audiencia. He was admitted to his church, whose canons and dignitaries he had often threatened because they had not been willing to receive him before his bulls came. In the royal court of justice, before which he appeared to be presented [to his see], he swore upon the gospels not to interfere with your Majesty’s jurisdiction, to respect your royal patronage, and to be always your royal vassal. All this he has violated, three or four times; and during the ten months while he has governed the church he has not failed in each of them to annoy me and disturb the peace. The first occasion was, that an artilleryman had killed a slave-girl belonging to the sargento-mayor; she had formerly belonged to the artilleryman, and he had maintained illicit relations with her. The said archbishop took her away from him, and made him sell her. [Then follows an account of the murder and the execution of justice on the criminal (the body of the latter “was borne to its burial by La Misericordia”), and of the early part of the controversy with the archbishop.] A fuller account of this will be given to your Majesty by the fathers Diego de Bobadilla and Simon Cotta,[1] who are persons of great truthfulness, and have much authority in their order; they are going, as its agents, to Rome. From this your Majesty may be assured that they will give you truthful information about whatever you may be pleased to know regarding these islands. I entreat your Majesty, with all respect, that you will be pleased to command that their affairs shall be promptly and favorably despatched; for this religious order merits such favor for the services that they render to your Majesty. They furnish chaplains for your galleons that sail to Therrenate, on which service no one likes to go, on account of the danger. The said fathers are also rendering the same service in the galleons which go to Castilla; they receive twelve pesos a month as pay, which has been assigned to them on account of the convenience of this service to your Majesty—although the said fathers would serve without pay, most willingly, in order to show better the affection with which they always engage in your Majesty’s service.

The said religious order, to defend themselves from the flagrant injuries which the said archbishop was inflicting upon them—although they sought means, and those the mildest, for peace—could not avoid the appointment of a judge-conservator. He defended their rights, and compelled the archbishop to withdraw the acts [which he had issued against the Society], although the said judge-conservator allowed himself first to be excommunicated. Here there is occasion for making a long relation to your Majesty; but I will refrain from that, mindful that the said fathers will make a report to you. I made an offer to the archbishop to pay, out of my own purse, the four thousand ducados which the judge-conservator had sentenced him to pay for the crusade fund; and that I would take into my own charge his affairs, and the satisfactory settlement of them with the said judge-conservator. For this purpose I went to visit the archbishop at [the convent of] St. Francis, to which he had retired; and in the presence of the provincial and of another religious (an Augustinian, procurator for his order) I made him that offer—on the condition that he would detach himself from the religious orders, who, as I judged, were disturbing his mind with evil counsels. He would not accept my offer with that condition, preferring to remain [where he was] until affairs had gone through their proper course, and [thus] lowering himself from bad to worse. On the Friday before Christmas Eve, he came to my lodgings after evening prayer, and with much feeling asked that, since I would give a furlough the next day to the prisoners in the jail, I would also release him from the affliction that he was suffering, and adjust his affairs. He had been declared to be suspended [from his office] for four years. I was embarrassed at this, and doubted whether I could do him any service or accomplish anything for his aid. I called together the learned jurists and advocates of this royal Audiencia, that they might give me their opinions after having carefully studied the question whether I could demand that [relief for the archbishop] from the judge-conservator, and ask him to grant it for my sake. In this council were present the provincial and the rector of the Society of Jesus, the dean [of the cathedral] and other canonists, and the judge-conservator himself; and in it I asked this last, in virtue of the opinions rendered by the said lawyers, to restore the archbishop to his government, and to withdraw from him the pecuniary fines, which amounted to more than eight thousand pesos. I could not obtain a favorable answer then, nor indeed for more than a fortnight afterward—although I offered to the judge-conservator, and to his brothers and relatives, all the favors that I could show them not unworthily, in an official way. At this very time I am assigning a pension of two hundred pesos to a sister of his, a poor woman, the wife of Don Sebastian de Herbite—to whom your Majesty was pleased to grant, by one of your royal decrees, an encomienda of three hundred ducados. That decree has not yet been fulfilled, because he has not come from España; and this sum has been given to his wife to aid in her support until her husband shall return, and your Majesty’s command regarding him can be carried out. To another officer (a brother-in-law of the said judge-conservator), who has ability, and deserves reward for his own sake and for the services of his father, I gave the office of alcalde-mayor for Laguna de Vay. I assure your Majesty that the settlement [of this affair] cost me much care and effort, besides a thousand pesos in cash from my own purse which I spent for various matters. Peace having been concluded, and the archbishop having been absolved and freed from the penalties, he went to his own house in my coach; and I conveyed him to the holy church, and even to the choir—where I knelt, in order to set a good example to all, to recognize his authority; and I went to my own seat, to hear mass.

We remained in entire harmony about a month and a half. But the royal chaplain of your Majesty for the seminary of Santa Potenciana rang the bell for the Gloria, on Holy Saturday, a quarter of an hour before the cathedral bells rang; and for this the archbishop—although he knew that that chaplain is in charge of your Majesty’s seminary, and only removable by you, and that he has no authority to wreak his anger on him, as he does on the others, his own clergy—commanded that two pairs of fetters should be placed on the chaplain, at the house of his fiscal. I was informed of this by a memorial from the directress of the said seminary, saying that it was left without chaplain and without mass. I sent by my secretary a message to the said archbishop, entreating that he would have the kindness to command that the chaplain be released, on account of the deficiency which his absence caused in the seminary; but he began to reprimand my secretary, as if the latter were the one to blame. For that reason, I sent by an adjutant an order to the said chaplain to come to me, to give his account of the affair; and within one hour he was sent back to his prison. Although the archbishop knew this, he left his house, going through the streets with a great disturbance, and attended with tapers, to consult with the religious orders whether he could excommunicate me; for he asserted that I had broken into his prison and taken away his prisoners. His fiscal hastened to tell him that the chaplain was already in his prison, at which the archbishop became quiet and returned to his house. He would not allow the chaplain to appeal to the bishop of Camarines; so the latter appealed for royal aid against fuerza—the archbishop having detained him six or eight days in prison because he would not pay the twelve pesos which he had been fined for having rung the bells for the Gloria too early. The fine was paid by a friend of his; and thereupon he was allowed to leave the prison.

After that, the archdeacon, Don Francisco de Valdes (who had been presented for that dignity by Don Juan Cereso de Salamanca), finding that his health was impaired, and being offended at the abusive language that the archbishop used, whenever he felt so inclined, to him and the other members of the chapter, in the choir, handed to the prelate his resignation of the said dignity—as much because he could not fulfil its duties on account of his infirmities, as for the reason just stated. He also placed his resignation before the government. The archbishop replied that Don Francisco must aid in the church services until Holy Week and Easter were past. After that time had expired, the archdeacon again demanded that the archbishop accept his resignation, and allow him to go to his own house to recuperate; but the prelate refused to accept it. Don Francisco therefore memorialized the government, placing the said resignation in your Majesty’s hands; and it was accepted from him in your royal name, for the reasons that he alleged therein. For this cause he again became disquieted, and displayed his former bad temper. The juris-consults had affirmed that the said prebend was vacant, and that the government could present another person in Don Francisco’s place—as was done, by presenting Master Don Andres Arias Xiron, cura of La Hermitta (one of the best benefices outside the city walls), who was provisor of this archbishopric while the bishop of Cibú governed it, and has always given a good account of himself. The archbishop disliked Don Andres because he did hot resign his office as provisor before that prelate entered upon the government of his church, so that the latter might bestow that office on Don Pedro de Monroy—who caused so many disturbances in the time of Don Alfonso [sic] Faxardo, excommunicating the auditors, and constraining the Audiencia to exile him from the kingdoms. This man was made provisor when the archbishop began to govern, and he caused fresh disturbances when justice was executed on the artilleryman; and during the term of the judge-conservator the office of provisor was taken away from Don Pedro. As he left the city, through fear of the said judge-conservator—the ecclesiastical cabildo ruling [the archdiocese] and its dean being provisor—I gave orders at the city gates that the guards should not allow Don Pedro to enter them, to cause more commotions in the city. One day, at evening prayer, [his friends] brought him within the walls by a gate opening toward the sea, clad in the garb of a Franciscan, walking between two religious of that order; and the Dominicans received him into their house. The religious of both those orders, forcing their way through the guard and overpowering its commander, who was holding Don Pedro, smuggled in the latter through a little postern gate which the said Dominican fathers had.

Through the hatred and ill-will which the said archbishop bears to the said Don Andres Xiron, he refused to accept the presentation of the latter [to the archdeanery]; and in regard to this subject he has had so many disputes with the Audiencia of your Majesty over the fuerza which he committed against the said Don Andres, that he went so far as to excommunicate Auditor Çapatta for having rendered the decision that it was fuerza. By this act he excommunicated the entire Audiencia, as Çapatta alone remained of the auditors—for the rest of them are dead; the last one was Don Albaro de Mesa y Lugo, who died about six weeks ago—although it is true that, according to the concordant opinion of lawyers, the Audiencia cannot be held as excommunicate. I called together the advocates in the Audiencia, and named three for the defense of the case, who should continue to act with the authority that was given to them by the ordinance and iterative decrees of your Majesty. The royal decree having been issued, the archbishop yielded, and absolved the said auditor, Marcos Çapatta. But as he continued his display of fuerza against Don Andres Arias Xiron, an act and an iterative decree were also issued against the archbishop, which he refused to obey in any case. In this stand he was aided by the friars—Dominicans, Franciscans, Recollects, and Augustinians—at the time when the alguazil-mayor of court proceeded to execute the royal decree which exiled the archbishop from the kingdoms and deprived him of the temporalities. A friar carried to his house the monstrance with the most holy sacrament; he was clad in his pontifical robes, and, holding the monstrance in his hands, the three religious orders being present, he awaited the said alguazil-mayor with the said royal decree. The latter, seeing this array, did not know what he ought to do. The Audiencia commanded him to drive the religious out of the archbishop’s house by force, with the assistance that he had, and to serve the royal decree. They ordered him to remain there with his soldiers, with all devoutness and respect, before the archbishop, and to wait until he should lay down the most holy sacrament, before executing the decree; also that he should not allow the archbishop to eat or drink, nor permit any one else to enter his house to give him food. The friars refused to go away, until the soldiers had to carry them away bodily. Then, at eleven o’clock at night, they were going about the streets, and finally obliged me to take other measures, after I had sent, in the name of your Majesty, protests to the provincial of St. Dominic and the guardian of St. Francis—informing them that their religious were gathered at the gate of the archbishop’s house in the manner of a [religious] community, with lighted candles in their hands. The religious refused to go away until I gave orders that the soldiers should carry them in their arms to the convents. Their intention was to stir up the community, and cause scandals and tumults in it; and in truth they would have succeeded in this if your Majesty had not here your armed troops. For in these Philipinas Islands these friars are lawless people; and I would rather fight the Dutch in Flandes than deal with these friars, or have occasion for trouble with them. I will write further particulars about them in a separate letter and information to your Majesty, in order that you may be pleased to command that some corrective be applied to these disorders; and so that the governor may be enabled to conduct the government and attend to the service of your Majesty without being hindered by them.

The archbishop remained in the island of Maribeles—to which place he allowed himself to be conveyed for his disobedience—more than a fortnight. During this time the royal Audiencia set affairs in order, after having written to the bishop of Cibú (to whom pertains the ecclesiastical government [in such cases]) that the bishop of Camarines—who is second in that succession, and was here in the city—was to govern the church. This he has done, removing the suspension of divine services, and absolving the excommunicated ad cautelam. The archbishop, before the alguazil-mayor of the court could arrive to notify him of your Majesty’s royal decree, had declared excommunication against the auditor Çapatta and the governor of Filipinas—as your Majesty will see by the papers which I send, which were posted in the churches. However, all the matters that I have mentioned, and everything else, I will leave for the report which the said fathers of the Society, Diego de Bobadilla and Simon Cotta, will make to your Majesty, in your royal Council of the Indias; they will inform you of all the circumstances and details which here I omit.

The royal Audiencia, exercising the clemency, kindness, and affection with which your Majesty treats your vassals (especially the prelates and ecclesiastics), issued a new royal decree to restore the said archbishop to your Majesty’s favor and to his archbishopric—all which has been carried out, for the sake of a good example to all the foreign peoples here; but making preëminent the authority of your Majesty’s jurisdiction in what concerns him. But we always remain hopeless that the said archbishop will govern his church peaceably, without interfering with the said royal jurisdiction or with your Majesty’s patronage; for he is instigated [by others], and cannot be obliged, on account of the extent of his authority, to punish the ecclesiastics and his cabildo. He unites himself, on every occasion, with the three religious orders aforesaid—who do not content themselves with giving opinions which are not for his good, but force him to carry out these. They act thus out of revenge for my being told, when I first came here, of their shortcomings by the said archbishop; and they cannot revenge themselves for this in any other way than by driving him into the same uneasy disposition. In order that your Majesty may form some idea of the archbishop, I will tell you of what occurred on Holy Thursday. At half-past two in the afternoon, when he was in the choir to perform the ceremony of washing the feet of twelve priests, he began to put on his pontifical robes, and at the same time gave orders that the musicians should sing. The sub-chanter was not there, not having arrived at the church; and moreover the dignitaries (who do not have to put on their vestments with him) had not come. One of these was Don Francisco de Valdes, who resigned the archdeaconry; he had treated these ecclesiastics so badly with insulting language that, on the last occasion of that, the said archdeacon resolved that he would not serve in the church during the term of the archbishop. As he did not possess your Majesty’s confirmation of his prebend, they all said that he could do so. At this time the singers came in, and began the offices; the archbishop became so angry (for he is exceedingly choleric) that he snatched the miter from his head and flung it on the floor. Thus he went on, throwing down the rest of his vestments, one after another; and when he had stripped off all of them he went to his own house, snorting with anger, and uttering a thousand insults against all the prebendaries, and leaving all the priests sitting, barefooted, on a bench. Such are the actions of the archbishop; and with his headlong tendencies, combined with the excellent counsels that the friars give him, I shall have plenty to do in keeping them all quiet, and endeavoring to live in peace. All these things demand from your Majesty suitable and efficacious correction.

For the honor of God and of your own service, will your Majesty be pleased to command that all these matters be amended, or else to send another governor, so that one shall take care of ecclesiastical affairs, and the other of the temporal, for one man alone cannot do both; for the hindrances which these religious orders put in his way are many, and he has no time left for the political government or military affairs, or for considering the general welfare of the provinces. May our Lord guard the Catholic person of your Majesty, as Christendom has need. Manila, on the last day of June in the year 1636. Sire, your Majesty’s vassal kisses your feet.

Sevastian Hurtado de Corcuera

I, Alonso Vaeça del Rio, public notary, one of the number [allotted] to this city for the king our sovereign, attest and give truthful testimony to the persons who shall see the present, that today, Friday, which is reckoned the ninth of May in the year one thousand six hundred and thirty-six, at about eight o’clock at night, a little more or less, Christoval de Valderrama, notary of this archbishopric, stationed himself at the corner of the archbishop’s house, near the dwelling of the master-of-camp, Don Lorenzo de Olasso, to read a document. This he did by the light of a taper, in loud and intelligible words; and at the noise I, the present secretary, and several other persons went to the windows in the house of Captain Luis Alonso de Roa (which forms half a square), on the side where the said notary was standing. Continuing his reading, he said that inasmuch as the most reverend prelate of these islands had been making his official visitation on Master Don Andres Arias Jiron, a beneficed cura for the district of La Hermita; and in order to interrupt him, so that he could not continue that visitation, Don Sevastian Hurtado de Corcuera, governor and captain-general of these islands, had nominated the said Don Andres for archdeacon of the cathedral of this city; and besides, in order that the archbishop should accept him and bestow upon him collation and canonical installation, had issued against the said archbishop a royal decree in which he commanded him to give Don Andres the said collation—which was contrary to the bull In cena Domini: [accordingly,] the said governor and the licentiate Don Marcos Çapata de Galves, auditor of this royal Audiencia, had rendered themselves liable to excommunication; and he therefore commanded them that, within half an hour, they should withdraw the said royal decree—under penalty of four thousand ducados of Castilla to be applied for the Holy Crusade, and of the major excommunication, late sententia, ipso facto incurrenda; and he would place them on the public list of excommunicated persons. The aforesaid statements—with another, that he would proclaim an interdict, and would today impose a wholesale suspension of divine services—are those which I could understand; and I came to give an account of it to the said governor. Being in the apartment of the royal court, his Lordship, having sent away all persons except me, commanded that I should make an official statement of the affair—with a solemn declaration (which I made) that this demand was made with no intention of proceeding against any ecclesiastic, but only for the purpose of rendering an account of this occurrence to his Majesty and to his royal Council of the Indias. By this command I give the present; and it is witnessed by Captain Lope Ossorio de Soto, Eugenio de Rui Saenz, Captain Diego Diaz de Pliego, Captain Luis Alonso de Roa, and Alférez Francisco Mexia—who all were with me, the present notary, in the house of the said Captain Luis Alonso de Roa, when what I have related occurred; and they also heard it. And, as witnesses that I attest the present deposition, were present Don Pedro de Arredondo Aguero, Alonso de Çornoca, and Antonio Dias. This deposition is dated on this said day, at about nine o’clock at night, a little more or less; and I sign it, in testimony of the truth.

Alonço Vaeça del Rio, public notary.

[Then follows an attestation by other public notaries that the said deponent is an authorized notary, and worthy of trust.[2]]

[1] “Costa” in Barrantes; but Sommervogel gives the name of no Jesuit, under either form, who could have gone from Manila in 1636.

[2] The mass of contemporary material in Spanish archives on the contest between Corcuera (the civil arm of the government) and the Jesuits on one side, and the bishop and friars on the other, shows how important the matter was considered, and the virulence with which the fight was waged on both sides. The various documents relate the affair pro and con, and it is narrated in official, semi-official, and religious documents. The facts of the case are stated, somewhat succinctly, in a printed document, undated (although probably 1636 or 1637), signed by Licentiate Ruiz de la Vega, and addressed to the king, in which many of the letters between the various parties concerned (all given in this series) are given in full or extract, but nothing new is told. This document is in Archivo general de Indias, at Sevilla, in the patronato “Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y espedientes del gobernador de Filipinas, vistos en el Consejo; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 8.”

Letter from Felipe IV to Corcuera

The King: To Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, knight of the Order of Alcantara, my governor and captain-general of my Filipinas Islands, and president of my royal Audiencia thereof. The letter written to me by Don Juan Zerezo Salamanca, governor of those islands by appointment of the Marqués de Cerralvo, my viceroy of Nueva España, upon the death of Don Juan Niño de Tavora, on the tenth of August, 634, which treats of military affairs, has been received and examined in my Council of War for the Yndias and is answered in this.

He says that the preservation of those islands depends upon not undertaking new enterprises, but keeping the indispensable garrisons well defended, and reducing those of less importance, whereby there will be troops in that camp sufficient to undertake large enterprises, as the governors did in other days. At present, on the contrary, for the reason given, they are contented with not losing anything that is in their charge. It has, therefore, seemed best to warn and charge you, as I do, to inform me very needfully in regard to this, and of what ought to be done for the greater efficiency of the government.

He likewise says that to withdraw the forces from the island of Hermosa would be a difficult thing, notwithstanding that it appears, by the explanation that he sends me in the letter which he writes me concerning affairs of government (a copy of which I send you with this), that this is expedient. Accordingly, the force there should be reduced to only two posts, doing away with the expense of rations for the others—although, in his opinion, all that is being done is superfluous. After considering the said clause of the letter, you will inform me of what occurs to you in this matter, and what is advisable to be decreed.

He declares that the fortress of that city is in a state of defense, although not with the completeness that was maintained in former times, and that the fortification of the city is a difficult task. The site of its settlement is admirable, because more than half of it stands on an arm of the sea, where it cannot be surrounded by any enemies, and another stretch of wall is bathed by the river. But the remaining side, toward the land, has some heights; and the ground is such that a trench can be opened up to the wall, which has no terreplein. The wall is seven palmos high; the redoubts are very small and irregular—on the contrary, being in the way of the casements. Of the three cavaliers which the wall has, the moat is so filled up that there is hardly a sign that there was one. Considering the great importance of that post, and the fact that building can be done very cheaply, at less cost than in any other part, he resolved to build a royal cavalier, by gathering up the remains of what stood there before to repair the fortifications, in modern fashion, at the weakest part of the wall. Without drawing from my royal treasury, he had commenced the work four months before, and hoped to have it finished in two more. The ditch was being opened effectively at the same time, and to reduce the number of posts for the defense of this city, and that it might be better fortified, all the redoubts which disturbed the communication between the cavaliers were to be destroyed, and the wall would consist of merely four bastions. You will inform me as to what has been done, and what you may judge should be done.

As for the careless storage of the powder; for [Don Juan says that] all there is on those islands is contained in a chamber of the fort of that city, and that in so prominent a place that it overlooks the wall; and that if by some accident (which may God avert!) this powder should explode, besides the risk to the city, there would remain no more powder in that whole country, nor material with which it could be made. To avoid so great a difficulty there would be built in some of the said four cavaliers two round towers, so that a large part of the powder could be divided and protected. Supposing that you realize how important it is that a part of the powder should be safe, and free from the accidents which might be brought about by any of it igniting, I charge you strictly to carry out this matter pertaining to the safety of the powder, that it may be more secure and suitably placed.

He says that one of the motives which led him to fortify the wall is that the religious orders have built churches close to it, so large that they are obstacles; and because one of the churches, which is called Minondo, is near the Parián where during the year there are settled twenty or thirty thousand Sangleys (who are the people that rebelled in times past); and through mild measures the people of the Parián have aided this work with four thousand pesos from the treasury of their common fund. This has appeared well to us, and you will take measures in it which you may judge most expedient, warning them that no height commanding the city must remain. If there is any difficulty, and the churches would receive loss, you will avert such injury; and will send a plan [of the building]; and for the future you will not consent that any work be built to the damage of the public.

He says that he had informed me that the galleys were of little importance, and that of Terrenate alone was worth maintaining; but that, having considered the matter further, he is of a different opinion. For they are necessary in order to reënforce with them Terrenate on occasions of danger, but in the port of Cabite, where they are lying, they are not so useful as they would be if they were taken to the province of Pintados, in Otón, or Cibu, within view of the domestic enemies in Mindanao, Joló, and Camocón—who are the ones who rob the natives. And he says that if he had only had twenty oared vessels that year in that region, the enemy would not have come out from their country, causing disturbances and terrorizing the provinces as they usually do. With the first relation which notified Don Juan Zerezo to carry out this plan, in the past year of 635, I ordered you that, since the galleys caused great expense, you should do away with them; and that, if you found difficulties in doing so, you should advise me of it. In order that a decision may be made in this matter, I order and command you to inform me very fully of what occurs to you in regard to it, so that, having examined this, I may order such measures to be taken as shall be most expedient.

He says that Pedro de Heredia, governor of Terrenate, had advised him that many soldiers of that garrison were about to mutiny, and that he was letting the matter pass as well as he could, hoping that aid would arrive. This had been caused by the fact that Father Immanuel Rivero, commissioner of the Holy Office, had published an edict which affected many of them, concerning the crime against nature, whereby he gave them two months’ time to be absolved; and to this was added the fact that it was understood that the governor was instituting an investigation as to who were absolved, whence arose their despair. On this account, as well as because the Dutch had a very strong galleon in Malayo and were expecting others from Chacarta, it was necessary that the ordinary reënforcements should be much increased; for, if only the usual number came, they would infallibly be lost. At the time when this advice was received, two galleons and a patache were getting ready, for the affairs which he had mentioned gave him more anxiety than the enemy themselves. Several, in the council which they held, thought best that he should not take the risk or weaken his forces; and that this reënforcement should be sent in light vessels, and to the usual amount. But considering the condition and the danger of those forts, it was resolved to reënforce them creditably, sending the said two galleons manned with good infantry and first-class troops. He raised one company of volunteer soldiers from the camp, which was an important thing, and it is well that this should be done every year, so that no soldiers be forced to go; for, knowing that there will be many exchanged, they will go willingly. He appointed as commander Admiral Don Geronimo de Himonte [sic], who conducted himself extremely well, observing the orders which he carried, not to turn aside for other enterprises, but to place the reënforcements in Terrenate, and to defend himself from whomsoever attempted to hinder him. The two [Dutch] ships that the enemy were awaiting were on the way for this purpose: they were boarded and burned by Indians of the Votunes from the kingdom of Macasan, who found them anchored, with the troops on land, and killed those who remained on board. But the ship from Malayo, trusting to its strength and extreme lightness, attempted to attack the reënforcements all alone, taking this risk on account of the importance of the matter, knowing that the soldiers from the garrison of Terrenate were awaiting the outcome of this affair before resolving to kill the governor and higher officials, according as they had plotted. The said galleon fought with the ships which brought the reënforcements eight days [dias; sc. horas] and escaped dismantled, with great loss. In the ships with the reënforcements seven persons were killed, including the chief pilot. After this, the reënforcements arrived safely, at the time when Pedro de Heredia had arrested a hundred and fifty persons; he had burned or garroted eleven, a number had died in prison, and forty more were sent back in the same ships which brought the reënforcements. The case on the first hearing was brought before Don Lorenzo de Olasso, master-of-camp of the soldiery in those islands. Although the charges against them were not sufficiently substantiated, and some were of opinion that they should be leniently dealt with; yet, considering that if these forty soldiers were guilty they might infect the garrisons in which they were stationed, and as the affair was of such public importance and within sight of so many barbarians and particularly Sangleys—who are more than any other nation liable to this wretched practice, they ought to be proceeded against with much discretion and severity. The despatch of the reënforcements, and what was done in its execution and fulfilment, are approved. In regard, to removing the soldiers, I ordered you by my decree of the filth of November of 635 to send two companies to Terrenate in two galleons, so that two others might be brought back from there; and in this manner that garrison would be exchanged every three years, and all the companies of the troops there would divide the labor equally. Accordingly, I charge you to have the foregoing executed; and you will see to it that thanks are rendered to Don Juan Zerezo for the care with which he prepared the reënforcements which he sent. As for the delinquents arrested, you will do justice to them as is most fitting to the service of God our Lord and myself, proceeding very circumspectly.

He likewise informs us that Pedro de Heredia wrote to him that the natives of the islands of Terrenate, who hitherto recognized Cachil Varo as king of Tidore, have refused him obedience, and crowned in his place another Moro chief named Cachil Horotalo, saying that this one is the true heir of that kingdom and that Cachil Varo is an intruder. This makes him very anxious, because besides the fact that it is not his affair to disinherit kingdoms, the new one whom they pretend is the king has been hitherto retired in Malayo under the protection of the Dutch, fulfilling the duties of naval commander; and he had even sent him ambassadors, promising fidelity. Little dependence is to be put upon his words, and Cachil Varo is a very valiant Moro and my true servant, to whom hitherto presents have been given each year, and, before him, to his father. Besides having become hispanicized, and an ally of this crown, he has retired to his fort in Tidore, which is a more important one than those I hold, and he is obeyed by the people in general, with more than two thousand chiefs. This has appeared satisfactory; and I charge you particularly always to aid friendly kings with whom we have alliances and friendship.

He says there is nothing in that government so important as that the port of Cavite be well provided with the necessary naval supplies, and some person who is very competent and intelligent placed in charge of it. The other offices are given as favors, but for this one some person is sought who must be asked to accept it. Such has been the case with him who is stationed there as commander of the fort and river-master—namely, Captain Juan de Olaz, who attends to it in such manner that for many years the port has not been so abundantly supplied nor more faithfully administered—very different from the condition in which it was, lacking everything. You will give him many thanks on my behalf and let care be taken regarding his person, that favors may be bestowed on him when occasion offers.

He says that the rewards in these islands are scant, and particularly those which he has had to give, as he has not had authority to appoint to encomiendas; and that, as well on this account as owing to the events which have occurred in his time, he has promoted some worthy soldiers with commissions as infantry captains—considering that they are the ones who perform the labor which is most necessary; and that they have, aside from their pay, only their simple place as before. Several in consideration of this honor have settled down and become citizens, which is a thing much to be desired. The sons of principal men have been encouraged to enlist as soldiers, and have commenced to serve in the infantry, which was much run down. With especial care he has given none of these appointments to any servant of his—excepting his captain of the guard, as all the other governors did; and the offices of justice have been appointed from the veterans in service and the old settlers. In the foregoing cases you will observe the military ordinances.

The other clauses of the said letter have been examined and at present there is nothing to answer to them. Madrid, October 11, 1636.

I the King

By order of his Majesty:
Don Gabriel de Ocaña y Alarcon

Royal Decrees

Ordering the city of Manila to compensate Grau y Monfalcon

The King: To the council, justice, and magistracy of the city of Manila of the Philipinas Islands. Don Juan Grau y Monfalcon, your procurator-general, has reported to me that you had many serious matters of great importance pending in this my court, on which depended the conservation of that community. Seeing also that the persons who had charge of these did not conclude them, you appointed him as your procurator-general; and, besides him, a regidor of that city council [ayuntamiento], who might come here to confer about those affairs, giving him a salary of two thousand pesos. The latter, coming to these kingdoms, died in Eastern India. Consequently, you again made a new appointment, [conferring it] on Don Diego de Esqueta y Mechaca, a regidor of that city, who is coming to this my court in the first trading fleet. All the papers, records, and instructions, which you gave to the said regidors for the despatch of the business having reached the hands of the said Don Juan Grau, he has attended to its expedition with so great promptness, personal care, and interest, that he has indeed settled your affairs, so that when the said Don Diego de Esqueta arrives here he will find nothing for him to do. Don Juan has attended to it all at his own cost, and since the time of his appointment as such procurator-general—more than six years—you have not sent him any of his salary, or anything for the expenses that he has incurred. He has expended considerable money from his own funds—something which few would have done, especially in so hard times—as he desired to give you entire satisfaction in regard to the matters with which you had charged him. By that means the great expenses that you might have incurred, if the said procurators had remained here with salaries so considerable, have been avoided. He petitioned me, in view of this, to be pleased to grant him the favor of a decree of recommendation, so that you may consider him as well recommended, in order to give him a reward for his service, past and present, in the said negotiations; and that you may assign him some fixed salary for his service in the future, for so long as he shall hold powers of attorney from you. He petitioned that he be remunerated for what he has spent, and that you also assign him a certain accommodation of lading-space in the ships that sail to Nueva España. This matter having been examined in my royal Council of the Yndias, where the care taken by the said Don Juan Grau has been known and experienced; and after they had considered the aforesaid and the good account that he has given of the matters under his charge, with the diligence and carefulness of which you will have learned through the many despatches which he has sent and continues to send you; and because my will is that he receive in full the grace and favor which his care merits: I have considered it fitting to issue the present. By it I charge and order you that, since it is so just to make him compensation, you grant him that which he should have, in accordance with what you consider due him for his work, past and present, in your affairs and negotiations. You shall also pay him the sum which he shall have spent and what he shall spend from his own property in the said matters. What you shall thus determine, and what you think can be done for him, you shall give to the person who shall hold his power of attorney in that city. Thus is my will. Given in Madrid, August fourteen, one thousand six hundred and thirty-six.

I the King

By order of the king our sovereign:
Don Gabriel de Ocaña y Alarcon

Signed by the Council.

[Endorsed: “Don Juan Grau. To the city of Manila, ordering it to endeavor to remunerate, as it shall deem best, Don Juan Grau y Monfalcon, procurator-general of that city, for his labor in the expedition of its affairs, and for the expenses incurred by him in them.”]

Orders given to Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera

The King: To Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, knight of the Order of Alcántara, my governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, and president of my royal Audiencia therein. A letter written to me by Don Juan Zerezo de Salamanca on August 10 of the former year, 1634, while he was governor ad interim of those islands, on matters pertaining to government and justice,[1] has been received and examined in my royal Council of the Indias. On the points therein that have needed to be considered, you are hereby answered.

The said Don Juan Zerezo declares that Geronimo de Fuentes, an inhabitant of that city, bid for a magistracy at auction. The judges of the auction knocked it down to him, and made out his title for it. Some of the regidors opposed this, and appealed to the Audiencia. The latter, in order not to make a precedent, so that the alcaldes or judges of the provinces should attempt the same with their successors, had the possession [of the magistracy] given to him, and left the party his right safe and in force. That is approved.

By my decree of August 26, 633, I ordered that, in matters of government and the expenses of my royal treasury which should arise from the petition of litigants, my fiscal should be allowed to see all the enactments of my governors, so that he may take notice of what appears to [concern] him. I am informed that he is so doing; and that it would be advisable to order the said fiscal that, in disputes over jurisdiction with the Audiencia, he shall defend the decrees which pronounce in favor of the government’s jurisdiction. Notwithstanding that I order that Audiencia to observe and obey those decrees with special care. I have deemed it advisable to charge you—as I do—that you shall do what pertains to you in your offices, and shall observe the decrees, laws, and ordinances which are given for the good government of those islands.

I have determined that the ships which are despatched to Nueva España shall sail without fail every year in the early part of June. Don Juan Zerezo tells me that it could not be established in the year of 634. I charge you straitly to attend to the execution and fulfilment of this, with the earnestness that I expect from your zeal.

As for the loan of sixty thousand pesos which the inhabitants of Macan made, as you have understood it, to my royal treasury of that city—the payment and reimbursement of which my fiscal afterward opposed, saying that the Portuguese were holding back considerable property of those citizens; and which was for that reason placed in a separate fund, where it is deposited—you shall order that those accounts be adjusted, and that what amount is theirs by right be paid to the parties, according to justice.

He mentions also that word was received from the kingdoms of Japon that the persecution of Christians was greater than ever in the year 633, and that more than twenty religious from all the orders were martyred; and that it would be advisable that no religious go to that kingdom for the present, because of the little good that they do, and that, on account of this, the intercourse and commerce of that kingdom with those islands has been closed. Since intercourse and friendship with them should not be lacking, and since you have understood how important this matter may be, you shall endeavor to attend to it with all the skill that is requisite; and you shall regulate yourself by the orders that are given, and in accordance with the needs of the church of Japon, and the benefit and utility which may accrue from the labors of the religious in those districts. Madrid,

November 6, 1636. I the King

By order of his Majesty:
Don Gabriel de Ocaña y Alarcon

On Terrenate matters

The King: To Pedro de Heredia, commandant of the port of the island of Terrenate and governor of the soldiers there, or the person or persons in whose charge it may be. Your letter of May 13, 634, has been received and examined in my Council of War of the Indias. In it you state what soldiers are in those forts, and how inadequately they are aided with what is needful and requisite for their sustenance; while the infantry reënforcements sent from Manila are of men who have no sense of duty (mestizos and other kinds of lineage), although men of courage should be sent; and that would be done, provided that one company of those who serve me in the camp of Manila should be sent annually to those islands. For more than one hundred and twenty of the soldiers [there] seeing that they could not leave it, and induced by their evil dispositions, conspired to seize that fort; and while they were awaiting an opportunity to accomplish their designs, one of them informed you of it, and that they had chosen a sargento-mayor, a captain, and all the other officers that belong to a company; and that the circumstances which you mention had been overlooked, in order to defer to a better opportunity the punishment that it was advisable to inflict. Desiring to get rid of this danger, you undertook their arrest, committing the matter to Sargento-mayor Juan Gonzalez de Casares Melon, a prominent officer; and he carried it out with great expedition and adroitness. Having arrested them, they made known the said conspiracy, and other abominable crimes, and that they had committed the sin against nature. Having proved the accusations, you executed justice on the leaders of the said conspiracy and sent the others to my governor of the Filipinas Islands. Although you had very few galleys in those forts, you sent the guard-galley of those forts to the island of Fafares—which is inhabited by hostile Moros, of the religion of Terrenate, and by the Dutch—with as many infantry as possible, accompanied by the king of Siao and the sargento-mayor, Juan Gonzalez de Casares Melon. They took such good measures that they defeated the enemy, killing four hundred Moros, with but little loss to our men, and captured about one hundred and fifty persons. The Spaniards took from them ten pieces of artillery, and many muskets, arquebuses, and other arms; and left their settlements destroyed and burned, and their fort razed. I thank you heartily for what you have done in my service. You shall always be regardful of what may be most to my service, and shall strive for the conservation of whatever belongs to us. You shall see that the enemy are checked, and that they do not become powerful with new forts. In my name, you shall give thanks to Sargento-mayor Juan Casares Melon for the good management displayed in what he has done; and tell him that account will be taken of his person in order to grant him reward. I have ordered my governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands to attend very particularly to all that concerns those forts. Because of the great importance to their conservation and condition of exchanging the soldiers in those forts, I have ordered two companies to be sent in two galleons, and two others that are there to be taken back; so that in this way the soldiers of that presidio shall be exchanged every three years, and all the companies of the army shall share in the work equally. I have thought best to advise you of this, so that having understood it, you may, on your part, secure, in what pertains to you, the fulfilment of it all. Madrid, November 6, 1636.

I the King

By order of his Majesty:
Gabriel de Ocaña y Alarcon

[1] See Cerezo’s letter of that date, in Vol. XXIV, p. 308.

Memorial Informatorio Al Rey

By Juan Grau y Monfalcón, Madrid, 1637.

Source: This document is obtained from a printed book in the Academia Real de la Historia, Madrid, collated with the MS. copy in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid.

Translation: This is made by James A. Robertson.

Grau y Monfalcon’s Informatory Memorial of 1637

Informatory memorial [addressed] to the king our sovereign, in his royal and supreme Council of the Indias, in behalf of the distinguished and loyal city of Manila, capital of the Filipinas Islands, in regard to the claims of that city and of those islands and their inhabitants, and the commerce with Nueva España: by Don Juan Grau y Monfalcon, their procurator-general at this court. Madrid, in the royal printing office, 1637.[1]

Number 1. Intention of this memorial, in which are discussed all the principal matters of the Filipinas Islands.

Sire:

Don Juan Grau y Monfalcon, procurator-general of the distinguished and ever loyal city of Manila, capital of the Filipinas Islands, makes, by authority of that city, the following declaration. Since the preservation of the islands is the most efficient means for that of all the states which this crown holds and possesses in Eastern India and adjacent parts, and consequently [of all those] in the Western Indias; and as it is positively known that there is no other way of assuring this end except by the commerce conceded to the islands with Nueva España—which is in such a condition that by only reducing it, or by deranging it as regards its amount, or the manner in which it is carried on, it will be necessary that it cease; and that if the inhabitants lose what supports them, all the islands will be lost: some persons, and especially Captain Francisco de Vitoria Baraona, with less attention and knowledge than is requisite in treating a matter so remote, serious, and politic—which demands so much more than ordinary foundation for its proper understanding [on account of not understanding it—MS.]—proposed to your Majesty certain expedients or counsels; but, although these should be directed to the increase of the forces which the arms of España maintain in the seas of the Orient, in order to oppose them to the numerous enemies who are trying to overthrow our power in those seas, and have the desire to end it, one would believe that they were directed with especial purpose to weaken and obscure that power, and thereby to extinguish the best and most creditable [finest—MS.] military post that this great monarchy possesses outside of Europa. And inasmuch as the matter pertains not only to the conservation of those vassals, but also to the general subject of your Majesty’s service, your vassals, attending more to this consideration than to even that result—although the one does not suffer without the other, since some orders originating from the expedients proposed by the said Captain Francisco de Vitoria, have begun to be put in force in Nueva España—and recognizing from their beginnings how much the issues are in danger and how important it is to heed in time the dangers that threaten, and successfully to prevent them, on account of the impossibility that they can be checked later (for it is easy, at the beginning, to overcome what, when it is once introduced, is usually impossible to conquer), are attempting to represent those dangers in this informatory memorial, which they lay at your Majesty’s royal feet. In it, taking occasion from that which is most important and weighty, all the affairs of the Filipinas Islands will be touched upon, and those of their conservation, government, and commerce—and all with the truth, thoroughness, accuracy and knowledge that ought to be used, not only in general, but in each one specifically; so that once explained, in a complete report of the disadvantages and advantages existing in each point, the decision most advantageous to the service of God and of your Majesty, and to the welfare of those islands, may be made in them all. The claims made in behalf of the islands are reduced to the petitions which are presented in a separate memorial, through which the inhabitants hope to receive the favors that their necessities and condition demand.

Number 2. Condition of the commerce of the islands, and dangers from any changes therein

To begin with the fact that furnished a reason for so purposely discussing these matters: it is presupposed that the commerce of the Filipinas to Nueva España was carried on with some degree of prosperity, although with all the restriction that could be endured—albeit the royal orders were in certain cases less closely observed than seemed desirable, and it was an obligation to attend only to what demanded correction, and to what was sufficient to adjust the commerce, and reduce it to its best method. But another method was proposed which would have completely checked or suppressed it, by advising measures that would so alter the former one that, even if there were any irregularities in the old method which are avoided in this, that is accomplished by impeding and ruining the commerce; so that it will become necessary, in order not to permit one slight loss, to cause many, so irreparable that either the ruin of the islands will follow from them, or the total expense of their conservation will fall back on your Majesty’s royal treasury. And although it is always right (and today more than ever) to take care that since your revenue is not increased, it be not diminished, it is not a successful expedient to represent the saving of expense and the increase of income, if from what is gained on the one side, results on the other, either the loss of what it is advisable to defend, or the addition of heavier expenses for its defense. For there are matters which have attained so even and regular an equilibrium and balance, that, from whichever of its parts one subtracts or adds, the other side inclining is unsettled, and the structure that they compose is destroyed. One can easily understand that if your Majesty were to dispense with the payment of avería[2] on the royal treasure that comes from the Indias in the war and trading fleets of their line, there would be a clear gain annually of more than half a million, in both silver and gold; but from that gain would result the failure of means to maintain the principal. And if the freighters, and those who are interested in the rest [of the trade] can with just cause excuse themselves from attending to the avería; and it is necessary that this treasure, as well as that of private persons which is brought with it, be accompanied by an armed force sufficient to resist those who have so great desire to pillage it: the alternative is either that it come without that force, and thus liable to lose more in one year than the expense for its defense in ten, or that all the cost be loaded on to your Majesty’s treasury, by which doing away with the avería would be a greater expense than would paying it. Who can deny that if the customs duties in the ports of España were to go up to fifty or one hundred per cent, they would not be worth ten times more than they are worth at present? But who would say that such an expedient would ensure the duration of commerce, and the ability of your vassals and the foreigners to maintain it? If the immediate result of increasing the duties must be the loss of the principal from which they are collected, the ruin of trade, the desertion of the ports, the impoverishment of your vassals, the depopulation of the cities, and the ruin of everything, one can easily understand that this scheme would, under pretext of increasing the royal treasury, ruin it and destroy the kingdom. These examples are no different from what is observed in the commerce of Filipinas. It is represented that, by the measures which are ordered to be put in force, the duties in the port of Acapulco alone will be increased one million seven hundred thousand pesos; and although this calculation, as will be seen, has no foundation, supposing that it did have, that increase would result in such a decline of trade there that everything would go to ruin. [In the margin: “In numbers 83, 85, and 91.”][3] And if the wealth on which that trade depends should fail, either your Majesty will alone sustain the Filipinas, or you will have to abandon them. The first is almost impossible without spending twice as much as is now spent. The second has the disadvantage that will be explained. [In the margin: “In numbers 6–44.”] Therefore the execution of the methods proposed at once carries with it irreparable injuries, which, after they have happened, will be so difficult of remedy, that the return of things to their present condition may not be possible. As this [present] condition has become established during the course of many years, it is preserved both by the wealth that those who sustain it have acquired during those years, and by merely allowing it to continue. But, if those two requisites fail, first will be experienced the loss of courage in the ruin [that will ensue], as the return [of courage] can be seen in the restoration [of the present condition].

Number 3. Commissions given to Licentiate Quiroga, and their execution

Your Majesty was pleased to order Licentiate Don Pedro de Quiroga y Moya, who went to Nueva España the past year of 635, on this and other affairs, by instructions in regard to the commerce of Filipinas, to establish a new system in the port of Acapulco, which is the point where their ships arrive. And although it is understood that the mandate was general, in order to correct and prevent the illegalities which are committed at that port in the trade of the islands by taking greater quantities of silver away from Nueva España, and bringing in more cloth from China, than is allowed by the [royal] permission; and although he was ordered to attend to this with the greatest care—not only to investigate the past but to provide for the future—and that he should issue ordinances for everything, give instructions, and advise your Majesty in the royal Council of the Indias, with full commission limited to certain times among both the officials and those who are not, with appeals to the tribunal whence it emanated: orders were also given him to go to Acapulco to visit the ships from the islands, and ascertain whether they transgressed the law by carrying either more than was allowed, or without register what they were allowed to carry in the ship, in order to escape the royal duties. This is what is known of his commissions in general terms; and in detail some memorials were given to him and information of the damages, and of the remedies that could be applied; so that from these he could accept what was practicable, and might either execute or give advice of what he deemed most advisable, both in the increase of the duties, and in making the appraisals of the merchandise, in which consists the most serious and the most dangerous aspect of the matter.

Number 4. Uneasiness caused in Nueva España, and what can be feared in the islands

The innovation and disquiet caused by these commissions in Nueva España (where it is known that they have arrived) has been very great, and as notable is the uneasiness and embarrassment among the citizens and exporters of Filipinas, who—without recognizing in themselves any guilt which accuses them, any crime which burdens them, or any proof which condemns them—have, for the sole purpose of not becoming liable to denunciations,[4] whether false or true (for all denunciations are troublesome), and to what ignorant witnesses, the evil-intentioned, or their enemies may depose, tried to serve your Majesty beyond what their wealth allows and their abilities permit. On that account, so great has been the assessment on the inhabitants of Filipinas, that it will be impossible to pay it without their total ruin, and they are not those who are guilty of the violations of law which some are attempting to prove. Consequently, the inhabitants have petitioned that this assessment be not made. Nothing is said at present of the other things that will result from it to [the harm of] the islands. [In the margin: “In numbers 45 and 87.”—Ex. his.] This memorial will hint at some things, and time will continue to show them, if not by the causes that are now operating, then by the effects, which will reveal themselves. And even if these are less than those that may be expected, they will require very considerable attention and cause very sensible injury—as is usual with any innovation of the magnitude of this; for that which only changes and embarrasses the course of affairs, causes more damage than gain in what it reforms.

[V. Purpose to which this memorial is directed.—Ex. his.]

In order to avert the dangers that threaten, it is the intention to present some measures and the reasons on which they are based; so that, without departing from what must be considered in the first place (namely, the service of your Majesty), and then the conservation of those islands and of their citizens and residents, the evils may be corrected, the violations of law prevented, and the welfare of that so remote and afflicted community attended to—which, although so far away, attends so conscientiously to its obligations, ever preferring those duties to the possessions and lives of those who form and sustain that colony, risking and even losing them for the defense of that (although remote) very important part of this Catholic monarchy.

[VI. Proposition to abandon the islands, and its foundations.—Ex. his.]

The Filipinas Islands, which dominate the archipelago of Sant Lazaro, merit, for many claims, causes, and reasons, the esteem in which they have always been held. Contrary to all these, it was represented already, in the times of the sovereigns your Majesty’s grandfather and father, that it seemed advisable to abandon the islands, and leave them to whomever cared to occupy them. It was remarked in the Council of State, where the matter was ventilated, and where a consultation was held, the question being presented with the motives for this resolution, that those islands not only did not increase the royal revenues, but even decreased and diminished them, and were a continual cause of great and fruitless expense, as they are so many, so remote, and so difficult of conservation. The instigators of this proposition availed themselves, as says the author of the History of the Malucas,[5] of the example of the kings of China—who being the sovereigns of the islands, and so near that they could reënforce them in a short time, as being so adjacent and near their great continent, abandoned them, in order not to be under obligation for the expenses and cares that were necessary to maintain them. They said that España’s method of governing them was very burdensome and prejudicial to the monarchy, and was without any hope of being improved, because of the great amount of silver that was sent to the islands from the Indias on that account, both for the ordinary expenses of war, and for the conservation of commerce—all of that silver passing to Assia, whence it never issued. They said that the states, so scattered and so weakened by so many wide expanses of water and remote climes, could scarcely be reduced to union; nor was human foresight sufficient to introduce union in that which nature itself, and the way in which the world was put together, separated by so distinct bounds. That was proved not only by reason but also by experience, which had discovered and proved how difficult and even impossible was the conservation of those islands, unless the cost were very greatly in excess of the profit—although, in this matter, one should first decide whether [questions of] honor and polity counted for anything.

Number 7. More attention should be paid to the conservation of states than to the increase of the royal revenues.

These reasons, and others which were advanced, were originated and accepted by some who paid more heed to the increase of the royal revenues than to the advantage with which those revenues ought to be, and generally are, spent; for, although kings are obliged to regard that increase as the blood of the mystical body of their states, it must be without injury to the reputation of the states. For since, as is a fact, they must try to acquire riches in order to preserve their reputation and to increase their treasure by avoiding superfluous and little-needed expenses, it will not be a well-founded argument that, in order to avoid spending their revenues, they should allow what they already possess and enjoy legitimately to be lost. Such a course would be to prefer the less to the greater, and the means to the ends; since we see not few millions spent on the conservation of a fortified post to which belongs, at times, nothing but the reputation of arms. If its defense is justifiable for that reason, it would be more justifiable if on such a place depends not only the reputation of the crown, but the preservation of many other reputations, which would be risked by losing that post, and which will be assured by maintaining it. Such is the peculiar importance of the Filipinas Islands, as will be proved in this memorial. [In the margin: “In numbers 41, 42, and 43.”]

Number 8. As, and for the reasons that, Flandes is preserved, the islands should be preserved

What state does your Majesty possess that costs as much as Flandes, although it is almost the least one of this monarchy? Because in Flandes all the reasons may be verified that are alleged in regard to the islands—namely, that they are costly, difficult to preserve, a drain of so much money, and separated from the other states—would it be prudent to influence [the crown] by those reasons to abandon that state? There can be no doubt that even the first proposition of such a nature would be condemned as imprudent, and lacking the basis of policy that such measures ought to have; and that from its execution would result, leaving aside other damages, the loss of many states of this crown, and their allies, which are now maintained by only maintaining Flandes, although at the price of so costly a war. Therefore, if the Filipinas possess that same importance, and if the conservation of the two Yndias results from their conservation—or at least from their being less exposed to notorious risks, which, were that Flandes of the new world lacking, would threaten them—what more notable reason of state can there be for not deserting them, and for characterizing as justifiable and necessary all that is spent in them, as is above mentioned?

Number 9. Resolution of preserving the islands well founded

Giving more heed to this than to all the propositions [made to him], King Felipo [Phelipe—MS.] Second, not lending ear to so pernicious an opinion, resolved that the Filipinas should be preserved as they had been thus far, by adding strength to the judiciary and military—one of which maintains and the other defends kingdoms—devoting and applying them both to the propagation of the holy gospel among those remote nations, although not only Nueva España, but also old España were to contribute for that purpose from their incomes. And thus did that most prudent monarch declare, in order that it might not be understood that preaching was denied to them, and that he excused himself from sending them ministers for it, because of the lack of gold and silver, even though it should cost him other provinces. He put into effect that Christian axiom, that kings possess some states because they need them, and others because those states have need of them.[6] Well are these two propositions proved in the Filipinas; for they were ordered to be maintained because their natives and neighbors need [to be under] the seigniory of this monarchy in order not to lose the faith which they have received, and to make it easier for others to receive it. Also, as has been said, and as will be proved, [In the margin: “In numbers 19, 34, 35, 36, 41, 42, and 43.”] this crown needs those islands now more than then, in order to preserve other posts not less important, since in losing them much more would be lost than what is spent on them. Consequently, both then and afterward, that talk of deserting the Filipinas was and has been regarded as worth little consideration, and was ill received and considered unworthy the greatness, Christian zeal, and obligation of the kings of España; and accordingly it has sunk into eternal silence.

Number 10. The conservation of the islands is more necessary today

If these reasons could so powerfully influence the devout minds of the so Catholic princes in that epoch, much more should they influence that of your Majesty in this, wherein they have not only the same but greater force, because of the many unexpected difficulties that have been encountered through the entrance of the rebels of Olanda into so many parts of the two Indias. Consequently, if the Filipinas be now deserted, not indeed for the sake of authority and reputation, but only for political convenience, the advantage that might result would be very doubtful, and the loss very evident. And although the effort is not at present made directly to have the islands abandoned, expedients are being or have been proposed from which one fears, not indeed the abandonment of them willingly, but what is worse, the loss of them unwillingly. Before proving that the measures which are beginning to be executed may conduce to that end, the reasons on which their conservation, importance, and necessity are today founded will be discussed; so that, what is advisable being understood with all clearness and certainty—since it is not expedient to add to their forces, as that is now impossible, nor to deprive them of what force they possess—the reader may draw as a conclusion that, if the weakening of the islands follow from the orders issued, and their loss be risked, those orders may either be corrected or suspended, or the most prudent decision in all respects may be adopted.

Number 11. First reason of the importance of the islands: their discovery

The first reason for which the Filipinas should be valued is that of their discovery, which was made by Hernando de Magallanes in the year of 1519, after so many hardships, by the new navigation through the strait until then undiscovered, to which he gave his name. That expedition was not for the discovery of lands or wealth, as were others, but to obey the order and satisfy the desire of the emperor Carlos V, of glorious memory—who, years before, had made known this desire and endeavored to carry it into effect; and at that time he succeeded in doing so, by making the agreement for that heroic voyage, which astonished and encompassed the world. It is to be noted that that discovery was directed toward the islands of Maluco, so that the crown of Castilla, which was then separate from that of Portugal, might enjoy for itself alone the trade in the spices that grow there. That was obtained, and the vassals of both crowns having fought together for the conservation of those islands, their weapons were reduced to pens, and to various councils and disputes as to the situation and demarcation of the islands. Although it was recognized that they belonged to Castilla, according to the division of the world made by the apostolic see—as it then had no other lands or islands near those of Maluco, from which to succor them, except Nueva España which is so distant—yet, as it was judged difficult to maintain them, in a region so remote, against the invasions of Moros[7] and pagans, and against the obstinacy of the Portuguese (who could never be persuaded that those islands were not theirs); and seeing that the action of abandoning them was unworthy of him who had spent so great a sum in their discovery, and in planting therein the gospel: it was accepted as a more creditable and expedient resolution to dispose of them in pledge[8] to the crown of Portugal. That country held and maintained them alone, until the year 1564, when the Castilians, under the command of Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, continuing what Magallanes had commenced, went to settle the Filipinas Islands, by the proximity and protection of which they recovered the islands of Maluco; and more, when these two crowns had been united, was the mutual aiding of their vassals facilitated. In order to assure their defense, by the agreement of both countries (the circumstances of the transfer having become almost obscured) the Malucos were detached from the crown of Portugal and joined to that of Castilla; and they became subject, as today, to the Filipinas. Consequently, the argument with which the author of the History of the Malucas affirms that if God had permitted the king of that time to exclude the Filipinas from his monarchy, leaving them exposed to the power who should first occupy them, Maluco would have so bettered the condition of its affairs that it would have been impregnable, is not very clear. That statement must be understood with reference to the Moro kings, who would have been more powerful had not the proximity of the Filipinas subjected them; since it is evident that, if when the emperor disposed of the one [group of islands], the others had been settled, he would not have made that bargain, but would have defended them and kept them all. That is verified, because when Felipe II, having succeeded to the crown of Portugal, wrote to the governor of Filipinas to reënforce the Malucas and other places in India whenever he had an opportunity, that was a matter of so great fear to their kings that the king of Terrenate, Sultan Babu, feeling himself oppressed by a greater and nearer force, sought defense in peace, and to secure it sent, as ambassador to these kingdoms, Cachil Nayque. From the above it is inferred that, if the first intent was to discover the Malucos because of the wealth of their trade—which is now united with that of the Filipinas, as will be seen; [In the margin: “In number 29.”] and if the maintenance of the one group consisted in that of the others, even when they belonged to different crowns: now that they all belong to Castilla, more necessary is the conservation of the Filipinas, in order that the islands of the Malucos may not decrease from what they were then.

Number 12. Second reason for the importance of the islands: their size and number

The second reason is that of their size and number. Cosmographers recognize five archipelagos in that sea that is included between China, the Javas, and Nueva Guinea[9]—namely, that of Moro or Batochina, that of the Celebes, that of the Papuas, that of Maluco, and that of San Lazaro, which is that of the Filipinas or Luzones. [The last name is given] because the principal island is that of Luzón, whose form is that of a tenterhook, one hundred and thirty leguas along its longest side and seventy along the shortest. The islands renowned after that island are Mindoro, Luban, Borney, Marinduque, the island of Cabras, the island of Tablas, Masbate, Zebu [Zubu—MS.], Capul, Ybabao, Leyte, Bohol, island of Fuegos, island of Negros, Ymares, Panay, Cayahan, Cuyo, Calamianes, Parauan, Tendaya [Tandaya—MS.], Camar, Catenduanes, Mindanao, and Burias, besides other smaller islands. They number in all forty, without counting the small and desert islands, which are many. Among those named are some larger than España, some as large, and some smaller. One of these it Zebu, which is[10] fifty leguas in circumference. Near to it are the islands of Maluco, which are properly five in number, namely, Terrenate, Tirode [i.e., Tidore], Motiel, Maquien, and Bachian—although the last named is not one island, but a group formed of many small islands, which are divided by various arms, straits, and channels of the sea; but which are reckoned as one island, as they all belong to one king. That of Tirode belongs to another king, and that of Terrenate with the two remaining ones to another, as well as so many islands adjacent to these that they number in all seventy-two. Those two archipelagos of Maluco and Filipinas occupy more than twenty-six degrees of latitude, running from two or three degrees south of the equator to twenty-four north of it; and extend more than four hundred and fifty leguas, while they are one thousand four hundred in circuit.

Number 13. Grandeur and characteristics of the distinguished and very loyal city of Manila

The center of all that distant region is the famous city of Manila, which on account of its remarkable characteristics deserves equal rank with the greatest and most celebrated cities of the world. It is located on the island of Luzón, in the angle made by its two aides or points, with a capacious, deep, and strong harbor. It was anciently the settlement of the Luzón islanders; it was occupied by the Spaniards, and the government established there, in the year 1572. On account of its location, renown, and prominence, it was given by a royal decree of June 21, 1574, the honored title of distinguished and ever loyal,[11] together with that of capital and chief city among all the cities in those islands. By a decree of November 19, 1595, it was decreed that it could enjoy all the privileges enjoyed by all the cities that are capitals of kingdoms; and by another decree of March 20, 1596, it was granted a special coat-of-arms, which it uses;[12] while another decree of May 8, of the same year, allows it jurisdiction for five leguas around. However, it has greater jurisdiction in regard to government and superiority than any other of this monarchy, since the district of the royal Audiencia resident therein, according to the declaration by provinces, of the fifth of May, 1583, and the twenty-sixth of May, 1596, consists of the island of Luzón, with all the Filipinas of the archipelago of China (including the five already mentioned [i.e., the Malucos]), and the mainland of China, discovered or to be discovered hereafter, which is an immense distance. Its inhabited part—although it has suffered great disasters, which will be mentioned later [In the margin: “In number 93.”] and in spite of which it endures—is today very sightly in its buildings and plan, as they are mostly of stone, and as it is surrounded by a wall in the modern manner, with sufficient fortification. But what most ennobles it is the valor and loyalty of its inhabitants, who, notwithstanding their small numbers in proportion to those of the enemies, sustain the city with so much reputation and renown, that it is one of the best military posts in all the Orient, and one in which the royal standards of your Majesty preserve the valor and fame of Spaniards—who are feared and respected by all the kings who rule in those islands and regions—and of all the fleets that plough their seas. All the above makes that city, and the region that it governs in the most remote places of the world meritorious; this crown, therefore, should preserve that city for its dignity, and maintain it as the daughter of its power.

Number 14. Third reason of the importance of the islands: their native and acquired character

The third reason is the character, both native and acquired, of the Filipinas Islands. That of Luzón produces a quantity of gold, of which a quantity has always been found and obtained in its rivers. Rich mines have been discovered, now more considerable than ever. By a decree of August 12, 1578, the [reduction of the] royal fifth to the tenth was conceded to the inhabitants.[13] That had some extensions later, from which it is inferred that metals were obtained. There are persistent rumors regarding the Pangasinan hills, which are forty leguas away from Manila, namely, that they are all full of gold-bearing ore. In the year 620,[14] Alférez Don Diego de Espina [España—MS.][15] discovered the rich mine of Paraculi in Camarines. It extends for nine leguas, and it is hoped that it will have a considerable output. That has occasioned the command that the privileges of miners in those islands be observed, by a decree of September 22, 1636. They also abound in copper, which is brought from China with so much facility that the best artillery imaginable is cast in Manila, with which they supply their forts, the city of Macan and other cities of India, and it is taken to Nueva España; for the viceroy, the Marqués de Cerralvo, sent the governor, Don Juan Niño de Tabora, twenty-four thousand pesos, in return for which the latter sent him eighteen large pieces to fortify Acapulco. Of not less importance is the quicksilver of the Filipinas, whither the Chinese carry it in great quantities. It can be shipped—as is permitted and ordered by different royal decrees of August 15, 1609, and May 15,[16] 1631—to supply the deficiency of that metal for working the mines of Nueva España.

Number 15. Commerce of the islands, domestic and foreign; and in what the domestic consists

The greatest treasure of those islands, and that in which their wealth consists, is commerce, which demands a more extended treatment. It is divided into domestic and foreign. Of the latter, which is the rich commerce, we shall treat later. [In the margin: “In the year—sc.: number—20 to 37.”] The domestic, which is slight, consists in the fruits and commodities produced in their lands, which are cultivated by their inhabitants: rice in the husk, and cleaned; cotton, palm wine, salt, wax, palm oil, and fowls; lampotes, tablecloths, Ilocan blankets, and medriñaques. These are the products in which the Indians pay their tributes, and in nothing else—except some who pay them in taes of gold, of eighteen carats, which is that obtained in those islands, and which is worth eight reals. Nutmeg, as good as that of Borneo, is found in them, as is mentioned in a royal decree of October 9, 623, in which it was ordered to bring some to these kingdoms.[17] There is abundance of swine and cattle, deer, and carabaos or buffaloes. The coast waters are full of fish, the fields of fruits, the gardens of produce and vegetables. The most useful plant is the palm, from which an infinite number of articles are obtained. There are groves of them, as there are vineyards in España, although they require less labor and care. From the rice they make the ordinary bread, which they call morisqueta. What most shows the wealth of the country is the gold that its natives wear; for scarcely is there an Indian of moderate means, who is not adorned with a chain of this rich metal, of which the women use most.

Number 16. Number and diversity of Indians in the islands

What most assures the provinces of the new world is the greater or less number of the natives. In that the Filipinas are eminent, for there are the indigenous Indians, who are tributarios; but these are not many, as not all of them are pacified. Of those who have been pacified some, the larger encomiendas, have been assigned to the royal crown. There are other foreign Indians whose number is great in Manila and its environs, and where there are Spaniards, to whose service the Indians engage themselves for their day’s wages. These include an infinite number of nations: Chinese, Japanese, Champanes, Malucans, Borneans, Joas [i.e., Javanese], Malays, and even Persians and Arabs. But those who are tributary to the royal crown are:

Number 17. Indians tributary to the royal crown in the Indias

In the provinces of Oton and Panay, twelve chief villages, which have 6,035 tributes.

In the island of Zebu, three which have 2,529 tributes.

In that of Camarines, there are 87 tributes of vagrant Indians and Sangleys (who are Chinese Christians).

In Mindoro and Luban, 1,612 tributes.

In the province of Tayavas, in five villages 1,343 tributes.

In that of Bay, in nine villages, 2,232 tributes.

On the coast of Manila, in twenty-eight villages, 4,250 tributes.

The vagrant Indians of Manila and its environs amount to 781 tributes.

The Japanese foreigners, 218 tributes.

The Christian Sangleys of the village of Baybay, outside the walls of Manila, 580 tributes.

In the province of Pampanga, in six villages, 3,650 tributes.

In the province of Pangasinan, in four villages, 899 tributes.

In the province of Ilocos, in five villages, 2,988 tributes.

In the province of Cagayan, in eight villages, 2,192 tributes.

Consequently, the royal crown has 44,763 tributes, as appears from an official statement made in the year 630. At ten reals per tribute, the amount reaches 53,715 pesos.

Among private persons there are distributed and assigned as encomiendas 48,000 other tributes, which for the 230 citizens of Manila—without reckoning those of the cities of [Santísimo] Nombre de Jesus, [Nueva] Caceres, and [Nueva] Segovia, and the town of Arebalo, who number about 300 more—does not amount to 160 tributes per man. They amount to a like number of pesos of eight reals, for the two additional reals are for the royal crown. And even on the eight reals so many charges are made that there is left but six or a trifle more. This is the wealth, and natural and proper commerce of the Filipinas.

Number 18. Fourth reason for the importance of the islands: their location, as[18] is explained

The fourth reason which persuades one to value and conserve them is the one drawn from their notable location, almost opposite this hemisphere of España. Consequently, some think that Manila is the antipodes of Sevilla. Although according to the latitude of the world that is not exact—as it is in a different latitude from that required to be opposite by a straight line which passes through the center of the earth—according to the longitude the idea is not so far wrong; for although both cities are not on one great circle, their meridians lack only a difference of two or three hours to be diametrically opposite. From this it follows that, as the world has two poles upon which its frame moves and rotates, so does this monarchy also have two, one of them being España, and the other the Filipinas, which is the most remote part of España’s possessions. And although in respect to the Indias, which led to the discovery of Filipinas, they are called the Western Islands, yet if sought by the voyage by way of India, they are the most eastern, and the finest that have been discovered in that ocean—whose dominion belongs to them even by nature and by their relative position among all the islands of that hemisphere. Therein they are surrounded by an infinite number of rich islands, which were formerly frequented; these promised great increase in the promulgation of the gospel, and no small hope based on the wealth of their commerce, before the rebels of Flandes entered those seas and embarrassed their navigation and trade. The islands are also at equal or proportionate distances with the kingdoms which extend from the straits of Sincapura[19] and of Sunda (or Sabaon), to China and Japon.

Number 19. Importance of the islands because they offer opposition to the Dutch

From this so unusual location results the best proof of the importance of those islands—an importance well understood by the Dutch, who are striving, by means of immense military expenses, fleets, and numerous presidios, which they sustain in their seas and environs, as will be seen [In the margin: “In number 32.”] to blockade, restrict, infest, and attack the islands, with no other end in view than their seizure. For they believe (and not without reason) that if they should attain this end, and remove that obstacle (which is the one that restricts the course of their fortunes in those regions), they would be absolute masters of all that extends on from the straits; and that they would cause from there so great anxiety and danger to India, that they would oblige its citizens to spend on its defense a greater sum than is now spent on the conservation of the Filipinas. And now, when the Dutch have been unable to gain a foothold in any of the islands because the arms of your Majesty sustain that country with the same reputation as in Flandes, the enemy maintain themselves by aggressive measures against the Spaniards—usually keeping for that purpose in the seas of those islands forty or fifty armed vessels, which are used to pillage whatever they can find, and to guard the presidios which they have established, and the commerce which they have introduced of the most precious drugs and commodities valued by Europa, whither they take them. However, that is done at a greater cost than they are willing to pay, because of the opposition made against them by the Filipinas. In order for the Dutch to overcome the Filipinas, it has not been sufficient for them to unite and ally themselves with the Moro and pagan kings of other islands and lands of Asia, persuading them that they should take arms against the vassals of España, whose defense lies in the Filipinas alone. And if the banners of your Majesty were driven from the islands, the power and arrogance of Olanda, which would dominate all the wealth of the kingdoms of the Orient, would greatly increase with the freedom and ease of commerce; while they would gain other and greater riches in Europa, and would so further their own advancement that more would be spent in this part of the world in restraining them than is spent in driving them away in those regions [i.e., the Orient]. Consequently, those islands are the bit that restrains the enemy, the obstacle that embarrasses them, the force that checks them, and the only care that causes them anxiety, so that they cannot attain their desires—an evident proof of the importance of those islands, and a fundamental reason for their conservation.

Number 20. The foreign and general commerce of the islands makes them more valuable

The above is not the sole motive of the Dutch for desiring to gain control of the Filipinas, but they recognize that they are, by their location, the most suitable of all the islands in the Orient for carrying on the general commerce of these kingdoms and nations. Already we have discussed the domestic and private commerce that is now conducted, which is scanty and limited; and we have stated that what most enriches the islands, and makes them most valuable, is the foreign trade. For it is rich and of great volume, and furnishes so great profits to the European merchants that, for the sake of these, in spite of the expenses, risks, and dangers of so long a voyage, the Portuguese go to seek it by way of India, the Castilians by Nueva España; the Turks by way of Persia, the Venetians by way of Egipto; and the Dutch, now by the Eastern route, entering India, or by the Western, crossing the immense open stretch of the South Sea, or even by way of the north and Nueva Zembla.

Number 21. Estimation of the commerce of the Orient, and its condition

That commerce, then, consists, according to what the Filipinas can enjoy of it, in different products and trades because of the difference of the kingdoms or islands with which they do or can communicate. And inasmuch as the explanation of this commerce is the chief part of the matter; and so that one may see in what estimation it has always been held, and what it deserves, and that there is no other medium by which to maintain this crown except by the conservation of India and the Filipinas: we will here describe, as briefly as possible, the times through which that trade has run, and its varying conditions up to the present. Now it all belongs to the two royal crowns of Castilla and Portugal, but it is usurped in part from both by the Dutch, whose only aim is to secure possession of it; and this they will attain on that day when either of the two extremes presented [for which these—MS.] which are maintained shall fail.[20]

Number 22. Oriental commerce; why it is valued

For many centuries has the oriental commerce been known as the foremost, and most valuable and rich in the world, as appears from Divine and human writings.[21] The kingdoms of Europa, Asia Minor, and part of Africa produce, for their mutual intercourse, certain fruits almost the same, and commodities for merchandise, which differ rather in quality or quantity than in essence. But in Asia and the regions of the Orient, God created some things so precious in the estimation of men, and so peculiar to those provinces, that, as they are only found or manufactured therein, they are desired and sought by the rest of the world. Accordingly, different voyages and routes have been taken, which have been varied by the change of monarchies, on which such accidents depend.

Number 23. Beginnings of the Oriental commerce by way of Persia

The islands of Maluco, to begin with what is most suitable for my purpose, were peopled by Chinese [sic] and Jaos, who, with the practice of navigation, commenced to traffic in cloves, a precious and peculiar drug of the forests there, with India, there meeting the traders in pepper, cinnamon, and other articles; thus going from port to port and from nation to nation, all these spices reached the Persian Gulf. There came together various peoples, with still greater diversity of drugs, perfumes, and precious stones, which were brought into Persia; and, being disseminated throughout Asia, these commodities were imparted, although at a great price, to the eastern lands of Africa, and to the south of Europa. That commerce having become known for the precious and wonderful character of its wares, was at once esteemed so highly that it was one of the causes which induced Alexander the Great to direct his conquests toward India, in order to make himself master of the kingdoms which he imagined (and without error) to be the richest of the world, as from them originated the most precious thing that was known in it.

Number 24. Commerce of the Orient through the Arabian Gulf and other parts

Later, the monarchy of the Persians having become extinct and ruined, a part of that commerce passed, on account of the division of the states and the increase of trade among the peoples, by way of the Red Sea to the Arabian Gulf. Then, entering by way of the two Arabias, the nations of Asia Minor snared the spices and drugs; and through Africa they went down by the river Nilo to Egipto, stopping now in Cayro by land, now in Alexandria by water. As the latter was a frequented port in the Mediterranean, the communication of that commerce was easy, almost without knowing from what beginnings it sprang. By that voyage, the commerce increased so greatly that the king Ptolomeo Auleta[22] collected there as many as one thousand five hundred talents in duties: if these were Attic talents, they amounted to nine and one-half million Castilian escudos. The Romans came into the monarchy, and, having made Egipto a province of the empire, they enjoyed that commerce by way of the Arabian Gulf—by which the spice-trade penetrated at that time (even to the city of Arsinoe, or that of Berenice), and by the Nile, or went overland to Alexandria, which came to be one of the richest cities in the world because of this trade. Later, as the sultans of Babilonia went on gathering power, until they gained possession of the best part of Asia, the spice again came to have an exit more by way of Persia and Trapisonda [i.e., Trebizond] to the Caspian Sea, whence it was taken down to the ports of the Mediterranean, and in one or another place, was received by the merchants of Italia, who imparted it, in the utmost abundance, to Europa. In Asia Minor, the Ottoman house succeeded, and the Turks got control of that commerce, which they divided—directing it, through the cities of Juda and Meca, to the interior of their lands; and, by the gulf and port of Suez, to Alexandria.

Number 25. Commerce of India confined to Portugal

The Turks did not enjoy the commerce for many years, for after the year 1497[23] the Lusitanian banners in India conquered their coasts, and the Portuguese, masters of the navigation of the Orient, blockaded the ports of the two gulfs—the Persian and the Arabic—with their fleets, preventing the entrance of that commerce there; and, conducting it by the Atlantic Ocean, they made the great city of Lisboa universal ruler over all that India produces. Thither [i.e., to Lisboa] resorted immediately not only the European nations, but also those from Africa and Asia, by which they despoiled the Turks of the source of their greatest incomes, forcing them to beg from these kingdoms what all had formerly bought from theirs. The wealth of Portugal increased so greatly by the commerce of India that, in the time of the king Don Manuel, payments of money in copper were more esteemed than those in gold. That trade furnished the profits with which to maintain wars, squadrons, and great presidios in the Orient, with which the Portuguese defended their coasts and seas, not only from the native kings, but also from the fleets that the Turks sent up through the Red Sea in order to recover what they so resented losing. Those fleets always returned either conquered or without the result for which they had sailed, until, having lost hopes of the restoration of that commerce through their lands, they desisted from the attempt—contenting themselves with some ships which, with the danger of encountering the Portuguese ships, they take to certain ports and lade with such spice as the fear of robbers allows them to take.

Number 26. Entrance of the Dutch into India, and their commerce

The commerce of the Orient lasted in Lisboa, without any other nation but the Portuguese sharing it, for almost one hundred years, which appears to have been the fatal century of their career. But as always they set upon that trade the value which has been made known in the wars of Flandes and the prohibition of trading with Olanda, their rebels determined to try to secure it; and in the year 1595 their first armed fleet entered India, to carry a portion of the spice to their islands, imparting it through them to all the northern nations, and even to those of the Levant by way of the strait of Gibraltar. Returning merchandise of great richness, they introduced a new trade, so remunerative as may be understood from the peril that they undergo, and from the expenses that they incur, in order to maintain it. Whatever they have acquired by that voyage (and it is not little) they have pillaged from this crown. The Dutch spreading through the Orient, recognizing the wealth of those regions, established their business, took part in barter there, erected factories, built presidios, fortified ports, and (what can well cause more anxiety) collected sea forces, by which they have succeeded even in driving out the Spaniards from their houses, in disquieting them, and, at times, in blockading them. They began to go out to the ocean with this trade, becoming the general pirates of the two Indias—where there are those who affirm that they have pillaged more than one hundred and thirty millions in less than forty years. They established the chief seat of this commerce in Bantan,[24] the principal port of Java Major, whither people go from all the islands—Banda, Maluco, Gilolo, Sumatra, Amboino—and from the mainland of Coroman [Goroman—MS.], Siam, Pegu, Canboxa [Ganboxa—MS.], Patan, Champa, and China. Turks, Arabs, Persians, Gusarates, Malays, Jaos, Egyptians, and Japanese go there. Consequently, with the presence of so many nations and so various sects (all of which are evil) Bantan may better be called “the Oriental Ginebra [i.e., Geneva].” There are two markets or fairs held there daily, at which more than thirty thousand persons come together to buy and sell.

Number 27. Commerce of the Orient, which the Dutch carry on from Ba[n]tan

The commerce acquired by the Dutch from that place is notable and large; for it consists of all the drugs, perfumes, and products found in those seas. The money carried by the Dutch is Castilian silver, as that is the kind that is most valued throughout the Orient. The money that circulates in the country is that of the leaden caxies [i.e., cash], of which one thousand five hundred are given for one real of silver. Two hundred caxies make one satac, and five sataques one sapacou. Rice is carried from the islands of Macaser, Sanbaya, and others. Rice forms the chief food bought by the Dutch, not only for the supply of their forts and fleets, but as a means of gain in that same port. Cocoanuts are taken [thither] from Balamban; this is another product that is consumed widely, and is of great use. They go to the confines of the island for salt, which is very profitable in Ba[n]tan [Bamtan—MS.]; and which is of greater profit, taking it, as they do, to Sumatra [Samatra—MS.], where they exchange it for wax from Pegú, white pepper, and various articles made from tortoise-shell. Twelve leguas away lies Jacatra, whence, and from Cranaon, Timor, and Dolimban, they get honey; and from Japara, sugar; from Querimara [Quarimara—MS.], east of Bornio, iron;[25] from Pera and Gustean, tin and lead; from China come linens, silks, and porcelains. Their most abundant article of trade is pepper, for huge quantities of it are gathered in Java and Sumatra. And inasmuch as even those islands do not suffice to fill all their ships, they buy the pepper in other parts where they go: as on the coast of Malabar, as far as the cape of Comori—a land that produces whatever is taken to Portugal, and that which the Moors carry to the Red Sea; at Balagate, that which goes to Persia and Arabia; at Malaca, that which goes to Pegu, Sian, and China. The large variety comes from Bengala and Java, while the Canarin, which is the least valuable, is gathered from Goa and Malabar. The best is bought at Bantan, for forty thousand caxies (which amount to 27 reals in silver), per sack of 45 cates,[26] or 56 Castilian libras, and it sells at one-half real [per libra?]. The ships which are unable to lade there—either because many ships go there, or because they are looking for wares that are not carried to their markets, or because they try to get them cheaper at their home market—go to other factories and places of trade. They go even to Meca in the Arabian Gulf, and cast anchor in Juda, twelve leguas away. For that voyage they carry drugs, food, and Chinese merchandise, which they sell for silver money—of which there is a quantity stamped with the arms of your Majesty in this kingdom, while the rest of the money consists of Turkish ducados. With that they go to other ports, and buy very precious commodities, as money is more precious [in those ports] than anything else. They get the aromatic mace from the island of Banda, which belongs to the Filipinas, and where Jacobo Cornelio left the first factors in the year 600; and in that of 608, Pedro Guillelmo Verrufio erected a fortress, although at the cost of his life. There, then, they barter the mace and the nutmeg, which is grown in no other part of the world, and obtain it there in so great quantity that they can lade annually one thousand toneladas of it. They take it dry, in order to carry it to Europa; and to Meca, Ormuz, and all the Orient in a conserve; for it is highly esteemed, as it is a very delicate relish. With mace, pepper, nutmeg, and other drugs they go to Pegu and Sian, where they trade rubies and wax in their factories. They barter those substances in Sumatra for pepper, which they also carry to Ormuz. There and at certain ports of Cambaya, they buy indigo (a royal product, and of which there is a monopoly in India), manna (a medicinal drug of Arabia and Persia), and rhubarb. What they are most eager to buy at Ormuz are the pearls that are fished from the Persian Gulf as far as Besorà. They also get them between Ceylan and Comori, between Borneo and Anion, and in Cochinchina. At Ormuz they trade most for precious stones[27]—fine bezoars, turquoises, chrysolites, amethysts, jacinths, garnets, topazes from Cahanor, Calecut, and Cambaya, copper wire, and not very good agates. They have a factory in Patan, since—although they do not desire the trade of those people, as it consists only of silver money—a great quantity of Chinese merchandise is found there; and, as the Dutch cannot enter that country, they barter there [i.e., at Patan] for silk in the skein and woven, porcelain ware, and other things, and for calambuco wood, which is found in Sian, Malaca, Sumatra, and Cambaya. They get ginger from Malabar, not to take to Olanda—where they have too much with what they plunder in the Windward [Barlovento] Islands—but to take to Ormuz, which with that from Malaca, Dabul, and Bacain is traded in Persia [Percia—MS.] and Arabia. They trade cardamomum in Malabar, Calecut, and Cananor, [that plant] being used throughout the Orient to sweeten the breath. From the coasts of Sofala, Melinde, and Mozambique, they get gold, ivory, amber, and ebony, which they also get from Champá, whose mountains apparently raise no other [varieties of] woods. From Bengala they get civet, and mother-of-pearl. The best benzoin is that of Ceylan and Malaca; but as the Dutch have but little trade in those parts, they get along with that of the Javas, which is not so good, and with some of fine quality that they obtain in fairs and ports. The same is true of cinnamon which they are unable to obtain at Ceylan, except through third persons; accordingly, they secure but little, and content themselves with the wild cinnamon of Malabar, although it is very poor. Sandalwood was formerly the most profitable product in India, and was traded by the Portuguese. It was obtained in the island of Timor, where they had a fortress; but, as it is near Bantan, the Dutch have gained possession of it and its trade. This is the white sandalwood, for the red comes from Coromandel and Pegu. They buy snakewood [palo serpentino],[28] brought from Ceylan [Seilan—MS.], in the fairs of Sumatra; eaglewood from Coromandel; camphor in Sunda and Chincheo, but better in Borneo; myrobalans[29] in Cambaya, Balagate, and Malabar; incense from Arabia; myrrh from Abasia [Abaçia—MS.]; aloes-wood from Socotora; all of which they obtain at Ormuz. They trade but few diamonds, for the fine ones come from Bisnaga and Decan, and are taken to the fair of Lispor, between Goa and Cambaya; and since the Dutch do not go thither, they have no share in them, but they get some at the fair in Sumatra.

Number 28. Commerce in cloves, and how the Dutch entered it, and took possession of Maluco

The most noble product, and that which is must earnestly desired, as it is of the greatest profit and gain, is the clove. Cloves are produced in the celebrated islands of Maluco and that of Amboyno; and a little in the islands of Ires, Meytarana, Pulo, Cavali, Gilolo, Sabugo, Veranula,[30] and other islands adjacent to the Malucas—which are the chief producers of cloves, and produce the best quality. As now, it was formerly the most valued product of the Orient; and now it forms one of the royal commodities of its commerce. In the islands where it is grown, one bare costs 460 Castilian reals. [The bare] has 640 libras, so that it does not amount to 25[31] maravedis [per libra]; while it is sold for at least one ducado in Europa, so that each libra gains fourteen, which is an excessive profit. From the time when those islands were sold to the crown of Portugal, for the above-mentioned reason, for the sum of three hundred thousand ducados, that crown possessed them and the clove trade until the year 1598, when Jacobo Cornelio Nec went to India with eight ships. Dispersing those ships through its kingdoms, two of them went to Terrenate, where they left six factors, the first that Olanda had in that archipelago [In the margin: “In the year 11”]. In the year 601, of twelve other ships which entered the Orient, seven went to Amboyno, and by an arduous attempt gained the fort held there by the Portuguese; and although it was immediately recovered by Andres de Mendoca Furtado, commander of the fleet of India, and he, victorious, overran the islands of Maluco, subduing those of Tidore and Maguso [Magusié—MS.], he was unable to enter that of Terrenate [Teranete—MS.], where the Dutch had taken refuge and made its king rebel—the reënforcement of two hundred soldiers sent (in one ship and four fragatas, in charge of Captain Juan Galinato) by Don Pedro de Acuña, governor of Filipinas, being of no use. Thereupon everything was in a ruinous condition. In the year 605 [sic] Estevan Drage, who went to India with twelve galleons, attacked Amboyno and recaptured the fortress; and, going to Tidore and the rest of the Malucas, gained possession of them all.

Number 29. Recovery of Maluco by the governor of Filipinas, and its annexation thereto

That loss was felt keenly in España. The difficulty of relief from India having been recognized—as that country was so distant, and its forces were so broken; while those of the Filipinas, because they were greater and nearer, were more suitable—letters were sent to the governor of those islands, with orders that, aided by the Portuguese, they should endeavor to recover Maluco and restore it to this crown. Don Pedro de Acuña, having determined to make that expedition, and being already in possession of the aid that India could furnish, assembled a fine fleet in Iloylo, consisting of five large ships, six galleys, three Portuguese galliots, another open galliot, four junks, three champans, two English lanchas, and fourteen fragatas; and with them thirty-eight small boats, one thousand four hundred and twenty-three Spaniards, one thousand six hundred natives, seventy-five pieces of artillery, and everything else needed. With that he gained Terrenate, reduced Tidore, and subdued Siao, Sula, and Tacome, Gilolo, Sabugo, Gamocanora; and left those islands obedient. He moved the fortress of Terrenate to a better site, and garrisoned it with six hundred Spaniards, as it was the capital of all the other islands. Thus he placed on the enemy a curb, which some disasters have [since] removed. Inasmuch as the Malucos had been recovered by the Filipinas, and obtain from the latter the most certain succor, it was deemed inexpedient to return them to the crown of Portugal, or to its viceroy of India, which is so far distant from them, by the consent of both crowns; and a royal decree of October 29, 607, ordered that all the Malucas should remain, as at present, in charge of the governor of Filipinas.

Number 30. The clove trade, which is carried on by way of India

In regard to the clove trade, it was proposed that it be introduced by way of Nueva España, carrying to barter for it the products of the island of Panay and the merchandise of China at the account of the royal treasury; and that with the 100,000 ducados that would be invested in that, one might trade for all the cloves that were gathered in those islands. In the five chief islands alone that amounts to 4,400 bares of cloves of prime quality (which is the selected spice). At 640 libras, that amounts to 2,816,000 libras, in which two millions are concerned annually, for the maintenance of those islands, and the gaining of large increases for the royal treasury. In regard to it a decree of instruction had been given February 16, 602; but it was not then considered advisable to disturb that trade of India, either because of the injury that the Portuguese would receive, or in order not to cause a greater withdrawal of silver from Nueva España. However, that argument had little force; for, in exchange for the 100,000 ducados, two millions would be returned. Accordingly, although Maluco remained under the crown of Castilla, it was ordered that the clove trade be carried on by way of India, by a decree of November 17, 607; and the Portuguese go from India to buy the cloves at Manila, and take them to Malaca. Only what is needed there it shipped to Nueva España, and the rest is conveyed to various parts and kingdoms of the Orient which are convenient to Manila and the Malucas. The Dutch have again attempted to usurp that trade, as will be told later.

Number 31. The Dutch return to Maluco; and the deeds of the governor of Filipinas

Don Juan de Silva, who succeeded Don Pedro de Acuña in the government, tried to preserve during his term what his predecessor had gained. Immediately upon his arrival, learning that four ships from Olanda were near Manila, he prepared five ships and three galleys, and went to give them battle with one thousand Spaniards. Of the three ships that he found, one was destroyed by fire, and the other two surrendered; and their booty amounted to more than two hundred thousand ducados. That victory was not sufficient to make the enemy lose their liking for that commerce, and they returned in greater force to seek it. Don Juan de Silva made an expedition against them, and went to find them in the strait of Maluco; but that expedition did not have the desired success. Having written to the viceroy of India, by a secret letter of arrangements, dated December[32] 13, 615, asking the latter to join with him to endeavor to drive the Dutch from those seas once for all, he resolved to put forth his utmost efforts in order to accomplish it; and had he had the good fortune to carry out that plan as he desired, it would have been an exploit worthy of his great courage and valor. He built seven galleons of one thousand or one thousand five hundred toneladas, in addition to three others that he had; and cast one hundred and fifty large pieces of artillery—although, for lack of master-workmen, they did not turn out well. He sent to request ten other galleons and six galleys from the viceroy of India, and sent sixteen thousand pesos for the purchase of certain articles. That was taken by Don Christoval de Azqueta and forty Spaniards, who were never seen again, the disaster of that expedition thus commencing. The governor repeated the embassy by means of Father Juan de Ribera of the Society of Jesus. The latter obtained a reënforcement of four galleons and four galliots, and a few poorly-disciplined men; and (what was worse) they left so far ahead of time, that they had to await Don Juan de Silva at Malaca before the season to arrive, and at the worst time possible; for scarcely had they entered port when the king of Achen attacked them with four hundred boats. He fought with the four galleons of Goa, and burned one of them, whereupon he desisted from the blockade. As soon as the Jaos had gone, six galleons from Olanda entered, and after fighting with the three galleons of Portugal, burned them. Learning that Don Juan de Silva was coming, the Dutch retired to their forts, in fear of the force that he was carrying. Then the governor left Manila with ten galleons, the best that have ever been on that sea, and four galleys, in the year 616. He learned of the loss of the Portuguese, and although he ought to have attacked Bantan, where the enemy were fearing him, he entered Malaca without doing anything; and, while hesitating there as to what he could accomplish, he was seized by the illness from which he died. His fleet, being left without a leader, returned to Manila, destroyed and conquered by itself. The disaster of that voyage was recognized not only in what has been said, but also in that if he had gone to Maluco, as he had been advised, he would have accomplished an important feat of arms. If he had been a fortnight later in leaving Manila, he would have prevented the depredations committed by the Dutchman Jorje Spilberg. The latter—having entered the South Sea, and fought the battle of Cañete, near Lima, which was of but little consolation for the Peruvians—arrived at the bar of that city [i.e., Manila], and then went to Maluco, thinking that the governor had gone to their islands. Hearing that he was in Malaca, he took ten galleons from them, and went to look for him. Not finding him, and hearing of his death, he caused the rebellion of all those who were peaceful. The Mindanaos went out with sixty caracoas, and attacked the province of Camarines, where they caused considerable depredation. Having disagreed, the Mindanaos divided into two companies—one going toward Manila to join the Dutch, the other to the island of Panay. There Captain Lazaro de Torres destroyed them with only seven caracoas; and, capturing four of the Mindanao caracoas, made the rest of them take to the open sea, until they were all lost. The Dutch, with their ten galleons, sighted the same island of Panay, and Captain Don Diego de Quiñones with seventy soldiers fought with seven companies of them that landed, and made them return to their boats with great loss, and but little reputation, so much can a good captain do. The enemy went in sight of Manila again, where the fleet taken out by Don Juan de Silva had already entered; however, it was in so bad condition that it did not have sufficient strength to attack the Dutch. Finally six galleons could be prepared, to oppose the other six which were infesting the coasts. The battle was fought, and the flagship of Olanda was sunk, and two galleons burned, while the almiranta, with two others, took to flight. But that victory had its diminution, for the galleon “San Marcos,” having become separated [from the others], met two Dutch galleons which had not taken part in the battle. In order to avoid a new battle with them, and the captain losing courage, the “San Marcos” was run ashore and burned. Thus the Spanish side was victorious, but weakened. The enemy, although conquered and having lost three galleons, went to Maluco with the seven remaining ones, and were able to keep what they had acquired. It is recognized that Maluco is of the importance that has been stated, because they have maintained it at the cost of so many losses, fleets, and men.

Number 32. Dutch forts and presidios in the Filipinas district

The above is confirmed by mentioning the forts which they have established with presidios, and which they have now in the district of the Filipinas Islands, both for the defense by their arms and for the continuance of the clove trade.[33]

In Terrenate they possess the fort of Malayo, which they call Granoya. There lives the Dutch governor, who has the rest of Maluco in his charge. It is a regular city in which there was usually a garrison of 850 soldiers, but which now has only 150 [140—MS.]. At a quarter of a legua is Toloco, a strong site, in which there are, for garrison, one alférez with twenty soldiers. Tacubo is also near Malayo, whence they garrison it as is necessary. Malaca is one-half legua to the north of Malayo. Tacome, which they call Vuillemistat,[34] three leguas from Toloco, is a principal fort, and has a garrison of one company.

They had no fort in Tidore formerly, from the time of the expedition of Don Pedro de Acuña until the year 612, when they gained a small rampart where the governor of Maluco, Don Geronimo de Silva, kept an alférez with 14 [15—MS.] soldiers. There the Dutch built the fort called Marieco the great, where there is a captain with sixty soldiers. However, they do not get any profit from that island.

Motri [Morri—MS.], which lies between Tidore and Maquien, became depopulated through the fear of the natives for the men of Tidore. Persuaded by the Terrenatans, the Dutch founded a fort there in its northern part, taking a colony from Gilolo; the natives were thereupon assured of safety, and settled there. It has a captain with fifty soldiers.

There are three forts in Maquin or Muchian, one legua from Motir [Morir—MS.]: Nofagia, at the north, with one alférez and forty married soldiers; Tafazen, at the west, with one lieutenant of the governor, and one hundred married[35] soldiers; at Tabelole, in the east, a small fort of but slight importance, with one sergeant and twelve soldiers.

In Bachian is the fort of Bernevelt, with one captain and sixty soldiers.

In Gilolo or Batochina,[36] three leguas from the fort maintained there by the Spaniards, the Dutch maintain that of Tabori, with one alférez and fifty soldiers; and three leguas farther on is another fort, with one lieutenant and twelve soldiers.

In Amborino [i.e., Amboina],[37] eighty leguas from Terrenate, is a large fort, with a watered moat capable of floating a galley without its oars. Its garrison consists of a commandant with one hundred soldiers.

In Siao, thirty leguas from Terrenate, the Dutch own Sagu Maruco [Marico—MS.]. A Spanish alférez was there with five soldiers in the year 614 for a certain purpose. The Dutch came, and after driving out the Spaniards, fortified themselves in that place, as they always crave what España possesses. A sergeant was stationed there with sixteen soldiers, although it is not a post of importance.

They have two forts in Banda: Moçovia and Belgio, each one with one hundred and twenty soldiers. Although the natives are hostile, those presidios are kept up with the hope of reducing them, and because of the nutmeg which is gotten there, which is but little.

In Java Major there are three factories, namely, in Baatan, Jacava, and Japara. Bantan is the chief stronghold that the Dutch have in India. The governor or prefect lives there, in whose charge are all the forts of the Orient. There is kept account of all that is laden and of the ships, so that it is the accountancy and register of their trade. There are two galleys and more than thirty barks, armed and garrisoned, in which they cross to Jacatra, which is the arsenal and dockyard where their ships are repaired, as it is the first and last station that they make on leaving and on entering by the straits of Sincapura and Sonda. It is one day’s journey from Bantan. However, the English, in confederacy with the Jaos, a few years ago seized certain of those ports. In the year 629, the king of Matalan [i.e., Mataram] besieged Jacatra, where he remained for five months. They destroyed the city, and killed three hundred of the Dutch, and the latter only retained their fortress.

In Borneo, which is the most westerly of the Filipinas, and the largest, being five hundred leguas in circumference, the Dutch do not possess fort or factory, but they are allowed to trade there.

In the island of Hermosa, between the Filipinas and China, they have established a presidio and seized a port. España has another fort there, each on its own point, as the island is long. That has caused anxiety, as the island lies on the way to China. Accordingly, the governor [of Filipinas] has been ordered to endeavor to drive the Dutch away.

In the island of Sumatra, at the city of Jambo in the strait of Sincapura, they have a factory for the pepper trade, which is of great importance to them.

In the kingdom of Patan, they have another factory, which ranks with that of Jambo; another in that of Sian; another in Camboxa; and another in Cochinchina. They have no entrance into China; on the contrary, they are the declared and common enemy [of that country] because of the great piracies that they have committed against those natives. They have a factory in Japon, from which they get food and ammunition, which is worth not a little to them.

They have other ports, which they have abandoned as it was convenient for them to do so—as that of Gemalanor, in Gilolo; the forts of Bouson, Solor, and Timor; the factories of Gresco in Java, and that of Asqueo, because of a war which they had with their king. They abandoned another in Macasar, in the island of the Celebes, where they got a quantity of sago [segu], which is the bread of the country, and a quantity of rice. Accordingly, they tried to return there, but were unable.

In all those forts and presidios Jorje Spilberg found, in the year 616, three thousand regular soldiers; one hundred and ninety-three bronze pieces, and three hundred and ten of cast iron, with three hundred swivel-guns; and thirty war galleons, besides those galleons in which they made the journey to and from Olanda.

Number 33. Arguments based on the forts of the Dutch

From this account which has been given of the Dutch forts in the seas of the Filipinas, are deduced certain arguments that belong to the purpose of this memorial and the matters of which it treats.

Number 34. First argument: for the condition and danger of the commerce

The first argument is the quality and importance of the commerce of the Orient, its condition, and the risk to which it is exposed.

Number 35. Second argument: participation in the clove trade of Maluco

The second is the special point of the trade in the cloves which are obtained in Maluco, in which it is to be noted that the Dutch share by means of the forts that they maintain. Accordingly, they obtain 600 bares [misprinted baus] from the cloves of Terrenate annually, or 384,000 libras; from Motir, 700 bares, or 468,000 libras; from Maquien, 1,400 bares, or 896,000 libras; from Bachian, 400 bares, or 256,000 libras; from Amboyno, 1,800 bares, or 1,152,000 libras. The total of the cloves obtained from Maluco, exclusive of Amboyno, is 1,098,000 libras. Since the total yield from all those islands is, as has been stated, 2,816,000 libras, there is left for the Spaniards, Portuguese, Castilians, and other nations who get some of it, 1,718,000 libras. Even that is because of the protection and proximity of the Filipinas; and if that protection were lacking, not only would all the clove trade belong to the Dutch, but, not needing the presidios that they maintain for it, they would enjoy all the trade at a much less cost and with greater gains, as can be understood from what is here stated.

Number 36. Third argument: the profits of that commerce, and the effect [on it] of the Filipinas

The third, the great profits of that commerce; since for its maintenance alone the enemy employ and support so many fleets and presidios. And although the states of Olanda are so poor and of so little importance, when compared with the grandeur of the monarchy of España, they obtain [from that trade] with only good management and the freedom with which they conduct it, so large profits that with that gain they maintain so great a force on the sea; and their profits would be much greater, if the Dutch were not opposed by the force which your Majesty has in the Filipinas Islands. For it is affirmed that when two ships and one patache were coming laden from India to their country, and the ships were wrecked, and the patache saved, from that vessel alone they made up the loss, and had a considerable gain. That shows how advisable it is that the enemy do not increase and that the [colony in the] islands be permanent, and be protected, and its citizens succored.

Number 37. [Fourth argument:] Commerce of China sustains the Filipinas, and how it is carried on.

Returning to the commerce that the islands have and what they can have—namely, all the above and that of Japon and other kingdoms of those regions—the first and chief thing in which consists the preservation of the Filipinas is the Chinese trade. Although the commerce is shared by Portugal, it is with great peril and danger, as the Portuguese have to go through the strait of Sincapura, which is always occupied by the Dutch. It has this difference, that the Portuguese go to China itself to get the goods, where they have a settlement in the city of Macan; while the Castilians enjoy the trade in Manila, to whose port many ships come annually from China, laden with all the products, natural and artificial, that that great kingdom yields. Governor Don Francisco Tello granted permission to Don Juan Zamudio, in the year 1599, to go to China, and to establish the trade as the Portuguese have it. He went with a ship to the city of Canton, and although he experienced not a little opposition from them, he opened a port for the inhabitants of Filipinas. That of El Pinal was assigned them, and a house in Canton, together with chapas and passports, so that they might go to form a settlement there whenever they liked. Don Luis Perez Das Mariñas being wrecked afterward on the coast of China, the Chinese welcomed him, and the Spaniards entered that port. Although, as that was in violation of the royal decree of 593, a censure was sent to the Audiencia, yet the governor was charged by a secret letter of October 15, 603, to call a council to consider the advisability of continuing that enterprise. From that conference it appears that the royal decree of July 25, 609, resulted, by which that trade of China and Japon was permitted to the citizens of Manila. However, it is a fact that they do not avail themselves of it directly, but that they are content to await the Chinese who bring their merchandise to them, as the citizens have not the forces or the capital to go to their country for it. The Chinese are allowed to sell the goods at wholesale, in accordance with the order that was introduced by Governor Gomez Perez Das Mariñas. The goods are appraised in a lump by persons deputed for that purpose; and then the goods are divided and distributed among the inhabitants, so that all may have a share in the commerce. That method was approved by a letter of instructions of January 17, 593, and is the method called “pancada;” to the governor was left only permission to send one ship annually to Macan, in order to buy military supplies and no other thing, by a decree of February 4, 608. For some little time past the Portuguese of that city have begun going to Manila, or sending thither merchandise from China. That is a great damage to the citizens, for the Portuguese sell the goods dearer than do the Chinese. Formerly those Chinese goods were taken freely to Nueva España, Guatimala, and Panamá, and passed on to Perú; but on account of their cheapness and the extent to which they were consumed, and the profit made on their cost, they were a menace to those kingdoms, and the damage caused by them to the commerce of Sevilla was regretted. Accordingly, the exportation of those goods to Guatimala and Panamá was forbidden, and afterward their transportation to Perú; and the permission was left only for Nueva España, as will be related, as that is the principal point under discussion. [In the margin: “From number 62 on.”]

Number 38. Fifth argument for the importance of the islands: their superiority in those seas

Concluding with the arguments that make the Filipinas important, the fifth is the superiority that they have in the Orient over not a few crowned kings. Your Majesty does not provide any post in all the kingdoms of this monarchy, that are equal in that region to that of governor of the islands, unless it be the viceroyalty of India. As such governor, the king of Borneo, confessing himself, although a Mahometan, a vassal of the crown of Castilla, rendered homage to Doctor Francisco de Sande. During the term of Gomez Perez Das Mariñas, the king of another island, Siao, went to Manila and rendered homage. Don Pedro de Acuña took their king prisoner in the expedition to Terrenate, and kept him in that city [i.e., Manila]. When Don Juan Niño de Tavora went [as governor], he bore an order, by a decree of November 10, 626, to give that king his freedom if he considered it advisable; but he was not freed, and died a prisoner in 629, as did also his son shortly before. He was succeeded by a cachil who had been a prisoner with the king, and who remained hostile. The king of Tidore is an ally, and recognizes the governor as his superior; and the arms of España as his protection. A treaty of peace was made in the year 618 with the king of Macasar, as that was important for the maintenance of Terrenate. The watchfulness maintained with the king of Mindanao is constant; and although he has been subdued several times—especially in the year 597, through the valor of Don Juan Ronquillo, who had many encounters in that island with the natives—he has once more revolted. Although he has been severely punished, never is there assurance of him except when he knows that there is a force in the Filipinas. Consequently, such a force is necessary, in order that he may not dare to commit greater depredations, for the Mindanaos who shall be taken in war are declared to be by that very fact slaves, by a royal decree of May 29, 620. By a decree of July 4, 1609, it is ordered that peace be maintained with the emperor of Japon; and harmonious relations were long maintained with him, by sending him a present annually and receiving his, and by admitting ships and commerce between the two countries. [This was done] until the year 634, when the Dutch so angered him against the Catholics that they roused up a new persecution against them in his kingdoms, and put an end to his friendship with Filipinas. That is no small injury, not only on account of the cessation of intercourse with them, but because that barbarian is powerful, and the Japanese are general pirates. Peace with Great China and its king has been better managed, and is maintained by means of commerce and some presents which are sent. Doctor Sande wrote that he would dare to conquer that kingdom, which was a very confident promise; he was answered on April 9, 586, that he was not to consider such a thing, but to preserve friendship with the Chinese. Accordingly, that has been done, and so many Chinese are in Manila that they have two villages: one that of Vindonoc [i.e., Binondo], which is near the city, and composed of married Christians; and the other the Parián—which is, as it were, an enclosed suburb—in which live those who bring merchandise, and all these are called Sangleys. The kingdoms of Champa, Camboxa, and Sian, which occupy the mainland, are frontiers of war. The conquest of Champa is regarded as lawful, by agreement of the theologians, as its natives are notorious pirates on those who pass their coasts, and they have many Christian captives; and because they consent to and defend the law of Mahomet, and are nearly all Moors, as is mentioned in a royal decree of October 13, 600. The king of Camboxa is not so pernicious, and allows woods, which abound in his kingdom, to be taken [thence] for shipbuilding in Filipinas, besides other products and valuable drugs. There is a history of the ambassadors whom the king, Apran Langara, sent to Manila, whence went to him the reënforcement taken to him by Captain Gallinato, and the success that he had; consequently, that kingdom has always been well affected toward the Spaniards. The king of Sian is like him of Champa; he holds more than fourteen thousand Christians captive, from various nations. In the year 629, that king captured two ships from Manila in his ports, and detained them. Therefore the governor, Don Juan Niño, sent two galleons, which inflicted a sufficient punishment along their coast; and then an embassy to demand satisfaction for the two ships, saying that, if it were not given, they would continue to collect it. The king was dead, and his son agreed to do what was demanded from him. Thereby your Majesty’s arms kept the reputation that they have always preserved in those seas among so many Moorish and pagan kings, and in presence of the forces of Olanda and Inglaterra.

Number 39. Sixth argument for the importance of the islands: the effects of their preservation

The sixth and last argument which shows and proves the importance of the islands, and how advisable is their conservation and maintenance, consists in the excellent and considerable effects that result from it, which, although they are numerous, can be reduced to five chief points.

Number 40. First effect of the conservation of the islands: the promulgation of the faith

The first effect is the conservation of the Catholic faith, and the continuance of its promulgation, which has entered the rich and extensive regions of the Orient through the agency of both crowns of Castilla and Portugal. In that are seen so[38] miraculous advances that it would be for the kings of España to disregard the obligation that they so much value, in [not] giving them the protection possible—so that while the faith does not advance, it may not decrease, nor lose what has been planted in the vineyard of God our Lord. This will be attained (humanly speaking), as long as the two extremes on which this mean depends do not fail, those two extremes being the states maintained by the two crowns in the Orient: that of Portugal, in India; and that of Castilla, in Filipinas. As India is the gateway for all the kingdoms that belong to this part of the straits, so also are the islands for these kingdoms about them, such as Great China, Japon, the Javas, Nueva Guinea, and the islands of Salomon—for whose discovery three voyages had been made from Lima at great cost, but with little result, although they could be reached with greater ease by sailing from Manila.

Number 41. Second effect of the conservation of the islands: the security of India

The second effect will be to assure the safety of those states, of which as they are found today, one may understand that, if one be lost, the other will become endangered. India has declined in its commerce and wealth, and consequently, in its power, because of the relationship that there is between these two things; for when a kingdom loses its wealth, it loses its strength. Both have been usurped by the Dutch, as is proved; for they, commencing with the commerce, have appropriated it to themselves, as well as the strength that is annexed to commerce. Therefore India needs to avail itself of the Filipinas, and that not only for such special aid as was requested by the viceroy, Conde de Linares, in the year 631 (who was governing India with the care, prudence, and success that is known by the excellent results that he obtained, and by the great talent and valor of his person, experienced in that and in other charges), to whom Governor Don Juan Niño sent two galleons; but also so that the enemy, being diverted, may have less power. Thus was he [i.e., the governor of Filipinas] charged to do by decrees of April 4, 1581, and December 5, 1584. The same must also be understood of the islands, which although they do not now have less strength than for the last forty years, have more enemies and more to which to attend. If India should fail them, they would be maintained with greater difficulty. The Portuguese aided in the expedition made by Don Pedro de Acuña, and also in that of Don Juan de Silva, but not with equal success in both; and it is ordered that the two forces unite for the recovery of the island of Hermosa. The city of Macan, in China, is so far from India that it would be in danger should the islands fail it. The governor of the islands had an order to aid that city, by a decree of December twenty, six hundred and twenty-three. He did so by sending it six pieces of artillery, with ammunition and other supplies, which were of so great importance that the Portuguese averted their danger. That action is recommended by the good treatment and welcome that the men of Filipinas receive in India—especially in Cochin, where they go to buy ships and other things—as was written, in acknowledgment therefor, to Don Felipe Mascareñas [Mascarenhas—MS.] in the year 630.

Number 42. Third effect of the conservation of the islands: to deprive Olanda of commerce

The third effect is to deprive the Dutch of a great part of their commerce, not only by España maintaining it in the Filipinas, which otherwise would all belong to the Dutch, as has been said, [In the margin: “In number 36.”] but also by forcing them to keep the presidios and fleets that have been mentioned, [In the margin: “In number 32.”] in order to preserve what they have usurped; and thus, the expenses being heavier, consequently the profits would be less. It was already proposed, with arguments that gained no little approbation (thus they secured its execution), how advisable it was for a royal fleet to cruise among the Windward Islands. Among the effects that were assured was one (and the most important), that of compelling the enemy who should go to infest those islands and commit piracies along their coasts, to erect a fort, and form settlements in some [of the islands], as they have done; and to do it with presidios and garrisons, because of their fear of being attacked and punished—and not as they usually do, when with two little ships carrying each six pieces and twenty men, they pillage what they wish; and with a hundred [common] laborers, and one captain to command them, without arms or defense, they settle on this or that island, confident that there is no one on the sea who can oppose them, or attack them ashore. For if they were in fear, and were obliged to carry an armed force, they would, as that requires cost and preparation, be unable to make so many settlements; nor would their profits be so great that they would not some time or other be ruined and take warning from experience. The Filipinas are doing this in the Orient, and are resisting the enemy in such manner that they not only compel them to maintain forts in their seas, but also to suffer so great losses in them that at times the losses, as is known, exceed the profits. On that account, it is understood that the East [India] Company of Olanda is less rich than formerly; and that, leaving it, they have established the West [India Company]. As the latter does not consume [demand—MS.] so much expense, although the profits are less, it is more appreciated. This is an argument that ought to be heeded in order to establish a fort in the Windward Islands, as there is in the Filipinas, so that the same result might be experienced in the former as in the latter.

Number 43. Fourth effect of the conservation of the islands: the relief of the Indias

The fourth effect is the relief of the Western Indias; for with the diversion and expense that the enemy encounters in the Eastern Indias and the posts of Maluco, he is forced to pay less attention to the Western Indias, and to infest them with weaker forces—which would be greater if he could dispense with employing them in the Orient to counteract the forces of Filipinas; and the profits of commerce there increasing, he would, freed from the expense [of those armaments], be at liberty to occupy himself in the West. If the Dutch should enter there with all their forces, they would cause much more anxiety [than now], and more costly means of defense than those which are made in Filipinas.

Number 44. Fifth effect of the conservation of the islands: the reputation of this crown

The fifth and last effect is that this crown will sustain its reputation and renown, a consideration which so urgently persuades it to preserve a post so honored, avoiding the scandal that would result from losing it, or from abandoning as difficult and costly the most noble exploit that has been offered to any prince. That would [will—MS.] persuade the enemy that it was for lack of forces, or that the gospel ministers whom España sends only go where riches and advantage await them, and not where these are not found. That was one of the motives, if not the greatest, of the kings your Majesty’s father and grandfather; and your greatness has not only to preserve what you inherited by so many legitimate titles, but also to increase it as much as possible.

Number 45. Means existing for the conservation of the islands

Granted, then, and declared by so many and so evident arguments, the importance of the Filipinas, in regard to both its causes and its effects, it is to be noted that there are to be found but two means for the attainment of their conservation. One is for your Majesty to supply from the royal treasury all the expense that should be necessary, without heeding what income they furnish. The other method is to concede to them the commerce with Nueva España, in such quantity and manner that, with what should proceed from it, there should be enough to defend the islands. Each of these means is insufficient by itself, nor is it possible; for your Majesty cannot spend all that is necessary for the maintenance of Filipinas, and it is not advisable to permit their commerce to the extent that the duties derived from it may equal the expenses incurred for the islands. Consequently, the least damaging and the most certain expedient seems to be to combine these measures so that your Majesty may aid in part, and may protect that commerce in such manner that the islands having the means therefor, may attend to their own wants; since the greater the sum derived from the commerce, without increasing it too much, the less the expense from the royal treasury.

Number 46. Points to which the execution of the means proposed can be reduced

In order to adjust these two means, as they are the only ones for this end, it is necessary to make known what the Filipinas are costing today. This will be the first of five points to which this matter is reduced. The second, what they contribute. The third, what commerce they exercise with Nueva España. The fourth, the present condition of this commerce. The fifth and last, what illegal acts are committed in this commerce, and how these can be avoided or corrected without ruining or destroying it. These points having been declared, the decision that can be rendered in regard to the petitions that are made in behalf of the islands will be clear.

Number 47. First point: of the expenses of the islands; and the first division of it, the administration of justice.

In regard to the first point, namely, the cost and expense of the islands, it consists in what results from eight branches or main divisions to which it is reduced. The first is that of the justice which your Majesty, as natural seignior, ought to furnish and administer to those vassals. The head of it is the royal Chancillería which resides in the city of Manila. It was first established (for everything is done with a foundation), by a royal decree of March 5, 582, with a president (who was to be governor), three auditors, and one fiscal.[39] The governor and president, who was then Licentiate Santiago de Vera, was assigned a salary of four thousand pesos ensayados;[40] and the auditors and fiscal, two thousand. For the payment of those salaries, by a royal decree of May 10, 1583, twelve thousand [pesos] ensayados in tributes of the Indians were ordered to be assigned (and they were assigned) to the crown. Later, it having been understood through some less authentic reports that the Audiencia was unnecessary in Manila, it was suppressed by a decree of August 9, 1589; and Gomez Perez Das Mariñas, of the Habit of Santiago, was appointed governor and captain-general, with a salary of 8,000 pesos ensayados, and with authority to have a guard of halberdiers to uphold the dignity of the post (as is done by his successors to this day). It consists of one captain with 240 pesos pay (although this post is always held by an infantry captain who receives no more than the ordinary pay, which will be mentioned), twelve soldiers at 96 pesos, and one corporal at 108 pesos, making a total of 1,260 pesos of eight reals (all this account and summary being reckoned in pesos of that denomination). He was given a lieutenant-general as counselor, with a salary of 2,000 pesos ensayados. But scarcely was the Audiencia suppressed, than results showed the unreliability of the reports which had led to that step. Don Francisco Tello having succeeded to the government, the Audiencia was again established, and he was given the title of president, on December 21, 595. There were four auditors and one fiscal, who was to be protector of the Indians; and all were given the salary that they had before, except the president, who was left the 8,000 pesos ensayados that had been assigned him as governor. Thus the Audiencia is still maintained, with an expense of 18,000 pesos ensayados, or 29,000 pesos, 2 reals of common gold. To the court scrivener was assigned 300 [pesos]; to one reporter, 600 one fiscal solicitor, 300; to the captain, 350; to one herald, 48: a total of 1,898, to be paid from fines of the exchequer. The sum paid to corregidors is as follows: to two, for the island of Mindoro and the province of Catanduanes, at the rate of 100 pesos, to two, for the islands of Mariveles and Negros, at the rate of 150 pesos; to those of the islands of Leyte, Samare, Ybabao, and to him of Ibalon (who is also a sentinel), at the rate of 200. To twelve alcaldes-mayor of Tondo, Pampanga, Bulacan, Pangasinar, Ilocos, Cagayan, Calamianes, Zebu, Camarines, Laguna de Bay, Balayan, and Atilaya, at the rate of 300 pesos; and to him of Oton, who serves in the post of purveyor for Terrenate, 700 pesos. Therefore the total in this department is 37,077 pesos.

Number 48. Second division: the conversion, preaching, divine worship, and the hospitals

The second is that which pertains to the conversion, and to preaching, divine worship, and the hospitals. The first bishop appointed for the church of Manila was Fray Domingo de Salazar. He was succeeded by Fray Ignacio de Santivañez, with the pall as archbishop—the church being erected into a metropolitan, and the three of [Nueva] Caceres, Zebu, and [Nueva] Segovia into suffragans, in the year 596, although the latter have no prebends. The archbishop was assigned a competence of 3,000 ducados, and the three bishops each 500,000 maravedis, all from the royal treasury; the tithes enter into the treasury, as their amount is small. Thus the four prelates receive annually, 9,637 and one-half pesos. To the dignitaries of the metropolitan church are paid: to the dean, 600 pesos; to the archdeacon, precentor, treasurer, and schoolmaster, each 500; to four canons, each 400; to two racioneros, each 300; to two medio-racioneros, 200; to two curas, each 50,000 maravedis; to two sacristans, each 25,000 maravedis. To the chaplain of the seminary of Santa Potenciana, which belongs to the royal patronage, 300 pesos. For four regular priests of St. Dominic, four of St. Augustine, and four of the Society of Jesus, who administer instruction in Manila, to each convent are given, 1,072 pesos; and for four others, Augustinian Recollects, 697 pesos to their convent. To two secular assistants of the bishop of Zebu, each 576 pesos, by a decree of March 14, 633; and a like sum to two of [Nueva] Segovia, by a decree of April 11, 635; and the same to him of [Nueva] Caceres. To twelve curas, and twelve sacristans, in the three cathedrals, and in nine other churches of those islands, each 50,000 maravedis, and 25,000 [respectively]. To two religious who administer the sacraments in the island of Hermosa, each 536 pesos. To the convents of St. Dominic and St. Augustine, each 400; to that of the Society of Jesus, 200; to that of St. Francis, 300; to the nuns of St. Clare, 200. To two infirmaries, maintained by the Dominican religious in Cagayan and Pangasinan, each 400. To the Spanish hospital in Manila, 3,000 pesos; to the physician, 300; to the surgeon, 400; to the barber, 312; to the apothecary, 200; to the steward, 182 and one-half, and one tonelada in the trading ships. To the hospital of Cavite, 700; to that of San Lazaro of the natives, outside the walls, 3,442; to that of Los Baños of Nueva España, of holy[41] waters, 1,472, and 100 more for medicines; to that of the Sangleys of San Gabriel [Graviel—MS.], 425; to that of Terrenate, 1,000; to that of Cagayan, 300; to that of Oton, 250; to that of Caraga, 50; to that of Zebu, 250; to that of the artillerymen, 500; to that of the trading ships, 1,000. To some churches which have alms of oil are distributed annually 3,940 gantas, which are worth 760 pesos. [The expenses for] this department amount to 37,297 pesos.

Number 49. Third division: the presents sent by the governor

The third is but little, and consists of [the expenses caused by] the custom in those islands of the governor sending some gifts, donations, and presents to the kings of Japon, Camboxa, Tidore, and others. These are necessary to maintain their friendship, and to keep them well-disposed for what is asked from them; for not one of them receives an embassy favorably, unless it is accompanied by some present. In the year 580 a present was sent from España to Great China, consisting of twelve falcons; twelve horses, with their trappings and saddle-cloths embroidered with the royal arms; and six mules,[42] with their wrought coverings, which carried twelve boxes, filled with various curious articles. For securing this amicable relation, there are spent annually one thousand five hundred pesos.

Number 50. Fourth division: the management of the royal treasury

The fourth division is that of the management of the royal treasury. To the three officials—treasurer, accountant, and factor—are paid salaries of 5,625 pesos. To eight greater and lesser officials, 2,300 pesos; to one computer-in-ordinary of accounts, 1,000; to his chief clerk, who is a royal notary, 450; to three other clerks of accounts, 900; to the assayer and weigher, 550; and to its officer of justice, 300. The full total is 11,550 pesos.

Number 51. Fifth division: land warfare

The fifth division is that of land warfare. There is one master-of-camp in the camp of Manila, with 1,654 and one-half pesos pay; one sargento-mayor, with 990; two adjutants, with 360; one chaplain of the regiment, with 360; one field captain, with 180; one chief constable, with 96; one head drummer, with 126; ten substitutes stationed near the person of the governor and appointed by your Majesty at different rates of pay, which amounted in the year 635 (the year when all this report was drawn up) to 6,675 pesos; one military notary, with 200 [20—MS.]; and one procurator for the infantry, with 126. Of the presidios of Manila, the castellan of the fort of Santiago receives 800 pesos, and his one lieutenant, 420; three wardens for the presidios of Zebu, Oton, and Cagayan, each 300; their three lieutenants, each 96; one chaplain for Oton, 180; one lieutenant of the captain-general of Pintados, 800; one lieutenant of the governor and captain-general, for the presidio of the island of Hermosa, 1,200; one sargento-mayor of that presidio, who is also a captain of infantry, has captain’s pay; three adjutants of the sargento-mayor of Oton [Octon—MS.], Cebu, and Cagayan, each 180; another in the island of Hermosa, 250. The infantry of the camp of Manila, which includes that of the island of Hermosa, consists of eighteen companies—sixteen of them with a like number of captains, and the two which are commanded by the master-of-camp of the army and the castellan of Santiago. All amount generally to 1,576 infantrymen, 88 men to each company. As to pay, the captains receive each 600 pesos; the alférezes, each 240; the sergeants, each 120; the corporals (there being four in each company), each 12 pesos over the common soldier’s pay; the 56 infantrymen, including page, fifer, two drummers, and one standard-bearer, each 96 pesos; the [remaining] infantrymen, who are musketeers, each 126 pesos. To each company is given 30 escudos per month over the regular pay. The total expense in pay to each company amounts to 9,555 and one-half pesos. And inasmuch as they are never without crippled soldiers, who receive 72 pesos without serving, there is a fund of 1,000 pesos for them. There are 140 other soldiers of the Pampango tribe, who are stationed in the presidios of Manila, Oton, Zebu, Cagayan, and Caraga, who receive each 86 pesos per year. Their captain receives 288, one alférez, 192, one sergeant, 96. Consequently, this company causes an expense of 7,296 pesos. For the artillery, there is one captain who receives 800; four constables, in Manila, the fort of Santiago, the fort of Cavite, and the island of Hermosa, each 300; one hundred and ten artillerymen in the camp and presidios, each 200; the total amounting to 32,596. The total for this department is 229,696 pesos.

Number 52. Sixth division: of the defense of Maluco

The sixth is for the war and defense of Maluco. The castellan and governor of the forts of Terrenate receives 2,750 pesos; two adjutants of the sargento-mayor, each 825. There are seven companies of infantry with 570 soldiers. The captains receive each 600 pesos; each alférez, 240; each sergeant, 120; each corporal, 30 pesos in addition to the regular soldier’s pay; and the others as in Manila. Each company gets 30 escudos in addition to the regular pay. They were ordered to spend [the money for] four substitutes that they had, each of 440 pesos, and that pay was also given as additional pay. Thus each of these companies causes an expense of 9,809 pesos. In addition there are two Pampango infantry companies, with 200 soldiers. Each captain gets 288 pesos; each alférez, 192; each sergeant, 144; and each infantryman, 72. The two companies cost 13,312 pesos. There is one surgeon who receives 664 pesos; one artillery captain, 480; one constable, 300; one field captain, 330; one war notary, 200; one accountant and factor, 1,150; one chief clerk, 400; another minor clerk, 150; one notary of the royal treasury, 250; one [book]keeper and paymaster, 523; twenty sailors, 150 [pesos] and one ganta of rice apiece; one cura, 50,000 maravedis; one sacristan, 25,000 maravedis; and seven religious, four of St. Francis and three of the Society, to whom are given 1,330 pesos. Consequently, [the expense of] this department amounts to a total of 97,128 pesos, three reals.

Number 53. Seventh division: the navy and marine works

The seventh is that of the navy and what pertains to marine works. There are six galleys, used as a guard for the islands. They have one commander-in-chief, who receives 800 pesos; one lieutenant, 600; six captains, two of whom live in Manila, two in the island of Hermosa, each 422 pesos, and two in Terrenate, each 699 and one-half pesos; one accountant, 400; one chaplain [captain—MS.], 200. Each galley has one leader, who receives 170 pesos; one master, 300; one boatswain,[43] 250; one boatswain’s mate, 217 and one-half; one alguaçil, 230; one oarmaker, 230; three sailors, each 133. In all [six galleys] there are 1,080 convicts who receive 27 pesos and two reals, and three pesos in clothing. These six galleys cost 45,026 pesos annually. There are twelve pilots in the ports of Cavite, the island of Hermosa, and Terrenate, each of whom receives 200 pesos when he is not afloat (for when afloat they receive more); ten boatswains [contramaestres] of as many boats, who are paid each 325 pesos; ten boatswain’s mates, each 225. There are 520 sailors, each of whom receives 175 pesos, among whom are included those who sail to Nueva España, Terrenate, and the island of Hermosa, and other parts. There are 200 common seamen, each of whom receives 60 and one-half pesos; seven coopers, each 325; four Indian coopers, each 72 and one-half; one diver, 350; one hundred and sixty Sangleys (24 of whom are pilots), who serve as sailors in the champans and bring the food and war supplies, all of whom together get 7,504 pesos; twenty Indians, who serve in the boat that acts as a scout-boat in the island of Marivelez, who receive five hundred and forty pesos; one hundred and thirty Lascars, natives of India, who are sailors and common seamen, 9,754 pesos; one master of ropemaking, one hundred and seventy-five pesos; two Indian ropemakers, each 78 pesos; fifty Indians who work at the rigging, each 24 and one-half pesos; six Spanish carpenters, each 325; five hundred and fifty Indians, carpenters along the Cavite coast (six of them, who are bosses, each 97 pesos; 120 workmen and laborers, each 61; and the rest, each 49); 50 other Sangley carpenters and sawyers, who are paid 4,220 pesos; seven Spanish calkers, each 325; four slave calkers, each 47 and one-half; fourteen Sangley calkers, who get 1,165 pesos; one master of the smithy of Cavite, 425; another of the Manila foundry, 375; another of the smithy of the army, 350; one hundred Indian smiths, for the three smithies, get 5,377 pesos; thirty Sangley smiths, ten of them bosses of forges, are paid 2,280 pesos. Therefore this part amounts to 180,731 pesos.

The ships that sail annually to Nueva España carry one commander-in-chief, or head, who, in addition to four rations that are given him, receives a salary of 4,325 pesos; one admiral, 2,900. Although it is ordered in the royal decree for the grant of the last of December, 604, that these ships have an overseer and accountant, with pay of 2,000 ducados apiece, in order that they may keep account in their books of what is carried and taken, as in the last reports of expenses and salaries, those offices are not found. It is doubtful whether they are provided, and accordingly they are omitted. There are two masters, each of whom receives 400 pesos; four pilots, each 700; two boatswains, each 325; two boatswain’s mates, each 225; two notaries, each 225; two keepers of the arms and stores, each 225; two calkers, each 325; two water guards, each 225; two surgeons, each 225; two constables, each 325; twenty artillerymen, each 225 (who ought to serve a like number of pieces, according to the seventh section of the royal decree of 604); six Cahayanes [i.e., Cagayans (Indians)?], each 60; two coopers, each 325. These wages amount to 20,535 pesos, for sailors and common seamen belong to those whose posts are continuous. On the return trip [to Filipinas], when the usual reënforcements are carried, there is a sargento-mayor, who gets 600 pesos; one adjutant, 412; one royal alférez, 865. It is ordered by a royal decree of December 14, 630, that the latter officers be aided with only four months’ pay at Acapulco, and that they be paid for the time of their service. Furthermore, there is a shoremaster at the port of Cavite, who receives 600 [650—MS.] pesos; and although it was ordered by a royal decree of April 22, 608, that he should not receive this salary, that office must have appeared indispensable. There is one builder for ships and another for galleys, each of whom receives 690 pesos; one gunner to sight the guns, and an overseer of the royal works of Cavite, 800; one manager for the artillery foundry, 500; one founder, 450; one powder manager, 500; another of the rigging, 272. One galley is built every year, on an average, which costs 20,000 pesos finished and ready for sailing, exclusive of the men who work at it. The purchase and equipment of 18 champans cost 2,300 pesos. Therefore, according to the items above mentioned, the expense of this department amounts to 283,184 pesos.

Number 54. Eighth division: the food, munitions,[44] and other expenses

The eighth and last is that of the food and munitions. As much as 50,000 pesos are given annually to the factor of the royal treasury, for expenses and the purchases of food, and the pay for the careening and repair of ten galleons and six galleys. For flour biscuit for the voyage, besides the rations, are spent 5,000 pesos; for iron, 1,250; for wax, cotton, and other things, 1,300; for balls and fuses, 1,000; for saltpetre, and the making of powder, 4,000. A quantity of money is sent to the alcaldes-mayor and the persons who bring in the supplies for the provision of the royal magazines, the amount being estimated at 86,000 pesos. On extraordinary watchmen are spent 2,000 pesos. To the keeper of the magazines of Manila is given 750 pesos; to his clerk, 222; to the keeper of those of Cavite, 395; to his clerk, 212; to the keeper of that of Jambolo in Pangasinan, 173; to the keeper of the magazines in the island of Hermosa, 300; to his accountant, 500; to his clerk, 200. The expense of this last department amounts to 153,202 [15,302—MS.] pesos.

Number 55. Summary of the expenses of the islands, and the persons employed

The above is what is spent annually on the average, more or less according to the times, for all purposes in the Filipinas Islands, a summary of which (both of persons and money) is as follows.

Consequently, exclusive of the four convents and fourteen hospitals which are cared for, and the alms which are given for wine and oil to certain churches, your Majesty pays in the Filipinas Islands and Maluco, and in their navigations and trade-line, salary, pay, and special wages to 5,878 persons, 3,338 of whom are Spaniards, and 2,540 are Indians or men of various nations. The cost of all included in the eight departments here presented, as it appears, is 850,734 pesos of eight reals.

Number 56. Second point: of that which the Filipinas produce

Having seen what it costs to maintain the Filipinas Islands, the second point is to ascertain how far they aid in this cost, and with what they supply your Majesty’s royal treasury, in which notice is to be taken that there are eleven departments of revenue.

These eleven departments of royal revenue amount to 573,922 pesos; and the Filipinas produce that sum in revenue for your Majesty.[46] [In the margin of Extracto-historial reprint: “Note—This sum seems to be inaccurate, because it should amount only to 543,922 pesos.”]

Number 57. The excess of expenditures for the islands over the receipts

It is ordered by a royal decree that the amount reported from the islands to be lacking for the total amount of situado be sent annually from Nueva España; and as the situado, according to the calculation set forth, is 850,734 pesos, there is an annual deficit of 276,512 pesos or thereabouts; [In the margin of Extracto-historial reprint: “The deficit should be 306,812 pesos.”] for this account is made for only one year, and is not fixed, although it it usual every year. In this matter it is to be noted that this [itemized statement] answers the current report that every year six hundred thousand pesos and more are taken from Nueva España for their expense. That report gives rise to the belief and understanding that they spend that amount in addition to their receipts. That is an error; for if from the tenth division the sum of 330,000 pesos is made good, which is collected in Acapulco and Mexico, and other parts of Nueva España (and this is recognized to belong to the islands by the above-cited royal decree of 606 and is therefore ordered to be returned to them), when 600,000 or more pesos are sent, not one-half that amount is supply of deficiency, and expense, since more than one-half is returns. And even this is counterbalanced somewhat by what is derived from the bulls of the crusade, the proceeds of which are ordered by a royal decree of December 21, 634, not to be taken to Mexico, but to be kept at Manila, and that to the treasurers in Mexico a like amount be furnished. Although this order is opposed by the crusade, as it is advisable it ought to be executed, and a second decree issued ordering its observance; thus two dangers might be avoided to this sum, one in going and the other in being returned—as is done with the possessions of deceased persons, by a royal decree of December 13, [of the year] 16, which are kept in the Manila treasury, and paid into that of Mexico.

Number 58. The islands contribute more than they spend

From the expenses and contributions of the islands, and the excess of the debits over the credits, some, through lack of acquaintance with the matter, are wont to derive the main argument against them, imagining that the islands are of little use but of great expense. Although the first of these propositions is quite confuted and answered by what is thus far alleged, the second also lacks foundation in the meaning in which it is put forward, which attributes to the islands more expense than profit; for the Filipinas alone contribute more than what they cost. Until the year 607, the islands of Maluco belonged to the crown of Portugal, which spent a great sum of money on them—as was necessary on account of the great distance from Goa, upon which their government was dependent. Although, nevertheless, those islands were maintained, that appeared impossible after the Dutch entered the Orient; for with their advent the expenses of Maluco were so increased that the islands were lost, inasmuch as there was no money with which to maintain them. It was ordered that the Filipinas recover them, and they did so. In order to assure the safety of the Malucos and to economize expenses for the convenience of both crowns, they were joined and united to them [i.e., Filipinas], imposing on the crown of Castilla, and in its name on the Filipinas, the obligation to attend to their wants, thus adding to Filipinas at least 290,000 pesos of expense—the amount of what pertains to Maluco from the second, third, and fourth departments, all the sixth, half the seventh, and a third of the eighth. If your Majesty is petitioned for 276,000 pesos annually for both groups of islands, as is attested, and those of Maluco alone cost 290,000, the deduction is evident that the Filipinas per se cost less than what they contribute—and more, if it is considered that the crown of Portugal saves 400,000 pesos which the Malucas must have cost it when they were under its charge. Since the Filipinas did not ask for that union, and were not a party in causing it to be made, they ought not to be charged with increase in expenses which those islands cause them.

Number 59. How and in what the inhabitants aid in the support of the islands

But it is proper to remark at this point, what is the kernel of the matter under discussion, that the Filipinas and Malucas are not supported with the 850,000 [890,000—MS.] pesos, which are the amount of their expenses. Neither that sum nor a much greater one would be sufficient, if the inhabitants of Manila did not serve, aid, and help with their possessions and lives on the occasions that arise, both extraordinary and ordinary. Now [they serve] as soldiers in the wars when the enlisted and paid troops are outside, or are not sufficient to resist the enemy, standing guard and assisting in military duties with the [same] punctuality and discipline as if they drew pay; and although they are few, as has been said, they count for many in the valor, willingness, and generosity with which they serve. Again, they give their slaves to labor on the public works and shipbuilding, and ordinarily for the levies for the galleys, as happens daily; and in the term of Don Alonso Faxardo, had not the inhabitants furnished the crews, the galleys could not have sallied out, as they did, against the enemy. Then they lend, when the aid from Nueva España is delayed or insufficient, very great quantities [of money] for any sudden expense—as was that above mentioned in the case of Don Alonso Faxardo, to whom they lent at that time two hundred and fifty thousand pesos. So they do every year, and always without interest, the payments sometimes being delayed two or three years. In regard to that, there is a royal decree of February 29, six hundred and thirty-six, in which it is ordered that those who make such loans shall be promptly repaid, in order that the royal treasury may be accredited when it needs help. They help, too, with very large and continuous gifts of money, and food and products (which are generally more important than money), which the governor assigns for the aid of Terrenate, the island of Hermosa, and other posts. They also accept expeditions and embassies, by which they go at their own expense to the kings of those archipelagos. So have gone General Juan Xuarez Gallinato, to the king of Camboxa; Gregorio de Vargas, to him of Tunquin [Tumquin—MS.]; Juan Tello de Aguirre and Juan Ruiz de Ycoaga, to him of Siam; to whom also went Admiral Andres Lopez de Asaldegui; Don Luis Navarrete Faxardo; and afterward Don Antonio de Arco, to the emperor of Japon, at the cost of life; Don Juan Zamudio to China; and others to other kings—each one spending ten or twelve thousand pesos to serve your Majesty. In short, the occasions that the inhabitants of Manila have for helping, and to which they respond as loyal vassals, are as many as will be seen in the future, and as one can imagine would be found in a post and frontier so infested by so many and so strong enemies—Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Mindanaos, Terrenates, Zambales, and those of other nations, which keeps the inhabitants in arms continually. Scarcely is there a year when the inhabitants do not engage in hostilities, and it necessarily costs them heavily. If it were all at the expense of the royal treasury, the cost of the islands would increase so that it would almost exceed their possessions.

Number 60. To what degree the inhabitants of the islands ought to be favored

By all this is represented to your Majesty what those vassals merit who are always and continually serving, not in posts and duties that increase their wealth and advance their households, but in land and naval warfare, in which they lose their lives and possessions—fighting now with the Dutch, who harass them more sharply than in Flandes, and make daily attacks; now with the numerous nations who surround them. Consequently, they deserve that their services be considered, not only in consulting as to rewards, but in giving them; and that they be gratified with honors and rewards—if not equal to their services, as those are so great, at least equivalent to what good government permits, and to what the same land which they defend can support. That is in accordance with the royal decree of February 29, 636, in which the governor is ordered to observe the rules ordering that military offices and encomiendas be given only to those who shall have served under your Majesty’s banners, and always preferring those who shall have rendered most service. It will be proper and very consoling for the deserving citizens and residents of those islands, that the royal Council of the Indias—which, as it were a crucible for the new world, estimates services, approves merits, and deliberates as to rewards, with so much acumen, equality, and justice—allow the claims of Filipinas before those of others who, by serving in Flandes, Italia, and Alemania, try to get hold of the best posts, not alone of the Indias, but even of the islands themselves which they never entered. For, if the latter do not exceed the former in the hardships, perils, and services that the citizens of the islands suffer and perform, for your Majesty and for that colony, and those citizens should be preferred justly in the rewards of their own land, then they have sufficient ground for asking that they be not despoiled of this favor and privilege, which they try to merit by so many and so repeated acts of valor and loyalty; but that in the dispensing of that favor they may recognize that they may expect sure rewards for their children, by leaving them as an inheritance the blood shed and the property spent in defense of their king and the preservation of their fatherland. And since their services differ so widely in quality from those of others, who have no services, it will be just that their papers and claims be examined with a different kind of attention.

Number 61. It is not advisable that the magistracies of the islands be sold

In this matter also it is to be noted that the magistracies of the city were formerly conferred by the governor on the most deserving and venerable persons who were to be found. They, because of their experience and zeal, accepted those offices, and attended to the duties of those charges as was demanded. In order that those offices might be held by them for life, it was sufficient for them to come to ask for confirmation of them from your Majesty, in accordance with the royal decree of March 17, 1608, and February 8, 1610. And although, since they were ordered to be sold, persons of equal ability and position have bought them, and fill them and attend as they ought to the government of the community (which in this, above all else, has always been fortunate); and although the governor is ordered by a decree of June [July—MS.] 12, 636, to employ the regidors of Manila in charges and posts according to their rank and the competency with which they can serve your Majesty, and that he honor, favor, and aid them in whatever else arises: the deserving men of that city cannot be prevented from expressing their resentment that, while there are so few rewards to which they can aspire, so many the occasions in which to serve, and so remote the qualification of their merits, that small part should be taken away from them, and that, in order to enjoy those offices, they should have to be bought. Moreover, the command, by decree of June 3, 620, that the magistracies of the Filipinas be sold only to conquistadors and settlers, or to their descendants (which was only recognizing that it was fitting to do so, but not assuring the reward), is no favor; for those to whom it is ordered to sell them, since it is so just that those who conquered and seeded should govern, are generally the poorest of all. And although they desire to enjoy the offices which belong to them, some of them do not possess the money with which to buy these; while others do not care to spend the little wealth that they have acquired for what is not of any use or profit to them, but rather a burden and inconvenience—since, by defending that community, they have had many contentions with the former governors. Consequently, it is very advisable that the magistracies be given to men of years, and old residents in the colony, who have held military posts, and who can oppose the governors when the latter try to exceed the provisions of your Majesty’s decrees. For this and other reasons, it has been experienced that eight vacancies have existed in the magistracy of Manila for many years, because there were no buyers for them, as appears from the royal decree of February 29, 636, in which it is mentioned. And since the greatest value of those offices is one thousand one hundred pesos, and, if one consider the twelve magistracies, they do not produce an income of five hundred pesos per year, that is so small a sum, and there are so many damages and disadvantages that may result from it, that it would be a gain for the royal treasury and a great service to your Majesty to have the sale of the said offices stopped, and to have them given as formerly by the governors to the oldest residents, and to men of greatest experience and worth and as favors to individuals—that, while they do not give any profit, they may give honor to the citizens of Manila. Since there is not a city in all the Indias of its rank, nor one in which the inhabitants render so much service and with less advantage, this measure will not be a conclusion of which others may avail themselves to demand the same.

Number 62. Third point: of the commerce of the islands with Nueva España

From the service rendered by the inhabitants of Filipinas, one may deduce how necessary it is to maintain the rich, or to give them capital sufficient for them to attend to their business. For that the only method (and the third point of the five arguments proposed), is the commerce of the islands with Nueva España, for in the proportion in which that shall increase, their possessions will increase, and with that the defense and security of the islands. For there is no more powerful argument than that which establishes the conservation of a province in the strength, that is, the wealth of its inhabitants, and depends on the abundance of that for its conservation. Commerce is a natural law of nations, by which they make common to all provinces what each one produces, grows, or manufactures—now by selling, now by exchanging. Although commerce ought to be free, and was in the beginning, when kingdoms and seigniories were less powerful (for as they had narrower territories, so they had fewer matters to which to attend), as the monarchies increased and extended it became necessary to limit the commerce in parts, prohibiting it with some, in order to oblige or cause it to be maintained or increased with others. If that of Filipinas with the Indias were free and absolute, as it was immediately after their discovery, it is evident that they would enjoy the greatest prosperity; while Nueva España would have greater abundance of what was necessary to it, and Peru of what it lacked. But the commerce of España, which would perish and be ruined, was opposed to that; for since the goods sent thence to the Indias were dearer than those of Filipinas, if merchandise entered from both parts without restriction it would be to the advantage of the consumers to seek that from Filipinas rather than that from España; and the former commerce would continue to increase, and the latter to decline. Accordingly, it was right and proper to restrain the one so that the other might endure, and that, heeding the principal thing, namely, the conservation of these kingdoms (the heads of the monarchy), trade to them might be free, and to the others restricted—maintaining such a proportion in this that in securing the prosperity of España the ruin of the Filipinas might not result; for natural laws influence us to concede what is to the advantage of another, when it involves no injury to one’s self. And thus it is no considerable damage that the kingdoms do not increase as much as is possible, if they maintain what they have; for the former is a matter of gaining, and the latter of not losing, until each one is left what is sufficient, if from conceding more results the lack to others of what is necessary. Accordingly, to Perù[47] is conceded one ship annually for Nueva España; to Nueva España two for Filipinas; and to España the number that its commerce demands and is entitled to, in consideration of its amount—so that thus neither may the islands be lost nor Nueva España and Perú be deprived of all the freedom of their trade, nor España feel so much weakness in the trade of the Indias that it should lose that; and that all may remain in suitable relations [to each other], since they are members of the mystical body of this monarchy.

Number 63. Why the islands need the commerce of Nueva España

This matter being thus explained, it is also supposed that the Filipinas retain the trade above described with various kingdoms of the Orient; and that all that trade is free and open without any restriction, except that of China, and that of the Western Indias, which they maintain and observe in a certain manner. For since all those different traffics require the return of suitable kinds of merchandise in order to sustain the exchange in which they consist, and the islands need them—for the rice, cotton, wines, blankets, textiles, and other products, are not desired by China, Japon, Sian, or any other pagan nation, because they abound in the same products, or have better ones—those different branches of commerce must necessarily cease, if there were not another foreign and different commerce, which, desiring the products of those regions, can extend and carry on another trade, which their nations desire and crave. This is that of the Indias, from which is conveyed and bartered silver (a most noble commodity), in return for which are carried the drugs and merchandise that are produced in China and other Oriental kingdoms and provinces, and traded in Filipinas, by which all come to be sustained, united, and joined.

Number 64. Commerce of the islands: why it is injurious to España

This commerce of the Indias with the Filipinas is to the prejudice of España for two causes or reasons, from which result great disadvantages. The first, because the silver is withdrawn and conveyed to the islands, whence it passes into the possession of the enemies of religion and of this crown, Moors and pagans; and finally remains in China—which, according to what we understand, is the general center for the silver of Europe and Asia. For as it always is current, gaining and increasing in value until it reaches that great kingdom, whence it must issue with a loss, it does not issue, and remains perpetually among those inhabitants. From that cause result many damaging effects: such as enriching our enemies, giving them the most noble product of all the commerce of the globe; making easy for them the possession of that which private persons among them maintain, and increasing their number; preventing that silver from going to España so that the royal duties might increase thereby, the avería and the commerce be sustained; and, in short, making this crown lose and its enemies gain. The second cause is that, in addition to the aforesaid losses (which are obvious) from the withdrawal of silver, no less are the damages that are experienced on what is sent in return for it to Nueva España, and passes to Perú—namely, a great quantity of the merchandise of China in textiles of gold, silk, and cotton, and other articles. [These are sold] at so low prices that, when the merchandise of these kingdoms arrives (which is worth more, as it is of better quality), it is not sold and has no outlet, as the country is full of the others [from China]; so that those who ship it lose. Consequently, losses are multiplied; and from all results so extreme weakening of the commerce of España with the Indias, that it is almost extinct and will be diminished just as that of Filipinas increases.

Number 65. Reply to the damages of the commerce of Filipinas; and to the first, regarding the withdrawal of the silver.

These two reasons are [alleged as] those which hinder the advancement of the islands, and restrict its commerce. However, a reply is not lacking, which, if it does not destroy, weakens them. For to the first, regarding the withdrawal of the silver and its retention in China, answer is made, that on the silver which goes [from Nueva España] nine per cent [duties] are paid at Manila, and at Acapulco fourteen per cent, a total of twenty-three per cent. Consequently, the duties on its transportation to España are not lost, for they are paid there in larger measure. The effects are not those which are represented; for, although it is true that the silver goes from Manila, it is for China, and for the very reason that it does not issue from that country, it does no harm. But the retention of what comes to these kingdoms is a greater injury, as it all goes to Olanda, Genova, and Venecia [Venencia—MS.], and thence to Turquia, while some portion goes to India by way of Portugal, and those same Dutch, and the Persians, Arabs, and Mogores share the silver; and, although at last it goes to remain in China, it is after it has enriched the greatest enemies of this crown. That is not the case with what goes by way of Manila; for, if it goes thence, it is through the hands of your Majesty’s vassals, and it does not reach the hands of the enemies. But even this reply is superfluous, for it is not necessary to the islands nor to their inhabitants that more silver be sent to Manila than is permitted; rather is it important to them that the [amount for which] permission be observed and executed with rigor, as will be said. [In the margin: “In numbers 98 and 99.”] Therefore, of the damages caused to the commerce of España by that of Filipinas, only that to the merchandise should be made good; for the silver either is within the limits of the permission, and does not conflict [with this statement] (for neither does it cause any loss, nor can it be dispensed with), or it is in the illegal amount that is stated, and the citizens request that this be corrected and prevented. For if there is any damage to España, it is not any advantage to them; but, on the contrary, destroys and ruins them, as will be seen.

Number 66. Reply to the statement touching the merchandise exported from the islands

As for the second reason—that of the merchandise, and the trade of the islands therein—it is not denied that it would have the effects that have been stated, if it were free, open, and without restriction; but these cease, because experience and good government have chosen a method such that neither the commerce of España should be destroyed, nor that of the islands be annihilated, by permitting the commerce to one in such quantity that it should not prove damaging to the other. And although España petitioned that the commerce from Filipinas be totally suppressed, by which they thought that they would assure their own increase, it was also considered that the islands would surely be lost in that case; and that they would be settled by the Dutch, who would make themselves masters of all the Orient. Consequently, that would not only expose India to evident danger, as has been proved, but would also, by increasing the forces of the Dutch, render them more powerful in the trade of the Indias, and in all the regions where they navigate and traffic. Therefore, if the trade of [the merchants in] España should increase for the one reason, their risks and expenses would be greater for another; and nearly all the trade of Portugal would be ruined. Thus from an imagined benefit would result damages so certain and considerable that, were they weighed as they ought to be, the present losses would be considered as more tolerable. Such is the mutual relationship of states which are many and extended that, if attention to all of them be difficult, it is advisable that decisions be adjusted to the least harmful course. Accordingly, it is proper that the islands should not continue to increase, but that they be allowed the commerce that is sufficient to maintain them; and that that of España should not be increased in that region, but that the trade of the islands be restricted in such manner that it shall be as little obstructed as possible. For, by each kingdom losing a part of its right, all will be maintained and conserved.

Number 67. Commerce of España with the Indias: why it is decreasing

This will be more apparent with the conditions and the changes which the commerce of Filipinas and that of España in the Indias have sustained and suffered. That of España has decreased so much from its usual status that it appears to be less than the half of its former amount. Although the fault is attributed to the Filipinas, that is because the matter is not probed below the surface, and causes are not sought at their sources. The physician who understands only the effect of a dangerous illness, namely, the death of the patient, generally attributes the sickness to uncertain causes and sometimes so remote that they have no connection with the case in question; and, since he prescribes his remedies for such causes, the true, proximate, and essential causes which are working out of sight without any check, end, if not by killing the patient, by placing him in evident risk. All see and recognize that the commerce of the Indias is in a feeble condition, that the merchants are losing, that the exporters do not obtain their capital [from what they ship], and that the ships which go are smaller, and return with poorer cargoes. Although this loss is so well known, there are some who ascribe the cause of so great an effect to the Filipinas, and not to the misapprehension of España—which is persuaded that the wealth of the Indias must be inexhaustible, and that the merchants can still gain on their investments the same amounts as fifty years ago, while the causal means of it all have been lacking, which have been noticed by few, and ignored by many.

Number 68. First reason for the decline of the commerce of the Indias

First, the abundance of gold and silver. So great was the abundance of these metals in the Indias, that one could say the same as of Jerusalem in the time of Solomon, that they were regarded as the stones of the street. Accordingly, articles were paid for at so exorbitant prices, as is apparent from the histories of their conquests. That region has failed, for the ores that yielded three hundred pesos per quintal by smelting, now yield eight or six by quicksilver, which costs more than smelting; and [such ores] are worked as good ones. Potosi, which is the heart of the Indias, is threatening to give out; for it alone yielded for forty years an amount that it cannot now yield, although aided by the opening of many mines which sustain its reputation. The mines of Nueva Reino [i.e., New Granada] and of Nueva España have lost a part of what they had. The cost of mining is greater, the mines are poorer, and, consequently, the gains less, and less the amount obtained. Therefore, since this was the first cause of the greatness of the Indias, it is not remarkable that with its deficiency their commerce has declined.

Number 69. Second cause for the decline of the commerce of the Indias

The second cause is the decrease of the Indians and the increase of the Spaniards. The latter number thirty times more than formerly; where there were five hundred, there are now three or four thousand. Without exaggeration, there has been a decrease of the Indians of more than six millions. Although not all of them used Spanish commodities, they consumed many, and to so great an excess that it became advisable to prohibit this to them and order them to dress as did their ancestors. What is most to be regretted is the cessation of the service for the mines, the cultivation of the fields, the gross sum of the tributes, and the local commerce of many provinces. With fewer people and less wealth, there must be less consumption and smaller profits; and, if everything diminish, it is impossible that trade should not do the same.

Number 70. Third cause for the decline of the commerce of the Indias

The third cause has proceeded from the above two; for with the increase of the Spaniards, not only has the consumption not increased, but it has been and is much less. For, besides the fact that so many stuffs and figured goods are no longer worn out in the Indias as formerly, and he who clad himself in silk now contents himself with cloth, all bulky goods that are exported from Sevilla are manufactured there [in the Indias]—where with the number of people their necessity has increased, and with their necessity their skill. The consumers are fewer, and the officials more; there is little money, and those who seek it are many; and they seek it more eagerly as their courage is small, since their funds are already scant. The springs are drained dry, for there is less water, so that scarcely can they dampen what they formerly soaked. What few formerly shipped and many bought is now quite the contrary, and many send it and there are few who use it—as is evident by the wine which was and now is consumed by Nueva España. On that account it has been necessary that the former profits cease, and that the exportation and consumption of merchandise be restricted—not only on account of the goods which are manufactured there, but because of lack of consumers and lack of wealth, all of which are causal circumstances of the decline of the commerce.

Number 71. Fourth cause for the decline of the commerce of the Indias

The fourth and last cause is the little favor extended to the Indian trade, both in the Indias, and in these kingdoms—either because of the straitness of the times, or because of other accidents—together with the burdens that have fallen upon everything, the imposts and duties increasing, although greater relief was needed as the amount of wealth was less. The avería, which increased from two and three per cent to six and seven, and was then judged to be so exorbitant that it seemed impossible for the commerce not to be ruined with that excessive tax, has increased so greatly that one year it rose to forty, and with the other expenses is never lower than twenty. What were formerly risks at sea are now great and evident losses, which, aided by the necessities of this crown—which force loans and considerable gifts, and the exchange for juros[48] of what was formerly the capital for commerce—have so weakened commerce, that one is more astonished that it has not been entirely ruined, than that it has declined to its present condition. And all the more justifiable have been the reasons why this crown has profited from the exporters among the merchants of the Indias, and from what has come from the Indias, the greater the loss has been, as it was known to be unavoidable on account of what occurs on land, and more hazardous because of what is risked on the sea—by which some have been ruined, others have retired from trade, and others have changed their business; and all who take part in it are aware that this commerce is ruined, and with it whatever depends on it. It is certain, and has been observed in Manila, that since the loss of the trading fleet of the year 629, and their unfortunate experiences with [storms in] the Northern Sea, the winterings, the disasters, the averías, the embargoes, the delays, and the burdens [imposed] at Sevilla, the merchants in Mexico have decided to export more to Filipinas than to España. And although these things are found by experience to be thoroughly damaging and irreparable, and [it is evident] that they demanded new exemptions and safeguards, by which the losses might be recuperated, and those who suffer them be encouraged, there has not been lacking a person to propose as an expedient that the duties and customs should be raised still higher in the Indias, affirming that they are the most free, and that they pay less—although they really are quite the opposite, as is known.

Number 72. The Filipinas do not damage the commerce of España

The above and many other causes which might be mentioned are those which have weakened and are ruining the commerce of the Indias; and although it would be more advisable to counteract some of them, or to seek reparation for those which are most hurtful, the Filipinas Islands come to be the ones that suffer the penalty, without being implicated in the guilt. And although their commerce is in the lowest condition that it has ever experienced or suffered, yet even in this condition they are not allowed or permitted [to improve] it, and there are some who propose its destruction as a remedy, so that it may share in the universal destruction of all trade; and this is in so far as it touches the commerce of España.

Number 73. Beginning of the commerce of the islands

The commerce of these islands began with their second discovery and the first settlement, which was in the year 565.[49] However, it was at the first scanty and of little weight, until during the government of Guido de Labazarris, in the year 576, the trade of China was introduced, and with it considerable profits, which extended it freely to Nueva España, Guatimala, Tierrafirme, and Perú, by a royal decree of April 14, 579. As it continued to increase, it was believed necessary to restrict it; and accordingly, by a decree of November 11, 587, it was ordered that Chinese cloth brought from Filipinas should not pass from Nueva España to Perú or to Tierrafirme. That decree was later confirmed by others of February 13, and June 13, 599. And in order that what was prohibited in one way might not be obtained in another, decrees were despatched on February 6 and December 18, 591, ordering the total cessation of commerce between the islands and Perú. That was later extended to Tierrafirme and Guatimala, by decrees of January 12, 593, and July 5, 595, forbidding the trade of China and its merchandise to all the Indias, except to Nueva España, which was left open to the Filipinas.

Number 74. Permission for the commerce of the Indias, and its final form

The commerce of Sevilla was not satisfied with even these orders and restrictions. That commerce continued to decrease, although the cause was unknown. They regretted the damage, and tried to apply the remedy, but in vain. As the trade of Filipinas was already the stone of offense, they immediately descended on that. Not only was the prohibition of commodities from the islands strengthened, but their quantity was limited, reducing it to a fixed amount that was permitted, and a certain form. It was ordered that only four ships should ply in that trade-route—two which should sail to Nueva España, and two to the islands, and all at the account of the royal treasury. In these could be carried two hundred and fifty thousand pesos’ worth of such merchandise as they should have in Manila; and in return they could take five hundred thousand in silver, including in this sum the principal and the profits. And inasmuch as this permission, from its beginning, was never in favor of Nueva España, but of the islands, it was declared that only the citizens of the islands could navigate and trade, as was already ruled by a royal decree of January 11, 593. In accordance with this, the commander [of the fleet] was despatched on the last of December, 604, with various instructions and declarations, which gave form to this commerce. And since his permission was for only the citizens of the islands, and those who were not residents of the islands but of Nueva España had begun to take part in it, it was ordered that the toneladas of the two ships which sailed should be distributed in Manila by the governor, the archbishop (or the senior auditor), the fiscal, and two regidors. That order was confirmed by decrees of May 4, 619, and May 29, 620, and by others, which regulate this matter, and declare that the respective shares of the silver which must be sent back as returns for the merchandise must be allotted in Nueva España.

Number 75. Administration of the permission for the islands for its citizens alone

Notwithstanding this last order, the citizens of Mexico, who had before taken possession of part of this commerce, continued in it, availing themselves of certain underhand work and management—by which the citizens of Manila perceived the damage that they were receiving, in that others were enjoying what had been conceded to them. Accordingly, as soon as they received the decree of 593, which was the first decree that granted to them exclusively the permission and trade, they decided, in order that they might manage their cargoes, to appoint four or six men to go to Nueva España in the name of all, and there attend to the sale of the merchandise in the ships, and to the returns for it. That determination had no effect then, nor in the year 597, when Governor Don Francisco Tello ordered it executed by an act of January 24. It was again proposed in the year 623, when open cabildo-sessions were held in Manila for that purpose, and persons appointed for it; but neither were they sent, because of certain obstacles in the way. But since the necessity became more urgent, because of the injuries experienced, the matter was undertaken more effectively in the year 629, and six commissaries, citizens of Manila, were actually appointed and went to Nueva España, where they are today administering the commerce permitted to the islands. That has been examined in the royal Council of the Indias, together with all the acts which have been made upon it; and it was approved by a decree of March 25, 635, and extended for four years more than the six (for the one of 593 was for six years), by another decree of February 16, 635. The chief motives that induced the inhabitants of Manila to carry out this resolution, were three. The first was, to prevent the consignments of silver which the merchants of Perú and Nueva España made through their agents and correspondents, the result of which—to say nothing of the violations of the royal orders in sending silver in excess of the amount allowed—was so prejudicial to the citizens of the islands that it deprived them of the benefit of the permission, while those who were expressly excluded from it enjoyed it. The second was, that with the great amount of silver that entered Manila the price of the Chinese merchandise advanced so greatly that the inhabitants could not buy it. The third was, that prices fell in Nueva España for the same reason, so that the principal could scarcely be realized, as will be told. [In the margin: “In number 98.”] [Those were] damages that were repaired by the decisive action above mentioned. And lest that should not be sufficient, it will be advisable that, in the distribution of the licensed toneladas that is made in Manila, measures be taken that no one have a share except the citizens [of the islands] in accordance with the third petition. [In the margin: “In number 103.”]

Number 76. Declaration of what is or is not included in the five hundred thousand pesos allowed.

Inasmuch as there were certain doubts in regard to the sum of the five hundred thousand pesos of the returns, it was declared by royal decree of August 19, 606, that it should include the legacies, bequests, moneys for charities, payments for service, wrought silver, and whatever else might be shipped, except by those who bound themselves to reside for eight years in the Filipinas. Such might carry their possessions in money, in addition to the general permission, as was declared by a decree of November 20, 608; and the seamen of that trade-route might take their wages in silver, registered, also in addition to the amount permitted.

Number 77. Smuggled Chinese goods shall not be sold in Perú

Peru was excluded from the above-mentioned concession, and the former prohibitions forbidding the importation of Chinese stuffs into Perú remained in force, while the penalties were rendered more severe. Inasmuch as from their enforcement it resulted that merchandise of this character, which was seized as forfeited and confiscated, was sold as smuggled goods, and thus the goods remained in the country, they were (although remaining with that warrant and reason) the cause of as much loss and damage as if they had been brought in either secretly or by permission; for the country was filled with these wares, at more moderate prices than those of España. Accordingly, it was ordered by decrees of April 18, 617, and July 30, 627, that Chinese cloth which should be smuggled, and as such condemned as forfeited in Perú, should not be sold in the provinces; but that, in the same form in which it had been seized, it should be carried to these kingdoms and sold here.

Number 78. Permission to trade between Perú and Nueva España, and its condition

Perú and Nueva España appealed from the mode imposed on the commerce of the islands, and from the above-mentioned prohibitions, representing certain disadvantages that resulted from barring them from the commerce that those two most opulent states had maintained between themselves, almost by nature, the chief one being that they were deprived, in this manner, of all the mutual relationship and dependence that they ought to enjoy. Therefore another permission was conceded, for two ships: one to leave annually the port of Callao de Lima, and to carry silver to the amount of two hundred thousand ducados to the port of Acapulco, in order to invest it in the products peculiar to Nueva España—of agriculture, stock, and manufactures—and in no others, even though they be products of these kingdoms; and the other, to sail from Acapulco to Callao with these returns. The prohibition of Chinese cloth was left in force, and it was declared that no Chinese cloth could be sent in the returns for the two hundred thousand ducados, nor beyond that sum. Severe penalties were imposed for its enforcement, by decrees of the last of December, 604, June 20, 609, and March 28, 620, which gave final form to this permission. This last is now suspended and ordered to cease by a decree of November 23, 1634, without the reason that has inspired it being known, other than the expedients that have been proposed for the destruction of the islands. And this order, forbidding ships to go to Acapulco from Perú, is so menacing to the Filipinas, that it alone may prove sufficient to ruin them. For if no ships go from Perú to Acapulco the islands are exposed to the failure of their succor, in any year when their ships should not arrive—whether because of having been wrecked, or having put back in distress, or having arrived late—since, in such cases, it is usual to supply their lack with the ships of Perú, sending in them the ordinary aid of men and money. If the latter do not go and the former do not arrive, there will be no vessels for the above-mentioned purpose; and the islands might remain for several years without the succor that sustains them, and with evident danger of being lost.

Number 79. Fourth, point: of the condition of the commerce between the islands and Nueva España

In regard to the fourth point, which is to declare the present condition of the commerce of the islands, it is supposed that although all the orders above mentioned were to their evident injury—restricting their prosperity, if not prognosticating their ruin—that which was permitted to them was sufficient, when enjoyed by their citizens, to preserve the islands, as it has preserved them, although with some decrease. Moreover, the enemy having increased the expenses and obligations of the islands, they needed, when the succor sent from India, and at times that from Nueva España, failed them, new favors and less strict trading permissions, in order not to be ruined as they fear—being exposed to a more continual and dangerous war than any stronghold of this monarchy endures, with resistance equal to the strongest of them, and with danger greater than that of those most harassed, as they have no other aid than what they themselves can supply. Nevertheless, although it seems as if it were advisable, on account of the importance of their conservation, not only to [let them] go beyond the amount permitted, but also to increase still farther that favor, they find it is greatly restricted, and that their commerce is reduced to such condition and mode that it will be almost impossible for them to enjoy or to continue it. That which should be considered is, that this innovation does not originate as at other times, from Sevilla—which now, undeceived as to the causes that weaken them, knows better—but from the counsels given for action in the matter by Captain Francisco de Vitoria [Victoria—MS.]. He, with no knowledge of the past or heed of the future, judged only by a hasty conclusion that for the present a sum of money might be obtained where there is none—although from it may result the damage that can be understood, not only to your vassals, but to the whole monarchy, as if there could be distinctions and peril between the vassals and the monarchy that would not be common.

Number 80. Allegations of transgressions of the permissions given for the islands and Perú

As an argument for that course, it is alleged that notable transgressions are committed in regard to the two permissions for Filipinas and Perú. Although this memorial only defends that of the islands, the one is most completely verified by treating likewise of the other; and the illegal acts in both consist rather in the exaggeration with[50] which they are mentioned than in the arguments by which they are proved. Who has ever said, or what possibility can there be, that the two ships which come every year from the islands to Acapulco, whose permitted cargo is of 250,000 pesos (not of 500,000, as is affirmed), carry four millions in merchandise? That, even in pearls and diamonds, seems impossible to be contained in two small vessels; and how much more so in the goods of so great bulk as those that are carried in them! The schemer tries [to say] that those four millions are worth eight in Nueva España, or even ten for the returns [on investments]; and that that sum goes back to the islands with the 500,000 pesos allowed by the permission, with another 600,000 which is sent as the ordinary aid, granting the net profits at one hundred and fifty per cent, or at the least at one hundred per cent. Were that so, those islands would be most wealthy in one year, for their citizens, as has been said, numbering 230 (counting married and single men), if ten millions entered their possession annually, which would be more than 43,000 pesos for each one, neither Venecia [Venençia—MS.], Genova, Sevilla, nor Lisboa, nor these four empires together, would equal their wealth. With the same extravagance does the captain talk of the ship that sails annually to [from—MS.] Perú, [saying that] its permission, which is for 200,000 ducados, extends to three millions of silver that goes unregistered.

Number 81. The violations of law in all commerce, and why they are not remedied

One cannot deny, Sire, that there are illegalities and abuses in all the navigations and commerces in the world, without excepting one; and that, under pretext of the permission and register that goes, which is not permitted and registered. This is known, and is not remedied for two principal reasons. The first is that it is impossible to remedy it, unless a greater damage results from the remedy; for if the bales and boxes were opened in Sevilla, or in other ports of heavy trade, and the articles that enter and leave were measured, weighed, and counted in detail, the employees there would not suffice, nor six times as many; nor would there be time to despatch one-tenth of the trade. Thus the salaries increasing, because of the greater number of administrators, and the trade being embarrassed by this method, it is evident that the damage caused would be greater than the gain acquired. The other reason is that in imposing the duties of import and export, the customs, the excise, the avería, and other similar duties, care is taken that it is not done with the strictness that is due; and thus they amount to more than it would be convenient [to obtain] if it were paid by measuring, weighing, and counting them all. It is a general decision of all who carry on commerce that, if something be not dispensed with in that direction, the trade and traffic cannot be maintained at all. Accordingly, collection is made on the bales by the packings of the cargoes, by the memoranda of the ships, and by the registers, without making any other moral efforts to ascertain whether more is being carried than is declared—punishing what is discovered, but not discovering the fourth of what is hidden.

Number 82. Tacit permission for what is secreted in the commerce

Many examples might be mentioned which prove this truth. Let the first be the one that was disputed in Sevilla by the exporters of the Indias, namely, that they had not furnished sworn invoices of their cargoes. And although the administrators of the customs insisted upon that, the exporters secured [permission] to furnish, as they are doing, mere lists [of the goods]. Nevertheless, they do not open the bales or boxes; and, although at times these contain cloths, silks, and fine Holland linen, and other rich stuffs, they pass as coarse linen,[51] in great part,[52] and at most as Rouen linen; and they pay as duties the fourth part of what they would have paid had the bales been opened. Let the second be the existing ordinance that no bale be opened, until it is apparent by information that it carries more or different articles than are stated on the enclosures. That ordinance is observed in all ports of Europa. The third, the custom that has been introduced into Sevilla of imposing on every bale exported to the Indias a certain duty above the amount of the invoice and measure of it that is presented. That can only be justified by the presumption from evidence that the bale carries different goods from what are declared. In the Indias, in the appraisals that are made at Cartagena for the collection of the customs, although it is apparent to the royal officials that the merchants are selling the entire invoices at a profit of ten or twelve per cent over the cost in España, they add to them forty-four per cent of the cost that they [nominally] bear, and then collect ten per cent on the bulk of all. That would be an excessive burden and grievance, if it were not understood as certain that this is charged upon what is shipped registered and what is concealed by substituting some goods for others. Let the fourth be the notable denunciation made in the year 624 by Don Christoval de Balvas, while factor of Tierrafirme, in which he gave information against seventy exporters and merchants concerned with the one fleet that went that year under command of Don Gaspar de Azevedo Bonal. He ascertained that they had carried and shipped to Perú by the house of Cruzes, located between Puerto Velo and Panamá, besides 1,446,346 pesos which were registered, another 7,597,559 pesos, by which the royal duties were defrauded of 1,370,656 pesos. And when it was feared that for so flagrant a violation of the law there would be an equal punishment, the affair was all settled for 200,000 pesos, besides 6,000 which were given to the informant, whereupon the whole case and matter was relegated to silence; and there was no change in the despatch [of the ships], nor in the registers, nor in anything else of the previous practices. For if the burdens of your vassals are not eased in this manner, so that they can make up their losses, risks, injuries, expenses, and other damages that they suffer in so long voyages and so distressing navigations, everything will be ruined. If that has been experienced in Sevilla, and in the trade of the Indias, the magnitude of which is what is known, and where rigor would be more important than in Acapulco (which can not at all be compared to the other), why, if the greater transgression is overlooked (although there is the same and stronger argument), should not the less be excused, and why should not the islands be treated like all the ports of the world?

Number 83. The illegalities in the two commerces of the islands and Perú cannot be such as are alleged, in the withdrawal of silver.

It follows that it is not to be denied that in the two traffics permitted to Filipinas and Perú the same illegal acts might be found as in the other parts where there is trade; but it is not conceded that these excesses are so enormous as are represented. Nor are they greater than those in other regions, where, in the shadow of 200,000 ducados of silver, 50,000 go concealed, while in that of 250,000 in merchandise will come another 60,000; and perhaps both one and the other will be so much less that they merit no attention, and never [is the concealed merchandise] so much more that it exceeds the principal. Some arguments can be advanced on this point. The first is that there is no place whence so much silver can be obtained that three millions of it should be sent from Perú to Nueva España, and ten from Nueva España to the Filipinas. For if six millions and upwards come every year from Perú to these kingdoms, one remains in their land, and three go to Acapulco, then their mines yield from ten to eleven millions. Those of Potosi never amount to six,[53] while all the others together do not yield two. Consequently, the supposition that eleven millions are mined is false. That will be better proved by what has come [thence] and what shall come in the future; for since it is ordered that the ship that was permitted shall not sail from Perú, it will be necessary for three millions more than usual to come from its provinces, since those who trafficked by way of the South Sea cannot let their money remain idle, and must employ it on the Northern Sea. The same consideration ought to hold for Nueva España. Three millions are sent [here] annually from that country, and one-half or one [no—MS.] million remains there in the country. Let us suppose that ten millions are sent to Filipinas. It is proved that the three millions cannot be sent from Perú; but admitting for the sake of the argument that they can be sent, it follows that it [i.e., Nueva España] alone yields another eleven millions from its mines—which is impossible, as is gathered from the royal fifths, and from the facts that in some years ships do not go to Filipinas, and that more silver is not for that reason sent to these kingdoms, as would be necessary.

Number 84. The concealment of silver in the galleons argues for the two permissions

All people say openly and believe that much silver is sent unregistered in the galleons of the royal armada for the trade-route of the Indias, and as its vessels number eight, and sometimes twelve, and it acts as convoy to twenty or thirty other and smaller vessels, the highest figure named by those who exaggerate this excess is one million; but never, by dint of diligent efforts and the experience of so many years, has there been known, found, or discovered one-half million. Therefore, if it can scarcely be supposed with probable foundation that thirty or forty ships, with a registered cargo of nine or ten millions, carry one million hidden, how can one believe that three millions can go unregistered in only one vessel (and that a small one), and that ten millions can go in two? The fact is, that he who is looking for transgressions does not think that he is accomplishing his purpose unless he increases them. Besides, if three millions are sent from Perú, it is in order to have them returned in investments in the merchandise of Nueva España (all of which are bulky), for those who send their money [there] will not do so for the purpose of having it remain there. And three millions of investments (which will amount to four millions in Perú), in one ship of three hundred toneladas—[why,] there is no one who will even express an opinion that such a ship can be found that can hold so much. Hence, it is inferred that the above sums are imaginary, fantastic, and fabulous, and consequently, [so is] whatever is based on them.