In this business all the accused remained unpunished except the archbishop, who had the least share in the disturbances. He, however, was punished severely; that worthy prelate, who in imitation of Christ, bore on his shoulders the sins of his people. Senor Torralba, whose cavillings added fuel to the flame of this tumult, was imprisoned in the fort of Santiago. The marquis tried him by a special commission, by the sentence of which he was fined an immense sum, deprived of his office, and condemned to perpetual banishment from Madrid and Manila, allowing him, however, to return to Spain, after he had paid the first one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. During the remaining period of his imprisonment, he was in a very bad state of health, and when liberated he was in such misery, that he was reduced to the necessity of begging, to avoid dying of hunger. After his death, he was interred as a common pauper in the church of San Juan de Dios. The severity of this lesson is sufficient to impress on us the necessity of a correct and upright conduct, and it is hoped it will not, in this respect, be thrown away.
In the year 1718, his Majesty sent to Manila three professors; the Senor Velasco, professor of laws, with a salary of eight hundred dollars per annum, with the rank of Oidor; and at the end of seven years to be promoted to be Alcalde del Crimen at Mexico. The Senor Toribio was likewise to have the rank of honorary Oidor, and to have five hundred dollars per annum, as la Cathedra de Inst.i.tuto, and at the end of seven years he was to be promoted to be Oidor of Guatimala. The professor of canon law was Doctor Osio, who received eight hundred dollars per annum, and was to be promoted to be prebendary of Mexico. Senor Velas...o...b..ing soon after removed to the Royal Audience of Mexico, the Governor directed that there should be only two professors, because their stipends were chargeable on the vacant bishoprics, and had been paid as an advance (by way of loan) from the treasury at Manila, by which about forty thousand dollars had been paid to them by way of salary, of rent of houses for their public lectures and other matters, and only nine thousand had been received in reimburs.e.m.e.nt from the Viceroy of Mexico, who had declined remitting more without a special order from court. Despatches were forwarded to his Majesty; and in the mean time the Governor placed the professors in the college of St. Philip, but the other professors opposing it, the archbishop removed them to that of the Jesuits, where, out of mere disrespect of Senor Osio, the Friar Murillo taught the canon law until the year 1730, when a royal mandate arrived, by which the professors were suspended, and indeed, very little benefit had accrued to the public from them.
About this time the Emperor of China, who had permitted the exercise of the Christian religion in his dominions, died. His successor, however, proscribed it altogether, banishing the missionaries from the empire, and permitting the residence of a few Jesuits only, who were teachers of mathematics at Pekin. The Pope, desirous of propagating the knowledge of our faith throughout all Asia, sent two barefooted Carmelite friars in quality of amba.s.sadors to the Chinese court. According to eastern custom, they introduced the object of their mission by presents to the Emperor; but the only advantage which resulted from it was, a permission for some missionaries to remain in China.
Since this period, some of that valuable cla.s.s have contrived, clandestinely, to reside in that country, and to this day continue to preach the gospel; yet their sufferings are frequent and very severe, being at times thrown into prison and banished the kingdom, where, however, in a short time they find means to return, by bribing the mandarins with money, the grand engine which governs this vast empire. The prohibition above alluded to extended to the tributary kingdom of Tonquin, where the missionaries suffered still more, for in escaping from the hands of the Governors of the different provinces, they fell into those of the freebooters, who robbed and ill treated them.
The King of Jolo sent a Chinese as amba.s.sador to Manila to treat for peace; his excellency received him favourably, and Don Miguel Aragon was in consequence despatched to Jolo with ample powers to establish a permanent alliance with that prince. An alliance was entered into, but its duration was very short; the natives of Jolo, naturally fickle and turbulent, joining with those of Mindanao in the usual predatory excursions against our islands, in which they were guilty of the customary excesses.
The inhabitants of Manila, on this occasion, subscribed a handsome sum to fit out a small squadron for the purpose of repressing these marauders. It proceeded against the Moors, and eventually compelled them to sue for peace, but not before they had done us very considerable injury.
The galleon Santo Christo de Burgos, in her voyage to Acapulco, was stranded on the island of Ticao; upon which occasion, on the frivolous pretext of being prevented, by the offensive smell of the cargo, from opening the hatches, with a view to save the property, the ship was set fire to with the intention, there was reason to think, on the part of her commander and merchants, of attempting to embezzle, for their own use, some of the merchandize during the conflagration; but finding this impracticable, the ship and her valuable cargo were totally abandoned to the flames. This stratagem has been frequently resorted to by the merchants of the Philippines, and it will often be successful, so long as it remains undecided how the loss ought to be borne in cases of that nature. The pious establishments are the a.s.surers, according to the terms of the instruments or deeds, made between them and the respective adventurers, who borrow money of them for the purpose of embarking in this trade; but these instruments, expressing the lender"s risk to be total loss only, the borrowers, to prevent any thing from being saved, so as to leave room for litigation, as to whether the loss was total or partial, set fire to the vessel, to place it beyond all dispute. In such cases the loss of the ship, I conceive, should be borne generally; whatever is saved should be divided among the parties, according to the property they had on board, and which might easily be ascertained, by examining the manifest with the original deeds [2].
CHAPTER IX.
ANNO DOM. 1729.
The Administration of Don Fernando Valdes y Tamon.
Don Fernando Valdes y Tamon took possession of his government on the 14th of August, 1729. He found Manila totally dest.i.tute of military stores; the losses sustained by ships, the reinforcing the different garrisons, and the armaments against the Moors, having occasioned a great diminution in the stores of cannon and small arms, both of which it became necessary to purchase from foreigners, as the foundery at Manila was not capable of supplying the deficiency. He made arrangements accordingly for procuring the necessary supply from the Peninsula of Asia, and from Batavia, taking care that the arms should be always kept in good order, a task, however necessary, yet extremely difficult in so humid an atmosphere. Indeed he in all respects proved himself an expert military man, by the several fortifications he constructed, the walls with which he surrounded the city, the out-works he formed for its better security, and the new establishment he erected for the manufacture of gunpowder.
He determined to chastise the audacity of the Moors, who were, as usual, infesting the provinces and coasts of Bisayas, and he sent against them an armament which succeeded in burning their towns and villages: but this was by no means doing them any essential injury; they had little to lose, and in return they laid waste nearly the whole of the Spanish possessions with fire and sword. However much Senor Tamon was desirous of repressing the depredations of these pirates, he found it impossible, the low ebb of the treasury opposing a sufficient bar to his fitting out such a force as might answer any other purpose than that of a temporary check on their ravages.
The Governor"s resources being thus too much limited to enable him to make the necessary exertions against the Moors, he called a council of the princ.i.p.al inhabitants of Manila, in which it was resolved, that it was absolutely requisite for the public safety that a number of different armaments should be fitted out; that forts should be erected along the coasts, and points of communication and rallying established between the towns; and that, in aid of the royal funds, a contribution of five hundred dollars should be imposed on each town. Some of the religious establishments had found it necessary to adopt the expedient of erecting works round the different churches, where the Indians might take refuge from the inroads of the Moors. Others constructed watchtowers on elevated situations, with a view to discover the enemy, and give the necessary alarm, taking due care to visit them during the night, to ascertain that the centinels were sufficiently vigilant, thus discharging the twofold duty of pastors and military officers. By this arrangement, even no fishing town was without its small fort or station for its protection.
The royal funds, however, contributed in no respect to this desirable object; the public was indebted for it solely to the friars, who, from their slender stipends, made the necessary disburs.e.m.e.nts to the superintendants of the works and for the pay of the soldiers; and succeeded, by persuasion and threats, in inducing the towns to furnish materials and workmen, expending much money, and exercising great perseverance, in order to complete the necessary means of defence.
No sooner did the alcaldes mayores see these military posts put into an effective state, than they determined to take them under their own control; and an officer is now annually sent for that purpose to each station, with orders to draft a certain number of natives for its service. The officer regularly keeps these men at work on his own farm, or obliges them to purchase, with money, an exemption from this labour, leaving, generally speaking, the post completely abandoned. This is every way a severe hardship on the adjacent inhabitants, and proves the truth of Senor Solorzano"s observation, that whatever is done with a view to benefit the Indians, by some means or other is converted to their prejudice.
The conquest of the islands of Carolinas and Palaos having been suspended from the time of the Conde de Lizarraga, began again to attract the notice of government [3]. There had arrived at the Marianas two vessels out of four, which in pa.s.sing from one of the Carolinas to a neighbouring island, had met with a gale of wind, and were driven on our coasts, without knowing what had become of their companions. The Governor of Marianas determined to take these Indians to their own country, having in view, at the same time, a more accurate examination of the islands in question. Accompanied by the Jesuit Cantova, he accordingly proceeded on his voyage of discovery with these vessels; but being unable even to find the islands, he pursued his voyage to Manila, where he persuaded the Governor to accede to his undertaking this object. In the year 1730 he returned to the Marianas with the permission he had solicited, and reiterated his attempt, in company with the Jesuit Friars Cantova and Victor, eleven soldiers, and eight seamen, taking with him as a guide an Indian of Palao, who had been baptized, and who, they presumed, would be able to conduct them in safety to their destination. They discovered the island of Moymoy, and erected a military station in that of Talalap, where they built a church and a house, baptized some children, and instructed some adults in the first duties of religion, by which they were vain enough to believe that the conquest was completed, and they began to think of despatching the vessel for additional aid, to enable them to subdue the remainder of the islands. The Friar Cantova, with some soldiers, took up their residence there, while Friar Victor with the remainder, and some of the islanders, who had expressed a wish to accompany them, sailed on their return to the Marianas, but not being able to make them, bore away to Manila, where one of the Indians was baptized, the Governor standing G.o.dfather. The Friar Victor embarked in a patache, with the necessary succours, to his companions; but arriving at Talalap, he found that the church and the house of Friar Cantova had disappeared, and from one of the natives he understood that the whole party had been murdered. Convinced of the difficulty attending the subjection of these islands, he returned to Manila, and since that period no similar attempt has been made.
Under this Governor was terminated the discussion which had subsisted between the Chamber of Commerce of Seville and the merchants of Manila, the subject having occupied the public attention many years. The merchants of Seville argued, that the galleon ought not to carry silk from Manila to New Spain, in either its raw or wrought state; and that the commerce of the Philippines with that country ought to be restricted to cotton goods, flag-stones, wax, and spices; and even to this they insisted on the propriety of limits being placed, on account of the great injury arising to the mother country from the trade. The consequence of these discussions was a royal decree, which granted to the merchants of Seville the full extent of what they required; but the Viceroy of Mexico, to whom the decree was forwarded, would not put it in force, representing, in his justification, that the commerce of the Philippines was absolutely necessary to the kingdom of Mexico, as the duties levied upon that commerce fully repaid the expenses of the public establishments requisite for these islands as a colony; and as he had just then received intelligence, that the island of Luzon had suffered most severely not only from the locusts, but from the violent and injudicious conduct of the then Governor (the marshal), he did not conceive he would act correctly in putting the order into execution. Upon this representation being laid before the council, it was resolved, that the Philippines should have two galleons in future, and that the merchants there should be permitted annually to ship in them for New Spain, to the value of three hundred thousand dollars, in goods of every description, wrought silks and gold embroidery excepted, both which were prohibited. As a return cargo, they were permitted to carry back double that amount in silver, and the residue of their profits to be invested in merchandize, or in produce of New Spain.
The merchants of Manila again pet.i.tioned his Majesty on the subject, and, in compliance with their request, he permitted them to take wrought silk to Acapulco; but on a second representation from the merchants of Seville, stating the heavy loss these concessions would create, the Viceroy of Mexico was finally instructed, that for five years the trade should remain on its old footing, except that the merchants of Manila should not be allowed to send wrought silk to New Spain.
The Viceroy of Mexico had sent this royal order to Senor Tamon, the then Governor of Manila, and when it was communicated to the merchants, various meetings were held, and it was resolved that no alteration in the shipments should take place, and that it should be given out that the royal order had not arrived in due time to be promulgated, previous to the arrangements which had been made for the usual shipments. In short, great consternation prevailed. The Governor did not interpose his authority against the general sentiments, but intimated his apprehension that the Viceroy would seize the goods on their arrival at Acapulco. During this agitation of the public mind the galleon arrived, bringing the order from Madrid, which is in force to this day, and by which it is ordained, that the merchants of Manila may ship to the amount of five hundred thousand dollars in cotton goods, manufactured silk, wax, spices, and every description of goods from China, the Peninsula of India, and the islands, and that they may take in return one million of dollars in silver, and the rest in merchandize, or South American produce [4].
Our guarda costas, during this year, captured a Dutch vessel, and brought her to Manila, where she was condemned, under the pretence that she was carrying arms to our enemies the Moors. As soon as the Dutch in Batavia understood this, they despatched three ships to cruize off Mariveles, with a view to intercept the galleon which was expected to sail about this time for Acapulco, as well as the one which was expected to arrive. Intelligence of the disposition made by the Dutch was forwarded to the straits of St. Bernardino, but the messenger on his arrival found that the galleon was aground in the bay of Calantas, and that the silver had been taken out and sent to Sorsogon. Some works had been erected to protect the ship, and many unsuccessful attempts were made to get her off, when she was eventually set fire to, that she might not fall into the hands of the Moors.
The Dutch annoyed these islands considerably, by thus preventing any vessels from entering or leaving the port of Cavite. The Governor viewed with deep concern this attack on our possessions, and found himself embarra.s.sed how to act, as he had transmitted to court the account of the seizure of the Dutch vessel, and had decreed her condemnation; but as the Dutch seemed determined to avenge the insult, he had every reason to apprehend that serious misunderstanding between the two powers might be the result. In this dilemma he resolved to restore the vessel, and write to the Governor of Batavia on the subject, on which the Dutch retired, and left the bay open. Nothing else worthy of notice took place during this long government, except the arrival of a new archbishop on the 24th of January, 1737.
CHAPTER X.
ANNO DOM. 1739.
The Administration of Don Gaspar de la Torre.
Senor Don Gaspar de la Torre, born in Flanders, of Spanish parents, arrived at Manila, and found, among other cares that would devolve upon him, a suit which had been carrying on against Senor Arroyo, the royal fiscal, upon an accusation preferred by Senor Tamon. An attempt having been made to apprehend and imprison the fiscal upon this occasion, he was too much on his guard to fall into the snare, and took refuge in the Franciscan convent, preserving, in this secure retreat, the liberty of his person, though he could not save his property, which was all seized, that small portion excepted which he was able to take with him. The matter was in this state when Don Gaspar de la Torre took possession of the government. The archbishop, who was the angel of peace in these islands, persuaded himself he could succeed in accommodating the unhappy difference, and proposed to the new Governor his mediation in favour of the fiscal; but this was opposed by the Governor, on the ground that Arroyo ought to show his respect for the laws, by submitting to be imprisoned in the fort, and undergoing the usual forms of trial. The archbishop was inclined to think that the accused would enjoy more liberty in the fort than he did in the Franciscan convent, and all his friends being of this opinion, Senor Arroyo was at last persuaded to quit his retreat. This unfortunate determination subjected him to fresh hardships, for he was immediately seized, thrown into a dungeon in the fort, and accused of several new crimes. He was asked if he was aware of the cause of his confinement; he answered, that he conceived he was imprisoned because he would not, unnoticed, pa.s.s over the sums of which Senor Tamon, and many of his particular confederates, had defrauded the royal revenue, amounting, he believed, to about three millions of dollars: he declined saying any thing further, as he was in a state of confinement.
All these proceedings were forwarded to his Majesty, and in the mean time Senor Arroyo"s imprisonment in the fort was accompanied with circ.u.mstances of the greatest rigour, which had the effect of reducing the mind of the archbishop to a state of profound melancholy, considering himself as the author, however innocently, of the fiscal"s miseries. He sickened and died in a very short time, to the great grief of all, on account of his affability and many excellent qualities.
Through the connivance of the Oidors, Dr. Neyra, professor of laws in the college of the Jesuits, was made fiscal ad interim, and by this means an addition was made to the number of Senor Arroyo"s enemies. He was now accused of having married without licence. Examinations were taken on the subject, and a number of witnesses produced, who were all of the clerical order, and among them particularly was the person who had performed the ceremony. Arroyo endeavoured, by every means, to refute this charge, but as the Governor was his decided enemy, the clergy threw their weight likewise into the scale against him. In a very short time he fell sick, and died in a few days, borne down by the acc.u.mulated miseries to which he had been subjected. He was the best and most faithful minister his Majesty ever had in these islands, and his person ought to have been held as sacred as that of a Roman tribune.
The King, fully informed of the harsh treatment of the fiscal, and the violent proceedings against him which had been resorted to, became convinced of the truth of the allegations preferred against the conduct of Senor Tamon, and acquitting the fiscal of the crimes imputed to him, forwarded an order, permitting him to return to his office, enjoining the arrears of his salary to be paid up, and directing that the two lawyers who had appeared against him should be fined two hundred dollars each. Before this order arrived, however, the fiscal was no more; a result commonly looked for in this climate, where the difficulty of recovering, in cases of a depression of spirits, is generally insuperable [5].
About this time war was declared between Spain and England, an enemy more to be dreaded on account of the injury formerly done by this nation to the Philippines. On this occasion, Admiral George Anson pa.s.sed Cape Horn with a squadron, in which pa.s.sage he lost some ships, but with the remainder he run down the coast of America, doing all the mischief in his power. He arrived at Acapulco, where, finding that the ship Nuestra Senora de Cobadonga, had not yet sailed to the Philippines, he prosecuted his voyage thither, with the two ships which remained of his squadron. He refreshed at one of the islands of the Marianas, and put into Canton river to refit his ships, which had been considerably damaged in the progress of the voyage. In Manila all the operations of Anson were known, and to prevent him from capturing the Cobadonga, the Governor despatched a galiot to give notice of this powerful enemy, with directions for the Cobadonga to change her route, and send information respecting it, in order that a galleon, which was fitting in Cavite, might proceed to her relief. The galiot discovered, near the straits of St. Bernardino, an enemy"s vessel, and not doubting that it was Anson, gave notice to the armed galleon in Cavite, which immediately put to sea, but grounded on the island of Ticao, and made so much water that she was compelled to return. The Cobadonga arrived at the Marianas under charge of a Portuguese pilot, and sailing from thence in perfect confidence of safety, arrived at Cape Espiritu Santo; where the English, upon the alert, and in greater forwardness than it was expected they could be, were waiting with their ship the Centurion, after having refitted her at Canton.
When the Cobadonga perceived the enemy, there was no alternative but to yield, or boldly encounter a superior force. They chose the latter, and fought so desperately, that they did not strike till they had sixty killed and seventy wounded, among the number of which were the first and second captains. Admiral Anson took possession of the vessel and property, amounting to one million five hundred thousand dollars in silver alone, and carried the ship to Macao, where he left the Cobadonga, proceeding to Canton to careen his own ship.
The merchants of Manila felt this loss most severely, and to be revenged, in some measure, requested the Governor to allow them to fit out a squadron with a view of pursuing Anson, and intercepting the China fleet. Four ships were accordingly equipped at the expense of the inhabitants of the town, and Don Antonio Quijano was appointed commander. He arrived at China, but Anson had already sailed for Europe, when not being able to return on account of the monsoon, he wintered at Macao, and without doing any thing returned to Manila the following year. A strict enquiry was inst.i.tuted before a court martial into the conduct of the commander and officers of the Cobadonga, and on view of the allegations brought against them they were acquitted, and only compelled to pay the charges of the court martial.
In consequence of this capture, however, a ruinous lawsuit commenced between the merchants of Manila and the pious establishments, whose property was embarked in her. The loss was declared total, and there appeared no doubt that the pious establishments were liable to that extent; but it was ascertained that some merchants had left their property in Acapulco, and of course there was no real total loss, as all the produce of the original adventure had not been embarked. The pious establishments, therefore, a.s.serted that their property, or a portion of it, still existed in New Spain. The merchants on the other hand alleged, that if the Cobadonga had arrived at Manila, the risk of the pious establishments would have been at an end, and the merchants must have paid them their original advance, although they must have run the risk of bringing to Manila the property left in New Spain.
The Royal Audience determined this suit in favour of the pious establishments, but the merchants pet.i.tioned the council of the Indies, which gave it in their favour. This, as may be supposed, has given rise to several lawsuits in like cases, such diversity of opinion prevailing on the subject, that it were to be wished the system was either wholly abolished, or altered considerably, as it at present gives rise to numberless frauds and impositions, to which the existing laws furnish no check [6].
Don Caspar de la Torre entered with a bad grace on his government, in his violent proceedings against the fiscal, which drew down on him the hatred of the public, and the disasters of this period contributed to inflame their resentment. His whole conduct, indeed, was apparently directed rather to reconcile himself to this prejudice, than to remove it. Convinced of the general disgust against him, he fell into a profound melancholy, followed by dysentery, which is rarely cured in the Philippines. It was aggravated by an account which arrived of a disturbance in the town of Balayan, in the province of Batangas, and he at last fell a sacrifice to a false report which was in circulation, that the Chinese were entering the city, when notwithstanding his illness, he determined to oppose them in person, but was prevented by his friends, who very soon discovered the fallacy of the report. The effect, however, which it had on his frame was such, that he died in a few days after, on the 21st of September, 1745.
Senor Arrechedera, of the order of St. Domingo, bishop elect of Ylocos, succeeded him, conformable to the order of his Majesty. Upon enquiring into the alleged defection of the Chinese, he found no such thing had been even attempted, and that the report had been circulated merely to annoy the Governor. Arrechedera was not slow in quelling the disturbances in Balayan. He sent an officer, with one hundred regular troops, and a considerable body of Indians against the insurgents; and although this officer was not able to disperse them, as the Indians under him fled at the first onset, he succeeded in checking their attack, without having suffered in any other respect than a wound from a musket ball, which he himself received from one of his own new raised recruits. He applied to the Governor for further aid, and two hundred men being added to his force, he attained his object. He left a small detachment in the province to overawe those who might be ill disposed, and the rest of the troops were embarked for Cavite, as accounts had been received that the English had arrived with a squadron at Batavia, and the Alcalde of Ylocos reported, that two ships and two smaller vessels had been seen on that coast, supposed to be enemies. The Governor immediately put Manila into a state of defence, repairing the fortifications, purchasing arms from strangers, and casting cannon. All these preparations, however, proved unnecessary, as the English never appeared, but it was eventually discovered that they had captured a brigantine and another vessel.
Before this time a dreadful persecution commenced against the Christians in the province of Tonquin, and generally in the empire of China. In Tonquin many suffered martyrdom, and among others two Philippine missionaries, the Friars Gil de Federich and Mateo Liciniana, both Dominicans, who had left Manila for the purpose of a.s.sisting the missionary establishment which the Dominicans had in China. They were imprisoned separately, and at different times, but they had the happiness, before they died, of being lodged in the same dungeon, where they mutually consoled each other, and by bribing the soldiers who had the charge of them, they were permitted to say ma.s.s, and preach and administer the sacrament to the Christians there. In these sacred duties they were occupied continually, until the day on which they were to suffer death for the propagation of the Christian faith, by being bound to a log of wood, and having their heads struck off. This took place at four o"clock in the evening of the 22d of January, 1745. The Christians received their bodies, and delivered them over to the Dominicans, who gave them honourable burial. In the empire of China, the determination of the emperors to oppose the propagation of the Christian religion seemed daily to become stronger, and the Viceroy of Tonquin, who knew that in his province there were many concealed missionaries, persecuted the Christians in every way, in order to induce them to discover them, when, on the imprisonment of several with this view, the missionaries voluntarily came forward and delivered themselves up to the tyrant. There were in all five, of the order of St. Dominic, and belonging to that establishment in the Philippines; viz. the most ill.u.s.trious Don Friar Pedro Martir Sanz, of the province of Catalonia, Bishop of Mauricastrense, and Apostolical Vicar; the Friars Pedro Francisco Serrano of Jaen; Juan Alcaber of Grenada; Joaquin Royo of Hinojosa, in Aragon; and Francisco Diaz. They were examined frequently, and suffered severely from being beaten and otherwise tormented. The Viceroy at last sentenced Senor Sanz to lose his head immediately, condemning likewise the rest to the same punishment, but deferring their execution till the ordinary time. The court of Pekin confirmed the decree, and immediately it was made known to him; the Senor Sanz rejoiced exceedingly, and sung Te Deum, confessing fully, and waiting impatiently for the period of his becoming a martyr, which took place on the 26th of May, 1747. After a lapse of six months, his body was found as fresh as the day he was beheaded: it was taken up, burnt, reduced to powder, and thrown into a well, that the Christians might not collect his ashes. The other four friars remained in prison, where they were afterwards strangled privately by order of the Viceroy. Many attributed this persecution to the Jesuits, who bore no good will to the Senor Sanz.
Two ships about this period arrived at Manila from Acapulco, very richly laden, bringing the accustomed relief, of which the colony stood much in need, and which gave new life and activity to the whole settlement. By these ships came the new Archbishop Pedro de la Sona Trinidad, who, when counsellor of the Indies, had taken the habit of St. Francis, and now brought with him a royal mandate, for the absolute expulsion of the Chinese, and the appointment of himself as Governor ad interim. This mandate for the expulsion of the Chinese had often before this period been sent to Manila, but had never been carried into execution, the interest of the Governor being too deeply involved in the suspension of it, the Chinese paying him a contribution for his forbearance. The Archbishop found that Arrechedera was strongly attached to this nation, and he became so far a convert to his sentiments on this subject, that he did not put the royal order in force.
This seems to have been the only error committed by this ill.u.s.trious prelate during the time he held the government. In all other respects his conduct reflected the highest honour on him. An insurrection in the island of Bohol compelled him to send Captain Lechuga there with an adequate force, who succeeded in reducing to obedience all the towns on the sea coast of the island, but in the interior and mountainous parts they retain their independence to this day.
The Jesuits having urged Philip the Fifth to send letters to the Kings of Jolo and Mindanao, the Governor sent amba.s.sadors with these letters, and with proposals either to acknowledge the Spanish government, or to enter into alliance with us. These chiefs were so delighted with the honour which so great a King as that of Spain had thus conferred on them, that they agreed to admit missionaries into their territories. A Jesuit was accordingly sent to Mindanao, but soon observing the little subordination of the chiefs, and the very inadequate power the King possessed to restrain them, he began to entertain apprehensions for his life, forsook his mission, and escaped to the garrison of Zamboanga. In Jolo two Jesuits attempted to enter upon the object of their mission, but were so violently opposed by the Moorish priests, and the chief men in the country, that their progress was very limited.
Under these circ.u.mstances the King of Jolo, Mahomet Alimudin, resolved on a visit to the Governor at Manila; but this was opposed by the two Jesuits, on the ground of the ascendancy, which, during his absence, his brother Bantilan would acquire, and who was the determined enemy of the Christian name. The King"s intention being whispered, Bantilan raised such opposition to it in the court, and among the chiefs, that the irritation became general, and the Jesuits consulted their own safety in retiring to Zamboanga. A short time afterwards the King likewise having been attempted to be murdered, fled to Manila to request the aid of the Governor. On his way he arrived at Zamboanga, and by the a.s.sistance of the Spaniards proceeded to Manila, which he entered with seventy persons in his train, and was accommodated at the charge of the King. He afterwards made his public entry, was received with great ostentation, and visited by the princ.i.p.al people in Manila, who brought him presents of gold chains, diamonds, ornaments, rich apparel, and many such things of that nature, as might be expected from the generosity of the Spaniards, and himself and suite were supported at the public expense.
The Archbishop was desirous of making him a convert to the Christian faith, a proposal which he embraced apparently with great fervor, and he was accordingly instructed in the leading principles of our holy religion; but as the general idea was, that he felt little attachment to our religion, and only expected by that means to secure our aid in reinstating him on the throne, his baptism was postponed.
This delay mortified the Bishop of Ylocos, who was particularly anxious for it, and not being able to bend the Archbishop to his views, he persuaded the King to go to the town of Panique, the first town in Ylocos, in order to be baptized there, a Spaniard accompanying him to act as G.o.dfather. Besides his own he had a Spanish guard, and he was received with distinguished honour in every part through which he pa.s.sed. In Panique he was baptized by the name of Fernando, with great solemnity, by a Dominican, a.s.sisted by many others of that order, on the 29th of April, 1750. On his return to Manila, the Governor received him with a general salute, and ordered entertainments of comedies, dances, fire-works, and bull-fights, in honour of his arrival.
In Jolo, Bantilan, the brother of King Alimudin, a.s.sumed the supreme authority, after having compelled his brother to take refuge in Manila. He was the worst enemy the Spaniards ever had, on account of the great depredations he committed on the coasts of all the islands. The Archbishop was extremely desirous of repressing these attacks, but the means he possessed were equally inadequate to this, as insufficient to attempt the reinstatement of the King of Jolo on his throne.