An Historical View of the Philippine Islands Volume I Part 6

The kingdom of Portugal, which had been united to the crown of Castile in 1640, shook off the Spanish yoke, and electing the Duke of Braganza King, the possessions of that nation in India immediately followed the example of the mother country, and declared for that family. This year the Dutch reduced Malacca, and by this conquest, and the separation of the Spanish and Portuguese interest, it was apprehended they would renew their attempts on the Philippines, which had now, for many years, remained unmolested by them. This conjecture proved true; they commenced their operations by stationing, for two successive years, a squadron in the route of the ships from Acapulco, but the Jesuits, in the island of Samar, frustrated their design. They then planned the capture of the island of Formosa, with a view to interrupt the commerce to China, and as a ladder for the conquest of the Philippines. They proceeded on the enterprize in the year 1642, with four ships, a patache, and several smaller vessels, and in a few days succeeded in their object, the island having surrendered. Great consternation prevailed at Manila on information of this conquest, as it was expected that the Dutch would follow up their success by an attack on that capital; but the glory of repelling these intruders was reserved for the successor of Senor Corcuera.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ANNO DOM. 1644.

The Administration of Don Diego Faxardo.

Don Diego Faxardo, Knight of the order of Santiago, took possession of his government on the 11th of August, 1644, and immediately gave proof of his unrelenting disposition by his conduct towards Senor Corcuera, by confining him in the fort of Santiago, in which he remained five years.

The new Governor found these islands infested by Dutch squadrons, and to enable himself to meet them with effect, he deemed it necessary to unite the whole of the Spanish force, dispersed through the different garrisons. He directed the officer in command at Zamboanga, to enter into an amicable arrangement with Corralat, King of Mindanao, which was effected very satisfactorily, through the mediation of a friar. He likewise directed the officer commanding at Jolo to adopt similar measures with the King of that island, and evacuating all the forts, to bring all the Spaniards to Manila; but this was not to be effected so easily, Salicala, hereditary Prince of the kingdom, having gone to Batavia, soliciting a.s.sistance from the Dutch, to drive the Spaniards from the island. They, however, spared him only two ships, with which trifling aid, having made many attempts against our princ.i.p.al position, which was defended vigorously by Don Estevan Ugalde, a valiant Biscayan, the Dutch retired to Batavia, promising the Moors to return next year, with a more effective force. The Jesuit friar was, in the mean time, commissioned to make peace with them; which he effected on very advantageous terms. Jolo being thus evacuated, the Dutch arrived at the appointed time with the promised a.s.sistance; and finding that the Spaniards had retired to Zamboanga, they determined on attempting the capture of the fort of Caldera, in Mindanao, but they were repulsed with such loss, that they made a rapid retreat to Batavia.

The following year, the Dutch again appeared in these seas, with a squadron of twelve ships, when eleven of them remaining on the coast of Batan, the commodore came forward alone, to reconnoitre Cavite. Senor Corcuera, who was in confinement in the fort, as already mentioned, immediately saw the error the Dutch commander had committed, in not making the attack with his whole force, while the place was in an unguarded and defenceless state. Every advantage was taken of the error, and Cavite was furnished, without delay, with the necessary reinforcements, and supplies of ammunition and provisions. On the third day the Dutch squadron made their attack, but the Governor, Andras Azaldegui, a very active man, defended the place so effectually, that great slaughter ensued, and the Dutch General received a wound, of which he died. On this they retired, and disembarked in Pampanga, where the Alcalde Mayor of the province having collected six hundred Pampangos, and fortified himself as well as possible in the convent of Abucay, the Dutch a.s.saulted him, when the Indians fled in such disorder, and with such precipitation, that four hundred of them were killed in the pursuit. The Dutch not deeming it prudent to remove far from their ships, returned on board, and disembarked a second time in the town of Samal, where the Spaniards having gone to Manila, the Indians alone remained, who repulsed them, and compelled them to take refuge in their ships.

They then took their station close to Mareveles, to intercept our commerce, and while here they had information that a galleon, built at Leyte, was on her way to Manila. They despatched six ships to take her, but the commander understanding that the Dutch were in these seas, put into a harbour, and fortifying the entrance with batteries, remained perfectly secure from all insult, and the Dutch deeming the attempt unjustifiable, returned to Batavia, without reaping any advantage from their expedition.

Salicala, son of the King of Jolo, a turbulent character, notwithstanding the peace he had concluded with the Spaniards, begun to infest our seas with a squadron, which committed great depredations in every quarter; and Cachile, Lord of Tup Tup, in Borneo, having followed his example, it was found necessary to send against them an adequate force. The Spaniards encountered the squadron of Cachile between Masbate and Burias, and an engagement took place, in which he was killed, and his fleet dispersed. Immediately on this Salicala retired to Jolo, where his attention became sufficiently occupied, in disputes respecting the succession to the throne. The Moors of Borneo, imitating the conduct of the Indians of Jolo in their piracies, the Governor sent Major Monforte with orders to chastise them severely, as a warning to the rest. Monforte landed in Borneo, burning and destroying all the towns within his reach, together with great quant.i.ties of provisions, and a number of vessels, and making about two hundred prisoners, thus retaliating on them for their piratical attacks on us. Exclusive of these continual depredations of the Moors and Dutch, the provinces in Luzon were by no means in a tranquil state.

A commotion, likewise, was begun in Palapag, by murdering the Jesuit friar, who was the curate of the place; and, to enhance the criminality of the action, and comprehend every one in the rebellion, Sumoroy, who was the a.s.sa.s.sin, was for two days parading the town, avowing publicly that he killed the friar; and, setting at liberty two insurgents, whom the Jesuits had confined, he ordered the people to plunder the church and convent: from this source, the insurrection spread through the whole island. The Camarines imitated the conduct of the people of Palapag, in every thing but the murder of the friars. The island of Zebu, likewise, notwithstanding its garrison, wavered in its loyalty; and, indeed, all the islands were ripe for rebellion: the people of Caraga, however, were the most violent, having murdered many Spaniards and Friars. There is no question that the Bisayas would have been lost on this occasion, had not a stop been put to these atrocities in due time.

The Governor sent a force to Palapag, and ordered that four hundred Indians of Lutao, who had been lately converted from Mahometanism, should be incorporated with this force sent from Manila, and jointly attack the rebels. The Jesuit friar, Vincente Damian, took compa.s.sion on the misguided Indians, and attempted to persuade them to return to their obedience; but, thinking themselves strong enough to overcome the Spaniards, they would not listen to reason, and fortified themselves on a hill, which Sumoroy had made his head quarters. Captain Roxas commanded the Spaniards, Don Andres Azaldeguy, who was the proper commanding officer, having had orders from the government, to go and secure the property, in a ship which had been lost on the coast of Camarines. Roxas was a man of ability and bravery, and came to the resolution of a.s.saulting the hill in the night, when the rebels would be less on their guard. The Spaniards arrived at the outposts, when they were discovered, and notice given to Sumoroy. The precipitation with which the Indians fled is incredible: it resembled that of a flock of goats, our people following them, and making great slaughter. Sumoroy attempted to escape; but his people killed him, with the view of ingratiating themselves with the Spaniards, and delivered up his head to Roxas, who placed it on a pole as a warning to the rest. The friars being now able to return to their duty, in the respective towns, soon reduced the discontented to obedience.

The ringleader of the rebellion in Caraga was an Indian, named Dabao, who was not in the least suspected of disaffection. He entered one day into the fort, bringing with him eight men with their hands bound, apparently with the view of surrendering them; but yet, at the same time, so loosely bound, as to escape when they chose. When the Spanish officer came out to receive them, Dabao struck him on the head with his sword, and the eight men, immediately releasing themselves, unexpectedly attacked the people in the fort. They made such carnage, that only one friar and five soldiers escaped, by throwing themselves from the wall, and retiring to the convent, where they fortified themselves. The Indians immediately forsook the town and fled to the mountains, when the friar, and the Spaniards who were in the convent, built a boat, and retired along the coast to another town, to which the insurrection had not spread.

The Governor sent them relief from Manila, and offered a pardon to those who should return to their towns, and their allegiance as before. The Spaniards, however, broke their word, and hanged many of the ringleaders.

On the day of Saint Andrew, which was the anniversary of the victory the Spaniards obtained over Limahon, about eight o'clock at night, an earthquake happened, which destroyed almost all Manila, with the exception of the church and convent of St. Augustine. The public edifices, in particular, were nearly all thrown down and destroyed, and more than six hundred people buried in the ruins: some were found alive between the stones and the wood, who had remained there even three days. The calamity reached the towns of the islands; in Cagayan, a hill was rased from its foundation, and fell on a town, burying in its fall all the inhabitants. In some parts the earth sunk; and, in others, torrents of sand burst out, overwhelming man and beast. Many other extraordinary changes occurred in the course of sixty days, during which a succession of earthquakes prevailed. The people of Manila left the city to live in huts in the fields, until it was ascertained that they might return in safety to their houses. It was said that the image of St. Francis, placed in the house of an Indian of Dilao, sweated most copiously during this calamity, and shed abundance of tears; in consequence, he was elected patron of earthquakes, and is designated St. Francis of Tears.

As a proof of that harshness which characterized Senor Faxardo, it will be sufficient to mention his conduct to Christoval Romero, whom the Viceroy of Mexico had sent, to bring him intelligence of the state of these islands, two years having elapsed without the usual ship having appeared at Acapulco. He arrived at the port of Lampon, and, understanding that the Dutch were infesting these seas, he landed the silver, and despatched it to Manila, in order that he might with less risk get round. Soon after he had sent away the silver, the Dutch arrived, and entered the port with their launches. Romero being far inferior in force to the enemy, burnt his vessel, as he saw no chance of saving it, and came to Manila by land. Everybody considered this man as ent.i.tled to great praise for his conduct on the occasion, and expected that he would be well received and rewarded; but the rigorous Governor, on the plea that the burning of the launch was an act of cowardice, imprisoned him, and condemned him to lose his head. All Manila clamoured against this sentence; and the object of it appealed to the Royal Audience, who revoked it. This rigour of the Governor was imputed to his not having been duly bribed by Romero; but nothing of that nature could be absolutely proved against him.

About this time, the hospital or college of St. Juan de Letran was founded by Juan Geronimo Romero, who compa.s.sionating the situation of unfortunate orphans, took them into his house, and carefully brought them up. His Majesty being informed of this praise-worthy conduct, by a royal order protected the establishment; but granted so little in aid of it, that recourse was necessarily had to the contributions of the well disposed, in order to render it of more general use. It was, at length, removed to a spot behind the city: the boys were allowed a blue coat, cap, &c., and were supported, as in others, with the additional aid of a college pension, to enable them to pursue their studies at the university; the college having no establishment of this nature.

CHAPTER XIX.

ANNO DOM. 1653.

The Administration of Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara.

The ship San Francisco Xavier arrived in Cavite in July, 1653, bringing the new Governor, Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara; the Archbishop of Manila, Don Miguel Poblete; the Bishop of Ylocos, Don Rodrigo de Cordinas, a Dominican; and the Oidor, Don Juan Bolivar. The Governor immediately, as was usual, sat in judgment on his predecessor, who, apprehensive that he might be deprived of his liberty, retired into the college of Jesuits, securing his personal safety in this sacred asylum. The Archbishop fixed the month of March for a jubilee, on which occasion an immense concourse of people a.s.sembled, and he, with great solemnity, invoked the blessing of the Almighty on these islands.

Many calamities occurred during this administration, such as the small-pox, famine, and a dreadful earthquake, which ruined many edifices, and did much injury; but what affected the Governor much more than all these, was the revolt of the Indians and Chinese, and the ravages committed by the Moors of Mindanao. The Spaniards were at peace with Corrolat, King of Mindanao, and he appeared perfectly satisfied; but the chief men, turbulent and warlike, urged him to break it.

The Governor sent two Jesuits and some Spaniards, in the nature of an emba.s.sy, to strengthen our existing amity with the King: when, without any respect for their characters as amba.s.sadors, and, listening to the representations of his nephew Balatamay, he murdered them all, and excused his atrocity to the Governor of Zamboanga, throwing the blame on his nephew, whom, he alleged, he could not punish, on account of his great power in the state.

In the letter which he wrote to the Governor of Manila, he laid the blame on the Jesuit, who was at the head of the emba.s.sy; thus indicating his intention, by these contradictory falsehoods, of gaining time to draw to his party the King of Jolo, and other chiefs of the Moluccas.

Don Francisco Esteyvar, who was Governor of Zamboanga, despatched against him an armament of ten carracoas, whose rowers were Indians of Lutao, and who, though they had been converted to Christianity, felt for Corrolat as a countryman. Nothing could persuade them to row against the Moors, excusing themselves under various pretexts; and, although they could have been compelled, yet Don Fernando Bobadilla, who commanded the expedition, fearing that they would desert him in the time he most wanted them, and not desirous of exposing himself to such a risk, returned to Zamboanga.

As the Spaniards had delayed the chastis.e.m.e.nt of the Moors for the murder of their amba.s.sadors, they were induced, as might be expected, to commit still greater ravages than those they had yet been guilty of, and Don Sabiniano de Lara sent against them a considerable squadron, under the command of a man, valiant in the cabinet, but who proved the reverse in the field. He repeatedly showed a disposition to attack the Moors; but, on various pretexts, avoided coming to an engagement, and at last retired to Zebu, abandoning the cause, and leaving the Moors to return quietly to their own country. The Governor of Zamboanga, however, acting a different part, and determined to chastise the Moors, collected some vessels, and retaliated on their country, the ravages they had committed on ours.

A slight disturbance, about this time, took place in the province of Pampanga, the cause of which was as follows: the late Governor having ordered a ship to be built in Camboxa, sent all the necessary workmen in a vessel, which he patched up, and launched for the purpose. After having completed their work, and when they were on their return from Camboxa to Manila, they encountered a storm, so violent, that the vessel was wrecked, and almost all the people perished. The galleon, San Francisco Xavier, was lost in the same storm on the coast of Samar, and two other ships which were going to Acapulco were forced back. The galleon, La Concepcion, too, was so unfortunate as to be driven back twice, having suffered severely in her rigging. To repair these losses, it was necessary that a greater quant.i.ty of wood should be cut than was customary, and that with unusual expedition. The Indians suffered always severely in these undertakings, as they were obliged to leave their towns for the mountains, where, their wages being very small, and their treatment very bad, they too often fell a sacrifice to sickness. The overseer of the present wood cutting was a man of great severity, and, as the wood was to be cut with all despatch, he had recourse, with the poor Indians, to measures which humanity could not justify, in order to expedite the work. Resisting this oppressive conduct, they mutinied, and the mutiny extended through all the towns, although they did not behave with disrespect to the church or friars. To quell this sedition before it took a wider range, the Governor took up his residence in Macabebe, which is the first town in the province, from Manila, taking with him some troops, and ordering into his presence some of the ringleaders. The Indians, naturally timid, had already repented of this disturbance, when the friars interfering, it was completely quelled, and the princ.i.p.al ringleader, an Indian named Maniago, was conveyed to Manila, being considered as too dangerous an inhabitant of the province.

The bad example of those in Pampanga, induced the Indians of Pangasinan to rebel, electing as their King an Indian, called Marlong. They murdered the Alcalde Mayor of the province, with all his family, and, upon this being known in Manila, the Governor sent troops by sea and land to quell the sedition; but the Dominican friars possessed such power over the Indians, that they were restored to their duty without firing one gun; and their King, Marlong, was delivered up and hanged immediately.

When the Indians of Pangasinan began their rebellion, they had sent emissaries to the provinces of Cagayan, Ylocos, and Zambales. In this last they made little progress, but in Ylocos, an Indian called Manzano, headed the rebellion, and, having collected a number of malcontents, he attacked the Spaniards, murdered the Friar Bacarra, and ill treated the Bishop Cardinas, on which the Alcalde Mayor and some friars fled to Manila; but the province of Pangasinan being by this time reduced to subjection, the troops were sent against Manzano, and soon reduced him likewise; and the ringleaders of both were executed.

The civil wars of China were the cause of the conquest of that country by the Tartars. A Chinese named Ly, having urged the provinces remote from the court to revolt, and meeting with no opposition, arrived at the capital (Pekin), on which occasion, either from treason or cowardice, all abandoned the Emperor, who, seeing himself thus forsaken, cut off, according to their usual custom, the head of his daughter, that she might not fall into the hands of the rebels, and afterwards hanged himself on a tree, to avoid a similar disgrace.

All acknowledged the authority of Ly, except the army, which had been opposed to the Tartars, and which, fearing the result of this rebellion, made peace with them, and they united against the common enemy, Ly, whom they soon drove from Pekin. Nothing more was ever heard of this rebellion; but, the Tartars having by this means got into the interior of China, though they met with some opposition, yet, finally, they reduced the whole of the empire, and it continues still under the Tartar dynasty.

A poor Chinese, who had fled from Macao to Manila, where he was baptized by the name of Nicolas, and where he became a shop-keeper, afterwards went to j.a.pan, where he married; but finding that he did not acquire riches quick enough, he entered the Chinese army, where he rose very high, being appointed General against the rebels. Zunchin, who was the last Emperor of the Chinese race, having hanged himself, as already noticed, Nicolas sided with the Tartars, by whom he was apparently well received. The Tartar Emperor heaped favours upon him, and named him as one of his tributary monarchs, under the t.i.tle of Pignan, which signifies, conqueror of the south. By these means he lulled him into security; and having at last imprisoned him and all his family, completed his treachery by blowing him, and the greater part of them, up with gunpowder.

His son, Cogseng, after this disgraceful transaction, turned pirate, and sufficiently revenged the death of his father by ravaging the Chinese coasts and islands. He was the conqueror of the island of Formosa, and the first who triumphed over the arms of Europeans. The Dutch, at this time, were complete masters of the island, they possessed two thousand Europeans, with sufficient artillery and ships; when hearing that the Chinese intended to attack them, they united all their forces in Tayguan; but the pirate, who came with about one hundred thousand men, landed on the opposite coast of the island, and immediately entered on the cultivation of the soil. A short time after, he invested the fort of Tayguan, and the Dutch capitulated, after a seven months siege, by which they were allowed to leave the island, with the ships they had in the port.

Cogseng, elated with this success, determined to become master of the Philippines, for which purpose he sent the Friar Victorio Riccio, a Dominican, with the t.i.tle of his Amba.s.sador, to Manila, with a letter to the Governor, in which he required him to recognize him as Sovereign, and pay him tribute, threatening, if he refused, to ravage his coasts with his fleet. On the 18th of May, 1662, the friar arrived on this emba.s.sy at Manila, and delivered his letter with great secrecy, which, however, was not long withheld from the public. The Governor without delay began to levy troops, repair the fortifications, and recall all the forces to the capital; and in order to be as secure as possible, he sent away all the Chinese merchants, and others that were established in the islands. Upon this being known, it was whispered that the Governor intended to decapitate all the Chinese, who, being naturally cowards, believed the knife already at their throats, and retired to the mountains, from whence some pa.s.sed, with great risk, in small boats to Formosa. The day on which the Governor called the Chinese chiefs before him, in order to intimate to them that they must retire, the remaining Chinese believing that they were all to be murdered, took up arms; but the Dominicans had sufficient influence to prevail on them to remain quiet. The Governor now sent back Friar Riccio to Cogseng with an answer to his letter, but, on Riccio's arrival, he found the pirate dead of a fever, Manila being by this means released from the danger with which she was threatened. The Chinese who had fled to Formosa, circulated a thousand calumnies, which would have cost Friar Riccio his life, if he had not been saved by the son of Cogseng, who had succeeded his father in power; but not possessing the warlike spirit of his father, he sent an Amba.s.sador to Manila, to make a treaty of amity and commerce with the Spaniards. Although the expedition of Cogseng had not reached Manila, the place of its destination, the effects of it had fallen very heavy on the islands, as all the churches and convents near Manila were destroyed, to prevent the enemy from converting them into military stations.

The Governor of Ternate had abandoned that station, by no means easy to be recovered, as the garrison was, in its retreat to Manila, accompanied by the Indians, called Mahhicas, who were the best friends to the Spanish cause, and who were then settled at the mouth of the river Marigondon, where their descendants remain to this hour. The garrisons too of Calamianes and Zamboanga evacuated these stations; and as they had always been a check on the Moors of Jolo and Mindanao, opportunities were by this means offered of committing with impunity such ravages in the Bisayas, that the friars were compelled to abandon the province of Calamianes.

Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara had governed these islands with great prudence, but notwithstanding this, several articles of impeachment were preferred against him, and he was fined seventy thousand dollars. On appealing, however, to the council of the Indies, the sentence was reversed, and the fine remitted; but disgusted with the world, he retired to Malaga, his native country, and took the monastic habit.

CHAPTER XX.

ANNO DOM. 1663.

The Administration of Don Diego Salcedo.

Don Diego de Salcedo not being able, by the prevalence of the south-west-monsoon, to reach Manila by the ordinary route of the straits of Bernardino, he made Cagayan, where he landed, and travelled across the island to the city, and took possession of his government in September, 1663. Immediately on his arrival, he held out every encouragement to commerce, and preparation was made for sending the usual ship to Acapulco as early in the season as possible, in order to avoid those misfortunes which had too frequently taken place.