The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 Part 2

Father Fray Antonio de Santa Maria, son of the convent of Valladolid.

Father Fray Alonso de Herrera, son of the convent of San Estevan, of Salamanca.

Father Fray Alonso Cobelo, son of the convent of Lugo.

Fray Francisco de Frias, deacon, son of the convent of Burgos.

Fray Iigo de San Joseph, son of the convent of San Pablo of Palencia.

Fray Thomas de el Rosario, of the convent of La Puebla de los Angeles.

And three lay-brethren, as follows:

Brother Fray Juan Calvo, of the convent of Santa Cruz, of Segovia.

Brother Fray Juan Martinez, of the convent of Nuestra Seora of Nieva.

Brother Fray Francisco de la Cruz, of the convent of San Estevan, of Salamanca.

That same year, on the first of February, a student, a native of Galicia, and a relative of the archbishop of Mexico, one Antonio de Eguiar y Seijas, took the habit for this province in the hospice of San Jacinto in Mexico; and at the proper time in the following year he professed and immediately came to this his province.

That new renforcement was very necessary because of the great amount of work to be done in this province. For, besides the Christian districts in its charge, and the Chinese missions, and those of Tunking, on the eleventh of May of the said year, the governor of these islands as vice-patron of these churches, in the name of the king our lord, had entrusted us with the administration of the province of Zambales, which had thitherto been in charge of the Augustinian Recollect fathers. [4] Its administration was now entrusted to our province for the following cause and reason. Those Indians were and are the rudest that are known in these environs of Manila. They are very cruel and bloodthirsty, and fond of murdering people without more cause than their liking for cutting off heads. They were always the bugaboo of the Spaniards, and the terror of the Indians of the other provinces. They could never be wholly conquered, especially those living in Buquil; for they were a people who lived in the mountains where the Spanish arms could not reach them. And less was it possible to conquer them by means of mildness, gentleness, kindness, and caresses, although the preachers of the holy gospel of the Recollects of our father St. Augustine tried to invite and lure them to the knowledge of the true G.o.d and to consider the welfare of their souls. Consequently, although those missionaries were among them for more than seventy years, they were unable to reduce them to the mild yoke of the law of Christ. And although they worked with zeal in that attempt, with great merit and profit to themselves, yet they always lived in great disconsolation, at beholding the hardness of those hearts. Not less affliction and trouble was caused to the Indians when they saw fathers and Spaniards in their lands, for since they were so stiff-necked, and accustomed to liberty, they did not look with favor on the payment of tribute or submission and obedience to the fathers. Consequently, they were dissatisfied with the fathers, and discussed various plans to oust them. They did not dare to murder them for fear of the Spaniards, who had a presidio or fort in Paynaven (the center of that province), and because since they were near Manila, any action that they attempted would be avenged by the Spaniards who would send troops of soldiers there by both land and sea. Hence the final plan discussed by the inhabitants of Buquil was to have recourse to the governor, asking him to remove those fathers, and in their place give them Dominican fathers. This was not because of any greater affection that they had for us than for them, but because they imagined that by successive changes, they could better conserve their liberty. This seems clearly to be their end, for before the end of seven years after our entrance into that province, they were dissatisfied with us, and begged fathers of the Society. They are a fickle people and fond of change. Their idea was that one sort of ministers succeeding thus to others, neither the one nor the other sort could get a foothold, or be able to put the preaching or the evangelical instruction on a sound basis among them.

It happened, then, in the year 1676, that the alcalde-mayor of Pampanga, then Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Texada, and Sargento-mayor Alonso Fernandez Pacheco, former chief commandant of the fort of Balas, began communication with the Zambal Indians of Buquil and having gained their good will with their zeal for the welfare of their souls, persuaded them to become baptized, for as abovesaid, most of the people of Buquil were heathens. They answered that they would become baptized if they were given Dominican ministers; for they wished to be administered by them alone. Having received that pet.i.tion and proposal of the Indians, the said alcalde and commandant informed the governor of these islands, then the master-of-camp, Don Manuel de Leon. He desirous of the reduction of those infidels, pet.i.tioned the father provincial of this province, then father Fray Phelipe Pardo, to send some religious to Zambales as missionaries for those mountains, in order to ascertain whether the effect of reducing those barbarians to the faith of Christ could be obtained in that way--a matter that all desired greatly. By virtue of that, the father provincial sent father Fray Pedro de Alarcon [5]

and father Fray Domingo de Escalera to the place called Buquil. To another place called Balacbac, which is located behind the mountains of Abucay, he sent the father vicar of the said village, namely, Father Domingo Perez. The latter immediately departed for Balacbac and having a.s.sembled some Indians there, baptized nine, and returned to Abucay, bringing five Zambals with him whom he afterward catechised and baptized. One of them was the nephew of the priest of the idols, and the father taught him to read and write, for he was more clever than the others. That Indian was very useful, and afterward was of much help to the said father in the reduction of the Zimarrones of the mountains, and in telling their customs and idolatries. The two fathers who were at Buquil, a.s.sembled some Indians into a place which they called Nuestra Seora de Atocha, where they baptized some and catechised others. But the governor having died at the beginning of the following year, the former ministers of that province began to complain to the father provincial that we were entering their administration. Notwithstanding that he had a sound reply that the vice-patron of those fields of Christendom had entrusted the matter to us, the father provincial in order to avoid anger between both orders, enjoined the fathers to return. That was the end of that first entrance which our religious made in Zambales. The provincial chapter was held after that, and in it the said father Fray Domingo Perez was elected vicar of Samal. The latter, by virtue of the order which was enacted in the said provincial chapter for all the father vicars of the houses near the mountains where there were any heathens to reduce, to endeavor to make entrances among them in order to allure them to the faith of Christ, did in that part what was ordered, by making some entrances among those mountains in order to reduce some Negritos, who are called Zambals. [6] Although the father worked with energy in that attempt, and went to great expense in kindnesses to them, he could obtain nothing from them because of their great barbarity and other reasons which it is not the present purpose to mention.

In the year 1678, Master-of-camp Don Juan de Vargas y Hurtado, knight of the Order of Santiago, came to govern these islands. With the coming of the new governor, the Zambals of Buquil renewed their former pet.i.tion that Dominican fathers be given them. In order to make surer of their demands, they presented themselves to the archbishop, saying that they would quickly be reduced and would embrace the faith of Jesus Christ, if ministers of our order were given them. The archbishop, having seen that proposal, informed the governor of it, to whom as vice-patron belonged the right of a.s.signing one or another sort of ministers to those Indians. The governor brought with him a royal decree from his Majesty ordering him to entrust to one of the orders the administration of the island of Mindoro, which was in charge of secular priests. Upon seeing the representation of the Zambals, he offered the administration of the said island of Mindoro to the Augustinian Recollect fathers, on condition that they leave the province of Zambales, in order that our religious might a.s.sume its administration in accordance with the pet.i.tion of the Indians of that province. The father provincial of the Recollects accepted the exchange, although they a.s.sert that the cession was not legal, as it was not made by the provincial chapter of their province. That annulling clause was not put forward then, and the cession made by the father provincial of the administration of Zambales before the said governor having been seen, the Recollects were given that of the island of Mindoro. By virtue of that, the said governor in his Majesty's name, conceded to the Order of St. Dominic the administration of the province of Zambales from the village of Marivelez to that of Bolinao. The father provincial of this province, namely, the father commissary Fray Balthasar de Santa Cruz, immediately sent some religious to administer the said Indians. In the intermediate congregation of the following year, the houses of the said province were accepted in due form, and ten religious were established in them for the cultivation of those fields of Christendom, and for the new reductions of the heathens....

[Chapter xxix deals with the customs of the Zambals, and is omitted here, as we shall give in a future volume the original MS., on which it is based.]

CHAPTER x.x.x

How our religious continued to soften those Zambal Indians and reduce them to civilization

[Notwithstanding that the Recollects had preached in the province of Zambales for seventy years and many of the Zambals were baptized, many of them were still wild, and refused the gospel message held out to them. This is because of their great love of liberty and hatred of restraint, and not because of lack of zeal on the part of the Recollects. Besides the Zambals lived scattered in many rancheras so that it was difficult for the fathers to visit them more than once or twice a year, and consequently, the little instruction that could be given them was insufficient to leaven them with the gospel spirit throughout the year. They had been unable to reduce them to fewer settlements because the various bands were often at war with one another and could not reconcile their difficulties. Then, too, the magistrates, sunk in their self interest, did not furnish the aid that should come from them. "This is the reason, and there is no other, why there is so much infidelity in these islands; for it is clearly seen by experience that when the secular government has been in earnest, and encouraged a mission, very abundant fruits have followed therefrom." The narrative continues:]

And this is what our religious had in their favor when they entered that province of Zambales, for the governor of these islands, Don Juan de Vargas y Hurtado, was very desirous of that reduction, and made exact measures for it. In imitation of him the chief commandant of the fort of Paynaoven, namely, Adjutant Alonso Martin Franco, tried to coperate in this design by his continual vigilance and efforts and at the evident risk of his life, and without heeding his own interest in the many offers of gold which the Indians made him so that he might desist from his purpose and not oblige them to leave their retreats. Our religious protected by that aid, proposed to the Indians of those rancheras as soon as they reached Playahonda, to collect into one settlement in the site that they thought best, in order that they might be more easily taught and administered by the religious. Since they had promised to reduce themselves if Dominican ministers were given them, and since the governor had given them those ministers, they ought also to fulfil their word. The Indians of Playahonda replied that they were not the ones who had gone to Manila with that request, but it was those of Buquil. Consequently, the latter ought to be confronted with that promise, and not they. Thereupon, the religious summoned those of Buquil and making them the proposal abovesaid, the Indians began to offer various excuses. By that our religious recognized that all their promises were feigned, and that they were very far from any intention to become reduced. Consequently, that reply having been heard by the religious, which was so contrary to what they had expected, and seeing that stronger measures were needed, the father vicar provincial returned to Manila to represent to the governor the rebellion of the Zambal Indians. The said father was welcomed by his Lordship, from whom he obtained what he wished, namely, the prohibition of trade between the Zambals and the Indians of Pampanga and other provinces, in order that, being deprived of that recourse, hunger and necessity might compel them to descend from the mountain and live in a settlement in order to exist.

But that provision proving insufficient to make the Zambals live in definite villages, the governor ordered the proclamation of an edict ordering all the Zambals to descend the mountains under penalty of being severely punished. The edict was proclaimed in Paynaoven and in other places of that province, whence the notice of it could be carried to those who were living in the mountains. More than five hundred Zambals of Buquil descended on the day and to the site a.s.signed. There the commandant of the fort again imparted to them the edict and order of the governor. Their reply to the proposal was to submit the whole matter in common to an Indian called Quiravat, who had been the chief agent in begging our ministers for religious. He said "Let him who wishes to descend to settle, do it and welcome, but as for me, I am going to live with my people where I choose." The commandant angered at his boldness, manacled and bound the said Quiravat, and the Indians his a.s.sociates seeing that, began to discharge a cloud of arrows at the commandant and his soldiers, in number twenty-two men. Thereupon, the said commandant ordered Quiravat to be beheaded, and the other Indians retired with the death of twelve of their companions, but without their having done any harm to the Spaniards. That fray and encounter inspired the Indians with fear, and some, although they were few, descended. But in the following year of 1680, three hundred soldiers having entered by way of Pampanga, and the commandant of Paynaoven and his men having made a raid in that other part, the Zambals were inspired with so great fear, that many of them descended from the mountains. Consequently, it was possible to form or increase three villages: one near the fort called Alalan; another in Balacbac, called Nuevo Toledo; and the third south of the two, called Baubuen. The Indians who descended from the mountain were gathered into those three villages, whether from fear of the Spaniards, or through the persuasions of the fathers. The latter, by the aid of the soldiers, caused the Indians to show them more respect; and with the affability and benignity of their treatment, softened the hardness of their hearts. The same effort was made in other places of the said province, where there were already some villages, although they were very small and distant, and could not be administered by the religious without evident risk and danger. Consequently, they soon asked that they be placed in such condition and distance that there might be easy communication from one village to the other. All that was done at the cost of the order, which paid those who built the houses. Those houses were built by people of other villages and provinces, and they were given already built to the Zambals; for to compel them to make them was morally impossible.

This effort of causing the Indians to form their villages would have been of slight use, if at the same time they had not been obliged to work in making their fields in order that they might have the wherewithal to sustain life, so that they might not be under the necessity of abandoning their villages and returning to the mountains, where with the hunt and with various roots, the Indians are wont to sustain life at small cost, without the care and trouble of cultivation. And as they were unaccustomed to the cultivation of the soil, and did not know how to plow, or dig, and had no instruments for that, nor even seed for planting: they were provided with all this by our religious. More than fifty buffaloes or carabaos (which are their oxen), by which the plowing is done in this country, were taken there at the cost of the order. Also many plows were bought for them, and they were also given the seed so that they could allege no reasonable excuse. Inasmuch as they did not know how to plow or to plant, salaried Indians were taken from other provinces, so that they might cultivate the land, and so that the Zambals might learn of them. After the land that first year had been cultivated, and the rice had headed, it was given to them at the time of harvest, so that they might reap and gather it. But so great was the laziness of those Zambals that many of them refused to accept the land because it was not reaped. But others, having the profit so plainly in sight, set to work to reap it and gather it; and since by that means they made sure of their food, they were inclined to work and the cultivation of their fields. Our religious encouraged them in this by thus forcibly setting before their eyes the profit of the harvest, that they would have afterward. The religious accompanied them to the fields to work, heartily praised those who applied themselves, and perhaps, in order to inspire them by their example, put their hands to the plow. For the religious very well understood that if the Indians did not turn husbandmen, they would not be secure in the level land, and they would easily return to the mountains under the obligation of necessity. And thus that necessary diligence was compulsory in order to reduce them to a civilized life and to a good government.

All the time the fathers continued to soften their hardness by their kindness and mildness, which they showed them not only in the gentleness of their intercourse and conversation, but also much more in the generosity and liberality which they used toward them, providing them with all that was necessary, both for the building of their houses and for the cultivation of their fields. They gave the Indians a quant.i.ty of clothing to wear, besides the other acts of kindness and the presents which they made them. In that our province spent much money, a sum which, according to the accounts, exceeded ten thousand pesos. The thing that robbed still more their affection was on seeing that the fathers defended them when the soldiers wished to employ violence with them, for they took the part of the Indians, and softened the fury of the soldiers. By that means the Indians came to perceive two things: one that the fathers considered their good; and the other that they were higher than the soldiers, since the latter obeyed the religious and desisted from the attempted severity when the fathers ordered or pet.i.tioned them. Hence they came to infer that to stand well with the fathers and to obey them was of great profit to them, for so they were a.s.sured by the Spaniards, and among the religious they experienced no evil treatment, but everything was mild, gentle, and peaceful. Consequently, they moderated themselves and became so mild, within a year, that it caused great surprise to see those who had formerly been so wild and unmanageable become so conformable and domestic.

When our religious entered at the beginning, the children ran away from them when they saw them, and the women also hid; but the former later became so familiar with the religious that they would scarcely let them alone. When the religious entered any village, the children all descended from their houses and went behind him, and walked with him, and followed wherever he went. Scarcely would they let him walk, for some of the children seized him by the habit, and others placed their scapularies under his eyes [for him to bless?].

While the father was in the convent, it was not empty of Indians, who were going and coming, some to beg for relief in their necessities, while others begged consolation for their troubles, some medicine for their pains, and some relief in their afflictions. All found there whatever they needed, for charity serves for everything. And since the Indians beheld that of the fathers toward them, they loved them, esteemed them, and favored, and were so well inclined to their intercourse, that, on a certain occasion, when they thought that the fathers were going to leave them, and return to Manila, the sorrow manifested by all was great until the fathers undeceived them, and released them by various means of their vain fear. Those who had previously fled from the fathers, and those with whom the above-mentioned violence had to be used in order to gain admittance in the beginning, reached this condition of sociability and mildness in little more than one year....

CHAPTER x.x.xI

Fruit of the preaching of our religious in the changing of the customs of the religious

When once our religious had gained the goodwill of the Indians they immediately began to exercise the apostolic ministry of the preaching in order to eradicate their ancient vices and customs and reduce them to the perfection of a Christian life. There was much to do and accomplish in this province, for there were yet many heathens in it, and many apostates from the faith which they had received, and some, who made use of the name of Christian, living in their rancheras or visitas, far from the intercourse with, and teaching of, their ministers, were only Christians in name, but in their morals and even in their religion they were heathens, since they did not know the Christian doctrine or the mysteries of the Catholic faith, and neither prayed nor knew how to pray, nor heard ma.s.s, nor observed the feasts, nor took any account of Lent, fasting, or abstinence, and did not show any other token of a Christian. For since they lived in the mountains, in remote and distant places, where the ministers could not visit them unless by running great risks and dangers, as abovesaid, they were not sufficiently rooted in the faith which the preachers had taught them; and, living intermixed among the heathens, they easily took on their rites and customs. If, perchance, they wore the rosary at the neck it was when they were going to the villages of Christians, so that they might not be taken for heathens. But there in their rancheras among the mountains, very rarely did they wear it; for the devil had persuaded them that nothing good could happen to them if they had those beads with them. Consequently, when they went to hunt, or to commit a murder, they immediately took off the rosary, in order to obtain success in their undertaking. In short, to tell the whole thing, those Indians of Buquil were even idolaters, and although they had received baptism, they continued in their idolatries, and in their sacrifices to the demon. Only in the capitals where the fathers lived, were there a few perfect Christians; but in the rancheras and visitas, especially those of the district of Buquil, since they did not have the ministers over them, they lived in entire liberty with their ancient vices and superst.i.tions. They killed one another without cause or reason, became intoxicated, worshiped idols, and lived together as they did before, without taking any account of their Christianity.

In order to free them from all such things our religious toiled and labored earnestly arguing, exhorting, and checking them in all patience and instruction, according to the advice of the apostle. And inasmuch as all the barbarity of their customs originated from their lack of faith, the fathers began to set before them and to explain to them the immortality of the soul, the reward or punishment of the other life, and all the other mysteries of the Catholic faith. Their instruction took so fast hold once more on the apostates and on the people of Buquil, that they looked at one another in stupefaction at what they heard the fathers say. The latter seeing the surprise that those things caused in the Indians, decided that it was necessary to start that undertaking from its very beginnings, and to teach them to pray and the instruction, which they had either never understood, or they had completely forgotten. They began that effort by the children, whom they instructed excellently in the prayers, and in the explanation of the doctrine. After them the older people went to the church, in order not to be put to the blush before the children. The latter, either by the advice of the fathers or because of their own natural loquaciousness, upbraided their elders later with the little knowledge which they had had of G.o.d before and because they had lived like heathens. By that means the elders were put to shame, and submitted to the teaching. Little by little they began to open their eyes, and to see the blindness in which they had lived. Confused and ashamed of their old way of living, they applied themselves indeed with all earnestness to learn what was necessary for salvation. The church was filled with people all day long who wished to learn the prayers and formulas, which the children prayed in a loud voice, so that the others learned them in that way. The religious preached to them quite frequently, explaining to them the mysteries of the faith, and threatening with the wrath and anger of G.o.d those who did not keep the holy commandments. They did that with so great spirit, and fervor, that it caused great terror to those who heard it, and thus daily they were becoming reduced to live according to the laws of Christians.

[The preaching of the religious is aided by divine miracles, and the religious also make use of stratagem to banish vice. An instance of the latter is as follows.]

Such was the one of which the father vicar provincial, Fray Domingo Perez, made use, to banish homicide. He frequently censured that vice in them, but for all that they were wont secretly to commit murders. The father would hear of the murder, although the aggressor was not known. a.s.sembling all those of the village, he would declare that he would ascertain it by means of the pulse. Then he took the pulse of each one, and since confusion is natural in the criminal, especially in these Indians, who understand so little of dissimulation, when the father would take hold of the pulse of the aggressor, the latter trembled all over his body. Hence, by a happy conjecture, the father would deduce that he was the one, and then by censuring him or punishing him according to his deserts, the others were deterred from, and afraid of, committing that crime, which could never be hidden from the father, since he learned everything from the pulse. So certain were they of that, that if any of them had had anything stolen from him, he went to the father to complain, and requested him to feel the pulse of all, in order to ascertain the thief who had stolen it. And although the father usually excused himself from doing that, they could not rid themselves of the idea, which they had formed on the first occasion, that the fathers learned all things by means of the pulse. Therefore, they managed to check many of their ancient customs and superst.i.tions.

But not so quickly did our religious learn what can not be mentioned without tears, namely, that although the Indians were apparently Christians, and were subject to the teaching of the fathers, and had abandoned some of their ancient customs, and embraced in part the observance of the divine law, yet they desired to serve G.o.d and the demon at the same time, and they desired to embrace the matters of the faith in such a manner that they should not become separated from the ancient worship which they attributed to the demon in their false G.o.ds. That matter was kept very secret among them, for since they feared lest it should reach the ears of the fathers, they had all sworn an oath to keep close concerning that fact. They kept that oath so well that it was never revealed through them. But G.o.d revealed it in a curious manner to the religious for the welfare of those miserable people. We have related in chapter xxviii that Father Fray Domingo Perez baptized a boy in Abucay, the nephew of a priest of the idols, who having been taught to read and write, and having been given devout books to read, became a very excellent Christian. He and other lads whom the father kept in the convent, asked the said religious many things concerning the faith, which he taught them and explained to them most gladly, so that daily they became more imbued in all its articles and mysteries. Three years after the entrance of our religious into that district, those lads asked the father if it was right to do such and such things, namely the idolatries which the Indians practiced, and the sacrifices which they made to the demon. The father asked them what it was that was done, and they like children went on to tell whatever they had seen their elders do, and whatever they were practicing secretly even to that time. The father's grief at such news can well be imagined. But dissembling its effects for the time being, in order not to frighten them away from the hunt, he charged the lads to keep still about what they had told him. Summoning the schoolboys, whom he petted and treated with great kindness, he was informed by them with so great clearness on this head, that he learned who were the priests of those sacrifices, and the instruments that each one had for their diabolical functions. Also charging those children to keep still, he ordered them to tell no one what they had told him, so that their parents might not beat them. The father having learned everything very clearly, and having consulted with G.o.d concerning the matter in prayer, he resolved, when Lent came in the year 1683, to put an end to that idolatry, although he knew very well that it would be at the cost of great labor, and many troubles and dangers. For the princ.i.p.al priests of those sacrifices were the princ.i.p.al people of the village, and they were respected and venerated by all and could set afoot any treachery against him. And since they had all sworn not to reveal the matter, as he had not yet proved it, it was a point in which all were interested, and in which all would be against him.

However, having placed all his confidence in G.o.d, and with the information that he possessed of the whole matter, he began to summon one after another the chiefs, and chide each one in private for the execrable evil that he was practicing by offering sacrifice to the demon. Before that one could deny the truth to him, he said to him, "You have such and such instruments, and with them you sacrificed on such and such a day, in company with such and such a person." To another he said: "You are a priest, and consequently, you have so many instruments kept in such a place for the sacrifices, by which you give to the demon the honor that belongs to G.o.d; and as proof of it you performed that sacrifice on such and such a day with such and such a person, and this other on such and such a day, with such and such a person." In such wise did he examine them all and censured them for so great evil. They, seeing that he was giving them so sure proofs, considered the religious as a diviner and gave him the instruments of their idolatries. He commenced by the village of Bauguen, whose church was dedicated to Santa Rosa. By the aid and favor of the saint he collected a great number of those instruments, which some gave to him willingly and some reluctantly. He called the children, and ordered them to break up those instruments, and they obeyed immediately. "Now throw them into the privies," said the father, "and let the children perform the necessities of nature on them." They obeyed his order instantly, and made a mockery and jest of those instruments. The Zambals were astonished that the father and the children were not killed for the disrespect that they showed to their G.o.ds, for they believed that he who touched or profaned such instruments would die. The father preached to them, and taught them what they were to do in the future. Having finished that matter in Bauguen, he went to Balacbac to do the same; and although he had some difficulty, with the help of G.o.d, it was conquered. From Balacbac he went to the village of Alalan, and although he found the people there obstinate and pertinacious, by his kindness and arguments, he induced them to do the same that had been done in the preceding villages. Then he went to Buquil and did the same as in Playa-Honda, breaking and burning all the instruments of their idolatries. And although the father had many troubles on account of that, he stood it all with great patience, as he saw that he was performing the cause of G.o.d in this; for which, as we shall see later, they deprived him of life and made him a glorious martyr.

That so pernicious root having been torn out, the religious had no difficulty in sowing in the land of their hearts the good doctrine and teaching. The holy fear of G.o.d, the frequency of the holy sacraments, the devotion of the queen of the Angels, and the exercise of the holy rosary persuaded them. And since now the demon had left their souls, and he had been bereft of the right which he had to them, the instructions and inducements of the religious found no resistance in their hearts; and, consequently, they agreed thoroughly in all those things, and thereby they daily became more perfect, and became fervent Christians, anxious for their salvation, and given to the exercises of piety. Now one never heard, as formerly, of violent murders; and now there was no intoxication or other disorders; now the superiors were obeyed and respected by their inferiors; now one no longer heard among them a "I do not wish," as they were wont to answer formerly; now all were safe, each in his own house, and no one thought of taking vengeance on another. They attended ma.s.s almost every day, and went to recite the rosary in the afternoon. They all wore the rosary hanging from their necks with great devotion, and recited it in their houses every night. They observed the fasts of the Church, and the days of abstinence with punctuality, for they feared greatly lest G.o.d punish them, as He did punish some for the example of others. In fine, such was the reform in their morals, and the change of life in those Indians, that the fathers themselves were surprised to see what had been wrought by the hand of G.o.d, which had changed them in the briefest of s.p.a.ce from ravening wolves to gentle lambs, and from fierce and savage men into faithful and obedient sons of the Church. And although our religious worked mightily in this yet all the glory is due to G.o.d, who not only gave His spirit to the ministers, but also coperated in their preaching with many manifest miracles which will be related in the following chapter.

[Chapter x.x.xii recounts the miraculous occurrences above mentioned, all of which resulted in greater faith and devotion to the new precepts taught by the missionaries, and instilled fear of G.o.d into the hearts of the Indians.]

CHAPTER x.x.xIII

Of another mission in the farthest villages of Yrraya in the province of Cagayan

Not only in that mission of Zambales did the province labor in that time, but also in another of not less fruit in the ends and confines of Cagayan. There were formerly four villages there, namely, Batavag, Pilitan, Bolo, and Abuatan. They comprised about two thousand houses. Those villages in the seventh year of their foundation, when although many of their inhabitants were heathens, notwithstanding that more of them were already Christians, were abandoned on the day of the Ascension of the Lord in the year 1615, by their dwellers, who retired into the interior, deceived by their aniteras or priestesses, who did not look with favor upon their Christianity, because of the profit that they lost thereby in their sacrifices and diabolical functions. And so much were those priestesses able to say to induce them to make that retirement, that at last they resolved to do it, apostatizing from the faith which they had received, as is mentioned in the first part of this history, book 2, chapter 3. [7] That apostasy caused great pain, especially to the fathers of Cagayan, who had charge of those four villages which they had founded amid severe labors, drawing their inhabitants from heathenism and luring them to the faith of Christ. When they saw now that all that they had obtained by their labor in many years was lost in one single day, they were caused great pain and disconsolation, and they saw that the fruit of their labors had been ill obtained. Therefore those fathers made a few efforts on various occasions to reduce those Indians to a settlement, but they obtained from them no further fruit than the obtaining of a few souls whom G.o.d had predestined for His glory. But since the zeal of the religious was directed to much more, namely, the reduction of all that people, they lost no opportunity for that enterprise, to solicit it with might and main.

In the year 1673, when the father commissary, Fray Phelipe Pardo, was elected provincial of this province, the definitory (as we remarked above) charged him straitly to strive for new missions and reductions of heathens to the faith of Christ. Consequently, the said father provincial going to visit the province of Cagayan, the religious of that province pet.i.tioned him to found that mission of Yrraya, and the prelate meeting their fervor, sent two religious to that district, namely, father Fray Pedro Sanchez and father Fray Geronimo de Ulloa, [8] who played the part of explorers, in order that by talking and by treating with the apostates, they might sound their minds and good will, and ascertain whether it was the season for that harvest so that they might put therein the sickle of the preaching. The two said religious went thither, and although the apostates received them well, they could not obtain what they were after by entreaty, namely, that they should reduce themselves to their former villages. For those people were prevented beforehand by the Indians of the village of Cabagan, who induced them, for their own private interests, not to return to their Christianity. In order, then, to get them to restablish the said villages, they were prevented from trading with the heathen, which was a source of great profit and gain to them, and at the same time those of Cabagan remained more in the interior of the province, without having so easy a place of retreat open in time of any insurrection. Just as in the wars with Portugal, some did not wish that country to be conquered, so that they might have an easy refuge in the time of any trouble, so also, those Indians of Cabagan, although Christians, induced the heathens not to become Christians, and pointed out to them the burden of the tribute, the polos, the personal services, and other penalties and troubles which the Christians feel when they are settled. What pa.s.ses in this country is incredible, for on one and the same foundation, namely, greed, opposing results are built. Many Chinese heathens live here, and very rarely does one see one of them who dies without baptism, not only because of the inducements of our religious, who have charge of that mission, but also because when any of those heathens falls sick, all his relatives, even the pagans, unite in persuading him to become a Christian, not for any zeal which they have for the faith, for they remain in their paganism, but for fear lest, if they die heathens, their property might suffer some loss, as has been established in practice according to law or custom. On the contrary, it happens among the Indians, that the Christians of the villages near the heathens persuade them not to become Christians, in order that they might not lose thereby their commerce and trade, in which is placed their gain and interest. And it is not to be wondered at that the Indians do so, since they are new and recent Christians; for there are Europeans who oppose the missions greatly, for their own interest. Whatever the religious effect by their efforts is destroyed easily by an alcalde or a commandant for his own private conveniences. This has always been, and is, the cause, as abovesaid, of there being so much infidelity in these islands. In fine, the two religious whom the provincial sent, returned without it having been possible for them to obtain anything of substance, as the apostates were very obstinate because of the inducements of the people of Cabagan.

In the year 1677, a provincial chapter was held in this province. Among other ordinances established in it was the one mentioned above several times, namely, that the vicars of the villages near the heathens endeavor most earnestly to reduce them. The venerable father, Fray Pedro Ximenez, [9] an apostolic man, and one at home in missions, was elected vicar of Cabagan in that chapter. In addition to the said ordinance of the chapter, the recently-elected father provincial charged him with the reduction of those infidels and apostates. The father provincial going upon his visit, and consulting over the method of that reduction with the fathers of the province of Cagayan, sent the said father Fray Pedro Ximenez to the abovesaid site of Yrraya, a.s.signing him as companion of that undertaking his own a.s.sociate and secretary, then father Fray Andres Gonalez, afterward bishop of Nueva Caceres. But the said father provincial having died in a few days, the said reduction ceased for the time being.

In the following year of seventy-eight, a chapter was again held in this province, and the said father Fray Pedro Ximenez was relected vicar of Cabagan. While that chapter was being held, the governor of these islands, at the pet.i.tion of the archbishop and the bishop of Cagayan, as well as of the recently-elected father provincial, namely, father Fray Balthasar de Santa Cruz, called a council of war in regard to that reduction. In that council it was resolved that the said father Fray Pedro Ximenez, selecting five Spaniards, five Pampangos, and sixteen Indians should proceed to the reduction of those heathens, summoning them in the name of the king, our sovereign, by pardon for all their apostasies, murders, and other crimes that they had committed, and that the apostates who became reduced, would be excused from paying tribute for three years, and the heathens for ten years if they were converted. He was ordered to inform the superior government of the result of his journey so that the measures necessary and fitting for the said reduction, might be taken. With that order the said father, Fray Pedro Ximenez, went to Cagayan. The alcalde-mayor of that province furnished him with all that was needed for that undertaking, although the father refused to take any soldiers with him but only the sixteen Indians for his protection and so that they might act as rowers in the boat. The father ascended to those paramos and desert places, and by treating those heathens with kindness and gentleness he reduced many of those of a district called Ziffun to descend to settle in a place called Santa Rosa, where the village of Batavag had formerly stood. They did that immediately without any delay, and without the aid of troops or escorts. Besides them others offered themselves to the father, in number about three hundred, but since they lived farther inland, they needed escorts to accompany them and to take charge of their effects and household goods. The alcalde-mayor of that province, Admiral Don Pedro de la Pea, who was zealous for the honor of G.o.d and for the welfare of souls, was of great help with his measures. They were allowed to select a village where they wished to live. Some of them went to Cabagan, others to the said village of Santa Rosa, and others to another new village called Ytugug, which was under the advocacy of Nuestra Seora de Victoria. Besides them a hundred persons descended and founded the village of San Fernando, where the ancient village of Bolo was established. Thus of the four former villages, three have been restablished, namely, San Fernando, Santa Rosa, and Ytugug.

The devil was envious of that reduction, and accordingly attempted to destroy it and undo it, making use of the same instruments by which he had prevented it so many years before. He suggested then to an Indian of Cabagan to stir up the Indians who had descended, but the latter not daring to do it himself made use of a heathen called Baladdon. The latter treacherously killed twelve persons of those who had recently become settled, and through that deed the reduction was on the point of being undone and the Indians of returning to the mountains, seeing how little security there was in the villages. In order to quiet and calm them the alcalde-mayor took a hand. By means of a troop of soldiers whom he sent, he avenged those treacherous murders, by killing some of the accomplices and capturing others, in all seventy in number; and by looting their possessions and goods, which rightly went to the troops. By that vengeance which was taken on those traitors, the new villages were calmed and quieted, and the enemies were too fearful to attempt another such thing. Father Fray Pedro remained in the said new villages, instructing and teaching the apostates, and catechising heathens, in order that they might receive holy baptism.

All this news was reported in Manila, and was gladly received there by both the governor of these islands and the ministers of the royal Audiencia. Taking action for the permanence of that reduction, they ordered the alcalde of Cagayan to establish a presidio in the province of Paniqui, which was located inland, so that the said new villages might be a.s.sured, and the disturbances from the enemies cease. The said presidio was not established, for although the alcalde-mayor of the said province went by way of Cagayan, the one sent by the governor did not arrive by way of Ytuy. But the journey of the alcalde-mayor of Cagayan was not in vain, for father Fray Pedro had formerly treated with some heathens of a place called Ambayao to descend to the new villages, and now by the aid of the alcalde and his men father Fray Pedro went down to the said Indians, with their wives, families, and household goods, and reaching the village of Ytugug with them, they were allowed to choose a site in which to live. Some hundred of them remained there, while the others went down to Cabagan, Lalo, Yguig, Fotol, and to other villages.

When the matter was at the height of its success, the devil managed to put forth all his efforts in order to cause all the said reduction to cease. He so overturned affairs that the very ones charged with the movement, pet.i.tioned most earnestly that an end be put to it, relying on some opinions apparently correct, but of little profit to the mission. Hence father Fray Pedro was ordered to cease to bring heathens to settle if troops and escorts were needed for that purpose. The religious obeyed that new order and took care only to instruct those who had been reduced, and did not attempt to make further conquests with the aid of troops or escorts. But alone, without troops or noise, people kept descending those mountains, and many of them summoned him to go to get them. But since he was ordered not to take troops, with only the Indians of the new villages, some of whom were neophytes and others catechumens, he went through those deserts and collected many apostates and heathens. On one occasion, he led one hundred and fifteen persons, and one week afterward another thirty-five followed from a place called Yobat. They said to the father: "If you stay in Yobat two days more, a vast number of people will descend. Do you not hear them calling to you from afar and inviting you to go to them?" The said father did not understand it so, but thought on the contrary that they were enemies, and as he had so few people with him could not trust himself; besides those men whom he took had enough to do in carrying the children and old and sick people, and the possessions and household goods of those who descended.