The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 Part 4

Father Fray Juan de la Nava, of the convent of San Pablo, of Cordova.

Father Fray Juan Romero, of the convent of San Gines, of Talavera.

Father Fray Francisco Gomez, of the convent of Santo Thomas, of Avila.

Father Fray Thomas Escat, of the convent of Santa Catharina Martyr, of Barcelona.

Father Fray Diego Arriola.

Father Fray Blas Iglesias, of the convent of San Vicente, of Plasencia.

Father Fray Miguel Matos, of the convent of Nuestra Seora de la Candelaria, of the Canary Islands.

Fray Fernando Ybaez, deacon.

Fray Thomas de Plasencia, acolyte.

And six lay-brethren, who are the following:

Fray Francisco Tostado, of the convent of San Pablo, of Sevilla.

Fray Manuel Santos, of the convent of Santa Cruz, of Segovia.

Fray Juan Ruiz, of the convent of Santa Cruz, of Villaescusa.

Fray Thomas Gomez.

Fray Manuel Gonales.

And Fray Lucas de el Moro, of the convent of Nuestra Seora, of Atocha.

[To this band must be added the name of Fray Juan Marcort, son of the convent of Xirona, who died at sea after the vessel had left the port of Acapulco.]

[Chapter lxiv treats of an English pirate (Dampier) who cruises among the Babuyanes, and defiles a church of the Dominicans. Chapter lxv, the last of the first book, reviews the life of Fray Antonio Calderon, who dies while provincial of his order. Chapter i, of the second book, records the election as provincial of Fray Bartholome Marron.]

CHAPTER II

Of the reduction of the Mandayas Indians to our holy faith

[Father Pedro Ximenez, who had labored for six years in the mission of Irraya, being compelled to leave that place because of slanderous reports, is sent in 1684 to the village of Fotol, on the border of the Mandaya country in the central part of Luzn. The needs that he finds there will not allow him to take the rest that he has planned after his active and laborious campaign against infidelity in Irraya, and he takes up his work in the new mission with undiminished zeal. The people of Fotol he finds in the midst of famine, for the fierce Mandayas [12] of the uplands will not allow them to cultivate their fields. The father resolves upon the reduction of the Mandayas. He begins by writing letters to an influential apostate who is living in the mountain region, and those letters so stir up the conscience and memory of that man that he resumes the faith which he had abandoned, and is later of great service to the father, and lives in Christian humility until his death which occurs within a short time. Not without hindrances from the evil one, however, are the efforts of the gospel worker. That enemy of mankind causes an inhabitant of the village of Nabayugan to murder another heathen, whereupon all is confusion and the breathing forth of threats. The father learning that that murder may be atoned for by two ways, namely, by fighting or by a fine, promises to pay for it himself in the interests of peace. Through his native amba.s.sadors he sends a present of shirts, salt, needles, combs, and tibors, to the aggrieved faction. Won by such generous kindness, the amba.s.sadors are treated most cordially, and a favorable answer sent to the father, and they promise to descend the mountain to meet him near Capinatan. The energetic priest immediately sets out, but the devil ever watchful in the interests of his evil trade, manages to upset the boat in which the father is journeying on the river at the hour of midnight. However, nothing but a wetting and considerable discomfort is the result, and next day Fray Pedro meets the heathens. After a stay with them of two days, the father returns accompanied by two chiefs and four others of the heathens, a not slight undertaking on the part of those timid people, as they are in constant fear of treachery. They return to the mountains after short visits to the villages of Capinatan and Affulug, accompanied by some of the inhabitants of the former village. Among their people they relate the good treatment which they have received from the father, "as well as from the commandant of the fort, who really aided considerably in that reduction by his affability, kindness, and good treatment. If the other commandants of the forts near the heathens carried themselves in that manner, they could gather more fruit than the fathers for their conversion and reduction. But the pity is that most of them not only do not aid, but even offer opposition on this point, and think only of their profit and interests." Once more the devil endeavors to destroy the peace which seems about to spread throughout the district. One of three heathens, who go down to the village of Malaueg, is killed by the inhabitants of that place, and the other two are seized and sent to the commandant of Nueva Segovia. To their surprise that commandant, instead of praising them for their vigilance, seizes the captors and frees the captives, the latter upon the supplication of the father, being sent to him and returned to their people. Other troubles are also satisfactorily settled through the agency of Fray Pedro. At his invitation twenty-two of the heathens accompany him to Apparri, where the alcalde-mayor confers on them t.i.tles and honors, thus increasing the favorable opinion of the Mandayas. The village of Calatug still proves an obstacle to the general peace, for they are hostile to the Mandayas, and have declared that if the latter become reduced they will attack and kill them. The Mandayas who wish to become civilized, after holding a council, resolve to ask aid of the alcalde-mayor against the village of Calatug, and that aid is promised them. Meanwhile it is reported that there is a plot to kill Fray Pedro, and that all the friendliness of the Mandayas is only treachery. Refusing to believe that, the father determines, against advice from all sides, and a vigorous protest from the commandant of the fort at Capinatan, to ascend the mountains in company with only one Mandaya and his daughter, and the necessary rowers, eight in number. His confidence is well answered by the joyful reception accorded him by the Mandayas, among whom he remains for about a fortnight. The following September, in conformity with his promise he again ascends the mountains, and at that time a church is built which is dedicated to Nuestra Seora de la Pea de Francia. In 1686 that church numbers more than one thousand three hundred converts and apostates who have come back to the faith. The number of converts in that mission is opportunely increased by an epidemic of smallpox, when the mercy of G.o.d is seen in many, both those who die and those who recover. In 1687 the growth of the work causes the chapter held that year to a.s.sign Fray Pedro two a.s.sociates, and in 1688 he is made an independent missionary and given one other a.s.sociate. That increase enables him to found another village in a district less mountainous and hence less difficult to administer, and soon there is a Christian population of over five hundred there. But the father falling ill, and finding it necessary to retire, the people of Calatug, still hostile to the Mandayas, a.s.sault the village, and all but one hundred and forty of them are either killed or flee to the mountains. Them the alcalde-mayor of the province removes to the village of Camalayugan, and that mission comes to an end.]

[Chapters iii-ix discuss the lives of various gospel workers, and Chinese affairs. Chapter x treats of certain miracles that occurred in the hospital of San Gabriel.]

CHAPTER XI

Of the intermediary congregation of the year eighty-eight, and the houses which were accepted by it.

[In 1688 the intermediary chapter held at Manila, accepted the ministries of San Policarpo of Tabuco and its adjacent ministries of Santo Thomas and El Rosario; and that of San Bartholome of Anno in Pangasinan. The first had been a.s.signed to the Dominicans in 1685 by Felipe Pardo because of the lack of seculars to administer it and they keep it until the death of that archbishop, when it again pa.s.ses into the control of the seculars. Much has been done there in the meanwhile by the religious entrusted with its administration, namely, Fray Juan Ybaez de Santo Domingo and two a.s.sociates. The other house of San Bartolome was founded for the reduction of the Igorots and Alaguetes in its neighborhood. With the ones converted from those peoples and some oldtime Christians from Pangasinan, the village soon acquires considerable Christian population and a church and convent are built at the cost of the Dominican province. Since the location of the mission is poor, and communication with the nearest Dominican houses of Pangasinan difficult, an intermediary mission is founded midway between San Bartolome and the other missions, to which is given the name of San Luis Beltran. In the mission, many are baptized, "especially of the Alaguetes, who were more docile than the Igorots, although also many of the latter were converted." That mission lasts more than twenty years. In 1709 or 1710 "because of disputes that arose between those of the village and the Igorots, who lived in the mountain, the latter descended the mountain at night and set fire to the village, without being perceived." Consequently the village is deserted, and the father and the inhabitants remove to San Luis Beltran, which being farther from the mountains is safer. After six years there, a government decree removes them to Maoacatoacat. Later the mission is moved to Pao, and finally to Manaoag. But since the natives dislike to leave the sites where they are settled, and also enjoy a life of freedom where they are not molested by the tribute, many of the inhabitants refuse to move at the successive transfers. Falling into relaxation in consequence, many become infidels, and their number is increased by others who flee to them to escape the tribute and the restrictions of religion. In 1732, in response to a pet.i.tion by the Dominican provincial, the government again establishes a mission village in San Luis Beltran. Starting thence, a new mission is opened on almost the same site of San Bartolome under the name of San Joseph at a site called Maliongliong for the conversion of the Igorots. As a result of the efforts put forth there, a new province called Paniqui is opened up which is in charge of four Dominican religious. Much fruit is gathered for the faith in that region.]

[Chapters xii-xxi treat of the lives of various missionaries, among them that of the famous Fray Felipe Pardo.]

CHAPTER XXII

Election as provincial of the father commissary, Fray Christoval Pedroche, and founding of the mission of Tuga.

[The above father is elected provincial in 1690, after his return from exile to Nueva Espaa, on account of the Pardo troubles. During his term there is considerable activity among the Chinese missions, those of Batanes, and that of Tuga. This last mission is the outcome of the work of father Fray Juan Yiguez, [13] who is entrusted in 1688 "with the conversion of the Indians of Mananig and the other neighboring nations who inhabited the rough mountains near the village of Tuao in the province of Cagayan, on the western side of the said village; and extend north and south for many leguas. At the same time the said father was charged to learn the language peculiar to that country of Ytabes, [14] and compile a grammar and lexicon in it.... In the short s.p.a.ce of six months, he learned the language of the Ytabes, and reduced it to a very detailed grammar.... In the same time he founded a new village in the mission in the very lands of the heathens about six leguas south of the village of Tuao, on a plateau below the creek of Tuga, whence that mission took its name, which it keeps even in our times." The church built there is dedicated to St. Joseph, and ma.s.s said on the second of February, 1689. Notwithstanding the many oppositions offered to the new mission, it grows and prospers. At the end of eight years, the mission is moved to a more pleasant site two leagues nearer Tuao, and although it receives the name of Tuga there, it is sometimes called San Joseph de Bambang, from a mountain called Bambang. In 1710, lack of friars causes the abandonment of Tuga as an active mission, and it becomes a visita of Tuao. That epoch marks its decline, and in 1715, after many have fled to the mountains where they have resumed their pagan life, the remaining Christians are transferred to Tuao. "After the year 1718 the whole province of Cagayan rose in revolt [15], and that disturbance began especially in that district of Ytabes where the said village of Tuao is located. Thereupon the new Christians of the mission who had a.s.sembled in that village, returned to their former sites and mountains, and apostatized from the faith which they had received." At the close of that insurrection, the Dominicans attempt to regain the ground that they had lost. In 1722 a friar is a.s.signed to that mission to regain the apostates and work for new conversions among the heathens. Both objects are largely fulfilled. In 1731, the missionary established there, Fernando de Lara, moves the site of the mission still nearer to Tuao because of the greater conveniences. The new site which is maintained is called Orac, although it is still called by the former name of Tuga.]

CHAPTER XXIII

Foundation of the mission of Batanes; death of Fray Matheo Gonalez, and Fray Juan Rois in those islands.

[At the chapter meeting of 1680, Father Matheo Gonalez [16] is chosen vicar of the Babuyanes Islands which lie north of the province of Cagayan. His work there is successful and he reduces many to the faith, those who are baptized moving to the chief village where the church and convent are located. Extending his labors to the farthest of the Babuyanes Islands, the father arrives there at the time when a volcano is filling its natives with terror. Taking advantage of the situation, he so adds to their terror by his preaching that both apostates (of whom many have gone to that island) and heathen resolve to leave the island and go to Cagayan with the father. Leaving en ma.s.se they are taken to Cagayan and form a new village on the seacoast between the two villages of Yguig and Na.s.siping. That village is however suppressed later by order of the government, and its inhabitants return to the Babuyanes. Another village called Amulung is stationed there in 1733 which is formed of Indians from other villages, and a church and convent established there. Casting their eyes to the three Batanes Islands north of the Babuyanes, [17] and thirty leagues from Cagayan, the Dominicans plan for their spiritual conquest; but not until the year 1686 can anything be done. In that year Fray Matheo Gonalez is again appointed vicar of the Babuyanes, and given Fray Diego Piero [18] as a.s.sociate. They visit the Batanes with the object of exploring them and learning the language. The islands appear ripe for the harvest but more laborers are needed. Consequently, as it is the time for the intermediary chapter the vicar returns to Cagayan for help, leaving Fray Diego Piero alone. One other worker, Fray Juan de Rois is a.s.signed to the field. But scarcely have the three fathers begun their labors when sickness causes the death of the father vicar and his latest a.s.sociate, whereupon Fray Diego Piero, notwithstanding the murmurs of the natives, returns to Cagayan to seek more aid. But no more religious can be spared just then for there is a great lack of them for even the settled missions. Not for thirty years later (1718) is another attempt made in the Batanes, when Fray Juan Bel being appointed vicar of the Babuyanes, visits them. In 1720, as a consequence to his report, five religious are a.s.signed for the mission. As the Batanes are not healthful for Europeans, the island of Calayan [19] midway between the Batanes and the Babuyanes is chosen as the place of residence for the new mission. In that island as many as possible of the new converts are removed, and the church and convent are established there. The king being pet.i.tioned bears part of the expenses of the transferring of the converts to Calayan. The venture is successful, and at the time of Salazar's writing (1742), the mission still exists.]

[Chapters xxiv-x.x.xiii discuss the lives and work of various missionaries, and Chinese affairs.]

[Chapter x.x.xiv treats of the life of Mother Sebastiana de Santa Maria, a native woman, who became a member of the tertiary branch of the Dominican order.]

CHAPTER x.x.xV

Foundation of the mission of Santa Cruz in Cagayan; and the death of two most virtuous hermits in this province.

In the year 1693, the mission of Santa Cruz was established at a place called Gumpat, near a visita of Malaveg, called Santa Cruz, whence the mission took its name. It was founded by father Fray Joseph Galfaroso, [20] or de la Santissima Trinidad, son of the convent of Pamplona, a man most zealous for the welfare of souls. While vicar of Malaveg, he, not being satisfied with the administration of the said village, made various entrances through the neighboring mountains in search of the heathens who lived in them, in order to lure them to the bosom of our holy faith. Those mountains are rough and broken, and the heathen who inhabit them are very brave, and give the Christian villages much to do with their continual raids and a.s.saults with which they keep them terrified. Among those heathens of the mountain, a chief named Don Joseph Bucayu, who was the terror of all those mountains and of the neighboring villages, was prominent for his valor and courage, and was feared by all. This man G.o.d wished to take as the instrument for the foundation of that mission, for with the authority and respect that all had for him, he could attract many to his side, and taking example from him whom they considered their leader, many should embrace our holy faith.

[Through the grace of G.o.d, the fierce heart of this chief is softened and he embraces the faith, and by the force of his example draws many after him. He becomes the chief pillar of the new mission that is formed at Santa Cruz. Great success attends that mission until the year of the insurrection in Cagayan (1718), when that place is also deserted and its inhabitants take to the mountains. The remainder of this chapter is concerned with the life and death of Domingo Pinto of the tertiary branch of the Dominicans, who had lived as a hermit for twenty-three years; and information concerning a man known as Diego Peccador (i.e., Sinner), a Spaniard presumably of good blood, who lived as a hermit close beside the church at San Juan del Monte, for five or six years, practicing the most austere penances and mortifications, after which he disappeared and nothing else was heard of him.]