The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Volume 14 of 55. Unknown
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by me, and by the archbishop and the religious orders, in conformity with the directions given me by your Majesty. The assessment which was made accompanies this letter; and therewith will cease many wrongs which have been inflicted upon the natives, and the encomenderos and collectors can satisfy their consciences, if they desire. [Marginal note: “Let this section be filed with the papers which gave occasion to it, and with the report which has been sent, and let the whole be delivered to the fiscal.”]
By a royal decree of your Majesty, dated October twenty-fifth of last year, 1603, I was advised that your Majesty had given commands for permission to be granted to the mariscal Graviel de Rivera that, in spite of the fact that he has Indians in encomienda on these islands, he may be permitted to live in the City of Mexico, where he is at present, for two years, on condition that during that period he shall maintain eight musketeers in this garrison at his own expense. I was enjoined to fulfil this command and to see to it that the musketeers should be serviceable men. On the part of the said mariscal, the fulfilment of this decree was demanded, the aforesaid permission being presented; and, although I answered the demand of the mariscal by stating to him the condition of affairs in the island, I have thought best to refer the matter to your Majesty. As soon as I arrived in these islands to undertake my office, I was handed the instructions given to the governor and captain-general who had previously filled them, Don Francisco Tello de Guzman. By section 47 of these directions, it was ordained and commanded that if, when the said Don Francisco Tello should have arrived at Nueva España, the said mariscal should not have returned to the said islands, his encomiendas should be confiscated and should be assigned to others, without permitting reply or excuse; and if any other procedure was followed it was directed that it should be held as null and void. I made inquiries to find out if the said Don Francisco Tello had complied herewith. I discovered that, although he found the said mariscal in Mexico, he had not complied with the commands given by the said section, but that he had brought him with him to this city, and in a short time had given him permission to return to Nueva Hespaña for three years, under color of having business to do for this city. I also found that the said mariscal had appealed to the Audiencia, affirming that the time was too short, and I learned that he received license to remain for an additional year, making four in all. In truth, however, the power of attorney held by the said mariscal had been revoked by the city before he left it in the year 1600. Upon this, I wrote to the said mariscal in Mexico that, since he was aware of the decree of his Majesty with regard to his absence, he should return to fulfil the duty of residence to which he was obliged in these islands, as soon as the time of his license had expired. If he should go beyond the period allowed, I informed him that his encomiendas would be vacated and would be assigned to others. Since he has not fulfilled the requirement of residence, and since the said term is at an end, therefore, in virtue of the said section of the instructions and in fulfilment of what is decreed by another and separate royal decree, I have commanded that the encomiendas should be vacated, and that one of them, the encomienda of Bonbon, should be granted to General Don Juan Rronquillo del Castillo, a man whose merits, services, and abilities are known to all. This encomienda is at the present time in his possession. The income from the other encomiendas I have commanded to be placed in the royal treasury, which is being done. As for the report of the said mariscal, made to me in Mexico, that he was there with the permission of the Audiencia and governor on business for the city, I wrote your Majesty, in a letter on the second of November of the year 1601, that it seemed to me proper for permission to reside in Nueva España to be given him, in view of his services and age, since he was serving with eight musketeers in defense of this country. After I arrived here and saw how this matter had been arranged, in view of the aforesaid facts, and of the great inconvenience which results from the non-residence of encomenderos in this country, I vacated the said encomiendas, as it seemed to me that your Majesty would not be served by giving a dispensation to the said mariscal in this matter; and I would not have made the report which I made in Mexico if I had previously seen the documents. [Marginal note: “Let this be filed with the papers which deal with this matter.”]
Although, as I have said, I assigned the said encomienda to the said Don Juan Ronquillo, appeal was taken on the part of the said mariscal and his son (who was successor to the encomienda) to this royal Audiencia. In this case, after command had been given that a copy of the documents should be furnished to the parties and to the fiscal of your Majesty, and after testimony had been taken as regards the claims of all parties, it was declared that I had authority to vacate the encomiendas of the said mariscal; and it was decreed that the parties should exercise their rights of justice, in conformity with the law of Maliñas.7 It was further decreed that the said General Don Juan Rronquillo should give bonds that, if at any time it should be decreed that I did not have this authority to assign the said encomiendas, he should return the income which he should have collected therefrom. This decree was, on review, confirmed in all points, and the case is being prosecuted. I may say to your Majesty that General Don Juan Rronquillo is one of the most deserving men of the islands, and one of the highest rank and services here; and further that he is one of those who received the least rewards. He deserves that some favor should be shown to him, as I have previously written. I may add that on account of the aforesaid grant I have discharged him from the office of commander of the galleys, which had been granted to him with eight hundred pesos of yearly salary. If this sum is not paid to him, it is certainly necessary that some compensation should be made to him; and if in this matter that is not carried out which is ordained by the royal decrees—which were formerly so closely followed, especially in this country—much harm will result.
The affairs of Christianity in Japon are in excellent condition, as your Majesty will see from the letters of two religious which are enclosed; but the dissensions between the bishop and the religious orders with regard to those who go by way of these islands to engage in that ministry cause me great anxiety. They have reached a very high point, as your Majesty will learn from the statements which all of them are certain to write to you. In so new a country, governed by heathen kings, to have wrangling and lack of harmony among the religious who instruct them cannot fail to cause scandals and difficulties. Your Majesty will command the proper remedy to be applied. Inasmuch as I see the necessity of ministers of the gospel in that kingdom, and the great results which they have obtained, I have not hindered the passage of religious from these islands to that country, especially as I have seen no decree of your Majesty and no brief of his Holiness to the contrary. [Marginal note: “Let this be filed with the other papers dealing with this matter, and let Don Pedro de Acuña be informed that his report has been considered, and that attention is being given to it.”]
The chiefs of Mindanao have treated for peace; and, although I had determined to attack them this year and to put an end to them, with the aid of the ordinary reënforcements in men and money, which I was expecting from Nueva Hespaña, still I have thought it best on account of the expedition to Maluco to listen favorably to them; and I shall try to pacify and reduce them by gentle means, since they themselves have offered such means and have sent a representative to treat for peace. I have accordingly agreed to what they desire; yet, since they are Indians, who when they take a whim cannot be restrained from trying to gratify it, I have little confidence that they will keep their promises, since there is no holding them to account except so far as fear will oblige them to it. Still, it seems that this year they have not made any piratical expeditions to these islands, although I am informed that they have attacked some of the other islands in various provinces with a great fleet of caracoas. Being in some doubt, I have kept the provinces of Pintados in a state of defense with two galleys, which I have sent there, with other vessels; for, as I say, there is little confidence to be placed in the treaties of these tribes. [Marginal note: “The council has been informed of this matter.”]
When the Sangleys left here last year they brought but little cloth, as I wrote at the time to your Majesty. This they sold, at the same time offering to come again this year with some vessels, and very early. For this cause the country remained entirely without any sort of merchandise, although the citizens had considerable money, as they had no opportunity to invest the returns which had come [from Mexico]. Since the Chinese are very avaricious, it was regarded as certain that some vessels would come without fail, and the swift ones would arrive here much earlier than they ordinarily do in other years: but this did not happen, for it was the end of May before we had any news from China. For this reason and on
The Spanish form of the name of Mechlin, an important city of Belgium, between Antwerp and Brussels. The reference in the text is probably to some law enacted by the emperor Charles V while holding his court at Mechlin, during his long stay in the Netherlands.