Note 25 — The Conquest of Mindanao
James Alexander Robertson translation
In Pastells’s edition of Colin (iii, p. 768) is printed the following letter from Mastrilli to the king, dated July 8, 1637:
“I have (clad already in Japanese garb) written a long letter to your Majesty this same day, bidding farewell to your Majesty, and declaring that, whether alive or dead, I shall ever be your Majesty’s vassal, and most desirous of the increase of your empire and monarchy; and among the executioners and tortures of Japon, and much more, if I die I shall be, in the heavens, an eternal intercessor. I left two things to request from your Majesty by special letters: one for forty priests of the Society of Jesus to come to these Philipinas Islands, about which I have already written a letter; and the other, which I beg from your Majesty in this letter—namely, that you favor with your royal munificence the schools of our Society in this city of Manila, and in especial the college of San Joseph, by erecting in it twenty fellowships, as your Majesty has done in the colleges of Peru and Mexico. This is the last thing that I petition, with all possible earnestness, from your Majesty, in whose royal hands this letter will be placed when this matter is discussed in the Council, so that your Majesty may order it to be accomplished. May our Lord preserve your royal person, and give you the years and happiness that we all desire and need.”