Volume 37 — CHAPTER XXIX

Arrival of the new governor, Don Diego Salcedo; and of the mission of religious which came the same year.

(1663–64)

Father Fray José de Paternina, whom the Inquisitors of Méjico had appointed commissary of the Holy Office for the city of Manila, embarked with eleven of our religious; and father Fray Cristobal de Santa Mónica, of the discalced religious of our father St. Augustine, with another fine and more numerous mission—among whom was that virtuous and erudite preacher, Fray Isidoro de Jesús María, one of the best preachers of that century, whose sermons might arouse admiration in Europa. Where he surpassed, moreover, was in those that he preached, for twenty consecutive years, on the sorrows of most holy Mary. But his sermons did not have the good fortune to be printed, except the first on that subject, and a few others on other festal occasions.

Governor Don Diego was very angry at the affront that the viceroy had put upon the commander, Francisco García del Fresno, without any authority for it beyond the mere authority of viceroy. Therefore, as soon as the galleon left the port of Acapulco and had lost sight of land, he ordered the drums to be beaten, and deprived the commander Don Andrés de Medina of his office, which he restored to Francisco García. When that was learned in the royal and supreme Council of the Indias, his Majesty approved of it, and issued a new decree ordering the viceroys of Nueva España not to change the commanders or those who were to succeed in the second place [as governor]. Don Andrés de Medina, being a wise and prudent man, made no resistance, except that he retired to the quarters of the boatswain, from which he did not emerge until the galleon after many months cast anchor at Cavite.

The galleon “San José” sighted these islands late, and, as the vendavals had set in, could not make port in either Palapag or Lampón. After having suffered many storms they were obliged to make port in the most remote and unsuitable harbor—namely, that of Pasipit, in the province of Cagayán, which lies in 19 degrees north latitude. The governor, the auditors, and the two missions disembarked, and after many hardships traversed five provinces by land, three of which (Ilocos, Pampanga, and Bulacán) were in our charge, and two (Cagayán and Pangasinán) in charge of the religious of St. Dominic. Our small mission was so unfortunate that three of them died in the province of Ilocos: namely, father Fray Tomás de Villanueva, a religious already aged, of the province of Castilla; brother Fray Bartolomé de Grecia, a native of La Mancha; and father Fray Juan de Ezquerra. The other eight reached Manila after so long a journey; and these were received there [with the demonstrations] that the great lack of religious in the province demanded. They were as follows:

The father-commissary of the Holy Office, Fray José de Paternina, son of the convent of Badaya, forty years old. He became prior of Manila and Guadalupe, and died at sea in the year 1674.

Father Fray Juan García, of the convent of Burgos, and a native of Álava. He was an excellent and efficient minister in the province of Ilocos. He went to España and Roma as procurator for this province, whence he returned with a plentiful mission of religious in the year 1679. He returned to the province of Ilocos, where he died in the year 1699 with the reputation of great virtue.

Father Fray Juan de Guedeja, native of Salamanca, son of that convent, and thirty years old. He was a minister in Pampanga, and very skilful in that language. He was a religious of various capacities, and was greatly beloved for his gentleness. He was occupied in honorable posts in this province, and died in the year 1689.

Father Fray Francisco Muñoz, son of the same convent of Burgos and native of Álava, thirty years old. He was a zealous minister in the province of Ilocos, where he died in the year 1687.

Father Fray Diego Gutiérrez, native of Madrid, son of the convent of San Felipe, twenty-eight years old and eight years in the habit. He was an excellent minister in the province of Tagalos, and died in the year 1676.

Father Fray Nicolás de la Cruz, native of Zalaya, son of the convent of San Felipe, twenty-eight years old. He was a minister in the provinces of Bisayas, and died in Cebú in the year 1675.

Brother Fray Diego de la Puente, native of Madrid, son of this province, twenty-one years old. He was a minister in the province of Pampanga, and very fluent in that language. He was a religious in whom were reposed great hopes, which were disappointed by his early death in 1677.

[One of the first acts of the new governor is the taking of the previous governor’s residencia which is entrusted to Auditor Coloma. Many complaints are made by the citizens; for the government of Filipinas “as it is more absolute, is more apt to create dissatisfaction,” arising from the governor’s severity, or from envy. He is, however, cleared of all charges in Spain; and 60,000 pesos that he has been compelled to deposit are returned to him from the treasury of Mexico.]

Don Diego Salcedo commenced his government with the disaster of the return in distress of the ship “San Sabiniano,” under charge of Commander Juan de Chaves. That caused great affliction, since no galleon had succeeded in making its voyage to Nueva España in safety. But divine clemency willed that better success should be experienced by the first galleon that he despatched during his government, namely, the “San José”—the vessel in which he had come, and in which Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara returned to Nueva España. That galleon was the most fortunate of all that have been built in these islands, for it never had to put back in distress, and lasted for many years. It brought two governors to Filipinas, Don Diego de Salcedo and Don Manuel de León; besides taking back in safety the other, Don Sabiniano.

[Andrés de Medina, who had been deposed by the new governor on the high sea from his ill-gotten command, obtains permission from the latter after their arrival in the islands to go wherever he wishes, to secure treatment for the illness from which he is suffering. He has a ship prepared secretly, and goes first to Bolinao, “where he discharged and paid the rowers. With the aid of father Fray Juan de la Santísima Trinidad—a discalced Augustinian religious who was minister of that village, and afterward provincial of that province of San Nicolás—ship’s-stores and all else needed for the voyage were prepared, and they crossed the sea toward the west to the mainland of Cochinchina, where it appears that they arrived; and where the natives of that country murdered them for the sake of robbing them.” Some of their merchandise, and some of the mathematical instruments belonging to Medina are afterward offered for sale to some Portuguese who go to Cochinchina.]

Governor Don Diego de Salcedo was a man of great intelligence and wisdom, and commenced to govern to the satisfaction of all. His first measure was to place on the stocks the galleon “Nuestra Señora de la Concepción” a work of the great master, Juan Bautista Nicolás. He sent ambassadors to the surrounding kingdoms to build up the commerce which is the mainspring of the community of Manila and all these islands. He sent the commander Don Juan de Vergara to the kingdom of Camboja, accompanied by Captain Fernando Quintela, to discuss the building of galleons in that kingdom. That mission had no effect, however. He sent Don José de la Vega, a native of Manila, treasurer of the royal exchequer, a man of great intelligence and capacity, to the kingdom of Banta; and Don Francisco Enríquez de Losada to the kingdom of Siam. All complied with the obligation of their duty, which was directed to the establishment of commerce and friendly relations. He also sent Don Juan de Zalaeta to Batavia to buy anchors for his galleons, as there were no smithies in Filipinas where they could be made of the size demanded by those galleons. That commerce was very good in his time, and Captains Juan de Ergueza, Diego de Palencia, and others made repeated voyages, and brought back quantities of cinnamon and spices which are very profitable to the commerce of Nueva España. In these and other arrangements and provisions the whole year 1664 passed during which time no event of consideration, or any worth writing, occurred.