Volume 42 — Chapter XX
Reading edition
On the third day after the solemn entry of the governor, the religious of the mission here by father Fray Álvaro de Benavente made their entrance into the convent of Manila; and on July 28 a private session of the definitory was held in order to admit and adopt them into this province. The following is a list of them:
1. Father Fray Diego Bañales, a native of Coruña, and a son of the convent at Santiago; aged forty years, and twenty-three in the order; a preacher and confessor. He came as confessor to the governor’s wife; was prior of Guadalupe, a definitor, and president of the chapter; and died at Manila, on January 29, 1706.
2. The father reader Fray Carlos Terrazas, a son of the house at Valencia, thirty-two years old and having professed sixteen years before; he was minister in the Pintados or Bisayas provinces, and of very great virtue; he died in the convent of Dumarao, on October 18, 1694.
3. The father reader Fray Nicolás Bernet, a native of the town of Epila, and son of the convent at Zaragoza; twenty-seven years old, and a professed for ten years; he was prior of Cebú; and died at Manila, on May 1, 1701.
4. The father preacher Fray José de Ribera, a native of Madrid, and son of the convent of San Felipe; forty years of age, and twenty-three in the order; was minister in the provinces of Tagalos; and died at Pasig on May 21, 1706.
5. The father preacher Fray Gelasio Giménez, a son of the convent at Valencia; twenty-seven years of age, and ten and a half in the order; was minister in the province of Ilocos; and died there on August 12, 1694.
6. The father reader Fray José Carbonel, son of the convent at Valencia, and master of the students therein; twenty-five years old, and nine in the order; was minister in the province of Ilocos; and died at the village of Candong, on March 19, 1711.
8. The father preacher Fray Nicolás Servent, a native of Valencia, son of the house at Alcoy; aged twenty-eight years, and ten in the order. He is still living, a minister in the province of Pampanga, the prior of Macabebe.
9. The father preacher Fray José de Aranda, a native of Estella, and son of the convent at Zaragoza; aged thirty-one years, and five in the order; was minister in the provinces of Tagalos; and died at Manila, on October 11, 1698.
10. The father reader Fray Blas Díaz, son of the convent at Zaragoza; aged twenty-three years, and seven and a half in the order; he was minister in the provinces of Tagalos, and returned to España.
11. The father preacher Fray Pedro Beltrán, a native of Valencia, and son of the house at Alcira; aged thirty-two years, and six in the order; he is now living, a minister in the provinces of Bisayas.
12. Father Fray Pedro Baldo, son of the convent at Valencia; aged twenty-six years, and nine in the order; was minister in Bisayas, where he died on April 27, 1716, while prior of the convent at Dumarao.
13. The father preacher Fray Juan Barruelo, a native of Candelario, in the bishopric of Plasencia, and son of the convent at Salamanca; aged twenty-four years, and six in the order; was minister in China for several years, and at the present time is definitor and prior of the convent of Apalit in Pampanga.
14. The brother chorister Fray Tomás Ortiz, a native of Dueñas, and son of the convent at Valladolid; aged twenty-two years, and three in the order; was minister in China eighteen years, and vicar-provincial of that mission; afterward he was prior of the convent at Manila, and still lives, the present provincial of this province.
15. The brother chorister Fray Diego Megía, a native of Madrid, and son of the convent of San Felipe; twenty-one years of age, and three and a half in the order; was minister in the provinces of Tagalos, where he died as prior of the convent of Tanauan, on October 4, 1699.
16. The brother chorister Fray José Ruiz, son of the convent at Burgos, and native of that city; aged twenty-two years; is minister of the province of Ilocos, and has been visitor of this province.
17. The brother [chorister?] Fray José de Echebel, son of the convent at Zaragoza; aged twenty-two years, and six in the order; was a minister in Bisayas; and died about March, 1706.
18. The brother chorister Fray Facundo Trepat, a native of Caspe, son of the convent at Zaragoza; aged twenty years, and three and a half in the order; has been definitor, and is now a minister in the provinces of Bisayas.
19. The brother chorister Fray José Bosquet, a native of Valencia, and son of the house at Epila; twenty years of age, and two in the order; is a minister in the provinces of Bisayas, and now definitor of this province.
20. The brother chorister Fray Guillermo Sebastián, a son of the house at Vinaroz; aged nineteen years, and two and a half in the order; was a minister in the province of Ilocos, and died as prior of Bantay, on December 13, 1698.
21. The brother chorister Fray Eugenio Costales, a son of the convent of Sevilla; aged twenty-one years, and three in the order; is now a minister in the province of Ilocos.
22. The brother novice Fray Juan Hidalgo López, a native of Extremadura; aged twenty-eight years; is a minister in the province of Pampanga.
23. The brother novice Fray Juan Núñez, a native of Medina del Campo; aged twenty-three years; was a minister in China for many years; and at present is a minister in the province of Ilocos, and its vicar-provincial.
24. The brother novice Fray Fernando Ricote, a native of Asturias; aged twenty-eight years; was a minister in Bisayas; and died at Cebú in the year 1698.
25. The brother novice Fray Isidro López, a native of Madrid; aged seventeen years; was a minister in the provinces of Pampanga and Tagalos; and died while he was visitor, and prior of Guiguinto, on February 21, 1716.
26. The lay brother Fray Francisco de Sevilla, a son of the convent at Játiva; aged thirty-one years, and five in the order; he was eminent in virtue, prayer, and mortification, and rendered much service to the convent of Manila, where he met a pious death on March 31, 1711.
27. The lay brother Fray Nicolás Codura, a son of the convent at Epila; aged thirty years, and seven in the order; he lives in the convent at Manila, where he has rendered good service, and still does so.
Considering that in these islands there is no equipment of iron-works for making anchors, and that the Dutch of Batavia, as they are so ingenious, have abundance of all that pertains to navigation, he sent Don Pedro de Ariosolo with title of ambassador, accompanied by some Spaniards—Don Martín de Tejada, Don José Pestaño de Cueva, Don Juan de Tejada, and others, among the prominent citizens of Manila. These envoys were very well received in Batavia, and so well did they succeed in their errand that they brought back many and excellent anchors, which were used for many years. This transaction was repeated afterward by Governor Don Domingo de Zabalburu, who sent for the same purpose General Miguel Martínez, Don Gregorio Escalante, Don Juan de San Pedro, and others, whose errand was as successful as that of the former envoys, through the good management and great liberality of the ambassador. Such endeavors have not always had the desired effect; for in the past year of 1717 the present governor, Mariscal Don Fernando Bustillo Bustamente y Rueda, sent General Don Fernando de Angulo as ambassador to Batavia to procure some anchors, but he returned without them.
The first galleon that Don Fausto despatched for Nueva España was the “Santo Cristo de Burgos,” in charge of General Don Francisco de Arcocha, his pilot being Lazcano; the voyage was a prosperous one, and the galleon returned in the following year of 1692, in charge of the captain of mounted cuirassiers Don Bernardo de Bayo, who was sent by the viceroy Conde de Galves, who took away that office from Don Francisco de Arcocha. It is said that the cause of this change was resentment on the part of the said Conde because he had in the year 1689 sent Don Gabriel de Arnedo y Escudero, a gentleman of his household, as commander of the galleon—because the commander who had come with the ship, Lucas Mateo de Urquiza, had remained at Acapulco sick (not being willing to follow the second route, which Don Pedro de Ariosolo was taking)—and Don Gabriel de Arnedo y Escudero had returned in the said galleon “Santo Cristo” as a passenger and not as a commander (although he died on the way); and, annoyed at this, the viceroy had taken the office from Don Francisco de Arcocha and given it to Don Bernardo de Bayo. It would have been better if the galleon had not come at all, for it was wrecked on the return trip, as we shall see later.
While this loss was so great, one of the most grievous losses that these islands have suffered, it was made worse by the non-arrival of the galleon that was expected that year, the “Santo Cristo de Burgos,” in charge of General Don Bernardo Ignacio del Bayo—who, as we have said, was sent by the viceroy Conde de Galves in the year of 1691, and returned in the same ship the following year; and it put back to the port of Solsogón, after having endured great tempests. It remained at Solsogón in order to continue its voyage the year of 1693, as it did; but it not only failed to reach port, but was wrecked, without our gaining the least knowledge of the place where that occurred. There were some suspicions that it was destroyed by fire (a danger for which there is on the sea no help), for at one of the Marianas Islands were found fragments of burned wood, which were sent [here] by the governor of Filipinas, Don José Madrazo, and were recognized to be of woods that are found in these islands only. Careful search was made for many years along the coasts of South America, and in other regions; but not the least news of this ship has been received. Among the persons who were lost in this galleon was a religious who was most highly esteemed by this province for his great virtue and learning; this was the father reader Fray Francisco de Ugarte, a Vizcayan, a native of Marquina, who came as superior of the mission which reached this province in the year 1684; he had been sent in this galleon to España, as procurator of the province, to ask for a new reënforcement of missionaries. Much could be said of the great virtue of this religious, of his frequent prayer and mortification, his poverty, his extraordinary humility and affability—which I omit, in order not to seem too partial to him, or expose myself to the censure which I have seen incurred by many historians among the regulars, who have indulged in so excessive praises of this sort that they expose themselves to the charge of being too partial, because the persons eulogized are of their own houses.
Don Andrés de Arriola was afterward a knight of the Order of Santiago, commander of the Windward fleet, and governor of Vera Cruz and of Pançacola, where he rendered great services to his Majesty King Don Felipe V—his great courage enabling him to furnish large supplies of silver [to the king], despite the perils of the sea and the enemies of the crown, in the time when the armed fleets of Inglaterra and Holanda were infesting the seas and obstructing the commerce with America.