Note 20 — Chapter XIII

An interesting account of this legacy is given by Uriarte in his history of the Misericordia (q.v., ante). Lobo, a native of Viana, in Portugal, died on September 8, 1709, at Agaña in the Marianas Islands, “having executed a power of attorney for disposing of his estate, in which he left the board of the holy Misericordia as his executor, declaring his mother, Isabel Gonzales Lobo—a widow, and a resident in the said town [i.e., Viana]—the heiress of his property, in case she had survived him. If not, he named his soul as his heir, with the declaration that although he had in the said town married Victoria de Silva he had no children by her, nor had she brought him a dowry at the time and when they contracted matrimony.” The Misericordia made inquiries in Spain to ascertain whether the mother were still alive, and the wife brought in a claim for part of Lobo’s property; it also appeared that the deceased had left a sealed will with his uncle, Francisco Martinez Casados, in Viana. Not until 1723 did the papers arrive from Spain to settle the difficulties attending this will; it seems to have been decided earlier that Victoria de Silva was entitled to one-half of the property gained by Lobo during the period of their marriage [bienes gananciales], but the Misericordia refused to pay out any money until the said documents should arrive from Spain; also that board administered a large sum of money belonging to Lobo, which was lent to General Miguel Martinez at interest, and could not be repaid for several years, especially as his estate was long in probate and greatly decreased in value. “Accordingly, even if the conveyance of the share belonging to the said Victoria de Silva could have been made, there was no opportunity for it.” Nothing further is said about Victoria, but the inference is that she had by 1723 died, or dropped out of sight, or was unable to push her claims further. At all events, the Misericordia, according to Uriarte, sold the property and distributed the proceeds according to the terms of Lobo’s will—having first consulted the learned doctors of the Manila universities as to their justification in doing so, who fully sustained the board’s course; it followed, then, that their procedure was lawful and Christian, and that they were not to blame for the delays which occasioned the final disposition of the estate of Lobo. The opinion of the Jesuit university is reproduced in full; it is dated November 2, 1727, and signed by the licentiate Don Francisco Fernandez Thoribio (apparently an auditor who held the chair of civil law in the university) and Father Pedro Murillo Velarde, and is fortified by numerous citations from canons. They decide that, Lobo in his last will “having left his soul as the heir of his property, that means only the direction that all of it may and should be spent in suffrages, alms, pious foundations, and other ways which can result for the relief and welfare of his soul; and in saying that he ‘gives to the honorable steward and deputies of the Board all his own faculty, amply and sufficiently,’ he means that he leaves to the judgment of the said Board the disposal of his goods, in such manner as shall, according to the circumstances, appear most to the pleasure of God, and the welfare and relief of his soul. Accordingly, in virtue of the said power and faculty the said honorable steward and deputies have authority to proceed to the execution of the will, in the manner which we propose.” They approve of the bequests made by Lobo for three chaplaincies; for the aid of the seminary of Santa Isabel and the support of orphan girls; and for masses for the souls in purgatory. They recommend that the girls of Santa Isabel set aside the masses and prayers of a certain day for the repose of Lobo’s soul, for which shall also be said a thousand masses; and that an offering be yearly made from this estate for the aid of the home for wayward girls, in which a day shall also be observed with prayers for Lobo’s soul. No mention of Victoria de Silva is made in this opinion. ↑