Volume 49 — DRAPER’S DEFENSE
Reading edition
Manila is the Metropolis of the Phillipine Islands, situated in a large Bay on the Island of Luconia, in the Latitude 14, 40 North, Longitude 118 East, from London, in Possession of the Spaniards, and maintained by the Crown of Spain, at the Request of the Church for propagating the Christian Faith among the Indians, for which they have a large annual Allowance from Mexico, for the Maintenance of their public Officers and Clergy, and for the support of their Convents: They are also indulged with Ships, built and navigated at the King’s Expence, to bring the said Allowance in Money: These Ships go laden with Merchandize belonging to the Inhabitants (a still further Indulgence allowed them) from Manila to Acapulca, and return with Money: The King’s is registered; and the Remainder (about as much more) a smuggling Trade, and connived at.
This trade is so very prejudicial to Old Spain, the Cargoes they send being China Silks, India Cottons, Spices, &c., for the Use of the People in America, that the Cadiz and Bayone Companies have frequently presented the strongest Memorials and Remonstrances to the King, setting forth the Damage sustained by it, but without any Success, the Church always getting the better of them.
In Consequence of Orders from Europe to attack Manila on the War with Spain, the Squadron and Troops sailed from Madrass the First of August, 1762, and arrived in the Bay of Manila the 24th of September following; and after summoning the Town to surrender, and receiving for Answer their Resolution to defend it, the Troops were immediately landed, and began the Siege. A breach being made the 6th of October, we stormed and took the City, on which the principal Inhabitants retired into the Citadel, but sensible they could not hold it long, sent out a Flag of Truce, desiring to capitulate. The Terms offered were, on paying “Four Millions of Dollars, they were to have their Churches, Convents, Palaces, and other public Buildings, with the Town preserved, the Plundering stopped, with the free exercise of their Religion, and other Liberties; otherwise to be Prisoners of War, and put on Board the Squadron, and sent to the Coast of India as such.”
As soon as the Place was in Possession of the East India Company, the Spaniards perceived the King’s Officers had no further Power over them, and therefore stopped any further Collections toward the Payment; and from the Excess of Lenity hitherto shown them, soon grew insolent, broke every Part of the Capitulation by retiring into the Country and joining Anda, one of the Royal Audience, who had taken up Arms, and proclaimed himself Captain General, while their Priests and Friars publicly exhorted Rebellion, and preached it meritorious to take up Arms and destroy us.
And these people have still furthermore the Impudence to charge us with an Infringment of the Capitulation, and the Effrontery to claim the Santissima Trinidad, which was taken above 200 Miles from Manila by two of his Majesty’s Ships, who knew nothing of the Surrender of the Place, nor was in any Shape mentioned or included in the Capitulation, having sailed on her Voyage seven Weeks previous to our Arrival, as may be seen by the Capitulation annexed hereto.
It is true they have given Bills on the King their Master for Part of the Ransom, which he does not acknowledge they had a Right to draw, and therefore refuses Payment of. But surely I may with Equity be permitted to add, that as he allows them a very large Sum annually for their Support, and has again put the Place into their Possession, is he not bound in Honour and strict Justice to oblige his Subjects to make good their solemn Covenant and Capitulation, having the Means so fully in his Power?
The Account of Ransom stands correctly thus:
dollars r. d. dollars r. d.
Ransom agreeable to Capitulation 4,000,000 0 0
Received from the public Funds and Collections 515,802 3 10
Plunder taken from the Seamen and Soldiers 26,623 0 0 542,425 3 10
Remains due to the Captors 3,457 574 4 2
One third of which is the Proportion belonging to the East India Company.
The King’s Instructions were, if we succeeded in the Conquest of Manila, to deliver up the Fortifications, with the Cannon, Stores and Ammunition, to the East India Company, until his Majesty’s Pleasure should be signified with Regard to the future Dispositions of the said Conquests, &c.
[Here follow the “Conditions” and “Proposals,” q.v., ante, pp. 75–80.]
[At the end of the copy of this book from which we publish is written by hand: “with Admiral Cornish’s Compliments.”]
COLONEL DRAPER’S ANSWER TO THE SPANISH ARGUMENTS
My Lord,
Armed with that Boldness which Innocence inspires, and the Consciousness of having done my Duty, both as an Officer, and a Man of Honour and Humanity; I presume again to lay before your Lordship my Answer to the Spanish Ambassador’s Memorial.
This Reply is something more copious than the former, which I had the Honour of presenting to your Lordship in March last: The new Arguments that have been urged to evade Payment, requiring fresh Reasons to endeavour to enforce it.
I was in great Hopes, that the good Faith, Honour, and Punctuality of the Spanish Nation, would have made this Publication unnecessary. But finding, that they have absolutely refused Payment of the Ransom Bills, drawn upon their Treasury by the Governor of Manila, and do now claim the Restitution of the Galeon, I am constrained, for the Sake of those brave Men, to whom I am obliged and indebted for my Success, to assert their Rights, in the best Manner I am able.
Many of them, my Lord, from the too usual and sanguine Hopes of their Profession, have already anticipated their supposed Profits, and may live to repent their fatal Success in a Jail; unless the powerful Intercession of the Government will rescue them from impending Misery or Destruction. They vainly look up to me for that Protection, which in their Names, I again request from your Lordship’s good Offices.
My Silence, perhaps, may be misconstrued; it may be suspected that I have sacrificed the deluded Partners of my Expedition, to private and base Considerations; (for something of a dark and private Treaty has been whispered about) but, I thank Heaven! my Behaviour has been such as will bear the Light of Day; and the all-searching Eye of Truth.
I have the Honour to be, my Lord, With great Respect and Esteem, Your most obedient, humble Servant,
William Draper
Therefore the said Capitulation ought to be void, because it was signed by force; and because General Draper first violated and broke the Capitulation, by permitting the City to be pillaged. Consequently, that Capitulation only, which was proposed by the Governor, accepted of, and signed by Admiral Cornish and General Draper, upon the seventh of October, ought to be considered and respected in this Affair.
The First Article of which grants to the Inhabitants of Manila, the peaceable and quiet Possession of all their Effects; the Fourth and Sixth grant them the Liberty of Commerce, under the Protection of his Britannic Majesty.
Refutation
It is a known and universal Rule of War amongst the most civilized Nations, that Places taken by Storm, without any Capitulation, are subject to all the Miseries that the Conquerors may chuse to inflict.
Manila, my Lord, was in this horrid Situation; of Consequence the Lives of the Inhabitants, with all belonging to them, were entirely at our Mercy. But Christianity, Humanity, the Dignity of our Nation, and our own Feelings as Men, induced us not to exert the utmost Rigours of the Profession, against those wretched Suppliants; although my own Secretary, Lieutenant Fryar, had been murdered, as he was carrying a Flag of Truce to the Town. The Admiral and I told the Archbishop and principal Magistrates, that we were desirous to save so fine a City from Destruction, ordered them to withdraw, consult, and propose such Terms of Compensation as might satisfy the Fleet and Army, and exempt them from Pillage, and its fatal Consequences.
The Proposals they gave in, were the very same, which the Spaniards most artfully call a Second Capitulation; and were afterwards agreed to, and confirmed by us (with a few Restrictions) but at that time were so unsuitable to their desperate Situation, that we rejected them as unsatisfactory and inadmissible. As Conquerors, we took the Pen, and dictated those Terms of the Ransom which the Spaniards thought proper to submit to; for they had the Alternative, either to be passive under the Horrors of a Pillage, or compound for their Preservation; they accepted the latter.
The Objection and Pretence of Force and Violence may be made use of to evade any military Agreements whatsoever, where the two Parties do not treat upon an Equality; for who, in War, will submit to an inconvenient and prejudicial Compact, unless from Force? But have the Spaniards forgot their own Histories? Or will they not remember the just Indignation expressed against Francis the First, who pleaded the like Subterfuge of Force and Violence, to evade the Treaty made after the Battle of Pavia, and his Captivity?
By the same fallacious Sophistry, a State may object to the Payment of the Ransoms of Ships taken at Sea, and to Contributions levied in a Country which is the Seat of War. But it is always allowed, that in such Cases, a Part must be sacrificed to save the Whole; and surely, when by the Laws of War, we were entitled to the Whole, it was a great Degree of Moderation to be contented with a Part.
As my own Character, both as an Officer, and a Man of Honour, is so wickedly attacked by this unjust Accusation, I must beg Leave to state the whole Affair, in its true Light; and do appeal for its Veracity to the Testimonies of every Officer and Soldier, who served in the Expedition, and to all of the Marine Department.
Many of the Houses had been abandoned by the frightened Inhabitants, and were burst open by the Violence of Shot, or Explosion of Shells. Some of these were entered and pillaged. But all military Men know, how difficult it is to restrain the Impetuosity of Troops in the first Fury of an Assault, especially when composed of such a Variety and Confusion of People, who differed as much in Sentiments and Language, as in Dress and Complexion.
Several Hours elapsed, before the principal Magistrates could be brought to a Conference; during that Interval, the Inhabitants were undoubtedly great Sufferers. But, my Lord, this Violence was antecedent to our Settling the Terms of the Capitulation, and by the Laws of War, the Place, with all it’s Contents, became the unquestionable Property of the Captors, until a sufficient Equivalent was given in Lieu of it. That several Robberies were committed, after the Capitulation was signed, is not to be denied; for Avarice, Want, and Rapacity, are ever insatiable: But that the Place was pillaged for Forty Hours, and that Pillage authorized and permitted by me, is a most false and infamous Assertion. The People of Manila, my Lord, have imposed upon their Court, by a Representation of Facts, which never existed; and to make such a groundless Charge the Reason for setting aside, and evading a solemn Capitulation, is a Proceeding unheard of until now, and as void of Decency, as Common Sense.
The following Extracts from the Publick Orders, given out the very Day we entered the Town, will sufficiently convince your Lordship, of my constant Attention to the Preservation of those ungrateful People; who have almost taught me to believe, that Humanity and Compassion are Crimes.
Extracts
October 6th, Manila.
“The utmost Order and Regularity to be observed.
“All Persons guilty of Robberies, or Plundering the Churches and Houses, will be hanged without Mercy.
“The Guards to send frequent Patroles both Day and Night, to prevent all Disorders.
“The Drummers to beat to Arms, the Officers to assemble with their Men, and call the Rolls.
“The Adjutants to go around the Town, and take an exact Account of the Safe-guards, posted for the Protection of the Convents, Churches, and Houses.
October 7th.
“All the Inhabitants of Manila are to be looked upon and treated as His Britannick Majesty’s Subjects: They having agreed to pay Four Millions of Dollars, for the Ransom and Preservation of their City and Effects.
I hope the foregoing Extracts, are sufficient to vindicate my Character. Moreover, the strictest Search was made on board the Squadron by the Admiral’s Orders, and amongst the Troops, to recover what had been stolen and secreted; and all the Money, Plate, and Jewels, so recovered, were put into the Treasury, and allowed, and accepted of as Part of the Ransom.
How it has been fulfilled, has been but too clearly manifested, by the Court of Spain’s Refusal to pay the Two Millions of Dollars, for which we trusted to the Honour and Punctuality of that Nation. Until that Sum is paid, it is impossible even to name the Galeon.
Postscript
It is now pretended that the Spanish Governor exceeded his Powers, that he had no Authority to draw Bills, of such a Nature, upon his Court: But will not unforseen Events, demand unforseen Expedients? In Europe, where the Distance will allow of it, it is undoubtedly the Duty of every Governor or Commander, to consult his Sovereign (if an Opportunity offers) before he presumes to give his Consent to, or ratify any Agreement that may be prejudicial or dishonourable to his Crown. But can such Formalities be required or observed at the Distance of half the Globe? The Persons entrusted with such remote Commands, must be left to their own Discretion; to the Fertility or Barrenness of their own Invention and Resources. A State may undoubtedly punish the Man who is found to have betrayed its Dignity or Interests; but at all Events, it must abide by his Decisions, how prejudicial soever.
We find in History, that the Romans, have sometimes delivered up to the Enemy such of their Generals, who had made a shameful or disadvantageous Peace, without the Consent or Approbation of the Senate: But that Practice has been universally condemned upon the truest Reasons; because the Delivery of an Individual could never be adequate to the Advantages they might acquire by the breaking of a bad Treaty; or compensate their Enemies for the Opportunities and Advantages they might give up, or lose, upon the Faith of such an Agreement.
I flatter myself that the Spaniards will not copy that great Nation in its Defects, but imitate its Virtues.
It is also asserted, that the Ransom Bills were given and accepted only to preserve the private Property of the Inhabitants; But I do most solemnly aver, my Lord, that the Ransom was general, as well as particular. Can Six Hundred Pieces of Brass and Iron Ordnance? can the Fortifications of the Citadel and Town of Manila, with those of the Citadel and Port of Cavite, the publick and royal Magazines, Store-houses, Docks, &c. be called private Property? They belonged, most undoubtedly, to his Catholic Majesty, and by the stern Rules of our Profession, might have been destroyed, had the Admiral and I been disposed to have carried on the War with that Barbarity, of which other Nations have more than once set us the Example: But we considered rather how Englishmen should act, than what our Enemies might have suffered. But let us, for a Moment, admit that the Bills were drawn for the sake of preserving private Property only: Even in that Case the Spaniards are bound in Honour to oblige the People of Manila to pay the Money; and they are now very able to discharge the Debt, since they have received all the Treasure of the Philippina Galeon.
Our Court has shewed them a most bright and laudable Example, by taking Care that all the Ransom Bills, due even to the Enemy’s Privateers, should be most punctually paid, since the Conclusion of the Peace. Surely such upright Proceedings on our Side will infuse the same religious Observance of good Faith in all concerned in this Business. Otherwise we must say with Grotius, ab Injustitiâ excusari nequeunt, qui, cum pacta improbent, tamen retinent, quæ, sine pactis non haberent. “They cannot avoid the Imputation of Injustice, who disapprove of Treaties, and yet keep Possession of what they could not have been possessed of, but by the Means of those Treaties.”
We have an indisputable Right to Manila, and all its Dependencies, if the Ransom Bills are not faithfully paid.
I do therefore, my Lord, in the Names of all concerned (the Navy, Army, and East India Company) implore the Assistance and Protection of the Government, and its effectual good Offices, to maintain our most just Rights, and recover the Part of the Ransom as yet unpaid.
[Here follow the “Proposals” and “Conditions,” q.v., ante, pp. 75–80.]
Between the Admiral, General, and Commodore, ⅛th £.14120 12 9
To the Captains of the navy, and Field-officers of the army, 2⁄8th, each 1539 0 8 ½
To the Lieutenants and Masters of the navy, and Captains of the army, ⅛th, each 165 4 8
To the warrant-officers of the navy, and subalterns of the army, ⅛th, each 80 0 5 ½
To the petty officers of the navy, and non-comm. officers of the army, ⅛th, each 30 0 1
To the seamen and soldiers, 2⁄8ths, each 6 0 3