Note 21 — ANDA’S MEMORIAL, 1768

“It is true that the Chinese could not have received worse treatment; they have always been laden with accusations of all kinds. As for their being of no benefit to the country, this assertion is entirely contrary to the facts. The Chinese have committed abuses, it is true; but it is only right to acknowledge that they are industrious, patient, respectful, and sober; and that with such traits they must necessarily be useful to the country in which they are.” (Pardo de Tavera, note 20, p. 80.)

The feeling against the Chinese in Manila after the English invasion was very bitter, as has been already noticed; it is reflected in Viana’s official opinions, as is evident in the following (Respuestas, fol. 127v): “It is a matter of public notoriety that nearly all the Sangleys of the Parián have been traitors to God and to the king, by having offered public sacrifices to their idols, aided the English enemies, and acted basely against the entire Spanish nation. Any representations made by the said Sangleys ought therefore to be regarded with suspicion, and more especially when they are not traders; for such persons cannot carry back to China the profits of the trade, but only the fears arising from their crime.” The Chinese in question had left the Parián in the late war, and gone to their own country; and now had returned to Manila, desiring to remain there on their former footing. Viana advises that a rigorous investigation of their previous status, actions, and character be made by the government, and any of them found to have acted treasonably toward the Spaniards be punished with the utmost severity; while those who had not been traitors, but had left the Parián on account of their trading or other like reasons, ought to be fined at least fifty pesos each for having done so without permission. Again (fol. 134v) he says of a certain widow (Gabriela Josepha by name), whose dwelling had been seized on account of her supposed disloyalty, that “as she is a Sangley mestiza, there is strong reason to suspect that she is the widow of some traitor.” After the English left Manila, the Sangleys there (in number 400 to 500) were compelled to labor on the ditch and other defenses of the city, as a punishment for their previous revolt. In April, 1765, they offered to the government 12,000 pesos, as “a free donation, in view of the exhausted condition of the royal treasury;” and 8,000 pesos more to the Audiencia, in order that they might be relieved from the aforesaid labor, which sum was surrendered by the auditors to the royal exchequer. Viana recommended (Respuestas, fol. 125v, 126) that these donations be accepted, and the Sangleys relieved from the ditch-digging for such time as the 8,000 pesos would last; he estimated that the work might be completed with this sum, since the government could order that from the provinces all the criminals in the jails, and the “vagabonds and mischievous persons who abound in the villages,” should be sent in to Manila to work on the ditch—thus subserving at once the ends of justice, economy, and military defense. Viana in this paper sarcastically refers to the part taken by the Chinese in aiding the English against the Spaniards during the late war, when, he says, thousands of Sangleys performed all sorts of labors for the English, besides contributing money to aid them; he therefore considers it but just that they should now labor in the royal service, since it is quite enough favor to them that their lives have been spared by the Spaniards.—Eds. ↑