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Cc^ ^y'^oj 



Hortiadii CoUege Iftirarp 




BRIGHT LEGACY 

One half the iaeoma ftom this Legaqr, vhich vat ra- 
cdrcd la iSto aadcr the vUl of 

JONATHAN BROWN BRIGHT 
of Waltham, Manachoaette. b to be cxpeaded for book* 
for the College Library. The other half of the iaeome 
It deroted to teholanhlpi in Hanrard Unlvenlty for the 
beneit of deacendaata or 

HENRY BRIGHT, JR., 
who died at Watertovn, Mattachatetia, in i6l6w la the 
abeeacc of inch deeceadaata, other perMnt are eligible 
to the tcholanhipe. The will reqalret that thb aaaoanco- 
meat ehall be aude la every book added to the Library 
aader Ita ptorltioaa. 




TH£ PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

1493-1898 



:rhe PHILIPPINE 
ISLANDS^i493-i898 

Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the 
Islands and their Peoples, their History and Records of 
the Catholic Missions, as related in contemporaneous 
Books and Manuscripts, showing the Political, Eco- 
nomic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of those 
Islands from their earliest relations with European 
to the close of the Nineteenth Century 



TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINALS 

a 

Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and 
James Alexander Robertson, with historical intro- 
duction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord 
Bourne. With maps, portraits and other illustrations 

> / 

Folume LI — 1801-1840 




The Arthur H. Clark Company 
Cleveland, Ohio 
MCMVII 



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COPYllIGHT 1907 
THI ARTHUR H, CLARK COMPAWr 

All ftlORTf RISIRTED 



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41^ 



CONTENTS OF VOLUME LI 

Preface ii 

Documents of 1 801-1840 

Events in Filipinas, 1 801 -1840. [Com- 
piled from Montero y Vidal's Historia 
de FilipinasS\ -23 

Remarks on the Phillippine Islands, 1819- 

22. "An Englishman;" Calcutta, 1828 73 
Reforms needed in Filipinas. Manuel Ber- 
naldez Pizarro; Madrid, April 26, 1827 182 

Bibliographical Data 275 

Appendix 

Representation of Filipinas in Cortes. 

[Compiled from various sources.] . 279 

List of the archbishops of Manila, 1581- 
1898. [Compiled from various sources.] 298 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Chart of China Sea and the Philippines, 1794, 
in The complete East India pilots printed for 
Laurie & Whittle (London, 1800), ii, map 
114; photographic facsimile from copy in 
Library of Congress. Frontispiece 

Plan of a portion of Manila, showing new works 
constructed December 15, 1770- June 15, 1771, 
drawn by the engineer Dionisio Kelly, 1771 ; 
photographic facsimile from MS. map (in 
colors), in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla 29 

Chart of the port of San Luis, in the Marianas 
Islands, 1738; photographic facsimile from 
original manuscript by Adjutant Domingo 
Garrido de Malavar, in Archivo general de 
Indias, Sevilla 67 

Plan of the environs, and a portion of the coast 
and bay adjacent to the city of Manila, 
1779 (?) ; photographic facsimile from orig- 
inal MS. map (in colors), in Archivo general 
de Indias, Sevilla . . .161 

Plan showing outer works of Manila, drawn by 
the engineer Tomas Sanz ; photographic fac- 
simile from original MS. map (in colors), in 
Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla - ^93 



PREFACE 

In the present volume^ a brief outline of events in 
Filipinas during the period 1801-40 serves as a back- 
ground and setting for the following surveys of po- 
liticaly social, and economic conditions in the islands 
during that period. Of these, one is made by an 
English naval officer who had visited the islands, 
another by a Spanish official of long experience, and 
a third (presented in synopsis) by a merchant famil- 
iar with the commerce of the Orient and the Ameri- 
cas. These different accounts (written at nearly the 
same time) furnish most valuable knowledge of the 
Philippines and their people, and their needs and 
possibilities; and at the same time they reflect the 
more enlightened and liberal ideas of policy and 
administration which had gained a foothold in Spain, 
and which the recent loss of her other colonies had 
made her more willing to put in practice in Filipinas. 

The leading events in Philippine history during 
the first four decades of the nineteenth century are 
briefly epitomized from Montero y Vidal's Historia 
de Filipinas. Governor Aguilar opposes the ap- 
pointment of native secular priests to the curacies, 
regarding them as unfit for these posts. During his 
term, he introduces public street-lighting, paved side- 
walks, and vaccination in Manila, and various other 



I a THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

beneficial measures ; he attempts, but with little suc- 
cess, to check the piracies of the Moros, and is com- 
pelled to desist therefrom by news of the war between 
England and Spain, and the consequent danger to 
Manila. At his death (August 8, 1806) an officer 
named Folgueras becomes governor ad interim ; he 
strengthens the fortifications of Manila, and quells a 
revolt in IIocos. He is succeeded (March 4, 18 10) 
by the new proprietary governor, Gonzalez Aguilar, 
who promotes cattle-raising in the provinces, quells 
another insurrection in IIocos, publishes the first 
newspaper in Filipinas, and proclaims the Spanish 
constitution of 181 2. In 18 13 arrives his successor, 
Jose de Gardoqui, whose rule is by no means easy; 
for he is opposed by corrupt royal officials, and has 
to encounter revolts among the Indians caused by the 
publication of the new Spanish constitution - disturb- 
ances which are aggravated by the despotic acts of 
Fernando VII on regaining his crown ( 1814) . Gar- 
doqui prohibits the introduction and use of opium in 
the islands, strengthens the fortifications of Cavite, 
puts down banditti and smugglers, and in many other 
ways benefits the colony; he dies in December, 18 16, 
and is succeeded by Folgueras. The latter revives 
the Economic Society, and founds a nautical acad- 
emy. In 1820 occurs the first epidemic of cholera 
morbus, which is unfortunately accompanied by a 
massacre of the foreigners in Manila, executed by 
the credulous Indians who have been persuaded by 
malicious persons that the pest was caused by the 
foreigners having poisoned the waters. Martinez, 
who becomes governor on October 30, 1822, brings 
over a number of Spanish officers for the Filipinas 
regiments; this creates jealousy among the officers 



iSoi-i&to] PREFACE 1 3 

who had come from America, which results in a 
mutiny among them and part of the troops in Manila 
(June, 1823) I ^^^ ^s put down, and the leaders are 
shot An expedition is sent against the Moros 
(1824), which lays waste their shores. 

On October 14, 1825, Martinez is replaced by 
Mariano Ricafort as governor; the latter is also 
made chief of the treasury. The parish curacies are, 
by a royal decree in 1826, restored to the regular 
orders. In 1827 the naval bureau is reestablished 
at Manila, under Pascual Enrile, who succeeds Rica- 
fort as governor in 1830. (Both these men were 
among the most illustrious rulers of Filipinas, on ac- 
count of their ability, uprightness, and zeal for the 
public welfare.) In 1828 the insurgent mountaineers 
of Bohol are finally subdued, and reduced to villages. 
Various royal decrees are obtained for the promotion 
of agriculture, manufactures, and other industries; 
and for obliging the Chinese to live in villages, like 
the Indians. Several important reforms in the ad- 
ministration and the social conditions of the colony 
are instituted by these two governors, and Enrile is 
especially active in building highways and providing 
other means of communication to bring the inland 
and the maritime provinces into communication with 
each other. 

In 1836, Governor Salazar has to enforce the laws 
forbidding the sale of firearms and powder to the 
enemies of Spain; he also makes a treaty of com- 
merce with the Joloans, which does not, however, 
restrain them from piracy. In 1837, he urgently re- 
quests the Spanish government to send more Spanish 
friars to the islands as parish priests. The political 
disturbances in Spain at this time are reflected in 



14 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL si 

Filipinas, and a strong Carlist faction oppose Gov- 
ernor Camba (who assumes that office in August, 
1837)1 and finally procure his recall to Spain, little 
more than a year afterward. Under his successor, 
Lardizdbal, the status of the Chinese in the islands 
is determined, provision is made for the official cen- 
sorship of books brought to Filipinas, a school of 
commerce is established at Manila and various im- 
portant changes are made in financial and municipal 
administration. In February, 1841, Lardizabal is 
succeeded by Marcelino de Oraa. 

In 1828 was published at Calcutta an interesting 
book entitled, Remarks on the Phillippine Islands, 
1 819 to 1 822 J "by an Englishman '- as he states 
therein, a naval officer; this is here presented, with 
additional annotations from various sources. It throws 
much light on conditions in Manila at that time, and 
is of especial value as coming from an enlightened 
foreigner, rather than a Spaniard. He praises the 
natural resources and advantages of the islands, and 
makes various comments on their climate (which " is 
remarkably temperate and salubrious " ) , diseases^ 
and population; he then classifies this last, describ- 
ing in succession the various races, white, colored, 
and mixed, who inhabit the islands. He defends the 
natives from accusations which have been made 
against them, and considers their defects as the na- 
tural result of the oppression and injustice which 
they have suffered, and the general insecurity of 
property in the islands. Robbery and piracy prevail 
there, outside of the new Spanish towns; and even 
in Manila there are numerous acts of pillage com- 
mitted by the lawless soldiery. Justice is neglected 
or corrupted ; and the Church exacts so many holi- 



i8ox.x84ol PREFACE 1 5 

daySy pilgrimages^ etc., that the natives are obliged 
to neglect their fields, and tend to become idle and 
dissipated; they also are burdened by many church 
taxes and impositions. Our writer proceeds to de- 
scribe the government of the islands, general, muni- 
cipal, and provincial, and the abuses prevalent in the 
last-named; then the ecclesiastical administration, 
the character of the clergy, and their influence over 
the natives. The sources of the colonial revenue are 
enumerated, with the chief branches of expense, the 
main part of this being for the military and naval 
forces, both of which are mismanaged, ill-disci- 
plined, poorly paid, and of course very ineflicient. -^ 
Agriculture is " yet in its infancy," as a result partly ^ 
of the oppression of the natives, partly of the expul- r* 
sion of the Jesuits -who did more than any others to4^ 
civilize the Indians -and partly of the restrictions ^ 
on commerce, which now are less oppressive ; yet ^ 
the country is almost incredibly fertile. The im- 
plements used in tillage are described, with the meth- " 
ods of cultivating the chief products, and that of ^ 
refining the sugar produced there; and the reasons 
are given why Europeans have been unable to engage . 
in agriculture with success. The mineral products 
of the islands are enumerated. Commerce is, like 
agriculture, still undeveloped ; our author attributes 
this to the Acapulco trade, to the prohibitory system 
pursued by Spain and to the monopoly allowed to 
the Philippine Company, and criticises Spain's policy 
toward her colonies. He then describes the condition 
of Philippine commerce, with statistics of 1818; and 
the difficulties under which it labors -especially the 
insecurity of property and contracts, the fraudulent 
dealings of the Chinese merchants; and the neglect 



1 6 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

of government to prevent smuggling or to make 
suitable provision for reexportation of goods -which 
have prevented Manila from being one of the great 
centers of Oriental trade. 

The second part of these " Remarks " is devoted to 
Manila; a description of the city, its fortifications 
(which our writer considers very inefficient on the 
side next to Pasig River), streets, public buildings, 
mode of constructing houses, and the public ceme- 
tery ; and social conditions there, which are unfavor- 
able to morality and the development of chatacter. 
The author criticises the colonial policy of Spain, 
and regards her tenure of rule over Filipinas as pre- 
carious, especially as discontent and ideas of political 
freedom are spreading among the Indians. 

Of unusual interest and value is a memorial written 
(April 26, 1827) by Manuel Bernaldez Pizarro, on 
the ^' causes which antagonize the security and prog- 
ress of the Filipinas Islands,^' and which bring about 
their backward condition, with the measures which 
he judges desirable for their correction. As a high 
official in Filipinas during seventeen years, his opin- 
ions are of much importance, especially as he was 
evidently a clear-sighted and upright statesman, a 
keen observer, and a logical thinker - albeit he was, 
like the majority of government officials, still much 
under the sway of autocratic and regalistic notions - 
and was fertile in ideas and projects for improving 
the condition, of Filipinas. The memorial is method- 
ically arranged in sections, relating to military 
affairs, Moro piracies, land-titles, Spanish vs. native 
clerics, the residence of foreigners in the islands, 
character of government officials, administration of 
justice, taxes and revenue, commerce, agriculture, 
manufactures, etc. 



1801-1840J PREFACE 1 7 

On each of these subjects he presents a cancise state- 
ment of present conditions and tendencies, followed 
by his recommendations for change, refomi, or sup- 
pression. In the army, the principal difficulty lies 
in the corps of officers, partly Peninsular and partly 
native or American, with Indian subalterns; these 
classes have almost nothing in common, and the latter 
are dangerously near to the Indians, or are spoiled 
by the tendencies of the country. Provision should 
be made, therefore, for sending officers from Spain 
to fill all posts of command. Instead of enlarging 
the military force, a central location (afterward in- 
dicated as Cavite) should be selected, and rendered 
impregnable to assault, in which the government and 
the Spanish population of Manila might be safe in 
any revolution or other dangerous emergency; Ma- 
nila is not sufficiently fortified for such a purpose. 
The piracies of the Moros are ruining the islands; 
the only way to check them is to conquer Jolo and 
Mindanao with a powerful expedition, and colonize 
them from the Visayas. The Indian villages are 
often much too large to be properly directed in either 
spiritual or civil matters, and should be made smal- 
ler, with stricter police patrol. Measures should be 
taken to authenticate and confirm the titles to landed 
property, which at present are confused and unre- 
liable. Much harm is caused by the ignorance, 
unfitness, and immorality of the Indian and mestizo 
clerics; they not only neglect their priestly duties, 
but have dangerous tendencies to revolution ; as soon 
as this is practicable, all such should be replaced by 
European friars. Bernaldez descants upon their vir- 
tues and their ability to rule the Indians well, and 
advises the government "to maintain as many reli- 
gious as possible in the islands, and give them as much 



1 8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS (VoL s^ 

political authority as is consistent with their min- 
istry." Foreigners are undesirable as residents in 
FilipinaSy especially exiles, idlers, and stowaways; 
and even Spaniards from the Peninsula should be 
compelled to return thither after a certain period. 
^ Strict residencias should be required from the al- 
caldes-mayor, as many of them are unfit to hold that 
office, and commit crimes which render them danger- 
ous to the peace of the provinces. Greater care 
should be exercised in the selection of all government 
officials, in order to correct the laxity which every- 
where characterizes the administration of the islands. 
There is pressing necessity for better means of com- 
munication with the mother-country, which can best 
be promoted by encouraging her commerce with 
Filipinas. The governors and intendants should be 
obliged to furnish the reports and information about 
the country which the laws require ; and there should 
be more cooperation between the governor and the 
Audiencia. Private persons of means should be en- 
couraged and aided to undertake the enterprises 
which the country needs. Various specified abuses 
in the administration of justice should be corrected ; 
and the trading alcaldes-mayor should be replaced 
by corregidors, who should be able and experienced 
lawyers. The tributes ought to be paid in money, 
and not in kind; and this involves the need of a 
colonial money for Filipinas. The revenue taxes, 
especially those on tobacco and wine, should receive 
more attention, and these two should be extended to 
all the provinces; and the manufacture and sale of 
brandy in the islands should be restricted. The 
Chinese in the islands should be carefully classified, 
more strictly supervised by the government, and more 
heavily taxed. The rebate of duties granted on all 



180X-1840I PREFACE 19 

foreign imports at Manila is ruining the Filipinas 
manuf acturerSi whose " infant industries '' should be 
protected; and Bernaldez proposes a new schedule, 
carefully classified. The inter-island trade is ex- 
clusively in the hands of the alcaldes-mayor and the 
rich Chinese and mestizos, who should therefore pay 
a moderate tax on that lucrative commerce. A colo- 
nial currency is urgently needed. An account of the 
management of the obras pias should be demanded 
by the government, and those funds should be em- 
ployed in promoting agriculture and industry in the 
islands. The shipbuilding and mining carried on by 
the government ought to be furnished by private 
persons under contract. Agriculture is the most im- 
portant industry of Filipinas, and a feeder to its com- 
merce; its backward condition should be remedied. 
He recommends direct and unlimited commerce be-^ 
tween Spain and the islands, government encourage-*^ 
ment to large agricultural enterprises, instruction of^ 
the Indians in better methods of agriculture and the 
preparation of its products, and rewards for industry*^ 
and application on their part. The production of 
opium for the Chinese market ought to be allowed in 
Filipinas, and heavy duties collected on its exporta- 
tion. Enormous sums of money are yearly carried 
to India and China for fine cotton goods, which 
could as well be manufactured by the Filipinos if 
they knew how to dye these properly and had ma- 
chinery for spinning the cotton thread ; the govern- 
ment should take active and prompt measures to 
secure this desirable end. Closer relations should be 
established with Spain, whose government and mer- 
chants are urged to work together in behalf of this. 
Bernaldez concludes by showing "the necessity of 
forming a special code of laws for Filipinas,'' and of 



20 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. S' 

"a periodical visitation of that colony by officials 
from the Peninsula." As appendix to his memorial, 
we present a summary of a similar document, written 
at nearly the same time by a merchant of long and 
varied commercial experience in the Orient and the 
Americas. Less official and formal, but more shrewd, 
alert, and liberal, this writer presents his views, with 
much clearness and force, on the decadence of the 
islands and the means of making them more pros- 
perous and wealthy; and a comparison of these with 
the opinions of Bernaldez might well be helpful to 
the present administration of Filipinas. 

In an appendix to this volume we present a brief 
account of the three Spanish Cortes in which the 
Philippines had representation; all these sessions oc- 
curred in the early part of the nineteenth century, 
one of the most disturbed and critical periods of 
Spain's national existence. The most important 
measures of these Cortes concerning the Philippines 
were, the suppression of the Acapulco-Manila gal- 
leon and the abolition of the privileges formerly 
granted to the Compailia de Filipinas. In each of 
these assemblies efficient representation of the islands 
was barred by their distance from Spain and the 
difficulty of communication with that country, while, 
in general, political development was very backward. 
The final ruling, in the Constitution of 1837, by 
which special laws were devised for the government 
of Ultramar, appears to have been the only possible 
solution of the difficulty (at least for the Philip- 
pines). Finally, we furnish a list of the archbishops 
of Manila during the Spanish regime. 

The Editors. 

May, 1907. 



DOCUMENTS OF 1801-1840 

Events in Filipinas, 1 801 -1840. [Compiled from 

Montero y VidaL] 
Remarks on the Phillippine Islands, 1819-22. "An 

Englishman;" 1828. 
Reforms needed in Filipinas. Manuel Bemaldez 

Pizarro; April 26, 1827. 

SouRCBs: The first document is compiled from Montero y 
Vidal's Historia de Filipinas (tomo ii, pp. 360-573 ; iii, pp. 6-32) ; 
the second is reprinted from the original publication, a copy of 
which is in possession of Edward E. Ayer; the third is presented, 
pardy in synopsis, from original MSS. in the Ayer collection. 

Translations: The first and third are made by Emma Helen 
Blair. 



EVENTS IN FILIPINAS, 1 801-1840 

[At the beginning of volume l may be found a 
brief summary of events during the latter third of 
the eighteenth century, a record which is here con- 
tinued as above. As before, we epitomize from Mon- 
tero y Vidal's Hist, de Filipinos (tomo ii, pp. 360- 
573; iii, pp. 6-32), using his own language wher- 
ever practicable, usually distinguished by quotation 
marks.] 

Under Governor Aguilar the " Ordinances of good 
government," as revised by Governor Raon in 1768 
(for which sec VOL. L, pp. 191-264), were reprinted 
in the year 1801. " On September 8, 1804, Don Fray 
Juan Antonio Zulaibar, a Dominican, and formerly 
a professor in the university of Alcala, took posses- 
sion of the archbishopric of Manila." In November 
following, the governor sent despatches to the king 
explaining his action in appointing to certain cura- 
cies regular instead of secular priests, saying that 
the latter were seldom qualified for those charges. 
He said, in regard to this : ^^ No one is ignorant how 
different are the appearance and the degree of pros- 
perity of all the churches and settlements adminis- 
tered by religious from those in the villages which 
are in charge of Indian clerics. Of the latter, some 
are doubtless men of virtue and pious intentions ; but 



^4 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

in general it is notorious that, on account of their 
origin, lack of education, the very obscure condition 
in which they are reared, and the little (if any) 
knowledge that they possess, they do not inspire in 
their parishioners that respect and veneration with 
which the latter regard the religious - who, on ac- 
count of being Spaniards, possess the art of domi- 
nating the minds of the Indians, in order to maintain 
them in those conditions on which depends the pres- 
ervation of these your Majesty's dominions. The 
religious know how to guide the Indians, without 
violence, to whatever ends are expedient for both re- 
ligion and the State, as the results of never becoming 
too familiar with the natives. The Indian clerics 
not only follow the opposite course, but, lacking the 
dignity that belongs to their character as priests, they 
mingle familiarly with their parishioners not only 
in their sports, but in feasting and other things which 
are entirely unfitting; and not seldom they dress 
themselves in the same manner as do the natives, 
abandoning the very garb of their priestly estate." 
He proceeded to say that only deplorable conse- 
quences could result from the surrender of the cura- 
cies entirely to the native priests; and that the re- 
ligious of the orders must be employed therein, un- 
less they could be supplied with properly qualified 
secular priests who were Spaniards. The same ideas 
were expressed by the municipal council of Manila, 
who said of the native priests: "The weak and yield- 
ing disposition which has been for so long a time 
noticed in these islanders does not permit in them 
that steadfastness which is so proper for the priestly 
character and the difficult office of the care of souls." 
"In June, 1805, the Frenchman F61ix Renouard 



xSoi-ia^l EVENTS OF 180I-1840 ^5 

de Sainte-Croix was commissioned to examine the 
gold mines in Mambulao (in Camarines) ; and in 
his report he explained that various gold mines ex- 
isted diere, with very rich veins, but some were diffi- 
cult to develop and others had been abandoned. By 
royal order of July 5, 1805, ^^ decreed the total 
independence of the Manila custom-house, ordaining 
that its manager should be under the immediate 
orders of the [treasury] superintendent" ^ On De- 
cember 20, i8o6y Aguilar created a Bureau of Vac- 
cination at Manila, of which he was president; and 
regulations were made for public vaccination, which 
had a marked effect in diminishing the ravages of 
the smallpox. This governor gave much attention 
to the construction of public works, one of the more 
important of these being the highway from Manila 
to Cavite. He caused the streets of the capital to be 
lighted at public expense, and paved sidewalks to be 
built, and made the police system more efficient; he 
also did much to promote domestic industries. 
Aguilar endeavored, throughout his term of office, 

^ " Originaily, when the port of the capital of Filipinas was 
visited only by vessels from the Asiatic nations and a few Spanish 
ships, die exaction of duties was in the hands of the royal officials, 
according to the laws of the Indias. In 1779 Basco y Vargas 
ordained that those functionaries should attend only to collecting 
duties from the ships which navigated to the coasts of Coroman- 
del, Malabar, Bengala, Java, Canton, Acapulco, and Cadiz; and 
that the duties proper to the entrance or outgo of products and 
commodities in the inter-island commerce should be in charge of 
the director of alcabala. From this originated the foundation of 
the custom-house, it being completed by n^ decrees of 1786 and 
1788, from which time it was provided with the necessary force 
of men for collecting the import and export duties." (Note by 
Mootero y Vidal.) 



26 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

to check the incursions of the Moros. The pirates 
attacked even the coasts of Luzon in 1793, and an 
expedition sent out against them in December of that 
year accomplished almost nothing, being too late and 
ineffective. In the following year the governor 
called a council of the leading military officers and 
other persons experienced in Moro wars and the af- 
fairs of the southern islands, where it was shown that 
the Moros made captive some 500 persons a year, 
whom they rendered slaves - excepting the old, who 
^^were sold to the inhabitants of Sandakan, who sacri- 
ficed these captives to the shades of their deceased 
relatives or of prominent personages,* preserving the 
skull of the victim as a proof that they had complied 
with so barbarous a usage." It was shown at this 
council that during the time from the establishment 

' Cf. Forrest, Voyage to New Guinea^ p. 368 : " They believe 
die deity pleased with human victims. An Idaan or Maroot [a 
tribe in northern Borneo] must, for once at least, in his life, have 
imbued his hands in a fellow creature's blood ; the rich are said to 
do it often, adorning their houses with sculls and teeth, to show 
how much they have honored their author, and laboured to avert 
his chastisement. Several in low circumstances will dub to buy 
a Bisayan Christian slave, or any one that is to be sold chaqi; 
that all may partake the benefit of the execution. So at Kalagan, 
on Mindano, as Rajah Moodo informed me, when the god of the 
mountain gives no brimstone, they sacrifice some old slave, to ap- 
pease the wrath of the deity. Some also believe, those they kill in 
diis world, are to serve them in the next, as Mr. Dalrymple ob-' 
serves." He also says (p. 271), that they pay " perhaps five or six 
Kangans " for an old slave ; and that the above mountain is *' in 
the district of Kalagan [1.*., Caraga], a little way west of Panda- 
gitan, which emits at times smoke, fire, and brimstone." This 
evidently alludes to Mt Butulan, a volcano (now apparently ex- 
tinct), in the extreme southern point of Davao province, Min- 
danao. 



1801-1840] EVENTS OF 180I-1840 27 

of the vintas in 1778 until the end of 1793 the colony 
had spent the sum of 1,519,209 pesos fuertes for ves- 
sels, expeditions, wages, etc., in the warfare with the 
Moros, to say nothing of the losses and destruction 
caused by the pirate raids. The council resolved to 
abolish the present equipment of vintas and pancos, 
replacing these by lanchas carrying cannon, in six 
divisions of six lanchas and one panco each, with 
extra pay and honors to the crews; and to repair and 
strengthen all the forts on the coasts liable to attack. 
Aguilar attempted to open negotiations for peace 
with the Moro sultans; but these had no effect, the 
piracies still continuing. In the summer of 1794, a 
Portuguese trader of Manila who had carried goods 
to Jolo was treacherously attacked on his return, 
when near Iloilo, by the same Moros with whom he 
had traded at Jolo; but he defended his vessel 
bravely, and one of the leading dattos of Jolo was 
killed in the fray. In August, 1795, two vessels of 
the Spanish royal navy arrived at Manila, with ti- 
dings that the English, again at war with Spain, were 
planning to occupy the Filipinas Islands ; this com- 
pelled Aguilar to desist from further proceedings 
against the Moros, for the time. It was hoped that 
Alava and his powerful squadron (who remained at 
Manila during 1797-1802) might chastise the Moros, 
but nothing was accomplished in this direction- 
either through fear of another English invasion, or 
because of the disagreements between Aguilar and 
Alava.* On January 21, 1798, two English ships at- 
tacked the Spanish post at Zamboanga, but were 
bravely repulsed with much damage to the invaders. 

* See aooount of diis at end of " Events in Filipinas," the first 
document in vol. l. 



28 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

In that year a strong force of Moros attacked the 
village of Baler and others inland from the eastern 
coast of Luzon [where now is the province of Prin* 
cipe]y constituting the oldtime missions of Ituy; they 
devastated these towns, and seized four hundred and 
fifty captives, among them three parish curas, one \ 
of whom was sold by them for 2,500 pesos. These 
pirates were established in Burias Island for four 
years, from which center they harried the neighbor- 
ing coasts. In 1799, the audiorities decided that it 
was more expedient that the warfare with the Moros 
be carried on by the provincial authorities, with the 
direction and aid of the central government; and in- 
structions to this effect were sent to all the alcaldes- 
mayor. In 1800 Aguilar established friendly and 
commercial relations with Bandajar, sultan of Bor- 
neo ; and on November 4, 1805, his governor at Zam- 
boanga, Francisco Bayot, made a treaty of peace with 
Mahamad Ali Mudin, sultan of J0I6, in which the 
latter agreed to forbid any foreigners to reside in 
his dominions without the consent of the Spanish gov- 
ernment, and in case of war to close his ports to ene- 
mies of Spain. In 1804-05 English cruisers were 
frequently seen off the coasts of Filipinas, and they 
even attempted to capture several villages on the 
Mindanao coast, but were repulsed. 

On Aguilar's death (August 8, 1806), the rule of 
the islands was assumed by the king's lieutenant at 
Manila, Mariano Fernandez de Folgueras; and his 
first measures were for the defense of Manila, as 
there were rumors of another attack by the English. 
In the summer of 1807, there arose a rebellion in the 
mountains of Ilocos Norte, begun by certain Spanish 
deserters from Vigan in conjunction with some vaga- 



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i8oi-i84o] EVENTS OF 180I-184JO 3^ 

bond Indians; afterward it spread to many of the 
Ilocans, who resented the government monopoly of 
wine and prohibition of native manufacture of bast 
(a liquor produced by the fermentation of the juice 
of sugar cane). This revolt was put down without 
much difficulty, and the leaders were hanged at Ma- 
nila; much was accomplished by the Augustinian 
fathers of Ilocos in restoring peace. In February, 
1809, the news arrived at Manila of the French in- 
vasion of Spain, and the captivity of Fernando VII ; 
the Manila authorities promptly declared their loy- 
alty to that monarch. Somewhat later a French 
schooner of war was captured off the coast of Batan- 
gas, and the French authorities at Isle de France 
endeavored to persuade those at Manila that Eng- 
land, not France, was the enemy of Spain, and that 
the people of Filipinas ought to support the French 
interests. Folgueras answered, refusing to accept any 
such propositions, and would do no more than to 
return the French prisoners from the captured vessel. 
On March 4, 18 10, the new proprietary governor 
Manuel Gonzalez Aguilar, assumed his office. On 
February 14 preceding, a decree had been issued by 
the Spanish government granting to all the colonies 
in America and to Filipinas representation in the 
Spanish Cortes by deputies chosen by the various 
capital cities. The sessions of this Cortes began on 
September 24, 18 10, and Filipinas was represented 
therein by acting deputies ; afterward, one was duly 
chosen (Ventura de los Reyes) by the municipality 
of Manila, according to the forms required.* ^' In 
the jurisdiction of each village in the Philippine 

^ Sec post^ near the end of this volume, the document on the 
representation of Filipinas in the Spanish Cortes. 



A 



3^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

archipelago, there are extensive communal lands, in 
which the natives can keep, almost without cost and 
easily guarded, their herds of cattle and horses. In 
regard to these lands (which in that country are 
called estancias ["ranches"]), the new governor 
framed a useful ordinance, which remained in force, 
with good results, during a long period. (It has now 
fallen into disuse, and many of the communal lands 
have become the property, illegally acquired, of pri- 
vate persons.) Important service was rendered [to 
the country] by these ranches, on account of the in- 
crease of live-stock and its great cheapness; and a 
positive source of wealth for the provinces was initi- 
ated with the exportation of their cattle." In the 
sessions of Cortes in 1811, a decree was issued (Jan- 
uary 26) that trade in quicksilver should be free in 
all the Spanish dominions of Indias and Filipinas. 
In the summer of 1811, a new rebellion broke out 
among the natives of Ilocos Norte, some of whose 
chiefs attempted to found a new religion, in behalf 
of a deity whom they called Lungao ; ' they endeav- 
ored to persuade the heathen mountain-dwellers of 
Cagayan to join them, but the insurrection was 
quelled promptly by the Spaniards, and the ring- 
leaders put to death. It was in Gonzalez Aguilar's 
time that the Indians were allowed to render the 
services required from them for public works on 

' " A fanatic, who, styling himself a new Christ, appeared to 
the fishermen and announced to them their true redemption- 
freedom from monopolies and tributes, and whatever could allure 
the unwary. This fanatic and more than seventy of his follow- 
ing, called ' apostles/ were seized, with their gowns, litters, flagSi 
and other articles with which ' the new god,' as was reported, 
must make himself manifest.*' (Official despatch, cited by Mon- 
tero y Vidal.) 



i8oi-i84o] EVENTS OF 180I-184O 33 

those in their neighborhood. In order to relieve the 
public anxiety and impatience caused by the dearth 
of news from the mother-country, the authorities of 
the colony undertook to publish a sort of gazette con- 
taining such information as was available from 
Europe ~ mostly received through English publica- 
tions that came from Bengal. Accordingly, "the first 
newspaper in Filipinas made its appearance on Au- 
gust 8, 181 1/'* the second number appearing three 
days later; it was published during the rest of 181 1 
and part of 18 12, and must have ceased for lack of 
material.' "On account of the war which Espafia 
was sustaining against the French invaders, the re- 
ligious corporations agreed to contribute with their 
donations toward the expenses of so great an under- 
taking; the Order of Dominicans gave with that 
object, in August, 1 8 1 2, the sum of 36,000 pesos. On 
March 19 the Constitution of 181 2 was promulgated 
at Cadiz, and orders were issued that allegiance to 
it should be sworn in all the towns of the monarchy. 
The deputies signed it on the eighteenth, and among 
the signatures appears that of Don Ventura de los 
Reyes." The Constitution was solemnly proclaimed 
in Manila on April 17, 1813, ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^' 
glance was taken on the following day. A decree in 

* It may be noted that in 1809 Folgueras had, " in order to 
quiet the public anxiety " to know what was going on, published 
on two occasions a sort of gazette (called Jviso d publico) of 
news regarding his encounter and correspondence with the French 
in that summer. (Montero y Vidal, ii, pp. 390, 391.) 

^See Retana's Periodtsmo filipino (Madrid, 1895), appendix 
i (PP- 533-559)1 in which a detailed accoimt of this gazette, with 
Ittts of the articles in most of the numbers, is given by J. T. Me- 
dina. He concludes that it had fifteen numbers, irregularly is- 
sued, the last of which was dated February 7, 181 2. 



34 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

Cortes (July 3, 18 13) extended to the veteran troops 
of the over-seas colonies the same scale of rewards a$ 
had been recently granted to the soldiers of the Pen- 
insula. In that same year a special effort was made 
by the Spanish government to add to its revenues by 
pushing in the colonies the sale of bulls of the 
Crusade.* 

A new governor arrived at Manila, assuming com* 
mand on September 4, 1813; this was Jose de Gar- 
doqui Jaraveitia, who also had appointment as chief 
of the naval station. This exasperated the treasury 
officials, for thus the entire naval force was under 
one head, that sent against the pirates [which Agui* 
lar had stubbornly kept separate from the naval 
bureau -see "Events in Filipiuas," VOL. L, pp. 23- 
74] being now taken from their control, with all its 
opportunities for their personal profit; and they op- 
posed Gardoqui in whatever he proposed or under- 
took.* On February i, 18 14, a fearful eruption 

* According to Jagor (Reisen, pp. 108, 109), "the receipts 
from the sale of the bulls of the Crusade in 1819 were $IS,930» 
in 1839, $36,390, and in i860, $s8,9S4- In the two years 1844-45 
they rose to $292,115, because the families and the heads of baran- 
gay were forcibly obliged to accept the certificates of indulgences, 
'with the assistance and supervision of the curas and subordinate 
officials * (who for this received 8 and 5 per cent re^>ectively)» 
and thus they were distributed in the houses - certainly one of 
the most shameless applications of the repartimiento system." 

• A note by Montero y Vidal cites Jose R. Trujillo, a Philip- 
pine official, as stating (1887) that the chief opponent and plotter 
against Gardoqui was Joaquin Cirilo de la Cajigas, the chief 
accountant of the treasury board and head of the naval bureau; 
he left a great fortune to his descendants, '' who even now figure 
as rich men in the country, while the naval chiefs and officers who 
served here at that epoch did not bequeath to their descendants 



I 



1801-1840I EVENTS OF 1801-1840 35 

I occurred in the volcano Maydn, which partially or 
wholly destroyed many villages in Albay and Cama- 
rines ; hot stones, sand, and ashes were poured forth 
from the crater, and villages were thus set on fire, 
and their inhabitants killed. The slain numbered 
12,000, besides many more seriously injuFe4|and 
those who escaped lost all their possessions. j%c^ 
most fertile and beautiful districts of Camarines were 
converted into a desert of sand. 

^^The introduction into Filipinas of the political 
reforms established at the metropolis [of Madrid] 
were the occasion, in certain localities of the archi- 
pelago, of lamentable disturbances of public order. 
The Indians understood that the proclamation of the 
political creed of 18 12, solemnly made known to the 
country, signified exemption from tributes and pub- 
lic services; and this absurd belief spread to such an 
extent that the governor of the islands found himself 
obliged to publish an edict on February 8, 18 14, 
explaining the extent of the benefits conferred [by 
the Constitution], and the necessity which exists in 
every nation for paying contributions for supporting 
the expenses of the State. These explanations did 
not satisfy the Indians, and uprisings occurred in 
various places, principally in Ilocos Norte ; the peo- 
ple claimed that they ought to be relieved, as were 
the notables, from polos and services, or the obliga- 
tion of laboring on public works, as bridges, high- 
ways, churches, convents, school-houses, etc., -an 
exaction which, according to them, did not go with 
the equality which was established among all by the 
Constitution; and it cost the alcalde-mayor of the 

more than poverty and honor, although some of them had risen 
to hig^ positioas in the naval forces.'* 



36 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

province his utmost efforts to restrain the Ilocanos 
from violence.'' Still worse were the effects of the 
renewal of absolutism in Spain, on the return of 
Fernando VII from his captivity in France; for on 
May 4, 1 8 14, he issued a decree abolishing the Cortes, 
and nullifying its acts, and immediately began a 
course of persecution and condemnation, even to 
death, of all the prominent Liberals in the country. 
He also reestablished in Spain the Inquisition^^ 
(which had been abolished by the Cortes on Febru- 
ary 22, 1 8 1 3 ) , and the Society of Jesus. When the 
royal decrees were received in Filipinas, the Indians 
believed that they were false, and concocted in 
Manila; one thousand five hundred Ilocanos seized 
their arms, and began plundering, killing, and de* 
stroying throughout the province. This was mainly, 
however, a rebellion of the common people (Tagal, 
cailianes) against the ruling class, the principalia or 
notables ; and the latter finally took arms against the 
rebels, aiding the Spaniards to suppress the insurrec- 
tion. On July 20, 1814, a treaty of peace was made 
between Spain and France. '' Gardoqui, by an edict 
of December i, 18 14, prohibited the introduction of 
opium into Filipinas, imposing on those who should ( 
violate this law six years of confinement in a presidio 
and the confiscation of the opium; and to those who 
were found smoking the drug a fortnight's imprison- 
ment for the first offense, thirty days for the second, 
and four years in presidio for the third. A term of 
eight days was allowed in order that persons who 
might possess unsold stocks of the said drug could 
deposit them in the custom-house for reshipment to 

^^ The Holy Office was, however, again abolished by the 
G)rtes, in its session of 1820. 



1801-1840] EVENTS OF 180I-1840 37 

China. In the said year of 1814, there was built in 
I the environs of the town of Laoag (I locos Norte) a 
leper hospital, at the expense of the charitable parish 
priest there, Fray Vicente Febras, an Augustinian; 
and this act is worthy of note, since this was the first 
establishment of the kind in the provinces of the 
Archipelago." A royal decree of August 22, 181 5, 
reestablished the Jesuit order in the Indias and Fili- 
pinas; and another, dated December 11, commanded 
the seizure in the colonies of various political books 
and pamphlets, with penalties for their use in schools. 
After the death of Governor Aguilar, the Moro pi- 
rates were comparatively quiet for a time, but in 
1813 they renewed their attacks on the Spanish ter- 
ritories, and during several years they harassed the 
latter, taking many captives, and even seizing several 
vessels, both Spanish and English, on the seas. Gov- 
I emor Raffles, of Java, after the restoration of that 
island by England to Holland, proposed to Gardoqui 
that they cooperate in occupying J0I6 and Min- 
danao; but the Spaniard declined this, protesting 
against any operations by the English in Spanish ter- 
ritory. ^^ Gardoqui, during his term of office, caused 
the fortifications of Cavite to be repaired, making 
them very strong; he issued orders regulating weights 
and measures ; he created the general administration 
for the revenues from wine ; and he occupied himself 
greatly with the improvement and development of 
the tobacco plantations. The bandits, smugglers, and 
gamblers had been increasing at an alarming rate; 
and, in order that they might be promptly punished 
the governor appointed a military commission, 
headed by a lieutenant-colonel. Thanks to their 
energetic proceedings, the desired object was at- 



38 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51. 

tained." Gardoqui's last days were embittered, and 
his end hastened, by the treacherous act of one of his 
secretaries, who, by substituting a false report for the 
one which Gardoqui had dictated in favor of retain- 
ing the naval bureau, procured the governor's unwit- 
ting signature to the former and thus made him ap- 
pear to report adversely to the bureau; as a result, 
the bureau was suppressed by a royal decree of 
March 23, 18 15. His disappointment and wounded 
honor so grieved him that his death soon resulted 
(December 9, 18 16). 

The command ad interim was again assumed by 
Folgueras, who held it during nearly six years. On 
December 17, 18 19, he reestablished the ** Royal Eco- 
nomic Society of Filipinas," as a result of royal 
orders to that effect issued in 1811 and 18 13; and 
five days later its first session was held, the governor 
presiding, only two members of the original society 
being still alive." A month later, it met again, with 
sixty new members, and Manuel Bernaldez was 
chosen director of the association; and its new ordi- 

^^ " In 1797, when on account of the decadence of the Societsr 
and the opposition of Ag:uilar it practically ceased its functions, 
its president at that time, the auditor Don Francisco Javier Mo- 
reno, placed on deposit in the Consulate [of commerce] 6,000 
pesos, which at that period constituted all its funds. At the time 
of its reestablishment, the capital of the Society consisted of 34,224 
pesos, two reals, one grano in ready cash; a debt owed by the 
convent of San Juan de Dios, of 7,525 pesos -the remainder of 
the sum of 15,890 pesos, four reals, one grano, which by decree of 
the government dated April i, 1805, were ordered to be paid for 
the rebuQding of that convent's edifice; and twdve gold medals 
and 241 of silver. It was agreed to invest these funds in com- 
merce by sea or land, according to circumstances." (Pamphlet 
dted by Montero y Vidal.) 



i8oi-i84o] EVENTS OF 1801-1840 39 

nances were approved by the governor on July 24 
following. FolgueraSy learning that certain immuni- 
ties and advantages had been granted to Cuba and 
Puerto Rico for the encouragement of agriculture, 
requested from the home government similar help 
for Filipinas; the crown decreed an investigation of 
the subject, but the fulfilment of this was delayed 
from time to time, so that not until 1848 was even a 
definite statement and proposal for action in this 
direction made.^' (This was done by Rafael Diaz 
Arenas, one of the four members of the Economic 
Society- to which the investigation had been referred 
-who had been appointed to prepare the data for a 
report to the crown ; " but we do not know whether 
the Society accepted his proposal, or whether it 
reached any definite conclusion on the subject." ) In 
October of the year 1820, Manila was ravaged by a 
terrible epidemic of smallpox, which was especially 
fatal in the villages along the Pasig River; the co- 
rregidor of Tondo therefore issued an edict prohibit- 
ing the use of the river water. A public relief com- 
mittee was organized to give the sick medical treat- 
ment and to furnish food to the poor; and the friars 
and the private citizens vied with the authorities in 
ministering to the victims of the pest. The medical 
men belonging to the ships anchored in the bay came 
to the city, and did all in their power to aid these 
benevolent efforts ; but all these things only confirmed 
in the ignorant natives the fatal idea, already spread 
among them, that the disease was caused by the for- 
eigners having poisoned the waters and used to this 
end the specimens of insects and other creatures 

** For a brief account of this Society's work, sec note on "Agri- 
culture*' at end of VOL. ui. 



40 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. sr 

which they had collected for scientific purposes. A 
crowd of armed Indians therefore gathered in the 
square of Binondo on October 9, attacked the houses 
of the foreigners, and murdered twenty-seven per- 
sons - among whom was not one Spaniard ; nor did 
they, in plundering the houses, rob any Spaniard. 
The governor sent out some troops, but they accom- 
plished nothing in checking the riot, which ended 
only at nightfall; and he did nothing to prevent 
further crimes of this sort, so that the mob renewed 
their acts of violence the next day,^* plundering and 

'* An interesting account of this event is furnished in a letter 
by Peter Dobell, then Russian consul in the Philippines, which is 
preserved in the New York Public Libnuy; it is printed in die 

Bulletin of that institution for June, 1903, at pp. igS-aoa Dobell 
went to Macao for medical treatment in July, 1820, and this 
letter was written from that dty, on November 28 of that year. 
He thus writes: "I arrived with my wife and daughter at 
Manilla last March, was received with greatt apparent attention, 
politeness & hospitality. After living there a couple of months, 
however, I perceived that there existed a vast deal of jealousy and 
envy, against all strangers, and particularly those who resided or 
intended to form establishments in the country. Those ignorant 
people could not divest themselves of this feeling, even toward 
those, whose capitals, talents and industry, were directed to the 
most laudable pursuits, and promised to produce great public as 
well as private advantages to die colony. At this crisis several 
french ships were in the port, one or two Americans and a Eng- 
lish ship from Bengal. In the French ships, had arrived a natural- 
ist sent out by the government to make collections, and some 
arsons, who intended to renuun in the Philippines to cultivate 
sugar, cotton &c &c In the month of July last, I discovered 
that I had in my travels, contracted a disease, called by the Doct' 
Hydrocele and becoming very troublesome to me, I determined as 
there are no good surgeons in Manilla to pay a short vnit to 
Macao with my family & return to my post, as soon as drcum- 



) 



i8oi.i84o] EVENTS OF 1 801-1840 4^ 

killing many Chinese of the suburbs. This aroused 
Folgueras to activity, and he sent out a large force of 

stances would permit, after the operation. This I found, I could 
do the more conveniently, as my Nephew, a fine young Man of 23 
years, had joined me at my arrival and I left him, ii^ full charge 
of my office &c and departed. This envious disposition, on the 
part of the Spaniards, increased daily, against the Strangers, until 
an opportunity presented itself of gratifying their malignant 
hatred, in the most cruel & bloody manner & without them« 
selves appearing to have any thing to do in the business. It is 
necessary first to tell you, that the new constitution, had been re- 
ceived during the prevalence of this feeling, giving extensive 
privileges & liberal encouragement to foreigners, who mig^t 
think proper to settle in the Philippines & rendering the natives 
as free & equal, in rights, etc as their former masters. This 
certainly made them, a little unruly, but, if not secretly instigated, 
it would never have induced them to commit a crime, that makes 
humanity shudder. The ship from Bengal, was the Merope Cap- 
tain Nichols and it was supposed she had bro* into the colony 
the epidemic, that has ravaged all India, this year, under the name 
of the ' Cholera Morbus.* It made its appearance, in the beginning 
of October last, carrying off great numbers of the Indians every 
diq^. The humane French & other Strangers, who beheld these 
miserable wretches, dying around them without any medical aid, 
freely administered what medicines they had, and were actively 
& daily employed, in endeavoring to alleviate, the distress & 
cure the complaints of all those, who lived within the sphere of 
their exertions. This also became, a cau8e.-of jealousy and hatred 
and the villains, began immediatel|i[ tb exasperate the Indians by 
saying, ' this poisonous d^wajy^'was introduced by the French & 
the other strangers, theyv4iave poisoned even the waters, and they 
adminbter poison to the sick, purposely to exterpate the whole 
race of Tagaliana.* The ferocious Indians wanted nothing 
farther to excite them to deeds of blood & plunder. On the 
^ of October about 10 or 11 in the morning they collected, to 
the number of about 3,000 Men armed with pikes knives and 
bludgpons and proceeded coolly and deliberately to plunder and 
Massacre all the Strangers on whom they could lay their hands I 



42 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

soldiers to pursue the assassins ; but the latter at once 
dispersed. A council of the authorities was called, 

I have not time to give you the details of this shocking business, 
but you will certainly read them in the gazettes as I have sent 
both to England and Russia very full accounts for publication. 
Suffice it now to say that the Governor & the authorities were 
vainly implored for assistance. They came, it is true, with the 
troops, but it was only to bdiold with sang froid the horrid spec- 
tacle. Not a musket was fired to save the lives of those unfor- 
tunate and defenceless strangers, who to the number of 39 were . 
plundered & cruelly massacred; some of them were so cut up k ' 
mangled it was impossible to recognize them. As the most of 
them were Roman Catholics, they were all collected and thrown 
into a hole together without the shadow of a ceremony or a stone 
to mark their graves! What is worse, the last accts from 
there down to the 9^ of November mention that not a Spanish 
life was lost, nor has a single native as yet suffered punishment for 
this most atrocious & horrible deed. My house was attacked 
& pillaged, my Nephew & a Mr Prince of Boston, who lived 
with him, made prisonners, and, after being near two days in the 
hands of the Indians, sufEering the most abominable treatment, 
they luckily escaped Death. Eighty five Chinese & 11 English 
seamen were also plundered & assassinated. I have been obliged 
to represent this affair in its full suit of Black to my Government 
and have at the same time declared my intention of going back to 
Siberia, next April, where I shall await the orders of His Imperial 
'Majesty. ... I leave the place & those miscreants to 
themselves, from the conviction, that its commerce is ruined for- 
ever. In the first place they held their productions two hig^ tc 
paid too low for European commodities, so that, when the allow- 
ance of the half duties granted to the importers of sugars shall 
cease, no french ships will visit the Philippines to pay from 7 to . 
9 Dollars a pecul for Sugars. The Cadmus, you say will make 
money. If she does, she will I fancy be the only American ship 
that profits by its trade to Manilla. All those, who came out last 
year lost money on the sales of their cargoes, &, from what we 
hear of prices in America, and on the Continent, they must lose 
by the returns. But what will give the death blow to the pros- 



i8oi-i84o] EVENTS OP 180I-1840 43 

but there were discordant opinions among them, and 
they seem to have taken no definite action. The 

perity of the Philippines, is the late horrible massacre. All those 
french and other foreigners, who were anxious to have established 
themselves in commerce or on estates in the country, are now 
frightened off and certainly no one will find himself, confident 
enoug}i to trust to a Government, which could permit such a mas- 
sacre to take place, immediately under its eyes, when it had 5,000 
men in arms, ready at a minutes notice to disperse the Mob. Thus 
situated, Manilla offers no chance of profit or Speculation ; and I 
confess, however my hopes and wishes may have been disappoint- 
ed, I turn from them with disgust & horror, better pleased to be 
ordered to live, in some remote comer of Siberia, on black bread 
tc salt, than roll in wealth, amidst such an inhuman, illiberal 
and unchristianlike race of Men. . . . T must close my letter 
by informing you that the Captain General has refused all the ap- 
plications for indemnification, from those who have been plun- 
dered ; so that as yet, neither the punishment due to the assassins 
has been inflicted, nor redress made to the unfortunate people who 
were robbed." 

By the kindness of James A. LeRoy, the Editors have in their 
hands a copy (furnished by Dr. Pardo de Tavera from the orig- 
inal in his possession) of a decree issued by Governor Folgueras 
(dated at Manila, October 20, 1820), addressed "to the natives 
of the Filipinas Islands, and especially to those of the district of 
Tondo," in which he rebukes them severely for thus violating the 
law of nations, under the influence of "a general frenzy," and 
'led astray and infuriated by certain malicious persons." He char- 
acterizes their belief that the strangers had poisoned the waters 
as a foolish and absurd notion, ndiich ''the mountain Negritos or 
the Moros of J0I6 and Mindanao would be ashamed to enter- 
tain ; " and reminds them that the strangers whom they have plun- 
dered and slain were not only friends and brethren, but the very 
penons on whom the prosperity of the islands must depend, since 
tliey supplied a market for the produce of the country. He then 
presents the report which has been made by an official whom the 
governor had specially appointed (October 13) to investigate this 
of the foreigners' crime, which is to the following effect : "As 



44 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS (Vol. 51 

municipal council of Manila called upon the govern- 
or for the proper legal proceedings in regard to 

the evidence of guilt [cuerpo de delito^ the same as die Latiii 
corpus delicti] in the poisoning which is charged, the Indians have 
brought to us, among the spoils which they plundered from die 
houses of the Frenchmen, various animak of different forms, and 
among them a serpent, of quite the usual size, one of those which 
they call 'house-snakes,' in a dissected state; others, with some 
litde shellfish, preserved in ^irits of wine, in a crystal flask; in 
another, two granos of muriadc baryte; a quantity of Peruvian 
bark, which in my opinion would weigh about an arroba and a 
half; and a box of sheet-tin about a vara long, one-fourth as wide, 
and six dedos thick, in whidi also was found a mass of tnsects, 
but already decaying; and finally, in the house of a woman who 
had been accused o! being an agent of the Frendi for the alleged 
poisoning, a litde package of some black powders in China jpB^et 
[Le.f rice paper]/' The official states that these animal speci- 
mens have evidendy " no other object than to enrich cabinets of 
natural history," and could not in any way have been used for 
injuring human beings. The muriatic baryte was for use in 
analyzing mineral waters, and was, moreover, useful tn various dis- 
eases. The Peruvian bark was, as all might know, a useful medi- 
cine and had often been helpful in checking the cholera itMll. 
The black powders, it was also decided, were also of medicinal 
value; and the entire story is characterized as a fiction and ddu- 
sion. The official r^;rets that it was believed by so many persons 
who should have known better than to accept so gross an error; 
*' but it is certain that they did, and, among them, many of die 
clergy; and with this the delusion attained such power that it has 
caused the very scandalous deeds which all good persons lament; 
for it is certain that there is no better way of pn^Migating an 
error than for persons of authority to adopt it. There is no 
doubt, it appears, that this focrfish idea of poisoning had its origin 
in the ignorance of the Indians; but there is as litde doubt that 
malicious persons, imposing upon this folly and lack of knowi- 
edgp in die Indians, incited them to perpetrate the assassinations 
and robberies of the disastrous days, October 9 and 10." He adds 
that one of the books brought to him by the Indians, which they 



1801-1840] EVENTS OF 1801-1840 45 

this scandalous and lawless uprising; and for this 
purpose he appointed a commission." * 

In October, 1820, was created the office of general 
intendant of army and treasury, separate from the 
superior government; and it was conferred upon 
Colonel Luis Urr6jola9 with a salary of 5,000 pesos. 
In May, 1821, the Constitution of 18 12 was again 
proclaimed in Filipinas, only to be again abrogated 
in 1824, as a result of Fernando VII's triumph (with 
French aid) over the Liberal party in Spain. " Fol- 
gueras gave great impulse to the Economic Society 
of Friends of the Country ; and he attempted to found 
in Manila a school of medicine, surgery, and phar- 
macy, commencing for this purpose the indispensable 
documentary evidence [expediente]^ but he did not 
succeed in carrying out this plan - a failure much to 
be regretted, because nearly all of the towns [in the 
islands] had neither physician nor drug-store. As a 

bad taken from the bouse of the French naturalist, was filled 
with sketches of fishes, mollusks, and birds peculiar to the country, 
whidi plainly showed that he was only making zoological observa- 
tions. In view of all these things, Folgueras calls upon the 
natives to repent of their sin, to surrender to the authorities the 
instigators of the tumult, to restore to the plundered foreigners 
what had been stolen from them, and to denounce the authors of 
the murders, that justice mig^t be done to these evil persons. 
These d^rtadons are eq>ecially addressed to the inhabitants of 
Binondo, ^' whidi has been the theatre of the most horrible tragoly, 
and has covered itsdf with blood and ignominy." This decree is 
published by Dr. Pardo de Tavera, from the original printed 
edition, in his Biblioteca filipina^ pp. 45-47. 

'* ^ In his scarce third volume of the Informe^ Mas siqts that the 
governor, either wittingly or unwittingly, did well in not sending 
out the scddiers, who were natives, until the fury of the people had 
spent itadf ; as odierwise all discipline might easily have been lost, 
and the soldiers have joined with their kindred in the massacre. 



4^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

compensation, the creation of the nautical academy 
was an excellent idea, for its practical results are of 
great value." ^^ In 182 1 appeared the second periodi- 
cal which was published in the country, entitled El 
Noticiero Filipino ; " [i.e.^ " The Philippine Intelli- 
gencer "] ; and in the same year were published two 
others, El Ramillete Patriotico ["The Patriotic 
Bouquet" ] and La Filantropia [ " Philanthropy" ]. 
The life of all was of short duration." 

Folgueras was replaced by a proprietary governor, 
Juan Antonio Martinez, who began to exercise that 
office on October 30, 1822. He brought with him 
many military officers from the Peninsula, " a meas- 
ure counseled by Folgueras, in view of the deficiency 
of officers in the regiments of Filipinas, and the little 
confidence which they inspired; and this was the 
cause or pretext which he advanced to the court to 
exculpate himself for not having adopted more ener- 
getic measures when the melancholy assassinations 
were committed by the Indians among the foreigners 
in 1820. The body of officers in the army of Fili- 
pinas was almost entirely composed of American 

^^ Our author gives the name of this periodical incorrectly ; it 
should be El Noridoso Filipino - see Retana's Periodismo fili- 
pino, appendix ii (pp. 561, 562). It was apparently begun on 
July 29, 1821 ; it was issued on Sundays. Its publication ceased 
before November i of that year. This information was furnished 
to Retana by Pardo de Tavera; he also supplied accurate data 
for La Filantropia (pp. 561-563), which began on September i, 
1821 ; it seems to have ceased publication in 1822. El Ramillete 
Patriotico is known only by an allusion in one of the numbers of 
Filantropia^ which speaks of the former as having been " silenced " 
(presumably by the authorities). Pedro Torres y L4uizas gives 
(p. 565) a description of Nos- 27-37 (March i6-May 25, 1822) 
of Filantropia. 



x8oi-x84o] EVENTS OF 1801-1840 47 

Spaniards. These were greatly displeased at the in- 
crease of Peninsular officers, partly because they sup- 
posed that thus their own promotions would be 
stopped, and partly on account of race antagonisms." 
They talked so much against the newcomers that the 
governor became distrustful, and finally discovered 
that the American officers were plotting and conspir- 
ing against authority; he consequently arrested the 
persons suspected of this intrigue, and sent them to 
Spain (February 18, 1823) -among them being 
Luis Rodriguez Varela, styled El Conde Filipino 
["The Filipino Count"];" and the factor of the 
Company of Filipinas, Jose Ortega. Nevertheless, the 
plots continued, and the authorities sent him who 
appeared to be the leader in these. Captain Andres 
Novates, to fight the pirates in northern Mindanao; 
he embarked (June i, 1823), but was driven back by 
a storm, and immediately he and his accomplices de- 
termined to " declare themselves openly against the 
authority of Espafia," and set up a government of 
their own. The insurgents (some eight hundred in 
number) seized the cabildo house, and incarcerated 
therein the leading military chiefs and some magis- 
trates ; then they murdered Folgueras, and took from 
his pockets the keys of the city; and they fortified 
themselves in the royal palace, and attempted to 
seize the artillery quarters. Here they were resisted 

^' Regarding this man and his works, see Retana's El precursor 
de la politica reientorista (Madrid, 1894) > it is specially devoted 
to Varela's Pamofo filipino (Sampaloc, 1814). Retana says of 
bim: " It is unquestionable that his writings in prose and verse 
cnoooragied among the Indians the wrong interpretation which 
was given to the Gmstitution of 181 2, from which resulted the 
series of insurrections, fortunately isolated, which took place in 
Fib'pinas." 



I 



48 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vd- S' 

bravely by a few loyal officers and men, and word 
was conveyed to the governor, who collected die 
troops available and sent these against the palace. 
The insurgents there were soon overcome, and many 
abandoned their posts and fled; Novales was made 
a prisoner, taken before a court-martial - to whom he 
declared that he had no accomplices, and was alone 
guilty of seducing the troops - and with the sergeant 
Mateo (who had commanded the insurgent force in 
the palace) was shot that afternoon, as also was Lieu- 
tenant Ruiz, who had assassinated Folgueras. Am- 
nesty was extended to all the remaining prisoners, 
except six officers, who were shot soon afterward. 
\ On October 26, 1824, great damage was done in Ma- 
nila by a severe earthquake, which destroyed the bar- 
racks, several churches, and many houses; and this 
was followed (November i ) by a fearful hurricane, 
which ruined many buildings and wrecked a multi- 
tude of sailing vessels. In this same year the Eco- 
nomic Society founded a monthly periodical entitled 
Registro Mercantile* ["The Mercantile Regis- 
ter"]. 

The ravages of the Moro pirates continuing, and 
becoming each year more menacing,^^ Martinez sent 

^* This publication was begun in January, 1824, and continued 
until May, 1833; at first two hundred and fifty copies were 
printed. It was finally obliged to suspend publication, for lack 
of funds. See Retana's Periodiimo filipino, pp. 10-14, and 566; 
at the latter place, Torres y Lanzas describes a file of Nos. 49-109 
(lacking two numbers) of this publication, which is presumably 
preserved in the Archivo general at Sevilla. 

^^ In 1823 the pirates captured the provincial of the Recollects, 
with one of his friars; and that order had to furnish 10,000 pesos 
for their ransom. (Montero y Vidal, Hist, de Filipinos^ ii, p. 482.) 



2801-X840] EVENTS OF 180I-1840 49 

out an expedition against them (February 29, 1824), 
which laid waste the shores of J old and southern 
Mindanao, and killing a considerable number of 
MoroSy among whom were three of their fiercest and 
most treacherous dattos. Martinez advocated such 
operations as this, as the only means of stopping the 
piracies of the Moros. During the period of 1823- 
29, the Augustinian missionary Fray Bernardo Lago 
succeeded in reducing to village life and converting 
more than eight thousand Tinguianes and Igorrots 

I in the province of Abra, forming the mission of Pidi- 
gan. In 1825 Martinez was replaced by Mariano 
Ricafort Palacin y Abarca, and departed for Spain ; 
a few days after leaving Manila he died, and was 
buried in Cochinchina. 

Ricafort assumed office on October 14, 1825, and 
by royal orders also took possession of the intendancy 
of exchequer, although Urr6jola was continued in its 
charge ; but in the following January Ricafort con- 
cluded that ^^this dual command was impossible," 
and restricted the intendant to certain routine func- 
tions, at the same time asking the approval of the 
home government for this proceeding. He had 
brought with him a portrait of Fernando VII, pre- 
sented by the king to his colony of Filipinas; the 
municipal council of Manila decided to pay this por- 
trait the same honors as if the king himself had 

\ visited the islands, and during the week of December 
19-25 festivities of every kind were conducted, with 
the utmost display and magnificence. (Five years 
later, orders from the Spanish government were re- 

, ceived at Manila, censuring the extravagant expendi- 
tures on that occasion, said to amount to some 16,000 
pesos, as an unwarranted and blamable use of mu- 



so THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

nicipal funds, and regulating, for the future, ex- 
penditures of this sort.) A royal decree of June 
8, 1826, ordained that the secularization of parish 
curacies should cease, and that those ministries 
should be restored to the religious orders, which 
was accordingly done. On September 15 of that 
year Fray Hilarion Diez, an Augustinian, took pos- 
session of the archbishopric of Manila, replacing 
Zulaibar, who had died on March 4, 1824. In June 
a circular letter was sent by Ricafort to the provin- 
cial governors, reminding them of the law (art. 26 
of the "Ordinances of good government") which 
forbade them to hinder in any way the trade in the 
products of the provinces, whether by Spaniards, 
natives, or mestizos, and whether in kind or with 
money, ordering them to permit trade freely every- 
where, without any delays or exactions against those 
doing business. In 1827 Ricafort sent an expedi- 
tion against Jolo, which was kept off by the valor 
of the Joloans; but the Spaniards burned and rav- 
aged the settlements on the shores of lUana Bay, 
doing the Moros much damage. In that same year 
the Spanish government reestablished the naval bu- 
reau at Manila, independent of the captain-general, 
and Pascual Enrile was appointed as its chief; he 
proceeded to reorganize all branches of the serv- 
ice, including that intended to serve against the 
pirates, whom he was able to restrain to a great ex- 
tent; and he constructed several cruisers and other 
vessels, one of which remained in active service for 
forty years. He established the jurisdiction of the 
bureau throughout the archipelago, creating port- 
captains for Iloilo, Capiz, Cebii, and Pangasinan. 
Ever since the insurrection of 1744 in Bohol, caused 



1801-1840I EVENTS OF 180I-1840 S^ 

by the imprudence of the Jesuit Morales, the insur- 
gents had (under their chief Dagohoy) maintained 
hostilities, not only against the Spaniards, but even 
harassing their own countrymen who occupied the 
coastal villages of that island. The Recollects, in 
charge of the missions of Bohol after the expulsion 
of the Jesuits, tried to persuade the rebels to submit 
to Spanish authority, and secured from Governor 
Raon a general amnesty for them; but it resulted 
only in their defying further the authority of the 
government, which was long unable to take any 
measures for subduing them. Finally, in 1827, the 
danger to the loyal villages of Bohol was so mena- 
cing that the authorities were compelled to protect 
them and reduce the insurgents ; and to this end Rica- 
fort sent powerful expeditions (May, 1827, and 
April, 1828), which after strenuous efforts com- 
pelled the rebels to submit.^' That governor accom- 

^* General Ricafort published a relation of this enterprise, 
dated at Manila, December 30, 1829; he describes the island, pre- 
sents an historical sketch of the insurrection in Bohol since 1744 
and the efforts to quell it, and at the end furnishes a tabulated 
statement of the expeditions sent by his orders, with number of 
men, expenditures, etc., and of their results -a statement signed 
by C^aptain Manuel Sanz, the leader of the expedition, and dated 
at Talibon, August 31, 1829; to this is added the signed state- 
ment by the parish curas of Bohol that the numbers of insurgents 
who have been conquered or have submitted to the Spanish rule 
agree with their respective registers. According to this account, 
the number of insurgents reduced or submitted was 19,420; to this 
must be added 98 " banished for their rebellious dispositions," and 
395 " obstinate persons who died at the hands of the troops," and 
an unknown (" for lack of information ") number of those killed 
in the year 1827 and on March 28 of 1828, and more than 3,000 
souls who have fled to other provinces. Some of the troops were 
Spaniards from Manila, but the main part of the force was com~ 



5* THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

plished much during his term of office for the pro- 
motion of agriculture. He ordained (1825 and 
1826) that the native gobernadorcillos should fur- 
nish to agriculturists the idle and unoccupied Indians 
within their jurisdictions, to work on the estates, 
these laborers being paid their daily wages ; and on 
October 30, 1827, that all complaints in civil cases 
relating to farm laborers should be settled by the 
magistrates as promptly and simply as possible, " ob- 
serving the contracts and usages of the Indians, when 
these are not unjust," and that no Indian laborer 
should be imprisoned for a purely civil debt (save 
those to the royal exchequer), nor should his ani- 
mals, tools, lands, or house be seized therefor. The 
Spanish minister of the exchequer, Luis Lopez Ba- 
Uesteros, also took a paternal interest in the islands, 
and secured royal decrees for the benefit of their in- 
dustries. One of these (dated April 6, 1828) en- 
couraged the importation into Pilipinas of all 
machinery suitable for spinning and weaving cotton, 
offered public aid to private enterprises for improve- 
ment in weaving and dyeing, and promised protec- 
tion and encouragement to all projects for promoting 
native manufactures of cloth; and made the expor- 
tation of raw cotton from the islands free, in order 
to promote the cultivation of that plant. Another 
decree (of the same date) permitted the free impor- 

posed of Indians from Bohol and Cebii, to the number of 5,970 and 
54 respectively; 294 of the former and 32 of the latter deserted 
the ranks, and 4,977 Boholans and 22 Cebuans were at the end 
disbanded, as being on the sick list; and very few were either 
killed or wounded in the campaign. The reduced insurgents were 
formed into the following new villages: Catigbian, with 1,967 
souls; Batuanan, with 6,266 souls; Cabulao, with 790; Balilijan, 
with 2,100; and Vilar, with 930. In other villages were distrib* 
uted the remaining insurgents. 



18011840] EVENTS OF 1801*1840 53 

tation of all kinds of agricultural machinery and 
implements into Filipinas; and authorized pre- 
miums and rewards from the public funds to Fili- 
pino farmers who should first make large plantations 
of co£Pee, cacao, cinnamon, and cloves, as also to 
those who should make most progress in the planta- 
tions of Chinese cinnamon [mn^/dn], tea, and mul- 
berry-trees, and in raising silk, etc. Those who kept 
in cultivation a certain area of land, and day-labor- 
ers who continued to work for a certain number of 
years, were exempted from paying tributes ; and the 
native farmers were allowed to keep cockpits in 
operation daily and without tax, on the estates which 
they cultivated. ^^In spite of so many privileges, 
not many of them were inclined to the cultivation 
of their fields/^ Another royal order (April 6, 
1828)' made important regulations regarding the 
Chinese residing in the islands ; they were to be gath- 
ered into villages, as were the Indians ; their heads 
of barangay were to collect the tributes, as in the 
Indian villages, being allowed three per cent of the 
collections for their trouble; they were classified 
into three groups -those who were engaged in for- 
eign or wholesale trade, those in domestic or retail 
trade, and artisans of all classes -who were obliged 
to pay a monthly tax of ten, four, and two pesos re- 
spectively; those who had settled in the islands, but 
were not married, must return to China within six 
months; and any Chinaman who failed to pay his 
tax for three months was to be sent to compulsory 
labor on some estate, at a specified wage, from which 
should be deducted two pesos a month until his tax 
dues should be paid.^' Still another royal order of 

^* " Tlie Chinese refused to accept their reduction into villages; 
more than eight hundred elected to return to their own country; 



54 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

the same date gave free permission to any person of 1 
sufficient means to cultivate the opium poppy in Fili- 
pinas and export its product therefrom; and ordered 
that its culture should begin on lands close to Ma- 
nila. Another decree ordained the establishment of 
a mint at Manila; but this desirable measure was 
not carried out until many years afterward, and the 
islands meanwhile had to su£Per from the wretched 
clipped and debased currency which had so long pre- 
vailed there. On October 13, 1828, Ricafort pub- 
lished an edict that all money which came to the 
islands coined by the revolted Spanish colonies of 
America should be recoined at Manila, taxing it 
one per cent for this recoinage. On November 9 
following, a long but not destructive earthquake oc- 
curred. In that same year a conspiracy was set on 
foot by some civil officials ; it was discovered, and its 
promoters sent to Spain. As a result, the authori- 
ties created a public vigilance commission, and de- 
manded more troops from Spain; a regiment was 
accordingly sent to Manila in 1830. By royal de- 
cree of October 27, 1829, it was provided that the 
post of superintendent of the exchequer should be 
filled by the intendant of the army and treasury; ac- 
cordingly this charge was assumed (September 9, 
1830) by Francisco Enriquez, who for two years 
had been intendant succeeding Urrejola. In Janu- 
ary, 1829, an officer named Guillermo Galvey 

four hundred odd were assigned to labor on the public woxics, as 
being insolvent; and about a thousand fled to the mountains in 
order to elude payment and punishment. The intendant, in view 
of the difficulty in collecting [their] taxes, explained to the gov- 
ernment the expediency of modifying the enactment ; and this was 
done in 1834." (Note by Montero y Vidal.) 



i8ow84o] EVENTS OF 1801-1840 55 

(whose duty it was to follow up smugglers in Pan- 
gasinan and Ilocos) conducted an expedition into 
the district of Benguet ; an interesting account of this 
is found in the diary left by him. By royal decree 
of April 5y 1829, Spanish vessels were permitted to 
enter British ports just as British vessels were ad- 
mitted to Spanish ports. Ricafort, having finished 
his government of Filipinas, sailed for Spain at the 
end of 1830. He was a governor of good judgment 
and much energy, and did much to improve the con- 
dition of Manila and of the country. He issued 
edicts imposing penalties on those who should sing 
obscene songs, and on blasphemers, gamblers, beg- 
gars, and parents who brought up their children in 
evil ways; and he ^'made provision for a general 
domiciliary visitation of Manila and the formation of 
a list vf its citizens, which measure resulted in many 
persons of bad antecedents abandoning the capital. 
He also decreed standards for weights and measures, 
which unfortunately soon fell into disuse; and he 
created a military commission with power to execute 
evildoers, which fulfilled the object of its creation." 
Ricafort was succeeded (December 23, 1830) by 
Pascual Enrile y Alcedo, a most zealous and able 
governor. He personally visited the northern prov- 
inces of Luzon, accompanied by his relative and ad- 
jutant, Jose Maria Pefiaranda (afterward the gov- 
ernor of Albay), a military engineer, who afterward 
made journeys and surveys in a large part of the rest 
of that island; this resulted in carefully prepared 
itineraries, plans, and maps, which were utilized in 
the construction of highways and bridges, and the 
establishment of postal routes, which opened up com- 
munication between regions before destitute of such 



56 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

facilities, and sometimes in places heretofore deemed 
impassable. The navigable rivers and bayous of 
Pangasinan were explored and mapped ; a highway 
was made in Pampanga which should be safe from 
the overflow of Lake Canarem; and explorations 
were made from east to west in Luzon for the sake 
of bringing the shores of the island into communica- 
tion with the fertile plains of the interior. On May 
14, 1834, Peftaranda was made corregidor or gov- 
ernor of the province of Albay, "which experienced 
a complete transformation during his just and benefi- 
cent rule. To him it owed its most important roads, 
bridges, and public edifices, and the promotion of 
its agriculture, on which account his name is vener- 
ated by the inhabitants of Albay; they perpetuated 
the memory of this illustrious but modest patriot by 
erecting, some years after his death, a monup eht to 
him in the plaza of the capital of the province." The 
Economic Society of Friends of the Country con- 
tributed to the development of agriculture, in the 
time of Enrile, by its reports, memoirs, and material 
support. We read with surprise, however, that in 
1B33 ^^3 Society, in an opinion requested from it 
by the home government, opposed the establishment 
of a mint at Manila, and informed Enrile that such 
institution was at that time unnecessary. In March, 

1 83 1, Galvey made an expedition into the country of 
the Igorrots; and in the following December, to the 
district of Bacun. A decree of May 9, 1831, estab- 
lished a custom-house in Zamboanga, ^Mn order to 
prevent the frauds committed by foreigners in the 
port of Jolo, and to facilitate and promote expedi- 
tions to that point." A royal decree of April 24, 

1832, substituted the garrote for the gallows in capi- 



I 



1801-1840] EVENTS OF 1801-1840 57 

tal punishments. Another, dated Febraary 16, 1833, 
provided for the adjustment and management of die 
funds belonging to the obras pias, which charge was 
entrusted later to a conmiittee composed of the gov- 
ernor of the islands, some of the treasury officials, and 
the archbishop.^ The treasury officials, by a decree 

^^ These funds were chiefly the obras pias which had been ad- 
ministered hy the Jesuit order in Filipinas up to dieir ezpulsioa 
from the islands; at that time, nearly half of these foundatkxis 
were extinguished by the authorities, and such moneys as remained 
in them were covered into die royal treasury. Forty-five of the 
Jesuit obras pias were thus left, which were administered by the 
government in the fcdlowing manner: The capital was divided 
(as had long been the custom of all the orders in Filipinas in 
administering obras pias) into three parts; one of these was in- 
vested in the commerce of Acapulco, another in that of the Coro- 
mandd Coaat and China, and the other third remained on deposit 
as a reserve to make good any losses in the amounts invested. 
Much lig^t is thrown on the nubagement of these funds by the 
Jesuits, in the official report made (June 23, 1797), in pursuit of 
a command from the Spanish government, by Angd de la Fuente, 
the chief of the Bureau of Secular Revenues [Contaduria de 
TemporaliJadef] at Manila; the original MS. of this is in the 
possession of Edward E. Ajrer, Chicago. Fuente examined the 
account-books whidi the Jesuits had kept of these funds, and 
found them full of confusion, discrepancies, and omissions; but 
after comparing and verifying them so far as he could, he made 
a list of them, with statement of their origin, amount, and appli- 
cation. He found that in seventeen of these funds there was no 
evidence that the money had been applied as directed by the donors, 
and only partial indications of this in fifteen others. He reported 
that many of these obras pias had been contributed for the advan- 
t^e and benefit of the Jesuits themselves, and therefore, since 
that order had been suppressed, the funds mig^t now justly be 
applied to any desirable pious purpose. To this end, he recom- 
mended that nineteen of the funds be placed in charge of the 
diocesan authorities, and twelve others used by the government 



S8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

of July 3, 1833, accepted the proposal of certain per- 
sons to establish ^^ a lottery, at their own account and ) 
risky offering to pay to the treasury forty per cent [of 
the receipts?], besides twenty-five per cent of the 
value of the tickets which composed each drawing, 
after furnishing adequate security as a guarantee for 
the fulfilment of their promise." The exclusive priv- 
ilege of this lottery was granted to these persons for 
a period of five years. Enrile created the Guia de 
forasteros ["Guide for Strangers"] of Filipinas; it 
first appeared in 1834. Our author reproduces (t ii, 
pp. 539, 540) the table of contents of this annual. 
Fernando VII died on September 29, 1833, and was 
succeeded by his daughter Isabel II, to be until her 
majority under the regency of her mother, Maria 
Cristina; this was quickly followed by the Carlist 
insurrection, the reactionary party being headed by 
the young prince Carlos, who was proclaimed kiog 
as Carlos V, and civil war ensued, which for seven 
years stained the soil of Spain with the blood of her 
own sons. By royal order of August 10, 1834, the 
Chinese traders were restricted to the Parian, and 
those Chinese who were allowed to reside in the 
provinces must devote themselves to agricultural pur- 
suits. Enriie issued an edict on October i, 1834, 
removing the special duties imposed on the Chinese 
champans, and placing them under the same regula- 
tions as the vessels of other foreign nations. On Feb- 
ruary 2, 1835, the official despatches arrived from 
Spain which decreed the restoration of the constitu- 
tional regime and the convocation of the Cortes. 
Enrile strengthened the naval forces sent against the 

for specified purposes, and that the rest be covered into the rqsral 
treasury. 



1801-1840] EVENTS OF 1801-1840 59 

pirates [ la marina sutilj composed of light-draught 
vessels], and was able to drive them away from the 
coasts of Visayas. He also increased the area planted 
in tobacco, enforced just weights and measures, en- 
deavored to correct the evils resulting from the de- 
based money of the islands, and caused a light-house 
to be erected on Corregidor Island. Our writer com- 
mends this governor as being ^^ one of the most intel- 
ligent and industrious who have ever ruled 
Filipinas." " To him the country owes material im- 
provements of the utmost value, of so much impor- 
tance as the great highways of Luzon, which have 
facilitated the intercourse between the provinces, 
bringing them into postal communication, one after 
another, by means of the mail-routes established by 
him ; and the administration of the colony is indebted 
to him for regulations and procedures that are scien- 
tific and orderly, in all the branches that have con- 
tributed to the development of the general welfare, 
making considerable increase in the public wealth. 
Agriculture, commerce, and navigation likewise ex- 
perienced the beneficial results of this illustrious 
governor's judicious management; and his term of 
ofiice was the source of the rapid progress which has 
been made from that time by these most important 
factors of the general welfare -in great part, thanks 
to the impulse received from the measures, dictated 
by him, which conduced to the natural development 
oif those industries." Enrile resigned his post, and 
returned to Spain early in 1835. 

He was succeeded ad interim (March i, 1835) 
by Gabriel de Torres, at the time the commander of 
the army [segundo cabo] under Enrile ; as a military 
ofiicer, he immediately proposed plans for the im- 



6o THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

provement of the military service; but these were 
checked by his premature death,*^ less than two 
months after entering on his office. In his place, the 
command was assumed (April 23) by the officer 
next him in rank, Juan Cramer; but he surrendered 
this office on September 9 following to the new se- 
gundo cabo, Pedro Antonio Salazar Castillo y Va- 
rona. The latter, on April 25, 1836, issued an edict 
that '^ the plain [sencilias} pesetas coined in the Pen- 
insula should be accepted [in the islands] at their 
lawful value of four reals vellon instead of five, as if 
they were pillar coins [ columnarias ] ; " accordingly 

*^ '' In order to give aid tx> the widow of Tones, and pay the 
expenses of her voyage to B^paiia, a subscription was raised which 
produced 12,000 pesos; but we note that the promoter of this 
married the widow, and they returned to the Peninsula togdher." 
(Note by Montero y Vidal.) 

^ The " pillar dollar " was so called from the pillars on the 
reverse of the coin, which represent the pillars of Hercules, or the 
Straits of Gibraltar; this device was characteristic of the Spanish- 
American coinage. This dollar was the peso duro (or "hard 
dollar"), of eig^t reals; and its half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, 
and thirty-second parts were represented by smaller coins. The 
greater part of the supply of pillar dollars were made in Mexico ; 
but this coinage ceased in 1822. In the Peninsula, the OMns were 
the dollar - formerly of ten reals, but now of twenty reals velldn 
-the half, the peseta or pistareen (which is one-fifth of the 
dollar, or four reak vellon), and the half and the quarter 
pistareen. After the Peninsular revolution of 1821, pillar ddlars 
were struck for a short time at Madrid, but these are easily dis- 
tinguishable from the true pillar dollar. In 1810-16, silver coins 
were used in Brazil, which were only the Spanish dollar, softened 
1^ annealing, and then restamped ; the pillars may be distinguished 
underneath this surface, by dose inspection. See Eckfeldt and 
DuBois, Manual of Gold and Silver Coins (Philaddphia, 1842), 
PP- 33f 77i ii9i i^^' See also chapter on Spanish coinage^ 



1801-1840] EVENTS OF 1801-184O 61 

they began to circulate, having been recently intro- 
duced into the islands." On June 11, 1836, the super- 
intendency of treasury affairs was assumed by Urre- 
jola in place of Enriquez.'* On July 28, Salazar 
found it necessary to issue an edict for the enforce- 
ment of the laws which prohibited carrying gun- 
powder and firearms to the Indias, and selling them 
in countries hostile to Spain ; this referred especially 
to Moroland, where evidently the pirates had been 
thus aided by unscrupulous traders to make their 
raids against the northern islands. Salazar thought 
that he could restrain those piracies by carrying on 
commerce with the Moros, and therefore made a 
treaty with the sultan of Jolo, Mahamad Diamalud 
Quiram (September 22, 1836) , which stipulated 
^^ that every diree-masted ship which made port at 
J0I6 with Chinese passengers from Manila should 
pay 2yOOO pesos fuertes, and smaller vessels in pro- 
portion to their size ; " but ^^ the most important cargo 
which went from Manila to J0I6 never exceeded 
2,500 pesos. The Joloan barks which should go 
to Zamboanga were to pay a duty of one per cent, 
and those which entered at Manila two per cent; but 
no Joloan bark was accustomed to go to Manila." 
The governor of Zamboanga also made a treaty 



that called " vellon," in Lea's Inquisition in Spain (New 
Yorik, 1906-07), i, pp. 560 et teq.; this latter, although debased, 
was the standard of iralue until 187 1, when it was replaced by die 
decinial systeuL 

** "According to a memorial published by Don Francisco En- 
riquez on leaving his office, there were at that time in the funds 
[of hb department] a surplus of 1,000,000 pesos, and in the store- 
houses over 275,000 bales of tobacco, the value of whidi exceeded 
4,000^000 hard dollars/' (Note by Montero y VidaL) 



62 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

another Moro ruler ; but it resulted only in increasing 
the insolence of the pirates, who paid no attention to 
their treaties. At the beginning of 1836, Salazar 
sent an expedition under Galvey to occupy the Igor- 
rot country; but it was, despite Galvey's remon- 
strances, sent in too great haste, and without adequate 
preparations, and too near the beginning of the rainy 
season ; they reached that region, and built some forts, 
but so many of the soldiers were attacked by sick- 
ness that the expedition was forced to give up the 
undertaking and retire, ^^ without any other result 
than the expenditure of several thousand dollars.*' '^ 
In that same year, Pefiaranda conducted with bril- 
liant success an expedition to dislodge the pirates 
from Masbate Island, where they had fortified them- 
selves. ^^ Afterward, he established a system of sig- 
nals in the provinces of the south, to watch the 
movements of those pirates." On January 26, 1837, 
Salazar sent an urgent request to the Spanish govern- 
ment for the despatch of Spanish regulars to supply 
the parish curacies throughout the archipelago, as 
(for the same reasons advanced by former govern- 
ors) he considered the Indian clerics unfit for that 
purpose. In view of the secularization of the orders 
that had been decreed in Spain,*' he desired that 

'* Hangers-on of the palace at Manila tried to throw on Galvejr 
the blame for this failure; but Montero y Vidal dtes Galvey*s 
diary, to show that he had to contend with overwhehning difficul- 
ties, inadequate supplies and lack of proper facilities, and the 
insalubrity of the country. He stated therein that he had made 
*' foTty-Ryt expeditions into the hill-country, and had received 
therein four woimds, two of which were mortal." He died in 

1839. 

*" Royal decrees of 1835 and 1836 suppressed the Jesuit order 
throughout the Spanish empire; all the rdigious communities and 



I 



180x1840] EVENTS OF 1801-184O 63 

some two hundred of the friars there should be sent 
to Filipinas, which, added to those already in the 
islands, would be sufficient for the parishes. The 
political disturbances in Spain found some reflection 
in the distant colonies; and in February, 1837, there 
was danger of a tumult arising, ^^ some insisting that 
the Constitution should be proclaimed, in order that 
they might utilize the change to their own advan- 
tage ;'' among these were several officers of high rank. 
Absurd reports were circulated throughout Manila : 
that the governor was opposed to the proclamation, 
and was intending to banish certain persons from the 
country, and that he was a Carlist, etc. Violent 
measures were proposed by some of the radicals, but 
these were resisted by some of the cooler heads ; and 
many citizens opposed the proclamation of the Con- 
stitution, fearing that serious disturbances would re- 
sult. Salazar, being informed of these things, prom- 
ised that when the royal despatches arrived he would 
open them in the presence of all, and fulfil whatever 
orders he should receive from the home government. 
This occurred on August 26 of that year, and the 
royal orders decreed that no change in political af- 
fairs should be made in Filipinas until the Cortes 
should decide the matter; this and Salazar's tact rec- 
onciled the contending factions. At the same time 
he received a decree reducing in all departments the 
military forces of the islands ; the authorities resolved 
to suspend the execution of this order, and sent an 

colleges of men (excepting the colleges of missionaries for Asia, 
the dergjr of the Escuelas Pias and the hospital convents of St. 
John of God), and the houses of the military orders; and all the 
beaterios whose inmates were not devoted to educational or hos- 
pital labors. 



64 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

envoy to remonstrate with the government on this 
subject- for this purpose choosing one of the officers 
who had been most prominent in the recent contro- 
versy, and thus removing from Manila a person 
whose presence there was regarded as dangerous. 
By royal order of February i, 1836 (published in 
the islands on March 31, 1837), order was given that 
there should be compiled and published in Manila 
every year tables of the values of the moneys from 
the new provinces of America, in order that their 
value might, in their circulation in Manila, be prop- 
erly adjusted to the Spanish peso; consequently, the 
recoinage of American money was stopped. A later 
edict ordered that from June i, 1837, ^^the coin 
called cuarto should circulate at the rate of twenty 
to the real,^ instead of seventeen as hitherto, on ac- 
count of the greater size and weight of the new coins ; 
and to this new subdivision were adjusted the prices 
of the measures of tobacco established therefor, and 
the revenues from wine. Also the circulation of ci- 
gars [tabacos] in place of money was forbidden ; the 
Indians had introduced this on account of the scar- 
city of copper coin, and because the greater part of 
that then current was counterfeit, on which account 
a multitude of disputes had arisen. The governor 
decided, moreover, that the Spanish peseta should be 
accepted at thirty-two cuartos, five [pesetas], there- 
fore, corresponding to the peso fuerte." A royal or- 
der of May 31, 1837, declared certain jurisdictions- 
Caraga, Samar, Iloilo, Antique, Capis, Albay, Ca- 
marines Sur, and Tayabas- to be those of governors, 
at once military and political, who should be mili- 

** " In Filipinas the peseta is worth only 32 cuartos." ( Vidal 
y Soler, Fiajes por Jagor, p. 227; published in 1874.) 



18011840] EVENTS OF 1801-1840 65 

tary officers appointed by the War Department; all 
the rest (excepting Cavite, Zamboanga, and the Ma- 
rianas, which also were filled like the foregoing) 
were classed as alcaldeships, and appointments there- 
to should be made from the attorney-general's office 
l^Ministerio de Gracia y Justicid]. The Constitu- 
tion of 1837 was decreed and sanctioned by the Cortes 
on June 8 of that year; and it was ordained by that 
body that the provinces of Ultramar should be gov- 
erned by special laws, a provision reiterated by suc- 
ceeding constitutions. ^^From that time Filipinas 
lost its representation in the Cortes.^ 

On August 4, 1837, arrived at Manila the new 
governor of the islands, Andres Garcia Camba, a 
knight of the Order of Santiago. He had already 
spent ten years in Filipinas (April, 1825, ^^ March, 
1835), and had gone to Spain as the deputy of Ma- 
nila to the Cortes, an honor twice again conferred 
upon him. He was received with the utmost enthu- 
siasm, although the Liberals at Manila were irritated 
by the action of the Cortes in depriving the islands 
of representation therein; but Camba himself had 
liberal views, as well as a generous and kindly na- 
ture, and gained the good-will of that party. This 
made trouble for him, however, in another direction. 
The civil war in Spain aroused there great partisan 
bitterness, which spread to the colonies; and in Fili- 
pinas was a Carlist and reactionary faction, who op- 
posed Camba in every way. "The regular clergy, 
as a body, were partisans of the Pretender, and not 
only gave him their sympathy but aided him, as 
well as the Carlist publications, with their money. 
The court of Madrid was aware of this attitude of 
the friars, and had already sharply censured Salazar 



66 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 5' 

for his indulgence and lenity toward them. Several 
Carlist partisans had been banished from Spain to the 
Marianas, but had gone to Manila instead, and were 
not only unmolested there, but visited and enter- 
tained by many of the most prominent people of the 
city, and especially by the ecclesiastical element 
Camba found that Carlist reunions were being held 
in the convents of San Juan de Dios and Santo Do- 
mingo, and that even the archbishop, [Fray Jose 
Segui] was an avowed adherent of the Pretender; 
the governor tried to conciliate the disaffected, but 
with little success, since the clergy, the Audiencia, 
and many influential persons, both citizens and of- 
ficials, were jealous and hostile toward him." '^ He 
was obliged to compel the archbishop to deposit cer- 
tain funds, belonging to the Cavite hospital, in the 
royal treasury, instead of the Dominican convent; 
also to arrest a Dominican friar for conducting trea- 
sonable correspondence with Carlists, and to send to 
Spain a military officer concerned therein. Not- 
withstanding Camba's ability, integrity, and devotion 
to the interests of the islands, and his patience with 
his opponents, they exerted so much influence and 
carried on so many intrigues against him, not only in 
Manila but at Madrid, that they procured his recall 
to Spain;'" and on December 29, 1838, he surren- 



/ 



1 



*'' Soon after his return to Spain he published a book {Cidiz, 
1839) relating his experiences as governor of Filipinas. 

*^ Camba's wife died, three months after their arrival at 
Manila; and at her funeral certain military honors were paid her, 
as provided in the regulations of affairs in the Indias, and diese 
were promptly approved by the home government Camba's ^ 
enemies, however, accused him at Madrid of having had the same 
honors paid to his wife as were customary with royal persons; 



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18011840] EVENTS OF 1801-1840 69 

dered the governorship to his successor, Luis Lardi- 
zabal y Montoya. Notwithstanding the obstacles and 
difficulties which Camba continually encountered, 
he accomplished some important improvements in 
the administration,^ the chief of these being the re- 
organization of the postal service, which from 1838 
was conducted under one bureau and on modern 
lines; he improved the means of communication be- 
tween the provinces, and pushed forward the reduc- ' 
tion of the heathen tribes. He informed the Spanish 
government that the attempts to make treaties and 
alliances with the sultans of Jolo were of no use in 
bringing any permanent or substantial advantage to 
Spanish navigation and commerce. In 1837 was 
published the Flora de Filipinas of the Augustinian 
Fray Manuel Blanco, the first attempt to form a 
compendium of Philippine botany.*^ A royal decree 

and, at the time, the artillery offidab demanded from him pay for 
the powder used on that occasion. (Note by Montero y Vidal.) 

'* In conjunction with the Audiencia, he commissioned a mag- 
istrate, Francisoo Otin y Duazo, to draw up new " Ordinances 
of good government," in 1838. (Montero y Vidal, ti, p. 360.) 

'* Montero y Vidal says (iii, p. 21) : " On March 21, 1840, 
the Economic Society of Friends of the Country made a grant of 
500 pesos to Father Blanco for the e xpe ns e s of printing and pub- 
lishing the Flora which bears his name." In 1845 a second edition 
appeared, corrected and enlarged by the author himself; and a 
third edition was issued (1877-80) at the cost of the Augustinian 
order. Thi^ast was in four volumes, a limited edition, with an 
atlas (in two volumes) containing 478 colored plates; it also 
Ihduded a previously unpublished MS. on Philippine botany, 
written late in the sixteenth century, and an appendix prepared 
by the editors of Blanco (Fathers Andres Naves and Celestino 
Femindez-Villar) in which they endeavored to coordinate 
Blanco's ^)ecies with those of other authors and to enumerate all 
the species of Philippine plants then known. See an account of 



70 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

of October 24, 1838, '^ created in Spain a consulting 
conunittee for the administration of colonial affairs, 
as members of the same being appointed, among 
others, the ex-governors of Filipinas Ricafort and 
Enrile." 

A royal order of November 16, 1838, had prohib- 
ited the holding of provincial chapter-sessions in Fi- 
lipinas; the Recollect procurator at Madrid remon- 
strated with the government against this, and the 
matter was referred to the governor and archbishop 
of Manila. Lardizabal decided that the chapters 
should meet, and that the senior auditor of the Au- 
diencia should attend those sessions, as the represen- 
tative of the vice-regal patron. By a decree of 
August 31, the governor regulated the status of the 
Chinese in the islands. They were ^^ classified as 
transients, those spending the winter [in the islands], | 
and permanent residents. They were allowed to 
choose the occupation which best suited them, with- 
out any restriction. The resident Chinese who should 
be arrested [as being] without official permit [ce- 
dula] or passport were condemned to labor on the 
public works ; and deportation to Zamboanga, Misa- 
mis, Paragua, and Calamianes was decreed for all 
those who were serving a prison term for failure to 
pay their capitation-tax, in both Manila and Cavite, 
with the object of securing by this means a larger 
population for those places.^^ On July^g^, 1839, a 
weekly publication was begun in Manila entitled, 

Blanco's work and that of his later editors, with estimate of the 
scientific value of both, in Review of the Identifications of Species 
Defcribed in Blanco's ''Flora'' (Manila, 1905), by Ehner D. 
Merrill, botanist of the Bureau of Government Laboratories at 
Manila. 



i8ox-x84o] EVENTS OF 1801-184O 7^ 

Precios corrientes de Manila [i.e., " Prices current at 
Manila ^'j,*^ in the Spanish and English languages. 
A royal decree of October 4, 1839, provided for the 
introduction and circulation of books in the islands ; 
the fiscal must designate those that merited examina- 
tion, and then they must be passed upon by two cen- 
sors, appointed by the governor and the archbishop 
respectively, whose opinion must be submitted to the 
fiscal; and if "there shall appear sufficient ground 
for prohibiting the circulation of any work, because 
it may contain principles, opinions, or doctrines op- 
posed to the rights of the legitimate government or 
to the religion of the State, it shall be not only seized 
but reshipped.'^ '' On July 15, 1840, was opened the 
School of Conunerce, established at the request of 
the Board [/unto] of Commerce. "On November 
II Lardizabal repeated Ricafort^s edict of 1828, pro- 
hibiting foreigners from selling merchandise at re- 
tail and entering the provinces to trade." At the end 
of this year important changes were made in the ad- 
ministration of financial affairs, all the revenues aris- 
ing from government monopolies being united under 
one bureau ; and another bureau was likewise created 
for the general administration of the tributes and 

'^In Retana's Periodistno filipino (pp. 566, 567) Torres y 
Lanzas describes some copies of this periodical, dated October 5- 
November 9, 1839, and January 23-Febniary 6, 1841 ; he cites a 
letter by Urrejola to show that Precios corrientes was published 
weeidy, beginning July 6, 1839, by private enterprise. 

" By a later royal decree, the fiscal was to settle any case of 
disagreement between the two censors, and any books seized 
by the authorities should be only sent back to the shipper, and not 
kept by them -the archbishop having demanded that confiscated 
books should be surrendered to him. (Note by Montero y Vidal.) 



^ 



7* THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [V<rf. S* 

some other branches of revenue, as those from cock- 
pits, tithes, etc.; while in all the general offices of 
supervision was introduced the system of bookkeep- 
ing by double entry, which had been established in 
the royal accountancy of the exchequer in 1839. The 
governor also issued instructions for more careful 
and accurate accounting being made of municipal 
property and local imposts, in order to prevent abuses 
and waste of funds. Lardizabal was soon weary of 
his command, although faithful to his duties while 
governor, and so earnestly entreated the home gov- 
ernment to allow him to return to Spain that finally 
he gained this permission; and he departed on that 
voyage (February, 1841), only to die a few days 
after leaving Manila ; he was buried on an islet near 
Java. He was succeeded by Marcelino de Oraa 
Lecumberri* 



REMARKS ON THE PHILLIPPINE IS- 
LANDS AND ON THEIR CAPITAL 
MANILA, 1819 to 1822 

ADVERTISEMENT 

The following remarks are drawn up by one but 
little accustomed to writing, and offered with much 
diffidence. In them the Spanish character will be 
found perhaps severely treated ; but it is necessary to 
remark, that not only these observations are, from 
their very nature, general ; but farther, that they have 
no reference to the genuine or European Spanish 
character -a character of which the writer has but 
little knowledge, and one as essentially different from 
that which falls under consideration in the following 
pages, as the society of all convict colonies is from 
that of the mother country." 

''The full title of this book is as follows: Remarks on the 
PhiUippine Islands, and on their capital Manila. 1819 to 1822. 
By an Englishman. " When a traveller retumeth home, let him 
not leai^e the countries where he hath travelled altogether behind 
him/" Lord Bacon — Essays. Calcutta: Printed at the B^p- 
tist mission Press, Circular Road ; and sold by Messrs. W. Thacker 
and Co. St. Andrew's Library. 1828. 

Opposite the title-page is a folding map, entitled ** Map of the 
province of Tondo." It is Spanish, dated 1819 ; and shows as well 
portions of the adjacent provinces. The book is dedicated " To 



74 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 



PARTI 

THE PHILLIPPINES 

Of the numerous groupes of islands which consti- 
tute the maritime division of Asia, the Phiilippines, 
in situation, riches, fertility, and salubrity, are equal 
or superior to any. Nature has here revelled in all 
that poets or painters have thought or dreamt of the 
unbounded luxuriance of Asiatic scenery. The lofty 
chains of mountains - the rich and extensive slopes 
which form their bases -the ever-varying change of 
forest and savannah -of rivers and lakes -the yet 
blazing volcanoes in the midst of forests, coeval per- 
haps with their first eruption -all stamp her work 
with the mighty emblems of her creative and de- 
stroying powers. Java alone can compete with them 
in fertility ; but in riches, extent, situation, and polit- 
ical importance, it is far inferior. 

Their position, whether in a political or commer- 
cial point of view, is strikingly advantageous. With 
India and the Malay Archipelago on the west and 
south, the islands of the fertile Pacific and the rising 
empires of the new world on the east, the vast market 
of China at their doors, their insular position and 
numerous rivers aflfording a facility of communica- 
tion and defence to every part of them, an active and 
industrious population, climates of almost all va- 
rieties, a soil so fertile in vegetable and mineral 
productions as almost to exceed credibility; the Phil- 
Holt Mackenzie, Esq. This Work is respectfully inscribed, by his 
obedient humble servant, The Author. Calcutta, March, 1828." 

Notes signed " Eds." are supplied by the Editors ; the rest are 
those of the author himself. The original teact is reproduced as 
exacdy as possible. 



1801-1840I REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 7S 

lippine Islands alone, in the hands of an industrious 
and commercial nation, and with a free and enlight- 
ened government, would have become a mighty em- 
pire: -they are -a waste 1 

This archipelago presents, in common with all the 
islands which form the southern and eastern barrier 
of Asia, those striking features which mark a recent 
or an approaching convulsion of nature: they are 
separated by narrow, but deep, and frequently un- 
fathomable channels; their steep and often tremen- 
dous capes and headlands, though clothed with ver- 
dure to the very brink, appear to rise almost perpen- 
dicularly from the ocean; they have but few reefs 
or shoals, and those of small extent; and in the in- 
terior of the islands, numerous volcanoes, in activity 
or very recently so, boiling springs and mineral wa- 
ters of all descriptions, minerals of all kinds on the 
very surface of the earth, and frequent shocks of 
earthquakes, all point to this conclusion, and offer a 
rich and unexplored field to the geologist *^ and min- 
eralogist, as do their plants and animals to the bo- 
tanist and zoologist ;'* the few attempts that have 
hitherto been made to examine them, having from 
various causes failed, or only extended to a short 
distance round the capital.** 

*^ Besides the references already given, see J. Roth's sketch 
of the g^ogy of the Philippines, in appendix to Jagor's Reven, 
pp. 333-354.- Eds. 

**The Biu'eau of Government Laboratories at Manila pub- 
lished, during 1902-05, a valuable series of bulletins on various top- 
ics in botany, ornithology, biology, diseases of man and beast, etc, 
and another series was published by the Mining Bureau; the for- 
mer bureau is now replaced by the Bureau of Science.- Eds. 

'*In the environs of Manila, a monument is erected to the 
memory of • • .,* a Spanish naturalist of unwearied indus- 
try, and it is said, great talents, sent out by government to eioun- 



7^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

The climate of these islands is remarkably temper- 
ate and salubrious. The thermometer in Manila is 
sometimes as low as 70'', and rarely exceeds 90"" in 
the house during the N. E. monsoon. In the interior 

ine the Phillippine Islands. After seven years' incessant labour, be 

died of a fever, and at his death his manuscripts, which are all 

written in cyphers, were taken possession of by the government; 

they are said yet to remain buried in the archives of ' la Secretaria,' 

having never been sent to Europe! 

* Apparently referring to Antonio Pineda (vol. l, p. 61); 
but he died only three years after leaving Spain. In the ex- 
pedition to which he was attached, he was director of the de- 
partment of natural sciences; he ivas accompanied by Louis 
Nee, a Frenchman naturalized in Spain. They visited Uru- 
guay, Patagonia, Chile, Peru, and Nueva Espada; and in Chile 
were joined by the Hungarian naturalist, Tadeo Haenke (who, 
reaching Cadiz after their vessel sailed, was obliged to sail to 
South America to meet them). From Acapulco they went to 
Marianas and Filipinas; and journeyed (1791) through Luzon 
from Sorsogon to Manila. Pineda labored diligently in Luzon, 
and made large collections; but died at Badoc, in Ilocos, in 
1792; his brother Arcadio Pineda, who was first lieutenant of 
the ship, was charged to put in order the materials collected by 
Antonio, but many of these were lost on the return journey. 
Returning to South America, at Callao Haenke and Nee 
parted company; the former again traveled in America, but 
in the vicissitudes of these journeys much of the material col- 
lected by him was lost or spoiled. The residue was classified 
and described, after his death, by the leading botanists of Eu- 
rope, and this matter was published in a work entitled Rett- 
quuB Haenkeane, seu descriptiones et icones plantarum qua 
in America meridionali et boreali, in insulis Pkilippinis et 
Marianis collegit Thaddeus Haenke, Philosophue Doctor, 
Pkytographus Regis Hispania {VnigRt 1825-35). Nee went 
from Concepdon, Chile, overland to Montevideo, and thence 
to Spain; and in September, 1794, he reached Cadiz, with a 
herbarium of 10,000 plants, of which 4,000 were new ones. 
These were preserved in the Botanical Gardens at Madrid, with 
more than 300 drawings. See Ramon Jordana y Morera's 
Bosquejo geografico e historico-natural del archipielago filipino 
(Madrid, 1885), pp. 356-358, 361 ; and Jose Gogorza y Gon- 
zalez's Datos para la fauna filipina (Madrid, 1888), p. 2.- 
Eds. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 11 

it is sometimes as low as 68'' in the mornings, which 
are remarkably cool, so much so as to require at times 
woolen clothing. None of the mountains are within 
the limits of perpetual congelation ; but I think some 
cannot be far from it, as I have seen something much 
resembling snow on the Pico de Mindoro, and there 
may be higher ones in the interior of Magindanao/^ 
Both natives and Spaniards live to a tolerable age, 
in spite of the indolent habits of the latter, and the 
debauches of both. The Spaniards are most com- 
monly carried off by chronic dysentery, which is 
called by them "la enfermedad del pays" (the ill- 
ness of the country) : from its very frequent occur- 
rence, at least 7 out of 10 of those who exceed 
the age of 40, fall victims to this disorder.** Acute 

'^ The loftiest peak in Mindoro is Mount Halcon, said to be 
8,800 feet in height The most prominent volcano in the archi- 
pelago is Mayon, 7,916 feet high, in Albay, Luzon; in Negros is 
another volcano, called Canla6n, 8,192 feet high. In Panay the 
highest peak is Madiais, 7,264 feet; and in Mindanao b the 
loftiest peak in the entire archipelago, the almost extinct volcano 
of Apo, which rises to 10,312 feet. See the chapter on "Moun- 
tains and rivers," in Census of Philippines, i, pp. 60-73.- Eds. 

■•Lc Gentil says {Voyage, ii, p. 29): "This animal [the 
bog] is so common there that they even use its iat for sauces, 
ragouts, and fried articles; for butter is not known in Manila, 
and there is very little use of milk there. The Manilans doubt- 
less find less difficulty (for in that climate people are very fond 
of repose) in using pork fat in their food than in rearing and 
keeping cattle and making butter. This sort of food, joined to 
the heat and the great humidity of that country, occasions serious 
dysentery in many persons." He adds (p. 123) : " The venereal 
disease (or * French disease,' as they call it, I know not why), is 
very common there [in Manila] ; but they do not die from it ; 
the great heat and copious perspiration enable people to live at 
Manila with this malady, they marry without being fri^tened 



78 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

liver complaints are very rare, as is also the chronic 
affection of that organ, unless as connected with the 
preceding disorder. 

Fevers are not common amongst Europeans, in 
Manila. Amongst the natives, the intermittent is of 
common occurrence, particularly after the rains (in 
September and October), and in woody or marshy 
situations.'' This appears to be owing as much to 
the thinness and want of clothing, together with their 
habits of bathing indiscriminately at all hours, as to 
miasmata; and, as their fevers are generally neg- 
lected, they often superinduce other and more fatal 
disorders, as obstructions, &c. Tetanos in cases of 
wounds is of common occurrence, and generally 
fatal. 

Their population, by a census taken in 1817-18, 
amounted to 2,236,000 souls, and is increasing rapid- 
ly. In one province, that of Pampanga, from 18 17 
to 1 81 8, there was an increase of 6,737 souls, the whole 
population being in 18 17, 22,500; but I suspect some 
inaccuracy in this. The total increase from 1797 
to 1 8 17, 25 [sic] years, is by this statement 835,500, 
or 3,360 per annum! In this census are included only 

at It, and the evil passes by inheritance to their children ; it is a 
sort of heritage with which but few European families are not 
stained.' - Eds. 

** Le Gentil thus speaks of the placer-mining practiced by the 
Indians in Luzon (Voyage^ ii, p. 32) : " It is true that this sort 
of life shortens the days of these wretched pe(H>le; as diey are 
perpetually in the water, they swell, and soon die. Besides that, 
die friars say that it is their experience that the Indians who lead 
that sort of life have no inclination to follow the Christian life, 
and that they give much trouble to the ministers of God vdio 
instruct them. Despite that, it is to the friars and to the alcaldes 
that these Indians sell their gold."- Eds. 



i8oi-i«4ol REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 79 

those subject to Spanish laws. About three quar- 
ters of a million more may be added for the various 
independent tribes,^ which may be said to possess 
the whole of the interior of the islands, on some of 
which, as the large one of Mindanao (called by the 
natives Magindanao) there are only a few contempt- 
ible [Spanish] posts, the interior and a great part of 
the coast being still subject to the Malay sultans, 
originally of Arab race. 

The population of the Marianas and Calamianes 
Islands, with that of Palawan, which are all in- 
cluded in '^ The Kingdom of the Phillippines," are 

^ In his " Non-Christian Tribes of Northern Luzon/' Worces- 
ter calls attention to die Yaribus indefinite modes of using the 
word " tribe," among ethnological writers, and proposes (p. 803) 
the foUowing definition as a means of securing deamess and ac- 
curacy therein: " A division of a race composed of an aggregate 
of individuak of a kind and of a common origin, agreeing among 
themsdyes in, and distinguished from thdr congeners by, physical 
characteristics, dress, and ornaments; the nature of the commu- 
nities which they form; peculiarities of house architecture; medi- 
ods of hunting, fishing, and carrying on agriculture; character and 
importance of manufactures; practices relative to war and the 
taking of heads of enemies; arms used in warfare; music and 
dancing and marriage and burial customs; but not constituting 
a political unit subject to the control of any single individual nor 
necessarily speaking die same dialect.'' He adds: " Where dif- 
ferent dialects prevail among the members of a single tribe it 
should be subdivided into dialect groups." He also says (p. 798) : 
** It was the usage of the Spaniards to designate as a tribe each 
group of people which had a dialect, more or less peculiar, of its 
own. Furthermore, the custom which is widespread among die 
bill people of northern Luzon of shouting out the name of a 
setdement when they desire to call for one or more persons be- 
longing to it, seems in many instances to have led the Spaniards to 
adopt settlement names as tribal ones, even when there were no 
difierenoes of dialect between the peoples thus designated.^- Ena. 



8o THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

comprised in this number, but the whole of these 
does not exceed 19,000. 

Of this number about 600 only are European 
Spaniards, with some few foreigners : the remainder 
are divided into various classes, of which the prin- 
cipal are, ist, The Negroes, or aborigines; 2d, the 
Malays (or Indians, as they are called by the Span- 
iards) ; and the Mestizos and Creoles, who are about 
as I to 5 of the Indian population. 

The Negroes [i.e., Negritos'] " arc in all probabil- 
ity the original inhabitants of these islands, as they 
appear at some remote epoch to have been of almost 
all the eastern archipelago. The tide of Malay emi- 
gration, from whatever cause and part it proceeded, 
has on some islands entirely destroyed them. Others, 
as New Guinea, it has not yet reached, a circum- 
stance which seems to point to the west as the original 
cradle of the Malay race. In the Phillippines, it 
has driven them from the coast to the mountains, 
which by augmenting the difficulty of procuring sub- 
sistence, may have much diminished their numbers. 
Still, however, they form a distinct, and perhaps a 
more numerous class of men than is generally sus- 
pected. They have in the present day undisturbed 
possession of nearly 2/3ds of the Island of Luzon, 
and of others a still larger proportion. 

These people are small in stature, some of them 
almost dwarfish, woolly-headed, and thick-lipped, 
like the negroes of Africa, to whom indeed they bear 

^^The fullest and most authoritative account of the Negritos 
is, of course, the monograph by W. A. Reed, The Negritos of 
Zambales, published by the Philippine Ethnological Survey. See 
also Worcester's account of them in his " Non-Christian Tribes 
of Northern Luzon," in Philippine Journal of Science^ October, 
1906, pp. 805 ei seg^Eos, 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1 8 1 9-22 8 1 

a Striking resemblance, though the different tribes 
vary much in their stature and general appearance. 
They subsist entirely on the chase, or on fruits, herbs, 
roots, or fish when diey can approach the coast They 
are nearly, and often quite naked, and live in huts 
formed of the boughs of trees, grass &c., or in the 
trees themselves, when on an excursion or migration. 
Their mode of life is wandering and unsettled, sel- 
dom remaining long enough in one place to form a 
village. They sometimes sow a little maize or rice, 
and wait its ripening, but not longer. These are the 
habits of the tribes which border on the Spanish 
settlements. Farther within the mountains they are 
more settled, and even form villages of considerable 
size, in the deep vallies by which the chains of 
mountains are intersected. The entrances to these 
they fortify with plantations of the thorny bamboo, 
pickets of the same, set strongly in the earth and 
sharpened by fire, ditches and pit- falls; in short all 
the means of defence in their power are employed to 
render these places inaccessible. Here they cultivate 
com, rice, and tobacco ; the last they sell to Indians, 
who smuggle it into the towns. This being a con- 
traband article, as it is monopolized by government, 
the defences are used against the Spanish revenue of- 
ficers and troops, who on this account never fail to 
destroy their establishments when they can do so, 
though many are impregnable to any force they can 
bring against them, from the nature of the passes, 
and from the activity of the negroes, who use their 
bows with wonderful expertness. There are indeed 
instances of their repulsing bodies of one or two 
hundred native troops, but affairs of this magnitude 
arc very rare. 
To this predatory kind of warfare, as well as to 



82 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

the defective qualities, and often very reprehensible 
conduct of the missionaries, generally Indian priests 
(Clerigos)^ are perhaps to be in some measure at- 
tributed their unsettled habits. Those nearest the 
Spanish settlements carry on a little commerce, re* 
ceiving wrought iron, cloth, and tobacco, but of tener 
dollars^ in exchange for gold-dust, &c., or for wax, 
honey, and other products of their mountains. The 
circumstance of their receiving dollars, which they 
rarely use in their purchases, is a curious one; but 
it is a fact, and very large quantities of money are 
supposed to be thus buried; from what motive, ex- 
cept a superstitious one, cannot be imagined/* 

Of their manners or customs little or nothing i? 
known. Like all savage nations, they are abundantly 
tinctured with superstitions, fickle, and hasty. One 
of their customs best known is, that upon the death 
of a chief, they plant themselves in ambush on some 
frequented track, and with their arrows assassinate 
the first unfortunate traveller who passes, and not un- 
f requently two or three ; the bodies are carried off as 
sacrifices to the manes of the deceased.*' The com- 
munications between the Spanish settlements are of- 
ten interrupted by this circumstance, as no Indian 
will venture out when the negroes are known to be 
^^ de luto^' (in mourning) : they are also said to have 
a " throwing of spears," similar to those of New Hol- 
land, at the death of any eminent person. In fact, 
upon this, as upon all other points unconnected with 
masses and sermons, there exists a degree of igno- 
rance which is almost incredible. The early mission- 

^ See Le Gendl, Voyage aux Indes. 

^* Is not this, or something resembling it, a custom of the 
natives of Australasia? 



i8oi-x84o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 83 

aries, in their rage for nominal conversion, appear to 
have neglected entirely the history or origin of their 
neophytes ; and, as in America, where the monuments 
of ages were crumbled to the dust to plant the cross, 
all that related to the history of their converts was 
considered as unprofitable, if not as impious, the 
devil ^ being compendiously supposed to preside 
over their political as well as religious institutions in 
all cases. In this belief, and in its consequent effects, 
the modem missionaries, who are mostly Indian 
priests, are worthy successors of their Spanish pre- 
decessors. 

The government have many missions established 
for the purpose of converting them, but with little 
success. Like most savages, their mode of life has 
to them charms superior to civilization, or rather to 
Christianity (for here the terms are not synonimous) ; 
and they rarely remain, should they even consent to 
be baptized, but on the first caprice, or exaction of 
tribute, which immediately takes place, and some- 
times even precedes this ceremony, return again to 
their mountains. 

Exposed to all inclemencies of the weather, and 
with an unwholesome and precarious diet, they per- 
haps rarely attain more than forty years of age. Their 
numbers are supposed rather to diminish than in- 
crease ; and in a few years this race of men, with their 
language, will probably be extinct. It is indeed a 
curious subject of enquiry, whether the language of 
those of the eastern islands has any, and what re- 
semblance to those of Africa, or the southern parts 
of New Holland and Van Dieman's Land?" 

** See Herrera and Ant. de Solis, Hist, of Mexico. 

^'The negro of the east appears to have amalgamated with 



^ 



84 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

They are not represented as very mischievous; but 
if strangers venture too far into their woods, they 
consider it an aggression, and repel it accordingly 

some other family. On the south coasts of Australasia, thqr re- 
semble in many points the people just described. This continues 
to be the case as far as Cape Capricorn. To the northward of 
this, as far as Murray's Islands in Torres Straits, they are a stout^ 
tall, athletic race of men,* and as hairy on the face and body as 
Europeans, with long hair, and without the negro cast of counte- 
nance. This race may be traced by intervals to Temate, Gilolo, 
&c, where they are called Harraforas;f but none are found in 

* The writer of this memoir has, on the coast of New Hol- 
land, between Cape Capricorn and Endeavour Straits, had occa- 
sion to know this fact. A party of these savages attacked the 
captain and supercargo of a vend in which he was an officer, 
and they were repulsed only by firearms. The account of tbttm 
given by the supercargo, and indeed by all the party attacked, 
uniformly agreed in describing them as the finest made and 
strongest looking men possible. Their bodies were abo very 
hairy. 

t The term " Haraforas " is applied to the Subanos of Min- 
danao by Captain Forrest; from his Voyage^ pp. 266, 268, 271, 
273» 278-282, we obtain the following interesting and first- 
hand information about that people: 

" The vassals of the Sultan, and of others, who possess great 
estates, are called Kanakan. Those vassals are sometimes 
Mahometans, though mostly Haraforas ['' who are also called 
Subanos, or Oran Manubo," p. 186]. The latter only may be 
sold with the lands^ but cannot be sold off the lands. The 
Haraforas are more opprest dum the former. The Mahomet- 
an vassals are bound to accompany their lords, on any sudden 
expedition ; but the Haraforas being in a great measure excused 
from such attendance, pay yearly certain taxes, which are not 
expected from the Mahometan vassals. They pay a boiss, or 
land tax. A Harafora family pays ten battels of paly (rou^ 
rice) forty lb. each; three of rice, about sixty lb.; one fowl, 
one bunch of plantains, thirty roots, called dody, or St. Hdena 
yam, and fifty heads of Indian com. I give this as one instance 
of the utmost that is ever paid. Then they must sell fifty bat- 
tels of paly, equal to two thousand pound weight, for one kan- 
gan. So at Dory, or New Guinea, one prong, value half a 
dollar, or one kangan, given to a Harafora, lays a perpetual tax 
on him. Those vassals at Magindano have ifdiat land they 



x8oi-i84o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 8 5 

with their arrows. Those who frequent the Spanish 
settlements are rather of a mild character ; and there 
are instances of Spanish vessels being wrecked on the 

the Phillippines (unless the Ylocos have some relationship to 

please; and the Mahometans on the sea ooast, whether free or 
kanakan, live mostly by trading with the Haraforas, while their 
own gardens produce them betel nuts, coco nuts, and greens. 
They seldom grow any rice, and they discourage as far as they 
can, the Haraforas from going to Mindano, to sell the pr6duce 
of their plantations. On the banks of the Pelangy and Taman- 
takka, the Mahometans grow much rice. The boiss is not al- 
ways collected in fruits of the earth only. A tax-gatherer, who 
arrived at Goto Intang, when I was there, gave me the follow- 
ing list of what he had brought from some of Rajah Moodo's 
crown lands, being levied on perhaps five hundred families. 
2870 battels of paly, of forty lb. each; 490 Spanish dollars; 
160 kangans; 6 tayls of gold, equal to 30I [sterling]; 160 
Malons: a doth made of the plantain tree, three yards long, 
and one broad. This last mentioned doth is the usual wear 
of the country women, made in the form of a Bengal lungy, or 
Buggess [f.^., Bugis] doth, being a wide sack without a bot- 
tom ; and is often used as a currency in the market. The cur- 
renqr in most parts of the country, is the Chinese kangan, 
coarse doth, thinly woven, nineteen inches broad, and six 
yards long; the value at Sooloo is ten dollars for a bundle 
of twenty-five sealed up; and at Magindano much the same; 
but at Magindano dollars are scarce. These bundles are called 
gandangs, rolled up in a cylindrical form. They have also, as a 
currency, kousongs, a kind of nankeen, dyed black; and kompow, 
a strong white Chinese linen, made of flax ; of which more par- 
ticularly hereafter. The kangans generally come from Sooloo; 
so they are got at second hand: for the Spaniards have long 
hindered Chinese junks, bound from Amoy to Magindano, to 
pass Samboangan. This is the cause of so little trade at Magin- 
dano, no vessels sailing from Indostan thither; and the little 
trade is confined to a few country Chinese, called Oran San^y, 
and a few Soolooans who come hither to buy rice and paly, 
bringing with them Chinese artides: for the crop of rice at 
Sooloo can never be depended on. In the bazar, or market, 
the immediate currency is paly. Ten gantangs of about four 
pounds each, make a battel; and three battels (a cylindrical 
measure, thirteen inches and five-tenths high; the same in 
diameter) about one hundred and twenty pounds of paly, are 
commonly sold for a kangan. Talking of the value of things 
here, and at Sooloo, they say, such a house or prow, &c, is 



86 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

coast, whose people, particularly the Europeans, 
have been treated by them in the kindest manner, and 
carefully conducted to the nearest settlement 

them). Is not the native of New Ireland and Queen Ctiailotte's 
Islands too of this race?f 

• worth so many slaves; the old valuation being one slave for 
thirty kangans. They also specify in their bargains, uriiether is 
meant matto (eye) kangan, real buigan, or nominal bngan. 
The dealing in the nominal, or imaginary kanggn, is an ideal 
barter. VHien one deals for the r^ kangans, they must be 
examined; and the gandangs, or bundles of twenty-five pieces, 
are not to be trusted, as the dealers will often forge a seal, 
having first packed up damag^ kangans. In this the Chinese 
here, and at Sooloo, are very expert. The China cash at Ma- 
gindano, named pousin, have holes as in China. I found them 
scarce; their price is from one hundred and sixty to one hun- 
dred and ds^ty for a kangan. At Sooloo is coined a cash of 
base oopper, called petis, of which two hundred, down to one 
hundred and seventy, go for a kangan." 

" On Sooloo are no Haraforas. The Haraforas on Magin- 
dano make a strong doth, not of cotton, but of a kind of flax, 
very like what the Batta people wear on the coast of Sumatra.** 
" One day near Tubuan, a Harafora brought down some paddy 
from the country: I wanted to purchase it; but the head man 
of the village, a Magindanoer, would not permit him to sdl it 
me. I did not dispute the point; but found afterwards, the 
poor Harafora had sold about three hxmdred pounds of paly for 
a prong, or choj^ing knife." " They all seem to be slaves to 
the Magindano people: for these take what they please, fowls 
or anjTthing in the house they like best; and if the owners seem 
anfiTJi threaten to tie them up, and flog theoL'* " The inhabit- 
ants of this country [of the lUanos] have generally their name 
from the lake [i.r.. Lake Lfanao] on which they reside. The 
inlanders dwell chiefly towards the East, where are said to be 
thirty thousand men, intermixed in many places with the Hara- 
foras, who seem to be the primitives of the island. On the 
north coast of Magindano, the Spaniards have had great suc- 
cess, in converting to Christianity those Haraforas. Their 
agreeing in one essential point, the eating of hog's flesh, may, 
in a great measure, have paved the way." 

" 'Die Magindano people sell to the Haraforas iron chopping 
knives, called prongs, doth, salt, &c., for their rice and other 
fruits of the earth. For the Haraforas dread going to sea, 
dse they could carry the produce of their lands to a better 
market. They are much imposed on, and kept under by their 



1801.1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 87 

The character of the different tribes appears, how- 
ever, to vary in this particular: some are described as 
treacherous and cruel, and those which inhabit the 

The difference between them is most striking. The one are 
dwarfish negroes, the others almost black Europeans. Both are 
essentially different from the Malay family, and not only so, but 
from each other (the native of Amboyna, I think, forms die link 
between them) and this di£ference is apparendy anatomical, in 
the shape of the skull, facial angles, &c 

We are as yet in the infancy of our knowledge of the origin 
of these various families of the human race: like that of lan- 
guages, it will in all probability remain one more of conjecture 

Mahometan lords; and are all tributary to the Sultan, or to 
some Rajah Rajah (noblemen) under him. Their system 
proves thus the feudal." " The Haraforas are thinly scattered; 
and, being all tributary, many together seldom stay long at one 
place. This cannot be for want of water, pasture, or ferdle 
ground ; as with the Tartars on the continent of Asia. On this 
island, abnost every spot is covered either with timber, brush- 
wood, reeds, or grass; and streams are found every where in 
abundance. Nor can it be to avoid wild beasts; there are none 
on the island : a good cause why deer, wild horses and odier wild 
catde are found in so many parts of it. I suspect that die 
Haraforas are often so opprest that some have wisdy got inland, 
beyond the tax-gatherer's ken." 

Evidently Forrest and the writer of the Remarks had in 
mind two different peoples, to whom they applied the term 
Haraforas. Crawfurd explains this name (Dictionary Ind. 
Islands, p. 10) as a corruption of Jlforas; it is " not a native 
word at all, nor is it the generic name of any people whatso- 
ever. It is a word of the Portuguese language, apparently 
derived from the Arabic artide u/, and the preposition fora, 
' without.' The Indian Portuguese applied it to all people be- 
yond their own authority, or who were not subdued by them, 
and consequently to the wild races of the interior. It would 
seem to be equivalent to the ' Indios bravos ' of the Spaniards, 
as applied to the wild and unconquered tribes of America and 
the Philippines."- Eds. 

I And that groupe to which Quiros, Mendana, or Torres 
gave the name of " Yslas de Gente Hermosa " f [Still thus 
named on modem charts; see Voyages of Quirof (Hakluyt 
Society's publications, London, 1904)9 PP- xxiv, 217, 4249 43 1- 
-Eds.] 



88 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol- 5^ 

north western coasts of the Bay of Manila are ac* 
cused of having frequently attacked the boats of 
$hips, when these were not sufficiently guarded in 
their intercourse with them. The natives of the town 
in the Bay of Mariveles, at the entrance of that of 
Manila, assured the writer of these pages^ that it 
would be madness to attempt accompanying them 
into the woods, even in disguise ; and in this they per- 
sisted, though money was offered them to allow him 
to proceed with them. 

The Indians are the descendants of the various 
Malay tribes which appear to have emigrated to this 
country at different times, and from different parts 
of Borneo and Celebes. Their languages, though all 
derived from one stock (the Malay), has a number 
of dialects differing very materially ; so much so, that 
those from different provinces frequently do not un- 
derstand each other. 

They differ too in their character, and slightly in 
their manners and customs. The most numerous class 
of them are the Bisayas,^ ( a Spanish name, from their 

than of fact; but it is still a subject of deep interest. I have heard 
from respectable authority, that the language of Cagayan, the 
most northern province but one of the island of Luzon, the men 
of which are tall, stout, olive-coloured, almost beardless, and 
proverbial for their mildness, peaceable behaviour, and fidelity, so 
much resembles that of the Sandwich islanders, that some of 
these at Manila found no difficulty in making the Cagayan serv- 
ants understand them! The province of Ylocos is the next to 
this to the north, and forms the north coast of the island. The 
Ylocos are black, short-bearded men, and noted for their insubor- 
dination and dissipated character. 

^*Our author here confuses the Spanish name ''Pintados" 
(literally, " painted," referring to their tattooed bodies) with die 
native name, " Bisayas," both being indifferently applied to the 
islands south of Luzon.- Eds. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 89 

anciently painting their bodies, and using defensive 
armour) . These inhabit the largest part of the south- 
em islands. Luzon contains several tribes, of which 
the most remarkable are the Ylocos, Cagayanes, Zam- 
bales, Pangasinanes, Pampangos, and Tagalos. These 
still retain their national distinctions and characters 
to such a degree, that they often occasion quarrels 
amongst each other. Of their general character as a 
nation we are now to speak. 

The Indian of the Phillippine Islands has been 
strangely misrepresented. He is not the being that 
oppression, bigotry, and indolence, have for 300 years 
endeavoured to make him, or he is so only when he 
has no other resource. Necessity, and the force of 
example have made those of Manila^ what the whole 
are generally characterized as -traitors, idlers, and 
thieves. 

How, under such a system as will be afterwards 
described, should they be otherwise? Say rather, that 
all considered, it is surprising to find them what they 
are; for they are in general (I speak of the Indian 
of the provinces), mild, industrious, as far as they 
dare to be so, hospitable, kind, and ingenuous. The 
Pampango is brave,^^ faithful, and active ; the fidel- 
ity of the Cagayan is proverbial ; the Yloco and the 
Pangasinanon are most industrious; the Bisayan is 
brave and enterprising almost to fool-hardiness:- 
they are all a spirited, a proudly-spirited race of 
men ; and such materials, in other hands, would form 
the foundation of all that is great and excellent in 
human nature. 

But for 300 years they have been ground to the 
earth with oppression. They have been crushed by 

^^ See Sir WQliam Draper's dispatches at the siege of Manila* 



90 ' THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

tyranny ; their spirit has been tortured by abuse and 
contempt, and brutalized by ignorance; in a word, 
there is no injustice that has not been inflicted on 
them, short of depriving them of their liberty; 
and in a work published at Madrid in 1819 
(Estado de las Yslas Filipinas, par [jic; for por] 
Don Tomas Comyn) , whose author was a factor of 
the Phillippine company, a whole chapter (the 4th) 
is devoted to the mild and humane project " of estab- 
lishing Spanish agriculturists throughout the isl- 
ands/' who are, ^^ to require a certain number of In- 
dians from the governors of towns and provinces, 
who are to be driven to the plantations, where they 
are to be obliged to work a certain time, the price 
of their labour being fixed, and then to be relieved 
by a fresh drove I " *• 

Such a system, incredible as it may appear, has 
been proposed to a Spanish cortes; and still more 
wonderful, plans like these excited no reprobation 
in Manila. Such were Spanish ideas of governing 
Indians 1 Justice would almost tempt us to wish that 
this scheme had been carried into execution, and that 
the Indian had risen and dashed his chains on the 
heads of the authors of such an infernal project 
And yet the Indian is marked out as little better than 
a brute; so many of them are, but to the system of 
government, and not to the Indian, is the fault to 
be ascribed. 

It is not here meant to accuse the Spanish laws; 
many of them are excellent, and would appear to 

^Wbs it not by this system (the mita) that the mines tnd 
plantations of Mexico were wrought? and Mexico,- that Mexico 
which the Spaniards of Cortes in the isth century called New 
Spain,- became nearly a desert ? 



1801.1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 9^ 

have been dictated by the very spirit of philanthropy. 
But these are rarely enforced, or if they are, delay 
vitiates their effect That this colony, the most fav- 
oured perhaps under heaven by nature, should have 
remained till the present day almost a forest, is a 
circumstance which has generally excited surprise in 
those who are acquainted with it, and has as gener- 
ally been accounted for by attributing it to the lazi- 
ness of the Spaniards and Indians. This is but a 
superficial view of the subject ; one of those general 
remarks which being relatively a little flattering to 
ourselves, pass current as facts, and then ^^ we wonder 
how any one can doubt of what is so generally re- 
ceived.'' -The cause lies deeper, man is not natur- 
ally indolent. When he has supplied his necessities, 
he seeks for superfluities -if he can enjoy them in 
security and peace; -if not -if the iron gripe of 
despotism (no matter in what shape, or through what 
form it is felt) , is ready to snatch his earnings from 
him, without affording him any equivalent - then in- 
deed be becomes indolent, that is, he merely provides 
for the wants of to-day. This apathy is perpetuated 
through numerous generations till it becomes national 
habit, and then we falsely call it nature. It cannot 
be too often repeated, that from the poles to the 
equator, man is the creature of his civil institutions, 
and is active in proportion to the freedom he enjoys. 
Who that has perused the History of Java by Sir S. 
Rafiles,^* and seen the effects of government planned 

**A higher and purer praise is due to this gendeman than 
having written the work alluded to: it is that he acted on its 
spirit, and first taught the " red man " to know himsdf as man, 
and (a far more arduous undertaking), he taught the white man 
that his prosperity was essentially connected with that of the na- 



92 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

by the talents of Minto in the spirit of the British 
constitution in that country, will now accuse the 
Javanese of unwillingness to work, if the fruits of his 
labour are secured to him? And yet we remember 
when a Javanese was another name for every thing 
that is detestable. It is ever thus -we blame the race, 
because that flatters our pride -we should first look 
to their institutions. I return to the Phillippines. 

The cause, then, of their little progress is ^^ because 
there is no security for property ; " or in other words, 
the smallness of the salaries of the oflicers of justice^ 
as well as of other members of government, and the 
profligacy inseparable from all despotic governments, 
have laid the inhabitants under that curse of all so- 
cieties, venal courts of justice. Does an unfortunate 
Indian scrape together a few dollars to buy a buflfalo, 
in which consists their whole riches? Woe to him if 
it is known ; and if his house is in a lonely situation - 
he is infallibly robbed. Does he complain, and is the 
robber caught? In three months he is let loose again 
(perhaps with some trifling ^punishment) , to take 
vengeance on his accuser, and renew his depredations. 

Hundreds of Indian families are yearly ruined in 
this manner. Deprived of their cattle, on which they 

dve. The country in which the foundations of our power were 
laid on such a basis, should not have been given away like a min- 
isterial snu£F-box.* 

* Java was conquered by England in 181 1, but was restored 
to 'Holland five years later. During that time the island was 
governed by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (i 781-1826), who 
published a History of Java (London, 1817) ; he was after- 
ward governor of the En^ish settlements in Sumatra (1818- 
24), in both these posts ruling with great ability and vigor 
and an enlightened and liberal mind. Gilbert Elliot, Baron 
Minto, a noted English statesman, was governor-general of 
India during 1807-13, and went with Raffles to Java to or- 
ganize its government.- Eds. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 93 

depend for subsistence, they grow desperate and care- 
less of future exertion, which can but lead to the same 
results, and thus either drag on a miserable existence 
from day to day, or join with the robbers ^ to pursue 
the same mode of life, and to exonerate themselves 
from paying tributes and taxes, in retum for which 
no protection is granted. In many provinces this 
has been carried to such an extent, that whole dis- 
tricts are rendered impassable by the robbers,*^^ who 
even lay villages under contribution I 

This is the state of the inland towns. On the 
coasts, and while a flotilla of gun-boats is maintained 
at an expense of upwards of half a million of dollars 
annually, there is no part safe from the attacks of 
the Malay pirates from Borneo, Sooloo, and Min- 
danao. These make regular cruises to procure slaves, 
and have even not unf requently carried them off, 
not only from the bay of Manila,!' but even from 
within gun-shot of its ramparts 1 The very soldiers 
and sailors sent for their protection plunder them. 
An Indian in whose neighbourhood troops are posted, 

"^See Descripcion Geografica y Topografica de la Ysla de 
Luzon, For Don Yldefbnso de Arragon, Parte IV. Prov. de la 
Pampanga* p. 3, S, &c The author is a colonel of engineers. [In 
1818-20, be was chief of the topographical bureau at Manila.- 
Eds.] 

" Ibid. 

^* "Estos (Pueblos) aunque immediatos a las orillas de la mar, 
cstcn libies de las invasiones de los Moros; la espesura de las 
Man^ares occulta y hace difidl la entrada, &c." 

** These (towns), though dose to the sea shore, are free from 
the invasions of the Moors (pirates) ; the thickness of the man- 
groves conceal and render the entrances difficult." The writer is 
speaking of towns, of which none are more than 20 miles from 
JAanilzl - Descripcion Geog. y Topograf. 



94 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

or who sees the gun-boats approaching, can no longer 
consider his property safe; and in the very vicinity 
of Manila, soldiers ramble about with their loaded ' 
muskets, and pilfer all they lay hands upon at mid- 
day 1" 

Does the Indian, in spite of all this, escape, and 
by patient industry make a little way in the world? 
he is vexed with offices; he is chosen Alguazil, 
Lieutenant, and Captain of his town ; to these offices 
no pay is attached, they always occasion expenses 
and create him enemies; he is pinched or cheated 
by the Mestizos, a forestalling, avaricious, and tyran- 
nical race. Does he suffer in silence? it is a signal 
for new oppressions: does he complain? a law suit 
The Mestizos are all connected, they are rich, and the 
Indian is poor. 

The imperfect mode of trial, both in civil and 
criminal cases (by written declarations and the de- 
cisions of judges alone) , lays them open to a thousand 
frauds ; for if the magistrate be supposed incorrupt- 
ible, his notaries or writers (escribanos and escribien- 
tes) are not so; and from their knavery, declarations | 
are often falsified, or one paper is exchanged for an- 
other whilst in the act of or before signing them. 

To such a degree does this exist, that few Indians, 
even of those who can read Spanish tolerably, will 
sign a declaration made before a magistrate without 
threats, or without having some one on whom they 

^ The writer was once obliged to aim all his servants against 
16 soldiers with their muskets from a neighboring military posL 
The two parties remained some minutes with their arms levelled at 
each other, when a parley was begun, which ended the a&ir 
without bloodshed. The origin of the quarrel was a dispute at 
cockfig^ting between his servants and the soldiers. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 95 

can depend, to assure them they may safely do so. 
Nor is this to be wondered at, when it is known that 
declarations on which the life or fortune of an indi- 
vidual may depend are left, often for days, in the 
power of writers or notaries, any of whom may be 
bought for a doubloon ; and some of them are even 
the menial servants of the magistrate! This applies 
to Luzon. In the other islands, this miserable system 
is yet worse : they have seldom but one communica- 
tion a year with the capital, to which all causes of any 
magnitude are sent for decision or confirmation ; and, 
as the papers are often (purposely) drawn up with 
some informality, the cause, after suffering all the 
first ordeal of chicane and knavery, experiences a 
year's delay before it is even allowed a chance of be- 
ing exposed to that which awaits it at Manila. Or 
should the cause be at length carried to the Au- 
diencia, or Supreme Court, and there, as is some- 
times the case^ be judged impartially, the delay of the 
decision renders it useless -the sentence is evaded- 
or treated with contempt 1 This may appear almost 
incredible, but known to any person who has resided 
in Manila. 

While the civil power is thus shamefully corrupt 
or negligent of its duties, the church has not forgot- 
ten that she too has claims on the Indian. She has 
marked out, exclusive of Sundays, above 40 days in 
the year on which no labour can be performed 
throughout die islands. Exclusive of these are the 
numerous local feasts in honor of the patron saints of 
towns and churches.** The influence of these extends 

"Such arc for ctamplc. Nucstra Scnora de Antipole, about 
^mflcs east of Manila, and the Santo Nino (Holy ChQd) of 
Zebu: to both of diese it is itckoned almost indispensable to 



9* THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

often through a groupe of many islands, always to 
many leagues round their different sanctuaries ; and 
often lasting three or four days, sometimes a week, 
according to his or her reputation for sanctity; so that 
including Sundays, the average cannot be less than 
1 10 or 120 days lost to the community in a year. This 
alone is a heavy tax on the agricultural classes, by 
whom it is most severely felt; but its consequences 
are more so, from the habits of idleness and dissipa- 
tion which it engenders and perpetuates. These feasts 
are invariably, after the procession is over, scenes of 
gambling, drinking, and debauchery of every de- 
scription. 

" And mony jobs that day begun, 
Will end in houghmagandie." " 

Thus they unsettle and disturb the course of their la- 
make a pilgrimage: the natives of Luzon to the first, which is 
about 25 miles from Manila; and those of all the Bisayas or 
Southern Islands to the other. From Antipolo* alone have been 
sent in a single year 180,000 dollars as the produce of the masses 1 
And the writer has conversed with pilgrims from the province of 
Ylocos! In all cases of peril and 'difficulty, a vow is made to 
one of these saints, which is seldom left unfulfilled. The crew of 
a small vessel of men offered 54 dollars for masses at the convent 
of St Augustin (I think), on the day of the feast del Santo 
Nina 

* For detailed account of the shrine at Antipolo, its worship, 
miracles, etc., see Murillo Velarde's Hist, de Philipinas^ fol. 
210V-229V; and in the engraved frontispiece to that work may 
be seen a representation of the statue of the Virgin of Anti- 
polo (see our vol. xliv, opposite titlepage).-EDS. 

*' This word is defined by the Standard Dictionary ( New 
York, 1895) as a Scottish slang word meaning " unlawful sexual 
intercourse." It is apparently allied to the obsolete Northumbrian 
word " hous^en-moughen, " meaning " greedy, ravenous " - see 
Wright^s English Dialect Dictionary, iii ( London, 1902 ), p* 
247. - Eds. 



18011840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 97 

hours by calling off their attention from their do- 
mestic cares; and hy continually offering occasions 
of dissipation destroy what little spirit of economy or 
foresight may exist amongst so rude and ignorant a 
people. Nor is this all ; they are subject to numer- 
ous other vexations and impositions under the title of 
church-services ; such are, in some towns, five or six 
men attendant daily in rotation to bring the sick to 
the church to confess, or to carry the " Padre " with 
the host to their houses, and many others; all of 
which, though in themselves trifles, are more harass- 
ing, from their unsettling tendency, than pecuniary 
imposts. An encouragement to celibacy and its con- 
sequent evils is also to be found in the (to them) 
heavy expenses attendant on all the domestic offices 
of religion, as matrimony, baptism, &c., as well as 
in the increase of the poll-tax on married persons, 
for the whole of which the husband is responsible. 
The ecclesiastical expenses of a marriage between 
the poorer classes are about five dollars : the others, 
as christenings, buryings, &c., in proportion. These 
appear trifles; but if to these are added the confes- 
sions, bulasj [i.e.j of the Crusade] and other ex- 
actions, it will be seen that these constitute no trifling 
part of the oppressive and ill managed system which 
has so much contributed to debase their real char- 
acter. 

I say nothing here of the natural effect of the Ro- 
man Catholic religion on an ignorant people, who 
imagine, that verbal confession and pecuniary atone- 
ments {rarely to the injured person) are a salvo for 
crimes of all magnitudes : that such is the case, is no- 
torious to every one who has visited Catholic coun- 
tries. 



98 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

Let US for a moment retrace this picture. To whom 
after this is it attributable that the Indian is often 
a vicious and degraded being, particularly in the 
neighborhood of Manila? 

If he sees all around him thieving and enjoying 
their plunder with impunity, what wonder is it that 
he should thieve also? If his tribunals of all descrip- 
tions afford him no redress, or place that redress be- 
yond his reach, what resource has he but private re- 
venge?^ If he cannot enjoy the fruits of his labour 
in peace, why should he work? If he is ignorant, 
why has he not been instructed? There exist scarcely 
any schools to teach him his duties : the few that do 
exist teach him Latin 1 prayers I theology 1 jurispru- 
dence! and some little reading and writing;'^ but he 

** Nothing has stamped the character of the Manila Indian 
with greater atrocity in the eyes of Englishmen, than dieir fre- 
quent appeals to assassination (the knife) in cases of supposed or 
actual wrongs. - How long is it since dirks were laid aside, because 
useless, in Scotland? When men cannot appeal itnmediatdf to a 
magistrate, they appeal to themselves. Duels too are another 
kind of appeals of the same sort. 

*^ " At Manila, therefore, a doctor [ of law ] is a species of 
phenomenon, and many years pass without one of them being 
seen; in two universities there is no doctor, while in 1767 diere 
was but one competitor for the doctoral of the cathedraL Yet it 
must be noted that this competitor was a Mexican, and was not 
bom in Manila. Of what use, therefore, are two universities in 
this city? Would not a single one be more than enough? One 
who knows Latin is greatly esteemed in Manila, because that lan- 
guage is not common diere, in spite of the two universities which 
I have just mentioned ; what is learned in those institutions is very 
poor, and is only imperfectly understood. When I arrived there, 
a great many persons asked me if I knew Latin, and when I an- 
swered that I knew a little of it they apparently had after that 
more respect for me. All the ancient prejudices of the schools 



180Z.1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819*22 99 

is only taught to read the lives of the saints, and the 
legends of the church, whose gloomy, fanatical doc- 
trines and sanguinary histories have not a little con- 
tributed to make him at times revengeful and intol- 
erant Does he prevaricate and flatter? It is be- 
seem to hare abandoned us of Europe only to take refuge at Ma- 
nila, where certainly dicy have long remained, for the ancient 
doctrine is there in too good hands to give place to sound ideas of 
physics. Don Felidano Marques often honestly confessed to me 
that in Spain they were a hundred years behind France, in the 
sciences; and that at Manila they were a hundred years behind 
Spain. One can judge, by that, of die present state of physics at 
I Manila, in the midst of two universities. In that city electricity 
is known only by name, and the Holy Office of the Inquisition 
has prohibited experiments in that line. I knew there a French- 
man, a surgeon by profession, a man of parts and of inquiring 
mind, who was threatened with the Inquisition for having tried to 
make such experiments; but I think that what really drew upon 
him this ill-fortune was the experiment of die " little friar." 
[This nmple experiment in ph3rsics was made with a little figure 
resembling a friar; it had never before been seen in Manila, and 
everybody ran to look at it and laugh.] "This experiment of 
the surgeon, who made his litde friar dance, and sometimes sink 
to the bottom of the vial by way of correcting him, drew upon him 
the displeasure of the entire body of religious with whom Manila 
swarms; there was talk of the Holy Office, and it was said that 
V the surgeon's experiment was a case for the Inquisition. The sur- 
geon, therefore - whose only intention in the experiment was to 
vex the friars who had prevented him from making his experi- 
ments in electricity - was compelled to cease his pleasantry, and 
Manfla had to express its detestation of the pleasure that it had 
taken in seeing the experiment." [The author was visited by 
many people at his observatory, who desired to see the sun and 
the planets through his telescope ;] " the women were even more 
curious than the men about the rare things which I showed them, 
and which I took pleasure in explaining to them ; but not a single 
religious came to visit my observatory. " ( Le Gentil, Voyage^ ii, 
pp. 96, 97. ) -Eds. 



lOO THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS {Vol. 51 

cause he dare not speak the truth, and because a long 
system of oppression has broken his spirit 

Does he endeavour to advance himself a few steps 
in civilization? his attempts are treated with ridi- 
cule and contempt;'* hence he becomes apathetic, 
careless of advancement, and often insensible to re- 
proach. The best epithets he hears from Spaniards 
(often as ignorant as himself) are "Indiol" The 
God of nature made him so. "Brutol" He has 
been and is brutalized by his masters. ^'Barbaro I" 
He is often so by force, example, or even by precept 
^^ Ignorante I " He has no means of learning; the will 
is not wanting. In a word, the spirit of the follow- 
ers of Cortes and Pizarro, appears to have left its 
last vestiges here, and perhaps the Indian has been 
saved from its persecutions only by the weakness of 
the Spaniard. 

Such are some of the causes which have marked 
the character of the Indian, which is not naturally 
bad, with some of its prominent blemishes. I am far 
from holding up the Indian of the Phillippines as a 
faultless being ; he is not so ; the Indian of Manila ^ 

"^See El Yndio Agraciado (The aggrieved Indian), a pam- 
phlet published at Manila in 1821, but suppressed bjr order of gov- 
ernment.* 

* Pardo de Tavera says of this pamphlet, in his BiUioteca 
Filipina, p. 146: "It attacks one Don M. G., a Philippine 
Spaniard, who was allowed to propose a plan of studies which 
was not much to the liking of the Filipino Indians. As appemis 
by the title of this pamphlet, there existed in Manila at that 
time a publication (probably weekly) called El noticioso Fili- 
pino. [See also Tavera's account of this sheet, at foot of the 
same page, which he regards as the first periodical which ap- 
peared in Manila]. Doubtless the former was the doing of 
some friar, who took the name of ' Indian ' in order to express 
himself more freely."- Eds. 

'* This distinction should never be lost sight of. The Indian 



i8oi-i84o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1 8 1 9-22 I O I 

has all the vices attributed to him ; but I assert, that 
the Phillippine islander owes the greater part of his 
vices to example, to oppression, and above all to mis-"^ 
government; and that his character has traits, which 
under a different system, would have produced a 
widely different result. 

To sum up his character : - He is brave, tolerably 
faithful, extremely sensible to kind treatment, and 
feelingly alive to injustice or contempt; proud of an- 
cestry, which some of them carry to a remote epoch ; 
fond of dress and show, hunting, riding, and other 
field exercises; but prone to gambling and dissipa- 
tion. He is active, industrious, and remarkably in- 
genious* He possesses an acute ear, and a good taste 
for music and painting, but little inclination for ab- 
struse studies. He has from nature excellent talents, 
but these are useless for want of instruction. The 
little he has received, has rendered him fanatical in 
religious opinions; and long contempt and hopeless 
misery has mingled with his character a degree of 
apathy, which nothing but an entire change of sys- 
tem and long perseverance will efface from it.*^ 

of Manila, from whom strangers generally form their estimate of 
this people, is so mixed, that a genuine Indian (Malay) family ft 
scarcely to be met with; they are a mixture of Indian, Chinese, 
Japanese, Mexican (from the troops), seamen of different nations, 
and Spaniards besides, ''Toutes les Capitales se ressemblent, et 
(e n'est pas d'eux qu'il faut juger les moeurs d'un peuple quel- 
conque. " * - Rousseau. Let it never be forgotten, too, that while 
/ the Indians of Manila^ on the 9th of October, 1820, were assas- 
sinating every foreigner widiin their reach, the Indians of the 
country were saving those in their power at the hazard of their 
lives! 

* That is, "All capital cities are alike, and it is not by them 
that the monds of any people should be judged."- Eds. 

^ The following statements regarding the native character are 



I02 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS (Vol. $1 

The Mestizos are the next class of men who in- 
habit diese islands : under this name are not only in- 
cluded the descendants of Spaniards by Indian 
women and their progeny, but also those of the Chi- 
nese, who are in general whiter than either parent, 
and carefully distinguish themselves from the In- 
made by Ramon Reyes Lala ( The PUlippine Islmubt New York, 
x899» pp. 80-87), himself a Faipino: "The first thing that in 
the native character impresses die traveler is his impassive de- 
meanor and imperturbable bearing. He is a bom stoic, a fatalist 
by nature. This accounts for hb coolness in moments of danger, 
and his intrepid bearing against overwhelming odds. This fea- 
ture of the Malay character has often been displayed in the coo- 
flicts of the race with the Europeans in the East Indies. Under 
competent leadership the native, though strongly averse to disci- 
pline, can be made a splendid soldier. As sailors, too, I do not 
believe they can be equaled/' " As a result of the stoicism of die 
native character, he never bewails a misfortune, and has no fear 
of death." " Europeans often seem to notice in diem what they 
deem a lack of sympathy for the misfortunes of others; but it is 
not this so much as resignation to the inevitable.*' " The edu- 
cated native, however, impregnated with the bitter philosophy of 
the civilized world, is by no means so imperturbable. While more 
keenly alive to die su£Eerings of others, he is also more sensitive to 
his own sorrows. " '^Incomprehensible inconsistencies obtain in 
nearly every native. Students of character may, therefore, study 
the Filipinos for years, and yet, at last, have no definite impres- 
sion of their mental or moral status. Of course, those living in 
the cities are less baffling to the physiognomist and the ethnologist; 
for endemic peculiarities have been so rubbed o£E or modified diat 
the racial traits are not obvious. But observe the natives, in their 
primitive abodes, where civilizing forces have not penetrated I 
You will then be amazed at the extraordinary mingling and 
clashing of antithetical characteristics in one and the same person; 
uncertain as to whether the good or the bad may be manifested. 
Like the wind, the mood comes and goes, and no one can tell why. 
I myself, with all the inherited feelings, tastes, and tendencies of 
my countrymen - modified and transmuted [ by his education and 



x8oi-i84o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 103 

dians. The Mestizos are, as the name denotes, a 
mixed class, and, with the Creoles of the country, like 
those of all colonies, when uncorrected by an Euro- 
pean education, inherit the vices of both progenitors, 
with but few of the virtues of either. Their charac- 
ter has but few marked traits ; the principal ones are 

long residence in Europe and America], happily -have stood 
ag^iast or amused at some hitherto unknown characteristic mani- 
festing itsdf in an intimate acquaintance; and after I had been 
for years, too, wholly ignorant of his being so possessed or obsessed. 
And after that, the same mental or moral squint would be dis- 
played at irregular intervals.'' " His indolence is the result of 
generations of tropical ancestors. Besides, deprived by the Span- 
iards from all active participation in affairs of the Government, 
and robbed of the fruits of industry, all incentive to advancement 
and progress was taken away. He therefore yields with composure 
to the crushing conditions of his environment, preferring the lazy 
joys of indolence rather than labor for the benefit of his oppressors. 
Naturally. Recent events, however, show that, given the stimu- 
lant of hope, even the ' indolent natives * of the Philippines can 
achieve and nobly dare. Some Spaniards also have asserted that 
the Filipinos are naturally disloyal and treacherous, and that 
their word is not to be depended on. Now, the whole world 
knows that they have every reason to be disloyal to the Spaniard, 
who has for centuries so crudly oppressed thenu The devotion to 
the cause of freedom, however, which has recently made Rizal 
and hundreds of others mar^rs to Spanish crudty, shows that 
they also have the stuff that heroes are made of, and that they 
can be loyal to an animating principle." " Though calm, the na- 
tive is not secretive, but often loquacious. He is naturally curi- 
ous and inquisitive, but always polite, and respectful withal — 
especially to his superiors. He is passionate, and, in common 
with all half-civflized races, is cruel to his foes. The quality of 
mercy, like the sentiment -as distinguished from the passion - 
of love, is perhaps more the product of the philosophy of civiliza- 
tion than a natural attribute of the human heart. " " All trav- 
elers unite in attributing to the natives extreme family affection. 
They are very fond of their children, who, as a rule, are respectful 



I04 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. s^ 

their vanity, industry, and trading ingenuity: as to 
the rest, money is their god ; to obtain it they take all 
shapes, promise and betray, submit to everything, 
trample and are trampled on ; all is alike to them, if 
they get money ; and this, when obtained, they dissi- 
pate in lawsuits, firing cannon, fireworks, illumina- 

and well-behaved. The noisy litde hoodlums of European and 
American cities are utterly unknown. The old are tenderly cared 
for, and venerated; while in almost every well-to-do household 
are one or two poor relatives who, while mere hangers-on, are 
nevertheless made welcome to the table of dieir host Indeed, 
die hoq;>itality of the Filipinos is proverbial. A guest b always 
welcome, and welcome to the best. As a rule, the people are 
superstitious and very credulous; but how could they be other- 
wise? For diree hundred years they have been denied even die 
liberty of investigation; when no light, save the dim glimmer 
of priestcraft pierced the utter darkness of their lot. Those that 
have been educated, however, have proved apt converts - only 
too apt, say the priests and the Spaniards - to the conclusions of 
science and of modem research. The native is rarely humorous, 
and seldom witty. He is not easily moved to anger, and when 
angry does not often show it. When he does, like die Malay of 
Java, he is prone to lose all control of himself, and, widi destruc- 
tive energy, slays all in his path. This is infrequent, however, but 
is a contingency that may occur at any time. If a native has been 
unjustly punished, he will never forget it, and will treasure die 
memory of his wrong until a good opportunity for revenge pre- 
sents itself. Like all courageous people, he despises cowardice and 
pusillanimity. He has, therefore, but little regard for the me^ 
and humble Chinaman, who will pocket an insult rather than 
avenge himself. He greatly esteems the European, who is pos- 
sessed of the qualities which he admires, and will follow him into 
the very jaws of death. He is easily awed by a demonstration of 
superior force, and is ruled best by mild but firm coercion, based 
upon justice. He is not often ambitious, save socially, and to 
make some display, being fond of ceremony and of the pomp and 
glitter of a procession. He is sober, patient, and always dean. 
This can be said of few peoples. He easily adjusts himself to 



i8oi-i84o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1 8 1 9-22 I O 5 

tions, processions on feast days and rejoicings, in gifts 
to the churches, or in gambling. This anomaly of 
actions is the business of their lives. Too proud to 
consider themselves as Indians, and not sufficiently 
pure in blood to be acknowledged as Spaniards, they 
affect the manners of the last, with the dress of the 
first, and despising, are despised by both.*^ They 
however, cautiously mark on all occasions the lines 
which separate them from the Indians, and have their 
own processions, ceremonies, inferior officers of jus- 
tice, &c., &c. The Indian repays them with a keen 
contempt, not unmixed with hatred. And these feuds, 

new conditions^ and will soon make the best of their surroundings. 
As servants they are honest, obedient, and will do as they are 
told. It must be said that they enjoy litigation more than is 
good for them or for the best interests of the colony. There 
must be some psychological reason for this. It doubtless gives 
some play to the subtlety of the Oriental mind. It is said that 
he lacks the sense of initiative, and to some extent this may be 
true. The recent conduct of Aguinaldo-a full-blooded native 
-proves, notwithstanding, that he is not wholly deficient in ag- 
gressiveness nor in organizing power." 

Lala adds ( pp. 157} 158 ) : "I have talked with many rude, 
untutored natives that, frankly, astonished me with the unwit- 
ting revelation of latent poetry, love of imagery, and spiritual 
longings in their nature.' - Eds. 

*^ Such is, although in somewhat varying degree, the condi- 
tion of half-caste classes everywhere. A vivid picture of their 
condition in India, which may illustrate that of the mestizos in 
Filipinas, is found in a book entitled That Eurasian (Chicago, 
1905)1 by ''Aleph Bey," the pseudonym of an American writer 
who had spent many years in India ; he depicts, in terms both vig- 
orous and -pathetic, .the origin, di£Sculties, and degraded condi- 
tion of the Eurasians (or half-castes) there, and the oppression 
and cruel treatment which they encounter from the dominant 
white class.- Eds. 



lo6 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vd. 51 

while they contribute to the safety of a government 
too imbecile and corrupt to unite the good wishes of 
all classes, have not unf requently given rise to affrays 
which have polluted even the churches and their al- 
tars with blood. 

Such are the three great classes of men which may 
be considered as natives of the Phillippine Islands. 
The Creole^' Spaniards, or those whose blood is but 
little mingled with the Indian ancestry, pass as Span- 
iards. Many of them are respectable merchants and 
men of large property; while others, from causes 
which will be seen hereafter, are sunk in all the vices 
of the Indian and Mestizo. 
^ The government of the Phillippine Islands is com- 
^* t posed of a governor, who has the title of Captain 
General, with very extensive powers; a Tenientc 
Rey, or Lieutenant Governor ; the Audiencia or Su- 
preme Court, who are also the Council. This tribu- 
nal is composed of three judges, the chief of whom 
has the title of Regent, and two Fiscals or Attorney 
Generals, the one on the part of the king, the other 
on that of the natives, and this last has the spe- 
cious title of ^^Defensor de los Indios/' The finan- 
cial affairs are under the direction of an Intendant, 
who may be called a financial governor. He has the 
entire control and administration of all matters rela- 
tive to the revenue, the civil and military auditors and 
accountants being under him. Commercial affairs 

*' " To be born in Spain was enough to secure one marked 
tokens of respect; but this advantage was not transmitted. The 
children who first saw the b'ght in that other world no longer 
bear the name of chapetons^ which honored their fathers; thef 
become simply Creoles, " ( Rasmal, Etahlissemeni et commerce des 
Europiens^ ii, p. 29a ) - EIds. 



i8o]-]&|o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, L819-22 I07 

are decided by the Consulado, or chamber of com- 
mercCy composed of all the principal, and, in Manila, 
some of the inferior merchants. From this is an ap- 
peal to a tribunal ^^ de Alzada '' [1.^., of appeal] com- 
posed of one judge and two merchants, and from this 
to the Audiencia, without whose approbation no sen- 
tence is valid. 

The civic administration is confided to the Ayun- 
tamiento (Courts of Aldermen or Municipality). 
This body, composed of the two Alcaldes, twelve 
Regidors (or Aldermen) and a Syndic, enjoy very 
extensive privileges, approaching those of Houses of 
Assembly ; their powers, however, appear more con- 
fined to remonstrances and protests, representations 
against what they conceive arbitrary or erroneous in 
government, or recommendations of measures sug- 
gested either by themselves or others. They have, in 
general, well answered the object of their institution 
as a barrier against die encroachments of govern- 
ment, and as a permanent body for reference in cases 
where local knowledge was necessary, which last de- 
ficiency they well supply. 

The civil power and police are lodged in the hands 
of a Corregidor and two Alcaldes: the decision of 
these is final in cases of civil suits, where the value 
in question is small, 100 dollars being about the max- 
immn.^ Their criminal jurisdiction extends only to 
slight fines and corporal punishments, and imprison- 
ment preparatory to trial* The police is confided to 
the care of the Corregidor, who has more extensive 
powers, and also the inspection and control of the 
prisons. 

To him are also subject the Indian Captains and 

** 1 am perhaps not quite correct here. [Mas states {Informix 



I- 



1 08 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

Officers of towns, who are annually elected by the na- 
tives. These settle small differences, answer for dis- 
turbances in their villages, execute police orders, im- 
pose small contributions of money or labour for local 
objects, such as repairs of roads, &c. &c. They also 
have the power of inflicting slight punishments on 
the refractory. To them is also confided the collec- 
tion of the capitation or poll-tax, which is done by di- 
viding the population of the town or village into tens, 
each of which has a Cabe^a (or head), who is ex- 
empt from tribute himself, but answerable for the 
amount of the ten under him. This tax is then paid 
to the Alcalde or Corregidor, and from him to the 
treasury. The Mestizos and Chinese have also their 
captains and heads, who are equally answerable for 
the poll-tax. 

The different districts and islands, which are 
called provinces, and are 29 in number, are governed 
by Alcaldes. The more troublesome ones, or those 
requiring a military form of government, by mili- 
tary officers, who are also Corregidors. Samboangan 
on the south west coast of Mindanao, and the Ma- 
rianas, have governors named from Manila, and 
these are continued from three to five years in of- 
fice. 

These Alcaldeships are a fertile source of abuses 
and oppression : their pay is mean to the last degree, 
not exceeding 350 dollars per annum, and a trifling 
per centage on the poll-tax. They are in general 
held by Spaniards of the lower classes, who finding 
no possible resource in Manila, solicit an Alcalde- 
ship. This is easily obtained, on giving the securi- 

ii, '^Administration of Justice,'* P* i)t that the limit for civil suits 
was 100 pesos fucrtes.- Eds.] 



h 



\ 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 I09 

ties required by government for admission to these 
offices, which consist in two sureties*^ to an amount 
proportionable to the value of the taxes of the prov- 
ince, which all pass through the Alcalde's hands. 

Of the nature and amount of these abuses an idea 
will be better formed from the following abridged 
quotations, which are translated from the work of 
Comyn before quoted (p. i6).*' 

^^It is indeed common enough to see the barber 
or lacquey of a governor, or a common sailor, trans- 
formed at once into the Alcalde in chief of a popu- 
lous province, without any other guide or council 
than his own boisterous passions. 

^^ Without examining the inconvenience which 
may arise from their ignorance, it is yet more la- 
mentable to observe the consequences of their rapa- 
cious avarice, which government tacitly allows them 
to indulge, under the specious title of permissions to 
trade (indultos). 

^^ and these are such that it may be asserted, 

that the evil which the Indian feels most severely is 
derived from the very source which was originally 
intended for his assistance and protection^ that is, 
from the Alcaldes of the provinces, who, generally 
speaking, are the determined enemies and the real 
oppressors of their industry. 

**It will be understood that these sureties have their share 
in the advantages, that is plunder, which the Alcalde derives from 
the government This often amounts to 20, 30, or even 50,000 
dollars in three or four years - though at the time of their leav- 
ing Manila, they are in debt to a large amount. It is but just 
to observe, that there are some few honorable exceptions. 

^'This is a typographical error; the reference to Comsm's 
work is on p. 13 of Remarks." Eds. 



I lO THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vd. 51 

" It is a well known fact, that far from promoting 
the felicity of the provinces to which he is appoint- 
edy the Alcalde is exclusively occupied with advanc- 
ing his private fortune, witfiout being very scrupu- 
lous as to the means he employs to do so : hardly is 
he in office than he declares himself the principal 
consumer, buyer, and exporter of every production 
of the province. In all his enterprises he requires 
the forced assistance of his subjects, and if he con- 
descends to pay them, it is at least only at the price 
paid for the royal works. These miserable beings 
carry their produce and manufactures to him, who 
directly or indirectly has fixed an arbitrary price for 
them. To offer that price is to prohibit any other 
from being offered -to insinuate is to command -the 
Indian dares not hesitate -he must please the Al- 
calde, or submit to his persecution: and thus, free 
from all rivalry in his trade, being the only Spaniard 
in the province, the Alcalde gives the law without 
fear or even risk, that a denunciation of his tyranny 
should reach the seat of government 

^' To enable us to form a more correct idea of these 
iniquitous proceedings, let us lift a little of the veil 
with which they are covered, and examine a little 
their method of collecting the ^tributo' (poll-tax). 

'^ The government,, desirous of conciliating the in- 
terests of the natives with that of the revenue, has in 
many instances commuted the payment of the poll- 
tax into a contribution in produce or manufactures: 
a year of scarcity arrives, and this contribution, be- 
ing then of much higher value than the amount of 
the tax, and consequently the payment in produce a 
loss, and even occasioning a serious want in their 
families, they implore the Alcalde to make a repre- 



A 



i8oi-ia4o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 1 1 

aentation to government that they may be allowed to 
pay the tribute for that year in money. This is ex- 
actly one of those opportunities, when, founding his 
profits on the misery of his people, the Alcalde can 
in the most unjust manner abuse the power confided 
to him. He pays no attention to their representations. 
He is the zealous collector of the royal revenues;- 
he issues proclamations and edicts, and these are fol- 
lowed by his armed satellites, who seize on the har- 
vests, exacting inexorably the tribute, until nothing 
more is to be obtained. Having thus made himself 
master of the miserable subsistence of his subjects, he 
changes his tone on a sudden - he is the humble sup- 
pliant to government in behalf of the unfortunate 
Indians, whose wants he describes in the most pa- 
thetic terms, urging the impossibility of their paying 
the tribute in produce -no difiSlculty is experienced 
in procuring permission for it to be paid in money- 
to save appearance, a small portion of it is collected 
in cash, and the whole amount paid by him into the 
treasury, while he resells at an enormous profit, the 
whole of the produce (generally rice) which has 
been before collected I" Comynj p* 134 to 138. 

This extract, though long, is introduced as an evi- 
dence from a Spaniard (not of the lower order, or 
a disappointed adventurer, but a man of high re- 
spectability) , of the shameless abuses which are daily 
practiced in this unfortunate country, and of which 
the Indian is invariably the victim : and it is far from 
being an overcharged one. Hundreds of other in- 
stances might be cited,^ but this one will perhaps 

** Even from Spanish writers : tee Zuniga's History, M orillo 
[i.r., Murillo Velarde], and others. Le Gentil (who names his 
inioniiants, men of the first respectability), La Peyrouse, &c. 



> 



1 1 2 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

suffice to exonerate the writer of these remarks from 
suspicion of exaggeration, in pointing out some of 
the most prominent of them. 

While treating of the government of the Phillip- 
pines, we must not forget the ministers of their re- 
ligion, and the share which they have in preserving 
these islands as dominions to the crown of Spain. 
This influence dates from the earliest epoch of their 
discovery. The followers of Cortes and Pizarro, 
with their successors, were employed in enriching 
themselves in the new world ; and the spirit of con- 
quest and discovery having found wherewith to sa- 
tiate the brutal avarice by which it was directed, 
abandoned these islands to the pious efforts of the 
missionaries by whom, rather than by force of arms, 
they were in a great measure subdued ; and even in 
the present day, they still preserve so great an influ- 
ence, that the Phillippines may be almost said to exist 
under a theocracy approaching to that of the Jesuits 
in Paraguay. 

The ecclesiastical administration is composed of 
an Archbishop (of Manila), who has three suf- 
fragans, Ylocos, Camarines, and Zebu; the first two 
on Luzon, the last on the island of the same name. 
The revenue of the Archbishop is 4000, and that of 
the bishops 3000 dollars annually. The regular 
Spanish clergy of all orders are about 250, the major 
part of which are distributed in various convents in 

Many public papers of the government bear witness to these 
abuses. 

" £1 Alcalde de aqui Senor I ( said an old Indian to the writer 
at Zebu), le quitari I06 dientes de la boca a S. Md." ** The Al- 
calde here, Sir I -He'll take the teeth out of your worship's 
mouth." This was not too strong an expression. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 I X 3 

the different islands, though their principal seats 
are in diat of Luzon ; and many of them, from age 
or infirmity, are confined to their convents in Ma- 
nila. 

The degree of respect in which " the Padre " is 
held by the Indian, is truly astonishing. It ap- 
proaches to adoration, and must be seen to be cred- 
ited. In the most distant provinces, with no other 
safeguard than the respect with which he has in- 
spired the Indians, he exercises the most unlimited 
authority, and administers the whole of the civil and 
ecclesiastical government, not only of a parish, but 
often of a whole province. His word is law -his 
advice is taken on all subjects. No order from the 
Alcalde, or even the government *^ is executed with- 
out his counsel and approbation, rendered too in 
many cases the more indispensable from his being 
the only person who understands Spanish in the vil- 
lage.** To their high honour be it spoken, the con- 
duct of these reverend fathers in general fully justi- 

*^The3r are well aware of the extent of their influence, and 
even at times speak of it " Si aqui numda su tropa el Rey, t€ 
vofttn los Indios al monte, pero si yo cerro las puertas de la Igle- 
sia los tengo todos a mis pies en veinte quatro horas" "If the 
king sends troops here, the Indians will retire to the mountains 
and forests. But if I shut the church doors, I shall have them 
all at my feet in twenty-four hours," was the remark of an intel- 
ligent " fri^rle " to the writer. 

*' Le Gendl says (Voyage, ii, p. 2) : ** Every order of reUgious 
has, then, taken possession of these provinces, which they have, 
so to say, shared among themselves. In some sort, they oonunand 
therein, and they are more kings than the king himself. They 
have been so shrewd as to learn the dialects of the various peo- 
ples among whom they reside, and not to teach the Castilian lan- 
guage to them; thus the religious are absolute masters over the 
minds of the Indians in these islands."- Eds. 



1 14 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS (V«t. S< 

fies and entitles them to this confidence. The '' Pa- 
dre^' is the only bar to the oppressions of the Al- 
calde: he protects, advises, comforts, remonstrates, 
and pleads for his flock ; and not unf requently has he 
been seen, though bending beneath the weight of 
years and infirmity, to leave his province, and un- 
dertake a long and often perilous voyage to Manila, 
to stand forward as the advocate of h^ Indians ; and 
these gratefully repay this kind regard for their hap- 
piness by every means in their power. 

Their hospitality is equally praiseworthy. The 
stranger who is travelling through the country, no 
matter what be his nation or his religion,^ finds at 
every town the gates of the convent open to him, and 
nodiing is spared that can contribute to his comfort 
and entertainment They too are the architects and 
mechanists: many of them are the phjrsicians and 
schoolmasters of the country, and the little that has 
been done towards the amelioration of the condition 
of the Indian, has generally been done by the Span- 
ish clergy. 

It is painful, however, to remark, that much (hat 

** Those who can see only inquisitors in Githolic bishops will 
be a litde incredulous of one of them checking an attempt to 
convert a Protestant I This happened to the writer, who found 
himself one evening seated between an Indian derigo and the 
bishop of Zebu, an aged and most worthy prelate* The Indian 
father, to show his zeal for the faith, attacked me on the subject 
of religion with the usual arguments of ignorant friars, till I was 
on the point of quitting the room to avoid answering. " My 
son, " said the old prelate to the Indian - '' we are here to con- 
vert the Indians, not to annoy the strangers who may visit us. 
I will send this gentleman some books, and I doubt not they will 
duly prepare his mind to see the errors of the Protestant church, 
and then we may hope for success with him ! " 



i8oz-xS4o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, l8l9*22 1 1 5 

might have been done, has been left undone. The 
CKclusive spirit of the Roman church, which con- 
fines its knowledge to its priests, is but too visible 
even here : they appear to be more anxious to make 
Christians, than citizens, and by neglecting this last 
part of their duty, have but very indifferently ful- 
filled the first, -the too conunon error of proselytists 
of all denominations, which has probably its source 
in that vanity of human nature, which is as insatia- 
ble beneath die cowl as under any garb it has yet as- 
sumed 

Some of them too have furnished a striking but 
melancholy proof of the eloquent moral, 

^^ It is not good for man to be alone. " 

Let us draw a veil over these infirmities. He who 
has lived amidst the busy hum of crowds, amidst the 
wild whirl of human passions and interests, can have 
but little conception of the state of that mind, which 
perhaps feeling alive to the blessings of social inter- 
course, is cut off for years from civilized men ; and 
thus buried mentally, is constrained to seek all its 
resources within itself.^^ That heart is one of pow- 
erful fibre which does not sometimes show itself to 
be human. . . . 

There are instances indeed of some of them for- 
getting in a great measure their language! and of 
others who have become almost idiots while yet in 
the vigour of life I** 

^ " Yo he llorado de anstas de ver a un Europeo! " " How 
often has the desire of seeing an £ur<^>ean made me weep! '' was 
the pathetic remark of a most worthy minister to the writer of 
these remaifa.-This man had been 27 years on one small 
island I 

^ ** Insanity is the fashionable disease [ at Manila ] , and a 



1 16 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

The next and lowest order of ecclesiastics are the 
Indian clergy (clerigos) ; they are in number from 
800 to 1000, and though from the want of Spaniards, 
the administration of many large districts and towns 
is confided to them, they are as a body far from be- 
ing worthy of such an important charge. The ma- 
jority of them are ignorant to the last degree, proud, 
debauched, and indolent: in a word, they unite the 
vices of the priesthood to those of the Indian, and 
form a class of men who may almost be said to be 
distinguished by their vices only. 

This arises from various causes, of which the prin- 
cipal appears to be that of their being entirely ex- 
cluded from the higher ecclesiastical situations. This 
alone, by depriving them of the most powerful 
stimulus to correct conduct, together with the very 
confined education they receive, and the impassable 
line drawn between them and the Spanish clergy, 
whom they are never allowed to approach, and who 
treat them with much contempt, are sulSicient to ac- 
count, in a great measure, for their apparent demer- 
it. The fact, however, is such, whatever be its cause ; 
and seldom a week passes, or at most a month, but 

great many persons are attacked by it; but it prevails more gea- 
erally among the women and the religious - the latter most of 
all, and they are very subject to it The life which they lead 
contributes greatly to this: to be always shut up, in a dimate 
so hot, eating scanty and poor food, and much given to study; 
perhaps also there is some grief at finding themselves banished and 
shut in so far away [from Spain]. All these causes make the 
brain grow hot, and madness follows. Nearly all the religious 
who go to the Philippines arrive there while young. ... As 
for the women, their natural infirmity may, at a certain age, 
conduce to insanity, with which a great many are stricken." (Le 
Gentil, Voyage, ii, pp. 130, I3i. ) -Eds. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 1/ 

some of them are brought before the ecclesiastical 
tribunals, under accusations but little creditable to 
their cloth. 

Their ordinary resort at Manila is the cockpit or 
the gaming table, where they shew an avidity and 
keenness which are disgraceful and shameless to the 
last degree. Yet to the guidance of beings like these 
is the unfortunate Indian in a great measure aban- 
doned, even in his last moments : for from the very 
great proportion of these to die Spanish priests, and 
from the recluse lives of die latter, nearly nine- 
tenths of all the clerical duties are performed by the 
Indian clerigos^ such as I have described them. The 
few who do form an exception, are men whose con- 
duct is highly creditable to themselves, and more 
striking from its unf requent occurrence. 

A keen and deadly jealousy subsists between these 
and the Spanish ecclesiastics, or rather a hatred on 
the one side, and a contempt on the other. The In- 
dian clergy accuse these last of a neglect of their ec- 
clesiastical duties, of vast accumulations of property 
in lands, &c., which, say they, ^^ belong to us the In- 
dians. " The Spaniards in return treat them with si- 
lent contempt, continuing to enjoy die best benefices, 
and living at their ease in the convents. From what 
has been said, it will be easily seen, " that much may 
be said on both sides ; " but these recriminations 
have the bad effect of debasing both parties in the 
eyes of the natives, and are the germs of a discord 
which may one day involve these countries in all the 
horrors of religious dissentions.^ 

*'They have already conducted diem to scenes of the last 
indecency and even bloodshed. See Martini's Hist 

The Inquisition has been but little felt in the Philippines of 



/ 



1 1 8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [V^i S' 

Such are the civil and ecclesiastical government 
of the Phillippines. We turn now to the Revenue and 
Expenditure, Military establishments, flee. 

Until very lately these rich islands have been a 
constant burden to the crown of Spain, money hav- 
ing been annually sent from Mexico to supply their 
expenses. The establishment of the monopoly of 
tobacco has principally contributed to supply this de- 
ficiency. It was established by an active and intelli- 
gent governor (Vasco) about 1745 [ic, 178$] and 
still continues to be the principal revenue of the 
country; and large sums have been from time to time 
sent home to Spain, as a balance against those re- 
ceived from Mexico. The sales of this article amount 
more or less to a million of dollars per annum. The 
extensive establishment which is kept up to prevent 
smuggling, and the expenses of purchase and manu- 
facture, reduce its net produce to 500,000 dollars per 
annum. The plant is cultivated in the districts of 
Gapan in Pampanga, in a part of the province of 
Cagayan, and in the island Marinduque to the south 
of Luzon. It is delivered in by the cultivators at 
fixed prices, and sent to Manila, where it is manu- 
factured in a large range of buildings dedicated to 
that purpose, and retailed to the public at about 18 
to 19 1-2 dollars per arroba of 25 lbs. (Spanish), 
die prices varying a little according to the harvests. 

The administration, inspection, and manufacture 

late years. A tribiinal existed, but it was merely nominal, and 
held only ** m terrorem." It was not wanted as a political engine; 
and as a religious one, there was little use for it amongn a people 
who will believe any thing and every thing. The Grand InquisitiM*, 
during the last 25 years, is a man universally beloved ! - the 
Padre Coro. 






x8oi-i84oJ REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 I 1 9 



of this sLrticle, employ several thousand persons of 
both sexes (the manufacturing process being almost 
wholly carried on by women). This is not only the 
most productive, but the best conducted branch of 
the revenue; while it is at the same time the least 
vexatious in its operations, though not exempt from 
those objections which are common to all govern- 
ment monopolies. 

Another of these monopolies is that of Coco wine, ' 
as it is called (vino de Coco y nipa) . This is a weak 
spirit produced from the juice of the Toddy tree 
(Borassus gomutus)/' and from the Nipa (Cocos 
nypa) : of this, large quantities are used by the na- 
tives. The expense of collection is about 80,000 dol- 
lars, the net revenue to government varying from 
2 to 300,000. 

The poll-tax (tributo) is the other great branch ^' 
of the revenue; the manner of collecting it is de- 
scribed in p. 29. Its amount to each individual is, 
with some exceptions and variations in different 
provinces, 14 rials, or i 3-4 dollars for every married 
Indian, from the age of 24 to 60. The Mestizos pay 
24 rials or 3 dollars, and the Chinese 6 dollars each : 
this last branch is generally farmed. The amount 
of Indian and Mestizo tribute may be stated in round 
numbers at 800,000 dollars: the expense of collect- 
ing it diminishes it to about 640,000. The exemp- 

'* This is, according to Montero y Vidal ( Archipielago fili- 
pinOf p. 72), the name applied by Linnaeus to the Caryota onusta 
of Blanco, generally called cabonegro by the Spaniards (see vol. 
'^^^^3 P« 177) ; but the list of liber plants in Official Handbook of 
Philippines applies to that tree (p. 332) the name Caryota urent 
L. The natives also make various sorts of wine and brandy from 
the sap of the cocoanut palm (Cocos nucifera) ; see Delgado's 
Historia general^ PP* 645-648, 664.— Eds. 



1 20 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. S' 

tions from it are disbanded soldiers, who pay less 
than others, men above 60 years of age, and the cul- 
tivators of tobacco, or makers of wine for the royal 
monopolies. 

The collection of this tax is always attended with 
much trouble, and it is detested by the Indians to 
the last degree. The exaction of it from the newly 
converted tribes,'^ and the extensive frauds which, 
as already detailed, are practised by means of it, ren- 
der it the most oppressive of all impositions. The 
natives consider it (perhaps with some justice) , as 
giving money to no purpose ; and infallibly evade it 
by every means in their power. 

The customs produce from i to 300,000 dollars 
per annum. The remaining part of the revenue is 
derived from various minor sources: such are the 
cockpits, which are farmed, and produce a net reve- 
nue of 25 to 40,000 dollars; -the Chinese poll-tax, 
30,000 dollars ;-" Bulas," " (the sale of which is 

^* There is an instance (I think in the province of Pampanga) 
of a negro tribe, who annually pay their tribute -but upon the 
express condition that no missionaries are to be sent! 

^^ " Bulas." Surely this most absurd of all impositions on die 
credulity of a people, should be abolished, or at least imposed in 
a less objectionable manner. The '* Bula de Crusada " (originally , 
a contribution to the wars against the Infidels), for which is 
granted permission to eat meat and eggs in Lent, or benefits to 
the souls in purgatoiy (** Bula de Difuntos "), from the Pope is \ 
an article of revenue to the king of Spain. His Most Catholic 
Majesty farms it to one of his subjects, who radier than lose a 
rial of his bargain, will sell them to Chinese, Turks, or Hindoos, 
if they are foob enough to buy them, as the Chinese have been 
known to do for the souls of their ancestors I - Quere : What 
has become of the origifuU intention of these precious documents? 
of which a modem Spanish author has remarked, ''Que es d 
papel mas caro y mas malo que se vende." It is the worst and 



X 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1 8 1 9-22 1 2 1 

farmed, and produces from 10 to 12,000 dollars) ; 
-cards, powder (a monopoly), stamps, and other ar- 
ticles of minor importance; amongst which was 
formerly the monopoly of betel nut, which is now 
abolished. 

The expenses of administration are as follows. The 
civil and ecclesiastical olSicers of government, 250,- 
000 dollars. The military, including all classes, 
about 600,000; and the marine, about 550,000. 

The excess of revenue over the expenditure is 
stated by Comyn to have been in 1809 about 450,000 
dollars, but in this is included 250,000 received from 
Mexico. 

In 1 8 17, by an account published by order of the 
Ayuntamiento of Manila, the amount of the revenue 
was- 

Receipts 

Dollars 

Poll Tax 638,976 

Rentas (monopolies, farms, &c.) . 810,784 



.T« 



Total 1,449,760^ 

of which a surplus would remain when all the ex- 
penses were liquidated. In preceding years, some 
surplus has been remitted to Spain. 

The military establishment consists of three regi- 
ments of infantry, one of dragoons, a squadron of 
hussars, and a battalion of artillery, in all about 4500 
regulars. The militia are numerous, but only one 

dearest paper that is sold, (Gallardo Dice Critico Burlcsoo). It 
is, however, an indispensable condition to the performance of 
many of the offices of religion to have the last published bull. 
See Manila Almanack. 

^*In 1810, the total of receipts was 1,466,610 dollars. 



122 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

regiment is under arms : the total of men may be es- 
timated at 5000, but on an emergency, large bodies 
of irregulars can be called into activity. In 1804, the 
governor, Don J. M. de Anguilar, [i.e.j Aguilar] is 
said to have had upwards of 20,000 men under arms, 
being in expectation of an attack from the English. 

These troops (which are all natives) are in gen- 
eral badly disciplined and olSicered, mostly by coun- 
try-born officers, without the advantage of an Euro- 
pean education, ignorant of their military duties to 
the last degree, many of them (more especially in the 
Mestizo regiments) connected with the soldiers by 
relationship, or at least by the tie of mutual indul- 
gence, the soldier performing every menial office for 
the officer, who in return winks at the excesses of 
the soldier. This is carried to such an extent, that, 
not to mention such trifles as a garden wall or gate, 
a bathing house, or a stable, or at times a little smug- 
gling; there are instances on record, where the com- 
manding officer of a regiment has built himself a 
country house I the whole of the masonry and car- 
pentry being performed by soldiers of his regiment I 
Another is of a captain collecting his debts by means 
of a piquet of infantry ; taking possession of his debt- 
or's house until payment was made I 

It will be easily conceived, that where these things 
are permitted, the soldiers are made subservient to 
other purposes ; accordingly they have been employed 
to punish the paramours of their officers' wives -to 
eject a troublesome tenant -or at times to take ven- 
geance for affronts, in cases where it might not be 
safe for the injured person to do so.^^ 

'''' Such assertions demand some evidence in support of them. 
A very recent case has occurred, wherein the colonel of a militia 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 23 

These remarks apply more particularly to the 
Mestizo olSicers. The Spaniards, and some of the 
Creoles^ who are but very few in number, form a re- 
spectable class of military men, of whom some few 
may be cited as models of spirit and discipline : but 
they are not sulSiciently numerous for their example 
to influence the despicable beings with whom they 
are unavoidably associated; and the wealth and in- 
fluence being generally on the side of the native-bom 
ofllicers, these abuses are permitted, and the com- 
plaints of others disregarded. 

It is but just, however, to remark, that their pay 
is excessively mean; it is a bare, and miserable sub- 
sistence ; and due weight should be given to this cir- 
cumstance in extenuation. A captain of regulars has 
not more than 80 dollars per month I and so on in 
proportion, and when we reflect, that from the low 
value of the circulating medium, a dollar will barely 
command more than a rupee in any part of India, 
much must be allowed for men so situated. 

Hence, though the men, arms, and accoutrements 
are not bad, the troops are, from abuses, embezzle- 
ment, and neglect, miserably deficient in a military 
point of view, and but poorly calculated to answer 
any eflicient purpose. To this description, the regi- 

regiment (of Chinese descent) , having some dispute with a French 
gentleman, and high words taking place, called up the guard sta- 
tioned at his door, it is supposed to flog him I The French gentle- 
man having procured some weapon, kept the whole guard at baj, 
together with their gallant colonel. Muskets were levelled at 
him, and he probably would have been assassinated, but for the 
interference of some of the family, and his own firmness I Com- 
plaint was made of this, but no notice was taken of it, nor was 
the follant colonel's conduct thou^t at all incorrect. On the 
contraxy it was very generally applauded 1 



1 24 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

ment of artillery and Pampango militia are excep- 
tions: the style of equipment and discipline of the 
first are a high testimony of the activity and military 
talents of their colonel. The queen's regiment is by 
far the most respectable of the infantry. 

Their cavalry are badly mounted, the horses being I 
very small, and by no means good. The men too are 
clumsily equipped, with swords manufactured ap- 
parently in the 14th century, being straight, dispro- 
portionably long, and furnished with a steel poignet 
or basket, above which is a cross, resembling the ra- 
piers of that time. 

Their marine is still more miserably deficient in 
the requisite qualities for essential service, and suf- 
fers more from the mal-administration of its various 
branches. All work done in the royal arsenal is com- 
puted to cost at least 40 per cent, more than that by 
individuals! The marine consists of a flotilla of 40 
or 50 gun-boats, and as many feluccas,^* of which 
about one half, or fewer, may be in constant activi- 
ty; with what effect has been already remarked. 

Like the army, the navy is almost entirely olSicered 
by Creoles and Mestizos, whose pay is but a subsist- 
ence, and consequently no prospect is offered to 
young men of family and enterprise who may have 
other resources. 

The arsenal at Cavite, about 10 miles from Ma- 
nila, is well provided with officers and workmen, but 
has no docks. Vessels, however, may heave down 

^ Large boats undecked, pulling from 20 to 30 oars ; they 
carry a four or six pounder and five or six swivels; they are fine 
boats and sail fast. The gun-boats carry a long 24 or 32 pound- 
er, and SIX or eight swivek; and including marines, carry from 
80 to 100 men. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 25 

with great safety; and die work, though expensive, 
is remarkably well executed. 

The agriculture of this very fertile country is yet 
in its infancy. Oppressed with so many enemies to 
his advancement, and placed in a climate where the 
slightest exertion insures subsistence, the Indian has,^ 
like the majority of his Malay Brethren, been con- 
tent with supplying his actual wants, without seek- 
ing for luxuries. Hence, and from the expulsion of ^ 
the Jesuits, they have made no advances beyond the 
common attainments of the surrounding islanders. 

This spirited and indefatigable order of men, who, 
both by precept and example, encouraged agricul- 
ture, not only as the source of national greatness, but 
as preparatory to, and inseparable from, conversion 
to Christianity, which they well knew did not con- 
sist alone in ceremonies, but in fulfilling the duties 
of citizens and men, and who, whatever were their 
political sins, certainly possessed more than any other 
the talent of converting men from savage to civil- 
ized life, have left in the Phillippines some striking 
monuments of their wide-spreading and well-direct- 
ed influence. Extensive convents (the ground sto- 
ries of which were magazines), in the centre of fer- 
tile districts formerly in the highest state of cultiva- 
tion, but now more than half abandoned, - tunnels, - 
canals, -reservoirs and dams, by which extensive 
tracts were irrigated for the purposes of cultivation, 
attest the spirit with which they encouraged this 
science; and if their expulsion was a political neces- 
sity, it certainly appears to have been in this country ^ 
a moral evil. 

The restraints imposed on commerce were another 
insuperable bar to dieir prosperity, as depriving 



4 



I 



1 26 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS iy<*- 5* 

them of a market for their produce. Since foreign- 
ers have been allowed free intercourse with them, 
their agriculture has in some degree improved by the 
increased demand of produce; but under the present 
system, but little can be expected from it^ 

The soil is in general a rich red mould, with a 
great proportion of iron, and in some districts vol- 
canic matters ; it is easily worked and very product- 
ive: that in the immediate vicinity of Manila, and 
for four or five miles round it, extending to that dis- 
tance from the coast of the Bay, is an alluvial soil, 
formed by the confluence of the numerous rivers with 
the ocean ; it is stiff, and in all respects very inferior 
to the other. In some parts are extensive tracts, the 
reservoirs of the waters from the mountains in the 
rainy season, which first yield an amazing supply of 
fish,*^ and then a igpoA crop of rice or pasture for the 
buffaloes. 

The frequent rains, and the numerous rivers and 
streams with which the country is every-where in- 
tersected, adds to its extraordinary fertility: it is sel- 

^* For recent infennatioQ on this subject, see dupter on tgri- 
culture (revised by Frank Lamson-Scribner, chief of Bureau of 
Agriculture) » in Official Handbook of Philippines^ pp. 99-126; 
and Census of Philippines^ iv, pp. 11-394, with full description 
of chief products of the islands, methods of cultivation, lists of 
fruits, vegetables, and fiber plants, and detailed statistics of pro- 
duction, lands, etc, as well as of domestic animals of all kinds. — 
Eds. 

^ The fish prindpally caught is one called Dalag ( Blen- 

nius?) * This fish, common I believe to many parts of India, 

presents some phenomena well worth the attention of naturalists. 

* Montero y Vidal mentions this fish {Archipiilago filipino, 
p. 107), as belonging to the genus Ophicephalus; it is "abun- 
dant in the rivers, lakes, and pools." See also Official Hand- 
book of Philippines, pp. 151, 152.- Eds. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1^7 

dom, if ever, afflicted with droughts, but is at times 
devasted by locusts (perhaps once in 10 or 15 years), 
and these make dreadful havoc amongst the canes. 
Their attacks, however, are partial, and generally 
take place after die rice is harvested, in December, 
disappearing before the rains. In 181 8, nearly the 
whole of die canes were destroyed by them, and the 
Ayuntamiento of Manila expended from 60 to 80,- 
000 dollars in purchasing large quantities of them, 
which were thrown into the sea/^ 
The buffalo is universally used in all field labours. 

In diese extensive plains, only a few poob remain in die dry sea* 
son ; and after the rains, such multitudes of them are found, that 
they are caught with baskets only. They weigh from one to two 
pounds, and are from one to two feet in length; they are found 
in the rice fields^ when these have been overflowed a few weeio, 
and strangp to relate, in the graves and vaults of churches when 
in damp situations, but with litde or no water near them; this 
fact is related on respectable authority. The fish, though not 
delicate, is good, and forms a valuable article of food for the poor. 

*'Thcy, very unaccountably, neglected any steps to procure 
the martin from Bengal or Cochin China.* This might, however, 
have arisen from an idea that, as in the Isle of France, the mar- 
tins might have become as great a nuisance as the locusts; but 
surely the introduction of some species of hawk would have obvi- 
ated this. 

*Montero y Vidal says (Archipiilago filipino, p. 113) that 
the family of Orthoptera^ ** leaf-eaters in their adult stage, are 
the most fearful scourge for agriculture," perhaps the wiMst 
of these plagues being the locust {Oedipoda manilefw; Spanish, 
laniosta) ; " the Indians use great nets to catch them, because 
not only the government pays a bounty for a certain quantity 
of these destructive insects which the natives may present, but 
they preserve the insects and use them for food." He also 
states (p. 96) that a species of grackle {Gracula) v^as im- 
ported from China (in the Hi$U de Filipinos ^ ii, p. 294, he 
mentions in the same connection martins [pdjaros martines]) 
to exterminate this pest; but does not mention the time or die 
result of this experiment- Eds. 



1 28 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

for which, however, he is but poorly calculated : the 
slowness of his pace, and his great suffering from 
heat, which obliges the labourer to bathe him fre- 
quently, occasion a very considerable loss of time, 
which is scarcely compensated by his great strength 
and little expense in keeping. Indeed, the bullock 
should perhaps be on all occasions substituted for 
him, excepting only in the cultivation of rice fields. 
In a few districts, this is the case ; but it is with re- 
luctance that the native uses him in preference to 
the buffalo. 

Their breed of horses is small, but very hardy: 
they are never used for agricultural purposes, though 
but few of the peasants are without one for riding, 
and many of them have two or three. In the prov- 
ince of Pampanga (the finest tribe of Indians in the 
Phillippines), they risk considerable sums on races 1 
of which they are very fond. 

Their plough is of Chinese origin : it has but one 
handle, and no coulter or mould-board, the upper 
part of the share, which is flat, and turned to one 
side, performing this part of the work. The common 
harrow is composed of five or six pieces of the stems 1 
of the thorny bamboos, which at the lower part are 
almost solid; these are united by a long peg of the 
same, passing through all the pieces: to these the 
hard branches or thorns are left appending, and be- 
ing cut off at a short distance from the stem, form 
the teeth of the instrument, which, rude as it is, per- 
forms its work well, and usefully, and is seldom out 
of order. 

For cleaning and finally pulverizing the ground, 
they have another harrow of Chinese origin, (or an 
invention of the Jesuits?) It is of wrought iron, and 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 29 

for simplicity and utility it is, I think, unequalled. 
By means of it they can extirpate the Lallang grass 
(Andropogon caricosum), called by them Cogon,^ 
and which no other instrument will perform so well, 
that I am acquainted with. 

A hoe, like that of the West Indies, answers the 
purposes of a spade; and (with the basket) of a 
shovel. A large knife (the Malay Parang), called 
^'Bolo,*' completes the list of their agricultural in- 
struments. Machinery they cannot be said to possess, 
except a rude mill of two cylinders for cane, and 
another for grinding their rice, can be called such. 
The greater part of the rice is beaten from the husk 
in wooden mortars, and by hand. 

The rainy season commences with the S. W. mon- 
soon, and ends in October. The rice (the aquatic 
sorts) is planted by hand in July and August, and 
reaped in December. The upland rice, of which 
they have two varieties, is planted earlier, and comes 
sooner to maturity. The cane is planted in the man- 
ner called '^en canon" by the French, that is, the 
plant piece is stuck diagonally into the ground ; and 
thus, from the roots being often on the surface, the 
plant suffers frequently from drought, and they have 
seldom two crops from a piece of cane : their sugar, 
though clumsily manufactured, is of excellent grain, 
and highly esteemed by the refiners of Europe. 

The indigo plant is very fine ; and though, as in all 
countries, a precarious crop, yet it is far from being 
so much so as in India: it has been manufactured 
equal to Guatemala, but in the present day is of a 
very inferior quality : this arises from various causes, 
of which the principal are ignorance in the manu- 

•* Sec VOL. XLvm, p. 96, note 37.- Eds. 



IJO THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

facture of it, a want of capital, and spirit of enter- 
prise. They have no tanks of masonry, the whole 
process being carried on in two wooden vats of a very 
moderate size, from which the fecula is taken once 
a week. It is needless to remark, that the quality of 
the indigo is materially injured by this alone: it is 
also subject to many adulterations in the hands of the 
Mestizos, before being brought to market 

The coffee plant was almost entirely unknown 
about 40 years ago, a few plants only existing in the 
gardens about Manila. It was gradually transported 
from thence to the towns in the neighbourhood of the 
lake, where it has been since multiplied to an amaz- 
ing degree by an extraordinary method. A species 
of civet cat with which the woods abound, swallows 
the berries,^ and these passing through the animal 
entire, take root, and thus the forests are filled with 
wild plants. This fact may be depended upon, and 
the major part of all the coffee exported from 
Manila is produced from the wild plants, and is 
equal or superior in flavour to that of Bourbon. The 
government, in 1795 or 96, made an attempt to fofre 
its cultivation in the province of Bulacan, but for- 
got, as one of their own officers naivement observe, 
^'Que no habia compradores ni consumidores *' - that 
there were neither consumers or customers for it! It 

** This is the Viverra Musanga.* See Horsfield's Zoologf of 

Java. 

*Montero y Vidal states {Archipielago filipino, pp. 86, 87) 
that two spedes of carnivores, Paradoxurus philippinensis and 
P. musanga, are dreaded by the coffee^planters; these creatures 
** spend the day in holes dug in the ground, and go out at night 
to hunt their game." He mentions, besides these, two species 
of civets, both of the genus Viverra. Delgado says (p. 87s) 
that he has never seen the miro {Paradoxurus) except in the 
island of Leyte.-EDS. 



/ 



^^ 



180Z-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1 8 1 9-22 1 3 < 

of course fell to the ground, and in the next passage 
of the same work, the Indian is partly blamed for it! 
The cultivation of cotton is as yet but very partial. 
It is of the herbaceous species, of a very fine quality, 
almost equalling the Bourbon, but excessively ad- 
herent to the grain : so much so indeed, that none of 
the attempts to separate it from the seed by machinery 
have hitherto succeeded; the grains passing throug!^ 
the rollers, and staining the cotton. It is cleared by 
the natives by means of a hand-mill, very clumsy in 
its construction, and performing so little work, that 
the cleaning costs six dollars per pekul. 
\^ The principal part of the cotton comes from the 
province of Ylocos, where large quantities of stuffs 
are manufactured. The brown cotton, for which a 
prize was offered in 1818 by the Society of Arts, 
grows in great quantities, and is manufactured into 
durable cloths and blankets. The prices of agricul- 
tural labour vary from i rial ^ per day near Manila 
to ^ and y2 rial in the provinces - a plough with two 
buffaloes and a man, 2>^ rials. The workmen, like 
day labourers in all countries, are often 'booking 
for sunset ;" but when allowed task work, are willing 
and industrious. A plough will go over rather more 
than a loan ^ of ground in a day -about a quinion in 
three months. 

** Ei^t rials are a Spanish dollar. 

"'The following are the common land measures in use at 

Manila: 

La Brasa de tierra is 8 feet 1.6- 10 English, (from a new 

ggremment measure) ; 10,000 of these, or a square of 100 each 

way, is a Quinion. 

10 Balitans is a Quinion 

10 Loanes is a Balitan 

Hence the Quinion contains 661511 l6>i44ths sq. ft. or 



1 3 2 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS fVoL $1 

Of the produce of any given cultivation, it is diffi- 
cult to speak with any degree of correctness : calcu- 
lations of this kind are difficult to make amongst a 
people labouring each for himself, and all for the 
wants of the day: for, unaccustomed to generalize, 
each gives his own as the average, and hence the dis- 
crepancy which every person must have remarked 
who has had occasion to make inquiries of this de- 
scription in half civilized countries, where a main 
point, the value of the labourer's time, and of that of 
his animals, is invariably left out, as is also the dif- 
ference of work for himself and for a master. The 
tables given at the conclusion of Comyn's work are, 
as far as regards the vicinity of the capital, very 
erroneous. They are also very deficient in many 

73SOI 2-9tfa$ sq. yds.,* which, taking the Bengal big^ at 14400 
aq. ft., gives about 46 bigahs, or 15 acres English. 
Their diy measure is as follows: 

8 Chupas, I Ganta.-25 Gantas, i Caban. 
I could not procure a sig^t of the standard. A mean mea»- 
urement of several new Gantas and Cabans (for thqr are all 
clumsily made, though sold at a government office) gave as fol- 
lows: 

The Caban, 4633 cubic inches English. 
The Ganta, 186,878 ditto. 
The mean of these two (for the first would give 185.72 to the 
Ganta) is thus about 186 cub. inches to a (Santa, and 4650 to 
the^ Caban, or 2 bushels and i-6th Winchester measure.f 

•The quiiion = 2.79495 hectares = 6.89 acres. {OfficUi 
Handbook of Philippines^ p. 294; Jagor's Reisen, p. xv.) Ji^r 
has balistas for bditans^ and Mdlat has baletas,- Eds. 

t " Since January i, 1862, the caban of Manila (established 
January i, i860) is regarded as the standard measure for all 
the provinces. It measures exactly 75 liters, or, in cubical 
form, 422 mm., inside measure, or 5,990.96 Spanish cubic 
inches. (The caban of 1859 contained 80.00919 liters.) A 
caban of rice weighs 128 to 137 Spanish pounds = 59 to 63 
kilograms." (Jagor's Reisen^ p. xv.)-Eds. 



I 



% 



18011840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 33 

points/* The following is a much nearer approxi- 
mation. 

A quinion of land requires four ploughings and 

three harrowings, say six ploughings in all. 

Ds. Rs. 

Now as I Quinion will occupy a hired labourer 
about 90 days at zyi Rials = 28 Dollars 
I Rial, which for six times is ... . 168 6 

Fencing, 12 Ds.; Grubbing, &c, 15; Cane 
Slips, 25; Planting, 18; Weeding and 
Hoeing, 30; Carriage, 18; Manufacture, 
45; Pilones, &c, 12 175 o 

Cost 343 6 

Produce at low average. 150 Pilones,^ salable 

at 3>^ Ds. 487 4 

Profit 143 6 

This supposes the proprietor of the cane to be pos- 

** The table here referred to is as follows: 

" Estimate of the cost and annual product of one cabalita of 
land planted with sugar-cane in the province of Pampanga; to 
wit: 

p. r. gr. 

For plowing the said land 6 times i 4 

For breaking the clumps with the baha 3 times • 6 

For die surrounding fence and rattan 3 p. 5 r., and 

three days' work 3 r. 9 gr 4 9 

For 4,000 cane-shoots for planting, i p. ; tracing the 

lines and making the holes, 5 r.; two days' work 

at planting, 2 r. 6 gr. i 7 6 

For fencing twice more, and cutting out the grass • 6 

For 14 moulds, at 15^ r. 2 5 

For lyi tareas [= amount of mill's capacity at one 

time], each of 14 loaves [pilonef] of sugar, the 

amount usually obtained, at 8 p. a tarea . . .12 

Total cost 23 5 3 



1 34 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

• ^ 

sessed of a mill| buffaloes, &c. for the wear of which 
no estimate is made. 

The 1 50 pilones of sugar, each weighing about 1 50 
lbs. gross, will produce the refiner who has purchased 
them about 100 piculs of sugar, of which 

S. Dt. 

80 1st sort, worth 6% Dollars 500 o 

ao 2d ditto, and Molasses, &c 3^ • • • 75 o 



575 o 
They have cost him about . 487 4 



Refiner's allowance on 100 Pilones, S. Ds. . 47 8 



The profits of the refiner would appear high ; and 

p. r. gr. 

Selling price of a loaf of sugar, averaging those of 

the three grades 2 6 6 

Deduct cost of each loaf, at the rate of .... i 6 i 

Net product, equivalent to 90 per cent profit ..13 2" 

Comyn gives similar tables for the production of indigo and 
rice, estimating the net profit thereon at 57 and 60 per cent re- 
spectively. He adds, on the margin of the sheet: " In favorable 
years the profit of the grower is wont to increase in an extraor- 
dinaxy manner. The 4,000 shoots of sugar-cane, for instance, 
yield him 3 tareas, or 28 loaves of sugar, in place of the 14 loaves 
which were figured in the comparative estimate preceding; the 
cavan of seed yields 80 and even 100 cavans of rice in the hull, 
in place of the 35 computed; and he obtains a quintal of indigo 
from 15, or even from 10, bdsadas^ instead of 25 being necessary 
for furnishing the said product. And if the grower is faiiiy well- 
to-do, so that he can send his produce to the general market, and 
sell it to the foreign merchants or ship-captains who come for 
these products, he can obtain incomparably more for them than by 
delivering them upon the ground to the middlemen. At Manila 
I have seen indigo from La Laguna sold at the rate of 130 pesos 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1 8 1 9-22 1 3 5 

they have been so ; but are far from what this state- 
ment appears to give, from various reasons, of which 
the chief are, the heavy capital sunk in buildings, 
interest on advances, &c. and from a want of knowl- 
edge, the enormous waste of labour in the process. A 
glance at this may give an idea of what trade is at 
these antipodes of commercial knowledge. 

I have termed the process '' refining ;'' it should 
rather be called claying and sorting- and it is as 
clumsily managed as the ingenuity of man could well 
devise. The trade is principally in the hands of 
three or four capitalists; advances are made by these 
to brokers, the provincial merchants, who annually 
bring their produce to the capital in small vessels,** 
and to the masters of coasting traders, in which the 

a quintal for extra fine grade, and at lOO pesos for the usual qual- 
ity; sugar, at 4p. S'* a loaf; and palay (or rice in the hull) at 3 
pesos; but I have preferred to limit myself to a low rate in the 
selling price which I have assigned to the aforesaid products in 
the preceding estimates, in order to demonstrate more thorous^y 
the advantages which agriculture offers in Filipinas, and at the 
same time to conform to practical experience in the formation of 
estimates of this sort." Cf. similar estimates by Mallat (Philip- 
pineSf ii, pp. 256-281.- Eds. 

'^Pilones are large bell-shaped moulds, from 2 to 2^ feet 
hig^, and lyi broad. 

**Some of their voyages are most curious. One or more of 
the prindpal men in a village, sometimes 15 or 20 of them, join 
to build a small " parao." On this they embark with their har- 
vest in sugar, cacao, wax, &c, sell it at Manila, and return to 
their village; there the accounts are settled, and the return cargo 
distributed; after which a feast is held, and the Santo duly 
thanked for the good markets of this year, and asked for better 
next. All parties then visit the vessel, which they pull to pieces I 
every man carrying a piece home with him - to take care of till 
next season, when they are all sewed together for another trip. 



1 36 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

sugar merchants have shares. These are made to a 
large amount, 80 to 100,000 dollars; and as the inter- 
est of this must at least run for six months at 9 per 
cent, it forms a heavy item. Losses and defaulters 
form another, say yi per cent, in all 5 per cent 

The pilones are delivered from November to May 
and June, and are received into extensive warehouses, 
which are provided with large court-yards and ter- 
raced roofs. Here the upper part of the pilone is cut 
off, and a quantity of manufactured sugar being 
pressed down on the top of it, a thin layer of the river 
mud is put on it; this is watered from time to time 
and changed once or twice, the pilone standing on a 
small foot, with the small hole at its apex left open, 
through which the molasses slowly drains, leaving 
the upper and broader part of the pilone of a fine 
white, gradually decreasing in goodness to the bot- 
tom, where it is little more than molasses -the pilone 
is then cut in two ; the darker part is put by as second 
quality (or reboiled) , and the whiter portion as firsts, 
of the sugar, the care taken in the process, the kind 
of mud used, &c. About two piculs of sugar from 
three pilones is a fair average, when these are of a 
good size. That from the province of Pampanga is 
by far the best ; it is produced from a small red cane ^ 

** At the present time there are stx varieties of sugar<:ane in 
Filipinos; of these, the purple is considered the best, and is more 
generally cultivated in the Visayas; the white and the green are 
almost exclusively restricted to some provinces of Luzon and the 
rural districts near Manila; the other luhds are cultivated spar- 
ingly and in few places. The sugar manufactured in the islands 
is " made in pilones (which includes nearly all from Luzon), and 
the granulated, which is the kind that has been adopted in die 
Visayan islands and in some Luzon plantations." The pilou 
weighs a quintal; the granulated is put up in sacks (known as 



\ 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 37 

about four feet high, and of the thickness of a good 
walking stick. 

The sugar being thus clayed, is now to be mixed, 
pounded, and dried. The last process is performed 
by laying it on small mats in the sun, on the terraces 
and pavements of the court-yards. On the slightest 
appearance of rain, it must be hurried under cover, and 
brought out again when this is past. So that in a 
manufacture of any size, when from 3 to 4XX) Chinese 
are employed at 45^ dollars per month, fully i/3d of 
their labour is expended on this operation alone. The 
management of the rest requires no comment 

The cost of production of any of the other articles 
cannot be estimated to any degree of correctness, 
from the very small scale on which they are culti- 
vated, and the limited knowledge of the writer of 
these remarks. Those of Comyn are erroneous. 

The Indians are the principal and almost the only 
cultivators of the soil, very few Mestizos or Chi- 
nese *^ being engaged in it The few Spaniards and 
other Europeans who have attempted it, have been 
obliged to abandon their attempts to form planta- 
tions. These failures, or rather determination to 

bayotief) containing two and a half arrobas of sugar. (Jos6 R. 
de Luzuriaga, in Census of Philippines^ iy, pp. 26, 27).- Eds. 

*^ These last, by a royal Cedula (ordonnance), are only ad- 
mitted into the island as cultivators. This, like almost every 
ordonnance of His Catholic Majesty, rdatiye to this country, is 
disregarded; and the Chinese are almost all shopkeepers, or petty 
merchants. Were an impartial account of the administration of 
these islands to be presented to the king of Spain, it mig^t begin 
thus: "Sire,- Not one of your Majesty's orders are executed 
in your kingdom of the Phillippines." * 

*Cf. similar statements by Viana (letter to Carlos III) 
and Anda (Memorial), in VOL. l.-Eds. 



138 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 5' 

abandon their speculations (even when in a promis- 
ing state), have arisen from various causes; but the 
general one may be stated to be the very little security 
for life and property, in a country such as has been 
described. This is with the major part an insuper- 
able objection ; for from the moment they are estab- 
lished, and known to possess money for the payment 
of their workmen, they must be in expectation of an 
attack, and prepared to defend themselves; nor can 
they lie down at night free from the apprehension of 
seeing their establishments in flames before moraingl 
either from robbers, or from malice of any individual 
who may think himself aggrieved : - the impossibil- 
ity of obtaining justice so generally experienced by 
the Indians, and the many chances of escaping pun- 
ishment, being strong inducements to the ill-disposed 
to adopt these modes of revenge. To this it may be 
added, that even were the foreigner to kill the most 
determined robber in the country, the circumstance 
of having done so in defence of his life and property, 
would by no means exonerate him from a fleecing by 
the inferior officers of justice, and from a long and 
tiresome process of depositions, declarations, &c. 
during which his aflFairs must be entirely neglected.*' 

*^ This case actually occurred to one of die most r e sp e c t a ble 
militaiy officers in the Spanish service, now a captain in the 

Queen's Regiment, whose name is Don M de O . This 

aendeman, a man of hig^ spirit, and one of the tew Spaniards in 
Manila who are an ornament to their profession, bearing the 
king's commission, and in pursuit of the robbers, suddenly fell in 
widi a noted chief of them, when accompanied only by a piquet of 
infantry. The robber knew him, and with a gallantry worthy of 
a better cause, defied him to single combat! With true diivalric 
spirit, the challenge was instantly accepted; and orders given to 
the piquet not to interfere on pain of their lives. A desperate 



1801.1S40] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 39 

In addition to this he must lay his account with an- 
other obstacle, and this none of the smallest- the 
chance of bad faith on the part of those with whom 
he is connected; a chance which by no means will 
diminish in proportion to his success; for, let no 
foreigner deceive himself on this head in Manila ; if 
he cannot flatter as low, or bribe as high as his ad- 
versary, his cause is lost by some means or other. 

The Phillippines also produce cacao of an excel- 
lent quality, diough not sufficient for their consump- 
tion, a large quantity being imported from New 
Spain. 

Pepper is also an article of exportation, but in very 
limited quantities, the utmost the Phillippine Com- 
pany have been able to procure being about 60,000 
lbs. in favourable years. 

To these may be added the Abaca (Musa textilis), 
a species of plantain, from which the beautiful fibres 
are procured known by that name. This is becoming 
a very considerable article of exportation, both raw, 
and manufactured into cordage. The natives also 
consume large quantities of it in cordage, and as shirt^ 
ing cloth, into which a large portion of the interior 

conflict ensued, in which the gallant- Spaniard was at length vic- 
torious, and the robber's head was sent through the country in 
triumph. Shall the sequel be told ? When he returned to Manila, 
with the blessing of every honest native for having cleared that 
part of the country of robbers, a subject of prosecution was found 
in this service by those numerous enemies which every honest man 
has in a country like this, and on some frivolous pretext of having 
{unmfotdably) fired into a cottage, and killed or wounded some 
inncicent persons. He could not stoop to flatter or bribe; and it 
was with the utmost difficulty, and rather by the exertions of his 
friends than by his own, that after suffering a long series of 
vexations, he was saved from ruin! 



I40 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

and finer fibres are manufactured. Some of it is 
equal to the coarser sort of China grass cloth.** 

In GogOy*' a gigantic climbing plant, whose \ 
trunk attains the size of a man's body, is another re- 
markable production of these islands. Its branches 
being cut out into lengths, are coarsely pounded and 
dried in the sun : they are used as soap by all classes 
of people, the saponaceous fluid which is extracted 
from them being remarkably cleansing, and the fibres 
answering the purpose of a brush. 

It is also used in large quantities in washing the 
earth of rivers and streams, to separate the gold from 
them. It is not cultivated, but exists in great abun- 
dance in the forests, in which are also the sapan-wood 
(called Sibacao), the sandal, ebony, and vanilla. 
They abound in gums and resins, large portions of 
which are washed down by the torrents; but these 
are for the most part useless, either from the ig- 
norance of the natives, or from the impossibility of 
venturing far in the interior. 

Their timber is excellent, and in a country so cov- 
ered with forests, of course plentiful ; but the want of 

*' Manufactured, I think, from the Urtica nevea of Linn.* 

* See our vol. xxn, p. 279. In regard to cultivation and 
preparation of abaca, see Jagor's Reisen^ pp. 245-256; Mallat, 
Philippines^ pp. 279, 280; Census of Phil.^ iv, pp. 14-24.- Eds. 

*' Mimosa saponaria?* 

*This plant (variously known to the natives as gogong^ 
gogo, bayogo^ and balogo) is a leguminous climbing plant, En- 
tada scandens {Official Handbook of Philippines, pp. 367, 
384). Blanco (Flora, pp. 247, 248) praises its detergent qual- 
ities, especially for bathing purposes, as even superior to the 
soap of Europe; and says that it is also used medicinally for 
asthma, and as a purgative, and that the Indians place dry 
pieces of its wood in their jars of cacao-beans to keep away 
worms. He states that it is also named Mimosa scandens by 
some writers.- Eds. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 H^ 

roads and other conveniences of transport, renders 
it, in Manila, rather an expensive article. 

The principal timber woods are, the ^^ Mulave *' 
[i.e.y Molave], a compact, heavy, yellowish wood, 
and almost incorruptible, perhaps from the very 
great portion of tannin it contains. Tindalo,*^ a 
hard wood, much resembling the iron-wood of 
the Brasils, and like it used for screws, &x:. &x:. when 
great hardness is required. ^^Betis," an excellent 
timber tree, which grows to a very great size, and for 
its durability is generally used for the main beams of 
churches, convents, and other large buildings. The 
"Narra," of which there are two kinds, the white 
and red: this last is almost equal to mahogany in 
polish and durability. Banaba, a red wood resem- 
bling cedar ; and many others of equal goodness. Of 
these the Banaba and Mulave are most used in ship- 
building, the first for planking, and the last for the 
framework. For masts, the Manga-chapuy and 
Palo-maria are generally used: the last is equal or 
superior to pine, both in strength and lightness. 

Their forests are not infested with those ferocious 
animals which are the terror of those of other Asiatic 
countries. The tiger, elephant, and rhinoceros are 
unknown : the wild buffalo and hog are the only ones 
of which the native has any dread. These attain an 
enormous size, but are not mischievous, unless pro- 
voked. The dried flesh and hides of these animals, 

^ Tindalo is the native name of the Afxelia (or Eperua) 
rhomhoidea, a leguminous tree his^y valued for its durable and 
beautiful timber. Mangachapuy, Vatica (or Dipterocarpus) man" 
gachapoi^ furnishes a timber especially used for shipbuilding and 
other work which must resist sun and rain. (Official Handbook^ 
PP« 352, 357; Blanco, Flora^ pp. 260, 261, 281, 313.)- Eds. 



14^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

as well as of deer and wild cattle, which are in im- 
mense numbers, form a considerable article of trade 
amongst the natives, the '^ tappa " or dried flesh be- 
ing used for food, and the hides for exportation. 

Their serpents, however, attain an enormous size: 
the largest are those of the Boa species (Constrictor) , 
and will devour a horse or a cow at a meal.*" Of 
this genus there is one variety very beautifully 
marked, which frequents the houses, and is called by 
the Spaniards (Culebra casera), the house snake,** 
and by the Indians ^' Sawa." These are often seen 
from 10 to 12 feet in length, but are very harmless. 
Few houses are without one or more of them in the 
cellars, stables, &c. but they are seldom disturbed, 
as they are said to devour rats and other noxious ani- 
mals; though, when these fail them, they attack 
fowls, or even goats. They form a favourite article of 
food with the Chinese, who keep them in jars to 
fatten, and the Indians may be often seen carrjring 
them through the streets for sale. 

Of other varieties they have great numbers ; some 
of which, as the '^ dahun palay," or leaf of rice^ of a 
deep green and yellow, which frequents the rice 
fields, and the ^^ mandadalag," or whip-snake, are ex- 
cessively venomous : accidents from these animals are 
not, however, very frequent; from whence it may be 
concluded, that the superstition of the natives has 
greatly exaggerated the number of venomous ones: 
and this may be the more readily inferred, not only 
from their excessively superstitious character, and 

*' It is said by the Indians. 

••Perhaps Boa hortulana?* 

*See our vol. xn, p. 259; and xxix, p. 301. Dahon-pidaf 
is Dryimus nasutus (Montero y Vidal, Archipielago filipinOt 
pp. 103, 104). See also Official Handbook^ p. 149; and Wor- 
cester's Philippine Islands^ p. 514.- Eds. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 43 

the common custom of all nations in this particular ; 
but also from the thousand ridiculous fables told by 
them of the cameleon, which is very common in the 
woodSy and perfectly harmless. The Indian name 
for it is " Ynyano." 

Of minerals they have an inexhaustible supply: 
gold is found in almost all the streams, and even in 
the sands of the shores of the Bay after blowing 
weather: no mines of it have as yet been wrought, 
though they are known to exist The quantity ob- 
tained by the rude efforts of the natives merely wash- 
ing the sands of the torrents, is very great, and cer- 
tainly does not fall short of 4 to 500,000 dollars 
worth annually, as great quantities are expended in 
gilding for the churches, &c. &c. 

Silver is also found, but in small quantities. Vir- 
gin copper is another produce of their mountains: 
pieces of it are frequently met with in the torrents, 
and on the shores of some of the islands (Masbate, 
Burias, and Ambil). The negroes have also been 
seen with rude ornaments, and even with utensils 
made from it 

Of iron they have whole mountains in the very 
vicinity of Manila 1 (provinces of Pampanga and 
Bulacan), some of the ores yielding 75 per cent of 
metal, and of an excellent quality, this having been 
ascertained by some Biscayan iron-masters sent out 
for that purpose. It contains great numbers of mag- 
nets. There are some miserable establishments for 
working and smelting these ores, but on a very small 
scale; they have only produced cast iron articles, and 
those of an inferior quality. They have no forging 
machinery.** 

^ Many years aga» a complete set of forging machinery was 
sent out on speculation; it was sold as old iron, for no one of 



144 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

Cinnabar, lead, and tin are supposed to exist; but 
of these last there is no certainty. 

Sulphur is found in the neighbourhood of the vol- 
canoes in considerable quantities, and is an article of 
export to Bengal and other places : the principal part 
of it is collected on the island of Leyte, which is next 
to Samar on the south side of the strait of St Ber- 
nardino. It is collected on the edges of numerous 
small apertures, which emit at times flames and 
smoke. These are situated in an extensive plain near 
the sea-coast in the vicinity of the village of Dulag, 
on the eastern side of the island. With these natural 
advantages, and those are not few that still remain to 
be enumerated, the commerce of this country, like its 
agriculture, is still in its infancy: and this has been 
principally owing to two great causes -the trade to^ 
Acapulco, and the prohibitory system invariably pur- ^ 
sued by Spain in regulating the intercourse with her ^ 
colonies, and which here has been burdened with an * 
additional weight, the monopoly of the Phillippine * 
Company. 

It were a task far exceeding the intention and 
ability of the writer of these remarks to point out the 
causes and effects of these extensive evils : - a few ob- 
servations only will be made to elucidate such re- 
marks as may follow on the commerce of Manila. 

Of the prohibitory system pursued by Spain 
towards her colonies, it may perhaps be said, with as 
much justice as of her wars, that it was, ^^ en f aire un 
desert pour s'en assurer Tempire ; " •' for few systems 

course would speculate in mines, when the^ could with so much 
more ease obtain 100 per cent, for their capital in the trade to 
Acapulca 

*' That is, ** to reduce them to a desert, in order to assure her 
empire over them."- Eds. 



18011840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 HS 

could have been better calculated to assure the first 
object ; the last has miserably disappointed its advo- 
cates, and left a striking lesson to the world, at which 
humanity has cause to rejoice. 

With jealousy of foreigners exceeding even the 
bounds of credibility, she invariably refused them ad- 
mittance,** whether for scientific or commercial pur- 
poses;^** or when from accident or influence this 
was obtained, the people following, and often ex- 
ceeding the lessons of their rulers, by civil and re- 
ligious persecutions, and contempt, contrived to 
render their existence almost a burden. It would 
appear to have become an axiom amongst them, re- 
markable only for its illiberality, that ^^a dollar 
gained by foreigners was one taken from the pocket 
of a Spaniard ;'' ^*^ and that in all cases where the 

I •• " By a royal decree of February a, 1800, the residence of 
foreigners in Filipinas was forbidden. This mandate was renewed 
by royal decrees of September 3, 1807, and July 31, 1816/* (Mon- 
tero y Vidal, Hist, de Filipinos, ii, p. 36a)- Eds. 

^^ Perhaps much of this may be traced to the avaricious spirit 
of the early adventuren, and to the cruelties of the Buccaneers; 
and thus what mis^t have been only a local, became from habit 
a national prindple; though ''soy Crisdano viejo" [f.f., "I 
am an dd-dme Christian"], was always the surest passport 
amongst an intbtennit people, with whom " filosofo " is yet an 
epithet of reproach. 

^®' Something of this is more or less visible in the colonial 
policy of almost all countries; but that those have been the most 
flourishing who have acted on the broad and liberal principle of 
*' Ubi dives, ibi patria " [i.r., " where wealth is, there is my coun- 
try "] (a humiliating but correct estimate, not only of the bulk of 
colonial adventurers, but of mankind in general), will scaicdy 
be questioned. The Havannah is a ^lendid example. In 1780, 
strangers were rigorously prohibited, or at least loaded with re- 
strictions; an enormous smuggling trade was carried on, and the 
isliuid did not pay its own expenses. In 1820, when the prohibitory 



146 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vcl. 51 

interests of the merchants of the mother country and 
those of the colonies were opposed, the latter were 
to be sacrificed/^ Her own subjects were, from the 
same miserable narrow policy, embarrassed with re- 
strictions and conditions -permissions from the Con- 
sejo de las Yndias, &c. &c. that it became by no 
means a trifling affair to be able to embark for the 
Phillippines, unless at the risk of being sent home 
from there by the local authorities. 

Unable herself, from the want of manufactures and 
energy, to profit by her colonies, she obstinately re- 
fused to allow others to do so, and in this she invari- 
ably persisted. The fruits of such a system were such 
as might have been expected; the colonies sub- 
mitted- (while they were obliged by force to do so), 
smuggled to a large amount, remonstrated, resisted, 
and declared themselves independent; and thus has 
Spain forever lost those advantages which a more 
liberal policy might have secured to her through a 
long course of time.*'* 

system had been long annihilated, and strangers allofwed free 
intercourse and establishment, its trade had increased a hundrsd- 
iold ; and not only did it su£Sce for its own, much more expensive 
establishments; but, both directly and indirectly, contributed large 
sums to the mother country, though at the first epoch, the profits 
on colonial capital were at least 30 per cent, more than at the last. 
10s <ryy^ 1^^^ j,^^ ^q2j^ ^I^^ ^^ jQ^^ QQ^ gj^ under the shade 

of our own vines and olives! that we must not pluck the fruits 
from the trees which our fathers have planted! -and why- 
lest the merchants of Cadiz should be deprived of their profits in 
supplying us with wine and oil.' -From a Chilian manifesto, 
published soon after the declaration of independence. 

^^ A valuable study of " The Spanish colonial system " is fur- 
nished by the chapter under that heading in \^^elm Rosdier's 
Kolonien, KoloniaUpolitik und Auswanderung (Leipzig, 1885), 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 147 

In the Phillippines, this system, though followed 
for a long time, has been of late years successively 
relaxed, and the good effects of this modification are 
visible to the most indifferent observer: it has how- 
ever left deep traces of its operations, and much is 
still wanting: the foreign merchant or adventurer, 
how much soever he may be smiled upon and ca- 
ressed, has still to contend against a rooted and long 
cherished jealousy of all that is not Spanish. 

The Acapulco trade is another and a principal 
cause of the very confined state of the commerce of 
this valuable colony. A few remarks will be suffi- 
cient to justify the apparent paradox. 

The merchant of Manila (says Comyn), is '^en- 
tirely different from the merchant of other parts of 
the world; he has no extensive correspondence, no 
books, or intricate accounts; his operations are con- 
fined to a shipment of bales to Acapulco, and to 
receiving the silver in return : and in 40 years, only 
one or two instances have occurred wherein bank- 
rupts have been able to produce a correct set of books 
to the Consulado (or Chamber of Commerce)!" 
This description was doubtless correct at the time 
when it was written (1809) l ^^^ ^^ ^^ j^^^ ^^ observe 
that they are now much improved, and though not 

an English translation of which is published by Prof. E. G. 
Bourne (New York, 1904), with some additional annotations. 
See also " The colonial kingdom of Spain," in Helmolt's History 
of the World (New York, 1902), which is praised by Bourne as 
an excellent and scholarly study by Konrad Habler; but unfor- 
tunately the American edition of that work does not name the 
author of the above section. Bourne also treats this subject in a 
chapter of his Spmn in America (New York, 1904), pp. 220-242, 
and at pp. 355, 3S6, gives a helpful list of authorities thereon.- 
Eds. 



148 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

excessively enterprising, are better acquainted with 
the true principles of commerce. Such were the mer- 
chants : let us examine a little the trade. 

The basis of it was, and is, the funds called " Obras 
Pias"*** (Pious Works). These are funds under 
various denominations, whose origin was the piety of 
well-meaning Spaniards, who dying rich have be- 
queathed large sums for the purpose of lending to de- 
serving traders to commence or continue their career 
with. The administration of these is confided to 
various religious and charitable institutions, or to 
civil associations - the trustees forming a board, at 
which the sums to be lent, &x:. are determined. Their 
statutes differ in many unessential points ;^^* but their 

i»4 « Ecclesiastical foundations and obras pias were, it may be 
said, innumerable. From the richest dty to the smallest village, 
from one extreme of the Peninsula to the other, and even io die 
farthest boundaries which die monarchy reached in the period of 
its greatest grandeur, the acts of Christian piety are seen in vari- 
ous foundations. These include not only hermitages, oonfratemt- 
ties, memorials, charitable foundations, and chaplaincies,- which 
by themselves alone made a total of enormous wealth - but more 
pretentious establishments, as convents, cathedrals, parish chuidies* 
and colleges; and any person will be surprised at those whkh 
were supported by some towns which in their present condition are 
reduced in population and poor. Larruga in his memoirs states 
that Toledo had 25 parish churches and its cathedral, 39 con- 
vents, 14 hospitals, and four colleges, in all, 83 foundations. 
Salamanca had more; Cuenca had 31, Avila 31, Almagro 17, and 
so with the odier cities of Castilla." Among these pious gifts 
were " the exchanges of Barcelona, Seviila, and Valencia, the col- 
leges of Salamanca, diat of Santa Cruz of Valladolid,** and many 
cathedrab and convents. (Arias y Miranda, Examen criiiah^kis' 
iorico, p. 139.)- Eds. 

^^ At one of them (I bdieve that of Sanu Qara), die sculls ^ 
of the seven founders are placed on the table at M^iich the trus- 



Z801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 ^49 

general tenour is the same, viz. that sums not ex- 
ceeding two thirds of the fund shall be lent on respon- 
dentia at certain rates of interest, which are fixed 
according to the risk of the voyages ; and these, when 
repaid, shall be added, principal and interest, to the 
original fund. The interests are 25 per cent, to 
Acapulco, 15 to Bengal, and so in proportion. The 
total of the capitals of these establishments (there are 
12 or 14 of them), amounted to about three mil- 
lions and a half of dollars in 1820, of which about 
two millions are due to the funds on various risks, 
principally those of New Spain: of this the major 
part is considered as lost by those best qualified to 
judge of the subject. 
The principal employ of these funds has been 
i in the commerce to Acapulco ; and from the facility 
with which capital was procured, the excessive 
gambling spirit which this introduced, as well as the 
system of mutual accommodations from the trustees 
of different funds, and the utter absence of the whole- 
some restraint of public examinations of their ac- 
counts, it has resulted that more harm than good 
has been done by these establishments. The original 
intentions are entirely perverted, a few small sums 
being lent to young adventurers (when they have 
powerful friends), but far the greatest part is em- 
ployed by the trustees themselves under the name 
of a relation or f riend.*'* 

tees meet! -but this, it is said, does not exempt the funds from 
being misapplied. 

'^ It was not uncommon for a person worth ten thousand 
ddlars to borrow 40 more from the public funds. Of these about 
a5 or 30,000 were shipped, and the remainder kept at home. If 
the ship was lost, the accounts were setded; and if she came 



i 



15^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

When, without risking any capital of his own, the 
merchant might thus share the enormous profits of 
this trade, with no more exertion than signing the 
invoices and letters (they were written by Indian 
clerks), and receiving the treasure on the return of 
the vessel, it is not surprising that for nearly two 
centuries they neglected all the other commercial 
advantages which surrounded them, or that such a 
commerce produced such merchants: the history of 
it and of them for that period may be confined to 
a few words: -they were the agents of the merchants 
of Madras and Bengal, receiving and shipping their 
goods, and returning their proceeds, while their prof- 
its were confined to a large commission on them/^ 

This trade was anciently confined to a single ship 
annually, the famous Galleon. She was fitted out, 
manned and armed, at the king's expense, and com- 
manded by a king's officer. This was reimbursed by 
a duty of 33 1-3 per cent, on the registered cargo, 
the merchants contributing to her provisionment, 

back, the interest was always repaid,- which of course entitled 
them to borrow again, till a fortunate loss made them independent. 
And where every body did this, no one thought it incorrect. 

^^^ It is not here meant to controvert the principle of this 
kind of commerce being at times the most lucrative that can be 
carried on; but to remark, that had it not been for the strange 
system of trading just described, the restrictive system, and the 
monopoly of the Phillippine Gmipany, the activity and ingenuity 
of private traders would have discovered other branches of com- 
merce, and with them, that their own produce might suffice to 
^p^ for the piece goods of Bengal. As an instance, the English 
and every other nation of Europe have for a century carried betd- 
nut to China, but from the Phillippines not a nut was exported - 
it was a royal monopoly! and the merchants and growers were 
thus deprived of about half a million of dollars annually, that the 
king might pocket 30,000. Many other instances mig^t be dted. 



1801-1840I REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 I S ^ 

and to the payment of 20,000 dollars as a bounty to 
her commander. She was calculated to carry 3,000 
bales of a certain size, and the privilege of shipping 
these was confined to the holders of 1,000 tickets 
I called "boletas," which were divided amongst dif- 
ferent public bodies, charitable and religious institu- 
tions, the widows of the officers, &c., these tickets 
being saleable to others : "* and of the enormous prof- 
it on this trade, some idea may be formed, when it is 
known, that with the very heavy expenses attendant 
on every stage of it, 500 dollars have been paid for 
a ticket entitling the holder to ship three bales 1 

By regulation, the invoice was not to exceed 500,- 
000 dollars ; but this was always evaded. The ves- 
sels were crammed with goods, and generally netted 
\ 100 per cent, or even 150 on every thing taken out.*** 
By applications from private merchants, the permis- 
sions have of late years been extended to their ships, 
and even brigs ; but they still were encumbered with 
many useless restrictions and conditions, which of 
course were evaded by every means that could be 
devised. 

By the adoption of the new constitution, and the 
late declaration of the independence of Mexico,*** 

^^ The boletas " long did duty as paper money, passing from 
hand to hand." (Lala, Philippine Islands^ p. 177.)- Eds. 

^^ " Aunque a Mexico Uevan diablos cornudos siempre ganan 
dinero" (Though they should carry homed devils to Mexico, 
they would make money by them), was the gruff observation of an 
old soldier to the writer. The trade could not have been better 
characterized; for the very topmen and cabin servants crammed 
their departments full of goods of all kinds; and it was a very 
common thing to heave to, to clear the decks in the Bay of Manila. 
Tht "Timoneles" (quarter-masters) had alwajrs servants! 

'^^The revolt of Mexico from Spain began in 18 10, but inde- 



r 



15^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

which began in the seizure of a convoy of nearly a 
million of dollars belonging to the merchants of Ma- 
nila, this trade is now almost annihilated. 

As has been remarked, their intercourse with the 
other countries is very limited. The Phillippine 
Company, who were in possession of the exclusive 
trade of Europe, have for many years taken no ad- 
vantage of their privilege (the last ship which ar- 
rived from Spain was in 18 17) ;*" but private mer- 
chants were still debarred from doing so, till the 
promulgation of the constitution/^' Foreigners have 
been, however, gradually admitted since 1800 ; and 
they have supplied the wants of the country by in- 
troducing European articles, and carrying off the 
surplus produce, when a sufficient quantity could be 
procured to employ their capital, which rarely hap- 
pens without much delay. So rapid has been the 
augmentation of this trade, that though in 1813 only 
15,000 pekuls of sugar were exported, it had in- 

pendence was not accomplished until 1821. The first constitution 
of the republic of Mexico was proclaimed on October 4, 1824.- 
Eds. 

^^^A ship was dispatched from Manila in 1821, and another 
freighted : this last as an English ship ; both were on account of 
the G>mpany. 

^^* The first constitution of Spain was promulgated on March 
19, 1812, during the Ni^mleonic invasion of that country. Fer- 
nando VII had been displaced on the throne by Joseph Bona- 
parte for a time, but the latter fled from Madrid, at Wdlingtoo's 
approach with an English army, and Fernando (who had been 
imprisoned in France since 1808) was restored to Spain as its 
king, returning in March, 18 14. After long-continued struggles 
with the Liberal party, Fernando restored absolutism in diat 
country in 1823, with the aid of a French army; and the Consti- 
tution was overthrown until after Femando's death in 1833.- 
Eds. 



f 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 I S3 

creased in 181 8 to 200,000, at from 6^ to 9 dollars 
per pekul. The other exports of the same year were 
as follows : - 

Coffee, about 400 pekuls, at 28 dollars; Cotton, 
1,000, at 20 to 25 dollars ; Indigo, 1,000 quintals, at 
90 to no dollars per quintal; wax, 600 pekuls at 
40 to 50 dollars; red wood, &c. &c. in large quan- 
tities. In a printed account, the number of foreign 
vessels for that year (1818) are stated to be, English, 
18 ; American, 10 ; French, 4 ; Portuguese, 2 ; Chi- 
nese Junks, 10, and 8 Spanish vessels. The value of 
imports as follows: 

Goods, 2,296,272 dollars 
Cash, 758,239 



$3»o54,5" 

The exports, 1,205,649 dollars ; but this last is 
any thing but correct, not only from the very imper- 
fect nature of the custom-house valuations, but from 
the smuggling, which is carried on to an immense 
amount. It will be nearer the truth to estimate the 
imports at about 3,8, or 3,900,000, and the exports 
at3>^ or 3,500,000. "• 

The imports consist of piece-goods for the Aca- 
pulco market, and for home consumption from Ben- 
gal ; cambrics and handkerchiefs of plaided patterns 

^*'To account for the enormous difference, it will be suffi- 
cient to observe, that the Acapulco ships alone smug^e from 
r-4th to I -3d of their cargo (treasure) on shore -that opium 
which is prohibited, is smuggled to a considerable amount, as is 
also treasure, particularly gold, to avoid pa3ring the import duties. 
With respect to the exports, the Chinese alone smuggle nearly a 
million annually, and no notice is taken in the account of txeasure 
exported to Bengal in bars. 



1 54 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

from Madras ; woollens, wines, spirits, silks, printed 
cottons, hosiery, hardware, &c. from Europe (prin- 
cipally from France) ; bird's nests, tortoise and 
mother-of-pearl shell, bich-de-mar [i.e., balate], 
wax, dried fish, &c. from Soolo, Borneo, and other 
islands of the Archipelago ; toys, silks, nankeens, 
teas, and dollars from China ; dollars from the 
United States; and from South America, silver, 
cochineal, and cacao. Of these articles the specie and 
cochineal are mostly exported to Bengal and Madras, 
and the produce of the Soolos and Borneo to China ; 
the other exports have been noticed in a preceding 
page. 

An active coasting trade ^^^ is carried on by the 
natives amongst the islands, though they suffer dread- 
fully from the pirates ; but such is their enterprising 
turn, that with these in sights they will often cross 
from one island to another, when they have a fair 
start ; and frequently set out on a long trip in a small 
prow [i.e., praulj armed only with their spears and 
^^ campilans, '' ^^' though knowing the pirates to be in 

^^^ Comyn briefly sketches this domestic commerce (pp. 43- 
45), but in vague and indefinite terms, save for the following 
paragraph : " Besides the traffic founded on the ordinary con- 
sumption, and the necessity of being furnished with goods both 
domestic and foreign in order to supply the fairs known by the 
name of tianguis^ which are held weekly in almost all the villages, 
there is also a species of traffic peculiar to the rich Indians and 
Sangley mestizos (who are an industrious class, and own the 
greater part of the ready money). This consists in buying up be- 
forehand the harvests of indigo, sugar, rice, etc., with the aim of 
afterward dictating the prices when they resell those products to 
him who buys at second hand.' - Eds. 

*^* Large, heavy swords, which some of them wield with great 
dexterity. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 55 

the neighbourhood of their track. They are well 
known in the piratical states, where a Manila slave 
always commands a higher price than any other. 
They have been much stigmatized in British country- 
ships, as the leaders of mutinies, &c. ; but though no 
doubt can exist that they have often assisted in cut- 
ting off vessels, yet I question much whether the 
fault was not in a great measure to be attributed to 
a want of discrimination between the high spirit of 
the Phillippine islander, and the meek sufferance of 
the patient Lascar- a fatal mistake, when both are 
trampled on, as it is to be feared they but too often 
are. 

This trade is carried on in pontines,^^* galeras, 
feluccas, and prows or boats of all sizes. The pon- 
tines are stout-built vessels of European models, from 
80 to 150 tons, with two long mat sails, like a Chinese 
junk. The ^^ galeras " are smaller, and carry a lateen 
sail, like those of the Mediterranean. The feluccas 
have been already described, and their prows and 
boats resemble nearly those of their Malay brethren. 
Large property is often embarked in these vessels, 
and they are conducted entirely by natives. 

They have but a few manufactures : the principal 
one is that of coarse gauzes, and rope from the Abaca 
plant, the first of which has a very extensive con- 
sumption and is universally worn by all classes of the 
natives. It is principally carried on in the province 
of Camarines, at the S. E. angle of the island. 

Considerable quantities of coarse canvas and 
striped cloths are manufactured from cotton in the 
province of Ylocos; and in those in the more im- 

^^^They have some few brigs and schooners, but the number 
of these is not much more than 20. 



IS* THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

mediate vicinity of the capital, the striped cloths 
called ^^ tapis" are universally worn by the native 
women over their petticoat. None of these articles 
except the Abaca rope are exported, and probably 
the whole of the cloths might be imported at a 
cheaper rate than they are made. The Phillippine 
Company, by a mistaken policy, expended large sums 
in endeavoring to render these manufactures articles 
of export to Spain and the Americas ; but after 
heavy and repeated losses, the attempt was at length 
abandoned. 

I am not certain whether there was not a clause in 
their charter, obliging them to attempt this ; and 
from the interfering spirit of Spanish legislature 
throughout the last two centuries, it is more than 
probable it was so. For the Company must have seen 
the impropriety of endeavoring to establish manu- 
factures in a country so thinly populated, and where 
the little security for property or power of enforcing 
contracts, must have exposed them to a thousand 
losses unknown in Europe. 

This last circumstance is one which is at all times 
a severe check on the prosperity of any undertaking 
in this country. The most shameless frauds are daily 
committed, particularly by the Chinese and Chinese 
Mestizos, and for these there is no resource ; com- 
plaint is unavailing, for the trouble of obtaining 
redress is greater than the injury, and it is a matter 
of common conversation - how so and so has been 
cheated in his contracts. They appear to mistake in- 
dolence for compassion, and allow themselves to be 
robbed with impunity, rather than pursue the offend- 
er, or, should they do so, the magistrate to whom 
they apply is but too apt, if the affair is intricate, to 



18011840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 57 

mistake procrastination for deliberation, and thus the 
culprit escapes unpunished. The losses of private 
merchants and the individuals in this way, would, if 
enumerated, exceed belief. Another and a most se- 
rious drawback to the commercial prosperity of the 
Phillippines, has been the negligence or ignorance, or 
both which have prevented the establishment of 
bonded warehouses, or a system of drawback duties 
on re-exportations. A glance at their position, and 
the consideration of the monsoons, will convince any 
one, that this was of all things that for which ample 
provision should have been made ; and it would be 
no exaggeration to say, that this commerce would in 
a few years have increased tenfold with China alone, 
had this plan been adopted. The enormous duties 
and vexatious spirit of the Chinese government, to- 
gether with, what must doubtless be often the case, 
the fleecing combinations of the Hong merchants ; ^^^ 
would long ago have driven every vessel from their 
ports, could another have been found near enough to 
insure a supply of goods, which, from the enterpris- 
ing spirit of the Chinese, could not have failed. Ma- 
nila is this port. From Amoy and Nankin, the gran- 
aries and workshops of the eastern provinces, the 
most fertile and commercial part of the empire, it 
is but a short run to Manila ; and thus, when the 
Chinese could freely trade in their favourite article, 
opium,"' and find too an assortment of European 

iiT«'p)|^ Hong merchants (Chinese) were twelve in number, 
licensed by government as intermediate agents in trade, between 
foreign merchants and the Chinese people, becoming responsible 
for the good conduct of the former, and, at the same time, securing 
to the Emperor the payment of all maritime dudes." (Allen, 
OAwm Trade^ p. 45.) -Eds. 

"■Dr. Nathan Allen, in a pamphlet entitled The Opium 



1 5 8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

and Malay goods, while the European could com- 
plete his investment of funds with the valuable pro- 

Trade (Lowdl, Mass., 1853), presents a history of this traffic^ 
describes its results in both China and India, and protests against 
its continuance. He states that opium, originally a native of Per- 
sia, spread thence into Turkey and India, being cultivated more 
extensively in the latter country than anywhere else in the world. 
In 1767 the British East India Company formed the plan of 
sending <^ium from Bengal to China, where but little of this drug 
had previously been sold ; but they had little success in this until 
I794i when they began a tra£Sc which lasted some twenty-five 
years at the ports of Whampoa and Macao. In 1821, the opium 
merchants abandoned these places, on account of difficulties en- 
countered in their trade, and centered it at Lintin Island, in 
the bay at the entrance to Canton River, where it rapidly in- 
creased. " Here might be seen large armed vessels reposing 
throughout the year, at anchor, constituting a floating depot ol 
storehouses, for receiving the opium in large quantities from the 
ships bringing it from India, and dealing it out in chests and 
cases to the Chinese junks, to be retailed at various points on 
shore. The Merope, Capt. Parkyns, in 1821, was the first ship 
that commenced the system of delivering opium at diflEerent cities 
along the coast of China, and from that time, the trade increased 
mth wonderful rapidity. Eligible places also on the c^ast and 
north-east coast of China were selected to station receiving ves- 
sels, to which the Chinese might easily have access, and become 
participators in the trade." Allen cites many contemporary and 
high authorities. Among these, James Holman says, in 1830 
{Travels in China^ p. 162), that the opium boats "are but sd- 
dom interfered with, nor are they likely to be, so long as the Free 
Traders can a£brd to pay the mandarins so much better for not 
fighting, than the government will for doing their duty. The 
use of opiimi has become so universal among the people of China, 
that the laws which render it penal, and the proclamations 
which send forth their daily fulminations against its continuance, 
have not the slightest effect in checking the prevalence of so 
general a habit. Smoking houses abound in Canton; and the 
inhabitants of every class who can furnish themselves with the 
means to obtain the pipe, are seldom without this article of 



i8oi-i84o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, l8l9'22 159 

duce of China, "* without the expense of the measure- 
ment duties, and while the Malay could trade with 
both, an emporium might have risen, inferior only 
perhaps to Batavia or Calcutta. 

genend luxury. It is a propensity that has seized upon all ranks 
and classes, and is generally on the increase." From the year 
1800, the Chinese government tried to st(^ this traffic, strictly 
prohibiting the importation of opium ; but foreign merchants paid 
no attention to this, and forced the trade on the Chinese people. 
In 1839, a Chinese official destroyed, by command of the emperor, 
oyer 20,000 chests (worth $12,000,000) of the drug at Canton; 
this led to a war with England, coomionly known as "the 
Opium War." The resulting treaty of peace compelled the 
Chinese to open five ports to British trade and residence, to 
cede the island of Hong-kong to Great Britain -at which place 
the opium trade then centered; and in 1845 the British authori- 
ties licensed twenty shops to sell opium at retail -and to pay 
heavy indenmities not only to the English government and the 
merchants, but for the opium destroyed, which had been legally 
confiscated by the emperor as contraband goods. The Chinese 
commissioners objected, but were threatened with renewed 
hostilities if they persisted, and they had to yield. During the past 
year negotiations looking to a cessation of the opimn traffic have 
been carried on between Great Britain and China. The follow- 
ing also shows the recent growth of the drug in China. "As 
for the gums from the Indias, the Chinese physicians and surgeons 
make hardly any use of them. I do not think that in an entire 
year there is used in Pekin a half-livre of opimn (which they call 
Yapien) ; its place is supplied by using the white poppy." (Father 
Parennin, in a letter dated September 20, 1740; Lettres edifian- 
tesy ed. 181 1, t. xxii, p. 274.)- Eds. 

^** One of the great drawbacks on the profits of the vosrages 
from Europe since 1814 has been, that no light goods of value 
were to be obtained. An American, in 1816, remained 16 mondis 
to obtain two crops of indigo, and bought all to be got in the 
market She made an excellent voyage, even with this heavy 



l6o THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 5" 

An attempt was made in 1 817, by a Spanish mer- 
chanty to commence something of this sort. He pur- 
chased a quantity of Turkey opium from an Ameri- 
can, with an understanding that it was to be re- 
shipped, on payment of a small additional duty. It 
was sOy but a quantity of the opium was plundered 
from the custom-house godowns, and the proprietor 
was told "'that the king was not responsible for 
losses." 

It would be foreign to the object of a cursory 
sketch like the present to enter farther into the details 
of this subject. Enough has been said to bear out an 
assertion, which those who are acquainted with the 
trade will not think exaggerated, that had this s]^tem 
been fairly and equitably established, one half of die 
trade to China would before this have centered at 
Manila; and it is only at Manila that the advantages 
of such a transit could have been unknown or neg- 
lected in the 19th century. I proceed to make some 
observations on the capital and its inhabitants. 



If 



PART II 

MANILA 

Manila, "^ the capital of the "kingdom of the Phil- 
lippines,"* in lat. 14*" 26'' N. and long. lai"" 3" East 

^'^At this point in the book (namely, facing p. 82) is a 
plan of Manila entitled " Piano de la ciudad de Manila, capital de 
las Yslas Filipinas," which shows the dty and its suburbs; and 
a second illustration showing, first, " View of Manila from the 
plain of Bagumbayan," and second, " View of Manila from die 
sea." The plan of Manila is from a Spanish source.- Eds. 

"* Generally, but incorrectly written, " ManUla." 

^'' Under this title is included not only the Phillippines from 



i8oi-i84o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1 8 1 9-22 1 6 3 

of Greenwich, is situated on the eastern side of an 
extensive bay in the western coast of die island Luzon, 
or Luconia, as it is sometimes called. It is a captain 
general-ship (not a viceroyalty) , and archbishopric, 
and the seat of the Audiencia, or Supreme Tribunal. 

The city forms nearly a sector of a circle, of which 
the center is a point formed by the coast and the in- 
fluence of a small but rapid river, the Passig, which 
flowing to the westward, and passing to die north of 
the city, discharges the waters of an extensive lake 
about 30 miles distant from the town. This river is 
navigable for vessels of 250 tons for a small distance 
from its entrance, which is formed by two fine moles, 
built by the municipality of the city. On the south- 
em of these is a small semicircular battery for four 
guns, and on the other a light-house. The southern 
or outer mole is much out of repair. 

The constant and rapid current of the river forms 
a bar at its entrance, over which there is 10, and at 
times 1 1 feet water at spring tides, in a narrow chan- 
nel close to the battery. 

The city is well fortified on the sea and land faces, 
but on that towards the river very indiflferently, being 
only defended by a long curtain with a few ill-con- 
structed bastions, which from their diminutive size 
are rather playthings than bastions. The curtain is 
narrow, and confined on the inside, and unfit for 
guns of calibre ; the buildings within the city over- 
looking, and even joining the wall in some places. 
On the other side of the river, within 200 yards of 
this curtain, are a number of stone houses, along the 
whole length of its bank ; and the bases of these 

the Bashees and Babuyanes to Mindanao, but also from Palawan 
on the west to the Carolinas on the east 



164 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 5^ 

being walls of eight and ten feet thick of solid ma- 
sonry, would aflford an immediate cover for an 
enemy, who might breach the curtain in ten minutes 
at so short a distance, and with perfect safety, the 
fire from some of these taking the whole of the works 
on the N. Eastern side in reverse. Indeed its only 
defence on this side is the river,^** the current of 
which is always rapid. 

Over it is a neat but narrow stone bridge of ten 
arches, which joins the city at its northern angle to the 
suburbs. On the city side of the bridge is a square 
tower, with an archway pierced through it, and with 
embrasures on the top. This is intended as a ^' tete 
de pont ; " but it is too small for any eflfective pur- 
pose, and, like the bastions on this face, resembles a 
military plaything; and this defect is the more strik- 
ing, as the fortifications, from this angle on the land 
and sea faces,, are remarkably handsome and well 
proportioned. 

At the north-western point of the city, which joins 
the mole, is the citadel of Santiago, a clumsy old- 
fashioned fortification, separated from the rest of 
the city by a narrow ditch with a stone bridge, but 
joined by the curtains of the bastions. It is incapable 
of any respectable defence, except from a semicircu- 
lar bastion, which forms the point, and commands 
the moles and entrance to the river. It is now used 
as a state prison and magazine. The convicts em- 
ployed in the public works are also lodged in it. 
This was the refuge of the unfortunate foreigners '•^ 
who escaped from the massacre on the 9th of October 
1820; and to the honour of the commandant (Col. 

^^ It has no ditch on this side. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1 8 1 9-22 1 6 5 

Don A. Parrcno), and his lady be it recorded, they 
found there another home. 

The length of the city within the walls is 1,300 
yards Spanish, from N. W. to S. E. ; its width 744, 
and circumference 4,166. The side towards the river, 
it has already been remarked, is, from the want of 
bastions, and from the encumbered state of the ap- 
proaches to it, in a very defective state. The sea and 
land faces are exactly the reverse of this, being re- 
markably clear and strong. 

The land face has a double ditch, and an espla- 
nade of five or six hundred yards in breadth, which 
towards the river is marshy and swampy, and utterly 
unfit for military operations. Towards the sea, and 
for some miles along the coast, is an epaulement, ^'^ 
thrown up when in expectation of an attack from the 
English in 1804. On this esplanade formerly stood 
a church, from the tower of which the English under 
Sir W. Draper fired into the heart of the city: 



Its 



^*^A covert from an enemy's fire, but not intended for de- 
fense with guns; composed of gabions or bags filled with eardi, 
or of earth heaped up.- Eds. 

''" Le Gentil states ( Voyage^ ii, pp. 103, 104) that Arandia 
was hated by the friars because he desired to demolish two 
churches outside the walls of Manila; these were so solid, and 
equipped with towers, and so near the walls, that they were a 
source of great danger to the dty if they should fall into an 
enemy's hands. " I have been assured that the friars raised the 
cry of heresy against M. Arandia, and that they talked of noth- 
ing less than excommunicating him ; but his death stopped all that. 
This zealous governor actually died in 1760, before he had ef- 
fected his project; but his death was not regarded as natural.*' 
When the English appeared before Manila, Arandia's loss was 
regretted, when it was too late. The English demolished the 
aforesaid churches and their towers, for their own safety.- Eds. 



l66 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

it is now razed. There is also a small battery called 
Charles the Fourth's, on an elevated spot in the 
marshy ground ; it is about 350 yards from the forti- 
fications and is mostly used as an exercising battery. 
Another redoubt of stone stands at the southern point 
of the outer ditch, and flanks the sea shore to a con- 
siderable distance to the southward: it also serves 
to cover the head of the outer ditch, which is not 
carried round the sea face, apparently for want of 
room, as its crest would nearly approach high water 
mark in this part. 

There are six gates to the city, two on each face: 
those on the land side have neat stone bridges over 
the outer ditch, which are not mined, and, being 
of solid masonry, would be found cumbersome in 
case of an attack. The inner ones, and those on the 
sea side, are of wood or stone pillars with draw- 
bridges. The ditches are wide and deep, but much 
encumbered with mud and weeds, from which last 
the fortifications also have suffered. The bastions on 
the sea and land sides are in many places without 
embrasures, the guns being "en barbette.""* The 
shore is not very flat, and will perhaps allow a frigate 
to lay within gunshot of the ramparts. 

Within the walls of the city is the cathedral, the 
inside of which is very handsome, though the ex- 
terior is destitute of all sjrmmetry, and seems to have 
been intended as a contrast to the majestic architec- 
ture of the interior. 

The governor's palace resembles a decent bam or I 
warehouse, both externally and internally. It is large, 
dirty, and ill distributed, the basement being used as 
a prison. 

^^*That is, elevated so as to fire over the top of a parapet- 
Eos. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 167 

The Cabildoy or Town House, is a handsome build- 
ing, and the only one in the country which has any 
pretensions to symmetry, of which the architects of 
the Phillippines take every opportunity of shewing a 
sovereign contempt: -so much so, that it is rare to 
find even the doors and windows, or the angles of a 
room, correctly placed and laid outl These three 
buildings form three sides of a small square, the only 
one in the city, of about 100 yards on each side, the 
fourth side being occupied by private houses. In 
the centre is a handsome pedestal of reddish marble, 
on which no statue has yet been placed. ^" 

The streets of the city are narrow and dirty; and 
the middle being a hollow, in rainy weadier forms 
a continued puddle. They are paved at the sides 
with granite from China, the stone in the immediate 
neighbourhood of Manila being too soft. The pave- 
ment is not in good repair, and in some streets only 
occupies one side; the other, which is generally oc- 
cupied by a large house, or the wall of a convent, 
being heaped up with dirt, rendered solid by long 

''^This place was afterward occupied (1824?) bjr "a statue 
of Carlos IV, in bronze, a true work of art, cast in Manila. It 
was erected in recognition of his having ordered the conveyance 
[to the islands] of vaodne virus, transmitted from arm to arm, 
for which purpose exclusively he arranged for the departure of a 
ship from Mejico, which reached Manila on April 15, 1805." 
(Montero y Vidal, Archipielago filipino^ p. 301.) The same 
writer says {Hist, de Filipinos^ ii, p. 388) : "The benefits pro- 
duced by vaccination among the natives, always so harassed by 
that pest [of smallpox], were evident; and Folgueras made 
strenuous efforts to secure its propagation throughout the 
countiy. He also gave orders that the dead should not be in- 
terred within the churches, a measure which drew upon him 
hostilities and annoyances from the religious." The Plaza 
Mayor, where the above statue stands, is now called Plaza Mc- 
Kinlcy.- Eds. 



1 68 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

accumulation, and forming a hill against the wall, 
the receptacle of • . . This is not confined to 
bye-lanes, but is most common in the great square 
(Plaza Constitucional) in front of the cathedral I ^* 

The city and suburbs are well lighted, and the 
European quarters of the last are cleaner than the 
city. 

The convents, which occupy nearly one third of 
the whole area of the city 1 are more distinguished 
for their size and massy architecture, than for their 
beauty. The church and convent of St. Augustine, 
and that of the Jesuits (now fast falling to decay), 
are, however, neat and well built. That of San Do- 
mingo is the most extensive. 

The hospital of St John of God, a military order 
of Knights Hospitallers, is extensive, but for want 
of funds, is but indiflferently entertained. ^^ There is 
also a university (St. Thomas), two colleges for the 
instruction of Indians and mestizos, and three con- 
vents of nuns, who receive girls to educate. There 
are also two schools for girls, both endowed by the 

^**And yet the ignorant natives ascribed the pest of cholera, 
wbkh caused such ravage in Manila in 1820, to the potsoning 
of their wells by foreigners. A French physician, Dr. Charles 
L. BencHt, who arrived at Manila at that dale, and spent four 
years there, states in his Observacions sohre el c6lera morbo 
espasmodico (Madrid, 1832) that in this bdief the Indiana, 
usually 80 humble and rdigious, then comniitted innumerable 
crimes. See account of their massacre of foreigners, pp. 39-45, 
ante.-' Eds. 

^'*The brethren devote themselves to the care of the sick, 
and per fo rm their duties most honourably and zealously; so 
much so^ that the refectory is often supplied widi litde but rice 
for their own dinners. The other orders are richly endowed, 
and fare sumptuously - but thqr are more a-la-mode. 



\ 



18011840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 69 

piety of single individuals ; the first o| these being a 
Spanish lady, who came out from Spain for the ex- 
press purpose of devoting herself to the education 
of Indian and mestizo girls I The other is that of a 
mestizo woman of the village of Binondo, a suburb 
of Manila. 

There are some large houses, but they are gen- 
erally ill-built and inconvenient, the rooms being 
often excessively large, and always badly laid out. 
The ground floor is used for warehouses, stables, 
&c. and always includes a large court-yard. The 
first floor only is inhabited. The architecture of the 
lower part is very massive, being often walls of solid 
masonry of eight or ten feet thick, with large arches 
from side to side, and connected with massy beams. 
At the height of the floor, these walls are discon- 
tinued, and on them are raised at distances clumsy 
pillars of brickwork, or at times of wood (which is 
seldom straight). These pillars are connected at 
the top by large joists in all directions, having 
wooden forelocks driven through them close to die 
pillars; and on this framework are laid the rafters 
for the tiled roof; the interstices of the pillars, and 
divisions of the rooms, being filled up with brick 
and plaster. The ends of the floor timbers being al- 
lowed to project over the walls, form a gallery of 
eight or ten feet in width along the front of the 
house, and round it when insulated: this gallery is 
boarded for about four feet in height in front, and 
then filled up with sliding windows, the small panes 
of which are filled with plates of thin mother-of- 
pearl shell, "^ forming one continued window, like 

^'* These plates are obtained from the shell of the Placuna 



I/O THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS ' [VoL 51 

\ the front of a hot-house. The communication to 
this gallery is by wide folding doors from the rooms, 
a large one having four or five, which thus admit 
light and air into the apartments ; but the shell win- 
dows, when closed against the sun, transmit an in- 
tolerable heat, and the houses are not in general cool 
ones. The galleries are often used as dressing, and 
even as bathing rooms; and as they overhang the 
streets, the passenger is often sprinkled from them, 
in consequence of this dirty practice. 

The exterior of these galleries being painted a 
curious mixture of tawdry colours, such as black, 
grey, blue, yellow, and red, in panels, flowers, ovals, 
&c. on white or grey grounds, with their shell win- 
dows above, and the grated ones of the godowns be- 
low, gives a tawdry and unsociable appearance to the 
houses. The better sort, and those newly built, have 
Venetians, which greatly improves both their appear- 
ance and comfort. 

All the houses have a cross, and some two or three, 
on the roof or gables, as a preservative against evil 
spirits,^'^ and lightning; and though few years pass 
without many accidents from the latter, the crosses 
are still preserved in preference to conductors, even 
in the magazines, not one of which is provided with 

placenta^ a mollusk; they are generally used in place of window- 
glass, and by their partial <^acity modify the effects of the sun's 
heat.- Eds. 

^'^This would appear a vulgar interpretation of a popular 
custom ; but from this charge the writer will be exonerated, when 
it is known, that should a person yawn, he devoutly makes the 
sign of the cross before his mouth, while it continues open, to 
- keep the devil from him ! Ex pede elephantem [f .r., " By 
the foot-print, one recognizes the elephant"]. 



1. 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1 8 1 9-22 1 7 ^ 

this useful preservative, though that of the citadel 
contains many thousand pounds of powder. 

The suburbs of the city are extensive, and contain 

many stone houses, in which some of the principal 

inhabitants reside, and generally all the foreigners, 

' the vicinity of the river, and its many branches, 

rendering it more convenient for business. 

The custom-house is a plain octagonal building of 
considerable extent, and contains a fine courtyard 
surrounded with an arcade, and extensive magazines 
for warehousing goods. These, from neglect and the 
ravages of the white ants, are fast falling to decay, 
and in a few years the building will be a ruin; it 
is now very dirty and ill-arranged, the entrance not 
being convenient to the river, and wanting quays and 
a crane. The officers of this establishment are in 
general attentive, civil, and indulgent to foreigners, 
though the length of their siestas does not contribute 
to the dispatch of business. There is no interpreter 
attached to this establishment, nor is the king respon- 
sible for goods or money deposited in it, this being 
solely at the merchant's risk. 

The '^ Calzada," or public drive, is a broad neat 
carriage road, leading round the outer face of the 
outer ditch, from the bridge, round the land and sea 
faces of the fortifications to the river. It is planted 
with trees, and forms a good drive, having roads 
leading from it into the country, whose rich and cul- 
tivated appearance gives the stranger a high opinion 
of its fertility. The roads are however much in want 
I of waterings in dry weather, the dust of the principal 
one being at these times insuflferable. 

On the road leading to the village of Santa Anna 



17^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

is the cemetery, ^" a building well worth the attention 
of strangers both as a novelty in itself, and as in some 
measure redeeming the character of the architecture 
of this country from its general want of interest and 
symmetry. 

It consists of two concentric circular walls, about 
ten feet apart and fourteen in height, both sur- 
mounted with a balustrade. The inner wall forms 
the periphery of a circle of about 250 feet in diam- 
eter, and is pierced with three rows of small semi- 
circular arches, which form the entrances to as many 
arched, oven-like receptacles, formed in the space be- 
twixt the walls, and of a size just calculated to re- 
ceive a coffin, to Which purpose they are appro- 
priated. 

There are from two to three hundred of those re- 
ceptacles; and when occupied, the entrances are 
walled up. The plot of ground in the centre is 
crossed by two broad stone walks, the borders of 
which are planted with flowers and shrubs; the re- 
maining space is used for interments. 

On the further side from the gate, and joined to 
the wall, is a handsome chapel of an oval shape, the 
roof being a dome. The interior of this chapel is 
remarkably neat ; and the altar, which is white, and 
gold, is particularly so, from its elegant simplicity 
and chasteness of ornament: on each side of it are ; 
repositories for the remains of governors and bishops. 

Without are flights of steps leading to the terrace 

*""Whcn the terrible epidemic which Manila had suffered 1 
came to an end, the municipal council caused a fine cemetery to 
be constructed in the village of San Fernando de Dilao> commonly 



x8oi-x84o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 73 

I joining the walls, and two passages leading to a 
smaller building at the back of the chapel, and in the 
same style as the large one. This is called the " An- 
gelorio '' and a recess in it the ^^ Ossario.'' The first 
is appropriated to the remains of infants and chil- 
dren, and the last to the bones which may in time ac- 
cumulate. This purpose suggests the only objection 
which is apt to arise in viewing the building, which 
is, that, as in the course of time the receptacles must 
be filled up, those which have been first occupied 
must be qpened, and the bones displaced to make 
room for others. To many this is a most revolting 
objection, and would appear to indicate a dulness 
of feeling and want of sentiment, which, though far 
from being uncommon at Manila, by no means ac- 
cords with the spirit and style in which the building 
is executed, or with the reflections it is apt to excite. 
There are no other buildings in the neighbourhood 
of Manila worthy the attention of the stranger. The 
appearance of the surrounding country is rich, and 
in some parts highly cultivated ; but an air of neglect 
and dilapidation is visible throughout, which strik- 
ingly marks the apathetic character of both classes of 
its inhabitants. It is remarkable, too, that the neat- 
ness of the native villages, and the apparent comfort 
of the people, increase in direct proportion to their 
distance from the capital, as the influence of govern- 
ment is less felt, and the Indian, knowing no other 
authority than the ^Tadre," retains more of his orig- 
inal character. 

caUcd Paca'' (Montcro y Vidal, Hittoria de FUipinm, ii, p. 
457.)- Eds. 



174 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

The vices of Spanish colonies have been often the 
theme of those who have visited them; and when 
speaking of Manila, they have seldom exagger- 
ated. ^'' It has been observed, and with some justice, 
that "to know the education of the children, is to 
know the character of a people/' If this be true, but 
little can be said for Manila, where this highly im- 
portant duty is more neglected than perhaps in any 
civilized part of the globe. 

The majority of the young are abandoned entirely | 
to the Indian servants, who soon familiarize them 
with all that is vicious. They know but little of their 
parents more than as the master and mistress of the 
house, whose hand they must kiss, kneeling, every 
morning and evening. By five years of age they \ 
smoke cigars, ride out at night by moonlight, abuse 
the Indians, and not unfrequently their parents. 
At 12 they are debauched. At 18 or 20 they 
marry, and then form the citizens for which 
such an education has prepared them. They 
are seldom or ever taught any useful employment or 
profession. This the majority of them would look 
upon with the utmost contempt: "Soy gracias a 
Dios, de sangre noble,'' ^'^ is their reply to any advice 
of this kind ; and this is a passport to a cadetship in , 
the army or colonial marine ; which, though attained ' 
at the age of 12 or 13, seldom finds them with any 
vice unlearnt. The girls are educated nearly in the 

'" La Peyrouse, when speaking of the public flagellants in the 
Passion wedc, did not, I believe, do so; but though superstitious 
enougji, this practice is no longer continued in the present day. 

'*«" Thank God! I am of a noble famay!"->And if they 
are told, " Well, but if you have nothing to eat?" " Me hago / 
frayle," " Well, I can be a friar," is the answer. 



1801.1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 75 

same manner, as far as to the acquirement of any use- 
ful knowledge. They are sent to the nunneries till 
12 or 14 years, and from thence married. Of house- 
hold duties they know little or nothing, and of any 
thing else, still less. 

The manner of living is nearly as follows : The 
gentlemen rise about six or seven, and take chocolate. 
They then lounge about in their shirts and trowsers 
(the former often outside of the latter) till nine, 
when they dress, and dictate a letter or two to their 
writers (they rarely write for themselves) ; at 10 
they breakfast, after which they go out in their car- 
riages to transact any business they may have in town. 
At 12 or I they dine, and from table retire to sleep 
the siesta, till 4 -at 4 chocolate ^'^ - at 5 drive on the 
esplanade, or into the country, till 6 or 7, when visits 
are received or made till 10 or 11 ; supper is served 
hot at this hour, and at midnight they retire to sleep. 
Some of these evening parties (tertulias) are lively 
and pleasant, but at most of them gambling is carried 
I on with great avidity. Both ladies and gentlemen 
smoke at these, as well as at balls and other assem- 
blies. They drink but little wine or strong liquors, 
their ordinary beverage being water, which is hand- 
ed round in large glasses with sweetmeats, which are 
always eaten before drinking water. 

Society in Manila is at a very low standard : in a 
community, the majority of which are men of infe- 
rior classes, no very select assemblies can be expect- 
ed ; and those whose character and education might 

'"Le GentQ siqts (Voyagiy ii, pp. 116, 117) that the Jesuiti 
decided that the use of chocoUte was admissible on fast days, con- 
sequently these were no mortification to most of the people.- 
Eds. 



176 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

have given another tone to it, are here, from neces- 
sity, amalgamated with the crowd. There are in fact 
only a few houses where a respectable society can be 
met with ; at others the stranger is disgusted with a 
coarseness of manners, and with unfeeling or often 
excessively indelicate conversation, and an ignorance 
of the most common branches of knowledge that 
must be heard to be credited. 

Hence, exclusive of some of the civil and military 
officers of government, the agents of the Company, 
and a few respectable merchants and priests, the re- 
mainder are but little qualified for select society, 
and there exists amongst them a want of moral dis- 
crimination, a toleration of publicly known vicious 
characters of both sexes, that is not a little embar- 
rassing to the stranger. This is more particularly 
the case with the female part of society, with many 
of whom " era tentada la pobrecita por el demoniol " 
[1.^., " The poor woman was tempted by the devil "] 
appears to be a salvo, both at confession and in so- 
ciety, for failings which in Europe inevitably and 
justly entail expulsion from it 

Such is the society of Manila, and such its man- 
ners : from them the general character of those who 
compose it may be easily imagined; they are polite 
in offering every thing -but do but little or nothing: 
- they affect great decency of manners and a religious 
deportment in all their actions; but any thing but 
this is to be found in the conduct of the generality; 
and a common remark amongst themselves, ^^Esta 
no es tierra para un hombre de bien,'* ^'* is worth a 
chapter on the subject. 

This may be thought an exaggerated, or at least 

ufciyiii, ^ hq country for an honest man*-a remark 
quoted, too, I think, by Le GentiL 



I 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, l8l9-22 177 

a highly coloured picture, and it is natural that it 
should be so. A recital of a well-known custom may 
add an evidence to these assertions, premising that 
it is not the only, though the most prominent one 
that attracts the notice of the stranger: I allude to 
that of promiscuous bathing. This shamefully inde- 
cent custom could exist in no country where the com- 
mon decencies of life were held in due consideration. 
Imagine the members of a large family, the father, 
mother, children, young and old, any visitors who 
may be in the house and often part of another family, 
all assembled in a large bath, built out on the river 
with bamboos, the women widi only a petticoat and a 
gauze chemise, and the men with a thin pair of draw- 
ers, and this continuing for one or two hours. This 
is a Manila bath, to which it is no uncommon thing 
for an acquaintance to be asked, and in which 4-5th8 
of all the families in Manila indulge. It may be said 
in extenuation, that from its frequency no evil arises 
from it: this may be the case, but it is not the less 
indecent on that account. 

The policy of Spain towards the Phillippines ap- 
pears to have been to preserve them -no matter how, 
as it afforded occasion to remark, ^' that the sun never 
set in the dominions of his Catholic majesty." Its 
neglect of so rich a colony can only be supposed to 
arise from ignorance, or from a mistaken determina- 
tion to sacrifice it to the Americans : from which, this 
is not the place to enquire. It will suffice to observe, 
that in Spain it has been at all times considered as 
the '^ ne plus ultra " of expatriation : a natural con- 
sequence of this was the state of society which has 
been shewn to exist. ^'^ Nor is this idea confined to 

^*' Cervantes, whose keen but justly merite(r satire on many 
of the failings of his oountiymeni ts only equalled by his beautiful 



178 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL s^ 

Spain alone : Mr. Whitbread, when addressing the 
House on the tyranny of Ferdinand to the liberal 
party, concluded in the following manner : " Some 
have perished on the scaffold - others in the dun- 
geons of Ceuta-and others, still more horrible to 
relate, have been sent to linger out their days amidst 
the savages of the Phillippine islands I'' 

The islands have suffered too from another cause, 
the adoption of the Spanish language as that of the 
courts of justice, &c. &c. and the consequent neg- 
lect of that of the natives amongst the higher classes 
of Europeans. Hence they are ignorant of the feel- 
ings and prejudices of the people they govern, and 
who look to them for example, or at least for pre- 
cept; and not a little of the extensive influence of the 
priesthood may be owing to their intimate knowledge 
of the language, and the mutual confidence which re- 
sults from this. The Indian, meanwhile, has not 
neglected the language of his masters; and as from 
the Indian writers, who transact all business, every 
thing is known, it follows, while both mistakenly con- 
sider their interests as separate, the natives and Cre- 
oles have much the advantage. Both despise and 
detest the Spaniards, the majority of whom, divided 
into factions of Andaluces, Montaneses, Serviles, and 
Liberales, abuse each other cordially ;^'^ while the 

eulogies on many of their excellencies, has apdy described die 
composition of their colonies in his day. 

"To the Indies -the refuge and resource of despairing 
Spaniards - asylum of rebels - protector of homicides - recep- 
tacle of gamblers (called by some knowing ones) -common 
decoy for women of loose characters - the deceiver of many, and 
remedy of few.'-Novda del Zdoso Elstremeno [Le., "The 
jealous Estremaduran'']. 

^"Andaluces: natives of Andalusia province. MontaAcses: 



i8oi-i84o] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 '79 

few who know and feel that there are other and 
higher duties owing from them to the Indian, must 
look on with regret, or complain to be disregarded or 
insulted. The disaffected, and those who have noth- 
ing to fear and every thing to hope from a popular 
commotion, do not lose sight of these advantages; 
and are rapidly spreading doctrines gleaned from the 
works of Voltaire, Rousseau, Tom Paine, &c. and 
stimulating them with songs of liberty and equality ; 
as unfit for them as they were for the Creoles and 
slaves of St. Domingo, to whose fate the Phillippines 
are fast verging, and from which nothing but some 
extraordinary event can save them. "• 

The 9th of October, 1820, has given a fatal blow to 
the power of Spain in this country; for much as has 
been written and said on the subject, it is questionable 
whether there exists any country of black men, where 
the white is not looked upon as an intruder ; and ^^ the 
country belongs to the Indians, " ^^ La tierra es de los 
' Yndios," is a common remark, even amongst the 

appellation of the dwellers in the hill-oountry of Santander prov* 
ince, Spain. Serviles (literally "those who are servile or 
fawning"): a political epithet applied to the Monarchists or 
Absolutists. Liberales: the Liberals in politics^ much as that 
term is used at the present time. Le Gentil describes (Foyage, 
ii, p. 109) the dannishness and provincialism of the Spaniards in 
Manfla.- Eds. 
\ ^*'This is not an isolated opinion; and in corroboration, it 
will be sufficient to mention, that upwards of ^ths of all the dis- 
posable Spanish property in the country has been sent out of it 
This fact is a volume in itself. Since this was written, two seri- 
ous commotions have taken place, in the latter of which the con- 
spirators obtained possession of the city, which was regained by 
storming.* 

* Reference is here made to the rebellion incited by Novales 
in 2823 ; see account of it on pp. 47-48, ante.^ Eds. 



l8o THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 5' 

lower orderSa Moral or political injustice seldom 
fails to recoil on the head of the oppressor; and when 
the government of Manila allowed an indiscrimi- 
nate massacre and pillage of European foreigners by 
the mob, and by their shameful lenity gave a tacit 
sanction to it, they taught the Indian, that he might 
with equal impunity attack them. The plunder then 
obtained is a premium to future violence; and per- 
haps the day is not far distant, when they may bitterly 
repent the hour in which they allowed the Indian to 
feel his physical superiority. 

This he is now hourly taught, and the doctrine of 
"El Pueblo Soberano" [i.e.^ "the sovereign peo- 
ple "] is hourly echoed in his ears by those who are 
least capable of managing him when once aroused. 
"La Constitucion '' is made the pretext for every 
thing subversive of good order and due restraint; the 
convulsed state of Spain, the imbecile indecision of 
the present government, and the recent revolution of 
Mexico (another example to the many already be- 
fore them), will not a little tend to accelerate the 
crisis to which, it is to be feared, they are fast ap- 
proaching; a crisis to which every political body 
must be subject, who would govern an ignorant peo- 
ple by laws made for an enlightened one, and who 
forget in their speculations, that though the civil in- 
stitutions of a people may be changed in a few hours, 
their moral character cannot; and on it and its in- 
fluence throughout the circle of social intercourse de- 
pends the portion of real freedom which a people can 
enjoy. 

CONCLUSION 

Such was the outline of the state of these islands 
in 1822. Severe and frequent as the censures are 



1801-1840] REMARKS ON ISLANDS, 1819-22 1 8 1 

which are passed in the foregoing pages, the writer 
is not conscious that they are in any instance unjust 
or exaggerated, or that praise has been withheld 
wherever it might be due. The unprejudiced, hon- 
ourable, and well-informed, will, he hopes, think so, 
the opinion of others is indifferent to him : they will 
perhaps too believe, that his object has neither been 
to flatter nor to wound, but, if a sketch like this had 
originally any object, a hope that when their true 
state was better known these islands might be better 
appreciated -perhaps better governed; that a cruel- 
ly-abused class of men (the natives) might one day 
find their condition ameliorated; and lastly, that 
when this fair and rich portion of the earth shall be 
visited by men of science, a few general remarks on 
their state at any given period, however ill drawn 
up, might be of some use. Who indeed can but re- 
flect with pain, that while the torch of science has 
blazed in the western hemisphere, from Greenland 
to the Antarctic, bearing with it light, and life, and 
hope, and blessings, few are even aware how very 
much it has yet to illumine in the Eastl 

Finis 



REFORMS NEEDED IN FILIPINAS 

Opinion regarding the causes which antagonize the 
security and progress of the Filipinos Islands 

Most Excellent Sir: 

The Filipinas Islands, on account of their great 
extent, their advantageous location in the center of 
the commercial world of Asia, their considerable 
population, and the fertility of their soil -which is 
capable of yielding all the products which are grown 
between the two tropics -require from his Majesty's 
paternal government a carefully planned system of 
measures which shall strengthen their peace and in- 
ternal security, and at the same time advance their 
agriculture, industry, and commerce to that high de- 
gree to which they have been destined by Providence. 

As I am charged by order of the king our sover- 
eign to furnish information regarding the measures 
which can contribute to objects so important, it will 
be my plan to point out (but with that circumspec- 
tion which is so necessary in matters of colonial pol- 
icy and administration) the causes which today are 
antagonizing both the internal and external security 
of those islands and their successful administration 
-civil, economic, and commercial -proposing in re- 
gard to each one of these the correctives which have 
been impressed upon me by my experience as consult- 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 1 83 

ing attorney [asesor'\ and judge in all the public af- 
fairs of justice, army and navy, the government, reve- 
nues, and commerce; and my own observations 
under popular revolutions, changes in the system of 
government, and other vicissitudes and critical posi- 
tions in which that colony has been seen during the 
long period of my residence therein. 



OF THE CAUSES WHICH ANTAGONIZE THE INTERNAL 

SECURITY OF THE FILIPINAS ISLANDS, AND 

OF CORRECTIVES FOR THEM 

Of the present composition of the divisions 

of the army 

The army of the Filipinas Islands, in view of the 
class of men of whom it now consists, offers very 
little (if any) moral confidence for their resisting 
the force of the revolutions which may be formed in 
the very bosom of the islands. It is officered, in great 
part, by Spaniards of the country, and by some Amer- 
icans and mestizos; and the disposition, tendencies, 
and education of the latter class are (with very rare 
exceptions) absolutely different from those of the 
other and European officers ; consequently, there ex- 
ists between the two classes, from the outset, a certain 
insuperable disunion of feeling, between not only in- 
dividuals but the two classes. The officer who is a 
native of the country has all the lax characteristics 
which the climate induces. He lives in exclusive in- 
tercourse with his neighbors, and separated from the 
Europeans. He likes the military career solely for 
the conveniences connected with his office; he is in- 
capable of a noble emulation, and limits himself in 



1 84 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

the service to the outside and very inex^xrt fulfilment 
of the necessary obligations of his positi i^n ; and when 
the cause of the legitimate government exacts on his 
part sacrifices incompatible with his own interests or 
those of his neighbors, he disowns and absolutely 
abandons his duties. For these reasons the officers 
born in that country have never come to merit the 
confidence of their chiefs ; and if from the rank of 
cadets they have been promoted to that of captain, 
it has been more from the peremptory necessity of 
completing the military corps and protecting the 
service than on account of their fitness, military spir- 
it, or appreciation of the confidence and honor which 
the king bestows on them. Such sentiments they can 
never possess until they undergo a rigid training, 
moral and political, in the colleges of Espafia. This 
mental divergence, and the natural contrariety of 
their temperaments, so mischievous in the ordinary 
service of military bodies, are much more lamentable 
in the crisis of a revolution. The officers of the coun- 
try, being nearer to the Indian soldiers in their cus- 
toms and language, make common cause with the 
latter, and seduce and lead them into their own fac- 
tion, with a marvelous readiness; this I have repeat- 
edly seen in the mutinies of military bodies which 
have occurred in the Americas, and especially in 
that of the troops in the kingdom of Guadalajara in 
the year '21, and in that at Manila in the year '23. 

The army of Filipinas also contains a considerable 
number of Indian sergeants and corporals, and this is ^ 
another of the causes from which have already 
arisen, and always will arise, seditions in the corps. 
Whoever has observed the natural disposition of the 
Filipino Indian will recognize two things: First, 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FIUPINAS 185 

that he always Imitates and obeys only that which is 
directly commanded, explained, and taught to him; 
and, second, that while he is kept in his simple condi- 
tion of laborer, artisan, or soldier he is entirely void 
of ambition. The Indian soldier serves very con- 
tentedly during the eight years of his term, and re- 
turns to his own land without aspiring to anything; 
but when he is placed in command, of any degree 
whatever, he is filled with pride, and vehemently de- 
sires to be at the head [serlo toi/o], without changing, 
for all that, his station as an Indian. [The writer 
states that even these non-commissioned officers were 
formerly always Spaniards ; ^^^] the appointment of 
Indians to these posts has been only in these last 
years, in which a system of commerce which 
entirely separated those islands from their center of 
government has rendered impossible the despatch of 
reenforcements, so necessary to those islands. From 
that very time may be noted much laxity in the mili- 
tary service and discipline ; and I have witnessed the 
insurrections and disorders which never were known 
in former days. In the popular uprisings in the 
I suburbs of Manila, at the end of 1820, ^^^ the detach- 
ments commanded by Indian corporals who were 
sent out to pacify the villages took such part in the 
lawlessness that they even attacked houses, and it 
was by their gunshots that many foreigners were 
butchered. In the military insurrection of June 3, 

^^ The great length of this document obliges us to summarize 
passages of lesser importance; but as much of the author's exact 
language has been retained as possible. 

'^' Bemaldez refers to the massacre of foreigners in 1820, 
and the mutiny imder Novales in 1823, both of which are related 
in the first document of this volume. 



1 86 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

1823, P^i'ties of troops commanded by only one offi- 
cer (a Philippine Spaniard) , without any previous 
plan or any combination, and simply by appearing 
before the barracks of their regiment and offering to ( 
make captains of the Indian sergeants, immediately 
persuaded them to revolt; and, directing the soldiers 
at their own pleasure, they committed the lamentable 
y and horrible acts of that day, which ought to be kept 
well in mind. [This should be a warning against 
allowing the Indians any place of command, es- 
pecially as they have more influence with the com- 
mon soldiers than do the superior officers; and all 
military posts of command should be filled with com- 
petent and trained Spaniards. The writer urges the 
following measures of reform : ( i ) that a sufficient 
number of Spanish officers to fill all the posts of ser- 
geant and corporal, and a surplus number to fill va- 
cancies as they occur, shall be sent to Filipinas an- 
nually; (2) the class of cadets should be suppressed, 
who " have always been (with a few exceptions) very 
unsatisfactory officers; for, belonging to very poor 
and obscure families, and receiving no kind of edu- 
cation, in a country which so depraves and corrupts 
a youth, they demoralize the soldiers, and cause the 
military career to be held there in slight esteem;^' 
(3) in future, no other officers except the heads of 
corps should be sent there from the Peninsula, so as 
to make room for promoting the lower officers, and 
to avoid demoralizing the young Spaniards; (4) 
that the Indian and mestizo sergeants or corporals 
who, after fulfilling their twelve years of all service, 
have to be replaced by Spaniards, shall be given 
places in the custom-house or revenue service, or in 
the monopoly shops, so as to recompense them for 



1801.1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 1 87 

losing their posts.] In this manner the Indian sol- 
dier -who is docile, and always imitates the desires 
and opinions of his immediate superiors - will re- 
ceive more disinterested treatment than he has hith- 
erto had ; he will make common cause with his lead- 
ers, in critical cases of popular revolutions; and the 
army will remain loyal and incorrupt in its opinions, 
always ready for its duty, and united in action and 
interests. 

Of the enlargement of the army of the islands 

The colonies are governed and maintained more 
by opinion, justice and example than by force of 
arms. When opinion in them becomes corrupted up 
to the point of forming great conspiracies, the of- 
fensive action of the army produces no other effect 
than to hasten the ruin of the legitimate government. 
[In the Filipinas Islands, the persuasions and exam- 
ple of the ministers of religion, and the measures 
taken by the civil authorities, have been usually suf- 
ficient to put down an uprising; but it is not well to 
rely too much on military force in such cases, since 
such action causes rankling resentment and unites the 
discontented in the common effort to throw off the 
yoke. It is impossible, in such a climate, to employ 
only Spaniards in the army, since they cannot endure 
it, and the expense of such an army would also be too 
great a burden on the royal treasury.] The army of 
Filipinas, then, ought not to have a greater force 
than is sufficient to defend and maintain, in any 
event, a post or locality that is impregnable, which 
can serve as a protection and defense to the govern- 
ment, its interests and employees, and the families 
of Spanish blood. A center of strength, ordered and 



1 88 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

disciplined, of this sort (the locality of which I will 
mention later) , will be inaccessible not only to three 
millions of inhabitants who now people the islands, 
but to thirty millions who might inhabit them; and 
this idea alone in the mind of the Filipino Indian is 
the most efficacious for disconcerting, in its origin 
or progress, any plan for conspiring or taking by sur- 
prise. [In such a point of vantage, the government 
can use measures of policy,] which in revolutions are 
more effective than arms for reestablishing order, 
without leaving in the minds of the people, as war 
does, deep feelings of resentment at being repressed; 
and the partial revolutions in the provinces will be 
always broken - as thus far have been those of Ilocos, 
Cebu, Batan, and others -by the zeal and sagacity of 
the European religious and co5peration of the civil 
employees of the king. In such a crisis, the principle 
is, to disunite sagaciously the opinions and feelings of 
the people; and repression by force only unites them. 
[If the military forces, the forts, and the navy be 
augmented, the only results will be to demoralize the 
army, make unnecessary display of the government's 
power, teach the Indians the art of war (which as 
few of them as possible ought to know) , and impose 
unendurable burdens on the treasury. Plans of this 
sort ought to be postponed until the country can bear 
such burdens. The present permanent veteran force 
of the islands seems to Bernaldez sufficient for 
the above purpose;] it consists of four battalions 
of infantry, each containing approximately one 
thousand men; of a cavalry corps, recently in- 
creased to three squadrons; and a brigade of 
artillery, with a force of four hundred forty-four 
men, including a light-armed company. The fol- 



1801-1840I REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 1 89 

lowing may also be regarded as permanent troops: 
a company, called the Pampanga, annexed to the 
service of the engineer corps; and three brigades 
called the '^pirate marines" {^marina corsarid]^ who 
have been in service twenty years. [The system of 
rewards is costly and useless. The soldier receives 
enough pay to live comfortably, in a country where 
living is so cheap ; ^^ it is equivalent for an Indian, and 
even for a Spaniard, to three times the same amount 
in Europa." The rewards given to the soldiers 
ought to be reduced in such measure as the circum- 
stances of the colony demand, ^' taking for a basis the 
fact that with four hard dollars a month any inferior 
employee can maintain himself and all his family com- 
fortably in the provinces, and that all beyond that is 
extravagance." The Pampanga company has no or- 
ganization ; it ought to be placed on a military basis, 
with European officers, and ranked as a company of 
pioneers, when it would be very useful in the service. 
The militia troops of the islands have been neglected, 
although they are (especially the pirate marines) so 
important in checking the Moro pirates. The com- 
manders are '^ men of no force, arbitrarily chosen by 
the governor there, from the class of merchants and 
private citizens of Manila, who possess only honor- 
ary titles, without any military instruction or love for 
the military career. " The militia forces do not cost 
the government much, but they are of very little use. 
Bernaldez thinks that the pirate marines ought to be 
regarded as a part of the regular army, with the 
same pay, and with European officers. The cavalry 
corps of Luzon is untrained, and would be of little 
use in an invasion of the country ; it ought to be re- 
placed by light and irregular cavalry, and supple- 



ig^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

mented by a small body of veterans. Two squadrons 
in the corps of dragoons of Luzon would be suffi- 
cient to preserve order in Manila, and the third 
ought to be abolished as unnecessary.] 

Of the artillery and its dependent branches 

[The artillery corps is in better condition than any 
other part of the military force of the islands ; it is 
under better discipline, and has always been under 
European officers. The Indians are in great terror 
of the cannon. When in the tumult of (820 Fol- 
gueras ordered three pieces to be planted at various 
points outside the walls, the natives implored him to 
take the cannon away, as the inhabitants were so ter- 
rified that they did not dare to cross the streets ; and 
in the disturbances of 1809 ^^ Hocos, ^' only one four- 
libra cannon, fired by a revenue-clerk, the ball from 
which hit a church-tower, was sufficient to curb and 
disconcert more than 10,000 insurgents." To this 
corps might be added (but as footmen) the company 
which should be disbanded in the cavalry, since in so 
rough and broken a country as Luzon horsemen are 
of little use. The artillery in Manila is of wretched 
quality: almost all of it was cast there, at various pe- 
riods, and by unskilled founders ; not only the guns 
but their carriages are irregular, clumsy, unreliable, 
and are difficult to manage ; and for these very rea- 
sons the foundry there has been abolished, but since 
that time no cannon save a small siege battery has 
been sent thither from Europe. The artillery cast in 
Manila is sufficiently good to provide for the defense 
of the provinces against the Moros; but measures 
should be taken to provide for the better defense of 
that city. The working of iron and the making of 



\ 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS ^9' 

artillery are almost entirely in the hands of the Chi- 
nese of Manila/^' and the Indians therefore are un- 
skilled in this industry; some skilled masters should 
be sent over from Spain to teach them and oversee 
the manufacture of iron. The country abounds in 
rich mines of iron, but these have been barely 
scratched and then abandoned; only some common 
utensils are made there, and other iron articles are 
sold to the people at high prices by foreigners, who 
carry great sums of money out of the country. " The 
iron of Manila has been examined in the artillery 
workshops, and has been found to be very soft and 
fibrous. " Attempts have been made by the Spanish 
government to utilize the mines and introduce ma- 
chinery into their operation; but the officials entrust- 
ed with these enterprises have been ineffective, caring 
only to draw their salaries. Bernaldez urges the en- 
couragement of private capital to undertake these 
works, with concessions, privilege^, and protection 
which shall be adequate to enlist their energies; this 
would lead to the development of the natural riches 
of the islands, the population would be increased by 
skilled artisans and mechanics, and the great increase 
thus obtained in wealth of the country would like- 

^^' In die Archivo general de Indias at Sevilla is a MS. map, 
drawn (June 20, 1773) by die govemment engineer at Manila, 
Miguel A. Gomez, showing "portion of the site on the river of 
Tanay, indicating the plan of the iron-works for casting anchors 
and artillery, and the shop for casting the small iron articles 
which are called in the Philippine archipelago cauas-whidi 
are equivalent to ketdes, boilers, and frying-pans, and which the 
Chinese or Sangleys manufacture with so great skill and dex- 
terity." Gomez estimated that this establishment would cost " at 
least 175,000 pesos, without reckoning die cost of the dwelling- 
houses" for oflBdals, artisans, and laborers. 



19^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

wise bring incalculable benefits to the royal treasury 
-not only in revenues from the increased commerce 
and manufactures, but in the great saving in the ex- 
penses of furnishing the army with weapons, made 
in the country at so much less cost than before. In 
the arsenal reform is needed ; all its workmen except 
the gunsmiths should be replaced gradually by In- 
dians, who are so skilful and work for less wages 
than the Spaniards; and the gunsmiths should have 
a regular military organization. Better provision 
should also be made for a supply of gunpowder. At 
the beginning of the century, a powder factory was 
erected, which cost eighty thousand hard dollars, al- 
though it was made of only bamboo and nipa; with 
this a large supply of powder was made, but its qual- 
ity was poor, on account of the impurities in the salt- 
petre, which they had to obtain from India. There has 
been talk of building another factory (the former 
one being apparently no longer in existence) ; it is 
likely to be as costly an enterprise, because the lack 
of a strong current in the rivers ^^ has rendered im- 
practicable the installation of hydraulic machinery." 
The Spanish government ought to take measures to 
provide the large amount of powder needed for the 
use of the forts, army, navy, and revenue service. 
Beraaldez advises that this be done by making con- 
tracts (with either Spaniards or foreigners), by 
which they can secure powder of better quality and 
at lower prices; and besides this they ought to send 
immediately to the islands a scientist (whose salary 
ought to be paid from the funds of the Economic 
Society and the consulate of commerce) -"whose 
mission shall be not only to establish in the capital a 
chair of mineralogy (which is so necessary for ex- 



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1801-1840I REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 1 95 

ploring the hitherto unknown interior of the islands), 
but himself to make researches in the provinces of 
the archipelago for places where the saltpetre can be 
found - which he will find, without fail." Then gun- 
powder can be made in the islands, and they will be 
independent in the means for their defense.] 

Of the forts of Manila and Cavite 

No location like that of Manila could have been 
selected by the conquistadors of the island of Luzon 
for fortifying themselves and founding the capital of 
an infant colony. [Its position is described, with 
mention of its eariier fortifications; but these were 
only suitable for the defense of its inhabitants against 
piratical attacks. Its present condition is a danger- 
ous one, for its fortifications are unable to withstand 
a siege by European troops; it has no bomb-proof 
magazine, and hostile batteries across the Pasig 
River could easily reduce the city to ashes. Manila 
is not suitable for a military center, and the efforts 
of the government ought to be bent toward the forti- 
fication of Cavite, which would render that place a 
first-class fortress ; its advantages for this are enumer- 
ated in detail, and the measures which should be 
taken to render it impregnable.] The feeble fortifi- 
cations of Manila and its citadel may be preserved 
for the present, in order to shelter the government 
and the property of the Spaniards from a sedition; 
but in case of war and the landing of an enemy let 
them be abandoned and destroyed, in order to pro- 
ceed for safety to the impregnable point of Cavite. 
In this manner will be laid the foundation for the 
perpetual security of the [Spanish] government in 
those islands, and for their preservation against all 
enemies, whether within or without 



196 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

Of the piracies of the Moros 

Longer tolerance of the piratical raids by the 
Moros is another cause which in time must com- 
promise our secure possession of the islands, through 
the plundering of their maritime villages and the 
captivity of their inhabitants, and the stoppage of 
the commerce and the coasting trade. Much more 
is this true because some ports of the islands, which 
are in the possession of those pirates, are already fre- 
quented by foreign vessels, which provide the pirates 
with military supplies and firearms; and it is to be 
feared that later the foreigners will furnish them 
with plans, vessels, leaders, and other aids, like those 
which they have furnished to the disaffected peoples 
in the Americas, to wage steady war on the Spanish 
government. [The Spanish colony has carried on 
defensive warfare with the Moros ever since the con- 
quest, but has gained no permanent advantage 
therein, while the enemy have increased in numbers 
and strength, inflicting ravages on the southern prov- 
inces that are ^' continually greater and more scandal- 
ous." The Spaniards have spent enormous sums in 
forts, vessels, and other defenses; but with little effect, 
on account of the immense extent of the coasts of 
Filipinas and the great number of uninhabited places 
where the pirates can hide themselves from pursuit] 
Their vessels, called pancos, are of extraordinary 
swiftness. The Moros make these of planks lashed 
together with rattans, without nails or any [other] 
ligature. Their masts are three bamboos, their rig- 
ging a few pieces of rattan or the bark of trees, their 
sails are certain ^^to/^i, or mats, which they call sagu- 
ran; and their provisions are reduced to the flour 
made from a tree, called yoro [1.^., sago] and dried 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 197 

shellfish. Nearly all their pancos have two banks of 
oars, and two men for each oar. And with this slight 
though warlike equipment, with their harpoons, 
javelins, campilans, and arrows (in handling which 
weapons they are very dextrous), and with their 
swarming crews -composed of their slaves, who row 
under the lash ; and of a multitude of pirates, who 
thus make their living, and traffic in their booty- 
they attack, among many, with the odds on their side, 
surround, and jump aboard, any Christian vessel 
which cannot defend itself on account of a small crew 
or the inaccurate firing of its cannon. [If they are 
caught in some bay by the Spanish who pursue them, 
I they abandon their pancos, hide in the mountains, 
where they find enough to live on, and, as soon as 
the Spaniards depart, the pirates easily construct 
new boats and resume their raids. The pirate marine 
with the forts, troops, and cannon supported by the 
Spaniards make a heavy burden of expense on the 
treasury and on the people; and the amount thus 
spent in half a dozen years is enough to equip a strong 
naval expedition which could humble the insolence 
of the pirates. In view of this, and of the importance 
of J0I6- which is the headquarters of the Moro pi- 
rates and of their government, and the general mar- 
ket for the Christian slaves and property which they 
carry away-Bernaldez advocates the immediate 
conquest of that island, and its repopulation from the 
more thickly settled parts of the northern islands. 
This can easily be done. Thousands of families 
whose members have been enslaved, especially in 
Bohol, are ready to join such an expedition, if lead- 
ers and provisions are supplied to them; and there 
are a multitude of skilled inter-island pilots -mesti- 



198 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

zos who are efficient and rich -who would act as 
leaders for the sake of their own profit and reward 
in such an enterprise. For ships they could use the 
government armed vessels^ and the multitude of boats 
which ply among the islands ; and sufficient rewards 
could be furnished to the soldiers in the distribution 
of the conquered lands and of the plunder which 
they would obtain. By this plan, the Moro piracies 
could be suppressed, and the islands thus gain peace 
from those fierce enemies.] 

Of the large Indian villages 

Although the laws of the Indias endeavor to es- 
tablish firmly the peace and good government, both 
temporal and spiritual, of the villages by placing 
limits to their extent and the number of their resi- 
dents, the inattention of the governors of Filipinas in 
regard to this so important subject, on the one hand, 
and on the other the interested motives of the parish 
curas and the ministers of the doctrinas, have given 
rise to the abuse of the villages of excessive size 
which are now found established in Filipinas. These, 
as they cannot be properly governed by their respec- 
tive local authorities, maintain within themselves a 
source of internal civil discord, and from time to 
time they have broken out in disturbances which have 
placed the islands in a very critical situation. 

If the reports of their population be examined, it 
will be found that in a great number of villages it 
does not fall below 10,000, 11,000, or 12,000 souls; 
and it is impossible that so many can be well directed 
spiritually by the one parish cura alone which each 
village has, or in secular matters by only one gober- 
nadorcillo or alcalde. In this class of towns the most 



1801-1840I REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 199 

notable are the following : Tondo, with 1 3424 souls ; 
BinondoCy 22,570; Tambobo, 21,378; Pasig, 14,465; 
Malolos, 19,655; Vigan, 17,320; Pavay, 14,840; 
Lavag [Laoag], 25,242; Bacarra, 13,064; Balayan, 
18,631; Taal, 23,526; Banan, 17,438; Batangas, 19,- 
566; Cabatuan, 17,359; Xaro, 14,911. In these popu- 
lations which do not conform to the rule there has al- 
ways been recognized more or less instability, for 
the class of the plebeians, or caylianesj is immense, 
and out of proportion to that of the timauas, or 
nobles ; and likewise because the unarmed authority 
of a goberaadorcillo must necessarily be vacillating, 
at the mercy of that great mass of people, who are 
easily set in motion by a seditious person, a few 
drunkards, or the superstitious tale of some old man. 

The successive revolts of various towns in the 
province of Ilocos in the years 1810, 1812, and 1816 
had no other source. The cause of this last uprising 
was decided by me, in my official character as fiscal 
of the royal Audiencia of Manila. In my reply I 
explained the origin of those repeated insurrections, 
analyzed the degree of perverseness which progres- 
sively in each of them had been revealed in the pur- 
pose of the conspirators, and deduced the necessity 
of dividing the province of Ilocos into two, to the 
end that its large towns should each have a ruler 
closer at hand who might keep them in check. The 
Audiencia made a report, with my opinion as fiscal 
thereon to the king our sovereign; and, his Majesty 
having deigned to command that immediately the 
said province should be divided into two, it has been 
maintained on that footing, up to the present time, in 
the greatest order and tranquillity. 

[Even more surprising is the neglect of the gov- 



200 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [V<d. 5' 

ernors to enforce the law that no houses shall be 
erected close to the castles and fortresses.] Within 
cannon-shot of the walls of Manila^ and even no far- 
ther away than the breadth of the river, one hundred 
thousand souls -Indians, mestizos, and Chinese - 
have been allowed to establish themselves ; a people 
of foreign origin, in great part, without passports, 
classification, settled occupation, or any other req- 
uisite of a well-ordered social condition, and whose 
formidable number is threatening Manila with an 
inevitable blow. The sudden movements of that 
great mob of people, ignorant and swayed by blind 
passion, reached the point of approaching close to 
the defenses of the city, in the year of 1820, even be- 
fore this was known to the government and the mili- 
tary council (which for this object had been called 
together, and of which I was a member) -notwith- 
standing that the object of their revenge was in the 
outer suburbs, and that their aim was not, at least 
for the time, directed against the city. [These facts 
ought to make the authorities of the colony realize 
that no other considerations ought to interfere with 
their prime obligation, which is to preserve peace 
and order in the towns and maintain the military 
posts in security. Beraaldez recommends that new 
regulations be formed regarding the settlements of 
the islands ; that no town be allowed to contain over 
five thousand souls and one thousand houses (except 
the capitals of the provinces, which might have ten 
thousand souls and two thousand houses) ; that the 
large towns be divided into villages on the above 
basis, which should be kept separate from one an- 
other; and that in the suburbs of Manila there should 
be more rigorous police control of the people. The 



18011840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 20I 

Indians there should be classified by occupations, to 
each being appointed a chief or leader who should be 
responsible for the conduct of those in his class ; the 
use of all dangerous weapons should be forbidden; 
passports should be required for all persons coming 
from the provinces; and vigilant watch should be 
kept over the occupa^ons and mode of life of every 
family.] 

Of the titles to landed property belonging to the 

Indians and the villages 

The lack of clear and exact lav^ for properly 
authenticating the documents regarding the owner- 
ship of the lands of the Indians, and the uncertain 
and unlimited possession which the villages have of 
lands under the pretext of their being communal, 
have been and always will be in Filipinas the origin 
of a multitude of ruinous lawsuits and contentions- 
sometimes those of Indians and villages among them- 
selves, sometimes between these and the Spanish and 
mestizo proprietors. The Indians, as a rule, have no 
title of ownership in the lands which they possess, and 
if any one has such it is a private document, signed 
by other Indians -who with the greatest readiness 
deny, change, and forge their signatures- or it will 
be simply a writing signed by the alcalde-mayor, a 
copy of which, if it remains in the court, will dis- 
appear or be mutilated, with equal readiness, by the 
Indian clerks of the alcalde, in whose charge the 
archives are -if indeed these are not entirely de- 
stroyed in the frequent fires which occur in the vil- 
lages. The most common method which the Indians 
of the villages have for proving their territorial 
property is by tradition, and the depositions of wit- 



202 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

nesses; and with that powerful weapon they under* 
take and maintain the most contentious lawsuits, 
aided by the fiscals of the Audiencia - who often for- 
get that their office of defenders of the Indians is 
bona fidej and for the sake and protection of the na- 
tives in the tribunals to which the laws commend 
them. But any person who may have exercised the 
duties of magistrate for any time in Filipinas will 
know that in the decisions of judges there is nothing 
more discredited than the evidence presented by In- 
dian and mestizo witnesses, who are not restrained 
from perjury by either an intimate acquaintance with 
the obligations of religion or by sentiments of con- 
science, honor, and reputation. It is very conunon \ 
to see, in court cases, that witnesses of that sort will 
swear, and then contradict their own testimony, ac- 
cording as the witnesses [are affected by] either their 
own interests or the influence of the litigant who pre- 
sents them. 

These causes, besides rendering the lawsuits of this 
kind eternal, have very frequently produced scandal- 
ous disobedience of the villagers to the enactments 
of the Audiencia of the islands, and uprisings of 
armed men in order to prevent effectually even the 
judicial possession of the crown lands which had 
been sold, with all the formalities of the laws, by the 
government there; and, finally, they withhold the 
Spanish families and persons of wealth from pur- 
chasing rural establishments in order to undertake 
on a large scale the cultivation of the products of 
the country, which is perhaps the only means of pro- 
moting the agriculture of the islands. 

It is therefore expedient, in order to cut short 
these noisy controversies, which have so mischievous 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 203 

consequences for die internal peace of the communi- 
ties in the islands, that his Majesty be pleased to 
command that the government there shall oblige all 
the villages and private land-owners in them to have 
authenticated before the respective alcaldes-mayor of 
the provinces the documents for their ownership, 
both private and communal. Strict obligation should 
be imposed on them to surround their lands with 
trtts- achiote^^^ mulberry, cotton, cinnamon, cacao 
- under penalty of losing their title to the land. The 
documents should be registered in the tribunals of 
the respective alcaldes, who at the end of every year 
should send to the capital the original books of rec- 
ord, in order that these may be kept there securely 
in the archives, for which provision shall be made 
by the government, not admitting in the courts or 
declaring lawful any other titles of ownership to 
lands than those which are supported by those neces- 
sary conditions. 

Of the ecclesiastical orders which are conferred on 

Indians and mestizos 

The irregular procedure of the reverend arch- 
bishops and bishops of the islands in conferring 
ecclesiastical orders on the Indians and mestizos 
there, will be in that colony, as it has already been 
in America, one of the causes which most incite revo* 
lutions. The Indians receive through the priesthood 
a standing which they cannot worthily sustain, be- 
cause they never lay aside the afifections, passions, and 
\ usages of Indians. Educated by die religious, they 

'^'The native luune for the annotto {Bixa oreHana)^ the 
seeds of which produce a ytSlaw substance used for coloring 
cheese, butter, etc 



204 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

afterward come to be their decided enemies; they 
divide with the religious the opinions of the vil- 
lagers, who finally, even though they know the de- 
ficient morals of the native priests, always respect 
the sacred functions which these exercise. The least 
political evil which the latter occasion is [through]^ 
their neglect of their obligations as parish priests, the 
irregularity of their mode of life, and their careless- 
ness in everything pertaining to divine worship. The 
inhabitants of the villages administered by Indian 
curas are very different from those of the religious 
from Europa, whose people are distinguished by 
their simplicity, docility, and religious training. He 
who knows the active and leading part played by 
this class of persons in accomplishing the independ- 
ence of America will not be surprised that in the es- 
tablishment of the constitution in Filipinas Indian 
curas have almost all been the directors of the elec- 
tions in their villages, the electors, and the deputies 
in Cortes and for the province- in all these functions 
distinguishing themselves by their officiousness, and 
their pretensions against the legitimate government 
of the islands. 

This class of persons, dominating the consciences 
of the ignorant and unfortunate, can easily drag them 
into error. As simple farmers and artisans, they 
would have been useful to their families and to the 
government; but mistakenly raised to the dignity of 
priests, other interests now move them, and they form 
a commonwealth apart in the safe retreat of the prov- 
inces. A consideration of justice wrongly under- 
stood by the prelates of the islands, and a vehement 
desire in the Indian or mestizo heads of families to 
ennoble these by placing their sons in the priesthood, 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 205 

have caused there an excessive ordination of Indians 
- which I cannot avoid characterizing as such, since, 
besides the many clerics who are actually administer- 
ing villages, there is a considerable surplus of others 
who are scattered through the provinces. These 
evils were foreseen in the laws of the Indias (ley iv, 
tit vii, lib. i), which cautions and exhorts the rev- 
erend prelates of the Indias not to ordain so many 
clerics as they were doing ; but this has not sufficed, 
and it is necessary that the government, recognizing 
the unfortunate experience that it has already had 
with this abuse, should take the most efficacious meas- 
ures for the purpose of limiting the authority of the 
prelates in Filipinas, in conferring ecclesiastical 
orders on Indians and mestizos, strictly to the num- 
ber of clerics which the religious orders of those 
islands agree upon and propose as necessary to have 
for their coadjutors, and for Indian villages not now 
occupied, or which in the future the religious shall 
fail to occupy -ordering the governor of Filipinas to 
secure, by mild and discreet means, that the vacant 
curacies of clerics be conferred on European re- 
ligious. 

Of the European religious in Filipinas 

The lack of European religious in the Filipinas 
Islands for filling at least four-fifths of their curacies 
is incompatible with the permanent preservation of 
that colony. It can be safely asserted that the gov- 
ernment of his Majesty has in this class of ministers 
the most powerful force for maintaining that pos- 
session in attachment to his sovereignty. Their virtu- 
ous and unworldly mode of life ; their absolute dis- 
interestedness in regard to temporal matters, which 



2o6 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

is a marvelous contrast to die greed and ambition of 
the European trader, the mestizo, and the Chinese ; 
their extraordinary sacrifices in living apart from the 
society of their equals for nineteen, twenty, and 
[even] thirty years in diose almost uninhabited is- 
lands, which are unprovided with the sort of nourish- 
ment suitable to their estate; dieir discretion and 
patience in correcting and teaching the Indians; 
their resignation in all kinds of adversity: every- 
thing, in short, contributes to make the inhabitants of 
that land regard them as supernatural beings, and in 

y the light of this conception die fadiers exercise over 
the Indians a moral force more powerful than even 
that of the government. The Indians live in entire 
moral separation from the Spaniards ; they have their 
own laws of tradition, their own opinions and cus- 
toms, entirely unknown to any one who is ignorant 
of their language or has not continual intercourse 
with them. The European religious are the only 
persons in the confidence of the government who by 
favor of these circumstances, and with a practical 
and intimate knowledge of the nature and inclina- 
tions of the natives there, can find a way into their 
hearts, incline their wills to what is right, enlighten 
them, and keep them peaceful and submissive; and 
without this larger armies would be of no avail. 

1^ [The religious are the only persons who under- 
stand the condition of their respective villages, and 
the alcaldes-mayor are usually indolent and ineffi- 
cient, relying on native interpreters, and caring litde 
for aught save their own profit; they depend on the 
religious in all cases of difficulty, and the higher 
authorities are jealous of this superiority of the re- 
ligious. The government ought to maintain as many 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS ^07 

religious as possible in the islands, and give them as 
much political authority as is consistent with their 
ministry ; five hundred of them should be sent there, 
and the alcaldes-mayor should be obliged to consult 
every month with their respective curas on the best 
means of promoting the interests of the people, and 
the central government can then act on reports of 
these conferences.]. 

On the settlement of banished and vagabond 

foreigners in the islands 

[The entrance of these persons causes trouble 
among the people of the islands: the Indians are 
easily influenced by white men, especially diose who 
teach them to live in more freedom and insubordina- 
tion to authority; foreigners of this sort are almost 
always of lax morals and dangerous political opin- 
ions, which are even more dangerous to ^^ the Span- 
iards of the country, who, although more enlightened 
than the Indians, are more susceptible to such cor- 
ruption." The foreigner thus residing in the islands, 
^'usually from the dregs of other nations," makes 
light of all the institutions there, and tries to set the 
people against the mother country; and three times 
recently has occurred] the scandal, unheard-of in 
that colony, of foreigners who, abusing the innocence 
of the country, have, being already married in their 
own country, again married Philippine Spanish 
girls, leaving them abandoned and dishonored. 
Others, who feigned to be learned physicians and 
agriculturists, have deceived and defrauded proprie- 
tors in the islands. Others have clandestinely intro- 
duced impious, revolutionary, and obscene books 
printed in the Spanish language, but pirated in 



i> 



2o8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

France, with which they have caused atrocious injury 
in the morals of families there. In fine, the settle- 
ment of foreigners in the islands would not be ex- 
pedient, even for the sake of the advantages which 
their industry and arts would produce there; for 
works carried on always with foreign capital, on the 
account of foreigners, and by the agency of foreign- 
ers, would leave to the country very little benefit as 
compared to that from labor employed there by 
Spanish capital, and on the account and for the bene- 
fit of Spaniards. If we desire to preserve intact in 
Filipinas the religious ideas and the pure morals of 
our ancestors, and due submission to the government 
of his Majesty, it is necessary to keep the people 
away from every point of contact with foreigners. In 
China, Japan, and other nations, the revolutionary 
spirit has not been able to penetrate, because the 
laws of those kingdoms keep the gates closed to all 
strangers. In a colony still in its infancy in customs 
and enlightenment -which, like a school of educa- 
tion, needs to have for models men of sound morals- 
it has been very absurd to allow to remain and become 
citizens therein men who have served a term of exile, 
and polisones^*^ or vagabonds, sometimes followed 
by officers of justice from the Peninsula; and that 
the Indian people should see (as so many times I 
have seen) that this sort of men succeeded in obtain- 
ing positions as corporals, revenue officials, and even 
militia captains, solely from the circumstance of their 
being white men. It is necessary always to remove 
from the colonies this sort of people, who on account 
of their principles and their inclinations must be 

^^Polizon: "a person who embarks by stealth and without 
a passport, in the ships which sail to America." (Dominguez.) 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS ^Op 

enemies of order and of government, permitting 
therein the settlement only of respectable Spanish 
artisans and merchants, whose upright conduct may 
serve as an example to that neophyte people, while 
at the same time they make fortunes for themselves. 
But even this point needs careful study, and in regard 
to it I will present the follo\<ring reflections. 

Of the residence of European Spaniards in 

Filipinos 

By a necessary and inevitable effect of certain 
causes, physical and moral, which would take too 
long to explain here, the Spanish race in the colonies 
-or the descendants of Europeans, and mestizos of 
these, born and reared there -have from their birth 
political sentiments which are entirely opposite to 
those of their ancestors and other Europeans. They 
regard the Indian as an entirely passive being, the 
European as a foreigner, and the land as exclusively 
their own. The educational institutions which thus 
far have been founded in the colonies, with the object 
of uniting their inhabitants, by means of enlightening 
them, under the same principles of religion, morals, 
and politics, have not been able to uproot those ideas ; 
on the other hand, recent events in the Americas have 
proved that the men who had most education and 
acquaintance with the sciences were the party leaders 
[^corifeos\ of revolution and independence. It ought 
to be regarded as an incontestable truth that as soon 
as the Spanish race in Filipinas reaches a greater 
number than that of the Europeans, and with this in- 
crease acquires a certain degree of moral force, a war 
for independence will be declared ; and according to 
this idea the educational institutions, when there is 



2IO THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

not sincerity in the minds of the persons and in the 
laws that aim at encouraging this class of population 
in the colonies, have a tendency hostile to the preser- 
vation of the royal government in thentL This class 
of Spanish families is, for another reason, very un- 
fortunate in Filipinas, and may be regarded as con- 
demned to perpetual slothfulnes and misery. They 
cannot devote themselves to agriculture, because in 
that burning climate only the Indian resists labor so 
hard; nor to handicrafts, because the wages which 
the Indian and the Sangley mestizo alike earn, 
which is sufficient to meet their simple needs, is in- 
sufficient to pay for another sort of food and cloth- 
ing for the Spaniards. For these same reasons, they 
cannot occupy themselves in the coasting trade ; nor, 
finally, in the commerce of the islands on a large 
scale, for lack of sufficient capital, since by inheri- 
tance is divided among all the sons the wealth which 
their European parents left to them ; and the practice 
of law is there a career to which resort is very un- 
fortunate. All these causes, added to the lassitude 
which the climate inspires, maintain that class of peo- 
ple in such a condition of idleness and poverty, es- 
pecially the women, that it has been necessary to 
establish in the capital alone six seminaries and 
beaterios in which to shelter and educate Spanish 
girls ; and that in the ordinance regarding the Aca- 
pulco galleon his Majesty should grant to the Span- 
ish widows of merchants the special favor of a 
pension or widow's usufruct on the boletas of that 
vessel, their only means of making a living. 

[Bemaldez declares that these European Span- 
iards, ^^ there abandoned, as it were, to the mercy of 
charity, or to vices," are not only useless but danger- 



i8oi-ia4ol REFORMS IN FILIPINAS « 1 1 

ous to the country ; that among them revolutions are 
bom ; that it is for the best interests of Espafta to re- 
tain her population at home, and, while furnishing 
means for Spaniards to enrich themselves in the col- 
onies or their trade, to attract to the mother country 
all possible wealth and capital, not allowing her chil- 
dren to remain abroad after acquiring wealth ; and, 
finally, ^^ to remove from the colonies all cause of in- 
surrection, than which there is none greater and 
more terrible than the propagation [therein] of the 
Spanish race." Moreover, the Europeans settled in 
the colonies ^^ have too much influence, through their 
exclusive wealth and connections, for weakening gov- 
ernmental action there; and care nothing for any 
political changes except as they can find therein op- 
portunity for speculations" (on which he instances 
the action of European Spaniards in Mexico in Itur- 
hide's short reign, and in other events of the revolu- 
tion there) • '^ The Filipinas Islands need, to main- 
tain them in tranquillity, nothing more than a 
stable system of administration, civil and spiritual, 
by means of religious, and an army trained and com- 
manded by competent European leaders, officers, 
sergeants, and corporals, with the necessary number 
of civil officials." The Creole inhabitants should be 
diminished as much as possible, all Spaniards being 
required to return with their families to their own 
country; and ^^aid given to destitute widows and 
orphans of Spaniards who die in Filipinas would be 
better employed in paying for their removal to 
Europa." This matter should be considered in the 
residencia of every governor. Convicts and exiles 
should no longer be sent to the islands. No foreigner 
should be allowed to marry there except on condition 



V, 



2 1 2 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

of leaving the country with his wife. No European 
adventurer or idler should be allowed to remain in 
the islands unless he proffer sufficient security for his 
good conduct and occupation; he may then remain 
not longer than ten years; otherwise, he should be 
at once sent back whence he came. Every ship should 
carry back to Espafia as many Spaniards as it brought 
to the islands; and European Spaniards should not 
be allowed to remain in Filipinas more than ten 
years, after which they should be compelled to return 
with their families to Espafia.] 

Of the residencias 

[It is highly desirable that public officials should 
undergo strict residencia, and that regulations be 
made for these, which are adapted to the special 
needs of Filipinas. This is especially true of the al- 
caldes-mayor, who, as they have permission to trade, 
are more tempted to evade or infringe the laws ; and 
many persons are appointed to that office who ^^ lack 
all the qualifications necessary for obtaining any pub- 
lic office whatever." Unfortunately, since the royal 
decree of August 24, 1799, no alcalde has been or can 
be subject to residencia, and they consequently enjoy 
absolute impunity in their transgressions; for that 
decree does not allow a sufficient time for complaints 
to be made in a country like Filipinas, where inter- 
course between the provinces and the capital is so 
uncertain, interrupted, and difficult, on account of 
the vicissitudes of weather and climate, the lack of 
roads and postal facilities, and the great distance of 
many provinces from Manila. "This inpunity has 
most serious results, very detrimental to the peace 
and quiet of the islands ; for such has been the class 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 21 3 

of persons whom necessity has compelled to appoint 
as alcaldes-mayor that not only have they used their 
authority to possess themselves of the property of the 
Indians - seizing the boats of traders, which injured 
the natives in their traffic -and defrauded the Indians 
with unjust exactions ; but they have humiliated the 
religious, stolen moneys from the king, outraged 
young girls, burned houses, and, in short, have 
thrown the provinces into a condition of efferves- 
cence and of conspiracy against the government 
which sent to the natives such a ruler." Bemaldez 
urges the government to take such measures that the 
residencia of the alcaldes may be made effective and 
just]. 

Of the selection of all classes of employees for the 

Filipinos Islands 

[On this point, the writer urges greater care and 
more sense of responsibility. All government offi- 
cials, of every grade, should be of good morals, old 
enough to have stability of character, sufficiently 
competent and experienced to understand their du- 
ties, and such as will set a good example to the na- 
tives.]. The imprudence of one man alone has often 
been sufficient to incite a sedition in the minds of vari- 
ous parties or castes in those islands ; and in any case 
it is very dangerous to entrust positions of command 
to persons who are not endowed with well-proved 
ability and discretion. I cannot attribute the laxity 
which in recent times is evident in all branches of the 
administration and government of those islands to 
any other cause than the injudicious selection of 
many of their employees. The military corps, whose 
former captains and subalterns had been mainly ser- 



214 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. s» 

geants sent from the Peninsula, were kept in the best 
order and discipline until, in the year '23, those offi- 
cers were added to them who accompanied General 
Martinez - of some of whom, according to the docu- 
ments which were executed for my court, their 
appointment to the Indias, with their scandalous 
conduct, looks like a proof that in Espafta there 
was neither religion, morality, nor subordination. 
[Beraaldez urges that certain qualifications be re- 
quired for office in Filipinas; the governors should 
be members of learned bodies, and excel in discretion 
and ability, and in the art of governing, and of pro- 
moting the welfare of a country, rather than in the 
military art. The intendants should be ^^ enlightened 
economists, capable of creating and promoting the 
great wealth of which that virgin country is cap- 
able." The officials of the Audiencia should be at 
least thirty-five years old, with ten years of service, 
and experienced in legal practice; and other em- 
ployees should be trustworthy, experienced, and not 
mere youths. ^' The Filipinas Islands, like every col- 
ony, are the country of the corruption of youth, and 
where it is necessary to work widi men whose char- 
' acters are already formed."] 

Of the use of weapons in Filipinas 

[The writer protests against the carelessness which, 
contrary to the laws of the Indias, has allowed the 
natives to possess and carry weapons - even including 
campilans and sabers, pistols and guns. These arms 
have, through culpable negligence of the government 
officials, been imported in the foreign ships and sold 
publicly; and, possessing them, the natives are a con- 
stant source of danger to the whites. He recommends 



18011840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 2 1 5 

that the governor of Filipinas be commanded to dis- 
arai the natives, using mild and politic methods, and 
allow them no implements or tools save those re- 
quired in their labor ; to stop the importation of arms 
into the islands; to compel all coasting vessels to 
deposit with the authorities, during their stay in the 
harbor, the arms which they carry for defense 
against the pirates ; to see that no weapons be allowed 
in the villages save those needed by the local guards ; 
and to stop all clandestine manufacture and sale of 
gunpowder.] 

Of the despatch of assistance to the 
Filipinas Islands 

[This section is devoted to the evils resulting from 
the remoteness of the islands, and the neglect of pro- 
viding them with facilities for communication with 
Espafia ; it is necessary, if the government desires to 
keep the islands, to remedy this deficiency at once, 
for their material prosperity, the administration of 
justice, their safety from enemies, their loyalty to the 
crown - all are at great risk under present conditions. 
''The establishment of postal service in vessels of 
the royal armada would be a most burdensome ex- 
pense to the treasury of Espafia and to that of Fili- 
pinas. Unfortunately, previous to the royal decree 
of 1820 in regard to die commerce of Filipinas, in 
the long period of forty years only twenty trading 
ships have gone to those islands, leaving them with- 
out assistance or communication during the long 
space of three, four, five, or [even] seven years.'' 
However, this can be remedied, and without expense, 
by suitable measures for the promotion of commerce 
between the islands and Espafia, ''an attempt at 



2 1 6 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [V<J. 51 

which has been made in these last six years, during 
which time more expeditions direct to Filipinas have 
been effected than in the preceding for^ years -that 
is, sixteen from Cadiz, three from Santander, 
Corufia, and San Sebastian, and five whose return is 
now expected." ] 

OF THE CAUSES WHICH OPERATE IN THE BACKWARD 

CONDITION OF THE ADMINISTRATION, BOTH 

CIVIL AND ECONOMIC, OF THE 

FILIPINAS ISLANDS; AND 

THEIR CORRECTIVE 

[0/ the failure of governors and intendants to 

make reports] 

[Exact and circumstantial information is, of 
course, necessary for the guidance of the home gov- 
ernment in all measures relating to the resources, 
needs, development, and administration of the is- 
lands, and annual reports on all these matters are de- 
manded from governors and intendants by the laws of 
the Indias. Essential as this requirement is, it has 
always been neglected.] What those officials some- 
times write, when questioned about these matters, are 
but generalities; their reports and information are 
reduced to how much has been produced and how 
much spent, in the resume of the royal exchequer 
^accounts. Thus it is not known with what necessity 
and justice certain extraordinary expenses have been 
incurred, what number of employees the king has in 
that colony, what causes have occasioned the increase 
or decrease in the product of the revenues, and, 
finally, how the means and resources of the people 
who contribute to the royal income can be augmented 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 217 

SO that the latter can likewise be increased, all which 
the government ought to know. [It is true that the 
governors are laden with multifarious routine duties, 
which often prevent them from attending to these 
important matters, and from examining conditions 
personally, for which they have to depend upon the 
reports of their subordinates; and these are apt to be 
actuated by self-interest and they do not like reforms, 
so their statements are not very reliable. The reports 
made by the municipalities, commercial consulate, 
and other bodies are of the same sort, as being always 
from the standpoint of their corporation; and neither 
authorities nor corporations have the same stimulus 
to thoroughness, accuracy, and energy as has the pri- 
vate person who undertakes an enterprise. It is 
through the latter class that great projects and ad- 
vances are made; but such persons hesitate to pre- 
sent plans for these to the authorities there, because 
the authorities do not examine them personally, ^^ but 
by means of a contentious, voluminous, and annoying 
expediente^^ and likewise have no authority to adopt 
these plans until they are referred to Madrid - where, 
too, they are not encouraged to bring such projects 
before the royal government, and these, moreover, 
would have to be sent to Manila first (apparently to 
contend there with the aforesaid expediente) . Ber- 
naldez continues:]^ In order, then, to awaken this 
interest of enterprising private persons in the agri- 
culture, manufactures, and commerce of Filipinas, it 
is necessary to have there a body expressly devoted 
to this object, and authorized to adopt provisionally 
any plan for improvement and progress which may 
be proposed to it and examined by it with the aid of 
its special knowledge of the country; and this body 



2 1 8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

ought to be the superior council of the royal ex- 
chequer of the islands. • . . This council, as 
such, has very little occupation ; its ministers, like all 
who are employed in Filipinas, attend to their offi- 
cial duties only in the forenoons, remaining free dur- 
ing all the afternoons and evenings for employment 
in a service of so great importance as this. 

I am, then, of opinion that his Majesty should 
deign to establish the following : That the superior 
council of the royal exchequer in Filipinas constitute 
a similar council for the improvement and prosperity 
of the country, with the object of stimulating in every 
way the Indians to work, and capitalists to undertake 
enterprises. That its members hold weekly meetings 
for this purpose, at such hours as the president shall 
designate. That it also call in the proprietors of 
lands, agriculturists, manufacturers, and merchants 
of the country, listen to their views, and encourage 
them to propose reforms and plans for promoting 
the useful arts. That it be authorized to decide upon 
the execution of projects, provisionally, until the ap- 
probation of his Majesty is secured, in all matters 
which do not occasion loss to the country or injure 
the interests of the treasury. That it can draw upon 
the treasury of the community for a moderate amount 
of necessary expenses for the encouragement and re- 
ward of enterprises, for anything which can bring a 
positive and general benefit to the Indians and the 
government 

Of the royal court 

[Our writer notes the requirement of the laws of 
the Indias that the governors and audiencias should 
consult and act together in matters of government. 



x8ox.x84o] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS * 1 9 

and the excellent results of this procedure.^^*] But 
unfortunately such has not been the case in the recent 
governments of Filipinas. The governor-presidents 
have entirely separated themselves from their au- 
diencias, and have governed alone - sometimes in mil- 
itary fashion, not heeding the opinions and customs 
of the country, but depending on force of arms ; and 
sometimes only by the advice of the lawyer who as- 
sists the governor, who has the title of government 
counselor lasesor]y and who, although he ought to 
limit himself to giving opinion on points and cases 
regarding statutes, is counselor in all the arduous 
matters of administration. From this it has resulted 
that the fate of the colonies may be left in the hands 
of this class of counselors, and that their subordinates 
have had so much power and importance. [More- 
over, this course leads to dissensions and hostilities 
between the governor and the Audiencia, which is a 
bad example to furnish to the people and lowers their 
respect for the authorities.], It must be borne in 
mind that the Indians of Filipinas are not so sunken 
in ignorance that they do not of themselves, and like- 
wise through their attorneys and confessors, recog- 
nize that they have a sovereign who rules them, and 
who to this end has given them laws; consequently, 
all lack of concord among the authorities, and every 
change introduced in the method of governing the 
villages, must produce fatal consequences. [It is 
therefore recommended that the governor consult the 

^^*The association of the Audiencia with the governor began 
in 1527, with Cortes, as the court recognized the impossibiliQr of 
oontrolling so great a hero by means of a single, and perhaps in- 
significant, man. (Roscher, Spanish Colonic system^ Bourne's 
ed., p. 24, note 5.) 



220 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

Audiencia in all matters of the internal government 
of the islands, and any failure in this should be made 
a charge in his residencia.]^ 

Of the administration of justice in general 

The consideration and respect which the Audien- 
cia of Manila merits among the Indians proceeds 
also from those times in which its members made offi- 
cial visits to the provinces, and in these visits did so 
much good to the villages. The visiting auditors 
were, in reality, friendly mediators in the disputes 
between the Indians; and they made agreements, 
placed limits to the villages, furnished a sort of mu- 
nicipal ordinance, and protected the natives against 
the oppressions of the alcaldes-mayor. Notwith- 
standing my high opinion of that tribunal, I regard 
as very proper the provisions of law xxxiv, titulo ii, 
book ii of the laws of the Indias in regard to the 
removal and promotion of its ministers, basing my 
opinion on the same arguments as did the law -that 
is, that it is very desirable not only to reward them, 
but to uproot them from the friendships which they 
contract in places where they remain a long time. 
These friendships, whose influence is always detri- 
mental to the equitable administration of ji^stice, are 
in Manila an almost necessary result of the small 
Spanish population, of the lack of all public amuse- 
ment or diversion, and of the fact that with the en- 
ervating effect of the climate the rectitude and vigor 
of European morals is lost after some years of resi- 
dence in the country. [The Audiencia has been un- 
able to attend to the administration of justice in the 
islands as it has desired, for it has always been hin- 
dered by the many obstacles which arise from the 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 221 

Storms, the lack of roads and mail service, the attrac- 
tion of all the lawyers in the islands to the capital, 
the ignorance of the goberaadorcillo and the alcalde 
of each other^s language and of judicial procedures, 
the dilatory mode of carrying on these between the 
provinces and Manila, etc. " Thus it is very common 
that these lawsuits, besides being always full of de- 
fects, last three, four, or six years; and that in that 
long period either the delinquents take to flight, or 
the documents are lost.'' Even in the Audiencia it- 
self there are many obstacles to its action. Its sub- 
ordinate oflUcials are Indian or mestizo lawyers, who 
often are neither competent nor qualified for their 
positions;]^ and that which most contributes to re- 
tard the despatch of business, and to maintain the of- 
fices of the court without any organization, is the un- 
fitness of those who occupy the class or purchasable 
and renunciable offices. The court clerk, the special 
commissioners, and the attorneys know nothing else 
than how to obtain the greatest possible advantage 
from the purchase of their oflUces. Without any in- 
struction in the obligations of those positions, be- 
cause they cannot acquire it in that country, and in- 
capable of carrying out even what the ministers 
themselves have the patience to teach them, those men 
are, notwithstanding, the only ones whom the min- 
isters can choose for those oflUces, because they are 
likewise the only ones who can outbid others in the 
sale of them. These positions are also of little ad- 
vantage, because in the immense extension of the 
military jurisdiction, among the wealthy persons of 
Filipinas, the tribunal of the War Department has 
drawn to itself all the civil causes of importance in 
the islands; and the Audiencia has been reduced to 



222 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

criminal causes, and the minor controversies over 
land among the Indians, for which reason it is im- 
possible to have educated Europeans who will pur- 
chase those posts and serve in them. The consequence 
of this is that the offices of the Audiencia are in the 
utmost disorder; that they do not contain even the 
books of entry which the laws provide for, or regis- 
ters, citations, or reports of cases; that in order to 
record a decree or an official report it is necessary for 
a minister to take upon himself the task of doing 
that; and, finally, that the administration of justice 
must necessarily be slow. [Bernaldez therefore rec- 
ommends that the ministers of the Audiencia be pro- 
moted at least every ten years to other appointments ; 
that the minor offices be no longer purchasable or 
renunciable, but filled directly by royal appointment, 
and given to suitable persons, with good salaries 
(which are specified) ; and that the government of 
the islands provide some expedient for raising money 
to pay the salary of an attorney-general in each prov- 
ince.] 

Of the alcaldes-mayor and military governors of 

the provinces 

[The office of alcalde-mayor and provincial gov- 
ernor involves the civil government and defense of 
the province, the administration of justice, and the 
collection of the taxes ; but those who are appointed 
to it are usually only traders, in reality, and care 
more for the profits yielded by the trade that is per- 
mitted to them than for the obligations of their office. 
They are paid twenty-five hard dollars a month for 
salary, '^ and they pay to the treasury the same sum 
for the indulto {i.e.^ privilege], as it is called there. 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 22^ 

of trading/' to which pursuit they devote all their 
time and energies during the term of their office.] A 
system of alcaldeships so anomalous and irregular 
nevertheless produced at the outset some benefits to 
the islands, because, by reason of the great lack of 
capitalists there, many products of the agriculture 
and industries of the provinces would have received 
no encouragement if the alcalde had not speculated 
in them for the sake of his own trade. It is also nec- 
essary to note that there are provinces with which, on 
account of their remoteness and the little advantage 
which they have for the coasting trade, there was 
hardly any other means of communication than the 
barks of the alcalde. But now, when the coasting 
trade has become so general, it is a necessity to abol- 
ish, in most of the provinces of the islands, that ab- 
surd system of trading alcaldes; and to appoint in 
their places corregidors, lawyers educated in Espafta, 
with only a salary, and the charge of making collec- 
tions for the royal revenue, with the right to the 
offices in the Audiencia there. This increase in ex- 
penditure should be covered by the duties which 
ought to be imposed on the coasting trade, which by 
this means remains free from all impediment. [Ber- 
naldez urges that the provincial magistrates be care- 
fully selected, for their knowledge, experience, dis- 
cretion, and executive ability ; and that they be men 
who will devote themselves to the proper administra- 
tion of justice, the study of those regions hitherto 
unknown, plans of reform, and the encouragement of 
industry and commerce among the people -not for- 
getting to preserve friendly relations with the parish 
priests. He recommends that seventeen of the provin- 
ces in the islands of Luzon, Panay, and Cebu be di- 



224 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

vided into corregidorships, eight into those of the 
first class, and nine into those of the second, with 
specified salaries to each ; that appointments to these 
posts be made for six years; and that corregidors of 
the first class be proposed by the Audiencia.] 

Of the taxes 

[At present, the tribute paid by the Indians should 
not be increased because so many of them would be 
distressed by any heavier tax ; but this might be done 
later, when the class of large proprietors may have 
increased in numbers. The payment of this tax in 
kind is a source of loss, not only in the quantity and 
quality of the products paid in, but in the damage 
caused by transportation and storage ; and in selling 
the products thus received by the government there 
is loss, because its agents are poor managers of such 
business, not having the shrewdness or the knowledge 
of the markets which enable private merchants to 
make their profits. The commutation of the pay- 
ment from money to kind was only partly due to the 
influence of the alcaldes, who preferred it for the ben- 
efit of their own tra4ing;] the cause which has ren- 
dered that commutation almost necessary and which 
operates directly to the prejudice of the Indian, is 
the lack of a colonial money peculiar to the Filipinas 
Islands, like that which the other possessions in Asia 
have (of the necessity of which I will speak in an- 
other chapter) , in order to revive internal commerce 
and promote and facilitate the payment of taxes. 

The indirect taxes by means of government mo- 
nopolies in Filipinas are, in my opinion, those most 
suitable to the native disposition of inhabitants who, 
furnished most abundantly by the soil with all the 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 225 

income necessary for their support, convert the su- 
perfluous enjoyments of life into objects of prime 
necessity. It should be a firm principle of good 
government to protect and rectify the administration 
of these indirect taxes, especially those on tobacco and 
wine -not only because these will be sufficient to 
cover abundantly all the expenses of army and navy, 
but because in case of a war and the absolute cessation 
of trade the government will have this firm support 
for its existence ; and therefore no hearing should be 
given to the suggestions and proposals of those per- 
sons who are craftily working to free the islands from 
those monopolies. But so long as these taxes are not 
made general through all the provinces of the archi- 
pelago, so that the fire of the contraband trade (which 
always finds lodgment in the exempt provinces) 
may be extinguished, and until certain reforms are 
adopted in their administration and protection, the 
produce [of these taxes] in favor of the royal ex- 
chequer must be very disproportionate to the 
amounts consumed by that large population. 

Of the revenue from tobacco 

The revenue which supports the Filipinas Islands, 
which cannot be replaced by any other, and which if 
it were properly established and administered would 
yield incalculable advantages, is that from tobacco. 
Three millions of inhabitants, all without exception 
of sex or age consumers of that article -and for each 
one of them, on the av^age, and at a very low esti- 
mate, can be set down a consumption of four pesos 
[worth] a year- would produce an addition to the 
revenue of twelve million pesos, which they would 
obtain from the land and from their industries, in 



226 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

order to give at the same time a great impulse to com- 
merce. This is not a paradox, for the use of tobacco 
is of so prime necessity for the Indians that the same 
calculation can be made for that object that would be 
made for the use of bread in Espafta. [Beraaldez 
considers the injurious effects of enforcing this mo- 
nopoly in only a part of the islands -^^ although more 
than half the population is today subject to the mo- 
nopoly, its income is only one-tenth of what, at a rea- 
sonable estimate, it ought to be "-and those of its 
careless and negligent administration. He makes the 
following suggestions:] That the collection of the 
tributes from the Indians of Filipinas be made com- 
pulsory in money, as soon as the colonial money can 
be placed in circulation in their provinces. That the 
monopoly of tobacco in Filipinas be extended to all 
the [now] exempt provinces, without exception ; and 
the government there will succeed much better in 
establishing it therein by sagacity than by authority 
or force. That the examination and appraisal of the 
leaf tobacco which the monopoly purchases from the 
growers be made before a board which the govern- 
ment there shall appoint annually, composed of of- 
ficials from the capital who are most trustworthy and 
intelligent in that branch of administration, such to- 
bacco as proves to be unfit for use being burned in 
their presence. That all the tobacco which can be 
collected in Filipinas be conveyed to Espafla, by 
means of contracts with private persons for the 
freighting of ships; and with it the amount which 
can be remitted from the [different] branches of the 
royal exchequer, and the annual surplus of their 
funds. 



1801.1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 227 

Of the revenue from wine 

The product of the revenue from wine cannot in 
Filipinas be considered so important as that from to- 
baccOy because the Indians are very moderate in their 
drinking. The wines made from the cocoanut and 
nipa (the only ones subject to the monopoly) are 
wholesome for the Indians ; and as the monopoly has 
regulated the supply for each village, greatly improv- 
ing the process of making the liquor and diminish- 
ing its strength, the Indians prefer the monopoly to 
the free privilege of this article. The failure of this 
revenue to increase depends on two causes : first, that 
the monopoly is not extended, as it ought to be, to 
all the provinces of the islands, not only thus to place 
all the natives on the same footing, and so suppress 
the contraband trade, but to prevent by this method 
the manufacture by the Indians of other beverages 
which are more injurious to their health, and which, 
without giving them pleasure, intoxicate them as has 
been the case with the brandy and rum from sugar- 
cane juice or molasses ; second, the great amount of 
the two last-named liquors which is clandestinely 
furnished to the public, as a result of the permission, 
very negligently guarded, which was given to manu- 
facture them freely to export abroad, or to sell them 
under a certain tax in order that they should not in- 
jure the consumption of the article placed under mo- 
nopoly control. [Bernaldez admits that the manu- 
facture of the above-mentioned brandy and rum 
ought to be allowed, ^' because otherwise the country 
would lose the enormous quantity of molasses which 
results from the sugar-making, which has a consider- 
able value, but cannot be employed for other uses ; " 






228 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

but the government ought to maintain the value of 
the monopolized beverages, and at the same time fa- 
cilitate the exportation of rum and brandy. ^^* He 
recommends, besides the extension of the wine mo- 
nopoly:] That, as a consequence, every other kind of 
beverage made in the country be prohibited in the 
islands for the common use of the Indians. That the 
manufacture of brandy and rum from sugar-cane be 
allowed only for the export trade. That each manu- 
facturer be likewise allowed to have a retail ware- 
house, under the imposts which they now pay. That 
the manufacturers be compelled to establish their fac- 
tories in the immediate vicinity of Manila, where 
they can and must be watched, at their own expense, 
by the revenue clerks. That all the brandy and rum 
which is made from sugar be immediately deposited 
in warehouses, the keys of which the custom-house 
shall take charge of, the government levying on it 
moderate duties for deposit as well as for export.^ 



147 



Of the head-money, or personal tax, from the 

Chinese 

[The Chinese were at first allowed in Filipinas 
only to cultivate the soil and work in handicrafts; 
but they have drawn into their possession the control 
of trade and commerce, " winning the good-will of 

***Thc writer here adds: "This exportation is of very little 
importance in the markets of Asia, where the more usual and 
cheaper beverage for the people is Rak [English, " arrack "], or 
wine made from rice." 

^^^ In 1853 a pamphlet was published at Madrid, written bj 

Sinibaldo de Mas, entitled, Articulo sobre lof rentes de Filipinos 
y los medios de aumentarlasy " written for the Boletin OficLd of 
the Treasury Department." (Vindcl, Catalogo biblioteca fili- 
pina^ no. iSSS*) 



A 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 229 

the government and the tolerance of the inhabitants 
of Manila with a thousand intrigues unknown in the 
country. They have done in Filipinas what the Eu- 
ropeans ought to have done, that is, to acquire wealth 
and send it, or themselves go with it, to their own 
country to establish commercial houses;" and thus 
they have added a marvelous amount to the wealth 
of China. Their method of doing business is ex- 
plained -practically the same as is done in the United 
States at the present time ; united capital and effort, 
division of the gains accordingly, quick sales and 
small profits, etc. They have obtained the exclusive 
retail trade in Manila, and a great part of the whole- 
sale trade, ^^and thereby have aroused the hostility 
of corporations and private persons, notwithstanding 
that they are a class of peaceable and industrious 
people in the country." Bernaldez thinks that their 
tax of six pesos a year is much too small, considering 
the advantages which they enjoy and the large for- 
tunes which they acquire in the islands; in Batavia 
the Chinese pay the government as much as thirty 
pesos a month for merely the permission to trade. 
The tax on them at Manila is farmed out to a China- 
man, and does not yield as much as it should. The 
following recommendations are made :] That meas- 
ures be immediately taken to correct and render ac- 
curate the registration of the Chinese settled in Fili- 
pinas. That the individuals of that nation be di- 
vided into three classes: first, wholesale merchants, 
understanding by that term all those who embark for 
China and receive thence goods on commission or for 
their own account; second, retail merchants, or shop- 
keepers; third, artisans of every class. That these 
be distributed by groups under head-men [por cabe- 



tL 



230 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

cerias^j which shall not exceed sixty individuals to 
each one. That every Chinaman, as soon as he is 
registered, shall be joined to one of these groups, 
the head-man becoming responsible for him. That 
these Chinese heads of barangay must give security 
for the tribute from those under them, and collect 
the tax and deliver it to the alcalde-mayor of their 
respective province, being responsible in every case 
for the residence and occupation of their tribute- 
payers ; and for this commission collecting the three 
per cent That in future the tax on the Chinese 
already settled and those who shall settle in Filipinas 
shall be as follows : the wholesale merchant, ten pesos 
fuertes a month; the retail merchant, four pesos 
ditto ; the artisan of every class, two pesos ditto. That 
every Chinaman settled there shall be free to return 
to his own country, provided he is not married, the 
limit of six months being allowed for this. That 
the Chinaman, of whatever class, who shall not pay 
his respective tax within one year shall be sent and 
delivered up to one of the ranch-owners for com- 
pulsory labor Ipor repartimiento\y in order that 
there he may work at the day-wages agreed upon, 
which must not fall below two reals a day and food- 
rations of rice; and that the ranchman shall with 
these wages pay the tax [due], at the rate of two 
pesos a month. 

[Among the advantages derived from this ar- 
rangement will be that of sending out of the islands 
the many poor and useless Chinese who have been 
gradually multiplying there, and have been infect- 
ing the natives with their vices. It will even benefit 
the Chinese themselves, '^ who with two reals a day, 
which make 7>4 dollars a month clear" (thus show- 



1801.1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 23I 



ing that Sunday labor was exacted), "can pay two 
pesos of tax and be exceedingly prosperous/'] ^^* 

^^* " Only since 1843 have the Chinese shops been opened an 
the same terms as those of other foreigners. But there is no 
doubt that die Chinese have been a great boon to the colony. 
They have had, in the main, a civilizing influence on the natives, 
and have taught them many important things: as the working of 
iron and the manufacture of sugar from the juice of the sugar- 
cane. They have also ever been the leaders in commerce and 
the chief middlemen of the colony; and for this reason mainly 
they have been deemed an unwelcome necessity, for, without them, 
trade would almost be brought to a standstill, and, in consequence, 
labor would sujBer and living be rendered dearer to every class. 
By their superior shrewdness and unscrupulous cunaing they 
have, on the other hand, excited the hatred of the natives, who 
despise them for their cowardice. Thus, from time to time, the 
feeling against them is very bitter. Another objection against 
the Celestial is that he underbids all competitors, working for 
what others refuse. Furthermore, he q;)ends litde, and all that 
he saves he carries to his own country. Their expulsion, how- 
ever, would be as unwise as it is impracticable, and the only 
remedy that meets the case is a proper State-control. The em- 
ployment of coolie labor, notwithstanding, is at present impossible, 
on account of the hatred that the lower-class nadves feel toward 
them. In Manila there are at present no less than 40,000 
Chinese, while the whole colony contains about 100,00a They 
have their own courts, their guilds, and secret sodedes, which 
are necessary for their sdf-protecdon ; and they choose represen- 
tative deputations to represent them in the Government" (Lala, 
Philippine Isltntds, pp. 104-106.) 

Le Gentil says (Voyage, ii, p. loi) of the banishment of the 
Chinese from Manila in 1767 (at which time he was residing 
there) : " I did not know any Spaniard in Manila who did not 
sincerely regret the departure of the Chinese, and who did not 
frankly admit that the Philippines would suffer for it, because 
the Indians are not capable of replacing the Chinese. . . • 
The Parian was a sort of market, where could be found provi- 
sion of everydiing necessary for living; and it is not without 



232 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vcrf. 51 

Of the custom-house duties 

The royal decree of August 25, 18 18, by which it 
was decided that the exaction of import and export 
duties should be made in the Manila custom-house 
from the owners of the vessels, without considering 
the ownership of their lading, and that if the vessel 
were Spanish it should pay three per cent, and if 
foreign six per cent, has been a special favor or 
privilege granted to half a dozen Spanish ship- 
owners (for those who conduct the commerce with 
China and Bengala cannot be more than that num- 
ber), with serious loss to the exchequer. This is, of 
course, annually deprived of the considerable income 
of the three per cent rebate on all foreign goods 
imported into Manila, which is a direct benefit to 
the foreigners who own nearly all the commerce in 
those goods. The manufacturers of Filipinas, espe- 
cially those of cotton fabrics - which are able to 
compete with, and even exceed in cheapness, those 
of China, since the cotton of which these are made is 
of their own raising- are being ruined, because that 
rebate of duties brings the prices of the Chinese 
goods so near to those of their infant industry that 
the former ought always to be preferred; and, fi- 
nally, the above arrangement has also given oppor- 
tunity for various frauds proceeding from the pre- 
tended sale of foreign vessels to Spaniards, solely for 
the purpose of availing themselves of the rebate of 
duties on their cargoes, and to the possession (under 
assumed names) by Chinese settled in Manila of 
Spanish vessels. 

[Bernaldez states the considerations which should 

reason that the Spaniards regretted the loss of this laborious 
people." 



I 

i 



18011840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 233 

regulate these duties, and the following recommenda- 
tions for the payment of duties on various classes of 
merchandise, this amount to cover in each case the 
entire exaction : On national goods in transit, carried 
to Manila -on a Spanish vessel, three per cent; on 
a foreign ship, six per cent. The same goods for 
consumption in the country shall pay nine and ten 
per cent respectively. On foreign goods from India 
and China, for domestic consumption, ten and fif- 
teen per cent respectively; from this class should be 
excepted the wines, brandies, pig iron, small articles 
of cast iron, dry beans, and foreign paper, which 
should pay twenty and twenty-five per cent respec- 
tively. Goods, whether national or foreign, not de- 
clared as in transit at leaving Manila shall pay two 
and four per cent respectively; but those registered 
on a Spanish ship from India, China, and all Asia for 
Espafia, ten per cent Coined silver and gold, and 
silver bullion, shall pay no entrance duty at Manila, 
but on leaving that port shall pay three and six per 
cent respectively; and foreign gold in bullion shall 
pay eight per cent at entering Manila (whether on 
Spanish or foreign vessels). National products, and 
those of the industries of Filipinas, shall pay when 
exported eight per cent on a foreign vessel, but noth- 
ing on a Spanish ship. The duty of the merchant's 
peso [peso marchante'\ which the municipality of 
Manila collects should be abolished as obstructive to 
commerce ; for the legal origin of this imposition is 
unknown, and it is very unsuitable for a municipality 
which is rich through its rents, revenues, and im- 
posts. Bernaldez believes that this tariff would pro- 
mote agriculture, industry, and navigation, and bene- 
fit the royal treasury. More coin would be brought 



^34 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

into the islands, the plan of exempting it from duties 
having been adopted for that purpose by all the other 
governments of Asia. The burden of these duties 
will fall mainly on the rich class, and not on the 
Indians. The " infant industries '^ [fahricas nacien- 
tes] will be protected, and the Spanish merchant 
marine will be given the advantage over the for- 
eigners.] 

Of the inter-island trade 

The inter-island trade of the Filipinas Islands is 
at present quite active, as is shown by the latest re- 
ports received. Its importance is well worth con- 
sideration, since the commodities which are traded 
in this way constitute the greater part of the cargoes 
of the export commerce. Tortoise-shell, gold, birds^- 
nests, balate, wax, cacao, and other products form 
cargoes of great value which come from the provin- 
ces. The exclusive proprietors of this commerce are 
the alcaldes-mayor of the provinces, and the rich 
mestizos and Chinese, who in this traffic have made 
exorbitant profits; for it is these alone who ex- 
clusively avail themselves of the rise in prices which 
is produced in Manila by the arrival there of foreign 
vessels together. This causes those posts of alcalde 
there to be very eagerly sought, since in only 
three years of holding them they allow [the making 
of] a fortune ; and also that the class of mestizos and 
Chinese is the only one that is sure of becoming rich 
in Filipinas. . • . The result is, that with the 
exception of the great fortunes which in other times 
were made in the privileged commerce of Nueva 
Espafia, it is this [coasting trade] from which have 
proceeded the fortunes of Manila. [This branch of 
trade is exempt from all duties, a privilege which 



0^ 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS *3S 

does not benefit either the agriculture or the other 
industries of the Indians, since they always sell at 
the same price, and have no share in the profits of 
the trade. Nor is this commerce promoted by the 
freedom from duties, for it will always continue and 
always yield great profits to those who carry it on- 
who can well afford to pay a moderate tax on their 
lucrative trade, especially as it is partly for their 
benefit that the government incurs so great expense 
for curbing the piracies of the Moros. It is recom- 
mended:] That all commodities, whether natural 
products or those of industry, which arrive at the 
port of Manila by sea from the provinces shall pay 
one per cent on the prices current in that city; and 
from this tax shall be exempted only rice (whether 
in the hull or cleaned) , cocoanut oil, and fresh fruits, 
as being articles of prime necessity for the Indians. 
That no duty shall be collected for those same pro- 
ducts when they are transported by land, or by the 
rivers and bayous of the island of Luzon. And that, 
from the time when this law shall go into effect, the 
power which the municipality of Manila has to tax 
the value of the provisions which come from the 
provinces shall be suppressed. The exemption from 
duties will tend, in regard to the provinces of Luzon^ 
to encourage in that island preeminently, as is desir- 
able, agriculture and industry, and at the same time 
i;vill save to the custom-house the new expenses which 
it would [otherwise] have to incur for establishing 
posts and men to guard against smuggling. 

Of money 

The Spanish peso is the universal money in the 
commerce among all the nations of Asia; and, as 



236 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS (Vol. 51 

therefore the exterior commerce is constantly draw- 
ing it into circulation, the governments of all the 
colonies in that part of the world have found them- 
selves obliged to create a colonial money, which on 
account of its provisional value cannot be taken out 
of the country, and, being directed into the internal 
commerce of the province, feeds and multiplies ex- 
changes. In Filipinas there was no need of adopting 
that measure while its commerce with Nueva Espafla 
lasted, because then those islands were receiving an- 
nually a million of Mexican pesos, and the situado 
of two hundred and fifty thousand ; and, besides this, 
the business that was carried on during that period in 
the natural and industrial products of the country 
was almost insignificant. And if in Filipinas at this 
present time enough money circulates to support the 
outside traffic, that results from the fact that the 
profits which the colony has gained from the com- 
merce with all the nations of Europa (the balance 
of which i% in favor of Filipinas) are greater than 
the losses of money which it experiences in its com- 
merce with India and China. [This is of course a 
very precarious situation; for the contingencies of 
war, diversion of commerce from the islands, or poor 
crops may at any time compel Filipinas to send out 
all its money to India or China for the supply of 
its needed commodities ; and this would ruin even the 
intemal commerce, ^^on account of the serious dif- 
ficulties which the establishment of a system of pub- 
lic credit there presents."] Besides that, considering 
now the matter of giving a strong impulse to the 
agriculture and industry of those islands, there 
would be needed for the former project many mil- 
lions of pesos in constant circulation in the provinces, 



18011840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS ^37 

and there must be a great reversion of the capital em- 
ployed in commerce to the interior of the islands; 
and this cannot be practiced in a country in which 
hardly enough money circulates to support the gov- 
ernment and the demands from without, and which 
had undertaken to promote its interests by commerce 
before placing its agriculture and industry on a 
sound basis. In almost all the provinces of the 
islands very little money circulates, and in some of 
them there is not even what is necessary in order that 
the natives can pay the government taxes; and from 
this has proceeded the necessity of commuting the 
tribute from money to kind. The Spanish pesos go 
from and return to the provinces rapidly; and it can 
be said that the produce of the taxes which has to 
be sent annually to the capital, and the importations 
of the alcaldes and the mestizos, are equal. Most 
of the Indians trade among themselves by means of 
simple barter, and the mestizos make them pay 
dearly with their products for the money that they 
need for clothing themselves and paying their taxes. 
There is, then, nothing to hope for -either ad- 
vance in agriculture and the useful arts, or the great 
extension and progress of which the consumption of 
monopolized articles is susceptible- without the crea- 
tion of a colonial money which will remain within the 
colony to which it belongs, which will liberate it 
from the precarious dependence on foreign com- 
merce, which will afford to the Indian the just prof- 
its from his labor, which by remaining with him in 
the provinces will encourage him to obtain posses- 
sion of it as an easy means of providing him with 
the necessities of life at the time [when he needs 
them,] and which likewise may be an allurement to 



238 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. S' 

his children - which up to a certain point it is of 
great importance to encourage in the Indians, as a 
powerful incentive to make them labor. [Lastly, 
this colonial money would check the exportation of 
silver coin by the Chinese, "• who would then prefer 
to export from Filipinas its natural products in re- 
turn for their commodities. In China all the Span- 
ish pesos are, in order to keep them within the em- 
pire, disfigured with so many marks that they cannot 
be used in foreign conunerce.] We have no knowl- 
edge thus far of there being silver mines in Fili- 
pinas; but it is a positive fact that gold abounds 
there, of so low grade and so mingled with silver 
that it has little more value than that metal. This 
circumstance, aided by the introduction of some sil- 
ver bars from America, carried thither by foreigners, 

i4» « 'piijg spirit of g]ieed compelled the Chinese to abandon 
in their internal oommerce the gold and silver coins which were 
in general use. The number of those who made counterfeit 
money, which was continually increasing permitted no other 
line of conduct; and money was no longer coined save in copper. 
This metal, however, having become scarce, in consequence of 
events which histoiy does not record, the sheik so well known 
under the name of ' cauris ' [English, ' cowries ' ] were minted 
with the copper coins; but the government, having observed that 
the people were dissatisfied with so frail an article, ordered diat 
the copper utensils throughout the entire empire should be given 
up to the mints. As this ill-judged expedient did not furnish 
resources adequate to the public needs, the government caused 
about four hundred temples of Foe to be demolished^ die idols 
in which were melted down. Finally the court paid the magis- 
trates and the army partly in copper and partly in paper; but 
the people rebelled against so dangerous innovation, and it became 
necessary to give it up. Since that time, which was three cen- 
turies ago, the coinage of copper is the only legal one." (Raynal, 
J^tablissemem et commerce def Europiens^ i, pp. 641, 642). 



/- 



1801.1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 239 

the recoinage of the half-dollars, and of the silver 
two-real, one-real, and half-real pieces which cir- 
culate in the islands, and the use of the great amount 
of old silver in household articles -which is there 
sold at very low prices, on account of being alloyed 
and manufactured in China -would supply the gov- 
ernment with easy means for the creation of a colo- 
nial currency without need for expense, or for fore- 
stalling [the income from] any fund, only by ac- 
cepting from the persons interested their respective 
materials in gold or silver, under assay, and return- 
ing to them the value of the metal in the coined 
money which it would yield, after deducting the 
necessary expenses. Likewise the government could 
accept, in payment of all taxes, the gold which is 
obtained from the placers, at the same prices at 
which the Chinese carry it away, and after it was 
assayed at its mint -where the learned professors 
who for this purpose would be sent from Europe 
would dictate the necessary measures for carrying 
into effect an undertaking which is the basis for all 
progress in the islands. I am therefore of opinion 
that his Majesty should deign to issue the following 
orders: That a colonial currency be immediately 
created for internal circulation in the Filipinas Is- 
lands. That for this purpose a mint be established 
there. That the standard for this money be the same 
as those of the moneys of the same kind which have 
been adopted in the other colonies of Asia. That 
the subdivisions of its value be made according to the 
needs of internal trade. That all the gold and silver, 
in various forms, which private persons offer for 
coinage be accepted at the mint, returning it to them 
in the standard coin which it yields after the ex- 



•^ 



240 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

penses are deducted. That the government there be 
authorized to accept in payment of taxes the gold 
from the mines of Filipinas, after it is assayed. That 
regulations be drawn up by competent persons, in 
which precautions are taken against any fraud in this 
matter. 

Of the charitable funds established in Filipinos 

[The obras pias merit full attention from the gov- 
ernmentj on account of the advantages which the 
agriculture and industry of the islands may gain 
from them. If the limited and privileged dealings 
of Manila with Nueva Espafia had not been reduced 
to a merely passive commerce of transfer or trans- 
portatioUy those foundations would, at the same time 
while they have become wealthy, have given real 
opulence to that commerce. Of the enormous profit 
of two hundred and three hundred per cent which die 
transactions of the galleon yielded at Acapulco, the 
greater part was for the foreign dealers of India and 
China, whose wares supplied almost all the lading 
of the galleons, and for the obras pias ; a greatly re- 
duced profit remained for the Manila merchants, 
which could be shown by a calculation which might 
be made of the many millions imported from Nueva 
Espafia by the galleons, and of the comparatively 
small value, in money or assistance, which has re- 
mained [therefrom] in the islands. [The returns 
from these funds are now greatly diminished, since 
the cessation of the Acapulco trade, for on that de- 
pended the commerce with India and China, which 
also has practically ended, save for the commodities 
from those countries which are consumed in Fili- 
pinas. This could not have been foreseen by the 



/ 



x8oi-i84o] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 24 1 

founders of those funds, many of which, moreover, 
are impeded by various restrictions and conditions; 
and the government should interpose its authority 
not only to secure the fulfilment of the founders' 
wishes, but to conunute the investment of the funds 
in such a way that they may be used to promote the 
agriculture and industry of the country. These 
funds ought also to be preserved as a most useful re- 
source in case of war or revolution, when the usual 
revenues of the government would cease. Bemaldez 
therefore recommends :] That the government of Ma- 
nila furnish special protection to the charitable foun- 
dations of the islands, and keep close watch over 
their honest administration. That it stimulate the 
managers to obtain immediately from the competent 
authority the commutation of the allotments of these 
funds so as to benefit the agriculture and manufac- 
tures of the country, giving reports of what shall be 
effected in a matter so important for the welfare of 
the islands. That the funds in the communal treas- 
uries of the Indians and the Chinese, those of the 
secular revenues,"^ and any others which are not sub- 
ject to private foundations and regulations, and 
which hitherto have followed in their investments 
the rules of the obras pias, shall be by preference set 
aside for rewards bestowed for enterprises in agri- 
culture, industry, and inter-island trade. Thus will 
be remedied the injury arising from the failure of 
those great funds to be in circulation ; and the abuse 
of employing them in favor of foreigners and their 
commerce, under assumed names, will be corrected. 

**^ Spanish, femporalidades: referring to the bureau in charge 
of the property formerly belonging to the Jesuits. 



24* THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

Of the arsenal of Cavite 

[Bemaldez declares that the works of naval con- 
struction, etc., for the government can be accom- 
plished for half the cost by means of private contracts 
awarded to the lowest bidder, which is proved by the 
history of all the enterprises which have been under- 
taken by the government in those islands, whether in 
agriculture, mining, or metal-working; "for, how- 
ever great the disinterestedness and economy which 
can be ascribed to the officials who conduct the en- 
terprise, in this direction nothing can take the place 
of the contractor's activity and vigilance.'' In the 
cutting and gathering of timber there is abundant 
cheating and graft, as that work is directed by In- 
dian overseers, or by mestizos and Chinese ; the latter 
have abandoned the system of day wages ("which 
the natural slothfulness of the Indian renders very 
costly"), and instead pay the natives so much for a 
certain amount of work (which they call paqueao). 
" In this way the Indians, who always are cheated in 
these calculations, have to redouble their efforts to 
gain the amount bargained for, thus allowing to the 
mestizo the benefit of at least one-third of the usual 
daily wages." After the timber is cut, its transpor- 
tation, storage, and seasoning cost more when done 
by the government than by the mestizo contractor, 
and occasion much loss and damage. Ships of war 
could be built at Manila to great advantage, so far 
as the abundance and cheapness and location of the 
timber is concerned ; but the lack of iron and copper 
there is a serious hindrance to such plans. There are 
mines of both metals in the islands, but they are not 
worked for lack of enterprising persons and suitable 
machinery. Bemaldez recommends : That the crown 



I 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 243 

offer large rewards for the successful operation of 
the iron and copper mines in the islands, the supply 
therefrom of metal sufficient for the construction of 
ships and cannon, and the introduction of machinery 
for mining and iron- working. That arrangements 
be made for building war-ships each year, by con- 
tracts for the supply of timber and the manual labor. 
That competent engineers and constructors be sent 
from Espafia, at good salaries; that necessary sup- 
plies and materials be secured by contracts, bid for 
in public; and that funds from the royal exchequer 
be set aside for this purpose to the amount of one 
hundred thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand 
pesos annually. That all the construction and re- 
pairing of war-ships for Filipinas be done through 
contracts, at public bidding; and that the arsenal of 
Cavite be reduced to a simple depository for the 
articles required for arming the ships, with such of- 
ficials as may be necessary for the custody of these.] 

Of the agriculture of the Filipinas Islands, in gen- 
eral, and of their principal productions 

The Filipinas Islands, on account of the fertility 
of their land, their abundant rains, and the great 
number of animals for labor, constitute an agricul- 
tural colony; and to the readiness with which the 
country supplies the principal articles for human 
support has been due the rapid increase of its popu- 
lation. And although the Indians, as a general thing, 
only devote themselves to the cultivation of what 
they actually need for subsistence, the annual pro- 
duction so far exceeds the necessities of the people 
that very seldom has the failure or scarcity of pro- 
visions been experienced. The abundance of its ar- 



244 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

able lands and the excellence of its products have 
also rendered this colony capable of a considerable 
commerce with the other nations, at a much greater 
advantage over the other colonies, inasmuch as the 
land is tilled by free labor, which costs only the value 
of its food and clothing ; and not by slaves, who, be- 
sides those expenses, occasion that of the premium or 
interest on the money invested in their purchase, 
which causes a difference of at least a third more in 
the cost of the manual labor employed in agriculture. 
The neglected condition in which agriculture is in 
Filipinas, considered under this last aspect, and the 
backwardness in knowledge of the manipulations re- 
quired in the preparation of its raw products for 
their consumption in trade, proceed from the follow- 
ing causes : ( i ) The lack of a stable and regular *^ 
system of commerce which can assure to the inhabi- 
tants of the islands the annual exportation of the 
produce of an extensive agriculture. The foreign 
vessels resort to the ports there, some years in ex- 
cessive number and others very infrequently; and 
this irregularity always produces an effect opposed 
to the interests of the colony. The extraordinary rise 
in prices*- which during the last three years has 
reached a value double that from which the ability 
to sell at all times would enable the colony to gain a 
profit- and the consequent lack of commodities for 
supplying all the vessels, prevent them from return- 
ing in the following years ; while the decline of prices 
below what is fair, caused by the non-arrival of ships, 
discourages large production in agriculture. The* 
Indians are absolutely without capital and store- 
houses which would enable them to hold back their 
produce for another market. They are induced to 



V 



1801-1840I REFORMS IN FILIPINAS *4S 

cultivate the soil solely by their present advantage ; 
they always sell, but diey suffer from the stern law 
of trade which, although it Iflatters them in years of 
scarcity, equally tyrannizes over them in years of 
abundance -for they are always deceived regarding 
the actual prices of the general market, of which 
they are ignorant; and one year only of unsuccessful 
sales, whether from lack of foreign ships, or through 
the loss of their crops, will be a warning to them 
for a long time. In short, the agriculture of Fili- 
pinas at this time depends on the irregular and tran- 
sient stimulus which is furnished to it by the peri- 
patetic capital of the mestizo, who buys only in the 
years when he calculates that he must in view of the 
condition of the crops and the market, make a profit; 
while the Indian farmer always sows his seed heed- 
less of results, and without the guidance of that ele- 
mentary principle in affairs of commerce that the 
estimate of what he acquires ought to be based on a 
calculation of the market for it For the corrective 
of this evil, and assuming that, for reasons that are 
rightful and conformable to sound policy (as I have 
set forth), the residence of foreigners in the islands 
ought not to be permitted, I find no other means than 
this, that the government encourage, by judicious 
measures, the direct and unlimited commerce of 
Espafia with that colony -of which I shall speak in 
another chapter, [presenting] the rough sketch of a 
plan which ought to produce the following effects: 
(a) The definite and reliable annual exportation 
from those islands, not only of the great quantity of 
sugar, indigo, coffee, and other native products 
which are needed in the ordinary consumption of 
Espafia, but of that which Spanish commerce can 



246 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

dispose of in the other nations and free ports of 
Europa. (b) The establishment of Spanish trading 
posts [factorias'\ in the interior of the provinces of 
FilipiinaSy which the Spanish mercantile interests 
will carry on for the sake of acquiring the agricul- 
tural produce at first hand, freeing the Indians from 
the oppressive rule of the mestizo trader, and form- 
ing contracts with them, at prices agreed upon, for 
a certain number of years. 

[The backward condition of agriculture proceeds] 
(2) from the lack of great agricultural establish- ^ 
^ ments. One of the causes for this is the fact that the 
capital of the islands, which ought to be employed 
for that object, has been diverted by the commerce of 
India, China, and Nueva Espafia, which offers 
greater and quicker profits. The religious orders 
administer their estates as in mortmain, or by ec- 
clesiastical rules. The Indians cultivate, not from ^ 
inclination but through necessity, the little plots of 
ground on which they have fixed their abodes. They ^ 
lack the buildings and appliances necessary for the 
preparation of the little sugar and indigo that they 
collect; and from that results the wretched and un- 
reliable quality of those articles which so discredits 
them in the trade. They lack also the capital to in-*^ 
cur the expenses of a regular plantation, and these 
enterprises require costly outlays at the start But 
this cause of backwardness would be remedied by 
the impulse which would be given to commerce by 
the exportation of native products, which would at- 
tract to agriculture the capital which it has hitherto 
lacked, and by the special protection which the gov- 
ernment can grant to large capitalists who may de- 
vote themselves to agriculture. 



1801-1840I REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 247 

(3) From the ignorance of the Indians, not only 
of the various methods of making plantations, but of 
the means of preparing the raw materials for their 
employment in the trade- a cause which is so univer- 
sal and so mischievous that the agricultural products 
of Filipinas, which ought to be, on account of their 
excellent character and the extent of territory of the 
islands, commodities which should supply all the*^ 
markets of Europe and hold the first rank in quality, 
are the most scarce in general commerce, and more- 
over lowest in price, as I am going to prove by some 
instances. The sugar of Filipinas is today the most 
important commodity for exportation which the 
commerce there includes. The cultivation of the 
sugar-cane cannot be improved; but the manufacture 
of the sugar is so defective that, in spite of the su- 
perior quality of the cane, the sugar which is pro- 
duced from it is inferior to that which is called ter- 
ciado [f.^., brown] at Habana. Although in the 
market of Cadiz the white sugar from Habana is 
worth thirty-two to twenty-five silver reals, and the 
brown sugar twenty-six to twenty-eight, the white sug- 
ar of Manila is worth twenty-four to twenty-five"* 
-that is, nine silver reals less than the former, and 
two or three reals less than the latter on each arroba. 
Consequently, the temporary privilege granted by 
his Majesty in exempting the products of Filipinas 
from duties is the only support of the expeditions 
which have come [thence] to the Peninsula ; and it is 
unquestionable that when that privilege ceases that 
commerce will likewise come to a complete stop. For 

^*^ Thus in text, but evidendy a clerical error by Bemaldez's 
amanuensis. A similar discrepancy is seen in the estimate of the 
trader's profitSi bdow. 



248 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

if from the twenty-four silver reals, the highest price 
at which an arroba of the Manila sugar can be sold, 
be deducted for duties eight reals and twenty-seven 
maravediSy the trader will receive a price of only 
nineteen silver reals, five cuartos; subtracting from 
this the fourteen and one-half reals of the prime cost 
' at Manila (according to the latest information re- 
ceived) J and the only profit left to him would be four 
reals, three maravedis-with which it is absolutely 
impossible for him to pay either the heavy freight 
charges on that commodity, or the interest on money 
and the insurance premiums, on a voyage three times 
as long as that from Habana. The low price [of 
sugar] in the market has no other cause than the lack 
of skill at Manila for manufacturing the sugar ; this 
art is there found entirely in its infancy, and without 
any other method than that which, since very ancient 
times, the Chinese have taught them. [The sugar- 
makers have not proper machinery or appliances, 
or the knowledge, for any of the stages of the process ; 
and their product is inferior, when it might be as 
good as that of Habana ~ or even better, if the same 
skill and care were used in making it as are used 
there. The above profit of nine reals on the ar- 
roba, if equally divided among the grower, the man- 
ufacturer, and the government (for duties which in 
that case should be imposed on the sugar), would 
yield each of them $3CX),ooo annually, on the esti- 
mated production of 1,000,000 arrobas which 
would be practicable for Filipinas-to say nothing 
of the increased benefits to the laboring class -with 
improved methods of manufacture. To secure this, 
the government must be energetic in promoting large 
establishments there, and introducing machinery and 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 249 

skilled laborers. ^^ The funds in the communal treas- 
ury of the Indians, which at the present time must 
reach about $300,000, and whose object is the benefit 
of those same Indians/^ might aid the government in 
meeting the expenses of such measures; the skilled 
artisans could instruct the Indian farmers in the new 
improved methods, and the industry would be almost 
perfected in two years' time, at very little expense. 
Bemaldez describes in similar manner the deficien- 
cies, possibilities, and needs of the indigo, coffee, and 
cacao industries, and urges the government to extend 
like care to these; what has been done thus far by 
the colonial government has been quite ineffective, 
because it has been in the form of proclamations and 
enactments which merely required small plantations 
to be made by all the inhabitants, but these failed 
because they disregarded the principles of political 
economy and made no provision for the individual 
interest of the cultivator.] There are, then, two 
means which ought to be adopted for the promotion 
of large plantations in Filipinas, incentive and in- 
struction; and for this it is necessary to grant pe- 
cuniary rewards to the agriculturists, and furnish 
them with teachers from the near-by islands of Java 
or even Bourbon, where not only coffee but cacao is 
cultivated. 

(4) And, finally, the cause which likewise exerts 
a powerful influence in [causing] the neglected and 
backward condition of agriculture is the slothfulness^ 
of the Indians and their absolute indifference to ac- 
quiring and keeping property. [This sloth is caused 
by the climate, the abundant supply of the necessities 
of life with little labor, and the hospitality which 
prevails among the natives;] and if it were not that 



250 THE PHIUPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

in the capital and its adjacent provinces there has 
now been introduced a certain degree of decency and 
[even] luxury in some families of that class, it would 
be difficult to find any one to render service or to 
practice the useful arts that are necessary in villages. 
[With a people like this, it would be hazardous to 
attempt to compel them to work ; but '^ even if they 
are naturally slothful, they have their likes and dis- 
likes ; and a wise government ought to avail itself of 
these two powerful resources to urge them to work.^' 
The Indians dislike to pay direct taxes, and hate the 
collector of these ; also they are passionately fond of 
cockfighting and spectacles of all sorts, and of office- 
holding; and if these characteristics are considered 
in the policy of the government much can be done 
to make them industrious. Bernaldez recommends: 
That a system of direct, unlimited, and regular com- 
merce be established between Espafia and Filipinas, 
for the purpose of maintaining a reliable and definite 
annual exportation of the latter's products. That 
agricultural establishments be protected by the gov- 
ernment, being allowed (although at their own ex- 
pense) the assistance of a band of irregular soldiers. 
That machines, tools, and other aids to agricultural 
production be admitted free of duties. That skilled 
workmen be taken to the islands as instructors in the 
manufacture of sugar and indigo, and cultivators of 
coffee, etc., with their machinery and tools ; their sal- 
aries for three years and their transportation to Ma- 
nila being paid from the communal funds of the 
Indians. That large rewards be paid to the farmers 
who shall make large plantations of coffee and other 
useful trees or establish the silk industry. That the 
owners of these large plantations shall be allowed to 



1801.1840I REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 25 1 

keep on their lands each a cockpit for his laborers, 
free of expense. That groups of Indians, Chinese, 
and mestizos, limited to twenty families each, who 
shall maintain an indigo or sugar plantation of a 
certain extent in good condition, shall be relieved 
from paying the tribute so long as the plantation is 
kept up. That every Indian who works for wages 
during five consecutive years, to the satisfaction of 
his employer, shall' be perpetually exempted from 
tribute, the employer paying the laborer's tax for 
twenty years. That the Indians and mestizos who 
cultivate large plantations on their own account shall 
have the preference for the offices in their respective 
villages. That the government of Filipinas take 
measures to avoid frauds in connection with these 
proposed changes.] 

Of the anfion, or opium 

[Bernaldez describes the efforts made by the Eng- 
lish East India Company to import opium into 
China, although against the will of the Chinese gov- 
ernment, and states that a certain amount is smuggled 
into Manila to supply the Chinese settled in Fili- 
pinas; he supposes that the prohibition of this trade 
in the islands arose from the fear of the governors 
that the Indians would become habitual users of this 
drug and thus be injured; but in his experience of 
seventeen years in various judicial positions in Fili- 
pinas he has never seen a scandalous case of opium 
inebriacy among the Chinese of Luzon, nor any In- 
dian brought into court for using the drug; and " the 
Indians without exception regard the use of opium 
with the utmost indifference and contempt" He 
thinks that it should not be prohibited in Filipinas, 



252 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 5' 

since its use appears not to injure the Chinese there, 
or to be necessary for the Indians ; while the islands] 
ought not to be deprived of a revenue that is exceed- 
ingly lucrative for agriculture, commerce, and the 
treasury; of an article which in the order of nature 
ought to be exclusively for the trade and benefit of 
the islands ; and a means by which the Manila com- 
merce would draw great wealth from China, turning 
in its favor, and with large sales, the balance of trade 
with that empire, which is now and always has been 
against Manila. A chest of opium, weighing one 
pico of Filipinas or 100 cates of China (each of 22 
onzas), would probably cost the Manila "grower for 
all expenses at most 100 pesos ; and its value in China 
is usually 1,400 to 1,600 pesos. Add to this advantage 
that of the large and secure market which Filipinas 
has close at hand, since there would be annually con- 
sumed in China more than eight millions pesos^ worth 
of this article from the islands ; this would permit all 
the extension which they choose to give to the cultiva- 
tion.of this article. And if 8,000 chests of opium 
produced in Filipinas would yield in China 12,000,- 
000 dollars, the royal exchequer, which ought to se- 
cure its proportion of the great advantages to agri- 
culture and commerce, could without any difficulty 
load that product with a duty so considerable that it 
would produce four to six millions of pesos a year. 
[Bernaldez therefore recommends: That the gov- 
ernment, without abrogating the present prohibition 
of the importation and use of opium in the islands, 
give free permission to capitalists to cultivate the 
poppy and export opium from Filipinas; that the 
poppy-fields be close to the capital and enclosed ; that 
the harvest be superintended by trustworthy persons 



1801-1840I REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 253 

from the revenue service, as is that of tobacco; and 
that the entire product be deposited in the magazines 
of the custom-house. That at the time of its exporta- 
tion a duty of 25 per cent be collected on the value 
of the opium, at the prices current in China. That 
the concession of raising opium should be granted by 
preference to the planters who already are maintain- 
ing large plantations of sugar, indigo, coffee, and 
other useful products.] 

Of the cotton manufactures 

The Madrast commerce annually carries into Fili- 
pinas fabrics of cotton, called cambayas, to the value 
of $300,000 to $350,000, a sum which the traders 
carry back to their own country in cash, without tak- 
ing away any natural or industrial product of Fili- 
pinas. Likewise the Chinese carry into the islands 
annually, by means of their champans, cotton fabrics 
with the names of mania Hipo, Chuapo, and others, 
to the value of $300,000, nearly all of which sum they 
carry back to their own country in cash. The Ar- 
menians of India and the Chinese had likewise the 
control, from the time of the conquest of the islands, 
of importing into them annually the enormous quan- 
tity of small cotton articles [paHuelos'] and ordinary 
cambayas which the natives of the country consume^ 
until intercourse with those coasts was interrupted in 
the late war with Inglaterra. Then necessity and the 
high price of those goods induced the natives of Fili- 
pinas to manufacture them, and in such abundance 
that the ships which arrived at Manila, after the 
peace, with those commodities suffered great loss; 
and, from that time the importation of those fabrics 
ceased, and the natives continued to manufacture them 



254 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

in the country. This has not been the case, however, 
with the fine cambayas and kerchiefs from Madrast, 
nor with the cotton fabrics from China; for the 
former are dyed with the beautiful and permanent 
Indian colors, furnished by certain plants which are 
to this day unknown in Filipinas, and the latter [are 
desired] on account of the very low prices at which 
the Chinese sell them. Thus, although various man- 
ufacturers of Manila have attempted to weave and 
dye that class of goods, they have not obtained favor- 
able results, and have abandoned to the Armenians 
and Chinese the exclusive provision of Filipinas with 
those commodities. It seems impossible that a col- 
ony in which is produced cotton of a quality superior 
to that of all the other colonies in Asia, whose natives 
are industrious, and where the general consumption of 
the country offers a large and sure market for cotton 
fabrics, must be dependent for its supply on foreign 
manufacturers, and carry on with them a conunerce 
which is one-sided Ipasivo] and ruinous. Neverthe- 
less, the causes of this incongruity lie in the great 
population of India and China as compared with 
that of Filipinas, which causes the wages paid for the 
spinning of the thread (and it is this item which in- 
creases or diminishes the cost of the woven goods) 
to be very low ; in the enormous crops of cotton which 
those countries produce as compared with that of 
Filipinas, which abundance causes a diminution in 
the price of the raw material there; and, finally, in 
the superiority of the dyes of India, which no colony 
has been able thus far to imitate. 

In order to compensate for the cheapness of hand 
labor in the great populations of India and China, 
it is necessary that in Filipinas cotton-spinning ma- 



1801.1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 255 

chinery should be introduced, and that this project 
be encouraged by all means ; that instructors in weav- 
ing and dyeing cambayas and kerchiefs be taken 
thither from Madrast, who shall at the same time in- 
troduce into Filipinas a knowledge of the plants from 
which the Oriental dyes are obtained, with the meth- 
ods of planting and cultivating these - meeting this 
expense from the communal funds of the Indians. 
[These measures, and the promotion already urged 
for large plantations of cotton, would furnish em- 
ployment to many natives of Filipinas, and ^^ place 
in circulation within the country itself the $650,000 
which annually are carried out of it in hard money 
to foreign lands for the value of the cambayas and 
other fabrics imported into it" Moreover, a new 
and important line of goods would be added to the 
exports of Filipinas in these fine cotton fabrics, 
which would be equal to those of India and even 
cheaper; while the islands can always supply their 
own coarse cottons much more cheaply than these 
can be manufactured in Espafia, an industry which 
should therefore be fostered in Filipinas. These 
coarse commodities could thus be supplied also to 
Espafia, more cheaply than they can be manufactured 
there; thus Spanish commerce would be lib- 
erated from its present dependence upon for- 
eign countries for them, and the money paid for 
them would instead go into the hands of Spaniards, 
in Spanish possessions. To secure these ends, the 
government of Filipinas should be cautious in impos- 
ing import duties on the fine foreign goods, gradually 
increasing them according to the ability of Philip- 
pine manufacturers to displace foreign goods by na- 
tive products. Bernaldez therefore recommends: 



256 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 5^ 

That encouragement and rewards be conferred on 
those who introduce cotton-spinning machinery ; that 
instructors in weaving and dyeing be brought from 
India, as above mentioned ; that the manufacture of 
coarse cotton fabrics in the islands be promoted; that 
duties on the fine goods should be gradually in- 
creased; that raw cotton be permitted free exporta- 
tion from the islands ; and that the authorities of the 
exchequer there confer on these matters with the local 
manufacturers and merchants.] 

Of the means for establishing regular communication 
and frequent and permanent mercantile relations 
between Espatia and the Filipinos Islands. 

[The writer urges the necessity of more interest 
and care for the needs of the islands, and action by 
the Spanish government in their behalf, if they are 
to be retained as a Spanish possession. For this pur- 
pose a regular commerce with the islands should be 
maintained, sufficient to keep twelve ships in constant 
employment, six sailing for the islands every year; 
and thus could be kept in efficient condition the large 
force (more than one thousand two hundred) of gov- 
ernment employees in all the departments of the 
island service. He warns the ministry against plans 
which may be proposed by selfish interests and in- 
trigues, for leaving the islands in their present pov- 
erty and isolation from the mother country. The 
commercial interests of the latter should unite to 
carry on this work, partly for their own profit, partly 
as a matter of patriotism. ^^The Filipinas Islands 
ought to be the center of the Spanish government's 
power in Asia, the great market for Spanish com- 
merce," and the source of enormous revenues to the 



I 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS ^57 

Spanish treasury; they should be to Espafta what In- 
dia is to England, and are even more capable, by 
their natural endowments, of being a source of power 
and opulence to the mother country. Spanish com- 
merce is being greatly injured by the restrictions laid 
upon trade with the countries of Asia, and the treas- 
ury should adjust the duties it exacts to those of other 
countries; this would put an end to the smuggling 
which wastes more than half of its revenues under 
the present system, cheapen prices, increase the con- 
sumption of goods, and augment the revenues of the 
crown. Beraaldez compares the restrictive Spanish 
policy with that pursued by the Dutch and Eng- 
lish in Asia, the latter being '^ based on the principle 
of maintaining and protecting their principal pos- 
sessions in those regions ;" and illustrates this by allu- 
sion to their leading colonies, while he censures 
Spain's negligence and folly in regard to Filipinas, 
and her apathy in allowing foreign nations to seize 
her commerce. The royal decree of January 10, 
1820, although aiding Philippine commerce only as 
a temporary measure, has already done much for the 
islands ; their commerce with Espafia has placed in 
circulation considerable quantities of capital, and 
has increased the products of agriculture and the ex- 
portation of these from Manila to such a degree that 
their value has risen to almost double what it was 
before. This has been mutually beneficial to both 
countries ; but the colony ^^ will become the victim of 
this very prosperity '' unless the home government 
shall grant certain exemptions and privileges to ren- 
der it permanent and solid. The present restrictions 
on Spanish commerce prevent the exportation of sil- 
ver to Filipinas, and enable the foreigners to monop- 



25 8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

olize the trade of the islands in iron, wine, brandy, 
paper, and other wares which, being Spanish prod- 
ucts, ought to be furnished by Spanish merchants- 
who, in this fettered condition, are "unable to find 
any way of placing funds in Manila for the purchase 
of their cargoes." Moreover, " the premiums on in- 
surance have been considerably increased for [vessels 
bearing] the Spanish flag, on account of the risk from 
the insurgent corsairs; and these same risks compel 
the merchants to increase, for their part, the expenses 
for the armament and crews of their ships." The 
merchants of Manila have only two commodities to 
offer to Spanish trade, sugar and indigo, and the 
latter of these is not practicable for the sole lading of 
a vessel; while if the sugar crop should fail, those 
merchants are left without other resource, to say 
nothing of the uncertainty in prices caused by that 
in the number of foreign customers who will arrive 
at Manila. The Spanish government, therefore, 
" should open to the commerce of Espafia with Fili- 
pinas a wider range of objects in all the productions 
of India and China, both natural and industrial, in 
which commerce can engage in speculation and with 
which it can furnish cargoes for its ships;" for the 
trade in sugar alone is far too inadequate and uncer- 
tain to support the ships needed for the maintenance 
and protection of Filipinas. Bemaldez urges forci- 
bly such action by the government, and makes these 
recommendations: That Spanish ships be allowed 
to trade with Filipinas, without any restrictions or 
duties, save that on foreign goods carried by them a 
duty of ten per cent be paid, and five per cent on 
arrival at Manila. That returns from these consign- 
ments which consist in products of Filipinas shall be 
free from any duties or imposts whatsoever, at either 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN HLIPINAS 259 

end of the voyage or on their circulation in Espafia. 
That ships may complete their cargoes at Manila, if 
they wish, with any products of India, China, and 
other Asiatic countries, to the extent of 30 toneladas 
of lading for every 100 toneladas of Philippine prod- 
ucts carried in the vessel ; these foreign goods shall 
pay ten per cent duty at Manila, and ten per cent on 
reaching the Spanish ports, reckoned on the cost of 
the goods at Manila as shown by the official registers. 
Any ship-owner who shall have carried only Spanish 
goods to Filipinas and Philippine products on the 
return trip shall be given the right to make another 
voyage to the ports of India or China, carrying the 
goods most suitable for those markets and returning 
to Espafia with white cotton stuffs and other goods at 
their pleasure. In these latter voyages, Spanish 
products carried to Asia shall be exempt from all du- 
ties; and foreign products carried thither shall pay a 
duty of ten per cent on the values in the general tar- 
iffs; and Asiatic goods brought back to Espafia shall 
pay the same rate on the first cost in Asia, as shown 
by the original invoices. That silver may be freely 
exported from Espafia for all these trading expedi- 
tions, by paying two per cent And that the ship- 
ments of moneys due from the colonial revenues to 
the Spanish government be made through the Span- 
ish ships which shall be at Manila at the beginning 
of the monsoon, in proportion to their respective 
tonnage.] 

Of the necessity of forming a special code of laws for 
the Filipinas Islands; and of ordaining that a pe- 
riodical visitation of that colony be made by of- 
ficials from the Peninsula. 

[Such visitation should be made] every five years, 



26o THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL $1 

by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the 
purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws 
are fulfilled, and the conduct of government em- 
ployees of all classes ; to examine the progress made 
in all the branches of administration, and matters 
that are worthy of reform; to make provisional ar- 
rangements for these, according to the instructions 
that shall be entrusted to them ; and to furnish infor- 
mation to his Majesty's government, from their posi- 
tive knowledge and examination of the facts. The 
climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, 
and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from 
those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands 
\ are governed. Although they form a naturally agri- 
cultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to 
the nature and resources of the country. The ad- 
ministration of justice demands many modifications 
of the general laws; and the institutions of the mu- 
nicipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to 
those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the 
beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, 
on account of the character of the persons who in 
Manila compose that class of corporations, and of 
their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of 
theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced 
to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which 
is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of 
learning; and in their places be substituted chairs 
of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and com- 
merce-throwing open the colleges and universities 
of Espafia to the natives of Filipinas who desire to 
cultivate the former branches. In the laws which 
regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties -in 
short, in all which has been adopted from other coun- 



1801-1840] REFCAMS IN FILIPINAS ^6 1 

tries and another condition of human life -there is 
a certain discord with the character, usages, and cus- 
toms of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is nec- 
essary to correct A periodical visitation by officials 
experienced in affairs, would set everjrthing in mo- 
tion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct 
the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased 
in proportion to the distances from the center of gov- 
ernment), and furnish to this government accurate 
and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a 
great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on 
affairs of government in the colonies from the in- 
formation furnished by their authorities and corpo- 
rations; they are always prone to support their own 
jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter 
these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartial- 
ity. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleas- 
ures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest 
in a small population of Spaniards -all these things 
cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the 
domination of private interests. Points of mere eti- 
quette, questions of little importance to the [royal] 
service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) 
between married persons -it has been mainly these 
things which for many years have filled the official 
correspondence of the colonies and kept their au- 
thorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are 
touched upon in this writing are either absolutely un- 
known to the government, or have not been discussed 
with the specifications and explanations which their 
importance deserves. 

I have explained to your Excellency impartially 
the causes which antagonize the security and prog- 
ress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellency 



<' 



262 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

will recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have 
here set down, that in that colony there exist the 
elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, 
and to distribute its wealth throughout Espafia, in- 
creasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your 
Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and 
solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you 
recognize that this is the great art of government and 
of political economy. I have endeavored not to em- 
barrass myself with the examination of one-sided and 
isolated questions, but rather to rise to the compre- 
hension of the axioms and general principles which 
would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of 
the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for 
their advancing prosperity. 

It has already been made evident by melancholy 
experience that the governmental measures adopted 
since the conquest of the colonies have not been 
suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either 
to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which 
have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to 
change the system without loss of time. This great 
reform will assuredly be the work of the present 
enlightened government of his Majesty, and the 
future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the 
grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 
1827. 

Most excellent Sir, 

Manuel Bernaldez Pizarro 

[Here follows a ^^ resum6 of the measures proposed 
in this memorial,'^ which we have already presented 
by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At 
the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in 
the public revenues of the islands provided the re- 
forms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.] 



i8oi-x84o] REFORMS IN FILIPINA8 263 

[Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. 
Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar 
scope to this ; it is signed with the initials ^' P. de S. 
M./' and is addressed to the Spanish minister Bal- 
lesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, 
that his paper is the fruit of his many years of prac- 
tical experience and observation, being actively en- 
gaged in commerce from Manila throughout the 
Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign 
colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of Amer- 
ica ; and that he has written this paper ^^ in the short 
time since he knew the charge given to Sefior Ber- 
naldez." He sends it to the minister to be laid before 
'^the junta extraordinaria (or special committee) 
which at that time was considering the judicious in- 
formatory report of the auditor Seftor Bernaldez Fol- 
gueras in regard to the protection and preservation 
of the Filipinas Islands ; " and he offers to appear be- 
fore the committee in person, to give any further in- 
formation or explanation which may be desired. He 
states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician ; and he 
displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and 
prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, " Im- 
partial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled 
among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of 
the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means 
which he deems most suitable for making them pro- 
ductive to the central government, and for restoring 
them to the state which, by their advantageous loca- 
tion, they are capable of occupying." It begins by 
deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by 
the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that 
the Spanish government remedy the abuses and neg- 
ligence displayed in the administration of the colony, 
and the enormous and extravagant expenditure of 



264 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vrf. 5' 

funds in the wars against those pirates. This latter 
could be ended by effecting the conquest of Jolo, 
Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establish- 
ing therein military and agricultural colonies of 
Visayans; this, and the development of the natural 
resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add 
much to the colonial revenues. Following the ex- 
ample of the English colonies in America, and of the 
Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agri- 
culture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas 
-where much greater success can be obtained be- 
cause the native population is large and robust, and 
needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which 
fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This 
and other industries there can be promoted at the 
same time, by proper measures. The preservation of 
the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six 
thousand men from Espafta, selected carefully, should 
be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands 
being bestowed on them ; and with them should come 
commissioners of high standing and integrity to re- 
form abuses in the colony and take measures for its 
benefit. Banks should be established, currency pro- 
vided for, and facilities given to all the people for 
securing credit when needed -under the care, pro- 
tection, and partly the management of the govern- 
ment. Commerce should be made entirely free to 
the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or. 
foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs 
duties. A lottery should be established; fire and 
marine insurance companies should be protected ; all 
artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, 
should be free to settle in the islands (those who op- 
pose this show puerile fears and absurd and impolitic 



i8oi-i84o] REFORMS IN HLIPINAS 265 



notions) ; the ownership of land should be made se- 
cure and legal; waste lands should be brought under 
cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; 
such lands should be freely granted to all, whether 
natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them ; and 
intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, 
even from the public funds. The convents and cabil- 
dos which have the administration of funds de- 
posited with them for the promotion of agriculture 
should be obliged to render their accounts of these, 
and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions 
of the founders ; and the funds which were to be in- 
vested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now 
ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. For- 
eign nations should be allowed to send consuls to 
Manila, which would be a benefit not only to for- 
eigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to 
Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by for- 
eign nations. A printing-office should be established 
there, and provision be made for the publication of 
a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and 
having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies 
to furnish information of their progress and achieve- 
ments in all the useful arts. A mint should be 
erected at Manila; and the government establish- 
ments there for making cannon and gun-powder, 
which now are almost useless, should be put on an 
effective footing, and those articles should be sup- 
plied for the defense of the merchant and coasting 
vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the 
proper care of intestate property and that left to 
minors; and its administration should be regulated 
carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered 
for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Ma- 



266 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

nila and its environs should be sufficiently policed, 
and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept 
under control, and all who employ Indian servants 
should be made responsible for their conduct; and 
such servants should not be employed by any one, 
whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter 
colleges as students, without producing certificates 
k from the police department A college should be 

established in which the youth should receive in- 
struction in belles lettres, medicine, chemistry, bot- 
any, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a 
botanical garden should be made near Manila. Mar- 
tins should be introduced into Luzon, for the ex- 
termination of the locust plague. The intendancy of 
the royal exchequer should be separated from the 
office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall 
have authority to direct the affairs of the former in- 
dependently.] 

[The writer proceeds to describe the character of 
the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy col- 
ors.] It is impossible to define either the character 
of these Tag&los, or their morality -although it can 
be said that they have none ; for, although in outward 
appearance they profess the Catholic religion, in- 
wardly and in their actions they manifest that they 
follow no religion. The zeal widi which the first con- 
quistadors undertook to instruct them in the true be- 
lief has been useless; and the watchful care of the 
missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not 
ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, 
except to make of their neophytes, instead of true 
Catholics and useful members of society, a new spe- 
cies of men, who unite the slothf ulness of the savages 
to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that the 




1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 267 

Tagalos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, 
assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit 
thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even 
the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They 
lose no opportunity to make mischief among the au- 
thorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all 
classes ; and they have the cunning to throw the blame 
on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they 
perjure themselves without the least scruple; their 
telling the truth depends on their being more or less 
carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and 
unfortunate is he who summons them as his wit- 
nesses. They do not understand love, and their sensu- 
ality is carried to the extreme ; consequently they are 
cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not 

e least respect or consideration for their wives. 
Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and there- 
fore when they punish their children they do so bar- 
barously, and if they begin it in the morning they do 
not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is 
seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the 
government to teach the youth in their villages. 

The code of laws for the Indias, considering these 
Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and 
the Americas, has made them participants in the 
privileges and liberties granted to those natives ; and 
it exempts them from the penalties of which they 
render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes 
which they continually commit Incest, for example, 
is a common vice among them, for which oppor- 
tunity is given by the little privacy in which the fam- 
ilies live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all 
sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda]^ without any 
other separation from the men than merely a blanket. 



268 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. S^ 

It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and 
only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and 
apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-under- 
stood condition of neophytes, if in confession they 
should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their domi- 
nant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura 
cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satis- 
faction from them. The capital and its environs are 
the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from 
the provinces and from their villages, in order not to 
work and to relieve themselves from paying the trib- 
ute. There they devote themselves to studies in the 
colleges of Santo Tomas, San Jose, and San Juan de 
Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiv- 
ing the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; 
at the same time they are occupied as servants to the 
Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since 
they do not go to their master's house except for eat- 
ing, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do 
with astonishing dexterity) . After a little time, hav- 
ing abused the master's patience, and having violated 
his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has 
such (without respecting even those who have not 
reached the age of puberty), they end by departing 
widi the utmost coolness ; and in order to avoid rec- 
ognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they 
happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shav- 
ing the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire 
body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other 
covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Span- 
iard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does 
not think of resorting to the magistrates to make 
complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him 
justice they would, after making him spend much 



i8oi-x84o] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 269 

money, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate 
the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still 
less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to 
make public his own dishonor. Let it not be sup- 
posed that this occurs only among private persons; 
for there have been persons in authority who have 
experienced in their own houses similar acts of inso- 
lence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. 
After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said ; 
and in a very short time they are seen returning from 
Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebu, ordained as clerics, 
with what sort of character may be understood -now 
cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from 
guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the col- 
leges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, 
and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of 
folly which may easily be inferred, and which it 
would be tedious to explain here; and with their 
corrupt behavior they set an example to their pa- 
rishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness. 
[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of 
this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to 
the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their 
deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of 
books for their instruction, and tools with which to 
finish off their work; this is mainly due to their im- 
providence, ^^for an Indian, even though he is a 
doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for 
purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they 
may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs 
money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his 
missal.^' ^^ Nevertheless, they exercise all the occu- 
pations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch- 
maker, for no one would trust them [in these] ;'' but 



270 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

lack of tools prevents them from doing as good work 
as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and 
almost all the buildings are planned by them. They 
are excellent artillerists, and a French naval com- 
mander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; 
and are useful in naval fights, on account of their 
courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days' 
practice understand as much of seamanship as a Eu- 
ropean would gain in twenty years; and many of 
them have migrated from the islands as seamen on 
the ships. But they resent being called " negroes," 
and in several cases where they have been thus af- 
fronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, 
and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been 
this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rig- 
orous measures have been taken to stop it, and ^^in 
all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are 
full of gibbets on which men from Manila are 
hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no 
effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships 
have been compelled by law not to receive on their 
vessels more than four or six of these Indians." The 
Tagalos are free with their money, and readily lend 
to any European whatever they may possess. They 
take great care of their fighting cocks ("who are for 
them actual idols ") , are very temperate in eating and 
drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are 
often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well 
in it when they are supplied with better methods and 
appliances.] 

[Some account is given of the Negritos and other 
wild tribes of Luzon ; and it is stated that any colo- 
nist who wishes to settle among them will be able to 
succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise which 



1801.1840] REFORMS IN HLIPINAS 27 1 

he may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of 
the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ 
exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy 
them with matters of religion. As for the civilized 
Tagalos, their women are entirely different from the 
men ; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, 
although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in 
behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the 
crops ; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cot- 
ton and abaci; and embroider beautifully, besides 
making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, 
" if it were possible to put an end to all the men and 
leave only die women, or rather unite them to other 
men who would possess their good qualities and think 
as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most 
wealthy and fortunate country in the universe." It 
is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of 
life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to 
engage in it, after the examples furnished by the 
Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and 
other successful colonists. The writer suggests vari- 
ous means to stimulate the Indians to greater indus- 
try (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake 
work in the fields), and for the formation and man- 
agement of agricultural enterprises; he would have 
them well treated, promptly and justly paid, andi^ 
supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements.*^ 
It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes- 
mayor and other provincial officials from owning es- 
tates there, while permitting them to engage in trade ; 
this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged 
to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing 
the Indians as they have done. In forming large 
estates, provision should be made for the homes of 



272 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

the laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular 
streets, protected as far as possible from the danger 
of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts ; and from 
these should be well isolated the proprietor's dwell- 
ing, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, 
orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all 
appliances should be furnished which are desirable 
for improving the quantity and quality of the prod- 
ucts of the estate, and for providling a safe and 
abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which 
are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful direc- 
tions are given for the selection of land, the supply 
of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, pro- 
tection against storms, etc. An interesting account 
is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, rela- 
tions with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the 
hatred felt toward them by the Tagalos (resulting 
mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with 
the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they 
should be compelled to devote themselves only to 
agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon com- 
merce and business entirely. They have been very 
injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to 
be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged 
in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Span- 
« iards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch 
in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have 
made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of 
agricultural products, and have enriched both them- 
selves and the Dutch ; if they had been thus treated 
in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosper- 
ous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its 
trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the 
Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have been 



1801-1840] REFORMS IN FILIPINAS 273 

carried to Filipinas from Espafia, and spent in the 
islands, with hardly any return to the mother coun- 
try ; and the greater part of this wealth has been ab- 
sorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored 
away in that country.] 

[A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author's 
plan for the establishment of a banking system at 
Manila.] 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA 

The documents in this volume are obtained from 
the following sources : 

u Events in Fiiipinas.- Compiled from Montero 
y Vidal's Historia de Filipinos^ tomo ii, pp. 360-573 ; 
iii, pp. 6-32. 

2. Remarks on the Phillippine Islands^ 1819-22.- 
Reprinted from the original publication (Calcutta, 
1828), from a copy in the possession of Edward E. 
Ayer, Chicago. 

3. Reforms needed in Filipinos.- From two orig- 
inal MSS. in the collection of Edward E. Ayer. 

4. Representation of Filipinos in Cor/^J.- Com- 
piled from various sources, as indicated in prelimi- 
nary note. 

5. List of archbishops.-- Compiled from various 
sources, as indicated in first paragraph. 



APPENDIX 

Representation of Filipinas in Cortes. [Compiled 
from various sources.] 

List of the archbishops of Manila, 1581-1898. [Com- 
piled from various sources.] 

Sources: These appendices are obtained from various sources, 
as indicated therein; they are compiled by James Alexander 
Robertson. 



REPRESENTATION OF FILIPINAS IN 
THE SPANISH CORTES 

Preliminary Note : The account of the first two 
Cortes is drawn largely from notes made by James A. 
LeRoy from Diario de las sessiones de las Cortes 
generales y extraordinarias^ and other sources, and 
kindly sent by him to the Editors. For the first Cor- 
tes see also Montero y Vidal, Htstoria general^ ii, pp. 

388-390, 392, 396-398, 400-409, 41 1-4131 422-435i and 
Guia oficial de Espafia^ 18 13, pp. 21, 22, where the 
Philippine deputies are named. For the second 
Cortes, see also Montero y Vidal, ut supra^ ii, pp. 
444-452, 457-462, 476-481. For the third Cortes, see 
Montero y Vidal, ut supra^ ii, pp. 544, 545, 552-560, 
563-573 ; and Filipinas y su representacion en Cortes 
(Madrid, February 8, 1836), which although pub- 
lished anonymously is by Camba. 

The Cortes of 1810-1813 

Three times in their history have the Philippines 
had representation in the Spanish national Cortes,"' 

^'"The Cortesy as first known by the Spaniards, contained 
three divisions, die three estates; die ones called in the thiee 
periods above-mendoned had but one chamber; die present Cortes 
CGOtains two houses, the senate and the congress or house of 
dq>udes or rq>reKntadyes. The senate oonsistB of three divi- 
sions: senatoffs in their own right (the heir presumptive, die 



28o THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

namely, for the years 1810-1813, 1820-1823, and 
1 834- 1 837. In the first two periods is emphasized 
the backwardness of the Philippines politically as 
compared with the Spanish-American colonies. In 
all three periods, one cannot point to any single great 
measure that was enacted solely at the initiative of 
the Philippine representatives (unless with the pos- 
sible exception of the suppression of the Acapulco 
galleon), and indeed, not to a great many in which 
they took part"' 

With Fernando virtually a prisoner in France 
(where he remained for five years), the nationalists 
in Spain being without a ruler, since they refused to 
consider Joseph Bonaparte as king, organized a pro- 
visional government known as the central governing 
assembly {Junta central) ^ with headquarters in the 
south. This Junta, taking the necessary steps for the 
reorganization of government, and the calling of a 
Cortes, proceeded, on June 25, 1809, ^^ rehabilitate 
the old Consejo de Espafta, and on January 29, 18 10, 
to constitute the supreme Consejo de Regencia. The 
delegates to the first session^of the Cortes, for which 
final orders were issued by decree of June 18, 1810, 
and in which, by a decree of January 22, 1829, all 

grandees, archbishops, etc.; life senators appointed by the crown; 
and those elected by the people, half of whom are roaoovable 
every five years. Members to the lower house are elected for 
five years by electors chosen by the people. No Cortes was held 
from 1713-1789, and from the latter year until i8ia 

^^s For a good account of this period in Spain, which was 
one of great confusion, see E. W. Latimer's Spam in the nime- 
teenth century (Chicago, 1898, 3d ed.) The machinations of 
Napoleon and the other events leading up to the establishment 
of the Cortes of 1810-1813 are well and concisely narrated. 
See also Hume, Modem Spmn (New York, 1900). 



1801-1840] FILIPINAS IN CORTES 28 1 

the Spanish domain was to have equality of repre- 
sentation, assembled on the island of Leon during 
the mondi of August, 18 10. On account of the dis- 
tance of the American countries and the Philippines 
and the impossibility of regularly-appointed dele- 
gates reaching Spain in time for the opening of the 
session, substitutes were chosen from residents of 
those countries then in the Peninsula. Consequently, 
at the opening of the Cortes, September 24, 18 10, 
the Philippines were represented by Pedro Perez de 
Tagle, an officer in the corps of the Spanish Royal 
Guards, and Dr. Jose Manuel Couto, prebend of La 
Puebla. The election at Manila (held by order of 
the Regency, February 14, 1810), resulted in the 
choice of Ventura de los Reyes, a wealthy merchant 
of Manila, and on the whole an active representative, 
who, despite his seventy years, set out immediately 
for Cadiz. The two substitutes above mentioned 
took but little part in affairs.^*^ 
Several general measures enacted by the Cortes 

**^The latter, indeed, was granted permission (January 4, 
181 1) to go to Veracruz for his health; and on July 22, 1811, 
permission was given to the former to go to the Philippines on 
private business, although he was later forbidden to leave until 
the return of his colleague, as his absence before that time would 
leave the Philippines without representation. The request was 
renewed on the arrival of Reyes (December 6, 181 1), and on 
the latter's assumption of his seat (December 9), Peres de Tag^e 
was allowed to leave. On September 19, 1813, a discourse was 
pronounced at Manfla by Jose de Vergara, '' dqnity-dect for the 
province of Manila to the general Cortes," and published in diat 
year at Sampaloc The election of deputies in that year was 
regulated by a junu composed of Governor Gardoqui, Archbishop 
Juan de ZuAiga, Manud Diaz Cond£, and three others; one 
of their decisions exempted the very poor in the conununity from 
contributing to the fund raised for paying the travding and 



^ 



282 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 5' 

touch the Philippines incidentally/^ The first mat- 
ter, however, specifically connected with the Philip- 
pines was the receipt by the Cortes (March 16, 
181 1 ) of the report of the governor of the Philip- 
pines (dated August 8, 1809) in regard to the French 
vessel "Mosca," which had been captured by the 
parish priest of Batangas (Fray Melchor Fernan- 
dez) , and the despatches carried on that vessel. The 
reading on April 26, 181 2, of the proposed decree 
prescribing the manner of holding elections in the 
regular Cortes to be convened in 18 13, aroused 
lengthy discussion/^ On May 6, Reyes moved that 
a special form of election be granted for the Philip- 
pines because of their distance and the character of 
their inhabitants. The islands had neither the funds 
nor the men to send by which equality of representa- 

otber oqienKs of the deputies to the Cortes. (Vindel, CMiMogo 
Kblioteca filipina^ nos. 1874, 187s.) 

^*'Such were the decree of October 15, 1810, confirming the 
essential unity and equality of all parts of the Spanish domain; 
the abolitkxi of the quicksilver monopoly, January a6, 181 1 ; the 
proviskxial creation of a Consejo de Estado to consist of twen^ 
members (six from Ultramar), on January 21, 1812, although the 
constitution (adopted March 18, 181 2) called for one widi 
forty members (twelve from Ultramar) : the creation of the 
Secretaria del Despacho de la Gobemadon de Ultramar (April 
2, i8i2)y and the establishment of the Tribunal Supremo de 
Justida, and the suppression of the Consejos de CastiUa, IndiaSi 
and Hadenda (all of them provided fbr in the constitution); 
and the suppression of the Inquisition (Fd>ruary 22, 1813). 
The law of November 9, 1813, abolishing personal services for 
Indians and regulating public worics, seems to have been intended 
only for America. 

^** February 20, 1812, was the last meeting on the island of 
Le6n, the Cartes assembling on the twenty-fourth at the church 
of San Felipe Neri, at Cidiz. 



1801-1840I FILIPINAS IN CORTES 283 

tion would be justified, and he requested that it only 
be declared that they must not send less than two. 
An amendment offered by the committee on the Con- 
stitution proposed that to the instructions regarding 
the elections in Ultramar be added a clause to meet 
Reyes's wishes, but the matter was hotly contested by 
the American representatives who feared that such a 
clause might sometime lead to the cutting down of 
their own representation, and as a consequence the 
proposal of the committee was not voted on/" 

In January, 1813, after recommendation by the 
conunittee on Ultramar, it was resolved to grant the 
petition of the board (mesa) of the Misericordia of 
Manila (which had been hanging fire in the Cortes 
since September 25, 181 2), asking for certain re- 
forms, among them that the number of persons vot- 
ing for the electors of the board itself be reduced/** 
On January 6, 1813, the proposed ordinances for the 
hospice for the poor at Manila (the establishment of 
which was provided for by royal order of December 

^'^ The method of election for the Cortes of 1813 (decree of 
May 23, 1812) provided for a preUminaiy election board for 
each colonial province consisting of the provincial head, the arch- 
bishop, bishop, or acting archbishop, the intendant (if there were 
one), the senior alcalde, the senior regidor, the syndic procurator- 
gOieral, and two commoners (these last to be chosen by the others). 
One representative was to be chosen for each 60,000 pec^le. (See 
the essential clauses of this decree in Montero y Vidal, Historia 
general f ii, pp. 406, 407.) On the same day was also decreed the 
creation of provincial deputations, of which one was specified for 
Manila. In diis session of Cortes also, the reorganisation of the 
audiendas was decreed, but the Philippine representative seems 
to have taken no part in the ddmte. 

^*' Trouble had arisen over the adminbtration by the board of 

the otroi ^im which it was usual to loan out to those interested 
in the galleon trade. 



^84 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

27, 1806) , were declared unconstitutional by the com- 
mittee on Ultramar/** and that committee's report 
was adopted. A minute in the records of March 1 1, 
1813, shows that the suppression of the brandy mo- 
nopoly had been decreed by the governor of the Phil- 
ippines and that it could be manufactured freely in 
the provinces of Tondo^ Cavite, Bulacan, and Pam- 
panga. 

By far the most important measure affecting the 
Philippines, however, was the suppression of the 
Acapuico galleon.^** The discussion on the matter 
was lengthy and bitter, and arose over one of twelve 
propositions submitted by Reyes on February ii, 
1 81 3, to the effect that the determined suppression of 
the Acapuico galleon be published, and in its place 
those engaged in that commerce be allowed to fit up 
private vessels at their own cost to continue the trade 
with Nueva Espafta, through the ports of Acapuico, 
San Bias, or any other, under the old terms of 500,- 
000 pesos for the outgoing voyage and i ,000,000 for 
the return, and a lowering of the duties by one-half. 
The matter was debated in the presence of the secre- 
taries of the Peninsula and Ultramar, and after full 

^** These ordinances were unconstitutional because contrcd of 
the hospice was vested in a board headed by the captain-genend, 
while hy the constitution such organizations were now to be coo- 
troUed by the ayuntamientos and provindal deputations. The 
despatch regarding this matter was sent to the Cortes by the secre- 
tary of Ultramar, November 27, i8ia. 

^*^On July 7, 1 8 10, the governor of the Philippines proposed 
the suppression of the galleon, and requested permission for die 
inhabitants of the Philippines to ship goods in Spanish bottoms 
not in excess of 1,000,000 pesos. The suppression was resolved 
upon by the Cortes by article 3 of the decree of October 8, 181 1, 
regarding commerce. 



180X-1840I FILIPINAS IN CORTES 285 

discussion, in which many of the delegates took part, 
and in which the American delegates generally fa-i 
vored a liberal policy for the Philippines, the decree y 
suppressing the galleon was finally issued on Sep-/ ^ 
tember 14, 1813/" 

The special session of the Cortes closed on the date 
of the decree above, and the regular session opened 
at Cadiz, either in the latter part of September or 
the first part of October. On October 4, the last 
meeting was held in Cadiz and opened again in the 
island of Leon because of yellow fever in the former 
place. On the eighth of that month, Reyes presented 
three plans for the benefit of the agriculture, indus- 
try, commerce, and navigation of the Philippines. 
On the twenty-ninth of October meetings at the is- 
land of Leon were suspended, and resumed again in 
Madrid, on January 15, 1814. Fernando VII, re- 
leased by order of Napoleon, after the disastrous 
campaign conducted by Joseph in Spain, abolished 
the Cortes by his decree of May 4, 18 14, and on the 
publication of this decree in Madrid, on the thir- 
teenth many of the members of the Cortes were ar- 
rested, all the acts of the constitutional government 
were declared null and void, the Inquisition reestab- ^ 
lished, and absolutism was again proclaimed in 

^^'This decree (^ich is given by Montero y Vidal, His- 
toria general, ii, pp. 412, 413) states that the inhabitants of the 
Philippines may trade in Chinese and other Asiatic goods in pri* 
vate Spanish bottoms with the ports of Acapulco and San Bias 
in Nueva Espafia, under the old terms of 300,000 pesos for the 
outgoing and 1,000,000 pesos for the return voyage. If the port 
of Acapulco be closed, they may trade at Sonsonate. For four 
years the lower rates of duties granted by Cirlos IV by decree of 
October, 1806, are continued. Boletas, or tickets granting lading 
space, are to be furnished no longer. 



286 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

Spain. Oa the publication of the decree in the Phil- 
ippineSy the Ilocans, deeming it only a ruse of die 
governor^ revolted, sacked churches and convents, and 
destroyed public records. Their insurrection was 
directed chiefly against their own principales and 
their wives."* 

The Cortes of 1820-1823 

After vainly endeavoring to rule as an absolute 
monarch, Fernando VII was compelled to convoke 
the Cortes by his decree of March 6, i820.^** On 



hl,ll)ll V II (Iti)' 



^*' In accordance with a royal order of June 17, 
the representatives of the colonies to report the petitions pending, 
or which had not been moved, that had for their object the wel- 
fare of the colonies, Reyes petitioned the suppression of the Aca- 
pulco galleon; permission of 1,000,000 pesos for the outgoing, 
and 2,000,000 pesos for the return vosrage; unlimited eztensioa 
of the lower duties conceded October 4, 1806; one or two Peru- 
vian ports open to the commeroe of the islands; that natives of 
the islands be alloM^ to export goods in Spanish bottoms to any 
point of the Spanish monarchy free of export and import duties; 
trade on the northwest coast of America with Spaniards; and that 
the permission be conceded to bring back all unsold goods (io 
addition to the amount of imports allowed), on payment to the 
treasury of a 6 per cent duty. The answers to these requests 
were as follows: the Acapulco ship was suppressed by order of 
April 23, 1 815; permission of export to the value of 750,000 
pesos; the ports of Callao and Guayaquil thrown open to P&tlip- 
pine trade; tra£Sc with the Spaniards on the northwest coast of 
America; permission to bring back unscrfd goods to the extent of 
one-third the amount of imports allowed, paying ten per cent 
duty for such excess; and free trade for Philippine products at 
any port of the monarchy in Spanish bottoms for ten years. 

^** On the seventh he took tiie oath to observe the Constitu- 
tion of 1812 ; and on the tenth, by a decree ordered the reestablirii- 
ment of the Secretaria del Despachd de la Gobemaddn, the first 
acts of which were the promulgation of the Gmstitution of i8i2> 



i8oi-i84o] FILIPINAS IN CX)RTES 287 

the twenty-second the regular session of the Cortes 
for 1 820- 1 82 1 was formally summoned, the colonies 
being allowed to be represented by substitutes pend- 
ing the arrival of regularly-elected representatives. 
At the first preliminary meeting of June 26, the two 
Philippine substituteS|^^ Jose Maria Arnedo and 
Manuel Felix Camus y Herrera, presented their cre- 
dentials. The Cortes were declared open on July 9. 
Matters of trade and commerce, involving the ques- 
tion of duties/** were of paramount interest, so far 
as the Philippines are concerned, although the mat- 
ters of elections, revenues, and ecclesiastical afiFairs 
were debated at some length. From July 18 to Octo- 
ber 19, were considered at intervals the privileges and 
monopolies of the Compailia de Filipinas, which 
were abolished by a decree of the latter date.^** Sev- 

and the reestablisbment of all the organisms created hy the Q>rtes 
of 1810-1813. 

^^ Apparently appointed by the Secretary of Ultramar. Their 
credentiak were approved at the third preliminary meeting of 
July 5 or 6. 

***A general decree of October 5, 1820, ordered a uniform 
and general schedule of duties for the Peninsula and Ultramar; 
but diis law was modified by another law of December 20, 1821, 
recognizing the impracticability of uniformiQr of duties for Spain 
and the coloniesi and providing diat the schedule be uniform 
cxcq>t for the differences rendered necessary in the provinces of 
Ultramar. 

^^ The secretary of Hacienda considered the privileges of the 
company for the importation of cotton goods as unconstitutional 
and contraxy to the prosperity of national manufactures. At tBe 
meeting of August 18, it developed diat the company had trana- 
ferred its monopoly to a foreign merchant of Cidis. The com- 
pany was allowed to present its argument, but the report of the 
committees on Commerce and Hacienda was adopted. Later the 
company presented a petition requesting the liquidation of the 



288 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

eral decrees and orders of November 9 (oa which 
date the first session of the Cortes ended) , afiFecting 
trade and looking toward the development of the 
colonies, were issued/** 

At the opening of the new session of the Cortes, 
the Philippine substitutes of the previous session 
held over."* An order *•* of March 22 decided that 

government's indebtedness to it, the privilege of selling its stock 
of cotton goods, and various other concessions incident to the dos- 
ing up of its afiEairs. This petition, sent to the Cortes by the secre- 
tary of Hadenda, was referred to the committee on Commerce 
on November 2. On the fifth, a petition was presented by the 
Philippine representatives and Gregorio Gonzales Azaolo, of Se- 
villa, asking that the prohibition of the importation of cotton 
goods should not affect the Philippines until the industry was de- 
vdoped or established in those islands. This petition having been 
referred to the committees on Commerce and Hadenda, thdr 
report on November 8 recommended the opening of the Oriental 
trade to all Spaniards trading in Spanish bottoms. This recom- 
mendation was embodied in ardde 3 of the decree of November 
9, specifying the kinds of goods which Spanish ships trading by 
the Cape of Good Hope could introduce into Spain or SpanUi 



^*^ The decrees of the Diarios de las Cortes show no decree of 
this date confirming a previous decree of March 7, 1820, granting 
exemption of duties for ten years on natural and industrial prod- 
ucts of the Philippines, when imported in Spanish bottoms into 
the Peninsula, as declared by Montero y VidaL The decree of 
December 21, 1820, providing for the abolition of the monopoly 
on tobacco and salt after Mardi i, 1821, and providing customs 
and consumption duties, seems not to have affected the Philippines; 

^** In October, 1820, the preliminary board for the election 
of representatives was organized in Manfla, but inasmuch as the 
dections were not hdd until after the Constitution had been 
sworn to in Manila in May, 1821 (and later in the provinces), 
no regularly-elected representatives were present at the second 
session. 

*•• Wrongly called a decree by Montero y VidaL This order 



i8oi-i84ol FILIPINAS IN CORTES 289 

the vice- royalties, captaincies-general, etc., were not 
to be filled for stated periods, but incumbents were to 
hold them at the will of the king. Of great impor- 
tance was the approval on June 30, of a petition pre- 
sented by Araedo on June 16 asking for direct mails 
between Spain and the Philippines under charge of 
the navy department. On that same date the report 
of the committee on Hacienda on the estimated bud- 
get for the Ministry of Ultramar for 1822 (over 330,- 
000 reals more than that of 1821), aroused consid- 
erable discussion, especially among the American 
delegates."* A decree of June 29 provided for pub- 
lic schools and provincial universities, of which Ma- 
nila was to have one. This decree provided for 
schools and courses much ahead of anything in the 
islands, but it remained a dead letter because of the 

was addressed to the Secretary of War in answer to a question 
raised by the Council of War. 

^^^The special discussion arose over the item of 50,000 reab 
for missions and a note in the report reflecting on the native 
clergy in the Philippines. Some of the Americans, who were 
quite fully imbued with the free thought of the French phil- 
06q[>hical school, declared for the suppression of the missionaries 
(meaning friars), inasmuch as they were useless and even harm- 
ful. The committee answered this by asserting that the mission- 
aries in the Philippines were used by the government as civil and 
political agents, and that they did do much good work in their 
own legitimate line. The passage concerning the incapacity of the 
native clergy was meant to apply to the Philippines alone, but 
if desired it could be removed as it was not essential to the report. 
An American repres e n tative moved diat the 50,000 reab be used 
in the establishment of normal schoob in Ultramar. The Philip- 
pine representatives seem to have taken no part in the ddmte 
except that Camus y Herrera moved that the obnoxious clause 
concerning the Filipino dergy be stricken out. The report was 
accepted as read. 



290 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. S' 

Speedy suppression of the constitution/^^ This ses- 
sion of the Cortes closed on June 30. 

The preliminary meeting of a special session was 
held on September 22, 1821, at which the above two 
Philippine substitutes were approved/^' Camus y 
Herrera was one of a committee chosen on the twen- 
ty-third, to inform the king that the Cortes was ready 
to open the session, which accordingly was opened 
next day. On November 4, the Philippine govern- 
ment and governor were arraigned by representa- 
tive Lallave of Veracruz for electing only four in- 
stead of the twenty-five representatives to whom they 
were entitled. Discussion of this matter resulted in 
the Cortes directing the Minister of Ultramar (Feb- 
ruary II, 1822), that the Philippines, notwithstand- 
ing claims of distance and poverty, were to elect their 
whole quota to Cortes. At the secret session of Feb- 
ruary 12, 1822, it was decided to allow Araedo.and 

^^^ Eacb university was to have a public libraiy, a drawing 
school, a chemical laboratory, cabinets of physics, natural histoxy, 
and industrial products, another of models of machines, a botan- 
ical garden, and an experiment farm. The university to be estab- 
lished in Manila was to have theological and law courses for the 
doctorate. Manila was also to have a medical school, a sdiool 
for veterinaiy medicine, a school of fine arts, and commercial and 
nautical schook. Professorships were to be filled by competitioii, 
and those for the Philippines were to be examined by persons des- 
ignated by the Subdirection of Studies in Mexico. Girls were 
to be tau^t to read, write, and cipher; while the oLder female 
students were to be taught the work suitable to their sex. This 
matter of education for girls was left to the provincial depu- 
tations. 

^^' On the twenty-third there was a discussion as to the l^ality 
of the substitutes for the representatives of Ultramar being allowed 
to hold over; and it was finally declared that only those for the 
Philippines and Peru could sit during this session. 



i8oi.x84oJ nUPINAS IN CORTES ^9 ^ 

Camus y Herrera (in view of a petition presented 
by them on the eighth, and because of their pressing 
need), to draw a sum sufficient to meet their needs 
and the debts that they had been obliged to contract 
in the performance of their duties, from the money 
sent by the provincial deputation of Manila (24,500 
pesos) for the regularly-elected Philippine repre- 
sentatives of the next session. This special session 
closed February 14. 

The first preliminary meeting of the regular ses- 
sion was held February 15, at which Vicente Posada, 
a former magistrate of the Manila Audiencia, pre- 
sented himself as a regularly-elected representative 
from the Philippines. He was not, however, allowed 
to take his seat in this session, which opened formally 
on March 7, and closed on July 30, as it was claimed 
that his resignation had not been confirmed and that 
he was consequently still a government employe/^' 
During this session, a clause of a decree of June 28 
ordered the encouragement of visits to Cuba, Porto 
Rico, and the Philippines by naturalists for the pur- 
pose of study. 

At the first preliminary meeting of the special ses- 
sion, held October i, 1822, Francisco Bringas y Ta- 
ranco, ex-alcalde-mayor of Ilocos, the deputy elect 

^^*This exclusion was in aooordance with a decision of the 
committee on Credentials handed in Fd>ruai7 11, 1822, to the 
effect that government emplcqres did not cease to be such until 
dieir resignations were accepted by the government. Posada did 
not present his credentials at the meeting of February 15, declar- 
ing diat they had been robbed with his baggage en route from 
Cidiz to Madrid. He did present them, however, at the next 
meeting of Fd>ruary 2a At the third and fourth prdimiiuuir 
meetings (February 22 and 24) the mi|^er was debated, and he 
was excluded on the grounds of being still a govemment employe. 



29* THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS lY^- 5' 

for Nueva Segovia, Manuel Saenz de Vizmanos, 
senior accountant of the Tribunal de Cuentas of the 
Philippines, and Posada, presented their credentials, 
which were approved on October 3, although Posada 
was again contested. At the preliminary meeting 
held on the fourth complaint was made that the Phil- 
ippines had elected but four deputies instead of 
twenty-five."* The session which opened on Octo- 
ber 7 closed on February 19, 1823, without any ac- 
tion having been taken by the Philippine representa- 
tives. 

The regular session opened on March i, 1823, at 
Madrid, but the absolutists gaining control through 
the invasion of the French, nothing was done in this 
session, and the Cortes, which had been compelled 
to flee first to Sevilla and then to Cadiz, were finally 
dissolved by Fernando on October i, who declared 
all their acts from March 7, 1820, to that time null 
and void. Posada was one of those condemned by 
Fernando after his entrance into Madrid, for his 
liberal tendencies. By decree of December 25, 1823, 
Fernando communicated to America and the Phil- 
ippines the reestablishment of absolutism, the sup- 
pression of the Constitution of 181 2, and the aboli- 
tion of all the organisms inaugurated during the con- 
stitutional regime.^^' 

^^* Foreman states wrongly (p. 362, e<L of 1906) that seven- 
teen deputies were elected and sat during the Cortes of 1820-23, 
and he names eight of them. He may have confused the names of 
doctors with those of r ep r e sen tatives. The four elected (of whom 
only three are known) were perhaps elected for the districts of 
the archiepiscopal see and the diree suffragan sees of the Philip- 
pines; although Montero y Vidal says diat both Saenz de Vie- 
manos and Posada were elected from Nueva Caceres. 

^^* Although a provincial deputation had been organised in 



1801-1840I FILIPINAS IN CORTES ^93 

The Cortes of 1834-1837 

The third Cortes of 1834-37 ^^^^ called after the 
death of Fernando VII, which occurred September 
29, 1833, when the liberals again demanded conces- 
sions and a constitutional government."* The ship 
''Santa Ana" sailing from Cadiz, August 28, 1834, 
reached Manila with official orders and the sum- 
mons to the Cortes ;"^ which having been called for 
July 24, 1834 (by decree of May 10), had already 
convened. The election for the Philippine repre- 
sentatives (March i, 1835)"' resulted in the choice 

Manila in 1822, almost its only act was to petition (April 12, 
1823) for more missicmaries. 

^** Fernando's infant daughter, Isabel II, ascended the throne 
under the regiency of her mother Maria Cristina. Through the 
efforts of the liberals, six important decrees were passed March 
24, 1834: suppression of the Consejo de Estado, during the 
minority of the queen; suppression of the Gxisejos de Castilla 
and de Indias, in whose place was established a Tribunal Superior 
de EspaAa e Indias ; suppression of the Gxisejo Supremo de Guerra, 
and in its place the establishment of the Tribunal Supremo de 
Guerra y Marina y de Extranjeria; suppression of the Consejo 
Supremo de Hacienda, replacing it by a Tribunal Supremo de 
Hacienda; an order to the Secretary of the Despacho de Grada 
y Justida to propose the new organization of the G>n8ejo Real 
de las Ordenes; and the institution of a G>nsejo Real de EspaAa 
c Indias to have general supervision of American and Philippine 
matters. 

"^ The first news of reform and the fact that the new G)rtes 
were to be summoned was received unofficially at Manila by a 
Um'ted States ship sailing from Cidiz in June, 1834, ^uid reaching 
Manila toward the end of the same year. 

"* No provision was made in the third G>rtes for substitute 
representation for Ultramar (except in the decree of August 21, 
1836, calling a G>rtes for October 24 under the rules of the 
Constitution of 181 2), which is in point with the ignorance mani- 



294 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS , [Vol. 51 

of Brigadier Andres Garcia Camba,"* and Licentiate 
Juan Francisco Lecaros (or Lecaroz)^**-the first a 
resident of Manila (formerly a resident in Nueva 
Espafta), and the second the Madrid agent for the 
Manila Ayuntamiento. Camba sailed for Cadiz on 
the '^ Santa Ana" on March 21, and arrived in Spain 
August zOy 1835, after the end of the first session of 
the Cortes. That session imposed a special tax on 
certain classes of financial documents, which affected 
all the Spanish domains ; and which was sanctioned 
by the regent, May, 1835, and communicated to the 
Philippines on June z. 

The new session was set in a meeting of the Con- 
sejo de Ministros (September 28, 1835) for Novem- 
ber 16, 1835. The first preliminary meeting was 
held on November 1 2, at which the Philippine rep- 
resentatives presented their credentials, being duly 
confirmed on the meeting of the fourteenth, although 
Camba was contested by one Manuel Cacho of Ma* 



fested thioughout this period by the oflkials at Madrid with 
regard to the Philippines. This aooounts for the islands having 
no representation for some of the sessions of the Cortes. 

^^* Andr^ Garcia Camba resided in ManOa during 1825-35, 
and became so popular that he was elected a deputy to the Spanish 
Cortes; he was afterward (August, 1837-December, 1838) gor- 
emor of the Philippines, and wrote a book (published at Cidis, 
1839) regarding his experiences while holding that office. Him- 
self liberally inclined, he was constantly opposed by reactionary 
influences. Although his name does not iQ>pear in the pamphlet 
Filipinos y su representacion en Cortes^ he » general^ oonsideitd 
as its author; and he alludes to it in the memoir above mentioned. 
(Vindel, Cat. Kh. filip., nos. 1881, 1886.) 

^** Foreman siqts that Lecaros was a mestizo; and Moateio 
y Vidal that he was a Filipino lawyer. The board of dectors 
was mainly composed of peninsulars. 



1801-1840] FILIPINAS IN CORTES 295 

• 

nila. The formal opening of the session occurred 
on the sixteenth, and on the twenty-fourth, Camba 
and Lecaros took the oadi, the former being placed 
on the committee on Etiquette. On the occasion of 
the vote of confidence in the government, the Philip- 
pine representatives spoke on the rumors of the 
transfer of the Philippines to a foreign government, 
stating that such rumors had already been reported 
in foreign newspapers, as well as the power to whom 
the transfer was to be made and the sum to be paid. 
Such a sale they could not believe would be the re- 
ward of so many years of loyalty to the Spanish 
government In the discussion of the election law 
for the Cortes, the government and the Cortes came 
to a deadlock, and the Cortes were dissolved by the 
government Hence nothing was accomplished dur- 
ing this session/'^ 
A royal decree of the date when the Cortes were 

^^ Camba proposed (Filipinos y su representadon en Cortes, 
1836) a special mode of election to Cortes for the Philippines, 
which was to be by the Manila Ayiintamiento, as that was the 
only political organization in the islands worth mentioning, and 
was in direct contact with a&irs. The law to be adopted for 
Ultramar, Camba argued, must take into account the condition 
of the country and the inhabitants. During this session, the Philip- 
pine representatives presented two petitions to the Secretario del 
Despacho de Hacienda, asking in one for a moderation of the 
excessive duties on the introduction of Spanish brandy into the 
Philippines, and in the other the sending of few pensioners and 
subaltern employes to the islands, as this was a prejudice to the 
native Philippine Spaniards. Lecaros presented a plan to Men- 
dizlbal, the provisional president of the Consejo de Ministros, 
lor the suppression of the monopoly on tobacco in the Philippines, 
but Mendizibal took measures to make the monopoly more re- 
munerative to the state. See Montero y Vidal, Hiftoria general, 
lit PP- 554i 555, note. 



29(> THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 5' 

dissolved, ordered the new Cortes to assemble at 
Madrid, March 22, article 5 of the decree specify- 
ing that elections should be held in the provinces of 
Ultramar on receipt of the decree. Consequently, at 
this session, which lasted from March 22 until May 
23, when it was again dissolved, the Philippines had 
no representation. 

A decree of May 24 ordered a new session for 
August 20, at which the Philippines were to have 
four representatives, the officials evidently not tak- 
ing into account the distance of the Philippines from 
Spain, for it would be manifestly impossible for any 
representative to arrive from the Philippines for 
that session or even for the one of March, 1837. The 
election at Manila held in 1836 resulted in the re- 
election of Camba and Lecaros. On August 13, a 
royal decree (in consequence of the mutiny of La 
Granja) ordered the publication of the Constitution 
of 1 81 2 until die Cortes clearly manifested their will 
or drew up a new constitution. Another decree of 
August 21 called die general Cortes for October 24, 
in accordance widi the rules of the Constitution of 
181 2; and one of September 28 suppressed the Real 
Consejo de Espafia e Indias. At the secret session 
of the Cortes on January 16, 1837, a proposition for 
special laws to govern Ultramar was made, being 
passed to the proper committee. On February 10 
the committee having in charge the drafting of a new 
constitution, presented a plan for the provinces to be 
ruled by special laws, in accordance with which their 
delegates were not to sit in the Cortes. On March 9, 
1837, the elections at Manila resulted in Camba and 
Luis Prudencio Alvarez y Tejcro,"* formerly of the 

^*' He wrote Memoria sohre las Islat Filipinos (Valcoda, 
1842). 



i8oi.i84ol MLIPINAS IN OQRTES 297 

Manila Audiencia, and a resident of Manila for thir- 
teen years, being elected. The latter arrived in Spain 
after the passing of the law excluding the Philippine 
representation from the Cortes. A royal order of 
May 31, 1837, presented the method to be observed in 
die provision of alcaldes-mayor for the Philippines. 
On June 18, the new constitution was promulgated 
in Madrid, article 2 of which decreed that Ultramar 
should be governed by special laws.^" Since that 
time the Philippines have had no representation in 
Cortes.*" 

^" July 31, i837> the new ccMnmercial treaty made September 
22, 1836, between the governor of the Philippines and the sultan 
of J0I6 was referred to the committees on State and Commerce, 
was rq)orted on favorably on October 4, and was accordingly 
approved on the twelfth of October. This treaty stipulated that 
every three-masted schooner porting at J6L6 with Chinese pas- 
sengers from Manila was to pay 2,000 pesos fuertes, and lesser 
boats in proportion to their size. As the most important cargp 
ever sent to J0I6 from Manila never exceeded 2,500 pesos in value, 
it is hard to see the value of this treaty so greatly lauded in 
Madrid. No Joloan vessels went to Manila. In this matter the 
officials showed a woful ignorance of the Philippines, the minbter 
of die navy stating that all vessels stopped at J0I6 on their wny 
to the Philippines. This treaty, as well as the one made by the 
governor of Zamboangg with the chief of Maluso near Basilan, 
only made the Moros bolder in their piracy. See Montero y Vidal, 
Historia general^ ii, pp. 557-56a 

^^ On May 25, 1869, an amendment was presented by Juliin / 
Pell6n y Rodriguez in the Spanish G>rtes demanding that parlia- / 
mentary representation be granted to Filipinas. Among the signers ,' 
to this amendment were Victor Balaguer and Francisco Javier 
Moya. (Vindel, Cat. Kb. filip., no. 1883.) 



LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS OF MANILA 

The authorities used in the following chronologi- 
cal list of the archbishops of Manila are as follows: 
San Antonio, Chronicas; Ztiftiga, Historia general; 
Delgado, Historia; Buzeta y Bravo, Diccionario; 
Ferrando y Fonseca, Historia de los padres domini- 
cos; Montero y Vidal, Historia general; various 
copies of the Guia; the Reports of the Philippine 
Commission ; and some minor works. 
y SALAZAR, DOMINGO DE, o.p. - Bom at Rioja, in 
1 5 12; takes Dominican habit at convent of San Este- 
ban, Salamanca; becomes master in theology; mis- 
sionary in Nueva Espafta for 40 years ; goes to Spain 
as procurator general for his province, and preaches 
before Felipe II, in favor of the Indians; proposed 
as first bishop of the Philippines in 1578 and conse- 
crated at Madrid, 1579; arrives at Manila in March, 
1 58 1, with two Jesuits, two coadjutors, eight Fran- 
ciscans, and one Dominican ; erects cathedral of Ma- 
nila, Dec. 21, 1 58 1, by virtue of bull of Gregory 
XIII, as suffragan to the see of Mexico; celebrates 
provincial synod (1582-86), with attendance of 90 
ecclesiastics and 6 seculars (to discuss both ecclesias- 
tical and secular matters) ; tries to enforce episcopal 
visit on the regulars, thus raising the question in the 
Philippines that was so often to convulse those 
islands both in ecclesiastical and secular circles; 



1801-1840] LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS ^99 

royal Audiencia founded partly on account of his pe- 
tition; defends natives against encomenderos ; aids 
greatly in die building of the cathedral and in die 
church of the Dominicans, as well as the hospital for 
die natives, and the college of Santa Potenciana; 
quarrels with Gomez Perez Dasmariftas, by whom 
the Audiencia had been suppressed in obedience to 
royal commands; goes to Spain in 1591 (leaving his 
companion Salvatierra in charge) , to seek royal re- 
dress, and secures reestablishment of Audiencia, and 
complete royal favor, although opposed by die gov- 
ernor and die Augustinians ; procures elevation of 
Manila into a metropolitan see, with three suffragan 
churches ; designated as first archbishop by king, but 
dies Dec. 4, 1594, at college of Santo Tomas at Ma- 
drid, before the papal bulls arrive, aged 82; hot- 
headed and impetuous, and apt to meddle too freely 
in secular affairs, but a worker. See the many docu- 
ments in our series by Salazar, and those containing 
matter in regard to him. 

nSantibaNez, ignacio, O.S.F.- Natives of Bur- 
gos; guardian of die province of Burgos, and later 
provincial; preacher to Felipe II; presented as first 
archbishop, June 17, 1595; consecrated in Nueva 
Espafia in 1596; delays going to the Philippines until 
1598 because the bulls of the pallium are not correct 
in all details; takes possession of his see, May 28, 
1598; immediately erects the cathedral into a metro- 
politan church, with diree suffragan sees (Cebu, with 
Pedro de Agurto, O.S.A., as bishop ; Nueva Caceres, 
with Miguel Benavides, O.P., as bishop ; and Nueva 
Segovia, with Francisco Ortega, O.S.A., as bishop), 
by virtue of the bull of Clement VII, dated Aug. 14, 
1595; Audiencia reestablished during his time; dies 



300 THE PHIUPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

from dysentery, Aug. 14, 1598, after term of 2 mondis 
and 17 days; buried in cathedral; foneral sermon 
preached by Pedro de Agurto, O.S.A., bishop of 
Cebu. 

VACANT SEE. 

- B£NAVIDES» MIGUEL, O.P.- Native of Carrion de 
los Condes, where he was bom of illustrious parents ; 
takes die Dominican habit in San Pablo at Vallado- 
lid, where he also becomes a collegiate at the college 
of San Gregorio; reader of theology; goes to Manila 
with the first Dominican mission in 1587; spends a 
short time in the Chinese missions, whence he is ex- 
iled ; helps promote building of Chinese hospital in 
Manila; elected procurator general for his order and 
accompanies Salazar to Spain ; there gains three mis- 
sions, and an increase in the commerce; elected first 
bishop of Nueva Segovia; consecrated in Nueva 
Espafia, in 1597; arrives at Manila, 1598; takes pos- 
session of bishopric, 1599; presented as archbishop, 
1601 ; takes possession of Manila see, 1603, the king 
defraying the cost of the bulls, on account of Benavi- 
des's poverty; by decree of Sept 9, 1603, gives ad- 
ministration of die Japanese in Manila to the Fran- 
ciscans ; partly responsible for the Chinese massacre 
of 1603 (see the various documents in our series) ; 
in response to a royal decree ordering all natives to 
take a new oath of allegiance to Spain, takes posses- 
sion of all die natives in the name of the crown of 
Castilla and Leon; dies on St Anne's day, July 26, 
1605; buried in Dominican church; leaves bequest 
for foundation of Dominican college (San Tomis) ; 
a generous alms-giver. See documents on the foun- 
dation of San Tom&s. 

VACANT SEE. 



1801-1840I LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS 3^' 

VAZQUEZ DE MERGADO, DR. DIEGO.- Native of 
Ar6valo, in Castilla la Vieja; related to the family 
of the Ronquillos ; obtains degree licentiate in canons 
in university of Mexico ; becomes secular priest; goes 
to Philippines with Salazar, where he becomes his 
lawyer and acts as dean of Manila cadiedral for six- 
teen^ years; in 1597 goes to Nueva Espafta, to assume 
the curacy of Acapulco; in Nueva Espafta given the 
degree of Doctor of canon law from the university 
of Mexico ; resigns his office as dean of Manila dur- 
ing the sojourn of Santibafiez in Nueva Espafta; in 
1600, presented as bishop of Mechoacin, where he 
serves diree years; Oct 22, 1603, presented as first 
bishop of Yucatan, and receives necessary bulls in 
Campeche; consecrated in Mexico, Jan. 13, 1604, 
and governs his bishopric for three years; in 1608, 
presented as archbishop of Manila; takes possession 
of see, on eve of Corpus Christi, 16 10; completes 
building of cathedral by means of his own funds and 
contributions of tiie inhabitants of Manila; builds a 
chapel in the collateral nave on epistle side of catiie- 
dral, for his own burial and that of the prebendaries 
of the cathedral; enacts various acts for the good 
government of the cathedral; dies June 12, 161 6; 
buried in chapel. 

VACANT SEE.- The archbishopric is governed by 
Pedro de Arce, O.S.E., by virtue of a brief of Paul 
y, which is delivered to the ecclesiastical cabildo by 
the Audiencia; governs for a period of more than 
four years. 

GARCIA SERRANO, MIGUEL, O.SA.- Native of Ma- 
drid or of Chinchilla ; goes to the Philippines in one 
of the early missions; becomes prior of Manila and 
provincial of his province, and is elected procurator 



30a THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

to Spain ; there presented as bishop of Nueva Sego- 
via; consecrated in Nueva Espafta in 161 6; goes to 
the Philippines die same year and governs his 
bishopric for two and one-half years; presented as 
archbishop, in 161 8; takes possession of his see, Aug. 
24, 1619, having received the pallium at the church 
of Nuestra Seftora de Guia, Aug. i of that year; 
during his term, the nuns of St Clare arrive at Ma- 
nila, whom he aids greatly; obtains brief (1625) 
from Urban VIII, allowing die feast of Corpus 
Christi to be celebrated at a more opportune season, 
but this brief was never carried out; tries to enforce 
episcopal visit of regular parish priests, but opposed 
vigorously by regulars who threaten to resign cura- 
cies, and question is finally submitted to king and 
pope for decision; holy sacrament stolen from cathe- 
dral in 1628,^** and due partly to his grief over this 
calamity, Garcia Serrano dies on Corpus Christi day, 
June 14 (Montero y Vidal says June 6), 1629, at 
age of 60. 

VACANT SEE.- On the deadi of Garcia Serrano, 
die ecclesiastical cabildo and the bishop of Nueva 
Segovia, Hernando Guerrero, O.S.A., go to law in 
regard to the government ad interim of the arch- 
bishopric, the latter claiming it by virtue of the brief 
of Paul V, since Pedro de Arce, O.S.A., has resigned 
his right. The litigation lasts until Jan. 29, 1630, 
when Arce assumes die government by decree of the 
royal Audiencia, and although he has continual suits 



^" The host was stolen at least three other tunes in the 
of the Philippines: cmce in Canuu'ines; once in Malate; and in 
1730 from the Franciscan convent and church at Maycavayan. 
See San Antonio, Chronicof^ i, p. i8i. 



1801-1840] LIST OP ARCHBISHOPS 303 

he maintains his office. The vacancy lasts 6 years and 
9 days. 

GUERRERO, HERNANDO, O.S.A.- Native of Ma- 
drid or Alcaraz; professes in the Augustinian con- 
vent at Madrid ; after going to die Philippines, holds 
many posts in the order, and is finally sent to Spain as 
procurator; on arrival at Mexico, finds decree ap- 
pointing him bishop of Nueva Segovia; proceeds to 
Spain, where he obtains a mission, and his bulls con- 
firming his appointment; returns to the Philippines 
in 1627; consecrated at Cebu, in 1628; governs his 
bishopric for 7 years; tries to obtain the government 
of the archbishopric of Manila in vacant see (see 
above) ; presented as archbishop, Jan. 16, 1632; takes 
possession of see, June 23, 1635; during his term 
quarrels with the governor, Hurtado de Corcuera, 
the Audiencia, and the Jesuits (see the numerous doc- 
uments in our series concerning this) ; refuses to au- 
thorize or recognize the CoUado faction among the 
Dominicans; exiled, in 1636, to Marivelez; returns 
from exile, June 6, 1636, his exile having lasted 26 
days; visits diocese personally, and nearly captured 
by Camucones in consequence; dies July i, 1641, at 
age of 75; buried in Augustinian church; zealous, 
but obstinate, hot-headed, and too unbending. 

VACANT SEE.- Ecclesiastical cabildo governs be- 
cause Arce renounces his right to do so. 

MONTERO DE ESPINOSA, DR. FERNANDO.- Na- 
tive of Burgos; becomes secular priest; doctor of 
theology in Salamanca University, and holds other 
offices; first palace cura of Felipe IV, when royal 
chapel was erected into a parish church; a noted 
preacher; administrator of the hospital outside of 
Toledo; presented as bishop of Nueva Segovia in 



3^4 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

1642; consecrated in Mexico in 1643; ^Vf 20, '6449 
while on way to islands, receives presentation as arch- 
bishop ; embarks at Acapulco, in March, 1645 ; ar- 
rives at the port of Lampon, at the end of July of 
that year; sets out for Manila, but dies at Pila, in 
Laguna de Bay, of fever; funeral celebrated on day 
he was to have made his public entrance into Manila; 
45 years old; buried beside Benavides, but his re^ 
mains afterward removed to the sagrario of the curas 
by Archbishop Poblete. 

VACANT SEE.- Ecclesiastical cabildo governs ; al- 
though it is agreed that the different members of the 
cabildo shall govern by months, the dean obtains the 
upper hand through connivance with the governor's 
favorite Venegas, and a vicar general is elected. In 
this period occurs the Jesuit-Dominican contest as to 
priority of colleges ; the Franciscans are disturbed by 
interior dissensions; while the cabildo itself is 
racked by internal dissensions; the royal decree or- 
dering St Michael the Archangel to be published as 
patron of the islands is put into force. 

POBLETE, DR. MIGUEL DE.- Secular priest ; bom 
in Mexico, in 1603 ; a professor in the university; oc- 
cupies some of the best ecclesiastical posts in Nueva 
Espafia; resigns the bishopric of Nicaragua in 1644; 
the decree of his presentation as archbishop of Ma- 
nila, dated May, 1648; keeps decree hid for more 
than a month before showing it; consecrated at the 
archiepiscopal palace at Mexico, Sept. 9, i6$o; 
reaches Cavite, July 22, 1653, ^^^ Govemor Man- 
rique de Lara ; latter requests him to go ashore first 
and bless the country, on account of the troubles of 
the former archbishop ; makes solemn entry, July 24; 
at Lent of 1654 the brief of Innocent X (Aug. 7, 



!* 



i8oi-i84o] LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS 3^5 

1649), giving benediction and absolution to the land 
placed in force; tries to enforce episcopal visit of 
regulars, who oppose him strongly, and resign their 
curacies, compelling the archbishop to restore them 
for want of seculars to put in their place; quarrels 
with Governor Salcedo, who refuses to pay the eccle- 
siastical stipends, whereupon the cabildo is suspended 
for the time being, and Poblete tries to borrow 2,000 
pesos with which to satisfy the most pressing needs 
of die cabildo ; trouble over the appointment to the 
office of dean of the cabildo, which falls vacant; re- 
builds cathedral, laying the first stone, April 20, 
1654; begs alms for cathedral, and applies to it 22,000 
pesos, which has been contributed to it by the inhab- 
itants of Manila; dies on the day of the Conception, 
Dec. 8, 1667; orders body not embalmed, but his or- 
ders disregarded; buried (governor participating in 
obsequies), Dec. 11, in the sagrario of die curas in 
the cathedral ; funeral services met by alms of private 
persons; memorial honors celebrated, Jan. 30, 1668; 
64 years old at time of death ; much regretted. 

VACANT SEE.- The ecclesiastical cabildo governs 
the archbishopric. 

LOPEZ, JUAN, O.P.- Bom in Martin Muftoz in 
Castilla la Vieja; professes in Dominican convent of 
San Esteban of Salamanca; collegiate at college of 
San Gregorio at Valladolid; goes to Philippines in 
1643 ^ missionary; lectures on theology in the col- 
lege of Santo Tomas; in 1658, goes to Nueva Espafta 
to recover healdi ; following year sent title as defini- 
tor and procurator general ; goes to Spain by way of 
France, in 1662, and thence to Rome; general of or- 
der gives him the degree of master of theology; at 
Rome receives decree of Felipe IV (Dec., 1662) pre- 



3o6 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 



senting him as bishop of Cebu ; receives confirmation 
from pope, Apr. 23, 1663; gadiers a band of 40 mis- 
sionarieSy and on reaching Nueva Espafia is conse- 
crated at Mechoacan, Jan. 4, 1665; takes possession 
of bishopric, Aug. 31, 1665 ; has troubles in bishopric, 
and proceeds to excommunications, unjustifiably, so 
that it becomes necessary for the royal Audiencia to 
intervene; during term as bishop, visits Manila 
twice, once when the commissary of the Holy Inquisi- 
tion arrested Governor Salcedo, and the second time 
at Poblete's death, under summons from the gov- 
ernor, who requested him to rule the archbishop- 
ric ad interim; presented for archbishopric in 1671 ; 
takes possession, Aug. 21, 1672; quarrels with eccle- 
siastical officials and with governor, the latter de- 
priving him of the ecclesiastical stipends; obtains 
royal permission to have stipends sent from Mexico, 
in order that this might be avoided in the future (al- 
diough the decree does not arrive until after his 
deadi) ; dies, Feb. 12, 1674, ^^^^^ ^ fever of 5 months, 
at age of 61 ; heart and entrails buried in sagrario of 
the curas, and body in the Dominican church ; honors 
celebrated, Mar. i, 1674; no bishop in islands at time 
of his death as all had died in 1671 ; harsh and im- 
petuous by nature, and hence carried by his zeal into 
constant trouble. 

VACANT SEE.- Dean and cabildo rule the arch- 
bishopric. 

PARDO, FELIPE, O.P.- Born in Valladolid of no- 
ble parents; takes habit in convent of San Pablo at 
Valladolid; there becomes master of students; goes 
as missionary to Philippines in 1648; lector and rec- 
tor in university of Santo Tomas in Manila; holds 
many posts in his order, his first term as provincial 



iSoi-iM LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS 307 

ending in 1665; and his second in 1677; twice com- 
missary of Inquisition; presented as archbishop, by 
royal decree of May 30, 1676; takes possession of 
archbishop riC) at age of 68, Nov. 11, 1677, without 
being consecrated, by special order of the king ; requi- 
site bulls reach him only in 1681 ; consecrated, Oct 
28, 1 68 1, in Manila cathedral; makes public entry, 
Nov. I ; during his term, the first governor of the 
Marianas arrives ; arrival of auxiliary bishop de par- 
tibus Gines de Barrientos, O.P., with title of bishop 
of Troya; takes missions in Luzon from Recollects, 
which he gives to the Dominicans, giving to the Rec- 
ollects die missions of Mindoro in exchange (see the 
documents in our series referring to this) ; has con- 
flicts widi die governor, other orders, and ecclesiasti- 
cal cabildo; orders all Spaniards to pay all fees to 
the parish priests of each district instead of to the 
parish priest of Bagumbayan, and since almost all 
the Spaniards lived in Binondo, this benefited his or- 
der especially; exiled to Lingayen, in Pangasinan, 
Mar. 31, 1683 ; secretly appoints Barrientos to govern 
the archbishopric; brought back from exile by Gov- 
ernor Cunizalaegui, and takes vengeance on the ex- 
govemor, Vargas, and odiers; dies, Dec. 31, 1689, at 
age of 80, widiout the aids of religion; buried in 
church of the Dominicans ; harsh, obstinate, revenge- 
ful, partial to the Dominicans ; under die influence of 
the Dominican Verart, who was his counselor, and a 
man quarrelsome by nature. See the documents of 
die Pardo controversy in our series. 

VACANT SEE.- The ecclesiastical cabildo yields 
the government of the archbishopric to die bishop of 
Troya, Gines de Barrientos, but the latter finally re- 
signs the post, and the cabildo rules. Barrientos 



3o8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

makes so extreme use of his power while in com* 
mandy that two members of the cabildo retire to the 
Augustinian convent in order to be immune from ar- 
rest| and ask aid of the governor ad interim. 

CAMACHO Y AVILA, DIL DIEGO.^ Secular priest; 
native of Badajoz ; coUegiate-mayor in the Insigne de 
Cuenca of Salamanca; canon of the church of 
Badajoz; presented as archbishop, Aug. 19, 1696; 
consecrated at La Puebla in Nueva Espafia; takes 
possession of his see, Sept 13, 1697; the papal legate 
Toumon comes to the islands during his term, and 
Camacho's connection with him leads to complica- 
tions with the Spanish government; a strong cham- 
pion of the episcopal visit of the regular parish 
priests, and hence opposed by all the regulars ; his at- 
tempts to place seculars in control of the parish 
churches end because there are not enough seculars 
to supply the places left vacant by the regulars; 
makes many improvements in the cathedral, and 
spends on it more than 40,000 pesos ; founds seminary 
of San Clemente, which is thrown open to foreigners ; 
because of this and his connection with Toumon, as 
well as indirectly because of his opposition to the reg- 
ulars, transferred by royal order to the bishopric of 
Guadalajara, in Nueva Espafia; takes possession of 
this. Mar. 25, 1706; visits bishopric several times; 
dies, in 171 2; in will orders honors to be celebrated 
for him in Manila cathedral ; these celebrated, Oct 
26, 1713, by Diego de Gorospe Yrala, bishop of 
Nueva Segovia. See the various documents regard- 
ing the Camacho controversy in our series. 

VACANT SEE.- Cabildo governs until the arrival 
of the following. 

CUESTA, FRANCISCO DE LA, Order of San Ge- 



i8oi.x84o] LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS 3^9 

rdnimo.- Native of Colmenar, near Madrid; master 
in theology; preacher to the king; presented as arch- 
bishop in 1706; consecrated in Mexico, Aug. 12, 
1707; Clement XI decides in favor of episcopal visit 
oif regular parish priests, and Cuesta attempts to carry 
the visits into effect, but regulars induce him to wait 
until representations can be made to the pope; im- 
prisoned by Governor Bustamante ; Governor Busta- 
mante assassinated Oct 11, 17191 and Cuesta freed 
and becomes governor ad interim^ as all the auditors 
refuse the post; governs islands until July 24, 1721 ; 
all three bishoprics vacant during part of his term; 
transferred to die bishopric of Mechoacan, in Nueva 
Espafia, because of the death of Bustamante ; arrives 
at Acapulco, Jan. 11, 1724; takes charge of diocese, 
April 18; dies May 30 (Buzeta and Bravo say. May 
31), 1724, at age of 63 ; buried in his church. 

VACANT SEE.- Archbishopric governed by eccle- 
siastical cabildo; house for girls built. 

BERMUDEZ GONZALEZ DE CASTRO, DR. CAR- 
LOS.- Secular ; native of Puebla de los Angeles, Nueva 
Espafta; licentiate and doctor of laws; professor in 
canons in the university of Mexico; holds office in 
Inquisition of Mexico, and other high offices in that 
archbishopric; presented as archbishop of Manila, 
in 1722; consecrated, June 17, 1725; compelled to 
remain in Nueva Espafia three years longer for lack 
of a vessel sailing to the Philippines ; leaves Mexico 
City, Mar. 5, 1728, and embarks at Acapulco, Mar. 
27; goes ashore at Marianas, where he baptizes an 
infant; received privately in Manila, July 29, 1728; 
receives pallium, Aug. 22, from the bishop of Ca- 
gayan, at parish church of Quiapo ; takes possession, 
Aug. 25 ; has trouble with the governor in regard to 



3 1 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

the college of San Felipe; establishes formal rites; 
falls ill, Oct 5i 1729, and dies, Nov. 13, at the age of 
almost 62 ; bequeaths heart to convent of San Liorenzo 
in Mexico ; corpse buried, Nov. 18. 

VACANT SEE.- Ecclesiastical cabildo governs the 
archbishopric. 

ANGEL RODRIGUEZ, JUAN, Trinitarian.- Bom in 
Medina del Campo; master in sacred theology; fills 
various posts in Spanish cathedrals ; professor in Sal- 
amanca and Alcali universities ; appointed confessor 
of Diego Morcillo Rubio de Aufion, archbishop of 
Lima; arrives at Lima, April 17, 173 1 ; presented as 
archbishop of Manila, May 18, 173 1 ; obtains bulls, 
Dec. 17, and council decrees, dated Feb. 29, 1732, on 
May 25, 1732; compelled to remain in Lima until 
Jan. 2, 1736, as no ship is allowed to sail to Acapulco; 
embarks at Acapulco, Apr. 17, 1736; lands at Samar, 
Aug. 30; reaches Nueva Caceres, Oct 4; consecrated 
there by bishop Dr. Felipe de Molina, Nov. 23 ; re- 
ceives pallium, Nov. 26; takes possession of see 
through Dean Luis Rico, Jan. 23, 1737, and makes 
public entry on the twenty-fourth ; gives form to the 
cathedral choir, and introduces the Gregorian chant; 
prohibits night processions, and reforms several 
feasts; takes up the cause of the fiscal who has be- 
come embroiled with the governor and taken refuge 
in the Recollect convent, and persuades him to pre- 
sent himself in fuerza^ hoping that the governor 
would treat him compassionately; matters turning 
out differently than he hopes, the archbishop, believ- 
ing himself to be the cause of the evils that come 
upon the fiscal, is attacked by severe melancholy 
which causes immediate death; peaceful by disposi- 
tion, lovable, and virtuous. 



i8oi-i84o] LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS 3 * ^ 

VACANT SEE.- Ecclesiastical cabildo gofveras the 
archbishopric. 

SANTISIMA TRINIDAD MARTINEZ DE ARRI* 
ZALA, PEDRO DE, O.S.F.- Native of Madrid ; audi- 
tor of Quito ; counselor of the Indies ; becomes Fran- 
ciscan; consecrated as archbishop of Manila in 
Spain; makes public entry into Manila, Aug. 27, 
1747; in Spain obtains decree ordering the expulsion 
of the Chinese settled in the islands, but does not pre- 
sent it, because of the representations of the bishop 
of Nueva Segovia, Arrechedera, then governor ad 
interim^ and whose order, the Dominican, has charge 
of the Chinese; on the arrival of the new governor, 
Obando, presents the decree, but it has no effect be- 
cause of various disputes between the governor and 
archbishop; demands that Arrechedera hand over 
the government of the islands to him and even ap- 
peals to the court; quarrels with Obando's successor, 
Governor Arandia, over questions of etiquette ; dies, 
May 28, 1755 (Zufiiga says May 29). 

VACANT SEE.- Dean and ecclesiastical cabildo in 
charge of the archbishopric. 

ROJO DEL RIO Y VIEYRA, MANUEL ANTONIO.- 

Native of Tula, Nueva Espafta ; canon and provisor 
of Mexico; consecrated as archbishop of Manila in 
Nueva Espafta, in 1758; takes possession of his see, 
July 22, 1759; demand charge of government of 
islands from Bishop Lino de Espeleta, governor ad 
interim^ but latter holds command until arrival of 
decree from Spain transferring the command to 
Rojo; immediately settles Villacorta matter and 
quashes case against the Spanish mestizo Orendain; 
British besiege and capture Manila, 1762; Rojo 
made virtually a prisoner; has disputes with Anda; 



3 1 2 THE PHIUPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

dies, Jan. 30, 1764, and given military burial by Eng- 
lish ; see VOL. XLIX. 

VACANT SEE.- Ecclesiastical cabildo assumes con- 
trol of the archbishopric. 

SANTA JUSTA Y SANCHO DE RUHNA, BASILIO. 

-An Aragonese; a member of the Escuelas pias; 
preacher to the king; procurator for the province of 
Aragon; appointed archbishop, in 1767; consecrated 
in Spain, and arrives at Manila in 1767 via Cape of 
Good Hope; immediately establishes mission and 
preaches rigorously against all the vices for nine 
days; adorns cathedral; presides over council by 
which bishop of Nueva Caceres exiled to his bish- 
opric; malces most vigorous attempts to enforce 
episcopal visit of regular parish priests of any arch- 
bishop in history of the Philippines ; bases his action 
on the bull Firmandis of Benedict XIV, dated Nov. 
6, 1744, and the bull of Feb. 24, 1745, which were 
confirmed at the instance of the king by the bull 
Nunc nuper, of Nov. 8, 1751 ; in 1768, visits all the 
curacies held by the Dominicans ; all the other orders 
resist; although the governor commands the orders to 
submit to the visit, and strives to uphold the royal 
patronage, the orders disregard him ; many parishes 
provided with native secular priests by the arch- 
bishop in 1768, especially the parishes of the Parian, 
Binondo and the Province of Bataan, which had been 
administered by the Dominicans (which regulars 
claim was an irreparable injury) ; regulars complain 
to king, and archbishop directs energetic representa- 
tion against them, May 10, 1768; Jesuit expulsion 
occurs during his term; Ra6n is finally gained by 
the orders and yields; when his successor Anda ar- 
rives, the archbishop appeals to him for aid, and al- 



1801-1840] LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS 3 1 3 

though the latter is unwilling to go as far as Santa 
Justa y Rufina, he aids him ; provincial council called 
at Manila for May 19, 1771, to which the three suff- 
ragan bishops summoned ; six meetings held but noth- 
ing lasting done ; trouble over visit of the beaterio of 
Santa Catalina; Anda suspends cedula of Nov. 9, 
1774, ordering the curacies secularized as they fall 
vacant; secularization ordered suspended by royal 
decree of Dec. 11, 1776; archbishop dies at Manila, 
Dec. 15, 1787; strong character, vigorous mind, im- 
petuous; regular historians assert that he was influ- 
enced by the French encyclopedists and by the minis- 
ters of Carlos III. See Pardo de Tavera's Biblioteca 
filipina (Washington, 1903), for various writings of 
Santa Justa y Rufina; and our series for some ac- 
count of his time. 

VACANT SEE.- Ecclesiastical cabildo takes charge 
of the archbishopric. 

ORBIGO Y GALLEGO, ANTONIO DE, O.S.F.- 
Born at Orbigo in Leon, in 1729; takes Franciscan 
habit at Priego; goes to Philippines as preacher and 
confessor, in 1759; elected bishop of Nueva Caceres 
while procurator for his order in Spain, in 1779; 
takes possession of his see, in 1780; chosen archbishop 
of Manila, in 1789, and takes possession of his see 
Oct. 15 through the procurator, capitular vicar, and 
archdeacon, Francisco Durana, and makes public en- 
try next day ; visits his see, and once narrowly escapes 
capture by the Moros near Manila; dies May 15 
(Buzeta and Bravo say May 16), 1790, at Santa Ana; 
buried in Franciscan church at Manila, on following 
day, as he had requested that his corpse be not em- 
balmed; of pacific character, learned, simple in his 
tastes, and without enemies, 



3^4 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [Vol. 51 

VACANT SEE.- Ecclesiastical cabildo assumes con- 
trol of the archbishopric. 

SALAMANCA, IGNACIO.- Native of Manila; dean 
of Manila cathedral ; becomes bishop of Cebu, Sept 
28, 1789; consecrated in Manila, and goes to bish- 
opric in 1794; presented as archbishop of Manila, 
but dies at Cebu, Feb. 1802, before having received 
the despatches of his new dignity. 

VACANT SEE.- The ecclesiastical cabildo rules the 
archbishopric continuously from the death of Or- 
bigo y Gallego to the coming of Zulaibar, as Sala- 
manca does not actually hold the office. 

ZULAIBAR, JUAN ANTONIO, O.P.- Born in Viz- 
caya in 1753; takes habit at age of 16 in convent of 
San Pablo at Burgos; receives degree of doctor at 
university of Avila; professor of theology at univer- 
sity of Alcala for 7 years; presented as archbishop of 
Manila, Aug. 1803; arrives at Manila, Sept. 2, 1804; 
consecrated at Manila, by Domingo CoUantes, bishop 
of Nueva Caceres, July 14, 1805 (Ferrando; Buzeta 
and Bravo say Sept 8, 1804) ; voting member of vac- 
cination board formed at Manila, Dec. 20, 1806, by 
royal order of Sept. i, 1803; endows seminary of his 
diocese; dies Mar. 4, 1824. 

VACANT SEE.- Ecclesiastical cabildo assumes con- 
trol of the archbishopric. 

DIEZ, HILARION, O.S.A.-BornatValladolid, 1761; 
takes habit at an early age in the same city; in die 
Philippines serves as parish priest in several Taga- 
log villages, and becomes proficient in the Tagalog 
language; is twice prior of the Manila convent, and 
provincial of his order; his appointment as arch- 
bishop meets general approval; assumes charge of 
his see, Sept. 15, 1826; consecrated in the Augustinian 
church, Oct. 21, 1827; dies. May 7, 1829. 



1801-1840] LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS 3 1 5 

VACANT SEE.- Ecclesiastical cabildo governs the 
archbishopric. 

SEGUI, JOSE, O.Sj\.- Born at Camprodon, in bish- 
opric of Gerona, Oct. 3, 1773 ; takes habit at Seo de 
Urgel; goes to Philippines in 1795; missionary for 
20 years in China ; after his return to the Philippines, 
serves as definitor and procurator general for 12 
years ; auxiliary to his predecessor and made bishop 
in partibus of Hierocesarea, July 27, 1829; elevated 
to the metropolitan see by Pius VIII, July 5, 1830; 
consecrated at the Manila Augustinian church, Oct. 
28, 1830; receives pallium, Sept. 14, 1831, from the 
bishop of Ilocos whither he goes for that purpose; 
enters Manila publicly. Sept 29, 1831 ; sends several 
circulars to his clergy, and invites them to spiritual 
exercises annually ; receives the great cross of Isabel 
the Catholic; dies, July 4, 1845. 

VACANT SEE.- Governed by ecclesiastical cabildo. 

ARANGUREN, JOSE.- Recollect; bomatBarasoain, 
diocese of Pamplona, Feb. 16, 1801 ; studies philos- 
ophy at Pamplona, and law at Zaragoza ; takes habit 
at Alfaro, at the college of the Recollects (since re- 
moved to Monteagudo), in 18 16; arrives at Manila, 
in 1830; serves in Pampanga; acts as provincial sec- 
retary; cura at Masinlos in Zambales; definitor in 
the chapter of 1840; elected provincial in 1843; ^P* 
pointed archbishop by king, Nov. 1 2, 1 845 ; begins 
to govern, Mar. 19, 1846; consecrated, Jan. 31, 1847; 
receives pallium, Feb. 2, 1847, ^^^ makes public 
entrance into Manila, Feb. 7 ; receives great cross of 
Isabel the Catholic; dies, Apr. 18, 1862; laborious, 
prudent, and economical. 

VACANT SEE.- The archbishopric is governed by 
Dr. Pedro Pelaez, a Filipino secular priest, who is 
elected by the ecclesiastical cabildo as capitular vicar. 



3 1 6 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [VoL 51 

MELITON MARTINEZ DE SANTA CRUZ, DR. 
GREGORIO.- Secular ; born in 1815, in Prado-Lucn- 
go, in the diocese of Burgos; studies theology in 
seminary of San Jeronimo in Burgos, and afterwards 
occupies a chair in the same seminary; receives de- 
gree of bachelor at the university of Valladolid, and 
studies in the university of Madrid, where he also 
receives degrees; acts as provisor in Palencia, for 12 
years, where he receives the doctorate by competi- 
tion ; holds various posts in the Pamplona ecclesiasti- 
cal cabildo ; appointed archbishop of Manila by the 
sovereign, July 31, 1861; consecrated in Madrid, 
Mar. 23, 1862; takes possession of see. May 27, 1862; 
receives degree of doctor in jurisprudence from the 
University of the Philippines, Aug. 24, 1862 ; a mem- 
ber of the Vatican Council until its suspension in 
1871 ; has dissensions with the Recollects over vacan- 
cies occurring in the Manila diocese ; together with 
the secular bishops of Cebu and Nueva Caceres, 
sends exposition to queen, Feb. 15, 1863, urging the 
right of episcopal visitation of the regular parish 
priests ; asks that briefs and laws declaring removable 
ad nutum the regular curas, be left in force; with 
provincials of orders protests to governor against the 
Moret decrees. May 16, 1869; Feb. 19, 1872, pub- 
lishes long pastoral letter in Spanish and Tagalog 
lamenting and condemning Cavite insurrection, and 
especially the part taken in it by the Filipino clergy; 
resigns, 1875. 

VACANT SEE.- 1 875- 1 876. 

PAYO, PEDRO, O.P.-Take8 charge of see, 1876; 
adorns and improves cathedral; dies, 1889. 

VACANT SEE.- 1889-1890. 

NOZALEDA, BERNARDINO, O.P.-Native of Astu- 



1801-1840] LIST OF ARCHBISHOPS 3 ' 7 

riaSy of rustic parentage; originally a professor in 
Manila; takes possession of his diocese, Oct 29, 
1890; Apr. 28, and May 8, 1898, issues circulars to 
the Filipinos urging them to repel the American in- 
vaders; resides about 26 years in Philippines; re- 
linquishes archbishopric, June, 1903; returns to 
Spain after the transfer of the Philippines to the 
United States; there nominated archbishop of Va- 
lencia/"' but the citizens refuse to receive him, be- 
cause of evil reports about himJ 



187 



^**In .1898, the ManOa diocese comprehended the provinces 
and districts of Manila, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, La Infanta, 
Laguna, Mindoro, Morong, Nueva Edja, Paxnpanga, Principe, 
Tarlac and Zambales. It had 219 parishes, 24 parish missions, 16 
active missions, 259 parish priests, or missionaries, and 198 native 
secular priests who acted as assistants to the parish priests (who 
were mainly regulars). See the RepL of the Phil, Com.^ for 1900, 
i> P- 132, and iv, p. 107. 

"^Foreman, Philippine Islands (N. Y., 1906 ed.), p. 597, 
note 2. 






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