The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 27 of 55 - 1636-37 - 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, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century

Emma Helen Blair, Edward Gaylord Bourne, James Alexander Robertson

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• Publié par: nasheng
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 39
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Vol 27 of 55), by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Vol 27 of 55) 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, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century, Volume XXVII, 1636-37 Author: Various Editor: E. H. Blair Translator: J. A. Robertson Release Date: July 8, 2008 [EBook #26004] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, 1493-1898 *** Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ The Philippine Islands, 1493 –1898 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, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century, Volume XXVII, 1636–37 Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson with historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne. [Contents] Contents of Volume XXVII Preface Documents of 1636 Letter to Felipe IV. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera; Cavite, June 30 Letter to Corcuera. Felipe IV; Madrid, October 11 Royal decrees. Felipe IV; Madrid, August–November Informatory memorial addressed to the king. Juan Grau y Monfalcon; Madrid, 1637 Documents of 1637 Defeat of Moro pirates . [Unsigned; but probably written by Pedro Gutierrez, S.J., from Dapitan, in 1637.] Auditorship of accounts in Manila, 1595–1637 . [Unsigned; probably written at Madrid, in February, 1637.] Conquest of Mindanao . Marcelo Francisco Mastrilli, S.J.; Taytay, June 2 Events in Filipinas, 1636–37. Juan Lopez, S.J.; Cavite, July 23 Corcuera’s triumphant entry into Manila. Juan Lopez, Manila, May–July Royal aid requested by the Jesuits at Manila . Francisco Colin, S.J., and others; Manila, July–August Letters to Felipe IV. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera; Manila, August 20 Bibliographical Data 9 21 36 45 55 215 227 253 306 330 341 346 365 [Contents] Illustrations Les Isles Philippines, Molucques, et de la Sonde (map of Indian archipelago); photographic facsimile of map by Sanson d’Abbeville (Paris, 1654); from original in Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. View of Acapulco Harbor, in Mexico; photographic facsimile of engraving in Valentyn’s Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien (Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1724), i, p. 160; from copy in library of Wisconsin State Historical Society. Weapons of the Moros; photograph of weapons in the MuseoBiblioteca de Ultramar, Madrid Map of Borneo; photographic facsimile of engraving in Valentyn’s Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien (Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1726), iii, between pages 236 and 237; from copy in library of Wisconsin State Historical Society. 74, 75 163 223 317 [9] [Contents] Preface The principal topics treated in this volume (1636–37) are the commerce of the Philippine Islands (especially with Nueva España) and the punishment inflicted by Corcuera on the Moro pirates of Mindanao. The former is fully discussed by Juan Grau y Monfalcón, procurator of Filipinas at the Spanish court; the latter is related in various documents, written mainly by participants in the Mindanao campaign. Certain minor documents relate to the administration of the islands and to the religious orders there. A letter from Corcuera (June 30, 1636) gives a brief account of the great ecclesiastical controversy of that year; we present it here, not so much for the new information contained in it (which is not extensive) as for its being evidently the direct expression of the governor’s own opinions, and not (like some others of his reports) dictated more or less by other persons. Corcuera says that “the friars are lawless people, and he would rather fight the Dutch in Flandes than deal with them.” He asks that the king will adjust these matters, or else send another governor to the islands, so that one of them may attend to ecclesiastical affairs and the other to temporal. Part of Cerezo’s letter of August 10, 1634, to the king is answered by the latter (October 10, 1636) in his despatches to Corcuera; it relates to military affairs—approving Cerezo’s action, and giving some directions to Corcuera. A royal decree of August 14, 1636, commands the municipality of Manila to reimburse their procurator-general, Juan Grau y Monfalcón, for the time and money that he has spent in attending to their business at the Spanish court. Another document of this sort (November 6, 1636) gives Corcuera orders regarding certain matters which his predecessor Cerezo had laid before the Spanish government. A third document (of the same date) approves the proceedings of Pedro de Heredia as governor of Terrenate, and promises reënforcements for the Spanish fort there. The noted Memorial informatorio (Madrid, 1637) of Juan Grau y Monfalcón, procurator-general for Manila and the Philippines at the Spanish court, is here presented; it concerns the important and long-debated question of the restrictions imposed on the trade of the Philippine Islands with Nueva España. Certain measures have been proposed to the Spanish government which the procurator regards as dangerous to the interests of the Philippines, and he hastens to urge against these proposals numerous forcible arguments. He claims that the adoption of the former must result in the ruin of the citizens. And thus the crown must either support the entire expense of the islands, or abandon its hold on them—the former a heavy tax on its means, the latter most damaging to its power and prestige. A royal commissioner has been sent to Acapulco to investigate the revenue frauds alleged there, which greatly disturbs those who are engaged in trade, both in Nueva España and in the islands. The proposal to abandon the islands has been revived; the procurator rehearses the arguments advanced for this, and vigorously attacks them, urging that the possession of Filipinas be maintained by the crown as is that of Flanders. He proceeds to represent the importance of the islands, adducing many arguments to show this: the dependence of the Malucos on Filipinas, the size and number of those islands, the greatness and importance of Manila, the mineral resources of the islands, and, above all, their commerce. [10] [11] The procurator describes this commerce, both domestic and foreign. Under the former head he enumerates the chief products of the islands, the diverse peoples who inhabit them, and the number of Indians and foreigners paying tribute to the crown and to private persons. He emphasizes the importance of the central location of the islands, and the restraint and hindrance that they constitute to the schemes of the Dutch for gaining control of the Oriental trade. Considering next the foreign trade of Filipinas, he represents it as far the most valuable part of that commerce, and gives a historical sketch of Oriental trade in general, with an enumeration of the commodities and products obtained therein, and much valuable information regarding the origin, quality, and prices of many goods. He relates how the Dutch were driven from Maluco, but afterward regained much of the spice region, notwithstanding the efforts of the Philippine Spaniards to prevent this. A list of the Dutch forts and factories in the archipelago is presented. From these data the procurator draws forcible arguments for the retention and support of the Philippine colony by the crown. This is fully justified by the importance of the clove trade, which otherwise would be lost to Spain; and by that of the Chinese trade, of which Filipinas enjoys the greater part. The maintenance of the Philippines will result in preserving the missionary conquests in the Far East, securing the safety of India, depriving the Dutch of their trade, relieving the expenses needed to preserve the American Spanish colonies, and maintaining the prestige of the Spanish crown. The royal treasury alone cannot meet all the expenses of the islands, nor is it wise to allow them too much commerce with Nueva España; the king is therefore advised to combine these two methods of relief. For his guidance in this matter, valuable information is submitted by the procurator, regarding the expenses of maintaining and governing the Philippines (under eight different headings—civil, religious, and military—sufficiently itemized to give a clear outline of expenditures under each, and summarized at the end), the revenues of the colonial treasury, and the real nature of the deficit therein. He claims that the islands contribute more than what they cost, since they have to bear the great expenses of maintaining and defending Maluco against the Dutch (which includes more than one-third of all the expenses of Filipinas), and aid all public needs with their time, property, and lives, as volunteers—thus saving to the crown an enormous expense. The procurator asks that these services be duly rewarded by the crown, and recommends that for this purpose the magistracies in the islands be kept for rewarding such worthy citizens, and not sold, as heretofore, at auction. But chiefly he urges the importance to them of the trade with Nueva España which is chiefly based on that which Manila carries on with China and India. Efforts have been made