“ And surely, as I am advised, the greatest warfare that the devil wages against the ministry is by the hands of the Spaniards, so that all those who should favor this cause are opposed to it. Consequently, the religious tire themselves out, and the devil reaps what harvest he wills. All the evil is laid to our door, and the good the Spaniards attribute to themselves. If the Indian flees and the encomienda is deserted, it is the fault of the religious. But if it increases, it is due to the alcalde-mayor, the encomendero, and the collector. ”

“ Chapter IV Of the voyage made by our religious to the Western Islands
Great undertakings are wont never to lack their obstacles, which although they do not fail to unnerve those of feeble intellect, yet seem to serve only as spurs to the lofty-minded, to make them not abandon what is undertaken; and these latter show greater courage, when Fortune shows herself most contrary. And the devil, when he divines that any work is on foot that may be for the service of the Lord unless he can hinder it, at the very least manages to impede it, and does his utmost to render it of none effect. ”

“ The commander had so good an opinion of our religious, that he trusted to nothing without them, nor had any confidence in the good outcome of any undertaking without them. He chose, as an excellent Christian, to attribute all his prosperity to the servants of God, in whom he put greater trust than in his own strength. For at the end difficulties are removed more easily by prayers than by human strength; and God always desires that the glory of things be attributed to Him, as the one who really does them. He who does not guide himself thus is in great error. ”

“ Besides, it was, and is, better for the Castilians themselves to have the Indians living in communities; for in matters requiring despatch, they have the latter close at hand, and keep them more tamed, and richer in what concerns their advantage. “But,” I ask, “what difference is there between the Zambales of these islands, and the Chinese? Are the former not, like the latter, rational beings? If then they agree in the chief thing, which is excellency, how do they differ so much in the manner of living? Why do some have an organized state, and others not?” ”

“ This island of the Ladrones where the Spaniards anchored is a lofty, mountainous land, with its coasts fringed with thick cocoa groves, and other cool and shady trees. The natives of the islands eat rice, which is the chief food of all the islands. At times, when I consider how many people use rice as bread, I think that three-fourths of the world are sustained on this kind of food. ”

“ Even if the end of their coming had not been so great and important to those peoples, it was a well-known wrong to refuse them the intercourse most natural to men, without the Spaniards having given any occasion for it. Inasmuch as they were reduced to the preservation of life itself, they were justified in taking arms, wherewith to get the sustenance that the Indians had unjustly withheld from them and refused them for their money. ”

“ And in matters of the soul—the chief thing—they go to confession; and in truth I would rather confess a hundred Indians in the Filipinas, of those thus rendered fluent, than one Spaniard. The Indian women confess remarkably well, and with many tears, and take communion with devotion. They give account of themselves, respect the father, and recognize his courtesy. Who has not experienced this? The Spaniards [253] understand it all, but when an effort is made to settle the Indians in villages, all the Spaniards resist the religious as if the latter were taking something from their pockets. ”

“ Letter from the kingdom of Tangbin in the province of Oc-Kin, from the royal house
I received a letter, to which this is the reply, from the governor in the fort of Manila. To thee, who art born of heaven. Although we differ among ourselves, we are children of one father and of one mother. Therefore we love and regard you as friends and brothers. And likewise have we friendship with the Lóquios, a foreign people, who come as friends to this province of Oc-Kin every three years. They, in token of friendship, bring us some products of their country, which this country does not produce. ”

“ This I consider, beyond all doubt, as the greatest expense and worthy of consideration; for the mines yield silver and the forests wood, while España only yields Spaniards. It may give so many, that it may become barren, and be obliged to rear children outside, in place of its own. Thus all the foregoing indicates the great zeal of our sovereigns, and that only the love of souls influences them; since the expenses of temporal things are so heavy and the profit nothing. ”

“ With the increase of their numbers, the missionaries felt the need of electing a provincial. Accordingly a general assembly was called, and in the early part of May, 1572, Martín de Rada was elected provincial—“a person of whom we have said so much and of whom we shall say much, and of whom there is plenty to say; for he was a subject worthy of all things, and his memory is as green today in the islands as if he were alive; and his achievements are extolled by Spaniards and Indians, who hold his sayings as prophecies.... ”

“ In order to remedy all these evils, Governor Don Juan Niño de Tabora determined to equip a powerful fleet in order to destroy that enemy and conquer a stronghold which nature has made in their island—so lofty and so difficult of approach, that there is no better stone castle; for the approach to it is by one path, and it has some artillery which defends it. The people are courageous and warlike. For our fleet were collected one galley, three brigantines, twelve freight champaos (which are like small pataches) , and about fifty caracoas. ”

“ Hence it was needful that they should embrace what was good, and throw away the other as wicked and evil. The fathers kept school in the convent. They taught the boys to read and reckon. They were training some of them in the sacristy, teaching them to aid in the mass; so that, by having nearer at hand what we were teaching them, they should learn it more easily. All this was necessary in order to conquer natives, who were so hardened and so much accustomed to evil, that they regarded everything evil as good. ”

“ For he who has the most alert understanding enters and goes out better on occasions, and gives in public the better reason for what is proposed. Besides, those born in the islands grow up with but little knowledge of the Castilian language, both on account of the habits of the country, and because they are always arm in arm with the blacks, who talk a jargon of tongues—which is neither their own, for they have lost that, nor that of the natives, nor of the Spaniards, but a smattering of each one ”

“ All are finished and wonderfully adorned with jewels and silver ornaments, without there being any building for which there is not more than enough; and silver ornaments for the front of the altar are seen in many churches of Manila. Indeed when those who have done this are considered attentively they have made the expense once for all; for by means of the silver, hangings which soon are destroyed and damaged by the dampness in these islands, are done away with, But the silver, when somewhat tarnished, regains its former luster, and even more, by cleaning it. ”

“ Now how much better would the Indians of these islands do this, in whom has been found much capacity for whatever we have tried to teach them! Those only who are unwilling do not learn—through laziness, and because they see what little gain they derive from it. Who will doubt that some of them make excellent scribes, so that even the Castilians are children compared to them. Some are excellent singers, and there are choruses of musicians in Manila who would be notable in España. For one to become an excellent tailor, all that is needed is for him to see the work. They make very good carpenters ”

“ They are separated about one-quarter legua from the city of the Spaniards.16 It is the best port of the island today, and might have been very good, if affairs there had continued to improve. But as cities are maintained and grow through trade, and the trade there is in wax, which is of little value, its citizens are abandoning the city and going to Manila. While the climate of the latter place is not so good, nor the country so healthy, they are drawn by the wealth there, and the trade with China, Japón, Macan, and India—and above all, with Nueva España. ”