Letter to Felipe IV from the Bishop of Cebu
Sire:
July 26, 1631, I received three decrees from your Majesty, in which your Majesty granted me the favor to advise me of the birth of the prince,[1] our sovereign, whom may God preserve. I feel especial joy and satisfaction at the favor that our Lord has shown toward España, in giving us a successor to your Majesty. In regard to the thanks that your Majesty orders me to give to God, I shall take especial pains to do as your Majesty orders.
In the second decree of your Majesty, your Majesty orders that the natives of these islands be treated gently, and that they be relieved as far as possible from injuries and too heavy burdens. I have always done my utmost, so far as I am concerned, in regard to this; and now and henceforth, I shall do it more carefully, since your Majesty has ordered it.
In your third decree, your Majesty orders that the governor appoint an ecclesiastical person to assist him in the examinations in what concerns the royal patronage, because of the troubles that have occurred in the vacant see. What I can tell your Majesty in perfect truth is, that I have always tried to have benefices given to the most praiseworthy, and to those most suitable to minister to the Indians; but if your Majesty judges an agent advisable, I shall willingly obey what your Majesty orders.
Your Majesty has appointed the archdean of the church of Cebu, Don Alonso de Campos, to the dignity of schoolmaster in this church of Manila. He has not been graduated in any science, and in this regard he is not possessed of the qualities that the council of Trent demands, nor those which the dignity of this church demands, for he is not a bachelor of arts. He who now exercises that office ad interim is Don Alonso Ramirez Bravo. He has been graduated in both kinds of law, and is a man of good qualities, who is at present provisor and vicar-general of this archbishopric. He has had in charge the bishoprics of Çubu and Camarines. He is a most praiseworthy person, in whom are found the necessary qualifications. Will your Majesty grant him the favor of this dignity? for he merits it, and is serving in it by appointment of the governor of these islands.
Your Majesty orders me by a decree of your Majesty, under date of March twenty-seven of the year twenty-nine, directed to the archbishop of this city of Manila—which I received, as I have in charge this church in the said vacancy—to make investigation regarding the claims of Doctor Don Juan de Quesada Hurtado de Mendoça, fiscal of this royal Audiencia, that he has been given a royal decree to act as protector of the Sangleys, as his predecessors have been. Your Majesty orders me to ascertain whether a protector is necessary, whether the Sangleys ask for one, and whether it be advisable that he should be the fiscal. The relation made in the royal decree, Sire, by the said Doctor Don Juan de Quesada, is the truth, without adding one jot to it. What I can say to your Majesty is that the Sangleys need a protector to defend them; and that they have no defense, as has been experienced, except when they have had the fiscals as protectors. This is the reason why they have always been appointed. Often many injuries and annoyances inflicted on the Sangleys are remedied by the sole authority of the fiscal, without commencing suit. The Sangleys, Sire, ask a protector, and ask that he be the fiscal. I have seen a petition which was presented to the governor of these islands, Don Juan Niño de Tabora, signed by very many Sangleys, in which they petition him to give them the said Don Juan de Quesada, the fiscal, as protector. He has not determined to appoint the latter, because of the decree that he has received from your Majesty. However, I am fully persuaded of the great advantage to the Sangleys in having the fiscal as protector. This is the reason why no other has been appointed; for the governor says that, in conscience, he finds it very desirable for the Sangleys that the fiscal be their protector. The Sangleys have always petitioned for a protector. They are the ones who pay him his salary, and not your Majesty; consequently I cannot see that there should be any inconvenience in your Majesty giving them the one whom they desire and whom they pay, especially when it does not militate against your Majesty or your royal treasury. The Sangleys are very unprotected since your Majesty ordered that the fiscal should not be their protector. They are much better off, as they have experienced (as we all experience) the Christian spirit and honesty with which the fiscal, Don Juan de Quesada, has served and serves your Majesty. Consequently, it seems to me advisable that the present fiscal, and those who shall fill that office hereafter, be the protectors of the Sangleys. The contrary, I believe, would result in harm to the Sangleys. No protector can have less trading and business relations with the Sangleys than the fiscal, to whom your Majesty has prohibited trade and traffic; and he has forsworn it. May our Lord preserve the Catholic person of your Majesty for many years for the welfare of His kingdoms. Manila, July last, 1631.
Fray Pedro,
bishop of Santisimo Nombre de Jesus.
[1] This was Balthasar Carlos, born in 1630; he died in 1646. He was betrothed to Mariana of Austria, but his father, Felipe IV, married her in 1649.