CHAPTER XVI.
Of the internal Commotions raised by the Indians and Chinese during the War.
The provinces of Tondo and Cavite, during the war, were in general in a state of tranquillity, submitting patiently to the law of the strongest, but still retaining their bias to the King of Spain. Notwithstanding which, however, many robberies and irregularities occurred, and even murders were perpetrated; for those who had been released so imprudently from prison by the English, joining with others who had been thrown out of employment, or whose inclinations led that way under the shelter of such a convulsed period, committed great atrocities, with impunity, on such Spaniards and Mestees as had quitted Manila, and were scattered about the towns and country; and these disturbances at last attained such a height, that regular parties were formed, which infested the highways, and plundered the estates, even murdering, in some instances, the poor ignorant peasantry, till eventually this class of people, wearied out by such attacks, abandoned their farms, leaving their cattle and effects in the power of these wretches.
In the province of Batangas, one of the principal inhabitants of the town of San Pablo collecting a body of Chinese and Indians, murdered the friar, in revenge for some supposed injury. Even the commandant of the troops in the town of Rosario, having collected some of those whom the English had liberated from prison, satiated his fury on the resident minister, (who had complained that he was not allowed the number of servants which the King ordered) by setting fire to his house in the first instance, and murdering him in the act of escaping from the flames.
Another party in this province was commanded by a mulatto, who styled himself a King. His first attack was on Liyan estate, belonging to the Jesuits, upon which were some Spaniards and monks, who made terms with him on his granting them their lives, and delivered up the house to be plundered. Some of his people went to rob the prior of Tanavan, who was an Augustine, and had retired to the granary in order to avoid the English; but finding on him only two rials, they murdered him in a most cruel and wanton manner.
In the province of Lake Bay the Indians made many attacks on the Spaniards, who had retired to that country, particularly on the alcalde mayor, with whom they had before been on very bad terms, and on the monks, because they had favoured the conveyance of the money to Manila, which the Franciscan friars remitted to Señor Anda. The Archbishop issued an order, in which he desired that if the English went into that quarter they might be well treated, and not to make any resistance to them, as, by that conduct, less mischief would be done. The alcalde sent this order over the mountains to Pagsanhan, but the officer commanding there issued a counter-order to that of the alcalde, designating him as a traitor, who wanted to deliver up the province to the English. The alcalde being informed of this, contrived to put him in confinement, and had him publicly whipped under the gallows. This enraged the Indians, and collecting in considerable numbers, they attacked and ill treated the alcalde’s family; they killed his cousin, his son in law, and a German who lived with him, and they took the alcalde himself to the gallows, where, after flogging him most cruelly, they stabbed him to death.
The aggressors presented themselves before Señor Anda, suing for pardon for this offence; and he not deeming this a proper season to show due severity, let the matter pass unnoticed.
The provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga firmly adhered to their allegiance, and, indeed, were the only districts on which the Spaniards could place reliance, although there were not wanting some malicious spirits, who, taking advantage of the times, by menaces extorted money, robbed and plundered the estates, and even murdered a poor Dominican, who resided at Pandi. These, however, were the crimes of individuals, and not chargeable on the body of the people: it may therefore be said, that these provinces, which were in the immediate neighbourhood of Manila, were tranquil, and preserved their allegiance to the Spaniards.
Although the Señor Arandia had sent away all the Pagan Chinese, others replaced them after his death, and the augmentation of their numbers which took place in three years was incredible. There were besides many Chinese Christians in Parian, and scattered over the provinces, and almost all of them declared for the English. The moment they took possession of Manila, these Chinese gave them every aid, and accompanied them in all their expeditions. They had it, indeed, in contemplation to make a general rising, which would have caused much bloodshed had it not been discovered in time, for it was their plan to murder Señor Anda and all his people in Bacolor church, on Christmas eve, 1762; and by committing every description of outrage in the churches that same night, they expected to render the Spaniards incapable of resisting the English, with whom they had a secret understanding.
The authors of this most atrocious scheme were the Chinese of the town of Uava, in the province of Pampanga, where many of that nation had fixed their residence, and fabricated a species of cannon which they made of large cane, well tied together with tarred rushes, and which bore two or three discharges. They deceived the officiating clergyman of the town, telling him they were preparing all those things against the English, but Señor Anda had his suspicions of them. In this state of things a poor simple Chinese, who was going to marry an Indian of a village, called Mexico, advised Señor Anda not to go to mass, and in the end discovered all the plot. The Indian girl likewise made a full discovery to the Augustine curate of that town, and he communicated her story to Anda, who went to Uava with some troops on the 23d of December.