[21] "The see being vacant"—for Benavides had but just arrived at Manila, and an interregnum of nearly five years had elapsed since the death of his predecessor, Santibañez.
[22] Referring to a ceremony performed at mass, also known as the "kiss of peace." This was given at mass from the earliest times, in the various Catholic branches of the Church. In the Western churches, "it was only at the end of the thirteenth century that it gave way to the use of the 'osculatorium'—called also 'instrumentum' or 'tabella pacis,' 'pax,' etc.—a plate with a figure of Christ on the cross stamped upon it, kissed first by the priest, then by the clerics and congregation. Usually now the pax is not given at all in low masses, and in high mass an embrace is substituted for the old kiss, and given only to those in the sanctuary" (Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, p. 497).
[23] Pérez (p. 63) gives but little information regarding this friar. He seems to have been in the islands as early as 1591, and from 1594 to 1603, engaged in various official duties. In the last-named year he went to Spain and Rome, afterward going to Mexico, where he acted as procurator in 1608.
[24] In this paragraph, as in one in the preceding letter of Benavides, the official transcription of the text has teatinos, where "Jesuits" occurs in the translation; but the mention of Chirinos shows that the latter reading is correct. See note 20, ante, on p. 109.
[25] Spanish hermita (sometimes meaning "hermitage"); a reference to what is now a suburb of Manila, situated on the shore of the bay, and called Hermita or Ermita. "In its parish church is venerated, with great devotion, the image of its tutelar saint, Our Lady of Guidance—to which holy image were especially commended, in former days, the ships from Nueva España" (Buzeta and Bravo's Diccionario, ii, p. 77).
[26] This was the eldest daughter of Felipe III—Anna Maria, generally known as Anne of Austria. Born in 1601, she was married at the age of fourteen to Louis XIII of France; and after his death was regent during the minority of her son, Louis XIV. She died on January 20, 1666.
[27] Diego de Guevara, belonging to a noble family in Spain, entered in early youth the Augustinian order, at Salamanca. In 1593 he came to the Philippines with a company of twenty-four missionaries, and held various official positions in his order. In 1602 he founded a convent in Bungo, in Japan. Sent to Spain in 1603, with news of the Chinese insurrection, he did not reach the court until three years later; he remained there until 1610, when he returned to the Philippines as visitor for his order. From 1616 until his death in 1621, he was bishop of Nueva Cáceres.
[28] Spanish, reformados; literally "reformed," but referring to those who belong to religious houses of strict discipline.
[29] A royal decree dated at Barcelona, June 13, 1599, orders the governor and Audiencia of the Filipinas to take suitable measures for restricting the number of Chinese allowed to live in Manila, or in other parts of the islands. The copy of this decree preserved in the Sevilla archives contains also an extract from a letter to Acuña (dated November 29, 1603) in which he is thus directed by the king: "You have been informed by other despatches of the difficulties (which had been pointed out to the said Don Francisco [Tello] and other persons) arising from the number of Sangleys who have remained in the Parian of that city and its outskirts, so that you might be watchful for the security of the country. The said Don Francisco writes at present, that having examined into the matter, and conferred upon it, he finds (as at that time appeared best) that the most expedient way was to continue the measure that has been taken since he entered upon that governorship—namely, that the ships which bring the said Chinese be sent back [to China] each year full of people. In this way they can be removed and the country cleared of them, with more gentleness and kind treatment, as has already been done with many of them. He thinks that if the captains of the ships are not allowed to carry more than a hundred Sangleys, including sailors and merchants, the desired object will be attained—that is, that there should not be in the country more than three thousand Sangleys, including craftsmen, gardeners, and workers in all trades. What seems best to us, and I accordingly so charge you, is to make use of this means, or of others which may appear to you expedient, so that the country may be secure, and have only the Sangleys necessary for its service."
[30] This Silonga was one of the most noted of the Moro chiefs; he was afterward converted by a Jesuit missionary. See account of the raid made by Buhisan (Buyçan), and of Acuña's efforts to suppress piracy, in Montero y Vidal's Hist. Piratería, i, pp. 148-152.