To Don Juan de Silva, governor of the Philipinas, informing him of the decree that your Majesty has commanded to be given to the deputy from Olanda, directing him to set at liberty Pablo Bancardin and other Dutchmen, as they have not given any provocation for their second capture.
The King: To Don Juan de Silva, knight of the Order of Santiago, my governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, and president of my royal Audiencia there. At the instance of Teodoro Rodemburg, who is present at my court on certain business concerning the islands of Olanda and Celanda, I despatched an order to you, by a decree of the same date as this (which has been delivered to that envoy), commanding that the admiral, Paulo Brancardin, and the seventy-four Dutch who, according to your letter, have been captured with him in an oared vessel, by Captain Pedro de Heredia, while voyaging from Terrenate to the island of Morata, should be set free, if it has not already been done, in conformity with clause thirty-four of the truce with Flandes. But if, after being freed from this captivity, he or any of the others should give any occasion for capturing them again, then (since in this case the fault would be theirs) you will advise me without setting them free. This I have thought best to inform you of, so that with this understanding, if they are again taken with cause—which they have given, as has been said, and as has been learned by a letter from Sargento-mayor Christoval de Asquelta, and by what you wrote to the viceroy, Marques de Salinas, in a letter of the fourth of September, 610, a copy of which he sent to me—and should they wish to negotiate their freedom by means of a ransom, or any other means, before or after the use of said decree, you will not admit of it, nor give them freedom in any manner, either to the said admiral or to the others; but you shall hold them prisoners with the greatest care, until you receive further orders from me. Madrid, on the twentieth of November of the year one thousand six hundred and eleven.
I The King
By command of the king our lord:
Juan Ruiz de Contreras
Signed by the members of the Council.
To Don Juan de Silva, governor of the Philipinas, ordering him to build and collect immediately a squadron of ships, to cruise in that sea, about the point of Manila, to make sure thereby that the Dutch do not rob the ships and other vessels which go to those islands from Nueva España, China, and other regions.
The King: To Don Juan de Silva, knight of the Order of Santiago, my governor and captain-general of the Philipinas Islands, and president of my royal Audiencia there. By letters from you and other persons zealous in my service, I have learned that the king of Japon has admitted the Dutch to commerce with his realms, for their having offered to carry him a great quantity of silk, which is the chief commodity in which they deal there; and because those rebels had robbed the Chinese, from whose ports they procure the silks, they dare not go to that kingdom for them. Accordingly, to keep the terms of their offer, and not lose that trade, it will be necessary for them to await the vessels of the Chinese near that city of Manila, which are going there with silk, in order to rob them of it. And not only will they do this damage, but they may also do the same with the ships which go to Nueva España, and other vessels from Malaca and Macan. It has been represented to me that, both in order to avoid this danger to my ships and my vassals, and likewise for the importance of keeping the said Dutch from fulfilling their offer to that king—for if they do not do it he will drive them out of his lands, where it is important [for us] that they should not secure a foothold—it would be well to have a squadron cruise close to the port of that city [of Manila]; and to secure this result, it will not be necessary to have large ships. I have thought it best to approve this; and, considering that when you receive this you will already have made the expeditions of which you wrote me in the letter of the fifth of September of six hundred and ten, if you have good success in them, with the help of our Lord, I command you that, with the ships that may remain to you of the fleet which you were engaged in collecting, you will keep those necessary for a squadron sufficient to cruise in that sea, and with it will attend to the matters above mentioned. And if there are not enough ships by using these, you will make and build, with all possible despatch, what may appear to you expedient for this purpose; and will inform me, at the first opportunity, of the number and kind of ships, and how they are supplied and equipped, with both men and artillery, and with all else necessary; until I may give a different order; as such is my will. These presents will be registered by my auditors of accounts who are in my Council of the Yndias. Dated at Madrid, the nineteenth of December of the year 1611.
I The King
By command of the king our lord:
Juan Ruiz de Contreras
Signed by the Council of War for the Yndias.
[1] The see of Cebú was made vacant by the death of Bishop Agurto (September 14, 1608), and that of Nueva Cáceres (in 1607) by the death of its second bishop, Baltasar Corarrubias, O.S.A. The reference in our text is to the appointment of new bishops for these sees—for Cebú, Pedro Matías, O.S.F.; and for Nueva Cáceres, Pedro de Arce, O.S.A. But, as Matías did not understand the Visayan language, these appointments were finally exchanged; Matías was transferred to Nueva Cáceres, which he administered for two years and until his death, and Arce to Cebú.
[2] Because of the difficulty that has been represented to us in going or sending from very distant provinces, separated by the sea, to give their accounts, we have determined and resolved that the accounts of Chile and Filipinas shall be examined as hitherto, in accordance with the ordinances of the Audiencias—notwithstanding what is ordained by others—given to the accountants. The accounts shall have to be brought and given in the tribunal of accounts. We order that those thus examined in Chile be sent to the tribunal of accounts in Lima, and those of the Filipinas to that of Méjico. Our royal officials of those treasuries shall also send at the beginning of each year the lists and muster-rolls of the soldiers to the said tribunals, signed also by the governor and captain-general. The accountants of the above-mentioned tribunals shall send a report of the said accounts, with its lists, to our council of the Indias.” Felipe III, San Lorenzo, August 17, 1609, ordinance 24. (Recopilación de leyes, lib. viii, tit. i, ley lxxix). A decree dated San Lorenzo, October 19, 1719, ordered this law to be observed, and ordered also inspection of the treasuries every week. See note in Recopilación de leyes to the above ordinance.