In the above colleges, a number of students receive instruction, and are sustained free of charge. The portion of the others who enter, amounting, I believe, to one hundred pesos, is paid. Their results are excellent. The liberality of those who haver come to Manila is discernible in everything; for in works of charity they have given and are giving very much, although those with wealth are very few. And really the magnificence of all the churches and temples astonishes me. 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. The work of the Society may be extolled in all España. All this appears good, so that when the foreigners return to their countries, after having finished their trading, and sold their merchandise, they should take with them the news of our temples; and that through the grandeur and majesty of the temples, they may recognize the grandeur and majesty of Him who is thus worshiped in this country. And this is one thing at which the nations are most astonished, and especially the Japanese. They look at the temples with great curiosity. This nation has also been tested in Christianity. For up to today they have given to the church an innumerable number of martyrs, both men and women, all notable. This I have heard declared by the archdean Alonso Garcia, in the reports made in Manila by order of his Holiness in the year 1631. In them were described more than nine hundred martyrs, all notable, besides the rest, of whom no knowledge could be had. Nearly all the orders have Japanese priests, and they are excellent subjects; our order has three. Two, Fray Miguel and Fray León, are holy men. The third has not resulted so, although he is rather an interpreter and one well grounded in everything. But until life is ended we may not praise or condemn one. Ante mortem non laudes hominem quemquam; lauda post mortem, honorifica post consumationem.[78]
Chapters XX–XXII
[These chapters deal almost entirely with Chinese affairs, and the part played by the Augustinians in the first Spanish embassy sent to China; their return; and the ill-success of the second embassy to that country.]
[At length the attempts of the Augustinians to go to China bear fruit, and on June 21, 1575, Martin de Rada and Jerónimo Marín set sail for the great empire. The opportunity comes through the defeat and siege of the pirate Limahon. The Chinese captain Dumón braves the laws forbidding the entrance of foreigners into China, and conveys the missionaries to that country—whither they go rather in the light of emissaries of the government than as religious workers; for the governor, Guido de Lavezares, gave them three letters, one for the Chinese emperor, another for the viceroy of the province of Fo-Kien, and the third for the governor of Chin-Cheu. They are well received and borne through a portion of the land in state. They receive audience, and later a banquet, from the governor of the city of Chin-Cheu, to whom they deliver the letter from the Spanish governor.][79]
[At Oc-Kin, the viceroy grants the fathers cordial and dignified audience. At the request of the former the fathers present him with a paper in which they state their object and desire, namely, the preaching of the gospel. The viceroy requests a book of the Christian law, whereupon he is presented with a breviary, as the fathers have no other book with them. After hearing an exposition of the Christian doctrine, the viceroy dismisses the Augustinians, loading them with rich presents. Three captains are ordered to see them safely to Manila. To the letter of the Spanish governor, the viceroy replied as follows:]
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. Here we present to them other things unknown to their own country. Therefore shalt thou know that we protect and esteem greatly the foreigners who come hither.
We have ordered the fathers and Castilians to be supplied with all necessaries, so that they might lack nothing. For if they should lack anything, we would be grieved and ashamed. And besides this, we have offered and given them some things, all of which is placed in a memorandum. The ten vessels that are going to your shores are furnished with all necessaries, so that you shall not have any trouble in giving them what they shall peradventure ask of you. The captains and sailors, and the rest of the crew, are paid for ten months.
We have written to the king the extent of our information, so that he may know what is passing. We would like the fathers to remain here, and more, until we shall hear and see the king’s reply. But as the voyages are long, namely, three months to go and three to return, we thought that you would grieve over their absence. Therefore, we return them to you and send with them a small present. All the present is in charge and keeping of my captain. If any of it be lacking, he will be punished. Given in the year of the king the lion Huicbanlic [i.e., Wanleh].