Therefore they once more represent to your Majesty what is contained in greater detail in this memorial. The charges made against their commerce, inasmuch as these were based on malicious reports and on less knowledge than was required by the matter, have disturbed, changed, and altered it, so that it is in danger of being lost or suspended (which amounts to the same thing), and with it all the Filipinas, whose importance is so well known. That can be understood from the strong arguments advanced for not abandoning them when they were less necessary than now, when the fact of that importance has been established by so decisive a resolution. To this can serve as new motives the extraordinary manner of their discovery; the greatness of their territory, and therein the notable and especial greatness of the city of Manila—which, as the mistress of so many seas, and capital of so many archipelagos, is the second pole of this monarchy; and the estimation in which their qualities are held, both for the nature of their lands and from what has been acquired from their commerces, which, if they are small as regards their own products, [in their beginnings—MS.] are most opulent as regards those of foreign lands. That is facilitated by their remarkable situation, which, as it is the center of so many islands and powerful kingdoms, is, if not in advance of all of them, superior to many, as it is the key of the ancient and ever rich commerce of the Orient. That commerce, after so many changes, came into the possession of Portugal, and through the Filipinas was communicated to Castilla. It has been usurped in part by the enemies of this crown (who now go to search for it, and carry it on in various ports of its origin), against whom India and the islands are defending and maintaining it. The islands especially protect the commerce of China and that in cloves, as they are now lords of the islands of Maluco—which they recovered after they had been lost, and which they preserve, although infested [by enemies], at the cost of the blood and the possessions of their inhabitants. They are exposed always to the raids of powerful opponents, who in order not to lose what they have had the good fortune to acquire, the Oriental trade and that of Maluco (which is of the greatest value), spend the most of what they gain in forts, presidios, and fleets, that they may resist the Filipinas. If the islands are important for that reason, not less important are they for the effects that result from their preservation. These effects are the promulgation of the Catholic faith, and the extension of the gospel preaching through so extensive regions, and so remote kingdoms of pagans and Moors—which in spite of the northern heresy, has been received by some, while others are ready to receive it; the assurance of safety for India, which has doubled its strength because of the nearness of the islands, which on all occasions reënforce it; the prevention and hindrance of the enemies from the trade in which they most wish to be absolute masters, and which they would obtain were it not for that valiant resistance, and that fortified camp; the relief of the Western Indias from their raids, which because of this diversion have rest; and finally, the maintenance of the reputation of this crown, in the most remote part of its domain. And since, in order to obtain these and other effects, it is sufficient that the Filipinas be maintained in the force and renown that they have at present, for that only two methods are to be found, which consist either in spending from the royal treasury the amount necessary for them, or in giving them a commerce such that all the cost of the islands may be derived from it. Each method is impossible alone, for the expense of the islands is considerable, and the amount that they contribute is not sufficient, as those of Maluco are dependent on them, while the royal treasury is exhausted. The commerce ought not to be opened so widely that its duties supply all [the cost of the islands], because of the injury that this would cause to the commerce of España, which is more important. The only remedy comes to be (and it is that admitted by experience) the union of both these means, each sharing a portion of the expense. With this the royal treasury will be relieved, the commerce permitted, and the islands maintained. In order to provide a guarantee for this obligation, it is advisable to favor the inhabitants of the islands, who have attended and are attending to their defense (as that is the chief part of their preservation) with so abundant aid and so liberal expense. For this, taking a middle course between the damages and the advantages, the restricted commerce with Nueva España, without which they cannot live, is permitted to them. And although results from that concession the withdrawal of a quantity of silver (which if it came to these kingdoms could enrich them more), and its passage to the foreigners, besides the bringing of merchandise from which results a less consumption of the goods of these kingdoms: as this is not the only cause that weakens the trade of the Indias, but there are others very different from it, it is necessary, in order that that trade be not ruined, that this of Filipinas be preserved, but not more than in the quantity that is sufficient for its maintenance, and that is not harmful. Thus has the commerce been given its present form, conceding it alone to the inhabitants of the islands, restricted as to the amount of its merchandise and the silver for its returns, by imposing on both the latter and the former a fixed and determined quantity, as also on the ships which are to carry it. That is the condition least damaging to each part which, attentive to the state of so many kingdoms and the mutual relations of so many provinces, it has been possible to arrange. Although great illegalities have been ascribed to this permission, which are not lacking in any part of the world, and are found in all commerces, and are tolerated—either because it is impossible to correct them, or because it is not advisable to reduce them to the full rigor of the orders—those that are found in this commerce are not greater than those of others; for[62] neither the silver nor the merchandise which is hidden can exceed the amount permitted so greatly as has been represented, as has been [herein] stated. If there is any violation, there are sufficient precedents so that it ought to be tolerated, and the greatest reason [for so doing]; for it is impossible for that commerce to last in any other way, or to have capital with which to maintain it. [This is true], not only because of the duties that are paid, which are heavier than those of Sevilla; but because of the great amount that is lost in it by the risks, expenses, and hardships of its navigation, and by the special disasters that the islands and their inhabitants have suffered, and are liable to suffer—which are such and so many, that it is a wonder that they are not destroyed, ruined, and deserted by the onset of their disasters, losses, and diminutions, which it seems that the loyalty, the valor, and the constancy of their inhabitants have opposed. Besides that, their commerce is no longer what it was formerly; nor does it cause the damage that is noted; nor is it such that it can be done away with, without the downfall of the islands, the suffering of Nueva España, peril to Eastern India, the loss of its commerce, a greater infesting of the Western Indias, and the sorrow of these and those kingdoms for the result of this cause, as it is common to them all, as is proved. Therefore, the procurator-general of the islands, reducing all their affairs to this memorial, petitions your Majesty to grant them favor in the affairs and points which he will request in a separate memorial.
[1] In the present translation we follow the printed original—using the copy belonging to the Academia Real de la Historia, Madrid—as per the above title-page. Our transcript was collated with the manuscript copy in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, which may possibly be a contemporaneous copy of the original manuscript of the Memorial; but this manuscript (which bears pressmark MSS. 8990, Aa–47, of which it occupies folios 273–350), which appears to have been done hastily, bears the mark of inaccuracies that make the printed Memorial preferable. Where the difference is considerable, the reading of the manuscript is inserted in brackets after the other reading, and signed “MS.” These variations are here noted mainly as a guide to those who may use that manuscript. In almost every case the number of the paragraph is omitted in the manuscript, as are also sometimes the marginal headings of the paragraphs, and most of the other marginal notes. Reference has also been made in the translation to the published edition of the manuscript Memorial in Doc. inéd. Amér. y Oceanía, vi (Madrid, 1866), pp. 364–484, which has been edited somewhat; and to an evident reprint from the printed edition of 1637, in Extracto historial (Madrid, 1736), folios 215–264. Matter taken from the latter is signed “Ex. his.”
[2] Avería was the tax or duty levied on goods shipped from Spain to America, or from America to Spain, to meet the expenses of the naval convoy to protect the fleet from pirates. See tit. ix of lib. ix, Recopilación de leyes de Indias which treats of the avería, entitled, “Of the tax, administration, and collection of the duty of avería.”—Edward G. Bourne.
[3] Note in margin of Extracto historial: “Note: The numbers cited in these margins refer to this same memorial.”
[4] At this point the manuscript and printed original both contain a partial reduplication, as follows: los vexinos y cargadores de Filipinas, que sin reconocer—es digo por solo no verse sujetos á denunciationes. It may possibly be regarded as a parenthetical expression added for the sake of force, and is translated: “the citizens and exporters of Filipinas, who without recognizing—it is, I say, for the sole purpose of not becoming liable to denunciations.” This clause is dropped in the Extracto historial reprint.
[5] See Vol. xvi of this series, pp. 225–227.
[6] The manuscript at this point contains a duplicate or confusion of words, as follows: Reyes tienen vnos Estados, porque los han menester, y otros digo el embiarles ministros della aunque los. This proves the manuscript only a clerical copy, as does also the fact that it is copied in the same hand as other manuscripts of this same collection; and it shows the carelessness with which this copy was made.
[7] The progress made by the Mahometans in the eastern part of Asia was very slow. The inhabitants of Malacca were converted in 1276, those of the Moluccas in 1465, and those of Java in 1478, and those of the Celebes one year before Vasco da Gama rounded the cape of Good Hope. Nevertheless, after 1521, many of the inhabitants of these islands began to be converted to Catholicism.—See Doc. inéd. Amér. y Oceanía, vi, p. 375, note.