[These chapters relate the coming of Corcuera as governor, his controversies with the bishop, and the exile of the latter; biographical accounts of various noted Augustinian missionaries, some of whom were martyrs in Japan; and the final incidents of the persecution in that country, so far as Diaz could learn of them, up to about 1715. Nearly all of this matter is either a repetition of what we have already presented in previous volumes, or irrelevant to our purpose; but we select occasional passages which properly belong to the history of the islands, especially its ecclesiastical aspects. In our VOL. XXV may be found extracts from Diaz’s work regarding the contest between Corcuera and Guerrero (chapters xv–xviii). Chapter xix is devoted to the opinion of “a learned auditor of Manila” on the banishment of the archbishop; the editor of Diaz, Father Tirso López, prints this opinion, in order to reproduce all of Diaz’s history, which is his only reason for not suppressing “this conceited, most tedious, and ill-digested document.” Chapters xx and xxi are devoted to the biographies of two Augustinian missionaries, Fray Alonso de Mentrida and Fray Juan de Medina respectively. The former excelled as a linguist.]
[Pp. 353–355:] He composed a curious and ingenious grammar [arte], by which the main difficulty in [learning] those languages was surmounted in a short time. He also composed a copious vocabulary of the languages of the two islands, Panay and Cebú, which are quite distinct. In the mountain region of Ogtón a very harsh language is spoken, which they call Halaya; and along the coast another, more polished and elegant, which is called Hileygueina. This work [i.e., the vocabulary] cost him much labor, and is very useful to the ministers. He left it complete, and after his death it was published by father Fray Martín Claver.[2] He [Fray Alonso] composed a brief catechism, accurately written, in the Bisayan language, which is very useful for instructing those natives in the mysteries of our holy faith; this was printed twice, in order that there might be an abundant supply of a work so important for the welfare of souls. He also published the ritual by which the holy sacraments are usually administered in these islands; and this work is deserving of esteem, since one finds therein a compilation of what is strictly necessary for the more safe administration [of the sacraments]. It is so highly regarded by the other religious orders that, although two large editions of the work have been printed, it is now necessary to issue a third, since all are trying to obtain this book.[3]
Father Fray Alonso de Mentrida spent many years in the provinces of Ogtón and Panay,[4] where he gathered much fruit in the conversion of those souls, especially in the district of Ogtón—which in those times was, in the greater part of its mountain region, shrouded in the darkness of error. There the devil was well entrenched in those rugged mountains, having solidly established his kingdom and worship among those simple natives—who, influenced more by fear than by any other consideration, prostrated themselves before that demon, and gave him their worship and adoration. His crafty designs were successful among them through the agency of many priests and priestesses (in the Bisayan idiom called babaylanes), who, being especially assisted by that infernal spirit, concoct certain frauds and delusions, with which they deceive the simple Bisayans. These priests, moreover, secure much advantage from this mode of life, since by it they make their living, and are feared and looked up to; for most of them have a compact with the devil, by means of which they wreak such evil as they can on those persons on whom they try to be revenged, or whom they wish to injure because some one else has done them harm. Against this infernal horde father Fray Alonso de Mentrida waged continual battle, roaming through those mountains on foot, and accompanied only by one servant, a very good Christian, who aided him much in his work. This man died at a great age (more than one hundred and ten years); he lived in the village of Guimbal, of which he was a native, and his name was Vilango. They journeyed so destitute of human aid that they carried in their pouches only some roots, cooked, which in that country are very common, called camotes, with a little rice, eaten cold and half-cooked. This sort of abstinence was so continual in Father Mentrida that he ate nothing else than the vegetables and pottages of the country, with a little fish when he wished to appease his more pressing hunger; and it is not known that he ate meat until, in his old age and in several attacks of illness that he suffered, the duty of obedience compelled him to moderate so austere a diet. In such a mode of life this apostolic man wandered through those mountains, preaching to the infidels the word of God, and persuading them to leave their straggling hamlets [rancherías] and settle in some small villages, that he might more advantageously call them together and instruct them, separating them from their errors and blindness. With great benefit to their souls the simple mountaineers of Ogtón received the gospel preaching, as they all are gentle and well-inclined people; the father’s only opponents were those ministers of Satan and children of perdition, the babaylanes, who with their lies sowed their diabolical tares upon the grain of heaven, and easily smothered the seed that took root in piously-inclined hearts. Those priests artfully suggested to the natives the anger which their divatas (thus they name the spirits to whom they give adoration) felt against them, and on their own part uttered threats against them, menacing either their lives or their poor property—which is a scanty grain-field of rice; and by these shameless acts they terrorized the people, and caused some of them to lose their solicitude for attending church. Father Fray Alonso de Mentrida spared neither hardship nor effort to bring back to the fold of the Church those whom these malicious ministers had, through their crafty methods, caused to backslide; and he held with those priests extraordinary discussions, from which, in place of gaining good results, he obtained only their plots. With these they tried, on several occasions, to deprive him of life by their arts and witchcraft; but the Lord, who watched over His servant, did not permit them to succeed in their damnable attempts, and, for the greater humiliation of the common enemy [i.e., the devil], held back the father from the greatest dangers.
During the time when this apostolic minister was preaching in the mountains of Ogtón, there were visible apparitions of the devil, standing upon a rock and teaching superstitions and giving laws to a great multitude of Indians, who, deceived by him, followed him. Moreover, in those mountains are many demons, who appear to the natives in horrible forms—as hideous savages, covered with bristles, having very long claws, with terrifying eyes and features, who attack and maltreat those whom they encounter. These being are called by the Indians Banuanhon, who are equivalent to the satyrs and fauns of ancient times. Even at this day these hideous monsters are wont to appear to the Indians, some of whom remain in a demented condition for months from the mere sight of them; others go away with these demons, and are lost for a long time, and then will return in a terrified and fainting condition, few of them failing to die soon afterward. I would have much to tell and relate if I should stop to mention what has occurred with such monsters, who have been seen not only in the mountains of Ogtón and Panay, but very frequently in the province of Taal. They are called in the Tagal language Tigbalang; and many persons who have seen them have described to me, in the same terms, the aspect of the monster. They say that he has a face like a cat’s, with a head that is flattened above, not round, with thick beard, and covered with long hair; his legs are so long that, when he squats on his buttocks, his knees stand a vara above his head; and he is so swift in running that there is no quadruped that can be compared with him.
[Diaz proceeds to relate several incidents connected with these demons, and the difficulties encountered by Mentrida, caused by the hostility of the native priests—who much resembled the “medicine-men” of the North American Indians; and adds (p. 356): “In these holy occupations he passed much time in that mountain wilderness, as his companion Vilango has told me; and gradually those hearts, hard as diamonds, were softened, and they were converted to our holy faith. He proceeded to gather those people into villages, founding those of Agra (with the advocacy of St. Nicholas), Baong, Santiago, Limao, San Pedro, Taytay, and Catingpan—which remain to this very day, and in my time preserve the memory of this apostolic man, to whom, as they recognize, they owe the knowledge of the truth.” Mentrida remained in the missions until 1618, when he was summoned to Manila, to become prior of the Augustinian convent there; and in 1623, he was elected provincial. The rest of his life he was afflicted by age and broken health; and he died at Manila, March 22, 1637.]
[Diaz sketches the life and labors of Juan de Medina (whose history of his order in Filipinas we publish in VOLS. XXIII and XXIV of this series), giving the following summary of his achievements: “It is not easy to relate in full the great labors of this religious in the conversion of the Indians in the province of Ogtón, when they all, on account of the coming of the Dutch the first time to the point of Iloilo, took refuge in the mountains, forsaking their villages, so that it was difficult for several years to bring them back to a sedentary life. During that time, this religious traveled, carrying little more than his staff, through all the mountains of Ogtón, preaching to the people that they might be converted, and maintaining a continual battle with the devil—who had, through the agency of his ministers the babaylanes, persuaded the people that the Spaniards could not deliver them from the Dutch. During that time he suffered many dangers through the plots of those infernal ministers, who at various times tried to take his life—divine Providence delivering him from them all, for the greater gain of those Christian communities. Amid those dangers did this religious convert most of the peoples in Ogtón, Xaro, Baong, and Pasig. In all places where this minister went, he left an especial reputation for his virtue and apostolic teaching. He visited some nine times the entire province of Bisayas, and usually held the office of vicar-provincial—obedience obliging him to accept it, on account of the great importance of his direction for the greater glory of the order.” After twenty years spent in these labors, he obtained permission (1631) to go to Spain, and miraculously escaped from the wreck of his ship in the very port of Cavite. He then returned to the Visayan missions, but again set out for Spain in 1635; while crossing the Pacific, he was carried away by disease. Chapters xxii–xxv are devoted to the persecutions and martyrdoms of Christians in Japan; chapter xxvi treats mainly of the controversy within the Augustinian order regarding the “alternation” of offices between the friars sent from Spain and those who had taken the habit in the Indias (already related in our VOL. XXVIII). The following paragraphs are of interest here.]
[Pp. 386–388:] After the father provincial Fray Juan Ramirez (who was one of the best superiors of that time) had governed this province very successfully and judiciously, the time arrived for the provincial chapter; it was held at the convent of San Pablo in Manila, on the twenty-fourth of the month of April, 1638. Father Fray Jerónimo Cornuetano, the general of the entire order, presided over the meeting; and it resulted in the election, by unanimous consent, of father Fray Martín Errasti, a religious who was much endeared to all the rest by his many fine qualities. The definitors elected were fathers Fray Juan de Trexo, Fray Jerónimo Venasque, Fray Francisco de Madrid, and Fray Francisco de Villalón; and the visitors, father Fray Juan de Boan and Fray Jerónimo de Paredes—all being religious of recognized abilities, and men to whose care the interests of this province could be confided. It was decided to send to España a procurator to conduct a party of religious to this province, although the choice of one was not effected until the following year; this fell upon father Fray Pedro de Quesada, prior of the convent of Bulacán, who had recently arrived, driven back by stress of weather, from divine Providence keeping them in reserve for another ministry.
The Moro pirates of Mindanao and Joló did not cease to infest the Pintados Islands every year with their armed fleets—capturing the natives, burning the villages, plundering the churches of the consecrated vessels, and then destroying those temples by fire. So far had gone the boldness of Corralat—who came to those islands, subjected to his anger, without the Spaniards displaying any purpose to defend them, or going out to hinder those injuries—that he soon attributed this negligence to cowardice, and to the fear of him which the Spaniards felt. This so increased his boldness that his little fleets were daring enough to approach even the bay of Manila. They experienced no resistance, save only in the province of Caraga—[whose natives are] a warlike people—and this was due to the valor of its alcalde-mayor, Captain Don Francisco de Atienza y Bañes, a native of Toledo; and to the great courage of a discalced Augustinian religious named Fray Agustín de San Pedro, who was very celebrated in those times, and feared by the pirates, [who was known] by the name of “Father Captain” [Padre Capitán].[5] The exploits of this religious in defending the villages where he was a minister of religious instruction, and in going out to find the enemy in their own country, would be material for many chapters of history. He was a religious of great virtue, and of zeal for the welfare of souls; and, besides this, God had given him extraordinary courage, and a genius worthy of Scipio and Hannibal. Accordingly, seeing that those who ought to conduct military operations remained with folded hands, without going out to the defense of those harassed peoples, he determined to do so himself. On one occasion he went out from Butuan, where he was prior, with some Spanish soldiers, and men whom he gathered in Caraga; and with them he faced and put to flight an armed fleet of Corralat. When Don Francisco de Atienza saw what aid he had in the valor and experience of father Fray Agustín, the two laid their plans to perform an exploit that should do them credit; and, manning some caracoas with the best soldiers from the presidio of Tanda, both Spaniards and Caragas, and providing two boats which could be taken to pieces and carried overland in sections, and afterward be again put together and framed, Don Francisco, accompanied by father Fray Agustín, took the route to the lake of Malanao,[6] which was under the jurisdiction of Corralat. This lake is in the island of Mindanao, opposite the island of Bohol; from north to south it is eight leguas long, and it is four leguas wide. Its shores are thickly settled by several tribes, some Mahometan and others heathen (although all of them are vassals of Corralat); but they are people who are very poor in all except foodstuffs, of which they have a great abundance. Don Francisco de Atienza and father Fray Agustín de San Pedro arrived at this lake; and, as the water at its entrance was very low and there were many miry places, they took the four [sic] vessels to pieces and placed them on the lake, where they again [put them together and] manned them. By this means the Spaniards went through that region, carrying on hostilities among those tribes, and leaving them subjected to the crown of España—although this submission did not last long, for Corralat again reduced them, because the Spaniards had not left behind a fortified post. This conquest was not one of much profit; but it was enough to leave the Moros warned for some time by this punishment.
[Chapters xxvii and xxviii are occupied with the expedition of Corcuera against Joló, already described in our VOL. XXVIII. Chapters xxix–xxxiv are devoted almost entirely to the Chinese insurrection in Manila and its environs in 1639, and to an historical account of former disturbances caused by them in the islands, from the time of the pirate Limahon down. A brief paragraph mentions the death of the provincial of the Augustinians, and his temporary successor: “In the middle of the year 1639 occurred the death of the father provincial Fray Martín de Herrasti, a loss which was keenly felt by all the province on account of his many endowments and lovable qualities. He was a native of Guipúzcoa, and a son of the convent at Burgos. Having come to this province in the year 1617, he was assigned, by his obedience, to the ministry in Pampanga, where he remained, an excellent missionary, for a period of twenty years—until the province, satisfied as to his virtue and discretion, chose to employ so worthy a minister to govern it, and elected him provincial, although it enjoyed but little of the direction of so excellent a superior. The government of the province was assumed by father Fray Juan Ramírez, as the most recent past provincial; and thus was somewhat lessened the general grief caused by the loss of the deceased provincial.”]