§ VII
Relation of the punishment of the rebels and their restoration to their villages
264. As soon as father Fray Miguel de Santo Thomás, prior of our convent of Butuán, learned what was passing in Lináo, he sent a messenger to Tándag and to the royal Audiencia of Manila; for promptness is generally the most efficacious means in such cases. Afterward the afflicted Spaniards arrived at his convent, and he received them with great love, accommodated them in cells, set up beds for them, and gave them medicines—assisting them with the compassion of a father, to their consolation, and with extreme charity aiding in their entertainment. One of those soldiers, who was named Juan Gonzalez, had broken a leg, his body was full of wounds and a poisoned arrow had pierced his loins. When he was treated, he was so lifeless that all thought that he had expired. The father prior was not a little afflicted at that, for the man had not yet been confessed, as the father had been assisting the others. In that extremity the father applied to him a picture of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, and at its contact the dying man returned to his senses, confessed very slowly, and received the other sacraments with fervor; and had even twenty-four hours left in which to bewail the carelessness of his life, as he did. All held that event as a miracle worked by St. Nicholas, for whom the sick man and the religious had great devotion.
265. That fatal news having reached the city of Manila, a general revolt was feared as in the former year of 1631, when our churches were burned, our convents pillaged, our sacred images profaned, and our ministers seized and killed. In consideration of that, Governor Don Diego Faxardo sent Captain Gregorio Dicastillo to Tándag with a small band of Spanish infantry to join Bernabé de la Plaza, alcalde-mayor and captain of that fort, so that they might try all means to reduce the insurgents. They went to Butuán where they established their military headquarters. A general pardon was published with the warning that those who did not submit would bring upon themselves the full rigor of the war. But many of the Indians who presented themselves were hanged, and there were very few of those who descended the mountains to surrender who were not made slaves. The very persons who were under greatest obligation to fulfil the word that they had given in the name of their king broke that word.
266. Our whole convent of Lináo was consumed by fire, except two chalices and some vestments from the sacristy, which three Indians were able to carry out. They presented themselves with it, thinking that they would thereby secure their freedom; but they were immediately thrown under the heavy yoke of slavery. With such acts of injustice, although the rebels were subdued by that expedition, their hearts were more obstinate than ever. The city of Manila and its environs were full of slaves. The Butuán chiefs who were the mirror of fidelity, suffered processes, exiles, and imprisonments; and although they were able to win back honor, it was after all their property had been lost. Some heedless individuals blame the superior officials with what their inferiors have done, and the excesses and abuses of others are considered to be done by the influence of the superiors. But the uprightness and honesty of the royal Audiencia of Manila can be seen in what they did. For after two years of imprisonment of one of the Indians whom that expedition prosecuted, his property was confiscated. Another was tortured and condemned to death by decapitation. Another was reduced to extreme poverty. All were persuaded that the heavy hand was entering there. Finally the governor committed the examination of the causes to Licentiate Manuel Suarez de Olivéra, auditor-general of war and assessor of the governor of Manila. He declared in favor of the Indian slaves, and freed them all. The wretched Indians were overjoyed at the decree, but they were troubled because they had no one to solicit their freedom for them by attending to the necessary expenses of the court; consequently, they regarded the day of their redemption as a thing impossible to attain. They did not dare to ask the aid of the Recollect fathers, as they thought that the latter were angry at them, as they had murdered a religious in that insurrection. But since the Recollect fathers regarded that as [the vicissitude of] fortune, they took the part of the Indians and did considerable in their defense.
267. Father Fray Agustin de San Pedro was secretary of that province, who was known by the name of Padre Capitan because of his military feats which will be explained in part in recording his life. He had illumined those Indians with the light of the gospel, for which they held him in great affection. Therefore, he made a list of the slaves who were in Manila, and its environs, giving the name and surname of each, and the village where he lived. In the list he included many others who were not contained in the processes. He presented that list to the governor and asked him to order the slaves to be set at liberty. Such a writ was despatched very promptly, and the father went with the notary through all the houses in order to place the order in execution. That was a work that caused him great fatigue, and produced violent contentions. For since those who had paid their money for slaves were deprived of them, scarcely did he arrive at a house where some insult was not heard. The expenses were increased, but he obtained his purpose; for he secured all the slaves, and the [Recollect] order took care of them, providing them with all the necessities of life until they were taken to their own native places. A religious accompanied them, as it was considered necessary to have a person to defend them in case that any one attempted to injure them.
268. That race is not so rude that it cannot be conquered by kind acts. Therefore, those Indians talked over among themselves what the Recollect fathers had done for them without remembering that the Indians had killed a religious. As they did not remain in their villages, the notice of our method of procedure spread to the most hidden recesses of the mountains. In the year 1650 father Fray Joseph de la Anunciacion was elected provincial; and at the beginning of the following year, while making his first visit to the province of Carágha, he arrived at Butuán where he learned that the Indians were having some trouble with the soldiers. But they were very mild in telling them of the Recollect fathers. He became encouraged at that, and having placed his confidence in God, directed himself to the village of Lináo. He entered the mountains, talked with the Indian chiefs, and exhorted them to become peaceful and return to the vassalage of his Majesty. He obtained that in a very few days, and left that region in the utmost peace.
269. At this point we must reflect upon what was insinuated above. I said that the king our sovereign wrote to the father provincial of Philipinas ordering him to see to it that his religious did not rouse up the Indians, since they ought, on the contrary, to take part in calming their minds. His royal letter is dated May 27, 1651, and in regard to it I mentioned that at the same time when his Majesty ordered it, he was obeyed in the village of Lináo, and with that statement is already given the proof. I add to this that on the tenth of July of the above-mentioned year, while the father provincial, Fray Joseph de la Anunciacion, was in Manila, he wrote to our father vicar-general informing him of the visit to Carágha. Among other things (which do not concern the matter) he wrote the following, which is very suitable for our purpose: “I made the first visit to the province amid remarkable sufferings and contrary winds, and thus spent about one year there. But I considered that labor as well spent because of the fruit that was obtained from it; for God was pleased by my assistance to reclaim more than six hundred tributes in Lináo, who had revolted and were disturbed, without greater cost than one decapitation and some punishments of little importance. All was left as quiet as it had been before, and it has been increased by some tributes. The only thing that especially troubled me was, that I could leave no more than one religious in each mission, while some missions were such that two were not sufficient. These are so separated from one another that the distance is at least twenty leguas. That distance must be made over troublesome seas, for the winds are not always favorable, so that one can only occasionally favor or console the other. It is a mercy of God that zeal for the conversion of souls has penetrated all, so that they put away their own welfare, relief, and consolation for those of others.”
270. That section proves, first, the care of the superiors in aiding to pacify the Indians; secondly, that, to maintain them in peace, one cannot accomplish so much by the severity of punishment as by the mildness and gentleness of love; thirdly, the vast amount of hardship that those poor ministers suffer. I must only add now that some who had but little fear of God, seeing that the Indians in Tándag had become quiet through the efforts of father Fray Pedro de San Joseph Roxas, ascribed the sedition of Lináo to father Fray Agustin de Santa Maria. No investigation was made in order to give the lie to the enormity of that falsehood, for he was purified from that accusation by the blood from his veins, and because Heaven itself gave some more than ordinary testimonies of his innocence. I am going to mention them by compiling a treatise on his life.
[Section viii treats of the life of father Fray Augustin de Santa Maria. He was born in Macan of Portuguese parents, and entered the Recollect order. After being ordained as a priest, he was sent to Carágha to learn the language of the natives, where he labored diligently. Some years later he was sent to Lináo, where he was killed by the insurgents, May 16, 1651. His body, after being treated with indignities by the natives, was finally buried by a pious native woman. The section and chapter close with the recitation of several miraculous occurrences.]