The time came for holding the provincial chapter, which assembled on May 8 in the year 1677, and, according to custom, in the convent of Manila. It was presided over—by commission of our very reverend father general, Master Fray Nicolás de Oliva, of Sienna—by the father reader Fray Miguel Rubio; and the election for provincial fell, by the general consent of all the voting fathers, and with the approval of all who were outside of the order, on our father Fray Juan de Jeréz, a religious excelling in virtue. He was a native of Baños in Extremadura, bishopric of Plasencia—a place belonging to the Duke de Béjar and the Marqués de Montemayor—and was a son of the convent of Valladolid and fifty years of age. He had been for many years master of novices in the convents of Salamanca and Burgos, which is a sufficient proof of his religious devotion and virtue. He left España for these islands in the year 1669, and had been a minister in Pampanga; and in this chapter he cast his first vote as visitor of the province.[29] As definitors were elected the fathers Fray Pedro de Mesa, Fray Juan Labao, Fray Francisco de Albear, and Fray Pedro Canales; and as visitors the fathers Fray Domingo de San Miguel and Fray Juan Guedeja. They enacted statutes very useful for the government of the province, and for the stricter observance of our religious estate, many of which were reproduced in various following chapters, having been found by experience to be well-chosen and advantageous.
The acting governor despatched the galleon “San Telmo” for Nueva España, in charge of General Don Tomás de Endaya, a regidor of the city of Manila; and it encountered so many storms before doubling the point of Santiago that fears were entertained that it would not have time to make the voyage before the vendavals. But the bravery of the commander and of his pilot, Leandro Cuello, over-came great difficulties, and they succeeded in reaching their destination.
The galleon “Santa Rosa,” which had sailed for Nueva España the year before, had also experienced storms, from the time when it reached the Embocadero of San Bernardino. For this reason Sargento-mayor Alfonso Fernández Pacheco came to Manila, bringing the despatches from his Majesty and information of the ship’s arrival on the thirtieth of August. This galleon brought the news that Don Carlos II had begun, at the age of fifteen years, to rule the monarchy of España in person, freed from the guardianship of the queen-mother, Doña Mariana of Austria; and commands were issued that his royal name and seal be used in the despatches, and that royal fiestas proper to so important an event be celebrated—which took place afterward, in the month of December, as we shall soon relate.
[At this time] came the despatches for the presentation made by his Majesty for the archbishopric of Manila, of the person of the very reverend father master Fray Felipe Pardo, of the Order of Preachers; he accepted this dignity, and began to govern his church, the ecclesiastical cabildo yielding up the government to him. This appointment found him at the time engaged in the duties of commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; his place therein was taken by father Fray Juan de los Angeles, a man who was worthy of such a name on account of his virtue and mild disposition. Also came the presentation of the reverend father Fray Andrés González for bishop of Nueva Cáceres or Camarines; he also accepted, and was consecrated, and ruled that church creditably, as he was a devoted religious, and very charitable; and he left behind him, when he died, a great reputation for sanctity.
On September 27, the acting governor, Auditor Don Francisco Coloma y Maceda, died at the age of sixty years, from an intestinal hemorrhage; he was an official of much integrity and uprightness, and was buried in the convent of Santo Domingo with his wife, Doña María de Cuellar. The government was assumed by Auditor Don Francisco de Mansilla, a native of Ceniceros in Rioja, who was no less upright than his predecessor. His term of office was short, because a proprietary governor came in the following year; but even in the short time while his rule lasted he showed that he deserved that it should continue during his life, on account of the very peaceable and equitable manner in which he exercised his office. The first thing which he did was to look for all those who had been opposed to him in the year 1668, when he was exiled to Iloylo by Don Juan Manuel Bonifaz; and he honored all of them, more than some deserved, displaying a generous spirit, and that of a Christian ruler, which aroused the admiration of those who saw his prudence and moderation. These islands were much grieved that he must so soon have a successor, for the people loved and reverenced him. He was of corpulent figure and venerable aspect; and his hair (which was scanty) and his mustache (which was large) were white as snow—all which conciliated respect. Two years afterward, promotion came to him, the post of alcalde for criminal cases in [the Audiencia of] Méjico; but he died at the height of the voyage.[30] He had two sons: Don Felipe Mansilla, a knight of the Order of Santiago, who lives in Méjico; and Father Antonio Mansilla, of the Society of Jesus, in these islands.
The city and municipality of Manila having determined to celebrate the festivities due to the great rejoicing which was caused in the Spanish domains by the assumption of sovereignty over them by their king Don Carlos II, decided that these should be actually held in December, from the fourth to the seventh day of that month. This was done with great pomp and brilliancy. In the morning three sermons were preached: one by the dean of the cathedral, Master Don Miguel Ortíz de Covarrubias; another by father Fray Álvaro de Benavente of the order of our father St. Augustine (the secretary of our province, and often named in this history; he died in China, as bishop of Ascalon and vicar apostolic of Kiengsi); and the third by the reverend Father Jerónimo de Ortega, of the Society of Jesus. For the afternoons there were various bull-fights and comedies. On the last day, December 7, after the bull-fights and comedies, there were demonstrations of rejoicing; and for a climax to the festivities there was, at six o’clock in the afternoon, a beautiful and splendid masquerade, with magnificent costumes, and parades of servants in costly liveries. The most distinguished citizens of Manila went therein, two by two, representing the realms of the monarchy of España, with shields and mottoes proper for each kingdom; those who came last were the two alcaldes-in-ordinary of Manila, General Francisco Rayo Doria and Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya, representing the kingdoms of Castilla and León. They rode in pairs on handsomely-caparisoned horses, to the destination which was prepared for this purpose with palisades, and with so much splendor from wax tapers that the night had no cause to envy the brighter day. With this brilliant and elegant masquerade these royal festivities came to an end, the city remaining in the quiet and silence proper to that hour, which was about seven at night.
Quite ignorant were all those who had celebrated and enjoyed this gay festival of the sad and melancholy catastrophe which was to follow on this so joyous scene; all were forgetful of the uncertainty of the pleasures of this world, which suddenly shifts its scenes, passing from gayety to mourning. Hardly had the people time to shelter themselves in their houses—some fatigued with the exercises of the masquerade, and others sad that the royal festivities had come to an end—when at half-past seven in the evening the earth began to tremble with horrible vibrations, changing their recent gayety into fear, horror, and lamentable perplexity. This first earthquake lasted a long time, so that it was feared that the last and fatal day for the sad city of Manila had arrived. The continuous and unequal vibrations of the ground; the frightful cracking of timbers; the [falling of] tiles from the roofs, and of stones which, loosened from the walls, came to the ground, raising great clouds of dust: all these made a most gloomy night, the image of death. Some hastened to seek confessors, and not finding them soon, published aloud their own sins. This first motion of the earth ceased, which people affirm to have been more violent than that of August 20, 1658, but it did not last so long; if it had been equal in duration to that one, it would have caused a large amount of havoc in the city of Manila.
It was worth much to the city that the earthquake found it greatly improved over former times in regard to the height of its buildings; for now they were reduced to more humble stature, and without the projections which would cause its greatest destruction, as has been experienced in previous earthquakes. The use of the harigues or wooden pillars on which the heavy timber-work of the roofs leans and rests was recognized to be a sure protection and defense from such disasters; and therefore, although the earthquake demolished many buildings, breaking open the solid mass of masonry, they did not suffer entire ruin by being thrown down to the ground. Some few were destroyed through being old and in bad condition; but only one or two persons perished, and they of little account in the world. The kind-hearted governor went out with many followers to visit the [military] posts of the city, and aid, if he could, those who were in need; and the same was done by the alcaldes-in-ordinary and the regidors, accompanied by many citizens. The religious orders were well occupied in the ministries of their profession—some preaching from tables placed in the streets, others hastening to hear the confessions of those who asked for this sacrament, that is, of all. While all these were occupied in exercises so holy and pious, the trembling of the earth was again repeated many times; but, through the divine kindness, these vibrations were much slighter, continually diminishing—so that it seemed as if the divine anger were gradually being appeased, just as men were continually showing themselves more penitent. All that night until daybreak the earthquake shocks continued; for there were so many of them that one man counted forty, although to me it seemed as if there were many more. Many came out [from this calamity] crippled and lame; but all recognized that it was a miracle that the city had not been utterly destroyed with so repeated shocks. Later, it was ascertained that some chasms and air-vents in the earth had opened, and which is surely the cause of these disturbances. One chasm opened in the bounds of the village of Bauang, in the province of Balayán; and another in the mountains of Gapang, in Pampanga. Those who arrived here after navigating the seas of these islands recounted the horrible perils in which they had found themselves, tossed by great billows and almost submerged in the swell which was caused in the sea by the earthquake; the sea even rose until, in many places, it swept over the land, occasioning great damage. With this slight mention I will close the sad account of the melancholy termination of these royal festivities.
The master-of-camp of these islands died, Don Agustín de Cepeda y Carracedo; he was a native of Talavera de la Reina, a relative of the glorious saint Teresa de Jesús, and more than eighty years of age. He was one of the most valiant soldiers who has belonged to these regions, and with that reputation he has been mentioned in this history in the greatest military exploits of his time, and in the government of Zamboanga and Ternate; and, what is his greatest glory, he was an excellent Christian, devout and charitable, and died with strong indications that he had been very earnestly such. For acting master-of-camp the governor appointed General Alonso López, a soldier of long standing, and also very aged; and therefore he did not long serve in that office.
Governor Don Francisco de Mansilla despatched the galleon for Nueva España, appointing as its commander his son, Don Felipe de Mansilla y Prado, a young man of much courage and ability, who at the time was serving in the post of sargento-mayor of the Manila army, which is the second, in the esteem of military men, after that of master-of-camp. As sargento-mayor of the galleon he appointed Juan Ventura Sarra (the Catalan so famous for his successful surgical operations), on account of his being a man of much valor, and experienced in military service in Flandes and Cataluña. This galleon made a very prosperous voyage, both going and returning, as we shall see in the following chapter.