About this time there came out of the public prison at Manila a Sangley named Tingco, who had been imprisoned for the unnatural crime, and had been there so long that in prison he had learned to read and write our language, and had come to be a sufficiently competent scrivener to write petitions and other papers for the rest of the prisoners, for he was very clever and had a keen mind. He went about [the prison] freely, as being a prisoner of so long standing, and aided the jailer greatly by acting as guard to the other prisoners; and he supported himself very comfortably on what he gained by his pen. Finally, after many years of confinement he succeeded in gaining his full liberty; and, as he had a restless disposition and evil inclinations, he associated himself with other Chinese criminals, of those who were fugitives from the province of Fo-Kien, and they lived on what they could plunder from other Sangleys and from the Indians and Spaniards. As they regarded this occupation of petty thieving as too disagreeable, and it could not extricate them from their wretchedly poor condition, they planned to assemble together three hundred of these vagabonds, and to undertake some exploit which should better their fortunes so that they could return to China free from danger. It seems certain that this resolve was talked about with the multitude of the Parián who were least supplied with funds, and these were on the watch to aid the bold attempt of those promoters if the result had corresponded to their plans; and what is most surprising is the secrecy with which they kept these from the rich Sangleys—who not only would not have entered into the plot, but would have revealed it for their own safety; for they were going to lose much and gain little, and with very evident risk. The day and hour of the conspiracy having been settled—a day in the month of August, at daylight—they assembled in a disorderly crowd, armed with such weapons as they could procure by stealth, their leader being one who had newly come, that same year, from China. In a mob, and without order, they attacked the house of the alguacil-mayor, Pedro de Ortega; and they killed him and another Spaniard, named Nicolás de Ballena. With this beginning they went to the house of the alcalde-mayor of the Parián, Captain Don Diego Vivién, and entered it to do the same to him; but, having heard the noise, he escaped without clothing, and reached a safe place in the little fort which defends the entrance to the great bridge, where there is always a garrison of soldiers. The insurgents entered his house, and their greed satisfied itself on what they found nearest to their hands, although they had not the luck to find three thousand pesos in silver which the alcalde possessed. While they halted for this pillage there was time to bring up soldiers and other armed men, and they easily arrested many of the Sangleys, although most of them escaped; and the rest of the Parián remained tranquil. It was made known that this conspiracy was plotted in the bakery of Manila, and [it was said] that they intended to place pounded glass in the bread, in order to kill the Spaniards. This was not positively ascertained, but the management of that business was taken from the Chinese—to which, however, they afterward returned, at the urgent request of our people. This was because, during the time while the Sangleys did not carry on this trade, they were replaced by Spaniards who in their own country had been bakers, but in Manila they did not succeed in doing anything to advantage; the Sangleys therefore again took charge of the bakery, after they had been asked by many to furnish the supply of bread, of which great quantities are consumed in Manila.
The Sangley Tingco was captured, and in company with ten others was hanged and quartered; and the bodies were placed along the river of Manila and the estuary of Tondo, as far as Point Tañón in Tambobong. The conversion of those who were heathens (as were most of them) was secured, and for this conversion labored earnestly father Fray Álvaro de Benavente, an Augustinian, and Father José de Irigoyen of the Society of Jesus, both of whom knew the dialects of the provinces from which the criminals came; and for those of Fo-Kien the fathers of St. Dominic [ministered]. News came that many of the insurgents had taken refuge at Pasay, and General Don Tomás de Endaya went out against them with soldiers and Merdicas (who are very brave Malay Indians); they came back with eleven heads of those whom they could kill, and the disturbance was quieted, nor has any other occurred up to the present time.
In this danger Manila maintains her existence, clinging to it as the means of her preservation even though she grieves over what is the cause of her greatest decline. The shrewdness of the Chinese in business dealings and their skill in carrying on the mechanical trades turn us from these callings so entirely that Spaniards who in their own country practiced them here consider it foolish to do so; accordingly they allow the Chinese to conduct and manage the crafts, believing that the latter are serving us when they are most imposing upon us. And as the Chinese recognize this weakness of ours, and see that it is without remedy, on account of the Spanish vanity, they treat us with contempt in their acts, although with great submission in their words. Whatever they make is defective and does not wear well, in order that they may have more work to do. The unnecessary expense that Manila suffers on account of the frauds that they practice in the trades of baker, candle-maker, and silversmith is very great; we recognize this, and endure it through necessity, and the matter is not set right, through reluctance to apply the remedy. Many persons understand the injury which the Chinese cause here, but much more numerous are those who defend them, since this peril is dear to those who regard it as an advantage [to have the Chinese here.]
In the year 1678 there reached our hands a very judicious opinion, printed at Madrid by a devout person who had had experience in dealing with that nation, and was well aware of their acts of guile. It was presented before the royal and supreme Council of the Indias, its president being the Conde de Medellín; and when the arguments adduced therein made a very strong impression, another pamphlet appeared in print at the same court, against the former one and in favor of the Sangleys; this delayed the decision, so that it seems as if they have in all quarters those who defend them. And so we go on, enduring this incurable disease—although today the number of the Sangleys is less than ever; for it is supposed that the number does not reach the six thousand whom the royal decrees allow, and judging by the poverty to which the commonwealth of Manila is steadily being reduced, each year there will be fewer Chinese here through the lack of profits; for that is the craving which draws them from their own country.
I am aware that I have expatiated on a matter which seems to be an affair of state, rather than of history, although history, as a teacher of truth and a witness of the times, should include all events. I much regret that I cannot enlarge my account by saying something of the much which I could tell about the great indifference with which the Sangleys who are baptized attend to their obligations as Christians; most of them do so for worldly objects, such as being married and living as lords of the country; but this subject is one for tears rather than for the pen. Many lamentations have been made by many Jeremiahs zealous for the honor of God; but no results have followed beyond the reward which will be given to them in glory for this so holy labor. A very learned apologue is kept in the ecclesiastical archives, written by the reverend father Fray Alberto Collares of the Order of Preachers, at the request of the archbishop of Manila, Doctor Don Miguel Millán de Poblete, which causes horror to those who read it; and the worst is, that it tells but little, according to the opinion of other religious of the said order, who, as ministers to the Parián mission, know the Chinese best. And still more is this occasion for censure to some of the religious of that order who have been in China, and know how much superior the Christians of that empire are to these; and therefore they take great care to prevent those who come from China (who are few) from holding intercourse with the Christians of the Parián, in order that these may not corrupt them. Thus do they look upon the matter; and when in our convent at Manila was lodged Don Fray Gregorio López, a Basilitan[72] bishop of the Order of Preachers, a Chinese by nationality—who was a phœnix among that people, on account of his virtue and sanctity—he prevented from going to the Parián, whenever he could, two good Chinese Christians whom he brought hither in his company.
Many (and most) persons are greatly deceived in imagining that the Sangleys who live among the Indian natives outside of Manila do no harm to the faith, saying that the Chinese are more atheists than idolaters, and that they only seek worldly advantages. But this is not always the rule, for some teach sects and doctrines that are very evil, as experience shows. In the year 1706, father Fray Antolín de Alzaga, one of the apostolic missionaries whom we have in the remote mountains of the province of Pampanga, converting and instructing the warlike peoples called Italones, Ituriés, and Abacas—whose wonderful conversions present notable material to him whose duty it is to write the history of those times—this apostolic missionary came to Manila, making light of the hardships of [travel by] those roads so long and rough, in order to ask the governor, Don Domingo de Zabalburu, to take measures for banishing from these mountains two infidel Sangleys, who with greed for the trade in wax had penetrated even those unexplored hills, where they taught false dogmas and perverse opinions, such as palingenesis, or transmigration of souls—a dogma which Pythagoras taught, and which was propagated much among heathen peoples. At the present time it is accepted by all nations of Asia, and in China and Japon with the greatest tenacity; they believe that when a man dies his soul goes to animate another body, either rational or brute, according to the deserts of him who is dead, and for either punishment or reward; and thus they allot an infinite succession of transmigrations. This diabolical dogma was taught by these Sangleys to the Italon Indians, with other evil doctrines, such as polygamy (which permits a man to have many wives), idolatry, and others which ensue from it. That accursed doctrine spread rapidly among those simple mountaineers, so much so that it became necessary to have recourse to the said governor—who, being so zealous for the increase of the Christian faith, sent to the alcalde-mayor of Pampanga a very urgent command to expel from those missions the two Sangleys, and to be very careful to prevent the entrance of others therein; and this order was carried out, to the great tranquillity of the new Christian church. Experience has shown the same thing in other villages where Sangleys have fixed abodes. I will not delay longer over a matter on which there is an endless amount to be said, since I have sufficiently exceeded the limits of my obligation; and I refer to many persons who have officially discussed these matters, although they have obtained no results from their earnest efforts.
The natives regard them with contempt, having no further inclination toward them than that of self-interest; consequently, neither affection nor fear draws either toward the other. And ordinarily selfishness courts the Sangleys, while aversion urges the natives to make complaints against them—except that the bond of matrimony is a check on the women; for, as is usually the case, if a native leads a bad life, he is on the watch for the acts of the Sangleys, in order to make the evil-doing of another serve as an excuse for greater freedom in his own wrong mode of life. Accordingly, they are in more danger from testimony arising from the malice of the accusers than from facts brought forward in zeal for their correction—as is seen by the few complaints or accusations that are decided against them, and how still more rarely do these bring them to punishment. Nor can this be attributed to the negligence of the judges, for they are delighted to receive the lawsuits of the Sangleys, our covetousness selling to them even justice very dear; and when harshness finds an object, it makes their punishments (since their wealth offers so much to avarice), although less bloody, more keenly felt, since in the estimation of the Sangley money is his very heart’s blood.
The precedents set by the sovereign kings Don Fernando the Catholic and Don Felipe II are examples of their piety, and of their successful policy in separating from their Catholic vassals those who are perfidious, who if mingled with the others might pervert them, through the passion which the Indians and Moros have for propagating their [false] sects—a danger much to be feared among the simple people of the villages and the common herd.
No doubt, intercourse with these infidels is very necessary, on account of the merchandise which they furnish to us from their kingdom; but this could, in my opinion, be accomplished without danger to us—for one thing, by permitting to remain in these islands [only the] six thousand Sangleys, as his Majesty decrees; and for another, by not permitting them to trade in the provinces, or to live in the villages mingled with the Indians. But they should be kept in subjection, as Joshua kept down the Gaboanites, and as now Roma, Florencia, Venecia, and Orán hold the Jews in subjection, and our people in Ternate kept the Moros in his Majesty’s galleys, the rabble of that sort. It is an obvious disadvantage to live subjected to such peoples, because the law of subjection, the adulation offered to rulers, and ambition to secure their favor are powerful to subject religion to their pleasure, as has been found by experience in all the countries where this misfortune has been suffered—such as Mesopotamia, both the Arabias, Egipto, and Africa, and that one which was the supporter of religion, Constantinopla, with all of Grecia. And for the same reason heresy has so prevailed and lorded it in Inglaterra, Irlanda, Dinamarca, Suecia, Sajonia,[i.e., Saxony], the Palatinate, and many other provinces and free cities—the most fatal poison that attacks the faith being the sovereignty of infidel princes, their grandeur and power being the sure ruin of religion. I consider that I have used more space than is required by my obligations, in treating of so pernicious a nation, which is allowed here in greater number than our needs demand—I know not whether through our fault or our misfortune—and maintained in the subjection which experience has shown [to be necessary] at times when too great confidence has relaxed the rein of caution.
[Here we resume the regular narrative of this period by Diaz, at p. 786:] This revolt caused great anxiety to the governor, Don Gabriel Curucelaegui, on account of the many champans which had come that year from China; but in the course of time the danger disappeared.