[63] i.e., “Courage holds greater sway in a small body.”
[64] That is, who had deserved it before his coming, but thus far had managed to escape punishment.
[65] Spanish, mala feria, “a bad fair;” referring to the annual gathering of buyers at Acapulco on the arrival of the Manila galleon.
[66] “So closely did the government guard against possible independence of the colonists in trade that ships’ companies were prohibited from purchasing goods of the country, and factors and traders on the fleets were not allowed to remain longer than three years in America. No foreigner could trade with the colonies, nor was one permitted to enter a port without special license. In fact the prices of both imports and exports of New Spain, with the exception of the precious metals, were under the arbitrary control of the merchants of Seville, and later of Cádiz. What further increased the drainage of wealth from America was the decadence of manufacturing industries in Spain, owing to the immense influx into the Peninsula of precious metals. The riches poured into the mother country made labor almost unnecessary; hence a general decline in all kinds of industry, and Spain had to resort to foreign markets, not only to supply home consumption but also the demands of her colonies. Merchandise thus procured could only be exported to the American settlements at rates increased by additional duties and merchants’ profits.” Besides the commercial restrictions imposed on the colonies by the home government, other influences depressed trade—forced loans to the king, debased coinage, interference by the church, arbitrary action by civil authorities, contraband trade, the ravages of war, and the depredations of corsairs. “In time of war commerce with the mother country was reduced to the lowest ebb; European goods were poured into the Spanish colonies by neutrals, and the contraband trade was almost openly carried on.” (Bancroft’s Mexico, iii, pp. 628–630.)
[67] Regarding the bulls of the Crusade (for which see VOL. XXVIII, pp. 113–115), the following information is furnished by Rev. Dr. William A. Jones, O.S.A., president of the college of San Agustín, Havana: “So far as I know, there was no special decree suppressing the privileges of the Bula Cruzada. As I understand it from those who are well informed, the original privileges contained in the Bula Cruzada were exclusively bestowed upon Spanish subjects, and as a consequence, followed the Spanish flag. The moment the sovereignty of Spain ceased over this island [Cuba], so ceased also the meaning of the Bula Cruzada for these rebels to the old dynasty. But some Cubans continued to adopt the privileges of the Latin American Council which had recently been held in Rome (about five years ago), in virtue of which the privileges regarding fasts and abstinence are almost identical with the old Bula; those privileges were afterward confirmed, and we follow the rules of the Council. As for the Philippines, I infer that the Bula ceased there as soon as the Spanish sovereignty ended.”
An Augustinian father who has recently come to Villanova from the Philippines states that in those islands they have dispensations for fasts and abstinence, the same as before the revolution; but he could not state the precise date of those dispensations.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
A decree of Leo XIII, April 22, 1899, grants the Cuban bishops authority for ten years to grant dispensations from fasting and abstinence.
[68] Diaz’s statement throws an interesting light on the preparation and publication of the Conquistas of Fray Gaspar de San Agustín, which is the work here referred to. At the beginning are various approbations, licenses, etc. The dedication, very flowery and somewhat perfunctory, is made to Doña María de Guadalupe, Duquesa de Avero (with many other titles), as “the learned Minerva, not only of our España but of the new worlds;” it is signed by Fray Manuel de la Cruz, but is undated. The first approbation is signed by Fray Diego de Jesús and other Augustinian officials, at Manila, September 2, 1686; and the license for its publication is signed by the provincial of the order, Juan de Jérez, four days later. The commissary of the Inquisition at Manila, Fray Baltasar de Santa Cruz, O.P., approves it on November 28 following; and the archbishop of Manila, Phelipe Pardo, licenses the publication, on December 2. Nothing was done toward printing it until 1697; for the next document is the approbation of the work, furnished by Alonso Sandin, O.P., who has examined it in obedience to the command of Alonso Portillo de Cardos, vicar-general of the archdiocese of Toledo; this is dated at Madrid, August 8, 1697. Nine days later, Portillo issues the license for printing the book. Next follows the approbation of Fray Diego Florez, past provincial of the Augustinian province of Castilla, dated at Madrid, September 5. Then follow a list of “Erratas,” thirteen in number, signed by Martin de Ascarza, “corrector-general for his Majesty,” dated May 5, 1698; and a certificate (dated May 10) that the price at which the said book may be sold has been fixed by decree of the royal Council at eight maravedis for each printed sheet (pliego). A note at the foot of this page states that the book contains 146 pliegos, including unnumbered pages. Nothing is said in any of these documents of Diaz’s connection with the work.
[69] The first Dutch settlement at the present site of Cape Town was made in 1652; it grew very slowly for a long time, for at the end of that century it contained only some eighty private houses. In 1658 negro slaves were carried thither, and later the Dutch sent to Cape Town Javanese criminals who had been sentenced at Batavia to penal servitude, and political prisoners of rank from India, some of whom preferred to remain there for life. With these elements of population and the aboriginal Hottentots arose innumerable mixtures of blood, and the utmost diversity of color and features among the inhabitants. The castle of Good Hope (still standing) was built in 1666–74, as a defense for the colony; and in 1672 a formal purchase of land was made from the Hottentots by the East India Company. The great garden of the Company was partly converted into a nursery for foreign plants and trees by Simon van der Stel, commander of the colony from 1680 to 1699. See Theal’s South Africa (New York and London, 1894), pp. 20–57.
In 1688–90 nearly 200 Huguenot refugees from France arrived at the Cape, and formed settlements near Cape Town. See Worsfold’s South Africa (London, 1895), p. 15.