The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 07 of 55: 1588-1591; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 07 of 55: 1588-1591; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
Second, all the Indians who are to be pacified will then be found,
because experience has already shown us that to think of finding the
Indians with a force of soldiers is rather to lose them, and never
to pacify them; while with religious they all become obedient with
great good will. And, when they are pacified and converted, much
larger tributes can be exacted, and the increase of revenue in the
treasury of your Majesty from their tributes would be greater than the
amount spent in sending them religious; while the conscience of your
Majesty would be free from the greatest weight which, in my judgment,
it has in this land, because tributes are collected from Indians
who have never rendered obedience, and do not, as I have said above,
know why they are paying it.
In the last clause your Majesty orders me to charge myself with the
protection of the Indians of this bishopric. I receive this charge
as a special favor; because, as it was, I was burdened with the same
responsibility, and with this commission I shall have, as your Majesty
says, more authority in order to render aid. And this provision was
so necessary because, without it, I was able to do almost nothing to
succor the Indians. And with this I think I shall be able to serve your
Majesty more, and to advance the cause of those who shall come with
the charge of bishop, although the one joined to the other is of very
great consequence. The Indians who have learned of it are very glad,
since the obligation which is due them from the Spaniards is of no
concern to the latter. And as it is from the hand of your Majesty,
this office, then, is of greater importance for the relief of the
conscience of your Majesty and the preservation of the natives,
than any other one of all that are provided for afterward by the
governor. I have not the wherewithal for the expenses which occur;
for there must necessarily be a notary, interpreter, and lawyer,
and persons who with my authorization shall be present to plead the
suits--which will not be a few, and cannot be carried through without
spending money--since I am not able, nor is it right that I should be
on hand to present the petition, or to plead the causes and business
of so much weight and authority. To take this task of being my agent,
some honest man, however honorable his station, should be glad to do
it. It is necessary that he be a person of great credit and of resolute
mind, that he may not fear to defend the Indians, although at the risk
of injury from those who harm them, and this seldom fails to come to
pass, as the disputes are often with those who are very powerful.
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