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The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 16 of 55: 1609; 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 16 of 55: 1609; 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

the method of treatment, the style, and its _raison d'etre_.

The work contains ten books, the first four of which consist almost
entirely of matters extraneous to the Philippines, such as Maluco
matters, the history of Pedro Sarmiento's expedition through the Strait
of Magellan in search of Drake, etc. The last six books contain more
Philippine matter, and while Argensola cannot always be credited with
the same reliability as Morga, he often supplements the latter. His
introduction in the first book reads as follows:] [269]

I write of the reduction of the Malucas Islands to the obedience of
Felipe III, king of Espana, and the reduction of their kings to their
former vassalage, which their predecessors rendered, and which was
introduced anew by Don Pedro de Acuna, governor of the Filipinas and
general of the Spanish fleet. That was a victory worthy the foresight
of so pious a monarch, of the care of the dignified ministers of his
supreme council, and of the valor of our nation: not so greatly because
of the rare fertility of those provinces, as because by it was taken
from the northern fleets one great compelling motive for sailing our
seas, so that they should not infect the purity of the new faith of
the Asiatic Indians, and the inhabitants of our colonies who trade
with them, with heresy. The short time in which the undertaking
was completed does not detract from its praise; on the contrary,
it can, by that very fact, occupy a worthy place among more copious
narratives. Well do I see the dangers to which I expose myself, but I
am also confident that I shall not find a defense wanting. Illustrious
sculptors or painters are wont to esteem highly the heads, arms,
and other members, that are copied perfectly from living bodies, in
imitation of which they form all the parts, when they wish to make any
figure. Those ignorant of art despise that preparation, and only enjoy
the statue or picture, which is composed of all its members, and do not
examine the imperfections that they may possess. My present relation
of the recovery of those kingdoms will be judged by this esteem and
by this contempt. For the wise, who know how history is formed, will
esteem this part drawn from life. Others who read, as they confess,
only to pass the time, will value it but little--preferring some
highly fabulous monstrosities, or a prolix book, which, under the
name of history, contains a marvelous number of people, and their
deaths; and which gives events, not as God disposed them, but as they
desire them. Hence it happens that many things worth knowing remain
hidden, for, since they are deferred tor general histories, they are
contemporaneously written but meagerly, by those concerned in them;
and when their manuscripts are wanted, they are not to be found, or
else bind the writer to the laws imposed on him by those who wished
to leave that memorial through their self-love or any other passion,
and he can make no examination of their truth. Consequently to free a

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 16 of 55: 1609; 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

the method of treatment, the style, and its _raison d'etre_.

The work contains ten books, the first four of which consist almost
entirely of matters extraneous to the Philippines, such as Maluco
matters, the history of Pedro Sarmiento's expedition through the Strait
of Magellan in search of Drake, etc. The last six books contain more
Philippine matter, and while Argensola cannot always be credited with
the same reliability as Morga, he often supplements the latter. His
introduction in the first book reads as follows:] [269]

I write of the reduction of the Malucas Islands to the obedience of
Felipe III, king of Espana, and the reduction of their kings to their
former vassalage, which their predecessors rendered, and which was
introduced anew by Don Pedro de Acuna, governor of the Filipinas and
general of the Spanish fleet. That was a victory worthy the foresight
of so pious a monarch, of the care of the dignified ministers of his
supreme council, and of the valor of our nation: not so greatly because
of the rare fertility of those provinces, as because by it was taken
from the northern fleets one great compelling motive for sailing our
seas, so that they should not infect the purity of the new faith of
the Asiatic Indians, and the inhabitants of our colonies who trade
with them, with heresy. The short time in which the undertaking
was completed does not detract from its praise; on the contrary,
it can, by that very fact, occupy a worthy place among more copious
narratives. Well do I see the dangers to which I expose myself, but I
am also confident that I shall not find a defense wanting. Illustrious
sculptors or painters are wont to esteem highly the heads, arms,
and other members, that are copied perfectly from living bodies, in
imitation of which they form all the parts, when they wish to make any
figure. Those ignorant of art despise that preparation, and only enjoy
the statue or picture, which is composed of all its members, and do not
examine the imperfections that they may possess. My present relation
of the recovery of those kingdoms will be judged by this esteem and
by this contempt. For the wise, who know how history is formed, will
esteem this part drawn from life. Others who read, as they confess,
only to pass the time, will value it but little--preferring some
highly fabulous monstrosities, or a prolix book, which, under the
name of history, contains a marvelous number of people, and their
deaths; and which gives events, not as God disposed them, but as they
desire them. Hence it happens that many things worth knowing remain
hidden, for, since they are deferred tor general histories, they are
contemporaneously written but meagerly, by those concerned in them;
and when their manuscripts are wanted, they are not to be found, or
else bind the writer to the laws imposed on him by those who wished
to leave that memorial through their self-love or any other passion,
and he can make no examination of their truth. Consequently to free a

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

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