Читать книгу The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Volume 14 of 55 - Unknown - Страница 5

Don Pedro de Acuña, etc. By the hands of Captain Juan San I received the letter of the lord viceroy in which he informs me that news has been carried to China that the Sangleys who came to trade with this realm of Luzon have been put to death by the Spaniards. He states that after having investigated the cause of their death, and having asked the king to execute justice upon the author of so great a wrong, he learned that on account of the lies uttered by Tioguen we had suspected that the Sangleys were going to make war against us. On this account, as he was informed, we had put to death more than thirty thousand Chinese. The king had punished Tiogueng by commanding his head to be cut off and hung up in a cage, and had ordered Anglion, his companion, to be executed. He declared that the Chinese who had been slain in Luzon were not in fault. I reply to this that that which happened in this case is as stated in the accompanying letter—which I sent as soon as the event occurred, with a ship and a proper messenger, by way of Macan to the Portuguese who live there, who are vassals of our king. It was my intention that they should give it to the viceroy; and I sent similar letters to the eunuch and to the mandarins who were there. But the Portuguese were not well disposed to us, solely on account of their belief that the Chinese were in close friendship with us because of the trade and the large amount of commerce which we had with them; and that this is the cause why they are not able to buy merchandise at very low prices, as they would certainly do if the trade from here were to come to an end. Hence they brought it about that these letters were not delivered; and thus the truth of this matter could not be known in China, nor the fact that the Sangleys were greatly to blame for the losses which they incurred. If these things had been known the Chinese, well disposed as they are to the execution of justice according to law, and desirous that crimes should be punished, would certainly have regarded the fault of those people as greater than the punishment which was inflicted on them.

The penalty imposed on the Sangleys who piloted the two Dutch ships that were on the coast of Chincheo was very just. These Dutch are not friends of the Castilians, but bitter enemies; for, although they are vassals of the king of the Hespañas, my sovereign, they and their country have revolted, and they have become pirates like Liamon in China. They have no employment, except to plunder as much as they can. Hence they did not come to Luzon; and, if they should come, I would try to capture and punish them.

As for the statement that the letter is sent to let me know the greatness of the king of China and of his realms, and that they are so great that he governs all upon which the moon and the sun shed their light; and the other statement that he desires me to be acquainted with the great wisdom with which that kingdom is governed, vast as it is, and that no one should dare offend it, and referring to the war in Corea—to this I answer that the Spaniards have measured by palmos, and that very exactly, all the countries belonging to all the kings and lordships in the world. Since the Chinese have no commerce with foreign nations, it seems to them that there is no other country but their own, and that there is no higher greatness than theirs; but if he knew the power of some of the kings with whom my sovereign, the king of the Hespañas, carries on continual war, the whole of China would seem to him very small. The king of China would do well to notice that from here to the court of Hespaña the distance is five thousand leguas; and that on the voyage thither are two kingdoms, Nueva Hespaña and Peru, whose teiritory is so great that it is almost equal to that of China, without mentioning very large islands in those seas. At the same time I know that the kingdom of China is governed with much wisdom, and all the people here know, and I know, of the war in Corea.

The Sangleys who were killed here when they revolted were not thirty thousand, or even half as many.

As for the statement that after the death of the Sangleys was known in China, many mandarins joined in a concerted petition to the king that they might be allowed to avenge those deaths—accusing the Spaniards of being cruel and ungrateful, and charging us that after the Chinese had aided us to erect our walls and other buildings, and in our gardens (all to our profit), we ought not to have done this—to this I reply that the Spaniards are not cruel of heart, and never make war upon anyone without just reasons. We regard ourselves as a just people and as having a standing in the world; and we would be greatly grieved if it could be said of us with truth that we have done wrongs or injuries to anyone—especially to our friends, and to those who are sincerely friends to us. Thus in the case of the Sangleys who were here, we treated them as brothers and sons; and, without any precaution, we permitted them to enter our houses at all seasons and at all hours, as if they had been Spaniards. So true was this that, if God had not delivered us by revealing their treachery, they might for that very cause have been able to succeed in it.

I have noted the answer given by the king of China to letters written by the viceroy and others with regard to this matter. I think that he ought to be fair in all matters, and that he should not be influenced to make war on Luzón without first knowing whether we are in fault or not; for if he should do otherwise we could not say, as we have said, that China is prudently governed.

The viceroy also writes to me that, since the Spaniards are a sensible and prudent people, we must therefore be grieved for having slain so many people, and repent thereof. He also informs me that if we deal justly with the Chinese return the Sangleys who have survived the war, and pay the money due on the goods taken from the Sangleys, he will maintain amity with us and will send merchant vessels every year. If not, the king will not permit ships to come, but will command a thousand war-vessels to be built, manned with soldiers—both the relatives of those who are dead, and men from the other nations and kingdoms who pay tribute to China; and, without mercy on anyone, they will make war upon us, and afterward the kingdom of Luzón will be given to that people which pays tribute.

To this I answer that, although in truth we are grieved for the loss which the Chinese suffered, we have nothing to repent of therein; since what we did was to put to death those who would have done the same to us (although we had given them no reason for it), and who would have done so if we had not anticipated them. When we were living in great peace they rose in revolt against us, simply because they were wicked; left their Parián for a fort which they had built without my knowing anything of it, and sallied out thence against the farms to kill Spaniards and Indians. This they succeeded in doing by catching them unawares, and they inflicted very great cruelties even upon the Spanish women and upon their slaves, both male and female. Since this is true, as the very Chinese who have survived will declare, let the viceroy judge what could have been done, and what he would have done if such a thing had happened in China.

The crime is such that all of them justly deserve to die for it; but, moved with pity, I permitted some few to serve in the galleys of the king, which is a punishment inflicted by us upon criminals to avoid putting them to death. After they had been placed in the galleys, I get free some of them who, as it afterward appeared, had not been so much in fault; and others furnished some slaves, who received the same treatment. It is well known that kingdoms and provinces where crimes are not punished cannot maintain themselves; and if this crime were not punished, and the Chinese were to see that they received their liberty even when they had committed so great a crime, another day they would do the same thing. Hence I have not yet set at liberty those Sangleys who are condemned to the galleys, that they may go to China and even convey to the viceroy knowledge of what has happened. I am certain that when he knows the facts he will regard their punishment as very slight in view of their crimes; but, if he should deem otherwise, let him inform me of his will.

The property which was in existence during the past year, for whom owners or consignees appeared, was surrendered to them; there was a great quantity of it, and now they take [blank space in MS.]. This is the amount which I have been able to send from the royal treasury, where some of the property of the Sangleys was deposited for which an owner was not to be found; next year I will endeavor to send the rest. During the past year one ship arrived; and the other, which was on its way to Castilla, was lost with a very great quantity of Chinese stuffs and other goods. For this reason it has been impossible to discharge this obligation in full at the present time. Let the viceroy notice that this is and will be done because it is just, and not because he has written that unless the people and the goods are sent he will make war on Luzón; for I am sure that the king of China and his ministers, being prudent, politic, and discreet persons, will not wage war for causes so light. Still, if they desire to do so, the Castilians are well able to defend their lands from all who may attempt to take them away; and they even know how to attack their enemies and to seek them out in their own dwelling-places, when their opponents suppose that they have them conquered.

As regards the licenses for ships coming from China to trade with Luzón, it is not so dangerous to grant such permissions that the king [of China] or other persons there will consent to lose the great advantage which they possess in the large quantity of silver which is carried hence every year; for this remains in China, without a single real leaving there, while the goods which they give us in exchange are consumed and used up in a very short time. Hence we may say that in this trade the Chinese have as great an interest as the Castilians have, or even more.