Relation of what has occurred in the Filipinas Islands and other regions adjacent, from July, 1630, to July, 1632.

Great has been the peace which we have enjoyed in these Philipinas Islands for the last two years; for the forces of the Dutch have been scanty, owing to the failure of reËnforcements; from Holland, and hence there has been peace in the Malucas Islands as well. Nevertheless, there have not been wanting here some disturbances from domestic enemies. The Indians of the province of Caraga, which is in one of these Philipinas Islands, rebelled and killed the Spaniards and the religious, their ministers (although not for any cause connected with the faith); these are discalced Augustinian friars. This uprising gave us anxiety enough, as it seemed to be the beginning of a universal mutiny; and it was particularly disturbing to us, as all our missions are in the neighborhood of the said province of Caraga, which is gradually being subdued and the leaders of the mutiny punished.

In Japon they are still pricked with the thorn of the ship which some years ago our galleons captured and burned on the bar of Sian. To avenge this, notable councils have been held in Japon, in order to come and wage war against this land; in order beforehand to have it well explored, they sent last year in January two merchant ships, under cloak of trade and traffic. Although in Manilla warning of this double object had been received, this was not made known; and they were received and regaled as ambassadors from the Tono of Arima and Bungo. A ceremonious reception and very handsome present were given to them; but the city was put in readiness for whatever might happen. This year they have begun again to send ships to trade and traffic, and asked that our ships should go to Japon. But we are holding back here, because what they wish to do is to seize the property which might be in the vessels, and put the Castilians to the sword. They sent in these ships a hundred or more Christian lepers, who, whatever they did with them, would not abandon the faith; and in order not to stain their catans, as they said, with such people, they left them alive and exiled them to the Philipinas. Here they were very kindly received—as was required by Christian piety, and by the cause for which they had been exiled—without considering the affront which the Japanese thought to put upon us by sending the dregs of that kingdom.

The persecution there was very severe, as will be seen by a letter which Father Christoval Ferreyra1 writes from Nangasaqui to the father provincial of this province—which, being translated from the Portuguese into Castilian, reads as follows:

“By the last ship, I wrote to your Reverence the state of the Christian church here. I shall now continue with what has happened since then; and it may all be summed up as new persecutions, labors, and hardships. I will commence with the five religious who, in the year twenty-nine, were taken prisoners on account of the faith. These are fathers Fray Bartolome Gutierrez, Fray Francisco de Jesus, Fray Vicente de San Antonio, all three Augustinians; Father Antonio Yxida, of our Society; and brother Fray Gabriel de Magdalena, a Franciscan. The governor of Nangasaqui, named Uneme, attempted to make them deny the faith, and in this way to discredit our holy faith and its ministers, and to break the spirit of the Christians, so that with the example of these they might more easily leave the faith, and thus he would gain credit and honor before Xongun [i.e., the Shogun], emperor of Japon.

“With this diabolical intention—which, it appears, he had already discussed in the court—he ordered them to be taken from the prison of Omura and brought to Nangasaqui, on the twenty-fifth of November last. As he did not say for what purpose, they were persuaded that it was to burn them alive for the faith which they professed and taught; therefore they all went very joyfully, as men who were sighing for such a happy death. But contrary to what they expected, they were put in the prison of that city, where they remained until the third of December, without knowing in the meantime what the governor intended to do.

“Twice during this time the governor ordered our Father Antonio Yxida to be brought to his house, and although he did not find him the first time, he, with a servant of his named Saitogonnay (who was considered an unusually learned man in the Juto2 sect), asked him very affectionately that at any rate he would abandon the faith of Christ and adopt one of the religions of Japon; and if for any reason he did not wish to abandon at present the one which he followed, at least he should show himself neutral, neither abandoning nor following it. And, in order that the father might deliberate over all this, he would give him one more year of hope; and when this was passed, he should make known to the governor his final decision. The father answered him that his decision was, as it had been and always would be, to follow and confess always the faith of God, and for this no time was necessary to deliberate in this affair; for he would always find in him the same resolution and the same response, howsoever much time be should give him for respite. The father added that the governor might immediately do that which he had determined to do at the end of the said year; for the response which he would then have to give was the same as what he gave at present, nor would he ever accept the alternative proposed.

“This counsel being refused, the learned man set about convincing him by argument, attempting to prove that the Tayquio was the same, and that the Juto sect was based upon, and regarded as the beginning of all things, the God which we Christians adore. Wherefore, as the question was one of names, and not of substance, the two faiths were in accord, and that he should conform to the words also of the Juto sect. Easily and clearly the father showed him the difference between the one sect and he other, and in what each consisted; and convinced him in such wise that the ignorant learned man had no other refuge but to fall back on his reason—saying that it was indeed as the father declared, but that reason dictated that he should follow and obey the mandate of the emperor, whose vassal he was, and abandon the faith of God, at least outwardly, following in his heart whatever he pleased. ‘Neither the faith which I profess,’ answered the father, ‘nor pure reason itself, will consent to these deceits and maskings. The faith of God which I follow in my heart I shall follow and confess outwardly still; nor can the mandate of the emperor have force or strength against that of God, the universal Lord of all things.’

“This dispute and combat lasted a day and a night, during which time the father maintained such resolution and firmness that when the governor tried to be stern, in order to make him change his opinion of that idolatry, the father told him, undeceiving him, that he was striving in vain, for in no way could he win him over. On this account, the next day he was sent back to the prison. But as the governor’s servants knew that he desired to succeed in his endeavor, one of them asked that the father be called out again and delivered to him, for he hoped to subdue him. Accordingly the father himself, as well as the others, was persuaded that this second time he was called out to be tortured, that he might deny his faith and reveal the other religious and their households, for this had been the practice in the city for some time past. With astonishing courage the father went out, resolved to suffer any torment whatever before he would deny Christ or reveal his brothers.

“When he arrived at the house of the governor there came out to meet him the servant who had sought to see him, who had been present at the late dispute, and at one which the father had formerly had with the governor, when they arrested him. Although now the same means of controversy were attempted, finding that, nevertheless, the more they argued the more convinced he was, the principal means which they used was to explain to the father how much the governor desired to grant him life and to favor him, as he could have seen every time he discussed this matter. He was promised in behalf of the same governor great riches and position; and they strongly insisted that not only on account of what he owed to the friendship which the governor showed him, but for what concerned his own welfare and interest, he ought to abandon the faith of God, outwardly only, and to follow it in his heart, as any man of good judgment would do—saying that he would show himself to be such by using this expedient, for he would not abandon the faith which he followed, and would attain riches and repose. The answer was that even if the governor should give him all the riches that he possessed and all that there are in the world, and should make him lord of all, by no means would he turn his back to God or abandon His most holy faith—no, not even outwardly.

“The governor, finding then that he could not win the father over by arguments, advice, or promises, ordered him to be taken back to the prison, determined to use other more rigorous measures, with which he considered it certain that he would overcome him and the other religious who were in prison. This was by ordering them to be tortured in a spring of exceedingly hot water, at the mountain Unjen;3 for although some told him that this also would not win over either Father Antonio or the others, it appeared impossible that they should not yield under this most extreme torture—as experience had shown him in the year 1629, when he ordered the Christians of Nangasaqui to be tortured in this way. Accordingly, he ordered the aforesaid five religious to be conveyed to that mountain, there to be tortured with hot water until they should deny the faith, but in such wise that they should not die. By the same order he sent likewise in their company Beatriz de Acosta, the wife of Antonio de Silva, and Maria her daughter; for they would not deny their faith, although they had long been labored with—and this notwithstanding the fact that Beatriz de Acosta was Japanese only on the side of her mother, and the daughter much less so, as her father was a Portuguese, and her mother a half-Portuguese; and they do not proceed in this persecution [except] against Japanese and ministers of the gospel.

“On the third of December they left Nangasaqui alone, and started for Unjen. The two women rode in a litter, and the five religious on horseback, each one in the habit of his order, accompanied by many people as a guard; they were very joyful as they took leave of a multitude of people who came out to see this spectacle, in spite of the fact that the governor had rigorously prohibited it. When they arrived at the point of Fimi, a league distant from there, their arms were tied, fetters were put upon their feet, and each one was put on board separately, being tied to the boat. On this same afternoon they arrived at the point of Oharna, which is within the boundaries of Tacacu, and at the foot of the mountain Unjen. The next day they ascended the mountain, where they immediately erected a number of huts; then they placed the seven prisoners therein, each in a separate one, without allowing them to see each other again so long as they were there, so that they might not encourage one another. They kept them day and night with fetters on their feet, and manacles upon their hands, watched by guards.

“Besides the men of the governor of Nangasaqui, the governors of Tacacu sent theirs likewise to be present at this act, as well as to aid whenever necessary. Beside these, there were a number of others as sentinels on all the roads through which this mountain could be approached, who let no person pass by without a written permission from the officials who were assigned to this duty.

“On the next day, the fourth of the same month, the torture commenced in the following manner: They took each one of the seven by himself to the most furious pool there, and, showing him the boiling water, tried to persuade him to leave the faith of Christ before undergoing that most horrible torture, which certainly they would not be able to endure. Father Antonio writes that, notwithstanding the severity of the cold that then prevailed, the water in the ponds did [not] cease boiling, with such fury that the sight of it alone would strike dismay to any one who was not greatly comforted by the grace of God; but they were comforted in such manner that all, with extraordinary courage, answered without delay that they would be tortured, for in no wise would they abandon the faith which they profess. When this steadfast answer was heard, they were stripped naked and, tied hand and foot with four cords, were borne each by four men. They took some of the water which was boiling most furiously, in a wooden dish which held about a half-arroba; this water they poured upon each one from the dish thrice filled—not all at once, but little by little, opening a minute hole in the bottom so that it would last longer. The constancy, courage, and valor with which the confessors of Christ suffered that most horrible torment was such that they never made the slightest movement of their bodies, to the great fright of those who saw and heard them. Maria alone, as she was young and delicate, was dismayed by the severity of the torture, and fell to the ground and the torturers, who only desired some pretext whereby they could say that she had recanted, and misrepresenting this fall, cried out, saying, ‘She has yielded, she has yielded!’ Thereupon they took her back to her hut, and the next day to Nangasaqui—although she opposed them violently and protested that she had not given up the faith, and that they had no reason for torturing her, or for tormenting and killing her mother and the rest.

“The other six remained on that mountain, where they spent twenty-three days, during which Father Antonio, father Fray Francisco, and Beatriz de Acosta were tortured, each one six times, with hot water in the manner that I have described. Father Fray Vicente was tortured four times, father Fray Bartolome and brother Fray Gabriel twice, without any one of them having made the least movement during the whole time; or shown any sign of feeling the torture. On the contrary, with wonderful cheerfulness and courage they gave thanks to their torturers, and sometimes told them that the torture had been slight; at others, that they should find some other and more cruel torment, so that their desire to suffer for Christ might be further fulfilled. As a result, the infidels were as if astounded, for they found them each time more constant, cheerful, and desirous of suffering; and in Nangasaqui and Tacacu nothing was talked of but the invincible courage and valor with which they suffered the torture, whereupon the Christians were full of joy and remained firmer in the faith. Several of the heathen began to complain and sneer at the governor of Nangasaqui, who had tried to make them deny their faith. Accordingly Father Antonio writes4 that, during the time while he was on that mountain, several were brought to the faith; and among the heathen who saw him and listened to the continual sermons which he preached to them, many gave him their word to receive the faith, and all conceived the highest opinion of the faith of God.

“The reason for torturing some oftener than others was that Father Antonio, being a Japanese, had disobeyed the mandate of the emperor, and would not follow the counsels and persuasions of the governor of Nangasaqui and his ministers, nor be affected by the tortures. Father Fray Francisco suffered because he spoke to them with much Christian freedom, sang, and prayed in a loud voice, contrary to their prohibition; and Beatriz de Acosta because, although a woman, she showed more than a man’s courage, both in the tortures and in resisting the advice which they gave her—for which reason, beside the torture of boiling water, they inflicted others upon her. They made her stand upright a long time upon a small rock, threatening her with insults and affronts; but the more they insisted, the stronger they found her. The others, being weak and infirm, were not tortured so long, because the tyrant did not intend to kill them, but only to conquer them; and for this reason they had, during the whole time, a physician upon the mountain to cure their hurts.

“Finally the governor saw that he could by no means conquer them; but, on the contrary, his men informed him that, judging by the courage and valor which they showed, they would suffer till all the pools and wells in Unjen were drained, rather than give in. He therefore lost all hope of a victory over them, and decided to order that they be taken to Nangasaqui, although he would not do so before his departure for the court at Meaco; for he thought that it would diminish his prestige to have them enter as victors into that city while he was there. After his departure, therefore, he sent on the way advice to his deputy whom he left there, to bring them to Nangasaqui. This he accordingly did on the fifth of January, placing Beatriz de Acosta in a certain house, and putting the five religious into the public prison, where they still remain. Such was the victorious end of this battle, wherein our holy faith was nobly vindicated, the Christians encouraged, and the tyrant overcome and confounded, quite the contrary of what he had expected and promised.

“During the same time this governor seized and sent to Sendo5 the wives and daughters of the holy martyrs who have perished in Nangasaqui from the year 1617 to the present one, one thousand six hundred and thirty-two—separating many of them, who were already married, from their husbands and sons. They all accepted captivity for so holy a cause with a good will, and before leaving protested before the governor that they were and always would be Christians. Three Christians were taken prisoners for the faith in Fingo at the beginning of the year 631. One of them died most happily in the prison, a short time ago; and the other two, father and son, remain in captivity. In Xiqui there were thrown alive into the sea for the faith, on the twelfth of February past, Thome and Ynes, his wife; likewise in Firando, a short time ago, another man was thrown into the sea for the same cause.

“In Oxu6 a man became a Christian fraudulently; and, after learning about the principal Christians of Vacamatzu and Ayzu from one of our household of Ojaca, called Paulo, he went and gave a list thereof to the governors of Tenca. These immediately advised the governors of the first two places, and there those whom the talebearer had given in the list were taken prisoners—among them Brother Juan Yama, of our Society, who was one whom I had catechized and baptized. Thus far we have not learned whether they have been martyred or not.

“The governors of Tacacu sent the same information regarding Paulo, who, although he was not in that city, was so diligently sought after that they succeeded in arresting him; and some time afterward he, with his wife Maria and four sons, suffered martyrdom. This led to a furious persecution, not only in Oxu, but likewise in other parts of the country, and in the cities of Cami, Meaco, Fugimi, Ojaca, and Sacay. The cruelty of the tyrant reached such a point that he sent this year, as exiles to Manilla, even the infirm and leprous Christians of the before-mentioned cities of Cami; and already more than ninety of them are at Nangasaqui, awaiting the monsoon, and others are expected to go. With this, under the holy benediction of your Reverence, etc. March 22, 1632.

Christoval Ferreyra”

From Japon we pass on to China, where the state of Christianity has been more quiet, and where it is very prosperous. The Society is established in eight provinces and eleven cities, and, if it were not for the lack of workers, it would he extended much farther, and with great results. At present there are in the whole of China seventeen priests and a few brothers-coadjutor, who are all laboring with praiseworthy zeal for the conversion of this great kingdom of China. May the Lord prosper and protect your Reverence as I desire. Manila, July 2, 1632.

[Another copy of this document, in the same collection (t^o. 114, n^o. 401), adds the following matter as a postscript, dated July 6, 1632:]

The emperor of Japan is dead;7 so is the king of Arima, who had intended to come to attack Manila. It is said that his death was most horrible, and that he caused his servants to put him to death with clubs, after having scalded him with the water with which he had tormented the martyrs. All say that this was plainly a punishment for his tyrannous acts; and that he is paying for them in hell—whence issued demons in the form of foxes, who went dancing before his carriage or litter when he returned from Nangasaqui [words illegible] ambassadors, spies sent to Manila, Father Miguel Matruda, of the Society. These ambassadors—who came as envoys in behalf of Uni Nudino, governor of Nangasaqui, and of the tono of Arima, called Asimadoro or Bungodon—were received with the pomp and courtesy which such an embassy demanded. On that occasion much caution was displayed by this colony through its chief, who is governor and captain-general of these islands. For, on the one hand, he exhibited before those ambassadors the strength of this [word illegible] with its officers and infantry, which was drawn up in martial array along the streets—almost all the way from the street nearest the beach where the Japanese disembarked, up to the palace; and, on the other, he paid them honor with a splendid and friendly reception. He also offered them presents and entertainments as if they were envoys sent by Christian princes and our best friends. This has been cordially remembered, to judge from what has since then been learned of their designs—at least, that of one of those lords, the ruler of Arima. This was, that the envoys should carefully ascertain what were the forces in Manila, in order to see whether the former plans were adequate. [Our transcriber in Madrid here adds: “This letter (dated March 30, 1632) goes on to describe the martyrdoms, and ends thus: ‘After these torments, we were again conveyed to the prison from which they had taken us, where we now are. There are five of us religious, besides other servants of God who are also prisoners for His sake. I think that this autumn, when the governor comes, he will pronounce final sentence upon us.’” It is most probable that this is part of the letter by Father Antonio Yxida, mentioned in the text.]