[The first part of this document is taken from the second half of chapter xviii, of book iii, pp. 414–418, of Colin’s Labor evangÉlica.]1

353 [i.e., 153]. A few months after the foundation of the congregation,2 a beginning was given to the college and seminary of San Joseph, which was not less desired by the principal citizens of Manila than was the congregation. It had been discussed already before this, and Governor Don Luis Perez DasmariÑas had enacted, on the fifteenth of the month of August one thousand five hundred and ninety-five, an act in regard to it, in obedience to and in execution of a royal decree of one thousand five hundred and eighty-five, in which his Majesty commands Doctor Santiago de Vera, his governor in these islands, or the person in whose charge should be their government, to ascertain in what manner a college and seminary, where the sons of the Spanish inhabitants of these islands, under the care and management of the fathers of the Society, can be instructed in virtue and letters, may be instituted. Although the act was given out from that time by the governor, at the advice of Doctor Don Antonio de Morga, lieutenant general and assessor of the governor, on account of difficulties which always exist in whatever depends on the royal treasury, that work was suspended until the arrival of the father visitor, Diego Garcia,3 with his ardent desire of putting into execution all the means for the service of God and the greater welfare of his neighbors. From the mountains of Antipolo, where he was, he charged Father Pedro Chirino, rector of the college of Manila, independently of the said act, to treat with Governor Don Francisco Tello, the auditors of the royal Audiencia (which had been reËstablished in these islands), and the two cabildos (ecclesiastical and secular), in regard to this matter.4 The father found them all not only kind but desirous of its execution, for some of them had sons or nephews without the necessary education, for lack of the college.

154. Having seen the readiness and desire of all, the father visitor ordered some houses near our college to be made ready for that purpose. He appointed Father Luis Gomez5 rector of the future college, and ordered him to choose some picked students as collegiates, and gowns and becas of the color now used to be prepared. He ordered the necessary licenses of the ordinary and of the secular government to be obtained; and that after they had been obtained, a beginning should really be made to the college and seminary with the fitting solemnity. It was to be named after San Joseph, on account of the special devotion that he had for that holy patriarch. The rector appointed exerted himself and, by virtue of his efforts, obtained the licenses from Governor Don Francisco Tello, and from the provisor judge and vicar-general of the archbishopric which was then vacant. Both licenses were dated August twenty-five, one thousand six hundred and one. Inasmuch as everything was now ready, a day was appointed for the erection of said college in due form. The governor and royal Audiencia, the provisor and vicar-general, some capitulars, the secular cabildo, the orders, and many others of the best people assembled in the chapel of the houses which had been prepared for the habitation and dwelling of the collegiates. Gowns and becas were given to Don Pedro de Tello, nephew of the governor; to Don Antonio de Morga, son of the senior auditor of that name; and other sons of the principal citizens up to the number of thirteen. Mass was celebrated by the archdeacon of the cathedral, Don Francisco Gomez de Arellano, who afterwards became dean. The new collegiates recited two prayers, one in Latin and the other in Spanish verses, in which with elegance, gravity, and in a pleasing manner, they declared the reason for the undertaking and the end of the new foundation, and the profit which could be promised to the community from it. They were received with general applause. Then many persons went through the house, and admired the neatness and fitness of the lodgings, beds, and desks, and the good order in everything. The number of the collegiates soon increased to twenty, which for a beginning and in a country so new and which professes rather the military and mercantile life than that of letters, was not to be esteemed lightly. After having made the foundation in the said form, the father visitor came to visit the new college, and with his presence, authority, and prudence, they attained great prestige. He gave the collegiates rules, and a method of living, proportionate to the profession of students. He made for them and for the rector and masters the necessary statutes, so that they might be kept in the future, as was done. By means of that in a few years students were seen to graduate from this college very advanced in letters and fit for offices and benefices; and others, sensible and devout, who, touched by God, entered the religious life.

155. The support of the collegiates during that time was obtained by themselves with a certain sum of money which each one of them gave, and which, administered by the procurator of the college, was sufficient for their sustenance and decent support. Some fixed income for the support of the rector and teachers, and succor for some students of quality and ability, who by the poverty of their parents could not meet their expenses with the sum which was charged, was greatly desired. Our Lord provided that by means of the Christian and noble governor of Mindanao, Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa, who (as we have remarked above) had already founded and endowed the principal college of the Society in Manila. Being so favorable to the good work, he, when making his will as he embarked in Oton for the conquest of Mindanao, in which he named his daughters as his heirs, in case of their death before they reached a competent age, made a pupillary substitution in favor of this college and seminary. He ordered that in such an event, the property of either one of his two daughters should pass to the Society of Manila for the purpose of building a house, and founding a college and seminary for the education of youth. That event happened, for the younger of his two daughters named DoÑa Juana died at a very tender age, being drowned with her uncle Andres Duarte, a “twenty-four” of Xerez, in the wreck of the ship “San Antonio.” Therefore, by virtue of the clause of the will of the said governor, the college of San Joseph inherited the possession which belonged to it. With that property this college and seminary of San Joseph was instituted and founded anew with public ecclesiastical and secular authority, on February twenty-eight, one thousand six hundred and ten, as appears from the act of its foundation which reads as follows.

156. “In the city of Manila, February twenty-eight, one thousand six hundred and ten, in the college of the Society of Jesus of this said city, before the treasurer, Don Luis de Herrera Sandoval: the provisor and vicar-general of this archbishopric, apostolic commissary, subdelegate-general of the Holy Crusade in these islands, Father Gregorio Lopez, provincial of the said college of the Society of Jesus, made a presentation of the acts contained in the four preliminary leaves of this book, signed by his name, and sealed with the seal of his office. That signature appears to be that of said father provincial. I, the present secretary, attest that I know him. He also presented the original licenses of the cantor, Santiago de Castro, former provisor and vicar-general of this archbishopric, and of Don Francisco Tello, former governor and captain-general of these islands, copies of which are inserted in these acts. Said licenses are for the foundation of the said college of San Joseph of this city of Manila, as is contained in them more minutely. I attest that I have seen said original licenses and that they are conserved in the archives of the said Society. One of them is countersigned by Geronimo de Alcaraz, former notary-public of this archbishopric, and the other by Gaspar de Acebo, former government secretary of these islands. The said father provincial declared that by virtue of the clause of the will of Captain Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa, deceased, which is contained in the said acts, where he appears to be the patron of said college of San Joseph, he appointed and presented as collegiates of said college, Don Felipe de Figueroa, son of Don Lorenco de Figueroa and DoÑa Ana de Salazar, his wife; Gabriel de Santillan, son of Captain Ventura de Santillan and DoÑa Flora de Aguilar, his wife; and Gabriel Venegas, son of Don Goncalo Flores and DoÑa Juana Bautista, his wife: all inhabitants of this city, so that as such appointed collegiates they might be supported by the said income of the said college, according to the clause of its institution, as appears from the appointment above, which was dated in this city on St. Bernard’s day, August twenty of the former year, one thousand six hundred. Although the said appointment is valid, legal, and sufficient, as it was made by the patron whom the said testator appoints, for greater validity he declared that he again presented—and he did present—the said three collegiates above named. And for greater solemnity of this act, as it was the first, the said provisor and vicar-general begged that his judicial authority be interposed and renewed, and that the license of said Santiago de Castro, his predecessor, be confirmed. The said provisor and vicar-general, having also read the said acts and original licenses, declared that, so far as it concerns him, he approved—and he did approve—the appointment made of the said Don Felipe de Figueroa, Gabriel de Santillan, and Gabriel Venegas; and he declared that he confirmed—and he did confirm—the said license of the said Santiago de Castro, his predecessor, and said that he again gave it—and he did give it—for the college founded with an income. For that effect, for greater validity, the said father provincial, in the presence of the said provisor and of me, the said secretary, delivered the three said collegiates to Father Pedro de Velasco, appointed rector of the said college. The latter received them as said collegiates of said college, so that they might be supported by it. All the above was done in my presence, and that of the witnesses who were present, brothers Diego de Sarsuela, Juan de Larrea, and Martin de Lisarde of the said Society; and the said father provincial, the said provisor; and the said Father Pedro de Velasco affixed their signatures to it before me, Pedro de Roxas, secretary and notary-public.”

157. Before making this second institution of the college, account had been given to his Majesty in his royal Council of the Indias, of the legacy and bequest of Governor Estevan Rodriguez, and the possession by the Society in Manila of the property of DoÑa Juana de Figueroa, and permission was petitioned to bring from Mexico to Manila the money belonging to the said bequest, since it had to serve for the foundation of the college for the public welfare and profit of the islands. His Majesty, considering himself as greatly served by it, had ordered his royal decree despatched in accordance with this. In order that one may see the esteem of the Council for that work, that decree faithfully copied from its original will be placed here. It is as follows.

158. “The King. Don Luis de Velasco, my viceroy, governor, and captain-general of Nueva-EspaÑa, or the person or persons, in whose charge may be the government of that country: On the part of Diego Cordova, of the Society of Jesus, and its procurator of the Indias, I have been informed that Governor Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa, when he went to accomplish the conquest of the island of Mindanao in the Filipinas, where his enemies killed him, made a will under whose disposition he died, by which, desiring that the youth [of Filipinas] be occupied in virtue, he ordered that if either of his daughters should die while a minor, a college seminary should be founded in the city of Manila with the portion of the inheritance which belonged to such deceased girl, so that the sons of inhabitants of the said islands might study therein; and he left as patron of it the provincial of the Society of Jesus of those islands. Inasmuch as the younger daughter has died while a minor, the possession of that inheritance which fell to her was given to the said Society. Consequently, the said college seminary is to be founded in the said city of Manila with that inheritance. There is very great need of that college in that city for study, and for the rearing of ministers of the holy gospel. The property with which the said seminary is to be founded is in that city of Mexico, where it is advisable that it be placed at interest for its conservation and maintenance, inasmuch as there is nothing in which to invest it in the said islands. He petitions me that, in consideration of the great fruit which will be attained in those islands from that foundation, and in consideration of the many good services of said governor, I grant the concession of giving the license so that the proceeds from the property which is in that said city for the foundation and support of the said seminary, be allowed to pass thence to the said islands freely, notwithstanding the prohibition, with a sworn certification of the procurator of the said Society of Jesus of the said islands, to the effect that what thus passes is the gain or proceeds of the property of the said seminary, as there is nothing in the islands in which the said money can be invested as abovesaid. The members of my Council of the Assembly of the Indias having examined it, and having considered the abovesaid, I have considered it fitting to have this my decree issued. I command you thereby that, in each one of two years you allow to pass from that city to the said islands the sum which shall appear necessary to you for the said effect from the said property, if it does not exceed six hundred ducados; and that that sum be included in the quantity which I have given permission to be sent from that kingdom to the said Filipinas Islands, notwithstanding any order to the contrary, which for this time and in regard to this matter I dispense with. The said two years you shall send me a minutely detailed account of the value of the said property, and the district where it is invested and in what, and the amount of the proceeds thereof each year, and what it is advisable to enact concerning the whole matter. That, with your opinion you shall send to the said my Council of the Assembly, so that after examining it the advisable measures may be taken. Given in Valladolid, September thirteen, one thousand six hundred and eight.

I the King

“By command of the king our sovereign:

Juan Ruiz de Contreras”

159. After all this, it was necessary to have recourse the second and third time to the royal Council of the Indias, in regard to the collection of the remainder of the property of this foundation, which was in the royal treasury of Manila. His Majesty, with the appreciation and esteem which he always had for this work, protected it with the kindness which he generally exercises toward all those things which are for the service of God and the public welfare, and ordered his royal decrees despatched to the governors, Don Juan de Silva, May twenty-two, one thousand six hundred and fourteen, and Don Alonso Faxardo, December three, one thousand six hundred and eighteen, ordering the said sum to be paid for the purpose of the support of the collegiates, as was done. By virtue of those royal decrees and other papers which were presented during the suit of precedence which the college of Santo Thomas, of the Order of Preachers of this city, began a while ago with San Joseph, the latter obtained a decision from the royal Audiencia in its favor, May sixteen, one thousand and forty-seven, by which it was protected in its priority and possession of precedence in the public acts to that of Santo Thomas. That same thing was confirmed afterward by the royal Council of the Indias, as appears from the suit and other authentic documents which are kept in the archives of San Joseph.

[The following brief summary is compiled from various authorities, full references being given in the footnotes throughout.]

Antonio SedeÑo, writing to Felipe II, June 17, 1583, petitions for the establishment of a Jesuit seminary, and asks royal aid.6

Felipe II, in a decree dated June 8, 1585, in view of the benefit that will result to the colony from aiding the Jesuits in instituting a college, and in aiding in the support of the religious who shall teach therein, orders Governor Santiago de Vera and Bishop Salazar to discuss measures for the founding of the same.7

The above-mentioned royal decree was presented to Governor Luis Perez DasmariÑas, August 15, 1595. September 5, a government act was dictated accepting the petitions of the Society in regard to the foundation of a college, with the condition that 1,000 pesos he assigned to it, together with the royal title and arms. The governor has it noted in the said act that everything is only provisional, until the foundation of the college is discussed with the bishop, and the agreement adopted sent to his Majesty for his approval.8

Rodriguez de Figueroa, on setting out for Oton for the conquest of Mindanao, made (March 16, 1596) his will in which he declares: “And inasmuch as, ... some of the said my children may die before reaching the age necessary for making a will, it falls to me as their father and legitimate administrator, to make a will for them. In such case availing myself of the said faculty, I order and command that, if the abovesaid should happen during the lifetime of their mother, the said DoÑa Ana de Oseguera, the latter shall hold and inherit the goods and property of the one who shall thus die, and with both the third and the remainder of the fifth, shall be done what shall be stated hereinafter. If the said DoÑa Ana Oseguera shall die, and the said my children, or either one of them without leaving any heir or descendant, then their property and their legal paternal and maternal portion, and the profit and income from it, shall be used to found a college in the manner hereinafter stated. The same must be founded, in case that said DoÑa Ana de Oseguera is living, from the said third and remainder of the fifth. For if either one or the other of the two casualties occur, a house shall be built next the Society of Jesus, of the city of Manila, sufficient, and which shall be used, for a college and seminary for boys, where all those may enter who desire to study the first letters in such seminary. I request and charge the provincial, at such time, of the Society of Jesus, to take it under his care and to give to such boys sufficient teachers for it. That part of the said building that shall be unoccupied shall be rented, for the support of said children and youth. The said father provincial shall be patron and administrator of the said college.”9

In 1601, the Jesuits themselves founded a college, primarily through the efforts of Father Diego Garcia, who went to the Philippines as visitor in 1599. He ordered Father Pedro Chirino, independently of the act of Luis Perez DasmariÑas, to plan for the founding of a college for the Society. The first rector was Father Luis Gomez, who obtained the licenses of both ecclesiastical and civil authorities, August 25 of that year. The cantor, Santiago de Castro, provisor and vicar-general of the archbishopric of Manila, acting in vacant see, in view of the petition presented by Father Gomez, grants “license to said religious of the Society of Jesus, and to the said Father Luis Gomez, to found said college of San JosÉ.” Governor Francisco Tello, on the same date, grants the civil license for the erection of the college in view of Gomez’s petition, the erection being for the rearing “in virtue and letters of some Spanish youth, in view of the necessity of training ministers of the gospel of whom there is a lack in this land for the need of said college.”10 The new college was instituted with thirteen collegiates, and one father and one brother of the Society who were placed at its head to look after the spiritual and economic managements respectively.

October 30, 1604, a royal decree was despatched, which was received by the royal Audiencia at Manila, July 10, 1606, ordering “information in regard to the plan that could be inaugurated for the exercise of letters in these islands, and the lecturing by some professors without there being any university.” The Audiencia in its reply states the death by shipwreck of the younger daughter of Rodriguez de Figueroa (1605), and that the Society of Jesus had entered suit for her estate, in accordance with the will of her father, and that they had been given possession of it.11 Since a considerable part of Rodriguez de Figueroa’s goods were in Mexico, and since there was a royal prohibition forbidding money to be transferred from one territory to another, the Jesuits requested from the king, through their procurator at Madrid, permission to transfer the necessary money from Mexico to the islands, in order to found the college. Three royal decrees were issued in accordance with this petition, two asking for reports from the archbishop and Audiencia, and one (September 13, 1608)12 granting permission for the founding of a college and seminary in the city of Manila. By the beginning of 1610, the Jesuits realized the terms of the will of Rodriguez de Figueroa, and on February 28 of that year, the licenses, given formerly to Luis Gomez in 1601, were confirmed by the provisor for the college now founded with an income.13

In a letter to the Jesuit general, June 11, 1611, Father Gregorio Lopez writes of the flourishing condition of the college and seminary of San JosÉ. He says: “In the seminary of San Joseph, our pupils are reared with the virtue of which advice was given in former years. Some are inclined to our rule, and others to that of the other orders. Three have embraced that of the Order of St Augustine. The seminary has been improved this year with a fine new refectory built of stone, with a very large hall for the lodging of the collegiates, and the work which will be one of the best in the city, is progressing.” Diego VÁzquez de Mercado, archbishop of Manila, insists on the idea of the foundation of the university, which was undervalued by Felipe III, after the unfavorable report of Benavides, and in a letter of June 24, 1612, to the king, praises the work of the college and asks that graduates therefrom in arts and theology be granted degrees. Archbishop Garcia Serrano writes to Felipe IV, July 25, 1621, regarding the colleges of San JosÉ and Santo TomÁs: “There are two colleges for students in the city, one founded by Captain Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa, which is in charge of the fathers of the Society of Jesus, whence the collegiates go to the college of the same Society, which is near by, to hear lectures in grammar, philosophy, and scholastic and moral theology. It has twenty collegiates with the beca at present, some of whom pay for their tuition, while others are aided by charity, as the income derived from the founder serves now to support but few because it was spent in building said college. The other college is called Santo Tomas de Aquino and is in charge of the Order of St. Dominic, and is very near their convent. It is not more than two years since collegiates entered it. It was founded with alms of deceased persons and others given by the living which the fathers have procured. It also has some income, and it is making progress. It has also twenty collegiates with the beca, some of whom also pay for their tuition, while others are supported by charity and by other persons. They study grammar, philosophy, and theology in the said college, where they have a rector and masters of the Order of St. Dominic. These two colleges greatly ennoble the city, and the sons of the inhabitants of these islands are being reared therein in civilization, virtue, and good letters. It will be of the highest importance for their progress for your Majesty to honor them by giving them license to grant degrees in the courses taught in them.” Another letter from Serrano, July 30 of the same year, notes that the secular priests have increased so greatly in his archbishopric because of the number that have graduated from the college and seminary of the Jesuits that he has not places for them and they suffer great poverty. The same is true of those who have studied in the college of Santo TomÁs. In a letter of August 15, 1624, he notes that the college of San JosÉ has obtained the right to grant university degrees, by a papal brief, without the necessity of the graduates going to other universities, and petitions that the rector be allowed to grant the degrees in person. In 1627, Pedro Chirino was dean of the law faculty of the university.14

A document of June 18, 1636, shows the college of San JosÉ to possess incomes from various houses, aggregating 14,000 pesos.15 In 1640 the college was able to support 40 collegiates, and was in a flourishing condition.16 That same year the short-lived royal college of San Felipe de Austria was founded.17 The earthquake of 1645 caused great losses to the college of San JosÉ, as much of its capital consisted of houses which were destroyed.18

The Dominican college of Santo TomÁs, formally founded in 1619, with the alms left by Archbishop Benavides and others, was the second college founded in the Philippines. October 25, 1645, however, the Dominicans entered suit against the Jesuits declaring the precedence of their institution over the latter in all public acts in which the said institutions participated.19 Governor Fajardo, before whom the suit was brought, remitted the cause to the royal Audiencia, which rendered a verdict in favor of the Jesuits, May 10, 1647, declaring that all public acts of the college of San JosÉ had precedence over those of Santo TomÁs, as the former had been founded over eighteen years earlier. This sentence was confirmed in review, July 29 of the same year, and again by the royal Council of the Indias, August 12, 1652, on examination, and again on review, November 25 of the same year. The college of Santo TomÁs, being dissatisfied with the decision, endeavored to take precedence in certain public acts, but with no real effect.20

A royal decree of June 12, 1665, conceded the sum of 8,000 pesos to the college of San JosÉ; and another, issued July 27, 1669, granted the further sum of 12,000 pesos. The reason advanced by the petitions for the grants was the many losses sustained because of the earthquakes during the period from 1645 to 1658.21 The Jesuits made many requests for royal alms for their Society and college; and many royal decrees were issued granting such alms, both of money and rice.22

November 22, 1666, Don JosÉ Cabral, a Spaniard born in the Philippines, died bishop elect of Camarines, and left a pious bequest of certain lands called later the estate of Liang, to the college, on condition that a chaplaincy be maintained thereby, and that an annual alms be given of ten pesos each to the church of Balayan and to the poor of its district.”23

A decree issued by Governor Fausto Cruzat y Gongora, September 22, 1695, recites the two royal alms above mentioned, which had been assigned from tributes of vacant natives. In response to a petition by Father Juan de Montemayor, S.J., that 1,000 pesos be given the college annually until the 20,000 pesos be paid in full, he assigned to the said college 383½ tributes from the encomienda of Tubig, Sulat, and Pamboan, in the province of Leyte, “so that there may be paid annually, five hundred and thirty-three pesos four tomins one grano ... on account of the eighteen thousand six hundred and eleven pesos six tomins which are still to be paid of the twenty thousand pesos.”24

A royal decree of May 3, 1722, grants the title of “royal ad honorem” to the college of San JosÉ. This decree is as follows:

“Inasmuch as Augustin Soler of the Society of Jesus, procurator-general for his province of Filipinas, has represented to me that his province has charge in the city of Manila of a seminary of grammar, philosophical and theological collegiates, under the advocacy of St. Joseph, which was founded by Don Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, adelantado of Mindanao, which by its antiquity and royal writ of King Don Felipe IV enjoys precedence in all public functions to the other colleges; and inasmuch as in consideration of the notoriety in that community of the great profit which has followed and is experienced in the said college, in virtue and letters from the many erudite men who have graduated from it to maintain the luster of the cathedral church of that city and the other churches of their islands, the greater part of those who today obtain their prebends being among those who have been raised and have prosecuted their studies in the above-mentioned college, he petitioned me, in consideration of the above-said and so that its collegiates may have the greatest application in said studies with the luster, esteem, and credit that is due because of the particular blessing which results to that community in general, to deign to receive it under my royal protection, by conceding it the title, privileges, and preeminences of royal college, without any burden on my royal treasury, with the permission to place on its doors and the other accustomed places, my royal arms, and to make use of the title of such in the instruments which it presents, and the letters which it writes to me: therefore, this matter having been examined in my assembly Council of the Indias, together with what was declared thereon by my fiscal, I have considered it fitting to condescend to [heed] his instance, receiving (as by the present I do receive and admit) the above-named college of San JosÉ under my royal protection. I honor it with the title of Royal ad honorem, in case that it has no patrons, and with the express conditions that it never has any, and that it cannot produce any effect of burden on or embarrassment to my royal treasury by reason of this title. Therefore, I order my present or future governor and captain-general of the above-mentioned Filipinas Islands and my royal Audiencia of the city of Manila, and the other ministers and justices of that jurisdiction, and I beseech and charge the archbishop of the metropolitan church of said city, and the ecclesiastical cabildo of it, not to place or allow to be placed now or in any time any obstacle or hindrance to the above-mentioned college of San JosÉ, which is in charge of the religious of the Society of Jesus, in the grace which I concede it of the title of royal ad honorem, in the above-mentioned sense, and that as such it may place my royal arms on its doors, and the other accustomed places, and that in all its instruments and letters which it may write me, both through my councils, tribunals, and ministers, and in all that which may arise, it may make use of the abovesaid title of royal. Such is my will. Given at Aranjuez, May three, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-two.25

I the King

“By order of the king our sovereign:

AndrÉs Alcorobarratia Gulpide”

This decree was presented in the Manila Audiencia, in 1723.26

In 1734 the college was granted the right to teach canonical and Roman law, the same as the university of Santo TomÁs, although it seems that no decrees were given in those branches.27

Father Francisco Mendez, S.J., in a document of August 15, 1742, enumerates the fellowships in the college of San JosÉ, in addition to the eight of the foundation, as follows: one given by Captain Gonzalo Araujo, alguacil-mayor of Manila, to be enjoyed by a Galician or the descendant of Galicians; one by Benito Lopez, for an European; two by Captain Diego Gonzales de los Arcos, one of them being for Estremadura and the other for creoles and virtuous persons—the appointment of the latter belonging to the Santa Misericordia, which afterward became the object of a suit between the Jesuits and the Santa Misericordia, and finally settled by Archbishop Camacho; one by several benefactors for a pure-blooded and virtuous Spaniard. All the capital or endowment of these fellowships was incorporated in the property of the college, except the one appointed by the Santa Misericordia. There were also two other fellowships founded in 1717 (although only made effective in 1720), by Domingo de Valencia, bishop-elect of Nueva CÁceres, who endowed them with some shops which he owned in the PariÁn; they were intended for Spanish creoles born in Manila. Besides the above there were nineteen other fellowships which were known as fellowships of grace, “because there is no legal obligation to maintain them, and it was a grace or favor of our Society to institute them, to facilitate the good education of youth.”28

In his royal decree of April 2, 1767, Carlos III declared: “I have resolved to order the expulsion from all my domains of EspaÑa and the Indias and the Filipinas Islands, of the regulars of the Society, both priests and coadjutors, or lay-brethren, who have taken the first vows, and the novices who desire to follow their example, and that all the temporal possessions of the Society in my domains be seized.”29 A decree couched in like terms was received in Manila, May 21, 1768. Governor JosÉ Raon affected to obey the decree and appointed commissioners to carry it into effect, but he imparted the mandates of the decree, which was secret, to the Jesuits.30 In consequence heavy charges were afterward brought against him.

The college of San JosÉ and its estates were seized and confiscated to the crown.31 The college buildings were converted into barracks. Against this confiscation, the archbishop protested, and petitioned the governor-general that, pending the king’s action on the protest, the college be turned over to him. The petition being granted, the archbishop took possession of the college, and converted it into a seminary for the education and instruction of the native clergy.32 He ordered the former collegiates to leave, and placed the new seminary in charge of the Piarist fathers [padres escolapios]33 The Audiencia of Manila protested against this action of the archbishop.34 The royal answer to their letter is as follows:

The royal decree sent to the archbishop on the same date,36 is couched in similar terms to the above decree, and disapproves the action of the archbishop in regard to making an ecclesiastical seminary out of the college of San JosÉ. The decree in its opening clauses, notes that the archbishop had sent various documents and reports to the king with his letter of March 12, 1769, which state what had been done in regard to the college of San JosÉ, and the occupations of the four Piarists who had accompanied the archbishop to the Philippines.

In 1777, Doctor Ignacio de Salazar, magistral of the Manila cathedral, was chosen rector and administrator of the college. From that date until 1879, the position of rector and administrator of the college was always confirmed by the governors-general to the dean or other dignitary of the Manila cathedral. Accounts of the administration of the college were to be rendered every three years, or annually. The management of the college was not successful, and the administration of the properties was negligent and possibly corrupt during some years. The field of secondary education which it had attempted to fill came to be occupied by newer and more successful institutions, such as the Ateneo Municipal and the college of San Juan de Letran.37

From the books of the university of Santo TomÁs, it seems that a few years after the expulsion of the Jesuits, if not immediately, instruction on philosophy and the natural sciences was resumed, and that two professors were appointed for that purpose, and that in 1795 the government of the islands recommended the abolition of such instruction, applying the revenues therefrom to the payment of the fees of the institutes and law courses, which recommendation was not carried out on account of an unfavorable report of the faculty of the university. Only grammar and philosophy were taught until 1866, and pupils were required to pass an examination in the university of Santo TomÁs before two professors appointed for the purpose, in order to legalize their courses. The first four years of secondary instruction were established at this period.38

Between the years 1860 and 1870, the question of the conversion of the college into a professional school of some sort—arts, agriculture, or medicine—was much discussed, particularly its conversion into a school of medicine and pharmacy. Finally, in 1867, a board consisting of the rectors of the university, Ateneo Municipal, and college of San JosÉ, and one representative each of the professions of medicine and pharmacy, was convened by royal order, and charged with the duty of ascertaining the origin and object of the college of San JosÉ, its revenues and pious charges, and the best manner of installing therein classes of medicine and pharmacy. The report of the committee was to the effect that such studies could be admitted. The rector and administrator of the college in 1869 was of the same opinion, and the rector of the university of Santo TomÁs also considered such a thing legal. November 6, 1870, the Spanish government adopted the decrees concerning education in the Philippines, known as the Moret decrees,39 by which the attempt was made to secularize most of the institutions of learning. Among other provisions in these decrees was one directing that the college of San JosÉ, the college of San Juan de Letran, and the Ateneo Municipal, as well as the naval academy and the drawing and painting academy should be united in one academy for secondary and entirely secular education to be known as the Philippine Institute, to be subject to the ultimate control of a Superior Board of Education which was civil and secular in its character. These decrees were never enforced, for they were vigorously opposed by those in charge of the above institutions.40

In 1875, a royal provision established the faculty of medicine and pharmacy in the college.41 This decree, issued October 29, 1875, reorganized the university of Santo TomÁs. Article 2 of the decree prescribed “that in this university shall be given the necessary studies for the following: jurisprudence, canon, medicine, pharmacy, and notary;” and article 12, that, “the branches of medicine and pharmacy, although constituting an integral part of the university, shall be taught in the college of San JosÉ, whose revenues, with the deductions of the amounts for pious charges, will be devoted to the expenses of these branches.42 The five-sixths part of the fees from the registration of these subjects, and half of the fees for degrees, titles, and certificates of the pupils, will also pertain to the college mentioned. The rest will pertain to the general expenses of the university.” The governor was to name a director, upon the recommendation of the rector, for the college, and he was to have charge of the revenues. September 5, 1877, a commission appointed to consider various matters of the college of San JosÉ, recommended that the university of Santo TomÁs take immediate charge of all the property of the college, and that regulations be drawn up for the management of the same. On September 28, of the same year, the governor-general decreed that an administrative commission consisting of the rector of the university and the professor of pharmacy should take charge of the college, and they were given complete authority to carry out the reorganization of the college decreed in 1875. The report of the commission submitted July 26, 1878, recommended that the office of director-administrator be made two separate offices, the office of director to be filled by the rector of the university of Santo TomÁs, as director ex-officio, and that of administrator to be appointed by the governor-general upon the recommendation of the rector of the university of three names to be taken from the professions of medicine and pharmacy. This report was approved August 1 by a decree of the governor-general, which was in turn approved by royal order of March 24, 1880. The decree of August 1, 1878, charged the rector of the university to prepare regulations concerning the control and management of the college; and it appears that such regulations were issued by the governor-general, October 15, 1879, title 2 of which gives to the rector of the university, as ex-officio director, the control of properties and finances of the college. It is said that articles 6–10 of the decree of 1875, which directed that competitive examinations be held either at Manila or Madrid for the filling of vacant professorships, have not been observed, such vacancies having been filled by the governor-general on the recommendation of the rector. The administration of the college properties was kept separate from those of the university, although the accounts were both under the same direction of the rector of the university. The scholarships or fellowships of the college, before twenty in number, were reduced after 1875 to three and transferred to another institution. The income in normal times was about twenty thousand pesos, the foundation seemingly being about one-half million in gold.43

With the signing of the treaty of Paris, December 10, 1898, the American government found itself face to face with a delicate and difficult problem, namely, that of the settlement of the properties of the friars. Of this problem, the question of the ultimate disposal of the college of San JosÉ was properly a part, since it was under the direction of the Dominican university of Santo TomÁs, it having become, as we have seen above, the medical and pharmaceutical adjunct of the university. The question to be solved in this case narrowed down to whether the college of San JosÉ was primarily a government or an ecclesiastical pious foundation [obra pia], and hence, whether it could be legally administered by the government or the Church. In 1899, General Otis forbade the rector of the university of Santo TomÁs to continue to maintain a school of medicine and pharmacy in the buildings of the college of San JosÉ, and to use its name and income for that purpose—an order made at the instance of the president and directors of the Philippine Medical Association. Shortly after their arrival the commissioners were consulted by General McArthur, as to the proper course for him to take on the petition of the rector of the university asking him to rescind the order. As the issue involved the question of the control of Church property, the commission deemed it its duty to investigate it and to bring it to a legal settlement.44

The matter was therefore argued before the Commission, pro and con, from time to time between July and October, 1900, and the conclusions announced January 5, 1901. The ecclesiastical authorities took the position that the college is “truly an obra pia, that its trusteeship has always been vested in the Church, as represented by its legal agents either through the Society of Jesus, the kings of Spain as ecclesiastical patron, the clergy of the cathedral, or the university of Santo TomÁs, under the direction of the archbishop.” The ecclesiastical argument is that the college “is essentially a religious foundation and therefore the United States have not the right to claim it as public property nor to intervene in its management, since they cannot succeed to the Spanish ecclesiastical patronage, they having proclaimed the separation of Church and State.” It is impossible also for the state to secularize the institution, an act which would be paramount to confiscation.45 Archbishop Nozaleda argues also that the college “is an ecclesiastical obra pia, founded by Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, with all the canonical and civil formalities demanded by the legislation in force at that time for such foundation.”46 Again, he says: “The college of San JosÉ is an ecclesiastical obra pia, and as such belongs to the patrimony of the Church.” An ecclesiastical obra pia he defines as “any foundation made through motives of religious piety, or with the purpose of exercising Christian charity, with the approbation and authorization of the bishop.”47 Against this Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera and others argued before the Philippine Commission that the college of San JosÉ was primarily of royal foundation;48 Felipe G. Calderon, a Filipino advocate, and the chief adversary of the ecclesiastics, in his pamphlets, also argued that the college of San JosÉ is official in its origin:49 their conclusions being that the civil government has power to intervene in the management of the college.50 The commission, being careful not to intimate any opinion that “should be used by either side in the case to be argued and decided as authority in that tribunal [i.e., the Philippine Supreme Court],” expressed “no other definitive opinion than that the petitioners [i.e., Pardo de Tavera, et al.] have presented a case of sufficient dignity and seriousness to warrant its full consideration by a court of justice.” In the words of the commissioners: “In order to decide the merits of this case, we should probably have to consider and settle a nice question of canonical law, and investigate and discuss the historical and legal relations of the crown of Spain to the head of the Catholic Church. Neither of these questions do we feel competent now to decide with the materials which are before us and with the time at our disposal nor do we need to do so. We are not a court. We are only a legislative body. It is our expressly delegated function in just such cases as this to provide a means for the peaceful and just decision of the issues arising. Had we been able to decide clearly and emphatically that the petitioners had no rights here and that their claims were so flimsy as not to merit the assistance of the legislature in bringing them to adjudication in a court of justice, we might have properly dismissed the petition and taken no action thereon; but we are of opinion, all of us, that the contentions of the petitioners present serious and difficult questions of law, sufficiently doubtful to require that they should be decided by a learned and impartial court of competent jurisdiction, and that it is our duty to make legislative provision for testing the question. If it be true that the United States is either itself the trustee to administer these funds, or occupies the relation of parens patriÆ to them, it becomes its duty to provide for their administration by a proper directory, whose first function will be to assert, in the name and authority of the United States, their right to administer the funds of the college against the adverse claims of the person now in charge, who claims to hold under and by virtue of the control over the funds by the Catholic Church; and this legislative action we now propose to take, not thereby intimating an opinion upon the merits of the case, but merely by this means setting in motion the proper machinery for the ultimate decision by a competent tribunal.” The Commission set aside $5,000 in United States money for the payment of the expenses of getting evidence, preparing the record, printing the briefs, and as fees for professional services; and that the case was to be heard before the Philippine Supreme Court, the United States being practically a party in the litigation. Further provision was made in case appeals from that court were to be made to the Supreme Court of the United States, for Congress to so provide in this case. As to the injunctive order of General Otis against the opening of the college, by the rector of the university, it was recommended to the military governor that it be rescinded. The persons appointed to conduct the litigation and to take charge of the college and its estates, should the decision and a decree of the court be in their favor, were as follows: Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera; Dr. Charles R. Greenleaf, Leon M. Guerrero, Dr. Manuel Gomez Martinez, and Dr. Frank S. Bourns. The concluding remarks of the Commission are the following: “There has been much popular and political interest in the controversy in which we have now stated our conclusions. The questions considered, however, have not had any political color at all. They have been purely questions of law and proper legal procedure, and so will they be in the court to which they are now sent. The decision of the right to control San JosÉ college cannot legitimately be affected by the political feeling which one may have for or against the friars. It is unfortunate that the public should clothe the settlement of an issue purely legal with political significance when it ought not to have and does not have one. But, however this may be, those charged with settling it can pursue only one path, and that is the path of legal right as they see it.”51 Congress provided for appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States on July 1, 1902, under the general terms of Section 10 of the so-called “Philippine Government Act.” A decision in the case had not been handed down in Manila up to the close of September, 1906.52