The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; 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, commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; [Vol. 1, no. 36]

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 36

that a less generous one [would be taken], they feared
the injuries that would be caused by the war, and that
they would be the first to suffer from these. The
governor, as pious as prudent, commanded that in
the church of the Society of Jesus the blessed sacrament should remain exposed, in order that the archbishop, the three auditors, the superiors of the
religious orders, and the military chiefs might assemble in a devout public supplication; and ordered
that, at about the same time, a council should be
summoned (in order to give the Sangleys less cause
for blame), where Cot-sen's letter should be read
and such decision made as in the opinion of the council ought to be adopted.
In regard to the principal point in the letter, there
was little discussion; for, as the Spanish blood was
coursing impetuously in the heart of every man
there, all gave angry reply to Cot-sen's demand,
showing the courage and resolution that was to be
expected from their noble blood, and feeling shame
that [even in] imagination [he] could dare to cast
so black a stigma on the Spanish name. Resolved
to die a thousand times rather than consent to such
humiliation, and regarding war as certain, as being
our honorable decision, the members of the council
discussed the question of drawing off beforehand the
unwholesome humor from the body of this commonwealth by expelling the Sangleys -who in an emergency would dangerously divide our attention and
our forces. Most of the speakers were in favor of
driving away all the infidels, leaving only the Christians, who would in part render to the community the
many services in which the men of that nation are
employed for its benefit; and, since the Christian