Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 06).djvu/62

This page has been validated.
58
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
[Vol. 6

you or against the Indians, who are our subjects and in our royal service. But in no way or manner shall you enslave the Indians who have embraced the doctrine of Mahoma; on the contrary, you shall endeavor to persuade and convert them to our holy Catholic faith by kind and lawful methods."

To make universal arrangements is to pass infallible rules, and in law we can hardly find such a rule; therefore we must distinguish in both times and occasions. With due respect, it seems to me that all Mahometans are enemies of the Church; and all the Ismaelites, their allies, confederates, and descendants must have the words of the Scriptures (as found in the 16th chapter of Genesis) written in their hearts: Hic erit ferus homo, manus ejus contra omnes et manus omnium contra eum.[1] Wonderful events occurred (and it would be well for your Majesty to have them examined and investigated) in the histories of Portugal, in the Decadas of Barros and in the books of Osorio, the good bishop of Algarve,[2]—who, by command of his Majesty the king. Cardinal Don Enrrique, wrote in Latin the history of the life, deeds, and virtues of the most renowned king Don Manuel, your Majesty's grandfather. All these books abound in accounts of field and naval battles, which the viceroys and captains-general of Malaca, Goa, Calicud, Ormus, and many other places, fought

  1. "And he shall be a wild man; his hand will be against all men, and all men's hands against him."
  2. João de Barros, an official in the India House at Lisbon, wrote a history of Portuguese achievements in the Orient, entitled Dos feitos que os Portugueses fizerão no descobrimento e conquista dos mares e terras do Oriente (Lisbon, 1552), decadas i–iv (incomplete). The other historian here mentioned is Jeronimo Osorio da Fonseca, bishop of Silves in Algarve; the book referred to is De rebus Emmanuelis regis Lusitaniæ (Olysippone, 1571).