History of the Philippine Islands, vols 1 and 2 | Page 8

archbishop of Mexico.
By order of his most illustrious Lordship, the archbishop of Mexico:
DON JUAN DE PORTILLA, secretary.
¶To Don Cristoval Gomez de Sandoval y Rojas, duke of Cea [1]
I offer your Excellency this small work, worthy of a kind reception as
much for its faithful relation as for its freedom from artifice and
adornment. Knowing my poor resources, I began it with fear; but what
encouraged me to proceed was the fact that, if what is given were to
bear an equal proportion to the receiver, there would be no one worthy
of placing his works in your Excellency's hands; and oblivion would
await the deeds achieved in these times by our Spaniards in the
discovery, conquest, and conversion of the Filipinas Islands--as well as
various fortunes which they have had from time to time in the great
kingdoms and among the pagan peoples surrounding the islands: for,
on account of the remoteness of those regions, no account has been
given to the public which purports to treat of them from their
beginnings down to the present condition. I entreat your Excellency to
accept my good will, which is laid prostrate at your feet; and should
this short treatise not afford that pleasure, which self-love--that
infirmity of the human mind--leads me to expect, will your Excellency
deal with me, as you are wont to deal with all, and read this book and
conceal its imperfections with the exercise of your toleration and
gentleness. For you are so richly endowed with these and other
virtues--which, through the divine power, cause lofty things not to keep
aloof from humble ones; and which, in addition to your own natural
greatness, have placed your Excellency in your present office for the

good of these realms, where you reward and favor the good, and correct
and check the opposite. In such rule consists the welfare of the state;
and this made the ancient philosopher, Democritus, say that reward and
punishment were true gods. In order to enjoy this happiness, we need
not crave any bygone time, but, contenting ourselves with the present,
pray that God may preserve your Excellency to us for many years.
DON ANTONIO DE MORGA [2]
To the reader [3]
The greatness of the monarchy of the Spanish kings is due to the zeal
and care with which they have defended, within their own hereditary
kingdoms, the holy Catholic faith taught by the Roman church, against
all enemies who oppose it, or seek by various errors to obscure its truth
which the kings have disseminated throughout the world. Thus, by the
mercy of God, they preserve their kingdoms and subjects in the purity
of the Christian religion, meriting thereby their glorious title and
renown of "Defenders of the Faith." Moreover, by the valor of their
indomitable hearts, and at the expense of their revenues and
possessions, they have ploughed the seas with Spanish fleets and men,
and discovered and conquered vast kingdoms in the most remote and
unknown parts of the world. They have led the inhabitants of these
regions to a knowledge of the true God, and into the fold of the
Christian church, in which those peoples now live, governed in civil
and political matters with peace and justice, under the shelter and
protection of the royal arm and power, which were wanting to them
when weighed down by blind tyrannies and barbarous cruelties, on
which the enemy of the human race had so long reared them for
himself.
For this reason the crown and scepter of España have extended
themselves wherever the sun sheds its light, from its rising to its setting,
with the glory and splendor of their power and majesty, and the
Spanish monarchs have excelled the other princes of the earth by
having gained innumerable souls for heaven, which has been España's
principal intention and its wealth. These, together with the great riches
and treasures which España enjoys, and the famous deeds and victories
which it has won, cause the whole world to magnify and extol its lofty
name and the energy and valor of its subjects, who in accomplishing
these deeds have lavished their blood.

Having won America, the fourth part of the earth, of which the ancients
knew naught, they sailed in the course of the sun until they discovered
an archipelago of many islands in the eastern ocean, adjacent to farther
Asia, inhabited by various peoples, and abounding in rich metals,
precious stones, and pearls, and all manner of fruit. There raising the
standard of the Faith, they freed those peoples from the yoke and power
of the demon, and placed them under the command and government of
the Faith. Consequently they may justly raise in those islands the pillars
and trophies of Non plus ultra which the famous Hercules left on