Autograph signature of Pedro Chirino, S.J.; photographic facsimile
from MS. in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla 215
Autograph signatures of Pedro de Acuña and members of the
Audiencia; photographic facsimile from MS. in Archivo general de
Indias, Sevilla 243




PREFACE


The larger part of the present volume is occupied with the _Relacion_
of the Jesuit Chirino, begun in _Vol_. XII, and here concluded. In
this work is recorded the progress of the Jesuit missions up to
the year 1602, by which time they have been established not only
in Luzón and Cebú, but in Bohol, Leyte, Negros, Samar, and northern
Mindanao. The arrival of the visitor García in 1599 results in new
vigor and more thorough organization in the missions, and the numbers
of those baptized in each rapidly increase. The missionaries are able
to uproot idolatry in many places, and greatly check its practice
in others. Everywhere they introduce, with great acceptance and
edification among the natives, the practice of flagellation--"the
procession of blood." Religious confraternities are formed among the
converts, greatly aiding the labors of the fathers; and the latter
open schools for boys, among both the Spaniards and the Indians. In
time of pestilence they minister to the sick and the dying; and they
gain great influence among all classes. They secure the good-will of
hostile natives, quell a threatened revolt among those of Leyte, and