Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 11).djvu/195

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ANNUAL LETTERS FROM THE
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

From Father Francisco Vaez,^[1] June 10, 1601, to Reverend Father Claudio Aquaviva, general of the Society of Jesus.

Amid all the calamities and miseries which it has pleased the Lord to inflict on these islands, the chief has been the loss of some ships which were wrecked, including among others the flagship and the ship of the second in command. They set sail from this coast during the last year, 1600, for Nueva España, being

↑ Francisco Vaez was born at Segovia in 1543, and received into the Jesuit order in 1566. After his ordination he was sent to Mexico, where he filled various responsible offices, among them that of provincial. He died at Mexico, July 14, 1619. Sommervogel does not mention his presence in the Philippine Islands. The letter by Vaez is translated from the Latin version published by John Hay (1546-1607—a Jesuit of Scotch birth, noted for his disputes with Protestants), under the title De rebus Iaponicis, Indicis, etc., as seen in the title-page herewith reproduced (Antverpiæ, M. DC. v). But the letter had already been printed, two years earlier, in the Relatione breve of Diego de Torres, S.J. (Milano, MDCIII), the title-page of which is also given here. Torres held various high official positions in his order in Peru, Paraguay, and other South American countries; and Sommervogel says (Bibliothèque Comp. Jésus, viii, col. 132): "Father Torres, having been sent to Rome as procurator of his province, profited by his sojourn in Rome to have his relation printed; it is dated at Rome, February 25, 1603." It is not certain whether either of these versions is the original production of Vaez; but as he was a Spaniard, and writing to the general of his order, it seems probable that he

[p195-1] Francisco Vaez was born at Segovia in 1543, and received into the Jesuit order in 1566. After his ordination he was sent to Mexico, where he filled various responsible offices, among them that of provincial. He died at Mexico, July 14, 1619. Sommervogel does not mention his presence in the Philippine Islands. The letter by Vaez is translated from the Latin version published by John Hay (1546-1607—a Jesuit of Scotch birth, noted for his disputes with Protestants), under the title De rebus Iaponicis, Indicis, etc., as seen in the title-page herewith reproduced (Antverpiæ, M. DC. v). But the letter had already been printed, two years earlier, in the Relatione breve of Diego de Torres, S.J. (Milano, MDCIII), the title-page of which is also given here. Torres held various high official positions in his order in Peru, Paraguay, and other South American countries; and Sommervogel says (Bibliothèque Comp. Jésus, viii, col. 132): "Father Torres, having been sent to Rome as procurator of his province, profited by his sojourn in Rome to have his relation printed; it is dated at Rome, February 25, 1603." It is not certain whether either of these versions is the original production of Vaez; but as he was a Spaniard, and writing to the general of his order, it seems probable that he

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