Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
So saying, we cantered towards the village, where we separated, Power to join some Fourteenth men stationed there on duty, and I to the general's quarters to receive my orders. Soon after this the army broke up from Caja, and went into cantonments along the Tagus, the headquarters being at Portalegre.
I have my self been frequently present, when the Caja has been sitting to hear and determine Causes, and have observ'd, that when the Cacklogallinian Advocates have been setting forth the Merit of their Cause, and one of them has produced a Precedent, to shew, that such a Caja in former Times, put such a Construction upon such a Law, yet the Caja then presiding has determined the thing quite otherwise, giving for a Reason, That might be his Opinion, but this is ours.
This Ambiguity of the Law makes a corrupt Caja a terrible Plague to the Subject; and it is a Plague which they have often felt, as I found, by consulting their Annals; for frequently, under bad Ministers, Birds have been chosen out for Caja's, not for their Integrity or Knowledge, but for their Obsequiousness to the Commands of those who chose them; and my Patron, the first Minister, was censured for endeavouring to corrupt, and making them as bad as he could.
It certainly weakened the government; personal acquaintance counted largely with the Filipinos; whole parishes knew Spain and the Church only through their parish priest, and the parish priest was usually a Jesuit whose courtesy equalled that of the most aristocratic officeholder or of any exiled "caja abierta."
Cavite had some of these exiles, who were called "caja abierta," or carte blanche, because their generous allowances, which could be drawn whenever there were government funds, seemed without limit to the Filipinos.
It is said that this particular "caja abierta" was a Marquis de Canete, and if so there is ground for the claim that he was of royal blood; at least some of his far-off ancestors had been related to a former ruling family of Spain. Mariquita's mother knew the exile, since, according to the custom in Filipino families, she looked after the business interests of her husband.
This document is undated; but internal evidence makes it probable that it is the list which was sent with this letter to the Audiencia, with which we have accordingly placed it, transferring the other list to a later date, 1571. Legazpi's Relation . The original MS. is in the Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar, Madrid; pressmark, "170-20-3a, caja no. 22."
Word Of The Day