[Endorsed: "+ In Madrid, January 30, 1647." "The Council of State, in which Don Francisco de Melo and the Marquis de Valparayso concur in regard to the response of Don Alonso de Cardenas, respecting his orders as to declining the proposition that was made by English merchants of Eastern India for trade in the port of Manila and other ports in the Philipinas."
"Let it be so."--Evidently the instruction of the king, which is signed in paraph.]
Relation of the events on sea and land in the Filipinas Islands during the recent years, until the earthquake and destruction on the feast of St. Andrews in 645; and the battles and naval victories over the Dutch in 646.
By the presentado [55] father Fray Joseph Fayol, of the Order of Mercy for the redemption of captives, [56] chief chaplain of the royal chapel of the Incarnation, and a tertiary [tercio] of Manila.
Fortune was not born to endure. The ancients depicted her without feet upon which to stand, but with wings and hands--without feet, because she never was willing or able to remain in any event, whether fortunate or unfortunate; with wings, that she might fly, like the wind, at her own inconstant will; and with two hands, because if with one she caresses and elevates, with the other she smites and beats down--as far down as she had before upraised. She supports, it is true, with one hand the earth and with the other the sea; but she shows herself, by turns, favorable and adverse to both elements. Now she caresses the earth, and now is harsh and stern to the sea; and when Fortune pleases she crosses her hands, so that no one may trust to her favors or despair at the injuries that she inflicts. This is a fable and an ancient picture, but it also contains a moral, to teach the uncertainty of human affairs.
The [Christian] faith recognizes no Fortune but that of the divine will and providence, from whose hand depends the structure of the globe, and from whom all events, whether prosperous or adverse, proceed. With one hand He dispenses troubles, misfortunes, and calamities to states, to correct and curb their excesses; and with the other (which still remains full, from His natural beneficence) He gives them prosperity and happiness--tempering the sharpness of the one with the sweetness of the other. And if, at times, He seems to be severe to Earth, afflicting her with earthquakes, disasters, and other calamities, it is that she may acknowledge herself subject to His will, and not rely upon her own stability. At the same time, He may be benignant and favorable to the sea, rendering it glorious in events, triumphant in battle, fortunate and renowned in victory.