em to go in a fragata accompanied by Spaniards: but the Chinese said
that the friars should go alone, and not in the company of Spaniards;
thus many arguments were presented on both sides. Two or three times
I saw our endeavors thwarted, because the devil was laboring with
all his might to prevent them. A fragata had already been bought,
the captain and the men who were to take the friars over had been
chosen, and almost everything was ready for their setting sail, when
the plan was defeated I know not whence or how. My disappointment and
the great sadness which I felt in seeing the defeat of an expedition
which I so much desired, and for whose fulfilment had not sufficed his
Holiness's permission and the special ordinance from your Majesty,
made me think that this was the will of God; thus I was forced to
abandon the attempt. But God, whose plans do not depend upon the
advice of men, arranged matters better than I could have hoped, for
He moved the hearts of the Sangley Christians, Don Francisco Zanco, a
Christian and the governor of the Sangleys, and Don Tomas Syguan. The
latter I baptized about two years ago, without cutting his hair,
for I thought that God was to accomplish some great work through him,
as well as through the other--who, being one of the oldest Christians
in this island, also wore his hair long. When these two saw that the
Spaniards were not going to China, and that the friars remained here
because there was no one to take them over, they went to Fray Juan
Cobo, one of the two friars acquainted thoroughly with the language,
and who has charge of, the Sangleys of the Parian, and manifested to
him their grief at seeing how little they were trusted. They said that
since the fathers remained here because no Spaniards went to China,
they who were Christians and natives of that land would take them over
in more safety; they added that there should be no hesitation to accept
their company, for they would lose their own lives before any harm
should befall the religious. This we understood as an inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, because until then we had never heard that a Sangley
would dare to take any Spaniards to China; accordingly, we decided
to send the friars with the Chinese. When this was announced in the
Parian, all the friendly Sangleys, of whom there are many among the
infidels, were much pleased. One of the Sangley Christians had not
taken a mouthful of food for two days, through grief at seeing us
a