Juan González de Mendoza - The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof, Volume 1 (of 2)

Herrada, thus prevented from preaching, had not been idle during his stay in China; he composed a vocabulary of the Chinese language, now apparently unknown, and drew up a succinct account of his voyage, respecting which we translate some very curious remarks by the Friar Geronimo de Ramon, in his Republicas del Mundo . He says that this treatise fell into his hands, but was taken away by some one, he could not tell by whom, and never returned to him; a circumstance which caused him much annoyance, because he wished to write the Republic of China ; but it turned out, he says, the better for him, for he wrote in consequence to the Licenciate Juan de Rada, Alcalde of the Upper Court of Navarre and brother of Martin, who sent him a great number of interesting papers of his brother's. He then proceeds to speak of the high respectability and credibility of De Rada, on account of his rank and distinguished piety. An original letter by De Rada, however, giving a succinct account of his embassy is inserted by the Friar Gaspar de San Augustin, in his Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas , to which we refer the reader for full accounts of all the movements of those zealous preachers of the gospel in the Philippines and in China at that early period.

De Rada's treatise formed the basis of the narrative compiled by Mendoza, which is now republished. On his return from China, his ship being stranded on the island of Bolinao, he and his companions were stript of everything and left naked; but were saved by the providential arrival of a Spanish armament, which conducted them safe to Manilla, where he died in 1577.

His narrative was transmitted to Philip II, in the year 1576, by the hands of his companion, the Friar Geronimo Marin, and the king consequently nominated three ambassadors; viz., Marin, the Father Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza (the compiler of the work now reprinted, a native of Toledo, and who had left the career of a soldier for the garb of a monk of the order of St. Augustine), and Father Francisco de Ortega: all these were Augustinians. They were dispatched to Mexico for the purpose of making suitable additions to the costly presents provided by the king; but the viceroy of Mexico, instead of favouring their immediate departure, threw so many obstacles in the way, that it was not till 1584 that the embassy was carried out, and it ultimately proved a complete failure.

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Purchas's Pilgrimes , vol. iii, p. 35, 36.

Purchas's Pilgrimes , vol. iii, p. 5.

Barros, dec. III, liv. ii, cap. 6.

… Mui prospero em honra, e fazenda, cousas que poucas vezes juntamente se conseguem, porque ha poucos homens que por sus trabalhos as merecem pelo modo que Fernão Peres naquellas partes as ganhava. Barros, dec. III, liv. ii, cap. 8. Goes, p. iv, cap. 24. Osorius, lib. xi, p. 317 et seq.

Barros, dec. III, liv. vi, cap. 2, has further particulars concerning his regulations. Concerning his person and manners the same author says: "Como era cavalleiro de sua pessoa, muy pomposo, glorioso e gastador, todos suas obras eram com grande magestade, etc." In Osorius (lib. xi, p. 319 b ) he appears more faulty and blameworthy. "… Andradii, viri sane fortis sed temerarii, et plurimum a mente fratris abhorrentis … deinde in tyrannidem erupit: rapuit quæ voluit, intulit vim ingenuis virginibus, quibus voluit: multa præterea signa insiti furoris dedit."

For the elaboration of the route of the friars, rendered difficult of solution by the changes in the form of names, the writer is indebted to the kind assistance of his learned friend Dr. Neumann, professor of Chinese in the University of Munich.