r authorities, and increasing quarrels and jealousies
amongst the several religious bodies, seemed to annihilate all prospect
of social and material progress of the Colony. As early as the reign
of Philip III. (1598-1621) the procurators of Manila had, during three
years, been unsuccessfully soliciting from the mother country financial
help for the Philippines to meet official discrepancies. The affairs
of the Colony were eventually submitted to a special Royal Commission
in Spain, the result being that the King was advised to abandon this
possession, which was not only unproductive, but had become a costly
centre of disputes and bad feeling. However, Fray Hernando de Moraga,
a missionary from the Philippines, happened to be in the Peninsula
at the time, and successfully implored the King to withhold his
ratification of the recommendation of the Commission. His Majesty
avowed that even though the maintenance of this Colony should exhaust
his Mexican Treasury, his conscience would not allow him to consent
to the perdition of souls which had been saved, nor to relinquish
the hope of rescuing yet far more in these distant regions.

During the first two centuries following the foundation of the Colony,
it was the custom for a Royal Commission to be appointed to inquire
into the official acts of the outgoing Governor before he could leave
the Islands--_Hacerle la residencia_, as it was called.

Whilst on the one hand this measure effectually served as a check
upon a Governor who might be inclined to adopt unjustifiable means
of coercion, or commit defalcations, it was also attended with many
abuses; for against an energetic ruler an antagonistic party was
always raised, ready to join in the ultimate ruin of the Governor
who had aroused their susceptibilities by refusing to favour their
nefarious schemes. Hence when a _prima facie_ case was made out
against a Governor, his inexperienced successor was often persuaded
to consent to his incarceration whilst the articles of impeachment
were being investigated.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera (1635-44) had been Governor of Panama
before he was appointed to the Philippines. During his term of office
here he had usually sided with the Jesuits on important questions
taken up by the friars, and on being succeeded by Diego Fajardo,
he was brought to trial, fined P 25,000, and put into prison. After
five years' confinement he was released by Royal Order and returned
to Spain, where th