wives of
the auditors nor that of the governor entered the chapel. Certainly
it seems that to have them enter (particularly in Holy Week) when the
offices are celebrated below the steps of the great altar, cannot be
endured. Moreover, in this time of _sede vacante_ [21] a concession
has been obtained from the clergy that is not customary, as I am told,
in the chancillerias of Valladolid and of Mexico. I beseech your
Majesty to have me advised of your will in all respects, and to be
pleased to have much consideration given to the fact that the altar
and its ministers are in much confusion, and that things should not
be introduced which are vanity, but only such as are fitting to the
grandeur due to the office of ministers of your Majesty. As for the
cities, they too are representatives of your Majesty, and it is just
that, as such, they should be honored. What I mention as allowed here
_sede vacante_, which is not customary in Valladolid or in Mexico,
is the giving, as is reported, of the pax [22] to the auditors.

The religious orders are generally defective in a matter pertaining
to the instruction; it is a most serious defect, and demands your
Majesty's interference. I fear that at times it occurs through
ignorance or want of reflection; and I am not sure if there be not
mixed with it, now and then, a lack of affection for the Indians. They
are wont to maintain certain mission villages, where they have
baptized several, or even a goodly number; and then they leave them,
and the bishop has no one to station there; thus souls are lost, and
those baptized return to their idolatries and old ways of life--as is
the case even now. It is possible that if they abandoned missions of
some value, some secular clergyman might be found to go to them. But
they only abandon those that no one desires--unless it be the devil,
to take them away with him to hell. We are not taught to do this by
the theologians and the jurists in matters of distributive justice,
wherein they say that in certain times of need the less valuable
benefices are to be given in turn to the most worthy of the priests,
on account of the greater need of faithful ministration among the
souls in the poorer benefices.

Some of the religious, too, who are good missionaries and good
linguists, leave here--their superiors giving them permission,
as they find that they are restless, and cannot be quieted by kind
methods. But this is a great pity: in the first place, o