among the so many virtuous and erudite
and moral seculars in that royal court. Should such an archbishop
have a bishop _in partibus_, in order to go to confirm and to visit,
your Majesty can very well dispense with the three other bishops
of Cibu, Nueva Segovia, and Camarines, for they are in fact of but
little use and service in their bishoprics. [_Decreed in the margin_:
"Touching the matter that the archbishopric be given to a secular,
when that post falls vacant, let this section be referred to. In
regard to giving a coadjutor to the archbishop, have his letters
collected, and what other letters treat of his health, age, capacity,
and method of procedure. The secretary, Don Gabriel de Ocana y Alarcon,
shall make a secret investigation of what occurs in this matter. In
regard to the offer of the two thousand pesos which the governor
offers from his salary, no steps will be taken at present; but have
the governor notified to explain the means by which the sum that he
mentions can be obtained without detriment to the royal treasury or
to his Majesty's vassals, so that if it be a measure proper to adopt,
it may be carried out. In regard to abolishing those bishoprics, let
there be brought, for the better settlement of the matter, a report
of the data concerning their erection, their respective distances
[from Manila], and whatever else concerns this matter, and of what
shall be found in the secretary's office."]

[_In the margin_: "That the orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis
have sent more religious than those granted to them."]

The Order of St. Dominic having been granted sixteen religious by your
Majesty, at a cost of a like number of thousands of pesos, brought
twenty-six in all, at a cost of as many thousands of pesos. The Order
of St. Francis brought sixteen, although your Majesty granted them
twelve. Thus, Sire, your Majesty spent forty-eight thousand pesos
in bringing those seventy religious, and established nearly as many
rivals to your governor, in order that they might oppose him in
everything. The diocesan authorities of Camarines have given me a
memorandum, to the effect that in that bishopric alone six stipends
can be saved, and a like number of guardianias, as they are very
near one another, and two can be administered as one. The religious
do not deserve this, but, although there may be thirty Indians in one
district, and another district lies but one-half or three-quarters of
a legua away, they wa