The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Volume 25 of 55. Unknown
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exert great activity in this respect in order to carry farther what has been commenced. For that purpose they are at present sending an Observantine religious. I beg your Majesty not to consider this as a matter of little moment, for on this one remedy alone depends the preservation of this province on its first foundation, the peace of the religious, the proper administration of the Indians, and the prevention of most serious scandals born from the said opposition and intermixture, of which this whole kingdom is witness.
In this letter it is seen that no favor or protection is requested from your Majesty for either myself or anyone else; but I only inform you, as our sovereign lord, so that you may remedy the injury that results from the aforesaid to the consciences of your vassals and in the administration of the Indians. Notwithstanding this, I beseech your Majesty, if you will be so pleased, to keep my name secret from the father commissary-general and the Observantines; for if they learn it, they will give me considerable trouble here. May Heaven prosper your life with the most fortunate successes, as we your Majesty’s most humble vassals and chaplains desire. [Nueva] Caceres, in the province of Camarines, June 2, 1635.
[Endorsed: “June 16, 638. Collect what may have been written on this matter, and bring it; and have the father commissary-general report whether Observantines go among the discalced fathers who are asked for. A report was asked from the commissary-general on the sixteenth of said month.”]
Letter from the Franciscan Commissary-General of the Indias
I have received two documents from your Grace, in regard to various matters, and I shall answer them in two others, so that your Grace may be pleased to read them to the gentlemen of that royal Council. In regard to one, I say that since the winter when I had certain advices from the province of San Gregorio of the Filipinas, and of which I informed the council, I have had no further news. That news was certain complaints of the provincial and definitors against the commissary who deprived them of certain things which he found in his visit, although he exceeded [his authority] in it. That case went to the commissary of Nueva España. According to what the discalced provincial of the Filipinas wrote me, who went to follow up the case, penalties were imposed upon the said commissary. Another was sent from the discalced province of San Diego, so that another chapter might be celebrated, and that province appeased. I hope in our Lord that it will be appeased and satisfied; but if not, I have written for them to send me all the documents and all decisions that shall have been rendered. Letters were also written to me then, and I was advised of the great injuries that the governor was causing to the religious. I neglected to inform his Majesty and that royal Council of this, as I considered it certain that, as it had been so public, the matter would have been communicated from there; and that, after having been weighed by those gentlemen, they would despatch orders to reform it.
Concerning the lawless act and the audacity of the friars in protecting and aiding the cleric Don Pedro Monroy, and their public censure of the governor, the Audiencia, and others in their sermons, with scandal, for which I feel due regret, although the things that occur there publicly, and the events that happen there, have been very extraordinary, yet the words of their sermons must be according to the statement of the holy Council of Trent: Que sint examinata et casta, eloquia ad edificationem20—words used by our father St. Francis, in his rules for preachers. If they are not so, then the word of God will not have the effect on its hearers that it had before the disturbance and scandal—a matter that has always seemed very wrong to me, and deserving blame and condemnation. That will happen on this occasion, for which, in due time, I shall send commission for an investigation and the punishment of the guilty; and [an account of] what shall be done shall be sent, so that I may present it to that royal Council, and it may be seen whether satisfaction has been made; for where that has not been done, I shall endeavor to secure it, as I strive to do in all things that arise. This is my response to the first document sent by your Grace. Given in this convent of St. Francis, in Madrid, June twenty-eight, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five.
Opinion of Council and Royal Decree Regarding the Request of the Jesuits of Manila for Alms for Their Residence
Sire:
By a decree of June first of the former year six hundred and twenty-five, your Majesty granted a concession to the residence of the Society of Jesus of the city of Manila, in the Philipinas Islands, of one thousand ducados in each of ten years, in unassigned Indians, or those who should first become such in the said islands, under the same terms with which your Majesty granted concession to the convent of the Order of St. Augustine in the islands for their buildings. The procurator-general of the said residence has now represented that, after the work was commenced, the church fell to the ground one night—leaving the house in ruins, and in so great danger that they were obliged immediately to borrow a temple for divine worship. For their building, and in order that they might be expeditious in it, and to build part of a house where the religious could be sheltered, it was necessary to raise a large sum of money by an assessment, which has rendered them very needy. It is the seminary for all the religious of the said Society who leave these kingdoms for the cultivation of the holy gospel in those provinces, where they equip themselves and learn the languages of the natives, in order to go out to teach them. It has a school where reading, writing, and Latin are taught, and the arts and theology, to Spaniards and natives; and six congregations—namely, of priests, laymen, students, Indians, and blacks—with great spiritual increase. It is the refuge for all the gospel ministers who fall sick, and who go thither for treatment, as there are no physicians in any other part. There they are treated, entertained, and supported with great charity, until they can return to continue their ministries. There are entertained all those who go by way of Eastern Yndia, when they go to Japon, China, Maluco, and other places. The said residence is very cramped, both in its house and its church, because of the great crowds that go there continually. For the relief of that condition, the order begs your Majesty that—considering the aforesaid, and that your Majesty has twice granted to the convent of St. Augustine in the said islands a bounty of twenty thousand ducados for their building—you will also give the said residence as an alms another ten thousand ducados, so that it may continue the said building, paying it to them in the tributes of Indians who may be unassigned. The matter having been examined in the Council, together with the letter which the royal Audiencia of the said islands wrote to your Majesty, July twenty-nine, six hundred and thirty—in which is mentioned the great necessity for a church which the religious of the residence experience because of the fall of theirs, and the evident danger in which they live, and the great results that they obtain in those parts—the count of Castillo, presiding officer of the said Council, Fernando de Villaseñor, the count of Umanes, and Don Bartolomé Morquecho were of the opinion that, in order to take a resolution in this matter, it is advisable that the governor, the Audiencia, and the archbishop of the said islands report on the condition of the work on the said residence, what is yet to be built, how much it will cost, and whether the said Society of Jesus has funds with which to build it.
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