h government are
obvious in the former direction, with various restrictions on trade,
and annoying imposts on all classes of people. The Portuguese of Macao
are accused of ruining the Chinese trade with the islands, absorbing it
to their own profit and the injury of the Spaniards. In ecclesiastical
circles, the topic of prime interest is the controversy between
Governor Corcuera and Archbishop Guerrero, ending in the latter's
exile to Mariveles Island; it is an important episode in the continual
struggle between Church and State for supremacy, and as such rightly
demands large space and attention in this series. In this and several
other documents may be noticed the steadily increasing influence and
power of the Jesuit order in the Philippines at that period.

From _Recopilacion de leyes de las Indias_ (lib. ix, tit. xxxxv)
are compiled a series of laws relating to navigation and commerce,
dated from 1611 to 1635--in continuation of those already given in
VOL. XVII of this series. Married men going from Nueva Espana must
take their wives also, or provide for them while absent. Convents
shall not allow Chinese merchandise to be concealed in their
houses. Royal officials who may sail in any fleet sent from Spain
to the Philippines are forbidden to carry any merchandise thither on
their private accounts. Flour for government use in the islands shall
be provided there, and not be brought from Nueva Espana. The lading
on the trading ships to that country must be allotted more equitably,
and for the general welfare of the Philippine colonists. Disabled
or incapable seamen must not be taken on these ships; provision is
made for the protection and safety of the Indian deck-hands thereon;
and only persons of rank are allowed to carry more than one slave
each. Trade between Mexico and Peru is again forbidden; and private
persons in the Philippines are not permitted to send ships, soldiers,
or seamen to the mainland or other regions outside the islands. The
valuation of merchandise taken to Nueva Espana from Filipinas shall
be made at Mexico, according to certain regulations. The officers of
the trading ships shall be paid for four months only, each voyage; and
the ships must leave Acapulco by December, and reach the islands by
March. Extortion from the sailors by the royal officials at Acapulco
is strictly forbidden. The official appointed to inspect the Chinese
ships at Manila must be chosen, not by the governor alone, but by hi