iculties which might arise from furnishing the said information,
as a reason why his Lordship might fail to accept this statement of
the case. These difficulties appear, and in fact have begun to make
trouble with persons outside of the order. The religious of Espana saw
this; and they knew that the witnesses who gave their testimony in the
case could not have knowledge of all the religious in this province
who have taken the habit in the Yndias, nor of their qualifications,
nor for what offices they were suitable according to our constitutions;
moreover, they heard that it was certain that the said fathers of the
Yndias faction were representing and alleging their own suitability
[for those offices]--the purpose of these efforts being to establish
by them new pretensions in the two courts [of Madrid and Roma], and
with those representations to cause fresh disturbances and uneasiness
in this province. To obviate this mischief, and to make clear and
evident the justice in the claims of both sides, and to prevent
gossip by persons outside of the order regarding the qualifications
of the religious, the fathers of Castilla presented a petition in
which was inserted a memorandum of the religious in this province who
belonged to the Yndias faction; these are thirty-three, the same as
those mentioned in the certified statement of the definitory that was
presented earlier. Constrained by necessity and the strait in which
they found themselves, the fathers of Espana testified, under oath
and in legal form, in what manner fifteen of the religious mentioned
in the said petition were disqualified or disabled, by law and the
constitutions of our order, for holding official positions in the
order. They also demanded that, of the eighteen who remained, the
attorneys of the Yndias faction should declare, for each separately
and in detail, what learning and competency he possessed; whether
he had been a student in any course of science or arts, and where
and at what time; for what offices in the order he was competent,
according to our constitutions; and in which of the four provinces
which this province [of St. Augustine] administers--in which it is
necessary to know the Tagal, Pampanga, Ylocan, and Bisayan tongues,
which are all different languages--each of those religious was a
minister. [They were also asked to name] those who had sufficient
fluency in the language to preach the gospel and declare the mysteries
of the faith to the In