rs do not give it--for which
reason, since this country is so far away, no relief can he furnished
in matters that need it so greatly. For my part, I shall ever endeavor
to comply with the obligations under which your Majesty has placed me,
together with those which I have as a Christian, and those which I owe
to my lineage. I shall do my uttermost, and that will be something; but
if your Majesty will aid me by means of some ordinances and mandates,
there will remain nothing for me to do. May our Lord preserve your
Majesty's Catholic person, as is necessary to Christendom. Manila,
the last of June, 1636. Sire, your Majesty's vassal kisses your feet,

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera [22]

[_Endorsed_: "Read and decreed within. December 12, 637."]

Sire:

The Order of St. Dominic and the other orders having so disturbed
me and the community with the affairs of the archbishop, Don Fray
Hernando Guerrero, as I have related to your Majesty in other letters,
Fray Diego Collado, who brought twenty-six religious of the said Order
of St. Dominic last year with your Majesty's order and permission,
presented to me certain letters from his general. He says that he
presented them in the royal Council of the Indias, who ordered that
these be returned to him, granting him the said permission to bring
the religious; although it appears that it was under the leadership
of another, the nephew of the said Fray Diego Collado, as the latter
was sick. I consulted as to the matter with the Audiencia, and with
other learned men. In accordance with their opinions (which I have
in writing), although I have no decree from your Majesty ordering me
to help him, I did aid him, at his petition, so that the provincial
of this province should obey the letters of his general. In those
letters the general orders, under penalty of major excommunication,
that the provincial should deliver the government of five houses and
one hospital of the Chinese to the said Fray Diego Collado, without
making any excuse or delay, so that he might form therewith a separate
congregation for the purpose of the propagation of the faith. [23]
Having, as I declare to your Majesty, consulted on and examined the
matter, and as this division cannot harm your Majesty or the royal
patronage, I deemed it advisable to grant him the aid in accordance
with the opinions aforesaid. Those fathers, therefore, divided into
two bodies, and the moods and restlessness in which they were kee