nderstood that that approbation is to answer for all the other
missions to which he may be appointed, I consider it advisable to
declare--as I declare and order by the present--that the religious who
shall have once been examined and approved by the bishop for a mission,
remain examined and approved for all the other missions of the same
language to which he shall be appointed afterward. But if the mission
for which his provincial shall present him be of a different language,
he must be examined and approved anew in it; and, until he shall be
examined and approved, he cannot serve in the mission. I order my
viceroys, presidents, and governors of each and every part of the said
my Indias, on whom falls the execution of the said royal patronage;
and I request and charge the very reverend and the reverend fathers
in Christ, the archbishops and bishops of the Indias--each one of
them in what concerns him--to observe and obey this my decree, and
its contents, exactly and punctually, without permitting or allowing
anything to be done contrary to or in violation of its contents, in
any manner; and that they give notice to all the provincials of the
said orders of this ordinance, so that they may observe it. Given in
Madrid, April six, one thousand six hundred and twenty-nine.

_I the King_

By order of the king our sovereign:

_Don Fernando Ruiz de Contreras_

Letter from Manila Dominicans to Felipe IV

Sire:

Responding to our obligation, as religious of St. Dominic our father,
and as vassals of your Majesty, to advise you of the condition of the
lands of your seigniory, where we now reside in this country of the
Philipinas and the city of Manila (where we are at present assembled
in our provincial chapter and definitory), we say that this land
is greatly afflicted because these seas are so infested with the
Dutch. The trade with neighboring nations, which was formerly rich
and supported this country, has lost its power. The result of the
Dutch attacks is, that your vassals here have no sea forces, and but
few for land; and those are widely scattered in various presidios of
little importance, that serve no good purpose and cause very great
expense to your royal treasury. At those presidios the soldiers die
in great numbers from the unhealthful climate, insufficient and poor
food, and their own inactivity and vicious lives. We believe that a
small fleet for the sea could be maintained at a much smaller cost;
that