Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 09).pdf/232

 curates of Indian villages, it should be considered that the said Indians were not accustomed to pay fees for burials, marriages, or other ecclesiastical ministrations; and that it should be ordered that all the religious, in charge of and entrusted with instruction, should not collect the said fees, and that this extend also to the secular ecclesiastics. Inasmuch as he had ordered the same, under penalty of spiritual censure, and as it seemed quite proper to me, I declared and ordered that this custom be kept inviolate by both the seculars anad regulars throughout that entire district, as you will see by the decree that was despatched in accordance with this. You shall cause this to be observed and fulfilled. You shall advise me specifically of the fulfilment of this decree and its results.

It seems an inhuman thing, and contrary to all Christian charity, to have left the Indians of the Ladrone Islands without instruction, since all who go to the Philipinas make port in their lands; and since after receiving help from them, and no resistance or injuries, the governors and prelates have passed by those people without furnishing them any instruction. This is a great cause of grief, and a bad example. In order that it may be rectified, since you and the archbishop are going together, you shall examine the disposition of the land, and you shall leave there, from the religious who are sailing now, those who seem suitable for the conversion and instruction of those natives. If it seems advisable, you shall also leave with them some soldiers for their protection, and as a defense from the dangers of those barbarians, in accordance with the ordinance regarding new discoveries. You shall advise me of what is done in this.

The bishop and some of the religious were of opin-