natives, and from the devotion of the Spaniards. [_In the margin_:
"Let the governor undertake the establishment of whatever religious
of the order of St. Augustine he thinks advisable."]

[_Endorsed:_ "+ Fray Francisco de Ortega, of the order of
St. Augustine."]




Advice on Fourteen Points of Great Import for the Service of God and
His Majesty, and the Increase of His Royal Estate


Sire:

Fray Francisco de Ortega, of the order of St. Augustine,
visitador-general of his order in the Philipinas Islands, by apostolic
authority, and by the royal authority of your Majesty, and the
authority of his general, declares that he has spent thirty-eight years
in the Yndias--sixteen of them in Nueva España and the rest in the
Philipinas Islands--preaching the word of God, and administering the
holy sacraments to Spaniards and Indians. In this period is reckoned
the time spent in voyaging to and fro between this kingdom and those
districts twice (and with this last time, thrice) to your Majesty as
a suppliant, and voyaging twenty-two thousand leguas and undergoing
many dangers and hardships to inform your Majesty of the condition
of those islands, and of what, in his opinion, by reason of his long
experience in that country, was fitting for the service of God our
Lord, and that of your Majesty. His purpose was that, with your royal