cannot find positions in the church, and the archbishop is greatly
pained by their consequent poverty and humiliation. He asks for more
competent bishops to be sent to the islands; and for authority to be
given to religious ministers there to grant absolution for certain
impediments to marriage which render divorces among the natives too
easy. The friars who have charge of instructing the natives ought to
be subject to inspection by the bishops, and thus various abuses would
be corrected. Affairs in Japan are in great confusion, on account of
the persecution of the Christians; and Serrano recommends that Fray
Sotelo be not allowed to go thither as bishop of Japan. He details a
controversy that has arisen between the Jesuits and the Dominicans in
Manila over the refusal of confession to the dying Juan de Messa; the
archbishop is obliged to call an ecclesiastical council to settle the
matter, and they decide in favor of the Jesuits. Trouble arises in the
Franciscan order over the appointment of a visitor, which is quelled
by similar action on Serrano's part, and the governor's interference
in the matter. More laborers are needed for the Jesuit missions,
as well as for those conducted by the friars. Serrano urges that
the hospital order of St. John of God be established in the islands,
as the hospitals there need better care than they are receiving from
the Franciscans. He complains that the officials of the orders give
letters of recommendation too easily; that the Audiencia are lax in
their attendance at church feasts; that the ships are sent too late
to Nueva España, and also return too late to the Philippines: that
workmen in government employ in the islands are defrauded of their
pay; that the city of Manila is overrun with Chinese and Japanese,
far beyond the numbers allowed by royal edicts or regard for the safety
of the Spanish citizens there; and that private persons, by collusion
with the officials, illegally secure for themselves the best of the
Philippine trade with Malacca and other adjacent regions. At the end