distributed them through the four provinces, very wisely, according
to the need of each.

At this time one of the Recollect religious, a doctor and scholar,
named Fray Diego Rodrigo, was head of that order here. He bore the
title of father vicar-provincial, for the province had as yet no
authority to elect a provincial. He had some disputes with a beneficed
secular, whereupon the said beneficiary complained to the archbishop,
Don Fray Miguel García. The latter sought advice as to whether he
could try that cause, and, I know not why, kept the priest secluded
in our convent. The cause was continued, and afterward the said
vicar-provincial, Fray Rodrigo, went to España by way of India. Through
that journey he accomplished matters of no little importance; for he
suffered much and served the Catholic church greatly. He converted
and reduced many schismatic Russians [57] to the Catholic church, and
bore a solemn message from them to his Holiness. For this religious
had excellent qualifications for distinction; he was a fine Latin
scholar and an excellent preacher, and was no less a theologian. In
the Roman court he was of great aid to the religious of the Filipinas
against the pretensions of the seculars, so that his arrival there
was very important. He was very well received in that court, and in
that of España; and he would have obtained his desires, had not the
Lord been pleased to cut him off, taking him from this life to enjoy
that which is eternal. He had written a book on the affairs of this
country, but it is not known into whose hands it has fallen. May it
bring to the light achievements so eminent and honorable. Without
doubt they would be of much importance for a knowledge of what there
is in these lands so remote from our own.