The King. To Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, knight of the Order of
Alcantara, my governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands,
and president of my royal Audiencia therein: in one of the sections of
a letter which that city [of Manila] wrote to me on June 27 of 636, it
is stated that there are two colleges in that city--one that of Santo
Tomas, with religious of the Order of St. Dominic; and the other that
of San Josef, with religious of the Society of Jesus--both of which
have possessed, for several years past, authority to confer degrees
in all the sciences. It is also declared that, with this opportunity,
many students have excelled in those studies, and especially various
sons of poor citizens, who have graduated in all the degrees; but
that, since they have no beneficed curacies on which they can depend
for support, their studies bring them no advantage. It is said that
this is caused by certain religious orders, who have acquired from
the archbishop, bishops, and governors the aggrandizement of their
orders with many benefices which formerly were administered by secular
priests; and that this might be remedied if I would decree that all
the benefices which have been annexed to the religious orders during
the last twenty years should be restored to the [secular] clergy, and
that edicts should be issued in the form which I have ordained. This
matter having been considered in my royal Council of the Indias, I
have thought it best to issue the present, by which I command you that
in the new missions that shall be established, you shall--except when
they are in a territory assigned to the religious--it being understood
that there are virtuous secular priests, take pains to appoint them
to such missions; for such is my will. [Madrid, October 2, 1638.]