In which a relation is given of the government and order observed
by the house of the Santa Misericordia in the administration of the
funds under its charge, and the dependencies annexed to them. The
alms which it gives regularly from one year to another, when there
are no shipwrecks, and the account which is given annually in it.
I do not believe that any of the many houses of the Misericordia
throughout Christendom, can be declared to be governed with better
rules or have better accounts than that of this city of Manila. I am
not speaking without sufficient foundation, since I have read with
special attention the great order which rules in the house of the
capital of Lisboa. That house is the mother and pattern and source
of them all, to whose teaching this faithful daughter of hers, not
only has not kept its great talents which I expect from her zealous
care, idle, but also has been able ingeniously to exceed her in the
pious indulgences of increasing and treasuring up more copious annual
reënforcements for the relief of the needs of her neighbor.
1 am very certain that this truth would run no danger amid the
extensive shoals of self-love, for it navigates governed by the
demonstrable reality which removes all kind of doubt; it is current
knowledge that the alms which are annually distributed by the royal
house of Santa Misericordia of Lisboa amount to forty thousand pesos
more or less; but it is not less well-known and certain that those
distributed by this house of Manila, when no shipwreck happens, or
other misfortunes, amount on the average to seventy thousand pesos
annually, making one mass of the benefit which the funds of the sea
yield, in addition to those which are produced by those which are
founded in bonds, possessions, monopoly, encomienda of his Majesty,
chaplaincies of which he is patron, and other sources of wealth which
are added to the huge mass of the said sum. This truth is so well
known to all this city that it need no further support than the same
certainty in which it is founded.
The order with which this house of Santa Misericordia is governed
is that on November 21, the day of the presentation of our Lady,
the Virgin Mary, and the day on which the brothers who have formed
the board for that year, and which begins the election of other new
members, the election is made by ten electors, whom all the brotherhood
appoint, in the manner provided by our rules. They number in all
thirteen brothers, the first being the new purveyor. [Next are the]
secretary and the treasurer, the latter being the one who was secretary
the previous year, who remains in that office in order to give account
of the dependencies and affairs of the house since he has handled them
all most intimately. After the above are the majordomo of the chapel,
the general manager of the house, and all annexed to it; majordomo
of prisoners; steward of the dish in which the alms are collected;
while the rest of the brothers are occupied in other important duties
of the house, such as visits of the treasury and of the prisons, the
distributions of alms, secret investigations which are committed to
them by the board, and others of like tenor.
So great is the authority and power of the purveyor of the house over
all the brothers of the Santa Misericordia, and so prompt the obedience
of the brothers, that it rather seems a well-ordered community of
religious than of seculars, for the first thing which they swear
on the holy gospels when they join the brotherhood is to well and
faithfully observe the rules of the brotherhood, and that whenever
they are summoned by the purveyor and councilors of the board, and
should hear the signal of the bells, they will go thither promptly,
if there is no legitimate hindrance that they can see. The purveyor
may, when in the board, command, agree, vote, talk, and keep silence,
whenever he pleases. He can command a board meeting called, and a
general meeting of the brotherhood at the advice of the deputies,
appointing the day which he considers best. He may transfer the board
and apportion among the brothers of it the duties of collector of alms,
and visitors of the prisons. He may remove the chaplains if they
commit any notable error in his presence, as well as the servants
of the board, and the rectress or portress of the college when he
thinks best. He may proceed to the correction and fitting punishment
of the collegiates by means of the rectress when they deserve it,
and he may (which is more than all the rest) remove with the advice
of the councilors of the board those brothers who are disobedient and
break the rules of the brotherhood. He may remove those who violate
their privileges and those who live after a scandalous manner, if
having been warned three times they do not turn over a new leaf. He
may appoint others in their place, so that they may serve God our
Lord in this His house. Finally, he may (although I do not) do many
other things which limit of space does not permit me to write here.
The seven deputies who are named above with determined duties shall
receive from their predecessors the books of which each one of them
has had charge, in order to enter therein the new accounts of debit and
credit of all that which shall be given into their power in the course
of the year, and all that shall be disbursed in order to fulfil the
pious ends which are entrusted to them. This having been inferred,
I say that the first thing which is asked by the new board from
the new purveyors is to take charge of the girls' school, which is
managed according to past custom with allowances and expenses which
are occasioned with it in the food and clothing of all the girls,
the salaries of the rectress and portress, and other servants who
are employed in it. And having accepted this duty, he goes ahead to
arrange the provisions of rice, oil, and sugar, and other substances
increased in times of the greatest cheapness and advantage; for whose
constancy in the new account which is opened in the book of expenses of
the purveyors, he sets down monthly the expense which is made in each
one of them, and in this way he proceeds in all those of the year,
placing each item down separately and procuring that the expenses
shall not be increased unless there be a greater number of girls
or wards, and, at the end of the year, he presents the book with
his account. Its examination and review is entrusted to the present
secretary, who balances it, either in favor or against, and having
set forth the balanced part, the said secretary places his approval
at the bottom of it and signs it, and enters it in the minutes of
that day so that it may stand forth for all time.
The secretary of the board on whom devolves the greater part of the
work has his new record book in which are entered all the despatches of
the petitions which are presented, the distributions which are made,
and the applications of the alms, both of dowry for the schoolgirls,
and the orphan girls outside [the school], the salaries which are
paid to the chaplains of the house, the portress and the servants of
the house, and the alms of the masses of Alva, 9 and 11, which are
said in our church on all feast-days. Especially with great care does
he enter the two inspections or general balances, which are struck
at the beginning and end of each board, of all the sums of pesos,
both of current funds, of dowries and alms, and of deposits which
are contained in the treasury under separate headings, in order to
apply them to the purposes which their founders assigned by full
directions. He affixes his rubric to the memoranda which are in the
sacks, with the statement of what each one contains, with the day,
month, and year of the record in which they are set down. The writing
of all the above with his own hand is an operation so indispensable to
his obligation that he is obliged to do it under oath. In case of his
absence, the same is done by the treasurer who supplies his absences
by writing in a separate book whatever occurs in regard to the business
matters of the house. And as soon as the secretary takes charge of the
current despatch of the house, he is obliged to transfer to his book
whatever shall have been decreed during his absence, so that by such
a proceeding all that which belongs to the record of that year may be
found in one volume. He is also obliged to enter all the sums of pesos
which are received in the treasury in the books prepared for them,
both of the dues collected and the usufruct which are yielded by the
sea funds, besides the great number of very troublesome collections,
although the love of God makes them mild and easy, to whomever works
for the welfare of his neighbor and the preservation of this house.
He is also obliged to adjust the appointments of the chaplains of
the many chaplaincies of which the board of the Santa Misericordia is
patron, by virtue of which, and of those presented as said chaplains,
a collation of the chaplaincies has always been given to them so
far as it concerns them, and the fitting support has been decreed
and given as a relief for their poverty. In this there is no other
consideration, either in this court or in other superior courts,
but it is passed upon before the said secretary just as in the house
of Lisboa, which has as a special privilege that the secretaries of
the said house may give attestations in all and any court.
The treasurer, who has charge of the possessions of the Parián of
the Sangleys, attends to the collection of their rents, and the
distribution of the alms, which are distributed every Saturday
throughout the year to the self-respecting poor at the door of the
house of the Santa Misericordia; and also the alms in pesos for the
masses which are said throughout all the months of the year by one of
the chaplains of the house for the soul of the founder, who endowed
it with the said possessions. And in the book which is delivered to
him with the enumeration and individual account of the places and
location of said possessions and of the purposes for so charitable
a foundation, the said treasurer enters the debit and credit account
of all the sums which are received monthly and are disbursed by them,
collecting receipts of them all for the account which must be given
at the end of the year, which passes in review and must be balanced
like the other accounts.
The treasurer is also the one who is present at the time of the two
inspections or general balances of the treasurer. If between the last
of the board which has just ended and the new one which is formed for
its government there is any difference because of some quantity of
pesos having been drawn in the interim, for any purpose for which it
has fallen due, he gives prompt account thereof by the vouchers made
and that appear from the preceding record book and by his receipts. In
this way he continues until the conclusion of the said general review,
which is generally the first thing. Following, other important points
are begun by the new board without any confusion arising.
The chapel steward receives in inventory all that belongs to the church
and its sacristy, with the aid of the chaplain-in-chief of the house,
from the acting secretary of the board, and the past steward. In his
presence, the list is formed item by item in the book of inventories,
and is received by the acting steward, and when it is completed to the
satisfaction of all, the four sign it, and it is placed in the first
record so that it may stand forever. He has also another separate
book of the new expenses, which are made in the church, sacristy,
and other things in his charge in the course of the year. In it he
forms the debit and credit account in minute detail, and at the end
of the year he presents the book; proceeding to his resolution with
the same solemnity as the others whom we have mentioned.
The attorney-general who attends to all the business and interests
of the house (except those of the annuities which have a separate
attorney with a paid advocate) receives in the book of suits all
those which the preceding board left pending, and also the writs
and other papers which are to be in his charge for that year. For
the better direction, management, and outcome of said suits, an
intelligent advocate is appointed for him to whom he may apply in
all his doubts. And in all that which he does in pursuance of this
order, he gives account in all the board meetings which are regularly
held semi-weekly. A secretary, who keeps the keys of the archives,
is obliged to give him all the documents that he asks for, and shall
keep a record of the withdrawal of such.
He also has another book, in which he enters in alphabetical order
the accounts of the funds, the costs belonging to each one, which are
caused in prosecution of the said suits, the signature of writs and
the cancellations [chancelaciones] of them. Later he forms from them
the general debit and credit account in which he places the salaries
of advocate, procurator, and attorney in the royal Audiencia with the
other expenses which belong to the said matters. At the end of the
year, he presents it, and with it the fitting obligation of review,
balances, and approval is made, as in all those above mentioned. But
independently of this, he shows the book of current suits, writs,
and other papers. Having been compared by the secretary, with the
statement of those which were given to him at the beginning of the
year, and of those which were given to him from the archives in his
term, if the whole thing agrees, he is absolved from his charge,
but in no other manner until the total fulfilment.
The steward of prisoners has in charge the collections of the
possession of the sites of the paddy-fields, whose usufruct
is distributed half and half in the two prisons of the court,
and of the city, for the support of the poor prisoners, and the
other half in the hospital of the Misericordia, which is in charge
of the religious of St. John of God, as a relief for sick men and
women. Besides this relief, which is monthly, they share other large
alms which are furnished from other funds administered by the house
of the Misericordia. In his book of the said possessions, with the
statement of their purposes, he forms his account of debit and credit,
and, at the time of its presentation, gives his discharge by the
receipts which he collects from the wardens of said prisons. That is
generally, or always, executed with the knowledge of the minister
who has charge of the inspection of the prisons and the relief of
the needs experienced therein.
The steward of the dish in which the alms are collected is obliged to
send it every fortnight to two brothers of this venerable brotherhood,
so that on Sunday they may go out to collect alms in all the public
parts of this city. They having observed this measure, return the
dish and the alms to the said steward. The latter, observing the same
rule throughout the months of the year, draws up his debit and credit
account. The alms which he declares before the board are equal in
sum to those which have been collected, according as it appears. In
that conformity it is approved, the same measures as before with the
others having preceded.
This is the government, order, and method which the house of the Santa
Misericordia has maintained faithfully, with the punctual assistance
and encouragement of the zealous, disinterested Christians. They are
the work of its brothers, whose powerful example in the faithful
administration of the funds entrusted to them has enabled them to
obtain exemption from inspection of their house until the present
time. They are today more assured than ever by dint of royal decrees,
the first dated Madrid, September 7, 1699; in which his Majesty
resolves and declares that this brotherhood, in order that it may be
maintained and continue its exercises with more encouragement, shall
not be subject to visits by the ordinaries, archbishops, provisors
in vacant see, or by any other ecclesiastical minister; and that it
shall be allowed to make use as hitherto of its good government and
to observe its rules and ordinances. And in the same vein is another
decree given in Buen Retiro, under date of June 11, 1708, in which
his Majesty also resolves that the decree above inserted be kept,
fulfilled, and executed, exactly according to the terms expressed
therein, and that no embarrassment or obstacle be opposed or permitted
to be opposed to the fulfilment of its contents, as such is his royal
will. In that one can see clearly how, having been well informed, his
Majesty approves the good government of this house and the practice of
its rules and ordinances. This is the greatest intent of this chapter,
and we leave the rest so that the parties may discuss it in or out
of court.