The First Conflicts between the Church and the State.--In March, 1581, there arrived the first Bishop of Manila, Domingo de Salazar. Almost immediately began those conflicts between the spiritual and civil authorities, and between bishop and the regular orders, which have filled to such an extent the history of the islands. The bishop was one of those authoritative, ambitious, and arrogant characters, so typical in the history of the Church. It was largely due to his protests against the autocratic power of the governor that the king was induced to appoint the first Audiencia. The character and power of these courts have already been explained. The president and judges arrived the year following the death of Ronquillo, and the president, Dr. Santiago de Vera, became acting governor during the succeeding five years. In 1587, the first Dominicans, fifteen in number, arrived, and founded their celebrated mission, La Provincia del Santisimo Rosario. Increasing Strength of the Malays.--De Vera continued the policy of his predecessors and another fruitless attack was made on Ternate in 1585. The power of the Malay people was increasing, while that of the Europeans was decreasing. The sultans had expelled their foreign masters, and neither Spaniard nor Portuguese were able to effect the conquest of the Moluccas. There were uprisings of the natives in Manila and in Cagayan and Ilocos. The Decree of 1589.--Affairs in the Islands did not yet, however, suit Bishop Salazar, and as the representative of both governor and bishop, the Jesuit, Alonso Sanchez, was dispatched in 1586 to lay the needs of the colony before the king. Philip was apparently impressed with the necessity of putting the government of the Islands upon a better administrative basis. To this end he published the important decree of 1589. The governor now became a paid officer of the crown, at a salary of ten thousand ducats. For the proper protection of the colony and the conquest of the Moluccas, a regular force of four hundred soldiers accompanied the governor. His powers were extended to those of an actual viceregent of the king, and the Audiencia was abolished. The man selected to occupy this important post was Don Gomez Perez Dasmariñas, who arrived with the new constitution in May, 1590. So great was the chagrin of the bishop at the abolition of the Audiencia and the increase of the governor's power, that he himself set out for Spain to lay his wishes before the court. The Missionary Efforts of the Friars.--Twenty-four Franciscans came with Dasmariñas and the presence of the three orders necessitated the partition of the Islands among them. The keenest rivalry and jealousy existed among them over the prosecution of missions in still more foreign lands. To the missionaries of this age it seemed a possible thing to convert the great and conservative nations of China and Japan to the Western religion.