The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 08 of 55: 1591-1593; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 08 of 55: 1591-1593; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
The city of Manila is located in the island of Luzón. It is the
capital of all the islands, and the usual residence of the governor
and captain-general, his counselor, and his Majesty's army. This
city has about three hundred citizens. It contains the cathedral
and bishop's house, and the prebendaries--to-wit, dean, archdeacon,
schoolmaster, treasurer, two canons, seven or eight clerical priests,
and some, although few, who are to receive orders. The city has a
monastery of Augustinian friars, usually with sixteen religious,
counting those who are going and coming--eight of the number being
priests, and the rest brethren and candidates for orders. There is
one Dominican convent, with four or five friars; and another convent
of the same order, with a Sangley hospital, in the Parian in the
same city, with two religious. There is one Franciscan convent,
which generally contains four priests and seven or eight brethren,
counting the teacher and the novitiates. The Society of Jesus has also
a professed house, with its father superior, three priests, and three
brethren. There is a royal hospital for the Spaniards, and another
for the Indians, under charge of two Franciscan lay-brethren. The
number of paid soldiers is generally about two hundred, besides their
officers. There are two chief constables, one city and the other
government; two constables; a prison warden; the three judges; the
officials of the royal estate--factor, accountant, and treasurer;
an executioner; a notary; a probate judge; the municipal body of
the city, with two alcaldes-in-ordinary, twelve regidors, and two
secretaries--one of finance and war, the other of administration;
six notaries-public, and two attorneys; and one constable to attend
to vagabonds. There are many calling themselves captain, but only
four have companies. This city contains the silk-market of the Parian,
which is composed of Sangley merchants, who have two hundred shops. The
Parian contains about two thousand Sangleys, more or less, with their
judge and governor. In addition to these there are somewhat more
than one thousand in the city, in Tondo, and throughout the islands,
engaged in various occupations and trades. Inasmuch as this relation
treats only of the ministers of instruction here and those necessary,
I shall not discuss further details of Manila and the islands, in
order to come to my purpose. Manila and its environs have sufficient
instruction, and even more than enough; for the usual alms is given to
the religious of the convents, and they are charged to administer the
sacraments and to give instruction to the natives there, each convent
in its own district. Therefore the ecclesiastics occupied in Manila
and its immediate environs, where there are plenty of ministers,
might be sent to other districts where ministers are lacking.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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