News reached this city in the month of January last of this year, of the death of the bishop of Nueva Cáceres, Fray Diego de Guevara, of the Order of St. Augustine; he died while visiting his bishopric. Inasmuch as that church has no cabildo, the task of its government devolved upon me, as does likewise that of Nueva Segovia. As the bishop of the latter church, Don Juan de Renteria, has not arrived, I petition your Majesty to be pleased to have notice taken that greater competency is required for these bishoprics that are so distant from Manila--in which counsel can [not] easily be taken on the troubles that confront the ministry at every step, and the bishop, like him who holds the office of magistrate, must alone determine these doubts of fuerza--than for the very large bishoprics of España. Will your Majesty please take the advisable measures. [_Marginal note_: "Seen and provided."] The facility of these natives in going to law about marriage is very great. In fact, they achieve their purpose by alleging obstacles arising from their own illicit intercourse, before the marriage, with the relatives of their wives. Often they maliciously conceal this obstacle and are silent until, the wives after experiencing with the lapse of time, during their married life, not so good treatment as they expected from their husbands, and the husbands having less pleasure in the marriage than they had promised themselves, they advance their obstacles, and petition for the annulment of the marriage. With the ease with which they find witnesses for any purpose, they succeed in carrying their desires into effect--with the liability, if what they have alleged and proved is false, of living throughout life in the sin that they have committed to the wrong of marriage; and if true, as they say, of having been unscrupulous in not having declared the obstacle. In order to avoid these troubles, it would be of great importance for your Majesty to be pleased to obtain from his Holiness power for the ministers in these islands to give absolution for all the secret obstacles of these neophytes when they come to be married, in order to contract the said marriage. In this way it will be managed with less offense and with more ease to the conscience than now. [_Marginal note_: "Have the ambassador at Roma notified to propose this matter to his Holiness; and if it be not unadvisable, to petition him to concede it. After doing this, advise and notify the archbishop that the matter has been sent to Roma, and that he will be notified of the result."]