(1660-61), the first occasion when Chinese had defeated a European nation in war. The death of this formidable enemy relieves the fears of the Manila colony; and the authorities decide to allow a moderate number of Chinese to reside in the islands, since their services are so necessary to the Spaniards. Governor Salcedo sends to a friend (July 16, 1664) some account of the affairs of the colony at his arrival in the islands--the treasury almost empty, the soldiers unpaid, commerce paralyzed, and the natives "irritated by cruel punishments." He takes vigorous measures, at once, to improve the condition of the colony. An unsigned document (1666?) gives the reasons why the civil authorities have not executed the royal decrees subjecting the Philippine friars in charge of parishes to the episcopal visitation. Apparently written by a friar, it gives the reasons why the missions must be administered by the religious orders rather than by secular priests, and why the friars ask that they be not placed under the episcopal authority. They allege that there are still many heathen and Mahometans to be converted, throughout the islands; that the missions are full of hardship; that the courage and strict observance of the religious would grow lax under diocesan supervision; and that the most able of them would not consent to such subjection. Difficulties, also, must necessarily arise in the attempt of a religious to obey his superiors when these are both religious and ecclesiastical, and from interference by the civil authorities. All sorts of scandals and irregularities are liable to spring from these causes, affecting not only the missionaries but the natives, as well as the many heathen peoples who surround Manila.