Note 1 — Chapter VI

The cabildo met on the twenty-ninth of January, and decided that, after having consulted learned persons, they were of opinion that the cabildo ought not to surrender the government; but that, on account of the many and serious difficulties [that might arise from this], they would yield under protest. Accordingly, they received Don Fray Pedro de Arce on the same day as ruler of the vacant see, although the cabildo took much umbrage at it; and from this affair originated continual strife and dissensions. At the outset, they denied to Don Fray Pedro the seat in the choir, the cabildo asserting that the bishop was not competent to possess it because he was not a proprietary bishop; and that, although he had been consecrated, it was in another diocese, and one suffragan to that of Manila. The prudent bishop felt this slight keenly, for they had given him this seat when he first administered the vacant see; but finally they gave him the seat (to which he was legally entitled), as they had done before. Don Fray Pedro de Arce ruled with the prudence and uprightness which in him were so eminent, which together with his virtue and piety, made him a most accomplished prelate, and truly a father to all. In the course of his government he made enactments very important for the conduct of the church; in especial, he imposed the cuadrante1 for the choir in the cathedral of Manila with great exactness—aiding the prebends with great readiness in their choir, the subsidy that they receive being still so small that some of them have hardly enough for their support.