Note 1 — LETTER FROM DOMINGO DE SALAZAR TO FELIPE II

In this letter (the fourth of those which I am writing to your Majesty), I intend to discuss a matter no less important than those which I have discussed in the others. This matter is that when I came to this land, the provincial of the Society of Jesus who resides in the City of Mexico sent here at your Majesty’s orders four religious of his order. They consisted of Father Antonio Sedeño, who came as rector and occupies that position at present, and Father Alonso Sanchez, whom I have mentioned in the letter which I wrote in regard to Chinese affairs, and two other religious who were not priests, one of whom died at sea, and the other of whom is still alive. Those fathers came to this land to examine and consider the opportunity that may exist here for the Society to settle and send religious here. That is in accordance with the practice of that order before they settle definitely. Inasmuch as they have as yet had no time to write to their general how the land impresses them, for Father Alonso Sanchez was absent on the expedition to China last year; and desiring now to write their impressions of it they both came to speak to me and said that they had considered the manner in which they could come to this land to serve God and your Majesty according to the custom of their order; and that since they had to write their resolution to their provincial and general, that resolution was that they would go away unless they could remain in a religious manner and busy themselves in the things in which that order is wont [to busy itself] in all other districts, namely, the teaching of letters and the instruction. They said that support was necessary for those religious who had no other thing to do than to teach and study, just as for the other religious in the villages of the Indians. Since they did not see any disposition or possibility to be able to build a college where they could have a sufficient number of religious to conserve their order, and to maintain there persons who might have charge of the teaching of the children and the others, of whom they might wish to make use, from the first letters of the alphabet to the arts and theology, they could not write otherwise to their superiors than that there was no disposition for the Society to be established here. I was very sorry to hear that, for I assure your Majesty with the truth that I owe you, that, since my arrival in these islands, I have had no other recourse or consolation than in them in all the matters that have been offered to me and all the afflictions in which I have found myself (which have not been few). Had I been without them I believe that I would not have dared to have remained in the land. Leaving out of consideration what concerns me for my consolation and the security of my conscience, their establishment in this city and in these islands is so necessary, that not only should your Majesty not permit those who are here to go away, but it is necessary that you order their general and provincial of Nueba España to send others to keep them company, so that they may enter upon the exercises of their order and inaugurate a college, where they may have persons to teach the children of the inhabitants of this city and those of the hamlets of these islands, as well as the mestizos and the sons of the chief Indians. They should also have persons to teach grammar and matters of conscience which are so necessary in this land. This college cannot be established at present unless your Majesty be pleased to order that, until such time as there be in these islands, a founder1 of the said college, according to the custom of these fathers, it be attended to from the royal estate; or, if your Majesty prefer, that a fund be created from some villages that are assigned to the royal crown for that purpose, for what period your Majesty may order. By that means the religious who are to work in the teaching as abovesaid can be supported. Although this appears to be a great expense even for your Majesty, yet consider the extreme necessity of this so that this land may be maintained and advance, and that if those tributes are not employed in this manner, they will be given to soldiers who as is understood will not use them, as well as the fathers will, especially since we do not petition that this be permanent but that it be only for a limited time or until there may be a founder [of a college] here. I trust in the divine Goodness that many days will not pass before some one will be invited to become a founder and will have the good fortune to be admitted as such.