Note 2 — EVENTS OF 1701–1715

[In September, 1704, arrives at Manila the papal legate Carlos Thomas Tournon, on his way to China for the settlement of various ecclesiastical difficulties there; he treats the governor and other officials2 with arrogance, refusing to exhibit his credentials, and exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction to such an extent that he antagonizes the religious orders and infringes on the royal prerogatives. These proceedings are tolerated by both governor and archbishop, although manifestly improper and objectionable; but when they are reported at Madrid the king is greatly displeased, and decrees that the governor be removed from office, and disqualified for holding it, and those of the auditors who assented to his acts be punished. Archbishop Camacho also incurs the displeasure of the king, which is increased by his having meddled with the affairs of the royal seminary of San Phelipe, and used at his own pleasure certain ecclesiastical revenues properly in charge of the secular government; and the governor fails to check him, and even to notify the home government of these unwarranted proceedings, which are reported at Madrid by ecclesiastical channels. Camacho is accordingly removed from his see, and transferred to the bishopric of Guadalaxara in Mexico.3 (He is regarded by Concepción as a very zealous and charitable prelate; he collected from various sources more than 40,000 pesos, which he spent in the adornment and improvement of the cathedral church at Manila, and for this and other pious purposes he incurred debts amounting to over 20,000 pesos more. He promoted the missions of Paynaan and San Isidro, going in person to persuade the Aetas (or Negritos) to be converted.) Zabalburú, having undergone his residencia, leaves Manila in the year 1710, and, after having suffered shipwreck in the Bahama Channel, reaches Spain, where he dies after a few years. In 1707 the Acapulco galleon “Rosario” arrives, “with so much silver that it made that fair [at Acapulco] famous;” it also brings a new archbishop, Fray Francisco de la Cuesta, “a professed religious in the distinguished monastic order of San Geronimo,” who wins golden opinions from all.4 Before long, however, the old question of the right of episcopal visitation of the regular curas again arises; Cuesta tries to enforce this right, but with little result.5 A full account of this is given by Concepción, with the arguments adduced therein.]