religious, counting those who are going and coming—­eight of the number being priests, and the rest brethren and candidates for orders.  There is one Dominican convent, with four or five friars; and another convent of the same order, with a Sangley hospital, in the Parian in the same city, with two religious.  There is one Franciscan convent, which generally contains four priests and seven or eight brethren, counting the teacher and the novitiates.  The Society of Jesus has also a professed house, with its father superior, three priests, and three brethren.  There is a royal hospital for the Spaniards, and another for the Indians, under charge of two Franciscan lay-brethren.  The number of paid soldiers is generally about two hundred, besides their officers.  There are two chief constables, one city and the other government; two constables; a prison warden; the three judges; the officials of the royal estate—­factor, accountant, and treasurer; an executioner; a notary; a probate judge; the municipal body of the city, with two alcaldes-in-ordinary, twelve regidors, and two secretaries—­one of finance and war, the other of administration; six notaries-public, and two attorneys; and one constable to attend to vagabonds.  There are many calling themselves captain, but only four have companies.  This city contains the silk-market of the Parian, which is composed of Sangley merchants, who have two hundred shops.  The Parian contains about two thousand Sangleys, more or less, with their judge and governor.  In addition to these there are somewhat more than one thousand in the city, in Tondo, and throughout the islands, engaged in various occupations and trades.  Inasmuch as this relation treats only of the ministers of instruction here and those necessary, I shall not discuss further details of Manila and the islands, in order to come to my purpose.  Manila and its environs have sufficient instruction, and even more than enough; for the usual alms is given to the religious of the convents, and they are charged to administer the sacraments and to give instruction to the natives there, each convent in its own district.  Therefore the ecclesiastics occupied in Manila and its immediate environs, where there are plenty of ministers, might be sent to other districts where ministers are lacking.

His Majesty—­In the city of Manila are many Indians who are liable to duty, both in service and in other employments, who are continually shifting—­ so that, out of the three thousand tributarios that there should be, not more than five hundred tributes are collected for his Majesty.  To administer the sacraments and give Christian instruction there is one parish priest for the Indians, and they attend mass at the hospital for Spaniards.  They are under the jurisdiction of Manila, in affairs of justice. ...  D.