are lost, and those baptized return to their idolatries and old ways of life—­as is the case even now.  It is possible that if they abandoned missions of some value, some secular clergyman might be found to go to them.  But they only abandon those that no one desires—­unless it be the devil, to take them away with him to hell.  We are not taught to do this by the theologians and the jurists in matters of distributive justice, wherein they say that in certain times of need the less valuable benefices are to be given in turn to the most worthy of the priests, on account of the greater need of faithful ministration among the souls in the poorer benefices.

Some of the religious, too, who are good missionaries and good linguists, leave here—­their superiors giving them permission, as they find that they are restless, and cannot be quieted by kind methods.  But this is a great pity:  in the first place, on account of the religious, who thus go astray in soul; and, again, for the poor Indians, so needy as they here are.  Neither is it right that your Majesty should go to such expense to bring religious here, and then have them depart one after another—­perhaps because they are not chosen as superiors in their respective orders, and for other trivial reasons—­or that the superiors of the religious orders should have power to give them permission to go away.  On the other hand, it would be of great advantage to make arrangements with the governor that he should not give them passage; if your Majesty would give the governor notice of this, it would be well.

The Orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis here maintain very strict discipline among themselves, for which many thanks should be rendered to God.  In the matter of instruction they are doing wonders in teaching, by word and deed, and in every way are very exemplary.  They are, too, no great burden on the Indians, which is a serious consideration; but in the matter I mention, of leaving some missions, and abandoning them to perdition, those fathers are the most lacking, which is a very serious evil.  There is no lack of friars to go to other realms, yet to relieve the royal conscience of your Majesty (for which purpose they came to these islands) and the consciences of the encomenderos, and aid these poor Indians to be saved, to take in charge mission-houses, and sustain the children that they have baptized—­for these are their children indeed, to whom they are under greater obligation in spiritual matters than if they were their fathers in the flesh—­these things they do not attend to.  This gives me great sorrow, and particularly as I find that my friars are not very faithful in these matters, and the devil has disturbed them of late years with a spirit of unrest.  There is not, and has not been discovered, a people better disposed to conversion than the Indians of these islands—­I mean, as God has now disposed affairs.