Another valuable document is the decree which provides (May 5, 1583) for the establishment and conduct of a royal Audiencia (high court of justice) in Manila.  Provision is made for a house wherein this court shall sit, and for its powers and the scope of its jurisdiction; and instructions are given for its course of procedure in the various matters which shall come before it.  Certain duties outside their judiciary functions are prescribed for its members; among these are the oversight of the royal exchequer, and inspection of inns, apothecary shops, and weights and measures.  The Audiencia shall despatch to the home government information regarding the resources of the islands, the condition of the people, their attitude toward idolatry, the instruction bestowed upon Indian slaves, etc.  It shall fix the prices to be asked by merchants for their wares; keep a list of all the Spanish citizens, with record of the services and rewards of each; audit the municipal accounts of the city where the court is established; and allot lands to those who settle new towns.  Its powers in regard to ecclesiastical cases of various kinds are carefully defined.  Felipe orders that the papal bulls be proclaimed only in those towns where Spaniards have settled, and then in the Spanish language; and that the Indians shall not be compelled to hear the preaching of them, or to receive them.  Specific directions are given for the manner in which the Audiencia shall audit the accounts of the royal treasury, and it may not expend the moneys therein; it shall also audit the accounts of estates in probate.  Its members must especially watch over the welfare of the conquered Indians—­punishing those who oppress them, and seeing that the natives receive religious instruction, in which the Audiencia and the bishop shall cooperate; and various specific directions are given for the protection of the Indians and their interests.  The duties of the officials subordinate to the Audiencia—­fiscal attorney, alguazils, clerks, jail-wardens, and others—­are carefully prescribed, as also are those of advocates.  The remainder of this document will be presented in Vol.  VI.

The Editors May, 1903.

DOCUMENTS OF 1582

    Letter to Felipe ii.  Gonzalo Ronquillo de Penalosa; June 16.
     [2]Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas.  Miguel de Loarca; [June]. 
    Letter to Felipe ii.  Fray Domingo de Salazar; June 20. 
    Letter to viceroy.  Juan Baptista Roman; June 25. 
    Letter to Felipe ii.  Gonzalo Ronquillo de Penalosa; July 1. 
    Papal decrees regarding the Dominicans.  Gregory XIII; September
    15 and October 20. 
    Report on the offices saleable in the Philippines. [Unsigned;
    1582?].

Sources:  These documents are obtained from MSS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla—­excepting the papal decrees, which are taken from Hernaez’s Coleccion de bulas.