The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; [Vol. 1, no. 24]

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 24

de Baraona, and father Fray Felipe de Tallada were
elected. The visitors were father Fray Estacio Ortiz
and father Fray Agustin de Mejia. All together
assembled, they annulled preceding orders and
enacted others for the good management of the
province.
But little life was left for our father provincial,
for a very slight accident occasioned his death, so
that, without any medicine sufficing, he went away
and left us on the seventeenth of May, leaving us
disconsolate and very desirous of him.
Our rules, in such an event, summon the preceding
provincial, who immediately took the seal. Persons
were not lacking to advise him to leave the government of the province, saying that the province was
not well affected toward him. And even persons
outside of the order who were viewing things with
some interest, said the same to him. But we are not
to understand that any ambition guided him, but
that since he had had experience in the government,
which is not the least thing, he thought that he could
govern better than another. He commenced to burden the province with mandates, for in his term there
was too much of that. Thereupon, the fathers began
to regard him less favorably than before, and to
represent to themselves the evil of his having the
command. There were meetings and discussions in
which the coming evil was clearly presaged and
announced. One old religious, who was such in all
things, in order to avoid cavilings and inquisitions
went to confess to him; and told him that he knew
most positively that they wished to kill him, and
that he should relinquish his office. He assented to
nothing, carried away, doubtless, by his good zeal.