No. 57. Transcript of the dispatch from the Most. Illustrious Lord J:ishop of 11i1. Nuebo Reyno de Leon and the exorto from the pastor Cand3

Transcription

1 Transcript of the dispatch from the Most Illustrious Lord J:ishop of 11i1 Nuebo Reyno de Leon and the exorto from the pastor Cand3 vicar of,tne parish [church] of the villa of San Pernando, :Cwhich vrms] sent to the governor of the province of Texas, concerning the collection of tithes on orexano'bovine livestock and mustang horses Ma,jesty; and the governor's response relative belonging to His to this matter. No. 57 CMS: Change in handwriting, in English:] Despacth [sic] of the Most High the Bishop of the New Kingdom of Leon, upon the exaction of the tenths of [sic] wild cattle & horses.

2 [cross] e, Don P'rCa] Raphael Jose Verger, by the Grace of God and of the FIoly Apostolic See, Bishop of El Nuebo Reyno de I,ean, the Provinces of Monclova, Texas, and CLa] Colonia del Nuebo Santander, Deputy Vicar Gerieral of the Royal Armies on the Council of.his Majesy--God save him--&c.===cwe] have seen the petition of Don Juan Barrera, collector of tithes in the villa of San Fernando [at the] royal presidio of San AntConi]o de Bexar, in the province of Texas, presented before our ecclesiastical judge in that district, BCachille]r Don Pedro Fuentes, concerning Cthe factj that the residents.had not made the due declarations. CBarrera3 requested that [Rubric of Domingo Cabellol CFuentes] compel them to make [the declarations] in order to collect the tithes corresponding thereto for the biennium of Cseventeen] eighty and eighty-one, just past, and.the current one of Cseventeen] eighty-two and eighty-three. CWe have also seen] the exorto to the ayuntamiento of that villa, the provision of the aforesaid ayuntamiento and their reasons for excusing the residents from being compelled Cto pay7, the, exorto to the lord governor of the province and his reply, the answer Cgiven] by our aforesaid ecclesiastical judge to the above-mentioned lord governor, and the commission for the branders who were to be lv Cnamed], together with all other Cmc:terial] which it was convenient to see. His Illustrious Lordship [the bishop7 stated that he must declare and did declare as insufficient the reasons offered by the residents for not having made the declarations corresponding to

3 the years Cseventeen] eighty and eighty-one. Consequently he must sentence and did sentence them to tender promptly the tithes for said ycars, excusing them [from paying the tithes] applying to the ycars ei_c,lity-two and eighty-three in view of their not having done any branding, then for the reasons they state. But Cthe concession is made7 with the exact obligation that as soon as they brand, they are to pay the tithe on branded Clivestock] according to age for the afore-cited years [seventeen] eighty-two and eighty-three. With respect to livestock adjudged to Cbelong to] His Majesty as mostrenco Clivestock], he must declare and did declare that the tithe be paid on it as on any other, without any exemption for its being, for example, a wild commodity such as seed. For since the wild product of the grain, our laws expressly said livestock is not a order that the tithe be collected. And by virtue thereof, we do order our ecclesiastical judge, with the greatest exactitude, to see that the corresponding 2 Ctithes] be paid, // and that no fertile Cfemale] animal be exported to another bishopric for any reason. And when with p.rior and due licence old [animals] are taken out, he shall likewise see that the machorrage is paid as is customary, in order to avoid by this means all manner of fraud detrimental to the Holy Church. And since His Majesty can, as may any other citizen, be legitimately excused,,,ith no one knowing the exception, and since the,canon law as well as the laws of common [matters], is in favor of the Holy Church, which consequently is entitled to collect.tithes, our ecclesiastical CRubric of Domingo Cabello] judge shall cause all Cresidents] to comply exactly with what has been ordered, and shall with the full

4 ri,s-^or have, of the law compel them, reserving for them those Crz.t;htsD they so that having brought them before us we may administer justice without thereby obstructing or suspending the prompt resolution of what is to becollected on behalf of the Holy Church. For this end our ecclesiastical,judge.shall send this original, together with Chis3 appropriate official letter, to the lord governor of that province, whom on behalf of COurJ Holy Mother the 2v Church he shall exortar, and on our Cbehalf3 beg and beseech, as we ao.in fact beg and beseech him, to excuse any defect whatsoever that may have occurred in the appointment of the administrator of tithes for that province, and to recognize and accept as such administrator the present one, [Juan Barreraa, as if he had been placed [in that position] at [the governor's] behest as legitimate collector, in his name, consequentlyl.ending him the necessary aid at any time he requests it and causing him to keep Csecret] all exemptions which it is appropriate for such [an administrator to knowj. Thereupon our ecclesiastical judge shall cause this to be read in the pulpit of your parish, so that it may come to the attention of alland that no one may plead ignorance [thereof. Then they will be7 well informed that in all that is herein ordered we obligate them by virtue of holy obedience; and they shall understand that if they violate [these orders], we shallproeeed to declare them liable and publicly excommunicated underthe excommunication of the Holy Council of Trent, Cwhich was enacted] for usurpers of tithes and Cpersons7 disobedient to the precepts of our Holy Mother the Church. Given at this our 3 episcopal palace in // the city of Monterrey, signed by us, sealed

5 with the great seal of our arms, and countersigned by our subscribin5, secretary of cxunara and government, onthe twenty-ninth day of the month of April, in the year seventeen hundred eiuht,y-four. ===T,rC a.. 7 Rafael Josef [Verger3, Bishop of E1. Nuevo Reyno de Leon===Csigned] before me, BCachille]r pon Josef Sanchez de Luque, secretary of camara, government., and visita===sealed=-= CC.C., 1-3 pp., in E. 4/19/1784-5/20/17847 Decree. Villa of San Fernando and Royal Presidio of San AntConiJo de Bexar, thirteenth of May, seventeen hundred eighty-four. Let the aforegoing dispatch be registered in the government book of this-ecclesiastical court and, as is therein ordered, let the original be dispatched with an CRubric of Domingo Cabello3 appropriate official letter to Senor Colonel Don Domingo Cabello, governor of this province of Texas, so that on its return it may be'published exactly as ordered. therein. Thus Senor BCachille]r Don Pedro Fuentes, pastor caring for.the aforesaid villa, vicar forane Cdean7 of this province of Texas and its district, did provide, order, and sign Cthis7, on the said day, month, and year, before me, the present notary public, as I attest.-== BCachille7r Pedro Fuentes===Manuel Flores y Valde's, notary public=== CC.C., 3 p., in E. 4/19/1784-5/20/ v Exorto BCachille7.r Don Pedro Fuentes, Pastor Having the Care of This Villa of San Fernando, Royal Presidio of

6 San Ant[oni]o de Bexar, Vicar Forane CDean] of This Province of Texas and Its District, and Ecclesiastical Judge by CAppointment ofj the Most Illustrious Sefior Don Rafael Jose Verger, Worthy Bishop of El Nuevo Reino de Lebn and of This Province, &e.; to Sefior Don Domingo Cabello, Governor of this Aforenamed Province: Blessings in Cthe Name of] Our Lord===[Fuentes] makes known Cthe followinga in view of the petition initiated in the ecclesiastical court by Don Juan Barrera, collector of tithes for this province, under date of the twentyseventh of Januaryof the current year, to allay, in fulfillment of his duty, the uncertainties and hindrances that he has experienced in the cbllection of the tithes on major livestock--bovine or equine, caught or domesticated, ore j ano or branded--for the present and immediately past biennium, Cand in vie14 ofj judicial provisions and incidents pursuant thereto, and an appeal to Our Most Illustrious Diocesan [Bishop] Don FrCa.] Rafael Jose Verger. [The petition was] duly made as to the sole eligible and competent judge in this cause, [which is] purely spiritual. His Most`Illustrious Lordship Cthe 4 Bishop7 deigned to clarify--as evidenced in.the enclosed dispatch whose original has been ordered sent to.your Lordship and is dated in the City of Monterrey, the nineteenth day of the month of April of the present year--the uncertainties contained in the above-cited proceedings, declaring as tithable and not wild all bovine and.equine livestock and all other Clivestock] mentioned in the said dispatch. [And he declares] as legitimate collector in the tithe branch of this province the aforenamed Barrera. Therefore, as is ordered in the afore-cited dispatch and so that what is stated to and ordered of Your

7 73 Lordship may have due compliance in practice, CFuentes] exhorts Your CRubric of Domingo Cabello] Lordship in the name of Our!Io].y Mothe the Church and on.behalf of His Most Illustrious Lordship Cthe Bishop], he begs, entreats, and beseeches you to supply ta the aforesaid Barrera for said purpose Call] appropriate for such other puraid, returning to him the above-cited dispatch with your provisions, so that he may make his request alone as well as poses as are or may be appropriate, which thereupon he will make when and as those [provisions] of Your Lordship are presented. Done at 4v this Villa of San Fernando, Royal Presidio of San Antonio d Bexar, on the third of May, seventeen hundred eighty-four, Csigned7 the present notary public, as I attest.---bcachilleir Pedro Fuentes===Manuel Flores y Vald'es, notary publ3.c=== CC. C., 3-4v pp., in E. 4/19/1784-5/20/17843 Decree CI have7 seen the dispatch from the Most Illustrious Lord Bishop of the diocese and the exorto of BCachille]r Don Pedro)Fuentes, pastor having the care of this villa of San Fernando, vicar forane and ecclesiastical judge of this province of Texas, &c. Let both documents be returned to the afore-mentioned BCachille]r CFuentes] for such purposes as are and may be appropriate. As for the request and charge of His Most Illustrious Lordship Lthe Bishop], let Don Juan Barrera be accepted as legitimate collector of tithes in the'said province, and let him be given such aid as he may need for the discharge of his duty as soon as he verifies laxity

8 74 or failure on the part of the residents in paying the tithes owed by them; and let him collect them at opportune times, for which purpowe he shall go through such procedures as are appropriate for his due compliance. And whereas I do not consider what was determined by His 5 Most Illustrious Lordship to be a decision sufficient for chariling, the tithe sought on orexano cattle and mustang horses, let the lord commandant general be consulted by me in the present mail., so that since he has made the two species of livestock into one branch of capital benefitting His Majesty, he may determine whether the abovementioned tithe must be paid and may in pursuance thereof declare whether the above-said charge is to be in the amount charged annually, or whether, in addition to the fee that must be paid by those who catch said'livestoek, they are to pay that of the tithe Cas well]. Pending Chis decisionj let the giving of aid for [collectiori] be [Rubric of Domingo Cabe11o7 suspended by me without preventing those who catch the said type of orexano livestock from paying any tithe that may be due. And let a transcript of the aforegoing dispatch, exorto, and this decree be made in order to inform the lord commandant general withal. Thus it is provided, ordered, and signed by me, Don DomCing7o Cabello, Colonel in the Royal Armies, Governor and Commandant of Arms of the Province of Texas, its Missions, Conquests, and Frontiers, &c.; at this Royal Presidio of Can AntConi]o de Bexar, on the fourteenth day of the month of May, in the 5v year seventeen hundred // eighty-four; before the attesting witnesses with whom I act in the absence of a notary, doing so on this plain paper, as there is none stamped. This I certify.===cabello-==jose

9 P13zido de Monzon, attesting witness==-pedro nias del Castillo, attesting witness [C.C., 4v-5v pp., in E. 4/19/ /20/17tS47 Record Royal Presidio of San AntConi7o de Bexar, May 17, 1784=== On this date the transcript was made and the origlinal was returned consequent to whatis ordered in the aforegoing decree, as evidence whereof I place Cthis7 in the proceedings and certify 1it7'.===Cabello [C.C., 5v p., in E. 4/19/1784-5/20/17841 Decree Whereas two transcripts^have been made of the dispatch from the Most Illustrious Lord Bishop of the diocese and Cof the] exorto from the pastor and vicar of the parish Cchurch7 of this villa--one CcopyJ to remain with this governorship and the other to be directed to the hands of the lord commandant general of these Interior provinces--let it be sent to His Lordship in this Cmonthts7 mail, so that in view of all'cthe aforegoinc7 he.may deign to decide the conditions under which the tithe is to be paid on.orexana cattle and mustang horses. Meanwhile, let that be adhered to b /J which is provided in the decree issued on the fourteenth day the present month. Thus it is provided, ordered, and signed by zne, Don DomCing3o Cabello, Colonel in the Royal Armies, Governor and Commandant of Arms of the Province of Texas, &c.; at this Royal Presidio of San AntConi7o de Bexar, on the eighteenth day of the month

10 y, in the year seventeen hundred ieighty-four; before the attesting witnesses with whom I act in the absence of c, notary, doin;*, so on this plain paper, as there is none stamped. This I certi.f.j.=-= Cabello=='Jose P1z^zido de Monzon, attesting witness===pedro Dia.s del. Castillo, attesting witness CC.C., 5v-6'pp., in E. 4/19/1784-5/20/17341^ CThe aforeeoing]:agrees with the original, which was returned to the pastor and vicar of the parish Cchurch7 of this villa, and from which I, Don DomCing7o Cabello, Colonel in the Royal Armies., Governor and Commandant of Arms of the Province of Texas, &c., did order it made for the-purposes advised in the aforegoing decree. It is accurate Cand7 true, and [has been] compared Cwith the orieinal.,it consists ofj six full pages, including this, on plain paper. Present to see it compared were Don Angel Nabarro and Don'Francisco Flores Galan, both residing in this above-mentioned villa of San.Fernando, where Cthis statement] was executed on the eighteenth day of the.month of 11.:a,y, in 6v.the year seventeen hundred // eighty-four, before the attesting witnesses with whom I act in the absence of a notary, doing so.on this plain paper,.as there is none stamped. This I certify. Jose Pl'azido de Monz6n CRubric7 attesting witness. Pedro Dias del Castillo CRubric3 attesting witness

11 On.this date one copy of this transcript was sent to the lord commandant general, in an official letter numbered 835, as ordered in the^aforegoing decree, as evidence whereof I place Cthis7 in the proceedinss and certify it.