Archives of the Secretary of State 
61 
give any account of their dioceses, in which there are still a great number of 
Infidels ”. 58 About this latter date the desire of the Spanish government to 
obtain permission to tax the ecclesiastical revenues of America somewhat 
strengthened the position of Rome, and the Spanish colonies were much in 
the eye of diplomacy between 1670 and 1720. Here again, however, the dis¬ 
cussions were rather about, than of, America, and the increasing intercourse 
of the eighteenth century was carried 011 rather by the Propaganda than by 
the secretary of state. In 1772 the latter officer wrote to the secretary of the 
Propaganda, inquiring the method of sending letters to American bishops. 00 
Of this collection the following numbers were examined: 1 - 39 , and 367 
and 368 , which contain documents of the extreme dates of 1524 and 1671, 
and all those previous to 1590—the bulk of them, however, lie between 1560 
and 1590; 61 - 65 , which contain letters to and from the nuncios and others, 
between 1621 and 1626; 244 A- 247 , containing ciphers and letters of the nun¬ 
cios, between 1734 and 1742; 271 - 273 , containing letters from the nuncios 
between 1778 and 1783; 306 , 308 , and 310 , containing the letters of the nun¬ 
cios of 1800, 1802, and 1804, respectively; 357 , containing letters to the nun¬ 
cios from 1687 to 1692 ; 435 and 438 , containing ciphers to the nuncios between 
1776 and 1781, and 1785 and 1790, respectively. As nearly all references to 
America were general, those few local to the territory not covered by the 
subject of the guide were included, except such as referred to Portuguese 
America. Numbers 4 A, 9 , 13 , 15 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 23 , 25 - 27 , 37 , and 61 were found 
to contain no pertinent material. References to that found in the remaining 
volumes follow: 
1 . ff. 131-133. Oct. 15, 1567. Letters of Cardinal Alessandrino, regarding 
the Duchess of Veragua. 
f. 137. Oct. 24, 1567. Letter of the same, recommending Stephano 
Fruffino to the viceroy of Mexico, by the intervention of the nuncio 
with the king. 
2 . f. 434. 1572. Paper on marriage of Mary of Scotland with the Duke 
of Norfolk. “ Si remeda al pericolo de la flotta de le Indie, a la 
quale gia si sa che asperano gli Inglesi, giunti con quelli de’ Rocella, 
il qual pericolo, non solo al Re Catiolico, ma tocca a tutto la Chri- 
sianita.” 
3 . f. 172. Oct., 1571. Cardinal Rusticucci to Cardinal Alessandrino, on 
proposition to send a nuncio to Peru to look into the question of 
slavery. 
4 . f. 22. Oct. 3, 1568. Archbishop of Rossano to Cardinal Alessandrino, 
on rumor of the Turks in Florida. 
f. 143. Aug. 16, 1570. Same to same, mentioning the receipt of letters 
from the viceroy of New Spain. 
f. 147. Oct. 8, 1570. Same to same, reporting action taken with regard 
to Stephano Fruffino. 
5 . f. 72. Aug. 1, 1572. Archbishop of Rossano to Cardinal di Como, on the 
French in the Azores and the navigation of the Indies. The previous 
half dozen letters discuss other aspects of the same movement. 
6 . f. 75. Apr. 21, 1568. Cardinal Alessandrino to Archbishop of Rossano 
on the subject of a nuncio for the Indies, “ che dependesse immedia- 
mente da questa S ta Sede.” 
59 English translation of his Stato della Religione Cattolica (London, 1715)1 P- I 7 2 * 
00 Arch. Propaganda, “ Scrit. rif. nei Congressi ”, Am. Cent., I., Feb. 4. 
