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APPENDIX A. Nature and present state of ye Office at Madrid .* By Fr Christopher Mendoza alias Loue , 1675 , after his return from [thence . The]auncient nature and condition of this office was thus. Itt was situated in ye Imperiall Colledge, where all ye other Spanish Pro-
curatours do live. There wee had an indifferent faire roome , among ye rest of ye Chambers belonging to ye Procuratours. Here allways did reside a Father of our English Province, and a Companion; neither ever was this office without a Companion, but only in my time, when so much neede there was of one, towards ye raising of ye pensions , which allthough, compassed without him , yett had this busines been don much sooner, and with more efficacy, and less money, had had a Companion sent mee , as I desired . Their busines here was chiefly, two things, ye recovery of ye pensions beelonging unto ye Seminary of St. Omers, and ye administration of ye estate of St. Georges Colledge . And these two employments did afford them their maintenance , for allthough our pensions were then in a flourishing condition, and were recovered for many yeares entirely that is to ye value of 6U patacons , yett nottwithstanding , St Omers never defraid all ye charges of ye office at Madrid, but only half expences, and St Georges Colledge allowed ye other half, and thus itt was ordainedby our Generalls , to ye end, neither of ye two Colledges might bee att too great expences, or more then necessary. Hence may be learnt ye truth of what I have so often writt unto St Omers , that tis but a folly to keep two persons at Madrid whereas in those flourishing primitive times St Omers maintained but one there, and now ye Administration is taken from us, and ye pensions do scarcely afford 500 patacons per annum instead of 6U patacons , that is ye twelfth part, what prudence can itt bee to keepe two for lesse then ye half quarter part of ye employment. Tis sure , often pressed for a companion, but that was only for an interim , meanwhile ye pensions were raised & no more. Their residence, as I have said , was at ye Imperiall Colledge, and from thence they did take care of ye Administration of St Georges Colledge here , and estate . In this house of St Georges did reside only a Sacristan in ye quality of an hired servant, who tooke care of ye Church , and every morning in ye time of prayer, or a little after our , Procuratour with his Companiondid go thither to say Masse. Att last ( this seemed tedious unto some body and indeed itt must needs bee so) and about fifteen or sixteen yeares ago, our Procuratours gott leave to remove from ye Imperiall Colledge and reside at St Georges. So itt was don, and both hee and his Companion went to live at St Georges, ( carrying with them every jott of ye furniture of our Office which as have heard ye Spanish Fathers say, was as well furnished, as any other Office in ye house ) ye chaires , bookes , shelves , bedds &c . All this * Coll. S. J. Prov. Ang. Tom. . MSS. Ex Arch . Belgico Bruxell. (2). Cardwell transcripts at Stonyhurst . The reference in Foley, vii , 55, is not quite accurate, as this document has a different number in Cardwell's transcripts . His reference refers to the preceding document dealing with the Spanish pensions of St. Omer's. Fr. Antonio Astrain , S.J. , in his Historia de la Compañia de Jesusen la
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