_ 34 _ documents sent from Portugal and have someone to pay the ransom, there are others who enter with documents provided by myself. In the absence of documents and with no one here to pray during Mass for this very holy indulgence, one cannot make good use of their souls nor of this place. Your Highness is well aware that the preachers benefit from the crusades and indulgences notwithstanding that they are more eloquent than erudite. This criticism also applies to the captains, nobility and people to tell the truth, some of the clergy and friars who come here are men of very bad character who err in the execution of their duties through ignorance, steal in the confessional and lead such corrupt and dissolute lives that I would prefer not to mention it further out of respect for you. May God forgive whoever deceives you, especially in this State, where there is so much wrongdoing, and bad example given to the converts awaiting Baptism, and to the infidel. [Paragraph omitted nothing relevant] Sir, I have always worked for my living and received the gift of some intelligence from Our Lord which allows me to repent for my sins because he who knowingly mends his ways increases in suffering. I am now 40 years of age which, as an Ancient used to say, obliges me not only to
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