s they are here recorded, _de verbo ad
verbum_, all the above persons declared, unanimously and with one
consent and opinion, that this memorial was properly drawn up; and
that Father Alonso Sanchez should communicate all its contents to
his Majesty, and other matters as seemed to him necessary. The above
honorable persons made the required attestations to the document,
and signed it with their names, as did other persons. I, the clerk
of the court [of the Audiencia], attest this.

Alonso Beltran

[Then follow thirty signatures, all tracings of the original
autographs.]

Letter to Felipe II, From Various Officials

Sacred Royal Catholic Majesty:

To fulfil the obligations resting on us, we the master-of-camp and
the captains who are serving your Majesty in these Filipinas Islands,
give your Majesty, whenever we have an opportunity, a report of matters
concerning this camp, and what things are desirable in it. That your
Majesty may be better served, we are sending this report by the ships
that are now sailing, notwithstanding that our captain-general, the
president of the royal Audiencia here, is writing a more detailed
relation (as being the person who has given the most attention to
this), of all that he thinks necessary to improve matters in these
islands, so that their increase may be constant.

The care that your Majesty has always had and continues to have for
the preservation of these islands, and the great expense that your
Majesty has incurred therein, since they began to be pacified (a
work which still continues) without your Majesty's royal exchequer
having any profit, cause your Majesty's very Christian zeal to be
well understood, and that what you principally aspire to is the great
service which is rendered to our Lord, in spreading His holy evangel
in lands so remote, and among people so far removed from the true
knowledge, by which, through His goodness and mercy, so many thousands
of souls have been converted, and are being converted every day,
to His holy faith, to say nothing of many who in this time have been
born in and enjoyed holy baptism. The latter are extremely numerous,
which has resulted from the employment of soldiers stationed here,
for with their protection the religious who aid in conversions and
preaching can do so in security. Without such protection this would be
impossible, unless by the special grace of God, because these natives
are a people untamed, rebellious, and