se islands, and president of the royal Audiencia
here, in the city of Manila, on the twenty-eighth of June of the year
one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight, being witnesses

_Alonso de Saavedra_
_Pedro Munoz de Herrera_

citizens of Manila, in witness of the truth whereof I have affixed
my seal.

_Pedro Hurtado Desquibel_, clerk of the court.

[_Endorsed_: "Testimonial concerning the reception of the seal and
the establishment of the royal Audiencia."]

Letters from the Archbishop of Manila to Felipe II

Sire:

It pleased our Lord that three years after the time when I left Madrid
I should arrive at these islands, where I came at the command of your
Majesty, with many hardships and so broken in health and strength that
I hardly had the vigor to undertake such arduous duties as confront me,
which are worthy of much remedy. I shall try to gather up my strength
until such time as your Majesty can appoint such a person as is fitted
for this place.

I remember, Sire, that at my departure your Majesty said you were
confident that I would take a load off your royal conscience. Surely,
Sire, if, as I wish, I should find affairs in favorable condition,
I would, sparing no labor to myself, strive to serve your Majesty so
heartily that none of your Majesty's servants would have the better
of me. But everything here is so run down that many years of life and
very strong arms are necessary to put affairs into even a reasonable
condition. It is only a month since I came to this city of Manila,
and so I cannot give your Majesty an account in detail of the many
things which must be remedied. But there are going to your court
father Fray Diego de Soria, a Dominican, and a man of much holiness,
learning, and very exemplary life, who has had much experience for
many years in the affairs of this country, and to whom your Majesty
should listen; and likewise father Fray Marcello [11] of the Order of
our Father St. Francis, who will give a full account of everything;
for it is zeal for the honor of God and the service of your Majesty,
and the desire for the remedy of these islands, which alone bring them
through so many dangers by land and by sea. But all I have been able
to learn in this little time is that everything is like a clock out
of order, and even in such condition that nothing will go into its
right place unless the powerful hand of your Majesty be placed upon it.

In the first place your Majesty has here