either now nor at any time shall any building be erected within
the said three hundred paces about the said wall of the said city of
Manila, since this is expedient for my service and for the security
and defense of the said city. Done at Madrid, on the sixth of March
of the year one thousand six hundred and eight.

_I The King_

By order of the king, our lord: _Juan de Civiza_"

All the aforesaid procedure is contrary to this decree. Besides,
the district and place where the said seminary building has been
commenced are the lots which have been seized and taken away from the
owners who possessed them, the houses which they had built upon them
being removed or torn down, in order to make the said Plaza de Armas;
nor have they thus far been paid for, nor has any satisfaction been
given to the owners. Accordingly, if the said lots were not necessary
for the purpose for which they were taken, they should be returned to
their owners as land and property which pertain and belong to them,
and no work or edifice should be erected thereon until they be paid and
satisfied. As for the income which is appropriated for the work, its
maintenance, and the prosecution of the building for the said seminary,
it was contrary to the rules of justice and to the laws of the kingdom,
and greatly to the prejudice of this whole commonwealth and the Indian
villages in its neighborhood; for the voyage and navigation from this
city to the port of Cavite--as it is not a river passage, but a bay
and an arm of the sea, which may be crossed with all sorts of vessels,
both large and small--cannot be reduced to the status of a private
route and profit, on account of the loss which this would cause to so
great a number of persons as possess the said vessels, and use them to
carry and convey merchandise and other sorts of articles from this city
to the said port. And especially it will cause this loss to the native
Indians of this city and of the villages of Laguio, Mahar, Meytubi,
Dongalo and others of this coast, who will be deprived and prevented
from using the vessels which they ordinarily possess to carry and
convey to the said port persons, merchandise, and other things; and
if this profit be hindered they will have nothing wherewith to sustain
themselves, and will not be able to pay his Majesty the royal tributes,
nor aid in other impositions and personal services. The same losses
will be increased by granting a monopoly of the said buyo, bonga,