, [at the same time] prosecuting and punishing
the good and innocent; for he protects the former and abhors the
latter, inasmuch as the one class do his will, while the others note
and hate the evil things that he does. To them he offers insults,
and to the others he gives offices and honors. In suits there must be
nothing done but his pleasure, even though the suits be pending in the
Audiencia, especially if they belong to persons devoted to him, or to
those whom he hates; and he acts therein with so great violence that,
when his desires are not carried out, he stops the course of the suits
and takes them to his own house, so that the Audiencia may not pass
any sentence contrary to his will. No one dares to demand justice
from him, or any clerk to notify him of the vote of the Audiencia,
while the parties to the suit call out to God in the streets. When
it suits his pleasure, he takes charge of the criminal causes, and
says that he does not wish a case to be prosecuted further, or that
such a person be punished. Consequently, the number of the evildoers
(and it is for them that he acts thus) increases so greatly that the
scandal arising from it is pitiful. Malefactors also are more numerous
because, when the whim takes him to forsake the other methods, the
governor orders the warden of the prison to let the prisoners go,
even when they are imprisoned for serious crimes; or he does this
secretly, so that no one should know it, and under pretext that
they are needed for war or your Majesty's service. But he does the
very opposite if it is a matter not to his taste, even though the
prisoners be guiltless. His actions are still more objectionable when
he goes to inspect the general prison, where he prevents the auditors
from having any vote, and they are allowed to do only what he wishes;
while he threatens them that he will dash out their brains with a club,
and other serious things.

The governor also makes a practice of neglecting and not observing
the decrees and orders of your Majesty, interpreting them to his own
satisfaction, or pretending that he has not got them, when he does
not wish them to be known, even though he should be plainly told
of them; and even if he knows it, he regards everything according
to his own pleasure and preference. If any one murmurs or says a
word, he is prosecuted, and his innocence is punished with violent
imprisonment. The governor even takes away his natural defense so
that he cannot