ld them securely, inasmuch as the said
father has not in their view been elected as a lawful superior,
considering the coercion in the proceedings. Taking warning from
past experience, fearing to cause public scandal and the rumors that
result from disputes and investigations in such matters, and timid
because of the little redress that can be had here, we have endured
this affliction, and will suffer the harm within our own gates. For
the whole series of proceedings is in violation of law; yet we have
not, although your Majesty has many just counselors in this his royal
council, entered our plea for justice and liberty before the council;
for we desire to avoid scandals, and the governor of these islands
has shown himself to be greatly biased in favor of the provincial
elected. This is due to the activity and unlawful proceedings of the
sargento-mayor Christoval de Asqueta, long since an agent for father
Fray Lorenso de Leon. Such a relation is completely contrary to the
rule of our order and our withdrawal from the world. Our only redress
is in recourse to your Majesty, prostrate before whose feet we send
our petition from this remotest province to our patron, defender,
and gracious king, praying for justice, relief, and liberty in this
case and in all other cases in which oppression is brought upon our
good purpose and holy zeal, which were taught us in the convents in
the provinces of Espana. We assure your Majesty that we who make
this earnest and truthful report are the most prominent and sound
part of the chapter; and that we are moved solely by the purpose of
serving our Lord God and of promoting the advance of our holy order in
credit and reputation, to the benefit of the royal crown and to the
spiritual desert of your Majesty in these regions. We feel certain
that your Majesty will soon send the remedy for all these evils,
as we entreat, by interposing the authority of the nuncio of his
Holiness, that he may by his official censure revoke all documents,
rights of preeminence, or letters of our father-general which the
said father Fray Lorenso de Leon may have, since it is entirely
improper that he should take advantage of them. By this means and
by the decrees which your Majesty will issue, this province can be
assembled anew for an election--that is, those of it who have the
right to vote--free from domination, under the presidency of a bishop
of these Philipinas Islands. That which is supremely necessary is,