is, that if he should die the cabildo may appoint the bishop of
Troya as ruler [of the diocese], in order that the disturbances may
not cease; and very strung recommendations are going for the court,
to appoint in that church the said bishop of Troya, in order that he
may more vigorously continue the disputes and lawsuits, which do not
cease. Meanwhile, at court let not efforts cease to persuade that
this religious order is not suited for sees [mitras] so remote--as
the father confessor sets forth, and that boldly. In every Dominican
there is a bishop, a governor, and an absolute monarch; nor will he
acknowledge himself to be a vassal--as is shown by a fiscal reply
that comes from Filipinas and will go to the court, in the terms of
which is recognized the intention of that prelate [i.e., Barrientos].

In the course of the investigation the visitor did not spare the
[belongings required by] decency for the governor's wife, Dona Isabel
de Ardila, taking away from her at public auction even the bed and
the jewels that she used, and from her husband even the sword that he
carried at his belt. The annoyances inflicted upon the citizens are
innumerable; and in order that the jewels and other valuables which
he obtained from the seizures of goods should not be sold at a low
price, at auctions, he caused them to be knocked down to himself,
but in the names of other persons, and he is becoming, therefore,
enormously wealthy.

Nor was the archbishop idle at this time. He proceeded to give
rules to the new Audiencia as to the manner in which it was to
conduct itself, declaring that recourse to it in cases of fuerza
and banishment was faulty; and a little later, when urged to absolve
Governor Vargas, he replied that he challenged the new auditors for
cause, since he considered them all to be in love with the governor's
wife. Consequently, it would be necessary that another Audiencia
should come, or that, to check lawsuits, they delegate the authority
to him--which they refused, since the ecclesiastics are vassals.

In this so tangled web of mischiefs occasioned by his cause, died
very suddenly Governor Don Gabriel de Curuzaelegui; so many pecuniary
obligations of his were made public that they seem incredible, even to
those who do not know the opportunities for profit of that governmental
post. He left the administration of his estate to the man who had
been the mainstay of his government, Don Tomas de Andaya--a native of
Andaya