stian men, without greed; for such men are what the people
desire, and would suit them and us. Let your Majesty send hither a
man who comes alone, and without obligations to relatives or friends
(in serving whom they neglect their duty to the early comers, whose
blood has been spilled), who is content with the salary that your
Majesty assigns him (which is always quite sufficient), and who hopes
for advancement by your Majesty through his services; and who will not,
by making himself rich in two years, destroy this country, or prevent
others from enjoying it and gaining a livelihood. By doing this, your
Majesty will have one of the best possessions in the Yndias. But if
things go on as heretofore and there is no one to attend to it, it
cannot continue long. If it shall please your Majesty to entrust the
government to men who live here, there are those who could conduct
it very well and creditably, without the many disadvantages which
attend those who come from Espana.

The foregoing is such information as I can give your Majesty from here
regarding the transgression and observance of the royal commands, laws,
and decrees; and of the present state of this country, the wrongs
that occur in it, and what matters ought to be remedied. On account
of the little time before the ship departs, not all of this letter
is so polished as to be fit to appear before your Majesty. If this
relation is deficient (as it cannot fail to be) it is not in lack
of truth or in desire to serve your Majesty and secure the welfare
of these souls whom, because of their sins and my own, I have in
charge. If there is anything which to your Majesty appears worthy of
remedy, I humbly ask for it; and if I have said anything about which
it appears to your Majesty I ought to have been silent, I also humbly
beg that I may be pardoned. Since your Majesty knows that I am five
thousand leagues distant from your court, and surrounded by so many
griefs and afflictions, you will not be surprised at what I say, but
at what I leave unsaid--and even why I myself did not go to beg for
the remedy; for it certainly is a different thing to see and endure
it here, than to hear it mentioned there.

_Fray Domingo_, bishop of the Filipinas

INSTRUCTIONS TO COMMISSARY OF THE INQUISITION

_Instructions which the person who is or in future will be the
commissary of the Holy Office in the city and bishopric of Manila
and the Phelipinas Islands of the West, [38] must m