16. This letter appeared to the bishop so disrespectful and bold that in his reply there are but sharp and heated words against the religious. He says that they err from the beginning, and that they do not know the fundamental principles. He had imagined that the letter was not mine alone, as he believed that I could not by myself have seen the authors cited therein for its authority and doctrine. He says that neither I, nor your Majesty, nor the pope has authority to take from the infidels a single real; that it is true that he was of the general opinion before, but Page 157that he erred then, and now is in the right (It appears to me, however, that he errs now, and was then in the right.) So firm is he in his opinion that he does not wish to call it opinion, but truth. He declares that if all the orders in this bishopric, and the universities of Salamanca and Alcalá[2] in addition, should say the contrary, he would not forsake his opinion; and he is very certain that your Majesty will oblige me to follow his opinion. He offers a treatise on the subject which he is preparing for the explanation and elucidation of everything, and finally closes by asking me to have the money paid which is owed by the royal treasury.

17. It is unnecessary to report here my reply to his letter; for, besides being brief, inasmuch as I had said all that there was to say in regard to the principal business, I did not care to attempt more than to pacify him, and to reply by means of the fathers, who had caused him to show such indignation, and to beg him not to give rise to scandals and schisms. I advised him to finish his treatise and hoped that God would grant that everything might be settled and composed.

18. After this there was quiet for several days, in Page 158which we maintained no correspondence. During this time I gave to the encomenderos (who had begged me to do so in the name of your Majesty) the order which was necessary for the collection of their tributes. As your Majesty will see by the accompanying document, this order was the most justifiable that could be given and did not depart one jot from my opinions, which I also send in their original form to your Majesty. The encomenderos are now somewhat consoled for their former afflictions, and all this land likewise, as will appear by the petition presented to me which I send in the original. This order will be kept in force until your Majesty shall order differently.

19. After the lapse of several days, and having ascertained that the service of God and that of your Majesty were suffering, as the bishop would not right them, I wrote him the accompanying letter. In it I proposed some means of providing instruction in places where there is none. Moreover, as the encomenderos were still uneasy because he denied them absolution, I gave him to understand that, in the diminution of the encomiendas and the reduction and collection of the tributes, he was neither judge nor party, since he could discuss the subject only in one of three ways which I expressed therein; and by no means could he do more than give his opinion, which he had already done. I again have recourse to the laymen of good life, in lack of religious; and beg also that he will not keep engaged here the large number of Indians that he is wont to, who come here under the pretext of making complaints, which are a thousand childish and impertinent trifles—thereby losing much more in their absence from their homes and Page 159fields. I remind him that the appointments to prebends, canonries, and benefices are reserved to your Majesty's royal patronage; and that you should not be defrauded, as you have been, by making the appointments terminable ad nutum, and not with complete title, and with due presentation by your Majesty, and canonical institution of the bishop. On these things I write a separate letter to your Majesty, as also on other matters about which I give advice. I offered to place the unsettled points in the hands of learned persons.

20. This letter so important, weighty, and full of substance that it required a remedy and settlement without any disagreements, he interpreted in such a way that he ended by losing his head, and expressed himself very freely, saying in reply such things that—considering they were not said to me personally, but to a minister of your Majesty—I would have been quite justified in checking and correcting the offense once for all. But as I am in a new country, and far away from your Majesty, it is better to avoid dispute, publicity, and scandal. Indeed, it will be seen by his letter that even the importance of the affairs about which I wrote him did not check him, or settle the matter, and that he cares only for defending his own dignity—thinking that every one must learn, of him, and that he is the only doctor who can teach here; and that he will oblige the encomenderos and me to restore the tributes wrongly exacted. He thinks that, in writing to him, I have exceeded my duty and have treated my bishop with much show of authority and domineering; that I have acted as if I were his master; and that if I can do so much, there is no need in this land for a bishop, but a titular Page 160bishop would be enough. He cites me decrees showing the respect which emperors must have for bishops, and refers to some examples and authorities, as if he were preaching to some rebel against the church. It never even entered my imagination to say a word to him which should be lacking in the respect and propriety due to his office, but I wish only to fulfil my duty.

21. I have written all this so fully in order to give an account to your Majesty of everything that has passed between the bishop and myself, in the controversy and discussion regarding the collection of tributes. It appears at even greater length by his letters and mine which accompany this, so that your Majesty may be sure of the arguments on both sides. My present orders are that the encomenderos shall not collect tribute where there is neither instruction nor justice (although some persons thus will suffer large loss). Nevertheless, the majority of them are quiet and consoled, and are observing the order I gave them (which I send to your Majesty), until such time as your Majesty, as above stated, may be pleased to order something else, and to clear up all these doubts.

22. In regard to the needed instruction and ministers, I am writing a separate letter to your Majesty. I am sending a very long and exact account of the encomiendas and encomenderos in these islands of your Majesty, both with and without instruction and justice; also of the ministers there are and those who are needed. I beseech your Majesty to have them provided, since it is so great a service to God and for the good of these souls, and a means by which so many evils and troubles will cease. May our Lord Page 161preserve your Majesty for many long years as is needed by the Christian world. Manila, June 20, 1591. The papers referred to in this letter are inside the first sheet.

Gomez Peres Dasmarinas

[Endorsed: “Manila. To the king, our sovereign. From Governor Gomez Perez Dasmarinas, June 20, 1591.”

“July 16, 1592. Make an abstract of the different points.” “Relation abstracted as ordered.” “Provided within; let the petition be acted on at once.” “Everything has been examined and provisions made.”