Dr. Antonio Morga
[Order by the council: “Let a decree be issued Page 146for the governor of the Philipinas to have these accounts taken. They shall be taken by Doctor Antonio de Morga. The results shall be sent to this council, with an account of everything that is done, and his opinion of what is meet to be done. A complete report shall be made of the royal property in that treasury.”]
[Endorsed: “Considered May 27, 1596. Decree enclosed.”]
This is a true and faithful copy taken from a royal decree and issued by the royal Council of the Indias, which Doctor Antonio de Morga, assessor and lieutenant to the governor in the judicial cases in these Ffilipinas Islands, presented before Don Luis Perez Dasmariñas, governor and captain-general thereof. Its contents are as follows:
Don Felipe, by the grace of God king of Castilla, [here follows the usual list of his dignities and titles]:
Appreciating what you, Doctor Antonio de Morga, have done in my service, and your good qualities, learning, and efficiency, it is my will to choose and appoint you as I hereby do, my assessor and lieutenant to my governor and captain-general of the Filipinas, in place of Licentiate Pedro de Rojas, who at present serves in said office, and whom I have promoted as criminal alcalde of my royal Audiencia of the City of Mexico. It is my will that you be lieutenant-general of said governor and captain-general, with jurisdiction in affairs of government and war, to act as such; and, for the time that I may so desire, you shall exercise said offices in the affairs and cases which may arise in said islands, and relating to and bearing on them, in the fulness and manner exercised Page 147by former lieutenant-generals, and by him who at present fills that office in the provinces of Chile, in the affairs of government and war. The governor shall not appoint or have any other lieutenant; and in prosecuting, determining, and closing the cases which may occur, take place, or arise, in said islands, you shall proceed in the form and order which is contained and declared in the decree signed by my hand on the seventeenth day of the month of January of the present year, one thousand five hundred and ninety-three. As concerns the cases and suits about the Indians which may arise in those islands, you shall proceed according to the decree of Malinas and the declarations thereof, a copy of which will be given you, signed by Joan de Ledesma, my court secretary, of that which I have issued for the said provinces of Chile. I have therefore sent my letter to my said governor and captain-general of said islands, and as soon as it shall be shown to him, he shall take and receive from you, the said Doctor Antonio de Morga, the oath and the formalities prescribed in such cases and required from you. This having been done, you shall be received and regarded as lieutenant for matters of government and war and assessor for matters of justice; and you shall fill the said offices in every case and affair touching or pertaining thereto, as has been said. As soon as you shall have been received into the said offices, and shall have had delivered to you the rod of my justice, no other lieutenant whatever shall be permitted to exercise it, under the penalty incurred by persons who exercise public and royal offices without holding power and license therefor. After you have taken the said rod of my justice, he and all the citizens and inhabitants, and the captains, Page 148officers, and troops of the cities, towns, and settlements of said islands shall have and hold you as such lieutenant-general and assessor of the said government in government, war, and judicial affairs. They shall cause to be exercised the functions of the said offices in your person as herein provided, and shall observe and cause to be observed for you all the honors, favors, civilities, licenses, exemptions, preeminences, prerogatives, privileges, and other things, and each and every one thereof which by reason of the said offices you should have and enjoy. I, by these presents, receive you, and hold you received into the use and exercise of the said offices; and I give you power and authority to use and exercise them in case the said governor, or any of the aforesaid persons, should not receive you. It is my pleasure that you have and receive as yearly salary for the said offices two thousand pesos of four hundred and fifty maravedis each. I order the officials of my exchequer of the said islands to give and pay you this salary from the day when you sail from one of the two ports, Barrameda or Cadiz, on the way to assume your duties in the said office. In the future your salary shall be paid you, as long as you are in my service, at the times and terms which were followed in the payment of the said licentiate Pedro de Rojas. Your receipts, a sworn statement of the day of your sailing, as aforesaid, and a copy of this my decree shall be entered in the books of the officials. I order that the maravedis given and paid for this reason be receipted and charged on account with no other warrant whatsoever. Given at San Lorenço, on the eighteenth day of August in the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-three.
I, Joan de Ybarra, secretary of our lord the king, have written this at his command.
The licentiate Hinojosa
Doctor Pedro Diaz de Tudanco
The licentiate Benito de Caltadano
The licentiate Bartolome de Toledo
Registered: Pedro de Ledesma
For the chancellor: Pedro de Ledesma