Contract and agreement have been made to build another ship in Sasima [i.e., Satsuma?] a province of Japon near here. I am assured that it can be built there very well, and it will be strong and of good timber, and very well-proportioned and suitable as is needed for this line and trade with Nueva España.
[Marginal note: “Since the counsel that you have taken in this matter is very prudent; and since you have been advised in your despatches (which you have already received) as to what you shall do; and since the benefit to the royal treasury and the quality of the vessels is so well known: you shall continue the same plan for the vessels that must be built, since, as you have seen in other despatches, the vexations to the natives occupied in this shipbuilding and the heavy expenses incurred by that construction, are thus avoided. Since you already have plans for the factory at Terrenate and for the cloves and drugs that you may get at Terrenate and its adjacent islands, it will be a very efficacious means, in order that the vessels may be cheaper, to send the cloves and drugs where they may have greatest value, so that with that profit the vessels may be built more cheaply. After you shall have more fully established that advantage to the royal treasury, you shall endeavor to put into practice the building of some boats for the service of the South Sea in Callao, Panama, and the other ports of Tierra Firme. This alone I refer to you, so that you may endeavor from now on to lessen as much as possible the profit [made by others] in this, both in material and construction.”]
12th. The vessel that went to Goa with a quantity of cloves, which I had traded for in Maluco and sent there on your Majesty’s account (as will be done whenever possible), arrived safely; and in the same way, was despatched and returned here (thanks to God), bringing slaves for the galleys and other supplies for the magazines, and the provisions and articles necessary for your Majesty’s service.
[Marginal note. “It is well. In this way continue. In every despatch that you shall send, you shall not advise in general terms of matters like this, nor summarize; but shall send a copy of the list of what cloves and drugs you shall have or obtain in trade; their cost, as well as the expense of sending them; the price and method of sale; the transfer that was made, and in what articles and at what price. And in order that we might have as exact information and account of it as is advisable, you shall inform us, especially and in detail, of all the aforesaid, so that things of this kind may not be furnished from Nueva España or any other region.”]
13th. I thought that I would send them to those kingdoms, so that your Majesty might see some cloves from Maluco. Although they are not cheap, they would be a product not often seen in the ports of Castilla, and not often carried from here. But the majority of the auditors opposed me, thinking perhaps that an oral or written relation would be sent with them not greatly to their favor. However, the one that I have already given your Majesty is not favorable to them. I suspect that they have learned of it; but I am not sorry for that, as I consider it correct. Or [their opposition may have been] for other reasons, and for private ends. They do not desire me to achieve success, and I would not wonder at that so much, if I alone were the interested party. But where your Majesty and your royal service are concerned, such a thing appears incredible of any one who has a good heart and soul, and is under the obligations of honor. Therefore I would be ashamed even to think this, were there not many other causes like that mentioned, that are similar to it. I could send an account of them in authentic documents, had I more time and fewer occupations. But having to attend to these, not only can I not do more than I am doing in this, but I cannot even attend continually to the Audiencia, or consider many things that they have tried and attempted in it contrary to the authority and preeminences that your Majesty has given to this office. Many of them I must swallow, in order not to fail in the affairs of your Majesty’s service—which could not be conducted as their importance demands and compels, if one were to give much attention to these matters which concern personal grudges. For if one did that, he could necessarily attend to nothing else, because as the auditors here have few important matters that oblige them to close application, they must apply the greater part of their time to devising petty tricks on the president in order to vex and weary him, until [as they hope], not only will he allow them to live according to their own inclination, but also their relatives and followers shall, in whatever posts they desire, be employed and profited. And since harmony has never been seen here without this expedient, one would think it easy to believe such a supposition. Regarding what your Majesty writes in this matter of posts being given to the relatives or followers of the auditors, there is not much to amend. Perhaps that is the reason that some are ill satisfied and to such an extent that they show it not only by inflicting annoyances on the persons who aid me in the obligations of my office and in your Majesty’s service—because they know that I esteem such men for that reason, and see our gratefulness for it—but in doing whatever can cause injury, and also in any acts of discourtesy, which are much to be regretted. Such has been the demonstration that they made by public act when, the chairs of this Audiencia having been carried in order to go to one of the sermons and festivals to which they go here; and the chair of my wife, Dona Catherina Maria Çambrana y Fajardo, having been placed behind them—just as is the custom in other places, and as was continued here, without exceeding in anything what is permitted to the wife of a president—the auditors voted that my wife’s chair should be placed outside, or that they would not take theirs, as did Doctor Don Alonso de Mesa and Doctor Don Antonio Rodriguez. It is a matter whose telling even causes me shame. Were it the resentment and sorrow of another, I could set it right, by the mildest and most advisable method possible. But as it is my own affair, and a matter akin to vanity (from which I believe myself quite free)—for when I have finished the public acts of pomp and display in my office, I return to that of sailor, which is the chief thing of this government—I lay it before your Majesty, so that you may be pleased to provide in this matter and in other things touching auditors, as may best suit you. [I ask that your Majesty act] without greater inclination to one side than the other, since this office is yours, not mine; and since I shall live in the same manner with or without it, without coveting greater honors than your Majesty (may God preserve you for us) has granted me and grants me in employing my services.
[Marginal note: “After considering what you mention in this matter, it is reduced to the following points. The first and more essential is that which you mention (although in ambiguous terms) regarding the trading of the auditors and government employees there, for which reason they prevented the sending of the cloves. The testimony that you send of it does not concern this matter, but only that of the goods and money that were to be sent to Terrenate for trading. That indeed was done in accordance with your opinion. The opinion that you shall hold in matters so worthy of reform you must always send to me distinctly and clearly expressed; for if there are such officials who commit illegal acts—not only in trading, but in hindering the profit of the royal treasury—it is advisable not only for the greater security of the treasury, but also for the administration of justice, that such persons be punished with the rigor that the case requires. Consequently, you shall do this, sending me information of what is done in this matter. If any proven guilt results you shall sequester the property of offenders, in order to assure the judgment. In accordance with this, we are writing to the Audiencia, advising it of what it must do. In order that no official may have any cause to think that you, of your own accord, are trying to prove him guilty in a matter so grave, you shall be accompanied, in whatever concerns the sequestration of goods, by the archbishop resident there, in whose person we have the necessary confidence. The second point is that you will have been informed of all the things that concern the advantage of the royal treasury. You shall accordingly declare those things in the tribunal of the treasury and in the assembly. This reply by letter will be your authority, so that you shall need nothing more special than this for whatever may be to the benefit of my royal treasury, and shall procure that benefit by all and any justifiable means. The third point is—as you have been informed and instructed in other letters concerning the purpose of the factory at Terrenate—that all the benefit received from the islands of Maluco by the enemy is by way of barter; and that so vast profits are obtained by them in this that these enable them to be on the offensive and defensive, and convey to their own country the wealth that we see in the Malucas, the value of which is evident in the armies and other expenses that are incurred. From this example, since the expenses of my royal treasury are so heavy—inasmuch as the trade is carried on only by conquest and force of arms—everything is reduced to expense, and nothing to gain. In order to make profit you are advised that the factory of Terrenate should barter and negotiate, in order that the profit obtained by the enemy might follow, and more if possible. And if the natives of those islands see that their property is not taken from them, and if they are paid in the ordinary form, they will grow fond of us and become converted to our friendship. From that it will be possible to pass to other objects, the chief one being the evangelical preaching. Consequently, setting aside the universal gain that might come to the royal treasury for the gain in a specific case, the chief thing, and one which you are to push thoroughly (or rather two things), is the operation of mines and of factories for trade. Fourth, that since you have already experienced the utility that follows from sending those cloves to the East, and using this merchandise for other purposes and trade, you shall continue to do so. You shall always send the detailed account about which you have been advised, of everything that will be of importance in this matter. Whenever any case of doubt occurs to you in regard to the ceremonious observance due your office, send the proposition that you shall have made in the assembly, together with what resolution shall have been made regarding it, so that after examination here, just measures may be ordered; for in no other manner could any decision be reached without depending on the Audiencia. In order to gain time, letters are being written to the Audiencia ordering them, in accordance with what has been done at other times, to maintain with you, in the condition of affairs at present, the amicable relations and the respect due your office and person; and to observe toward you and your wife such ceremonies as have been observed hitherto, and as are the custom. When there is any doubt about the matter, I shall be consulted, so that, having examined it thoroughly, I may provide what is advisable for the public peace and for decorous relations between the president and Audiencia. (Note for a separate paper.)”[5]]
14th. Although it is my desire to restrain myself in this particular, in order not to drag on this letter to greater length, and for other considerations, certain of my obligations move me to say the things that I cannot avoid, because I have heard that the auditors claim that your Majesty should take from the office of governor and captain-general and president, the declaration and trial of suits that concern government and war—which your Majesty conceded to him, on account of those which were being tried then, and the disadvantages that were experienced in leaving them to the Audiencia. This is a matter from which—even if it pertained to them, by opposing what your Majesty has ordered in this matter—it is impossible to dissuade them, seeking in such things any pretext or excuse to meddle in them, and to embarrass and hinder me in the exercise of my office. Thus have they endeavored to do in many things, especially in one trial, begun here by the master-of-camp against various persons employed for wages in marine works (who were under the military jurisdiction) because of a conspiracy and desertion that they had planned, and which they were ready to execute if they had any one to get their pay for them for that purpose. This occurred at a time when I, because of a pressing need then of men for your Majesty’s service, was compelling the master-of-camp and Aclaras to restore all those to their places who for ten years back had been removed from them. In their guilt Pedro Alvarez, war and government notary, appeared to be implicated. One of his friends, an ecclesiastic, named Joan Çevicos, tried to prove himself leader of this affair, in order perhaps to clear him and the auditors, according to what I understand and many believe. In complaisance to Doctor Don Alvaro de Meso, or for other objects, the auditors took it into their heads that the notary of war did not belong to the military jurisdiction; and that the master-of-camp had not the right of first instance in his cause, but that it belonged to me, in order that appeals might go to them. Without what I declared, in accordance with your Majesty’s royal decree (which I presented), being sufficient, they hindered me so in it that it was impossible to administer justice. At last, as I thought that the notary’s imprisonment had been long enough—although during his trial he had no guards who could levy costs on him—at the news that the men and possessions of your Majesty and of private individuals that we desired from Nueva España were in safety, and that the enemy were waiting, I released him (in part as a demonstration of the thanks due our Lord), among other prisoners who had not been tried, and who had no one to plead for them, whom I also released. Such, then, is the end of that affair.
[Marginal note: “Let them observe the laws and what I have commanded by the decrees that I have given. Advices are being sent to the Audiencia in accordance with this.” In another hand: “Have letters of this tenor sent to the Audiencia, so that they may observe the decrees of enforcement [lo acordado]. Let it be noted that since the distance from those islands to these kingdoms is as is known, and the delay and obstacles in the replies and receipt of letters is the same and in some cases greater, it is commanded and ordered that he who shall be guilty of opposing what is ordered for the good government of those islands, both in military and in civil matters, will be punished with the severity and example that the case requires; for it is not right that he who merits it be unpunished in matters of such importance, involving loss and delay.”]
15th. Also the auditors claim the right of trial and jurisdiction in the lawsuits of the seamen. That has come to such a pass that when I ordered that a sailor, one Luys Rivero, should be hanged for an atrocious murder that he had committed—of whose trial and of what passed then I enclose a sworn statement—they actually ordered that he be not executed. That happened on a day when I had left this city, on account of having ordered that on that same day a retired sergeant be beheaded, who had deserted while under pay and after receiving help, and had abandoned his colors at the time of the embarcation; and in order to avoid the intercessions and importunities that they lavish in order that justice might not be done. But this is only a pretext of mercy, since punishment, when deserved, is the greatest mercy—especially in this country, where the punishment of offenses was so forgotten or almost never administered. For that reason, and to lessen my grief over the execution by being farther away from it, I left the city and went up the river. The proceedings of Doctor Don Alvaro de Mesa, in procuring the obstruction of what he and his associates had ordered, were of such nature that some clamor might have occurred, had not the people been satisfied at the justification of the case, and had they not had some confidence in me, mixed with sufficient respect not to lose it on similar occasions, even in my absence.
[Marginal note: “Let what is provided in the preceding section be observed, and whatever pertains to your office. Thus shall you declare in the assembly, and in like cases. Let the Audiencia observe the decrees and ordinances given that order the captain-general to try military persons and their criminal causes, just as and in the form ruled by the said decrees. Let the Audiencia report why it prevented the execution of the sentence against that man.”]