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 bishop 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 preserve 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.