Sire: 

Many are the labors of this charge, both bodily and spiritual, and almost without surcease must be the cares of him who holds, on his own account and for your Majesty, the protection, defense, and preservation of a kingdom and provinces so far from your royal person, and amid so many nations, so great in numbers and so powerful, who have so extraordinary tendencies, laws, and customs.  From these we promise ourselves, in time, with the help of God, excellent results for His greater glory and the increase of His church.  No one of these things has given me so much anxiety as the conduct of the licentiate Don Antonio de Rivera Maldonado, auditor of this royal Audiencia.  This man, with his temper, his haughtiness, and lack of understanding, has given and is giving so many occasions for annoyance to the people, to me, and to his companions—­and particularly to the soldiers, and the military and royal officials—­that I have had more ado to moderate, adjust, and set right his affairs than all others in my charge.  His arrogance is terrible.  The citizens, even the most powerful of them, fear him, for they realize that in his position as senior auditor he has the boldness to attempt any design to their harm that comes into his mind, or suits his desires, and that he carries out his plans.  Consequently, all cry out to God for redress for his unjust acts.  For there is no redress here, and it comes but tardily from your Majesty, owing to the time necessary for it to reach this country.  I do all that I can, but he gives me so many provocations that it is a wonder some great quarrel has not occurred.  To obviate the difficulty in regard to the troops, I have ordered that the companies of the guard shall not enter in angular order, but in troops, as has been done now for more than five months; for it appears that he was carefully awaiting an opportunity to rout them, horse and foot, with all his blacks.  I refer to the two informations, sent herewith, which concern this, and the rest.  Although I did not choose to make investigations, for the sake of greater secrecy, and to avoid the annoyances that the witnesses of lower rank might suffer if the said Don Antonio knew that they swore against him therein, measures will be taken to find out what there is in the affair.

The said Don Antonio has persistently striven to bring about his marriage with Dona Margarita de Figueroa, daughter of Captain Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, and has employed many instruments to accomplish this.  Several suits have been brought before the royal Audiencia on the part of the said Dona Margarita and her sister, both of whom were minors, against the royal treasury, some of these involving large sums of money, as did that which concerned the conquest of Mindanao.  These girls had many suitors, and there were differences of opinion as to where they could reside with the most security and privacy, so that there should be no negotiations concerning their marriages; for they were very rich,