To fulfil our obligation, and to bring this narrative—­already so long—­to a close, I will not omit, as your Majesty’s servant and chaplain, to say that since these lands are your Majesty’s, and you have in them so many and so loyal and obedient subjects, both Spaniards and Indians, you should please to see that the people are cared for and well treated; and that the governors preserve their liberties, and do not convert the government into a source of profit to those who govern, as has been done heretofore, to the great injury and deterioration of these colonies.

To remedy this condition, your Majesty should send to govern them not those who solicit that charge, but those whom your Majesty shall seek—­Christian men, without greed; for such men are what the people desire, and would suit them and us.  Let your Majesty send hither a man who comes alone, and without obligations to relatives or friends (in serving whom they neglect their duty to the early comers, whose blood has been spilled), who is content with the salary that your Majesty assigns him (which is always quite sufficient), and who hopes for advancement by your Majesty through his services; and who will not, by making himself rich in two years, destroy this country, or prevent others from enjoying it and gaining a livelihood.  By doing this, your Majesty will have one of the best possessions in the Yndias.  But if things go on as heretofore and there is no one to attend to it, it cannot continue long.  If it shall please your Majesty to entrust the government to men who live here, there are those who could conduct it very well and creditably, without the many disadvantages which attend those who come from Espana.

The foregoing is such information as I can give your Majesty from here regarding the transgression and observance of the royal commands, laws, and decrees; and of the present state of this country, the wrongs that occur in it, and what matters ought to be remedied.  On account of the little time before the ship departs, not all of this letter is so polished as to be fit to appear before your Majesty.  If this relation is deficient (as it cannot fail to be) it is not in lack of truth or in desire to serve your Majesty and secure the welfare of these souls whom, because of their sins and my own, I have in charge.  If there is anything which to your Majesty appears worthy of remedy, I humbly ask for it; and if I have said anything about which it appears to your Majesty I ought to have been silent, I also humbly beg that I may be pardoned.  Since your Majesty knows that I am five thousand leagues distant from your court, and surrounded by so many griefs and afflictions, you will not be surprised at what I say, but at what I leave unsaid—­and even why I myself did not go to beg for the remedy; for it certainly is a different thing to see and endure it here, than to hear it mentioned there.

Fray Domingo, bishop of the Filipinas

INSTRUCTIONS TO COMMISSARY OF THE INQUISITION