Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 06).djvu/29

 and the natives are led to despise the Spaniards. The officers who write this letter complain because they have been unjustly treated in their efforts to improve this condition of affairs; they ask for redress, and for the abolition of the royal Audiencia. A letter from the cabildo (municipal council) of Manila commends Sánchez as their envoy to the king. They complain that the Audiencia "cannot be maintained here without the total destruction of the state," which cannot bear the burden of this expense; and ask that it be abolished. They ask for a garrison of three hundred paid troops, and the grant of an encomienda to the city of Manila. They complain of the losses inflicted not only upon the merchants of that city, but upon the colonial government, by the trade which Mexican merchants carry on through the port of Manila with the Chinese; and demand that this traffic be restricted to the citizens of the islands. They ask the king to see that more friars be sent out, both Augustinians and Franciscans. The cabildo recommend that the archdeacon Juan de Bivero receive from the king some reward for his hitherto unrecompensed services in the Philippines. On the same day Antonio Sedeño, rector of the Jesuits at Manila, writes a letter commending Sánchez for this present embassy, and recounting his past services to the Philippine colony. On June 26 Bishop Salazar writes a short letter, regarding some points outside of Sánchez's commission. One of these concerns the respective precedence of the bishop and the Audiencia on public occasions. The bishop also describes the quarrels between the president and auditors of the Audiencia, and his success in reconciling these differences. He has delivered, although against