Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 07).djvu/290

 rect the partition of the lands among the colonists so that each of them shall be responsible for the Indians of his repartimiento, defend and protect them, and provide a minister who shall teach them to live in civilized ways, and shall do for them all else that encomenderos are bound to do for the Indians of their repartimientos." In the following section: "The Indians who shall be reduced to our obedience and allotted to the conquerors shall be persuaded, in recognition of universal seigniory and jurisdiction which we hold over the Indians, to assist us by the payment of a moderate tribute, from the fruits of the soil. It is our will that the tributes thus paid us be collected by the Spaniards to whom encomiendas shall be given, for which reason they fulfil the duties to which they are bound." What his Majesty commands in these two sections of the said ordinances conforms to both natural and divine law, both of which would be violated if even the king should contravene these ordinances. From this the governors will recognize the obligations under which they are to heed the attitude of the Indians whom they must allot in encomiendas, in order not to work against a law as just and necessary as this is.

Twenty-second conclusion: If in any case the governor allot an encomienda whose inhabitants shall not be in the frame of mind which the aforesaid law requires (a condition which must needs be very rare, and the result of causes so forcible that the king, upon consultation, would consider them of sufficient weight), in order that the governor may not be under obligation to make restitution of what shall be collected therefrom, he is bound to order such encomendero not to collect the tributes until he has, by his