Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 08).djvu/49

 and inclining to your side, they have lost what was due them; for in Cagayan I took away from them a resident's house which was worth one hundred and fifty pesos of rent to them; in Tondo, the lands to which the Indians laid claim; and the property in Laguio and Nuestra Señora de Guia, which was theirs. When they were saying mass in their house to the Indians, with considerable notoriety and scandal to them, and no little affliction to the fathers, they were ejected from the [illegible in MS.] at my instance; for I asked it, and chose to give them this punishment, in order to palliate their offense. Thereupon your Lordship [illegible in MS.] occasioned some disturbance to result. This is what I have done for this order, and the way in which I have favored them, which in truth I might have done in many things most deservedly, and very rightly and justly. But I protest before God that I neither have now nor have had any other consideration or regard in this or in anything else, except a desire that in some way or other so evident an obligation should be fulfilled, and that religious affairs should be settled as they ought, according to the adjustment and amendment which they themselves sought [illegible in MS.]. In accomplishing this, let not your Lordship understand that the royal exchequer is to suffer, because [illegible in MS.] his royal intention is that there shall be no lack in this. Accordingly, we shall have recourse in other districts to the clergy whom I mentioned above as being at leisure, who will be occupied with their own support. The plans for this, as I say—taking away here, and replacing there, and distributing and selecting them in order that each one may receive a little—this is all matter for your