Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/551

531 hating another just man and good officer. Which it was Mendoza's policy to outwardly remain on a good footing with the visitador, aware of the great authority with which that official was clothed, he hurled bitter epithets against him in his letters to the court. And being aware that the interests of the clergy were identical with his own, he took care to insure their support, knowing that against the two Tello could accomplish little. A representation to Prince Philip made in 1545 by Bishop Zumárraga and Father Domingo de Betanzos, then prior of the Dominican convent, in favor of the viceroy, certainly has all the appearance of having been dictated by Mendoza himself. There may have been fears of removal, as they took occasion to say that it would be a serious loss to the country. His services "to which are due the peace, security, and advancement, both spiritual and temporal, of the country," were not what they might have been had not his powers been curtailed.

During the nine years of his government before the arrival of Tello, Mendoza had doubled the royal revenue, established justice and a stable government, and the progress of the country on every hand was marked. His appreciation of himself, however, seemed to have kept pace with progress. While the procuradores of the encomenderos sojourned in Spain, the members of the audiencia and other royal officials