Sire: By a royal decree dated at Madrid on August 4, 1765, your Majesty ordered that this royal Audiencia should take pains to secure the observance of the laws (24 and 25, tÍtulo i, book vi) in the RecopilaciÓn de Indias with regard to the trade and intercourse of the Spaniards with the Indians; and that it should report to your Majesty upon the other things contained in the copy of a letter from the venerable dean and cabildo of this holy church,1 in which they chiefly set forth the request that your Majesty will deign to issue stricter orders so that the Indians may learn the Castilian language.

As the aforesaid report has not been despatched by this Audiencia—which is composed of two auditors, and there is only one of integrity, and zeal for the royal service—I have deemed it inseparable from my obligation to inform your Majesty2 of what the experience of about nine years as fiscal has taught me regarding the aforesaid points, and to make known the zeal with which I have labored, to the end that in this particular the laws and your Majesty’s royal decrees might be carried out. For this it is necessary to assume (in confirmation of the statements in the above-mentioned letter) that the despotism of the ministers of the doctrinas is absolute, so that they are almost the only ones who command in these islands; and that they govern at their own will the villages and provinces, without recognizing your Majesty or obeying any laws or royal decrees save those which suit their own interests and opinions. It is evident and notorious that they do not obey any of the rest, except as they please. This is proved by the fact that there is no law or decree or ordinance which is observed by the said ministers of doctrinas in questions of the royal patronage, in the administration of the sacraments to the sick, in the tanorÍas and other matters in which their comfort is concerned, and, above all, in the schools, for instruction in the Spanish language.

All this lawless conduct (which results from the absolute sway of the ministers of doctrinas) will be evident to your Majesty from the copy which I enclose of two fiscal opinions, which are literally transcribed from the official records belonging to the year 765; the originals are found in the respective expedientes preserved in the office of the court secretary of this Audiencia. In these is told sufficient to give some idea of the despotism of the said religious, on whom nearly all the people of these islands are dependent—some through fear, and others through unjust acts of compliance and tolerance which at the present time make it exceedingly difficult to check that despotism. This will never be accomplished unless the governor and the ministers of the Audiencia proceed unitedly and with equal firmness, without yielding to the religious, and with inflexible zeal for the fulfilment of the laws and the municipal ordinances of these islands. But for this end it would be indispensable to confer the public offices of the provinces on men tried and true, who would fulfil their obligations; and not on persons who, buying the said offices in Manila, undertake to fill them by inflicting so many injuries [on the natives] that their very infractions of law oblige them to depend absolutely on the religious, and to maintain the latter in their possession of authority over the Indians and over the alcaldes. From this beginning it results that neither the orders of the governor nor of the Audiencia take effect, and that all the measures which are conformable to the laws and to your Majesty’s royal decrees prove futile; for there is a false show of fulfilling them, which leaves these matters in the same confusion which attempt was made to remedy.

In the laws of the Indias, in the former “Ordinances” of these islands, in those which were drawn up by Governor Don Pedro Manuel de ArandÍa3 and in repeated royal decrees, this matter of the instruction of the Indians in the Spanish language is especially enjoined; but, notwithstanding this, the notion of the said religious has prevailed that the Indians shall remain ignorant of the said language, in order to keep them more dependent [on the fathers], and in order that no Spaniard may obtain information of what is going on in the villages. There are innumerable instances which have occurred, of the curas of doctrinas punishing the Indians who talked with the Spaniards in our language. In the villages close to this capital there are many Indians who understand the said language very well, but when they are in the presence of any religious they reply in their own Tagal language to the Spaniards who ask them questions in Castilian, through their fear of the father; and the latter never speaks to the Indians in Spanish, even though they may be proficient in it. This is convincing that the intention of the religious orders is certain and evident, that the Indians shall not know our language, so that they may be more secure of the doctrinas not being taken away from them, of the bishops not attempting to visit them, of the non-enforcement of the laws (none of which are enforced) of the royal patronage, and of the continuance of the despotism with which they govern the Indians in both spiritual and temporal matters, without fear of any noticeable result. For thus they find themselves necessary, and they mock at the zeal of a governor, of an archbishop, of a fiscal, and of all those who mourn the entire non-observance of the laws; and as these officials and the ministers of the Audiencia are seldom united to procure the enforcement of the laws, because the religious orders do not neglect to mislead some of them, the latter are always sure of a victory through this disunion (which is very frequent), when the same spirit of courage and firmness does not animate the minds of all [the officials] for the fulfilment of the laws and of your Majesty’s royal ordinances. Through your royal complaisance, I have continually inveighed against the main points in the opinions of the curas of doctrinas, which are opposed to the laws and ordinances; and especially against their persistent endeavor that the Indians shall not know our Spanish language—as your Majesty’s royal mind will be informed by the copy which I enclose. As contributing to fuller information on this point, and confirming it, I will state that in the year 762 I, as fiscal, made the same claims in this royal Audiencia which the venerable dean and cabildo set forth to your Majesty in the year 764.

There is equal proof for what I demanded regarding the trade of the Spaniards with the Indians. It is grievous to see that no one dares to carry on this trade; for, however strict may be the orders which have been issued, not only by your governors but by this Audiencia, the curas of doctrinas have many means for rendering them ineffective. They dissuade the Spaniards from going to the Indian villages, where, as a rule, they are treated with incredible contempt, and are denied even the food which they need (and for which they offer money), because neither the governadorcillo nor any other Indian dares to sell it without permission from the father minister. Not only does the father usually deny this, but he stirs up the anger of the Indians against the Spaniard—whom they call Castila; the name of Castilian has thus become exceedingly odious among the natives, and they regard every Spaniard with dislike, if indeed not with hatred. To see a Spaniard in their villages appears to them such a novelty that all the inhabitants—old persons, the youths, and the children—sally out to look at him, with loud yells and uproar, in which one can only hear, “Castila! Castila!” and amid the annoyance of being surrounded by Indians, without being able to understand them, the Spaniard has no other resource than to go in search of the father of the doctrina, and humiliate himself before him with the same abjectness as the said Indians show, in order that the reverence shown to this despot may furnish him with lodging and food, and render his life safe. This would not happen if the Castilian language had been extended into the provinces, for experience shows that every Indian who understands it feels much affection for the Spaniards; and the natives aid them wherever they meet them, if they are not in the presence of the fathers of doctrinas.

It is no less certain that many of the fathers trade in the villages which they administer, and that for this reason also they are undertaking to hinder, by the aforesaid means, the trade of the Spaniards. All this will seem as incredible to your Majesty as it seemed to me until my official duties, and the things that I myself have seen in the provinces through which I have traveled, proved its truth to me; and even more than what is notorious and public to all who have lived in these islands for some time can be told to your Majesty by Doctor Don Simon Anda y Salazar, who certainly was often undeceived, by experience, in regard to the aforesaid intentions of the religious.

I, Sire, would not dare to write on subjects so delicate, and so difficult to explain, if I were not fully convinced of what I have stated above, and of the fact that this abuse has not been nor will it be remedied, while a governor little acquainted [with his duties] in the early years of his term casts into oblivion the measures taken by his predecessor, or revokes them, through the persuasions of the religious; and when he reaches the point of being undeceived he comes to the last years of his government, and the measures that he takes then have the same fate as those already mentioned, on the arrival of his successor. The same thing occurs with the ministers [of the Audiencia] who have recently arrived at this city; for, under the influence of the said religious, they regard as recklessness and impiety that which afterward, with some experience, they recognize as zeal for the royal service. This disunion and lack of agreement in their opinions would not be experienced if the laws were punctually observed, and if the “Ordinances for the provinces” were established as law—which would regulate all these matters, and not allow freedom for failure in supporting them, as they ought to be supported, by an opinion that is equally firm in all the governors and ministers. For nothing so injures good government as the attempt of those high officials to temporize with every one, and not incur any one’s ill-will; and to look out for their own profit, to the detriment of the general good. It is notorious, at the same time, that for the said reasons whatever concerns his Majesty and the public is in almost utterly desperate condition; that the laws and royal decrees are not held in due reverence and respect; that they are transgressed with reckless readiness; that seldom is justice administered, on account of the intervention of influential persons; and that only where there is no advantage for self—as is the case in the affairs of poor people—are the laws observed. From this abuse—offensive to the supreme power of his Majesty, which usually is not obeyed in these islands, where a spirit of greed is the sole ruler with absolute dominion—it results that zealous and upright ministers are the only ones who are persecuted; and that those who remain inactive, and are susceptible to presents, and can be led into unlawful yielding and compliance, are popular with the citizens.

Another of the more important causes which occasion the said abuse is, that since the Audiencia has no cognizance of the affairs of the provinces in regard to their government, and as the governors on account of their military profession (in which alone they have been trained) have not the necessary knowledge of the laws and of the “Ordinances of good government,” or of municipal regulations, it results that an upright governor does not come to a resolve about anything, for fear of making some mistake; another, more resolute, goes headlong into measures to which his associates persuade him; and another governor, with interested motives, works for his own advantage. As a general rule, all or most of the governors are bewildered with the multitude of affairs which present themselves; they do very little work, and in nothing do they act with less vigor than in the government of the provinces; and enactments are made at the pleasure of the governor’s secretary, and occasionally of the assistant judge [asesor]. Here these usually are venal and have little sense of honor; and they attend only to such business as brings them gain, and not that of their office, which yields them nothing. These serious and notorious difficulties can be avoided only by separating from the government the superintendency of the exchequer4 which is the department of business that is most neglected, and is most worthy of attention—and establishing ordinances, which shall be enforced without deviation, for the secure furtherance of the royal interests, and of the administration of justice in the provinces, leaving the absolute cognizance of the latter to the royal Audiencia, and of the former to an intendant, and forbidding them to the governors, who have more than enough field for action in military and purely political affairs in which to display their zeal. Then they would devote themselves to these important matters belonging to their profession, which are those which have seemed to them to merit least attention and care, because their application to other business produces them more gain.

If these departments of the government were separated in the above manner, there would be an invariable method of procedure in the two tribunals of the Audiencia and the intendancy. For in the former, even if one or another minister should pass away, there would remain others, who could instruct the new officials, so that the said method should never be changed without evident necessity, justified by documents and by unanimous opinions; and in the intendancy the same thing would occur, by means of the practical knowledge which would pass from some royal officials to others, and from some subordinates to others. Especially should be left to parties [in controversies] free recourse by appeal to the royal Audiencia from all the acts and measures of the intendant; and he, with the ministers [of that court], should proceed to the choice (by a majority of votes) of the [provincial] governors, corregidors, and alcaldes-mayor. Thus, likewise, would be avoided the sale of those offices, which is frequent; and the merit and services of the citizens would be rewarded, so that they might have some stimulus in regard to their conduct and valor, and be encouraged to serve your Majesty by these hopes—which are entirely lacking to them at the present time, in which he alone is preferred who gives most for the offices.

In regard to the “Ordinances for the provinces,” I have systematized those which Doctor Don Simon de Anda y Salazar can show you; he carried with him a copy of them, which I drew up with the knowledge and experience which I have acquired by dint of constant application. Thus far they have been neither approved nor censured by the royal Audiencia, in virtue of the royal decree which your Majesty addressed to that body, that they should frame and arrange some ordinances, keeping in mind the articles of the late governor Don Pedro Manuel ArandÍa, and those of the reverend father in Christ the bishop of Nueva Caseres;5 but as the said ordinances cannot be framed without [incurring] the resentment of the ministers of doctrinas, and opposing their despotism and their designs (which aim at the overthrow of the ordinances which I composed), that court has left the matter in suspense for more than three years. And it will remain in this condition, at the pleasure of the senior auditor in the said Audiencia, on whom alone it depends, unless the efforts of those zealous ministers Don Manuel Galvan and the above-mentioned Don Simon de Anda, and those which I have exerted in the duties of my office, can secure the settlement of a business of so great importance—in which are included the two points which I have already mentioned, the trade with the Indians, and their instruction in the Castilian language.

There is another matter not less important, the reduction of the villages and houses of Indians into parishes [debajo de Campana], which I have continually recommended, and still urge; for I am of opinion that without such reduction we shall have neither Christians nor good vassals, as it is impossible for the Indians, while dispersed, to be instructed in the mysteries of the Catholic religion. Living, as most of them do, without government either spiritual or temporal, they readily abandon both their religion and their vassalage, as experience has proved. This would be corrected by the said reduction, and, as a result, the Indians would become more civilized; they would go to church frequently, the children would attend the schools, and their instruction in the Castilian language would be facilitated, and with it our trade. If schools for the instruction of boys and girls were established in the chief towns of the provinces, as I recommended to the superior government, religion and the Christian church would flourish in these valuable dominions—whose natives are susceptible of great religious and social progress, if zeal and care be displayed for that which has hitherto been neglected.

As for the royal interests in these islands, I have the satisfaction of having sent to your Majesty a work entitled, “Demonstration of the deplorable and wretched condition of these Philipinas islands,” etc.; and another containing seven demonstrations6 showing the products yielded by these dominions and the expenditures of your Majesty therein; and the great retrenchments of these, and the increase [of revenues], which might be established—which would reach every year the amount of more than one million, three hundred thousand pesos, without including the increase of the tributes or counting the present receipts of this royal treasury. In regard to these two works, however great an outcry may be made by the indignation which the religious have conceived against me on account of the advantages of which they would be deprived by the [royal] approbation of the second work, I trust that the royal and just mind of your Majesty will be gratified by the zeal with which I have discovered the “philosopher’s stone” with which these islands can yield to your Majesty more than what their maintenance has cost for two hundred and three years.

In the present report I have expressed myself at some length, bringing in the points just mentioned because I think that they help to a more intelligent understanding of the two most important matters, the trade of the Spaniards with the Indians, and the knowledge by the latter of the Spanish language. To understand better the ideas of the ministers of doctrinas, it only remains for me to say, through love for the truth, that among them there are some religious of exemplary virtue, who are included [in my censure only] in what concerns their spiritual administration, in other matters fulfilling [their obligation of] obedience to their superiors, and not meddling with worldly affairs; but I cannot avoid giving, in conclusion, a brief account of the manner in which the ministries are filled in their chapter-sessions.

The factions among the religious are notorious, and sometimes scandalous; and they are engaged during the entire year in activities for the chapter-session. The faction which gains the upper hand shares among its adherents all the ministries which have the right to vote, and those of the greatest profit and ease; and the rest are distributed among those of the opposite faction, who go as exiles to the mountains, and especially to the missions. This is the reason why so few souls are converted among the pagans; because no longer are selected for missionaries the religious who have a vocation [for that work], and zeal, but those who have no influential friends and those who are unable to attend the chapter-sessions.

The provincial-elect supports those of his faction, on account of the importance to him of their votes for the next chapter; and he overlooks or permits more than what is right. He makes—with ostentation, and with greater authority than that of a bishop—the visitation of the ministries under him; and even if the Indians complain of any extortion, it is not corrected except when the religious [in that village] belongs to the opposite faction. Some complaints reach the tribunals of this city, and, however justified they may be, the provincial does not punish them, except when that suits the interests of his faction; but there are very few who complain, because it is an article of faith, so to speak, among the Indians that the father ministers possess an absolute power and dominion, which compels them to endure or perform whatever the fathers command them.7 And since in each province, even though it may be of wide extent and contain many villages, there is no Spaniard save the alcalde, and he also fears the said fathers, they are despots; and the Indians are unable to do anything save what their father minister tells them to do. For these reasons, the entire secular government of these provinces remains at the disposal and pleasure of the curas of doctrinas, whose maxim is that which the religious orders most observe, as well as their provincial superiors. In order to fill that office, they give up administering the Indians, but at the end of the provincialate they return to the said administration, in which the same despotism belongs to them. This is absolutely without remedy, and will be so while the curas of doctrinas, besides what I have already said, cannot be subjected to the visitation of the ordinaries. If that were the case, they would prevent any ecclesiastic from taking part in secular affairs, and from oppressing the Indians—not allowing them to compel the natives, contrary to the ordinances of the provinces, to supply fish for the support of the cura; or to pound the rice (in which they employ the young Indian women); or to furnish the other polos or tanorÍas which they have established, contrary to the laws and the said Ordinances. The ordinaries would also prevent the frequent abuse of their causing the sick to be carried to the church in order to give them the viaticum—as is done notwithstanding the Ordinances and many royal decrees which prohibit this; they would take pains to see that the indulgences of the bull [of the Crusade] were preached; they would visit the brotherhoods and the confraternities. They would take inventory of the incomes of the respective churches, according to the laws of the royal patronage, in order to know how they are spent, in regard to which also I have advanced what your Majesty will find in the expediente for the wine monopoly. They would keep close watch over the schools, to see that instruction be given in the Spanish language. They would restrain the occupation of some religious in the business of trading; and trade would become free to the Spaniards, who thus would have the opportunity which hitherto they have lacked for trafficking in the provinces. With this traffic the Indians would become accustomed to dealings and intercourse with the Spaniards, whose name is now most odious to them; for by this means their curas keep them in greater subjection—if it is not, indeed, a sort of vassalage; it goes so far as to dominate the wills of the Indians, and to make them as hostile to the Spaniards as, in general, the religious are. Finally, with the said visitation of the ordinaries, and the subjection to it of the curas of doctrinas, a remedy would be provided for almost all the abuses and the usages that are practiced in the ministries—which are today the same that were related to your Majesty by the venerable Bishop Palafox, which appear in his arguments in favor of the secular clergy—the reverend bishops proceeding with the pastoral zeal which without doubt would actuate them if they were not members of the orders, and with harmony and agreement with the government as vice-patron. For, with the two branches [of the government] united, having the same object, and punctually observing not only the visitation but the law of the royal patronage in the presentation or removal of curas, it is very certain that the Indians would be relieved of heavy burdens; the religious would not be so despotic; and they would devote themselves to the care of their parishioners in spiritual affairs, without meddling in secular matters. The good government of the provinces would be established; trade with the Indians would be introduced and promoted; and by means of this trade, and of instruction in the Spanish language, mutual kind feeling would be engendered between the two peoples, and there would be an end to the detestation with which one regards the other. Above all, Sire, it would be known that your Majesty is the sovereign of these islands, in which, it can be asserted, the religious do not recognize your Majesty; for they observe or heed hardly any of the laws, the royal decrees, and the Ordinances which regulate, the above-mentioned matters. At the same time, they are exceedingly jealous and exacting that all the laws which treat of advantages, stipends, and contributions to them shall be executed.

But even all that is here mentioned will not be enough for the amendment of the many evils which demand it, unless all [the officials] are encouraged and animated by the [right] spirit in the governor of these islands, on whose good or evil conduct depends the good or the bad behavior of almost all the people who compose this colony. This government has in its charge a multitude of affairs, which on account of their extent overtax the ability of one person alone, and on this account they are entrusted to many—but with this distinction, that when the governor is able, assiduous in his duties, vigorous, and just in his dealings (traits which unfortunately have been seldom seen in these islands for many years past), such also are those who assist him; and they take pains to secure his approval as much as they fear to displease him. But when the governor is a man of limited ability, indolent, or dominated by avarice (which is most frequently the case), all his associates have these same failings and vices. Moreover, all business then depends on the governor’s secretary; nothing is attended to, save what yields [him] some profit, and everything is neglected which concerns your Majesty, the government of the provinces, the proper management of the royal exchequer, and the public welfare. In these matters, the earnest zeal of neither the fiscal nor of some other upright ministers is sufficient, for since they are such they oppose what is unjust, and obtain no other result than many vexations, and the grief of seeing that these islands are going headlong to their final ruin. Hence it may be concluded that only a governor who is able, industrious, and very disinterested, in conjunction with reverend bishops of like zeal, assiduity, and disinterestedness, can constitute the effectual check by which the curas of doctrinas may be kept within bounds, by subjecting them to the [episcopal] visitation, and to the enforcement of the laws of the royal patronage; and by stationing in the provinces alcaldes who are men of honor and who fear God, who will be vigilant for the laws and ordinances—as they will be if, free from uncertainty as to their authority, they have no cause to fear the religious. But, on the other hand, if they have cause for such fear they will neglect everything, and only busy themselves in what encourages their covetousness, with acts of extortion and violence which seldom are punished, because they are hidden in the residencias; and because the governor, who regularly sells these offices to the persons who give most for them, permits their acts of injustice, which he would punish if the appointment were a disinterested one and in accordance with the royal intention of your Majesty. By these facts it seems to be demonstrated that the main root of all these evils is in the inefficiency, indolence, and, most of all, the covetousness of the governors; and that the remedy for them lies alone in the division of the [governmental] business, as I have already stated, or else, if this division be not made, that the governors be men who are able, assiduous, and disinterested. For such will cause all the members [of the government] to follow the example of their head; and the laws, the royal decrees, and the ordinances will be obeyed, so that your Majesty may be recognized as sovereign lord of these dominions, and a thoroughly good government will be established which can preserve these Christian lands, with benefit to the royal treasury, as I have had the honor to represent to your Majesty. For otherwise it does not seem probable that the royal orders of your Majesty will be productive of results, for experience shows that such has not been the case hitherto with the many pious and excellent provisions contained in the wise laws of the Indias, and with the repeated royal decrees by which, at various times, those laws have been confirmed. These have not yet been fulfilled, nor will they be, unless disinterestedness rules, and unless there is punishment for covetousness—for this is what ruins and upsets everything, and, by force of defying and insulting upright ministers, causes the latter to live without freedom to execute justice, and to render the worthy tribunal of the Audiencia useless and inactive; for the iniquitous proceedings of some governors, and especially of the present one, have reduced this court to the utmost humiliation, as the numerous transactions of which I have given account to your Majesty prove. May God preserve the Catholic royal person of your Majesty for many years, as is needful for the monarchy. Manila, May 1, 1767.

[Francisco Leandro de Viana, fiscal of the royal Audiencia.]