Notwithstanding the wisdom of this measure, Señor Arandia lost much of that esteem in which he had been held, and by this and other means drew on him the odium of the public. By virtue of the full powers with which he was invested by the court, he framed instructions for the chief magistrates in the government of the provinces, in which an open declaration was made against the regular clergy. In the commencement of his authority he had treated the religious orders with due attention, but hurt at the disrespect shewn to him by some individuals, he deprived them by these instructions of their kitchen boys, which the King had granted them ever since the conquest, and of the servants which had been allowed them as sacristans. Not satisfied with these injuries, he made many representations against them to his Majesty, in which he spoke of them with very little decorum, and in his despatches lost no opportunity of vilifying them even in matters not at all connected with their clerical duties. The instructions here alluded to the King had the goodness to disapprove of, as soon as he saw them. With the Royal Audience, likewise, he had a dispute, in consequence of his refusal to allow them military honours during their sittings, unless he himself presided. He imprisoned and commenced a process against the treasurer and comptroller of the royal revenue, and treated them with great severity, because they had communicated information to the court on some points very opposite to his communications on the same subjects. Indefatigable in the discharge of his duty, he formed many projects which he conceived to be of importance to the welfare of the settlement. It was his intention to remove the arsenal of Cavite to Port Lampon. He ordered a ship to be built in the kingdom of Siam; but, unfortunately, in conducting her to Manila, she put three times into China, and once into Batavia, incurring by this means an enormous expense on the treasury. He proposed to the King various plans for working the iron and gold mines. He abolished the office of Corregidor of Mariveles, uniting Marigondon and other small towns to the district of Cavite, and forming of the towns on the opposite coast, and of others belonging to Pampanga, the district which we call Batan. He introduced many regulations among the troops, and for the better management of the royal revenue and the affairs of the Acapulco ship, giving on all occasions many proofs of his zeal for his Majesty's service, with which he appeared animated, perhaps, to a degree of enthusiasm; and which having been mismanaged by his favourite, Señor Orendain, had been the cause of his being universally disliked. All these objects occasioned so much fatigue to Arandia that he became incapable of any kind of business, and such a rapid decline in his vital powers took place, that on the 31st of May, 1759, apprehending his approaching death, he took all the sacraments, and expired the following day at two o'clock in the morning.