The British commander, to establish the authority of it, published a manifesto on the 19th of September, pointing out the line of conduct he had observed to Señor Anda, in order to procure a cessation of hostilities as soon as he received the preliminaries of peace, and which, he stated, had been forwarded to him by the prime minister, signed by the British and Spanish ambassadors, and he declared Señor Anda responsible for the blood which might be spilled in consequence of the measures he adopted, so contrary to those laws of humanity which had induced the European powers to sheath the sword. Señor Anda replied to this manifesto by another, published in Bacolor the 28th of September, in which he set forth that he had not been made acquainted with the preliminaries of peace in due form; that as Governor he had not been treated as such, but in that character he should answer the English manifesto, by protesting that the continuation of hostilities could not be imputed to him, but to those who, pursuing a line of conduct little conformable to the orders of their sovereign, had indirectly impeded their execution. From this moment, however, the English allowed greater latitude to the prisoners in Manila; and Señor Villa Corta, who was considered in that light, availed himself of the indulgence to conceal himself in the house of Don Tomas Dorado, from whence he escaped in a coach under a female dress, and embarked for Pampanga. Señor Anda received him with great affability; and as a mark of his friendship and affection, he left him in Bacolor to transact some matters of business for him, and departed for the camp, in order to transfer it to the town of Polo from Maycavayan, where he had taken up his quarters since the battle of Malinta. In his absence the Archbishop being taken ill, the question was agitated who should be Governor in the event of his death, and Señor Villa Corta observed, that he thought it fell to him, as being senior Oidor. This conversation was not so secret but Señor Anda became acquainted with it, and without waiting to remove his camp to Polo, he left proper instructions, and returning to Bacolor he retorted on Villa Corta, who endeavoured to exculpate himself, by pleading that it was merely conversation, and undeserving serious notice: his enquiries and solicitude terminated in discovering that Señor Galban and the royal fiscal were of opinion that Senor Ustariz, Bishop of New Segovia or Ylocos, ought to succeed to the government, in case of the death of the Archbishop, conformable to the recent orders of his Majesty. Señor Anda was anxious to obtain the opinions of the various parties in the islands, and consulted Señor Matos, Bishop of Camarines, and the provincial clergy on the subject. Señor Matos returned him for answer, that the subject was quite foreign to his profession, and that it was the province of the Royal Audience to decide the point, and that he, as a good subject, should acquiesce in that decision.