auditors fail to correct and punish them, after seeing your statement—a thing we do not believe—you will notify us of everything in order that we may have them punished as we may think fit. In doing this you will have fulfilled the duties you owe to the service of God, our Lord, and in the discharge of your conscience; moreover the Emperor my sovereign will also be served. Dated in Valladolid, 13th day of February 1544. I the Prince, etc. DON CARLOS by Divine Grace, August Emperor, King of Germany; Doña Juana his mother, and the same Don Carlos by the grace of God, Kings of Castile and Leon, etc. To you, Rev. Father in Christ, Bartholomew de Las Casas, bishop-elect of the city of Ciudad Real of the plains of Chiapa, health and grace. You well know that on account of the good reports that we had of your character, we presented you to our most Holy Father as bishop of the said diocese, and though the bulls have not been despatched, the service of God Our Lord, the instruction and conversion of the natives of the said bishopric and the good government and advancement of the Church and its divine teachings, require that you go with all haste to the said provinces to undertake the said teaching and conversion and the other matters with which we have charged you. Were you to await the arrival of the said bulls, certain misfortunes might in the meantime occur there which would displease God our Lord, and not be in accordance with our duties to His service in the Indies. It was therefore agreed that without awaiting the said bulls, you should go to the said province, and we approve it. Therefore we pray and command you that as soon as you receive this you will start for the said province of Chiapa, without awaiting the said bulls: you will enquire into and find out the state of the spiritual affairs of the province and also what churches and monasteries have been built. What tithes there have been and in what way they have been spent and distributed. If the necessary churches have not been built you will see that they are immediately erected in such places as you judge best, placing priests to administer the Holy Sacraments and to diligently instruct the natives of those towns in all matters relating to our holy Catholic Faith. In the meantime, we, as patrons of the said churches and the others in our Indies, command persons to be named to those benefices who will assume charge of them. You will likewise see that the divine services are carried out with the necessary reverence, decency, and decorum, and that the natives of the said district are instructed in the Holy Catholic faith; you will see that the said priests and others who reside in the said provinces live honestly, and that those who are charged with the education of the Indians in the teachings of our Holy Catholic Faith fulfil their duties. We command that the President and the auditors of our Audiencia and Royal Chancellery of the Confines, as well as all