not wish to return it, whereupon the secretary would give ten pesos for the transaction, and thus obtained his purpose. Although I was so sure and convinced of this truth, nevertheless, as it was not proved entirely in the residencia, I did not wish to render sentence on this point, but instead to send it to your Majesty's royal Council; for I confess, Sire, that if I had committed that outrage, as I have investigated it, I would be of the opinion that your Majesty would not be fulfilling your duty, as a just king, if you did not order me to be beheaded. After my arrival at these islands, I immediately set about executing your Majesty's decrees. I ordered, by an act, that all those persons to whom your Majesty owed money should come to ask the third of it, the other two-thirds being commuted, so that they could ask it at no future time. All have done it and up to date we have paid in warrants of this kind the amount that your Majesty, if so inclined, can have examined from the enclosed certification, as well as what we have saved from the two-thirds that have been commuted. Returning, Sire, to the trouble that arises from having the persons whom the viceroy sends from Mexico in your Majesty's name to govern _ad interim_, there is no one who does not take back one or two hundred thousand pesos, as agents for the said inhabitants of Mexico. That is very much to the damage and prejudice of this city, for how can the goods of the inhabitants here go, and how can they make any profit on them, if the goods of those Mexicans, which are carried under charge of the commander and almirante and the other officials (the creatures of the governor), are to be sold first? And since those governors only come for one or two years, they do not exercise justice, correct disorder, preserve the authority and jurisdiction of your Majesty, or undertake any other thing than living in peace; being the protectors of all, and good merchants, in order to return very rich; complaining loudly of the hardships that they experienced in coming to serve your Majesty; boasting of the many risks to their lives, and the many expenses paid from their own property; and giving the ignorant crowd to understand that your Majesty is under great obligations to them. All this, Sire, will cease, if your Majesty will send six gentlemen of thoroughly good abilities, soldiers of Flandes, to act as substitutes and who shall have commissions for the future succession to the government, through the death or absence [of the governor]. Such men can bring their commissions, sealed, from your Majesty, and should not come from Mexico. They can be employed here as follows: the first in the fort of this city; the second in that of Cavite, and in the government of the said port; the third in Terrenate; the fourth in the island of Hermosa; the fifth in the office of master-of-camp; the sixth as commander of the artillery, in the office of sargento-mayor, and as governor and chief justice