The explanation of this mystery consists in the fact that the Spaniard treats the father with the urbanity that is used toward ecclesiastics in España; but he is not imposed upon by the kind of servitude which the former desires, and at the same time he is a witness of what occurs in the provinces that is not right, and which the fathers do not wish him to know. On the contrary, the Chinese, under pretense that they allow to him his liberty, keeps still, dissimulates, makes presents, and blindly submits to whatever is ordered of him. Third, although we grant, as is right, the justice of the above-expressed laws in the time and the sense in which they were made, yet, as they are generally put in force against every Spaniard good or bad, it follows: first, that they punish the innocent; second, they prevent the settlement by Spaniards in the provinces, although it is so necessary; and, third, they hinder our union and friendship with the Indians, and consequently, marriages. And, supposing that the Indian women do not desire anything else, and that a Spaniard thus married has all the kindred of his wife favorable to him, I desire to know, according to good policy, whether there is any other remedy more rational and suitable than this, for the conservation of those domains? This is what law viii, título i, book vi, provides. There are two alternatives: it is either advantageous for the nation to preserve them, or not. If the latter, let the Spaniards come, and let them be abandoned at once. If the former, there is no other means better than that of union between the two nations. And, besides the fact that this is the universal practice throughout the world, it is unnecessary to say anything more about the matter; for, let the regulars say what they will, they will not deny that if the Castilian language had not been precluded from the beginning, and had the Spaniards married the Indian women--which was the method of giving them good treatment, according to the laws--there would be little or nothing to conquer in the two Américas and Filipinas. Consequently, it seems indispensable to abrogate the above-cited laws, or to moderate them somewhat in favor of the nation, restraining the license of the fathers. That is quite in accordance with law xxiv, título i, book vi, which permits the Spaniard to trade freely with the Indians. That cannot be done if he is to be driven from the villages in three days' time. Remedy for this evil To abrogate the laws above cited, as being suggested without doubt, by the regulars, and if not, as being dangerous to the state; and to order that the Spaniards can come and go, and freely trade, in the provinces; to proclaim rewards for those who marry Indian women, and to expel the father if he meddles with the Spaniard in what concerns his external conduct, since, if he is evil and commits crimes, there are justices to punish him. TWELFTH ABUSE