religious--a man very zealous in the
service of our Lord and a minister who has charge of the Sangleys at
present. The Christian Sangleys who had acquired sufficient knowledge
and experience before conversion, tell of the habits, customs, and mode
of life of the heathen. Those who were born, or reared from childhood,
in these islands have heard and noted this. They say that they would
dare to certify or swear that at a certain age all, from the sons of
great mandarins down to the lowest class, are guilty of one vile and
abominable sin. There is a wicked rumor here that even their king
himself is no exception. That this evil exists among this people,
is not only declared, but it is a thing which has been proved,
and investigated on complaint, and has at times been punished by
justice. This is the case, Sire, and the number of infidels here is
very great; for in the past year, ninety-six, more than twenty-four
thousand persons were said to have come. Thirteen thousand were sent
away from the country, and the number would have been greater if the
ships from Castilla had arrived, thus supplying means for deporting
more. These people come to these islands and settlements, and trade
very freely with the natives, who are naturally weak and covetous; and,
too, they remain constantly with us. Many of them live and sleep within
the city and in the houses of the Spaniards, whose wives, children, men
and women servants--and of these last, not a few--are there also. Even
if there were no more evils and opportunity for wrong than for these
women and children to be eyewitnesses of what happens in houses where
there are people so vile, bold, vicious, and shameless--who are,
although generous, covetous, cunning, and treacherous--these alone are
sufficient evils and causes for Spaniards not to permit the Sangleys,
or consent, as they do, to their staying in their houses. This they
allow on account of the gain, rent, and payments given them, and for
greater convenience and shortening of their own labors. Consequently,
these people are not separated on account of their aforesaid customs,
nor of the danger and opportunity offered them for connivance and
knavery. They could burn the city in a night; and should they rise,
they could before the blow was felt kill with their weapons many of the
persons who keep and permit them to stay in their own houses, finding
them asleep and unaware; and they know very well how to do it, to our
cost and inju