ry. But neither this injurious and painful experience,
nor all the aforesaid dangers, are sufficient to check or remedy this
grave evil. It is greed which is the road and means of perdition, and
which destroys, corrupts, perverts, and hinders everything; this it is
that jeopardizes and has, perhaps, embarrassed, checked, diminished,
and restricted the service of God and of your Majesty, and the welfare,
honor, and prosperity of your vassals in this land. Thereby have been
retarded in this new world the good and fruitful spiritual and temporal
results which would, perhaps, have been realized ere this, were the
desire for money less, and the love, zeal, and desire for the service
and glory of our Lord greater. There should be more interest in the
common good and less self-interest, which is the loss, impediment,
and ruin of everything. Indeed, this greed and covetousness is the
knot, tie, and strong bond between us and this nation, so different,
injurious, and contrary to our own, as experience and past events have
shown. It is an expedient of the devil that this people shall obtain
all or nearly all that they want. As their communication, presence,
and trade is so prejudicial, and as from it and their interest and
greed result so many common evils and great sins, abominations, and
offenses to our Lord, it seems as if His Divine Majesty were taking
a hand in this and punishing the offenses of those who are in this
land, as also our neglect of correcting them, and our lack of zeal
for His honor and service--both by our great loss of property, and
by this nation, and the injuries that we have received from them,
and our mishaps with them, since thus we lay ourselves open and
deserve to be punished. It seems that He punishes them too with us,
by the injuries, afflictions, and annoyances that they suffer. And
thus His Divine Majesty is punishing both nations. For except for
self-interest as a medium, we are mutually contrary and hateful.

[The rest of the letter is badly torn, but a sufficient amount
remains for the general meaning to be discovered. The writer calls
for the expulsion of the Sangleys so far as this is possible. The
city desires them to remain only from avarice, desiring the rents
from their shops, and the profits arising from their business. The
Sangleys have corrupted some of the most illustrious persons in the
country. Severity is requisite.]

June 28, 1597.
_Luis Perez Dasmarinas_

_Notes regarding