e rhetorical colors
that fear is wont to give, filled all the islands with terror. Don
Diego Faxardo, knight of the Habit of San-Tiago, was then governor
and captain-general of Philipinas, and also president of that royal
Audiencia. He was most vigilant in defending those wretched villages
from the powerful invasions of the enemy, who, by the specious pretext
that they were going to set them free, induced the chiefs to [join]
a general conspiracy. Don Diego tried to ascertain the forces of the
enemy with accuracy; he ordered the ports to be reconnoitered and the
presidios to be fortified. He solicited truthful reports in order to
obtain advice upon the best way to decide.

234. There was at that time an alcalde-mayor in the fortress of
Tandag whose name is omitted for a special reason. The venerable
father Fray Pedro de San Joseph Roxas, a religious of eminent
qualities and excellent virtues, was prior of that convent. He,
having concluded that the minister ought, as a teacher, to attend
to the Indians in regard to instruction, and as a father, to watch
over their protection, on seeing his parishioners persecuted with
unjust vexations thought himself obliged to oppose the illegal acts
of the alcalde. Father Fray Pedro saw the people of Tandag and its
visitas oppressed with insupportable burdens. He saw them suffering
so great sadness that their weeping did not dare to mount from the
heart to the eyes, nor could the bosom trust its respiration to the
lips. The father noted that, in proportion as they were sacrificed to
the greed of another, just so much did they grow lukewarm in living
according to the Catholic maxims. Since there was no one to speak
for the Indians if that zealous minister became dumb, he resolved
to defeat them efficaciously in order to make so great wrong cease,
even if it were at his own risk. He asked humbly, exhorted fervently,
and insisted in and out of season in proportion to the cause; but
seeing his petitions unheeded in Tandag, he placed them in a Tribunal
where they would receive attention.

235. The alcalde-mayor, resenting the father's demands, took occasion
to send his reports to Don Diego Faxardo; accordingly he said that
that fortress of Caragha was in a state of vigorous defense, although
it had a dangerous neighbor in the convent, for that was a very strong
work and dominated the fortress. Consequently, he thought that it was
a necessary precaution to destroy it. Thereupon the gove