t of the said
archdeaconry, promised the said Don Francisco de Valdes five hundred
pesos of income to make the said resignation, as he did. Thereupon
the said governor gave the appointment as archdeacon to the said Don
Andres Arias Giron, on account of the latter's illegal negotiations
and gifts--on which account I came to be exiled from the kingdom,
and fined two thousand ducados, because I would not give the collation
inside of an hour. He was excommunicated and posted on the bulletin,
[83] as a result of his visitation which I conducted; and there were
many very ugly accusations to prove against him, which had been brought
up in court. He has now admitted that he is not archdeacon, because
the collation was given him by a judge thrust into that office, for
I had left my vicar-general and two ecclesiastical governors whom I
had appointed. He sent, while on his deathbed, asking me to give him
the collation for the said archdeaconry; but I did not do so because
it is not expedient, according to the opinion of learned men. From
this it follows that the stipend from the royal treasury ought not
to be paid him; and, if it is collected, your Majesty may command
that it be returned from his property to the royal treasury.

The office of precentor was held for your Majesty by an honored secular
ecclesiastic named Santiago de Castro, who died a number of years
ago. Since that time it has been served _ad interim_ by four others,
with appointments from the governors. He who serves it at present
(likewise _ad interim) _is named Master Don Gregorio Ruiz de Escalona,
who came to this country with his father (who was your Majesty's
treasurer) as a boy, and studied in these islands, graduating as a
master of arts. He is a good student, and is thirty-two years of age.

The office of school-master was, on the death of the man who held
it, given by your Majesty to a secular ecclesiastic, Don Alonso de
Campos, who was in Nueva Espana and had lived many years in these
islands. Although authority was sent for the members of the cabildo
to take possession for him, they would not give it to him because in
the foundation of the church it was decreed that candidates for these
dignities must be graduates. Although the said Don Alonso de Campos
procured a decree from your Majesty dispensing with the said act of
foundation for this time, the cabildo would not receive him even then,
although he sent a second power of attorney. They accepted a man