to
place the unsettled points in the hands of learned persons.

20. This letter so important, weighty, and full of substance that
it required a remedy and settlement without any disagreements,
he interpreted in such a way that he ended by losing his head,
and expressed himself very freely, saying in reply such things
that--considering they were not said to me personally, but to
a minister of your Majesty--I would have been quite justified in
checking and correcting the offense once for all. But as I am in a new
country, and far away from your Majesty, it is better to avoid dispute,
publicity, and scandal. Indeed, it will be seen by his letter that
even the importance of the affairs about which I wrote him did not
check him, or settle the matter, and that he cares only for defending
his own dignity--thinking that every one must learn, of him, and that
he is the only doctor who can teach here; and that he will oblige the
encomenderos and me to restore the tributes wrongly exacted. He thinks
that, in writing to him, I have exceeded my duty and have treated my
bishop with much show of authority and domineering; that I have acted
as if I were his master; and that if I can do so much, there is no need
in this land for a bishop, but a titular bishop would be enough. He
cites me decrees showing the respect which emperors must have for
bishops, and refers to some examples and authorities, as if he were
preaching to some rebel against the church. It never even entered my
imagination to say a word to him which should be lacking in the respect
and propriety due to his office, but I wish only to fulfil my duty.

21. I have written all this so fully in order to give an account to
your Majesty of everything that has passed between the bishop and
myself, in the controversy and discussion regarding the collection of
tributes. It appears at even greater length by his letters and mine
which accompany this, so that your Majesty may be sure of the arguments
on both sides. My present orders are that the encomenderos shall
not collect tribute where there is neither instruction nor justice
(although some persons thus will suffer large loss). Nevertheless,
the majority of them are quiet and consoled, and are observing the
order I gave them (which I send to your Majesty), until such time as
your Majesty, as above stated, may be pleased to order something else,
and to clear up all these doubts.

22. In regard to the needed instruction and mini