f Nueba Espana and of the said islands, to keep and observe this my
decree in every point, according to the tenor of what is contained
and declared therein; and that, for its fulfilment, they give and
cause to be given to you the help and assistance that you request
and that is necessary. And I order my said presidents and auditors of
my said royal Audiencia of Mejico to hear the said suits that shall
be sent there, in accordance with the above order; and that they
give sentence and conclusion to them in accordance with the law and
ordinances of these kingdoms, and with the said ordinances, provisions,
and decrees; and none of you shall violate them. Given at San Lorenzo,
August twenty-one, one thousand five hundred and eighty-nine.

_I The King_

I, secretary of the king, our sovereign, had this written by his order.

_Juan de Ybarra_"

I have been informed recently that, because of the great distance
of those islands from the city of Mexico (to whose Audiencia must be
sent appeals in the said causes), many, especially the poor, refuse to
prosecute their suits; for in some of them the costs amount to more
than the principal, besides the annoyance of the delay. This serves
as a cause for grief and annoyance, from which the wealthy profit to
the injury of most of that community. As I desire the relief of this
state of things, I order, with the concurrence of my royal Council of
the Indias, for the present that henceforth all suits for the value
of one thousand ducados or less be concluded in the courts of the said
Philipinas Islands. If appeal be made from the sentences given at the
first instance, and substantiated in the second, in conformity with
law, the case shall be regarded as closed with the sentence imposed by
the said lieutenant-governor in the second instance, and no appeal can
be taken from it. In suits and causes for more than one thousand pesos
[_sic_], appeal may be made to my said royal Audiencia of Mexico,
in accordance with the tenor of the decree inserted above. In order
that this may be public and manifest, I order this my decree to
be published in the said city of Manila. Given at Madrid, January
seventeen, one thousand five hundred and ninety-three.

_I The King_

Countersigned by Juan Bazquez, and signed by the council.

[_In the margin_: "In order that suits and causes of one thousand
ducados and less may be concluded in the court of the Philipinas
islands; and, if the amount be in e