ernor of Luzon may know the great justice
with which this vast realm is governed. It is long since anyone has
dared to give offense to this kingdom; and although the Japonese have
endeavored to disturb Corea, which is under the government of China,
they have been unable to succeed therewith, and have been driven from
the said kingdom, and Corea has remained in great peace and quiet,
as the peoale of Luzon know well from what has been told them. [_At
the beginning of this paragraph, and on the margin_: "They knew that
the English are our friends."]

Last year, after we learned that, as a result of the deceit of
Tiognen, so many Chinese had been put to death in Luzon, many mandarins
assembled to agree upon urging the king to take vengeance for all these
deaths. We said that the land of Luzon was a wretched land of little
importance, of old inhabited only by devils and snakes; and that, as a
result of the immigration there a few years ago of so many Sangleys to
trade with the Castilians, the country has been enriched to the extent
to which the said Sangleys have labored therein. They have built the
walls, and made houses and gardens, and other things of great advantage
to the Castilians. Nevertheless, the Castilians had no consideration
for these things, and have felt no gratitude for these good works,
but have 60 cruelly slain all those people. Although we wrote this
statement two or three times to the king, he replied to us that,
although he was grieved by what had happened, there were three reasons
why we should not avenge ourselves or make war upon Luzon. The first
was that the Castilians had long been friends of the Chinese in this
region; the second is that it was uncertain who would be victorious,
Chinese or Castilians; and the third and last reason, that the people
slain by the Castilians were a base people, ungrateful to China,
their native country, to their parents, and to their relatives,
since so many years had passed during which they had not returned
to China. The king said that he did not consider these people of any
value, for the aforesaid reasons; and he merely commanded the viceroy,
the eunuch, and me to write this letter sent by this ambassador, that
the people of Luzon may know that the king of China has great kindness,
great patience, and great pity, since he has not commanded them to
make war against the people of Luzon. His justice is plainly to be
seen, since he has punished the deceit of Tiognen.