nded
him to go to the provisor on the same errand; and the latter sent him
to little Caraballo, the dealer in fireworks. All this he fulfilled,
even to signing a letter for the king, in which he retracted all that
he had written against the Dominicans; in one word, he signed what they
placed before him, already written. We all supposed that he would be
quickly absolved, and he himself demanded this; but answer was made
to him that his illustrious Lordship would notify him of it, and of
the time and manner thereof. All this was to give time for the return
from Cagayan of the bishop of Troya, so that Don Juan should ask his
pardon and compensate him for the injuries which that prelate judged
Don Juan had inflicted on him. He came from Cagayan about Holy Week,
and that time passed without any mention of absolution, until, on Holy
Saturday, the archbishop going to give the Easter salutations to the
governor, the latter addressed him very fittingly--telling him that it
seemed very wrong that at a time when Christ our Lord suffered for men,
and not only pardoned but even excused those who were tormenting him,
his Lordship, who stood in the place of Christ, was incriminating Don
Juan de Vargas, and refusing to pardon him even after he had obeyed,
in so edifying a manner, all the commands that had been laid upon him,
although those commands were unjust, and ought not to be obeyed. This
was the substance of the discourse, which lasted more than an hour;
and they discussed therein the question of the absolution, with the
warmth which will be related.

The archbishop summoned an assembly, by means of the document which
I send you with this, full of contemptuous remarks about the royal
authority--as the paper itself shows, without further explanation. The
good old man is obliged to decide with the Troyan and his friars what
he has to do, and then seek the support of the religious orders. For
this conference a letter was written to the bishop of Sinopolis,
and the latter told the fireworks secretary his poor opinion of such
conferences; that if he must do what was there determined by the
friars, and if this was to be like the former conference--so many
black-gowns [negritos] crowding in, and, when one asked a question,
its stirring up fifteen hundred other things--it was best to cease
having such assemblies. The bishop remained at home, but sent his
written opinion that the archbishop ought to absolve Don Juan de
Vargas, and that p