of news, which other pens, less
awkward than mine, will relate; I can only tell what I have known. In
the year 1687 the examiner [pesquisidor]--as the Chinese say, the
fisherman [pescador]--Don Francisco Campos y Valdivia arrived at
Manila; according to the reports, it would seem that he went there
to encourage anew and continue the malignant acts of the archbishop
and the Dominicans, and to pillage the wealth of that community and
finally squeeze out of it the little blood that it has. He immediately
joined hands with Governor Curuzealegui, the archbishop, and the
Dominicans; he selected as his adviser, director, and counselor the
Dominican Fray Raimundo Verart, the source of so many disturbances;
and--without heeding that his Majesty, on account of the latter's
turbulent disposition, had commanded that the said religious should
proceed to the court [at Madrid]--he immediately took possession of
the said religious, who was with him at all hours of day and night, in
his house. [He did so] in order that the religious should prepare for
him the documents, acts, and inquiries for which he was commissioned,
on account of the illiterate manner in which the fisherman usually
drew them up. From this may be interred what documents he will carry
to the court, with a hand so malicious and bold--but with the safety
of the father confessor's broad shoulders, and the cunning tendencies
of the chief, of vast piety.

There are more than three hundred thousand pesos, in jewels and
commodities, that he has carried away, well guarded; and he is full of
confidence of new rewards. I do not doubt that the chief distributor
will enjoy a very pleasant time, knowing that the Jesuits remain
humbled, trampled down, and without recourse--they, to whom on so
many grounds he ought to show himself at least indifferent.

He discharged his fury against the governor, Don Juan de Vargas,
and, without allowing him to defend himself--since hardly had Don
Juan chosen a lawyer or notary when he awoke in exile--he banished
him to a distant place, and among Dominicans. And, to soften this
humiliation, the archbishop denied him the absolution that he sought
(going up to the prelate's house on his knees), without paying any
attention to the strict injunction of his Majesty, or urging the
visitor to secure its fulfilment; and demanding an order to carry Don
Juan to Mexico, notwithstanding the securities [that he had given]
for his residencia. He was left in th