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We do not deny having the stocks which are mentioned in the notice, neither do we deny that we have occasionally punished the Indians, but this was done before the bishop arrived with the Pope's authority and after his arrival with his approval and consent, and merely in ecclesiastical cases and always with the moderation appropriate to our mission and which the weakness and novelty of these natives requires, and if in this any of our subordinates have exceeded their duties in any way, they have been punished by their superiors and instructed how to behave, since we are not so entirely lacking in reason that we do not know up to what point we can and must extend, nor do we desire other than the well-being of these natives, that we do not consider thoroughly how we should treat them, whether to scold them and punish them for their weaknesses, whether to forgive them, or whether to be lenient and tolerate them, and if there is no confidence in us to do this and if we are obliged to go before Courts and hearings for each mere bagatelle as has begun to occur recently and if the slightest complaint made by the Indians about their ministers has to be heard before the Court and the priest or cleric summoned under a Royal decree, as has also recently occurred, then it would be better to abandon this mission, Your Majesty granting us permission to do so, than to suffer so many vexations and anxieties when only concern is to satisfy Your Majesty's conscience and our own which, not without tribulation, makes us see our obligation and seek any remedy we may have to fulfil this.
We are well aware that it is ordered by a royal decree that priests should not use stocks nor punish nor seize Indians and as this decree was issued in respect of New Spain, it was never executed since it was not deemed appropriate, and although it was appropriate in New Spain, it is not appropriate in any way whatsoever in these lands as these natives have different characters and customs to the Indians over there and if the person responsible for them were not able to force and compel them, they would not wish to do anything concerning the faith. And Your Majesty must not think that we are stating this because in this land we wish to have so much power to go among the Indians as investigating judges, preparing trials, bringing charges against them and hearing rebuttals from them, but rather we treat them as schoolmasters or, more appropriately, as parents with their children, sometimes praising them and sometimes scolding them, sometimes punishing them in an appropriate fashion so that they refrain from the vices to which they
318
We do not deny having the stocks which are mentioned in the notice, neither do we deny that we have occasionally punished the Indians, but this was done before the bishop arrived with the Pope's authority and after his arrival with his approval and consent, and merely in ecclesiastical cases and always with the moderation appropriate to our mission and which the weakness and novelty of these natives requires, and if in this any of our subordinates have exceeded their duties in any way, they have been punished by their superiors and in- structed how to behave, since we are not so entirely lacking in reason that we do not know up to what point we can and must extend, nor do we desire other than the well being of these natives, that we do not consider thoroughly how we should treat them, whether to scold them and punish them for their weaknesses, whether to forgive them, or whether to be lenient and tolerate them, and if there is no confidence in us to do this and if we are obliged to go before Courts and hearings for each mere bagatelle as has begun to occur recently and if the slightest complaint made by the Indians about their ministers has to be heard before the Court and the priest or cleric summonsed under a Royal decree, as has also recently occurred, then it would be better to aban- don this mission, Your Majesty granting us permission to do so, than to suffer so many vexations and anxieties when only concern is to satisfy Your Majesty's conscience and our own which, not without tribulation, makes us see our obligation and seek any remedy we may have to fulfil this.
We are well aware that it is ordered by a royal decree that priests should not use stocks nor punish nor seize Indians and as this decree was issued in respect of New Spain, it was never executed since it was not deemed appropriate, and although it was appropriate in New Spain, it is not appropriate in any way whatsoever in these lands as these natives have different characters and customs to the Indians over there and if the person responsible for them were not able to force and com- pel them, they would not wish to do anything concerning the faith. And Your Majesty must not think that we are stating this because in this land we wish to have so much power to go among the Indians as inves- tigating judges, preparing trials, bringing charges against them and hearing rebuttals from them, but rather we treat them as schoolmasters or, more appropriately, as parents with their children, sometimes prais- ing them and sometimes scolding them, sometimes punishing them in an appropriate fashion so that they refrain from the vices to which they
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