Note 41 — Chapter II · THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AUDIENCIA OF MANILA (1583–1598).

However unfavorable were the above comments on the governor, the picture which De Vera drew of himself in a letter to Archbishop Contreras,41 at that time viceroy of New Spain, is exceedingly interesting by way of contrast. In his own words, the governor had grown “old and worn” in his Majesty’s service. According to him, the audiencia was of no service to the government, and only a drawback, making his own duties as governor doubly heavy, especially “since the Council [of the Indias] so poorly seconds my efforts ... everything concerning the government and war in these islands depends on the president. He must attend to everything punctually; and, in order to comply with his Majesty’s commands, he must pay over and spend from the royal treasury what is necessary for the affairs of government and of war.”