Note 1 — LETTER FROM THE ECCLESIASTICAL CABILDO TO FELIPE III
Reading edition
We have written your Majesty whenever occasion has offered by means of the ships that have left these islands, relating to you the necessity of this holy church, as you are its true protector and defense. Inasmuch as it is farther from this blessing, so much greater is the loneliness and disconsolation which it suffers especially in this the period of its widowhood,1 which has been so long because of our sins. So long as we do not receive word that your Majesty has received our letters, we shall make use of our permission to write you. We shall continue in this letter to mention certain matters which we related in former ones. Perhaps this letter will have a different fate and will merit a royal reception by your Majesty.