will be saved thus—but with the condition of sending them to me, so that I may confirm them. You shall bind the parties to the agreement, upon the arrival of the said confirmations, to some brief period, such as you may assign for it.
49. I have been told that, although a few of the encomenderos of the said islands, who fear God and their consciences, are trying to establish ministers of religious instruction in their encomiendas, others are not doing this, and refuse to do it as they are obliged, and as is advisable, notwithstanding that there are plenty of the said ministers; that there are encomiendas which have been paying tribute peacefully for fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five years, without the Indians of them ever having seen a minister or heard a word of Christian instruction; and that also many other encomiendas pay tribute by pure force of soldiers and arquebuses, who rebel and revolt because of the oppression and severity with which they are treated, without knowing the reason why they should pay it, since they have no instruction. Since, besides the obligation to procure the welfare of those souls, their conversion, instruction, and teaching, which should be the chief constraining force; and since even for temporal affairs, for the peace and tranquillity of the country, so that those pacified should not revolt, and so that those in revolt should be subdued, the best method is that of instruction—for which the common treatment, mildness, upright life, and counsels of the religious and ministers of the gospel incline and regulate their minds: therefore I charge you that, after consulting with the bishop you shall, in my name, provide what is advisable in this, so that the necessary instruction may be furnished, that my
