the _Audiencia_, in the opinion of the French astronomer Le Gentil,
were the only safeguard against an arbitrary despotism, yet Zúñiga,
a generation later pronounced its efforts in this direction generally
ineffectual. [56] The _residencia_ to which reference has been made
was an institution peculiar in modern times to the Spanish colonial
system, it was designed to provide a method by which officials
could be held to strict accountability for all acts during their
term of office. Today reliance is placed upon the force of public
opinion inspired and formulated by the press and, in self-governing
communities, upon the holding of frequent elections. The strength
of modern party cohesion both infuses vigor into these agencies and
neutralizes their effectiveness as the case may be. But in the days
of the formation of the Spanish Empire beyond the sea there were
neither free elections, nor public press, and the criticism of the
government was sedition. To allow a contest in the courts involving
the governor's powers during his term of office would be subversive of
his authority. He was then to be kept within bounds by realizing that a
day of judgment was impending, when everyone, even the poorest Indian,
might in perfect security bring forward his accusation. [57] In the
Philippines the _residencia_ for a governor lasted six months and was
conducted by his successor and all the charges made were forwarded to
Spain. [58] The Italian traveler Gemelli Careri who visited Manila in
1696 characterizes the governor's _residencia_ as a "dreadful Trial,"
the strain of which would sometimes "break their hearts." [59]

On the other hand, an acute observer of Spanish-American
institutions of the olden time intimates that the severities of the
_residencia_ could be mitigated and no doubt such was the case in the
Philippines. [60] By the end of the eighteenth century the _residencia_
seems to have lost its efficacy. [61] The governorship was certainly a