chapter xl

of book i; it is not, however, an exact translation, but in part a synopsis. The meaning is not distorted; but we have preferred to translate this portion of the chapter, entitled in San Antonio "Of the characteristics and genius of the Filipino Indians," directly from the Spanish, reproducing exactly the matter synopsized by Le Gentil.]

"412. Among the gifts with which man is adorned, those of the soul are the most noble and most important--for instance, the characteristics or bent, and the skill or understanding in the exercise of a man's reasonings and mental operations. And since the soul is so dependent on the body and on its sensations, the spiritual operations are tempered by the bodily characteristics. These characteristics (in the judgment of Galen, Plato, Aristotle, and Hippocrates), are such or such, according to the varying climate of the [different] regions. Consequently, the difference of nations in bodily characteristics, and in disposition, genius, and morals, springs from the various climates of the regions, and from the difference in air, water, and food--in accordance with that maxim, _Natura facit habilem_, [93] in its common interpretation. That makes evident (in distant regions) the difference between Spaniards and French, Indians and Germans, Ethiopians and English. It is experienced, within distances not so great, in the many provinces of Espana alone. Even in Ubeda and Baeza, only one legua apart, this diversity of men and women is found. There are more marked differences of this sort encountered in Philipinas; for there are certain peoples at the mouth of one river, while at the source are others very different in complexion, customs, and languages. In the same province are found stupid and intelligent peoples; white, black, and brown; and those of distinct degrees of corpulency, and features according to the various temperatures and climates. It is a matter which is truly surprising, to see so great a diversity of temperatures and so great a diversity of men within so small a space. But that happens in districts here and there, for usually there is but little differentiation in these islands in characteristics and genius. If one Indian be known, I believe that they are all known; but God alone can have this complete knowledge.

"413. The very reverend father, Gaspar de San Agustin, an Augustinian and a native of Madrid, with the practical experience of forty years of life among those people, confesses, in a letter which he wrote concerning their characteristics--and which although in manuscript, deserves to be printed, for he understood those natives as far as it is possible to comprehend them--that it is so difficult to describe their characteristics that it would be more easy to define the formal object in logic; more feasible to compute the square of a circle; more discoverable to assign a fixed rule for the measurement of the degrees of longitude on the globe; and after the four knowledges of Solomon could be placed this fifth, as impossible. [94] In fact, after so many years, he says that he has only been able to understand that _quadraginta annis proximus fui Generationi huic, & dixi: semper hi erant corde_. [95] He speaks at length and from experience and with remarkable detail. Although the letter is worth printing, my lack of space does not allow me to copy it. [96]

"414. Granting, then, as true the experiences that he writes, and reducing them to a brief summary I assert that _the character of these Indians is a maze of contradictions and oppositions_; and I believe that this is not the worst of the descriptions. For they are at once proud and humble; bold in wickedness, and pusillanimous cowards; compassionate and cruel; negligent and lazy; but for their own affairs, whether evil or good, careful and watchful; easily credulous, but incapable of understanding, and fickle, after so oft repeated sacred teachings. They are very much inclined to attend the church, and its feasts and solemn rites, but it is necessary to oblige them by the rigor of the lash to attend mass on the prescribed days, and confession and communion when holy Church orders; and are very reverent toward the ministering fathers because of the superiority that they recognize in them, while at the same time they mock them, murmur against them, and even deceive them. Consequently, a religious called them jokingly 'the schoolchildren of St. Casiano;' [97] for it is a fact that they go astray in all their resolutions without the government of the fathers, and it is necessary to treat them like schoolchildren in their instruction."

[Here we resume the narrative of Le Gentil, who italicises the words, "It is necessary to employ the lash in order to get them to attend mass on the prescribed days when holy Church orders it, and to treat them as schoolchildren," and continues:]

This is an abuse which reigns in the provinces. The religious give the lash to women and girls with a cat-o'-nine-tails, even in the presence of their husbands, and no one dares say a word. That is not practiced at Manila, and the religious are not so absolute there as they are in the provinces; and, besides, one is able at times not to attend mass on Sunday without that act of irreligion reaching the ears of the religious or the cures.

I was intimately acquainted at Manila with some army officers, with whom I had gone from the Ile de France to that city on board the "Bon-conseil." Although Spaniards, they dared to revolt publicly against that ridiculous custom; others approved it. Sometimes the religious or fathers have their own executioners, and the church is the place of the action. In this regard a singular chance procured me a knowledge of the following.

A short league [_lieue_] from Manila is a parish called Las Penas (_les Roches_) [_i.e._, "the rocks"]. It is under the charge of a secular priest, and has a very small church, built of bamboo and thatched with straw. It is a charming place, and pleasure-parties often go there to dine, or walk there after dinner. I went there quite frequently with Father Melo. One Sunday, Don Andres Roxo and Dona Ana Roxo, his wife, asked me to go there to dine with them. Don Andres Roxo had married one of the daughters of the marquis of Villa-Mediana, a distinguished family of Spain. The marquis, who has died since my return to France, was then commandant of the troops in Manila, and was to come to join us in the afternoon. As I was walking with Monsieur and Madame Roxo in the country quite near the village, about four or five in the afternoon, we beheld a great concourse of people gathered about the entrance of that same village. We went in that direction, to ascertain what could be happening. It was a woman who had not attended mass that day, whom they were taking to the church to lash. She was led along by the executioner. He had a heavy cat-o'-nine-tails on his shoulder, which hung down to the middle of his back. The father, more black than white, went behind, and a crowd of Indians followed, especially of Indian women. Doubtless they were those of the village, who were obliged to witness the ceremony, in order to teach them not to stay away from mass. Madame Roxo, seeing this sight, was touched with compassion. She left us, forced her way through the crowd, and easily succeeded in reaching the father. She asked clemency for that woman, which was obtained.

At this juncture the marquis of Villa-Mediana arrived. From as far as we could see him we went to meet him. When he asked us whence we came, Madame Roxo told him what had just happened. But the marquis, far from approving the generosity of his daughter, put on a severe countenance, and scolded her for it roundly in my presence. He told her in express terms _that she had performed a very wrong action, which would be the cause of a greater evil; that that woman would not fail to commit that sin again, and perhaps several times, and the blame and sin for it would rebound on her who had asked for the pardon_.

[Le Gentil concludes this article by a further translation and synopsis of the same chapter of San Antonio, which relates entirely to the characteristics of the natives--matter which will, if space permit, be embodied in this series.]

CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF THE FRIARS

[The following is taken from volume ii of Sinibaldo de Mas's _Informe sobre el estado de las islas Filipinas en 1842_ (Madrid, January, 1843).]

The ecclesiastical estate

Shortly after Legaspi had discovered the islands, came successively religious of St. Augustine, St. Dominic, and St. Francis, who spread through the interior and founded convents in Manila. They were the ones who accomplished most in the spiritual and temporal conquest, as is attested uniformly by writers, native and foreign, even the least devout. Some years later, bishoprics were erected; and from that moment began a struggle between the bishops and the monastic orders as to whether or no the friar curas should be subject to the diocesan visit. Innumerable are the treatises, opinions, superior decrees, and scandalous disputes, which took place on this account, as we have already seen in the chapter called "History." The arguments of the religious were founded on the fear of falling into relaxation of their regular observance, as they believed that they could not be good ministers without being good religious. The religious of the Order of St. Dominic, discussing this point in the year 1710, resolved that, if the lords ordinary [98] attempted to subject them to the diocesan visit, they would first abandon all their missions; _for the province regards it as certain and evident that the ruin of the ministering religious must follow the said visit; and of this opinion have been, for many years past, grave religious and zealous and superior prelates whom the province has had_. In the year 1757, Governor Don Pedro Manuel Arandia claimed, with the greatest firmness, that the regulars should submit to the laws of the royal patronage in respect to the appointment of religious for the curacies, and that they should receive the canonical installation. He first directed himself to the provincial of the calced Augustinians, even going so far as to warn him that, if he did not obey his behests and commands in this matter, the governor would proceed to his exile and the occupation of his temporalities. To that the provincial replied that he could not under any circumstances accede to his demands, adding that "he knew by proof in his establishment the ruin of their regular institute, with notable harm to souls;" and that "he was at the same time assured that the piety of the king (whom may God preserve) would not take it ill at seeing the aforesaid province [of Augustinians] reduced to their profession and subject to the same laws of the royal patronage. Those laws, although so just, do not bind the regulars to continue in their missions, which they obtain precariously, in case that all the royal patronage is impracticable to them with their institute." In the year 1767, and during the government of Don Simon de Anda, there came an order from Madrid, together with a bull from Pope Benedict XIV, requiring the curas to submit to the metropolitan. The religious of St. Augustine still resisted, which caused Anda to have all the curas in Pampanga arrested, and to send the provincial and definitors to Espana. In the year 1775 arrived a decisive order from the court, requiring all the regulars to submit to the visit and the royal patronage, and the restoration of the curacies of Pampanga to the Augustinians. They submitted, and from that time the regular curas have been subject to their provincial in matters _de vita et moribus_ [_i.e._, of conduct and morals], of the bishop in all that pertains to spiritual administration, and to the captain-general as the viceregal patron. According to a royal decree of August 1, 1795, it is impossible to remove a regular cura against his will without formulating a cause against him and trying him according to law, unless he is appointed to fill some office in the order; and even in this case it is necessary that the consent of the ordinary and the royal vice-patron precede, in accordance with the terms of another royal decree of September 29, 1807. Perhaps this subjection of the curas to the bishops and vice-patrons will have resulted in great advantages; but there is no doubt that the relaxation of morals which the regular superiors foresaw has been verified. There are many, there are numberless faults which a director recognizes and knows positively, but which cannot be proved in a judgment, especially when one is conducting a cura of souls. Further, in a cause, it is necessary to take depositions from the parishioners, and to make public matters which it would be highly important to keep secret; for scandal does more harm than the evil which one is trying to remedy, especially in a colony where the good man and the prestige of the religious is so important. And, above all, it ought to be remembered that since the will of three must unite to punish one cura, it will be very easy for the cura to find a means of securing favor from some of them. Those evils would probably be remedied by rigorously obeying the commands of Benedict XIV in his constitution beginning _Firmandis_, given November 6, 1744, in which it is ruled that the regular curas may be removed from their curacies according to the will of one or the other superior, without its being necessary for either to declare to the other the causes of the removal.

As a result of these continuous and obstinate quarrels between the regular curas and the bishops and civil authorities, and as if to cut the Gordian knot, the government ordered, in 1753, that all the curacies be handed over to secular priests of the country. The execution of this decree presented so many difficulties, and raised so many remonstrances that it was decided in 1757 that, until it should be ordered otherwise, none of the curacies administered by regulars should be granted to a secular priest under any circumstances, until it was really vacant, and that then the viceroy and the diocesan should agree together whether or no it were advisable to make it secular; and the opinion of both should be carried into effect, and that in equal accord they should execute the decree of 1753. By this decision, the governor-general had the power to deprive the friars of their curacies at will, since the bishops have almost always desired or solicited that. Carlos III, wearied at the obstinacy of the Augustinian religious in not submitting to the diocesan visit, ordered by decrees of August 5 and November 9, 1774, that all the missions should be secularized as they fell vacant. The governor, then Don Simon de Anda, in spite of being at open war with the friars--because they had intrigued in Madrid against him when the government was conferred on him--and of his being, perhaps, the governor-general most hated by them, inveighed so strongly against this order, asserting that it was not advisable to the service of God and the State, that the same Carlos III resolved that the decree of 1774 should not have effect, and that the curacies and missions which the religious had filled before the decree, should be returned to them. Nevertheless the government of Madrid was so annoyed and wearied at the continual strife which the friars maintained with the bishops and authorities, that it desired to cut the dispute short, at any risk; and in this same decree it was recommended that a body of Filipino secular priests be formed, so that the curacies could be surrendered to these as they became vacant--thus carrying into effect the decree of 1757, when they should be ready for it. This same order was confirmed by another decree of December 11, 1776, and another of September 7, 1778--although in this last, in consideration of a representation of Don Pedro Sarrio, which will be seen later, it was provided that there should be no innovation in what was contained in the decree of '76, without the express order of the Council and of the king. In 1822, in consequence of a decree of the Cortes, the curacies which fell vacant were presented at a meeting of opponents. In regard to the first, which was that of the village of Malate, the superior of the calced Augustinians, Fray Hilarion Diez, made a representation; but the archbishop, Don Fray Juan Zulaybar, was interested in complying with the decrees of the Madrid government. In 1826, order was given to return that curacy to the religious, and all [others] that they had, and what was declared to them by the decree of 1776; and that the secularization of any curacy should not be proceeded with except by express order of the king.

I am going to insert what Don Tomas de Comyn said about the religious of Filipinas in a book which has not had the appreciation that it merits, and which is already rare.

"The valor and constancy with which Legaspi and his worthy companions conquered these natives would have been of little use, had not the apostolic zeal of the missionaries aided in consolidating the undertaking. The latter were the true conquerors--who, without other weapons than their virtues, attracted the good-will of the natives, made them love the Spanish name, and gave the king, as by a miracle, two millions more of submissive and Christian vassals. They were the legislators of the barbarous hordes who inhabited the islands of this immense archipelago, thus realizing with their persuasive mildness the allegorical prodigies of Amphion and Orpheus.

"As the means, then, which the missionaries employed to reduce and civilize the Indians, were their preaching and other spiritual instruments, and as, although they were scattered and working separately, they were at the same time subject to the authority of their superiors--who as chiefs, directed the great work of the conversion--the government primitively established in these provinces must necessarily have shared much of the nature of the theocratic; and there is no doubt that it so continued until, the number of the new colonists, as well the effective force of the royal authority, increasing with the lapse of time, it was possible to make the governing system uniform with that which rules in the other ordinary establishments of Espana.

"Further, this same is deduced from the fragments which even yet remain of that first constitution in the islands of Batanes and the missions of Cagayan, which are administered spiritually and temporally by the Dominican fathers; and from what can be noted at every step in the other provinces, by whoever gives the matter but a little attention. For although the civil magistracies are regulated now, and their respective attributes determined with all precision, it has been as yet impossible to lay aside, however much they have tried to show the contrary, the personal authority which the parish priests hold among their parishioners; on the contrary, the government has indeed seen itself constantly under the necessity of making use of this same authority, as the most powerful instrument to acquire respect and due subordination. Consequently, although the parish priests are not today authorized to intervene by law in the civil administration, they become in fact the real rulers.

"It certainly is the case that, since the parish priest is the consoler of the afflicted, the pacifier of families, the promoter of useful ideas, the preacher and example of all good; as generosity is conspicuous in him, and the Indians see him alone among them, without relatives, without trade, and always engaged in their greater good--they are accustomed to live contentedly under his paternal direction, and to give him their whole confidence. Master in this way of their wills, nothing is done without the counsel--or, to speak more correctly, without the consent--of the cura. The gobernadorcillo, on receiving an order from the alcalde, goes first to get the permission of the father; and it is the latter who, in strict terms, tacitly sees to its fulfilment, or prevents its course. The father concludes or directs the suits of the village; makes the writs; goes up to the capital to plead for his Indians; opposes their petitions, and at times their threats, to the violences committed by the alcaldes-mayor; and manages everything by the standard of his own desire. In a word, it is impossible for there to be any human institution, at once so simple and so firmly grounded, and from which so many advantages can be derived for the State, as that (which is admired with reason) which is firmly established in the ministries of these islands. And by the same fatality it is very strange that since the true art of governing a colony like Filipinas, which is different from all others, consists in the wise use of so powerful an instrument as secrecy, the superior government has been laboring under an hallucination for some years past, to the point of pledging itself to the destruction of a work that it is so advisable to maintain.

"In this as in other things, one may very plainly see how absurd or how difficult it is to organize a system of government which is equally well suited to the genius of all peoples, regardless of what discordance may exist in their physical and moral make-up. Hence, when one tries to assimilate _in toto_ the administrative regime of these provinces to that of the Americas, he meets obstacles at every step which evidently originate from this erroneous principle. The regime, however much one may try to assert it, must either make itself obeyed by fear and force, or respected by means of love and confidence. And in order to convince one's self that the first is impracticable, it is quite sufficient to take into consideration the following circumstances and reflections.

"The number of the whites in proportion to that of the natives is so small, that it can scarcely be set at the ratio of 15:25,000. These provinces, infinitely more populous than those of America, are given into the care of their alcaldes-mayor, who take there no other troops than the title of military captains and the royal decree. Besides the religious, no other whites than their alcalde-mayor generally live in the whole province. He has the care of the royal possessions; he attends to the punishment of evildoers; he pacifies riots; he raises men for the regiments who garrison Manila and Cavite; he orders and leads his subjects in case of an invasion from the outside; in short, he alone must do everything, on the word of alcalde-mayor and in the name of the king. In view, then, of the effective power that the fulfilment of so great a variety of obligations exacts spontaneously, and the fact that no one assists him with what is in his charge, who could deny that it would be to risk the security of these dominions too greatly to try to rule them by means so insufficient? If the villages are in disorder or revolt, to whom will the alcalde turn his face for aid in checking and punishing them? What other recourse is there for him in such a conflict than to flee or to die in the attempt? And if it is considered indispensable among cultured nations that authority always present itself accompanied by force, how can one expect that bare and unprotected law be respected among Indians?

"It is clear that it is necessary to appeal to force of another kind, and to employ means, which although indirect, are without dispute the most adequate under the peculiar circumstances of these lands; means which, by influencing the imagination, excite veneration, subjugate the rude intellect of the inhabitants, and lead them to endure our dominion without repugnance. And well can one understand, too, how ready these means are found, and how we are envied for them and have always been envied by all the other European nations who have aspired to extend and consolidate their conquests in both Indias.

"Let one listen to La Perouse, if he would know and wonder at the arms with which our missionaries captured the natives of the Californias. Let him read dispassionately the marvelous deeds of the Jesuits in other parts of America. And above all, let him go to the Filipinas Islands, where he will be surprised to see those remote fields strewn with spacious temples and convents wherein divine worship is celebrated with splendor and pomp; regularity in the streets; ease and even luxury in dress and house; primary schools in all the villages, and the inhabitants very skilful in the art of writing; paved highways disclosed to view; bridges constructed in good architectural style; and the greater portion of the country, finally, in strict observance of the provisions of good government and civilization--all the work of the union of the zeal, apostolic labors, and fiery patriotism of the ministering fathers. Let him traverse the provinces, where he will see villages of five, ten, and twenty thousand Indians, ruled in peace by one weak old man who, with his doors open at all hours, sleeps secure in his dwelling, without other magic or other guard than the love and respect with which he has been able to inspire his parishioners. Can it be possible, on contemplating this, that by the efforts of foolish zealots, and by the vain endeavor that only those persons assigned by the general laws in ordinary cases shall intervene in the government of the natives, there should not only be a waste of the fruit obtained in so long a time and by so great constancy; but also that, scorning and repelling for the future a cooperation as efficacious as economical, the attempt should be made purposely to destroy the royal regulator, the principal wheel of this machine. Such is, notwithstanding, the deplorable upheaval of ideas that has conduced in these latter times to the adoption of regulations diametrically opposed to the public interest, under pretext of restraining the excessive authority of the parish priests.

"The superior government does not content itself with having despoiled the ministers of the power of themselves prescribing certain corrective punishments--which although of slight importance, contributed infinitely, when applied with discretion, to strengthen their predominance, and consequently that of the sovereign. But, in order more effectively to exclude them from and deprive them of all intervention in civil administration, the attempt has been made directly to destroy their influence, by arousing the distrust of the Indian, and by separating, when possible, the latter from their side. In proof of this, and so that my statement may not be taken as an exaggeration, it is sufficient to cite substantially two notable measures which, by their tendency, were obviously intended to weaken the influence and good reputation of the spiritual administrators.

"By one measure it is decreed that, for the purpose of preventing the abuses and notorious maladministration of the fund of the saints (especially attached to the cost of the festivals and the worship of each parish, formed from the principal and medium parishes--which are contributed by each individual tributario for that purpose, and are collected and administered privately by the cura), it should thereafter be kept in a box with three keys, one of which was to be in the possession of the alcalde-mayor, another in that of the gobernadorcillo of the respective village, and the other in that of the parish priest. By the other measure, it is declared, as a general point, that the Indian who is or has recently been employed in the domestic service of the parish priest is disqualified for being chosen to any office of justice.

"It is surely superfluous to make comments upon measures of such a nature, and which so clearly speak for themselves. The only thing that ought to be said is, that means could not more intemperately have been chosen, that are more harmful to the state, to the propagation of religion, and even to the natives themselves. It is, indeed, very strange that so much effort should have been exercised in impeaching the purity of the parish priests, by degrading in passing their respectable character, just at the moment when circumstances would make it appear natural that because on account of the mortality and scarcity of religious, the ardor and authority of even the few who remain ought to be encouraged by new stimulation. [This comes, too,] at a time when because the sending of missionaries to China has been suspended, and the spiritual conquest of the Igorrotes and other infidels who inhabit the interior of the islands has been almost abandoned the said Spanish laborers can neither give any help to the ordinary administration, nor prevent the transference of whole provinces to the hands of secular Indians and Sangley mestizos (as is happening)--who by their crass ignorance, disgraceful morals, and utter lack of decency, incur universally the contempt of their parishioners, making them, because of the tyrannies of these, sigh for the gentle yoke of their former shepherds.

"If it is desired, then, to keep this colony subject, and to elevate it to the lofty grade of prosperity, of which it is susceptible, in my opinion the first thing that ought to be attempted is the efficient organization of its spiritual administration. I say again, that we cannot be blind to the fact that, if the local government is powerless, because of the lack of military force and the scarcity of Europeans, to make itself duly obeyed through its own efforts, it is necessary to call to its aid the powerful influence of religion, and to bring new reenforcements of missionaries from the peninsula. For the latter differ essentially by their nature from the rest of public servants; it is well known that they neither claim nor expect any remuneration for their labor, aspiring only to obtain in the community the degree of respect to which they rightfully believe themselves entitled. Let their jurisdictions, then, be preserved, let them be treated with decorum, and let the direction of the Indian be entrusted to them; and instantly, they will be seen, in turn, reconciled, and the supporters of the legitimate authority.

"Nothing is more unjust, nor of which the ministering fathers complain with more reason, than the little discernment with which people have been accustomed to judge and condemn them, representing as common to all the body the vices of a few of the members. Consequently, there is not one who does not read without shame and indignation the insidious motives and the defamatory expressions lavished against them in the ordinances of good government drawn up in Filipinas in 1768 [99]--which, although ordered to be modified by his Majesty, are now in force for lack of others, and are found, printed, in the hands of all. For even granting that in any case there can actually have existed a cause for complaint, what will it matter at the end that this or that father may have abused the confidence reposed in him, so long as the spirit that animates the whole body of the religious is in accord with the sanctity of their estate, and in accordance with the aims of the government? Why must one forever pursue an ideal perfection, which cannot be obtained, and which is unnecessary in human society?"

Even though this be matter which pertains to a chapter on internal policy rather than to religion, I can do no less than say, succinctly and in passing, that in my opinion the ideas of Senor Comyn are very true; and that nothing could better qualify as men weak in affairs of state the governors or counselors who dictated the present ordinances and the above-mentioned measures and phrases printed in them against the religious. Even supposing those sentences to be very just, wise, and merited, what need would there be, what gain would result from printing them and placing them in the hands of the Filipinos?

Those who have no liking for the friars, censure them as egoists and buffoons; as living in concubinage; as gamblers and usurers; as arrogant, and ambitious for power.

In respect to refinement, it is known that the majority [of the friars] are of obscure birth. They pass from the bosom of the family to their novitiate; thence in a boat to the convent at Manila, and then to a village where there are no other Spaniards than themselves. Is it strange, then, that they are not more in the current of social forms? On that account one ought to overlook the fact that they do not know more, as is done with an honored artist or farmer. But other is the motive for this accusation of guilt. It is said that on the arrival of a Spaniard at a village the friars do not offer him lodging, and they often will not drink his health in a glass of water--or, at least, do not go to receive him; while everything is open for a Filipino. This is sometimes a fact, and has happened to me more than once; but everything needs explanation, and one must not pass judgment without hearing both sides. One must remember that there are at present many vicious and abandoned swindlers in the islands, especially of the class of creoles; and that such men very often form the plan to go to travel through the provinces at the cost of the curas, either to amuse themselves or to seek their fortunes. But, for amusement, the silver spoons and other trifles of one [of the curas] have been carried away. There are various others; especially among the recently-arrived military men, who, brought up among disturbances, and accustomed to insult the religious with impunity, have no scruples about telling them what they call "the truths of the coxswain." "Who could eat free soup [100] as you do, father, without working?" "What matters to you the good or poor harvest, so long as you have fools to impose upon?" "How is the stewardess?" "How many children have you?"--and innumerable others of the same kind, and even much worse. Anyone can recognize that it is very natural for these things to happen, and I myself have been a witness of them. There are more things--namely, that many of those persons who have been in the convents take delight immediately in publishing the weaknesses of the cura, abusing the confidence that the latter reposed in him, and (what is worse) exaggerating, and even mentioning things that never occurred. If the friar, carried away by the good humor born of the company of a compatriot, drank a little and became jolly, then he relates that the friar was drunk. If he saw a woman with a child in her arms who had come to speak to the friar on any of the innumerable matters that arise in the village, then he says that he knew the sweetheart and a child of the friar. If some curas of neighboring villages assembled, and engaged in playing _brisca_, or "thirty-one," [101] in order to pass the time, then it is said that they engaged in gambling. On that account the curas are so cautious of giving the freedom of their houses and their friendship to transient Spaniards, that they will now scarcely receive anyone who does not bring a letter of recommendation; and, considering this sensibly, it does not seem that they are to be censured for this caution toward people whom they do not know, in consideration of the fact that in Manila there is no police office, and a passport is easily given to whomever asks for it. In spite of all this, some curas--as for instance, Father Lorieri of Paniqui--without having any notice of me, received me with gratifying and ready hospitality. For the rest, the convents are usually the lodging-houses and inns of the village.

The friars in Filipinas are quite different from those in Espana. They are very glad to see a Spaniard arrive, when they know that he is not a malicious person. They have traveled, and they have escaped from the conversations and meetings of the convent; they are more tolerant, because they have rubbed against many Spaniards of liberal ideas; they have found that the lion is not so fierce as it is painted, and that there are respectable people in all parties, and men with good hearts--especially in that which takes for its goal the good of the country. How often would we abhor people less if we approached them and became acquainted with them! We must confess also that the hate cherished by the religious in Espana toward the liberals proceeds in great measure from the personal insults which they have endured; while in Filipinas these are very few and are neutralized by the tokens of veneration and respect which others pay them, because of circumstances which are entirely distinct from those of Espana. A man without prejudice and with a suitable standard of judgment, who lives in the metropolis [_i.e._, Madrid], sees in a friar the enemy of reforms, of progress, and of public prosperity; but, when he is in Filipinas, he sees in this same friar the benefactor of the public, and the preserver of tranquillity and of the colony. Consequently he considers and treats the friar differently than in Espana, and is repaid in the like coin. From this it happens that many who come from Espana with very exaggerated and preconceived ideas against the religious--even to the point of never having had relations or speech with a friar--and here have to come in contact with them, are surprised to find some (and even very many) of them very sociable, serviceable, tolerant, and worthy of all appreciation; and this has happened to me myself, both in Filipinas and in Palestina.

In regard to their being gamblers, I can say that when several curas of the neighboring villages assemble on the feast-day of a village, they sometimes play to pass the hot hours of the day; but I have never seen in the houses of Spanish religious what can be called play for gaining and losing money, and, in the convents of Manila, cards are not even played for amusement. I know this positively.

As for some of them leading licentious lives with women, I will not say that it is false, although I could not say that I know of such. I believe, indeed, that there is much exaggeration in this as in other things, and that not one quarter of it is to be believed. An official, not at all partial to the friars, and who lived several years in Pangasinan, told me that he never could discover that any of the Dominicans who minister there had a sweetheart; and that, if perchance any of them had one, he concealed it very carefully, since he himself had never known any trace of it. Concerning that point, I will say, although it appears evil to many, that that offense is the most excusable, especially in young and healthy men, placed in the torrid zone. Nature must struggle continually with duty. The garb of the Filipina women is very seductive; and it is known that the girls, far from being untractable to the cura, consider themselves lucky to attract his attention, and their mother, father, and relatives share that sentiment with them. What virtue and stoicism does not the friar need to possess! Let those who criticise them on this point imagine themselves to be living in a village without relatives or friends, or any other fellow-countrymen, at least with whom they can converse; and then let them be candid. Don Inigo Azaola told me that, meditating on the reason why so many Spanish religious went mad, he thought that it had its origin in the continual struggle between nature and devotion. [102]

In regard to usurers, there may be some among them who are addicted to trade, since the business carried on in the provinces consists chiefly in advancing money at seed-time, in order to receive the fruits at harvest time at a much lower price than is current in the market. Surely the cura who embarks in these speculations not only fails in his most sacred duty, [103] but even gnaws at and gives a deathblow to the principal base upon which rests the prestige and veneration enjoyed by the religious of Filipinas. Nothing infuses these weak and greedy islanders with so much love, surprise, and respect as does contempt for gold and for earthly goods. The generous minister, he who gives, will be considered as good, most good, and will obtain whatever he wants from his parishioners. The greedy and avaricious, he who does what common and vile men do, will, notwithstanding the habit in which he is clad, notwithstanding the sermons he preaches, be considered as mean, if he does not end by being despised and abhorred. Nevertheless, I can affirm that the religious who trade are very few, and among the Dominicans, not any. And this, and their anxiety for saving their stipends and for making money, proceeds in great measure from the information which they receive concerning the wretched condition of the religious in Espana, and their fear of falling into the same condition.

In respect to their pride and ambition to govern, all men have that, for this is our most powerful instinct; and the priests of all times and countries have had it. The royal decrees and the articles of which we have spoken demonstrate quite clearly that those of Filipinas have not escaped from falling into this sin. Up to a certain point, one can affirm that the civil government itself--or, to speak more accurately, circumstances--have placed them in a position where they must take part in the temporal administration. In a whole province, there is no other Spaniard in authority except the alcalde-mayor, and he never knows a word of the idiom of the country (see my remarks on the administration of justice). Hence it necessarily arises that the alcalde-mayor does not know more than the natives allow him to know; and that the gobernadorcillos of the villages are masters, inasmuch as in everything they do whatever they think proper. In order to obviate these inconveniences, scarcely is any document asked in which the government does not require the supervision of the cura; and in this way it obliges him to be acquainted with matters quite at variance with his ministry. The cura possesses the language, resides in the village, has the means of the confessional, [104] and when he wishes there are but few matters, even the most trivial, that can be hidden from him. On the contrary the alcalde, not having any of these advantages, can have knowledge of but few things, if the parish priest does not communicate them. I shall quote here what father Fray Manuel del Rio says on this point. "Although the temporal government of the village that he administers does not belong to the obligation of the minister of souls, but it may, on the contrary, be prejudicial to his obligation and ministry for him to meddle too much in this; yet on certain occasions it is necessary for the minister to put his shoulder to the wheel so that the village may be well governed--now by directing the gobernadorcillos in its employ, now by encouraging them and giving them zeal and energy and courage in certain decisions which they, through their cowardice, do not dare to make unless an order or command proceed from the minister; now also by restraining the audacity of the greater against the less, in order to prevent the annoyances that the chiefs practice upon their _cailianes_ [105]--thereby protecting the cause of the wretched, which is one of the duties that the council of Trent (in the place cited at the beginning of this work), commits to those who are ministers of souls.

"There are two kinds or modes of annoyances which the Indians who are more influential practice on those of lower rank. Some are peculiar to the cabezas de barangay, with their cailianes; others are common to every kind of rich Indian toward the poor. I shall first treat of those of the first class, and next, of those of the second.

"First, the cabezas are accustomed to impose on their cailianes certain taxes of silver, rice, and other products, under pretexts that they there feign, of service to the church or to the village. Perhaps, they cast the blame on the alcalde, who is most often unaware of such taxes and is not told of them. The remedy is that, when the minister learns of it, he causes the cabezas to be punished, and the silver to be returned to the cailianes.

"Second, when the father or some passenger pays the Indian rowers or carriers, or tanores, through the medium of the cabeza or of the government, the silver generally does not reach the hands of the Indians; but the cabezas keep it, under pretexts which they advance that the Indians owe a certain polo or tribute, long overdue, or similar things. The same thing happens with the money which the father or passengers give them with which to buy provisions, and, with the _opas_ of those who perform personal duty for others. The remedy for all this is for the minister to solicit him to pay the money to all [the Indians] into their own hands; and especially should he do that in what he buys [from them] or when he makes the Indians perform any work.

"Third, that in the polos the cabezas exempt whomever they wish, without other justification than that they choose to do so; and because those persons contribute silver, tobacco, or rice to the cabeza, thereby exempting themselves from personal service throughout the year. In that way the yoke of the polos and personal service is loaded on those of less influence. Consequently the personal service comes upon the Indians more frequently; _e.g._, although the village can have two months of rest (if there is order and harmony), it is usual for lack of that to have a return [of the personal service] every month, or every six weeks, if the minister does not attend to it, or intervene in the distribution of the personal service, by investigating and showing up these frauds of the cabezas.

"Fourth, in the tree-cuttings that arise for the king or for the village, all those who are cited do not go, many redeeming themselves with money which they give to their cabeza or to the petty officer [who exacts the work], thus burdening with all the work those who go--from which it follows that the felling of the timber is extended in time, and lasts longer than is necessary; and also that the petty officers or the cabezas make the Indians work for their own private interests. All of the above cannot be remedied unless the minister undertake to station secret spies, to advise him of the number of those who go, and also of those who work there more than is necessary for the king or for the village--so that those who shall be involved in such frauds may be punished, and so that they may be made to pay what they have usurped.

"Fifth, the gobernadorcillos of the villages appoint the officials whom they wish to help in their government. Many of them buy off their personal attention to it with money, which they give to the gobernadorcillo, and only help on Sundays with their authority, remaining the rest of the time in their houses. Consequently, the personal service of the village falls on very few, because of these and other like exemptions by the gobernadorcillos and cabezas for money, by which they themselves alone profit. For this reason, one must assign a definite number of bilangos or constables, outside of which number the gobernadorcillo cannot assign others. It appears sufficient that in villages of five hundred tributes twelve bilangos be appointed, so that each week four may aid, together with their constable-in-chief and lieutenant. In smaller villages nine are sufficient, so that three may aid every week. In very large villages there may be fifteen or eighteen, so that five or six may assist every week. Thus in all the villages the bilangos would rest two weeks, which is sufficient relaxation, since their personal duty is not very heavy.

"Sixth, in the collection of tributes, the cabezas perform many acts of injustice; for some are accustomed to collect the entire tribute of rice, and then to collect separately what they call 'the stipend of the father,' as if that were not included in the tribute. Some collect from each person six gantas more than they ought to give; for in many villages they receive fifty-eight cates as a kind of half tribute, and in others they receive from one house sixty cates from one and fifty-five from another, and it amounts to the same. There is generally an inequality in the balances used for weighing there in the field, where only God is witness, and the cabeza or collector, who weighs according to his pleasure. Not less is the deceit existing in the collection of oil, for double the amount asked from them by the king is usually taken, and the cabezas keep it; because they assess it among all the cailianes, although often half the barangay would be sufficient to obtain the assessment, and thus they could alternate between the two halves each year. All these troubles are usually encountered, and the worst is that they are often concealed so skilfully that the minister can learn of them but seldom; and for that reason I write them here, so that warning may be taken and the remedy procured--not only in respect to the charge on the consciences of those who occasion them, but in the matter of restitution to the sufferers, not neglecting to check these abuses, and to solicit that they be condignly punished by the civil authority.

"Seventh, others make their cailianes serve the entire year in their house or field, under pretext of paying their tribute for them. Some deliver them to mestizos or to other Indians, as if they were their slaves. In this way there are cabezas who hold many cailianes in slavery, making them serve in their houses for many years--without allowing them sometimes to hear mass or to go to the village, so that the father may not see them.

"All public works, both great and small, ought to be consulted over with the village itself which has to construct and pay for them. But it is to be noted that the village does not settle upon them, but the cabezas only. Rather they are a suspicious party, in this point, for if there is any work in the village, the cabezas are wont to have the greatest advantage from it. Consequently, they are generally the first to encourage the government officials to undertake any work; for not only do they not have to work at it, but they hope to get some benefit from it by the methods which they know how to use."

The reading of these instructions can give an idea of the internal government of a Filipino settlement, and the impossibility that impartiality and efficient justice can rule, if there is no intervention by the cura. I will add that the latter regards the village in a certain manner as his own. He enjoys seeing its prosperity and its advancement, as he thinks that this is his work. He takes an interest in its having good roads, harvests, tools, irrigation, and everything that can enrich and beautify it. Many curas spend all their money in public works, and on their churches. They rival one another, each striving to have in his own village the richest altars, the best houses, musicians, schools, and finely-dressed people. It is a sight worth seeing, a friar constituting himself overseer and director of a wooden bridge or of a causeway--administering a buffet to this one, a shove to another; praising that one, or calling this other a lazy fellow; giving a bunch of cigars to the one who stays an hour longer to work, or carries most bricks up to the scaffold; promising to kill a cow for the food of next day; and making them offers, often without any intention of fulfilling them, only with the object of encouraging them, and deceiving them like children. [106] But whoever knows the country can do no less than confess that this is the only means to get any advantage out of the lazy and childish Filipinos, who have no needs; and that the cura has infinite advantages over the governor, for his buffets do not offend, his requests oblige, and his love to the village and his disinterestedness captivate and interest these people, and make them as wax. Thus indeed can it be said that the cura is the soul of the village. In any province where its ruler is united with the curas, where the latter honor the alcalde and instruct him of all that happens, and he gives them the aid that is necessary to preserve their prestige--in that province, I say, there are no thefts, no disorders, no complaints, no tears, no insurrections, nor any other thing but a complete and durable peace, [107] and great submission and reverence to the Spaniards. At the present time that may be seen in the provinces where the governor has the right desires and a clear understanding, and recognizes the error into which the government has fallen during the last few years, in trying to deprive the curas of the civil administration, by forcing them to reduce themselves to spiritual matters, and to tolerate irreligious acts. The province of Pangasinan, for example, finds itself in this case under the orders of the worthy alcalde-mayor, Don Francisco de Lila, a volunteer of the militia of Manila and a very decided liberal: I have traveled through this province by night, with only one servant, without arms, and quite without fear, although there was not a soldier in the whole province. The horses and buffaloes were feeding in the meadows without herders; and, on my arrival at the capital, I went out with him in his carriage. In all the streets and from all the windows, we were saluted with great show of affection, and the children began to jump for joy, and to cry out, "Good afternoon, father." The tears started to my eyes, and I said: "Ah, simple people, how little do you know the blessing that you enjoy! Neither hunger, nor nakedness, nor inclemency of the weather troubles you. With the payment of seven reals per year, you remain free of contributions. You do not have to close your houses with bolts. You do not fear that the district troopers will come in to lay waste your fields, and trample you under foot at your own firesides. You call 'father' the one who is in command over you. Perhaps there will come a time when you will be more civilized, and you will break out in revolution; and you will awake terrified at the tumult of the riots, and will see blood flowing through these quiet fields, and gallows and guillotines erected in these squares, which never yet have seen an execution." "But is it not true also," I reflected later, "that this present happiness may be transitory up to a certain point, and that a changing of the captain-general or of the alcalde can cause great evils, and change the aspect of so pleasing a picture? Yes, it is a lamentable truth; and I shall do what is in my power so that your lot may be less precarious, and so that the government which rules you may be so organized that you may be as little as possible subject to the injustice and avarice of men; and so that, wherever you see a Spaniard, you may salute him with love and call him father."

But returning from our digressions to our matter in hand, I believe that if it is useful and indispensable for the parish priest to know, directly or indirectly, the particular affairs of the village, it is evident that far from undermining his authority, it ought to strengthen it as much as possible. From the time of the conquest, the curas have availed themselves of the expedient of applying some lashes to the natives, when the fathers have believed it necessary in order to correct faults, whether religious or those of another kind; and it is known that this has contributed not a little to the preservation of devotion. It is also known that they have not been hated for this by the islanders; but, on the contrary, the friars have constantly merited their love and have enjoyed a prestige which no one doubts. Everyone knows that if the friars have shown themselves exaggerated and unreasonable in anything, it has been in the protection of the Filipinos--more, indeed, than they deserved and than healthy justice demanded. Let us listen to the following words of Fray Casimiro Diaz: "The old laws in regard to the execution of the tributes were harsh, even to the point of making slaves of the debtors, and even killing them with lashes, or mutilating them. And although these laws were abolished from the time of Constantine as wicked, and have with the law of Christ been moderated within judicious limits, this benefit has not been obtained by the Indians. The Indian is beaten for his tribute. The goods of the Indian are sold for the tribute, and he is left destitute all his life. The Indian is enslaved for the tribute; for the cabeza de barangay, under pretext that he is getting back what the Indian owes, takes his house away from him, and, for the five reals that the Indian owes, makes him serve one whole year. In short, the wrongs which the tribute brings upon the poor wretch are so many, that the greatest charity which the parish priest can show him is to pay it himself." The above shows how this good father grieves because the Indian has to pay five reals per year--five reals, which a Filipino can get by simply planting a cocoa or cacao tree at the door of his hut. How happy would be the Spaniards, or the French and English, and any other Europeans, if they had no more to pay than that! But it is not credible that Father Diaz was unacquainted with the people who so broke his heart, and that he did not know the measures resorted to in the country. A few pages farther on the same father says: "The poverty of these Indians is not their curse, but it is their own idleness and laziness, and they content themselves with little. They are not ruled by covetousness; and, although there is some covetousness, their fondness for doing nothing tempers it, and they wish to live rather by providence than to dedicate themselves to work." What, then, would the good Father Diaz wish? that the Filipinos should not be made to contribute even the little amount that they now contribute, and that the government of Espana should send money there from the mother country in order to meet all the expenses of state, at the cost of increasing the heavy taxes which the Spaniards already pay? And all this, for what motive? Because the Filipinos are very "fond of doing nothing, desiring rather to live under the care of providence than to dedicate themselves to work." For thus are the fathers all, often carrying this enthusiasm or mania for protection to a ridiculous extreme--for it is the same to touch one of their parishioners and the apple of their eye. At times they make use of unjust and compromising expressions: Thus the tobacco monopoly is "an imposition" or "a bit of knavery." The impost for elections of gobernadorcillos, the signing of a passport, or any other accidental expense which is incurred [by the Indian], is "a theft." The services for the repairing of roads and bridges are "annoyances" or "tyrannies." And so on all in this tenor. Many would wish that the Filipino be left stretched out at ease all day long, and that afterward the manna should fall, and he have no other work than to open his mouth. Whoever has known the country, especially in former years, can do no less than say that there is not the least exaggeration in the picture which I draw; that the letters and remonstrances of the religious are what have been influential in dictating the laws of the Indias--which breathe out in every one of their lines, so great piety and mildness that one would believe that they treat only of innocent and tender lambs which are found among wolves. These know, too, that this same spirit has always led the religious to support the quarrels that have arisen against the civil and military government, which have, for the greater part, given origin to royal orders against them, and to the indiscreet articles of the ordinances which we have cited. Notwithstanding all this, during the last years certain new arrivals from Espana, especially those of the class of auditors and governors-general, have been feverish on hearing that the curas of the villages have whippings administered; and decrees have been fulminated against many provinces, in order to check this. In fact, they have attained that object; but the result of this most fatal error has been the increase of impiety in an astonishing manner, and there are a great number of villages where few go to mass, and more than the third part refuse to take the communion--which is probably also the cause of the increase in criminality which has been noted. But a short time ago, during the government of General Lardizabal, the religious presented a petition through the archbishop, asking that they be allowed to administer corrective punishment at the door of the church, as had always been their custom with those who were remiss in complying with the duties of religion. The government replied that the curas should avail themselves in such cases of advice and admonition, but that they should under no circumstances punish anyone corporally; and to complete matters, this ruling was circulated and communicated to the natives themselves, a measure that caused the greatest grief to the parish priests. The good Senor Lardizabal, who had an excellent heart, himself told me this incident, very well satisfied at the manner in which it had worked. We shall discuss this matter more at length in the chapter on "Internal policy."

There are regular and secular clergy in Filipinas. The latter are more numerous, and include some mestizos, Chinese, and many full-blooded Filipinos. The bishops, in spite of being Spanish, have almost always shown themselves hostile to the friars and patrons to the seculars. The origin of this partiality must be found in the old-time fight between the bishops and the regular curas--who defend their rights with tenacity; while the natives are submissive and most humble to the prelates and flatter them. Notwithstanding the protection of the bishops, the seculars have generally had a very bad reputation; and many private persons, of every class and in every epoch, have openly declared against them.

The religious now living in Filipinas, excepting those of the Order of St. Francis, are not able to fill the curacies in their charge--although there are curas who take under their charge an extension which they are unable, notwithstanding all their efforts, to administer well. The cura of Surigao has twelve visitas or dependent towns. From this condition there results, among other evils, this: that when there is any cura who is unruly or of evil conduct, there is no method of summoning him to the convent and replacing him with another. Hence proceeds the laxity which is consequent on impunity.

I have been not a little surprised to see that there is a lack of religious in Filipinas, where they enjoy the thorough protection of the government, and great consideration in the villages; where all have at least what is necessary to live with ease, [108] since they are able to command more from their domestic servants, and from all the singers, sacristans, and other dependents of the Church--and this while in Espana there is such an oversupply of them, and they live so uncomfortably. The curacy is generally worth to the parish priest one peso fuerte [109] to each tribute. The ministers of villages which contain more than one thousand five hundred or two thousand tributes usually have one or more assistants, according to their wish, with the consent of the bishop. The parish priest generally gives the assistant a house, his board, and ten or twelve pesos fuertes per month; and leaves to him the fees for the masses, which are worth to him in excess of one peso fuerte every day--so that, besides his lodging and support, the assistant can count upon thirty-five or forty pesos fuertes per month. The administrative ecclesiastical division follows:

There is one archbishop in the capital, and three suffragans--to wit, the bishop of Nueva Segovia, he of Nueva Caceres, and he of Zebu.

The archbishopric includes the provinces of Tondo, Bulacan, Pampanga, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Bataan, Zambales, and Mindoro. It contains one hundred and sixty-seven curacies, of which ninety-five are served by religious, and seventy-two by secular priests.

The bishopric of Nueva Segovia comprises the provinces of Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, and the missions of Ituy, of Pangui, of Abra, and of Batanes. It contains ninety-two curacies, of which eighty are served by religious, and twelve by seculars.

The bishopric of Nueva Caceres comprises the provinces of Tayabas, part of Nueva Ecija, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, and Albay. It contains eighty-four curacies, of which twenty-seven are served by religious, and fifty-seven by seculars.

The bishopric of Zebu comprises the provinces of Zebu, Iloilo, Capis, Antique, Negros, Caraga, Misamis, Zamboanga, Samar, Leyte, and Marianas (three hundred leguas distant). It contains one hundred and forty-three curacies, of which eighty-six are served by regulars and fifty-seven by seculars.

At present there are four hundred and fifty Spanish religious in Filipinas, and seven hundred Filipino secular priests, or thereabouts. More than three per cent of the Spaniards die annually; so that, in order that their present number may not diminish, it is necessary for fifteen to go there annually.

As a conclusion to this chapter, I cannot resist the desire to insert the words of a wise religious of Filipinas of former days, Father Pedro Murillo Velarde, as it may be useful to the ministers of the present time who may read these pages.

"To take the mean of the proportion in the administration of the Indians is one of the most difficult matters of the prudence. The parish priest must be in the village the loving father, the hospitable tutor, the master and diligent teacher of his parishioners; and as such he must not treat them as if he were a seignior of vassals. He must be dignified, but without affecting majesty. He should always strive to be loved, rather than feared. He must be affable, but not vulgar. He must not separate himself far from intercourse with his parishioners, nor be too familiar. He should visit them in charity rather than in affection. He should listen to their complaints, but not to their malicious reports. He should settle their controversies, but not in a partial manner. He should not be altogether credulous, nor despise everything. If one Indian accuses another, he should ascertain, before all else, whether they have quarreled. He must not be all honey, nor all gall. He should punish, but not flay off the skin. If the Indian knows that there is no whip near, the village will be quickly lost. A good beating at the proper time is the best antidote for all sorts of poisons; for, in the end, fear guards the vineyard. In punishments, let him show himself a father, not a hangman; and, in case of doubt, let him incline rather to mildness than to severity. Let him hear quarrels and discussions with the alcaldes, but let him not allow them to fleece his sheep. Let him defend his own jurisdiction, but not usurp that of another. Let him not become an alcalde unless the alcalde tries to become a cura. If he is unable to settle the quarrels of the Indians satisfactorily, he shall allow them to go to the alcalde, who will quickly render them harmonious by laughing at the matter of the quarrel. Let him handle books, but not cards. [110] Let him [not] direct the Indians in the government of his village, but let him leave them to those who govern them; for the wish to command is a sort of itch in Filipinas. Consequently, let him leave to each one the care of what God has given him. Let him check sins, but not lawful games and amusements, since thereby other and illicit amusements will be prevented. Let him eradicate drunkenness, but not prohibit all use of wine to all; for, if the cura drinks wine, why should not the Indian drink it in moderation? Let him not pour out the wine or break the wine-jars; for who has given him any authority for that? Because of some of these acts of imprudence, certain foolish laymen say that the ministers who come from Europa to become martyrs, become more than kings in their villages.

"Let him attend to the affairs of God, and not obstruct those of Caesar. Let him be the mirror of the village, so that all may imitate him; but not a telescope, to register foolish trifles. Let him get from the Indian what the latter is able to give; for he who tries to get everything loses everything. If the Indians learn that their sins are unpardonable, many will take to the hills. If the father is very harsh in the confessional, many sacrileges may be feared. In assigning penance, let him incline to mildness rather than to rigor, if he wishes the penance to be observed. Let his diligence when he preaches be not long, but fervid; for one onza of gold is worth more than an arroba of straw. Let him explain to the Indians what is necessary for their salvation, and let him not play the discreet among them. Let him use similes and examples in his sermons that they can understand, and not plunge into depths of abstract ideas, for that is a jargon which they do not understand; and they especially detest Latin phrases. The statement that the Indians have no faith is a pretext of the devil, to discourage the gospel ministers. Let him do with fervor whatever he finds to do, that the corresponding fruit may not be lacking; and even when there should be no fruit, God will reward his zeal. Let him not raise difficulties in taking the sacraments to the fields, but let it be with the reverence due. Let him insist on the presence of the boys at the school, for the good that follows from that is great; but let him not urge them so much that he wearies them. Let him receive the fees of the Church, but let him not collect with the severity of a warrant-holder. Let the Indians know that the cura is looking after their souls, not their purses; and let him remember that he came from Europa to remove disease from the sheep, not to take their wool. Let him give alms, but let him not scatter the patrimony of Christ uselessly. It will be a suitable alms to provide his parishioners with medals, rosaries, catechisms, and bulls [of the crusade]. [111] Let him not permit idle spongers in the village, who are goblins of cursed consequences; and the whiter they are, the worse. Let the cura be found more often in the houses of the sick and dying, than in weddings, games, and dances. He should let the customs of the villages alone, when they involve no grave disadvantages, for innovations alter men's dispositions; and more than anything else must he shun causing innovation in the prayer, and in matters pertaining to the Church and the method of administration. Let him encourage congregations, devotions, and novenas, frequent confession, daily mass, and the rosary, but let him warn the Indians that these are not for obligation but for devotion, since perhaps they sin through ignorance, when there is no guilt. The soul of the missionary or parish priest has a thousand dangers in the solitude of a village; but with prayer and mortification he can overcome all. Chastity is a flower so delicate that it takes but little to make it wither: the heart of man, the opportunity for temptations, the frequency of errors, and the ease with which men stumble, are as tinder and fire, which are kindled, whoever blows. Do not believe that in this regard there is any caution that is too great in the Indias. In the external encounters that may arise with alcaldes or with others, let the cura endeavor to conquer them by patience rather than by arrogance. Let him remember that Jesus Christ says we should offer the other cheek to him who smites us; and let him reflect that in the tribunal of God, and even that of men, more is to be gained by humility than by valor. Let him reflect that he is a secular or a religious; and that the weapons of such are tears, prayer, and penance."

ECCLESIASTICAL SYSTEM IN THE PHILIPPINES

[Buzeta and Bravo (_Diccionario_, i, pp. 542-545; ii, pp. 271-275, 363-367) thus describe the ecclesiastical estate of the Philippines:]

Archbishopric of Manila

Manila is in this regard, as in all other departments, the metropolitan city of the Spanish countries in the Orient. Its see is archiepiscopal, and has as suffragans the bishoprics of Nueva Caceres, Nueva Segovia, and Cebu, descriptions of which can be found in their respective articles. The territory over which it presides, as proper to itself, includes the ten civil provinces nearest to Manila--namely, Tondo, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva-Ecija, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Bataan, Zambales, and Mindoro--in addition to the small island of Corregidor, which is found outside the said province, and which forms a military police commandancy. It is not so extensive, with these provinces, as are its suffragan sees; but it is the one that unites the greatest number of souls.

The territory included in it extends about 100 leguas north and south and 29 more in breadth toward the west, the villages most distant from its capital being some 40 leguas to the north, and about 60 to the south. It is bounded on the north by the diocese of Nueva Segovia, and on the south by that of Cebu. Its western boundaries are maritime. The number of parishes of this diocese, the secular and regular curas who have charge of them, and the number of villages that they contain, will be seen in chart number 8. [112]

For the more efficient ecclesiastical administration of the territory included in this archbishopric, the parish curas of certain villages also extend their jurisdiction to eighteen vicariates or outside districts, namely: in the province of Tondo, that of Mariquina; in the province of Bataan, that of Balanga; in the province of Cavite, that of Bacor; in the province of Mindoro, those of Calayan and Santa Cruz; in the province of Batangas, those of Taal, San Pablo, and Rosario; in the province of Laguna, those of Limban, Calauan, and Cabuyas; in the province of Bulacan, those of Quingua and Marilao; in the province of Zambales, that of Iba; in the province of Pampanga, those of San Fernando and Candaba; in the province of Nueva-Ecija, those of Puncan and Baler. The curas of the above-mentioned villages are the outside vicars of their respective districts. They receive orders and instructions indiscriminately from the vicar-general and from the diocesan, from each one in accordance with the attributes of his office. It must be noted that this division into districts is subject to continual variations at the will of the bishop who wears the miter--now in relation to the number, and again with respect to the village. When it is said that the outside vicars depend immediately on the vicars-general or provisors, one must not, under any consideration, understand that the latter constitute an authority or jurisdiction intermediate between the outside vicar and the archbishop; but that they are the means by which communication with the said archbishop ought to be held. The present prelate of this metropolitan church is his Excellency the most illustrious and reverend Don Fray Jose Aranguren, member of his Majesty's Council, knight of the grand cross of Isabel the Catholic, senator of the kingdom, and deputy vicar-general of the royal land and naval armies of all our eastern possessions. He was consecrated on January 31, 1847. The cabildo of this holy and metropolitan church, the only such church in Filipinas, is composed of five dignitaries, three canons, two racioneros, two medio-racioneros, and the suitable number of ministers, whose salaries may be seen in the following chart.

Chart of the revenues of the clergy of the cathedral of Manila

Personal Pesos Reals of fuertes silver

The archbishop, 5,000 The dean, 2,000 4 dignitaries, at 1,450 pesos each, 5,800 3 canons, at 1,250 pesos each, 2,690 [sic] 2 racioneros, at 1,100 pesos each, 2,200 2 medio-racioneros, at 915 pesos each, 1,830 1 master of ceremonies, 400 2 cura-rectors, at 500 pesos each, 1,000 1 sacristan, 250 Another sacristan, 150 1 verger, 190

Material

For the archbishop's mail, 14 6 To the cabildo, for the music, church repair, wine, wax, and oil, 2,860 To the cura of the cathedral for oil and wine, 26

Total, 25,410 [sic] 6

The ecclesiastical court is composed of the most excellent and illustrious archbishop, the provisor and vicar-general, the ecclesiastical fiscal, a recording secretary, a vice-secretary, an archivist, and two notarial treasurers of the secular class. The provisorial court is formed by the provisor, who is at the same time vicar-general and judge of the chaplains. He is charged with the performance of judicial acts in ecclesiastical matters, and is accompanied by notaries. This unctionary did not formerly have the investiture as licentiate of laws, and was assisted by a matriculated lawyer of the royal Audiencia. The creation of the ecclesiastical fiscal was posterior to that of the ecclesiastical courts; and his institution is due to the authority of the pontiffs, who have especially charged said functionaries with the defense of the integrity of marriages, and other duties peculiar to their employments. The charge of provisor was at first exercised constantly by the Augustinian fathers, by virtue of the _amnimodo_ authority granted by the popes; later, their attributes passed to the Franciscan fathers, by agreement with them. But the archbishop of Mejico, considering himself empowered to appoint ecclesiastical judges (who were to be the vicars and provisors of these dominions), sent two clerics with authorization to exercise the said offices. The governor, [113] however, with his rank as royal vice-patron, protected the regulars in their privileges, and ordered Father Alfaro to exercise the said office alone. Afterward, when the suffragan bishoprics were created, and that of Manila was erected to the dignity of a metropolitan, with the archiepiscopal hierarchy, the appointment of provisors was regulated.

The spiritual administration of any of the bishoprics that fall vacant devolves upon the metropolitan archbishop, and the latter is the one empowered to appoint a provisor or capitular vicar. In case that the archiepiscopal metropolitan see should become vacant also, the government devolves upon the nearest bishop; and if there be two bishops at equal distances, it devolves upon the senior of these. In accordance with the terms of a royal decree dated April 22, 1705, it is ordered that the expenses incurred by the prelates on their episcopal visits are to be met by the royal treasury. The manner in which the _espolios_, [114] are collected was determined by a royal decree, dated June 24, 1821.

The secular clergy is divided into parochial and non-parochial. In the latter class are included the persons employed in the metropolitan cathedral; to the same class belong the four provisors of the other dioceses.

The provisor or vicar-general of this diocese holds the title of judge of chaplains, but that title is not held by the provisors of the other bishoprics.

By a general rule, the provisors of the respective dioceses are directors of the conciliar seminaries; but that is not the case with the provisor of this archbishopric, who is at present dean of the cathedral. The presidents of the said establishments are, as a rule, also procurators of the same. The commissary of the crusade and the attorney-general of the ecclesiastical court are at present members of the choir of the cathedral of Manila--as are also the rector of the college of San Jose, and the secretary and the vice-secretary of the archbishop. But this circumstance does not constitute a general rule, as it is a purely personal favor. Among the employees of the ecclesiastical court of Manila are five chief notaries--of whom one is pensioned [_jubilado_], another despatches the business relative to the tribunal of the crusade, and the three remaining ones form part of the ecclesiastical courts suffragan to this archbishopric. There are, further, two secretaries of the diocesan courts of Manila and Cebu--the latter being a modern creation, as are also a vice-secretary of the archbishop, and a vice-secretary of the bishop of Nueva Caceres; also an archivist of the archbishop, a commissary-general of the crusade, eight royal chaplains (inclusive of the chaplain-in-chief), one supernumerary, and the father sacristan; and twelve employees in the seminaries of the four bishoprics, with the name of directors, presidents, rectors, vice-rectors, lecturers, and sacristans. To this number one must add ten more who proceed from the three colleges and the university--who bear the titles of rector, professors, readers, secretary, and master of ceremonies--and thirty chaplains. In the latter number are included those who serve in the detachments of the army; those assigned for the colleges, hospitals, and hospitiums; and those who are paid by certain corporations, such as the Audiencia, etc. In this number those of the royal chapel are not included; for their institution is to provide their divisions, and the boats of the fleet, with priests when those of the former class are lacking. Their total amounts to ninety-three.

Coming now to the seminarists, their number cannot be determined, for it varies every year. But by adopting an average for the students in the conciliar seminary of Manila in 1842 and 48 [_sic_; 43?]--namely, some twenty-five, counting priests, deacons, subdeacons, those who have taken the lesser orders, and those who have taken the tonsure--one may calculate that the four seminaries will contain about one hundred students; so that, adding these to the ninety-three preceding, belonging also to the secular clergy, the number increases to one hundred and ninety-three. There are also in each one of the bishoprics some secular ecclesiastics employed under the immediate orders of the diocesans, who bear the name of pages, cross-bearers, etc., whose number cannot be determined. One is also unable to calculate the number of those who have been ordained under the title of patrimony, [115] and chaplaincies [116] of blood or of class, etc. By a royal decree of June 1, 1799, order was given for the curas to pay the three per cent for the sustenance of the seminaries.

Before concluding this review, we must also show that there are some arrangements that are common to both secular and regular clergy--those which make it indifferent, for the discharge of certain duties or commissions, whether they are secular or regular priests. Such are outside vicariates, and the chaplaincies of presidios, fortresses, etc.

From the founding of Manila until it obtained its first bishop there was a space of ten years. Its first prelate was suffragan to the metropolitan see of Mejico. But seventeen years after, and twenty-seven from the foundation of the city, in the year 1596, and by means of the bull of Clement VIII, despatched at the proposal of King Don Felipe II, it was separated from that see, and was erected into a metropolitan, with the three suffragan sees which it has at present.

Bishopric of Cebu

Cebu, formerly called Sogbu, is a suffragan bishopric of the archbishopric of Manila, which bounds it on the north. This diocese was created in 1595, at the same time as those of Nueva Segovia and Nueva Caceres, at the request of the monarch, Felipe II, by brief of his Holiness Clement VIII. Its first bishop was Don Fray Pedro de Agurto, who took possession of this bishopric on October 14, 1598. He who at present occupies the see is his Excellency Don Romualdo Gimeno, who is governing the diocese worthily to the honor and glory of God, and the gain of the metropolitan see, having begun his office February 27, 1847. This diocese includes at present the civil provinces of Cebu, Negros, Leyte, Samar, Capiz, Antique, Misamis, Caraga, Nueva-Guipuzcoa, Zamboanga, Calamianes, and the Marianas. Among those provinces are counted one hundred and seventy-nine curacies, of which one hundred and twelve are held by regular missionaries, and fifty-five by seculars (either Indian or mestizo clergy), as will be seen from chart number 6. [117]

The ecclesiastical court is composed of a provisor and vicar-general, who is at present the priest Don Esteban Meneses; of a secretary of the exchequer and of government, which office is filled by Doctor Don Marcos del Rosario; and of a notary, who is Don Pedro Magno, a priest.

In the following chart can be seen the revenues assigned to the parish clergy of the cathedral of Cebu, and the expenses for worship assigned to the same.

Chart showing the revenues of the clerical cathedral of Cebu, and their distribution for the services of divine worship

Classes Pesos Reals of Maravedis fuertes silver

One reverend bishop, 4,000 0 0 Two assistant chaplains for the throne, at 100 pesos apiece, 200 0 0 Two sacristans of the cathedral and curacy, at 91 pesos, 7 reals, and 6 maravedis each, 183 6 12 One chaplain of the fort, 96 0 0

Expenses

For the wine, oil, wax, etc., which are allowed to the chaplain of the fort or fortress, 52 2 0 For the alms assigned to the cathedral for divine worship, 438 4 17 _Idem_ to the chapel del Pilar of Zamboanga for the festivities, 41 4 17

Total, 5,012 0 46

The college seminary of San Carlos, which is located in the city of Santo Nino de Cebu--the capital of the island of its name and of those called Visayas, and the residence of the most excellent and illustrious bishop, to whose authority and vigilance are submitted all matters relating to the spiritual part--has about eighteen or twenty pupils, counting seminarists and collegiates. In that institution are taught grammatical studies [_minimos_], syntax, philosophy, and moral theology, whose respective chairs are in charge of learned and industrious professors. The territory of the civil provinces which form this bishopric is divided into twenty-four outside districts for its better ecclesiastical administration, eighteen of which are in charge of the parish priests of the following villages: in the province of Negros, those of Jimamailan and Siquijor; in the island of Cebu, there is one in the city of that name, and the rest in Danao, Barilis, Siquijor, and Dimiao; in Caraga, that of Bacuag; in the island of Leyte, that of Jilongos or Hilongos, and that of Burauen or Buraven--the first on the western coast, and the second on the eastern; in the province of Iloilo, that of Tigbauan (which also belongs to the province of Antique), and that of Mandurreao in the province of Capiz, that of Manga or Banga, and that of Mandalay or Mandalag; in the province of Nisamis, that of Cagayan; and in the Marianas Islands, some three hundred leguas distant, those of Agana, Agat, and Rota. In this number are lacking those of the provinces of Nueva-Guipuzcoa, Calamianes, and Samar, which can all be thus calculated: at one parish in the first province, as it is of modern creation and thinly populated; three in the second, as it is composed of various islands; and some two in the last. This is a total of twenty-four vicariates or outside districts. The ecclesiastics, both secular and regular, appointed to discharge these duties, exercise, in addition to the functions peculiar to their ministry, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the villages assigned to their respective outside districts, which are immediately subordinate to the vicar-general of the diocese, who is the provisor of the same. It is to be noted, in regard to this ecclesiastical division, that it is found to be subject to continual alterations, in regard both to the number of ecclesiastical vicariates, and to the curas who discharge these duties.

The considerable extent of this bishopric, which is the largest in the Filipinas Islands--whose provinces are widely separated from one another, some of those provinces even being composed of numerous islets as its separate parts--has given occasion for various petitions proposing the division of this bishopric into two parts, as a matter of greater advantage to the Church and to the State. Apropos of this, the bishop of Cebu, Don Fray Santos Gomez Maranon, declared in a respectful representation which he addressed to his Majesty, King Don Fernando VII, under date of Cebu, August 25, 1831, the following, which we copy:

"Sire:

"The bishop of Cebu, in order to relieve his conscience, finds it necessary to relate to your Majesty with the greatest frankness, that it appears necessary for the greater service of God, the welfare of souls, and [the service] of your royal person, to divide into two bishoprics this so extensive and scattered diocese of Visayas--in whose innumerable islands there are, in his judgment, more than one million of Christian souls, notwithstanding that the census of the past year shows no more than 858,510 souls. In addition to this there are a multitude of infidels, whom it would not be difficult to civilize and convert, were there two bishops among them who could take care of their conversion in an efficient manner; for one bishop alone has too much to look after in the conservation of so many Christians, without other duties. There are three provinces in the island of Panay alone, in which there are 54 parishes and many annexed villages, who have at least 378,970 souls, besides the heathen. If there were a permanent bishop in that island, their number would quickly be duplicated.

"The prelate could easily visit and confirm the distant provinces of Calamianes and Zamboanga (whither no bishop has as yet gone, because of their great distance from Cebu, and because it is necessary to consume several months [in such a trip] by reason of the monsoons, thus neglecting other things which require attention) from his see, which could be established in the well-populated village of Jaro. [118] The islands of Tablas, Sibuyan, Romblon, and Banton, and the western part of the island of Negros, would belong also to this new bishopric, and Christianity would be considerably increased. The bishop of Cebu would not on that account remain with nothing to do; for besides the island of this name, those of Bojol or Bohol, Leyte, Samar, the laborious island of Surigao, Misamis, and the eastern part of the island of Negros (where a mission is already established), and various other smaller islands remain. Thus he retains charge of at least 434,846 souls, besides an infinite number of heathen.

"The bishop of Cebu is addressing his king and sovereign with all sincerity and frankness; and he can say no less to your Majesty than that it is impossible for one bishop alone to visit and confirm his people, and to discharge his other pastoral duties, in all the numerous and intricate islands of Visayas, which have been in his charge until the present--especially in the so distant Marianas Islands, which have no communication with Cebu. Those islands ought to be assigned to the archbishopric of Manila, with which capital is their only communication. Even in this case, authority ought to be conceded to their ecclesiastical superior, with chrism consecrated by the archbishop, over all the Christians who live there.

"As soon as the writer was consecrated in Manila, he set out to visit his bishopric. I visited the island of Romblon, and the three provinces of the island of Panay, confirming in those islands 102,636 persons; the island of Negros and half of Cebu, in which two districts 1 confirmed 23,800, as I inform your Majesty by a separate letter. I have employed one-half year in this first visit, without the loss of a second of time, taking advantage of the good season.

"I am intending to conclude the visit for the half of this island during the monsoon of the coming year; and to continue my visit to the islands of Bojol, Leyte, Samar, Surigao, and Misamis. But notwithstanding the efforts of the bishop, and his desire to fulfil his obligations, he cannot visit Zamboanga or Calamianes, and much less the Marianas islands--so many souls remaining without the sacrament of the confirmation and benediction of their bishop, as it is impossible to visit them.

"With what conscience, Sire, will you abandon him who dares to call out before your Majesty's throne, asking you, as so Catholic [a sovereign], and as the patron of all the churches of the Indias, to remedy this evil? The bishop of Cebu finds no other remedy than the creation of another bishopric, and the division into two parts of this most extensive diocese, as he has already declared. Consequently he proposes it, in order to lay the burden of his conscience on that of your Majesty; and so that he may not have to give account for his negligence to the Supreme Judge. If your Majesty considers it fitting to approve this so useful and even so necessary proposition, your bishop is of the opinion, as he has already intimated, that the see of the new bishopric can be determined, and that it may be entitled the bishopric of Panay or of Jaro--which is a well-populated village, as I have said above. Its foundation and administration belongs to the calced Augustinian fathers, as does that of almost all the villages of that so fierce and fertile island. Your Majesty might show it the favor to allow it to be entitled hereafter 'the Christian city.'

"Since the Augustinian fathers have been the first conquistadors and founders of the greater part of the villages of Visayas, and even of those of the island of Luzon, it appears to be the most natural thing that the first bishop be a calced Augustinian; and that he should know the language of the country, so that he can sooner establish this new bishopric in better order, civilization, and increase of Christianity, and tributes.

"Accordingly, this aged bishop expects this, Sire, from the pure Catholicity of your Majesty, and from your ardent zeal for the increase of the Christian church and of prosperity in these your so distant dominions--which have always shown themselves so loyal and constant, even in the midst of so many revolutions, to their beloved king and sovereign; and he even dares, knowing your Majesty's goodness of heart, to propose three Augustinian fathers who have accomplished much for the happiness of these Visayas Islands, so that your Majesty may choose one of the three; for any one of them would completely fulfil your royal desires.

"The proposal is sent under other covers, and I am sending it to his Excellency, the vice-patron, for his approval. But the decision of your Majesty, on whose delicate conscience your bishop of Cebu places this whole matter, and [thus] relieves his own conscience, will always be the most suitable one. May God, etc."

If the creation of a new bishopric was considered as an absolute necessity at that time, in order that the Christian church in the so numerous islands might be better attended to, with how much more reason cannot the present bishop and his successors solicit this grace from his Majesty, since the population has increased to about double what it was then--and especially since new provinces have been created, and most of their wandering tribes, scattered throughout most of the islands in the jurisdiction of this diocese, conquered for God. We believe also, with that venerable bishop, that the division of this extensive bishopric into two parts is highly advisable (_for_ it is wellnigh impossible for any diocesan to visit his so numerous and scattered flock)--not only in the interests of religion, but also in those of the State, inasmuch as the former is preserved by their vigilance and authority purer and more incorruptible from the vices that have invaded it on more than one occasion; and the country will increase in wealth and prosperity, in proportion as the numerous nomadic tribes, who are yet wandering through the rough thickets, are reduced to the social life. [A list of the bishops of Cebu to 1847 follows.]

Nueva Caceres

Nueva Caceres, or Camarines, is one of the three of the present ecclesiastical divisions of the island of Luzon. It includes all the eastern part of that island, and the adjacent islands, as we shall presently see. It extends from the sea on the west, at the mouth of the strait of Mindoro, where it is bounded by the archbishopric of Manila--as likewise in the interior, where pass its northern limits, the only boundaries that it has within the land--to the eastern sea in the extreme southeast of the province of Caraga, [119] also the boundaries of the archbishopric. However, it has jurisdiction in the village of Baler and in that of Casiguran, in the province of Nueva Ecija; and those of Polillo and Binangonan de Lampon, in Laguna. For the rest, it is surrounded by the sea and indented with numerous bays. Beginning at the mouth of the above-mentioned strait (where it is bounded by the archbishopric), the first part of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Nueva Caceres is the bay formed by the point of Galban, belonging to the province of Batangas, and the headland of Boudol. [120] It follows the bay of Peris as far as Guinayangan, which lies in the same angle of the bay, where the province of Tayabas ends. Then follows the village of Bangsa, which belongs to the province of Camarines, next to which is found the province of Albay. The bishopric follows the coast until it meets the bay of Sorsogon. Beyond that bay is seen that of Bulsnan and then that of Albay (which is beyond the Embocadero of San Bernardino), which is formed by the islet called Baga Rey and the point of Montufar. Then follow the bay of Malinao and the point of Tigbi, where the province of Camarines begins again. This point and that of Lognoy form the mouth of the bay of Bala. Past the point of San Miguel is seen the bay of Naga, where the city of Nueva Caceres was located. That great bay is formed by the point of Siroma, and is seventy-six leguas round to the point of Talisay. Six leguas from that point is the bay of Daet, into which flows a river of great volume, which comes down from the highlands. Following this coast there is a small bay into which empties a river which flows from the mountain of Paracale, well known for its gold mines. About six leguas from that river is seen Punta del Diablo [_i.e._, "Devil's Point"], so called because of the shoals that run out into the sea, which are very dangerous. Past that point is the river of Capalonga, [121] where the province of Camarines ends and that of Tayabas begins again. At this point the sea runs inland and forms an isthmus only five leguas [wide] with the sea of Visayas. That small gulf is found in the sea of Gumaca; it is very rough, and along its coast are found the villages of Gumaca, Atimonan, and Mambau [_sc._ Mauban]. Going north, one meets the island of Polo [_i.e._, Polillo?], the bay of Lampon, and the villages of Baler and Casiguran, the last ones of this ecclesiastical jurisdiction--which, as we said, are situated in the province of Nueva-Ecija. Then is encountered the point of San Ildefonso, the boundary at which meet the bishoprics of Nueva Caceres and Nueva Segovia.

This bishopric was founded by a bull of Clement VIII, dated August 14, 1595. Four thousand pesos' salary was assigned to the bishopric annually, payable from the royal treasury of Mejico, as there were no tithes in Filipinas because the Indians did not pay them, and the Spaniards cared but little for the cultivation of the lands. A salary of one hundred and eighty pesos was assigned to the cura of the cathedral, and ninety-two to the sacristan. Two honorary chaplains were also created, to assist in the pontifical celebration; and they were assigned salaries of one hundred pesos apiece. The bishop resided in Nueva Caceres, in the province of Camarines, which was founded by the governor Francisco de Sande; but no other trace of that city has remained than the Indian village called Naga, which is the capital of the province and where the see is also located. It has a cathedral and episcopal palace of stone, and a conciliar seminary for the secular clergy of the country. Its jurisdiction extends throughout the provinces of Camarines (Norte and Sur), Tayabas, and Albay; the politico-military commandancy of Masbate and Ticao; the islands of Burias and Catanduanes; and the villages of Baler and Casiguran in Nueva Ecija, and Polillo and Binongonan de Lampon in Laguna. In this vast territory, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Nueva Caceres includes the following provinces, curacies, and villages. [122]

Besides the assignments which were made from the beginning, as we have said, to this bishopric, and which are at present paid from the royal treasuries of the colony, there is allowed to the miter 500 pesos for the relief of poor curas; 400 pesos to expend on the building of the cathedral and other objects; 135 pesos 2 reals for wax, oil, etc.--the total amount being equal to 5,516 pesos, 7 silver reals, and 37 maravedis.

The name of this bishopric is preserved solely in official documents, that of Camarines prevailing, as it is the name of the province where the bishop lives. [The names of the bishops of this bishopric until 1848 follow.]

The diocesan visits are to be made at the account of the royal treasury, in accordance with the royal decree of April 22, 1705. When the episcopal see becomes vacant, inasmuch as it has no cabildo its government belongs to his Excellency the metropolitan archbishop, who appoints a provisor or capitular vicar. If the archiepiscopal see should be vacant at the same time also, the government would pertain to the nearest suffragan; and if distances be equal, to the senior of these.

The form of administering and collecting the income was prescribed in a royal decree dated June 24, 1712, as has been stated elsewhere in this work.

Nueva Segovia

This is one of the three bishoprics of the island of Luzon. It includes the provinces of Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra, and the Batanes Islands. This diocese extends throughout the northern part of the island, from longitude 123 deg. 21' on the western coast, where the point called Pedregales is located, to 126 deg. 5' on the eastern or opposite coast, where the point Maamo projects; and from latitude 16 deg. 17 to 18 deg. 38'. It is bounded on the south by the archbishopric of Manila, to which belong the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga, on the extreme west and northeast. On the southeast it descends to latitude 15 deg. 30', to point of Dicapinisan and to Nueva Ecija, with that of Nueva Caceres or Camarines in the upper limits of the province of Tayabas. It is also bounded on the east by the archbishopric [of Manila] in the above-mentioned province of Nueva Ecija. Its boundaries on the west and north are maritime. Beginning where this last province ends (which may be considered as the point of Dicapinisan), the opposite coast offers nothing more noteworthy than the bays of Dibut and Baler until one reaches that of Casiguran; and there is nothing worthy of mention. When one leaves this last bay, he must double the cape of San Ildefonso, where the ancient ecclesiastical jurisdiction of this bishopric began. Continuing north for a matter of some sixteen nautical leguas, one meets the port of Tumango, the safest and most capacious of all this rough coast. A short distance from that port are found the village of Palanan and the missions of Dicalayon, and Dauilican or Divilican. Thence, until one reaches the cape of Engano, [123] one finds nothing more than some small anchoring-places, which offer but scant refuge to the vessels, as they are all exposed to the vendavals. On the northern coast as well, which begins at the said cape of Engano (so called because of the deceitfulness of its currents), one does not meet bay or port until he reaches the village of Aparri, some fifteen leguas away. This village is located a short distance from the ancient city of Nueva Segovia, which is known to the natives under the name of Laen [sc. Lal-lo]. A matter of fifteen leguas more from the above village of Aparri, is encountered the beginning of the Caraballos mountains, whose point, called Balaynacira, or Pata, projects into the northern sea and is the most northern point of the island. At this point ends the province of Cagayan, and begins that of Ilocos Norte, in the village of Pancian which is nine hours' distance from that of Bangui. Then one doubles the cape of Bojeador, where the western coast of the island begins, and passes the provinces of Ilocos (Norte and Sur), Union, and Pangasinan, which abound with many villages, until the cape of Bolinao is reached--where this bishopric is bounded by the archbishopric, to which belongs the province of Zambales.

This see suffragan to the metropolitan of Manila was erected by brief of his Holiness Clement VIII, August 14, 1595. The bishop formerly resided in Nueva Segovia, the capital of the province of Cagayan; but now he resides at Vigan, the capital of Ilocos Sur, where the town called Fernandina formerly stood. The endowment for this miter is four thousand pesos fuertes for the diocesan, one hundred and eighty-four pesos for the cura of the cathedral, ninety-two pesos to the sacristan, and one hundred pesos to each one of the chaplains of the choir. Its jurisdiction extends, as we have said, through the eight provinces of Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra, and the Batanes Islands. [124]...

[The name Nueva Segovia is preserved only in official documents, and it is more frequently called the bishopric of Ilocos, from the name of the province where the bishop lives. The names of the bishops until 1849 follow, and the article ends with information identical with that concluding the article on the bishopric of Nueva Caceres.]

CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF THE FRIARS

[From Feodor Jagor's _Reisen in den Philippinen_ (Berlin, 1873), pp. 95-100.]