Chapter XV: Other matters pertaining to the ecclesiastics of Manila (2)

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."