Chapter XV: Other matters pertaining to the ecclesiastics of Manila (7)

[92] Le Gentil says (_Voyages_, ii, pp. 76, 77, 83) that Zamboanga was very insalubrious, being shut in from the sea winds, and suffering great heat. "It is still a place of exile;" and "the earthly Paradise was not there."

[93] That is, "Nature makes one skilful."

Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A., says of this expression that it "was an old one, as old at least as the schoolmen, and means little else than the truism 'One's handiness comes as a natural gift.' According to San Antonio the diversity among the races of men as regards their bodily endowments as well as those of mind, genius, and customs, arises from the diversity of climate, and the diversity of air, drink, and meat, whence the axiom that Nature varies her gifts, or man's character is due in a measure to his environments."

[94] The passage referred to is at the beginning of San Agustin's noted "Letter to a friend," which is printed (in part) in Delgado's _Hist. Filipinas_, pp. 273-293. He says: "In this research I have been occupied for forty years, and I have only succeeded in learning that the Indians are incomprehensible." The allusion to Solomon is explained by Proverbs, chap. xxx, vs. 18, 19.

[95] See Psalm xcv (xciv in Douay version), v. 10: "Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: 'These always err in heart.'"

[96] See VOL. XXIII, p. 271, note 118.

[97] St. Cassian was a native of Imola, Italy, who was martyred under one of the Roman emperors (Decius, Julian the Apostate, or Valerian). He was a schoolmaster of little children whom he taught to read and write, and his pupils denounced him as a Christian. He was delivered over to his former charges, and they wreaked their vengeance on him by breaking their tablets over his head and piercing him with their styluses. His feast is celebrated on August 13.--T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.

[98] _Ordinarios_: an appellation of ecclesiastical judges who try causes in the first instance, and, by antonomasia, of the bishops themselves, regarded as judges in their respective dioceses (Dominguez's _Dicc. nacional_).

[99] These ordinances were a revision of former laws, and addition of new ones, by Don Jose Raon, governor of the islands; they were promulgated on February 26, 1768. This code will receive attention in a later volume.

[100] Spanish, _comer la sopa boba_; literally, "to eat fool soup"--that is, to live at another's expense; perhaps alluding to the former custom of maintaining fools or jesters in the households of the rich.

[101] These are games of cards, the name of the latter indicating the number of points which win the game.

[102] "This argument for the reason of the insanity of many friars, seems to me completely false. It would be sufficient to compare the friars who are insane with the insane found also among the other Spaniards, in order to declare quite the contrary. Quite different do I believe the origin of the insanity, both of the religious and of the other Spaniards. He who has had anything to do with the Indian will have observed that his nature is quite contrary to that of the Spaniard. The latter is generally lively, acute, and full of fire, while that of the Indian, on the contrary, is dull, somber, and cold as snow. The Spaniard who does not arm himself with patience and forbearance, is liable to become, I do not say insane, but desperate. Another reason even may be assigned, in what pertains to the religious. As a general thing, their insanity has as its primal cause melancholy; and this is very common to the regular curas who are alone, and who, experiencing the ingratitude of the Indian, his fickleness in virtue, and his indifference in matters of religion, think that their sacrifice for the natives is in vain. Consequently, the curas need great courage in order to calm themselves and to persevere in the even tenor of their life. In my opinion these two reasons can fully account for the origin of the cases of insanity among many." (Note by Father Juan Ferrando, written on the margin of the manuscript of this chapter.)--Mas.

[103] Mas here cites at length a writing by the Augustinian Casimiro Diaz, which instructs parish priests in their duties; they are warned against trading or engaging in any business or manufacture directly or indirectly.

[104] Father Juan Ferrando, professor of canons in the college of Santo Tomas of Manila, to whom I gave the manuscript of this chapter to read, wrote in the margin the following note, which is very just and timely; and as such I insert it, in order to counteract the statement which has given occasion for it, and which I wrote in the heat of composition, simply through heedlessness and inadvertence. "In no way can the cura make use of what he learns in the confessional for the exterior government. By its means one may better understand the character of the Indian, but the cura can never make use of it for the investigations that the government exacts. 1 believe that it will be impossible to print this statement without doing harm to the confessional and to the curas."--Mas.

[105] "When Juan Salcedo conquered the Ilocos, he found a caste of nobles amongst them who possessed all the riches of the country, and treated the _cailianes_, or serfs, with great rigour.

"The common people [among the Igorrotes] are in a kind of bondage to the nobles, and cultivate their land for them. In Lepanto they are called _cailianes_ as in Ilocos." (Sawyer's _Inhabitants of the Philippines_, pp. 251, 256.)

[106] The famous bridge which joins the capital with the barrio of Binondo was directed by the Recollect, Fray Lucas de Jesus Maria. Another religious has lately constructed another bridge in Iloilo, which is said to be very fine. The government sent him a cross on that account. His name was Fray Simon de San Agustin. Almost all the advances in agriculture and the arts which have made in the islands since the arrival of the Spaniards are due to the religious, as was also the abolition of slavery.--Mas.

[107] Spanish, _pax octaviana_, referring to the Roman emperor Octavian and the peaceful condition of his empire.

[108] "This proposition, founded on the common opinion of those who have seen none except the curacies of the rich and well-populated provinces, cannot be maintained in any manner. In the environs of Manila, where the food and services cost dearer than in the city itself, the cura in charge of a village which does not number more than one thousand tributes cannot live with decency. For here also generally fails what you say in another place, namely, that the cura's income can be adjusted at a peso for each tribute. In the distant provinces--as, for instance, Cagayan and other distant parts--since food and services are very cheap, and the cura does not have to spend anything except on the things that he requests from Manila, if the village reaches 500 tributes it will be sufficient for him, but not below the said number; and even in the first case, if he has a sufficient number of masses to apply with alms, which rarely happens. I pray you now to consider the fact that the majority of the villages of the archbishopric do not exceed 1,000 tributes, and those of the other bishoprics 500. What would you say it you knew what passes in the villages that even preserve the names of missions? The government gives them a small stipend, of less than 300 pesos, and a few cabans of palay. On this they have to support themselves, as well as the church edifice and divine worship, as there are no fees on the part of the village; for as missionaries they do not have parochial fees. Consequently, if they wish to live with some comfort, they have to engage in stockraising; and those who do not possess a somewhat regulated conscience will have to devote themselves to unseemly traffic." (Note of Father Juan Ferrando, written on the margin of the manuscript of this chapter.)--Mas.

[109] _Peso fuerte_ or _duro_, the "strong" or "hard" dollar; the "piece of eight," or peso of eight reals. See VOLS. III, p. 177, and XII, p. 73.

[110] Spanish, _el_ [_libro_] _de cuarenta_; literally, "the book of forty leaves," meaning a pack of cards.

[111] Any man who is willing to work is able not only to live, but to become rich.--Mas.

[112] This chart appears at the end of the volume, and enumerates various villages of each province, and the curas in charge of them. We reproduce only the summary, which is as follows:

Provinces Number of Held by Held by
seculars regulars curacies

Tondo 26 15 11
Bulacan 20 18 2
Pampanga 28 15 8
Bataan 10 7 3
Zambales 12 9 2
Nueva-Ecija 17 6 6
Laguna 35 27 7
Batangas 15 7 8
Cavite 12 4 11
Mindoro 10 6 4

Total 185 111 62

[113] Alfaro was provisor in 1578-79 (Huerta's _Estudo_, p. 441), at which time the governor was Francisco de Sande.

[114] _Espolio_: the property which a prelate leaves at his death.

[115] _Patrimonio_: property peculiarly made spiritual, according to the needs of the Church, so that anyone may be ordained on its foundation.

[116] A chaplaincy is a pious foundation made by any religious person, and elected into a benefice by the ecclesiastical ordinary, with the annexed obligation of saying a certain number of masses, or with the obligation of other analogous spiritual duties. Chaplaincies of this class are collative, thus being differentiated from those purely laical, in which the authority of the ordinary does not intervene. See _Dic. nacional lengua espanola_ (Madrid, 1878).

[117] The summary of the above-mentioned chart is as follows:

Provinces Number of Held by Held by
seculars regulars curacies

Cebu 45 32 12
Island of Negros 14 4 10
Leyte 14 7 7
Samar 15 14 0
Capiz 18 10 9
Iloilo 29 22 7
Antique 11 4 7
Misamis 7 7 0
Caraga 4 4 0
Nueva-Guipuzcoa 3 1 1
Calamianes 5 3 2
Zamboanga 1 1 0
Marianas Islands 4 3 1

Total 170 112 56

[118] The bishopric of Jaro was separated, by papal decree, in 1865, from that of Cebu, and contained the provinces of Iloilo, Concepcion, Capiz, and Antique (these four being included within the island of Panay); also Mindanao (excepting Misamis and Surigao, which are in the bishopric of Cebu), Calamianes, Negros, and Romblon. The Marianas Islands were assigned to the diocese of Cebu; also Bohol, Leyte, and Samar.

"The diocese of Jaro was created by bull of Pius IX in 1865, and its first bishop was Don Fray Mariano Cuartero, who died in 1884. He was succeeded by Don Fray Leandro Arue, a Recollect religious, who died in 1897. In his place was chosen Don Fray Andres Ferrero de San Jose, a religious of the same order." (_Archipielago filipino_, ii, p. 256.)

[119] An evident error, as Caraga is in Mindanao; probably the writer meant to say Albay, as is indicated in his enumeration of parishes in the diocese of Nueva Caceres, sheet [11] of appendices at end of vol. ii. The boundaries of provinces in Luzon were formerly quite different, in many cases, from the present ones. See, for instance, the map in Mas's _Informe_ (1843), preceding his chapter on "Territorial divisions;" Albay thereon includes not only the present Sorsogon, but the islands of Masbate, Ticao, and Catanduanes.

[120] This should be Bondog; it is but one of the many typographical errors which detract from the value of Buzeta and Bravo's _Diccionario_. Bangsa apparently means the present Bangon; Bulsnan, Bulusan; Tigbi, Tiui or Tivi; Lognoy, Lagonoy. We have corrected in the text several other names incorrectly spelled.

[121] The present town of Capalonga is at the mouth of the important river Banogboc, which with its tributaries drains the western half of Camarines Norte; the lower part of the river is also known as Capalonga.

[122] Chart [11] at the end of the volume gives a list of the provinces and villages of the bishopric, with the names of the incumbents of the various churches. The summary of the list is as follows:

Provinces Number of Held by Held by
seculars regulars curacies

Camarines Sur 38 17 14
Camarines Norte 8 0 7
Albay 35 8 22
Commandancy of the
islands of Masbate
and Ticao 6 0 5
Tayabas 17 9 6

Total 103 34 54

[123] The extreme northeast point of Cagayan province and Luzon Island, a landmark of approach for navigators to the eastern coast. It is a promontory at the north point of Palaui Island, and is 316 feet high.

[124] A chart at the end of the volume shows the various provinces and their villages, with the names of the incumbents of the curacies. Its summary is as follows:

Provinces Number of Held by Held by
seculars regulars curacies

Cagayan 20 14 1
Nueva Vizcaya 16 11 1
Pangasinan 36 28 4
Ilocos Sur 25 11 8
Ilocos Norte 14 9 3
Abra 7 3 3
Batanes Islands 6 4 0

Total 124 80 20

[125] A comparison of the English translation of Jagor (London, 1875) with the original text reveals the fact that the translation is inaccurate in many places, and that it was done in a careless and slovenly manner. Consequently, it has been necessary to translate this matter directly from the German.

[126] Polangui is located in the province of Albay, on the right bank of the Inaya River, and eleven miles in a general southeast direction from Lake Bato (the Batu of the text). This passage, in the English translation mentioned in the preceding note, is incorrectly rendered, "to cross the lake of Batu"--an error probably due to ignorance on the part of the translator, of the location of Polangui, although the language of the author is not at all ambiguous.

[127] That is, "It is what hour your Majesty pleases."

[128] At this point Jagor adds in Spanish in parenthesis: "Discalced minor religious of the regular and most strict observance of our holy father St. Francis, in the Filipinas Islands, of the holy and apostolic province of San Gregorio Magno."

[129] As many as 900 monasteries were suppressed in Spain by decree of June 21, 1835, and the rest were dissolved by the decree of October 11, of the same year. The suppression, as might have been expected, was accompanied by excesses against the friars and nuns, and some of them were murdered, while parish priests and Jesuits were hunted over the borders.

[130] This passage is hopelessly confused in the English translation, and proves how entirely untrustworthy that translation is. The reading of the original (_da sie gezwungen sein wuerden, dort der Ordensregel zu entsagen und als Rentner zu leben_) is translated "for they are compelled in the colonies to abandon all obedience to the rules of their order, and to live as laymen"--a sin against actual history, as well as language.

[131] _Historia de las islas ... y Reynos de la Gran China_ (Barcelona, 1601), chapter xi.

[132] Felix Renouard de St. Croix (cited by Jagor) says, in his _Voyage commercial et politique mix Indes orientales, aux Iles Philippines, a la Chine_ (Paris, 1810; ii, p. 157), that the curas in his day were served by young girls. A Franciscan of the lake of Bay had twenty of them at his disposal, two of whom were always at his side.

[133] Jagor cites, in a footnote at this point, a portion of Le Gentil's description of the power of the friars in the Philippines, which is to be found in vol. ii, p. 183, of that author; and _ante_, in our extract from Le Gentil, pp. 210-219.

[134] _Leg. ult._, i, 266, Sec.Sec. 87, 89.

[135] Probably _Memorias historicas y estadisticas de Filipinas y particularmente de la grande isla de Luzon_ (imprint from _Diario de Manila_, 1850), by Rafael Diaz Arenas.

[136] See _Recopilacion de leyes de Indias_, lib. ii, tit. xvi, ley liv (dated: Valladolid, April 29, 1549, Carlos I and the queen of Bohemia; Valladolid, April 16 and May 2, 1550, Maximiliano and the queen; Valladolid, May 9, 1569, Felipe II), and tit. vi, ley xxvi (dated: Madrid, July 20, 1618, Felipe III; ordinance 139 of 1636, Felipe IV), which forbid alcaldes and other officials to trade, to use the money of the communal funds of the natives, or to compel the latter to serve them. Lib. v, tit. ii, treats in great part of the office of the alcalde, and ley xlvii (dated: Madrid, July 10, 1530, Carlos I; Valladolid, September 4, 1551, Carlos I and the queen of Bohemia; Pinto, April 4, 1563, Felipe II; Lisboa, August 31, 1619, Felipe III), declares that the alcaldes and others are included in the prohibition to trade. (Cited by Jagor.)

[137] By royal decree of July 17, 1754. (Cited by Jagor.)

[138] Renouard de St. Croix, ii, p. 124. (Cited by Jagor.)

[139] This note is as follows: "The _obras pias_ are pious legacies, in which it was generally determined that two-thirds were to be loaned at interest for maritime commercial enterprises, until the premiums--which for the risk to Acapulco reached 50 per cent, to China, 25 per cent, and to the Indias, 35 per cent--had increased the original capital to a certain amount. Then the interest of that amount was to be applied to the good of the soul of the founder, or to pious or charitable ends (Arenas, _Historia_, p. 397). One-third was usually retained as a reserve, to cover chance losses. These reserve funds were long ago claimed by the government as compulsory loans, 'but they are still regarded as existing.'

"When the trade with Acapulco came to an end, the capitals could no longer be employed in accordance with the request of the founder, and they were loaned at interest in other ways. By a royal decree, dated November 3, 1854 (_Leg. ult._ ii, p. 205), an administrative council is appointed to take charge of the money of the _obras pias_. The total capital of five foundations (or rather only four, since one of them no longer has any capital) amounts to a trifle less than one million dollars [_i.e._, pesos]. From that amount the profit obtained from the loans is distributed according to the amount of the original capital--which is, however, no longer in existence in cash, because the government has disposed of it."

[140] _Ut supra_, ii, p. 336. (Cited by Jagor.)

[141] The office of alcalde falls into three divisions--_entrada_ [_i.e._, entrance], _ascenso_ [_i.e._, promotion], and _termino_ [_i.e._, limit] (royal order, March 31, 1837, tit. i, i) The alcalde's term of service is three years in each grade (tit. ii, articles 11, 12, and 13). Under no pretext can anyone remain longer than ten years in the magistracy of the Asiatic provinces (article 16). (Note by Jagor.)

[142] This town is on the Pacific coast of Luzon, and is provincial capital of Infanta (now annexed to province of Tayabas). It is near the port of Lampon, which was used in the seventeenth century as a harbor for the Acapulco galleons, as being more accessible than any port in San Bernardino Strait. See _U. S. Philippine Gazetteer_, pp. 553, 554, 578.

[143] This name is still retained, as an alternative appellation of Point Concepcion, which is on the southeastern coast of Maestro de Campo Island, off west coast of Mindoro.

[144] Referring to Gabriel Sanchez and Juan de Torres (VOL. XII, pp. 301, 310-313). The former entered the Society in its Toledo province, about 1589; and, seven years later, went to join the Philippine mission. He spent some twenty years in labors among the Visayan natives; and died at Palapag, aged forty-eight years, on January 1, 1617. Juan de Torres was born at Montilla, in 1564, and entered the Jesuit order at the age of nineteen. He came to the islands with Sanchez, in 1596, and the two were colaborers in Bohol. After many years of work in the Visayas, Torres was obliged by ill-health to return to Manila; he then learned the Tagal language, and labored among the mountaineers of Bondoc. He died at Manila, January 14, 1625. (See Murillo Velarde's _Hist. Philipinas_, fol. 11, 30.)

[145] The name of a point and a village on the southeastern coast of Bohol.

[146] See Legazpi's account of this, in VOL. II, pp. 207, 208.

[147] These were Loboc and Baclayon; see Murillo Velarde's account of this rebellion (_Hist. Philipinas_, fol. 17, 18). It was put down by Juan de Alcarazo, alcalde-mayor of Cebu, with fifty Spaniards and one thousand friendly Indians (1622). Murillo Velarde says: "The Boholans are the most warlike and valiant among the Indians."

[148] Giuseppe Lamberti, an Italian, was born November 25, 1691; and entered the Jesuit order October 15, 1716. In the following year, he set out for the Philippine missions; and finally was slain by the natives, January 24, 1746. Sommervogel thus mentions him (_Bibliotheque_, iv, col. 1412), but does not speak of Morales.

[149] The present population of the island of Bohol is 269, 223, which is all civilized. See _Census of the Philippine Islands: 1903_, Bulletin No. 7, "Population of the Philippine Islands" (Washington, 1904), published by the Department of Commerce and Labor.

[150] Pedro (according to Perez) Jaraba was in Manila in 1598-99, and went as a missionary to La Caldera in 1603. In the following year, he died at Manila.

[151] The Cagayan (river and town) of Misamis, in northern Mindanao. Camiguin also here refers, not to the island of that name near Luzon, but to one on the coast of Misamis. Bislig is on the eastern coast of Surigao province. There is no present application of the name Surigao to an island; the reference in the text is apparently to one of the two larger islands dependent on Surigao province, which are Dinagat and Siargao.

[152] This name is misprinted "Juan Francisco de San Agustin" by Algue.

[153] The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in March, 1833, to perpetuate the work started about 1831 by Bailly de Surcey in the Latin Quarter in Paris among the students--an organization known as "Societe de bonnes etudes" or "Society of good studies," and which was designed primarily for the spiritual growth of its members. The immediate cause that led to the formation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was the sneers of the non-Christians and freethinkers among the students who contended that the spirit of Christianity was dead. The objects striven for by the new society were greater spiritual growth, and charitable work--the latter extending to work among the poor and imprisoned, and the teaching of children. In 1835 the society was divided into sections, in order that the work among the poor might be carried on better from many centers. It grew rapidly, and received papal sanction in 1845. By 1853 the society had spread to England, America, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, and Palestine. In 1861, being charged with political bickerings, they were persecuted by the French government, and were ordered to accept Cardinal Morlot as the head of the general council which had been formed in 1853. The society refused this, and the general council was suspended. In 1875 there were 205,000 active members in France, and about 750,000 in the world. The significant fact in this society is, that it was founded by laymen and has always remained in the hands of laymen, though in union with and subordinate to the clergy. See _Grande Encyclopedie,_ and Addis and Arnold's _Cath. Dict._, pp. 844, 845.

Vincent de Paul, from whom this society was named, was a French priest born in 1576, who was noted for his great altruism, philanthropy, and executive ability; he founded various charitable orders, notably the Lazarists and the Sisters of Charity. He died in 1660, and was canonized in 1737.

[154] Note in _Archipielago filipino_: "He was freed from his captivity at the end of December, 1899."

[155] The orders in the Philippines and other colonies were wont, as still is their custom, to have head administrative quarters at Rome and Madrid, for the expedition of business with the pontiff or the king. The officer, always an expert in the management of affairs, was entitled the "procurador general," and his business was chiefly to attend to law problems in relation to the colonial missions, to guard against adverse legislation, and to promote favorable measures. His residence, whether at Rome or Madrid, was known as "la casa de la procuracion" or at Rome "la procura," of such and such an order. Besides the "procurador general" the orders had single "procuradores"--one for each house--who were the business men of the convents, and saw to affairs of the outside world.--T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.

[156] Note in _Archipielago filipino_: "This assertion must be understood of those who do not live in the active missions--that is to say, of the Christian settlements and villages of more or less long standing."

[157] Referring to the insurgent government headed by Emilio Aguinaldo, erected when Manila was captured by the Americans, May, 1898. On September 15 of that year the insurgent congress assembled at Malolos, which was chosen as their seat of government; but, in consequence of the advance of American troops, the capital was removed (February, 1899) to several other places successively. In November, 1899, the insurgent government was broken up, Aguinaldo fleeing to the mountains--where he was finally captured, in March, 1901.

[158] This order was founded by St. Benedict, who removed his monastery from Subiaco to Monte Cassino in 529. He prescribed neither asceticism nor laxity, but laid especial emphasis on work, ordering that each monastery have a library. The clothing was generally black, but was to vary with the needs of the various countries and climates. They were founded in France by St. Maur, a disciple of St. Benedict, and were introduced into Spain about 633. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries many relaxations crept into the order, in the reforms of which the congregation of St. Vanne (1550) and the congregation of St. Maur (1618) were formed in France. The order was entirely suppressed in France at the Revolution, but was later reestablished there. It was also suppressed in Spain and Germany, and has not been introduced again in the former country. The order was established first in the United States in 1846. See Addis and Arnold's _Cath. Dict._, pp. 74-76.