Statement of the Population Administered by the Religious Corporations and Secular Clergy in the Philippines, 1896.

Year of Foundation or Revival.Year of Arrival.Corporation.Towns.Provinces.Friars.Baptisms.Marriages.Burials.Souls.
395
1061		1570Augustinians2031631098,73120,35583,0512,082,131
15321606Recollets1942019256,25911,43940,0081,175,156
12081577Franciscans1531545538,85811,92735,7371,010,753
12161587Dominicans691020627,5767,30732,336699,851
15341581Jesuits[1]33616715,302[2]2,0174,937191,493
Secular Clergy............967,294
Total1,3306,126,678
N.B.—The population of the Islands according to the census of 18775,995,160
Probable Christian population, 18998,000,000

These holy men have, since very early times, shown themselves rather turbulent, and then and always endeavoured to carry matters with a high hand. Thus in 1582 we find them refusing to admit the diocesan visit of the Bishop of Manila, and that old dispute has cropped up on and off many times since then. At the same time we find them taking the part of the natives against the Encomenderos. They have always been ready to fight for their country and to subscribe money for its defence. When Acting Governor Guido de Lavezares headed the column which attacked the pirate Li-ma-Hon, he was accompanied by the Provincial of the Augustinians. In 1603 all the friars in Manila took up arms against the revolted Chinese, and three years later the Augustinians not only furnished a war ship to fight the Portuguese, but provided a captain for it in the person of one of their Order, Fray Antonio Flores. It appears that the estates of the Augustinians and the Dominicans were very early a bone of contention, for in 1689 a judge arrived in Manila, and, in virtue of a special commission he had brought from Madrid, he required them to present their titles. This they refused to do, and the judge was sent back to Mexico, and a friend of the friars was appointed as Commissioner in his place. Then the friars condescended to unofficially exhibit their titles. Now more than two centuries after the first abortive attempt, the question of the ownership of these lands is still under discussion.

During the British occupation of Manila in 1763 the friars took up arms in defence of their flag, and gave their church bells to be cast into cannon. No less than ten Augustinians fell on the field of battle. The British treated them with great severity, sacking and destroying their rectories and estate houses, and selling everything of theirs they could lay hands on. I have visited the ruins of the old estate house of Malinta which was burnt by the British.

In 1820, when the massacre of foreigners by the Manila mob took place, owing the cowardice of General Folgueras, the archbishop and friars marched out in procession to the scene of the disturbance and succeeded in saving many lives. In 1851 a Recollet, Father Ibañez, raised a battalion from his congregation, trained and commanded it. He took the field at Mindanao and with the most undaunted bravery led his men to the assault of a Moro Cotta, or fort, dying like our General Wolfe at the moment of victory. Not one man of this battalion ever deserted or hung back from the combats, for the worthy priest had all their wives under a solemn vow never to receive them again unless they returned victorious from the campaign.

The religious orders have frequently interfered to protect the natives against the civil authorities, and were often on very good terms with the mass of their parishioners. The greatest jealousy of them was felt by the native clergy.

The military revolt which broke out in Cavite in 1872, was doubtless inspired by this class, who saw that a policy had been adopted of filling vacancies in all benefices except the poorest, with Spanish friars instead of natives. The condemnation of Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora, three native priests who were executed at Manila soon after the suppression of the revolt, is ascribed by the natives and mestizos to the subornation of justice to the friars, who are said to have paid a large sum for their condemnation.

However this may be, there is no doubt that since that date the feeling against the friars has become intensified.

The friars were the chief outposts and even bulwarks of the government against rebellions. Almost every rising has been detected by them, many plots being revealed by women under the seal of confession. It was only by the assistance of the friars that the islands were held by Spain for so many centuries almost without any military force.

The islands were not conquered by force of arms—the people were converted almost without firing a shot.

The greater part of the fighting was to protect the natives against Chinese pirates, Japanese corsairs, Dutch rovers, or the predatory heathen.

The defensive forces consisted of local troops and companies of Mexican and Peruvian Infantry. It is only since 1828 that Manila has been garrisoned by regular troops from the Peninsula.

During my residence in the islands I do not think there were more than 1500 Spanish troops in garrison in the whole islands, except when some marines were sent out. These troops belonged to the Peninsular Regiment of Artillery, and were a very fine looking set of men.

That this small force could be sufficient is evidently due to the influence of the friars in keeping the people quiet.

Yet the feeling of a great majority of Spanish civilians was against the friars, and I think many of those who supported them, only did so from interested motives.

The consequence was that as the number of Spaniards increased, the influence of the friars diminished, for the Spanish anti-clericals had no scruples in criticising the priests and in speaking plainly to the natives to their prejudice.

The friars have fared badly at the hands of several writers on the Philippines; but it will be noticed that those who know the least about them speak the worst of them.

Herr Jagor, who was much amongst them, bears witness to the strict decorum of their households, whilst he very justly says that the behaviour of the native clergy leaves something to be desired.

Foreman hints at horrors, and with questionable taste relates how he found amongst a priest’s baggage some very obscene pictures.

Worcester thinks the priests’ influence wholly bad. From what he states in his book, he must have come across some very bad specimens amongst the smaller islands where he wandered.

Younghusband, who perhaps got his information at the bar of the Manila Club, describes them as “monsters of lechery.”

There is a tradition that when the conclusions of a tribunal favourable to the canonisation of Santa Rosa de Lima, Patroness of the Indies, were laid before Pope Clement X., that Pontiff manifested his incredulity that a tropical climate could produce a saint. He is even credited with the saying that bananas and saints are not grown together.

The tradition may be erroneous, but there is something in the opinion that deserves to be remembered.

Temperature does have something to do with sexual morality, and in comparing one country with another an allowance must be made for the height of the thermometer.

The friars in the Philippines are but men, and men exposed to great temptations. We should remember the tedium of life in a provincial town, where, perhaps, the parish priest is the only European, and is surfeited with the conversation of his native curates, of the half-caste apothecary and the Chinese store-keeper. He has neither society nor amusement.

I have previously remarked upon the position of women in the Philippines. I may repeat that their position, both by law and custom, is at least as good as in the most advanced countries.

I remember reading with great interest, and, perhaps, some sympathy, a remarkable article in the New York Herald, of January 10th, 1894, headed “Virtue Defined,” signed by Tennie C. Claflin (Lady Cook), and it seemed to me a plea for “equality of opportunity” between the sexes, if I may borrow the phrase from diplomacy. Well, that equality exists in the Philippines. Whilst unmarried, the girls enjoy great freedom. In that tolerant land a little ante-nuptial incontinence is not an unpardonable crime in a girl any more than in a youth, nor does it bar the way to marriage.

The girls whilst young possess exceedingly statuesque figures, and what charms they have are nature’s own, for they owe nothing to art. Their dress is modest, yet as they do not wear a superfluity of garments, at times, as when bathing, their figures are revealed to view.

Bearing in mind the above condition of things and that the priest is the principal man in the town and able to do many favours to his friends, it is not surprising if some of the young women, impelled by the desire of obtaining his good graces, make a dead set at him, such as we sometimes see made at a bachelor curate in our own so-very-much-more frigid and, therefore, moral country. The priest, should he forget his vows of celibacy, is a sinner, and deserving of blame for failing to keep the high standard of virtue which his Church demands. But I do not see in that a justification for calling him a monster. Have we never heard of a backslider in Brooklyn, or of a clerical co-respondent at home, that we should expect perfection in the Philippines? As for the statements that the priests take married women by force, that is an absurdity. The Tagals are not men to suffer such an outrage.

The toleration enjoyed by the girls, above referred to, is a heritage from heathen times, which three centuries of Christianity have failed to extirpate. In fact, this is a characteristic of the Malay race.

During the many years I was in the islands I had frequent occasion to avail myself of the hospitality of the priests on my journeys. This was usually amongst the Augustinians, the Dominicans and the Recollets. I declare that on none of those many occasions did I ever witness anything scandalous, or indecorous in their convents, and I arrived at all hours and without notice.

As to Younghusband’s denouncement of them as “monsters of lechery,” I would say that they were notoriously the most healthy and the longest-lived people in the islands, and if that most unjust accusation was true, this could hardly be the case. It should be remembered that the priest of any large town would be a man advanced in years and therefore less likely to misconduct himself.

There was also the certainty that any open scandal would be followed by punishment from the provincial and council of the order. I have known a priest to be practically banished to a wretched hamlet amongst savages for two years for causing scandal.

Some late writers speak of the native clergy as if they were of superior morality and better behaved than the Spanish priests. That appreciation does not commend itself to those who have had some experience of the Philippine clergy.

Some of those I have known were of very relaxed morals, not to say scandalous in their behaviour. The Philippine Islands, in short, are not the chosen abode of chastity: but I do not know why the Spanish friars should be singled out for special censure in this respect.

I can truly say that I was not acquainted with any class out there entitled to cast the first stone.

Each of the orders (except the Jesuits) is a little republic governed or administered by officers and functionaries elected by the suffrages of the members. The head of the order is a Superior or General, who resides in Rome, but the head in the Philippines is called the Provincial.

The brethren render him the greatest respect and obedience, kneeling down to kiss his hand.

There is a council to assist the provincial, they are called definidores or padres graves, the exact nomenclature varies in the different orders.

There is a Procurator or Commissary in Madrid, a Procurator-General in Manila, a Prior or Guardian to each convent not being a rectory, an Orator or preacher, lay-brethren in charge of estates or of works, parish priests, missionaries, and coadjutors, learning the native dialects.

The members of the order were appointed to benefices according to their standing and popularity amongst their brethren. The neophytes are trained in one of the seminaries of the order in Spain; for instance, the Augustinians have colleges at Valladolid, La Vid, and La Escorial, with more than 300 students.

When a young priest first arrived in the Philippines, he was sent as a coadjutor to some parish priest to learn the dialect of the people he is to work amongst. Then he would be appointed a missionary to the heathen, where he lived on scanty pay, amongst savages, either in the highlands of Luzon or in some remote island, remaining there for two or three years. His first promotion would be to a parish consisting of a village of thatched houses (nipa) and, perhaps, the church and convent would be of the same material. This meant a constant and imminent dread of the almost instantaneous destruction of his dwelling by fire. Perhaps there is communication with Manila once a month, when, by sending to the nearest port, he may get letters and newspapers and receive some provisions, an occasional cask of Spanish red wine, some tins of chorizos (Estremeño smoked sausages), a sack of garbanzos, or frijóles, a box of turron de Alicante, and some cigars from the procuration of the convent in Manila. These would be charged to his account, and frugally as he might live, many a year might pass over his head before he would be out of debt to his Order. And poor as he might be, he would never refuse his house or his table to any European who might call upon him. Later on, if his conduct had satisfied his superiors, the time would come when he would get nominated to a more accessible and more profitable parish, that would quickly enable him to pay off the debt due to the procuration. He would have a church and convent of stone, keep a carriage and pair of ponies, and begin to have a surplus, and to contribute a little to the funds of his Order.

Soon he would become Padre Grave, and begin to have influence with his colleagues. He would be removed to a richer town and nominated Vicario Foráneo, equivalent to an archdeacon in England. Later on, he might be elected a Definidor, or councillor. Then, perhaps, one of the great prizes of the order fell to his lot. He might be appointed parish priest of Taal or Biñan, worth at least ten thousand dollars a year, or of rich Lipa, high amongst its coffee groves (now, alas! withered), which used to be worth twenty thousand dollars in a good year. He would treat himself well, and liberally entertain all who visited him, and governors of provinces, judges, officers of the Guardia Civil, would often be seen at his table.

He would make large contributions to the funds of the Order, with the surplus revenue of his parish.

If, however, the priest whose career we have been following, had shown sufficient character for a champion, and had become popular in the Order, he might, perhaps, be elected Provincial, and then, disposing of the influence of his Order, some day get himself made a Bishop or even Archbishop of Manila, should a vacancy occur, and so become a prince of the Church.

Whatever talents a friar had, a sphere could always be found for their exercise. If he had a gift for preaching, he could be appointed Orator of the Order. If he was good at Latin and Greek, he could be made a professor at the university. If he was a good business man, he could be chosen procurator. If he had diplomatic talents, he could be made commissary of the order at Madrid. In any case he was sure to be taken care of to the end of his days.

As for the Orders in themselves, I have already said that, excepting the Society of Jesus, they are little republics, and that office-holders are elected by the votes of the members. When a general Chapter of the Order is held for this purpose, the members come from all parts and assemble in their convent in Manila.

I am sorry to say that there has sometimes been so much feeling aroused over the question of the distribution of the loaves and fishes, that the opposing parties have broken up the chairs and benches to serve as clubs, and furiously attacked each other in the battle royal, and with deplorable results.

In consequence of this, when the chapter or general assembly was to be held, the governor-general nominated a royal commissary, often a colonel in the army, to be present at these meetings, but only to interfere to keep the peace. It was something of an anomaly to see a son of Mars deputed to keep the peace in an assembly of the clergy. The meeting commenced with prayer, then one by one all the dignitaries laid down their offices and became private members of the Order, so that at the end of this ceremony every one was absolutely equal.

Then the eldest rose and solemnly adjured any one present who held a Bull of the Holy Father, to produce it then and there under pain of major excommunication. Three times was this solemn warning delivered.

It owes its origin, perhaps, to some surprise sprung on a brotherhood in former days, yet it is to be noted that one of the privileges of their Catholic majesties the kings of Spain was, that no Bull should run in their dominions without their approval.

Then free from outside interference, and all present being on an equal footing the election takes place. Amidst great excitement the Provincial, the Procurator, the Orator, the Definidores, or Councillors, are chosen according to their popularity, or as they are deemed best fitted to advance the interests of the voter or the Order.

The selection of office-holders is a matter of the greatest importance to the members, as those in power distribute the benefices and are apt to be more alive to the merits of their supporters, than to the pretensions of those who have voted for others.

But, however divided they may be on these occasions, they unite against any outsider, and unless the question is evidently personal, he who offends a member finds the Order ranged against him, and, perhaps, the other Orders also, for in matters affecting their interests the Orders act in unison, and as has been said, have succeeded in removing not only governors of provinces, but governors-general also when these have failed to do their bidding.

[1] Expelled in 1768. Readmitted, 1852, for charge of schools and missions.

[2] Of these 4102 were baptisms of heathen in 1896.

Chapter VIII.

Their Estates.

Malinta and Piedad—Mandaloyan—San Francisco de Malabon—Irrigation works—Imus—Calamba—Cabuyao—Santa Rosa—Biñan—San Pedro Tunasan—Naic—Santa Cruz—Estates a bone of contention for centuries—Principal cause of revolt of Tagals—But the Peace Commission guarantee the Orders in possession—Pacification retarded—Summary—The Orders must go!—And be replaced by natives.

The Augustinians own some fine estates near Manila. In 1877 I visited Malinta and Piedad, which, according to an old plan exhibited to me, drawn by some ancient navigator, measured over 14,000 acres in extent, a good part of which was cultivated and under paddy; still a large expanse was rocky, and grew only cogon (elephant grass). The lay-brother in charge, Aureliano Garcia, confided to me that he went about in fear, and expected to end his life under the bolos of the tenants. I was then new to the country, and saw no signs of discontent. I afterwards visited Mandaloyan, another estate nearer Manila. This was nearly all arable land. The house was large and commodious, and was used as a convalescent home for the friars. I have not a note of the extent of this estate, but it occupies a great part of the space between the rivers Maibonga and San Juan, to the north of the Pasig. The lay-brother in charge, Julian Ibeas, did not seem at all anxious about his safety. The land here was more fertile than that of Malinta, and there was water carriage to a market for the crops.

In view of my report, which was not, however, unduly optimistic, my clients deputed me to ask the Augustinians for a lease of the above three estates for twenty-five years, the rent to be $40,000[1] per year for three years, and each year after that an addition of a thousand dollars, so that the ultimate rent would be $62,000 per annum. However, after taking some time to consider, the procurator declined the offer.

On the above estates there was little or nothing done by the owners to improve the land. They had limited themselves to building large and convenient houses and granaries for their own accommodation, and to entertain their friends.

In 1884 I constructed a pumping station on the River Tuliajan in this estate, and laid a pipe line right through the property to supply fresh water to the sugar refinery at Malabon, five miles distant. I had no difficulty in obtaining permission, indeed, Fray Arsenio Campo (now Bishop of Nueva Cáceres) facilitated the work in every way. The only protest was by Doroteo Cortes, a half-caste lawyer, who interposed as the pipe had to pass between two fish-ponds belonging to him, and he extorted a blackmail $800 to withdraw his opposition. Let the reader contrast the behaviour of the Spaniard and the half-caste, now posing as an “Americanista.”

San Francisco de Malabon, another possession of theirs, is a magnificent property, situated on the fertile, well-watered land that slopes from the summits of the Tagaytay range, north of the vast crater-lake of Bombon, to the shores of the ever-famous Bay of Bacoor, the scene of Spain’s naval collapse.

Through the volcanic soil three rivers, the Ilang-ilang, the Camanchíle, and the Jálan, have cut deep gashes down to the bed-rock, on the surface of which the rapid waters rush downwards to the sea.

A nobly-proportioned house of stone, almost a fortress, was planted where it commanded a grand, a stately view. From its windows the spectator looked over fields of waving grain, over fruit trees, and town and hamlets, down to the sea shore, and across the vast expanse of placid bay to where in the far north solitary Arayat rears his head. The thick walls and lofty roof excluded the solar heat, and the green-painted Venetians saved the inmate from the glare. Very welcome was that hostel, furnished in severe ecclesiastical almost mediæval style, to me, after the dusty up-hill drive of eight miles from Cavite.

I visited this estate in 1879, and found that extensive irrigation works had been carried out. A new dam on one of the rivers, about fifty feet high, was approaching completion. Unfortunately, the work had been executed by a lay-brother, a stone mason, without professional supervision. He was ignorant of the necessity of taking special precautions when preparing the seat for the dam. Although he had a bed of volcanic tuff to build upon he would not go to the trouble to cut into and stop all faults and crevices in the rock before laying his first course of masonry, and he hurried on the job to save expense as he supposed. For the same reason he did not attempt to follow the correct profile of the dam. When the pressure came on, the water spouted up in little fountains, and gradually increased as it cut away the soft stone. I advised them what to do, and after a good deal of work, Portland cement and puddled clay got them out of their difficulty.

About four miles to the eastward of San Francisco de Malabon, and on the same volcanic soil, is the great estate of Imus belonging to the Recollets, or unshod Augustinians. It is about five miles from the landing-place at Bacoor. Here again three rivers run through the property, and the view from the house is the same.

The house itself was a grim fortress and served the rebels well in 1896, for they found arms and ammunition in it, and successfully defended it against General Aiguirre who had to retire, being unable to take it without artillery.

In 1897 the army of General Lachambre advanced against Imus, and on the 24th March took the outer defences of the town, notwithstanding the determined resistance of the Tagals, of whom three hundred were killed in a hand-to-hand combat. Next day the estate house, which adjoins the town and had been for six months the stronghold of the Katipunan, was bombarded and burnt, only the ruins remain.

There are extensive works of irrigation at this place also, and formerly a large sugar works was built here by the owners, but it failed, as there was no one fit to take charge of it.

I have not visited this Hacienda, and cannot give its extent or value.

Of all the Orders the greatest land-owners are the Dominicans. They have vast estates in Calamba, Cabuyáo, Santa Rosa, Biñan, and San Pedro Tunasán, all on the Lake of Bay, also at Naic and Santa Cruz on the Bay of Manila. I have several times visited their estates at the first two places, and can affirm that they have expended considerable sums in building dams for irrigating the lands, and I supplied them with some very large cast-iron pipes for the purpose of making a syphon across a ravine or narrow valley to convey water for irrigating the opposite plain. They have consequently very largely increased the value of these lands.

The house at Calamba, solidly built of stone, with a strong and high encircling wall, served as a fortified camp and headquarters for the Spanish army in operation against the rebels in 1897.

This estate of Calamba has earned a sad notoriety in the Philippines, for the disputes which constantly arose between the administration and their tenants.

It is hardly too much to say that the possession of estates has been fatal to the Orders. They claim to have always been good and indulgent landlords, but the fact remains that all these estates are in Tagal territory, that only the Tagals revolted, and that the revolt was directed against the Orders because of their tyranny and extortions, and because they were landlords and rack renters.

It was, is now, and ever will be an Agrarian question that will continue to give trouble and be the cause of crime and outrage until settled in a broad-minded and statesman-like manner.

These estates have been a bone of contention for centuries, and were a principal cause of the last revolt of the Tagals. Yet the Peace Commission at Paris appears to have given the three Orders a new title to their disputed possessions by guaranteeing to the Church the enjoyment of its property, which, if the Spaniards had continued to rule the islands, must ultimately have been taken from it in the natural course of events, as has happened in every other Catholic country.

I have no doubt that the pacification of the Philippines by the American forces has been greatly retarded, and is now rendered more difficult, by this clause, which must have been accepted by the American commissioners under a misapprehension of its import, and from imperfect information as to the status quo. This difficult matter can still be arranged, but it will require the outlay of a considerable sum of money, which, however, would eventually be recouped.

Some of the Rising Generation in the Philippines. Scholars of the Manila Athenæum, Belonging to the Congregation of the Virgin.

To face p. 75.

In present circumstances I venture to say that a garrison would be needed at each estate to protect an administrator or collector, for the Tagal tenants are as averse to paying rent for land as any bog-trotter in Tipperary. I do not envy anybody who purchases these estates, nor would I consider the life of such a one a good risk for an insurance company, if he intended to press the tenants for rents or arrears.

To sum up the Religious Orders, they were hardy and adventurous pioneers of Christianity, and in the evangelisation of the Philippines, by persuasion and teaching, they did more for Christianity and civilisation than any other missionaries of modern times.

Of undaunted courage they have ever been to the front when calamities threatened their flocks; they have witnessed and recorded some of the most dreadful convulsions of nature, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and destructive typhoons. In epidemics of plague and cholera they have not been dismayed, nor have they ever in such cases abandoned their flocks.

When an enemy has attacked the islands they have been the first to face the shot. Only fervent faith could enable these men to endure the hardships, and overcome the dangers that encompassed them.

They have done much for education, having founded schools for both sexes, training colleges for teachers, the university of St. Thomas in Manila, and other institutions.

Hospitals and asylums attest their charity. They were formerly, and even lately, the protectors of the poor against the rich, and of the native against the Spaniard. They have consistently resisted the enslavement of the natives.

They restrained the constant inclination of the natives to wander away into the woods and return to primitive savagery by keeping them in the towns, or, as they said, “Under the bells.”

On the other hand, peace and plenty (those blessings for which we pray), have corrupted and demoralised the Orders. No longer liable at any moment to be called upon to fight for their lives, the sterner virtues have decayed. Increased production and export enriched the people, a gold coinage was introduced, and the friars allowed avarice to possess their souls.

In those lands of perpetual summer no death duties have to be paid to a Chancellor of the Exchequer, as in this island of fog and mist.

But the friars have a system of charges for performing the funeral ceremonies, which comes to much the same in the end. I call it a system; it is a very simple system, and consists in extorting as much as they can get, taking into consideration the wealth of the family. To give an instance, I have been assured by a son of Capitan Natalio Lopez, of Balayan, a native gentleman well known to me, that the parish priest charged the family six hundred dollars for performing their father’s funeral ceremony. The same rule applies to baptisms and marriages, and this abuse calls for redress, and for the establishment of fixed fees according to the position of the parties.

Each friar, as a parish priest, was an outpost of the central government, watching for symptoms of revolt. Only thus could the Spaniards hold the archipelago with fifteen hundred Peninsular troops, and a small squadron of warships.

The greatest, and the best-founded, complaint of the natives against the priests, was that whoever displeased them, either in personal or money matters, was liable to be denounced to the authorities as a filibuster, and to be torn from home and family and deported to some distant and probably unhealthy spot, there to reside, at his own cost, for an indefinite time, by arbitrary authority, without process of law. Such a punishment, euphoniously termed “forced residence,” sometimes involved the death of the exile, and always caused heavy expense, as a pardon could not be obtained without bribing some one.

Ysabelo de los Reyes, and other natives, accuse the friars of extorting evidence from suspected persons by torture. I fear there can be no doubt that many victims, including a number of the native clerics, suffered flagellation and other tortures at the hands of the friars for the above purpose. The convents of Nueva-Cáceres and of Vigan, amongst other places, were the scenes of these abominable practices, and Augustinians, Dominicans and Franciscans, have taken part in them. This is referred to at greater length in another part of this work under the heading, “The Insurrection of 1896.”

Individual friars were sometimes, nay, often, very worthy parish priests. I have known many such. But a community is often worse than the individuals of which it is composed. One might say with the Italian musician who had served for many years in a cathedral, and had obtained the promise of every individual canon to support his application for a pension, when he was told that the chapter had unanimously refused his request:

“The canons are good, but the chapter is bad.”

A board will jointly do a meaner action than the shadiest director amongst them, and should it comprise one or two members of obtrusive piety, that circumstance enables it to disregard the ordinary standard of right and wrong with more assurance.

There is a law in metallurgy which has a curious analogy to this law of human nature. It is this: An alloy composed of several metals of different melting-points, will fuse at a lower temperature than that of its lowest fusing constituent.

The Orders, then, have been of the greatest service in the past; they have brought the Philippines and their inhabitants to a certain pitch of civilisation, and credit is due to them for this much, even if they could go no farther. For years their influence over the natives has been decreasing, and year by year the natives have become more and more antagonistic to priestly rule.

A considerable intellectual development has taken place of late years in the Philippines. The natives are no longer content to continue upon the old lines; they aspire to a freer life. Many even harbour a sentiment of nationality such as was never thought of before.

But if the Orders had lost ground with the natives and with many Spaniards, their influence still preponderated. Owners of vast estates, possessors of fabulous riches, armed with spiritual authority, knowing the secrets of every family, holding the venal courts of justice as in the hollow of their hand, dominating the local government, standing above the law, and purchasing the downfall of their enemies from the corrupt ministries in Madrid, these giant trusts, jealous of each other, yet standing firmly shoulder to shoulder in the common cause, constitute a barrier to progress that can have no place nor use under an American Protectorate. They are an anachronism in the twentieth century, and they must disappear as corporations from the Philippines.

They should not, however, be buried under an avalanche of contumely and slander; their long and glorious past should be remembered, and in winding up their estates due regard should be paid to the interests of every member. I cannot here intimate how this is to be done, for it is an intricate subject, rendered more complex by the reluctance of the American Government to interfere in religious matters, even though they are so bound up with the politics of the Philippines that no pacification can be effected without following popular sentiment upon this point.

So far as the landed estates are concerned, the settlement could be arrived at by a commission with ample powers. In the meantime, no sale of these estates should be recognised.

The benefices held by the friars should be gradually bestowed upon the secular clergy, as suitable men can be found. The native clergy have always been badly used by the friars; they have had to suffer abuse and ignominious treatment. They have not been in a position to develop their dignity and self-respect.

I have spoken of them in general as leaving something to be desired as to decorous conduct, but they will doubtless improve when placed in positions of consideration and responsibility.

Amongst them are men of considerable learning; some have passed brilliant examinations in theology and canon law.

As regards piety, Malays, whether heathen, Mahometan or Christian, take their religion lightly, and we must not expect too much. I daresay they are pious enough for the country and the climate.

[1] Exchange was then at 4s. 2d.

Chapter IX.

Secret Societies.

Masonic Lodges—Execution or exile of Masons in 1872—The “Associacion Hispano Filipina”—The “Liga Filipina”—The Katipunan—Its programme.

Fray Eduardo Navarro, Procurator of the Augustinians, and Ysabelo de los Reyes, an Ilocano, and author of some notable works, agree that the first masonic lodge of the Philippines was founded in Cavite about 1860. The latter states that Malcampo and Mendez-Nuñez, two distinguished naval officers, were the founders. Soon after this, another lodge was founded in Zamboanga, also under naval auspices. After 1868, a lodge was founded in Manila by foreigners, a wealthy Filipino being secretary. Another lodge was founded in Pandakan, another in Cebú, and still another in Cavite, to which Crisanto Reyes and Maximo Inocencio belonged.

These lodges at first had only Peninsular Spaniards or other Europeans as members, but gradually Creoles, Mestizos, and natives, joined the brotherhood, and subscribed liberally to its funds.

The Catholic clergy have always looked upon Masons as most dangerous enemies, and many pontiffs have launched their anathemas against the brotherhood. But, so far as one can see, to quote from ‘The Jackdaw of Rheims,’ “No one seemed a penny the worse.”

Masonry grows and flourishes in spite of them all. To give an example. Many years ago, in the very Catholic city of Lima, I attended the civil funeral of a priest, the learned Doctor Don Francisco de Paula Gonzales Vigil, who died excommunicate. Twelve thousand men, including the Masons with their insignia, deputations from the Senate and Chamber, from the Municipality, Army, Navy, and other bodies, formed the funeral cortège. The Municipality presented a tomb in the public cemetery, which is one of the finest in the world, and an orator pronounced an impassioned eulogy upon the virtues and patriotism of the deceased. It was a wonderful manifestation, and remains graven upon my memory. On that day every priest and friar found something to occupy himself with at home. Whatever may be the case in Great Britain or in the United States, there can be no doubt that in Catholic countries the lodges are antagonistic to the clergy and the Church.

The lodges in the Philippines were founded by anti-clerical Spaniards of liberal views, and the Creoles, Mestizos and natives who joined them found brethren disposed to sympathise with them and to work with them against the friars. There was no idea of revolting against the mother country, but rather to introduce a more liberal government, with representation for the civilised provinces in the Spanish Córtes. It must be remembered that this representation had already existed, and only required to be revived. There had been deputies to the Córtes-Generales from 1810 to 1814, and from 1820 to 1823, and Procuradores from 1834 to 1837.

The Córtes of Cadiz, on 14th October, 1810, declared:—

“The kingdoms and provinces of America and Asia are, and ought to have been always, reputed an integral part of the Spanish monarchy, and for that same, their natives and free inhabitants are equal in rights and privileges to those of the peninsula.”

These are very noble words, and, delivered in the majestic language of Castile by some enthusiastic orator, must have gone straight to the hearts of those that heard them.

Spain is as celebrated for orators as Great Britain for the lack of them. Our generation has never produced a speaker like Castelar. But, unfortunately for the Philippines, these grand and sonorous phrases dissolved in air, and led to nothing practical. The friars stoutly opposed what to them seemed dangerous innovations; they were successful, and darkness again prevailed.

The insurrection of Cavite, in 1872, resulted in the execution or exile of many members of the masonic body, and the brotherhood was for some years under a cloud.

The Peninsular Spaniards dissociated themselves from the revolutionary party. To use a simile which has been employed in England to describe the difference between Liberals and Radicals, they were “going by the same train, but not going so far.”

The Creoles and Mestizos gradually founded new societies, which were alleged to aim at obtaining reforms by legal and constitutional means.

“The Asociacion Hispano-Filipina” had for its first president Doroteo Cortés, and amongst its officers Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, Pedro Serrano, and Deodato Arellano.

The “Liga Filipina” was founded by Dr. Rizal and Domingo Franco; its first president was shot. Nearly all the members were Masons; they were well off, and of fair education, not inclined to put their persons or property in danger. They did not want to fight. Their programme may be summed up as follows:—

It was certainly not without risk to be a member of one of these societies, for the Orders are vindictive in the extreme, and are not troubled with scruples when it is a question of punishing an opponent.

Still, the Creole and Mestizo element were made cautious by the possession of property, and its members cannot be called fighting-men. They did not intend to run the risk of having holes bored through them.

They founded newspapers in Spain; they wrote violent articles, they made speeches, they obtained the support of some Liberals and anti-clericals in the Peninsula, and numbered many adherents in the islands. Still, they were comparatively harmless. Not so, however, was a society which was formed of very different elements. Taking a hint, perhaps, from the murderous brotherhood of the Ku-Klux-Klan, some resolute and courageous Tagals imagined and formed that terrible secret society, the Katipunan. There is no K in the Spanish alphabet, but this letter is found in the Malay dialects, and consequently in Tagal. Therefore, the symbol of the society, K.K.K., was as distinctly anti-Spanish as was the full title, which was represented by the initials—

N M A N B

The words corresponding to these initials were:—

Kataas-taasanKagalang-gálangKatipunan
or SovereignWorshipfulAssociation
NangMangaAnacNangBayan
of the(plural)sonsof theCountry.

They used signs and passwords. There were three grades of members:—

1st gradeKatipunword Anak nang bayan.
2nd gradeKanalword Gom-bur-za.[1]
3rd gradeBayani.

Andrés Bonifacio, a warehouse-keeper in the service of Messrs. Fressel & Co., of Manila, was the guiding spirit of this society, and at the meeting of 1st January, 1896, the Supreme Council was elected as follows:—

PresidentAndrés Bonifacio.
Fiscal and DoctorEmilio Jacinto ó Dison, alias Ping Kian.
TreasurerVicente Molina.
CouncillorsPantaleon Torres.
Hermengildo Reyes.
Francisco Carreon.
José Trinidad.
Balbino Florentine
Aguedo del Rosario.

K
K K
Z LL B

The members of the Katipunan were poor people—writers, common soldiers, washermen, mechanics, and tenants on the friars’ estates. They subscribed small sums monthly for the purchase of arms, and for other expenses. Bearing in mind how many conspiracies had been denounced to the priests by the women, the leaders of this movement gave their meetings the outward appearance of benevolent associations, and directed the members to represent the society to their wives in that light.

Later on a woman’s lodge, with twenty-five members was organised, under the presidency of Marina Dison, but the women were not informed of the true object of the society.

Fray Eduardo Navarro, Procurator of the Augustinians, in a cleverly-written work, entitled ‘The Philippines; a Study of Certain Matters of Moment,’ published in 1897, prints under No. 3 of the Appendix the title granted by the Walana Lodge, No. 158, certifying that “our dear sister, Purificacion Leyva, has been initiated in the degree of Companion-Mason at the session of 8th April, 1894.”

On reading this work, I infer that the friars considered the Katipunan a Masonic body, but this is a mistake. The Katipunan adopted some of the Masonic paraphernalia, and some of the initiatory ceremonies, but were in no sense Masonic lodges.

The programme of the Katipunan was, in its own words, “to redeem the Philippines from its tyrants, the friars, and to found a communistic republic.” This was simple and direct, and they meant it.

How many men were affiliated to this society cannot be known. Estimates range from 10,000 to 50,000 members. I think there can be no doubt that it was the most potent factor in the insurrection of 1896, and that its members, unlike the Creoles and Mestizos, were ready to give their lives for their cause.

[1] This word is formed of the first syllable of the names of three native priests executed after the Cavite mutiny, Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora.

Chapter X.

The Insurrection of 1896–97.

Combat at San Juan del Monte—Insurrection spreading—Arrival of reinforcements from Spain—Rebel entrenchments—Rebel arms and artillery—Spaniards repulsed from Binacáyan—and from Noveleta—Mutiny of Carabineros—Prisoners at Cavite attempt to escape—Iniquities of the Spanish War Office—Lachambre’s division—Rebel organization—Rank and badges—Lachambre advances—He captures Silang—Perez Dasmariñas—Salitran—Anabo II.

The Augustinians take credit to themselves that one of their order, Father Mariano Gil, parish priest of Tondo, discovered the existence of the revolutionary conspiracy, on the 19th August. But already on the 5th of July a lieutenant of the Guardia Civil had declared in a written report that there were over 14,000 men belonging to the valley of the Pasig, affiliated to the conspiracy.

A council of the authorities was convened on the 6th of August, but nothing was done. On that same date, however, the Governor of Batangas telegraphed that a discovery of arms, ammunition and Republican flags had been made at Taal. In consequence of this, General Blanco ordered some arrests to be made.

On the 19th, Father Gil gave information to General Blanco that he had discovered the existence of a secret revolutionary society, and two days later Blanco reported to the Government in Madrid that there existed a vast organization of secret societies.

At this time the garrison of Manila consisted of some 1500 men, most of them being natives. As arrests were being continually made, the members of the Katipunan, or those suspected of being such, left their homes and took to the woods although very poorly equipped with fire-arms.

On 30th August a party of the rebels under Sancho Valenzuela, Modesto Sarmiento, and others had a fight with some native cavalry and Guardias Civiles at San Juan del Monte near Manila. The rebels lost heavily in killed, their chiefs were taken prisoners and shot on the 4th September, at the Paseo de la Luneta.

A Spanish artilleryman was murdered by some rebels at Pandacan about this time, and martial law was proclaimed.

The Guardia Civil, all native soldiers, was now concentrated in Manila abandoning their outlying posts. After many vacillations and contradictory cablegrams to the Government in Madrid, General Blanco now definitely asked for large reinforcements.

On September 1st, the people of Noveleta revolted and killed a captain and a lieutenant of the Guardia Civil and three days later the rebels penetrated to the town of Caridad, close to Cavite.

Early in September rebels were in arms, and dominating great part of the Provinces of Manila, Cavite, Batangas, Bulacan, Pampanga and Nueva Écija.

By the middle of the month rebel bands appeared in Tarlac, Pangasinán, Laguna, Morong and Tayabas.

On the 9th September, the Cavite rebels attacked San Roque, which is close to the town of Cavite, and burned part of it. On the 12th, thirteen persons who had been convicted by a court-martial of complicity in the revolt were shot in Cavite.

The cables from General Blanco to the Madrid Government were all this time misleading and contradictory, and showed that he had no grasp of the state of affairs. These dispatches were subjected to severe criticism in the Heraldo, a Madrid newspaper.

By the middle of September troops arrived from Zamboanga and other southern stations, and the garrison of Manila was brought up to 6000 men, two-thirds of whom were natives. Reinforcements were sent to Cavite, for the rebels were in great force about Silang, Imus, and Noveleta.

On the 17th September another attack was made by the rebels on San Roque, but was repulsed.

On the 1st October the mail steamer Cataluña arrived with a battalion of marines from Spain, greatly to the delight of the Spaniards, who gave the force an enthusiastic reception.

Next day the ss. Monserrat arrived with more troops, and from this time forward troops kept pouring in.

Still General Blanco remained on the defensive in and around the city of Manila and the town of Cavite, and repulsed attacks made by the rebels on the magazines at Binancáyan and Las Piñas.

The rebels were now firmly established over the rest of the Province of Cavite. The natural features of this part of Luzon made the movements of regular troops extremely difficult. The country abounds in rivers which run from south to north parallel to each other at short distances. They run at the bottom of deep ravines, which present excellent positions for defence. Many of these rivers have dams across them and the sluices in these might be opened by the defenders, or the dams could be blown up in case a column of the assailants should be entangled in the ravine below, when they would inevitably be overwhelmed in the descending torrent.

In places the country could be flooded and thus be rendered impassable for troops.

But the industry of the rebels, skilfully directed, had added enormously to these natural advantages. From the reports of eye-witnesses I can affirm that the entrenchments of the Tagals were colossal. Tagals and Boers have demonstrated that a competitive examination is not necessary to enable fighting-men to entrench themselves. The Tagal lines ran from the delta of the Zapote River to Naic in an almost unbroken line, approximately parallel to the coast.

They were doubled and trebled in front of villages or towns and across the roads.

The trace was en crémaillère, the section being 6 feet thick at the top and 8 feet high, the exterior face vertical, with a revetment of bamboos fastened together with rattans. It was in fact a bank of earth built up against a strong bamboo fence.

The defenders fired through loop-holes left in the parapet, and were very well covered, but they could only fire straight before them and horizontally.

The defences of the towns had thicker and loftier parapets; in some cases there were three tiers of loop-holes properly splayed.

The insurgents were very insufficiently armed, and at first there were ten men to a rifle. The man who was reputed the best shot carried the rifle and cartridge belt, and if he was killed or wounded in an engagement, the next best shot took the weapon and continued the fight. In the early actions there was scarcely ever a rifle left on the ground by the insurgents.

The only cannon the rebels had at first were some ancient brass swivel guns called falconetes or lantácas, which they took from the estate-houses at Imus and Malabon.

They also had some brass mortars like quart pots, which are used for firing salutes on feast days. These they fastened at an angle to blocks of wood, thus making small howitzers, quite effective at short range. They loaded these with the punchings from boiler-plates and broken cooking-pots.

They showed a considerable ingenuity in making cannon out of any materials at hand. They would take a steel boiler-tube, a stay tube for choice, say about three inches bore and a quarter of an inch thick. Plugging up one end and drilling a touch-hole, they would drive this tube into a hole bored in a log of hard wood turned on the outside to a taper, then they drove eight or nine wrought-iron rings over the wood. They drilled through the wood to suit the touch-hole and the gun was ready.

They fitted no trunnions, but mounted this rude cannon upon a solid block of wood.

In other cases they made some wire guns by lapping steel boiler-tubes with telegraph-wire.

Towards the end of the campaign of Lachambre’s division against the rebels, some modern field-pieces of eight centimètres were captured from them, but it is not clear where these came from.

To supplement their scanty stock of rifles, they made some hand-guns of gas-tube. These were fired by applying a match or lighted cigar to the touch-hole, and would seem to be very clumsy weapons. But I may say that when on a visit to the estate of Palpa, in Peru, I saw a Chinaman who was in charge of the poultry corral, kill a hawk hovering, with a similar gun.

The Spanish Military and Naval Authorities now took the revolt very seriously, and on the 8th November the squadron comprising the Castilla, Reina Cristina, and other vessels, and the guns of the forts at Cavite and Puerto Vaga, opened upon the rebel position at Cavite, Viejo, Noveleta, Binancáyan, and other places within range, and kept it up for hours. The next morning the firing was resumed at daylight, supplemented by the guns from launches and boats well inshore. Troops were landed under the protection of the squadron, and advanced against the entrenchments of Binancáyan. They delivered three frontal attacks with great gallantry, reaching the parapet each time, but were beaten back, leaving many dead upon the ground. No flanking attack was possible here for the parapet extended for many miles each way.

A simultaneous attack was made upon Noveleta by a column of 3000 Spanish and native infantry under Colonel Fermin Diaz Mattoni.

This force started from Cavite and marched through Dalahican and along the road to Noveleta. This road is a raised causeway running through a mangrove swamp, having deep mud on each side impassable for troops. This is at least a mile of swamp, and the troops advanced along the causeway and crossed a bridge which spanned a muddy creek.

No enemy was in sight, and the town was not far off. Suddenly the head of the column fell into a most cunningly devised pitfall. The road had been dug out, the pit covered with wattle, and the surface restored to its original appearance. The bottom of the pit was set with pointed bamboo stakes which inflicted serious wounds upon those that fell upon them.

At the moment of confusion the rebels opened a withering fire from concealed positions amongst the mangroves upon the column standing in the open.

The Spaniards and native troops made great efforts to get forward, but could not stand the fire and had to retire. When they got back to the bridge it was down, and they had to wade across the creek under a close fire from the rebels hidden amongst the mangroves. In this action the Spaniards are said to have lost 600 killed and many hundreds wounded. The loss fell principally on the 73rd and 74th Regiments of Native Infantry.

The rebels were greatly encouraged, and got possession of a large number of rifles, with ammunition and accoutrements.

Both these attacks were made under the direction of General Blanco, who witnessed them from a lofty staging erected within the lines of Dalahican. After these disasters he resumed the defensive, except that the squadron and the batteries at Cavite and Puerto Vaga frequently bombarded the rebel positions.

At this time thousands of natives were in prison in Manila awaiting their trial. A permanent court-martial had been organised to try the suspects. Great numbers were shot, and many hundreds were transported to the Caroline Islands, to Ceuta, and Fernando Pó. Wealthy natives were mercilessly blackmailed, and it is reported that those who were discharged had to pay large sums for their release.

The Spanish Volunteers in Manila committed many arbitrary and even outrageous actions, and aroused the hatred of the natives far more than the regular troops did. They allowed their patriotism to carry them into most lamentable excesses.

On the 25th February a rising and mutiny of the Carbineers or Custom-House Guards took place in Manila at the captain of the port’s office. The scheme miscarried and was only partially successful. The officer on duty was shot, and also the sergeant, and the rebels made off with some rifles and ammunition.

The volunteers and some troops hastily called together pursued the rebels through Tondo as far as the Leper Hospital, till nightfall, the last volley being fired at 6.15 P.M. In this affair the mutineers lost a great many men, but some of them got away and joined the rebels.

Blanco had not been severe enough with the rebels or suspected rebels to please the friars. His management of the attacks upon Noveleta and Binancáyan had been faulty, and his health was bad. It was not surprising, having the priests against him, and the military dissatisfied, that he was recalled. He left at the end of 1896. General Polavieja, an officer who had risen from the ranks by his military talents, and who, when serving in Cuba, had very accurately gauged the situation, and had made a remarkably clever report to the government, was sent out to replace Blanco. Polavieja was inexorable with the rebels and their sympathisers. Military executions took place about once a week for two months. Francisco Roxas, a mestizo ship-owner, Numeriano Adriano, and many other mestizos and natives were shot at the Paseo de la Luneta.

On December 6th the prisoners in Cavite jail rose, murdered their jailer, and attempted to escape. One hundred and fifty prisoners were concerned in this affair. Of these, forty-seven were shot in the streets of the town, and twenty-one were captured, whilst thirteen were shot in the bushes behind Cañacao. Those recaptured were tried for prison-breaking, and were all shot the next morning.

By the beginning of 1897, a large number of troops had arrived from Spain. They were, however, largely conscripts, raw youths who had never handled a rifle, mere raw material in fact, sent out without uniform or equipment, many having only what they stood up in, or at most, having a spare shirt and a singlet tied up in a handkerchief. We talk about the shortcomings of our War Office officials, and certainly they sometimes give examples of wooden-headed stupidity, and are behind the age in many particulars. But for deliberate inhumanity, for utter callousness to human suffering, to loss of health and life, I think the Spanish War Office could hardly be outdone. And I speak of their misdeeds from personal knowledge in the Philippines and in Cuba. What an enormous amount of suffering was caused to the working-people of Spain by the sending to Cuba and to the Philippines of over 200,000 men in 1895–96. Never in this generation were men shipped away so destitute of clothing, provisions, surgeons and medical comforts. Never have I seen troops in the field with such wretched equipment, or so devoid of transport, tents, and supplies.

Whatever successes they achieved were secured by the inborn valour of the troops, and by extraordinary exertions on the part of the generals and staff to improvise on the spot what the national treasury should have supplied them with at the commencement of hostilities.

The raw recruits having been drilled and exercised with the rifle were organised in fifteen battalions and called Cazadores (chasseurs). These battalions, with four regiments of native infantry and some native volunteers, were formed into brigades under Generals Cornell, Marina, Jaramillo and Galbis. The first three brigades constituted a division, which was placed under the command of General Lachambre, an officer of great energy, and of long experience in the Cuban wars.

By the beginning of 1897 the Tagal rebellion had concentrated its forces in the province of Cavite. Embers of rebellion still smouldered in other provinces of Luzon, but many rebels from outlying places had thrown in their lot with those of Cavite, and in great numbers, very indifferently supplied with arms and ammunition, but amply with provisions, they confidently awaited the long-prepared attack of the Spanish forces behind the formidable entrenchments that their persevering labour had raised. In the interval they had organised themselves after a fashion, and had instituted a reign of terror wherever they held sway.

The organisation of the rebels in the province of Cavite was of a somewhat confused nature, and seemed to respond to the ambition and influence of particular individuals rather than to any systematic principle.

Thus Silang was declared a vice-royalty under Victor Belarmino, styled Victor I.

The rest of the province was divided into two districts, each ruled by a council; the first was Imus and its vicinity, under Bernardino Aguinaldo with ministers of war, of the treasury, of agriculture and of justice.

The second was San Francisco de Malabon, presided over by Mariano Alvarez, with ministers of state as above.

But above the kingdom of Silang and the two republics, the President of the Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio, held sway as lieutenant of the Generalissimo Emilio Aguinaldo. He resided in his palace at San Francisco, and from there dictated his orders. The supreme power was in the hands of Aguinaldo.

All these authorities exercised despotic power, and certainly ill-treated and robbed their own countrymen who did not desire to join them, far more than the Spaniards have ever done in the worst of times. They frequently inflicted the death-penalty, and their so-called courts-martial no more thought of acquitting an accused person than a regimental court-martial in England would. The terrible President of the Katipunan ultimately became a victim of one of these blood-thirsty tribunals.

Their military organization was curious. The province was sub-divided into military zones. First Silang, second Imus, third Bacoor, fourth San Francisco de Malabon, fifth Alfonso. Each zone had an army which consisted of all the population able to work, and was divided into two parts, the active or fighting force and the auxiliary but non-combatant part. The active force was divided into regiments and companies, and these last into riflemen and spearmen, there being commonly five of the latter to one of the former. Besides the usual military ranks, they instituted the following functionaries:

Minister of MarineMarcelo de los Santos.
Principal Chaplain to the ForcesEladio Almeyda.
Intendant-General of TaxesSilvestre Aguinaldo.
General of ArtilleryCrispulo Aguinaldo.
Inspector of Ordnance FactoriesEdilberto Evangelista.
General of Engineers
Judge Advocate GeneralSantos Nocón.

All the above held the rank of lieutenant-general. The badges of rank were as follows: