However, the widow of Señor Vidal, now Mrs. Amilon of Philadelphia, still has some copies to dispose of.
I hope that what I have said about the Augustinians will show that they are not the lazy and unprofitable persons they are sometimes represented. The same may be said of the Dominicans.
The Augustinians were followed, after an interval of seven years, by the Franciscans, four years after that by the Jesuits, six years after the Jesuits came the Dominicans.
Last of all came the Recollets, or bare-footed Augustinians.
The following Table gives the numbers of friars of the five religious orders in the Philippines, at the dates mentioned, taken from their own returns. The first column gives the dates of the first foundation of the Order, the second the date of its arrival in the Archipelago. The other columns give the statistics of baptisms, marriages and deaths, taken from the parish registers.
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 | 1570 | Augustinians | 203 | 16 | 310 | 98,731 | 20,355 | 83,051 | 2,082,131 |
| 1532 | 1606 | Recollets | 194 | 20 | 192 | 56,259 | 11,439 | 40,008 | 1,175,156 |
| 1208 | 1577 | Franciscans | 153 | 15 | 455 | 38,858 | 11,927 | 35,737 | 1,010,753 |
| 1216 | 1587 | Dominicans | 69 | 10 | 206 | 27,576 | 7,307 | 32,336 | 699,851 |
| 1534 | 1581 | Jesuits[1] | 33 | 6 | 167 | 15,302[2] | 2,017 | 4,937 | 191,493 |
| Secular Clergy | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 967,294 | ||
| Total | 1,330 | 6,126,678 |
| N.B.— | The population of the Islands according to the census of 1877 | 5,995,160 |
| Probable Christian population, 1899 | 8,000,000 |
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.