The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-01-21
PRIESTS IN THE PHILIPPINES.

Mia last September to make inquiries
about the possible opening for the dis
tributon of the Scriptures in the Philip
pine Islands. After spending eight days
| in the city he made a report to the So
ciety which was printed in it's official Or
gam the Record, in the issue of Dec. %,
which is now before us as we write. Inc
report occupies over five pages and con-
tains some interesting information
about the islands and their Inhabitants,
which may be obtained in any recog-
nized authority, such as the Eucyclo-
pedia Britannica, which has most inter
esting contribution from authentic
sources by Mr.. Webster, who is evil
IDENTIFY an Englishman. DR.. Hykes says
/ that, in obedience to instructions, he
Mia for the purpose of inquiring into
/ existing facts and conditions" and "be-
ing furnished with letters of introduction
from our excellent consul-general at
| Shanghai, Hon. John Goodnow, 1 called
upon the most prominent of our officials
in Manila, and was gratified to find that
their attitude was most friendly to all
forms of missionary work" He called
on Gen. Otis. Admiral Dewey and Consul
| Williams, and states they all gave him
great encouragement, the last named
saying that though not church member,
/ he would rejoice to see missionary en-
| terprise, with its enlightenment, come to
/ the people"
DR.. Hykes makes an attack upon the
! Spanish friars, and charges them with
| gross immortality upon the hearsay Of
their malicious enemies. He gives in
| quotation marks what young man said
to him about them, and "a gentleman
| who has been 25 years in the Philip
pines" told him it was impossible to
eXaggerate their immortality. They
were not only ignorant and licentious,
but they were even murderers. OF course
the American Bible society published
/ Hykes report, and as it created a great
sensation in sectarian circles, he was
called upon to supplement it with sec
He readily complied, and gave another
report, which was handed over to the
Associated Press by the Bible society in
New York. He reiterates his charges
against the friars, and says every one
of them ought to be banished from the
islands. There is priest here in
Shanghai" he says, who was in Manila
for many years, and he does not hesitate
/ to say that the lives of the Spanish
friars were scandalously corrupt"
Now, we don't believe the Spanish
friars to be what DR.. Hykes says they
are. He is Il prejudced witness who
knows nothing of them from his own
personal observation and no court in the
land would accept his hearsay evidence
in slandering the clergy of any denom-
nation. He is very eager to spread the
light of Protestant sectarianism among
the Filipinos, and is anxious that Amer
lea should retain the islands, for under
Spanish rule it was impossible for the
Bible society to do any work in the
Philippines"
Catholic theologians hold that it
would be sin to tell lie even for the
conversion of kingdom, but DR.. Hykes
has told many lies Of the Spanish friars
or Protestant writer's are mistaken,
though they had better opportunities
stay in Manila. Let us hear some of
them.
Sir Henry Ellis says that much credit
is due the Spaniards for the establish
ment of schools throughout the colony,
and their unremitting exertion to pre-
serve and propagate Christianity by the
best of all possible means, the diffusion
of knowledge" According to the Brit
annica, there is a school in every pueblo.
In 1889, according to the Spanish-Amer-
| lean Cyclopedia, there were $40 schools
for boys, and 749 for girls in the archi
| pelago. Mr.. Bray, an Englishman who
had lived Is years in the islands, says
| in a letter to the New York Independent
that 70 per cent Of the people can read
and write.
The Hon. John Barrett. minister Of
the United States to Siam, says that
there exist in the islands fourishing
schools, colleges for the higher studies,
faculties of law, medicine, pharmacy
and industrial schools: that there are
museums, observatories, hospitals, asy-
lums, etc Emile Reclus, a French sci
enlist and inidel. AYERS that 1.-The Fill
pinos are the most civilized people in
the Orient"
Robert MacMicking, a Scotch Presby-
terrain. says that there are few Indians
who are unable to read. and have al
ways observed that the Manila men
serving on board ships have been much
oftener able to subscribe their names
to the ships articles than the British
seamen on board the same vessels could
do" He pays grand tribute to the
| priests, saying: "These good men have
penetrated where soldiers dare not enter
with arms In their hands, with good eff
| fects to all concerned, and in the reduce
| ton Of these wild Indians to the Roman
Catholic faith and the arts of civilized
life."
| Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt is uni
versally acknowledged to be the most