The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-10-21
TIE PHILIPPINE FRLHRS

laslus in ITO ana close alter them came
the Augustine Friars in IT'S. The Tram
ciscans, the Rocoletes and the Jesuits
/ came later, but all We're well housed and
i fortified behind fortunes in the way of
money and real estate when the war
/ with Spain broke out. In his work on the
Philippine islands John Foreman says:
Each order was so intensely Jealous of
! the other that one is almost led to pom
4 der whether the final goal of all could
have been Identical. All voluntarily faced
| death with the same incentive, while
| amicable fellowship in this world seemed
| an impossibility.''
Fights and squabbles between the or
| ders were continually going on, and re-
| bellions, uprisings and revolutions were
| charged by one order on the other IAN
observant traveller" says the author,
'sunacquainted with the historical ante
cedents of the friars in the Philippines,
| could not fail to be impressed by the
estrangement of religious orders whose
sacred mission, If genuine, ought to have
formed an inseverable bond Of alliance
and good fellowship
! The orders all received large dona tons
from the crown, and about $1,000. 600 was
expended annually for the maintenance
Of the various institutions. The cathedral
in Manila alone absorbed $55,3OO Of
which $4,000 went to the archbishop.
$4,000 for other salaries, and $1,000 for
expenses" The religious orders pos
sessed large private revenues from in
vestments in the Philippines and in Hong
| Kong. Foreman says:
"The Augustine and Dominican friars.
particularly, held very valuable real prop
erty In the provinces near Manila, which
was rented out to the native agricultur-
lists on tyrannical conditions. On the
Laguna de Bay shore the rent was raised
as the natives, at their own expense inn
proved their holdings. Leases were
granted for the nominal term of three
years, but the receipts given for the rent
were very cunningly worded. The amount
OF money paid, the extent of the land
rented, and its situation were not men
toned in the document so that the ten
ant was constantly at the mercy of the
owners The native planters were much
1ncensed at the treatment they received
from these land owners, and their numer-
Gus Well-founded complaints formed part
| of the general outcry against the nries+-
hood. - : ;,
| The bailiffs of these corporation lands
| were unordafned brothers of the order.
They made their homes in the estate
| houses and by courtesy were called
fathers by the natives. They were I'M
der certain religious vows, but, not be-
ing entitled to say mass, they were
| termed legos,' or ignorant men. by their
own order"
The clergy also derived a large reve-
nue. from the sale of Papal bulls. masses.
pictures, books, chaplets and indul-
| gences marriage, burial and baptismal
fees, benedictions, donations touted for
| after the crops We're raised, ''legacies to
be paid for in masses, remains of wax
candles left in the church by the faith.
4 ful, fees Tor getting souls out of purga-
tory, aims, etc. The surplus revenues
1 bio1
were supposed to augment the common
i church funds in Manila. The corpora
tons were consequently immensely
wealthy, and their influence and power
were In consonance with that wealth
| There are no statistics available by
which the actual wealth of the various
! orders in the Philippines may be shown
| but 1t is we'll known that their wealth is
great THE church." says the writer,
"as body polite dispensed no charity,
| always above civil laws and taxes,
claimed immunity, proclaimed poverty,
| and inculcated in others charity to it.
self"
The missions, hospitals and other insti-
tutions of that kind which are main
| 1ppines have done much good and are
considered necessary features in the
cities where they exist, and these insti-
buttons are pointed to by the defenders
or the orders when the critics speak of
| the tyrannical practices by which the
holy organizations have enriched them
| selves.
| "Up to the rebellion Of 1896 in Lu.oT,,"
| says Foreman, land elsewhere till the
last day of Spanish rule, the placid word
| Of the ecclesiastic, the superstitious vene-
ration which he inspired III the ignorant
I native community, had a greater law
| abiding effect than the commands Of the
! civil funtfonary. The gownsman used
those weapons appropriate to his Office
! which best touched the sens;bilities and
Won the adhesion Of rude audience The
priest app ,aled to the soul, o the un-
known, to the awful and the mysterious
Go where he would, the converts imagi-
nation was so pervaded with the mystic
i tuition that he came to regard his tutor
i as being beyond common humanity The
feeling of dread reverence which he In
spired in the hearts of the most callous
secured to him even immunity from the
violence Of brigands A royal decree or
the sound Of a coronet would not have
been half so effective as the elevation Of
the holy cross before the fanatical ma
jority, who became an easy prey to fam
tastic promises of eternal bliss or the
threats Of everlasting perdition."
The writer RS no high regard for the
Philippine monk. He says: "a six
/ months resident would not fail to hear
IF the many iniquities with which the
,riars in general were reproached. II
f5elf-indulgence is to be accounted sin,
hen they were sinful indeed And It
would be contrary to fact, too, to pretend
4 hat the bulk Of them supported their
.eaching by personal example,
i I. q I = i