The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-07-20

their religious ideas and practices.
Attached to the Church.
t'The Philippine people are intensely
Catholic, most firmly attached to the
priests Of the Catholic church, devoted
to its practices and animated in all
their trade relations with deep re-
ligiouS sentiments; very certainly no
antipathy whatever on their part to
the priests of the Catholic church, as
such. For my own part, wherever I
went, so soon as | was known to be a
Catholic priest, was received with a
most cordial amiability and respect.
Appearing as l did among the people
in semi military costume, found them
at first little dubious as to my or
thodoxy and priestly character. But
so soon as l gave proofs that was
priest of the Catholic church, of the Ro-
man Catholic church, as they call their
religion, their confidence in me was
unbounded. Their attachment to the
native Filipino priests was unlimit-
ed. If they show opposition to the
friars, it is for other reasons than for
that of their priesthood. And, indeed,
it is not to religious orders as such
that they are opposed, as I know by
very plain observation that they show
no opposition whatsoever to the Jes-
uits, Lazarists or Capuchins, on the
contrary, to members of those orders
they are much attached. A fact, how
ever, SO plain and visible to me, and
could close my eyes to it, was that the
Filipino showed much antipathy to the
members of the Augustinian, Domini-
can, Recollect and Franciscan orders.
Before Admiral Dewey's fleet arrived
in the harbor of Manila, the members
those religious orders who had been
previously scattered through the arch
ipelago had been driven into Manila,
where alone their lives were in safety
OF those that had not come into Ma
Mia some were actually put to death
and the others imprisoned and even
cruelty tortured. Those who had been
imprisoned were ultimately released by
the American army.
Where Friars Erred.
1.-The question is raised, of course,
why such antipathy was shown by the
Filipinos to the members of those Spe-
cific orders. From my observation the
reasons are the following: They were
the land-holding friarS. The FilipinoS
were their tenants and had been for
long years paying rent to them, which
rent was collected from the people in
the name of the Spanish government.
The original acquisition of those lands
by the friars were with the best posi-
bic intentions and principles. The peo-
pie, then savages, were gathered upon
those lands by the friars, civilized and
Christianized. The mistake of the
friars was this: They having civilized
and Christianized the people they fail
ed to observe what was the fruits of
their own teaching, the development
in the people of sense of independ-
ence, which led those people to the de-
sire of being proprietors themselves.
This point reached in the teaching of
the people, the frfars should have aid
ed in making them proprietors. 1t is
a case again of Irish landlordism and
tenancy. But not only were the friars
landlords, but they were the civil
agents of the Spanish government.
The hatred against the government
fell upon the friars> The Jesuits and
other orders that escaped this hatred
of the people owned no large estates.
They were largely employed in educa-