sons. I was intimately acquainted with the latter;
one was a doctor of medicine and the other a planter, and they bore the
surname of Gonzalez. At Cadiz Nuevo (Negros Is.) I once danced with
the daughter of a friar (parish priest of a neighbouring village),
whilst he took another girl as his partner. I was closely acquainted,
and resided more than once, with a very mixed-up family in the south
of Negros Island. My host was the son of a secular clergyman, his wife
and sister-in-law were the daughters of a friar, this sister-in-law was
the mistress of a friar, my host had a son who was married to another
friar's daughter, and a daughter who was the wife of a foreigner. In
short, bastards of the friars are to be found everywhere in the
Islands. Regarding this merely as the natural outcome of the celibate
rule, I do not criticize it, but simply wish to show that the pretended
sanctity of the regular clergy in the Philippines was an absurdity,
and that the monks were in no degree less frail than mankind in common.

The mysterious deaths of General Solano (August 1860) and of Zamora,
the Bishop-elect of Cebu (1873), occurred so opportunely for Philippine
monastic ambition that little doubt existed in the public mind as
to who were the real criminals. When I first arrived in Manila, a
quarter of a century ago, a fearful crime was still being commented
on. Father Piernavieja, formerly parish priest of San Miguel de
Mayumo, had recently committed a second murder. His first victim
was a native youth, his second a native woman _enceinte_. The public
voice could not be raised very loudly then against the priests, but
the scandal was so great that the criminal friar was sent to another
province--Cavite--where he still celebrated the holy sacrifice of
the Eucharist. Nearly two decades afterwards--in January 1897--this
rascal met with a terrible death at the hands of the rebels. He was
in captivity, and having been appointed "Bishop" in a rebel diocese,
to save his life he accepted the mock dignity; but, unfortunately for
himself, he betrayed the confidence of his captors, and collected
information concerning their movements, plans, and strongholds for
remittance to his Order. In expiation of his treason he was bound
to a post under the tropical sun and left there to die. See how the
public in Spain are gulled! In a Malaga newspaper this individual was
referred to as a "venerable figure, worthy of being placed high up on
an altar, be