rosecute polygamy when so many virgins are wives of Jesus who expect
the other life in order that they may deliver themselves to Him as
their husband? What about Mary, wife of the Father, of her own son,
of Joseph, and Saint Domingo?

Mr. Ignacio Villamor in his report to the Committee on Infant
mortality, written when he was Attorney-General, refers to various
cases of murder of persons considered as bewitched and as such were
sacrificed for being fanatics.

The lad of Trayguerra who assailed the ugly woman for mistaking
her for the devil himself after hearing a sermon of San Vicente,
is absolutely of the same nature as those possessed of the asuang
referred to by Mr. Villamor.

And what shall be said of the protection of San Isidro invoked by
the agriculturists? He gave an example of neglect of his duties as a
farmer, because instead of plowing the land, doing the work for which
he was paid by his master, he spent the day praying. Thru a miracle,
an angel took hold of the plow, guided the bulls while the saint prayed
and did not work. And right here in our midst, confident in San Isidro,
the people of the field sleep, hoping that the angels shall do the
work for them! How can you condemn laziness when the angels protect
it? And how can you preach the doctrine of "earning bread by the sweat
of your brow" when the labor that sweat presupposes is unnecessary?

Without connection whatsoever with the Bureau of Education of the
Government of the Philippine Islands, I have spoken in the manner
that I have just done, not to defend the lay schools of an unjust and
unjustifiable accusation; not to attack any persons or any religious
or political ideals, but to contribute to the eradication of one of
the bases, one of the strongest causes of criminality, of corruption,
of formation of individuals who are useless and detrimental to society:
superstition. And, gentlemen, it is not a superstition that is only
to be laughed at. Not by any means. It is a ridiculous and even
absurd superstition, it is true, but it is a tragic and dangerous
because it offers to the wicked, the criminal, the imbecile, the
means of triumphing in life, of obtaining what they want, giving
them the means of avoiding punishment, making fun here on earth of
the justice of men, and securing from God the pardon from eternal
condemnation thru the simple means of invoking the name of a saint,
or thru the medium of a Latin word which, acting as a sort of open