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ave been chosen, that are more harmful to the state, to the propagation of religion, and even to the natives themselves. It is, indeed, very strange that so much effort should have been exercised in impeaching the purity of the parish priests, by degrading in passing their respectable character, just at the moment when circumstances would make it appear natural that because on account of the mortality and scarcity of religious, the ardor and authority of even the few who remain ought to be encouraged by new stimulation. [This comes, too,] at a time when because the sending of missionaries to China has been suspended, and the spiritual conquest of the Igorrotes and other infidels who inhabit the interior of the islands has been almost abandoned the said Spanish laborers can neither give any help to the ordinary administration, nor prevent the transference of whole provinces to the hands of secular Indians and Sangley mestizos (as is happening)--who by their crass ignorance, disgraceful morals, and utter lack of decency, incur universally the contempt of their parishioners, making them, because of the tyrannies of these, sigh for the gentle yoke of their former shepherds. "If it is desired, then, to keep this colony subject, and to elevate it to the lofty grade of prosperity, of which it is susceptible, in my opinion the first thing that ought to be attempted is the efficient organization of its spiritual administration. I say again, that we cannot be blind to the fact that, if the local government is powerless, because of the lack of military force and the scarcity of Europeans, to make itself duly obeyed through its own efforts, it is necessary to call to its aid the powerful influence of religion, and to bring new reenforcements of missionaries from the peninsula. For the latter differ essentially by their nature from the rest of public servants; it is well known that they neither claim nor expect any remuneration for their labor, aspiring only to obtain in the community the degree of respect to which they rightfully believe themselves entitled. Let their jurisdictions, then, be preserved, let them be treated with decorum, and let the direction of the Indian be entrusted to them; and instantly, they will be seen, in turn, reconciled, and the supporters of the legitimate authority. "Nothing is more unjust, nor of which the ministering fathers complain with more reason, than the little discernment with which people h
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