anish priests I visited,
anything that could possibly cause the least breath of scandal. Their
servants were exclusively men, though perhaps I may have noticed
here and there an old woman or two. Ribadeneyra says:--"The natives,
who observe how careful the Franciscan monks are of their chastity,
have arrived at the conclusion that they are not really men, and
that, though the devil had often attempted to lead these holy men
astray, using the charms of some pretty Indian girl as a bait, yet,
to the confusion of both damsel and devil, the monks had always
come scathless out of the struggle." Ribadeneyra, however, is a very
unreliable author; and, if his physiological mistakes are as gross as
his geographical ones (he says somewhere that Luzon is another name
for the island of Cebu!), the monks are not perhaps as fireproof as
he supposes. At any rate, his description does not universally apply
nowadays. The younger priests pass their existence like the lords of
the soil of old; the young girls consider it an honor to be allowed to
associate with them; and the padres in their turn find many convenient
opportunities. They have no jealous wives to pry into their secrets,
and their position as confessors and spiritual advisers affords them
plenty of pretexts for being alone with the women. The confessional,
in particular, must be a perilous rock-a-head for most of them. In
an appendix to the "Tagal Grammar" (which, by-the-bye, is not added
to the editions sold for general use) a list of questions is given
for the convenience of young priests not yet conversant with the
Tagal language. These questions are to be asked in the confessional,
and several pages of them relate exclusively to the relations between
the sexes.

[Superiority over government officials.] As the alcaldes remain only
three years in any one province, they never understand much of its
language; and, being much occupied with their official business,
they have neither the time nor the desire to become acquainted
with the peculiarities of the districts over which they rule. The
priest, on the other hand, resides continually in the midst of his
parishioners, is perfectly acquainted with each of them, and even,
on occasion, protects them against the authorities; his, therefore,
is the real jurisdiction in the district. The position of the priests,
in contradistinction to that of the government officials, is well
expressed by their respective dwellings. The casas re