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hospitable entertainers that they have been frequently imposed upon
by traveling Americans, who take the convents for hotels, regardless
of the public sentiment. It was the friars of San Augustin who,
in 1565, subdued and pacified the Cebuanos when the arms of Spain
availed but little. It was the _Freile_ Pedro de San Augustin, the
"fighting padre," who, in 1639, defeated the lake Moros. And, in
1754, a Spanish freile, Father Ducos, commanding the fleet of Iligan,
defeated the armada of the Moro pirates, killing about a thousand of
these buccaneers.

Of course there have been friars good and bad. But "Father Peter,"
though he might have had good cause to dislike the Americans,
had always expressed the greatest admiration for them. They were
"political" (diplomatic) men. His mastering the English language was
a compliment to us such as few Spaniards have seen fit to pay. He
might have been narrow in religious matters, but, above all, he
was conscientious. While he could bathe his hands or face in the
Aloran River, he could not go in. His education was a Spartan one,
and narrowing in its influences. All the society that he had ever had
was that of a hundred students with the same ideals and inclinations
as his own. The reputation of the friars in the Philippines has
been depreciated by the conduct of the native priests. There was
a padre named Pastor, an arrant coward, and wholly ignorant and
superstitious. Sly old fox, he used to bet his last cent on the
cock-fights, hiding up in the back window of Don Julian's. Once, on a
drunken spree, he let a layman wear his gown and rosary. The natives,
showing more respect for the sacred vestments than the priest had
shown, went out to kiss the hand of him who wore the robe. The work
of the friars can be more appreciated by comparing the civilization
of the Christian natives with the state of the barbarians and
pagans. Whatever its defects may be, instead of the head-hunters and
the idol-worshipers, the Filipino who has come within the influence
of Spanish priests, though often lavish and improvident, is neat,
polite, and sociable. But the friars can do better still. If they
would use their influence to abolish the cock-fights Sunday afternoon,
and try to co-operate more with the civil government in the matter
of public education, they would find that there is plenty of work
to be done yet. But some of the accusations against the friars are
unfair. Extortion is a favorite charg