Influence of the Monies. 299 



zealous occupants call for special consideration, and the 

 reader need assuredly feol no surprise that we should begin 

 the narrative of our visit to the capital of the Phillj^plnes by 

 a description of its monasteries. In Manila these unfortun- 

 ately are not, as they were in the middle ages, the nurseries 

 of culture and civilization, of science and art, but rather give 

 the impression of being simply huge establishments for the 

 maintenance of zealous souls, weary of life, who wish to 

 close their days of labour in tranquil contemplation, exempt 

 from all anxiety. 



The four orders of monks to whose hands are confided the 

 entire spmtual and very much of the secular well-being of 

 the inhabitants of the Philippines, are the Augustines {^Agus- 

 tinos Cahados — sandalled friars), the Franciscans, the Do- 

 minicans, and the barefoot Augustinian mendicants [Agustinos 

 descalzados or Recoletos). 



The monastery of the Bare-Foot Friars, lying close to the 

 wall of the fortifications, consists of a number of spacious 

 buildings, some of which date from the 17th century. Every- 

 thing here tells of former power and splendour. From the 

 billiard-room and parlom* on the first storey, the eye is 

 charmed by a marvellous landscape commanding the Bay 

 of ]\lanlla and the mountains that surround it. How delight- 

 ful must it be in the evening twilight to pace these airy 

 chambers in tlie society of congenial souls, and, while the 

 brow is fanned by the cool sea-breeze, to give free scope to the 

 reins of fancy, as it swept far away over the Bay of Manila ! 



