ADMINISTEATION OF THE PHILIPPINES. 273 



pueblos are administered either by native priests, or by the different religious 

 orders, such as Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, and especially Augustinians, the 

 wealthiest and most influential of all. According to their regulations, these 

 missionaries are bound to reside at least ten years in the archipelago, and few of 

 them entertain any hope of ever returning to the mother country. But they are 

 not a numerous body, and the local clergy does not number altogether as many as 

 twelve hundred persons. The native priests are educated in the large diocesan 

 seminaries. 



Public instruction, obligatory in the civilised districts, is under the control of 

 the priests, who have established primary schools in nearly all the pueblos. Here 

 the children learn to read and write Spanish, and although this language is 

 generally forgotten after they leave school, it is gradually becoming the idiom of 

 the civilised classes, and reducing the native tongues to the position of provincial 

 patois. Secondary instruction is provided for by two colleges, one directed by the 

 Dominicans, the other by the Jesuits. The university of Santo-Tomas, founded in 

 1645, is essentially a theological institution, although also comprising scientific 

 and medical courses. The censure, however, still prohibits the introduction of 

 most foreign scientific and literary works, and so recently as 1882 Bernardin de 

 Saint Pierre's Paul and Virginia was specially interdicted ! The one Tagal 

 and eight or ten Spanish periodicals are also subjected to the ecclesiastical 

 censure. 



The nucleus of the colonial forces consists of about 1,450 Spaniards, forming a 

 regiment of artillery, the rest of the army being made up of some six thousand 

 natives. These are enlisted for a period of eight years ; but substitution is 

 allowed, the average price in time of peace ranging from £8 to £10 in the 

 wealthy provinces. A militia of cuadriUeros is occasionally enrolled for local 

 service. 



The navy comprises about twenty corvettes, avisos and gun-boats, manned by 

 two thousand hands, and stationed chiefly at Cavité, Manilla, Lin gay en and 

 Zamboanga. Seven seaports are open to foreign trade : Manilla, Legaspi and 

 Sual in Luzon ; Tacloban, Ilo-Ilo, Cebu and Sulu in the other islands. 



A table of the fifty-four provinces with their areas, populations and chief 

 towns will be found in the Appendix. 



18—0 



