ey are very charitable to the sick. The Spaniards of Manila
and its environs send their domestics there when they are sick;
and they are given especial care, and treated gratis. Those fathers
are, beyond doubt, the most useful in Manila; but, in spite of that,
they are poor and often in want. They live only on alms, and without
the Confraternity of La Misericordia that house would find it hard
to subsist.

I shall make here only one reflection, which the love for humanity
tears from me. The Confraternity of La Misericordia have amassed
immense wealth, but they scatter and spend it on the unfortunate who
are in need: the State itself has often found aid there. The religious
orders also have their treasures, but I have been assured that no one
benefits by them; and that, on the contrary, like those treasures
of the Igolotes, their treasures only increase each year. Also the
_Histoire Espagnole_ [_i.e._, "_Spanish History_"], that tells of the
employment made by La Misericordia of its charitable contributions,
is silent as to what the religious orders do with theirs.

The discalced Franciscans went to Manila in 1577. They are allied
to the Capuchins. [86] Their convent is superb and immense. They
generally have thirty religious, besides fifty others who are nearly
religious and who fill a like number of curacies in the archbishopric
of Manila. Inside the convent enclosure is to be seen a fine chapel,
where the holy sacrament is continually kept. That chapel is intended
for the exercises of the tertiaries.

Outside the walls of Manila, and a gunshot from that city, stands the
hospital of San Lazaro; the Franciscan religious have charge of its
temporal and spiritual administration. That hospital is for lepers,
many of whom are seen in Manila. The Spanish call that disease _el
mal lazaro_. [87]

Article Twelve

Of the bishops of the Philippines suffragan to Manila; and of the
general number of Christian souls in those islands.

The bishopric of Zebu is the first; it was created in 1595. Its
cathedral is built of wood, and is quite large; it is dedicated to
St. Michael. It has no canons. There is one cura there, one sacristan,
one vicar-general, and several priests. The bishop is almost always
a religious. When he officiates, he is generally accompanied by two
mestizo [_mulatres_] priests. [88] Moreover, there is at Zebu a convent
of calced Augustinians, one of discalced Augustinians or Recollects,
one residence