The Church is under the regulation of an Archbishop and four Bishops. The present Archbishop of Manilla, whose reputation for piety and good feeling towards all men stands very high, is an old soldier, who, after serving his king when a young man as lieutenant of cavalry for several years, changed his master, and assuming the habit of a priest, devoted himself to religion for the remainder of his life.

There are about 500 parochial curacies throughout the islands under him in the four bishoprics, 167 of the curacies being situated in his own see; and several literary, charitable, and pious institutions at Manilla look up to him as their patron and head; among others may be mentioned the University of Santo Tomas, having chairs for students of Latin, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, canon law, theology, &c.

As a body, the ministers of religion in the Philippines are not apparently so well educated a class as those of Great Britain, even in the education of the schools, and are possessed of less general information, of course, from the want of any periodical literature equal to that which we have, from whose sources much of the information, and some of the apparent learning of my countrymen are derived, at little cost of time or expense.

However, many of the Spanish padres are men of general and varied attainments, such as would adorn any church or station in life; but the greater number of them can scarcely claim so much, as, although they are all respectably educated, their attention for many years of their life has been directed chiefly to the prosecution of such studies as would influence their advancement in the Church, such as the canon law, church history, theology, &c., on a knowledge of which their consideration for accomplishments among themselves principally depends, I believe.

Most of the priests I have been in contact with, appeared to be thoroughly convinced of, and faithful to their religion in its purity; and as a body, appear to be about as sincere and pious a class as clergymen at home.

Occasionally, however, you meet with startling exceptions to this rule, which astonish any one accustomed to see the high regard to outward decency observed by the same cloth at home; for instance, it would be considered most reprehensible at home, for any clergyman to keep a mistress; and if the fact became known, would occasion his instant dismissal from his cure, and his expulsion from the Church.

This is not so, however, in the Philippines, and may be seen at any time, especially among the Mestizo and native Indian priests, whose education is worse, and their ideas of religion much more vague, incorrect, and superstitious than those of the Spaniards; and sometimes, in the country parishes, an Indian or Mestizo padre is found openly living in the convento or parsonage-house with his mistress and natural children. But frequently, in cases where a sense of decency prevents them doing this openly, one occasionally meets in their houses young half-caste children, who pass for the family of some brother or sister, although these had never any existence, and there is in reality little or no doubt as to the priest himself being their father.

This state of things, however, is not the general state of the Church, although it may but too frequently be met with; and is not considered nearly so reprehensible as it would be, were they at liberty to marry, as Protestant clergymen are. In many cases its existence can scarcely fail to be known to their bishops, by whom however it appears to be winked at; and is not considered by the laity as being particularly scandalous, their notions on the subject being somewhat indefinite.

Within a very short distance of Manilla, I have been in a convento where the priest, his mistress, and family all lived together, the padre being a Mestizo. On the village feast-day, one of the party with whom I was in the country, hired some jugglers who had come down from Bengal to act their wonderful tricks in the theatre at Manilla, and sent them out to Mariquina on the feast-day, there to amuse the people, and to please the padre, as he knew it would do, he being an old acquaintance of his. Accordingly, in the afternoon they exhibited to an immense crowd of natives, just before the open church-door. A platform had been quickly erected for their accommodation, from which they were exhibiting their tricks to the intense astonishment of the Indians, most of whom had never seen anything of the sort before; and in the evening, the padre having asked leave for the jugglers to come to the convento, gave a great party to all the Spaniards, or white men, who were then in the pueblo, in order to watch their tricks more closely than could be done at a public exhibition.

Several Spanish ladies were present, and among them, quite as a matter of course, was the mistress of the priest. One or two of the ladies present were wives of high officials at Manilla, and all of them were persons of the best character and standing, yet they did not appear in the least discomposed by her presence, although none of them paid her any attention, or noticed her as the lady of the house; in fact, she appeared to be regarded by them as a sort of privileged housekeeper more than in any other light, although they were perfectly aware of the irregularity of her life. This may give some idea of their modes of thinking of such affairs, for all of them present perfectly understood the relation in which the spiritual adviser of so large a population as that of Mariquina stood to her.

Both the priest and she were elderly people, and their intercourse has, I understood, been of long standing; and during the course of it several children have been born. But the most wonderful thing appears to be, how such a man could direct the worship of his parishioners, or lay before them the scripture tenets of his and their faith, while openly violating it before their eyes. But the same thing has taken place in Europe not unfrequently, and quite as openly, without exciting excessive scandal in many places.

There is an immense deal more of immorality among the clergy of all denominations and countries than would be believed. Alas, for human nature!