Note 78 — Chapter XIX

In the above colleges, a number of students receive [235] instruction, and are sustained free of charge. The portion of the others who enter, amounting, I believe, to one hundred pesos, is paid. Their results are excellent. The liberality of those who haver come to Manila is discernible in everything; for in works of charity they have given and are giving very much, although those with wealth are very few. And really the magnificence of all the churches and temples astonishes me. All are finished and wonderfully adorned with jewels and silver ornaments, without there being any building for which there is not more than enough; and silver ornaments for the front of the altar are seen in many churches of Manila. Indeed when those who have done this are considered attentively they have made the expense once for all; for by means of the silver, hangings which soon are destroyed and damaged by the dampness in these islands, are done away with, But the silver, when somewhat tarnished, regains its former luster, and even more, by cleaning it. The work of the Society may be extolled in all España. All this appears good, so that when the foreigners return to their countries, after having finished their trading, and sold their merchandise, they should take with them the news of our temples; and that through the grandeur and majesty of the temples, they may recognize the grandeur and majesty of Him who is thus worshiped in this country. And this is one thing at which the nations are most astonished, and especially the Japanese. They look at the temples with great curiosity. This nation has also been tested in Christianity. For up to today they have given to the church an innumerable number of martyrs, both men and women, all notable. This I have heard declared by the archdean Alonso [236] Garcia, in the reports made in Manila by order of his Holiness in the year 1631. In them were described more than nine hundred martyrs, all notable, besides the rest, of whom no knowledge could be had. Nearly all the orders have Japanese priests, and they are excellent subjects; our order has three. Two, Fray Miguel and Fray León, are holy men. The third has not resulted so, although he is rather an interpreter and one well grounded in everything. But until life is ended we may not praise or condemn one. Ante mortem non laudes hominem quemquam; lauda post mortem, honorifica post consumationem.78