Note 3 — Chapter VII

For instance, Mas says (p. 63): “Here follows what the author of the celebrated work on the Philippines, called Cronicas franciscanas [referring to San Antonio’s Chronicas] says: ‘The very reverend father, Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, an Augustinian from Madrid,’” etc. Bowring makes this: “Among the most celebrated books on the Philippines are the ‘Cronicas Franciscanas’ by Fr. Gaspar de San Agustin, an Augustine monk of Madrid;” and following gives the impression that he makes the selections directly from San Agustin—a ridiculous error.

In regard to the word “monk” used by Bowring, that author is again in error, technically at least, an error that is quite often met with in many works. As pointed out by Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A., in a letter dated December 8, 1902, the only regulars in the Philippines who could rightfully be styled “monks” were the Benedictines. The members of the other orders are “friars,” the equivalent of the Spanish “frailes.” The monks are strictly cloistered. The friars appeared first in the thirteenth century, and do not live a strictly cloistered life.