Note 8 — THE FRIAR MEMORIAL OF 1898

Prius mori, quam fœdari,8 said the ancients; and the most loyal Maccabæans, “It is better to die in the battle than to see the extermination of our nation and of the sanctuary.”9 As long as the corporations exist, they will glory, as they ought, in repeating with St. Paul: “Quamdiu sum Apostolus, ministerium meum honorificabo.”10 We have always endeavored to honor our ministry, and we shall always continue to honor it, now and in the future, by the grace of God, which we trust will not fail us. Consequently, we do not vacillate in addressing ourselves today to the exalted authorities of the nation, taking shelter in our confidence, that, though we are poor and helpless, and have no other protection than our spotless history, our immaculate honor, and our secure rights, we are talking to those in whom intelligence and good sense are brothers to nobility of thought, who are always ready to listen, especially to the poor and weak, and in whom their respect and love to Catholic institutions and to the so eminently glorious and meritorious title “Regular Clergy of Filipinas,” shelter them from the suggestions of sects and the prejudice of anticlerical and separatist parties.