Having thus made his dispositions, the Governor ordered the Archbishop, with all the ecclesiastical Cabildo, the Commissary of the Inquisition, the heads of the religious orders, and various other clergy, to be seized. By these arrests and preparations, consternation was spread over the whole city; nothing was seen but knives at people's throats, and it was said that it was the intention of the Governor to decapitate all the Spaniards, and escape to the coast of Mexico with their property. Even this extravagant charge was credited, as he was known to be a man who respected no tribunal, and who had violated the sanctuary of the churches, by dragging from thence those who had taken refuge there, committing them to prison, not even excepting the ecclesiastics. Despair alone produced a tumultuous assemblage of the inhabitants, but without any premeditated plan, nor is it an easy matter now to discover how the disturbances began. The religious of the different orders were seen in procession along the streets with crucifixes in their hands, accompanied by people of all classes, particularly those who had taken refuge in the churches, and who had not yet been seized, calling out, "Long live the true faith, long live the church, and long live our King, Philip the Fifth!"--They arrived in this manner at the church of St. Augustine, where the chief people of Manila, who had taken refuge there, joined them, and being provided with arms, they followed the procession to the palace. A page intimated to the Governor that the friars were in procession along the streets, and he immediately gave directions to put a stop to it, though he was ignorant of its meaning, and only presumed there was some tumult. On observing them from the window, however, and being convinced of their mutinous intention, he despatched positive orders to the fort to fire the artillery on the city; but although the Governor of the fort was his son, his humanity, or his disobedience was such, that he only fired two, and those so ill pointed, that the shot did not take effect.