The house of the Vicar-general was too well fortified for the rebels to attack it, but they presented themselves armed on the hills in the vicinity. The Vicar-general ordered the loyal Indians to assemble at Bigan, armed and accoutred, from whence the whole sallied out, and surprising the rebels, they took some of them; but discontinuing the action too soon, and separating in their usual unsoldier-like manner, they thus gave the rebels an opportunity to rally, and a day or two after they set fire to and burnt down part of the city. The Indians from the south, who came to the defence of the town, seeing it in flames, returned, as did those of the north, by which means the rebels were enabled to take possession of the Vicar-general's house, and the arms it contained. Silang, rendered vain by these successes, despatched emissaries towards the north, who, raising all the native towns, committed many robberies and atrocities, directing their vengeance in particular against some of the chiefs and Augustine friars, insisting on its having been their fault that the tribute had not been abolished; but in the end their avarice prevailed, and they agreed to accept a consideration in money by way of ransom for their lives. The authority of Silang being acknowledged by the towns of the north, his emissaries proceeded to those of the south, directing each of them to name a chief as their representative, who was ordered to Bigan, where their powers were to be ratified. By this means he levied considerable sums of money. In a few days he found himself master of the whole province, and he appointed Jesus of Nazareth to be Captain-general of it, he himself assuming the title of his Alcalde Mayor for the protection of the Catholic religion, and of the dominions of the King of Spain. He published a manifesto, which breathed the true spirit of Christianity; always wore his rosary; and obliged the Indians to hear mass, ordering them to confess, and to take care that the children went regularly to school. In the midst of all the sepious actions, he, by means of his emissaries, robbed the estates of cattle, and obliged the proprietors to ransom their lives with money: he levied a sum of one hundred dollars from every friar, but reduced the fine to eighty dollars, on the petition of one of them who had formerly done him favours. Under the pretext of defending the province from the English, he had centinels placed in all directions, with a view to prevent information being conveyed to Señor Anda of what passed. An Augustine friar, however, contrived to forward a despatch to that effect; but Señor Anda having scarcely troops enough to defend himself, merely sent an order to Silang to present himself at Bacolor in nine days, to give an account of his conduct, under the penalty of being considered as a traitor, and arrested, for which purpose he threatened to send a force to Pampanga, if necessary.