The petition was said to have been written by Doroteo Cortes, a mestizo lawyer, but I am told he did not sign it. This manifestation, sixteen years after the mutiny at Cavite, seems to have had some relation to that event, for the petition accused the friars of compassing the death of Father Burgos, by subornation of justice. The result of this appeal of the natives was that the principal persons who took part in it were banished, or sent to reside at undesirable spots within the Archipelago. There were some agrarian disturbances at Calamba and Santa Rosa, one of the estates of the Dominicans, in 1890. I may say that only the Augustinians, the Dominicans, and the Recollets possess landed estates, and that I have had the opportunity of examining several of them. They are all situated in Tagal territory, and as they are the pick of the lands, their possession by the friars has caused great heart-burnings amongst the Tagals--there has been a smouldering agrarian discontent for years. CHAPTER VII. THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. The Augustinians--Their glorious founder--Austin Friars in England--Scotland--Mexico--They sail with Villalobos for the Islands of the Setting Sun--Their disastrous voyage--Fray Andres Urdaneta and his companions--Foundation of Cebú and Manila with two hundred and forty other towns--Missions to Japan and China--The Flora Filipina--The Franciscans--The Jesuits--The Dominicans--The Recollets--Statistics of the religious orders in the islands--Turbulence of the friars--Always ready to fight for their country--Furnish a war ship and command it--Refuse to exhibit the titles of their estates in 1689--The Augustinians take up arms against the British--Ten of them fall on the field of battle--Their rectories sacked and burnt--Bravery of the archbishop and friars in 1820--Father Ibañez raises a battalion--Leads it to the assault of a Moro Cotta--Execution of native priests in 1872--Small garrison in the islands--Influence of the friars--Their behaviour--Herr Jagor--Foreman--Worcester--Younghusband--Opinion of Pope Clement X.--Tennie C. Claflin--Equality of opportunity--Statuesque figures of the girls--The author's experience of the Friars--The Philippine clergy--Who shall cast the first stone?--Constitution of the orders--Life of a friar--May become an archbishop--The chapter--The estates--The Peace Commission--Pacification retarded--Who will collect the rents? Before referring further to these estates it may be as well to give a brief sketch of the religious orders, whose existence is bound up with the history of the Philippines, to the conversion and civilisation of which they have so largely contributed. They won the islands for Spain, they held them for centuries, and now, having served their purpose, they have lost them, doubtless for ever.