On that account the curas are so cautious of giving the freedom of their houses and their friendship to transient Spaniards, that they will now scarcely receive anyone who does not bring a letter of recommendation; and, considering this sensibly, it does not seem that they are to be censured for this caution toward people whom they do not know, in consideration of the fact that in Manila there is no police office, and a passport is easily given to whomever asks for it. In spite of all this, some curas--as for instance, Father Lorieri of Paniqui--without having any notice of me, received me with gratifying and ready hospitality. For the rest, the convents are usually the lodging-houses and inns of the village. The friars in Filipinas are quite different from those in Espana. They are very glad to see a Spaniard arrive, when they know that he is not a malicious person. They have traveled, and they have escaped from the conversations and meetings of the convent; they are more tolerant, because they have rubbed against many Spaniards of liberal ideas; they have found that the lion is not so fierce as it is painted, and that there are respectable people in all parties, and men with good hearts--especially in that which takes for its goal the good of the country. How often would we abhor people less if we approached them and became acquainted with them! We must confess also that the hate cherished by the religious in Espana toward the liberals proceeds in great measure from the personal insults which they have endured; while in Filipinas these are very few and are neutralized by the tokens of veneration and respect which others pay them, because of circumstances which are entirely distinct from those of Espana. A man without prejudice and with a suitable standard of judgment, who lives in the metropolis [_i.e._, Madrid], sees in a friar the enemy of reforms, of progress, and of public prosperity; but, when he is in Filipinas, he sees in this same friar the benefactor of the public, and the preserver of tranquillity and of the colony. Consequently he considers and treats the friar differently than in Espana, and is repaid in the like coin. From this it happens that many who come from Espana with very exaggerated and preconceived ideas against the religious--even to the point of never having had relations or speech with a friar--and here have to come in contact with them, are surprised to find some (and even very many) of them very sociable, serviceable, tolerant, and worthy of all appreciation; and this has happened to me myself, both in Filipinas and in Palestina.