The lack of European religious in the Filipinas Islands for filling at least four-fifths of their curacies is incompatible with the permanent preservation of that colony. It can be safely asserted that the government of his Majesty has in this class of ministers the most powerful force for maintaining that possession in attachment to his sovereignty. Their virtuous and unworldly mode of life; their absolute disinterestedness in regard to temporal matters, which is a marvelous contrast to the greed and ambition of the European trader, the mestizo, and the Chinese; their extraordinary sacrifices in living apart from the society of their equals for nineteen, twenty, and [even] thirty years in those almost uninhabited islands, which are unprovided with the sort of nourishment suitable to their estate; their discretion and patience in correcting and teaching the Indians; their resignation in all kinds of adversity: everything, in short, contributes to make the inhabitants of that land regard them as supernatural beings, and in the light of this conception the fathers exercise over the Indians a moral force more powerful than even that of the government. The Indians live in entire moral separation from the Spaniards; they have their own laws of tradition, their own opinions and customs, entirely unknown to any one who is ignorant of their language or has not continual intercourse with them. The European religious are the only persons in the confidence of the government who by favor of these circumstances, and with a practical and intimate knowledge of the nature and inclinations of the natives there, can find a way into their hearts, incline their wills to what is right, enlighten them, and keep them peaceful and submissive; and without this larger armies would be of no avail. [The religious are the only persons who understand the condition of their respective villages, and the alcaldes-mayor are usually indolent and inefficient, relying on native interpreters, and caring little for aught save their own profit; they depend on the religious in all cases of difficulty, and the higher authorities are jealous of this superiority of the religious. The government ought to maintain as many religious as possible in the islands, and give them as much political authority as is consistent with their ministry; five hundred of them should be sent there, and the alcaldes-mayor should be obliged to consult every month with their respective curas on the best means of promoting the interests of the people, and the central government can then act on reports of these conferences.] On the settlement of banished and vagabond foreigners in the islands