Friars that Spain retained her hold at all.[1] A corrupt civil service and a futile and decrepit commercial system were through their efforts rendered relatively harmless, because circumscribed in their effects. The continuous fatherly interest of the clergy more than counterbalanced the burden of the tribute.[2] They supervised the tilling of the soil, as well as the religious life of the people; and it was through them that the works of education and charity were administered.[3]
The head of the ecclesiastical system was the Archbishop of Manila, who in a certain sense was the Patriarch of the Indies.[4] The other high ecclesiastical digntaries were the three bishops of Cebú, of Segovia in Cagayán, and of Cazeres in Camarines; and the provincials of the four great orders of friars, the Dominicans, Augustinians, the Franciscans, the barefooted Augustinians, and the Jesuits.[5] In the earlier days the regular clergy (members of the orders) greatly outnumbered the seculars, and refused to acknowledge that they were subject to the visitation of bishop or archbishop. This contention gave rise, at times, to violent struggles. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the proportionate number of seculars increased. In 1750 the total number of parishes was 569, of which 142, embracing 147,269 persons, were under secular priests. The numbers in charge of the orders were as follows:
