The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; [Vol. 1, no. 13]

62

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 13

The method of preaching which our Fathers employed in Tinagon, and the results thereby obtained. Chapter L.
What was accomplished at that time in Tinagon is
well related by Father Francisco de OtaSo in the following special account which he gave of his labors
there: " It is wonderful to see how these people
have all at once and generally abandoned their sins.
For the greater glory of the Lord, there has not been
known, nor have I heard of, throughout this year, a
single act of idolatry, and these formerly were so
common. Concubinage has been rare, and their
drinking feasts so moderate that they do not deserve
such a name. The knowledge of the things of our
Lord is ever increasing, as well as the pleasure of the
people in them; and our fathers are steadily gaining
their love and gratitude. A father once told them
that for a certain feast it was their share to adorn the
church; immediately they set themselves to the task,
and the one who began it was a pagan, who did his
share of the work. Our method of preaching to these
people is not so much by means of arguments and
consecutive discourses, which make but little impression on them, as by a sort of spiritual conference, in
which the father briefly presents to them one or two
points; repeating these and asking questions concerning them. Thus his hearers become proficient, and
the result is plainly seen; more than seven hundred
have been baptized this year- most of them in two
villages, where the faith has penetrated with notable
results, the people being well inclined to it. This has
been especially evident in one village, where the
fiscal is a chief acknowledged by all its people,
whom our Lord has been pleased to use as the instru