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. 44]

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 44

ship, in much anxiety, sent out to summon to his
palace the superiors of the religious orders and other
learned ecclesiastical persons, in order to hold counsel with them; but hardly had they assembled with
him when they found that the archiepiscopal palace
was besieged by armed soldiers, who had orders not
to allow any one to depart, or any others to enter.
One of the officers, entering the apartments of his
illustrious Lordship, informed him that he must immediately go with him, by order of the king, the
royal assembly, etc.; and thus, surrounded by soldiers, they carried the prelate to the fort on the plaza.
In the same way they proceeded with the rest, his
lambs, and, separating them from their shepherd and
from one another, led them away and confined them
in different divisions of the prison and the house of
the Audiencia.
The interdict was published, and the bells began
to toll, which disquieted all the people-religious,
ecclesiastics, and laymen. Those who had taken
refuge in the sacred buildings thought that they were
ruined, and those outside felt deprived of the asylum
of the church. This disturbance lasted from eight
to twelve o'clock; at the latter hour the turbulent
crowd proceeded, without order or concert, to the
palace of the governor, and entered it without opposition from either the outposts or the soldiers of the
guard. Shouting, "Long live the Faith and the
Church I" they rushed upstairs, and at that same hour
fell upon the governor with weapons, until he fell
on the floor with wounds, and demanding confession,
and they left him for dead. Then his eldest son
arriving - who had been going about the city arresting the priests, and busy with other orders of that