CHAPTER XI

Domesticated Natives--Origin--Character

The generally-accepted theory regarding the origin of the composite

race which may be termed "domesticated natives," is, that their

ancestors migrated to these Islands from Malesia, or the Malay

Peninsula. But so many learned dissertations have emanated from

distinguished men, propounding conflicting opinions on the descent

of the Malays themselves, that we are still left on the field of

conjecture.

There is good reason to surmise that, at some remote period,

these Islands and the Islands of Formosa and Borneo were united,

and possibly also they conjointly formed a part of the Asiatic

mainland. Many of the islets are mere coral reefs, and some of the

larger islands are so distinctly of coral formation that, regarded

together with the numerous volcanic evidences, one is induced to

believe that the Philippine Archipelago is the result of a stupendous

upheaval by volcanic action. [72] At least it seems apparent that

no autochthonous population existed on these lands in their island

form. The first settlers were probably the _Aetas,_ called also

_Negritos_ and _Balugas_, who may have drifted northwards from New

Guinea and have been carried by the strong currents through the

San Bernadino Straits and round Punta Santiago until they reached

the still waters in the neighbourhood of Corregidor Island, whilst

others were carried westwards to the tranquil Sulu Sea, and travelling

thence northwards would have settled on the Island of Negros. It is

a fact that for over a century after the Spanish conquest, Negros

Island had no other inhabitants but these mountaineers and escaped

criminals from other islands.

The sturdy races inhabiting the Central Luzon highlands, decidedly

superior in physique and mental capacity to the _Aetas,_ may be of

Japanese origin, for shortly after the conquest by Legaspi a Spanish

galley cruising off the north coast of Luzon fell in with Japanese,

who probably penetrated to the interior of that island up the Rio

Grande de Cagayan. Tradition tells us how the Japanese used to sail

down the east coast of Luzon as far as the neighbourhood of Lamon Bay,

where they landed and, descending the little rivers which flowed into

the Lake of Bay, settled in that region which was called by the first

Spanish conquerors Pagsanjan Province, and which included the Laguna

Province of to-day, with a portion of the modern Tayabas Province.

Either the Japanese extended their sphere from the Lake of Bay shore,

or, as some assert (probably erroneously), shipwrecked Japanese went

up the Pansipit River to the Bombon Lake: the fact remains that Taal,

with the Bombon Lake shore, was a Japanese settlement, and even up to

now the Taalenos have characteristics differing from those of the pure

Malay immigrant descendants. The Philippine patriot, Dr. Jose Rizal,

was a good Japanese-Malay type.

The Tagalogs, who occupy a small portion of Luzon Island, chiefly

the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan, are believed

to be the cross-breed descendants of these Japanese immigrants. At

the period of the Spanish conquest the _Tao ilog_, that is to say,

"the man who came by the river," afterwards corrupted into the

more euphonious name of _Tagalog_, occupied only the lands from the

south shore of Laguna de Bay southwards. Some traded with the Malay

settlers at Maynila (as the city on the Pasig River was then called)

and, little by little, radicated themselves in the Manila suburbs of

Quiapo, Sampaloc, and Santa Cruz. [73]

From the West, long before the Spanish conquest, there was a great

influx of Malays, who settled on the shores and the lowlands and drove

the first settlers (_Aetas_) to the mountains. Central Luzon and

the Lake environs being already occupied, they spread all over the

vacant lands and adjacent islands south of Luzon. These expeditions

from Malesia were probably accompanied by Mahometan propagandists,

who had imparted to the Malays some notions, more or less crude,

of their religion and culture, for at the time of Legaspi's arrival

in Manila we find he had to deal with two chiefs, or petty kings,

both assuming the Indian title of _Rajah_, whilst one of them had the

Mahometan Arabic name of Soliman. Hitherto the _Tao ilog,_ or Tagalog,

had not descended the Pasig River so far as Manila, and the religious

rites of the Tondo-Manila people must have appeared to Legaspi similar

to the Mahometan rites, [74] for in several of his despatches to his

royal master he speaks of these people as _Moros_. All the dialects

spoken by the Filipinos of Malay and Japanese descent have their root

in the pure Malay language. After the expulsion of all the adult

male Japanese Lake settlers in the 17th century, it is feasible to

suppose that the language of the males who took their place in the

Lake district and intermarried there, should prevail over the idiom

of the primitive settlers, and possibly this amalgamation of speech

accounts for the difference between the Tagalog dialect and others

of these islands peopled by Malays.

The Malay immigration must have taken place several generations

prior to the coming of the Spaniards, for at that period the lowland

occupants were already divided into peoples speaking different

dialects and distinguishing themselves by groups whose names seem to

be associated with the districts they inhabited, such as Pampanga,

Iloco, and Cagayan; these denominations are probably derived from

some natural condition, such as _Pampang_, meaning a river embankment,

_Ilog_, a river, _Cauayan_, a bamboo, etc.

In a separate chapter (x.) the reputed origin of the Mahometans of

the southern islands is alluded to. They are also believed to be

immigrants from the West, and at the time of the conquest recent

traditions which came to the knowledge of the Spaniards, and were

recorded by them, prove that commercial relations existed between

Borneo and Manila. There is a tradition [75] also of an attempted

conquest of Luzon by a Borneo chief named Lacasama, about 250 years

before the Spanish advent; but apparently the expedition came to

grief near Luzon, off an island supposed by some to be Masbate.

The descendants of the Japanese and Malay immigrants were the people

whom the Spanish invaders had to subdue to gain a footing. To the

present day they, and the correlative Chinese and Spanish half-castes,

are the only races, among the several in these Islands, subjected,

in fact, to civilized methods. The expression "Filipino" neither

denotes any autochthonous race, nor any nationality, but simply one

born in those islands named the Philippines: it is, therefore, open to

argument whether the child of a Filipino, born in a foreign country,

could be correctly called a Filipino.

The christianized Filipinos, enjoying to-day the benefits of European

training, are inclined to repudiate, as compatriots, the descendants

of the non-christian tribes, although their concurrent existence,

since the time of their immigrant forefathers, makes them all equally

Filipinos. Hence many of them who were sent to the St. Louis Exhibition

in 1904 were indignant because the United States Government had chosen

to exhibit some types of uncivilized natives, representing about

one-twelfth of the Philippine population. Without these exhibits,

and on seeing only the educated Filipinos who formed the Philippine

Commission, the American people at home might well have asked--Is

not American civilization a superfluity in those islands?

The inhabitants of these Islands were by no means savages, entirely

unreclaimed from barbarism before the Spanish advent in the 16th

century. They had a culture of their own, towards which the Malay

settlers themselves appear to have contributed very little. In the

nascent pre-Spanish civilization, Japanese immigrants were almost

the only agriculturists, mine-workers, manufacturers, gold-seekers,

goldsmiths, and masters of the industrial arts in general. Pagsanjan

(Laguna) was their great industrial centre. Malolos (Bulacan) was

also an important Japanese trading base. Whilst working the mines of

Ilocos their exemplary industry must undoubtedly have influenced the

character of the Ilocanos. Away down in the Bicol country of Camarines,

the Japanese pushed their trade, and from their great settlement in

Taal their traffic must have extended over the whole province, first

called by the Spaniards Taal y Balayan, but since named Batangas. From

the Japanese, the Malays learnt the manufacture of arms, and the

Igorrotes the art of metal-working. Along the coasts of the large

inhabited islands the Chinese travelled as traders or middlemen, at

great personal risk of attack by individual robbers, bartering the

goods of manufacturers for native produce, which chiefly consisted

of sinamay cloth, shark-fin, balate (trepang), edible birds'-nests,

gold in grain, and siguey-shells, for which there was a demand in Siam

for use as money. Every north-east monsoon brought down the junks

to barter leisurely until the south-west monsoon should waft them

back, and neither Chinese nor Japanese made the least attempt, nor

apparently had the least desire, to govern the Islands or to overrule

the natives. Without coercion, the Malay settlers would appear to

have unconsciously submitted to the influence of the superior talent

or astuteness of the sedulous races with whom they became merged and

whose customs they adopted, proof of which can be traced to the present

day. [76] Presumably the busy, industrious immigrants had neither time

nor inclination for sanguinary conflicts, for those recorded appear

to be confined to the raids of the migratory mountaineers and an

occasional attack by some ambitious Borneo buccaneer. The reader who

would wish to verify these facts is recommended to make a comparative

study of native character in Vigan, Malolos, Taal, and Pagsanjan.

In treating of the domesticated natives' character, I wish it to be

understood that my observations apply solely to the _large majority_

of the six or seven millions of them who inhabit these Islands.

In the capital and the ports open to foreign trade, where cosmopolitan

vices and virtues obtain, and in large towns, where there is a constant

number of domiciled Europeans and Americans, the native has become

a modified being. It is not in such places that a just estimate of

character can be arrived at, even during many years' sojourn. The

native must be studied by often-repeated casual residence in localities

where his, or her, domestication is only "by law established," imposing

little restraint upon natural inclinations, and where exotic notions

have gained no influence.

Several writers have essayed to depict the Philippine native character,

but with only partial success. Dealing with such an enigma, the most

eminent physiognomists would surely differ in their speculations

regarding the Philippine native of the present day. That Catonian

figure, with placid countenance and solemn gravity of feature, would

readily deceive any one as to the true mental organism within. The

late parish priest of Alaminos (Batangas)--a Franciscan friar, who

spent half his life in the Colony--left a brief manuscript essay

on the native character. I have read it. In his opinion, the native

is an incomprehensible phenomenon, the mainspring of whose line of

thought and the guiding motive of whose actions have never yet been,

and perhaps never will be, discovered.

The reasoning of a native and a European differs so largely that

the mental impulse of the two races is ever clashing. Sometimes a

native will serve a master satisfactorily for years, and then suddenly

abscond, or commit some such hideous crime as conniving with a brigand

band to murder the family and pillage the house.

When the hitherto faithful servant is remonstrated with for having

committed a crime, he not unfrequently accounts for the fact by saying,

"_Senor_, my head was hot." When caught in the act on his first start

on highway robbery or murder, his invariable excuse is that he is

not a scoundrel himself, but that he was "invited" by a relation or

_compadre_ to join the company.

He is fond of gambling, profligate, lavish in his promises, but _lache_

in the extreme as to their fulfilment. He will never come frankly and

openly forward to make a clean breast of a fault committed, or even a

pardonable accident, but will hide it, until it is found out. In common

with many other non-European races, an act of generosity or a voluntary

concession of justice is regarded as a sign of weakness. Hence it

is that the experienced European is often compelled to be more harsh

than his real nature dictates.

If one pays a native 20 cents for a service performed, and that be

exactly the customary remuneration, he will say nothing, but if a

feeling of compassion impels one to pay 30 cents, the recipient will

loudly protest that he ought to be paid more. [77] In Luzon the native

is able to say "Thank you" (_salamat-po_) in his mother-tongue, but

in Panay and Negros there is no way of expressing thanks in native

dialect to a donor (the nearest approach to it is _Dios macbayat_);

and although this may, at first sight, appear to be an insignificant

fact, I think, nevertheless, a great deal may be deduced from it,

for the deficiency of the word in the Visaya vernacular denotes a

deficiency of the idea which that word should express.

If the native be in want of a trivial thing, which by plain asking he

could readily obtain, he will come with a long tale, often begin by

telling a lie, and whilst he invariably scratches his head, he will

beat about the bush until he comes to the point, with a supplicating

tone and a saintly countenance hiding a mass of falsity. But if

he has nothing to gain for himself, his reticence is astonishingly

inconvenient, for he may let one's horse die and tell one afterwards

it was for want of rice-paddy, or, just at the very moment one wants

to use something, he will tell one "_Uala-po_"--there is not any.

I have known natives whose mothers, according to their statement,

have died several times, and each time they have tried to beg the loan

of the burial expenses. The mother of my first servant died twice,

according to his account.

Even the best class of natives do not appreciate, or feel grateful

for, or even seem to understand a spontaneous gift. Apparently,

they only comprehend the favour when one yields to their asking. The

lowest classes never give to each other, unsolicited, a cent's worth,

outside the customary reciprocal feast-offerings. If a European makes

_voluntary_ gratuities to the natives, he is considered a fool--they

entertain a contempt for him, which develops into intolerable

impertinence. If the native comes to borrow, lend him a little less

than he asks for, after a verbose preamble; if one at once lent, or

gave, the full value requested, he would continue to invent a host of

pressing necessities, until one's patience was exhausted. He seldom

restores the loan of anything voluntarily. On being remonstrated with

for his remissness, after the date of repayment or return of the

article has expired, he will coolly reply, "You did not ask me for

it." An amusing case of native reasoning came within my experience

just recently. I lent some articles to an educated Filipino, who had

frequently been my guest, and, at the end of three months, I requested

their return. Instead of thanking me for their use, he wrote a letter

expressing his indignation at my reminder, saying that I "ought to know

they were in very good hands!" A native considers it no degradation

to borrow money: it gives him no recurrent feeling of humiliation or

distress of mind. Thus, he will often give a costly feast to impress

his neighbours with his wealth and maintain his local prestige, whilst

on all sides he has debts innumerable. At most, with his looseness

of morality, he regards debt as an inconvenience, not as a calamity.

Before entering another (middle- or lower-class) native's house, he

is very complimentary, and sometimes three minutes' polite excusatory

dialogue is exchanged between the visitor and the native visited

before the former passes the threshold. When the same class of native

enters a European's house, he generally satisfies his curiosity by

looking all around, and often pokes his head into a private room,

asking permission to enter afterwards.

The lower-class native never comes at first call; among themselves it

is usual to call five or six times, raising the voice each time. If

a native is told to tell another to come, he seldom goes to him to

deliver the message, but calls him from a distance. When a native

steals (and I must say they are fairly honest), he steals only what he

wants. One of the rudest acts, according to their social code, is to

step over a person asleep on the floor. Sleeping is, with them, a very

solemn matter; they are very averse to waking any one, the idea being,

that during sleep the soul is absent from the body, and that if slumber

be suddenly arrested the soul might not have time to return. When a

person, knowing the habits of the native, calls upon him and is told

"He is asleep," he does not inquire further--the rest is understood:

that he may have to wait an indefinite time until the sleeper wakes

up--so he may as well depart. To urge a servant to rouse one, one has

to give him very imperative orders to that effect: then he stands

by one's side and calls "Senor, senor!" repeatedly, and each time

louder, until one is half awake; then he returns to the low note,

and gradually raises his voice again until one is quite conscious.

In Spanish times, wherever I went in the whole Archipelago--near the

capital, or 500 miles from it--I found mothers teaching their offspring

to regard the European as a demoniacal being, an evil spirit, or,

at least, as an enemy to be feared! If a child cried, it was hushed

by the exclamation, "Castila!" (European). If a white man approached

a poor hut or a fine native residence, the cry of caution, the

watchword for defence was always heard--"Castila!"--and the children

hastened their retreat from the dreaded object. But this is now a

thing of the past since the native crossed swords with the "Castila"

(q.v.) and the American on the battle-field, and, rightly or wrongly,

thoroughly believes himself to be a match for either in equal numbers.

The Filipino, like most Orientals, is a good imitator, but having no

initiative genius, he is not efficient in anything. He will copy a

model any number of times, but one cannot get him to make two copies

so much alike that the one is undistinguishable from the other. Yet

he has no attachment for any occupation in particular. To-day he will

be at the plough; to-morrow a coachman, a collector of accounts,

a valet, a sailor, and so on; or he will suddenly renounce social

trammels in pursuit of lawless vagabondage. I once travelled with a

Colonel Marques, acting-Governor of Cebu, whose valet was an ex-law

student. Still, many are willing to learn, and really become very

expert artisans, especially machinists.

The native is indolent in the extreme, and never tires of sitting

still, gazing at nothing in particular. He will do no regular work

without an advance; his word cannot be depended upon; he is fertile

in exculpatory devices; he is momentarily obedient, but is averse

to subjection. He feigns friendship, but has no loyalty; he is calm

and silent, but can keep no secret; he is daring on the spur of

the moment, but fails in resolution if he reflects. He is wantonly

unfeeling towards animals; cruel to a fallen foe; tyrannical over

his own people when in power; rarely tempers his animosities with

compassion or pity, but is devotedly fond of his children. He is

shifty, erratic, void of chivalrous feeling; and if familiarity be

permitted with the common-class native, he is liable to presume upon

it. The Tagalog is docile and pliant, but keenly resents an injustice.

Native superstition and facile credulity are easily imposed upon. A

report emitted in jest, or in earnest, travels with alarming rapidity,

and the consequences have not unfrequently been serious. The native

rarely sees a joke, and still more rarely makes one. He never reveals

anger, but he will, with the most profound calmness, avenge himself,

awaiting patiently the opportunity to use his bowie-knife with

effect. Mutilation of a vanquished enemy is common among these

Islanders. If a native recognizes a fault by his own conscience,

he will receive a flogging without resentment or complaint; if he

is not so convinced of the misdeed, he will await his chance to give

vent to his rancour.

He has a profound respect only for the elders of his household, and

the lash justly administered. He rarely refers to past generations

in his lineage, and the lowest class do not know their own ages. The

Filipino, of any class, has no memory for dates. In 1904 not one in

a hundred remembered the month and year in which General Aguinaldo

surrendered. During the Independence war, an esteemed friend of mine,

a Philippine priest, died, presumably of old age. I went to his town

to inquire all about it from his son, but neither the son nor another

near relation could recollect, after two days' reflection, even the

year the old man passed away. Another friend of mine had his brains

blown out during the Revolution. His brother was anxious to relate

the tragedy to me and how he had lost 20,000 pesos in consequence,

but he could not tell me in which month it happened. Families are

very united, and claims for help and protection are admitted however

distant the relationship may be. Sometimes the connection of a

"hanger-on" with his host's family will be so remote and doubtful,

that he can only be recognized as "_un poco pariente nada mas_"

(a sort of kinsman). But the house is open to all.

The native is a good father and a good husband, unreasonably jealous of

his wife, careless of the honour of his daughter, and will take no heed

of the indiscretions of his spouse committed before marriage. Cases

have been known of natives having fled from their burning huts,

taking care to save their fighting-cocks, but leaving their wives

and children to look after themselves.

If a question be suddenly put to a native, he apparently loses his

presence of mind, and gives the reply most convenient to save himself

from trouble, punishment, or reproach. It is a matter of perfect

indifference to him whether the reply be true or not. Then, as the

investigation proceeds, he will amend one statement after another,

until, finally, he has practically admitted his first explanation

to be quite false. One who knows the native character, so far as its

mysteries are penetrable, would never attempt to get at the truth of

a question by a direct inquiry--he would "beat about the bush," and

extract the truth bit by bit. Nor do the natives, rich or poor, of any

class in life, and with very few exceptions in the whole population,

appear to regard lying as a sin, but rather as a legitimate, though

cunning, convenience, which should be resorted to whenever it will

serve a purpose. It is my frank opinion that they do not, in their

consciences, hold lying to be a fault in any degree. If the liar be

discovered and faced, he rarely appears disconcerted--his countenance

rather denotes surprise at the discovery, or disappointment at his

being foiled in the object for which he lied. As this is one of the

most remarkable characteristics of the Filipino of both sexes in all

spheres of life, I have repeatedly discussed it with the priests,

several of whom have assured me that the habit prevails even in the

confessional. [78] In the administration of justice this circumstance

is inconvenient, because a witness is always procurable for a few

pesos. In a law-case, in which one or both parties belong to the

lowest class, it is sometimes difficult to say whether the false or

the true witnesses are in majority.

Men and women alike find exaggerated enjoyment in litigation, which

many keep up for years. Among themselves they are tyrannical. They have

no real sentiment, nor do they practise virtue for virtue's sake, and,

apart from their hospitality, in which they (especially the Tagalogs)

far excel the European, all their actions appear to be only guided

by fear, or interest, or both.

The domesticated Tagalogs of Luzon have made greater progress

in civilization and good manners than the Visayos of Panay and

Negros. The Tagalog differs vastly from his southern brother in

his true nature, which is more pliant, whilst he is by instinct

cheerfully and disinterestedly hospitable. Invariably a European

wayfarer in a Tagalog village is invited by one or another of the

principal residents to lodge at his house as a free guest, for to

offer payment would give offence. A present of some European article

might be made, but it is not at all looked for. The Tagalog host

lends his guest horses or vehicles to go about the neighbourhood,

takes him round to the houses of his friends, accompanies him to any

feast which may be celebrated at the time of his visit, and lends

him his sporting-gun, if he has one. The whole time he treats him

with the deference due to the superiority which he recognizes. He is

remarkably inquisitive, and will ask all sorts of questions about

one's private affairs, but that is of no consequence--he is not

intrusive, and if he be invited to return the visit in the capital,

or wherever one may reside, he accepts the invitation reluctantly,

but seldom pays the visit. Speaking of the Tagalog as a host, pure

and simple, he is generally the most genial man one could hope to meet.

The Negros and Panay Visayo's cold hospitality is much tempered with

the prospect of personal gain--quite a contrast to the Tagalog. On

the first visit he might admit the white traveller into his house

out of mere curiosity to know all about him--whence he comes--why he

travels--how much he possesses--and where he is going. The basis of

his estimation of a visitor is his worldly means; or, if the visitor

be engaged in trade, his power to facilitate his host's schemes would

bring him a certain measure of civility and complaisance. He is fond

of, and seeks the patronage of Europeans of position. In manners, the

Negros and Panay Visayo is uncouth and brusque, and more conceited,

arrogant, self-reliant, ostentatious, and unpolished than his northern

neighbour. If remonstrated with for any fault, he is quite disposed

to assume a tone of impertinent retort or sullen defiance. The Cebuano

is more congenial and hospitable.

The women, too, are less affable in Panay and Negros, and evince an

almost incredible avarice. They are excessively fond of ornament,

and at feasts they appear adorned with an amount of gaudy French

jewellery which, compared with their means, cost them a lot of money

to purchase from the swarm of Jew pedlars who, before the Revolution

of 1896, periodically invaded the villages.

If a European calls on a well-to-do Negros or Panay Visayo, the

women of the family saunter off in one direction or another, to

hide themselves in other rooms, unless the visitor be well known to

the family. If met by chance, perhaps they will return a salutation,

perhaps not. They seldom indulge in a smile before a stranger; have no

conversation; no tuition beyond music and the lives of the Saints, and

altogether impress the traveller with their insipidity of character,

which chimes badly with their manifest air of disdain.

The women of Luzon (and in a slightly less degree the Cebuanas)

are more frank, better educated, and decidedly more courteous and

sociable. Their manners are comparatively lively, void of arrogance,

cheerful, and buoyant in tone. However, all over the Islands the

women are more parsimonious than the men; but, as a rule, they

are more clever and discerning than the other sex, over whom they

exercise great influence. Many of them are very dexterous business

women and have made the fortunes of their families. A notable example

of this was the late Dona Cornelia Laochanco, of Manila, with whom

I was personally acquainted, and who, by her own talent in trading

transactions, accumulated considerable wealth. Dona Cornelia (who died

in 1899) was the foundress of the system of blending sugar to sample

for export, known in Manila as the _farderia._ In her establishment

at San Miguel she had a little tower erected, whence a watchman

kept his eye on the weather. When threatening clouds appeared a bell

was tolled and the mats were instantly picked up and carried off by

her Chinese coolie staff, which she managed with great skill, due,

perhaps, to the fact that her three husbands were Chinese.

The Philippine woman makes an excellent general servant in native

families; in the same capacity, in European service, she is, as a rule,

almost useless, but she is a good nursemaid.

The Filipino has many excellent qualities which go far to make

amends for his shortcomings. He is patient and forbearing in the

extreme, remarkably sober, plodding, anxious only about providing

for his immediate wants, and seldom feels "the canker of ambitious

thoughts." In his person and his dwelling he may serve as a pattern

of cleanliness to all other races in the tropical East. He has little

thought beyond the morrow, and therefore never racks his brains about

events of the far future in the political world, the world to come,

or any other sphere. He indifferently leaves everything to happen as

it may, with surprising resignation. The native, in general, will go

without food for many hours at a time without grumbling; and fish,

rice, betel-nut, and tobacco are his chief wants. Inebriety is almost

unknown, although strong drink (nipa wine) is plentiful.

In common with other races whose lives are almost exclusively passed

amid the ever-varying wonders of land and sea, Filipinos rarely express

any spontaneous admiration for the beauties of Nature, and seem little

sensible to any aspect thereof not directly associated with the human

interest of their calling. Few Asiatics, indeed, go into raptures

over lovely scenery as Europeans do, nor does "the gorgeous glamour

of the Orient" which we speak of so ecstatically strike them as such.

When a European is travelling, he never needs to trouble about where

or when his servant gets his food or where he sleeps--he looks after

that. When a native travels, he drops in amongst any group of his

fellow-countrymen whom he finds having their meal on the roadside,

and wherever he happens to be at nightfall, there he lies down to

sleep. He is never long in a great dilemma. If his hut is about to

fall, he makes it fast with bamboo and rattan-cane. If a vehicle breaks

down, a harness snaps, or his canoe leaks or upsets, he always has his

remedy at hand. He stoically bears misfortune of all kinds with the

greatest indifference, and without the least apparent emotion. Under

the eye of his master he is the most tractable of all beings. He never

(like the Chinese) insists upon doing things his own way, but tries to

do just as he is told, whether it be right or wrong. A native enters

one's service as a coachman, but if he be told to paddle a boat, cook a

meal, fix a lock, or do any other kind of labour possible to him, he is

quite agreeable. He knows the duties of no occupation with efficiency,

and he is perfectly willing to be a "jack-of-all-trades." Another good

feature is that he rarely, if ever, repudiates a debt, although he may

never pay it. So long as he gets his food and fair treatment, and his

stipulated wages in advance, he is content to act as a general-utility

man; lodging he will find for himself. If not pressed too hard, he will

follow his superior like a faithful dog. If treated with kindness,

according to _European_ notions, he is lost. The native never looks

ahead; if left to himself, he will do all sorts of imprudent things,

from sheer want of reflection on the consequences, when, as he puts it,

"his head is hot" from excitement due to any cause.

On March 15, 1886, I was coming round the coast of Zambales in a small

steamer, in which I was the only saloon passenger. The captain, whom

I had known for years, found that one of the cabin servants had been

systematically pilfering for some time past. He ordered the steward

to cane him, and then told him to go to the upper deck and remain

there. He at once walked up the ladder and threw himself into the sea;

but the vessel stopped, a boat was lowered, and he was soon picked

up. Had he been allowed to reach the shore, he would have become

what is known as a _remontado_ and perhaps eventually a brigand,

for such is the beginning of many of them.

The thorough-bred native has no idea of organization on a large

scale, hence a successful revolution is not possible if confined to

his own class unaided by others, such as Creoles and foreigners. He

is brave, and fears no consequences when with or against his equals,

or if led by his superiors; but a conviction of superiority--moral

or physical--in the adversary depresses him. An excess of audacity

calms and overawes him rather than irritates him.

His admiration for bravery and perilous boldness is only equalled

by his contempt for cowardice and puerility, and this is really

the secret of the native's disdain for the Chinese race. Under good

European officers he makes an excellent soldier, and would follow

a brave leader to death; however, if the leader fell, he would at

once become demoralized. There is nothing he delights in more than

pillage, destruction, and bloodshed, and when once he becomes master

of the situation in an affray, there is no limit to his greed and

savage cruelty.

Yet, detesting order of any kind, military discipline is repugnant

to him, and, as in other countries where conscription is the law,

all kinds of tricks are resorted to to avoid it. On looking over the

deeds of an estate which I had purchased, I saw that two brothers,

each named Catalino Raymundo, were the owners at one time of a portion

of the land. I thought there must have been some mistake, but, on

close inquiry, I found that they were so named to dodge the Spanish

recruiting officers, who would not readily suppose there were two

Catalino Raymundos born of the same parents. As one Catalino Raymundo

had served in the army and the other was dead, no further secret was

made in the matter, and I was assured that this practice was common

among the poorest natives.

In November, 1887, a deserter from the new recruits was pursued

to Langca, a ward of Meycauayan, Bulacan Province, where nearly

all the inhabitants rose up in his defence, the result being that

the Lieutenant of Cuadrilleros was killed and two of his men were

wounded. When the Civil Guard appeared on the spot, the whole ward

was abandoned.

According to the Spanish army regulations, a soldier cannot

be on sentinel duty for more than two hours at a time under any

circumstances. Cases have been known of a native sentinel having been

left at his post for a little over that regulation time, and to have

become phrenetic, under the impression that the two hours had long

since expired, and that he had been forgotten. In one case the man

had to be disarmed by force, but in another instance the sentinel

simply refused to give up his rifle and bayonet, and defied all who

approached him. Finally, an officer went with the colours of the

regiment in hand to exhort him to surrender his arms, adding that

justice would attend his complaint. The sentinel, however, threatened

to kill any one who should draw near, and the officer had no other

recourse open to him but to order a European soldier to climb up

behind the sentry-box and blow out the insubordinate native's brains.

In the seventies, a contingent of Philippine troops was sent to

assist the French in Tonquin, where they rendered very valuable

service. Indeed, some officers are of opinion that they did more to

quell the Tuh Duc rising than the French troops themselves. When in

the fray, they throw off their boots, and, barefooted, they rarely

falter. Even over mud and swamp, a native is almost as sure-footed

as a goat on the brink of a quarry. I have frequently been carried

for miles in a hammock by four natives and relays, through morassy

districts too dangerous to travel on horseback. They are great adepts

at climbing wherever it is possible for a human being to scale a

height; like monkeys, they hold as much with their feet as with their

hands; they ride any horse barebacked without fear; they are utterly

careless about jumping into the sea among the sharks, which sometimes

they will intentionally attack with knives, and I never knew a native

who could not swim. There are natives who dare dive for the caiman and

rip it up. If they meet with an accident, they bear it with supreme

resignation, simply exclaiming "_desgracia pa_"--it was a misfortune.

I can record with pleasure my happy recollection of many a

light-hearted, genial, and patient native who accompanied me on

my journeys in these Islands. Comparatively very few thorough-bred

natives travel beyond their own islands, although there is a constant

flow of half-castes to and from the adjacent colonies, Europe, etc.

The native is very slowly tempted to abandon the habits and traditional

customs of his forefathers, and his ambitionless felicity may be

envied by any true philosopher.

No one who has lived in the Colony for years could sketch the

real moral portrait of such a remarkable combination of virtues

and vices. The domesticated native's character is a succession of

surprises. The experience of each year modifies one's conclusions,

and the most exact definition of such an inscrutable being is, after

all, hypothetical. However, to a certain degree, the characteristic

indolence of these Islanders is less dependent on themselves

than on natural law, for the physical conditions surrounding them

undoubtedly tend to arrest their vigour of motion, energy of life,

and intellectual power.

The organic elements of the European differ widely from those of the

Philippine native, and each, for his own durability, requires his own

special environment. The half-breed partakes of both organisms, but has

the natural environment of the one. Sometimes artificial means--the

mode of life into which he is forced by his European parent--will

counteract in a measure natural law, but, left to himself, the tendency

will ever be towards an assimilation to the native. Original national

characteristics disappear in an exotic climate, and, in the course

of time, conform to the new laws of nature to which they are exposed.

It is an ascertained fact that the increase of energy introduced into

the Philippine native by blood mixture from Europe lasts only to the

second generation, whilst the effect remains for several generations

when there is a similarity of natural surroundings in the two races

crossed. Moreover, the peculiar physique of a Chinese or Japanese

progenitor is preserved in succeeding generations, long after the

Spanish descendant has merged into the conditions of his environment.

The Spanish Government strove in vain against natural law to

counteract physical conditions by favouring mixed marriages, [79]

but Nature overcomes man's law, and climatic influence forces its

conditions on the half-breed. Indeed, were it not for new supplies of

extraneous blood infusion, European characteristics would, in time,

become indiscernible among the masses. Even on Europeans themselves,

in defiance of their own volition, the new physical conditions and

the influence of climate on their mental and physical organisms

are perceptible after two or three decades of years' residence in

the mid-tropics.

All the natives of the domesticated type have distinct Malay, or

Malay-Japanese, or Mongol features--prominent cheek-bones, large

and lively eyes, and flat noses with dilated nostrils. They are,

on the average, of rather low stature, very rarely bearded, and of a

copper colour more or less dark. Most of the women have no distinct

line of hair on the forehead. Some there are with a frontal hairy

down extending to within an inch of the eyes, possibly a reversion

to a progenitor (the _Macacus radiata_) in whom the forehead had

not become quite naked, leaving the limit between the scalp and the

forehead undefined. The hair of both males and females stands out from

the skin like bristles, and is very coarse. The coarseness of the

female's hair is, however, more than compensated by its luxuriance;

for, provided she be in a normal state of health, up to the prime of

life the hair commonly reaches down to the waist, and occasionally

to the ankles. The women are naturally proud of this mark of beauty,

which they preserved by frequent washings with _gogo_ (q.v.) and the

use of cocoanut oil (q.v.). Hare-lip is common. Children, from their

birth, have a spot at the base of the vertebrae, thereby supporting the

theory of Professor Huxley's _Anthropidae_ sub-order--or man (_vide_

Professor Huxley's "An Introduction to the Classification of Animals,"

p. 99. Published 1869).

Marriages between natives are usually arranged by the parents of

the respective families. The nubile age of females is from about

11 years. The parents of the young man visit those of the maiden, to

approach the subject delicately in an oratorical style of allegory. The

response is in like manner shrouded with mystery, and the veil is only

thrown off the negotiations when it becomes evident that both parties

agree. Among the poorer classes, if the young man has no goods to

offer, it is frequently stipulated that he shall serve on probation

for an indefinite period in the house of his future bride,--as Jacob

served Laban to make Rachel his wife,--and not a few drudge for years

with this hope before them.

Sometimes, in order to secure service gratis, the elders of the

young woman will suddenly dismiss the young man after a prolonged

expectation, and take another _Catipad_. as he is called, on the

same terms. The old colonial legislation--"Leyes de Indias"--in vain

prohibited this barbarous ancient custom, and there was a modern

Spanish law (of which few availed themselves) which permitted the

intended bride to be "deposited" away from parental custody, whilst

the parents were called upon to show cause why the union should not

take place. However, it often happens that when Cupid has already

shot his arrow into the virginal breast, and the betrothed foresee

a determined opposition to their mutual hopes, they anticipate the

privileges of matrimony, and compel the bride's parents to countenance

their legitimate aspirations to save the honour of the family. _Honi

soit qui mal y pense_--they simply force the hand of a dictatorial

mother-in-law. The women are notably mercenary, and if, on the part

of the girl and her people, there be a hitch, it is generally on

the question of dollars when both parties are native. Of course,

if the suitor be European, no such question is raised--the ambition

of the family and the vanity of the girl being both satisfied by the

alliance itself.

When the proposed espousals are accepted, the donations _propter

nuptias_ are paid by the father of the bridegroom to defray the

wedding expenses, and often a dowry settlement, called in Tagalog

dialect "_bigaycaya_" is made in favour of the bride. Very rarely

the bride's property is settled on the husband. I never heard of such

a case. The Spanish laws relating to married persons' property were

quaint. If the husband were poor and the wife well-off, so they might

remain, notwithstanding the marriage. He, as a rule, became a simple

administrator of her possessions, and, if honest, often depended on

her liberality to supply his own necessities. If he became bankrupt

in a business in which he employed also her capital or possessions,

she ranked as a creditor of the second class under the "Commercial

Code." If she died, the poor husband, under no circumstances, by legal

right (unless under a deed signed before a notary) derived any benefit

from the fact of his having espoused a rich wife: her property passed

to their legitimate issue, or--in default thereof--to her nearest blood

relation. The children might be rich, and, but for their generosity,

their father might be destitute, whilst the law compelled him to

render a strict account to them of the administration of their property

during their minority. This fact has given rise to many lawsuits.

A married woman often signs her maiden name, sometimes adding "_de_

----" (her husband's surname). If she survives him, she again takes

up her _nomen ante nuptias_ amongst her old circle of friends,

and only adds "widow of ----" to show who she is to the public (if

she be in trade), or to those who have only known her as a married

woman. The offspring use both the parental surnames, the mother's

coming after the father's; hence it is the more prominent. Frequently,

in Spanish documents requiring the mention of a person's name in full,

the mother's maiden surname is revived.

Thus marriage, as I understand the spirit of the Spanish law, seems

to be a simple contract to legitimize and license procreation.

Up to the year 1844, only a minority of the christian natives had

distinctive family names. They were, before that date, known by certain

harsh ejaculations, and classification of families was uncared for

among the majority of the population. Therefore, in that year, a list

of Spanish surnames was sent to each parish priest, and every native

family had to adopt a separate appellation, which has ever since

been perpetuated. Hence one meets natives bearing illustrious names

such as Juan Salcedo, Juan de Austria, Rianzares, Ramon de Cabrera,

Pio Nono Lopez, and a great many Legaspis.

When a wedding among natives was determined upon, the betrothed went

to the priest--not necessarily together--kissed his hand, and informed

him of their intention. There was a tariff of marriage fees, but the

priest usually set this aside, and fixed his charges according to the

resources of the parties. This abuse of power could hardly be resisted,

as the natives have a radicate aversion to being married elsewhere than

in the village of the bride. The priest, too (not the bride), usually

had the privilege of "naming the day." The fees demanded were sometimes

enormous, the common result being that many couples merely cohabited

under mutual vows because they could not pay the wedding expenses.

The banns were verbally published after the benediction following

the conclusion of the Mass. In the evening, prior to the marriage,

it was compulsory on the couple to confess and obtain absolution from

the priest. The nuptials almost invariably took place after the first

Mass, between five and six in the morning, and those couples who were

spiritually prepared first presented themselves for Communion. Then an

acolyte placed over the shoulders of the bridal pair a thick mantle

or pall. The priest recited a short formula of about five minutes'

duration, put his interrogations, received the muttered responses, and

all was over. To the espoused, as they left the church, was tendered

a bowl of coin; the bridegroom passed a handful of the contents to

the bride, who accepted it and returned it to the bowl. This act was

symbolical of his giving to her his worldly goods. Then they left the

church with their friends, preserving that solemn, stoical countenance

common to all Malay natives. There was no visible sign of emotion

as they all walked off, with the most matter-of-fact indifference,

to the paternal abode. This was the custom under the Spaniards,

and it still largely obtains; the Revolution decreed civil marriage,

which the Americans have declared lawful, but not compulsory.

After the marriage ceremony the feast called the _Catapusan_ [80]

begins. To this the vicar and headmen of the villages, the immediate

friends and relatives of the allied families, and any Europeans who

may happen to be resident or sojourning, are invited. The table is

spread, _a la Russe_, with all the good things procurable served at

the same time--sweetmeats predominating. Imported beer, Dutch gin,

chocolate, etc., are also in abundance. After the early repast, both

men and women are constantly being offered betel-nut to masticate,

and cigars or cigarettes, according to choice.

Meanwhile, the company is entertained by native dancers. Two at

a time--a young man and woman--stand _vis-a-vis_ and alternately

sing a love ditty, the burthen of the theme usually opening by

the regret of the young man that his amorous overtures have been

disregarded. Explanations follow, in the poetic dialogue, as the

parties dance around each other, keeping a slow step to the plaintive

strains of music. This is called the _Balitao_. It is most popular

in Visayas.

Another dance is performed by a young woman only. If well executed

it is extremely graceful. The girl begins singing a few words in an

ordinary tone, when her voice gradually drops to the _diminuendo_,

whilst her slow gesticulations and the declining vigour of the music

together express her forlornness. Then a ray of joy seems momentarily

to lighten her mental anguish; the spirited _crescendo_ notes gently

return; the tone of the melody swells; her measured step and action

energetically quicken--until she lapses again into resigned sorrow,

and so on alternately. Coy in repulse, and languid in surrender,

the _danseuse_ in the end forsakes her sentiment of melancholy for

elated passion.

The native dances are numerous. Another of the most typical, is that

of a girl writhing and dancing a _pas seul_ with a glass of water on

her head. This is known as the _Comitan_.

When Europeans are present, the bride usually retires into the

kitchen or a back room, and only puts in an appearance after repeated

requests. The conversation rarely turns upon the event of the meeting;

there is not the slightest outward manifestation of affection between

the newly-united couple, who, during the feast, are only seen together

by mere accident. If there are European guests, the repast is served

three times--firstly for the Europeans and headmen, secondly for

the males of less social dignity, and lastly for the women. Neither

at the table nor in the reception-room do the men and women mingle,

except for perhaps the first quarter of an hour after the arrival,

or whilst dancing continues.

About an hour after the mid-day meal, those who are not lodging at the

house return to their respective residences to sleep the _siesta_. On

an occasion like this--at a _Catapusan_ given for any reason--native

outsiders, from anywhere, always invade the kitchen in a mob, lounge

around doorways, fill up corners, and drop in for the feast uninvited,

and it is usual to be liberally complaisant to all comers.

As a rule, the married couple live with the parents of one or the

other, at least until the family inconveniently increases. In old

age, the elder members of the families come under the protection

of the younger ones quite as a matter of course. In any case, a

newly-married pair seldom reside alone. Relations from all parts

flock in. Cousins, uncles and aunts, of more or less distant grade,

hang on to the recently-established household, if it be not extremely

poor. Even when a European marries a native woman, she is certain to

introduce some vagabond relation--a drone to hive with the bees--a

condition quite inevitable, unless the husband be a man of specially

determined character.

Death at childbirth is very common, and it is said that 25 per cent. of

the new-born children die within a month.

Among the lowest classes, whilst a woman is lying-in, the husband

closes all the windows to prevent the evil spirit (_asuan_) entering;

sometimes he will wave about a stick or bowie-knife at the door, or on

top of the roof, for the same purpose. Even among the most enlightened,

at the present day, the custom of shutting the windows is inherited

from their superstitious forefathers, probably in ignorance of the

origin of this usage.

In Spanish times it was considered rather an honour than otherwise

to have children by a priest, and little secret was made of it.

In October, 1888, I was in a village near Manila, at the bedside

of a sick friend, when the curate entered. He excused himself for

not having called earlier, by explaining that "Turing" had sent him

a message informing him that as the vicar (a native) had gone to

Manila, he might take charge of the church and parish. "Is 'Turing'

an assistant curate?" I inquired. My friend and the pastor were so

convulsed with laughter at the idea, that it was quite five minutes

before they could explain that the intimation respecting the parochial

business emanated from the absent vicar's _bonne amie_.

Consanguine marriages are very common, and perhaps this accounts for

the low intellect and mental debility perceptible in many families.

Poor parents offer their girls to Europeans for a loan of money,

and they are admitted under the pseudonym of sempstress or

housekeeper. Natives among themselves do not kiss--they smell each

other, or rather, they place the nose and lip on the cheek and draw

a long breath.

Marriages between Spaniards and pure native women, although less

frequent than formerly, still take place. Since 1899 many Americans,

too, have taken pure native wives. It is difficult to apprehend an

alliance so incongruous, there being no affinity of ideas, the only

condition in common being, that they are both human beings professing

Christianity. The husband is either drawn towards the level of

the native by this heterogeneous relationship, or, in despair of

remedying the error of a passing passion, he practically ignores

his wife in his own social connections. Each forms then a distinct

circle of friends of his, or her, own selection, whilst the woman is

but slightly raised above her own class by the white man's influence

and contact. There are some exceptions, but I have most frequently

observed in the houses of Europeans married to native women in the

provinces, that the wives make the kitchen their chief abode, and are

only seen by the visitor when some domestic duty requires them to move

about the house. Familiarity breeds contempt, and these _mesalliances_

diminish the dignity of the superior race by reducing the birth-origin

of both parents to a common level in their children.

The Spanish half-breeds and Creoles constitute a very influential

body. A great number of them are established in trade in Manila and

the provinces. Due to their European descent, more or less distant,

they are of quicker perception, greater tact, and gifted with wider

intellectual faculties than the pure Oriental class. Also, the Chinese

half-breeds,--a caste of Chinese fathers and Philippine mothers,--who

form about one-sixth of the Manila population, are shrewder than

the natives of pure extraction, their striking characteristic being

distrust and suspicion of another's intentions. It is a curious

fact that the Chinese half-caste speaks with as much contempt of

the Chinaman as the thorough-bred Filipino does, and would fain

hide his paternal descent. There are numbers of Spanish half-breeds

fairly well educated, and just a few of them very talented. Many

of them have succeeded in making pretty considerable fortunes in

their negotiations, as middlemen, between the provincial natives

and the European commercial houses. Their true social position is

often an equivocal one, and the complex question has constantly to

be confronted whether to regard a Spanish demi-sang from a native or

European standpoint. Among themselves they are continually struggling

to attain the respect and consideration accorded to the superior class,

whilst their connexions and purely native relations link them to the

other side. In this perplexing mental condition, we find them on the

one hand striving in vain to disown their affinity to the inferior

races, and on the other hand, jealous of their true-born European

acquaintances. A morosity of disposition is the natural outcome. Their

character generally is evasive and vacillating. They are captious,

fond of litigation, and constantly seeking subterfuges. They appear

always dissatisfied with their lot in life, and inclined to foster

grievances against whoever may be in office over them. Pretentious

in the extreme, they are fond of pomp and paltry show, and it is

difficult to trace any popular movement, for good or for evil,

without discovering a half-breed initiator, or leader, of one caste

or another. They are locally denominated _Mestizos_.

The Jesuit Father, Pedro Murillo Velarde, at p. 272 of his work

on this Colony, expressed his opinion of the political-economical

result of mixed marriages to the following effect:--"Now," he says,

"we have a querulous, discontented population of half-castes, who,

sooner or later, will bring about a distracted state of society, and

occupy the whole force of the Government to stamp out the discord." How

far the prophecy was fulfilled will be seen in another chapter.

Being naturally prone to superstitious beliefs, the Islanders accepted,

without doubting, all the fantastic tales which the early missionaries

taught them. Miraculous crosses healed the sick, cured the plague,

and scared away the locusts. Images, such as the _Holy Child of Bangi,_

relieved them of all worldly sufferings. To this day they revere many

of these objects, which are still preserved.

The most ancient miraculous image in these Islands appears to be the

_Santo Nino de Cebu_--the Holy Child of Cebu. It is recorded that on

July 28, 1565, an image of the Child Jesus was found on Cebu Island

shore by a Basque soldier named Juan de Camus. It was venerated and

kept by the Austin friars. Irreverent persons have alleged it was a

pagan idol. Against this, it may be argued that the heathen Cebuanos

were not known to have been idolaters. In 1627 a fire occurred

in Cebu city, when the Churches of Saint Nicholas and of the Holy

Child were burnt down. The image was saved, and temporarily placed

in charge of the Recoleto friars. A fire also took place on the site

of the first cross erected on the island by Father Martin de Rada,

the day Legaspi landed, and it is said that this cross, although made

of bamboo, was not consumed. There now stands an Oratory, wherein

on special occasions is exposed the original cross. Close by is the

modern Church of the Holy Child.

In June, 1887, the Prior of the convent conducted me to the strong-room

where the wonderful image is kept. The Saint is of wood, about fifteen

inches high, and laden with silver trinkets, which have been presented

on different occasions. When exposed to public view, it has the

honours of field-marshal accorded to it. It is a mystic deity with

ebon features--so different from the lovely Child presented to us

on canvas by the great masters! During the feast held in its honour

(January 20), pilgrims from the remotest districts of the island and

from across the seas come to purify their souls at the shrine of "The

Holy Child." In the same room was a beautiful image of the Madonna,

besides two large tin boxes containing sundry arms, legs, and heads

of Saints, with their robes in readiness for adjustment on procession

days. The patron of Cebu City is Saint Vidal.

The legend of the celestial protector of Manila is not less

interesting. It is related that in Dilao (now called Paco), near

Manila, a wooden image of Saint Francis de Assisi, which was in the

house of a native named Alonso Cuyapit, was seen to weep so copiously

that many cloths were moistened by its tears. The image, with its hands

outspread during three hours, invoked God's blessing on Manila. And

then, on closing its hands, it grasped a cross and skull. Vows were

made to the Saint, who was declared protector of the capital, and

the same image is now to be seen in the Franciscan Church, under

the appellation of _San Francisco de las lagrimas_--"Saint Francis

of Tears."

Up to the seventies of last century, a disgusting spectacle used to be

annually witnessed at the Church of San Miguel (Manila) on December 8;

it was a realistic representation of the Immaculate Conception!

"Our Lady of Cagsaysay," near Taal (Batangas), has been revered for

many years both by Europeans and natives. So enthusiastic was the

belief in the miraculous power of this image, that the galleons,

when passing the Batangas coast on their way to and from Mexico,

were accustomed to fire a salute from their guns (_vide_ pp. 18,

19). This image was picked up by a native in his fishing-net, and

he placed it in a cave, where it was discovered by other natives,

who imagined they saw many extraordinary lights around it. According

to the local legend, they heard sweet sonorous music proceeding from

the same spot, and the image came forward and spoke to a native woman,

who had brought her companions to adore the Saint.

The history of the many shrines all over the Colony would well fill

a volume; however, by far the most popular one is that of the Virgin

of Antipolo--_Nuestra Senora de Buen Viaje y de la Paz_, "Our Lady

of Good Voyage and Peace."

This image is said to have wrought many miracles. It was first brought

from Acapulco (Mexico) in 1626 in the State galleon, by Juan Nino de

Tabora, who was appointed Gov.-General of these Islands (1626-32) by

King Philip IV. The Saint, it is alleged, had encountered numberless

reverses between that time and the year 1672, since which date it has

been safely lodged in the Parish Church of Antipolo--a village in the

old Military District of Morong (Rizal Province)--in the custody of

the Austin friars. In the month of May, thousands of people repair to

this shrine; indeed, this village of 3,800 inhabitants (diminished to

2,800 in 1903) chiefly depends upon the pilgrims for its existence,

for the land within the jurisdiction of Antipolo is all mountainous

and very limited in extent. The priests also do a very good trade in

prints of Saints, rosaries, etc., for the sale of which, in Spanish

times, they used to open a shop during the feast inside and just in

front of the convent entrance. The total amount of money spent in the

village by visitors during the pilgrimage has been roughly computed

to be P30,000. They come from all parts of the Islands.

The legends of the Saint are best described in a pamphlet published

in Manila, [81] from which I take the following information.

The writer says that the people of Acapulco (Mexico) were loth to

part with their Holy Image, but the saintly Virgin herself, desirous

of succouring the inhabitants of the Spanish Indies, smoothed all

difficulties. During her first voyage, in the month of March, 1626,

a tempest arose, which was calmed by the Virgin, and all arrived

safely in the galleon at the shores of Manila. She was then carried

in procession to the Cathedral, whilst the church bells tolled and

the artillery thundered forth salutes of welcome. A solemn Mass was

celebrated, which all the religious communities, civil authorities,

and a multitude of people attended.

Six years afterwards the Gov.-General Juan Nino de Tabora died. By

his will he intrusted the Virgin to the care of the Jesuits, whilst

a church was being built under the direction of Father Juan Salazar

for her special reception. During the erection of this church, the

Virgin often descended from the altar and exhibited herself amongst the

flowery branches of a tree, called by the natives Antipolo (_Artocarpus

incisa_). The tree itself was thenceforth regarded as a precious relic

by the natives, who, leaf by leaf and branch by branch, were gradually

carrying it off. Then Father Salazar decreed that the tree-trunk should

serve for a pedestal to the Divine Miraculous Image--hence the title

"Virgin of Antipolo."

In 1639 the Chinese rebelled against the Spanish authority (_vide_

p. 115). In their furious march through the ruins and the blood of

their victims, and amidst the wailing of the crowd, they attacked the

Sanctuary wherein reposed the Virgin. Seizing the Holy Image, they

cast it into the flames, and when all around was reduced to ashes,

there stood the Virgin of Antipolo, resplendent, with her hair,

her lace, her ribbons and adornments intact, and her beautiful body

of brass without wound or blemish! Passionate at seeing frustrated

their designs to destroy the deified protectress of the Christians,

a wanton infidel stabbed her in the face, and all the resources of

art have ever failed to heal the lasting wound. Again the Virgin

was enveloped in flames, which hid the appalling sight of her

burning entrails. Now the Spanish troops arrived, and fell upon

the heretical marauders with great slaughter; then, glancing with

trembling anxiety upon the scene of the outrage, behold! with glad

astonishment they descried the Holy Image upon a smouldering pile

of ashes--unhurt! With renewed enthusiasm, the Spanish warriors bore

away the Virgin on their shoulders in triumph, and Sebastian Hurtado

de Corcuera, the Gov.-General at the time, had her conveyed to Cavite

to be the patroness of the faithful upon the high seas.

A galleon arrived at Cavite, and being unable to go into port, the

commander anchored off at a distance. Then the new Gov.-General,

Diego Fajardo (1644-53), sent the Virgin on board, and, by her help,

a passage was found for the vessel to enter.

Later on, twelve Dutch warships appeared off Mariveles, the

northwestern extremity of Manila Bay. They had come to attack Cavite,

and in their hour of danger the Spaniards appealed to the Virgin,

who gave them a complete victory over the Dutchmen, causing them

to flee, with their commander mortally wounded. During the affray,

the Virgin had been taken away for safety on board the _San Diego_,

commanded by Cepeda. In 1650 this vessel returned, and the pious

prelate, Jose Millan Poblete, [82] thought he perceived clear

indications of an eager desire on the part of the Virgin to retire to

her Sanctuary. The people, too, clamoured for the Saint, attributing

the many calamities with which they were afflicted at that period

to her absence from their shores. Assailed by enemies, frequently

threatened by the Dutch, lamenting the loss of several galleons,

and distressed by a serious earthquake, their only hope reposed in

the beneficent aid of the Virgin of Antipolo.

But the galleon _San Francisco Xavier_ feared to make the journey

to Mexico without the saintly support, and for the sixth time the

Virgin crossed the Pacific Ocean. In Acapulco the galleon lay at

anchor until March, 1653, when the newly-appointed Gov.-General,

Sabiniano Manrique de Lara, Archbishop Miguel Poblete, Father

Rodrigo Cardenas, Bishop-elect of Cagayan, and many other passengers

embarked and set sail for Manila. Their sufferings during the voyage

were horrible. Almost overcome by a violent storm, the ship became

unmanageable. Rain poured in torrents, whilst her decks were washed by

the surging waves, and all was on the point of utter destruction. In

this plight the Virgin was exhorted, and not in vain, for at her

command the sea lessened its fury, the wind calmed, black threatening

clouds dispersed, all the terrors of the voyage ceased, and under a

beautiful blue sky a fair wind wafted the galleon safely to the port

of Cavite.

These circumstances gained for the Saint the title of "Virgin of Good

Voyage and Peace"; and the sailors,--who gratefully acknowledged that

their lives were saved by her sublime intercession,--followed by the

ecclesiastical dignitaries and military chiefs, carried the image to

her retreat in Antipolo (September 8, 1653), where it was intended

she should permanently remain. However, deprived of the succour of

the Saint, misfortunes again overtook the galleons. Three of them

were lost, and the writer of the brochure to which I refer supposes

(Chap. iv.) that perchance the sea, suffering from the number of

furrows cut by the keels of the ships, had determined to take a fierce

revenge by swallowing them up!

Once more, therefore, the Virgin condescended to accompany a galleon

to Mexico, bringing her back safely to Philippine shores in 1672.

This was the Virgin's last sea voyage. Again, and for ever, she was

conveyed by the joyous multitude to her resting-place in Antipolo

Church, and on her journey thither, there was not a flower, adds the

chronicler, which did not greet her by opening a bud--not a mountain

pigeon which remained in silence, whilst the breezes and the rivulets

poured forth their silent murmurings of ecstasy. Saintly guardian

of the soul, dispersing mundane evils!--no colours, the chronicler

tells us, can paint the animation of the faithful; no discourse can

describe the consolation of the pilgrims in their adoration at the

Shrine of the Holy Virgin of Antipolo.

Yet the village of Antipolo and its neighbourhood was, in Spanish

times, the centre of brigandage, the resort of murderous highwaymen,

the focus of crime. What a strange contrast to the sublime virtues

of the immortal divinity enclosed within its Sanctuary!

On November 26, 1904, this miraculous Image was temporarily removed

from Antipolo to Manila for the celebration of the feast of the

Immaculate Conception. Carried by willing hands to the place of

embarkation, it made the voyage to the capital, down the Pasig

River, in a gorgeously decorated barge, towed by a steam launch,

escorted by hundreds of floating craft and over 20,000 natives,

marching along the river banks in respectful accompaniment. The next

day a procession of about 35,000 persons followed the Virgin to the

Cathedral of Manila, where she was enshrined, awaiting the great event

of December 8. Subsequently she was restored to her shrine at Antipolo.

The most lucrative undertaking in the Colony is that of a shrine. It

yields all gain, without possible loss. Among the most popular of

these "Miraculous Saint Shows" was that of Gusi, belonging to the

late parish priest of Ilug, in Negros Island. At Gusi, half an hour's

walk from the Father's parish church, was enthroned San Joaquin,

who, for a small consideration, consoled the faithful or relieved

them of iheir sufferings. His spouse, Santa Ana, having taken up

her residence in the town of Molo (Yloilo Province), was said to

have been visited by San Joaquin once a year. He was absent on the

journey at least a fortnight, but the waters in the neighbourhood of

the Shrine being sanctified the _clientele_ was not dispersed. Some

sceptics have dared to doubt whether San Joaquin really paid this

visit to his saintly wife, and alleged that his absence was feigned,

firstly to make his presence longed for, and secondly to remove the

cobwebs from his hallowed brow, and give him a wash and brush up for

the year. The Shrine paid well for years--every devotee leaving his

mite. At the time of my pilgrimage there, the holy Father's son was

the petty-governor of the same town of Ilug.

Shrine-owners are apparently no friends of free trade. In 1888 there

was a great commotion amongst them when it was discovered that a

would-be competitor and a gownsman had conspired, in Pampanga Province,

to establish a Miraculous Saint, by concealing an image in a field

in order that it should "make itself manifest to the faithful,"

and thenceforth become a source of income.

It is notorious that in a church near Manila, a few years ago,

an image was made to move the parts of its body as the reverend

preacher exhorted it in the course of his sermon. When he appealed

to the Saint, it wagged its head or extended its arms, whilst the

female audience wept and wailed. Such a scandalous disturbance did

it provoke that the exhibition was even too monstrous for the clergy

themselves, and the Archbishop prohibited it. But religion has many

wealth-producing branches. In January, 1889, a friend of mine showed

me an account rendered by the Superior of the Jesuits' School for

the education of his sons, each of whom was charged with one peso as

a gratuity to the Pope, to induce him to canonize a deceased member

of their Order. I have been most positively assured by friends, whose

good faith I ought not to doubt, that San Pascual Bailon really has,

on many occasions, had compassion on barren women (their friends)

and given them offspring. Jose Rizal, in his "Noli me tangere" hints

that the real Pascual was a friar.

Trading upon the credulity of devout enthusiasts by fetishism and

shrine quackery is not altogether confined to the ecclesiastics. A

Spanish layman in Yloilo, some few years ago, when he was an official

of the prison, known as the "Cotta," conceived the idea of declaring

that the Blessed Virgin and Child Jesus had appeared in the prison

well, where they took a bath and disappeared. When, at length,

the belief became popular, hundreds of natives went there to get

water from the well, and the official imposed a tax on the pilgrims,

whereby he became possessed of a modest fortune, and owned two of

the best houses in the Square of Yloilo.

The Feast of Tigbauang (near Yloilo), which takes place in January,

is also much frequented on account of the miracles performed by

the patron Saint of the town. The faith in the power of this minor

divinity to dispel bodily suffering is so deeply rooted that members

of the most enlightened families of Yloilo and the neighbouring towns

go to Tigbauang simply to attend High Mass, and return at once. I

have seen steamers entering Yloilo from this feast so crowded with

passengers that there was only standing room for them.

An opprobrious form of religious imposture--perhaps the most

contemptible--which frequently offended the public eye, before the

American advent, was the practice of prowling about with doll-saints

in the streets and public highways. A vagrant, too lazy to earn an

honest subsistence, procured a licence from the monks to hawk about a

wooden box containing a doll or print covered by a pane of glass. This

he offered to hold before the nose of any ignorant passer-by who was

willing to pay for the boon of kissing the glass!

During Holy Week, a few years ago, the captain of the Civil Guard

in Tayabas Province went to the town of Atimonan, and saw natives

in the streets almost in a state of nudity doing penance "for the

wounds of Our Lord." They were actually beating themselves with

flails, some of which were made of iron chain, and others of rope

with thongs of rattan-cane. Having confiscated the flails--one of

which he gave to me--he effectually assisted the fanatics in their

penitent castigation. Alas! to what excesses will faith, unrestrained

by reason, bring one!

The result of tuition in mystic influences is sometimes manifested

in the appearance of native Santones--indolent scamps who roam

about in remote villages, feigning the possession of supernatural

gifts, the faculty of saving souls, and the healing art, with the

object of living at the expense of the ignorant. I never happened

to meet more than one of these creatures--an escaped convict named

Apolonio, a native of Cabuyao (Laguna), who, assuming the character

of a prophet and worker of miracles, had fled to the neighbourhood

of San Pablo village. I have often heard of them in other places,

notably in Capis Province, where the Santones were vigorously pursued

by the Civil Guard, and as recently as May, 1904, a notorious humbug

of this class, styling himself _Pope Isio, alias Nazarenong Gala_,

was arrested in West Negros and punished under American authority.

The Spanish clergy were justifiably zealous in guarding the Filipinos

from a knowledge of other doctrines which would only lead them to

immeasurable bewilderment. Hence all the civilized natives were

Roman Catholics exclusively. The strict obedience to _one_ system

of Christianity, even in its grossly perverted form, had the effect

desired by the State, of bringing about social unity to an advanced

degree. Yet, so far as I have observed, the native seems to understand

extremely little of the "inward and spiritual grace" of religion. He

is so material and realistic, so devoid of all conception of things

abstract, that his ideas rarely, if ever, soar beyond the contemplation

of the "outward and visible signs" of christian belief. The symbols

of faith and the observance of religious rites are to him religion

itself. He also confounds morality with religion. Natives go to church

because it is the custom. Often if a native cannot put on a clean

shirt, he abstains from going to Mass. The petty-governor of a town

was compelled to go to High Mass accompanied by his "ministry." In

some towns the _Barangay Chiefs_ were fined or beaten if they were

absent from church on Sundays and certain Feast Days. [83]

As to the women, little or no pressure was necessary to oblige them

to attend Mass; many of them pass half their existence between private

devotion and the confessional.

The parish priest of Lipa (Batangas) related to a friend of mine that

having on one occasion distributed all his stock of pictures of the

Saints to those who had come to see him on parochial business, he

had to content the last suppliant with an empty raisin-box, without

noticing that on the lid there was a coloured print of Garibaldi. Later

on Garibaldi's portrait was seen in a hut in one of the suburbs with

candles around it, being adored as a Saint.

A curious case of native religious philosophy was reported in a

Manila newspaper. [84] A milkman, accused by one of his customers of

having adulterated the milk, of course denied it at first, and then,

yielding to more potent argument than words, he confessed that he had

diluted the milk with _holy water from the church fonts_, for at the

same time that he committed the sin he was penitent.

Undoubtedly Roman Catholicism appears to be the form of Christianity

most successful in proselytizing uncivilized races, which are impressed

more through their eyes than their understanding. If the grandeur of

the ritual, the magnificence of the processions, the lustre of the

church vessels and the images themselves have never been understood

by the masses in the strictly symbolic sense in which they appeal

to us, at least they have had their influence in drawing millions to

civilization and to a unique uniformity of precept, the practice of

which it is beyond all human power to control.

For Music the native has an inherent passion. Musicians are to be found

in every village, and even among the very poorest classes. Before

the Revolution there was scarcely a parish, however remote, without

its orchestra, and this natural taste was laudably encouraged by the

priests. Some of these bands acquired great local fame, and were sought

for wherever there was a feast miles away. The players seemed to enjoy

it as much as the listeners, and they would keep at it for hours at a

time, as long as their bodily strength lasted. Girls from six years

of age learn to play the harp almost by instinct, and college girls

quickly learn the piano. There are no native composers--they are but

imitators. There is an absence of sentimental feeling in the execution

of set music (which is all foreign), and this is the only drawback to

their becoming fine instrumentalists. For the same reason, classical

music is very little in vogue among the Philippine people, who prefer

dance pieces and ballad accompaniments. In fact, a native musical

performance is so void of soul and true conception of harmony that

at a feast it is not an uncommon thing to hear three bands playing

close to each other at the same time; and the mob assembled seem to

enjoy the confusion of the melody! There are no Philippine vocalists

worth hearing.

Travelling through the Laguna Province in 1882 I was impressed by

the ingenuity of the natives in their imitation of European musical

instruments. Just an hour before I had emerged from a dense forest,

abundantly adorned with exquisite foliage, and where majestic trees,

flourishing in gorgeous profusion, afforded a gratifying shelter from

the scorching sun. Not a sound was heard but the gentle ripple of a

limpid stream, breaking over the boulders on its course towards the

ravine below. But it was hardly the moment to ponder on the poetic

scene, for fatigue and hunger had almost overcome sentimentality,

and I got as quickly as I could to the first resting-place. This I

found to be a native cane-grower's plantation bungalow, where quite

a number of persons was assembled, the occasion of the meeting being

the baptism and benediction of the sugar-cane mill. Before I was

near enough, however, to be seen by the party--for it was nearly

sunset--I heard the sound of distant music floating through the

air. Such a strange occurrence excited my curiosity immensely, and

I determined to find out what it all meant. I soon discovered that

it was a bamboo band returning from the feast of the "baptism of the

mill." Each instrument was made of bamboo on a semi-European model,

and the players were merely farm-labourers.

Philippine musicians have won fame outside their own country. Some

years ago there was a band of them in Shanghai and another in

Cochin China on contract. It was reported, too, that the band of the

Constabulary sent to the St. Louis Exhibition in 1904 was the delight

of the people in Honolulu, where they touched _en route_.

Slavery was prohibited by law as far back as the reign of Philip

II.; [85] it nevertheless still exists in an occult form among

the natives. Rarely, if ever, do its victims appeal to the law

for redress, firstly, because of their ignorance, and secondly,

because the untutored class have an innate horror of resisting

anciently-established custom, and it would never occur to them

to do so. Moreover, in the time of the Spaniards, the numberless

_procuradores_ and _pica-pleitos_--touting solicitors had no interest

in taking up cases so profitless to themselves. Under the pretext

of guaranteeing a loan, parents readily sell their children (male or

female) into bondage. The child is handed over to work until the loan

is repaid; but as the day of restitution of the advance never arrives,

neither does the liberty of the youthful victim. Among themselves

it was a law, and is still a practised custom, for the debts of

the parents to pass on to the children, and, as I have said before,

debts are never repudiated by them. Slavery, in an overt form, now

only exists among some wild tribes and the Moros.

Education was almost exclusively under the control of the friars. Up

to the year 1844 anything beyond religious tuition was reserved

for the Spanish youth, the half-castes, and the children of

those in office. Among the many reforms introduced in the time of

Gov.-General Narciso Claveria (1844-49), that of extending Education

to the provincial parishes was a failure. In the middle of the reign

of Isabella II. (about 1850) it was the exclusive privilege of the

classes mentioned and the native petty aristocracy, locally designated

the _gente ilustrada_ and the _pudientes_ (Intellectuals and people

of means and influence). Education, thus limited, divided the people

into two separate castes, as distinct as the ancient Roman citizen and

the plebeian. Residing chiefly in the ports open to foreign trade,

the Intellectuals acquired wealth, possessed rich estates and fine

houses artistically adorned. Blessed with all the comforts which

money could procure and the refinement resulting from education, they

freely associated and intermarried with the Spaniards, whose easy grace

and dignified manners they gradually acquired and retain, to a great

extent, to the present day. The other caste--the Illiterates--were

dependents of the Intellectuals. Without mental training, with few

wants, and little expenses, they were as contented, in their sphere,

as the upper class were in theirs. Like their masters, they had their

hopes, but they never knew what misery was, as one understands it in

Europe, and in this felicitous, ambitionless condition, they never

urgently demanded education, even for their children. The movement came

from higher quarters, and during the O'Donnell ministry a Royal Decree

was sent from Madrid establishing schools throughout the provinces.

On the banks of the Pasig River there was a training college for

schoolmasters, who were drafted off to the villages with a miserable

stipend, to teach the juvenile rustics. But the governmental system

of centralization fell somewhat hard on the village teacher. For

instance, I knew one who received a monthly salary of 16 pesos,

and every month he had to spend two of them to travel to Manila and

back to receive the money--an outlay equal to 12 1/2 per cent. of his

total income. For such a wretched pittance great things were not to

be expected of the teacher, even though he had had a free hand in his

work. Other circumstances of greater weight contributed to keep the

standard of education among the common townfolk very low; in some

places to abolish it totally. The parish priests were _ex-officio_

Inspectors of Schools for primary instruction, wherein it was their

duty to see that the Spanish language was taught. The old "Laws

of the Indies" provided that christian doctrine should be taught

to the heathen native in Spanish. [86] Several decrees confirming

that law were issued from time to time, but their fulfilment did

not seem to suit the policy of the friars. On June 30, 1887, the

Gov.-General published another decree with the same object, and sent

a communication to the Archbishop to remind him of this obligation

of his subordinates, and the urgency of its strict observance. But it

had no effect whatever, and the poor-class villagers were only taught

to gabble off the christian doctrine by rote, for it suited the friar

to stimulate that peculiar mental condition in which belief precedes

understanding. The school-teacher, being subordinate to the inspector,

had no voice in the matter, and was compelled to follow the views of

the priest. Few Spaniards took the trouble to learn native dialects (of

which there are about 30), and only a small percentage of the natives

can speak intelligible Spanish. There is no literature in dialect; the

few odd compositions in Tagalog still extant are wanting in the first

principles of literary style. There were many villages with untrained

teachers who could not speak Spanish; there were other villages with

no schools at all, hence no preparation whatever for municipal life.

If the friars had agreed to the instruction of the townfolk through the

medium of Spanish, as a means to the attainment of higher culture, one

could well have understood their reluctance to teach it to the rural

labourers, because it is obvious to any one who knows the character

of this class that the knowledge of a foreign language would unfit

them for agricultural labour and the lower occupations, and produce

a new social problem. Even this class, however, might have been

mentally improved by elementary books translated into dialect. But,

unfortunately, the friars were altogether opposed to the education

of the masses, whether through dialect or Spanish, in order to hold

them in ignorant subjection to their own will, and the result was

that the majority grew up as untutored as when they were born.

Home discipline and training of manners were ignored, even in

well-to-do families. Children were left without control, and by

excessive indulgence allowed to do just as they pleased; hence they

became ill-behaved and boorish.

Planters of means, and others who could afford it, sent their sons and

daughters to private schools, or to the colleges under the direction

of the priests in Manila, Jaro (Yloilo Province), or Cebu. A few--very

few--sent their sons to study in Europe, or in Hong-Kong.

According to the Budget of 1888 the State contributed to the expense

of Education, in that year, as follows, viz.:--

P. cts.

Schools and Colleges for high-class education in Manila,

including Navigation, Drawing, Painting, Book-keeping,

Languages, History, Arts and Trades, Natural History

Museum and Library and general instruction. 86,450 00

School of Agriculture (including 10 schools and model

farms in 10 Provinces) 113,686 64

General Expenses of Public Instruction, including National

Schools in the Provinces 38,513 70

==========

P238,650 34

The teaching offered to students in Manila was very advanced, as will

be seen from the following Syllabus of Education in the Municipal

Athenaeum of the Jesuits:--

Agriculture. Geometry. Philosophy.

Algebra. Greek. Physics and Chemistry.

Arithmetic. History. Rhetoric and Poetry.

Commerce. Latin. Spanish Classics.

Geography. Mechanics. Spanish Composition.

English. Natural History. Topography.

French. Painting. Trigonometry.

In the highest Girls' School--the Santa Isabel College--the following

was the curriculum, viz.:--

Arithmetic. Geology. Philippine History.

Drawing. Geometry. Physics.

Dress-cutting. History of Spain. Reading.

French. Music. Sacred History.

Geography. Needlework. Spanish Grammar.

There were also (for girls) the Colleges of Santa Catalina, Santa

Rosa, La Concordia, the Municipal School, etc. A few were sent to

the Italian Convent in Hong-Kong.

A college known as Saint Thomas' was founded in Manila by Fray Miguel

de Benavides, third Archbishop of Manila, between the years 1603

and 1610. He contributed to it his library and P 1,000, to which

was added a donation by the Bishop of Nueva Segovia of P 3,000 and

his library. In 1620 it already had professors and masters under

Government auspices. It received three Papal Briefs for 10 years

each, permitting students to graduate in Philosophy and Theology. It

was then raised to the status of a University in the time of Philip

IV. by Papal Bull of November 20, 1645. The first rector of Saint

Thomas' University was Fray Martin Real de la Cruz. In the meantime,

the Jesuits' University had been established. Until 1645 it was the

only place of learning superior to primary education, and conferred

degrees. The Saint Thomas' University (under the direction of Dominican

friars) now disputed the Jesuits' privilege to confer degrees, claiming

for themselves exclusive right by Papal Bull. A lawsuit followed, and

the Supreme Court of Manila decided in favour of Saint Thomas'. The

Jesuits appealed to the King against this decision. The Supreme Council

of the Indies was consulted, and revoked the decision of the Manila

Supreme Court, so that the two Universities continued to give degrees

until the Jesuits were expelled from the Colony in 1768. From 1785

Saint Thomas' University was styled the "Royal University," and was

declared to rank equally with the Peninsular Universities.

There were also the Dominican College of San Juan de Letran, founded

in the middle of the 17th century, the Jesuit Normal School, the

Convent of Mercy for Orphan Students, and the College of Saint

Joseph. This last was founded in 1601, under the direction of the

Jesuits. King Philip V. gave it the title of "Royal College," and

allowed an escutcheon to be erected over the entrance. The same king

endowed three professorial chairs with P 10,000 each. Latterly it was

governed by the Rector of the University, whilst the administration

was confided to a licentiate in pharmacy.

At the time of the Spanish evacuation, therefore, the only university

in the City of Manila was that of Saint Thomas, which was empowered to

issue diplomas of licentiate in law, theology, medicine, and pharmacy

to all successful candidates, and to confer degrees of LL.D. The

public investiture was presided over by the Rector of the University, a

Dominican friar; and the speeches preceding and following the ceremony,

which was semi-religious, were made in the Spanish language.

In connection with this institution there was the modern Saint Thomas'

College for preparing students for the University.

The Nautical School naturally stood outside the sphere of

ecclesiastical control. Established in 1839 in Calle Cabildo (walled

city), its purpose was to instruct youths in the science of navigation

and prepare them for the merchant service within the waters of the

Archipelago and the adjacent seas. During the earthquake of 1863 the

school building was destroyed. It was then re-established in Calle

San Juan de Letran, subsequently located in Calle del Palacio, and

was finally (in 1898) removed from the walled city to the business

quarter of Binondo. Special attention was given to the teaching of

mathematics, and considerable sums of money were allocated, from time

to time, for the equipment of this technical centre of learning.

One of the most interesting and amusing types of the native was

the average college student from the provinces. After a course

of two, three, up to eight years, he learnt to imitate European

dress and ape Western manners; to fantastically dress his hair;

to wear patent-leather shoes, jewellery, and a latest-fashioned

felt hat adjusted carefully towards one side of his head. He went

to the theatre, drove a "tilbury," and attended native _reunions_,

to deploy his abilities before the _beau sexe_ of his class. During

his residence in the capital, he was supposed to learn, amongst

other subjects, Latin, Divinity, Philosophy, and sometimes Theology,

preparatory, in many cases, to succeeding his father in a sugar-cane

and rice plantation. The average student had barely an outline idea

of either physical or political geography, whilst his notions of

Spanish or universal history were very chaotic. I really think the

Manila newspapers--poor as they were--contributed very largely to

the education of the people in this Colony.

Still, there are cases of an ardent genius shining as an exception to

his race. Amongst the few, there were two brothers named Luna--the

one was a notably skilful performer on the guitar and violin, who,

however, died at an early age. The other, Juan Luna, developed

a natural ability for painting. A work of his own conception--the

"Spoliarium," executed by him in Rome in 1884--gained the second prize

at the Madrid Academy Exhibition of Oil Paintings. The Municipality

of Barcelona purchased this _chef d'oeuvre_ for the City Hall. Other

famous productions of his are "The Battle of Lepanto," "The Death of

Cleopatra," and "The Blood Compact" (q.v). This last masterpiece

was acquired by the Municipality of Manila for the City Hall,

but was removed when the Tagalog Rebellion broke out, for reasons

which will be understood after reading Chapter xxii. This artist,

the son of poor parents, was a second mate on board a sailing ship,

when his gifts were recognized, and means were furnished him with

which to study in Rome. His talent was quite exceptional, for these

Islanders are not an artistic people. Having little admiration for

the picturesque and the beautiful in Nature, they cannot depict them:

in this respect they form a decided contrast to the Japanese. Paete

(La Laguna) is the only place I know of in the provinces where there

are sculptors by profession. The Manila Academy was open to all comers

of all nationalities, and, as an ex-student under its Professors Don

Lorenzo Rocha and Don Agustin Saez, I can attest to their enthusiasm

for the progress of their pupils.

In the General Post and Telegraph Office in Manila I was shown an

excellent specimen of wood-carving--a bust portrait of Mr. Morse

(the celebrated inventor of the Morse system of telegraphy)--the work

of a native sculptor. Another promising native, Vicente Francisco,

exhibited some good sculpture work in the Philippine Exhibition, held

in Madrid in 1887: the jury recommended him for a State pension, to

study in Madrid and Rome. The beautiful design of the present insular

coinage (Philippine peso) is the work of a Filipino. The biography

of the patriot martyr Dr. Jose Rizal (q.v.), the most brilliant of

all Filipinos, is related in another chapter.

The native of cultivated intellect, on returning from Europe, found a

very limited circle of friends of his own new training. If he returned

a lawyer or a doctor, he was one too many, for the capital swarmed

with them; if he had learnt a trade, his knowledge was useless outside

Manila, and in his native village his technical acquirements were

generally profitless. Usually the native's sojourn in Europe made

him too self-opinionated to become a useful member of society. It

remains to be seen how American training will affect them.

The (American) Insular Government has taken up the matter of Philippine

education very earnestly, and at considerable outlay: the subject is

referred to in Chapter xxx.

The intellectual and spiritual life, as we have it in Europe, does

not exist in the Philippines. If ever a Filipino studied any subject,

purely for the love of study, without the hope of material or social

advantage being derived therefrom, he would be a _rara avis_.

The _Disease_ most prevalent among the Filipinos is fever--especially

in the spring: and although, in general, they may be considered a

robust, enduring race, they are less capable than the European of

withstanding acute disease. I should say that quite 50 per cent. of

the native population are affected by cutaneous disease, said to be

caused by eating fish daily, and especially shell-fish. It is locally

known as _Sarnas_: natives say that monkey flesh cures it.

In 1882 _Cholera morbus_ in epidemic form ravaged the native

population, carrying off thousands of victims, the exact number of

which has never been published. The preventive recommended by the

priests on this occasion, viz., prayer to Saint Roque, proved quite

ineffectual to stay the plague. A better remedy, found in the country,

is an infusion of _Niota tetrapetala_ (Tagalog, _Manungal_). From time

to time this disease reappears. The returns given in the _Official

Gazette_ of March 2, 1904, Vol. II., No. 9, show the average monthly

mortality due to _Cholera_, in the 20-1/3 months between March 20,

1902, and December 1, 1903, to be 5,360. Annually, many natives suffer

from what is called _Colerin_--a mild form of _Cholera_, but not

epidemic. In the spring, deaths always occur from acute indigestion,

due to eating too plentifully of new rice. Many who have recovered

from _Cholera_ become victims to a disease known as _Beri-Beri_,

said to be caused by the rice and fish diet. The first symptom of

_Wet Beri-Beri_ is a swelling of the legs, like dropsy; that of _Dry

Beri-Beri_ is a wasting away of the limbs. _Smallpox_ makes great

ravages, and _Measles_ is a common complaint. _Lung_ and _Bronchial_

affections are very rare. The most fearful disease in the Colony is

_Leprosy_. [87] To my knowledge it is prevalent in the Province of

Bulacan (Luzon Is.), and in the islands of Cebu and Negros. There is an

asylum for lepers near Manila and at Mabolo, just outside the City of

Cebu (_vide_ Lepers), but no practical measures were ever adopted by

the Spaniards to eradicate this disease. The Spanish authorities were

always too indifferent about the propagation of leprosy to establish

a home on one island for all male lepers and another home, on another

island, for female lepers--the only effectual way to extirpate this

awful malady. In Baliuag (Bulacan), leper families, personally known

to me, were allowed to mix with the general public. In Cebu and Negros

Islands they were permitted to roam about on the highroads and beg.

The Insular Government has taken up the question of the Lepers,

and in 1904 a tract of land was purchased in the Island of Culion

(Calamianes group) to provide for their hygienic isolation. According

to the _Official Gazette_ of March 2, 1904, Vol. II., No. 9, the

total number of lepers, of whom the Insular Government had obtained

cognizance, up to December 31, 1903, was 3,343. Besides these there

would naturally be an unknown number who had escaped recognition.

There is apparently little _Insanity_ in the Islands. From the

Report of the Commissioner of Public Health for February, 1904,

it would appear that there were only about 1,415 insane persons in

a population of over seven-and-a-half millions.

Since the American advent (1898) the _Death-rate_ is believed to have

notably decreased. The Report of the Commissioner of Public Health

for 1904 states the death-rate per thousand in Manila to have been as

follows, viz.:--Natives 53.72; Europeans other than Spaniards 16.11;

Spaniards 15.42; and Americans 9.34. The Commissioner remarks that

"over 50 per cent. of the children born in the city of Manila never

live to see the first anniversary of their birthday." The Board of

Health is very active in the sanitation of Manila. Inspectors make

frequent domiciliary visits. The extermination of rats in the month

of December, 1903, amounted to 24,638. House-refuse bins are put into

the streets at night, and an inspector goes round with a lamp about

midnight to examine them. Dead animals, market-rubbish, house-refuse,

rotten hemp, sweepings, etc., are all cremated at Palomar, Santa Cruz,

and Paco, and in July, 1904, this enterprising department started

the extermination of mosquitoes! In the suburbs of Manila there are

now twelve cemeteries and one crematorium.