The habits of the Spanish residents at Manilla are exceedingly
indolent. As persons in the government service form the great
proportion of the white population, a sketch of the habits of one
of them may not be uninteresting;--say those of an average officer
of the Hacienda, for instance. He usually gets out of bed about six,
or a little after, to enjoy the cool air of the morning, and sip his
chocolate, with the aid of _broas_, without which he could scarcely
manage to get through the day; he then dresses, and drives to his
office, where he remains till twelve o'clock, which hour finishes
his official duties for the day. While in his office the nature
of his work is not very arduous, and does not appear to call into
play any powers of the mind, as it appears to consist only in his
remaining for about four hours in a cool and large room, generally
seated at a table or desk, overlooking a number of native writers,
occupied in making out and filling up forms which are required by
the existing regulations for the government service. The Spaniard,
however, has nothing to do with all that, only occasionally exerting
himself so far as to sign his name, or merely to dash his rubrica,
without taking the trouble to sign his name, to the papers presented
to him by these native copyists; and should you enter his office,
he generally appears to be just awaking from a nap, as he opens his
eyes, and rouses himself to salute a visitor.
At noon the public offices are closed, and he drives home to dine about
one or two o'clock, after which he generally sleeps till about five,
for nearly all of the Spanish residents take a long siesta. About
that time of the day, however, he is awakened to dress and prepare
for the _paseo_ on the Calyada, and for the _tertulia_ after it, at
the house of some acquaintance; or if he should by any chance happen
to be without acquaintance, to saunter through the Chinamen's shops,
admiring walking-canes, cravats, or waistcoat-pieces; and while
so engaged, he is pretty sure to meet some companion for a gossip,
or other amusement. After this he sets off to sup at home, and to
sleep till another day comes round, when the same routine must be
gone through.
It would be hard to conjecture a mode of passing or sauntering through
life with less apparent object than many of them have. Books are scarce
and expensive, and are in little demand by most of the residents,
even if they were worth reading, and cheaper, and more procurable
than they now are; the library--if the term may be applied to their
collection--of such people, generally only comprising one or two plays,
and perhaps a novel--sometimes also Don Quixote's adventures, which,
with a volume of poetry, is about the average amount of learning and
amusement on their book-shelves. But should the owner be a military
man, he probably has, in addition to these, some Spanish standard
book, equivalent to our "Dundas's Principles," or "Regulations for
the Cavalry."
Smoking, sleeping, and eating, are the labours of their days, and
in all of these they are adepts. Their prevalent taste, however, as
regards cookery, is not suitable to a British palate, as the favourite
accompaniment of garlic is commonly used in such a quantity by their
cooks, that they are very apt to spoil a dinner for a foreigner's
eating, unless they are checked or cautioned with regard to the use
of it.
Their usual drink is wine of different kinds, which they take out of
a glass or tumbler, as we would beer or water: the quantity consumed
is moderate enough, about a pint being a usual allowance--and that
is frequently mixed with about an equal quantity of water. Sherry,
claret, priorato, pajarete, manzanilla, malaga, and muscatel, are the
sorts most in request, all of them being of ordinary quality, to the
taste of any one accustomed to drink good wine at home, from which the
wines procurable here are as different as possible, and especially the
sherry. But in that resides a mystery known best to the wine-merchants,
who doctor up the wine consumed in Great Britain to suit the taste of
those who buy it from them. Strange to say, even to this, a Spanish
colony, there is not sent out a single pipe of wine, such as any one
accustomed to drink the British _composition_ would call good sherry.
Claret, or _vino tinto_, is very generally used in preference to
tea or coffee at breakfast, but at that early time of the day it is
mixed with a large proportion of water. This meal, however, is not a
general one in the Philippines, as the custom of taking chocolate in
the morning destroys all appetite for it, and the early dinner hour
of the Spaniards in general, does not render it essential.
The want of interesting occupation, and the heat of the sun, preventing
out-of-door exercise during the day, has doubtless originated these
indolent customs, which have given rise to many bad habits, and the
low scale of morality prevailing among them.
A large proportion of them being bachelors, are in the habit of
selecting a mistress as a companion with whom they may forget the
dullness, and shake off the apathy of their aimless existence; a very
large proportion, in fact, nearly all of them, being in the habit of
choosing such a household companion from among the Creole, Mestiza,
or native girls, but generally from the last two races.
The native girls have the reputation of proving more faithful to
their lovers than the other two, as they look upon such a connection
in the light of a marriage, and consider themselves guilty of no
immorality during its continuance. When a native beauty forms such
a connection with a white man, her relations do not sunder all the
former ties existing between her and them, by casting her off, but
on the contrary are, as frequently as not, highly pleased at it,
viewing the affair in the light of a fortunate marriage for her.
These feelings, however, are not universal, for some of the richer
class of Indians would be highly displeased with a female relation
forming such a connection.
Among the Indians themselves this arrangement frequently takes place,
as very many of the poorest people are unable to save money enough to
pay their marriage fees, and in the event of a couple living together
without having had the ceremony performed previously, they regard
themselves, and are considered by their neighbours, as not the less
man and wife. As an instance of the extent to which this prevails among
them, I may mention a circumstance which struck me much at the time:--
Being near the cathedral at Manilla one evening in April last, I
entered an open door of the edifice and wandered into a room attached
to it, where several people were in waiting, and among them several
women with children to be baptized. I stopped to witness the ceremony,
and had the curiosity to look into the register where their names were
enrolled; in that book, two of them were described as illegitimate
children, and the third was the only one born in matrimony.
Although the custom does not prevail to anything like the extent
of two-thirds of the population, still it is a very frequent one,
and proves among other things, that the sort of religion prevailing
among the people is only that of forms, possessing no sufficient hold
over their minds to regulate their conduct.
Compare their religious ideas with those of the old Scottish
covenanters, or English puritans, and how different are the effects
of faith; but perhaps they are not more dissimilar than the natures
of the two races are. For there is no race in the world with all the
good qualities of the Celtic breed crossed by the Saxon, and that
again by the Norman; for depend upon it, blood tells in every human
being--aye, and as much in men as in dogs or horses.
But, unfortunately for ourselves, men pay less attention to the innate
qualities and virtues of blood and pedigree, when selecting a mate for
themselves, than they do when their dogs or horses are in question,
as then no trouble is spared to trace out and scrutinise the qualities
of _their_ sires, and to breed only from a good stock.
By pedigree, of course not the worldly station of men is meant, but
the history of their lives and reputations, as good and useful men of
their time. Of necessity both parents affect the character of their
offspring, and so we frequently see a great and good man leaving
behind him none in his family capable of supplying his place. Now,
how is this? Why, it comes from the mistake he has made in selecting
his mate, for if he had been more cautious in that respect the produce
would have been equal to the promise.
How often do we see wise men with silly wives and tall men with short
wives. The only wonder is, that the offspring of such couples are
not worse than they are.