daughters. The now widespread custom of forming matrimonial unions without benefit of clergy naturally also facilitates irregular connections with Europeans. A present of money to a girl's parents suffices, from the native point of view, to constitute her the mujer-woman-wife of Señor So-andSo, who installs her, as mistress, in a hut in some native quarter. When the connection comes to an end, the girl has no difficulty in finding a more permanent mate among her own people, especially if, as often happens, she is in receipt of a small pension. Infant mortality is very great in the Philip pines. It is computed that twenty-five per cent. of the children born of native parents die within a month, and death in childbed is also of very frequent occurrence. Both circumstances are in all probability greatly due to the traditional practice of closing up every aperture of a house containing a lyingin woman to prevent the entrance of an evil spirit called Asuan, much dreaded on such occasions. An illustration of the extent to which a European, on marrying a native woman, must adapt himself to native ways was afforded in the case of an Englishman married to a half-breed, who allowed this ridiculous superstition to imperil the lives of his wife and child, to say nothing of the discomfort to which he was himself subjected by its observance in a climate where, for Europeans at least, a thorough draught is indispensable for comfort. Another cause of this excessive infant mortality is that young children are very lightly clad, if clad at all, and a sudden fall of temperature often causes a chill on the stomach to which they succumb in a few hours.

Mixed marriages have always been encouraged by the Government of the Philippines, special advantages being granted to military men who marry the daughters of the country. Three centuries of intermarriage between European men and native women, and also between the latter and the numerous Chinese immigrants, have consequently added to the original population a large proportion of half-breeds representing every degree of admixture. The ChiNEW SERIES.-VOL. LXVIII., No. 3.

nese Mestizos alone are said to constitute one-sixth of the domesticated native population; and the Spanish Mestizos, together with the Creoles, or "Sons of the Country (Hijos del Pais), as they term themselves, form an influential body, the majority of whom are established as traders in Manila and the provinces. Owing to their European descent, more or less distant, these Spanish half-breeds are endowed with quicker perceptions, greater business capacity, and wider intellectual faculties than the pure Tagals. Many of them are well educated, but few display much natural talent. A certain number of Mestizos, both Spanish and Chinese, have amassed large fortunes as middlemen between the native growers and the European merchants. Although in the Philippines no distinct line of demarcation is drawn between races and classes, the social position of these halfbreeds and Creoles is somewhat equivocal, though vastly superior to that of the Eurasians of British India. As a class, they are continually struggling to obtain the position and consideration accorded to the Peninsular Spaniards, who refuse to give them their daughters in marriage; while their dusky-hued connections form a perpetual reminder of their native origin. Vainly endeavoring to disown kinship with the latter, and assert an equality with the Castilas, they bear a grudge against these for possessing so unmistakably European a birthright. moral result of this is that they are, generally speaking, morose in disposition, captious in temper, evasive and vacillating, dissatisfied with their lot, fond of litigation and political intrigue, and inclined to foster grievances. against the Government. The better educated among them aspire to become reformers of their country's institutions; and, even previously to the late revolts, a certain number have been imprudent enough to give proof of the desire entertained by many to overthrow Spanish rule in the islands, and establish instead a Philippine Republic. But even in the exceedingly unlikely event of such a termination to the present

20

The

rebellion, the new state of things could only be of very short duration. It is, I believe, an ascertained fact that the increase of energy introduced into the Philippine native by European blood lasts only to the second generation; and, left to himself, the tendency of the Mestizo is ever to revert to the maternal type. The native is too indolent, and the hold of civilization upon him too slight, ever to make anything higher than municipal self-government possible in these islands.

The Philippines being, according to the "Plain Narrative," " maintained by the Crown of Spain at the request of the Church for propagating the Christian Faith among the Indians," the influence of the Church has naturally here been always paramount. An Archbishop at Manila, with various Bishops in the provinces, constitute the hierarcy, and the spiritual needs of the people are administered to by a vast body of Friars of all Orders, and secular clergy, both European and native. The Jesuits also occupied numerous important posts in the Archipelago previous to their expulsion from Spain in 1767, and are now again re-established in many parts, and particularly in Mindanao. The great majority of cures are served by Spanish friars, who, after their arrival in the country, remain for some years in the monasteries in order to complete their studies, and in particular to learn the special dialect of the district for which they are designed. Spanish secular priests also occupy some of the canonries in Manila and the interior, and a certain number of native priests, educated in the seminaries of the Orders, fill the less important curacies. The Progressive Party in the islands are opposed to this predominance of the Monastic Orders who, as a body, prefer the interests of the Government to those of their parishioners, and demand their retirement to their monasteries, or to mission work, leaving the parish churches to be served by the secular Spanish and native clergy. The authorities are naturally opposed to such a change, as they have always found the co-operation of the friars essential in securing obedience to

enactments affecting their flocks. No Royal Decree pronounced with sound. of trumpet would have a fraction of the effect produced on the ignorant and fanatical population by the fantastic threats and promises pronounced with uplifted cross by their spiritual guide. This has been proved again and again. During the British occupation of Manila in 1762, "the priests and friars publicly exhorted rebellion, and preached it meritorious to take up arms and destroy us." * At the beginning of the campaign against the Mohammedan Sultan of Soulou, in 1876, when it was found necessary to increase the native army, recourse was had to the eloquence of the friars in order to obtain willing and enthusiastic recruits. And there cannot be the slightest doubt that, at the present moment, a crusade is being strenuously preached against the invading "infidels," statements calculated to excite the fiercest and most fanatical hatred being unscrupulously made from the pulpit to the ignorant masses.

Roman Catholicism is undoubtedly the form of Christianity best calculated to impress native races. Their pagan idols reappear in the form of saints and martyrs, and gratify the instinctive want of anthropomorphic and visible objects of worship. The mind of the Philippine native is realistic to a degree, devoid of all conception of things abstract, and his ideas of religion are limited to its outward symbols and the rites connected with them. The Mass does not greatly appeal to his religious emotions. Petty officials were formerly bound, under pain of the lash, to attend; but the want of a clean shirt is quite sufficient reason for a private individual to absent himself. No pressure is, however, necessary to secure the attendance of the women, many of whom pass half their lives between adoration of the images, Mariolatry, and the confessional. The dwellings of the majority of the natives are but slight and perishable constructions of bamboo and the leaves of the nipa palm, yet room is found in them for an oratory;

A Plain Narrative."

while the churches which tower in their midst are solid stone edifices with massive square or octagonal belfry towers, buttressed to withstand the frequent earthquake shocks to which these volcanic islands are subject. The interior is a mass of rich ornament, the image of the Madonna and the high altar being often of solid silver, masterpieces of native workmanship, for even the poorest Tagal village possesses its platero, or silversmith. The great religious event of the year for villagers and townsfolk alike is the feast-day of the local patron saint-piesta de nosotros, in native parlance. All day long the parish is en fête. The quaintly picturesque wooden houses and nipa huts, with their high-pitched thickly thatched roofs, which line the roadway, embowered in feathery bamboo clumps, tall betel palms, and spreading plantains, are all decorated for the occasion. Festoons of Chinese lanterns surmount the garden fences and swing between the trees, while triumphal arches span the roadway at intervals. Toward evening the great square in front of the church is crowded with holiday-makers of both sexes, Tagals, Chinamen, many of whom are nominally at least Christians, and half-castes. Most of the Mestizas, and many of the Tagal women, are arrayed in full skirts of brightly checked, striped, or brocaded silk, and those among them who content themselves with cotton outvie their wealthier sisters in vividly contrasting red, blue, and yellow. Over this the Tagals wear a piece of dark blue stuff, fastened apron-wise tightly around the hips, and descending to the knee. The bell-shaped sleeves of their short loose jackets, made of piña gauze, and the kerchiefs of the same material worn on the shoulders, and, out of doors on the head, have their borders decorated with elaborate lacelike needlework. Their long black tresses which, when loose, often reach to their ankles, are neatly coiled at the back of the head, where they are secured with gold-mounted pins and combs, often set with real diamonds, as are also the bracelets, earrings, and long watchchains which the Tagal élégante delights in wearing. The stockingless

feet are protected from the dust by chinelas, colored slippers, consisting merely of a sole and accommodation for four toes, the small toe remaining outside.

The native dandies wear white duck trousers and a shirt, which latter may be more or less of the cut familiar to us when made of white calico, but the front is elaborately embroidered, tucked, or frilled, and the back is disposed in full kilts, unconfined by the trousers. Camisa fuera, "shirt outside," is the technical term for this native fashion, which greatly scandalized an elderly English lady on her arrival at Manila. "Emily, my dear, don't look!" she exclaimed in a horrified whisper to her daughter, when this costume first met her shocked gaze. "Don't look! The servant has forgotten to dress himself!" The camisa fuera, however, takes rather the form of a blouse, and consequently strikes a European less oddly when made of piña gauze, of the prettily striped jusi, or of the hempen abaca. With these the native pure and simple wears the salacot, a mushroom-shaped, sun-proof hat, sometimes inlaid round the brim with a pattern in silver. This head-gear of his forefathers is discarded to a great extent by the townsman for a straw hat of European form, as he has discarded. chinelas for patent-leather boots. The children, boys and girls, are made up into quaint little miniatures of their elders, though, as above mentioned, their costumes are ordinarily either of the simplest kind or conspicuous by their absence.

But the sun has now set, and after a few brief minutes of twilight the warm star-spangled night has drawn forth the whole population; private festivities are for the time being suspended, attention being centred on the procession now about to leave the church. Every lamp and lantern is aglow throughout the parish; the whole façade of the church, and the Temple Bar-like structure of the gates, look as if an immense swarm of the fireflies flitting among the tree-tops had suddenly clustered over them; and forth from the sacred portals streams the

great procession. First comes a group of children, dressed like early Christian martyrs, or fathers of the Church, wearing mitres and false beards, and bearing wooden crosses, thus fulfilling vows made on their behalf by their parents. Then black-veiled, black-robed figures, with great garlands of feathery green leaves on their heads and tapers in their hands, representing Jews in turbans and gaberdines. Next is borne past, on a litter, the recumbent figure of Christ on a couch of crimson velvet, almost hidden by gold ornaments. Other images follow at intervals, bedizened with velvet, satin, and lace, and sparkling with jewels, diamonds, rubies and emeralds; between them march military bands, with groups of clergy in full canonicals, and officials in robes of office. The last image that figures in the procession is that of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, borne aloft on a magnificent litter, and eclipsing with the blaze of her jewels and the gorgeousness of her apparel not only all the preceding saints and saintesses, but also her Divine Son. The rear is brought up by a crowd of joyous natives, who follow in a double line, men and boys on one side, women and girls on the other. After perambulating the parish for an hour or so, the procession re-enters the church with its tapers, images, and band, for the final benediction, and the rest of the evening is devoted to festivity. The chief inhabitants keep open house, and all entertain their friends from neighboring parishes, according to their means. In the houses of the wealthy Mestizas, which are of palatial dimensions, and furnished handsomely, balls and tertulias, or receptions, are going forward, most of the former being saya bailes, at which the native costume for both men and women is so strictly de rigueur that it is often assumed for the occasion by Spaniards and foreigners. For the public generally there are magnificent displays of fireworks, and dramatic representations something after the manner of the miracle plays of the Middle Ages, from which the clown is never absent, the prompter being equally en evidence, and all the seats are free.

The patron saint of the city of Manila generally is St. Francis the Tearful-San Francisco de las Lagrimas. According to the legend, an image of this saint in the house of a native at Dilao, near the capital, was on one occasion, when the city was in danger, seen to weep so copiously "that many cloths were moistened," while with outspread hands it, for three hours' space, besought God's pity on Manila. As soon as this miracle was made publicly known, the saint was, with one accord, declared the protector of the city, and his image removed to the Franciscan Church within the walls, where it has since remained. The anniversary of this saint is naturally a general holiday. Toward sunset, thousands of vehicles issue from the streets of Binondo, Tondo, and the other suburbs, and cross the bridges to the wide boulevard which encircles three sides of the fortifications, terminating at the mouth of the River Pasig. Elegant victorias and landaus, drawn by a pair of stout ponies, are filled with mantilla-veiled Spanish beauties and bejewelled Mestizas; light carromattas and calesas are brilliant with the trailing sayas of their dusky Tagal occupants; every available wheeled vehicle, indeed, in the city has been requisitioned to swell the stream of traffic flowing seaward. Military bands discourse operatic music, and greetings are interchanged while the Manileñas inhale the refreshing sea-breezes blowing in from the bay. Ocean steamers lie out in the anchorage, outlined in shadow on the smooth waters, while the setting sun, disappearing behind the grand mountain mass of Mariveles, throws its dark serrated summits into clear relief against the glowing western clouds. The eye, dazzled by this blaze of natural splendor, turns for relief to the moss-grown, mellow-toned walls of the city-a city belonging, in appearance, to another age, with its moat, drawbridges, and old bronze cannon bristling on the ramparts from which now thunders forth the sunset gun. Every rein is tightened, every hat lifted in salutation to the Angelus, which simultaneously sounds from every convent and church

in the city. The short succeeding twilight passes, the carriage lamps twinkle as far as the eye can reach, and the gay throng again wends its way homeward.

The history of the miraculous shrines in these islands would fill a volume. The most popular, however, is that of the Virgin of Antipolo-Nuestra Señora de buen Viage y de la Pazat which miracles are constantly reported to be wrought. Brought from Mexico in 1636, this Virgin was, in the Chinese rebellion thirteen years later, committed to the flames. When all around had been reduced to ashes, these infidels found the sacred image still intact and resplendent, her brazen body without a blemish. Again was she committed to the flames, and again found by the Spaniards, who had arrived in the meantime unhurt, save for a wound in the face inflicted by the knife of a sacrilegious rebel. After helping to drive out the Dutch in 1650, the image was again taken back to Acapulco as protectress of the King's galleon. Having crossed the ocean six times, the Virgin was, in 1672, brought back to the Philippines, and finally, escorted by a joyous multitude, was deposited in her present resting-place in the Church of Antipolo " birds, beasts, flowers, hills, and waters greeting her as she journeyed." The annual festival of this Virgin, which is held in the month of May, is attended by thousands. The villagers, who number some 3000, depend chiefly on these pilgrims for their subsistence, their land being too mountainous to be very productive. A large trade in rosaries, holy pictures, and sacred knick-knacks generally, is done by the priests, some 30,000 dollars being annually spent there by visitors. Many make vows to climb the steep ascent to the church itself on their knees, in return for benefits vouchsafed. A very good-looking muchacha, who had been employed as nurse at the British Consulate, enjoyed the reputation of having achieved this feat, in addition to that of being exceedingly inconstant in her affections.

Other famous shrines are those of Our Lady of Casaysay, on the coast of Balangas, also brought from Mexico; a cross at Banan, venerated since 1595;

and the Holy Child of Cebu, said to have been found on the shore of this island by a Basque soldier, Juan de Camus. The latter image is of ebony, fifteen inches only in height, laden with silver trinkets and other offerings. When this object is exposed to view on its festal day, January 20th, the honors of a field-marshal are paid to it, and pilgrims from the remotest districts and islands cross the seas to purify their souls at the shrine of the Santo Niño de Cebu.

I began this paper with recalling the former British occupation of the Philippines, and as it seems likely that they will soon be occupied by our American kinsmen, or possibly, by some arrangement with them, reoccupied by ourselves, I shall conclude by pointing out their exceedingly important geographical and political position. The Eastern shores of the South China Sea are formed by the Philippines and Borneo, and are, therefore, one-half Spanish and one-half British; and the British Malay Peninsula and French Cochin China form the Western shores, with Hong Kong at the head of this narrow storm-tossed sea. Thus situated, I cannot but agree with the politicians who think it would be impossible for Great Britain to allow these islands to come into the possession of any other great Power than the United States or ourselves. Certainly the Spaniards have, by their misgovernment, hardly less forfeited here than in Cuba all rightful claim to remain in possession after defeat in the war which that misgovernment has provoked. The trade of the Philippines has long been chiefly in the hands of British and American firms. Under either British or American Government, these islands would undoubtedly have their immense material wealth developed as it has never yet been, or ever will be, under such an effete Power as Spain. And it may be added that with the Philippines go the great islet, rather than island. groups to the eastward, the Ladrones or Robber Islands, a penal settlement, and the Carolinas. May the near future bring better government to the rightly rebellious Philippine Islanders. -Fortnightly Review.