Chapter XVIII: Boats and weapons of these natives (2)

48. They are much given to the sin of blasphemy, [191] because of their natural vileness, their pride, and their presumption. Hence it is quite usual for them to complain of God, whom they call Paghihinanaquit, asking why He does not give them this or that, and health or wealth, as He does to other creatures. They utter words of nonsense that horrify those who do not know that it proceeds from their great lack of understanding and consideration, and from their very great disability for conforming themselves with the divine will. [192] Thus the royal prophet David, when compelled by his superior enthusiasm to touch what he considered inferior matter, and [when he] lifted up his complaints of the divine Providence, was excused by his ignorance, as will be seen in Psalm LXXII, [23], where he humbles himself, saying: Ut jumentum factus sum apud te: et ego semper tecum. [193]

49. They are very vain, [194] and they spend their money never more willingly than in functions of vanity; for they consider themselves highly, and wish to be esteemed without doing anything worthy of esteem. The men especially, even though they do not have anything to eat, must not for that reason fail to have a shirt and a hat, and to dress in style. They give banquets very frequently, for very slight causes; and everything resolves itself into eating, drinking, and great noise. Their vanity is the only thing that causes them to lessen their laziness, in order to get the wherewithal to keep up this esteem, and applause from their compatriots. [195]

50. They are revengeful to an excessive degree--so much so that they are vile and cowardly, and the ministers have great trouble in reconciling them with their enemies; and although they do it through fear, it is never with the whole heart, for this passion has great influence over them. And since they need magnanimity and manliness to overcome it, and these virtues are foreign to them, [196] hate generally forces its roots into them so deeply that it is impossible to eradicate it in a whole lifetime. [197]

This is the reason why they are so inclined to litigation, and to going before the audiencias and courts with their quarrels, [198] in which they willingly spend their possessions for the sole purpose of making others spend theirs and of causing them harm and trouble. For that they are even wont to pledge their sons and daughters. [199]

51. In order to be contrary in everything to other nations, they have lust but no love. This is in regard to the illicit love; for in the supernatural love which grace causes in the sacrament of marriage (since divine impulse works in this) their evil disposition is conquered and most of them make very good husbands. But in illicit intercourse the men have no other purpose than bodily appetite, and to deprive [of virginity] as many women as they have done, in order to sport with it. For it is a long established custom among them that the women shall give to the men, and the latter shall be the ones served and fêted; while only blows, kicks, and trouble are given to the women. So true is this that one might say that they have an inferno both in this and in the other world. Hence the women are very poorly clad, for the men want everything for themselves. [200]

52. But in the midst of this, which appears inhuman, one may praise them for having succeeded in treating their wives as they deserve, in order to keep them submissive and happy; for this submission makes them better, and humble, and prudent, and conformable to their sentence of being subject to man. And if the Europeans would learn this useful and prudent management from them, they would live in greater peace and with less expense; and marriage would be more mild and quiet, and well ordered, according to reason, and better directed toward the end for which it was instituted--as we see is the case with these people, with a fertility that causes our wonder.

53. They have another remarkable custom, which has been taught them by the infernal Machiavelian [201] Satan, which is good for their bodies, but bad for their souls. This is that they observe very strictly the concealment of one another's faults and wrong-doing. They endeavor to see that no transgression comes to the ear of the father minister, or alcalde, or any Spaniard. They observe this with peculiar secrecy, although they may be at enmity among themselves, and ready to kill as they say. Consequently, the most serious crime that can happen among them is to tell the father or alcalde what is passing in the village. [202] They call that mabibig, because it is the most abominable fault and the only sin among them. [203]

54. This worst of customs is very prejudicial and troublesome to the Spaniards and to the father ministers. For it might happen that one has one servant (or all) who wastes and destroys the property of his master, and there is [no one] who will tell him what is passing. [204] But if it happens that the wasteful servant leave, then all the others tell what he did; and, whatever is lacking afterward, they throw the blame on that absent servant. If the Spaniard reprove the servant whom he most esteems and benefits, asking him why he did not tell of the evil that the other servant was doing, he replies with great dudgeon that they must not accuse him of being mabibig, or talebearer of what happens. This is what takes place, even if the servants know that they are flaying their master. Consequently, the first thing that they do when any new servant comes is, to threaten him if he turn mabibig, and afterwards make him do all the work that belongs to them all, while the old servants are quite free from toil. Hence the fewer servants a Spaniard has, the better served will he be; for only the newcomer works and does everything, and the others not only do nothing, but are all served by him. [205]

55. They have another peculiarity, which always causes me great wonder. I am trying to discover the cause therefor, but I only find, so far as I can make out, that it is due to their incapacity and ingratitude and their horror of the Spaniards. This is, that while the difference between the poverty, wretchedness, and want of their houses and the anxiety and poverty in which they live, when compared with the abundance, good cheer, good clothes, and comfort which they enjoy in the service of certain Spaniards is almost infinite, if they happen to be discharged, or to leave for some very slight cause occasioned by their pride and vanity, they turn from one extreme to the other, so contented with the present misery that they do not remember or even consider the past abundance. If they be asked in what condition they lived better, they answer that everything is one and the same, and hence we do not get revenge by sending them away in anger [en embiarlos con Dios]. But what great happiness is theirs! [206]

56. They would rather scorn the goods of the father or of the Spaniards than enjoy them and profit by them. Hence what they lose is greater than what they spend.

57. They are greatly lacking in foresight. Hence the servants and stewards do not advise their master to procure any article until it is completely gone. Therefore when they say that there is no more sugar or no more oil, it is when there is not [oil] enough to whet a knife. [207] Consequently, great deficiencies and annoyances are suffered because of this custom.

58. If there are visitors or guests to dine with the master, they do not consider the guests at all, thus causing the poor master of the house great shame; [208] and it is necessary for him to excuse himself by the poor instruction that the devil gave them in this matter. No misfortune can be greater to him than to offend against his civility; and in a manner that seems good to them, for doubtless they are so persuaded by the devil. It is also their custom, when there is company, for all to go to the kitchen and leave the master alone. [209]

59. Their stomachs are like sackbuts, with systole and diastole; [210] and thus they contract and expand them in a wonderful manner. For although they observe parsimony in their own houses, it is a matter for which to praise God to see them gorge themselves and gulp down things at the expense of the Spaniards, as Quevedo said there of Galalon: "Galalon, who eats but little at home, overloads his goodly paunch at another's expense." [211]

60. But say to them, Buen provecho; [212] for usually these losses are well retrieved when they row. They are horrifying and frightful in venting their anger, both against one another, and against the father ministers; and there would be so much to say in this that it would never be finished. [213] They are able to make their complaints in such a manner and to such purpose that they persuade those who know most about their falsity and trickery that they are telling the truth. I remember that an alcalde of experience [214] was heard to say, when the Indians came to him with complaints: Audivi auditionem tuam, et timui. [215] There are usually Indians, both men and women, in the suburbs of Manila, who hire out as mourners in the manner of the mourners of the Hebrews, and such as were in style in Castilla in the time of the Cid. The authors of the quarrel go first into the house of some lawyer [216] well known for his cleverness, who is one of those called in law rabulas, [217] who do not know which is their right hand. These men keep books of formulas and of petitions directed against all the human race; for example, in this form, "suit against alcalde;" and then follow all the crimes and excesses that can be committed by alcaldes. [218] The same thing is true of suits against ministers and curas, and in them is enclosed all possibility of irregular conduct. Then the said "smith of calumny," [219] as the Italian says, takes the names of the plaintiffs and defendants, and a few facts; and then puts it all in the book from beginning to end [de pe á pa], without omitting one iota. And this is not to speak uncertainly; for in the archives of the court will be found the chart which was discovered in the possession of a certain rabula named Silva, who, in addition to this had skill in counterfeiting royal decrees and documents.

61. When the petition has been made, they go with it to the mourners, and they go to press their suit with a lamentation like that of Magedo for King Josias, which would soften stones. [220] That has been investigated by several governors in my time. I remember one investigation by Don Juan de Vargas, and another by Don Gabriel de Cruce-laegui; and many who are living remember them. Let them judge, then, the pity that ought to be expressed for the father ministers, whose honor is exposed to so great danger.

62. Their cunning and diabolical cleverness in making an accusation is not the equal [i.e., is more than the equal] of their capacity; and it is known that they have the special suggestion of the father of discord, Satan. I remember that they brought to a certain provincial a complaint against the father minister, saying that he kept twelve Indians busy in caring for but one horse. The provincial made an investigation and found that the father had but one Indian, and that he used the said horse a great deal, in order to attend to the administration of souls. When the calumniators were chidden for the falsity of their complaint, they explained it by saying, "Father, that Indian is, in truth, but one; but he is changed every month, and at the end of the year there are twelve men." Just see what subtlety, and what confusion in their arithmetic, in order to make their accusation--the Indians maliciously speaking of a year in order to give color to their calumny. [221] So many cases of this sort can be stated, that they are unending. And with all this, these natives have such persuasiveness, or powers of enchantment, that they generally deceive and persuade the most experienced with their lies.

63. Inasmuch as any sort of complaint is received, without subjecting the accuser to a penalty in case that he cannot prove his allegations [222]--as ought to be the case, and according to the orders of the Mexican Council--no one's honor is safe. For, if they prove their accusations, they are the gainers, while if they do not prove them they return home as cool as ever, for they always go to gain and never to lose. [223]

64. They are very fond of ceremonial acts and festivals where there is some novelty; and fond of long pilgrimages [224] to images of some new miracle, while they forget about the old. [225]

65. They are especially fond of comedies and farces, and therefore, there is no feast of consequence, unless there is a comedy. [226] If possible they will lose no rehearsal, and in all they pay attention only to the witty fellow who does innumerable foolish and uncouth things, and at each of his actions they burst into hearty laughter. He who plays this part acceptably receives his diploma as an ingenious fellow, and has permission to go and come anywhere, and even to cajole the women before their husbands; and the latter must laugh, even though they have no wish to do so. It is very necessary that these representations be not harmful, for many of them are printed. Accordingly, they receive considerable benefit from these functions and external acts, such as the descent from the cross, and other representations, which are patterned after those called escuitales [227] in Nueba España--in which is verified the truth of the sentence in the Ars Poetica of Horace, verses 18[0-181]. [228]

Segnius irritant animos demisa per aures,
Quam quæ sunt oculis conspecta fidelibus.

66. Consequently, those who have experience are wont to declare that the faith enters into the Indians through the eyes; and hence it seems worthy of consideration that it was the apostle St. Thomas whom our Lord [229] had prepared for the teaching of the Indians--he who desired that the belief in his glorious resurrection might enter through the eyes: Nisi videro ... non credam (John xx, 25).

67. They are extreme in their observance of their usages and customs, which they call ogali. To be found wanting in these is a great infamy; and, consequently, in order not to break them they will trample everything under foot. The ceremonies and abuses practiced in their weddings and funerals are numerous and curious, and no success has been had in suppressing them, notwithstanding all the efforts that have been made; for all they want from the Spaniards is their clothes, and all the evil that they see in them. I believe that these customs will never be suppressed. [230]

68. Another curious peculiarity is that although there are generally some few who are jealous, if they have any business with the Spaniards, they will not go themselves, but will send their wives or daughters without any fear of danger, in order that their business may be well despatched. [231]

69. They are very material and literal in their conversations, and one cannot say the slightest word to the women in jest, however slight it be; for the most discreet thing that they will answer to one will be, Tampalasanca, which means, "You are a [232] shameless fellow;" and, if not that, [233] a tempest of words, that will make him repent having given occasion for them. [234] This alone is their custom with the Spaniards. [235]

70. It is a thing to be wondered at that even the dogs have another disposition, and have a particular aversion toward Spaniards. When they see Spaniards, they choke themselves with barking. And when the children see a father they cry immediately, [236] and thus from their cradle they begin to hold every white face in horror. [237]

71. They are so cowardly that they fear any Indian who becomes a bully among them--so much that, if they only see him with a poor knife, they fear him so greatly that he can do whatever he wishes. All the village together will not be bold enough to arrest him, for they say that he is posong, which is the same as "bold." I have had many examples of this. [238]

72. The vice of drunkenness is regarded by them as rank in the fourth degree, [239] and they have made it a point of nobility; for the chiefest men think that they are the best workmen at this occupation. [240] It is a fact that those most given to this vice are the Ilocans, then the Visayans, and then our Tagálogs. [241] The Pampangos can be exempted from this rule, for they are very temperate in this wretched habit, as well as in all the other things which we have mentioned. They are very different: for they are truthful, and love their honor; are very brave, and inclined to work; and are more civil, and of better customs. In regard to the vices here mentioned (for they are, in the last analysis, Indians like the rest), they keep them more out of sight and covered. In all things the Pampangos have a nobleness of mind that makes them the Castilians of these same Indians. Consequently, that people must be distinguished from the rest in its character, in all that we have said.

73. Returning now to the others, in general, they possess vanity without honor; for among them it is no reason for less esteem to be drunkards, robbers, or connivers in evil deeds, or [to practice] other like virtues. [242] They lose reputation and honor only if they get the reputation of being sorcerers. Consequently, in the opinion of a very learned minister, there is no case of a restitution of honor, unless some accusation of this infamous sin is imputed to them. In their marriages and among their kindred their disgust is not moved except by this, for the others are excused by self interest, but this fault is not. [243]

74. All that I have said of the men is very different in the women, saltem quoad modum. [244] For they are of better morals, are docile and affable, and show great love to their husbands and to those who are not their husbands. They are really very modest in their actions and conversation, to such a degree that they have a very great horror of obscene words; and if weak nature craves acts, their natural modesty abhors words. [245] The notion that I have formed of them is that they are very honorable, and, most of all, the married women. Although beans are boiled, it is not by the kettleful, as in other regions. [246] Scarcely will one find a Tagálog or Pampango Indian woman, who will put her person to trade; and they are not so abandoned as we see in the women in other regions. They are very averse toward the Spaniard, and love the equality [in marriage] of their own nation; and, as a foreign religious said, are suited "each man to each woman." They rarely have any love for a Spaniard. They have another peculiarity, which if the Indian women of America had, that land would not be so full of mulattoes, who are a ferocious and wicked race. This is their horror for Cafres and negroes, which is so great that they would sooner suffer themselves to be killed than to receive them. The Visayan women, however, are ready for everything, and are not so fastidious. On the contrary, they are very ready to consent to any temptation. [247]

75. The women are very devout, and in every way of good habits. The cause for this is that they are kept so subject and so closely occupied; for they do not lift their hands from their work, since in many of the villages they support their husbands and sons, while the latter are busied in nothing else but in walking, [248] in gambling, and wearing fine clothes, while the greatest vanity of the women is in the adornment and demeanor of these gentlemen, for they themselves are very poorly and modestly [249] clad.

76. In all that I have said, to this point, concerning the nature and morals of these poor people, I have done no more than to approximate [to the truth], as the mathematicians have done in the squaring of the circle. For an essential, substantial, and exhaustive definition [250] is for some other person, to whom divine Providence chooses to communicate this difficult matter. [251] Very praiseworthy is Barclayo, for in his Eupormion and his Argenis, [252] he succeeded in discerning the natures of nations; as did Juan Rodemborgio, [253] and our Gracian in his Criticon. [254] But had they treated of the Filipinos, they would not have been so successful.

77. The bishop of La Puebla, Don Juan Palafox, [255] wrote a keen treatise on the virtues of the Indians of Nueva España, in which his uncommon intellect and his holy and good intention are displayed more clearly than is the truth of his argument on the subject; for in a curious way he endeavors to make virtues of all their vices and evil inclinations. For in what they merit before God through their wills, they do not merit if it be the impelling force of their natural inclination and manner of living, because absuetiis non fit passio. [256] One cannot, indeed, compare the voluntary poverty of St. Francis with that of the Indians, which is born of laziness and full of greed; for theirs is the infamous poverty which Virgil places in hell: et turpis egestas. [257] And just as the economy of a poor wretch is not reckoned as fasting, so it will not be proper to say that if St. Antony [258] went barefoot, the Indians do the same; and that they live on certain roots, as did the fathers of the Thebaid. [259] For the fasting and the austerities of St. Arsenius [260] had a different impelling motive--since he left the pleasures and esteem of the court of the emperor Theodosius [261]--than that which they can have, being so born and reared, and never having seen anything else. Hence, Ovid says of the Getas that they left the delights and comforts of Roma, and returned to seek the poverty and misery to which they were accustomed in Pontus:

Roma quid meltus scyt[h]ico [262] quid frigore peius?
Húc tamen ex illa Barbarus urbe fugit. [263]

78. It is not my intention to include the Sangley mestizos here, as they are a different race. For although they were the children of Indians at the beginning, they have been approaching more and more to the Chinese nation with the lapse of successive generations. Et compositum ex multis atrahit ad se nuturam simplicis dignioris. [264] Consequently, I leave their description for whomever wishes to undertake that task; for I fear that I shall succeed but very ill with the task which I have here undertaken, as it is so difficult.

79. Finally, summing up all the above, the inference will be that all the actions of these wretched beings are such as are dictated by nature through the animal, intent solely on its preservation and convenience, without any corrective being applied by reason, respect, and esteem for reputation. Consequently, he who first said of a certain people that if they saw the whole world hanging on one nail and needed that nail in order to hang up their hat, they would fling the world down in order to make room for the hat, would have said it of the Indians had he known them. For they think only of what is agreeable to them, or of what the appetite dictates to them; and this they will put in action, if fear, which also dwells in them, do not dissuade them. [265] Hence they will be seen dressed in the shirts and clothes of their masters, for the sole reason [266] that because they no sooner enter any house than they become the owners of everything in it. And the worst thing is that, although they are not good and faithful servants, intrant in gaudium domini sui. [267]

80. They also have other qualities worthy of envy, non quoad causam sed quoad efectum. [268] Such is their contentment with their lot, for they believe that there is no people in the whole world better than they, and that if they possess a bamboo hut, a little rice for a few days, a few small fish, and a couple of leaves of tobacco, they do not envy the tables of Xerxes or Eliogabalus, [269] and can sing with Lucan:

O tuta potestas Augusti parvique laris.
Prohl munera nondum intellecta Deum quibus hoc
Contingere templis, vel posuit muris nullo
Trepidare tumulto, Cæsarea pulsata manu. [270]

81. They are also worthy of envy for the calmness and conformity with which they die, with so wonderful peace, as if they were making a journey from one village to another--the Lord working in these creatures as the Lord that He is, [271] for in that transit His mercy shines forth more; and thus said David (Psalm, XLVII, 21) Domini, Domini, exitus mortis; [272] whence that reduplication which the Hebrew grammar calls ohatsere, [273] signifies the superlative in name and action. The same is the declaration of divine wisdom (Proverbs, XX): In viis justitiæ ambulo, in medio semitarum judicii, ut ditem diligentes me. [274] The Father celestial summons them for the relief of their burdens, and of the troubles which they have had during life: Venite qui laboratis, et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos (Matthew xi, 28). [275]

For it is a fact that if one consider the life and lot of most of them, they resemble that merchant in the gospel of Matthew (chapter 13), who gave all that he had for the precious pearl; for it costs them more than is apparent to become Christians, with so much cutting of timber, and many personal services; and thus God gives them the true rest of death, as to poor and needy ones. Parcet pauperi, et inopi, et animas pauperum salvas faciet (Psalm, xii, 13). [276] Exiguo enim conceditur missericordia (Wisdom, vi, 7). [277]

82. In all the aforesaid, I find no more than the claw by which this lion can be recognized, because of the difficulty of the matter; therefore I refer the matter to another who has greater talent and experience, who can tell more, since I cannot do everything. [278] I remember once to have heard from an inexperienced preacher this ingenious bit of nonsense, that in praising St. John the Baptist he cited that passage of St. Matthew (chapter xi, [7]), coepit Jesus dicere [ad turbas] de Joanne;

83. And he said that John was so great a saint, that even in the mouth of Christ our Lord it was [only] possible to begin speaking of him, but that no end could be reached. The same I shall say of this matter, in all candor.

84. There is no little to learn and study in the matter, concerning the manner in which one must behave with them--especially we ministers, who come from remote lands in order to assist and teach them; for because of not understanding this aright many have become disconsolate, and have conceived a horror of the Indians, and have returned to España, or they have lived amid great hardship, in a continual combat of impatience and anxiety, thus frustrating the good vocation which brought them to these islands, a vocation so acceptable to God our Lord. For, as says the angelic doctor St. Thomas, 22, book 188, article 4: Deo nullum sacrificium est magis acceptum, quam celus animarum. [279] To those who take this charge upon them, the words of the Lord in His revelations to St. Brigida are of great consolation. Among many others, he says (book 2, chapter 6): Vos ergo amici mei qui estis in mundo procedite securi, clamate, et anuntiate voluntatem meam. Ego ero in corde et in ore vestro. Ego ero dux vester in via et consolator in morte. Non relinquam vos, procedite alacriter quia ex labore cresit gloria. [280] For it is a fact that all this exhortation is necessary, in order to combat the friction that is caused to the European disposition by dealing with people of customs so different, and which has caused so many to lose their reason.

85. Therefore the compass to which the navigator must always be attentive, in the gulf of the customs of this exasperating race, is patience. For this is the only remedy which Christ our Lord left to His disciples for the attainment of this ministry: (Luke xxi, [19]) In patientia vestra possidebitis animas vestras; and St. Paul, in Hebrews x, 36: patientia est vobis necessaria, ut reportetis, repromissionis. [281]

86. With this knowledge and without losing [282] this strong protection one must continually consider that all these vices and evil traits are dictated and impelled by their nature, at times aided by the suggestion of the common enemy when he hopes to succeed in causing us impatience. Very worth considering in this are the words of St. Paul (2 Cor., xi, 19, 20): Libenter enim suffertis insipientes cum sitis ipsi sapientes. Sustinetis enim si quis vos in servitutem redigit, si quis devorat, si quis accipit, si quis extollitur, si quis infaciem vos cædit. [283] For all these hardships, and greater, must be suffered here among these brothers. [284]

87. I confess for my part that, at the beginning, I was afflicted and was greatly tormented, until with the lapse of time I came to realize that such was their disposition and nature, and that these trees could give no better fruit. In time it became to me a motive for praising God to see the variety of conditions and [285] customs which He has placed in human nature, which is so beautified with variety; and I took particular pleasure in seeing youths and boys doing all things backward--without any malice, and without having prompters, like actors; but moved only by that hidden peculiarity that makes them so different from all other nations, and so uniform among themselves, [a likeness] which is so great that any one who has seen one of these monopantos has seen them all. With these considerations I lived consoled, and succeeded in making of them wax and wick, as the saying is. [286]

88. First, one must not shout out at them, for that is a matter that frightens and terrifies them greatly, as can be seen if one cries out at them when they are unaware--when the whole body trembles; and they say that a single cry of the Spaniard penetrates quite to their souls.

89. One must not strike them with the hands, for if we are of flesh, they are of iron, and the hand will suffer greatly, for God does not choose that they be corrected so indecently. [287]

90. All of their faults must not be overlooked, for they will become insolent and worse daily. Consequently, it is necessary for the father ministers to give them some lashes as a father, with great moderation, for it is enough to give lashes for vanity and haughtiness. This must be observed especially in the lads, as is the order of the Holy Spirit (Proverbs, xxiii, 13, 14): Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam; si enim percussieris eum virga, non morietur. Tu virga percuties eum: et animam ejus de inferno liberabis. [288] The command of St. Gregory shall be observed carefully (2 p. pastoral, chapter 6): Curandum quippe est ut rectorem subditis, et matrem, et patrem se exhibeat disciplina. [289]

91. Nothing must be taken away from them, or received from them, without paying for it; for they are very poor, and the least thing produces a great want with them. It must be considered that their greatest misery arises from their laziness and rude condition, and that that habit keeps them in its grasp, and they suffer great poverty; for Egestatem operata est manus remissa (Proverbs, x, 4). We must consider also that they support us and that they pay as they are able for our labors. If anything be given to them, let it be purely [290] for God's sake and as an alms, for if it be lent it will be entirely lost, both the merit and the patience [291]--considering their necessity and not their ingratitude, as a thing ordained by God. Propter miseriam asume pauperem, et propter inopiam eius ne dimitas eum vacuum; et cætera (Ecclesiasticus, xxix, 12). [292]

92. It is better, in selecting servants among the Indians for the inside of the house, to see that they be the sons of caciques or chiefs. They must be shown neither love nor familiarity. They must indeed always be treated well, but with uprightness and seriousness of face. It must be considered that in proportion as they are better caressed and clothed, the worse and more insolent they will become. This is the teaching of the Holy Spirit in Proverbs xxiv, 21: Qui delicate a pueritia nutrit servum suum, postea sentiet eum contumacem. They must be taught their duties, and must always be ordered to perform them with prudence and circumspection, for otherwise they will come gradually to lose respect for their master, and for the character which God presents to them in the Spaniard in order to dominate them; and then will result the same thing that happened to the log which, Æsop says, was placed in the lake by Jupiter to be king of the frogs. But the frogs, seeing after a time that it did not move, made sport of it, and jumped on top of it, etc. Not many things should be ordered of them at one time; for their memories are very poor, and they will only keep the last one in mind. The keys of the pantry or to the money must not be entrusted to them, for that would be placing opportunity and temptation in their hands, and they never resist it. Good instruction and subjection in the house, and, above all, the good example of life which they see in their masters, instil much into them; and under such conditions they generally become good servants, especially those of the Pampango nation. On the other hand, also, one must not expect a good servant in the house of a bad master. [293]

93. One must not exhaust them or squeeze them much beyond what they can give of themselves, as we do with the lemon, for all that will be pressed out will be bitter, as says the proverb of the commentary; qui nimis emungit, solet extorquere cruorem. [294] Neither is it well or proper to go about visiting the caciques or going up into their houses, except when necessity requires it; for immediately the whole village will be filled with envy and complaint, and the esteem of the father ministers will suffer considerably. Besides, their stench and vice do not render this diversion desirable. [295]

94. When [296] they are sent with a message to any place, one must very patiently await some notable failure caused ordinarily by their natural sloth and laziness. [297] Sicut acetum dentibus, et fumus oculis, sic piger his qui miserunt illum (Proverbs, x, 26). [298]

95. I do not believe that I should omit mention, saltem per transenam, [299] of a matter very worthy of consideration--namely, that if God chooses to chastise the flourishing Christianity of these islands for our and their sins, by placing it in the hands of Indians ordained as priests (as appears about to threaten us very soon), if God do not apply a remedy, what abominations will not follow! For to declare that they will change their customs [300] and the aforesaid vices is impossible. On the contrary, their arrogance will grow worse with exaltation to so sublime an estate; their cupidity with power will be better fed; their laziness, with the lack of necessity; and their vanity, with the applause that they would wish to have, for they would desire to be served by those whom they would in another estate respect and obey; and the villages would suffer from the curse mentioned in Isaiah xxiv, 2, sicut populus, sic sacerdos. For the Indian who is ordained does not become a priest because it is the calling that conduces to the most perfect estate, [301] but because of the great and almost infinite advantage that comes to him with the new estate that he chooses. How much it differs from being a father cura, to be a baguntao or sexton! From paying tribute, to being paid a stipend! From going to the [compulsory] cutting of timber, to being served in it! From rowing in a banca, to be rowed in it! That does not count with a Spaniard, who, if he become a cleric, often gives up an office as alcalde-mayor, captain, or general, with many other comforts in his native place, while his house is exalted above all the nation of the Indians. Let one contrast this with the vanity with which one who has been freed from the oar, [302] or from an ax in the cutting of timber, will give his hand to be kissed! What a burden for the village will be the father, and mother, sister and nieces ranked as ladies, when many other better women are pounding rice! For if the Indian is insolent and intolerable with but little power, what will he be with so much superiority! And if the wedge from the same log [303] is so powerful, what will it be if driven by so great authority! What plague of locusts can be compared to the destruction that they would cause in the villages? [304] What respect will the Indians have for him, seeing that he is of their color and nation--and especially those who consider themselves as good, and even better perhaps, than he who became a cura, while they do not become anything better than bilango or servant? How severely the good cura will chastise them, and for trifling offenses! [305] as we see the Indians do when they act as gobernadorcillos of their villages for even a single year--when the first thing that they do, and in which they most delight, is immediately to place the picota [306] in front of their houses, in order to apply lashes with the hangman's strap [penca]. What tyranny will the cura practice on them, such as they are wont to practice if they have any power and authority! How well the wedge of the same wood will force its way, without there being any one to say to him, curita facis? [i.e., "Dost thou play the cura?"] [307]

96. Therefore, if any insurrection or mutiny should arise, how well could it be arranged and prepared, [308] if the cura entered also into the dance, as he is also an Indian and interested? For, in all the insurrections that have occurred in these islands, respect for the father ministers has been of great importance; but the very opposite would have happened if these were Indians. Then in the frequent carousals and feasts of which they are so fond, and on which their vanity and their chieftainship are founded, without any doubt there would be great indecency; for the cura would be very tender of conscience who would not pledge them in their cups. In that and other temptations would happen what Lucian relates in the second of his dialogues.

97. A noble youth had a very beautiful and gentle female kitten, which he esteemed so highly that he begged the goddess Venus to change it into a beautiful maiden, in order that he might marry her. The goddess did so. Thereupon, the youth [309] immediately arranged the wedding, to which he invited the best people of the city. While, then, the bride was richly adorned with jewels and surrounded by many other women, [310] and the guests, a mouse happened to appear, and began to approach them in order to eat some crumbs of bread which were scattered about. The bride saw it, and, without power to control herself, ran after the mouse throughout the length of the hall, and the guests were unable to restrain her. The groom was ashamed, and said, [311] "Gentlemen, your pardon; for this girl was formerly a cat, and will always have the habits and bad traits of that animal."

98. I believe that the same thing would happen with the Indians, [312] even when they belong to the caciques or nobility; for it is incredible that they can strip themselves of the peculiarities of their nature. I at least do not believe it at present, although God our Lord can very easily do it, for He is the One who raises up sons of Abraham from the stones. But we must not ask for miracles needlessly, but allow the Indian to remain an Indian, and go to his labor as before. If it is desired to prepare them for the high ministry of the priesthood, it is advisable to test them in the offices of alcaldes-mayor, captains, regidors, and councilors; for it appears to me that there is no one who can say that these said offices are greater and of higher rank and dignity than the priesthood, at least where the Inquisition exists. Then, if they conduct themselves well in the said employments, they can be given the management of the body and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord; and then one can say with reason: Quia in pauca fuisti fidelis supra multa te constituam. [313] For, as the Church teaches us through the mouths of the holy fathers, the dignity of the priesthood is so great that that of the kings or emperors of the world cannot compare with it. Thus says St. Ignatius the Martyr in his epistle to Smyrna, chapter x, Sacerdotium est apex bonorum omnium, quæ sunt in hominibus. [314] St. Ambrose, in chapter 2 of his book De dignitate sacerdotum [315] says so still more clearly. [316] Father Molina [317] has considerable to say on this in the first treatise of his Libro de sacerdotes [i.e., "Book of priests"] as has Father Señeri [318] in his Cura instruido [i.e., "the cura instructed"].

99. Then is it possible that, even though they are Catholics and faithful sons of the Church, we must exalt to so lofty an estate men against whom there would be so many complaints if they became alférezes of a company in the regiment of Manila? Can the sacred habit of St. Peter, which we religious venerate as that of the greatest dignity, and to which we yield the most honorable place--which, as said the patriarch of Antiochia [319] to the emperor of China, is the first rank and order of the Church--be obliged not to experience disgust at such low creatures? I do not know in what it [i.e., the proposal to ordain Indians] can consist, unless it be that in it is realized the vision that the said St. Peter had in Cesarea when the sheet was let down from heaven filled with toads and serpents, and a voice commanded him to eat without disgust--as is read in chapter x of the Acts of the Apostles. For although it signified the calling of heathendom, it must not be understood in moral things of the barbarous and mean nature of some peoples that compose that heathendom, in order to constitute the ecclesiastic hierarchy. [320] When I come to discuss this matter, I find no end, and I find that we can only say: Domine adauge [nobis] fidem (Luke [x]vii, [5]). [321]

100. It is also a fact that the sacred canons do not demand from those who are ordained more than an honorable life and example, and a sufficient knowledge. Then, in order to dispense the spurious and legitimate [322] and the mestizos, there is a brief of Gregory XIII which begins "Nuper ad nos relatum est," [323] issued at Roma, January 25, one thousand five hundred and seventy-five. For all that, I regard them [i.e., Indians as priests] as irregular, not only for the reasons given and stated above, but also because they lack the ecclesiastical and priestly mental ability, and the prudence necessary; and without these all the rest serves as almost nothing, as Pedro Urceolo sang with graceful elegance in his "Epigrams:"

Sis licet ingenuus clarisque parentibus ortus;
Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes.
Adde docus patriæ et claros tibi sume propinquos;
Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes.
Sint tibi divitæ [324] sit larga et munda supellex;
Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes.
Denique, quidquid eris, nisi sit prudentia tecum;
Magna quidem dico, bestia semper eris. [325]

101. May God our Lord preserve your Grace for the many years of my desire. Manila, June 8, one thousand seven hundred and twenty. [326] Your humble servant, who kisses your hand,

Fray Gaspar de San Agustin

[On a loose paper inserted in the copy of this letter owned by the Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar (which as stated above, is unsigned), which was formerly owned by the well known Spanish scholar Pascual de Gayangos, is the following: "According to paragraphs [of this letter] which Paterno inserted in his work La antigua civilizacion de Filipinos (Madrid, 1887), p. 241, this letter must have been written by father Fray Gaspar de San Agustín; and according to Sinibaldo Mas, who inserts entire passages from this MS. in his Informe sobre el estado de Filipinas en 1842, i, pp. 63-132, and attributes it to Father Gaspar." Paterno has not had access to the document itself, but has used Mas.]

[Subjoined to the letter is the following, the origin of which we cannot account for, but which indicates the wide circulation that the letter must have had.]

Questions of Father Pedro Murillo [Velarde] [327] of the Society of Jesus

102. What is the Indian? Reply--The lowest degree of rational animal. Question--How many and what are his peculiarities? Reply--Twenty-one, as follows:

Pride Without honor.
Friend Without loyalty.
A drunkard Without satiety.
Compassionate Without mercy.
Reserved Without secrecy.
Long-suffering Without patience.
Cowardly Without fear.
Bold Without resolution.
Obedient Without submissiveness.
One who practices
austerities Without suffering.
Bashful Without sense of honor.
Virtuous Without mortification.
Clever Without capacity.
Civilized Without politeness.
Astute Without sagacity.
Merciful Without pity.
Modest Without shame.
Revengeful Without valor.
Poor Without corresponding
[mode of life].
Rich Without economy.
Lazy Without negligence.
Laus Deo.

Résumé of the entire letter by the said Father Murillo

103. The Filipino Indian is the embryo of nature and the offspring of grossness. He does not feel an insult or show gratitude for a kindness. His continual habitation is the kitchen; and the smoke that harms all of us serves him as the most refreshing breeze. If the Indian has morisqueta and salt, he gives himself no concern, though it rain thunder and lightning, and the sky fall. He is much given to lying, theft, and laziness. In the confessional he is a maze [embolismo] of contradictions, now denying proofs and now affirming impossible things. Now he plays the part of a devout pilgrim over rough roads and through the deepest rivers, in order to hear mass on a workday at a shrine ten or twelve leguas away; while it is necessary to use violence to get him to hear mass on Sunday in his parish church. They are impious in their necessities with the father, but liberal and charitable to their guests, even when they do not know them; and through that they are greatly disappointed. At the same time they are humble and proud; bold and atrocious, but cowardly and pusillanimous; compassionate and cruel; slothful and lazy, and diligent; careful and negligent in their own affairs; very dull and foolish for good things, but very clever and intelligent in rogueries. He who has most to do with them knows them least. Their greatest diversion is cock-fighting, and they love their cocks more than their wives and children. They are more ready to believe any of their old people than even an apostolic preacher. They resemble mellizas, [328] in their vices and opposite virtues. In lying alone, is no contradiction found in them; for one does not know when they are not lying, whether they are telling the truth by mistake. One Indian does not resemble another Indian, or even himself. If they are given one thing, they immediately ask for another. [329] They never fail to deceive, unless it crosses their own interest. In their suits, they are like flies on the food, who never quit it, however much they be brushed away. Finally, there is no fixed rule by which to construe them; a new syntax is necessary for each one; and, as they are all anomalous, the most intelligent man would be distracted [330] if he tried to define them. Farewell.

[Delgado has the following interesting chapter (pp. 297-302 of his Historia) on this letter, which it is judged advisable to present at this place.]