chapter 19

), they say in the lengua franca "God is great! Be not led by fancy! The world is just so. If it is written on the forehead that one is to live, then he will live; but if not, then he will die here." [158] For their Koran says that each one has his fortune written in the lines of his forehead. These Indians believe the same thing (and they have never seen the Koran), and only because it is great nonsense. They receive no warning from the many misfortunes that happen every day for their sins. [159]

36. While it is a fact that they are extremely credulous among themselves, they will believe of the Spaniards only what is against them. Therefore, it is evident that the [Christian] faith is a supernatural act, in that they believe the divine mysteries taught by the Spaniards. However, they do not believe some things, or refuse to believe them because they find the contrary profitable. Consequently, there is no one who can persuade them that it is a sin to steal from the religious ministers or the Spaniards. Of this we have such proofs that we have not the slightest doubt that it is so; but, only perceiving it is not being able to remedy it. [160]

So great is the ease and tenacity with which they believe the greatest nonsense, if this is to the discredit of the Spaniards or against them, that it would be a long undertaking to recount some of it. I have deemed it advisable to mention only two [instances] of it of which I heard [161] and of which I was a witness, so that the rest can be inferred from them.

37. While I was in Bisayas in the year 1672, those islands began to be depopulated and the Indians began to take to the mountains from the visitas of Xaro, because a rogue told them a bit of nonsense like the following. He told them that the king of España had gone out fishing, and the Turks had come upon him and made him captive; and that the king had given for his ransom all the Indians of the province of Oton. They believed this so thoroughly that it was with great difficulty that the alcalde Don Sebastian de Villarreal and the father ministers could quiet them, and considerable time passed before they were sure of the whole matter. [162]

The second: While I was in the village of Lipa, a mine was discovered in that of Tanavan which was said to be of silver. Governor Don Fausto Cruzat y Gongorà sent ministers and officials in order to find out about it and to assay it. These men made their efforts, but the mine only said, Argentum et aurum non est mihi. [163] But the devil willed to have some rogue at this time to sow this deceit, namely, that the ministers [164] said that the mine would yield no silver until all the old women of Cometan had been caught, and their eyes plucked out and mixed with other ingredients, in order to anoint the vein of the mine with that mixture. This was believed, so that all was confusion and lamentation, and the old women hid in the fields; and it took a long time to quiet them, and cost the ministers great difficulty, as the Indians would not believe them because they were Castilians, until time itself undeceived them. [165]

38. May God deliver us from any one of those Indians whom they consider as sages, who says any bit of nonsense, even though it be against the faith, [166] and they only respond, Vica nong maronong, "Thus say the sages," and it is labor lost to persuade them to the contrary; for the authority that these scholars have over them is incredible.

39. They are extremely arrogant, and hence the son will not obey his father, or the headman, or captain of the village. [167] They are only bound in this by fear, and when they have no fear they will not obey. They only recognize the Spaniard to be more than they; [168] and this they say only because of an interior impulse, which forces them against their will and without their knowing why. This is the providence of God, so that they can be governed.

40. They are very fond if imitating the Spaniard [169] in all his bad traits, such as variety of clothes, cursing, gambling, and the rest that they see the coxcombs [170] do. They shun the imitation of the good things in the dealings and civilization of the Spaniards, and in the proper rearing of their children. For in all the rest that treats of trickery, drunken revelries, and ceremonies in their marriages, burials, and tyrannies one against another, they observe exactly what they learned from their ancestors. Thus they unite in one the vices of the Indians and the Spaniards. [171]

41. Just as the poor are arrogant, so also are the old ones ignorant, and they are not to be distinguished from the youths. Consequently, in their weddings, banquets, and revelries one will see old men with white hair, mixed with the lads; and slouchy old women with their scapularies, clapping their hands and singing nonsensical things with the lasses. Scarcely is there an Indian who knows his age, and many [172] do not know the baptismal names of their wives, after they have been baptized for fifty years. [173]

42. They are so ignorant that they do not have the slightest knowledge concerning the origin of the ancestors from whom they descend, and whence they came to settle these islands. They do not give any information concerning their paganism, which is not the worst; and they only preserve in certain parts some ridiculous abuses, which they observe at births and sicknesses, and the cursed belief that persuades them that the souls of their ancestors or the grandfathers of the families are present in the trees and at the bottom of bamboos, and that they have the power of giving and taking away health and of giving success or failure to the crops. Therefore, they make their ancestors offerings of food, according to their custom; and what has been preached to them and printed in books avails but little, for the word of any old man regarded as a sage has more weight with them than the word of the whole world. [174]

43. They act tyrannically one toward another. Consequently, the Indian who has some power from the Spaniard is insolent [175] and intolerable among them--so much so that, in the midst of their ingratitude, some of them recognize it, although very few of them. Yet it is a fact that, if the Spaniards had not come to these islands, the Indians would have been destroyed; for, like fish, [176] the greater would have swallowed the lesser, in accordance with the tyranny which they exercised in their paganism. [177]

44. They are wanting in understanding and reflection, so that they do not recognize any means in anything, but go to extremes. Consequently, if one ask them for warm water, they bring it boiling, and then if they are reproached and told that one wishes it more temperate, they go and bring it back as cold as ice. [178] In this vicious circle of extremes, they will continue ceaselessly without finding a mean. Consider then, how they will act in prudential matters, where one must seek the mean and not the extremes, as says the poet: [179]

Es[t] modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines. Quos ultra, citraque nequit consistere rectum. [180]

This is the cause of great anxiety to us, and with them a cause of great happiness to see us grow impatient, even though it cost them some blows, which they take very willingly because they make us impatient. They celebrate this in a lively manner in the kitchen. There is nothing that the Indian regrets more than to see the Spaniard or the father calm, and that he patiently and with forbearance restrains his hand from them when it is necessary; for but rarely do they do anything willingly, and hence the most prudent among them are wont to say that "the rattan grows where the Indian is born." [181] Virga in dorso ejus, qui indiget corde (Proverbs x, 13).

They resemble in this a mischievous lad who served a good cleric. One day his master sent him to buy a hen, and he stole and hid a leg. [182] His master was silent, and overlooked the incident. It came to pass that the master and the lad walked into a field, where they came upon some cranes, all of them with one foot lifted high in the air. Thereupon the lad said to his master, "Sir, the hen was like these birds which have but one foot." The cleric answered, "No, my lad, for these birds have two feet; and if you do not believe it, look." So saying, he threw a stick at the cranes, which flew away in fright, showing the other foot. At this the lad said, "O, sir, had you done the same with me, the hen would also have had two feet." Doubtless, this lad must have been of the same disposition as these good brothers, who do nothing good without a beating. Tu virga percuties eum (Proverbs XXIII, 14). [183]

It happened that an Augustinian religious--who still lives and is very well known for his great learning--arrived in these islands in the year 1684, and was given, shortly after his arrival, a lad of eight or nine years for his service. The lad was so clever and lively, that he was held in esteem, [184] and the said religious was very fond of him because of his great activity. The lad considered that the father was very patient with him, and chid his neglect very mildly. One day he said to the father "Father, you know that you are new. Consider the Indians like myself. You must not overlook anything. If you wish to be well served, you must keep a rattan, and when I commit any fault, you must strike me with it; and then you will see that I shall move as quickly as a sparrowhawk. For you must know, Father, that the rattan grows where the Indian is born. So have I heard said by the old Indians." [185] Trouble enough do the poor wretches have, for one may say of them: Oderunt peccare mali formidinæ penæ. [186]

45. One can give them nothing, even if it be given, [187] for if he happen to give one anything in the presence of others, even if it be a needle, [188] all will demand that in justice the same be given to them. In this they closely resemble the laborers of the twentieth chapter of St. Matthew, who construed as an injury the favor that the householder showed to their companions. This is covetousness and lack of consideration. So far is this foolishness carried that the Indian will take fifty lashes willingly, if he knows with certainty that all the others are to get as much. Surely they cause great trouble with this wretched habit, and those who might confer some benefit on them often avoid doing so.

46. They are so distrustful that they think that the ground on which they walk and the air which they breathe are about to fail. This does not make them more provident and industrious, but more foolish and dull. Therefore, if there are many to confess they troop together all in a body, each one desirous of being first. This causes extraordinary trouble and impatience to the confessor. But, if there are but few, they come a legua apart; and one must summon them, and they take an hour to come. If the father rises in anger, or because it is late, then they all come together in a crowd, and say "Father, me only." This is a bit of foolishness in which one can trace the great deficiency of their understanding. [189]

47. As they are so curious, and fond of knowing whatever does not concern them, what occurs when many of them confess together is wondrous to see. For all of them keep a steadfast gaze on the one who is confessing. One is astonished and amused to see all the women with their faces turned backward [190] so that they seem to be biformed Januses, or paid dancers with a mask at the back of the head. In this manner, they remain until the end of the function. The same is true on Ash Wednesday or at the adorations of the cross on Holy Friday, when all of them wish to kiss at one time, or in other similar functions.

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 (