chapter I

, whose words, although they are very well worth reading, I omit on account of their length. It is not proper to go up into their houses, except when necessity requires it, keeping therein the evangelical precept (Luke x, 7 [wrongly cited as xx]): Nolite transire de domo in domum. For one will lose much in estimation, while their vices [in D.--"coldness"] do not make this a desirable diversion."

[296] M. and D. add: "anything is entrusted to them." The remainder of San Agustin's letter is omitted in D.

[297] M. and D. add here: "for thus does the Holy Spirit advise us."

"One day a friend of mine ordered a servant in my presence to go to a certain house to ask in his name for the last gazettes from Europa. I advised my friend to give the servant a note, since the latter would doubtless give expression to some bit of nonsense. He took no notice of me, and sent the servant. In fact, the man understood "aceite" [i.e., "olive oil"], for "gaceta" [i.e., "gazette"], and returned with a bottle of olive oil. His master was very much put out, while I burst into a roar of laughter. A peculiar thing is often observed in servants, namely, when one of them is ordered, 'Go to the house of Don Antonio,' before the message is finished the servant begins to go; and one has to call him back and say to him, 'But, man alive, where are you going?' and, if he is allowed to go, he reaches his destination and says that he has been sent there, and then returns whence he came, or utters some foolish remark." (Mas, p. 133.)

[298] In the Vulgate, the last word of the Latin in this citation is eum.

[299] i.e., "at least in passing." This is not in M.

[300] M. reads "denude themselves of their customs."

[301] M. reads: "For the Indian who is ordained does not give himself a trade because of the more perfect estate."

[302] M. has instead of "from the oar," "from handling a bolo."

[303] Spanish, la cuña del mismo palo; another application of an old Spanish proverb.

[304] M. adds "and those farthest from Manila, where also the remedy is very far away."

[305] Spanish, sobre quítame allá esas pajas--literally, "regarding 'carry away these straws from me,'" defined by the Academy's dictionary as, "about a thing of little importance or value."

[306] Picota: "a column [the insignia of jurisdiction] or gibbet of stone, which is usually placed at the entrances of towns or villages; on which are ignominiously exposed the heads of persons executed or of criminals" (Bárcia, Dicc. etimológico).

[307] M. adds "to the father cura." The reason for this letter may be found possibly in this paragraph, in the hostility of the religious orders to admitting the Filipinos to the priesthood.

[308] M. reads "How well it could be subdued and composed."

[309] M. adds "in his happiness."

[310] M. reads: "And while they were all gallantly seated in the hall, and she was, very finely adorned with jewels, in the room, surrounded by many ladies."

[311] M. reads: "The bride spied the mouse from a long distance, and, not being able to restrain herself out of respect for that function, she arose and began to run the length of the hall. She overthrew the people, and they were unable to restrain the fair bride, and cause her to desist from her undertaking. The angry groom said to them."

[312] The rest of this sentence reads in M., "even though they should become bishops."

[313] Matthew xxv, 21.

[314] i.e., "The priesthood is the apex of all good things which exist among men."

St. Ignatius the Martyr was born about the middle of the first century of the Christian era, and is said to have been baptized by the apostle John. He was bishop of Antioch for forty years. Arrested by the Roman authorities because of his preaching, he was sent to Rome, where he was killed by wild beasts in the arena, probably about 107 A. D. He met the famous Polycarp while on his way to Rome. Many epistles exist which are said to have been written by him, although some of them are probably spurious. His day is celebrated on February 1. See S. Baring-Gould (ut supra), ii, pp. 1-5, and New International Encyclopædia.

[315] i.e., "Concerning the dignity of the priesthood." M. adds: "Nihil est in hoc secula excelentius sacerdotibus [i.e., 'There is nothing more excellent in this world than the priesthood']; and above, horur igitur, et sublimitas sacerdotalis nullis poterit compurationibus adequari si regum fulgori compares, et principum Diademati longe erit inferius, quam si plumbi metallum aduri fugorem compares. [i.e., "Therefore the priestly reverence and height can be equaled by no comparisons. If it be compared to the splendor of kings and the diadem of princes, the comparison is far more inferior than if the metal lead were compared to gleaming gold."] And of this Father Don Antonio Molina speaks at length in his admirable book."

[316] St. Ambrose was one of the four doctors of the western church. He was born at Trèves about 340 A. D., and received a good education in Rome, and entered into the Roman civil service. Elected to the office of bishop of Milan, in what was regarded as a miraculous manner, he soon became one of the great strongholds of the young religion of Christianity. To him was due the honor of receiving the great Augustine into the Church. His death occurred in 397 A. D. His day is celebrated on December 7; and in Milan he is regarded as a patron saint. The Ambrosian Library of that city is named for him. See S. Baring-Gould (ut supra), xv, pp. 74-104; and New International Encyclopædia.

[317] Antonio de Molina was a Spanish theologian, who was born at Villa-Nueva-de-los-Infantes (Castilla). Entering the Augustinian order, he taught theology, until he later retired to the house at Miradores, where he died September 12, 1612. He wrote a book called Instruccion de Sacerdotes, which was published in various places in Spain, and later translated into various languages, among them the Latin. See Hoefer's Nouvelle biographie générale, xxxv, col. 892.

[318] Paulo Segneri, S.J. was one of the most illustrious men that the Jesuit order has produced. He was a native of Nettuno, Italy, being born March 22, 1624, and entered the Society December 2, 1637. He early became deaf through his excessive study. After teaching the humanities and rhetoric, he became a preacher and missionary, traversing Italy on his missionary journeys during the years 1665-1692. In 1692 he was called to Rome by Innocent XII, to take the place of his preacher-in-ordinary. His death occurred at Rome, December 9, 1694. His influence on Italy is ranked by some only second to that of Savonarola. His style in writing is regarded as of chief rank in purity and accuracy for his century. His writings were numerous, and have been translated into many languages, some of them into Greek and Arabian. The book mentioned in the text is Il parroco instruito: opera in cui si dimostra a qualsisia curato novello il debito che lo strigne, e la via da tenerse nell' adempirlo (Firenze, 1692). See Sommervogel's Bibliothèque; and Hoefer (ut supra), xliii, cols. 685, 686.

[319] The dignity of patriarch in the Catholic church (leaving aside the papal rank) is the highest grade in the hierarchy of jurisdiction. Antioch early occupied a high place among the patriarchates, although with the lapse of time it lost its high position; and finally, after the schism between the eastern and western churches, the appointee to that dignity did not actually assume the office. See Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, pp. 35, 36, and 640. The patriarch mentioned in the text was the famous Cardinal Charles Thomas Millard de Tournon. See Vol. XXVIII, p. 118, and note 56; Concepción, ix, pp. 1-123; and Crétineau-Joly, v, pp. 38-54.

[320] These last two sentences are missing in M.

[321] At this point the letter proper in M. ends with the words: "May God preserve you for many years," and no signature follows. This is followed by the questions for men and women of Murillo Velarde.

[322] In the text, legitimos; probably a transcriber's error for ilegitimos ("of illegitimate birth").

Other papal letters give leave to dispense with the above classes, who could not, otherwise, be promoted to holy orders. Both classes could, also, be raised to church dignities, but only to minor dignities, and not to high ones as bishoprics, etc. The distinction between espurios and [i]legitimos seems merely to have been a legal one, as both terms mean the same in effect.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.

[323] i.e., "It was lately related to us."

[324] In the copy of this letter conserved in the collection of Fray Eduardo Navarro of the Colegio de Filipinas, Valladolid, Spain (of which we have the transcription of a few pages at the end), this word reads divina.

[325] Antonio (not Pedro) Urceo, who was also called Codrus, was an erudite Italian, who was born August 14, 1446 at Rubiera, and died at Bologna in 1500. He was a good educator of youth, but of choleric temper. While acting as tutor in one of the noble Italian families, a fire destroyed most of his papers, which so worked upon him that he retired into almost complete seclusion for six months. In 1482 he went to Bologna, where he taught grammar and eloquence. Although during his life he gave doubts of his orthodoxy, his death was all that could have been wished. His works were published in four editions, the first being at Bologna in 1502, under the title In hoc Codri Volumine hæc continentur Orationes, seu sermones ut ipse appelabat Epistolae. Silvae. Satyrae. Eglogae. Epigrammata. The translation of the above citation is as follows:

"Although thou be freeborn and sprung from noble parents; Still even yet thou mayst be a base beast. Add that thou art an honor to thy country, and claim the noblest kin; Still even yet thou mayst be a base beast. Thou mayst have wealth, thou mayst have abundance of elegant furniture; Still even yet thou mayst be a base beast. In short, whatever thou shalt be, unless thou have prudence, I declare that thou wilt ever be a base beast."

Of the native priests of the Philippines, Delgado says (pp. 293-296): "I know some seculars in the islands, who although Indians, can serve as an example and confusion to the European priests. I shall only bring forward two examples: one, the bachelor Don Eugenio de Santa Cruz, judge-provisor of this bishopric of Santísimo Nombre de Jesús, and calificador of the Holy Office, a full blooded Indian and a native of Pampanga. And inasmuch as the author of this letter confesses that the Pampangos are a different people, I shall name another, namely, the bachelor Don Bartolomé Saguinsin, a Tagálog, a cura of the district of Quiape (outside the walls of Manila), an Indian, and a native of the village of Antipolo. I knew his parents, and had friendly relations with them while I was minister in that village. Both men were esteemed for their abilities and venerated for their virtues, in Tagalos and Visayas." In addition, "those reared in any of the four colleges in Manila, for the clerical estate are all the sons of chiefs, people of distinction among the Indians themselves, and not of the timaua, or of the class of olipon, as the Visayan says, or maharlica or alipin, as the Tagálog calls the slaves and freedmen. The reverend fathers of St. Dominic or of the Society rear these boys and instruct them in virtue and learning; and if they have any of the vices of Indians, these are corrected and suppressed by the teaching and conversation of the fathers. Furthermore, when the most illustrious bishops promote any of these men to holy orders, they do not proceed blindly, ordering any one whomever to be advanced--but only with great consideration and prudence, and after informing themselves of his birth and his morals, and examining and testing him first before the ministry of souls is entrusted to him; and to say the contrary is to censure the most illustrious prelates, to whom we owe so much veneration and reverence. Furthermore, there are among these Indians, many (and perhaps most of them) who are as noble, in their line of descent as Indians, as is any Spaniard; and some of them much more than many Spaniards who esteem themselves as nobles in this land. For, although their fate keeps them, in the present order of things, in an almost abject condition, many of them are seigniors of vassals. Their seigniory has not been suppressed by the king, nor can it be suppressed. Such we call cabezas de barangay in Tagálog, and Ginhaopan in Visayan. They and their children and relatives lose nothing of their nobility because they serve the king in cutting timber, in the fleets, or in other personal services which are necessary in this land. As they lose nothing, it is also much honor for them that the king be served by them. Accordingly, there are sargentos-mayor, masters-of-camp, captains, governors of the villages, and lieutenants, and all are Indians of distinction. These would not go to row in a banca, and their hands would certainly be freed from handling a bolo or an ax in the cutting of timber, and their mothers, wives, and daughters would not have become spinners, if it were not for España. And although all the Indians seem of one color to the father, this color is well distinguished among them; and they are very respectful to their chiefs and much more so to their priests, even though these be Indians like themselves." Delgado continues by saying that, although some of the native priests have turned out badly, that is not sufficient to condemn them all. It is arbitrary to declare that the Indian enters the priesthood solely for his own comfort, and because of the respect shown him, and not because of the spiritual blessings. Many Spaniards also enter the ecclesiastical estate merely for a living. There are examples of Negro, Japanese, and Chinese priests. "Consequently, it is not to be wondered at that the most illustrious prelates and bishops should ordain Indians here and in Nueva España, and in other parts of the Indias."

[326] The date of the Navarro copy is wrongly given as 1725.

[327] Pedro Murillo Velarde was born August 6, 1696, at Villa Laujar, Granada, and entered the Jesuit novitiate at the age of 22. Having entered the Philippine missions, he was long a professor in the university of Manila; and later was rector at Antipolo, visitor to the Mindanao missions, and procurator at Rome and Madrid. He died at the hospital of Puerto Santa Maria, November 30, 1753. Murillo Velarde is one of the more noted among Jesuit writers. His principal works are the following: Cursus juris canonici, hispani et indici (Madrid, 1743); Historia de la provincia de Philipinas de la Compañia de Jesus (Manila, 1749); and Geographica historica (Madrid, 1752), in ten volumes. In the Historia (which work we have used freely in the present series, as material for annotation) was published his noted map of the Philippine Islands, the first detailed map of the archipelago; it was made by order of the governor of the island, Valdes Tamón, in 1734.

[328] A kind of sausage composed of lean pork, almonds, pineapple kernels, and honey.

[329] This sentence is missing in Father Navarro's copy.

[330] Literally "lose a foothold."

[331] Delgado here refers to the "Opinion" by Murillo Velarde which is prefixed to vol. i of San Antonio's Chronicas; this is dated at San Miguel, May 19, 1738, and contains a detailed description of the products of the islands--vegetable, animal, and mineral--from which we extract his description of the peoples therein, as follows:

"The natives of these islands are generally called Indians, because these islands are included in the demarcation of the Western Indias--although properly they are in the Eastern hemisphere, because, as they are distant from España more than a hundred and eighty degrees of longitude, which makes the half-circuit [of the globe], it necessarily follows that they must be on the side of the East. All the Indians resemble one another, especially in the yellowish-brown color and the flattened nose; and there is little difference between the individuals. In the island of Negros, between Cavitan and Sipalay, I encountered heathen blacks with crinkled hair, as if they were from Guinea. The people who are here called creoles are of a swarthy brown color, with withered skin, and are quite civilized and capable. As for the origin of the Indians, I am inclined to think that they originate from Malayos, on account of the similarity of their language; for by examining on various occasions a Malay (a native of Maláca) who could speak several languages fluently, and a Ternatan, and Lutaos and Subanos, I have ascertained the following: In the Malay, "sky" is called languit, and the same in Tagálog, in Lutáo, and Subáno; "man" [varon] is lalaqui in Malay, as in the Tagálog and Bisayan; "tongue" is dila in Malay, as in Tagálog; "white" is puti in Malay, as in Tagálog, Subáno, and Lutáo. In other words the difference is but slight; thus, in Malay "land" is nigri, in Tagálog lupa, in Lutáo tana, in Boholan yuta; and "man" [hombre] is in Malay oran, in Tagálog tavo, in Lutáo aa, in Subáno gatao. The Indians are exceedingly clever in every kind of handiwork, not for inventing, but for imitating what they see. They write beautifully; many of them are tailors and barbers, for they learn both these trades with little effort; and there are among them excellent embroiderers, painters, and silversmiths; and engravers whose work has no equal in all the Indias--and I was even going to place it far ahead of all the rest, if shame had not restrained me--as is very obvious in the many and excellent engravings which they are all the time producing. They are good carvers, gilders, and carpenters. They build vessels for these islands--galleys, galliots, pataches, and ships for the Acapulco trade-route. They are good seamen, artillerists, and divers--for there is hardly an Indian who does not know how to swim very well. They are the pilots of these seas. They excel in making bejuquillos, which are golden chains of delicate and exquisite workmanship. From palm-leaves, rattan, and nito they make hats, and petates or rugs, and mats, that are very handsome, and wrought with various kinds of flowers and other figures. They are noted as mechanics and puppet-players, and make complicated mechanisms which, by means of figures, go through various motions with propriety and accuracy. Some are watchmakers. They make gunpowder, and cast mortars, cannon, and bells. I have seen them make guns, as handsomely constructed as those made in Europe, although I do not think that they would be as substantial and reliable as those. There are in Manila three printing-houses, and all keep Indian workmen; and the errors that they make are not numerous. They have remarkable skill in music; and there is no village, however small, that has not a very respectable musician to officiate in the church. Among them are excellent voices--trebles, contraltos, tenors, and basses; almost all can play on the harp, and there are many violinists, and players on the oboe and flute. It is especially noticeable that not only those whose trade it is to make these instruments do so, but various Indians, through love [for such work], make guitars, harps, flutes, and violins, with their bolos or machetes; and they learn to play these instruments by only seeing them played, and without any special instruction. Almost the same thing occurs in other matters; and on this account it is said that the Indians have their understanding in their eyes, since they so closely imitate what they see. Such are the Indians, when observed on the outside surface of their aspect; but when one penetrates into the interior of their dispositions, peculiarities, and customs, they are a labyrinth, in which the most sagacious man loses his way. They appear ingenious and simple in countenance and words, but they are masters eminent in deceit and feigning; under an apparent simplicity they conceal an artful and crafty dissimulation. I believe that the Indian never fails to deceive, unless when his own interests are hindered. In their lawsuits and business dealings they are like flies, which never quit what they are seeking, no matter how much they are brushed away; and thus they surpass and conquer us. The Chinese say that the Spaniard is fire, and the Indian is water, and that water quenches fire. They neither resent an injury nor thank one for a kindness. If you give them anything, they immediately ask for another. There is no fixed rule for construing them; for each one is needed a new syntax, because they are anomalous. With them the argument is not concluded by induction, since no Indian resembles another, nor even is one like himself; for in the short round of one day he changes his colors oftener than a chameleon, takes more shapes than a Proteus, and has more movements than a Euripus. He who deals with them most knows them least. They are, in fine, a union of contrarieties, which the greatest logician could not reconcile; they are an obscure and confused Chaos, in which species cannot be perceived or formal qualities distinguished; and if I had to define them I would say:

"Obstabatque alijs aliud, quia corpore in vno Frigida pugnabant calidis, humentia siccis, Mollia cum duris, sine pondere habentia pondus."

[332] Alluding to the irregular tides in the straits of Euripus, between Euboea and Greece; during a large part of the month these tides occur as often as eleven to fourteen times during the twenty-four hours. Their irregularity occasioned among the Greeks a proverb, which Delgado here uses.

[333] A name given by the inhabitants of Cuba to the natives of Mexico, and in Vera Cruz to those of the interior. The name is also applied to shrewd and brusque persons. (New Velázquez Dictionary.)

[334] These two rules are respectively: "Evil once, evil is always presupposed;" and "Evil [may spring] from any failing."

[335] These chains were also of Chinese manufacture; apparently the Filipinos took up this industry through their tendency to imitate.

[336] The Lygodium scandens, also called Gnito and nitongputi, a climbing fern found throughout the Philippines. Blanco gives the name of the genus as Ugena. The glossy, wiry stems are used in the making of fine hats, mats, cigarette and cigar cases, etc. See Census of Philippines, iv, p. 166.

[337] The balate is an echinoderm found abundantly in the Visayas, of which Delgado describes three varieties (p. 935): namely the Holothuria scabra (Jager), which is white; the Holothuria atra (Jager), which is black; and the bacongan or Synapta similis (Semper), which is of larger size. The second variety is most esteemed. It was sold dry in the Visayas or taken to Manila and sold, where they were worth thirty-five or forty or even more silver pesos per pico. The Chinese especially esteemed them (and do so yet) and large sums were paid for them in that country. The Filipinos occasionally ate them fresh, but only in the absence of fish.

[338] Juan Francisco de San Antonio was born in Madrid in 1682, and made his profession in the Franciscan order at the age of twenty. In 1724 he brought a mission band to the islands, and spent there the rest of his life. His lifelong employ was in preaching, and as instructor in theology--save fifteen years spent in Indian villages near Manila. He died in that city May 29, 1744, the same year in which the last volume of his Cronicas was published. See Huerta's Estado, p. 537.

[339] These are the Tagablis or Tagabili, also called Tagabelíes, Tagabaloy, Taga-bulú, Tagbalooys, etc. Murillo Velarde, in his map, places them west of Caraga and Bislig in Mindanao, but this district has been found to contain only Manobos and Mandayas. They are probably the heathen Malay people living between the bay of Sarangani and Lake Buluan, whence their name, meaning perhaps "people of Buluan." See Blumentritt's Native Tribes of Philippines (Mason's translation), and Census of Philippines, i, p. 476.

[340] The cloth made from abacá alone is called sinamay; that made of abacá and pineapple fiber, jusi; and that from a specially selected grade of abacá, much finer and more difficult to extract than commercial hemp or that used in making other cloths, lupis. See Census of Philippines, iv, p. 19.

[341] Zúñiga (Estadismo) mentions the Chinese mestizo population of Tambóbong or Malabón (now in Rizal province) as about 7,500. Some of them had acquired by trade property to the value of 40,000 pesos. The tribute collected from all the Chinese mestizos of Luzon numbered 10,500, over 8,000 of which came from the provinces immediately north of Manila--Tondó, Bulacán, and Pampanga. The Chinese mestizo element is very evident today in the provinces of Bulacán and Pampanga, and probably forms the principal element among the native owners of haciendas. See Census of Philippines, i, pp. 435, 436, 438.

[342] Spanish, con que se da Borney la mano; literally "shakes hands."

[343] An evident lapsus calami for Legazpi, such as has occurred in other writers.

[344] A Moorish garment resembling a herdsman's jacket, with which the body is covered and girt. It is still used on some festive occasions. (Dicc. Academia, 1726.)

[345] See ante, p. 123, note 48.

[346] Spanish, amusco, pero encendido; the last word, encendido, is literally "kindled," or "glowing"--that is, as here used, evidently referring to a reddish tint given by the blood showing through the skin.

[347] The name of this book is probably the Origen de los Indios de el nuevo mondo, e Indias occidentales (Valencia, 1607; 8vo). Garcia was also the author of a book entitled Historia ecclesiastica y seglar de la Yndia oriental y occidental, y predicacion del sancto evangelio en ella por los apostolos (Baeça, 1626; 8vo).

[348] See this report in Vol. VII, pp. 173-196. See also Vol. XVI, pp. 321-329. But San Antonio quite overlooks the earlier relation by Miguel de Loarca (Vol. V, pp. 34-187).

[349] Antonio de Padua or de la Llave went to the Philippines with Gomez Perez Dasmariñas in 1590. He took the habit March 17, 1591, and professed in the province of San Gregorio March 19, 1592, changing his former name of Gonzalo to Antonio. After studying in the Manila Franciscan convent, he became missionary in the village of San Miguel de Guilinguiling, in 1602, and afterwards in the villages of Paete, Santa Cruz, Siniloan, Lilio, and Pila. He acted as definitor ad interim, from October 7, 1634 to January 13, 1635, and after becoming missionary of Pila was appointed commissary-visitor, holding that office from June 12 to December 16, 1637. He served as definitor again in 1639, and finally died in the Franciscan convent of Mahayhay in 1645. He was the first chronicler of the province of San Gregorio, and wrote the annals of his order from its founding in the Philippines in 1577 to the year 1644, in two volumes; and a life of Gerónima de la Asuncion, foundress of the royal convent of Poor Clares in Manila. See Huerta's Estado, pp. 452, 453.

[350] Possibly a misprint for magaanito, as it is called elsewhere.

[351] See ante, p. 191, note 101.

[352] Noceda and Sanlucar's Vocabulario de la lengua Tagala (Manila, 1860) defines tictic as the "song of a nocturnal bird called apira, whence the name was transferred to the bird itself. It is also known by the names of Lapira and Pirapira."

[353] That is, evidently without having enjoyed any of the fruits of the theft.

[354] The Spanish edition of Juan de Solorzano Pereyra's Disputationem de Indiarum jure (Matriti, 1629-39; 2 vols., fol.), and of which later editions were published. The title of the first edition of the Spanish work is Politica Indiana sacada en lengua castellana de los dos tomos del derecho i govierno municipal de las Indias Occidentales que mas copiosamente escribio en la Latina. ... Por el mesmo autor ... Anadidas muchas cosas que no estan en los tomos Latinos (Madrid, 1648, fol.).

[355] i.e., Sunday, Domingo being the Spanish word; evidence that this method of styling the week was evolved after the conquest.

[356] See Vol. III, p. 161, note 42.

[357] The distance from the extremity of the thumb to the extremity of the index finger, when outstretched; hence a span.

[358] For the above weights and measures, see Vols. III, p. 71, note 20; p. 184, note 50; p. 253, note 87; and XV, p. 179, note 116. See also Census of Philippines, i, p. 327; and iv, pp. 447-457 (a long list of weights and measures, with many tables, used in the Philippines).