Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines Part 3

The honours paid to the saints by the celebration of their feast-days are nearly altogether practised by the Mestizo and Indian population, the richer or upper cla.s.ses of Spaniards being for the most part too careless on such occasions, except when their turn comes to dance at the _fetes_, or to eat the supper set out by their Mestizo neighbours on these anniversaries; and certainly, if their piety be judged by the alacrity usually displayed on such occasions, they will stand very forward in the race out of purgatory. For, strange to say, the modern Spaniards--at least those who come to the Philippines--are as little superst.i.tious or priest-ridden as the people of any nation in Europe. Probably this is a symptom of their return to a more moderate degree of faith than they used to evince prior to the French Revolution, which has altered the tone of opinion and manners throughout the world. And after the severity and rigid observance of all the church high-days and holydays formerly prevalent among them, the tide of opinion appears to have run into the opposite extreme.

I have frequently been astonished at discovering the extent to which infidel notions are current among my Spanish acquaintances; their prevailing opinions on the subject being, that the priests and some of the tenets of the Catholic church are behind the age, and as such, are to some extent unworthy of the serious attention of well-informed people of the present day, and that those things are only suitable for women and children. _Es cosa de mugeres_, is the usual expression, should the subject be mentioned; and as regards the priests, the laity very generally fancy that they must be watched carefully, as they are certain to a.s.sume importance should an opportunity offer for thrusting their noses into any affair they can, military or civil--it matters not which to these ambitious men.

Among the native population, however, high church opinions, or a notion that virtue is inherent in the walls of the church and the priestly office, is very common, so that whatever the _padre_ says is looked upon as indisputable by them. But I cannot say that any rational systems of religion, or feelings not a.s.sociated so much with the _padre's_ office and dress, and with the stone and lime of the church, as with the more pure and immaterial subjects of religious belief, exist among them, or influence their conduct. Frequently one sees instances of this, which place their feelings in the grossest and worst light. For example, the first act of a courtesan in the morning is generally to repair to the church, and after, as a matter of course, having said her prayers, to pa.s.s the time in any species of debauchery or immorality her lovers may wish. I state this fact, to give some idea of the extent of superst.i.tion and of priestly influence over their conduct, which shows how powerfully mere habits and custom may influence our manners without improving our minds, when we are brought up in a formal routine of habits of respect for we don't know well what; for they have no further acquaintance with the principles of religious belief than the habit of crossing themselves before figures of the Virgin and the crucifixion.

For even these women, infamous though they be, seldom omit the observance of such practices, and are in general as punctual in repeating diurnally the formal prayer which has been taught them in childhood, as any Christian can be, whenever the hour of _oracion_ is come, which is notified to all the population by the tolling of the church bells.

However, Manilla appears not to be quite singular as to these matters; for it has been frequently stated by visitors to the states of the Church, that nine months after the great religious festival of the Carnival there, a much greater number of illegitimate children are born than during other seasons of the year.

This statement, which I have seen mentioned as a statistical fact, is probably attributable to the idleness of the people, ignorant and uninstructed as to any higher devotional feelings than those which custom teaches; although, doubtless, religious admonition, having a tendency to unloose the mind, and withdraw it from its customary objects of interest, may induce these softer emotions, and among people in whom the animal pa.s.sions preponderate over those of the mind, or of a spiritual nature, may frequently lead to conduct of this loose description.

Perhaps, also, the sense of satisfaction after having gone through the ceremony of attending church, and of having performed the humble duty which all are taught to practise there, disposes the people to this license, for they carry away no new idea with them from the sacred house. The formal exercise there being gone through by rote, without exciting new feelings, or touching new chords in their hearts, may cause them to break away from strictness, and give a rein to their pa.s.sions after the exercise of their religious duties.

The Indians are people who, being bred up with a regard to observances which retain no hold over their minds--at least, over the reason which G.o.d has endowed them with--in order to judge for themselves, think religious observances derive their importance only from custom; but having been trained up with little regard to the sterner and self-denying mental duties or instruction usually held up to our admiration in Britain and other Protestant countries, they can scarcely be expected to practise them. In addition to this, the heat of the climate probably disposes them this way; as in all countries where the _dolce far niente_ is most agreeable to them, or is generally practised by the inhabitants, those feelings are likely to prevail in a greater degree than where active habits are more congenial to the people and the temperature of the climate.

CHAPTER IX.

The habits of the Spanish residents at Manilla are exceedingly indolent. As persons in the government service form the great proportion of the white population, a sketch of the habits of one of them may not be uninteresting;--say those of an average officer of the Hacienda, for instance. He usually gets out of bed about six, or a little after, to enjoy the cool air of the morning, and sip his chocolate, with the aid of _broas_, without which he could scarcely manage to get through the day; he then dresses, and drives to his office, where he remains till twelve o'clock, which hour finishes his official duties for the day. While in his office the nature of his work is not very arduous, and does not appear to call into play any powers of the mind, as it appears to consist only in his remaining for about four hours in a cool and large room, generally seated at a table or desk, overlooking a number of native writers, occupied in making out and filling up forms which are required by the existing regulations for the government service. The Spaniard, however, has nothing to do with all that, only occasionally exerting himself so far as to sign his name, or merely to dash his rubrica, without taking the trouble to sign his name, to the papers presented to him by these native copyists; and should you enter his office, he generally appears to be just awaking from a nap, as he opens his eyes, and rouses himself to salute a visitor.

At noon the public offices are closed, and he drives home to dine about one or two o'clock, after which he generally sleeps till about five, for nearly all of the Spanish residents take a long siesta. About that time of the day, however, he is awakened to dress and prepare for the _paseo_ on the Calyada, and for the _tertulia_ after it, at the house of some acquaintance; or if he should by any chance happen to be without acquaintance, to saunter through the Chinamen's shops, admiring walking-canes, cravats, or waistcoat-pieces; and while so engaged, he is pretty sure to meet some companion for a gossip, or other amus.e.m.e.nt. After this he sets off to sup at home, and to sleep till another day comes round, when the same routine must be gone through.

It would be hard to conjecture a mode of pa.s.sing or sauntering through life with less apparent object than many of them have. Books are scarce and expensive, and are in little demand by most of the residents, even if they were worth reading, and cheaper, and more procurable than they now are; the library--if the term may be applied to their collection--of such people, generally only comprising one or two plays, and perhaps a novel--sometimes also Don Quixote's adventures, which, with a volume of poetry, is about the average amount of learning and amus.e.m.e.nt on their book-shelves. But should the owner be a military man, he probably has, in addition to these, some Spanish standard book, equivalent to our "Dundas's Principles," or "Regulations for the Cavalry."

Smoking, sleeping, and eating, are the labours of their days, and in all of these they are adepts. Their prevalent taste, however, as regards cookery, is not suitable to a British palate, as the favourite accompaniment of garlic is commonly used in such a quant.i.ty by their cooks, that they are very apt to spoil a dinner for a foreigner's eating, unless they are checked or cautioned with regard to the use of it.

Their usual drink is wine of different kinds, which they take out of a gla.s.s or tumbler, as we would beer or water: the quant.i.ty consumed is moderate enough, about a pint being a usual allowance--and that is frequently mixed with about an equal quant.i.ty of water. Sherry, claret, priorato, pajarete, manzanilla, malaga, and muscatel, are the sorts most in request, all of them being of ordinary quality, to the taste of any one accustomed to drink good wine at home, from which the wines procurable here are as different as possible, and especially the sherry. But in that resides a mystery known best to the wine-merchants, who doctor up the wine consumed in Great Britain to suit the taste of those who buy it from them. Strange to say, even to this, a Spanish colony, there is not sent out a single pipe of wine, such as any one accustomed to drink the British _composition_ would call good sherry.

Claret, or _vino tinto_, is very generally used in preference to tea or coffee at breakfast, but at that early time of the day it is mixed with a large proportion of water. This meal, however, is not a general one in the Philippines, as the custom of taking chocolate in the morning destroys all appet.i.te for it, and the early dinner hour of the Spaniards in general, does not render it essential.

The want of interesting occupation, and the heat of the sun, preventing out-of-door exercise during the day, has doubtless originated these indolent customs, which have given rise to many bad habits, and the low scale of morality prevailing among them.

A large proportion of them being bachelors, are in the habit of selecting a mistress as a companion with whom they may forget the dullness, and shake off the apathy of their aimless existence; a very large proportion, in fact, nearly all of them, being in the habit of choosing such a household companion from among the Creole, Mestiza, or native girls, but generally from the last two races.

The native girls have the reputation of proving more faithful to their lovers than the other two, as they look upon such a connection in the light of a marriage, and consider themselves guilty of no immorality during its continuance. When a native beauty forms such a connection with a white man, her relations do not sunder all the former ties existing between her and them, by casting her off, but on the contrary are, as frequently as not, highly pleased at it, viewing the affair in the light of a fortunate marriage for her.

These feelings, however, are not universal, for some of the richer cla.s.s of Indians would be highly displeased with a female relation forming such a connection.

Among the Indians themselves this arrangement frequently takes place, as very many of the poorest people are unable to save money enough to pay their marriage fees, and in the event of a couple living together without having had the ceremony performed previously, they regard themselves, and are considered by their neighbours, as not the less man and wife. As an instance of the extent to which this prevails among them, I may mention a circ.u.mstance which struck me much at the time:--

Being near the cathedral at Manilla one evening in April last, I entered an open door of the edifice and wandered into a room attached to it, where several people were in waiting, and among them several women with children to be baptized. I stopped to witness the ceremony, and had the curiosity to look into the register where their names were enrolled; in that book, two of them were described as illegitimate children, and the third was the only one born in matrimony.

Although the custom does not prevail to anything like the extent of two-thirds of the population, still it is a very frequent one, and proves among other things, that the sort of religion prevailing among the people is only that of forms, possessing no sufficient hold over their minds to regulate their conduct.

Compare their religious ideas with those of the old Scottish covenanters, or English puritans, and how different are the effects of faith; but perhaps they are not more dissimilar than the natures of the two races are. For there is no race in the world with all the good qualities of the Celtic breed crossed by the Saxon, and that again by the Norman; for depend upon it, blood tells in every human being--aye, and as much in men as in dogs or horses.

But, unfortunately for ourselves, men pay less attention to the innate qualities and virtues of blood and pedigree, when selecting a mate for themselves, than they do when their dogs or horses are in question, as then no trouble is spared to trace out and scrutinise the qualities of _their_ sires, and to breed only from a good stock.

By pedigree, of course not the worldly station of men is meant, but the history of their lives and reputations, as good and useful men of their time. Of necessity both parents affect the character of their offspring, and so we frequently see a great and good man leaving behind him none in his family capable of supplying his place. Now, how is this? Why, it comes from the mistake he has made in selecting his mate, for if he had been more cautious in that respect the produce would have been equal to the promise.

How often do we see wise men with silly wives and tall men with short wives. The only wonder is, that the offspring of such couples are not worse than they are.

CHAPTER X.

The intercourse between the Spaniards and many of the foreigners residing at Manilla is not very great, as the British here, as everywhere else, appear to prefer a.s.sociating with their own countrymen to frequenting the houses of their Spanish friends, even although quite sure of a cordial reception there. The time for visiting is in the evening, when there are numbers of impromptu conversaziones--or tertulias, as they are called--of which the Dons are very fond, and in which very many of their evenings are pa.s.sed.

Any one having a few Spanish acquaintances is pretty sure to number among them some persons who, from their own character, or that of some member of their family, such as a pretty and pleasant wife, or a handsome daughter, has generally many visitors at his house, perhaps six, ten, or a dozen of an evening, who call there without any preconcerted plan, and sit down to play a round game at cards or gossip with each other for an hour. Should there be ladies of the party, music and dancing are probably the amus.e.m.e.nts for an hour or two; you may, of course, escape and go on to the house of some one else should the party turn out to be dull, which, however, is very seldom the case when Spaniards are the company, as every one appears to exert himself to amuse and be amused to the best of his power.

The time for evening visits is any time after seven o'clock, for till about that hour nearly all the white population are enjoying the cool air on the Calyada, or on some of the other drives, all of which are crowded with carriages from about half-past five till that time of the evening.

Some of these equipages are handsome enough, and are almost universally horsed by a pair of the country ponies, there being only one or two people who turn out with a pair of Sydney horses, and very few who drive a single-horse vehicle, although it is met with now and then. The only persons allowed to drive four horses in their carriages are the Governor and the Archbishop: this regulation is frequently grumbled at by the Spanish Jehus, and one gentleman, the colonel of a regiment, having applied to the government for permission to indulge his taste in this respect by driving a four-in-hand, was refused it, so he had to content himself with turning out with only three in his drag. With that number of quadrupeds, however, he did a good deal to frighten and amuse the world, apparently wis.h.i.+ng to break his neck, in which he very nearly succeeded on more than one occasion; Spanish accomplishments in driving being by no means equal to those general at home.

A young Spaniard who fills an important office connected with the commerce of Manilla, a situation he is said to owe more to the frailty of his mother, a fair lady at the court of the late King of Spain, whom he exactly resembles in appearance, temper, and manners, than to any qualifications especially pointing him out for the post, used frequently to a.s.sert his royal blood by turning out a neat barouche and pair, accompanied by two outriders, and certainly he looked much smarter and better appointed than either of the authorities driving four horses.

The expense of keeping horses is very small, so that nearly all, except the very poorest people, keep carriages, which in that climate are considered more as necessaries of life than as luxuries, and to a certain extent really are so; for the sun most effectually prevents Europeans walking to any distance during the heat of the day, and should any one attempt doing so, a month of it is about time enough seriously to injure or perhaps to kill him. About sunset everybody is most glad to escape from the impure air of the town and the crowded narrow streets, to inhale the fresh breeze from the bay on the Calyada, which is the most frequented drive.

Formerly all the ladies turned out to drive without bonnets or coverings of any sort on the head, but bowled along, seated in open carriages, in about the same style of evening dress they would appear in at a tertulia or the theatre, or, in fact, at a ball-room. They were in the habit of spreading a sort of gum, which washed easily off, over the hair after it had been dressed, in order to keep out the dust, &c.; but within the last two years several bonnets have made their appearance in the carriages at the drive, and I fear their general use will supersede the former fas.h.i.+on, which from its simplicity allowed their most striking beauties of eyes, hair, &c., to be seen in a most charming manner.

Many of the Creole girls have very handsome countenances, and there are not a few who would be remarked upon as fine women by the side of any European beauty: but they are generally seen to most advantage in the evening, as their chief attraction does not consist in freshness of complexion so much as in fine features, which are often full of character and lighted up by eyes as brilliant as they are soft. Their figures are good, and their feet and ankles quite unexceptionable, being generally very much more neatly turned than those of my handsomest countrywomen.

As dress is a study which has a good deal of their attention, they appear to understand it pretty well, but show a marked fondness for gay colours, as no doubt their pale complexions require their aid more than when ruddy health is upon their cheeks. In the forenoon the skin of a Creole or Spanish beauty appears to be rather too pale to please the general taste; and sometimes their colour degenerates into sallowness, which I fancy may proceed from their fondness for chocolate, that being very largely consumed by all of them. This, and the want of exercise, communicated a somewhat bilious look to their appearance.

Many ladies, especially those from the northern provinces of Spain, have sometimes the beautiful white skins and the ruddy freshness of complexion so much admired in my countrywomen; but, unfortunately, that colour is not very lasting, as the first season they pa.s.s in the Philippines is generally sufficient to blanch their bloom, but it is very often succeeded by a soft and delicate-looking paleness, which is perhaps not a whit less dangerous to amatory bachelors than the more brilliant colours which preceded it.

Although lively and talkative enough, Spanish women seldom s.h.i.+ne in conversation, which perhaps is more owing to the narrow and defective education they too often have in youth than to any natural want of the quickness and tact to talk well.

Their manners are peculiarly soft and pleasing, and their lively ingenuousness is extremely seductive. Their accomplished management of the fan has made it peculiarly their own weapon, and it has been converted into an important auxiliary to their natural good looks, both in attack and defence. There are few things more striking to a stranger than to see the ladies use it at the casino, when a number of them are together, and while there is no want of men to admire the graceful movement of the hand. Mere children are constantly seen using it. It is a ludicrous thing to watch one of these little creatures going through a set of flirting motions with a fan, should you look at her, copying no doubt the motions or play with it from those of some grown-up sister or gay mamma.

Foreign ladies seldom or never attain the same degree of dexterity and ease in the use of their fans, the climate they were born in not requiring that it should be placed in their hands at an early age.

The dress of Spanish ladies is becoming every day more like the French modes, although some elderly people still continue to use the country dress, which, from its coolness, is much more comfortable than the European habit; but it is rapidly going out, and young Spanish ladies never appear to wear it, as formerly they frequently did, within doors and in the country.

The mantilla is very rarely seen, except perhaps in the morning, when some fair penitent goes or returns from one of the churches, all of which are thrown open at a very early hour in the morning, at or before daylight, to give the people an opportunity of going there unostentatiously and unnoticed, to say their prayers and get home again before any one, but those on an errand similar to their own, is likely to meet them in the streets.

Nearly all the women, after reaching thirty years of age, get stout or fall off in flesh and become very thin, for there apparently is very little medium between the two degrees, as nearly all the old women one sees are either very fat or very thin. Of the two sorts the fat retain their good looks the longest; for after attaining a certain age, the thin women are seldom anything but atrociously ugly, probably caused by the climate more than anything else, as those Europeans who enjoy good health at Manilla appear to become stout in that climate, while those who get thin seldom appear to be well, and are unable to stand a lengthened residence there.

In youth, however, their natural elasticity of character prevents delicate girls getting sick, if moderate care be taken of them, and they are generally rather more slender figures than English girls, until reaching about twenty-five, when they begin to get fat or to become thin; at that age they look very matronly.

_Apropos des dames._ Even in these degenerate days, Spanish blood is as hot and Castilian gentlemen are as gallant as any of those of former times. Not long ago the following circ.u.mstance happened at the casino:--Don Camilo de T----, a natural son of the late King of Spain, after dancing with a female acquaintance, rejoined a group of acquaintances, who were standing together in a knot, criticising the appearance of their several fair friends, when just as he joined them some one happened to say to another that the lady he had just been dancing with appeared to have padded her bosom. On hearing this, Don Camilo took the speaker rather by surprise, by calling out "It is a lie," in a tone loud enough to be heard by all near him, and by saying that as he had just been dancing with that lady, he knew that it was not so, and must resent the remark as a personal affront. A duel took place in consequence, in which the gallant was wounded in the sword arm, which, by letting out a little of his hot blood, may probably prevent a recurrence of such extreme devotion to his fair acquaintances.