All this was confirmed by prophecies, by dreams, and revelations, and great miracles by the Virgin of Antipolo and of St. Joseph, and other patrons of the Indies, not omitting St. Peter, for whom the native clergy profess a profound veneration, and who is the patron saint of a brotherhood which has caused much trouble in the Philippines.
General Gándara, informed of all these absurdities by the friars, did not fail to appreciate the immense importance of the movement which, like the teachings of the so-called gods of Panay and Samar who collected thousands of followers, might produce a general insurrection. He therefore took due precautions, and invited all the Spaniards in the Philippines, without distinction of party, in support of the Government constituted in Spain. There was, however, much agitation and much travelling to and fro amongst the native clergy and the pettifogging lawyers. It was, however, not till 1872 that the conspirators succeeded in producing the mutiny of Cavite, which was quickly suppressed, with much slaughter of the mutineers.
The chief amusement of the Tagal is cock-fighting. I shall not describe this well-known sport, but will remark that it provides no inconsiderable revenue. The right of building and running the cock-pits of each province is farmed out to Chinese or Chinese half-breeds, and no combats may take place except in these places. They are opened after Mass on Sundays and feast-days, and on some other days by special leave from the authorities. The love of this sport and the hope of gain is so general that the majority of the natives of Manila are breeders of game-cocks, which they tend with assiduous care, and artisans often carry their favourite birds to their work and tether them in the shade, where they can keep them in view. Horse-fights occasionally take place. The ponies of the Philippines, although not usually vicious to man, will fight savagely with each other, and inflict severe bites. I remember a case where two ponies harnessed to a victoria began fighting and a Guardia Civil attempted to separate them, when one of the ponies seized him by the thigh, lifted him off his feet, and shook him as a terrier might shake a rat; the flesh of the man’s thigh was torn away and the bone left bare. This dreadful wound caused his death. The occurrence took place in front of the church of Binondo in Manila. Bull fights have been an utter failure in Manila, although many attempts have been made to establish them. Flying kites is a great amusement with young and old in the early months of the year, when the N.E. monsoon blows. Fights are organised: the competing kites have crescent-shaped pieces of steel attached to the tails, and the competitor who can cut the string of his opponent’s kite by causing his own to swoop suddenly across it, is the winner. Betting on the result is common. The Tagals are also fond of the theatre, and some years ago there was a Tagal theatre in Binondo where comedies in that language were played. I have also met strolling players in the country towns.
But of all kinds of shows a good circus is the one that fetches his last dollar out of the Tagal. Guiseppe Chiarini reaped a silver harvest in Manila on both occasions he pitched his tents there. His advance agent, Maya, a Chilian, paved the way for success, and the pompous announcement that Chiarini was born in the sacred city of Rome, greatly impressed the natives, who flocked in thousands to his circus. Chiarini considered himself able to tame the most vicious horse, and purchased a fine Manila pony that no one could manage. The beast, however, was not subdued by his powers, and, seizing the tamer’s cheek, bit off a large piece.
On feast days in the larger towns, open-air plays are sometimes given, and what with preparations, rehearsals, and performance, absorb the attention of a large number of the inhabitants for a couple of months. I witnessed a very notable performance of this kind some years ago at Balayan in the province of Batangas, the characters being played by the sons and daughters of the principal people there. The subject was taken from the ‘Wars of Grenada.’ In the first act we saw a Christian king and his court, also his only and peerless daughter. After these had had their say, an ambassador from the Moslem king was announced, and the king summoned his council to consider the communication. He took his seat upon the throne, with grey-bearded councillors on each side. The Moslem envoy, and his suite and escort, entered on horseback and very unnecessarily galloped about and gave an exhibition of their horsemanship. Then the envoy, still on horseback, harangued the king, and arrogantly demanded the hand of the beauteous princess for his master, threatening war to the knife in case of refusal. He then retired to his camp.
Next came the discussion of the demand which the grey-beards think it hopeless to resist. The Moslem envoy was sent for, and amid great grief the princess was about to be confided to his care, when there rushed in a young Christian warrior and his followers, who swore they would never allow a Christian princess to wed a Paynim, and dismissed the envoy with contumelious remarks. He retired vowing vengeance. All this occupied a long time, and I did not remain for the rest. I think it took two days to act. But from the volleys of musketry and firing of rockets and mortars which I heard, a sanguinary war must have been waged and many of the characters must have perished. The play was acted in a more spirited way than usual; some of the male performers declaimed their parts with energy. Some were mounted on fine ponies, and were well got up and armed.
The girls’ dresses were rich, and they wore a great deal of jewellery. Some of the princesses were very handsome girls. There is a sort of a superstition that any girl performing in one of these pieces is sure to be married within a year. This makes them very ready to undertake a part, as they obtain an excellent opportunity to display their charms to advantage, and so help to fulfil the prediction. The play was witnessed by the mass of the population of Balayan and by numerous visitors from the neighbouring towns. It was considered a very successful performance, and it carried my memory over the wide Pacific to Peru, where I have seen similar plays acted by the country people in the Plaza of Huacho.
Tagal Literature.
Tagal literature does not amount to very much, and the policy of the Government of late years has been to teach Spanish as well as the native dialects in the schools. This did not meet the approval of the old school of priests; but many of the younger ones have accepted the Government view. In the Exhibition of the Philippines, Madrid, 1887, Don Vicente Barrantes showed twenty volumes of grammars and vocabularies of the Philippine dialects, and thirty-one volumes of popular native poetry, besides two volumes of native plays. The Reverend Father Raimundo Lozano exhibited twenty-eight volumes of religious works in the Visayas-Panayano dialect, and the Reverend Father Francisco Valdez a study of the roots of the Ilocan dialect in manuscript. Many works in the native dialects have been written by the Spanish priests, such as one by the Reverend Father Manuel Blanco, the learned author of the ‘Flora Filipina,’ of which I give the title and the first verse:—