The field of honour where the heroes of Luçon distinguish themselves is on the southern Philippine Islands, which are not yet subdued; they are inhabited by Mahommedan Indians, who are constantly at war with the Spaniards, and who, ranging as pirates over all the coasts inhabited by Christians, spread terror and desolation wherever they appear. From time to time some well manned gun-boats are sent in pursuit of these robbers; which expend plenty of ammunition with very little effect.
It is said that six thousand Chinese inhabit the suburbs of Manilla, to which they are restricted. The greater part of them are clever and industrious mechanics; the rest are merchants, and some of them very rich: they are the Jews of Luçon, but even more given to cheating and all kinds of meanness than are the Israelites, and with fewer, or rather with no exceptions. They enjoy no privileges above the lowest of the people, but are despised, oppressed, and often unjustly treated. Their covetousness induces them to submit to all this; and as they are entirely divested of any feeling of honour, a small profit will console them for a great insult. The yearly tax paid by every Chinese for liberty to breathe the air in Manilla, is six piastres; and if he wishes to carry on any sort of trade, five more; while the native Indian pays no more than five reals.
The Philippines also did not follow the example of the American colonies; for some disturbances among the Indians here, were not directed against the government, and an insurrection soon after attempted proved unsuccessful. The former were occasioned by a few innocent botanists wandering through the island in search of plants; and an epidemic disease breaking out among the Indians about the same time, of which many died, a report suddenly spread among them, that the foreign collectors of plants had poisoned the springs in order to exterminate them. Enraged at this idea, they assembled in great numbers, murdered several strangers, and even plundered and destroyed the houses of some of the old settlers in the town of Manilla. It has been supposed that the Spaniards themselves really excited these riots, that they might fish in the troubled waters.
The late governor, Fulgeros, is accused of not having adopted measures sufficiently active for repressing the insurrection. This judicious and amiable man, who was perhaps too mild a governor for so rude a people, was murdered in his bed a year after by a native, of Spanish blood, an officer in one of the regiments here, who followed up this crime by heading a mutiny of the troops. The insurgents assembled in the market-place, but were soon dispersed by a regiment which remained faithful, and in a few hours peace was re-established, and has not since been disturbed. The present governor, Ricofort, was sent out to succeed the unfortunate Fulgeros.
The King, affected by the loyalty displayed by the town of Manilla, at a time when the other colonies had thrown off their allegiance, presented it with a portrait of himself, in token of his especial favour. The picture was brought out by the new governor, and received with a degree of veneration which satisfactorily evinced the high value set by the faithful colony on the royal present. It was first deposited in a house in the suburb belonging to the Crown, and then made its entry into the town in grand procession, and was carried to the station of honour appointed for it in the castle. This important ceremony took place during our residence here, on the 6th of December; and three days previously, the King in effigy had held a court in the suburb. The house was splendidly illuminated: in front of it stood a piquet of well-dressed soldiers; sentinels were placed at all the doors; the apartments were filled with attendants, pages, and officers of every rank in gala uniforms; and the etiquette of the Spanish court was as much as possible adhered to throughout the proceedings. Persons whose rank entitled them to the honour of a presentation to the King, were conducted into the audience-chamber, which was splendidly adorned with hangings of Chinese silk: here the picture, concealed by a silk curtain, was placed on a platform raised a few steps from the floor, under a canopy of silk overhanging two gilded pillars. The colonel on duty acting as Lord Chamberlain, conducted the person to be presented before the picture, and raised the curtain. The King then appeared in a mantle lined with ermine, and with a crown upon his head; the honoured individual made a low bow; the King looked in gracious silence upon him; the curtain was again lowered, and the audience closed.
On the 6th of December, the immense multitudes that had assembled from the different provinces, to celebrate the solemn entry of the portrait into the capital of the islands, were in motion at daybreak. The lower classes were seen in all kinds of singular costumes, some of them most laughable caricatures, and some even wearing masks. Rockets and Chinese fireworks saluted the rising sun, producing of course, by daylight, no other effects than noise, smoke, and confusion, while elegant equipages rolled along the streets, scarcely able to make their way through the crowd. At nine o'clock, a royal salute thundered from the cannon of the fortress; and at twelve the procession began to move, displaying a rather ludicrous mixture of Spanish and Asiatic taste. I saw it from the windows of a house on its route, which commanded a very extensive view of the line of march. The cortège was led by the Chinese. First came a body of twenty-four musicians, some striking with sticks upon large round plates of copper, producing an effect not unlike the jingling of bells, and others performing most execrably upon instruments resembling clarionets. The sound of the copper plates was too confused to allow us to distinguish either time or tune—points of no great consequence perhaps; the choir, at least, did not trouble much about them. The musicians were followed by a troop of Chinese bearing silken banners, upon which were represented their idols, and dragons of all sorts and sizes, surrounded by hieroglyphical devices. Next followed, in a kind of litter richly ornamented, a young Chinese girl with a pair of scales in her hand, and intended, as I was told, to represent Justice, a virtue for which her country-people, in these parts, have not much cause to applaud themselves. Another set of musicians surrounded the goddess, making din enough with their copper plates to drown every complaint that might endeavour to reach her ear. Then came the rest of the Chinese, in different bands, with the symbols of their respective trades represented upon banners. Four Bacchantes, somewhat advanced in age, and in an attire more loose than was consistent with modesty, followed next: from their long, black, dishevelled hair, they might have been taken for Furies; and it was only their crowns of vine-leaves, and the goblets in their hands, that enabled us to guess what they were intended to represent. Bacchus, very much resembling a Harlequin, followed with his tambourine; and after him, a body of very immodest dancers: these, as the procession moved but slowly, halting frequently, had abundant opportunities of displaying their shameless talent, for the benefit of the shouting rabble. Why the procession should be disgraced by such an exhibition, it was not easy to conceive; but there were many other inconceivable matters connected with it. A troop of Indians followed, in motley and grotesque attire, intended to represent savages: they were armed with spears and shields, and kept up a continual skirmish as they marched. Next in procession was a battalion of infantry, composed of boys armed with wooden muskets and pasteboard cartridge-boxes, and followed by a squadron of hussars, also boys, with drawn sabres of wood, not riding, but carrying pasteboard horses: each of these had a hole cut in its saddle, through which the hussar thrust his feet, relieving the charger from any actual necessity of making use of his own—though, to show its high blood and mettlesome quality, each emulated his fellow in prancing, rearing, and kicking with front and hind-legs, to the no small danger of discomfiting the parade order of the squadron. To this redoubtable army succeeded a party of giants two fathoms high, dressed in the very extremity of fashion, the upper part of their bodies being represented in pasteboard, accompanied by ladies elegantly attired, and of nearly equal dimensions, and by some very small dwarfs: the business of this whole group was to entertain the populace with pantomimic gestures, and comic dances. Next came all sorts of animals, lions, bears, oxen, &c. of a size sufficiently gigantic to conceal a man in each leg. Then, with grave and dignified deportment, marched Don Quixote and his faithful Sancho. To the question, what the honourable Knight of the Rueful Countenance was doing there, somebody replied that he represented the inhabitants of Manilla, who were just then mistaking a windmill for a giant. The hero of Cervantes was followed by a body of military, seemingly marching under his command; and after them came two hundred young girls from the different provinces of the Philippine Islands, richly and tastefully attired in their various local costumes. Fifty of these young graces drew the triumphal car, richly gilt, and hung with scarlet velvet, which contained the picture of Ferdinand. Not content with the mantle the painter had given him, they had hung round him a real mantle of purple velvet embroidered with gold. By his side, and seated on a globe, was a tall female form dressed in white, with an open book in one hand, and in the other a wand, pointing towards the portrait. This figure was to represent the Muse of History:—may she one day cast a glance of friendly retrospection on the prototype of her pictured companion! A body of cavalry followed the car, and the carriages of the most distinguished inhabitants of the place closed the procession. Several Chinese triumphal arches crossed the streets, through which the retinue passed; they were temporary erections of wood, occupying the whole breadth of the street, and were decorated in the gayest and most showy manner by the Chinese, who, on this occasion, seemed to have spared no expense in order to flatter the vanity of the Spaniards.
When the royal effigy entered the town, it was received by the Governor and the whole clergy of Manilla, and the young girls were superseded by the townspeople, who had now the honour to draw the car amidst the incessant cry of "Viva el Rey Fernando!" The cannon thundered from the ramparts; the military bands played airs of triumph; and the troops, which were ranged in two files from the gate of the town to the church, presented arms, and joined their "Vivas" to those of the populace. The procession halted at the church; and the picture being carried in, the bishop performed the service; after which, the King was replaced on his car, and conducted to the residence of the Governor, where, at length, he was installed in peace.
Three days longer the rejoicings continued: bells were rung, guns were fired, and each evening the town and suburbs were magnificently illuminated: many houses exhibiting allegorical transparencies which occupied their whole front. But the illumination of the Chinese triumphal arches in the suburbs surpassed all the show: the dragons which ornamented them spat fire; flames of various colours played around them; and large fire-balls discharged from them emulated the moon in the heavens, till, from their increasing height, they seemed to disappear among the stars. Each of these edifices was of three stories, surrounded by galleries, on which, during the day, the Chinese performed various feats for the amusement of the people: there were conjurors, rope-dancers, magic lanterns, and even dramatic representations, the multitude eagerly flocking to the sight, and expressing their satisfaction in loud huzzas! I saw a tragedy performed on one of these galleries, in which a fat Mandarin, exhibiting a comic variety of grimaces and strange capers which would have done credit to Punchinello, submitted to strangulation at the command of his sovereign. At night, the people went about the streets masked, and letting off sky-rockets and Chinese fireworks. In several parts of the town, various kinds of spectacles were exhibited for the popular amusement: the air resounded with music, and public balls were gratuitously given.
This unexampled rejoicing for the reception of a testimonial of royal approbation, seems sufficiently to prove the loyalty of the Philippines, and the little probability of their revolting, especially if the mother-country does not show herself wholly a stepmother to her dutiful children.
On the 10th of January our frigate was ready to sail, and we left Manilla, the whole crew being in perfect health.