Out of doors, another piece of dress called the sapiz, composed of dark blue silk or cotton cloth, slightly striped with narrow white stripes, is usually worn over the saya.
No bonnets or hats of any sort are worn by them, their long and beautiful hair being considered a sufficient protection to the head, which they arrange in something like the European fashion, it being fastened by a comb, or some gold ornament in a knot at the back of the head.
On going out of doors, a handkerchief is often thrown over the head, should the sun be strong, or an umbrella or parasol is carried as a protection against it.
A similar dress, made of coarser and cheaper materials, is the usual costume of all the native women.
The men, both native and Mestizo, wear trousers fastened round the waist by a cord or tape, the fabric being sometimes silk of country manufacture, for their gala dresses, or of cotton cloth striped and coloured, for every-day use.
The shirt, which is worn outside the trousers, that is to say, the tails hanging loose above the trousers, and reaching to just below the hips, is generally made of piña cloth, or, among the poorest people, of blue or white cotton cloth. When of piña cloth, the pattern is generally of blue or other coloured stripes with flowers, &c. worked on them, and it is a very handsome and gay piece of dress. When worn outside the trousers, it is much cooler than when stuffed into them in the European manner. A hat and slippers, or sandals of native manufacture, complete their dress, and the only difference of costume between the rich and poor consists in the greater or less value of the materials which compose it. No coat or jacket is worn, but many of the men, and nearly all the women, wear a rosary of beads or gold round their necks; and frequently a gold cross, suspended by a chain of the same metal, rests between the bosoms of the fair. Many of them also wear charms, which having been blessed by the priest, are supposed to be faithful guardians, and to preserve the wearer from all evil.
CHAPTER VIII.
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 classes of Spaniards being for the most part too careless on such occasions, except when their turn comes to dance at the fêtes, 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 superstitious 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 assume 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 associated 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 pass 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 superstition 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.