[79] M. and D. omit “of which I heard,” and the latter reads “and I shall only tell of two of which I was a witness.”
Spaniards also, says Delgado (pp. 310, 311), recount things that are not credible, and “it is not to be wondered at that some rude and ignorant people should believe such nonsense; and if they believe some things that are told them by some scholars, it is because of the authority of those people among them.... This happens commonly in other places, besides among the Indians.”
[80] See an account of this matter and the trouble caused by it, in Vol. XXXIX.
[81] i.e., “Silver and gold have I none”—a reference to Acts III, 6.
[82] M. and D. read “miners.”
[83] “When the ship ‘Santa Ana’ arrived at Manila in the year 1832 with 250 Spanish soldiers, it was rumored among the women of the tobacco factory that those soldiers were coming to take away their children in order to irrigate the mines in España with their blood. All were aroused and fled to their homes, took their children, and began to take refuge in the houses of the Spanish women, and they could not be persuaded that it was all nonsense. The house of Doña Dolores Goyena was filled with them. Also many men armed with spears came out on the streets; but the disorder gradually subsided.” (Mas, p. 82.)
[84] M. and D. add “for all the ministers cannot free them from this deceit.”
[85] This is not so in general, says Delgado (p. 311), but is true only of some individuals among the various nations.
[86] M. reads “respect the Spaniard more.”
[87] The truth is that any Spaniard, with rare exceptions, has more penetration, more vivacity, more nobility, more talent, and more courage than a Filipino. This superiority can do no less than have its effect.... For the rest, few in Manila have an exact idea of the Filipino character. Their arrogance may be seen in the importance which the gobernadorcillos give to themselves. They go daily to the city hall, but they make two regidors go to their houses to get them. There the regidors wait until the gobernadorcillo is ready to come out, and the latter then goes in solemn state to the city hall, preceded by the regidors and the alguacils, with staffs in hand. When these officers reach the door of the city hall, they stop in order to allow the gobernadorcillo to pass between them; and he enters without noticing the salutes given him by the guards, who take off their hats to him. He immediately takes a seat which is on an elevated platform, and there he thinks himself to be on a throne; and even the Spaniards who enter casually, especially in the villages on the highroad, appear of but little importance to him. This is the place where the auditors of the Audiencia of Manila, and all others who have any share in the government of Filipinas, ought to come incognito, and as if in passing, in order to know the Filipinos—instead of forming an opinion of their character from the servants of their house, or from those who go to the capital with clasped hands and a downcast look in their eyes to ask some favor of them. The strange thing is, that the Indians do not learn from the alcaldes-mayor, who administer justice with the greatest equality, and who do not sit in an elevated place, or even sit down, and go into the street without any following. This aristocratic spirit may be observed in the church. All the principales, who consist of the gobernadorcillos, cabezas de barangay, and all others who have the title ‘Don’ and wear a jacket, seat themselves in the central aisle or nave; and the following order of etiquette is in general scrupulously observed: the gobernadorcillo; the ex-gobernadorcillos, who are called past captains, in order of their seniority; the actual first lieutenant, who must be a cabeza de barangay; the two lieutenants; and nine present officials; the ex-cabezas, in order of seniority. If any ex-captain from another village is present, he takes a seat among those of his class, and is given the first place, out of courtesy. When the lieutenants and officials leave their posts, they are not called principales, as are the others, but titulados.” (Mas, pp. 83, 84.)