etc.--exempting,
however, from these censures in the main the Pampangos, who are more
noble, brave, and honorable, and are "the Castilians of these same
Indians;" and the women, who are devout, modest, and moral (although
he ascribes this to the subjection in which they are held by the men,
and the necessity for the women to support not only their children but
their husbands). After all these complaints, San Agustin returns to
his former position, that it is impossible to understand the nature
of the Filipinos; and all that he has related is but approximate and
tentative. For this reason, it is necessary (especially for religious)
to know how to conduct oneself with them. He therefore makes various
suggestions for enabling their spiritual fathers to guide them
discreetly and successfully. No less interesting than his account
of the people are the comments made thereon by the Jesuit Delgado
(himself long a missionary in the islands), and the Spanish official
Mas, who spent some time there and visited many of the islands. The
former refutes many of San Agustin's statements, sometimes very
sharply; the latter often supports them, but sometimes he finds
them in contradiction to what he himself has observed. Fray Gaspar's
letter impresses the reader, at first, as being the complaint of an
irritable and querulous old man (he wrote it at the age of seventy);
but another cause for his mental attitude may be found toward the end
of his letter, where he argues against the proposed ordination of
Filipino natives as priests--a plan which aroused great opposition
from the religious orders. The MS. which we use contains a sort of
appendix to San Agustin's letter in the shape of citations from the
noted Jesuit writer Murillo Velarde. These are evidently adduced in
support of San Agustin's position, and disparage the character of the
Indians in vigorous terms. Finally, we present a chapter from Delgado's
Historia de Filipinas making further comment on San Agustin's letter,
and defending the natives from the latter's aspersions; he refutes many
of these, and censures Fray Gaspar severely. He also regards Murillo
Velarde's description of the native character as hasty, superficial,
and exaggerated. Besides, Delgado reminds his readers of the great
services rendered to the Spaniards by the Indians--who alone carry
on the agriculture, stock-raising, trade, and navigation on which
the support of the Spaniards (who, "when they arrive at Manil