The native Filipino does not know the vice of blasphemy; he is not ordinarily obscene in his speech; he is not quarrelsome; he is respectful to those who display authority; is docile and obedient, although he is weak and remiss in the performance of his duties; he bears his punishment and believes it to be just when he is guilty of a fault; but he becomes irritated if personally insulted, and he awaits with rancor and in cold blood the moment to avenge outrages done to his person or his family. He likes very much to pass hours in idleness or in not very animated conversation with his companions and friends. He is fond of feasts and pilgrimages, of play and betting, and easily spends in a day what has cost him months and even years to acquire. In his dealings with the European, when he attempts any business whatever, he is cunning and crafty and tries to come out the gainer, to which end he will use deceit and even puerile artifices. He is fond of ostentation, pomp, noise, and spectacular display. The senses exercise a greater influence upon him than is usual in other races, and from this cause proceeds the infantile vanity that makes SPINNING AND WEAVING "PIÑA." (A gossamer-like fiber obtained from pineapple stems, much finer than silk.) many array themselves in elegant clothes, jewels, decorations, etc. He loves sensual pleasures, but not to the point, as some have alleged, of disregarding the laws of blood, nor to the extreme of falling into abominations. The cases that might be adduced to the contrary are true monstrosities which confirm the general rule. Although he appears silent and submissive, he is much given to quiet murmuring and to criticising the acts of his superiors, especially those of the European, but this is done more in the way of curious and inciting conversation than true criticism. He possesses normal intelligence, a good memory, and an aptitude for mechanics. He is a good workman when habit, necessity, or passion influence him, and for hours and hours can perform rough and most laborious work, as is demonstrated by those employed in rowing, in the cultivation of sugar, or in the work of day laborers. Lacking incentive, however, he inclines to idleness, in which he sees nothing worthy of censure. It is not correct that they do not TAGAL PEASANT GIRL. possess among themselves noble affections or generous sentiments. They know how to love, to be loyal, and to please; they feel and weep for family misfortunes; they interest themselves in the fate of beloved persons, and they become enthusiastic at the narration of tender scenes or noble deeds, deriving great enjoyment from works of fiction, although they may be simple or even foolish. Those who affirm arbitrarily, basing the statement on isolated cases, that the Philippine native is without feeling and incapable of certain virtues and noble affections, ought to remember that certain good qualities are inherent in the human species and are common to all, of whatever race and nationality, and that the Philippine people have been subject, besides, to the influence of Christian civilization for three hundred years. In studying this subject we are likely to apply to it our own mode of thought, energies, vehemency, exaltations, habits, and customs, and with a strictly European rule seek to measure a distinct people whose customs are different from our own. After all is said, the native has the gifts and defects of all men, modified by a certain sweet temperament, ordinarily cold and but little impressionable. But he has a racial defect which consists in inordinate self-conceit, in which defect imagination and irritated nerves play a greater part than intelligence. He thinks little and never deeply, but he imagines a great deal and easily inflames his head, whence we have his brusque changes and surprisingly swift transitions from virtue to crime, from peace to rebellion, from the gratitude and submission of years to hostile opposition to his master and protector. To this cause may be attributed the greater part of the offenses which engage the attention of tribunals of justice. It is also the origin of the more profound convulsions which now and then appear in the archipelago. The native is religious. He is, in general, perfectly instructed (though not, of course, deeply) in the principal dogmas and precepts of the Catholic faith, and never fails through perversity to live up to them. Nevertheless, if a superstitious idea takes a lively hold of his fancy, he is capable of declaring that any ragged old man is St. Joseph or that St. Anne is personified by some old fortune-teller said to We reside at a bleak point in the mountains. have had examples of this not long ago in the districts of Nagoarlán, and it is a failing to which the ancient chronicles often make reference. Of course, the enlightened classes are free from such superstition. Their instruction and education and their contact with persons of culture invigorate their intelligence and give them greater will-power. It must also be remembered that this mental weakness of the Malay race is but rarely exhibited by the multitude, and only when it is excited and exploited by fools or rascals. All in all, it is quite certain that the indigenous Filipino has simple and peaceful habits; deferential to his elders and superiors; very obedient and submissive to authority; hospitable, chari. table, and religious; a great lover of the Church and of her ministers; and the enemy of tumults and revolts. He rests upon tradition, and from his ancestors he has received the notion that he owes respect to the King and to Spain, to religion and to the priests, and he respects and honors them accordingly without protest or complaint. Ο ΝΙ THE CONDITION OF PORTO RICO. BY DR. WILLIAM HAYES WARD. NE who visits Porto Rico, as I did in January, for the purpose of studying its educational and religious needs, thus not as an investor, or a promoter, or a speculator, or a gambler to make money out of our new possessions, may well have his eyes open to see not so much his own advantage, not even the advantages his country may secure, as the condition of the people and their needs. It is from this point of view that I write. On reviewing the impressions of a tour nearly all around this island by railroad and carriage and across the island over the great military road, the first and perhaps the last are of the delightfulness of the climate and the beauty of the scenery. The extraordinarily equable temperature is due to the prevalence of the trade-winds; for Porto Rico lies far out in the ocean, east of Haiti, and 1,000 miles east of Havana. In our mid-winter the thermometer stands every day at about 80° in the shade and goes down to about 70° at night, or in the hills to 60°. In the summer a temperature of 90° is reached, but never more than 920. There is thus no winter. All the year around the army officers attend receptions in their white linen suits, and only the thinnest under-garments can be worn. The constant wind blows directly across the island. In winter the moisture carried from the sea condenses into an occasional little shower, more frequent in the hills, and all day cumulus clouds are scattered about the horizon or afford a few minutes' shade from the bright sun. The air is absolutely clear, with no smoke, haze, or dust. The heavier summer showers and the moisture of the air in winter (about 75 per cent. of saturation) with occasional spits of rain keeps the streams full and the ground moist even in what the people would call a dry season. The winters are most delightful, and the island ought to become, like Bermuda, a favorite winter resort for invalids. The scenery fits the climate. Like all the West India Islands, Porto Rico forms a part of the outcropping ridge of a range of sub-marine mountains that run east and west. Our island is of unusually regular shape, being almost a rectangle, three times as long as it is wide. The hills begin to rise almost immediately from the sea, and attain a height of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. These hills are all covered with vegetation and cultivated to the very top. A visitor is sur prised to find thick matted grass everywhere, not the kinds we know, but other kinds equally nutritious, if one can judge from the looks of the cattle in the fields. There are no sandy places, no barren spots; it can all be cultivated, and the 900,000 people who inhabit a territory about two-thirds the size of Connecticut do keep most of it under cultivation. For beauty approaching grandeur it would be hard anywhere to equal the scenery along the magnificent macadamized road from San Juan to Ponce, a wonderful piece of engineering which crosses the island, rising nearly 4,000 feet, and yet by so easy a grade that nowhere do the horses need to walk. The road hugs the mountains and looks down into the valleys, both equally green with tropical vegetation, sugar-cane, tobacco, coffee, bananas, and cocoa nut palms, and a drive among the Swiss mountains seems no more memorable. Three elements enter into the population of Porto Rico the aboriginal Indian, the negro, and the Spaniard. Of the Indians I doubt if IN HERMIGUERO PROVINCE. parties and receptions he will see none but those of pure white blood. It is true that there are colored men of wealth and education, but even such a man as Dr. Barbosa, the best physician in San Juan, educated at Michigan University and one of the leaders of the Radical party, does not even accept the invitations he receives. Strangely enough, the American occupation has broken down one of the few fences which separated the races. While the Spaniards held Porto Rico it was our unwritten law that on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, when the band played in the plazas of the several cities and the young girls promenaded forth and back between crowds of lookerson, no colored people should be present in the plazas ; but this rule went with the Spaniards, and now the colored people claim equal American rights. It would be impracticable to try to draw any color line in either church or school in Porto Rico. Americans have occasion to be proud of their chief representatives in the government of Porto Rico. Only three or four regiments, of the regular army, remain in the island, and General Henry, who is absolute dictator, would feel perfectly safe with one regiment only. It is well that several volunteer regiments have gone, for they made some trouble. (A view showing the green hills characteristic of Porto Rico.) half a dozen of approximately pure blood remain on the island, and they old men or women who will very soon pass away. Very few black negroes are seen, and they are mostly late comers from St. Thomas and Antigua. The Spaniards have come over every year, and they and their white descendants form nearly all the aristocracy of the island. But the great bulk of the population is of a blood mixed of the three races; and especially in the country it appears to me to have reached a fixed type, nearly all being of the same shade and features. The peculiar negro features seem almost lost. The hair is long and nearly or quite straight, and the nose is not flattened. Indeed, I should imagine that the Indian forms a considerably larger factor than the negro in this composite result of four centuries of unrestrained miscegenation. The prejudice against colored people is very much less than in the United States, but it yet exists, and that notwithstanding the late emancipation of the slaves. When one sees white and colored children in the same schools and colored as well as white teachers, he may be too quick to imagine that caste based on color does not exist. But when he attends any of the principal social functions he is undeceived. At General Brooke, the first in command, was succeeded by Gen. Guy V. Henry, than whom no more faithful and competent officer could easily be found. But I was glad to discover that such men prove not to be rare in the service. The officers whom General Henry has put in command at the principal centers, a number of whom I met, though burdened with less responsibilities, were evidently men of the same spirit. As mili.. tary commander General Henry is practically a dictator, whose word is law in all departments of the civil government. He can remove any officer or reverse any decision. Such power can be safely invested only in the hands of such a man as General Henry-a man not only inflexibly honest, but also utterly devoted to the welfare of the people and the prosperity of the island, quick to find their needs and with the moral courage to do what he believes is right. He is a scholarly man, an author of repute in |