28 METZGER— THE FILIPINO. [March 17, 



ingly by them. He loved the pompous ritual, the gaudy and 

 elaborate robes, the glitter of gold and silver and the images of 

 saints. All these appealed to his savage nature and his ancient 

 tribal legends, and this ocular demonstration seems to have im- 

 pressed him with the sanctity of the system and the infallibility of 

 its believers. The result is, that to-day, shrines are to be found in 

 almost every semblance of a town throughout the islands where the 

 faithful Filipino comes at least once a year to worship. 



There seems to be no limit to the number of saints, there is the 

 patron saint of the islands, Santa Rosario, and the innumerable 

 local sainte whose images are revered and worshipped for some 

 wonderful mystic power of healing the sick and halt or some 

 marvelous act they are supposed to have performed in the dim past. 

 The victory over the Chinese, during the invasion of Li-ma-hong, 

 is accredited by the natives to the appearance of Saint Francis on 

 the walls of the city. The legend of the celestial protector of 

 Manila is not less interesting. It is related that in Dilo, near 

 Manila, a wooden image of St. Francis de Assisi was seen to weep 

 so copiously that many cloths were moistened by its tears, and 

 again this same image with its hands uplifted and opened during 

 three hours asked God's blessing on the city of Manila, then 

 closing its hands it grasped a cross and skull so firmly that these 

 appeared to be one and the same thing. Vows were made to this 

 saint, who was then declared protector of the capital. Others of 

 equal significance might be mentioned but this will suffice to show 

 the innate mysticism of these people. Many of these images are 

 most tawdry and elaborately ornamented. I believe the most 

 elaborate I have seen, outside of the metropolis, was in the town 

 of Quingua, province of Bulican. The image was that of a man 

 astride a horse and attired in a gorgeous robe. In his uplifted 

 hand he held a dangerous looking knife and under his pranc- 

 ing steed lay the prostrated form of a Mussulman, bleeding and 

 wounded unto death. This was mounted on an elevated carriage, 

 and strung about the platform were the heads made of carved wood, 

 mutilated in appearance, representing the many victims of this 

 venerated saint. The whole was a barbarous display of cruelty and 

 superstition. 



The roguery of the Filipino is not infrequently manifested 

 through the agency of these saintly images, and it was only within 



