Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines. Robert MacMicking
indeed, the church has long proved to be, upon the whole, by much the most cheap and efficacious instrument of good government and order that could be employed anywhere, so long as its influence has been properly directed. In the Philippines there appears to be little doubt but that it is one of the most beneficial that could be exerted as a medium for the preservation of good order among the people, who are admonished and taught to be contented, while it is not forgetful of their interests, as they very generally learn reading by its aid—so much of it, at least, as to enable them to read their prayer-books, or other religious manuals.
There are very few Indians who are unable to read, and I have always observed that the Manilla men serving on board of ships, and composing their crews, have been much oftener able to subscribe their names to the ship’s articles than the British seamen on board the same vessels could do, or even on board of Scottish ships, whose crews are sometimes superior men, so far as education is concerned, to those born in other parts of Great Britain. This fact startled me at first; but it has been frequently remarked upon by people very strongly prejudiced in favour of white men, and who despise the black skins of Manilla men, regarding them as inferior beings to themselves, as strongly as many of our countrymen often do.
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