The National tribune., 1904-01-28

~ pt0ece491On. on Know that proEre6-
'slen p against oil the tenets Of the
cannot progress In accordance with the
ideas OF modern progression, while the
American Catholics favor progression,
IL competition tends to correct faults Ia
religion 40 In other matters, then may we
not expect with the Introduction OF other
faiths Improvement in the dominant re-
hgion? And it is pretty generally con-
ceded that there Is room for improvement.
Pope Clement x. Is reported to have once
said that he did not believe that tropi-
cal climate could produce saint, and that
bananas and saints do not grow together!
That the saints OF the Philippines have
mostly passed to the great beyond, seems
to be the verdict OF all observers.
4 Not long after the Feast Of Quiapo"
the Ceylonese Buddhists held fiesta In
Manila, which believe was the first af-
fair Of the kind ever presented there. Not
very long afterwards the meeting of a
Hindoo sect was advertised: and before
leaving Manila / noticed that the Jewish
Feast of Roshoshana was celebrated to
the great satisfaction Of that ancient sect,
who had never been permitted to assemble
publicly under Spanish rule.
FROM WORSHIP TO COCK FIGHTS.
: Having marched through the principal
streets OF Quiapo, the column again
reached the Plaza and Church, where the
comments Of VIC. Palgrave on similar
occasion seem apropos:
Inside and without the church deco
rations testify TO Mariofatry, Hagiolatry,
and the entire system habitualiy branded
by those who wish to give it bad name
as .idolatry,' 'man-worship,' creature
worship and the like, here carried ont to its
EXTREMIST limits, and constituting in prac-
tice nine-tenths, or rather more, Of the
religion OF the land. 1t is a religion admi-
fably adapted to the requirements OF the
people, and proportionately beneficial. An
cestor-worship in one form or other has
ever been, as Mr.. Ferguson correctly re-
marks, and yet is, the favorite expression
of religious feeling among Turanian races;
and the Malays, themselves the south
most branch of the great clinical tree,
are no exceptions to the rule. Here i'm the
Philippines they have, with the easy pill
ancy in such matters that once covered
the equatorial island-group with Brahmiu-
zeal temples, and facilitated the spread Of
Buddhism among their cousins OF China
and Japan, adopted without questioning
the Catholic Christian system, and placed
tits mythico-historical virgins, saints, and
martyrs at the head of the unseen king
Ifdom already tenanted by their own proper
ancestors and relatives, till they now re-
jOice in the possession OF well-stocked
kOlympian Valhalla, sufficient to their
sympathies and hopes. Ingrafted thus on
Ia genuine Indigenous stem, the more re-
cent and exotic religion, while retaining
much Of its own peculiar form in flower
and fruit, derives its local energy and de-
velopment from the unfailing sap OF the
national mind; no longer foreign, but ma
tive, believed in sooner than taught, an in
tegral part of daily life, not plastered-on
addition, it affords SO far an absolute con-
trast to the musical bank currency" of
the Erewhons OF our age, and is itself a
not inconsiderable part OF the genuine cir
culating medium of the Philippines.
Hence, as social bond, humanizing in
fiuence, an effective sanction, promoter
OF friendly intercourse, OF right, OF love
even, a poetry amid life's commonplace, a
balm-ideal but not inefficacious-of the
wounds and bruises OF fact, Christianity
has, it would seem, rarely been more advan-
tageous to its followers than here, where
it can scarcely be distinguished from a
well-regulated, genial Asiatic paganism;
riddle harder to read in appearance than
in reality."-Cornhill Magazine.
r The congregation is dismissed, not by
the Royal Spanish March, but the
March Of Sousa, an American, and the
worshipers retire to cock-pits in the sub
urbs and banquets in private apartments
Ito finish the Feast OF Quiapo; mean
while the sun is shining on the other side
OF the world, Illuminating the United
States with a brilliancy equivalent to say
ing: 1t lis up to youg'
(The cnd.)