[Imitation instilled and self-respect banished.] The uncivilized inhabitants of the Philippines quickly adopted the rites, forms, and ceremonies of the strange religion, and, at the same time, copied the personal externalities of their new masters, learning to despise their own manners and customs as heathenish and barbarian.  Nowadays, forsooth, they sing Andalusian songs, and dance Spanish dances; but in what sort of way?  They imitate everything that passes before their eyes without using their intelligence to appreciate it.  It is this which makes both themselves and their artistic productions wearisome, devoid of character, and, I may add, unnatural, in spite of the skill and patience they devote to them.  These two peculiarities, moreover, are invariably to be found amongst nations whose civilization is but little developed; the patience so much admired is often nothing but waste of time and breath, quite out of proportion to the end in view, and the skill is the mere consequence of the backward state of the division of labor.

[Educated Filipino unnatural.] If I entered the house of a well-to-do Filipino, who spoke Spanish, I was received with the same phrases his model, a Spaniard, would employ; but I always had the feeling that it was out of place.  In countries where the native population remains true to its ancient customs this is not the case; and whenever I have not been received with proper respect, I have remarked that the apparent fact proceeded from a difference in social forms, not more to be wondered at than a difference in weights and measures.  In Java, and particularly in Borneo and the Moluccas, the utensils in daily use are ornamented with so refined a feeling for form and color, that they are praised by our artists as patterns of ornamentation and afford a proof that the labor is one of love, and that it is presided over by an acute intelligence. [Native art-sense spoiled.] Such a sense of beauty is seldom to be met with in the Philippines.  Everything there is imitation or careless makeshift.  Even the pina embroideries, which are fabricated with such wonderful patience and skill, and are so celebrated for the fineness of the work, are, as a rule, spiritless imitations of Spanish patterns.  One is involuntarily led to these conclusions by a comparison of the art products of the Spanish-American communities with those of more barbarous races.  The Berlin Ethnographical Museum contains many proofs of the facts I have just mentioned.

[Indolence from absence of incentive.] The oars used in the Philippines are usually made of bamboo poles, with a board tied to their extremities with strips of rattan.  If they happen to break, so much the better; for the fatiguing labor of rowing must necessarily be suspended till they are mended again.

[Carelessness from lack of responsibility.] In Java the carabao-carts, which are completely covered in as a protection against the rain, are ornamented with many tasteful patterns.  The roofless wagons used in the Philippines are roughly put together at the last moment.  When it is necessary to protect their contents from the wet, an old pair of mats is thrown over them, more for the purpose of appeasing the prejudices of the “Castilians” than really to keep off the rain.