Sufficient familiarity with Spanish to compensate for this lack of books of secular knowledge was enjoyed by very few Indians in the country districts and these had learned it mainly while servants of the curate. It was the common opinion of the Spanish authorities that the Friars purposely neglected instructing the Indians in Spanish, in order to perpetuate their hold upon them; but Zúñiga repels this charge as unjust and untrue.[1]
It is obvious that it was impracticable for the Indians to learn Spanish under the mission system. For the pastor of a pueblo of several hundred families to teach the children Spanish was an impossibility. A few words or simple phrases might be learned, but the lack of opportunity for constant or even frequent practice of the language in general conversation would make their attainments in it far below those of American grammar-school children in German in cities where that has been a compulsory study.[2] As long as the mission system isolated the pueblos from contact with the world at large, it of necessity followed that the knowledge of Spanish would be practically limited to such Indians as lived in Manila
- ↑ Estadismo, i, pp. 60–61. Commodore Alava was on his way to make scientific observations of the volcano of Taal.
Le Gentil writes: "Selon une Ordonnance du Roi, renouvelée peut-être cent fois, il est ordonné aux Religieux d'enseigner le castillan aux jeunes Indiens; mais Sa Majesté, m'ont unanimement assuré les Espagnoles à Manille, n'a point encore été obéie jusqu'à ce jour." Voyage, ii, p. 184. Cf. Zúñiga, Estadismo, i, pp. 299–300.
For some of these ordinances see Retana's notes to Zúñiga, ii, p. 57 ff.
- ↑ Cf. Retana's views expressed ten years ago upon the impracticability of supplanting to any extent the Tagal language by the Spanish. The same considerations apply equally well to English. Estadismo, ii, p. 59 ff.
