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nto the star-like eyes of his _innamorata_, or to gloat over her "hairs which are the most beautiful." The lover's habit of fortifying himself with the society of his fellow men would be the last which an American boy could understand. But a Filipino swain rarely presents himself alone at a house to call. He feels, perhaps, that it makes him conspicuous. The whole race, for that matter, is given to the habit of calling in droves. If a Filipino girl goes to an office on business, her mother and father do not constitute a sufficient escort. Her brothers, cousins, a few admirers, and possibly a female friend or two are added to the parental guardians, till the bodyguard assumes the appearance of a delegation large enough to negotiate a treaty. One of the division superintendents tells a story which shows the humorous American recognition of the inconveniences of this habit. The Superintendent had recommended two young girls as _pensionadas_, or government students, in the Manila Normal School. It was their duty, on arriving in Manila, to report to the Director of Education; and they must have done so in the usual force, for the Director's official telegram, announcing their arrival, began in this pleasing strain: "Miss---- and Miss----, with relatives and friends, called this morning." The premature adolescence of the Filipino youth makes him very repellent to the American. One of the most frightful things which I ever saw was a play given in Spanish by children. The play itself was one which Americans would never have permitted children to read or to see, much less to present. The principal character was a debauched and feeble old man of the "Parisian Romance" type; it was played by a nine-year-old boy, who made the hit of the evening, and who reminded me, in his interpretation of the part, of Richard Mansfield. His family and friends were proud of his acting, which was masterly, and laughingly declared that his conception of the role was wholly his own. If so, there was no need of laughter and there was much cause for tears. Here is a short essay written by a twelve-year-old boy, in response to an order to write a composition about what he had done the previous day. "Yesterday I called upon all my young lady friends. None but the fathers appeared. We must all be judged according to our works." The child wrote this by constructing the first sentence himself, and by picking the other two out of phrase-books,
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