Directory_and_Chronicle_1899 — Page 994

THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines, discovered by the Portuguese Fernando de Magalhaens (Magellan), are a rich and beautiful group of islands, situate between lat. 5 and 22 deg. Ñ., and long. 117 and 127 deg. E., and form a Spanish colony. They are surrounded on the north and west by the China Sea, on the east by the Pacific, and on the south by the Celebes Sea. The islands are over a thousand in number and contain an area of 52,647 English square miles, with a population, in 1876, of 6,173,632 souls. At the end of 1883 the population, including the army and navy, was estimated at 7,636,632. The principal islands are divided into twenty-six provinces, thirteen of which are on the Isle of Luzon, four on the Isle of Negros, three on Panay, and three on the Isle of Mindanao. The islands were formally annexed to the Crown of Spain in 1565. The first Governor was Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi.

The early history of the Philippines is a record of continual trouble. Conflicts between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities led to internal contentions, while both Portugal and the Netherlands coveted these rich possessions and harassed the Spaniards. In 1606 the Dutch blockaded the ports with five ships, which were, however, destroyed by the Spanish fleet. Attacks were also made at different points by powerful Chinese piratical fleets. The most celebrated of these was the invasion by Li Ma Hon, who with 2,000 men landed at Manila in 1572, but was defeated and driven out by the Spaniards and natives, under the leadership of Juan de Salcedo. In 1762 the capital was taken by the English, the private property of the inhabitants being saved from plunder on the condition of the payment of a ransom of £1,000,000 sterling, half of which was paid in money and the other half in bills upon the Spanish Treasury. In In the meantime, however, peace had been concluded, and the islands were restored to Spain, payment of the balance of the indemnity not being insisted upon.

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After the discovery of the islands, ecclesiastics flocked to them in large numbers, and undisturbed by the attacks on Spanish authority, the work of converting the natives was carried on with great vigour. The Augustinians were the first to arrive in the islands, and they accompanied Legaspi on his expedition through the country, estab- lishing the "Frovince of the Holy Name of Jesus" in parts of the province of Manila and later also in portions of Bulacan, Pampanga, New Ecija, Abra, Union, Northern and Southern Ilocos, and in a large part of Cebu, Capiz, Iloilo, and Antique. In 1557 the Franciscans arrived in the archipelago and built their church in 1602, establishing the "Province of St. Gregory the Great," which has under its charge 154 villages in the provinces of Manila, New Ecija, Tayabas, Laguna Albax, Camarines North and South, Leyte, and Samer. The Dominican fathers came for the first time to these islands in 1587, and created the "Province of the Most Holy Rosary," "The Light of the Body," and in 1610 they built their first church. They have under their charge 85 villages of the provinces of Manila, Cavite, Bataan, Pangasinan, Isabela, New Vizcaya, and Cagayan. The Religious Devotees in 1606 formed the "Province of St. Nicholas of Tolentino," in which were included villages of the provinces of Manila, Cavite, Cebu, Zambales, Bohol, Mindoro, Negros, Calamianes, Surigao, Camingning Misamis, and Marianas. The fathers of the "Society of Jesus" next established many missions in Mindanao and constructed in Manila a mission house. They have also under their charge in Manila the Normal School for Teachers, the City Atheneum, and the Meteorological Observatory with its magnificent apparatus. Finally, in the year 1886, the Capuchins arrived in the islands, but as yet they have not spread much beyond the capital city. The clergy before the regent Capture of Manila by the Americans (since when many have left) numbered about two thousand, and most of the natives brought under subjection profess the Roman Catholic religion. In the Philippines there has been little of that cruelty to the aboriginal population which so often characterises the process of colonization, and the natives appeared in general contented and well conducted, the priests exercising the almost unbounded influence they possessed with great effect in the preservation of order. There was, however, an undercurrent of seditious feeling and after attempts made to throw off the Spanish yoke in 1822, 1841, 1842, 1872, and 1896, the Insurgents' opportunity came in 1898, when, upon the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Spain, they offered to co-operate with the former. The offer was accepted,