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RECOLLECTIONS
OF
MANILLA AND THE PHILIPPINES,
DURING 1848, 1849, AND 1850.
BY
ROBERT MAC MICKING, ESQ.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
1851.
INTRODUCTION.
The Philippines, in many respects situated most advantageously
for trade, having long been governed by a people whose notions of
government and political economy have never produced the happiest
results in any of their once numerous and important colonies, appear
at last to be slowly reaping the benefit of the new commercial maxims
now in course of operation, in Spain, and show symptoms of progressing
with increased speed in the march of civilization, encouraged by
commerce. As such a state is always interesting, more especially to
my countrymen, whose commercial and manufacturing welfare is closely
bound up with the rate at which civilization advances in every part
of the world, I have attempted to give some idea of the actual state
and prospects of this valuable colony, as they appeared to me during a
residence there of the three years 1848-9-50, with the double object
of directing more attention to these islands than has hitherto been
paid to them by our merchants and manufacturers, and of deriving
some employment in doing so, during a tedious voyage from Singapore
to Hongkong, when, being in a great measure debarred from personal
activity, an interesting occupation was felt to be more than usually
necessary to engage the mind.
There are many imperfections in the execution of my task; but for these
the critical reader is requested to make some allowance, and entreated
not to forget the inconveniences all landsmen are subjected to at sea.
September, 1851.
RECOLLECTIONS
OF
MANILLA AND THE PHILIPPINES.
CHAPTER I.
About the time the Spanish arms under Hernan Cortez, Pizarro, and
Almagro, were meeting with their most splendid successes in America,
the thought occurred to Hernando Magallanes, a Portuguese gentleman
in the service of King Charles the Fifth of Spain, that if by sailing
south he could pass the new Western World, it would be possible to
reach the famous Spice Islands of the East, which he supposed to
contain untold-of wealth in their bosoms. This vast, and, in the
state of their knowledge at the time, apparently hardy and even rash
idea, met with approval by the King, who honoured Magallanes with
the distinguished military order of Santiago, and appointed him to
the command of a squadron which he immediately set about fitting out
to accomplish the project, with the view of conquering and annexing
these islands to his crown.
At length, when all the preparations were completed, on the 10th of
August, 1519, six ships, no one of which exceeded 130 tons, and some
of them being less than half that size, sailed from the port of San
Lucan de Barrameda on this bold and perilous enterprise.
In the prosecution of their voyage, many obstacles were encountered;
but everything disappeared before the ardour of their chief,
who, discovering, passed through the Straits of Magellan, which
alone immortalize his name, and spreading his sails to the gale,
stood boldly with his squadron, now reduced to three crazy vessels,
into the unknown and vast ocean which lay open before him, with all
the hardihood characteristic of his time, traversing in its utmost
breadth the Pacific, without, however, chancing to meet with any of
the numerous islands now scattered throughout its extent. At last,
the Mariana or Ladrone Islands were descried on the 16th of August,
1521, and a few days afterwards a cape on the east coast of Mindanao
was seen.
Coasting along the shores of Caraga, the ships anchored off Limasna,
where Magallanes was well received by the natives of the place;
from thence steering towards Cebu, he managed to establish a good
understanding with the country people, although upwards of two
thousand of them had assembled, armed with spears and javelins,
to oppose his landing.
Having constructed a house at this place, in order that mass might
be decently said, he landed to hear it, accompanied by his crews.
The royal family of Cebu, curious to observe the manners of their
strange visitors, attended its celebration, and, as the story
goes, were so much edified by the sight, that they were baptized
Christians, and an oath of allegiance and vassalage to the King of
Spain administered to them; and their example being followed to a
great extent by the nobles and people of Cebu, the Christian forms
of faith and the symbolic cross were planted by the Spaniards in the
country of the antipodes.
Some time afterwards, Magallanes met the end which best becomes a
brave and good soldier, by dying in the battle-field in the cause of
his new friends and allies.
But without his master-mind to direct them, things no longer went
on so smoothly between the Spaniards and the natives; and under his
successor, the hostile feelings then given birth to, soon found a
tragical vent, which resulted in a number of the white men being
cruelly massacred by their Indian hosts, and in the flight of
their companions, who, fearful of their own safety, made all sail
on their ships, and bore away, leaving their unfortunate countrymen
to their fate, without attempting and even refusing to ransom such
of them whose lives were spared, from having been less obnoxious to
the Indians than the others. This fatal accident left the surviving
crews so much weakened in numerical strength, that not having men
enough left to work all the ships, the "Concepcion" was set fire to,
and the survivors steered towards the Moluccas.
It were tedious to follow them through all their adventures; suffice
it to say, that Juan Sebastian de El Cano was the only captain who
succeeded in taking his ship home again round the Cape of Good
Hope. After many anxieties and vicissitudes he entered the same
port of San Lucar from which he had sailed about three years before;
and as a memento of his skill and of his being the first navigator
who had made the circuit of the world, the king granted him for an
armorial bearing, a globe, with the legend, "Primus circumdedit me,"
which he had thus so honourably gained.
At intervals of about four years between each other, three separate
expeditions were fitted out from Spain and America for these islands,
which were named "_Las Felipiñas_" by Villalobos, commander of the
last of these squadrons, in honour of the then Prince of Asturias,
afterwards better known as King Philip the Second of Spain.
In the meantime the Portuguese, jealous of the vicinity of such
powerful neighbours as the Spaniards, to their empire of the East
which Vasco de Gama and Albuquerque had so brilliantly founded
for their country, took advantage of the financial distress of the
Spanish king, who was then arming against France and Germany, and
for an inconsiderable amount purchased his right of conquest over
all the Philippines.
But they did not long retain them; for on Prince Philip of the Asturias
becoming King of Spain he regained the islands by breaking through
the treaty which confirmed their sale. Having, in 1564, appointed
Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi commander of an expedition fitted out
for the purpose of reacquiring them, and having made him Governor and
Adelantado of all the countries he could conquer,--which now-a-days
appears to be rather a vague commission, but was then a custom of that
venturous time,--that dignitary reached the Philippines, which had
been altogether neglected by the Portuguese, and without difficulty
re-established Spanish supremacy over the group, of which he may be
considered as the first governor.
Their favorable reception by the natives rendered the acquisition
altogether, or nearly, a bloodless one, for the warriors who gained
them over to Spain were not their steel-clad chivalry, but the
soldiers of the cross:--the priests, who, going out among a simple
but somewhat passionate people, astonished and kindled them by their
enthusiasm in the cause of Christ; while the novel doctrines they
taught so enthusiastically, aided by the usual splendid accompaniments
of that religion, captivated their senses, and took possession of
their imaginations.
Manilla was founded on the island of Luzon, the most important
of all the islands in the group; and the situation of the new
capital on the shore of a long bay, into which flow numerous rivers,
bringing down from the interior of a fertile country through which
they run, its varied and valuable produce, has secured for it
prosperity and commercial importance. A trade with China sprang up,
and its commencement was soon followed by many emigrants from that
densely-peopled country, whose habits of industry and prudence very
soon began to increase and develope the natural fertility of the soil,
and whose numerous descendants have mingled with the native character
some of those useful virtues which it seems scarcely probable they
would possess but for this slight mixture of blood.
Alas, that priestly ambition and the desire of domination should
in time usurp the place of those laborious, enthusiastic, and
pious missionaries who, so happily for the natives, had managed
to revolutionize their minds, and so spared their country those
scenes of blood which blot with a fearful stain the history
of Spanish power in America. But the influence of churchmen,
as usual, in the Philippines, was not always to be well directed;
for the merciless Inquisition having established itself at Manilla,
commenced its terrible career. No one was safe, none were exempt
from its powers; its emissaries penetrated even into the palace of
the Governor. Moderation in religion, or remissness in its strictest
observances, became crimes, punishable by the severest discipline of
that fearful and cruel establishment. All attempts, even when aided
or directed by the authority and influence of the highest officials,
to lessen its power, proved unsuccessful; and frequently a _Bishop_
was chosen to occupy the Governor-general's place, to perform his civil
and military duties! Everything was in the hands of the churchmen,
the subsequent effects of which were demonstrated to the world by the
easy success of the British expedition of 1762, which they permitted
to enter the bay without opposition, having passed the fortified
island of Corregidor at its entrance without a shot being fired to
prevent them. And the same effects caused but a feeble resistance to
be opposed to their arms, and the speedy surrender of Manilla by its
priest-ridden and effeminate defenders.